My first outdoor adventure was as a 16-year-old Outward Bound® student in 1991. My two-week experience changed my life so drastically and so positively that since then I have been dedicated to offering others what I gained through that experience.

In 1995, after graduating from Colorado College and managing its Outdoor Leadership Program, I moved to Montana to work with the Voyageur Outward Bound School. For the next 10 years Outward Bound® bases and their surrounding mountains became my second home. Moving from assistant instructor to instructor to course director, I got to see the different angles from which a course is run.  I also got to work all kinds of course areas, from Montana to Texas to North Carolina. The real impact of my career with Outward Bound® though came not from the environment, but from the students.

While working as an Outward Bound® instructor and course director, I decided to take my knowledge and experience to a more urban environment. After earning my Masters Degree in Education, I taught high school and college. The concept of human potential stayed with me as I encouraged my students to take advantage of their talents and skill. For several years I worked as an educator in the city and in the summers with Outward Bound® out in the field. While the environment I was teaching in changed, the people I worked with were essentially alike.

After being an educator in both environments, I see that people want to lead better lives. On a wilderness adventure, inspiration and the desire to exercise potential come easily on a mountaintop. Challenges are simple and immediate: food, shelter, and warmth. It’s applying the wilderness experience to daily life that can be tough. Strip malls are a lot less inspiring than mountains, and the satisfaction of staying dry in a city rainstorm is not the same as crouching under a tarp.

To provide outdoor adventurers a way to stay grounded in the lessons from their experiences, I started The Next Step, a professional coaching business.  The Next Step reinforces the wilderness adventurers's experience and offers support in implementing change and making sure you are leading the life of confidence, purpose, and action you really want.

amanda@next-step-coach.com

704.451.8622