IAM1199- Co-founder Helps Travelers Find the Right Gear
Podcast Interview with Jason Kraemer
Jason Kraemer is the co-founder of Flashpacker Co, an e-commerce site offering a curated collection of the best travel gear from top brands with expert recommendations. Flashpacker Co was launched during a year-long trip around the world to help travelers find the right gear to make their trips easier and more fun. Jason grew up in Ontario, Canada, and currently lives in South Carolina. When he’s not testing the coolest travel gear you can find him searching for the best beaches, the tastiest tacos, or the most exciting dive sites.
- CEO Hack: Reading a lot, taking notes, applying what I read, and telling someone else about the book
- CEO Nugget: Always consider the third option
- CEO Defined: Being able to set my schedule and work from wherever I want at the time I want
Website: https://flashpackerco.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flashpackerco
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flashpackerco
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Transcription
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00:28 – Intro
Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, You've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.
00:56 – Gresham Harkless
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Jason Kramer of Flashpacker Co. Jason, it's great to have you on the show.
01:05 – Jason Kraemer
Hey, thanks for having me. Great to be here.
01:08 – Gresham Harkless
Super excited to have you on. Before we jump into the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Jason, so we'll get to hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. Jason is the co-founder of Flashpacker Co, an e-commerce site offering a curated collection of the best travel gear from top brands with expert recommendations. Flashpacker Co. Was launched during a year-long trip around the world to help travelers find the right gear to make their trips easier and more fun. Jason grew up in Ontario, Canada, and currently lives in South Carolina. And when he's not testing the coolest travel gear, you can find him searching for the best beaches, the tastiest tacos are the most exciting dive sites. Sounds like an exciting time. Jason, super excited to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?
[restrict paid=”true”]
01:48 – Jason Kraemer
Absolutely, let's do it.
01:49 – Gresham Harkless
Let's do it then. So to kind of kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit. Here is a little bit more on how you got started, what I call your CEO story.
01:57 – Jason Kraemer
Yeah, absolutely. So my background is in sales and marketing, graduated with a marketing degree, worked in sales for a while, and had a pretty successful sales career. And then in late 2018, my girlfriend shared a dream of hers while we were actually on a vacation and that dream was to backpack Southeast Asia. So we spent some time talking about it and decided we should ultimately do it in 2019, which at the time was about 4 months away. And the end of 2018, we both quit our jobs, booked a one-way flight, and took the entire year to travel.
And that's what you just kind of briefly mentioned there in my introduction. So 7 months in Southeast Asia, and 3 months in Europe, perhaps trying a lot of new things, and had some incredible experiences. And out of that experience really realized 2 things. The first thing traveling full-time is awesome. But you lose that fulfillment aspect of life that I believe work can provide. My girlfriend and I, really agreed that having a job or a business to work on while traveling the world would be the best combination. And then The second thing I realized was I didn't want to come back home and just get another job and go work for someone else.
So Flashpacker Co was born out of that trip. Later on in the year, we were spending some time in Spain. A couple of friends were there, one of whom was Steven, my co-founder of Flashpacker. He was spending a few months working and traveling in Spain. And that's when we recognized the need for our business and actually started building it. We knew it would help other travelers just like ourselves while offering us the ability to combine our experience and our passion into a business we could run from anywhere in the world.
03:34 – Gresham Harkless
Nice. I absolutely love that. And you know, you always hear when you have that opportunity to kind of, you know, get out of your comfort zone, do something different. A lot of times it changes yourself, but it changes yourself a lot of times, for, you know, the better in terms of being able to not just do something to do it, but do it to make an impact. And it sounds like you wanted to make sure that experience was something that was a foundational element. Sounds like in both of your lives, but also in all the different, like kind of impacts that other people are looking forward to.
03:59 – Jason Kraemer
Absolutely. Yeah. You got it.
04:01 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more. I know I touched on it a little bit. You did as well too about Flashpacker Co. Could you take us through a little bit more on how you're serving a client and how you're making that impact?
04:12 – Jason Kraemer
Yeah, absolutely. So Flashpacker Co. Provides travelers with the best travel gear to love every moment of their adventures. So while traveling, we have recognized that we really value great travel gear that makes our trips smoother and more fun. The second piece to that was we realized all the best gear we loved largely came from more boutique, smaller, innovative brands. Those were the ones that were really pushing the boundaries in terms of thoughtful design, and innovative new features, but those are hard to find.
It's hard to find those cool, new, exciting, smaller boutique travel gear brands. If you want to get name-brand luggage or a suitcase, you can find that anywhere online, Amazon, brick and mortar. Those aren't hard to find. But the company is making the gear that are really, really cool are typically smaller and it's hard to find them. So we created Flashpacker Co. As an e-commerce site to no.1, offer that curated collection of the coolest and the best travel gear from a large range of brands. And then no.2, use our team's experience and expertise as veteran avid travelers to recommend the right products to the right traveler.
05:24 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. I absolutely love that. And it kind of sounds like, I don't want to put words in your mouth, kind of sounds like almost like, you know, that marketplace where you get that opportunity to not just, you know, get different, you know, gear that you need, but it sounds like an entire experience because it's happening to your expertise and also that experience. And it sounds very kind of curated for the person that wants to go how to do what you end up doing in your life as well.
05:46 – Jason Kraemer
Exactly, yeah. We're not just selling products. We wanna help our customers choose the right products so that they can travel better.
05:53 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. And I think if you're going on that experience, you're going into, what some people may feel is unchartered territory. You wanna make sure that you're tapping into the expertise, tapping into the experience. So you get the best gear and the best information that you need so that you can have the best experience.
06:09 – Jason Kraemer
Exactly. Yep.
06:11 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So you might've already touched on this, but I want to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. This could be for yourself individually, the business, or a combination of both, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart from Machinique?
06:22 – Jason Kraemer
Yeah, absolutely. I think it's probably a combination of both myself as one of the co-founders and the business as a whole, but our biggest differentiator is that we test all the gear we sell. And then we write about why we love it and who it's best for. So, you know, I kind of mentioned our team is made up of avid long-term travelers. A lot of us have worked as digital nomads, traveling and working. You know, we're on the road all the time, a little bit less so in the last year and a half for obvious reasons, but for the most part, we're on the road quite a bit and testing this gear. So, you know, like I said, we're not just selling the products.
We really want to help our customers choose the right one and ultimately be the best shop for our customers to find the best travel gear. You know, If you want to look on Amazon, yes, you can buy a lot of the brands we sell on Amazon, but you're going to have to look through 10, 000 different brands and other options. Yes, you can buy some of the brands we sell directly from the manufacturer as well, but the manufacturer is going to have nothing bad to say about their brand, their product, or as you come on our site, we can give you some comparisons across 5 or 6 similar type products and help you narrow in, hey, this is the perfect one for my travel style where I like to go and why it's the best fit for me as an individual.
07:33 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, it kind of sounds like, you know, you built something, you know, both of you have built something where it's kind of more of a partnership for lack of a better term, where you feel like, even though it doesn't sound like you're actually going on the journey with people, but being able to have the gear, have the expertise and all that knowledge, you feel like you're not going through those own chartered territories, or at least you have that expertise that you guys have been able to kind of.
07:54 – Jason Kraemer
Right. Yeah, exactly. It's cool. You know, a lot of our content is us physically in some place, somewhere in the world with this product, testing it, taking pictures, writing what we like, what worked, what didn't work. And, you know, when someone else who's considering going on a trip or considering buying this piece of gear can read about our firsthand experience, you know, that elevates it a bit from just looking at images in the description. You know, sometimes it's hard to buy something online without physically touching it. And we think a lot of our content helps make up for that lack of a tangible thing to touch before you buy it.
08:25 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. And do you find that especially if you're going, you know, like you mentioned, you know, backpacking for 6 months or something along those lines, that it becomes a little bit harder to say, oh, this wasn't the right thing kind of midway through that backpacking tour and trying to get something different? I feel like you have to be, you want to have as much prepared before you go. So I think it's even more important to have that knowledge and expertise.
08:46 – Jason Kraemer
Yeah, right. Bring the wrong bag for a weekend away across the states, you know, stakes are a little bit lower, but when you're on the other side of the world for half a year and you got the wrong bag, you know, that could be a bit of a pain. Absolutely.
08:57 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, that's why I figured that. So, no, I love that you've been able to kind of curate and accumulate all that knowledge and information. Of course, you're arming people with that information. And I think too, like even the brands that are trying to reach those people, I imagine they benefit as well too because they are trying to, I don't know if it's necessarily a niche audience, but it kind of sounds like it's a very specific type of traveler that they're looking to try to connect with that you provide that opportunity.
09:20 – Jason Kraemer
Yeah, absolutely. We love hearing from all of our brand partners, we've got close to 100 brands right now and constantly growing. And it's really cool to talk to those, those suppliers, especially when it's like a founder or you know, One of their directors of sales for a smaller company and understanding who really loves their product and their brand right now, who does it resonate with and then talking about our target audience and how that product can fit in for our target audience. And yeah, it's a lot of fun getting those matched up and aligned to the same audience.
09:48 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. And being like a tender or like a match.com for the backpacker where you're creating those, those lifelong connections and have a great experience.
09:57 – Jason Kraemer
Yeah, that's a good way to put it.
09:58 – Gresham Harkless
I love it. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?
10:11 – Jason Kraemer
Yeah, absolutely. I love this question. I may be a little bit old school in terms of, you know, how I manage my data in my business. I don't really rely on many apps or I don't have any Google extensions or anything going on like that. But kind of 2 pieces to this, like a lot of your listeners and fellow guests love to read a lot, read a lot of business and productivity-type books. But over the years, I found it's often hard to actually resonate and apply what I've read from that book and from those books.
So what I've been doing for a number of years now is taking notes as I'm reading those books. And then the second piece that I've started doing recently in the last couple of years is telling other people about what I read. So being able to repeat whether it's a book or a chapter or just some of my notes to someone else who understands my goals, understands my business, you know, could be a life partner, could be a friend, could be a business partner, could be an advisor or a mentor. Tell someone else about that book or chapter you just read, explain it to them, and see what they pulled out of it.
And together, I've really realized you can find what's more applicable to your business and then apply it and test it. And then the second part of that is taking notes as I'm reading those books. And it's really cool. I'll come across notebooks from years ago where I'll see the notes from a book I read. And back then the content went right over my head. But now when I review it, I can immediately find something to apply to my business today. And I think that's pretty cool. So that's the CEO hack that has helped me really be able to not only absorb what I'm reading but apply it to my business, as opposed to just reading it and moving on to the next book.
11:47 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be more of a word of wisdom or piece of advice. It might be something if you were to hop into a time machine, you would tell your younger business self.
11:58 – Jason Kraemer
For sure. Always consider the third option. So this took me a couple of years to get into the habit. I've really found when deciding between 2 choices, I have to ask myself, what's the third option you're not thinking of? And this could be, you know, a small tactical decision and either a big-picture strategy decision. It's very easy to get caught between just the 2 choices, one or the other, and not realize or recognize there might be a third creative solution that you're overlooking.
And I really find when you're in the trenches day to day, it's hard to look at your business from the outside and objectively make some of those decisions. And that's why a lot of other entrepreneurs or fellow entrepreneurs like ourselves have advisors and mentors and other resources to rely on. I find this question kind of serves that purpose. It reframes the decision more from the point of view of an outsider and helps me remove those blinders. So always consider the third option. What's the third option you're not thinking of?
12:54 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah. And it's something that, you know, so many times we can get in our boxes, our lanes, and we don't realize that there are those other options. And I think it speaks for one, the power, kind of an abundant mentality as well too, because I think so many times we get locked in either, or it's only this or it's only that, when in reality there is that third option where it actually is creative, as you said, and Sometimes it creates innovations, it creates opportunities that we never would have thought of before.
13:20 – Jason Kraemer
Exactly. You got it.
13:22 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah. And I feel like, and I don't want to put words in your mouth, but how you've built the business, like kind of like that vision that you had, you mentioned that you wanted to make sure that you did something so that you had that purpose, but at the same time you tapped into that, you know, the backpacker, that experience that you had, it sounds like that kind of was evident in what you did to build the company. It wasn't, oh, I have to find something purposeful, or I have to do that. You were able to mold both of those things together.
13:47 – Jason Kraemer
Right. Hey, I love it. That makes perfect sense. I completely agree. It's cool that having playback can come together.
13:52 – Gresham Harkless
Exactly, exactly. So I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show. So what does being a CEO mean to you, Jason?
14:05 – Jason Kraemer
For sure, probably no surprise based on some of the backgrounds I've shared with my lifestyle and what I'm passionate about. But being a CEO to me means having full control over my schedule and my lifestyle. Being able to set my own schedule, and work from wherever I want, whenever I want, however I want, as long as I'm living up to my team's expectations and those of our customers, my schedule is mine to control. And I believe there's really no other way to create that sort of flexibility without being a CEO or a business owner.
14:36 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. And again, we talked about, you know, blazing trails, creating your own lane, creating something that maybe didn't even exist before, even creating them on a better level. So I love that that is right in alignment with everything you've been talking about. And of course, you know, your definition perspective, because we sometimes don't realize that we can create, you know, that third lane or that new lane or that new perspective. But I love that you leaned into that and being able to do that.
14:57 – Jason Kraemer
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's been a fun ride for the last few years. And I can imagine going back to the old lifestyle. It's been working out pretty well.
15:05 – Gresham Harkless
Yes, absolutely. Well, I truly appreciate that definition. Of course, appreciate your time even more. So what I want to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know and of course, how best they can get ahold of you. Find out about all the awesome things you and your co-founder have been working on.
15:20 – Jason Kraemer
Yeah, for sure. Well, thanks so much for having me on. Always great to catch up and have a chat. You know, we've been stuck at home for a while now, but people are starting to get out there. It's been really great to see somewhat of a rebirth of travel, and people finding creative ways to travel safely. I know our team, we're really optimistic. Travel is going to pick up safely over the next couple of months into next year. So hope to see everyone out there. Check out our site, flashbackercode.com, you know, Get some inspiration, check out our travel tips, and check out our gear guides. We'll get you fitted with the perfect gear so you can travel better.
15:54 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. And we'll definitely have the links and information in the show notes. Truly appreciate all the awesome things that you both are doing. I appreciate you, of course, for taking some time out. And I think one of the things that we often forget about is during times of disruption and change, there's a lot of opportunity that comes about from that. And I love that you guys kind of have your pulse on everything that you're doing and providing all that expertise and information. So thank you so much for doing that as well. And I hope you have a good time.
16:21 – Outro
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.
00:28 - Intro
Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, You've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.
00:56 - Gresham Harkless
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Jason Kramer of Flashpacker Co. Jason, it's great to have you on the show.
01:05 - Jason Kraemer
Hey, thanks for having me. Great to be here.
01:08 - Gresham Harkless
Super excited to have you on. Before we jump into the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Jason, so we'll get to hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. Jason is the co-founder of Flashpacker Co, an e-commerce site offering a curated collection of the best travel gear from top brands with expert recommendations. Flashpacker Co. Was launched during a year-long trip around the world to help travelers find the right gear to make their trips easier and more fun. Jason grew up in Ontario, Canada, and currently lives in South Carolina. And when he's not testing the coolest travel gear, you can find him searching for the best beaches, the tastiest tacos are the most exciting dive sites. Sounds like an exciting time. Jason, super excited to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?
01:48 - Jason Kraemer
Absolutely, let's do it.
01:49 - Gresham Harkless
Let's do it then. So to kind of kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit. Here is a little bit more on how you got started, what I call your CEO story.
01:57 - Jason Kraemer
Yeah, absolutely. So my background is in sales and marketing, graduated with a marketing degree, worked in sales for a while, and had a pretty successful sales career. And then in late 2018, my girlfriend shared a dream of hers while we were actually on a vacation and that dream was to backpack Southeast Asia. So we spent some time talking about it and decided we should ultimately do it in 2019, which at the time was about 4 months away. And the end of 2018, we both quit our jobs, booked a one-way flight, and took the entire year to travel.
And that's what you just kind of briefly mentioned there in my introduction. So 7 months in Southeast Asia, and 3 months in Europe, perhaps trying a lot of new things, and had some incredible experiences. And out of that experience really realized 2 things. The first thing traveling full-time is awesome. But you lose that fulfillment aspect of life that I believe work can provide. My girlfriend and I, really agreed that having a job or a business to work on while traveling the world would be the best combination. And then The second thing I realized was I didn't want to come back home and just get another job and go work for someone else.
So Flashpacker Co was born out of that trip. Later on in the year, we were spending some time in Spain. A couple of friends were there, one of whom was Steven, my co-founder of Flashpacker. He was spending a few months working and traveling in Spain. And that's when we recognized the need for our business and actually started building it. We knew it would help other travelers just like ourselves while offering us the ability to combine our experience and our passion into a business we could run from anywhere in the world.
03:34 - Gresham Harkless
Nice. I absolutely love that. And you know, you always hear when you have that opportunity to kind of, you know, get out of your comfort zone, do something different. A lot of times it changes yourself, but it changes yourself a lot of times, for, you know, the better in terms of being able to not just do something to do it, but do it to make an impact. And it sounds like you wanted to make sure that experience was something that was a foundational element. Sounds like in both of your lives, but also in all the different, like kind of impacts that other people are looking forward to.
03:59 - Jason Kraemer
Absolutely. Yeah. You got it.
04:01 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more. I know I touched on it a little bit. You did as well too about Flashpacker Co. Could you take us through a little bit more on how you're serving a client and how you're making that impact?
04:12 - Jason Kraemer
Yeah, absolutely. So Flashpacker Co. Provides travelers with the best travel gear to love every moment of their adventures. So while traveling, we have recognized that we really value great travel gear that makes our trips smoother and more fun. The second piece to that was we realized all the best gear we loved largely came from more boutique, smaller, innovative brands. Those were the ones that were really pushing the boundaries in terms of thoughtful design, and innovative new features, but those are hard to find.
It's hard to find those cool, new, exciting, smaller boutique travel gear brands. If you want to get name-brand luggage or a suitcase, you can find that anywhere online, Amazon, brick and mortar. Those aren't hard to find. But the company is making the gear that are really, really cool are typically smaller and it's hard to find them. So we created Flashpacker Co. As an e-commerce site to no.1, offer that curated collection of the coolest and the best travel gear from a large range of brands. And then no.2, use our team's experience and expertise as veteran avid travelers to recommend the right products to the right traveler.
05:24 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. I absolutely love that. And it kind of sounds like, I don't want to put words in your mouth, kind of sounds like almost like, you know, that marketplace where you get that opportunity to not just, you know, get different, you know, gear that you need, but it sounds like an entire experience because it's happening to your expertise and also that experience. And it sounds very kind of curated for the person that wants to go how to do what you end up doing in your life as well.
05:46 - Jason Kraemer
Exactly, yeah. We're not just selling products. We wanna help our customers choose the right products so that they can travel better.
05:53 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. And I think if you're going on that experience, you're going into, what some people may feel is unchartered territory. You wanna make sure that you're tapping into the expertise, tapping into the experience. So you get the best gear and the best information that you need so that you can have the best experience.
06:09 - Jason Kraemer
Exactly. Yep.
06:11 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So you might've already touched on this, but I want to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. This could be for yourself individually, the business, or a combination of both, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart from Machinique?
06:22 - Jason Kraemer
Yeah, absolutely. I think it's probably a combination of both myself as one of the co-founders and the business as a whole, but our biggest differentiator is that we test all the gear we sell. And then we write about why we love it and who it's best for. So, you know, I kind of mentioned our team is made up of avid long-term travelers. A lot of us have worked as digital nomads, traveling and working. You know, we're on the road all the time, a little bit less so in the last year and a half for obvious reasons, but for the most part, we're on the road quite a bit and testing this gear. So, you know, like I said, we're not just selling the products.
We really want to help our customers choose the right one and ultimately be the best shop for our customers to find the best travel gear. You know, If you want to look on Amazon, yes, you can buy a lot of the brands we sell on Amazon, but you're going to have to look through 10, 000 different brands and other options. Yes, you can buy some of the brands we sell directly from the manufacturer as well, but the manufacturer is going to have nothing bad to say about their brand, their product, or as you come on our site, we can give you some comparisons across 5 or 6 similar type products and help you narrow in, hey, this is the perfect one for my travel style where I like to go and why it's the best fit for me as an individual.
07:33 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, it kind of sounds like, you know, you built something, you know, both of you have built something where it's kind of more of a partnership for lack of a better term, where you feel like, even though it doesn't sound like you're actually going on the journey with people, but being able to have the gear, have the expertise and all that knowledge, you feel like you're not going through those own chartered territories, or at least you have that expertise that you guys have been able to kind of.
07:54 - Jason Kraemer
Right. Yeah, exactly. It's cool. You know, a lot of our content is us physically in some place, somewhere in the world with this product, testing it, taking pictures, writing what we like, what worked, what didn't work. And, you know, when someone else who's considering going on a trip or considering buying this piece of gear can read about our firsthand experience, you know, that elevates it a bit from just looking at images in the description. You know, sometimes it's hard to buy something online without physically touching it. And we think a lot of our content helps make up for that lack of a tangible thing to touch before you buy it.
08:25 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. And do you find that especially if you're going, you know, like you mentioned, you know, backpacking for 6 months or something along those lines, that it becomes a little bit harder to say, oh, this wasn't the right thing kind of midway through that backpacking tour and trying to get something different? I feel like you have to be, you want to have as much prepared before you go. So I think it's even more important to have that knowledge and expertise.
08:46 - Jason Kraemer
Yeah, right. Bring the wrong bag for a weekend away across the states, you know, stakes are a little bit lower, but when you're on the other side of the world for half a year and you got the wrong bag, you know, that could be a bit of a pain. Absolutely.
08:57 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, that's why I figured that. So, no, I love that you've been able to kind of curate and accumulate all that knowledge and information. Of course, you're arming people with that information. And I think too, like even the brands that are trying to reach those people, I imagine they benefit as well too because they are trying to, I don't know if it's necessarily a niche audience, but it kind of sounds like it's a very specific type of traveler that they're looking to try to connect with that you provide that opportunity.
09:20 - Jason Kraemer
Yeah, absolutely. We love hearing from all of our brand partners, we've got close to 100 brands right now and constantly growing. And it's really cool to talk to those, those suppliers, especially when it's like a founder or you know, One of their directors of sales for a smaller company and understanding who really loves their product and their brand right now, who does it resonate with and then talking about our target audience and how that product can fit in for our target audience. And yeah, it's a lot of fun getting those matched up and aligned to the same audience.
09:48 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. And being like a tender or like a match.com for the backpacker where you're creating those, those lifelong connections and have a great experience.
09:57 - Jason Kraemer
Yeah, that's a good way to put it.
09:58 - Gresham Harkless
I love it. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?
10:11 - Jason Kraemer
Yeah, absolutely. I love this question. I may be a little bit old school in terms of, you know, how I manage my data in my business. I don't really rely on many apps or I don't have any Google extensions or anything going on like that. But kind of 2 pieces to this, like a lot of your listeners and fellow guests love to read a lot, read a lot of business and productivity-type books. But over the years, I found it's often hard to actually resonate and apply what I've read from that book and from those books.
So what I've been doing for a number of years now is taking notes as I'm reading those books. And then the second piece that I've started doing recently in the last couple of years is telling other people about what I read. So being able to repeat whether it's a book or a chapter or just some of my notes to someone else who understands my goals, understands my business, you know, could be a life partner, could be a friend, could be a business partner, could be an advisor or a mentor. Tell someone else about that book or chapter you just read, explain it to them, and see what they pulled out of it.
And together, I've really realized you can find what's more applicable to your business and then apply it and test it. And then the second part of that is taking notes as I'm reading those books. And it's really cool. I'll come across notebooks from years ago where I'll see the notes from a book I read. And back then the content went right over my head. But now when I review it, I can immediately find something to apply to my business today. And I think that's pretty cool. So that's the CEO hack that has helped me really be able to not only absorb what I'm reading but apply it to my business, as opposed to just reading it and moving on to the next book.
11:47 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be more of a word of wisdom or piece of advice. It might be something if you were to hop into a time machine, you would tell your younger business self.
11:58 - Jason Kraemer
For sure. Always consider the third option. So this took me a couple of years to get into the habit. I've really found when deciding between 2 choices, I have to ask myself, what's the third option you're not thinking of? And this could be, you know, a small tactical decision and either a big-picture strategy decision. It's very easy to get caught between just the 2 choices, one or the other, and not realize or recognize there might be a third creative solution that you're overlooking.
And I really find when you're in the trenches day to day, it's hard to look at your business from the outside and objectively make some of those decisions. And that's why a lot of other entrepreneurs or fellow entrepreneurs like ourselves have advisors and mentors and other resources to rely on. I find this question kind of serves that purpose. It reframes the decision more from the point of view of an outsider and helps me remove those blinders. So always consider the third option. What's the third option you're not thinking of?
12:54 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah. And it's something that, you know, so many times we can get in our boxes, our lanes, and we don't realize that there are those other options. And I think it speaks for one, the power, kind of an abundant mentality as well too, because I think so many times we get locked in either, or it's only this or it's only that, when in reality there is that third option where it actually is creative, as you said, and Sometimes it creates innovations, it creates opportunities that we never would have thought of before.
13:20 - Jason Kraemer
Exactly. You got it.
13:22 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah. And I feel like, and I don't want to put words in your mouth, but how you've built the business, like kind of like that vision that you had, you mentioned that you wanted to make sure that you did something so that you had that purpose, but at the same time you tapped into that, you know, the backpacker, that experience that you had, it sounds like that kind of was evident in what you did to build the company. It wasn't, oh, I have to find something purposeful, or I have to do that. You were able to mold both of those things together.
13:47 - Jason Kraemer
Right. Hey, I love it. That makes perfect sense. I completely agree. It's cool that having playback can come together.
13:52 - Gresham Harkless
Exactly, exactly. So I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show. So what does being a CEO mean to you, Jason?
14:05 - Jason Kraemer
For sure, probably no surprise based on some of the backgrounds I've shared with my lifestyle and what I'm passionate about. But being a CEO to me means having full control over my schedule and my lifestyle. Being able to set my own schedule, and work from wherever I want, whenever I want, however I want, as long as I'm living up to my team's expectations and those of our customers, my schedule is mine to control. And I believe there's really no other way to create that sort of flexibility without being a CEO or a business owner.
14:36 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. And again, we talked about, you know, blazing trails, creating your own lane, creating something that maybe didn't even exist before, even creating them on a better level. So I love that that is right in alignment with everything you've been talking about. And of course, you know, your definition perspective, because we sometimes don't realize that we can create, you know, that third lane or that new lane or that new perspective. But I love that you leaned into that and being able to do that.
14:57 - Jason Kraemer
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's been a fun ride for the last few years. And I can imagine going back to the old lifestyle. It's been working out pretty well.
15:05 - Gresham Harkless
Yes, absolutely. Well, I truly appreciate that definition. Of course, appreciate your time even more. So what I want to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know and of course, how best they can get ahold of you. Find out about all the awesome things you and your co-founder have been working on.
15:20 - Jason Kraemer
Yeah, for sure. Well, thanks so much for having me on. Always great to catch up and have a chat. You know, we've been stuck at home for a while now, but people are starting to get out there. It's been really great to see somewhat of a rebirth of travel, and people finding creative ways to travel safely. I know our team, we're really optimistic. Travel is going to pick up safely over the next couple of months into next year. So hope to see everyone out there. Check out our site, flashbackercode.com, you know, Get some inspiration, check out our travel tips, and check out our gear guides. We'll get you fitted with the perfect gear so you can travel better.
15:54 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. And we'll definitely have the links and information in the show notes. Truly appreciate all the awesome things that you both are doing. I appreciate you, of course, for taking some time out. And I think one of the things that we often forget about is during times of disruption and change, there's a lot of opportunity that comes about from that. And I love that you guys kind of have your pulse on everything that you're doing and providing all that expertise and information. So thank you so much for doing that as well. And I hope you have a good time.
16:21 - Outro
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.
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