The guy behind the gear
Meet Nick
"I'm not here because I figured life out. I'm here because I've had to keep getting back up."
A rough start.
I grew up in a broken home. My dad was an alcoholic.
Later there was a stepfather who was verbally abusive.
I'm not telling you that for sympathy. I'm telling you because nothing about the beginning was lined up neatly, and I know I'm not the only one who started there.
Photo
Childhood / family
Any old photo works here
I married my high school sweetheart.
She was pregnant for about half of our senior year.
I became a dad before I knew how to be an adult. We got married at 18.
That baby was Zane. He grew into a better man than I was at his age, and I'm proud of him in a way I don't have good words for.
Three boys by our early twenties. Kids raising kids, figuring it out as we went.
18 and in love
Prom night
Early family — Zane & the boys
18 years old.A baby on the way.A family to build.
Graduated. Finally.
Work. School. Family. Repeat.
I worked to keep the lights on and put food on the table.
Earned a bachelor's degree. Then a master's.
Early mornings. Late nights. Homework after the boys went to bed. Do it again tomorrow.
And eventually, it worked.
Those years turned into businesses. Multiple ones. Multi-million-dollar ones.
From the outside it looked like I had made it.
For a while, I believed that too.
Photo
Business / success season
Then I blew it.
Bad decisions. Ventures that didn't work.
I lost a serious amount of what took years to build.
No one to point at. That one was mine.
Starting over is tough stuff.
Then I started running.
Not to become an ultra runner. I just needed to lose weight and get my head straight.
Sixty pounds later I was still going. The distances kept getting longer.
Running stopped being exercise somewhere in there. It taught me what it feels like to want to quit and keep moving anyway.
Start line. 50 miles to go.
Somewhere in the middle.
All gear laid out. 4 a.m.
Aid station. Ten seconds off your feet.
Bib #121. Rebecca Mountain 50 Miler.
Finisher.
50 miles. Done.
60 pounds. Six panels. One long road.
60 pounds lost.Ultra runner.Still going.
And through all of it...
Faith never made any of it easy. That was never the deal.
It just meant I never had to carry it by myself.
Christ didn't promise an easy road. He walked the hard one first.
Do tough stuff.Because He did.
Still letting me hang around
25 years later.
Same girl from high school. Twenty-five years.
Three boys raised. Businesses built. Businesses lost. Rebuilt.
Good seasons, hard seasons, and a whole lot of ordinary days in between.
Still here. Still moving.
Still doing tough stuff.
The whole crew — Easter 2026
Same girl. Still going.
Real life.Real tough stuff.
No actors. No stock footage. No perfectly scripted life. Just real people doing real tough stuff.
Photo
The 50-mile ultra
Mile 38. The part nobody films.
Photo
When the business failed
What starting over actually looks like.
Photo
Early miles
4:40 a.m. Nobody is watching.
Photo
Faith on the road
Why He did comes before we do.
Photo
Raising three boys
Twenty-five years of figuring it out.
Photo
Getting back up
Not advice. Just what worked.
Video slots — TikTok clips drop straight into these.
My story isn't really the point.
It's just where this thing started. Everybody has a story.
Maybe yours is running 50 miles. Maybe it's raising kids. Maybe it's building a business, or working a job you don't love, or taking care of someone you love.
Maybe it's starting over. Maybe it's just getting up tomorrow and doing it again.
What's your tough stuff?
Tough stuff comes in all shapes and sizes. And you don't have to do it alone.