Snowboarder Busts Into Business
By Bigg Success Staff
02-20-08
Success Stories
Jason Flynn is high on life. He is living his dream. He followed his love and the money followed. The 29-year old started High Society Freeride Company, with friends Reggie Charles, Jay Morin, and Jeremy Rungi about four years ago.
The journey to his start-up was a long ride.
Finding his love
Jason grew up in Michigan. As a kid, he loved sports – football, baseball, and especially hockey. He played them all!
He was never particularly good at skiing, so a friend suggested he try snowboarding. His first time out was rough, but he absolutely fell in love with it. He soon gave up all his other extracurricular activities so he could snowboard more.
He got a job at a local resort in the equipment rental department. As an employee, he got a pass so he could snowboard even more. You get the idea? He loved it!
After he graduated from high school, he went to college. He continued working at the resort. He also got a part-time job selling jam and fudge, of all things.
That job required some travel. One of his trips took him to Denver. After he finished his work for the day, he decided to drive to Aspen. He immediately knew that he had found his place in the world.
When he got home, he quit both of his jobs. Six weeks later, with all of his worldly possessions, he headed for Aspen to begin his new life.
Discovering the idea
He quickly got a job at a ski shop. After some time, he and his future partners were sitting in the backroom looking at a pile of snowboards that had been returned. They just weren’t built to withstand the rigors that good snowboarders put them through.
That’s when they had their epiphany – they would build a snowboard that would last!
They did some research over the next week. They realized that, between the four of them, they had the right connections to make it work.
They designed a product and cajoled a friend in New Zealand to manufacture them in his garage factory. They tested and tested their snowboards. They asked their friends to test them.
They tweaked their design until they had it just right. Now they just needed the money to launch their venture.
Finding the money
Once again, the four young men pulled together. They all worked multiple jobs over the next two years to scrape together enough money to get started.
The High Society Freeride Company officially launched in 2003. It is unique because it is owned and operated entirely by riders. They embrace skiing and snowboarding!
They focus on making the highest-quality products for the best skiers and snowboarders. They limit the production of their product to insure that quality remains high.
Their strategy is working. They now sell through over 25 dealers in nine countries. The High Society Freeride Company is riding high!
Owning a business means wearing many ski hoods …
Because they’re still a relatively small company, Jason and his partners do it all. They design the product, oversee the production process, make the sales, insure delivery, and more. They’re even the janitors!
They are committed to giving back to their community. They donate a portion of all their sales to local charities. Many of these donations are made to organizations suggested by their customers.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering – Jason still takes time out of his busy schedule to snowboard four times a week! You have to have your priorities!
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Sources:
Snowboarder carves out a career, freep.com, Janis Campbell
High Society Freeride web site
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