Meet Samuel Mackey

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

Hi Samuel, 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?

Growing up being the youngest child of three with a father in the military who was often gone, I often had to fend for myself. As a young boy, I felt alone most of the time until I found the sport of boxing. Boxing gave me the self-confidence to be more social, put myself out there, and meet new friends. Boxing is an interesting sport, and I believe all young men should participate in some form of combatives during their childhood. Getting punched in the face and continuing to fight back, even when it feels like you are losing, teaches some serious resilience and principles on living life inside and outside the ring. I’ve carried this outlook with me throughout my 20-year career in the SEAL Teams and now in my entrepreneurship. In the sport of boxing, there is no one to come help you in the ring when you are getting your face beaten in. The earlier you realize that no one is going to save you in the ring of life, the more you will learn to fight with a different type of grit.

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

As I neared the end of my 20-year career as a U.S. Navy SEAL, I had to figure out what was next. I initially considered moving from Virginia to Texas to start a concrete company. Before I made the move, I went on a hunting trip with my now business partner, Jay Culter, a retired NFL quarterback from the Chicago Bears. Over the course of the week at Deer Camp in Kentucky, Jay told me about his idea for Outsider and what he wanted it to become. By the end of the week, I became part of that idea. Initially, my role was going to be in sales and focus on new product development, but it quickly morphed into much more than that. Within a year, I retired from the Navy and moved my family of five to Franklin, TN, and became the CEO/part-owner of Outsider.
Outsider is an outdoor, multimedia, and lifestyle brand that happens to sell the best drinkware on the planet. We believe everyone should spend a little more time outside and indulge in treestand therapy. If you are a hunter, you know exactly what this is, but if not, let me explain. Being out in nature and watching the woods come alive without the animals knowing you are present has the ability to take the stressors of everyday life off your plate. If this sounds intriguing to you, and you are not a hunter, I highly encourage anyone and everyone to go find a place in nature where they can sit quietly and observe their surroundings. During my most stressful times in the SEAL Teams and my current work today as CEO, this is still where I go to find peace. One of our favorite hunts is hosting Naval Special Warefare Gold Star Wives (Widows of our fallen Navy SEALs). Its amazing to see the healing ability of the outdoors for these resiliant women.
This is what being an Outsider is all about. We want to spread our message through social media posts about hunting, fishing, the outdoors, and our products. We continually encourage folks to get outside. Our drinkware can go anywhere, anytime. It keeps your coffee hot in the AM, and your cocktails cold in the evening around the bonfire.
Jay and I are on a mission to get everyone outside and build connections in the outdoor space. After all, hunting itself isn’t about the harvest, it’s about the camaraderie.
We also stared a podcast, which has been running for almost two years. The podcast is called Take it Outside where we interview a wide variety of famous musicians, atheletes, business owners, Special Forces veterans, and unique personalities with a commonality for the love of the outdoors.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1. Know the way: capitalize on networking, find mentors who are currently living the life that you desire to live
2. Go the way: chase your dreams with unparalleled pursuit. The only thing that is keeping you from everything you desire is you.
3. Show the way: once you achieve your first unachievable goal, mentor those with the same passion who are chasing their own goals. Being a mentor is a massive honor; never take it lightly.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

The number one obstacle I have encountered in running a business is feeling alone. The ironey is, I have found out that most CEOs all experience this feeling. Coming from an organization that has the word “Team” in it, I never felt as though I was on my own. As Outsider emerged in the outdoor industry, I was able to meet some of the most amazing people I have ever met in my life. I did not think that was possible outside of the Seal Teams. I started to realize everyone was fighting their own fight in a silo. I wanted to take the culture and team mentality from the SEAL Teams and bring it to the outdoor space. It dawned on me that all the players are already out there, I just have to build the team. This is why I started my second endeavour, The Ruck. The Ruck is a CEO and Founders cohort for leaders in the outdoor space to connect, collaborate, celebrate wins, and battle through losses together. I truly believe we are creating the most powerful cohort in the outdoor industry to help each other through the lonely and cahllenging times of business ownership.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Keagan Keddel for main photo of Sam, all others are Sam’s pics.

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