With the Sierra Nevada mountains as her backyard, it’s no wonder Paulina is a full-time outdoor adventurer. She founded Bay Area Outdoor Women, a vibrant community of adventurous women from the San Francisco Bay Area.
After college, she wanted to upgrade all her outdoor gear, but it was tough finding information catered to petite women like her. Thus, her website Little Grunts was born where she reviews gear, shares stories of her outdoor adventures, and discusses ways to make the outdoors more inclusive.
Q: What do you see as the roadblocks for inclusion outdoors and what is something one person can do?
A: One person can introduce another person to the outdoors. Show them a trail or a climb and educate on best practices, like Leave No Trace and staying on the trail. The outdoors is so much more accessible now, but what’s not as accessible is the knowledge to recreate responsibly.
Q: What cause or organization do you support?
A: I run Bay Area Outdoor Women, a place to share adventures, inspire women to get outside, and also to create fun, low-cost opportunities for women to get outside and meet other women.
Q: What are your goals for this cause/organization for 2021 and beyond?
A: I am excited to hopefully resume meetups and distanced camping trips in the mountains!
Q: How can Coleman® help you achieve those goals?
A: Helping to sponsor campouts and provide gear that folks can take home. Gear giveaways.
Q: Was sustainability and protecting the natural environment something you thought about when you first started enjoying the outdoors? How has that shifted now?
A: I grew up in California, so it’s something that’s always on my mind since I was practically raised with it. However, sustainability and protecting the natural environment has shifted to including the First Peoples of the land, as they are the first stewards and caretakers of the land, and to support Indigenous organizations that are reclaiming their space.
Q: What does the near-constant quest for the latest and greatest gear mean for sustainability and the outdoors?
A: There’s so much gear that’s gently used with plenty of life left that is getting thrown away or relegated to the back of the closet. I am definitely guilty of this. I think it’s so important to keep in mind that what you have is good enough. Happy to see folks reselling gently used/loved gear on Facebook groups and Poshmark though!
Q: Why the Coleman® Collective?
A: If you didn’t grow up camping, it can seem really daunting to get started. Coleman makes camping accessible for everyone to get outside.