Real people behind Stern Anchor

Kendra Powning

Managing Founder

Kendra's professional background spans entrepreneurship, transportation, customer service, and the marine industry. She has worked as a freight broker, marina service writer, and in a sail loft with North Sails. She also co-founded and operated an automotive repair and bicycle shop, helping build the business from the ground up and gaining firsthand experience in the day-to-day realities of launching and running a small business.

Her connection to the marine industry extends well beyond the workplace. Kendra has worked aboard yachts as a cook, deckhand, and steward, previously holding STCW certification, and has spent years gaining practical experience aboard sailboats. Her sailing experience includes a 49-day Pacific crossing from Panama to French Polynesia aboard a friend's 31-foot Hallberg-Rassy, sailing from Portland, Oregon to Juneau, Alaska via the Inside Passage in 2025, and an offshore passage from Washington down the U.S. West Coast to San Diego in 2026.

Today, Kendra lives aboard and cruises full-time aboard her boat, S/V Junovia, giving her firsthand insight into the needs of boat owners, sailors, and the broader cruising community. At Stern Anchor, she brings together her entrepreneurial background, marine experience, and customer perspective to help guide product development, marketing, business operations, and the overall user experience.

Nathaniel Powning

Technical Founder

Nat's career in technology began in the 1990s at an internet service provider. He went on to help build multiple startups through the early 2000s before transitioning fully into the corporate world around 2008. Over the past two decades, he has been building services that power apps and complex websites, primarily in the financial industry.

Alongside his software career, Nat has occasionally moonlighted with various jobs in the marine industry, including serving as first mate aboard a 118-foot charter yacht, executing many deliveries up and down the US west-coast, and teaching hundreds how to sail as an ASA-certified instructor. He holds a 100-ton USCG Master Merchant Mariner Credential and various STCW certifications. That firsthand experience with vessels and the people who operate them brings a practical perspective to his work on Yachtly.

Today, Nat works full-time as a principal software engineer at a technology company, with many evenings and weekends devoted to helping Kendra build PsycleBack and Yachtly. He has been cruising with Kendra aboard the Pearson 422, Junovia, since 2024.