Debbie's Story
Debbie is the co-owner of Keya LLC, the parent company of NativeWellness.Life magazine. She has more than 15 years of design experience developing brands and marketing for Fortune 100 companies including 3M, Best Buy, and Estee Lauder. She is an alum of Montana State University (in Bozeman), receiving her Bachelor of Science in Business Finance. Then 10 years later, Debbie graduated from South Dakota State University and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Visual Arts / Graphic Design.
Her passions include running, cooking, design and hiking.
Orville's Story
Co-owner, Orville, is a service-disabled, highly-decorated veteran who served in the Air Force for 23 years. Having earned more than 36 magazine and newspaper awards throughout his military career, his most notable include six Air Force-level awards, three Department of Defense Awards, and four national awards with the National Association of Government Communicators.
He attended the Institute of American Indian Arts, earned a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Phoenix, and completed an MBA degree from the University of Phoenix .
He loves walking, fishing, and cooking.
Our Story
It's rather odd that the sister and brother team of Debbie and Orville Desjarlais didn't put their talents together until 2018. Both were born in the 1960s, but it wasn't until 50 years later that they combined her skills as a designer and his as a journalist to create and start something new, NativeWellness.Life magazine.
They both grew up off and on the reservation. They are enrolled members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and Assiniboine decedents from both Fort Peck and Fort Belknap tribes. When they came up with the idea of publishing a Native American wellness magazine for American Indians, they knew they were onto something they could really get passionate about.