A writer leaves the tech world for a small island in the Puget Sound and creates rewilding retreats to reconnect with nature | Hillarie Maddox of Black Girl Country Living

I am excited to invite you to my conversation with Hillarie Maddox. Hillarie is a writer, creator and life-long learner. She is founder of Black Girl Country Living. Hillarie studied social work in college, but realized that a social worker's salary would barely cover her school loans. Instead, she got hired at a big tech company and began her successful climb up the corporate ladder.

Although Hillarie enjoyed her work and her contribution to her company, the birth of her first child made her start to rethink her career path and work/life balance. She felt like something was missing and yearned to live closer to nature.

After the 2020 stay at home order, Hillarie and her husband decided to leave Seattle. They settled in a small island community in the Puget Sound. This move made Hillarie tap back into herself - she began the process of “rewilding” - reconnecting with the natural world, reconnecting with others and reconnecting with her own inner voice.

Moving to the country profoundly transformed Hillarie’s life and set her on a course towards a greater purpose. And now she is building Rewilding experiences so that she can help others find healing, clarity and grounding from the process of reconnection.

This is a story about breaking the golden handcuffs, collaboration over competition, and creating pathways for people to rewild.