Carmichael is a successful entrepreneur. His coffee company, La Columbe Torrefaction, provides coffee for high profile restaurants. His adventures in procuring the finest coffee from different, and often dangerous, regions around the world is the basis for Dangerous Grounds. Carmichael ran his first ultra-marathon at the age of 20 and soon after sailed solo across the Atlantic. In 2008, he set a world-record for the fastest unsupported trek to the South Pole.