May 28 • General discussion
You take people outside. That's not a small thing.
Whether you're leading a forest school, running a nature program, guiding youth through wilderness, or simply showing up week after week for kids who need the outdoors, you are doing some of the most important work there is. And yet, so much of what you carry as a leader, you carry quietly.
The uncertainty. The hard days. The parent who questions your every move. The kid who pushes every boundary. The moments when you wonder if you're doing it right, or if you even want to keep doing it at all.
Earth Guides exists because you deserve a place to put that down.
A Community Built for People Who Lead Outside
This is a private, members-only space for outdoor educators, nature guides, camp leaders, and anyone who takes others, especially young people, into the wild world. Our content is rooted in youth programming, but the wisdom here is deeply transferable to anyone who leads in nature, at any age, with any population.
We are inclusive, welcoming, and real. All walks of life. All experience levels. All the questions you've been afraid to ask out loud.
Who Brought This to Life
Earth Guides was founded by Jamie Black, outdoor guide, mentor, behaviour interventionist, and someone who has spent over 27 years in the field leading people through wilderness, water, caves, forests, and the beautiful mess of human development.
Jamie holds a Master's degree in Environmental Education and Communication and has worked with youth across a wide spectrum of learning styles and life circumstances, including neurodivergent populations. The work behind Earth Guides isn't theoretical, it's lived, tested, and hard-won.
What We're Exploring Together
Think of Earth Guides as going down the best kind of rabbit holes, the ones that make you a better leader, a more grounded human, and someone who actually sustains this work long-term.
Topics already in the mix (and growing every week):
- Self-confidence in the field - owning your role, even on the hard days
- Leadership comfort - feeling at home in your authority without performing it
- Burnout and tap-out prevention - because the land needs guides who last
- Letting go of assumptions - about your participants, your parents, yourself
- Self-care that actually works - for people who are too busy caring for others
- Navigating adult dynamics - how to hold your ground with adults who challenge or undermine you
- Talking to parents - with confidence, clarity, and care
- And so much more - this list grows weekly, shaped by what you bring to it
This Is a Safe Space for Hard Conversations
The outdoors asks us to be present, adaptable, and brave. This community asks the same thing, but for the inner landscape.
We hope you find this a safe place to talk about the things that don't get talked about enough in this field. The doubts. The near-misses. The relational complexity of leading humans. The grief of programs that end. The joy that makes it all worth it.
You are not alone in any of it.
Have a Topic You Want to Explore?
This community is shaped by its members. If there's something on your mind, a challenge you're facing, a question you can't find answers to, a situation you'd love to workshop, bring it. We will get there.
May your journey with the Earth be fulfilling.
Jamie Black & the Earth Guides Community
Earth Guides is hosted on the traditional, unceded territory of the Ligʷiɫdaχʷ people and the traditional, treaty and unceded territory of the We Wai Kai First Nations. We are grateful to learn and gather on this land.
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You take people outside. That's not a small thing.
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