Rock Bottom on Kilimanjaro: How Shitty Leggings Built a Brand

T & A: Plot Twists & Power Moves

It's our monthly Tarin and Amber catch-up and this one is extra special because we recorded it in person for the first time in a year! 🎉 Tarin made the trip up to Washington, and we are dual-camera, side by side, and fully unfiltered. Big life updates all around this month. 🫶 ✨ Highlights 💭 What does success actually look like? We talk about small women-owned businesses closing their doors and what it means to "quit" ⚡ Power is coming to Tarin's off-grid property — what that means for the dogs, laundry, bear-proofing, and every day life 🤰 Amber's big announcement: 18 weeks pregnant with a baby girl — we talk rebuilding (not bouncing back), postpartum, and raising rad daughters 🏋️‍♀️ The only number that matters when it comes to your body: what's on the bar — not what's on the scale 🌀 On age, timelines, and not being behind — you are right on time 🔗 Links & Love Follow the podcast: @tarin.it.up.podcast [https://www.instagram.com/tarin.it.up.podcast/] Newsletter: tarinitup.myflodesk.com [https://tarinitup.myflodesk.com/tarinitup] Support the pod: buymeacoffee.com/tarinitup [https://buymeacoffee.com/tarinitup]

The Ride That Redefined: Mountain Biking, Spinal Cord Injury & Resilience with Annijke

In this episode, I sit down, literally, in a hospitality room at Sea Otter Classic, with adaptive mountain biker Annijke Wade [https://www.instagram.com/geodesicdome/] for a raw and inspiring conversation. Annijke didn't touch trails until her 30s, went pro, and then had a life-altering spinal cord injury that could have ended everything. Spoiler: it didn't. 🙌 Episode highlights: * 🌄 How Annijke found mountain biking in her 30s and became a pro racer realtively quickly after * 🏥 The crash at Angel Fire that changed everything, and what went through her mind in those first hours * 🚴 Getting her adaptive Bowhead bike while still in the hospital (thanks, Pearl Izumi 🙏) * 🌲 The real barriers of adaptive trail access — and how that's evolved over five years * 🏁 Racing gravel, enduro, AND downhill this season (she's not slowing down) * 💪 Dirt Bound, her organization empowering para off-road cyclists Links & Love Follow Annijke: @geodesicdome [https://www.instagram.com/geodesicdome/] Follow the podcast: @tarin.it.up.podcast [https://www.instagram.com/tarin.it.up.podcast/] Newsletter: tarinitup.myflodesk.com [https://tarinitup.myflodesk.com/tarinitup] Support the pod: buymeacoffee.com/tarinitup [https://buymeacoffee.com/tarinitup] And special shout outs to Annijke's partners: @dirtbound.cycling [https://www.instagram.com/dirtbound.cycling/] @paracollective.cc [https://www.instagram.com/paracollective.cc/] @bowheadcorp [https://www.instagram.com/bowheadcorp/] @untappedmaple [https://www.instagram.com/untappedmaple/] @dharcoclothing [https://www.instagram.com/dharcoclothing/] @ergonbike [https://www.instagram.com/ergonbike/]

Roots & Reinvention: Building What Fills You Up

Allison Deschaine is back, and a lot has happened since she last joined the pod a year and a half ago. She's moved from northern Michigan to Kalamazoo, made the leap from the independent rep world into a corporate Key Account Executive role, and has now launched her own consulting business, AD Outdoor Consulting [https://www.adoutdoorconsulting.com/], on May 1st! In this episode, Allison breaks down the gap she identified in the outdoor industry: the space between a small emerging brand going direct-to-consumer and being ready for a sales rep agency. Her consulting business is designed to bridge that gap — helping purpose-led and women-owned brands understand their margins, build killer line sheets, navigate trade shows, develop CRM systems, and actually get (and keep) shelf space in specialty retail. We also get into the big stuff: the untraditional paths we've both taken through the outdoor industry, why a non-linear resume isn't a liability, the real ROI of paying for expertise before you make costly mistakes, and how self-discovery keeps leading us somewhere better than we planned. Plus, Allison shares how she's staying grounded going into a busy season, and spoiler, it involves a garden with five beds and a lot of yoga. If you're a small brand trying to figure out your wholesale strategy, this one is for you. And if you're someone who's ever wondered whether you're supposed to do just one thing forever — yeah, this one's for you too. In This Episode We Talk About: * Why Allison is launching AD Outdoor Consulting and what inspired it * How her career paths through the outdoor industry — from Alaska to floor sales to corporate — gave her a multi-lens view most people don't have * Why a non-linear resume looks like chaos on paper but is actually a superpower * How Allison is balancing a full-time job, a new business, a garden, and her sanity * Building a slow burn instead of chasing an explosion * The therapy, yoga, journaling, and self-reflection that led Allison to this moment * The missing step between DTC and hiring a sales rep — and why it matters so much for emerging brands * What reps actually need from a brand to be successful (and why brands don't always know) * Helping music industry clients too — because small bands and small brands have more in common than you'd think Links & Love Allison: * Website: adoutdoorconsulting.com [https://www.adoutdoorconsulting.com/] * Instagram: @adoutdoorconsulting [https://www.instagram.com/adoutdoorconsulting/] * LinkedIn: Allison Deschaine [https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-d-56b130180/] The Pod: * Follow the podcast: @tarin.it.up.podcast [https://www.instagram.com/tarin.it.up.podcast/] * Newsletter: tarinitup.myflodesk.com/tarinitup [https://tarinitup.myflodesk.com/tarinitup]) * Support the pod: buymeacoffee.com/tarinitup [https://buymeacoffee.com/tarinitup]

Rock Bottom on Kilimanjaro: How Shitty Leggings Built a Brand

Arwen Turner and Kara Hardman of Thicket Adventure [https://thicketadventure.com/] are back on the pod for a full conversation after their first appearance in the Title Nine PitchFest series. These two Vermont-based founders are on a mission to make plus-size outdoor apparel that actually performs, and the conversation goes way beyond pants. We get into the real story behind Thicket: Kara signing up to climb Kilimanjaro with 19 other plus-size adventurers before she even knew where it was on a map, Arwen's "feral dirt child" upbringing in the Sierra Nevada and her journey back to feeling like the outdoors was for her, and the four years of R&D it took to engineer the Brecken Pant — their flagship product built specifically for plus-size bodies. We also talk about the frustrating reality of shopping for outdoor gear at any size, body grief and the changes that happen throughout our lives, and why brands extending sizes without actually designing for them is just checking a box. In This Episode: * What "plus size" means in the apparel world and the midsize gap * How Thicket sizes to match Lane Bryant and Torrid so online ordering is less of a guessing game * The 4-year design process behind the Brecken Pant — yoga waistband, dual fabric weights, four pockets, roll tabs, and more * The Booty Fit vs. the Belly Fit and how to know which one is yours * What's coming next: the Joey Pant, a wider-calf fit option, and hiking/mountain biking shorts * Two new colors dropping in July: Off Grid (black) and a sage green * Their crowdsourced approach to color naming and community building Coming Soon from Thicket: * Joey Pant — lighter, one-fabric, day hike to brunch versatility * Wide-calf fit option * Shorts Links & Love Thicket Adventures: * Website: thicketadventure.com [https://thicketadventure.com/] * Instagram: @thicketadventure [https://www.instagram.com/thicketadventure/] Pod Connections * Follow the podcast: ⁠@tarin.it.up.podcast⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/tarin.it.up.podcast/] * Newsletter: ⁠tarinitup.myflodesk.com⁠ [https://tarinitup.myflodesk.com/tarinitup] * Support the pod: ⁠buymeacoffee.com/tarinitup [https://buymeacoffee.com/tarinitup]

Boulder Breaks & Baby Naps: Freelancing, Motherhood & Making It Work

What does it actually look like to build a career when nothing fits in a clean, perfect box? In this episode, I’m chatting with Lauren, writer, marketer, climber, and mom. who’s pieced together a career in the outdoor industry on her own terms. From freelancing right out of college to working in climbing gyms, writing for brands, and now balancing it all with motherhood, her path is anything but linear. We get into imposter syndrome, starting later than you think you should, and why not having a “traditional” background in the outdoors doesn’t mean you don’t belong. We also talk about the reality of freelancing, multiple income streams, inconsistent work, and figuring it out as you go, and what it looks like to make that sustainable over time. On top of that, we talk about the mental side of it all: creative burnout, trying to force productivity when it’s just not there, and learning how to actually take time for yourself without guilt. Highlights 🧗‍♀️ Getting into the outdoor industry without growing up in it 🧠 Imposter syndrome and feeling “behind” (even when you’re not) 💻 Freelancing right out of college—and what it really takes 🧩 Piecing together multiple income streams to make a career 👶 Balancing creative work and motherhood (without losing yourself) ⏰ Why “free time” doesn’t always mean productive time 🤝 Making friends as an adult (and why it’s harder than it should be) 🔄 When your passion becomes work—and how to avoid burnout Follow Lauren: Website: laurenloria.com Instagram: @laurenloriacreative Follow the pod: IG: https://www.instagram.com/tarin.it.up.podcast/ [https://www.instagram.com/tarin.it.up.podcast/] Newsletter: https://tarinitup.myflodesk.com/tarinitup [https://tarinitup.myflodesk.com/tarinitup⁠]