EP13: The Art of Risk Management And The Path to Become the Czar of Stoke

“I get to do something for others and I get to do something for myself,” says Stephen Allen about the balance he strikes in his life as a housing case manager in Boulder, Colorado from 9-5 and rock climbing in his down time. His lifelong love of the outdoors is so infectious he has been dubbed by Avid 4 Adventure campers and their parents as the “Czar of Stoke”. On today’s episode of The Avid Adventurer, he tells host Dave Secunda how he earned his title, including a hilarious story of misunderstanding with one parent in particular. Just as important as getting campers excited for the outdoors is putting them at ease. Stephen explains how he builds trust with his campers by honoring their fear and hesitation.

 

There are a lot of similarities between outdoor sports and therapy, Stephen explains, and campers work on issues such as goal setting, stress management and others. He talks about the benefits of adventure therapy, and the importance of encouraging campers to learn to live with risk, recognize the benefits, and make the best choices for themselves.

 

Quotes

• “I love going to the climbing gym after work because I have time to. It’s such a fun way to, after really being in my brain a lot, to drop down in my body, to move, to play. And sometimes after having conversations in my day that can be a test, can be stressful, really dropping into play is kind of how I disconnect with that.” (7:17 | Stephen Allen)
• “That was a conscious choice every day; that was not just this natural way of being. It was a choice that I did my best to make every day—and I certainly didn’t make it every day—just to be really excited about what’s going on and to…see what awesome things they were bringing today and pull all that awesomeness out.” (10:25 | Stephen Allen) 
• “Riding a mountain bike or even going through a high ropes course, that look nothing like a therapist’s office, totally different, and yet there’s kind of this overlap of what you can get out of those.” (17:49 | Stephen Allen) 
• “In addition to empowering kids to choose these active outdoor lifestyles we also want to empower kids to be able to evaluate and choose appropriate risks in their lives.” (22:13 | Stephen Allen)
• “Something I would really try to constantly push myself to be in and challenge my co-instructors to be in is to try to imagine what it would be like to have it be your first time.”  (39:59 | Stephen Allen)

 

Links

Avid4 Adventure website: www.avid4.com

Avid4 on Instagram: @avid4adventure

Avid4 Adventure on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avid4adventure

Email the host:  podcast@avid4.com 

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm