Today we’d like to introduce you to Benjamin Schroeder
Hi Benjamin, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started playing paintball at the age of 13 in Louisville, KY at Asylum Paintball after I lost my home to hurricane Katrina in Mississippi. After college, I spent a few years in Michigan then moved to Texas where I first worked for Texas Paintball in Jonestown while also working a corporate role in recruiting and staffing. I took 2 years off paintball after being injured then came back to the sport in 2022 which is when I began my journey with Outlaw paintball. While with Outlaw, I got sober, continued to play paintball and work in the corporate world. After 2 years I became the general manager for Outlaw and left my corporate position to be in paintball full time.
From my role of running the field I was able to build great relationships in the industry which allowed me to join Defy Sports as a part of the regional sales team, where I oversee sales operations across Texas while also being able to still run Outlaw Paintball. On top of both of these, I do rep work for Mac Dev Paintball guns which a is Paintball marker gun company based out of Australia.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Nothing about paintball is smooth. It’s a tough industry to be in and fluctuates a lot with the economy. That said, it’s not for the faint of heart. You have to have pretty thick skin or you won’t last. Luckily, It’s such a passion for me that my worst day here Is better than my best day in the corporate world.
When I got started it was tough for sure, when I got injured I had lost my faith in the game and all my passion. I was young and didn’t cope well with not being able to do the thing I loved to do. That got to me a lot and led me down a road of drinking and substance abuse which hindered my day to day even more not to mention my injury recovery.
It was a constant spiral of not being happy in my day job, to living entirely for the weekend and drinking to forget I was injured, hated my job and my life at the time.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I play and work in the paintball industry. From running a field, working with a paint supplier, a paintball gun manufacturer, and also running my own brand “Breakfast Club Paintball” I’d say I hit all corners of the space.
I’m really just driven by my passion of paintball. I think what really sets me a part from others in the industry is my corporate experience. One thing it did teach me was structure and somewhat of a business acumen. I’m able to navigate the wild west that the industry is with a certain level of professionalism while also being relatable because I handle all these different things in the space. That and my work ethic I’d like to think is on the higher side.
I’m most proud of how far I’ve come in my sobriety to be honest. That and my supportive girlfriend have allowed me to achieve everything I have thus far in paintball.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
They always say right place right time and I believe that’s somewhat true. But, I’d like to think for me personally, I just outworked everyone around me and put myself in positions to succeed. If you do that consistently enough you can make your own luck because people will see that you’re really about that life and give you opportunities that they may not extend to other people.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://breakfastclubpaintball.myshopify.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benjischro/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bennie.schroeder.3/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-schroeder-866521bb/
Image Credits
Dan Shelley – Shellda Photos
