Next week, the annual Outdoor Retailer Summer Market will take place in Salt Lake City, Utah, from August 2-6, 2016.

A jam-packed four days that define how outdoor enthusiasts worldwide work and play, #ORShow is also an amazing community gathering connecting movers and shakers from across the outdoor industry.

Kicking off the action, on August 2nd, is the Outdoor Industry Women’s Coalition‘s second-annual Pitchfest: “the only dedicated channel to inspire and drive innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship among women-led companies with a passion and love for the outdoors.”

The way Pitchfest works is simple. OIWC selects, from a pool of applicants, eight outstanding small businesses with an outdoor focus and a woman at the helm. Each of these eight finalists receives two months of mentorship leading up to the incredible opportunity to pitch her business-its strengths, challenges, and vision for the future-to a live audience and judges’ panel consisting of outdoor industry leaders. And though the judges give feedback and offer suggestions, the focus of Pitchfest is not competition but instead “community and support of the finalists and their businesses,” as OIWC explains. “Being chosen as a finalist and getting the opportunity to pitch means you are a winner.”

This year, Misadventures is providing in-depth media coverage of Pitchfest and the incredible women at its center. We can’t wait to hear each of these kickass ladies deliver their pitches in person! First, however, we’re going to begin by interviewing all of the finalists ahead of time, in order to give Misadventures readers a behind-the-scenes peek at some of the most inspiring and innovative women working in the outdoors community today.