Fresh From the Woods

An open letter to the OR Marketing Team  

Two days before I entered the customer service game at OR (championed by the most endearing and dynamic team around), I was weaving the wild woods of Northern Michigan, eating bacon-wrapped woodcock, paddling a canoe down the serene Au Sable River and kicking up leaves as I ran the roughly hewn trails around my family’s cedar cabin. Built in 1968, this timeless refuge is bordered by a river, canopied by pines and taught me from the beginning that real joy is both ageless and found in the wild.

Wild since I could walk, I've always been rife with signs of mingling with the elements: skin plastered with angry mosquito bites, red curls tangled with twigs and always a dog at my side. I cultivated a spirit of unbridled exploration and ceaseless movement that more often than not ended in (minor) injury. My parents developed a well-honed grimace, sigh and habitual reach for the first-aid kit, all the while leaving my whirlwind path unhindered if only to see the infectious glee that took ahold of me whenever I was free to explore.

My modern iteration of this spirit isn’t terribly different. Mosquitoes still have their way with me on every woodsy venture. Dogs remain the indisputable best of sidekicks. Soccer fields, running trails and bike lanes sometimes halt my perpetual movement to grant me a souvenir from my workouts (busted right elbow, Grade 3 ankle sprain and a bike accident ending in stitches, to name a few trophies from the past six months). My athletic injuries, while not nearly as badass as those sustained by Ron Gregg and his adventure pals (as detailed in Designed by Adventure: 30 Years of Outdoor Research), lent me a certain bemused appreciation for the “Ron-related injuries.” Stories of the OR founder and his “appreciation for natural places” accompanied by “the energy of an unwalked dog” perfectly capture this ageless spirit of adventure (with its essential canine element) that keeps me (literally) chasing the unmatched thrills of the outdoors with little concern for surface scrapes.

I'm wholly inspired by Ron's twofold hustle detailed in Designed by Adventure, as it encapsulates both his passionate pursuit of outdoor exploits and fierce study of how to improve those experiences with the best possible gear. My energy is likewise defined by both physical adventure and creative production. Inside the office and out, I throw myself into ambitious pursuits, and my writing chases the same lofty visions that my legs do on PR-busting early morning runs. 

In plain terms: I truly love this brand. The employees who emanate passion and personable spirit, the customers who emphatically thank me for the small act of suggesting a jacket (one of whom was so nice in an email he may or may not have caused me to tear up) and a thousand other details that make me excited to come to work here every day. I’m serious - every day. I’m surrounded by that passion for the wild and natural, that ageless quality that’s a part of anything worth working for. I can’t imagine devoting my time and creative energy to any other company, nor envision a more perfect role than writing the product stories behind such a stunning brand.