Long-time tournament angler Randy Elliott’s title sponsor represents a brand with a cause. Want Different Do Different, the sponsor, comes with a unique back-story and how it ties into bass fishing.
Elliott coincidentally happens to be married to the company’s founder and off-the-hook CEO, April Hartsook. Think high-energy version of Robin and Randy Howell, Gerald and LeAnn Swindle and you get a snapshot of the chemistry between Elliott and Hartsook.
Elliott, 54, is fishing as a pro in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens and specifically the Northern and Southern events. Hartsook, a triathlete, describes herself as a health and wellness philanthropist. Want Different Do Different as a global brand teaches accountability and responsibility to anyone wanting a life change.
As a life coach Hartsook’s clients are mostly clinically morbidly obese men and women. Their goals are to turn their lives around through healthy nutrition, regular exercise and positive attitudes. That takes time. Hartsook spends three years on average to coach clients to well being. Some eventually run 5k races, marathons and otherwise change their lives for the better.
All of that begs the question why Want Different Do Different is sponsoring a professional bass fisherman. The answer has noting to do with spousal obligation and everything to do with Hartsook’s two passions. One is obvious but the other is tournament bass fishing.
“Health and wellness is needed everywhere but so many people, including the anglers themselves, sometimes don’t view their careers as involving athleticism,” said Hartsook. “These guys are on the water 12 hours a day, seven days a week and for weeks at a time.”
“They are constantly running in rough water and using certain muscle groups to the extreme,” she continued. “Their bodies get so beat up and preventive exercise and nutrition are so important in keeping them competitive.”
Hartsook should know. In 2001 she met Elliott, already a veteran tournament angler. One of their first dates was a fishing trip on the Potomac River. Elliott coached his date on how to cast, where to throw and what to do when a bass hit the lure. It did and she was hooked on bass fishing and Elliott. They were married in 2013.
“It was very attractive to me to see anyone confident enough in what they do to share it,” she recalled. “I realized bass fishing and tournaments are a big part of his life.”
“Instead of asking him to take away time from something he loves I decided to immerse myself in it,” she continued. “If I’m going to be a part of it for me it’s all or nothing.”
She did just that in getting to the Northern Open in Richmond, Va. After Hartsook moved her son into UNC-Charlotte she practically drove all night to make it in time for the tournament start on the James River. Elliott, a government contractor, and Hartsook call Winstom-Salem, N.C. their home base.
Find Hartsook at every tournament fished by Elliott. She backs him in each morning, cheers him on at the takeoff and returns early for the weigh-in. When not at tournaments you will find her promoting Want Different Do Different and racing globally in Iron Man, triathlons, distance and sprint races.
Growing up in rural Iowa instilled a love of the outdoors in Elliott. As a teenager his bicycle took him to creeks filled with smallmouth and marshes where largemouth provided days of enjoyment with a fly rod.
After graduating from high school he joined the U.S. Air Force with global deployments, including a stop in Spain. It was there he started a bass club on the air force base. The club held 13 tournaments during the fishing season and he won them all.
Back stateside he was stationed at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina. He fished as a co-angler in the 1994 B.A.S.S. MegaBucks held on Lake Murray, not far from the base. A larger-than-life photo of Elliott with B.A.S.S. founder Ray Scott on the weigh-in stage hangs on the wall of his home.
“I always fished club tournaments and did fairly well and that was a great experience,” recalled Elliott. “I love the combination of fishing and competition.”
Elliott went on to join the Maryland B.A.S.S. Nation and served as vice president. He also honed his tournament fishing skills on the tidal Potomac River, where he eventually met Hartsook. In 2004 Elliott retired from his career in the air force, freeing him up with more time as a government contractor.
“I have 20 days of vacation each year and use it all to fish the Northern and Southern Opens,” he said. “April saves about six days of it just by driving my boat to the tournament.”
A typical tournament finds Hartsook getting the boat to the destination, returning home and then Elliott flying in from his job in the Washington metropolitan area. Following practice she returns to the tournament town for the competition days.
Near misses into the Top 12 cut have taught Elliott valuable lessons. He plans to take his time and lay a solid foundation for what he hopes is eventually a chance to qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Series.
“I’m no Rick Clunn but his age proves you can be successful in this sport later in life,” said Elliott.
“My greatest lesson learned thus far is to speed up the decision making process,” he continued. “Making a quicker assessment of what to do next when a given pattern isn’t working is a must at this level of the competition.”
Elliott recognizes that he is up against the skills of local anglers who often do well in the Opens, plus the Elite Series anglers who compete.
“I know if I stay with it, learn from my mistakes, and keep a positive mental attitude and stay healthy that sooner or later it’s going to happen,” he said.
“I love coming to the tournaments with Randy,” said Hartsook. “There is such a sense of family with the anglers, the wives, girlfriends and kids who come.”
All it will take is for everything to fall into place. Elliott wants different, is doing different and his sponsor fully backs him to get to the finish line.