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

Hi Brady, what inspires you?
I’m inspired each day by the opportunity to create cutting edge van conversions that provide reliable access to the outdoors. My favorite memories with family and friends involve enjoying nature through hiking, biking, and skiing. Being able to facilitate those experiences for others makes each day rewarding. Running a small manufacturing business provides the ideal balance between hands-on work in the shop and sitting at a desk for engineering and admin tasks.

What should our readers know about your business?
Gravity Vans is an Arvada, CO van conversion company specializing in BYOV upfits for Transit, Sprinter, and ProMaster vans. We believe in eliminating the wait for your van by delivering our builds in just 6 weeks. Our semi-custom conversions have four season capability and premium amenities such as hidden showers, radiant floor heating, off-grid electrical and so much more. Everything you need to enjoy your time on the road.

We recently hit the two year mark of being in business and feel like we have turned a corner in terms of our sustainable path forward. All good things take time to grow and we follow the principle, “Go Far, Not Fast” to guide our next steps. As the business has progressed we’ve learned to pivot along the way. Gravity Vans first started as a fully custom van conversion shop and has now has two different arms of the business. One arm is focused on designing and building semi-custom campervans for our clients that bring us an empty cargo van we we turn it into a luxury mobile living space. The second arm focused on providing engineering and CNC manufacturing services to other local van builders that need parts.

I didn’t set out to build a business with two arms, but following my passion and market opportunities lead us down this path. About a year ago we made a big capital investment to purchase a CNC Router machine to manufacture all of the cabinets, walls ceilings, and wood products that are installed in each van. We thought that bringing the manufacturing capabilities in-house would allow us to be more nimble and less dependent on suppliers given our tight build times. Little did I know that buying the machine to make our own parts would open up a new door of opportunities to provide local manufacturing services to other small van builders in the Denver area. 50% of our business is now manufacturing for other businesses and appears to be growing at a faster rate than the van segment.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Naturally, when friends visit we do modified mini trips in the van to experience the greater Denver/Boulder area. For starters we would mountain bike North Table in Golden and finish the ride by tubing down clear creek. We’d have to hit a Red Rocks concert and tailgate with a van to chef up a good time in the parking lot. I’d also find time to grab a beer at the Gold Hill Store and camp up Sugarloaf Mountain with views of Boulder.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’ve been fortunate to have many great mentors and motivators in my life, but none that stand out more than my wife Lindsay. It’s very easy to be the dreamer and work tirelessly each day to pursue your own goals and passions. It is far more difficult to be a daily supporter of someone else’s dream and the high and lows that come with it. My wife has been the unsung hero each step of the way by supporting long nights at the shop, being an extra set of hands when needed, or taking care of everything at the home base when I need to have a singular focus towards a large deadline. Lindsay has been a wonderful source of encouragement and support for my dream that she has come to embrace.

Website: https://gravityvans.com

Instagram: @gravity.vans

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brady-severt/

Image Credits
Emma Bush

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