What's the Deal with the Tractor?

The Background
A philosophy birthed on the back of a little red Massey Ferguson...

During college I had a summer job on my boyfriend’s (soon to be husband’s) dad's farm. After painting every possible surface on the farm that summer, I was soon assigned an old Massey and pretty much told to go out and not break anything!

So I hit the country roads mowing field borders and tilling trees, and that little tractor became my third arm. At one point I think it was permanently attached to my butt! 

It was HOT that summer, and not just any kind of hot…the burning, beating kind of hot that doesn't even feel cool in the shade. I anticipated a LONG, HORRID summer, but the opposite was true. It was downright MAGICAL. No music, no distractions (aside from keeping the tractor from flipping on the steep ditches!), no radio, nothing. Just me and the Massey. I did some of my best thinking on the back of that little tractor and became strangely attached to her. 

She was small (like me), but she could go ANYWHERE. She was dependable and sturdy and often underestimated. Among the "big power" on the farm, she was not the most desirable, but she came to mean something far greater to me than I could imagine and became the impetus for my business philosophy…

The Flying Tractor Philosophy
What do I want GORP to invoke in people? Well, here it is: I think our culture has helped to paralyze us, and has made us believe that you have to look a certain way, or weigh a certain weight, or have X amount of talent to "deserve" to try certain things or engage in certain activities…and I am calling BULL! 

EVERYONE DESERVES TO HAVE AN ADVENTURE! Everyone. Period. I don't care what you look like or how good you are at whatever. As a company, we want to inspire and reward people for getting outside and using their bodies for good stuff. Even if you're a professional athlete, I know you aren't immune to the expectations and stereotypes. And I don't care if your adventure is walking around the block without stopping. Just get outside and move and build community – that’s where life lives!

So, a long ramble to get where? The flying tractor philosophy basically says: What's "normal"? and Who cares? Get out and live! We aren't judging you, so just go – we've got your back!