Emily Guillaume becomes Mountain Challenge majority owner

Crawford House has long served as the epicenter of a steadfast and adventurous community on the Maryville College campus thanks to Mountain Challenge, MC’s outdoor program. The easy rocking chairs on the front porch and cozy fire pit seem to signify the slower pace adopted by those who frequent Crawford House. But Mountain Challenge and Crawford House are much more than just an escape and sanctuary, and exciting changes have taken place for the organization and the campus community in recent months. 

Bruce Guillaume, Mountain Challenge founder and co-owner, is a familiar face to many students and can often be found occupying said rocking chairs. When he’s not at Crawford House, he spends time leading programs for Mountain Challenge, Fit.Green.Happy and Outdoors is Medicine; on the trail with a four-legged friend or brainstorming the next sustainability goal for the organizations. His daughter, Emily Guillaume (‘16), is carrying on his legacy by stepping into his former role as majority owner. 

Emily grew up alongside Mountain Challenge and sees her life as inextricably tied to it.  “Were it not for Maryville College, I would not exist,” Emily said, adding that it’s where her parents met. She went from a child riding her bicycle around campus, to becoming a partial owner in 1998 at only four years old when Mountain Challenge reorganized as an LLC, to an MC student participating in Mountain Challenge’s programming, to her most recent step with Mountain Challenge: becoming majority owner Sept. 1, 2024. 

According to Emily, she never planned on taking over Mountain Challenge full-time. She attributed some of it to her teenage rebellion, but also her desire to pursue environmental law. This was something she did accomplish, obtaining her law degree before going on to practice environmental law in Richmond, Virginia. 

She then decided that she wanted to implement the new, unique skills and experiences that she had acquired since her time at MC at Mountain Challenge in a bigger capacity, and, according to Emily, the collaborative environment and community within a community that Mountain Challenge fosters at MC solidified her lifelong relationship to the college and ultimately led to her becoming the owner of 55% of Mountain Challenge, LLC. 

“My baseline was weird,” Emily said. Growing up with outdoor enthusiasts for parents, she was used to paddling, biking and climbing from a young age. Emily credits this upbringing for her current lifestyle, even the hammock that now occupies her law office. Both Bruce and Emily emphasize this integration of everyday life with increased movement and time spent outdoors and in community as the main goal of Mountain Challenge: making a healthy lifestyle more accessible.

Emily’s role also extends to Fit.Green.Happy., the non-profit arm of Mountain Challenge. Her involvement in both organizations is storied, and students can rest assured knowing the next generation of Mountain Challenge and Fit.Green.Happy are in the hands of someone who understands the culture and traditions of both organizations. 

“My hope is for not a lot to change, but for us to keep an upward trajectory,” Emily said about the implications of the new ownership transition. She wants to see real significance in the work Mountain Challenge continues to do, and emphasizes the underutilization of their outdoor resources by students. Because of this, increased student involvement is a goal Emily sees as realistic since Mountain Challenge truly has something for everyone. 

While Emily continues to fulfill her duties as owner in an increased capacity remotely from Virginia, Bruce remains the familiar face at Crawford House. He will continue to be a partial owner for now, eventually stepping down at which time Emily will have to bring on a new partner due to the nature of LLCs. Bruce is optimistic about this transition: 

“I’m excited. My interest is in making sure Mountain Challenge can continue to exist for a long time. In my mind, Emily is the future,” Bruce said. 

For more information on Mountain Challenge, visit https://www.mtnchallenge.com.