Meet Tamra Evangelista | Co-Owner & COO for Thirty Seconds Out

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

Hi Tamra, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Sean started this venture (e-commerce apparel company) in Sept 2014, a year or so after retiring from the Navy after 20 years. He did a few different things up until then but wanted to establish more independence and freedom in his life. That was the main reason he stepped into creating his own brand. Working for others felt restrictive and limiting. Starting his own business felt challenging but also gave him back a sense of freedom and the ability to dictate what he did with his time, ability to grow and expand if he desired, etc. He started with simply making stickers and patches. He then added t-shirts and other apparel as interest in his designs grew.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Our brand is based on the moment right before you do something epic, slightly scary or exhilarating, that moment when your adrenaline kicks in. For example, it is the moment right before you jump out of an airplane to skydive or ski that black diamond ski run you never tried before. It is the moment right before you step out on stage to give that presentation you’ve been working so hard on for months or walk into the board room to present your big new idea. It is that moment before the starting gun goes off for the marathon or trail run you’ve been training for. It’s that moment immediately before you do that thing that steps you out of your comfort zone, knowing you need to rely on whatever preparation or training you’ve done, and trust you did enough.

For Sean it was the moment in the military when he was about to execute on a mission, the thirty seconds out. The final thirty seconds before getting the green light was when he knew command was not going to call him back, the point of no return. He had to rely on his training and positive mental attitude to move forward. He took those phrases, which helped him through out his 20 year career, and expanded them to anyone who “gets after it” in their own way.

We are excited that we have almost made it to our 10 year anniversary, which will be September 2024. It has not always been easy. We have tried many different approaches to grow the business that did not work out. Each attempt was a large investment and gamble, mentally, emotionally, and financially. Early on in the brand’s lifetime we attempted to sell blue jeans with limited success (not much at all). In 2019, we opened two different international distribution centers, one in the UK, and a year later one in Germany. We had hopes it would help our international customers get better access to our brand without paying an arm and leg for customs and duty taxes. Unfortunately, due to complexity of the respective international markets, our inability to visit in person, and other mitigating factors we officially closed both locations down by 2021 & 2022 respectively. In 2023, we opened up a flagship brick-and-mortar retail location for our brand, only to have to close the store permanently after just 6 months.

While these examples were unsuccessful ventures, we wouldn’t consider them failures. We learned so much from each opportunity. We learned a lot about ourselves and what we also really wanted in our lives and from the brand. Financially, these each were difficult challenges to recover from, yet we discovered we were resilient. We were honest with our customers each step of the way and worked hard to get back on our feet. We have come to discover that we do best when we have one major focus that keeps us on track with our brand, rather than trying multiple things at once. We also are both learning to slow down and have patience, which is really key when trying to shift things in business, along with trusting the process and the time it takes to get “there.”

Our brand has evolved over time, as Sean has evolved over the last 10 years since retiring from his military career. We are now a veteran-owned and woman-owned company, with military roots and an appetite for adventure. We are 100% online (e-commerce). We are not a military brand but rather a lifestyle brand that helps inspire others to push themselves to always be the best version of themselves as possible… to be prepared for the unexpected (“Expect to Self Rescue’), be self-reliant (“No One is Coming, Its Up to Us”), and push themselves out of their comfort zones which helps support growth and development (“Pursue the Unknown”).

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We live in Ouray, CO on the Western Slope. It is the loveliest part of Colorado, if we say so ourselves. If you were to come and visit for a week, we would first show you around our small rural mountain town. We have some great restaurants, such as Brickhouse 737, Outlaw, Full Tilt, or a cool burger spot, Maggies. We have a brewery called Ouray Brewery and a wine tasting room that is a remote tasting room for Sauvage Spectrum, whose main location is on their vineyard in Palisades, CO. We have some awesome rooftop locations, such as the Dead Canary, or an epic porch overlook at The Gray, where you can hangout sipping cocktails while looking at the epic mountain peaks surrounding Ouray, “The Switzerland of America.”

After eating and shopping, we’d take guests on the Via Ferrata or the Ouray Ice Park (same location, just depends on time of year). Ouray is also a good kick off spot for a variety of epic backcountry opportunities, such as backcountry skiing over Red Mountain pass in the San Juans, great cross country ski locations, big or small hikes to remote breathtaking spots, rock climbing and ice climbing. Telluride and its ski resort is just an hour drive from us and has similar outdoor opportunities along with one of the best ski resorts in Colorado (we might be bias).

We would then take guests to explore other amazing Western slope locations, such as Montrose, which has great food experiences and shopping opportunities, plus fishing, canyons, and neat desert explorations activities. Grand Junction is only two hours north of Ouray and is the close bigger town/city location and all that brings with it. Then Palisades, Colorado’s wine country, is right next door to Grand Junction. In the other direction, Red Mountain Pass is a must do opportunity, weather permitting, with its raw natural beauty, and leads you to Silverton and then Durango on the other side.

There is so much to do here, you may need more than a week to visit. Or at least plan on multiple visits.

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?
Sean would like to make a Shoutout to his wife, Tamra Evangelista, who joined the business in 2019. Tamra had almost 20 years of corporate management and leadership through working at a National Payroll company. She was instrumental in helping expand the brand by supporting and managing the administrative aspects of the company and taking over the HR responsibilities. This freed Sean up to focus on the creative side and business development of the brand. Tamra was a solid sounding board for Sean, as he explored various ideas and ventures to help grow the brand, get more international exposure, and solidify the vision and mission of Thirty Seconds Out. In 2023, Tamra became 50% owner due to her support and strategic leadership contributions.

Sean and Tamra would also like to make a shoutout to their long-term customer base. As a grassroots small business, starting out with no investments or backing, the customers are the reason you make it. There is a specific group of customers who have been following and purchasing our products since day one and are still super impactful to our brand. They continue to support us after almost 10 years, share our brand with others, and even some have gotten our various phrases or logos tattooed onto their bodies. That is loyalty. They are the reason we continue to fight to keep this venture going.

Website: www.thirtysecondsout.com

Instagram: @thirtysecondsout.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thirty-seconds-out

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ThirtySecondsOut

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