Today we’d like to introduce you to Emmeline Wang.
Hi Emmeline, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Emmeline, and I am a passionate rock climber and advocate for the outdoors. As a kid, I can vividly remember getting put into various summer sports camps and going on annual family camping trips to Yosemite National Park. While I didn’t fully appreciate the outdoors as I do now, being immersed in nature opened a part of my inner child that still resonates closely with me every time I explore outside.
Throughout my teenage years and young adulthood, I played softball, and it wasn’t until after college graduation that I had to search for and re-discover my identity. I tried various activities like CrossFit and GoRuck endurance events and realized that it wasn’t a sustainable sport I could keep up with. When I was working in coffee, I met a friend who introduced me to climbing as an adult. After my first time climbing with her, I was hooked and immediately signed up for a membership at my local gym.
While living in California (that’s where I’m from), I was a weekend warrior, determined to make it out each weekend to different climbing destinations like Bishop, Yosemite, or Lake Tahoe. I wanted to move out of state so badly. When my job was going south, and I had been dating my partner, Joanne for some time, we decided that Salt Lake City was going to be our new home. Since living in Utah for almost three years now, we’ve come to deeply fall in love with how accessible the outdoors are. My passion for climbing deepened, and I was getting outside with every opportunity I had and still continue to today. From pouring my everything into my passion for climbing and connecting with others, it’s led me to become an athlete, model, and freelance writer. I am forever grateful for the gifts that climbing and the outdoors have given me.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
As a minority in almost all areas, I’ve felt self-conscious in many areas of my life. As an LGBTQ+ Asian American woman, I’ve experienced micro-aggressions at various times in my life, including in climbing. As a kid playing softball, I was typically the younger one on the team and have been bullied by my peers which enabled me to feel on edge until I entered college. As an rock climber today, it hasn’t always been an easy road to get to where I am today. Being sponsored by companies and writing stories for outdoor companies as a freelance writer outside of my day job has been an interesting path to navigate, especially when most of the individuals I interact with are cis-white individuals who may not share a similar or relatable experience growing up.
Although I’ve faced challenges growing up and even today, when I recreate in the outdoors, I use my differences as a way to relate to and help mentor others who are in the LGBTQ space.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I work as a Social Media Manager at All Trails and advocate for everyone to have access to the outdoors. I love my job because it compliments my life so well. Nature has been so healing for me, especially when I go for hikes and climb with friends. With my job, the work comes naturally because of how passionate I am about the outdoors. Many times, it doesn’t actually feel like work because I enjoy what I do, and I love the people I work with.
My proudest accomplishment as a rock climber who balances her day job with freelancing with outdoor brands is when I had the opportunity to share my story on Patagonia’s Cleanest Line where I talk about finding the intersection between my identity as a climber, LGBTQ, and Asian American woman.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Relationship building. When I was 18, my mentor in business shared an invaluable book that changed my life. How to Win Friends and Influence People has been influential in my life, guiding me in fostering close relationships. I firmly believe that if you treat others with respect, kindness, gratitude, and loyalty, you can build meaningful bonds with others who will have your back through and through. People are everything. Without relationships, I would be utterly lost.
Pricing:
- Writing – $1 per word
Contact Info:
- Website: www.emmelinewang.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmelinewang/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emmelinew422/
Image Credits
Rachel Ross
George Bruce Wilson
