Hosted by Alex Beal in Boulder, CO.
Gary Neptune is an unassuming but legendary climber and adventurer—among his many accomplishments are climbing Mt. Everest, Makalu, Ama Dablam, and Gasherbrum II. He also has raced in over 30 ski marathons around the world including Greenland's Artic Circle Race, the Swedish Vasaloppet, the Finlandia Hiihto, and the Norwegian and American Birkebeiners. In 1983 Gary opened the doors to Neptune Mountaineering in Boulder, Colorado, which for 30 years and counting served as an institution and gathering place for the outdoor community. Neptune sells the full range of outdoor gear, hosts frequent presentations by experts in the field, and is an outdoor museum of sorts with unique items and old equipment on display. You can stop in and say hello to Gary and his staff at 633 South Broadway in Boulder or visit www.neptunemountaineering.com. (from Switchbacktravel.com profile on Gary)
Philip Taylor, Ph.D. (he/him) is the Executive Director of Mad Agriculture. He co-founded the organization in 2016 with his life partner, Nicole Brinks, to reimagine and restore our relationship to the land, sea, and each other through good agriculture. Prior to founding Mad Ag, Philip was a career global ecologist who specialized in ecosystem and soil carbon cycling. His research ranged widely, from understanding soil ecology and ecosystem biogeochemistry to exploring solutions to the sustainability challenges of agriculture. Philip's work has been published in numerous journals, including Nature, Nature Climate Change, and Ecology, and he has diverse international experience in both private and public sectors, having led research and business efforts throughout North America, Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Now, he is bringing his entire being into Mad Agriculture—his life's work, until he returns to the soil.
Dr. Allen Lim is a well-known figure in the sports nutrition and performance world. He is the founder of Skratch Labs, a company that produces sports hydration and nutrition products made with natural ingredients. Dr. Lim's background as a sports physiologist and coach, combined with his passion for cooking and nutrition, led him to create Skratch Labs in 2012. He has worked with some of the world's best athletes, including Tour de France champions, Olympic gold medalists, and Ironman world champions. Dr. Lim is also a co-author of several cookbooks focused on healthy, simple, and delicious recipes for athletes. He is a respected thought leader in the field of sports nutrition and continues to innovate and educate others on the importance of real food and proper hydration for optimal athletic performance.
Relevant Links: https://www.dirtroadrevival.com https://www.instagram.com/chloe.maxmin/ https://www.instagram.com/canyonwoodward/ Chloe Maxmin Hailing from rural Maine, Chloe is the youngest woman ever to serve in the Maine State Senate, at 28 years old. She was elected in 2020 after unseating a two-term Republican incumbent and (former) Senate Minority Leader. In 2018, she served in the Maine House of Representatives after becoming the first Democrat to win a rural conservative district. She also received an honors degree from Harvard College, where she co-founded Divest Harvard. Chloe is the recipient of the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes and the Brower Youth Award. She was also named a “Green Hero” by Rolling Stone. She was named the 2020 Legislator of the Year by the Maine Council on Aging. Canyon Woodward Canyon was born, raised, and homeschooled in the Appalachian Mountains of rural North Carolina and the North Cascades of Washington. He was the campaign manager for Chloe Maxmin's successful 2018 and 2020 campaigns. He was previously regional field director for Bernie Sanders 2016, field director for Jane Hipps for NC Senate, and vice chair of the NC District 11 Democrats. He earned an honors degree in social studies from Harvard College, where the bulk of his education took place outside of the classroom co- coordinating (with Chloe) Divest Harvard, a 70,000+person movement that succeeded in pressuring Harvard to divest its $53 billion endowment from fossil fuels. He is also an avid trail runner.
Drew Casertano devoted his professional life to serving students and their families as an independent school educator and leader. Upon graduating from The Choate School, Drew earned his bachelor's degree in American History from Amherst College and then returned to boarding school life to teach, coach, live and work in a dormitory, direct student activities, and work in admissions at The Loomis Chaffee School. He earned his Master of Education degree from Harvard University in 1982 and then spent two years at The Frederick Gunn School (formerly The Gunnery) as director of admission and financial aid, before returning to Loomis Chaffee as the director of admission and financial aid for five years. In 1990 Drew was appointed as Millbrook School's sixth Headmaster, and the years since have been characterized by substantial growth and momentum, a thoughtful and intentional evolution of the school through the lens of its history and mission. Applications tripled, the enrollment grew from 170 to 320, the endowment increased from $6,000,000 to more than $60,000,000, and annual and capital funds of $200,000,000 million were raised to support more than 223,000 square feet of new and renovated spaces. His experience and dedication to independent education led to principal roles within other educational organizations. Drew has served as a trustee at Dutchess Day School, Parents League of New York, Washington Montessori School, Indian Mountain School, the Secondary School Admission Test Board (now the Enrollment Management Association) and The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS), where he also chaired the executive committee that developed the focus and framework for the North American Boarding Initiative. He was president of the Headmasters Association and of the board of trustees of the New York State Association of Independent School (NYSAIS). Currently, he is a member of the board at New Canaan Country School and a director of the Bank of Millbrook. Drew was also a long-time board member of Safe Passage, a non-profit providing education for the poorest children in Guatemala City. In 2019 Drew received the Ruzicka Compass Premier Leadership Award from The Association of Boarding Schools. The highest recognition in the industry, the Ruzicka Compass recognizes extraordinary contributions to the excellence, advancement, and success of boarding schools. (From https://strategicschoolleadership.com/)
Please enjoy part 2 of my interview with Ed Pitoniak.
Mr. Pitoniak is VICI's Chief Executive Officer and is a member of our board of directors. Previously, Mr. Pitoniak served as Vice Chairman of Realterm, a private equity real estate manager. From 2006 to 2019 Mr. Pitoniak served as an independent director at Ritchie Brothers (NYSE: RBA), the world's largest auctioneers of construction equipment, and during that tenure served at times as Compensation Committee Chair and Nominating & Governance Committee Chair. In April 2014, Mr. Pitoniak became Managing Director of InnVest, a publicly listed REIT, responsible for recapitalizing the REIT and transitioning its management function from an external, third-party management model, to an internal management model. He then served as Chairman from June 2015 to August 2016, when the REIT was sold and taken private. He also served as a director of Regal Lifestyle Communities (TSE: RLC), a Canadian seniors housing real estate owner and operator, from 2012 until its sale in 2015. Mr. Pitoniak retired in 2009 from the position of President and Chief Executive Officer and Director of bcIMC Hospitality Group, a hotel property and brand ownership entity (formerly a public income trust called Canadian Hotel Income Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (“CHIP”)), where he was employed from 2004 to 2009. As Chief Executive Officer of CHIP, he led the company to four consecutive years of total return leadership among Canadian hotel REITs, and then to a sale in 2007. Mr. Pitoniak was also a member of CHIP's Board of Trustees before it went private. Prior to joining CHIP, Mr. Pitoniak was a Senior Vice-President at Intrawest Corporation, a ski and golf resort operator and developer, for nearly eight years. Before Intrawest, Mr. Pitoniak spent nine years with Times Mirror Magazines, where he served as editor-in-chief and associate publisher with Ski Magazine. Mr. Pitoniak has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College. Mr. Pitoniak provides our board of directors with valuable experience in the hospitality, entertainment and real estate industries and, in particular, with respect to publicly held REITs. Our Company and our board of directors also benefit from Mr. Pitoniak's extensive previous and current board service. In addition, Mr. Pitoniak's position as our Chief Executive Officer allows him to advise our board of directors on management's perspective over a full range of issues affecting the Company.
"Florence Williams is a journalist, author, and podcaster. She is a contributing editor at Outside Magazine and a freelance writer for the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, The New York Review of Books, Slate, Mother Jones and numerous other publications. She is also the writer and host of two Gracie-Award-winning Audible Original series, Breasts Unbound and The Three-Day Effect, as well as Outside Magazine's Double-X Factor podcast. Her public speaking includes keynotes at Google, the Smithsonian, the Seattle Zoo, the Aspen Ideas Festival and many other corporate, academic and nonprofit venues." Florence's website: http://www.florencewilliams.com
"Ret is inspired by his passion for natural remedies and committed to helping people find a deeper connection to the natural world. He is an outdoors-man, endurance athlete, environmentalist, husband, and father." Links: Ret's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imretty/?hl=en NED: https://helloned.com
Neal Ritter lives in Boulder, CO with his wife Gelsomina and two kids on Fire Willow Farm. Neal has been hooked on primitive living skills since childhood. He spent his wandering years traveling through many foreign countries and has thrown himself into primitive skills at wilderness schools around the country and primitive skills gatherings. He is seeking the hybrid primitive-modern living model, where ancestral skills are integrated into everyday life. His particular passions are tracking, hunting and the various aspects of woodcraft, and his enthusiasm in games is legendary.
André Houssney is the founder of Jacob Springs Farm and Sambah Naturals and the father of Elias, Silas and Ezra. Andre started a co-op of farmers in Zambia in 2004, Currently with 1,196 farmer-members they produce mainly certified Organic Honey and Beeswax as well as essential oil crops for import to the USA. André is a first generation immigrant born in Beirut, Lebanon during that country's civil war which lasted from 1975 to 1992. As a child, the Houssney family, escaping war, moved several times within the Middle East and Europe before finally settling in Boulder, Colorado when André was in elementary school. As a refugee from a war-torn country, at first Andre did not adjust well to life in the United States, he did found a refuge in working on the Niebur farm (West of 75th and west of Dry Creek between Baseline and Arapahoe) from a young age. Jay Niebur, who was the president of the Enterprise Ditch Co. and a capable farmer and stockman, trained Andre in irrigation, training horses, operating farm machinery and other farm skills starting in grade school. There he fell in love with agriculture and began to keep bees, pigeons, chickens and goats of his own starting around 5th grade and continuing until he graduated from High School. Andre went to Douglass Elementary, Nevin Platt Junior High School (now middle school) and graduated with honors from Fairview High School in 1996. Seeking out opportunities in agriculture he won a full scholarship to Deep Springs College - a school with a huge BLM allotment and a cattle herd in the California high desert. He completed my studies as a double major in Music and Civil Engineering (Water Resource Management) at CU Boulder. Andre is also working on agricultural and business projects in the US Africa and the Middle East. His Fair Trade businesses like Zambeezi and The Zambian Soap Company create income for over 1,000 families in Zambia. In the farming off-season Andre is a frequent consultant and lecturer in the areas of regenerative Agriculture, the environment, and social development.
Casey Sheahan currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Simms Fishing LLC. Casey, a long-time outdoor industry veteran, came to Simms from his post as President of Keen Footwear. Prior to his 9 years with Patagonia and seven-year tenure at Kelty, he served as Vice-President of Marketing for Merrell Footwear and was Category Marketing Manager at Nike ACG from 1990-1994. In addition to his diverse footwear, apparel and equipment management background, Casey brings a breadth of skills to the fields of writing, marketing and sales. He has edited for several outdoor-inspired publications including Runner's World, Marathoner and Nordic World and was editor and publisher of POWDER Magazine in the late 1980s. He is aligned with a number of environmental organizations and served as President of the Conservation Alliance, a non-profit organization of outdoor businesses whose membership dues support grassroots citizen-action groups and their efforts to protect wild and natural areas. In the past, Casey casey has been the senior advisor to Backbone Media in Carbondale, Colorado, and now serves on the advisory boards of Keen Footwear, Johnson Outdoors, Outdoor Research, Vibram SPA, and the 5 Point Film Festival. Casey is a lifelong skier and fly-fishing enthusiast. He has a personal affinity for cycling, paddling and all water-related activities, as well as backpacking, camping and spending time with his family. Please enjoy my conversation with Casey Sheahan.
Kurt Smith is the Vice President of Strategic Innovation at Medtronic. Prior to his University position at CU boulder, Kurt spent 15 years in the high tech startup business starting and growing 5 businesses in this time. The greatest success story is what is now Medtronic Surgical Navigation where he revolutionized the operating room by enabling surgeons to actually see where they were in real-time on MR and CT images displayed in the OR. Kurt now lives in Boulder, CO where is continues his work with Medtronic while also finding time to get a climb in Eldorado Canyon. Please enjoy this interview with the funny, brilliant, and charismatic, Kurt Smith.
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