Saturday was a Chamber of Commerce summer day in Anchorage. Some went fishing, others found a swimming hole, and lots of hikers hit the trails. For about 150 people, the day was devoted to tracking down a business entrepreneur from Great Britain, who left his job as to start his own watch company.
Tim Hayden, the watch entrepreneur, now has over 1.5 million followers on TikTok, over 2 million followers across his various social media channels, and part of his marketing technique for his Hagley West watches is to position himself in cities all over the world, then go live on TikTok and Facebook, giving viewers some broad clues about where to find him.
The person who finds him first, and who speaks the words “Love Your Journey” to him, wins a watch, the value of which is under $200.
But it’s not about the watch, which is a story unto itself, but about the journey for Hayden’s fans, who enjoy being part of a global game of hide and seek with someone who started a business from scratch.
At the base of a hill at Kincaid Park, Hayden started live-streaming at 1 pm on Saturday, and it only took minutes for his first fans to find him. Brother and sister Sawyer and Sophia came bounding down the hill, shouting “Love Your Journey!” They, like the others who followed, gave Hayden a big hug and expressed how happy they were to meet him.
Hayden is an out-of-the-box thinker, and has turned his line of affordable and stylish watches into a coveted item for people around the world due to his unique method of building a tribe of people who enjoy the journey of the entrepreneur, and who embrace the idea of loving the journey of life.
“The ethos of Hagley West is built on my life experiences. As a younger man I lived dedicated to ascending to the next rung of life’s ladder, forever reaching and never being satisfied. How wrong could I have been. For it’s not the goal that’s the achievement, it’s the gratitude for the time we have, the joy of the process and the love of the journey,” Hayden said on his website.
“I decided instead to celebrate the love of the journey, not just mine, but also of others. No two journeys are the same, whether they be emotional, physical, mental or spiritual: but every journey is marked by time,” he said.
Rep. Jamie Allard, pictured at the top of this page with Hayden, was one of the people who made her way to Kincaid Park, although she was not among the first two dozen to arrive. She’s been following the journey of the watch company and its founder for a couple of years, and said she has admiration for someone who can build a company from scratch and go global.
Allard gave Hayden an American flag, and chatted with him briefly about his plans for growing a nonprofit organization to give back to the community, and she also applauded him for incorporating some American Sign Language into his marketing “Love Your Journey” slogan. Allard, who is partially deaf due to her military service, not only spoke “Love Your Journey” in words to Hayden, but also made the statement in ASL.
Allard also came to the event to congratulate the two teens who found Hayden first, within minutes of his livestream start time.
For Allard, her own journey started with her immigrant parents from Chile and Italy, and continued with her service in the U.S. Army, and now as a public servant in the Alaska Legislature. The words “Love Your Journey” speak to her own experience in growing and serving, now as the state representative for Eagle River.
The happy collection of Alaskans who gathered under the sunny skies and calm winds stayed for a group photo with the continent-hopping entrepreneur, and for individual photos afterward — all of it live-streamed from Kincaid Park to thousands of viewers around the world.
Hayden, who left the safety of a job in IT to follow his dream, is repeating events like these in every state. Although he has now checked Alaska off the list, his crew said he definitely plans on returning.
Follow Rep. Jamie Allard’s journey at her website.
Follow Tim Hayden’s journey at Hagley West, on TikTok, and at Facebook.
Follow Must Read Alaska’s journey at www.mustreadalaska.com.
Great story! Entrepreneur’s are the backbone of this great nation.
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