How Living Seasonally and Wild Entrepreneurship Led Tamara Jacobi to Run a Mexican Jungle Eco Lodge

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What do you get when you mix a business idea with an out-of-the-box lifestyle? Wildpreneurship.

Tamara Jacobi (she/her) is the author of “Wildpreneurs” and founder of the Tailwind Jungle Lodge in San Pancho, Mexico.

Tamara has lived in the jungle on the Mexican Pacific for nearly 20 years, where she built and now runs the Tailwind Jungle Lodge. Her wild inspiration has led her to finding her Tarzan, having two kids, becoming a guide community leader at Thermal, which hosts private surf adventures globally.

We talk about...

The journey to Wildpreneurship and running a jungle lodge

  • Growing up in a family that "adventured to excess" with epic memories

  • Not being entrepreneurial in her youth, but determined

  • Writing a business plan in college in Vermont, then moving to the jungle at 21 to build it

  • The early years: the potential of a Wall Street job versus living in a tent and scrapping together money

  • Following passion first; taking a financially nonviable idea and making it work over time

  • How wildpreneurship changed Tamara from a shy introvert to an outgoing public speaker

  • Blending personal and professional dreams to build an unconventional business

  • Seasonal life: splitting the year between Mexico and the Rocky Mountains

Raising children and working with a partner while moving seasonally

  • Moving twice a year every year with two young children

  • Valuing experiences over tangible things with kids

  • Cultural differences when raising children in a different country that you grew up in

  • Educating kids about their local environment on a daily basis

  • When you're an entrepreneur or a mother, you have to face your demons

  • The challenges of motherhood and passion while trying to avoid burnout

Living and operating a business in a touristed area

  • Living in an area you're not from and leaving a positive impact or ripple effect on the community

  • Hosting many visitors, but making sure they leave inspired to protect the natural world

  • Balancing sustainability and environmental values with travel

  • Opening the lodge in 2007 alongside the San Pancho community center, Entreamigos

  • Bringing jobs to a place that needed them, and conserving land in a developing region

Having multiple arms of a wildpreneur work/life

  • Sharing a manuscript with lodge guests before deciding to publish her book

  • Planning a book tour with a baby in tow, then pandemic hitting-- now, wanting to share it more

  • How her book led her to another arm of her work, Thermal

    Managing guest experiences and feedback in an environment that puts them outside of their comfort zones

Enoughness and shifting business and experiences

  • Choosing a small scale business model to accommodate a max of 18 guests, with no desire to expand

  • Being mindful of a "Then what?" lifestyle trap

  • Deciding when money, time, or work is "enough," and starting to say no to opportunities

  • Not everyone is going to be happy, and that's okay

  • Creating space and flexibility through shifting roles in business with her husband (Tarzan)

  • Deciding to take a year-long break from the lodge (will you fill their shoes?!)

How to connect with Tamara:

How to connect with Jeni and Angie:

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Music: The Kind of Sandwich Island by Shut-ins

Thank you to The Ruins, the best wedding venue in Oregon, for supporting the show.

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