Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenny Sheets.
Hi Jenny, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself:
After a 16-year stint away, I moved back to my hometown of the Fargo-Moorhead community in 2021 during the pandemic. Despite the welcoming atmosphere and many opportunities to get involved, I found myself feeling lonely and craving meaningful connections. I became my own case study—exploring why people gather or isolate, how we find communities we trust, and where we choose to linger.
Through a lot of experimentation, I found my niche: focusing on the strategy and infrastructure behind community building (pretty much all the work behind the curtain). I still plan many events, but now I’m always thinking: How will this experience impact the community long-term? How do we build lasting relationships? How do we spread and sustain happiness in our communities?
In 2023, I founded Discover Outdoors with the primary goal of getting people outside, together. That vision has since grown into designing social infrastructure for communities—large and small.
Along the way, I met the founders of the North Dakota Skateboarding Association (NDSA) and got invited to a Women’s Skate meetup. I never could’ve predicted it, but I stepped onto a skateboard and instantly fell in love with the sport. I found an amazing group of women, all learning to skate together—ages 18 to 50. As I got more involved with NDSA, I eventually joined the board in 2023. Since then, we’ve been working hard to open the region’s only indoor skatepark and create inclusive, welcoming skate programming for everyone.
I’ve spent much of my life studying communities and how people move in and out of spaces—both physical and digital. I have a BA in Philosophy and English, a Master’s in Public Administration, and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing. Over the years, I’ve run nonprofit programs, fundraised, designed and led events, managed marketing campaigns, studied user experience and interface design, built companies, and taught college writing. But I still believe that my years working in restaurants taught me almost everything I need to know about human behavior.
I now live in Moorhead, Minnesota with my husband, our three-year-old son, and our wild golden doodle puppy. I prefer to be outside.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Starting a business is hard! They say running your own business, especially a consulting-focused business, is “feast or famine” and they are certainly right. There have been many times in my journey where I struggled to tell my story, because “social infrastructure” and “social design” are not well known concepts. I felt like I really knew what I was doing, but I wasn’t able to explain it. I needed to really focus on messaging, sales, and how I was solving real problems. Throw on top of that: parenting, bringing a puppy into the house, and everything else that life throws at you, and it makes for a wild ride!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My parents were both artists, which has greatly influenced my personal and professional life. Being an artist is being creative, which translates into entrepreneurialism. It’s about creative problem solving, all the time. I am so lucky that my love for art and creativity, as well as my passion for building businesses, has finally come together with Discover Outdoors. I get to dream up ‘alternative worlds’ for events, and design spaces that surprise and delight — all while working with clients and their specific needs. In addition to running my business, I’ve also been a life-long writer, which has provided me with great storytelling skills. As I think of an event, experience, or new space, I ask myself: what’s the story we’re telling here? Who’s the hero? How do we make them happy? I’m also writing a collection of essays spanning my life between Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana.
What are your plans for the future?
I look forward to continuing to build my business and work with clients in a variety of communities, large and small. We just added two new teammates (a marketer and an artist) who can really help amplify our design work. Our big personal life change is that we just sold our house in Moorhead and we’ll be moving to the lakes country for a while. After that, the world is our oyster! It’s a big life change, especially as parents with a four year old, but we’re excited!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.discover-outdoors.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifersheets
- Other: https://www.ndskateboarding.com
