We were lucky to catch up with Joe Moerschbaecher recently and have shared our conversation below.
Joe, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
Pura Vida Adventures has always been different from the stereotypical outdoor guide service. Larger companies play a game of numbers, which forces them to sacrifice quality for quantity. I observed this working in the outdoor industry prior to starting Pura Vida. When I started Pura Vida Adventures we wanted to create a concept where we could focus on quality over quantity. We started to offer private programming for our activities, we have kept a small high quality staff, kept our overhead low, developed programs like waterfall rappelling and canyoneering which had never been seen in our region and kept the focus on the quality of the individual’s experience.
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.
The first incubatory ideas for starting Pura Vida Adventures LLC came to me in the 2001. I began my second year in Brevard College’s Wilderness Leadership program and had the opportunity to be part of a 80 day kayaking expedition in Patagonia, Argentina where we paddled two different rivers from the Andes to the Atlantic. That year I received my Wilderness First Responder, began guiding rafts, completed my first swift water rescue classes, and competed in my first two and three day adventure races.
The next decade I spent developing and expanding my guiding skills on the river, on the rock as a climbing guide, and in the mountains exploring the sport of high altitude mountaineering; while continuing to compete in the sport of adventure racing around the world.
In 2006 I started Pura Vida Adventures (Mountain Guide Service) and soon after discovered the sport of canyoneering. I quickly fell in love with the sport because of its multi disciplinary nature, which includes rappelling, ascending, swimming, hiking, climbing and scrambling. Although canyoneering was popular in the western states it was nearly obsolete east of the Mississippi. In the summer of 2007 we started to offer our first canyoneering experiences in North Carolina and became the first company to offer commercial canyoneering east of the Mississippi. Over the next few years I began taking classes with instructors from the western states where canyoneering was more prevalent and learned about the American Canyoneering Association later becoming a certified guide and an accredited training facility with the Association. Pura Vida Adventures canyoneering has trained 10,000 ‘s of people in the sport of canyoneering and rappelling over the last 15 years. Our company also continues to offer private white water rafting adventures, rock climbing, mountain biking and paddling programs.
We have created relationships with our guests over the years that have led to friendships. One of the most rewarding things I have had the opportunity to experience over the last two decades is to see the personal confidence and skills growth of both our guests as well as guides throughout the years. You are only as good as the team you have around you and I am truly surrounded by some incredible people.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
The book Everything I Know About Business I Learned from the Grateful Dead has had a deep impact on my business and life philosophy. The Grateful Dead bucked traditional trends of the music industry so that they could have control of their music, provide a greater live experience for their fans, and personally explore and share their music with the world.
They kept control of their music by playing what they wanted when they wanted and making every show different; they allowed taping at their shows, which allowed their music to circulate amongst fans for almost free.
They created and built the Wall of Sound in the 70’s, a massive speaker system like nothing that had ever been seen before; they also constantly changed their set list making every show a brand new concert. This kept the fans coming back for a new show every night.
Finally they realized that their music was more than a job, it was their life mission and they wanted to share their music throughout the world touring in Europe and even playing a live concert in Egypt in front of the great pyramids.
Just like the Grateful Dead Pura Vida Adventures has kept control of its guiding by not trying to compare or compete with the larger more corporate companies. We have often been imitated by larger companies, but never emulated. We are constantly developing new programs to challenge our participants this keeps them coming back in the same way the fans of the Dead continued to come back to shows. Finally, we try to develop a personal connection with our participants by getting to know them by name and encouraging them to take photos, and create memories for their friends and family.
Professional mountain guiding is a lifestyle not a job and over time I have had the opportunity to share my knowledge and adventure experience with people throughout the world traveling and working in North and South America, Europe, and Africa in my career. For this I feel extremely blessed. Like the Grateful Dead, Pura Vida is not the best at what we do; we are the only ones that do what we do. I believe I speak for myself and my small team when I say we are proud of what we have done and we look forward to more adventure.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
A team is only as strong as its leader, but as a leader we can only carry so much weight. My management style is very hands on, I believe if you are not willing to get your hands dirty with your team then you can lose their respect quickly. Also you can lose control of your team quickly if you are not their to guide and support them when they are learning the skills of the trade. Your senior staff will set the trends for your younger staff. You want team members who see the long term potential of the work. Some of these team members will only be there for a short time, but they may later become connections that will continue to fuel your team members from an outside source. As a leader the key to keeping the team’s morale high is to try to share your passion for the work, encourage, motivate, and be honest with your team. These are the core principles for maintaining high morale. Incentivizing is also a good tool to use on occasion, but this will only work short term unless their is passion amongst the team. The passion for the trade or as the company Patagonia put it “Committed to the Core” motivates and creates high morale for the team.
Contact Info:
- Website: pvadventures.com
- Instagram: @pvadventures
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pvadventures
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm7_bPx3G12V-nFtdt9aBpw
Image Credits
Capturing WNC and Ellen Cressley