Hi, I’m Ciana.

I grew up in a small town, starting out on a farm, and spent most of my younger years dreaming about getting out of it. I traded wide-open spaces for city life and spent the next two decades living in some of the largest cities in the country. Then life did what life does, and eventually brought me right back to small-town living, this time in Montgomery County, Texas.

And somewhere along the way, I realized how much I had grown to love the very things I once couldn't wait to leave behind.

I love knowing the coffee shop down the road. I love discovering a business before everyone else knows about it. I love markets, locally owned restaurants, interesting little shops, and meeting the people who decided to take an idea and build something here. I love watching Montgomery County grow, but I also want us to hold onto the local businesses and community that keep it from looking like every other place.

That idea is at the heart of The MoCo List.

Before starting The MoCo List, I spent years working in marketing and promotions with small businesses and boutiques across the country. Connecting people, spotting opportunities and figuring out how to make people care about what a business is doing has always been part of my world.

Today, The MoCo List is where those two things meet.

It's a local guide for discovering where to shop, sip, eat and go, but it's also a resource for the people building those places. I get to tell their stories, create markets and events that bring people together, connect businesses with one another, and help small business owners become better at telling their own stories.

Turns out, I didn't stop loving big ideas when I left the big city.

I just started building them closer to home.

Because local is a lifestyle.

View Press Feb 17, 2026

View Press June 2, 2026