Amy is the marketing manager at Eagles Nest Outfitters in Asheville and spearheads their initiatives for giving back to the global community. For more than 20 years, Amy has dedicated her energy and skills to connecting others to the outdoors. From directing pioneering experiential education programs with youth across the Southeast to living on the road all over the lower 48 as a national traveling trainer for the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, the strategy of integrating sustainability, education, and business has been the context of her career. In addition to steering ENO’s marketing division, she is also a founding member and the current board chair of the Outdoor Gear Builders of WNC.
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What do you like best about your job?
I love the work that I do at ENO and the community of people that I get to work with on a daily basis. We design amazing products that make it easy for people to get outdoors, whether they are using our hammocks on campus while hanging out with friends between classes, or out finding solitude hiking with our ultralight products on one of our nation’s long trails. We have fostered an enthusiastic community of outdoors lovers and adventure travelers over the past 20 years, and I enjoy sustaining those relationships and cultivating new ones. I also love that I work for a company that factors conservation and sustainability into the decisions that drive our brand forward.
What inspires you?
I think if you are looking in the right places, you can find inspiration in every experience, including our most mundane daily tasks. But I am personally inspired most when I am adventuring in the outdoors with my family. We are so lucky to have the Blue Ridge Mountains as our backyard playground and to have so many recreational assets at our fingertips. From the beaches to the mountains, I am inspired and empowered by natural landscapes and feel a deep need to protect our wild places so that my son can grow up feeling that same drive to adventure in and protect our public lands.
Who or what should we be paying attention to?
We should be paying attention to the growing outdoor industry in North Carolina. Our state is positioned as the hub of the outdoor industry on the East Coast. We have created a cohesive community of gear brands and outdoor recreation partners who are passionate about working together to continue to cultivate a strong outdoor recreation economy here. We have so many models of this thriving community, from the Outdoor Gear Builders of WNC, to the Waypoint Accelerator program, and the upcoming Outdoor Economy Conference. We are lucky to have such a creative and passionate community.
What was your biggest challenge this week?
My biggest challenge every week is time. I want more hours in every day to help manage the work/family balance. I need more time at work to be diligent, creative and thoughtful in each decision that I make for our brand and the consumer experience. I also want more time for creative conversation, family adventures, live music with friends, and community engagement.
Eastern or western barbecue?
That’s a tough one! It depends on the day of the week.