In continuation of our mentorship series, highlighting (in their own words) some of the young professionals who we have been working with over the last several months, we are excited about this one! For Mentorship Series (part 3) we reached out to Matthew Lucy for a write up highlighting his story and how he connected with some of our mentors. Read his story here:
“My journey in the Zipline/Challenge Course industry started in the spring of 2021. I was in a trade program at my local college and did not love what I was doing. I was looking for a summer job to earn some money before looking for a “real job” when my brother, who had worked as a guide on the Zipline and Challenge Course in our local park for numerous years in the past had said he was planning on going back for the summer. He told me they were looking for guides and that I should apply. As a person who had spent most of my life outdoors, it seemed like it would mesh well with my interests, so I did. With my only other work experience being maintenance at the high school I graduated from, I was hired as a guide with maintenance responsibilities.
During my first summer guiding, I was introduced to Micah Henderson and John Turman (JT), a new company that was comprised of numerous professionals in the industry was taking over management of the course. With that came many opportunities to assist with maintenance projects. One of the first projects that I had the privilege of assisting with was installing two horizontal guy cables at the top of a giant swing. My role was to climb the 40-foot hoist pole to cut the tail end of cable, I can remember being extremely nervous and almost backing out but with constant reassurance and direction from Micah, I was able to muster up enough courage to ascend the pole and complete my task. After that day, my perspective of what I viewed as a “real job” had changed, I knew this was something I could see myself doing every day.
Not long after this project, I told Micah that I was planning to make a career out of this kind of work. Once I did, she started giving me as many opportunities as she could, to not only help me acquire new skills but to also help boost my confidence in my ability to work at height.
Towards the end of my first season at Grand Vue Adventures, I was given the opportunity to guide at the Gorge Zipline in Saluda, NC. This course was much larger and a little out of comfort zone but thought of my summer job not being over was an offer I couldn’t say no too. During my first season at the Gorge, I worked with so many guides from all over the country, all with very different guiding styles. This expanded my understanding of how to efficiently run a tour while maintaining a positive tour experience for the guests, all while making lifelong friends along the way.
During this season, I had the opportunity to assist JT on multiple cable replacement projects, where I would learn many new rigging and work positioning techniques. In February of 2022, I had the chance to attend the ACCT Conference in Cleveland to get a better understanding of the Industry. I would repeat the cycle of working at these to locations till the end of 2022.
During the spring of 2023, I had the opportunity to work alongside Micah and JT in Texas, where I was introduced to Bee Lacy, Leigh Carruth, and Michelle Hepler, as well as many other young professionals in the industry. We spent two weeks helping out the staff at Zip Lost Pines get through their busy spring break. We spent pretty much every night around the fire sharing stories and taking about our plans for the future. I will forever be grateful for the confidence I gained in my self during those two weeks of work, thanks to each and every person involved.
After spending the 2023 summer season guiding in Alaska, I had decided to take a step away from guiding and began looking for a job to take my career to the next level. Towards the end of 2023, I was hired as an Installer with Bonsai Design, since then I’ve had the opportunity to work on both maintenance and installation projects all over the country. I’m extremely excited to see what the future has in store for me. I will always be thankful for every piece of information given to me over the years by the creators of AdventureCareers.Fun.”
