The Unseasoned Weekly: March 25

Paywall free edition! Why a 9-5 isn't the end of your big outdoor adventures, Adam Sandler looks like a river guide, apply for a role as an outdoor marketer.

Mar 25, 2025

The Check In

During the years when my primary career focus was multiday river guiding, nothing sounded worse than working a 9-5 desk job. I felt like I had found a cheat code out of the grind. The Middle Fork Salmon was my office! I was strong and alive and woke up every morning in the prettiest canyon on Earth! Never mind that I woke up two hours earlier than I wanted to work a sixteen hour day… I was with my best friends, my world fit into two drybags, and life was good.

But slowly, my outdoor seasonal life lost it’s shine and started to feel like, wait…the grind?!

I missed my off-river friends and loved ones, I was cranky with the guests, I felt like I could never gather momentum in the other areas of my life. My time was up. But I was scared to leave, because I was pretty sure if I moved to a 9-5 job it would mean I never did anything cool outdoors again.

I hear this fear often from folks in our Instagram community. There is a worry that once one secures a year-round job, that’s it: Time to clock in for forty hours per week until retirement!

The bad/good news: This is not our parent’s job market.

Entering the 9-5 workforce doesn’t mean continual work, even if you do want it that way.

Positions will be restructured, layoffs will occur, a boss will have a slow season and give you unpaid time off, you might even get fired. You’ll save as much as you can for twelve months, then take a three month summer sabbatical with your family. You’ll decide it makes sense for you to stay home and care for an aging parent, or sell your home and move into a RV, or open a small business.

The only predictable part of life is this: Life is wildly unpredictable.

Your work life will still have breaks. And those breaks might be more stressful the more financial obligation (like a mortgage, or raising children) that you have integrated into your life. I don’t want to diminish how jarring and harmful an unplanned work break can be.

But these breaks can also be incredibly freeing and fun, because ideally, you’ve been working in a role where it’s possible to build an emergency fund or other forms of financial and life stability.

For anyone who has shifted to a year-round career: Have you ever had a planned or unplanned work sabbatical? How did you move through it?

Reply to this email, leave a comment, or send a DM!

xx - Emerald

- Questions for Your Next Journal or Hike -

On Reflection

A spring reminder! The $100/year Founding Member subscription unlocks full access to the newsletter plus an annual 1:1 career support session with me (with booking availability as soon as next Tuesday).

✔ Need a second set of eyes on your resume?

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At 33% off, this is the most cost-effective way to work with me—an exclusive offer just for my dedicated newsletter community.

- Connecting you to top-notch job seekers -

Meet an Unseasoned Career Support Services Client

Grace Lemen is a communication and recreation specialist with background both within the National Park Service and as an outdoor adventure guide. Let’s just say that if I was hiring any type of non-profit communications role in the inner mountain west, I’d be giving Grace a call.

- Dispatches from the Unseasoned Community -

Heard on Social

We’re introducing (regressing to?) *memes* over on the Unseasoned Instagram page. DM your ideas, we’re laughing so we don’t cry!

emeraldlafortune

A post shared by @emeraldlafortune

@yakimariverguide said: “True! I love that all these rich guys I guided for years, they all told me they’d hire me someday. Ok, sooo ah, I’m ready! 🤣🤷🏼‍♂️”

Join us this week to learn with our community of over 4,000!

- Tips for your next application -

How I’d Apply

The Bonfire Collective is hiring an Agency Marketing Manager, an independent contractor role with room for growth. Note: Many of my 9-5 roles have started as 1099, part time roles!

Unique Value Proposition (UVP):

Have you grown a small business alongside your outdoor seasonal work or otherwise developed a marketing skillset? Do you consider yourself a natural communicator and relationship-builder? This role might be for you and would build on your UVP as a genuine and authentic voice for the outdoors.

Sample Resume Bullet Point (Creative Small Business):

E-mail Marketing: Designed, implemented, and managed MailChimp email system, including lead generation integration on website, resulting in e-mail list growth of XX% Jan 2024 - Jan 2025.

Flags / Interview Questions to Ask:

Ask the interviewer: “The job description mentions there may be an opportunity to grow hours or even expand this position into a fulltime role. Can you share an example of another team member who has taken that path at Bonfire?”

Network: The outdoor industry is small! A company’s career page and the LinkedIn “People” page can be a great way to track down if you have an existing connection to someone on the Bonfire Team.

Continuing Ed: Do you have Brand Guidelines for your small business or freelance endeavor? Developing marketing assets for yourself is a great way to practice for roles such as the Agency Marketing Manager role.