Our Competitive Cyclist team was lucky enough to be at Unbound Gravel to witness history over the weekend. For the first time, women had a separate start with a large enough gap that men didn’t interfere and they got to race as just the women’s field. The result was one of the most exciting finishes in Unbound history! 🚲 🏆 This is what Competitive Cyclist athlete Hannah Otto had to say, “The women made history at Unbound this weekend. The fastest women’s time on record powered by a women’s only peloton. The racing was tight and tactical leading up to a 9 up sprint finish. I’m so proud to have been a part of this moment.” ⭐ 📸 : Wil Matthews
🎤Sustainability Speaker Series: We were thrilled to have Wendy Fisher and Alli Eroh join us from Utah Open Lands. They shared invaluable insights about their efforts in land conservation, specifically focusing on their current initiative to protect the Northfields. Learn more about their important work on their website: utahopenlands.org. Keep your eyes peeled for announcements and upcoming events related to the Northfields Protection Initiative. If you’d like to contribute to this cause, you can donate here: https://www.utahopenlands.org/northfieldscampaign Want to stay in the loop on upcoming volunteer events? Join the Utah Open Lands volunteer newsletter, which goes out quarterly and provides an overview of all upcoming events for the season. Sign up here: https://utahopenlands.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=bd7e34a6e4cd41b9f9049b9ed&id=668b155174 Thank you, Wendy and Alli, for inspiring us to protect and cherish our lands! 🌿✨
Part 1 of our Sustainability Speaker Series kicked off today at the Backcountry office. We were fortunate to have guest speakers Sally Jewell (Former US Secretary of the Interior) and Heidi Redd (Owner, Indian Creek Cattle Company) join us on behalf of The Nature Conservancy. Today, they led the conversation on Women in Conservation and highlighted the importance of outdoor education to further protect and respect the lands around us. We are inspired to continue pushing in our individual communities, as well as in the outdoor industry at large. Thanks to the team at The Nature Conservancy for your partnership and insights! If you want to learn more about Heidi's journey, check out her new book: 'A Cowgirl's Conservation Journey'
Have you listened to the Backcountry Podcast? We talk to athletes, outdoor educators, and gear experts about their stories and experiences in the backcountry. Linked, you’ll find our interview with Backcountry athlete, Lexi DuPont, where we discuss her time on the Freeride World Tour, and journey finding balance between life and skiing! Find the podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and or through Backcountry.com!
Our corporate recruiters, Jessica Hay and Sarah Elton went to Utah State University a few weeks back to meet with students enrolled in their Outdoor Product Design & Development program. There were equal amounts of stoke and talent in the room! Sarah and Jess reviewed resumes and portfolios with students to gear them toward what makes an excellent candidate for Backcountry. Utah State University Outdoor Product Design & Development, thanks for having us!
One of our core values here at Backcountry is “Hire and Develop the Best”. Homegrown Herd, Garrett Englehard, proves we take this value seriously. 🐐 What is your current role? 🐐 I’m an Ecommerce Program Manager for Competitive Cyclist! I’m responsible for website experience, campaign planning, site branding & storytelling, and the email channel. 🐐 How many different roles have you held at Backcountry? 🐐 4... so far! I started at Backcountry as an intern on the merchandise team in 2022. From there, I took on a role as a talent acquisition associate but ultimately found my way back to planning by joining our marketing team in February of last year as an associate ecommerce program manager where managing Steep & Cheap, our discount site. I just stepped into the role of ecommerce program manager a few weeks ago. 🐐 What is your favorite part of the culture at Backcountry? 🐐 Besides having built-in friends who are just as eager to ride a bike or climb a mountain as me, Backcountry is a place where I can feel comfortable with potentially failing with the optimism that a new goal or plan could bring great success for business. Being able to bring new additions to Steep and Cheap, creating a new updated look and feel, would not have been possible if not for a culture that is ready to try new things.
On International Women’s Day, we extend a heartfelt shoutout to the remarkable, hardworking, inspired, creative, and adventurous women who are an integral part of our Herd. We express our gratitude for their invaluable contributions to Backcountry, from crafting our gear to maintaining our finances, and even leading as our CEO, Melanie Cox (who was named Woman of the Year in International Business by the World Trade Association of Utah!). Today, we honor and celebrate them!
This week's Herd Highlight shines the spotlight on our rockstar store manager, Tristin Lain! With us just under two years, we’re so grateful for the energy and creativity that Tristin brings to our retail store in Salt Lake! What does the day-to-day look like for you in your current role? Every day is slightly different from the last, but as a Store Manager, my number one responsibility is to engage with our customers. From there my day-to-day work can evolve from doing check-ins with my staff, adding new arrivals to our floor, and creating new strategies to improve efficiency! How have you grown and evolved since starting at Backcountry? I’ve learned to embrace flexibility given how retail is always expanding and evolving here at Backcountry. Previously my expertise was in fly fishing, but since working at Backcountry my knowledge and passion for other outdoor activities has expanded, allowing me to serve our customers with even more expertise. In what ways do you see growth in your future here? One of my favorite parts of my job is creating new assortments for our floor, tracking what inventory sells, and expanding on it. I would love to do an even bigger deep dive into these metrics and improve my analytical skills!
We live by the value of “Hire and Develop the Best”. That’s why we're all about helping our people develop their careers and land their dream jobs! One recent example is Andrew Jeudi, a new addition to the accounting team. Andrew was formerly an office manager at our Gearhead Operations office in Salt Lake City. He and his energetic counterpart Sarah the dog have been busy crunching the numbers in Park City and we’re stoked to have them!
