The Hike Like A Woman Podcast
Hi, I'm Rebecca 👋 I'm a guide, ski instructor, Army Veteran, cancer survivor, and a big fan of adventure travel. I started HLAW in 2014 because I wanted to smash barriers to entry into the outdoors and help women explore. I'd love to have you join me on an adventure. Please reach out if you have any questions 📧 rebecca@hikelikeawoman.com
The Hike Like A Woman Podcast
Igniting Courage For Women Adventurers
Meet Anna.
She's a former nurse, ski instructor, mountain biking coach, backpacking guide, wellness coach, and more.
Today, our conversation takes us from the Nordic ski trails to the top of Mount Timpanogos as we talk about why women need an outdoor community and why the outdoor community needs more women.
To learn more about Anna visit: https://www.igniteadventureandwellness.com/
To learn more about Hike Like A Woman visit: https://www.hikelikeawoman.com
Anna, we're both ski instructors. We both clearly like the crazy, random, hard, cold sport of cross-country skiing, and I think we might have some similarities here. So talk to me let's. Before we start talking about hiking and mountain biking and backpacking, let's talk about skiing, because it's almost the end of spring here and I think we we're gonna get a couple more skis before it's all gone. But tell me about your ski background, oh man.
Speaker 2:So I really got into alpine skiing first as a kid and, you know, just got to go a few times a year if that, and loved it. Just felt like so happy and time I could glide on snow. And then in college I ended up with a job at Alta Ski Resort and they had any employee could have free lessons in any kind of skiing and so I took a lesson on skate skiing and thought it was so fun, loved it and my sister was getting into it and we started doing the Blue Mountain Triathlon that had a skate ski portion to it and I just thought it was super fun. I would just skate ski. And well, actually in high school I did go on a classic cross-country ski trip with my dad and you know I don't even know where we went or what we did, but you know a little bit there, but not a ton. And then I really got into it more in college. I would do a lot of it when I could. Just such a great um avenue for a good workout use like total body workout. You know, easy on your joints, you can do it until your your whole life. And, um, it was a good thing to do on days where there was no good powder to see and the avalanche conditions were high and dangerous. But you know, as long as you can find grooming, there's this great, great opportunity to skate. So I loved it for fitness and for being outside in the winter so crucial and it was fun and social to go with people that were also into it.
Speaker 2:And then when my, when I had my kids, when my first, my first child was four or five, I can't remember, maybe five we were living in Heber, utah, and Soldier Hollow has a great youth program and they and I wanted my kids to do it, and so I signed up my five-year-old and I decided, if I'm driving her out there, I should just stay and coach. And so that's when I got into coaching, and so I started coaching the kids at soldier hollow after school and I would do the they'd offer the pmbia professional I I'm sorry that's mountain bike PSIA, professional Ski Instructor Association training, and so I did their courses, became certified and loved being part of the after-school programs at Soldier Hollow and all my kids that five-year-old's now almost 16. So I've been at Soldier Hollow for over 10 years and always helped every winter in some way, typically with my own kids, their program that they're in. I have a daughter in their Devo team right now.
Speaker 2:This year my oldest was on a high school ski club out there after school and so this winter I was coaching 25 high schoolers that were all different ability levels every week. So that was a good challenge, yeah, yeah, but I love. I love being out there coaching the kids so fun. And a few years ago, when my you know youngest was going to be in school full time, I wanted to be able to do a little bit more during the day and help other women that wanted to increase their skills, and so I started coaching women specific skill clinics for cross country skiing and, through Ignite, started to Ignite. So it's been great, I love it.
Speaker 1:I love, I love Soldier Hollow. I was a biathlete so I did biathlon for the army. I never made the national team, but I was on the pathway and the first biathlon race that I ever won was in 1998 at Soldier Hollow on the Olympic venue when they were still designing the trails, and so that's a really special place for me, because I didn't make the 2002 Olympics, which was my goal, but I that was. That was kind of the spark that was like, oh, this is great, I could, I could, I could, I could do something here. And I'm, I have. I have two boys that are also on the ski team here in Laramie, and maybe our paths will cross, because once they get into high school they're always going, like our high school team always goes to Utah for, for international qualifiers. So I would love to see you. I hope, I think, I hope this happens Definitely.
Speaker 1:And you're, you have four kids. I counted that correctly. How, how have you been able to weave, managing the four children? That's that's a lot of schedules, that's a lot of snacks, that's a lot of skis, that's a lot of, that's a lot. How have you been able to manage that while still weaving in all these fun things you do, like cross country skiing and mountain biking and backpacking and all the things. How do you, how do you, how do you manage your adventurous self while still being a mom? I guess that's a better question.
Speaker 2:Oh, totally, every day. It's a battle right Every day. I just found really early on, and really even with work before I had kids like if I'm not prioritizing like moving my body outside, I go a little crazy. Yeah, I definitely notice a big difference in my production level, my happiness level, my sanity level, everything level, everything. And so I just really cued into the fact that wherever I'm at in life, whatever's going on, I have got to prioritize time to move my body outside and I just always recognize how much better I feel, how much I can show up as the person I want to be, versus like just resentful and angry and bitter and um, so I don't know, like people are like how do you make time for that? And in my head I'm like I, it's really not an option, like I have to make time for it, it's my sanity and um, and definitely when the kids are really little man, such a struggle, like often it's just like you know, pushing the stroller and running behind and doing workouts at the park with them and and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:But um, and you know, you just get creative and you bring them along. You know if they're, if they'll ski, you ski too, and I've tried to just help my kids understand that, you know, whatever we are, wherever we are in life, we just choose some, some way to be active and our bodies and our minds and our souls are always happier for it. And so we just try to always incorporate that and find ways to get it in which there's always opposition, no matter what, there's always opposition, no matter what. There'll always be great opposition to getting kids out skiing or hiking or biking. And you just like know that going in, like yeah, there's going to be a lot of obstacles to overcome, but we'll figure it out. Figure it out and have no expectations, because if you have any, then you're disappointed. But if you just go in, like, okay, we'll just do what we can when we can and just make it work, I don't know how about you.
Speaker 1:When my kids were really little I you know, coming from a competitive ski racing background, and then I was in the Army so it was always like how fast can we go? How hard can we go? How can we push it? Like. So I would get really frustrated with my children when they were little and I would just say like, oh, I'm too slow. Or they just like they got to stop and look at every twig and every rock and I need another snack. And it was a lot when they were little. And I just remember one time I was on the trail with them and I just had this moment where it was like get down to their level and see what they're seeing and put your like, pretend you're walking in their footsteps, and what, what is that experience? Is it mom just being stressed out because you just want to go, go, go? Or is it a mom saying you know what, if we don't lose sight of the parking lot today, that's, we got outside and that's what matters, so it's just adjusting expectations, I think.
Speaker 2:Yes, so true, so true.
Speaker 1:Like I said, if you have any expectations, of what you're going to accomplish, disappointment and somebody's gonna. Somebody's gonna forget their ski boots. Somebody's gonna wet their pants, someone's gonna there's going to wet their pants. There's going to be a meltdown. There's going to be. It's not pretty, but it's worth it every single time 100%.
Speaker 2:A lot of times, when there's lots of crying, lots of whining, lots of complaining, I think like, is this worth it? Like should I just let them, you know, play video games all day? And then I'm always like, yeah, yes, yes, it is worth it. But I often get comments like, how do you get your kids to do that, you know? And I'm like, yeah, there's plenty of pushback that no one just goes like, without a fight, right, like, but it's just the like, it's okay, it's part of it, you just know, going into it like, yeah, there's going to be a lot of complaining, there's going to be a lot of whining and a lot of discomfort, and you're just going to be there to help them work through it and just be like yeah, I know this can be hard.
Speaker 1:And that's why a metaphor for life, by getting our children outside and doing these difficult things, like skiing through a blizzard in the dark, like isn't that setting them up for success down the road when they encounter resistance with their first boss, or they don't like a professor, or they're having problems with their partner or whatever? I just think this is all building that resiliency muscle and that is something that doesn't happen and needs to happen more. But that's me getting on this big soapbox about, about wanting to raise tough kids.
Speaker 2:No, feel like, um, so in life, no matter what age we are, you know, as kids or as adults, whenever we work through something discomfort and do something a little bit hard, our confidence in doing anything hard just is incredible. Like I remember a few summers ago, um, we took our kids to the top of Timpanogos. I mean it's like a 12 hour day. Um, my youngest was actually four the first time we did it and, um, it was fully like huge challenge. But they all rose to the occasion and in fact there's there's a lot of. I have learned a lot of tips with hiking with kids that make it make it doable. But I have a whole blog on it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. But um, after that hike it was like to their limit. And then we were starting school the next week and all of my kids were like, oh yeah, no big deal. Like this grade or this issue, like oh, it's so fast, you know, we made it to the top of Timpanogos. Like we can handle anything that comes our way. Like no one had an issue going back to school. Like they were all like. Their confidence was just so high in what they could overcome and work through and figure out, and I see that again and again with my own kids.
Speaker 2:Whenever they push through a limit, do something tricky, overcome the obstacle, do something hard, I just love the change it makes in them, how they're able to see themselves and what else they're able to accomplish. I see the same thing in the women that I coach and backpack with and help increase their skills in mountain biking and skiing. I see it again and again like no matter how old you are, it's a real thing to just overcome a little bit of obstacle, a little bit of challenge, do something hard, and then you're just like this little bit of obstacle, a little bit of challenge, do something hard, and then you're just like this incredible boost of confidence in every area of your life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was out this morning. I were training for Kilimanjaro in June. So we're taking a group up 24 women to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and we have a kind of a small cluster of of women here in Southeastern Wyoming, northern Colorado, who are on the trip. And I was hiking with one of my friends who's going on the trip this morning, just trying to get a good training hike in. And and that's exactly it, it's, it's it's being able to just keep going when things are a little bit difficult. And this trail we were on we thought it was just going to be this nice easy jaunt through the prairie because we're looking for dry trails to train on, and it wasn't. There was a lot of climbing and we were surprised. I didn't look at a map I should have, but we were surprised by the elevation gain and I think at the end of the hike we both were like we did it.
Speaker 1:We got a really good training hike in today and I love hiking, I love traveling and doing adventures with women, because there's always that moment of introspection and then that moment where it's like we did this together and there's this team feel so, you're a coach, you coach teams, but you also lead women through mountain bike clinics and backpacking trips and cross-country ski clinics and workshops and classes, and how have you seen kind of the group dynamics evolve as you've been coaching women through doing these really difficult sports like, let's, mountain biking it's hard, cross-country skiing is hard, backpacking is hard, everything is on your back for that entire trip. So how, how do you see the evolution of the groups?
Speaker 2:oh man, I I would. I I'd be lying if I didn't say there's always potential for tears and have been tears involved, yeah.
Speaker 1:If no one's crying, then the trip is not going well Right.
Speaker 2:Definitely tears are involved and yeah, I think it's so fascinating. I do love working with women, specific groups. Um, there's such a, like you were saying, just such an incredible time of introspection and support for one another, and women just tend to like there's just such a different dynamic when it's just girls together and they're more open, they're more vulnerable, they're more able to overcome and like like, put themselves out there in a way that they they don't when it's co-ed and um, so many boundaries come down, like it's just so cool to see and um, we've had several experiences where women have signed up for a backpack trip and like had zero experience, you know, but um wanted to, wanted to have something to work towards and and to try and have just transform their lives with um. You know the, the work needed to just prepare for the trip and then being on the trip and like the transformation that can come from being able to live out of what is just on your back and and going through this challenging experience with other supportive women and and then it's so fun to watch like the, the follow-up, you know, get the, the texts and the emails of. Look what I'm doing now and and check this out. I never would have thought I could ever do this, you know. But after just the little boost of confidence that you know we're able to give them, it's incredible where they take it. So I love seeing that in groups that we've worked with and in all of it in the mountain biking, the skiing, the backpacking I feel like it's so frequent that women look at things like this and just think like, oh, I could never do that, like it's, you know, like I, I, I'm too afraid, I'm too worried, I'm too anxious, I don't want to get hurt.
Speaker 2:You know all those things and there's just a lot of barriers that women face to wanting to get into these kinds of activities. But I feel like we're able to show them you know a way to work through those barriers and to overcome those challenges and to realize like it is possible. You know you can, you can learn new things, you know you can build new skills, and it can be really fun as well as as well as really hard, but it can be like so amazing and fun at the same time.
Speaker 1:The harder it is, the more fun it is, because it makes for such a better story.
Speaker 2:Oh yes, oh, definitely Always, always exciting. There's always something exciting happening, right. But, yeah, definitely Always always exciting. There's always something exciting happening right. But yeah, I don't know. I try to. Just my focus is always number one on safety and keeping people safe and helping people realize like, okay, you know what we're doing right now. You're totally safe in what you're doing. We're here to support you and just let's break this down, you know, know, let's see what little steps we need to to work through to make this possible and just the results always incredible. I love it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I, as you were talking, I was thinking about how, on trips that I've led, one of the biggest barriers is ourselves and that voice in our head that's like you don't belong here, you're not good enough, you're not strong enough, you're not fit enough, you're scared, you're nervous. And have you found any way to calm that voice that we all have in our head? That's like stop, you don't belong.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, I, yes, so I love doing endurance events and I often get myself a little in over my head at times. You know, I'll just like sign up for, like, a 200 mile bike race with like very little like, yeah, I'm known for stuff like that, yeah, but like I, I do. I love doing all day like mountain bike or road bike or hiking events. You know things like that and and it gives you a whole lot of time to think about that topic of like, you know, you, you get to a lot of places of like, why am I even out here? Like, what am I even doing? What am I thinking? You know, and so I I do. I have several strategies that I work through and I I try to incorporate a lot of these when I'm coaching and teaching people, because I tell them all I'm like, you know, I'm teaching you the physical skills you need to improve your skiing or biking or you know, to backpack, but the mental game, yeah, is like 80, you know, like, like, that is where you, you, it's a skill. It's a skill just like any other skill that you're learning. That needs to be practiced and you need to be aware of it and working at it. And and so every, every clinic I teach everything I do. I always bring in the mindset piece and just have people check in like you know where, where are you at in your thoughts today? Like, are you like overwhelmed, are you stressed, are you nervous, are you worried, are you excited? Like, just be aware, number one, of where your thoughts are. And then start to be aware of you know that opposition that will come in and want to tell you that you know you can't, you can't do this, or you shouldn't be out here, or you know whatever the negative thought is for the day. And then, once you're aware of it, then being like, okay, what's a, what's a healthier thought I could replace that with. And if it's not, I tell people like you can't just go to like the opposite, where you're like, no, I'm the best. Like you know, yeah. Like, yeah, you got to be honest, otherwise your body, you know, won't believe it. And so I tell people a lot of times a good strategy is just to go to neutral Like, instead of spiraling into these negative. Like I hate being on my bike, this is the worst, I don't know why I'm out here. Just go to neutral thinking. Yeah, stop that negative spiral. Just go to I have a bike yeah, I'm outside, I'm wearing purple or whatever you know. Or I, I have legs that can pedal, that can put, I can pedal with. You know I have, I'm wearing these shoes.
Speaker 2:Just like, start just listing neutral thoughts to just help get out of that downward negative spiral and then, after enough time of neutral thoughts, then you can start thinking of, like what would be like more healthy thought, you know process. Like what would thoughts would serve me better in the situation, like like maybe that I haven't figured this out yet, or maybe that I'm I'm out here trying something you know and that's better than be on the couch Right, I could just be home on the couch. So you know, you know there's. You can start to just train your brain to go from that negative spiral, get to neutral and then start, you know, getting to the thoughts and words that are serving you better. So that's one strategy I mean honestly. I'm actually in the works of like a whole online series on mindset work and so some of the other ones I'll just share really quick.
Speaker 2:One thing I do all the time is I pretend like I'm my own Olympic announcer when I'm out, you know doing something hard. I'll just be like what would an Olympic announcer say? That would make me feel amazing. And I'll just say that in my head like look how great Anna's looking around this corner. Can you believe how graceful she is? Can you believe her ease? She's making this look like it's so easy. She looks so good and strong. You know, I'll just like become my own announcer.
Speaker 2:And another thing I like to do is I believe there's so much power in the nature around us and good energy and I just try to tap into that and like I see the trees and the bushes and the flowers just cheering for me, like I just see them like just screaming, like I'm so glad you're out here enjoying us and you're doing great and keep going, and we're just like tap into that good energy all around you that nature has. I love that one. I love also just kind of thinking about like okay, what would make me a little bit more efficient here? You know, what was something that I could just change a little bit to make this a little bit easier. And like getting my brain focused on like oh, if I just shift my weight here or if I just change the way I'm breathing or if.
Speaker 2:I just, you know, do this or that, then it's going to be a little bit easier, and just focus on efficiency. Yeah, or even just breath work, you know, just focus on breathing, just slowing down the breath and the stopping thinking about any of those negative thoughts coming in. Just focus only on your breath. I could do that for a long time. That's always a good one. That's just a few, but yeah, I've got plenty more too. That's incredible.
Speaker 1:When you get this project launched, please let me know. I think it's really important. I've spent so much time just sitting with women in nature on a trip, just sitting with them and in whatever pain that they are feeling and sometimes it's physical pain, Sometimes it's mental pain and just trying to hold space for them as whatever's coming up is coming up. You know, I think nature also brings that out in us. When we're doing something hard and we're outdoors, we feel vulnerable, we feel exposed and it's almost like a rebirth, it's almost like an ignition. It almost ignites right. And so I'm interested in the strategies that you mentioned, because I think that they could help all of us, no matter what we're doing, If we're just walking our first 5k in a local race or if we're hopping in a marathon.
Speaker 2:Those are strategies that we can all use, oh yeah, I just find like I try to share the ones that I can with my clients and then I hear them talk about like oh man, that works so well when I was trying to parent my teen, so you know. Like oh yeah. Or when I'm like dealing with this thing at work or something else, like it's all the same, you know, those are helpful for every, every situation you're facing. So I feel like a lot of times we focus on just the physical side of like oh yeah, I got to figure out how to get better, stronger, faster, and maybe don't focus enough on like how we're developing our, our thinking and our brains and our mindset for what we're doing.
Speaker 1:I love this so much. I want to shift gears and talk about Ignite, because we've mentioned a lot of skiing, mountain biking and backpacking in our conversation so far. But I just want our community to know about Ignite and how you got started and what you do and your mission and your vision and your dreams and your goals and all of the things. So just just unload on us here.
Speaker 2:I love it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So a couple of years ago my background is in nursing, I worked as a nurse, for you know, like 16 years in the medical field, as an aid and as a nurse, and I was just always amazed by just our lack of preventative healthcare and options for people and how much the focus was always on Like I mean, granted I, there's a definite time and place for emergency medicine and and Western medicine, but I just felt like we could do so much more with preventative.
Speaker 2:So many people in the hospital were suffering, really suffering for things that you know like lifestyle changes could have really helped them prevent that suffering. And so so I took a break from nursing after I had my fourth kid and then, you know, just trying to decide. You know, when she was my youngest was like two or three I stopped nursing and I was trying to decide what to do when she was getting ready to go to kindergarten, yeah, and I really love the idea of just something more preventative, something, you know, that excited me, that spoke to me and yeah, and so one other friend of mine was like, hey, let's start doing women's retreats.
Speaker 2:And I was like, ok, let's try it. And so a couple of summers ago, we had our first women's retreat and we just had it in midway, right by where we live, in Heber, and, you know, did hiking and we were just coming out of COVID. It was like 2021. And you know, so it was like we were adjusting for that and trying to figure out how to navigate that, and but it was amazing. We had an incredible retreat that was just so transformational in so many ways and just loved it.
Speaker 2:And then, from there, we just started dialing in what it was we wanted to offer and, um, you know what, what would work with um, our schedules and everything.
Speaker 2:And so we've kind of landed with um doing backpack trips, which we just found were very, very influential in people's lives and that people were really interested in doing them, and so we've loved offering backpacking um trips for women.
Speaker 2:And then, um, I've always loved coaching, skiing and mountain biking, and so I've loved being able to offer women's specific clinics to do that in our area and so I like to do mountain bike clinics in the spring and then I offer private coaching where I have a um. We're just finishing up a mountain bike series to an online series of films that you can watch to find out everything you need to know to get into mountain biking and then you can record your, your um biking and we can send back feedback and employers and have a training plan to work on Um, so that will be available. And then also with cross-country skiing, online coaching and in-person live coaching and women's clinics, we do the cross-country ski clinics in January and February at the Wasatch State Park over in Midway and so, yeah, those are kind of our focuses is the cross-country skiing, mountain biking and backpacking, and we have we're working on several online courses.
Speaker 2:We have the online cross-country ski course right now that I think it's like a 10 part film series with a PDF of all the information type, with extra information and goals to work on to increase your ability and success at cross-country skiing.
Speaker 2:And then we also offer that as like an online course. You know, in the fall yes, you're getting ready for ski season. It teaches you everything you need to know to be ready to just have an awesome ski year, and we're wanting to offer that too. We're just about done with our backpack one and bike one, and so those will be available to just purchase and work through on your own or to go through as um, an online challenge with a group of ladies that's working on it together and have some accountability and support with that, and so that's our adventure side is the skiing, biking and backpacking, but the wellness side like I really wanted to incorporate that just background in medicine, and so I became a board certified health and wellness coach through the intrinsic program, and so now we're also offering health and wellness coaching and online health and wellness courses. So I worked with a dietician from the hospital where I was out to create a whole online nutrition course, and we offer that also as a challenge in the spring that's running in April this year, so I think this will air after that, but it's a great, great course on just kind of basic nutrition for you know, people that want to know what to eat and how to eat and how much and when, and based on it's all based on peer reviewed medical journals, you know, that are backed with um scientific evidence, and I'm also adding to that course a piece that is just for athletes as well, just like it's a slightly different um nutrition needs for athletes and people that are training and wanting to be active. So that will be added on soon. And then I have a online course for women's health that I partnered with a women's health physician here in town and so we created that and we'll be running that as a online challenge in, probably in August August. So watch for that on the website, but the course is online on our site and available now to go through great, great information on women's health issues.
Speaker 2:We also have like a two-week wellness challenge that we do every January. That you can by any time during the year but join the challenge in January. So just all kinds of things so fun. I just love the whole. Goal and mission of Ignite is encouraging and supporting outdoor adventure and wellness for women in every way possible and so just trying to tap into the gifts and skills and talents that we have to be able to offer the ski and bike coaching and backpack trips, but then also the wellness aspect of it and I would love to see it grow. I'd love to see us have more ski and bike coaches and be able to offer more clinics and more health and wellness coaches and offer more health coaching. And you know, just slowly, slowly grow to just be a great resource for helping women Slowly, slowly grow to just be a great resource for helping women.
Speaker 1:Anna I I first of all, this is amazing. You're so busy. You're so busy, but I think what I think what's missing in a lot of um women's like retreat trip, outdoor skills experience is is is, in fact, the wellness component, and that is so important. But you found a way to bridge the virtual events with the in-person events and that is that is so crucial and something that's just not done very often. So how did you get the idea to to to do that? Was it just a maybe we can? Maybe we can help more women if we offer the virtual component.
Speaker 2:Oh, totally, totally.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm just always.
Speaker 2:You know we had these ski clinics that we wanted to offer, but you can only teach so much you know in a short little clinic time and and there's so many things that you need to know before you can even sign up for one. You know, and, and I don't know my the friends that I started Ignite with, we just always talked about how you know we all got to the places that we are because of mentors in our life. Like there was someone else that showed us like, oh, you know, this is the kind of skis you get to go skate skiing and you know, this is how they're different than cross country skis and this is the kind of wax you use and this is how to wax them and this is where you can go and this is how you know, and you really need a mentor to to get into anything. And so, like it was, we couldn't be that for every single person every, every time, but if we could create a resource that they could go to you know be like oh yeah, I've got you covered.
Speaker 2:Like you want to get into this, but you don't know where to start. Done, here's our online ski course. You know, watch these films, you can go through this material, you know we're available for follow-up and then you have what you need to be able to like actually sign up for the clinic in the course and be successful at it. You know, and the same way, like like backpacking and mountain biking, like it's just a little, it's a lot overwhelming for people to get into things you know, to just know where to start, where you know what to do, how to how to figure it out. So we just wanted to be the mentor we could to as many people as possible, you know, and not limit it to just um, where people that live by us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and these are weird sports. Like I, um my family, we love to mountain bike recreationally, but last year my, my, my oldest son wanted to be on the mountain bike team and so we were like, oh my gosh, we don't even, we don't even know. Like what does the mountain bike race look? Like? What do we feed him? Like it's a, it's a whole, it's a, it's a. It was the first time in a long time that we've experienced being rookies at something, and and so it's a thing, and, and, and I think about skiing, and when I owned my ski shop, all the parents who would come in and rent skis for the season, and they would, they would, they wouldn't, they wouldn't know, like, how to carry this piece, or you don't even know what to ask, right, yeah, you don't even know what.
Speaker 1:You don't know like yeah, so I love that you I mean our mission at hike, like women, is to break down barriers to entry in the outdoors and help women explore with confidence, and I feel like our missions are, are are parallel in the same universe, because I feel like that's your mission too. You are taking, you're igniting another person's flame until you have a big bonfire of women who are confident, self-sufficient and feel like they're part of this over this big community of of you know, cheerleaders saying you got this sister.
Speaker 2:Oh, totally A hundred percent. I know it's a cool thing to be part of. There's definitely like anything like endless opposition. You know, every day, things to figure out, things to work through, that backs disappointments, struggle a lot, you know. But I don't know I I feel like anything like this. You get into it and you realize like, wow, anyone that starts their own business or doing their own thing, like it takes a lot to figure out and work through.
Speaker 2:And I've created, I've developed like such an incredible respect for anyone that's putting their stuff out there, you know, trying to figure things out, trying to add value in the ways they feel like that they can, with the gifts that they have, and it just has made me like want to be so much supportive of everyone else with whatever they're doing. You know, yeah, it's like, yeah, I get it, I get it. Like I know what it feels like to have people that are like your champions and supporting you and you're like, yes, I love what you're doing, like it's so awesome, I want to, I want to support this and help you and like that those people that come along the way make all the difference in helping like work through the all the hard that it comes with too and we all, we all need those people.
Speaker 1:it doesn't matter what stage of business you're in or or if this is your first time on skis. Like we, we all need a champion, we all need someone saying, yeah, I'm, I'm proud, I'm proud of you. So, and I'm proud of you because this takes a lot of courage to to do what you're doing. Like you left a career, you have four kids and you're really dedicated to your mission and that's so powerful.
Speaker 2:I just want to.
Speaker 1:I'm proud of you too. Oh, thank you. I I need to sign off here in a few minutes to hop on another call, but before I do I just have two more questions. And the first question that I want to ask is sometimes, with our trips, I feel like women don't sign up because they just don't feel like they're ready. And I don't think we ever feel like we're ready. In fact, I think it's almost dangerous to feel like we're ready, because then it comes into this ego thing, right Like I'm climbing Kilimanjaro and I've heard oh, it's the easiest mountain, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I didn't even train and I made it to the summer, blah, blah, blah, blah. But I don't want to even think that because I want to be ready. So how, what, what? What advice do you give to someone who is just kind of doubting whether or not they can? They can put themselves out there and and go on a backpacking trip with women who they don't even know?
Speaker 2:Oh, I know, Right, I, I a hundred percent agree. Biggest obstacle for people just to sign up, just that whole fear of like, could I, could I even do this, you know, could could that even be me? Like, how would I even be be ready for it? Right? But you know, like we've talked about, it's a skill like anything else, and there's so much you can do. You can research and you can talk to people and you can, you know, start just trying it out in small ways.
Speaker 2:Whenever I'm teaching a mountain bike skill or teaching someone to like, go over a feature or figure out a drop or something, I'm like, let's just break it down into the smallest steps possible. You know, you start by just walking your bike over it, you just start by looking at it, you know. So I would say, like, the first step is just start think about it Like it, could it be possible, like, and just opening up your mind to the potential, like that could be possible, right, it could be possible, definitely. And then, once you just start to shift your mindset a little bit, open it up to the possibilities, then your brain can get really creative to figuring out how to make it possible. You know it's like when you're like oh well, other women are doing that, so maybe I could too. Maybe I could do that you know why would I?
Speaker 2:even want to do that. Like you know, is that even something that's valuable to me? Like really ask those questions, like figure out if that's what you're wanting at this stage in your life and if it will be helpful. And and you might not not know, you have no clue because you haven't done it right, so you don't even know what is the incredible growth opportunity that it is right. But you could start with just like I'm just gonna do a little day hike, you know, and try that out and see how that feels, and I'm gonna try, you know, connecting, looking into opportunities, like maybe there's a hiking club or maybe there's, you know, a little, a bike club could join, or maybe there's a neighbor I could find that wants to walk, or, you know, just starting like breaking it down, just starting to build the possibility of the idea and also, just like you said, remembering that we never feel ready which is a good thing that you'll never be at the stage where you're like, oh yeah, I'm totally sad, I can deal with this. No problem.
Speaker 2:It'll be easy, like that will never be a place. So and this life is too short to be waiting for that to happen and to just, you know, give it a try it might. It might be just what you needed to work through.
Speaker 2:Whatever it is that, wherever you are in your life, wherever you're at it, could be just perfect for you and you know, and it might not, but I know that, just trying it, you will learn so much along the way and you'll discover so much about you and yourself that even if you feel like at the end, like oh. I hated that. You'll still have learned so much right. So it's a win-win. It really is a win-win.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can't lose. I'm glad you mentioned breaking it down. I was, I went through cancer treatment a couple of years ago and I was so sick from chemotherapy that it was like hard for me just to walk around the block because I was so weak and so nauseous. And my, my husband, like some people, go through chemo and it's just easy, and but I, my body, did not react well to chemo and I I remember, as I was coming out of treatment, it was like, okay, I'm going to walk around the block today, I'm going to walk around two blocks today, I'm going to walk around the park today, and and I was amazed how quickly one block turned into a half mile and a half mile turned into a mile and that's turned into Kilimanjaro. So that breaking it down applies to every, every difficult thing we do in life and that's such, such, such a valuable reminder. Anna, where can we learn more about Ignite? Where can we join you for an adventure? Where can we learn how to ski, how to mountain bike? Where can we take your wellness classes?
Speaker 2:Yes, love it. We have a website it's igniteadventureandwellnesscom. We are on Facebook and Instagram it's Ignite Adventure and Wellness and we have a newsletter that we send out every month. If you subscribe on our site, you'll get a great newsletter with what's going on and also some really good. We always do a good recipe and some other good tips, and so grab our newsletter.
Speaker 2:Come to our site, follow us, you know, wherever you follow people. And also I'd love to just give a shout out. Like we're always looking for women that are interested in becoming a backpack guide to help us expand our be able to offer more backpack experiences for people, or, if they're interested in, you know, becoming a mountain bike or ski coach. Um, I we love to help women get trained to become those things and be able to expand what we're able to offer. Or even a health and wellness coach. I'm working with someone right now that's being trained to become a health and wellness coach to help work with us as a coach. So you know, if you're out there and you're wanting to use your gifts and talents and provide value in that unique way, reach out to us, send an email. The contact's on the website. So I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1:Come join us. Yeah Well, I. So I'd love to hear from you. That's so cool. Come join us. Yeah Well, that's fantastic, because there's not enough women in our industry. So we need to support, we need to support. I don't know about you, but I'm probably not going to be teaching ski lessons when I'm 80. I hope to, but it might not happen. I might be too, tired by that point.
Speaker 1:I might be too tired by that point, but if we don't train this next generation of women to fill our shoes when we have decided that it's time to pass the baton, if there's no one to pass that baton to, then we've done a great disservice to women in our industry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you're trying to build them up, right, I feel like, too, it's so new Outdoor adventure for women. You know, right, like that wasn't a thing when I was growing up, right, I feel like, too, it's so new outdoor adventure for women, you know, right, like that wasn't a thing when I was growing up. I don't know about you, but like I feel like it's just so valuable and so, um, sometimes you get people that say like oh, you're taking people on these backpacks to these like secret places that I don't want more crowds out there and getting more people outside on trails making it more crowded. My response always is any person that is ever outside moving their body benefits our entire community and our global wellness in so many more ways, and if trails get crowded, we'll build more trails. You know, if resources for outdoor adventure get scarce, we'll create more resources. Like it is just monumental how much improvement can be added to our communities and our global health if people are outside moving their bodies.
Speaker 1:You just described every single fight I've had with our Nordic Ski Association. Oh, the parking lot's too full, there's too many kids out here, there's too many dogs. Fantastic like that, fantastic news. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2:Thank you very much so good for all of us, for everyone, all of us. I feel like this is going to air right before our spring broadcast, our spring backpack trip to um death, but we do have a summer one on the website for August 16th through the 18th in the Uintas. It's a really good beginner backpack. You can go as little as four and a half miles over three days, or up to 10 with some side hikes. So if you're totally intimidated by all of it, this is such a great beginner, introductory backpack trip in the Uintas. You'll see great beautiful high meadows and lakes and the gorgeous area. So that's a really good one. And we'll have another one that we'll post soon that should be in September and yeah, so just keep checking on backpack adventures and opportunities and um. Also, we, you know, do any kind of private or group coaching for any of the skiing or mountain biking or even backpacking to get people ready for whatever they're wanting to do. Just open your mind to the possibilities.