The Simba Ranch Team
Michele Taluba: Founder & Owner
Simba Ranch Dog Camp is Michele Taluba’s dream and vision (see The Story of Simba Ranch). Michele graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1998. She paid her own way through college by working 40-100 hours a week. Soon after graduation she moved to Toronto, Ontario, CANADA. This was during the Internet boom of the late 1990’s and she was lucky enough to work as a business development consultant to several entrepreneurs. During the next couple of years, Michele gained invaluable knowledge about how to birth a company by being involved in the concept and initial start-up phases of burgeoning companies. This was an exciting and profitable time but Michele longed for the mountains, breathing in deeply the fresh air and her pup, Simba, who was back in the States.
So in 2000, she moved back to Boulder, CO and began a sales position with a fortune 500 company developing business in the tech industry. Within a year, she had fallen in love with her best friend of four years, Thomas May; they bought the Simba Ranch property and shortly after, Michele became pregnant. In 2002 after the birth of their first son, Tyler, Michele decided to stay in the mountains with her new son and pursue a more authentic life.
The 2 ½ acres of mountain property surrounded by a 6’ chainlink fence was more than enough for her family and two pups and so she began to envision Simba Ranch Dog Camp. The knowledge gained earlier in reference to starting a business combined with a strong desire towards a more spiritual life led Michele to honor her passion for dogs, family, community and outdoor mountain living. Over the years, countless hours of hard work, dedication and spiritual practice, the belief that their is an art to leading a pack of dogs, and an amazing array of team members have made Simba Ranch what it is today.
Tracy Koivisto: General Manager & Pack Leader
Tracy Koivisto was born and raised in a small town in Northern Minnesota where she always had a dog or a cat by her side and the wilderness was her playground. After teaching her cat to fetch, sit and stay on command at age five, she declared that her future would include working with animals in some capacity.
Tracy grew up and pursued a degree in Environmental Ecology and Natural Resources for five years. Feeling the enticement to experience new things, she found herself leaving Minnesota to live in the lushness of Oregon. In a few years she would move on to South Florida, Wyoming, and finally her lifelong dream, Alaska. In the summers she was surrounded by whales, grizzly bears and her kayak. In the winters she decided to brave the dark and cold of Northern Alaska. There, while working hospitality, she volunteered her love and assistance to sled dog mushing. Surrounded by eighty dogs and the northern lights, she was in heaven.
But needing to seek further exploration brought her to the mountains of Rollinsville, Colorado. Here she resides with her partner Doug, her Newfoundland Bula, recently rescued Siberian Husky Astro, and two fluffy kitties. The longing to be around dogs naturally brought her to Simba Ranch, where spiritual practice, love of animals, and the outdoors merge.
Simba Ranch is a family-owned business!
Thomas May: Co-Owner & Pack Leader
Tyler, Michael and Mikayla May: Little Pack Leaders