# Joe Simonds | CEO and Co-Founder of "Salt Strong" | Ep. 997 Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/tom-rowland-podcast-891759/joe-simonds-ceo-and-co-founder-of-salt-strong-ep-997 Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/tom-rowland-podcast-891759/joe-simonds-ceo-and-co-founder-of-salt-strong-ep-997.md Podcast: [Tom Rowland Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/tom-rowland-podcast-891759) Published: 2025-11-19T16:34:00+00:00 Episode link: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/WPCM6086784007.mp3 Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/WPCM6086784007.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/tom-rowland-podcast-891759/episodes/joe-simonds-ceo-and-co-founder-of-salt-strong-ep-997 Duration seconds: 4551 ## Resource Joe Simons is the co-founder of Salt Strong, one of the largest fishing communities in America β€” built from scratch with his brother Luke to teach the world how to fish. Over 600 podcast episodes later, Joe joins me to talk about the journey from startup to acquisition, what it means to stay true to your mission, and how community, content, and faith built something much bigger than a business. Some of the moments I found most meaningful in this conversation were: The early days of Salt Strong β€” from t-shirts to teaching anglers How Joe and Luke grew to 60,000+ members without investors The inside story behind Salt Strong’s acquisition by Sportsman’s Guide What it takes to stay authentic after a sale Why building community will always beat chasing followers The vision for a Fishing Theme Park and the next five years Lessons from selling a company, leadership, and family legacy πŸ”— Visit Salt Strong β†’ https://www.saltstrong.com πŸ“˜ Free Resources: 🎁 Saltwater Knot Guide β†’ https://bit.ly/3UnAeIP πŸŽ™οΈ Tom Rowland Podcast β†’ https://bit.ly/3O4lgn0 πŸ“Ί Subscribe for More Unfiltered Conversations β†’ https://www.youtube.com/saltwaterexperience?sub_confirmation=1 πŸ“± Follow the Show: Instagram β†’ https://www.instagram.com/saltwater_experience/ TikTok β†’ https://www.tiktok.com/@saltwaterexperience Facebook β†’ https://www.facebook.com/tvswe #SaltStrong #FishingPodcast #Entrepreneurship #TomRowlandPodcast #SaltwaterExperience ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/tom-rowland-podcast-891759/episodes/joe-simonds-ceo-and-co-founder-of-salt-strong-ep-997/transcription-requests` β€” Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/tom-rowland-podcast-891759/joe-simonds-ceo-and-co-founder-of-salt-strong-ep-997.md` β€” Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.