Karaleigh grew up with a love of music. She performed in theatre and choir throughout her middle and high school years, learning piano and studying voice along the way. There weren’t a lot of opportunities in rural California, but she dreamed of getting into the School of Music at Brigham Young University and studying opera there. 

In 2008, she graduated High School, got into BYU, met and married her husband Jacob, and auditioned for the opera program, but was not accepted. They had their first child, Aurora, in 2010, and that fall moved from Provo, UT to Karaleigh’s hometown in California to be near her family. They hadn’t finished their degrees at BYU quite yet, but when God calls, you listen. This would prove to be a theme in their lives.

The following year, Joshua was born. Jacob worked for a company selling water, Karaleigh stayed home with the kids, and the two of them would sing together whenever they could. In 2013, Jacob was cast as Jean Val Jean in a local production of Les Mis- a dream come true. Unfortunately, that dream exacerbated his back condition, and he struggled to manage the pain while working full time and being gone at rehearsals every night. That same year, Aurora was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and they realized that Joshua’s diagnoses wasn’t far behind.

The Garrisons moved to Texas in 2014 to be near Jacob’s family. Benjamin was born in May and had a traumatic birth where he nearly died, but miracles were plentiful. Jacob’s conditioned continued to get worse, and he was soon unable to work. The following year he had back surgery, and by 2018 he was officially declared disabled by the government and put on SSI. Joshua got his autism diagnosis, but was not progressing in therapy the same way Aurora was- she was verbal, he was not.

God called again- this time pulling the family back to Utah. Karaleigh and Jacob needed to finish their degrees at BYU, even though it had been a decade and their lives were chaos. The SSI money made it possible, but would they survive without family nearby to help? Jacob was 32 years old, walked only with the help of a cane, and collapsed frequently. His diagnoses included depression, severe, debilitating PTSD, anxiety, slipped disks in his back, and a rare, chromosomal defect- Familial Episodic Ataxia. Karaleigh was his caretaker and the kids- now with two on the spectrum and a 4 yr old not far behind, her dreams on hold. 

2018 proved to be a very difficult year of changed. They moved from Texas back to Utah- three kids at three different schools, both Karaleigh and Jacob full time college students. Karaleigh auditioned again for the School of Music- ready to study opera, ready for her turn, for her dreams to finally come true. Then the unthinkable happened- Joshua was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes. He was hospitalized for three days and the family was in complete shock. He was 7 years old, severely autistic, and completely and utterly nonverbal, and now this? Another miracle- within a month of the diagnosis, he could say all of his colors, and a year later they were begging him to shut up! Diabetes had brought Josh his voice.

Karaleigh made it to round two of the auditions for the School of Music, but found out in early 2019 that she was not accepted. It was devastating. She double majored with a degree in Family Studies (emphasis in Sewing) and Theater Studies (emphasis in Costume and Makeup Design) and absolutely adored it, but still wanted to be center stage. She thought of Joshua’s diabetes diagnoses and realized that maybe her miracle could look different than she had expected it to. 

Benjamin received his autism diagnosis in 2021, and both Karaleigh and Jacob graduated from BYU. Another miracle began to take place- Jacob was getting better. He got off all of his medications and switched to medical cannabis and began to slowly work on healing his mind and body through prayer and tai chi, and… he healed. Today, he no longer needs his cane and he has officially been back at work for a little over a year. 

After graduation, Karaleigh joined a program called Soul Sound Academy and learned to write and produce the music that she had always dreamed of creating. She wrote the song “Seeking Sunshine” in the fall of 2021 and knew immediately that this wasn’t just a song, it was a mantra- a way of life. She started her podcast by the same name that year and it has been going strong ever since. Her debut album by the same name was released in May of 2023, and now she writes custom songs from her home, while still being an awesome mom to her three amazing kids. 

Karaleigh enjoys telling stories on stage and on her podcast and inspiring people to know that anything is possible. She has been blessed with the opportunity to share the stage with broadway star Joanna Jones and High School Musical legend Zac Efron, as well as to be interviewed internationally in over 25 publications. Seeking Sunshine (the podcast) is now in the top 5% of all podcasts. Karaleigh is a coach and a mentor for future podcasters, guiding them as they create their own legacy in the form of a podcast. She encourages people to “do what lights them up,” because she knows that we are all better humans when our cups are full.