We were lucky to catch up with Mark Cortinas recently and have shared our conversation below.
Mark , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
Our mission is simple, yet complex. It’s one, to promote an outdoor lifestyle, and two, to gather and center people outside. Our plan and mission was and still is very raw. All we knew was that we wanted to backpack and be outside more. That’s where it started. From there, we reverse-engineered how we would do that. We’d have peers ask us for advice on how we did our trips, complementing how fun it looked and if they could join. To us, we didn’t quite know where to go from there. Do we start a vlog documenting our trips? Well, we certainly didn’t have the time or money to travel constantly, and the mountains weren’t necessarily in our backyard. So over several talks at the river and bars, we came to a crazy conclusion: take people with us.
Boom. That was it. That was the start of Bend Outdoors. Like I said, very raw. Now more on the mission. For some context, we were all 23 at the time. And what do most 23-year-olds do in their free time? Go out, party, and hang out with friends. And with that age range being the majority of our network and potentially people we would take with us, we realized we’d have to figure out a way to market to people to choose the outdoors over the bars and clubs. I pretty much went cold turkey that summer and still barely drink now, and I credit that to the creation of Bend Outdoors. I knew that I got so much more satisfaction and pleasure out of being outside than I did getting drunk at bars.
We essentially wanted to make the outdoors look more appealing, and more importantly, more accessible for all. We wanted to bridge the gap between people living the fast-paced city life and the outdoors. How would we do it? We would offer reasonably priced, all-inclusive camping and backpacking trips and center a community around that. Offer day events in Austin and the surrounding areas, offer weekend-getaway camping trips to local State Parks, and offer longer, multi-day camping and backpacking trips throughout the US. Our core goal was to curate a community of others who wanted to get more into the outdoors. Our trips included gear, food, and permits. All the necessities to incentives people to get outside.
Dating back to our story and our mission with Bend Outdoors. Simply put, the outdoors is a magical place. A magical place that we often take for granted. A magical place that a lot of people don’t get to experience. And we want to alter that. We want to educate people on how to properly enjoy the outdoors We want to show people how much fun the outdoors can be with others. We simply want to give others similar experiences that we have experienced in the outdoors.
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.
My name is Mark Cortinas. I grew up in San Antonio, Texas, and attended Texas State University where I got a bachelor’s in Accounting. I worked for a public accounting firm, doing taxes and studying for the CPA exams. That came to an end in late May, right before our Rocky Mountain National Park trip for Memorial Day. I was let go from my current position and it couldn’t have come at a better time. At a time when all I could think about was being outside and spending as much time as possible outside. I have elected to bypass taking the rest of the CPA exams in hopes of pursuing my passion for running Bend Outdoors full-time with my business partners, Clark Stevens and Landon Smith.
Entrepreneurship was something I never really gave any thought to until it came time to enter the corporate world. I spent a couple of months during the spring of 2022 interning at a public accounting firm, and while the money was good, it just wasn’t fulfilling by any means. And I couldn’t get behind working 50-60 hours during busy season, and not reaping any of the benefits of my extra work. I have always taken pride in my work ethic and drive, but all of a sudden, I could barely get myself to fully apply myself to this craft. So, when I returned back from my internship to take some grad classes to get qualified to sit for the CPA exams, my business partners Clark Stevens, and Landon Smith, and I, dreamt up the idea of Bend Outdoors.
We didn’t necessarily know exactly how we would do it, but we knew we wanted to camp and backpack more and wanted to test our theory. We knew people in Central Texas loved the mountains, and we made it our goal to give them that experience as seamlessly as possible. We wanted to offer an all-inclusive packaged trip that entailed gear, permits, food, and transportation. We wanted people to be able to test out whether they really enjoyed the outdoors without having to buy all the necessary gear beforehand. We wanted people to be able to experience the outdoors with others who were new to the scene and bond over such. Most importantly, we wanted to give people an experience they would cherish and never forget. An experience where they would make new friends and see some of the most beautiful landscapes in Texas and the rest of the US.
We also wanted to build a lifestyle brand around Bend Outdoors. We wanted to give people a unique way to interact with the brand, and well, be the brand. We saw this as a unique opportunity for our customers that most customers do not get to experience with other brands. Apparel has always been a passion of mine and our goal with the Bend Outdoors apparel is to make our outdoor wardrobe stylish. Not that it necessarily isn’t, we just want to look cool while engaging in outdoor recreation. A blend between streetwear and performance fashion, we aim to provide apparel meant to be used outdoors, but with a vintage-stylish approach.
A main pain point for many people who want to get outside more or wish to plan outdoor trips is the complexity of it all. How do I do it? Do I watch youtube videos of people doing it or read books? What about the gear? Do I have to buy all of it? What if my partner or none of my friends want to come? Permits and reservations? Can I fly with all my gear? Do I have to drive all the way? How much does it all cost?… I can go on and on about what stops people and what stopped me from living a more outdoor recreation-focused lifestyle. We saw this as a means to provide people with the option to experience this in a packaged deal. To bridge the gap between people who want to get outside and to get them outside. All while trying to make the experiences as affordable as possible.
I am most proud of how far we’ve come from the start. We have been able to gather individuals from all walks of life outside. It is something very special that I am extremely proud of. It isn’t always easy getting people to get behind your crazy idea of endlessly hiking, sleeping outside, not showering for days, and eating freeze-dried meals- but for me, that is my passion. It is my passion to gather people outside and it brings me endless joy to see people in awe of the scenery around them. It is something I wish I can show to as many people as possible, especially people who have yet to experience it. So when you support Bend Outdoors, you are supporting more than just meets the eye. You are supporting a wild and raw vision of the outdoors. A vision that almost seems too vast at times, but a genuine vision centered around gathering people outside, nonetheless.
All in all, there is a ton to figure out and the learning process is never-ending. We are all incredibly thankful for the support we’ve received thus far and it fuels us to work even harder to build Bend Outdoors.
Thank you to everyone who has read this far and I can’t express how much your support means.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
A book that has played a major role in my mindset and outlook of my entrepreneurial journey is “Shoe Dog”. It is a remarkable memoir of how Phill Knight and his army of misfits grew Nike. The story of Phill Knight itself was something that hit home for me. He was a CPA working for a public accounting firm and was around the same age as me when he started “Blue Ribbon”, now formerly known as “Nike”. He knew ultimately that he couldn’t stand to stay in the industry and would sacrifice all his free time to the pursuit of building his business. He eventually left public accounting and started teaching at a state college to allow himself more time to devote to his business. He eventually left his secure job to pursue building and growing Nike.
The grit and sheer determination that Phill and his crew had were inspirational, to say the least. Their hyper-fixation of not losing was something I was greatly inspired by. He went into depth of the struggles he went through and I read in awe reading those stories. It’s hard to envision a world without Nike and it’s crazier knowing what all they went through to get the brand to where it is today.
The book taught me countless lessons and some I can directly implement in Bend Outdoors. It taught me about being relentless with something you believe in. To give it your all and never look back. To sever all sources of retreat and to not accept failure as an option.
I can’t recommend this book enough to anyone starting or growing a business. It’s a book I plan to share with people dear to my heart.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Getting laid off was a gut shot. I worked extremely hard for 4 1/2 years in college to get good grades to get into graduate school, so I could accomplish my dream of becoming a CPA. I played by the rules and did everything I was supposed to and it led me to this exact position. I was conservative my whole life. I was terrified of taking a leap of faith and sacrificing the safe route I envisioned for myself. Yeah, I thought about quitting my job before I even started and yeah, I most certainly did not apply myself nearly to what I was capable of at my job. I mean how could I when I was crunching numbers all day on Excel and rarely engaging with others? But I never once thought I was going to get let go. That’s why I changed my major to accounting. To have a safe, stable job. A job that was “never” going to not be in demand. Especially tax. The only things guaranteed in life are death and taxes. Guess not.
Up until this point, I always created excuses for myself as to why I should stick it out at my job and keep Bend Outdoors on the side until it could sustain itself and its two other founders. Well now I didn’t have that luxury. Now was the time to use the skills I have acquired throughout the years. Now was the time to use the money I had saved up living with my parents to build something I deeply believed in. It’s a scary feeling not having a constant paycheck coming in, but an even scarier feeling for me is returning to the corporate world, and doing tax work.
Right now is a pivotal time for my business partners and I to focus on the direction we want and see Bend going. It’s an even more pivotal time for me as I learn to transition from the employee state of mind, which I never really enjoyed, to an entrepreneurial state of mind. It’s a time when I can hone in on my true pleasures in life and accomplish the goals I set out for myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bendoutdoors.us/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bend_outdoors/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bend.Outdoors.US
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@bend_outdoors
Image Credits
@clarkstevensphoto @mark2423 @dmwhitten @trevorvelascophotography