EP 117 Struggling toward improvement and other life lessons with Pete Iversen

In this one, Cody talks to Pete Iversen. Pete’s a dentist now, but back in the late 1990s, he was on his way to becoming a top name in snowboarding — he was winning heavy competitions and he was filming with big snowboard videos and local ones too. He had shots in a Mack Dawg video and a Straight Jacket Films video and parts in the legendary JB Deuce videos. Things were looking pretty good, until two separate knee injuries took him out. He says he just took too many flat landings, and after the second knee injury he found himself reconsidering being part of the snowboard industry. Not only was he questioning the strength of his own body, he had a tumultuous relationship with his sponsor, Ride Snowboards. In his final years of pursuing snowboarding as a career, he struggled with the ‘Why’ of it. Why does he do it? Is it just to look cool? Or is it for other selfish reasons? Because that’s not the type of person Pete wanted to be. He wanted to help people. So, he got out.   After he left snowboarding, he went through a rough patch of aimlessness and video game addiction. During the day, he worked in landscaping. After work, he would sometimes play eight hours of video games, getting no sleep for work the next day. This cycle repeated itself for over a year, until he made the decision to go to school for dentistry after a suggestion from his sister. This was his opportunity to make a difference in peoples’ lives. Now, instead of worrying about sponsorship obligations and injuries, he’s focused on being a good husband, father and entrepreneur. Mostly, he looks back on his snowboarding days with fondness — he’s most proud of the friendships he built along the way. But thinking about his life and the work he does now as a dentist, he sees it as his legacy, evidence of all the hard work he’s put into his life.