We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ella Wren Running-rabbit. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ella Wren below.
Alright, Ella Wren thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?
My parents were house sitting for a friend and I was born on that friends couch on March 31 in Ward, Colorado. Initially my mom wanted to have me in our tiny off-the-grid cabin, but her water broke almost two weeks before the due date. She was working her waitress job when it happened and also happened to be house sitting at the time. My mom wanted to rush to the temporary stay to grab her things and then hike out to her own house to have me, but there I came. During a crazy winter storm and quick as a rabbit, Due to the heavy snowfall, the midwife didn’t make it in time, and luckily there were other women around who had made it through a home birth before and were there to support my mom. My dad was there too, and my brother was the one to cut my umbilical chord.
A few days after my birth, I think even the next day, my family prepared my mom and me to go back to our house. I have a picture of this moment where my mother is in a sled all bundled up in coats and blankets and hats and scarfs. My dad about to pull her down the 1/4 mile or so down the road to our hidden home in the forest. My grandmother was in the photo too, carrying me in a basket. I was all bundled up in the same way my mother was. We lived way out there in the woods, the trail packed down from day after day of pulling the sled to and from the cars with groceries, water, and what ever it was we needed to bring back to the house. At that time, my folks didn’t even have any solar to power the lights, they just had candles. We used a wood stove for warmth, and a propane camping stove to cook on. When it was time to bathe all we had was this round, metal tub. About two feet deep and three feet wide, and my mom hung a shower curtain around it, then hung up a “Solar Shower Bag” high enough to hang above the head. We hauled all our water from the community spring in the Town of Ward, and any water we wanted warm we had to heat ourselves on the wood stove. We would pour it into the shower bag, maybe add some cold water, then be all set.
This kind of living wasn’t easy for most people to even imagine. Even our own families seldom visit. Ward, Colorado is one of the most windy locations in North America and at 9,250 feet, the winter is especially brutal. The cabin we lived in was 300 square feet and made of lodge pole pines. Half of it was dirt floor just covered in a carpet. Mice ran around freely and we had to ward off the bear regularly in the summertime. This living however, didn’t affect me that much. I didn’t know any different. I knew that I physically lived differently than most people around me and I knew we lived differently than our other family, but this life style wasn’t labeled as anything other than living. It wasn’t bad or good, easy or hard, it only was because of what other people said that caused me to question wether or not my life actually was hard. Chopping wood and hauling water was “normal” for me. Scaring the bear away at night was “normal” for us. We never walked through the night with flashlights. And so on.
A 10×12 foot addition to the cabin was built when I was in my pre-teens and we all had our own rooms, finally. By this point we had already got a solar panel for power and could run the lights and a computer, and charge other things off of it in the daytime. Finally, we built a separate building we called “The Bath House”, had a well dug and at last, running, hot water was a part of our daily life.
My childhood consisted of hardships that I didn’t even recognize would play such a major role in my life now. I’m 27 years old and am building this company, because not many people get an experience like I did that allows them to be as comfortable in the woods as I was as a child. My upbringing allowed me to explore as much as I wanted when it came to my curiosity of the woods, of the animas, and of the plants. My parents trusted me to venture out, alone. Guarded by fate and by the small knife I always carried at my hip. Guided by pure instinct and a good inner compass. I would walk the game trails and follow the valleys as far as I could go in a half a day, sometimes in a full day as I got older. Our property was surrounded by National Forest that led far up into the Indian Peaks. I learned all the animals, all the trees, all the mountains, so many plants and bugs, and so much more. Just by taking witness to the beauty and the world around me I was able to teach myself the ways of nature and of survival in it.
I give my parents credit to this ability. If it hadn’t been for the way they raised me I wouldn’t be so connected to nature. I wouldn’t be so fierce to protect my self and the ground I stand on. I wouldn’t be so keen on my senses and surroundings, and aware of how to utilize them to my benefit. I wouldn’t have so much curiosity to investigate and explore that what interests me on my own behalf.
I also became mindful of water and waste management. Since we didn’t have running water, we didn’t have any plumbing. We had a bucket under the sink and we emptied the bucket outside when it was full. Because we had to haul all of our water from Ward, we used the water very mindfully. We reused water all the time. We even used snow melt for water We lead a very sustainable and environmentally mindful life. We recycled, composted, burned the used paper, and used reusable bags. We only had about five or six lights in the whole house and a land line. That was all of our power consumption until cell phones came out and the internet. Then all that had to be installed, of course, and more solar panels were added to the system.
Furthermore, I went on in the solar industry 4 yeas ago doing residential solar installations in Arkansas and Oklahoma, because solar has been a part of my life for so long. I’ve always been a hands on individual and can’t help but to make art and music, and to work with my hands. I didn’t have TV growing up, I didn’t have a park to go to with friends on the block, I didn’t have lots to do inside, because space was tight. So, I was creative. I was inventive. I was curious and wanted to explore what this world had to offer. I became an artist, a musician, a jack of all trades, and now, I am filling my dreams even further.
Thanks mom and dad.
Ella Wren , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Ella Wren Running-rabbit, I am enrolled Native American Citizen and was raised in an off-the-grid shack, with no running water or electricity near Ward, Colorado. I’m 27 years old and have worked in construction, landscaping, chimney sweeping/wood stove installation, and residential and commercial solar installation. However, my calling’s are art, music, and the outdoors. I thrive and shine teaching practical survival skills and have always migrated towards outdoor leadership and trekking. I have over 4,000 hours backpacking in the Colorado Rocky Mountains thanks to the yearly 10-12 day backpacking trips that my mom signed me up for with Teens Inc. when I was in high school., and thanks to attending The Watershed School where we took 11-13 day treks for school orientation. Which usually included a two to three day solo experience. Since then, I have become an outdoor leader forTeens Inc. (two seasons) and got to co-lead several outdoor trips with them, and then was an outdoor field instructor with Cal-Wood Outdoor Education Center (two years) where I also got the pleasure of co-leading one backpacking trip and even a summer art camp. After that I created a summer program that I called “Mountain Kid Camp” and was directed towards the local mountain community residing along The Peak to Peak Highway. I did this for two different summers as I was home in-between travels and had up to 6 kiddos at a time.
I attend reenactment events that reenact the historical Fur Trade Era. We call these events Rendezvous and everyone attending has to be completely era appropriate from head to toe to what they sleep on and in. These events last one full week or over a long weekend. Ive been traveling around Colorado, Wyoming, and Oklahoma to participate in these events for the past 10 years. I teach all the kids that go to rendezvous fun games and survival skills of the era, and I also help the older folks set up and take down their temporary, primitive homes and shops, and even learn from them their art or trade.
I’m a multifaceted person with many, many trades and Im figuring out how to mesh them all into one grand idea that will be sustainable for me, profitable, and community building.
Vagabond Outdoor Club was created because I had a this idea to be the next Patagonia or Eddie Bauer, but as I explored what all of these epic outdoor companies are all about and what it would take to maybe become like them, I realized that it was a bit too much to chew for my level of experience in business. I had to reevaluate my idea into something a little smaller and a little more manageable for an individual, like me, to run. Something even more community oriented (because we are supporting the artists, musicians, and the entrepreneurs), that still contains an outlook of sustainability and resourcefulness that promotes the environment; and still directed towards being and doing things outside. The vision became a community of outdoor people who come together to teach and to share their skills with others (any kind of skill); to create sustainable fundraising events that support and uplift members and small businesses of the community; and who also crave and want to share adventure.
It’s a bit of a niche, but Boulder, Colorado has it. I have watched members of this community go big places and do big things. We have such talented and skilled people around us continuously blossoming out into the world, and V.O.C. wants to create a platform for these individuals that will promote who they are and what they are doing. A platform where one can show their skill, teach their skill, find others with the same skill, be supported, support people, and best of all, have the option of adventure together. Vagabond Outdoor Club does this in a number of ways:
#1. We do this by organizing fundraising events where I gather artists and musicians from the community who want to show their art or play their music. I organize the space, the sound, the food and drink, the waste (I do recycle and compost). I promote the event over social media, by original hand drawn posters that I hang up locally, and by word of mouth. Then we pick something in the community that needs to be supported and we have a fundraiser for them! The public is invited to come if they pay a small donation or fee based on who’s playing music and take it from there.
The first fundraising event we held on October 28, 2023 for Halloween and we raised over $450 dollars for a local non-profit organization, based out of Nederland, Colorado, called Teens Inc. I held the fundraiser at the Ward Congregational Church where there hadn’t been an event since before COVID19. I rented the space for only $50! I opened up a chili competition to cover the food. I made sure to use compostable bowls and I brought washable spoons and a dish washing station so people could just wash a spoon when they needed one. My mom runs a compost facility in Ward, so it was easy to take care of the leftover food waste sustainably. I even had a friend with an Ice Cream Truck who donated the last of her ice cream of the season to my fundraiser and everyone there got ice cream. Drinks were given out as a thanks for attending and all the cans were recycled. DJ M3dium, who is an awesome up and coming artist playing around Boulder and also old time friend, DJ’d the night away for hours and many other local musicians played before him. It was a total success and the next fundraiser will be to support Ward Way High Radio Station.
#2. Another way we promote what people in the community are doing is by organizing community events and workshops. The most recent thing we’ve been doing is called “Porch Skills and Raffle!” Heres how it works:
The raffle prize is a $150 gift certificate to the Boulder Sports Recycler. There are three ways to get raffle tickets. Either by attending our hour long workshops that we call “Porch Skills” for $10, by offering up your porch as a classroom space for a “porch Sills” workshop, or by teaching a “Porch Skill”! The more you do, the more raffle tickets you receive and a higher chance you have at winning. The raffle and workshops lasts through February. The raffle pull will be held on March 1, at Vision Quest Brewery and the winner must be present to win. The people who teach the workshop actually get all the funds made and I only expect a small donation to Vagabond Outdoor Club for the leg work in return.
#3. I’m about to launch what Im calling an “Elders Program”. This is for older folks who are looking to get outside more. I want to offer an outlet for older folks to get back out in nature. I find qualified people to take them out on a little adventure that involves a walk/hike and a coffee. We would pick up the elder from their location and drive them to their desired hiking/walking location, take them out for how ever long they desire, then conclude with a coffee if they want at a local shop before bringing them back home. I intend for this to be on a paid basis, not volunteer.
On top of these three ways that I get the community together to support each other, I personally provide outdoor experiences where people can learn survival techniques and outdoor skills, so that they may go on their own outdoor adventures safely and responsibly. I’m on the way to getting my Wilderness First Responder, so that I may do the same!
Through all of this, I’m hoping to catch the eye of outdoor enthusiasts who want to play a part of this mission and expand what we are doing in their neck of the woods and on the other side the mountain. I want to write about the things we learn, what we experience together, what gear works the best for what we are doing and want to do, what services are out there to promote our success and our adventure, and where the best and coolest outdoor locations to visit are and why. Eventually becoming a brand that when people buy it, a portion gets donated to a good cause and they can be a part of it.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
On a few of the outdoor leadership trips that I went on as a teenager (they were all based in the Rocky Mountains), every student had to take a turn leading the whole group through one day of the trip. This included getting everyone up on time, as well as keeping the time through out the day. Navigating the trail with the map and locating the next camping location for the evening. Organizing dinner and then finding the tree to hang up all of the food in, so that the bear and other rodents couldn’t get to it. The Leader of the Day had to delegate tasks to other students and would learn how to recognize strong suits in individuals. Some students shine in some areas where other’s do not, and we have to keep in mind that everyone is trying to learn. If one student is good at tying knots, because they are a fisherman or they like to rock climb, etc…, and this student “shines” in the area of rigging up a rain tarp, maybe the leader of the group that day would assign that student a role where he/she would teach or give another student feedback, who was not shining in that area. Both students, in this scenario, had the chance to be recognized. The first student got the one on one help they needed, the second student got to demonstrate their skill in an applied way through teaching.
To lead a group through this, especially when each student has their own level of comfort and experience level with being in the back country, everyones needs must be minded and tended to. We had to be mindful of what our peers where going through and we needed to ask them if we were in doubt that they were totally comfortable. Someone may be lagging behind in the group and their pace has slowed. This might mean that they are feeling a blister come on. Someone may keep complaining about their back hurting. Well, this may mean that the weight in their pack might need to be adjusted. All in all, if someone in the group has low moral, it is most likely because they are uncomfortable with something and may not be able to express it for any given reason and their need could be any number of things. The goal, would be to try and ask questions that will get us closer to finding out what the other persons need is. Then, after you have made sue you understand what that need is and have made sure your assistance is wanted, offer a compromise or a resolution.
If the moral is low as a whole group and it’s not just one or a few individuals in the group , getting everyone moving or engaged in an activity will help the group focus on something other than what ever it is that is making everyone uncomfortable. If everyone is tired and waiting to go to bed, have them play some quiet games to keep their minds off being tired. If everyone is cold, have them play an active game together. If everyone is hungry ask them to imagine the feast they might have if they knew they were going to die tomorrow. There is always an answer when it comes to lifting moral. Moral is a choice, and we just have to get our minds to chose good over bad. We can do this as a team, and lift each other up in this way, but first we must have trust. Team building is crucial when working together with any number of people, in any kind of setting and building trust in each other is really hard without utilizing group activities, experiences, and safe spaces to be vulnerable. All of this contributes to wellbeing, which contributes to moral. If everyones wellbeing is feeling healthy then moral should be feeling high.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I’ve had to be extremely resilient in learning how to “get the word out there”. There are so many ways to do it, so many outlets, and so many people to work with. I’m only one year into creating this business. I’ve been trying to come up with creative ideas that promote my ideas and my company to the community. I organized a fundraiser that made $450 in which I donated to a local non-profit. I made myself know the local paper. I reached out to local organizations that are working to promote their community and I used their services. I’ve had to make a daily appearance online on multiple platforms and learn how to build and upkeep a website. I’ve even had to be a little annoying in order to let everyone around me know what I am doing.
Keeping up a consistent stream of reels has been a “wow!” type thing. I did not realize that via one good reel, you could gain a large amount of followers. Not only that one good video, but then a line up of more as good as you can make them. This takes up a lot time and maybe you won’t get any followers on a video, but over time the consistency pays off and I do think it’s helping promote my business more than word of mouth. Posters can only do so much. Blabbing my mouth off about what Im doing every where I go seems a little annoying, but is necessary. I’d like to get more business cards and stickers out there, however that does equal waste and V.O.C. really wants to be as minimal waste as possible.
Im not usually a personally who dedicates much of my day to screen time and have been highly against dedicating large amounts of my time to even watching TV. I’d rather be doing something more active. However, in the process I have taken to promote Vagabond Outdoor Club, social media and having an online presence has been an extremely helpful tool, even with the occasional “negativity”. Facebook is filled with resources through different community pages, through the easy access of finding and creating events, through the ability to network with the community, and so much more. Of course there are plenty of other platforms that people use to do the same thing, like Linked In. or even TikTok. Google and Gmail services have also been a really helpful tool with email, google doc. google sites, and more available to me as an individual and as a business. Now I have to moderate my “screen time” to upkeep my social presence as a business, along with myself as a musician, as an artist, and as an individual. As helpful as it all is, I really have to work on time delegation to manage everything in high spirits. I can compartmentalize the main assets of my career path via Facebook and can manage each page as a separate “limb” to my personal account. Which makes it easy to cross-post from page to page and maximize the promotional assets of Facebook. Then on my website I have a link to each of those pages and I can direct my audience and clientele easily to my other assets. It makes it a fairly stress free experience as long as I have good time management. As long as I’m not on a time crunch, the spirits tend to be high.
I was 5 or 6 when the internet came out. Some kids have never lived without. I didn’t have a cell phone until I was 16. I see a lot of kids around me now, ages 2 and up with iPads and the like. I never had a TV growing up to play video games and watch stuff on. I still don’t play any video games and if you saw me even try, you’d be laughing at me! Learning all this “tech” stuff has been huge for me and Im grateful to have people around me who know what they are doing. My brother River Place, who is a writer and works in tech support, taught me how to get my domain name and register my business. He showed how to get a website going. I had friends share their stories with me about what it took for them to start a company. Voo Doo Hair Lounge, The Neighborhood Chimney Sweep, The Wheel Collective, High Altitude Backhoe Services, Scott Landers Electric, Dark Forest Solar, Lovely Landscapes, Heady Bauer, etc… just to name a few! A lot of bigger companies might hire someone to do their online promotion and fulfill their online presence as a company. I however, don’t want to afford that and would rather take it into my own hands, as long as I have the time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vagabondoutdoorclub.com/home
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083691182999
Image Credits
Ella Wren Running-rabbit Leaf Running-rabbit