Our Purpose
We are a team of people who love adventure, and want to help others have exciting, fun and safe adventures of their own by sharing our skills and leading trips. Our goal is to nurture an empowered and welcoming outdoor community.
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We believe time in nature is integral to our mental and emotional health. We believe that time spent in the wild with other humans deepens our connections with ourselves, each other and our planet.
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We also seek to deepen our connection with wild spaces beyond a typical outdoor trip by practicing ancestral skills and rewilding.
Our Business Model
Ali started Wayfinder Outdoors in June of 2021 as an instructor owned and self managed business. Our cooperative operates without bosses or supervisors, relying instead on a professional, tight knit team with designated roles.
Our instructors are professionals with decades of experience who each bring different skills and knowledge to the team. We recognize and honor these differences and work together to grow together, mentor each other, and make decisions democratically.
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Collaborative business structures create a more empowering and enjoyable work environment where instructors have autonomy and better work life balance. Eliminating hierarchy means that we are able to maintain a sustainable business while paying instructors fairly for their specialized skills, years of experience and unbridled enthusiasm.
How We're Different
Our instructors only teach classes and lead trips they want to. This means they are only doing what is exciting and rewarding for them, instead of dreading coming to work. We know this makes for an incredible participant experience, and happier instructors.
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Our pay structure is opposite from most adventure companies- where instructors receive the lowest pay, and managers the highest pay. When you pay for a class with us, rest assured that the instructor teaching your class is being paid fairly for their expertise. The bulk of the revenue from classes goes to the instructor teaching that class. Wayfinder Outdoors only takes a small percentage (typically between 10 and 20%) to pay for insurance and permits.
About our Founder
Ali spent a decade leading outdoor adventure trips all over the world after witnessing the transformative power of wilderness experiences.
After living out of backpacks, sea kayaks and saddlebags, she Ali decided to re-establish her roots in her hometown of Raleigh to be close to family.
But leaving behind the nomadic life definitely didn't mean settling down! She wanted to continue helping others have transformative wilderness experiences and sharing outdoor knowledge so she started Wayfinder Outdoors in April of 2021.
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