Destination Different

I honestly think my dream job might be creating ridiculous custom jerseys and apparel for sports teams.

And that's EXACTLY what the fellas at Clubhouse Athletic are doing.

The idea all started when Adam Lavitola was in college and began referring to himself as "The Custom Guy." He would create custom tee-shirts, tank tops, jerseys, you name it, for college friends, intramural teams, greek life events, etc. And as business continued to roll in he realized if he was making custom everything it made it pretty tricky for people to know what to go to him for. He narrowed the scope to focus specifically on sportswear and Clubhouse Athletic was born.

Over the years Clubhouse has collaborated on some amazing pieces with brands, sports teams, and individuals; and pride themselves on being the most collaborative partners in the business. A little over a year and a half ago, Adam brought on Nick as the Head of Business Development; the company's first full-time hire to help grow the brand. And just recently, in January of 2022, Adam made the leap and started working on Clubhouse full time. I have no doubt there are big things coming for them in the year ahead.

We talked all about their philosophy on going deep vs wide, how they approach a custom piece, and how Adam operates as a color blind designer. 

Up until July of 2021 college athletes couldn't make money off their own name, image, or likeness.

While schools and conferences and the NCAA raked in hundreds of millions of dollars a year, the student-athletes who were putting on the show were mostly left out to dry.

That all changed last summer with some new NIL legislation. And Pat Johnson saw an opportunity to build a business in a completely untouched industry.

So Vantage Sports was born. It's an online platform that connects current college athletes with prospective college athletes (i.e. high school or middle school students) for 1-on-1 training or group sessions; allowing college athletes to make money from their name and for younger athletes to get training from the best in the biz. It's a win win.

We talked all about how Pat birthed this idea WELL before the NIL legislation went into place, the struggles of raising funds to push the business forward, and how he's leveraging partnerships to elevate the brand.

It has happened to all of us at one point or another...

You come across a homeless person on the street and want to give them a couple bucks for a sandwich or a water or some basic necessities. But when you reach into your wallet you realize you've got no cash.

In an increasingly digital world the homeless have fewer options.

GiveCard has set out to fix that. Founded by Lurein Perera and Diksha Thach, the duo's model is to put a couple hundred dollars a month on a debit card, put it in the hands of the homeless, and trust that they will do good with it.

So far it seems to be working.

The non-profit has already seen multiple homeless participants find places to live after getting access to a card. I'm over here hosting a podcast and they're out here changing the world... Color me impressed.

Have you ever wanted to become a professional creative? To make a living with your own voice and words and thoughts and actions?

I know I have.

And if there's ever a person to learn from... it's Jay Acunzo.

Jay started his career in the marketing world and eventually made the switch to life as a full-time podcaster, author, showrunner, and speaker; sharing his knowledge gained in the business world with others looking to rise above all the average content out there. He got so good at running his own show, that dozens of others now go to him to help launch, run, and sometimes even host their shows.

Jay dabbles in a little bit of everything, but at the end of the day he's a storyteller. And while he says he's not there yet, his goal is to one day become the "Anthony Bourdain of the Business World." I'd say he's well on his way.

Chipotle serves up made-to-order Mexican bowls. Sweetgreen serves up made-to-order salads to go...

Now Kured is serving up made-to-order charcuterie boards and boxes.

What started with Gilli Rozynek driving around Cape Cod delivering meats and cheeses out of the trunk of her car has evolved into a full-fledge operation with multiple retail stores, an e-commerce offering, catering for your next event, ANDDDD an eye on expansion.

Kured officially opened its first retail shop in June of 2021 with absolutely zero experience in the food service industry outside of waiting tables in high school, but that didn't stop them. They learned on the fly and business has been booming ever since.

In this episode we talked all about the logistics of opening a retail store, how Morgan went from intern to co-founder, and partnering with local artists to bring some life and personality to their brand. 

I also dub them the Unofficially Official Inventors of the Meat Cone (trademark pending).

Some people might see it as old junk just laying around the house...

Ryan Kelley sees it as his next piece of art.

The insanely talented creative (appropriate dubbed "Wire By Ryan") is quickly coming up on using 100 miles of wire in his career, and he shows no signs of stopping.

After taking an interest in art in high school he threw himself into his creative work and hasn't looked back. Today, he is the creator of some of the largest and most impressive wire sculptures on the planet; pieces of art that sit in homes and galleries across the country.

Not only is Ryan a talented artist, he's also an incredible advocate for the creative community at large. He regularly teaches classes for both kids and adults, and is currently in the process of building out a state-of-the-art live-in studio for local artists to come and hone their work.

ash·ram /ˈäSHrəm/ - noun - a hermitage, monastic community, or other place of religious retreat.

If you had "ashram" on your Destination Different bingo card this week, then you are a winner!

My guest on this week's show spent an entire year at an ashram in the woods of northern California with no phone, no computer, no connection to the outside world. She practiced mindfulness and meditation, and learned the teachings of ancient wisdom from monks.

It's fairly safe to say the experience changed her life for the better.

My guest's name is Nina Purewal and she is the co-author of the best-selling book, Let That Sh*t Go, and founder of the company Pure Minds.

Everything about Nina's story is incredible. She left a stable, well-paying corporate marketing job (that she was VERY good at!) to start her own thing because she knew there was more of a purpose in this world for her. We covered a little bit of everything in this episode from what "ancient wisdom" actually means, to how the universe helps you when you put yourself out there, to the art of a hand-written note.

Dan Brett and Bobby Harrington were college roommates. 

And unlike most college roommates who spend their 20s pretending they're still in college, Dan and Bobby went the opposite route.

They started a business. A couple of them actually...

Ever since graduating, the two friends have been hellbent on finding solutions to common problems. They messed around with everything from local restaurant meal kits to delivering Christmas trees dressed as Santa Claus, but where they've really found their stride is with their current venture... Dryfter.

Dryfter is a business centered around improving the future of work. As the lines continue to blur between "work" and "life," Dryfter is creating properties that allow you to do both in the form of coliving/coworking homes in desirable areas across the country.

This episode covers everything from their first failed business attempts, to the importance of good advisors, to locking a group of New Zealanders out of their house at 2 in the morning.

What do you do when you have to give up your college basketball dreams because of injury...?

If you're Courtney Knecht you pick up a camera and starting shooting music videos for the artists and bands you love.

Flash forward to today and she's running her own company in LA shooting vids for some of the best up and coming musicians. Courtney also started documenting her process on YouTube and TikTok along the way, which ultimately led to her getting hired by the media company One37pm to make content about collectibles. 

Her story is truly incredible. Courtney basically taught herself how to do everything with a camera and only continues to get better.

We talked about the unique process of storytelling in music videos, adjusting her approach for different styles of music, her affinity for trading cards, and future projects like podcasts and NFTs.

I am going to say something and I'm only going to say it once...

Rose Kelso is pure, unfiltered chaos. And I can't get enough.

Rose (or Long Island Dirt as she is known in internet circles) is a writer, performer, producer, photographer, director, song-writer, TikTokker... the list goes on and on and on.

Professionally speaking, she is a writer and director at Comedy Central. Not bad for a young 20-something. She has worked for SNL, The Jim Gaffigan Show, BuzzFeed, and landed her promotion to a writer at Comedy Central by taking a chance and pitching some sketches.

Outside of the "real" world, she has amassed a following of 200K+ on TikTok with what can only be described as pure, unhinged brilliance.

Rose was an absolute joy to interview. We talked creating opportunities for herself, learning how to do every single job on a video set, and asking her mother to film her fake masturbating in a Chase Bank parking lot for a sketch...

There are certain people you meet who just have a way of making you smile.

Jef Caine is one of those people.

Everything from his art, to his style, to his voice, to his overall outlook on life. It's hard not to love him.

Jef has been doodling in sketchbooks for nearly his entire life, and now he makes a living as a graphic designer, illustrator, and animator for brands, creators, and nonprofits. PS... He taught himself to animate during the pandemic by the way (casual).

When you look through his portfolio there is a certain childlike creativity that, again, just makes you smile. He's designed everything from a mustached pineapple smoking a cigarette to a giant walking nose, and doesn't show any sign of slowing down.

In the process, Jef has racked up 1.5B (that's Billion with a B) views of his GIFs on Giphy and has a TikTok following that continues to grow by the minute. We talked about a little bit of everything in this episode from how Jef markets himself as an artist, to the chaotic nature of freelance work, to a little game of Fact or Fiction about South Dakota.

Patrick Dudek aka Patrick On Cameo aka The 4th Most Famous Person On FamousBirthdays.com With the Last Name Dudek.

Who would have thought I'd host someone who cracked a Top 5 list on Famous Birthdays on my show... but here we are.

Patrick Dudek is good at the internet. He has been experimenting with social media and video creation for the better part of the last decade and he seems to have a knack for making content that goes viral.

His Best Man speech at his brother's wedding has been viewed over 25 million times. He is undoubtedly the least famous "famous" person on the celebrity video messaging app, Cameo. And he regularly churns out TikToks that wrack up over a million views.

Patrick is a comedian, prankster, troll, sketch writer, host, and facilitator of chaos all wrapped up into one. I truly couldn't mean that in a more complimentary fashion.

We talked all about what makes something funny, his process to video creation, and how he hired paid actors to make him look good on a Bumble date.

Every kid has had the dream at one point or another... "I'll just start a clothing brand and get super rich."

It's a tale as old as time.

But few, and I mean VERY few, ever even follow through with the idea. And for those who do the level of success is minimal.

On this week's Destination Different we've got someone who is defying the odds.

Farouq Gidado has always been an artistic kid with an eye for fashion. When he was in high school him and some friends coined the phrase "Always Be About Something" (or ABAS for short).

Farouq kept the phrase in his back pocket until one day he decided to make tee shirts with the phrase across the chest. The first drop sold out and he thought it would be smooth sailing on the way to fame and fortune... It wasn't.

Years went by where he was working multiple other jobs, wasn't making any money with ABAS, and it seemed like his brand was never going to get going. Then one after another after another he started piling up small wins to the point where he was able to quit his day job and go all-in on ABAS full time.

In this episode we talked about Farouq's approach to slowly building the brand, teaching himself how to be a businessman, and why one day everyone at Nike will know his name.

I am very familiar with the concept of recycling. You drink a beer, then you put your can in the little green bin with the circular arrows.

Upcycling on the other hand... not as familiar.

Thankfully Alexa and Blake, the co-founders of Scrapped Clothing helped me out.

Upcycling is when you take thrifted or second-hand materials and turn them into something new. In the case of Scrapped, they are taking everything from table clothes, to curtains, to old tee-shirts, and turning them into these unreal one-of-a-kind tote bags.

Alexa and Blake were both still in college when they decided to start their business. Blake had just taught himself to sew and Alexa was majoring in graphic design. The duo put their skills to work and Scrapped was born.

In this episode we talked about their "let's just figure it out" attitude and how it helped them get the business off the ground. We also covered everything from favorite obscure fabrics, to their multiple "warehouse" changes, to how Blake invented the tote bag.

You ever create a custom jacket for one of the biggest rappers in the world, but don't put your name on it so you get absolutely zero credit...?

Yeah, me neither.

But Nathan DeVaughn has. And he learned a valuable lesson that day.

Nathan was always an artistic kid growing up and a few years ago he started messing around with painting on jackets. One of his favorite rappers, Lil Yachty, put out a call to fans asking for them to send him their work. Nathan obliged and it wasn't long until Lil Yachty was rockin' the custom piece all over his social platforms. The only problem was that Nathan hadn't documented any of the process, so he had no proof it was his art.

Flash forward to today and his jackets are now worn by NFL and NBA stars. This time, however, he's documenting his whole process with DeVo Customs. Nathan takes commissions to paint portraits, landscapes, animals, you name it, on all sorts of wearables. The kicker is that he's running this whole operation while holding down a full-time job as a Product Manager at Adidas (casual) and being a dad of two.

I've always found the whole "do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life" thing to be kind of bullshit. Who actually LOVES what they do?

Well, if you're Mantas Zvinas, you just love what you love and then create a business around that. 

Mantas grew up loving surfing and yoga, and in his later years developed an affinity for the party scene... soooo, naturally he started a business called Surf, Yoga, Beer. 

Surf, Yoga, Beer started with an adventure to Costa Rica where Mantas carefully balanced the perfect amount of fitness and fun. Since then he has hosted over 50 of these adventures in countries around the world while also building communities for local meetups and workouts in numerous cities. He has expanded beyond just surfing and yoga too. Adventures today could include anything from hiking to HIIT classes, and everything in between.

And what does he do in between those trips around the world...? Well, he practices what he preaches. Mantas took a gig as one of the first-ever Soulcycle instructors back in 2013 and he has been teaching fitness classes with them ever since.

We talked about how Mantas balances his "fitness" job with his "entrepreneur" job, his immigrant value of hard work, how a travel company navigates Covid, and how often he actually has a shirt on...

There is a word out there called "multi-hyphenate." It is defined as "a person, especially a celebrity, with several professions or skills."

Quentin Allums fits that definition to a T.

I've written and rewritten this description approximately 2,000 times trying to summarize all of the creative work he has done over the years and it's nearly impossible to put a nice tidy bow on it.

Quentin is an entrepreneur by nature. He has started not 1, not 2, but 3 companies in his 20s, including most recently an agency called Urban Misfit Ventures that helped some of the biggest names in business develop their personal brands.

If you put a table saw or even just a simple 2x4 in my hands I would almost certainly cut my fingers off.

Somehow Kristina & Nick originally knew nothing about the business of carpentry and have managed to turn it into a full-scale operation.

Since the time she was 3-years-old Kristina has wanted to run her own business, but everything from bakeries to sign shops didn't quite hit the mark. That's until she started messing around with the art of wood and realized she might be onto something.

Flash forward a few years later and the husband and wife duo of Nick and Kristina built themselves an extremely consistent direct-to-consumer furniture company with aspirations of scaling even bigger.

I always love my guests, but I particularly just want to grab beers with Nick and Kristina. They are kind and smart and charming and just the perfect types of entrepreneurs. We talked about how they taught themselves woodworking, starting and scaling a business, and what's next for 25 and Pine after brilliantly crafted wine-glass-holder end tables. 

I can promise you right now... I swear on everything that is dear to me in this world... you have never seen art like this in your life.

This week I've got Zachary Aronson on the show and, as the name of the episode suggests, he makes art out of fire.

Like, actually. He really does. 

10+ years ago Zachary forgot his sketch pad on the way to class at Cal Arts. Rather than head back to his dorm to retrieve it, he picked up a blow torch and a block of wood, and an entirely new medium of art was born.

Now, nearly a decade later, he has continued honing his craft creating THOUSANDS of these pieces of fire art along the way, focusing mostly on portraiture and the human figure. 

In this episode we talked about what it's like to create a one-of-a-kind medium, the multiple sources of income Zachary generates through his art, and making sure he doesn't light anything on fire...

You ever do something over and over and over and eventually just feel like you're stuck?

After 100+ episodes of the Destination Different podcast there are definitely moments where I feel like I'm stuck and questioning everything.

"Is this the right format?" "Who are the people listening?" "Why do they care?" "Do I need to go in a different direction?" "Is it time to hang it up?"

All of these are things I've asked myself over the last two years of hosting this show. And more often than not I'm just stuck thinking in circles in my own head.

After my guest for this week needed to reschedule I was left with a choice... 

Do I put out some fluff BS by myself? Or do I try something a little different?

This is Destination DIFFERENT after all, so I went with the latter.

Every year on Thanksgiving when my grandmother was still alive she would make us all go around the table and say one thing we're thankful for. And while this is a podcast and not a Thanksgiving dinner table, I thought it would still be cool to ask some of the most important people in my life what they're thankful for this year.

And they delivered. This week's episode is a compilation of thankfuls for family and friends from all over the world.

I challenge you this Thanksgiving to take a moment, either privately or with the people you're with, to think about what you're thankful for. If nothing else, you're alive and that's pretty great.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Do work on those mashed potatoes.

The new Destination Different website is now LIVE. Check it out and let me know how much you hate it.

On this week's episode host Ryan Dunn discusses what it's going to take to elevate Destination Different to the next level.

After two years and over 100 episodes the podcast has hit a bit of a plateau in terms of listenership and general excitement. What changes could be made to drive future growth of the show?

We look at other top performing podcasts and the concepts that make them sticky, as well as look inward at Destination Different from the show format to the target audience to the distribution to the general premise.

If you're a regular listener of the Destination Different and have ideas for how to make it better, please email destinationdifferent@gmail.com to make your thoughts known.

The new Destination Different website is now LIVE. Check it out and let me know how much you hate it.

"Soooo they're like pants, but for your plants...?" 

I know, it's a tough concept to wrap your head around, but when you see them you'll never look at a potted plant the same way ever again. 

Michelle Sieg is a creative person by nature and a director / art director by trade. And she's a DAMN good one at that. She has worked on campaigns for massive brands likes Nike, Spindrift, and Squarespace to name a few.  Yet somehow it's her work outside of "work" that has gained her even more notoriety. 

Michelle started things off with a project called Cock Block, which was, well, exactly as it sounds... a chopping block shaped like a penis. It included a real-life product and a commercial Michelle directed that is borderline must-watch territory.  Lately, she has moved onto a more tactile obsession: ceramic pants to hold your plants. These things are incredible. From "Juicy" sweats to Lil Nas X VMA performance replicas, Michelle has a pant for every occasion. Each Pair of Plants is a labor of love taking upwards to 2 weeks to complete. 

For over two years I've been churning out podcasts, interviewing interesting people, and trying to grow this show. Yet, if you were to look at the progress in terms of listenership or momentum you wouldn't see a whole lot. Outside of a few minor peaks and valleys, it has been pretty flat since the day I launched.

I'm still not sure I've quite figured out who this show is for or what "niche" it belongs in. But when it comes to the internet, it seems like the narrower you go, the more niche your niche, the better chance you have at building an audience.

If you think that two years is a long time to have been doing this podcast, my college roommate Will and I have been running a Boston College fan account for the last decade. TEN YEARS of tweeting every game and every coaching move or fan news. And over those ten years we have amassed a modest following of 2,000+ people on Twitter. It might not seem like a lot, but they are all extremely passionate, vocal, and invested in a very specific topic. It's not hard for us to make content because we do it out of love and we know exactly who it's for.

This past week we put tee shirts on sale for the first time ever. In 48 hours we've already made over $1000. That's crazy and that's the power of a niche audience on the internet. 

In the next 5-10 years millions of people will make full-time livings on the backs of niche communities or passions on the internet. And maybe that's  who this show is for... creative and entrepreneurs who want to make a career out of something they love.

Anyways, little bit of a different feel this week, but I hope you like it!

I'm trying to learn TikTok... If you want to follow the chaos. Hit the link below:

If I started a chocolate business I would probably weigh 400 pounds with a face constantly covered in sticky, delicious goodness...

Priscilla and Kim Addison have a bit more self-control than me and they're building a business that is making a serious impact.

After a visit to a Swiss chocolate factory the two sisters learned that Switzerland didn't actually grow any cocoa trees. Ghana did.

One of the top growing regions in the world just so happened to be where the two sisters were from. Immediately the wheels started turning to return home and start a chocolate business in the place where it all began.

Nearly 6 years and a few production runs in the dark at 3AM later, the family duo has built an extremely successful brand in 57 Chocolate. The "57" represents 1957, the year Ghana achieved its independence from European colonization. Everything about the company is focused on honoring their Ghanaian roots. 

We talked about what it's like starting a business with your sister, learning how to make chocolate, and their vision to bring a Willy Wonka-esque chocolate facility to Ghana.

When you've been working stand-up stages for over a decade, you get pretty good at landing a joke.

If you're Rob Christensen, you get so good that you end up being selected out of a pool of 2,400 applicants to write for Jon Stewart's new TV show.

Rob is a born and raised New Yorker and continues to work way through the ranks of the stand-up comedy scene. There is absolute zero doubt as to how he got to where he is today... He is OBSESSED with comedy writing. It's really that simple. He is constantly working on his act, building upon his material, and remains laser-focused about where his career will go next.

To be perfectly honest, I thought I would quit this podcast after a few months... yet here we are 2 years and 100 episode later still going strong.

And I couldn't have asked for a more perfect guest to ring in the 100th episode. This week features the incredibly talented, incredibly badass Kait Devir who is a jack of all trades. D1 Athlete, National Champion, YouTuber, Videographer, and Photographer, just to name a few.

I just went back in the archives and discovered that today, September 29th, marks exactly two years to the day since I launched the first episode of Destination Different. What a two years it has been. 

When I started this thing I was living in my parents' basement. I had no job and had absolutely NO idea what I was doing. We were still living in a pre-pandemic world and life was a whole lot different. 

Since that first episode I have learned a lot. 

It's easy to start up a creative project like this and just think it's going to blow up overnight. That's natural. It's almost NEVER how these things go, but it's natural nonetheless. I thought I was going to start this podcast and within a few months have millions of listeners and be rolling in the ad deals. Safe to say that didn't quite happen...

If you're on the outside looking in it may not seem like this podcast has grown tremendously in the last two years. The listener numbers aren't skyrocketing, I don't have a massive social following, and there aren't "Destination Different" articles in major publications. 

But I do know what has gone into this. I know how much better the product has gotten. And I know that every single person who has come on this show has enjoyed themselves and believed in the concept.

There is something here. All it takes is a little patience.

I'm doing a content challenge from now through the end of 2021. If you want to follow the chaos. Hit those links below:

Some people absolutely despise their random freshman roommates in college. Others become immediate friends and decide to start a sunflower seed company out of their dorm room...

Cole Schaefer and Brian Waddick are the latter.

The two random roommates at the University of Minnesota realized very quickly that they both shared a love for business and a desire to build something of their own. After a few failed tech projects the duo found a shared passion. Sunflower seeds.

All of the legacy seed brands carried old, boring flavors and offered little in the way of unique content and media, so Smackin' sought to deliver something different. The fellas got up and running in 2019 by simply mixing spices and baking seeds in their kitchen until they found combinations they liked. Mix in a few viral videos on TikTok and they were off to the races.

Smackin' Seeds is now doing big business in the world of direct-to-consumer. Brian and Cole have since graduated college and are now both working on the business full time with BIG visions for the future of the brand. This is an awesome episode.

It's not often you get to see a 6'8" former Division 1 basketball player up on stage doing comedy.

But that's what you get when you go to a show with Alex Dragicevich.

Alex first fell in love with the art of comedy when he joined a sketch writing group in college. That new group of friends led him the stage for a few shaky stand-up appearances in Boston. 6 years' worth of material later and Alex is a budding star in the Chicago comedy scene. He regularly performs shows at iconic venues like the Laugh Factory and Zanies, and has written sketches that have amassed hundreds of thousands of views online.

We talked about Alex's writing process of pacing around a room talking out loud to himself, the glamourous underbelly of a life in comedy, and why he started eating Gerbers banana baby food for dessert.

This episode originally appeared in February of 2021 under the titled "Watercolor Dreams." To date it is still one of our most listened to episodes of all-time.

"I was in a farmer's market, saw some lady painting watercolors and said to myself 'That doesn't look so hard. I could probably that.'" - Annie Yuen (sort of).

Ok, fine. I'm paraphrasing slightly, but that's pretty much how it all kicked off for Annie with her printmaking company, Olive & Orange. She simply took up a love for painting on a whim and never looked back.

And while her early years involved a lot of experimenting and getting swept away by a love of the watercolor medium, her more recent work has garnered her attention on the internet and some cold hard cash.

When Mikey Fowler got hired by Barstool in 2016 they only had 5 podcasts in their network and he was told to "scale it." 

4 years later and the media behemoth now has 60+ shows and is routinely in the top 5 most downloaded podcast networks in the world. Sooooo, you could say he scaled it...

Along the way, Mikey has had the chance to work with every major talent that has come through the Barstool doors and works directly with Erika Nardini and Dave Portnoy to identify and amplify the voices of the next big internet stars. 

We talked about everything from how he got hired at Barstool, to building out a team of "weird brains," to getting accused of stealing a hoodie on national radio.

At 17 years old, I was playing soccer every weekend, serving chicken fingers at a local restaurant, and hadn't even had my first kiss yet.

I knew nothing about the world and knew even less about the power of the internet. 

Elijas Scherer is a man with wisdom well beyond his years.

Elijas is a 17-year-old German native and recent high school graduate who has built an incredibly powerful community with some of the greatest minds on the internet, all through the power of Twitter DMs.

Over the past 3 months he has sent thousands of DMs seeking knowledge, advice, inspiration, and collaboration. He has received it all back, and then some. Elijas's DM experiment taught him so much that he recently developed an online course called "DM Mastery," where he shares the techniques he has used to build an audience and make friends on the internet. 

And the best part...? He's making REAL money selling this course. At 17-years-old!! Crazy.

When you make your Olympic swimming debut at the ripe ol' age of 15, there's a lot of life left to live after that. 

Elizabeth Beisel went on to star in 3 Olympics, captaining Team USA swimming and winning 2 medals along the way. Now she is a 20-something with a new dream... to dominate her sport as an announcer.

And she's doing just that.

Elizabeth was brought on by NBC to help commentate the most recent Olympics in Japan.

This episode originally aired in December of 2020 when the thought of making her Olympic debut as an announcer was justtttt coming together. I've still got Olympic fever, so seemed like as good a time as any to bring back one of our most-listened to episodes of all-time.

They say that the key to greatness is being consistently good for a really long time. 

I am absolutely NOWHERE near greatness levels, not even close. But I do know that every Wednesday a new episode of Destination Different comes out. 

That means even if I'm tired, or sick, or high off mushrooms thinking a 3-eyed cactus is trying to break into my spaceship... the show goes on.

We're in the dog days of summer right now and it feels like Destination Different is in a lull right along with it. This episode is my rock bottom, my push to make the show better than it ever has been before.

Stay with me.

If you're not already, you should be keeping up with Destination Different all over the internet.

Who doesn't love chocolate milk? 

It's creamy. It's chocolate-y. It's delicious. And it's great for recovery.

Josh Belinsky had been drinking chocolate milk for all those reasons growing up and right through college, but over the years developed a lactose intolerance and realized that traditional dairy chocolate milk was super high in sugar. There had to be a better way for him to get his favorite beverage.

There was. And the answer was Slate Milk. 

Josh and his co-founder Manny Lubin started Slate with the goal of creating a low-sugar, high-protein, lactose-free chocolate milk that could still stand up to the taste test of the childhood favorite. After raising some initial money through a successful Kickstarter campaign they were off to the races, with the likes of Shark Tank and Whole Foods knocking on their door after catching wind of the product.

In this episode we talked about the early iterations of the Slate, scaling up distribution to over 1000 stores, and Mark Cuban spitting out their milk on national television.

A little Ry3 Mini this week. No guest as I'm gallivanting across the southern United States going to soccer games for my real job (It's true what they say, everything really is bigger in Texas).

It got me thinking... I've never really talked about managing a side project with a full-time job on this show. SO many of my guests have started their business or creative projects while also maintaining a full-time gig to pay the bills. And it's so damn impressive.

It is a constant balancing act for me trying to find time in my week to dedicate to Destination Different. It's not just hours in the day either. It's finding creative mind time to dedicate towards building and growing the podcast. 

In this episode I talked about what I do in my day job and how it complements (or inhibits, I still haven't decided) what I do with Destination Different. I also talked about how many of the greats protect their time, focusing on just one thing, and a potential Destination Different intern search. 

This also marks NINETY EPISODES of the podcast. Wild. I'm working on some big things to celebrate Episode 100. If anyone has connects or ideas for a BIG guest, please shoot me a DM.

And if you're not already, you should be keeping up with Destination Different all over the internet.

There is a lot wrong with soccer in America, but there aren't many people talking about how to fix the system.

That's what Kevin Mejia is doing with Atmosphre Futbol Chat.

It is a podcast and YouTube channel centered around giving a voice to American soccer at all levels, from youth to college to MLS to the Men's and Women's National Teams. And there aren't many guys who are more well-connected in the soccer community than Kevin Mejia. He was my teammate in college and seems to know just about everyone in the game.

Kev was born in El Salvador and moved to Pasadena in elementary school not knowing a lick of English or anyone in the country... but he had soccer. And since then soccer has been his shared language to connect with people from all walks of life.

We talked about everything in this episode from the state of soccer culture in America, to the power shift towards content creators in business, to his vision for building an agency to support young talent.

Zack Courts grew up on the back of a motorcycle.

He got his first dirt bike at 8-years-old and would zip around his family farm in rural Vermont. During his teenage years he traveled around the country with his dad more or less saying, "I wanna go fast," as he raced bikes competitively for more than a decade.

Carter Parry was dealt a hand most people don't come back from.

At the start of 2020 a bout of the flu put him in the hospital. By the time he left the Intensive Care Unit nearly 7 months later his lung, lower leg, and a couple of toes had all been removed.

Yet somehow, despite all of that, Carter talked to me in this interview with a smile on his face and with his sarcastic sense of humor still very much on display. 

Carter grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, but moved to Hawaii for college and fell in love with the sport of surfing. So much so that after he awoke from a coma in January of 2020, he made it his mission to get back on a surfboard again.

We covered a wide range of topics in this interview starting with what actually happened to Carter from a health perspective and how he now navigates life with one lung and one leg. We also talked about his goal of one day competing for the Hawaiian Adaptive Surf Team and how he has been documenting his road to recover on YouTube. 

It's a pretty simple concept... all the sports information you need to know, packaged up in a quick and easy 5-minute newsletter every morning.

That's what Danny Healey has created with the Morning Blitz. And he has executed to perfection.

Every morning for 2+ years (without missing a single day!) Danny and team at the Blitz have sent out a daily update with all the happenings from the prior day in the sports world. He executed so well that the newsletter was actually bought out by the media company Torch Pro in February to help elevate their athletic offerings.

I was SO impressed with Danny's commitment and discipline. He churned out the newsletter for years AFTER coming home from a full-time job, and it wasn't until The Blitz was acquired that he was officially able to go all-in.

Christina Caaci has a gift.

She has the gift of turning her own body into a one-of-a-kind canvas.

Better known in the streaming world as SeeKaySee, Chris has built up quite the loyal fanbase on the streaming platform, Twitch.

Twice a week she gets on camera and creates masterpieces using body makeup on herself. The streams can last anywhere from 1-10 hours and are always centered around the art she's creating, but over the years have also evolved into space for her to have conversations with her audience.

Outside of Twitch, SeeKaySee creates content on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. She has gotten to the point where her audience is strong enough that she is able to pay all her bills exclusively by creating content 6-7 days a week. 

SeeKaySee is a GRINDER and it was crazy to hear about just how hard she works to make this dream a reality. We talked about the shock value of telling people she paints topless on camera, her weekly content schedule (spoiler: it's crazy), and how she is now collaborating with other creators to bring their unique skill sets to life.

A good recipe for starting a successful business is identifying a problem that people have and solving that problem.

That's exactly what Coco Woeltz has done with Hummingbyrd.

Coco is a former Division 1 soccer player, and an avid runner and hiker. But when she started running marathons she realized that there wasn't a great solution for storing her phone and keys while on the move.

So she did what any normal person would do...

She visited a local Spanish-speaking seamstress and started jerryrigging a sports bra with a zipper pocket.

A few months and dozens of iterations later, Hummingbyrd was born. Coco has since applied for a patent on her proprietary design and just launched her first wave of branded sports bras. 

We talked about everything in this episode from how this idea came to be, to why "Hummingbyrd," to what she has planned for the future of the brand.

2,650 miles. On foot.

Two thousand, six hundred, and fifty miles! In 53 days... 53 DAYS!

For those who are a little slow with their math that's roughly 50 miles a day.

That's what Joe Mcconaughy did when he set the Fastest Known Time hiking/running/surviving the Pacific Crest Trail down the West Coast from Canada to Mexico.

Since then he has shattered records on the Appalachian Trail, Wicklow Round, Long Trail, and Arizona Trail.

I have let you down. I have let down the listeners of the Destination Different podcast. Last week was a solo show on this podcast and I promised that I would have an interview for this week's show.

I don't have an interview for this week's show. 

It's just me. Again...

But I do think this mini episode is well worth the 13+ minutes.

For the first time maybe ever I tried to lay out my long-term, GRAND version for the future of Destination Different. It's lofty.

I want it to become the The Second City of the Internet. I want to create the greatest collection of internet minds and talents that this world has ever seen.

I have to be better. I have to swing bigger. And that mission starts right now.

I love you all. I hope you listen to this. I can't wait to hear what you think about this one.

And if you're not already, you should be keeping up with Destination Different all over the internet.

There are a lot of things that go into making a single podcast episode. 

You have to research the guest and prepare a list of questions. You have script and record a coherent intro and outro. You have to actually interview the person featured on the episode. You have to edit that all together and upload it to a distribution network with one of these little description thingys.

But before you do anyyyyy of that, you have to identify, reach out to, and coordinate schedules with the guest of the show. 

Each week I send upwards of 10-15 messages (mostly to complete strangers) who I think would be interesting to have on the Destination Different podcast. Sometimes I slide into their Instagram DMs, other times I can track down an email address to contact, but it is a CONSTANT grind trying to find and land new talent.

Most of my messages go completely unread or unanswered, but if I can land just 1 or 2 out of those 10-15 I consider it a huge win. Despite my greatest efforts to schedule a new guest for this week, I failed. 

So I figured the next best thing would be to talk about my process of cold outreach, how I go about identifying potential guests, and shamelessly ask the listeners of the Destination Different podcast to send me cool and interesting creatives and entrepreneurs in their lives. I hope it's helpful. Please send me some people...

And if you're not already, you should be keeping up with Destination Different all over the internet.

You know you're onto something when 10 MILLION people from around the globe are interacting with your brand.

That's the number of global photographers who have posted a photo using the hashtag #pursuitofportraits since its inception in 2015ish.

Saunak Shah is the man behind that global community. An Indian-born and New York-based photographer, Saunak practically grew up with a camera in his hands, but it wasn't until he quit his job and took a trip around the world that photography became a more serious career.

Saunak has always been drawn to portraitures and he started the @pursuitofportraits Instagram account as a way to showcase his own photography. The account quickly became so much more. A place to highlight diversity, a community of photographers, and a recognizable brand that has now hosted meetups in 20+ countries all over the world.

I was so impressed with Saunak's story and we covered everything from what preparation goes into a shoot day, how he nurtured such a powerful community, and how he managed to monetize something that always has and always will be a passion project.

I like art that is bright and colorful and makes you feel some kinda way.

Hailey Badovinac makes that kind of art.

She has been making art for about as long as she can remember. And what started as staying up late scribbling with Crayons in her bedroom has turned into a full-on career. What I appreciate most about Hailey's story isn't so much that she's an insanely talented painter (which she is), but that she has consistently worked a full-time job as a UX designer and her art has come and gone in waves over the years. 

It wasn't until just a few months ago that she made the commitment to herself and her art to give it a shot full-time. She is developing a website, building an audience on social media, selling her paintings and doing commissions via DMs on social, and even working live art shows on the weekends.

There is art that you see where it's like "Ahh yes, this is art I'm familiar with..." Oil paint, charcoal, etc. etc.

Then there is art where you're like "I have literally never seen anything like this in my entire life."

Bev Acton makes the latter.