KORE Outdoors Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Casey Shaw is a product designer who has played an important role in outdoor apparel design and fabrication through his work at Cloudveil, Arcteryx and Patagonia. There’s a good chance he has contributed directly or indirectly to one of your favourite pieces of outdoor apparel.

This episode is a wide-ranging conversation about how Casey approaches product design, how he thinks about innovation and the stories behind some of his favourite projects. He truly is a polymath and this conversation barely scratches the surface of his wide-ranging interests and skill sets. Here are just a few of the interesting topics he covers in this conversation:

* Why climbing is the best activity for testing apparel

* Tuning racing motorcycles & sound frequencies

* Designing for a very specific activity leads to better products in general

* Using cleverness (instead of money) to solve problems

* The story of creating the Atom LT for Arcteryx

* Working for Yvon Chouinard

* Designing the worlds best down parka

* Having a process for problem-solving

* Measuring is as important as making

* The theory of comfort

* Risk with discretion can be a tool

* Finding the sublime balance in life and innovation

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

KORE Outdoors gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Province of British Columbia.

#koreoutdoors #craftgearfromhere

Eoin Comerford was the CEO of Moosejaw Mountaineering for 12 years, from 2012 to 2024. During his time at the Michigan-based outdoor retailer, he launched many new initiatives including the Outdoor Accelerator, a topic discussed in this episode. He also led Moosejaw through an acquisition by Walmart and, later, by Dick’s Sporting Goods. 

Eoin is currently an advisor to, and investor in, early-stage outdoor brands. He is the Principal at Outsize Consulting where he spends his time advising founders and working with retailers and investors in the outdoor industry. A few of the topics covered in this episode are:

• Three things every founder should focus on
• The advice Eoin gives every founder he works with
• Pitfalls to avoid when raising investment capital
• How to create a plan to profitability

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

KORE Outdoors gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Province of British Columbia.

#koreoutdoors #craftgearfromhere

Greg McDonald is the General Manager of Ridley’s Cycle, an independent bike retailer with three locations in Calgary and a very successful online store. Greg is also a board member of the National Bike Dealer’s Association and, prior to Ridley’s, he was a sales rep in the outdoor and bike industry.

In this episode we discuss the current situation in the bike industry and the challenges many retailers and brands are facing. We learn about some of the issues that led to the situation as well as some potential solutions. We also get into the details about how brands can better support retailers through improved sales programs and partnerships that create win-win situations at every level of the industry.

Eleven years ago Ryan Popov began Popov Leather as a passion project, hand-crafting wallets on his dining room table during nights and weekends. Since then, his company has shipped over 120,000 orders through Shopify and it now employs over 20 people at a workshop in Nelson, British Columbia. 

The latest episode of the KORE Outdoors Podcast is a deep dive into e-commerce and digital marketing. Ryan has turned his focus on learning as much as he can about running a successful e-commerce business and he’s a wealth of knowledge. With host Christian Rawles of Ambler, he discuss digital ads, where to start with email marketing, the importance of customer reviews, and the most important hire he made that helped fuel his growth.

Louis-Julien Roy is the Founder & President of Mountain Exposure, a sales agency in Western Canada serving both the outdoor and cycling industries. Mountain Exposure is also the Canadian distributor of Ibis Bikes. 

In this episode, we discuss the role of sales representatives and best practices for early-stage brands to work with reps. We dive into the tactics of selling your products to retailers and the art of relational selling. This episode is full of actionable advice on how to sell your products in the outdoor and bike market.

This episode is hosted by KORE board member Christian Rawles.

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

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

Carina Hamel and Robby Ringer are the wife and husband partners behind Bivo, the performance hydration company that hit the market in 2020 with the first-of-its-kind stainless steel water bottle built specifically for cycling.

Hosted by Christian Rawles, co-owner of Ambler Mountain Works, this episode of the podcast touches on the R&D that went into creating a stainless steel bottle which outperforms a plastic squeeze bottle, their grassroots tactics to build a following before even creating a product, the heartbreak of a faulty first production run, the power of live events to find your customers and much more.

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

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

Raquel Vélez is the founder and CEO of Alpine Parrot, a company that makes technical outdoor apparel for sizes 14-30, which, until now, has been a category that the outdoor industry has all but ignored. Raquel has a background in engineering and she used her experience working with Bay Area tech companies to springboard her journey into entrepreneurship. In this conversation, she breaks down how apparel patterns are made and why previous methods for creating plus-size apparel didn’t work. She also discusses the important role that mentors, peers and her time in accelerator programs have played in keeping her going through turbulent times.

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

KORE Outdoors gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Province of British Columbia.

#koreoutdoors #craftgearfromhere

Georgia Grace Edwards is the co-founder and CEO of outdoor apparel brand Gnara. She is a driven business person who has raised millions of dollars for her company by winning pitch competitions and winning over investors. 

Gnara is well-known for its patented Go Fly zipper technology, which allows women to pee outside without removing clothing. They produce their line of apparel, like the popular Go There Pants, as well as license their Go Fly technology to other brands.

In this episode, Georgia Grace talks about the power of pitch competitions, how to grow customer loyalty by being transparent, and why solving a real problem is the best inspiration for facing the challenges of growing a brand.

Gnara has recently launched a second Kickstarter campaign for its Go Free Leggings.

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

KORE Outdoors gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Province of British Columbia.

#koreoutdoors #craftgearfromhere

Alex Lauver is the Senior Director of Materials, Innovation and Sustainability at Outdoor Research. As his title implies, he operates at the intersection of multiple disciplines. He works on projects that bring innovation to market as well as on the  operations side of the business. It's a position that requires the ability to take complex topics and explain them in a way that makes them easy to understand.

In this episode, Alex discusses the role that innovation can play in product development and how to foster innovation within an organization. He shares his perspective on sustainability within the outdoor industry as well as the challenges we face moving to a more circular economy. He also gives an overview of PFAS substances, what they are, and how new regulations will change the way technical apparel is manufactured.

You can read more about Alex and some of the insights from his work on linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lauver/

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

KORE Outdoors gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Province of British Columbia.

#koreoutdoors #craftgearfromhere

James Friedrich is a senior merchant at Mountain Equipment Company and a consultant at his firm Venturing Up. James has experience on the brand side as well as on the retail side, which provides him with a unique perspective. In this episode we learn how to position your product in the market, the importance of the value equation, how to price your product and how to work with retailers to have successful sell-through of your products.

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

KORE Outdoors gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Province of British Columbia.

#koreoutdoors #craftgearfromhere