Chandra Brown, Part 2 - Teaching & Learning in the West's Wildest Landscapes
I met Chandra Brown through the podcast more than four years ago, and with each passing year, I’ve been more and more inspired by her life and work. You may remember that she’s the founder of Freeflow Institute, a Montana-based organization that curates immersive outdoor learning experiences in Earth’s wildest classrooms. What started with combining summer river trips with writing workshops taught by some of the West’s greatest authors has turned into a year-round, immersive curriculum that incorporates many forms of art and storytelling.
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If you’ve listened to a lot of Mountain & Prairie episodes, then you will recognize many past and present Freeflow Instructors– Hal Herring, Bill deBuys, Chris La Tray, Heather Hansman, Anna Brones, Brendan Leonard, Alexis Bonogofsky, and Elliott Woods. And you’ll also recognize the Freeflow classrooms, which include the Salmon River, Green River, Big Blackfoot River, San Juan Islands, and the canyon country of Southwest Colorado. The overlap between what Chandra has built at Freeflow and what we’re all doing here in Mountain & Prairie is significant, so I was excited to have Chandra join me for another conversation.
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If you want to hear more about Chandra’s upbringing in Alaska and her fascinating life trajectory, I’d encourage you to go back and listen to our first episode. But also feel free to dive right into this conversation, as we had a wonderful chat about everything from cold water plunges to Freeflow’s growth and evolution to the challenges of running a small business during the pandemic years. We discuss some of the upcoming courses for this calendar year, Freeflow’s scholarship program, the importance of pursuing one’s own creative endeavors, and how Chandra and grown as a person over the past four years.
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I’d also be crazy not to mention that I’m leading a Freeflow course late this summer, down the Green River in Utah, through Gates of Ladore and Dinosaur National Monument. We’ll be focused on the power of optimistic storytelling, and how storytelling can be used to effect change here in the West and beyond. You can check out the link in the episode notes to learn more, but my course is limited to 12 people, and it’s already filling up. But even if you’re not interested in spending a week with me, I’d encourage you to check out all the courses and the scholarship opportunities. I wish I could go on all the courses!
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Thanks for listening. Hope you enjoy!
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- Freeflow Institute
- Ed's Summer 2023 Freeflow Course
- All Freeflow Courses
- Chandra's first M&P episode
- Full episode notes and links: https://mountainandprairie.com/chandra-brown-2/
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This episode is brought to you in partnership with my friends at Stonefly Nets - Handcrafted Fishing Nets Made in Arkansas
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TOPICS DISCUSSED:
- 4:00 - Chandra’s most recent trip with Anna Brones
- 6:15 - How cold water became a part of Chandra’s life and practice
- 9:44 - An overview of Freeflow Institute and how it came to be
- 12:00 - How Freeflow has evolved
- 14:45 - Whether Freeflow’s evolution was more due to Chandra’s planning or her flexibility
- 16:30 - Chandra’s advice for someone thinking of quitting their steady job to build something new
- 19:45 - The business owners and creatives Chandra admires
- 22:45 - How the Freeflow Foundation came to be
- 25:15 - Some available scholarships through the Freeflow Foundation
- 27:45 - Running through some of the currently available Freeflow courses, with a brief tangent into dishwashing habits
- 30:45 - What makes a Freeflow Institute course successful for participants
- 34:00 - Success stories from past courses
- 41:30 - How Freeflow has changed Chandra
- 46:45 - Freeflow’s podcast and creative services
- 50:00 - Chandra’s book recommendations
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