Outpost Redwood Forum Interview: Erik Workman

Entrepreneur, Humanitarian, Product Designer, Erik Workman has committed his life to providing tools to disadvantaged people to help them escape poverty.

Erik Workman is a third generation entrepreneur and co-founder of Goal Zero, Barebones Living and the non-profit TIFIE Humanitarian. In 2007, working with his father and cofounder Robert Workman in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with Tifie, They realized one of the biggest hurdles for the Congolese people was having reliable power and light, so they started working on a solution. By 2008, the first Goal Zero product the GoBe (now known as the Escape 150) was designed, created, and taken to the Congo to provide a brighter future for the people there. Since then, TIFE and Goal Zero have worked hand in hand bringing light and power to villages around the world—from Congo to Indonesia, to Haiti and the Rockaways.

After Goal Zero came Barebones Living. The products at Barebones were first imagined and developed to support Erik's and his father's passion to help people lift themselves out of poverty, and dignified and long-lasting shelters for disaster relief was paramount to the vision. Barebones and Tifie have worked together to deliver over 250+ shelters around the world to provide safety and dignity to disaster survivors in the Philippines, Nepal and Fiji.

Erik is currently a consultant to Barebones and the founder of a novelty business called Stretched Politics. Stretched Politics started out as a joke with a few beers and a Stretch Armstrong, but now it has become about laughter, community, and less idolization.

Podcast Co-Hosts

Marcus V Colombano, Pineapple

Red Rainey, Raconteur

About The Outpost Redwood Forum

For Outpost's 2018 flagship event, Pineapple produced and hosted the Redwood Forum. As the business track for the event, Pineapple led an open discussion with industry insiders who shed light on business growth, market risks, and brand partnerships. They contributed anecdotal tales of past experience and broader insights from their current positions. As a forum, the panel and Outpost attendees joined in an interactive conversation to discuss key themes and related insights.