Our Team

Nice to meet you!

EXPED USA is located amongst the brilliant mountains, valleys, and waterways of Tacoma, WA. Surrounded by the boundless beauty of the Pacific Northwest, there's no better place for a small but growing team of highly motivated nature lovers and adventure enthusiasts to set up shop. 

We work hard to bring you comfortable, high-performance outdoor gear that we ourselves love to use (and which we field test often!). As part of a broader company born in the Canadian wilderness and fostered in the shadow of the Swiss Alps, our wilderness heritage is at the very core of what we do: Tinkering to perfection to create refined, truly innovative expedition equipment for outdoor adventure. Equipment that allows our users to thrive in the most challenging wilderness environments, not merely survive. 

Take a minute to get to know the funny, passionate, and creative people who make up the USA team. 

EXPED USA is a subsidiary of Exped AG, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. 

 

 

Don't speak German?  That's ok! Toggle on subtitles/closed captions to hear Andi & Heidi's story. 

 

 

 

EXPED: OWNERS + FOUNDERS

ANDI BRUN
President of the board
HEIDI BRUN
President of the board

Andi, founder and owner of EXPED, is the visionary in the background.

Andi founded EXPED in 1983 together with his wife Heidi after coming back from their 2-year trip in the Canadian wilderness and a short stint at an outdoor retailer in Zurich. He is an avid outdoor professional and has now added kite surfing on water and snow to his outdoor activities of choice.

 

Heidi is the co-founder and co-owner of EXPED.

As long-term General Manager, all issues big and small flew through her hands. She spent months in the Canadian wilderness and later on an uninhabited island in the Great Barrier Reef together with her husband before founding EXPED. She and Andi often travel to Asia to supervise production of EXPED products and explore the continent with their canoe and hammocks.

 
 
 

EXPED: USA TEAM

TED STEUDEL

President

Ted spends his days making sure EXPED USA is running smoothly. Additionally, Ted is our main liaison with our partners in the Zurich office.

Ted is a family man, chicken farmer, boat builder, skier, hiker, and a lifelong paddler. And don’t forget about his fondness for debating the nuances of outdoor gear! His relationship with Exped goes back many years and he’s committed to converting the world to sleeping in Dreamwalker sleeping bags.

 

JOSH ESPINOSA

Vice President 

With his finger on the pulse of our business strategy and our finances, Josh is the guy who makes sure we can keep the lights on and pay for coffee.

Josh is Mr. Bike right now: road bike, mountain bike, touring bike, tandem bikes. But that doesn't stop him from skiing and backpacking when he's out of the saddle. Josh can also be found (or not found) traveling the world on a regular basis.

 

KEVIN PELTO

Director of Finance / HR / IT

Working as our finance, HR, and IT director, Kevin wears many hats and makes sure that people are happy (HR) and accounted (accounting) for. He has been involved in the outdoor industry for over 20 years, and has seen teal blue colors go out of style and come back again. When out of the office, Kevin and his family hike throughout the Cascades.

 

ALEC DARR

Accounting Specialist

Alex, EXPED Finance Specialist, with his dog Zeela

Alec grew up in Park City, Utah and fell in love with Washington while attending university. Alec works with Kevin on matters of finance and enjoys working alongside the entire EXPED USA team to make sure everything is adding up.  When not pushing our accounting software to redline Alec is skiing, hiking, camping, exploring backroads, or fly fishing.

 

KAJ BUNE

Content Specialist

Kaj works with the marketing team to help get the word out to the world about EXPED. He’s a lifelong adventurer and photographer, paddles canoes, kayaks and paddle boards and rides bikes and skis of all kinds. Mountaineering and hiking make him smile, too. Sometimes, though, he just sits and watches the trees.

  

ALEX KIM

Sales & Marketing Coordinator

Originally from southern California, Alex is enjoying the Seattle area and, like his Exped USA team members, he's an all-around outdoor enthusiast. Hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, cycling, and skiing are certainly on his list of endeavors. And he plays a mean game of ping pong! 

 

DAVE PERELLA

Director of Operations

Dave's job is the hub of the EXPED USA wheel. He makes sure our products are ready to go when orders come in and sets the bar very high in customer service.

Dave is hard to keep up with at work and at play. As a year-round cyclist in Seattle, Dave pedals many miles in the rain - and likes it! He is also a backpacker, paddler, skier, and he's a big fan of the Exped Chair Kit.

  

ALLISON PAUL

Customer Service Manager

Allison oversees the operational flow of the Customer Service department and provides support and management expertise.

Born and raised in Washington, Allison loves to explore every wild corner of her home state. She is an avid rock and alpine climber, and also enjoys backpacking, snowshoeing, camping, and kayaking. When she’s not scaling cliffs or trudging up glaciers she can be found tending to her garden or writing poetry and short stories.

 

ANNICA LASSESEN

Customer Service Specialist

Annica 

Annica assists our customers and dealers over the phone and through emails, after previously serving as our repair “guru” specialist for years. She helps the team to deliver exceptional industry service. The force is strong with this one.

Born and raised in Vancouver, BC, Annica immigrated to Washington at age 16. She was an active member of Girl Guides of Canada for ten years until her move, at which time she started volunteering with Washington Search and Rescue. After years of sleeping in the snow, she one day discovered the DownMat, and her life has never been the same. She loves to cycle, kayak, backpack, hike, snowshoe, off-road and more on her PNW adventures — in a skirt where possible.

 

SARAH WORDSWORTH
Warranty Service Specialist

Sarah Wordsworth

Sarah was born and raised in Washington. She firmly believes that Seattleites don’t tan, they rust. She has spent most of her hiking career exploring the Central Cascades. She prides herself in being a “slow sports” enthusiast whose extreme sport is hiking. She has hiked many sections of the Pacific Crest Trail, completing over 2000 miles to date. She also enjoys any outdoor time she can get with Steve, her Australian cattle dog, including time in the yard gardening. In rainy months, she is known for her quilting while planning her next adventure.

 

JOHN OGDEN

Customer Service & Repair Specialist

John Ogden

Before joining EXPED as a Customer Service and Repair specialist, John worked for several years at REI here in Tacoma, and as an Eagle Scout, John has been heavily involved in the outdoors since he was a kid. Like most everyone else in our company, John enjoys a myriad of outdoor activities, especially backpacking, skiing, and kayaking. He also enjoys identifying all the weird mushrooms that grow around the PNW, and spends an inordinate amount of his time poring over topographic maps.

 

LAUREN FLAMME

Customer Service Specialist

Lauren Flamme profile photo

Lauren is a Tacoma native who has enjoyed growing up in the shadow of Mt Rainier. You can find her outside backpacking, trail running at Point Defiance, rock climbing and the occasional polar plunge (Alpine lakes and the Puget Sound). When weather brings her indoors Lauren enjoys cooking for loved ones,  perfecting her chai recipe and water coloring.

 

TRACY COLLINS

Director of Sales & Marketing

Tracy Collins

Born and raised in Virginia, Tracy brings over 20 years of outdoor industry experience to the EXPED team.

He’s passionate about getting others active in the outdoors and making sure they have the right gear along with them.  When not working, Tracy enjoys skiing, hiking, mountaineering, fly-fishing, mountain biking, and camping. He spends his free time chasing his two kids down the ski hills and when the snow melts chasing them up mountain trails.

  

KAYLA KRANTZ

E-Commerce Specialist

Kayla works in our sales department getting EXPED gear directly into the hands of our customers via ExpedUSA.com.

Kayla was born and raised in Western Washington. When she's not busy building an awesome online shopping experience, Kayla enjoys hiking, camping, cycling, and off-roading throughout the Pacific Northwest. On days when the great INdoors beckon, Kayla loves curling up with a good book, listening to true crime podcasts, and tending to her many houseplants.