A Note From The Founder

After the death of my father in 2023, a mere 7 years into his retirement, I really started to grasp just how short life is. I found myself climbing the walls in my C-Suite job in the music industry where I’d spent 25 years of my career, but felt completely trapped. My father’s passing brought me back to so many things I loved as a child that I’d long neglected due to a busy and successful career, and all the other adulthood things we prioritize over ourselves in life. 

His death got me out of Los Angeles where I’ve lived for 14 years, and back to his beloved home in Exmoor, Somerset (UK), riding horses in upward hailing sleet and feeling the most alive I’d felt in years. That trip back to England set something alight in me, and I went on an off-grid exploration frenzy. Beautiful cabins in the woods with my dog. Long walks alone across the Moors. And eventually, deep into the pristine landscape of Montana, riding across private ranchlands, all reminding me that I am just a tiny spec on this earth - which was completely freeing. His passing took me back to playing the piano and writing music again. And it also led me to do the most irresponsible thing any sane adult person might do, which was to buy horses (IYKYK). 

Getting lost on my horses here in Southern California, or lost on foot in the woods of Somerset, is where I find all the secret weapons that fuel me: peace, passion, motivation, clarity, laughter. Not just for me, but for my work, for the people I work with, and for my own growth. 

I started Wild Duchess because I saw so many driven and accomplished women around me running on empty or auto-pilot, (myself included), yet unable to find time to plan an escape that fit their personalities and need for respite. I was feeling the benefits of exploring stunning off-grid locations and spending time outdoors, and I wanted to share these places and activities with other busy women so they could also experience the affirming feeling of everything finally falling into place, against breathtaking landscapes.

And so, Wild Duchess was born. 

This is also an outlet to merge my English roots with my love of the American West by creating seasonal capsules inspired by the southwest England and the wide-open skies of the U.S. West. ‘The West Country’ tagline is a nod to both these special places I call home.

If you too are a closeted feral woman holding it together through the 8am Teams meetings, the raise pitches, the school runs and extracurricular activities calendars, the aging parents, the stakeholder presentations, and the mid-year-reviews, then let’s Thelma & Lousie this $h!t together, and get outside. 

~Storme