A studio art and English major and an alpine skier, Natasha Woodworth ’11 parlayed her Middlebury experience into a career as a product designer for Patagonia. This fall, Natasha launched her own business, Curious Creatures, a line of technical clothing for mountain bikers.

What was your career path from the time you graduated from Middlebury to now?

After I graduated, I went to New York City to work in the fashion and runway industry, specifically in product design. I then moved to California to design for Patagonia and worked there for nearly 10 years. I had the opportunity to work with Patagonia adventure athletes (alpine climbing, trail running, mountain biking, and skiing) and champion sustainable design on the design team and later on the advanced R&D design team. I had the chance to experience lots of amazing product-testing trips in my time there. Last September, I left to start my own mountain biking apparel company called Curious Creatures, which just recently launched. 

I think my skiing background at Middlebury opened so many doors for me to work professionally on product design. I was able to be a designer and a real-world tester of products. It helped a lot in my process of working with and relating to athletes in any sport capacity. Being hyperfocused on making sure your equipment works is a part of every athlete’s life, so I am always using my previous ski experience in that regard. Trying to solve problems with design in order to make the goal, objective, or expedition achievable for some of these outdoor athletes in risky and life-threatening environments is very rewarding.

What can you tell us about Curious Creatures? How has the process of starting a company gone for you?

Curious Creatures has been live for about three weeks and I am having so much fun! I am super inspired by the passion and enthusiasm of the mountain-bike community, which I am sure even on campus in Vermont has been growing.

I wanted to build a highly technical quality product using premium materials and construction, but also embrace a more casual design ethos so the pieces work for all the parts of people’s lives. I think outdoor gear can be quite prescriptive of what you should and should not wear and my hope is that all people feel free to wear Curious Creatures however they choose. The brand hopes to celebrate the curiosity and adventurous side of riding your bike as well as the playful return back to being a part of nature that one feels when riding their bike or doing anything outside. We are all Curious Creatures!

I got to work with a fellow Middlebury alum, Ian Durkin ’10, on a very fun video exploring this concept. And I will say, starting a business from scratch is an incredible amount of work. I think back on my time juggling ski practice, training, and academics at Middlebury as truly the most influential time in my life for teaching me that work ethic. Nothing in the real world preps you for that quite like being a student-athlete.

Is there one piece of advice you would pass down to current Middlebury student-athletes?

Don’t worry about your major. I was making weird sculptures in the basement of Johnson at Middlebury and somehow that turned into a real job designing clothes. Enjoy the time you have to explore! You learn so much about yourself and ways you can contribute to the world by these pursuits that may not have a direct career path, but you have to trust it will all work out and those skills are truly valuable in the real world.

What was your Midd Moment?

Two winters ago, I had the chance to return to Middlebury and help out with a MiddCORE J-term class working on a project surrounding the recommerce industry for gear and apparel. It was so lovely to be back on campus and super inspiring to see the students’ hard work and creative optimistic thinking. I was impressed by the professor’s dedication to the students and realized how lucky I was to have programs like J-term when I was there. I was also reminded of the environmentalism thread that runs through the school, which is easy to take for granted when you are a student. I think I assumed everyone operated with the planet and climate crisis in mind but once you leave you realize it’s not the case, so I was very proud to see this core tenet is still running strong.