Ubud, Bali – via Portland, United States
What if freedom was a craft? For Kevin, it is — a quiet art of tuning in, aligning deep longings with deliberate design.
Accompanied by fluttering butterflies and birdsong, Kevin and I sit beside the pool in a quiet little oasis in Ubud. Though he lives in Portland, Oregon, he often travels, drawn to places that give his soul space. At the time of our conversation, some years back, that place is Bali.
Travel wasn’t always possible. Growing up, his family couldn’t afford it. But even then, a quiet determination took root: one day, he would create the life he longed for. Not just financially free, but spacious, conscious, and aligned with his values. His friends call him a life strategist. Not because he chases empires, but because he makes choices with care. Kevin builds his life around freedom, crafting ventures that are intentional and human. For him, money isn’t the goal, it’s a resource to serve the heart.
What inspires me most is this idea: that we can build lives — and work, and rhythms, and finances — that support what truly matters to us. Whatever your season, whatever your longing.
Freedom, by design
““I don’t chase freedom. I create the conditions for it. Because freedom isn’t a destination, it’s a way of building, of being. It’s in the small, conscious choices. That’s where the magic lives.”
A path shaped by instinct
Kevin didn’t follow a traditional path. He had just one “real job” when he was fifteen. Even then, he could choose his own schedule. That sense of autonomy lit a spark. Later, he helped friends fix and flip cars. He organized student ski trips. Eventually, he found himself surrounded by people who thought differently, young, creative entrepreneurs who saw life as possibility rather than prescription.
In his final semester, he studied in Rome. That changed everything. “It opened my eyes,” he says. “Not just to travel, but to the fact that I could live differently.” When he returned, a corporate job offer came with a warning label: two weeks of vacation per year. That one sentence was enough. He declined, not out of rebellion, but out of clarity.
“There’s a quiet revolution in learning to trust the timing of your own life. In seeing rest as fertile, not idle. In trusting that some seeds bloom later, and that’s okay.”
Playfulness as practice
“I didn’t have parents who modeled what I wanted,” he tells me. “That could’ve felt like a loss. But to me, it was freedom. A blank canvas.” He decided not to inherit a life he didn’t choose. Instead, he built one that did not yet exist.
Kevin speaks of life as if it were a game, not to be taken lightly, but to be lived with curiosity and joy. “We’re most creative when we treat life lightly,” he says. “You don’t play a game fearfully. You play it for the thrill of what could be.”
That playfulness became a guiding thread. In business. In community. In the way he relates to time. Even now, he still catches himself choosing ease over stress, spaciousness over urgency, and sees how the right things often flow from there.
“Sometimes, not chasing is the bravest move of all.”
Fear as a compass
Fear, for Kevin, isn’t something to conquer. It’s something to listen to. A compass that points to where something matters. “I didn’t know exactly what I wanted,” he says, “but I was clear on what I couldn’t do. And that became my guide.”
As we talk, I’m reminded how much of the entrepreneurial mindset — the kind that actually innovates — is rooted not in hustle, but in presence. In the courage to listen to that inner voice that says: you can do this differently.
Kevin doesn’t work with a strict five-year plan. He works with trust. With small, conscious choices that align over time. And with the belief that timing isn’t just logistical, it’s sacred. That what’s meant to unfold, will.
This is just the beginning of Kevin’s story. Read the full portrait in the upcoming Living a Barefoot Lifestyle Magazine.
Photography: Veronica Roberts
Production and text: Michèle Bevoort
Location: Trinity Gardens, Ubud
© Copyright 2025
BEHIND THE SCENES…
Kevin & photographer Veronica
Veronica in action at ‘The Mansion’
The neighbours checking in
The extended story of Kevin will be featured in the Living a Barefoot Lifestyle magazine. Want to stay updated on new portraits or the magazine launch? Please subscribe to the newsletter or follow The Barefoot Diaries on Instagram.