{"id":185859,"date":"2023-02-04T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-05T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=185859"},"modified":"2025-11-20T23:29:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T07:29:10","slug":"livio-melo-allmansright","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/video\/livio-melo-allmansright","title":{"rendered":"Founder Spotlight: Livio Melo and Jennifer Jacobsson, allmansright"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Allemansr\u00e4tt, or the Right of Public Access<\/a>, is a Swedish principle that grants everyone in the country the basic freedom to roam\u2014that is, cycle, ski, camp, walk or run on any land except private gardens, near occupied housing or on cultivated land. No matter your occupation, income, experience level or identity, you are invited to enjoy and explore the outdoors as a basic human right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Livio Melo and Jennifer Jacobsson seek to not only inspire that freedom to roam, but also to enable it by producing high-quality, ultralight backpacking gear that can take you from a subway platform to a secluded forest trail\u2014or even just a city park\u2014in no time. To the business and life partners, allmansright<\/a> is more than the name of their brand, inspired by Jacobsson\u2019s experience growing up in Sweden: It\u2019s their chance to bring the freedom to roam to those who have never been able to feel that type of connection with or ease in the outdoors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Melo was born in the countryside of the Dominican Republic, and being outside was a big part of his young life until his family emigrated to the U.S. \u201cMoving to the States, it was the complete opposite,\u201d he says with a chuckle. \u201cThere was no reason for me to be outside. In fact, outside was dangerous sometimes. I had no idea that it was possible. I didn\u2019t know there was such a thing as a trail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, he started going on hikes. Then longer ones. Then finding himself dreaming of the next trek. For Melo, going back outdoors was more than the rediscovery of a hobby. \u201cWhen I got reconnected to nature, it brought something else out of me,\u201d Melo says. \u201cLike, here was something about life still worth finding out about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While working at a coffee shop, he started designing and sewing gear in his spare time, using his industrial design background to focus on function as well as efficiency and sustainability features. After making minimalistic, featherlight packs for himself, Jacobsson and friends, a new journey to the outdoors seemed obvious: Jacobsson, who has merchandising, marketing and events experience, remembers, \u201cI kind of stepped in and said, this could really be something. Let\u2019s make this a legit business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In 2020, they converted a corner of their 500-square-foot Bronx apartment into a studio and started dreaming bigger. As part of the growth process, Melo and Jacobsson became members of REI Co-op\u2019s Path Ahead Ventures<\/a> inaugural cohort with the 16-week Navigate program, developed in collaboration with R\/GA<\/a> Ventures.   <\/del> Navigate is an acceleration program designed to support and uplift new entrepreneurs from Black, Indigenous, Latino\/a\/x, and Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. The collaborative project provides mentorship opportunities, funding, programming and access to the production, distribution and marketing expertise held by REI Co-op. Each of the participating brands receives a $25,000 equity-free grant, along with potential access to additional funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t even know there was an outdoor industry before I was 28,\u201d Melo says. \u201cA year later, I\u2019m in it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While founders of color represent only around 1% of entrepreneurs in the outdoor industry today, innovators like Melo and Jacobsson are poised to challenge that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s all you need to make a change, I think,\u201d Melo says. \u201cA little bit of power and a whole lot of perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, the pair\u2019s dream to lift some of the barriers to getting outside is coming to life: They\u2019ve moved into a bigger production space and have committed to allocating 2% of their profits to initiatives that seek to protect the environment.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outdoors is for everyone. By creating space for founders of color to have the opportunity to learn, grow and network, REI Co-op believes that the outdoor industry can be for everyone, too.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Want to join the next Navigate cohort?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Applications are open February 6\u2013March 12, 2023. Learn more at rei.com\/path-ahead\/navigate<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Allemansr\u00e4tt, or the Right of Public Access, is a Swedish principle that grants everyone in the country the basic freedom to roam\u2014that is, cycle, ski, camp, walk or run on any land except private gardens, near occupied housing or on cultivated land. No matter your occupation, income, experience level or identity, you are invited to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30740,"featured_media":186084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[387,717],"tags":[733,8,2207,725],"internal-tag":[1494],"class_list":["post-185859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hike","category-video","tag-co-op-cinema","tag-hike","tag-path-ahead-ventures","tag-video","post_format-post-format-video","internal-tag-co-op-studios"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/video\/livio-melo-allmansright","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Founder Spotlight: Livio Melo and Jennifer Jacobsson, allmansright","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/video\/livio-melo-allmansright","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/video\/livio-melo-allmansright"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/02\/Wondercamp_REI_Liv-Allmansright-028.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/02\/Wondercamp_REI_Liv-Allmansright-028.jpg?fit=8192%2C5464"},"articleSection":"Hike","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ever Meister"}],"creator":["Ever Meister"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["co-op cinema","hike","path ahead ventures","video"],"dateCreated":"2023-02-05T05:00:00Z","datePublished":"2023-02-05T05:00:00Z","dateModified":"2025-11-21T07:29:10Z"},"rendered":"