Meet Brittany Haas | Chief Adventure Officer for Alpenventures UNGUIDED

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

Hi Brittany, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk-taking has played a vital role in my personal life and in my career. As an outdoor enthusiast, who loves technical activities such as rock climbing, I regularly experience tangible examples of the benefits that risk-taking brings into my life. In fact, my perspective around risk-taking has shifted in that I now see what most people would consider a “safe” decision to be a risk in and of itself. In fact, many people may consider staying away from outdoor sports as a safe decision, may live a more sedentary lifestyle and take on all the health risks that come with it. To circle back to entrepreneurism and profession, taking the “safer” route by staying in a secure job even when we don’t enjoy it or never launching that idea we’ve had on our minds may, in fact, lead to stagnation and dissatisfaction, which may hurt us both professionally and mentally in the long run. Living up to our true potential means that we immerse ourselves in a situation that allows it. For me, I know that I need a challenging and invigorating environment.

With that said, it is important to mention that not all risk is good. As my gauge, I often assess the worst-case scenario before taking on any risk. When I remove my pride and ego from the assessment, the conclusion I usually arrive at, both in outdoor sports and in business, is that if everything goes wrong, the consequence really isn’t that bad, and I’ll be able to pick back up again and keep moving.

In my life, much of the risk I have taken on has involved simply saying, “yes.” I don’t go searching for it, but instead, I make myself as ready as possible to take on the opportunity when it comes along.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I run Alpenventures UNGUIDED (www.alpenventuresUNGUIDED.com), which is an Adventure Travel company offering self-guided outdoor adventures in the Alps and South America. In short, we arrange trekking and bicycle tours for experienced outdoor adventurers that are like guided tours, but without guides. We’re basically a travel agency for an active and adventurous customer base.

Following a successful career in Higher Education, the idea for Alpenventures popped into my head and just wouldn’t go away. I knew I had to take it on, especially since experienced outdoor adventurers are heavily underserved in the Adventure Travel market. Along with the standard challenges that come with starting any business, I also faced the challenge that I was living in and starting a business in, a foreign country that speaks a foreign language (Germany). This created unique challenges with both accounting and legal topics. In addition, my customers are all from English-speaking countries, and I have to rely almost 100% on digital methods to reach my potential customer base. In short, starting Alpenventures was hard, and it continues to be today. One of the key lessons I learned from rock climbing has been key to my perseverance….if you’re doing it right, you have to fall, sometimes a lot, before you reach the top.

Along the way, I’ve reinforced my philosophy that it’s important to tweak the ideas that aren’t working well, rather than to throw them out altogether. Usually, what seemed like a good idea in the beginning, remains a good idea, even if it’s not working out right away. I have also learned not to undervalue myself or the service that I offer. But most importantly, I have learned that I can acquire almost any skill I need through YouTube How-To videos and search engines!

Alpenventures UNGUIDED is a company that’s not only about having fun in the mountains, but it’s also about responsible and authentic travel. We focus on tours that are not heavily marketed and not well-known overseas to not only give our customers both an authentically local experience, but also to distribute travelers away from the areas that are being impacted negatively by overtourism. All of our tours have a Responsible Travel Score, so our customers are more easily able to assess the impact of their tour, and we offset 1 metric ton of carbon per customer.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
To be honest, my favorite spots in a city are actually out of the city. I’m not a city person, so we would be on the trail somewhere, soaking in nature and challenging ourselves physically. But if we had to stick around in the city of Munich, we’d probably be at Lake House Beer Garden in the English Garden.

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?
My shoutout goes to my husband who has supported my professional risk-taking, even though it goes against his nature. Chris is German, and in general, German culture takes a more conservative approach to professional decisions and career changes than my American background does. My husband has stood by my crazy ideas, supported me in going after them, and continues to support them, even when things aren’t going to plan.

Website: www.alpenventuresUNGUIDED.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/alpenventuresUNGUIDED

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

Twitter: www.twitter.com/alpenventures

Facebook: www.facebook.com/alpenventuresUNGUIDED

Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/alpenventuresUNGUIDED