Meet Chris Sturdy” Albrecht | Owner & Lead Tour Guide”

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chris “Sturdy” Albrecht and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris “Sturdy”, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The product. I started the business with one type of tour, a 2-hour walking tour, and I wanted it to be unique and memorable—not the same old dates and facts tour. I experimented with various ideas before finally settling in on storytelling. My tours take the visitor on a ride through Golden’s history with enigmatic stories from the Wild West with history along the way. I’m always working on improving the tour and entertaining visitors, and I make sure my guides do the same.

In my working life, I spent a lot of time in the service industry and was fortunate enough to have some fantastic mentors who taught me the power of reputation. I know that if I bring a solid and unique product that I’m passionate about to the market, the business will be a success.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My career path is a little forked. I come from a background in customer service then made my way into tech, where I still work today. I’m a web developer turned project manager during the week and a Wild West Tour Guide on the weekends. Over the course of my career, I’ve worked for companies that treated me like just another cog in their machine, some that treated me like a human they desired to have working for them, and everything in between. Those jobs taught me how to overcome adversity, both self-inflicted and in company politics, and how to do new things that were outside my skillset. One job asked me to configure a web server. Another taught me how to manage a kitchen. One exposed me to complete mismanagement of a team and still another how to be a mentor. I’m extremely fortunate to have worked where I did, to be pushed into situations where I had to figure my own way out, and to be shown what it means to be a better human, not just a better employee.

I’ve been with my current company almost 8 years. While we work in the technology sphere, the social capitalist mindset and the human-first attitude showed me what a good company can do not only for their employees but for community. While I love that company and the people there, starting my own business was calling my name, and I could take all those lessons with me to do it.

I founded Golden History Tours with the purpose of dressing up like a cowboy and teaching people about the amazing history of the little historic town we’d just moved to. I needed a way to balance the extroverted part of my personality against sitting in front of a computer screen all day. I love acting, especially improv, and I love history, so this was a natural fit. And, I knew that if I did it right, I could create a vehicle that would allow me to give back to the community and to charity in far greater means that simply cutting a portion of my paycheck each month.

It hasn’t always been easy. In fact, I wanted to quit a number of times while building this business because I felt too strained and didn’t see it growing the way I wanted. I also thought I’d never have the time to get all the things done that I planned to do. I kept the proverb “The temptation to quit is always strongest just before you succeed” next to my computer, and I eventually allowed myself to be OK with the business being what it was, not what it wasn’t. As long as I kept improving little bits at a time, it would do fine and I would enjoy it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There are so many unique activities to experience and places to visit along Colorado’s front range, and with a week we’re going to take advantage of all of them! Hopefully we’ve thought ahead to make reservations for the Coors Brewery Tour, because you can’t visit Golden without a walk through the largest brewing installation on the planet. After the tour we’ll grab a burger and a beer at Trailhead Taphouse and chill out in Parfet Park. Maybe we can find some live music at the Buffalo Rose or one of the local breweries.

We’d absolutely need to take a day to head up to mountains for some hiking along the continental divide or rafting down Clear Creek. Maybe we make that into two days, because if we’re up there we’ll stop off in Idaho Springs, the epicenter of the 1859 gold rush, and grab a cold beer at either Tommyknocker or Westbound and Down breweries. While we’re up in that area, we should pop over to Central City and Blackhawk to see the history around the Gregory Diggings, and if we’re feeling lucky we’ll stop into one of the various casinos for a few hands of craps.

There are 10 microbreweries in Golden alone, so we could check those out as we take a drive around down, but we could check three off the list with a Wild West Pub Crawl and learn all about the history of the gold rush and the town at the same time.

To cap it all off, we should schedule a photo shoot with Oh Susannah! Vintage Photo Studio to get a one-of-a-kind souvenir, Old West style, then go for a casual float down Clear Creek right through town to wind down. Finally, a relaxing night at Mountain Toad Brewing with one of my favorite food trucks. If we’re in luck, Farmer in the Hive or Rolling Dough will be parked out front.

If we have time during the week, a quick trip over to Morrison to hike the steps at Red Rocks Amphitheater and check out the town for a Ghost Tour with Colorado Haunted History might also be in order.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people who have contributed to my success, but I could single out three who stand taller than others.

First, my general manager from the pizza place I worked at in college, Dave Schnirch. Dave instilled in us the meaning of reputation. I watched him give away full pizzas for no other reason that people stopped in before we were open. He always had heart-felt aphorisms and life lessons that I took with me and still hold close today.

Second, my manager from my last tech job at the National Renewable Energy Lab, Cha Snyder. She trusted me to lead a team, the technology, and helped me believe that I had more to myself than I thought I did. Cha gave me the confidence to take chances on myself, which led me to apply for new jobs and positions and eventually start my own business.

Finally, my wife Laura. She has supported me throughout and has been my honest critic and guinea pig as I developed the tours. I wouldn’t have the business and confidence I do without her.

Website: https://www.goldenhistorytours.com

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