interview

Now that Pride month has come to a close, brands across the industry will once again begin taking down their rainbow logos, packing them away until next summer. There's no question we've come a long way in our celebration and amplification of LGBTQIA+ people in the outdoor space ...read more

Merrell's new head of marketing, Janice Tennant, could hardly be more perfect for the role she stepped into just last week. Combining a lifelong love of the outdoors with more than 18 years of marketing leadership experience—including her most recent role as CMO of Cat ...read more

The Sierra Club's newly elected president, Ramón Cruz, has spent his entire professional life fighting for sustainability, climate advocacy, and responsible urban planning around the world. A graduate of American University and Princeton, he has worked as a senior policy analyst ...read more

In 1994, Kemper Snowboards went kaput after it was sold to an in-line skate company on the East Coast. But former professional snowboarder, Jib Hunt, driven by nostalgia, is resurrecting it. For Hunt, 43, launching this one-man show is a culmination of his life experience. Hunt ...read more

Any mountain biker can tell you that the clipless-versus-flat-pedals debate is the oldest and most heated in the community, and one that often turns casual conversation into childish warfare. An avid mountain biker and founder of Hustle Bike Labs, Craig Payne is no stranger to ...read more

East Coast waves are notoriously fickle and the surf is often plagued with flat spells, but for surf and skate brand Jetty it was just an excuse to follow their own line. This soon became Jetty's "calling card"—thriving from the challenges of bipolar seasons and changeable ...read more

Greg Thomsen has had almost every job imaginable in the outdoor industry: a climbing guide, a sales rep, a specialty outdoor retailer, a product designer, owner of Mountainsmith, co-founder of Wilderness Experience. For the last decade, Thomsen has served as the chief outdoor ...read more

Last year, Noa Ries was stuck in a rut. After founding a women's activewear company that took off with investors, she no longer felt like it was her own. As much as it was painful to part ways, her epiphany that she was no longer fulfilled led her to start The Nook Online with ...read more

In front of a room of journalists in March, Jonathan Nielsen described himself as really good snowboarder, a frequent mountain biker, and an adequate climber. The audience chuckled and the Backcountry CEO took a pause before spilling his excitement over the company's biggest ...read more

James Kubik, 27, lost a friend to a sailing accident during his childhood. His friend, her younger sister, and her father were separated from their boat and didn't have a way to call for help and ultimately, she drowned. Their marine-grade SOS device and other safety equipment ...read more

ORCA CEO Cliff Walker spends much of the year on the road, in business attire, selling his brand's coolers and drinkware. So when he’s home working in the Nashville headquarters, he comes casual, dressed in earth-toned shorts and a T-shirt. That down-to-earth approach is a good ...read more

Elísabet Elfa Arnarsdottir grew up in Iceland. Playing outside and exploring the country’s vast wilderness was part of everyday life—and so was wearing functional outdoor clothing that had zero style. So Arnarsdottir made her own. Now, she’s making clothes for the world. As a ...read more

A 2016 survey conducted by the National Park Service found that less than 20 percent of park visitors were non-white. For many reasons, including economic and safety issues, the outdoors can be intimidating, particularly for people of color. Chevon Powell, founder of Golden ...read more

Buena Vista's The Trailhead is smack in the heart of Colorado Fourteener country—a short drive from 15 of the monster peaks. But for all outdoor recreation in the area, the shop's marketing manager, Susan Wood, and other businesses felt the town still lacked opportunity for the ...read more

Len Necefer has a Ph.D in engineering and public policy. It might not surprise you, then, that his outdoor apparel company is about far more than the gear. Natives Outdoors is a B Corp that shares profits with Native communities, and Necefer is working to take back ...read more

You won’t find Jeremy Hale wearing jeans. Whether he’s in the office, out hiking, or enjoying time off at his family’s cabin in New York, he’s wearing Chinos. Specifically, Mountain Khakis Chinos. “I’m a Chino guy,” he told us last week before he officially started as the ...read more

On the way to the Beaver Falls, the most remote set of cascading waterfalls in Havasupai, Arizona, Adriana Garcia and Luz Lituma came across something they had never seen before while hiking. Carved into one of the ladders leading to the falls was an arrow and the phrase “Por ...read more

Bronx native Mirna Valerio first laced up running shoes for a 5K—and just kept going. She now has almost a dozen 50K trail ultramarathons under her belt and is well-known in the ultra world and on social media as The Mirnavator and author of the memoir A Beautiful Work in ...read more

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is the kind of guy who will stand up in front of a room of outdoor industry professionals, realize he’s overdressed, pause to take off his tie, and then keep speaking as if nothing happened. Before he was governor, before he and three friends ...read more

For the first time in Outdoor Retailer Show history, the industry will rally together in November for a chance to discover new products before committing dollars. And Show Director Marisa Nicholson is excited. “Retailers will be able to see product in the way that the industry ...read more

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, columnist, and author Timothy Egan spent years covering the West—past and present—as a correspondent for The New York Times. His books have covered everything from the origins of the U.S. Forest Service to exploration of the Pacific Northwest to ...read more

When he's not obstacle course racing, surfing, biking, or trail running, Craig Cooper—former co-host of the CNBC outdoor investment show “Adventure Capitalists”— is looking for the next best company to invest in. Next week, he's joining the outdoor industry to judge startup ...read more

The same year Jen McLaren bought her first road bike, she completed her first century ride with the Smartwool team, traveling from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, to Salt Lake City, Utah, for Outdoor Retailer. She’s been riding ever since and this year on the way to Outdoor ...read more

What's happened to Jim Lamancusa is every startup owner's dream. Since launching Cusa Tea in May 2017, the company has rapidly expanded distribution of premium instant tea packets to more than 750 retail locations in the natural grocery, conventional grocery and outdoor ...read more