...inspiring you to hike your own hike
Meet Alison Young
With over 12,000 miles logged as a backpacker on six continents and a background as a world class professional musician and nationally syndicated radio host, Alison Young offers a unique perspective with engaging programs that connect us with the natural world and ultimately help us grapple with life’s challenges.
About Alison Young
Speaker, writer, podcaster and adventurer Alison Young has a singular background as an award-winning professional musician, host of a nationally syndicated radio program at American Public Media and long-distance backpacker and thru-hiker.
She brings her myriad experiences together in an alchemy of hard-earned lessons and perspectives to help individuals, businesses and teams excel in their chosen endeavors.
Alison began her flute studies at the age of 15 at the Interlochen Arts Academy, a boarding high school in Michigan. This was followed by advanced degree programs at USC’s Thornton School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Highlights of her 20-year professional career include playing Principal with the Boston, Atlanta and Houston Symphonies, recording two solo albums, touring Argentina and teaching classes in China.
In her late thirties, Alison developed dystonia, a baffling neurological condition that inhibited the ability to move her hands at the highly skilled level required of a professional musician. It was a devastating loss, but using the natural world as a place to heal, she discovered a new way to express herself and for 15 years, was a classical music presenter for American Public Media as well as the host for many of the professional orchestras she used to be a part of.
When that career came to an abrupt end, she went to the place she always returned to when lost in spirit – the trail. Through her writing and speaking (and a little flute playing) her goal is to inspire you to “hike your own hike” in this journey of life.