Today we’d like to introduce you to Jaye White.
Hi Jaye, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My life has been one big adventure, and that’s exactly how I want it.
I grew up in Silver Bay, Minnesota, a small town on Lake Superior’s North Shore. At 16, I left home to attend the Perpich Center for Arts Education, Arts High School. I was really into theater and Silver Bay, at the time, didn’t have a theater program at all. After graduating from AHS, I moved to New York City to attend the New York Conservatory for the Dramatic Arts.
While in NYC I worked at an off-Broadway theater and through that job got a job working on a TV show called “Veronica Mars” which filmed in San Diego. After the show ended, I worked on a few other productions in the San Diego area before getting married and moving to Northern California. There I started working in photography and blog writing and had the opportunity to travel for various photography projects.
When I had my first son my husband and I decided that Minnesota would be a better place to raise our family. We ended up moving an hour north of my hometown to Grand Marais, another small community on the North Shore, but this one had more opportunities for creative minds. There I took a job as a reservationist for a small vacation rental company called Cascade Vacation Rentals. When I took the job, I thought it would be short-term until I found something better suited for my creative skills. As it turns out, taking the job would be the catalyst to starting my own business.
Eventually, since I had photography, videography, and blog writing skills from my previous careers, I was assigned to take property photos, virtual tours, and started managing the company’s blog and social media accounts. I was promoted to Social and Digital Media Director and my department grew to include two other, my good friend Martha Finley and my husband Cody. After a couple of years of doing that I suggested that the company start a tourism-related podcast. It was approved, and my podcast “Exploring the North Shore” was born in the summer of 2019.
In January of 2020, the podcast had grown so much that it was decided that the would separate from Cascade Vacation Rentals and become its own entity. I was also given permission to use my now-vast library of area photos and video clips to develop a tourism-related website that I could manage separately from Cascade. After working out a deal with my employers at Cascade, the Exploring Company LLC was born! The Exploring the North Shore podcast and website serve as a guide for visitors to Lake Superior’s North Shore. I, along with my co-host Martha Finley, continue to host the podcast and build the website.
Now, my family (which has grown to three kids) is relocating to northern Portugal in the fall of 2023 and I hope to expand The Exploring Company LLC to include Exploring Portugal in addition to continuing to grow Exploring the North Shore, as I will continue coming back to Minnesota several times a year for work. I love that I have been able to take what essentially started as a hobby and grow it into my own business.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Life is always an adventure. There have been many bumps in the road, but everything has led to where I am today, and where we will be going soon, and I wouldn’t change anything.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a photographer, videographer, and writer. In addition to managing the Exploring website, podcast, and social media platforms, I also do work with my local community. In 2021 I did a series with Cook County Public Health called “Voices of Vaccination” and am currently working on a project with the Community Health Board on a series about Well Child check-ups. I have done some projects with local businesses to get them media they can use on their social media platforms, as well. Always trying to help the community in any way I can.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My bosses at Cascade Vacation Rentals, Steve Surbaugh and Mike Larson, were huge supporters of my transition to “Exploring the North Shore”. In addition to moral support, they have provided financial support by sponsoring the podcast and the website and helping get it all off the ground. My amazing husband, Cody, has also been a huge support. Finally, without my co-host and partner Martha Finley, none of this would be possible. I also have the original co-host of the podcast, Joe Friedrichs to thank for sharing his podcasting knowledge (he is the host of the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast).
Contact Info:
- Website: exploringnorthshore.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/exploringnorthshore?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/exploringnorthshore/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@exploringthenorthshore6795
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@staycvr
Image Credits
Jaye White
Martha Finley
