Cottage and Ultralight Gear with Garage Grown Gear Founder & CEO Lloyd Vogel (BPR #380)

In today's episode of Backpacker Radio presented by The Trek, brought to you by Topo Athletic, we are joined by Lloyd Vogel, CEO and co-founder of Garage Grown Gear, the online retailer feeding your obsessions with ultralight and cottage gear.

In this one, Lloyd walks us through building the business from his basement when his mom was helping keep sales alive, he opens up about the values misalignment that led Garage Grown Gear to stop carrying Enlightened Equipment, and Lloyd makes the case for assless rain chaps as a piece of gear that deserves more love.

We also cover how he's made himself nearly unreachable while remaining very much available on LinkedIn- and why he ditched his smartphone for a dumb phone, the surprising little gadget that outsells every individual product on the site by revenue, and he unveils his prediction for the next big innovation in UL gear.

We wrap the show with Trek Propaganda on what 800 miles of fart-flavored CDT cow troughs taught Katie about water filtration, a Question of the Day on whether pumpkin spice deserves the hype, a sun hoodie review of the Mountain Hardwear Crater Lake, and a Triple Crown of the weirdest wedding traditions.

Topo Athletic: Use code "Trek15Hike" for 15% off at topoathletic.com.

Gossamer Gear: Use code "BPR10" for 10% off shelters at gossamergear.com.

Darn Tough: Use code "BACKPACKER" for free shipping from darntough.com.

Hyperlite Mountain Gear: Use code "BPRADIO15" for 15% off at hyperlitemountaingear.com.

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Interview with Lloyd Vogel

• Garage Grown Gear
• Lloyd's Instagram
• Lloyd's LinkedIn

Time stamps & Questions

00:05:55 - Reminders: Join us LIVE in Denver with Andrew Skurka, apply to vlog or blog for the Trek, and listen to our episodes ad-free on Patreon!

00:09:00 - Introducing Lloyd

00:11:00 - What isn't appealing about a thru-hike?

00:13:35 - Why have you sworn off technology aside from LinkedIn?

00:20:00 - Discussion about connecting with thru-hikers without having thru-hiked

00:22:30 - Have there been negative consequences from your technology system?

00:25:00 - How does a product make it onto GGG?

00:29:25 - What is Garage Grown Gear and how did it get started?

00:33:20 - Did you merge with or acquire GGG?

00:36:05 - How did Garage Grown Gear operate the business model better?

00:37:30 - Which brands had immediate buy-in?

00:40:35 - How did you know to stick with the project versus jumping ship?

00:46:10 - Was there ever a point when your partner ever worried about your entrepreneurship?

00:49:20 - How did you set up the agreement with Enlightened Equipment?

00:53:10 - Do the businesses you work with ever ask you for business advice?

00:58:50 - What have been some of the biggest product successes?

01:02:20 - How do you pick which products to feature?

01:04:10 - Have you ever parted ways with a brand because their morals didn't align with yours?

01:09:14 - What does GGG do to amplify their mission of promoting the outdoors?

01:11:10 - What was it like to realize you could give away profits to causes you support?

01:12:56 - What are some of your most popular products right now?

01:20:25 - At what point did you realize the difference between gear enthusiasts and backpackers?

01:23:38 - What has GGG's role been in the rise of ultralight?

01:27:00 - What item do you think should be selling more?

01:28:30 - Why is it better for a consumer to order from GGG compared to directly from the brand?

01:34:25 - Have you considered private labeling anything?

01:36:00 - Do you do product exclusives on GGG?

01:38:15 - What is the most pervasive misconception about GGG?

01:43:30 - What gear do you see exploding in the next few years?

01:47:10 - When did you switch from the freebie being the lemon packet versus the toothbrush?

01:49:20 - Tell us about being a board member for the Superior Hiking Trail

01:51:30 - Where do you want GGG to be in five years?

01:53:15 - Peak Performance Question: What's your top performance enhancing or outdoors hack?

Segments

Trek Propaganda: What 800 Miles of Fart-Flavored CDT Cow Troughs Taught Me About Water Filtration by Katie Jackson

QOTD: Do you like pumpkin spice?

Sun Hoodie Review: Mountain Hardwear Crater Lake

Triple Crown of the weirdest wedding traditions

Mail Bag

5 Star Review

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A super big thank you to our Bob Peoples Award winner(s) from Patreon: Alex and Misty with NavigatorsCrafting, Alex Go Bills, Austen McDaniel, Bill Jensen, Bret Mullins aka TakeOff, Bryan Alsop, Carl Lobstah Houde, Christopher Marshburn, Coach from Marion Outdoors, Eric Casper, Erik Hofmann, Ethan Harwell, Gillian Daniels, Greg Knight, Greg Martin, Griffin Haywood, Hailey Buckingham, Jackson Storm, JaredNotFromSubway, Jason Kiser, Jason "I Miss Chaunce" Snailer, Luke Netjes, Matty in AZ, Nathan, Patrick Cianciolo, Randy Sutherland, Rebecca Brave, Rural Juror, Sawyer Products, Brad & Blair from Thirteen Adventures, Timothy Hahn, Tracy 'Trigger' Fawns

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