Interview with Grayson Davey
We recently interviewed a teen CEO and Hopeful Olympic Competitor for the Cliché Teen Journal Interview Blog page.
Read about the interview below!
*A conversation between Daania S. and Grayson Davey, a teen CEO and Hopeful Olympic Competitor.*
Daania: Could you start off by introducing yourself?
Grayson: Hi, I’m Grayson Davey. I am on Team USA shooting and a highly regarded Olympic Hopeful for the 2020 Olympics. I have been Shooting for 5 years and I am 17 years old while also being a sophomore in college. While I have been competing to go to the Olympics, I have also started and ran my own business, Alaska Paracord Designs.
Question 1: What do you mean by you are 17 but are already a sophomore in college?
I graduated high school early and started attending Martin Methodist College in Tennessee. I entered with 34 College credits and am a Sophomore and I am attending Martin Methodist on a shooting scholarship.
Question 2: Could you expand on your Alaska Paracord Designs business? Why did it start, when did it start, and how has it impacted you now?
Grayson: I started my Company when I was 11 years old after witnessing a tragic accident that some of our dear family friends experienced in Alaska. Long story short (full story can be found at http://www.alaskaparacord.com)
they were stranded on a river in Alaska after flipping their boat in freezing water. They barely survived 3 days without food, shelter, or fire. I started my company to provide a compact survival kit that is always attached to you body. And all of our products have the ability to start a fire no matter the conditions you find yourself in.
Question 3: How have you grown from starting your own company?
Grayson: Without question. I am always finding small things through my life that I know that others haven’t even come close to experiencing. It’s the little things that help me see more sides of the story like profit and loss, and how different companies handle situations in completely opposite ways.
Question 4: Speaking of Olympic goals in shooting, how have you worked up to a position where you are a highly regarded Olympic Hopeful?
Grayson: I have recurved my MQS (minimum qualifying score) in the first match I was Able to obtain it. An MQS is a score one must get at an international competition in the last two years of an Olympic cycle. This was one of the several final steps to making the Olympic team. Last year I was also ranked 2nd and traveled to 6 international competitions with USA on my back. I love to represent the country and the environment that I grew up in and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. The Olympic team is selected in May of 2020, so there is still plenty of time to continue to improve and make my chances better and better.
Question 5: How often do you train a week, where do you train, and what do you train?
Grayson: Depending on how close I am to a competition; I will train at different paces. In the off season (which is only 3 or 4 months for us) I will train by shooting 300-400 targets a day 7 days a week. When I come up to a competition, my training schedule will change. I will tapper the amount of shooting I do while maintaining a 6-7 day a week schedule. So, by the time a reach a week before a competition, I am shooting only 100 targets a day
I also work in the gym about 5 days a week to improve balance, mobility, and explosive strength. And I will take about an hour every day for mental/ concentration training
Question 6: Did/does training and competing get in the way of education and school?
Grayson: There is always a way to find a balance. I am taking light class loads in the upcoming years to the Olympics, but my credits I obtained before attending college help to keep me on track
Question 7: What’s your favorite part about the sport of shooting?
Grayson: The immediate gratification and the escape. A lot of sport shooters know the feeling of hearing the “ting” of a metal target, or the dramatic explosion of a clay target. That never seems to get old, but the best feeling I have felt and continue to feel is achieving the wining position at a competition. Knowing that you shot better than anyone else around you for that day is the best feeling in the world, and the more you train, the better it feels. It has also been an escape for me, if I am having trouble in school, with friends, or relationships, shooting has always been a way for me to completely clear my mind even if it is only for a couple hours.
Question 8: People say that boxing is a violent sport and should be exterminated. Some say that shooting is the same. What would you say to these people?
Grayson: Shooting is statistically the safest sport. I have never been injured or even hurt from the sport of shooting. Of course there are accidents, but the idea that someone will get hurt at a competition is non-existent due to the very serious safety measures that are put in place. I can go out to train and compete without the worry of getting hurt, or possible ending my career or life for something I do on the field, very few athletes can say that.
Question 9: What’s your ultimate career goal?
Grayson: An Olympic Gold medal or possibly multiple.
Question 10: Who has been your biggest inspiration?
Grayson: My single biggest inspiration has been my parents. They have always backed my decisions while offering the best advice I could ask for, they never forget to be parents, but they are mentors when they need to be.
Question 11: What’s the best advice you were given that teens following your footsteps should hear?
Grayson: Don’t be afraid to focus on your passion instead of following the set path. Fortunately, I haven’t had many people in my life that say that I can’t do something, or they are out of my life fairly quickly. But I have had mentors, teachers, and even friends that have tried to steer me away from my passion and towards a more “normal” path. At the end of the day, you will never be wrong for following your passion!
Question 12: What is the best advice you can give to teens (not relating to shooting/business/etc)
Grayson: It would still be to follow your passion and to not be afraid to differ from the “normal path” whether that be in a sport, career, art, or even personality.
Last Question: Any last things you’d like to add?
Grayson: I think those questions covered everything I could think of.
Grayson's Instagram: @Grayson_Davey
View his site: www.alaskaparacord.com
Click button below for more!
Grayson: Hi, I’m Grayson Davey. I am on Team USA shooting and a highly regarded Olympic Hopeful for the 2020 Olympics. I have been Shooting for 5 years and I am 17 years old while also being a sophomore in college. While I have been competing to go to the Olympics, I have also started and ran my own business, Alaska Paracord Designs.
Question 1: What do you mean by you are 17 but are already a sophomore in college?
I graduated high school early and started attending Martin Methodist College in Tennessee. I entered with 34 College credits and am a Sophomore and I am attending Martin Methodist on a shooting scholarship.
Question 2: Could you expand on your Alaska Paracord Designs business? Why did it start, when did it start, and how has it impacted you now?
Grayson: I started my Company when I was 11 years old after witnessing a tragic accident that some of our dear family friends experienced in Alaska. Long story short (full story can be found at http://www.alaskaparacord.com)
they were stranded on a river in Alaska after flipping their boat in freezing water. They barely survived 3 days without food, shelter, or fire. I started my company to provide a compact survival kit that is always attached to you body. And all of our products have the ability to start a fire no matter the conditions you find yourself in.
Question 3: How have you grown from starting your own company?
Grayson: Without question. I am always finding small things through my life that I know that others haven’t even come close to experiencing. It’s the little things that help me see more sides of the story like profit and loss, and how different companies handle situations in completely opposite ways.
Question 4: Speaking of Olympic goals in shooting, how have you worked up to a position where you are a highly regarded Olympic Hopeful?
Grayson: I have recurved my MQS (minimum qualifying score) in the first match I was Able to obtain it. An MQS is a score one must get at an international competition in the last two years of an Olympic cycle. This was one of the several final steps to making the Olympic team. Last year I was also ranked 2nd and traveled to 6 international competitions with USA on my back. I love to represent the country and the environment that I grew up in and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. The Olympic team is selected in May of 2020, so there is still plenty of time to continue to improve and make my chances better and better.
Question 5: How often do you train a week, where do you train, and what do you train?
Grayson: Depending on how close I am to a competition; I will train at different paces. In the off season (which is only 3 or 4 months for us) I will train by shooting 300-400 targets a day 7 days a week. When I come up to a competition, my training schedule will change. I will tapper the amount of shooting I do while maintaining a 6-7 day a week schedule. So, by the time a reach a week before a competition, I am shooting only 100 targets a day
I also work in the gym about 5 days a week to improve balance, mobility, and explosive strength. And I will take about an hour every day for mental/ concentration training
Question 6: Did/does training and competing get in the way of education and school?
Grayson: There is always a way to find a balance. I am taking light class loads in the upcoming years to the Olympics, but my credits I obtained before attending college help to keep me on track
Question 7: What’s your favorite part about the sport of shooting?
Grayson: The immediate gratification and the escape. A lot of sport shooters know the feeling of hearing the “ting” of a metal target, or the dramatic explosion of a clay target. That never seems to get old, but the best feeling I have felt and continue to feel is achieving the wining position at a competition. Knowing that you shot better than anyone else around you for that day is the best feeling in the world, and the more you train, the better it feels. It has also been an escape for me, if I am having trouble in school, with friends, or relationships, shooting has always been a way for me to completely clear my mind even if it is only for a couple hours.
Question 8: People say that boxing is a violent sport and should be exterminated. Some say that shooting is the same. What would you say to these people?
Grayson: Shooting is statistically the safest sport. I have never been injured or even hurt from the sport of shooting. Of course there are accidents, but the idea that someone will get hurt at a competition is non-existent due to the very serious safety measures that are put in place. I can go out to train and compete without the worry of getting hurt, or possible ending my career or life for something I do on the field, very few athletes can say that.
Question 9: What’s your ultimate career goal?
Grayson: An Olympic Gold medal or possibly multiple.
Question 10: Who has been your biggest inspiration?
Grayson: My single biggest inspiration has been my parents. They have always backed my decisions while offering the best advice I could ask for, they never forget to be parents, but they are mentors when they need to be.
Question 11: What’s the best advice you were given that teens following your footsteps should hear?
Grayson: Don’t be afraid to focus on your passion instead of following the set path. Fortunately, I haven’t had many people in my life that say that I can’t do something, or they are out of my life fairly quickly. But I have had mentors, teachers, and even friends that have tried to steer me away from my passion and towards a more “normal” path. At the end of the day, you will never be wrong for following your passion!
Question 12: What is the best advice you can give to teens (not relating to shooting/business/etc)
Grayson: It would still be to follow your passion and to not be afraid to differ from the “normal path” whether that be in a sport, career, art, or even personality.
Last Question: Any last things you’d like to add?
Grayson: I think those questions covered everything I could think of.
Grayson's Instagram: @Grayson_Davey
View his site: www.alaskaparacord.com
Click button below for more!