All awesome brands have a cool story. Each one is unique and individual in its own way, and Forrest Unlimited is no different. Here’s our story…
One of my favorite shows I love watching with my family is Last Man Standing. If you’re not familiar, Tim Allen plays an entrepreneur of an outdoor sporting equipment store, much like Cabela’s. What’s cool about the show is that I drew a lot of parallels in my own life because during college I spent four and a half years working at Dick’s Sporting Goods in the outdoors department – learning a lot of the tricks to the trade of selling. Along the way, I developed a lot of great relationships and a lot of great memories from working at that store. And I felt a connection between Last Man Standing and my own experience.
Long-term, I guess my dream would be to have my own sporting goods store that I can use to serve other outdoor enthusiasts, but in the short-term I wanted to do something that could directly impact people. So, to test the waters of entrepreneurship a little bit – I came up with an e-commerce drop-shipping business and I wanted to call it Forrest Unlimited, because I want people to realize that they had unlimited opportunities to seek adventure. For a few months, I played around trying to develop a concept for an online-only sporting goods store.
It was fun, I learned a lot and it opened my eyes to perhaps what the future could look like. But I didn’t really have the time to invest into it to really get it off the ground, being newly married. At that point, I decided to pivot and by pivoting I also took a look at myself. I evaluated what skills, what passions, and what things drive me. One thing I noticed was LinkedIn. Throughout my career, LinkedIn has been a differentiator for me. It gave me a platform to be able to tell my story, connect with others, and unlock the door to many opportunities.
Back during the time when I was experimenting with the e-commerce platform, my wife Lindsey, who is what I call a crafty powerhouse in design – came up with the logo. She also helped me come up with the slogan “Unearth your potential.” The slogan originally spoke to the Outdoor Adventure enthusiasts, but coincidentally it works in the professional realm as well.
When we pivoted, I realized there’s so many people out there who would love to learn how to unlock their potential by building a strong personal brand, a personal narrative that tells their story really well, and new ways to grow their career potential. So the logo And the tagline stayed. If you look at the logo, you’ll notice how the roots run deep into the abbreviation, UNLTD. That’s symbolic of how growing through personal investment can teach you about yourself, your skills, and your abilities – it will be the contributing factor to your unique path.
If there’s anything I’ve learned in my career, it’s that there are no shortcuts to success. You have to develop a strong amount of self-worth, you have to believe in yourself that you can do what you set your mind to, and you can’t give up. Forrest Unlimited sticks to those values and that mission to never give up and to keep growing. Building something from the ground up takes time, takes patients, takes effort, but the results can be yours if you are willing to put the time and effort in.
My hope with the Forrest Unlimited brand, is that it becomes synonymous with grit, determination, results, and long-term success. That unearthing your potential is something you can do and no one can tell you that you can’t. When we put limits on ourselves, that’s when we fail, but my goal with this company is to show you that you can do it. You can stand above the crowd.
Let’s connect, build a partnership that lasts, and a strong future for your career and your goals.
This is how the journey began for us, how will it begin for you?