November 10, 2025 • 63 mins
What happens when an ultra-competitive systems thinker walks away from a comfortable tech career and decides to build something real, messy, and human? Blake joins us to unpack how a failed $40k app, a seasonal toy, and one conversation with an 83-year-old shop owner sparked a thriving fabric business built on brand-name textiles, creative financing, and the infinite game of community.
We dig into the scrappy playbook: validating demand before spending a cent, pre-selling through social media, and using content as a growth engine rather than a vanity project. Blake shares how “no money down” inventory deals actually work, why niche focus beats breadth at the start, and how buying supplier dead stock became an unexpected moat as the industry shifts and legacy retailers leave gaps. He breaks down the tactile challenges of selling fabric online, how brand familiarity reduces friction, and why testing retail hours inside a warehouse beats signing a lease too soon.
Beyond tactics, there’s a philosophy at work: collaborative competition over zero-sum thinking. We explore infinite games, authenticity that attracts the right buyers, and generosity as a growth strategy. Blake’s early hustles, love for systems, and service mindset show up everywhere—from moving 1,500 bolts in brutal heat to helping small shops modernize, to asking customers what they actually want and letting that guide inventory. If you’re building an online store, eyeing the craft and quilting space, or trying to turn content into real customers, this conversation offers field-tested steps you can copy today.
Loved this convo? Follow Blake via the link in his profile on our episode page, subscribe for more creative entrepreneurship stories, and leave a rating and review to help others find the show. What’s one experiment you’ll run this week?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:34):
I love it.
I love it.
I I literally wake up every dayand I think that again
competitive, but I think noone's going to beat me at this
because I love this.
SPEAKER_03 (00:43):
I love this.
SPEAKER_02 (00:44):
Like I have brutal days.
I have days where I have to move1500 bolts of fabric from one
place to another place in100-degree weather.
There's an accident on thefreeway.
I'm running out of gas.
The cell phone doesn't work.
And I want to scream, and I loveit.
SPEAKER_04 (01:12):
This is Dwight, joined by our other connections
and community guy host Maddoxfor for the for the love of
creatives.
We're so happy to be joinedtoday by uh so snipped Blake
Serrano.
Welcome, Blake.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_01 (01:29):
So is it is it Serrano or Serrano?
SPEAKER_02 (01:32):
Serrano.
Serrano.
SPEAKER_04 (01:34):
So sorry.
Um you know it's uh I I've seenthat you do a lot of fun stuff
to show your journey on youryour Instagram grid is just too
too much for tacos.
It is entertaining.
You take everyone along for theride, and you've got quite the
tail.
But in just uh a minute or two,could you uh orient people to
(01:57):
who you are and what you'reabout?
SPEAKER_02 (02:00):
Yes.
So as we said, my name's Blake,and I opened a fabric shop a
little over two years ago.
And as we get into it's been upand down, left and right, every
which way direction.
And the last few months it'sreally stabled out, and I've
started to figure things out,and uh we're building success
(02:20):
now.
SPEAKER_04 (02:21):
And it looks like you're having a great time along
the way.
Yes, yes.
This is by far the best job I'veever had.
SPEAKER_01 (02:28):
That's a cool thing to claim, especially this early
in, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (02:33):
Yes.
Uh 12 months ago, I was notsaying that.
Yeah.
unknown (02:39):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (02:40):
But it's great.
You're you're definitely doingsomething that's working, and I
can see that it's uh some of thethe beautiful stories that you
tell are the um one thing thatsticks out to me is um there was
one piece that you did whereyou're talking about how you
always uh look forward togetting a call from a husband
talking about charges.
(03:03):
And yes.
You get to set them straightthat that you're the fabric guy.
Like that that's all you.
It's so funny.
SPEAKER_02 (03:11):
Yeah, we know.
I mean, you you all deal withit, and and anyone listening,
I'm sure, deals with it thatcreating content is 80% of your
business, you know, maybe not80%, but somewhere between 40
and 80% of your business iscontent.
So I'm really blessed that I thecontent writes itself most of
the time.
SPEAKER_04 (03:30):
It's a it's a beautiful thing.
Well, and and I I think a lot ofit is how you just approach life
with an open heart.
And so you're you're seeing allthe gems everywhere that uh for
anyone that might just be inthat spiral where they're just
looking at their shoes, they'remissing out on all the good
stuff.
SPEAKER_02 (03:49):
Yeah.
And we know that negativitycompounds and positivity
compounds, and you know, it itdefinitely takes persistent.
And I've crossed to the otherside now where I have enough
positivity outweighing thenegativity.
Gotta love that.
SPEAKER_04 (04:06):
And I know a a lot of people are following a
template.
You know, they've seen what'smodeled to them by their parents
and by you know everyone thatthey've seen that's kind of the
template for success.
And what you're doing is highlycreative in that you had to
(04:27):
figure a lot of things out onyour own.
Where did you find the courageto step off of that firmly
beaten path?
SPEAKER_02 (04:39):
I have a very non-traditional upbringing.
I've lived in many differentplaces in America growing up at
very critical ages.
So I saw things done differentlyoften, and it really opened my
(05:00):
eyes at a very young age thatthere is no right way to do
anything, and that perspectiveis 90% of you know what we think
is right or wrong or good or badfor the most part, you know,
everyone has their own journey,their own truth.
So I started just doing what Ifelt like was my truth, my
(05:22):
journey, my path.
And I didn't fight it, I stoppedfighting society basically.
Um, you know, and we can go intoa little more details on that
later, but yeah, I reallymarched to the beat of my own
drum.
I always have.
And it did take me 35 years tolean into that.
(05:44):
And the first couple of years ofthat were difficult.
But once you get rolling, andnow that I'm rolling, I wouldn't
have it any other way.
SPEAKER_04 (05:52):
Well, and I I think a lot of people need to really
let that sink in.
I mean, by all accounts from theoutside, you're an overnight
success, but it's that overnightsuccess took a lifetime to get
there.
unknown (06:07):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (06:08):
No, I I think it's worth saying, Blake, that um,
you know, thankfully you got itat 35 because there will be
people that will live out theirentire lives and never get it.
You know, we I I hear people saythis, and you didn't say this,
but I hear people say this allthe time.
Well, I wish I'd figured thisout, you know, 10, 20 years ago
or when I was X old.
(06:29):
Um and the truth is most of thetime it's more about just being
grateful that you did get itwhen you did get it because you
could have lived out and andnever gotten it.
You know, I think that we'reseeing more and more people step
away from the cultural norms.
You know, I I was in a femaledominated industry for a 40-year
(06:53):
career.
And like me, you know, yourfabric is a female dominated.
Now, it may not be femaledominated if you're in the
upholstery fabrics, but that'snot what you're in, is it?
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (07:09):
No, you're correct.
SPEAKER_01 (07:10):
Yeah, you're you're in the types of fabrics that
make quilts and clothes andyeah.
How did how did that come about?
How did that come to be?
What how did you wake up one dayand think, wow, fabric is my
thing?
SPEAKER_02 (07:26):
Yes, so this uh this this runs deep here.
We love deep.
SPEAKER_03 (07:32):
Yes, it it's we're gay.
SPEAKER_02 (07:34):
We love deep.
SPEAKER_03 (07:35):
I'm teasing yikes, love it.
SPEAKER_02 (07:38):
Um I think a lot of people during COVID,
specifically the beginning ofCOVID lockdown time, went
through what I went through in asense of just a lot of time
alone to rethink and seeingdifferent sides of things.
And I live in Richmond,Virginia, and this place is very
(08:04):
corporate and governmentoriented, and I do my best not
to offend people, but I am apretty anti-corporate,
anti-government person.
Um and even when working forgovernments and corporations, I
was not a big fan of them.
But to your point earlier, I didwhat everyone else did, I did
(08:29):
what I was supposed to do, um,and it paid and it made my life
easy and and comfortable.
So once lockdown happened, I Istarted reading a lot, something
I hadn't really done in years.
And a book a friend recommendedto me was Think and Grow Rich.
(08:52):
And it has its fair share ofcontroversy around it, but that
book said things in it that Ialways thought in my head my
whole entire life and neverheard anyone say eloquently.
And that was my first big aha.
(09:14):
I'm not crazy.
And that led me down the rabbithole to start to understand that
wait, the people I look up to,I'm more like those people than
I am the people that are aroundme.
And that really came from thatbook.
So the first part of this wholejourney was I need to take the
(09:36):
leap and leave corporateAmerica.
And, you know, there's a termwhich people may be familiar
with called the goldenhandcuffs, right?
I had to make$100,000 a year.
I had no option.
I for my house, my truck, I hada son, everything, I had to make
that.
And so that was the very firstsacrifice and journey I had to
(09:59):
take was okay, I can't go from Xamount of money to zero dollars,
but how do I make money and notbe in corporate America?
So the first thing I did is Iwent looked for a new job, and I
found a job um in a techstartup.
And they offered me$90,000 justto put numbers on this.
(10:20):
And so my first sacrifice fromall this was saying, okay, I'm
gonna be 10 grand a short everyyear, but this is what I want to
do.
Let's go for it.
Um, so that was step one.
I worked for a startup, and whenanyone asks about business or
asks me for advice how to getstarted, I always say, go work
for someone who is already doingwhat you want to do.
(10:43):
Get paid to learn.
So the journey really began twoyears working for a tech
startup.
I was a tech consultant for overa decade.
I then finally took the leapfrom the startup to start my own
app.
I had about a$40,000 budget thatI saved up.
(11:06):
I sold things and I put all thismoney in this pot and said, I'm
gonna go start an app with$40,000.
That was the first big mistake Imade.
I now preach to the high heavensthat you do not need money to
start a business.
In fact, I could argue thatmoney is your biggest problem
when starting a business becauseI blew through$40,000 and had
(11:31):
nothing to show when it was allsaid and done.
I never got a customer.
I had a beautiful app, I had agreat logo, a great name, an LLC
on the books, and zerocustomers.
Um so I took that lesson andthen I learned, okay, I need a
customer.
Plain and simple.
Don't create an idea, solve aproblem.
(11:56):
Find someone who has a problemwho's willing to pay you for
that problem.
So my second attempt at abusiness was a toy, which this
toy still exists.
And basically, I made aprototype for my son, and all
the kids in the neighborhoodloved it.
And the parents were like, ifyou made this, I would buy it.
So light bulb went off.
I got a customer, at least averbal agreement that they would
(12:18):
be interested in purchasingthis.
So I went out and I made thetoy, and again, the toy cost me
about 15 grand to get started.
Should have been a red flag, butI was like, hey, at least I know
I have people that want to buyit.
So I learned some lessons fromthe toy.
I took all the lessons from myfirst two businesses.
(12:39):
The toy, come to find out, is anincredibly seasonal item.
In hindsight, it makes a lot ofsense.
Uh, so I could only sell the toyaround the holidays.
I still sell it, but two monthsout of the year, I sell the toy.
And also, it's one product, oneskew.
So it's something that peoplebuy once and never come back.
These were big lessons Ilearned.
(13:00):
So the first lesson was get acustomer.
Second lesson was uh beware ofseasonal and beware of
non-repeat item skews.
So then I went out and I decidedthat I was going to just help
local small businesses.
I was going to take everything Ilearned from corporate America
(13:21):
and go apply it to smallbusinesses asking nothing in
return.
Just trying to find my nextniche.
I went through probably fivedifferent businesses, five
different industries.
And the way I would approachthese people is hey, I noticed
your website is outdated or youdon't have a website.
(13:43):
I noticed you have no Googlereviews.
I would love to help you withthat.
I'm asking nothing in returnexcept for maybe, you know, a
recommendation from you that aletter saying, Hey, Blake did a
great job.
And uh we can kind of take itfrom there.
So my sister and my niece havebeen in the fabric industry for
a long time.
(14:03):
So as I was out doing this, theyrecommended I go speak to a
couple of local fabric shopowners who had basically those
exact problems.
They had no website, they had noGoogle reviews, they've been in
business for 50 years, and theysaid chances are those they
might be looking to leave,retire.
(14:24):
So the first lady I went andspoke to, her name was Pat.
Pat at the time was 83 yearsold.
Her shop was in its heyday, thebiggest fabric store in
Virginia.
Everybody knows her around here.
Her shop is legendary.
And she I went to her and said,Hey Pat, I heard you want a
website.
And so she and I are kicking itaround.
(14:46):
And she goes, You know what?
What if you made your ownwebsite and you sold my fabric
for me?
And I was like, Oh, you know, Inever even thought about that.
So I did.
I literally, within 24 hours,made a website, made a Facebook,
made an Instagram, made a fewvideos, started running ads, all
of which I learned from thefirst two failures.
(15:07):
I already knew how to do allthese things for no money at
all.
So within 24 hours of her givingme that idea, I got a handful of
sales for the fabric.
And that's really the very, verybeginning where I sat there and
I looked at it and I wentthrough my checklist.
(15:28):
Okay, not very seasonal, don'thave a lot of competition.
I need no money to get started.
This lady really is willing tojust let me have this fabric to
try it out.
Um, and that's the verybeginning of how I got into it.
That's amazing.
SPEAKER_01 (15:45):
That is amazing that she would suggest something like
that at 83.
What would have ever given herthat idea?
I wonder.
SPEAKER_02 (15:52):
She did not want to maintain a website.
SPEAKER_04 (15:57):
I get it.
It's one more thing.
The clock's winding down forher.
She's looking at spending timewith the grandkids and kicking
it on the beach somewhere.
SPEAKER_02 (16:07):
Yep.
But I agree.
It's it's you know, going backto that think and grow rich,
like the universe just sort ofopened the door.
I told the universe what Iwanted, and I stayed diligent,
and the opportunity really, youknow, people say, Oh, the fabric
fell in your lap.
Yes and no.
But at the end of the day, yeah,it was that advice that set the
the whole thing into motion.
SPEAKER_04 (16:28):
Yeah.
Well, and I I, you know, I'mglad that you're speaking so
highly of that text.
Uh, granted, it would getcanceled today, for sure.
Yeah, but there's some gold inthere.
unknown (16:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (16:42):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (16:43):
Agreed.
SPEAKER_02 (16:44):
Agreed.
I love that book.
And and if anyone's looking toget into it, it'll tell you in
the beginning of the book takeyour time, take it a chapter at
a time, half a chapter at atime, write notes.
I studied that book like it wasa degree.
I really did.
SPEAKER_01 (17:00):
Was it her fabric store that you ended up
purchasing?
Great question.
SPEAKER_02 (17:05):
Uh yes and no.
So along this journey, I startedfollowing a handful of people,
influencers, businessinfluencers online, one of which
is Cody Sanchez, who I love.
I basically follow her model oneverything I do.
And her shtick is buy boringbusinesses with little to no
(17:29):
money down.
And I took one of her mastercourses, and so I knew what to
look for.
And so when I made the websitefor her and I went back to her
and I said this actually worked,we sat down and looked at what
is it that I actually want fromyou, and what is it that you
actually want to give to me.
So I wound up just purchasingher inventory.
SPEAKER_04 (17:56):
That's that's smart.
That is so that is so slick andunconventional because I know
that you know, most people thinkthat, well, you know, uh let's
go and pull up biz by sell andyou know, like have have some
broker uh make everything realsmooth.
(18:19):
You got right into the weeds andlike how can we do this?
SPEAKER_01 (18:23):
So Blake, is this 100% an online business or do
you have a storefront somewherenow?
SPEAKER_02 (18:31):
So when it started, I had no clue what I was doing,
as you can imagine.
And it started out only online,and where the fabric was in the
beginning had a two-month leaseleft.
There was two months left on thelease.
So I had two months to figurethis out.
Now, for those of you that don'tknow about fabric, which
(18:53):
probably in this podcast, mostpeople do, fabric comes wrapped
around a piece of cardboard, andthat's called a bolt.
This lady had 3500 bolts.
Um wow, she she had quite aninventory.
Yes.
So a couple of things aboutthis.
One, I do not recommend startinga business with 3,500 of
(19:15):
anything.
SPEAKER_03 (19:16):
Don't do it.
SPEAKER_02 (19:17):
Way too much.
The second thing I like to saybefore I answer your question is
I paid this lady zero moneydown, and we finance the fabric.
So I pay her monthly, which hasnow become uh two times a year,
I now pay her.
And I've done this multipletimes.
So anyone listening, you canindeed buy a business and or
(19:38):
inventory with no money down.
She's she's now 85 years old.
If I didn't come along, shewould have had to either throw
the fabric away or put it in astorage unit that she would have
had to pay to have it moved intoand pay for it every month.
Just throw that in there.
But so I had two months to getout of the warehouse or out of
her shop.
The way my brain works, Igenuinely thought in two months
(20:01):
I was going to sell all thefabric.
Uh needless to say, I have noteven sold 10% of this fabric to
this day.
This is over two years ago.
Um, so it started out as ahybrid of online and then
opening the shop on the weekendsfor people to come in and buy.
Since then, the fabric's movedliterally five or six times.
(20:22):
I now have a warehouse.
I've been only online for thelast year.
I sometimes open up on randomSaturdays, but this week I've
started building out retailspace in my warehouse.
And I do plan on in the nextcouple of weeks opening a few
days a week to the public,really as a test, an MVP, a
(20:46):
litmus test to figure out howthe retail thing works.
And once I nail that down, Iwill then go get retail space
and open a retail shop.
SPEAKER_01 (20:55):
My mother sewed all of her life, and there was
always fabric laying around.
And what comes up for me, beinga highly creative person and an
entrepreneur, is fabric is avery tactile thing.
You know, if I were going toshop for fabric, I would want to
touch it.
I would want to see the textureof it.
(21:16):
I would want to be able to seereally the true colors because
on online, yeah, it's a guess.
You know, every monitorregisters colors a little bit
differently.
I would want to know thethickness of the fabric and and
the stretch or the non-stretchof it.
There'd be a whole lot of thingsthat I would, is it see-through?
Is it completely opaque?
(21:37):
Things that are so hard todemonstrate digitally.
I would think that the minutepeople can come in and actually
have an experience of it, Isuspect once you get the word
out there and people know thatyou're there, that it will
accelerate.
I may be wrong, but that's justwhat my intuitive mind is is
(22:00):
saying.
SPEAKER_02 (22:01):
Yep, I completely agree.
Um, to piggyback off of that,another lesson I learned from
the first two businesses is theyboth were brand new products
that had never been on themarket.
And so to answer your question,the main answer is I sell brand
(22:22):
name products.
So it's like me creating my ownshoe brand versus selling Nikes.
People know what they're gettingwhen they buy from me.
I'm not, I didn't make thefabric.
It's well-known fabric thatthey've been buying for decades.
So that helps a lot.
That helps a lot.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (22:41):
Well, and I think an another thing that just kind
that helps is the way that theconditions because of COVID or
and because of just things thathappened in the market, um
Joann's is gone.
Right.
I mean, um I know Michael's istrying, and you know, there may
(23:02):
be a craft quarter in someplaces, but um you're kind of
positioned to be uh like the thethe first place for people to go
to get fabric now.
SPEAKER_01 (23:15):
Well, and we we had a Joann's here in town.
I haven't been in a while, butthe last time I was in there, it
was a small place with a verylimited um amount of fabric to
choose from.
It was a little storefront.
I you know, if I had to guess, Iwould say, well, it's been a
(23:36):
while since I've been in there,but it it couldn't have been
maybe more than a thousandsquare feet if just just
guessing, and and and if memoryserves me.
Which would hold a fairly fairamount of fabric, but you know
not been in much larger fabricstores, let's put it that way.
SPEAKER_02 (23:57):
Yep.
Yep.
And something I didn't knowabout fabric that I know now is
it's incredibly difficult basedon the fact that it's all
different, like you statedearlier.
Fabric is so different, sodiverse, so diverse, yes,
impossible.
SPEAKER_01 (24:17):
Have you ever considered expanding and having
fabric that would be used forupholstery or draperies or
tablecloths or things like that?
Because that would open up awhole different clientele plus a
whole different income stream,but also lots more inventory and
(24:38):
capital tied up.
SPEAKER_02 (24:40):
Yeah.
unknown (24:40):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (24:41):
So a couple of things about that.
One, originally my business namewas Creative Closeouts.
And the first idea in my headwas yeah, I was just going to
buy out fabric shops and sellthat inventory.
So dead stock, if you will, oryou know, just things that were
(25:01):
gonna go in the garbage.
So I started with that.
And a lesson I learned, anotherlesson I learned is don't start
too wide.
Start with one thing, figurethat one thing out really,
really well, and then go dosomething very similar to it.
So I have been predominantlyquilters cotton.
Um, I changed my name fromcreative closeouts to so snip,
(25:24):
trying to get away from thatidea of closeouts.
And I now do buy from suppliers.
And so, to answer your question,yes, I have started expanding,
but I still love this idea ofcloseouts.
And I've learned that what ishappening with the shops, so the
(25:46):
whole fabric industry, andthere's many industries this is
happening in, there's agenerational shift.
So I like to say my first shopowner was Pat.
There are many Pats around thecountry.
I would say a thousand plusPats, literally.
There's probably around 3,000fabric shops in America, and I
(26:07):
would guess at least half areready to retire.
And so when you follow thatchain through the entire supply
chain, the suppliers are goingthrough the same exact thing.
The suppliers have been there50, 60 years.
They're the sons and thedaughters of the original
owners, and the grandkids don'twant anything to do with it.
(26:27):
So the way I was buying outsmall shops, which I still do, I
am now buying out the dead stockfrom the suppliers.
And the big, big thing withJoanne that I didn't even
realize was sure, I gotcustomers that went there, but I
now do business with Joanne'ssuppliers because they have no
(26:49):
one to buy their fabric.
Because a small shop might buyone bolt or two bolts of 10
different patterns, but theydon't want to buy 50 of the same
bolts, whereas I do.
SPEAKER_01 (27:03):
So you've turned in to be a much better customer
than the actual store was.
Yeah, well, I'm I'm no Joanne,but you know a lot of what
you're sharing is really, reallygold.
And when you talked about, youknow, start narrow, you're
you're talking about whatmarketers will say about niche
(27:25):
markets.
SPEAKER_00 (27:26):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (27:27):
Work one niche until you've got it solved.
You can have as many niches asyou want, but you need to bring
them on one at a time, andthat's what you're talking about
is it's it's an it's a nichemarket.
People who are buying fabricthat is for clothing would have
no interest in fabric that isfor upholstery, right?
SPEAKER_02 (27:47):
Yep, so exactly.
And and thanks to social media,I started with my with my ideal
customer, and now they ask me,they ask me, they say, Hey, can
you get me knit fabric, jersey,uh, upholstery, lycra, lace.
So now I know I don't have toguess anymore.
(28:08):
I just go find what they want,and I'm in with the supplier.
So the plot supplier says, Hey,I've got a palette of this.
What do you think of it?
I will literally put a video outand say, What do y'all think of
this?
SPEAKER_01 (28:18):
So you've got it sold before you buy.
Yes, for the most part, yes.
Wow.
Okay, okay, let's back up alittle bit.
Let's let's go.
I mean, you're obviously like acreative entrepreneur.
That's you know, if we're gonnaput people in boxes, there's
(28:38):
artists and there's dancers andthere's musicians, you're a
creative entrepreneur.
But that was born somewhereelse.
There was some at an earliertime in your life, some
introduction to creativity.
Tell us about that.
SPEAKER_02 (28:58):
Yeah, and it I'm very cliche in that where like I
was the kid, like, oh my gosh, Ihave an endless amount of
stories of of hustle in me.
So I've been a hustler since theI was the kid pushing the
lawnmower through theneighborhoods, and I could sit
here for an hour and tell you,I'll just tell you one one quick
one.
One of my first jobs in likeeighth grade, I was a paper boy.
(29:21):
And for the young listeners,there was a thing that was
delivered to your house everyday called a newspaper, and it
was a physical piece of paperwith the news.
And on Sundays, the paper wasbigger and it had coupons in it,
and it had all the deals for theweek.
And so, what I figured out at ineighth grade, when I would put
the newspaper together, I'd seethe items that were on sale or
(29:44):
the items with coupons.
And back then we had a thingcalled Classifieds, which was
another paper.
It was basically Craigslist orFacebook Marketplace.
So people would list use itemsthey would sell in this paper.
Sometimes it was in the back ofa newspaper, sometimes it was a
magazine or a catalog, nointernet.
So I would find items in thenewspaper and I would list those
(30:08):
items for retail price in theclassifieds.
So, for example, I remember oneweek there was these two way
walkie talkies, and you know,they retailed at$200 and they
were on sale for$125 at Costco,and I listed them in Classified
for free or maybe 50 cents, andsomeone bought them.
Someone called me and wanted tobuy them.
(30:29):
And I had no Costco membershipat the time.
So I remember scrambling aroundtown looking for someone to take
me to Costco.
I eventually found someone totake me to Costco.
So, you know, people around me,my teachers, people would see me
do this, and they were alwaysjust amazed at like, what is
that?
Um, so I always had hustle, andthen my stepfather was a
(30:52):
computer engineer in the 90s,and he worked remotely in the
90s.
So I moved around a lot, and itwasn't military, it was
literally just him asking mymom, where do you want to go
this year?
And she'd say, Let's go toHawaii.
I literally went to Hawaii, andhe worked remotely and he always
had a computer around.
(31:12):
So I was very lucky that Ialways had a computer around.
I always had computer books, Ialways had magazines.
So I was very into computers.
Um, I dropped out of high schooland I tell people I stopped
going to high school in eighthgrade.
I literally skipped school to goto the library to program on the
(31:33):
library computer.
I would ride around withcomposition books and
programming books and write codewhile I rode the bus and had my
little diskette.
And wherever I could find acomputer, I'd put my little disc
in, render my code, boom, boop,see what I need to tweak and
leave.
I had a newsletter, a websitewhen I was in ninth grade.
So I've always been intohustling or business, and I've
(31:57):
always been into computers.
And in eighth grade, again, whenI said this, I remember we got
the internet.
We had a computer lab, we gotthe internet for the first time,
and I purchased this littledevice in the back of a computer
magazine that you could pluginto the computer and it would
record the keystrokes.
So the first day of us havingthe internet, I recorded the
(32:18):
master keystroke, and Iliterally took over all the
computers in the school withinthe first 30 minutes of us
having the internet.
And it's so funny, they broughtme into the office almost
immediately and they sat medown.
My mom was in there and theysaid, We know it's him because
he's the only person here thatcould do this.
And that was the day where Ilooked at everyone in the room
(32:40):
and I said, I'm smarter than allof you here because this
internet thing is going to bethe biggest thing we've ever
known.
And they were all like, Yeah,right, whatever, the internet,
sure.
So I got lucky, I gambled, Iwent all in on the internet
thing at a pretty early age.
You know, um, you brought it upearlier about people saying, I
wish I would have done this atthat age.
(33:02):
I think that all the time.
I wish at 18 I would have justgone all in on my own thing.
Um, but yeah, I always had thehustle, I always had the
computer knowledge, and I'venever been good with authority.
SPEAKER_01 (33:20):
I can relate to that.
I've never been great withauthority because most of the
people that have authority abuseit, you know, or or they treat
the people that they're have theauthority over poorly.
And I don't have any uh patiencefor that.
No, there's no bandwidth forthat.
I I've been self-employed mywhole life, with the exception
(33:41):
of four years.
Four years I worked for someoneelse out of an entire lifetime.
And that was uh the mostchallenging four years of my
life in many regards.
unknown (33:51):
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (33:52):
Because both of them treated me, you know, less than
what I believed I deserved to betreated.
SPEAKER_02 (33:59):
Yep.
Yeah, yeah.
And that's that's why I say Imake I make a horrible employee.
I'm a very poor employee.
SPEAKER_04 (34:06):
Oh, how how long did you stick it out and and uh uh
uh go accept the goldenhandcuffs?
SPEAKER_02 (34:15):
Over a decade.
I did it for over a decade.
I I climbed the corporateladder, so that was my game was
like I quickly learned withinthe first couple of years of
graduating.
I eventually went to college, Igot my GD, went to college,
valedictorian, computerengineering.
I excelled, no surprise there.
I already knew what to do.
Um, and then when I got into theactual corporate world, I
(34:37):
realized that the work is thework is not what gets you ahead
here.
It's the game, it's thecorporate game.
And so I'm a I'm a big gamesguy, I'm a big systems guy.
In fact, that's what I wasworking in a restaurant, and I
would always I worked atrestaurants for a while before I
went to college, and I alwayshacked the system.
(35:00):
I always would figure out a wayto hack the system, and I I
would always figure somethingout, and they always knew it was
me.
So I'm a systems guy.
You give me a system, I willbreak that system down, I will
improve it, I can do whatever.
So once I got into corporateAmerica, I realized this is just
another system, it's justanother game.
Who do I need to talk to?
Where do I need to be?
And I always put myself in thosepositions.
(35:23):
Um and that eventually bored meto death.
SPEAKER_01 (35:28):
Wow.
Yeah, I can see.
I can see that.
So it sounds like most of yourcreativity has been centered
around business, uh, the thehustle, as you say, it was it
was how to generate income andhow to do what you wanted to do
rather than what somebody elsewanted you to do.
(35:49):
I'm curious, not not that thismatters, but does creativity
show up in your life in otherways than that?
Or is it really, really focused?
SPEAKER_02 (36:02):
It it does show up.
So I love to write, big timewriter.
I've got a few screenplays Ilove to adapt at some point.
I love to write a couple ofbooks.
Uh music was my passion.
So before I went to college, Iattempted music.
And in hindsight, I didn't goall in on the music.
(36:24):
Uh if you know, it I was alwaysone foot in, one foot out.
But yeah, I'd say music,writing, I'm a big movies guy.
I I would love to act one day.
So I I really like that form ofart.
I love entertainment.
SPEAKER_01 (36:42):
Well, and I think that probably shows in your
social media stuff.
unknown (36:46):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (36:47):
Yeah, you really bring it.
Yeah, thank you.
Yes, I I enjoy it.
It's like I am a talker.
You can't get me to shut up.
Uh I love it.
And you know, to sort ofbacktrack a little bit, another
part of me is like I I like togive.
I'm a big, big time giver.
I don't really need anythingfrom anybody.
(37:10):
I I just like to help.
I genuinely like to help.
And there's this cliche of, youknow, once you get money, you
realize it's not the money.
And that happened to me.
You know, once I climbed theladder and I got the money, and
I thought that was the plan, Ithought that was the goal, and I
got it.
And I sat in this big fancyhouse with all these toys and
(37:30):
was like, this is stupid,especially when COVID hit.
It was like, this is stupid.
Like, I don't need this.
I'd much rather be out helpingpeople.
And so, you know, that drives mea lot, and that's what I
eventually realized it takes themore money I have, the more I
can help people.
(37:51):
The more status I have, the moreI can help people.
And that's a big motivatingfactor for me to grow my
business now, is that I knowonce I get the right resources,
I can make a difference muchmore than I can if I'm working
for someone else.
SPEAKER_01 (38:07):
So this is just a curiosity, and it's a little bit
off of creativity, but it'llit'll work its way in in a
minute.
It sounds like you love to giveto others, but I what you're not
saying that I'm sort of hearingis that you struggle perhaps to
let others help you in in timeswhen you need support.
SPEAKER_02 (38:33):
Yes and no.
I've I've gotten good at it now.
I'm ultra competitive, I'm avery competitive human being.
And so I would say youngerBlake, yes.
Current Blake, I seek out helpand mentors every chance I get.
I've got a handful of peopleright now that I talk to almost
(38:56):
daily that I go to for support.
And you know, another lesson Ilearned in the first two
businesses was like learn fromother people's mistakes.
Like, don't chase your tail ifyou don't have to.
So I would say older me, youngerme, yes, but currently I love
advice and help from the peopleI trust.
SPEAKER_01 (39:21):
So we're we're we're now this is where I kind of
wanted to take us full circle.
You're talking about communitynow, right?
SPEAKER_02 (39:29):
Yes, oh yes, oh yes, yes, yes.
And that's one of the greatestthings about this fabric job
business is the people are sofriendly.
I mean, I'm helping them do whatthey love to do.
So, you know, sure you get somepeople who nitpick, but overall,
this is a fun thing foreverybody.
SPEAKER_01 (39:46):
Well, and and you're are you talking about the people
that are buying, or are youtalking also about the people
that are selling the the fabricproviders, the companies?
SPEAKER_02 (39:57):
Yep, and and from the from the seller perspective,
both.
So, you know, we we talked aboutthis is a predominantly female
industry, that is true, but theupper ends of it are mostly
male.
So, you know, the people who ownthe manufacturers, you know,
upper management, a lot of theseare older males and they love me
(40:18):
because they see me and them,and there's not a lot of people
my age who want to be a part ofthis industry.
So we get along incredibly well,and then you also have the
seller who a big customer ofmine is the person that buys
fabric that makes something thatsells it a tote bag, a hat,
Etsy, farmer's market.
(40:39):
So those people also gravitatetowards me, and I love talking
to those people.
And then you have the shopowners, you know, the shop
owners who either just boughtthe shop, just started the shop,
or want to retire.
So, yeah, there's a lot ofpeople there that I can relate
to because I've been doing sortof all these things at the same
time.
SPEAKER_04 (40:59):
Yeah, it sounds like you're living a version of um
the AJ Jacobs uh book, uh Thanksa Thousand, where he traces, you
know, he's thanking all of thepeople that led to him having a
cup of coffee.
And it's like you're right inthe middle of it and seeing all
those inner workings.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (41:20):
So so you commented on being hyper competitive.
What does that look like?
Because I I I mean, I I havethis thought of what I know what
what I think competition lookslike, but I I also think that um
where where is the the balancebetween competition and
(41:41):
collaboration?
Because there's there's I thinkthere's healthy competition, and
then I think there's reallyunhealthy competition.
So so share with us a little bitmore about that, please.
SPEAKER_02 (41:54):
Agreed.
And I would say from myexperience, at least in
business, you will get higherand further with collaborative
competition.
I can argue that's how you'll gothe furthest.
There's this old saying that Iabsolutely love that says, if
you want to move fast, move byyourself.
(42:18):
If you want to move far, movetogether.
So yes.
So, for example, there's there'sshop owners that I work with,
and they'll they'll message me,hey, did you see my latest
video?
It got 10,000 views in 24 hours.
Okay, note taken.
(42:39):
Note taken.
So, what am I doing the nextweek?
I'm making sure I get 11,000views on the video, and I make
sure they know that I got that.
Now I'm not saying, oh, I'mgoing to make sure that you
don't get 10,000.
I hope I get 11.
I hope you get 12.
I hope I get 13.
You know, so it's that friendlycompetition of let's make each
other better.
And I'm not hiding secrets fromyou either.
(43:02):
Here's how I did it, here's howyou can do it.
SPEAKER_01 (43:04):
You're you're talking about, well, although
sports have been corrupted,sports at one point in time were
like that.
Now sports have been monetized,and so it's very corrupt in many
ways.
And and it's it's not friendlycompetition.
People will will die to winbecause there's millions of
dollars involved.
Um I love what what you'resaying.
(43:25):
So you're not necessarily tryingto be the best, you're not
necessarily trying to be the onethat makes all the money, but
you have it's a game.
Your your competition is a game,you said earlier, you're a real,
a real gamer.
That makes sense.
SPEAKER_04 (43:41):
Yeah, another way of saying it is using uh I've heard
it expressed that you in orderto have the tallest tower, um,
you're going to build it upwithout knocking down someone
else's.
unknown (43:55):
Yep.
SPEAKER_02 (43:56):
Yep, yep, yep.
There's two ways to build thebiggest tower.
You knock down everyone else's,or you just focus and build your
own.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (44:02):
What one of my favorite sayings is to get what
you want in life, your best wayto get there is to help others
get what they want.
SPEAKER_02 (44:12):
I mean, that's if I that's gonna be the name of my
book.
I mean, that's it.
I mean, that's it.
And and I mean, you just go backto to what I said originally
with Pat, with me going to Patand saying, Hey, I'll make you a
website, I don't want any money,and then her giving me the idea
of do it this way.
Whoa, light switch.
Another thing that happened tome is quick after I met Pat and
(44:34):
after I started rolling, Icreated an email list.
I just started literally makinga spreadsheet by Googling all
these fabric shops.
I made a giant spreadsheet and Ijust started blasting out emails
to these shop owners.
And a lady, Jenny, shout outJenny, she replied and said,
Hey, I don't want to get rid ofmy fabric.
I'm a new shop owner, but Iinherited a lot of fabric I
(44:57):
don't want.
Would you sell it on yourwebsite and then I'll ship it
out of my warehouse or my shop?
Again, I never even thoughtabout that.
SPEAKER_01 (45:07):
That's collaboration.
I mean, that is, you know, it'sit's amazing how competition and
collaboration are both verymisunderstood terms.
And if we would just sit down incircles and define them, you
know, unpack them and definethem, then we would know how to
proceed forward because you'retelling amazing stories of
(45:28):
collaboration that wouldn't havehappened if you were leaning too
far into the competition.
unknown (45:34):
Yep.
SPEAKER_02 (45:34):
Yep, yep, yep.
And you know, I love the termhater.
Like I'm not a hater and I don'tlike dealing with haters, but
I'm also I'm ultra competitive.
I want to do better than you,but that doesn't mean I don't
want you to do well.
I just want to do a little bitbetter.
And I'm not gonna win everytime.
That's okay.
SPEAKER_01 (45:55):
And and to me, that's that you're you just
defined healthy competitionbecause it's about a game.
Yeah, it's about something thatmakes it fun, and you cheer each
other on, and the may the maythe best man or woman win.
I mean, you're you're you'resharing something now that is
not really not a conversationwe've had up to this point.
(46:18):
And we talk about collaborationa lot and we talk about
competition, but there's kind ofan unpacking here that I don't
recall.
Dwight, do you recall us reallykind of getting into the weeds
with it like this?
SPEAKER_04 (46:28):
No, this is beautiful.
Uh I I love the way that um youryour approach to things uh
because of all of the the funways that you had to navigate
growing up in a a differentplace from time to time, I think
made fertile ground for you toappreciate uh just how um uh how
(46:52):
important it is to just embracewhat is and and move forward and
you know, ask what if and seewhat's possible.
Blake, you got a book in you,dude.
You got a couple of books in youfor sure.
SPEAKER_01 (47:07):
Definitely.
I mean, you said you like towrite, but I just this part that
you're talking about right now,your your the the hustle that
you started out with as a as akid and the directions that you
took, but this part aboutbringing it all back in where
(47:28):
there's this healthy competitionand there's this collaboration
where you're striking bizarredeals that who would have ever
thought, you know, who wouldhave ever thought this would
work, and and yet it is.
You definitely have a powerfulbook in you, and like Dwight
said, probably more than one.
(47:50):
Thank you, thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (47:51):
Yeah, I I read somewhere, I don't remember
exactly where, but I read thatthere's there's essentially two
types of games.
There's the games that have awinner and a loser, which you
could think of like sports, andthen there's a type of game
where the the goal is just tokeep the game going.
SPEAKER_04 (48:09):
Yes, you were you're what you're talking about are
games of competition where thereis a winner and a loser, and
then infinite games.
SPEAKER_00 (48:18):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (48:20):
Exactly.
Unfortunately, in the West, uhwe are indoctrinated to all to
always go for being the best towin.
And when in order to win,someone has to lose.
Right.
But when you break away fromthat, when you go to places that
have not yet been corrupted,they are are naturally going to
(48:45):
try to figure out how it is thatthey can keep it going.
unknown (48:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (48:51):
You know, a really wise person shared with me one
time, and I have shared this onthis podcast in earlier
episodes, but it it never getsold.
It's it's just such a wonderfulthing.
And I don't remember now exactlywho it was that shared this with
me because I've studied under somany people, read so many
authors, and been to therapistsand coaches, and you name it.
(49:15):
Um I've been on a growth patternsince 1985.
That's that's when I activelydecided to work on me and and
and who I wanted to be in theworld and how I wanted to show
up.
And I've I've worked now, youknow, um, what is that 40 years?
(49:38):
Yeah, 40 years this year.
Um he said don't try to be thebest.
So there's only one spot for thebest.
He said, try to be different.
Look at ways that you can setyourself apart from everybody
(50:00):
else that's doing what you'redoing.
Things that will make you standout in a crowd.
Not because you do it the best,but because you do it the most
uniquely.
And I took that to heart.
And it was literally, I wouldhave to say, in in my 40-year
career as a beauty professional,it was the number one piece of
(50:22):
information that changed the, itwas a game changer for me in the
biggest way.
I would just sit and reallybrainstorm about what I could do
for the people that I serve thatthe other people that are
offering the same services arenot doing.
And I and it wasn't huge,grandiose stuff.
(50:44):
You know, it was the the simplethings that really got a lot of
attention.
But they were simple.
They weren't things that I hadto charge extra for, they
weren't super time consuming.
They were just little detailsthat made me stand out.
SPEAKER_04 (51:03):
I think a big pillar of that is what's represented in
the big word above your head.
And if you can lean into justbeing authentic, if you just try
to be you and not try to be aversion of something that you've
(51:23):
seen someone else do, thenyou're gonna naturally attract
those people who really likeyou.
So it's gonna be really easy foryou to continue being you.
SPEAKER_01 (51:35):
Well, and and love the people that you serve.
It's just important to justlove, love them and love on them
because most people don't dothat.
You know, every client that camein the door got a hug.
And every client that went outthe door got a hug.
And if they headed towards theduh the door without giving me a
(51:59):
hug, I would say, mm-mm, getyour butt back over here.
Do not cheat me out of my hug.
And even that made me stand out.
It was such a simple thing.
SPEAKER_04 (52:09):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (52:10):
Now, did it make retiring really hard?
Oh fuck, can we talk?
You know, I had invested so muchemotionally in these people that
when it was time to turn the keyand the lock and walk away.
Ooh, I grieved hard for over ayear.
Hard grieved.
But I wouldn't change it.
(52:32):
I wouldn't change it foranything.
SPEAKER_02 (52:35):
Yep.
And I I give a lot of credit ofthat in my life to my mom.
Like growing up, we alwaysvolunteered, always.
Like we were in a soup kitchen.
We were my mom, my family comesfrom Cuba.
I'm born here, but you know, mymom translated, she still
translates her whole life, andyou know, a lot of it was
(52:58):
volunteer work, just helpingpeople.
And you know, we did a lot inthe church when I was growing
up, and so yeah, that's I that'swhere I operate from too is how
can I help you?
Everything else falls in place.
If you just do the thing youneed to do, everything else
falls in place eventually.
SPEAKER_01 (53:16):
Like it does.
You are very, very fortunate tohave gotten that the way you got
it.
I didn't get it that way.
You know, my my parents werekind people.
My dad was an employer and hetreated his employees really,
really well.
But they they both watch.
I mean, I'm I'm very much ahighly sensitive person, and and
(53:38):
I'm I'm an empath.
And um, my caring, my as achild, my mom would shake her
head and say, Lord, you justcare so much.
And and she just didn'tunderstand because she and my
dad weren't like that.
She couldn't figure out wherethat came from.
She could recognize it, but sheshe just didn't, and it's it's
(54:00):
been the theme in in my wholelife.
You know, I I had a partner atone point, partner number two,
way back there, who would say,Do you have to stop and help
every person on the street?
And I said, Yes, I do.
(54:21):
And he was like, Well, why?
And I said, Because I never knowwhen that person on the street
that needs help is me.
And I'm hoping that someone willstop and help me.
So if I'm not willing to stopand help somebody else, then how
can I ever expect the universeto serve that up for me when my
(54:42):
night when my need comes?
SPEAKER_03 (54:47):
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (54:48):
Bless his heart.
SPEAKER_04 (54:49):
He can get well this has been a fabulous uh
conversation, and we reallyenjoyed getting to spend a
little bit of time with you,Blake.
SPEAKER_01 (55:04):
It was just as much fun and exciting as I thought it
would be.
Your story's amazing.
SPEAKER_02 (55:09):
Yeah, we didn't even touch on like the crafts and
fabric industry at all.
You know, this was awesomethough.
This is amazing.
SPEAKER_04 (55:17):
You know, I I think that it's uh it's great the way
that um you just got to share alittle bit of yourself with with
our listeners.
And you know, like I said,there's there's plenty of it,
plenty of that kind of uh deepindustry knowledge served up in
a way that's palatable on yoursite and and in your Instagram
(55:41):
feed.
SPEAKER_01 (55:43):
You know, and I don't I don't do this very
often, but you know, for forthose that are listening, if you
find your way to our website,you won't be able to find this
through Apple or Spotify, but ifyou find your way to this
episode on our website and clickhis profile link.
Now there is a place in theprofile in any of the platforms
(56:06):
where it said it'll say Blake'sprofile.
Click on that button and it'lltake you to his profile where
you'll see all of his socialmedia handles.
And I mean, Dwight has alreadyclearly demonstrated that
following Blake on Instagramwill be worthwhile because he's
very entertaining.
And as you can tell, he dropslots of wisdom bombs about
(56:28):
entrepreneur creativeentrepreneurial ship.
SPEAKER_02 (56:32):
Yep, yep.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Yeah, I love it, I love it, Ilove it.
I I literally wake up every dayand I think that again
competitive, but I think noone's going to beat me at this
because I love this.
SPEAKER_03 (56:44):
I love this.
SPEAKER_02 (56:45):
Like I have brutal days.
I have days where I have to move1500 bolts of fabric from one
place to another place in100-degree weather, there's an
accident on the freeway, I'mrunning out of gas, the cell
phone doesn't work, and I wantto scream and I love it.
SPEAKER_04 (57:02):
Well, it's it's clear that you have you have
definitely passed over anobstacle that dogs a lot of
people that I've I've workedwith, where you know they're
they always have this thingwhere they say, Well, I know
I'll be happy when I'll befulfilled just if.
And it's like they don't get it.
(57:23):
You just needed to stop when yousay, I'll be happy.
That's a choice.
SPEAKER_01 (57:28):
It is a choice.
You know, how are you ever goingto be happy then if you can't be
happy now?
Because the now is what createsthe then.
SPEAKER_04 (57:36):
Amen.
SPEAKER_01 (57:37):
Yes.
So I think Dwight has uh one bigquestion to ask you before we
wrap it up.
SPEAKER_04 (57:45):
Yes.
So the big question is given theway that things unfold in the
universe, there are you neverknow who might be listening or
what might be around the corner.
But we have to wonder what wouldit take?
(58:07):
What would be the one thing thatuh if uh someone offered it or
if if you happened upon it wouldbe the thing that would change
your life for the better, thethe one thing that would unlock
everything for you.
What would that be?
SPEAKER_01 (58:27):
It it also could be a challenge that gets solved.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (58:33):
All right, I'm gonna say something absolutely insane.
Okay, please.
I'm ready.
All right, this is crazy.
I've never thought I'd say thisin a public domain.
I want to take over Cuba.
I want to be the president ofCuba.
That's what I want to do.
SPEAKER_01 (58:53):
Well, with your hustle, I I I I don't have any
doubt that you'd be a strongcontender.
You know, we never know how thepeople are going to vote, but
yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (59:05):
Wow.
I'm very passionate.
I mean, I have a lot of familythere, and I literally,
literally get messagesconstantly from family members
that are begging for help.
That place is it's very, verybad there right now.
So I'm very passionate aboutthat.
And you know, we don't need toget in the history of Cuba, but
(59:26):
it's possible it's been donebefore.
Yes, it has.
Well, it's been done before.
SPEAKER_01 (59:33):
I I think that you saying it out loud is gonna put
all kinds of things in motion.
SPEAKER_02 (59:40):
Agreed.
Yeah, hopefully it's not the CIAcoming after me.
But yeah.
My father tells me to becareful, be careful, boy, be
careful.
SPEAKER_01 (59:50):
Well, and there is that, you know, when things
aren't all running above theline, uh we're seeing that right
here, right now in the countrywhere uh things are not all
above the line and there's somescary shit happening.
So you do have to be thoughtfulabout what you what you put out
there.
But I think it's important toreally speak our truth.
And um, you know, I I I could Icould see you doing that.
SPEAKER_02 (01:00:16):
Well, thank you.
Yeah, it's uh a very, very longroad.
We'll see what happens.
I don't yeah, the the low.
Hanging fruit here is Ivolunteered a local farm, a
nonprofit farm, and theybasically just build, they do
farming the most minimalist waypossible, and then they just
give it back to the community.
(01:00:37):
And so I I joined that because Ireally believe in that program
and I would love to implementthat in Cuba.
And I think they're gonna helpme do that.
So that's kind of the first stepof you know, working my way
there.
SPEAKER_01 (01:00:49):
I just want to say I really love your message of
giving back.
Yes, thank you.
SPEAKER_04 (01:00:54):
Yeah, it's man, and you never know how things you
never know how things are goingto unfold.
Uh I announcing your candidacyon our little podcast, uh it's
you're definitely placing astamp because this is gonna be
out there for a long time.
And we never know what what thefuture holds.
(01:01:17):
You know, just this past week weuh finished uh uh dinner um with
of all people Mike Pence sittingat the table next to us.
Random, very random, very weird.
SPEAKER_01 (01:01:31):
Yeah, it says you know you never know because our
audience in six months has grownby 860 percent.
SPEAKER_03 (01:01:40):
Wow, congratulations, that is
awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (01:01:43):
In six months, love it, love it, love it.
Proud to say that, very proud tosay that.
SPEAKER_02 (01:01:47):
So, yeah, y'all are definitely there's nothing like
this.
I've been listening, I love it.
I can't wait to hear more.
This industry needs somethinglike this.
SPEAKER_01 (01:01:57):
If if you haven't already, would you rate and
review us?
Yes, certainly, yes, please,definitely, definitely that
would be amazing because thathelps us get the word out there
more, the more ratings andreviews we have.
So please, please, thank you.
So, like this has been amazing.
SPEAKER_03 (01:02:15):
Yes, it went so fast, it's like yeah, too fast.
SPEAKER_01 (01:02:19):
It did time flies when you're having fun.
SPEAKER_02 (01:02:21):
Yeah, y'all are out in Dallas.
We are we are yeah, I'm I'mgonna take a Texas tour very
soon, and I'm gonna stop by andcheck y'all out because you you
look us up before you before youcome.
SPEAKER_01 (01:02:31):
Let us know you're coming, and we'll make plans to
meet.
Agreed for sure.
That'll be awesome, yes.
I love it.
I love it.
I I literally wake up every dayand I think that again
competitive, but I think noone's going to beat me at this
because I love this.
SPEAKER_03 (00:43):
I love this.
SPEAKER_02 (00:44):
Like I have brutal days.
I have days where I have to move1500 bolts of fabric from one
place to another place in100-degree weather.
There's an accident on thefreeway.
I'm running out of gas.
The cell phone doesn't work.
And I want to scream, and I loveit.
SPEAKER_04 (01:12):
This is Dwight, joined by our other connections
and community guy host Maddoxfor for the for the love of
creatives.
We're so happy to be joinedtoday by uh so snipped Blake
Serrano.
Welcome, Blake.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_01 (01:29):
So is it is it Serrano or Serrano?
SPEAKER_02 (01:32):
Serrano.
Serrano.
SPEAKER_04 (01:34):
So sorry.
Um you know it's uh I I've seenthat you do a lot of fun stuff
to show your journey on youryour Instagram grid is just too
too much for tacos.
It is entertaining.
You take everyone along for theride, and you've got quite the
tail.
But in just uh a minute or two,could you uh orient people to
(01:57):
who you are and what you'reabout?
SPEAKER_02 (02:00):
Yes.
So as we said, my name's Blake,and I opened a fabric shop a
little over two years ago.
And as we get into it's been upand down, left and right, every
which way direction.
And the last few months it'sreally stabled out, and I've
started to figure things out,and uh we're building success
(02:20):
now.
SPEAKER_04 (02:21):
And it looks like you're having a great time along
the way.
Yes, yes.
This is by far the best job I'veever had.
SPEAKER_01 (02:28):
That's a cool thing to claim, especially this early
in, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (02:33):
Yes.
Uh 12 months ago, I was notsaying that.
Yeah.
unknown (02:39):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (02:40):
But it's great.
You're you're definitely doingsomething that's working, and I
can see that it's uh some of thethe beautiful stories that you
tell are the um one thing thatsticks out to me is um there was
one piece that you did whereyou're talking about how you
always uh look forward togetting a call from a husband
talking about charges.
(03:03):
And yes.
You get to set them straightthat that you're the fabric guy.
Like that that's all you.
It's so funny.
SPEAKER_02 (03:11):
Yeah, we know.
I mean, you you all deal withit, and and anyone listening,
I'm sure, deals with it thatcreating content is 80% of your
business, you know, maybe not80%, but somewhere between 40
and 80% of your business iscontent.
So I'm really blessed that I thecontent writes itself most of
the time.
SPEAKER_04 (03:30):
It's a it's a beautiful thing.
Well, and and I I think a lot ofit is how you just approach life
with an open heart.
And so you're you're seeing allthe gems everywhere that uh for
anyone that might just be inthat spiral where they're just
looking at their shoes, they'remissing out on all the good
stuff.
SPEAKER_02 (03:49):
Yeah.
And we know that negativitycompounds and positivity
compounds, and you know, it itdefinitely takes persistent.
And I've crossed to the otherside now where I have enough
positivity outweighing thenegativity.
Gotta love that.
SPEAKER_04 (04:06):
And I know a a lot of people are following a
template.
You know, they've seen what'smodeled to them by their parents
and by you know everyone thatthey've seen that's kind of the
template for success.
And what you're doing is highlycreative in that you had to
(04:27):
figure a lot of things out onyour own.
Where did you find the courageto step off of that firmly
beaten path?
SPEAKER_02 (04:39):
I have a very non-traditional upbringing.
I've lived in many differentplaces in America growing up at
very critical ages.
So I saw things done differentlyoften, and it really opened my
(05:00):
eyes at a very young age thatthere is no right way to do
anything, and that perspectiveis 90% of you know what we think
is right or wrong or good or badfor the most part, you know,
everyone has their own journey,their own truth.
So I started just doing what Ifelt like was my truth, my
(05:22):
journey, my path.
And I didn't fight it, I stoppedfighting society basically.
Um, you know, and we can go intoa little more details on that
later, but yeah, I reallymarched to the beat of my own
drum.
I always have.
And it did take me 35 years tolean into that.
(05:44):
And the first couple of years ofthat were difficult.
But once you get rolling, andnow that I'm rolling, I wouldn't
have it any other way.
SPEAKER_04 (05:52):
Well, and I I think a lot of people need to really
let that sink in.
I mean, by all accounts from theoutside, you're an overnight
success, but it's that overnightsuccess took a lifetime to get
there.
unknown (06:07):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (06:08):
No, I I think it's worth saying, Blake, that um,
you know, thankfully you got itat 35 because there will be
people that will live out theirentire lives and never get it.
You know, we I I hear people saythis, and you didn't say this,
but I hear people say this allthe time.
Well, I wish I'd figured thisout, you know, 10, 20 years ago
or when I was X old.
(06:29):
Um and the truth is most of thetime it's more about just being
grateful that you did get itwhen you did get it because you
could have lived out and andnever gotten it.
You know, I think that we'reseeing more and more people step
away from the cultural norms.
You know, I I was in a femaledominated industry for a 40-year
(06:53):
career.
And like me, you know, yourfabric is a female dominated.
Now, it may not be femaledominated if you're in the
upholstery fabrics, but that'snot what you're in, is it?
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (07:09):
No, you're correct.
SPEAKER_01 (07:10):
Yeah, you're you're in the types of fabrics that
make quilts and clothes andyeah.
How did how did that come about?
How did that come to be?
What how did you wake up one dayand think, wow, fabric is my
thing?
SPEAKER_02 (07:26):
Yes, so this uh this this runs deep here.
We love deep.
SPEAKER_03 (07:32):
Yes, it it's we're gay.
SPEAKER_02 (07:34):
We love deep.
SPEAKER_03 (07:35):
I'm teasing yikes, love it.
SPEAKER_02 (07:38):
Um I think a lot of people during COVID,
specifically the beginning ofCOVID lockdown time, went
through what I went through in asense of just a lot of time
alone to rethink and seeingdifferent sides of things.
And I live in Richmond,Virginia, and this place is very
(08:04):
corporate and governmentoriented, and I do my best not
to offend people, but I am apretty anti-corporate,
anti-government person.
Um and even when working forgovernments and corporations, I
was not a big fan of them.
But to your point earlier, I didwhat everyone else did, I did
(08:29):
what I was supposed to do, um,and it paid and it made my life
easy and and comfortable.
So once lockdown happened, I Istarted reading a lot, something
I hadn't really done in years.
And a book a friend recommendedto me was Think and Grow Rich.
(08:52):
And it has its fair share ofcontroversy around it, but that
book said things in it that Ialways thought in my head my
whole entire life and neverheard anyone say eloquently.
And that was my first big aha.
(09:14):
I'm not crazy.
And that led me down the rabbithole to start to understand that
wait, the people I look up to,I'm more like those people than
I am the people that are aroundme.
And that really came from thatbook.
So the first part of this wholejourney was I need to take the
(09:36):
leap and leave corporateAmerica.
And, you know, there's a termwhich people may be familiar
with called the goldenhandcuffs, right?
I had to make$100,000 a year.
I had no option.
I for my house, my truck, I hada son, everything, I had to make
that.
And so that was the very firstsacrifice and journey I had to
(09:59):
take was okay, I can't go from Xamount of money to zero dollars,
but how do I make money and notbe in corporate America?
So the first thing I did is Iwent looked for a new job, and I
found a job um in a techstartup.
And they offered me$90,000 justto put numbers on this.
(10:20):
And so my first sacrifice fromall this was saying, okay, I'm
gonna be 10 grand a short everyyear, but this is what I want to
do.
Let's go for it.
Um, so that was step one.
I worked for a startup, and whenanyone asks about business or
asks me for advice how to getstarted, I always say, go work
for someone who is already doingwhat you want to do.
(10:43):
Get paid to learn.
So the journey really began twoyears working for a tech
startup.
I was a tech consultant for overa decade.
I then finally took the leapfrom the startup to start my own
app.
I had about a$40,000 budget thatI saved up.
(11:06):
I sold things and I put all thismoney in this pot and said, I'm
gonna go start an app with$40,000.
That was the first big mistake Imade.
I now preach to the high heavensthat you do not need money to
start a business.
In fact, I could argue thatmoney is your biggest problem
when starting a business becauseI blew through$40,000 and had
(11:31):
nothing to show when it was allsaid and done.
I never got a customer.
I had a beautiful app, I had agreat logo, a great name, an LLC
on the books, and zerocustomers.
Um so I took that lesson andthen I learned, okay, I need a
customer.
Plain and simple.
Don't create an idea, solve aproblem.
(11:56):
Find someone who has a problemwho's willing to pay you for
that problem.
So my second attempt at abusiness was a toy, which this
toy still exists.
And basically, I made aprototype for my son, and all
the kids in the neighborhoodloved it.
And the parents were like, ifyou made this, I would buy it.
So light bulb went off.
I got a customer, at least averbal agreement that they would
(12:18):
be interested in purchasingthis.
So I went out and I made thetoy, and again, the toy cost me
about 15 grand to get started.
Should have been a red flag, butI was like, hey, at least I know
I have people that want to buyit.
So I learned some lessons fromthe toy.
I took all the lessons from myfirst two businesses.
(12:39):
The toy, come to find out, is anincredibly seasonal item.
In hindsight, it makes a lot ofsense.
Uh, so I could only sell the toyaround the holidays.
I still sell it, but two monthsout of the year, I sell the toy.
And also, it's one product, oneskew.
So it's something that peoplebuy once and never come back.
These were big lessons Ilearned.
(13:00):
So the first lesson was get acustomer.
Second lesson was uh beware ofseasonal and beware of
non-repeat item skews.
So then I went out and I decidedthat I was going to just help
local small businesses.
I was going to take everything Ilearned from corporate America
(13:21):
and go apply it to smallbusinesses asking nothing in
return.
Just trying to find my nextniche.
I went through probably fivedifferent businesses, five
different industries.
And the way I would approachthese people is hey, I noticed
your website is outdated or youdon't have a website.
(13:43):
I noticed you have no Googlereviews.
I would love to help you withthat.
I'm asking nothing in returnexcept for maybe, you know, a
recommendation from you that aletter saying, Hey, Blake did a
great job.
And uh we can kind of take itfrom there.
So my sister and my niece havebeen in the fabric industry for
a long time.
(14:03):
So as I was out doing this, theyrecommended I go speak to a
couple of local fabric shopowners who had basically those
exact problems.
They had no website, they had noGoogle reviews, they've been in
business for 50 years, and theysaid chances are those they
might be looking to leave,retire.
(14:24):
So the first lady I went andspoke to, her name was Pat.
Pat at the time was 83 yearsold.
Her shop was in its heyday, thebiggest fabric store in
Virginia.
Everybody knows her around here.
Her shop is legendary.
And she I went to her and said,Hey Pat, I heard you want a
website.
And so she and I are kicking itaround.
(14:46):
And she goes, You know what?
What if you made your ownwebsite and you sold my fabric
for me?
And I was like, Oh, you know, Inever even thought about that.
So I did.
I literally, within 24 hours,made a website, made a Facebook,
made an Instagram, made a fewvideos, started running ads, all
of which I learned from thefirst two failures.
(15:07):
I already knew how to do allthese things for no money at
all.
So within 24 hours of her givingme that idea, I got a handful of
sales for the fabric.
And that's really the very, verybeginning where I sat there and
I looked at it and I wentthrough my checklist.
(15:28):
Okay, not very seasonal, don'thave a lot of competition.
I need no money to get started.
This lady really is willing tojust let me have this fabric to
try it out.
Um, and that's the verybeginning of how I got into it.
That's amazing.
SPEAKER_01 (15:45):
That is amazing that she would suggest something like
that at 83.
What would have ever given herthat idea?
I wonder.
SPEAKER_02 (15:52):
She did not want to maintain a website.
SPEAKER_04 (15:57):
I get it.
It's one more thing.
The clock's winding down forher.
She's looking at spending timewith the grandkids and kicking
it on the beach somewhere.
SPEAKER_02 (16:07):
Yep.
But I agree.
It's it's you know, going backto that think and grow rich,
like the universe just sort ofopened the door.
I told the universe what Iwanted, and I stayed diligent,
and the opportunity really, youknow, people say, Oh, the fabric
fell in your lap.
Yes and no.
But at the end of the day, yeah,it was that advice that set the
the whole thing into motion.
SPEAKER_04 (16:28):
Yeah.
Well, and I I, you know, I'mglad that you're speaking so
highly of that text.
Uh, granted, it would getcanceled today, for sure.
Yeah, but there's some gold inthere.
unknown (16:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (16:42):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (16:43):
Agreed.
SPEAKER_02 (16:44):
Agreed.
I love that book.
And and if anyone's looking toget into it, it'll tell you in
the beginning of the book takeyour time, take it a chapter at
a time, half a chapter at atime, write notes.
I studied that book like it wasa degree.
I really did.
SPEAKER_01 (17:00):
Was it her fabric store that you ended up
purchasing?
Great question.
SPEAKER_02 (17:05):
Uh yes and no.
So along this journey, I startedfollowing a handful of people,
influencers, businessinfluencers online, one of which
is Cody Sanchez, who I love.
I basically follow her model oneverything I do.
And her shtick is buy boringbusinesses with little to no
(17:29):
money down.
And I took one of her mastercourses, and so I knew what to
look for.
And so when I made the websitefor her and I went back to her
and I said this actually worked,we sat down and looked at what
is it that I actually want fromyou, and what is it that you
actually want to give to me.
So I wound up just purchasingher inventory.
SPEAKER_04 (17:56):
That's that's smart.
That is so that is so slick andunconventional because I know
that you know, most people thinkthat, well, you know, uh let's
go and pull up biz by sell andyou know, like have have some
broker uh make everything realsmooth.
(18:19):
You got right into the weeds andlike how can we do this?
SPEAKER_01 (18:23):
So Blake, is this 100% an online business or do
you have a storefront somewherenow?
SPEAKER_02 (18:31):
So when it started, I had no clue what I was doing,
as you can imagine.
And it started out only online,and where the fabric was in the
beginning had a two-month leaseleft.
There was two months left on thelease.
So I had two months to figurethis out.
Now, for those of you that don'tknow about fabric, which
(18:53):
probably in this podcast, mostpeople do, fabric comes wrapped
around a piece of cardboard, andthat's called a bolt.
This lady had 3500 bolts.
Um wow, she she had quite aninventory.
Yes.
So a couple of things aboutthis.
One, I do not recommend startinga business with 3,500 of
(19:15):
anything.
SPEAKER_03 (19:16):
Don't do it.
SPEAKER_02 (19:17):
Way too much.
The second thing I like to saybefore I answer your question is
I paid this lady zero moneydown, and we finance the fabric.
So I pay her monthly, which hasnow become uh two times a year,
I now pay her.
And I've done this multipletimes.
So anyone listening, you canindeed buy a business and or
(19:38):
inventory with no money down.
She's she's now 85 years old.
If I didn't come along, shewould have had to either throw
the fabric away or put it in astorage unit that she would have
had to pay to have it moved intoand pay for it every month.
Just throw that in there.
But so I had two months to getout of the warehouse or out of
her shop.
The way my brain works, Igenuinely thought in two months
(20:01):
I was going to sell all thefabric.
Uh needless to say, I have noteven sold 10% of this fabric to
this day.
This is over two years ago.
Um, so it started out as ahybrid of online and then
opening the shop on the weekendsfor people to come in and buy.
Since then, the fabric's movedliterally five or six times.
(20:22):
I now have a warehouse.
I've been only online for thelast year.
I sometimes open up on randomSaturdays, but this week I've
started building out retailspace in my warehouse.
And I do plan on in the nextcouple of weeks opening a few
days a week to the public,really as a test, an MVP, a
(20:46):
litmus test to figure out howthe retail thing works.
And once I nail that down, Iwill then go get retail space
and open a retail shop.
SPEAKER_01 (20:55):
My mother sewed all of her life, and there was
always fabric laying around.
And what comes up for me, beinga highly creative person and an
entrepreneur, is fabric is avery tactile thing.
You know, if I were going toshop for fabric, I would want to
touch it.
I would want to see the textureof it.
(21:16):
I would want to be able to seereally the true colors because
on online, yeah, it's a guess.
You know, every monitorregisters colors a little bit
differently.
I would want to know thethickness of the fabric and and
the stretch or the non-stretchof it.
There'd be a whole lot of thingsthat I would, is it see-through?
Is it completely opaque?
(21:37):
Things that are so hard todemonstrate digitally.
I would think that the minutepeople can come in and actually
have an experience of it, Isuspect once you get the word
out there and people know thatyou're there, that it will
accelerate.
I may be wrong, but that's justwhat my intuitive mind is is
(22:00):
saying.
SPEAKER_02 (22:01):
Yep, I completely agree.
Um, to piggyback off of that,another lesson I learned from
the first two businesses is theyboth were brand new products
that had never been on themarket.
And so to answer your question,the main answer is I sell brand
(22:22):
name products.
So it's like me creating my ownshoe brand versus selling Nikes.
People know what they're gettingwhen they buy from me.
I'm not, I didn't make thefabric.
It's well-known fabric thatthey've been buying for decades.
So that helps a lot.
That helps a lot.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (22:41):
Well, and I think an another thing that just kind
that helps is the way that theconditions because of COVID or
and because of just things thathappened in the market, um
Joann's is gone.
Right.
I mean, um I know Michael's istrying, and you know, there may
(23:02):
be a craft quarter in someplaces, but um you're kind of
positioned to be uh like the thethe first place for people to go
to get fabric now.
SPEAKER_01 (23:15):
Well, and we we had a Joann's here in town.
I haven't been in a while, butthe last time I was in there, it
was a small place with a verylimited um amount of fabric to
choose from.
It was a little storefront.
I you know, if I had to guess, Iwould say, well, it's been a
(23:36):
while since I've been in there,but it it couldn't have been
maybe more than a thousandsquare feet if just just
guessing, and and and if memoryserves me.
Which would hold a fairly fairamount of fabric, but you know
not been in much larger fabricstores, let's put it that way.
SPEAKER_02 (23:57):
Yep.
Yep.
And something I didn't knowabout fabric that I know now is
it's incredibly difficult basedon the fact that it's all
different, like you statedearlier.
Fabric is so different, sodiverse, so diverse, yes,
impossible.
SPEAKER_01 (24:17):
Have you ever considered expanding and having
fabric that would be used forupholstery or draperies or
tablecloths or things like that?
Because that would open up awhole different clientele plus a
whole different income stream,but also lots more inventory and
(24:38):
capital tied up.
SPEAKER_02 (24:40):
Yeah.
unknown (24:40):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (24:41):
So a couple of things about that.
One, originally my business namewas Creative Closeouts.
And the first idea in my headwas yeah, I was just going to
buy out fabric shops and sellthat inventory.
So dead stock, if you will, oryou know, just things that were
(25:01):
gonna go in the garbage.
So I started with that.
And a lesson I learned, anotherlesson I learned is don't start
too wide.
Start with one thing, figurethat one thing out really,
really well, and then go dosomething very similar to it.
So I have been predominantlyquilters cotton.
Um, I changed my name fromcreative closeouts to so snip,
(25:24):
trying to get away from thatidea of closeouts.
And I now do buy from suppliers.
And so, to answer your question,yes, I have started expanding,
but I still love this idea ofcloseouts.
And I've learned that what ishappening with the shops, so the
(25:46):
whole fabric industry, andthere's many industries this is
happening in, there's agenerational shift.
So I like to say my first shopowner was Pat.
There are many Pats around thecountry.
I would say a thousand plusPats, literally.
There's probably around 3,000fabric shops in America, and I
(26:07):
would guess at least half areready to retire.
And so when you follow thatchain through the entire supply
chain, the suppliers are goingthrough the same exact thing.
The suppliers have been there50, 60 years.
They're the sons and thedaughters of the original
owners, and the grandkids don'twant anything to do with it.
(26:27):
So the way I was buying outsmall shops, which I still do, I
am now buying out the dead stockfrom the suppliers.
And the big, big thing withJoanne that I didn't even
realize was sure, I gotcustomers that went there, but I
now do business with Joanne'ssuppliers because they have no
(26:49):
one to buy their fabric.
Because a small shop might buyone bolt or two bolts of 10
different patterns, but theydon't want to buy 50 of the same
bolts, whereas I do.
SPEAKER_01 (27:03):
So you've turned in to be a much better customer
than the actual store was.
Yeah, well, I'm I'm no Joanne,but you know a lot of what
you're sharing is really, reallygold.
And when you talked about, youknow, start narrow, you're
you're talking about whatmarketers will say about niche
(27:25):
markets.
SPEAKER_00 (27:26):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (27:27):
Work one niche until you've got it solved.
You can have as many niches asyou want, but you need to bring
them on one at a time, andthat's what you're talking about
is it's it's an it's a nichemarket.
People who are buying fabricthat is for clothing would have
no interest in fabric that isfor upholstery, right?
SPEAKER_02 (27:47):
Yep, so exactly.
And and thanks to social media,I started with my with my ideal
customer, and now they ask me,they ask me, they say, Hey, can
you get me knit fabric, jersey,uh, upholstery, lycra, lace.
So now I know I don't have toguess anymore.
(28:08):
I just go find what they want,and I'm in with the supplier.
So the plot supplier says, Hey,I've got a palette of this.
What do you think of it?
I will literally put a video outand say, What do y'all think of
this?
SPEAKER_01 (28:18):
So you've got it sold before you buy.
Yes, for the most part, yes.
Wow.
Okay, okay, let's back up alittle bit.
Let's let's go.
I mean, you're obviously like acreative entrepreneur.
That's you know, if we're gonnaput people in boxes, there's
(28:38):
artists and there's dancers andthere's musicians, you're a
creative entrepreneur.
But that was born somewhereelse.
There was some at an earliertime in your life, some
introduction to creativity.
Tell us about that.
SPEAKER_02 (28:58):
Yeah, and it I'm very cliche in that where like I
was the kid, like, oh my gosh, Ihave an endless amount of
stories of of hustle in me.
So I've been a hustler since theI was the kid pushing the
lawnmower through theneighborhoods, and I could sit
here for an hour and tell you,I'll just tell you one one quick
one.
One of my first jobs in likeeighth grade, I was a paper boy.
(29:21):
And for the young listeners,there was a thing that was
delivered to your house everyday called a newspaper, and it
was a physical piece of paperwith the news.
And on Sundays, the paper wasbigger and it had coupons in it,
and it had all the deals for theweek.
And so, what I figured out at ineighth grade, when I would put
the newspaper together, I'd seethe items that were on sale or
(29:44):
the items with coupons.
And back then we had a thingcalled Classifieds, which was
another paper.
It was basically Craigslist orFacebook Marketplace.
So people would list use itemsthey would sell in this paper.
Sometimes it was in the back ofa newspaper, sometimes it was a
magazine or a catalog, nointernet.
So I would find items in thenewspaper and I would list those
(30:08):
items for retail price in theclassifieds.
So, for example, I remember oneweek there was these two way
walkie talkies, and you know,they retailed at$200 and they
were on sale for$125 at Costco,and I listed them in Classified
for free or maybe 50 cents, andsomeone bought them.
Someone called me and wanted tobuy them.
(30:29):
And I had no Costco membershipat the time.
So I remember scrambling aroundtown looking for someone to take
me to Costco.
I eventually found someone totake me to Costco.
So, you know, people around me,my teachers, people would see me
do this, and they were alwaysjust amazed at like, what is
that?
Um, so I always had hustle, andthen my stepfather was a
(30:52):
computer engineer in the 90s,and he worked remotely in the
90s.
So I moved around a lot, and itwasn't military, it was
literally just him asking mymom, where do you want to go
this year?
And she'd say, Let's go toHawaii.
I literally went to Hawaii, andhe worked remotely and he always
had a computer around.
(31:12):
So I was very lucky that Ialways had a computer around.
I always had computer books, Ialways had magazines.
So I was very into computers.
Um, I dropped out of high schooland I tell people I stopped
going to high school in eighthgrade.
I literally skipped school to goto the library to program on the
(31:33):
library computer.
I would ride around withcomposition books and
programming books and write codewhile I rode the bus and had my
little diskette.
And wherever I could find acomputer, I'd put my little disc
in, render my code, boom, boop,see what I need to tweak and
leave.
I had a newsletter, a websitewhen I was in ninth grade.
So I've always been intohustling or business, and I've
(31:57):
always been into computers.
And in eighth grade, again, whenI said this, I remember we got
the internet.
We had a computer lab, we gotthe internet for the first time,
and I purchased this littledevice in the back of a computer
magazine that you could pluginto the computer and it would
record the keystrokes.
So the first day of us havingthe internet, I recorded the
(32:18):
master keystroke, and Iliterally took over all the
computers in the school withinthe first 30 minutes of us
having the internet.
And it's so funny, they broughtme into the office almost
immediately and they sat medown.
My mom was in there and theysaid, We know it's him because
he's the only person here thatcould do this.
And that was the day where Ilooked at everyone in the room
(32:40):
and I said, I'm smarter than allof you here because this
internet thing is going to bethe biggest thing we've ever
known.
And they were all like, Yeah,right, whatever, the internet,
sure.
So I got lucky, I gambled, Iwent all in on the internet
thing at a pretty early age.
You know, um, you brought it upearlier about people saying, I
wish I would have done this atthat age.
(33:02):
I think that all the time.
I wish at 18 I would have justgone all in on my own thing.
Um, but yeah, I always had thehustle, I always had the
computer knowledge, and I'venever been good with authority.
SPEAKER_01 (33:20):
I can relate to that.
I've never been great withauthority because most of the
people that have authority abuseit, you know, or or they treat
the people that they're have theauthority over poorly.
And I don't have any uh patiencefor that.
No, there's no bandwidth forthat.
I I've been self-employed mywhole life, with the exception
(33:41):
of four years.
Four years I worked for someoneelse out of an entire lifetime.
And that was uh the mostchallenging four years of my
life in many regards.
unknown (33:51):
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (33:52):
Because both of them treated me, you know, less than
what I believed I deserved to betreated.
SPEAKER_02 (33:59):
Yep.
Yeah, yeah.
And that's that's why I say Imake I make a horrible employee.
I'm a very poor employee.
SPEAKER_04 (34:06):
Oh, how how long did you stick it out and and uh uh
uh go accept the goldenhandcuffs?
SPEAKER_02 (34:15):
Over a decade.
I did it for over a decade.
I I climbed the corporateladder, so that was my game was
like I quickly learned withinthe first couple of years of
graduating.
I eventually went to college, Igot my GD, went to college,
valedictorian, computerengineering.
I excelled, no surprise there.
I already knew what to do.
Um, and then when I got into theactual corporate world, I
(34:37):
realized that the work is thework is not what gets you ahead
here.
It's the game, it's thecorporate game.
And so I'm a I'm a big gamesguy, I'm a big systems guy.
In fact, that's what I wasworking in a restaurant, and I
would always I worked atrestaurants for a while before I
went to college, and I alwayshacked the system.
(35:00):
I always would figure out a wayto hack the system, and I I
would always figure somethingout, and they always knew it was
me.
So I'm a systems guy.
You give me a system, I willbreak that system down, I will
improve it, I can do whatever.
So once I got into corporateAmerica, I realized this is just
another system, it's justanother game.
Who do I need to talk to?
Where do I need to be?
And I always put myself in thosepositions.
(35:23):
Um and that eventually bored meto death.
SPEAKER_01 (35:28):
Wow.
Yeah, I can see.
I can see that.
So it sounds like most of yourcreativity has been centered
around business, uh, the thehustle, as you say, it was it
was how to generate income andhow to do what you wanted to do
rather than what somebody elsewanted you to do.
(35:49):
I'm curious, not not that thismatters, but does creativity
show up in your life in otherways than that?
Or is it really, really focused?
SPEAKER_02 (36:02):
It it does show up.
So I love to write, big timewriter.
I've got a few screenplays Ilove to adapt at some point.
I love to write a couple ofbooks.
Uh music was my passion.
So before I went to college, Iattempted music.
And in hindsight, I didn't goall in on the music.
(36:24):
Uh if you know, it I was alwaysone foot in, one foot out.
But yeah, I'd say music,writing, I'm a big movies guy.
I I would love to act one day.
So I I really like that form ofart.
I love entertainment.
SPEAKER_01 (36:42):
Well, and I think that probably shows in your
social media stuff.
unknown (36:46):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (36:47):
Yeah, you really bring it.
Yeah, thank you.
Yes, I I enjoy it.
It's like I am a talker.
You can't get me to shut up.
Uh I love it.
And you know, to sort ofbacktrack a little bit, another
part of me is like I I like togive.
I'm a big, big time giver.
I don't really need anythingfrom anybody.
(37:10):
I I just like to help.
I genuinely like to help.
And there's this cliche of, youknow, once you get money, you
realize it's not the money.
And that happened to me.
You know, once I climbed theladder and I got the money, and
I thought that was the plan, Ithought that was the goal, and I
got it.
And I sat in this big fancyhouse with all these toys and
(37:30):
was like, this is stupid,especially when COVID hit.
It was like, this is stupid.
Like, I don't need this.
I'd much rather be out helpingpeople.
And so, you know, that drives mea lot, and that's what I
eventually realized it takes themore money I have, the more I
can help people.
(37:51):
The more status I have, the moreI can help people.
And that's a big motivatingfactor for me to grow my
business now, is that I knowonce I get the right resources,
I can make a difference muchmore than I can if I'm working
for someone else.
SPEAKER_01 (38:07):
So this is just a curiosity, and it's a little bit
off of creativity, but it'llit'll work its way in in a
minute.
It sounds like you love to giveto others, but I what you're not
saying that I'm sort of hearingis that you struggle perhaps to
let others help you in in timeswhen you need support.
SPEAKER_02 (38:33):
Yes and no.
I've I've gotten good at it now.
I'm ultra competitive, I'm avery competitive human being.
And so I would say youngerBlake, yes.
Current Blake, I seek out helpand mentors every chance I get.
I've got a handful of peopleright now that I talk to almost
(38:56):
daily that I go to for support.
And you know, another lesson Ilearned in the first two
businesses was like learn fromother people's mistakes.
Like, don't chase your tail ifyou don't have to.
So I would say older me, youngerme, yes, but currently I love
advice and help from the peopleI trust.
SPEAKER_01 (39:21):
So we're we're we're now this is where I kind of
wanted to take us full circle.
You're talking about communitynow, right?
SPEAKER_02 (39:29):
Yes, oh yes, oh yes, yes, yes.
And that's one of the greatestthings about this fabric job
business is the people are sofriendly.
I mean, I'm helping them do whatthey love to do.
So, you know, sure you get somepeople who nitpick, but overall,
this is a fun thing foreverybody.
SPEAKER_01 (39:46):
Well, and and you're are you talking about the people
that are buying, or are youtalking also about the people
that are selling the the fabricproviders, the companies?
SPEAKER_02 (39:57):
Yep, and and from the from the seller perspective,
both.
So, you know, we we talked aboutthis is a predominantly female
industry, that is true, but theupper ends of it are mostly
male.
So, you know, the people who ownthe manufacturers, you know,
upper management, a lot of theseare older males and they love me
(40:18):
because they see me and them,and there's not a lot of people
my age who want to be a part ofthis industry.
So we get along incredibly well,and then you also have the
seller who a big customer ofmine is the person that buys
fabric that makes something thatsells it a tote bag, a hat,
Etsy, farmer's market.
(40:39):
So those people also gravitatetowards me, and I love talking
to those people.
And then you have the shopowners, you know, the shop
owners who either just boughtthe shop, just started the shop,
or want to retire.
So, yeah, there's a lot ofpeople there that I can relate
to because I've been doing sortof all these things at the same
time.
SPEAKER_04 (40:59):
Yeah, it sounds like you're living a version of um
the AJ Jacobs uh book, uh Thanksa Thousand, where he traces, you
know, he's thanking all of thepeople that led to him having a
cup of coffee.
And it's like you're right inthe middle of it and seeing all
those inner workings.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (41:20):
So so you commented on being hyper competitive.
What does that look like?
Because I I I mean, I I havethis thought of what I know what
what I think competition lookslike, but I I also think that um
where where is the the balancebetween competition and
(41:41):
collaboration?
Because there's there's I thinkthere's healthy competition, and
then I think there's reallyunhealthy competition.
So so share with us a little bitmore about that, please.
SPEAKER_02 (41:54):
Agreed.
And I would say from myexperience, at least in
business, you will get higherand further with collaborative
competition.
I can argue that's how you'll gothe furthest.
There's this old saying that Iabsolutely love that says, if
you want to move fast, move byyourself.
(42:18):
If you want to move far, movetogether.
So yes.
So, for example, there's there'sshop owners that I work with,
and they'll they'll message me,hey, did you see my latest
video?
It got 10,000 views in 24 hours.
Okay, note taken.
(42:39):
Note taken.
So, what am I doing the nextweek?
I'm making sure I get 11,000views on the video, and I make
sure they know that I got that.
Now I'm not saying, oh, I'mgoing to make sure that you
don't get 10,000.
I hope I get 11.
I hope you get 12.
I hope I get 13.
You know, so it's that friendlycompetition of let's make each
other better.
And I'm not hiding secrets fromyou either.
(43:02):
Here's how I did it, here's howyou can do it.
SPEAKER_01 (43:04):
You're you're talking about, well, although
sports have been corrupted,sports at one point in time were
like that.
Now sports have been monetized,and so it's very corrupt in many
ways.
And and it's it's not friendlycompetition.
People will will die to winbecause there's millions of
dollars involved.
Um I love what what you'resaying.
(43:25):
So you're not necessarily tryingto be the best, you're not
necessarily trying to be the onethat makes all the money, but
you have it's a game.
Your your competition is a game,you said earlier, you're a real,
a real gamer.
That makes sense.
SPEAKER_04 (43:41):
Yeah, another way of saying it is using uh I've heard
it expressed that you in orderto have the tallest tower, um,
you're going to build it upwithout knocking down someone
else's.
unknown (43:55):
Yep.
SPEAKER_02 (43:56):
Yep, yep, yep.
There's two ways to build thebiggest tower.
You knock down everyone else's,or you just focus and build your
own.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (44:02):
What one of my favorite sayings is to get what
you want in life, your best wayto get there is to help others
get what they want.
SPEAKER_02 (44:12):
I mean, that's if I that's gonna be the name of my
book.
I mean, that's it.
I mean, that's it.
And and I mean, you just go backto to what I said originally
with Pat, with me going to Patand saying, Hey, I'll make you a
website, I don't want any money,and then her giving me the idea
of do it this way.
Whoa, light switch.
Another thing that happened tome is quick after I met Pat and
(44:34):
after I started rolling, Icreated an email list.
I just started literally makinga spreadsheet by Googling all
these fabric shops.
I made a giant spreadsheet and Ijust started blasting out emails
to these shop owners.
And a lady, Jenny, shout outJenny, she replied and said,
Hey, I don't want to get rid ofmy fabric.
I'm a new shop owner, but Iinherited a lot of fabric I
(44:57):
don't want.
Would you sell it on yourwebsite and then I'll ship it
out of my warehouse or my shop?
Again, I never even thoughtabout that.
SPEAKER_01 (45:07):
That's collaboration.
I mean, that is, you know, it'sit's amazing how competition and
collaboration are both verymisunderstood terms.
And if we would just sit down incircles and define them, you
know, unpack them and definethem, then we would know how to
proceed forward because you'retelling amazing stories of
(45:28):
collaboration that wouldn't havehappened if you were leaning too
far into the competition.
unknown (45:34):
Yep.
SPEAKER_02 (45:34):
Yep, yep, yep.
And you know, I love the termhater.
Like I'm not a hater and I don'tlike dealing with haters, but
I'm also I'm ultra competitive.
I want to do better than you,but that doesn't mean I don't
want you to do well.
I just want to do a little bitbetter.
And I'm not gonna win everytime.
That's okay.
SPEAKER_01 (45:55):
And and to me, that's that you're you just
defined healthy competitionbecause it's about a game.
Yeah, it's about something thatmakes it fun, and you cheer each
other on, and the may the maythe best man or woman win.
I mean, you're you're you'resharing something now that is
not really not a conversationwe've had up to this point.
(46:18):
And we talk about collaborationa lot and we talk about
competition, but there's kind ofan unpacking here that I don't
recall.
Dwight, do you recall us reallykind of getting into the weeds
with it like this?
SPEAKER_04 (46:28):
No, this is beautiful.
Uh I I love the way that um youryour approach to things uh
because of all of the the funways that you had to navigate
growing up in a a differentplace from time to time, I think
made fertile ground for you toappreciate uh just how um uh how
(46:52):
important it is to just embracewhat is and and move forward and
you know, ask what if and seewhat's possible.
Blake, you got a book in you,dude.
You got a couple of books in youfor sure.
SPEAKER_01 (47:07):
Definitely.
I mean, you said you like towrite, but I just this part that
you're talking about right now,your your the the hustle that
you started out with as a as akid and the directions that you
took, but this part aboutbringing it all back in where
(47:28):
there's this healthy competitionand there's this collaboration
where you're striking bizarredeals that who would have ever
thought, you know, who wouldhave ever thought this would
work, and and yet it is.
You definitely have a powerfulbook in you, and like Dwight
said, probably more than one.
(47:50):
Thank you, thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (47:51):
Yeah, I I read somewhere, I don't remember
exactly where, but I read thatthere's there's essentially two
types of games.
There's the games that have awinner and a loser, which you
could think of like sports, andthen there's a type of game
where the the goal is just tokeep the game going.
SPEAKER_04 (48:09):
Yes, you were you're what you're talking about are
games of competition where thereis a winner and a loser, and
then infinite games.
SPEAKER_00 (48:18):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (48:20):
Exactly.
Unfortunately, in the West, uhwe are indoctrinated to all to
always go for being the best towin.
And when in order to win,someone has to lose.
Right.
But when you break away fromthat, when you go to places that
have not yet been corrupted,they are are naturally going to
(48:45):
try to figure out how it is thatthey can keep it going.
unknown (48:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (48:51):
You know, a really wise person shared with me one
time, and I have shared this onthis podcast in earlier
episodes, but it it never getsold.
It's it's just such a wonderfulthing.
And I don't remember now exactlywho it was that shared this with
me because I've studied under somany people, read so many
authors, and been to therapistsand coaches, and you name it.
(49:15):
Um I've been on a growth patternsince 1985.
That's that's when I activelydecided to work on me and and
and who I wanted to be in theworld and how I wanted to show
up.
And I've I've worked now, youknow, um, what is that 40 years?
(49:38):
Yeah, 40 years this year.
Um he said don't try to be thebest.
So there's only one spot for thebest.
He said, try to be different.
Look at ways that you can setyourself apart from everybody
(50:00):
else that's doing what you'redoing.
Things that will make you standout in a crowd.
Not because you do it the best,but because you do it the most
uniquely.
And I took that to heart.
And it was literally, I wouldhave to say, in in my 40-year
career as a beauty professional,it was the number one piece of
(50:22):
information that changed the, itwas a game changer for me in the
biggest way.
I would just sit and reallybrainstorm about what I could do
for the people that I serve thatthe other people that are
offering the same services arenot doing.
And I and it wasn't huge,grandiose stuff.
(50:44):
You know, it was the the simplethings that really got a lot of
attention.
But they were simple.
They weren't things that I hadto charge extra for, they
weren't super time consuming.
They were just little detailsthat made me stand out.
SPEAKER_04 (51:03):
I think a big pillar of that is what's represented in
the big word above your head.
And if you can lean into justbeing authentic, if you just try
to be you and not try to be aversion of something that you've
(51:23):
seen someone else do, thenyou're gonna naturally attract
those people who really likeyou.
So it's gonna be really easy foryou to continue being you.
SPEAKER_01 (51:35):
Well, and and love the people that you serve.
It's just important to justlove, love them and love on them
because most people don't dothat.
You know, every client that camein the door got a hug.
And every client that went outthe door got a hug.
And if they headed towards theduh the door without giving me a
(51:59):
hug, I would say, mm-mm, getyour butt back over here.
Do not cheat me out of my hug.
And even that made me stand out.
It was such a simple thing.
SPEAKER_04 (52:09):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (52:10):
Now, did it make retiring really hard?
Oh fuck, can we talk?
You know, I had invested so muchemotionally in these people that
when it was time to turn the keyand the lock and walk away.
Ooh, I grieved hard for over ayear.
Hard grieved.
But I wouldn't change it.
(52:32):
I wouldn't change it foranything.
SPEAKER_02 (52:35):
Yep.
And I I give a lot of credit ofthat in my life to my mom.
Like growing up, we alwaysvolunteered, always.
Like we were in a soup kitchen.
We were my mom, my family comesfrom Cuba.
I'm born here, but you know, mymom translated, she still
translates her whole life, andyou know, a lot of it was
(52:58):
volunteer work, just helpingpeople.
And you know, we did a lot inthe church when I was growing
up, and so yeah, that's I that'swhere I operate from too is how
can I help you?
Everything else falls in place.
If you just do the thing youneed to do, everything else
falls in place eventually.
SPEAKER_01 (53:16):
Like it does.
You are very, very fortunate tohave gotten that the way you got
it.
I didn't get it that way.
You know, my my parents werekind people.
My dad was an employer and hetreated his employees really,
really well.
But they they both watch.
I mean, I'm I'm very much ahighly sensitive person, and and
(53:38):
I'm I'm an empath.
And um, my caring, my as achild, my mom would shake her
head and say, Lord, you justcare so much.
And and she just didn'tunderstand because she and my
dad weren't like that.
She couldn't figure out wherethat came from.
She could recognize it, but sheshe just didn't, and it's it's
(54:00):
been the theme in in my wholelife.
You know, I I had a partner atone point, partner number two,
way back there, who would say,Do you have to stop and help
every person on the street?
And I said, Yes, I do.
(54:21):
And he was like, Well, why?
And I said, Because I never knowwhen that person on the street
that needs help is me.
And I'm hoping that someone willstop and help me.
So if I'm not willing to stopand help somebody else, then how
can I ever expect the universeto serve that up for me when my
(54:42):
night when my need comes?
SPEAKER_03 (54:47):
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (54:48):
Bless his heart.
SPEAKER_04 (54:49):
He can get well this has been a fabulous uh
conversation, and we reallyenjoyed getting to spend a
little bit of time with you,Blake.
SPEAKER_01 (55:04):
It was just as much fun and exciting as I thought it
would be.
Your story's amazing.
SPEAKER_02 (55:09):
Yeah, we didn't even touch on like the crafts and
fabric industry at all.
You know, this was awesomethough.
This is amazing.
SPEAKER_04 (55:17):
You know, I I think that it's uh it's great the way
that um you just got to share alittle bit of yourself with with
our listeners.
And you know, like I said,there's there's plenty of it,
plenty of that kind of uh deepindustry knowledge served up in
a way that's palatable on yoursite and and in your Instagram
(55:41):
feed.
SPEAKER_01 (55:43):
You know, and I don't I don't do this very
often, but you know, for forthose that are listening, if you
find your way to our website,you won't be able to find this
through Apple or Spotify, but ifyou find your way to this
episode on our website and clickhis profile link.
Now there is a place in theprofile in any of the platforms
(56:06):
where it said it'll say Blake'sprofile.
Click on that button and it'lltake you to his profile where
you'll see all of his socialmedia handles.
And I mean, Dwight has alreadyclearly demonstrated that
following Blake on Instagramwill be worthwhile because he's
very entertaining.
And as you can tell, he dropslots of wisdom bombs about
(56:28):
entrepreneur creativeentrepreneurial ship.
SPEAKER_02 (56:32):
Yep, yep.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Yeah, I love it, I love it, Ilove it.
I I literally wake up every dayand I think that again
competitive, but I think noone's going to beat me at this
because I love this.
SPEAKER_03 (56:44):
I love this.
SPEAKER_02 (56:45):
Like I have brutal days.
I have days where I have to move1500 bolts of fabric from one
place to another place in100-degree weather, there's an
accident on the freeway, I'mrunning out of gas, the cell
phone doesn't work, and I wantto scream and I love it.
SPEAKER_04 (57:02):
Well, it's it's clear that you have you have
definitely passed over anobstacle that dogs a lot of
people that I've I've workedwith, where you know they're
they always have this thingwhere they say, Well, I know
I'll be happy when I'll befulfilled just if.
And it's like they don't get it.
(57:23):
You just needed to stop when yousay, I'll be happy.
That's a choice.
SPEAKER_01 (57:28):
It is a choice.
You know, how are you ever goingto be happy then if you can't be
happy now?
Because the now is what createsthe then.
SPEAKER_04 (57:36):
Amen.
SPEAKER_01 (57:37):
Yes.
So I think Dwight has uh one bigquestion to ask you before we
wrap it up.
SPEAKER_04 (57:45):
Yes.
So the big question is given theway that things unfold in the
universe, there are you neverknow who might be listening or
what might be around the corner.
But we have to wonder what wouldit take?
(58:07):
What would be the one thing thatuh if uh someone offered it or
if if you happened upon it wouldbe the thing that would change
your life for the better, thethe one thing that would unlock
everything for you.
What would that be?
SPEAKER_01 (58:27):
It it also could be a challenge that gets solved.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (58:33):
All right, I'm gonna say something absolutely insane.
Okay, please.
I'm ready.
All right, this is crazy.
I've never thought I'd say thisin a public domain.
I want to take over Cuba.
I want to be the president ofCuba.
That's what I want to do.
SPEAKER_01 (58:53):
Well, with your hustle, I I I I don't have any
doubt that you'd be a strongcontender.
You know, we never know how thepeople are going to vote, but
yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (59:05):
Wow.
I'm very passionate.
I mean, I have a lot of familythere, and I literally,
literally get messagesconstantly from family members
that are begging for help.
That place is it's very, verybad there right now.
So I'm very passionate aboutthat.
And you know, we don't need toget in the history of Cuba, but
(59:26):
it's possible it's been donebefore.
Yes, it has.
Well, it's been done before.
SPEAKER_01 (59:33):
I I think that you saying it out loud is gonna put
all kinds of things in motion.
SPEAKER_02 (59:40):
Agreed.
Yeah, hopefully it's not the CIAcoming after me.
But yeah.
My father tells me to becareful, be careful, boy, be
careful.
SPEAKER_01 (59:50):
Well, and there is that, you know, when things
aren't all running above theline, uh we're seeing that right
here, right now in the countrywhere uh things are not all
above the line and there's somescary shit happening.
So you do have to be thoughtfulabout what you what you put out
there.
But I think it's important toreally speak our truth.
And um, you know, I I I could Icould see you doing that.
SPEAKER_02 (01:00:16):
Well, thank you.
Yeah, it's uh a very, very longroad.
We'll see what happens.
I don't yeah, the the low.
Hanging fruit here is Ivolunteered a local farm, a
nonprofit farm, and theybasically just build, they do
farming the most minimalist waypossible, and then they just
give it back to the community.
(01:00:37):
And so I I joined that because Ireally believe in that program
and I would love to implementthat in Cuba.
And I think they're gonna helpme do that.
So that's kind of the first stepof you know, working my way
there.
SPEAKER_01 (01:00:49):
I just want to say I really love your message of
giving back.
Yes, thank you.
SPEAKER_04 (01:00:54):
Yeah, it's man, and you never know how things you
never know how things are goingto unfold.
Uh I announcing your candidacyon our little podcast, uh it's
you're definitely placing astamp because this is gonna be
out there for a long time.
And we never know what what thefuture holds.
(01:01:17):
You know, just this past week weuh finished uh uh dinner um with
of all people Mike Pence sittingat the table next to us.
Random, very random, very weird.
SPEAKER_01 (01:01:31):
Yeah, it says you know you never know because our
audience in six months has grownby 860 percent.
SPEAKER_03 (01:01:40):
Wow, congratulations, that is
awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (01:01:43):
In six months, love it, love it, love it.
Proud to say that, very proud tosay that.
SPEAKER_02 (01:01:47):
So, yeah, y'all are definitely there's nothing like
this.
I've been listening, I love it.
I can't wait to hear more.
This industry needs somethinglike this.
SPEAKER_01 (01:01:57):
If if you haven't already, would you rate and
review us?
Yes, certainly, yes, please,definitely, definitely that
would be amazing because thathelps us get the word out there
more, the more ratings andreviews we have.
So please, please, thank you.
So, like this has been amazing.
SPEAKER_03 (01:02:15):
Yes, it went so fast, it's like yeah, too fast.
SPEAKER_01 (01:02:19):
It did time flies when you're having fun.
SPEAKER_02 (01:02:21):
Yeah, y'all are out in Dallas.
We are we are yeah, I'm I'mgonna take a Texas tour very
soon, and I'm gonna stop by andcheck y'all out because you you
look us up before you before youcome.
SPEAKER_01 (01:02:31):
Let us know you're coming, and we'll make plans to
meet.
Agreed for sure.
That'll be awesome, yes.
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