Rachel grew up in the antipodes/Southern Hemisphere but her family hails from the UK. With a love of the Lake District, training as a vet nurse, a business degree in her back pocket and a passion for story telling she’s found her happy place with us here at Alpacaly Ever After.
If you’d told me that I was going to be living in the Lake District and walking Alpacas and Llamas I’d never have believed you… but here I am doing just that, life can be crazy like that and I love it!
My whole family are English but I started my life in Africa, then the Solomon Islands closely followed by Australia. When I turned 18 I had 2 passports and had travelled around the World numerous times and to be honest I didn’t really know where home was. I’m what’s now known as a 3rd culture child (who knew… google it!) and I wouldn’t change it. It gave me a love of change, a thirst for new challenges and a quest for knowledge that has served me well. I have a Degree in Business, am a Certified Veterinary Nurse, have completed my Mountain Leader training and love the Art of Marketing… my new job title is Llamarketing, obvs!
Living in the Lake District has introduced me to the World of fell running, my Aussie husband and I have a family of rescue animals (side effect of the vet nursing!) and we regularly swim in the Lake aka ‘Wild Swimming’. We always thought we’d end up in a hot country and living by the beach! We came to the Lake District in 2008 to see what all the fuss was about… and we never left!
We both worked in Outdoor Retail to start with… Dave is ex-Army and has a really great transferrable skills so now works with British Gas. We both did really well in Outdoor Retail and really enjoyed this new career opportunity. Dave ended up as Manager of both Keswick and Grasmere shops and my career journey lead to being Marketing Manager for George Fisher after being Marketing Area Manager for Cotswold Outdoor.
So here we are now, we bought a house in Keswick, our families are both in Australia and we go back whenever we can. I have some family here in the UK and we have made the most of our time living in this part of the World. With several overland 4wd trips under our belts, including; Morocco, Sweden, Europe and when we can travel again; Portugal, Turkey and Africa are on our list.
Working for a Social Enterprise is presenting a lot of great new challenges and opportunities to grow and I feel very honoured to be a part of Alpacaly Ever After’s journey. Learning about camelid welfare, care and management is adding another notch to my Vet Nurse belt that I never thought I would have. Being able to do all of this while living in the Lake District is truly something I never thought I would ever experience but I wouldn’t change a thing!
Every aspect of the business is so well thought out and managed, the ethical, environmental and community focus is a real breath of fresh air and a model a lot more businesses should embrace. I’m excited about what is to come in particular the Full Day and Overnight Llama Treks… anyone that knows me knows that our llama trekking boys have stolen my heart. I love all of the animals but I’ve got to know them the most, I love their energy, their personalities and their love of trekking and the outdoors! They are perfectly designed for our Lake District fells and even like a bit of a dip in the Lake, they are my kindred spirits… Larry in particular ;)
Rachel has bagged a few Tripadvisor reviews to be proud of… but to be honest, she’s usually the one replying in the office ;)
“A great experience with professional and friendly staff, thanks to Ruby and Rachel for a great day but special thanks to Jo Jo who made my birthday extra special. Good luck to you all in these challenging times”
“Had a wonderful experience walking “Dopey” – so adorable (and socially distanced friends) – up between Catbells and Maiden Moor to a spectacular viewpoint overlooking Derwentwater. Our guides Ruby and Rachel were friendly and welcoming on our mini adventure, dispensing lots of useful and fascinating information about these amazing animals. We had a very clear Covid briefing before we went on our walk so felt very safe but also very relaxed as the ‘rules’ were easy to follow and not intrusive. This trip, a walk with the alpacas – who are super cute – or even a ‘meet and greet’ with the alpacas should be on every visitor to the Lake District’s ‘to do’ list whatever the weather and time of year.”
Wordsmiths: Rachel Kearns
