Luke Trembath: How Transitioning From Pro Snowboarding To Bootstrapping Grenade Gloves Sparked A Multi-Million Dollar Career

Luke “the Dingo ‘’ Trembath is a one of a Kind personality whose fun loving spirit and contagious energy has made him a mainstay on television for years. The former pro snowboarder is the Co-founder of self-discovery & career exploration platform, Find Your Grind, that helps individuals define their road map to discover who they are, where they are going, and the first steps to get there. A leading voice of the action sports world & beyond, where he has done everything from announcing high profile sporting events, The MTV MUSIC music awards to starring in 5 seasons of fuel TV’s “The Adventures Of Danny & The Dingo ‘’. Once you’ve met him, you’ll agree — there’s only 1 Dingo A true social chameleon — The Dingo’s ability to find common ground with anyone and adapt to any social situation makes him the perfect role model for kindness and acceptance among today’s youth.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! It is a great honor. Our readers would love to learn more about your personal background. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

Thank you, I grew up in Australia, south of Melbourne in a small beach town called Mt.Martha. I think I grew up like most Australians, Outdoors and obsessed with Skateboarding, BMX, surfing and snowboarding, my older brother Reece was on the ski team, I started snowboarding at age 6, it was my first love for sure.

Well I snowboarded a lot, I started competing at age 9, I was nationally recognized by 11, but did not win “The Nationals” until I was 13. At 13 I had already been on trips to America & Canada with the Australian team. I competed in the JNR worlds in France when I was 14, I blew my knee out but I had the opportunity to move to America and train at the Steamboat Springs Winter sports club. I left everything I have ever known, moving to The States to train, after one year I moved to Mammoth Lakes, California and was enrolled in homeschool, I would continue to snowboard and school, at that time I had no other option but to live on a couch at my friend’s house in Mammoth, so I did just that, by 17 I had become a pro snowboarder & started Grenade Gloves.

What or who inspired you to pursue your career as a high-level professional athlete?

That would be a mixture of my family, started with my dad who had me on a motorbike when I was 6, skis when I was 4, turned to snowboarding when I was 6! My brother was a competition skier so I was always in the snow as a kid! My mum was the one who made sure I was always at my competitions! When I had the opportunity to move to America it was my mum that quit everything had moved to the states with me so I could train with the U.S team! It was a duet of my family! My brother was the one that said it should happen and mum made it happen! She cleaned houses the first year I lived in a steamboat!! I’ll never forget that!

Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your sports career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?

I made lots of mistakes, I still do! I was so young and literally traveling the world as a teenager! I guess a

I grew up fast in ways and other ways I didn’t grow up at all! You only have one body! As a kid you don’t realize that! I broke my arm skateboarding the second year I was living in America. I broke it skateboarding! I was so terrified that they would send me home. I didn’t tell anyone I broke my arm! I just let it heal on its own. Which was the worst thing I could possibly do! Yet later they had to break my arm again and have surgery! Get your body fixed and let it heal is the lesson!

Did you ever get a serious sports injury? Do you feel comfortable sharing that story? What was the lesson or take away that you took out of that incident?

I have broken most parts of my body,

Left arm three times, left wrist twice, right arm twice right wrist, broke most ribs and cracked my sternum! Hyperextended the left knee which had me on crutches for 9 months and your all ligaments in my let’s ankle! Other minor things! The knee injury was in France at the junior world championships when I was 15, I qualified for the Finals for the first time! Being stuck in France in a hospital where they still smoked cigarettes in and didn’t speak much English was tough! I ended up getting a rash on my hand from the hospital and came back to Australia with scabies in my body!! That was one of the worst trips of my life!! The head snowboard coach from team USA mike Melan and watched me compete and had approached my family about coming to train in the U.S so 9 months later I arrived in steamboat springs to train!! So it wasn’t such a bad trip after all.

As someone with a background in ‘wellness’ I’m interested in stories about interesting wellness experiences. Do you have a story about the weirdest or most humorous wellness experience, treatment, practice, or practitioner that you’ve ever partaken in? If you do, we’d love to hear it.

The most freeing wellnes episode would have to be the Indian sweat lodge I took part in! We were filming for our TV show the adventures of Danny & the dingo! We were on a spiritual adventure of giving back and spreading the shred! In Browning Montana we had built a Tii Pii and were sleeping in.

Can you tell us the story of your transition from a professional athlete to a successful business person?

Something that never comes naturally for anyone athlete. For me I was never the best snowboarder, I was in the era of Shaun white Danny kass Travis rice! We had started Grenade gloves at such a young age. Without trying to do the entrepreneurial part it just happened. We were packing shipping selling gloves and had started what was going to be the next 10 years of dominance in the snowboard industry. I was still a part of the snowboard world. I had also launched a TV show that went for 5 years and helped promote the Product. I was watching what Rob DYRDEK was doing and just taking his formula and using it for what my brand was.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting new projects you are working on now?

FIND YOUR GRIND is my most passionate for so many reasons! We believe that there is a huge gap in our we are preparing our kids for their future. We are a self discovery platform show the possibilities of who you can be and how to get there. College debt is at a high and kids are getting degrees that they will never use. There is a problem with that. There are more job opportunities out there then there ever has been and it’s our job to disclose them. Let’s get our kids working not in debt and living at home.

Do you think your experience as a professional athlete gave you skills that make you a better entrepreneur? Can you give a story or an example of that?100 percent, as a pro snowboarder I have broken many bones and had to overcome many injuries. It’s the same in business. You are going to fail.

It’s about us bouncing back from that failure. If you can’t Bounce back or you can’t take rejection thank you will not last! Being an athlete is easy compared to the workforce! Business is its own beast! In 2008 the economy crashed, we had never borrowed money from the bank, Grenade was funded by ourselves! At the time we had 30 of our friends working for us. After the economic crash, we had to hire a real CEO. We had to let our friends go because they actually could not tell you what they did. After 08 we had to run it like a real business. No more playing in the sand box. 2 years later the company did 10 million, we were early 20’s

Most athletes have not been able to transfer their success from the sports arena to the business arena. But you have. Can you share with our readers three main strategies you have used to help you succeed?

I was so young when I got into it. Most people don’t love the hustle. I do, I look to fail. That’s the difference, most people don’t like to fail.

In my work, I focus on how one can thrive in three areas, body, mind, and heart. I’d like to flesh this out with you. You are a very busy leader with a demanding schedule. Can you share with our readers two self-care routines, practices or treatments that you do to help your body to thrive? Kindly share a story or an example for each.

Health! Keep your mind fresh! Don’t get to court if you forget to take care of yourself!! For me in LA that’s hiking! I love hiking. Surfing and of course still snowboarding!!

Can you share with us two routines and with an example for each that you use to help your mind thrive? (Kindly share a story or example for each.)

I stay in touch with the youth. The youth have always and will always know what the future holds. They create it! Stay youthful! Hahaha story I now hang out with influencers, I look up to them! They are 15 years younger than me! But they know what I don’t……

Finally, can you share with us two routines and an example for each that use to help your heart, your emotional or spiritual life to thrive? (Kindly share a story or example for each.)

I have a heavy heart! I lost my brother to Suicide! I am too a Suicide survivor! I jay try and keep my Brain and body Aligned! It’s a tough world! Don’t get caught up in social media! Everyone shows their best life, not their worst life. Do you get outside to do things they did 50 years ago! Stay human don’t let the beat swallow you up!! You will lose.

You’re a high achieving business leader, and you also have family and loved ones that may require a different side of you at home. How do you leave the executive at the door, and be the most loving family member at home?

It’s important to put our self-care and family first and I always make sure to balance everything into my daily lifestyle and encourage others to do so through my work with Find Your Grind career exploration platform.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I joined a movement that helps others turn their passions into careers and discover how to translate work into lifestyles we want to live through a startup I co-founded called Find Your Grind. It’s so important for people to enjoy what they do for a living and after being a successful athlete I wanted to show others how they can discover what they are most interested in and connect to the different pathways that can help lead them there through real career profiles, education products and cutting-edge content that’s related to today’s careers and the future of work.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

It’s all about the journey, not the destination.

I have been on my own since I was 14 years of age. I relocated to America to pursue my dreams. I feel that I have been on the journey of life ever since. So many people focus on the destination and forget about the journey. I will never have a destination, I will be forever on my journey.

What are the best ways our readers can follow you on social media?

@findyourgrind

@thedingoinsnow

Instagram

Twitter

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!