The Dirt Road Academy didn't start in a boardroom. It started in a living room, five years ago, as I watched my five children navigate a world I didn't quite recognize. I was all-in on the technological progress unfolding over the previous decade. But I was a dad. Like many parents, we were learning in real-time that we didn't fully understand the impact these new screens, social systems, and algorithms would have on our children's attention, focus, resilience, curiosity, and sense of self.
Potential vs. Destruction
While I was watching the potential in my children, I was also watching the destruction of someone I loved. My brother was spiraling through the darkness of drug addiction on a path that ultimately led to him taking his own life.
Seeing the immense potential of my children on the one hand, and the total loss of it in my brother on the other, impacted even further how I looked at everything.
I couldn’t shake a pretty simple idea: We are the sum of the information we consume. What we let into our minds shapes us. Habits, beliefs, resilience, ability to think well, treatment of self and others, and so much more. I had a nagging thought: If my brother had read the books that changed my life, would it have made a difference? If my children read them now, would it improve their chances of meeting their potential and leading a fulfilling life?
I believe, deeply, that the answer is yes.
From the Inc. 500 to the Dirt Road
Before the Academy, I spent a decade building a higher education startup (campusbookrentals.com). We reached #17 on the Inc. 500 and became the fastest-growing company in Utah. That decade of grinding taught me a permanent lesson: purposeful things are built on a foundation of grit, resilience, deep thinking, and consuming the world's best ideas from the best books.
This reality runs directly counter to the modern screen: a trillion-dollar incentive system designed to keep our kids distracted. The upcoming generations can do big things, but they need a map to navigate a world that is actively designed and incentivized to keep them (and their minds) stationary. The Dirt Road is that map.
Why We Are Here
The Dirt Road Academy is the curriculum I designed for my own kids with world-class input. It’s a sequence of 40 powerful books (each one building on the last) I knew they wouldn’t access in school, but could make a difference in their life. And I wanted to give them a shot at capturing that difference.
This post you’re reading is part of our newsletter community. Our full Academy experience where we deliver physical books, workbooks, and parent / mentor guides on a monthly basis (our Academy box), along with digital options, is at https://dirtroadacademy.com.
I almost launched Dirt Road Academy two different times just for my kids, but believed this mission was bigger than my own dinner table and I wanted to share it with the world. I hope you find value in it as well. Thank you for trusting us to be a part of your teen's journey.
Let's get to work.
Alan Martin, Founder | Dirt Road Academy