Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Soderman.
Hi Kyle, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Lino Lakes Minnesota, a northern suburb of the twin cities. I grew up with two older brothers who I’ve been competing with my entire life. I always followed in their footsteps with all the sports they would get into.
This brought me to the world of action sports which I really excelled. I grew up competing and training in most action sports you can think of which include: BMX, snowboarding, parkour skateboarding, paintball, wakeboarding, and motocross.
I went to college in MN at St. Cloud State University. That’s when I found out about American Ninja Warrior. After about a year of training, I was approached by a fellow training partner to help open a ninja warrior gym in the twin cities. After about two years of working with them, I decided to make my move out to LA to pursue a career as a professional stunt performer. That was in January of 2018.
It was in LA that I met my now World Chase Tag teammate, Omar Zaki. We were training parkour one day and randomly mentioned how he would be competing on WCT in a few weeks. I told him to let me know if a spot opens up on the team, not thinking much of it. To my surprise, I received a call a few days later saying that someone left the team and a spot was now open for me.
I went on to win the MVP award at the next two USA national championships as well as my team placed second place in both of those competitions. I am now the captain of our team Hollywood Freerunners. Today, I spend my day training for chase tag, ninja warrior, and perfecting my stunt skills for when I book stunt work on tv and films.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest challenge through my journey really has been committing to going all-in on what I truly want to do with my life.
It was a huge decision and commitment to move out to LA from Minnesota. It was an incredibly difficult but one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a professional action sports athlete.
I mainly focus on parkour and ninja warrior. I knew for my last few seasons of competing on American Ninja Warrior. More recently I’m been seen for my time competing on World Chase Tag which is featured on ESPN.
I am incredibly proud to be a high-level athlete in many different sports rather than only ever focusing on one. I believe this shows through in my career as a professional stunt performer.
Stunt performers must be comfortable in many different situations, you never know if you’ll be falling out of a three-story building or getting tackled off a bike so you need to be ready for anything.
How do you define success?
For me, success really comes down to if I am doing what truly makes me the happiest in life. Now, I have huge ambitions so what really brings me joy and happiness is hitting various goals in my professional career.
The day I stop finding joy in the work I’m doing will be the day I begin to pivot away from this.
Pricing:
- $25 for Send It Soderman shirts.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @MinneSoderman
- Twitter: @MinneSoderman
- Youtube: Kyle Soderman
