Wild Energy: How Personal Values Shape Your Brand

Episode Transcript
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Shed Geek (00:09):
Okay, welcome back to another episode of the Shed
Geek podcast and very excitedguest here today.
You sure about that?
Yeah, absolutely, and a firstfor us here In Metropolis.
In Metropolis, I'm the firstone.
You are the first guest in ournew building absolutely, that's
a lot of fun that's cool,that'll be a that'll, because

(00:30):
that'll always be a memory.
You won't remember the second,third, fourth guest.
I mean, unfortunately you won't, but you'll be like I remember
who my first interview was hereabsolutely well.
So, who are you?
I mean, people want to know whoyou are.

Craig Felker (00:41):
That's the question I ask myself every day.
Craig Felker, Chief BrandOfficer at JMAG.
Yeah, and kind of back in theindustry after a pause, but
we've known each other for awhile.
I'm sure we will get into thatstory how we both kind of sort

(01:04):
of came into the industryroughly the same time.
Yeah, yeah, and kind ofwatching this.
I mean I'm honored to be herebecause, as Shed Geek really has
become this, I mean you'vereally just elevated and taken
this to another level.
To watch it kind of grow hasbeen a lot of fun from a

(01:26):
distance, I guess I will say thethings that need to be said,
but they're also true.

Shed Geek (01:30):
You know, the lord's been good, the lord's been good,
and, and I, and I think, um,you know that's, that's been
part of our, part of our oh, Idon't know what you would say.
Our identity is to always tryto honor God in, in everything
that we do, and it's easy toforget those things sometimes,
uh, because we get a little bit.

(01:50):
You know, like I'm somebody,I'm something, or and the
reality is I.
This is my favorite joke.
I'm like if you, if you tellsomebody outside of the shed
industry, I'm the shed geek, youknow they're like I don't care.

What what?

Shed Geek (02:04):
what is that?
There's an industry, yeah, Ilike to say you know, yeah, you
know.
Tell them you're the shed geek,and between that and a nickel
you can probably get a bus ride.
That's you know.
They don't care.

You're a shed Liberty, though no, I.

Shed Geek (02:15):
I.
My goal is to interview, shedliberties like you and Sam Byler
and guys, that, that, that justyou know, the, the, the Phil,
uh um Falls is and stuff youknow what I mean.
Like people that always lookedup to and things like that in
the industry, uh, and learn fromand somehow subsequently became
like this notorious voice, itseems like for the industry and

(02:38):
I'm like, oops you know likewhat do I?
what do I?
What do I do with this?
Now?
Yeah, Like what do I do withthis now?
Yeah, Like what do I do withthis?
Because I want to make sure tohonor God and other people in
that.

I just said this to you, and I meant this.
I think the reason that youguys, you've been very
successful is that is different.
The Shed Geek brand isdifferent, but also and I think
you were early and first, but Ithink the other thing is you're
really good at conversation.
You're a greatconversationalist and I

(03:07):
appreciate that.
I think great leaders ask greatquestions and they listen well,
and we just were talking aboutcommunication and um, I'm
honored to be here.
You know I was to know my story.
I mean, I was in the industryon the manufacturing side for
four years and then took a break, was director of client
experience over a team of about40 at Paducah Bank, leading

(03:29):
people and culture.
That's a big part of my story,my passion, that is your story,
like when I think of you.
That's what I think of, I'm sopassionate about honoring people
and creating a culture thathonors others, and it's all
around communication, my storyand the platforms just change.
But to come back to thisindustry has been so much fun

(03:56):
and you know I'm honored to behere.
We ended up here over aFacebook thread about the brand.
And it's like we should justtalk about this.
And so, I'm honored to be herebecause I've watched you grow
and I've watched your voice andit just magnified.
That's fun, knowing a littlebit about where we started and

(04:16):
how we started how weintersected.

Shed Geek (04:19):
It's an honor.
It's an honor for me.
Likewise, you know, I heard apastor say one time you don't
just minister to people.
Whenever you preach, you getministered to yourself, and
you'd be amazed at what, likeyou know, being able to sit down
and interview people, how it's,it's expanded my personal
growth.
You know what I mean, like myknowledge, my opportunities,

(04:41):
just being inquisitive, you knowand I know it seems like, oh,
you're a podcaster, so you're atalker.
You talk for a living, and it'slike you know.
I know all the things, though,guys, I know all the things.
God gives you two ears, onemouth.
You know.
Better to be quiet and thoughta fool than open your mouth and
remove all doubt.

You know what I mean.
Like, I know this, I know thethings you know.

Shed Geek (05:01):
So, I know to be quiet and listen, and I promise
you, it's because I try toactively take the time to listen
that I feel like I havesomething to say, because
otherwise you know what's theother saying Better to say
nothing at all unless you havesomething valuable to add.
You know, don't break thesilence if you don't have
something more valuable than thesilence and it's like, well, I

(05:23):
think I have something to say.
But if you don't have somethingmore valuable than the silence,
and it's like, well, I think Ihave something to say, but I try
to ask questions.
I'm just immersed in theindustry and I just poured
myself into this one thing andit's really paid dividends.
The Lord's been good and reallythe industry's been good.
The people have been good too.
You can't do anything, craig.
You know this Wild Wednesdaywe're going to talk about it.
You can't be vulnerable and putyourself out there.

(05:47):
Let me rephrase that you can'tput yourself out there without
being vulnerable.

You have to be vulnerable.

Shed Geek (05:51):
You have to be vulnerable.
You're going to get criticism.
You're going to get you don'thave to be so.

I have this whole idea that, like vulnerability
and transparency, is what makespeople approachable.
And so from a leadershipperspective.
You know, it's rare that leadersare vulnerable.
You know, and part of thatstarts I don't want to get too
far into this but it starts withworth.
You've got to know your worthin order to understand, because

(06:24):
you know when a leader knowstheir worth, when anyone knows
their worth, I mean that kind offeels like the mission.
I'm on is to help peopleunderstand who they are whose
they are and who they are thatthey're loved and that it's not
because of the work that theydid.
You work from an understandingof understanding your love and

(06:45):
then, when you know, when youknow your worth and man, that's
such a great position tosurrender, to mindfully listen,
that you don't have to be rightall the time.
And but again, I mean, I don'tknow at all, I guess at all
about this topic, but uh, mywhole story is around
communication, whether it startsfrom music and all that good

(07:06):
stuff on down the line.

Shed Geek (07:08):
So, yeah, well, first of all, honored to have you
here as well too.
All the things you said, Icould turn them right back
around at you Greatconversationalist, great
listener, great brand ambassador, your energy is phenomenal.
I think that's a staple and apart of like who you are, and
I'm envious of your.
I'm envious of your energy.

It's just if you get up in the morning and you
run, you get that dopamine hit.
Yeah, that's all it is.
But it's funny, I do thinkenergy is something we have the
ability to control.
We can talk about that, butWell, let's start with your.

Shed Geek (07:39):
Let's start with your story.
So the one thing I you talkedabout communication and one
reason I like the podcast iswe're interviewing a gal
Wednesday.
She doesn't even have anythingto do with the shed industry and
I met her kind of through ashed industry connection.
But, dude, her story andactually, like, I'm considering
like using, I want to give backsomehow and I'm thinking about

(08:02):
using her business, hernonprofit, as something that, a
way that we can, an avenue wecan give to.
There's so many good things togive to muscular dystrophy.
You know, one of the importantpeople in my life went through
that.
Deanna's been through breastcancer.
So, like, you know, Susan GKomen and all the, all the
places.
But I'm hoping that it goes aswell, as I hope it's going to go
and we really want to supporther, even though it's not in the

(08:24):
industry.
Uh, I think you guys will beblessed by the story.
But let's, I think that's whatthe podcast is, it's what is
your story?
Yeah, everyone has one and likethat's why we, whenever people
are like I'm afraid to speak,I'm afraid to public speak, I'm
like, first of all, it's editedit's not live, you know.

Let's start there.

Shed Geek (08:45):
The second of all, I don't think anybody who knows me
is worried about that.
That's right, right, but youhave a story to tell, no matter
who you are right, and maybethat's in and out of sheds yeah
but you know, I think you wereone of the first people to talk
about this.
We were in Hopkinsville at theshed show.
I don't know if you rememberthis went out to eat with uh me,
you, Kyle and Trendan, I think.
Maybe, maybe went out to eat.

I remember that.

Shed Geek (09:03):
And I remember you talking about not separating
your ministry.
And I was in that moment of mylife.
at that time where I'm like worksheds, jesus, you know, you put
this one in a box, that one ina box.
No, you throw them all in a boxtogether and you just do life.

One person you know work-life balance.
It's like you are.
There's not a believer slash awork, it's not business, slash
personal, it's all one and I'm ahuge believer in that.
That shed show is funny.
That's the shed show that I wona rifle, a shotgun at.
And if you know me, you knowthat you know this guy.

(09:40):
This guy knows his way around.
He's a hunter.
I stick out like a sore thumbbut, um, you winning, you
winning a rifle.
I sold that rifle to a haulerbut I didn't think it was even
legal to give a uh at the time Iremember you asking questions
and can you even do this?

Shed Geek (09:56):
can you give a gun away?
We were going out in theparking lot after you won this.
They called your name and youwere like I don't know, can I
touch the gun?
What can I do with it?
You were just like I don't evenknow what to do and I was like
Craig, it's Kentucky.
They give you a gun when you'reborn yeah it's okay, it's fine.
I just remember laughing aboutthat because you were just like,
oh my God, I want a gun oh mygosh.

I brought that gun home and my wife was like what
are you going to do with that?
And I sewed it to a hauler thenext day.
That great.
It was a 24-hour in-the-housegun for Craig Felker.
I liked the giveaways.

Shed Geek (10:27):
I think they're awesome.
That was a fun.
That was actually a really funshow it was like 2016, 2017 or
something.
It goes back a little bit, andit was close to home for us.
Who's Craig Felker?
Let's start from somewhere.
The beginning, whether it'sbirth or whether it's uh, before
the industry you pick.
Are you a dealer who sellsmultiple products at your shed

(10:50):
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(11:35):
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Well, I mean, if you told me I was going to be in
the shed industry a decade ago,well it would have been more
than a decade becausetechnically it was a decade ago,
but I just never thought Iwould be here and my whole, I
mean I felt called to do music.
I mean my whole dream andpassion from young adult, you

(12:04):
know, late 19, 20 year old kid,was to tour and being a worship
rock band.
You know, and, and I did thatand I can tell you the, I could
paint you all the stories aboutsuccess.
I mean had the record deal and,um, you know, played in 34
states, played with everyChristian artist that you can
probably think of, I mean JoelSmallbone, for King Of Country,

(12:26):
sing back up on our first recordthat's hilarious, that's just
you know like crazy.
I got crazy stories and then Icould go and say you know,
here's what my bank accountlooked like, yeah, um, and so
like when I stopped doing music,it's a really hard time because
I thought I had slayed orseparated my identity from being
Craig, the front man of Heartsof Saints, the band, and it was

(12:50):
this really, I don't want to saydark time.
But it was this time where Iwas like what am I going to do?
This was what I was supposed todo, and it just didn't end the
way I thought it would end.
And it's funny, right after wesaid we're going to pause, I had
our son Milo.
About a year before that, wewere nominated for a Dove Award.

(13:12):
It's like, oh, we quit, and wewere nominated for a Dove Award.
So, after that it was like whatam I going to do?
And a good friend of mine waslike Paducah Symphony orchestra
is looking for a director ofmarketing.
Well, all I had ever done waspeople and figure out how to
promote and market, and that'smy degree was in music business,

(13:34):
with a double minor marketingand mass communication.
It's like thanks, thanks forthat double minor, you know, uh,
and so I did that.
And while I was doing that, um,I was also working and
traveling the country forCompassion International because
I had been a spokesperson forthem, as an artist on stage just
advocating for kids gettingone-on-one sponsorships.
And about a year and a halfinto that, I was really finding

(13:57):
my rhythm and my buddy calls meand says, hey, there's this shed
company that needs someone tolead marketing for them.
And I remember saying to himthis is 2015.
So I don't know when you camein 2017.

Shed Geek (14:12):
Yeah, so I would have started in 2014.

Oh yeah, I left for a couple of years, that's
right, you were with.
Yeah, yeah, I started withGraceland, yeah, I started with
Graceland in.

Shed Geek (14:24):
I started with Graceland and in purchasing uh,
it was a great experience.
Love the company.
Still to this day we appreciatethat opportunity more than they
know.
But then me and you connectedlater, probably 2016 ish, so I
came.

So, my buddy says this they need this, uh,
marketing person.
And I was like I'm not takingthat call.
Look at me, I'm not a shed guylike what.
My like what.
My dad, my whole family areblue collar.
They're plumbers, union pipefitters.
I'm not that guy.
I was never really hand.
I was like I don't know.
And he said shut up, Craig, youtake this call, this is a call

(14:57):
you've got to take.
And I called and the guy at thetime who was running the
marketing was actually fromNashville, was really good
friends with a music industryguy that was over at Conduit
Church.
Conduit Church was a new churchI was very familiar with
because I had built some housesin Haiti.
I'd been to Haiti three timeswith Darren over at Conduit

(15:20):
Church and Darren is.
You know he's Dave Ramsey'sright hand pastor.
He does all there's.
You know Darren's.
By the way, he's plugged forDarren Tyler.
Uh, the power of seven a greatbook around spiritual giftings,
um, but Darren knew, um, PaulFarmer.
Paul farmer ended up going andleading wood techs for a minute,

(15:42):
um, and I don't think thatcompany's around, but I knew
Paul very quickly because of theconnections in the music
industry and I had peace reallyquickly.
So, I came into the industry in2015 and did that for four
years and I'm so grateful forthat opportunity.
And that particular companydoesn't exist now or is morphed,

(16:04):
but I learned so much in thatworking for that company about
branding, about marketing andhow to stand out, and it was the
place where I learned that Ibelonged or felt like.
It gave me the opportunity tobe at the table from an
executive leadership perspective.

Shed Geek (16:24):
A lot of growth.

A lot of growth.
I mean you and I met I meanobviously Kyle and I'm.
I knew Kyle before that, but somany people Tiffany Strong came
through there.
Gosh, the secure guys, secure.

Shed Geek (16:36):
I mean the Gaither boys.

A lot of connectivity, you look back at
that who kind of came from theindustry Christie was there, who
now runs Frontier, JustinArnold so many people in the
industry came through at thetime EZ, and then I left in 2019
.
I really wanted to grow in theleadership.
I really was like I needsomewhere where I can grow in

(16:58):
leadership and I went to PaducahBank, connected to the industry
, which is hilarious.
I did not understand thatconnection then, but I went to
where I was the director ofclient experience and I did that
for four years and that taughtme how to lead large groups of

(17:19):
people.
That gave me the opportunity tolead a large team.
If you'd have told me I was inthe shared industry, if you'd
have told me I'd be a bankerindustry, if you told me I'd be
in a banker even worse, I neverwould have thought I've been a
banker.
Um, but man, it's all been thisstory around people and
communicating, which is reallyaround how to listen.
Well, that's, that was thepiece.

(17:40):
And, um, I got the call a yearand a half ago to come and I'd
been doing some keynote speakingon this topic of wild
leadership.
You know, because I'm reallypassionate about culture and
leading with culture, I thinkthat's the brand starts
internally, you know, and thengoes externally.
But um, I got the call to comespeak about wild leadership at

(18:00):
the NBSRA, which is now the NSRAthe National Shed Rental
Association which we helped.
Uh, I have had the privilege tokind of work and working on the
rebrand, still on that but Icame and spoke and after that
started it was like homecoming,you know.
There were a lot of friends inthe room and it just was like I

(18:21):
love, I love this place where Ican, um, I can speak freely
around.
Uh, you don't have to worryabout the story, you don't have
to worry about talking aboutfaith, you don't have to, and I
just love actually encouraged.

Shed Geek (18:35):
It's so encouraged.
Yeah, it's like people.

you say not that you avoid it, but like I've
learned how to talk about itwithout necessarily talking
about it.

Shed Geek (18:43):
Yeah, Most corporate structures are going to be like.
You know, uh, some of ourpeople may be offended and some
of this, uh, that was one of thethings that we talked about in
the podcast early on was I waslike, you know, be offended,
like no one's, no one's eversaid that.
Maybe to some people it's like,but we've got to be careful,
cause they'll be offended andit's like be offended, I Be

(19:07):
offended.
I mean, what am I supposed todo about that?
You know what I mean?
Like as I'm supposed to havethis magic fix for, like, if I,
if I pray on the podcast andthey're like well, we can't
sponsor you because you pray onthe podcast and I'm like don't
sponsor it.

Yeah, it's okay.
The older I get, the more I'm,and I'm never been one to really
shy away from.
I'm going to be the wild energyguy.

Shed Geek (19:23):
You'd never be good at being anybody else, craig, I
promise you I'd be so bad andthere doesn't need to be any
more of me, that's too much.
Just be you, because it's thebest you'll ever be.
I believe that about everybody.

Yeah, just be.
Everybody is one of one, and sothat's how you stand out, and I
really get into that withbranding when you are yourself,
there's no one else like you,you know, and so I just that
speaking opportunity got mereconnected and with a lot of

(19:56):
things and um, and that's why Ijoined JMAG.
I just loved the idea and theculture that was happening there
.
Obviously, I knew Kyle andfinally just again shut up and
listened.
And I came back last year, and Ilove the industry because of

(20:17):
the people.
I love it and I think there'san opportunity to help leaders
in this industry continue togrow and differentiate
themselves.
I don't believe this.
I'm going to say this veryclearly.
I think I've heard a lot ofpeople say it's just a shed.
It's a shed.
It's a shed and we're notselling sheds.

(20:39):
That's right, Right.
So, there is so much room forcompanies to differentiate
themselves, and there's enough.
You know there's enough.

Shed Geek (20:48):
So no, you're that's you're, you're, you're 100 on.
Uh, you know, we talked alittle bit, me and me, and you
talked an hour, just to be clearprobably two hours before we
started the podcast and we maytalk an hour after who knows,
it's just uh, uh, it's easy todo.
You're one of those guys.
That's conversation to have youknow, and I enjoy that it's

(21:09):
simple, because I'm not verycomplex.

No, I think it's great.

Shed Geek (21:14):
I think you're.
I think it's great because wejust, I think me and you are
excited about ideas or excitedabout people.
So, like when we start me andyou start talking, a buzzword
comes up like communication andmy wife's like oh, there's a 45
minute conversation happeningright.
So, and all those buzzwordsthat show up, Branding is
definitely one of those.
Branding is how we kind ofstarted this, at least

(21:35):
conversation.

That's how I'm here.
We're on Shed SalesProfessionals page.
You made a comment and I'm like, hey, I got some thoughts on
that.

Shed Geek (21:42):
Yeah, so it's like, well, we and the truth is we
could talk about anything.
We talk about so many things,and we probably will.
Who knows, maybe we'll makethis a regular thing or
something, but branding isdefinitely one of those things
because it's your passion aboutit.
Yes, and I would make theargument that branding hasn't
been my passion.
It has been something that Ifell into Interesting, okay,

(22:05):
interesting, okay.
So, like, I don't think that II I had all these thoughts and
they were well developed andwell even executed.
Yeah, I think I fell into somesuccess in many ways on accident
, but by what you said, justsort of being the first to be
like I'll be vulnerable, I mean,and I think that's where it
starts sometimes lord send meyeah, lord, send me.
If no one else is going to go,send me.
So, it's just kind of like I'mtraveling around and I'm talking

(22:26):
to all these people.

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Shed Geek (23:59):
And they've got really good stuff.

Yeah.

Shed Geek (24:02):
Yeah, and they don't even realize I got good stuff.
Because they're just like oh,I'm just a boring old country
boy, I don't really have much tooffer and I'm like, those are
the best podcasts.

It's almost like, when you listen long enough, the
story, the brand is there it is.
It's just a lot of people can'tsee because they're so close.
It's almost you.

Shed Geek (24:22):
Yeah, I think you do a good job with that, you're
right.
It's really about the story ofmagnifying.
I love that they can't seebecause they're so close.

They're just so close to it.

Shed Geek (24:30):
They're like what do I have to offer?
And I'm like so much Well.
And they believe a lot.

I mean, we all have this little.
We talked about this littleinsecurity and a voice saying
you're not good enough.

Shed Geek (24:41):
People won't care what I have to say.

They won't care what I have to say.
I'm too young.

Shed Geek (24:46):
I don't want to brag on myself.

I've never done this.

Shed Geek (24:48):
That's one I get a lot of times.
I don't want to come on thereand brag on myself.
I was like, well, have you everlistened to it?
And they're like yeah.

And I'm like do you feel like people were bra
saying listen to me, because Iknow all listen to me and that's
that whole humility thing issomething in this industry that
you know it's actually selfishand I don't know, go for it I do
.
I do think it's a bit selfishbecause, like, if you are a
faith and you have a gift, areyou supposed to hide it?

(25:17):
It's actually selfish not toshare it, yeah.
And so, like you know, nowthere's a position.
If you're only out for yourgain, okay.
Yeah, but like man we'resupposed to grow.
Yeah, that's actually themandate.
So, um, you know, not at not,not with intention to destroy
others, but like focus and likeshare you know I hard the hard

(25:40):
part becomes.

Shed Geek (25:45):
The hard part becomes , you know it's a small space.
We think of the shed industryas a big space, but there's so
many players and we all knoweach other and, because faith's
a big part of it, you attempt tobe, be friends and the hard
part is like where do you, wheredoes that come in when you
compete?
Yeah, and this is I think thisis something I shared in that
same post is like if you competewith me, come on the podcast

(26:05):
yeah like, like if you, if youcompete with me, advertise on
the podcast, they're like, whatdo you do if somebody else gets
that business?
and I'm like, oh, come on man,yeah, I can't win them all.
Yeah, if I tried, I'm notsupposed to win them all.
Anyway, like there's going tobe certain people that are going
to just want to work with craigand his team, because of who
they are yeah, and that's okay.

Speaker 3 (26:24):
Yeah, that's perfectly okay.
You know what I?

Shed Geek (26:26):
mean there's going to be some people that that you're
going to win and there's goingto be some business.
You're not going to win, butcan you?
I think you're really leadingby example whenever you say like
that, like the NSRA yeah, wecan come together yeah we can
come together in a conversationhere's what I love.

This industry is very much pro-industry.
We all want the industry to dowell, right, and so there is
that camaraderie, there's thatfaith, there's that.
One area, though, that I thinkcontinues, that continues to be
improved on If we would justfocus on where we're going, like

(27:02):
, just have the vision of whereyou're going.

Shed Geek (27:05):
It's great to have a pulse of where other people are
doing, but, like, there's been alot of copycat over the years
in this industry, and I see Isee more and more people um kind
of breaking out of that, butlike Steve Byler mentioned that
if they at the I don't rememberif it was that NSRA or before,
but he actually made thatcomment, I remember while on

(27:29):
stage and I went up to himafterwards and I was like wow
that was really to actually hearit out loud and he was like,
hey, the copycat time, it's timeto put it to rest.

Yeah, how many.
I mean a lot of companies arelike well, that's what their
price is, so that must be whatmy price is.
I'm like what if that's aterrible margin, like the
terrible way to run a businesslike, but and I honestly I think
that's been one of myadvantages early on in the
industry and because I didn'tcome from sheds and I just
wasn't trying to be likeeverybody else.

(27:59):
So, like you know, the, thesilly hip-hop, the flawless
flawless video, you know that'ssilly, but like there was
nothing like that, and so likeit, it did cut through the noise
yeah now whether it's your cupof tea, whether you liked it,
whatever.
I mean we broke some salesrecords four weeks in a row.

Shed Geek (28:16):
That certainly helped there you go, proofs in the but
, and it wasn't I think it was.

Just people are excited, right, you know people
get bought in and engaged and soyou know sometimes like just
being different alone is enough,and but again, like different
for the sake of different, no, Idon't think that's always great
, but how does it line up withyour brand?
How can you just when you areyourself, you're different.

(28:43):
So, I am kind of that wildenergy guy, and some people
think I mean I have to battlethat.
I mean I've had a lot of peopletell me you have this energy
about you, and I thought it wasfake.
I thought you were fake.

Shed Geek (28:56):
No, it's just who you are.

And it's like well , just give me like a couple
years, and then you'll justmaybe be annoyed.
This is I'm not really like,and I do love people.
I do, I do love people, and Iwant others.
I want to honor people whereverthey are, and that's probably a
little bit of the peoplepleaser in me.

Shed Geek (29:17):
Well, some of that's hard to get away from.
One thing you talked about waslike branding and copycat and
doing things, because they'vealways been that and I've told
this one here before and you'veprobably heard this I don't know
if you've listened, but youknow one of my favorite stories
from the pastor was, you know,like cutting the ham.

I don't know if you've heard that.
Yeah, I've heard you talk aboutthat you know basically it's
like why did you do that?

Shed Geek (29:38):
it's because grandma, grandma, grandma did it.
You find out where grandma didit.

She didn't have a big enough wasting all this ham,
this good, all this ham.

Shed Geek (29:44):
It's baking my heart because that's the way we've
always done it.

I was a poor joke and that is the what I missed it
.
I'm sorry I said you're bakingmy heart all this ham waste.
I do love a pun man.
I do love dad puns that's good.

Shed Geek (29:56):
I love dad jokes, it's perfect, uh, uh, but no, I,
I, I, I think that.
So, what is that?
That's the.
I don't want to necessarilyequate conservative with
republican.
We're certainly not going toget on this big political spill
here.
But, like, what is, what iswhat is the saying?
Right, you know, republicansare the party of no.
Yeah, that's what they say.
They're the party of no.
When you think about, like, youknow, no, no, we're not doing

(30:17):
that, no, we're not doing this.
Nothing new, nothing changes.
And it's like when nothingchanges, nothing changes, right,
like things stay the same, youbegin to live in an echo chamber
.
Mean, you talked about travelyeah and how travel exposes you
to different people, differentthings, different ideas and it's
like look, I'm not, I'm nothere to you, know, I mean, I
trust me.
I got called all the thingswhenever we talked about prison

(30:38):
ministry, man, you off the air,yeah.
And whenever I worked in thejail, I got called all the
things that you would imagine.
Uh, uh, craig, because you know, when you go to work for a jail
or a prison, it's almost asthough, like, like you're
supposed to punish the people,as though, like, like being in
jail is part of the punishment,right, like they paying a debt
to society, that's why they'resupposed to be removed from
society.

(30:58):
Now I'm supposed to add to itby making their life difficult.
Right, I got called all thethings left wing, bleeding heart
, hug, a thug, you know likeyeah hug a thug, you know, like,
ah, you just feel sorry forthem, don't you?
And I'm like I think they'repeople.
That's what I think.
I think they're people.
And I think we go back to theBible and we see that Paul and
Silas were in prison too.

Yeah, you know what I mean.
Was John the Baptist a thug?

Shed Geek (31:22):
I just believe I'm like you.
I believe the good in people.
I want to see the good inpeople and I want to see that
even people who make mistakeshave the ability to rebound from
that and we don't just put themunder our thumb forever and
quote unquote, lock them up andthrow away the key.

Not only in prison , but you could be in a prison
of your mind and be perfectlyfree.
Well, I think I mean you talkabout poverty, and poverty is
really a mental thing in a lotof ways.
Yeah, you know, and, and Idon't want to get, no, I believe
it, my dad's got a saying.

Shed Geek (31:51):
My dad grew up poor and he says Jesus must like poor
people.
He sure made a lot of them.
And I'm like dad, that's not.

I don't think that's the right mindset, yeah,
I do think generational povertyis a thing, though, and that's
yeah, I did before um, beforedoing full-time music I did and
I think you know this but ran asocial program yeah and that
gave me the ability to haveempathy for foster kids and kids
without yeah, yeah and that man, um, it's hard to break out

(32:19):
when you know and I told youthis quote earlier but like I
heard a guy say, a guy fromUganda say, potential is
everywhere.
Opportunity is not Someone's,opportunity is in your hands.
And sometimes generationalpoverty.
You can have great work ethicbut not have the opportunity.
That's right, you know, and forevery story you see of, like

(32:42):
Billy's been walking for twoyears to burger king every day
and now he's got somebody'sgifted him a car, is um the
opera, the 50 stories ofsomebody who couldn't keep
walking because of xyz.
And then you know it's tough.
I mean you have to work hard,but sometimes that's even not

(33:03):
enough to break.
Yeah, you know, and I don'tknow how we're talking about?

Shed Geek (33:08):
No, it's good.
It's good, let's give people.
No I like it.

Hello Shed and Carport Industry.
I'm Cord Coch, chief BrandStrategist here at Shed Geek
Marketing.
Did you know that Shed GeekMarketing works with 45 shed
companies and counting, and weare not slowing down in 2025.
One of the neat benefits toworking with Shed Geek Marketing
is working with an agency asopposed to just an individual.
When you work with Shed GeekMarketing, you have a team of

(33:35):
professionals working diligentlyto ensure your success.
From branding guidelines andbrand books to websites, google
and meta tag tracking thatmeasures the traffic to your
website and social media pages,crm setup and full automation,
build outs, lead funnelintegration and so much more.
Worried about whether or not wecan serve you, don't be.

(33:55):
Shed Geek Marketing works withmanufacturers ranging from $1
million a year in sales up to$80 million a year in sales.
There is no manufacturer toobig or too small.
Remember, marketing is aninvestment that should be making
you money.
That's why nearly 50 companieshave decided to work with Shed
Geek Marketing.
So, for more information, go towww.

(34:17):
shedgeek.
com and submit some basicinformation and we'll reach out
with a discovery call andpatiently walk you through how
we can best serve you.
Thank you for your time andlook forward to working with you
.

Shed Geek (34:32):
So, let's give the people what they want.
Let's talk about branding alittle bit.
Let's give it to them so.

Gerald's going to be happy.
Gerald Rhodes is definitely.

Shed Geek (34:40):
He was like he was like he's like man's like man.
I'm looking forward to thatconversation, so hopefully we
can actually have something thathe can take away and some fat
to chew on.
Where do we want to start onbranding?
What's your thoughts?
I'm going to let you lead.
Just take it wherever you wantto take the conversation.
I can ask you questions if youlike, but go for it, you're far
away.

I would say this I , if you like.
No, no, you go for you, you faraway.
Uh, I would say this um, I'vebeen on a big kick, I.
I spent the last four weeks, um, on Wild Winsday talking about
core values.
Okay, and I think I reallybelieve branding starts with the

(35:23):
core and identifying, becausecore values are really the DNA,
it's the lens for which acompany behaves right.
And so, if you don't know as acompany and you haven't
explicitly written your corevalues down, man, that's the
first place this whole thing hasto start, because that's how

(35:45):
you behave, that's how you willbehave, that's how you make
decisions, and so, like I'mreally just huge on that.
That's where it starts.
Before you get into story,before you get into, you know,
and those are the things thathelp you stand out and be
different.
And you know, I one of thereasons I was drawn to JMAG is
because there was a focus onculture and that starts with the

(36:08):
core and when you have, I thinkSimon Sinek says I'm big Simon
fan, I wanted to talk about thatand I was like before I was
almost before you even made thatcomment.

Shed Geek (36:18):
I was like I want to get started there on the why.
Because, as Simon talked about,apple just sells computers, but
they could sell anything.

They sell an idea.

Shed Geek (36:27):
They sell an idea.
Well, I mean like a thousandsongs in your pocket, yeah.
But then whenever you thinkabout Gateway they sold
computers, right.
You think about other musicplayers like Sony and things
like that.
But look at how quick they wereable to infiltrate that by just
selling the idea.
It was an idea.
So, when you think of Apple,you think of I use this.
So, like I've done a couple ofkeynotes this last, you know, 12

(36:51):
months, and this is gettinginto.
For those who have been at it,it's getting into kind of part
of those conversations.
You know who is Apple in theshed industry?
I always like to ask thatquestion.
You know what?
What comes to mind, evenwhenever I say John Deere, yeah,
Harley Davidson, yeah, like,like you know.
So, I begin to have thoseconversations and then this is

(37:13):
one of my favorite yeah is whatcomes to mind whenever I say
Buc-ees.
Yeah, because like cleanbathrooms, clean bathrooms
absolutely.

That was their differentiator you, you know,
you know what?
That's how.
That's how they be.
That's how they be.
You realize that that was thekey thing that differentiated
them.

Shed Geek (37:29):
You know, you know what I like.
I like, whenever you walk in,everybody says welcome to
Bucky's and you will not get awelcome to Bucky's Cause I've
said this in our keynotes, youknow, I did one in Millersburg
recently where I said guess whatyou always get whenever you
walk into Pilot?
Now, welcome to Pilot.
And I'm like ah quit trying wealready know it's been done.
We know what you're doing rightnow.
But it's welcome to Amoco.

(37:49):
I mean it just don't sound thesame.
But welcome to Bucky's.
You're going to get 30 of them.
You're going to get a cleanbathroom.

Yep, somebody is there, just on the bathrooms
You're going to get anexperience.

Shed Geek (38:01):
So, I'm like I know the ones who are booing, and I
know even the ones who arebooing right now, who are
listening to my hollers, becausethey're like they don't let
trucks in there.

Oh listen, listen, haulers, shot callers, my
ballers.
Are you going to rap now?
Is that what you're doing?
Dropping those buildings withhydraulics?
Come on the next shed.
Haulers bash I'm.
I'm ready to drop some bad, uh,some bad rap.

Shed Geek (38:27):
If you ever get a rap song in front of the haulers
and get a standing ovation,listen I mean, look, I got
something.

Why has somebody not rhymed
hydraulics.
Yet I can just see like thebounce you know what I'm saying
like the old, like like just thehydraulics bouncing.

Shed Geek (38:36):
Let's work on that, uh but you know, you know what
the problem was.
Like it's.
It's like they're notanti-trucker is what I tell
people they're not anti-truckerbut they know they, but they are
.

They are they Buc-ees is what it is today is
because they realized thatgetting the women was the
smartest thing they could do,because if they got the women,
they got the men, and that'swhat they did.
They said what's the biggestproblem?

Shed Geek (39:00):
bathrooms that's why I had to explain to people
they're not.
They're not anti-trucker,they're pro clean.
But bathrooms and when you goto a truck stop, unfortunately
it's not always the bestexperience and that and that
makes families not want to gothere.

So, but I will agree with truckers and haulers.
Listen to me, Craig Felker, seemoney, I'm not a huge fan of
Buc-ees.
I'm on record, saying it.
Okay, I'm not.
But I understand and Iappreciate what they're doing.
I get it the, the.

Shed Geek (39:28):
the question really is what does the brand say?
Yeah, before you mention thebrand, yeah, because if you're
driving down the road and youstart emotional connection, like
I, there's, there's just thingsthat you can throw out, like
Coca-Cola.
Yeah, okay, you don't have tohave a sales team with a full
built out.
You know all the tools, theCRMs, automation funnels,
everything Right, you got allthese cool things going, right.

Yep.

Shed Geek (39:51):
But someone stops at Buc-ee's before any of that
stuff.
So, I always ask the questionlike who's the Buc-ee's of the
shed industry?
Because just the name evokes anemotion.
Yeah, and like we've tried todo that with Shed Geek.
Yeah, and like what has thatbeen?
We've tried to build our brandon trust.
Yep, why?
Because who do people buy from?
Yeah, people that they trustwho do people want to work with

(40:13):
People they trust?
We have never wanted to be in asituation where we're having to
defend ourselves.
No, no, no, no.
Let me rephrase that I don'tmind defending myself.
I don't want to have to be in aposition to where I'm lying in
defense of myself because I wantto be.

(40:33):
This is who we are.

That's what I want to put out there and I want
them to systematically think Ican trust you, so it's, so, it's
trust, but um and so like.
If I ask you what the Shed Geekcore values are, is trust in
there?
Trust, absolutely.
What I would say is and Ireally, really believe this
there was this huge topic acouple years ago around this
great, was it the great?
Resignment.

Shed Geek (40:55):
Yes, resignation, the great resignation.

Why do I always miss it Somewhere Craig Gentry
is laughing at me the greatresignation where people don't
want to work, and I think thatwas to some degree true, but I
think we are in an era right nowwhere people want to align
themselves with companies, withbrands that they have shared
values with Absolutely.
So, if you are, leading withyour culture, your core values

(41:21):
and that is your brand, becausegood companies have customers.
Great companies have fans.
Harley-Davidson has fans.
I'm not a Harley-Davidson fan.
They have raving crazy.
I'm not going to say crazy, butpeople are just mad, crazy about
Harley-Davidson.
If you're a Harley-Davidsonperson, you only own Harley

(41:43):
Davidson's and you, you know youwear the gear.
You literally wear the gear.
It's a lifestyle.
That's what a fan does andthat's the piece like Patagonia.
Okay, I'm, I don't know whattheir stance, but they're,
they're trying to be just.
That's one of their be just.
It's all about sustainability,protect the earth.

(42:03):
So, they're very climate driven.
So, guess what?
Their prices of their stuff isvery expensive.
They're not trying to get.
They're literally on recordsaying I don't want you to buy
20 of these, want you to buy oneof these in the last year, 20
years now it's going to cost youthe what 20, right, but like
they're not even.
They're not even because peopleare lining their values airbnb,

(42:24):
airbnb.

Shed Geek (42:25):
I was gonna say this one doesn't necessarily, uh, hit
in terms of like I don't knowwhat value they bring, but I
mean Lamborghini, you know theyou know the saying why do
Lamborghini owners, uh, why doesLamborghini not advertise on tv
?
Because people who buyLamborghini's aren't moved by a
tv ad.
You don't, you don't?
You don't consider a brand newToyota, which is the most

(42:48):
reliable vehicle perhaps,perhaps on the on, you know, on
earth?
and it's proven that for severalyears it's not and then say I'm
considering the toyota corolla,but that lamb, that Lamborghini
just may win me out, because Isaw that advertisement.

That Honda Accord you know, it's you know what, if
you have to ask, then you don'tget it.
Yeah, right, yeah.
It's the exclusivity it's.
That is a rare, uniqueexperience.

This is James Price of ShedPro on faith and
business.
What does faith and businesslook like for us?
You know, I realize many of youdon't know the full story of
how ShedPro started, so let metell you the story of Nathan,
one of our developers.
It started 15 years ago.
Nathan was selected to join atwo-year technical training
program for students fromdisadvantaged backgrounds.

(43:40):
After Nathan had graduated fromthe training program, he came
to our company for an internship.
Over the years, Nathan movedfrom an intern to a junior
developer, to a developer, asenior engineer and eventually
to the technical team lead.
Nathan is the developer thatcreated the original Shedpro
product that now has over 130businesses using it daily.

(44:01):
But see, the beauty of this isthe one thing I haven't told you
is that nathan accomplished allthis while the same time he was
fighting against cerebral palsy.
You see, nathan is aninspiration to me and I hope
nathan's story is an inspirationto each of you and a reminder
that we can use our business tomake a difference in the lives
of the people that are around us, and especially the lives of

(44:25):
those that are so oftenoverlooked.
This is James Price.
Thanks for listening.

Shed Geek (44:32):
To bring this back to branding, do you think anyone
in the shed industry has beenable to open up that Pandora's
box in the, in the, in the, inthe public's eye of a brand?
Because this is what I find.
I find that if you go to uhname, I don't know any city
around here.
Or, like you know, go to MarionIllinois, yeah, and let's say

(44:52):
that you've got a couple of shedlots there.
Yeah, I tend to believe thatmost customers don't one
couldn't tell you the name of abrand, of a shed industry or of
a shed uh company.
In most cases, to save theirlife, in most cases.
I'm not saying it's exclusive,I'm just saying, in most cases,
and, and you, you do this.
I mean, I used to even do this.
Me and Jim did this wheneverwe'd sit down to eat, go to

(45:14):
Applebee's.
We'd be like you know, hey, wewas thinking about getting a
shed around here.
Where would we go to get it?
And guess what?
90 of the conversation wasaround.
Probably Home Depot or Lowe's,yeah, and like.
But.
But yet we're in.
We're so entrenched in ourproduct knowledge because we're
on the inside looking out thatwe think that people know our
shed company and their name andthe question is like does

(45:37):
anybody have that Buc-ees, thatthat Harley Davidson, yet has
anybody capitalized?

do I think that, yeah, I would say, um gosh, we
were, when I go back to you,know what we were trying to do
at easy 2015 to 2019, when I wasthere and we had built it was
before idea room we built ourown 3d configurator and that
thing was crushing.
It was real images and it wasonly based on colored images.

(46:05):
We just wanted a real photowhere the wife could change the
colors, because I believe thatif the wife could change the
colors and see the, the look,then the man could get the space
he needed.
Yeah, like think about the woman, because you get her, then the
guy can get his building.
I certainly felt like what wewere doing was way unique and

(46:27):
different and ahead of its time,and I think that's why, sort of
I guess we had some success, orat least you know.

Shed Geek (46:38):
My question to you, though, I would say yes.

The short answer is more so than ever before, do
I think brands are starting tostick out more, but I think
there is still a lot of work tobe done yeah, my my question's.

Shed Geek (46:53):
Like you know, do you think it's penetrated the small
too, the?

right.
Well, and that's that's kind ofmy point young and like you
almost have to be like anational brand.
Yeah and then it's so to belike a national brand?

Shed Geek (47:02):
Yeah, and then it's so hard to do a national brand.
And who are the national brandsin the shed industry?
Yeah, because then you?
start having that conversation.
Yeah, and you start going.
Well, I mean, does that comedown to network, Does that come
down to dealer?

network.
How many dealers that used tobe?
Oh, they've got 700 dealers.

Shed Geek (47:23):
Well, here's my question about branding.
You're a consignment, let's sayyou're a consignment dealer.
Yeah, this is one thing that wepush on marketing constantly,
this concept I mean for one, thecustomer acquisition time.
Yep, I was told when I got intomarketing.
I actually called one personwho was kind of doing some

(47:44):
marketing and I said is it goingto bother you?
I knew there was a few people,but I said is it going to affect
you?
And they said go for it,because people in this industry
don't understand marketing, soyou're never going to be
successful anyway.
Well, we found just theopposite, because what we did
was we took a long-term customeracquisition approach and I said
I'll sit with you for an hourand I'll answer all your

(48:05):
questions in your brokenlanguage.
We'll sit down and ask and I'lltell you what really got me.
I've talked about it on thepodcast before.
It was whenever we was doing awebsite for a guy and he said oh
, by the way, for that price, Iwant you to make that thing show
up first on Google.
I, I want you to make thatthing show up first on Google.
I know that's really important.
I've heard people say that,yeah, that's really important.
And I was like, ah, I realizedhow disconnected they were from

(48:26):
like SEO, right, like the otherday we were at a meeting, we
were at a dealer's meeting, verysharp uh, a salesperson Okay,
sales lady who's doing well overa million a year.
She that's okay, that you askedthat.
I'm glad you asked it becausethat means that you're like
wanting to.
You know, I was at a point onetime where I was like what's SEO
?
Right, and so that's okay.

(48:47):
You, you know, you're, you'relearning, but the world's
changing and like so what usedto happen is like let's throw a
bunch of investors out there andlet's get 700 dealer lots out
there and it's like and that'sgoing to be success.
Of the questions I've beenasking on shed sales
professionals lately is like howmany of you guys are selling
inventory?
Is inventory your main selleror is new construction builds?

(49:07):
And then you start getting thedata and they start going.
Well, 90 of mine, or 50 plus,are new buildings and I'm like
so would the key to growth be togo open up a whole bunch of
more dealers?

yeah, well, I mean I, and I think I'll say this if
you lead a sales team out thereand you're listening to this,
clarity is everything.
Donna miller, who's one of mybiggest influence in the
marketing space, says whoeversays it in the least amount of
words wins.
That's what's around clarity,right?

(49:38):
Most dealers don't know,because they don't have clear
expectation or an understandingof what a successful year looks
like.
Some of them understand amillion dollars, but if you are
a manufacturer and you areputting inventory on the lot,

(50:00):
how many times is that money?
Because that's money in cashand our industry cash is cash
flow is king, right flow is king.
So, like how much?
How many times is that turningand does have you broken that
out and reverse engineered it?

Shed Geek (50:14):
dude, you know what I'm saying.
Like you're speaking mylanguage.

So much if you're gonna put a hundred thousand
dollars in inventory out there.
It needs to turn four times.
That's four hundred thousanddollars.
Let's divide that by 12 and, ata very bare minimum, a dealer
needs to understand that a goodbusiness investment needs to be
x amount of dollars andeverybody needs a path to get
there here's the flaw and.

Shed Geek (50:36):
and.
This is why I say, like Ialways say, most of the dealer
network would have hated me as asales manager.
Yeah, cause, like, the onething I did was I was like oh,
you want more inventory?
I was like, cool, if you sellmore, I'm going to give you more
.

Yeah.

Shed Geek (50:47):
But if you don't sell more, how can I justify giving
you more?
And you're saying that I needthe chicken, you know, instead
of the egg, and I'm saying on,but how do you justify a company
that has, or a dealer, even whohas zero inventory, who's
selling 130 000 a month?
Yeah, now, now let's not talkabout whether or not they have

(51:08):
40 buildings versus 30 buildings, because that's a little bit of
a moot point right now, isn'tit?
Because I'm talking about acompany who has zero dollars in
inventory, selling 130 to 150.

there are companies there are companies
out there doing it and thatcertainly throws a wrench in the
spray and pray.

Shed Geek (51:27):
That's exactly right.
Shotgun approach that's exactlyright, which I don't believe in
.

We didn't believe in it so much.
You remember this at EZ and Idon't want to talk too much
about that, although I amgrateful you and I talked about
this I am so grateful for allthose years, yeah because it
taught me so, so, so, so much.
But we did something different.
We were doing, you know, to bea dealer at that time.
You remember we had a marketingpackage.
Yeah, it was our um barrier toentry.

(51:52):
Yeah, because we were trying tobe best in class, didn't care
about everybody else's prices,we were like, actually the most
expensive by far.
We believe we were building thecraziest best house building
back then and I think we were atthe top or right there.
But we had a marketing packagefor those dealers remember.
And in order to be a dealer, youhad to buy into a marketing

(52:14):
package.
Now why would we do that?
Fear of loss is the greatestmarketing tool we have, as
anybody in branding andmarketing.
Fear of missing out, it's FOMOright and the belief was if you
one buy into that marketingpackage, it was like I don't
know, 700 bucks or threethousand dollars.

(52:36):
It wasn't that much money.
If you couldn't invest in that,were you going to invest in
yourself?
Were you going to be engaged?
Because we were trying to findpeople who were going to be
fully invested and engaged, thatis the achilles heel right now
in the shed industry.

Shed Geek (52:50):
In many ways is that.
So, this comes back to branding, and I'll tell you why.
Because you have craig starts acompany today.
It's called craig sheds yeahand all of a sudden craig starts
selling or not selling on awholesale model, that's.
That's something we see in theeast coast, that's quite a bit
right.
But here in the Midwest wedefinitely see a lot of craig
starts it.
He gets a bunch of investors,he opens up 70 lots, yeah.

(53:12):
So now I'm going to become oneof your lots yeah right, and
you're selling craig's buildings.
Yeah, and now I open upShannon's, your Shannon's, your
Shannon's brand so now I'mtrying to brand, you know,
Shannon's Sheds.

Yes.

Shed Geek (53:26):
And then the customer's coming up and they're
saying whose sheds are these?
Well, these are Shannon's Sheds.
And it's like well, who's themanufacturer, who's the maker,
who's the model?
Well, they're Craig's Sheds.
And it's like well, I don'tunderstand what's going on here
about how much is being lost inSEO value.
Think about how much is beinglost in uh, uh ads.
All right, and now, and now,and now, even if you've got a

(53:47):
successful dealer, yeah, who'sdoing?
And let's call that a million,let's just put that at a million
, let's for the sake ofconversation.
All of a sudden, you knowthey're making 10, they got 100
grand and they're like I can'tafford what's necessary to
create an effective marketingstrategy because I've got to try
to create this brand locally,while they're out here with a
brand that is five, six, sevenstates wide.

(54:09):
Why isn't the manufacturer?
And then it's like but nowlet's turn our focus to that.
The manufacturer has alreadygiven you $200,000 in free
inventory and no, no industrythat I know of does not do that
without a net 30, 60 or 90.
So I think that you're gonnahave to have a shrinkage in many

(54:30):
ways.
I think you're gonna have tohave a.
You're probably gonna see moreconsolidation, I feel like,
because the big guys arepossibly gonna eat the little
guys lunch if they actually.
And yet, at the same time, Itell small companies all the
time you have all the power inthe world right now and they're
like why?
I'm like because big companiesaren't doing it, they're not

(54:50):
embracing it.
There's actually big companiesthat we know right now that
we've even talked to them andwe're like I can't believe they
are not going down this avenue.
They sell $300 million a yearand they're

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Shed Geek (56:05):
So, my question to you is this it's like, whose
responsibility is it to brand orto market or all those things
underneath it?
Is it the?
Is it the companies?
Is it the dealers?
I don't know?
Give some thoughts on that,yeah.

So, I mean, my mind has always been this, and
hear me, mom and pop, um, youknow, one-stop distributors,
wholesalers.
Okay, I've always believed inthe idea of compound interest.
It's a really easy concept tounderstand.
You know, over time it workedTime is our friend.

(56:43):
Same thing in branding.
I always believed if we couldfind the right people.
So if I'm a manufacturer and ifI can find the right people
that are engaged and I canfigure out a way to honor them,
respect them and provide themopportunities to grow and really
it's our job to make sure thatpeople see an unlimited ceiling

(57:03):
of growth right and do equipthem then we would be better as
a brand, footprint-wise, if wecould be a voice together.
Now it takes vision Agreed.
It takes a lot of vision and alot of heart and a lot of
empathy and a lot of care, andthat's hard because you have to
have the long game in mind to dothat.

(57:25):
And there are some companiesthat are doing that, there are
some companies not doing that.
Well, and I think thatobviously contributes to people
going out and saying you knowwhat?
I'm going to do this on my ownand just pick and choose what I
want.
I'm going to build my ownbusiness and you can do that.
You just have to define whatsuccess looks like.
Is it monetary, is it impact?
You know, most people want tobe a part of something bigger

(57:50):
and there's usually one bigright story, and that's what I'm
constantly trying to find.
What is the big story?
You know, what are we doing?
How do we find that big storyand not settle with something
smaller?
Yeah, cause everybody wants tomake an impact.

Shed Geek (58:03):
Well, it's so hard as a.
As you know, I always go backto the story wrong in either no
wrong in either way there, bythe way.
No, no, and that's the thing.
I'm always careful not tosuggest to people you're doing
it wrong.
I always suggest what I seeothers doing well.

It'll just be hard , right?
It'll just be hard if you'reout there by yourself, because
we were made for community.

Shed Geek (58:25):
That's right.
Lone Wolf is the challengersale.

The Lone Wolf, that's the least successful
person in most cases it's justhard to break through the noise
out there solo.

Shed Geek (58:40):
You need to be plugged in.
You need to be plugged in, butyou can do it.

You can do it and it's never been a better time in
the history of humanity to dothat.
Because you can I mean, shedGeek can have one million.
Let's just pick any socialmedia platform.
You could have one millionfollowers.
Craig Wild Wednesday could have12 followers, whatever and I
could create one piece ofcontent that gets viewed 12

(59:04):
million times, and doesn'tmatter how many followers.
That's right.
It's all about the actualcontent.
So, your ability to get visiblehas never been greater for
somebody who has little to nostart or following.
Now, how to do that?
That is something that ifanybody in this industry or
anybody in marketing could giveyou the exact formula, and there

(59:24):
will be people who try to sellthat, and good luck, because
they don't know the algorithm.
They have best practices thatcan get you in the ballpark, but
there's no exact to it.
But again, what matters isconsistency knowing who you are,
being relentless about, knowingyou are, which is why I go back
to core and culture you talkedabout content.

Shed Geek (59:46):
I mean just content alone.
I felt like we can have an hourconversation.
I mean, content is king andit's part of the reason why I
mean there's.
There's things I've been amazedat.
Yeah, I've had a couplecompanies who've come to me and
they've been like hey, I want tobe on the podcast.
I'm like cool.
And they're like no, I meanlike, when I'm on the podcast, I
want you to send me the rawcopy.
I want you to send me the this.
We're going to chop it up,we're going to put it on social
media feeds, we're going to putit on all the uh, all the

(01:00:08):
outlets that it can be possiblyout there.
We're going to use it for ourpurposes as well.
And then I have some people whoare like I don't want to be on
it because I don't want to bragyeah and I'm like oh my gosh,
you're actually missing a greatmarketing opportunity to even be
on it like don't evenjust be on this one.
Be on all of them.
Be on all of them, you canabsolutely you know like uh,
that conversation was uh, we'llthrow this in the mix.
Uh, shed, hub sheds for sale.

(01:00:29):
It's like, which one should Iuse both, yeah, along with
everything else that'll help yousell a shed.
Why are you limiting yourmindset?

Craig Felker (01:00:37):
why would you not be?
Why would you not be an autotrader?
Why would you not be on all theplaces?

Shed Geek (01:00:42):
be in every like, like my advice will always be
this be in everywhere.
That will help you becauseyou're trying to get helped you,
and I think some of that comesback to conversations we've even
had recently about, like,there's this, there's this
appreciated loyalty yeah andthat's great, yeah.
But then there's also this likehey, be loyal to your, to
yourself and your business andyour, your, your ministry and

(01:01:04):
your employees, and all that bybeing successful also.

Yeah.

Shed Geek (01:01:08):
And that means you owe it to yourself to find the
solution.
And the solution is not alwaysin this undeterred loyalty to
one specific company or onespecific thing.
You can find success by I don'tread one book and say I've got
all the knowledge, got it.

I got it.

Shed Geek (01:01:22):
I read all the books to try and get the knowledge.
So, you know I don't go to tryand get the knowledge.

So, you know I don't go to church and say I got
the message, yeah, it's aposition of growth.

Shed Geek (01:01:33):
Yeah.

Right, it's a position of constantly realizing
and adapting and trying.
I mean, he's trying.
Sometimes some marketing isjust I want to try something and
being undaunted by puttingsomething out there that doesn't
stick, that's a lot of it.

Shed Geek (01:01:54):
I think the hardest part is you take a look at a lot
of the dealers, especially theconsignment networks, I just
feel like sometimes I feel likethey're on an island just by
their self, just a little bitalone.
I think that's the hardest part.

It's funny though you say that, and I agree,
probably some of the mostengaged, like some of the best
as far as like hooked up andlike can really really know
their stuff, yeah, and so it'snot a knock on that, it's just

(01:02:29):
it comes back to who do you wantto be and what do you want to
do, and if from a from a brandperspective, from a
manufacturing perspective,that's on us, yeah, that's on
the manufacturer to sell avision that's right sell it but
believe it so much that peoplewant to be a part of it.
I mean, if we don't, you're justgoing to create, potentially,

(01:02:51):
the opportunity for people to goout and uh and be.

Shed Geek (01:02:54):
They're going to people, people who are hungry
people who are hungry won't waitaround, that's right.
People who are hungry, uh, tosucceed, they, people who are
good visionaries, they, theywon't wait around, they will,
they will go and create.
Um, you know, the hard part isI and I do believe this I
believe that it takes two totango right.
It takes a visionary, it takesan implementer, and I think
that's the hard part.

Yeah.

Shed Geek (01:03:15):
Yeah, I think that it does take that, because I just
recognize my deficiencies in incertain areas and I don't try to
go be good at what I'm not goodat.
I'm not saying that I couldn't,I'm saying that I would lose
some of myself to try and go andlearn that strategy.
So, I believe in myself butalso believe other people are
created to do things, meant todo things, and sometimes you

(01:03:37):
just got to get behind them andembrace them.
And I have found that wheneverpeople actually get behind those
ideas with me and we worktogether and collaborate, I mean
I'm actually my success is thesuccess of a story of
collaboration, whether, whetherI want to admit it, or others do
or not, it's the ability towork together with people at a
high level and turn the airplanein half the space that is

(01:03:59):
necessary, at a fast pace, if,if we need to, and that's what
we have, I feel like that's whatwe've developed.
Man, I, I want to, I want tohave you back.
I want to line out like threeor four things for us to talk
about that we just like and Ihope I've done enough to shut up
and listen- and also talk andadd value when necessary.

I love talking to you Guys we didn't talk about.
We could keep going, but I'mradically passionate about
leaders communicating, which isreally just active listening.
We need to talk about that andwhat your cadence of caring for
people is.
I'm really passionate aboutthat.

Shed Geek (01:04:38):
If we didn't have to eat.

But we have to eat .
We both have two o'clocks.

Shed Geek (01:04:43):
And if we don't eat?

it's listen.
Yeah, I definitely want to eat,but I mean it's fun to talk
about this stuff, this to me islike, I guess what I want to be
and people ask me like.
So, I mentioned Don Miller.
I read his book recently, hislatest book, which is Hero on a

(01:05:08):
Mission.

Shed Geek (01:05:09):
Okay.

And I would say this Part of reading that book
is understanding that atdifferent times in your life
you're the victim, at differenttimes you're the hero.
The ultimate thing is to be theguide right.
Yoda was way cooler thanSkywalker.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, because hewas the one that Skywalker I
mean.
Heroes are weak most of thetime until the end of the story.
Yeah, okay, they stink, but ahero sacrifices something for

(01:05:32):
some bigger cause.
Part of reading that book wasme getting to a point and
writing my eulogy.

Shed Geek (01:05:40):
You talk about a brain, yeah, you don't want to
go there, right?
It's not a real eulogy.
It's one of the best exercisesyou could ever do.

Huge there.
Right, it's not a real eulogy,but one of the best exercises
you could ever do huge and so,and the very first part of that
is this and this is who I wantto be in life and in this
industry.
I want to be that energy guy,but I want to be the life of the
party.
Hear me when I say this when Iwalk in, I'm not the only one
who walks in.
When I walk in, I'm not theonly one who walks in.

(01:06:10):
I can talk about my faith and Ilove that.
The Spirit walks in.
The Spirit changes theatmosphere.
I literally want to, whateverroom or whatever place I am, I
hope to bring life, to helppeople see in themselves that
peace that they are insecureabout.
I want people to be encouragedto be themselves all the way to

(01:06:35):
come alive.

Shed Geek (01:06:36):
I feel like you get fed.

That's like in this industry, whether it's
talking about leadership,culture, brand, it's all around
honoring people, helping peoplecome alive.
That's who I want to bewherever I am.
And gosh, I have't.
I have failed so many things.
I don't have it all figured out, but that is that's the journey
, man.

Shed Geek (01:06:55):
That's the journey.
You know what I mean.
Like, you, you know, and I knowit's the it's, it's the, it's
the journey.
You know it's not thedestination and uh, I feel like
that's uh, you know, that's justkind of innately who you are as
an individual.
You just you want to be ahelper, you want to.
You're a people person bynature.
You're going to be that, withor without the shed industry.

I want people to believe in themselves.
I just want to like shake themand then walk out of the room
and then be like, okay, yeah, Ican do that.

Shed Geek (01:07:23):
That's awesome, man.
Well, listen real quick,because I do this for everybody
else.
Yeah, you have any questions?
Uh, always like to end the thethe segment by saying whether
it's podcasting, sheds anything,life or whatever, because I
usually spend so much timeasking questions me and you our
conversation is just waydifferent.

(01:07:43):
Uh, I don't have to pullanything out of you.
You just come prepared likethis guy needs to shut it down.
No, no, you're good.
You're good.
I welcome it.
It's appreciated, I promise you.
But do you have any questionsfor me?
Just anything, fulltransparency, whatever you want
to ask.

One year from now.
This is a question and I'mgoing to kick on questions.
Okay, one year from now,Shannon, we're having coffee.
Okay, what are we celebrating?

Shed Geek (01:08:15):
it's a very thought-provoking question.
It's not one.
I've got a.
I've got any answers ready forum?
So here's what I've learned todo.
I've learned in a moment likethis this is probably one of my
biggest maturing moments.
I don't have an answer for youand this is something I've
learned to do.
I've learned in a moment likethis this is probably one of my
biggest maturing moments.

I don't have an answer for you, and this is
something I've learned to doover and over and over is to say
, craig, are you okay to let methink on that and come to a
conclusion and a good answerinstead of I just need to give
him an answer right now thepoint of that question is not
that you have an answer, as muchas it is that you think yeah um

(01:08:52):
, because I guess sharedexperiences are everything for
me, and we talked about thislike I just so like, if I know
you're building something,you're dreaming about something
or you're trying to, you know,get somewhere, what an

(01:09:14):
opportunity to walk through thator at least encourage you or
dream with you or eventuallycelebrate with you, whatever
that is, you know and that's thethat's what I promise.

Shed Geek (01:09:20):
I'll make this promise to you.
I'll text you what that is Okay, or maybe I'll even share it
with the industry, but I've justlearned.
Whenever you're like, stumped.

No, I think it's wise.

Shed Geek (01:09:29):
I used to be like oh, I have to answer this and then
I have to make up an answer andthen I have to stick with that
answer because I've got todouble down on it and I don't
know.
I don't know the answer to that.
So, what are we celebrating?

I don't know, but I promise and I know that you
are a person of faith.
Do you care to just say aprayer just in the podcast over
the industry, that kind of thing?
Lord, I don't have to ask foryour presence because your word
says we're two or more gatheredand I just trust and believe
you're with us.
I believe you are a God that isfor us.
I believe you're a God thatgives us more than we can handle

(01:10:15):
, because you are with us always.
So, I thank you for everybreath because it's a dependence
upon you.
So, I thank you for grace and I, just right now, I would just
say um over this industry.
Lord, I just pray for um, thatyou be lifted, um, that you

(01:10:37):
realize that there's no lack,that you'd help us realize that
there is no lack, um, becauseyou are coming.
You have plenty.
Uh, you have plenty for all ofus.
Lord, may there be a spirit ofunity and a spirit of peace in a
time where it seems likeeverything is divisive.

(01:10:57):
Lord, may we rally around you.
May we rally around peace.
May we have so much peace thatwe don't even have to
necessarily be loud or right,but we can just be kind and be
your love on display.
Lord, thank you for thisopportunity.

(01:11:18):
Let's pray for blessings forShannon and for Deanna and for
Shed Geek and for everyonelistening.
We ask in Jesus' name, amen.

Shed Geek (01:11:27):
Amen.
Appreciate you, brother,definitely.
I didn't know we were going toAmen.
Appreciate you, brother,definitely.

I didn't know we were going to do that, but
that's cool.
Hey, I know you do that.
I know you do that a lot.
Well, I put you on the spot.
You did.
I'm sorry about that.
No, there's nothing.

Shed Geek (01:11:39):
You know, I believe that it's important to man.
God has been so good, he manGod has been so good, he has
been so good to us and we don'tdeserve it.
We have literally, I have tosay we, I have literally been
Judas' kiss, you know.
So, for him to continue tosearch after me, break down

(01:12:01):
walls to find me, to leave the99, dude, I will never, ever in
my life be in a place where Icannot give God the honor and
the thanks and the glory forwhat he's done.
And hey, man, whatever he's gotfor me, I'm running toward it.

So sincerely thank you for having me on and I just
appreciate the opportunity andyou know this industry.
It's a beautiful thing.
It's a beautiful thing.
I think we all want a lot ofthe same things, but that whole.
That whole unity thing right nowmeans so much to me.

(01:12:38):
Um, the um.
The enemy wants to divide us inall the ways.
I don't mean that politicallyper se, but it absolutely is in
all the ways.
Look for the opportunity to bepeace all of us, especially

(01:13:04):
within our industry, together.
So many people of faith here.

Shed Geek (01:13:07):
We all know each other.
That's the faith here.
We all know each other.
That's the hardest thing we allknow each other.

Let's be a display of that.
Let's actively and I'll closewith this, I'm a little
passionate about this.
Shakespeare says In delay therelies no plenty.
Don't let the sun set.
Don't let the sun set.
If you are leading people andyou have something that needs to
be said out of love, go andmeet with them.

(01:13:34):
If you have forgiveness, go.
Don't wait.
It's just too important.
Hopefully we can be a realsource of joy and a real source
of unity on display hey, let'sdo that via sheds yeah, who
would have thought sheds is whathe would use, right?

(01:13:55):
appreciate you, appreciate youbuddy, thank you

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