Meet Orange Mud owner, Josh Sprague

Born and raised in Paxico, Kansas, Josh Sprague has always had an innate passion for exercise, adventure and the outdoors. As an avid runner and adventure-seeker, Josh has participated in countless endurance events, eco-challenges, and races over the years. Most recently, he has completed both the Dirty Kanza 2019 and the Cannonball 550 mile bike race. (550 miles is about 40 miles longer than the distance between Austin and New Orleans) As Josh completed race after race, he continued to encounter issues with his equipment, especially his water bottle holders, to him they, “just never felt right.” 

In 2012, while still working at a medical device company in California, overseeing a large distribution facility, Josh had one particular day of fun exercise and hydration frustration. That night, the first concept was born. “After a couple of glasses of wine that night I decided to take action and put some work into our concept. So I went into the garage and destroyed a gun holster, tie-down, and a waist pack to build our first HydraQuiver prototype. I went on a little jog with the pack and realized it was a solid concept, so I came back to tell my wife we’re starting a company and we need a name. For the next 3 hours, brainstorming was full speed in front of the iMac on GoDaddy trying name combos based upon trail running, dirt and my middle name which is Clay. My wife wouldn’t let me name our first boy Clay despite my request, so I told her I’d turn it into our company name somehow. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get anything to sound right with Clay, so looking back at my Kansas roots mud was a norm of life, so Clay turned to Mud and I’ve always liked the color Orange so the two came together and voila…Orange Mud!”

(Above: Josh Sprague)

After a couple years of balancing his day job with Orange Mud, Josh quit his job to focus solely on his business. Him and his family then moved to Denver, Colorado expecting a large population of endurance athletes. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. That, along with a slew of other issues forced Josh and his family to relocate again. He wanted to move somewhere not only more affordable, but also smarter for their business. Josh had been running the Orange Mud business through his home and, in order to continue growing, he needed more space. During a trip to Texas for an endurance event, Josh decided that the Austin Area, specifically Georgetown, fit the bill. He called his wife who immedately packed the house and the rest is history.   

Orange Mud’s headquarters is now based in Round Rock – and business is better than ever. Orange Mud is sold in over 500 stores and 40+ countries and boasts over 337 brand ambassadors. He has also started a screen printing company called Seven Clay. (He finally gets to use his middle name for something)

Josh Sprague and the Orange Mud Team will be at The Running Event in December. Find more info here: https://www.therunningevent.com/

For more on Orange Mud:

Website: https://www.orangemud.com/

Website: https://sevenclay.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/orangemud

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orangemud/

Meet Multimorphic owner, Gerry Stellenberg

Gerry Stellenberg first got into pinball machines in college. Originally an avid pool player, he only gave pinball a chance because on one particular day he was tired of waiting for his turn to play pool. Now, he’s leading the charge on the new wave of pinball machines with his company, Multimorphic. Gerry and his team just brought the future of pinball to Austin’s Dave & Buster’s.

After graduating from college, Gerry began working in the tech industry; however, after years in the industry, he decided he wanted to take his own path in something he was interested in. Hence, the birth of Multimorphic.

At first, Gerry’s goal was simply to improve pinball digitally. Gerry first created the P-ROC (Pinball – Remote Operations Controller) which is a circuit board that enables a computer to control a pinball machine over USB. According to Gerry, this is an “evolutionary machine,” especially because it can be used to retheme existing games, including WPC, WPC-95, Stern Whitestar, and Stern SAM generations of machines – all of the popular pinball machines.

The P-ROC itself gained popularity in the pinball community; however, Gerry wanted to take it one step further. He created the P3, a pinball machine that a user can play different games on as if it were an Xbox or a PS4. All aspects of the pinball machine, from the playfield to the animated graphics on the built-in screen even to the side panel graphics can be changed. Instead of having one singular pinball machine with one unchanging theme, a P3 owner can change out their games easily as they please. Furthermore, the P3 also has a responsive playfield, that allows for increased functionality and customization.

Moreover, because the P3 utilizes a more advanced version of the P-ROC, the new age pinball machine has new features that normal pinball machines offer. For example, the P3 can be played head to head, allowing for a multiplayer type of game.

This past week marked a major achievement in Multimorphic’s existence. Gerry and his team finally got the P3 into the most popular arcade in Austin – Dave & Buster’s.

While Multimorphic has made headway in the pinball world with the P3, perhaps the hardest challenge is converting traditional pinball lovers to accept the new age design; however, the P3 is successfully growing the market beyond the traditional pinball community.

Check out the future of pinball machines, the P3, at the Austin Dave & Buster’s.

Multimorphic is currently running a promotion right now for a chance to win a $100 gift card to Dave & Buster’s. Just take a photo of the machine, post it on Facebook with your review, and tag Multimorphic. 

Learn more about Gerry and Multimorphic on their website or Facebook.

AND check out the P3 at Dave & Buster’s.

https://www.daveandbusters.com/locations/austin