Discover how to build your own career path instead of searching for one perfect calling. Learn why your seemingly unrelated experiences matter and how to create an authentic life in the outdoor industry.
Influential Woman · Outdoor Education
Jacque Tietjen
Owner, Outdoor Educator, Speaker, Mountain Performance Coach, & Creative Director, High Elevation Adventure
Sandy, UT 84092
17Years experience
1Article published
3Awards received
Her Story
About Jacque
For nearly two decades, I've built my career around one thing: helping people connect more deeply with the outdoors.
I'm a mountain athlete, outdoor educator, photographer, and creator whose work blends adventure, education, and visual storytelling to inspire confidence, curiosity, and respect for wild places.
My path has never fit neatly into a single profession. I've coached athletes, taught in classrooms, worked in healthcare, guided outdoor experiences, photographed expeditions, spoken at events, partnered with outdoor brands, and spent countless days learning firsthand in the mountains themselves. Every chapter has shaped how I teach, create, and lead today.
As the creator behind High Elevation Adventure, I produce fine art photography, educational resources, field videos, and outdoor content that encourage others to explore thoughtfully, travel responsibly, and build lasting relationships with the natural world. Whether I'm documenting a sunrise from an alpine summit, teaching mountain skills, writing about expedition experiences, or sharing practical outdoor education, my goal remains the same: to make the outdoors more approachable without taking away the wonder that makes people fall in love with it.
My background includes Health Education, strength and conditioning, personal training, yoga instruction, mountain endurance coaching, wilderness medicine, and years of experience across climbing, skiing, mountaineering, endurance sports, swimming, aerial arts, and outdoor leadership. I believe great education goes beyond telling people what to do—it helps them understand why.
I'm fortunate to partner with brands including Stio, Solitude Mountain Resort, Black Diamond Equipment, and La Sportiva, creating authentic content grounded in real experience rather than curated moments.
Today, my work continues to evolve through photography, education, public speaking, creative media, and athletic pursuits. Whatever the medium, the mission stays the same:
to inspire people to explore, learn, and build their own connection with the outdoors.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jacque
01What do you attribute your success to?
Success, to me, has never been about reaching a single destination, it's about continually choosing a life that feels authentic.
Curiosity has always been my greatest strength. It's what first drew me into the mountains, photography, education, and athletic pursuits, and it's what continues to inspire me to explore, learn, and create. That curiosity, paired with perseverance and a genuine love of sharing what I've learned, has shaped every opportunity I've been fortunate enough to pursue.
I've learned that the most meaningful work happens when you're willing to keep evolving while staying true to your core values. Looking back, I don't think my success comes from following one career path exceptionally well. It comes from weaving together many passions into a life and career that feel deeply aligned with who I am.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Two pieces of advice have stayed with me throughout my career.
The first came from my dad after I graduated from college. He told me, "I don't care what you do, as long as you are happy doing it." At the time, I was worried about finding the perfect career. His words reminded me that success isn't about living up to someone else's expectations—it's about building a life that's authentic to you.
More recently, my husband has reminded me of something equally important: "Take your time". We often feel pressure to have everything figured out immediately, but some of the best opportunities come from allowing yourself the space to grow, explore, and evolve.
Together, those two pieces of advice have shaped how I approach both my career and my life. I no longer believe there's one perfect path. I believe in staying curious, continuing to learn, and trusting that meaningful work is built over time.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The outdoor industry needs more women—not just as participants, but as leaders, guides, educators, scientists, photographers, athletes, filmmakers, and decision-makers. My biggest advice is: don't wait until you feel completely qualified before stepping into the room.
Build your skills relentlessly. Learn from mentors, ask questions, take courses, volunteer, spend time outside in all kinds of conditions, and let competence become your confidence. The mountains don't care about ego; they reward preparation, humility, and good judgment. Those qualities will take you much further than trying to prove yourself.
I'd also encourage young women to resist the pressure to fit into someone else's version of what a successful outdoor career should look like. There is no single path. Some people guide, some teach, some create art, some conduct research, some advocate for conservation, and many of us build careers that blend several of those worlds together. Stay curious, keep learning, and don't be afraid to create a career that reflects your own strengths and values rather than a template that already exists.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The greatest challenge facing the outdoor industry is balancing increased access with long-term stewardship.
More people are discovering the outdoors than ever before, which is something worth celebrating. But with that growth comes greater responsibility. Public lands face increasing pressures from recreation, environmental change, funding challenges, and land management decisions. The future of these places depends on thoughtful leadership, science-based management, and a culture that values conservation alongside recreation.
I see that as one of the industry's greatest opportunities as well. Every photograph, workshop, educational resource, guided experience, or conversation is a chance to help someone build a deeper connection with the outdoors. People protect what they value, and meaningful experiences in nature are often where that value begins.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I've never been interested in building a career that takes me away from the life I want to live. Instead, I've tried to build one that grows out of it.
Authenticity is the value that guides almost every decision I make. I want my work to reflect who I am and the life I genuinely love living rather than chasing someone else's definition of success.
Curiosity and lifelong learning continue to fuel everything I do, while connection to people, to nature, and to community—gives that work meaning. Some of my favorite moments are simply sharing the outdoors with my husband, close friends, and others who are experiencing it in a new way.
Ultimately, I hope my work encourages people not only to explore beautiful places, but to build a deeper relationship with them. I believe that connection is where adventure, stewardship, and lifelong growth all begin.
Her Content Hub
Articles by Jacque
You Don’t Have to Choose Just One Thing
How I Built My Own Career Path Instead of Following Someone Else's Blueprint
For most of my life, I thought I was supposed to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.
Not just a job. Not just a career. THE career. The thing I was meant to do.
That expectation made choosing a direction feel incredibly difficult.
I changed my college major more times than I can count. I worked seasonal jobs, waited tables, taught skiing and climbing, lifeguarded, taught swimming, coached aerial arts, and spent years living the ski-bum life. I eventually earned a bachelor's degree in health education and became a teacher, even though somewhere along the way, I had already started to realize that traditional education wasn't where I wanted to spend my life.
From the outside, it probably looked like I couldn't make up my mind. For a long time, I worried that maybe that was true. What I eventually realized was that I wasn't failing to find my path. I was trying to find one path when I was actually meant to build my own.
The Career I Was "Supposed" to Have
Growing up, I absorbed the idea that everyone had a purpose and that we were supposed to figure out what that purpose was. So when I didn't know what I wanted to major in, what career I wanted, or where I saw myself ten years down the road, I felt like I was doing something wrong.
I tried to make decisions based on what seemed practical, responsible, or expected of me. Eventually, I graduated with a degree that qualified me for a stable career, but I already knew I didn't want to spend the rest of my life doing it.
That realization was uncomfortable. It was also freeing.
I started giving myself permission to take seriously the things I had always loved: mountains, skiing, climbing, photography, movement, teaching, and adventure.
I began to see that the seemingly unrelated jobs I'd held weren't actually unrelated at all.
- Teaching taught me how to communicate.
- Coaching taught me how to help people develop confidence and capability.
- Working in the mountains taught me how to assess risk, make decisions, and adapt when conditions change.
- Photography taught me how to create and communicate visually.
- And years of pursuing my own athletic and mountain goals taught me lessons that no classroom could have given me.
None of those experiences were wasted simply because they weren't part of one carefully planned career trajectory. They became the pieces I could eventually put together myself.
Building Instead of Finding
Today, my work encompasses mountain athletics, outdoor education, coaching, photography, creative work, and adventure content.
I photograph people experiencing the outdoors. I create educational content. I teach mountain skills and athletic development. I document adventures. I work with outdoor brands. I speak and collaborate. I continue pursuing my own goals as a mountain athlete.
It doesn't fit neatly into one job title. And I'm finally okay with that.
In fact, I've come to believe that one of the greatest career advantages we can give ourselves is the willingness to stop asking, "What am I supposed to be?" and start asking, "What can I build from the things that matter to me?"
You don't necessarily have to choose between being an athlete and an educator. You don't have to choose between being creative and analytical. You don't have to choose between having a career and having a life that you genuinely enjoy living. And you don't have to decide today what you will still be doing twenty years from now.
Your Path Doesn't Have to Be Straight
The outdoor industry has taught me a lot about this.
When you're navigating a mountain, the most obvious route isn't always the best one. Sometimes the terrain forces you to change direction. Sometimes the weather changes. Sometimes the route you planned doesn't exist when you actually get there.
You reassess. You adapt. You keep moving.
Careers can work the same way.
- A job you leave isn't necessarily a failure.
- A degree you don't use isn't necessarily wasted.
- Changing direction doesn't mean you made the wrong choice.
Sometimes you have to experience something to learn that it isn't for you. And sometimes the things that seem completely unrelated at the time become incredibly valuable later.
I still don't know exactly what my career will look like ten years from now. And honestly, I don't think I need to.
I'm much more interested in building something that feels authentic to who I am now and leaving room for it to evolve as I do.
Build a Life That Belongs to You
If you're a woman trying to figure out your own career path, especially in an industry where you don't always see people who look like you in the roles you're interested in, don't underestimate the value of creating your own route.
The outdoor industry needs women in all kinds of roles: athletes, guides, educators, scientists, conservationists, photographers, filmmakers, coaches, leaders, and business owners.
You don't have to fit yourself into someone else's definition of what that career is supposed to look like.
- Take the opportunities that teach you something.
- Pay attention to what energizes you and what doesn't.
- Let yourself change your mind.
- Don't be afraid to pursue something simply because you love it.
- And don't assume that every decision has to be permanent.
Most importantly, give yourself permission to take your time.
You don't need to have the next twenty years figured out. You don't need to discover one perfect calling that explains everything you've ever done.
Your career can be a collection of chapters. You can carry the skills, experiences, relationships, and lessons from one chapter into the next. You can change direction. You can start over. You can build something that didn't exist before.
You don't have to choose just one thing.
You get to decide what matters to you and then build a life around it.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.