Can a fly shop actually make sustainability pay for itself? On this episode of The Sustainable Angler, host Rick Crawford founder of Emerger Strategies, a sustainability consulting firm serving fishing and outdoor brands sits down with Chris Keeley, angler, conservationist, and owner of Angler's All fly shop in Colorado, to find out.

Chris shares how Angler's All is turning environmental responsibility into a genuine business advantage — cutting energy, water, and waste costs through solar panels, EV charging stations, composting, and native landscaping. He also breaks down how the shop curates its brand lineup around companies that put their money where their mouth is, prioritizing B Corps and 1% for the Planet members on the shelf.

Beyond the bottom line, Chris opens up about why conservation and giving back are core to how Angler's All operates, and closes with practical, actionable advice for any shop owner ready to start their own sustainability journey — no matter the budget or size.

Whether you run a fly shop, work in the outdoor industry, or just want to see conservation-minded business done right, this conversation is packed with real-world takeaways.

Sponsors:

This episode is brought you by: Emerger Strategies, and A New Earth Project, the sustainability initiative of Atlantic Packaging.

🎣 Like what you heard?

Subscribe to The Sustainable Angler wherever you get your podcasts and leave a review to help us grow the conversation around sustainable business in the fishing and outdoor industries.

For more resources, or to learn how Emerger Strategies can help your brand turn sustainability into a competitive advantage by making it simple, strategic, and profitable, visit www.emergerstrategies.com.

Follow us on Instagram @emergerstrategies and @thesustainableangler and stay tuned for more insights from leaders at the intersection of conservation, business, and the outdoors.

What if fly fishing wasn't a sport, but a practice — a way of relating to place, community, and conservation? In this episode, host Rick Crawford — founder of Emerger Strategies, a sustainability consulting firm serving fishing and outdoor brands sits down with angler, writer, and conservationist Jesse Lance Robbins, author of The Best Fly Fishing Is Everywhere: Stories in Celebration of Why We Fish, to unpack how storytelling shapes fly fishing education and river advocacy.

Jesse takes us through his winding path in the fly fishing industry — working in a fly shop, guiding, fundraising for Trout Unlimited, and published book author — and how each vantage point reshaped his relationship to the water. We talk about his academic roots in environmental economics and mathematics, including his undergraduate thesis valuing a recreational fishery before and after a dam removal, and how that research foreshadowed a full-circle moment: dam removals on Washington's rivers and on the Kennebec in his home state of Maine.

We also get into a few misadventures from his new book — trout bumming in New Zealand, steelheading in the Pacific Northwest, and chasing tarpon in Florida — and how those stories, mentors, and near-failures fueled his transition from industry pro to nonprofit fisheries conservation work.

In this episode:

• Storytelling as a tool for conservation advocacy
• How place-based relationships deepen motivation to protect rivers
• Jesse's path from guide and retailer to writer and nonprofit conservation leader
• Dam removal in Washington and the Kennebec River in Maine — a full-circle story
• Why fly fishing works better as a practice than a sport
• Environmental economics, thesis research, and valuing rivers before and after dam removal
• Misadventures from New Zealand, the Pacific Northwest, and Florida

Sponsors:

This episode is brought you by: A New Earth Project, the sustainability initiative of Atlantic Packaging, Emerger Strategies, and Ecolytics (don't forget to mention The Sustainable Angler for a discount off your first year's subscription!)

🎣 Like what you heard?

Subscribe to The Sustainable Angler wherever you get your podcasts and leave a review to help us grow the conversation around sustainable business in the fishing and outdoor industries.

For more resources, or to learn how Emerger Strategies can help your brand turn sustainability into a competitive advantage by making it simple, strategic, and profitable, visit www.emergerstrategies.com.

Follow us on Instagram @emergerstrategies and @thesustainableangler and stay tuned for more insights from leaders at the intersection of conservation, business, and the outdoors.

Brent Kawamura's path to sustainability wasn't a straight line — it started with an Environmental Science degree, wound through LEED-certified building projects, and landed him in Product Sustainability at REI. Along the way, fishing has remained the thread that keeps it all grounded.

In this episode, host Rick Crawford — founder of Emerger Strategies, a sustainability consulting firm serving fishing and outdoor brands — sits down with Brent to pull back the curtain on REI's Product Impact Standards and explore why the retail giant is pushing its brand partners to cut their carbon footprint. They dig into how customer demand is reshaping the shelf — with shoppers increasingly seeking out products carrying The Climate Label, Fair Trade certification, and other preferred attributes — and what that shift means for brands trying to keep pace.

They also step away from sustainable business and onto the water, talking about the responsibility anglers carry to understand the history of the places we fish, and how the choices we make ripple out to affect those fisheries for the long haul.

If your brand is aiming to land a spot on REI's shelves, this episode is a must-listen — packed with insight into what REI is actually looking for from its partners.

In this episode:

• Brent Kawamura's journey from Environmental Science to LEED buildings to REI Product Sustainability
• REI Impact Report findings
• What REI's Product Impact Standards require from brand partners
• Why REI is pushing suppliers to reduce carbon footprint
• How consumer demand for The Climate Label, Fair Trade, and other preferred attributes is reshaping retail
• What brands need to know to get their products on REI's shelves
• An angler's responsibility to understand fishery history and protect the places we fish

Sponsors:

This episode is brought you by: A New Earth Project, the sustainability initiative of Atlantic Packaging, Emerger Strategies, and Ecolytics (don't forget to mention The Sustainable Angler for a discount off your first year's subscription!)

🎣 Like what you heard?

Subscribe to The Sustainable Angler wherever you get your podcasts and leave a review to help us grow the conversation around sustainable business in the fishing and outdoor industries.

For more resources, or to learn how Emerger Strategies can help your brand turn sustainability into a competitive advantage by making it simple, strategic, and profitable, visit www.emergerstrategies.com.

Follow us on Instagram @emergerstrategies and @thesustainableangler and stay tuned for more insights from leaders at the intersection of conservation, business, and the outdoors.