Meet Jaclyn Valentine | Backpacking Guide & Customer Success Manager

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jaclyn Valentine and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jaclyn, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
If I am being honest, this business was completely unintentional. I had dreams of starting my own company one day within the mental health and art therapy realm, but I never considered starting an ‘outdoorsy’ business. In April 2020, I found myself back in the States, after living in Sydney, Australia, due to the pandemic. I was so set on my path in Sydney and thought I would be calling that city home for the foreseeable future. As the story went for many people, the pandemic shifted my life. I found myself back in Castle Rock, Colorado, where I grew up, in my mom’s home and itching to be anywhere else. I met a few people and we started hitting the backcountry as much as possible because the outdoors was deemed safe in small groups. I quickly found myself surrounded around men and wondering where the women were. As people saw me posting about my hiking, backpacking, and backcountry ways, I had many people reach out asking how I was doing this. Quickly I saw how many women were craving connection with other’s, the outdoors and a challenge. From there, I somehow convinced six friends to let me take them on a backpacking trip and it was the rainiest and scariest trek I have ever done, but we survived. From there, I led another trek, and that was when I met Kat Papera. She was my biggest advocate and urged me to turn this into something, I realized that this was in fact a real company and asked (and begged) her to join me on this journey. Nearly two years later, the two of us have somehow morphed our love and passion into something we teach other’s about.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a go-getter. If I want to try it, I do it. I was raised by a dynamite of a mother who believed creating your own businesses was the way to go. I took parts of her with me as I’ve grown and shifted into who I’ve become. Though I adore owning a ‘side hustle’ that has grown a bit bigger than expected, I am also an employee. I work within the tech realm for a New York based company called Splash. My path to where I currently am was not linear by any means. I spent all of my 20’s working hard in the corporate world to then save money and travel the world. My only passion for many year’s was to meet as many people as possible and travel to as many places I could afford. When I hit about 28, I discovered my passion was actually travel, but also mental health. I believe there is such a need for help there, but I wasn’t sure how I could put a stamp on it.

Fast forward a few years, and I had gotten accepted to graduate school to become a therapist but then the pandemic hit. With life ever-changing, I found myself back in the States and growing Wandering Women into a company that also embodied mental health and bigger questions. As that company grew, I found a home within a tech role and realized that my biggest passion is mental health but finding where it can meet tech (a bit strange as one tends to lend hardship to the other), but I found company’s like Parsley Health, Real, Ginger and other’s doing the hard things our society needs. So as I’ve grown my knowledge, I know that I am no where near done. It wasn’t easy, but the road never really is. I found people along the way though that have shifted my focus and taught me so much (shoutout to Dana Fleishaker and Antonio Sanchis) about tech and what all is really possible.

What I want the world to know is that good things do not come without hard times. I went through some very difficult personal things and I could swear that I wouldn’t make it, that I would be stuck in this hard place forever. However, with chance encounters, opportunities and people willing to lend a hand, I am here. I want other’s to realize that the biggest joy comes from helping and working with other’s because as I mentioned earlier, no one achieves anything alone.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
When close friends visit, I take them on hikes, of course! Whether that be down in the Sangre de Cristos or out in Tabernash, I always find a trek that will take a full day because the real beauty lies in the backcountry.

From there, I would take them to Sweet Cow, Sweet Action, Little Man and all the other ice cream shops Denver has to offer. I would then follow this up with a dinner out in Golden at my favorite – Sherpa House. Following that, we would grab some bikes and bike around North Table.

For me, the best places are the ones in the mountains. I may be biased because my mom owns a marina in Grand Lake, but the small towns are where the best people are. Where the quiet is and the opportunity to explore reside. Denver is a great city, there’s no doubt about that, but what makes it so desirable is the ability to travel outside of Denver too! From Steamboat to Durango and Grand Lake to Telluride and so forth, it’s an awesome place to call home because of how much exploring is outside of our city’s perimeter.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I am a true believer in the saying, ‘No one achieves anything alone’. I have been lucky enough to surround myself around trailblazers, strong and independent individuals, but no one helped me more through my hard years than Ramya Acharya. When I was 27, I took a flight to Vietnam for a backpacking trip that my employer at the time graciously let me go on, this then led me to come home, quit my job, and five weeks later move to Sydney, Australia. Once in Sydney, I kept getting lucky, and a backpacking friend I had met years prior in Guatemala referred me to a recruiter at a company called Lotus. From there, I had been sent to an interview. During my interview, I felt like I had stumbled and sounded like a dumb American to this Director. As I was leaving, she turned to me and said, ‘Everyone has a story’ and simply wished me goodbye. Later that day, I received a call from that recruiter and I had actually gotten the job. In that year, Ramya took me in as her own. I had been through a lot of hard personal things and she was not only my boss and mentor, but my friend. She pushed me to do better, grow my ideas and work harder. I can say without a doubt that I would not be where I am without the mentorship and support she provided to me. Some bosses are just that – bosses. However, some are also mentors and leaders that help you pave your way to the top and hand you the bricks to do so along the way. This whole idea wouldn’t have been possible without her help and (many) pushes.

Website: https://www.wanderingwomenco.com/

Instagram: @wanderingwomenco // @lifewithjac

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaclynvalentine21/

Facebook: Jaclyn Valentine

Image Credits
Kat Papera