Here’s the story about Women Who Explore and how it came to be the company it is today. 

Hi! I’m Melissa. Lindsey and I co-own Women Who Explore together. Why am I the one writing this and not Lindsey? More on that later… 

Women Who Explore was founded in 2016, but not by either Lindsey or myself. Our journey with WWE started in 2017 with the first call for Ambassadors, so that’s where we’ll start the story.

We both applied and were both accepted. Lindsey started the first Portland chapter and I started the Arizona chapter. We met each other very soon after starting since we were both VERY excited to finally have discovered a community of women similar to ourselves. We weren’t fast friends since (dare I say it) we were mildly competitive. We saw space to help in ways outside managing our local groups. I quickly became burned out (on everything life related, not just WWE) and fell off the map, but kept in contact with Lindsey. 

The year 2020 rolls in and around June I get a call from Lindsey, “hey, so crazy thing, I might buy WWE but I can’t do it alone, do you want in?”. Pretty sure it was a resounding HELL YES!

You might ask yourself why two women who weren’t best friends, who didn’t live near each other and who aren’t really all that similar, all of a sudden decide to go into business with each other… good question. 

Lindsey and I are quite different. She likes wine, I like beer. She loves yoga and trail running, I love climbing and mountain biking. She’s emotional, I’m not. She loves caring for people and hugs, I have to work at being “warm” and hugs are for people in a close inner circle. She’ll take the private yacht trip while I want to summit Kilimanjaro. She hates social media and prefers to stay behind the scenes, I at least don’t hate it (who really loves it???) and never shy away from an opportunity to hop in front of a camera to talk about WWE.  

Here’s where we’re the same. Very early on we both recognized that we had a passion for empowering women in the outdoors and each personally know the impact it has because we both experienced it. We have both felt not good enough, not strong enough, pretty enough, smart enough. Slowly though, being in the outdoors and meeting women in our amazing community changed our perspectives and lives forever. Our differences compliment each other and our similarities give us the tenacity manage this company. 

So here we are. Years after buying a women’s travel/adventure company during a pandemic. It’s just Lindsey and I managing the company with the support of our incredible ambassadors. Maybe we seem like we’re a big company, but we’re just big in heart and dreams. When you book a trip with WWE, you are supporting a small women owned business. With every trip booked, 10% of the profits go to support our amazing community. Our ambassadors hosted over 1k FREE events in 2023 all over North America. These events change lives, just like they did for Lindsey and I years ago. 

We don’t care where you’re at on your personal journey. When you join WWE, you are exactly where you need to be at the right time. We are here to support you and your goals and passions. We can’t wait to meet you!