The foundation blocks for what is now Grayscale were laid way back in 1992, in a small-town print shop on Minnesota’s Iron Range. I was just a kid tagging along with my parents while they reviewed proofs for a brochure advertising their northern Minnesota resort. My memories of that day include walking through a dim production room, the pungent smell of ink hanging heavy in the air and the repetitive whirr and click of the presses in my ears. My most vivid memory from that day, however, is of the graphic designers, working on giant computers, with rulers and pencils and hand-sketched drafts scattered around them. It was in that moment I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I went to Northwestern University in St. Paul for a graphic design degree and became a freelance designer soon after college. Over the years I’ve had the privilege of working on amazing projects with some truly awesome clients, many of whom have become good friends.

I love a good passion project. In 2020 I founded the Lake Minnetonka Klondike Dog Derby, a world class sled dog race on Lake Minnetonka that attracted some of the most accomplished mushers in the world as well as tens of thousands of spectators. In 2026 I created the Ely Strong Project to celebrate the strength of Ely during a season of unprecedented wildfires in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and to benefit the community through the donation of sales from a collection of products to the youth and family focused non-profit, Ely Community Resource.

Raised in northern Minnesota by parents who instilled in me a deep love of the wilderness and a healthy appetite for adventure, I moved back to my hometown of Ely, MN with my husband and kiddos in 2022. Together as a family we enjoy skiing, hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, camping, and afternoons on the lake.