Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Cruz.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
As a kid, I grew up in Upstate N.Y. I spent most of my time seeking adventure outdoors, hiking, biking, skating, playing in the streets, and exploring the woods. At school, I started playing traditional sports like football, baseball, and track, but by the 11th grade, I had traded all that for rollerblading, mountain biking, and other outdoor adventure sports. At 17, I was blessed to spend 5 weeks in the wilderness in northern Montana, building a trail with the Student Conservation Association. That experience changed my life and inspired me to pursue a Wilderness Recreation and Outdoor Leadership degree. Throughout my early 20s, I spent most of my free time traveling around the country, backpacking and seeking adventure in the outdoors, including a partial thru-hike of the Colorado Trail in 1999, a 2-month surf safari in Hawaii, and a brief sailing adventure from the Florida Keys to Mexico, among other adventures.
- In 2003, I returned to college to get a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from S.U.N.Y. Plattsburgh, where I also rekindled my love and practice of Tai Chi, a traditional Chinese martial art and health exercise that teaches balance and harmony through mindful awareness and moment practice. Fast forward to 2011, I earned a Master’s Degree in Recreation Therapy and began working as a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist at a residential treatment center for youth with psychiatric difficulties. This forms the first chapter of my professional career as a recreation therapist, where I developed my knowledge and abilities as a therapist and teacher helping youth overcome illness and barriers through mindfulness-based recreation practices.
- Jump ahead to 2019, married with children, and we want to move south. My wife used to live in the Nantahala Gorge in Western N.C. and wants to return to the area. After not finding the jobs we were looking for in N.C., I zoomed out on Google Earth and discovered a nearby place surrounded by lakes and close to the mountains. Hey babe, I said, “Look for a job at Clemson!” We moved to Clemson in 2019, just before the pandemic. My wife worked at the university as the new Director of English in the Office of Global Engagement. I was a lead team-building facilitator at Clemson Outdoor Lab and an assistant teacher at a local preschool. Once the pandemic hit, I was out of work, home-schooling my two boys, and decided to start my own business doing what I love. In 2020, Cruz Outdoors was born, and it was a slow start at first, building skateboards in my garage for neighborhood kids and offering skate and stand-up paddleboard lessons.
- In 2021, I was contracted by The Well Center, a mental health counseling studio in Clemson, to provide recreation therapy services to local youth. Through my work at the Well Center, I met many wonderful kids and families and began to build my reputation as the “fun” activities coach, mindfulness teacher, and therapist in town. I will forever be grateful to Ginny Gaulin of the Well Center for getting me started in Clemson.
- On June 3rd, 2023, Cruz Outdoors opened shop with a brick-and-mortar location next to Moe Joes Coffee in Clemson. Our store has lots of fun stuff, including bicycles, e-scooters, trick scooters, roller skates, various skateboards, stand-up paddle boards, and alternative sports gear, including pickleball, spike ball, disc golf, and more. I continue to provide recreation therapy services, lessons, team building, and athletic coaching. I also love hosting community events, and on June 25th this year, we put on the 2nd Annual Clemson Paddle Jam, an annual paddle race on Lake Hartwell in Clemson. In the future, I look forward to putting on more events and to continue building relationships with the city, university, and local businesses. My family and I love Clemson and feel so fortunate to call this place home!
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One of the struggles I have experienced personally and professionally is figuring out how to incorporate everything I love to do into one business plan—putting pickleball and skateboarding in the same sentence, for instance. Recreation therapy and electric scooters; team building and roller skates? The central theme and motivation that is the glue that holds it all together is having fun!
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Cruz Outdoors opened its doors on June 3rd, 2023, in Clemson. Our initial focus was to be a skate shop to serve the needs of a large local skateboarding population. Clemson did not have a skate shop then, and folks had to travel to Greenville to get what they needed. Now, we sell and service all varieties of electric and non-electric skateboards, scooters, and bicycles. We carry roller skates, eventually inline skates, and have a great selection of protective gear, such as helmets and pads from top brands. For the water, we carry stand-up paddle boards from JB Boards in Hilton Head and offer paddleboard rentals and lessons. To round out all the fun and encourage more participation in alternative sports, we carry Spikeball, disc golf, ultimate frisbee, hacky sacks, and pickleball paddles and accessories. What sets us apart is that we provide athletic coaching, team building, and recreation therapy services. Plus, we love organizing community events, like the Clemson Paddle Jam, a yearly paddle race on Lake Hartwell that takes place the last weekend in June, and a First Friday Skate Party. This outdoor skating event happens every first Friday of the month in our parking lot. Bringing people together through outdoor recreation is what we are about. We want to support and encourage more diversity in the activities that people do for fun and the people who participate in these exciting activities. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are important to us; whatever we can do to help promote this in our culture and community is essential. We love and want to see more rainbows in recreation!
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
I learned from the crisis that it is important to be flexible and ready for change at a moment’s notice.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cruzoutdoors.com
- Instagram: @cruzoutdoors
- Facebook: facebook.com/cruzoutdoors
