Meet Mike Moore | Marketing Manager

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mike Moore and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mike, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
When my kids were little we gave a friend’s kid a birthday gift of admission to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Their kids had everything they needed as far as toys went. Later the parents remarked that they appreciated getting a gift of “something to do” with them. A light bulb went off!

We worked on the idea over the pandemic with being at home a lot and having extra time. Recently, I decided that the time was now, if ever, to give this a try and we had some friends mock up a logo and a website and then we hired a web developer to put everything into place. Before becoming a teacher I had some experience in sales and cold calls so calling up business owners doesn’t feel overwhelming. Our kids are still in the age demographic that we target so I am always bouncing ideas off of them and trying to get them involved in the process. I feel like kids nowadays want to try their own thing with technology and get creative as well. Making a few spending dollars has come a long way since starting a lemonade stand. They are all young entrepreneurs at heart.

I’ve had many ideas over the years that I couldn’t put into place due to various constraints and this one seemed like something I could do. It works with my current lifestyle and my kids ages and helps serve the community, which works alongside my full-time job as a teacher.

What should our readers know about your business?
Go Explore Gift Cards is meant to fill the void in gift giving for kids ages approximately 5-18. Every year as a child ages they become harder and harder to purchase gifts for. At first they want plastic toys and they become obsessed with trucks, Legos, or other things. But then as they get a bit older they start to explore different options and widen their interests. Grandparents are constantly asking, “what are the kids into these days?” or you’re not sure what to get your friend for a gift because they might already have that exact toy and they may end up returning the gift you got them. The whole process can be a frustrating mess and to add on top of all that – kids often spring birthday invitations on you at the last minute. It’s been sitting in their backpack or they just plain forgot, and now they’re mad because it’s stressing you out to get their friend a gift (their school friend they may know very little about). So we thought through that process (we’ve been there!) and decided that letting kids choose from experiences and what they are interested in gives more power to the kid to say, “I want to ________”. Who knows, they may find that thing that becomes their lifelong passion!

When I looked around there were no other gift cards for kids. I’m excited to take on this market for Colorado and if I can do it right and serve the businesses we are partnered with and their communities then we can look to expand in other kid & family friendly markets.

Getting to this point hasn’t been easy and getting to where I want to be with Go Explore will not be any easier. It’s probably going to take a few years for the “New Kid on the Block” to be known in most people’s homes and for businesses to trust this new platform and how it all works to benefit their customer base. But that is what excites me the most is tweaking what we have in place to make this a commonplace, simple platform for kids and families to use and also serve small businesses that don’t have the advertising dollars to market their business elsewhere.

Some lessons I’ve learned along the way are that you have to trust your instincts and pursue your goals. Be determined, but not pushy. It’s way too hard to visit all of these businesses in-person so I make a lot of phone calls. I try to be my laid back self on the phone and not be too aggressive. These businesses don’t want another solicitor calling and pushing their angle to make a few bucks off them. When businesses are open to what we do, they understand the platform and what we’re trying to build, they usually open up and see that we’re different in what we are doing. Some of my best days are where I get a “no” from a business owner but they are open to chatting about the platform and they are kind on the phone. Usually that “no” is a “not right now, but try me later” because we charge nothing to advertise an offer through us. There is really no risk in deciding to partner with us. We will help promote local businesses and in turn the variety of options helps us market our gift cards to a wider audience. We can help each other.

I am an explorer by heart. I spent my early years at my parents home in Virginia exploring their 2 acres of woods surrounding their house. When I move to Colorado in my 20s I became an avid hiker and explorer of the mountains and canyons of the American West. When I finally got married we explored the world together for a year and lived out of backpacks. When my kids were born we took them all over to different landscapes and really gave them an education in the natural world. Now that we have a dog, she has become my partner in exploration. I’m always on the move, wanting to try new things, new experiences. I want kids to develop those same instincts and passions and get out there as well.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Colorado is such an amazing place. I wanted to settle down somewhere in the Rocky Mountains and I think I picked the best place I could have found. If a friend came into town, I would probably try to find a show at Red Rocks to take them to. Or we might look to see what comedians are at Comedy Works and go check out some mural art in the RINO district, have some beers at a local brewery like Great Divide, before taking in some live music or a show.

I’m not a big city person though. I can handle it for a bit and then I need to get out. I like packing a cooler and heading to a creek and finding a swimming hole to hang out in the summer. I might take the dog up the Annie U. White trail in Boulder which is a great, shaded stroll up with water for the dog. I would probably hike at Chautauqua Park and show them the Flatirons or clamber up the rocks a bit at Settler’s Park in Boulder before heading to Pearl Street to take in some of the street performances and dining options.

If we were able to get away for a few days outside the Front Range we would probably head to Red Feather Lakes, the Sand Dunes, Lake Dillon, or Buena Vista. If you think about it you can hike, mountain bike, sandboard, kayak, or play an amazing round of disc golf in any of these locations. We are so lucky to live and work in this great state!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Well first and foremost and I want to thank my family for helping me out when they can alongside this process. My daughter attended our first outdoor market event and worked the tent and prize wheel with me. My son has worked with Canva on some social media posts. My wife helped me come up with the name and hone the idea in the beginning and has helped with tedious tasks when asked.

I want to also give a shoutout to my friends Todd and Sarah.. Sarah worked on the logo design while she raised 2 kids and Todd listened to all of my initial ideas and gave me constructive feedback while we hiked 210 miles one summer on the John Muir Trail.

Also, another friend Jon has some design skills and he took my rudimentary website I put together and spruced it up and gave it a sleek, modern look and that served as the template for my web developer to put the website together. He worked with me countless hours, all while starting his own business on the side as well.

Website: https://www.goexploregiftcards.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goexploregiftcards/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/go-explore-8501402a7/

Twitter: https://x.com/GoExploreCO

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555021378776

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GoExploreGiftCards