Today we’d like to introduce you to Veronica Lopez.
Hi Veronica, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Growing up I never really got to experience camping, hiking, or traveling in general. I generally never really went out when I grew up, I mainly focused on school and played video games in my spare time. When I was in community college, I meant some friends from San Pedro that showed me around Palos Verdes, CA. That was the first time I hiked. Other than Palos Verdes, I never really knew of any other places to hike. Then a couple of years later the Covid-19 pandemic started. I downloaded TikTok and I was mind blown because I started to see there were so many locations to hike here in Southern California. I never knew many of the places I have now hiked even existed. My first official hike in the mountains was Mount Lowe, and now that will forever be my favorite hike. It was the first time I ever saw cloud inversion and I got obsessed ever since with hiking.
Then I started making TikTok videos, Reels, and posts about my adventures because I am passionate about showing others like myself all the beautiful places we have here near LA and all over California. I then started my 52 hike challenge. I got to explore many places all over California during my challenge. Then my next step was making a hiking group and I started with just a women’s hiking group. I wanted to create a safe space for women to come together and hike. I have recently changed my group hikes to be coed because of many requests and it has also been a success. My main goal with the group hikes was to bring people together because many like myself I did not always have friends who were willing to wake up at let’s say 2am to go hike by 3am. I had many people come solo and they made friends during the hikes and still hike together till this day. That makes me happy that I was able to make that happen with the group, and I have also made lots of friends through my group hikes. It feels like family and it is so comfortable. I never would have thought I would make such an impact in people’s lives.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest challenge was putting myself out there. I am very shy and quiet so starting a group hike was huge for me because I was never really good at public speaking. The more I did the group hikes the more I felt comfortable and then seeing my regulars also made it easier for me.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I currently work a 9-5 job as a Case Manager at a Non-Profit in Los Angeles, CA. In my spare time, I do collaborations with companies promoting the outdoors. I would hope to one day be a full-time content creator. I am known for being passionate and caring. I am most proud of being the first generation in my family to graduate from a University. What sets me apart from others is how humble and caring I am. I am very passionate about helping others whether that be with my clients at my job or my followers on social media.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson I have learned is it is better to be overly prepared than to not be prepared at all. Especially with hiking I rather have “too much” than too little because it can make a difference in case of an emergency.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: exploringwithvee
- Other: TikTok: exploringwithvee
