A Little About Our Founder

Originally from Davis located in Northern California, Sheila has built her career in North Carolina based on her love of nature, respect for local communities, and her desire to build sustainable connections between people and place. Her sense of curiosity and adventure led to her immersion in China, India, and South America working in outdoor education, social/environmental activism, and ecotourism.

Over the past decade, Sheila has worked with environmental nonprofits such as Appalachian Voices and Oxfam International Youth Project in varied positions including grassroots organizing, event logistics, and legislative advocacy. She has also led Environment North Carolina Research and Policy Center in building public awareness of statewide threats to water quality as the Executive Director of their Asheville office.

Graduating with a self-designed degree in Sustainable Outreach and Community Development, along with completing a Business Foundations course twice through Mountain BizWorks, Sheila has used her international relationships and vast interdisciplinary knowledge to create Ayni Designs, Adventure Cocoon, and co-create Turquoise Ladder. These social enterprises market beautiful art and travel accessories for the fashionable explorer made from women around the world. Sheila’s passion in this endeavor is to help support gender empowerment, create social capital and promote awareness of maintaining cultural identities.