Mallory Wright traded the Texas heat for the Colorado mountains after childhood trips to Estes Park sparked a lifelong love of the outdoors. A graduate of Tarleton State University, she moved to Crested Butte in 2021, bringing a background in hospitality management and a passion for hiking, skiing, and connecting with people. She spoke with RMBL Communications Manager Suzanne Ennis about what makes RMBL 365 feel like home and why the campaign to pay off its mortgage matters.

Suzanne: What brought you to Colorado, and what keeps you here?

Mallory: I came to the YMCA in Estes Park with my family when I was growing up, and those trips really introduced me to my love for the mountains. I’ve always loved being outdoors, and Texas weather made it harder to enjoy the outdoors in the way I wanted to. Colorado gave me the opportunity to build a life around that.

I originally came here for the summer activities, but over time I’ve learned to love the winter activities just as much, and so do my dogs!

The weather and the access to the outdoors are a huge part of what keeps me here, but the people and the sense of community are what really make Colorado, and especially Crested Butte, feel like home.

Suzanne: You have a background in hospitality management. What do you love about working with people, and how does that shape the way you approach your role at RMBL 365?

Mallory: Hospitality management, to me, means creating the best environment I can for people and for the world around them. I love creating experiences for people and making them feel like they matter, that they are welcome, and that they have a purpose in the space they are in.

I love that in my role at RMBL 365, I truly get to put people and our environment above all else. It gives me the opportunity to think about not just where someone is staying, but how they experience their time here and how we can make that experience meaningful.

Suzanne: What do you love most about managing RMBL 365?

Mallory: What I love most about managing RMBL 365 is building connections with our Crested Butte community and educating people about RMBL, what we do at 365, and what happens up in Gothic.

The laundromat next door has actually become a really unexpected avenue for that. I’ve been able to connect with people who might otherwise never interact with RMBL or never have a reason to go up to Gothic. It gives me the chance to tell them about the multitude of projects happening there and introduce them to a part of our community they may not have known. I really enjoy being that connection between people in town and the larger RMBL community.

Suzanne: What do you hope people feel when they walk through the doors of 365?

Mallory: My goal is for everyone who walks into RMBL 365 to feel welcome and like they have a home away from home.

We know Gothic as an extension of home for so many people’s daily lives, and I hope that same feeling can be extended to RMBL 365. And when you’re in town, you’re even closer to home!

I want people to feel comfortable walking into the kitchen, sitting in the living room, talking with someone they’ve never met, or simply settling in after a long day outside. I think those little moments are what make a place feel like home.

Suzanne: Can you tell me about a memorable guest, gathering, or moment at 365 that has stayed with you?

Mallory: My favorite times at RMBL 365 have been when we’ve had multiple different ages, groups, and types of stays happening all at once.

I love coming into the building each day and talking with everyone about what they have planned — helping someone figure out the best hiking route, making coffee while guests eat pancakes and wrap up their morning conversations, and then welcoming them back in the afternoon and hearing exactly how their day went.

To be involved with my guests while they’re here is truly so much fun. I get to see people arrive as strangers and sometimes leave having made new connections, found a new favorite trail, learned something about RMBL, or simply had a really great day in the mountains. Those are the moments that make the job special to me.

Suzanne: Beyond hosting mission-aligned guests versus functioning as a hotel or hostel, what makes RMBL 365 different from other places to stay or gather in Crested Butte?

Mallory: RMBL 365 is unique because you can’t really replicate the energy that RMBL carries into each space we have.

When you’re here, you become part of the RMBL community. You’re sharing a space with the person staying in the room next to you, the people gathering in the living room, the researchers and students passing through, and the community members who come through the building.

That sense of community can be felt almost immediately. From the moment you wake up and walk into the kitchen to when you’re winding down for the night, there’s an opportunity to connect with someone. I think that feeling is difficult to create intentionally; it’s something that just happens when you bring the right people and environment together.

Suzanne: How do you see 365 connecting people to RMBL’s larger mission, even if they aren’t scientists or researchers?

Mallory: RMBL 365 allows us to open our doors to a much larger community, not just researchers and scientists, but students, families, community members, nonprofits, educators, and organizations that share many of the same goals and values as RMBL.

Having a space like 365 means we can host more people and facilitate more opportunities for education, research, collaboration, and community engagement. We’re able to host larger groups for high school education programs and welcome organizations outside of RMBL that are aligned with our mission.

For me, that’s one of the most exciting parts of 365. It gives people who may never consider themselves “scientists” a way to interact with RMBL and become part of the conversation around science, education, and our environment.

Suzanne: What would it mean to you to see RMBL 365’s mortgage completely paid off, and what would that make possible for RMBL?

Mallory: To have RMBL 365’s mortgage completely paid off would mean so many more opportunities. It would give us more room in the operating budget and more capacity to do even more with the building.

It would also allow us to look at our maintenance and improvement plans and start tackling some of the things on that list sooner rather than later. We have ideas for growth, too, and that additional financial flexibility could allow us to invest back into the building, make improvements, and create even more opportunities for the people and organizations we serve.

But beyond the financial piece, I think there’s something really meaningful about having the building fully belong to RMBL. I would love to see 365 continue to settle into RMBL’s history and feel like it is part of the same story as the cabins in Gothic, just the newest one. Paying off the mortgage wouldn’t just be the end of something; it would really be the beginning of what 365 can do next.

Suzanne: What would you say to someone who has stayed at 365, attended an event there, or appreciates RMBL’s presence in the community about why supporting the mortgage payoff campaign matters?

Mallory: Supporting the campaign to pay off RMBL 365’s mortgage matters because resources matter.

RMBL 365 is one of RMBL’s newest and greatest resources. Keeping it strong and sustainable means more room for education, research, community engagement, and the advancement of the work RMBL is doing.

Supporting RMBL 365 also means more people get the opportunity to be introduced to 365 and, through it, to RMBL as a whole. They get to see the people, science, education, and community that make this organization so special.

To me, RMBL 365 represents possibility and hope for the future. It gives us more room to bring people together, share knowledge, and create connections around science and the environment. Supporting the mortgage payoff campaign helps make sure that possibility continues for years to come.

Take a video tour of RMBL 365 and see how it supports RMBL’s vision, then make a gift toward the effort (please note “RMBL 365” in the designation field).

RMBL welcomes mission-aligned guests, offering a unique combination of meeting space, lodging, and communal areas designed to foster creativity and collaboration. Learn more about hosting your workshop, retreat, or educational program at RMBL 365 here.

— Interview by Suzanne Ennis
Communications Manager
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory

Top photo: Mallory Wright. Photo by Nolan Blunck