Everyone has a story. A collection of places, people, and moments that have shaped who they are and what they care about.
My name is Emma; here is my story and why I built Go Out n About!
2002 – 2014
Born and raised in Washington State, my curiosity for the world shaped my sense of wonder and drive to explore.
I spent my early childhood in the heart of Seattle where I had the privilege of being exposed to an abundance of resources. Through the Seattle Public Schools System and my incredible family, I was immersed in rich cultural history, art, and science.
I was fortunate to have access to a primary education that extended far beyond the classroom. Through incredible teachers, a culturally rich curriculum, and a city that wore its history and creativity on its sleeve, I was immersed in experiences that shaped how I see the world.
I remember going on field trips to the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum, watching plays at the Seattle Children’s Theatre, and visiting Blake Island to learn about Coast Salish Indigenous people, whose present-day descendants include members of the Suquamish Tribe and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.
Early on, I came to understand the importance of indigenous heritage, and the ways that cultural diversity, local history, and fine art shape our perceptions of reality.
Although small in number, my family has shaped my character in ways I cannot fully put into words. I am endlessly grateful for each of them.
I have one brother, Quin McLaren, and two cousins on my mom’s side, Carys and Theo Davis. Growing up, we lived across the street from each other in Seattle.
Living so close to my cousins and aunt and uncle, Kristen and Jason Davis, was a huge part of what made growing up in Seattle so special. We did it all together: summer vacations, after school snacks, holidays, and everything in between. The time we spent together learning, laughing, growing, and adventuring has shaped me more than anything else.
Together, we would visit our grandparents, Judi and Larry Peterson (November 1942 – November 2022), in Birch Bay, WA, where they both had a significant impact on us and our love for the outdoors.
Grammy and Papa would take us out on the northern Pacific near the San Juan Islands, where we learned to pull (and lose) crab pots, navigate ocean tides, and identify marine creatures.
Boat rides with Grammy and Papa were some of the most fun and formative times of my life, and ones I carry with me always.
Their daughter and my mom, Kari (Peterson) McLaren, is the strongest person I know. As a former NCAA D1 swimmer, first-generation college graduate from Pepperdine University, and recipient of her Master of Science from Western Washington University, she has always been my biggest inspiration.
She is a science teacher and would take Quin and me places like the Pacific Science Center, Woodland Park Zoo, and Carkeek Park during summer breaks.
She would ask us questions about what we noticed, pointing out buzzing bees or bird songs. She loved when we asked questions and always answered them kindly.
Even when we were young, she treated us not just as her children, but as people with something in common.
We loved to learn.
My wonderful father, Jeff McLaren, instilled mental strength and perseverance in us from the start. A construction project manager by day and a rockstar by night, he is an incredible self-taught musician who has filled our home with the sound of his guitar for as long as I can remember.
He is also a dedicated endurance athlete who trained and competed in triathlons throughout my entire childhood, completing Ironman Tempe in 2012. He showed me that with passion, discipline, and support, you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
My grandparents on my dad’s side, Toni and Bob McLaren, have been another ongoing source of love and grounding in my life. One of my favorite things about them is that they never sat on the sidelines when we spent time together.
Whether it was playing wiffle ball in the backyard or riding Splash Mountain, they always showed up, fully engaged, and made us feel like the most important people in the world. Grandma Toni and Grandpa Bob provided a rare kind of love that quietly built confidence, and I do not take a single moment of their unconditional generosity for granted.
Grandma Toni’s brother, my great uncle, Scott Green, has always been one of a kind. A seasoned theatre director and actor, he had a way of making every moment feel like a scene worth remembering. Growing up, he took us to productions at the Seattle Children’s Theatre, big shows like The Lion King, and countless local performances that introduced me to the magic of live theatre.
Every Halloween, trick or treating with Uncle Scott was one of our favorite traditions. Every time we saw him it genuinely felt like a movie. He encouraged creativity, imagination, and comedy in a way that was infectious, and planted a deep love of entertainment in me that has never gone away.
My dad’s sister, Kaya McLaren, author, teacher, and former archeologist, has had a tremendous impact on me. She gave me my first taste of adventure. She also taught me that humans are not entitled to the natural world, but part of it.
She deliberately expanded my worldview and introduced me to what true independence and freedom felt like.
Throughout my life, Auntie Kaya has been a primary influence on my awareness of and compassion for indigenous rights and cultural heritage.
Although I loved to learn and explore the outdoors with my family, I didn’t always feel smart at school. I was not a good test taker and wasn’t in the accelerated classes with my friends. Even early on, I was self-aware and self-conscious about my intelligence.
I was creative and had unique hobbies. I participated in my elementary school’s unicycle, ultimate frisbee, and outrigger canoe teams, attended circus and horse camp in the summers, and loved origami.
While I had a diverse range of interests, playing volleyball was my favorite. Growing up watching my dad and his friends play on the weekends at Green Lake Park, I fell in love with how much joy the sport brought people.
In 2nd grade I met my first lifelong friend at a Little Spikers camp, where her mom was our coach. Little did I know how far my love for the sport and its community would take me.
2014 – 2016
The summer before I began 7th grade, my family moved to Chelan, WA, a small town at the end of the beautiful Lake Chelan. The culture shift from living in a city to moving to a rural area was shocking, especially during an already confusing time of adolescence.
The tight-knit community was intimidating, and I struggled to find my place. It was hard for me to make friends, and for the first time in my life, I felt lonely.
Things got better, as they always do with time. I made friends. My perspective changed. A local volleyball club, Kahiau, was started by the incredible Des Phelps, and I regained my sense of community. A purpose. I was conscious of that feeling, and I didn’t want to lose it again.
Kahiau is a Hawaiian word meaning “to give generously without expectation of return”. It was our ethos. Playing volleyball was not just a sport to my teammates and me, but the space where we learned leadership skills, developed growth mindsets, and further understood The Power of Vulnerability.
The city of Chelan’s year-round population is approximately 4,000 but can rise to 25,000 during summer months due to Chelan’s popularity among tourists and part-time residents.
— Lake Chelan
In Chelan and surrounding communities, it was the social norm to begin working summer breaks at a family-owned business when you turned 14 years old. In June 2016 I began my first job as a busser at Lake Chelan Winery.
Since then, I’ve worked countless service jobs in the Chelan Valley at local and independently owned businesses, from making snow cones at Slidewaters & Surf, to pouring taps at Rootwood Cider Co. much later on.
Looking back, I am so grateful for moving to Chelan in middle school, even if it took me time to feel that way. Being exposed to hardworking families and individuals building something of their own profoundly shaped my perspective. I came to understand the importance of supporting local businesses and the significant impact tourism has on local economies.
2016 – 2020
Everyone has teachers that have drastically changed their lives. A key educator of mine was Chelan High School’s remarkable environmental science teacher, April Slagle.
She taught in a way I understood, and it was the first time in a classroom I felt truly seen — smart, even.
Although I was fascinated by the ecological dynamics of our planet, I was equally troubled learning the extent to which humans have altered, destroyed, or manipulated Earth’s natural resources.
As we calculated our Ecological Footprints, I felt an increasing sense of climate anxiety. The concept of living in a world without clean air, food, or water haunted me, and I wanted to make a difference.
However, my passion for environmental science took a backseat to being a student-athlete.
Playing volleyball became my identity. I was proud to be someone younger girls looked up to on the court and deeply cared about setting a good example for my community.
I played club volleyball through winters, high school tennis and club beach volleyball in the spring, club beach volleyball over summers, and high school volleyball in the fall. Year-round, every year.
In March of 2019 I verbally committed to play NCAA Division 1 Beach Volleyball at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Just a few weeks after my verbal commitment, Auntie Kaya took me on a spring break road trip from Washington to Utah.
Together, we trekked through the rushing early-spring river of the Narrows in Zion National Park, marveled at the geological formations (and definitely got the giggles) at Goblin Valley State Park, and were humbled and honored to ride horseback through Navajo Nation’s Tse’Bii’Ndzisgaii – Monument Valley.
This adventure changed me. Although only 10 days long, the time away from my home, parents, sports teams, and friends was transformative. With distance I gained perspective and the taste of freedom I had been longing for. I loved feeling like an ant beneath the Arches and an amoeba gazing out over Bryce Canyon. Feeling small helped me regain awareness for how big the world truly is.
After this trip, it became my dream to work seasonally for the National Park Service once I finished my college education, doing field work and living in different parks year-round.
In November 2019, during my senior year, we became WIAA 1A State Volleyball Champions, a trophy that has since returned to Chelan for six consecutive years. To this day, I still tear up watching the footage from our championship match.
Achieving such a big goal with my best friends has been one of my greatest treasures.
It felt like the entire town of Chelan was there. Families, teachers, and community members traveled across the state to watch us, and those who couldn’t be there listened on the local radio broadcast. Countless people invested their time, energy, and money in supporting us, many for years.
Our community cared about us, and we played for them. Sports were my first connection to community; a way I got to experience something bigger than myself.
I had my plan. I was going to be a student-athlete at Cal Poly SLO for undergrad, study at the University of Washington for graduate school, and begin working for the National Park Service once I finished my education. However, when the COVID shutdown began in March of 2020, everything I had planned was about to change.
I was fortunate to experience a silver lining during an otherwise dark and unprecedented time. In April 2020, my brother and I had the opportunity to work part-time planting a non-profit permaculture farm, and we jumped at the chance to work outdoors.
As I learned how to strategically place nitrogen-fixing plants alongside fruit-producing bushes and trees, I gained a deeper awareness and appreciation for the knowledge of farmers and agriculturalists, and the strength it takes to steward the land and feed our communities.
In June of 2020 I graduated from Chelan High School with my GE and over 50 college credits thanks to the Gear Up of Lake Chelan School District.
2020 – 2024
In September 2020, I arrived at Cal Poly SLO with a declared major in Environmental Management and Protection. I was already homesick, but I was ecstatic to begin training with my new team.
Due to COVID protocol, freshmen lived in single-occupancy dorms, classes were completely remote, and dining halls were take-out only.
As I experienced my first collegiate practice, imposter syndrome set in immediately. Most of my teammates had played beach volleyball year-round, and I felt miles behind them. Our coach made it clear that I wouldn’t play during an in-season match for years, and my sense of self began to waver.
However, I had only been practicing for less than a month when I was hit in the face by a ball during a drill and diagnosed with a severe concussion, medically redshirting for the season.
From October 2020 to April 2021, I sat on the sidelines at practice, experienced a variety of concussion symptoms, and went to physical therapy regularly to regain control of my neck strength, visual focus, and heart rate regulation.
When I returned to practice in September 2021, I was a shell of a player and had convinced myself I would never be as good as my teammates. I was too far behind. I began getting a pit in my stomach before practice and crying behind my sunglasses during drills.
My fear and self-doubt manifested as a negative energy within myself. In March of 2022, I was hit in the head again during practice and diagnosed with a second concussion. I medically retired from the NCAA and returned to physical therapy. I never played competitive sports again.
Shortly after I stopped playing collegiate beach volleyball, I became a foster parent through Woods Humane Society. From May – June 2022 I fostered three neonatal kittens. They saved me. They gave me purpose and a reason to get out of bed. Keeping them alive kept me alive, and I will forever be grateful for Buddy, Bean, and Pheobe.
From June to September 2022, I returned home to work as a Sustainability Intern at Chelan Valley Farms & Lagriōth Winery, owned by the Steiner family. I immediately connected with their vision and loved crafting flower bouquets with local legend Nicky Allison.
The Steiners taught me about regenerative agriculture, and I became increasingly passionate about integrating land rehabilitation, farming, and sustainable food systems in communities.
For the first time in September 2022, I began a school year without athletics. I poured my energy into academics and applying for graduate school.
I joined Sprout Up, where I experienced the empowerment of being an educator for the first time. Even at a small scale, I cherished engaging with young learners and inspiring them to care for our planet.
I was impatient to finish undergrad and longed to move closer to my family in Washington. However, as I heard back from the graduate schools I had applied to, I was given a clear sign to stay in San Luis Obispo.
In June of 2023 I graduated from Cal Poly with a B.S. in Environmental Management and Protection and a minor in Sustainable Environments.
From June to September 2023, I returned to Chelan Valley Farms & Lagriōth Winery as their Environmental Specialist, managing the winery’s pursuit of Sustainable WA Winegrape and Salmon Safe certifications.
I led inspections, coordinated planning meetings, and compiled historical data to meet qualification requirements. I am proud to share that the winery officially obtained both certifications in December 2023, which are now proudly presented on Lagriōth wine bottles.
Come September 2023, I began the 15-month M.S. Environmental Sciences and Management program at Cal Poly, where I had the distinct honor of being one of Dr. Yamina Pressler’s graduate students.
As an extension of the UC Climate Action GRASS-NET Project, I conducted in-depth research on the effects of cattle grazing on aboveground biomass and belowground soil properties at the Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Forest Reserve in Cambria, CA.
Dr. Pressler’s infectious passion and extensive expertise in soil science and rangeland ecology profoundly shaped how I see myself as a person.
For the first time in my life, I felt smart, not just in a certain classroom or subject, but in general. I felt like a real scientist.
Graduate school woke up the curious kid inside of me who ran trials with her hamster Ginger, creating hypothesis and running trials on which foods she liked best between broccoli, carrots, or corn for the elementary school science fair.
I fell even deeper in love with learning about ecosystems, ecological landscapes, and the creatures within them, each so unique and endlessly fascinating.
I attended the Society for Range Management conference in January 2024 and the California Forest Soils Council field tour in August 2024, immersing myself in the broader scientific community. The more I learned, the more driven I became to pursue a career with the National Park Service or another major land management agency.
In December 2024, I finished my graduate degree and obtained my M.S. in Environmental Sciences and Management.
2024 – Present Day
As I finalized my master’s report in Chelan, Donald Trump was reelected. I was devastated. I knew what it meant for the wellbeing of our public lands and the agencies I had spent years working toward. On January 20, 2025, his first day back in office, the dismantling began. Massive layoffs, sweeping rollbacks of environmental protections, and the gutting of clean air and water standards.
I watched the career I had spent years preparing for get dismantled. I returned to San Luis Obispo County and began applying for local environmental jobs, but it felt hopeless.
As federal agencies shed experienced professionals, those workers flooded back into the job market, making an already bleak landscape nearly impossible to navigate as a newly graduated candidate.
Since finishing school, I have been rebuilding myself again. From February to August 2025, I worked in the service industry at local gem, Hidden Kitchen, and continued to apply for local environmental positions.
I finally regained my footing in meaningful part-time work and from October 2025 to March 2026, co-led field trips as a farm educator with City Farm SLO and later joined the incredible Central Coast State Parks Association (CCSPA) team as their Event Coordinator Intern from January to April 2026.
Although I have deeply valued every role I have held — whether in Chelan or San Luis Obispo, working for local businesses, nonprofits, small organizations, or research institutions — I’ve oftentimes felt something was missing. I found myself working toward one singular purpose for one small piece of a much larger puzzle
As I took time to reflect on what I truly care about, who I want to help, and what kind of impact I want to make, the answer has always been the same: I want to help people, ecosystems, and communities on a large scale.
I built Go Out n About! because I was tired. Tired of using AI to tailor cover letters for jobs I never heard back from, tired of watching social media corrode the very communities it claimed to connect, and tired of how hard it had become to find good, honest information about the places and people around us.
I wanted to build the resource I wish I had and something everyone, regardless of interests, can use. Whether you’re a recent graduate trying to find your footing in a new city, a visitor trying to find something real to do, or a local just trying to figure out where to have dinner.
What if the algorithm worked for our communities instead of against them?
Go Out n About! is my answer to that question. It is an invitation to slow down, look around, and partake in the art of moseying around while engaging with the outdoors and supporting local businesses.
By reframing social media as a tool we wield, we can strengthen ecosystems, uplift local economies, and deepen community.
My dream for Go Out n About! extends far beyond the Central Coast. I envision it growing into a community-driven platform that every region can call its own.
I believe every community deserves an accessible resource that connects you directly with the places, people, organizations, and businesses that make our communities worth belonging to.
Go Out n About! 