Jason Strong grew up wild. Not just in the adventurous sense, but in the literal one. His childhood played out on a dirt road, surrounded by open skies and untamed landscapes. His dad brought the wild, his mom brought the art. It was his mother who first placed a pencil in his hand and taught him to draw mountains, instilling in him both skill and reverence for nature’s beauty. “Those two worlds were in me from the beginning,” Strong says.
By middle school, Strong’s path had already begun to take shape. He heard the term graphic design and, unlike most teenagers still searching for a sense of direction, he knew exactly where he was headed. Followed by high school, Strong went to art school, and from there came an enviable trajectory. He spent six years at a world-class design agency, a decade at a digital agency, and 11 years in experiential design.
It was a career that sharpened his creative instincts, exposed him to big ideas, and gave him the tools to tell stories through brands. But it also planted a restlessness, an itch to build something entirely his own.
That something turned out to be Venturian. In 2019, the idea sparked unexpectedly. “I woke up one day and watches just popped into my head,” he recalls. Strong had always been fascinated by watches, compasses, and instruments, beautiful, functional pieces of design. He’d once even drawn a compass for a brand project. This time, though, the drawing became the seed of a company. “I’ve just always wanted my own thing,” he says. “I want to leave a mark in the world, leave a legacy, and inspire my kids to keep going.”
Venturian began as a watch company, but he later pivoted toward something bigger, something that could merge his creativity with his lifelong love of the outdoors. That pivot led him into the realm of craftsmanship, art, and artifacts. The concept was rooted in essentialism: real materials, real work, and a rejection of the disposable and superficial. “We all have plenty of digital stuff in our lives; we don’t need more of it,” he says. “What we need is realness. Real wood, real fire, real steel.”
One of Strong’s most prized possessions embodies this philosophy: an axe his grandfather gave him. The head bears the mark “Sweden.” The handle is real hickory, the sheath real leather. He brought it back to life himself, painting it, restoring it, making it his own. “Now it has new meaning,” he says. “My grandpa’s gone, but this, this is something real. You can’t have a relationship with a plastic axe. It’s just not possible.”
It’s that belief, that people are craving authentic, tangible connections, that drives his vision for Venturian’s future. He understands that urban dwellers need nature more than anyone, and hands-on craftsmanship can be a way back to it. He envisions axe-crafting classes, where participants can shape their own hatchet, oil the leather sheath, and fire the wood handle, all while sharing stories over drinks and music. “It’s fire, wood, and steel,” he says. “It’s a transcendental feeling. It forges connections.”
For Strong, the pull toward the outdoors is instinctive, almost ancestral. “Our ancestors lived with nature. It was beautiful and it was hard,” he says. “We’re too comfortable now. We don’t challenge ourselves enough.” That’s why, through Venturian, he’s committed to building experiences that push people toward the raw, enduring beauty of the real world.
In the end, Strong’s story goes beyond his business. It’s about a boy who grew up wild, learned to draw mountains, and never stopped looking for ways to merge the rugged and the creative. It’s about legacy, something tangible to hand down, like his grandfather’s axe. And it’s about that essential truth he keeps coming back to, rooted in the belief that the best things in life aren’t plastic, aren’t fake, and can’t be swiped into existence. They’re built by hand, worn by time, and cherished for life.
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