About Nikki
Hi, I'm Nikki.
"I built a life in the mountains — and then I left it. Venturing Out is what comes next."
Truckee, 2017.
I moved from San Francisco with no big plan. Just an idea that I wanted to share what the outdoors made me feel.
I posted on Airbnb. Next thing I knew I was taking people into the wilderness almost every day — cooking meals to carry in my backpack, encouraging strangers into ice-cold alpine lakes, helping people quiet their minds. I gave myself the best gift of all: that pure joy from strangers who felt like friends by the end of a long, tiring hike.
Then winter came. I took my first group snowshoeing — which was my first time snowshoeing. Pure magic.
Hosting. Cooking. Moving. Connecting. I wasn't just running a business. I was creating a feeling.
Sydney, and a whole lot of discomfort.
I moved across the world. Just like that — the mountains, the rhythm, the community I'd built — gone.
That part was harder than I expected. A whole lot harder.
When you build something that feels like you, you don't just walk away from it. You feel it missing. So I sat in the discomfort. The "who am I here, what am I doing with my life" kind of discomfort. The kind that forces you to figure out what actually matters.
I realized I didn't lose Venturing Out. I just needed to evolve it.
Same feeling, new form.
For years I had this idea in the back of my mind. What if Venturing Out wasn't just something you did — what if it was something you could wear? Something that took you from the trail to dinner. Functional but cool. Something that made you feel like that girl — outdoors or in the city.
So I started. Learning. Designing. Sourcing. Reaching out to manufacturers. Still figuring it all out as I go.
I'm taking my love for the beautiful outdoors and turning Venturing Out into something completely new. Not just a hiking business. A brand. A feeling you can actually step into.
And the trips? Those are coming back too. New places, same magic.
"It feels good to feel good." — Nikki, Founder
A few things I know to be true.
Outside changes you
It always has. It always will. I've watched it happen in strangers a hundred times.
Beautiful matters
You should be able to feel like yourself on the trail. The right hat, the right layer, the right small thing — it changes how the whole day feels.
Better together
Strangers become friends by sunset. I've seen it. Built a whole business on it. It's why the trips are coming back.
Read along on Substack.
I write every week about building this brand, leaving the mountains, starting again (and again), and everything in between. Free to read.
Read the SubstackThanks for Venturing Out with me.
Shop the first piece, or get on the list for what's coming next.