Meet Daniel Roman | River guide and owner, Western Slope SUP

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

Hi Daniel, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
My first big decision as a business owner: whether or not to start my business, totally changed the way I approach risk. I have always been fairly conservative in my personal life. I do my best to calculate all the outcomes of my decisions and try to choose wisely. When it came to starting a new industry in a part of Colorado that was not known for tourism, I had no data to look at and nothing to go on. I just knew I had to do it. I was 33 years old. I had been working as a river guide and waiting tables in the Colorado high country for the past 7 years. I could not imagine abandoning the mountains or my outdoor lifestyle, but entering my 3rd decade, I was starring to feel a deep need for work that was was more stable, meaningful, and potentially lucrative. When I realized that starting a river guiding company was an option, I dropped everything and jumped blindly.

This first leap of faith helped form the way I make business decisions. Every new season for me presents risk. Will anyone book my trips this year? Have I overhired? Underhired? Should I invest in new products? Should I spend $10,000 in retail items that might sit on my shelf for years? Being faced with these decisions daily could drive a more conservative person crazy. I have learned that I need to have faith in my business and just do it.

Risk is an inevitable part of business. I would argue that it is one of the main parts. In business there are no sure things, and never a clear way forward. Being able to approach uncertainty with confidence, and make decisions knowing that it might not work out, are core aspects that have shaped my success and mental health. I am glad that I learned these skills early.

What should our readers know about your business?
Western Slope SUP is a river outfitting company in the North Fork Valley of Colorado. We have three of the most outstanding rivers in the state, and pride ourselves in a high degree of professionalism, quality, and safety. The North Fork Valley is a quiet, off-the-beaten-track corner of Colorado where people are friendly and the pace of life mirrors the tranquil Gunnison River. The Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area, where we run our stand up paddle (SUP) river trips, is a remote, scenic desert canyon. The water is calm with just enough excitement to make for the ideal first time river SUP experience. Most rivers in Colorado are cold, fast, and rocky; not places people generally want to take a paddleboard. The Gunnison is one of a kind in this regard. We are luck enough to also have a couple of the “cold, fast, and rocky” rivers in the area, which allow us to run some of the most exciting whitewater rafting trips in Colorado.

Our first two years in business were very challenging. When we opened in 2017 no one locally had heard of SUP, and the North Fork Valley was not know as destination for river running. The town of Hotchkiss was full of vacant buildings, and unheard of as a destination for anything. I was advised by many smart entrepreneurs not to start a business here. The market was minuscule to non-existent. In spite of this, I knew the quality of the local rivers, and knew that I would just have to figure out how to create a market for my business.

A big part of our success came from collaborating directly with local wineries, hotels, farms, orchards, and venues. We are located are in a remote part of the state; far from Denver, not on the way to anywhere. All of our businesses rely on visitors from out of the area. Our common challenge is getting people to make the trip out to the North Fork Valley. By working together we create a bigger draw for out of town visitors than any of us could do alone. If you know you can go rafting, visit a winery, eat at a farm to table restaurant, pick your own peaches, and see live music, you are much more likely to make the 4 hour drive from Denver than you would have been if you only knew about one orchard or one winery. We are all on each others websites, we run promotions together, and we always give shoutouts to each other.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Visit the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Watch live music and U-pick peaches at Delicious Orchards, tour the wineries of Paonia and Hotchkiss, Hike Dark Canyon Trail.

Dinner at Mesa Winds Winery, or the Flying Fork.

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 would like to thank many of the business owners along Elk Avenue in Crested Butte for their assistance and Inspiration in getting me started. Specifically Jamie Timmons (McGills) for showing me how to be a boss, Eric Roemer (Wooden Nickle) for invaluable business advice, and Matt Smith (Third Bowl Ice Cream) for encouragement all the way.

Website: westernslopesup.com

Instagram: westernslopesup

Facebook: westernslopesup

Yelp: westernslopesup

Youtube: westernslopesup

Image Credits
Kelsey Altmann Ben Lehman