Kona co-founder Jake Heilbron and sales rep Joe Hamilton put on a show at the Kona headquarters.
The worst kept secret at Kona, is that music is a huge part of our culture.
If you don’t look very hard, it’s in everything. Our founders, Dan and Jake, bonded through music when they first met and it’s been the third wheel to their partnership ever since. Somehow, Kona attracts people who have that love of music ingrained into them. In sales, we have Jordan and Joe who absolutely rip on a guitar and have been bandmates for several years now. In design, Aaron Hogg is a chronic music maker. He has been in several bands as a singer and rhythm guitarist. Tech man Chris Halcrow played a major part in the Vancouver punk and indie music scene. Our marketing department has Eddy, who was plucked from a record store job that he held onto for over a decade, Caleb was a DJ for about 4 years at a university radio station, and Shae who, inspired by her parents meeting while working at Tower Records, spent her teenage years working at a concert venue. Ian Schmitt, our product director, says that every bike is inspired by a specific playlist, and it’s all starting to make sense.
Basically, we think that music is fundamental. In Dan’s words, “It changes the way you see things, and gets your mind moving in a certain way”.
We saw our Spotify account as an opportunity to share this love of music with others. We hope each playlist inspires you, make you feel something, or helps you get to know us. If you’re a little more literal, than metaphorical, we also have an entire playlist of our Kona Cog-cast for you to get to know us through! Each episode is an in depth interview with Kona employees or Ambassadors.
