Meet Terrica Walker | Outdoor Event Planner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Terrica Walker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Terrica, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Work life balance has been one of my biggest adversities with starting a business. At first it was managing my full-time job as a Public Health Counselor working in HIV Prevention while simultaneously running a startup business, planning events consecutively. I was kind of becoming a bit stressed, not being able to keep up with daily task list. Once I figured out how to organize my 9-5 and business then here comes my anxiety. I have always loved outdoors, even as a kid, but my passion for hiking came while in undergrad at Kennesaw State, hiking Kennesaw Mountain every week to escape from the pressures of school, work, and bills. After finding peace in hiking, I continued to use it as a coping mechanism. I was so used to hiking alone or with my dog for leisure and peace and now as a business owner using every weekend to host outdoor events and excursions for others, I wasn’t getting that time to myself for my mental health. The entire April of 2021, I was out of whack business wise trying to navigate turning my passion into a business. I think that problem is not talked about enough when seeking entrepreneurship. Something one once did for leisure is now a business and must put in a lot more work. I struggled, because here I am passionate about the outdoors, extroverted, love to decorate and now that I was not fond of such as, marketing, business meetings, and taking loss after loss. I was almost over it. I spoke with my Grandaddy and after crying to him, he gave me tips and guidance to keep going. I then set goals for May to help me accomplish business goals as well as taking care of my mental health. Now, I can say I have semi mastered work, business, health, and personal life.

What should our readers know about your business?
Walker Run Outdoor Events and Excursions Limited Co. specialize in curated outdoor experience, perfect for those who have a passion for nature and can enjoy a great adventure. We offer inclusive excursions from hiking, biking, axe throwing, camping, tubing, skeet-shooting, and other activities. What set Walker Run Outdoor apart from other outdoor events is the diversity, no event is ever the same, from the food to the location. My business is heavily influenced on myself. I live for a good adventure! All events are always planned spontaneously based upon activities I’ve experienced and would like to share or like to try, food I love or I’m craving etc. Walker Run offers you exciting adventures and a posh “pretty” picnic with delicious food and drinks! My love for hiking is what got me where I am today. In 2018 will traveling to Houston, Texas, I got the idea of “Hike and Brunch” partaking in a Bike and Brunch with Let’s Do This Houston/3rd Ward Tours. I pushed the thought aside for years because I wasn’t willing to invest in something that wasn’t going to get an instant return. I continued to hike, even creating a list of all the hiking trails in the Metro Atlanta area and put dates next to them. Every Saturday that I wasn’t busy, I would hike the trail marked on that day. I can say I have hiked almost if not every trail here in Atlanta.

Starting a business is never easy, but because it is something I love to do, it made it a lot easier to do. One challenge that I have come across is marketing. I tried hiring a paid college intern, but I didn’t get much interest. I then started to watch YouTube videos and googling how to market a business in the interim of finding an intern. Over time I can say I have gotten a lot better with promoting and creating content. I would still like to add a marketer to my team. Learning to navigate working 9-5, business, and personal life is one of my bigger challenges. Turning a hobby into a business is no joke. The thing you are used to doing for leisure and peace is now something that you must work on perfecting every day. I felt muddled and as if I wasn’t giving myself time alone in nature and it was always hosting. Hiking is not just physical for me, but also mental and spiritual. Not being able to home in on my thoughts the way I use to really took a mental toll on me, but with guidance from my grandaddy, Randolph Gaither, I was able to better manage my time. I think I’ve semi managed work, business, personal life so far. Although, there is always more room to grow.

I have learned quite a few lessons over this first year of Walker Run Outdoor, most of which I’ve spoken of previously. One of the first is balancing personal, business, and work life. The second, just because I turned my hobby into a business doesn’t mean I can still treat it as a hobby. Overall, my biggest lesson was learning to become a lot more intentional about every decision I made financially. I was so accustomed to traveling every month on small getaways, buying perfume, and going into Target and Dollar Tree “with the vibes” lol, that it was a bit of a change to have to put my pleasures on the backburner to build a business. I learned about building business credit and keeping personal money separate from business a little late into starting. As I try not to beat myself up about it, the Virgo in me just keep saying, “Dang I wish I would have done more research on how to use less of my own money to start a business in the beginning”. I can say, while I loss a lot of money this year investing, I have gained a lot more knowledge, partnerships, and forever friends. To me that was the biggest blessing of the year.

I want the world to know that Walker Run Outdoor Events are for everyone. Whether you are looking for an adventure, good food, meet new people, team building, fun day, outing, or celebrating anything a Walker Run Event is for you. We create a safe space for everyone to be themselves, meet others, try new things, or if it’s an activity that you already do to have a different experience than you had before. While the business is a direct reflection of me, I listen and take feedback from everyone who attends events. A Walker Run Outdoor adventure is where you want to be! Every event is an adventure different from the last, so you will want to be at all of them!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’ll wake her up and drag her along hiking at Cascade Springs, then brunch at Milk & Honey, and later that evening once the sunsets, to Ponce City Market, leave there and head to “The Spot” on Flat Shoals to meet up with my family. For sure to get some lamb chops from Escobar South. I’d call my cousins to all meet up for a good time at Metro Lanes, bowling. If there is a sports game going on in the city, I’d get us tickets beforehand or hit Ice Bar in Riverdale to watch it and eat wings. Go down to The Battery, Atlantic Station, or Perimeter Mall to shop some. To be honest I am so spontaneous in the things that I do, I’ll have us spending the entire Saturday at Jeju Spa getting pampered, spend the night there, wake up, and head to Atlantis for Sunday Brunch. In all, I am not going to lie, I have been a lot of places in and around the city and thoroughly enjoyed them, but the most fun and real “Atlanta Cultural fun” to have is always with my family. A simple game night, cookout, birthday party, or random get together with my family always wow my friends more than anything else.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
As a start-up company I have had the opportunity to partner with some of the most amazing people, but I want to first shoutout Lets Do This Houston/ 3rd Ward Tours. While looking for things to do in Houston for a weekend visit in 2018, I came across this organization and they were doing “Bike and Brunch”. My friend and I signed up and I thought it was so dope and I jokingly said to her, “Ohhh, now what if back home I did Hike and Brunch since I love hiking”. Even when starting and coming up with business plans in 2020, I used his company as sort of a blueprint. So, shout out to the owner, Allen Moore, for being my initial inspiration. Now to my Shout Out list! I’m not sure how many is too many, but here are their Instagram handles
1. IG: Bagladybranding (Branding Agency)
2. IG: Byrdeats_millistreats (Caterer)
3. IG: Thewkndnomad (Travel Writer)
4. IG: Neighborhoodwraps (Restaurant)
5. IG: SouthEasternParks (Environmental Conservation Organization)
6. IG: SouthRiverGA (South River Watershed Alliance)
7. IG: Groovy.green.escapades (Hiking group)
8. IG: Bosses.R.US (Artist)
9. IG: Mercenary_Mayhem (Sport/Recreational Game)
10. IG: The.h2o.life (Outdoor event planner/Author)
11. IG: Americanaxes (Sports/Recreation)
12. IG: ddoutdoorretreat (Campground)
13. IG: ATLfinestdrinks (Drinks/Bartending)
14. IG: bitesizedsnt (Cakes and Treats)
15. Tiktok: PSKdesignsandessentials (Designer)

Website: www.WalkerRunOutdoor.com

Instagram: WalkerRunOutdoor

Facebook: Walker Run Outdoor Events and Excursions

Other: Tik tok: WalkerRunOutdoor