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

The Wild Life

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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.

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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

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

When Fast Isn't Fast Enough

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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.

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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

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Not What You Think...

Two Cowboys on a Journey: Fallentimber - Water Valley, Alberta

Booze in the Woods

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At the end of a dusty road in Water Valley, at the Foothills of Alberta, there is a small honey farm in the woods. Here you will have three brothers, their father and a cousin using their pure Alberta honey to make booze in the woods. What a life!

Fallentimber Meadery is a member of the cottage winery industry in Alberta.  Their doors officially opened to the public in the fall of 2010. In Alberta, just having a cottage wine industry is an achievement on its own (thanks to overbearing alcohol production regulations and the weather). We didn't even know we had such an industry. It is, therefore, no use to split hairs that Mead is technically not wine.

I've met Nathan Ryan (one of the brothers) at the Canmore Mountain market in 2015. He was selling his mead two stalls over from my Gelato trailer. The first hour listening to him proved interesting and entertaining, as he explained to people what Mead is, and what they do with it at Fallentimber Meadery. 

I must admit, I thought I knew something about the product. But, Nathan added a whole lot more information I did not know. After the first hour, I started to feel sorry for him having to explain to all the people, over and over again, what Mead is. "Man, you need a video!" I said. "You will go crazy telling the same story so many times in a day."

Then it hit me: He needs to do nothing more than let people sample what they produce. It is so good that the moment it hits your palate, it doesn't matter where it comes from. Fallentimber knows what they are doing, and you can taste it in their drink. My favourite is the Ginger Mead and the special Hops Mead. I do have my eye on the batch they still have in the Whisky Barrel back at the lab. That will be a special one too.

Great Mead starts with great honey, and honey is something that the Ryan family knows very well. Back in 1969, Blake Ryan started the family business when he purchased the family farm and established his first hives.  Today, Blake's son Kevin is the owner and operator of Ryan's Honey which is sold at select stores in the region. However, with the birth of their Mead business, almost all of they honey is going into the booze.

All of Fallentimber's Meads are produced with Ryan's Honey, and that superior flavour comes through in every glass. Think of it as the vintage that gives it its character.

Mead is an alcoholic beverage created by fermenting honey with water, sometimes with various fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content ranges from about 8% ABV to more than 20%. Yes, it has a kick! 

The defining characteristic of Mead is that the majority of the beverage's fermentable sugar is derived from honey. It may be still, carbonated, or naturally sparkling; dry, semi-sweet, or sweet. Mead was produced in ancient history throughout Europe, Africa and Asia and is in a revival phase in the craft brewing industry of Alberta, Canada.

Mead has played an important role in the beliefs and mythology of some peoples. One such example is the Mead of Poetry, a mead of Norse mythology crafted from the blood of the wise being Kvasir which turns the drinker into a poet or scholar. It didn't take much drinking of Fallentimber Mead to turn the Two Cowboys into Poets and Mead Enthusiasts, for life.

The terms "mead" and "honey-wine" often are used synonymously. Some cultures, though, differentiate honey-wine from Mead. For example, Hungarians hold that while Mead is made of honey, water and beer-yeast, honey-wine is watered honey fermented by the fruit of grapes or other fruits. We will go with the more purist perspective. For us, it is Mead, not wine.

Reflections

What can be better than to live in the woods with the people you love, make a healthy product that makes people happy, and succeed in building a business with it all.

The Ryan's may just have discovered the ideal life. Every time we drink a bottle of their Mead, we remind ourselves: It is possible to live in the woods, make booze and be happy.

Cheers!

Hendrik van Wyk

Mead Cowboy

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