Conversations with the Inspiring Sarah Lamagna

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Lamagna.

Sarah, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve been adventuring outside most of my life. I started as a toddler exploring the swamp behind my childhood home with my brother and sister. My parents instilled a life-long love for nature and I carried it with me while I pursued three degrees in the environmental field. I worked a few odd jobs here and there and then finally landed a job with the federal government. Sadly, I lost that job seven months after having my son and found myself more confused than ever. After a decade of professional experience as an ecologist, I had no idea what I wanted to do. So I drowned myself in adventuring.

My son and I went everywhere together: we saw the largest aspen grove in Colorado during peak fall foliage, we hiked the equivalent of 2 Empire State Buildings in 3 miles to make it to the most aqua blue alpine lake I’ve ever seen, and traveled hundreds of miles to see some of the most unique landscapes in the US. And although we always followed a trail, personally I was the most lost I had ever been. So I started to write… a lot. It was through that writing that allowed me to heal and find my path once more. That path led me to two organizations: one called “Adventure Mamas Initiative” (AMI) and the other, Trail Mothers. AMI is a nationwide nonprofit organization that supports maternal wellness by providing educational resources, building community, and making nature and challenge-based experiences accessible to a diverse community of women throughout all phases of motherhood. I am honored to be a part of AMI’s leadership team for the past year now as their Media Coordination Manager and the head of our ambassadors. Trail Mothers just became a 501(c)3 nonprofit with the mission to get mamas and their kiddos outside with a large focus on practicing Leave No Trace principles. I am one of their contributing writers to the Trail Mothers’ blog.

I’m also in the process of starting my own freelance writing business to get back to my ecology roots but make change with my words rather than sitting behind a desk in a cubicle in some federal government office. It’s still in the start up process but I’m hoping to have some writing pieces under my belt within the next month!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has most definitely not been a smooth road.

Professionally, I’ve had a lot of bumps in the road. I started out working as a seasonal/temporary employee making peanuts for grueling work after getting a Master of Science degree. After “paying my dues” and finally landing a position with the federal government, I thought I had it made. But too much red tape and a terribly depressing work environment made it clear that job was not meant for me. I lost my job in June of 2018 and it was tough to be forced into stay-at-home mamahood. I used to spend my days having scientific discussions with colleagues and then found myself singing the ABCs and nursery rhymes to my kid. It was a harsh transition and mentally I was not prepared for it. I felt my brain slowly atrophying as I saw my hopes of “getting back into the game” dwindling as months went by. But by getting positions with both Adventure Mamas Initiative and Trail Mothers, I was able to be a part of these larger communities that not only hire mothers but value their opinions and their time and understand that family always comes first (not all employers are this generous).

Personally, it’s been a bumpy road to mamahood. My husband and I started trying to have a kid when I was 28 (well within the “still fertile” window) but I didn’t have a kid until I was 33. After a year of trying, I went to a reproductive endocrinologist (super specialized doctor) and was diagnosed with unexplained infertility. After three failed intra-uterine inseminations and 287 needles, I finally got pregnant with my son through in-vitro fertilization. So yeah, that was tough.

My advice to young women who are starting their journey… “Allow yourself to adapt. It’s OK to change your mind. It’s OK that you might not have everything figured out. Instead of doing the best you can or be the best person you can be… just DO and just BE. Also, drink lots of water ;).”

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Like I said before, I started out on a field crew identifying plant species and digging in the dirt when I was young. Several temporary jobs later, I found myself working for the federal government (the Bureau of Land Management to be exact). I lost that job in June 2018 and became a full-time stay-at-home mom trying to find her way in the world. After a few months, I finally met “my people” through Adventure Mamas Initiative and Trail Mothers.

Adventure Mamas Initiative (AMI): https://www.adventuremamas.org

I am the Media Coordination Manager for AMI. I lead the ambassador team who, in turn, highlight our community through all of our social media platforms. I like to think of myself as an editor and our ambassadors are the journalists finding the stories. They are the ones doing the hard work gathering information from our community and making sure we use our platforms for a better, more inclusive outdoor community. I am the one who puts it all together and creates a consistent platform. I’m part of the AMI leadership team which consists of 6 women including our two co-founders, Justine Nobbe and Steph Feller who started AMI due to a HUGE lack of support for mamas who use adventure to heal and have fun. There is no other organization like AMI – we focus solely on the mamas. There are many groups out there that want to help get kids outside or women outside or whoever. But there wasn’t any place for adventurous moms – and so became AMI. It is still currently the only outdoor nonprofit focused solely on providing maternal wellness through the outdoors.

Trail Mothers: website is not set up yet after becoming a 501(c)3

I started out as an ambassador for Trail Mothers to lead group hikes around Colorado with moms and their kids. But the founder, Kristen Hernandez, saw the passion I had for writing so she thought I’d better be suited to be a contributing writer. She was right! I’ve written several pieces for them including how to get kiddos outside in the winter and a holiday gift guide for the outdoorsy mama as well as discussing self-care for us outdoorsy moms. What I love about being a part of this particular organization is that Kristen is the most passionate person I’ve ever met when it comes to teaching kiddos about conservation and cleaning up our outdoor spaces. All of the hikes that Trail Mothers hosts are focused on cleaning up a trail or doing just a little bit of good in this world. We can never have too much of that in our lives!

Freelance Writing: website currently being revamped

I’ve always loved writing and started a blog called From Mountains to Motherhood (not live anymore) after I was diagnosed with infertility. My tag line was “healing the pains of infertility through the soles of my feet.” I used it as an outlet and as a way to grieve and heal as I went through this infertility journey. But I got noticed for my writing and was asked to be a guest writer for several blogs including Trail Mothers and Just A Colorado Gal. This made me think that I might have a knack for writing and could use my background as an ecologist to be the change that I wanted in this world (rather than trying to navigate the hurdles set up by the federal government). So that’s what I’m currently doing. I’m currently still guest writing for Trail Mothers, The Outdoor Advocacy Project, and Adventure Mamas Initiative. I take my perspective as a professional ecologist and full-time mama adventurer to provide education and resources to publications.

What do you feel are the biggest barriers today to female leadership in your industry or generally?
The biggest barriers today to female leadership in the outdoor industry are twofold: overall gender roles imposed on us by society and lack of exposure and education within the outdoor industry.

The first one is associated with what women are expected to do in society. Although this is getting better, we’re still a far way off. Men have historically done the athletic things: they are the ones that “excel” at those activities. The first summits of all the major mountains have been men. Women have been literally and metaphorically fighting an uphill battle in the outdoor industry. I even look at my own job and coworkers when I was pregnant with my son and got asked all the time “are you coming back to work or staying at home with your kid” and yet my husband wasn’t asked once at his job.

Second, women have historically not gotten the exposure to the outdoors or the education needed to feel empowered in the outdoors. Back when I was growing up, Girl Scouts dealt more with knitting and sewing and cooking where Boys Scouts focused on how to make campfires and chop wood. Again, this is getting better but we have such a long way to go to make women as equal to men when it comes to being leaders in the outdoor industry.

And I would like to point out that I’m saying this from a white, straight, cis-gendered, and able-bodied perspective. Any person not in those categories have a significantly higher amount of hurdles to jump through. As much as I’ve experienced sexism on pretty much a daily basis in past jobs, I can’t imagine the prejudices people who don’t “fit the mold” have to put up with.

Contact Info:

• Email: sarah.lamagna@gmail.com
• Instagram: @mtns2motherhood

Image Credit:
Sarah Lamagna

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