We recently connected with Margareth Allegany Twigg and have shared our conversation below.

Margareth Allegany , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

One of the most unexpected challenges I’ve faced came not from business itself, but from losing the very things that shaped my identity. My father, my body, and my sense of creative purpose.

I was raised in rural Alaska, in a home without running water or electricity, but surrounded by beauty, freedom, and inspiration. My dad had a boundless passion for life, and my mom captured that passion through photography. I was the wild child, riding my uncle’s pet moose, Mussolini, practicing archery from its back, always chasing movement, art, and adventure. My creativity was never just a hobby, it was my way of seeing the world. But everything changed when I was eight and my dad passed away. We moved to Minnesota, and I entered a world that didn’t understand me. I felt like I had to shrink just to survive. That spark I had? It dimmed.

As I got older, I found myself in a toxic relationship with someone who introduced me to the modeling world. He was a photographer, and I ended up tying my creative worth to his validation. When it ended, I felt stripped of everything, like I wasn’t good enough to create anything on my own. And then, right when I was already feeling lost, my body broke down too. I tore my ACL and meniscus skiing at Alyeska and developed severe nerve damage. Ski patrol never came. I had to punch my knee back into place and ski down backwards by myself. I was told I might not walk normally again. Then came a torn labrum, repeated shoulder dislocations, another knee surgery, and a fall through a deck at work that re-injured everything. On top of it all, I got mold poisoning that left me with a daily fever for months. I could barely get out of bed.

Recovery was brutal. It took me three months to even begin to move again. I went backward more times than I can count. It was physically painful, yes, but the mental battle was even harder. And that was the moment I realized: no one was going to save me. I had to do it myself. A very classic lesson everyone tells you but really with everything you need to learn it for yourself to value it to its truest potential.

So I did.

I started going to the gym. I started creating again. I found inspiration in others, and slowly, I rebuilt myself, not into the person I was before, but into someone stronger. Someone I recognized. Someone who could find beauty in chaos and still choose to believe in magic.

This was not an easy journey. And I think it’s one of the most important challenges that many of us either face—or avoid—for our entire lives: the challenge of rediscovering your fire when everything that once fueled it is gone.

Hard moments will come. But if you treat them like dead ends, they will break you. If you see them as chapters, as lessons, as teachers, you will grow. You’ll learn who you are. And that’s what matters.

My dad used to say, Absortes Moris in Victoria—“death is swallowed up in victory.” To him, death wasn’t something to fear. It was the end of a story worth telling. And that’s what I live for now: to make my story worth telling. To live fully, love boldly, and inspire others to find their spark, even in the dark. Especially in the dark.

So if there’s one message I want to leave with others, it’s that nobody else is going to hand you your light. You have to find it. But when you do, you become unstoppable.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

About Me, My Work & What I Stand For

My name is Margareth Allegany Twigg, but everyone calls me Allegany. I’m 19 years old, and I grew up in Talkeetna, Alaska a small mountain town full of climbers, artists, and people living life on their own terms. My childhood wasn’t typical. It was wild, raw, and beautiful. I was raised in the mountains, in a home without running water or electricity, surrounded by adventure, grit, and storytelling. When I was four years old, I went hunting with my dad and crawled inside a black bear while it was being cleaned. That moment captures the kind of childhood I had, one most people couldn’t imagine, but one I’m incredibly grateful for.

My father was larger than life. He was a climber, diver, hunter, bodybuilder, actor, and everything in between. He taught me that you can live a thousand lifetimes in one if you’re brave enough to fully embrace life. That mindset of living boldly, truthfully, and with passion, is the foundation of everything I do and everything I share.

But my story isn’t just adventure and freedom. I’ve also faced deep trauma, intense loss, and physical breakdown. I lost my dad when I was eight. I got into a toxic relationship that pushed me far beyond my limits. I suffered injury after injury as a competitive skier ACL tears, fractured tailbone, broken ribs, torn shoulders, nerve damage. I had three surgeries in a year and a half. I lived in constant pain. I lost the ability to move, to ski, to do what I loved and it broke me. And on top of all that, I’ve battled addiction, chronic illness, and self-doubt.

For a long time, I felt like everything that gave me identity had been stripped away. But slowly, I started to rebuild. I picked up my camera again, the way my mom used to when I was little. I began capturing the world the way I saw it. I shared photos, thoughts, and raw stories on Instagram and something shifted. People resonated with what I was saying. I started talking about the gym, about taking my body back, about finding beauty in struggle. And people listened. They saw themselves in my story. I realized that my brand wasn’t a company or a business it was me.

Today, my “brand” is rooted in realness. It’s about reminding people that healing, creativity, and self-reinvention are possible even after rock bottom. I create because it keeps me alive. I post because I know someone out there needs to hear that they’re not alone. I talk about pain, injury, strength, movement, creativity, and everything in between. I share my life not to look perfect, but to show the truth behind the photo. Behind every shot I post is a story, a journey, a decision to keep going.

I don’t sell a product—I offer perspective, honesty, and connection. I show up online as myself: messy, evolving, and full of love for this world. And I hope that by sharing my story, someone else finds the strength to share theirs—or to start rewriting it.

What sets me apart is that I’ve lived through a lot for someone my age, and I’m not afraid to talk about it. I don’t sugarcoat life, but I do look for beauty in it. I believe that even in our lowest moments, there is something worth holding onto. And I want people to know that success isn’t about being unbreakable it’s about learning how to put yourself back together.

So if there’s one thing I want people to know about my work, my life, or my “brand,” it’s this: you can always begin again. You can live nine lives in one. And you don’t have to wait to be perfect to be powerful. You just have to be real.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A powerful lesson I had to unlearn is that other people’s words get to define what I’m capable of. It sounds simple, but for a long time, it shaped the way I saw myself and my future.

When I was eight, one of my biggest bullies wasn’t a classmate it was someone in my own family. I was told I wasn’t smart enough, that I was too wild, too scattered, too me. And when you’re young and hear those kinds of things from the people you trust, and don’t know that it’s based on the spine of insecurity’s they stick. I internalized that narrative for years, especially around the things I loved the most like flying and skiing.

Since I was little, I’ve dreamed of being a pilot. I’ve always had a fire inside me when it comes to flying. But for so long, people told me I’d never make it. That I was “too much,” that I didn’t fit the mold. Because I’m a woman. Because I’m bold. Because I don’t always come across as traditionally academic. People saw the wild energy, the charisma, the chaos and they missed the grit, the discipline, and the dedication behind it. They didn’t see the girl who drives hours to the gym, who shows up relentlessly, who is focused and committed. They saw loud, not capable. And for a while, I believed them.

But eventually, I realized their words were never about me. They were about their own limitations. Their inability to see something different succeed. I had to unlearn the idea that external voices hold more weight than my own truth. I had to unlearn the belief that dreams have prerequisites or that only a certain kind of person gets to live them out.

Now, I’m chasing those dreams. I’m working toward becoming a bush pilot. I want to fly for Alaska Airlines. I want to earn my helicopter license and do heli-ski guiding. And maybe, one day, even fly fighter jets. I don’t just want to prove others wrong I want to prove myself right.

The truth is: the world will try to put you in a box. It will tell you to quiet down, to play small, to be realistic. But life is so much bigger than that. There are no real limitations only the ones we accept. I’ve learned that being “too much” is actually my superpower. And I plan on using it to break barriers, not stay behind them.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Can you tell us the story of how you built your audience on social media? Any advice for those just starting to build a social media presence?

I don’t have a massive following but I’ve definitely seen real growth over the past year, and I’ve built a strong, supportive community just by being myself. That’s really the key. The moment I stopped trying to post what I thought people wanted to see and started sharing what felt true to me, everything shifted.

When I was posting to fit a mold, nothing felt authentic and people can sense that. But once I started sharing my real life my recovery, my photography, my gym progress, my thoughts, the raw behind-the-scenes of everything I’ve gone through people connected. They didn’t just follow the content; they followed the story. They followed the honesty.

Social media today is loud. It’s fast. It’s saturated. Everyone’s doing something. But what cuts through the noise is authenticity. My best advice for anyone starting out is this: be yourself, fully. That is your power. Your story, your voice, your weirdness, your passion it’s what makes you different. Don’t worry about trends or pleasing everyone. Focus on building something real. That’s how you create not just an audience, but a community.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: AlleganyTwigg

Image Credits

No one :)