We recently had the chance to connect with Heather Kasvinsky and have shared our conversation below.
Heather, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
I get up before my kids every morning to go on my morning run to stay healthy, both mentally and physically! This is non-negotiable. On school mornings, I run anywhere from 3-5 miles before I return to help them get ready for school. My kids are very lucky because I drive them to school each day since we live close to both schools.
After I get back from drop off, I enjoy my coffee and breakfast in solitude, and that’s my favorite part of the day.
On the weekends, I run anywhere from 5-8 miles right after I wake up. I take 2 days off from running per week, so can I do strength training in the mornings instead. I reserve one morning for a lazy in-bed scroll-fest before I get up and enjoy coffee and breakfast with my husband.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Heather, the travel writer behind Alaska Adventurers, where I get to gush about one of my favorite places on the planet. I spent close to ten years living up north and still head back with my family every chance I get, so the stories and guides I share come from real personal experiences and all the quirky moments in between that make Alaska feel unforgettable.
My brand is all about helping people plan trips that actually work in real life. I give honest advice and a whole lot of enthusiasm. If someone’s feeling overwhelmed by planning an Alaska trip, I want my guides to feel like a friend stepping in with the good stuff.
Right now, I’m working on even deeper planning resources, national park guides, and digital products that make researching a whole lot easier. I’m always chasing down new ideas that are sparked by my own trips, reader questions, or whatever adventure my family gets me into next.
Sharing Alaska this way is something I genuinely love, and I’m grateful every time someone tells me my guides helped them have an incredible trip.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
When I was a child and well into my teenage years I was unbelievably shy. I felt like speaking up would somehow expose me as “too much” or “too different,” so I kept a lot of my thoughts to myself. I had a whole running commentary in my head, but rarely let any of it out. I used to panic when I had to speak in front of our class or share something personal in an educational environment.
Somewhere along the way, that shifted. Maybe it’s age, maybe it’s wisdom, maybe it’s realizing that most people are too wrapped up in their own lives to judge mine. Now I say what I mean far more often, and it feels good to let those thoughts out instead of tucking them away. I still know when to hold back (or at least I try), but the difference is that I’m no longer afraid of using my voice.
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
Loss is, without question, the defining wound of my life. I’ve said goodbye to close friends far too young, and losing both of my parents earlier than I ever expected reshaped my world in ways I’m still figuring out. Those losses have threaded through the last fifteen to twenty years and changed me in ways I didn’t see coming.
The healing hasn’t been tidy or linear. I still carry the grief with me, and honestly, I always will. But over time, I’ve grown around it. I’ve learned how to make room for joy right alongside the ache, how to stay open to new experiences, and how to let the people I love shape my life in bigger, brighter ways.
It’s ongoing, but I’m proud of the person I’ve become because of it.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
My closest friends would probably say the things that matter most to me are food (truly, food, food, and more food!), along with kindness and a strong sense of equality. I’m always talking about what I cooked, what I’m dreaming about cooking, or what someone needs to try, but at the heart of it all, I care deeply about how people treat each other. Good meals and good humans. That’s really the core of it.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
I think so, absolutely, yes. I’ve reached a point in my life where the motivation comes from inside, not from praise or gold stars. Maybe that’s age, maybe it’s finally trusting myself 100%, but I find a lot of satisfaction in doing something well simply because it feels good to show up fully.
Of course, it’s always nice when someone notices…I am human, but I don’t rely on it anymore. The things I care about, I give my best to because they matter to me, not because someone is keeping score.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://alaskaadventurers.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alaskaadventurers/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlaskaAdventurers
Image Credits
Photos by Heather Kasvinsky
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
