hey!

I’m Clara (mother to a 12-yo dynamo of a boy), wife to Jesse (author/Equine-Partnered Leadership Coach), beloved steward to Doug (our Berner/Retriever doggo), and tender to worms and flowers.

I’m a nature-based crafter, maker, artist, gardener, professional photographer, brand and web designer (to awesome start-ups), semi-retired marketing professional, and overall lover of this beautiful life we all get to co-create on this wild and abundant planet.

I’m a little bit of a Big Little fan! (here’s why that matters)

In the fall of 2014, after the birth of my son, I left my post as the Marketing Lead at Portland State’s Campus Rec. With a desire to center my newfound motherhood, a dusty photography degree, and a goal to capture human life in the natural world in the most authentic way I could, I started my photography business. With my husband’s expanding work from transpersonal psychology into equine-partnered leadership coaching, a seed was planted for a someday life on a little homestead, where we might explore human community-building potential beyond the nuclear model. Where mustangs rescued from the fate of the BLM might roam, and bees might buzz. Where the soil we would work, would certainly work double on us.

In 2019, The Biggest Little Farm, among other inputs, lit my fire for regenerative practice, stewardship, and a more conscious connection to my place. When the world shut down, we took a risk and moved to Central Oregon, in pursuit of our unfolding inspiration.

Since arriving in Bend, I have been immersed in learning about the local ecology, Waldorf education (August spent grades 2-6 at the Waldorf School of Bend), and the vast beauty and potential of this awe-inspiring location.

I left the business part of my photography work in Portland, choosing to focus on brand and web design for (mostly women) solopreneurs. This work, above all, keeps me tapped into the fast-moving social and technological trends in the various digital media spaces.

I feel strongly that these experiences, my ethos, my background, and skillset might make me a good fit for your team. Despite the gap in demonstrated social media results, I feel boldy capable, determined, skilled, and inspired to take that part of the role and achieve visibility and growth, above and beyond, where you want to take The Biggest Little Farm series.

THE
CAREER
SUMMARY.
EDUCATION.
AND THE SKILLS PART.

I have 20+ years of combined photography, video production, design, web development, project management, and marketing experience. Buuuuut, I don’t have that same level of experience professionally in the social media space. I know. If it hasn’t happened yet, everything below is sure to clarify why this critical piece is either my greatest strength or simply a disqualifier.

EDUCATION

2000-2005

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO

BA, ART - PHOTOGRAPHY

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

November 2010 - Present

EVOLVING THIS BRAND AND WEB DESIGN

Brand and web designer/developer and marketing strategist for small start-ups and solopreneurs.

October 2014 - June 2020

CAP & FEATHER PHOTOGRAPHY

Professional portrait photographer specializing in family, lifestyle, brand, wedding, and architectural photography.

PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY
Marketing and Outreach Coordinator, Campus Rec

July 2010 - September 2014

Lead the marketing and outreach efforts for Campus Recreation, its programs and services, and supervised the student marketing/creative team including design, marketing, social media, video production, and outreach staff. Created a multi-level project management system that oversaw up to 25+ multi-component projects at a time, working with 17 other professional staff to execute multiple projects with my staff of 7. Developed and implemented marketing strategies, maintained brand standards, conceptualized and implemented targeted campaigns and served on the Healthy Campus Initiative Committee and Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Marketing Team.

November 2009 - July 2010

BLANKS/USA
Consultant

Worked remotely on a consulting basis for Blanks/USA on the development of their website 2.0 phase with their digital agency.

September 2008 - November 2009

BLANKS/USA
Marketing and Communications Manager

Lead the design and prepress staff, managed and maintained brand identity, design and implemented collateral, including packaging, sales materials, advertising, direct mail, e-mail, developed and executed promotions, media buying, sales campaigns and trade show coordination, support communication and marketing strategies across complex and multi-tiered distribution and sales channels.

July 2006 - July 2008

Graphic designer and photographer, implemented multiple advertising campaigns which included print and digital design and all corresponding collateral material in addition to public relations, communications, and marketing support.

RENO-TAHOE AIRPORT AUTHORITY
Marketing and Public Relations Program Tech

ALL THOSE SKILLS

Photography (film and digital), Videography, Video Editing, Adobe Creative Suite (Premiere, Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat), Google Analytics, Wordpress, Squarespace, SEO, Slack, Microsoft Office and Workspace, and anything else I need to learn!

- So fun! So easy! My pro photo/video background demands I make nothing short of creative and beautiful. I am well versed in producing a variety of content, from spontaneous short-form posts to longer videos that require more extensive planning.
- Project management and organizational strategies and implementation are my jam. At my last position, I created a multi-level project management system that oversaw up to 25+ multi-component campaigns at a time, working with 17 other professional staff to execute multiple marketing projects with my staff of 7.
- I live in Bend and the commute isn’t too bad to Sisters. We drove this commute for a year when my son was on a farm pod for school, so timely content about daily life on your homestead is accessible and really just a day well spent I think.
- Social media can quickly give us the icks, probably more often than not. It can be harder to find and, thus, connect with content that feels authentic and transparent. I have so appreciated your voice across your socials over the years and would not have applied to this position if it were not my own mission to build from the same tone and intention, which is positive, light, honest, clear, and hopefully engaging because that’s what I relate and connect with as part of your audience.
- I run analytics for my branding clients, love research, and understand data’s role in influencing strategy.
- Taking analytics to create content that feels relevant to your target audience(s) and that centers your live community is fundamental, especially in a small community such as Sisters (as well as the surrounding areas).
- Having lived in Bend since 2020, I have fostered many relationships aligned with the holistic, creative, eco-conscious, health-driven themes within your mission. I am always combing artisan spaces, craft fairs, and farmer’s markets for inspiring local vendors and community diamonds in the rough, and it is something I thoroughly enjoy, partnerships or not!
- I’m an organizational machine! It really hasn’t been an option to be anything but organized and detail-focused running two of my own small businesses for 15+ years, especially in the design space which demands clear and functional systems that organize assets in a way that anyone can access what they need on a dime.
- These are all entirely in my wheelhouse. I can take existing brand guidelines and maintain continuity and standards across any and all platforms, as well as generate design content/assets as needed. I am a web designer/developer, so website, e-commerce, and newsletter development have and continue to be a regular part of my work.

HOW I CAN SUPPORT

THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM PROJECT

WHAT YOU NEED AND
HOW I CAN HELP.

AM I QUALIFIED? SUPER YES! AND KIND OF NO?

- Kinda! Social media has been a large part of my professional work in a variety of capacities, but never chiefly for the scope of reach and engagement you will achieve.
  In applying for this role, I took a few days to be honest with myself on two critical points:
  1) Can I play this game, at this level?
  I can learn and excel at anything. So, yes, I think so.
  And…
  2) Do I want to play this game?
  I believe there is a way to excel in the algorithm world while not being ruled by it. Like other world-reshaping brands and missions, yours is worthy of influencing the market while also being aware of the market’s influence on your reach.
- Absolutely! Yes! In both my role as a team lead in various organizations as well as in my own businesses, my main function was to produce creative, sometimes evocative, educational, informative, and at times, simply fun content to promote and educate.
  I have all the self motivation and independent decision-making capabilities necessary to be creatively challenged and to find solutions. It’s why I chose the arts in my education ultimately and have always sought a creative career path.
- This is where I feel the most kinship. I have a vested interest in learning from you in all of these areas. My husband (who has worked with horses in equine-partnered relationship coaching for many years) and I have a deep curiosity and passion for regenerative ag and animal and land stewardship. Our goal in moving to Bend was to start a little homestead. We landed in an R5 (which was intended to be an immediate yet temporary landing spot), sent our kiddo to the Waldorf School of Bend and haven’t quite found the right property yet to begin our own little experiment. In the meantime, I have created a small vermicomposting bin and tend to my very modest little garden (growing the easy stuff because…Central Oregon and no greenhouse). These subjects are so very dear to us and ripple into our general view of the world.
- It’s the only vibration I want to live in; on paper, in person, and in the digital space. Having an authentic voice and point of view is what derives organic and meaningful connection. And that almost certainly translates to interest, commitment, and engagement.
- Analytics and best practices for any platform are crucial and something I certainly invest in when working with my clients in the web space. While I certainly have a working knowledge of those aspects of Instagram, this is an area I would strive to develop.
- Yes, but in a limited capacity. While it has always been a part of my work, it was never the chief aspect of my work. Though all of my experience and my skillset supports being more than capable at achieving success in this role.
- Most of my videos were largely done in Premiere, but I am well versed in editing software so CapCut is easy to navigate, it just isn’t/hasn’t been my editing platform of choice. I am not at all intimidated by learning new software as I have been working in most of the Adobe Suite and a variety of other platforms for 20+ years.
- I am well versed in Wordpress, have navigated Canva for clients when needed (though customarily create design assets in Illustrator), have worked in several e-mail marketing platforms and can easily learn new ones. Really, I can learn and use new software platforms easily and quickly.
- As a marketing professional for so many years, I have largely worked in digital-forward marketing including web development and management (SEO), article writing, and content and asset creation.

SOCIAL MEDIA SAMPLES

Since, I don’t have sample posts from a specific brand, I decided to make three quick posts that share a little about me and also demonstrate a long form educational-style reel, a short algorithm-driven video post, and a photo essay format, all edited in CapCut.