Meet Rachel Cronin | Outdoor Adventure CEO, TEDx Speaker, Author

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

Hi Rachel, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
Cronin Mountain is a personal growth adventure company in the Broadmoor area of Colorado Springs. This idea was birthed from many years of research, development, collaborating heavily with the local community, and my own healing journey through the power of nature and personal growth.

Knowing you want better for yourself and then trying to close the gap between who you are and who you want to be, can be the project of a lifetime. Many call this process the “glow up,” and it is not an easy thing to do. But, the results of that work can cause shifts that will improve your life forever.

At Cronin Mountain, we are planning to streamline that process for our community to “glow up” together while enjoying activities like glamping, hiking, rock climbing, mediation and yoga. Our personal growth infused trails, inspiring quotes and natural landscaping paired with optional experiences lead in collaboration with other local small businesses, provides an experience unlike anyone has ever felt before.

This collaboration between our company and other local businesses has been an incredible evolution of our brand and aligns with our mission in ways that not only help our company win, but helps other local entrepreneurs win, too.

As a female founded company, my focus has been on helping other outdoor-minded female entrepreneurs, but our team has expanded in an inclusive way for all aligned with our mission and values.

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?
Cronin Mountain is different for a few reasons. First, we have centered our mission and values around personal growth. We want our guests to not only move their body through activities like hiking, yoga, rock climbing, and glamping, but also move their personality and their soul through the personal growth infused themes and activities throughout our property.

We are also a small, private company. Guests arrive by private reservation only, are greeted by name, and expect a quiet, exclusive experience. Our campus only has 3 glamping sites this season and limited availability for our partnered activities like shinrin yoku (guided nature walks/forest bathing), rock climbing, weddings and picnics with a view. This is purposefully done so those that arrive are able to enjoy nature without tourists, crowds or overbearing traffic. Our campus is quiet, peaceful and exclusive.

We are also a premiere film location with the Colorado Film Commission. With 35 acres of mountain property, we have several unique film sites with million-dollar views, acres of trees, several rock outcroppings, a private stream, a cave and more. We have had both film pilots and commercials book our private mountain and it has been an incredible experience every time.

Another unique difference is we are a community collaborative venture. The experiences we offer are in collaboration with other local businesses. We are currently partnered with Melody’s Moonlit Memories for glamping, Front Range Climbing Company for rock climbing and working with Jamie Kimes for our shinrin yoku nature walks.

This is incredible because we not only are able to develop in a cost-effective way, but also give other like-minded outdoor businesses a location option for their clientele. This not only boosts our business, but their businesses, too.

Right now, we are open to more community partnerships in the personal growth and nature industries. We understand the village philosophy for small businesses to succeed, and want to aid in the bounce back of entrepreneurism in our community, especially as the pandemic deeply hurt or forever closed so many.

Lastly, Cronin Mountain is a B-Corp. B-corps are businesses committed to using business as a force for good in the world while meeting the highest environmental standards. B-corps are more difficult to launch, file and approve, but we fell in love with the philosophy, jumped through all the hoops, and were officially approved as a B-corp last year by the state of Colorado.

B-corps function much like a non-profit with financial transparency and mission focus. However, choose to balance purpose with profits to further the mission they feel called to support. For Cronin Mountain, that purpose is using business as not only a force for good, but a force to change lives through nature and personal growth.

We plan on launching softly in the summer of 2022, and getting to this point was not easy. Developing raw mountain property has many challenges. We had issues with just about everything you can imagine, but instead of giving up, I choose to lean in. I leaned into the hard parts and used them as training to help get to the next phases of development.

As a full-time mom of 2 active boys, Vice President of Public Relations of Downtown Toastmasters, a Catalyst in the Success Collective, founder of the Colorado Springs Metaphysical Moms Meet-up, and living full-time completely off the grid in the Colorado wild, it was a lot to juggle. Tears were shed and stress was very high. Though I have an army of support on social media, I also had people I thought were supportive, betray my trust in this venture, which only added more fuel to the fire I felt inside to succeed.

I feel we all have moments in the pursuit of a big goal where we think, “Why am I doing this?” when it all becomes so hard. My “why” was always about the childhood version of myself.

I grew up in a difficult way, moving over 50 times and living in 19 different states. I would escape into nature and daydream of a better future when things got really bad at home. Now, as an adult, I never want others to feel the same way I felt growing up. Feeling stuck, helpless and eager for change but not knowing how to change, are strong feelings that lead to resentment and anger.

Imaging all the people that felt like how I used to feel, especially coming out of a pandemic, inspired me to keep going.

I believe in a world where everyone deserves to be the best version of themselves–the version of themselves they prefer to be. The real root cause of suffering comes from not knowing who we are or who we are capable of becoming. Cronin Mountain plans to be part of the change we want to see in this world which is helping others answer those questions, step into their power and be the change they wish to see in this world.

One of our most memorable moments was being chosen to share our story on the TEDx stage last year. It was actually the first ever public speech I’ve done, and it was a powerful experience to share my personal journey from city life, to the gritty off-grid life, how it has changed me, how we reinvented the stigma of off-grid living and how it all lead to what I’m doing today with Cronin Mountain.

Now that we are at the finish line with our upcoming summer 2022 launch, we have a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo where supporters can help our vision come to life. Every little bit adds up and can make a huge impact for us, our community, our small business partners, and those that plan to visit Cronin Mountain this season.

Launching an outdoor recreation business has many steps and we are at the finish line with achieving all of them. Help us cross by donating, sharing or volunteering today.

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.
Love this question! We would absolutely start with Cronin Mountain. Staying in our luxury glamping tents and experiencing that contrast of luxury in nature is something everyone needs to put on their Colorado bucket list. We would also check out Garden of the Gods, Pike’s Peak, Cave of the Winds and the Broadmoor resort.

As a metaphysical and spiritual person, there is also great shopping for crystals, high vibe jewelry and even furniture made out of crystals at the gem store at the Broadmoor.

For food, I love eating at places you can’t find anywhere else with high quality organic ingredients (passion from the book I wrote) like, The Burrowing Owl, Ivywild and Prime 25. Dessert at Caffeinated Cow is also a must.

For experiences, we have many local talents in energy work, healing, personal growth, classes and workshops. Colorado Springs is such a high vibrational city, when you choose to invest in healing work, it acts like a catalyst for rapid growth. Healings with Dr. Lee Vickers are a must, along with spiritual guidance and readings with oracle Cynthia Segal, and visiting the Springs Metaphysical Shop.

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?
Cronin Mountain dedicates this shoutout to Observer Ranch, an educational space-themed campground launching soon in Penrose, CO.

Website: https://croninmountain.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/croninmountain

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/croninmountain

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/croninmountain

Youtube: https://youtube.com/croninmountain

Other: TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/D42Ko_r4iF4 Indiegogo Campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cronin-mountain/ Book: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/go-organic-in-90-days-rachel-cronin/1140146687 Metaphysical Moms Meet-up Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/361632608082847