Getting Our Beards Oiled with Manuka Essentials Beard Oil in Tauranga, New Zealand

Mānuka and Kānuka

Some Kiwi's are discovering that they've been sitting on a pot of gold all along, and they didn't even need honey for it. Mānuka honey is widely known for its great taste and powerful healing properties. However, few people have heard about mānuka oil, kānuka oil, mānuka tea and the range of other goods that are made from these ingredients.

They have extraordinary healing abilities. Truly remarkable! They grow everywhere in New Zealand. You can find them literally on the side of the road. The oil makes beards look, feel and smell good too.

DO YOU WANT YOUR BUSINESS FEATURED?

On our recent trip to New Zealand, Callum Armstrong got us interested in the small online business he recently launched literally on the side of the road in Tauranga. As an entrepreneur, he is passionate about his Manuka and Kanuka, and he is finding ways to build support for the product that can be made from it. In his opinion, Manuka and Kanuka oil are poised to take the world by storm! He calls his online business Manuka Essentials.

He is so passionate about it that he created a reference that makes it easy to learn about what makes this shrub so unique. For many centuries, native Māori used mānuka and kānuka for a wide range of purposes. Modern science is now finally catching up, and we will be better off as a result.

Manuka Essentials aim to source as much inventory from local producers in rural and remote parts of New Zealand as possible. It provides local producers with an incentive to invest in the growth of the native bushes and offer them another way to bring innovative goods to market that can be sold online and shipped all over the world.

Cultivating More Mānuka and Kānuka

Thanks to the booming mānuka honey industry, landowners throughout NZ are now replanting mānuka where it had to make way for agriculture like dairy farming. In the long run, we hope with Callum, that his effort will have a profound impact on the health of New Zealand's land, the quality of its soils and the cleanliness of its air and waterways. For a start, it will bring some of the fantastic bird life back!

Imagine if more of New Zealand was returned to native bush, and people could earn a decent income for doing so - wouldn't that be awesome? Callum is doing his part to spread the word. For his and his collaborators' effort, we now have Mānuka beard oil, tea and other skin care. He assured us that more products are in development.

Observations

Three things stood out about our visit with Callum and Manuka Essentials.

Firstly, there is the power the Internet puts in the hands of a local entrepreneur like Callum to launch a business about something he feels strongly about. Manuka Essentials is a small online business today in New Zealand, but it has the power to reach the world.

Secondly, it has the potential to rally people around a cause, more Mānuka and Kānuka native bush restoration, and to launch the development of products by local producers as a result. It can make the world a better and healthier place for everyone.

Thirdly, we love the beard oil that Callum gave us. We promised to spread the word and will soon be distributing this under the Two Cowboys brand in North America. Our beards love us for it. Our skin appreciates it and every time we smell it, it takes us home to our second home amongst friends in the land of the long white cloud - Aotearoa!

Keep up the good work Callum and grow some more bushes. We will follow your story in great anticipation and appreciate the chance to show you to the world

Hendrik
Mānuka Cowboy

We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. Please book us here so we can tell your story too.

Photos

" You Getting the Shot, Cowboy?"

The Gods of Manuka

Smell It!

Make It!

Ship It!

Two Cowboys: Clean and Healthy Cowboys with Chem Free Cleaning and Essential Oils in Okotoks, Alberta, Canada

Staying Clean On the Road

We travel a lot. We do it in our motorhome or campervans. We often "Boondock", or as it is known Downunder, "Freedom Camp".

We like to save on camping fees so that we have more money for beer, cooking, bbq, fresh produce, and great adventures. This comes with a few challenges. For example, staying clean on the road and keeping clean cooking utensils requires innovation. We don't want a man down with the runs during the journey. Things need to be sanitary.

Life on the road is a little different because, while we boondock, we don't always have ready access to water for washing dishes, knives and cutting boards. We have water. Just not a lot. We have to invent and use alternative ways to keep our cooking materials clean and sanitary and save on our precious water.

DO YOU WANT YOUR DESTINATION OR BUSINESS FEATURED?

Antibacterial soap may be the go-to for anyone doing dishes at home where water is plentiful. Every good cook should follow the standard operating procedure of soap, scrub, rinse and sanitize. It keeps things clean and safe to use around the home and during food preparation.

We've discovered that there is another way to do it when access to water is limited. People have been using vinegar as a cleaning solution for a long, long time. More and more people are also returning to it for a greener and safer cleaning option.

Through our trials and research, we've found that vinegar worked really well for certain things. For example, de-greasing, cleaning mould and mildew, cleaning and descaling a coffee maker, as a replacement for rinse aid in the dishwasher (not that we have dishwashers when we are on the road). It also sanitizes while it cleans. We've turned to our own self-made vinegar concoction to keep our gear clean and sanitized. The more we used it the more it made sense to have one go-to spray bottle that is cheap and easy to use.

There is a little problem with using vinegar, though. Everything smells like vinegar!! Lemon juice may be an alternative, but we'd rather keep that for seasoning our pork and chicken.

Charlotte Lomenda from Chem Free Cleaning made a call to us and offered us an alternative. She's done a fair amount of cleaning in her life and have experimented with combining vinegar and essential oils for an even better way to clean and sanitize. She launched her business in Okotoks and offers ready to use, alternative cleaning products that work, are safe, and that smells a lot better than we can make.

It is in fact only one product. It is the right formulation of Vinegar, but with different flavours (scents) of essential oils. She took the guesswork out of our own mixology and she made it smell nice. It is made with the antibacterial and antimicrobial cleaning properties essential oils provide. It is also food-grade safe! What does that mean? It means that it is so safe that it can be used to sanitize around food, in restaurant kitchens and dining areas, as well as in your own home. She even tested it for accidental human consumption. So did we!

Observations

We trust the ingredients that Charlotte uses in her Chem Free Cleaning products.

We've trusted it even before we met her. The nice part now is that she's made it a little easier for us to have something we can use to clean with, on the road, and at home. She's taken the guesswork out of the formulation and she made it smell nicer.

Our cooking expeditions are now cleaner, we stay healthier and some have remarked that we smell better ;-) Give it a try and while doing it you know you are supporting a local entrepreneur that truly cares about her products and her customers. We are proud to know Charlotte.

Hendrik van Wyk 

Fresh Cowboy

We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. Please book us here so we can tell your story too.

Photos

Chem Free

Cooking Cowboy

Two Cooking Cowboys

Safe Mellon Cleaning

Life on the Road

Two Cowboys: The Spice Must Flow with Alberta Steak Spice in Canmore, Alberta, Canada

It’s the Spice

Someone once said that you can never have too much spice in your life. We agree. As we get older and our palates develop, some would say mature, we definitely lean towards discovering new and bolder flavors for cooking. Spice is one of the go-to options to add more flavor. It allows us to broaden our culinary repertoire. We have our favorites but we are always open to discover new ones.

DO YOU WANT YOUR DESTINATION OR BUSINESS FEATURED?

There are a lot of places in the world known for spice production and its use in specific cultures and cooking. Mexico for chilies, India for curries, and Asia immediately come to mind with a mind-numbing array of bold spicy flavors. We didn’t think that the Province of Alberta was one of them until we discovered that it is the New World’s main producer of mustard! This opened our eyes to the adventures of Alberta’s spice masters.

We were fortunate enough to have met one of them, Larry Gale, at the Canmore Uncorked Food Festival a couple of years ago. Today, he is the inventor, proprietor and general cheerleader of Alberta’s newest and most adventurous journey into spice production - blending spice. According to Larry, Alberta has a unique demand for a  foundational spice that goes well with its world-renowned Black Angus Alberta beef.

However, he didn’t stop there. Once the foundation was laid he discovered that it worked with a lot more than Beef. It spiced up chicken, ribs, seafood, vegetables. In fact, Larry will canvas for the use of his spice even on Ice Cream!

The real opportunity came for Larry’s product when he hunted for a name for his spice. At first he settled on the unassuming and generally accepted convention for plain and simply referring to it as Alberta Steak Spice. Alberta’s people are Prairie farm folk. Simple folk. It is better to make it clear what the stuff in the bottle is for.

Then it struck him. Larry invented “ASS”! Or, more commonly referred to as Alberta’ ASS. The acronym for (A)lberta (S)teak (S)pice is ASS. This opened up all kinds of wicked marketing possibilities which he hasn’t even started to explore.

Observations

The novelty of the name may be the first thing that attracts someone to ASS. However, once you tried ASS you want to use it a little more in your daily cooking. We’ve used it on our steak and we’ve liked it more and more.

The blend is course, yet versatile, and a little on the peppery side - the way folks like it here in Alberta. It is a base blend which allows you to add more of your own adventures like a little more cyan pepper, mustard for pork, all spice fr chicken or even brown sugar for caramelization. Larry mentioned that he is adding to the ASS repertoire with a finer version of ASS (Alberta Seasoning Spice). He is doing it because folk have been using ASS on so much of their food and so many different kinds of food that there is scope for something with even more use.

We can see this only the beginning for this novel idea. It has our support. Where will you be able to get your own ASS, I hear you ask.

You can buy it online for worldwide shipping, in your local supermarket in Alberta (soon British Columbia and the rest of Canada). It is also available in the Two Cowboys Store. (http://www.twocowboysstore.com)

Hendrik van Wyk

Spice Cowboy

 We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. Please book us here so we can tell your story too. If you want to see us do more of these, then please forward the favour. We will use it for the next episode to promote a local business or event.            

Photos

Two Cowboys: Life's a Lot Like Bull Riding at Wicked Willow Log Works in Carstairs, Alberta

Bull Riding and Small Business

You never know where you're going to land. One day you're on the back of a bucking bull and the next you are starting a small business in Alberta. These endeavours have more in common than you may think. It happened to Rodeo Star Beau Brooks in 2014. In his words, "You have to stay on top to get paid."

GET YOUR DESTINATION OR BUSINESS FEATURED: Click Here

In bull riding, you need to have the guts to climb on the back of a monster beast. Then you hold on for your life and to earn your pay. When you fall, you can only hope to land on your feet to avoid humiliation and injury. Finally, if you have what it takes to succeed, you do it again. Getting back up separates the champions from the "never to be heard from again". Every ride is a learning experience. You learn about your limitations, and you gain respect for the beast. Even if you finish the ride with success, the whole endeavour is set to claim a toll on your body. It will leave you with scars and life stories of a hell of an adventure.

Entrepreneurs don't often see or get to know the small business beast they are climbing. If they did, many wouldn't dare to even try. For the enterprising few that do get on, it is a daily struggle to persevere and maintain focus. Many cards are stacked against their success. As they hold on for life, they become familiar with the all-consuming monster of hard work, at all hours of the day and night. Then there are the regulations, taxation, minimum wage, quality control, financials, staff, and customer complaints that are set to wear you down. With every fall you get to know yourself a little better. When you get back up to try again, you become the backbone of society. That is why there will always be special people that ride bulls, and those with the guts to start businesses. Not many will be able to say that they've done both.

In 2014, as a rodeo star riding bulls and a father to be, Beau Brooks built for his wife Nerissa, a yard swing set and a bedroom set. Friends and family saw the items and wanted the same. The garage was quickly turned into a workshop, and the fledgling business called Wicked Willow Log Works took flight. As demand and requests for new products grew, they had to expand. Since then, they've outgrown the garage. They added some friends to the crew and started to chase the dream of building log cabins in 2017, with the first one delivered and another in process.

Observations

It is striking to see the core values of the Cowboy culture in Beau and Nerissa's business. You have two humble, committed, community focussed, and hard-working people with big dreams and big plans. Judging by the pace set by Nerissa, they also have the energy to pull off. They are succeeding in building a flourishing business during one of Alberta's hardest economic downturns.

The products are as unique as the materials they use. They do it with Alberta lumber and take pride in every item that leaves their store because it is rustic and authentic. It is hand-made in with a lot of Wicked Willow talent and commitment.

I asked Nerissa and Beau about their goal for the near future. "If we can build our own cabin like we do for other people, it will be wonderful!", was Nerissa's reply. I have every bit of confidence that the cabin is a lot closer in their future than they expect if you judge it by the demand for their work.

We look forward to visiting them soon in their own home.

Hendrik van Wyk

Log Cowboy

We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. We use Patreon to publish our premium content. Please become a patron at http://www.travelingcowboys.com if you want to see more of this and other local maker stories.

Photos

Classic

Solid

Creative

Substantive

Authentic

Unique

Albertan

Two Cowboys: Connecting with Our Food at the Olds College National Meat Training Centre in Olds, Alberta

Where's the Beef?

What we eat and drink determines who we are. It is a big part of us and integral to what we do each day. Throughout our evolutionary journey, as it is for every other animal on earth, our food ultimately determined and enabled our species, homo sapiens, to claim its place and standing on this planet.

For humans, our involvement with food goes a little further. It also plays a large part in determining our identity. It defines our relationships with our environment and our fellow man. One can deduce a level of cultural and moral sophistication from civilization's connection with its food. It plays a pivotal role in defining a society.

GET YOUR DESTINATION OR BUSINESS FEATURED: Click Here

For a person, food is nourishment. Without food, famine is inevitable. If we don't eat well, we face disease. For a group, it is also a source of expression that influences and displays cultural convention, ritual, and perception. Families come together for celebration meals, heads of state dine together, and a nation's geopolitical and economic welfare is determined by its food production abilities. Food is security. Competition for resources to produce food is the principal source of revolution and of war. For eons, individual, tribal and national identities have been recognized through uniquely crafted dishes, ingredients, and meal preparations. It is fair to say that as humans, we have a fascinating love affair with what we eat.

Humanity now produces more food than ever before in history. Unfortunately, we are also more disconnected from our food now, than we've ever been.  Food manufacturing and industrialized levels of production have slowly been eroding our link with, understanding, and the role of our food, beyond the simple provisioning of sustenance. As a result, we may also be losing our sense of who we are, and in large part, of our societal identity.

We are also losing our ability to recognize and work with our food.  The art and production of food through baking, butchering, brewing and cheese making are falling by the wayside as our butchers, bakers, and cheesemakers depart, to be replaced by corporations with large processing facilities and factories focussed on a uniform, compliant output contributing to the bottom-line.

Even our chefs are spoiled by these companies, with pre-prepared manufactured products that merely requires heating and plating. The elementary art of cooking is under threat in the average meal preparation facility in North America. Fast Food is not food in the true sense of what it could and ultimately should be.

To illustrate my point further, we should only take a look at the degree of effort we put into making food unrecognizable. Celebrity chefs are beating a path to creating mouses, gels, pearls, pills, and pellets that is entirely void of resembling source ingredients. Meals come ready-made. Molecular Gastronomy, which should have remained a fascinating experiment, now trailblazes a departure from the familiar in favor of concepts such as multi-sensory cooking, modernist cuisine, culinary physics, and experimental cuisine.

The result is that we can now eat a perfectly looking, uniform, sterile, mostly synthetic, manufactured sandwiches containing the resemblance of meat, bread, and condiments, that is morally and culturally acceptable and available to the masses, across the planet. This is now our idea of "food"!

Should we be loving it?

Because food has always been closely linked with who we are, losing its origins and our linkages to what we eat have the inevitable result that we just succumb to also losing our sense of identity.  We mistakenly claim a false pretense of cultural "progress" and moral high ground when misguidedly people succumb to disorders, become vegan, or allow vegetarianism to take hold.

Human evolution did not result in equipping people to only eat plants, and unfortunately, no amount of moral or spiritual convention will change our biology in the short term. Maybe it is time again that our children know that milk comes from cow's teets? Chickens lay eggs. Renin and bacteria make cheese and meat come from dead and butchered animals. Substances like blood make for great sausage!

When we rediscover food, we may find our true primal selves again void of pretense, and stripped from our delusions of civility. When we have the pleasure of eating what we always ate, the way we did, with the people we treasure, we may then also have the joy of re-discovering who we truly are.

That is why we seek out great food, places to find it, and why we celebrate the stories of the people and producers connecting us with ourselves - with our true primal being - homo puretus!

The Last Butcher School

The Olds College Meat Processing Program is one of only two remaining in North America that offers an educational certificate in the whole process stream of meat, from slaughter, processing, preserving to retail. Where big plants once dominated the industry, we are glad to say that the revival of the art is back in Alberta!

Olds College teaches hands-on practical techniques and age-old science of meat processing for the highest premium quality cuts. Successful graduates gain the experience needed to start their own entrepreneurial business ventures or take their skills to Canada’s third largest industry.

Olds College is the National Meat Training Centre for Canada. Three times a year its program takes in a wide range of students from all over North America and as far away as Africa. They teach techniques for professional meat cutting, trimming, boning, breaking, wrapping, sausage-making and curing with professional sanitation and food safety applications, including HACCP. It is Alberta’s training site for humane handling and stunning, and the only program in North America that teaches slaughter skills and techniques such as skinning, eviscerating and carcass preparation.

The College boasts an extensive multi-purpose facility that is fully equipped to teach the value-added skill sets and knowledge for the meat industry. Its services are expanded to cater to large and small industry, from sausage making and dried, cured hams to the installation of an industrial canner. It also boasts a favorite retail counter where students learn applied retail merchandising and customer service skills in explaining the attributes and benefits of various products and cuts.

Observations

We are saddened by the fact that Olds College is one of only two remaining programs of its kind in North America. On the other hand, we are encouraged that it still exists, is more popular than ever, and a mere hour's drive from our home base in the Rocky Mountains. The retail shop is a favorite stop for our monthly meat purchases.

Alberta is famous for the quality of its agricultural produce and its rich heritage in producing quality feed for animal husbandry. We are convinced that Alberta boasts the best tasting beef, pork and, dare we say it, lamb (sorry, New Zealand)!

What we need now, is a supportive regulatory food production climate and consumers that invite our producers back to rearing fantastic animals and our butchers again into our towns. The Old-World fostered an appreciation for its producers, and the food that resulted for our ancestors were just incredible. In the New-World, we have the opportunity not only to re-rediscover this rich food heritage but cherish it more than ever. It is where we come from, what we can do, and who we ultimately are.

We are meat-loving Cowboys.

Hendrik van Wyk

Cowboy

We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. We use Patreon to help us gain from our work. Please become a patron at http://www.travelingcowboys.com if you want to see more of this and other stories.

Photos

Focus

Evolution

Bones

How It's Made

Hours

Two Cowboys: Fresh, Pure, Liquid Gold from the Alberta Prairies Courtesy of Forever Bee in Okotoks, Alberta

Purest of Honey

In 2010 I embarked on the crazy journey to perfect classic Italian Honey Nougat. It is an ancient celebratory confection with only four ingredients - honey, egg white, cane sugar, and nuts. Nougat is a major industry in the old world of Italy, France, Spain, Turkey, and Morocco where it was typically served to royalty and as present at weddings, christenings, Christmas and birthdays.

It is also one of the most difficult confections to make. The soft, white, melt-in-your mount textured candy has broken many a chef's resolve. Only a few people in the world know the secrets of perfect white soft honey nougat and most of them only impart it to close family members on their death bed, who is tasked with perpetuating the legacy.

It took me three years and five tons of failures to finally unlock the secret of honey nougat perfection. None of which I am prepared to divulge in this post. What I did discover during my struggle is that most of the honey that we buy in stores are either not honey or of such low quality that it may as well be regular cane sugar syrup. For a start, it contains abnormal amounts of water, and it is pasteurized. As we know pasteurization kills all pathogens - the good ones with the bad. The bottom line discovery was that store bought honey cannot be used for making Honey Nougat.

GET YOUR DESTINATION OR BUSINESS FEATURED: Click Here

During my journey, I met Matt and Annanie. They own of Forever Bee. It is a small apiary they started in February of 2012 while on their own search for a better quality honey.

Forever Bee began as a tiny business that managed to sell a few jars of honey here and there at farmers' markets. They've been bootstrapping the business since and have managed to build up a strong fresh honey supply to many loyal customers in Southern Alberta. Their products include raw honey, flavored honey (they do a fantastic cinnamon honey), honeycomb, beeswax, candles and more.

Observations

We spend a lot of time around farmers' markets in Southern Alberta, and inevitably we run into the Forever Bee clan again and again with their fresh honeycomb and jars of pure, unpasteurized honey.

The honey is terrific for all the good reasons they mention in the video above.

What stands out for us about Matt and Annanie's business is not so much the honey they produce, which is fantastic. It is the success they have starting from nothing five years ago and building a simple, successful business with a very loyal customer base. The business is in its fifth year, and it is allowing them to have their entire family involved in growing it. It is only with passion and an outstanding product that they can continue to succeed.

Being at farmers' markets is hard work. It may appear idyllic or romantic to the casual bystander. There is a lot of time and dedication that goes into producing products the whole week and then still doing markets at the same time. For many, it is a seven day week affair. Often these small producer businesses cannot sustain themselves with only one market, so they are typically serving several markets per week. The season is also short, so every market day counts.

We find Forever Bee at these markets in the Foothills. What stands out is their dedication to a fantastic quality product. What sets them apart from other honey vendors is their willingness and commitment to educate about the virtues of fresh honey and the love and care they put into making their honey taste as good as it possibly can.

The honey from Forever Bee is the perfect honey for my classic soft Honey Nougat.

Hendrik van Wyk

Sweet Cowboy

We earn our livelihood from producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. We use Patreon to help us earn from our work. Please become a patron at http://www.travelingcowboys.com if you want to see more of this and other stories.

Photos

Lethbridge Market

Okotoks Market

Canmore Market

Honey Gold

Happy Beez

Traveling Cowboys: Black Cherry Chocolate Banana Soft Serve Two Cowboys Special at Swirls Ice Cream in Lethbridge, AB

Must Stops

We have three great culinary passions. Beer, BBQ and Ice Cream.

We don't give attention to these primary food groups in any particular order. However, when the sun is out, and the weather heats up on the Prairies of Alberta, we have to stop at every ice cream shop on our route.

The ice cream tastes even better when the business is from a locally owned and operated business. It is how we discovered Lethbridge's pinnacle and most recent addition to the ice cream universe. Swirls Ice Cream!

GET YOUR DESTINATION OR BUSINESS FEATURED: Click Here

Swirls has apparently been a local tradition for more than 30 years in Medicine Hat. We've never been to Medicine Hat. It doesn't stand out as a "must-do" on the tourism agenda for our great Province. The same goes for Lethbridge. No one excitedly proclaims that they are travelling to Lethbridge for the Summer holidays. We did.

We made the trip during the early part of Summer to go and explore what Lethbridge has to offer, courtesy of Chinook Country Tourism. We were pleasantly surprised. As all great stories should start, this one began with an ice cream stop at the newly opened Swirls. There were beer and BBQ stops as well, but we will leave that for later.

Swirls is an institution that took way too long to work its way into the local stops and attractions of Alberta. It is changing with the recent addition of Swirls Lethbridge. We also discovered a Swirls ice cream truck at the Okotoks Farmers' Market. We are told, there are more.

Observations

When you visit the store, you quickly realise it is high-tech ice cream. Majestic one-arm-banded touchscreen-controlled ice cream dispensing robots deliver flavours and colours on demand. This is not your quaint Italian Gelateria or the over commercialized blizzard blast. Swirls hits you in the face with exploding colours and an overload in flavour. Nothing disappoints except your capacity to inhale the deliciousness.

Great people run the business. They are our kind of people. Bob Probe and his partner made this their second career stop. A childhood dream coming true, maybe? We are glad they did. It is an enormous amount of fun to visit them and create your own custom flavors.

We indulged in creating the Two Cowboys Special which includes Black Cherry and Banana Ice Cream dipped in Chocolate. Wickedly delicious!

Our only problem now is that Lethbridge is a day away from our home base. It is about time that we give them a hand to bring a Swirls to the mountains. How about one in Canmore?

Hendrik van Wyk

Chilled Cowboy

We earn our livelihood from producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. We use Patreon to help us earn from our work. Please become a patron at http://www.travelingcowboys.com if you want to see more of this and other stories.

Photos

Creativity!

Guess?

When do we taste?

Ice Road Swirl

Lovingly Mine

Two Cowboys: Creating and Sharing Wild Adventures at Wild Life Distillery in Canmore, Alberta, Canada

The Wild Life

(Learn: * Inspire: ** Amaze: ** Live: *****)
(The Two Cowboys - Subjective Rate-o-Meter.)

Owning a business teaches you the hard facts of personal liberation and self-discovery. To travel is another way to do it. You quickly discover your limitations and learn to extend your boundaries. Both are expensive in commitment and cost, yet incredibly rewarding personal endeavours.

We are not talking about the "comfortable-all-expenses-paid-fake-margarita" kind of travel you do through the window of a car, coach or plane. Rather, the kind of travel that forces you to let go of your comforts, expectations, biases and requires you to actually interact with local people. The same applies to starting a real business where you are making something.

See More on Patreon: Click Here

"For as little as $1/month you will get the inside track on content like this and follow the travels of the Two Cowboys & A Camera. Join here."

There are similarities in the adventure of both travel and entrepreneurship. It requires a special kind of outlook in life that aligns with values such as self-respect, appreciation for originality, authenticity and anticipation.

Both cases require an unwavering commitment and a substantial effort to succeed. That is why it is easier to do it with a partner and a friend. When times are tough, which they inevitably are, it helps to have someone with similar values for support. Nothing tests the commitment in a relationship more than travel or being in business together. Both are life journeys that are better when shared.

To succeed in a partnership, it is crucial to have trust in each others’ abilities. There must be a shared understanding of each other's roles, responsibilities, and what each brings to the opportunity.

Successful partnerships are above all, guided by a shared vision and purpose. Partners have to work towards a common set of objectives. It builds trust and recognises the value and contribution each other makes. Partners must respect each other’s contributions and regard one another as equals. It promotes an atmosphere of learning and an open mindset and desire to invest in each other's skills and knowledge. If a partnership is going to succeed, there must be effective communication and constructive honesty in feedback.

It is such a partnership that we recognised when we met Matt Widmer and Keith Robinson at Wild Life Distillery in Canmore, Alberta. Both are world travellers that already shared a journey through South America. Both signed up for the wild life of entrepreneurship and making something.

Observations

According to them, everyone has an ideal life they would like to lead.  It can be an overwhelming notion to commit oneself to a process that will eventually result in this dream. However, with the knowledge that there is no right or wrong way to get there, and no guarantee that one will ever achieve it, they are at least certain that doing a little bit each day will move them closer to their ideal life goal.

At Wild Life Distillery they have made this approach to lifestyle and craft distilling their personal commitment. They are in constant pursuit of personal betterment on a path of continuous learning and growth. They are passionate about what they do in their life and in their newly founded business and don't waiver in any opportunity to share it with others.

We are encouraged by the energy of Matt and Keith, and really like their first Vodka that launched the business this past winter. We are sure to see a lot more come from these two makers as they explore the wonder of a wild life as they lubricate the journey with their beverage creations.

Hendrik van Wyk
Wild Cowboy

We are a content company. We earn our livelihood from producing great content about inspiring people and their stories. We use Patreon to help us earn from our work. It allows us to have a closer relationship with our collaborators and grow our audience. 

If you Sponsor us on Patreon: http://www.travelingcowboys.com or Donate to our cause on GoFundMe: http://www.forwardthefavour.com we can do a lot more for you, your business, event or community.

Photos

Portal

Fine Tuning

Branding

Hand-Made

My Vodka!

Two Cowboys: Local Production and Community Support with Dave's Hot Pepper Jelly in Invermere, British Columbia, Canada

Your Maker

(Learn: * Inspire: ** Amaze: ** Live: *****)
(The Two Cowboys - Subjective Rate-o-Meter.)

People start businesses for all kinds of reasons.

As idyllic as some may make it sound, starting a business and working for oneself is not for everyone. Some people are born entrepreneurs. Others are not cut out for it. There are a few lurking surprises that may easily trip up budding and aspiring entrepreneurs.

First of all, it requires a massive investment - money, many hours of hard work, dedication, commitment, innovation and patience. All of these need to be orchestrated and delicately balanced, coupled with an enormous amount of luck for success. Then sometimes there is the bitter realisation that one might not make a whole lot of money from a specific endeavour after all. It is this last part that some entrepreneurs find particularly difficult to navigate.

See More on Patreon: Click Here

"For as little as $1/month you will get the inside track on content like this and follow the travels of the Two Cowboys & A Camera. Join here."

Facing reality and having to change course regularly is not easy for most people. It is paramount for a successful entrepreneur. If you are an entrepreneur, it can cost you your livelihood if you are too stuck in a particular frame of mind. These people are the ones that push on against the odds with, for example, an unrealistic profit goal as the primary motive for their labour. Their return on effort becomes a huge disappointment and usually continues to be, the longer they persevere. The harder they try, the worse it can become. The more they persevere, the more costly it becomes financially and emotionally.

Money, and more accurately, profit should not be the reason for being in business. It removes the agility that should naturally come with entrepreneurship. When people with an overbearing money motive become entrepreneurs, it is often out of necessity. They may not succeed in finding employment or be in a place that doesn't offer other opportunities to earn or enough for their standard of living. They are likely to be hampered by a lack of passion for what they do and for what it takes to succeed.

Financial reward should be the result or outcome of a successful business with the right foundational values. If a company exists for the right reasons, then profit becomes a by-product of an entrepreneur's overall success.

What then are the right reasons for being in your own business?

Makers and Connectors

Some people have a desire to become involved in all aspects of a company's operation. We call them the pathological learners. They are the makers and creators. One position, one job, product, a single career is not enough to stimulate their curiosity. Having their own business give these entrepreneurs an opportunity to do and try a lot of different things.

Their primary motive for being in business is to learn, explore and experience. They find new and innovative ways to accomplish goals. They are the inventors, engineers, creators and experimenters. Their success heavily relies on their ability to gather a team around them to fill the gaps they leave. They move from one fascinating opportunity and project to the next.

Other people start businesses with the desire to put a personal touch back into doing business. People are motivated by meaning and purpose and the synergy it provides with others. They are the connectors and value creators. Having one's own business intimately involves the owner with staff and with customers. It offers a chance to connect with people and with a cause that may not have been possible otherwise. Sometimes the reason goes beyond the business operations and involves a larger community or purpose.

We often get feedback from entrepreneurs that their single biggest reward from their business is the recognition they get from others. They are motivated by the contribution and value they provide to the lives of others. This gives them a feeling of accomplishment. They feel that they are offering a valuable service to their customers, and they pride themselves on doing the best job possible. The best part of doing it as an entrepreneur is that they get to choose the people with whom they associate.

If a business is founded on innovative production and the value it provides to stakeholders such as community, customers and staff, then it is on a solid foundation. Revenue and profits will come because the entrepreneur will be equipped to navigate the complexity of the endeavour and make the changes that ultimately unlocks value, and ensures the business' success.

The business then has a higher purpose.

Observations

We met up Dave and Kathy from Dave's Hot Pepper Jelly in Invermere, British Columbia, to learn about the foundations of their jelly business. Kathy and Dave is one of the first sponsors of the work we do to promote local producers. It is about time we tell their inspiring story.

The company was motivated by Dave's love of hot and zesty foods. After trying a flavoured Jalapeno jelly, Dave thought he could do better and began experimenting with his own flavours. He started cooking up batches of Jalapeno jelly more than 20 years ago. Originally, Dave would give it away to his friends and acquaintances. After giving away several hundred jars, he realised there was probably a market for his creation. He set up his first outlet with the Invermere Farmers' Market.

When he met his wife Kathy, who was also a devotee of all things spicy, they decided to turn their collective passion for hot foods into a family business. The result is the ten flavours of Dave's Hot Pepper Jelly, many markets and lots of travel later, several retail speciality stores and supermarkets stocking the treat.

The next chapter in this business is still to be written. We have a feeling it has the potential to make a significant social and community contribution in the Invermere area. It may be the catalyst to inspire more makers to start businesses possibly with social value. This business is not just about jelly. It can be a whole lot more. When we listen to Kathy's passion, we are betting it will be.

We have two favourite applications, other than the obvious uses for Dave's Hot Pepper Jelly. The one is with fried Camembert cheese. Put the Camembert (or Brie) in a pan. Top it with your desired flavour from Dave's jelly and watch the cheese melt and the jelly caramelise. Eat with toast or on a South American arepa. Delicious!

The second application may be more traditional. We've put it on barbequed salmon while cooking on the grill with a little herb D'Provence, salt and a lot of lemon juice. It introduced spicy sweetness with a definite bite and cuts through the fattiness of the fish. Highly recommended!

Dave and Kathy have been supporters of our cause from the start, and we thank them from the bottom of our hearts for valuing the work we do. We hope we can return the favour manyfold as we encounter them on our travels through Alberta, BC and beyond. We encourage you to support them and their business.

Hendrik van Wyk
Hot (Pepper) Cowboy

We are a content company. We earn our livelihood from producing great content about inspiring people and their stories. We use Patreon to help us earn from our work. It allows us to have a closer relationship with our collaborators and grow our audience. 

If you Sponsor us on Patreon: http://www.travelingcowboys.com or Donate to our cause on GoFundMe: http://www.forwardthefavour.com we can do a lot more for you, your business, event or community.

Photos

Brave Soldiers

Survival Pack

Lonely Jelly

Community Support

Two Cowboys: Making Fast Cars Go Faster at Dodson Motorsport in Auckland, New Zealand

When Fast Isn't Fast Enough

(Learn: *** Inspire: *** Amaze: **** Live: ****)
(The Two Cowboys - Subjective Rate-o-Meter.)

Manufacturers spend millions to make sports cars look good and go fast. Sometimes fast just isn't fast enough. It definitely isn't for a team of innovative engineers on the North Shore of Auckland in New Zealand.

See the Complete Video and More on Patreon: Click Here

"For as little as $1/month you will get the inside track on content like this and follow the travels of the Two Cowboys & A Camera. Join here."

When they got their hands on Nissan's GT-R in 2007, they knew that Nissan was onto something by making one of the most powerful production vehicles in the world. However, there were problems. It didn't last on the track. One of the key challenges was getting the power transferred onto the road, consistently and efficiently. Guess what? The Kiwis fixed it. They made it better. These folks have been doing it consistently now, for almost a decade. The rest, as they say, is history.

Today, Dodson Motorsport is a world leader in aftermarket dual clutch transmission components for high-end performance vehicles. We are talking about the Nissan GT-R, Audi R8, Lamborgini, and Porche to name just a few.

Their origins are in motorsport tuning, fabrication and development. The place where you come up with ideas, try new things, make something, push convention to the limits and "see what happens". Now they offer a broad range of products for transmission upgrades of high-performance and high-end vehicles.

It may sound like boring stuff, but they assure us that the little bits they innovate and engineer ends up making a massive difference when it comes to breaking speed and performance records. They should know. The vehicles with Dodson transmission components are some of the fastest on the road. Period.

Why transmissions, we asked? According to spokesperson Steven Parker, "It is one of the places where the manufacturers take a "good enough approach". It is good enough for the average driver on his Sunday afternoon Martini cruise. However, most of the people that buy these cars and spend from $300k upwards on a new toy, are not in the afternoon cruising game. They buy fast cars to go fast. Plain and Simple. Inevitably they want to go even faster, and that is when 'good enough' things break. That is when you need better. When you fit a Dodson engineered component, you get the best."

Dodson comprehensively road and track tests all their products using their fleet of vehicles. It includes high-performance offerings from Nissan, Mitsubishi, Porsche, VW, BMW and Audi. It means they make their cars go fast. If things break, they know where it happens, why it happens, and can innovate and build accordingly. What a life!

For example, their products for the Nissan’s GT-R are regularly tested in racing environments to ensure reliability and durability exceeding both manufacturer standards and the expectations of customers. Apparently, 1-in-3 GT-R's on the road wears a piece of Dodson.

Glenn Cupit, one of the principals of the company, mentioned that their specialised team also carries out custom transmission projects and special developments for clients around the world. It is almost unthinkable that a small engineering company in Auckland, New Zealand, at a location that doesn't even have a street sign, with 17 staff, is setting the standard for high-end transmission engineering in the world! Kiwi ingenuity is yet again helping to break records on the world stage.

Observations

We knew that telling the Dodson's story was going to be amazing. We've met and filmed a bit of it. They were one of the finalists for the Westpac Auckland Business Awards of 2016. We knew that we could focus on the technology and the products alone and it will be astonishing to show the world what Kiwi's have done, again.

However, technology moves forward. In some industries, it moves quite fast (pun intended). The Dodson products are amazing, but it is the focus on innovation and the dedication that Glenn and his team puts into it that is the heart of the Dodson Motorsport story. It is not only the products. It is how they keep coming up with something better that distinguishes this business again, and again.

When Glenn took me on the road for a little test drive, we couldn't get a feel for the performance of the Audi R8. I think every speed radar and laser tool on Auckland's motorways have a Dodson's homing device. They were all pointed at us every step of the way. What I did get a feel for, is Glenn's passion for what they do at Dodson. I've found a man in his happy place behind the steering wheel of his Audi. "It's like playing; only the toys are bigger."

I probed him on the future. Glenn acknowledged that "Electric cars are around the corner. They will go fast. If Dodson Motorsport has its way, they will go even faster with Dodson know-how." This is a given from what I've seen in Auckland this summer. Still, that is a story for another time.

Hendrik van Wyk
Fast Cowboy

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers: Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys and our Producers when you subscribe to our email list.

We are a content company. We earn our livelihood from producing great content about inspiring people and their stories. We use Patreon to help us earn from our work. It allows us to have a closer relationship with our collaborators and grow our audience. If you Sponsor us on Patreon: http://www.travelingcowboys.com or Donate to our cause on GoFundMe: http://www.forwardthefavour.com we can do a lot more for you, your business, event or community.

Photos

Nervous Cowboy

Perfection

Magic

V-Dub

Not What You Think...