Why I Left Life as a Ski Bum and Started Working at Strava

“Society, you’re a crazy breed. I hope you’re not lonely, without me”- Eddie Vedder, Into the Wild Soundtrack

The quote above was my mantra as I handed in my two-week notice at a certain behemoth Seattle-based tech company. Quitting my job was the final step in a series of major life changes I had made. My goal? Cut ties with the things constraining me to have ultimate freedom to pursue my passions and enjoy life.

The next two years were exhilarating. Without a permanent home, I traveled around the country to different locations. Without a job, I spent nearly every day going on solo adventures in the mountains: backcountry skiing, rock climbing, mountain biking, or backpacking.

It was a time of tremendous enjoyment, personal growth, and intense challenges. I was extremely lucky and grateful to be able to make that decision to live that life, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Nonetheless, after a while, I started to become mindful of certain feelings and emotions I was having.

Something was missing.

It took a while to become fully aware of the underlying cause of this void I was feeling. However, it eventually became abundantly clear to me. I was craving intellectual stimulation and community.

This is where Strava enters the journey.

Upon realizing I was craving mental engagement, I began searching for work. However, I just could not get excited about any of the companies I was talking to. The idea of pouring myself into work on a product that I wasn’t passionate about was dispiriting.

After a few months, I came across an engineering position on Strava’s website. I immediately applied. Thankfully things worked out, and now I’m here writing this post as a Strava employee.

I never thought I would be able to go back to the “corporate” world and enjoy myself. Yet here I am, and I’m feeling happier and more fulfilled than when I was living as a ski bum.

There are two main reasons I love it here. Working at Strava has given me intellectual stimulation in a space I’m passionate about, and a community of people (employees) to connect and share experiences with.

Building a product I’m passionate about at Strava has been invigorating. I was lucky enough to be able to do this earlier in my career, but more recently I’d gotten burnt out being away from the sports and fitness space. Working at Strava has rekindled a fire in me.

I’ve realized how important it is to me to not just solve hard technical problems, but solve them in a domain I’m passionate about, while building a product I believe makes the world a better place. I’m so thankful Strava has given me the opportunity to do this, and reminded me of what’s truly important to me in my career.

The other component that working at Strava has given me that I will be forever grateful for is community.

Strava was built around the idea of community. The co-founders, Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey, started the company for a specific reason. They had rowed together at Harvard, and found that post-collegiately, they were missing the camaraderie, motivation, and connection to a community that they had enjoyed on the rowing team.

So the idea behind Strava was to help bring community to people in the outdoor sports space. This idea of the value of community is still the major north star/guiding principle of what the product aspires to be. However, I think that this overall value proposition also strongly applies internally to Strava.

The idea of not working sounds great to a lot of people. And it is in a lot of ways. But one aspect of work that may not be immediately obvious is that for a lot of people, work provides a sense of community and social connection. Without it, that sense of community can be missing. Or at least that’s what I started to feel on my journey.

Working at Strava has given me such a strong sense of community. Being surrounded (virtually) by people on a daily basis who share a common interest (passion for the product and for being active) has felt so uplifting.

Borne out of this common identity and internal community is an extremely positive, friendly internal environment and culture. I’ve never been a part of a company where people have each other’s backs the way we do at Strava. Whether it’s getting help solving a technical problem, giving coworkers kudos for a job well done, or offering advice for active pursuits, Strava has given me the sense of community I was missing living life as a ski bum going on solo adventures.

If you had asked me early on in my journey as a ski bum if I would ever want to go back to work in the corporate world, the answer would have been an unequivocal no. Yet here I am at Strava.

By offering an opportunity to solve mentally engaging problems building a product I’m passionate about, and providing a warm, welcoming sense of community, Strava has pulled me willingly away from the fun-employment lifestyle.

I’m still a ski bum. But I also work at Strava. And I’m proud to be able to say that.