Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2019 - 20

IDEAS

THOUGHT LEADERS

Conversation
Starter
As a retail marketing manager and co-founder
of 14er Fest, digital content strategist and mountain-town innovator Susan Wood wants to talk
to people in order to move forward.
by Doug Schnitzspahn

enjoyed the outdoors, but she did not becom immersed in it until she applied to work for Noah's Ark Whitewater Rafting and Adventure Co., an
outfitter in Colorado's Arkansas Valley. The company trained her to handle everything from rafting to backpacking, and she was hooked, moving to Buena Vista full time to follow that blossoming passion. Soon, she
put her skills as a digital marketer and content creator to good use with
jobs for the chamber of commerce and Main Street outdoor retail shop
The Trailhead. She created a vibrant digital presence for both town and
shop, and in 2017, she helped found 14er Fest, a celebration that unites
all trail users-motorized and non-motorized-with outdoor activities, music, beer, and clinics. She's now running her own agency and still
leading the way when it comes to giving the mountain town she loves so
much a bigger, more influential voice.
It's not just about products and sales. It's about creating lasting memories in the outdoors. It's about impacting lives for good.
Taking a job as a guide was challenging, but such a fruitful experience
because I was so challenged. I was rebuilt and molded into this new person just because of the love I had of the outdoors.
The Trailhead gave me the opportunity to go in and do marketing
for their brand from the ground up, to create a voice, start an ecommerce program, show people who they were. I used a lot of location marketing and our community members really helped drive growth.
I always try to grow and I want the companies I work with to grow. I
want them to think outside the box. I want to continue to learn and grow
as a marketer and a professional myself.

20 OUTDOOR RETAILER

/ Summer 2019

I'm very quirky. I'm definitely a nerd. I love my time with my books.
But I'm also a total people person and I love hearing people's stories.
When you can just understand a person and their passion, you can
put yourself in their shoes. You can create a lasting conversation because they will always remember that experience.
I come from the South. I like to talk to people. I like living in a small
town like Buena Vista, and I appreciate how personable everybody is,
how everybody is ready to help one another out for the common good.
Sometimes the unknown scares me-what's ahead for our industry,
what's ahead in my career. But the flip side of that is that it's also kind of
thrilling not to know.
I'm a thinker. My mind's always going. That's why I have fallen in love
with fly fishing. I can go out there for three hours and the whole time all
I'm thinking about is fish, watching the current or looking at fly activity.
I think everyone should have a marg Monday and taco Tuesday.
I always go to the local store and chat. I want to know what they love
and what they are not liking. Being able to have that real conversation
with a real person, a person who loves what they do-whether it's running or hiking or climbing-you'll never be able to replace that digitally.
I think that in the outdoor industry, we're ready to have hard conversations and be open to new ideas. We have to think about how are
we going to continue to grow and evolve. That will require having those
hard conversations and taking risks. O.R

Photo courtesy Susan Wood

Name: Susan Wood
Company: Aggrandize LLC
Founded: 2018
Title: Founder, Marketing Consultant
Location: Buena Vista, Colorado
Downlow: Growing up in a family of ten in South Carolina, Susan Wood

Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2019