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How We Got Here

We first crossed paths on a remodel project — Aaron had been brought in for artistic construction work, and Niky was managing the job while also working in the dog grooming world. Before that, our lives had already brushed close: Aaron was building zoo habitats for conservation, while Niky was volunteering in conservation efforts, sometimes even delivering food to the animals in those same zoos. When we finally worked together, the fit was clear. We spent the next few years in remodel work under another name, testing ideas and learning each other’s strengths. Out of that came a shared conviction: that building should be about more than structures. It should be about creating places that feel alive and connected. That conviction became Outside In — built equally, and built with purpose.

Aaron

Aaron came from years as a lead artist and superintendent with Edge Themed Environments, shaping zoo and museum spaces across the country — with projects in Dallas, Fort Worth, Jacksonville, New Jersey, and Washington, as well as some of his most celebrated work in Omaha. There, he was lead artist on African Grasslands, superintendent for Adventure Trails (with its iconic ship slide), and later led Asian Highlands — named Best Zoo Exhibit in North America multiple times by USA TODAY’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards【visitomaha.com†source】. His most personal project was Owen Sea Lion Shores, designed after the Pacific Northwest coastline — a full acre of home recreated while he was far away. For Aaron, it wasn’t just a habitat for sea lions; it was a reflection on what home could mean for all of us. The buildings we’ve accepted as the standard too often feel like holding facilities — functional but disconnected, shelters rather than places of life. In contrast, exhibits like Sea Lion Shores were built as immersive habitats, blurring the lines between animal and environment. That vision now shapes Outside In: creating human spaces that feel less like cages, and more like belonging within the beauty that already surrounds us.

Niky

Niky came from the soil up — but also from the fur and feathers in her care. She built a 20-year career in pet grooming, from running a successful mobile business in California to owning two brick-and-mortar salons in Dallas. That work led her deeper into animal welfare, from helping with food provisions at animal sanctuaries and zoo's to hands-on wildlife rehab and animal rehoming. Over time, her compassion for animals grew into a vision for their habitats, and what began as pots on a balcony evolved into food forests, regenerative landscapes, and a whole career shaped by one question: what if I could build spaces for animals and humans to co-exist?

Her ecological design work has been recognized by the Snohomish Conservation District, which featured her Persimmons and Patience — Snohomish Conservation District food-forest story in its Winter 2022 Agroforestry Newsletter. She’s not just the ecological mind behind Outside In — she’s also the muscle and craft, just as comfortable hoisting beams and pouring concrete as she is planning ecosystems around a pond. In a field where “woman in construction” still raises eyebrows, Niky commands respect with the depth of her ideas, the strength of her builds, and the living systems she brings into being.

Together

Together, they are Outside In. Every greenhouse, conservatory, and remodel is designed as an act of rebellion against the box — those sealed containers we’ve been told to call “home.” Their mission is to dissolve the glass between indoors and out, letting the forests, skies, and salt air of the Pacific Northwest flow into daily life.

They don’t just build structures. They build thresholds. Places where craft meets ecology, where light and plants belong indoors as much as out, and where the wild reminds us we were never meant to live apart from it.

Outside In exists to shift what “home” means: from separation to connection, from enclosure to belonging, from a private shelter to a living ecosystem. Their work asks us to imagine not just how we want to live, but how life itself wants to live with us. She’s not just the ecological mind behind Outside In — she’s also the muscle and craft, just as comfortable hoisting beams and pouring concrete as she is planning ecosystems around a pond. In a field where “woman in construction” still raises eyebrows, Niky commands respect with the depth of her ideas, the strength of her builds, and the living systems she brings into being.