Rescue Yourself First: Ari Leach, Blackbird Guide Services

Ari Leach is THE guide you’re going to want to call to help you survive the zombie apocalypse, let’s just start with that.

Today we are getting back to the roots of this very podcast by talking to brand spankin' new Registered Maine Guide, Ari Leach of Blackbird Guide Services.

I discovered Ari when lovely friend of the pod, Nancy Zane, posted a congratulatory note on her North Star Adventures Instagram page, because Ari had taken a guide course through North Star and had just passed her exam.

I always love seeing new women guides, so I was already excited about her, but then in pretty short order I realized Ari was blasting out of the start gate and setting up her own company and guide service, too - Blackbird Guide Services - which doubled my excitement.

And then the kicker came when Ari posted about her grandmother, but I’m going to let Ari tell you all about that. 

I feel so privileged to have met Ari and heard her story, and I know you’ll enjoy this one too.

Make sure you’ve got Ari on the digital equivalent of speed dial before the next zombie apocalypse, follow her @blackbirdguideservices on Instagram, find her on Facebook, or head over to her website, and get psyched for a little forest bathing or stick carving or whatever else tickles your fancy!

A few fun links from our conversation:

• Nancy Zane talks ‘Leave No Trace’ on Guides Gone Wild
• Unity College
• Where the Red Fern Grows - Wilson Rawls
• Maine Department of Marine Resources
• Umbagog Lake
• Lincoln County Search and Rescue
• Baxter State Park
• Tiny Homes of Maine
• Kula Cloth
• She Pee
• Maine Small Business Development Center

This episode definitely has a call to action, people - if you want to be one of the first to know when I'm going to bring Ari’s Iron Chef skills and her mom’s 'witchie-poo cabinet' up to Evans Notch Lodge for a weekend of fun and learning, make sure you subscribe to our email list - it’s right there at the bottom of the home page, super easy, just do it!