Environmental Storytelling, Brand Expansion & Women’s Empowerment Series

Concept development and narrative architecture
Creative direction and production oversight
Community partnership collaboration
Visual storytelling strategy
UGC narrative integration
Campaign and digital adaptation guidance

Role

Untamed was developed as part of Changing Tides’ expansion into Oʻahu, using environmental storytelling as a vehicle for both community trust-building and brand positioning in a new geographic region.

Untamed is a photo series exploring women’s empowerment through connection to the natural world and the relationship between creative identity and environment.

Created in collaboration with photographer Bryanna Bradley, the series was photographed across Oʻahu’s North Shore and West Side and featured professional surfers, freedivers, and ocean-minded creatives.

The project centered on one guiding question: What happens when women are photographed in the place they feel most themselves, free from societal expectations of how their bodies should look, move, or perform?

The strategy intentionally reframed empowerment storytelling away from performance-based imagery and toward embodiment, presence, and environmental integration.

To expand the narrative beyond Oʻahu, I also collected UGC video submissions from Changing Tides’ global community, inviting women to share their own perspective on how they feel in the water. This broadened the campaign from a localized photo series into a multi-voice storytelling initiative.

Over two days and five individual shoots, nature was treated as a creative collaborator rather than a backdrop. Wind, water, light, and movement shaped the visual language of the series. Research in environmental psychology supports this approach, demonstrating that time in natural environments enhances creativity, clarity, and cognitive openness.

Strategy & Contribution

  • Directed environmental storytelling sessions

  • Supported participant selection and concept alignment

  • Guided visual narrative development

  • Ensured cultural sensitivity and community-centered representation

  • Integrated global UGC contributions into campaign storytelling

  • Developed imagery adaptable across digital and campaign platforms

Strategic Activation

Supported brand expansion into Oʻahu through relationship-driven community presence

Expanded the campaign from a regional activation into a global community narrative

Strengthened emotional depth and authenticity of empowerment storytelling

Established a repeatable visual and narrative framework for future geographic initiatives

Positioned environmental storytelling as a strategic growth tool rather than a standalone creative campaign

Impact

Press

The Untamed series received regional media coverage highlighting its exploration of women’s empowerment, creativity, and connection to the ocean.

Featured in Ranch & Coast Magazine, San Diego Magazine, and Daybreak Magazine, the project helped bring the conversation around environmental storytelling and women’s representation in surf culture to a broader audience.

daybreak magazine