Meet Mike Dusman of Fix A Fire

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Dusman.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Mike. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
It was so hot in Kansas. I remember the wind wouldn’t quit. The miles and miles of seemingly endless fields could cause you to forget what day it was. And sometimes I forgot what day it was. We had officially found ‘nowhere’. But we were halfway there. Fix A Fire was born in a 29 foot RV during the course of a five-month journey across America. My cousin Chris launched a project to run across the United States — from New York City to Venice Beach — to raise awareness about addiction and recovery in America. And we did it.

It was 2017. I was working at a big Denver agency when I got the text that Sunday morning. I had just finished pouring my first press of coffee when my phone buzzed. It was Chris. “Hey man, you free? I have an idea.” He told me about this goal he had; to run around the world. He knew that I “worked in advertising”, so he reached out in hopes that I could help him with some promotion. Maybe build a website, populate some social channels, see if we could secure a few sponsors. Nothing major. But by the end of the call that morning, we had landed on tackling the United States. 3,200 miles. 150 days. He would run a full marathon every day. And I wasn’t just going to help him. I was going with him.

We built a website — chriscrossthenation.com — started to grow social channels, and began to secure our first project sponsors. The pitch was simple: we know this is crazy, but we’re doing it. Help support our journey, and we’ll generate inspirational stories for your brand along the way. I didn’t know it at the time, but some of those first brand sponsors would turn into Fix A Fire’s first clients — and more importantly, lasting friendships rooted in trust, likemindedness, and a few loose screws.

I left my agency job, flew to Indiana to pick up our 100 square foot home on wheels, and drove east to meet Chris. The RV had a small living room kitchen table, which became FF’s first office. And over the course of the next 150 days, we stayed at campgrounds, stranger’s driveways, parks, and over 45 different Walmart parking lots. So really, FF started in an RV… in a Walmart.

From NY to CA, Chris ran 25+ miles per day, and I captured stories of the people and places we encountered along the way. We lived on turkey sandwiches, Campbell’s soup, and only 40 gallons of freshwater a week between the two of us. We set out to learn about other people but ended up learning more about ourselves. It wasn’t always easy, but it was always ours. And in the end, we learned that nothing is more powerful than being inspired.

On December 13th, 2017, we ran into the Pacific Ocean. Exactly 150 days after we had left the railing of the Hudson River. Chris had run over 3,200 miles, and we had finally made it. It was a roller coaster of a day — elation, exhaustion, reflection, and ironically… a lingering fear and anxiety. What do I do now?

Upon arriving back in Denver, I did the only thing I knew how to do — I dove into developing Fix A Fire into the vision I had for it. An integrated, strategic, and purpose-driven shop striving to meet the creative content needs of our partners and our friends. It’s rooted in a decade of traditional advertising experience, and hell-bent on undoing the traditional advertising experience — and doing it with passion, dedication, humility, and a (very) strict no a-hole policy. We’re fiercely independent, and we like it that way.

After all, we survived Kansas.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
When you begin a journey like building a business — or anything, really — our visualizations are often of our ideas already manifested. A business operating successfully and generating profit. A company culture full of people in a trendy office. We skip thinking about the baby steps. The crawling. The motivation from little successes and the lessons from the little failures.

Securing that first brand partner, saying “yes” to something even though you’ve never done it before, tackling the inevitable imposter syndrome, bombing a new business meeting, trying to make the numbers work when the numbers don’t work, and battling the perpetual urge to give up. There’s a resilience that has to come with this thing. And if you’re unable to take a punch and get back up, it’ll be much easier to walk away. You will get punched. Don’t walk away.

Please tell us about Fix A Fire.
At Fix A Fire, we live purposefully at the intersection of brand and story. We start by understanding why a brand exists and how it can stand alone — then how it can stand for something larger. We partner to grow existing brands, build emerging ones and launch new brand ideas. We work with brands to develop and fine-tune strategic positioning, visual identity, messaging, and design, then bring a brand to life with content campaigns — photo and video assets that communicate a brand’s purpose, story, product benefit, and lifestyle to the world.

Our mission is to champion brands that do well by doing good. What sort of positive social or cultural bi-product does a brand generate by way of what it makes or does? That’s the story we want to tell.

To Fix A Fire is to focus a passion. To shape an idea. And to turn inspiration into action.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by people who support my (sometimes wild) ideas, visions, and actions. They know who they are, and they mean more to me than anything. I’ve been lucky to work with some truly talented, kind, and inspirational individuals on both the client-side and the FF side of this journey. They’ve trusted me with their brands and businesses, and I’ve trusted their feedback and advice. And I was lucky that Chris texted me that Sunday morning. “Hey man, you free? I have an idea.” Sometimes, that’s how it starts.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fixafire.com
• Email: contact@fixafire.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/fixafire

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