We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful John Cameron. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with John below.

Hi John, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Our mission is clear, reduce, reuse repair. We reduce consumption as a basic business model by providing a consignment avenue. This Consignment avenue is the essence of our company. There have been a handful of studies that proves that reselling is more environmentally friendly than donating because oftentimes reselling means that it gets to the intended group that is supposed to go to we’re donating is just a roulette. Nothing new is sustainable. No matter what the brand it took energy to create it. It took materials to create it. So by selling used. We are offsetting all that consumption immediately. On top of that, we’re providing an income for our business that pays City taxes and then also pays the original consumer money. Therefore stimulating our economy off of things that are sitting in people’s basements, attics and garages. Things I can get used again and again and never break. We ensure ensure the expected life of a product is lived and that is the true goal of our business.
We wrote over $60,000 in checks last year and that means we generated $120,000 out of used goods. That was just our first year watch how much we recycle this year.
Before I did this, I was a thermographic inspector that did an energy analysis Iand predictive maintenance inspections for TUVSUD Americas. I reduced energy and prolonged equipment life for a living and that career as well. This little shop is producing a better effect than my large corporate job did. I no longer have to drive a thousand miles a week or take an airplane somewhere just to go reduce energy loads in a factory. All I have to do is ride my bicycle down the street and do it in my own neighborhood. As business grows, I’ll get back to consulting and I’ll be doing both locally making real numbers of reduction for the planet.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As far as how I got into the industry goes, it’s a little long-winded. I’ve hitchhiked and rode freight trains all over the country and slept outside for years. But the last few years I’ve been working for a corporate inspection company providing energy analysis work to Fortune 500 companies and then I got sick with cancer. I had a serious surgery and a very hard recovery that left me shaking to this day where I cannot get in a food in me even though I’m recovered. So I had to figure out something to do and I created a job for my couch selling outdoor goods. From my previous experience as a hitchhiker, I’ve become quite familiar with outdoor sleeping goods, camping and utilitarianism. And that’s what I get to bring to this environment and the city is my experience. I can sit at a table with the CEO from Wells Fargo or I can sit under a bridge with a home bum. I’m versatile like that and not many people are. Having that wide range of experiences in life gives me talking points for most people. It gives me a connection to most people and we all have one thing in common in the store. We love the outdoors. Being a gear exchange means we provide used gear and that service is the first in the state of Wisconsin.
Providing an environment where you can buy, sell, trade and sign and rent is my mission as a business owner. There’s so many resources in this world that I could easily expand this into multiple stores. Maybe not on a national scale, but definitely on a local scale. But I don’t doubt that we could swoop in on a national scale. I just don’t think I’m looking to climb that ladder at the moment.

Once again, our mission is to reduce, reuse and repair before we ever consume.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

This is a vary from the bottom type story because not only was I 133 lb and especially surviving can answer. I had 12 Grand to my name and the rent was due. That 12 grand was actually my 401k… My daughter was a little over 2 years old and I knew I couldn’t do anything that I was raised to do with a background in building sciences and sustainable technologies. I knew that that blue collar stuff was not available to me anymore Because of my new health status. So I took that 12 Grand. I went to the city. I started a business and opened my doors about 3 or 4 months after I decided to start that business. I have no investors. I don’t come from a rich family and no one is backing me up besides my wife with her ever supporting attitude. August 1st 2024 was our 2-year anniversary at the shop and we’re working on the third year now. I’m paying my bills and back to about the same life I had as a corporate tool.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As far as sharing a pivot story, I would say that this is the ultimate pivot story pivoted from a traveling hobo to a inspector for a global company to a small business owner.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mkeoutdoorindoor.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mke_outdoor_indoor_exchange/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MKEOutdoorIndoorExchange/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/me?trk=p_mwlite_feed-secondary_nav
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mkeoutdoorindoorexchange

Image Credits

All images are mine. All art is made by me.