Gareth Richards
Owner, Outdoor Prolink
The Basics
Company Name: Outdoor Prolink
Location: Boulder, Colorado
Founded: 2004
Full-Time Employees: 10
Products: Discounted outdoor gear and apparel for verified outdoor industry professionals.
Social: Instagram
Claim to Fame: Our CEO climbed Mt. Everest.
The Culture
DEMOGRAPHICS (OPTIONAL):
60% Female, 40% Male // 10% Latinx, 90% White
The best thing about working at OUTDOOR PROLINK is:
Getting outside is our number one priority.
When we’re not working, we’re:
Outside! Hiking, climbing, mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, running, paddling… we love it all.
What we’re reading:
Stand Out 2.0, American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, Life by Keith Richards, Elon Musk’s Biography, Shark Drunk by Morten Strøksnes, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
What we’re listening to:
H.E.R., John Prine, The Wooks, People Under the Stairs, Charles Bradley, Khruangbin, Earthgang, Mandolin Orange, JJ Grey and MoFro, HOSH, Drama
If they made a movie about our workplace, it would be called:
“Still Getting After It” or “Dirtbag Dreams”
Inclusion in the outdoors matters because:
Connection with the outdoors makes people come alive. Nature heals, challenges and inspires us. These experiences should be equally accessible to all people, period. Our planet is in trouble right now, and turning more people on to the great outdoors is one of the first steps to saving it.
Five years down the line, it’s our hope that:
The outdoor industry is different in many ways:
· There is a renaissance of new outdoor brands founded and led by Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC)
· Consistently representative and inclusive marketing and advertising is the industry standard
· Tokenism is replaced by true inclusion; outdoor athletes, ambassadors and outdoor professionals are a broadly representative coalition
· Outdoor brands innovate on their products to make them more culturally relevant for all BIPOC and more accessible for disenfranchised groups
· Participation in outdoor recreation grows exponentially as more BIPOC have access to and fall in love with the outdoors
· Huge strides are made in climate activism as more Americans than ever fall in love with the great outdoors and are thus more invested in saving our one and only home planet.