Making Nature Accessible: Wheelchairs, Inclusion & Grit with Ryan Grassley

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What's up, my good people? Welcome to the CJ Moneyway Show, where voices turn into movements and purpose gets the spotlight. Today we're exploring freedom, accessibility, and entrepreneur grit with Ryan Grassley, the man behind Extreme Motors, a brand designing all-terrain wheelchairs that defy limits. From hiking Zion to building inclusive technology, Ryan's story is the kind that inspires real change. Hey, what's up, Ryan and Sam? Welcome to the show.

Hey, thanks so much for having us, CJ.

Oh man, I appreciate y'all coming on. I appreciate y'all coming on. So let's start, man. The power behind the wheel, man. Ryan, how did your journey into creating Extreme Motors begin?

Well, I came on with Extreme Motors just to help with marketing. They had an awesome wheelchair and they were selling it to their friends, grandma's cousin, and you know, they didn't know how to market it. And I had this high school friend, this bozo over here who gets bananas anytime he's included in anything. And so I said, Sam, if I start working for this off-road wheelchair company, will you come and help? And what did you say?

Heck yeah.

Heck yeah. Did I have to put you off?

At that, I was working for Doing old folks home. Utah.

Yeah, so is it— what's more fun, hanging out with the old folks or going to the skate park and getting launched off ramps?

Getting launched off ramps.

Yeah, we have a really fun job. We show I guess to answer your question, Xtreme Motus started because a little girl was injured and she was paralyzed in an accident. They were at a family reunion up the canyon in the mountains here, and an 80-foot-tall pine tree fell over on them. It's not funny. Sam can't keep a straight face to save his life. So, um, the firefighter that responded, one of the firefighters that responded to that accident stayed in touch with that family and that little girl, and she mentioned that the kids in her class were going and doing things that she couldn't be part of because her wheelchair couldn't go. Her wheelchair couldn't go to do research on the bears.

Bears.

When they went to see like black bears living in their dens.

Bears.

She couldn't go hiking with her friends. She couldn't go to the farm with her friends on this school field trip. So this firefighter said, well, I could probably make something like that. And he was good at tinkering and building things. And so he built the first prototype of what we sell now. And that's kind of how the company began. Man, Sam and I, then a few years later, we started making videos that just get sometimes tens of millions of views. And that has helped the company grow and let people know that we exist and that there is a product that can help you visit places that don't have sidewalks, which turns out to be most of Earth. So it's pretty— it's a pretty rewarding thing to be a part of. Yeah. And, uh, we're having a good time doing it.

Hey, Sam, let me ask you, man, so do you go out there and go try to see the bears, man? The black bears? I mean, I wouldn't do it myself, but You know, I ain't from Utah neither.

Yeah, I ain't wearing it. I ain't get scared at zoo.

Sam says he gets scared at the zoo, so I take that he ain't going to play with the bears, uh. I don't blame you, Sam, man. I'm with you on that one. I'm with you on that one. So Ryan, man, let me ask you, what inspired you to focus on inclusive through outdoor exploitations?

Well, Sam and I are high school friends, and back in the day before we had a wheelchair like this, hanging out with Sam meant we'd go see a movie or we'd play cards together. But it's not fun to play cards with Sam because he's a prolific cheater.

I knew you were going to say that.

He probably has an ace up his sleeve right now. The thing that changed it all for me is when we went hiking to a national park in Utah. It's called Arches National Park. If you've ever seen a license plate from Utah, it has this arch on it. You've probably seen it before, unknowingly. But, uh, we hiked up there and— hey Sam, what do you think? What did you think? Yeah, that's pretty cool.

And CJ, we, as my mom What is she flat and she slamming the crack?

Did you catch that?

I heard cry.

Yeah, so we got to this arch. It's, it's a somewhat difficult hike, but we made it there, and we asked Sam what he thought. He said, that's pretty cool. He was happy. But we asked Sam's mom what she thought, and she was overcome with emotion. Oh man, because For 36 years, she sat in the van with her son while the other half of their family went on hikes like this.

Yeah.

And for the first time ever, they were all there together as a family doing this thing, and no one was left out, no one was excluded, and because of a disability. And that's when I learned how important inclusion is and thought, this is my passion now, and I want to help other families understand that they can go places together too. They don't, they're not stuck going to Disneyland. They're not stuck going to places that are ADA accessible and filled with concrete. These are the most beautiful places in our country. In our country, they don't have sidewalks. They're on at the end of a trail in a national park. And with the right piece of mobility equipment, anyone can go and see them.

Sam, how often do you go hiking, man?

Every day. When I'm with this brother there.

We try to go at least once a week.

We try to go on a hike.

Yesterday, tell them what we did yesterday.

Yes, then I saw my life flash before my eyes.

Hey, Sam, hey, I ain't got to do it, man, but I already know I, I can see my life flash before my eyes too.

Yeah, we're up in the mountains. They have these mountain bike parks that they build out here, so yeah, they build trails and those trails have jumps and they're really steep and we just go running down them with the wheelchair and you'll have to check out that video, but, uh, It was a little scary.

Yeah, send me that. I want to see it and I'm gonna respond to it. Hey Sam, you're a better man than me, man, because I wouldn't do it.

Yesterday you would have thought a woman was being attacked by a mouse.

Yeah, man, y'all gotta send me that one, man. I gotta show that. I'll put that on my social media right there, boy. Hey, Sam, you You're a good one, man. You're a good one. So Ryan, man, let me ask you, man, building a business with purpose. How did you take the leap from idea to manufacturing a product like this?

It was mostly my partner Adam. His full-time job is an accountant, and he went to visit one of his clients that he does the books for, and he saw that prototype that I mentioned that the firefighter built just collecting dust in a corner, and he was like, what's that? Tell me more about that. And they told him the story and for years it had just kind of collected dust and he's like, "That's amazing. Like, that's the coolest thing I've ever seen. We could help so many people with a product like that." So he did some research and he found out there wasn't really anything like it out there, like a manual hiking wheelchair like we sell. And so we started working on taking it to market and then they brought in the Sam and Ryan, the Tweedledum and Tweedledee show here. And we just show people, we kind of want to advertise the way Nike does with their shoes. Yeah. You never see a Nike commercial where they hold up a shoe and they're like, look at the high quality of this shoe and we use nice leather. It just shows people using their product and doing amazing things. And so that's kind of the marketing strategy for us is we just go out and we use our product and we do amazing things. And people see it and they go, I got to have that for my kid. I got to have that for my grandma. Grandma. Yeah. Anybody with mobility challenges can benefit from it.

So let me ask you, man, from the time you came on board with the product, with your co-owner, with the owner guy that built it. Yeah. What were the challenges that you all had to overcome in launching this product?

Well, we had to gain knowledge in the industry. Like nobody knew that we existed. So introducing a new product into an industry is— into a product segment is difficult to kind of break through and have people understand that you exist and you're an option and you're a real company. Another thing that happened right as I joined the company was COVID. I joined about 5 and a half years ago.

Yeah.

So we thought we were cooked. But right about that time during COVID National parks became very popular and they're still kind of overcrowded today because so many people started to visit them. One of the few things that you could do during COVID was go hiking. Mm-hmm. So that kind of helped us in a way. But the problem that that created was we started to get sales for the first time ever. But some of the parts of our chair, like the wheels, come from China., and there was no shipping containers coming from China, so we just had to tell people, "Sorry, we can't build your chair. We'll let you know as soon as we can." Yeah. So that was a struggle, and now we've matured a lot as a company, and we have our supply chains a lot more squared away, and a lot more people know about us through social media and doing podcasts like this, and just attending shows that are relevant to our product.

So wait a minute, let me get back to you, Sam. He said something earlier, Sam, man. He said Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum. That's what he said y'all was, man. Do you remember the Flintstones? Uh, Fred and Barney? And then you would have Kazoo that would come on the show and he'd be like, hello, Diggaleen. Hey, Dum Dum. He gave you the equivalent, man, to Twiddle Dee and Dum Dum.

We use dick playing sometimes too.

Oh, cheating Sam.

Hey, I wouldn't want to play poker with you either, Sam. You'll lose every time. So let me ask you, what are some of the technologies that's different than other, you know, power wheelchairs that can have Sam go on a mountain and get pushed down a mountain, man, where it's it's safe to do that?

Well, our chair is powered by blubber. So it's a caretaker-assisted chair. People have to work together to push it or pull it up the mountain. So there's no batteries, no motors. It's very lightweight. That allows it to, you know, be lifted in and out of a vehicle at the end of the day by one person. It only weighs about 55 pounds. It allows us to go in water. The chair floats in water if you're out hiking and you have to cross through a stream or something. Yeah, nothing to worry about there. But one thing that really sets it apart from competitors, because there are beach chairs that look similar to what we sell, is that we have brakes on our chair. So we can go running— when you— when I send you this video, we're running down this mountain, I can pull the brakes and it— and I use it to slow myself down.

Yeah.

And each rear wheel has its own disc brake.

Yeah.

And so you can pull one brake and it kind of helps you turn this way, and you pull the other brake and it chills to turn the other way. And the tires are only 4 PSI, so that's the suspension for Sam in the chair so he doesn't get too many chipped teeth.

Yeah, or see his life flash before his eyes again.

Yeah, we were wearing helmets yesterday.

This episode is brought to you by CJ Moneyway Johnson Media. Where podcast ideas become platforms. Through the Moneyway Lab Masterclass, CJ shares real lessons from the lab for creators building their voices brick by brick. From powerful guest conversations, storytelling that inspires growth, CJ Moneyway Media is about one thing: building legacy through stories. Learn more more at CJMoneywayJohnson.com.

Music style, music store.

So I still say, man, you're a better man than me because I don't care if it was my friend from high school or who it was, I'm not getting pushed down no mountain, man. That ain't gonna happen, not even on a sled. And so, uh, So let me ask you, Ryan, man, making the world more accessible, what's been the most powerful reaction or feedback you received from a user?

We get phone calls from moms all the time because they saw one of our videos and it's my phone, like the business's phone number just comes to this phone. And I say, "Extreme Modus, this is Ryan." And they go, "The Ryan from the videos?"— I'm like, yeah, and they're like, oh my gosh, my child and I have been watching all these videos and laughing and crying, and we're so excited to get one of these chairs. So just hearing from other people who have had their world opened or have just discovered us and they're so excited that their world is now going to be open and they're not going to be limited to the sidewalk is super rewarding. That's one of the things that keeps me going with the businesses. Is getting pictures from customers. Oh, we went to the beach today. We went to the ski resort today. We went, you know, we went to this national park today. Never been able to do that before. It's pretty awesome.

Yeah. So Ryan, man, let me ask you, what part did you play in it, man? Giving Ryan the ideas to put into this chair, man, because I know you had to put something in. You like, hey, if I'm gonna sit in this chair, I gotta have some input.

I, when we first done, I didn't have any ideas. It was all the fire fighting.

Well, Sam comes up with ideas on what adventures we should take and where we should go, and he's the star of the show. He's the reason people are watching. We just had a Facebook Reel get like 36 million views over the weekend. Wow.

That's because stupid thing.

I didn't even think it was that good of a video, but you never know. Sam is screaming and anybody scrolling through would be like, this guy enjoying himself or is he being tortured? Trying to figure that out. Oh man.

And y'all ain't put this one video from yesterday out yet?

I just uploaded it to YouTube before we jumped on the call.

Oh man, that would go— if that one got 36 million views, then that would probably go get 72 million views. Because I gotta see that myself, Sam. I gotta see it myself. And Sam, when you get this video, man, make sure you have Ryan pin this up to one of your videos, man, so I can get some of that acknowledgement with you, man. I want some of your shine, Sam. I want some of your shine, man. And so we got a bet, Sam, we got a bet.

Yeah, some of our videos, because sometimes people watch our videos and they don't really get what we're doing. It's scary that a person with a disability is out doing this, these crazy stunts. But people with disabilities deserve the right to go and get banged up just like anybody else. So a few, maybe last month, the police showed up at our business. What?

Because I was thinking that— tell them that— I tried managing to get this Ben on his door and then Police show up.

Yeah, the police show up because they had a report that someone with cerebral palsy was being abused. And we weren't there. We normally work from home or we're out on adventure somewhere. But he invites the police in and he explains. He shows them the pictures on the wall of Sam having the time of his life. He showed them some videos and they're like, okay, all right, have a good day. And they left. We were all trying to figure out who it was. And then I got a phone call from some guy in Ohio who was outraged that we were doing these things with Sam. But what those people don't think about is what the alternative could be. Yeah, if we weren't out having this fun, Sam might be living in an assisted living center watching The Golden Girls all day, watching Golden Girls reruns. And, uh, getting a pressure sore that could kill him. Yeah, Sam loves the Golden Girls. He wouldn't complain about that.

Oh yeah, you like the old school Golden Girls, man? But yeah, Ryan, like you say, man, you know, I agree with you. And going on podcasts and things like that and doing your videos to just give people a better understanding of what you guys doing just letting them know about you and what you guys represent. Because like you say, everybody gonna form their own opinions, whether it's right, wrong, or indifferent. So, you know, we just got to keep on moving, man. But as long as you know in your heart and your partners— and my man Sam know that it's all in good fun, man. Keep doing it, man. Mo' Power, tell you, 36 million views, man. Y'all on, uh, Shannon Sharp level with Katt Williams on there, man. Kudos. So let me ask, man, you mentioned this earlier, so let me ask you again, I mean, to elaborate on something. You've been in state to states and national parks. How do parks service responds to your efforts?

They cheer us on. They're excited to see us out there, and that's something that I worried about because it's mostly just hikers, right? And I worried that people would give us some flack about taking a wheeled device in there, but They're always happy to see us, and we're trying to work with many state parks and national parks to purchase our product and have it there on location so that people with disabilities can arrive and check it out. Yeah. Or rent it, whatever they want to do, and go and enjoy the park. But it's also there for potential rescue operations. Yeah. Someone snaps an ankle on a hike, they can run this thing out and pick them up. Instead of trying to carry them or drag them back somehow. Yeah. So yeah, the rangers always— we went to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee and we had a crowd of rangers around the chair checking it out, thinking it was great. So lots of support from those guys.

Yeah, awesome. That's cool. That's one thing. So man, so Sam, man, you going from state to state doing this thing, huh, man? Showing everybody that You know what? I was just sitting here thinking, you are the real Daredevil. It was a TV show back in the day, The Daredevil, man. That is you, my man. That is you, man. I can't get over this one, man. It's stuck in my mind. Going down the hill in a wheelchair, man, at a steep slope. Sam, man, you are a better man than me. So let me ask you, Ryan, man, what's your dream for the future of mobility inclusion in outdoor adventures?

The dream is to have more of these chairs publicly available. Most of our customers now are parents of kids who have a mobility challenge, and so we sell one chair to one family and they use it and go enjoy it. But what we need is more camps— summer camps, church camps, disability camps. We need more national parks, more state parks. That purchase this chair, keep it on hand for people to come and use when they're on a road trip across whatever. They just— that's the dream. That's when we'll really achieve that market saturation where everyone knows about us because every time they go somewhere to go hiking, there's one of these chairs there. Yeah. Yeah.

Like, I know, like, in Chicago where people had their bikes, you know, where you could just go buy a bike or something and pick up a bike. So that'd be a good idea, you know, people that want to tour downtown Chicago and get around and, and move like they move in Chicago because they move pretty fast out there, man. I don't like driving in Chicago myself.

So we was one on a trip to Chicago a few years ago. We were, we were running around.

We will be going.

We'll probably be back in June. June. Oh yeah, yeah, we love Chicago. That's such a man.

Y'all come up in June, man. If I'm in town, hit me up, man. I want to come and see the wheelchair myself first sight, man. You know what I'm saying? I want to see it first sight myself, man. We go to the Nike outlet and I'll let you slide down the— I'll go down escalators with you, uh, Sam, man. Let's see how that thing go. Hey, so, uh, what can we find your site at, man? What can we follow you on Instagram and, um, YouTube, things of that nature, man? And check out these videos that's getting 13 million, 36 million views, almost.

Yeah, we're on all social media platforms. We are Extreme Motus, that's M-O-T-U-S. M-O-T-U-S. Yes, baby. Yes. Download it. And our website is extrememotus.com. Yeah. So even if you have no interest in, you have no need for a wheelchair, you don't know anybody with mobility challenges, heck, that's most of our audience.

They're just watching because they laugh. At the cheater, at the cheater, and the daredevil, and diggily. Which one are you, Sam? You dumb dumb or diggily?

You should have your own separate channel where you teach people how to cheat at cards.

Hey, it probably said— hey man, hey, I just got one more thing, man. That was my last question. I got this little game, man, that I call quick fire round. I'm planting seeds. So Sam, Ryan, 3 questions, gonna ask you 3 questions. Tell me the first thing that come to your mind. You wanna go first, Ryan?

Sure, I'll go first.

Favorite trail or park you've conquered?

Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. That's here in Utah.

Oh, that's where you say I went to. Okay, okay. Famous arch.

Yeah, I wish that's on the license plates.

I got you, I got you. Ryan, let me ask you one word to describe your adventures, man.

It's been crazy. I believe you, brother.

Crazy. I know, man, because that's what I think you are going down there, slump, man, like that, because I wouldn't do it. I know I keep saying it because I am so serious. Let me ask either one of y'all, man, or you both can ask it in one word of your own, of your own choice. Advice to someone sitting on a world-changing idea but scared to act out.

Oh, it is— I totally understand that it could be scary. I took a big risk when I came here. Because I was working for a very safe, very stable, very boring company, and I could have been there the rest of my life doing that job. Yeah. But I also knew that I could take a chance on this, and even if it failed, I could go back and find something safe later. So yeah, I don't buy any excuse to just stay with the safety thing. Just take a chance. If it fails, it's best to jump in with both feet so that you have to make it successful. You have to make it work. Yeah, but if something horrible does happen and it doesn't work out, there's always a safe thing that you could go and find. Yeah, just get another job. If your entrepreneurship dreams don't work out, there's a job sometimes. Yeah, yeah.

I thank you for that advice. That's me, man. You gotta jump in two feet. If not, it ain't worth doing it, you know. One foot in, one foot out, you ain't fully dedicated to what you're doing. You got to be fully dedicated. Like you said, if it work, it work. If it don't Then okay, yeah, no escape plan. What about you, Sam, man? What's one thing, man, that you feel change your life, man? Okay, I put it like this, Sam, let's give you another. What's one mountain you want to go down and see your life flash in front of your eyes again? Um, I don't know.

What if we go back to Tennessee and go down the Smoky Mountains? Yeah.

We had fun in Tennessee. Tennessee.

Are there any mountains near where you're at? Maybe we'll come and do that one.

Nah, nah, nah. Ain't no mountains around here, man. You know, and I ain't going where no mountains at. I can't go to Utah. I won't go to Denver. I can't drive to the West Coast because they say there's mountains and curves. I can't drive on the East Coast because I don't like the, uh, where they ain't got no railings on the highway. You gotta ride around safe. Can't do that. So I'm very limited. I'm limited, Sam. That's why I say, man, you're a better man than me because I can't do it. I'm not going— I don't even want to drive in the mountains, let's know slide down one, man. I can't do it. But man, I thank you guys for coming on, man, for not only showing us what's possible but building the tools to make it real for others like my man Sam. This episode of the CJ Moneyway Show brought to you by CJ Moneyway Entertainment. GI, the state's capital, and Planting Seeds with CJ proves that every tyrant can— is accessible when the heart leads the mission. Let's keep planting seeds of impact, one conversation at a time. This your boy CJ Moneyway with my man Tittle D and Tittle Dumb, Sam and Ryan. Hey, we out of here. Peace.

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