Meet Zachary Gold and RaceyKay Garnet | Van Builder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Zachary Gold and RaceyKay Garnet and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Zachary Gold and, how do you think about risk?
It’s impossible to avoid risks in starting your own business. You immediately lose the safety of a weekly paycheck and often work 60 hours a week with no income at all. Luckily for us, the very thing that we build has also allowed us to live life in a way that mitigates that risk. Because we live in a van and have very low monthly overhead, we are able to take bigger risks in our business without worrying about being able to support ourselves and our lifestyles.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Our business began with our foray into van life. A 10,000 mile roadtrip around the Pacific Northwest in a 3-day Home Depot parking lot van build got us started on the path. We soon built out a school bus, and fell in love with the build process, so we sold it and did it again. We would buy and build over the summer, live in the rig over the winter and then sell in the spring when the market was hot. It was never easy, but the low overhead that comes with living in a van helped mitigate the risks of starting our own business. We found so much joy in the cheaper way of living that we haven’t felt the need to grow our business. We have been lucky to talk to larger builders who wax poetic about times building rigs out of their garage. Many companies build luxury vans for high end clients, and there is certainly a market for that, but we are sure that isn’t for us. The goal isn’t to grow exponentially or hire employees, but to work and live in a way that facilitates pursuing our passions, and helps our clients do the same.

We build rigs for clients that want to pursue their passions and see van life as a way to facilitate that. Our most recent client just embarked on the journey of a lifetime, where she’ll be driving our off grid custom rig from San Diego all the way to Colombia. She is an airline pilot and will be traveling for a month, then leaving to fly for a week and so on. She will hop from surf spot to surf spot before eventually reaching Colombia, where she hopes to find her father, whom she has never met. We are just so thankful to play even a small part in that story and hope to find more clients with such inspiring stories!

Although much of the world looks down on van life and calls us homeless, it is van life, and the low overhead that comes along with it, that has allowed us to travel to places like Mexico City, New York, Guatemala, Banff and the Olympic Peninsula in just the last year, all while starting a profitable business. Van life is way for people to change the trajectory of their lives by learning to live without high monthly expenses and enjoying the freedom to take risks and focus on passions. Van life allows artists to make art, skiers to ski, and even van builders to build vans.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Our favorite spot in the city has to be our dog’s favorite spot, Dog Beach in OB. Grab great tacos at Mike’s Taco Club or breakfast at OB Donuts and head over to Dog Beach to watch your pup have the time of their life while you enjoy the Pacific from the sandy shore! Walk around OB and you’ll notice the signs hand written by the late great Kip of Voltaire, who spent his later years writing signs on discarded wood and selling them on Voltaire street $10 a pop. As Voltaire said and Kip illustrated on his signs, we must cultivate our garden. Days spent playing beach volleyball, or playing a game of pick up basketball at South Mission Beach are not day wasted. Maybe set up a slack line up at Kate sessions park and watch the sun set with a view of the whole city, a couple of friends and a cool drink.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
When I was little, my own dad read the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” and although he didn’t read it to me directly, he imparted a lot of the lessons from the book on me. I eventually read the book as an adult and a lot of the lessons from it really resonated with me. While there are parts of the book that I don’t like, I think it points out many of the fallacies people in the US have around money. If you want to start your own business, the worst thing you can do is have high rent, a car payment, and other large monthly bills. These large monthly bills are the number one thing that keep people at jobs that they hate, and keeping our monthly bills low is exactly what allowed us start our own business with a lot less risk. Even now, with a successful van building business, my partner and I still drive around in a Toyota Yaris. With respect to that, I certainly also have to credit my parents who don’t value material things and have always been supportive. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to take big risks without the support of your parents and with rent bills and car payments hanging over your head.af

Instagram: @Off_Grid_Custom_Rigs

Other: Email: Offgridcustomrigs@gmail.com

Image Credits
Samuel Beatty