I became an activist before I knew what the word meant.

As a kid bouncing between my divorced parents' houses every other night, communication and organization were survival skills. (Remember to pack your underwear, Rachel!) 

I found refuge in the library, where a kind librarian would guide me toward answers. As soon as I got my driver’s license, I also found my home in activism, where I met people filled with love and hope and promise. These spaces saved me. They taught me that curiosity and justice were lifelines.

The day after I graduated from high school at age 17, I left home. I started out at Reed College, until my father decided to move next door to keep his eyes on me. 

I dropped out of college and moved to La Paz, Mexico (ironically, the name means peace, which is what I was looking for). After teaching English for a year, I landed a reporting job at a newspaper on the east coast. This led me to The Prague Post in the Czech Republic, where I continued reporting. 

After four years of working as a journalist, I realized I should probably get that degree. I landed at The New School in New York, graduated quickly, and had my daughter one month later.

Suddenly, I was a young single mom, totally on my own. Her birth father had split. I went looking for resources for single moms and found almost nothing. So, I created my own. That ignited something in me, a pattern I'd return to again and again: if the resources don't exist, build them yourself. (My first book, Single Mom Seeking, was born.)

Back in California, I gave my older daughter, Mae, a little sister (CJ!). My amazing daughters are my biggest loves. When the wildfires hit close to my home, a young woman named Greta Thunberg was talking about our house being on fire. 

This inspired me to interview 25 climate activists under age 25 for my second book, Girl Warriors. 

That led to writing Climate Champions, in which I profiled women climate leaders around the world: policy advocates, scientists, professors, activists. 

Then, during the pandemic, I watched women farmers in the Bay Area show up with food for their communities. Small women-run farms across California were feeding families, giving away what wasn't making it to grocery stores. For my next book, Farming is Female, I interviewed women farmers around the country who are “shaking up the field.”

I was drawn to these women because I saw myself in them. Women who show up, who persevere, who build solutions when systems fail.

Around that time, I also decided to leave my marriage. I thought it would be amicable. It wasn't. I'm on the other side now, thanks to my grit and perseverance. 

I'm a survivor. And I write for survivors, especially young women navigating their own battles, seeking inspiration, looking for proof that perseverance matters. 

My writing comes from that place of seeking connection, learning, and lighting the way for others.

That's what I'm still doing. That's what I'll always do.