About Me
Hey! I’m Kristin Smith, an independent contractor and owner of LIGHT BACKPACK,LLC.
Light Backpack is more than a company name or brand, it is a motto that embodies some of my key values and a high-level philosophy I live by each day.
My home base is in Kanab, UT but I live a very nomadic lifestyle that includes regular adventures to new destinations and a work schedule that requires travel to some of the best locations and national parks in the US. While I love anything outdoors, my primary passions are running, hiking, and shed hunting. I am a certified Wilderness First Responder who has the privilege of regularly volunteering for The Wave patrol and serving as a Trail Ambassador for Grand Staircase’s conservation and stewardship programs.
Most recently my career has been focused on event management, I am currently under contract serving as Product and Operations Manager with Vacation Races, who offers national park half marathons, ultra marathons, and trail running festivals within the US and running adventure trips in a variety of international locations.
My start in event design and operations initially revolved around healthy cooking and eating. I have a health supportive culinary chef degree from Natural Gourmet Institute. I had a stint as an entrepreneur where I founded and operated a cooking school called Orange Kitchen that educated adults and kids on nutrition, how to cook, and eat healthy. Orange Kitchen offered hands-on education through a variety of introductory cooking classes, advanced chef lessons, and hosted private events. As an extension of the cooking school, I also created a product line of cannabis/CBD infused cooking oil and butter that empowered home chefs to make their own DIY edibles.
Prior to starting my own business, I worked at a delivery start-up (Food Made Fresh), an Indian restaurant (Babu Ji), a world renowned health resort and spa (Cal-a-vie), a Michelin-starred restaurant (Blenhiem), a recreational cooking school (Hudson Table), and a culinary incubator (Le Gourmet Factory).
For the first 15+ years of my career I was a digital experience design leader, a role that was always customer-facing, leading a cross-functional team, with a primary focus on customer experience design and support.
Customer-centered design and operations have been at the heart of everything I have done professionally, for big and small brands and within a variety of environments including corporate, start-ups, volunteering programs, outdoor excursions, wilderness backpacking trips, small businesses, and restaurant kitchens.
203.767.2226
Degree
- Bachelor, Marketing | Penn State
- Culinary Chef | NGI
Certifications
- Wilderness First Responder | NOLS
- First Aid/CPR/AED | Red Cross
- Leave No Trace | LNT Org
- Shed Hunting | Utah DNR
- Offroading | Utah DNR
- Map & Compass | REI
- Homestead Cooking | Farm School
- Food Safety & Handling | ServSafe
- Nutrition Coach L1 | Precision
- Boxing Training | Boxing & Barbells
- Suspension Fitness Training | TRX
