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From swimming in a car to dodging bulls, brand ambassadors Daniel and Samuel Taipale give Urban Agenda NYC an inside look at their adventurous lives

By Sarah Emily Gilbert

Finnish brothers Samuel and Daniel Taipale were born with a penchant for adventure. Joining their parents on unplanned camping expeditions and admiring their father’s nature photography since they were boys, this daring duo were always looking to explore new places. Fast-forward to 2015, and Samuel and Daniel still can’t shake their travel bug or their appreciation for photography. In fact, they’ve turned their love into a prominent brand ambassador service, TAIPALEBROTHERS. Getting paid to do what they love, Samuel and Daniel travel the world and photograph their quests in order to launch Instagram campaigns for their clients BMW Finland, Red Bull, Vodafone Australia, Vitamin Water, Visit Finland and Rajala Pro Shop. With a combined 215.9K Instagram followers, it’s clear that the Taipale brother’s branding is a thriving success. Since they have the best job on earth, we had to ask these fearless brothers more about their enterprising business.

Did you and Daniel grow up traveling and adventuring together? Is it something that is engrained in you?

D: When we were kids, we used to do month long camping trips every summer with our family. We never had any set plans, so we basically decided every morning which way we wanted to head. When we grew up, we used to go to these international youth camps in Germany. That was probably the stepping-stone for us when it comes to traveling. There, we saw how easy it is to get along with people and how rewarding it is to meet new people around the world while seeing new places.

S: As kids, we also lived next to the forest and we pretty much spent all the free time outside playing, adventuring and exploring with our friends. Then little by little, that hunger to adventure grew bigger.

What did you guys want to be when you were little?

D: I don’t remember having any clear memory of knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up. I have always kind of lived in the moment. I do remember always reading my dad’s National Geographic magazine collection and being fascinated by all the photos there. Jacques Cousteau’s stories were always interesting and I used to watch him on TV too. So there was already some adventurer figure in my childhood now that I think of it.

S: I remember looking at Indiana Jones when I was little and knowing that I wanted to go on these exciting adventures when I grew up… But we also used to watch lots of nature and history documentaries, and those definitely had an impact in my life.

How did you and your brother become brand ambassadors (and what does it really mean to be a brand ambassador)? 

D: We’ve worked alongside with advertising and marketing agencies because of our photography. With Instagram coming along, we noticed the possibility to combine our marketing skills and photography into a service. Our idea was to connect with brands that we are already using, so that we could both benefit from our adventures and photography. “Living the brand” was always our motto for the whole brand ambassador idea. It includes being more involved with the brand and using their product as we normally would and also interacting with the company to provide experiences about their products. This way it is more than just getting sponsored by them.

S: And it’s all about good story telling. Marketing and sales is about affecting people nowadays. Affecting people is about good stories that attract people. Those good stories are about photos and videos. So the brand ambassador is there to provide those visual experiences to the audience, together with the client.

What’s it like to work with your brother?

D: I think we are very privileged to share our company with one another. We’ve become best friends over the years, and it makes it easier to work together when you really know the other person. Of course it can get a little hard occasionally when we face some tight conversations as we don’t really need to be afraid of our words. But we’ve learned to handle things right away, so it’s good at the end. I think the biggest downside is that our work never really leaves us and our time together always involves something work related.

S: We enjoy working with each other very much. We have definitely become best friends during these past few years. When you grow up with someone and end up working with them, there’s this crazy connection that no one can explain. You can understand exactly what the other one means just by looking at each other.

How often do you travel? What’s your favorite place you’ve visited so far?

D: It’s been around seven to eight trips a year for both of us for the past few years. Some years, we end up doing some longer periods in one place, so that cuts down the actual number of the trips. There are so many awesome places I’ve visited from nice sunny beaches in Hawaii to snowy mountains in Japan, but I would have to say that Lofoten Islands in Norway has a special place in my heart.

S: We have seen some amazing places around the globe, and every place has its unique beauty that stays with you from those trips. For example, in 2011 I traveled through 47 states in America and it was really amazing. I need to tackle those last three soon! But the one place that has always kept my heart warm is definitely New Zealand. I’ve spent almost eight months there and that place is truly magical inside and out.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve encountered on one of your wild adventures?

D: I haven’t actually encountered anything crazy that stands out. I’ve been well protected by the prayers of my family. Of course, there are some close calls with some muskox and bulls etc.

S: I think there are lots of things that other people would consider crazy, but for me they are just always part of the adventure. But one time I was driving with my good friend in the backlands of New Zealand, somewhere behind Mordor. We were about 40 km from the closest housing, and we were heading to this remote sheep farmer’s cabin. We knew that there was a river we needed to ride over in our Jeep that was close to the cabin, but when we got there, the melting snow had made it bigger than expected. We were calculating the risks, but decided to go anyway. The current was super strong and the level of the water was reaching well over our side windows. We thought we would be swept away and gone with the water, but somehow we survived. Swimming with a car is never fun.

Have you always been into photography or is it something that’s evolved over time? What are your favorite things to photograph? What’s the key to the perfect shot?

D: Our father used to shoot and develop a lot of photos when he was in his twenties. We used to go through his albums from his adventures in Europe and especially in Norway. His photos always had that story-telling side, which was always interesting to us. We bought our first digital SLR with Samuel in 2004 and that’s when we started taking photography more seriously. We used all of our summer job earnings on the Canon 20D body. From then on it started getting serious. I really like to shoot adventure, sport and outdoor stuff. I think the main thing in taking the perfect shot is getting the photo captured in a way that the viewer can live the moment of the shot by just looking at it. It’s not only about the visual part for me, I wan’t to tell a stories with my photos.

S: I love being on an adventure where you haven’t necessarily set time or destination, all you have is just the journey ahead of you, good company and your camera. I guess some people would put my photos in the landscape category, but I think there should be a new category called “Adventure” or “On a Journey.” I often want to bring something more to the photo than just a landscape - something that makes even the landscape look more epic.

What’s the best part of your job? 

D: We get to do what we love. It rarely feels like work.

S: And also the fact that you get paid for doing what you love.

What’s the next step for you guys? Anything exciting in the works? 

D: We are always pushing forward and there’s a lot going on behind the scenes. We’ve got some bigger long-term things in the works at the moment. So stay tuned for some awesome next steps.

S: I recently moved to Norway, so we are both based in different places now, which makes our work look a little bit different, but there are some great things in the works.