Andrew Coutant’s professional relationship with the outdoors began on the retail floor, at his first job at Jersey Paddler, a store which has since closed in Brick, New Jersey. Later, he took a job at a climbing shop for a simple reason: he wanted a discount on his gear.
Coutant bought his first product from The North Face in 1986. Decades later, after he became more involved with the design side of outdoor gear and held roles at companies such as Asics and Brooks, he formally joined TNF. At the time, taking the position meant accepting a step down in both pay and title. But for Coutant, the move felt right.
“It was so aligned with a brand that I had started my relationship with back in ’86,” Coutant said in an interview with SESO. “I just jumped at the opportunity. And it was great. It was fantastic.”
Now, Coutant and TNF are parting ways. While he declined to share why (TNF parent company VF Corp. also declined to comment for the story), Coutant is departing as former Global Brand President Caroline Brown also steps away from the Denver, Colo.-based brand.
But Coutant is leaving on a high note, and enthusiastically shared details about his career trajectory, the memories that stand out the most, and his advice for building a team.
Just recently, Coutant said he’s experienced moments that felt surreal, such as an event celebrating Jim Morrison, who famously skied the north face of Mount Everest in October. Coutant shared a dinner table with Morrison, photographer Jimmy Chin, climber Alex Honnold, Caroline Brown, and James Kelly, who leads the athlete team inside the company.
“It was just great,” Coutant said. “Those are the kinds of things that I pinch myself every day as a little kid who got a job in a shop. It was never a job. It was always a passion and a love.”
The day Coutant’s TNF team dressed up like him. Photo courtesy of Andrew Coutant.
Pushing for Universal Design
Of all the product innovations Coutant oversaw over the years, he took the most pride in the brand’s recent push toward universal design. While outdoor brands constantly chase the lightest and most technical materials for high-altitude expeditions, this project took a different approach. The goal was to break down the barriers that keep people from getting outside.
The product team collaborated with athletes from the disability community, as well as disability organizations like Paradox Sports and the Adaptive Climbers Festival to understand the specific hurdles individuals with disabilities face when setting up camp or accessing the outdoors.
The research revealed pain points the team had never considered. For example, a small lip at the bottom of a tent door could be a tripping hazard or a barrier for a wheelchair. Color-coded tent poles offered no help to someone who is sight impaired.
In response, the team developed a capsule collection featuring a tent, a sleeping bag, and a pack, all engineered to address these obstacles. Slated to launch in spring 2026, the gear includes features like a zipperless, magnetic sleeping bag closure. Because some users lack manual dexterity, the team added a tactile silicone patch near the magnets so users can feel when they are in the right zone.
Coutant said that accessible features like these improve the experience for everyone.
“If you get to a campsite in the middle of the night and it’s lightly drizzling, and your headlamp battery is a little low, it’s really easy if all three tent poles are exactly the same,” Coutant said, laughing. The new tent design also features dead-end pole pockets, eliminating the frustrating process of threading a pole tip through a grommet only to have it pop out when you move to the other side.
“We’ve really used those to make everybody’s experience easier and really break down the intimidation and the barriers for people to get outside,” he said.
Winning one of many Innovation Awards, this time alongside Austin Robbs, who is now director of snow, bike, equipment and accessories at Patagonia. Photo courtesy of Andrew Coutant.
Building a Culture of Outdoor Advocates
Beyond the gear, Coutant focused heavily on mentorship and hiring. Many professionals who once worked on his team at TNF have gone on to lead product divisions at competitors like Marmot, Yeti and Patagonia.
When interviewing potential hires, Coutant said he looked past resumes to assess personality. He preferred taking candidates out for coffee to get them out of a formal interview mindset. His goal was to find out what genuinely made them happy and to ensure they had a true enthusiasm for the work.
“I can teach you anything, but I can’t put a fire in your belly,” Coutant said. “I can’t make you a nice person. I can’t have positive people and then put some curmudgeon in there, no matter how good their skill set is. It’s got to be a good personality fit.”
Coutant said he reminded his team about the real-world impact of their work as he said farewell. Recently, he pulled up social media posts of people using the popular Wawona 6, a large tent for group camping. He was delighted to see how the gear enabled people from all walks of life to experience the outdoors.
“I didn’t drive those kids to the mountains, but I made the product that their parents felt good enough to go out in,” Coutant said. “And they made a great memory. I’m sure one of them fell in a creek, another one got poison ivy, and there will be all these stories that they’ll tell forever. We helped enable that together, and that’s what our entire purpose is about.”
Coutant, left, ice climbing in Ouray, Colo., with athlete Anna Pfaff and Tim Beck, TNF senior global product manager for technical equipment. Photo courtesy of Andrew Coutant.
Looking Ahead to the Next Chapter
As for what comes next, Coutant, who is 58, is in no rush to jump back into the corporate grind. He underwent back surgery five months ago and is using this transitional period to fully recover and spend time with his parents and kids.
Still, he admits he won’t stay idle forever.
“I’m an insanely curious and prolific person, so making gear to go summit Everest, or just feeding the parking meter and thinking, ‘Who the hell designed this parking meter? This is terrible.’ I’ll never stop,” Coutant said.
When he does return to the industry, he plans to be highly selective.
“I’m seasoned enough now to be smart and wise enough now to be very choosy,” he said. “Everything or anything I do has to be really aligned with whatever I’m passionate about, whether it’s a product classifications or categories or the altruistic nature of something.”
