Meet Joe Fear

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

Hi Joe, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

My resilience comes from not liking to be told I can’t do something. I’ve always had an attitude of, “oh yeah? Watch me.” The first huge instance of this I can remember was in third grade. I don’t remember why, but I was in a meeting with the counselor and my mom. Towards the end of the meeting the counselor looked at my mom and said to her, “you might as well give up on him, he’ll never amount to anything.” All of this coming from a person I had only spoken to a few times in my life. I remember sitting in the car on the drive home stewing about what she had said and wondering if she was right. I remember getting furious that some crazy lady that didn’t even really know me could say that. I decided that I had to prove her wrong. I ended up sending a copy of my college acceptance letter to her.

See, I was diagnosed with pretty severe ADHD as a young child. Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s no one really knew much about it or how to deal with it. And at the time many people – including teachers – argued if ADHD was even a real thing.

Because of this lack of understanding – both about ADHD and from others denying its existenc -. I developed a huge chip on my shoulder for anyone who said I couldn’t accomplish something. That need to prove someone wrong gave me the drive to never quit. Quitting is never an option! If how they’re teaching it doesn’t stick, I figure out a method that will.

As we get older the drive to prove others wrong gets tempered with patience and experience. That primal need however never truly goes away.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

One of my greatest passions has always been the outdoors. Specifically hunting, fishing, and backpacking. So when my family got the opportunity to combine this passion with a way to make a living we took the chance without a second thought.

Our goal has always been to offer high quality, U.S. made products at a price the average person can afford. We accomplish this by keeping our company small and selling direct to the consumer. Allowing us to cut out the middleman markup.

We have based our selection of packs on decades of experience in the field. Realizing that no single pack will fit everyone’s method of hunting has driven us to design a wide variety of styles and sizes.

Along with our extensive line of hunting backpacks we also manufacture some of the best fish bags on the market.

Our fish bags, or “kill bags,” are soft coolers used mainly by fisherman to store ice and fish on their boats.

The one product we have that is my personal favorite to make is our custom box liners. We have customers from around the world send us dimensions of any of their boat boxes, underfloor, seat, transom etc. I will make a custom insulated liner turning that space into a giant cooler. Some of the shapes can get pretty intricate so it’s always a fun challenge.

As a way for us to help give back, myself and a small group of amazing combat vets are in the process of starting a non-profit. Our focus will be to offer hunting and fishing adventures to veterans and first responders, while at the same time building a support network of people that they can call upon if they’re ever in need.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The first thing that comes to mind is something I was told as a teenager and that was. “You don’t learn from talking. Leaning only happens when you shut up and listen.” This little piece of advice has really stuck with me over the years. Growing up it always seemed to me people only listened enough to give a response and not to truly understand. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, but afterwards listen to the entire answer before mentally moving on.

Not sure I would consider this a skill or not but I have the ability to see a full 3D model of whatever I’m working on inside my head. Pretty cool when designing new products.. I was surprised to learn how many people cannot do this.

A good quality that most if not every successful person I know has is adaptability. Once you realize that there are usually multiple ways to solve a problem or accomplish a goal, you realize that failure isn’t the end, it was only the end for that method.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

We’re always looking for outgoing individuals or companies in the outdoor industry to partner or collaborate with.

We’ve done everything from helping out with fundraisers and social media giveaways to more in depth ventures such as helping take someone’s idea from concept to design and finally manufacturing.

If anyone is interested you can email me directly at Joe@wildernesspacks.net or find us on Instagram at Wilderness Packs Specialties.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Jonathan Metcalf
Ray kosydar
Nate Bailey

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