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

Alright, Ken thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I got my heart broken one summer, and went through a really tough time period. This particular breakup really messed me up, for I’m pretty certain I got cheated on, and I actually thought she was my “soulmate.” As a matter of fact, I had insomnia for a few months after it. I couldn’t fall asleep at night, no matter how hard I tried. I’d close my eyes, but my mind would continue re-playing certain painful moments over and over again. It was horrible.

The universe wasn’t allowing me to hide from, run from, or ignore my pain; it made it clear that I had to face my darkness head on.

I watched a certain movie one night that had a profound impact on me during that time period, and it was Batman Begins. At the start of the movie, before Bruce Wayne became Batman, he ran away from everything he had ever known in Gotham City, and he went on a journey to find purpose for his life, because he felt he had none.

It inspired me to do something similar. I put a complete halt on everything in my life to find a way to overcome my trauma and put myself back together. I put myself through the most unpleasant experiences and workouts that I could think of. Things that I knew would take me to a painful place, which I had discovered to be the doorway to truly getting to know myself.

I’d run in the cold, flip a tire for a mile, go into frozen lakes, walk in the desert for two days, only take cold showers… Activities that I knew would give me a sense of accomplishment once I successfully finished them.

These experiences helped me develop a different outlook towards myself and my life. I learned through these experiences that perseverance through suffering builds character, and that I had to build myself into the type of person who would be ready for the challenges that life would throw at me.

I also created a list of core values that I felt were important for me to live by, along with both created and compiled other documents that included tools that had supported me building myself back up. I put it all together to serve as a guideline for how I wanted to live my life moving forward, and I called it Gravel To Castle. Helping other rise from their own pits of darkness became my new life mission, and I turned Gravel To Castle into a mind and body training company.

Ken, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Through the self-improvement videos I post on Youtube, the work I do with individuals, and the group fitness retreats that I host, I provide a series of daily protocols and exercises for individuals to execute that allow them to put themselves to the test and strengthen their ability to push past life’s challenges.

While I tailor a lot of our messaging to men like myself who are in business, Gravel To Castle is a path for anyone to follow who wants to take accountability for their life and write a new chapter.

Our mission is to help set the tone for the next generation by creating powerful, purpose-driven leaders who are actually capable of not only leading their teams, clients, families and communities, but also creating real dents in the universe. Our target by 2025 is to serve 25,000 businessmen across the globe.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I previously ran a marketing agency that served small businesses by offering advertising and website services, so I already had a decent network to introduce this new work of mine to when heading into this new direction.

Since I am super passionate about the topic of self-improvement, I naturally bring up the work I do with Gravel To Castle into most conversations I have, and a lot of people become curious and want to go through the programs I create.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I document and share publicly quite a bit of my life. From my previous insecurities that some may feel are a bit too revealing, to embarrassments and mistakes that may cause some people may ask themselves, “How in the world could he be so open about taking about this?” I try to get vulnerable in my marketing material to now only allow others to see my true intentions and reasons behind my work, but also hopefully be able to relate to me.

I’ve recently put a lot of time and energy into my Youtube videos that share various life stories and lessons, and I do my best to be as open as possible in them. I don’t try to come across as special or perfect, rather I try to share the specific actions or exercises that supported me in life, and how the viewer (who is a potential future client), can follow a similar path and possibly achieve a similar result.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.graveltocastle.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thekenconklin/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thekenconklin
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/GRAVELTOCASTLEbyKenConklin

Image Credits
Kyle Downes Alex Flanagan