I was named after my dad, a great uncle, and the jazz standard Freddie the Freeloader (my parents had high hopes). I grew up in Boulder, Colorado but I didn’t start climbing until after college while I was living in Washington state.

I have a degree in environmental journalism. I’ve worked as a barista, in a brewery, as a journalist, a content writer, an agricultural census enumerator (ask me about the guy who told me how he chose a cow heart valve replacement over a pig valve because he raised cattle and therefore trusted them more), and a proposal writer for an energy efficiency consulting company. I like to tell stories and jokes. I love connecting with people and I’m always trying to understand myself and others better. Podcasts are my favorite way to learn and to feel new things. 

This podcast is made up of stories and jokes - both my own and others’ - that came out of my need to understand my own fears and failures.

Before I started climbing or making audio stories, I worked as a journalist for a handful of small publications around the American West. My storytelling, interviewing, and research experience comes from those years telling the stories of others. Through Buddy Check, I’m still holding space for others to share their stories and I’m weaving my own in too. Thank you for being here.