In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Oli Russell‑Cowan, the founder of Rad Season, the first one‑stop platform for booking action‑sports and adventure festivals. Oli shares a formative story about enrolling in a university "Surfing Studies" program at age 19, illustrating how he followed his passion against conventional advice, which led to a career in the action‑sports industry, meeting his wife, and eventually launching his own adventure‑travel company. He offers practical sales advice—listen first and respond with functional outcomes—alongside broader business counsel that change is inevitable and adaptability is essential. When asked what he would tell his younger self, he emphasizes taking chances despite uncertainty. Oli defines happiness as doing what you love, staying true to yourself, and spending quality time with family, friends, travel, and surfing. He recommends Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fck for its perspective‑shifting take on values, and shares his favorite quote from Helen Keller: “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing,” encouraging people to pursue adventure. The episode concludes with his contact points: the Rad Season website and his LinkedIn profile.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Ollie Russell Cowan with us. He is the founder of Rad Season, which is the world's first one-stop shop for all your action sports and adventure festival booking needs. So welcome to the show, man.
Hey Tyler, thanks for having me.
Of course, man. Grateful to have you here. The first question I have for you, Ollie, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Sure. So I guess when I was 19, my mom found an article in the newspaper saying that they had started a new university course called Surfing Studies over in Australia. She thought it was a bit of a joke and showed me. I never thought a course like that could ever exist. I eventually ended up enrolling despite everyone's advice not to do it. So I guess the main message for that being is I followed my passion despite what everyone said. I got an epic job in the action sports industry, learned to surf, which took me all over the world, met my wife, and started my own adventure travel company.
And what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
I've been doing sales for the last 15 years, and I would say the best thing to do is to listen and then react with a functional outcome. Too many people just talk and don't listen and therefore miss the mark and don't provide any real value.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific.
I'd say that the change is inevitable. Don't fight change, be adaptable, and be ready for the next phase.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
It would definitely have to be take a chance. I mean, what's the worst thing that could happen? Even though uncertainty may seem scary at the time, it's worth giving it a shot every time. If it doesn't, if it doesn't go as expected, you're going to learn something along the way.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Uh, in my opinion, I'd say finding what you love doing and staying true to yourself. For me, that's spending quality time with my family and my friends, traveling, surfing, laughing, exploring the world.
And what is the best book that you've read, and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
The book I've read most recently would which I thought was great, was The Subtle Art of Not Giving an F by Mark Manson. It basically gives you a reboot and a bit of a kick up the ass to reevaluate what matters in your life and gives a real perspective on your values.
Sorry, go ahead.
Yeah, no, sorry, go on.
No, no, I didn't realize you were going to go dive deeper. If you'd like to say more about the book, I'm happy to—
Yeah, I just want to say it was It's definitely a refreshing read when there's so much out there which sort of looks at all these self-help books, becoming wealthier, stronger, funnier. This takes a bit of a deep dive into what really is important.
What is your favorite quote and why?
My favorite quote is, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing," by Helen Keller. You should definitely take that trip you've been thinking of doing, get out there on the weekend, with the kids, even if it's, you know, just discovering a local neighborhood, going overseas, the possibility for adventure are endless. There's so many amazing things to do.
Awesome, man. Thank you again for joining us. Really appreciate it. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find and connect with you online?
The best place to get a hold of me is on the website radseason.com, or you can reach me on LinkedIn.
Perfect, brother. Thanks again for jumping on. Great.
Thanks, Tyler. Appreciate it.
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