With My Head in the Trees
What do a rock concert, a childhood tree fort, and a major career shift have in common? This reflective piece explores the journey from a fast-paced career in entertainment to a more grounded life in urban reforestation. Through personal stories and pivotal moments, it highlights the importance of reconnecting with purpose, community, and the natural world.
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The Night I Won a Tree from Cake
Some people collect concert tees, I came home with a tree. Let me set the stage: Apparently, the band Cake gives away a tree on stage at every one of their performances. (You know Cake — “He's going the distance… he's going for speeeed…” Talk-singing, trumpets, playful percussion? Anyways, I digress.) On June 24th, at The Factory in St. Louis, frontman John McCrea asked who in the audience could identify the 5-foot tree on stage.
This was my moment. I was standing about 40 feet back, heart thumping just a little, but I decided to trust my tree-loving gut and confidently raised my hand. Moments later, my friends, I was centerstage with Cake and a pink flowering dogwood tree.
What would be a cool moment for any (nearly) middle-aged rock 'n' roll wannabe was a full-on mountaintop moment for me — It was the perfect metaphor for the career path I had been climbing since the pandemic.
Career Crossroads
As a kid, my grounding place — my home base — was a trio of walnut trees at the edge of the woods behind my house. I couldn’t find them now if my life depended on it, but back then, they were everything. The trees stood just close enough to form a cozy little nest, but with enough space to squeeze in a friend.
Bad day at school? Off to my trees. Upset about not getting the new shoes I wanted? Off to my trees. Being a kid is hard — and I was a super awkward one — so I spent a lot of time there. I didn’t talk to the trees (not really), but I’d bring a book, make up songs, corral ants… and somehow, I always left feeling better.
Over the years, my “home base” kept changing, but I always knew that when I felt overwhelmed, I needed to get back to the trees. During college and my time living in St. Louis’s Central West End, Forest Park became my refuge. Towering oaks with centuries of stories to tell — including my own story, when my husband, Aaron, and I were married beneath their branches.
Just a few years ago, I found myself in a bit of a mid-career, post-pandemic crisis. 15+ years into my career, I had built something I was truly proud of. I had an awesome job in sports and entertainment — a gig many people considered “the dream” planning concerts and events in one of America’s coolest baseball stadiums. And it did feel like a dream for many years! I did cool work with cool people in a cool place.
Into the Woods to Find Myself Again
As the years went by and work got more intense at the stadium, I realized that a quick hike wasn’t enough. I needed full immersion. A whole day in the woods — alone. If I saw more than a handful of people, it was too many. Luckily, Aaron understood. He was invited plenty of times, but when I really needed to recharge, we both knew it had to be a solo trip.
After one especially stressful stretch, I asked, “Do you mind if I disappear for a couple of days after this one?” Aaron knew what that meant. If he wanted his helpful, happy wife back, I needed a full reset. So I booked a cabin and headed to the woods. I hiked, I read, I wrote… and I came back as myself.
“And during those hikes, something clicked. It felt like I was feeding my soul in a way I hadn’t since my walnut tree nest.”
As wild as it might sound to others, none of this felt unusual to our family — until the pandemic. During that strange, slow time, we started taking daily hikes as a family. And during those hikes, something clicked. It felt like I was feeding my soul in a way I hadn’t since my walnut tree nest. When we reemerged from the pandemic, I knew it was time to bring the happiest parts of my personal life into my professional one.
So — into the trees I went.
I left my entertainment job and found a new home in the reforestation field. When I stumbled upon The Giving Grove, it felt like falling straight into that childhood nest between the trees. There’s something so powerful about urban reforestation with a purpose: nourishing communities with healthy food, teaching kids and families about food systems, and empowering them to grow their own fruit and berries.
“In many ways, this work has become my grown-up version of that walnut tree nest – a place where I feel grounded, purposeful, and exactly where I am meant to be.”
A big career shift at (gulp) nearly 40 didn’t come without challenges, but I’m constantly amazed by the joy of this new path. Like a long walk in the woods, my days are full of learning and discovery. I’m energized by people who serve their communities so relentlessly and lovingly. And I’ve been blown away by the generosity of donors. In many ways, this work has become my grown-up version of that walnut tree nest – a place where I feel grounded, purposeful, and exactly where I am meant to be.
A New Chapter Grows with Angela the Dogwood
A couple weeks ago, we planted the Cake tree — a pink flowering dogwood we lovingly named “Angela” — in our neighborhood’s common space. The deer have already given her a generous welcome (ahem, thanks, deer), but we can’t wait to watch her grow. I’ll mark the passage of this new chapter in my life by her branches.
Community building comes in many forms — sports, entertainment, tree planting, apple harvest. I’m so glad to have found a place in all of them, and to have rooted myself in work that feels as steady and life-giving as those trees from my childhood.