Vapor Digest #3 The Trade Publication For The Vapor Products Industry
Issue link: http://vapordigest.epubxp.com/i/442928
Patrick V*: Let's start off with an ice-breaker. You may already know this, but the words "vape" and "binge-watch" became official words in the Oxford Dictionary on the exact same day (August 14, 2014). What is your favorite show to binge-watch? Lance: Mythbusters. I have a man crush on Adam Savage. Patrick V*: Where were you born and where do you live now? Do you think that your views on vaping are influenced by the area of the country you live in?, or would they be the same no matter where in the USA you resided? Lance: I was born in Florida, moved to Georgia for most of my life, until I joined the military. I traveled all over the place with the Army, then ended up in Texas. As far as my views… I don't think any of the places I've lived have had that dramatic of an impact on any of my views. I tend to be over analytical of things in general so, popular opinion has never had a huge impact on my personal beliefs or views. Patrick V*: Tell us about your career before embarking on your vaping-related endeavors. Lance: 4 years of Military doing communications stuff and working in little windowless vans and basement rooms followed by 12 years of doing the exact same thing as an IT Architect for Lockheed Martin. I started SteamMonkey as a back up plan for lay-offs because they were starting to happen almost annually at Lockheed. I loved vaping so I wanted to do something vape related and I wanted to be my own boss so it just made sense. I never got laid off so I finally just had to quit my Lockheed gig. Patrick V*: Are you still active in this career, or has vaping stuff become your full-time job? Lance: I quit my day job in May of 2014. I'm full time in SteamMonkey and Ursimian (the design, manufacturing, and whole- sale company I'm a partner in). Patrick V*: What was your history with smoking before you starting vaping? Lance: I started smoking at age 12 because there wasn't a lot else to do in my area. I smoked cigarettes for most of my life then switched to cigarellos and long stemmed pipes with fancy tobacco in them. Finally got fed up with coughing and feeling ill all the time so I switched to vaping about 5 years ago. GETTING TO KNOW GETTING TO KNOW LANCE WALLEN Better known as "Steam Monkey"