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

Hi Drake, what role has risk played in your life or career?
It took me a long time to understand how my impulse to take risks could be channeled into business development. Far before having a successful outlet for entrepreneurship, I was motivated by a dichotomy of unjustified fearlessness coupled with a plague of underlying insecurities. I knew I wasn’t prepared to be a responsible human being and dreaded a fate where I was bound to be forever unfulfilled, destined to be stuck with my many learned and perceived shortcomings. This drive pushed me into the pursuit of unbridled exploration.

Since I struck out into the world to become something new, I spent years taking what others often saw as risks: living and traveling abroad between 16 countries, working 35+ jobs, and maybe most risky of all, learning how badly I needed to stay true to myself in order to find happiness. I worked on farms and in environmental conservation, oversaw service-learning for adults and teens, held many positions facilitating outdoor adventure and leadership development, and organized various community groups and events. In summary many of these experiences might sound ideal, but the reality of it was often hindered with awkward growing pains, emotional turbulence and my performance- especially in my younger years- entirely underwhelming.

Yet perseverance pushed me onward. Despite the amount of times I felt I didn’t do my best, that I let people down, or somehow was too incompetent to complete the task at hand, I did the only thing I knew how to do and kept pursuing opportunities for “growth and expansion.” I even had these words translated into Tibetan and etched into my arm while in McLeod Ganj early on in my travels. The tattoo has served as a reminder of my goal to be a life-long learner, and to remember the journey of discovery is the only thing that truly matters since the destination is always going to change.

By taking regular and sometimes extreme risks, I honed in on listening to my intuition. Hitchhiking in South America and paying attention to my gut instincts once drove me to throw my belongings out of a truck and make a run for it in the middle of nowhere. I heard the inner voice that let me know I was in trouble and escaped into a small little town to avoid a very sketchy situation. I’ll never know exactly what might have happened if I stayed, but I’m alive and well to tell the tale.

While that’s an extreme situation where my intuition was my guide, I use it all the time in making decisions, like if a client or potential employee is the right fit for our company. There are times I fail to listen to my intuition, which is in itself another kind of risk- the kind where I end up learning the hard way, but learning none-the-less! In using my intuition, I can more consciously select the type of risk, or more appropriately, “opportunity” I am open to inviting into my life.

I think the reframing of language around this is important. Risk places focus on what might go wrong, whereas opportunity suggests an opening for evolution to take place. Challenge is inherent in anything we do, but that friction is a vital component needed to level up as leaders and grow our toolbox of skills that can be applied to any situation. If we can see every action as a chance to become the next best version of ourselves, or a moment to determine how we can improve processes to add resiliency to our business model, for instance, we’re setting ourselves up for much greater long-term success.

I’ve always been a bit of a nerd for theory, which may have been why I took my sweet time graduating with my B.A. and M.S, but applied experience is always going to be a much more valuable teacher. The more you throw yourself in, the more you understand your strengths, weaknesses, communication skills, and the additional hard/soft skills you need to achieve your outcomes. I often say yes and take things on, only to quickly discover I may not have everything I need to complete the task at hand. In those moments, I either learn some new skills and it gets easier or it gets progressively harder and more complicated.

This brings me to my next point: It’s easy to romanticize things we’ve never done, or who we’ll be and how we’ll achieve, when we actually don’t have any idea of what the adventure ahead of us entails. Taking on new opportunities can be invigorating or sobering, and helps us to determine what’s for us and what’s not. It can be an amazing relief when you finally throw in the towel on something that’s not working and move on; the quicker you acknowledge something isn’t for you, the quicker you can move onto the next phase of your development. I’ve found a general sense of “not for me” in all kinds of moments along the way, like certain types of group facilitation, raft guiding, living in a sorority, scaling a terrarium business, some aspect of every job I’ve ever worked, raising quail and working a 9-5. All of these “failures” served as great feedback to design a life further aligned with who I am.

Trying new things also pushes us out of our comfort zone and into our growth zone. It’s here we get more practice in developing solution-oriented mindsets and are able to get creative with how we handle problems. If something isn’t working, it’s an opportunity to ask “why?” Is there a way to improve systems that might steer our process in the right direction? Can we change something to create a resolution? Does someone else have an idea that is better than my own right now? There are always new and unforeseen possibilities that emerge when we get into the unknown.

The many opportunities I’ve jumped into, sometimes carelessly, have helped me to chisel a humble foundation, develop a robust toolkit to navigate challenges, and opened my mind to endless possibilities. My failures and successes equipped me with skills and wisdom that have been invaluable to building a life unique to me, as well as a business model that prioritizes whole human well-being, diverse ecosystems and flourishing communities. It’s through taking so many risks that I can feel confident that no matter what comes my way, I’ll figure it out- because I always have.

What should our readers know about your business?
My company, Urban Village Designs LLC, is a nature-inspired, sustainably focused ecological landscaping company in Portland, Oregon. We offer design, installation, maintenance and education through integrating whole systems design, urban farming, conservation efforts, nature play and community relationships. As I worked on my Master’s degree in Leadership for Sustainability Education, I was set on graduating with a career and I knew it was up to me to bring it into existence.

The first year I was focused on event production and more of the mind, body and spirit aspects of community healing. I found that event production wasn’t profitable enough to make into a full time career for myself and there were a lot of limitations to one-on-one sessions. It was also crucial for my sense of purpose to create something that was better capable of impacting systemic change. That meant building a scalable business model that would allow me to work collaboratively with others, provide fulfilling jobs, take care of ecosystems and put us into direct relationship with the regulations and policies that either enhance or hinder sustainable development.

With a background in permaculture design, and a multi-faceted pallet of professional experience, I saw an opportunity to transform landscapes into more resilient and creative spaces to live. It was apparent how our current industrial practices and public education have been extremely lacking when it comes to sustainable living. In response, this field puts us into contact with clients who want to do better for the planet, while aligning us with similar leaders who are growing their impact through regenerative products and services.

Once I knew what I wanted to do, it was generally easy to jump right in. A mentor, Denissia Withers (another much needed shout out!), gently guided me into managing my own maintenance properties as she transitioned out of her own business. Soon after, I slowly started building a team, taking on designs, and found that the right client always appeared exactly when I was ready for them. This continues to be the case, and serves as an on-going sign that I’m exactly where I am supposed to be.

As we’re now at about 10 employees, my primary focus and interest has shifted into systems and leadership development. Clients are important, but making sure my team feels fulfilled and are growing as human beings is even more of a priority for me. Our careers can take up so much of our mental, physical, emotional and even spiritual energy and with that in mind, I am driven by the idea that we can design work places to better meet the holistic needs of our employees. I think that’s one of the many things setting our business model apart from other companies, and I’m so stoked to see where Urban Village Designs’ evolution will take us.

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?
As we enter into the summer here in Portland, there is no loss for activities. Time for a hike? Into the gorge we go! Want to froclick with 100’s of dogs? Let’s take my pups and head over to 1000 acres. Is it hot as hell? Let’s float the Clackamas! Hungry? Let’s choose from the scrumptious array of local and sustainable restaurants we have to offer. Drinks? The Bible Club or The Richmond Bar. Non alcoholic beverages? Nalu Kava House. Ice cream? Salt and Straw or Pinolo Gelato (YUM).

Other things to do- ride bikes all over and stop where we want to. Jump on the max when we get tired. Take in the beautiful plants at The Japanese or Leach Botanical Gardens. Have kids? Take them to the zoo and learn about local conservation efforts, to OMSI to watch an Imax movie, or to the art museum. On most days of the week, you can likely find a farmer’s market, or we can head to the Saturday Market down on the waterfront.

If you’re looking to build community, perhaps we join in for an art opening at EARTH Space PDX, a community center (and also the current office of Urban Village Designs LLC) that I collaboratively helped start while serving as co-director of nonprofit, Conscious Growth. We can also stop by an additional art collective The Haven/ Jaja PDX, which features regular visionary events, from fire dancing to educational workshops, to long nights of music. There’s usually something interesting happening there on any given day of the week.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I feel really grateful for my family’s love and encouragement through all of my journeys. They learned when I was pretty young I was going to do things my way, and there was definitely a lot of fear and worry they had to grapple with in order to eventually trust my process. Their immense love supported the development of the human being I am today, and I hope to always make them proud with how I carry myself through the world.

My primary mentor, JoBeth Eckerman, helped me get comfortable navigating the inner worlds of myself and others, and has also held me through immense personal healing that I think is absolutely mandatory for leaders to work through to be effective role models. Her focus has always been “soul first.” I love navigating life through this lens; seeing life as sacred guides the values of every project I take on.

Satish Kumar’s book “Soil, Soul and Society” left an imprint on me many years ago. It reshaped my worldview into seeing the deep need to care for the earth, ourselves and our communities in a holistic and purposeful way. To this day I still design my work to touch on these three categories simultaneously, as much as I possibly can.

Additionally, I’m not sure I would have gotten as far as I am with our company without the unconditional support and love of my partner, Lucas. From the beginning he has stepped in to help me whenever it’s been needed, without question, whether he’s driving a truck or trailer to pick up materials or decompressing with me throughout the day. While music is his primary passion (check him out in one of his projects: Jay Si Proof!), he continues to show up to do this work because he knows this is mine (and, you know, the money probably doesn’t hurt, ha!).

My UVD team, of course- I’m so grateful to work with an incredibly dedicated group who understand we’re living into the answers as we go along. They’re each the eyes, ears, brains, arms and legs (and so much more) of the day-to-day operations and are vital to the work we do. It’s their feedback, ideas and passion that really gives our company life.

Our Portland community also deserves a shoutout. I’m surrounded by an absurd amount of artists, visionaries, educators and community builders that are bringing amazing organizations and projects into being. Living in this bubble of innovation gives me such hope for the thriving planetary future that we are actively creating together.

Website: www.urbanvillagedesigns.com

Instagram: www.instragram.com/urbanvillagedesigns

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/drakecarnahan

Facebook: www.facebook.com/urbanvillagedesigns

Other: www.pinterest.com/urbanvillagedesigns

Image Credits
Russell Bohr Photography

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