BUSINESS STRATEGY & DESIGN CONSULTING
Prioritizing and scaling a jungle expedition and certification ecosystem.
Jungle Guides International (JGI) is a dual-market expedition and certification ecosystem designed to develop capability in jungle environments through immersive training, professional pathways, and transformational field experiences.
THE VISION
JGI’s long-term vision is to become the global authority in jungle training and expedition-based learning; connecting storytelling, certification, and real-world fieldwork into a single, scalable ecosystem.
THE STEPS OF TRANSFORMATION
Results →
CHALLENGE & OPPORTUNITY
The core challenge is not lack of demand; it’s how to scale immersive, high-trust, field-based experiences without losing what makes them powerful.
The strategic challenge is ultimately about translation: turning a powerful, often unstructured transformational experience into a globally recognized system—without removing the very elements that make it meaningful.
The challenge wasn't a lack of ideas, it was deciding what belonged together.
THE OPPORTUNITY
The strategic challenge was to determine how the broad users and multiple offerings could fit together, and how to tackle it for two different markets; local (jungle markets) and international (rest of world). Each audience represented a different opportunity, but they didn't all need the same product, positioning, or path to engagement.
Rather than treating each offering as an independent product, I looked at the bigger question: What could JGI become if its expertise, education, experiences, and community were designed as one connected ecosystem?
Professional guides
Tourism operators
Resorts and eco-lodges
Adventure seekers
Researchers and scientists
Healthcare professionals
Conservation organizations
Creators and filmmakers
Had the potential to serve a broad market:
01
Certification
Specialty training
Expeditions
Membership
Community
Ambassador programs
Partnerships
Had multiple potential offerings:
02
BUSINESS STRATEGY
OVERVIEW
I wasn’t solving one problem, I was connecting several.
This work required moving between different levels of strategy, and this is where my approach is different.
I don't look at business strategy, customer experience, product strategy, and learning design as separate disciplines. I look at how they influence one another.
Market
Where should JGI compete?
Positioning
Why should each audience choose JGI?
Product
What should JGI actually offer?
Experience
How should people discover and navigate those offerings?
Learning
How do people build capability over time?
Audience
Who should it prioritize?
VALUE PROPOSITION
Two markets, two different value propositions
One of the biggest strategic opportunities was recognizing that JGI couldn't market the same way to everyone. The local and international markets had different needs, motivations, and buying behaviours. The strategy was not to create two separate businesses, it was to create two clear entry points into the same ecosystem.
Local Market
OPPORTUNITY →
Build JGI's authority within the tourism and expedition ecosystem.
AUDIENCES →
Professional guides, resorts, eco-lodges, tour operators, and tourism organizations.
Prioritization:
Professionals
Resort Owners & Tour Operators
Adventure Seekers
FOCUS →
Professional development
Employability
Guide capability
Safety
Operational quality
Tourism workforce development
POSITIONING →
Become a Jungle Guide
Professional training and certification
PRODUCT STRATEGY →
Professional Pathways
Certification
Workforce Development
Tourism Partnerships
International Market
OPPORTUNITY→
Demonstrate JGI’s transformative and experience-led expedition ecosystem.
AUDIENCES→
Adventure seekers, professionals, and hybrid audiences such as creators, storytellers, and humanitarian travellers.
Prioritization:
Adventure Seekers
Hybrid
Professionals
FOCUS→
Adventure
Transformation
Expedition readiness
Specialized capability
Personal development
POSITIONING→
Experience the jungle
Transformational expeditions
Specialized experiences and adventure
PRODUCT STRATEGY→
Transformational Expeditions
Adventure
Specialty Experiences
Global Community
PRODUCT STRATEGY
Building the product architecture and ecosystem
The next step was turning a collection of ideas into a product ecosystem. Rather than launching everything at once, I helped organize the opportunity into an ecosystem that has three strategic tiers., and a prioritized roadmap for growth and scale.
Product Tiers
Premium Professional Programs
For people building professional capability.
Jungle Guide Certification Pathway:
Jungle Foundations
Assistant Jungle Guide
Certified Jungle Guide
Supported by specialty certifications such as:
Jungle Medicine & Basic Survival
Jungle Film Operations
Jungle Safety & Basic First Aid
01
Transformational Adventure Programs
For people looking to experience the jungle while developing confidence, resilience, and capability.
Expeditions:
Panama
Guyana
Indonesia
Custom experiences
02
Ecosystem
The goal wasn't to sell more individual products, it was to create more ways for people to enter and continue within the JGI ecosystem.
The model needed to create multiple entry points, but keep the relationship connected. The customer doesn't need to follow one linear path, and the ecosystem creates multiple ways to enter, engage, and continue:
For someone the journey might begin with an expedition and eventually lead into education or certification
For a resort or tourism operator, it might begin with a partnership and develop into ongoing team training and certification
Prioritized Roadmap for Growth and Scale
The work also translated the broader vision into a prioritized roadmap. The near-term focus was on establishing proof points in the core professional and experience-led offerings, while building the supporting ecosystem around them.
This created a phased approach:
Establish the certification pathway and specialty courses
Pilot the model in Panama
Test the expedition offering
Build the ambassador program
Develop membership and community
Expand into additional regions
Use successful models as the foundation for future growth
The roadmap prioritized the certification pathway in Panama and Guyana, specialty certification in Panama, the ambassador program, and membership, with expeditions and additional regional expansion following as the model matured.
The result was a strategy that could be tested and validated before attempting to scale everything at once.
Community & Digital Ecosystem
For building an ongoing relationship with the brand.
Membership
Ambassador Program
Virtual & Local Events
Frameworks & Best Practices
The ambassador model was designed to create a network of practitioners, guides, conservationists, educators, hospitality leaders, researchers, photographers, and local outdoor personalities who could help extend JGI's reach and credibility.
03
THE OUTCOME
The work created a strategic foundation for turning expertise into a business ecosystem.
The work connected market strategy, positioning, product architecture, learning pathways, experience design, partnerships, and go-to-market into one broader model. It also created a clearer distinction between what JGI could offer to local and international markets, while allowing both to contribute to the same long-term ecosystem.
I worked as a strategic design partner, moving between the business, the customer, and the experience.
For JGI, that meant helping turn a collection of expertise, experiences, and ideas into a more coherent strategy for growth. One that could build authority, create multiple revenue opportunities, and grow an ecosystem around the unique value of real-world jungle expertise.
THE RESULTS
The transformation delivered measurable improvements
Beyond the metrics, the project established a scalable digital foundation capable of supporting new certifications, expanding into new markets, and continuously improving the customer experience.
Results measured and shown are based on a six-month before transformation and one-month post-launch.
WEBSITE PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS →
17.4%
INCREASE IN AVERAGE ENGAGEMENT TIME
Visitors are spending significantly longer engaging with the website.
96%
INCREASE IN ENGAGEMENT WITH EXPEDITION AND COURSE PAGES
Now among the highest-performing pages on the website, and a shift from general website browsing toward more structured exploration of the training pathways.
BOUNCE RATE REDUCED FROM
70.6% to 43%
The new simplified and streamlined homepage is retaining a substantially greater proportion of visitors and encouraging them to continue into the site rather than immediately leaving.
23%
INCREASE IN ORGANIC SEARCH VISIBILITY
41%
INCREASE IN ORGANIC TRAFFIC
Let’s talk about what you’re trying to solve.
I take a small number of new engagements each year. If your challenge sounds like the work above, I’d love to hear about it.