Alyssa Ravasio: A Founder Who Found Her Dream, Through Code

Alyssa Ravasio has always had the spirit of a pioneer. A lover of nature, camping, and the great outdoors, she has a passion for the planet that informs every decision she makes. However she is also a digital philosopher that spends a lot of time thinking about the internet, and the impact that it will have on the environment, and humanity itself. These qualities have combined to create a unique individual, who uses her interests to help shape the world around her every single day.

While studying at UCLA, Alyssa demonstrated her curiosity and individuality by creating her own major called Digital Democracy. This allowed her to spend her time studying the phenomenon of new media, and how it was evolving and changing society.

Entering the work arena, Alyssa took on a number of distinguished roles at various organizations including acting as Director of Sales and Marketing at Revel Systems, and Director of Operations at Xola. She also spent some time working for the U.S. Department of State helping to create International Information and Communication Policy as a member of the Net Freedom Task Force.

Though she found professional success in these positions, her independent spirit made her long for an opportunity to create something of her own. That was when she started to form an idea, the concept of an integrated discovery platform for the outdoor community, focusing on accommodations including camping, cabins, fire-lookouts, and tree-houses. It was something that could combine her love of nature with her fascination with the social impact that the internet can have.

However there was one barrier to her achieving her dream. She didn’t know how to code. Of course she had the ability to hire people to handle the technical aspects of the project, but she’d seen the pitfalls that other founders had fallen foul of pursuing that route, and she wanted to be sure that she understood every aspect of her company, so that she didn’t have to rely on others when technical problems arose. That meant that she had to learn how to program.

Her solution to this obstacle was to study web development at Dev Bootcamp, where she learned Ruby and Javascript, frameworks Sinatra and Rails, concepts of object-orientated programming, functional programming, and MVC. Women Who Code also provided her with support through this process, giving her a network of mentors that could help her educationally and inspirationally as she worked towards her goals.

Finally she was ready and in June of 2013 Alyssa launched Hipcamp, a consumer-oriented online travel company designed to help people discover and book camping experiences. The company was a stellar success, and became incredibly popular. Recently they were able to advocate for crucial open data to be required in federal contracts for reservations in their system. They also just launched the country's first land sharing marketplace, unlocking access to private lands such as farms, nature preserves, and more.

Alyssa Ravasio has found success by following her passions and doing what she loves. Today she enjoys spending time with other founders, and using her skills and knowledge to give back to the community. She is also on the Recreation Advisory Council for the Outdoor Industry Association. When asked what advice she would give to women who are working towards their dreams she said, “If something is feeling too hard or impossible to solve, go for a walk, surf, swim (anything outside!) and then try again.”

Alyssa Ravasio on Twitter

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