LewisTalk.com is currently seeking team members who live, work, and play in Lewis County. We are looking for smart, motivated individuals who love to share positive stories about the communities within Lewis County. To apply to be a freelance writer, send your resume along with a 200-word writing sample about why you love your community to submit@lewistalk.com.

Dan Jones, Founder, Research and Development

Dan has been running his own businesses in the technology realm for the last 13 years. He currently has around 50 team members working between his six organizations. After receiving his Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree from Western Washington University and Master of Science degree from City University, he focused on building products that create long-term impacts in the marketplace. When not working long hours as an entrepreneur, Dan enjoys skiing, windsurfing and spending time with his wife and twins in Olympia.

Stephen Backholm, VP of Technology

Stephen is passionate about using technology to help businesses succeed.  He has 12+ years experience architecting and managing large, enterprise systems, and has held a variety of senior technology leadership positions. He enjoys spending time cooking, drinking well-made wines, and traversing the mountains and valleys of North America.  Stephen is happily married to a beautiful girl named Paige and together they have four amazing children. He holds a BS in Computer Science from Western Washington University. Stephen has cried three times in his life: at the birth of his first child, when Spain won the World Cup in 2010, and during the final scene of Rudy.

Krysta Carper, Publisher

Krysta Carper has lived in Lewis County since the age of three, currently residing in Adna. She and her husband have four amazing sons. She enjoys spending time with her family in the beautiful outdoors of the Pacific Northwest, hiking and camping. She is currently the editor and publisher for LewisTalk.com and loves to share stories of positivity with the community. She has a Bachelor of Applied Management from Centralia College.

Greg Carlson

Greg Carlson has been writing for various Washington state-based community organizations since 2007 and fell in love with Lewis County in 2014 when his in-laws moved to nearby Rochester. In 2021 he finally moved to Chehalis with his wife and dogs. He likes chronicling the current and future establishments and people that make Lewis County unique. In his spare time, he enjoys exploring various Pacific Northwest backroads and attending local concerts.

Kia Huffman

Kia Huffman moved to Lewis County at the start of her freshman year of high school. After graduating from Onalaska High School she moved to Mexico. She worked with non-profits there fighting human trafficking as a documentary photographer. She and her husband returned to Lewis County to start their family and now have two beautiful daughters. She earned her Associate in Arts from Centralia College and is working on her Bachelor’s in Literature and Creative Writing with Antioch University. She enjoys writing stories that celebrate everyday heroes.

Stephanie Evans

Stephanie Evans was raised in Alaska and went to college at Hawaii Pacific University. She currently lives in the incredible town of Adna with her husband Ron and her son Jake.  She enjoys writing for LewisTalk and the positive influence it has on the community. Her life motto is be kind. She loves the Adna Pirates, crafting, coffee, going to the beach and soaking up the sunshine.

Gail Wood

In 25 years as a sports writer and freelance writer, Gail Wood wrote for many magazines and newspapers, including USA Today, the Seattle Times, Costco Magazine, Christian Science Monitor and Athlon Sports. Gail also wrote for the Olympian for 25 years. He also authored a book, Saved Twice, which is about 13 Christian athletes. It can be ordered online.

Farley Walker

Farley Walker grew up in Mississippi, where she earned a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in creative writing. Over the past twenty years, her poetry, essays, and musings on wine and food have found homes in various online and print publications. In 2019 she and her husband moved to Lewis County to start a farm. Read about their journey at starandsparrow.com. In addition to writing and gardening, Farley loves hiking, spending time with her crazy dogs, cooking, crafting, and singing.

Sara Light-Waller

Sara Light-Waller’s writing career began more than 30 years ago at a woman’s advocacy group in Washington D.C. Since then, she’s written for print and online magazines, newspapers, newsletters, blogs, and books on a wide variety of topics from Chinese Medicine to horse care. Her first children’s book was published in 1992 and her first work of adult fiction in 2017. Sara lives in Centralia, Washington. Find her online at saralightwaller.com or lucinapress.com, on Twitter at saralightwaller and on Facebook at @writingbylight.

Kristina Lotz

Kristina Lotz received her Bachelors’s in English and her Masters in Business Administration before becoming a Certified Professional Dog Trainer. Her passion for writing and animals keeps her busy – if she is not doing one she is doing the other! As a freelance writer, she has written about many subjects for a variety of print and web outlets. Even in her spare time, she enjoys writing, riding their horses with her husband or training her personal dogs. If that’s not enough to keep her busy, she also enjoys baking, crafting, cosplaying, and board games with friends.

Jessica Reeves-Rush

Jessica Reeves-Rush is a lifelong Washingtonian from Tenino. She is a graduate from the University of Washington with a Bachelor’s in English Literature and an emphasis in history. She spent 16 years in the family’s furniture business and has a strong background in marketing. Her work as a hobby historian landed her an unusual job as clerk of the Forest Grove Cemetery in Tenino. Jessica is a mother of three and enjoys writing fiction and poetry. She also can’t get enough of the great outdoors and often goes hiking and camping with her family.  Jessica also owns a small farm specializing in dairy goats.

Robin Montgomery

Robin Montgomery grew up in Kailua, Hawaii, but wanted to attend college on the mainland in a place where Christmas trees grew everywhere. She graduated with a bachelor’s in English and elementary education from Seattle Pacific University. There she met her husband, a local boy from Pe Ell. They raised their three children in Centralia and later in Adna, where they currently reside. As a teacher, Robin loves sharing her passion for history, literature and writing with her middle school students at Centralia Christian School. When she isn’t grading papers or designing curriculum, Robin enjoys reading WWII fiction, hiking, camping, and exploring the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

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