Cultivating an Outdoor Community with Kristen Bor of Bearfoot Theory

A former chef, restaurant consultant, and culinary school professor, Shannon Waters is the owner and CBC at Gastro Gnome, a backcountry food company that creates super tasty, travel ready meals for people who appreciate great food as much as they enjoy getting outside.  

Formally trained at The French Culinary Institute in New York, Shannon went on to hold positions at some of the best restaurants in the country and gain skills and technique from renowned Chefs.  Her love of cooking and the outdoors collided when she packed a heavy cast iron pan into the backcountry. That’s when she realized that if she was going to enjoy a great adventure and a great meal, she was going to have to find a solution for packable meals. That’s how Gastro Gnome got its start.

More Information:

• Gastro Gnome home
• Follow Gastro Gnome on Instagram

Jason Wickens is founder of Live From the Divide, in Bozeman, Montana and principal in Wickens Ranch Beef.  Live From the Divide hosts songwriters in their intimate music venue on the north side of town, and Jason’s family beef operation supplies local restaurants and homes with sustainably raised beef in Winifred, Montana. 

We talk to Jason about the founding of one of the country's most unique music venues and his personal journey over the past two years to go back home and work with his family.  

More Information:

• Live From the Divide
• Wickens Ranch beef
• Follow Wickens Ranch on Instagram
• Follow Live From the Divide on Instagram

Known for his ability to capture stories in the most remote corners of the world, Max Lowe is  a renowned director and photographer who captures stories in the most remote corners of our planet in search for adventure and narratives. 

Max began his career with National Geographic in 2012 with a Young Explorers Grant, and then went on to work with National Geographic Magazine, Men's Journal, Outside Magazine and numerous other outdoor publications.  

In recent years, Max has directed, shot and produced numerous award-winning short documentary films that garnered screen time at festivals such as Cannes, Tribeca and Indi Short Docs, and most recently directed a feature documentary film “TORN” with National Geographic channel that chronicles his family’s complex relationships in the wake of his father Alex Lowe’s death in 1999.  

More Information:

• "Torn" homepage
• Max Low Media
• Follow Max Lowe on Instagram or Vimeo

Earl B. Hunter, Jr is an experienced business leader across multiple industries.   Mr. Hunter is the Founder and President of Black Folks Camp Too — a marketing-driven business whose mission is to increase diversity in the outdoor industry by making it easier, more interesting and more fun for Black folks to go camping. At the heart of Black Folks Camp Too is the belief that once black folks become more active campers and begin enjoying the outdoor lifestyle - this will help break down barriers to create more inclusive communities and stronger relationships overall.  

We talk to Earl about his journey with Black Folks Camp Too, the power of the Unity Blaze, how we can all become part of the conversation and an exciting new product launch with Oboz.  

Ben Gabriel has led Wild Montana since 2017, providing vision and strategic leadership to execute the organization's mission. of uniting and mobilizing people across Montana, creating and growing a conservation movement around a shared love of wild public lands and waters. Wild Montana works at the local level,  fostering collaboration, and forging agreements for protecting the wild, enhancing public land access, and helping communities thrive. Ben talks about leading this cutting edge organization as it faces new and old obstacles. 

More Information:

• Wild Montana
• Follow Wild Montana on Instagram or Facebook
• Support Wild Montana

For the past 24 years, Dan Stahler has worked in Yellowstone National Park as lead biologist for the Yellowstone Wolf Project as well as  project leader of the Yellowstone Cougar Project.

More recently, Dan and his colleagues Doug Smith and Daniel MacNulty edited Yellowstone Wolves: Science and Discovery in the World's First National Park, a gripping and accessible celebration of the extraordinary Yellowstone Wolf Project.  We talk to Dan about his journey to become a lead wildlife biologist and the world’s fascination with the wild wolves of Yellowstone.  

 More Information:

• Yellowstone Wolf Project
• Yellowstone Cougar Project
• More on Yellowstone Wolves: Science and Discovery in the World's First National Park

Kristen is the founder of Bearfoot Theory, an online community that inspires people to get outside by developing an outdoor skillset that prepares people for wherever their adventures take them.  We talk to her about how she started Bearfoot Theory, the explosion of van life culture, going on a digital fast and what’s is next for her thriving outdoor community.   

More Information:

• Bearfoottheory.com
• Bearfoot Theory on Instagram
• Bearfoot Theory YouTube Channel

Jay Broccolo is a Weather Observer and Meteorologist at Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire.  Jay’s responsibilities include hourly weather observations and 6-hourly synoptic weather observations.  These observations are reported to the National Weather Service in the form of a METAR report, which is the 'code' weather stations, the FAA, and all of the weather organizations across the world use to disseminate weather data.  Jay talks about working at a place that is "home of the world's worst weather" and the importance of weather data.    

More Information:

• Mount Washington Observatory 
• Follow MWOBS on Instagram
• Check out MWOBS on Facebook
• See Marty the Cat

Jackie Nourse is the host of the international hit podcast JUMP with Traveling Jackie and founder of JUMP Experiences, where she leads adventure trips and retreats for her audience. She explores living life with courage through her personal blog Traveling Jackie, and she is also the founder of The Budget-Minded Traveler blog and online community.  We talk to Jackie about all manner of travel, inspiring others, and overcoming adversity.

More Information:

• TravelingJackie.com 
• JUMP Experiences
• JUMP Podcast
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube

Robin Hill is Executive Director of Big Sky Youth Empowerment based here in Bozeman.  BYEP is an organization that empowers at-risk youth through outdoor programs and life altering workshops designed to promote opportunities in their lives.  Robin speaks about the power of changing kids lives, his own journey to his position and why the outdoors are so important. 

More Information:
Visit BYEP online.
Donate to BYEP here.
See Robin's Film, "Local Voices" here.
Visit the all-new Bozeman Collection.