I was browsing the film section on REI’s online journal. A film jumped out at me titled “Venturous Voices”. This film is about five women who have impacted the outdoor world as entrepreneurs. These women, Alyssa Ravasio, Jenny Amaraneni, Dana Holliday, Chelsea Griffie, and Jeanine Pesce, focus on helping people, the environment, and creating an authentic place to grow.
Ravasio’s business, called Hipcamp, is a website that makes it easy for people to reserve campsites. She has made it almost effortless to get outside. In this video, she talks about the challenges she had to face in order to build her business. She taught herself how to program and create the website. She didn’t want to rely on other people to do it for her – she didn’t want to “convince some boy that they should build this” for her. Both the outdoor and the tech industries have been dominated by men, so she is a pioneer in this movement for women. She discusses how females bring a different leadership style that allows room for emotions and sensitivity. This is powerful because feeling emotions and having the ability to empathize with people is important. Hipcamp was started because Ravasio faced frustration on a camping trip. She wanted to create a place where one could get all the information on campgrounds, so nobody had to go through a disappointing trip.
Jenny Amaraneni and Dana Holliday collaborated to launch a business called Solo Eyewear that is centered around the idea that there is more to a business than just profit. They launched a line of eco-friendly glasses where a portion of the profits support people who are in need of eye care. Early in the business, they put out products and later found out they were breaking. They retracted the line and waited until they created a top of the line product they were proud to sell. They’ve worked with nonprofit partners to create a company where they not only create a company to support themselves, but also help others improve their life, by giving people glasses to see. Their teamwork and dedication to their project paid off.
Chelsea Griffie didn’t get the opportunity to grow up spending time outdoors, so she’s devoted her time to helping others get outside. She started climbing when she was 27, and is the first African-American woman to climb El Capitan in Yosemite. She enjoys climbing with women because if not, people assume that the man does all the work. She started a chapter of Wilderness Training in LA and it helps give people in impoverished communities the ability to access the outdoors. Not only did she create a place to train guides, but she also created a gear library, where people can rent gear at a low price. By getting kids and adults outside, they are able to bond with each other and learn valuable skills that they bring back with them to the city. Her passion is contagious and allows others to be at ease.
Jeanine Pesce created a company called RANGE. This company is about connecting women and other people in urban environments to like-minded people who love the outdoors. Pesce lives right outside of New York City, so she sees people often forget about how amazing the outdoors are. By connecting people who love being outside, the outdoor community grows more and more. She sees women having a place in the outdoor industry because women are starting to work together to create alliances to succeed together.
Within the last 2 to 3 years, women have been taking on roles within the outdoor industry from CEOs to activists. When women take on these roles, they spread positivity and confidence, because EMPOWERED WOMEN, EMPOWER WOMEN.