Christy Schwan, president and owner of Brookfield-based Stellarus Benefits Inc., approaches her business with the same fearlessness she has when snowshoeing out into the unknown.
“I prefer not to follow somebody else’s trail,” Schwan said. “I prefer to cut my own.”
Schwan has been actively snowshoeing for the past five years and describes the sport as a rejuvenating winter workout.
“The air is so clean and cold and crisp, and it just makes you glad to be alive,” Schwan said. “It’s so beautiful.”
She and her husband, Paul, prefer quiet sports like kayaking, canoeing and snowshoeing and appreciate the opportunities snowshoeing gives them to see wildlife in action like otters, eagles and deer.
“It’s quiet,” Schwan said. “It’s pristine because we’re going out where no one has been before us.”
The two snowshoe each winter at their cottage up north near Boulder Junction, Wis., where they live a different pace of life without the distractions of television and other electronics. Their daughter and two granddaughters join them whenever possible.
For Schwan, snowshoeing can be something of a spiritual experience.
“It really appeals to the whole person in my mind – body, mind and spirit,” she said. “It really does.”
