Founder Feature: Cason Crane of Explorer Cold Brew

For this month’s Founder Feature, we spoke with Cason Crane of Explorer Cold Brew. Below, Crane shares his thoughtful advice for entrepreneurs, what and who inspires him, and his amazing story of being the first openly-LGBT to climb Mt. Everest and the Seven Summits and what that means to him. Plus, for every bottle sold this month, the brand is donating to The Trevor Project to support their work.

It was such a pleasure to learn more about Cason, his story and his business. We hope you’ll enjoy reading it as well!

How did Explorer Cold Brew come to life? What is the origin story?

I was inspired to start Explorer Cold Brew during the early days of the pandemic when I realized that coffee - and cold brew in particular - was very ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to caffeine. I searched for a way to buy delicious cold brew with varying levels of caffeine, but that didn’t exist. So I created it! I worked with some world renowned coffee experts to help craft our concentrates, and brought the products to market about six months later.

What is one important lesson you’ve learned throughout your journey in building Explorer Cold Brew?

The most important lesson I’ve learned in my journey with Explorer Cold Brew has been to never give up. And I don’t just mean never giving up when faced with setbacks - that’s sort of a given when starting a small business. I mean never giving up on people too. We’ve had customers send angry emails or leave nasty comments, and what I’ve found is that sometimes those people are actually the most likely to become huge supporters of your company. Their anger or frustration is passion - they wanted to love it. So if you can figure out what went wrong and fix it for them, you’ll usually end up with an incredibly loyal customer.

Can you tell us more about Explorer Cold Brew’s sustainability efforts?

At Explorer, we produce concentrates not only because they’re an amazingly versatile and convenient way to make your favorite coffee drinks, but also because it’s a much more sustainable approach to coffee. By making our coffee 10x more concentrated, it reduces waste and excess resources throughout the product lifecycle, from less packaging, to lower shipping emissions, and more - plus, all in recyclable (and 99% plastic-free) packaging. We also offset all our shipping emissions and compost our coffee grounds, and support Charity: Water’s clean water projects with every order.

Can you talk about your Mt. Everest and the Seven Summits climb? What does it mean to you to be the first openly-LGBT person to achieve that?

I’m so proud to have climbed the Seven Summits as an out and proud gay man, with our pride flag in hand. Representation matters so much, and there really weren’t many out athletes or mountaineers when I was growing up, so if I can be that person for a young LGBT kid, that’s awesome. And I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity and the amazing team behind me when taking on that project - a lesson I’ve learned time and again then and since with Explorer is that you’re only as strong as your team.

What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs who are looking to bring their passions to life? Can you share one or two pieces of advice?

One of the most important lessons I learned early on in my entrepreneurial journey is that it’s critical you find a way to hold yourself accountable. Even for the most disciplined founder, when you’re operating in the daily craziness of startup life, it can be easy to get overwhelmed, feel distracted, or lose focus - and finding an accountability partner or system can help address that. The other piece of advice I’d give is to get as much feedback as you can. That doesn’t mean every single opinion should sway you - in fact, you’ll often have folks give contradictory reactions! - but getting input from a wide range of folks is an invaluable source of feedback as you build your business.

How do you incorporate mindfulness into your daily life?

My appreciation for mindfulness comes directly from my mother. She was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer at age 53, despite being a lifetime athlete and non-smoker, and she turned to mindfulness to stay positive despite this diagnosis. So I’ve seen firsthand how incorporating mindfulness into your life can be so impactful. I try to follow her example and, even when the stresses of daily life or my business’s ups and downs feel insurmountable, to focus on the present moment.

What inspires you?

I’m inspired by my family, and especially my mother. Watching her continue to pursue her fitness and yoga practice despite the cancer and chemo taking an extremely big toll on her body makes me appreciate how strong human willpower can be, especially with a positive attitude. She makes me feel like there’s no challenge that I can’t overcome, especially if you’re able to keep a smile on your face.

If you could give advice to your younger self, what would it be?

My advice to my younger self would be to stay open-minded. Stay open-minded about the path you think your life will take, the people you will meet, and what your interests might become.

What else do you want people to know?

If you enjoy coffee and chai, please try Explorer! We are passionate about our customers and are confident you’ll love our cold brew or chai concentrates. And also, watch me and my sister Bella compete on USA Network’s new reality competition show Race to Survive: Alaska, streaming on Peacock!