Eric Killen

A 26-year corporate sales veteran out of Chattanooga who became known as the "cruise director" for entertaining clients on hunts — then turned the habit into a business. Eleven years ago he and his wife Mary founded Killen Outdoor Adventures (yes, in Killen, Alabama). Last year they sent around 230 people hunting and fishing across roughly 48 vetted locations worldwide. The model is client-first: the outfitters pay his fee, so it costs the client nothing to book through him, and he runs his own logistics company to handle everything from airport pickup and paperwork to taxidermy and trophy delivery to your door. He kept his corporate job the whole time — and got the owner's blessing to build the thing on the side.

A lifelong hunter and angler who has hunted and fished around the world and designed his whole life around it — Africa this year, Australia next, with Spain and the rest of Europe on the list. His wife Mary, a former college rifle-team shooter, is a better shot than most and now travels with him; their couple-trips pair a seven-day safari with four or five days of decompression (Cape Town wine tours, penguins, the works). His rule is simple and absolute: he won't send a client anywhere he or his team hasn't personally been and photographed. The gear list is short — a knife, a lucky (terrible-looking) hat, and a good pair of binoculars.

Eric is the embodiment of the show's thesis — he didn't just succeed in sales, he designed the life he actually wanted around the outdoors. He explains how vetting every location personally builds trust at scale, why word of mouth and client experience beat marketing, and how he scaled past 180 trips a year before finally hiring help (still running it off a clipboard and a dry-erase board). His one keys-to-success answer: a supportive partner and zero debt — never spending money he doesn't have. And he lands on the traits that show up in both great entrepreneurs and great hunters: patience, persistence, and the discipline to come back after you've been defeated.