Like a Bigfoot Podcast #3: Aron Johnston

Aron Johnston is a husband, a father, and an artist.  After high school he fell into a construction job.  It was the safe choice- comfy, secure, and gave him a steady paycheck.  But it wasn’t his passion; it wasn’t what he saw himself doing the rest of his life. So he stepped off that path.  Left the safety of his job of 15 years and began to pursue his passion- art.

Oh yeah…did I mention he had two young boys and a wife (who was also jumping off her career path to pursue her dream)?  Did I also mention they had to leave their family and friends in Oregon to the unknown land of Iowa?

In this episode he shares his thoughts on taking the leap, pursuing his dreams, the challenges faced by him and his family, how he overcomes self doubt, the importance of a mentor, and much more!

Aron is seriously one of the best fathers I know and I have had the privilege of spending a couple vacations with his wonderful family….my wife and I with notepad in hand trying to figure out “how can we raise awesome kids like the Johnstons?”

He’s also the artist that designed the “Like a Bigfoot” logo.  He made my dream of “Bigfoot hang snatching a Redwood tree” a reality.  That’s literally all I emailed him…”hey dude I want Bigfoot hang snatching a Redwood…is that possible?” His email back “Of course!  But I think he should have his feet bursting out of trail running shoes.”

Please check out the rest of his beautiful art at his website aronjohnston.org.

Aron painting my wife and daughter on our Shenandoah Weekend last November

Scavenger- this is one of my personal favorites

Celebrating Jesse’s 13th birthday the best way we could think of….jumping into the Shenandoah River