Leah Elkins

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Sea Kayaking Course in the san Juan Islands with Colorado mountain College Leadville

Dipping Her Toes into a Professional Guiding Career

How one Colorado Mountain College outdoor student landed her first job in the outdoor industry before graduating

One year ago Leah Elkins completed Kayak Touring Leadership, her first water-based outdoor field course at Colorado Mountain College Leadville. It was through this experience that the Outdoor Recreation Leadership student discovered her passion for guiding and kayaking - an interest that has lead to a growing career in the outdoor industry.

Leah Elkins puts on her happiest shirt to test her backpack for Mountain Orientation, using optimism to ignore the fact that it weighs over 40lbs! “Thanks to Colorado Mountain College, I’m a sea kayak guide for San Juan Kayak Expeditions for the upcoming summer season of 2019,” says Leah, who will soon relocate to Friday Harbor, WA for the position, “I'll be leading half day, full day, and multi-day trips in the San Juan Islands.”

The 2018 Kayak Touring Leadership class taught Leah technical skills, leadership skills, and gave her the confidence to dip her toes into professional guiding. After she returned from the class, which was based in the San Juan Islands, she applied to be an intern for next year’s class and enrolled in Kayaking and Swift Water Rescue. She also accepted the TA (Teacher’s Assistant) position for Land and Water Navigation before returning to the San Juan Islands for the 2019 Kayak Touring Leadership course as a student intern.

“I grew up kayaking on the east coast,” says Leah who is originally from Charleston, SC, “ but I didn't have the skills I needed to be a kayak guide until Colorado Mountain College’s outdoor courses. My kayaking instructors, Pete Huber and Kent Clement, have so much experience and patience. They taught me about risk management, leadership, self-rescuing and I felt comfortable learning at my own pace.”

After jumping at every opportunity to cultivate leadership experience in-and-around water, Leah saw a job opening listed on the CMC Basecamp page, a team communication tool for students, staff, and faculty. San Juan Kayak Expeditions was looking to fill an internship guide position. Before sending her application, she had CMC staff review her resume and asked her instructors to provide references.

“I was actually hired as a lead guide! I always knew I loved the outdoors but I never knew I could make a career of it until I came to Colorado Mountain College,” says Leah, “Of course, I have a lot more to learn and I certainly have the passion to learn it.”

Before heading out to start her guiding career, Leah will graduate from Colorado Mountain College with two Associate degrees in Outdoor Recreation Leadership and Outdoor Education. She’s certainly made the most of her time at CMC—discovering her passions, growing her skillset and leveraging connections to build a career in the outdoor industry.

“You don't need to be an experienced outdoor enthusiast to be successful at Colorado Mountain College. You just need a passion for it,” says Leah, “The OUT program took me, a novice but enthusiastic outdoorsman, and helped me earn the skills to enter the outdoor industry as a professional.”

David Gillette

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David Gillette
Photo by Austin Kimbrough

David Gillette

David Gillette moved to Vail, Colorado in 2005 and purchased his first digital camera, and became awakened by the images he captured in the Colorado Rockies. In 2012, he graduated from the Professional Photography program and launched his successful wedding photography business in the Vail Valley.

With his love of documenting life, he provides a blend of artistic photojournalism with editorial and environmental portraiture to create a candid and relivable story that is rich with impactful, fun and meaningful images.

DavidGillettePhotography.com

Peter and Kelley Gibeon

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Kelly Peter Gibeon

Peter and Kelley Gibeon

Peter and Kelley Gibeon met as students in the Professional Photography program. They have built an incredibly successful architectural photography business together and collaborate with creatives from elite California golf communities, to Rocky Mountain recreation towns, Central American resorts, the French Riviera and beyond.

Featured in numerous editorial publications from Architectural Digest to Outside Magazine, their passion for their clients and craft shines through in every frame.

GibeonPhotography.com

Zach Johnston

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photo: CMC Business Administrarion graduted is the foiunder and CEO of The Spice Guy

Zach Johnston — The Spice Guy — Scores as 2018 Entrepreneur Of The Year Finalist

CMC Alum's launch is now one of Colorado Business Journal's Top 50 Companies to Look Out For in 2019

When a professional chef asks CMC alum Zach Johnston for a blend of herbs and spices to achieve a certain flavor or texture, Johnston will go to the ends of the Earth to deliver.

As the founder and owner of The Spice Guy, Johnston sources sustainably-grown herbs and spices from farmers in the U.S., Central America and Asia to concoct flavoring blends that tantalize the taste buds.

If The Spice Guy doesn’t already have a source for a needed ingredient, Johnston and his team put out the word to friends worldwide, and to friends of friends.

“ ‘No’ is never the answer,” Johnston said. “We have made friends on Facebook with people in Australia and Germany, asking them to send products to us that we couldn’t otherwise get.”

The result is a wide array of Spice Guy blends, along with pure herbs, spices and salts, that The Spice Guy ships to more than 400 restaurants in Colorado, across the U.S. and abroad.

And diners who love the Citrus Pucker Pepper, Frisco Rib Rub or Buffalo Bill’s Black Gold flavoring used at a Summit County restaurant, where The Spice Guy has cornered 85 percent of the restaurant market, can buy home kitchen quantities through The Spice Guy’s website.

The Spice Guy has been featured in; national television shows such as Top Chef, BBQ Pitmasters, the Brothers Green and, many print publications. The gift boxes of hand-crafted blends were named "best gift for foodies" by both 5280 and 303 Magazine.

The spices dubbed "certified dope" have landed themselves in commercial and residential kitchens across the country including the prestigious James Beard House in New York City.

In 2018, Zach was a finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the business was named a Top 50 company to look out for in 2019 by Colorado Business Journal

Johnston was in the first graduating class for the bachelor’s degree in business program at CMC Breckenridge, in 2013. Pushing toward that milepost, he carried 22 hours in his final semester, completing his coursework while traveling in Europe and Japan with a church group, doing outreach through snowboarding.

At 18, Johnston had moved to Keystone from Toledo, Ohio, to pursue competitive snowboarding. Two seasons in, he shattered his pelvis in a bad fall. He enrolled with CMC right away, with a focus on business.

“I remember sitting in an accounting class, and the instructor asked us what we wanted to do. I said I just wanted to sell things. My dad sold paint and my mom sold houses. I just had to figure out something that people need,” he said.

He’d been supporting himself since high school with restaurant jobs. All through college he worked at Chimayo Mexican Grill in Dillon, where he discovered the nuanced role of chili peppers in food flavoring. “That’s where it all starts,” Johnston said.

Using his life savings of $53, Johnston started buying herbs and spices and creating custom blends for chefs at other restaurants. He had found what people needed: herb and spice blends bursting with savory flavor.

What started as a very small business with just a few local customers has exploded into a national brand. By 2017, The Spice Guy grew to be a $1 million-a-year business with nine employees and a warehouse in Commerce City that handles 40,000 pounds of spices per month.

Johnston and his wife, Randi, recently traveled to Nicaragua to expand their network of growers and suppliers, connecting with farmers growing coffee and turmeric in rich volcanic soils. With four years of Spanish at CMC, he can parlay directly with Spanish-speaking growers.

Likewise, Johnston’s connections with instructors in CMC’s Business Department, particularly Al Bacher and Robert “Rapid” Cartelli, showed him the path to being a successful and happy entrepreneur.

“Al had made it in life already, and he was totally open to any question. I wanted to know, when he was trying to make it, what was it like? He told me he often didn’t see his kids for days while he was away on a business trip, but he was out there ensuring that they could go to college,” Johnston said.

“For Rapid, he was teaching to give back to this community and this generation,” Johnston said. “That spoke to me pretty heavily. I realized I want to be in that position myself, as soon as possible.”

The Spice Guy is based in Aurora, CO, and is online at TheSpiceGuyCO.com.

Coleman, Colleen

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"My career ambitions were solely within the outdoor industry. With the chance to combine my personal and professional values, I knew the program and CMC were the right choices for me. While the location in Steamboat Springs, CO was a perk, the program professors helped my career path the most."

Colleen Coleman, Merchandising Strategy Manager, REI

Zach Collins

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“I really enjoyed the Ski Area Planning class.” says Zach, “Getting your ski area together from start to finish was both fun and challenging. Seeing something you created come together was very cool.”

Zach Collins has worked on the grooming crew for Vail Mountain, Copper Mountain, and Beaver Creek. He has traveled to  Europe, South America and Russia providing event support for Prinoth and Snow Park Technologies. He’s worked on XGames, USASA Nationals, US Free-skiing Open Slopestyle, Red Bull World Record Quarter Pipe and many others. Currently, Zach is the Park Specialist and Demo Coordinator for Prinoth Snowcats.