[3][5] Payne says that her early idols were Lynn Hill, and as she began to focus on bouldering, Lisa Rands.
[3][6] Aged 19, and in her first year in college, Payne won a clean sweep of all three of the American Bouldering Series 5, national championship events, (and thus became the overall ABS 5 champion),[7] and two Professional Climbers Association (PCA) competitions, (and also the overall PCA championship),[8] for the 2003-2004 boulder season.
[17] In 2012, Payne, rock climber Ethan Pringle, and mountainer Mike Libecki went to the Kangertittivatsiaq fjord in south east Greeland on a bouldering and climbing expedition.
[18][19] In July 2014, Payne sent her second 8B (V13) boulder, Freaks of the Industry, in Lower Chaos Canyon in the RMNP,[20] a project she had spent several seasons working on, and which she ranked as one of the achievements she was most proud of in her career.
[24] Payne has spoken openly about the prevalence of eating disorders in her sport,[1] and contributes prominently to a documentary on the subject called Light (2021), by Caroline Treadway.