Meet the Founders
Hi There! We’re Georgia and Tori —
Best friends since 2012 and chosen family ever since. Over the past decade, we’ve walked through nearly every season of life together: the highs, the heartbreaks, the healing, and the growing pains. We’ve celebrated each other’s wins, held space for the hard moments, and found our faith side by side.
We’ve always shown up for each other — so when the vision for Connected Hearts started to take shape, it only made sense that we’d build it together. A mission rooted in compassion, consistency, and connection. A business that reflects who we are
and what we believe.
This work is personal. It’s purpose-driven. And we’re doing it as a team — just like we’ve done everything else. Now, we get to take all that life has taught us — the beauty, the mess, the lessons — and turn it into something that serves others.
And between the two of us? There’s not much we can’t figure out.
Tori Magilton —
Mom of three wild boys, heart-led leader, loyal almost-wife (common-law counts, right?), and Co-Founder of Connected Hearts. Fueled by purpose, healing, and — if I’m being honest — probably 7Brew.
The Early Roots
I grew up in Bennet, Nebraska, just outside of Lincoln — in a home filled with love, structure, and quiet generosity. My parents gave me and my siblings a beautiful childhood, but they never let us forget how important it is to give back. I remember driving around with my grandma, car packed with Christmas presents, delivering them to families who were struggling. Those small moments planted a seed in me — even if I didn’t realize it at the time.
Becoming Me
I didn’t grow up planning to work in Human Services. Right after high school, I went to college for cosmetology. I got married at 19, had my oldest son, and was a single mom by 21. Life hit fast and hard, and there were times I felt lost — unsure of who I was or what I was meant to do. I carried a lot of trauma from my marriage, and for a long time, I just felt broken.
When I met Larson, everything started to shift. He had been through so much in his own childhood, but he never let it define him. Watching him rise from his circumstances helped me believe I could too.
Finding My Purpose
I worked for a few years with adults with developmental disabilities, then stumbled into a role at a family service agency — and that’s when everything clicked. I started seeing pieces of my own journey in the families I served: the single parents trying to rebuild, the kids just wanting to be seen, the moments that could make or break someone’s future.
The more I worked, the more I healed — and the more I knew this was my calling. I went from direct service to supervisor, to executive assistant, to administrative director. I wasn’t just climbing the ladder — I was stepping into the purpose I never saw coming.
The Heart Behind Connected Hearts
Mental health has always been a part of my story. As a kid, I struggled with feeling different — not enough, not strong enough, not like everyone else. It took me years to understand those feelings and learn how to discover my worth. I wish someone had helped me figure that out sooner. I wish I had known I wasn’t alone.
That’s what drives me now — creating a system where people don’t have to wish they had support. Where kids, families, and staff feel seen, understood, and empowered to become the best version of themselves.
Connected Hearts was born from that fire — from lived experience, healing, and the deep belief that we can be the difference. I’ve been the struggling mom, the searching young woman, and now, the leader building what I once needed. Every child deserves someone who shows up. That’s who we are. That’s why we’re here.
Georgia Caswell —
Foster mom, photographer, certified as “Worlds best auntie” for the last 16 years, professional burrito roller (I’m not joking), and Co-Founder of Connected Hearts.
God gave me a loud voice, a soft heart, and a mission too big to ignore — and I’m just getting started.
The Early Years
I grew up knowing what instability feels like — bouncing between schools, constantly adjusting to new environments, and even spending a year living in The People City Mission with my mom. My childhood was full of transitions and survival-mode moments that shaped how I saw the world. My mom and I went through a lot together. I got to witness her overcome addiction — not just once, but day by day. She’s a survivor of deep childhood trauma, and despite everything she carried, she poured love, comfort, and resilience into me. She’s still my safe place, and I know without a doubt that I got my heart from her.
A Foundation Rebuilt
When my stepdad came into our lives, he brought calm and consistency — and over the years, he’s become one of my best friends. After high school, my dad came home from a 12-year sentence, and he completely transformed his life. He helped me refocus, gave me structure, and became one of my biggest influences. That season of my life reset everything. He also brought my stepmom into my world — one of the most constant, wise, and compassionate women I’ve ever known. She’s not just a support — she’s my role model.
Becoming a Foster Parent
In 2020, I became a foster parent to my younger cousin — and she completely flipped my world upside down in the best way. That experience changed everything about how I saw the world and how I wanted to move in it. I’m beyond grateful that God placed us together. Soon after, I opened my home to a teenage girl who had spent years in a broken system. I didn’t know her before she moved in, but we became close during two different seasons of her life. Even though the placement wasn’t permanent, our connection still is. I was one of the only consistent adults in her life — someone she continued to reach out to when things got hard. We still check in with each other, she’s still invited to family events, and she still knows she has an adult who loves her, supports her, and believes in her.
My Why Behind Connected Hearts
That experience opened my eyes to the cracks in the system — the way kids are passed between faces and placements without ever really being seen. Just feeling judged based off of words in a case file they have no control over. And it showed me how even one positive adult can change everything.
Connected Hearts was born out of all of this — the chaos, the healing, the heartbreak, and the love I’ve received and given. I’ve lived so many sides of this story: the kid who experienced instability, the teen who longed for security, the adult who stepped up, and I am now becoming the woman who is building something that I once needed. I don’t just understand what these kids are going through — I relate to it. That’s why this work is so personal. Every child deserves someone consistent. Someone who sees them, hears them, and chooses to show up again tomorrow. That’s what we’re here to do.
“For the kids who needed us then — and need us now.”