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Every medium has their pioneers. For my vlog, I would definitely say Casey Neistat has been an inspiration to me. I mean he vlogged about his daily life in New York City for 800 days in a row. Think about it. He fully shot, edited and uploaded a video to his YouTube channel for 800 straight days. That’s nuts! They’re good too. He definitely inspires me.
In fly fishing there are many pioneers. I think about Chuck Furimsy and how he pioneered the nationwide Fly Fishing Shows. Jeff Currier and what he has done with his journey for new species on the fly, which last I heard was over 440. Crazy! Jeff is definitely a pioneer and a huge inspiration to many, not to mention a fantastic guy. I don’t mention it too often but most of Jeff Currier’s artwork is for sale on the Fly Fishing Journeys website. His fish species coffee mugs, frosty mugs and sun shirts, with and without hoods can be found at flyfishingjourneys.com.
My guest on this episode is also a pioneer. I remember first watching Ken Tanaka on YouTube on these crazy adventures back in the day. He has continued to fine tune his craft and provides an amazing resource to fly anglers around the world. To watch his YouTube videos today is like going on that journey with him and maybe that’s why it resonates with me.
I loved sitting down with him and I know you will enjoy this episode as we dive into his backstory of growing up in a Japanese American household, the early days of the Wish 4 Fish story and some of his current adventures from around the world.
[05.51] Wish for Fish – Starting the conversation, Ken shares a brief bio about himself and the origin of the name of his brand, Wish for Fish.
[16.13] Cultural influence – Ken shares how cultural differences affected him in his childhood as a Japanese-American.
[17.38] Parenting – Ken shares why he decided to take a more open-minded approach when it comes to parenting rather than following typical Asian parenting.
[24.59] Building a brand – We talk about why it’s not easy to build a brand and how Ken’s place in the fashion industry helped him build his brand, Wish for Fish.
[29.16] Experience – Experience is everlasting. You learn something new wherever you go.
[38.19] Rock climbing – We talk about Ken’s idea to start an adventure combining both fishing and rock climbing.
[41.04] Social media – Ken explains why social media numbers don’t matter to him.
Resources
https://wish4fish.com
https://flyfishingjourneys.com/shop
Thanks to our sponsors:
crosscurrentinsurance.com
flyfishingshow.com
nor-vise.com
