Life can certainly lead you in many directions, but some just seem to lead you around in a circle and back to the same place. This is the case for those involved in this collaboration between VIRIS global and VIRIS New Zealand.
Sometime ago back in 2011, these guys^ Andy Ward, now VIRIS BRAND founder and owner teamed up with Cam Cole, former professional Downhill racer, GT Factory Racing Team manager, and one-half of VIRIS BRAND NZ, to conquer the Downhill World Cup circuit as a rider and mechanic duo. The pair riding and working as part of the Lapierre International mountain bike team claimed 3 Elite men’s podiums at the UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup. Fast forward to 2022 when Andy and Cam met up at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Finals Val di Sole, Italy. While Cam worked in his day job at the event as the GT Factory Racing Team Manager Andy was on site to promote VIRIS and keep a finger on the pulse of the sport at the highest level. Shortly after the race with a few Aperol Spritz onboard Cam and Andy started a discussion about bringing VIRIS to New Zealand. After a few more discussions online in the later months of 2022 it seemed a good fit for all involved.
Enter Liam Jackson, former New Zealand Downhill representative on the world stage, Marketing Genius, and the other half of VIRIS BRAND NZ. Although they wouldn't know it Liam and Cam raced downhill together for the first time in 2013 at the New Zealand National Downhill series. A few years later, in 2016 their lives converged in a much more serious environment when they found themselves studying towards the same degree in Marketing at Victoria University of Wellington. Their story continues as they progressed their studies together and made the local Wellington mountain bike trails their own in between classes. In 2017 Cam set off to start his own mountain bike trail-building business under the Trailpro brand. A year later directly after finishing his University studies, Liam jumped on board at Trailpro as a project manager working on projects with Cam across the North Island of New Zealand. Liam was destined for bigger things and didn't stick around too long in the Trailpro gig. In mid-2018 he set off to pursue a pure marketing role with AEG Power tools based in Auckland.
Since 2018 and parting ways somewhat Liam and Cam maintained their connection through a shared passion for bikes and marketing. When the opportunity to bring VIRIS to New Zealand presented itself to Cam and Andy in Italy it was an easy ask and an easy decision for both Cam and Liam to join forces again.
So, they started the Garage Supply Co. business, brought some VIRIS product to New Zealand, opened a few accounts and threw the product up in an online store. In the end it was that easy and here they are turning the page and continuing the story on a clean sheet of paper. Welcome to VIRIS BRAND New Zealand. Follow their story
Instagram: @virisbrand.nz