Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2020 - 5

FIRST WORDS

Brave New Normal
THE SHIRT I AM WEARING IN THE PHOTO THAT ACCOMPANIES THIS
letter says "Be Dareful Out There." It's a design by my friend Jer
Collins for his brand, Meridian Line, a company that strives to keep
its supply chain sustainable and here in the U.S. Jer is a person who
lives darefully in his art, humanity, and approach to the wilderness,
and it's a motto I certainly try to live up to, whether sizing up a knifeedge ridge to a summit or finding the right content for a magazine
such as this, which I hope speaks to the entire outdoor community.
The problem is that many of us are now coming to the realization that
we have not been dareful enough.
To start, COVID-19 and the ensuing quarantine and economic free
fall have made us all have to consider what really matters in business.
How do we pivot and survive when circumstances beyond our control
wreak havoc on our day-to-day prosperity? How do we continue to be
good neighbors and good citizens in the face of our own anxieties and
troubles? How do we let go of the things we see as normal and correct
and relearn how the world works? How do we build a new, better economy and society out of this ongoing mess? These are the hard questions we have to ask ourselves as we move forward for the long haul. I
know the future may not be what I want, but I commit to being brave
and compassionate and open-minded each day.
The past few months have also forced us to face a reality we have
not wanted to deal with for decades: The outdoor industry is not a
welcoming place for nonwhite people. The protests over the murder of George Floyd have
opened ugly wounds that stretch back to the foundation of this country. It's uncomfortable
for those on the fat side of privilege to face the idea that our society is not equitable. It may not
fit with the idyll we seek by being outdoors, and it certainly makes us have to reconsider our
perceptions of ourselves and the outdoor industry as a progressive, welcoming place. But we
must face this reality, and we must do more than post on social media. We need to uplift the
voices of Black people, people of color, nonbinary people, and many others who have been left
out of our bubble of outdoor bliss. We need to encourage more businesses owned by people
of color to come into the outdoor industry, to hire in a way that is representative of everyone
in our nation, to mentor and bring new faces up in the ranks of our businesses. We need to accept, listen, and find ways to build real change. And we need to accept that our vision of what
the outdoors and wilderness and conservation mean is not the same for everyone.
Here's the thing: Being dareful will expand how we perceive the outdoors. We pride ourselves
on our courage in the wild, on our ability to learn from the rhythms of wind and waves, to see new
lines of ascent in vertiginous rock walls. We need to apply that bold thinking to the way we build
a new normal from the chaos of this pandemic and much-needed social upheaval. I, for one,
believe we have the power to do this.

EDITORIAL AND DESIGN
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
MANAGINIG EDITOR
PHOTO EDITOR
ART DIRECTOR
COPY EDITOR

Doug Schnitzspahn
Bevin Wallace
Andrew Kornylak
John McCauley
Melissa Howsam

BUSINESS
VICE PRESIDENT
Marisa Nicholson
PUBLISHER
Ryan Johnson
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Tim McManus
SENIOR MAREKTING DIRECTOR
Jennifer Pelkey
SALES DIRECTOR
Krista Dill
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Paul Dillman
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
Adam Kingston,
Dave Nielson, Robert O'Quinn
PRODUCTION/TRAFFIC MANAGER
Laurie Stiglitz
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
Nan McDowell
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Lori Silva
ADDRESS
31910 Del Obispo, Ste. 200, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
WEB
outdoorretailer.com

Andrew Kornylak

Produced in collaboration with Hed Hi Media.

DOUG
SCHNITZSPAHN

Editor -in-chief

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Summer 2020 / OUTDOOR RETAILER 5

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Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2020

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