Meet Haley Cottey | ExploreMore Founder and Yoga Instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Haley Cottey and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Haley, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I’ve always been entrepreneurial minded. Even as a kid, I would sell homemade pot holders outside of church. I’ve also always LOVED the outdoors and always wanted to explore. When we would go on family vacations, we would often find local trails to hike. My parents probably just wanted to get me and my sisters out of the car while on road trips and run around for 30 minutes but I always loved discovering new places. I did a 40 day backpacking trip in college with Solid Rock Outdoor Ministries and it just solidified my love for the outdoors and all things adventure. Luckily this is what drew me and my now husband as he also had done a trip with Outward Bound.

A few years ago we realized we were always reaching for our next vacation to the mountains and had never truly taken advantage of the beautiful outdoor spaces available to us right here in Dallas Texas. We knew we couldn’t live our life wishing we were somewhere else, especially when there are tons of beautiful trails, rivers, lakes and outdoor climbing available all around us. We just had to explore a little more to find them. We also realized people don’t always want to go outside because they don’t feel knowledgeable or equipped for certain activities. We get told constantly “take me with you next time you go backpacking”, “how do I hike with a toddler”, “what kind of hiking shoes do I need” etc

So in true entrepreneur fashion, we started a business. The goal of ExploreMore is to train and equip people to experience the fun and freedom found in nature. Our most popular event is our hike, yoga and brew where we combine a short beginner friendly yoga practice with nature and a group hike followed by a “brew” which is usually a drink ticket to a local coffee shop, brewery or restaurant near the trail. We are also huge proponents of supporting and exploring local business so we are partnering with small businesses as much as possible.

What should our readers know about your business?
You can find hiking groups all over and that is GREAT! I highly recommend finding a group where you feel you fit and meeting new people. If you need help on where to start, please reach out and I’m happy to help!

We pair 3 of my favorite things in our most popular event. Our Hike Yoga and Brew began years ago when I was getting my 200 hr RYT and I was trying to find a way to offer yoga classes to people who probably would never go to a studio and wanted to get people outside at the same time. Our yoga is only about 30 minutes and very beginner friendly. We want to reach people who would likely never go to a yoga studio but would be fine trying it out (exploring a new activity) with a hike.

Pairing yoga with nature is so incredible and amplifies the benefits you already get from either activity. This is also where our Yoga for Hikers Workshop came from as well. We wanted to train other yoga instructors to take their classes outdoors and use the amazing benefits from nature to reach new clients and also amplify their practice.

The “Brew” comes from my love of craft coffee and craft beer and discovering and supporting local business. Years ago when I was trying to find out what I wanted to do with this whole ExploreMore idea, I thought of doing a hike and brew. One of my favorite breweries, Intrinsic Smokehouse and Brewery is on the downtown square in Garland and is less than 10 minutes from Rowlett Creek Preserve where I hiked often. So I decided to do a hike and brew. We would sell tickets, I would head to Intrinsic and buy some beer tokens and then we would take people on a guided hike and give them a token for a drink at Intrinsic. RCP is pretty big and has over 14 miles of trails and I heard often from people that they never explored it because they either didn’t know it existed or didn’t want to get lost. So I would show people the AllTrails map and how to read the trail signs etc and then everyone who bought a ticket got a token to Intrinsic Brewery for one drink. They have many alcoholic AND non alcoholic options other than beer.

So we took that mindset and apply it to almost every hike we host. We find a locally owned coffee shop, brewery or restaurant that is near the trail we are hiking and provide coupons or gift cards to that business to everyone who buys a ticket to the hike and yoga event. Our focus is community, both between the attendees and the local businesses we support. Most of the time, everyone ends up heading to the location after the hike and continue hanging out. All of the locations have multiple options so if you are not a coffee or beer drinker, that is OK. You will have plenty of choices.

The last thing we do at all of our events is a pick up game. We always bring some grocery bags and offer them to the hikers if they want to pick up trash while we hike. We aren’t doing a full clean up, we just want to create awareness of the litter problem on our planet. We teach people about where the trash comes from (roads, floods etc) and just let conversations go from there. Sometimes people are blissfully unaware of the amount of trash we create as humans but when they start looking for it, they are often shocked at how much they find, even really clean trails. We are not trying to shame anyone, just create awareness and help build responsibility in everyone for these amazing green spaces. To make it fun, we always have a prize for whoever picks up the most trash. Usually that prize is an additional drink token. People always have fun with it but are never required to participate.

The last thing I want to mention is our DFW Trails Bingo card. This was made to help people explore more of the trails in DFW in a fun way. Its only $5 to get the card and it contains tons of trails all over DFW. Many people have discovered new trails with the card and its a fun way to join people all over DFW even if you prefer to hike alone. We also always do giveaways or people playing and you get a prize if you get a blackout.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Oh that’s hard. It depends on the person and what they enjoy. I would probably take them to some coffee roasters, breweries, and restaurants for sure. I like the Bishop Arts District too. And we would probably go climbing at Summit and hiking at one of the many trails (see our DFW Trails Bingo card).

If I’m honest though, we would probably hang out at home or go to a friends house and hang out.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Absolutely! My parents instilled a love of the outdoors in me from a young age. We lived in the country and I grew up exploring ever part of our pasture and the creek that ran along our property. We always had tons of animals too.

Also, without my experience with Solid Rock Outdoor Ministries, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I have done 2 trips with them and have worked on their summer staff and their backpacking expeditions are incredible! You can read all about them at www.srom.org.

There are also too many people to list when it comes to support and mentorship. We have been blessed to be surrounded by supportive and amazing people.

Website: www.exploremoredfw.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/exploremoredfw/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/exploremoredfw

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCswwOgTzCSaM30c4mLcg-gA/

Other: Full event calendar – https://www.eventbrite.com/o/exploremore-27720680895

Image Credits
Amanda Torres