Joel Primus

An entrepreneur among other things, Joel Primus is the founder and creative visionary behind Naked Underwear. He helped raise over $17 million, establishing retail distribution at Holt Renfrew, Nordstrom, Hudson’s Bay, and Bloomingdales. Naked completed a merger with Australian-based industry powerhouse, Bendon Lingerie, exiting in 2018. Recently, Joel co-founded Kosan, a travel clothing company that launched one of the most successful Kickstarter apparel products of all time—reaching nearly $1 million in sales in 30 days. He was one of the inaugural BC Business top 30 under 30 Entrepreneurs and is also an author and award-winning documentary filmmaker. 

His new book Getting Naked: The Bare Necessities of Entrepreneurship & Start-ups is due out February 1st. Order here.

Once an elite long-distance runner, he now enjoys daily training, meditation, and time with his family on their farm outside Vancouver. 

3 words to describe Nature?

Harsh. Gentle. Rhythmic

3 things Nature taught you?

Awareness 

My place in the cosmos 

To be still 

3 most treasured Nature spots?

Omineca Mountain Range

The desert

Foothills of the Rockies 

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?

Infinite

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?

Connected

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?

Fragile

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?

Alive in my human experience

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

Energized

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?

Cozy

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

All

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

10

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

Running through the forest trails in my own backyard. With my feet almost gliding over the earth I'd feel like a wild animal...in between worlds.


Yancey Strickler

Yancey Strickler is a writer and entrepreneur. He is the cofounder and former CEO of Kickstarter, author of This Could Be Our Future: A Manifesto for a More Generous World, and the creator of Bentoism. Yancey has been recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People. He cofounded the artist resource The Creative Independent and the record label eMusic Selects. Yancey grew up in Clover Hollow, Virginia, and began his career as a music critic in New York City. The London Spectator called him "one of the least obnoxious tech evangelists ever."

3 words to describe Nature?

Shhhwwwwwwww (wind through the trees)

tckltckltckltckltckl (leaves on the ground)

grglgrglgrglgrgl (water falling from a rocky cave)

3 things Nature taught you?

How to hide

What it means to be healthy

The upside of death

3 most treasured Nature spots?

Canopied forests with pine needles on the ground

Any beach

The farm where I grew up 

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?

Infinite

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?

Taller

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?

Side-eyed

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?

Like a George Harrison song

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

Five years old

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?

Small

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

E) All of the above

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

10

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

Age twelve waiting for the bus when a deer, wounded by a hunter's bullet, came staggering out of the woods and collapsed across the street from me. I stayed with it and spoke with it until its eyes went blank.

 


Ardy Sobhani

ARDY SOBHANI is an entrepreneur and business strategist, energized by ideation, iteration, and systems design. After earning an MBA in Design Strategy from California College of the Arts in 2012, Ardy helped launched Oru Kayak via Kickstarter with his two co-founders. The response to the project was incredible, with over 700 backers supporting the folding kayak company. In three years since, Oru Kayak has grown quickly, from a weekend hobby to young and scrappy startup to international brand. all under the guidance of Sobhani, Oru Kayak's CEO.

Today the company markets and sells through a wide variety of channels, has a robust and efficient manufacturing and fulfillment process in Southern California, and has developed key partnerships with , and many other major distributors. Looking forward, the company--which has doubled in growth each year since its founding--is poised for rapid expansion, riding a wave of good fortune and a dedication to the aggressive strategies put forth by Ardy and the rest of the executive team. Oru Kayak's dream of changing the way people experience the outdoors is closer than many believe.

As a leader, Ardy is motivated by a desire to use human-centered design to make the outdoors more accessible for all. He believes that clever, forward-thinking solutions will soon create game-changing products and services in the outdoor industry, and that Oru Kayak is position well to be a catalyst for this change. Ardy uses design thinking frameworks to inspire innovative thinking, merging design and business to create and deliver value to the customer and faster growth for the company.

3 words to describe Nature?

Freedom

Fresh

Recharge

3 things Nature taught you?

Ecosystem - Everything has a purpose and nothing is wasted.

Flow - the easiest path forward. Nature always finds it.

All the answers we are looking for are in nature, but they are hard to find.

3 most treasured Nature spots?

The waters that surround the cities. We need to utilize these natural water parks!

The Beautiful North of Iran " Shomal"

My favourite tree in the neighbourhood

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?

Calm and at the same time strong. Always there to take care of you and never let go.

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?

Respect. Our elders with much wisdom

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?

Never seen a volcano in person but it is very powerful. It's time for the earth to breathe.

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?

Another day about to start or end :) Future or the Past. Both are very powerful.

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

Love it! Louder, please!

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?

Something is about to go down! We need to listen closely to what the wind is telling us.

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

I grow up in Tehran, Iran mountains city but lived in California for the most of my life. I love the desert for it vastness and its honesty. I love the ocean as it takes care of us. Mountains for their powerful stand and they are fun to play in. Forest for the oxygen the make. How about mountain forest next to ocean or lake.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

10. I need more of it.

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

Camping in the forest of Iran. I LOVED it!