We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Heather & Joseph McGarty a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Heather & Joseph, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

All it takes is one bold decision to rewrite your entire life. The two of us were living in a 1 bedroom apartment outside of New York City, we were drowning in $3500 monthly rent payments, and we were recently married. We really began to feel the pressures of the career race and the pressure to buy a house and start planning for a family. We had a feeling that there had to be another option, another way to live and find fulfillment. We could have never expected what came next. The two of us have always been inspired by travel, and we had an opportunity come our way to purchase a retired school bus. We had heard about van life and once we started down the rabbit hole we couldn’t shake the feeling that this was the bold decision we needed to rewrite our story. So at the start of 2024 we purchased a big yellow school bus. mind you, we had 0 experience with carpentry, electrical, plumbing, welding, or any sort of skill related to converting a school bus into a home on wheels. Staring at the bus in our driveway however, we had no choice now but to learn. And so we did, with some help from friends and family, we dedicated every weekend from January to November to the painstaking challenge of turning the bus into a fully off-grid capable home on wheels. just before 2025 got underway, we, along with our two dogs (Moose and Maple) Hit the road. we spent 18 months living full-time in our converted school bus, this was our risk fully realized. We did not know what challenges or opportunities would find us on the road, but after building the bus, we had a newfound confidence, and maybe a hint of delusion, that we could handle anything that came our way. And so we did for a year and a half. Now we stand at the crossroads of another big risk. We have chosen to leave behind our full-time careers to pursue our passion of capturing stories through photography and film. Are we ready to leave behind predictable paychecks, health benefits, and a corporate backed safety net… maybe not, but much like purchasing the bus, we have put ourselves in a position that we have no choice but to learn. And we will, we don’t know what this next chapter has in store for us, but we are ready and maybe slightly delusioned to face it head on. Someone asked us what we believe in recently. Our answer boils down to three key components. 1. Each other 2. our own two feet to step boldly into the unknown 3. that the universe will rise to meet our feet where we step…. We have burned the ships, the only way is forward.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Heather and I both graduated from the same film program in the Hudson Valley, and from the beginning, we were drawn to storytelling. We aim to find honest, creative ways to bring real human experiences to life through photo and film. We spent nearly a decade working in corporate healthcare videography, learning how to tell meaningful stories within a corporate system. But over time, we felt the pull toward something more personal, stories that live a little closer to the bone.

So we have stepped away and built something of our own. Together, we have combined our creative instincts with our technical background to create a fully mobile production studio, living and working out of a converted school bus. It has given us the freedom to meet people where they are (Literally) and tell the stories in the environments that shape them.

On the road, we have had the privilege of capturing deeply personal moments, from weddings and elopements, to the day to day lives of western ranchers. Most consistently, we work as videographers and editors for the “Tiny House Giant Journey” YouTube channel, traveling the country to film unique homes (Like our own) and, more importantly, the people behind them. the builders, the dreamers, the ones who chose a different path.

Roaming with Moose Studios is an extension of how we see the world. We are inspired by nature, by movement, and by the human condition. What we aim to offer to our clients or our audience, is storytelling that feels honest. not overly polished, not manufactured, but rooted in the bones of the story.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

To Inspire and be inspired by those stories that illustrate what it takes to take a leap of faith and the courage one must have to ditch the mold and step into the unknown.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

This is challenging because of our nomadic lifestyle. We are never in one place for very long and so building a clientelle is a unique problem to solve for. What we have found is a simple concept, names and conversations. The most interesting aspect of living on the road are not the mountain views or the west coast sunsets, rather the people and the stories they have to tell. Everyone has a name and we have created a habit of learning most everyones name we come across. its a baseline for respect and feeling seen, whether its a cashier at the supermarket checkout, or the neighbors we find at a roadside pullout for the night, each and everyone of us has a name, has a story, and usually, wants to feel seen. over the course of our journey there have been many seemingly normal conversations that have led to a story and to work.

One example of this, we were at our very first rodeo in Bozeman Montana. The atmosphere of the event was on fire. With the camera in hand we were photographing everything we could. Towards the end of the event the montana sun put on a spectacle as it began to set behind the arena. I needed to get out of the bleachers and on the ground to get the bull riders in line with the sun. to do that i had to smooth talk my way past the security guard into the VIP section on the ground. After some convincing, i squeezed in between some ranch owners to capture the moment. The photo was exceptional, but the tap on my shoulder led to so much more. The ranch owners next to me asked if i had managed to capture their sons first bull ride in the junior division. I scrolled back to show them and sure enough I had his whole 8 second run frame by frame, and then the next voice “How about my nieces run in the barrel racing event” Sure enough i did. we exchanged names, had a conversation and that led to a photography series capturing the day to day stories of ranch owning families across montana, one of which had a zebra named romeo.

The moral of the story, is that when you truly immerse yourself in the world, and bring presence to a normal conversation, you never know who you might meet and what relationships you may forge.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://roamingwithmoosestudios.com
• Instagram: @roamingwithmoose
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RoamingWithMoose
• Other: Tik Tok: @roamingwithmoose

Image Credits

All Credits go to Roaming With Moose