June 25, 2025 • 45 mins
Ever notice how that familiar routine you once loved suddenly feels like a prison? That's exactly what hit me this week as I found myself sweating in my garage, recording this episode while contemplating one of life's hardest truths: I've outgrown my comfort zone.
After 13 years of entertaining crowds at Bentley Saloon's bike week—hosting pinup contests, DJing events, and building my brand—I faced an uncomfortable realization. What once felt like my safety net had transformed into a source of restlessness and anxiety. Despite the amazing memories, loyal customers, and friendships formed (including meeting my daughter's godparents!), something had shifted. That nagging feeling of boredom wasn't just fatigue; it was my inner voice screaming that it's time for change.
The signs were everywhere. Declining attendance at motorcycle events mirrored my declining enthusiasm. I was stepping over dollars to pick up dimes, clinging to guaranteed income while missing bigger opportunities. My loyalty to familiar routines had become chains rather than support. This episode breaks down the telltale signs you've outgrown your comfort zone: boredom with once-loved activities, stagnation in skill development, fear of trying new things, and that strange anxiety that creeps in during familiar situations.
Making this decision wasn't easy. Leaving behind guaranteed events means stepping into uncertainty. But growth demands discomfort. As I shared the vendor confrontation that ended with my now-infamous line "You want to help me? Get the f*ck out of my tent," I realized something profound—I'm ready for new challenges, new stages, and new opportunities to serve my business and family better.
What security blankets are you clutching that might actually be holding you back? Remember, feeling restless about once-beloved activities isn't failure—it's evolution. Your potential exceeds your current circumstances, but only if you're brave enough to step into the unknown. Subscribe to the Share the Struggle podcast and join me as we navigate this journey of growth, authenticity, and self-discovery together.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
When you start to feel boredom, restlessness or a
desire for more challenge inyour familiar routines and
activities, you have likelyoutgrown your comfort zone.
This feeling indicates it istime to step outside and pursue
new experiences andopportunities that will lead to
growth and self-discovery.
This week, I learned a long,hard lesson that I am too damn
(00:25):
comfortable and it is time totake on new challenges.
All that and some aggressivelyfunny stories Today on Share the
Struggle Podcast.
That's it and that's all.
Biggie Smalls.
If you're a Loud, proudAmerican and you find yourself
(01:03):
just wanting more, find me onYouTube and Facebook at loud,
proud American, or the face 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 by ticketytalking on the tick tock.
You can find me on both ofthose at loud, underscore, proud
(01:24):
, underscore American.
A big old thank you to the boysfrom the Gut Truckers for the
background beats and the themesong to this year's podcast.
If you are enjoying what you'rehearing, you can track down the
(01:45):
Gut Truckers on Facebook Justsearch Gut Truckers.
Give them, motherfuckers, alike too.
Feel the pain, make it bleed, Ihate to say.
(02:07):
I taught you.
So I truly thank you forsupporting my American dream.
Now, go wash your fucking hands, you filthy savage.
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
What it do, what it haDo-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do do,
do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do,do, do, do, get alone, almighty.
(02:28):
Am I so excited to be back withyou.
Oh, it's true, it is damn true,boo, y'all know I love you, mm,
mm, mm, mm.
Episode 259, and I'm feeling, oh, so fine and so fine and a
touch sweaty.
Wow, maybe real sweaty andshort on breath.
I mean, maybe that's justsomething to do with my overall
(02:58):
thick physique.
All kidding aside people, theold weatherman and my iphone app
is telling me it is 99 degreeshere in sunny Arundel, maine,
but it feels like 299.
Good God, almighty, is it hot?
It's a hot 99, y'all, it isthick like my thighs.
You know, when you sweat sohard, it just gets in your eyes
(03:20):
and burns.
Oh, man, everything about todayis hot and disgusting.
I'm just going to put it outthere.
Man, it ain't safe to be outthere.
People Don't do it.
Who am I kidding?
I did it anyways.
We all did it.
But it is what it is, man.
We got to deal with it right.
Here we are.
We'll be bitching about snowand cold temps before you know
(03:42):
it.
But I'm setting the scene topaint the picture, to pave the
road for the story to be told,to let y'all know, I'm recording
in the garage today.
Okay, I am in the garage doinga little recording here because
I'm trying to stay cool.
And if I record in the housethen I got to cut the air
conditioning because thathumming noise would not make for
(04:04):
proper audio for the fans hereof the podcast.
You know what I mean.
So I'm gonna be sweating to theold these in the garage with
y'all.
I can't, uh, go upstairs, cutthe power on the air conditioner
and then let the house just getsmoldering and we make the
whole family suffer it now.
So I shall suffer alone.
I shall do all the suffering.
(04:25):
It's all part of the commitment, the sacrifice.
You know Just the plan that wehave at hand.
This is why we have 259consecutive weeks of the podcast
, because I do dumb shit likethis Recording the podcast in a
garage surrounded by laundrythat needs to go upstairs.
Anyways, here I am.
Can't promise you how long I'mgoing to be here, folks.
(04:46):
Rather, I'm going to pass outwith the record button still on
and you'll hear a lot of awkwardsilence and maybe some snoring
or gurgling for air.
But I'm here.
That's my commitment to you.
All my day ones out there, myloyal ones, my day one listeners
, get your ones up.
I appreciate you, I acknowledgeyou and I thank you for your
(05:08):
nearly five years of support.
All of my new ones welcome toShare the Struggle podcast,
where we get on here and we justshare our struggle.
We speak our truth because weknow that there is strength in
our truth, in our stories.
You just got to be willingenough to share it in our
stories.
You just got to be willingenough to share it.
And I know there's a lot of newones out there because I've
(05:29):
seen a nice bump in listenershipevery single week.
So thank you and welcome allthe new ones.
I know some of y'all are hookedbecause you're going back to
the catalog and starting fromscratch.
So I appreciate that.
I encourage anybody that'slistening, that's enjoying the
show, to go back and get caughtup and follow along and listen.
We are available on all majorplatforms.
(05:50):
You can also find us atwwwshadestrugglepodcastcom.
Yeah, it's funny man.
Every week there's a new storyto be told, there's a new
struggle to overcome.
There's a new obstacle tohandle.
A new struggle to overcome,there's a new obstacle to handle
.
There's a new challenge, right?
That's kind of how things work.
Last week, we were on heretalking about being taken
(06:10):
advantage of, and when you startto feel like you're being taken
advantage of and we wentthrough a whole list of good,
powerful questions to askyourself to identify if you are
being taken advantage of, if youreally value that relationship
then we even identified somequestions that you can ask to
set some clear boundaries andput some things on the table.
(06:33):
But there's another layer tothe whole being taken advantage
of that I feel like I'm kind ofdealing with as well.
That kind of just puts allthings together, right?
I guess when you start toanalyze things and you start to
peel back the onion a little bitand figure out what it is
that's going on in your littleworld, you start asking yourself
(06:56):
all those questions, like wetalked about last week, and I
identified something else, andthat something else is that
maybe I've allowed myself tolive in my comfort zone, and I
know there's a bunch of you outthere right now listening that
have been listening for a while,being like dude, you ain't
living in a comfort zone, you'vebeen taking chances and
starting dances and wildfires.
(07:17):
Man, you haven't been living inyour comfort zone.
And I will say to you you'reright and thank you.
I appreciate that.
There's a lot of areas in mylife where I'm not in my comfort
zone, I'm jumping out.
But there's also this littleblankie, this little security
blankie that I've been holdingon to that every single year.
I can count on that, I candepend on that, I rely on.
(07:38):
It's become this safety blanketfor me, this little comfy
blanket.
All I can think about rightthere.
When I said that is Tommy Boy,when Chris Farley's at the diner
ordering chicken wings and hehas a little roll, he's my
little pet and he's naughty andI pat him and I massage him.
(07:59):
You're naughty, you're naughtylittle pet.
Anyways, that's all I couldthink about was Chris Farley in
a dinner roll right there forsome reason.
But the truth is there's a bigportion of my schedule and of my
life that I've taken the easyroad on that I've just said.
Well, here's a few things thatgo into this.
Number one my loyalty to thepeople.
Number two my connection to thepeople, my connection to the
(08:27):
customer base, to my friends, tomy family, all these things.
I start to check off the easybutton, the convenience button,
and then you start to sit thereand realize, man, maybe I feel a
little bored, maybe thisboredom actually turns into
restlessness, where I'm just nolonger happy doing what I'm
doing, where I just I don't evenknow how to explain it, guys
(08:50):
when you have something that'sbeen a source of comfort for so
long, when you have somethingthat's been a source of security
for so long, all of a sudden bea source of restlessness,
that's tough when it also startsto create some anxiety and you
start to think, man, maybe thisjust isn't right for me.
(09:10):
Well, if I start to connect someof our recent episodes my wife
coming on here talking aboutremoving negativity, me coming
on here talking about beingtaken advantage of to now
connecting the dots to a comfortzone what I've learned is
there's some things that I'mdoing, there's some things that
I've kept on my schedule for mybusiness because they've been
(09:33):
comfortable and they've nowbecome a source of restlessness
and it's time to pull the plug,to cut the cord and to head in a
different direction.
So, after being at BentleySaloon for bike week, doing what
I've always done and what I'vealways loved.
(09:53):
I've sat around and askedmyself a lot of questions and I
started to realize that I wasjust feeling a little bit
different about things.
So, with that said, I'm goingto highlight some stuff.
I did a little bit of researchand there's going to be some
questions in here or someidentifiers for you that maybe,
as you're listening today, youcan start to ask yourself is
there something that I'm doingjust because it's comfortable,
(10:15):
because it's routine, becauseit's the easy button, because
it's just expected of me?
That no longer is servicing me,it's not benefiting me.
So I'm going to have thesethings and we're going to talk
about them, we're going to workthrough some things and we're
going to share some detailsabout them things and we're
going to have some fun with allthese things.
That's the plan today onepisode 259.
(10:35):
So if you are starting to feelboredom, if you are starting to
have some restlessness or adesire for more challenge in
your familiar routines andactivities, then you have
outgrown your comfort zone.
This feeling indicates it istime to step outside and pursue
new experiences andopportunities that will lead to
(10:57):
growth and self-discovery For me.
One big giant red flag for mewas my recent Bike Week
experience, because at the tailend of Bike Week there's a
couple of events that I justlove to do.
One of them is a tattoo contestthat I came up with and worked
(11:17):
with a good friend of mine,tommy Tommy from Tommy's Tattoo
Conventions, and we brought thisto Lisa Bentley Saloon and then
I was able to handpick somejudges that I wanted One of the
best tattoo artists in Maine,chad Chase, and a super cool,
awesome, badass traditionaltattoo artist that won Ink
(11:37):
Master Season 13, jimmy Snaz andput everybody in the same room
and had this super fun contestand I loved every single thing
about it.
I had an absolute blast buteven with that said, there was
just a kind of a draw on myenergy knowing that I had to get
up and ready for all thesethings after a long week of
struggling in a parking lot tomake ends meet.
(11:59):
You know what I mean let's justsay poorly attended bike week.
Know what I mean?
A, um, let's just say poorlyattended bike week.
I do feel like a lot of thesebiker rallies are just not what
they used to be.
I'm not throwing shots at, youknow, like bettany saloon, I'm
just saying the whole motorcycleindustry isn't what it is.
I'm willing to bet there's nomore than a half a dozen
(12:20):
dealerships in the entirecountry that could honestly tell
you they've experienced growthyear over year for the past
three to five years.
It's not possible.
People just aren't buyingmotorcycles like they used to.
Motorcycles aren't gettingproduced like they used to.
That market, that industry is,in my opinion, like a dying
(12:40):
breed.
I'm not going to say that it'sever going to just die off, but
it's probably never going to bewhat it once was.
The market's been oversaturatedand a lot of the population
that loves to ride motorcycleshas unfortunately died off.
If you go to a school today,like a high school, when you
look around they're not going tofind motorcycles in the parking
lot, maybe one.
(13:02):
When I was a kid, cool kidswould ride to school on their
motorcycles.
Now it's diesel pickup trucksor lowered, ridiculous stupid
Subarus with fart cans forexhaust or whatever They've
moved on.
The super cool thing isn'tmotorcycles.
So until they get thatpopulation back, it's going to
(13:25):
be tough to grow that right.
And then you start to thinkabout distracted drivers and
self-driving vehicles and roadrage and you start to think
about protests and riots andstreets and stuff and a lot of
people just don't want to be ona motorcycle anymore so that's
kind of dying off.
So when you're not selling andproducing as many motorcycles
(13:46):
and motorcycle related eventsdon't have as many people going
to them, and I feel like Iexperienced that when I went to
Daytona.
The local bike week for us isLaconia Bike Week in Laconia,
new Hampshire, and I'm justgoing to say it, it's the least
fun of all the bike weeks youcan think of.
The local, I guess you wouldsay not really the business
(14:10):
owners, but it's a big politicalthing Like a city council type
of scenario, law enforcement.
They've really taken the funout of Laconia Bike Week over
the past few years so it's justnot really heavily attended.
So when we're depending ontraffic from that bike week for
the success of our events, it'sjust not going to be there.
Over the past few years it justhasn't turned out like it used
(14:33):
to.
It seems like every year theresults for me as far as sales
goes down and down and down.
This year I was down 20% overlast year, which was down, I
would say 20-25% from the yearbefore.
So it's just not trending inthe right direction, right.
So when you're out theresuffering through some slow days
, it's kind of hard to build upthe excitement for an event that
(14:55):
you're going to do.
Now the big symbol for me, thebig shining beacon of light that
said go in a differentdirection, is I had to host the
pinup contest, which I've beeninvolved with the pinup contest
for 13 years.
I've always told everybody itis the best day at Bentley
Saloon, it is the busiest day atthe Saloon, it's the funnest,
(15:17):
and I get to control the crowd,the tempo, the environment, the
energy, the whole thing.
I love everything about it.
I went from being a judge tobeing an announcer, to emceeing
and DJing at the same time, andI love it.
I've made so much of it rightand I'm proud of it.
I love it.
(15:39):
I've made so much of it rightand I'm proud of it.
But I'm bored of it and Irealized that I'm just kind of
over it.
And Saturday I had to drum upthe energy to make it happen and
I did the best I could and Ithink it was a great time and I
feel happy to go out on a greatperformance.
But when I realize that I'mbored, I'm bored with a routine
(16:02):
with an event that I used tolove and get excited about.
That feeling is telling me it'stime to step outside and pursue
new experiences.
I got to find new opportunitiesthat will lead to growth and
self-discovery, and it's toughbecause I have so many wild,
different things on my scheduleevery year, so many chances that
(16:23):
I have to take that.
This has been that securityblanket for me that I just fall
back into and know I can counton.
Hey, I have these three events,I have these DJ gigs.
I can just schedule them, setit and forget it.
Know it's going to be there forme, but I found myself feeling
bored.
So, when you start to thinkthat you might be outgrowing
(16:44):
your comfort zone, I got someidentifiers we're going to have
to go over here.
You ready the first one.
We've already been touching onboredom and lack of excitement.
When your daily routine feelsmonotonous and lacks any spark
or novelty, it's a sign thatyou've likely stayed within your
comfort zone for too long.
Now, as we're going over thesethings, I want a lot of you guys
(17:06):
that are driving to work today,that are on treadmills, that
are just jamming out.
I want you to think about thisand think about areas in your
life.
Is it a career, you know?
Is it like hobbies, differentactivities?
Start to just ask yourself allthose things For me it's part of
my schedule for business, partof my routine, part of my event
(17:27):
plan, right?
So for me it's not really dailyroutine, it's just things that
are on my calendar that now havebecome monotonous and they lack
spark.
And that's a sign to me thatI've kind of outgrown those
things that I've come to growand love so much, right?
(17:47):
The next thing is stagnation.
If you feel like you're notlearning anything new,
developing new skills or makingprogress towards your goals,
it's a signal to challengeyourself.
For me, I guess you could sayafter 13 years, I don't really
feel a challenge in what I'mdoing, but I have challenged
myself to do different thingsall along the way, like I just
(18:08):
said, to go from a judge toannouncing, to go from
announcing to incorporatingmusic, to DJing, to doing all
these different things.
So I'm always trying to learnsomething new, but I guess it's
I'm at a point where I realizedI'm not making progress towards
my goals, like I'm not making amassive difference.
So if you're out there andyou're starting to feel a little
(18:29):
stagnant, then maybe you'veoutgrown your comfort zone.
Another one is fear of tryingnew things.
If you find yourselfconsistently avoiding new
situations, activities or socialinteractions due to fear or
discomfort, you might belimiting your growth potential
and that right there, folks, isa surefire sign that you've been
(18:51):
living in your comfort zone fortoo long because you're using
that as a safety blanket, as asafety net.
Right, you are avoiding newsituations because you're going
back to what's comfortable.
You're not trying newactivities, so you stay in your
comfort zone.
You don't go out and meet newpeople because you have this
safety net and group of peoplethat are comfortable.
But the moment that that safetynet starts to feel restless, it
(19:16):
starts to be a source ofanxiety or boredom, then you're
not living a fulfilling life,you're holding yourself back.
The feeling of being uneasy oranxious in familiar settings is
another one.
Sometimes what was oncecomfortable can start to feel
stifling.
This can manifest as anxiety orrestlessness.
(19:37):
This is telling you it is timeto explore new environments.
It's crazy for me to say this,but a place that I love and hold
so dearly, that is a source ofgreat memories and experiences
and friendships.
I could literally go on forhours and bore you for the
(20:01):
entire time with details andexperiences that I've had at the
saloon that have molded me,changed me, impacted me in so
many ways.
What's crazy is I didn't feelcomfortable last week.
There were so many times whereI just didn't feel comfortable
(20:23):
and that can come up as like asource of anxiety.
For sure that was telling meit's time to go somewhere else.
It's time to do something new.
It's no offense to anybodythere.
They've been great to me,they've supported me.
I'll continue to support them,to send people to them, to
hopefully make apparel for them.
All those great things, butthere's time for me to make a
(20:48):
change right.
Another thing is missedopportunities.
If you constantly turn downopportunities for personal and
professional development becausethey seem too daunting, you may
be missing out on valuableexperiences.
If you are holding on to yourcomfort zone, it's going to
prevent you from professionaldevelopment and it's going to
(21:11):
keep you from new opportunities,new experiences, because you
would much rather stay on thecouch eating Fritos because it
just feels right For me.
I've missed out on differentevents and opportunities that
could potentially build mybusiness, grow my business.
Because I was loyal to doingevents for the saloon.
(21:34):
I was loyal to being there yearafter year for these events and
for these dates.
There's no guarantee that if Itook a different event would be
any better.
There's also no guarantee thatI would make more money or I
would have these greatexperiences or anything like
that.
I could fail miserably, butthat's part of living in your
(21:57):
comfort zone.
I took these things for grantedand I scheduled them in every
single year.
So what I typically do is Itake my calendar, I ask the
saloon what they need, what theywant.
I know what their key eventsare, I fill those into my book
and then I work backwards.
And that's been great and it'sbeen tremendous for me and the
(22:18):
customers that have becomefriends and family, and the
connections made and all thecontinued growth and business
and support from the saloon.
I appreciate all of that.
But it's crazy to all of asudden feel uncomfortable, to
feel restless, you know, or tonot enjoy the things that you
(22:39):
look forward to so much, and atthat point you start to think,
well, maybe I'm missingsomething else, maybe there is
something else, maybe I need totry some new experiences and try
some different things.
But I've held on to thesecurity for multiple reasons,
right, for the fact that I knowwhat's going to be there.
(22:59):
I can bank on what's going tohappen, like I can schedule it
in my book, right, I can writeit down and I can project
roughly this is how much moneyI'm going to make.
I can bank on this for thebusiness.
And when you live in a world ofwide open unknown, it feels
damn good to put in some knownfacts.
You know, and they've beentremendous to me through all the
(23:20):
years, so it's hard to walkaway from those things.
I used to do Labor Day there aswell, and I had to go to them
and say would it be okay withyou if I took Labor Day off and
started doing the Windsor Fair,because I think it's just going
to be more beneficial for mybusiness?
And they were extremelysupportive and they told me yeah
, absolutely go, do that.
(23:41):
We want to see you grow.
So I know they're going tosupport me having the
conversation that says I thinkit's time for me to move on.
But it's crazy for me that I'mcoming to the realization that I
need to move on and and thatI've been holding myself back
and I've been living in thiscomfort zone and this business
is all about taking chances andtaking risks and it's scary to
(24:04):
take one of the biggest, mostguaranteed things in your
schedule and just taking it off.
And I say that not because it'smy biggest event, but there's a
multiple amount of events andthere's other say that not
because it's my biggest event,but there's a multiple amount of
events and there's other thingsthat go into it and you know,
like once a month, djed eventsand things like that that I'm no
(24:26):
longer going to do With.
That said, I haven't even hadthe conversation with them.
I'm kind of having theconversation with you, but July
4th I am going to be at thesaloon as a vendor and it will
be my last time vending atBentley Saloon.
It's a commitment that I've nowmade to myself and to my family
that if I'm going to do thisbusiness and bank on this
(24:48):
business, then I got to dodifferent for this business.
So that's what I'm going to do.
Also, this Friday I will beDJing the disco night.
It's a disco costume night.
I'll be there Friday night andthen in July it is the redneck
night, is the mullet and DaisyDuke night, and I will announce
(25:09):
that that will be the last DJgig I take at the saloon.
I'm trying to do different formy family.
You know I don't have anybusiness being in a bar DJing
till 12, one o'clock in themorning with my little girl at
home, and in the summertime Ishouldn't be saying yes to bar
(25:31):
gigs instead of saying yes tofairs and festivals and rallies
and events for my brand.
So it's one of these thingsthat I heard this saying many
years ago in the motorcyclebusiness that said you know that
guy over there, he'll step overa dollar to pick up a dime.
And I started to think thatmaybe that's me that I'm
(25:55):
stepping over a dollar to pickup a dime because I'm taking an
event that I know pays me moneythat I guarantee I can DJ and I
can look at my schedule and saythis many Fridays a year I'm
going to get that guaranteedcash in my pocket and I can
spend the night at home and Isay yes to it.
But am I stepping over a dollarto pick up that dime?
(26:17):
Maybe I am.
So for me, I'm starting torealize that I'm living too much
in my comfort zone, even thoughI'm fearful of all the things
that I have on my list that areunknown, but I subconsciously
built a safety net and a safetyblanket that I didn't really
think about.
So I'm asking all of you arethere things for you that are
(26:42):
holding you back?
Are there things in your lifethat have now become a sense of
boredom or a lack of excitement?
When your daily routines beginto feel monotonous, they lack
any spark.
It's a sign that you've stayedin that comfort zone for too
long.
Do you have stagnation?
Are you feeling like you're notlearning anything new,
developing new skills, makingprogress towards your goals?
(27:03):
It's time to challenge yourself.
Are you fearful of new things?
If you find yourselfconsistently constantly avoiding
new situations, activities,interactions, if you have a fear
of the discomfort, you might belimiting your own growth and
potential.
Maybe your comfort zones areactually beginning to feel
(27:23):
uneasy or anxious, even thoughit's familiar.
Sometimes what was oncecomfortable can start to feel
stifling.
It can manifest as anxiety orrestlessness, suggesting it's
time to explore new environments.
If you guys have been listeningto the show then you know maybe
a few months ago, on one of ourshows, I mentioned that the wife
(27:44):
and my mother and I, we weretalking about and working on
cleansing ourselves and openingourselves up to new
opportunities and we were tryingto be more rooted in our faith.
And, um, I happened to drive bythe saloon and it was getting
ready to open and I got thisoverwhelming weight on me and
(28:04):
this anxiety that kicked in,where I knew those obligations
that I had said yes to, that Icommitted to, needed to be
fulfilled, and I knew that therewere things that maybe didn't
necessarily fit with my purposeanymore and I knew then that
there was something that wasn'tright.
But as I spent all this timepondering it and asking myself
(28:27):
all these questions over thepast few weeks, I've realized
that it's time to grow, andyou're shedding your old self
and you're becoming the new,brighter version of yourself,
and it's time to do those.
You're shedding your old selfand you're becoming the new,
brighter version of yourself andit's time to to do those things
.
So I look forward to, um,what's to come in the new year.
I look forward to writing a newschedule next year and
(28:49):
encountering some of those greatpossibilities.
So I'm looking forward to that.
With that that said, I want tokind of recap Bike Week and say
thank you to every single one ofyou that came out and made it
special, that made a differencethat maybe listened to me and
let me vent.
I want to say thank you to thesaloon for all the years of
(29:10):
support and opportunity.
As a boy from Arundel growing upand knowing Bentley and
watching the saloon become whatit has, as a young man that
always wanted to entertain, thatstage at Bentley Saloon was the
grand old Opry.
(29:30):
That's all they ever wanted todo was to be there and to
entertain.
It's something magical.
There's nothing like it in ourstate and so much so that I, you
know, started hosting thingsand I'm seeing things so I could
have the opportunity to be onthe stage and pretend to be a
rock star, a country star, topretend to be somebody to
(29:54):
entertain.
All the years of giving awaymotorcycles on the stage and the
relationships made and thememories made doing those things
, I felt like an absolutesuperhero doing those, being a
part of that and then startingbands, even though I had no
musical ability but that gave methe avenue to be on stage with
(30:15):
those bands.
I taught myself to DJ just so Icould be on the stage with
those bands and DJ breaks andfeel that excitement and be on
that stage and have thatopportunity.
I trained myself to be an MCand a DJ at the same time, so I
could entertain, so I couldoffer some source of value to
the saloon, so I could holdcourt, so I could entertain, so
(30:40):
I could live a dream that I'vehad For nearly 15 years.
I've lived that dream and it'sbeen incredible.
It was mind-blowing to me tohave any source of anxiety or
boredom when it came to gettingready to entertain.
(31:02):
I knew then that it was timefor me to do something different
.
So thank you to each and everyone of you that came out and saw
me for the last time do thepinup contest.
It was special in the sense ofknowing, as I was doing it, this
(31:22):
is it lay it out, put it outand it'll all work out.
With that said, one of thecraziest and best things that
could have possibly happenedduring the pinup contest was I
was there working the microphone, doing what I do, and I
happened to turn to my left andsee two brothers lance the
(31:46):
godfather to little paisley andkevin, two brothers from new
york.
I mean, they're like, they'renot blood brothers, but we're
all brothers, right, andironically, I met them because
of the saloon.
I met them because I was givingaway a motorcycle at the saloon
and Lance and Jen were at thesaloon and he said I like that
guy.
(32:06):
And then a relationship started, a connection started.
And then a relationship started, a connection started.
And I can't even I can'timagine life without the whole
group from New York.
The fact that that happened byme entertaining on that stage,
that led to Lance and Jen beingthe godparents for our baby girl
is incredible.
(32:27):
I owe all those things to thesaloon.
So when I'm there entertainingand I look over and there's
Lance and Kevin with two brandnew tattoos of Loud Proud
American Designs you sons ofbitches, I knew something was up
when they were late.
They don't procrastinate whenit comes to drinking beers in
(32:49):
the sunshine at the saloon.
It doesn't make sense.
I couldn't believe it when theyrolled in with matching Loud
Proud American tattoos Last week.
I talked to you about Big O,about Owen and his Faith, family
Freedom tattoo.
The fact that was the secondLoud Proud American tattoo that
I knew of.
We now have tattoo three andfour and I guarantee there's
(33:12):
more.
Lance and Kevin, I love you boyslike brothers, and I can't
thank you enough.
You put that special justcherry on top of this whole
experience.
You made everything worthwhileand reminded me just why I'm
doing it.
I can't even put it into words,man, you guys are too damn much
(33:35):
.
I love you, I appreciate you somuch.
With all that said, I promisedyou guys in the opening that I
would share a funny story withyou, maybe one that isn't quite
appropriate, but I'm going toshare it with you.
Here's the thing, y'all.
If you guys have been listeningover the past couple of weeks
(33:57):
then you know last week bikeweek I had to be in a different
location for Loud Proud American, a whole new location.
The first two days of thatlocation bombed.
They weren't very good.
The third day was pretty damngood.
But I knew to pull off what Ineeded to pull off to save the
week, to be um next to theactual pinup contest and make
(34:24):
everything work.
I needed to move.
So I moved.
Monday morning at like five 30in the morning I started moving
the tent over.
I moved everything over and gotset up.
Now, when I went back to mylocation, it was a little bit
further down the lot than whereI normally am, but I did it to
provide space for the saloon forthe contest.
(34:44):
So I did all those things forall the right reasons.
Later on that day one of myfellow vendors, bruce, said to
me have you heard from Bertie?
Now, bertie is this older ladythat sews patches at the saloon.
And I said no, why, she'sreally pissed off.
You blocked her sign.
And I said what?
And I looked, and at the wallbehind me there's a sign that's
(35:07):
maybe, I don't know, let's sayat least four feet by, I don't
know, six or seven feet, let'ssay it's like four by seven or
five by seven foot sign banner.
Okay, screwed to the wall,placed there, probably for bike
week, because I never evennoticed it before.
(35:27):
I'm covering seven inches afoot.
I don't know Nothing crazywhich.
First off, people ain't readingthe damn sign on the wall.
Second off, she doesn't set upin the parking lot with us.
She sets up in the backcourtyard.
They give her a permanentlocation.
They can lock it every night,close it every night.
She's there all the damn time.
(35:48):
You don't need the specialtreatment of your sign in the
parking lot.
None of us have signs outsideof our own location saying that
we're selling.
The other thing is they madevendor signs for Bike Week.
That are massive signs.
The rest of us have ourbusiness name or logo.
(36:10):
She has her entire face.
It's a full-on, you know,three-quarter, freaking mug shot
with her display that goesacross the entire middle of the
vendor poster.
She gets mentioned in all themarketing.
The email blast and her pictureis everywhere.
And the Bentley saloon trailerhas one of the best vendor spots
(36:33):
in the parking lot and rightthere is the big ass sign with
her face on it saying that she'shere in the courtyard All week
long.
I send people to her in thecourtyard.
Multiple times over the yearsI've helped her set up.
I've helped her tear down.
I've carried her sewing machine.
I fixed this.
I fixed that I put up a tent.
I've carried her sewing machine.
I fixed this.
I fixed that.
I put up a tent.
(36:53):
I've done this.
I've done that multiple times.
Okay, I don't think it's fair.
She has what she has, but Idon't complain because it ain't
my place to complain.
Anybody looking for her.
I tell them where to go to findher.
There's nothing that that signis doing that this old boy right
here hasn't done.
Above and beyond, the fact thatshe was complaining to other
(37:13):
vendors about me covering seveninches of her tent was setting
me off and I said to him well,for her sake, I hope she doesn't
come into my tent bitching.
Well, on Sunday, the last dayof bike week, a few hours before
we closed on a hot ass Sunday Idon't even know how hot it was,
man, mid 80s, it's hot.
I'm in there with a fan fromNew York and she comes walking
(37:37):
in and I'm being polite and Isay, hey, birdie, how are you,
how you doing?
How was bike week?
We're having pleasantries andthen she begins to attack me.
Why would you put your tent infront of my sign?
That's disrespectful.
I didn't notice your sign.
This is where I was told to go.
This is where I put my tent.
(37:57):
And then she kept harping on me.
And I'm just going to say thisand I say this to my wife all
the time, jokingly I blacked outin a fit of rage.
I didn't hear what you said.
The truth is, I was about toblack out in a fit of rage.
I could feel my face gettinghot.
You're here in front of all myfriends trying to call me out
and bitch at me on the last dayof bike week about your fucking
(38:18):
sign.
If you have a problem with mecovering your sign.
Then here's a shocker for you.
Set up in the parking lot withthe rest of the vendors okay,
not out back and I said I can'tbelieve you're out here giving
me shit about covering up seveninches of your fucking sign.
You're serious, I don't want tohear it.
Don't come in here talking shitabout me covering up a small
(38:44):
portion of your sign.
I've sent people to you allweek long.
You didn't lose businessbecause I set up in front of
your sign.
The rest of us don't have asign.
She continued to get mouthy withme and argue with me about how
I'm not a good vendor, how we'resupposed to be a family of
vendors.
Bitch, you ain't out here beingfamily with nobody.
(39:05):
You're all back demanding shit.
I didn't say that, but what Idid say apparently was pretty
funny.
So she's yelling andcomplaining to me and I'm
getting fumed.
My face is getting hot.
I'm getting heated.
It's the wrong week to messwith me.
F-a-f-o.
Fuck around, find out.
(39:26):
Sorry for all the F-bombs, butI'm getting heated just
explaining what happened To havea vendor standing in my face
giving me shit in front of myfriends in my tent on the last
day of an event.
Listen, if this event didn't gowell for you.
It wasn't what it was supposedto be for all of us.
Don't come in on the last dayand try to pretend it's my fault
(39:46):
, okay?
So as she's bitching to me abouthow I'm not a good vendor, that
I'm not helping the family ofvendors, I thought all of us
vendors are supposed to helpeach other.
Because she's never doneanything for me.
I guarantee she's never toldanybody oh, go in the parking
lot and buy American-madeapparel from the guy up front.
No, you don't even know my name.
You don't even know my name.
(40:08):
I know her name and I sendeverybody to her.
That's just facts.
But as she's bitching to meabout how I'm not a good vendor,
I literally said do you knowhow much I've helped you?
I helped you all the time.
I send people to you all thetime.
How many times have I helpedyou set up your tent?
How many times have I takendown your tent?
(40:28):
How many times have I carriedyour sewing machine for you?
How many times have I helpedyou?
You've never done anything forme.
And she said you never askedfor any help from me.
That's when I said you want tohelp me and before she could
answer.
I said you want to help me Getthe fuck out of my tent?
Oh, my god, I delivered thatline.
(40:58):
She walked off.
I was fuming, the whole groupwas silent.
I looked over and said I can'tbelieve it.
This is the type of shit that Igotta deal with the last day of
bike week.
It's hot as fuck.
This is what I gotta deal with.
Everybody's just looking at me.
They're still silent.
And that's when Jen said youwant to help me Get the fuck out
of my tent.
I said was that a good line?
(41:22):
And everybody lost it.
Jen said Lance is going to usethat line at work this week.
I'm glad I delivered somethinggood.
I said to them guys, listen, I'mjust happy.
I put one good line in therewhile you guys were sitting here
.
And they said one.
Oh, there was a bunch of them.
(41:42):
And Lance said to me dude, Ihave never seen you that angry
before.
I've never seen you angry in mylife.
You were pissed.
He also said I'm happy thatthat Allie wasn't here, cause if
Allie was here it would havebeen way worse and we would have
had to bail her ass out.
I said if Allie was here and wewould have already been packed
up and in my parking drivewaydrinking beers by now, cause we
(42:06):
would have got the boot, causeit would have been ugly.
Well, lord, I apologize to thatold lady for the baptism that I
gave her in my tent, but it iswhat it is.
Don't come barking up this tree, f-a-f-o.
You want to help me Get thefuck out of my tent?
Oh, I feel better.
(42:27):
I have exercised the demons.
Thank you everybody.
I appreciate you and I'm goingto go nurse the sunburn because
I spent I don't know two weeksat the saloon, which meant I
wasn't mowing my lawn, not onceI mowed.
Yesterday for about nine hoursstraight, I went through two
(42:51):
full cans of fuel, man, I didn'trealize.
The tops of my legs turned to acrispy cream.
I went outside today and whenthat 209 degree temperature just
touched my flesh, I felt meltedand fell in the driveway right
there.
So maybe I'll slap some icepacks on me legs, have a cool
(43:14):
lemonade and celebrate all thatwe have achieved.
Celebrate, as I'm thinking aboutthis burn, as I'm looking at my
knees right here.
Celebrate mowing my lawn.
Thank you, matt Perkins,ledgeway Farm.
Here.
(43:35):
Celebrate mowing my lawn.
Thank you, matt Perkins,ledgeway Farm.
Celebrate two brothers of minerocking loud Proud American
tattoos.
Celebrate all the years andopportunities that I've had to
entertain people in thatbeautiful, famous parking lot
here in Arundel.
Celebrate all that we'veaccomplished so far.
This year, loud Proud Americanis up 25% net sales on the year.
(43:56):
I know my events haven't feltall that great, but we are
trending in the right directionand all of that is thanks to you
.
Thank you to all my loyallisteners, all the new listeners
, all the day one listeners.
I appreciate each and every oneof you.
Thank you for supporting myAmerican dream.
Now go wash your fucking hands.
(44:17):
You're probably sad.
That's it and that's all,biggie Smalls.
If you're a Loud Proud Americanand you find yourself just
(44:42):
wanting more, find me on YouTubeand Facebook, at Loud Proud
American, or the Face page, asmy 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.
You can find me on both ofthose at loud underscore, proud
(45:03):
underscore American.
A big old thank you to the boysfrom the Gut Truckers For the
background beats and the themesong to this here podcast.
If you are enjoying what you'rehearing, you can track down the
(45:24):
Gut Truckers on Facebook.
Just search Gut Truckers.
Give them motherfuckers a liketoo.
Make it bleed, I like to.
(45:49):
I truly thank you forsupporting my American dream.
Now go wash your fucking hands,you filthy savage.
When you start to feel boredom, restlessness or a
desire for more challenge inyour familiar routines and
activities, you have likelyoutgrown your comfort zone.
This feeling indicates it istime to step outside and pursue
new experiences andopportunities that will lead to
growth and self-discovery.
This week, I learned a long,hard lesson that I am too damn
(00:25):
comfortable and it is time totake on new challenges.
All that and some aggressivelyfunny stories Today on Share the
Struggle Podcast.
That's it and that's all.
Biggie Smalls.
If you're a Loud, proudAmerican and you find yourself
(01:03):
just wanting more, find me onYouTube and Facebook at loud,
proud American, or the face 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 by ticketytalking on the tick tock.
You can find me on both ofthose at loud, underscore, proud
(01:24):
, underscore American.
A big old thank you to the boysfrom the Gut Truckers for the
background beats and the themesong to this year's podcast.
If you are enjoying what you'rehearing, you can track down the
(01:45):
Gut Truckers on Facebook Justsearch Gut Truckers.
Give them, motherfuckers, alike too.
Feel the pain, make it bleed, Ihate to say.
(02:07):
I taught you.
So I truly thank you forsupporting my American dream.
Now, go wash your fucking hands, you filthy savage.
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
What it do, what it haDo-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do do,
do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do,do, do, do, get alone, almighty.
(02:28):
Am I so excited to be back withyou.
Oh, it's true, it is damn true,boo, y'all know I love you, mm,
mm, mm, mm.
Episode 259, and I'm feeling, oh, so fine and so fine and a
touch sweaty.
Wow, maybe real sweaty andshort on breath.
I mean, maybe that's justsomething to do with my overall
(02:58):
thick physique.
All kidding aside people, theold weatherman and my iphone app
is telling me it is 99 degreeshere in sunny Arundel, maine,
but it feels like 299.
Good God, almighty, is it hot?
It's a hot 99, y'all, it isthick like my thighs.
You know, when you sweat sohard, it just gets in your eyes
(03:20):
and burns.
Oh, man, everything about todayis hot and disgusting.
I'm just going to put it outthere.
Man, it ain't safe to be outthere.
People Don't do it.
Who am I kidding?
I did it anyways.
We all did it.
But it is what it is, man.
We got to deal with it right.
Here we are.
We'll be bitching about snowand cold temps before you know
(03:42):
it.
But I'm setting the scene topaint the picture, to pave the
road for the story to be told,to let y'all know, I'm recording
in the garage today.
Okay, I am in the garage doinga little recording here because
I'm trying to stay cool.
And if I record in the housethen I got to cut the air
conditioning because thathumming noise would not make for
(04:04):
proper audio for the fans hereof the podcast.
You know what I mean.
So I'm gonna be sweating to theold these in the garage with
y'all.
I can't, uh, go upstairs, cutthe power on the air conditioner
and then let the house just getsmoldering and we make the
whole family suffer it now.
So I shall suffer alone.
I shall do all the suffering.
(04:25):
It's all part of the commitment, the sacrifice.
You know Just the plan that wehave at hand.
This is why we have 259consecutive weeks of the podcast
, because I do dumb shit likethis Recording the podcast in a
garage surrounded by laundrythat needs to go upstairs.
Anyways, here I am.
Can't promise you how long I'mgoing to be here, folks.
(04:46):
Rather, I'm going to pass outwith the record button still on
and you'll hear a lot of awkwardsilence and maybe some snoring
or gurgling for air.
But I'm here.
That's my commitment to you.
All my day ones out there, myloyal ones, my day one listeners
, get your ones up.
I appreciate you, I acknowledgeyou and I thank you for your
(05:08):
nearly five years of support.
All of my new ones welcome toShare the Struggle podcast,
where we get on here and we justshare our struggle.
We speak our truth because weknow that there is strength in
our truth, in our stories.
You just got to be willingenough to share it in our
stories.
You just got to be willingenough to share it.
And I know there's a lot of newones out there because I've
(05:29):
seen a nice bump in listenershipevery single week.
So thank you and welcome allthe new ones.
I know some of y'all are hookedbecause you're going back to
the catalog and starting fromscratch.
So I appreciate that.
I encourage anybody that'slistening, that's enjoying the
show, to go back and get caughtup and follow along and listen.
We are available on all majorplatforms.
(05:50):
You can also find us atwwwshadestrugglepodcastcom.
Yeah, it's funny man.
Every week there's a new storyto be told, there's a new
struggle to overcome.
There's a new obstacle tohandle.
A new struggle to overcome,there's a new obstacle to handle
.
There's a new challenge, right?
That's kind of how things work.
Last week, we were on heretalking about being taken
(06:10):
advantage of, and when you startto feel like you're being taken
advantage of and we wentthrough a whole list of good,
powerful questions to askyourself to identify if you are
being taken advantage of, if youreally value that relationship
then we even identified somequestions that you can ask to
set some clear boundaries andput some things on the table.
(06:33):
But there's another layer tothe whole being taken advantage
of that I feel like I'm kind ofdealing with as well.
That kind of just puts allthings together, right?
I guess when you start toanalyze things and you start to
peel back the onion a little bitand figure out what it is
that's going on in your littleworld, you start asking yourself
(06:56):
all those questions, like wetalked about last week, and I
identified something else, andthat something else is that
maybe I've allowed myself tolive in my comfort zone, and I
know there's a bunch of you outthere right now listening that
have been listening for a while,being like dude, you ain't
living in a comfort zone, you'vebeen taking chances and
starting dances and wildfires.
(07:17):
Man, you haven't been living inyour comfort zone.
And I will say to you you'reright and thank you.
I appreciate that.
There's a lot of areas in mylife where I'm not in my comfort
zone, I'm jumping out.
But there's also this littleblankie, this little security
blankie that I've been holdingon to that every single year.
I can count on that, I candepend on that, I rely on.
(07:38):
It's become this safety blanketfor me, this little comfy
blanket.
All I can think about rightthere.
When I said that is Tommy Boy,when Chris Farley's at the diner
ordering chicken wings and hehas a little roll, he's my
little pet and he's naughty andI pat him and I massage him.
(07:59):
You're naughty, you're naughtylittle pet.
Anyways, that's all I couldthink about was Chris Farley in
a dinner roll right there forsome reason.
But the truth is there's a bigportion of my schedule and of my
life that I've taken the easyroad on that I've just said.
Well, here's a few things thatgo into this.
Number one my loyalty to thepeople.
Number two my connection to thepeople, my connection to the
(08:27):
customer base, to my friends, tomy family, all these things.
I start to check off the easybutton, the convenience button,
and then you start to sit thereand realize, man, maybe I feel a
little bored, maybe thisboredom actually turns into
restlessness, where I'm just nolonger happy doing what I'm
doing, where I just I don't evenknow how to explain it, guys
(08:50):
when you have something that'sbeen a source of comfort for so
long, when you have somethingthat's been a source of security
for so long, all of a sudden bea source of restlessness,
that's tough when it also startsto create some anxiety and you
start to think, man, maybe thisjust isn't right for me.
(09:10):
Well, if I start to connect someof our recent episodes my wife
coming on here talking aboutremoving negativity, me coming
on here talking about beingtaken advantage of to now
connecting the dots to a comfortzone what I've learned is
there's some things that I'mdoing, there's some things that
I've kept on my schedule for mybusiness because they've been
(09:33):
comfortable and they've nowbecome a source of restlessness
and it's time to pull the plug,to cut the cord and to head in a
different direction.
So, after being at BentleySaloon for bike week, doing what
I've always done and what I'vealways loved.
(09:53):
I've sat around and askedmyself a lot of questions and I
started to realize that I wasjust feeling a little bit
different about things.
So, with that said, I'm goingto highlight some stuff.
I did a little bit of researchand there's going to be some
questions in here or someidentifiers for you that maybe,
as you're listening today, youcan start to ask yourself is
there something that I'm doingjust because it's comfortable,
(10:15):
because it's routine, becauseit's the easy button, because
it's just expected of me?
That no longer is servicing me,it's not benefiting me.
So I'm going to have thesethings and we're going to talk
about them, we're going to workthrough some things and we're
going to share some detailsabout them things and we're
going to have some fun with allthese things.
That's the plan today onepisode 259.
(10:35):
So if you are starting to feelboredom, if you are starting to
have some restlessness or adesire for more challenge in
your familiar routines andactivities, then you have
outgrown your comfort zone.
This feeling indicates it istime to step outside and pursue
new experiences andopportunities that will lead to
(10:57):
growth and self-discovery For me.
One big giant red flag for mewas my recent Bike Week
experience, because at the tailend of Bike Week there's a
couple of events that I justlove to do.
One of them is a tattoo contestthat I came up with and worked
(11:17):
with a good friend of mine,tommy Tommy from Tommy's Tattoo
Conventions, and we brought thisto Lisa Bentley Saloon and then
I was able to handpick somejudges that I wanted One of the
best tattoo artists in Maine,chad Chase, and a super cool,
awesome, badass traditionaltattoo artist that won Ink
(11:37):
Master Season 13, jimmy Snaz andput everybody in the same room
and had this super fun contestand I loved every single thing
about it.
I had an absolute blast buteven with that said, there was
just a kind of a draw on myenergy knowing that I had to get
up and ready for all thesethings after a long week of
struggling in a parking lot tomake ends meet.
(11:59):
You know what I mean let's justsay poorly attended bike week.
Know what I mean?
A, um, let's just say poorlyattended bike week.
I do feel like a lot of thesebiker rallies are just not what
they used to be.
I'm not throwing shots at, youknow, like bettany saloon, I'm
just saying the whole motorcycleindustry isn't what it is.
I'm willing to bet there's nomore than a half a dozen
(12:20):
dealerships in the entirecountry that could honestly tell
you they've experienced growthyear over year for the past
three to five years.
It's not possible.
People just aren't buyingmotorcycles like they used to.
Motorcycles aren't gettingproduced like they used to.
That market, that industry is,in my opinion, like a dying
(12:40):
breed.
I'm not going to say that it'sever going to just die off, but
it's probably never going to bewhat it once was.
The market's been oversaturatedand a lot of the population
that loves to ride motorcycleshas unfortunately died off.
If you go to a school today,like a high school, when you
look around they're not going tofind motorcycles in the parking
lot, maybe one.
(13:02):
When I was a kid, cool kidswould ride to school on their
motorcycles.
Now it's diesel pickup trucksor lowered, ridiculous stupid
Subarus with fart cans forexhaust or whatever They've
moved on.
The super cool thing isn'tmotorcycles.
So until they get thatpopulation back, it's going to
(13:25):
be tough to grow that right.
And then you start to thinkabout distracted drivers and
self-driving vehicles and roadrage and you start to think
about protests and riots andstreets and stuff and a lot of
people just don't want to be ona motorcycle anymore so that's
kind of dying off.
So when you're not selling andproducing as many motorcycles
(13:46):
and motorcycle related eventsdon't have as many people going
to them, and I feel like Iexperienced that when I went to
Daytona.
The local bike week for us isLaconia Bike Week in Laconia,
new Hampshire, and I'm justgoing to say it, it's the least
fun of all the bike weeks youcan think of.
The local, I guess you wouldsay not really the business
(14:10):
owners, but it's a big politicalthing Like a city council type
of scenario, law enforcement.
They've really taken the funout of Laconia Bike Week over
the past few years so it's justnot really heavily attended.
So when we're depending ontraffic from that bike week for
the success of our events, it'sjust not going to be there.
Over the past few years it justhasn't turned out like it used
(14:33):
to.
It seems like every year theresults for me as far as sales
goes down and down and down.
This year I was down 20% overlast year, which was down, I
would say 20-25% from the yearbefore.
So it's just not trending inthe right direction, right.
So when you're out theresuffering through some slow days
, it's kind of hard to build upthe excitement for an event that
(14:55):
you're going to do.
Now the big symbol for me, thebig shining beacon of light that
said go in a differentdirection, is I had to host the
pinup contest, which I've beeninvolved with the pinup contest
for 13 years.
I've always told everybody itis the best day at Bentley
Saloon, it is the busiest day atthe Saloon, it's the funnest,
(15:17):
and I get to control the crowd,the tempo, the environment, the
energy, the whole thing.
I love everything about it.
I went from being a judge tobeing an announcer, to emceeing
and DJing at the same time, andI love it.
I've made so much of it rightand I'm proud of it.
I love it.
(15:39):
I've made so much of it rightand I'm proud of it.
But I'm bored of it and Irealized that I'm just kind of
over it.
And Saturday I had to drum upthe energy to make it happen and
I did the best I could and Ithink it was a great time and I
feel happy to go out on a greatperformance.
But when I realize that I'mbored, I'm bored with a routine
(16:02):
with an event that I used tolove and get excited about.
That feeling is telling me it'stime to step outside and pursue
new experiences.
I got to find new opportunitiesthat will lead to growth and
self-discovery, and it's toughbecause I have so many wild,
different things on my scheduleevery year, so many chances that
(16:23):
I have to take that.
This has been that securityblanket for me that I just fall
back into and know I can counton.
Hey, I have these three events,I have these DJ gigs.
I can just schedule them, setit and forget it.
Know it's going to be there forme, but I found myself feeling
bored.
So, when you start to thinkthat you might be outgrowing
(16:44):
your comfort zone, I got someidentifiers we're going to have
to go over here.
You ready the first one.
We've already been touching onboredom and lack of excitement.
When your daily routine feelsmonotonous and lacks any spark
or novelty, it's a sign thatyou've likely stayed within your
comfort zone for too long.
Now, as we're going over thesethings, I want a lot of you guys
(17:06):
that are driving to work today,that are on treadmills, that
are just jamming out.
I want you to think about thisand think about areas in your
life.
Is it a career, you know?
Is it like hobbies, differentactivities?
Start to just ask yourself allthose things For me it's part of
my schedule for business, partof my routine, part of my event
(17:27):
plan, right?
So for me it's not really dailyroutine, it's just things that
are on my calendar that now havebecome monotonous and they lack
spark.
And that's a sign to me thatI've kind of outgrown those
things that I've come to growand love so much, right?
(17:47):
The next thing is stagnation.
If you feel like you're notlearning anything new,
developing new skills or makingprogress towards your goals,
it's a signal to challengeyourself.
For me, I guess you could sayafter 13 years, I don't really
feel a challenge in what I'mdoing, but I have challenged
myself to do different thingsall along the way, like I just
(18:08):
said, to go from a judge toannouncing, to go from
announcing to incorporatingmusic, to DJing, to doing all
these different things.
So I'm always trying to learnsomething new, but I guess it's
I'm at a point where I realizedI'm not making progress towards
my goals, like I'm not making amassive difference.
So if you're out there andyou're starting to feel a little
(18:29):
stagnant, then maybe you'veoutgrown your comfort zone.
Another one is fear of tryingnew things.
If you find yourselfconsistently avoiding new
situations, activities or socialinteractions due to fear or
discomfort, you might belimiting your growth potential
and that right there, folks, isa surefire sign that you've been
(18:51):
living in your comfort zone fortoo long because you're using
that as a safety blanket, as asafety net.
Right, you are avoiding newsituations because you're going
back to what's comfortable.
You're not trying newactivities, so you stay in your
comfort zone.
You don't go out and meet newpeople because you have this
safety net and group of peoplethat are comfortable.
But the moment that that safetynet starts to feel restless, it
(19:16):
starts to be a source ofanxiety or boredom, then you're
not living a fulfilling life,you're holding yourself back.
The feeling of being uneasy oranxious in familiar settings is
another one.
Sometimes what was oncecomfortable can start to feel
stifling.
This can manifest as anxiety orrestlessness.
(19:37):
This is telling you it is timeto explore new environments.
It's crazy for me to say this,but a place that I love and hold
so dearly, that is a source ofgreat memories and experiences
and friendships.
I could literally go on forhours and bore you for the
(20:01):
entire time with details andexperiences that I've had at the
saloon that have molded me,changed me, impacted me in so
many ways.
What's crazy is I didn't feelcomfortable last week.
There were so many times whereI just didn't feel comfortable
(20:23):
and that can come up as like asource of anxiety.
For sure that was telling meit's time to go somewhere else.
It's time to do something new.
It's no offense to anybodythere.
They've been great to me,they've supported me.
I'll continue to support them,to send people to them, to
hopefully make apparel for them.
All those great things, butthere's time for me to make a
(20:48):
change right.
Another thing is missedopportunities.
If you constantly turn downopportunities for personal and
professional development becausethey seem too daunting, you may
be missing out on valuableexperiences.
If you are holding on to yourcomfort zone, it's going to
prevent you from professionaldevelopment and it's going to
(21:11):
keep you from new opportunities,new experiences, because you
would much rather stay on thecouch eating Fritos because it
just feels right For me.
I've missed out on differentevents and opportunities that
could potentially build mybusiness, grow my business.
Because I was loyal to doingevents for the saloon.
(21:34):
I was loyal to being there yearafter year for these events and
for these dates.
There's no guarantee that if Itook a different event would be
any better.
There's also no guarantee thatI would make more money or I
would have these greatexperiences or anything like
that.
I could fail miserably, butthat's part of living in your
(21:57):
comfort zone.
I took these things for grantedand I scheduled them in every
single year.
So what I typically do is Itake my calendar, I ask the
saloon what they need, what theywant.
I know what their key eventsare, I fill those into my book
and then I work backwards.
And that's been great and it'sbeen tremendous for me and the
(22:18):
customers that have becomefriends and family, and the
connections made and all thecontinued growth and business
and support from the saloon.
I appreciate all of that.
But it's crazy to all of asudden feel uncomfortable, to
feel restless, you know, or tonot enjoy the things that you
(22:39):
look forward to so much, and atthat point you start to think,
well, maybe I'm missingsomething else, maybe there is
something else, maybe I need totry some new experiences and try
some different things.
But I've held on to thesecurity for multiple reasons,
right, for the fact that I knowwhat's going to be there.
(22:59):
I can bank on what's going tohappen, like I can schedule it
in my book, right, I can writeit down and I can project
roughly this is how much moneyI'm going to make.
I can bank on this for thebusiness.
And when you live in a world ofwide open unknown, it feels
damn good to put in some knownfacts.
You know, and they've beentremendous to me through all the
(23:20):
years, so it's hard to walkaway from those things.
I used to do Labor Day there aswell, and I had to go to them
and say would it be okay withyou if I took Labor Day off and
started doing the Windsor Fair,because I think it's just going
to be more beneficial for mybusiness?
And they were extremelysupportive and they told me yeah
, absolutely go, do that.
(23:41):
We want to see you grow.
So I know they're going tosupport me having the
conversation that says I thinkit's time for me to move on.
But it's crazy for me that I'mcoming to the realization that I
need to move on and and thatI've been holding myself back
and I've been living in thiscomfort zone and this business
is all about taking chances andtaking risks and it's scary to
(24:04):
take one of the biggest, mostguaranteed things in your
schedule and just taking it off.
And I say that not because it'smy biggest event, but there's a
multiple amount of events andthere's other say that not
because it's my biggest event,but there's a multiple amount of
events and there's other thingsthat go into it and you know,
like once a month, djed eventsand things like that that I'm no
(24:26):
longer going to do With.
That said, I haven't even hadthe conversation with them.
I'm kind of having theconversation with you, but July
4th I am going to be at thesaloon as a vendor and it will
be my last time vending atBentley Saloon.
It's a commitment that I've nowmade to myself and to my family
that if I'm going to do thisbusiness and bank on this
(24:48):
business, then I got to dodifferent for this business.
So that's what I'm going to do.
Also, this Friday I will beDJing the disco night.
It's a disco costume night.
I'll be there Friday night andthen in July it is the redneck
night, is the mullet and DaisyDuke night, and I will announce
(25:09):
that that will be the last DJgig I take at the saloon.
I'm trying to do different formy family.
You know I don't have anybusiness being in a bar DJing
till 12, one o'clock in themorning with my little girl at
home, and in the summertime Ishouldn't be saying yes to bar
(25:31):
gigs instead of saying yes tofairs and festivals and rallies
and events for my brand.
So it's one of these thingsthat I heard this saying many
years ago in the motorcyclebusiness that said you know that
guy over there, he'll step overa dollar to pick up a dime.
And I started to think thatmaybe that's me that I'm
(25:55):
stepping over a dollar to pickup a dime because I'm taking an
event that I know pays me moneythat I guarantee I can DJ and I
can look at my schedule and saythis many Fridays a year I'm
going to get that guaranteedcash in my pocket and I can
spend the night at home and Isay yes to it.
But am I stepping over a dollarto pick up that dime?
(26:17):
Maybe I am.
So for me, I'm starting torealize that I'm living too much
in my comfort zone, even thoughI'm fearful of all the things
that I have on my list that areunknown, but I subconsciously
built a safety net and a safetyblanket that I didn't really
think about.
So I'm asking all of you arethere things for you that are
(26:42):
holding you back?
Are there things in your lifethat have now become a sense of
boredom or a lack of excitement?
When your daily routines beginto feel monotonous, they lack
any spark.
It's a sign that you've stayedin that comfort zone for too
long.
Do you have stagnation?
Are you feeling like you're notlearning anything new,
developing new skills, makingprogress towards your goals?
(27:03):
It's time to challenge yourself.
Are you fearful of new things?
If you find yourselfconsistently constantly avoiding
new situations, activities,interactions, if you have a fear
of the discomfort, you might belimiting your own growth and
potential.
Maybe your comfort zones areactually beginning to feel
(27:23):
uneasy or anxious, even thoughit's familiar.
Sometimes what was oncecomfortable can start to feel
stifling.
It can manifest as anxiety orrestlessness, suggesting it's
time to explore new environments.
If you guys have been listeningto the show then you know maybe
a few months ago, on one of ourshows, I mentioned that the wife
(27:44):
and my mother and I, we weretalking about and working on
cleansing ourselves and openingourselves up to new
opportunities and we were tryingto be more rooted in our faith.
And, um, I happened to drive bythe saloon and it was getting
ready to open and I got thisoverwhelming weight on me and
(28:04):
this anxiety that kicked in,where I knew those obligations
that I had said yes to, that Icommitted to, needed to be
fulfilled, and I knew that therewere things that maybe didn't
necessarily fit with my purposeanymore and I knew then that
there was something that wasn'tright.
But as I spent all this timepondering it and asking myself
(28:27):
all these questions over thepast few weeks, I've realized
that it's time to grow, andyou're shedding your old self
and you're becoming the new,brighter version of yourself,
and it's time to do those.
You're shedding your old selfand you're becoming the new,
brighter version of yourself andit's time to to do those things
.
So I look forward to, um,what's to come in the new year.
I look forward to writing a newschedule next year and
(28:49):
encountering some of those greatpossibilities.
So I'm looking forward to that.
With that that said, I want tokind of recap Bike Week and say
thank you to every single one ofyou that came out and made it
special, that made a differencethat maybe listened to me and
let me vent.
I want to say thank you to thesaloon for all the years of
(29:10):
support and opportunity.
As a boy from Arundel growing upand knowing Bentley and
watching the saloon become whatit has, as a young man that
always wanted to entertain, thatstage at Bentley Saloon was the
grand old Opry.
(29:30):
That's all they ever wanted todo was to be there and to
entertain.
It's something magical.
There's nothing like it in ourstate and so much so that I, you
know, started hosting thingsand I'm seeing things so I could
have the opportunity to be onthe stage and pretend to be a
rock star, a country star, topretend to be somebody to
(29:54):
entertain.
All the years of giving awaymotorcycles on the stage and the
relationships made and thememories made doing those things
, I felt like an absolutesuperhero doing those, being a
part of that and then startingbands, even though I had no
musical ability but that gave methe avenue to be on stage with
(30:15):
those bands.
I taught myself to DJ just so Icould be on the stage with
those bands and DJ breaks andfeel that excitement and be on
that stage and have thatopportunity.
I trained myself to be an MCand a DJ at the same time, so I
could entertain, so I couldoffer some source of value to
the saloon, so I could holdcourt, so I could entertain, so
(30:40):
I could live a dream that I'vehad For nearly 15 years.
I've lived that dream and it'sbeen incredible.
It was mind-blowing to me tohave any source of anxiety or
boredom when it came to gettingready to entertain.
(31:02):
I knew then that it was timefor me to do something different
.
So thank you to each and everyone of you that came out and saw
me for the last time do thepinup contest.
It was special in the sense ofknowing, as I was doing it, this
(31:22):
is it lay it out, put it outand it'll all work out.
With that said, one of thecraziest and best things that
could have possibly happenedduring the pinup contest was I
was there working the microphone, doing what I do, and I
happened to turn to my left andsee two brothers lance the
(31:46):
godfather to little paisley andkevin, two brothers from new
york.
I mean, they're like, they'renot blood brothers, but we're
all brothers, right, andironically, I met them because
of the saloon.
I met them because I was givingaway a motorcycle at the saloon
and Lance and Jen were at thesaloon and he said I like that
guy.
(32:06):
And then a relationship started, a connection started.
And then a relationship started, a connection started.
And I can't even I can'timagine life without the whole
group from New York.
The fact that that happened byme entertaining on that stage,
that led to Lance and Jen beingthe godparents for our baby girl
is incredible.
(32:27):
I owe all those things to thesaloon.
So when I'm there entertainingand I look over and there's
Lance and Kevin with two brandnew tattoos of Loud Proud
American Designs you sons ofbitches, I knew something was up
when they were late.
They don't procrastinate whenit comes to drinking beers in
(32:49):
the sunshine at the saloon.
It doesn't make sense.
I couldn't believe it when theyrolled in with matching Loud
Proud American tattoos Last week.
I talked to you about Big O,about Owen and his Faith, family
Freedom tattoo.
The fact that was the secondLoud Proud American tattoo that
I knew of.
We now have tattoo three andfour and I guarantee there's
(33:12):
more.
Lance and Kevin, I love you boyslike brothers, and I can't
thank you enough.
You put that special justcherry on top of this whole
experience.
You made everything worthwhileand reminded me just why I'm
doing it.
I can't even put it into words,man, you guys are too damn much
(33:35):
.
I love you, I appreciate you somuch.
With all that said, I promisedyou guys in the opening that I
would share a funny story withyou, maybe one that isn't quite
appropriate, but I'm going toshare it with you.
Here's the thing, y'all.
If you guys have been listeningover the past couple of weeks
(33:57):
then you know last week bikeweek I had to be in a different
location for Loud Proud American, a whole new location.
The first two days of thatlocation bombed.
They weren't very good.
The third day was pretty damngood.
But I knew to pull off what Ineeded to pull off to save the
week, to be um next to theactual pinup contest and make
(34:24):
everything work.
I needed to move.
So I moved.
Monday morning at like five 30in the morning I started moving
the tent over.
I moved everything over and gotset up.
Now, when I went back to mylocation, it was a little bit
further down the lot than whereI normally am, but I did it to
provide space for the saloon forthe contest.
(34:44):
So I did all those things forall the right reasons.
Later on that day one of myfellow vendors, bruce, said to
me have you heard from Bertie?
Now, bertie is this older ladythat sews patches at the saloon.
And I said no, why, she'sreally pissed off.
You blocked her sign.
And I said what?
And I looked, and at the wallbehind me there's a sign that's
(35:07):
maybe, I don't know, let's sayat least four feet by, I don't
know, six or seven feet, let'ssay it's like four by seven or
five by seven foot sign banner.
Okay, screwed to the wall,placed there, probably for bike
week, because I never evennoticed it before.
(35:27):
I'm covering seven inches afoot.
I don't know Nothing crazywhich.
First off, people ain't readingthe damn sign on the wall.
Second off, she doesn't set upin the parking lot with us.
She sets up in the backcourtyard.
They give her a permanentlocation.
They can lock it every night,close it every night.
She's there all the damn time.
(35:48):
You don't need the specialtreatment of your sign in the
parking lot.
None of us have signs outsideof our own location saying that
we're selling.
The other thing is they madevendor signs for Bike Week.
That are massive signs.
The rest of us have ourbusiness name or logo.
(36:10):
She has her entire face.
It's a full-on, you know,three-quarter, freaking mug shot
with her display that goesacross the entire middle of the
vendor poster.
She gets mentioned in all themarketing.
The email blast and her pictureis everywhere.
And the Bentley saloon trailerhas one of the best vendor spots
(36:33):
in the parking lot and rightthere is the big ass sign with
her face on it saying that she'shere in the courtyard All week
long.
I send people to her in thecourtyard.
Multiple times over the yearsI've helped her set up.
I've helped her tear down.
I've carried her sewing machine.
I fixed this.
I fixed that I put up a tent.
I've carried her sewing machine.
I fixed this.
I fixed that.
I put up a tent.
(36:53):
I've done this.
I've done that multiple times.
Okay, I don't think it's fair.
She has what she has, but Idon't complain because it ain't
my place to complain.
Anybody looking for her.
I tell them where to go to findher.
There's nothing that that signis doing that this old boy right
here hasn't done.
Above and beyond, the fact thatshe was complaining to other
(37:13):
vendors about me covering seveninches of her tent was setting
me off and I said to him well,for her sake, I hope she doesn't
come into my tent bitching.
Well, on Sunday, the last dayof bike week, a few hours before
we closed on a hot ass Sunday Idon't even know how hot it was,
man, mid 80s, it's hot.
I'm in there with a fan fromNew York and she comes walking
(37:37):
in and I'm being polite and Isay, hey, birdie, how are you,
how you doing?
How was bike week?
We're having pleasantries andthen she begins to attack me.
Why would you put your tent infront of my sign?
That's disrespectful.
I didn't notice your sign.
This is where I was told to go.
This is where I put my tent.
(37:57):
And then she kept harping on me.
And I'm just going to say thisand I say this to my wife all
the time, jokingly I blacked outin a fit of rage.
I didn't hear what you said.
The truth is, I was about toblack out in a fit of rage.
I could feel my face gettinghot.
You're here in front of all myfriends trying to call me out
and bitch at me on the last dayof bike week about your fucking
(38:18):
sign.
If you have a problem with mecovering your sign.
Then here's a shocker for you.
Set up in the parking lot withthe rest of the vendors okay,
not out back and I said I can'tbelieve you're out here giving
me shit about covering up seveninches of your fucking sign.
You're serious, I don't want tohear it.
Don't come in here talking shitabout me covering up a small
(38:44):
portion of your sign.
I've sent people to you allweek long.
You didn't lose businessbecause I set up in front of
your sign.
The rest of us don't have asign.
She continued to get mouthy withme and argue with me about how
I'm not a good vendor, how we'resupposed to be a family of
vendors.
Bitch, you ain't out here beingfamily with nobody.
(39:05):
You're all back demanding shit.
I didn't say that, but what Idid say apparently was pretty
funny.
So she's yelling andcomplaining to me and I'm
getting fumed.
My face is getting hot.
I'm getting heated.
It's the wrong week to messwith me.
F-a-f-o.
Fuck around, find out.
(39:26):
Sorry for all the F-bombs, butI'm getting heated just
explaining what happened To havea vendor standing in my face
giving me shit in front of myfriends in my tent on the last
day of an event.
Listen, if this event didn't gowell for you.
It wasn't what it was supposedto be for all of us.
Don't come in on the last dayand try to pretend it's my fault
(39:46):
, okay?
So as she's bitching to me abouthow I'm not a good vendor, that
I'm not helping the family ofvendors, I thought all of us
vendors are supposed to helpeach other.
Because she's never doneanything for me.
I guarantee she's never toldanybody oh, go in the parking
lot and buy American-madeapparel from the guy up front.
No, you don't even know my name.
You don't even know my name.
(40:08):
I know her name and I sendeverybody to her.
That's just facts.
But as she's bitching to meabout how I'm not a good vendor,
I literally said do you knowhow much I've helped you?
I helped you all the time.
I send people to you all thetime.
How many times have I helpedyou set up your tent?
How many times have I takendown your tent?
(40:28):
How many times have I carriedyour sewing machine for you?
How many times have I helpedyou?
You've never done anything forme.
And she said you never askedfor any help from me.
That's when I said you want tohelp me and before she could
answer.
I said you want to help me Getthe fuck out of my tent?
Oh, my god, I delivered thatline.
(40:58):
She walked off.
I was fuming, the whole groupwas silent.
I looked over and said I can'tbelieve it.
This is the type of shit that Igotta deal with the last day of
bike week.
It's hot as fuck.
This is what I gotta deal with.
Everybody's just looking at me.
They're still silent.
And that's when Jen said youwant to help me Get the fuck out
of my tent.
I said was that a good line?
(41:22):
And everybody lost it.
Jen said Lance is going to usethat line at work this week.
I'm glad I delivered somethinggood.
I said to them guys, listen, I'mjust happy.
I put one good line in therewhile you guys were sitting here
.
And they said one.
Oh, there was a bunch of them.
(41:42):
And Lance said to me dude, Ihave never seen you that angry
before.
I've never seen you angry in mylife.
You were pissed.
He also said I'm happy thatthat Allie wasn't here, cause if
Allie was here it would havebeen way worse and we would have
had to bail her ass out.
I said if Allie was here and wewould have already been packed
up and in my parking drivewaydrinking beers by now, cause we
(42:06):
would have got the boot, causeit would have been ugly.
Well, lord, I apologize to thatold lady for the baptism that I
gave her in my tent, but it iswhat it is.
Don't come barking up this tree, f-a-f-o.
You want to help me Get thefuck out of my tent?
Oh, I feel better.
(42:27):
I have exercised the demons.
Thank you everybody.
I appreciate you and I'm goingto go nurse the sunburn because
I spent I don't know two weeksat the saloon, which meant I
wasn't mowing my lawn, not onceI mowed.
Yesterday for about nine hoursstraight, I went through two
(42:51):
full cans of fuel, man, I didn'trealize.
The tops of my legs turned to acrispy cream.
I went outside today and whenthat 209 degree temperature just
touched my flesh, I felt meltedand fell in the driveway right
there.
So maybe I'll slap some icepacks on me legs, have a cool
(43:14):
lemonade and celebrate all thatwe have achieved.
Celebrate, as I'm thinking aboutthis burn, as I'm looking at my
knees right here.
Celebrate mowing my lawn.
Thank you, matt Perkins,ledgeway Farm.
Here.
(43:35):
Celebrate mowing my lawn.
Thank you, matt Perkins,ledgeway Farm.
Celebrate two brothers of minerocking loud Proud American
tattoos.
Celebrate all the years andopportunities that I've had to
entertain people in thatbeautiful, famous parking lot
here in Arundel.
Celebrate all that we'veaccomplished so far.
This year, loud Proud Americanis up 25% net sales on the year.
(43:56):
I know my events haven't feltall that great, but we are
trending in the right directionand all of that is thanks to you
.
Thank you to all my loyallisteners, all the new listeners
, all the day one listeners.
I appreciate each and every oneof you.
Thank you for supporting myAmerican dream.
Now go wash your fucking hands.
(44:17):
You're probably sad.
That's it and that's all,biggie Smalls.
If you're a Loud Proud Americanand you find yourself just
(44:42):
wanting more, find me on YouTubeand Facebook, at Loud Proud
American, or the Face page, asmy 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.
You can find me on both ofthose at loud underscore, proud
(45:03):
underscore American.
A big old thank you to the boysfrom the Gut Truckers For the
background beats and the themesong to this here podcast.
If you are enjoying what you'rehearing, you can track down the
(45:24):
Gut Truckers on Facebook.
Just search Gut Truckers.
Give them motherfuckers a liketoo.
Make it bleed, I like to.
(45:49):
I truly thank you forsupporting my American dream.
Now go wash your fucking hands,you filthy savage.
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