Hi KIM,

Peter here, Peak Design's Founder & CEO.

If you're reading this, you are a customer or partner of ours located outside of the US. This might be a strange letter to receive from the head of a gear brand, but I nonetheless feel compelled to put this message out there.

I am a proud American. I believe this country has done more good for this world than it has harm. It's never been perfect, but I love and respect the founding principles of this nation, and the laws set forth by our constitution which aim to preserve those ideals.

As a proud American though, I am deeply saddened by what I see here. Bullying. Me-first attitudes. Isolation. Arrogance. Short sightedness. Selective application of the law. Cruelty toward immigrants. It sickens me to my core.

I want you to know this. I want you to know it because part of our mission is to treat our customers as peers. You are on the other side of the fence, and you may not realize how I feel—how many of us feel—at Peak and across this country.

Politics and policy making is hard work in any nation. Even if I don't agree with many of the concerns that put the current administration in the office, I understand them. And I don't think folks who voted for our current leadership are evil, stupid, or bad. They have different perspectives and contexts than I do. 

Still...what's going on now is too big to let pass without mention.

I believe that the majority of people in this country feel the way I do. If we manage to have fair elections in the fall, I hope this will be revealed. But either way...know that we are still here. Fighting from within.

I was born lucky on many fronts, but one of them is that I am an eternal optimist. One who believes that through all the ups and downs this world has seen in time, if you take a wide enough view, we (humans) always come out on top. And I think that's going to happen in this case too. Eventually.

I write this note because when it does, I hope you're willing to forgive our folly. Time, and the costs paid in the meantime, will tell.

We're all in it together.
pd

Peter Dering

Peak Design Founder & CEO

PS - I also recognize that the stuff going on in my country—and worse—is happening elsewhere. I won't pretend like I live in the center of the Universe. I offer my respect and solidarity to anyone reading this who may be facing similar challenges where they live.