Rising Stars: Meet Alex Haraus

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Nature is my first love. My dad, an avid outdoorsman, taught me about the outdoors’ fragility and ferocity while hiking together when I was a little kid. We romped through forest preserves around the Chicago suburbs; that’s where I developed an interest in nature. I started going on more outrageous adventures with my friends as I grew. It started with exploring abandoned buildings in high school and grew to explore hotels, rooftopping, chasing adrenaline every which way and sharing exciting and hilarious experiences. I loved seeing people enamored by the stories we told, which is when I learned of my second love: storytelling. I’ve always wanted to dedicate my career to something greater than myself. At the end of high school, I learned about the climate crisis and began to understand how we, as a species, tarnish the great outdoors every single day through our unsustainable practices. At this point, my experience of “the great outdoors” was just the small forests and prairies of Illinois; since, I’ve been to the Rockies and beyond, worked with wild bears, cut backcountry trails in Utah’s mountains and seen oil spills off the coast of Peru stretching to the horizon. The passion has grown as I have and, with it, so has my understanding. I knew I wanted to combine my love for nature and storytelling into a career and always had an interest in photography, so this job has been a dream of mine since I started university.

I’m thankful that my parents instilled a hard work ethic in me; I’ve been working since I could get paid under the table to put myself through school and didn’t think I’d be able to take a crack at photography full-time before saving up significantly and establishing myself in the conservation field. I got an environmental studies degree, taught myself photography outside of school and, knowing Colorado’s reputation as an environmental hub, moved out to Denver at the start of the year. Just after picking up a part-time job in RiNo, covid happened. I lost my job and every shot at another one, so I took the time to focus on photography and seriously consider the dream of living on the road. The more I researched, the more feasible it became. Within two months, I had a plan. Within four, I’d built out a rig with the help of two friends, and within five, I was on the road. Now, I use social media for environmental communication full-time, encouraging people to develop a positive, more intimate relationship with the outdoors through my photography and writing. I’m very thankful for everyone who’s taught, helped, and encouraged me along the way.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Not at all, and I love it! Rougher roads make for exciting rides. It’s been very wayward; I’ve been working in this general direction for six years. My business had a rocky start; with no formal business training, I had no idea what I was doing when I started my LLC back in Chicago. Learning through that failure was crucial to being able to hold my own as a businessman. Understanding the ins-and-outs of an industry is a confusing path for anyone, especially in the highly subjective world of photography. Everything has a learning curve and living on the road is no exception. These first few months, I’ve learned a new daily routine, how to keep food well without a refrigerator, effective water management and temperature regulation. Time management, relating to fellow vagabonds from many different walks of life, how to thrive on a budget, interacting with apex predators… My day-to-day confidence has shot through the roof, but I stumbled very regularly when I started. When reflective souls stumble, they learn. I hope to stumble for the rest of my life. It’s fulfilling to engage with each problem, solve it and grow as a result.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a conservationist specializing in backcountry adventure content. I coined the term “Rugged Conservation,” a conservation ethic fueled by a positive relationship with nature’s tenacious side. The goal is to bring that experience to others as fully as possible through media. Hopefully, people feel inspired to get more in touch with the outdoors after seeing my work – not just by going out into it but also by becoming attuned to the impact their lives and their communities have on their local ecosystems. I want to inspire people to appreciate the greater, global picture, to notice how vulnerable we are to nature’s power and to become a more active participant in the environmental movement. As a trained wilderness expert, I’m set apart from most other content creators. There aren’t many people with a trained eye and storytelling capability that also have wilderness experience and an environmental communications skillset. I put it all to work for my audience and am known for being a happy, capable, adventurous dude with a well-rounded and researched perspective on environmental issues. Honestly, my personal capability is what I’m most proud of. The question is always, “if everything I own suddenly disappeared, would I be a good addition to a team? How?” I’m always working to improve my answer to that. My greatest desire is to contribute to the collective goal of saving the environment and I want to continue honing myself to serve that purpose well.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Oh my goodness, this takes a village. I’m most thankful for the constant encouragement and advice of my parents throughout my life. They’ve always supported my exploring, even when I was a kid. I know my mom is terrified of me being out in the wilderness 24/7 and I’m so, so thankful that she encourages me regardless. Of course, I’m thankful to my dad for setting the foundation for my environmental ethic and going on adventures with me. I’m thankful for my high school environmental science teacher, Daria Prawlocki, who opened my eyes to this and first encouraged me to pursue a career in conservation, as well as my environmental professors for mentoring me through university. I’m very thankful for the Chicago creative community, which is undoubtedly the most welcoming and supportive creative community on earth. The friends I’ve made through that group of individuals are so, so treasured, and many helped me learn about the business side of photography in a tangible way. Huge thank you to them. In general, my friends and family have all taught me so much over the years.

I’m thankful for their support, encouragement, input and pushback. Many a revelation occurred while watching the sunset together and late at night over the phone during a period of burnout. I’m also thankful for the financial support of my Patreon community. Without them, I would never be able to do this. They jump-started the dream and continue to fuel the fire in an interactive way. It’s awesome. They’re the bomb. Finally, I’m very thankful for my digital community’s support online and their active engagement within their own communities. It’s amazing to hear that they’ve shared what they’ve learned through my work with other people they know. That’s the kind of cascade we need to foster a sustainable society!

Contact Info:

• Email: alex@alexharaus.com
• Website: www.alexharaus.com
• Instagram: @alex.haraus
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgNFqHWCOZUfqXxHs9lZtcw?view_as=subscriber

Image Credits
Side profile of me taking a picture: Rachel Nicole