TOM QUILLIAM -- Working

HE IS

Selling hiking boots, jackets and love for the outdoors

SHARING THE LOVE

Quilliam, 28, said he fell in love with the outdoors as a child, when

he was introduced to camping and hiking through the Boy Scouts of America

and family trips.

Now his goal is to share the love by helping novices meet nature and

challenging experts to reach their vertical limits.

Quilliam has been a sales clerk for Adventure 16 -- which sells

hiking, rock climbing and camping gear in Costa Mesa -- for about 10

months.

“The difficult part is trying to convey to people that I’m not trying

to be a nuisance or a ‘typical salesperson,’ but that I’m someone who

really wants to help them because I like the outdoors,” Quilliam said.

“We’re promoting the outdoor environment and helping people to appreciate

it more, because I think the wilderness needs to be preserved. We spend

most of our time indoors, but the more time people spend outdoors, the

more people will want to save them.”

BLAZING A NEW TRAIL

After he received his bachelor’s degree in English literature,

Quilliam’s plans were to teach in a foreign country.

He spent 2 1/2 years teaching English in Kazakhstan, an Eastern

European country that was part of the former Soviet Union.

But then, Quilliam decided to come home.

“It was time to move on to something else,” he said. “I went in with

no training, and I realized training was really necessary. I enjoy

backpacking, climbing and the outdoors, so I wanted to get a job that

would allow me to focus on those things. I wanted training I could

combine with the skills I already have to promote something down the

line. One idea is to start a wilderness camp for kids in the [former]

Soviet Union, also involving English.”

EARNING INSPIRATION

Quilliam said working at Adventure 16 is providing him with experience

he needs.

Although he has yet to participate in any of the store’s frequent

wilderness outings, Quilliam said he has been hiking or climbing an

average of twice a month since beginning his job.

“I’d like to see where this job can carry me,” Quilliam said.

One of his favorite excursions was an August trip to Kilimanjaro, an

extinct volcano in Tanzania and the highest mountain in Africa. Many of

the store’s customers have also been to Kilimanjaro, Quilliam said, as

well as to mountains of Peru and Ecuador.

“You hear about so many amazing experiences -- someone is biking

across New Zealand, someone else is climbing Aconcagua in Peru, someone

else is climbing Mt. McKinley” in Alaska, Quilliam said. “You hear about

all the cool things people have done, and you want to try them too. I

like the natural beauty, the independence from modern technology and the

peacefulness of going into the wilderness experience.”