Featured Wildpreneur: Mary McIntyre, photographer and journalist

Mary melds the worlds of culture and adventure travel through photography and writing. Skiing is her passion, but any outdoor activity gets her stoked — rock climbing, kayaking, backpacking, and mountain biking keep her busy year-round. Check out her stunning photos and words at marymcintyre,com .

Mary’s recent trip to Iceland was cut a bit short (we’re all adapting in this unusual time) so she took a moment during her 2 week self-quarantine to share some of her Wildpreneur inspiration . Gracias Mary!

Describe your perfect day as a Wildpreneur.

My favorite days start at sunrise on high snowy peaks with sparkly snow falling through the sun’s first rays. I take a few photos of my ski partners and we spend the rest of the day walking around in the mountains and skiing deep powder.

What do you wish you’d known prior to getting started as a Wildpreneur?

I wish I was better at knowing the value of my work rather than being so excited when others show interest in it that I give it out for free. It’s a hard balance between getting your name out there (exposure) and making a living. My freelance friends and I have a reality show we sarcastically joke about doing with other creatives called Exposed and Broke.

Did you make any personal sacrifices to get your businesses started? Any funny examples of living on a shoestring budget?

For the first several years I was paying for all of my trips out of pocket and then recouping some of the budget by writing about them/selling images. But that would mean working as a caterer/research assistant/babysitter/you name it for several months before spending it all in a matter of weeks on a far-flung ski trip. I think my worst examples are flight layovers - it’s hard to spend hundreds of extra dollars on flights to get good layovers when you have no idea when you might make that much money again, so I ended up with many 14-20+ hour layovers around the world, schlepping bags from terminal to terminal, etc... That gets old.

What advice would you give to someone looking to start their own wild business?

Decide first if you will enjoy your activity more if you have an external reason to do it (i.e. making money) or if it’s more of a personal hobby/journey. I’m often torn between the purity of creating images that I’m inspired to make versus more marketable commercial shots. If I was more comfortable with going commercial, I would likely have a more successful business, but I’m happy with where I’m at because I’ve been able to find companies to work with who aren’t looking for the ‘commercial’ vibe. I think it’s important to know where you’re comfortable going with your craft from the get-go so you don’t ruin both your creative outlet and your business.

What was your inspiration to become a photographer/writer?

My interest in photography started from a fairly young age during family travels. My mom grew up in Istanbul and we visited family there semi-frequently and I was captivated by the foreign culture and wanted to capture the beauty and otherness of it through imagery. This was true for all the family trips we went on; I was very lucky to grow up with two parents who love traveling both internationally and within the Western U.S. I attribute my interest in writing to my mom. She was a college English Teacher (ESL) and has a master’s in Linguistics. She corrected all my papers growing up and cultivated a love for the written word. After graduating University with degrees in Geography and Environmental Sustainability Studies, I began pursuing freelance writing and photography.

Do you have a favorite motivational quote?

I have two that I’ve been especially drawn to lately, but don’t know where either of them are from:

“Sometimes it takes a stranger to remind people of what they should hold dear.”
“The Beauty in life is finding a line through the chaos”

Anything else you’d like to share about your journey?

Being able to turn your passion into your business is one of the greatest blessings ~ but it also means that your work becomes your life. You never clock out at the end of the day or week. I have to be very conscientious of maintaining a balance between time spent working and time dedicated to my personal life. It’s easy to dive headlong into something you love and forget about the other important parts of life.