Second Nature

Steve Holmberg is one of our favorite recurring guests, and this time, he showed up with something nobody expected. Over the holidays, Steve went from zero coding experience to a fully functional AI-powered app called Field Check, built using the vibe coding platform Lovable. The app connects retail store associates directly to brand product and marketing teams through AI-driven chats that go deeper than any survey can — and he built the whole thing in about a month.
In this conversation, Steve walks through exactly how he did it, what he wishes he'd known before starting, and why AI is "a tool masquerading as a solution." He also deployed Field Check live on the Second Nature Slack channel to surface what the audience actually wants — and the results are fascinating.
Plus: a halftime check-in on Second Nature's 2026 predictions, what happened at Sea Otter with Chinese bike brands, why Adidas is having a moment, and the 32-inch wheel debate that nobody asked for.
Show Notes:
Popfly for Creators: https://popf.ly/secondnaturecreators
Popfly for Brands: https://popf.ly/secondnaturebrands
Steve Holmberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenholmberg/
Insight Accelerator: https://insight-accelerator.com/
Lovable: https://lovable.dev/
Field Check: https://fieldcheck.app/
Supabase: https://supabase.com/
Cloudflare: https://www.cloudflare.com/
Github: https://www.github.com
2026 Predictions Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0G3OpDVnyA
Steve's Prediction Post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stephenholmberg_2026-sport-and-outdoor-industry-trends-activity-7414293417557626880-AXy7
Trailcon: https://www.trailconference.com
BPC - Brand, Product, Content
Jason Fried - David Senra Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdDCtMA1gSw
Adventure Bucket List: https://reachinternationaloutfitters.com/collections/state-bucket-lists
Join us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/second-nature-media
Meet us on Slack: https://www.launchpass.com/second-nature
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondnature.media
Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.secondnature.media
Subscribe to the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@secondnaturemedia

Maren Hamilton ran global social at The North Face — building and executing a strategy for 5.5 million followers, integrating athletes and creators, and navigating every platform shift from the follow graph to the discovery graph. Then she left to help build Popfly, the creator platform built specifically for the outdoor industry. In this conversation, Maren shares the playbook she developed at TNF for running brand social at scale, including how to say no to the hundreds of internal requests that flood every social team, why the outdoor buying journey is fundamentally different from fashion and beauty, and what brands still get wrong about TikTok, Threads, and Facebook.
Plus: Why Head of Social to CMO is now a real career path, what makes a creator pitch actually land with a brand, and the Adidas sub-two-hour marathon moment that might be the greatest brand activation of the decade.
Second Nature is supported by Popfly. If you want to support our podcast - and discover a platform that we believe is one of the best tools for connecting brands and creators, follow these links:
Popfly for Creators/Athletes: https://popf.ly/secondnaturecreators
Popfly for Brands: https://popf.ly/secondnaturebrands
Show Notes: 
Maren Hamilton: https://www.marenhamilton.com/
Popfly: https://popf.ly/secondnaturebrands
TNF Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenorthface
DBo on X: https://x.com/dylanbo
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com
Gnara on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gnara_apparel?lang=en
Taylor Hoekstra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorhoekstra/
Popfly Storefront: https://app.popfly.com/@superridertv/storefront
Alpaka: https://www.alpaka.com
Camp Chef: https://www.campchef.com
Backcountry: https://www.backcountry.com
BPC - Brand, Product, Content:
Halfdays x HOKA: https://www.halfdays.com/pages/hoka-x-halfdays
Keen x 18 East: https://www.keenfootwear.com/collections/keen-x-eighteen-east
Gnarly Nutrition x DBo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPtESorSIso
Supercommunicators (Book): https://amzn.to/3RcJ7W6
Supercommunicators (Podcast Episode): https://open.spotify.com/episode/3jqbbLEHbZyEJ2kMqNskkz
Adidas Pro Evo 3: https://www.adidas.com/us/adizero-adios-pro-evo-3-shoes/KH7678.html
Join us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/second-nature-media
Meet us on Slack: https://www.launchpass.com/second-nature
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondnature.media
Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.secondnature.media
Subscribe to the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@secondnaturemedia

Matt Trappe is a photographer, filmmaker, creative strategist, and the voice behind the Matter of Brand newsletter: one of the most consistently sharp reads on brand building in the outdoor space. In this conversation, Matt and Aaron dig into why leading with innovation and tech has become table stakes rather than a differentiator, the three elements that make a brand story actually stick, and why the most powerful thing a brand can do right now is invest in longer attention channels rather than chasing short-form reach.
Show Notes:
Popfly for Brands: https://www.popfly.com?growsurf_campaign=jpeg2o&grsf=x4d7gg
Popfly for Creators: https://www.popfly.com/creators?growsurf_campaign=wovvt7&grsf=3jh7ss
Matt Trappe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-trappe/
Auteur Sportif: https://auteursportif.com/
Matter Of Brand: https://amatterofbrand.substack.com/
Matt Trappe on Second Nature (2024): https://youtu.be/Y-5n57sX5S4
MOB - YouTube Strategies: https://amatterofbrand.substack.com/p/new-youtube-strategies-for-athletes
NASA Artemis Recap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfRqrrBbT-Y
Hyperlyte - The Kid (Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZmeB4qub_U
Kaironic: https://auteursportif.com/products/kaironic-issue-002
Smith Optics: https://smithoptics.pxf.io/PzKObY
WSJ - Alternatively Influential: https://www.wsj.com/cmo-today/forget-influencers-welcome-to-the-world-of-the-alternatively-influential-e058e639
Second Nature Slack: https://www.launchpass.com/second-nature
Skratch: https://www.skratch.com
Popfly: https://popf.ly/secondnaturebrands
Skratch x Auteur Sportif: https://www.skratchlabs.com/pages/what-remains
Tantrums: https://tantrums.run/
BPC - Brand, Product, Content
Are.na: https://www.are.na/
Smith ODS5: https://smithoptics.pxf.io/vDyPVe
Join us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/second-nature-media
Meet us on Slack: https://www.launchpass.com/second-nature
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondnature.media
Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.secondnature.media
Subscribe to the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@secondnaturemedia

Most outdoor brands have a YouTube problem. They're just not talking about it. Jeff Pelletier is a filmmaker, trail running creator, and one of the most thoughtful students of YouTube strategy and in the outdoor space. In this episode he breaks down why most brand channels are underperforming and what to actually do about it. We cover the difference between consistency and familiarity, why athlete-led channels outperform brand channels, the Marvel cinematic universe framework for building an audience around characters, and how YouTube's new collaboration feature changes the game for brand-creator partnerships.
If you work at a brand, or if you're a creator who wants to bring more value to the brands that back you, this episode is required listening.
Show Notes:
Popfly for Brands: https://www.popfly.com?growsurf_campaign=jpeg2o&grsf=x4d7gg
Popfly for Creators: https://www.popfly.com/creators?growsurf_campaign=wovvt7&grsf=3jh7ss
Jeff Pelletier on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JeffPelletier
Why Most Brands Fail On YouTube: https://open.substack.com/pub/jeffpelletier/p/why-most-brands-fail-on-youtube
Super Rider Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SuperRiderTV
Darren Rayner / Magnafire: https://www.magnafiremedia.com/
Floris Gierman on Second Nature: https://youtu.be/mjMJ7lcEIGg
Path Projects: https://pathprojects.com/
Outdoor Media Summit - Brand Preso: https://youtu.be/b0w462ncEEY?si=ORi2F8yGv4Rdtcos&t=774
Coros on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@COROSGlobal
Park Tool's Sign-Off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60mjoZ0XeVA
Rickey Gates: https://www.rickeygates.com/
Huckberry - Dirt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXbHTtsCd_E&list=PLjHRKTS-Q5-CeCo66kFGivBMF8qB8orPh
Huckberry Homes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjHRKTS-Q5-DBIKtFTzXdHr355duxbl7J
Cody Townsend - The Fifty Project: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSj-6RsDycxnKiIFFm0BFYoLLV5Np3K49
BPC - Brand, Product, Content:
Hover Air ProMax: https://geni.us/OEkhLgI
Jeff's Hover Air video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0evC16wzaDE
DJI Osmo Pocket 3: https://amzn.to/41XGNEo
Join us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/second-nature-media
Meet us on Slack: https://www.launchpass.com/second-nature
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondnature.media
Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.secondnature.media
Subscribe to the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@secondnaturemedia

Michael Rueckert was a ski resort marketing director who got curious about a simple question: when someone asks an AI where to ski, does Snow Basin show up? That curiosity led him down a rabbit hole that eventually became Centium AI, a platform now working with over 170 outdoor brands to help them understand and improve their visibility across every major AI model.
In this conversation, Michael and Aaron dig into how ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity each "think" differently about outdoor brands, why landing a GearLab ranking may now be worth more than any paid search campaign, and what it means for marketing when AI starts making purchasing decisions on behalf of humans. They also go deep on the practical side — how to set up Claude projects as a creative co-pilot, why taste is still the irreducible human advantage in an AI world, and why the outdoor industry is actually better positioned than most for what's coming.
Show Notes:
Popfly for Brands: https://www.popfly.com?growsurf_campaign=jpeg2o&grsf=x4d7gg
Popfly for Creators: https://www.popfly.com/creators?growsurf_campaign=wovvt7&grsf=3jh7ss
Michael Rueckert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-rueckert/
Centium AI: https://www.centium.ai/
Christian Rawles on SN: https://youtu.be/EVPKsO0O8us
GearLab: https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/
OpenClaw: https://openclaw.ai/
Rick Rubin on "Taste": https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNyma-0WMZL/
Claude: https://www.claude.ai
BPC - Brand, Product, Content
Scott Sports: https://www.scott-sports.com/
Gnarly Nutrition: https://gognarly.com/
DBo's Gnarly Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPtESorSIso
Go-Giver (Book): https://amzn.to/4mzP632
Join us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/second-nature-media
Meet us on Slack: https://www.launchpass.com/second-nature
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondnature.media
Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.secondnature.media
Subscribe to the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@secondnaturemedia