{"id":45969,"date":"2019-05-07T10:53:23","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T15:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/?p=45969"},"modified":"2019-05-07T11:03:32","modified_gmt":"2019-05-07T16:03:32","slug":"grand-trunk-kyle-wood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/grand-trunk-kyle-wood\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Trunk’s Kyle Wood On Northerly Island, Favorite Chicago Restaurants & Why Grand Trunk Is Based In Skokie"},"content":{"rendered":"

The founders of Grand Trunk<\/a> \u2014 a company well-known for its hammocks, pillows and travel gear \u2014 shared a love of adventure. Close to 20 years since launching in 2001, Grand Trunk is practically an industry leader when it comes to making what it calls “goods for the road.” Among the media outlets that have recently praised Grand Trunk are the New York Times<\/em>, Outside<\/em>, BuzzFeed,<\/em> and Real Simple<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Yet not everyone realizes that Grand Trunk is an Illinois-based company, and I had the pleasure of discussing that with its head of marketing, Kyle Wood. More on Grand Trunk, including its popular Tech Throw Travel Blanket, can be found online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If my research is correct, you are an Illinois lifer, college studies included. What is it that has kept you in the area for so long?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kyle Wood: <\/strong>Well, technically, I left Illinois for undergrad at a small school called St. Ambrose in the great state of Iowa. But it was right on the Mississippi River, so depending on where you were standing in town, you could look across and see Illinois. So it was basically in the area! (laughs)<\/em><\/p>\n

Long story short, I\u2019ve always been fascinated by how people think and what drives us to behave the way we do. St. Ambrose had a Forensic Psychology program and, coming out of high school, the dream job was to be a forensic profiler for the FBI. But in my sophomore year, I took a marketing class and was amazed at how much the worlds of Psychology and Marketing overlap. I ended up taking on another major and graduating with both Psychology and Marketing degrees. It sounds fancier than it is. (laughs)<\/em><\/p>\n

After graduation, I took a marketing and business development position at a Behavioral Health Hospital in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago. From there, it\u2019s the classic falling in love with the city story. Tough to leave the big city!<\/p>\n

You are the Brand Manager of Grand Trunk. How did you wind up working with the company?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kyle Wood: <\/strong>While I was getting my MBA at DePaul<\/a> I met all sorts of really impressive people in the marketing world, many of whom were already brand managers at their companies. Between working on projects with them and learning more about their roles, companies, and industries, I really fell in love with the challenges a CPG marketing role brings. I immediately began looking and found Grand Trunk. Lucky for me, I went to high school with the graphic designer on staff. All I remember from my interview is talking about DJ Khaled for like 20 minutes. But here I am! (laughs)<\/em><\/p>\n

Grand Trunk is based in Skokie. Why Skokie?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kyle Wood: <\/strong>We actually get that a lot. But Chicago is the outdoor capital of the United States, right? Denver and Seattle and all the other wonderfully beautiful places in this country don\u2019t hold a candle. Our biases aside, the reason Grand Trunk is based in Skokie is because the Chicagoland area is the hometown of one of our co-founders, Kevin Kaiser<\/a>. He and his partner Jon Neff built Grand Trunk out of their truck, then a van, then Kevin\u2019s parents garage. And now we have our own garage! A couple actually, with a warehouse and offices and hammocks to lounge in. The Chicagoland area has been good to Grand Trunk.<\/p>\n