Check Out Zach Wiegert’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zach Wiegert.

Zach, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Well, my story is a bit complicated, but I suppose the best place to start is when I first picked up a camera my sophomore year of high school. I got curious about photography and ended up with a well-loved Nikon D90 that, for the first time in my life, gave me a real reason to get out into nature. It only took a few sunrise hikes for me to get totally obsessed, and I quickly gained a reputation as the guy who’d be late to class because he was out shooting. It quickly became a means to go see some amazing places, and to build community that would’ve never otherwise been spending time together. I loved it.

Now, during that same time of my life, I was apprenticing as a parkour coach at Apex Denver, and I started taking on my own classes in 2o18.

By the time I graduated, I was fully hooked on the whole photography thing, and had spent years dreaming about all the places I wanted to go. So when I finally had some freedom, I booked a one way ticket to Iceland with the intention of spending three months abroad in Europe, doing Workaway to keep expenses down and shooting as many photos and videos as I could.

I ended up spending all three months across Iceland, The Italian Dolomites, and eventually the Faroe Islands, and did turnip farming, sheep herding, gardening, and a slew of other things, some of which I’m probably forgetting. But suffice to say, that trip changed my life. My world got a whole lot bigger, and it lit a fire for exploration that has never subsided.

In the years since, I’ve had the opportunity to travel all over the U.S., taken several trips to South America, one return trip to Italy, and a ton of my home state, Colorado. Alongside photography and filmmaking, I’ve really honed in on building my outdoor skill sets as a climber, skier, backpacker, hunter, and mountaineer. For me, all of those sports have become a means of experiencing the wilderness in unique ways. It’s far less about the activities themselves, and more about where they take me. For example, there’s no reason to be deep in the Gore range in the winter or spring….unless you’re there to ski, in which case, it’s heaven.

Gosh, there’s countless stories I could tell from over the years. But let’s jump ahead to present day/year. 2025. This has been a wild year for me. In so many ways, it feels like this was the year of culmination where everything I’ve been moving towards (without even knowing it in some cases) has started to solidify. In my photography/filmmaking journey, I got to go on a disaster relief trip to Myanmar working with a non-profit, go on some of the wildest Colorado summer adventures yet, and then this fall, I fulfilled a 5 year dream to climb some major glaciated peaks in Peru.

Circling back to coaching, I’ve also been serving as the Head Coach at Apex Denver for about 2 years now. Coaching is really the other half of my career. I’ve known for a long time that I’m deeply passionate about it, but I’ve always known there was more than just movement/parkour coaching that I wanted to do (even though I still love it, and it remains integral to what I do). I’ve spent several years creating a framework for Formational Identity coaching that takes everything I’ve personally learned over the past 5 years and makes it applicable for anyone who is struggling with finding a sense of purpose or identity in their lives. This year, I officially launched that half of the business, and I’ve made it a primary focus.

So, in summary, my story is full of me thinking I knew what was going on and then having those notions dashed apart, a whole lot of incredibly beautiful experiences, and an equal amount of pain and hardship. But ultimately, I think I’ve been aiming in the right direction, and it just took a long time to find enough clarity in the mission to feel confident about pursuing it harder. That’s what next year is about.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Certainly not. Like most of us, my “career path” has been been muddled with personal life issues that often had to take precedent. I’ve walked some extremely rough paths in that regard. I think culturally, a lot of people feel like they’re behind, I’ve struggled immensely with that. But the truth is that life is really damn complicated, hard, and messy. Trying to build something meaningful while you’re struggling with the realities of being a human just takes a very long time. Trusting the process is no easy feat.

There were a lot of times where I felt certain about the direction things were headed, and then I was very wrong. I think the best example is that I always thought I wanted to do the whole photography/filmmaking thing full time. I thought that was the dream. But it took years to realize that it was only part of the dream, and only part of who I am. And it took even MORE time to start taking coaching as seriously as I wanted to take the media projects. I’m still working on that, haha.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
On the creative side, I specialize in documentary photography and filmmaking, particularly in the world of outdoor adventure. I love weaving together stories from the wild with the deep truths about life that are learned in those kinds of environments.

When working with brands, my approach is to maintain that documentary feel while highlighting products in the most organic way possible.

In my coaching, I hone in on rebuilding fractured identity. Many of us have our identities formed by what we do, not who we actually are. My process helps people reverse that, so that they can live from the inside out, rather than the outside in. Once identity is more established, we talk about what it looks like to live it out in your day to day, and how to create a “habitat” for your life that allows you to sustain it.

Additionally, I continue to coach parkour, which can be treated as very basic functional movement training, all the way up to a high level athletic discipline, and I can take people as far as they want to go in that. When you put these two modalities together, you get a one-of-a-kind coaching practice that teaches people how to:

1. Move with confidence

2. Discover what truly brings them to life

3. Engage with the world around them in a way that reflects their innate wiring

There’s not another coaching process like it, and the results I’ve seen have been very special to witness.

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Oh man. Yeah, several. One of the biggest game changers is the app One-Sec, which has helped me immensely with phone addiction. It’s not a perfect solution, but man it makes a difference. Get the premium version. You won’t regret it. At the risk of beating a dead horse, I truly believe that these nightmare rectangles we all have are causing a lot of harm, much of which we’re probably not even aware of. Anyway, rant over. Get One Sec.

In terms of podcasts, I’m a big fan of Modern Wisdom with Chris Williamson. I always learn something valuable from his conversations. Otherwise, not a big podcast guy.

Books:

The Bible – Full of ancient wisdom that is full of endless depth and applicability. Relevant whether you ascribe to Christianity or not (especially the new testament)

Ambitious Heroes and Heartache – A beautifully written masterclass on leading a meaningful life. This book has influenced my own work immensely

Becoming a King – One of the most important books out there, particularly for men. It’s full of insight on how the world has broken down healthy masculinity and what it looks like to reclaim it.

Backpacking with the Saints – A recent read that’s made it onto my all-time favorite list. Full of beautiful stories from the wilderness alongside some of the most remarkable spiritual insight I have ever read. If you want a book that gives you stuff to think about, this is the one. Took me 6 months to get through because it gave me so much to ponder.

A good journal – Writing my own thoughts down is just as important as taking in the thoughts of others. Writing teaches us how to think. That’s important.

Pricing:

• Anyone who books a coaching package with me because of this article gets 10% off
• I also teach group classes at Apex Denver

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.artofstoryzw.com/
• Instagram: @zwiegs (currently deactivated)
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theartofstoryzw

Image Credits
All images are my own