Jesse Safford (they/them) started climbing during college in Montana, but it wasn’t until they moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, that they stumbled upon setting. Now Jesse is the Head Setter at Terra Firma. Jesse is also an avid comp setter, chiefing and setting their annual in-house Rabble Rouser competition at Terra Firma, and has set for Death Moth, Siege the Southeast and Flight of the Phoenix, among many others. Most recently, they’re extremely excited about the upcoming Midwest Mayhem series. Outside of climbing, Jesse is a birdwatcher, Dungeons and Dragons player, and cat parent. What does D&D have to do with working on a routesetting team? How can we all play a role in improving our team dynamics? Jesse and Holly dive into those topics and much more on today’s episode.

• What does it mean to have “good vibes” on a routesetting team?
• How social pressure influences us in routesetting and tips for Head Setters/Event Chiefs to soften the atmosphere
• Emotional awareness and situational awareness of team dynamics
• What Dungeons and Dragons can teach us about team vibes
• Checking in on yourself and verbalizing your own needs to the team
• Role modeling vulnerability
• How Jesse and our host, Holly, met / Jesse’s perfect D&D campaign

• Find Jesse Safford on Instagram
• Terra Firma
• Competitions mentioned: Death Moth, Siege the Southeast, Midwest Mayhem, Flight of the Phoenix
• All you need to know about Dungeons and Dragons battle strategy

If you’d like to nominate someone as a next guest, have a topic you want to see us tackle or have questions, we’d love for you to reach out.

The Impact Driver podcast is a production of the Climbing Business Journal. Today’s episode is sponsored by Approach and Trango. It was edited and produced by Holly Yu Tung Chen, Scott Rennak and the team at CBJ. Our theme music is by Devin Dabney.

Today on the Climbing Business Journal Podcast, host John Burgman meets with Jonathan Brandt. Jonathan is one of the co-founders of a new climbing gym in Holland, Michigan, called Shift. It's a 12,000-square-foot, bouldering-focused facility, and by Jonathan's own admission, there aren't a lot of bells and whistles in the gym, meaning there aren't a ton of fancy accouterments or amenities that are too far afield from climbing. Inside the space is primarily a bunch of really cool boulders and the community of staff and stoke that has developed around those blocks.

Jonathan has been in or around the climbing industry for about 20 years. So, Shift’s founding comes with a lot of expertise and experience. You'll hear Jonathan explain how and why he felt the timing was right now, after all these years, to finally open his own gym. And he acknowledges there are a ton of other bouldering gyms out there right now. So, the question becomes: How do you stand out in this day and age? How do you set your new gym apart from the pack? There are several ways to answer that question, but Jonathan's contention is that, in the case of Shift, it has a lot to do with the staff you hire and the culture that staff helps to build.

• Introduction to Shift
• Holland, Michigan and Gym Development
• Mission and Business Philosophy
• Staffing and Culture
• Family Meals and Staff Development
• Hospitality and Community Building
• Hold Room Design and Wall Construction
• Marketing and Future Plans

• Shift
• Shift Instagram: @shiftclimbing

Thank you Approach and Kilter for your support! And thank you Devin Dabney for your music!

On this episode of the Climbing Business Journal podcast, host Holly Chen sits down with Carly Snidow. Carly is a routesetter at Vital’s Lower East Side location in Manhattan, New York. She has been climbing for almost a decade, and her setting career started like many others—setting college climbing walls and bugging local routesetters. Now, Carly is a USAC Level 1 routesetter with a dozen competitions under her belt up to the divisionals level. She has set for several citizens' comps as well, including Siege the Southeast. Carly is also a coach and personal trainer. Prior to setting, Carly studied philosophy, neuroscience and psychology. She has extensive lab experience spanning multiple disciplines, from microbiology to behavioral neuroscience and developmental psychology. Carly brings that scientific lens to the show today, challenging how we think about goal setting and success in the routesetting field.

• How the scientific method can inform routesetting
• The most common success indicator for setters in climbing competitions: separation
• Breaking away from separation as the only success indicator
• What is inductive reasoning, and how does it relate to routesetting
• Process versus outcome-oriented goal setting
• How do process and outcome-oriented goal setting influence our perception in climbing and routesetting

• Find Carly Snidow on Instagram
• Vital, Lower East Side
• Inductive Logic
• Hippocampal and amygdala volumes vary with residential proximity to toxicants at Birmingham, Alabama's 35th Avenue Superfund site

If you’d like to nominate someone as a guest, have a topic you want to see us tackle, or have questions, we’d love for you to reach out.

The Impact Driver podcast is a production of the Climbing Business Journal. Today’s episode is sponsored by Butora and Essential Climbing. It was edited and produced by Holly Yu Tung Chen, Scott Rennak, and the team at CBJ. Our theme music is by Devin Dabney.