Jesse’s family has called Jackson Hole home for five generations, and he feels no need to change that. After earning his BA and MBA in Motion Pictures & Television from Full Sail University and the Art Institute of California, Jesse returned to his roots with the vision and the gumption to add a full-service marketing agency to the valley’s business landscape. Having accomplished this, he is now content to torment the team with an absurd hypothetical question at 3:37 pm each weekday.

Jesse is a closeted fan of both the Lakers and Katy Perry, but plays a film and literary snob in everyday life, and purports to have watched and enjoyed the films El Espíritu de la Colmena and Le Souffle au Cœur. When not digesting a range of culture from nihilistic (Cormac McCarthy) to uplifting (The Alchemist), Jesse also enjoys hiking, fishing, bitching about politics, and model rocketry.

Ryan asserts that his spirit animal is a leopard. Although he isn’t (to our knowledge) a skillful nocturnal tree-climber, his tenacious attention to detail, and constant pursuit of perfection support his claim. After growing up in Bethlem, Pennsylvania, Ryan traded cheesesteaks for Cubans, earning a Bachelor’s in Film and a Master’s in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University. Answering the call of the wild (well, of Jesse really), he arrived in Jackson, where the two founded New Thought.

Ryan enjoys almost all the sports, but his cherished past-time is Baseball, and when not watching Phillies games, you’ll likely to find him swinging in the softball rec leagues. Ryan has this strange notion that sharing the stories of humanitarians, instead of Justin and Selena rumors, might just make the world a better place. Drawing creative inspiration from David Fincher and Casey Neistat, he’s on a mission to do just that.

A Massachusetts native, Kea followed her Finnish roots to the cold winters of Vermont for undergrad at Middlebury College. She spent almost 14 years in New York City afterward, escaping to Jackson just before her soul hardened completely. She joins New Thought from Google, where she was a Senior Account Executive leading digital strategy development with Home & Personal Care clients. Prior to Google, she developed a passion for marketing and brand management while working at Unilever and Johnson & Johnson. She received her MBA at the Wharton School after spending 5 years working on Wall Street (which was 4.75 years too long).

Kea is a mom of three – to two young sons, Philip and Charlie, and a feisty rescue mutt, Harris. She loves to be outdoors with them and her husband, Tom, skiing and hiking as much as possible. While her days of adventure travel have dwindled over the past three years, visiting Japan and Peru are high on her list. In the meantime, she’s attempting more cooking for and photographing of her family.

Paul dreams of residing on the frozen tundra of Alaska, but since birth, he’s been steadily headed south. Starting from the windswept plains of Great Falls, Montana, he paused at Montana State University in Bozeman to earn Bachelors’ Degrees in both Graphic Design and Photography. After falling in love and landing in Wyoming, he now passes time by incessantly lamenting Jackson’s paucity of dive bars, learning to yodel, and occasionally attempting both simultaneously.

Paul isn’t sure what his spirit animal is, but suspects it may have gone extinct 150 million years ago. As a lil’ fella, he enhanced his schoolwork by ensuring the margins contained the proper amount of dinosaurs and aliens. He still believes any project lacking either is questionable. In addition to freelancing, Paul has also spent time building tactical backpacks for special forces, and paid his utility bills by plucking banjo in a local band. He now brings his skills to bear for us full-time.

Wrangling the team at New Thought can be a daunting task, but somehow Ariela manages to simultaneously smack sense into us, and make us feel warm and fuzzy inside. Maybe that’s why we call her ‘Mama Bear.’ On any given day she may be whipping up a damn tasty batch of sweet potato enchiladas, out firing her AR-15, or curled up with family watching Pride and Prejudice.

Starting out from Laramie, Wyoming, Ariela’s formidable soccer skills landed her a scholarship to North Carolina State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Design Studies, as well as dual minors in Business Administration and Spanish. In addition to making sure the office runs smoothly, Ariela plays soccer, coaches, wins friends and influences people, and is setting in motion a grand master scheme to make the world a healthier place.

Resident photo maven Katie hails from the heart of America’s Dairyland in Madison, Wisconsin, and is still appalled by the price of cheese in Wyoming. As a young rascal, Katie often ventured too far into the woods and came home covered in bumps and bruises. Katie’s hobbies include examining bumblebees, participating in wild misadventures, liberally re-applying sunscreen to her porcelain skin, and talking to her many plants.

After earning her degree in fine art and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the mountains called and off Katie went to Driggs, Idaho, where she can be found drinking chai tea and running through the forest with a camera flopping around. If you’d like to worm your way into Katie’s heart, rumor has it that aged cheddar, puppies, and strawberries are an excellent way to do so.

Despite her desire to go to school in the mountains, Wayzata, Minnesota native Erica landed at the University of Minnesota, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems. Jackson’s world-class skiing finally dragged her away from the midwest. On days off, you can catch Erica deep in the backcountry, in search of endless fresh turns.

A diehard Minnesota Sports Fan, Erica has yet to experience a championship in her lifetime. At this point, she’s not sure she will. In recent years, Erica’s byline has appeared in numerous media outlets in the outdoors industry. Her background in data analysis and storytelling pair with social media like a charcuterie board and fine wine.