Meet Olivia Martens Hake

We had the good fortune of connecting with Olivia Martens Hake and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Olivia, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I actually want to give a big shoutout to a dear friend who I got to know through my first business in the athleticwear space. After leaving that company, she really pushed for me to create a space for everything I truly love and believe in by opening the vision and branding process. I knew my passions lay in supporting neurodivergent individuals and their families in numerous capacities. Special Education Advocacy has been near and dear to my heart ever since sharing grade school classes with my non-speaking, high support needs, autistic sister. My clinical practice with Applied Behavior Analysis has continued to grow into the neuro-affirming and trauma-informed, compassionate model of care that I aim to provide, and I’ve been volunteering in adaptive sports since my early teens. These three spaces and parts of me felt as though they needed a home to coexist collaborate within, and since it wasn’t ready-made in San Diego, I decided to build it.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My career, in a way, feels like it fell into my lap. Like it somehow was shaped by a lifetime of watching my sister Toria navigate a world that wasn’t designed for her. The ache for connection and not understanding, when I was young, how to bring her into my world has been behind nearly every professional decision I’ve ever made. And I’m so grateful to now be in the space where I see with clear eyes, full heart and bright attunement that my purpose and shift is to bring others into the world of neurodiversity and build more meaningful relationships based on social equity.

It’s definitely been quite the path to get here — from studying the cognitive neuroscience and then behavior, to diving into the complexities of special education law and educational and medical advocacy, my work has become this blend of science, compassion, and a kind of stubbornness. What sets me and Basecamp Advocacy apart, I think, is the way I refuse to keep separate “lanes” for the support services I aim to offer. Therapeutic care informs advocacy, advocacy informs community work, and all of it is woven together by relationships and curiosity. I’m most proud of the moments when those pieces come together for an educator supporting a child in novel ways, or parents learns a little more about coaching self-advocacy and independence, or a child feeling a little more confident after rock scrambling on a trail at one of our Basecamp Adventures outings.

The biggest lessons have been about humility, connection, and the courage to create something that doesn’t fit neatly into one category. If there’s one thing I want people to know about me and about Basecamp, it’s that we lead with respect, curiosity, and a belief that everyone deserves a place where their supports are heard and accessible in order to build their own curiosities and confidence.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well now, depending on whether I’m in San Diego, CA or Sisters, OR, I ‘ll have similar but different answers. We’d trend towards my favorite bookshops and cafes with PLENTY of nature time whether that is cliff-side hiking with ocean views or around a lake or butte trail in that fresh mountain air.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I hinted at the person who encouraged me to put my love for my sister and passions into a business, so shoutout to Cheyenne Moon with Reverie. And of course my husband and biggest believer, Eric Hake.

Website: https://www.basecampadvocacy.com/

Instagram: @basecampadvocacy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BasecampAdvocacy

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/basecamp-advocacy-sisters