Brent Underwood
| Brent Underwood | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | April 6, 1987 |
| Occupation | Marketer, Entrepreneur |
| Alma mater | Florida State University Columbia University |
| Notable works | "Putting My Foot Down", "Ghost Town Living" |
Brent Underwood is an American entrepreneur and owner of Cerro Gordo Mines.[1][2]
Career
[edit]After graduating from Columbia University, Underwood worked briefly for an investment bank in New York City.[3][4][5] After one month, he quit and backpacked across Central and South America.[6] Upon returning to New York, he founded a hostel in Brooklyn.[7][8] In December 2014 Underwood founded HK Austin, a hostel in Austin, Texas, with investors including Matthew Kepnes, after staying in 150 hostels across 30 countries.[3][9][10][11] For 2015, HK Austin was the highest rated hostel in the United States.[3][6][12] Underwood later became a partner in the marketing firm Brass Check.[4][13][14]
In February 2016, Underwood published a photo of his foot on Amazon as a book titled Putting My Foot Down.[15][16][17][18][19] The resulting article in the New York Observer received attention from a variety of media outlets and from authors including Neil Gaiman and Nick Bilton.[13][20][21] Underwood was then offered a publishing contract from Thought Catalog to turn Putting My Foot Down into an expanded paperback version.[18] The paperback version received attention from a variety of news outlets.[16][17][18][22][23][24][25]
Cerro Gordo
[edit]In July 2018, Underwood purchased the former mining town of Cerro Gordo alongside the Cerro Gordo Mines for $1.4 million.[26][27] The purchase included over 360 acres and 22 structures.[28] Underwood stated plans to develop the town into an artist destination for tourists and group events, while maintaining the historic nature of the property.[29][30]
Since March 2020, Underwood has been living at Cerro Gordo full-time[31] and has regular visitors.[32] Visitors have included Jeff Goldblum, Cole Sprouse, G-Eazy, and others.[33] The town's hotel burned down on June 20, 2020, in a fire of undetermined origin but possibly electrical wiring failure, during a heat wave. Underwood has plans to rebuild it.[34] He was isolated there for ten weeks in 2020, unable to leave due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a heavy snowstorm.[35] As of February 2024, Underwood still resided in Cerro Gordo.[36] His book "Ghost Town Living" was published in March 2024 [37]
Ghost Town Living (Book)
[edit]In 2024, Penguin Random House published Underwood’s book, Ghost Town Living: Mining for Purpose and Chasing Dreams at the Edge of Death Valley, about his time living at Cerro Gordo.[38] The audiobook version of the book was recorded 900 feet underground in Cerro Gordo’s Union Mine.[39]
The book debuted on the New York Times bestseller list.[40]
References
[edit]- ^ d'Avignon, Angella (15 June 2020). "They Live Alone in Ghost Towns". New York Times.
- ^ Sherman, Erik (7 March 2016). "Here's How People Fake Being Best-Selling Authors". INC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
- ^ a b c Schroeder, Jules. "Back To Basics: The Keep-It-Simple-Strategy For Starting A Winning Business". Forbes.
- ^ a b Fletcher, Blake (22 February 2016). "Creative Marketing Prodigy (with Brent Underwood)". Half Hour Intern.
- ^ Lock, Cheryl. "Co-op vs. Condo: Which One Is Right for You?". NewYork.com.
- ^ a b Moore, Jason. "The Hostel Experience : An Interview With HK Austin Owner Brent Underwood". Zero To Travel. Archived from the original on 2018-08-05. Retrieved 2016-04-02.
- ^ "I job-hopped to travel". CNN. 9 April 2013.
- ^ STEWART, KAYLA (16 October 2015). "'Nomadic Matt' Opens His First Hostel in East Austin". Patch.
- ^ Pell, Roxie. "Long-Term Travelers Reinvent Hostels By Opening Their Own". Frommers.
- ^ Seale, Shelley. "Travel fanatic opens doors to hip new hostel in the heart of East Austin". CultureMap.
- ^ Kepnes, Matt. "HK AUSTIN: THE BEST HOSTEL IN AUSTIN". Nomadic Matt. Archived from the original on 2016-04-22. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
- ^ "BUSINESS LESSONS FROM STARTING THE HOTTEST HOSTEL IN AMERICA AN INTERVIEW WITH BRENT UNDERWOOD". Mitch Matthews. 21 April 2016.
- ^ a b Holiday, Ryan (7 March 2016). "How This Marketer Created a Fake Best Seller—And Got a Real Book Deal". New York Observer.
- ^ Palmer, Alex. "The Indie Authors Guide to Organizing Author Events". Publishers Weekly.
- ^ Mahdawi, Arwa (4 September 2017). "It's all about, Inc – how to get ahead in the age of egonomics". The Guardian.
- ^ a b "How to write a bestseller". Sunrise on 7.
- ^ a b HAUSEN, JOHANNES. "Hobby-author exposes how easy it storms the Amazon bestseller lists". VICE.
- ^ a b c Dilworth, Dianna (7 March 2016). "Author of Fake Book Lands Book Deal".
- ^ Meadows, Chris (26 February 2016). "Becoming an 'Amazon Bestseller' can be surprisingly simple". Teleread.
- ^ Underwood, Brent (23 February 2016). "Behind the Scam: What Does It Take to Be a 'Best-Selling Author'? $3 and 5 Minutes". Observer.
- ^ "Man Reveals How Scam Artists Hack Amazon to Become 'Best Selling' Authors". NextShark. 15 March 2016.
- ^ Weller, Chris. "This guy became a 'best-selling author' in just 5 minutes — here's how he did it". Business Insider.
- ^ Katzowitz, Josh (26 February 2016). "Foot book is an Amazon bestseller—even though it doesn't exist". The Daily Dot.
- ^ Warren, May (2 April 2016). "How to become a bestselling author without writing a book". Toronto Star.
- ^ Warren, May (2 April 2016). "My life as a bestselling author". The Toronto Star.
- ^ Gomez, Melissa (18 July 2018). "They Bought a Ghost Town for $1.4 Million. Now They Want to Revive It". New York Times.
- ^ FLEMMING, JACK (17 July 2018). "California ghost town sells for $1.4 million; buyers plan to develop it as a tourist attraction". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Vera, Amir (17 July 2018). "Search California ghost town sells for $1.4 million". CNN.
- ^ Hoffower, Hillary. "A real-life Westworld in California sold for over $1 million to a group of Los Angeles investors who plan to use it for festivals and photoshoots". Business Insider.
- ^ Waters, Michael. "So You Bought A Ghost Town". The Outline.
- ^ "I bought a ghost town - then got trapped there". BBC. 16 September 2020.
- ^ "Cerro Gordo Is TikTok's Favorite Ghost Town — With a Dark Past - YouTube". www.youtube.com. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
- ^ Butler, Gavin (25 January 2021). "This Guy Bought A Ghost Town". VICE.
- ^ A ghost town's caretaker, CBS News, Young Kim, August 22, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ^ An influencer who bought a California ghost town is ready to die there, SF Gate, Andrew Chamings, February 22, 2021. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
- ^ Thompson, Polly. "I bought a California ghost town for $1.4 million. Living here gets lonely — but I've found my purpose". Business Insider.
- ^ Underwood, Brent. Ghost Town Living. Penguin Random House. ISBN 9780593578445.
- ^ Calise, Gabrielle. "The Florida man who bought a ghost town wrote a book inside the mines". Tampa Bay Times.
- ^ "How I Recorded My Audiobook—in a Mine Shaft 900 Feet Underground". Publisher's Weekly.
- ^ "Bestselling Books". New York Times.
External links
[edit]- Official site Archived 2016-03-31 at the Wayback Machine