Meet Madison Powers of LA Hike Club

Today we’d like to introduce you to Madison Powers.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Madison. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in LA the majority of my life but I also grew up all over: Virginia, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, you name it. I grew up loving the outdoors and being active, from swimming in lakes to horseback riding. Despite the fact that I grew up in mostly cities, I was always secretly a country girl at heart. So it sort of makes sense that I would start a hike club, in the heart of Los Angeles.

I really didn’t get into hiking until about five years ago living in LA as an adult working as a tv producer on sets, I really wanted to spend my time on the weekends, outside. A couple of my friends and I would always try to get out and go hiking on the weekends, the regular spots, Runyon or Temescal. We used to joke around and call ourselves “Hike Club.”

Those weekend hikes were always a really joyous time, it was an opportunity to not only work out but also a chance to be social. We’d often lament while hiking that we wished we didn’t have to go to bars to hang out with or meet people and longed for a social life built around working out, self-care, and well… Korean spas. And I think with LA Hike Club we’re about halfway there, we just need to start Spa Club next…

We really didn’t set out to start LA’s official Hike Club, it was more just a passing idea…about a year and half ago, my friend Andrea (who along with Kelsey Lynn, is one of my partners in Hike Club) called me up and said I have an idea. Andrea pitched we throw a hike, like as a social event, and invite people we know, and tell friends they can bring friends etc… That was the first official Hike Club. We never dreamed it would turn into a monthly thing with the public. But I think it goes to show, there were a lot of people out there longing for the same thing we were, and we were lucky enough to be able to tap into that.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The biggest adjustments I think has been just keeping up with it. It has grown at such a fast pace the three of us (Andrea Rojas, Kelsey Lynn and I) run it ourselves, but we also have full-time jobs.

I really can’t say it’s been a bumpy road, its been surprising smooth. We’ve had some insane luck and opportunities that just felt like they fell in our laps, and I think that’s what happens when you’re on the right path. I mean don’t get me wrong, the three of us work our butts off, but it’s always felt like we’ve had a bit of magic on our side too.

Please tell us about LA Hike Club.
LA Hike Club throws monthly curated hikes around Los Angeles, think of it as a really fun hike where you get to explore a different trail in LA every time, spend time in nature and meet a new group of people. We usually have about 50 people on the hikes, it’s a bit of revolving door, so while you’ll usually see familiar faces, there’s always a bunch of new people there too, which keeps it really fresh and fun. Lately we’ve been trying to do more cause driven hikes, for example we just did a hike where we helped raise fund for inner city music programs, with a kid run popsicle company called Jiggy Pop. And we also worked with Treepeople to get our community to come help restore the forest after the fire devastation.

And on top of our public monthly hikes, we also lead private hikes for brands, corporations and social clubs, it’s a great way to bond and I think it’s the kind of event that’s easy, accessible and appeals to everyone.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I’m a big believer in that you learn from every mistake, and every mistake brings you to where you are today, so not sure if I’d want a do over. But I would say the biggest lesson so far has been not to take too much on because then you start to do everything mediocre. I think Sheryl Sandberg said something like that in Lean In, that at Facebook they only work on two projects a time for that very reason.

Another thing I’ve learned along the way is, don’t be afraid to invent an entirely new workflow. I think we realized along the way we were doing a lot of unnecessary busywork. Now I ask myself before doing something, will this make a difference? Is this vital? Or is there a better use of my time? I think we’re always trying to find the time, so cutting back on unnecessary work has been a huge lesson and time saver. And most importantly don’t underestimate your worth and the service you provide.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lahikeclub/?hl=en

Image Credit:
Kelsey Lynn, Vivian Kim

Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.