Jordy Margid walks into his office to find on his desk a Coke and a note. The unexpected gift is from a student, thanking Margid for his help and positive attitude. Cracking a broad smile, the Outdoor Adventures director says, "This is why I'm here."

In his short time on campus, Margid has already formed tight relationships with the students who work with him. Those interactions offer a refreshing change from the high-profile corporate job he recently left behind.

"Being around people who aren't burnt out and bitter helps me stay young," he says.

Margid took over Outdoor Adventures in September after his predecessor and friend Dennis Johnson retired. He knew what he was getting into when he took the position, since he had worked for Outdoor Adventures throughout his UC Davis undergraduate career. Margid guided rock-climbing, whitewater kayaking and rafting trips for the campus organization until he graduated in 1985.

Margid began working at an outdoor company called Chouinard in 1987, helping to transform the business into the Salt Lake City-based Black Diamond. The company, which began with 30 employees, had grown to 350 workers and was worth more than $50 million last year when Margid left his career as manager of Black Diamond's ski line. He helped lead innovations in products including back-country boots, poles and bindings.

Margid now finds himself in what he thought in college was "the best job in the world."

"In my previous life, and I do consider it my previous life, I was spending so much of my working life based around product development," he said. "This job is a way for me to get back to what I really love doing, which is making a positive impact on a huge number of people."

Those people Margid is influencing are the students he spends so much of his time with — helping them cultivate their natural leadership qualities and wilderness skills. Whether he is training guides, planning trips or going out climbing with a group, Margid finds himself surrounded by the younger generation. "My life outside of work has become an extension of Outdoor Adventures," Margid says. "If I put in just a 12-hour day, I'll feel pretty lucky."

Not that you'll hear him complaining. Margid spends most of his free time outdoors anyway. An avid kayaker since childhood, he also climbs, rafts, skis and used to hang glide. He competed with the U.S. Paddling Team in the early 1990s, traveling to Austria, Czechoslovakia and Switzerland for the Wild Water Championships. He has also paddled in the Italian and French Alps.

Where would you be if you weren't in this profession?

Probably in a gutter somewhere with a tin cup. Honestly, I really have no idea. I bet I would have ended up doing something involving teaching.

What is your favorite place on Earth?

I have two places. Kern River in California played a formidable role in how I grew up because I did most of my early kayaking there. We've spread a best friend's ashes there, it's just a special place. The other is Moab, Utah because the recreating is spectacular there. You can go paddling, climbing, mountain biking, anything.

If you could choose any cause, theme or person to be on a U.S. stamp, what would it be?

I guess it would be the SPCA, specifically "Best Friends Animal Sanctuary" in southern Utah, where they house abandoned animals in a wonderful open, park-like facility and have a policy of not putting any animal down. It's an amazing place, and people actually spend their vacation time renting cabins at the facility to volunteer with the animals.

If you had three wishes, what would they be?

I'd love to see all my best friends still working corporate have the chance to work at a university setting; I'd get everyone to experience the fun, solitude and excitement of what Outdoor Adventures offers; and I'd stay forever young to continue this great job.

What's something that people might be surprised to find out about you?

During a hiatus from Black Diamond many years ago, as a creative outlet I took some time to learn an artistic form of Italian plasterwork, called Venetian plaster, which I got interested in while spending time in Italy. I was able to arrange a two-week apprenticeship with a local master. We became great friends, and his family almost adopted me. It's funny, they really couldn't understand why some guy from the United States with a corporate job wanted to get his hands dirty. I later used the technique when helping to renovate some houses in the Salt Lake City area.

Read any good books lately?

I just re-read Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner, which is an important book to understand how and why this area has developed the way it has. I've also been on a Steinbeck kick lately. I read The Log From the Sea of Cortez while I was down in Baja, right on the Sea of Cortez. I can relate to Doc Ricketts.

Is there a phrase or quote that defines you?

From Doc Ricketts in Log From the Sea of Cortez: "We must remember three things. I will tell them to you in the order of their importance. Number one, and first in importance, we must have as much fun as we can with what we have. Number two, we must eat as well as we can, because if we don't, we won't have the health and strength to have as much fun as we might. And number three, and last in importance, we must keep the house reasonably in order, wash the dishes and such things. But we will not let the last interfere with the other two." •