Friends in Misadventures

 Zoe Balaconis, Marybeth Campeau, Jessica Malordy, founders of Misadventures, an outdoor and adventure magazine for women

When I discovered Misadventures online, I thought, 'hmmmm... outdoorsy, adventurous... they sound like our kind of peeps!' So I reached out  to say hello and introduce the Misadventures crew to SpinSheet. We're going to trade stories and such in the future, but in the meantime, learn a bit about what got these entrepreneurs started... in someone's kitchen "office," just like we got started 21 years ago...

In November 2013, after years of subscribing to top outdoor-industry magazines and rarely seeing women on the pages or in the bylines, Zoe Balaconis, Marybeth Campeau, and Jessica Malordy had had enough. According to the Outdoor Foundation, 50% of the 143 million Americans who get outdoors are women, and college-age women even surpass their male peers in outdoor activities. But you would never guess this from the looks of outdoor magazines, which almost always skew strongly toward a male audience and predominantly feature male athletes and adventurers, publish male writers and photographers, provide reviews of men’s gear, etc.

So Zoe, Marybeth, and Jessica—who first became friends as freshmen in college, before reuniting in their twenties—decided to take matters into their own hands. They founded Misadventures, an outdoor and adventure magazine for women. Though the magazine got its start on Zoe’s kitchen floor, it quickly grew into a full-fledged online community and a print publication.

Misadventures’ second issue is due in June 2016, and it will be increasing circulation fivefold in order to be stocked in independent bookstores and Barnes & Noble Booksellers across the country starting in mid-July.

Good luck, Zoe, Marybeth, and Jessica! ~M.W.