#ShootingTheBreeze with Emma Hope.
Welcome to the fifth in our irregular series where we chat to outdoor industry professionals: Shooting the breeze. We’re hoping to start conversations, help people coming into the industry and share interesting advice and thoughts which come up.
This time it’s the turn of Emma Hope, who takes care of strategic communications and marketing at the British Mountaineering Council.
What quick advice would you have for someone looking to combine a love of the outdoors or sport with their working life?
Find the intersection between your professional skills/experience and your personal passion in the outdoors or a particular sport – that’s your USP, so exploit it!
Make a list of all the brands, organisations, charities and NGBs which you’d like to work for – those that operate in your sport/activity, and to which your values align. Follow them on social, sign up to their newsletters, check their careers pages to find out about opportunities. It’s always worth sending speculative emails as you never know what opportunities might be in the pipeline and it helps to get your name out there.
It can also be useful to offer your time or skills in a volunteering capacity, if you’re in a position to do so, to demonstrate your drive and desire to work in the sector. There are thousands of outdoor enthusiasts wanting to break into the sector, so having something stand out will give you an edge.
What do you feel is the biggest issue facing the sector in next 5 years?
The cost of living crisis is up there with one of the biggest challenges. Most people are looking at ways they can trim back financially and, as a membership organisation, it’s critical that we continue to have an offering which people can justify in terms of its inherent value (i.e. what people get out of it), and its value for money.
Costs also affect participation. It’s true that technically the outdoors is free however, there are a multitude of barriers that prevent people embracing the outdoors or taking part in activities like climbing, hill walking and mountaineering. Some research we commissioned recently drew a direct correlation between earnings and people’s ability to get outdoors – throwing up issues like affordability of kit or owning a car. These barriers affect underrepresented and underserved communities the most and if we’re to create a more equitable outdoors, we need to acknowledge the challenge this poses and develop solutions.
Sustainability is also a hugely pressing issue across the sector, in all sporting organisations. We have a target to reach net zero by 2040 – ten years ahead of Government’s own target. This will involve a fundamental shift in the way we do things; from our operational footprint, to supply chain, staff travel, events and everything in between. Whist we’ve already taken steps to reduce our footprint as an organisation we need a tangible Action Plan to hit these ambitious targets and play our role in protecting the environment for future generations.
What’s the one thing you always pack for an adventure?
Rechargeable heat pads for my hand and feet (alongside my Rab 5-season sleeping bag)! I’m a very cold person and suffer with Reynaud’s, so having heat at hand is an absolute essential.
When I’ve lost feeling in my extremities it can be difficult to focus on anything else, so these can be the difference between a miserable or marvelous adventure.
Has working in the outdoors or sports ever killed your buzz? How do you stop it becoming just another job?
I used to work in cycling/active travel and was also spending all my free time on my bike – either riding recreationally, competitively or volunteering for a community, cargo bike service. This ended up being pretty all consuming and for the sake of my friends and family (and to ensure I still had the capacity to talk about non-cycling related topics), I decided to move jobs. Now I work in a sector I’m equally as passionate about but with a better balance where I can maintain my enthusiasm for other activities through volunteering and participation.
And finally, tell us something Outside Of Ordinary about yourself?
I once cycled the full length of South America through Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina – I didn’t break any records but I did unfortunately cycle over a dog at one point.
I also once unintentionally went surfing with Benedict Cumberbatch.
More like this
