Living the Dream Was the Job: The TEAMLTD Years

TEAMLTD stands for Living The Dream. For almost eight years, that was more or less Jacob DeGrace's job description.

The job was content. The office was wherever the brand was having its best week: a lake in Muskoka, a sand dune in the California desert, an RV parked at a country festival, an ice track in Finland, a raft on the River Kwai. Somebody had to film it. That somebody was Jacob, now the founder of Coastline Films.

One shoot

If you don't know the brand: TEAMLTD is a Canadian lifestyle apparel company out of Mississauga, founded by two Canadian athletes, Jamie Visser and Scott Croxall, and built around action sports, travel and a good time.

What started as a single video project turned into a full-time job. In 2016, TEAMLTD hired a 17-year-old Jacob to shoot one campaign in Toronto. The video landed, and they offered him a permanent spot on the team.

Summers on the lake

In summer the brand lived in Muskoka, and the calendar ran on parties. There were three big ones, Balapalooza, Sunday Funday and the Giddy Up Country Party, with Monday resort nights filling the gaps between them.

Sunday Funday opened every season at the KEE to Bala on May long weekend: DJs, TEAMLTD giveaways, lights up at 2 a.m. By 2019 it was in its sixth year. The Giddy Up Country Party took Canada Day, and the 2019 edition, its fifth, put Jade Eagleson on stage.

The KEE is also where TEAMLTD hosted the NELK Boys for a weekend. There was beer pong. There was a lot of beer pong.

Winters chasing summer

A summer collection doesn't shoot well in an Ontario January. So after high school, winters meant a flight to California and a base in Huntington Beach, shooting TEAMLTD's Summer Launch campaigns with local models and influencers who could be on set the same afternoon.

Plans were loose and shoots came together fast. Some days it was a rented Chevy Suburban packed with models and blow-up inflatables, pointed at the Glamis sand dunes. Other days it was a rented Jeep Wrangler and the hills above Santa Barbara.

Some nights ended in the Hollywood Hills with the NELK Boys, at parties full of some of the biggest names on the internet. Same beer pong as the KEE. Different zip code.

The Dream Machine

In summer 2018, TEAMLTD and Coors Light put four people in an RV and pointed it at eight Canadian music festivals. The RV was called the Dream Machine. Co-founder Scott Croxall drove. Jacob, Nano Stasiak and Justin Reynolds rode along, with co-founder Jamie Visser and Kris Howes jumping in for stretches. Jacob ran camera.

It started in Timmins at Stars & Thunder: eight days, Arkells, Bryan Adams, Our Lady Peace. Then east to Cavendish Beach in PEI. Then a hungover Monday-morning drive to Quebec City to make the Foo Fighters at Festival d'été. Then Osheaga in Montreal. Then Boots & Hearts in Oro-Medonte.

Boots, as TEAMLTD's recap tells it, went like this. Roll through the gates the minute they open on Wednesday. Claim a spot for the RV. Head back to the office for two days to earn the weekend. Then a surprise morning set from James Barker Band on the Chevy Silverado Pop Up Stage, The Reklaws, Jade Eagleson with Nano shooting, and Thomas Rhett closing it out on Sunday night.

The partnership outlived the summer. In 2019, TEAMLTD was back at Osheaga with Coors Light.

A gator off the bow

In February 2018, TEAMLTD signed Nic Rapa, an Australian pro wakeboarder ranked second in the world at the time, who split his year between Florida and Australia. He has since piled up six world titles and five Pro Wakeboard Tour championships, and he still rides for TEAMLTD.

When the Nic Rapa x TEAMLTD collection was ready to launch, Jacob, Nano and Kris Howes loaded the truck and drove to Florida to shoot it. Days were BBQ and wakeboarding. Nights were on the water.

One night they went out with Reed Hansen, a wakeskater with eleven world titles who grew up on Central Florida's lakes, to film some catch-and-release. Dark lake, wake boat, one spotlight. They worked the shallow, swampy edges until the beam caught a pair of eyes, then eased the boat into the shallows.

Reed was on the bow. Then he wasn't. He jumped, landed on a three-foot juvenile alligator and came up holding it with his bare hands. He brought it aboard so everyone could meet it, then gave it back to the lake.

Jacob has filmed a lot of things since. That one stays with him.

Crashed Ice and cold water

A big collaboration with Huawei took the team to Europe to put the company's new phones through Finland, Amsterdam and Lisbon. Finland came first, and it came cold.

The trip started in Jyväskylä at Red Bull Crashed Ice, where Scott Croxall was racing. Ice cross downhill is four skaters, full contact, down a twisting ice track at up to 80 km/h, and Jyväskylä runs it on natural ice, ruts and all. Scott is more than a guy with a clothing brand: he won the sport's world championship in 2015.

After the race the crew drove deeper into Finland's interior to go dog sledding. One night they had dinner with the whole Red Bull Crashed Ice team, then did it the Finnish way: sauna, then straight into the water through the ice.

Then Amsterdam. Then Lisbon. New phones in hand the whole way.

Two weeks in Thailand

In fall 2019, Contiki Canada and the Tourism Authority of Thailand hosted Jacob and Phil Paquette, better known as Paqs, for two weeks across Thailand. Paqs and his brother Nick won season 4 of Big Brother Canada in 2016, the first siblings to win a Big Brother title anywhere in the world. Jacob wrote the trip up himself in a three-part series on TEAMLTD's blog: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

It started with a run for extra hard drives and a ride to Pearson from Croxy. Twenty-four hours, one Taipei layover and one towel-less airport shower later (they dried off under the blow dryers), they were in Bangkok. Day one was a two-hour traditional Thai massage at a school for the blind, then Chinatown, until a thunderstorm shut the night down.

Then south. A flight to Trang. Deep-fried jackfruit from a roadside stop. A basket-weaving lesson in the jungle. Three hours of road to the wetlands of Phatthalung and a night in huts on stilts, where two room keys meant one good view. Jacob won the draw and woke up to Thailand's largest lagoon, fishing nets strung across the horizon on wooden frames. Local fishermen showed them the lagoon the next day.

The Contiki half ran the other direction. Chang beers turned into Khao San Road, and Khao San Road turned into scorpions. Then a tuk tuk to a market for roasted bugs and tequila, a night on a floating raft on the River Kwai with no power and no plumbing, and Chiang Mai, feeding and bathing elephants at a sanctuary. Of everything, that was the highlight.

First jump

One morning in California, Jacob and Nano woke up with the same idea: they were going to skydive. Not tandem. Their own parachutes.

They drove to Perris, sat through the eight-hour first jump course for PFF Level 1, the first stage of Progressive Freefall training, and made the first skydive of their lives at sunset. It was Jacob's first jump and nowhere near his last. He still skydives today.

Living it

None of it was nine to five. Behind every festival and every flight were a lot of late nights working. The team lived and breathed the brand, and it showed in everything TEAMLTD put online.

That was the whole point. People didn't follow TEAMLTD for the clothes. They followed for the culture, the one the team created and lived every day, on camera and off. They built something special, and it came across exactly that way.

What it left behind

Jacob runs Coastline Films now, a premium video and photo production company in Canada, and a lot of it traces straight back to TEAMLTD. Show up as part of the team, not a vendor who leaves at five. Go where the story is, whether that's a sand dune in the desert or a Finnish winter. Make the thing that travels, the way that first video did.

"From Finland to the Cross Canada TEAMLTD X Coors Light Summer RV Festival road trip it has been nothing but exceptional and professional working with Coastline! Highly recommend!!"

Scott Croxall, co-founder of TEAMLTD, in a Google review of Coastline Films

Some of it stuck in less practical ways. On a 2021 shoot in the Great Bear Rainforest, he left his Living the Dream toque wrapped around a beam at a hot spring on BC's north coast. It might still be up there.

These are just a few of the stories. Almost eight years at TEAMLTD left plenty more where they came from. That chapter is closed now, but it holds some of the best, craziest and wildest times of Jacob's life, and a good part of who he is today. He's still close with the whole team.

If you want a crew that works like it's on your team, tell us what you're building. Or go see the work.

Frequently asked questions

What is TEAMLTD?

A Canadian lifestyle apparel brand founded by Canadian athletes Jamie Visser and Scott Croxall. LTD stands for Living The Dream, and the company is based in Mississauga, Ontario.

Who is Scott Croxall?

A co-founder of TEAMLTD and a Red Bull Crashed Ice racer who won the Ice Cross Downhill World Championship in 2015.

When did Jacob DeGrace start working with TEAMLTD?

In 2016, at 17. He was hired for a single campaign shoot in Toronto, which led to more shoots and a permanent marketing role.

How long did Jacob DeGrace work with TEAMLTD?

Almost eight years, starting in 2016, first as videographer and later as Creative Director.

What roles did Jacob DeGrace hold at TEAMLTD?

Videographer, and later Creative Director, working alongside marketing lead Nano Stasiak.

What was the TEAMLTD x Coors Light Coast to Coast Festival Tour?

A 2018 tour of eight Canadian music festivals in an RV called the Dream Machine. It kicked off at Stars & Thunder in Timmins, and its stops included Cavendish Beach Music Festival, Festival d'été, Osheaga and Boots & Hearts.

Who was on the tour?

Jacob DeGrace, Nano Stasiak, Justin Reynolds and TEAMLTD co-founder Scott Croxall, who drove the RV. Co-founder Jamie Visser and Kris Howes joined on some dates.

What events did TEAMLTD host in Muskoka?

Balapalooza, Sunday Funday at the KEE to Bala and the Giddy Up Country Party, plus Monday resort nights.

Who is Nic Rapa?

An Australian pro wakeboarder who joined TEAMLTD in 2018 and has his own Nic Rapa x TEAMLTD collection. Jacob DeGrace shot the collection's launch campaign in Florida.

Who is Paqs?

Phil Paquette, who won season 4 of Big Brother Canada with his brother Nick in 2016. He travelled Thailand with Jacob DeGrace in 2019 + many more fun escapades.

What did Jacob DeGrace do in Thailand?

In fall 2019 he and Paqs spent two weeks in Thailand with Contiki Canada and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, from Bangkok and the Phatthalung wetlands to the River Kwai and Chiang Mai. Jacob documented the trip in a three-part series on TEAMLTD's blog.

Where did Jacob DeGrace learn to skydive?

In Perris, California, where he and Nano Stasiak took the PFF Level 1 course and made their first skydive at sunset. He still skydives today.

What does Jacob DeGrace do now?

He's the founder of Coastline Films, a premium video and photo production company in Canada.