EP 65 Nikki Smith
Connect without Fear

01:25:36

Nikki Smith is a photographer, writer, artist, and American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) certified guide who has spent more than two decades working in the outdoor industry. A former U.S. Army Veteran, Nikki is currently a sponsored athlete supported by Mountain Hardwear, Scarpa, Protect Our Winters (POW), and Bronwen Jewelry. Over her climbing career, she has completed more than 200 climbing first ascents and another 200 bouldering first ascents.
 
As an outdoor and human rights advocate, Nikki is a prominent voice for the transgender and LGBTQIA2S+ community. In 2019, working with Mountain Hardwear, Nikki created the Open Aperture program—a scholarship-based mentorship initiative designed to mentor photographers from marginalized communities and build a more diverse pool of storytellers. Similarly, she founded an LGBTQIA2S+ AMGA Single Pitch Instructor program to train and certify aspiring climbing guides from affinity groups.
 
A sought-after keynote speaker, Nikki has spoken globally for organizations such as Accenture, Patagonia, and The North Face. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling to further her work in supporting and leading within the outdoor community.

Show Notes:

Nikki’s Links:

Episode Intro:

Welcome back to the Female Guides Requested Podcast. I’m your host, Ting Ting, from Las Vegas.

Today, I am absolutely thrilled to welcome Nikki Smith to the show. Nikki is a true powerhouse who wears many hats in the outdoor industry—she is a sponsored climber, an athlete, a remarkable photographer, and a guide.

Nikki has been guiding since 1999, but in this episode, we dive deep into how she found her true niche around 2018 by shifting her focus to affinity spaces. We discuss her incredible work co-creating the successful LGBTQ+ Single Pitch Instructor (SPI) course and how she integrates outdoor activities with a group therapy style to better support specific communities.

Nikki also generously shares her personal experiences navigating the outdoor industry as a trans person, the financial realities of this often low-paying profession, and her inspiring work with the Open Aperture photography program, which provides scholarships and mentorship for underrepresented storytellers. We even talk about her current journey to get her Master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling to merge trauma-informed practices with outdoor instruction.

I enjoyed tremendously chatting with Nikki during our interview, and when I was editing this episode I thought “wow I could listen to the conversation over and over.” Warm, honest, professional Nikki provided many thought-provoking insights naturally brought me to reflect on my guiding and life.

Without further ado, please enjoy my conversation with Nikki Smith.

Quotes:

  • At 16, I found climbing and the world just went quiet when I was on the rock and I didn’t have to think about a lot of the things going on in my life and it just became a passion.
  • For a lot of us we still don’t get the credit for our skill set and experience even if we dressed the part. So… I’m going to look like I don’t belong even more on purpose.
  • We want to try to increase representation… and take away the excuse that a lot of magazines and companies had: “Well, there just aren’t any photographers from these communities.” There’s a lot out there. There always has been.
  • There’s so many folks coming in that have very strong impostor syndrome… We’re trying to just provide a little more mentorship outside of the specific programming to say “you belong here.”
  • The foundation of being a better ally is connecting with others and learning their unique stories. Don’t avoid people out of fear of saying the wrong thing. Mistakes are inevitable, but people can tell ignorance from malicious intent.