Outdoor Retailer - July 2017 - 72

Jen Taylor

THE SOUL SHINE
For Mountain Khakis' Brand Manager
and Director of Creative Development, Jen
Taylor, the idea of creating apparel aimed
at inspiring more kids and families to be
active outdoors led to one of the most
influential careers in the outdoor industry.
Written By Aaron H. Bible

ender didn't really mean
much to me," says Jen Taylor.
It certainly has not gotten in
her way. The impassioned
marketing director for Jackson, Wyoming,
brand Mountain Khakis has taken home four
Polartec APEX Design Awards, served on the
Outdoor Industry Women's Council (now
Camber Outdoors) panel as a Top Woman
Entrepreneur in the Outdoor Industry, and
was awarded the Boy Scouts of America's Peak
Vision Award, recognizing her work connecting kids with nature, her business ethics, and
her visionary leadership. "We are just making a
quality product and wanted to work with likeminded people," she says. "Having a voice and
having an industry that applauds a variety of
voices is really important."
While Taylor may prefer to stay behind the
scenes, that becomes a little bit tougher after
you've attended more than 36 Outdoor Retailer
shows and work for one of the most successful

72 OUTDOOR RETAILER

/ 35th Anniversary 2017

apparel brands in the outdoor industry. "It's a
kindred group of folks," she says. "We all live the
lifestyle, and we all give up some other things for
something much greater. The values that our
industry represents are priceless."
Taylor cut her teeth working in the bike industry for 17 years prior to launching her
Mountain Sprouts brand, which was eventually
acquired by Mountain Khakis in 2006. She certainly lives the life: A mom of three with a degree
in environmental science from the University
of Denver, she still competes in mountain bike
and running races after a career as a competitive mountain biker and a quarterback in the
Professional Women's Football League. She's
also an aficionado of vintage Land Cruisers and
European motorcycles, and she is a volunteer
for over 30 nonprofit organizations.
Somehow, she still makes time to promote
not only the MK brand on a global level, but
the grassroots values that drew her to the outdoor industry. "We're an industry that values the

dirtbags," she says. "Our industry is founded on
a critical voice. All those big brands started as
little brands at one point." Born in Jackson Hole,
Wyoming, in 2003, Mountain Khakis was an
early member of 1% for the Planet, and is now
on its way to achieving B-Corp certification, a
legal designation that requires putting environmental and social good on the same level as turning a profit. In addition to Taylor, two other MK
execs sit on OIA working groups and councils.
"I'm glad investors see the value in the brands
and the products that our industry represents,
and how that flows out into recreation and access," she says. "They recognize the value and the
potential that outdoor recreation represents."
That's a sentiment she echoed in an impassioned letter she wrote-when the question
of leaving Utah reached a boiling point this
spring-imploring the outdoor industry to
stick together to fight for its values.
"When we think about legacy, personally and
professionally, as an industry, having made the
decision to move on from Salt Lake City," says
Taylor, "what collectively do we want our legacy
to be with Utah? How can we continue to support, even though we're not there as a collective? It's the population of Utah that has the
ability to make change."
No surprise, Taylor uses the analogy of
the trailhead when talking about the passion, and the work, of the outdoor industry.
"You meet the best people at the trailhead. It's
about celebrating with friends, that moment
when you're celebrating just the vigor of life.
Whatever you've done to come back to the
trailhead, that's what our industry celebrates,"
Taylor says. "It's a soul shine thing. And I feel
so fortunate to be a part of it." O.R.

photographs by ANDREW KORNYLAK

Outdoor Retailer - July 2017

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