[00:00:00] Eric: hey everybody, this is Eric Y Chen of the why factor podcast, and today I have a guest here that I’m super excited to have on. His name is Andrew Muse, and he is a. Big, big content creator in the adventure world. And so I’ll have you introduce yourself and, and pretty much 

[00:00:18] Andrew: tell us a little bit more.

[00:00:19] Yeah. Thank you so much for having me here. , yeah. My name’s Andrew muse. , I currently reside in park city, Utah. And I’ve built a really, I mean, really the life of my dreams. I am a professional snowboarder. I work with a bunch of major brands and I get to travel the world a lot of times with my dog, my girlfriend.

[00:00:37] And. This career path has wildly exceeded my expectations. And, yeah, it’s been a pretty crazy ride and I’m super thankful, for the life that I have at the moment.

[00:00:47] Eric: so pretty much how I discovered Andrew was just about 18 months ago. So I’ve been following his adventure and, and when I say adventure, his is it.

[00:00:56] Adventure is a little different from ours, right. Are my type of venture would just [00:01:00] be like, Oh, I get to go on, you know, maybe a three-week vacation. , and then that’s it. But you are always on vacation, not vacation. You are always on an adventure, which can be seen as a vacation, but it’s really your full-time job 

[00:01:14] Andrew: as well.

[00:01:15] Right? 

[00:01:15] Yeah. I mean, I get to travel a lot. , but I, I work entirely for myself, self. I mean, I have clients, so all the fun adventure content, you see, there’s also a ton of work behind the scenes behind the computer. , you know, just having. Being able to build a reputation that allows, you know, brands feel comfortable sending me to cool places and knowing that they’re going to get some great assets in return.

[00:01:42] So. the way I’m able to travel is basically they create photo, video and marketing assets for brands, or boards of tourism or, you know, it just kind of depends. So it’s a hustle. It looks like a fairy tale, but it’s a lot of work. 

[00:01:55] Eric: Yeah. And I feel like you’re being pretty humble about like the clients and [00:02:00] companies that you do work with.

[00:02:01] So I’m going to name drop for you. , I mean, you’re, you’re already, you’re sponsored by GoPro. Rossignol, Maverick. And then you worked with a few other big companies like travel channel, Google, I mean, helping these big companies do their content or providing the content, based on your own life and your own, your own lifestyle.

[00:02:20] And I mean, if people aren’t too familiar either, you know, one of them, the reasons why you are popular is because you have a partner in crime. , kicker. 

[00:02:30] Andrew: Yeah. 

[00:02:31] Eric: The adventure dog.he’s a golden retriever that Andrew has been able to take around with him. And if you guys do go check out his, his content, I mean, he, you know, when kicker was a puppy, he’s.

[00:02:44] Kickers in his jacket going down, you know, snowboarding or skiing and, even what paragliding and everything too. 

[00:02:50] Andrew: So 

[00:02:50] Eric: anything you don’t think you should be doing with your dog? He’s, he’s doing it 

[00:02:56] Andrew: pretty awesome life. 

[00:02:57] Eric: Yeah. , is kicker dog here too, [00:03:00] or 

[00:03:00] Andrew: he is, yeah. He’s just outside playing in the backyard at the moment.

[00:03:04] Eric: Nice. Getting some, some sun. So, I do want to kind of talk about your, your backstory, your history. I mean, pretty much like even how you got started, within this world, right? Cause I mean, Instagram has, I think what came out when we were, I don’t know, I don’t even know. Maybe 2010 maybe.

[00:03:25] So, and you know, this is opened up a lot of avenues for. You know, a lot of people to create a new lifestyle or a new occupation, new career. , so I mean, what got you even started in, in this 

[00:03:38] Andrew: field?

[00:03:38] I mean, for me, I kinda, I grew up back East too. Grew up in Massachusetts, a single mom who struggled with some, some issues and, I just never really knew any, like happy adults.

[00:03:49] So my career path was more based on. Passion and quality of life versus, you know, a monetary, [00:04:00] pursuit. But the monetary side of things has far exceeded what I ever expected. , so yeah, I moved out West to pursue a life of being in the mountains. I really was super passionate about snowboarding, skiing.

[00:04:13] I was able to kit to get into it from a, like a discounted afterschool program. , back in elementary school, and I just 

[00:04:21] Eric: You of moved yourself, when you’re in elementary school or 

[00:04:24] Andrew: you know, no, no. , I’m saying I got into skiing and snowboarding through this discounted program, and then right after I graduated, graduated at 17, I was really young for

[00:04:33] My class, I basically applied everywhere I could out West and hopes to pursue a career in the snowboarding world, whether that was to be a professional snowboarder or a heli-ski guide. Those were sort of my two targets. , and I ski patrolled for a little bit. It was great. I really enjoyed the medical side of things.

[00:04:53] I kind of thought like, Hey, maybe I’ll pivot and get into the medical field at some point. And then, you know, it was, I was a pretty [00:05:00] late adopter to Facebook and to Instagram. You know, my friend’s girlfriend was like, no, you have to have a Facebook. She made me one, like, built my whole profile.

[00:05:08] It was like, here you go. I was like, okay, whatever. And then Instagram, I was like, ah, no, not a, not a huge thing, but, you know, I just put it off forever. , but now it’s actually become a pretty big. You know, I put a lot of it effort into it just cause it helps, you know, builds relationships and clients and brand awareness and all these different things.

[00:05:27] So I ski patrol for a couple of years. Then I got fired because I went into a closed area preseason and got caught by the wrong person. And I thought like that whole dream was done. Waited tables for awhile. But honestly, that allowed me to, I had to be to work at four so I could snowboard all day and get to work and do it all over again.

[00:05:51] So I did that for a couple of years, and somewhere in between there I bought a GoPro and started filming my, you know. [00:06:00] Adventures. You know, it wasn’t just snowboarding. I’d sort of developed this pretty fast multi-sport skillset with, you know, climbing, mountain biking, snowboarding, skiing, kiteboarding.

[00:06:11], and just kind of like living a, a pretty unique lifestyle. I’ve, you know, I’ve lived in a Volkswagen Golf, and Astro van in a progression of vehicles sort of before the whole van life thing was even a hashtag it seems so. 

[00:06:27] Eric: Yeah. I mean, how old are you? Cause it feels like you’ve done so much already within the span of time.

[00:06:33] Andrew: Yeah. I am 31, which is crazy. I don’t, I can’t even believe that’s a thing. But,  yeah. I just, I inevitably just started following breadcrumbs. Some of the content I was producing was starting to do well, you know, initially, I just was creating content to share with friends while I was kind of waiting tables, but that eventually started to feel stagnant.

[00:06:54] I was waiting tables at one of the nicest recipes. Sounds park city, making pretty good living skiing [00:07:00] every day, living in this big house, amazing girlfriend. But it just, there was no more room for me to progress. So,  sort of the next step was, okay, I’m going to commit to this content creator, athlete, career.

[00:07:15] And, . Basically, I had this vision of creating a 12 episode pilot series at a few pretty low-level entry, you know, entry-level sponsorships. , most of them were just gear. I was making a little bit of money, but nothing sustainable or profitable. , so, I quit my job and I bought this $500 1976 truck camper.

[00:07:39] And decided I was going to remodel it. And over the course of I thought it was going to be like, you know, $2,000 in two weeks and I’d be on the road and this thing would be amazing. And I quickly realized that was not the case. , and this project itself for me was one of the biggest awakenings for me as far as my self [00:08:00] motivation and my passions.

[00:08:03] So. , you know, 

[00:08:04] Eric: I was, before you dive into that, what, where did you even get the idea to want to get, the van? 

[00:08:11] Andrew: So I had been waiting tables and park city, we have older seasons. The spring and the fall aren’t very busy. So waiting tables, you’re kind of just standing there. You get a couple of tables a night, it’s a waste of time.

[00:08:22] You don’t make any money. So typically half the staff or three-quarters of it. Goes and takes a month off. You know you’ve, you’ve binge worked all winter. , so we take the spring off, and that’s kind of what I had done in the past. And, you know, I’d spent, you know, three weeks or a month in the mountains climbing, living out of my Astro van, or I, at one point when I was 19, I went.

[00:08:44] Then spent two months living out of a backpack on Kauai. I didn’t know anybody. I was 19 years old. I probably had $2,000 to my name, and I just like slept in bushes and ate weird food and met crazy people. And, so for me, I was like, man, [00:09:00] those life experiences were so impactful for me that, you know, I, and at this point, I had built up such a.

[00:09:07] You know, not a vast skill set, but, you know, multi-sport. I could tell a decent story. obviously, you know, the progression I, I continue to improve with my storytelling. So season one now looks like, you know, very amateur to me, but at the time it was, it was pretty high level. So I built this best work.

[00:09:26]

[00:09:26] had built this, the storytelling skill sets, I was like, man, I could. You’re all on this Epic adventure, share this, the story, which I think is, you know, it could be potentially pretty entertaining or inspiring. And, , I was just like, I’m just going to commit to this. So, , I actually had bought the truck camper before I quit, so it was like I was working, you know, 16 plus hour days everyday cause I’d wake up at six in the morning without an alarm.

[00:09:53] Awake, passionate, ready to go and either work till, you know, on the road, , the [00:10:00] camper till four, and then go to work till 12, and then, you know, wake up at six, do it all over. Or if I didn’t have work, I’d just work from like six to 12. Every day for like two months. And that for me was, you know, I’ve always been a hard worker.

[00:10:14] I’ve always been like a pretty passionate person. And, , all of a sudden I was able to put 16 hour days and back to back to back and not feel, you know, just lethargic about it. I was, I was just inspired. So that was sort of the. The start, the full commitment. , when I decided to quit my job, I put my two weeks in and lined up on April 1st and, , the guy was working for, at the restaurant.

[00:10:41] It’s funny. We were very similar, similar build. He came from an athletic background, but he was the GM, but he had no sense of humor. He did not think I was funny and he hated my shoes. So as a way for me to kind of a burn the boats and burn the bridge, I superglued my shoes to his office floor as [00:11:00] has sort of a joke because it was my last day.

[00:11:03] I ended up getting the last table at like five minutes before we were supposed to leave out. I ended up leaving the restaurant at like one in the morning. So, I dunno, I just thought it was kind of a funny way to commit and you know, jokingly burned the bridge. I’m sure if I needed the job back, I could probably get it.

[00:11:17] But yeah, that’s sort of the start of, of it all really. 

[00:11:22] Eric: It’s kind of, it’s interesting you bring up the, , the burn burning the boat. , and the bridge, aspect. I mean, when I was thinking about quitting my job, I actually gave my managers three months notice, because that’s how like committed.

[00:11:36] I was like, I told them, Hey, I’m planning to leave around this time, which is about a three month notice. , that gives you guys enough time to fill my position. So once you guys do, you guys can, I’m ready to leave at anytime, but I’ll just continue working until you guys can transition someone in or.

[00:11:53] Just let me go. If you guys decide to , 

[00:11:55] I’ll, I was ready. 

[00:11:56] but I was a, I was fortunate enough that they did just keep me [00:12:00] around until the last day, and I remember it was a. They were telling me, I did start to Slack a little bit, obviously as the days got closer and they’re like, Hey Eric, can you, can you just put a little bit of work in?

[00:12:13] Like, you know, you’re influencing the other, your other peers. So like not work as hard. And, I was like, 

[00:12:19] okay, I’ll 

[00:12:21] keep working. , but I had talked with like one of the senior directors and they told me, it’s like, Hey, look like. Like if you do this, they felt like I was burning a bridge.

[00:12:31], when I was, when I was quitting. And obviously they kind of wanted. To keep me around. I mean, I was good at my sales job. , they wanted me to keep me around and they kind of told me in a roundabout way that like, yeah, if I take this step, I probably won’t be able to come back 

[00:12:45] Andrew: and just, I’m trying to keep you out.

[00:12:47] Obviously if they valued you like, 

[00:12:49] Eric: then yeah, maybe they would’ve been okay, okay, I can come back. But I thought about it and I was okay with that approach just because it really puts things like, it makes things real. Right. Like, [00:13:00] once right. Once you feel like, yeah, the boat’s gone, there’s no more bridge for you to go back.

[00:13:03] Like it’s 

[00:13:04] just moving forward. 

[00:13:06] So I think we relate, , well on, on that aspect. Did you, I mean, that was based on like the Greek mythology with a man. Who was it? . I don’t remember, 

[00:13:17] Andrew: but I used to say, it’s actually a metaphor I just heard. , I was like, Oh yeah, burning the bridges. And my friend was like, burn the boat and it’s like these people, apparently it was explained to me, cause I, I hadn’t heard it before and I thought it was just essentially burned the bridge.

[00:13:32] Same thing. But yeah, a civilization of people like. Okay. Or maybe it was warriors. There 

[00:13:39] Eric: was a war. Yeah. And come to 

[00:13:41] Andrew: the shores and they like burn their boats and like the only way forward was to like fight through this, this other army. , so for me that, I mean that maybe like a little bit more.

[00:13:51] Descriptive of like, fight through this. I’m gonna make it work. Like there’s no reason why this. For me, it was like, I don’t, this doesn’t make [00:14:00] sense. Like I, there’s no way I’m going to get paid to travel, do what I love, but I’m going to try my hardest anyways. And, It’s, it’s led me to a pretty crazy place.

[00:14:10] Eric: Yeah. No, I so go. Okay. So you quit your job. You’re basically, you’re going into it, you burned your bridges. , and then so you start working on your,  it’s not called the van, right. Is it more of a. 

[00:14:22] Andrew: This, this was a truck camper. So I had done that in the past and I ended up doing a van for the next season.

[00:14:28] But this was a, a truck camper. So it’s a, you have like a pickup truck and then you slide this thing in the back and it’s a mini house. 

[00:14:35] Eric: Yeah. So then I guess at the time, cause I feel like your, your persona right now really is, is you, and having an adventure dog. Right. So at what point, , did you bring your pet.

[00:14:49] Into the venture, like were you always a dog guy? Did you always have a pet, , with you too or, 

[00:14:54] Andrew: yeah, so for me, I always just wanted a dog. , and I had this like idealist [00:15:00] vision of this dog that came with me everywhere. Snowboarding, hiking, backpacking, you know, through the city and never needed the leash and would just be able to like.

[00:15:08] Follow me. Like that character was always just like such a, a cool thing. And, , I always loved dogs. I love animals. And, , you know, I’m also a huge firm believer that you shouldn’t own a dog unless you can give it the life. It deserves a great life. So. You know, for the first couple of years on my own, my life was super unstable.

[00:15:28] I was working crazy hours, crazy jobs. Never really knew, you know, well, what was next? And when I was 22, things sort of started to stabilize and I had a job that I could take. , booter who’s my first golden retriever to work with me. , and he far exceeded like my. Dream dog like I had this dog in mind is, man, if my dog could be like this, like you’d be the best dog ever.

[00:15:52] And he was like so much cooler than that. I’m 

[00:15:55] Eric: just like, as long as they can, like they’ll come back to me with, I’ll call them like [00:16:00] off-leash, then that’d be good to go. 

[00:16:01] Andrew: And then. Well, he just loved everything. I loved. Like he loved to snowboard. He’d love to be in the mountains. He  love to play in  water.

[00:16:08] Like he was just an amazing partner in crime and he was so well behaved and he was, you know, he was really special. Like even people with dogs that had great dogs were like, man, like. Booter is so special is just like really connected with people. And , you know, he’s very polite. He didn’t like bark, you know, come crashing into people or stepping on people’s stuff.

[00:16:27] He was just like a really good dog. And, , yeah, we had been skiing together and snowboarding together and doing all different kinds of, you know, climbing adventures. I’ve got harness forums, we’ve done some like repelling and you know. I dunno, I just brought him everywhere. He was allowed pretty much, and he was like, so calm, cool, and collected.

[00:16:49] I could have him like, you know, climb onto my shoulders and I could climb up ladders or down ladders or down climb things with them on my shoulders. And you just kind of like, we had this sort of, you know, by the end of it, this unspoken language, [00:17:00] I could like look at him and he’d be like, okay, I’ll sit.

[00:17:02] Or like, okay, I’ll come climb up on your shoulders, or whatever it was. So, , yeah, that was sort of like, you know, the, the big. , I mean, that kind of went without saying like the content was going to integrate, you know, booter and myself doing this, you know, life on the road for six months, I’m creating different 12 different episodes of like just random, crazy kind of obscure adventures from, you know, rappelling off of bridges and to like crazy rivers or back country skiing or, you know, checking out how to swing by falls or crazy rope swings or paragliding.

[00:17:38], it just seemed like, you know, this is the lifestyle we live in. It’d be really cool to like share that with people and friends. And, 

[00:17:44] Eric: and this was all self, like self-made content. Like did you have a team to help you do the editing or there’s just, got a GoPro 

[00:17:53] Andrew: so. For season one. , it was, it was just me and my girlfriend for the first [00:18:00] half.

[00:18:00], we just ended up going our separate ways, but, , yeah, I was the, the concept of the series was to film. , edit and release each episode in two weeks. So like every other Saturday or something for the course of six months. So 12 episodes. And this was sort of the pilot series. So I was very, very dedicated to that proof of concept to be able to go to another brand or brands  12 episodes were done and say, Hey, look at, look at this.

[00:18:29] Like, this is what I promised. This is what I delivered. I didn’t miss a single deadline. And I far over produced as far as what, like the initial pitch was, you know, , , we created so much unique, diverse, beautiful content, , you know, and hopes to create a more sustainable, you know, more profitable season two.

[00:18:51] So that was like, that was my dream. And we really. Okay. It went off without a hitch. We did a full [00:19:00] 12 episodes of like, just crazy, unique adventures. I hit every single deadline except for the last one, which, you know, we’ll, we can get into. , and, , yeah, I had, you know, the, the 12th and final episode, we set up this two pretty crazy rope swings.

[00:19:18] One of them is still the hands down, like the craziest thing I’ve ever done. . And you know, everything had just gone off without a hitch. And I really wanted to spend as much time on the 12th episode to have that proof of concept to be the most polished, most beautiful, most Epic thing I could send and say, Hey, you know, this is the 12th and final episode of this awesome thing we’re doing this season two, like, we’d love to have you involved.

[00:19:44], and after spending six months of like just, it’s a ton of work editing, like this is. So time consuming. So to do all of that for  six months was was really intense. But what ended up happening is my younger [00:20:00] sister had an opportunity to get married on a float in a parade in Santa Barbara where her and her fiance lived totally random.

[00:20:08] They had been engaged for awhile. Santa Barbara was looking to have a couple of get married. Her fiance applied and they had basically a three day notice like, Hey, we’re getting married in three days. And it was just a way for them to throw this big lavish wedding without having to spend any money.

[00:20:25] There’s no money from my side of the family. It would all come from Jamie’s, whatever. , so anyways, they ended up like doing this. So I, instead of going directly back to park city from Moab, which is about a four hour drive, I drove. But 12 hours to Santa Barbara to celebrate with, with them, you know, meet Jamie’s side of the family.

[00:20:44] Jamie is my sister’s husband. , and my mom was there and her, I think fiance at the time. And it was really like the first time in my entire life that I, I can remember where things were going well for my mother, my sister and I, and I was like so happy. And there’s like this [00:21:00] photo of my, you know, myself, Lindsey, who’s my sister and my mom and booter and it’s like.

[00:21:07] Just this moment of like, wow, everything was so good. Everything is so good right now. And, , so I hang out for a couple of days and I really wanted to get back to park city, which was sort of my, my home base. I didn’t have a place to live. I didn’t have an apartment, but I had friends and I had resources where I could say, Hey, can I buckle down in your, you know, guest bedroom for the next 36 hours or 48 hours and just like edit my brains out.

[00:21:32], so I left early one morning. To get back to park city. to give myself a, you know, full three days, we’ll call it the editing. And I was driving for 12 hours and I was, I was just exhausted. You know, it just kind of come off this Epic trip. You know, Booter and I are on our way home. Life was so good, but I like really wanted to spend this time editing and.

[00:21:56], I started to get super tired and I was like, man, if I can just drive one more [00:22:00] hour, that puts me like two hours from park city. That’s a full day of editing. You know, I’m not wasting half the day driving. And that was like hands down. One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made, , I’ve ever made.

[00:22:10], I ended up continuing to drive. I was super tired and I fell asleep behind the wheel and rear ended in 18 Wheeler and lost everything. Absolutely totaled my truck. It was everything I owned. I was totally financially exhausted from producing this series, and I lost my dog booter, who is five years old, and he was my soulmate.

[00:22:32] Like I could have if I had the choice to light everything I had on fire, including, you know, my bank account, which was already empty and keep booter for another month, I would have done it. No questions asked. And, , so I mean, at that point in time I was totally, I mean, that moment was like everything I cared about and everything I owned and I, I, I mean, my life was over.

[00:22:59] I didn’t have any [00:23:00] money. I don’t have a family that I can go, Hey, I need, you know, $5,000 or $2,000 to get back on my feet. It’s just like, not in the cards for me. So, I mean, I thought, I thought I was done. Like I thought everything I’d worked for. No, I didn’t. I just didn’t see the point in living at that point.

[00:23:15] I was like, just let me get  buy a car, run over, like, and I’d be much happier and , yeah, it was, it was super, super heavy. , you know, the loss of Booter is still something that, you know, still is a, is a big hole in my heart. . But, you know, at the scene of the accident, some of the, you know, I refused care.

[00:23:35] I demanded that the paramedics try and save, save booter there’s nothing we could do. And, , you know, the, the paramedics were trying to start small, talk to me about climbing, about, you know, cause my gear was like on the side of the road, just exploded everywhere. And I was like, leave me alone.

[00:23:52] Like, I don’t want to talk about climbing right now. Like, I don’t care. Like I just, just leave me alone. And, , one of the [00:24:00] firefighters, you know, the firefighters eventually showed up, and this guy, as I’m crying on the side of the road. Sitting next to booter, , came up and was like, Hey man, like I am so sorry.

[00:24:10] I’m like, I get it. I have dogs. I’ve lost dogs. Like I didn’t just, it was just quietly there for me. He didn’t want to talk to me about anything. He was just like. I feel for you, man. And you know, I had to deal with the police and I had to do all this other stuff, and I actually ended up being stuck at the scene of the accident for like five or six hours because I refused care and the officer was an asshole, so he didn’t want to give me a ride into town and he’s being super rude to me.

[00:24:40] Anyways, this firefighter, I was like, dude, you. You really helped me. You know, I’m, I’m still totally, totally devastated at this point, but I was like, I just, I want to stay in contact. I want to send you, you know, this, this connection I had with Booter because it was really something special.

[00:24:55] So anyways, a friend from park city comes and picks me up and I’m [00:25:00] crashing into his couch and, , word spread pretty quickly. And, , you know, I, I honestly didn’t really know what to do. With my life, like, okay, I’m going to work at, you know, get, get a job and try and build my life back together.

[00:25:16] But I don’t even have any clothes at this point. So one of my good friends took me in. , 

[00:25:21] Eric: and this is where you’re, the last episode of your series. It was incomplete, right? That was the whole point 

[00:25:28] Andrew: to go back. Yeah. I hadn’t finished editing it. Yeah. So I had done, I had done all the activities.

[00:25:33] I had all the content I needed for it. Then I was just on my way home to like finish the edit. So I had just done, you know, the hardest nine months of work of my entire life with this, you know, dream project and, , you know, it went off without a hitch. And I’m like, you know, on cloud nine and then it all in a moment, one lapse of judgment.

[00:25:57] Went to ashes, like just [00:26:00] everything I cared about was gone. , so 

[00:26:02] Eric: even all the content that you had shot, that is, that just never released or you, so 

[00:26:07] Andrew: this is crazy. My computer bag and camera bag were sitting on my bed in the truck camper, which was, it’s like over the cab of the truck. Um. It’s like, and when I hit the 18 Wheeler, it busted in the back doors of the, the 18 wheelers.

[00:26:23] So those were like inverted inside the truck and my computer bag and my camera bag were both found in the back of the truck. , my computer was okay, my camera was broken and all the hard drives survived. So I had, I had released episode 11, but the content for episode 12 had never, hadn’t been edited or released, but that all survived.

[00:26:47] I mean, everything else was told. I could have maybe like dug through some of the wreckage and grabbed like some climbing gear, but it was not. I mean, [00:27:00] everything else just ended up going to the dump essentially. But when we, when they were able to separate my truck from the 18 Wheeler, we looked in the back of the 18 Wheeler, like my camera bag and was, was there.

[00:27:11] And the hard drives work somehow. Yeah, absolutely. Wild. 

[00:27:15] Eric: So, I mean, obviously this was the, the touching story that, you know, um, the dojo had covered and that’s how, you know, a lot of people discovered you, your booter and. Obviously a very, very traumatic experience. 

[00:27:28] How  

[00:27:30] like, so you went back to your friend’s place.

[00:27:33] I mean, did, did it take you a while to even be able to like put the clips together? Cause I mean, you know, with the loss of your best friend, like is it just you decide to give yourself downtime or. 

[00:27:45]Andrew: , I was devastated. Like I just didn’t know what the hell I was going to do with my life.

[00:27:48] Like what was even the point at that, you know, for me. And, , what happened? What inspired me to actually like really try to rebuild was, , the community of people [00:28:00] around me and around the world that I had found out about. The accident and that, that, that had been watching season one of the tiny home adventure, you know, people that were reached out, they’re like, you inspired me to get out with my kids or inspired me to give my dog a better life.

[00:28:14] Or teachers in Ireland showing my content to kids in their classroom. And you know, friends I grew up with who, you know, had it pretty rough as well, who, you know, donated money to me that I know was like a very serious amount of money for them to, to donate. And. Like people just were, you know what I didn’t realize is what we are creating actually had been inspiring people to, to change their own lives or to live a better life, or to give their pet or their family or themselves a better life.

[00:28:48] And that that was, for me, I just thought it was creating like fun adventure content. I was like, Oh, it’s entertaining. It’s, you know, it’s what I love. You know? I think it’s fun to watch. Hopefully other people enjoy it. What I didn’t realize is the effect it had on other [00:29:00] people and the amount of people that reached out and are like, Hey, like keep doing what you’re doing.

[00:29:05] Like pick yourself up. You know? You have a huge community of people around the world who actually care about you. Like, so that for me was. The shift from like, poor me, I want to jump in front of moving traffic to like, try to like put the pain and the suffering aside and see if, if I can actually create a season two .

[00:29:31] Which is hard. I mean, you know, I ended up a friend, I was like crashing on a friend’s couch. And then another friend’s family had a condo that was being remodeled in park city, and it looked like the Dexter like kill lab. Like everything was wrapped in plastic aside from my bedroom, which is kind of weird, but I had a place to stay and like, you know, I’d wake up and I’d think I’d see booter out of the corner of my eye.

[00:29:52] And like, that was still so hard, but I would wake up and I would, you know. I started to kind of reach out back [00:30:00] to some brands, say, Hey, you know, I would love the opportunity to potentially do a season two, but it needs to be at a more sustainable level. I need like a bigger, you know, investment from you guys and I’ll provide you with these different assets, whatever.

[00:30:14] And , Maverick, who’s like a big gas. Station chain based out of Utah. They’re pretty, they’ve now said, , you know, we’ll, we’ll pay you 75% of the number I gave them as far as like what I would consider sustainable and then pick up whatever other sponsors you want. So GoPro SA, Oh, sorry.

[00:30:33] Rossignol signed on. Another couple of smaller brands were like, okay, we’ll help fill that gap. And then a few weeks later I got an email from GoPro saying, Hey, we love your content. We’ve been following you forever. We’d love to pick up season two of the tiny home adventure. Like, how can we help?

[00:30:51] So it was able, like that was sort of this dream phone call. Things sort of started to come together. Phone call or email. I don’t actually remember at this point. I ended up having a phone [00:31:00] call later maybe. . All these things started to come together. And then at some point in this, you know, piecing of my life back together, I got a phone call from Paul, the firefighter from the accident who calls me up and he’s just kind of like, we had been talking for a few months.

[00:31:15] We’d stayed in contact and he goes, Hey man, like I have a really cool opportunity for you, but I need to tell you a story first. And he dives into the tragic loss of his first dog and how his parents had gotten him a new dog. And that helped him like, you know. Heal, , and that he didn’t feel like he was ready for it, but it was just like a really helpful thing.

[00:31:34] And that now him and his family breed Goldens and golden doodles and that they have a puppy for me when they’re ready. So that’s where kicker comes in. My new, my new pup, who’s amazing as well, 

[00:31:48] Eric: but I know, I know in the expectations, obviously, like even being able to replace, you can never replace, you know, your first love your first dog.

[00:31:57] And so even then, like I [00:32:00] remember one of your contents, it was about like, you know, whether kicker could live up to expectations. 

[00:32:06] Andrew: Right, right. That was a, that was so hard because like I said, booter had drastically exceeded my dream, like imaginary best dog in the world. He was incredible, and I didn’t want to get a new dog and feel like I was holding kicker to those same standards.

[00:32:26] But I mean, how is that possible to know like, okay, I’ve had this dog that was so perfectly incredible, like. So that was scary for me. Like I didn’t want to get some, you know, sheepish, , timid dog who didn’t like to be in the snow or in the water. It was totally neurotic. Like, that was a huge fear of mine.

[00:32:42] But, , ended up eventually going and taking them up on the offer and picking up a puppy. And we drove home and we got home and there had been like three or four inches of snow on the ground. And so like, plop them down and he just starts going nuts. He’s running circles, he’s burying himself, he’s sliding all over the place.

[00:32:58] He’s chasing me and like, [00:33:00] okay, like we’re totally going to get along. Like, this is going to be, this is going to be good. , but yeah, it was really scary. And, , thankfully they’re, they’re similar in a lot of ways and, , I’m super lucky to have. You know, I’ve been blessed with two of the best dogs I could have ever dreamed of, but they’re also different in their, and in certain ways as well, which is great because they’re, they’re two different dogs, but I’m still, I feel incredibly lucky to have had.

[00:33:25] Two awesome dogs. 

[00:33:27] Eric: And it’s been extremely fun because you know, after hearing your story and starting to follow you and being able to watch the progression of, I remember the scene you had shot with kicker playing around in the snow and you’re like, Oh my goodness. Yeah, he does. He does like snow and it’s going to be great.

[00:33:44] Right? So you’ve been able to create. All of the content with kicker. Now that was season two, right? Of your, 

[00:33:51] Andrew: yeah. So, so fortunately really, you know, these sponsors came together. My life sort of pieced its way back together and rebuilt [00:34:00] itself, you know, far like, I just didn’t even think that was fathomable that I would be able to recover from.

[00:34:08] That kind of a loss, like I can imagine being at like a lower low, other than losing my health, or like loss of limb or something, you know, something like that. , and yeah, all of a sudden all these things came back together and kicker  and I. Found this really cool four by four van, and we had these bigger sponsors and it was a little bit more sustainable.

[00:34:29] So we spent another six months driving up to Alaska, which had been a dream of mine since I was very, very young. , and yeah, it was just, we had this incredible experience together, living in this fan, and there was just this tiny puppy, and that’s sort of where we. We got to learn to know each other.

[00:34:46], and kicker was introduced like right out of the Gates into this pretty wild adventure lifestyle. 

[00:34:53] Eric: Has it, has there been, you feel like a kicker could get restless if he’s just at home too long or, and he needs [00:35:00] adventure all the time cause that’s what he grew up on. 

[00:35:02] Andrew: He’s surprisingly mellow in the house.

[00:35:04] Yeah. He just kind of like loaves around. He’s kind of cuddly and mellow. , but if he knows we’re like going out or going for a run, , or if the people show up and we’ve been like, you know, a little bit stagnant. He, he definitely gets pretty, , rambunctious. But yeah, he’s, he’s honestly pretty mellow.

[00:35:21] I mean, we do get a lot of exercise. Like that’s one of the key components I think of giving a dog that. The life it deserves is giving it the exercise that they need. So he’s never like too stagnant. You know? It happens. We have our days where I’m stuck in front of the computer for way too long, but we try to make it out every day and go do something and tire them out.

[00:35:44] Eric: Yeah, no, that’s good. So it’s like people who try to raise a Husky in the city, 

[00:35:49] right? 

[00:35:50] And you’re just 

[00:35:52] Andrew: like, dude, I think Huskies are like the most beautiful and aesthetic dogs. Out there. I mean, kicker is the most beautiful dog in the world, clearly. [00:36:00] , but I always really wanted a Husky, but after doing some research, it’s like, dude, I can’t Huskies need a run like.

[00:36:07] 20 miles a day, you know, and I just don’t have the bandwidth to run a dog 20 miles. So that’s why I didn’t get a Husky, or, you know, like a Husky and the desert doesn’t really make sense they’re built for Tundra, not desert. So, 

[00:36:23]Eric: . Yeah. So in, in terms of, , so you right now you are, I mean, you, you’ve gone through this, you know.

[00:36:30] Traumatic experience, you’ve, you’ve picked yourself up, you know, you’ve had the community reach out to you to help, you know, pick you up, and then you’re able to get kicker and start working on an entirely new project. I mean, it’s, it’s been a crazy, crazy adventure just to even experience that, that part.

[00:36:48] Right. And so now, fast forward, you guys basically are trying to prepare for season three, is that correct? 

[00:36:54] Andrew: Right. 

[00:36:55] Eric: So season three is. What, like even like 10 times crazier [00:37:00] than when you’ve already done? 

[00:37:01] Andrew: Pretty much. Yeah. So we’re building a vehicle that are, we’re just about finished building one of the craziest vehicles anyone has ever built in their garage, throwing that out as a claim and it makes 

[00:37:13] Eric: it look super sick.

[00:37:15] Andrew: It turned out absolutely stunning. , basically what we tried to do is build an earth roamer concept vehicle, which. Earth roamer you can buy, it’s a brand and they start at $550,000 I want to say, and go up to 1.5 million. And we had like a $30,000 budget to, to try and build something comparable.

[00:37:35] And you know, we definitely went over our budget a fair amount, but the vehicle we created is equal to, or greater than I think a, Earth roamer. , and the whole plan is really to elevate the whole series. 10 X, right? We want to bring it to a network, whether it’s, you know, an on demand online major network, or if it’s network TV [00:38:00] or whatever.

[00:38:00] So that’s been our main focus over the last. Year really is like one building the vehicle, which has been so much more challenging than I expected. You think I’d done enough of these by now? I would know how much work it was going to be, but it was just at such another level. It really whooped our asses.

[00:38:20], but now we’re like talking with producers and networks and really trying to elevate the whole thing and bring on a team because both season one and two. We’re pretty much entirely filmed by me. If season two, I had a, I’d brought on a friend to help film for a couple months, but, , yeah, we just want to bring the whole, elevate the whole thing to sort of the next level.

[00:38:42] Yeah. 

[00:38:42] Eric: And I think what’s amazing is that with season one and season two, it really wasn’t about, , you know. Necessarily getting sponsors and trying to make a living off of it. It was just like, I’m going to try to produce content and this will be the lifestyle. And like you said early on in this podcast is that it wasn’t [00:39:00] monetary value that comes with it.

[00:39:01] It just happened to come based on, you know, the genuine content that you are producing. Right. 

[00:39:07] Andrew: Right. Yeah. I mean, I’m just, I really enjoy progression, whether it’s an athletic, physical progression or business progression or whatever. So, , the focus still isn’t till like, let’s make $1 million.

[00:39:22] It’s to produce the most bad ass content we possibly can to get the most amount of viewership. And like those are sort of the, the metrics I find value in. Of course, I want to be able to like own a house someday and you know, have some sort of like maybe residual income with licensing content or something like that.

[00:39:42] But yeah, I mean, for me it’s just like, to perpetuate this dream lifestyle.  and 

[00:39:48] Eric: with like this type of work, I mean, if people want to do the same thing that you’re doing, like what would 

[00:39:57] Andrew: you tell them. , just my, [00:40:00] my theory for baseline for anything is if you’re willing to work harder than everybody else, you’re bound to be successful.

[00:40:07], you know, there’s some people that are wildly more successful than I am, and obviously I have those people, I, I envy them like, man, they’ve got it so good, or they had it so easy, or they, they just were lucky and they timed things well. , you know, I think it’s really easy to think, think like that, especially trying to get into like a creator.

[00:40:24] Space, but at the end of the day, if you’re willing to like work hard, be positive, and make certain sacrifices, you know, like one of the big turns from me was when I was 25 sort of when this all started, when I started to feel stagnant, , I stopped drinking for like two years because I’d always made fun of in park city.

[00:40:44] It’s a big party town. People 

[00:40:46] Eric: lifestyle. If you want to be like party and then you go ski, work, go ski and then go drink with your friends right after and right. 

[00:40:54] Andrew: But the problem with that is people can’t wake up in the morning and actually deliver on the plans that you made at [00:41:00] them. You know, I’d have friends say, Oh Hey, we’ll meet here at like eight thirty 1st tracks gonna be a hot day tomorrow.

[00:41:06] And then they would call me at like 1130 12 and I’d be coming off the mountain like, Hey man, sorry you missed him. Like, dude, it’s done. I already tracked out the mountain, like enjoy my second and third tracks. Like just, that just really bothered me. And then I went out drinking one night and I missed the powder day, and I was like, what am I doing?

[00:41:23] I’m such a hypocrite. So, , for me, I focused my energy on. The progression of the lifestyle and the dream. I wanted to make a reality. And a, I think that was a pretty big element is like you have to be willing to work really hard, which involves making certain sacrifices. And 

[00:41:42]Eric: what would, you say is kind of that benchmark, right?

[00:41:45] Cause I mean, you know, when, when you start to do something, you know, like myself, you know, going into entrepreneurship, I’ve all of a sudden I have people, you know, from high school, whatever, reaching out to me and like, Oh, you’re doing this when I want to do this. And then you tell them.

[00:41:57] How much work it is, and they’re like, okay, I’ll think [00:42:00] about it. Right? And then like you’re living this amazing lifestyle, creating all this cool content. They’re like, this guy just gets to, he gets paid to go snowboard and go, it’s paid to paraglide or whatever it may be. And then you’re like, yeah, but then you have to sit down for 12 hours and edit all this stuff because I don’t have a whole team of production team to do it.

[00:42:20] And then like, what do you, what do you say to those people? 

[00:42:23] Andrew: Well, for me, , maybe taking a step back, it’s like, I sort of like unlocked this passion. Like I always like love to snowboard and I was really passionate about that. And for me it was, it was almost like an overnight thing where I was just like willing to work like that.

[00:42:36] So I would say find that thing that you’re willing to work 12, 16 hours a day for. Seven days a week and you don’t want to jump off a bridge, like, just find that thing that inspires you and invigorates you and go for it. Like, so I, I mean, I, I think I’m intelligent and talented enough that I could do a lot of different things and , be [00:43:00] successful to some degree, but I feel like.

[00:43:03] There’s nothing that I’d be more willing to work as hard for and nothing that I would be better at. So maybe that’s like the benchmark. Find that thing that like, you know, that there’s nothing else you’d be willing to work harder for. And, , you know what, after you put in those tens of thousands of hours, .

[00:43:23] Be like, yeah, there’s nothing that would be better off than what I’m doing right now. 

[00:43:26] Eric: Yeah, 

[00:43:26] Andrew: no, that kind of answers the question. 

[00:43:29] Eric: Yeah. I that, that it’s well said, right? I mean, it, it was one of those things where, and when I was working my nine to five, you kind of, you have this feeling of you’re just dreading the day you’re getting the Mondays type of attitude.

[00:43:41] And then, you know, with, with me launching the business and working on all these projects, those hours just go by so quickly because you just enjoy. You know what you’re doing. Obviously it’s not 100% perfect. I have nightmare clients that I’m working with too. Or just like projects that fail are not going anywhere.

[00:43:58] And those are my lows, but I 

[00:44:00] [00:43:59] still enjoy 

[00:44:01] that progress. , 

[00:44:02] Andrew: absolutely. Right. 

[00:44:04] Eric: So I know we, we had, you had mentioned something several weeks ago about. , kind of the, the outlook on social media portraying this lifestyle. And you had mentioned a little bit about kind of a depression, , state too, right?

[00:44:18] And it 

[00:44:19] was a 

[00:44:20] post about basically portraying light. This is not a perfect lifestyle 

[00:44:25]Andrew: . Totally. , yeah, I mean, what’s social media right now? . I think a lot of people just portray it as this fantasy reality, you know? , this is kinda highlight real lifestyle, which is great. I really try to produce very positive, very inspiring content.

[00:44:41] You know, so some people do have an outlet to come to you and say, Oh, like this chewed my day up. I get that a lot. People reaching out to say like, this photo made my day, whatever. But I also. , you know, I, I work really hard and I put a lot of pressure on myself. And recently I had a mental breakdown to be honest.

[00:44:58] Like, yeah, if you, if you [00:45:00] go scroll through my Instagram, it’s going to look like, man, this dude probably, you know, has the sickest life and I have a really cool life and I’m so grateful. But that doesn’t come with, you know, hardship and stress and every thing that everybody in this entire planet deals with.

[00:45:16], but basically the. The catalyst for that. And it had been, , you know, as a kid growing up in a pretty rough situation, I dealt with like depression a lot. And I think it was because of the environment I was in. And I think part of the reason why built this awesome lifestyle is to get away from those feelings and to, you know, but they, they creep up every now and again.

[00:45:39] There are days that I’m down, there’s, you know, I have lows, I have highs, but, . For me, I had kind of put so much pressure on myself for the season three and I was trying to shoot this sizzle reel and I had two different producers asking for specific pieces of content and I had this vision of being able to get it and things didn’t line up.

[00:45:59] A friend and [00:46:00] I had an argument. I had made a compromise with him to go on this trip and help him with some stuff and he had made a compromise with me to help me film these certain things. Had this blowout and it, I just like lost it. I spiraled totally out of control emotionally. And we had this argument and I was like, screw this.

[00:46:19] I’m driving home. And we were like seven hours from home. And, , eventually I. Wound down and I came back to earth and thankfully I have like, you know, very good friends and you know, an incredible girlfriend who was able to kind of like help me out. But yeah, you know, I don’t know everybody, everybody struggles with things and everyone freaks out.

[00:46:40] And I think for me it’s like sometimes I need to take a deep breath and relax. And that for me was like a very eyeopening experience because I hadn’t felt like that in such a long time. But it’s. It’s still there. So, you know, I say it’d be the hardest working person, you know? . But for me also, I think part of it is I’m working on.

[00:47:00] [00:46:59] That balance sometimes to be the hardest working person means I have to go take an hour and go for a run and go do something self care. And then I come back and I’m reinspired cause I can, I can grind, I can sit behind the computer for 16 hours and I hate it. Hate it so much. Like I should be outside running around and doing what I love.

[00:47:19], but I can force myself to do it because I’m so dedicated to it. Making this work. , but at the same time, I’ve realized if I can have that element of self care where I just step away, go do something physical, something outside, something with kicker. That I can come back and I am, you know, five times more productive than I would have been if I just sat there and just grinded.

[00:47:41] So 

[00:47:42] Eric: it seems like you have a lot of really good self-awareness, you know, and, and all of these scenarios, I mean, is that something you’ve learned over time? Something you felt like you’ve had or something that, you know, you just realize if someone had to tell you, like, you should take care of yourself.

[00:47:59] Andrew: Type of [00:48:00] type of thing. Probably. It’s a combination of all those things. And I’ve always had like a very strong internal monologue. Like I always like, , Oh, I think a lot. , and sometimes it’s, it’s easier to say than to execute right. Those days that I feel like I have a mountain of work to get done and I still just end up grinding the 16 hours, even though I know I’ll feel 10 times better if I just go for a run and come back to it.

[00:48:24] Mmm. So it’s, I’m definitely not the master. You’re right. I’m still, I’m still learning. I’m still trying to implement these things that I. Feel I know to be true, but I’m not perfect, you know? 

[00:48:40] Eric: Yeah. And I think that’s the message, right? I’m like, nobody is, there’s no perfect lifestyle. , and you know, especially I, and I think that was, you know, the whole point of your posts too.

[00:48:48] It’s like, you know, despite all of the awesome things that you’re doing, everyone, 

[00:48:52] you know, still a human 

[00:48:53] being. Right? And they 

[00:48:54] have the right way to 

[00:48:56] go through the pain or the, , the depression and, you know, [00:49:00] figure out a way to come out of it. And whether it’s something as simple as exercising or just releasing that energy.

[00:49:05] I mean, I think, you know, you and I had discussed, even pre recording was, you know, me falling too. Kind of a depressive state. Too and one was because I got injured, , working out. And then, so I had to just stop going to the gym and then some knee problems and say, well, I can’t really run.

[00:49:22] And then it’s just like not being able to exercise a lot of failed projects, just piling on and then trying to 

[00:49:29] help, 

[00:49:29] you know, with that by, you know, drinking to distress. But then that caused me. More stress after it. My mindset was just like always down whenever I did that. So I just decided to stop drinking.

[00:49:42] I haven’t drank anything for like two months and it’s 

[00:49:45] been 

[00:49:46] really great. Right? So, , that’s why I, a lot of the things that you know, have, has happened to your life is, you know, inspired me deeply and being able to. You really respect the way you put the content out there and being [00:50:00] really genuine, , you know, has spoken to me, right?

[00:50:02] Because I work in, you know, branding and marketing and all, all these different projects, so I have to, I follow all these other people and see all these things, but it’s like, it’s not, it’s just not genuine. Right. They just, they’re posting for. You know, the money, essentially. Right. So I love it that you’ve, you’ve kept it real.

[00:50:17]Andrew: , yeah. Try to, 

[00:50:18] Eric: and I, I know, , you know, we’re, we’re pretty much coming up on time, so I wanted to give you an opportunity to, you know, if there’s something you want to say or share with other people. , based on today’s conversation. 

[00:50:29] Andrew: Yeah, I mean, I think we got into some of my like, bigger philosophies.

[00:50:33] I don’t know if I can like re articulate or summarize anything, , much better than we already had discussed. , I mean, just. I think the overall takeaway is just to like, find what you’re passionate about and, and try and do as much of that as you can, cause you’ll be probably pretty good at it.

[00:50:50], you know, success can be surprising in that regard where it’s like, Oh man, I’ve got this dream thing. I don’t know if it’s gonna it doesn’t really make sense on [00:51:00] paper to me right now, but if you’re willing to put in the hustle and grind for it, you’ll probably be the best you could. You know?

[00:51:07] The best at it. So just do that. 

[00:51:09] Eric: And, and I think what you had mentioned too, is really in combination that that success is a progression. Right? And you, you just started with, you know, season one just for yourself to just to share with some friends and things have just been able to grow from that.

[00:51:23] And so much more opportunity comes once you get started. 

[00:51:26] Andrew: And then. 

[00:51:26] Eric: I mean, that’s the whole point of the Y factor. It’s like, why are you even doing this? As if for yourself, if you start to do it, then things can, , start to, to grow really quickly too. 

[00:51:35] Andrew: Right? I think one of the things I needed to remind myself of often is how far I’ve come from my setting off, you know, whatever.

[00:51:44] Five years ago. For season one to where I’m at now. , I mean, I wouldn’t believe it. I would, I would cry. I, knowing that I have built a, you know, the lifestyle that I, that I get to live, it’s just vastly different than I [00:52:00] could have ever imagined. So. 

[00:52:02] Eric: And it’s, it’s been five years. I mean, a lot of people expect to live your life the year today’s lifestyle when they’re starting from day one.

[00:52:12] Andrew: Right? It’s, it’s pretty cool. I got to, . I just put together a sizzle reel for season three in hopes to pitch it to these networks or while pitching to these networks and seeing all the content I’ve compiled in the last five years. It’s like, wow, I’ve like, you know, lived a pretty incredible life and I should be super grateful for that.

[00:52:29] Like even just in that three minutes of video, I just watched. It’s like all these different amazing memories and experiences and. Yeah. Life’s life’s crazy. 

[00:52:38] Eric: Well, Andrew, I appreciate you jumping on. I mean, this is one of the more emotional, , interviews that I’ve had. I mean, when, you know, obviously you’re, you’re telling your your story and you know, I, I’ve definitely, , and I got the chills too.

[00:52:50], and it’s definitely touched and I’m just super honored to have you jump on and, and something for the audience. It’s really funny that, . Yeah. Andrew has been on my hit list for a little while and you [00:53:00] know, I was just, you know, inspired what, two weeks ago, and I decided just to reach out to you and he, he just picked up my call and I was like, Oh, just like taken aback that he picked up the phone.

[00:53:12] It was super, super nice about it and said yes to the podcast. So I was just, I’m just. Absolutely grateful , for you jumping on. 

[00:53:19] Andrew: Yeah, man, I’m grateful you reached out. It was great chatting with you. Yeah. 

[00:53:22] Eric: right. Well take it easy and, uh, we’ll catch up soon. 

[00:53:25] Andrew: Thanks, Eric. Really appreciate it.

[00:53:27] Eric: All right, cool. , yeah, no, thank you so much for 

[00:53:31] Andrew: your welcome.