Lizzie Shilko launched Revi Gear, a Colorado ski helmet brand, in August 2025 — and spent her first season hand-delivering helmets out of her car trunk to shops across the state. She walks through the retail hustle that landed her first account, why customers make better sales reps than any sales force, and how a cold-email campaign — sent from a brand with no website, no funding, no logo — landed her a manufacturing partner.

Lizzie also gets candid about the gap between her McKinsey background and founder life: no salary, no security, no manager to validate the work. She talks through the anxiety of founder-led social media, separating internal conviction from public comments, and why speed to market beat waiting to get it perfect.

Approaching year one, she's shifting from sprint to endurance — fewer SKUs, more intentional growth. A tactical conversation for anyone building a hard goods brand from scratch.

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Episode Highlights
Show up in person — retail hustle, hand-delivering helmets, founder-as-sales-force

Pull marketing beats push marketing — customers become unpaid sales reps

Fake it till you make it — sourcing manufacturers with zero brand infrastructure

Manufacturer trust — flying overseas, wiring life savings, building the relationship

Founder-led social media — growth, public criticism, internal vs. external validation

Speed to market — pre-orders as real product-market-fit signal

Sprint to endurance — shifting from launch speed to intentional, incremental growth

Evolving "why" — from proving personal capability to building something others can be proud of

Links
Revi Gear's website
Revi Gear on Instagram
Revi Gear on Christy Sports
Seniq
Half Days
Wild Rye
Away luggage
Built Bars

The KORE Podcast is a production of the Kootenay Outdoor Recreation Enterprise. Learn more about KORE and the podcast: https://koreoutdoors.org/podcast

Morgan Tuohy built the world's first dial-fit running belt in his attic — sewing a Boa dial salvaged from a worn-out pair of shoes onto a remade prototype. In this episode, he traces the line from crying through his first marathon at age 12 to launching Dera 35 days before we spoke. Morgan is candid about the failure of his first company, Near Zero Labs, and the lessons that reshaped how he builds: ask for help, pay for people's time, and don't try to be the person behind the sewing machine forever. He walks through finding a factory as a single-product startup, running email-first instead of chasing Instagram followers, and a five-minute masterclass on landing pages. Along the way, he pushes back on startup orthodoxy and shares why he wants Dera to feel like going on a run with him and his friends.

Episode Topics

• The origin story: from marathon to maker
• Building prototypes in the attic and validating demand
• Lessons from a failed first company 
• Finding and winning over an overseas factory as a single-product startup
• Email-first marketing and building an owned audience
• Anatomy of the landing page and launch funnel
• Building community differently in the outdoor industry
• Rethinking startup gospel: not being embarrassed by your first product

Links
Dera's website
Sign up for Second Nature's Slack community
Courier Socks

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For more about the KORE Outdoors Podcast, visit https://koreoutdoors.org/podcast/

The KORE Outdoors Podcast is supported by the Province of British Columbia.

Most outdoor founders think raising money means venture capital. Andrew Luter of Rio Chato Investments spends much of his time talking founders out of taking money and, instead, helps them to see what options they have that may be a better fit. He breaks down why most outdoor businesses are the wrong shape for VC, and why using equity to solve a cash-flow problem is like taking out a splinter with a chainsaw. We cover the funding tools founders overlook, the big wholesale orders that can quietly kill small brands, why coachability beats product and pitch, and the "danger zone" where a brand is too big to be small and too small to be big.

Topics covered in the episode:

• When raising equity is the wrong move
• The REI/big-box order as a working-capital trap
• Underused funding: PO financing, revenue-based financing, CDFIs, friends and family
• Why coachability beats product and pitch
• The "danger zone": too big to be small, too small to be big
• Community-first brands as the next wave in outdoor

Links
Andrew's Substack
Rio Chato Investments
Heather Kelly's Substack
Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn
Connect with Christian on LinkedIn

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The KORE Podcast is a production of the Kootenay Outdoor Recreation Enterprise. Learn more about KORE and the podcast: https://koreoutdoors.org/podcast  #koreoutdoors #craftgearfromhere

Dave Lane dropped out of high school at 15 to pursue his obsession with climbing and spent the next decade sewing his own climbing gear in his basement. That obsession became Rock Solid, then Arc'teryx, one of the most globally recognized brands on the planet. But as Dave tells it, none of it was planned. It was a mix of luck, timing, the right people showing up at the right moment, and a dedication to making the best products possible. In this conversation, Dave traces the full arc: the borrowed sewing machines, the kitchen table chalk bags, the partnership with Jeremy Guard, the accidental rebrand, seven years without a holiday, and ultimately walking away from the company he founded.

Episode Highlights

• The "pebble in the pond" strategy: nail one product, build distribution, then expand one product at a time
• How a failed climbing gym accidentally formed the partnership between Dave and his co-founder
• The crisis that led to Arc'teryx getting its name, and how the logo came to be
• The story of how one order doubled their revenue
• The importance of design and brand when building a company
• Why naivete is an asset when building a company

Links
Apple in China (book)

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The KORE Podcast is a production of the Kootenay Outdoor Recreation Enterprise. Learn more about KORE and the podcast: https://koreoutdoors.org/podcast  #koreoutdoors #craftgearfromhere

Jensen Cipriano Brehm is the co-founder of Ombraz Sunglasses — the armless, cord-based eyewear brand that started with a broken pair on a camel safari in India and turned into one of the more distinctive product stories in the outdoor industry. In this conversation, Jensen walks through the founding journey, how Ombraz found their first customers in the ultralight backpacking and bikepacking worlds, their approach to building in-house content and media, raising a small round of funding while retaining equity, and how he and co-founder Nikolai run the whole operation remotely.

Topics

• Origin story: broken sunglasses on a camel safari in India, four years of wearing a MacGyver'd pair, then building the company
• Finding initial traction in ultralight backpacking and then exploding into bikepacking
• Keeping all content creation in-house — why agencies produce soulless, interchangeable outdoor content
• Raising a Series A in 2020 — retaining equity while gaining runway for inventory and hiring
• Delegating early: 3PL, customer service, and letting go of ego
• Ombraz's 9 core brand pillars as a decision-making filter
• Co-founder dynamics with Nikolai — complementary skill sets, business coaching, and the Positive Intelligence framework
• Running the business fully remote via Slack and monday.com
• Defining success as low stress, staying creative, and having fun

Links

Ombraz website
Sarah Swallow on Instagram
Ronnie Romance on Instagram
GOSO Cookware
Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine

For more about the KORE Outdoors Podcast, visit https://koreoutdoors.org/podcast/

The KORE Outdoors Podcast is supported by the Province of British Columbia.

Matt and Mattie Sims are the co-founders of Courier Socks, a performance sock brand built for the Renaissance athlete — the person who isn't limited to just one sport. In this episode, we get into how a snapped achilles and a $10 sock sparked a product thesis, how five co-founders from world-class brands assembled into something that felt inevitable, and what it really looks like to build a bootstrapped brand without quitting your day job, without outside funding, and with a toddler in the mix.

Topics covered:

• Building with five co-founders — why more wasn't messier, it was essential
• The Renaissance athlete — Courier's positioning and who they're actually building for
• The sock category opportunity — why performance socks have been left behind relative to footwear
• Bootstrapped growth and marketing — what's worked, what hasn't, and the myth of the breakthrough moment
• Lessons from Lululemon — what they carried out and what they left behind

Links:

Get 15% off your Courier Socks order by using this link. Or use code KORE15 at checkout
Courier's website
Courier on Instagram
BDBC Public Relations
The Running Event / Switchback tradeshow
Tiny Experiments - book by Anne-Laure Le Cunff

For more about the KORE Outdoors Podcast, visit https://koreoutdoors.org/podcast/

The KORE Outdoors Podcast is supported by the Province of British Columbia.

Chris Schabow didn't plan to run a manufacturing company — he was a nonprofit fundraiser with a sewing machine from Goodwill and a side hustle making backpacking gear. A chance conversation revealed that Enlightened Equipment, the brand he'd been reverse-engineering for years, was operating out of a hole-in-the-wall shop in his own town. What followed was a cold letter, a ghosted coffee meeting, and a leap of faith that cost him his salary, his benefits, and almost his financial stability. Nine years later, he's CEO. This is the story of how you build your way to the top — one baffle at a time.

Highlights from the episode

• How a nonprofit fundraiser with a $18 Goodwill sewing machine stumbled into a career at the brand he'd been reverse-engineering from the internet
• From leaf blowers in the attic to commercial stuffing machines: how Enlightened Equipment rebuilt its production floor around technology instead of headcount
• Why going overseas was the only math that worked — and how the brand navigated the ultralight community's backlash
• The "stuff on demand" shell model that saved the company during COVID and became the foundation of how they operate today
• What it actually looks like to lead a team you once punched a clock alongside — and why starting at the bottom made Chris a better CEO than any outside hire could have been

Links
Enlightened Equipment
Prairie Dog Shovels
E Clean (down restoration service)
Garage Grown Gear
Ripstop by the Roll
Thru-Hiker
Backpacking Light

For more about the KORE Outdoors Podcast, visit https://koreoutdoors.org/podcast/

The KORE Outdoors Podcast is supported by the Province of British Columbia.

Jonathan Audet and his two co-founders set out to build better skis. What they built instead may change entire industries. In this episode, Jonathan shares the story behind Ferreol Skis — a Quebec-based brand combining sustainability, in-house engineering, and a fierce love of skiing into one of Canada's fastest-growing ski companies. We also dig into Ferreol Technologies and the aluminum alloy they developed that the industry is calling the strongest in the world. From backyard experiments to Canadian military contracts to the French market, this is a masterclass in founder obsession and engineering-driven brand building.

A few of the topics covered in this episode:

• From backyard experiments to the largest Canadian ski brand
• Building a sustainability-first ski company without sacrificing performance
• The world's strongest aluminum — developed for skis, destined for space
• Growing internationally: How to use government resources to enter new markets
• Hiring intrapreneurs and the founder's guide to staying coachable

Links
Ferreol Skis
Watch Jonathan & his co-founders' appearance on Dragon's Den

For more about the KORE Outdoors Podcast, visit https://koreoutdoors.org/podcast/

The KORE Outdoors Podcast is supported by the Province of British Columbia.

Dario Phillips, co-founder of Slowtide, built the surf industry's most recognizable beach towel brands by betting on a single product category and surrounding it with authentic art, meaningful collaborations, and a clear brand identity. In this conversation, Dario traces the full founder arc — from marketing director at Quiksilver to rolling the dice on 800 towels in a Venice Beach garage. He talks about the realities of licensing deals, co-founding remotely across two islands, and why a decade of building has taught him to trust his team's instincts over outside hires. He also shares how Slowtide is expanding beyond towels into outerwear and new product categories, while staying grounded in the values that started it all.

A few of the topics from the conversation:

• Leaving Corporate Board Sports to Co-Found Slowtide
• The Case for Category-Specific Brands
• Licensing as a Growth Strategy
• Co-Founding Across Time Zones and Islands
• Founder Confidence Over Outside Hires
• Sustainable Growth and Giving Back

Links:
Slowtide
Slowtide's Custom Products
Slowtide x New Balance

Connect with Christian on LinkedIn

The KORE Podcast is a production of the Kootenay Outdoor Recreation Enterprise. Learn more about KORE and the podcast: https://koreoutdoors.org/podcast 

The KORE Outdoors Podcast is supported by the Province of British Columbia.

David Kenworthy (MMGY Origin) and Michael Ruckert (Centium AI) break down what outdoor industry founders and marketers need to know about AI visibility. Learn how AI models train on internet content, why there's often a gap between how brands see themselves and how AI describes them, and what AEO (AI Engine Optimization) means for your business. From understanding tokenization to exploring vibe coding opportunities for startups, this conversation delivers actionable insights on positioning your brand in the AI era.

Episode Highlights

• How AI Models Train: Understanding tokenization, word associations, and how AI predicts brand recommendations by indexing internet content to form probability-based responses
• The Brand Perception Gap: Why there's often a disconnect between how outdoor brands market themselves and how AI actually describes them to consumers
• Centium AI Platform & AEO Strategy: What AI Engine Optimization means, how to measure brand visibility across multiple LLMs, and where AI sources content about your products

Links
Centium.ai
MMGY Origin
Superhuman.ai Newlsetter

Connect with David on LinkedIn

Connect with Michael on LinkedIn

Connect with Christian on LinkedIn

For more about the KORE Outdoors Podcast, visit https://koreoutdoors.org/podcast/

The KORE Outdoors Podcast is supported by the Province of British Columbia.