Sheridan Samano and Her Wild Life

Traveling through a town called Silence, Sheridan Samano once listened as her guide asked, “Why is the town called Silence?” After a pause, he answered his own question: “Because we don’t let women talk.”

That moment, among many others like it, became a spark for Sheridan’s vision. Across decades of adventures, she rarely saw guides who looked like her—an absence that, combined with encounters like the one in Silence, fueled her decision to found Her Wild Life: Wildlife Expeditions Led by Women for Women.

Her Wild Life is not anti-men or exclusionary. It’s about opening the door wider for women. As Sheridan says, the organization came to life because these inequities “happened enough to make a change.”

So, change she made.

Her Wild Life’s expeditions are created by women, designed for women, and led by women. They are built with intention: to create spaces where the guides look like me, a female writer, like my mom and grandmother, like Sheridan and her wife. It’s about repairing spaces of inequality, expanding representation, and planting seeds for younger generations to grow up with role models who show them: you belong here too. It’s about forming foundations for the nuances of life to be tended to, regardless of how many species you see on a wildlife excursion.

“I want anybody that shows up, that identifies as a woman, no matter where they come from… to feel like they can just be themselves. That’s a requirement for my guides. You make the person who it's their first birding trip feel the same as their 100th,” expressed Sheridan. She went on to say, “If you can look at anybody and look at them as anything less than equal—there’s a problem.”

Inequality and inaccessibility are not abstract concepts; they are currents we feel every day, in society and in conservation. It’s currents such as these that need to be shifted and organizations like the Denver Audubon and Her Wild Life are working to do just that. Sheridan points out the contradiction: while the majority of the travel population is women, the leadership remains overwhelmingly male. “Anytime we asked if we could get a woman guide… we were told they didn’t have any,” she recalled.

The statistics back her up. The Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) reported in 2022 that women between the ages of 20 and 70 make up about 75% of travelers engaging in cultural, nature-based, and adventure excursions. While there are of course many different definitions of ‘traveler’ and varied contexts, including region, several studies in the last three years elucidate women as global pillars of the travel community and economy.

And yet, the top leadership rarely reflects that. This is why women-led organizations matter so deeply. As Sheridan explains, “When women are in leadership, the culture shift is more safety, more freedom to express.” What makes a great guide, she notes, isn’t just technical knowledge—it’s attentiveness, empathy, and care for both the individual and the group. These are strengths women are highly attuned to. 

This care, kindness, and mutual respect is not just critical for women and in a guiding environment, but it is essential for the environment itself. “If you respect all people, how does that not translate to having a respect for nature? If you don't have a respect for human beings, you likely won’t respect nature.”

In this cultural, collective, and conservation shift where respect and compassion are the threads we weave, inequality begins to unravel into more interconnectedness. This is why safe, stress-free access to the wild is not a luxury for women; it’s essential. Who we are, how free we feel, and how safe we are—all of it ripples into the world around us. If we create waves of freedom and belonging, the planet will feel it too.

The planet includes all of us—women, our wild kin, and global communities. With nearly 20 years of conservation-centered, sustainable travel practices, Sheridan has refined a simple truth: every adventure has an impact, so the real question is—are we managing it well?

So, what does managing impact mean? It means, among many things, the ability to say no. While swimming with Whale Sharks is a life-changing experience that has continued potential for financial gain, Sheridan and her organization realized the growing crowd was risking not only the safety of their clients, but of the Whale Sharks. The choice was clear: they retired the trip.

Her Wild Life measures success differently than most. Not by profits or sheer numbers, but by net benefit—to the environment, to wildlife, to local communities. They ask: are we being good stewards of connection and respect?

“To me, sustainability is not about driving numbers, but about thinking about— is it benefiting the local communities in a way that they want us to come back, and benefiting the wildlife in a way that we aren’t just driving more traffic?” shared Sheridan.

How does Her Wild Life stay true to being a conduit of benefit?

• They scout excursions in uncrowded places, increasing intimacy with the wild and, with it, the desire to protect.
• They design trips in less-traveled regions to support small businesses and grow ecotourism.
• They don’t negotiate down local rates—they ask what guides charge and pay them more.
• They cultivate cultures of respect in every group they lead.

Another measure of success for Sheridan is facilitating the “wow” experience. It’s that moment where a new light shines, a gasp is overheard, a jaw drops, or tears fill open eyes. It’s the realization and remembrance that the way we each do things is different and it all still works out. It’s the surrender to empathy— all beings want their basic needs met and to be surrounded by those they love.

Sheridan seems to be a magician of these moments, a messenger of miracles. She describes her curation of enthusiasm as a deep knowing of the places that will invoke awe, an attunement to the break in pattern and nuance of texture, light, color, motion, and a tingle on the back of her neck that she has learned to trust.

Years of experience have woven her connection to wonder, from receiving a bachelor’s degree in wildlife and fisheries science and a master’s in biology, to being a longtime member of the Denver Audubon board, to 15 years spent in the conservation global travel industry. And, beneath all the experience is a willingness and a receptivity to connection.

“We are all connected,” Sheridan said. “It’s just the ability to stop and see stuff going on completely independent of how hurried our lives can be… to get dialed in on a regular basis, and it can be anywhere.”

Connection is anywhere and everywhere. Like the lessons that Birds teach us every day, like the ones they bring to Sheridan in her devotional moments. “I’ve started meditating and a hummingbird came into my face. How did that moment come to be where I was sitting here and a hummingbird came right into my face?”

It’s these encounters that remind us it can all be a miracle. Like Sheridan passionately expressed, yes, there is awfulness and atrocity, but there, too, exists a beauty that can be found in every single second. A beauty that we are more supported in seeing when we are safe and liberated in our explorations. When we are held in community without judgment, when the bridges between us, the wild, and the world are built from respect and compassion.

To learn more about participating in Her Wild Life’s mission, visit https://herwildlifeexpeditions.com/

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