EP 207: It's Been TWELVE Years...What's Next?

[00:00:00] Hey everybody, welcome back to the Live Ultralight Podcast powered by Outdoor Vitals. Today you have a very special episode. It is a solo episode with just me as I sit and talk to you about 12 years of Outdoor Vitals now. We're about to have our Founders Day sale and it's the podcast episode that I like to just come on here solo, talk about company history, talk about how things have gone this last year and where we are going in the next year. It's wild. It's wild to me to think about the fact that this idea that I had in college,

[00:00:31] played out the way that it has. It's been so much work, it's been so much energy, so much focus, so much sacrifice. But geez, am I thankful to have been able to live this American dream and build a company from the ground up. And just wanted to express my heartfelt gratitude for those of you listening to this podcast, as well as those of you that are customers at Outdoor Vitals. It's always a fun episode to film. Just because I get to sit and reflect on

[00:01:00] on a few things. And so before I jump into, you know, how did the last year go and where are we going? You know, some of that sneak peek stuff that you guys love to hear. I just wanted to talk a little bit about the origins, the origins of OV.

[00:01:16] To me, and you guys, many of you probably heard my backstory, but if you haven't, you know, I grew up in the Boy Scouts, grew up in a rural town in Southern Utah. And I just always loved getting outside. And as I got into college, I started to get into some higher performing gear. And I thought, holy cow, this would change the world for so many people out there.

[00:01:44] And I think that's the motto that it started under was opening the outdoors. Because I thought that if, you know, we built the product, sold it direct to consumers and, you know, helped with some of the education side, that it would just get more people outside. That's always been the goal. Our purpose as a company is to connect people to the vital outdoors, you know, get them outside.

[00:02:03] And I don't know why that motto popped into my head this morning of opening the outdoors. And I think for some people, it feels like maybe things have changed over 12 years because when I did start the company, we started with lower price gear. And in that phase of my life, I was coming out of college. I was an extreme saver. I mean, I grew up in a family that was, you know, middle class.

[00:02:27] I'm very thankful for my dad and my mom working as hard as they did to provide what they did. But they were extreme savers and they really taught me how to be financially careful with money. And so the idea of spending money was just always hard. It was always hard to spend money. And this was something that I was absolutely obsessed about. And so as I started to get into backpacking and acquiring some of this gear, I was like, man, how do I just make this so that everyone can have this gear?

[00:02:56] And that's always been the goal. It still is the goal today. I don't want to get away from that. But this saying came into my mind. Growing up in a rural town in Southern Utah, my grandpa had horses and I'd go train horses with them every summer. And I remember my grandpa saying the saying of, you know, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't force them to drink. And somewhere along the lines, a few years into the business, I realized that that origin of like, you know, providing this, this really affordable gear was really important.

[00:03:25] But, um, I could make the best gear ever at the cheapest possible prices and you can't force people into the backcountry. And so then I started to just get more passionate about making performance oriented gear, the gear I actually wanted to be using and just make it better and better and better.

[00:03:42] And that's been the 12 year journey is making this, the gear that we have today. Um, that's the, that does change your experience in the backcountry. You know, you can go farther, you can go lighter and you can have that confidence in the pieces of gear that you have in terms of them just performing. And I don't know why that saying kind of popped into my mind today, you know, cause we kind of went through these motto changes over the years from opening the outdoors to live ultra light to performance first ultra light gear.

[00:04:11] The goal has always been the same for 12 years now to get people into the, into the outdoors. Um, but the way in which we do that has slightly shifted. Um, and what I realized, you know, not very far into this journey was just that people, you know, that really want to do it will, will find a way. And those kinds of people use the gear and they'll save and they'll focus and they'll spend money on the gear. And I'm not saying that we're raising prices or anything like that far from it guys.

[00:04:41] Like we will always stay direct to consumer. We are still 100% owned by me, myself and I, um, you know, our stakeholders or our customers and our employees, uh, that's it. That's, that's, that's all that matters to us is that. And, and we're just going to continue to double down on that. Um, but man, what a journey. I just look back at sometimes at some of our old products and I smile and, um, it's kind of fitting today then that I've got, uh, my dog Tilly here and see if she'll jump up on camera.

[00:05:11] For those of you watching on YouTube, she's turning 11. So she wasn't quite here. She wasn't quite here for the very beginning, but I, I don't know why, but again, day of reflection here. She has been sitting under my desk as I've worked for 11 years now of, of this 12 year journey. Um, it's, it's fun. We have employees now that are coming up on 10 years of working for us.

[00:05:39] You know, some of our employees that were hired the first year I started hiring employees here that have stuck with us. Uh, so we have a lot to be thankful for. And I meet customers that literally were buying gear from us so early on. And I'm just, just thankful, thankful for you guys. So if nothing else, before I get into the rest of this, just a big heartfelt gratitude. Thank you. Um, you know, we have always strived to do our best.

[00:06:05] We've always strived to improve our product, to make the best gear that we are capable of making. And thankfully today we're much more capable than we were when we first started this company. And the gear that we have today is just phenomenal. I do. I look back in our conference room, we have some old vintage, you know, backpacks and stuff up on the wall.

[00:06:26] And I look at those, I look at some of our old sleeping bags and it's just amazing how far we've continued to come, continue to push the needle in terms of performance and how much I enjoy still helping people get out on trail. So with that, the first thing that I wanted to jump, uh, into talking about in this last year, as we look backwards a little bit is the OV100 mile challenge.

[00:06:49] Um, last year we went out and hiked 140 miles on the Colorado trail. It was really meaningful to us because we got really close to having a thousand people join that DIY challenge with us. Yeah, we have, I mean, we have tens of thousands of customers, but to have a thousand people, you know, raise their hand and say, yeah, we're going to go do this with you. We're that interested in doing these bigger efforts, doing bucket list hikes.

[00:07:11] And some, some people, it's the first time they'd backpacked in, in years or first time ever that they'd backpacked. And so those are, this is really meaningful, I guess, to us. And last year was a lot of fun because we got to bring Caden from our team out on the trail as well. And it was his first long distance backpacking trip. Um, in fact, we sent him, you know, through the OV100 mile challenge course, um, through that framework.

[00:07:34] And he went into the shakedown hike and he tried to, to jump out. He, he didn't think he wasn't sure. Right. Um, you know, he'd been building confidence, building confidence, building confidence, but at the same time, the idea of doing 140 miles was still very daunting to him. Um, nonetheless, he came out on the hike and it was incredible. It's incredible to hear, hear his story. You can go back in the podcast and listen to that from last year. Um, but I was just recently talking to him again, and it was really empowering moment for him.

[00:08:04] I just remember walking off the trail at the end of that, um, day six of that trip and just hearing him be like, man, I'm so glad you guys, you know, put a little pressure on me to come out here and do this. And, um, it was just something I think that was locked in his memory forever and excited to, to take him back out on the OV100 this year. So that was just a ton of fun and it's a ton of fun to continue to do that. Um, so that's something that I really wanted to highlight from this last year, but as a whole,

[00:08:35] um, 2025, you know, up until this point of 2026 has been phenomenal. We've been on a great growth trajectory. We've been bringing in new customers faster than we've ever brought them in before. Um, everything really is just in good motion. Our team is phenomenal. Our product is getting better and better. You know, any areas that, that I feel like have been weak in the past for us, we've continued to strengthen.

[00:08:59] Uh, we have just a phenomenal team all around from customer connection team to, um, warehouse team to our marketing team to design team. And there's more to come on some of that design side as well. Last year we released, uh, quite a few products in the last, I say last year, but really what I mean is from the last founder's day sale. Released a lot of products. We released the mountain pursuit line, which was our best product launches we've ever had. We broke every internal record we had for sales.

[00:09:29] We sold through more units. We sold through more units than we anticipated as you saw. Um, even though we bet big on those, those, um, orders and inventory levels. Um, so we released the.

[00:09:41] We'll throw her pants, uh, the vantage Alpine jacket and the pursuit hoodie, all which did phenomenal in the last year. We also released the shadow light backpack and the carbon Evo backpack, both of which are most comfortable packs yet and are doing phenomenal sales wise. You guys really like them reviews high, obviously word of mouth, uh, which is why we just continue to sell them. Um, so those have been phenomenal products.

[00:10:08] We released the Zulu down jacket, which right now I'd say that is my favorite jacket. I wear it probably more than any other jacket, um, for backpacking, especially just because it is so light, so compressible and so usable, so warm.

[00:10:22] And we released the Cirque one person tent, um, which is, I mean, I've been using it for a while. You guys have just got your hands on it last few months. Again, um, one of my favorite products, uh, for a guy that's, you know, six, two taller, um, needs space inside of a tent. It has a ton of space.

[00:10:43] And, and, and just as so usable, um, for every condition that I love to take that tendon to. So it was really fun to release that piece. Um, I think that's everything that we released in the last year and really proud of the team for the releases, the launches, um, and everything that's come along with those pieces.

[00:11:02] So those are the products that we released in the last year. We also released some color options, you know, some new colors on different pieces. Uh, we added more colors to the altitude. We just released a blue color. I think it's blue stone, if I'm not mistaken on the fast pack, uh, which has also been a product that has exceeded expectations. It's been really cool to see how many people are interested in fast packing.

[00:11:24] It's just another great way to get outside and to spend time outside, whether you're using it for a day trip or whether you're using it for a true fast pack for a couple nights or something out on trail, just covering big miles and doing cool bucket list hikes. Um, I know where I've been using that the most. Well, it seems like lately it's been, you know, doing the R3, uh, the Grand Canyon rim to rim to rim hikes, um, as well as just a bunch of other uses, but excited to have that in a new color.

[00:11:52] So again, just a phenomenal year for us, um, record number of OV100 participants, uh, record number in, in growth and sales. Um, everything is just clicking and moving really well. And it's just one of those moments where I can kind of sit back and be proud of what 12 years has brought us. And, and over those 12 years, I've seen companies start. I've seen companies fail. I've seen companies stagnate. I've seen companies grow. Um, and it's hard to not be,

[00:12:22] constantly comparing. Um, but what I am thankful for is our own successes in life. I have found this to be more and more and more true. And that is that the only comparison worth doing is to compare yourself today compared to yourself yesterday. Um, it's very common for us to look at what other backpackers are doing. Other businesses are doing other people in our career fields, brothers, sisters, you know, friends, everyone. And,

[00:12:51] and do these comparisons. And the older I get, the more I realize that you never have the full story to someone's life, to someone's business, um, someone's finances, you know, everything. There's always costs that come and they're not always visible.

[00:13:08] And so when I look at this company and this company from one year ago today, uh, we are better. And I'm very thankful for that. And especially when I look at us today to Purdue 12 years ago, we're on just a whole different level, a level that I honestly didn't know would be possible when I started the company. Um, the goals that I started this company around.

[00:13:34] Whereas what felt like as big as I could dream up at the time. And, um, you know, we exceeded those, we hit those so early on in the business that, um, it was just, it was astounding. And, and, and so to see us to continue to grow even 12 years in is, is really rewarding. Um, and it's worth it. And I'd say maybe the last, you know, little life lesson I'll add in here is just that anything worth doing is worth doing well.

[00:14:03] And anything worth doing is worth sticking with for a long time, going through the good, the bad, the ugly, the hard, the easy, the fun, the not so fun. But I have found that in my life, sticking to one thing, focusing on one thing for a longer period of time results in so much more than you ever thought possible.

[00:14:26] We often overestimate what we can do in a day or a week, maybe even a month sometimes, but we underestimate what we can do in a year or a decade or 12 years for this, uh, situation. So take that for what it's worth. If you're just getting into backpacking, um, don't be hard on yourself for what you think you can do on some of your first trips, but stick with it.

[00:14:51] And you'll be amazed at all the places you'll go over a decade and the difference in your confidence, the difference in the miles you can log, the difference in your experiences, you know, from day one to 10 years later. And I can promise you that getting outdoors is well worth your time more and more and more each and every day. Uh, I'm just thankful for the time I get to spend outside and the opportunities that, that come with it. Um, in this last year,

[00:15:21] I got to travel to help distribute water filters as a part of our charity program. And I'm going to do a whole podcast on this. This is actually something I recently got back from. So I haven't had time to release the video or release a podcast on it, but I got to go spend time and, and really humbling conditions and help distribute water filters that we donated. Um, and just, just be face to face with those people.

[00:15:47] And again, just be so thankful for what Outdoor Vitals gets to do as a company, what, um, opportunities affords myself and the team and the ways that we can give back. So, um, yeah, don't underestimate what you can do in a decade or 12 years or whatever window you're looking at and make sure that you value the comparison of yourself from yesterday more than any comparison of the outside world.

[00:16:14] So other things that we did in this last year, we did release a new website. Um, I think we really improved that there. Uh, websites are big websites are challenging when you have a catalog, the size of our catalog. And so really happy with the team. Um, and what we were able to accomplish there as well as just the user experience and the feedback that we've seen there. So really happy we could do that and make our website better, especially for people like members who are just constantly.

[00:16:39] Using the website and buying more gear from us. Um, so very happy to see that. Um, another thing is. And this will kind of transition into looking forward, but as we look backwards, um, you know, we're always trying to just be true to ourself and we have always been an ultralight backpacking company, but we've also always been a mountain focused ultralight backpacking company.

[00:17:06] You know, we're, we're here in Southern Utah. We are close to, you know, big mountains and a lot of different directions. Yes. We can get down into the desert and get into really remote wildernesses as well, but we spend a lot of time up in the mountains and you can see from the trips we go on. We spend a lot of time, you know, getting up into the San Juárez or getting into the San Juárez or going up to the wind rivers and, and these other big mountain ranges.

[00:17:31] Me and Brigham took a trip up to, uh, Montana and spent a basically a week in the high mountains there. And, you know, the, the mountains definitely call to us. And as we look back at like how we design things, how we create things, they're, they're often mostly tied, mostly or always probably always tied specifically to, you know, those, those back country wildernesses, those high mountain wildernesses.

[00:17:58] And something that was interesting as we look back on this last year is that when we released the mountain pursuit line, which I mentioned included, you know, the Altura pants, the pursuit hoodie, um, the vent, the vantage jacket, those landed so well. So obviously you guys connect with that as well. And we're going to continue to keep that focus there. There's times when sometimes we get maybe a little bit misunderstood.

[00:18:23] And so we're going to do a better job at bridging those gaps. Um, you know, we've never set out in the past to be the very lightest. I think sometimes people think that we're trying to be the lightest weight option out there. That's never been the goal. We never really wanted to be the lightest. Um, we just want to be in that ultra light category and that every ounce has a purpose.

[00:18:46] Every ounce contributes to a better backpacking experience, a better backpacking trip, and that it serves its true purpose. Now I can go through products and examples of whatever the Tushar rain jacket and how, why it's not a seven denier fabric.

[00:19:00] I can go through examples of, you know, backpacks, you know, our backpacks are really light, but there are lighter frameless packs out there, but they just don't serve the purpose that's near and dear to our hearts. Um, and so we're going to continue to push on those elements and just make sure that that's clear to customers.

[00:19:20] And you guys to understand that, uh, you know, we really build our gear for high mountain performance, for wilderness backpacking performance, for those remote areas in the middle of the Grand Canyon wilderness, where you are maybe, maybe that may honestly be some of the farthest country I've ever been in from an oiled road.

[00:19:42] Um, those are the areas that call to us. And if those are areas that call to you, we're going to continue to develop products specifically for those remote wilderness settings, for those high mountains, for, um, all of that. So excited to continue to push out of rattles forward and continue to double down on those efforts. So what does the next year look like for us? Um, well, it looks exciting.

[00:20:10] I'm always excited, uh, obviously because I see the behind the scenes stuff of what we're building and what we're working on, what we're aiming to improve, how we're working to benefit our users more and educate more and teach more. So this year, um, kind of circling back to the OB 100, we did break over a thousand people, well over a thousand people that are now doing that, um, DIY challenge with us and super excited to see where that takes everyone already.

[00:20:36] The conversations inside that challenge, um, have been awesome and getting people that are already starting hikes now, um, started a little bit earlier than say the trip window is, but, um, it's always so rewarding to see people in there doing trips and, um, progressing that forward. So really cool to see that growing. And if that is something you want to do, make sure to, um, go join that challenge. You still can join that challenge. We're leaving that sign up open, uh, quite a bit later than we have historically.

[00:21:06] Uh, because if it's something you want to do, you know, you can still make it happen. Um, so definitely go look at that. Um, something else that we're bringing on the team that I'm really excited about is we're bringing on a second designer.

[00:21:22] So we just recently hired our newest designer named Lucy. Um, she's just about to start and that's really exciting for us because we will be able to open up even more possibilities, opportunities within the design department, continue to refine our products more and more and more, and just spin off the absolute best products that we can.

[00:21:43] Um, Brigham has been crushing it for a lot of years, um, and we'll continue to crush it. Um, but he's one guy in our product category. I mean, our product line is, is very big. So between me and Brigham, um, it's a lot to manage and excited to add someone new to this.

[00:22:00] Also very excited with the growth that we've seen in the women's line. We've seen the growth of women's line go from like less than 5% of total sales to almost 5X that. And so while that's still very much a minority, it has grown. And the good part is, is the company has grown and that percentage has grown. It's giving us more and more abilities to build women's specific products.

[00:22:23] Um, and as we bring Lucy on, she's very passionate about bringing women into the outdoors. And so excited to, um, continue to have another hand at helping us develop and continue to build out more and more women's products. Now I'm not saying we're going to be just immediately releasing a bunch of women's stuff. We'll, we'll continue on the same trajectory we've been doing, but I think you'll see more of it.

[00:22:48] And you'll also see, um, just more attention to detail with women's designs and eventually some women's specific lines that are built specifically for women. Look, the fact of the matter is women have different needs than men when it comes to clothing or the way that things fit or the way that things work.

[00:23:08] And so us being able to cater more to that over the next few years is going to be a lot of fun to see and continue to watch more women come into, um, our customer base and, and share more and more journeys. And I, you know, to be quite frank, I've been very excited and happy to see the amount of women out on trail.

[00:23:31] I don't know if it's growing or if it's just my perspective or if I'm seeing it more, but I'm seeing more and more women out backpacking. I feel like, and I love it. I see solo women out backpacking something. I feel like I haven't seen quite as much in the past, but, um, we're just going to continue to cater to that audience and try to help that side of our audience more and more as well. So really excited about bringing on another designer and the possibilities that's going to bring us over time for sure.

[00:24:00] Um, yeah, I mean, there's, okay. So another thing that we're going to try to be doing, I did take a bit of a break on some of the content filming. We've continued to do a podcast pretty regularly. We're going to try to be even more regular, maybe push out more episodes on the podcast and try to really focus it on you as the listener and just bringing as much value as we can to you, but also bringing, um, more cameras on trails.

[00:24:26] You know, sometimes I can get burnt out of filming, but we've recently expanded a little bit of our capabilities there in terms of personnel for videos and editing videos and things like that. And I think I, I had the needed break that was kind of necessary. I would say to, to take after filming videos for, you know, 10 years straight. And, and it's been really refreshing to, to take a little bit of a break.

[00:25:23] All right. So you guys are always wanting to hear in this, you know, what's to come, what's, what's in the pipeline to be released. Well, this year we've already released, uh, three products, um, and some colorways.

[00:25:37] This year we will have at least two more product releases. I can't tell you when though, because they're not close enough in production yet to be ironclad. I can tell you there'll be a little bit more in the later fall. Um, but very excited about those pieces and they're going to be a lot of fun. We're also going to kind of kick off a new program with one of those pieces, not a new category, but a new program where it's a little bit more of a limited edition drop. Um, where we're really pushing the envelope.

[00:26:06] On performance and, and, and just like innovation. And so really excited to do that and just see what you guys think of these products and just show you the level of, uh, innovation that we continue to, to push on. So be looking forward to those. We do have a ton of things in the pipeline. Um, I wish I could say when all those would release, but the truth is sometimes we get a product to 90 or 95%

[00:26:35] completed and the last 5% can take a year. We just, we just never know until it's completely finalized. Um, and so we have a ton of products that are under development and we're definitely excited to see those get to that finish line where we can actually place that production order and get things rolling in terms of production. But just know that we'll continue to innovate as much as often and as fast as we can.

[00:27:05] So be watching for those, but two new products that will come out before the end of 2026, unless something catastrophic happens in production. Um, something else that's been really great from this past year is we, we heavily and deeply increased the inventory that we were carrying. So that we have a lot less stock outs. Um, that's definitely been felt by customers.

[00:27:31] And it's been, it's been, it's been really good in terms of, of just making sure that we're keeping things even better in stock. And, you know, that's been an improvement we've made internally and we'll continue to do our very best to make that happen. It's still a challenge on brand new releases. So anytime we release a new product, if you like it, I just would tell you to buy it as early as you can, because, you know, you see things like with the mountain pursuit line, we release it. We blow through that inventory quicker than anticipated.

[00:28:29] And that's what we expect. Some of those, uh, like when, for instance, when we released the, the Cirque one person tent, everyone was asking, okay, what about the Cirque two person tent? Um, that is in development. Um, but sometimes development timelines are tough. That honest, that development started at the same time, essentially, or near the same time as the Cirque one person tent. Um, it's just taken us longer.

[00:28:52] We've had different challenges arise with the development of that. And so, um, be patient with this. Sometimes we are trying to accommodate, um, all the needs, whether you need a one person tent or two person tent, but the, the threshold has been set higher and higher for us. Like we, we will not release a product that is not ready. That is not improving on prior generations. Um, and so we want to make sure that we're hitting those, those internal thresholds that we've set.

[00:29:21] And we continue to raise and, um, um, that takes time. That takes energy. That takes effort. And so we'll continue to push on those as much as we can.

[00:29:30] Um, okay. Um, I think that is most of really what I wanted to cover here. So last thing I wanted to touch on is the founder's day sale. Um, the founder's day sale is running right now. It is the, it is our biggest sell of the year, you know, or it matches our biggest sell of the year. It's another way to say that it is essentially black Friday in June where we match our black Friday savings and discounts in June.

[00:29:56] So it's 10% off site-wide. If you are a member or peak tier member, you can get up to 18% off site-wide for every hundred dollars. Well, if you spend a hundred dollars, you'll get a free t-shirt with your order. Um, which the design on this is pretty cool. It's a little bit of a retro look, which, um, I think is really cool. So make sure to check out those t-shirts. You'll get one. If you spend a hundred dollars on the sale.

[00:30:21] And we're doing a giveaway for a Cirque tent. So everyone that's on our email list will get entered into that giveaway, but for every additional dollar that you spend on the sale, you get an additional entry. So spend a hundred bucks, get a hundred additional entries. Um, and so on and so forth. So if you're going to shop now's a great time to shop because you can just get more entries into winning a Cirque tent.

[00:30:46] Um, but I think that covers most of the sale. Um, again, it is our biggest sale of the year or it matches our biggest sale of the year. It's black Friday in June. So take advantage of those savings and celebrate 12 years in business without revitals. Again, I just wanted to say a big, deep, heartfelt. Thank you to all of our customers for all of you that have followed along in this 12 year journey. Now. Um, it's been phenomenal.

[00:31:13] It's so gratifying to look back and see where we've come from and where we are today. And that is, you know, because of you guys supporting us and believing in us and continuing to find value in the things that we love to create. So thank you so much. Um, make sure to shop the sale, make sure to share it with your friends. We appreciate that. Make sure to subscribe and do all those other things. And we'll catch you guys in a future episode.