Hidden Gems: Meet Marc McCann of Step Outside

Hi Marc, so excited to have you on the platform. Before we get into questions about you and your company, we know that starting a business feels risky. What’s your view on risk-taking?
Thanks so much for having me. From my perspective, taking risks is a fundamental part of being human. Any time we choose to do something that we care about, we’re taking a risk. While I’m not an advocate for jumping in without considering potential outcomes and consequences, I do think that risk-taking is essential to having a meaningful life.

Whether it’s starting a relationship, building a business, managing a conflict within family, being creative, or challenging ourselves physically, doing something meaningful requires courage and feels vulnerable, which is what risk is all about. We’ve all taken risks that worked out and others that didn’t. Because the risks that don’t work out stick with us and lead us to doubt future opportunities, I think we need to spend more time in environments that support and encourage risk-taking.

This same principle applies within teams. When you look at successful organizations who consistently innovate, their cultures are built on trust and risk-taking. These teams celebrate the courage required to try something new, view failure as learning, apply previous lessons to current challenges, and normalize risk as necessary for improving. Together, these actions help individuals overcome the hurt of their past mistakes and focus on growth.

On the other hand, organizations that struggle to retain top performers and keep employees engaged reinforce self-protective behaviors — blaming others, critiquing mistakes, discouraging new ideas and approaches. These behaviors degrade trust and inhibit learning.

Before deciding whether or not to take a particular risk, it’s worthwhile to look at your environment and determine whether it’s safe and supportive of risk-taking. If not, ask yourself — what would need to change here in order for me to feel safer taking risks?

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk about Step Outside. What should we know?
In a few words, we believe that people deserve to do what makes them feel most alive, so that together we can make a world that works for all of us.We’re currently helping companies rebound from the pandemic by focusing on the self-awareness and emotional intelligence skills that managers need to reduce turnover and increase engagement. In order to get there, employees must feel safe, empowered, and capable of identifying and advocating for themselves and what they care about.

We offer outdoor workshops that help managers and teams develop these skills and apply them directly through small-group reflection and physical movement (e.g. hiking, yoga, climbing, kayaking). In 2022, we’ll provide manager trainings, team workshops, and outdoor conferences for networking and community building. In terms of our approach, we introduce new environments to disrupt habits and routines that block meaningful work. All of our workshops are challenge by choice, so every individual is able to decide whether and how they’d like to participate. Unlike typical office-based training sessions, we provide a more dynamic learning environment and follow-up coaching to help teams integrate these skills professionally and personally

The model we use is Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT), which has been proven effective across hundreds of studies over the past 30 years. ACT helps individuals build willingness toward difficulty, bring awareness to the current moment, and take values-driven action. Together, these skills help individuals and teams adapt in fast-paced, dynamic workplaces. We work with this model outdoors because research has proven that time in nature decreases stress, increases creativity, and restores attention fatigue from time spent on screens.

That sounds like a unique approach to training and personal development. Let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
External events like the pandemic undoubtedly impacted our timeline and plans to launch here in Austin. If I’m being really honest, though, many of the struggles have been internal. For a while, it felt much easier to keep plans for Step Outside in my head. That way, they were protected from criticism and feedback. Because the vision and values align so closely with my personal beliefs, sharing them openly felt daunting. I’ll be the first to admit that shifting from self protection to risk-taking is much easier to talk about than act on.

Since then, much of the work has been helping leaders and organizations understand the consequences of ignoring skills that foster trust and empathy. While the pandemic put a spotlight on the need for flexibility, employee wellbeing, and professional growth, many leaders don’t know where to start. On top of that, we live in a world that’s currently enamored with using data to drive decisions and solve problems. While an incredible tool, our fascination with data makes it easy to forget that people are at the heart of our organizations, and their decisions are fundamentally emotional.

Before we wrap up, can you share a bit about your story and how you decided to start Step Outside?
Thanks so much for asking. I’ve really enjoyed this. In terms of my background, I’ve spent the last decade training and leading teams — first as a teacher and then as a manager in a high-growth startup. The idea for the company started from my time in the classroom. Tragically, the community that I taught in lost ten students to suicide over my four years teaching. It was then that I realized how many of us, students and adults alike, need more effective tools to navigate our emotions and experiences.

At the time, I didn’t have those tools, so I spent the next several years personally researching and practicing methods that were both effective and evidence-based while transitioning professionally to a role in an Edtech startup. In my five years building teams at NoRedInk, I was grateful to realize that the same skills I’d been learning personally were essential ingredients for building trust, collaboration, and accountability within our team.

After years of sitting through professional development and designing it for others, I don’t believe that office-based lectures are ideal for most learners. Spending time in nature, and rock climbing in particular, has been vital in helping me practice the skills that I need to better engage with difficulty. Practically speaking, Step Outside lives at the intersection of my expertise, my values, and my interests, in an environment that encourages risk-taking and growth. It’s my current working hypothesis for doing what makes me feel most alive, and I’m grateful to be helping others identify that for themselves.