OUR STORY
WE'RE DAVID & KENDI SUMMERS
In a creative way to save money and make our dream a reality we decided to convert a van to live in full-time during college. Upon graduating and traveling the country from coast to coast, we wanted to take our opportunity of living in a van to inspire others to pursue the incredible experiences that are made possible with a converted van. Living in a van goes against the norm, is unique, and has broadened our perspective on life. This is what makes us and our customers Against The Grain. By being authentically you.
ABOUT US
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We dated all throughout highschool and college. After seven years of being together, we finally got engaged while traveling in our van. Three months later we got married in July of 2021 in our hometown of Muscatine Iowa!
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In the summer of 2020, we had been putting off signing our apartment lease and Kendi joked about living in a van. David took this comment very seriously and a couple days later we purchased a van. We then had five short weeks to complete a van conversion and get it ready to live in for our senior year at the University of Northern Iowa. Our first semester we lived in it outside campus on an acreage and our second semester we chose to take online classes to travel the country. We ended up traveling from coast to coast and experienced a total of twelve states!
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During high school and college, David owned and operated a small carpentry business that offered him the skills and knowledge necessary to convert vans.
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David has a double major in Supply Chain Management and Organizational Leadership. Kendi has a major in Psychology and Masters in School Counseling.
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Some of our favorite things include loving Jesus, traveling, meeting new people, eating ice cream, watching movies, triathlons, beaching, paddle boarding, playing with our dog Rambo and listening to Zac Brown Band.
