This morning our young professionals were able to join a Midland Institute Zoom featuring Dan Chancellor, owner of So Ill in St. Louis. Dan has a passion for rock climbing, camping and the outdoors and was able to turn that into a growing business. Dan says he was climbing before climbing was cool. He started his business 20 years ago at the young age of 18. At that time many big retails stores didn't understand the climbing culture so Dan and his brother decided to develop and grow their company on their own. Dan gave the young professionals a lot to think about as he talked about relying on retail vs. building your own brand and instant gratification vs. life-long goal. By continually investing in their business, So Ill now has a large inventor of outdoor clothing and climbing accessories, 2 climbing gyms and a non-profit, 1Climb that offers the climbing opportunity to low income kids. So Ill attended a Trade Show in Los Angeles only to leave with Jason Momoa as a company representative. Check out the company at www.soillholds.com.

"Believe you have what it takes. You know your company best."
-Dan Chancellor