A latch-key kid, raised by a single mom, Jessie’s childhood environment was a pretty common one for the 80’s. As an only child until the age of 10, she spent a lot of time on her own, in the outdoors whenever she had the chance. Also sadly common, she is a survivor of infant and childhood abuse; quiet and shy, she preferred the company of trees and cats to people. Fire forges strong tools however, and like many other abuse survivors she was drawn toward opportunities to test her strength. With a dream of escaping to exotic places, she joined the Air Force. Instead, she found herself in Washington State a few months later, carrying a backpack almost as heavy as herself up and down mountains and learning to teach others how to survive in hostile situations.
After four years as an AF SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) Specialist, Jessie finally got to travel and work overseas while getting a BA in educational psychology. She’s also had a few outdoor adventures, usually while guiding others on recreational trips in Europe, sometimes while working as a wilderness therapy field guide in the states, and occasionally in the Colorado mountains that she now calls home.
In the last few years she’s been drawn into various media roles as a reality TV personality (History’s “ALONE: season 9” and National Geographic’s “Mygrations”) and online educator (MasterClass). She now owns and operates a school based in Colorado (OWLSSkills.com), which teaches the global survival and evasion techniques she learned and once taught in the military, to civilians with a focus on women and marginalized demographics. Protecting wild spaces by helping those with the desire learn to connect, explore, and feel safer in outdoor settings is her primary goal.