Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to formerly Monica Ketchum, now Monica Foster. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Monica, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.

We recently launched a campaign called BELIEVE IN THE GOOD where we sell tshirts with that saying on it and give 10% of our sales to local LGBTQ family members in need of support. Our current mission is to raise funds and awareness for a local trans woman in Reed City. Lilly is a 17 year old woman who has been bullied for using the women’s bathroom at her high school. Since coming out a year ago, her life has had its ups and downs and we’d love to do everything we can to help Lilly know she’s never alone. The funds from the campaign will help fund surgeries for Lilly to feel her most authentic self.

We look forward to raising awareness based around the LGBTQ community and helping all those that we can. Representation and visibility matter in this world, and we plan to continue to be both as we spread love and light to all.

Always believe in the good.

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

A lot has changed since I interviewed with [you] last time, and that’s always cool for me to see how far I’ve come. I’m Monica Foster, I married my best friend, Michelle, in June of this year and we are blissfully happy. If any of you remember, I was meant to be a Michigan State Police Officer by now but that didn’t work out how we planned and we appreciate that everything happens for a reason. That job offer was rescinded for “confidential reasons” and that chapter was closed. I felt like I didn’t have a purpose since so many doors kept closing, even though we also have so many doors open already! Then another door opened and I’m proud to say, I’m now a school bus driver and it’s where I was always meant to be. On top of that, I’m a creator and my wife and I have built a 170,000 and growing LGBT+ community on Instagram and TikTok (where we accidentally went viral for our age-gap relationship) and we find a lot of joy in helping others feel seen and loved when this life can be lonely at times. Representation matters and we continue to show up with vulnerability, transparency and a voice for those who can’t have one. I’m also still writing my mental health book SheRockHunts, about finding Leland Blues, Agates and Petoskey stones and sanity. I’m hoping to have it published early in 2024. And on top of allll of that, I’m still doing Photography since 2011. We are soaking up all the moments we can on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior as we take care of our mental health while we find treasures and share our experiences on @sherockhunts on Instagram. To add to the list, our LLC we created for our growing community involves us giving back locally. We started the ‘Believe in the Good’ campaign where we sell t-shirts to raise money and awareness. Our latest recipient was a 17 year old trans woman from Reed City, Lilly Allers, who was bullied for using the woman’s bathroom at her school. We spoke out in the newspapers and 9and10 News where hopefully we can continue to raise awareness and support. We are always believing in the good.

We are blessed to get to raise my 5 and 7 year old, Charlie and Zeke, and our mini American Eskimo, Lillie.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

This question makes me laugh because I turned to my wife and asked her “what one story?” and we both laughed and said “only one??” I’m writing my book based on so many stories in my journey that helped shape me, strengthen me and carry me. One in particular that I’ll share here is the story of my mountain tattoo, the story of “my mountains.” I was 27, married to a man and a mom of two infants. In marriage counseling, it came out that I had been suppressing something since 2014…that I was raped by the man I was living with at that time. Once that memory surfaced, I had instant PTSD and trauma responses that I couldn’t control even if I wanted to. I did the hard work of overcoming the mountains of sexual assault but little did I know that was just the start of the valleys and mountain tops that I’d discover over the next three years. In that time I realized I was a lesbian, got pushed out of the closet by angry people, went through a nasty divorce with two small children, was in a long distance relationship with a woman that broke my heart in a million ways and had to learn how to stand on my own two feet. All the trauma, all the trials, the pain mixed in with joy…it all is part of the story that brings us here today. So many little parts of the journey create a story that can hopefully help others in theirs. When I spoke up about my rape in 2020, I was overwhelmed by the response and stories that rushed in from women all over the world who had been through the same thing. Heartbreaking really, but there is strength in numbers so if sharing the stories that break us can help others find strength, then I’m here for it. I’ll continue to be an open book even when it’s hard, but it matters more than you even realize.

Michelle and I found each other in the darkness, while I climbed out from under things that still hurt me today, and we choose each other every day, no matter how dark, because that matters, too. I’m grateful to have a wife who can see me through my trauma and I can see her through hers and we can water each other and bloom together. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. Everyone’s journey is worth it.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

It’s a funny story actually, because we created our social community completely by accident, an inside joke actually. It started on TikTok, my now-wife encouraged me to create an account for SheRockHunts and we made a parody of “my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard” and turned it into “my rock-shake brings all the girls to the yard” while we were rock hunting in Grand Marais. Then on our drive to Two-Hearted River, I got my Honda pilot stuck in the sand on a two track and I freaked out. Michelle tried to keep me calm and told me we just had to wait. Eventually an ATV came and helped us out with his winch. While thanking the guys, we introduced ourselves and they must not have heard us because Michelle became “Mary” and Monica became “Ronda” and we laughed about it and decided to create another TikTok account with our new identity, Mary and Ronda. That inside joke between us was a place I felt safe to share love notes to Michelle, and that went viral a few many times and the community continues to grow today.

Our secret…honesty, vulnerability, representation, speaking out about things that matter and speaking loudly for those who don’t have a voice. We didn’t mean to “be famous” but we feel like everything happens for a reason and we are meant to be here. So we will continue to show up, to speak out, to raise money and awareness for local LGBT+ family members and we will continue to believe in the good. I’ll hold a flashlight for whoever needs one, and together, we can make the world a better place.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.maryandronda.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/michelleandmonica
• Twitter: www.Twitter.com/maryandronda
• Other: www.tiktok.com/@maryandronda www.instagram.com/sherockhunts www.monicafosterphoto.com email: [email protected]

Image Credits
Family photo taken by Jessica Max (Ludington, MI) Feature photo taken by Amber Johnston (Marquette, MI) All other photos taken by Monica and Michelle Foster.