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

Hi Joe, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
It took me a LONG time to figure out what business would give me the life that I wanted. And not only the life that I wanted outside of the business, but what would give me enjoyment everyday.

Getting a new business off the ground takes a LOT of work, long hours, stress on finances and relationships. So, for me, it’s important that I really love what I’m doing, and believe in the future.

When I started our YouTube channel as a business I knew that it would take a lot of hard work, but the thought process was that if I started now and really loved every part of it, then it was only time until the business started taking off. And I was willing to take 3-5 years for that to pay off, because once you get the flywheel moving on a big project like this it really builds momentum!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
When getting into video creation there is so much to learn, and if anyone wants to see how bad it can start… go back and watch some of our earlier videos. 🙂

The process was definitely not easy, and if anyone is looking for easy… get a job at Taco Bell. This takes HARD work and a lot of time. I’ve had to produce bad content, analyze why it was bad, take criticism, study courses and other videos, and then produce more content to see if that is any better. It’s a lot of work, but getting back to my earlier sentiment, if you love it…. It doesn’t matter. It’s all awesome!

I’m still working on my craft every single day, and I hope that never changes. I want to keep getting better always.

I think the hardest thing about being a content creator is that you might think you have a product that’s as good as another creator, but the world gets to decide, and sometimes the world take some time to come around. So you need to decide if you should pivot, or if it’s just going to take time to build your audience.

The best thing that I’ve learned is to talk to your followers as if they are family or friends. Make them feel like you care and want to hangout with them.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Sure! We’d start by hitting i70 out to Frisco, camping by the lake for a night, and loading up on food and coffee at Whole Foods.

From there we’d head up north to Steamboat Springs to mountain bike Grouse and camp on Buffalo Pass before cruising into town for a lap (or two) on NPR and pizza at Clyde’s Pies.

We might hang around the town for a day or two at the KOA to ride at the bike park and grab coffee at Big Iron and a burger at the Back Door Grill.

Then we’d hustle down to Fruita/Grand Junction to ride some epic single track at 18 Road and Lunch Loops, and hopefully eat some peach pizza at Hot Tomato!

Lastly, as we are running out of days, we’d slam back east on i70 toward Denver, but hit up the Vail mountain bike park on the way!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people! First, my wife/partner Emily who has believed in this business/project from the start. Then, the people who have paved the way in the YouTube mountain bike video space, like Brian from BKXC, Singletrack Sampler, and Berm Peak.

Website: https://thevantasticlife.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thevantasticlife

Youtube: https://YouTube.com/thevantasticlife

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutColorado is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.