Have Media Will Travel

A blog about outdoor adventure, family travel, national parks, media, technology, marketing, fitness and me.

Media

Living and Working on the Frontier, Part 2

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In 1994, we founded a business in Wyoming called Yellowstone Journal Corporation. For 15 years we innovated and expanded. It was hard work. It was never easy. Yet it was extremely fulfilling — similar to climbing a mountain. It’s almost all work, but the rewards at the top are worth it. We sold the business to Active Interest Media, the publisher of Backpacker Magazine, Yoga Journal, Climbing, American Cowboy, and other niche magazines, in September 2008.

Now, I’m starting up a new mountain, developing a new business. Here’s that part of the story (Part 2, published in Wyoming Entrepreneur.)

(And, if interested, here is Part 1).

Living and Working on the Frontier

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I started and operated a business on the frontier of Wyoming for 15 years. It was hard work – similar to exploring the frontier. It was a journey of discovery and promise that at times was harsh and full of hazards. It was epic.

Click here: Part One, published in Wyoming Entrepreneur.

I Want To Be A Coach, Part 1

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I want to be a coach. Not a basketball coach or a football coach, but a life coach.

(And while I’m at it, I also want to be a nutrition consultant, for which I’m working on certification, and a NOLS instructor. And, what the heck, I want a Family Vs. Wild show, too. But I digress.)

Me on an epic hike in my backyard, Wyoming's Wind River Range.

As Frontier Consulting Group and/or HaveMediaWillTravel, I will continue, part-time, as a consultant to businesses and/or organizations in the areas of content development, marketing, destination marketing, tourism promotion, travel PR, media production, social media, etc.

But I will also be reinventing my professional self.

What will be the outcome, you ask?

This is how I’ll answer that:  My family, national parks, the outdoors, epic hikes, the Wind River Range, the frontier that is Wyoming, social media, technology, fitness, coffee, nutrition, etc., are passions of mine. As a result, I read and share a lot about these things across all my “networks” of friends, family, colleagues and people I’ve never met — in an effort to motivate people to travel to Yellowstone or Grand Canyon, to improve their fitness, to embark on epic outdoor adventures such as climbing the Grand Teton or doing the Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim of the Grand Canyon or snowboarding at Jackson Hole. To explore the backcountry, including my beloved Wind River Range, and the frontier of Wyoming.

Motivating others — or at least trying to — to do any of the above things is fulfilling. Helping to motivate people to affect positive change in their own lives would be particularly fulfilling, not to mention an honor.

But there are other reasons for embarking on this journey.

The life coaching coursework and in-person learnings should help me become a better listener, and to be more present in the various moments and experiences that comprise my life. Such learning should help me in all of my relationships, in consulting, at home and with family, friends and colleagues.

During the years leading up to the September 2008 sale of our business, I met and enlisted Betina Koski as a life coach. I found her after reading Jim Collins’ Good to Great. Betina was a phenomenal help to me. She did not have the answers, or even offer answers (although I would have welcomed them on many occasions!) What she did do was listen to and ask me a bunch of powerful questions. She made me think and reflect and focus, and she provided direction. She “coached” me, and always, I was better for it.

Finally, human will and potential are fascinating to me. So ultimately, it would be a tremendously rewarding challenge, to play even a small part in helping people master and realize theirs.

So, back to the first sentence in this post – about wanting to be a life coach. I’ve enrolled in the Coaches Training Institute (CTI). I will be making five monthly weekend trips to the San Francisco area for hands-on coaching learning between now and March. I will then begin a 25-week certification to become CPCC-certified, which will include taking on clients and conducting 100 hours of coaching, supervised coaching, and additional work and instruction.

Check back here often because I will be generous in my sharing of what I learn on this journey.

Most importantly, thank you for your readership, friendship and support.

Meet My Mobile Office by the River

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So, I was working on a new office space. It was to be a rustic cabin by the river. Well, my town of Lander, WY, including some river frontage on my parents’ property, on which said cabin sat, flooded in June. The cabin went down river, literally.

Getting ready to enter my office for a productive morning of work.

So, as a Plan B, my husband, Jerry, found a 1973 Sportscoach RV. It’s old, but it has character. It could be the ugliest vessel ever seen. But beauty is on the inside, remember. And besides, it came complete with a ceramic trout bolted to one of the walls.

I love it. Jerry and his dad, Harlan, installed a whiteboard wall panel for me (I love writing on whiteboards), as well as some reclaimed pine plank flooring and a customized desk. It has a toasty propane furnace to keep me warm on cool mornings, a stove, fridge and microwave, and the all-important Wireless connection.

My mobile office comes with complete amenities, including a bathroom, stove, fridge, microwave, toasty furnace, wireless and good views.

Most of all it has atmosphere. Nestled in big trees, on the bank of the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie River and with views of Table Mountain, the office is an inspiring place from which to (try to) work.

My coworkers are deer, Canada geese and sage grouse. There aren’t any people nearby, but that’s okay. That’s why I have Facebook.

Sitting in the "Driver's Seat" getting some work done.

My mobile office by the river is sometimes referred to “cousin eddy rv mobile office.” If you’ve seen National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation you’ll understand why. And, our family sometimes refers to the office as The Downgrade. Heck, it cost only $2,000 (it’s bought and paid for) and costs only $60/year to insure.

At first we jokingly also called it the “HaveMediaMayTravel” because, well, we weren’t sure it would travel. But with only 56,000 miles on it, it not only starts up, it travels. In other words, it’s “Adventure-Ready,” which is important for a travel blogger.

I can say, with 100% certainty, that this little office of mine is in fact not The Downgrade, but a significant Upgrade.

NOTE: What’s super duper cool is Inc Magazine recently included it as one of the “world’s coolest offices” for indoor/outdoor space. Check it out! (It’s number 4)

Thanks to my husband, Jerry, for finding this gem, and for the work he and his dad, Harlan, did to make it extra special. Thanks to my parents for allowing it to take up space on their land (probably bringing property values down!), to Trey Warren, for giving us some surplus pine flooring for it, and to Mike Lilygren, for getting the furnace running.