Page 64 - BusinessWest September 15, 2021

Walking the Walk
Berkshire County
COVID Sparks
a Surge in Entrepreneurship in the Berkshires
The COVID-19 pandemic has provided many individuals with the motivation, opportunity, and time to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. That’s certainly been the case in the Berkshires, where new ventures launched, or set to be launched, include a new brewery, a guided-hikes venture, and a treasure- hunt concept that introduces consumers to area businesses.
LBy George O’Brien
ike most of those people who find themselves walking the Camino de Santiago — the pilgrim trail (actu- ally, several different trails) that end at the Spanish city of Santiago
de Compostela — Mindy Miraglia was at a crossroads in her life.
Indeed, after many years in advertising and market research, subsequent burnout, and some time working at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health that didn’t end well, she was trying to figure out what could — and should — come next for her.
So, like hundreds of thousands of people each year, she decided to walk the Camino, also known as the Way of St. James, to pause,
reflect, and maybe, just maybe, find an answer to her question. And as she tells the story, the Camino — and, specifically, her experiences on the 250-mile trek across Northern Spain — became the answer.
Sort of. Let’s just say it’s a work or progress. Or a business in progress.
It’s called Berkshire Camino LLC, which specializes in guided hikes through the Berk- shires, many of which take people from com- munity to community and are thus patterned after what Miraglia experienced in Spain on her two treks on the Camino.
But that was not the original plan. Instead, she wanted to create hostels — the lower-cost, dorm-like hotels that are an important part of the Camino experience — in the Berkshires and thus bring a different type of accommo-
Mindy Miraglia was inspired to launch Berkshire Camino by her treks in Northern Spain.
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