Kristian Hansen, CEO and Jake Robitaille, CMO of MNTN Discuss How They Built the World’s Most Sustainable Lifestyle Brand

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[00:00] SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Canada's podcast, the number one podcast for entrepreneurs by
[00:06] SPEAKER_02: entrepreneurs. Hi everyone, this is Sandra, Canada's podcast host for Quebec for
[00:11] SPEAKER_02: the province of Quebec. Today I'm with Christian Hanson and Jake Robbittai, the
[00:16] SPEAKER_02: co-founder of Mountain Co. So thanks for being with us today and I'll let you
[00:22] SPEAKER_02: we'll start right away with you know can you introduce yourself and why are
[00:26] SPEAKER_00: you here on the podcast today. All right well thank you for having us first of
[00:30] SPEAKER_00: all Sandra. My name is Jake I am co-founder and CCO of Mountain I've been there
[00:35] SPEAKER_00: for about eight or nine months now and then to my right Christian Hanson
[00:39] SPEAKER_00: our founder I'll let him introduce himself. Christian, yeah we've been in
[00:43] SPEAKER_01: Mountain now this is going on three years super super excited to be here and
[00:47] SPEAKER_01: discuss you know our journeys and entrepreneurship and yeah thanks very much
[00:51] SPEAKER_02: for having us much appreciated. Wonderful so it's like it's quite uncommon that
[00:55] SPEAKER_02: we have two guests at the same time but I'm sure well you know you guys work
[00:59] SPEAKER_02: together so we'll have a great time I make here so maybe one by one like tell
[01:03] SPEAKER_02: us what is your journey like how did you become the entrepreneur that you are
[01:08] SPEAKER_01: today. Go first, sure. Yeah so I've been an entrepreneur pretty much my entire
[01:13] SPEAKER_01: life I mean I started businesses from about ten years old and I've just always
[01:17] SPEAKER_01: loved that dynamic of building business from scratch and creating something
[01:22] SPEAKER_01: and working for myself and you know I'd rather work you know 80 hours a week
[01:26] SPEAKER_01: for myself than 40 for anybody else and I've always had that you know kind of
[01:30] SPEAKER_01: philosophy. This is my third startup now yeah I mean it's it's been a long road
[01:36] SPEAKER_01: but you know every time you know something works every time something doesn't work
[01:39] SPEAKER_01: you learn from it we build and we build and you know it's been a really rewarding
[01:42] SPEAKER_01: experience so far a great opportunity I went to high school in the States went to
[01:47] SPEAKER_01: a you know fantastic school and popper school that I continued on University
[01:52] SPEAKER_01: Pennsylvania and that's where I've been you know getting my business back or
[01:57] SPEAKER_01: I'm through the last few years and so yeah I mean it's just been kind of a step
[02:00] SPEAKER_01: by step building building business up your business and then just kind of trying
[02:04] SPEAKER_01: to kind of excel every single time so that's that's kind of been my journey so far
[02:08] SPEAKER_01: I don't see myself ever doing anything else I think I'm always gonna be a bit
[02:11] SPEAKER_01: of a serial entrepreneur and whether that's what this startup or the next or the
[02:14] SPEAKER_01: next there's always gonna be something a pipeline and are your startups always in
[02:19] SPEAKER_02: the same industry or you've tried many things like what is what have you what
[02:23] SPEAKER_02: have been your your startups in the past yeah so I actually started a social
[02:26] SPEAKER_01: network initially those the first time right around the time when Instagram and
[02:31] SPEAKER_01: all those new networks were popping up and so that's obviously being a huge
[02:36] SPEAKER_01: huge undertaking we had a huge team out in Silicon Valley it was fantastic but
[02:40] SPEAKER_01: I just didn't really catch fire the way that we wanted it to we had an
[02:44] SPEAKER_01: opportunity to be acquired for some of the technology that we were creating so
[02:47] SPEAKER_01: we just figured you know what it's just at this point the chances of kind of
[02:51] SPEAKER_01: growing this thing bigger than we wanted to it's just not really gonna happen so
[02:54] SPEAKER_01: we then moved into building artificial intelligence marketing marketing
[02:58] SPEAKER_01: technology so building you know AI that helps people build social media
[03:02] SPEAKER_01: system social media management systems so I use kind of the skills that I
[03:06] SPEAKER_01: learned from the first one to build a second one and now that we've kind of
[03:10] SPEAKER_01: pivoted and transitioned into to clothing and consumer goods we're really kind
[03:14] SPEAKER_01: of building it out in a completely different way with free data driven it's
[03:17] SPEAKER_01: very we're ice I jumped at Jake all times they were building a tech company
[03:21] SPEAKER_01: that sells clothes and so that's been you know kind of our experience without so
[03:25] SPEAKER_02: far that's great wonderful and what about you Jake so my my path to entrepreneurship
[03:30] SPEAKER_00: is a little bit different than Christian Christian I think is entrepreneurship at
[03:34] SPEAKER_00: heart never wanted to work for anybody else for me it's a little bit different
[03:38] SPEAKER_00: I did the whole schooling and you know got my bachelor's degree in
[03:43] SPEAKER_00: communications at the University Montreal and then during that time had a
[03:48] SPEAKER_00: bunch of you know little university jobs got some experience here and there
[03:52] SPEAKER_00: had an internship for for Mercuria pharmaceuticals in their marketing
[03:55] SPEAKER_00: department and then when I graduated went on to the nine to five grind for
[04:00] SPEAKER_00: buddy year and a half doing something completely different and sustainability
[04:03] SPEAKER_00: I mean it was I mean the switch to say it was was a 180 I've always been aware of
[04:08] SPEAKER_00: it's always been important but I was selling kind of chemicals for a for
[04:11] SPEAKER_00: chemical manufacturer which terrible nine to five job which I really hated
[04:16] SPEAKER_00: while he was over here living the entrepreneurship life and I was just
[04:21] SPEAKER_00: appealing to me was talking to me about it sounded like a great opportunity to
[04:24] SPEAKER_00: actually use my diploma and stuff that I've learned to and apply it kind of on
[04:30] SPEAKER_00: my own and and kind of lead the team that I'm leading today and work with what
[04:35] SPEAKER_00: I studied so I got that opportunity and been doing it for about eight or nine
[04:39] SPEAKER_00: months now the entrepreneurship and I got away from that nine to five
[04:42] SPEAKER_00: so many traffic every morning I'm bringing a back pain at 2324 sitting at
[04:46] SPEAKER_00: Cheryl Day is really not what I wanted so here we are now wonderful so before
[04:52] SPEAKER_02: we we go further into that dynamic and how you guys met and like how does it
[04:56] SPEAKER_02: work to to work together in this company tell us about your company and the
[05:01] SPEAKER_02: vision that you have for it like what are you guys doing for sure yes I mean the
[05:05] SPEAKER_01: idea behind mountain is essentially to try and make sustainable clothing
[05:09] SPEAKER_01: accessible to people and essentially there's been hundreds of sustainable
[05:13] SPEAKER_01: clothing companies sustainable you know you know fabric sleeping around for a
[05:17] SPEAKER_01: very long time but we found as an issue being you know when we were that target
[05:21] SPEAKER_01: market with a university people don't have $75 it's been on t-shirt but that's
[05:26] SPEAKER_01: the market that really wants to champion that movement you know young people are
[05:30] SPEAKER_01: so fired up right now about trying to make a difference in this world and
[05:34] SPEAKER_01: trying to end that corporate greed and and kind of create a new form of
[05:37] SPEAKER_01: eco-conscious capitalism but the problem with it you know really is it's not
[05:41] SPEAKER_01: accessible and so I said to Jake you know what we need to forget profit margins
[05:46] SPEAKER_01: forget building a business where we line our own pockets we need to put as much
[05:51] SPEAKER_01: products we can out there in the world that helps the world and so that's really
[05:54] SPEAKER_01: our idea it's just let's match the prices of our competitors but build a
[05:59] SPEAKER_01: significantly more sustainable you know product and sustainable solution over
[06:04] SPEAKER_01: donating with every purchase and allowing people to you know really wear and you
[06:09] SPEAKER_01: know and feel like they're a part of the movement towards environmentalism so
[06:13] SPEAKER_02: you say you've been working on this company for three years and so like
[06:17] SPEAKER_02: describe us like where are you at now and where do you want to be in the next
[06:20] SPEAKER_01: couple of years for sure I mean right now we're in a really exciting time
[06:25] SPEAKER_01: everything is really you know coming together I'm a big advocate of planning
[06:29] SPEAKER_01: even a little bit too much and some sensing and some of our investors are like
[06:32] SPEAKER_01: all right come on let's go and I like to have every single avenue mapped out and so
[06:37] SPEAKER_01: we're getting ready to do our first you know actually large-scale global launch
[06:41] SPEAKER_01: where we're going to be able to sell all around the world we're about to go into
[06:45] SPEAKER_01: manufacturing for that which is incredibly exciting we finally nailed down
[06:48] SPEAKER_01: where I believe is the most sustainable fabric in the world I've I've explored
[06:52] SPEAKER_01: almost 15 different countries 25 30 different manufacturers you know facilities
[06:56] SPEAKER_01: all around the world 20 different trade shows we finally have something
[06:59] SPEAKER_01: incredibly proud of it looks good it feels good and we know it's sustainable so
[07:04] SPEAKER_01: that's coming out soon and then on top of that we just launched our our media
[07:07] SPEAKER_01: subsidiaries so we have mountain media as well which is building really positive
[07:11] SPEAKER_01: social media which is you know eventually branch into the opportunity where
[07:14] SPEAKER_01: we're going to travel around the world and showcase different places and help
[07:17] SPEAKER_01: people build perspective on places that maybe they would never you never even
[07:21] SPEAKER_01: heard of and so we're really trying to build a movement based on positivity and
[07:25] SPEAKER_01: sustainability and everything that you know we truly believe that the world needs to move
[07:29] SPEAKER_02: in a more positive direction that's great and for and for you Jake has the the Chief
[07:34] SPEAKER_02: Communication Officer like you move from chemicals to selling this like how does that feel
[07:41] SPEAKER_00: it feels really good I mean it didn't feel good when I was selling chemicals it was it was not the best
[07:48] SPEAKER_00: the best situation for for myself I mean you know being a millennial and kind of being more
[07:53] SPEAKER_00: in tune with with all these issues that are happening currently and you know the environments
[07:57] SPEAKER_00: at the forefront especially for me for you know I've been political campaign will wait till you
[08:03] SPEAKER_00: know unfortunately for the debate that are going on that's at the end so you have to endure
[08:07] SPEAKER_00: the entire thing until the end but those are the issues that we have at heart so it was even more
[08:13] SPEAKER_00: of a selling factor for me to hop into this this project because you know we were doing something
[08:19] SPEAKER_00: or I was personally doing something that you know I didn't feel fulfilled and you know now we've
[08:23] SPEAKER_00: we've I've 180ed and and kind of coming on with this journey and seeing what we do you know we're
[08:28] SPEAKER_00: trying to educate we're trying to we're trying to pump the world with better products with you know
[08:32] SPEAKER_00: more of an idea of what's going on kind of educate and donate to environmental and social
[08:40] SPEAKER_00: causes that we have at heart so it feels really good it's like appalic cleanser for my soul it's
[08:45] SPEAKER_02: it's quite nice that's great I love that and and talking about that so like how did you like it seems
[08:51] SPEAKER_02: like you you guys knew each other before being together on the company like how did that happen
[08:56] SPEAKER_00: so it's a funny story I'll tell it it's quite nice I was I was 18 and it was just a regular trip down
[09:04] SPEAKER_00: to down to the Bahamas with my mom for for kind of a summer getaway and I met him when he was
[09:10] SPEAKER_00: 16 we're playing beach volleyball and we you know we just kind of kicked it off that week you know
[09:14] SPEAKER_00: we hung out he was a little bit younger than myself but you know we stayed friends we kept in touch
[09:19] SPEAKER_00: and during one of my internships at Merck we we had a friend that was we had in common from
[09:26] SPEAKER_00: Pomford from his school and then we just kind of rekindled that friendship and then
[09:31] SPEAKER_00: having him come and go for Montreal we managed to see each other a little bit more and he was going
[09:36] SPEAKER_00: off on these entrepreneurship journeys and I was going on my regular kind of my own personal journey
[09:41] SPEAKER_00: and we kept in touch and finally we we moved in together here and we launched a business completely
[09:47] SPEAKER_02: and we're we're all in great so so Christian like what had you choose Jake I think that like
[09:54] SPEAKER_02: finding good partners or being able to see why it would be a good fit like what were your criteria
[10:00] SPEAKER_02: what was your gut telling you about okay this is going to be a great journey together you know it's
[10:05] SPEAKER_01: kind of a funny story it's almost out of the movie in a way we you know when I first met Jake
[10:10] SPEAKER_01: I was actually working on my first my first ever startup and you know that's super young and I
[10:16] SPEAKER_01: remember writing down I still have it in a little notebook meeting this guy the charisma he's the
[10:22] SPEAKER_01: definition of a people person I say it all the time I think this guy is going to be one of the top 10
[10:25] SPEAKER_01: communications executives in North America for the rest of his career and I knew that right away
[10:30] SPEAKER_01: and I just see it in the way that he interacted with people it didn't matter if we were talking
[10:35] SPEAKER_01: to someone who's 40 years old and you know you know some executive from some company this guy you
[10:40] SPEAKER_01: just had that yeah that's that you know the the communication factor and I wrote down on a piece of
[10:44] SPEAKER_01: paper when I was 16 years old under a little column that said he's the success and the top
[10:50] SPEAKER_01: columns is higher Jake Robins I literally and so two this day I still have that and so when I you
[10:56] SPEAKER_01: know when we were building and we just realized you know like I just I need a partner and do this
[11:01] SPEAKER_01: immediately you know we're from your great friends we always had a great dynamic and I just
[11:05] SPEAKER_01: thought right away as like you know what I'm gonna go back I'm like he's to successful when I was
[11:08] SPEAKER_01: 16 years old I think there's you know I think there's something there so call them up said hey
[11:13] SPEAKER_01: let's go get a drink I got something to tell you and we went out of drink and I said hey
[11:18] SPEAKER_01: this is this is what I want you to do and that's a you know the rest of history
[11:23] SPEAKER_02: that's really great that's really great and and so you guys lived together too like what are you
[11:28] SPEAKER_02: let's talk about keys to success so like what are the keys to success actually starting a business
[11:33] SPEAKER_02: growing it to be a you know like worldwide node company and at the same time living together so
[11:39] SPEAKER_02: what are your boundaries keys to success why does it work so it was one of the first things as
[11:44] SPEAKER_00: students we moved in to establish a few boundaries we're lucky enough to have our own office in here
[11:50] SPEAKER_00: as you know COVID's been a little bit of a pain but we we settled in nicely here and one of the things
[11:56] SPEAKER_00: was we're gonna work in the space but that's where it stops is you pass that door and then the
[12:04] SPEAKER_00: work stops you know we'll keep talking about work but if you know we butt heads and it happens you
[12:09] SPEAKER_00: know there's things that we don't agree on it stays within that within that space in that perimeter
[12:15] SPEAKER_00: and it's been working very well so far what happens in the house stays in the house and what happens
[12:20] SPEAKER_00: in the office stays in the office it's kind of you know we don't have the the hour commute and traffic
[12:24] SPEAKER_00: but as soon as we cross that door it's business and we step out of it and it's more of a lax
[12:31] SPEAKER_00: environment and if anything happens where we need to take it into the office we will but we've
[12:36] SPEAKER_00: we've managed to kind of set a couple ground rules that keep us in track and and we try to stay
[12:41] SPEAKER_01: in check with those rules anything you want to have Christian yeah I mean I think it's it really
[12:47] SPEAKER_01: helps for us because you know we're both we we're very similar personalities in a lot of ways
[12:52] SPEAKER_01: um so you know we we work a lot and that's fine we like that you know we'll work it then and we'll
[12:57] SPEAKER_01: work through you know through the day but we're also very good at those times where you know Jacob
[13:02] SPEAKER_01: is like I'm done for the day and that's completely fine and I know I could be pretty intense as can he
[13:07] SPEAKER_01: and you know but I think it's really important for us that you know we're we're just super honest
[13:12] SPEAKER_01: it just comes down to yeah you know what like this is a crazy day I started you know it's seven o'clock
[13:16] SPEAKER_01: this morning I'm done and that's totally fine you know some days on a Sunday you know it's just
[13:21] SPEAKER_01: like the straight up just be like I can't I just I just need today and you know that's just and
[13:25] SPEAKER_01: that's totally fine then I pick up the slack and there's days during the week where I'm like I
[13:29] SPEAKER_01: need you to do this and you know it's been and it's been a really good give and take and great
[13:32] SPEAKER_01: dynamic and it definitely helps when you know his off you know we're in the same office and he's
[13:37] SPEAKER_01: just right there and I can say what do you think about this you know and that's going to huge huge
[13:40] SPEAKER_01: impact or how do you impact on our our productivity and kind of our success in the last few weeks
[13:46] SPEAKER_01: since we moved in so uh pretty excited about it so setting boundaries and respecting that's
[13:51] SPEAKER_02: sometimes you're like I get I'm done and you know let's talk about this later yep that's great and
[13:56] SPEAKER_02: you know a lot of people are talking about how to integrate their own values into their company
[14:01] SPEAKER_02: you know like sustainable entrepreneurship we hear it all the time like it seems like you've
[14:05] SPEAKER_02: done a lot of research you make sure you found the right fabric and the right people to partner
[14:09] SPEAKER_02: up with internationally to really fulfill the mission of your company but if people are listening
[14:14] SPEAKER_02: and they're wondering like how how do I do this you know like how do I make sure that like I
[14:19] SPEAKER_02: make my company or I build my company to be sustainable or actually add those values into my
[14:25] SPEAKER_02: company that are already started like have you discovered anything that would be worth sharing
[14:29] SPEAKER_01: with people listening for sure you know I think that at the end of the day it just comes down to
[14:34] SPEAKER_01: not being afraid to break the mold that exists in every industry right now so many of these
[14:40] SPEAKER_01: you know of the kind of traditional industries including the fashion industry no one has disrupted
[14:45] SPEAKER_01: this industry in hundreds of years it's always been exactly the same way it's about profit margins
[14:50] SPEAKER_01: it's about finding the cheapest product about using the cheapest facility to put out the mass
[14:56] SPEAKER_01: amount of product and I think that if your values do not align with an industry that you can reinvent
[15:03] SPEAKER_01: that industry and that's completely okay and that's what entrepreneurship is all about it's all
[15:07] SPEAKER_01: about breaking boundaries it's all about changing things and saying hey we don't have to do this
[15:12] SPEAKER_01: the way that other people have been doing this for years and years and years and so that's really
[15:17] SPEAKER_01: what we did and we said you know that's fine we don't care if you know instead of having a 75% margin
[15:22] SPEAKER_01: and destroying the planet I would rather have a 30% margin and know that every single product that's
[15:28] SPEAKER_01: going out of the world or even less you know that's why our slogan is planet over profit and you know
[15:34] SPEAKER_01: it's not about lining our pockets and that's a very very different thing in the industry so for
[15:38] SPEAKER_01: anyone that you know is really actively trying to build a business based on their values no matter
[15:43] SPEAKER_01: whether that's you know social causes the environment there are solutions out there and there's
[15:49] SPEAKER_01: you know there's an answer to everything's technology continues to develop every single day
[15:54] SPEAKER_01: but it's really about kind of getting away from that natural kind of dichotomy of this is how
[15:59] SPEAKER_01: businesses work this is how they're supposed to be built this is what you do the nine to five
[16:03] SPEAKER_01: corporate life and you just grow and you build and you sell and so you know it's for anyone that
[16:09] SPEAKER_01: wants to embed values into that don't don't follow the status quo build what you want to build and
[16:14] SPEAKER_01: you can do that because we live in a world that allows us to do that and it's a huge privilege that
[16:18] SPEAKER_02: we have yeah that's great yes that's great and and you guys as you said you're living in Montreal
[16:24] SPEAKER_02: so but you live all over the world and Christian you're from Calgary Alberta so like why why did
[16:31] SPEAKER_02: you choose Montreal like why is it the best way to best place to be even though most of your
[16:36] SPEAKER_01: business production is in the states if I correct correct yeah I mean at the end of the day
[16:42] SPEAKER_01: emergent from Calgary but I grew up overseas in Dubai and I've been bouncing around ever since and
[16:46] SPEAKER_01: you know I was in the states for school and so you know thankfully my dad's a pilot so growing
[16:52] SPEAKER_01: up was all over the place all the time so traveling and kind of being on the move was was always a
[16:57] SPEAKER_01: really big thing for me but so I just kind of figured you know what we need to take the rights you
[17:02] SPEAKER_01: know the right step I have extended family here my grandparents live in Montreal so I've been coming
[17:05] SPEAKER_01: to Montreal kind of my whole life Jake was here and so you know about eight or nine months ago when
[17:11] SPEAKER_01: I was looking okay we need to just you know get in one place the same Jake hey do you want to come
[17:15] SPEAKER_01: to me or do you want me to come to you and we just kind of had a conversation and it made the
[17:19] SPEAKER_01: most sense give the fact that you know Jake's from here you know I know the city you know the city
[17:24] SPEAKER_01: and so we just said you know what we got to go all in on this I'm going to move to Montreal we'll move
[17:28] SPEAKER_01: in together you know we'll really you know we'll take it and run and so it's been great so far
[17:33] SPEAKER_02: and Jake you've been in Montreal for quite a couple of years so like maybe a different question for you
[17:38] SPEAKER_02: would be like where do you go you know like because you guys live together working the same apartment so
[17:43] SPEAKER_02: where do you like to go in Montreal to actually like reenergize or like think about something else
[17:48] SPEAKER_02: than business or sometimes think about business but in a different environment like what are your
[17:52] SPEAKER_00: favorite places well it's funny to say that I um we just moved into point St Charles which is you
[17:58] SPEAKER_00: know gentrifying by the day the whole kind of southeast of Montreal is a great area which I didn't
[18:04] SPEAKER_00: know before we actually moved in or the last few months and it turned out to be a phenomenal area
[18:09] SPEAKER_00: it's super lively it's very young just even walk around the streets there to check for super nice
[18:14] SPEAKER_00: the restaurants and the bars unfortunately are closed now but we had some opportunity to to enjoy
[18:19] SPEAKER_00: them beforehand um you know the parks and all that stuff in the winter um you know you can go to
[18:24] SPEAKER_00: the local rink and then you know skate and he's a hockey player so looking forward to shooting the
[18:29] SPEAKER_00: park around or you know we go skiing where we can pretty much well I mean the other day we went
[18:34] SPEAKER_00: for I think it was a 20 kilometer walk up and around we went up that water and then we up
[18:39] SPEAKER_00: into the mountain and then we came back down and we got um we got shortses we were up down
[18:44] SPEAKER_00: sailor all and this took the whole day but there's such a beautiful city I've been here for
[18:48] SPEAKER_00: last 14 years now my dad's from here originally um I was born and raised in uh in France and
[18:54] SPEAKER_00: had the chance to live in England a little bit as well before coming here but most of my families
[18:58] SPEAKER_00: here um I love it here you know it's French and English which um I'm bilingual I went to French school
[19:03] SPEAKER_00: um and my family and friends are here so it's just I personally I'm much more comfortable for me
[19:10] SPEAKER_00: right now so you know it's just all around a phenomenal city I've only got good things to say about it
[19:15] SPEAKER_02: that's great and and and earlier Christian you mentioned that you know this is not your first
[19:20] SPEAKER_02: start-up this won't be your last like what is your vision for your personal life and and Jake I know
[19:26] SPEAKER_02: you've joined the entrepreneurial life a couple of months ago but maybe you you do have a vision
[19:31] SPEAKER_02: for yourself or a difference you want to make in the world it seems like you're very engaged in
[19:35] SPEAKER_02: like making a change so like what what do you see your journey will look like if we talk in like
[19:40] SPEAKER_01: 10 years from now you know I'm I'm I've kind of got a bit of a 10-year plan in that regard it I mean
[19:47] SPEAKER_01: I the plan there right yeah you know it's it's at the end of the day um the the mountain brand that
[19:52] SPEAKER_01: we're building I think I think we want to become a very powerful brand in sustainability I want to
[19:58] SPEAKER_01: become synonymous with sustainability where people see our branding and people know us and they
[20:04] SPEAKER_01: know that we're not cutting cores they know that we are you know we're here to help the planet we're
[20:08] SPEAKER_01: here to make a difference we're here to help people and so over the next 10 years I'd love to
[20:12] SPEAKER_01: expand to other industries but continue with that strong mountain brand my end goal realistically
[20:17] SPEAKER_01: is to get into energy energy has always been something to me that's incredibly important I think
[20:22] SPEAKER_01: it can change the world working a lot on on developing a solar system that is you know it's more
[20:28] SPEAKER_01: efficient than essentially what we have right now lots of great friends are fantastic engineers
[20:33] SPEAKER_01: and that you know that's part of it so you know about 10 years from now I hope we're having the
[20:37] SPEAKER_01: conversation about mountain energy and we're providing free energy all over the world that's my
[20:41] SPEAKER_01: that's my hope is to be able to provide remote energy to developing economies all around the world
[20:46] SPEAKER_01: and stabilize these developing economies because you know the more places around the world that we
[20:52] SPEAKER_01: can lift out of poverty and that we can lift out of these different you know issues that they've had
[20:56] SPEAKER_01: over the years I think a lot of those issues come down to reliability of internet reliability
[21:00] SPEAKER_01: of infrastructure reliability of energy and so for us clothing is the first step clothing is a
[21:06] SPEAKER_01: bit of an easy sell people buy it every day they want it you know there's a consumer market for it
[21:11] SPEAKER_01: always but we really want to develop that to the point where we're you know we're maximizing our
[21:15] SPEAKER_01: impact and I think you know that's kind of the direction that I'm going that's great very very
[21:20] SPEAKER_02: inspiring that's for sure thanks Christian and what about you Jake hopefully you know I mean I say
[21:27] SPEAKER_00: hopefully but I think it's it's stay involved in the cause wherever mountain goes I hope I'm
[21:33] SPEAKER_00: there for the ride you know we have or we're lucky to have some interns that are really really
[21:39] SPEAKER_00: involved in the cause as well and it's great because it shows us that a lot of people want to do
[21:45] SPEAKER_00: good and want to follow this trajectory and and we're that outlet so hopefully we can keep growing
[21:51] SPEAKER_00: and we can keep working with people that are you know engaged that care about the cause that
[21:55] SPEAKER_00: that wanted you good for the world and I think that's where mountain's going in the next 10 years is
[22:00] SPEAKER_00: you know if we can have photo in the market and be that brand that is sustainable and that is
[22:04] SPEAKER_00: transparent and that is trying to change the world that's hopefully where I'll be in 10 years
[22:08] SPEAKER_00: surrounded by people that care about the same thing causing the do the things we do and and that
[22:12] SPEAKER_00: want to succeed in a way that we're succeeding and and just you know do better for the world wonderful
[22:18] SPEAKER_02: I'm sure that there's people listening want to hear more about you but we got you know the interview
[22:23] SPEAKER_02: is coming to an end is there anything else you'd like to share with people I know you're really
[22:28] SPEAKER_02: engaged you have a great vision building a big company you know but like is there anything and
[22:34] SPEAKER_02: the advice or anything else you'd like to share with people listening you know I think I think
[22:38] SPEAKER_01: something that for me for a long time and I think Jake as well it was a bit of a barrier for
[22:43] SPEAKER_01: building this business was thinking that you know other people wouldn't care or that it was
[22:48] SPEAKER_01: going to fail and that was always some it's like oh you know this this we're not ready for this
[22:51] SPEAKER_01: yet we're not ready for this yet you know as a society as a world and you know I had a lot of
[22:56] SPEAKER_01: fantastic professors and people and my family and you know they just had to do it you know do it
[23:03] SPEAKER_01: and so I would love you know if anyone out there is listening you know I had an opportunity to
[23:08] SPEAKER_01: listen to some podcasts over the years where people said just do it just build it you have an idea
[23:13] SPEAKER_01: even it's on a napkin literally if you're it doesn't matter where it is right now just do it
[23:18] SPEAKER_01: because we have an unbelievable opportunity here in North America especially in Canada with the
[23:22] SPEAKER_01: you know the amazing people and the amazing business culture that we have here just go for it
[23:27] SPEAKER_01: because the worst thing that can happen is it fails and that means you learn something you take
[23:30] SPEAKER_01: to the next one you keep going and you know that's been my that's been my experience it's contagious
[23:35] SPEAKER_01: you love it you just keep doing it and you know I needed that push from somebody and I really hope
[23:41] SPEAKER_01: that even if we get one person out there in the world it was listening to just do it you know that's
[23:46] SPEAKER_00: that that would be amazing for me yeah um I mean I was that one person he got me onto this train
[23:52] SPEAKER_00: kind of going the more traditional route I know some people may be scared to jump into it you know
[23:56] SPEAKER_00: it's it's nice and it's comfortable to have a nine to five you have a job you have security you
[24:01] SPEAKER_00: have income and it is scary it's it's something that's you know it's frightening to to go kind of
[24:07] SPEAKER_00: into the unknown but I own that wall of fear is you know great success and it's always kind of
[24:12] SPEAKER_00: the fruit of life and I think I think that lead that I took was a great one I mean you know you have
[24:18] SPEAKER_00: to have some sort of you know a financial background if you know you're gonna you're gonna do
[24:22] SPEAKER_00: this you know I've saved some money and stuff just in case for rainy days and I think it's always
[24:26] SPEAKER_00: super important some people are saying well what am I gonna do about money so if you have a nine to
[24:29] SPEAKER_00: five save up as much as you can you know strategize and then if it's something that you want to do
[24:34] SPEAKER_00: it and then you should do it just just jump into it and and I think it'll work or hopefully work
[24:40] SPEAKER_02: and if not it you're gonna learn great things and then build on the next thing as you said
[24:44] SPEAKER_02: but I'm gonna experience this yeah yeah wonderful so if if we want to learn more about your company
[24:50] SPEAKER_02: if we want to get in touch with you what is the best way to to do that so you can go to
[24:56] SPEAKER_01: www.mountain.co so mntn.co that's our website and so you can check out everything the
[25:01] SPEAKER_01: world workout there we're also on Instagram at mountain underscore co you can connect with us on
[25:06] SPEAKER_01: LinkedIn we're super active on LinkedIn so just if you have any questions you want to have a
[25:10] SPEAKER_01: conversation or anything we're here we're absolutely here we love reaching out to people and
[25:14] SPEAKER_01: helping people all the time so yeah LinkedIn is a great way to do that as well you can also email us
[25:20] SPEAKER_00: Christian at mntn.co and then Mia said Jake at mntn.co if you have any questions or anything you want
[25:26] SPEAKER_00: to get to us a little bit faster that's the way to do it wonderful well thanks so much for being with
[25:31] SPEAKER_02: us today I think it's very inspiring you have a great journey we can feel the dynamic over here
[25:36] SPEAKER_02: you know on the other side of the screen on the other side of the of the podcast so thanks a
[25:41] SPEAKER_02: lot for your openness and for actually like changing the world because that that is what you're
[25:45] SPEAKER_02: doing so thanks a lot for for being part of this Canadian you know like entrepreneurship journey
[25:51] SPEAKER_00: with us well thank you so much for having us at this great opportunity and we're very happy to be
[25:55] SPEAKER_02: here great so we'll talk soon thank you thanks