Meet Dillon Hansen | Co-Founder and CMO

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dillon Hansen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Native Campervans is the Western United States’ premier campervan rental company that truly provides an all-inclusive experience for its customers. While there are three van models to choose from that vary in size (The Biggie, The Squad and The Smalls), they all include a fully- equipped kitchen, cozy bedding, and an abundant amount of storage spaces. Additional features for each rental include 100 free miles per night, camp chairs and a table, DOT seating, heaters, chargers, and roadside assistance. Our vans are not branded, so travelers can enjoy their accommodations without having to feel like a moving advertisement for us.

We believe the beauty of vanlife is building your own adventures on your own terms. Our mission is to provide everything our customers need to make those dream experiences come to life.

We’re a bootstrap business that’s been profitable from day one. That’s not to say there haven’t been challenges and learning curves along the way, but I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished within our industry space so far. Native now has over 1,000 five star reviews, which we believe is a testament to the fact that we really understand our customers and how they want to travel.

For us to be where we are now took a ton of trial and error from the day-to-day logistics to overall business strategy. We spent most holidays and weekends working the first couple years and initially did not take salaries. We were working off a dream and didn’t really know where it was going to go. So, was it easy? No. Was it worth it? Definitely.

For Jon and I, one of our shared strengths is our ability to be nimble. That’s really come in handy over the last few years as every time we get comfortable, it seems like we have to adapt to something new. We’ve faced a rise in gas prices during the Ukraine war, inflation, and had to completely revamp our business operations during the pandemic. And to our surprise, some of those challenges actually transformed into long term business solutions. For example, during the pandemic, we started contactless pickups and discovered they were actually preferred. We view challenges as opportunities, and I believe it’s really helped us lean in to what comes our way.

Probably that patience really is a virtue. Things don’t happen overnight, but if you work hard and care about what you do, things can eventually come together.

We started Native Campervans because we’re passionate about people being able to create their own adventures on their own terms. That’s the beauty of vanlife. That being said, we also don’t want people to feel intimidated by the open road. That’s why we’ve proudly taken the guesswork out of traveling, making it an all-inclusive and approachable experience. We want our customers to feel like their Native Campervan is a launching pad for an incredible journey.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m an avid golfer, and I make a point to play at least one round everytime I come into town. I typically stay in Scottsdale but love traveling up to Sedona and Flagstaff for some mountain biking adventure. Especially when the weather is warmer. As far as food and drinks go, I’m still exploring a bit, but I will mention I had one of the BEST burgers of my life at Karsen’s Grill in Scottsdale. Try the Noir Mushroom Burger if you haven’t yet-you won’t regret it!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I co-founded Native Campervans with Jon Moran, who is not only my business partner but a longtime friend. And while Native’s inspiration was definitely predicated on our vanlife experience traveling throughout New Zealand, what really drove us to start this business was our shared experience with losing our mothers. When you lose a loved one at any age, but especially when you’re young, it teaches you that life really is short, and everything you do should be meaningful. So for us, Native is so much more than a campervan rental company. It’s us doing what we love and taking a leap in building a business that we truly believe in. Because that’s exactly how they would want us to be living our lives.

Website: nativecampervans.com

Instagram: instagram.com/nativecampervans

Youtube: youtube.com/c/Nativecampervans