Check out Clear Skies Marketing at https://www.clearskiesmarketing.com
00:00:00:09 – 00:00:21:13
Matt Kuehlhorn
Hello, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Cooler Lifestyle Podcast. I’m your host, Matt Kuehlhorn, and I’m excited to have you join me as I interview community members and business leaders from the communities in which I live, work and serve. Through my business cooler garage doors, we’re going to bring you highlights and characters in our communities. Why? Because community matters.
00:00:21:17 – 00:00:47:23
Matt Kuehlhorn
And I want to know more about who is behind our business and leadership in order to understand and support the community fabric that our relationship make up. Join me twice a month as we dove into getting to know each other better and collectively, we can build stronger communities that support our lifestyles, our youth and our health. All right, ladies and gentlemen, this is Matt Kuehlhorn in your host of Cooler Lifestyle podcast.
00:00:47:23 – 00:01:06:06
Matt Kuehlhorn
And today I have the privilege of talking to Eric Hagelin, married father of six local here in Gunnison, Colorado. He and I have engaged on multiple number of projects at this point. He is the owner of Clear Skies Marketing and we’re glad to have you here. Eric, how are you doing?
00:01:06:18 – 00:01:09:02
Eric Hagelin
Good. Thank you for having me today, Matt.
00:01:09:21 – 00:01:21:18
Matt Kuehlhorn
You bet, man. I want to kick it off, man. What do you love about Gunnison and Crested Butte communities? What brought you out here? What keeps you here? What’s the. What’s the excitement? What chooses you?
00:01:22:12 – 00:01:50:07
Eric Hagelin
Well, I went to Western in 2006 to 2011 and moved back to where I grew up in Connecticut. And after I left the small town community and the mountains, they just kept calling my name and the busy lifestyle of the cities in in on the East Coast. So what I love most about Gunnison and Crested Butte communities is that they’re actually communities.
00:01:50:19 – 00:02:16:10
Eric Hagelin
I see people that I know everywhere I go. When I go to the stores, I’m always waving people are waving back. I see my kids teachers in various locations. And that sense of community. I feel like only exists in a small town like this. And that’s what really brought me back here and is what is keeping me here and what’s going to keep me here.
00:02:17:10 – 00:02:25:14
Matt Kuehlhorn
Love that. So your definition of community is kind of this inner web of relationships, being able to interact, rub shoulders, see people that you know.
00:02:25:24 – 00:02:33:05
Eric Hagelin
Yeah, it’s not bumping into people on the street because they’re in your way or you’re walking down a busy street in the city. You know.
00:02:34:09 – 00:02:52:21
Matt Kuehlhorn
You really. I love that. All right. So you are the proprietor of Clear Skies Marketing. You do a number of different things to help businesses promote themselves and get into the right spaces so that they can be seen. What do you see your businesses role being in the communities?
00:02:54:10 – 00:03:20:17
Eric Hagelin
So my biggest role in the community is helping other businesses stand out for tourists. And I love to drive down the road and see this updated Gunnison with new signage where tourists, when they’re coming through, are drawn to these locations. So my business does a number of things for small business, but that I see as the most impactful one locally.
00:03:21:21 – 00:03:23:12
Matt Kuehlhorn
I love it. So a facelift.
00:03:23:20 – 00:03:24:18
Eric Hagelin
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
00:03:25:03 – 00:03:28:05
Matt Kuehlhorn
I love it. How does your business support community?
00:03:29:13 – 00:03:52:21
Eric Hagelin
Well, right now I just hired on my first full time employee and I’m starting them at a livable wage. And I do a lot of work with the schools and the school systems. I recently did all the helmets for the eighth grade football team and everybody is super stoked about it. It’s got the Mustang logo on the side.
00:03:52:21 – 00:04:28:00
Eric Hagelin
Like I used the really high end car vinyl also wraps around the helmet really nice and I’d like to continue to support the community by investing my time into programs. Right now, I currently coach football coach. The little pros, the first and second graders there blast to coach. And that’s not so much a business support community. But I like that me as a business owner can jump in and support the community.
00:04:28:11 – 00:04:34:17
Eric Hagelin
And I would expect that from the rest of the employees that I continue to hire as my business grows.
00:04:35:23 – 00:04:41:05
Matt Kuehlhorn
So I love that. I love that, man. Good for you. Saw reference you as Coach Hagelin.
00:04:41:18 – 00:05:06:12
Eric Hagelin
Yeah, I have been coaching for a very long time since I was in high school, actually 2005 I started coaching and I’ve been doing that for a long time. I’ve mostly in the nine and ten year old area. I coach some high school football as a passing league, like a flag football league during the summer. But yeah, I just, I love being a part of the community in that, in that regard.
00:05:06:12 – 00:05:15:09
Eric Hagelin
I love watching the kids, you know, stick to sports and stay away from drugs. And it’s I feel like it’s a really important role for the community.
00:05:16:06 – 00:05:23:17
Matt Kuehlhorn
Yeah, it sure is, man. I didn’t get this detail out there, but I’m curious, what’s the age range of your kids?
00:05:24:16 – 00:05:38:04
Eric Hagelin
My age range right now is 13 to 3. So my oldest is 13 and the youngest is three. This is the first year in 13 years that we have all children in school.
00:05:39:04 – 00:06:07:11
Matt Kuehlhorn
Well done. Congratulations. Thanks. All right. So we keep these conversations short. This is just little tidbits. I’ve got a couple ending questions here and it kind of goes into some of the dreams, some of the visualization shit. What would you like to see in our community that is not currently here? What might be missing or what might be an addition that you could see opportunity for either other businesses, yourself or community leaders in general like latch on to?
00:06:08:22 – 00:06:30:08
Eric Hagelin
I think the biggest thing that’s lacking in the community is things to do, especially during the winter for families, really. We’ve got the rec center, which is phenomenal. We spend a lot of time in the pool over there doing the rock climbing wall, the kids love that. I got all six kids on the wall at one time because they’ve got seven harnesses, you know, seven lines.
00:06:30:21 – 00:06:52:14
Eric Hagelin
So it’s really cool to see them all just get in, get and move in and doing stuff. And right now we’re we’re at a point where we don’t have enough business for more activities to come in here. You know, like on the East Coast, we could drive 45 minutes or an hour to get to some really cool stuff for kids like arcades, mini golf, stuff like that.
00:06:52:14 – 00:07:15:24
Eric Hagelin
And over here we have the outdoors, which is fantastic. But I tell you, bundling up six kids for -20 in the winter skiing or whatever is a lot of work. And just trying to just seeing more things come in here that that would help families and just be a place where people could hang out during the winter, I think would be great.
00:07:17:13 – 00:07:32:21
Matt Kuehlhorn
I would agree with that. And it is a bit of a challenge just being in the cold air environment. So I can only imagine it with with six children as well. I have two. So it’s it just see, it sounds exponentially more difficult and more you get up.
00:07:33:01 – 00:07:42:24
Eric Hagelin
In the winter. The younger ones are required to wear snow pants to go to school. So I got to dress them up like starfish. Is it just to get them to school in the morning? So.
00:07:43:00 – 00:07:48:06
Matt Kuehlhorn
Yeah, I’ll bet. That’s awesome. Well, tell us, how can people learn more about you and your business?
00:07:49:12 – 00:08:11:15
Eric Hagelin
Well, I’m active on social media quite a bit on Instagram at Clear Skies Marketing and on Facebook at Clear Skies marketing there as well. And hopefully people start seeing me more around town, wrapping my van currently with the Clear Skies logo on it. So it should be hard to miss. I’ve got a boom truck that’s got clear skies on it.
00:08:11:15 – 00:08:28:01
Eric Hagelin
So yeah, if anybody’s interested in any of that stuff, they can contact me through the website or phone email. I’m definitely available for small businesses and marketing, and I also do signs, banners, posters, stickers, all that.
00:08:28:01 – 00:08:51:15
Matt Kuehlhorn
So I love it, man. Well, it’s been certainly a pleasure on my end to work with you, to get to know you. I’m glad that you’re here in the community and I really appreciate your time in today’s conversation and I would encourage anybody listening to go connect with Eric, either find him in his boom truck or check them out on a social media, clear sky marketing and Eric, I really appreciate your time.
00:08:51:15 – 00:08:52:17
Matt Kuehlhorn
Thanks so much for today.
00:08:53:00 – 00:08:54:18
Eric Hagelin
Yeah, thank you for having me, Matt.
