Facilitating: Grassroots Membership Meeting & Shareholder's Meeting, Grassroots Vendor Partner Meeting

Gabe is a champion for specialty retailers, having served in leadership with Grassroots formerly as Vice President and Business Analyst and now as President. Gabe is also a talented golfer, outdoor recreationalist, reluctant dog lover, and girl dad.

Facilitating: The Idea is Right! Retail's Best Ideas & Women's Leadership Luncheon

Tara has called Wyoming home since 2000, and spends much of her time biking, hiking, Nordic skiing, kayaking, and traveling. She has two decades of hands-on experience working in nonprofit leadership, higher education, and community development. Tara holds graduate degrees in Counseling and Adult Education along with certifications in strategic planning, facilitation, mediation, and coaching. Through her role as an educator, facilitator, and coach, Tara is committed to helping groups work together, learn together, and achieve great results together.

Presenting & Facilitating: Grassroots Buyer's Panel & Breakout Discussions, Count Customers Not Coins: Valuable Metrics of Traffic Counting, POS System Round Table Discussions

Carrie Watson, founder of retail consultancy Outside Looks LLC, has almost 20 years of experience in retail buying, inventory management, and sales. Her career spans from local specialty shops to global brands, where she honed her expertise in helping retailers thrive by using data-driven metrics and mentorship. Carrie’s mission is to empower independent retailers to protect their futures by leveraging merchandise intelligence and responsible inventory practices. A passionate advocate for small businesses, she also believes that strong local commerce is crucial for vibrant communities. Based just outside of Austin, Texas, Carrie enjoys simple things including spending time with her husband, Matt, and new son, Otto.

Facilitating: POS System Round Table Discussions

Hailing from San Marcos, TX, Ryan is a life-long advocate for the outdoor industry. He has worn many hats in his career including outdoor educator and guide, but found a home in buying and retail management. As a self-proclaimed data nerd, Ryan helps retailers use the power of computing to improve operations. Currently at Outside Looks Consulting, he partners with independent retail shops to drive profitability, foster growth, and achieve financial independence. When not crunching numbers he can be found falling off of mountain bikes, hanging off of cliffs, or wandering in the woods with his wife and two kids.

Facilitating: POS System Round Table Discussions

Klairyn is a Midwest native who now calls Northwest Arkansas home, bringing her deep experience in the outdoor industry to the Outside Looks team. When she was buying, she led her departments to 60.4% revenue growth through data-driven decisions, lower inventory overhead, and improved cash flow. Klairyn's passion is empowering independent retailers by translating complex data into actionable insights tailored to each buyer’s needs. When not helping clients, she enjoys outdoor adventures with her husband and two senior German Shorthaired Pointers, gardening, and creating pottery

Presenting: Wisdom from the Trenches: A New Era for Wild Iris Mountain Sports

Jake Dickerson is the lead buyer and one of the new owners of Wild Iris Mountain Sports. In his free time, he loves rock climbing and establishing new routes on the amazing limestone cliffs around Lander.

Presenting: Wisdom from the Trenches: A New Era for Wild Iris Mountain Sports

Joan Chase is GM and co-owner of Wild Iris Mountain Sports. Joan grew up on the Chesapeake Bay's Eastern Shore of Maryland and spent her entire childhood on or in the water. In 2011 she made the decision to move to Wyoming for no other reason than loving the state. She joined the Wild Iris staff in the summer of 2013. When she's not in the shop, you have a good chance of finding her at home with her pets, fishing, hiking, or reading a book somewhere in the Wind River Range. Joan is a proud part owner of WIMS and to be a member of the Lander outdoor and business communities.

Presenting: Product & Inventory Planning: Understanding Your Brands Better

Tracy Collins brings over 25 years of outdoor industry experience to the GOA community that include store management, inventory planning, buying, and vendor leadership.   He began his career in outdoor retail at Blue Ridge Mountain Sports as assistant store manager in 1998, moved to soft goods buying, and then General Merchandise Manager until 2012. Tracy became the Western Regional Sales Manager for Patagonia in 2012, overseeing all wholesale & tech reps in the western region.  In 2014 Tracy made the jump back to retail accepting a Category Merchandise Manager role at REI.  During his time at REI, Tracy managed various hardgoods categories before moving into a Senior Category Merchandise Manager role overseeing tents, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, furniture, and REI private brands development strategy within these categories.  In 2020 Tracy shifted back to the vendor side of the industry leading all Sales & Marketing strategy for Swiss based EXPED.

Presenting: Product & Inventory Planning: Understanding Your Brands Better

Erin Warren began her career in Outdoor Retail at The Trail Head in Missoula, MT. in 2001 as a sales associate and then moved to soft goods buying and remained in that position until 2015. The last five years of her employment at The Trail Head she was Todd’s business partner in the women’s specific outdoor store, Trail Head, T9. In 2015 Erin became a sales rep for Tokul Creek Marketing, representing several brands until 2020. In 2020, she began working for Caraway & Co. in the Pacific Northwest for a little over a year and then landed in her current role as the National Specialty Sales Manager with Mountain Hardwear.

Panelist

David Polivy is the co-owner of Tahoe Mountain Sports (TMS), a specialty outdoor store headquartered in Truckee, CA. Specializing in trail run, hike, camp, backpack and backcountry skiing and boarding, Tahoe Mountain Sports is a year round hub for local information, specialty product curation and the friendliest staff in the Truckee region. As a former program manager at the Sierra Business Council, he understands how important it is that the natural, economic and social aspects of our communities work in unison to achieve success. Dave’s involvement in the community continues with Board positions on local non-profits, representation on the Outdoor Industry Association’s recreation advisory committee and is the current Mayor and council member for the Town of Truckee. Dave, his wife Pam, and daughter Adina love to play outside and enjoy skiing, climbing, mountain biking, hiking and camping. Dave and his family enjoy exploring all the amazing places in and around the Sierra.

Panelist

Bio coming soon!

Panelist

Bio coming soon!

Panelist

Bio coming soon!

Panelist

Bio Coming Soon!