Meet Mark Lowe | Resident Outdoorsman

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mark Lowe and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mark, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I had experienced the loss of my beautiful English Field Lab, Booker. He was born almost entirely blind, and was taken from us very young, and very quickly, by oral melanoma. Being an avid outdoorsman myself, He was my right-hand-man, never allowing his disability to get in the way of joining on our next adventure – and we definitely got into some risky situations. I have a background in manufacturing, production, and communication. With those skillsets I began designing, and developing products that helped us on our outdoor adventures. It became clear early on that Booker would become the face of our brand, Blind Bear Outdoors. His nickname was given to him by the many who met him, because he was so Bear-like, they’d say “he is one big Blind Bear, so the monicker stuck – he became The Blind Bear of Blind Bear Outdoors. Our motto became Find Your Element, because once Booker was diagnosed with cancer we knew we didn’t have much time with him, so I would get him out into all of the Elements he loved, and often we took new individuals to introduce them to a new Element as well. Blind Bear Outdoors – Find Your Element was born. We would lose Booker several months after establishing the business, and continued helping people Find Their Element, as a way to remember him.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have always enjoyed working with my hands, working with people, and finding absolute joy in the success of those around me. Engaging with a career in manufacturing, production, and communication has afforded me the fulfillment of all of those interests – each working off of the other. My career in these fields taught me that as a leader, my team will be more successful and unified when I take an active interest in their realized success, and when I take hands-on steps to perform their jobs with them and provide support. During my career I was most proud and excited to see the willingness of people to work with me. That doesn’t mean that every conceivable person I worked with was an easy case, but with the majority we made some incredible products in manufacturing. Many times during the pursuit of a career we see the most growth when overcoming our own roadblocks. For me, it was my Father-in-Law who taught that when I’m stuck in my own despair and disappointment, I need to look at how much I need to suffer before I am willing to change things. What that meant was, anyone can make efforts to change their situation, and or way of thinking when they have suffered enough – before that happens, it’s just complaining. I would love for people to understand that Blind Bear Outdoors represents inclusion, high quality, and most of all the joy of what everyone can learn in Finding Their Element in the outdoors – there is endless skill, talent, and knowledge out there that will permanently benefit them in their lives. Look to Booker, and his story – don’t allow difficulties and or disabilities prevent you from living your most fulfilling existence, you absolutely deserve it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
That’s definitely an easy one. Day one: we are heading out to hit the Weber River in the Taggert area for a day on the Fly (fishing), where we’ll put the smack down on some excellent Brown and Tiger trout. We’ll grab a sweet sweet meal at Taggert’s Grill while up there – it’s just the place to be. We’ll be back home to hangout and barbecue those delicious trout for dinner, and maybe a few refreshments. Day Two: we are absolutely in the mountains near Morgan County for some shooting practice, possibly some upland hunting (if season permits), and ringing some steel. Then a travel through Echo to Park City, and hit The Distillery for some drinks, food, and overall enjoyable rustic ambiance – keeping in mind everywhere that’s being mentioned is no more than 45 mins maximum from the other. Maybe a tour through Salt Lake toward The Copper Onion for an excellent dinner experience that evening. Day Three: relaxing day for drive up to Sundance, and Provo Canyon, finding some sweet little dives up through Heber and Midway. We’d be hitting bed early to get up for Day Four, where we are heading out to Duchesne County for some spin-fishing hookups on some bull-sized brown trout off Starvation Res. It’s definitely a full-day event, so food on-the-go is the order of the day, until that evening where we’ll hit Este Pizza before walking across the street for some refreshments at BAR X. Day five comes in up in the Uinta’s, with loaded out kayaks in a few of the crystal clear lakes, for a gradual cruise for whatever bites – just a long day on the clear clean still water. These are definitely just a few of the MUST-DO’s when visitors arrive.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are several people whom I met from previous work, and family who showed their support and encouragement early on when Blind Bear Outdoors was just something in my head. Many are still very involved with the company and its development, even as Guides – those people are my wife, Alexis, my brother Mike, and of course my designers and developers Mike, Diana, Mark, Max, Cody, Caleb, Buddy, and Max.

Website: Blind Bear outdoors.com

Instagram: Blind Bear Outdoors

Linkedin: Mark Lowe / Blind Bear Outdoors

Youtube: Blind Bear Outdoors / @blindbearoutdoors7644

Image Credits
Michael Swain
Diana Wilkerson