How to talk to kids (and their parents) about the outdoor industry

In shadowy corner where curiosity meets concern, thoughtful parents peer through the heavy curtains at the curious home across the cul-de-sac. That one with an unnatural amount of bicycles and skis in their garage and so many strange stickers adorning the bumper of their Tacoma. That one with the unnaturally relaxed neighbor who never seems to wear long pants, has apparently an unending selection of plaid shirts,” and works in a mysterious role within something called the “outdoor industry.

There is no perfect time for them to “finally ask.” But the opportunity coming in late May is too good to pass up – a neighborhood graduation barbecue, full of young minds on the verge of a working future and a string of concerned parents staring blankly at each other in search of some short and sweet career advice that doesn’t involve them quoting a 56 year old film.

“Would you talk to our child about jobs in the outdoor industry?”

When it comes to talking to your neighbors about the outdoor industry, it is important to ask them what they already know about the sector, its companies and its curious behaviors. 

Keep your tone calm and nonjudgmental, and take advantage of "teachable moments” – like, if there is a character in a movie or on TV with a kayak or a pair of skis who lives in a sweet house in Jackson Hole or Aspen, embrace the opportunity to talk about the differences between fantasy and reality.

And remember that from a distance, the “outdoor industry” is often regarded as an impenetrably mystical place, a fog-shrouded emerald mountain town that only emerges on sunny and cool Friday afternoons between the start of ski season and Amazon Prime Day.  It is often viewed as the corporate equivalent of Van Life, where every board meeting happens beneath sandstone arches and every employee has a standing desk, a cool dog, and unlimited vacation time. A place somehow free from bullshit jobs, stupid tasks and cubicle farms, where bosses wear shorts and take everybody surfing in Puerto Rico over Christmas.

This perception is, of course, totally understandable. The outdoor sector’s sheer broadness makes it incredibly challenging to fully wrap your head around, even for those who’ve worked in it for decades. It is the ultimate example of “a mile wide and an inch deep,” made up of thousands of different companies and organizations doing a zillion different things. 

Yet nearly all these companies lean heavily on a remarkably simple (and effective) visual style – the curated healthiness and happiness of an outdoor utopia that’s just over the horizon and is way more awesome than whatever it is that you’re doing right now. 

When that neighbor (or their newly acquired twentysomething tenant) first inquires about working in the outdoor industry, it’s typically code for one of two things. They’re either thinking about a power brand named Patagonia (or or one that behaves a lot like them), or they’re fishing for some sort of intro to a “cool job out West,” one doing who-knows-what in a workplace God-knows-where but that definitely has singletrack right out the back door and plenty of Kombucha in the office fridge.

So to give the best possible advice about working in the sector, you’ll first have to explain what the outdoor industry actually is … which is easier than you think.

1) Go to the map

As with any challenging terrain, the best way to gain perspective on the outdoor industry is to gain a little elevation. 

In the far reaches of the backcountry, you might climb a tree or scramble up a nearby peak to get a better handle on things. 

But for your upcoming coffee conversation that you for some reason scheduled for next Friday at 7:30 am, you should consider climbing on top of a mountain of work that’s already been done, by something called “the media.”

My personal favorite for helping a newbie gain insight into the outdoor world are the archives of Outdoor Retailer magazine, though there are a bunch of other spots that I would recommend as well, including the The Daily, Shop Eat Surf, Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, and the now-defunct Outside Business Journal. You might also throw in a dash of Outdoor Sportswire. And while it’s not trade media per se, the Basecamp Facebook group does by far the best job of bringing to life both the mindset of outdoor industry job seekers, as well as many of potential opportunities that are out there. 

Forward a few of these sources directly to that young person seeking advice – along with the request that they spend some time poking around and going down a few rabbit holes. Challenge them to build a short(ish) list of things that they liked, and things that spoke to them in some way. And once they’ve done that homework, you’ll both be ready to have “the talk.”

 # 2 The sword in the stone is your local outdoor shop

The bad news is that sending a young person on a knight’s errand to see for themselves the full glory of the outdoor industry  is the hardest it has been in three decades. Once upon a time, there used to be a single national trade show that did everything for everybody. But alas, those days have slipped away.

The good news is that all hope is not lost … because there is still a place where you can see, touch and smell the many multifaceted angles of the outdoor industry.

Your local outdoor shop.

If anyone – including your neighbor or their kid  – truly wants to get under the hood and understand the ways of the outdoor industry, suggest that they go work retail for a summer. Because in the aisles of a specialty outdoor shop, there are real world wisdom bombs being dropped every day. Ones that will help explain how the outdoor sector truly works, who the actual players are, how to tell the difference between cool companies and ones just serving Kool-Aid, and what really matters to people who are spending their own paychecks on full priced outdoor gear.

#3 Remember the rule of 20s 

There is a secret held by the vast majority of the outdoor sector’s key leaders and innovators. It’s not very well kept, but it is important to understand

While it’s well known that these folks have put thousands of hours into honing their business craft and take a ton of pride in their work, what’s not as well known is that -- to a person – these leaders would prefer to not be at the office at all. 

They dream of traveling and exploring, skinning the back bowls or floating a remote stretch of river through some remote desert canyon somewhere. Because the outdoor sector, at its core, is all about the addictive mashup of adventures with trusted friends, uncertain time frames, and plenty of ups and downs. 

Kind of like being 22 again.

We (of a certain age) in the outdoor industry, would certainly love to have every bright eyed and energetic young mind working for our brands, our retailers, and our non-profit organizations. But if we were in your shoes – those flip-flops filled with 22 year-old feet – we very likely wouldn’t be applying for a “real job” quite so soon.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s certainly a lot to be said for entering the workforce, paying off those student loans and saving for a rainy day. 

At the same time, there’s a lot to be said for picking up some landscaping shifts or trail crew gigs that enable you to dive into the glories of the “outdoor” world a little deeper before worrying too much about the careerist realities of the “industry” part. 

Because if you do end up working in the outdoor industry someday … and hopefully you will … it will at some point be essential to explain what it is that we’re actually trying to sell here. 

And you can’t learn those things on a Zoom call.

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