Next Adventure Values
A Message from Deek and Bryan:
Like a compass in the wilderness, Next Adventure’s values guide us and keep us moving in the right direction. We have been growing and evolving for 25 years now but our core values and culture have always remained the same.
We keep our values at the center of everything we do and it’s how we achieve our mission to inform, outfit, and excite our customers every single day.
How We Apply Our Values:
- To guide our long-term strategic planning
- To help us hire people who are aligned with our vision and mission
- To guide us in making balanced business decisions
- To guide our company’s giving program and support of our community partners
- To guide us in building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships
- To give us a criteria for measuring our overall performance and success
We are incredibly grateful to our amazing staff, loyal customers, and supportive community. Staying true to our core values is a way of living and a way of doing business that is the bedrock of Next Adventure’s success.
-- Deek and Bryan
1.
Share the stoke,
deliver delight.
2.
Live Kaizen – Fun Through Growth
and Excellence.
3.
Amplify Adventure
for EVERYONE.
4.
Be Bold and Adventurous.
5.
Be reasonable, ethical, and balanced.
6.
MacGyver the sh*t out of it: find solutions through passion, creativity, and determination.
7.
Grow community through compassion.
8.
Respect our planet while acknowledging our impact.
9.
Collaborate. Elevate every voice.
10.
Be open and authentic. Come as you are.
SHARE THE STOKE, DELIVER DELIGHT.
We sell fun and we love nothing more than sending a customer out the door stoked, delighted, and having gotten more than they expected. We're all about creating long-term relationships with our customers and we achieve that by delivering delight with every interaction.
LIVE KAIZEN – FUN THROUGH GROWTH AND EXCELLENCE.
Kaizen is a Japanese word that means "finding joy in the pursuit of excellence" or "enthusiasm and satisfaction in improvement". We foster the value of Kaizen from the first day an employee joins Next Adventure. It's a hunger for more, an unwillingness to settle for "good enough". The line between being good and being excellent is very thin and we are committed to finding every opportunity to go that extra distance. We think our customers notice the difference.
AMPLIFY ADVENTURE FOR EVERYONE.
At Next Adventure, we believe that EVERYONE should have access to the benefits of outdoor adventure. There are a lot of barriers out there: financial, cultural, not knowing where to go, dodgy gear ... and more subtle barriers like not feeling welcome in the outdoors, or even safe. Next Adventure exists to "Inform, Outfit, Excite" and we work hard to make our stores welcoming to everyone: BIPOC folks, LGBTQ+ folks, all body types, people for whom English isn't their first language, people with disabilities, older folks ... in short, everyone.
BE BOLD AND ADVENTUROUS.
Fear is just another force of nature and challenging it on a regular basis builds strength and confidence. At Next Adventure, we value taking well-calculated risks. We strive to create an environment where employees can think big, be bold, and challenge themselves.
BE REASONABLE, ETHICAL, AND BALANCED.
At Next Adventure, we hold ourselves to the standard of being reasonable, ethical, and balanced, with each other and with our customers. We embrace the power of "and." So often we're presented with the choice "Do you want this, or do you want that?" but we believe that with a thoughtful, balanced approach, you can have both. We can have fun AND be productive. We can be generous with our customers and community AND be profitable. We can have clearly defined policies AND have the flexibility to do the right thing.
MACGYVER THE SH*T OUT OF IT: FIND SOLUTIONS THROUGH PASSION, CREATIVITY, AND DETERMINATION.
If you've ever spent more than a couple of minutes in one of our stores, you noticed that we do things a little differently. We do more, with less. We follow our customers' needs rather than "outdoor industry norms." We feel an urgency about getting our customers the gear that they need to do amazing things outdoors at a price they can afford. Basically, we find a way, even when it looks impossible. If you've never seen an episode of the 1980's TV show "MacGyver," Google it and you’ll see what we mean!
GROW COMMUNITY THROUGH COMPASSION.
Next Adventure is all about building human connections with our customers, with our staff, and with our community. We build open and honest relationships through good communication, authenticity, and genuine goodwill. We empower our team to start from a place of compassion and always do the right thing. We strive to see our customers, colleagues, vendors, and partners as people first. "Inform, Outfit, Excite" is more than just a tagline. It's what we love doing.
RESPECT OUR PLANET WHILE ACKNOWLEDGING OUR IMPACT.
There is a built-in paradox to the outdoor industry: the lightweight, high-tech gear we use to explore the outdoors is often manufactured overseas, and getting it into your backpack here creates a large carbon footprint. For the moment, there is no perfect solution to this challenge but we are committed to finding every way possible to reduce the impact. Next Adventure has been "recycling" used outdoor gear through our Bargain Basement for almost a quarter-century in Portland. There is more work to do here and we are committed to making progress every year.
COLLABORATE. ELEVATE EVERY VOICE.
Whether it's paddling a raft through Class IV rapids on the Rogue River, climbing a Cascade peak in a roped team, splitboarding Mt. Hood with a group of friends, or running a complex business, every voice matters and you must sincerely listen to your teammates to succeed. You want people on your team who truly care about others, respect you, believe in you, and have your back when the going gets tough. It's the journey that's important, not just the destination, and getting there together is what really matters.
BE OPEN AND AUTHENTIC. COME AS YOU ARE.
Next Adventure is "your alternative outdoor store." Our stores are like us: quirky and unpretentious. We serve the professional snowboarder and the grandmother needing a raincoat to take her grandkids to the playground with equal enthusiasm and genuine interest. The "Next Adventure Way" is to be welcoming, fun-loving, and authentic. We don't take ourselves too seriously but we are serious about serving the adventure needs of our customers.
