Erica South joined the Outdoor Industry accidentally, working retail at Eastern Mountain Sports in Colorado as she attended college. She quickly fell in love with the process of helping folks to find their best gear and moved to Oregon after graduation to continue her retail career. After a stint in the tech world in the late ‘90s, she came back to the Outdoor world as a rep, working for two agencies representing legacy brands such as Smartwool, MSR, Sugoi, New Balance, Granite Gear, and Lole. Cascade Designs called and she became the International and Key Accounts Manager, learning the ways of large budget forecasting, and international exchange rates, as well as creating strategic plans for key account growth. Her son arrived alongside a break from traditional work to focus on mothering, and the Outdoor rep world called her back in 2013. She currently resides in Bend, Oregon, and runs her agency with her husband, Mike. When she’s not behind the wheel, visiting stores, or at a desk, Erica enjoys spending time with her family which includes her teenage son and her silly dog as well as her husband Mike, running, camping, hiking, skiing of all kinds, and exploring remote rivers by raft.

A native Oregonian, Mike grew up climbing trees and adventuring in the forest.  While at the University of Oregon he took a rock climbing class in 1996 that hooked him for life. He began his career in the Outdoor Industry in 1997 at Peak Sports in Corvallis, Oregon, where he met his wife, Erica. In 2000 Mike moved to Eugene to take a job at Backcountry Gear, a then-fledgling catalog/e-commerce company. After 17 years driving incredible growth as the General Manager at Backcountry Gear, he joined Erica’s independent sales agency, and together they formed South Sales NW. Mike brings his broad experience managing a thriving outdoor retailer, his passion for outdoor adventure, and almost 20 years of buying and managing retail to the table.  When not passionately serving the great accounts across Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, and Washington, Mike can be found floating some river out West, free-heeling on the local hill, or wandering the sticks with their 13-year-old son and the bearded animal Stanley.