we were living in Austin when the covid pandemic hit. after about 6 months we knew that something had to give. our lives were full of stress, both with demanding jobs and a child at home, floundering in the make-shift school set up. when my partner looked at me and said “we should just get an airstream and hit the road”, the wheels immediately started spinning. we put our names on the airstream waitlist (growing rapidly at the time) and began to prepare. several months later we hit the road with a rough plan - as long as we had each other, we would figure it out.

the next 9 months took us on a journey around the western states, stopping for longer if we needed or wanted to, exploring, hiking, skiing/snowshoeing, testing the trailer in all kinds of weather. this was our way to press reset and reevaluate what was important. to break things down to the basics and be together. for me, it was also a time to visualize what i wanted work to look like. i had worked as an architect and designer for 15+ years and wasn’t sure what the future held in that regard. after about 7 months, we stopped in a beautiful valley in Montana for about a month. when i finally sat down at my computer, beautiful imagery and an idea for a multifaceted business poured out of me.

we weren’t sure where home would be at the end of the journey. after much deliberation, we returned to san antonio, and ultimately to our home in southtown. the studio building i had designed, built in 2016, would become home to wren atelier, a solo architecture practice and jewelry studio. it would also house wren tienda, a small, curated corner where i would source and sell hand crafted items from around the world. the third component of my new business, would be regular workshops and gatherings, where people could come together to learn, share, make new connections, and even possibly, forge a new direction in their lives…