Check Out William Vazquez’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to William Vazquez.

Hi William, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I founded We Explore Earth around 2016–2017 after stepping away from working full-time in the music and film industries. Before fully diving into this path, I worked as a production assistant at Jimmy Kimmel Live and later became an event producer working alongside Steve Aoki and Dim Mak Records. Even today, We Explore Earth still collaborates with artists, creatives, and music industry partners to help bridge communities and industries into nature through conservation, wellness, and free outdoor experiences.

At the time, I began noticing a major disconnect between people and the outdoors. So many individuals wanted to explore nature but lacked guidance, community, transportation, education, confidence, or access. At the same time, many parks, trails, and natural areas desperately needed support through restoration, conservation, cleanups, and stewardship projects.

What started as a monthly group hike and a monthly cleanup slowly evolved into something much larger. From the beginning, the vision was simple: keep it free, keep it welcoming, keep it intentional, and create experiences that genuinely impact people. Everything we do at We Explore Earth is rooted in experience and connection. We wanted to create outdoor spaces where people could heal, learn, explore, create, volunteer, and feel like they belonged.

Over the years, We Explore Earth organically grew into a force of nature powered by community. Everything has always been very DIY and deeply rooted in punk culture and grassroots organizing. To us, punk means doing things with heart, resisting gatekeeping, challenging the idea that outdoor spaces should only belong to certain people, and proving that community care and creativity can exist outside of heavily commercialized systems. Conservation is punk. Keeping outdoor experiences accessible is punk. Building community through mutual care is punk.

One of the most beautiful things about We Explore Earth is that people from all kinds of professional and creative backgrounds naturally found their place within the organization. Photographers, filmmakers, musicians, wellness facilitators, conservationists, educators, runners, climbers, event producers, designers, and storytellers all began pouring into the community with love and intention, expecting nothing in return except the opportunity to build something meaningful together.

As the movement continued growing, people from different parts of the country organically began reaching out asking how they could help start chapters and bring the same spirit of community and stewardship to their cities. That has now led to the development of We Explore Earth chapters and communities in places like New York City, Tucson, Arizona, Orange County, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, with Seattle also beginning to take shape. At the moment, the majority of our programming and activations take place throughout Los Angeles, Southern California, and New York City, while additional communities continue building and growing organically.

A huge shoutout goes to Milana Bekbulatova, who helps lead and organize our New York City chapter and community, and to Wade Holland, who leads our Tucson, Arizona chapter. Watching people step forward to help lead with genuine care for community and nature has been one of the most inspiring parts of this journey.

Today, We Explore Earth has over 40 active volunteers and crew mates helping facilitate more than 22 free events every month across multiple regions throughout the United States. Conservation, preservation, exploration, wellness, and storytelling remain at the core of everything we do.

One of our most impactful recurring projects is our monthly stewardship event at Ascot Hills Park in Los Angeles every second Saturday of the month. There, community members come together to help restore native habitats through trail building, invasive species removal, planting native species, seed harvesting, cleanup efforts, and conservation education. We’ve also expanded into hosting campout retreats, backpacking experiences, climb nights, trail runs, women’s hikes, educational nature walks, full moon gatherings, wellness experiences, and restoration projects throughout Southern California and beyond.

Our Full Moon Experiences have become one of the most beloved parts of the community. For the past four years, every full moon we’ve hosted gatherings that begin with a community hike, followed by yoga or sound baths, live musical performances from emerging artists, and telescope experiences in partnership with the Los Angeles Astronomical Society. These nights blend art, wellness, astronomy, and nature into one shared experience centered around wonder and connection.

As the community naturally grew, we realized that over 70% of our community participants were women. That led to the creation of our official women’s department called Hiking On Purpose, led by Yvonne Temal. The department focuses on creating safe, empowering, and welcoming outdoor experiences for women through women-led hikes, retreats, wellness gatherings, and educational programming.

We also launched We Run Trails, our trail running division led by Nicole Michel, helping bring together runners of all levels through community-focused trail experiences.

Throughout the years, we’ve been fortunate to receive support from organizations and brands such as REI, Patagonia, Athletic Brewing Co., Yerba Madre, and many others who believe in our mission and grassroots approach to community stewardship.

What makes me most proud is that despite all of this growth, We Explore Earth has remained free and community-centered. We never wanted finances to become a barrier to healing, exploration, conservation, or connection. We’ve stayed rooted in the belief that nature belongs to everyone.

People often ask us how we manage to facilitate so many experiences and projects with such a grassroots structure, and honestly, the answer is simple: we care deeply, we trust each other, we create with intention, and we make it happen together. Everything is powered by love for community, love for the outdoors, and a shared belief that people are capable of building beautiful things together when given the opportunity and space to do so.

At its core, We Explore Earth exists to help build explorers and stewards of the natural world while creating spaces where people can reconnect with themselves, with community, and with the Earth.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
One of the biggest ongoing challenges for We Explore Earth has honestly been funding and sustainable infrastructure. From the very beginning, we made the intentional decision to keep our experiences free and accessible because we never wanted finances to become a barrier between people and nature. While that mission has remained incredibly meaningful and impactful, it also means that sustaining and scaling the work can be difficult at times.

As the organization has organically grown into multiple cities and chapters across the country, the needs have grown significantly as well. Supporting conservation projects, trail restoration efforts, educational programming, wellness experiences, volunteer coordination, gear storage, transportation, permits, safety infrastructure, and expansion into new communities all require resources and long-term sustainability.

A lot of what we’ve built has been powered through pure community effort, creativity, sacrifice, and people pouring into the mission because they genuinely believe in it. We’ve always been very DIY and grassroots in our approach, which is something I’m proud of, but there have definitely been moments where balancing growth, sustainability, and burnout became challenging.

Another obstacle has simply been proving that a community-centered outdoor organization rooted in accessibility, creativity, wellness, conservation, and culture could exist outside of traditional models. In the beginning, some people did not fully understand what we were building because it blended so many different worlds together. We were combining conservation with music, wellness, storytelling, community organizing, climbing, trail running, restoration work, women-led programming, and free outdoor experiences. But over time, people began seeing the vision and understanding that the outdoors can be a powerful bridge for healing, education, creativity, and community transformation.

Even through those challenges, the growth and support from the community has continued reminding us why this work matters. Every obstacle has helped strengthen the mission and deepen our intention moving forward.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’ve always considered myself an experience creator at heart. Even back in high school, I was constantly organizing things throwing house parties to raise funds for charity projects(giving back to nature, buying hiking shoes & backpacks for children in pueblos in Mexico who have to hike to school), bringing people together, creating moments, and chasing ideas that made people feel inspired, connected, and alive. I’ve always been deeply driven by creativity, storytelling, music, community, and creating environments where people can genuinely experience something meaningful.

That mindset naturally led me into the entertainment and creative industries. Early on, I worked as a production assistant at Jimmy Kimmel Live, where I got firsthand experience seeing large-scale productions and creative collaboration come to life. From there, I eventually stepped deeper into music, festival culture, fashion, and event production, later becoming an event producer working alongside Steve Aoki and Dim Mak Records.

During those years, I helped work on festivals, events, music releases, marketing campaigns, fashion collaborations, and creative experiences across places like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, and beyond. I also had the opportunity to help support and produce early events connected to artists and collectives such as AC Slater’s Night Bass movement during its earlier growth stages. I spent years immersed in environments where creativity moved fast and ideas constantly evolved, whether through music, nightlife, festivals, storytelling, branding, or community experiences.

What I realized over time, though, was that the thing I loved most was not just entertainment itself, but creating experiences that genuinely moved people emotionally and brought communities together in meaningful ways. That realization ultimately became one of the foundations for We Explore Earth.

To this day, I still consider myself an experience creator above all else. I continue dabbling in many creative worlds including event production, storytelling, creative direction, branding, photography, fashion, clothing design, community organizing, outdoor education, conservation experiences, wellness gatherings, and artistic collaborations. I’ve never liked putting myself into one single box creatively because I believe creativity works best when it flows freely between worlds and disciplines.

I think what sets me apart most is the ability to blend creativity, culture, community, and purpose together in ways that feel authentic and emotionally impactful. Whether it’s a conservation project, a moonlit hike, a music performance in nature, a community cleanup, a wellness retreat, or a large-scale Earth Day festival, I approach everything with the same intention: creating experiences that help people reconnect with themselves, with each other, and with the world around them.

At the end of the day, I’m most proud of building something that has inspired thousands of people to step outdoors, connect with community, care for the Earth, and realize that meaningful experiences do not have to be exclusive, expensive, or disconnected from purpose. Creativity has always been the bridge that allowed me to help bring those worlds together.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Risk-taking has honestly been one of the biggest foundations of my life and creative journey. Even my name, Will, feels connected to that mindset. I’ve always been someone who thinks outside the box, trusts intuition, and believes that sometimes you simply have to take the leap before everything feels perfectly figured out.

I’m definitely someone who believes in planning, processing, and preparing as best as possible, but I also believe there are moments where you have to trust your gut, trust the vision, and move forward even when there’s uncertainty involved. A lot of the most meaningful things in my life and in We Explore Earth came from taking those kinds of risks.

In the early years of We Explore Earth, I personally poured over $20,000 of my own money into helping build the organization, often without any guarantee that things would work out. At the time, we had no major funding, no large sponsorships, and no roadmap for what this could eventually become. We simply had intention, passion, community, and belief in what we were building. Looking back now and seeing thousands of people impacted, multiple chapters forming organically across the country, and a movement that continues growing year after year, I can honestly say those risks were worth it.

To me, risk-taking is not always about recklessness. It’s about believing deeply enough in something that you’re willing to invest your time, energy, creativity, resources, and heart into it even when success is not guaranteed. Time itself is a risk because time is one of the most valuable things we have. Every volunteer, teammate, organizer, artist, and community member who pours into We Explore Earth is taking a risk in their own way by choosing to believe in something bigger than themselves.

I think some of the most beautiful things in life happen when people are willing to trust their vision and take meaningful risks rooted in purpose, community, and love. We Explore Earth itself is proof of that.

Pricing:

• Community hikes: Free ninety-nine.
• Conservation projects: Free, just bring good energy and gloves if you have them.
• Full Moon Experiences: Paid for in moonlight, kindness, and community.
• Cost of joining the movement: Respect nature, respect people, and leave places better than you found them.
• Real pricing: Thousands of volunteer hours, community care, passion, and love poured into protecting the outdoors together.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://weexploreearth.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weexploreearth?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/iamwillv?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Image Credits
William Vazquez IG: @iamwillv