our story
Written by: The Fergusons
Founders of Wild & Grit
Wild and Grit is, at its core, the story of us—Joe and Taylor—a story of love, unexpected turns, adventure, heartbreak, and a whole lot of God showing up.
We’ve been married since 2018, raising our two children (and german shepherd Scout) in Southern California.
Joe is a firefighter, and Taylor is what we like to call “unboxable.” - mom, brand consultant, creative, entrepreneur, artist, writer, and honestly just follows wherever God says to go next.
We met in 2014 on The World Race, a mission trip that took us to 11 countries in 11 months. Taylor was a California girl attending college in Boulder, and Joe was a Midwest boy from Chicago. That year, we traveled the world with 50 other people, doing ministry in villages, cities, and everywhere in between. We went from strangers to best friends to something much deeper.
After the trip, we spent a year doing long-distance before Joe made the bold move to California—where he said the mindset was simply, 'Gotta see about a girl.' We married in 2018, ready to take on the world together."
Young Love & Ministry
Our early years were full of passion, ministry, and learning the hard (but beautiful) work of marriage. We helped plant house churches in Southern California and spent our days walking alongside high schoolers—Joe as an athletic trainer at a public school, Taylor as part of a missions program at a private school.
Though our work environments were different, our hearts beat the same: to help students encounter the love of God in real, transformative ways.
The Year That Changed Everything
In 2021, everything shifted. The church community we thought we’d call home forever came to a sudden end. At the same time, Taylor felt God asking her to step away from her job, and Joe left his to pursue firefighting. As if that wasn’t enough, we also welcomed our first child.
It was a perfect storm—a disorienting season where everything familiar disappeared. What followed was a three-year journey through our own personal “dark night of the soul.”
The Wilderness Became Holy Ground
In that wilderness, God met us in ways we couldn’t have orchestrated. He invited us to let go of what we thought ministry should look like, to detox from expectations, and to remember our first love—Jesus.
What emerged was a deeper foundation than we ever thought possible. It was slow. It was exposing. It was gentle, healing, and ultimately transformative—not just for us individually, but for our marriage too.
Wild and Grit: The Dream We Almost Forgot
Wild and Grit had been a whisper in our hearts for over a decade, but it was refined in the fire of those hard years. Today, it’s a tangible expression of what we’ve learned and are continuing to learn:
God is always inviting us to step away with Him—to remember who we are and who He is.
Wild and Grit exists to create intentional spaces for just that.
What does it Mean?
Wild is for women—a space to get away, reconnect with themselves, and hear from God.
Grit is for men—a space to rediscover who they are and begin the lifelong journey of transformation.
Wild and Grit is for marriages—a space to recalibrate, reconnect, and see each other (and themselves) the way God does.
This isn’t about self-help or fixing ourselves. It’s about showing up, stepping away with God, and letting Him do the deep work only He can do.
Rooted in Matthew 11
The heart of Wild and Grit is best captured in Matthew 11:
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
That’s the invitation we extend to you. Whether you come as a woman, a man, or as a married couple—our hope is that you find space to breathe, to listen, and to be reminded that God is closer than you think.
All you have to do is step away with Him. He’ll do the rest.
