“When I spend a day with our customers I always leave buzzing with energy and inspiration.”
Katrina Symons of Out of Bounds started her journey in 2019 when she stepped onto a yacht in the Whitsundays with a group of strangers. Over five days working together and learning to sail, the strangers turned into a high performing team. This was put to the test on day five when their engine failed and they had to sail the yacht into the marina… no easy feat, but they achieved it!
The feelings of freedom, fulfilment, and growth that Katrina experienced during those five days at sea were incredible, and she wanted to bring that to the world. Fast forward a few years, and Katrina jumped ship from her Head of HR role to create Out of Bounds, an adventure-based team and leadership development company.
Katrina helps medium-sized business leaders get the best out of their people through adventure-based team and leadership programs in awe-inspiring locations. Our tailor-made experiences uniquely combine two levels of development – team and individual – and use adventure and nature as the vehicle to growth.
Katrina shares that the HerBusiness Network is a great resource for her to build business and marketing knowledge and skills. Katrina says “It’s also great to know I’m not on this entrepreneurial journey alone! I love the openness of the community to connect and support each other and hope to be able to offer this support and connection back.”
Katrina’s passion is in seeing people experience those goosebump moments of wonder in nature, and the growth that comes from stepping outside their comfort zone.
Learn more about Katrina and Out of Bounds.
Why did you start your business and what gave you the idea?
The Out of Bounds journey started in 2019 when I stepped onto a yacht in the Whitsundays with a group of strangers. Over five days working together and learning to sail, the strangers turned into a high performing team. This was put to the test on day five when our engine failed and we had to sail the yacht into the marina… no easy feat, but we achieved it!
The feelings of freedom, fulfilment, and growth that I experienced during those five days at sea were incredible, and I wanted to bring that to the world. Fast forward a few years, and I jumped ship from my Head of HR role to create Out of Bounds, an adventure-based team and leadership development company.
What do you enjoy most about running your own business?
When I spend a day with our customers I always leave buzzing with energy and inspiration. Our programs help medium-sized business leaders get the best out of their team through adventure-based experiences in awe-inspiring locations. I love seeing people experience those goosebump moments of wonder in nature, and the growth that comes from stepping outside their comfort zone.
What advice would YOU give someone thinking about starting a business?
Try to keep things as simple as possible to start with and focus on building momentum. For us, we got advice to ‘just get a group of people on the boat and go from there.’ We learned so much from running experiences before we even had a website or official business email address! Seeing our purpose come to life (even before it was fully formed) helped build energy, important learnings, and motivation.
What skills and knowledge areas would you recommend those starting out in business get acquainted with quickly?
As a recovering perfectionist, I would say getting comfortable with not knowing and just giving things a go. Easier said than done, but so important!
What does your IDEAL business look like? Even if you’re not there yet, what would it look like if your business was ideal?
Our long-term goal is to expand our audience beyond business teams to also help young people and women reach their potential. Our model forms the backbone of all our programs – The ‘Eek’ (stepping outside the comfort zone), Awe (nature-based experiences), The ‘Me’ and The ‘We’ (individual and team development) – so we would love to bring this to a wider group of people, as well as multi-day experiences in spectacular locations around the world… but for now we have some pretty spectacular experiences here in Sydney to get started with.
What problem does being a Member of the HerBusiness Network solve for you and your business? And, how?
My career background is in HR so the HerBusiness Network is a great resource for me to build my business and marketing knowledge and skills. It’s also great to know I’m not on this entrepreneurial journey alone! I love the openness of the community to connect and support each other and hope to be able to offer this support and connection back.
