Bend Magazine's The Circling Podcast with Adam Short
Hear from a variety of guests ranging from professional athletes, local business owners, entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, nonprofits, industry leaders, and more on Bend Magazine's The Circling Podcast.
Join Adam Short as he has conversations and shares the stories of those in our community who make up the soul of Central Oregon. Those who are helping shape the growth of our region, ensure opportunity for more and maintain what we all love about where we live; the beauty, the adventure, the way of life.
Though most of our content and guests are local, the insight, perspective and value learned of each episode can be applied in your own community, no matter where you call home.
Bend Magazine's The Circling Podcast with Adam Short
Introducing Birth of the Brands: Preview
What makes a brand more than just a business? The answer lies in the deeply human stories behind the logos, products, and mission statements.
Birth of the Brands takes you on an intimate journey with Central Oregon's most promising entrepreneurs as they navigate the thrilling, terrifying path from inspiration to launch. Host Adam Short sits down with eight founders from the 2025 Bend Outdoor Worx Outdoor Accelerator Program to uncover the pivotal moments that shaped their vision and the personal experiences that fuel their passion.
You'll meet Tiffany Huey, who's breathing new life into her great-grandfather's leather care company while honoring its nearly century-old legacy. Through touching testimonials from longtime users like Richard Bryant, we discover how quality craftsmanship creates generational impact. "I've used it on furniture, belts, boots, everything is leather," Bryant shares, revealing how this product has supported his ranching livelihood for over 60 years.
Then there's Tim Karpinski, co-founder of the iconic Grenade Gloves, who candidly discusses his journey through addiction to sobriety and how that transformation led to creating Spiral Wax Company with pro snowboarder Max Warbington. "I got super into self-care, meditation... I wonder if I could bring some of that into snowboarding," Tim reflects, showcasing how authentic personal growth translates into business innovation.
We also follow recent OSU-Cascades graduates Kai Nevers and Kate Raber, whose childhood memories of family road trips inspired Wanderhut—a company creating accessible car camping solutions born from their own experience of "sleeping out of the back of the car probably four nights a week" while balancing student life with their passion for the outdoors.
These are only three of the eight founders and brands that we'll be introducing. Each episode goes beyond business strategies to explore the mentors, families, friends, and customers who breathe life into something new. Listen this fall wherever you get your podcasts and discover why great businesses aren't just built—they're born.
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Remember, the health of our community, relies on us!
Oregon Media. Hey everybody, I hope you're having a great summer. As I mentioned in the last episode, I've been working on something new, a podcast called Birth of the Brands, produced in partnership with Oregon Media and Bend Magazine. I wanted to share a quick sneak peek of the new show. Season one follows the origin stories of eight startups from the 10th annual Bend Outdoor Works Startup Accelerator Program, featuring the founders, families and friends that are shaping bold ideas and Central Oregon's next generation of businesses. Stay tuned Birth of the Brands launches this fall on all major podcast platforms and at binmagazinecom, as always.
Speaker 1:Thanks for your time, central Oregon, now go get outside. We'll see you out there. And remember, the health of our community relies on us. Every brand you love, every product you admire, started as just an idea, sparked by a moment shaped by a person, nurtured by a community. Welcome to Birth of the Brands.
Speaker 1:I'm Adam Short. Join me as I sit down with founders from across Central Oregon and beyond Creators, innovators and risk-takers turning big dreams into real businesses. Together we trace their journeys from inspiration to launch, exploring the pivotal moments, early missteps and surprising turns that shape their vision. But this isn't just about logos or business plans. Birth of the Brands digs deeper into the life experiences and quiet influence behind bold ideas the mentors, families, friends and customers who help breathe life into something new.
Speaker 1:On season one, we follow the eight brands that participated in the 2025 Bend Outdoor Works Outdoor Accelerator Program. You'll hear how a nearly century-old leather care company, once quietly passed down through generations, is now being reimagined by the founder's great granddaughter. How the adrenaline-fueled thrill of co-founding an iconic snowboard brand led one industry veteran on a journey of self-discovery and a new offering for the snowboarding community. And how childhood road trips throughdiscovery and a new offering for the snowboarding community. And how childhood road trips through the Pacific Northwest in a family Eurovan inspired two young founders to design a more accessible, intuitive and soulful car camping solution. These are just a few of the brand origin stories waiting to be shared.
Speaker 1:This is a podcast for people who believe that great businesses aren't just built, they're born. Hey, thanks for listening. Now I'm excited to share a preview of the Birth of the Brands available this fall on all major podcast platforms and at binmagazinecom, from episode two with Tim Karpinski and Spiral Wax Company. Co-founder of the iconic Grenade Gloves and the creative force behind Spiral Wax Company. Alongside pro snowboarder Max Worbington, tim is helping build one of the most authentic snowboard brands in years.
Speaker 2:I don't want to deal with my emotions.
Speaker 2:I don't want to deal with this. I'm going to drink and forget about it. And then I'm going to wake up tomorrow and have a bunch of shame and regret and the only thing that's going to cure that is starting to drink again. It's a shame cycle, it's a regret cycle, and this cycle is again progressive because then, oh, I'm going to need to drink a little bit more tomorrow night, I'm going to drink a little bit more tomorrow night, I'm going to feel a little bit more hungover tomorrow morning.
Speaker 2:And then that went on from my early 20s to my late 30s and I drank every single day into excess. Towards the end it got really bad, becoming dependent on this, and what drove me to those meetings was a near death, near death, getting close to death. What I? I was either going to be go to jail because I killed someone driving my car drunk, I was going to die because I drank myself to death, or I was going to get sober. Those were my options. Options I got super into self-care, to meditation you know I did meditate a lot and I got super into, like philosophy and these brilliant gurus that taught a lot of valuable lessons and St stoicism, like these ancient philosophers from Greek thousands of years ago, these simple tools that were unlocked a lot for me and I was just like huh. I wonder if I could bring some of that into snowboarding, taking inspiration from outside of snowboarding and skateboarding and bringing it in.
Speaker 1:Now let's hear from Richard Bryant, a longtime Snowshoe Leather Care Ambassador, who shares a powerful testimonial on the product's quality and the vital role it's played in his livelihood for over 60 years. Richard is just one of the many voices featured in Episode 1, with Tiffany Huey, re-founder and great-granddaughter of Snowshoe's original owner.
Speaker 3:I used to set up at different types of exhibits, have the product out there and I would give samples away to people. And I had a man come in and he said well, it fixed a King Ranch pickup seats and I said if they're leather it'll work. He laughed. He said well, give me a can. So he took a can out, put it on his. The armrests were cracked and he put it. He said it'll scratch you, it's so dry. He put it on there. He came back in and bought four more tubs. I've used it on furniture, belts, boots, everything is leather.
Speaker 3:I went to work for George Nix, who owned Big Ben Salary at that time. George, he was a darn good saddle maker himself. He used to just dip his saddles in. It was a bathtub that was filled with a product that we won't go into. But when I introduced Snowshoe to him, he tried it, he liked it, he got rid of all of his oil and cub too. We just used a snowshoe exclusively, and that was in west texas. That's dry. It was dry, hot, cold in the wintertime, really bad weather conditions, and it stood up. It works, it holds up.
Speaker 3:I'll tell you another real quick little story. I was at Western Heritage Rodeo one year and Tom Morehouse and I and his son was there and he rode saddle broncs for his team and his. They had been fixing water gaps and his boots were just as hard as a piece of leather, could be just just as stiff as a board. I said I took his boots and sat down right there in the tongue of his trailer and and greased him up and, uh, he won the Celerbrock riding that night in those boots. That's a fact.
Speaker 3:I love ranching. I love the ranching life. I love the life that it affords me. My grandchildren all ride. I've got a two-year-old. I've got a two-year-old that is riding a horse already. I've got a two-year-old that is riding a horse already. So he's about as young as you're going to get one on. But he asked his daddy to give him a rope the other day so he could go rope with his sister. She's a college roper. I've been very fortunate. God's blessed me with a great life. This is Richard Brennan and I was born and raised in Kissimmee, florida. I now live at the Grove, texas, between Gatesville and Temple on Highway 36. If you ever need some snowshoe product, just let me know.
Speaker 1:And finally, from episode four, kai Nevers and Kate Raber, recent graduates of Oregon State University, cascades and alumni of the OSU Cascades Outdoor Products Program. While still in school, they launched their brand Wanderhut, with a mission to create the most accessible, intuitive and soulful car camping solution on the market.
Speaker 4:Two years ago we slept out of the back of the car probably four nights a week.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I mean, it was more than we were in our own houses. That's for sure.
Speaker 5:And you're just cycling between camping spots and you'd wake up, you'd go to school, you'd go shower at home and you'd go back outside, you'd go biking or river surfing or whatever else in between, and it was great, like we had this whole group too, like other people that had made their own rigs, um, other people that just enjoyed camping, and so we would just have this group chat and we'd be like, hey, we're gonna be at this spot tonight, like pull up if you want to, and then we'd have this whole group and that was that four nights a week.
Speaker 5:Like I don't know if there's anything better we could have done for our mental health. Yeah, so actually this little grandma in my neighborhood. She ran like legit sewing lessons out of her basement. She had like six stations set up and then just all these like young kids from the neighborhood we would like show up at a certain time and basically it was self-guided. So we would pick what we wanted to make, bring in like the pattern and the fabric, and then she would just help us get from like A to Z. And so I did that for like seven years. At the time it was just a hobby and I thought it was fun, but I didn't realize that it would be like my life's work later on.
Speaker 4:It actually started as a school project. We had a class with Todd Lawrence. He had a entrepreneurship class and I was like, all right, I'm going to do something I just really want to make for myself. So I am a skier, climber, mountain biker, surfer, and I sleep a lot in the back of my car and I never, like, really liked it that much. But like, when you're at a trailhead, you can't do much, you can't really pop a tent and I can't afford a rooftop tent because they're like $1,000. And so I was like I'm going to make a tent for the back of my car. And then I was like I actually want to make this. And then Kate was like, ok, let's, let's do it. And that's when we got our first tent. We cut it apart, I just taped it up to my car.
Speaker 5:Patterning. It was a nightmare because all of those like curves and it's all organic shapes and it's hard you can't really measure the angles on it.
Speaker 4:I also don't have patience, so I didn't draft a pattern first, like Kate was telling me to do. I just started cutting and taping.
Speaker 5:Yeah, that was really where we started learning how to work together with each other, because my system was so different than what his system was going to be. Wonder Hut is a really good blend of both of us.
Speaker 1:Hey, thanks for listening. Stay tuned for updates on the new podcast from Oregon Media, Birth of the Brands, coming this fall. Wherever you get your podcasts and at binmagazinecom.
