Meet The Team
Ali
Founder
Ali is a professional wildling. She's been leading fellow humans in wild places and teaching outdoor skills since 2009. Her lust for challenge and adventure has taken her all over the planet to lead and teach in 6 countries.
Her skills and experience are wide ranging and she has extensive experience living in and leading trips in wilderness areas. She has thousands of miles leading sea kayaking expeditions, hundreds of miles leading backpacking and horse packing, and thousands of feet of climbing.
She is believes that humans are an integral part of nature and that we are happier, healthier humans when we spend time in wild places. Her teaching is infused with this belief and informs everything she does. You can read more about the culture she's created at Wayfinder Outdoors here.
In addition to over a decade of learning through experience, she also has a degree in Outdoor Recreation from East Carolina University.
Mike
VP of Making Things Happen
Mike has spent his entire career as a dedicated outdoorsman, public safety first responder, and administrator. A life long passion of integrity and helping others, Mike has served as tactical paramedic, AHA training center administrator, BLS instructor, Public Health Care executive, National Incident Commander and Director of Field Training and Emergency Manager.
Recently, Mike has served as the North Caroline state liaison to to hike Expo 2026, and as the Co-Director of the 52 Hike Challenge, logging almost 400 miles in the last four years, leading many hikes statewide. He is also active with Waterfall Keepers of NC and the Friends of North Carolina State Parks. Mike is a seasoned public speaker, training instructor and special event planner.
He is the recipient of the Illinois Governor's Special award of Valor, US Justice Special Achievement award and is a graduate and guest instructor at the FBI National Academy.
Owen
Director of Feral Skills
Starting at 8 years old, Owen was mentored for a decade in earthskills at an acclaimed nature connection program. His passion for leatherworking, basket making, friction fire and plant studies compelled him to become both a student and instructor of each craft. He began working in outdoor education at the age of 14, and has since worked with people of all ages in workshops and backcountry expeditions of all sorts.
As a teenager, Owen chose to be homeschooled in order to focus on primitive skills and outdoor education, spending two years living outdoors during that time. He studied with Natalie Bogwalker at Wild Abundance, apprenticed with herbalist Will Endres in Hillsborough NC, and attended a variety of earthskills gatherings across the Southeast. He completed 4 seasons of the Wilderness Immersion Program at the Maine Primitive Skills School, and went on to teach wilderness skills there for 4 years.
Owen has over ten years of earthskills experience, and possesses a high degree of focus and attention to detail. He spent 6 winters living in various primitive shelters, three of them being in Maine. He is currently drawn to primitive shelter building, hide tanning, fire by friction, bicycle touring, and continuing his pursuit of year round foraging.