Today we’d like to introduce you to Raven Morgan
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I never saw this coming, In 2018, I got a call from the USPS fraud department, explaining that my rather sharp elderly father had been a victim of a large Jamaican scam. So, dad was broke, the scammers set up automatic transfers from his bank account and they had been paying themselves as employees for a long time. When I got the call, the investigator said I must inform my father asap and ask him how he wanted to deal with this; the scammers next move was set to transfer dad’s 58-acre Hocking Hills Property and social security money to Jamacia. If that happened, there would be nothing that we could do to get it back and dad would be forced to move. Learning of this situation, my husband and I knew that if we were going to get this situation under control, we would be forced to stop competing as martial artists and be required to move from Columbus Ohio to the hocking Hills.
I called an emergency family meeting; my brother Dane and I immediately tried to buy the property from dad so he could have some money but still be able to stay on the property. Dad said, “I have always planned to give you two the property so why not transfer it early.” Dad was unwilling to take the money for the property so he put it in our names to protect it from the scammers; dad continued to live on the property and that kept him happy and well. Now the property would be safe from logging, hunting, and exploitation of its natural resources and that brought our family great peace!
My husband Dustin Weatherby, my brother Dane, and I knew that in order to afford the 58 acres and structures on the property, we needed a strong plan and a major investment of time/energy/money. Since Dane builds up to 100 barndiminiums a year, and Dustin is the lead sculptor of sculptdecor, we quickly got to work repairing our two 1/2 of a mile long roads on the property by use of shovels, putting on new roofs, repairing trails, stripping structures down to the studs, and adding external/ internal insulation to the structures while using sustainable modern approaches to repairing and renovating all the structures. We focused on using recycled materials first, and focusing on systems that would cause less harm to wildlife and biodiversity. After years of this, Dustin and I started to create the art installations within the structures on the property.
Our artist backgrounds and lifestyle coaching led our design and amenity decisions. The themes that can be felt within our unique vacation homes and throughout the property at Ravens Retreat Hocking Hills are wellness, connection, sustainability, discipline, mindfulness, and respect for all life forms. We were sure to bring a sense of nature indoors and expose people to something they have not experienced before. So, we collected many recycled materials, and things we could use like a down trees, and repurposed them in a way to help invite resourceful and critical thinking that we have put into all of our work. As an effort to get people interested in nature, we have over a mile of hiking trails on the property with two meditation areas, and two functional fitness stations on our wellness trail in our forest.
Looking back, it has taken us over 5 years to create Ravens Retreat Hocking Hills, and in its current state, the property offers several vacation rental experiences, the Unique Art Lodge and Pollinator Tiny Bungalow. Our Added value experiences are bookable live sculpture performances where Dustin often uses wood to carve something special for guests, guided nature walks, and an interactive art tours within the art lodge. This is where Dustin and I walk with guests throughout the Art Lodge and discuss the creation process and the symbolism guests perceive within the art installations.
We have called upon botanists and naturalists to help advise us on the best practices to maintain and manage biodiversity and wildlife health. There is a 220 ft elevation change on the property so this allows many types of wildlife to thrive here. Additionally, there are several natural springs where you can lean over and drink from the ground due to the purity of the water. Ravens Retreat is a wildlife release site for orphaned and injured wildlife; and we take this fact serious and do our best to cause as little impact on the habitat as possible. This leads us to installing certain lighting and seeming picky about chemical use, but we assure everyone, it is with the best intention in mind. It is important to us that we strive to reduce the suffering of others and do as little harm as possible. Humans can often be the most invasive species and we must be present and think about our actions and how they are connected to other life forms.
This experience of creating a property where we can help show guests that nature is the best sculptor and that mental wellness should be every person’s top priority has been our life focus for many years. Since we are competitive martial artists/athletes and vegan lifestyle coaches, we feel this property provides us the opportunity to show guests that connecting with the natural world and optimizing the human brain literally changes the way people eat, live, and treat each other. Sadly, most people go on vacation to get away from their lives but then after vacation go back into the same stressful and unhealthy living situation. This isn’t living, this is existing in a depressed and anxious way that lacks purpose. At Ravens Retreat Hocking Hills, we have deliberately curated the experience to be conducive to a positive shift in perception and creativity. We hope this change of mindset allows guest to develop mindful habits that can create wellness, discipline, connection, self-love, and joy.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not a smooth road. After dad lost almost everything to the scammers, we realized we would have to work harder than we have ever worked to take care of dad and keep the property. Being a caretaker quickly became overwhelming, but we just had to keep pushing forward. I quickly learned that tearing out walls in the structures and shoveling a driveway over 1/2 of a mile long was very hard work. The amount of discipline, drive, and determination needed to make Ravens Retreat Hocking Hills has been almost unimaginable. If it wasn’t for hard work, our martial arts background, our tight knit family, a strong marriage, healthy vegan minds and bodies, I do not think we could have ever made this retreat happen. I still cannot believe we finally got the Unique Art Lodge done. Wow that place is huge and one of a kind! You have to see it, feel it, and experience it to believe it!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Throughout my life I have always had a passion for standing up for what is right. At times that meant, beating up bullies on the playground in elementary school, freeing captive insects and wild animals no matter what the consequences were, and teaming up with the shy kid in the class because I did not want this person to be alone or singled out. At the age of 12, I stopped eating the flesh of animals. I realized my geographic location provides me opportunities that do not require me to eat flesh. Knowing that an animal who didn’t want to give their life for my 15-minute meal was treated as a commodity due to my consumption would no longer be part of my life. By the age of 20, I was working as Vet Tech; this allowed me to view many large animal farms. This experience confirmed what I thought, these sentient beings not only value their lives, like we humans do, but they also experience anxiety, sadness, joy, connection, and curiosity, just like humans. And the way the humans were treated on the farms was far from fair, I would even go to say it is very unjust. By my late 20’s, I realized that not eating meat wasn’t enough, who was I kidding, I knew better. I witnessed what happens to mothers producing milk on these farms, and I witnessed the screams of the mothers calling to their babies taken from them so humans can consume their milk. On countless occasions I have been shocked to have people approach me and inform me that my actions have inspired significant change in their life. It is such an honor to maintain the mental wellness needed to stand firm against injustices and never regret doing it. I feel my purpose in life is to help others realize that we can almost always be a better version of ourselves if we give our bodies nutrition based on science and maintain our self-worth by standing up for what is right.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Books:
The Ethics of What We Eat-Peter Singer
Fiber Fuled-Will Bulsiewicz
Your Body in Balance-Neal Barnard
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ravensretreathockinghills.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ravensretreathockinghills
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ravensretreathockinghills
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sculptdecor
