Evan Fry and I met during the 2014 US National Cyclocross Championships in Boulder, Colorado. I was there promoting my cycling brand, Rouler, and Evan was enjoying a week of racing, industry parties and supporting all his homies.
We bumped into each other on top of a hill at Valmont Bike Park where I was dressed up as a crazed rooster heckling riders as they tried to navigate a steep and slippery downhill off-camber portion of the course, and I think he was just stoked to see some weirdo having as much fun as he was having!
Our conversation touches on the span of Evan’s career in the commercial creative industry and his particular affinity for leading and mentoring young creatives which ultimately led him to his most recent venture, Ideas For Animals, which marries his passion for serving up big ideas with his equally big heart and mission in the world to cultivate a judgment-free life of radical creativity.
Evan’s one of those people who I have admired and been inspired by since we first met in the midst of mud, blood, beers and bike racing. And it’s a real honor to call this guy a friend.
PRODUCTION NOTE: In the intros for both the audio and video versions of this episode, I mention “2013” as the year CX Nats was held in Boulder. It was, in fact, 2014. So apologies to both Boulder and Madison, Wisconsin for the mix up. 🤦🏼♂️
Watch The Video:
About Evan Fry:
This is not one of those bios pretending to be written by someone other than the person the bio is describing. If it were, it may have started with “Evan Fry is a longtime veteran of the commercial creative industry, spending more than 12 years winning every award and learning a lot about content production at Crispin Porter + Bogusky during its heyday, and then co-running his own venture with a couple of co-founders at a startup called Victors & Spoils until it was acquired by a holding company (woo hoo!).
Since 2015, Evan has been keeping his own tiny agency in the black and trying to show up in the world as a person doing more good than damage. Most recently, Evan launched Ideas for Animals, a creative shop “ideating for kindness” with open source ideas and serving animal-free clients.
Evan is a longtime cyclist, animal lover, vegan coach, creative mentor and spiritual seeker. He’s been through his share of tough stuff but still sees himself as radically privileged and well-equipped for what this crazy world seems to value…” And so on. But such a 3rd-person approach would be disingenuous, because Evan is writing this himself. Just like most people do when writing their bio. Trying to be clever. Wondering if it’s too long. Or boring. But knowing it’s probably just fine. Especially because nobody but his mom will read it.
You can find Evan on the internet at Ideas For Animals, Fry (his personal portfolio site) or @ideas_for_animals on the ‘Gram.
The podcast streams on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. And NOW, you can check out the visual experience on YouTube! Check out other episodes here!
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Thanks to my dear compadre from another madre, Billy Hayes, for the intoxicating theme music.