“Our mission is to provide thrilling and adventurous team building experiences that challenge corporate groups to push beyond their limits and accelerate their relationships, ultimately producing a more effective and productive atmosphere in the workplace.”
Partners, Christa Niravong and Frederick Schuett are life long adventurers, who love the outdoors and living life to the fullest. With Frederick's propensity for living on the edge, coupled with Christa's natural business acumen, they decided to put their talents and passions to the test. This led to the creation of ONE AXE Pursuits in 2001.
Starting as a small, home based business, ONE AXE Pursuits focused on small rock and ice climbing, and ziplining expeditions. Handling every facet of the business themselves, Christa dealt with the behind the scenes, while Frederick was responsible for leading the expeditions.
As they continued to gain popularity and brand recognition in the world of personal adventures, ONE AXE Pursuits decided to expand into the corporate team building sector. This decision would shape the future of their business forever. One day, Christa received an email from tech mogul, Richard Branson, requesting a Toronto ziplining experience. From there, ONE AXE Pursuits exploded in popularity!
Today, the company has done corporate retreats for countless major businesses, including Google, Fido, and CIBC. They have been recognized for their amazing offerings, receiving several awards throughout the years, and have been featured in Ripley’s Believe It or Not, the Guinness Book of World Records, and National Geographic for Frederick’s unique ability to guide celebrity ziplining tours over active volcanoes!
ONE AXE has taken their business one step further, expanding their service offerings into the world of Film and TV. “ONE AXE Pursuits covers work ranging from green screens in Toronto to urban rappelling. We offer rope rigging at unique venues for the film and media event industry.”
Despite the obvious success that ONE AXE Pursuits has had throughout their business journey, they still have faced many challenges along the way. Maybe no challenge has been greater than the COVID-19 pandemic. Being a consumer facing, experience based business, the restrictions that accompanied the pandemic made Christa and Frederick feel discouraged and without direction.
20 years prior, the couple took part in a Business Centre of Guelph Wellington program to help them open their business. Therefore, they knew just where to go for help with this obstacle. The Business Centre advised ONE AXE Pursuits to look into Digital Main Street to help them project their business’ amazing in-person experiences through digital means.
The Digital Transformation Grant that ONE AXE Pursuits received allowed them to contract a digital media studio to create promotional videos, encompassing all of the adrenaline that their adventures have to offer. However, Digital Main Street helped the business more than just financially. Christa explains, “Digital Main Street gave us hope during COVID. It allowed us to focus each day on moving the business forward.”
When they started ONE AXE, Christa and Frederick weren’t looking to become rich off of a gimmick. They formed their company because it was and still is their passion and something that they love to do. Being that this business is part of their DNA, it made the hardships of overcoming obstacles, like COVID-19, worth it.
Christa’s growth as an entrepreneur since co-founding ONE AXE Pursuits is obvious. When asked what she would tell herself when she first started her business, she exclaimed, “Grab all of the opportunities that come along, instead of hesitating. Just go for it.”
So, if you are an adrenaline seeker looking for the thrill of a lifetime, or a corporation looking to strengthen relationships and boost your team’s performance, then contact ONE AXE Pursuits, for adventure for everyone.
"The impact that the Business Centre has on businesses in an unmeasurable way is amazing. There is no way to measure hope. But the hope that we received during COVID made me feel supported during that time. It was extremely important to my health, and the health of the business." — Christa Niravong