Meet Will Elmore | Entrepreneur

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

Hi Will, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I think the most important factor in the success of Card Belts has simply been my belief in the product. My wife is always supportive of all my crazy ideas but even she was admittedly skeptical about the idea of people wanting to purchase and wear belts made out of vintage sports cards.

My professional career has been heavily in the digital marketing and startup worlds including the past 10 years running a paid search marketing advertising agency, Aitch Eye Digital. So when I decided to build a more analog, handmade product it was definitely not in my comfort zone.

I started Card Belts during the pandemic when everyone had space and time at home to reset and refocus their priorities. I seeded dozens of ‘beta’ versions of my sports cards belts to peers and friends to get some feedback which was all incredibly positive and supportive.

Having never built belts by hand before, the entire process was new, exciting, daunting and at times frustrating. But, I kept grinding away in the ‘belt factory’ (my garage) night after night with the belief that I was creating a truly unique product that nobody else on earth was making. When I launched www.cardbelts.com in September of 2020 and quickly began receiving online orders I knew that all of the late nights, production errors and any doubts about product demand were all worth it.

Although the launch of my most recent brand (Card Belts) began online with a Shopify store and a strong presence on Instagram, the growth of my brand and sales really took off once I began vending at handmade, arts and beer festivals. Interfacing in person at festivals and events to sell my products has become one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done in my career.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
One of my other obsessions is my concert and travel photography business Aitch Eye (www.aitcheye.com). When I left Google in 2007 I spent a couple of years driving around (and sleeping) in my truck photographing the beauty, weirdness and diversity of the United States. I launched www.aitcheye.com in 2007 primarily as a travel photography site.

Over the past 15 years my photography business has grown and evolved to include portraits, weddings and most importantly my favorite thing to photograph which is live music.

While hosting a living room concert about 10 years ago I had a lucky interaction with the drummer of the band who introduced me to another entrepreneur who ran a concert photography publication. He was looking for a photographer to cover some shows which I quickly jumped at the chance to do.

Although I still sell travel photography prints via various outlets my primary photography focus is working with bands and venues to cover national tours.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Whenever friends come to the Denver area there are several favorite locations we try to hit. Here’s some my must see locations:

– Red Rocks: Even if there’s not a show at Red Rocks anyone who visits already has this on their ‘to do’ list

– Hi-Dive: The Hi-Dive is one of my favorite live music venues and it is tiny. I’ve seen and discovered some of my favorite bands at this tiny, iconic venue.

– RiNo: Because of the incredible murals, numerous breweries & restaurants and eclectic vibe I love taking out-of-towners to the River North area of Denver.

– Golden Mill: Golden is one of my favorite places in the greater Denver metro area and the Golden Mill is an excellent choice for views, brews and food right in the heart of Golden.

– Any of the front range trails including Apex, Matthews-Winters, Dakota Ridge or Bergen Peak are go-to options for hiking or mountain biking

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I spent four years working at Google (2003-2007) followed by time at couple of other startups (Sendori & dealpepper). Each of these startup roles truly changed how I thought about what I wanted to do with my professional life.

I think the most influential person in my career during these startup years is the founder/owner at Honor The Plant (www.honortheplant.com) Kevin Geddes. Kevin has been an entrepreneur since he was 16 years old and his motivation and drive to simple ‘get things done’ has had a huge impact on how I operate my businesses. He taught and showed me the advantages of not overthinking decisions but to instead take action and always be testing, trying and moving forward. Anytime I’m in a jam or hit a wall I think to myself, “what would Kevin do in this situation?”

A book that has reset my view on how to more effectively thing about and spend my time is called 4,000 Weeks by Oliver Burkeman.

Website: www.cardbelts.com

Instagram: @cardbelts

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aitcheye/