We recently connected with Becca Droz and have shared our conversation below.
Becca, thanks for taking the time to share your stories 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 did a great job at encouraging my three older siblings and I to “Go for it.” My dad followed a lifelong career of entrepreneurship and design with enough success to make a living. He explored many ideas and had boatloads of failures along the way. He was willing to try, fail and learn. When he was 69 he finally retired from keeping his marketing and design business going and became a sculptor, something he always wanted to do. Now, he creates art prolifically! My mom on the other hand had a stable career working at Mr Roger’s Neighborhood for over 40 years. I think a part of my mom wishes she had taken more risks in her life and thus admires my courage to do things that she wouldn’t have done. Neither of my parents have ever had an expectation that I would follow a certain path, which gave me the freedom to follow a road less traveled, and it has lead to a wonderful life so far. My dad was SO encouraging that when I was in college and excited about an opportunity with an MLM (something I knew nothing about at the time) he didn’t deter me from giving it a whirl. It was a good learning experience for me and now I know, experientially, that MLM vibes are to be avoided!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’ve never been one to follow a traditional linear path or lifestyle. I had trouble choosing a path of college education that made sense to me and my future. I ended up taking two gap years from school after my sophomore year at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2010. During that time I participated in a permaculture program on a small farm in Israel. I thought I might follow a permaculture inspired path, but when I was looking at the Sustainable Agriculture program at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina, I came upon their Outdoor Leadership program. My need to be outside and working a job that is based in experience ultimately led me to where I am now as a rock climbing coach and guide. This hunger for novelty and adventure also led me to fulfill my childhood dream of being a contestant on the CBS reality show, The Amazing Race. I even got to do it twice! This is something I’m very proud of and it helps me believe that anything is possible with clarity of vision.
As a guide I provide epic experiences for people and provide safety (as much as possible) and expertise for them to express the strength of their minds and bodies on cliffsides high above the ground. They get to have an incredible day and claim adventure for themselves, which I see as an important form of self-care.
Since guiding work is so seasonal, and therefore not very sustainable, I have leaned into entrepreneurship. The two biggest things I’m building up are the following.
1. This new year’s I am organizing my second international climbing retreat. Last new year’s I guided a group in the South of Spain! This year, we are taking a break from Colorado’s winter and going to Leonidio, Greece! My co-guide, Kate, and I are providing a unique experience with a small group of women that blends mindfulness, rock climbing, beaches and local cuisine to create lasting connections that can be brought home. The retreat has almost filled from a short list of my contacts, so we are hoping to fill a second trip in mid January!
2. Through working with climbing clients, I found that my interest often trends towards their personalities and why they are the way they are. The Enneagram –a personality typing system based on 9 ways of seeing the world– has been hugely supportive to me and is endlessly fascinating. As a certified Enneagram Practitioner through Integrative-9, I support people in fostering greater self-understanding which leads to self-compassion and more honesty and clarity in relationships. I hired a “life coach” a couple of years ago to help support me towards my goals and it inspired me to pursue this kind of work. I enjoy working with people to move towards their goals and greater self-understanding and the Enneagram is an incredible tool to support that process.
These are both still in early stages, but people are responding well to them which is satisfying and inspiring.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I think my biggest influence in entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy comes from Seth Godin. My cousin gave me his book “What to do when it’s your turn and it’s always your turn” when I was in my early 20s and I found his message towards taking leadership in our lives inspiring and in line with how I felt. I continued to read and listen to his content and while most of it doesn’t apply to me, as I don’t work in a corporate setting, his philosophies around building a tribe, being remarkable, unique and indispensable all resonate with my values and desires.
Some other influential books for me were:
– My cousin is friends with Miki and Radha Agrawal who are successful entrepreneurial twins. My cousin gave me Miki’s book “Do Cool Sh*t” in my early 20s. I felt inspired by what was possible when you put yourself out there with an idea. I’ve since read Miki’s second book “Disrupt-Her: a Manifesto for the Modern Woman” and Radha’s book “Belong.” I’ve listened to every podcast I could find featuring these women. They are both wildly successful and have practical wisdom that feels accessible to me.
– Steven Pressfield’s “The War of Art,” which I also read in my early 20s left an impact. His personification of “resistance” stuck with me and, while I have some resistance to his hard man’s view of showing up consistently as a professional vs. an amateur, I think there is truth to that and I wish it didn’t feel so hard to be a “professional.”
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
After my experience on The Amazing Race, I wanted to try and use that momentum and create merchandise based on the “Funstoppable” brand that my teammate and I (“Team Fun”) became through the show. We made shirts, which I learned are not very profitable. If I did shirts again I’d only get sizes small and medium and maybe a few larges (I thought there might be a lot of XXL and XXXL reality television fans). I also designed Funstoppable socks which has brought me a lot of joy!
The main product that I still manufacture today is the Fun O Meter button, a wearable pin with a dial that can be moved to express different levels of “Fun.” I initially was looking to outsource this manufacturing when a guy I knew in the marketing materials business advised me to buy a button machine and just start making them. I’ve been a button manufacturer ever since, and frankly, it is not my favorite line of work. There haven’t been a ton of button orders over the years, but due to a recent bulk customer, I am looking for other options. I feel challenged in the ethical choice to order through Alibaba from China as well as the potential for quality to decrease without much savings in cost (unless I find some substantially bulkier buyers). I learned that creating the product on my own was necessary to begin, because it took a lot of iterations before it became the product that I can now explain to a manufacturer. I’ve also learned that I don’t want to make buttons anymore, but until I’m selling a significant quantity, I might have to, because it’s most economical at this point.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.beccadroz.com
- Instagram: @becca-droz
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/becca.droz/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beccadroz/
- Youtube: @beccadroz1
Image Credits
James Lucas
Sarah Mientke
Ian Glass