Personal
Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
First and foremost, I am the father to 2 young beautiful children and the husband to the kindest wife I can imagine. I am a family man through and through. At one time I was a competitive bodybuilder and strength athlete, and I still train to stay healthy and strong but that part of my life took a backseat to my family's happiness. Since taking away some of the priority from bodybuilding I have found myself rather fond of photography and videography. I have been trying to obsessively hone my skills in that arena for a couple of years now.
Do you have a personal philosophy that you live by?
Don’t be an a$$hole. Be prepared.
You look great! It looks like you take great care of your body and appearance, why is this important to you and how do you keep it up?
Thank you! A lot of it is left over from my bodybuilding days, and I try to at least maintain a solid level of health to be capable for my family for a LONG time. I would be remiss if I didn’t say that there is still some vanity in it. It’s hard to slip so far from the image I once had. I still try and hold on to what I can without as much sacrifice as I once gave to the sport. I also have been submitting for auditions for print and film work and want to maintain a somewhat athletic physique.
Content
You’re very active on Instagram. What does the behind the scenes of your content making look like? And how do you create interesting content on such a regular basis?
The core of my content are things that I think look cool. I do much of it to entertain myself and let out my creativity. When I first started putting out more content, I tried to pay attention to what audience I was growing and aim the bulk of my content to that audience to grow engagement but I will still put some random or humorous stuff out there purely for my own entertainment.
It seems like you have a lot of creativity and that this plays a big role in how you make your content. What gets your creative spark going and where do you pull your inspiration from?
I have always had a lot of ideas for all kinds of things. “This would be a cool t-shirt”, “This would make a funny commercial” I kind of just take those random Ideas and say “how do I make it a short form video?” In regard to photos, particularly fashion photos…it is based on mood. I tend to shoot photos that convey how I feel when I get the camera out. I have a stressful day job and hectic life with 2 young kids. I think the stress and emotion comes through the photos. Sometimes, too much. LOL.
Style
How would you describe your style and what made you start dressing this way? How has your style developed over the years?
If I had to pigeon hole my style into 1 word, it would be Rugged. I spent a lot of my younger days trying to fit in and never feeling comfortable. I would also like to point out that the popular clothes are never very functional. I like things to be functional. I have always liked clothes that look better with a few miles on them. I don’t want to worry about ruining clothes when I help change a tire, or climb into a bush to get my kids’ ball. I like to wear clothes as ready and capable as I am. I also like them to look like it. I don’t want it to sound like I don’t care how I look, but I want to look stylish but without sacrificing function.
Do your personal style and philosophy influence each other?
In part, maybe. I was just going to say I don’t know how not being an a$$hole affected it but it does. I actually refuse to wear clothes that could be blatantly offensive to someone. Especially women or children. I tend to have a lot of young children that like to talk to me while out and about and I don’t need them reading something on my shirt that their parents have to explain.
The second part of my credo, definitely. Be prepared. I need clothes that I can perform in without concern if worse case happens.
Do you have any style idols?
I can’t say there is one particular person. I think I take bits and pieces of things that don’t look awful on me. At my size there are a lot of “stylish” things that look absurd on me. That being said I guess you could say if the Marlboro Man and Paul Bunyan had a child…it could be me.
Which pieces of clothing do you consider to be your evergreens? Are there any outfit components that you would never want to be seen without?
You are not likely to find me without Denim Jeans and Western Boots. If I can’t wear it with jeans and boots, I don’t need it. LOL.
When did you start wearing suspenders?
I actually had a set of braces as a youngster but as I mentioned it seemed far too important to me to fit in when I was young. Fast forward to coming across a Wiseguy sponsored ad a few years back and I fell in love; especially with the leather sets. They are timeless, and of course, functional.
What’s your favorite pair of Wiseguy Suspenders? And do you have a preferred way of styling and wearing them?
I always fall back to my full leather wide Crazy Horse set. One thing I do that is probably out of the norm is that I had ordered some no-sew brass button clips, and used the lobster claws to clip to them. I do it for a couple of reasons. The lobster claws hold under any circumstances, yet the inner belt loops are too narrow for my frame and the next loops out are too far. I slap some brass buttons right where they are comfortable and they are not only functional, they add a bit more brass hardware to add to the style.
Final
Any fun anecdotes about yourself which most people don’t know about you yet?
One of the things I am most proud of as a personal accomplishment is having gotten a full 2-page spread in a German Men’s Health Fitness Publication. It was an article about a training implement that I use and had worked with the manufacturer of. They chose my photos for the article. What made it better is that a life-long friend and I had a running bet of who could (with no actual expectation) get into a Men’s Health publication first.
Is there anything we didn’t ask you, that you would like to share with us?
I must point out that working with Wiseguy as a customer and later as an ambassador is one of the highlights of my “Influencer” career. I truly mean it. The team is wonderful from top to bottom. I can’t think of another company that produces such high quality products but also takes the time to send a message “Happy Saturday, Chris! I hope everything is going great!” It gives me the biggest smile every time! I could not be more proud to say I not only know but get to work with your family!
