Inspiring Conversations with Samantha Briley of Gear Up

Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Briley.

Hi Samantha, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
The outdoors was a big part of my life growing up through family camping trips to local lakes and through Girl Scouts. However, college is where I dove deeper into my love for the outdoors by working in my university’s outdoor program. I learned how to rock climb, lead trips for backpacking and paddling, met a wonderful group of friends, and even fell in love.

My boss and mentor recommended I look at a different major, Recreation and Parks Management, to pursue a career in the outdoor industry. I honestly couldn’t believe that I could make a career in taking people outside and get paid to do so. From there, I worked in the Outer Banks in North Carolina to California being led by my passions.

In 2016, on my second night living in California with my husband, our moving trailer was stolen. We lost all our newlywed gifts, all the basic living essentials we had, and all of our accumulated outdoor gear. Just moving to the Sacramento area, we were so close to so many beautiful places we were so ready to explore, but now didn’t have our gear to do so. After losing everything and just starting out in California, we had to build our lives back up, and gear wasn’t the first thing we could purchase. More like cookware and a bed.

Working in the outdoor industry for years now, I knew that some of the hardest parts of entering the outdoor world were the cost of gear followed by knowledge and community. We made friends that wanted to join us on our adventures, but we only had so much gear to let folks borrow. We were still borrowing some stuff ourselves! We kept thinking about creating a business where we aim to break the barriers of getting outside.

Once we were pregnant with our first baby, we decided to move back to North Carolina to be close to family. While in the Raleigh area, we realized that there was so much opportunity for outdoor recreation but little resources to help folks get outside. Gear Up was born and we started planning for our launch in 2020.

Now, our family is growing and so is Gear Up! I am continuously led to showcase getting families outside. When I was pregnant with our first little adventurer, I was constantly told that I wouldn’t be able to do all that “adventure stuff” like camping or paddling anymore. I would have to wait until the kids are much older. I don’t believe that at all! My toddler loves to paddle with us, loves camping, and loves getting outside more than anything.

I want to show that families don’t have to stop doing what they love because they have a little one. More than that, it’s the best time to go! It might be slower than you wanted, you are packing a lot more stuff, but the experience is such a beautiful one.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Other than all of our stuff being stolen?

Though that definitely was a struggle and pretty difficult for our family at the time, we’ve overcome it and did our best to stay positive while we recovered (financially and mentally). However, being a woman in the outdoor industry can be quite an interesting experience. I’ve been completely ignored, felt like I needed to prove myself through experience, and overlooked by colleagues and customers.

It’s taken years to feel like I belong in the outdoor industry as a woman and I don’t have to whip out my resume or talk about my experiences constantly. Though more and more women are having more roles in the outdoor industry, sexism is still quite present.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Gear Up?
Gear Up aims to break the barriers of getting outside. We’ve seen in our many years in the outdoor world that these barriers are the entry cost of acquiring gear, knowledge of outdoor skills, and having an outdoor-loving community around you. That is why we focus on gear rentals, teaching outdoor skills, and leading fun outings.

We launched our business in March 2020, just days before North Carolina shut down due to the pandemic. We learned a lot in that first year and used it as an opportunity to focus on our foundation as a business. Now we offer camping gear rentals that can be delivered nationally, inflatable stand-up paddleboards that can be delivered locally in the Triangle, and even more workshops and outings.

We’re a family-run business that my husband and our toddler operate (we’re also expecting another little adventurer in summer 2022). We do our best to showcase that families can still get outside with littles by camping, paddling, hiking, and even mountain biking as a family. Our social media platforms will show the many trips our family goes on and how we get outside with our toddlers.

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
As we had our ribbon cutting just days before North Carolina shut down due to the pandemic, we learned so much. We definitely took a step back in our expected operations. It gave us a chance to spend a whole season testing processes and policies before it got too busy for us to handle that foundation.

We heard a lot, “Bet y’all did great during the pandemic. Everyone was getting outside!”. However, many campgrounds shut down during that period, too. At the time we launched, we were only renting out the camping gear.

It gave us the opportunity to see what people were interested in and what additional gear we could afford for our clients. That’s why in 2021, we launched inflatable stand-up paddleboards (SUP) into our rental program along with SUP outings.

We made strategic partnerships with nonprofits, focused on our vision and mission, and are hitting 2022 stronger than we ever imagined when we launched.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: gearupforadventures.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gearupforadventures/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gearupforadventures/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzU1JEitKn4L1r8cVFVcZZA

Image Credits
Thomas Briley