My name is Joel VandenBrink. I am proudly married to the love of my life (Michelle), and have one amazing son with her (Wesley). I was born and raised in a small town in Michigan, right on Lake Michigan. I spent my younger years building forts, chasing frogs, and playing hours and hours of roller hockey, basketball, and tennis.
I graduated from Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, MI with a B.S. in Manufacturing Engineering. I worked for 5 years as a Tier One supplier to the automotive industry and then decided I wanted to move across the country and pursue a Post Graduate Degree. In 2003 I moved to Seattle Washington and started work on a Masters degree at the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. Three years later I was granted a Masters of Divinity. Which I never actually used.
In 2007 I started a small microbrewery in the SoDo neighborthood of Seattle, and then in 2013 I started a cidery. I grew these two businesses to be well respected in their fields and then sold them in 2016. I stayed on as CEO until late 2019 to help the new buyer transition and since I have been spending as much quality time with my family as possible.
In January of 2020 we set out on the road, pulling a 27′ Airstream, and were gone until mid May 2020. We travelled 8700 miles, and saw some amazing sites.
In addition to travelling, I spend a good amount of time each summer backpacking and mountaineering. I have sole hiked the John Muir Trail, Wonderland Trail, Loowit Trail, as well as good portions of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). All in all I have solo hiked more than 2000 miles. I have also summited many of the Northwests Volcanos, and plan to summit all of them eventually.
Travel, Adventure, and Small Business are all passions of mine.