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

Hi Kelly, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Authenticity — being real. My brand is a direct reflection of me and my values. When I first got my start I was very concerned with doing things the “right” way. I modeled my branding, client communications, and other administrative logistics after corporate America. I was trying to fit my rock climbing business into what society had taught me being professional meant. Today my brand maintains the highest standards in safety and professionalism, while leaving room for the gray area that is rock climbing.

The moment I decided to stop putting myself in a box, my brand began to grow. This meant doing a lot of personal work to find the self worth and confidence needed to trust myself and put myself out there. My brand was greatly limited by my own personal issues surrounding my self worth. Once I started to love myself and decided that I was enough, it seemed like the climbing community followed suit and my brand began to flourish.

Authenticity is was allowed me to connect with other companies in the industry. Today, I look back at the emails that I wrote to various brands requesting sponsorship or gear to giveaway and I cringe a little, then laugh at myself. I wrote the longest, most vulnerable emails — pretty much the opposite of the short, concise communication the business world runs on. I can see now that although I was stumbling and trying to figure things out, these other companies could see how real and passionate I was, so they took a chance on supporting a grassroots program.

Authenticity is key in my branding, and also my guiding. My guide team isn’t different because of what we teach — most rock climbing guides share similar technical skills and anyone can teach you how to tie a Munter — we are different because of how we teach. Our first priority is always safety. Our second is being real (our acronym that we use for teaching anchors is, in fact, BE REAL, but I digress). I view my guide team as instructors more so than conventional climbing guides. They are not here to shuttle you up and down the cliff, although they can easily do that. They are here to teach you how to become a real rock climber. That means leaning into all the grey areas climbing has, as opposed to prescribing ourselves to some dogmatic way of thinking and teaching climbing systems. My guide team teaches our students how to think critically in the mountains, because climbing is situational and very real — so we think you should be too.

For me, it’s easy to be authentic because I’ve done the work to gain experience in climbing. I am the real deal, I don’t have imposter syndrome anymore I like did when I first started guiding. So in addition to being real, I would say the key to the success of my brand has been going out and actually putting the work in in the mountains. That meant making huge sacrifices to leave for months on end to go climb all over the world. That meant getting scared, getting tired, and pushing myself way outside of my comfort zone. I by no means think that I have arrived, or that the work is over. That’s the best part of climbing. It’s truly a gift that keeps on giving — there is ALWAYS something to learn. But I do want to remind any new guides out there that the key to being a good guide is investing in your own personal climbing. Being a climber first, and a guide second will add tremendous value to your guide days. I encourage you to put more time and money into your personal climbing than any other avenue for becoming a guide.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
When I first started rock guiding, I wasn’t getting as much work as the boys. Despite having just as much, if not more, climbing experience, I seemed to be at the bottom of the hierarchy. So, I created something the boys couldn’t take away from me: instructional climbing events for women. I didn’t have a website, I had never been to a climbing “event” before, and I had no idea what running a business looked like, but I had an idea that I was fiercely passionate about which is what gave me strength. What started out as a few women’s climbing events a year has grown into a full on guide service that operates nationwide.

It wasn’t easy. The biggest obstacle was finding other qualified, experienced, local female guides — this continues to be one of the hardest parts about running my business today. My events are incredibly unique and in turn ask a lot of my guide team. We maintain a 2:1 student to instructor ratio, offer quality, customized instruction, and bring everyone into multi-pitch terrain. Finding women with the experience, certifications, and teaching skills required to safely guide and instruct clients in a multi-pitch trad climbing environment is no easy task. It took me years to develop an all female guide team which is something that today I am very proud of.

Of course, I had to put in a lot of work way before I could start running my business — first I had to learn how to be a guide! And in order to be a climbing guide, you must be a climber first! The hardest part during this time was moving through the world with very little financial security, and no guarantee that this would in fact be something I could make a living off of in the future. In order to learn how to climb/guide and start my business I dropped out of college, I lost contact with close friends and family, and I went out into the mountains, constantly pushing myself out of my comfort zone which meant constantly putting myself in pretty dangerous situations. I was in a constant state of doubt. Was my life on the right path? Did I make a wrong decision to live this rouge lifestyle? What about financial security? What about stability? How was I going to build a secure future for myself as a measly climbing guide?

I had a lot of people tell me not to go down this path. I had a lot of people tell me that there was no future in guiding, that it was a fun “hobby”, but not a real career by any means. I had a lot of people tell me that I would be better off going back to college, and getting a good job that could fill my bank, but suck my soul.

It was tempting to pull the plug on my dreams and instead jump into the life that had been laid out for me. If I had caved into fear I wouldn’t be here today. Thankfully, climbing has given me a very unique relationship with fear — I am very good at sharing space with fear. We don’t always get along, but we ultimately respect each other. I used this fear as a tool, always asking “why are you here?” “What are you trying to protect me from?” “How can we work together to move forward?”

In those moments of doubt, I would go out climbing or guiding and while I was out I would ask myself, “what would I rather be doing right now?” I ultimately decided that spending my days in the mountains was exactly how I wanted to use my time on earth. I couldn’t think of anything else I would rather be doing, so I kept doing it, even though I was living in a pretty constant state of fear and self doubt. I struggled with the idea that rock climbing was selfish, and that guiding wasn’t a real contribution to society. Today I’ve learned just how wrong I was for thinking those things. Rock climbing is a gift. It changes peoples lives in very profound ways and gives people a different lens to view life through. Having the opportunity to pass this gift onto other people is a tremendous honor. I can see now how unique my worldview is thanks to creating a life in climbing and the outdoors. I think climbing can add value to anyone lives, but I think it can especially impactful in the lives of marginalized communities. Climbing has helped me find my voice, build confidence, and know my worth — three very important things when you move this world as the underdog.

I suppose that last thing I would want people to know about my brand is that we truly offer a one-of-a-kind experience that has yet to be matched in the industry. I don’t know of any other brands that are dedicated to amplifying women’s voices in climbing while specializing in multi-pitch trad climbing. Our teaching style is incredibly unique. We turn the mountains into a classroom, fully immersing students in a real world environment. Regardless of the course you take with us — self-rescue, intro to trad, learn to lead — you will be out in the mountains for real. We will turn a standard day of rock climbing into unending learning opportunities. We do this because climbing is situational, and the only way to truly learn how to do it is to go out and climb! Our Women’s Climbing Events are extremely unique. Most guide services will get a large group together, and park it at a top rope site for the day. Instead, we limit our group size to eight participants and maintain a 2:1 student to instructor ratio, which is pretty much unheard of for group programs. And we don’t stay on the ground very well — we love a good top rope day, but we are here to teach you how to climb long routes in the mountains which means getting off the ground. We work extremely hard to offer an incredibly high standard of customized instruction. And we do so because we are genuinely passionate about getting more humans, especially those socialized as women, into the mountains.

Some lessons I’ve learned along the way that continue to help me to this day:
Everyone stresses about money, no matter how much they have. Don’t make decisions in an effort to relieve financial stress, because that’s an illusion. Money is stressful, regardless of how much you make.

There is no right or wrong path, and literally no one knows what they’re doing out there. We are all just animals floating around in outer-space trying to figure it out. Be very skeptical of anyone who tells you that there is a certain way to do anything. Instead, stay grounded in your values, focus on self-love, and on staying true to yourself fiercely and unapologetically.

Be present. Don’t live in the past, don’t live for the future. Use the past and future as references or tools, but remember that the only guarantee is this moment right here.

When in doubt, practice gratitude — this never ceases to amaze me. Take a moment to pause, breath, and think of even just one thing you’re grateful for. This will do wonders to change your mindset.

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.
Oh my goodness, I am such a rock climber I don’t get out much into the “real” world. I wish I could recommend more places to eat/drink, but I just really don’t get out much!

If I were showing a close climbing friend Joshua Tree though, I would be sure to showcase a few things. We would tick off classics within our grade range, stopping of course at the best multi-pitch walls in the area: Lost Horse Wall, the Astrodomes, and Saddle Rocks. We might try to lose the crowds by exploring the climbing on Queen Mountain, so pretty up there. We would take many laps on the classic boulder problem Gunsmoke, we may even stop at Pig Pen, because while I am generally too scared to boulder, I love me some crack climbing and think this problem is rad. We would hit up some must see scrambles: Chasm of Doom (always a good time), Rattlesnake Canyon, and scrambling through the Wonderland. With my super motivated friends, we may run up my favorite short trail in the park: Ryan Mountain.

Outside of Joshua Tree National Park, I would be stoked to show my friends Pipes Canyon, and maybe end that day with food, drinks, and good music at Pappy and Harriets. I honestly don’t eat out much, I prefer to cook, but my favorite place to eat nearby Joshua Tree is Kasa Market in Yucca Valley.

I think to enjoy the area though, you should pack your own food, plan to cook, and embrace being outside as much as possible. I don’t do inside spaces very well, and can’t really recommend any as a result.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Oh my goodness, is there a word limit on this one? The list of people who have helped along the way/still help me seems endless. The first shoutout goes to my family — I wouldn’t have anything in this world without them. Along with some kickass genetics, my family gave me the gift of rock climbing by taking me outside to climb at the age of two. When I first started my business, my family played a key role in each of the events: my mother cooked meals, my father took pictures, my sister guided, and my brother helped out my parents shuffling between sue chef and assistant photographer. From teaching me how to rock climb, to supporting my personal climbing endeavors, to working for free to help get my business off the ground — my family has played the largest role in the success of my business. These family values are at the core of what we still do today.

This absolutely cannot be published without mention of Katie Beringer. She has perhaps played the largest role, for the longest amount of time in the success of my business. She is my head guide, best friend, all around amazing human. Our story is one that shows the value of women supporting women, and is proof that these affinity spaces do make a difference. Katie started out as a client of mine way back when. She made the decision to support and learn from me. Years later she has gone on to be an incredibly accomplished climber and guide in her own right — she even holds higher certifications than I do! She played a supportive role in the beginning of my guiding career by choosing to hire me instead of men in the industry. She continues to play a hugely supportive role today as my head guide. Having this support from another woman is bringing literal tears to my eyes as I write this — it is a magical feeling.

I’ve had many mentors along the way. Tom Cecil who owns Seneca Rocks Mountain Guides not only passed on his guiding style to me, but he served as a huge mentor in my life and encouraged me to start my events. He and I have climbed together since I was two — from single pitch, to multi-pitch first ascents, to big walls — Tom has been one of the most influential climbing mentors I’ve ever had.

Sabra Purdy and Seth Zaharias who own Cliffhanger Guides have been some of my biggest advocates and have done nothing but support me since day one. From offering me a place to live and welcoming me into the Joshua Tree community, to encouraging me to run my events and then starting my own guide service — these two have done nothing but uplift me since day one. I am grateful to them for their mentorship and friendship.

Last, but certainly not least, I must give a shoutout to a couple influential women who literally showed me the ropes. Peilee Ren, for climbing with me when I was only fifteen. Thanks for putting up with my high school self and being willing to drive me all over the place to climb. Peilee and I did a lot of rock climbing when I was younger and her spirit is forever imprinted in my being. Marta Czajkowska, for climbing my first big wall with me which greatly changed the course of the rest of my life. Today, as my life coach, Marta continues to change the course of my life on a daily basis. Gina Hoag for being one of the most inspiring female climbers in my life, and for helping me get my business off the ground. And last but not least, my girl Tori Hyndman, for being my first full time female guide and all around amazing human being.

Website: www.athenarockclimbing.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/athenarockclimbing (or @AthenaRockClimbing)

Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenarockclimbing

Image Credits
Kiersa Koepnick Steve Morissette Greg Petliski R. Douglas Fields

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