Highline Outdoor Group’s Tony O’Neill to Speak at Outdoor Media Summit 2026
Executive search specialist to moderate marketing career-progression panel with leaders from YETI, Mountain House and Revolution House Media in Asheville, North Carolina.
Highline Outdoor Group, the retained executive search firm specializing in leadership talent for the outdoor, sporting goods and active lifestyle industries, announced today that founder and president Tony O’Neill has been named a featured speaker at Outdoor Media Summit (OMS) 2026, taking place September 28 to 30 in Asheville, North Carolina. O’Neill will moderate a panel on how marketing careers actually advance in the outdoor industry, drawing on more than 20 years of experience evaluating leadership talent for outdoor and sporting goods brands.
The session brings together three marketing leaders whose careers have taken different paths through the outdoor industry: Michelle Fleming of YETI, Seth Beiden of Mountain House, and Kate Ketschek of Revolution House Media. Rather than a standard panel of career advice, the conversation is built around the moves that changed each panelist’s trajectory, including the risks that paid off, the tradeoffs of the outdoor industry’s compensation “lifestyle discount,” and how artificial intelligence is reshaping which marketing skills companies value most.
“When I’m evaluating someone for a VP of Marketing or CMO search, I’m not simply looking at how many years they’ve spent in marketing,” said O’Neill. “I’m looking at the problems they’ve been trusted to solve, the scope they’ve accumulated, and whether they can connect marketing decisions to the performance of the business. This panel is a chance to have that same conversation candidly and in public, with three people who have built genuinely different careers in this industry.”
O’Neill founded Highline Outdoor Group 16 years ago after building his executive search career for more than two decades in the outdoor and sporting goods space. The firm has placed senior leaders at companies including YETI, Santa Cruz Bicycles, Columbia Sportswear and United Wheels, and O’Neill regularly advises European and Australian outdoor brands entering the US market. He is also the host of Outdoor Industry Executive Voices, a podcast featuring conversations with executives, entrepreneurs and other leaders shaping the outdoor and active lifestyle industries.
Outdoor industry professionals attending OMS 2026 are invited to join the panel in Asheville. Those following from outside the event can find updates, industry commentary and Tony O’Neill’s take on executive careers in the outdoor industry at highlineoutdoor.com and on the Outdoor Industry Executive Voices podcast.
About Highline Outdoor Group
Highline Outdoor Group is the retained executive search firm specializing in placing high-performance leadership within outdoor, sporting goods and active lifestyle companies and brands. Using a structured, retained search approach, the firm matches high-impact executive talent with the right positions, companies and brands across the outdoor industry. Founded by Tony O’Neill, Highline Outdoor Group is based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Learn more at highlineoutdoor.com.
About Outdoor Media Summit
Outdoor Media Summit is where the brightest minds in outdoor media and marketing gather to share secrets, forecast the future, and drive industry growth. The conference brings together journalists from major outdoor publications, brand marketers, content creators, and outdoor industry CEOs for education, networking, and the industry’s only consensus-driven gear evaluation process. The 2026 conference will take place Sept. 28-30 at the Crowne Plaza Resort in Asheville, North Carolina.
Media Contact
For media inquiries, visit highlineoutdoor.com/contact.