As a child, my favorite activities were outdoors. Whether it was sandboxes, building fairy houses by the trees or pretending to live in the woods behind my house, I was never happier than when I was outside. Fast forward to being an adult - suddenly, life is filled with work, family, cities, highways, cement, industry, etc. The necessities of modern life cause us to lose our most primal connection to the planet we call home.
My husband and I have had a long-time dream of owning our own business. We've kicked around many ideas and while some were doable and had promise, none of those ideas felt right. I think those ideas weren't right because they weren't us. We had to ask ourselves, who are we? What is important to us? How can we make a positive influence in our world? So, in the spirit of living authentically, I went back to the start and began answering those questions.
Who are we?
We are ordinary people who are busy working hard and raising a family. In an effort to reconnect and feel refreshed, we get outdoors as often as possible and we feel that it is important for our kids to do the same. For us, this means camping, snorkeling, hiking, kayaking or simply sitting on the front porch to listen to the birds. In fact, we love the outdoors so much that we moved into a fixer-upper out in the country.
What is important to us?
Connecting to others is important to us and whether you prefer the beach or the mountains, exploring with friends and family brings people together. Exploring new places and going on adventures fuels and refreshes us. Connecting to and taking care of the Earth is something that is very important to us as well. We recycle and we use sustainable products when possible.
How can we make a positive influence in our world?
Helping others re-discover the beauty of the outdoors and to connect with their loved ones in a natural space is what drives me to move forward. We seek to inspire by offering practical tips on our blog and inspirational photographs from adventures on Instagram. We will share articles and information relevant to the outdoors on Twitter and Facebook. While we inspire others to explore together, we'll also help raise awareness about matters that pertain to the outdoors such as climate change, supporting our national and state parks and practical things we can do to preserve the outdoors for generations to come.
How can we remain authentic as our company grows?
By always going back to the start and remembering our "why". By living out our values. We remain authentic as a business by personally testing our products, inspecting each product we sell by hand for quality assurance and by offering our products at affordable prices in an effort to make them accessible to more people. We vow to use recyclable papers and products whenever possible and to use our own photographs from our adventures on our marketing materials and social media - you'll find no stock photography here. And of course, we will never sell anything that we would not personally use.
Getting this business off the ground has been a slow process and we've hit some bumps along the way, however, the silver lining is that it gave us time to discover our 'why'. Our first product is scheduled to hit the shelves in November. Why the delay? The original shipment didn't meet our high standards. We'd rather wait for the best than sell something that misses the mark.
When we began, we had a rough idea of what we want this company to be. Now, we have a clear direction and it's path that we're excited to walk down. We'd love for you to join us along the way! If you're on social media, we'd love to engage with you on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Share your outdoor adventures with us by using the hashtag #ExploreTogether. We look forward to connecting with you!
See you outside :)
-Leslie
"Life is better outdoors"
My husband and I have had a long-time dream of owning our own business. We've kicked around many ideas and while some were doable and had promise, none of those ideas felt right. I think those ideas weren't right because they weren't us. We had to ask ourselves, who are we? What is important to us? How can we make a positive influence in our world? So, in the spirit of living authentically, I went back to the start and began answering those questions.
Who are we?
We are ordinary people who are busy working hard and raising a family. In an effort to reconnect and feel refreshed, we get outdoors as often as possible and we feel that it is important for our kids to do the same. For us, this means camping, snorkeling, hiking, kayaking or simply sitting on the front porch to listen to the birds. In fact, we love the outdoors so much that we moved into a fixer-upper out in the country.
What is important to us?
Connecting to others is important to us and whether you prefer the beach or the mountains, exploring with friends and family brings people together. Exploring new places and going on adventures fuels and refreshes us. Connecting to and taking care of the Earth is something that is very important to us as well. We recycle and we use sustainable products when possible.
How can we make a positive influence in our world?
Helping others re-discover the beauty of the outdoors and to connect with their loved ones in a natural space is what drives me to move forward. We seek to inspire by offering practical tips on our blog and inspirational photographs from adventures on Instagram. We will share articles and information relevant to the outdoors on Twitter and Facebook. While we inspire others to explore together, we'll also help raise awareness about matters that pertain to the outdoors such as climate change, supporting our national and state parks and practical things we can do to preserve the outdoors for generations to come.
How can we remain authentic as our company grows?
By always going back to the start and remembering our "why". By living out our values. We remain authentic as a business by personally testing our products, inspecting each product we sell by hand for quality assurance and by offering our products at affordable prices in an effort to make them accessible to more people. We vow to use recyclable papers and products whenever possible and to use our own photographs from our adventures on our marketing materials and social media - you'll find no stock photography here. And of course, we will never sell anything that we would not personally use.
Getting this business off the ground has been a slow process and we've hit some bumps along the way, however, the silver lining is that it gave us time to discover our 'why'. Our first product is scheduled to hit the shelves in November. Why the delay? The original shipment didn't meet our high standards. We'd rather wait for the best than sell something that misses the mark.
When we began, we had a rough idea of what we want this company to be. Now, we have a clear direction and it's path that we're excited to walk down. We'd love for you to join us along the way! If you're on social media, we'd love to engage with you on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Share your outdoor adventures with us by using the hashtag #ExploreTogether. We look forward to connecting with you!
See you outside :)
-Leslie
"Life is better outdoors"
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