We all have that one friend who is a complete bullshitter. We watch from the sidelines as they hustle free drinks at the bar, sell their old broken guitar on Craiglist for way more than it’s worth, and get into concerts without a ticket. For me, that person is my roommate, Sarah Anderson. But Sarah’s not interested in cocktails, she’s in the business of scoring free ski gear.
Sarah grew up in Long Island and played Division 1 soccer for two years in college until she dropped out a year ago to chase winter. Since then she’s lived and skied in Vermont, New Zealand, and now resides in Jackson Hole. She has never skied competitively or been featured in an edit, but you can bet the entire kit she’s sporting was free of charge. This year, she’s gotten free skis, a helmet, some goggles, base layers, mid layers, Costco-sized boxes of granola bars, and is expecting a new set of poles soon. She also managed to get financial assistance for a backcountry trip in Alaska this spring.
As her friend and roommate, watching the boxes of base layers roll into our apartment has been admittedly impressive. But I had to know how she was doing it. I found out that Sarah uses a perfectly crafted essay to convince brands that they should send her free stuff.
Every successful hustler knows that a good lie must contain a substantial amount of truth. While Sarah readily admits she has found a gaping hole in the system, she never lies. She’s just a damn good writer. Her essays are about her love for the mountains and the sport of skiing. She milks her connections in the ‘international ski community’ and leans heavily on her amateur photography skills to position herself as the brands’ next Instagram sensation. At the end of the day, Sarah is just reaching out to tell people about how much she loves skiing and would like the help to keep doing it. And it’s working.
I’m not exactly condoning her behavior, but I’m not faulting her either. I mean, skiing is an insanely expensive lifestyle, especially if you’re trying to live and ski in a place like Jackson Hole, Aspen, or Whistler. An adult season pass is usually over $1000 and a set of skis is upwards of $600. Throw in those 130 flex Lange boots you want, bindings, poles, and what you’re paying to squeeze three people into a dump of a two-bedroom apartment and you’re totally broke.
And I’m sure it’s a good deal for companies to send Sarah a pair of goggles in exchange for a couple Instagram posts about them. (Hell, I know I’ve definitely become more aware of the brands she’s wearing because of it. So something is definitely working there.)
On the other hand, there is something inherently questionable about what Sarah – and a million other self-proclaimed content creators – are up to. I’m sure if you were a pro skier it would be maddening to see these people prosper because of Instagram, while you’re trying to pursue an actual career in skiing. Because while Sarah is taking some time off in between years of school to pursue the sport, skiing for her is still a hobby, not a career.
Sarah is of course not the only hustler in the outdoor industry—there are tons of people out there reaching out to brands, leveraging some asset, look, goal, story, relationship, etc. to pursue their “passion projects,” “inspire women,” or just take a really sweet vacation. Honestly, how many god damn van life Instagram accounts will there be until both consumers and brands decide that enough is enough?
At the end of the day, though, is it really that bad to ask for a little help to get to where you want to go? Even if your social influence is just your two roommates in Jackson, those are two people you can truly inspire just by pursuing your own path.
We all have our talents, and you’ve got to work what you’ve got. After that, I think it all has to come down to integrity. While a lot of life is about learning how to market yourself, you should never lie, especially when it comes to how you’re leveraging your position as a woman. Follow through on your commitments and promises. Work hard for the brands that take you on and stay modest when you know you’re riding on a wave that most other people will never have access to.
*All names have been changed to protect this hustler's identity in her pursuit to live and ski as cheaply as possible.
Collin Wheeler
March 3rd, 2017
Glad we’re on the same page here…
https://www.tetongravity.com/story/culture/unsponsored-content-sponsored-content
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March 8th, 2017
This bullshit all started when the ‘conomy crashed in ‘08 and every metropolitan real-estate/stock broker with a slush fund started getting their colons cleansed, doing yoga and vlogging. Then the ROI on traditional advertising shit the bed, marketing budgets were cut and now we’re left with trust-funded skid mountaineering beeters who post “asspirational” forms of “authentic content” that marketing managers can measure and put into a spreadsheet for the next quarterly circle jerk.
DIGITALDEATH
March 9th, 2017
asspirational
nord
March 13th, 2017
Duh “Sarah” is a hottie and gets free gear. Nothing new here.
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February 16th, 2018
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