A Non-Exhaustive Wish List for Women in Sports and Outdoors 💪

Nearly every day, I end up speaking with active women who face a barrier to the sport they love.

My hands are in a lot of projects: media, events, consulting, community management… And across them all, I notice the same gaps in how we manage and talk about Blood, Sweat, and Fear (heyooo).

It’s not that women aren’t wanting to show up and do big, badass things. It’s that the systems, policies, and gear weren’t always built with us in mind.

And so, I try to jot down notes when I hear of struggles (or better yet, proposed solutions!) so I can keep them in mind for future projects.

Sharing a few here to start the convo — but I’d be stoked to get a message from you if you can add to the list!

My Non-Exhaustive Wish List for Women in Sports and Outdoors

• ✏️ Health and Physical Education curricula in schools that cover female physiology, menstrual health, RED-S, breast development (perhaps even how to find bras that fit?!), and disordered eating literacy. Less emphasis on weight and body composition and calories and how to hide tampons.
  
  If you agree, listen to my conversation with my endurance athlete friend: Your Body Knows More than Your Training Plan: Rachel Boim on Pain, FKTs and Body Dysmorphia.

• 🩸 A commitment to menstrual equity in sports and outdoor spaces. Include menstrual practices in orientation. Train your guides. Provide products in gear kits.
  
  I help brands do this! I create resources and lead workshops for outfitters, nonprofits, etc., ANNNND right now, I’m launching the Outdoor Period Pledge, 👀 where orgs commit to including menstruation in safety, packing, and education.

• ⏰ Flexible work schedules/locations for parents with jobs in the sports and outdoor world. Inflexibility = more women leave jobs like coaching, guiding, etc. And then we have less diversity in leadership.
  
  If you agree, listen to: How Motherhood Changed Pro Ice Climber Majka Burhardt’s Relationship to Risk, Adventure, and Philanthropy

• 🩳 Varied sports uniform options in high school sports that lower self-consciousness and increase comfort/range movement. LOLing at my field hockey skirt photos (we just put spandex shorts underneath them anyway).
  
  If you agree, listen to: Why Erika Vikander is Fighting for Gender Equality in Freeride Snowboarding and Women’s Sports

• 👟 Investment in pre-teen and teen girls in sport. By age 14, girls leave sports at double the rate of boys. Just one reason I work with The Cairn Project and Summit Scholarship Foundation to promote youth mountaineering trips.

  If you agree, listen to: Summits Are Optional, Sisterhood Is Not: We’re Shifting Mountain Culture for Girls and Women

• 🎉 Events and contracts designed around caregivers. We’ve all heard of icky brands who have pregnancy penalties in athlete contracts, and I’m stoked to see some progress in pro sponsorship.
  
  One aspect I’ve been mulling on is childcare at events… I co-direct the Wild Woman Trail Runs, and we’ve had multiple community members express the wish for childcare at running retreats. I’d love to figure out how to make this happen…

• 🎤 Passing the mic to more women. In sports marketing and adventure storytelling, I want more women writing the plot and sharing their stories.
  
  If you agree and you’re a woman, let me help you share your story. If you agree and you’re not a women, listen to these.

• 🥾 Gear that fits a range of bodies. Make performance gear that fits big boobs, hips, pregnant bellies, prosthetics, all the ways women’s bodies exist in the wild. And show those bodies in your marketing.
  
  And while we’re at it, let’s dump any “fix yourself” style marketing that claims anything with our bodies is wrong.

• 💰 Creative sponsorship criteria. TBH, it’s kinda boring to only sponsor the fastest. I want to see pro sponsorships and hear stories with the community builders, the first-timers, the oldests, the longtime returners. I don’t care about the podium as much as I do about the personal stories.
  
  If you agree and you’re an adventurous woman, you might love being a volunteer with The Cairn Project like these women! We can work together to share your story with people who need to hear it (including brands) as you work toward your big adventure goal.

PHEW, I think that’s enough of a wish list for now, but the daydreaming shall continue.

In the meantime, some linkylinks if you also love talking about Blood (inner nature, periods!), Sweat (outdoor nature, adventure!), and Fear (sharing the tough stories!):

• 🩸 SNEAK PEEK my Outdoor Period Pledge - a free resource for outdoor guides, outfitters, travel orgs, etc. to gather menstrual equity resources and share them with their customers.

• 🌲 Explore everything The Cairn Project has to offer to close the gender gap in outdoor adventure. (Cool news: Our guided Rim-to-Rim Grand Canyon trip will still go on despite the Dragon Bravo fire, as we’re pivoting to Rim-to-River-to-Rim (plus Ribbon Falls!). We may do this again in spring - who wants to join me?!

• 💡 Free brainstorm sesh - for women who want to build a platform or campaign and want support and guidance.