David Larson
Co-founder | ELM
We were really excited to hear Dave’s answers to our 5 questions series that we’ve been doing with our staff to get to know each other better. Make sure to check out the previous posts and look for more coming soon!
And Dave is a friendly guy so feel free to drop him a line for any follow-up questions and we’re sure he’ll be eager to connect [email protected].
1. What’s your personality type & why? (choose up to three)
Protagonist or ENFJ-T
2. Where, who, or what do you draw your creative inspiration from?
I often find myself drawing creative inspiration from a few different places. I read a lot of science fiction and enjoy imagining worlds that don’t exist. Or better yet could exist in another part of space. Theoretical science and challenging philosophies capture my attention and force me to think outside the box. I also draw a lot of inspiration from our natural world and the interactions between people. And music has always been a driving force behind my creativity. I often find myself conjuring ideas when listening to my favorite artists as if it’s a soundtrack to the movie I want to make.
3. Say you’re independently wealthy and don’t have to work, what would you do with your time?
I’d spend my time traveling, gardening, baking bread, and making films on my own terms. Gardening brings me peace of mind and I love the physicality of it all. Nothing beats getting your hands dirty. But I think I would still do what I do now. I love making films and would love to bring more of my ideas to life. I also have a small dream of opening a tater tot food truck but that’s a story for another time.
4. What is something unique about you that few people know?
I guess I have two things that people might not know about me but are things that have shaped who I am. First is that I lived in Canada for a few years growing up and I married a Canadian. So I have strong ties to our friends in the north. This has shaped everything from my love of travel to some of my world views. The other is that my dad died when I was 13. I have amazing memories of him and it helped bond my large family together. I have two brothers and a sister and we all hold tight bonds and a strong sense of family because of him. I also love baking bread. Lucky for me, my family likes carbs.
5. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
This is a really tough one. There definitely have been the tiny pearls that people have told me along the way but the biggest impact for me are more in actions. I had an amazing mentor named Bryan Barr who taught me the importance of leading by example. He would frequently be in the trenches with us or would take on difficult assignments rather than just passing them off. He worked just as hard as the rest of us and it made me respect him even more for it. I’ve since learned that there is a time a place to delegate but if you lead by example, others will follow.
