Humans Need Nature
The virtue of perseverance is earned through blood, sweat, and a lot of tears.
But it makes you stronger and more equipped to deal with future hardships and obstacles.
Unique circumstances often result in many opportunities to grow in perseverance.
Perseverance doesn’t come easily. But it's a necessary tool for a business owner.
Lindsay Stevens is the founder and owner of Outdoorsy Gals, an online community that connects women all over the world through trips, events, and friendships centered around their shared love of the outdoors. Stevens says “It’s an online space where women globally can plan hikes and trips together, get advice, and meet like-minded adventurous friends.”
Stevens persevered through the difficulties of starting a business under very unique circumstances. She’s been battling Lyme Disease since the very inception of her business and it has created many obstacles and hardships.
But this year, Stevens is reviving Outdoorsy Gals. “This new iteration of trips will be bigger and better than before.”
“I was a very lucky business owner”
Lindsay Stevens struck gold while doing what she loved.
She uncovered a huge, unspoken need.
In 2020, Stevens had a contract with TikTok to film outdoor-related content and videos. During the pandemic, TikTok was trying to shift the narrative of its platform from solely dance videos to more educational content.
Stevens explains how she uploaded a video about backpacking in the Sierra Nevadas with two other girls. She says she’d been craving female adventurous friendships for a long time and the video expressed how grateful she was to have found some.
“I struggled to find women that I could go backpacking, camping, skiing, and just all the outdoor activities with.”
Stevens captioned her backpacking video something along the lines of: “If you’re like me and you’ve been looking for community in the outdoors, comment below, and let’s start a group chat.”
That video went viral, to say the least.
In just a few days, the group chat that Stevens dubbed “outdoorsy gals” was crashing. The platform obviously wasn’t prepared for 10,000+ members.
Stevens carried the members over to a Facebook group. Within a week, she realized that she wasn’t the only one longing for a female outdoor community.
Stevens wasn’t the only one dreaming of making friends outside.
“This was more than a just passion project”
Within a few short months, the Facebook group had over 50,000 members. Stevens had a whole community of like-minded women begging her to create more resources like merchandise, a website, a blog, and trips.
The Outdoorsy Gals community already existed. But the business did not.
Stevens describes how she didn’t want to just capitalize on the growing online community. She wanted to create a business that produced sustainable products, meaningful relationships, and quality content.
But that, of course, doesn’t happen overnight.
Stevens broke ground on her business by also breaking into her personal savings. She said she was “wearing every business hat imaginable” in order to turn the online community into an established organization.
“It was a lot of going to plan B,” Stevens remembers.
In 2022, a travel agency hosted 12 trips for Outdoorsy Gals including destinations like Patagonia, Iceland, and Alaska. Now, Outdoorsy Gals has over 150,000 members and Stevens’ business owns and sells the excursions.
They just announced their first trip of 2024: backpacking the 46-mile Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu, Peru. But Stevens says it’s more about the lifelong friends that you make than the destination itself.
“It’s truly the best. It’s like a group of outdoorsy best friends!”
“Part of my healing journey has been just accepting where I’m at”
Stevens has never let fear hold her back in her business ventures or outdoor adventures.
But there were times when illness and bed rest posed a disheartening threat to Outdoorsy Gals and her overall health. Stevens says that Lyme Disease helped her gain a whole new appreciation for the outdoors.
It took her four years to regain a “normal” life.
During the worst of it, Stevens had to take a break from Outdoorsy Gals; this is the first year they’re bringing back trips since 2022.
“When I was on bed rest, I made a list of all the places I wanted to go and all the things I wanted to do if I ever got better,” Stevens says. “It’s crazy because I’m planning on doing some of those things this year.”
Lyme presents a unique circumstance for people like Stevens who love the outdoors. The outdoors, in a way, is responsible for making you sick, and even prevents you from going outside.
Stevens describes how she views herself as part of the outdoors now, instead of just a visitor. “Humans need nature. I think it’s very important for the human spirit and for our health to be in nature.”
Stevens’ life is forever changed because of Lyme, but in many ways, it has made her feel more connected to the outdoors than ever before.