Adventure Trailblazer Spotlight: 3 Questions for Toad&Co.’s Gordon Seabury

For Gordon Seabury, CEO of Toad&Co., it’s always been about more than making clothes. “We’re committed to helping push the apparel industry to a cleaner future, supporting programs to save the planet we all love, and providing opportunities for people with disabilities,” he tells us, from its headquarters in Santa Barbara, California. It’s one of the reasons the company has longstanding partnerships with 1% for the Planet, Conservation Alliance, and of course, the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund (ATCF). In fact, the company has made a significant and ongoing financial commitment to the ATCF as an Adventure Leader. And Seabury is on the board of directors and the organization’s treasurer. “We believe that if we all work together to make conscious choices, it means a brighter, more joyful future for all of us.”

1. Toad&Co. has been a big supporter of the ATCF since the beginning. Why?

I believe in connecting eco-tourism (experience) and responsible outdoor brands (product) to maximize responsible traveler’s adventures and minimize their overall impact. The ATCF sits at the intersection of these two communities and includes a third, the people in the destinations travelers visit. These two thoughtful industries working together can change how we travel and positively impact the communities we touch. Our actions with regard to our remaining beautiful landscapes matter a great deal. We can lose the planet to short-sighted exploitation and extraction. Or, we can act to protect destinations and their communities to be cherished, long-lasting and empowered for the future. The ATCF helps companies like ours focus and amplify our efforts.

2. Can travel gear and clothing companies play a bigger role in protecting places and people? What kind of things is Toad&Co doing in that regard?

Yes! We’ve demonstrated this in different ways over the years including the creation of our Search for Adventure program – a unique travel program to facilitate vacations for adults with disabilities; participation in the Outdoor CEO Diversity Pledge to increase diversity and inclusion within our own walls and the outdoor community at large; and continually raising awareness of ways to travel sustainably. And we believe doing good doesn’t have to be dutiful; it can be fun. For example, some of our clothing tags carry the tagline “Dirty is the New Clean,” and our blog reminds consumers to “wear more, wash less” and offers eco laundry tips.

3. Tell us about a trip that changed you or your thinking?

There have been many that have evolved my thinking, but recently I was invited on a wilderness paddle adventure in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, with a group of leaders advocating for its protection led by Steve Barker, founder of Eagle Creek [and board chair of the ATCF]. Of course the vastness, the beauty of the place, seeing nature in its pure undisturbed form, and most vividly, feeling part of the food chain versus on top of it, was unforgettable. But what struck me most was our stopover in Arctic Village, the home of an indigenous community that depended on both the preservation of these wild lands and on the sustainable tourism that visited their home. It had never been so clear how interconnected we all are and thus how much needs to be done to build awareness, respect, and protections for these delicate ecosystems that sustain the planet we all live on.