The first purpose of this qualitative study was to explore self-reported significant life experiences of early childhood educators to determine whether experiences of traditional pre-K educators differed from those who taught in nature-based programs. The second purpose was to explore whether these experiences influenced their teaching practices. Ten traditional pre-K teachers and ten nature-based teachers were interviewed to obtain reports on whether their early experiences influenced their teaching practices. The nature-based participants were reportedly more influenced by early outdoor experiences and the traditional pre-K participants were reportedly more influenced by role models. The findings from the nature-based participants aligned with prior research on significant life experiences. That is, those who have memories of early outdoor experiences continued to exhibit concern for the environment in their adult lives emphasizing the importance of outdoor experiences for all young children.