Who is behind all these Wayward shenanigans? Guilty…me…Katie Rae Allison. Yes, I go by Katie Rae. My dad named me all three, my friends shoved the first two together, it spilled over into my professional life and just stuck. My soul family calls me K.R.🖤

I was just a long haired, barefoot, dusty faced kid growing up among the sagebrush and cactus of Southeastern Montana. I didn’t know much of a world beyond constantly being on the roads of The Last Best Place. We were either pulling a rusty trailer to a rodeo, petting the dog on the floor board on the way to the next horse to heal, or with a road atlas on my lap adding up miles for my mom and hanging tight to the quarter I was given to call my grandma at the next pay phone. That was until we moved into an apartment of the bustling metropolis of Miles City, MT. Don’t get me wrong, Mama was doing her best and Cowtown is plenty beautiful, but spiritual awakenings never come during times of celebration.

You know that kid movie, Spirit? That scene where he’s caught in the canyon and all the ropes fly into the air and wrap around his neck? That’s what a basement apartment feels like to a wild child that used to get kicked out of the house with a sandwich and a water bottle and told to watch for snakes and don’t come back until supper.

The rest of growing up kept a tight hold of the rope. I’d get a whiff of the wind and take off running. Right to the end of my rope. Constantly told that what I believed, what I said, what I thought, was wrong. Was bad. Was not “right” because it wasn’t what everyone else was doing. It wasn’t spelled out in some book or building of significance. But friends, God doesn’t put a big, burning, wild flame in your heart just for your butt to wear a rut in a bench, to hold hands with weeds that choke wildflowers, and to convene with people so windy that a simple exchange of pleasantries will try to snuff that flame.

Just like that wild ass horse, I knew that what made me who I am, what fed my soul, what opened my doors to endless possibilities was still out there waiting for me. I grit my teeth and dug in my heels determined to go there again. Labeled a rebel when I was just trying to survive.

It didn’t happen in a day, or a year, hell, I’m still on my way. But, I never made it here alone. Life is a long, winding, wild road. There’s times you can rest in it’s liberating scenery, and there’s times it’ll try to take you out of this world completely. That’s just life. My biggest lessons so far are who you keep as company makes all the difference, and that blood has nothing to do with real family.

All I’ve wanted was to see new places, experience new things, and meet new people while wearing bad ass clothes, listening to bad ass music, and being my true, authentic self. Why not do all that with a group of like minded, like hearted, like spirited people? Why not create a space for all of us to join in, conversate, create, and encourage each other. Know that it is completely ok for you to be you. Even if you’re the only one doing it. Don’t worry. There’s more out there like you. Like us. Wayward Company is your hub, your home, your family to check back into while you’re out on your adventures.

Stay in good company. Join the Junkies on Facebook. We even have our own playlist🤘🏼

Long live the gritty. Xo.

-K.R.