Chad Meynders, Founder

There was a period of time when my wife was suicidal. We had three little kids, I was burning the candle at both ends at my corporate job, and I was watching my best friend fade away under depression while being powerless to save her. I had no idea if my spouse would be alive the next day or what I would do if she wasn’t. I was deeply worried about her and our family and did everything I could, but I was myself a tangled mess of anger, empathy, shame, and stress. I felt broken and alone with no way forward and no way out. 

One day I had a friend come over and he asked if there was anything he could do for me. I desperately wanted someone to talk to but I didn’t have the skills to articulate how I was feeling or what I was going through. Looking back, I wish he would have known how to stay a second longer, look a little closer, ask me the right questions, and listen. That was the help that I needed, but he left quickly and I didn’t get that chance. 

Instead, I learned how to talk from riding my bike. I would instinctively turn to my bike to relieve stress. Getting my body moving and my heart pumping, turning down the noise and seeing the beauty of nature gave me time to reflect. It helped me untangle my knot of emotions and cleared my vision. I could talk about my inner life with friends on the trail and I no longer felt hopeless or alone. Those conversations in the outdoors saved me. 

Using my 15 years of experience in corporate finance, I created Outdoor Talk because I want to help people talk. I know what it’s like to to feel powerless and broken and don’t want anyone to go through what I did—being stuck without the tools to express yourself and left to figure out inner life on your own. I believe in the power of evidence-based practices, education, connection, and the outdoors to both change the lives of individuals and empower them to talk better. I promise that you are not alone. You are not broken. You can transform your life. Let’s talk. 

I want to help people talk.