1KHO 788: Become the Most Useful Person You Know | John Sowash, Bear Woods Resort & Campground
5/4/202657 min
Go to bearwoodsresort.com/1000 to sign up for the Mother's Day Giveaway! A pile of tires, a broken-down property, and a decision that could have easily failed — that’s where this story starts. In this episode of The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast, Ginny sits down with longtime friend John Sowash, co-founder of Bear Woods Resort, to talk about what it actually takes to build something from scratch with five kids, limited resources, and no clear roadmap. From learning how to run heavy machinery to solving problems never encountered before, John shares how the hardest parts of the journey shaped the skills, confidence, and creativity that now serve both his family and the families who come to stay. This is a conversation about camping, Northern Michigan, entrepreneurship, and why the people who can do a little bit of everything are the ones everyone calls. Explore Bear Woods Resort and book your vacation at bearwoodsresort.com and join the Mother's Day Giveaway at bearwoodsresort.com/1000 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
[bottle cap opening] Pepsi Prebiotic Cola in original and cherry vanilla. [Cola pouring] That Pepsi taste you love with no artificial sweeteners and three grams of prebiotic fiber. [sigh] Pepsi Prebiotic Cola, unbelievably Pepsi.
Ginny Yurich· Host0:14
Welcome to the 1000 Hours Outside podcast. My name is Ginny Erlich, I'm the founder of 1000 Hours Outside. We're gonna be talking about getting in your outside hours over the summer through spending time at a campground or glamping or just being at a place where the kids can be outside. And owner and founder, co-founder of Bear Woods Resort, co-founder with his wife, Bear Woods Resort and Campground, John Zawash, welcome.
John Sowash· Guest0:39
Ginny, it's great to be here. Um, it's, uh, [laughs] it's been a journey with this campground, but I'm, uh, happy to share and tell the story.
Ginny Yurich· Host0:48
So this is, uh, a unique... I don't know if I've hardly ever had any of my, like, good friends on the podcast, but we've been friends for a really long time, and I was thinking back about when I met your wife, Nellie. And I c- I can remember where we were, you know, we were at Oak Point Church. I can remember the room. We were in a moms group together. And then I was like, "I have no idea when we met John." And also, it is a rare thing in family friendships where, like, the wives connect, the husbands connect, the kids connect, and so I feel like we've kind of found this golden unicorn. But I was thinking about, you know, we met, uh, p- close to 15 years ago.
John Sowash· Guest1:22
Yep.
Ginny Yurich· Host1:23
At least I met Nellie close to 15 years ago, and we've gone on some pretty cool trips, and I was thinking back on the ones that we've gone on with our families.