I have had a passion for design for as long as I can remember. From age five to at least ten, I would sit for hours looking through those super thick J.C. Penny & Sears catalogs, imagining all the different possibilities for “dream bedrooms” with lofts, stairs, and hidden closets and extra little rooms. I would design these along with countless different full house plans on my prized pad of 1/4'‘ graph paper.

I headed off to college intending to double major in Art and Biology, but life had slightly different plans. It took three tries and eight years to complete my first degree. I graduated in Anthropology with a minor in Dance from Boise State University. Ben started out life with a love of food, dance, and the water. His Norwegian roots and generations of Navy veterans played a major role in shaping his childhood. He too headed to Boise for his second try at college.

We first met in a modern dance class at BSU. He intrigued me; he was the only person I had met who had traveled and volunteered in both Africa and New Guinea. Two years later, after he had moved away and returned, he happened to sit down at the same computer I had just left and found my unlabeled zip drive containing all my final papers for the term. With a little sleuthing, he found me and returned my disk and my hope of completing my term!

After this chance re-connection, we hung out for the final two weeks of the term. After being apart all summer, we were engaged late fall and married during my first week of grad school. I went on to achieve my Masters of Instructional and Performance Technology, a fancy way of saying I am good at developing training, materials, and processes that help improve the human side of performance in the workplace. Ben began pursuing his love of hospitality and cooking and quickly became an executive chef.

I spent the next ten years of my career in Restaurant, Property, and HR Management & Training, in both corporate and non-profit environments. Shortly after having our first child, we left our 9-5 (or rather, 5-7 for me, including a three-hour commute, and 6-midnight for Ben—as any restaurant manager can attest to) and returned home to Idaho to open our first restaurant.

I adored meeting so many amazing people during this time and also found out I loved the challenge of designing logos, business cards, menus, and websites with a minimal budget. Nearly five years later, we closed our restaurant to pursue short-term overseas missions followed by Ben opening numerous new restaurants for clients all over the country.

This led to five cross-country and countless other regional and local moves. During this time we also had three more kiddos. We’ve lived in DC within a mile of our nation’s capital with views of National Stadium and the Washington Monument from our place and also 12 miles out a dirt road just south of the Highline in Montana, our view consisting only of trees, wheat fields, and the neighboring Great Horned Owl family.

We lived at sea level and 7800 feet. We lived the beach life for a year in Pensacola and spent nearly two years in New Mexico, loving the beautiful and inspiring landscape, architecture, and people, where we spent much time exploring hiking trails, out-of-the-way villages, boutique restaurants, and endless art galleries. Like many of you, our lives look vastly different than we imagined less than one year ago.

Due to COVID, we relocated from the sunny and warm Southwest to the greener and snowier Midwest of Southern Minnesota. Brrrr! This time, we landed in a small town and in a rental house so reminiscent of my Grandparents’ home it often brings back a host of childhood memories. From there, we returned to north-central Montana, and the birthplace of our third child. We are so excited to be here and getting geared up for the long winter.

Every year, I still hold out as long as possible to my beloved flip-flops, but inevitably temperatures demand I trade them in for some cozy fur-lined slippers and parka! We’ve been able to reconnect with friends and our homeschool community. A definite perk of moving back and a first for us in all our adventures! I have been homeschooling for six years now. It has been by far the most challenging and most rewarding thing I have done. At the same time, I have continued to pursue brand and website design.

I am so excited to return to some of my earliest inclinations to make things unique, amazing, and beautiful, while getting to utilize all my education to make them more organized, effective, and efficient. Nearly constant moving had me very hesitant to take the leap to officially starting my business. I procrastinated for years waiting until I thought we were staying put!

Well, I didn’t wait long enough, but now can add how to move a business across state lines and rebranding to my repertoire. Benjamin has spent the last nine years opening and managing restaurants for a variety of owners from small-town saloons, boutique hotels with high-end dining to an award-winning Kosher pizza restaurant, and seafood hot spots in the harbor and on the beach.

Each time, he’s worked to establish not only an unforgettable menu and experience, but behind the scenes to select, integrate, and manage their pos, inventory, website, and social media platforms. Ben and I have been slowly building our businesses. Together, we bring a wealth of experience and insight in numerous industries to serve you and your business with innovation and integrity. And that is the long and short how Thorpe & Co.—now Sisu Site Shop, came to be.