Rad Season Podcast

Friends Bob Carlson and Chris Jensen launched Arbor Snowboards in 1995 with the focus on sustainability. They were the first snowboard company to replace the plastic top snowboards with responsibly sourced Koa wood, sustainably harvested from Hawaii veneer and pioneered the use of renewable alternatives changing the industry forever. Then came along Arbor Skateboards initially built from old snowboards to bomb hills in the dry season. Bob was set on a mission to give back to conserving the environment and since it's initial launch Arbor donates to protection groups.   This year marks Arbor's 25th Anniversary and they are releasing a documentary film, “Crossing the Grain" that tell's Bob and Chris's story of starting the company and their journey along the way.   Tune in to find out from Bob about those early days starting a sustainable company in the 90's. We chat about how the snowboarding and skateboarding industry has changed since then, the financial ups and downs, staying an independent action sports brand and what future projects Arbor has coming up. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rad-season-podcast/message

Ben Baker is the Managing Director of EXTREME's International Sports and Leisure Destinations. Growing up Ben had a fascination with travel and adventure having lived all over the world from the Middle East to South East Asia the Americas and Africa. He graduated with a degree in Hotel and Tourism and started his career in tourism as a tour operator in the UK.  Ben has 20 years experience in project management and business consultancy in sports, entertainment and leisure destinations.  Ben is currently running EXTREME Destinations who consult, design, develop and operate extreme and adventure sports parks, hotels and complexes around the world.   Tune in to find out how Ben got into the travel industry and what projects EXTREME Destinations are working on.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rad-season-podcast/message

Mikey Taylor is a skateboarder, investor, entrepreneur and Founder of Commune Capital a real estate investment fund. Growing up in Thousand Oaks, Southern California, Mikey was hooked on skateboarding and turned pro when he was 17. For two decades his whole world was skating with multiple sponsorship deals, he was part of the original Street League Skateboarding crew and was one of the most recognizable pro skateboarders on the planet. However, there was always an itch for what happens after his skateboarding career? Mikey co-founded Saint Archer Brewing, a San Diego based craft beer company bringing skate, surf and the art’s world together. In 2015 Saint Archer was acquired by MillerCoors in a multi-million dollar deal. At the same time Mikey went on to co-found Sovrn Skateboards as well as the entrepreneur education platform AVNI Intelligence with the core purpose of educating people how money works. With a passion for investment and business he set up Commune Capital a real estate investing firm. Tune in to find out how Mikey got into investing and his entrepreneurial journey as well as his favorite moments over the years as a pro skateboarder and what projects he is working at the moment. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rad-season-podcast/message

Gordon McArthur is a professional Canadian ice climber . Ever since being introduced to climbing 24 years ago it has been his passion and obsession to climb whether it’s sport, mixed or ice climbing. He’s won the North American Ice Climbing Championships two years in a row in 2014 and 2015, went to the Olympics as a demonstration sport for ice climbing in Sochi and came 4th in the World Cup on one of the hardest dry-tooling routes in the world. Gordon made his dream a reality and built his own climbing facility in his backyard in Cranbrook, British Colombia called ‘The Machine’. Balancing running a climbing gym, training, family life and traveling the world with Team Canada to compete in ice climbing, there’s never a dull moment. Tune in to find out how Gordon got into climbing, his decision to come back out of retirement. As well as his favorite moments from traveling and competing and what projects are driving him at the moment. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rad-season-podcast/message

Brett Clarke is the Chief Commercial Officer of newly formed action sports media, events and lifestyle company Thrill One Sports & Entertainment. Brett started his career in the sports industry in Australian Rugby League and then went on to Nitro Circus as Head of Business Development and Marketing which lead to his role as Chief Commercial Officer at Nitro Circus.    Thrill One has combined three major brands within the action sports entertainment industry: Nitro Circus, Street League Skateboarding (SLS) and Rob Dyrdek's Superjacket Productions, producers of shows such as Ridiculousness and Fantasy Factory.   Tune in to find out how Brett got into the sports industry and the challenges and opportunities he faces as CCO of Thrill One. We discuss how the events and media company has been focusing on their digital strategy during the pandemic as well as the direction of Nitro Circus, SLS and Superjacket and what projects they have coming up. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rad-season-podcast/message

Stix otherwise known as Steve Nilsen is the Vice President of Lifestyle Marketing at Liquid Death Mountain Water. Stix started his career off in the world of action sports at Airwalk as a Snowboard Boot Developer then Snow Division Manager. He then went on to be Sports Marketing Manager at Red Bull followed by creating the Lifestyle Marketing program for Pabst Brewing Company pushing the limits on creative branding. He is now VP Lifestyle Marketing Liquid Death canned water taking the drink to the action sports, music and lifestyle segments. Liquid Death Water is canned water from the Austrian Alps that debuted January of 2019. With savvy marketing campaigns they have gone full throttle in the CPG space and beyond. Tune in to find out how Stix started his career in action sports, his journey in marketing and what future projects he has in the mix. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rad-season-podcast/message

In the next episode of the Rad Season Podcast Oli Russell-Cowan chats to Jamie Barrow, Britain’s fastest snowboarder and Guinness World Record holder for the fastest speed on a snowboard being towed by a vehicle. Back in 2013 Jamie had a serious accident at a Snowboard Cross event which saw him bow out of the British Snowboard Cross team and dashed his hopes of competing in the Winter Olympics. Doctors told him that he wouldn’t be able to snowboard again and he was set on not only proving them wrong but seeing what could be achieved on a snowboard. Jamie turned to snowboarding speed records. Earlier this year in Gol, Norway he set the Guinness World Record for the fastest snowboarder towed by a vehicle with a speed of 183kph (113.71mph). In the summer months to keep busy Jamie restores apartments in Bath, UK until it’s time to head back to the mountains for winter. He’s got some big plans to hit over 200kph on his board this season. Tune in for some of Jamie’s best snowboarding travel stories on pushing the limits on how fast you can go on a snowboard. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rad-season-podcast/message

In the next episode of the Rad Season Podcast Oli Russell-Cowan chats to adventure traveler, YouTuber, BBC TV Host and seeker of crazy experiences Mike Corey.   Mike has always had an interest in the more unusual parts of the world. After finishing a Marine Biology Degree in Canada in 2007 Mike took his backpack and volunteered on ocean conservation studies as a research assistant. He brought his camera with him and documented his travels which led to a new career path focused on filmmaking and photography capturing these incredible destinations.   Mike went on to produce short films for tourism boards and travel brands before creating his own YouTube adventure travel channel Fearless and Far focusing on unique experiences in interesting cultures and strange places around the world.  Tune in for some of his best travel stories over the years. We talk about taking part in the Exploding Hammer Festival and Bulls of Fire in Mexico as well as the epic Battle of the Oranges Festival in Italy. We also dive in to why Mike seeks these bizarre experiences and find out what other places are still on his travel list. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rad-season-podcast/message

In the next episode of the Rad Season Podcast Oli Russell-Cowan chats to ski industry veteran, action sports podcast host and producer of the Powell Movement Podcast, Mike Powell. Powell grew up in Washington, DC and went to Radford University in Virginia studying speech communications. He moved to Vail, Colorado after college and got hooked on snowboarding. He spent 16 years in marketing, action sports management and working with the world’s best skiers in the world at K2 Skis. At K2 Powell started as International Team Manager then on to Global Marketing Manager and Partnerships. He got the opportunity to MC at skiing and snowboarding events around the world for Red Bull, K2 and Powder Magazine. Powell went on to produce and host the Sponsored Podcast for Powder Magazine finding the stories behind the skiers. In 2017 he started the Powell Movement Podcast featuring skiing, snowboarding and other action sports legends. Tune in for some of Powell’s best stories over the years including how he got his first job at K2, crazy antics and beer pong at action sports events and how he started and grew the Powell Movement Podcast. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rad-season-podcast/message

In the next episode Oli Russell-Cowan chats to media, marketing and entertainment executive Don Meek the Global Chief Content Officer and GM North America at FUEL TV.   California native Don started his career at Prime Ticket Network managing a number of sports events including the US Open of Surfing. He then went on to Sony Pictures where he launched international television networks and headed up sales and marketing for one of the pioneering online video platforms at iFilm.   Don then became the President of Primedia’s Action Sports Group looking after websites, events and magazines including SURFER, POWDER and SKATEBOARDER and was then head of digital at Tribune Company.   Don is currently steering the ship at FUEL TV in the US and is in charge of content going out to 95 countries around the world. He is also an avid surfer, chair of the content committee and board member at the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center.   Tune in for some of his best stories over the years in the action sports industry and what projects FUEL TV has in store and how he sees the landscape of action sports media changing. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rad-season-podcast/message

In the next episode Oli Russell-Cowan chats to Vice President and General Manager of Dew Tour, Courtney Gresik. Coming from a financial background Gresik started her career in the action sports industry in 2005 working at TransWorld Media and the World Surf League. Gresik now oversees the business, partnerships, event operations, marketing and content strategy of Dew Tour's contest series of skateboarding and snow events. Prior to being the GM she was Director of Business and Partnerships on the Tour which saw her partner with nonprofits, schools and the action sports community. She has been pivotal in relocating Dew Tour Winter to Cooper Mountain and including women to the Tour Team Challenge and Streetstyle Winter 2020 competitions. She is also a member of WISE—Women In Sports and Events. Tune in for some of Gresik's best stories over the years at Dew Tour, what challenges they are facing and projects Dew Tour are working on and how she sees the future of action sports events. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rad-season-podcast/message

In the next episode Oli Russell-Cowan chats to investor, entrepreneur and founder of EXTREME Alistair Gosling. With a passion for extreme and adventure sports Alistair set out on a mission to build a TV distribution company and in 1998 at the age of 27 he had created The Extreme Sports TV Channel which was televised in more than 60 countries worldwide and by doing so The EXTREME brand franchise was born. Today, EXTREME spans across events, media, marketing and real estate. Alistair sits on the advisory board of Qiddiya, an entertainment mega project being developed in Saudi Arabia. Alistair is still an extreme sports fan and regular skier, diver, pilot and sailor. Tune in for some of Alistair's best stories over the years running EXTREME, how it all began and what he sees for the future of action sports and adventure sports media and industry. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rad-season-podcast/message

In the next episode Oli Russell-Cowan chats to action sports events host, musician, broadcaster, writer and podcast host Chris Coté, one of the most recognisable voices in the action sports community. Hailing from Southern California, Chis grew up skating and surfing and had a short stint at competing before moving behind the scenes in the surf industry. In the late 90’s he got his big break as the Editor in Chief at Transworld Surf Magazine which he held for 14 years. As well as the host of Fuel TV and playing in punk bands. Nowadays Chris can be seen and heard on the World Surf League’s Work Surf Weekly and WSL Surf Breaks. He also gets amongst it as an on air announcer. He is on the board of directors for Yew Media based out of San Diego and Editor of Encinitas Magazine in his hometown as well as the host of his own podcast ‘the Monday M.A.S.S’. He’s still involved in the skate scene as the commentator on the Vans Pro Park Series and is the one-man-media powerhouse of content and production company Cote Media Group. Tune in for some of Coté’s best stories including traveling around the world for surfing and skateboarding events and what future action sports projects he has in store. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rad-season-podcast/message

In the next episode Oli Russell-Cowan chats to Canadian travel and entertainment entrepreneur, CEO and co-founder of Stay22 Andrew Lockhead. In 2016 native Montrealers, Andrew and co-founder Hamed came up with the concept of Stay22, a location-based and interactive map that helps event-goers and travelers book accommodations and travel experiences near events or destinations. The challenge for event and festival goers is there are so many accommodation sites to choose from. The goal was to make travel easy so they created a map to search and compare the hotels and Airbnb’s near the event location. Andrew is passionate about revolutionizing the events industry. Tune in to find out how Stay22 got started and get the industry insight from Andrew on how he sees the future of event travel moving forward post-pandemic. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rad-season-podcast/message

In the next episode Oli Russell-Cowan chats to Risto Kalmre, designer, event producer, founder and organiser of Simple Session one of the world's premier action sports events for skateboarding and BMX. Simple Session had it's 20th Anniversary in February 2020 just before the pandemic hit and the events world changed forever.   Risto, grew up in Tartu, southern Estonia. During the 90's there was only a handful of BMX and skaters in the country. In Tartu they built a new skatepark and with his brother Mario they launched the first ever Simple Session event in 2000.   In 2004 Risto moved to the Estonian capital of Tallinn, along with Simple Session. Over the years the event has grown and housed some of the biggest names in BMX and skateboarding. The riding is next level and the parties are legendary.   Tune in for some of Risto's best and worst moments from Simple Session and what future events projects he has in store. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rad-season-podcast/message