Just a few months ago, Zoe De La Paz was a mechanical designer for an engineering firm in Chicago. She made about $75,000 annually and split a city apartment with a roommate.
But then, she visited Yellowstone National Park and realized something needed to change.
Or, just about everything.
“It was what made me realize that life was too short and that I was very unhappy at my corporate job,” she told CNBC Make It.
With a hobbyist background as a teen cosplayer, she knew how to sew, and she was itching to pivot to a more creative career.
“I do think it's possible to work in a creative field without falling under the title of a starving artist,” De La Paz said in a video for CNBC. “The path is not as laid out, yellow brick road-style, as it is like a corporate career. It really is something that you build for yourself. But I also think that that's why, as an end result, that the path of an artist is such a fulfilling one.”
After a few costuming gigs in Chicago, De La Paz was ready to branch out even further. She began researching other options in 2026 and found her golden ticket: A seamstress job for the uniform department of Xanterra Parks & Resorts, which operates hotels and lodges in Yellowstone National Park.
De La Paz works a full-time schedule and mends uniforms for thousands of workers at the facilities. Sometimes she gets to partake in creative upcycling projects, too.
“From a young age, I had been told that work must be work and play must be play, and that there isn’t necessarily a world that allows both to coexist with one another,” De La Paz said. “I never thought that my hobby could become my career.”
She took the leap in June of this year. Now, she makes $19.25 an hour and spends her days at the sewing machine. She lives in Yellowstone National Park’s Mammoth Village, in dormitory-style housing. Her job is actually located across state lines, and every day she hops on a shuttle from Wyoming to Montana.
The housing at Mammoth Village costs $96 per month, and the amount is automatically deducted from De La Paz’s pay, covering a dorm room, Wi-Fi, and utilities. She shares a communal bathroom, laundry facilities, and other common areas.
“The trade-off is really worth it to me because I get to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world,” she told CNBC. “Living and working in a national park … is honestly sometimes emotionally overwhelming for me just because it’s just so indescribably beautiful.”
She said her food and living costs are also significantly cheaper than they were in the city, and in her free time, she gets to enjoy activities in the park like horseback riding and hiking. Plus, if friends and family want to visit, they can pay just $5 a night to stay in a dorm room, too.
De La Paz’s time at the park is not permanent, however. Her seasonal contract will soon come to an end, but she plans to keep working in the costuming and sewing industry.
“My season has had its fair share of growing pains and annoyances as one would expect, but I am so indescribably grateful for this time at Yellowstone,” De La Paz wrote on her Instagram account.
“I will never regret the summer I lived in a dream. “[I’m] looking ahead to my new chapter with butterflies and nerves, but feeling so supported and loved by the people sending me off.”
To CNBC, she said, “Being here has changed my life.”
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Featured Image: Courtesy of Xanterra Parks & Resorts
