We recently connected with Paul Gagner and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Paul thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?
Everyone defines success differently. For some it’s money, and for others it is experiences. As a lifelong outdoor athlete I lean towards experiences because those can be formidable and instill many life lessons. I’ve discovered that being in nature, and pushing and challenging myself provide me with a strong sense of worth and strength in my convictions. In 1995 I was on a climbing expedition to a remote and rarely visited area on Baffin Island above the arctic circle. We were successful climbing a 4,000 foot face over 23 days, but success is ultimately about more than the climb – it’s about coming home. After an early melt-off of the sea ice we were stranded and unable to return home. After almost two weeks without food we were found and picked up by Inuit hunters. Success means making it home after the full 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.
As a life long climber of 46 years I’ve had a lot of vivid experiences around the world. Some have been successful, but others haven’t been. One of the things that I’ve noticed in the climbing world is a lack of mentors, so I’ve done my best to help translate my experience into helping a younger generation have safe and amazing climbing experiences. My wife and I now own a tour guide business in Kanab Utah – Dreamland Safari Tours. We lead hiking, backpacking, sight seeing, and photography tours, as well as professionally led astro-photography workshops. This is a great business for us because we provide visceral experiences for our guests. We are the #1 rated area tour company on TripAdvisor because we invest first and foremost in our guides. Our guides are the most important part of our business because stoked and happy guides translate to happy and stoked guests. We get all different types of guests, from rout beginners who have never hiked before, or at least never hiked in the desert, to highly experienced outdoors people. What I love to read are reviews that talk about how the guest felt like they were hiking with a friend, and not a guide. This is the type of experience we strive for, and of the 16 guides we employ, each and every one of them is an awesome person, that truly enjoys what they do, and sharing our amazing SW Utah landscape. So this fulfills for me the experience AND the mentorship AND the visceral outdoor experiences that I love, and for me is success. It’s a win-win all around!!
How’d you meet your business partner?
My business partner is my wife. We’re both outdoor enthusiasts and have similar business ideas, but complimentary skill sets. While I’m very detail oriented for operations, and had a career in sales, my wife has an MBA in finance and a background in strategy. We met at the base of the First Flatiron in Boulder Colorado. I had just finished climbing it, which I did for a cardio workout multiple times a week, and she was scouting a route to the top so she could take a conference call in nature the next morning. After chatting for a bit we went our separate ways. Several months later we reconnected in the desert southwest.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
We bought Dreamland Safari Tours on March 6, 2020 (the company had been in business for almost 20 years, and we were the third owners). 10 days later, as COVID was ravaging the country, we closed the business to protect our staff and to discourage travel. We had a cash chart showing when we would be bankrupt as we were unsure if we would be able to qualify for federal assistance. Ultimately we were able to get federal assistance, and also raised money via a crowd-funding campaign, to keep our guides employed. We took time to re-tool the business and also create new products. By mid-June the business started to slowly return, and by the Fall we were as busy as we could manage. 
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dreamlandtours.net
- Instagram: dreamlandsafari
- Facebook: dreamlandsafari
- Linkedin: Dreamland Safari Tours
- Youtube: Dreamland Safari Tours
- Yelp: Dreamland Safari Tours