Meet Amy Eastin

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amy Eastin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amy below.

Amy, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

Finding my purpose was a long road framed by my personal experiences. The mission of my business is to help individuals in the Midwest and Kansas City see the beauty of their home and to encourage families to explore.

I have always been a traveler at heart. I remember looking at my dad’s National Geographics as a child and telling him “I want to go here!” He would say, “You can! When you pay for it!” I studied abroad in England during my undergraduate degree, I taught English for a year in South Korea, backpacked through Southeast Asia, India, Europe, and the Middle East, and served in the Peace Corps in Bulgaria. I loved traveling the world, but after 4 years I was ready to put down roots. When I got a fellowship for my master’s degree at UMKC, I moved to Kansas City.

I loved Kansas City, but I truly didn’t think there was much outdoor beauty here or local adventures outside of the city. I met my husband, and we continued to travel internationally when we could.

Then we had premature twins, and our financial situation changed. Suddenly, jet setting off to South America or South Africa got more difficult for a number of reasons. Then in July of 2020, we had a son. There was a lot of uncertainty then and we wanted to explore but also stay healthy.

I started researching outdoor places and Midwest adventures and was shocked at how much I found. How had I not known about all these amazing places? Why would anyone say the Midwest was for “flying over”?

I wanted other people to know that Kansas City and the Midwest offered so much more than stereotypes would have you believe. I created an Instagram account to show that. As my audience grew, I also expanded to sharing on my blog www.everydayoutdoorfamily.com, Facebook, Pinterest, and TikTok.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

The goal of my business is to inspire people to travel the Midwest, get outdoors, and explore with their families. I started sharing our experiences on Instagram but realized that in order to reach a wider number of people, I needed to also share our experiences in other places.

Since then, I have started a blog to help share the details of our trips, ideas for adventures, and ways to get outside with kids. My blog launched in March of 2024 so it is relatively new, but I publish about one new blog post a week. I have a mailing list where I send out trip ideas, discount codes, and plan to share some challenges to get people outdoors in 2025.

I also share our adventures and trip ideas on Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest! It’s been fun for me to connect to so many people who want to explore and see the beauty of the Midwest.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

If I had to pick one thing that has played the greatest role in sharing our stories, it has been being my true self. Our adventures are not perfect. My photos show kids who aren’t all in matching clothes with curated smiles. A lot of times I am unorganized, or my kids have tough moments, but we still love exploring and make it work. I truly believe that if we can do it anyone can. Being real about the challenges ended up being an unexpected way to connect with other parents. I think people know that I will be honest about what we like or don’t, and it opens up conversation. The connections to other people are my absolute favorite part of this business. It’s rewarding feeling like I helped a family explore and love their home more.

Whenever people ask me to share tips for starting an Instagram account, my number one piece of advice is just consistency. If you continue to post, you will get practice to make better content and have more insights to what your audience likes most.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

As with any working parent, my biggest obstacles are managing time and finding balance between work, family, and time for myself. While my business lends me lots of flexibility- I can work whenever I want, I don’t have to ask to take time off, I can stay home with sick kids or snow days- but it still seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done.

For me, I am trying to let go of things that aren’t as important. I am trying to give myself grace and talk to myself like a friend would instead of being self-critical. I try to find a few minutes a day to connect one-on-one with each of my kids and husband. I can tell this is something my kids cherish and so do I.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Amy Eastin, Everyday Outdoor Family

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