Rising Stars: Meet Mike Gaboury of Anaheim

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Gaboury.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Having spent most of our married life hosting parties and curating events for our friends – our love for crafting experiences eventually evolved into a desire to elevate our senses’ involvement in the fantastical worlds we inhabit.

Gaming, books, and fantasy are all incredible places to escape to – Ashborne is the medium we use to deepen the immersion in these worlds.

What started in our kitchen, eventually took over our garage, and now our own warehouse and production space. The love people have for these characters, stories, and places they inhabit is tremendous, and we’re honored to help blur the lines between imagination and reality.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
We love a good challenge!

Fast growth was an interesting one to navigate. We went from concept, to launching, to our ads taking off and needing to hire help all within our first few months of business.

Being able to maintain and order enough supplies, materials, stay on top of production, ensure orders are going out on time. All changed and grew so quickly we had to constantly learn and reinvent our processes to ensure we could always grow with the business.

That being said, we’ve had pallets worth of supplies go missing (never use the cheapest freight option haha) as well as other issues I’m sure many e-commerce businesses also experience.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’ve lived a few different lives! I spent almost a decade as a graphic designer, at a print shop, as well as a local newspaper back in my hometown (Edmonton, Canada)

From there I ended up working as an illustrator and animator for a local web development studio. Which lead to working on projects for clients like Atari. Up until then I had dabbled in game development in Flash, but working on this project sparked a huge change in me. Game development consumed my every waking thought.

This eventually lead to making the games Bardbarian, Jumpjet Rex, Holoball, SOYF, and most recently Rogue Monster Rush. Typically partnering with incredibly skilled programmers to make these games. (shoutout to Shawn, Ryan, and MD) My involvement would usually be game design, artwork, and animation – but would often lead to wearing many different hats, all of which I had a blast learning new skill sets. I often feel like I come most alive when thrown in the deep end and forced to learn something new.

In tandem to this, I had also started a gaming themed streetwear brand with my friend Jason called Filthy Casual. We toured all over North America going to most video game conventions for the better part of a decade.

I’m proud of making things for others to enjoy. I’d say I live for it. Between games, clothes, candles, or artwork – just to be able to make something that didn’t exist, and see someone pick it up and smile, or have fun, or just be affected by it… well it’s everything.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Trust your gut.
Ask for help.
Look for reasons to do it – rather than excuses not to.
You can learn (almost) anything you need online.
Find the challenges you enjoy solving, that’s where your value lays.
Measure twice, cut once.
If it excites you, dive in immediately. Passion is an incredibly valuable resource that when wielded correctly can make all the difference.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Ashborne.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashborneco/profilecard/?igsh=NDAwYTh3ZXgwdTJj
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ashborneco