Last week we finished cycling (Kyle) and running (Brooks) from the border of Canada to Mexico. After months building earthy behind our computer screens- making pitch decks, setting up zoom calls, etc., we decided to go outside and put earthy energy to the test. We connected with some truly awesome people, had a chance to see earthy energy out in the wild, and pushed our own physical and mental limits in the process.
It was a grassroots style west coast tour. We stopped at as many cycle, run, sport and coffee shops as we could and also hosted a few ‘move and recover’ events along the way. A few of extremely dedicated earthy supporters even came out to run/ride with us.
We covered miles in a leap-frog relay style. One of us would start moving, and the other would go ahead to the first meeting point and go from there. After a week on own own, the crew grew to a total of 3, including Josh, videographer/DP/moral support. We mostly slept in the van, but also stayed with friends along the way. Side note- there’s nothing like a familiar face, hot shower and a home cooked meal after a few days on the road.
We traveled 1,700 miles in 32 days on leg power. But it was less about the miles and more about the learnings, conversations, connections, and the experience itself. Earthy made its first splashes in the world and we saw an overwhelmingly positive response to the taste and sustained, clean energy people felt. Several people tried earthy and experienced a noticeable improvement in their performance. We also validated that a large number of endurance-focused people appreciate the transparent labeling and clean ingredients.
Three learnings:
The power of teamwork
Aligned around a shared goal, we saw that our team could accomplish much more than we thought with a unified mission. After reaching the coast between Legett and Rockport, 196 miles from San Francisco, we decided to set aside an entire day for each of us to go all-out, fully supported, documenting as much as possible throughout. Those two days we simplified everything, set a clear goal and owned our roles. Ask any endurance based or individual athlete and they often attribute their success to their team. We got a taste of why.
Story > sales
Meeting shop owners and sharing our product didn't feel like a sales pitch at all. The fact that we literally cycled/ran to the shop from the border of Canada was an instant conversation starter, and naturally led to a curiosity about our product, mission and why we're doing this crazy journey. We told some version of "our story" hundreds of times and got to see which elements resonated and which didn't. We also got a chance to listen to our potential customers' pain points and perspectives.
The miles get easier
We struggled with aches and pains ramping up the miles in the first few weeks. Brooks was in bad shape after tweaking his back 3 days before the start of the tour and I was worried after my knee flared up coming into Portland. We came in having been working at our desks all day, hardly training. We were both hurting physically, digging deep to cover the mileage we needed to stay on our timeline. Ice and rest helped a ton, and fortunately we had some amazing hosts in Portland and Eugene. Then, like clockwork in the 3rd week we both found a rhythm and just wanted more miles! Hitting our stride physically on the tour took a few weeks, and it’s a good lesson for us to remember as we ramp up the entire earthy engine. Sometimes when you’re working on something big it can feel like you aren’t making progress… but that’s the time to keep going.
Just a few thoughts/takeaways from the tour. Hope there was something interesting to you in there. Thank you for reading this and supporting what we’re doing. We’re building earthy grassroots, one great customer at a time, so if you have any questions, thoughts, concerns, email us -> connect@liveearthy.co
We’re now days away from launching earthy and grateful to be on this journey with you.