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.”
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