Turning of the page is quite symbolic in a new year. But the page can look and feel quite different. At times, I’ve felt the page belongs to a whole new book, or part of a trilogy. Other years seem to pick up on the same page of the same book from the previous year. And this year? Well, I just finished my journal from last year and will begin a fresh page tomorrow. And I think that reality fits pretty well with the start of 2025.

This week, I’ve felt quite thankful for all of the friendships, connections, and relationships in my life. There’s been a stirring in me to rise up, much because of who I had the pleasure of spending time with and connecting with this week. Although there are multiple mentors and people who have impressed upon me this year and throughout my life, there are two ladies who I’ll refer to as VIP’s:  Very Important Paige’s.

These two Paige’s do not know each other, though they are both entrepreneurs, business owners, and friends who pour into me across many facets of our friendships. I had the pleasure to connect with Paige Callaway in Prescott on Monday, and share multiple voice memos and a collaboration post with Paige Heaton throughout the week. Seemed like a perfect post to turn the first page of the year with. Enjoy!

The pink and sherbert sunrise cloaked the open valley as I climbed the hill to Yarnell. It was the first time I’ve driven to this part of Arizona this season. It’s quite majestic; steep, yet sweetly comforting in a way. Something about these mountains feel like I’ve known them longer than I have. Yet they take my breath away as though I’ve seen them for the first time. My quiet morning drive and windshield time would break through the first Monday of the year. I wove my way into Prescott and settled into the coffee shop acting as my office for the day.

A fresh, chilled breeze blew through the door. And suddenly, my dear friend, Paige Callaway, did also. We had planned a working day together, blending conversation and content well into the afternoon. Paige designs and produces fashionable yet functional workwear specifically for women and cowgirls. Her designs are so unique and produced by hand. From team roping to travel and meetings, I’ve usually got something designed by her on my back.

I first discovered Paige and her shirt line on social media while I was living in Montana. The feel and beauty of her clothing spoke loudly to me, and I loved what she had to say outside of fashion, too. Most recently, she was invited to Milan Fashion Week to showcase her designs. Her eye for detail and plays on color and texture is unlike any other I’ve come across. During the 4^th run, I was watching breakaway at Big Fork, and noticed a stylish blonde on the bleachers in front of me. In her wire-rimmed heart shaped glasses, I knew exactly who she was. “You’re Paige! You’re the brand Paige! Oh my goodness I love your line!” I exclaimed. We quickly connected and somehow our paths continued to wind into each other, mostly since we both ended up in Arizona.

I’ve always admired Paige’s ability to be confidently cool about who she is, what she does, and where she is going. It’s not just the clothes, though. It’s who she is and how she shares her gifts. Paige is the entrepreneur who makes me want to go all-in time and time again, continue to think of “what’s next?” and how to get there. She has such depth of her expertise and questions that she asks, yet makes a point to appreciate the small moments, too. Six hours later, Paige joked, “Wow what a week!” I chuckled and agreed the first Monday of the year was a swift one, full of meetings and building new to do lists off the previous ones. It was motivating and encouraging to work next to Paige, and I look forward to the next one.

I drove back to base camp, planner full, head fuller, but not overwhelmed. Something about the start of this year has been more gas, no brake, but smooth on the corners. I can’t think of another year with this much momentum running into 2025. I started to ponder that, more and more. Then, it hit me:  it’s who you run with.

When I first started learning how to ski, I went all in with lessons right away. I wanted to be a technically good skier from the beginning. Initially, I thought I would just want to cruise corduroy groomers. That quickly changed as my abilities developed. When I started skiing with a group of friends from college, my dad would ask me, “Who is the first one down the mountain?” I can tell you it wasn’t me. His advice was when you find yourself being the first one down the mountain, you need to find a new ski group. You will ski better if you go with better skiers.

How true is this in life? We’ve all heard the saying, “You are the five people you surround yourself with daily.” Or my personal favorite spin on the phrase, “Even if you don’t smoke, if you hang out with enough smokers, you’ll smell like one.” The company we keep influences us. We will either be working to keep up with them or battling to keep away from the bad habits we have been around. Now I’m not saying every friend you have has to be contributing to your success or a mentorship relationship. But I can confidently say when I’ve been in rooms or arenas and noticed there’s no one there I want to be like, it was a release to the next thing that was destined for me.

I wrote about the importance of this in a previous post, Why Wild Hearted Drifter. In this season of breathing life into this new destiny entered another VIP aka Very Important Paige into my life. Paige Heaton of No Roots Boots was also a social media connection, at first. One of my college classmates had posted about her boots on Instagram. I was intrigued and followed. Little did I know the humble greeting would be much more than a new pair of boots for the roping arena.

Paige and I were both going to be at Dallas Market at the same time and made plans to connect in person. We had similar flight times back home and shared a meal at the airport. Conversation flowed freely and deeply in a hurry, both speaking to our walks of faith. I think back to that time often, especially with all the bold steps we have both taken since then. No Roots Boots Paige is the one who encourages me in my walk, no matter where I am on the path. At times it’s a leisure trail and others I feel like I’m scaling the Grand Canyon. Our check ins inspire and encourage me, and usually get my brain to run a couple cylinders faster than before. If you follow Paige on social media, you’ll understand just how much this girl can do once she sets her mind to it…and remembers to document it!

A voice memo from Paige came through, asking about a collaboration idea she had. I was honored she thought of me in conjunction with one of her boot brands, which just so happens to be the pair of boots I wear every day on my horse. She collected videos and photos of my journey, sharing them with her followers with the sentiment, “It’s not about the boots. It’s about the women who wear them.” It was truly honoring to be asked, but also be represented with someone else’s words regarding my walk of faith. What a week to be wearing more than just two brands of two Paige’s I used to know on social media and now pull on as friends.

Both Paige’s have made impressions on the pages of my life, and not always in ways that they know. Sometimes it’s being inspired by their social medias, interviews, or words. Other times, it’s much more direct. But I can tell you that both have filled in the margins and pages in full because of what they have poured into me. Everywhere I’ve lived I’ve been blessed to have at least one person who I could count on. Sometimes, those friendships were only several pages long. Others gave me motivation to turn the page sooner and find some fresh space. But then there’s page fillers who fill up the space in ways I didn’t even know existed because magnitude of their hearts and authenticity of their souls. I believe those are the friendships which inspire us to give beyond ourselves, like the spilling over of a jar into another.  The connections we have fuel our futures in ways that we couldn’t do alone.

Two are better than one because they have a more satisfying return for their labor. Ecclesiastes 4:9

If you find yourself thinking of your own friendships or mentors who inspire you, I encourage you to reach out them. Let them know you’re thinking of them. Or that you are thankful for knowing them. My favorite sentiment lately has been, “I love that I know you.” To the Paige’s on my blog page this week, I love that I know both of you and thank you for your inspiration and encouragement this week. The pages in our stories are lived with others, sometimes at distances or in short times spent together. Whoever you turn the pages of your year with, let them know you’re glad they’re here. Keep living each page of 2025 to the fullest, and I’ll see you next week.