A Household
A household uses money as a resource to add value to the lives of the people in the household. A (traditional) business uses people as the resource to add money to the business. -@weaselle
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I run Wayfinder Outdoors like a household- resources are shared to add value to the lives of instructors, our community and the natural world. And we do that while providing our clients with incredible, life changing experiences.
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​Instructor Pay
Pay structure at Wayfinder Outdoors is the opposite of most outdoor companies. At almost every other outdoor adventure company, the people taking clients into the wild get paid the least, and the people sitting behind desks get paid the most.
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My business model flips that on its head- putting instructor pay at the top of the priority list, second only to safety.
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Every aspect of the business flows from that. The bulk of money from a class or course goes to the instructor delivering it. Wayfinder Outdoors subtracts operating costs (like insurance and permits) from the total amount paid by clients and the instructor gets the remainder.
​​​​The goal is to provide a space for my fellow badass, wild and talented educators to do what they love and what they're amazing at while getting paid what they're worth.
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They have decades of knowledge and experience. They should be paid for it- because the dentist won't accept 'it was an incredible experience' in payment. Our jobs do gift us with incredible experiences, but we have bills to pay just like everyone else. ​​
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If a business can't succeed without paying their employees less than a living wage, then that business is not sustainable.
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At Wayfinder, we're structured so that every guest instructor is paid their minimum daily rate. If we can't afford to pay that, those classes and trips are dropped for something that works.
Community
We are losing our wild spaces, and fast, because of human greed.
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We are cut off from community, because extractive, oppressive systems thrive on our isolation and desperation.
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I heard somewhere that it is better to build a new world to take the place of the old one, than to destroy the old on in hopes that something better will replace it.
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There are organizations, and people, working hard to build a better world. My hope is that I can build a business that can help contribute to that.
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I put my money where my mouth is.
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We partner with local organizations doing this good work, and we donate 15-20% of revenue to them. We currently work with: Triangle Land Conservancy and NC Nature School
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