The owner of a Manx outdoor adventure company says his work on the Isle of Man has prepared him for his new venture to one of the harshest regions in the world.
Siobhán Fletcher caught up with Keirron Tastagh from Adventurous Experiences who will soon be working for an expedition company operating in Antarctica and the Polar regions as an Assistant Expedition Leader.
Hi, I'm Siobhan, one of the journalists up at Manx Radio, and welcome to the latest edition of our newscast. Now, the owner of a Manx Outdoor Adventure Company says his work on the Isle of Man has prepared him for his new venture to one of the harshest regions in the world. Kieran, from adventurous experiences, will soon be working for an expedition company operating in Antarctica and the polar regions as an assistant expedition leader. I caught up with him to talk new challenges and what it will mean for the company that's been operating here for more than 20 years. Hello, yeah, I'm Kieran Taster and I run a company called Adventureous Experiences in the Isle of Man. So I guess, first of all, if anyone's not heard of Adventureous Experiences, can you just tell me a little bit about what you're doing and how long you've been doing it for as well? Yeah, it's a Adventure Sports Centre, so we've been running over 20 years and we typically take people out and do adventurous things outdoors with them. Yeah, that's how it works. Perfect, and you're going on a kind of a new adventure outdoors outfit for an extreme one, so can you tell me a little bit about your latest news then? Certainly, so I have been made into position of an assistant expedition leader working for a company that operates in Antarctica as well as other polar regions. So it's a guiding role, if you like, as well as managing a team. So it's a different location, but it's actually not that dissimilar to what I do right now other than someone else does all the jobs I don't want to do, so it's phenomenal. So what sorts of things will you be getting up to then? So it's still working with people directly, it's working with a team of guides and making sure that they have the right support and skill level. So what's skill in them working and making sure that then there is the right environment to take our participants out into the cold weather and into a potential challenge, a lot of wildlife, so there's a lot of interpretation. And other than that, like I said, very similar role to what I do here on the Isle of Man, in that it's very people-focused and you're dealing with the environments that change a huge amount. And there, as you know, there are lots of different people in the world, so yes, it's quite a challenging role. And so have you been to that sort of part of the world before then? Have you, you know, I'm just trying to think how you even get your head around doing anything in somewhere like Antarctica? Yeah, so I've had a little bit of cold weather experience personally and leading groups, but I've been, this would be my fourth year down in Antarctica, so I've worked with a few companies down there periodically. And off the back of that is how I was offered this role is showing the skill set that they require I appear to have. And so, yeah, you get into it by, I guess, working very hard, being able to work in demanding conditions and being able to make decisions by preempting what you think is likely to take place when you make those decisions. And people look at that and say, that's a skill set that we wouldn't, would you like to work for us here? So I'm extremely lucky to be in this situation. What sorts of challenges have you encountered? You mentioned obviously the weather there is extreme and the wildlife. So how do you prepare mentally going out into that environment to work every day? Well, I've prepared for that by working in this environment every day. Our weather is also quite changeable. It has different risks. It has different wildlife. But the decision-making is still the same. It's still looking and trying to say, okay, can I still manage this? How can I make sure that we stay within the level that we can do but also give people the best possible experience? And it is about being in a place that does challenge you a great deal. But perhaps the people that you're taken at, their understanding of challenge can be different. So you can get people have a look very quickly at the skill level. It is important that you're able to profile your people in a proactive manner very quickly and then say, okay, how can I make sure that these guys have an exemplary day feel like they've been pushed a little bit? How we can get them to view wildlife with the least possible impact on that wildlife? How we can get them into the environment with the least possible impact on that environment but still see it and still feel like they then become ambassadors of that environment. That skill set is the same as what I have on the Isle of Man. And working in a colder climate, there are of course lots of things. The Antarctic season is maybe somewhere between four and six months long, depending on how you look at it. So it's our winter, so down there the Antarctic summer. And so that pretty much is your parameters and depending on who you work for then, it's not summer or year long down there. In the same way it's not winter here or year long. So it can be quite cold, it can be quite windy, conditions can pick up. Ice moves around a lot. And there are increased risk of that happening as you move between the seasons in the same way you've got to look up for sunburn. It's an area where there's a lot of radiation coming. There's a significant amount of things to get your head around and to be able to manage and for that you need a really good team. So part of that is being able to trust the team that you have and make absolutely sure that they have the ability to upskill all the time. So everybody is learning. So without a doubt you have a lot of different skill sets. You have a lot of experience down there, but the predominant thing is it's a learning environment. We're taking people who are there to learn about, not just about the science, but the evolution. They're there to learn about the wildlife, they're there to learn about themselves. And the guide team are doing the same thing. Perfect. And so obviously the business here on the island, like you mentioned, it's 2020 years here. So what does it mean for the business going forward, like here on the Isle of Manland? So the business will certainly run a tighter ship, certainly for the period ahead. Well, I would say we're going to focus a lot more on private groups, things which you can ascertain ahead of time. You can look at the team that we have in place still here. If there's something that relies solely on me doing a huge amount of admin background work making happen, then those things are going to pause. So there'll be programs that pause that are quite reliant on me being here as well as the team. And there are things which I think are going to work extremely well by having that succession management in place. And as I said, things are going to change, they always do. But me doing this is going to create space and something is guaranteed to move or paint to that space. So it's very, very exciting. Perfect. And I suppose down the line years and years from now, will you want to be bringing back some of the things that are supposed in between seasons or whatever it may be, bring back things you've learned there back to the Isle of Man as well? Yeah, so the job role is a rotation, which means I will be sharing my time at home and being away periodically. And while I'm at home, I will be at home. I will also be doing the same kind of things I like to do as well as spending time with your family. So without a doubt that the knowledge that you get there will be perfect transferable skills for looking at what we do here. And I think it's always good to keep looking at what we're doing and seeing how we can do it better. It would be a very strange thought process to think that you've already been doing it best. We've been doing it as best as we know, and without a doubt we can always do things better. And it might be that some of the programs we've run to get that same level of achievement. How do we do that differently? Because now the parameters have changed, people have changed, the environment has changed. There have always been things, and this is a new thing to be added into it. So it keeps you on your toes. And with that a doubt, there's a lot of knowledge that I would yet like to tap into and see how things are doing, how they've gone about making solutions, how we can look at what we're doing here. And make it still better. And I suppose finally, before you head off on on this sort of new adventure, I mean, how are you feeling? Are you excited for it? Is it daunting? What's the mindset going into it? It's not daunting. Certainly it's very exciting. There are aspects of it, which I have a lot of learning to do. There are aspects which I'm very comfortable in. And no doubt it throws up increased things that perhaps you haven't thought about as well, and you're going to have to deal with them. So to me, the best way of being prepared is understanding how little you really know on a general scheme of things. And as long as you keep referring to that about, yeah, I'm confident about the things that I'm confident about, I also know the things I don't know. And as long as you approach it in that way, I don't think it's daunting, but it's certainly highly challenging. Spot on. Is there anything I missed you that you want to add at all? No, we'd like to. Obviously, we've had exemplary team of really loyal coaches on here, and they continue to be so. And they will do, as they continue to do, they have their own work/life balance. They have things that they like to do. We've got an amazing complex amount of customers who have things from personal development through to corporates, through to families who do rely upon us still making delivery and making sure we have something that they're interested in. I don't think that's ever going to change. What will change is that communication and making sure that we still continue to deliver something which myself and the team are highly happy with the quality, that it's very high quality. That isn't going to change. So now I'd like to thank all those people for the opportunities that I have and for the fact that they have a huge amount of support going forward. And that's allowed us to do what we've done. We've given a lot into the community and we'll continue to do so. And it's only possible by having a supporter of everyone around. So, yeah, I'm very appreciative. Spot on. Thank you for making it to the end of the Manx Radio newscast. You are obviously someone with exquisite taste. May I politely suggest you might want to subscribe to this and a wide range of Manx Radio podcasts at your favourite podcast provider, so our best bits will magically appear on your smartphone. Thank you. [Music] (gentle music) [BLANK_AUDIO]
