AMA with AMA: How to become a gear tester!

*and anything else you want to be

Dear Kula Diaries,

I have some really great news for you. There is a way for you to become a gear tester. I have absolutely no idea how … but I’m going to help you figure that out.

I’ve seen so many articles about HOW to become a gear tester — and they often give very well meaning advice… but it’s usually just somebody else regurgitating their own step-by-step process… and expecting it to work exactly the same for you. Here’s the truth: trying to replicate the path of somebody else is not your path. Your path to becoming a gear tester is going to be a unique trail that you get to carve out on your own.

But don’t worry — because it’s going to be WAY more fun and WAY less frustrating than trying to cut and paste somebody else’s experience. I still remember when I took a class many years ago called, ‘How to become a full time blogger’. The instructor of the class meant very well, but she basically outlined the exact steps that she followed to become a profitable blogger. And so, without taking the time to craft my own vision for what I wanted to create, I just started ‘copying’ her steps… and guess what? It will probably not be much of a surprise to you that my blog never got much traction. Since I was essentially imitating somebody else’s process, it never felt like mine. It didn’t feel like it was coming from me… because, it wasn’t. In the interest of being completely transparent and vulnerable… I’m going to share a few photographs from my failed attempt at blogging… which included a photo series where I tried on horrible outfits in dressing rooms… and a single-attempt at becoming a successful food blogger by sharing one recipe for roasted kombucha squash chunks (bake at 375 degrees… that’s it) and eggplant miniature pizzas. Needless to say, the $275 that I spent on the blog class brought me right back to where I started… feeling frustrated and blogless.

Unbelievably, my attempt a fashion and food blog never took off.

Maybe you’ve felt the same way about starting an outdoor gear testing brand… or writing gear reviews… or anything else that you want to create. In this post, I’m going to articulate a method, not an exact path, that will help YOU create your own journey… experience… and adventure as a gear tester (or as anything else that you want to be). All you have to do is follow the general method…. and then let the specific details fill in the blanks. It’s really easy and it consistently and predictably works for everybody. It will be really fun, exhilarating, rewarding and exciting and you are going to feel unbelievably eager and excited about allowing this gear testing opportunity (and other cool stuff) to come to you.

Here’s a brief summary of the method you’ll follow:

Wait… allowing it to come to YOU?

“Anastasia…are you trying to say that I’m not going to have to go out and frantically pitch myself over and over until some random gear company or outdoor blog takes pity on me and lets me test their gear?” Yes… that’s exactly what I’m saying. The gear companies… the gear review blogs… the social media folks… they are going to find YOU. How? I have no idea — but this wouldn’t be as much fun if it weren’t full of surprises and twists and turns.

So, let go of your current beliefs about how to become a gear tester… and just trust me. Take a deep breath and close your eyes and just take four slow inhales and exhales as you feel the aliveness within your body. Seriously… I’ll wait…

Meeting the new you

If you’re reading this article, I’m going to assume that you are currently not testing gear (or you’re just curious). And that’s the perfect place to be. You don’t need to have any specific experience… any special skills… you just need to be exactly who you are.

The first step in this process is to begin to see and feel the gear testing version of yourself. This is the most important step in the entire process, because if you cannot see yourself as a gear tester RIGHT NOW… it’ll never happen. So, we are going to ignore your current reality (in which you are not a gear tester)… and focus a little bit more on the reality in your imagination — where you are an thriving, enthusiastic, sought-after, and adventure-loving gear tester. It’s easy to want to jump immediately into action and start sending out media pitches left and right… but trust me. If you are currently in the, ‘I want to be a gear tester but also really focused on the fact that I’m not’ phase of your existence… your pitches will very quickly become computer recycle bin content. This has nothing to do with your ability to write or to test gear… and everything to do with the energy that you are radiating out into the world.

So, what should you do first? You need to start with a VISION. Take some time out of your day (and I’m serious — you legitimately have to sit down and do this exercise) to write down a PRESENT-TENSE or PAST-TENSE version of your ideal-self as a gear tester. Why present or past tense (and not future tense)? When you talk about something in the present tense you are acknowledging the real-ness of this experience. When you talk about something in the past tense, you are remembering something that already happened. In both cases — you are seeing and feeling this version of you as if it has already happened. We will avoid future tense, because that pushes off your gear testing into an unknown future.

The gown-clad gear testing version of me. Just felt right for this post.

If I were writing this vision for myself (from my perspective about 7 years ago), it would look something like this:

My name is Anastasia Allison and, among other things, I test outdoor gear. I work with outdoor magazines and blogs and gear companies — and I spend my days planning adventures and feeling really excited and enthusiastic about getting to try new gear. I love working with outdoor gear companies and I love getting to try out their new products and write reviews of them. My favorite memories are the times when my husband and I go on backpacking trips together and in the evenings, I sit near my tent and I look out over a beautiful sunrise or an alpine lake and I jot down my testing notes for the day. I feel really invigorated and excited — like I’m doing exactly what I was meant to do. I love writing poetry about the gear that I test, and I have fun sharing those poems with my social media followers…. I also write a personal blog about my adventures on the trail and what it’s like to test gear. I also have the opportunity to meet so many new and fun people in the outdoor industry and I’ve loved making new friends who share similar interests. I love when people ask me about my favorite gear — and I love that I can honestly help them find the gear that will allow them to enjoy their own outdoor adventures more. I go to outdoor events and I get to collaborate with other gear companies — giving classes about backpacking and teaching people how to connect with themselves more deeply in the wilderness. Every single day when I wake up I feel energized and alive — like I can’t wait to see what happens next, and what new thing I get to try or experience. Being a gear tester feels easy and fun and playful and relaxing — it’s a feeling of being able to be myself, exactly how I am… and just trusting that things will keep working out for me in fun and unexpected ways. I don’t know everything that’s coming, but I just keep doing all the things that feel fun — and I keep seeing what happens!

Phew!! Isn’t that invigorating? It’s SO FUN to really allow yourself to truly envision what this might look and feel like for you — without needing to know how it is going to happen. Keep in mind that gear testing might just be a tiny piece of what you want to create — maybe it’s a blog… or a social media account… or a thriving online community… or a YouTube channel… or a podcast… it doesn’t matter what it is… just let your imagination run wild and see what feels the most fun and inspiring to YOU. Most people get stuck on the ‘how’ of something — they try to figure out how it will all happen… and I want you to let go of the how. Let go of needing to know, and just find a deep feeling of trust that as you continue to envision this version of yourself… the way will reveal itself to you (trust me).

The most serious portrait I’ve ever taken - ha!

Now that you have established your vision — I want you to take a few minutes — maybe even 5-10 minutes to really allow yourself to feel the realness of this vision. What does this look like? I’ll give you a few suggestions… but it is going to be up to you to find a way that feels fun… keeping in mind that you might come up with something entirely new that I haven’t listed here:

1. Close your eyes and see yourself living your ideal day as a gear tester. “Watch’ yourself from the moment that you wake up in the morning until the moment you go to bed… and see if you can visualize a very tactile experience of what this opportunity feels like to you. If it helps, you can do this in silence — or you can listen to music and close your eyes if that makes it easier… experiment until you can find a way that works for you.

2. Talk out loud to yourself about your new role as a gear tester. I will often do ‘fake podcast interviews’ with myself… so, for instance, pretend that a podcaster or reporter has asked you the following question: “Tell me exactly what your day looks like as a gear tester!” … and then answer the question, as if you are answering a question to a real interviewer. How does the gear tester version of yourself answer this question? Really get into character and play it out!

3. Start testing gear on your own! You don’t need to be sponsored to be a gear tester. Take your gear… go out and hike… and BE THE GEAR TESTER now. Start taking notes on your gear and sharing them in a way that feels fun to you. See what you can do to EMBODY the gear-testing version of yourself right now… from exactly where you are. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never written an article or tested gear ever in your life. Every single person on this earth has a unique lens through which they can look at the world - and how you see the world matters very much. You have a unique and precious voice that you can bring to EVERYTHING that you do.

4. Create a vision board for your new role as a gear tester — feel free to include anything/everything that looks fun to you… try and really focus in on what you want this experience to look and feel like… so include photos of YOU… and make sure that the image allows you to see yourself in the role. You could even write your first gear testing blurb and include it in a magazine (Canva has some fake magazine templates that you can use to get started!). Here’s an example of a gear testing vision board that I made based on my vision:

   

Once you’ve spent time writing down your vision… and visualizing the realness of this new adventure… it’s time to pinpoint the feelings of the gear testing version of you. Look over your vision and reflect on your visualization and see if you can extract the feelings of this new role as a gear tester. Remember to use your words (not mine), but possible feelings based on my own visualization would be:

• A feeling of excitement and exhilaration

• A feeling of connection

• Fun!

• Exploration and adventure

• Love, interest and passion

• A feeling of satisfaction and ease

• A feeling that I can be myself

• A feeling of clarity about my life — like everything is clicking into place

• A feeling of freedom — I can make my own schedule and do things that feel fun to me and I work for myself

Now that you’ve identified the feelings that you experienced when you visualized your perfect day as a gear tester… it’s time to start feeling them and harvesting them right now, from exactly where you are. As you identify these feelings — look at your current life situation and ask yourself this question: What can I do from exactly where I am right now to feel and experience and savor these exact feelings?

If I were doing this exercise, I’d look at the list of feelings that I had written down… and I’d look at my current life situation (whatever it is for you), and I’d make a note of the things that I currently do that match the feelings that I experienced when I visualized the gear-testing version of me. The things that come to mind for me personally are:

• I feel a deep sense of freedom when I am hiking or backpacking, and I feel a sense of connection when I can share that experience with my husband or a close friend. I love the feeling of absolute freedom and presence that I get when I sit outside my backcountry tent in the evening to watch the sunset.

• I love dancing at sunrise — it doesn’t matter when or where… but I love being outside at sunrise and dancing, just because it’s another day that includes me. I feel free and alive and exhilarated when I dance.

• I enjoy teaching people about hiking and backpacking… I love sharing my passion for hiking with others and I love loaning people gear and taking new hikers out into the backcountry. I love sharing my knowledge with other people who are just getting started with hiking or backpacking or mountaineering.

• I feel the most myself when I’m writing or dancing… or just spending time at home. It gives me a deep sense of ease to do the things that feel fun to me: writing poetry, playing my violin and spending time outside.

• I feel fun and satisfied when I make pizza and cookies on Sunday! I look forward to it every single week — I love the smell of the pizza while it is baking and I love savoring the cookie in the evening for desert.

• I have the most fun when I’m hiking or backpacking or riding my motorcycle. I also love rollerblading and being outside.

• I feel a sense of connection, calm and presence when I play my violin. I feel like I can express myself. There are moments when I’m playing music when I close my eyes and feel like I’m losing all track of time and place — it’s a beautiful feeling of being truly and completely in the moment.

Identify as many situations as you can come up with… and write them down. Then, your next task is simple: see if you can actually go do those things, simply to savor and enjoy the feeling of them and/or write or speak out loud about them in order to summon the feeling.

As I’ve personally explored this process, what I’ve noticed is that we humans often do things that we enjoy… because we think that we want a specific feeling from doing that thing… but very rarely do we slow down enough to actually savor and truly cultivate the feeling. For instance, we want to go hiking or backpacking because it gives us a feeling of freedom… but how often do we intentionally and deliberately really marinate in the feeling of freedom while we are on the backpacking trip? Usually, we are so ‘in our heads’ and/or ‘busy’ during the experience that we forget to actually experience the feeling that we wanted to find. This leaves us in a place of constantly needing and wanting more — because we are never actually allowing ourselves to truly feel and enjoy the emotional reward that we went looking for in the first place.

While it’s helpful to identify situations or activities that will help you feel the feelings that you identified on your list… you don’t actually need to do anything in order to find them. The scenarios can just be helpful tools — and a way to intentionally choose activities that are going to be in alignment with the gear-testing version of you. Most folks who are dreaming of a job as a professional gear tester will rush out and start doing things that amplify the lack of their job as a gear tester: frantically pitching, trying to copy what other people are doing, etc… Honestly ask yourself this question: is the gear-tester version of me frantically pitching themselves for gigs? Is the gear-tester version of me copying other gear testers… or do they have their own unique voice, lens and style? I probably don’t need to answer those questions… because I’m pretty sure you already know the answer.

Avalanche shovel and gown, 2024.

So, back to our backpacking example: finding the feeling of freedom. If hiking and backpacking make you feel free… yes, you can go on a hike or a backpacking trip right now… but if you do, make sure that you intentionally notice and savor that feeling of freedom. I’m not sure what that looks like for you. For me it would probably look like sitting outside and watching the sunset and drinking tea and just speaking my deep appreciation for life. It would probably look like doing a meditation sitting on a rock near a lake. It would probably look like lying down on the ground at night and looking at the stars and feeling the infinite expanse of the universe. That is how I find the feeling of freedom.

If you can’t go on a backpacking trip now — don’t worry about it. You can still feel this feeling, because it lives within you at all times. Close your eyes and think about your last backpacking trip and visualize yourself sitting in your favorite spot at sunset. See if you can embody the feeling of what it was like to be there in that moment. If you are able to, find a place where you can go outside and lay on the ground at night and look up at the stars … if you can’t do that, just lie on the ground inside and look out a window at the sky. Let yourself feel completely and fully free. You might be thinking: What does this have to do with testing gear, Anastasia? Well, it has EVERYTHING to do with it. Why? Because if you identified ‘freedom and ease’ as one of the feelings that the gear-testing version of you was familiar with… you need to find those feelings now… in order to open the door for them to arrive.

Go through your list and then make a mental note to intentionally and deliberately focus and cultivate as many of your fun feelings as you can on a daily basis. Keep in mind that this is a practice, which means that you must commit yourself to having fun… and feeling ease… and feeling passionate and doing things that make you feel joyful. If you are having a tough day and can’t seem to find those feelings — that’s ok too… that would be a perfect opportunity to simply incorporate an easy meditation into your day so that you are giving your mind a tiny chance to rest and recalibrate.

Keep in mind that your primary goal throughout this process should simply be to feel good and have fun. If you find yourself feeling disappointed or frustrated… or wondering when the gear testing opportunities are going to start knocking at your door… that’s a clue that you are focused on the lack of gear testing opportunities. Use that as a sign to redirect your attention and refocus on those feelings you pinpointed earlier. Let go of needing to know how this is going to happen or when… just continually come back to finding those feelings and let go of any expectations.

Backpack, gown and gold shoes.

What’s going to happen next?

You’re now in a place where you have visualized… identified… and allowed yourself to feel the feelings of the gear-testing version of who you are. In essence, you have completely changed the energy of your existence. Imagine that for most of your life you’ve done the same things over and over… and that, for the most part, your life has remained very predictable. You’ve simultaneously been wanting something new, but never coordinated the ‘wanting’ with an actual internal change. Well, this is different. This time, you aren’t just wanting something… you’re creating it by intentionally painting your life with the colors of how this new version of you looks and feels.

It is so easy to want to jump immediately into action and think that you need to start doing things in order to make this happen. This, in fact, is the exact opposite of what we are doing… it’s the reason why my first attempts at starting a blog failed… it’s the reason why everything that I’ve ever ‘wanted’ or ‘needed’ in order to feel a sense of fun and happiness in my life have eluded me. The greatest ‘secret’ (that’s not a secret) of life that you can learn is this: you can shape your reality by allowing yourself to cultivate the feelings of what you want to experience… right now.

So, very oddly enough, the journey to becoming a flourishing gear tester does not start with sending pitches to outdoor magazines. It does not start with you needing to have a certain amount of experience with gear. It does not start with you being any different than you are right now. It starts with you simply asking this question: What does this version of me look and feel like… and how can I allow myself to feel those things right now?

That’s it. It’s so unbelievably simple that everybody can do it — because it’s the most natural thing you will ever do in your life… but it goes against all of the ways in which we were taught to do things. I don’t know about you, but I was taught that I had to struggle to get things… I was taught that I needed to, ‘put my shoulder to the wheel’ in order to ‘earn’ my way into worthiness and belonging. I didn’t realize that I belonged right now… I didn’t realize that I was worthy right now.

Here’s the other thing: most people won’t actually do this. Most people will get a little bit of momentum going, and then they might get frustrated and give up… because they aren’t seeing results (which makes sense, because they are sitting around and noticing the lack of results). Most people will talk themselves out of it by telling themselves things that are not true. This is the point in the process that I want to remind you very strongly: You are unique and perfect exactly how you are. You don’t need to follow the rules. You can do anything that you believe is possible. You bring value to each and every moment and to everything you do simply because you are YOU… and nobody else on this planet can see the world exactly through your eyes. The more that you love yourself — the more that you come into alignment with his newer version of who you are.

Go with the flow

This is a process of allowing things to flow to you… not a process of forcing things to happen. One you’ve created your vision… determined the feelings that match… and have made a conscious choice to intentionally feel those feelings as much as possible… just go have fun! See what little ideas and impulses come to you.. and if you are in a good feeling place when they arrive… FOLLOW THEM! Just imagine that these little ideas and impulses are like tiny trail blazes … leading you on the path that you are creating through your focus. Every single time you see something happen — savor it! Use that momentum to allow yourself to feel those fun feelings again… and then see what happens next and next and next… soon, your momentum will get going and you will begin to watch as the gear-testing version of you begins to take shape before your very eyes. Your friends will look at you in awe as incredible opportunities seem to ‘fall out of the sky’. “How did you do that?!”, they will wonder with amazement. And you can honestly reply, “I believed it was possible, and I had fun.”

Friends, I truly believe that each and every one of us has the brilliance to create anything that we can dream — and you are not the one exception to the rule. To create a vision and then to watch that path unfold is the most delicious trail that you will ever walk — it is exhilarating, awe-inspiring and rewarding. The process I’ve described will work for anybody who dreams of testing gear in some capacity… but it will also work for anything else you want to create in your life. So, play with it and have fun and paint your life into the most beautiful version that you can imagine. Go with the flow… trust that the bumps along the way are there to re-direct you towards something better… and never forget to savor exactly where you are right now. Ultimately, the journey to create anything is a realization that we we can find the feeling of joy within our heart at all times — then, it simply becomes our gift to bring to others through the ways that we share our heart with the world around us.

If you have any questions at all — please never hesitate to ask me, and if you are starting your gear testing quest … I’d love to hear how your process goes! Be flexible — mold it to what feels good to you… and most importantly, HAVE FUN!

Sending you all so much love today!

P.S. The photos in this post… ‘Gear in Gowns’ was an idea that came to me in a meditation while I was writing this post. I had been wondering what type of images I should use… and *poof* the idea came to me from ‘nowhere’! It’s silly and fun, and I hope it’s a good example of the little impulses or inspiration that can come from ‘nowhere’. Follow those trail blazes!