Celebrating Women Who Lead in the Outdoors.
For Women’s History Month, we celebrate the resilience, passion, and leadership of women-owned businesses who are redefining what it means to belong in the outdoors.
Joanne Bienskie
Founder of Alpinistas x Alpinistas Adventures
In a world where the outdoor industry has long been dominated by men, Joanne Bienskie set out to change the narrative. As the founder of Alpinistas Adventures and Alpinistas, she’s built a women-focused outdoor gear store and guiding company that empowers women to push their limits, build confidence, and feel at home in the mountains.
Joanne’s journey into the outdoor world was anything but conventional. After a career on Wall Street and in tech, she found herself drawn to the freedom of the backcountry. As an avid splitboarder and mountaineer, she saw firsthand the lack of spaces designed to support and uplift women in outdoor pursuits. She knew there was a need for not only a female focused gear shopping experience tailored to women but also a welcoming, knowledgeable community that could bridge the gap between curiosity and capability.
From its early days as an online store to the recent opening of Alpinistas’ first brick-and-mortar homebase, Joanne has remained committed to creating a space where women feel seen and supported—whether they’re signing up for beginner snowshoe clinic, their first backcountry tour, taking a wilderness skills course, climbing Half Dome or gearing up for a mountaineering adventure.
What is one piece of advice you’d give to women who are just getting started in the outdoor industry?
“Just go for it. Time moves fast, and if you wait for the ‘perfect’ moment, you’ll always be wondering what if or wishing you had started sooner. The outdoor industry, like any adventure, rewards those who take the initiative. Start where you are, learn as you go, and trust that every step forward—no matter how small—will get you where you want to be.”
Melissa Wright
Co-Owner of Women Who Explore
Women Who Explore was founded in 2016, but not by either of the current co-owners, Melissa Wright or Lindsey Egan.
Their journey with WWE started in 2017 with the first call for Ambassadors, starting the first Portland and Arizona chapters. Fast forward to 2020, when Melissa gets a call from Lindsey: “hey, so crazy thing, I might buy WWE but I can’t do it alone, do you want in?”.
Today, Women Who Explore has more than 100 affiliated Facebook groups throughout North America, with 240 ambassadors managing those groups.
The Arizona chapter has more than 8,000 members. Combined, the local groups hosted about 1,200 free events in 2024 and counted more than 500,000 women as members.
When you book a trip with WWE, you are supporting a small women owned business. With every trip booked, 10% of the profits go to support their amazing community.
Wherever you’re at on your personal journey, when you join WWE, you are exactly where you need to be at the right time.
Georgia Grace Edwards
Gnara Apparel
Georgia Grace Edwards is the CEO and Co-Founder of Gnara, a venture capital-backed, Colorado-based startup whose mission is to help everyone answer nature’s call – quite literally. GG got the idea for the GoFly® – Gnara’s internationally patented zipper technology – while working as one of few female glacier guides in Alaska.
Prototyped from her Middlebury College dorm room in Vermont, the GoFly® can now be found in Gnara apparel online, on the floors of the largest retailers in North America, including Moosejaw Mountaineering, Title Nine, Public Lands, and REI, and as a licensed feature in other brands’ products, such as LIVSN overalls and Burton ski bibs with compatible base layers.
Gnara and their line of Go There™ and Go Free™products have won back-to-back Outdoor Retailer Awards, as well as Top Product Awards and recognition by Women’s Health, CNN, USA Today, GearJunkie, Gear Patrol, the U.S. Senate, Forbes, Backpacker, Ski Mag, Blister, Outside Business Journal, Good Housekeeping, and more. GG grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of Western Maryland, currently resides in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and brings experience as a former Fulbright Fellow, Wild Gift Fellow, Futurist Project Fellow, health and litigation economic consultant, and TEDxTalk speaker.
What is one piece of advice you’d give to women who are just getting started in the outdoor industry?
“It would be, maybe don’t. Just kidding! I don’t appreciate any time I’ve gotten that advice — seems like a convenient way to maintain the status quo. It would actually be to remember that no one knows more about what you are doing than you do, and to maintain a healthy sense of humor, at all costs.”
