Norrøna Podcast

As the fourth-generation owner and leader heads into the company's 95th year and his 20th year, he reflects on the challenge of developing as a leader and how he makes decisions with an eternity perspective. In this episode, Jørgen discusses how hands-on he is with product development, the ultimate vision of the Norrøna House, and why a family-owned company is beneficial to the consumer. Bonus! Jørgen saves some time to answer customer questions at the end.

Jørgen Jørgensen– Father, Innovator, and Entrepreneur. The fourth-generation owner and leader of Norrøna grew up with dinner table discussions centered around triumph and tragedy in exploration. It’s one of the many reasons he’s passionate about nature and building high-quality products. In this episode, Jørgen dives into the brand's history from the company’s first day on April 29th, 1929. Tune in to hear more about the making of the first Gore-Tex jacket in Europe, the founding of extreme user development, and how the lofoten collection was ahead of its time.

Tomas Carlström is an engineer, designer, skier and photographer. He’s also an ice-climbing legend and an excellent storyteller. Tune in as he shares the details of how he ended up in a small village in Norway and how he helped change the sport of climbing’s reputation from being “exclusive” and far too dangerous, to an activity nearly anyone could enjoy. 

Meet award-winning filmmaker, ecologist and surfer, Charles Post. Charles and his wife Rachel have recently become residents of Lofoten and are supporting themselves on what Charles coins “DIY” careers. Tune in to hear Charles reflect on what made him become an ecologist, how Lofoten is the perfect combination of him and Rachel's worlds, and his personal thoughts on Norrøna’s 2029 roadmap.

Our in-house product designer, Bjørn Sætnan, is back in our podcast studio to talk about his bag obsession – sleeping bags that is. Norrøna has been a part of sleeping bag development since the early 70’s and after a long hiatus in production, we’re about to make a comeback. Tune in to this to learn how Bjørn’s designs have brought some innovation into sleeping outdoors, his pro camping advice, and why sleeping in a tent is a form of meditation.

Meet Bjørn Sætnan, outdoor enthusiast and hardware product designer working at Norrøna HQ. When he isn’t climbing the side of a mountain, Bjørn can be found designing sleeping bags and tents that make the wilderness of nature feel like a second home. Tune in to the first of a two part episode to hear how Bjørn uses real world experiences in his designs, how he put his own functional twists to revamp a classic, and his thoughts on why the right designs could be the key to world peace.