July 16, 2025 • 43 mins
Resilient optimism isn't just a trendy concept—it's the beating heart of entrepreneurship. After exploring this powerful mindset last week, we immediately faced the perfect opportunity to put it into practice at our first fair of the season.
The results? A much-needed victory that confirmed we're trending in the right direction after a challenging start to the year. Every single day of our four-day event outperformed its counterpart from last year, and our brand-new "Midnight Hammer" t-shirt design debuted with such success that people throughout the fairgrounds were stopping each other to ask where they got their shirts.
Behind this success lies the complicated reality all small business owners understand—the constant juggling of production demands, inventory management, and cash flow challenges. From the irony of needing credit card sales for next-day inventory purchases (and receiving only cash), to vehicle troubles appearing just before a major road trip, the obstacles never stop coming. What makes this journey sustainable isn't the absence of problems; it's the support system and mindset that helps us overcome them.
Perhaps the most profound aspect of this particular fair was the emotional journey it represented. Standing at the same fairgrounds where I spent my childhood watching my father and uncles race, now without them but with my own daughter experiencing it for the first time, created a powerful connection between past and present. There's something humbling about watching other families live out what was once your childhood, realizing that the people who were fixtures of that place are largely forgotten by the current generation.
Despite the challenges, we're expanding into new markets, taking risks on events outside our comfort zone, and seeing the results in growing sales figures. Most importantly, we received the best news possible—my daughter's clean bill of health from her neurologist after our frightening hospital stay months ago. This reminder of what truly matters puts all business challenges into perspective.
Want to support small businesses creating American-made products with purpose? Follow our journey, check out our designs, and remember that everyone struggles—the difference is whether you choose to go through it or grow through it.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Last week on Share, the Struggle Podcast, we learned
about resilient optimism.
This week on the podcast we putthat education to the test With
our first fair of the season inthe books and our next big
challenge upon us.
We recap it and see just how itall looks.
Let me tell you something.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Everybody struggles.
The difference is some peoplechoose to go through it and some
choose to grow through it.
The choice is completely yours.
Which one you choose will havea very profound effect on the
way you live your life.
If you find strength in thestruggle, then this podcast is
(00:44):
for you.
Do you have a relationship thatis comfortable with
uncomfortable conversations?
Uncomfortable conversationschallenge you, humble you and
they build you.
When you sprinkle a little timeand distance on it, it all
makes sense.
Most disagreements, they stemfrom our own insecurities.
(01:08):
You are right where you need tobe Back on time.
We need to back off.
We all take on what we'rebehind.
I'll take on what's behind.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
What it do, what it hotDo-do-do-do.
Good Lord, almighty, am I soexcited to be back with you.
Oh, it's true, it is damn true.
Does my voice sound differenty'all?
Does it sound, I don't know,beat the hell in.
In the words of a Mainer, itwould sound something like this
(01:50):
Does it sound all staved in?
I think that's a word that Ifeel like we came up with here
on the Northeast, staved in.
Does that sound all staved into you?
Bubba?
Tell you what I'm a dragon.
I am dragging my clam in thesand.
Okay, yeah, I might as wellhave a metal detector out here
(02:17):
just looking for treasures andsand dollars, because I am just
dragging my aetherion.
He's just a happy little snail.
I'm beat, all right, I'm tiredas all get out, and yeah, that's
about enough complaining, but Ijust wanted to give an
explanation in case I sound alittle rough to y'all, or for
those of you that aren't fromMaine and you're looking to
(02:40):
learn some new words.
We started off this week with anew word staved in that boy over
there, he all staved in.
Tell you what I'm a littletired.
All for good reasons, though.
All for good reasons, which wewill celebrate.
Last week, we talked aboutresilient optimism.
(03:00):
Resilient optimism is apowerful mindset that
acknowledges and acceptsdifficulties while maintaining a
hopeful outlook and belief inone's ability to overcome
challenges, the combination ofoptimism and resilience enabling
individuals to adapt to changeand recover from setbacks.
We had an in-depth discussionabout resilient optimism and how
(03:24):
I thought I coined blindoptimism as something super cool
.
But it already exists and it'sactually not as cool as I
thought it would be.
But upon further research, wecombined a couple of things that
I really appreciate, and thefirst one is resiliency, and we
use that to describe me, and I'mhoping we use that to describe
me, and I'm hoping we use it todescribe you, and I'm hoping
(03:45):
last week's education wasmotivation for you, to encourage
you to continue to have thatpositive outlook, to acknowledge
and recognize setbacks andobstacles, but to continue to
overcome them.
Last week, we continued toovercome obstacles and we went
to the first fair of our seasonand it was a success.
(04:10):
Oh, look at this little baby.
He's starting to learn how towin.
Oh yeah, good job honey.
Good job learning how to win.
True story.
True story last week's firstfair of the season was exactly
what the doctor ordered, we wereup in sales.
(04:31):
I would be willing to say that Ithink this is the first event
of the year that we are actuallyup at the end of the event.
I think everything leading upto this we've been down, but
we've added new things.
You can't really gauge the endof the event.
I think everything leading upto this we've been down, but
we've added new things.
You can't really gauge the endresult against anything else
because we haven't done itbefore.
(04:52):
But when you're talking aboutthose events that we've
continued to have in ourschedule, as you get out there
and start doing those, we are upfor the first time this season,
which is a tremendous victoryfor our season.
Our net sales for the year arecontinuing to be up.
It doesn't feel like it becausewe're taking more chances,
we're investing more, we'redoubling down more.
(05:15):
So by doing that it might feela little bit tighter, but I
think we are approaching somereal growth, I feel like.
So I am hell-bent anddetermined that this season
shall be our greatest saleseason and we are trending in
that direction.
We are headed towards the bestand all be-all results of our
(05:38):
year, but I do think that a lotof that is because we continue
to try new things to challengeus with bigger, bolder, more
beautiful challenges yes, thebeautiful.
And we are on the cusp ofanother one of those, because
tomorrow morning we will beleaving for Syracuse, new York,
which we are so excited about.
(05:59):
We've built this tremendousfamily in New York.
Actually, little Paisley Rain'sgodparents live in New York.
You guys have already heard thatstory so I shall not repeat all
of it because you're probablytired of it.
Yeah, we know this little guy.
We heard it, we heard all aboutit, but you've heard all about
it because we're excited.
(06:20):
Okay, that's how this works.
But you hear me here todaysounding a little sluggish and a
little tired because it's beena whirlwind and I'm recording
this episode right now at about6 AM and getting ready, waiting
for a little piece of the rainto wake up, because it's daddy
daughter day this morning, andthen I'm going to get into full
production mode and we're goingto head out to Syracuse tomorrow
(06:42):
after a quick AM appointment.
So the weekend was a success,y'all.
It felt good to get back intofair season and into something
familiar that also comes withoptimism.
I've been doing things that arefamiliar that also come with
(07:03):
some anxiety and, shall we say,a lack of respect.
I've been doing things where Ijust don't feel as appreciated.
So, rolling into the first fairof the season, being around a
lot of them fair folks thatwe've come to know and love and
appreciate some of thoserelationships that we've built
over the years, being around allthose folks enjoying ourselves
with them, sharing thoseentrepreneur ourselves with them
(07:24):
, sharing those entrepreneurconversations with them, and
then being around all of ourloving, dedicated patrons out
there, those loyal, loving, loud, proud Americans swinging in
having great conversations,supporting the brand and the
cause and buying the product,talking podcasts, talking life,
supporting family, all thosethings was a big just shot of
(07:48):
optimism that we needed.
It was that big victory on theroad of failures.
Right, it's just one of thoseweekends where you're like, okay
, we're trending in the rightdirection here.
Now what I'm going to say isthis Three years ago at that
fair, I had a tremendous numberand I continued to grow going
into that number.
So I thought, hey, man, we arejust off to new horizons here.
(08:10):
And then the following year mynumber was cut by about 50% and
then the next year it went up alittle bit and we were going
into this year so optimistic andfeeling like you know what,
we're going to crush it and I'mgoing to get back to that number
of a few years ago.
And I didn't get all the wayback to that number.
I really didn't get all thatclose to that number, but I did
(08:33):
add a few hundred bucks overlast year's event.
So we are trending in the rightdirection, y'all, we are going
in the right direction.
We are going in the rightdirection.
Friday night actually ended upbeing our best selling Friday in
the history of us being at thisevent.
There was not one day at thefair that I did not beat my day
(08:56):
from the previous year.
So Thursday, friday, saturday,sunday, we were up all four of
those days and in the end of itit shakes out to being up a few
bucks.
So we'll take it.
Y'all, we will take it.
We're going to build off ofthat.
We're going to celebrate all ofthat.
But I'm also going to take aminute to really just
acknowledge and appreciate allthat was the weekend.
(09:18):
We talk about some of thestruggles and the obstacles that
we go through, so I left youoff last week having that
discussion of being a smallbusiness owner sitting in a
parking lot 90, 95 degrees,busting your ass all day, to
then pack for two hours in theheat and realize you only made
40 freaking dollars at the endof the day.
(09:39):
I went from that withoutdragging that failure to my next
success Because, as we talkabout, success is going from
failure to failure without aloss of enthusiasm and I went
into this weekend knowing wewere going to do better than
previous years.
I went into this weekendknowing that this is exactly
what we needed.
So on Sunday, the wife and mymother and my father-in-law they
(10:03):
went over and set the camper up.
So on Sunday, the wife and mymother and my father-in-law they
went over and set the camper upand I ended up going into full
production mode.
After returning from our lastevent and recording the podcast,
I ended up just making as muchstuff as I could.
I ended up debuting a newdesign that I have not been able
to announce online yet, and thereason why I haven't announced
it online is because it was atremendous success.
(10:25):
I literally sold out of somesizings already.
The only bummer is on my way tomy next event I don't think I'm
gonna have.
Well, I there's no thinkingabout it.
I know I won't have theopportunity to restock that
shirt because I can't get theshipping here in time.
So new design that I came outwith it is Midnight Hammer, in
(10:50):
honor of the B-2 mission overIran.
So on the front it says whosays good things don't happen
after midnight?
With a big Midnight Hammer anda couple of bombs on the side of
that bad boy, a couple of B-2svalues.
I've also got a nice BT bomberon the back with an American
(11:11):
flag and the words peace throughstrength since 1776.
It's on like a military coyotebrown t-shirt.
It's pretty sweet, man, I'm abig fan of it.
It's soft, it's comfortable,it's beautiful and it's proudly
made in the USA.
Okay, and it's cool.
I sold a bunch of those.
Man, I had so many people cometo my tent on Saturday and say,
dude, I've seen more of yourMidnight Hammered t-shirts out
(11:35):
here today than like you justmade that shirt, right?
Is everybody coming in here andbuying that and just putting it
on?
My wife was walking around withour One Nation shirt on and her
dad and his girlfriend arewalking around with Midnight
Hammer shirts on and they werestopped by somebody saying they
loved their shirts and Elliotwas like, well, you can go buy
(11:56):
them right over there, and hecame in and bought one of each.
So pretty, damn cool man.
It was really cool to seepeople embrace the new design.
Get out there, celebrate it,wear it.
I will restock more of them.
I do have enough to bring withme to Syracuse, but they're
going to sell out they are goingto sell out, they're going to
be gone.
Okay, this is like aninfomercial right If you call
and the lines are busy, justcall back, all right.
(12:21):
So if you're looking to buy it,we're going to redo it, we're
going to bring it all back toyou, but the truth is it's going
to be gone, gone, gone.
Oh, it's true, it's true, it'strue.
I don't know where that camefrom.
Probably sleep deprivation iswhere that came from.
So that's another littlesuccess there.
We sent out a new T-shirt lastweek, a new design.
(12:43):
It's selling.
Sent out a new t-shirt lastweek and her design is selling
tremendously this week, actuallytoday, later today, after
little Paisley Rain is with herMeemaw later on today, her
Maemaw I'm going to get backinto production and I'm dropping
another new design.
This one will be coming out forSyracuse, coming out for the
racing crowd, the muscle carcrowd.
(13:03):
If you guys have been watchingalong, paying attention, you
know that maybe a month or soago we continued our sponsorship
of KMR racing.
We took their logo and our logoand designed them something
really nice and I promised youthat I would take that design
and turn it into something forLoud Proud American.
We make our own version of thatdesign and it is here, it has
(13:25):
arrived and it shall be donetoday.
Well, that's the plan.
That's the plan for it to bedone today.
As we talk about resilientoptimism and going over
obstacles and stuff, while I'mon this design discussion, I can
outline another one for youthat you just stick and move and
overcome.
So we end up going to the fair.
(13:47):
Let's see what day is this.
Wednesday morning.
Wednesday morning I actuallywell, I printed t-shirts all
evening.
Tuesday night late into thenight, close up, get a few hours
sleep, come back over, get backinto production.
Wednesday morning making asmuch stuff as I possibly can,
throwing the last few things inthe bus.
(14:07):
Me and my mom head out, go upto the fair, open the camper and
then go over to our vendor spot, start building our display,
reconnecting and catching upwith everybody and putting all
the new items in.
Getting all that stuff done,I'm not sure what time we were
done setting up, maybe 9 o'clockat night Somewhere around there
(14:29):
.
We had our display allfinalized and then on Thursday
we get up, go over to the fair,open things up and get things
rocking and rolling.
And we had a great Thursday, ourfirst day of the fair Beat last
year and it set us off intojust that positive ball of
(14:50):
energy, that positive ball justrolling down the hill right.
We were just feeling, oh sonice.
So I went into Thursday sayinghere's the deal I need some new
stuff for Syracuse, I need torestock some things for Syracuse
that are selling out, and so todo that, I need to sell some
(15:11):
stuff.
All right, so my philosophy wason Thursday I'm going to have a
great Thursday, and usually youkind of have like a 50-50,
60-40 split where people areputting either making purchases
with cash versus credit cards.
So my assumption was I'm goingto get enough credit card sales
(15:31):
on Thursday that are going toautomatically deposit overnight
into my bank account that onFriday morning I can get up and,
as long as I place my orderbefore typically one o'clock,
you turn on a two-day shippingscenario.
That'll get my apparel that'sin stock to me so I can restock
(15:53):
and get things done for our nextevent.
So here's the thing Thursdayhaving a great day, super
excited about the fact that Iwas getting a lot of cash and,
as a small business owner, y'alllove cash, okay, one of the
biggest reasons for a smallbusiness owner to love cash is
there's no processing fee oncash.
Okay, one of the biggest reasonsfor a small business owner to
love cash is there's noprocessing fee on cash.
(16:15):
When I take credit cards, I'mgoing to lose, you know, roughly
3% in card processing fees andall those things.
But for me, on the first day ofthe fair, what I needed was a
little bit of credit card sales,because it would have
automatically deposited into myaccount because I can't get to
my account from where I'm at.
So here's the thing, folks Ofall the sales on our day, the
(16:36):
day that beat the previous year,not one person paid with credit
card.
A lovely problem to have,unless you needed the money to
get deposited into your account.
You might be saying to yourselfwell, this is a small business
owner, why is he depending onsales from one day to pay things
the next day?
He's a small business owner thatis just treading water.
(16:57):
Okay, times are tough.
America Lay off of me, so Ineed a cash.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
It wasn't going in.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
I had it in my drawer but I couldn't get to the bank.
That's when you suck up to thewife and ask her to put some
funds in your bank account soyou can place an order for some
apparel, that when she shows upyou can give her her cash back
so she can put it back in thebank.
That's one more thing that goeswith owning a small business
just that family commitment andsacrifice that has to be made.
(17:27):
We talk about it week afterweek after week, but you really
can't go into these things alone.
You need a support group andthankfully, my wife and my
mother have been tremendous forme to keep this rocking and
rolling.
So we placed an order so that Ican get our new design out this
week and then, ironically, onthis same conversation, I go
(17:50):
ahead and get the apparel ordertaken care of and then my
graphics team messages me andsays yeah, so your credit card
declined, so we're going to holdonto your order until you get
that cleared up.
Well, they took my shippingcharge from $16 to 60.
And I didn't budget that on theaccount that I gave them, so I
(18:13):
had to proceed to argue withthem to then get that processed
and put through the mail.
So my designs arrived yesterdayand my t-shirts, as luck should
have it, are running late, sothey should arrive today, while
today just happens to be one ofthose days where I get up at
five in the morning, I bring mymom to work.
Well, today just happens to beone of those days where I get up
(18:34):
at five in the morning, I bringmy mom to work, I roll into the
office, record the podcast, andthen I sneak on over to the
house as Paisley reigns wakingup and we have breakfast, and
then it's daddy-daughter timeuntil my mama gets out of work.
So my scenario for today isgoing to be trying to get
Paisley to entertain herselflong enough for me to do book
work, paperwork and phone calls,which will not happen, I know
(18:54):
that won't happen and then mymom's going to get out of work
at two o'clock.
I'm going to pick her up, comehome and then by about three
o'clock I ought to be in theoffice working until the sun
comes up.
That's pretty much how my timeis going to be scheduled.
Okay, that's just facts of life.
That's how this is going towork.
(19:15):
So back to the fair folks.
Things went really good for us,man.
We made it through.
We had a successful weekend.
It wasn't all that I hoped for,let's be honest.
I set goals that I feel areattainable and then I set goals
that I feel like are home runsand I came close to my bare
minimum small goal improvement.
(19:37):
You know what I'm saying.
It was good, it was a gain, itwas a win.
It wasn't all that I hoped for,but I'm guessing it was all
that I needed and deserved.
Okay, so we made that happen.
We dropped the new design.
It was tremendously successful.
It's got me encouraged aboutour next new design.
It was tremendously successful.
It's got me encouraged aboutour next new design because, as
the events go, I'm trying toroll out new things.
(19:58):
Every time I go to a new largeevent, I have all these designs
and ideas in the pipeline andI'm trying to get them out as
fast as I can afford them.
So we're excited, man.
Things are changing, things aremoving.
It's been a struggle to keep upwith things, to maintain things
, like I'm selling out of thingsand trying to reorder them in
between events, and that's partof the struggle that we're
(20:21):
talking about.
Between last week, you knowyou're, you're running out of
stuff, you're at an event andyou can see it happening.
You go ahead, place an order onFriday, um, and then it's going
to arrive on Tuesday and you'regoing to leave on Wednesday.
All these moving parts.
That's just part of what I'mgoing through.
That's part of what I'm growingthrough.
We're in this growing season forthe business and I know that
(20:43):
we're off to bigger and bolder,more beautiful things.
I just have to overcome thesestruggles and I know at the end
of the season I'm going to beable to sit back and say dude,
you did this, you built this,you've achieved some of the
greatest year of success thatyou've achieved.
And you had to work your assoff and do it in a whole
different way and angle, but youmade it and I know that's
(21:05):
what's going to be for me.
I can see it.
I know it's coming.
I'm just working as hard andfast as I can towards it and I
get these little adrenalineboosters that kick in when you
have a successful event, whenyou, you know, gain numbers over
your previous year.
You get another boost when youcreate a new design and it
becomes super successful in yourfirst event.
(21:28):
You get another boost when youstart reconnecting with just
valued customers.
When you reconnect with thoseloud, proud Americans that are
becoming friends and family,when you get reconnected with
your small business familythat's on the road and you sit
back and bounce ideas andstories off of each other, off
(21:56):
of each other, you start to justbuild and manifest this
adrenaline boost, this positiveball of optimism, and that is
what really carries you into thenext event, that allows you to
overcome those obstacles.
And that's exactly what Ineeded and that's exactly what
this fair was about.
I love going back to a fairthat I grew up at and just kind
(22:16):
of regrounding myself andgetting ready for the season.
So, as I was saying, numberwise, great success.
Connecting with customers andfriends and family another great
success, right, and exactlywhat we needed when we needed it
the benefit of having a day andthen sitting down with
(22:37):
businesses that you trust andlook up to, like Ledgeway Farm,
and having these conversationsabout just how they get to where
they are, what their philosophyis and where they're going.
Motivation for us, brainstormingangles and events and
opportunities and avenues togrow.
We also uncovered another newpotential event that I will be
(23:03):
making phone calls on today toget into.
Matt brought up an event to meand then he ended up working on
getting me some contact info andintroduced me to somebody and
we're working on maybe doingsomething different, adding
something else to the schedulethis year.
So hopefully next week's show,I can recap Syracuse and
(23:23):
announce to you something new.
Yet another new event for us togo to.
This year that's a part of thechallenges of this year.
This year, that's a part of thechallenges of this year we
jumped just head over heels outof our comfort zone and we went
to Daytona.
We did Daytona Bike Week, abucket list item and opportunity
(23:44):
and event for our business.
We did it.
We went out there and did it.
We are about to go to Syracuse,new York.
We are leaving tomorrow foranother tremendous event Out of
our comfort zone, out of ourwheelhouse.
I am still working on being avendor in the Catskill Mountains
(24:06):
of New York for anothermotorcycle rally in September.
We're also looking at anotherevent that I just mentioned to
you that will take me into a newarea that I have not done.
That's actually in my state.
We're talking about a handfulof events that are all new, that
are all outside of the range inwhich we typically operate.
(24:27):
Those challenges, those efforts, those risks are all part of
the reason why we are having thebest sale season we have ever
had and it's all part of thereason why next year I'm going
to remove things from myschedule that I've been doing
for five years because they arenot growing our business and
(24:49):
we're going to continue to applyourselves to new, bigger
challenges to grow our business.
And we're going to continue toapply ourselves to new, bigger
challenges to grow our business.
I have begun to learn that Ineed to make decisions that are
right for my business, notdecisions because I have friends
and connections right.
We often do things in lifebecause we're just being nice.
(25:12):
We do things in life because wedon't want to disappoint, we
don't want to upset, we don'twant to offend people that are
close to us.
Oftentimes we continue to dothings that don't really service
us any longer, that don'tbenefit us any longer, because
we are afraid to upset somebodyclose to us.
We are worried we're going toruin a relationship.
(25:33):
Well, the truth is, the momentthat you feel like you are
jeopardizing a relationshipbecause you're bettering
yourself and your family andyour business, then it's not a
relationship worth having andthat's where I've gotten to in
my life.
If I'm going to upset you bydoing what's right for my
business, my family and myself,then you are only in it for you
(25:58):
and that's okay.
But I don't need to continue todo things just to appease you.
So, with that said, all thesenew obstacles and challenges and
risks that we're taking ismotivating for me to continue
down this path next year and I'mexcited about it.
I'm so excited about it.
So, over the weekend successfulweekend, as I said connecting,
(26:21):
reconnecting, regrounding,getting motivated, uncovering
new opportunities, new avenuesthat we will hopefully be able
to check off our list soon.
But one of the craziest thingsof the weekend for me and this
is something that I need toshare, because I feel like when
(26:42):
we go into these events, there'soften something that you don't
really slow down and see orrealize that's happening to you
or for you.
And when you slow down andembrace that, that's where the
true lesson is.
And this weekend there wassomething that was really
eye-opening for me and it wasemotional and it was hard to
(27:05):
process and, as I think about it, that kind of gets me a little
bit emotional.
But, as I've said to you guysbefore, I grew up at this fair.
This little county fair issomething that I spent my
childhood at, my whole childhood.
When I was a kid, I used to goto this fair and my dad used to
make race cars.
He used to buy these maildelivery Jeeps they used to be
(27:26):
Toyota Land Cruisers and hewould cut them all apart and
take the frame and drop a bigblock Chevy in it and they'd get
a bunch of diamond plate, sealand weld up this big monster of
a, of a, of a freaking machine,and he would take his headers
and flip them upside down,straight up, pointing them to
the sky, and he'd put these bigmud boggers on it and and he
(27:46):
would go out and race at thisfair and and two of my uncles
would do the exact same thingand their with their own ideas
and theories, and and so it wasthis big family just big family
to do.
And I grew up at this fair.
All I wanted to do was be atthis fair, drag racing on the
weekends, like my, like my dadand like my uncle did.
(28:08):
I used to be around my cousinsand my aunts and just enjoy
everything and just camp for theweekend and race and sit around
the campfire.
It was just an amazing thing andI miss it so much and I'm
always connected to my dad whenI'm there and I struggle with my
(28:28):
dad not being here because somany people there know my dad
and they ask about him and someof my best childhood memories
were made right here at thisfair.
So here I am yet again at thisfair and it's another year
without my dad, and this yearends up being a lot different.
(28:50):
Ends up being a lot differentBecause not only am I there
without my dad, I'm actuallythere for the very first time
with my daughter.
There's a lot of bittersweetness that goes with that
(29:41):
goes with that Because I livewith daily regret that I was
never able to take my daughter,her not growing up, knowing that
feeling that crushes me.
It took me a man, it took meall the way to really the last
day to realize what washappening.
(30:06):
You know, on Sunday, matt fromLedgeway Farm came over and said
, hey, I want to go up to thetrack, to the drags, and see a
friend of mine race, and he'dnever really been up there
before.
So I brought him up and westood there and we were just
talking and I was able toexplain to him part of what was
happening and what he waswatching, like you know, um, how
the lights work, how qualifyingworks, red lights, breakouts,
all these different, differentthings.
(30:26):
And it just started bringing meback to being a little kid and
and I was sitting there orstanding there watching
everything.
And then, you know, it turnedinto conversation with some
other folks that are there, orthis guy that we met.
That's a wicked awesome guythat he's a big part of the
track and the fairgrounds and heraces, and we're talking and
(30:48):
just sharing stories and Istarted bringing up stories of
my childhood there and heremembered some of them and just
reflecting, and I'm juststanding there and I'm just
remembering myself as a childSpending all my time there.
And you sit back and you'rewatching other people living
(31:12):
your old life, like I'm lookingaround at the crowd and I'm
looking at people and I'mwatching these families live out
my childhood and as I'mstanding there, one of the drag
cars comes up, gets staged, andI look over and it was one of my
(31:38):
uncle's old vehicles and it'sbeen all repainted and looks
different.
But you can't mistake what thatvehicle was.
You can't mistake the body onthat.
I know it was his.
And there's a funny thing aboutyou know these racers at this
track, like they've, some ofthem have been using the same,
(32:00):
the same stuff for, you know, 15, 20 years.
I remember as a little kid howmuch I adored that truck.
I watched it go down the trackand so many memories just came
right back.
It was enjoyable and difficult.
(32:24):
I could have sat there thewhole day and watched that.
But, man, do they make me missmy dad.
It's one of those internalstruggles where you're feeling
close to somebody and you'refeeling close to your past and
(32:44):
you're reflecting on yourchildhood and your memories, but
you're also realizing that man,that was an entire lifetime ago
, because those three men that Igrew up watching race have all
passed on.
Now one of them is still herewith us.
(33:05):
My daughter will not experiencethat.
That's a part of my life,that's.
You know, it's gone.
It's crazy to sit back and watchother people living your
childhood and realize that therewas a time in life where we
(33:30):
were some of the most important,popular, pivotal people at that
track, at that event, mainstays, faces of the place that no
longer are remembered, that werequickly replaced, that now the
new generation and all the newfolks don't remember any of us
don't remember any of it.
(33:50):
It's like it didn't exist.
It's so crazy to me to be thereand experience it and say, man,
this is my childhood, this issuch a big part of my life.
I spent so many years of mylife here and it's erased and
replaced.
So many years of my life hereand it's erased and replaced.
Nobody remembers it.
It's like it didn't exist.
It is a ridiculouslymind-messing experience to stand
(34:11):
there and take all in and Iguess that maybe as I get older
I'm just going to see a lot moreof this shit and I'll get a lot
better at acknowledging it andmoving on.
And it never really hit meuntil this year, because this
year I'm standing there and I'mwatching this without my dad, at
the first fair with my daughter.
It's crazy, dude.
(34:33):
It's crazy.
This whirlwind of emotions I'mhaving right now is wild.
I didn't plan on this and I'msure a lot of this is because
I'm absolutely sleep deprived atthis moment, but I was having a
great time.
I was having an absolute greattime with the track and I went
back and at the end of the day,when I was packing, I started to
reflect and explain to my wifehow much it hurt and how much it
(34:56):
healed all at the same time,and I began to realize this
little fair that I grew up at.
When I was Paisley's age, I washere In the arms of my family
and their friends, just likelittle Paisley is today At this
(35:19):
fair in our arms with ourfriends and family, on a whole
different side of the fair.
Man, it might not sound like itto you, but to me it was one of
the craziest eye-opening,heart-wrenching, mind-bending
(35:43):
exercises that I did not know Ineeded to sign up for.
Why?
is my life always a dick kick.
Can anybody answer that for me?
Why is my life a dick kick?
You are riding the wave ofbeing up on success, but we're
going to pop you in the blinkersof emotion.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Why Okay Good.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Lord.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
I don't need to learn so many lessons week to week.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
One of these weeks, I'm just going to turn this
microphone on and I'm going tosay you know what folks?
I killed it.
We had a weekend no issues, nodrama, no obstacles, no setbacks
, no heartache, no tears.
I just showed up, I sold outand I made it kill it.
That's what I'm hoping is ontap for Syracuse as we put this
(36:38):
little hometown fair, heartfelt,tear-filled, gut-wrenching
story behind us and we get readyto move on to what's in front
of us.
I'm hoping it's tremendous andseamless and beautiful and
successful.
But what I can say is yesterdaywe packed up the camp.
We came home, everything wentsmooth.
(37:00):
Wifey's in the camper takingthings out and getting
reorganized and cleaning things,and I'm in the and the camper,
you know um, taking things outand getting reorganized and
cleaning things, and I'm in thebus dumping um stuff from the
last event that does not need togo to the new event, getting
prepared for the new event andknowing that today I'm going to
be printing all day and throwingthings in the bus.
So when that was all said anddone, the bus is looking kind of
(37:22):
filthy.
We've been, you know,fairgrounds getting dusty and
getting ready to get on a roadtrip, and I like leaving for
road trips looking nice andclean and we're going to a place
that's beautiful with amazingcars and we're an eyesore enough
rolling in with our bus.
Okay, I'm just going to cleanit up.
So I tell the wife, hey, I'mgoing to run down to the car
(37:46):
wash real quick, put this suckeroutside, spray her down.
And on the way there shestarted to surge and sound like
shit and run a little funky,little funky in the trunky.
And I look down and notice,just in time for my dash to
light up and say, check chargingsystem, my battery light to
start blinking.
And then I watch my batteryvoltage start dropping out of
sight.
I pull in, wash, the washer up,get back in.
(38:09):
Everything's going normal,starts to act up, take the phone
out, get it on record, get aquick little video of it as it
throws the codes and goes backinto the same scenario, send it
on over to the boys at TorqueSolutions and say what in the
hell is happening.
So what I thought was going tobe a seamless work evening ended
up being well, let's load up,bring the bus to the garage,
(38:32):
drop it off and let them getback to it.
And what we've quicklydiscovered is there's some like
an old connection.
It ends up being what we seemto be.
One of the cables coming off ofthe alternator, like the pin
connectors, seem to be bad.
So this morning the boys aregoing to be working on,
hopefully trying to rewire thatand get that straightened up
(38:53):
before we hit the road.
So again, another little hiccup, little setback, right, but it
happened right here at homebefore I hit the road.
So I'm going to take that as apositive.
And when we start talking aboutadrenaline boost and we start
talking about relentlessoptimism and all these new
things that we're doing and thatdose of dopamine, we're getting
(39:16):
real freaking excited aboutSyracuse.
This is going to be atremendous event for us.
The more that we look at it,the more that we research it.
I'm literally sitting in thecamper of Ledgeway Farm, matt
and Sarah, and we're looking atsome of the events that we're
both doing on YouTube and Ipulled up Syracuse Nationals on
(39:36):
YouTube and I watched a dronevideo over the fairgrounds and
man, did I get excited Boy.
There are some people at thisplace and I know we're going to
show up and we're going to dogreat.
They're like-minded folks.
You can't be there withAmerican-made muscle cars, not
want an American-made apparel.
It's going to be a beautifulrelationship and we're going to
(39:58):
spend it with some of ourabsolutely favorite people in
this world, so we are geared upfor success.
Today's going to be a tough day.
Today's going to be a difficultday because I got a lot to get
done and it's also Daddy DayCare Day so we got a long road
ahead of us.
I don't know how late it'sgoing to be, but by the time
(40:20):
this podcast drops, I'm going tobe getting ready to hit the
road depending on what time youlisten.
If you listen on a winningWednesday and it's after, oh say
, 10 or 11 am, I'll be driving,okay.
So wish me luck, say a littleprayer for me, okay.
But I am so encouraged and I'mso excited and I know this is
going to be an amazing weekendand it's already a tremendous
(40:44):
opportunity.
Going to be an amazing weekendand it's already a tremendous
opportunity.
I'm feeling blessed and beforeI get off this little episode
here to put the biggest emphasison being blessed, little
(41:08):
Paisley had her follow-upappointment with a neurology
specialist, a pediatricneurology specialist, and he
gave her a clean bill of health,so clean that he discharged her
from the office.
She no longer needs him as adoctor.
So a few months ago, when wespent the weekend at the Barbara
Bush Children's Hospital,worried about what could be,
what might be and what was to be, we put all of that in the
(41:28):
hands of God and we prayed andwe prayed and we were, and are,
rewarded with tremendous newsPaisley is healthy.
No issues, no worries, noconcerns.
And that, folks, is the biggestand best and most beautiful
news that I could have heard.
That overcomes all obstacles.
(41:52):
That is what is, and shallalways be, most important.
So because of that, I want tosay thank you to each and every
one of you for always supportingme and my family and our
American dream.
Now go wash your fucking hands,you filthy savage.
(42:13):
That's it and that's all BiggieSmalls.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
If you're a loud, proud American and you find
yourself just wanting more, findme on YouTube and Facebook at
Loud, proud American Put theface page, as my mama calls it.
If you're a fan of the GrahamCracker, you want to find me on
Instagram, or all the kids bytickety-talking on the TikTok,
(42:52):
you can find me on both of thoseat loud, underscore, proud,
underscore American.
A big old thank you to the boysfrom the Gut Truckers for the
(43:13):
background beats and the themesong to this year's podcast.
If you are enjoying what you'rehearing, you can track down the
Gut Truckers on Facebook.
Just search Gut Truckers.
Give them motherfuckers.
(43:42):
I like Duke.
I truly thank you forsupporting my American dream.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
Now go wash your fucking hands, you filthy savage
.
Last week on Share, the Struggle Podcast, we learned
about resilient optimism.
This week on the podcast we putthat education to the test With
our first fair of the season inthe books and our next big
challenge upon us.
We recap it and see just how itall looks.
Let me tell you something.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Everybody struggles.
The difference is some peoplechoose to go through it and some
choose to grow through it.
The choice is completely yours.
Which one you choose will havea very profound effect on the
way you live your life.
If you find strength in thestruggle, then this podcast is
(00:44):
for you.
Do you have a relationship thatis comfortable with
uncomfortable conversations?
Uncomfortable conversationschallenge you, humble you and
they build you.
When you sprinkle a little timeand distance on it, it all
makes sense.
Most disagreements, they stemfrom our own insecurities.
(01:08):
You are right where you need tobe Back on time.
We need to back off.
We all take on what we'rebehind.
I'll take on what's behind.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
What it do, what it hotDo-do-do-do.
Good Lord, almighty, am I soexcited to be back with you.
Oh, it's true, it is damn true.
Does my voice sound differenty'all?
Does it sound, I don't know,beat the hell in.
In the words of a Mainer, itwould sound something like this
(01:50):
Does it sound all staved in?
I think that's a word that Ifeel like we came up with here
on the Northeast, staved in.
Does that sound all staved into you?
Bubba?
Tell you what I'm a dragon.
I am dragging my clam in thesand.
Okay, yeah, I might as wellhave a metal detector out here
(02:17):
just looking for treasures andsand dollars, because I am just
dragging my aetherion.
He's just a happy little snail.
I'm beat, all right, I'm tiredas all get out, and yeah, that's
about enough complaining, but Ijust wanted to give an
explanation in case I sound alittle rough to y'all, or for
those of you that aren't fromMaine and you're looking to
(02:40):
learn some new words.
We started off this week with anew word staved in that boy over
there, he all staved in.
Tell you what I'm a littletired.
All for good reasons, though.
All for good reasons, which wewill celebrate.
Last week, we talked aboutresilient optimism.
(03:00):
Resilient optimism is apowerful mindset that
acknowledges and acceptsdifficulties while maintaining a
hopeful outlook and belief inone's ability to overcome
challenges, the combination ofoptimism and resilience enabling
individuals to adapt to changeand recover from setbacks.
We had an in-depth discussionabout resilient optimism and how
(03:24):
I thought I coined blindoptimism as something super cool
.
But it already exists and it'sactually not as cool as I
thought it would be.
But upon further research, wecombined a couple of things that
I really appreciate, and thefirst one is resiliency, and we
use that to describe me, and I'mhoping we use that to describe
me, and I'm hoping we use it todescribe you, and I'm hoping
(03:45):
last week's education wasmotivation for you, to encourage
you to continue to have thatpositive outlook, to acknowledge
and recognize setbacks andobstacles, but to continue to
overcome them.
Last week, we continued toovercome obstacles and we went
to the first fair of our seasonand it was a success.
(04:10):
Oh, look at this little baby.
He's starting to learn how towin.
Oh yeah, good job honey.
Good job learning how to win.
True story.
True story last week's firstfair of the season was exactly
what the doctor ordered, we wereup in sales.
(04:31):
I would be willing to say that Ithink this is the first event
of the year that we are actuallyup at the end of the event.
I think everything leading upto this we've been down, but
we've added new things.
You can't really gauge the endof the event.
I think everything leading upto this we've been down, but
we've added new things.
You can't really gauge the endresult against anything else
because we haven't done itbefore.
(04:52):
But when you're talking aboutthose events that we've
continued to have in ourschedule, as you get out there
and start doing those, we are upfor the first time this season,
which is a tremendous victoryfor our season.
Our net sales for the year arecontinuing to be up.
It doesn't feel like it becausewe're taking more chances,
we're investing more, we'redoubling down more.
(05:15):
So by doing that it might feela little bit tighter, but I
think we are approaching somereal growth, I feel like.
So I am hell-bent anddetermined that this season
shall be our greatest saleseason and we are trending in
that direction.
We are headed towards the bestand all be-all results of our
(05:38):
year, but I do think that a lotof that is because we continue
to try new things to challengeus with bigger, bolder, more
beautiful challenges yes, thebeautiful.
And we are on the cusp ofanother one of those, because
tomorrow morning we will beleaving for Syracuse, new York,
which we are so excited about.
(05:59):
We've built this tremendousfamily in New York.
Actually, little Paisley Rain'sgodparents live in New York.
You guys have already heard thatstory so I shall not repeat all
of it because you're probablytired of it.
Yeah, we know this little guy.
We heard it, we heard all aboutit, but you've heard all about
it because we're excited.
(06:20):
Okay, that's how this works.
But you hear me here todaysounding a little sluggish and a
little tired because it's beena whirlwind and I'm recording
this episode right now at about6 AM and getting ready, waiting
for a little piece of the rainto wake up, because it's daddy
daughter day this morning, andthen I'm going to get into full
production mode and we're goingto head out to Syracuse tomorrow
(06:42):
after a quick AM appointment.
So the weekend was a success,y'all.
It felt good to get back intofair season and into something
familiar that also comes withoptimism.
I've been doing things that arefamiliar that also come with
(07:03):
some anxiety and, shall we say,a lack of respect.
I've been doing things where Ijust don't feel as appreciated.
So, rolling into the first fairof the season, being around a
lot of them fair folks thatwe've come to know and love and
appreciate some of thoserelationships that we've built
over the years, being around allthose folks enjoying ourselves
with them, sharing thoseentrepreneur ourselves with them
(07:24):
, sharing those entrepreneurconversations with them, and
then being around all of ourloving, dedicated patrons out
there, those loyal, loving, loud, proud Americans swinging in
having great conversations,supporting the brand and the
cause and buying the product,talking podcasts, talking life,
supporting family, all thosethings was a big just shot of
(07:48):
optimism that we needed.
It was that big victory on theroad of failures.
Right, it's just one of thoseweekends where you're like, okay
, we're trending in the rightdirection here.
Now what I'm going to say isthis Three years ago at that
fair, I had a tremendous numberand I continued to grow going
into that number.
So I thought, hey, man, we arejust off to new horizons here.
(08:10):
And then the following year mynumber was cut by about 50% and
then the next year it went up alittle bit and we were going
into this year so optimistic andfeeling like you know what,
we're going to crush it and I'mgoing to get back to that number
of a few years ago.
And I didn't get all the wayback to that number.
I really didn't get all thatclose to that number, but I did
(08:33):
add a few hundred bucks overlast year's event.
So we are trending in the rightdirection, y'all, we are going
in the right direction.
We are going in the rightdirection.
Friday night actually ended upbeing our best selling Friday in
the history of us being at thisevent.
There was not one day at thefair that I did not beat my day
(08:56):
from the previous year.
So Thursday, friday, saturday,sunday, we were up all four of
those days and in the end of itit shakes out to being up a few
bucks.
So we'll take it.
Y'all, we will take it.
We're going to build off ofthat.
We're going to celebrate all ofthat.
But I'm also going to take aminute to really just
acknowledge and appreciate allthat was the weekend.
(09:18):
We talk about some of thestruggles and the obstacles that
we go through, so I left youoff last week having that
discussion of being a smallbusiness owner sitting in a
parking lot 90, 95 degrees,busting your ass all day, to
then pack for two hours in theheat and realize you only made
40 freaking dollars at the endof the day.
(09:39):
I went from that withoutdragging that failure to my next
success Because, as we talkabout, success is going from
failure to failure without aloss of enthusiasm and I went
into this weekend knowing wewere going to do better than
previous years.
I went into this weekendknowing that this is exactly
what we needed.
So on Sunday, the wife and mymother and my father-in-law they
(10:03):
went over and set the camper up.
So on Sunday, the wife and mymother and my father-in-law they
went over and set the camper upand I ended up going into full
production mode.
After returning from our lastevent and recording the podcast,
I ended up just making as muchstuff as I could.
I ended up debuting a newdesign that I have not been able
to announce online yet, and thereason why I haven't announced
it online is because it was atremendous success.
(10:25):
I literally sold out of somesizings already.
The only bummer is on my way tomy next event I don't think I'm
gonna have.
Well, I there's no thinkingabout it.
I know I won't have theopportunity to restock that
shirt because I can't get theshipping here in time.
So new design that I came outwith it is Midnight Hammer, in
(10:50):
honor of the B-2 mission overIran.
So on the front it says whosays good things don't happen
after midnight?
With a big Midnight Hammer anda couple of bombs on the side of
that bad boy, a couple of B-2svalues.
I've also got a nice BT bomberon the back with an American
(11:11):
flag and the words peace throughstrength since 1776.
It's on like a military coyotebrown t-shirt.
It's pretty sweet, man, I'm abig fan of it.
It's soft, it's comfortable,it's beautiful and it's proudly
made in the USA.
Okay, and it's cool.
I sold a bunch of those.
Man, I had so many people cometo my tent on Saturday and say,
dude, I've seen more of yourMidnight Hammered t-shirts out
(11:35):
here today than like you justmade that shirt, right?
Is everybody coming in here andbuying that and just putting it
on?
My wife was walking around withour One Nation shirt on and her
dad and his girlfriend arewalking around with Midnight
Hammer shirts on and they werestopped by somebody saying they
loved their shirts and Elliotwas like, well, you can go buy
(11:56):
them right over there, and hecame in and bought one of each.
So pretty, damn cool man.
It was really cool to seepeople embrace the new design.
Get out there, celebrate it,wear it.
I will restock more of them.
I do have enough to bring withme to Syracuse, but they're
going to sell out they are goingto sell out, they're going to
be gone.
Okay, this is like aninfomercial right If you call
and the lines are busy, justcall back, all right.
(12:21):
So if you're looking to buy it,we're going to redo it, we're
going to bring it all back toyou, but the truth is it's going
to be gone, gone, gone.
Oh, it's true, it's true, it'strue.
I don't know where that camefrom.
Probably sleep deprivation iswhere that came from.
So that's another littlesuccess there.
We sent out a new T-shirt lastweek, a new design.
(12:43):
It's selling.
Sent out a new t-shirt lastweek and her design is selling
tremendously this week, actuallytoday, later today, after
little Paisley Rain is with herMeemaw later on today, her
Maemaw I'm going to get backinto production and I'm dropping
another new design.
This one will be coming out forSyracuse, coming out for the
racing crowd, the muscle carcrowd.
(13:03):
If you guys have been watchingalong, paying attention, you
know that maybe a month or soago we continued our sponsorship
of KMR racing.
We took their logo and our logoand designed them something
really nice and I promised youthat I would take that design
and turn it into something forLoud Proud American.
We make our own version of thatdesign and it is here, it has
(13:25):
arrived and it shall be donetoday.
Well, that's the plan.
That's the plan for it to bedone today.
As we talk about resilientoptimism and going over
obstacles and stuff, while I'mon this design discussion, I can
outline another one for youthat you just stick and move and
overcome.
So we end up going to the fair.
(13:47):
Let's see what day is this.
Wednesday morning.
Wednesday morning I actuallywell, I printed t-shirts all
evening.
Tuesday night late into thenight, close up, get a few hours
sleep, come back over, get backinto production.
Wednesday morning making asmuch stuff as I possibly can,
throwing the last few things inthe bus.
(14:07):
Me and my mom head out, go upto the fair, open the camper and
then go over to our vendor spot, start building our display,
reconnecting and catching upwith everybody and putting all
the new items in.
Getting all that stuff done,I'm not sure what time we were
done setting up, maybe 9 o'clockat night Somewhere around there
(14:29):
.
We had our display allfinalized and then on Thursday
we get up, go over to the fair,open things up and get things
rocking and rolling.
And we had a great Thursday, ourfirst day of the fair Beat last
year and it set us off intojust that positive ball of
(14:50):
energy, that positive ball justrolling down the hill right.
We were just feeling, oh sonice.
So I went into Thursday sayinghere's the deal I need some new
stuff for Syracuse, I need torestock some things for Syracuse
that are selling out, and so todo that, I need to sell some
(15:11):
stuff.
All right, so my philosophy wason Thursday I'm going to have a
great Thursday, and usually youkind of have like a 50-50,
60-40 split where people areputting either making purchases
with cash versus credit cards.
So my assumption was I'm goingto get enough credit card sales
(15:31):
on Thursday that are going toautomatically deposit overnight
into my bank account that onFriday morning I can get up and,
as long as I place my orderbefore typically one o'clock,
you turn on a two-day shippingscenario.
That'll get my apparel that'sin stock to me so I can restock
(15:53):
and get things done for our nextevent.
So here's the thing Thursdayhaving a great day, super
excited about the fact that Iwas getting a lot of cash and,
as a small business owner, y'alllove cash, okay, one of the
biggest reasons for a smallbusiness owner to love cash is
there's no processing fee oncash.
Okay, one of the biggest reasonsfor a small business owner to
love cash is there's noprocessing fee on cash.
(16:15):
When I take credit cards, I'mgoing to lose, you know, roughly
3% in card processing fees andall those things.
But for me, on the first day ofthe fair, what I needed was a
little bit of credit card sales,because it would have
automatically deposited into myaccount because I can't get to
my account from where I'm at.
So here's the thing, folks Ofall the sales on our day, the
(16:36):
day that beat the previous year,not one person paid with credit
card.
A lovely problem to have,unless you needed the money to
get deposited into your account.
You might be saying to yourselfwell, this is a small business
owner, why is he depending onsales from one day to pay things
the next day?
He's a small business owner thatis just treading water.
(16:57):
Okay, times are tough.
America Lay off of me, so Ineed a cash.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
It wasn't going in.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
I had it in my drawer but I couldn't get to the bank.
That's when you suck up to thewife and ask her to put some
funds in your bank account soyou can place an order for some
apparel, that when she shows upyou can give her her cash back
so she can put it back in thebank.
That's one more thing that goeswith owning a small business
just that family commitment andsacrifice that has to be made.
(17:27):
We talk about it week afterweek after week, but you really
can't go into these things alone.
You need a support group andthankfully, my wife and my
mother have been tremendous forme to keep this rocking and
rolling.
So we placed an order so that Ican get our new design out this
week and then, ironically, onthis same conversation, I go
(17:50):
ahead and get the apparel ordertaken care of and then my
graphics team messages me andsays yeah, so your credit card
declined, so we're going to holdonto your order until you get
that cleared up.
Well, they took my shippingcharge from $16 to 60.
And I didn't budget that on theaccount that I gave them, so I
(18:13):
had to proceed to argue withthem to then get that processed
and put through the mail.
So my designs arrived yesterdayand my t-shirts, as luck should
have it, are running late, sothey should arrive today, while
today just happens to be one ofthose days where I get up at
five in the morning, I bring mymom to work.
Well, today just happens to beone of those days where I get up
(18:34):
at five in the morning, I bringmy mom to work, I roll into the
office, record the podcast, andthen I sneak on over to the
house as Paisley reigns wakingup and we have breakfast, and
then it's daddy-daughter timeuntil my mama gets out of work.
So my scenario for today isgoing to be trying to get
Paisley to entertain herselflong enough for me to do book
work, paperwork and phone calls,which will not happen, I know
(18:54):
that won't happen and then mymom's going to get out of work
at two o'clock.
I'm going to pick her up, comehome and then by about three
o'clock I ought to be in theoffice working until the sun
comes up.
That's pretty much how my timeis going to be scheduled.
Okay, that's just facts of life.
That's how this is going towork.
(19:15):
So back to the fair folks.
Things went really good for us,man.
We made it through.
We had a successful weekend.
It wasn't all that I hoped for,let's be honest.
I set goals that I feel areattainable and then I set goals
that I feel like are home runsand I came close to my bare
minimum small goal improvement.
(19:37):
You know what I'm saying.
It was good, it was a gain, itwas a win.
It wasn't all that I hoped for,but I'm guessing it was all
that I needed and deserved.
Okay, so we made that happen.
We dropped the new design.
It was tremendously successful.
It's got me encouraged aboutour next new design.
It was tremendously successful.
It's got me encouraged aboutour next new design because, as
the events go, I'm trying toroll out new things.
(19:58):
Every time I go to a new largeevent, I have all these designs
and ideas in the pipeline andI'm trying to get them out as
fast as I can afford them.
So we're excited, man.
Things are changing, things aremoving.
It's been a struggle to keep upwith things, to maintain things
, like I'm selling out of thingsand trying to reorder them in
between events, and that's partof the struggle that we're
(20:21):
talking about.
Between last week, you knowyou're, you're running out of
stuff, you're at an event andyou can see it happening.
You go ahead, place an order onFriday, um, and then it's going
to arrive on Tuesday and you'regoing to leave on Wednesday.
All these moving parts.
That's just part of what I'mgoing through.
That's part of what I'm growingthrough.
We're in this growing season forthe business and I know that
(20:43):
we're off to bigger and bolder,more beautiful things.
I just have to overcome thesestruggles and I know at the end
of the season I'm going to beable to sit back and say dude,
you did this, you built this,you've achieved some of the
greatest year of success thatyou've achieved.
And you had to work your assoff and do it in a whole
different way and angle, but youmade it and I know that's
(21:05):
what's going to be for me.
I can see it.
I know it's coming.
I'm just working as hard andfast as I can towards it and I
get these little adrenalineboosters that kick in when you
have a successful event, whenyou, you know, gain numbers over
your previous year.
You get another boost when youcreate a new design and it
becomes super successful in yourfirst event.
(21:28):
You get another boost when youstart reconnecting with just
valued customers.
When you reconnect with thoseloud, proud Americans that are
becoming friends and family,when you get reconnected with
your small business familythat's on the road and you sit
back and bounce ideas andstories off of each other, off
(21:56):
of each other, you start to justbuild and manifest this
adrenaline boost, this positiveball of optimism, and that is
what really carries you into thenext event, that allows you to
overcome those obstacles.
And that's exactly what Ineeded and that's exactly what
this fair was about.
I love going back to a fairthat I grew up at and just kind
(22:16):
of regrounding myself andgetting ready for the season.
So, as I was saying, numberwise, great success.
Connecting with customers andfriends and family another great
success, right, and exactlywhat we needed when we needed it
the benefit of having a day andthen sitting down with
(22:37):
businesses that you trust andlook up to, like Ledgeway Farm,
and having these conversationsabout just how they get to where
they are, what their philosophyis and where they're going.
Motivation for us, brainstormingangles and events and
opportunities and avenues togrow.
We also uncovered another newpotential event that I will be
(23:03):
making phone calls on today toget into.
Matt brought up an event to meand then he ended up working on
getting me some contact info andintroduced me to somebody and
we're working on maybe doingsomething different, adding
something else to the schedulethis year.
So hopefully next week's show,I can recap Syracuse and
(23:23):
announce to you something new.
Yet another new event for us togo to.
This year that's a part of thechallenges of this year.
This year, that's a part of thechallenges of this year we
jumped just head over heels outof our comfort zone and we went
to Daytona.
We did Daytona Bike Week, abucket list item and opportunity
(23:44):
and event for our business.
We did it.
We went out there and did it.
We are about to go to Syracuse,new York.
We are leaving tomorrow foranother tremendous event Out of
our comfort zone, out of ourwheelhouse.
I am still working on being avendor in the Catskill Mountains
(24:06):
of New York for anothermotorcycle rally in September.
We're also looking at anotherevent that I just mentioned to
you that will take me into a newarea that I have not done.
That's actually in my state.
We're talking about a handfulof events that are all new, that
are all outside of the range inwhich we typically operate.
(24:27):
Those challenges, those efforts, those risks are all part of
the reason why we are having thebest sale season we have ever
had and it's all part of thereason why next year I'm going
to remove things from myschedule that I've been doing
for five years because they arenot growing our business and
(24:49):
we're going to continue to applyourselves to new, bigger
challenges to grow our business.
And we're going to continue toapply ourselves to new, bigger
challenges to grow our business.
I have begun to learn that Ineed to make decisions that are
right for my business, notdecisions because I have friends
and connections right.
We often do things in lifebecause we're just being nice.
(25:12):
We do things in life because wedon't want to disappoint, we
don't want to upset, we don'twant to offend people that are
close to us.
Oftentimes we continue to dothings that don't really service
us any longer, that don'tbenefit us any longer, because
we are afraid to upset somebodyclose to us.
We are worried we're going toruin a relationship.
(25:33):
Well, the truth is, the momentthat you feel like you are
jeopardizing a relationshipbecause you're bettering
yourself and your family andyour business, then it's not a
relationship worth having andthat's where I've gotten to in
my life.
If I'm going to upset you bydoing what's right for my
business, my family and myself,then you are only in it for you
(25:58):
and that's okay.
But I don't need to continue todo things just to appease you.
So, with that said, all thesenew obstacles and challenges and
risks that we're taking ismotivating for me to continue
down this path next year and I'mexcited about it.
I'm so excited about it.
So, over the weekend successfulweekend, as I said connecting,
(26:21):
reconnecting, regrounding,getting motivated, uncovering
new opportunities, new avenuesthat we will hopefully be able
to check off our list soon.
But one of the craziest thingsof the weekend for me and this
is something that I need toshare, because I feel like when
(26:42):
we go into these events, there'soften something that you don't
really slow down and see orrealize that's happening to you
or for you.
And when you slow down andembrace that, that's where the
true lesson is.
And this weekend there wassomething that was really
eye-opening for me and it wasemotional and it was hard to
(27:05):
process and, as I think about it, that kind of gets me a little
bit emotional.
But, as I've said to you guysbefore, I grew up at this fair.
This little county fair issomething that I spent my
childhood at, my whole childhood.
When I was a kid, I used to goto this fair and my dad used to
make race cars.
He used to buy these maildelivery Jeeps they used to be
(27:26):
Toyota Land Cruisers and hewould cut them all apart and
take the frame and drop a bigblock Chevy in it and they'd get
a bunch of diamond plate, sealand weld up this big monster of
a, of a, of a freaking machine,and he would take his headers
and flip them upside down,straight up, pointing them to
the sky, and he'd put these bigmud boggers on it and and he
(27:46):
would go out and race at thisfair and and two of my uncles
would do the exact same thingand their with their own ideas
and theories, and and so it wasthis big family just big family
to do.
And I grew up at this fair.
All I wanted to do was be atthis fair, drag racing on the
weekends, like my, like my dadand like my uncle did.
(28:08):
I used to be around my cousinsand my aunts and just enjoy
everything and just camp for theweekend and race and sit around
the campfire.
It was just an amazing thing andI miss it so much and I'm
always connected to my dad whenI'm there and I struggle with my
(28:28):
dad not being here because somany people there know my dad
and they ask about him and someof my best childhood memories
were made right here at thisfair.
So here I am yet again at thisfair and it's another year
without my dad, and this yearends up being a lot different.
(28:50):
Ends up being a lot differentBecause not only am I there
without my dad, I'm actuallythere for the very first time
with my daughter.
There's a lot of bittersweetness that goes with that
(29:41):
goes with that Because I livewith daily regret that I was
never able to take my daughter,her not growing up, knowing that
feeling that crushes me.
It took me a man, it took meall the way to really the last
day to realize what washappening.
(30:06):
You know, on Sunday, matt fromLedgeway Farm came over and said
, hey, I want to go up to thetrack, to the drags, and see a
friend of mine race, and he'dnever really been up there
before.
So I brought him up and westood there and we were just
talking and I was able toexplain to him part of what was
happening and what he waswatching, like you know, um, how
the lights work, how qualifyingworks, red lights, breakouts,
all these different, differentthings.
(30:26):
And it just started bringing meback to being a little kid and
and I was sitting there orstanding there watching
everything.
And then, you know, it turnedinto conversation with some
other folks that are there, orthis guy that we met.
That's a wicked awesome guythat he's a big part of the
track and the fairgrounds and heraces, and we're talking and
(30:48):
just sharing stories and Istarted bringing up stories of
my childhood there and heremembered some of them and just
reflecting, and I'm juststanding there and I'm just
remembering myself as a childSpending all my time there.
And you sit back and you'rewatching other people living
(31:12):
your old life, like I'm lookingaround at the crowd and I'm
looking at people and I'mwatching these families live out
my childhood and as I'mstanding there, one of the drag
cars comes up, gets staged, andI look over and it was one of my
(31:38):
uncle's old vehicles and it'sbeen all repainted and looks
different.
But you can't mistake what thatvehicle was.
You can't mistake the body onthat.
I know it was his.
And there's a funny thing aboutyou know these racers at this
track, like they've, some ofthem have been using the same,
(32:00):
the same stuff for, you know, 15, 20 years.
I remember as a little kid howmuch I adored that truck.
I watched it go down the trackand so many memories just came
right back.
It was enjoyable and difficult.
(32:24):
I could have sat there thewhole day and watched that.
But, man, do they make me missmy dad.
It's one of those internalstruggles where you're feeling
close to somebody and you'refeeling close to your past and
(32:44):
you're reflecting on yourchildhood and your memories, but
you're also realizing that man,that was an entire lifetime ago
, because those three men that Igrew up watching race have all
passed on.
Now one of them is still herewith us.
(33:05):
My daughter will not experiencethat.
That's a part of my life,that's.
You know, it's gone.
It's crazy to sit back and watchother people living your
childhood and realize that therewas a time in life where we
(33:30):
were some of the most important,popular, pivotal people at that
track, at that event, mainstays, faces of the place that no
longer are remembered, that werequickly replaced, that now the
new generation and all the newfolks don't remember any of us
don't remember any of it.
(33:50):
It's like it didn't exist.
It's so crazy to me to be thereand experience it and say, man,
this is my childhood, this issuch a big part of my life.
I spent so many years of mylife here and it's erased and
replaced.
So many years of my life hereand it's erased and replaced.
Nobody remembers it.
It's like it didn't exist.
It is a ridiculouslymind-messing experience to stand
(34:11):
there and take all in and Iguess that maybe as I get older
I'm just going to see a lot moreof this shit and I'll get a lot
better at acknowledging it andmoving on.
And it never really hit meuntil this year, because this
year I'm standing there and I'mwatching this without my dad, at
the first fair with my daughter.
It's crazy, dude.
(34:33):
It's crazy.
This whirlwind of emotions I'mhaving right now is wild.
I didn't plan on this and I'msure a lot of this is because
I'm absolutely sleep deprived atthis moment, but I was having a
great time.
I was having an absolute greattime with the track and I went
back and at the end of the day,when I was packing, I started to
reflect and explain to my wifehow much it hurt and how much it
(34:56):
healed all at the same time,and I began to realize this
little fair that I grew up at.
When I was Paisley's age, I washere In the arms of my family
and their friends, just likelittle Paisley is today At this
(35:19):
fair in our arms with ourfriends and family, on a whole
different side of the fair.
Man, it might not sound like itto you, but to me it was one of
the craziest eye-opening,heart-wrenching, mind-bending
(35:43):
exercises that I did not know Ineeded to sign up for.
Why?
is my life always a dick kick.
Can anybody answer that for me?
Why is my life a dick kick?
You are riding the wave ofbeing up on success, but we're
going to pop you in the blinkersof emotion.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Why Okay Good.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Lord.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
I don't need to learn so many lessons week to week.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
One of these weeks, I'm just going to turn this
microphone on and I'm going tosay you know what folks?
I killed it.
We had a weekend no issues, nodrama, no obstacles, no setbacks
, no heartache, no tears.
I just showed up, I sold outand I made it kill it.
That's what I'm hoping is ontap for Syracuse as we put this
(36:38):
little hometown fair, heartfelt,tear-filled, gut-wrenching
story behind us and we get readyto move on to what's in front
of us.
I'm hoping it's tremendous andseamless and beautiful and
successful.
But what I can say is yesterdaywe packed up the camp.
We came home, everything wentsmooth.
(37:00):
Wifey's in the camper takingthings out and getting
reorganized and cleaning things,and I'm in the and the camper,
you know um, taking things outand getting reorganized and
cleaning things, and I'm in thebus dumping um stuff from the
last event that does not need togo to the new event, getting
prepared for the new event andknowing that today I'm going to
be printing all day and throwingthings in the bus.
So when that was all said anddone, the bus is looking kind of
(37:22):
filthy.
We've been, you know,fairgrounds getting dusty and
getting ready to get on a roadtrip, and I like leaving for
road trips looking nice andclean and we're going to a place
that's beautiful with amazingcars and we're an eyesore enough
rolling in with our bus.
Okay, I'm just going to cleanit up.
So I tell the wife, hey, I'mgoing to run down to the car
(37:46):
wash real quick, put this suckeroutside, spray her down.
And on the way there shestarted to surge and sound like
shit and run a little funky,little funky in the trunky.
And I look down and notice,just in time for my dash to
light up and say, check chargingsystem, my battery light to
start blinking.
And then I watch my batteryvoltage start dropping out of
sight.
I pull in, wash, the washer up,get back in.
(38:09):
Everything's going normal,starts to act up, take the phone
out, get it on record, get aquick little video of it as it
throws the codes and goes backinto the same scenario, send it
on over to the boys at TorqueSolutions and say what in the
hell is happening.
So what I thought was going tobe a seamless work evening ended
up being well, let's load up,bring the bus to the garage,
(38:32):
drop it off and let them getback to it.
And what we've quicklydiscovered is there's some like
an old connection.
It ends up being what we seemto be.
One of the cables coming off ofthe alternator, like the pin
connectors, seem to be bad.
So this morning the boys aregoing to be working on,
hopefully trying to rewire thatand get that straightened up
(38:53):
before we hit the road.
So again, another little hiccup, little setback, right, but it
happened right here at homebefore I hit the road.
So I'm going to take that as apositive.
And when we start talking aboutadrenaline boost and we start
talking about relentlessoptimism and all these new
things that we're doing and thatdose of dopamine, we're getting
(39:16):
real freaking excited aboutSyracuse.
This is going to be atremendous event for us.
The more that we look at it,the more that we research it.
I'm literally sitting in thecamper of Ledgeway Farm, matt
and Sarah, and we're looking atsome of the events that we're
both doing on YouTube and Ipulled up Syracuse Nationals on
(39:36):
YouTube and I watched a dronevideo over the fairgrounds and
man, did I get excited Boy.
There are some people at thisplace and I know we're going to
show up and we're going to dogreat.
They're like-minded folks.
You can't be there withAmerican-made muscle cars, not
want an American-made apparel.
It's going to be a beautifulrelationship and we're going to
(39:58):
spend it with some of ourabsolutely favorite people in
this world, so we are geared upfor success.
Today's going to be a tough day.
Today's going to be a difficultday because I got a lot to get
done and it's also Daddy DayCare Day so we got a long road
ahead of us.
I don't know how late it'sgoing to be, but by the time
(40:20):
this podcast drops, I'm going tobe getting ready to hit the
road depending on what time youlisten.
If you listen on a winningWednesday and it's after, oh say
, 10 or 11 am, I'll be driving,okay.
So wish me luck, say a littleprayer for me, okay.
But I am so encouraged and I'mso excited and I know this is
going to be an amazing weekendand it's already a tremendous
(40:44):
opportunity.
Going to be an amazing weekendand it's already a tremendous
opportunity.
I'm feeling blessed and beforeI get off this little episode
here to put the biggest emphasison being blessed, little
(41:08):
Paisley had her follow-upappointment with a neurology
specialist, a pediatricneurology specialist, and he
gave her a clean bill of health,so clean that he discharged her
from the office.
She no longer needs him as adoctor.
So a few months ago, when wespent the weekend at the Barbara
Bush Children's Hospital,worried about what could be,
what might be and what was to be, we put all of that in the
(41:28):
hands of God and we prayed andwe prayed and we were, and are,
rewarded with tremendous newsPaisley is healthy.
No issues, no worries, noconcerns.
And that, folks, is the biggestand best and most beautiful
news that I could have heard.
That overcomes all obstacles.
(41:52):
That is what is, and shallalways be, most important.
So because of that, I want tosay thank you to each and every
one of you for always supportingme and my family and our
American dream.
Now go wash your fucking hands,you filthy savage.
(42:13):
That's it and that's all BiggieSmalls.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
If you're a loud, proud American and you find
yourself just wanting more, findme on YouTube and Facebook at
Loud, proud American Put theface page, as my mama calls it.
If you're a fan of the GrahamCracker, you want to find me on
Instagram, or all the kids bytickety-talking on the TikTok,
(42:52):
you can find me on both of thoseat loud, underscore, proud,
underscore American.
A big old thank you to the boysfrom the Gut Truckers for the
(43:13):
background beats and the themesong to this year's podcast.
If you are enjoying what you'rehearing, you can track down the
Gut Truckers on Facebook.
Just search Gut Truckers.
Give them motherfuckers.
(43:42):
I like Duke.
I truly thank you forsupporting my American dream.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
Now go wash your fucking hands, you filthy savage
.
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