A little about me

Hi, I’m Rio.

I've spent the better part of two decades exploring what it means to live a life that actually feels like my own and helping other people do the same.

I'm curious about people, fascinated by the ways we make sense of ourselves and the world, and endlessly interested in what happens when we start questioning some of the things we've always taken for granted.

My own life has taken me through a fair number of identities, reinventions, unexpected turns, and moments when the story I thought I was living stopped making sense.

I grew up as a good Mormon boy, eventually found my way into the worlds of fashion, travel, fitness, spirituality, sexuality, and personal growth, and spent years exploring what it means to live beyond the expectations I inherited.

Being gay has been a significant part of that journey. It invited me to question the rules around identity, belonging, love, and what it means to live a life that feels like my own.

For more than 16 years, I've worked with people around some of the places where life gets complicated: shame, sexuality, self-worth, relationships, identity, desire, creativity, and the stories we've built about who we're supposed to be.

Much of that work was centered around gay and queer men, and that community has shaped me deeply. Over time, though, I've become less interested in helping people fix themselves and more interested in what happens when we stop treating ourselves as a problem to solve.

I'm interested in making room for all the parts of ourselves we've been taught to hide, embracing the contradictions that come with being human, and letting go of the versions of ourselves we've created to fit in, be accepted, or feel safe. I don't think we need to resolve every paradox or become perfectly healed people to live more fully. In fact, sometimes the freedom comes from allowing ourselves to be a little more complicated.

These days, my work takes a few different forms. Sometimes it's a one-on-one conversation, exploring something that's happening in your life or helping you find clarity around something you're ready to create. Sometimes it's a retreat, a group experience, or time spent reconnecting with nature and one another. I love being able to meet people where they are, follow what's emerging, and help create space for something new to take shape.

I live in Sedona, where I've been building a life rooted in community, nature, creativity, curiosity, and a willingness to follow what feels alive.

I believe life is more interconnected than we usually remember. I experience the natural world as alive, not as something separate from us, and I find a lot of wisdom in remembering that we're participants in life rather than people standing outside of it trying to figure everything out.

That's part of what draws me to gathering people together, particularly queer people. I'm interested in what happens when we get out of our usual environments, put down some of the stories we've been carrying, pay attention to our bodies and the world around us, and give ourselves room to experience something different.

I love a good conversation, a beautiful hike, music that takes me somewhere, a house full of interesting people, and the kind of experiences that remind me how much there is to enjoy about being here.

I don't do five-step plans for becoming a better version of yourself.

I'm much more interested in the person who's already here.

And in the question I've been coming back to for years:

What else might be possible if we stopped trying so hard to make ourselves make sense?

I'm glad you're here.