Welcome to Raised by Wolves

Recovering who we are by playing with pretty things.

I created Raised by Wolves as a place to explore the people, places and things that have shaped me and my longstanding career as a fashion stylist— from intern to editor, I’m compelled to put it into words. Over the years, I've learned the power of aesthetics and their potential to uplift or to tear down a culture. At their best, they act as a mirror for us, promoting well-being, reducing stress and enhancing emotional connection. At their worst, they’re used by advertisers to prey on our deepest insecurities and exploit those insecurities for profit. My hope is that whatever your relationship is to aesthetics, your body and the world around you, you'll take time to invest in the beauty that lifts you up.

In 2021, I received my Master's degree in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University. Much of my pandemic was spent working with patients in a community mental health facility, and while I know that Aesthetic Wellness is a relatively new concept, I am certain of it's power. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but it's also a key player in our overall well-being. 

Graduate, but make it fashion. 2021.

Free from advertisers and lists of brands I simply must shoot, I’ll be telling it like it is: successes and failures as an entrepreneur, landing my first Vogue cover at 29 and sipping champaign with Kate Moss at the Mercer Hotel. Not always pretty, you’ll also hear about the situations I blew, the regretful things I said and the mistakes I made without the tools to handle the velocity of my success. Oh! and I cut off my long hair to an audible gasp from the peanut gallery… more on that next week.

Five minutes later, I let you down. 2016.

Perhaps most importantly though, I’ll be sharing tangible Aesthetic Solutions: practical advice, my favorite products and most-soothing experiences to help you reduce stress and promote feelings of comfort, inspiration and relaxation. For a time, I began to believe that beauty and aesthetics were simply superficial; a symptom of my elitist proclivities. Quite the contrary: Since the beginning of time, philosophers, painters, poets and creatives alike have used Aesthetics to navigate and process life’s inescapable polarities: joy, love, success, hope, freedom, spirituality, grief, fear, anxiety, sadness, impermanence, aging and dying (to name a few). In difficult moments, beauty has revealed itself a lifeline.

Above: Maslow’s Original Hierarchy of Needs; a theory of psychology explaining human motivation based on the pursuit of different levels of needs.

Below: Marlow’s Revised Hierarchy of Needs, updated to include Aesthetic Needs as a step toward wholeness, self-actualization and fulfillment.

So, who raised you? Raised by Wolves is committed to building a multicultural community of creatives, storytellers and curators. We’re covering all things aesthetic: fashion, beauty, home, food, music, art and culture using the five senses as our guide. Along the way, we’ll be featuring diverse voices from across the world and we want to hear from you! If you’ve got a story about how you leaned into beauty as a balm for a difficult time in your life, please reach out. We look forward to hearing from you!