From Gearhead to Brand Builder: Gregg Farrell on Authenticity, Innovation, and the Future of Hunting Technology

When Gregg Farrell first entered the outdoor industry, he didn’t just step into a role — he dove headfirst into every part of the business. From answering phones at First Lite to shaping one of the most recognizable whitetail hunting categories in the market, Gregg has built a career on curiosity, problem-solving, and a deep respect for authenticity.

Today, as Director of Brand at Reveal by Tactacam, he’s still leaning into that same ethos. Whether it’s navigating the differences between soft goods and hard goods, or charting the path of technology in the hunting world, Gregg’s perspective highlights how staying true to hunters while embracing innovation can move an entire industry forward.

Early Lessons at First Lite

Gregg’s first real step into the hunting industry came with First Lite, when the company was still a scrappy seven-person startup in Idaho. With so few people, everyone wore every hat. Marketing, sales, product development, even answering customer calls — Gregg did it all.

But it was product design that captured his imagination. “I was always the guy who’d buy a tree stand, rip it apart, and rebuild it,” he shared. Growing up in the trades and spending years tinkering with gear meant he had a knack for creating solutions that hunters actually needed.

That gearhead instinct, paired with his Midwestern roots in whitetail hunting, positioned him perfectly to lead First Lite’s expansion into whitetail. “I cut my teeth in whitetail,” he said. “It was an authentic voice I could bring.” Under his leadership, First Lite grew into a trusted name for hunters beyond the West.

Shifting Gears: From Soft Goods to Tech

After nearly a decade at First Lite, Gregg felt ready for a new challenge. That came in the form of Tactacam’s Reveal line of cellular trail cameras. Moving from high-end apparel to hardware and software might sound like a leap, but for Gregg, it was a natural next step.

“Trail cameras are more of a commodity item,” he explained. “Outside of your bow or rifle, they’ve become one of the most necessary tools for hunters.”

Unlike a jacket you buy once every few years, cameras also come with subscriptions that create a lasting relationship with the customer. That shift — from transactional to ongoing — is one of the biggest differences Gregg has experienced in his career.

And for him, it’s also more exciting. “These cameras actually impact the outcome of the hunt,” he said. “That tie to success makes it a really fun space to work in.”

Building Brands That Feel Human

While Gregg is steeped in product and marketing, what really drives him is brand — and not the logo-and-Pantone kind of brand.

“Brand is about the connection between a company and the customer,” he explained. “It’s not transactional. It’s about creating a sense of community, about customers feeling like they know the people behind the product.”

For Gregg, a strong brand is one that inspires customers to proudly represent it — the hunter who chooses to wear a company’s hat on a trip, or the traveler who picks a brand’s sweatshirt for a flight. It’s a choice that signals trust, identity, and connection.

That philosophy extends beyond marketing campaigns. From the way Tactacam structures customer service — more than 200 in-house agents who actually answer the phone — to how his team thinks about content creation, authenticity drives everything. “We’re not just making aspirational films for other marketers,” Gregg said. “We want our content to feel like it could be you.”

Technology and the Future of Hunting

Few topics stir more debate in the hunting community than technology. Cellular trail cameras, mapping apps, predictive analytics — depending on who you ask, they’re either revolutionizing hunting or undermining its traditions.

Gregg sees it differently. He compares it to the early days of computers: “Some people thought they’d ruin the world, others thought they were the best thing ever. But either way, they weren’t going away.”

The same is true for hunting technology. For Gregg, the key is balance. “These tools don’t replace woodsmanship,” he said. “They’re about giving hunters with limited time the best opportunity when they do get out there.”

With Reveal, that means bringing weather data, camera photos, and maps into one app — reducing the need to juggle multiple platforms and letting hunters make smarter decisions about where and when to hunt. As Gregg put it: “Why ride a horse and buggy when you could drive a car?”

By Hunters, For Hunters

What sets Gregg and his team apart is their connection to the end user — because they are the end user. From founders to customer service reps, everyone at Tactacam spends time in the field. That reality shapes product decisions, drives innovation, and fuels their commitment to stand behind every camera they ship.

“We’re not building things just to sell them,” Gregg emphasized. “We’re building tools we’d want to use ourselves.”

That commitment — to hunters, to authenticity, to listening — is what makes Gregg’s story fit so well in the Outsider Insiders series. Just like LandTrust, Tactacam is rooted in the belief that technology should serve hunters and landowners, not the other way around.

Closing

Gregg’s career has spanned scrappy startups, major acquisitions, and now one of the fastest-growing names in hunting technology. Through it all, his focus has stayed consistent: build authentic connections, design tools that matter, and never lose sight of the hunter at the center of it all.

At LandTrust, we share that same vision. Whether it’s access to land or access to better tools, we believe the outdoors is best experienced when hunters and landowners feel supported, connected, and part of something bigger.

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