Boulder entrepreneur and adventurer Ret Taylor, co-founder of the natural remedies company Ned, has spent years chasing big summits—both in business and the outdoors. But a pivotal moment on Denali changed his trajectory, setting him on a global journey of exploration, humility, and learning to follow what feels true.
Denali - The First Yes
Boulder is a town that loves summits. I love that about this place.
A few years ago, I went to Denali chasing one of my own. At 18,000 feet, two Arctic storms were headed our way: stay and endure, or descend before they hit. Staying was my first instinct. Since I was a kid, doing hard things has been my identity. Endure. Push. Lean in.
But lying in my tent that night, I realized I'd been paddling against the current my whole life, convinced that was the only way. I put the oars down. The summit could wait. I was ready to see where the river took me.
The next morning, we descended. That was the first honest yes.
Boulder - Close to Home
Back home, that yes became practical. I'd spent seven years building Ned alongside an incredible team—a Boulder natural remedies company many of you know. It was meaningful work.
But Denali clarified something. The drive that built the company wasn't the thing I wanted steering my life anymore. I was finally ready to give myself permission to do what I'd always wanted: work with good people to help them quiet the stories that no longer serve them so they can hear their own truth and return to what matters most.
So we sold Ned. Not because it was easy. Because it was true.
Saudi Arabia - At the Back of the Pack
For years, friends in Saudi Arabia had been inviting me to ride across the Arabian Desert. I'd always had a reason to say no. Now it felt like a hell yes—and I found myself on a motorcycle from Yemen to Jordan, the worst rider in the group by a long shot.
Always at the back, swallowing dust, eating sand every time I went down. And I went down a lot.
The desert humbles you quickly. It stretches in every direction, older than your ambition. Out there, no one cares what you've built. You either pay attention or you eat sand.
And the stars… I remember looking up and laughing again. You can't take yourself too seriously under a sky like that. Turns out humility is a lot more fun than I expected. Riding at the back was exactly where I needed to be.
Africa - On the Track
Another yes led me to Africa to track lions with Boyd Varty, an author whose work had already changed how I saw the world.
Tracking lions is slow and deliberate. You read tiny signs—a bent blade of grass, a faint print in the dust—and you will lose the trail. That's just how it works.
I began to see how often I'd lost my own. Chasing momentum instead of paying attention. When you lose the track, you don't panic. You widen your awareness and return to the last clear track.
That trip came from a vision during a quest in the Utah canyons years before. When I put the oars down on Denali, the river brought me here. It didn't make logical sense. It just felt alive. So I followed it.
Utah - Come Home
Eventually, all those yeses led me back to the place that resonates most. The vision quest—except this time I was holding the space for a group I'd brought together. My first time leading one. When the moment came, it felt like a remembering.
On the final night, a rainbow appeared over the canyon. The group came together in ways I couldn't have planned. A thousand small things conspired—not perfect, but just right. I laughed. The same laugh as under the Saudi stars. The one that means something is so clearly true that the only response is joy.
Later, a wish on a shooting star: to keep doing this for as long as it feels like the most important thing I can do. It felt like coming home.
Boulder - The Real Summit
I went to Denali chasing a summit. I came home learning to say yes.
Boulder will always love summits. So will I. But the real ones aren't always higher. Sometimes they're just truer.
What I Carried With Me:
- “The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life” by Boyd Varty
- Amundsen Roll Neck Sweater
- Zeal sunglasses
- Ned Daily Balm
- OAK Journal and pen
- Wish Garden Kick-Ass Immune
- A photo of my wife and daughter
How to reach me: RetTaylor.com