Getting paid to live a dream
Shane Larsen doesn’t get paid when he goes to work. In fact, he puts his own money into his job. But that’s because his job will one day be able to pay him back.
Larsen, 2002 USU alumnus, helped start a ski company called Bluehouse Skis. He, along with four friends, have regular jobs during the day but claim Bluehouse as their second job, he said.
“Most of the Bluehouse work gets done from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.,” Larsen said. “We have to do it during those hours because Bluehouse doesn’t pay our bills yet. We have to pay our bills elsewhere.”
Larsen, who is originally from Smithfield, said he was asked to make some type of financial contribution when he came on board with Bluehouse Skis. Initially, Larsen said all finances came out of each person’s pockets, out of saving accounts or out of loans. Investing money and time, however, is a sacrifice Larsen said is beginning to reap rewards.
“We sold out of a model in 10 days,” he said. “(And) one ski store just a couple weeks ago approached us. We dreamed initially of having stores approach us, but we didn’t think it would be a reality in this first year.”
He contributes the beginning success of Bluehouse Skis to the company’s customer service.
“Bluehouse Ski Company is not just a typical ski manufacturer,” he said. “We will know your name and respond to your feedback. We also feel like the skis we produce will only get better because of that. No other company will give you the attention and customer service, and loyalty, that good independent feeling you’ll get from Bluehouse.”
Troy Oldham, USU journalism professor, said he was introduced to Bluehouse through a student at USU. Oldham, who has been a ski patrolman since 1985 and has skied with a lot of top-performance skies, said he was really interested in learning more about Bluehouse once he read about the construction of Bluehouse skis.
“People who ski regularly get very attached to their gear,” Oldham said. “They are also willing to tell others what they like and don’t like about their skis. Another big part of a purchase is how you are treated if there is a problem. So, I think the personal touch that Bluehouse is talking about, and has shown to me, will be very important in how skiers feel about their purchases over time and eventually lead them to a repurchase decision.”
When Larsen was a student at USU, he said he would adjust his fall schedule to include up to 24 credit hours. That way he only had to take nine credit hours during winter semester, which gave him more time to be on the hill. So, for about three years in a row, Larsen said he went skiing at Beaver Mountain for 40 or more days during the winter semester. Most days of the week, Larsen said he could be found doing what he loved the most.
“My point is when I was in college, when you ski that much, you dream of making skis that you ski on or dream of working for a company who is involved with the industry,” he said. “Usually, you say there’s no way, these companies are too big. You don’t think it can become a reality.”
But living the American dream is just what Larsen said he is doing.
One obstacle in getting their product off the ground, he said, was approaching ski shops to carry Bluehouse skis.
“It was a challenge because they didn’t have any trust in our brand since we were brand new,” he said. “So, ski shops and salespeople didn’t know what kind of product we were going to bring them.”
Larsen said this forced the crew to begin a nonconventional approach to sales and take more ownership of their sales. In the long run, he said this has been the best decision ever made to get their product off the ground because it gives the group control over their sales and gives them a way to track their sales.
“Knowing we were doing it on our own, everything was up to us, and if we had success in sales, it was because we were going to do it,” he said.
Working as an independent company puts a lot of pressure on the team but thankfully, he said, the Bluehouse team all works well under pressure.
Oldham said another reason he likes Bluehouse is because the company is local. Supporting local businesses is important, he said, especially if the company has a good product. And locals, he said, should be willing to help their local companies grow.
“These guys have a passion for what they are doing, so much that they have put their lives on hold and put their credit and money to the test,” Oldham said. “I think that should give them a lot of credit in Utah.”
Larsen said one aspect of Bluehouse skis is that a part of their skis are environmentally green. While most skis have foam or wood cores, Bluehouse skis have a bamboo core, he said. Only a couple other companies around the world use bamboo for ski cores, but Larsen said he thinks people will respond well to them. There are two different types of flexes a ski experiences, he said. One is called a vertical flex and the other is called torsional flex. Bamboo core affects these flexes differently.
“People might think it will be a softer ski, but (the bamboo ski) responds better when you are going fast,” he said. “There is more torsional (when you are going fast), and bamboo doesn’t have that torsional effect even though it still gives you the qualities a softer wood would give you.”
Caitlin Morgan, University of Utah graduate, said she used Bluehouse skis during a skiing trip to Chile. Morgan, who said she has skied all her life, went to high school with Adam Hepworth and Jared Richards, who are the cofounders of the company, and they called her before she left to ask if Larsen could tag along.
“We took all three (Bluehouse) models down there,” she said. “I was really excited because nobody had skied on them before. It was fun knowing we were the first ones.”
Morgan said although she was skeptical at first, she ended up being thoroughly impressed.
“I thought they were going to be noodley or soft because I am used to skiing on a pretty stiff ski,” Morgan said. “But honestly, I was totally impressed. They held up really well and had a lot of bounce. I was impressed that for a local company they skied like any one of the other big brands skied.”
For those students who are not interested in skiing, Larsen said the Bluehouse crew tries to involve them as well. One way this is achieved, he said, is hosting ski films open to the public. Another way, he said, is having a ski graphics contest where anyone can submit a graphic design for the chance to have their design printed onto the skis. The contest, which ends Nov. 15, can be accessed through the company’s Web site at www.bluehouseskis.com. From there, a template can be downloaded for people to create their art on, he said. All entries will be visible to the public. This way, Larsen said a part of the skis is created by the general public and not just the Bluehouse crew.
The name Bluehouse comes from a the cofounders of the company, he said. Richards and Hepworth first started dreaming of a ski company idea back in college as roommates, Larsen said. The house they lived in was dubbed Bluehouse since Larsen said it was notorious for having skiers live there. Everyone has their college dream, he said, so since the Bluehouse was where they had the inception of the company and first pictured it, they decided to name the company after the house.
Morgan said she is telling everyone she knows about Bluehouse’s success.
“It’s really cool to be wearing a pair of soft skis that are specific for Utah conditions and created by a local company.”
Main members of the Bluehouse crew include Larsen, Hepworth, Dan Nebeker, Kendall Card and Richards. For more information, please visit www.bluehouseskis.com.
-brittny.jo@aggiemail.usu.edu