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PNW Bushcraft
Get back to your wild roots
And enjoy the outdoors like you never have before
To find out more about how PNW Bushcraft got its start and what’s in store for the future, Matt interviews PNW Bushcraft co-founder, Heather Saulsbury
More about the episode
Matt sits down with PNW Bushcraft co-founder Heather Saulsbury. PNW Bushcraft makes outdoor gear specifically for bushcraft but, even bigger than that, they give their customers the tools to have the most fun in the outdoors.
Heather built PNW Bushcraft with her co-founder and husband out of a hobby and passion that grew like wildfire after she began to make gear and sell it on Etsy (it sounds like a simple progression but, when I say they attacked this thing and won, that’s a huge understatement). As the dynamic duo dug deeper into the industry they slowly expanded their product line, doing countless R & D testing, and even began to host meetups, demonstrations, and workshops. One of the bigger things Heather’s been trying to tackle is to open up the outdoors to women and encourage them to learn new skills, and just become comfortable when roughing it. The Outdoor Industry has been marketed as a boys club but, the barriers that exist aren’t solid and Heather wants to break them down once and for all for women and really anyone who wants to get outside and have some fun but, might not know where to start. You don’t need to be perfect or do things flawlessly, you just need to be safe and have fun, and that’s exactly the message Heather wants to promote!
In this episode of Built On Passion Heather Saulsbury walks us through how PNW Bushcraft got started and the steps to grow to where they are now, how she’s been building and nurturing a wave of wild women getting into the outdoors, and her how and why behind starting PNW Bushcraft.
Have an opinion? We want to hear it! Join the conversation and leave a comment, check out show notes, and get all the links mentioned in this episode below
Key Points From This Episode:
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An introduction to Heather Saulsbury, co-founder of PNW Bushcraft.
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How Heather and her husband work together to design and build products.
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How Heather and her husband started PNW Bushcraft.
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How PNW Bushcraft products are specifically designed to withstand the damp conditions that characterize the Pacific Northwest.
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How Heather taught herself through trial and error.
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Why Heather is a big proponent of sharing her knowledge and collaborating.
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How PNW Bushcraft strikes the balance between inviting and supporting newcomers while nurturing the existing outdoor community.
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How PNW Bushcraft is educating people, especially women on how to thrive outdoors.
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Heather shares her aspiration to have a broader educational reach online.
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The meaningful experience Heather had when she taught a group of fourteen-year-olds about the outdoors and camping.
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What the future has in store for PNW Bushcraft.
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How Heather’s love of people and enthusiasm complements her husband’s knowledge and technical skills.
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Some of Heather’s guidelines for maintaining a good work-life balance.
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The hard work and sense of reward that Heather experiences from being a small business owner.
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Why Heather has such a fondness for their customers.
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Why building relationships and having a sense of community is Heather’s favorite thing about the industry that she is in.
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How, from the start, philanthropy has been at the heart of the business.
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Why it is possible for everyone to give back, no matter how big or small you are.
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The importance of working with others and building community to build your success.
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Why Dustin and Connor want to build their business slowly and carefully with big aspirations.
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How business is a part of life, rather than their only focus.
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How they are working to offset their carbon impact with recycled materials and why they publish their statistics in this area.
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The aim to donate a percentage of each sale to do good.
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The best part of Local Laundry experience: the sense of fulfillment and connection, never having to buy clothes again, being able to see consumer behavior through global changes.
Links/Resources:
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What do you think of PNW Bushcraft? Leave a comment below to let us know!