What River Guiding Taught Me about Social Entrepreneurship
River season is coming to an end here in Idaho, which is to say that rivers aren’t ending, rather always flowing, but that the time for river rafting and kayaking is dwindling along with daylight.
Since we include opportunities for Meaningful Work in each issue of Godspeed, I thought I’d share how river guiding as a young man taught me about social entrepreneurship – and how it pushed me in the direction of seeking purpose in my work.
Like most, I had many jobs as a young person: stock boy at grocery retailer Fred Meyer; janitor at a shopping center; deckhand on a Mississippi towboat; digging trenches for 4th of July fireworks displays, among others.
But where I really acquired foundational lessons was as a river guide on Idaho’s Middle Fork of the Salmon River.
While I didn’t realize it at the time, my guiding career wasn’t all about whitewater rapids, adrenaline, and wildlife. It provided me with all the lessons I needed for a career as a social entrepreneur.
1. Hard work
Boring alert. You can’t escape hard work in the river world.
As a guide, I got up at 6 a.m. (or earlier) without fail to start the campfire and coffee. Then a full day of physical work ensued: cooking and cleaning (repeat three times), rowing, hauling, regaling. With nary a break. Our earliest days ended around 10 p.m. at night, sometimes later, depending on how low the water was, how hard the upstream winds were blowing, or how smoothly the campfire stories and whiskey were flowing. But you always rolled out of your sleeping bag the next morning to do it all again, and in late season with low water, you’re doing this 24/7—no days off.
2. Stakeholder Relations
This was my first taste of having stakeholders. As a river guide, we reported to 24 stakeholders (guests) on each six-day-long trip. Guests are looking for a great experience and, in many instances, are completely outside their known elements, which can occasionally make them insecure and a little testy or demanding. It’s your job to make certain their expectations are managed and/or met, that they get the return on investment they expected, and that they return home safely at trip’s end. These are all invaluable business skills. And of course, nature and the government – wildlife, ponderosa trees, clean water, the U.S. Forest Service – are also stakeholders in your success.
3. Pivot
Ah, the art of the pivot. In startup land, this can be defined as using market data to swiftly and strategically course-correct. I learned how to do this as a river guide nearly every day. You enter a rapids with an intended course—a “shot” you’re going to take through the obstacle course filled with waves, rocks, and suck holes. The natural world, like a marketplace, sometimes intercedes—you bump a boulder or miss a critical oar stroke and suddenly you’re on a new path. Not necessarily strategic, but a pivot demanding of the same characteristics—the ability to quickly alter your route and make the best of a given situation. (I’m fascinated by business pivots, which you’ll be reading more about in an upcoming series dedicated to this art+science.)
4. Collaboration
Just as in a traditional workplace, you have co-workers out on the river. In this case, it’s your team of guides, and collaboration among guides is essential.
This is where working both smart—and hard—come into play.
Working smart means not hoisting a heavy cooler and carrying it up a steep riverbank all by yourself. That’s a short-term solution and a long-term injury in the making.
An instance where I wasn’t working smart came at Pistol Creek Rapids. Instead of waiting for the rest of the guides to come and help me get a cargo boat off a rock I plastered, I decided to get it off the rock myself and save the embarrassment of everyone seeing me in this predicament. The world taught me a world-class lesson about hubris that day, as I made a bad situation worse and ended up flipping the cargo boat and blocking the entire river, creating a rubber dam that made it impassable, which meant that every single boat upstream had to tie up and wait – and watch – as we righted and freed my craft.
Lifelong lesson – ask for help.
5. Environmental Impact
Environmental impact and river guiding go hand in hand, as being a steward of the land, water and wildlife is every river guide’s job. I had the good fortune of working in the 2.2-million-acre Frank Church—River of No Return Wilderness. This is one of the world’s truly special places, which was created by Congress in 1980. This work ingrained the value of conservation ethics and protecting the natural environment – and I would pursue both of these throughout my career. It also gave me a sense of purpose by providing the opportunity to educate and demonstrate these values each week to a new group of 24 stakeholders, a handy skill to take forward with you in life.
It All Adds Up Downstream
We are all like canyons shaped by the flow of water throughout our lives, and these currents are revealed by the ways we move forward in our careers and navigate the cubicles of corporations or the Spartan offices of startup social ventures. My professional path was set in motion as a river guide a long, long while ago. I just didn’t realize it at the time.
I passed this love of river guiding along to my daughter, Kate Stoddard, who has been guiding for 18 years. Seeing as how her partner, Seth Tonsmeire, is a river outfitter in Salmon, Idaho, I’m thinking my grandson Wren and granddaughter Esme have a pretty good shot at working on whitewater as well, which would make three generations of guides in the family. That feels like something special to have started back in 1980.
And now I’m curious: What jobs did you have that laid the foundation or prompted you to seek a career with purpose – and why? Let me know – it would be fun to include some of them in future issues.
Godspeed, friends.
Russ
💬 Quote of the Week
“To put your hands in a river is to feel the chords that bind the earth together.” Barry Lopez
💥 Quick Hits
• What state of mind is your state in? – Happy to report that here in Idaho we're the 8th happiest state. And yours? Check out this ranking.
• Solar panels and nature – Besides the energy crisis, can solar panels help solve the nature crisis?
• Cool tools – Sopact offers a new Social Return on Investment Impact framework to help measure the social, environmental, and economic value of your impact.
Find the Most Meaningful Work of Your Career
Our partner One Work has you covered with meaningful work that goes beyond a paycheck, a cubicle, or a weekly team Zoom call. You'll find purposeful jobs like those below, along with many more at the One Work job board.
• Athleta - Fuel your fire to volunteer (5 hours each month!) among other strong benefits at a leader in athletic wear for women. This certified B Corp is hiring for more than 20 positions on its San Francisco headquarters team. Here's one to get you started. Director, Marketing Design, San Francisco, CA.
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• Allagash Brewing Company - Go ahead, turn that key and unlock a deliciously foamy role at this Portland, Maine, B Corp craft brewery that donates 1% of its revenue to nonprofits. Northeast Senior Key Accounts Manager, Boston MA.
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