Meet Tosh Swain, Co-Founder of exploringnotboring.com

 

We were lucky to catch up with Tosh Swain, co-founder of exploringnotboring.com and have shared our conversation below.

Tosh, 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?

My passion is to create meaningful experiences and connections. That’s why we started exploringnotboring.com—a community marketplace for uniquely local experiences brought to you by local experts in your own backyard! It all began in 2019 with an “Adventure Jar” — a homemade treasure chest of 200+ spontaneous ideas we could draw from anytime we wanted to try something new, explore our stomping grounds, and make new friends.

As California transplants working long hours, we needed this inspiration to combat our dumb excuses preventing us from living our best life. Ya know, the good ol’ “I’m too tired,” “I don’t know what there is to do,” cop-outs.

But despite hours of research, most of the things to do that we found online were misleading and felt like tourist traps.

Months later, the world shutdown and the madness of 2020 gave us 20/20 with a crystal clear realization—Life is too short for bₒᵣᵢₙg 😱

…A philosophy born out of countless late night talks along the pathway to our favorite ocean view under the Eucalyptus trees in Dana Point, CA.

Frustrated by a toxic work culture, disappointed by a lack of community, and inspired by an ill-fated Adventure Jar that revealed how hard it is to find unique things to do near you, we knew that we had to take action.

We believe a meaningful, connected life is full of enriching experiences.

Studies show the more we cultivate new & diverse experiences, important vehicles for social connections and positive emotions, the greater our brain activity, well-being, and life satisfaction.

So, we started exploringnotboring.com to make it easy for anyone to create shared, meaningful experiences.

Our purpose and grassroots movement is to inspire more living, less boring.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

In 2020, my business partner, Kaysie, and I left our successful careers in tech to use our powers for good.

We started the world’s first-ever online farmer’s market for uniquely local experiences called exploringnotboring.com 🚀 It’s the place to go when you’re looking for something cool and different to do.

We’re excited about connecting people to wildly unique things to do, because new experiences and connections have a profound effect on our brain activity, well-being, and life satisfaction.

So, we made it easier for people to find fun activities, events, and products they’ve never tried before handcrafted by rad locals in their neighborhood and beyond.

That good good stuff you tell all your friends about. And that’s why we vet all our experience partners.

EXPLORINGNOTBORING is a call-to-action for more living, less boring. We’re carving space for authentic, off-the-beaten-path experiences and connecting people to the local experts in their community who provide them.

No corporate chains or big bus vibes here—just real people, real experiences, and a whole lotta local flavor 🌶️

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

It was always clear to us WHY we had to build exploringnotboring.com, but it wasn’t clear HOW until 2021.

December 2021, we set off on a 411-Day Mega Roadtrip to connect with our Partners across the United States. On this trip, we learned about the challenges our Partners face, their unwavering passion for their craft, and the pressing need to elevate local experiences to the forefront in every city.

That experience and insight inspired us to move back to our hometown of SLC and double down on our mission.

Our goal is to shape a happier world, one where we’re connected to our authentic self, our highest potential & truest freedom, connected at our roots to the rhythm of the planet, and one where we’re deeply connected to each other.

We believe the best way to better the world is to connect the people in it through shared, meaningful experiences that empower our collective happiness with an inevitable stretching of our individual skills, knowledge & achievements.

Almost 5 years later, we’ve gone from dreamers to doers, partnering with over 100 local experts and creators who are now helping us make this world feel like one BIG small town.

But none of this could’ve been possible if we didn’t have the courage to blaze a new trail, the scrappiness and entrepreneurial fire to pivot when we hit a roadblock, or the hustle-n-grit to never quit.

Had we not dared to leave security for uncertainty, this rocket ship would’ve never left the launch pad.

So, my advice to folks who are early in their journey is this:

Really ask yourself: What’s the purpose of what I’m building? Why do I care? Be crystal clear on that.

Entrepreneurship is like a knife fight in a phone booth. It’s clarity on the meaning behind the madness that will keep you fighting even when you’ve had enough. Grit, persistence, and perspective is what will keep you moving forward. If you have purpose, you’ll outlast every new kid on the block who pops into your industry for profit.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

As chief noodle of exploringnotboring.com, I’m a certified nerd! 🤓

Once I was asked to write a poem for a fundraiser, on anything I wanted, and I wrote a whole damn poem on teamwork. Because I’m ridiculously passionate about collaboration and co-creation, I believe that teamwork makes the dream work! As an historian who studied 2.5 million years of human history, I know that over the last million years, humans evolved the ability to learn from each other, creating the possibility of improvements that 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

Community is the force of togetherness that creates this richer existence, uplifting the fortune, happiness & well-being of its unique parts through the achievements of the whole.

So, I would like to invite everyone to connect with us, co-create exploringnotboring.com with us, and if you provide a uniquely local Activity, Event, or Product, apply to feature it on our community platform.

Just go to exploringnotboring.com/partner-signup ✨

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