Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dan Russell. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Dan, appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

Shortly after starting to make snowskates, we got a call from the snowboard school manager at Beaver Creek. He was asking if we’d be willing to provide snowskates to his snowboard teaching staff on pro-form (industry discount). We were happy to do so, and we set a date to go to Beaver Creek to deliver the snowskates. We figured we’d show up, get them their snowskates, and maybe take a run or two. What happened instead was way better. We showed up to a mass of incredibly excited snowboard instructors that met us at our car and helped us bring all the snowskates into the snowboard school locker room. We distributed their snowskates, and then we all went and rode the mountain all day. 30-40 people participated, and we had a great session. I figured after a quick lunch most of the people would bail. But instead, our group grew. And at the end of the day one of the participants told me that he owned a snowboard shop in Avon, Transition Sports, and that he wanted to bring some snowskates in…our first shop! More than a decade later, we still work with Transition today. It was a great time and a great lesson: bring the fun and people/shops will follow.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

The founders of Hovland are all lifelong snowboarders and skiers, but we hadn’t worked in the industry before. We’d been introduced to all-mountain snowskating by a friend, and were hooked immediately. We’d messed around on the smaller snowskates from years past, but those were more like toys. Once we rode the whole mountain unstrapped on bigger and better equipment, there was no going back. At the time there were some really cool basement builder brands making small amounts of snowskates. But there wasn’t a brand that was fully engaged with the snowboard industry focusing on snowskates. So we decided to give it a shot. It took a couple seasons to dial in our program, as we struggled to find great builders at first, but eventually found a partner that could take our designs and make top-end snowskates.

Once we had product, we started attending industry snow shows and on-hill demos. It was important for us to integrate our brand into the snow industry. We began meeting folks and finding sales reps and distributors who could help. And we started going tons of on-hill demos at resorts. Just letting people take a snowskate a see for themselves how fun it is. We think of Hovland as providing fun. We’re here to help people fly down the mountain and have a great time. If you snowboard or ski, you can snowskate pretty much right away. There’s nothing more fun than surfing the mountain or skating the terrain park.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media has played an important role in our growth. Both through being able to show all-mountain snowskating to the world, and through connecting directly with talented snowboarders. We started by taking pictures and videos at our public resort demos, to now having a great skate team that films all over the world. At first, the goal was to just show people that all-mountain snowskating exists. Now the goal is to feature our product and skaters’ talents.

The advice I’d give is that you have to start somewhere. You won’t get to the level you want by just planning. You need to start posting and engaging. And over time the quality of the media will get better and better. You learn more by doing things and failing than trying to be perfect all the time. Also, posting on various platforms is important. You can’t rely on one or two social media platforms. You need to be on all of them that are relevant. It can be a grind, but it allows you to show your product to people all over the world in an efficient and cost-effective way.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Like with any small businesses and startup businesses, there are fires to put out every day. You can’t let it get you frustrated. Over time, you learn that it is the job. You learn to expect it. The people who can fight through all the issues are successful. There’s no excuses, just opportunities to adjust.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hovlandsnowskates.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hovlandsnowskates/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hovlandsnowskates/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hovlandsnowskateco.9284

Image Credits
All are owned by Hovland Snowskates