PART 1 of Amy's chat with Camille Alston is about 'How I Built This' - Camille made other people’s dreams come true in the music industry for 15 years (managing artists like Kelsea Ballerini & Brett Eldredge) and then she stepped away from her career to follow a passion for classic & witty gender-neutral style. In 2020 she founded N.B. GOODS and people are loving her nostalgia-driven brand that specializes in accessories, apparel, and gifts in Nashville, TN. Her story will encourage you to also chase your dreams & remind you that nobody knows what they're doing.....we're all just figuring it out as we go!
FUN FACT: Camille and Amy were on 'Building Roots' together (season 2, episode 2) when Amy's sister and her husband brought their show to Nashville. If you missed the night it aired on HGTV the episode is called 'A River Runs Through It' and you can stream it on HBO MAX.
PART 2 This will air next week and will focus less on business and more on Camille's personal life (specifically, the loss of her father and how he's very much still with her, guiding her in spirit.) It will air next Thursday. Such a good chat. You won't want to miss it.
HOST: Amy Brown // RadioAmy.com // @RadioAmy
GUEST: Camille Alston // @shopNBgoods // shopNBgoods.com
hello@shopnbgoods.com
725 Porter Road
Nashville Tennessee
37206 United States
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Okay, cast up road, little food for yourself life.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Oh it's pretty bad. Hey, it's pretty beautiful, man, beautiful.
That for a little more facing said, he you're kicking
with four with Amy Brown.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Happy Thursday. Four Things.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Amy here, and my guest today is my friend Camille Austin,
which we were on my sister's HG TV show together,
but we've known each other way before that. I'm just
saying if anybody watched that episode of the Nashville version,
because a lot of their or all of their other
renovations have been in Colorado, Camille and I are the
(00:55):
the Nashville episode. We're the Outlaws from season two. So
you can stream that on HBO Max if you missed it.
Does our episode have a title, Yes, it's The River
Runs Through because Camille lives on a river here in Nashville,
and so that episode brought us back together. But we've
known each other for years because you used to work
in the music business and you would come in on
(01:17):
the Bobby Bone Show with artists, and then suddenly Camille's
no longer in music. She has left and started her
own business. And I remember it was at a flea
market and I look over and I see a booth
and I'm like, there's Camille.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
See they're doing your thing.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
And I thought it would be fun to bring you
on to share some of that story and what that
journey has been like. And you know, as the year
is wrapping up and we're headed into twenty twenty four
and people are thinking about, you know, what did I
do with my life this year? What do I want
to do with my life next year? It's just a
time of reflection and then also looking forward. And I
(01:54):
think that you're such an encouraging story of sometimes you
may not know what you're doing, but if if you
have an idea and it's something that you think is
going to fill your cup up, you just got to
go for it.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yeah, I mean, just roll the dice. I say that
now in hindsight, but I know it's not that easy.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Roll the dice.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
But you rolled the dice on yourself, and that you've done.
And so how many years ago was that that you
left the music business or I'll go ahead and just
throw it to you and you can start wherever you
see fit. Of like kind of how you were able
to even make the transition from New York to Nashville
and then from or Jersey, but you also lived in
the Manhattan too, right, and then working in the music
(02:32):
business to then being an entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah. So I think we actually came to Nashville, like
not too far apart, because I moved to Nashville in
twenty twelve.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Yeah, and I was February thirteen.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yeah, Yeah, I remember. Actually when you guys came, it
was like a wrestling match they had. There's like big
press conference and there was like music and you guys
like all came out and it was like the Bobby
Bowen Show is here. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
There was artists there and yeah, people from the industry.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
They just wanted a way to introduce us because yeah,
we were coming into a place where we had no
idea if it was going to work or we were
going to get booed out.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yeah, I remember it. It was at the Country Music
Hall of Fame, I think. But anyway, so yeah, I
I'm born and raised in New Jersey, lived there pretty
much my whole life. I went to college there. Right
out of school, I got a job in New York
at a record label. It was like my dream job,
and I just thought, like all right, I did it,
like fresh out of school, you know, and I did
(03:24):
that for like six seven years, and I just started
to really feel like maybe there was more that I
needed to do. And I can't say that I knew
what that feeling was at the time. I hadn't done
a lot of like self work or reading or anything
like that. But I just definitely had this kind of
like feeling, which now like people kind of call it
(03:44):
like a knowing, you know. They were just kind of
nagging at me every day, and I just I was
in this job, and I had a salary and a
four one K and I just wasn't happy. And so
I started to think about, well, I've never left the
Tri State area, you know. I've lived in Jersey, I
lived New York. I thought where can I go? And
I visited LA I visited San Francisco, Chicago, and it
(04:07):
all just felt like, I mean, I'm living in New York.
It's like the greatest city in the world. You know,
what's going to compare to it? And I came to
Nashville for one weekend and I stayed on a buddy's
couch and I just immediately fell in love with it,
and like it was like from then on, I had
this laser Focus that I needed to get to Nashville.
But at the same time, I had this job, and
(04:27):
I had never quit a job before, I had never
moved anywhere before, and I was going through all of this,
and my apartment flooded in a hurricane, and I had
just moved out of the Lower East Side of New York.
I had moved into Jersey City, right across the river,
and I was just kind of like, maybe it's a sign,
(04:48):
you know, I've been worried about this lease and this job.
And so my lease terminated. I got my deposit back
and that was in September of twenty eleven, and I
waited out the year to get my Christmas bonus so
I could save some money. And January second, or third, whatever,
the first day back was, I walked into my boss's
(05:09):
office and I put in my two weeks notice and
I had no job prospects. I didn't know what I
was going to do, but I knew that I felt
this like calling to Nashville. And I've been lucky enough
to meet a couple like country artists that had come
through the record label, and I really had connected with
a few of them. So I moved here and I
just started calling people up and I was like, hey,
(05:30):
will you give me a job. I've never done management
or road management before, but I'll figure it out.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Yeah, So to find the role you came into here.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, I didn't even know what that role was, you know.
I knew that I was really good with people and
like managing different personalities, and so a lot of people
had said to me, you might be really good in management,
but you just don't pick up and get a job
in management.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
You know.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
That's something people work really hard.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
For because for an artist, the record label side and
the management side run by two different people. Yeah, and
sometimes it's like knowing the difference of like if an
artist has a team full of people and they don't
all work for the same person. They work with the
same artists, but they sometimes may even be an opposition
of what they think is best.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
You do have to really work well with people.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah, And the way I always describe like management day
to day management is like a wheel and the artist
is like right there at the center, and you're like
the hubcap when you're the manager.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Did you ever say who you work for? I don't know.
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Oh yeah, so when I moved here. I worked for
an artist. His name is Brett Aldridge, and then I
worked for him for like six years and then yeah,
it's time to shine, you know, and uh. And then
I moved on to a company in town called Sandbox,
and I was day to day with Kelsey Ballerini. And
that was like such a wonderful experience. It was like
(06:47):
very fulfilling. I loved working with Kelsey, I loved working
for Jason who owns Sandbox. And honestly, after you know,
doing music, I started to have or doing management. I
had this incredible journey. I moved down here, I worked
with Brett. We had all these number one singles, we
got to tour with, like Taylor Swift, Miranda Blake, like
all the things that you just, you know, you dream
(07:09):
of when you move to a town like Nashville. And
I started to kind of have those same feelings that
I had when I wanted to leave New York about music.
And I just didn't know if it was like the
job or the situation. There was a lot of things,
you know, going on behind the scenes. So I kind
of thought, after you know, we stopped working with Brett,
(07:31):
I thought, Okay, I'm gonna give this one more try,
and that's when the job with Kelsey came up. And
she was one of the very few people on my
short list of people that I was like, if I'm
going to do this again, this is who I would
want to work for. And it came up very serendipitously. Again,
it was felt like a very like the universe is
putting this thing in front of me. I reached out
to them. They had actually already hired someone and so
(07:55):
that was happening. I thought, oh, well, it's not going
to happen, and then two months later that didn't work
out called me back and like, I just came into
this job, and like I said, it was a dream.
I mean, Kelsey wasn't even nearly as busy as she
is now, but she was still doing very well, and
like I really enjoyed her as a person and it
was a great experience. But around that time, my dad
(08:16):
got diagnosed with lung cancer, and I think that's just
I mean, you know, just as well as anybody, that's
one of those things that really just like it'll knock
you right into perspective, right, you know. And I had
just met Kevin, my husband, and that's when I started
to really so I started working for Kelsey at the
beginning of twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Everything you're explaining right now is in the last five years.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yeah, last five years. I mean, it's crazy when a
lot has happened, what is time? Yeah? Yeah. So I
worked for Kelsey for all of twenty nineteen. My dad
was sick. I was flying back and forth. It was
a bit of a roller coaster. He went into remission
and then it came back. But around the end of
twenty nineteen, I was really like, I think I'm just
done with all of this, you know. And it was
(09:00):
so emotional for me because I loved working for Kelsey
and like, I love the whole crew, like her tour
manager Dustin is like so one of my best friends
to this day. That was the first time that I
really had to be like, okay, guy, like it's not you,
it's me. And that's such a weird thing to say.
It sounds so cliche, but I just it was me,
and I just wasn't the right person. She had so
many opportunities coming her way, and I just wasn't able
(09:23):
to give all of myself anymore. And so around that time,
I again this was like the end of the year.
I don't know what it is with me, and like
the end of the year that's when I like can
get my nerve up enough.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
That's kind of fitting that we're records end.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Yeah, well too, Like I'm an enneagram nine, So I'm
like they say, you live half your life as like
one of your wings and half your life as the other.
And I was really in my like perfectionist people please
her sort of wing, and so like making a decision
for myself was really really hard. But I mean when
I called them to like put in my notice, I
was like bawling on the phone, and like my dad
(09:58):
was really sick, and that was he subsequently ended up
only being alive for like a couple more weeks after
I made that phone call, and so it was just
a really emotional time for me. Yeah. So that was
January of twenty twenty that I put in my notice,
and I just kind of thought, well, you know, I
if I think I made a mistake, I can always
go back to music, you know. And then obviously my
(10:20):
dad passed away at the end of January, and that
was in ways, like obviously very leveling, but also very relieving.
Because he was suffering, and I just like that wasn't
something that any of us wanted to go through anymore.
But my dad was like that was like my best friend,
my dude, you know, And so it was very very
hard for me. And I also felt like I couldn't
(10:41):
be working for somebody else in the way that a
manager does, like I couldn't give that capacity to anyone
with like where I was in my life. So yeah,
(11:02):
January twenty twenty put my notice in. Kelsey had an
album coming out March twentieth of twenty twenty, which ended
up being like a very not good time to have
a record coming out. Shout out Covid, Yeah, shout out covid,
and so you know, the world started to shut down.
And so my actually, like my last month of work
in the music industry ever was like it was very
anti climactic. My last meeting was like a zoom call,
(11:24):
and I was like, guess we'll see you guys later. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
But then at that point, did you know you were
going to be starting MV Goods?
Speaker 2 (11:31):
No, I had no idea.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Okay, which we didn't mention the company. How she is
an entrepreneur now and it's a company called MBI Goods.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
You've heard me talk about it before.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Kenil's she actually has on one of her awesome trucker
hats now and some of her Cruse socks which I
bought those brown, the brown striped Creu socks.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Over them all the time.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Now I got to come back and get I don't
know what other colors are available, but I need them all.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I mean you, I think you posted about them and
broke the internet like every I mean, they're they're so
comfortable and like they're all we're now too. So they're
great socks.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
They're amazing.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
We have a trucker hat a part of the giveaway
that is going on right now from the Gift Guide
episode that went up last Sunday and then this Saturday,
so in like two days I'll be picking a winner.
There's so many amazing things in this giveaway. But I
see your hats everywhere now, not only just online but
all throughout town. They're just definitely have a stamp of
(12:27):
approval from so many people. The one you're wing right
now is the United States versus Bruce Springs.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Steene Yes, which I want you to explain that in it.
I don't know what that's about it.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Very it's very pro Bruce Springsteen. Yeah. So I always
had like a very gender neutral sense of style, and
I was always very picky about what I wore. One
of the big things when I left my job was
I knew I had probably about like six months before
I really need to start like figuring out what I
was going to do, Like financially, I had sort of
prepared myself, and I just really needed that time to
(13:00):
like open up my brain. It's so hard when you're like,
you know, you hear these stories about people trying to
change their lives, and you're like working these jobs, and
it's just so hard to make any decision like that
when you're so in it where they say you can't
see the forest for the trees, and I really felt
that way. I felt like I couldn't possibly consider what
(13:21):
I wanted to do next without just taking a step back.
And so I bought like an embroidery machine. You know. Kevin,
my husband, he trains dogs, and we kind of thought like, oh, well,
like customized dog stuff and we'll give it to your
customers or whatever. We were, you know, embroidering jackets. Like
had you ever sound before so My mom is an
incredible seamstress, but it was one of those things where
(13:42):
like as a kid, she would always try and teach
me stuff and I had no patience for it. But
a couple of years ago I had asked her to
send me one of her old sewing machines, so I
had one lying around and so that's when I started
to dabble with the banners, like the banner that you
know I did for you this on the showy, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
When you do like the little banners for Luke Combs's merch.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Right, yeah, so we did. We ended up doing some
like Luke Holmbs did this whole stadium tour this year,
and they wanted every show like kind of when you
were a kid and like you would travel and get
a pennant. They gave everyone on the crew a pennant
for each stadium show.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Okay, so the end yea Thomas Rhett had a new
jacket for each city he was in that you did.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Yeah, So, and.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Then Nate was on say his last name Barghetzi Bargetzi. Yes,
he was on Saturday Night Live and wanted to represent
old Hickory, Tennessee with that zip code and his team
called me.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
I just saw the video.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Of you, like, so in start picturing you, I'm like, gosh,
you know just a few years ago, Yeah, you weren't
even behind a sewing machine, and there you were, like
last minute making Nate like multiple hoodies because you had
no idea what side he was gonna need. You know,
you get a shot and you just have to like
go in and go for it, like you could have
maybe not fully had your thinking cap on him and like, okay,
and it's probably a large, I'll whip one up and
(14:59):
send it. But then what if like that didn't work,
and then you run the resk of him being like, ah,
I can't wear it. So you were like, all right,
I'm gonna do three different sizes or how are many?
And I'm gonna stay up, I'm sure all night sewing them,
making them happen. Yeah, and then ship them out and
cross the fingers and we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
And sure enough, theory is on Saturday Night Live wearing
your hoodie.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
And that was one of those things that I don't
think I even had time to really think about what
that meant. You know, my friend Amber is a wonderful
stylist in town. She styles a bunch of country artists
and comedians. And I've known Amber pretty much since I
moved here, and she has had a couple projects that
she's called me about. Because that's the thing about what
I do is I have this brand that's like a
(15:39):
retail brand, but also I just I mean a credit
to like every step that you take puts you in
a certain position. Like so many of these music things
or celebrity things that I've been able to do, it's
all calls from friends, you know, and the music industry
is obviously, as you know, very last minute, and so
these things come up and I have like an under
(16:00):
standing of what they are and what the situation is,
and so when they call me, I'm like, cool, I
get it, you know. And so it's very easy for
me to work with artists and their management teams because
I understand where they're coming from and usually, like I
understand what the end goal is. So yeah, she called
and she's like, we're not going to be able to
see him before the fitting, and I'm like, I totally
(16:20):
understand that, and so she was like, I think we
need to do a bunch of different hoodies, and she
was like, I'm going to get four that like I
know he likes. And then I was like, well, I
have these two that I know work really well, like
with the Felt, and so we just like put together
this thing and sent it up there. And yeah, and
it's also a thing where it's like I know that
sometimes oh maybe he just decides he doesn't want to
wear that or whatever. So I didn't like talk about
(16:41):
it or get my hopes up, and then the next
I didn't even I didn't even stay up. I watched
it the next morning. I was like, WHOA, there it is.
And it was just like this surreal experience, you know,
because I've been with artists to not to s and L,
but to like the same floor. There's like I can't
remember whether it's Fallin or Seth Meyers that filmed on
the same floor, but we've been in that space and
(17:02):
I don't know. It was just like a really cool
full circle moment. But yeah, I can't hem your pants,
but I could sew a straight line.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
So you've got an embroider.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
We'll go back to twenty twenty when you're yeah, we're
gonna make dog stuff.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Yeah, we're gonna make dog stuff.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
We're gonna embroider things for dogs.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Yeah, and it just it started turning into like this
funky little custom business. Like it was. I was buying
all these machines, heat presses, embroidering machines, sewing machines, and
I was just kind of figuring out what can I
do with these that I can sell? You know, I
was sewing masks during the pandemic. I was dying bandanas
(17:38):
like just anything. I was selling stuff on Etsy like.
I was just trying to figure out what that business
was gonna be. And in the meantime, I had taken
a part time job at a cookie shop that's in
the shopping center where my shop is now. It's shops
at Porto East Place called hig Fi Cookies. And while
I was just working part time at Hi Fi, working
the register, someone said, Oh, there's a shop opening up
(18:00):
in the shopping center a space yeah, And I was like, oh, man,
I could never do that. I'm not like a real business.
That I found out how much the rent was and
it was like very manageable, and I just said, well,
I'll put an application in and I just thought, Oh,
there's gotta be so many people that will apply that
are so far ahead of me in having a business.
I mean I barely had a website, and luckily, like
(18:23):
everyone who was in front of me, there was already
like a competitive business in the space, and so they
gave it to me, and I honestly couldn't believe it.
I was like, oh, I guess I have a store now,
like fricking water, here we go. Yeah, And I didn't
go to the reverse route, like I didn't have a
strong online following. I feel like the store actually gave
me a lot of legitimacy, like to be able to
(18:44):
build the business. So yeah, I just started thinking, like
what am I going to fill this shop with? And
I've always worn hats, like since I was a kid.
I played tennis when I was young, and like you're
always out there, you wear a hat, like because it's
sunny or whatever. So I just always wore hats, and
so yeah, I had I had some banners, I had
some apparel, and then I started doing trucker hats and
(19:04):
that that was really like when things started to get like, oh,
this is like a real thing and people are into it.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
So do you do all the designs yourself?
Speaker 2 (19:12):
You know? In the beginning, I literally like designed everything myself.
I don't what, Like, I didn't even know how to
use photoshop when I started this business, like, and that's
a big thing that I really try to impart on
anyone who I talked to about my story, Like, I
know you hear people say this, but like I had
and still have, very little idea of what I'm doing.
(19:32):
I used to think that you had to be like
Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, that that was what an
entrepreneur was, you know. And meeting my husband who owns
his own businesses, and like having friends like Amber who's
a stylist, or people that work for themselves, it really
taught me that, like, these are just people doing stuff
(19:52):
and that is what owning a business is. And so
it gave me sort of like the courage and perspective
to just say, right, I'm gonna do this. And every
time I needed to design something, I would like YouTube
how to do this in photoshop. I learned everything from
the Internet and trial and error.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
YouTube is great.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
YouTube is amazing, It's absolutely amazing. Yeah, so I don't
have any design experience, but I do know that I
have like a really strong sense of style, and when
I have an idea.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
It's a vibe.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
It's a vibe. Yeah, And that's what I think a
lot of people have been so supportive because I'm just like,
this is it, Like this is me one hundred percent,
you know. I mean, I'm wearing my overalls today, Like
I just I've really settled into like the genuine and
authentic part about this business is that it's me. Like
I don't make a single thing that I wouldn't wear
(20:43):
that I don't like feel really good about putting my
name on. So I get these ideas and then I
have like a very specific vision, like almost immediately of
like kind of what it needs to look like. And
since I don't have a super strong design background, in
the beginning, it was really frustrated and because I'm like,
I have this picture in my head and I can't
figure out how to do it, and so some stuff
(21:05):
like kind of fell short a little bit. But you know, now,
obviously I've been able to like work with some really
great designers that are like super pros, and so I
can kind of like get the idea out of my
head and they can make it look really really great,
and then we go in together and like tweak it
and get it to a point, But like the wild
Heart one, that one like came together on my own,
the Rodeo Club one.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
That what's the number one selling hat.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
I feel like that's the one I see the most,
But I also see the United States versus Bruce Springs.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
I think it's probably a dead heat between the two.
Those are for sure the two most popular designs. And
the funny story about the Bruce Springsteen hat is that
actually it was like the first celebrity moment that I
had that like really helped the trajectory of the business,
which what was that. I'm from New Jersey. I love
Bruce Springsteen. Obviously I'm fine. I'm finding a way to
(21:52):
talk about him right now because I love him. So
he did this Broadway show. It was maybe twenty nineteen,
twenty twenty. It was right before the Super Bowl. This
thing came out that he had gotten like arrested, and
it was like they were trying to charge him with
a duy and so the whole story was, and this
is really why I made the hat, is that if
you live in Jersey, everyone has this like folklore of
(22:13):
like oh I saw Bruce at the ice cream place,
or oh I saw Bruce at the record store, and
it's like this thing like because he's out, he doesn't
like he doesn't stay in his house, like people run
into him at bars and stuff like that. And so
he was riding his motorcycle at this it's a national
recreation area in Jersey. He gets off his motorcycle and
these people are like, holy crap, that's Bruce Springsteen. So like,
(22:34):
you gotta take a shot with us. So he like
takes like a little like fake shot with them, and
a park ranger pulls up, gives them all tickets, tries
to get him on a duy. Obviously, he goes to court.
The duy is dismissed. Drinking and driving his no joke,
So it's dismissed. That wasn't even a thing. But because
it was a national recreation area, he had to go
(22:55):
to federal court for his fine. And so there's an
actual court case called the un States versus Bruce Springsteen.
So if you google it comes up. But the gist
of it is that you know, he just like is
a regular dude, and I love that about him. And
so I heard that he was like making a joke
about it in his Broadway show and we were going
up to see it. So I was like, I'm just
(23:16):
gonna make a hat like my own, and I'll just
wear it and it'll be like a fun thing. And
then the more I wore it, I was like, man,
I really like this. It has this thing about it
that it looks old, it looks like something you've seen before.
And so again this is when I go back to
my music marketing brain. There's a guy named Danny Clinch
who's an incredible rock and roll photographer. He's taking pictures
(23:37):
of everyone under the sun, but he's done a lot
of work for Bruce. And his gallery is in Asbury Park,
which is where my mom is from. My grandfather was
a mailman in Asbury Park. I grew up going to
the boardwalk as it was like becoming dilapidated. And anyway,
Danny has been a really big part of the resurgence
of Asbury Park. And so I said, I'm just gonna
send him a hat. So I just put it. I
(23:58):
never I never met him, you know, I never talked
to him. So I put a hat in a box,
I addressed it to the gallery, and I sent it
down there, and like three weeks later, I got this
message in my inbox. It's like we just opened this hat.
Danny loves it. He wants two more because he wants
to send one to Eddie Vedder and Bruce Springsteen. And
I was like yeah, And so like that next week,
(24:22):
Eddie Vetter Pearl Jam Leeteninger Pearl Jam was playing in
Asbury Park. Danny gave him the hat in person, and
you know, when something like that happens, you like think
the phone's gonna be like, oh, that's cute, and then
like whatever. But Eddie ended up wearing it all day
and so there were all these photos of him wearing it,
and then that's when like it went crazy and I
(24:43):
was like my phone would not stop going off. I
was getting orders and I was like, oh my god,
this is a real thing is happening, like and it
was such a cool thing. And Danny and Tina who
runs the gallery, like they've just become such good friends
and they've like been so supportive of the business and like,
I wouldn't have a business right now if it work
for people like that, And that's just a testament to
(25:05):
like I think a little bit of having a music
background and a marketing background, but also like we just
vibe because we're from Jersey and I was like, my
letter to Danny was very simple and very authentic. It
was just like I grew up going here. It was
falling apart, and I'm so stoked that like someone like
you was here to make it better again. And that
was it and then we made this connection.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
That's also sort of yeah, that going for it, having
the idea and then being authentic and then shooting your shot. Yeah,
like you knew I could go unopened and you may
never hear a thing, but at least you sent it
yecause I think that's something too that sometimes people might
be like, oh, this could be annoying or I don't
want to they don't want to deal with the fact
that they may not open it. Or how do you
(25:48):
see failure? And how does failure show up in your storyline?
Of like were you okay if you knew you were
going to fail at this, or did you know okay
I could learn from this, or like failure is not
an option? Or how do you see failure? How do
(26:14):
you see failure?
Speaker 2 (26:15):
I mean I think my younger self was definitely afraid
of failure, Like I was always that person that's like, oh,
I don't want to bother him. I don't want to
do this that the other. But I think the older
I've gotten and the more like I've gotten to know
myself and just where i feel like I kind of
stand in the universe, I'm like, yeah, I mean, what's
the worst that could happen? You know? You certainly don't
(26:36):
want to be like rude or overbearing, Like I'm always
very sensitive, especially like with artists that I've worked with before,
Like I never expect anything. I don't want to be like,
oh I worked with you, like you're gonna do something
for me, Like that's not an expectation at all. And
I'm usually like I actually shy away from asking people
I know for anything. It's like if you want to
wear a hat, like awesome, I love that you actually
(26:59):
love it, But I'm not gonna be like, hey, can
you wear this? And can you post for me? And
like I just don't feel good about that and I'd
rather people just like the stuff and wear it. I mean,
like you like you wear your hat all the time,
and I'm so appreciative of that, and I would never
be like, oh, can you tag me? Like and you
do because you just want to but I just think
that there's like a lot of that going on in
(27:19):
the world and some kind of sometimes you can get
weird and I'd rather just like have my friends be
my friends, you know. But I appreciate the support, but
it's not an expectation at all. And I think that
when it's going to someone that I don't know, it's
definitely just a like, yeah, if they open it and
they think it's weird that they just put in the
trash and like, I guess, like I never hear about it.
There's certainly hats that I've like given away and said
(27:41):
that I've never heard a thing about, and I'm totally
fine with that. And the reward for me is more
not even like selling the hats, it's like making the
connection with someone. Because I mean, not to go back
to Bruce Pringsty, but I think that there's like this
this connection that people have with him, and like when
you connect in a genuine way like that, it's more
than just like a piece to merchandise, you know. So Springsteed,
(28:06):
it's embarrassing, Like Kevin will get in my truck and
he's like, did you know Forurce Springstea's on the radio,
so weird. Yeah, but any hat, you know, the wild
hard hat or anything. I just really it blows my
mind that I made something and that people like it
and spend their money on it, you know, and so
I just always want.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
To deliver place of gratitude.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Yeah, I mean I think you see this a lot too.
Being a behind the scenes person in the music industry,
that's all I ever wanted. Like, I love being someone's
like right hand. I love being back in the shadows.
It's very unnatural for me to like step forward and
being a business owner. I've just had to do that
out of utility. You know. When I started the business,
(28:50):
I couldn't afford models, I couldn't afford social media people.
I still can't really afford any of that stuff. And
so a lot of what you get is me, and
that has forced me to become more comfortable with showing
up and allowed me to define like how I show up,
which is me, you know, no makeup, truck or hat.
Overall's like that's what you're gonna get.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
I love that you are your socials, you are the brand.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Yeah, it's weird. That's like, it's just a weird thing
for me because I worked with artists and I see
them be the brand and that's something that I always knew,
but it's very weird to like now be in that
position myself.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
I think it was after maybe Nate Word on Saturday
Night Live and then you know he had tagged you
or you reposted you or something, and so obviously new
people are coming to check you out. And I think
you did a little like hey I'm Camilo video and
it was so I don't know if you'll love this
word or hate it, but it was freshious because it
(29:49):
was you and it was from the heart and it
was like, hey, cool, there's new people here. I want
you to know, like this is my business and this
is what we do here, and it's me making your
stuff and this is my sandwich that.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
I'm eating, you know.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
So, like we had a meeting a couple weeks ago
and I knew I was gonna text you. I'm like,
can E bring you a Sammy?
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Because I mean you because you are the brand.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Like we learn about you. Oh Camille eat sandwiches in
her truck. That's what she's got time to do. So
that's what I picture you doing, is being a small
business owner that's going around making connections, creating community, and
grinding it out. Yeah, and that's what you've got time
to be in your truck. Listen to Bruce Andy.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
In a sami.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
While you're delivering stuff or setting up stuff or doing
you know a different yeah, flea markets or trade shows
or whatever it is. Yeah, do so you know you
touched on failing, like, okay, if you're going to send something,
you kind of got to shoot your shot.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Well, don't have the expectation.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
What about as a business over all, Like if someone
were thinking about looking into twenty twenty four or even
twenty twenty five, that they got some planning to do,
because obviously you had the six months of savings.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Not everybody has that.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
But you can start to build towards what your next
move is going to be. It doesn't mean you can
walk away from your current situation tomorrow, but maybe at
some point next year you build up to where you
can so that you can step into what you truly
want to do. But there's always that fear of like, well, okay,
what if this whole thing just flops totally? What about
fear in a sense of what you touched on not
(31:21):
knowing what you're doing.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
You just kind of got to figure it out and
do it.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
But do you struggle with that still, even with the
success that you have had, but knowing that this is
still an operation, there's still you're not done yet. You
can't just throw in the talent's ongoing. So do you
still struggle with like, ugh, what if this whole thing
just flops and I tried this whole thing and now
I'm a complete failure.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Yeah, I mean I think that every day, I'm like,
when are the order is gonna Like tomorrow, my phone's
just not going to be going off anymore. Like I
think it could happen at any moment. And I mean,
obviously I've built this thing that I'm really proud of
and I think it can be consistent. But I think
I always have. I mean that fear kind of like
drives me to think. You know, we live in a
very very fast society, and so I'm definitely not one
(32:03):
of those businesses that's like new drop, new drop, new drop,
Like I want to make things that people are going
to appreciate and have for a long time. I understand
the importance of like bringing new things, and I try
and like Pepper, those things in But I don't push
myself to be like making new stuff every week. I
just think that's unreasonable and it's not the kind of
economy that I want my business to be. But yeah,
(32:25):
I think it's the same mentality that I had when
I quit my job in New York to move to Nashville.
I don't necessarily need to know exactly what my career
is going to be. When I was moving, I was like,
if I don't find a job right away, I'm totally
fine getting a job, you know, a retail job or
like you did the cookie shop, Like you did at
the cookie shop. I mean I literally went from like.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Working at a record in New York, then moving to Nashville,
working with Brett Eldritch and then Kelsey Vallerini and then
And I have goosebumps even saying that, because I think
sometimes we have to set aside the ego.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
That's what it is.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
It's any it's there's any ego of like, well, wait,
I can't go work a cashier wherever it is, and
those jobs are very important, But when you've come from
where and you don't know where you're going, and then
you have to do something in the interim, it's like
being okay with whatever that is.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
I drove I do. I drove Amazon Like I literally
delivered Amazon packages after I left the music industry because
I was like, one, I didn't want to just like
burn through my savings and two I'm not the kind
of person that can really sit around and do nothing
all day. But like, there were literal moments where I
delivered Amazon packages to like country music people that I knew,
and I would be like on their ring cam like
(33:34):
doing it dance because I'm like, what you know?
Speaker 3 (33:38):
But do you see how like where some people might
be in that position, they might be like, oh shoot,
I can't go up to their door. Yeah, like I
used to work with them or be on the road
with them or doing things and now which all these
jobs are important. I guess I'm just thinking of sometimes
how our brains.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
No, I definitely, like I will say, the first time
I got a package or someone I knew, I definitely
had this moment of like, oh, man, are they going
to like what are they going to think? Are they
going to see me and be like, man, she really
fell off, Like because when I left music too, it
was weird timing because the pandemic did happen. A lot
of people didn't know if like I got let go
or whatever, and it was very much on my own
terms and so, but I also didn't feel the need
(34:13):
to like broadcast that either. Yeah, and so I did
have like a couple of moments where I was like,
oh man, what will people think? But I don't know.
You just like got to get over it and do
your job. You know, at the end of the day,
what am I going to do, like lose my my
job because I don't want to go drop a package
off on somebody's door because I feel like weird about it,
you know, like I don't know it.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
Just yeah, or I love two that you didn't even
have to explain it. Yeah, like I don't know whatsoever.
Something else that I love that you do is the
like surprise packages or what do you call them.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
They're like grab bags or like gift bags or whatever.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
So explain how that works.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
So part of my ethos too, is like I really
don't like wasting a lot of stuff, and I've learned
like owning a business, that you do end up with
stuff that maybe's like slightly imperfect that maybe I don't
feel like I can put in the store. But I
just have all this stuff. And so we do these
grab bags where like you can if you just want
a truck your hat, you don't care what it looks like,
like it's still gonna be cool, you know. But I
don't know, maybe like one letter is like bent Over
(35:09):
or something. We do these grab bags where it's like
ten or fifteen bucks and you just tell us if
you want a hat or if you want like a
T shirt, you just tell us our size, and I'll
just like grab something off the shelf.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
And you don't know what you're getting.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Yeah, so whoever orders it, you don't know what you're getting.
So you just kind of got to buy into like
what we do and know that it'll be something from
our catalog and you'll hopefully think it's cool. I also
take a lot of pride in like when people get
something and they're like, this is exactly what I wanted.
I'm like, yeah, they nailed it, you know. And sometimes
it's me picking it, or sometimes it's like someone who's
like we have part time workers or whatever. But I
(35:41):
don't know, I just think it's like a fun thing.
I really my greatest joy is like the connections that
I've been able not like connections, but like connecting people
who are really like just excited about the brand, you know,
because like I said, it still just blows my mind
that anyone even pays attention to one I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
More connection was one of my words for the year. Yea,
more connection, more work. And the more work wasn't just
more work work things like work work, diversifying my work,
trying new types of work, challenging myself with work, and
also working on myself.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Yeah, the work in a sense of that.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
It's so cool, like to be open to stuff like
that too, you know, Like I used to make a
lot more banners in the business, and it's just something
that's sort of like fallen to the wayside a little bit,
and that's something that I've had to be okay with, Like,
you know what, that's just not where we're at right now,
you know, Like, yeah, like the banner I made you,
it's like I.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Love Bobby's not going to listen to this.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
He won't hear it, and if someone sends him a note,
that would be weird. But Camille is it's not Christmas
quite yet, I work, But Camille's making a banner.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
That's my Christmas gift to Bobby.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
They're these banners, they're beautiful and then you get them
framed and this is a really nice gift.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
And to me that's like fun now, you know, Like
so that's become something a little bit different from the
business that like I just do in my in sort
of my spare time when the right project comes up,
you know. So being open to letting the business. I
had such a like rigid idea in my mind when
I started it, like there were these businesses that I
aspired to be like, and I've really just like the
(37:19):
last couple of months been trying to let myself just
be like, no, this is whatever I want it to be.
You know, I don't have to have these like markers
and milestones. And it's very unnatural for me again to
sort of like say I did this, but it is
like one of the most fulfilling things is after working
(37:39):
so long to truly like make someone else's dreams come true,
like you're behind them, you're doing everything in your power
to accomplish their goal. To have any measure of success
just completely on my own back has been incredibly fulfilling.
You know. I always thought oh, maybe I'll meet this
(38:00):
person or this person like via the music industry. And
now I've gotten to meet some of those people and
talk to some of those people because of what I did.
That's crazy to me and feels like so good, like
it's so rewarding.
Speaker 3 (38:16):
Well, Camille, I have loved our chat so much. Like
you're welcome anytime.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
I mean back, I feel like we've got hours more of.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Yeah, we could do.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
Many more, So you're welcome to come back anytime and
and be goods.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
Where can people let's give your.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Yeah so and be goods? Shop and be goods? Is
the Instagram that's in is in Nancy b as in
Boy shopinbigods dot com. If you're ever in Nashville, you
want to visit the store. We're over in East Nashville.
Also just opened up a second business, uh with the partner.
It's called Lucky Rabbit Candy. We've got a little candy
that's next time. But anyway, it's all right there in
(38:54):
the same shopping center and.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
My Nancy Boy Oh so.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
NB stands for Neilie's Bend, which is where we live
and started the business. And originally I thought like the
business would just be about like making our neighborhood cool.
Obviously it's grown into so much more, but I kind
of liked that it's a little mysterious. People kind of
like like to guess what it is. Like some people
think it's not bad goods.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Anyway, It's just they're not bad.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
They're not bad. They're pretty good. They're good goods.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
And it's the website.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
It's shop and begods dot com shopping goods. Yeah, and
uh yeah, it's my face on the Instagram. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
Go see what Camille I even listening to your voice.
Go check her out, see what she looks like. And
then let's wrap with your favorite Bruce Springsteen song.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
Oh my gosh, this is a big one, very unfair question.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
Well you get one.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
I am going to go with tenth Avenue Freeze Out,
because it's a song that is about the relationship that
he had with Clarence, who was his saxophone player. And
not to get too deep, but like Clarence is black,
Bruce is white. They were playing all the IT shows together,
like in the sixties and seventies, in this very tumultuous
time and they just have this very special relationship. And
(40:07):
Clarence passed away like now, when Bruce plays it, he
does a little montage to him and it's about a
street that's like in Asbury Park, where my mom is from.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
Okay, that's the one, Bruce.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
What about since you've worked with Brett and Brett Eldridge,
Kelsey Valerie, your favorite Brett song and your favorite Kelsey song?
Okay you're thinking, because you might have to decide my
favorite Brett never.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
Made it to radio.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
Oh same, does it bring you back? M oh?
Speaker 3 (40:29):
I like that, but got to get there. Oh that's
because my kids love it. Well, I love it. It's like
fun as well.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
It's a little ditty. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:37):
One of our trips actually to Colorado has seen my
sister and anytime you put it on now, which we
get in the car, my kids will be like, put
it on. They don't even say, they say, put me
on a train. You even know, like they've got to
get there. They'll finally get to the title, but they
don't don't even know if that.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
They're like, they know it's Brett, but.
Speaker 3 (40:52):
They're like this alway seems to think of Colorado. It's
so great, but it's yeah on a.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
Train that's also yeah. Now, mine is a song called
bringing Back. It was on the first record, It was
the title tracks of the first record and just never
Found a Home. But it's a it's just an amazing song.
And I was always like pushing for that to be
and I think Bret was too, but you know, just
things worked out the way they did. Gosh, Kelsey, honestly,
(41:17):
I mean this EP. I wasn't working with her for it,
but this EP that she just put out is I mean,
it's great.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
I know this welcome Matt.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
Yeah, I mean, I know there's a lot around it,
but for me just knowing her and knowing you know,
I don't know all of it, but knowing a lot
of what she's been through. You know, we're still close,
we still talk, and I'm just like so excited for
her and so excited for like this chapter in her life.
And she's just like just living for herself and I'm
(41:46):
pumped for her.
Speaker 1 (41:47):
So are you Yeah?
Speaker 2 (41:49):
Yeah, Yeah, I mean you are, You're yeah, I am
in your thing. I am. And it took like leaving
her to do that for me, and now she's doing
it for herself. So like, I don't know, it's cool.
We're just living over here. You know, this is awesome.
Thank you so much for letting me come hang out
with you.
Speaker 3 (42:07):
Thank you, Camille, and I hope y'all are having the
day that you need to have and.
Speaker 2 (42:11):
A lucky day.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
A lucky day.
Speaker 3 (42:13):
Yeah, Okay, Bye,
Okay, cast up road, little food for yourself life.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Oh it's pretty bad. Hey, it's pretty beautiful, man, beautiful.
That for a little more facing said, he you're kicking
with four with Amy Brown.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Happy Thursday. Four Things.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Amy here, and my guest today is my friend Camille Austin,
which we were on my sister's HG TV show together,
but we've known each other way before that. I'm just
saying if anybody watched that episode of the Nashville version,
because a lot of their or all of their other
renovations have been in Colorado, Camille and I are the
(00:55):
the Nashville episode. We're the Outlaws from season two. So
you can stream that on HBO Max if you missed it.
Does our episode have a title, Yes, it's The River
Runs Through because Camille lives on a river here in Nashville,
and so that episode brought us back together. But we've
known each other for years because you used to work
in the music business and you would come in on
(01:17):
the Bobby Bone Show with artists, and then suddenly Camille's
no longer in music. She has left and started her
own business. And I remember it was at a flea
market and I look over and I see a booth
and I'm like, there's Camille.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
See they're doing your thing.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
And I thought it would be fun to bring you
on to share some of that story and what that
journey has been like. And you know, as the year
is wrapping up and we're headed into twenty twenty four
and people are thinking about, you know, what did I
do with my life this year? What do I want
to do with my life next year? It's just a
time of reflection and then also looking forward. And I
(01:54):
think that you're such an encouraging story of sometimes you
may not know what you're doing, but if if you
have an idea and it's something that you think is
going to fill your cup up, you just got to
go for it.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yeah, I mean, just roll the dice. I say that
now in hindsight, but I know it's not that easy.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Roll the dice.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
But you rolled the dice on yourself, and that you've done.
And so how many years ago was that that you
left the music business or I'll go ahead and just
throw it to you and you can start wherever you
see fit. Of like kind of how you were able
to even make the transition from New York to Nashville
and then from or Jersey, but you also lived in
the Manhattan too, right, and then working in the music
(02:32):
business to then being an entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah. So I think we actually came to Nashville, like
not too far apart, because I moved to Nashville in
twenty twelve.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Yeah, and I was February thirteen.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yeah, Yeah, I remember. Actually when you guys came, it
was like a wrestling match they had. There's like big
press conference and there was like music and you guys
like all came out and it was like the Bobby
Bowen Show is here. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
There was artists there and yeah, people from the industry.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
They just wanted a way to introduce us because yeah,
we were coming into a place where we had no
idea if it was going to work or we were
going to get booed out.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yeah, I remember it. It was at the Country Music
Hall of Fame, I think. But anyway, so yeah, I
I'm born and raised in New Jersey, lived there pretty
much my whole life. I went to college there. Right
out of school, I got a job in New York
at a record label. It was like my dream job,
and I just thought, like all right, I did it,
like fresh out of school, you know, and I did
(03:24):
that for like six seven years, and I just started
to really feel like maybe there was more that I
needed to do. And I can't say that I knew
what that feeling was at the time. I hadn't done
a lot of like self work or reading or anything
like that. But I just definitely had this kind of
like feeling, which now like people kind of call it
(03:44):
like a knowing, you know. They were just kind of
nagging at me every day, and I just I was
in this job, and I had a salary and a
four one K and I just wasn't happy. And so
I started to think about, well, I've never left the
Tri State area, you know. I've lived in Jersey, I
lived New York. I thought where can I go? And
I visited LA I visited San Francisco, Chicago, and it
(04:07):
all just felt like, I mean, I'm living in New York.
It's like the greatest city in the world. You know,
what's going to compare to it? And I came to
Nashville for one weekend and I stayed on a buddy's
couch and I just immediately fell in love with it,
and like it was like from then on, I had
this laser Focus that I needed to get to Nashville.
But at the same time, I had this job, and
(04:27):
I had never quit a job before, I had never
moved anywhere before, and I was going through all of this,
and my apartment flooded in a hurricane, and I had
just moved out of the Lower East Side of New York.
I had moved into Jersey City, right across the river,
and I was just kind of like, maybe it's a sign,
(04:48):
you know, I've been worried about this lease and this job.
And so my lease terminated. I got my deposit back
and that was in September of twenty eleven, and I
waited out the year to get my Christmas bonus so
I could save some money. And January second, or third, whatever,
the first day back was, I walked into my boss's
(05:09):
office and I put in my two weeks notice and
I had no job prospects. I didn't know what I
was going to do, but I knew that I felt
this like calling to Nashville. And I've been lucky enough
to meet a couple like country artists that had come
through the record label, and I really had connected with
a few of them. So I moved here and I
just started calling people up and I was like, hey,
(05:30):
will you give me a job. I've never done management
or road management before, but I'll figure it out.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Yeah, So to find the role you came into here.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, I didn't even know what that role was, you know.
I knew that I was really good with people and
like managing different personalities, and so a lot of people
had said to me, you might be really good in management,
but you just don't pick up and get a job
in management.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
You know.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
That's something people work really hard.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
For because for an artist, the record label side and
the management side run by two different people. Yeah, and
sometimes it's like knowing the difference of like if an
artist has a team full of people and they don't
all work for the same person. They work with the
same artists, but they sometimes may even be an opposition
of what they think is best.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
You do have to really work well with people.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah, And the way I always describe like management day
to day management is like a wheel and the artist
is like right there at the center, and you're like
the hubcap when you're the manager.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Did you ever say who you work for? I don't know.
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Oh yeah, so when I moved here. I worked for
an artist. His name is Brett Aldridge, and then I
worked for him for like six years and then yeah,
it's time to shine, you know, and uh. And then
I moved on to a company in town called Sandbox,
and I was day to day with Kelsey Ballerini. And
that was like such a wonderful experience. It was like
(06:47):
very fulfilling. I loved working with Kelsey, I loved working
for Jason who owns Sandbox. And honestly, after you know,
doing music, I started to have or doing management. I
had this incredible journey. I moved down here, I worked
with Brett. We had all these number one singles, we
got to tour with, like Taylor Swift, Miranda Blake, like
all the things that you just, you know, you dream
(07:09):
of when you move to a town like Nashville. And
I started to kind of have those same feelings that
I had when I wanted to leave New York about music.
And I just didn't know if it was like the
job or the situation. There was a lot of things,
you know, going on behind the scenes. So I kind
of thought, after you know, we stopped working with Brett,
(07:31):
I thought, Okay, I'm gonna give this one more try,
and that's when the job with Kelsey came up. And
she was one of the very few people on my
short list of people that I was like, if I'm
going to do this again, this is who I would
want to work for. And it came up very serendipitously. Again,
it was felt like a very like the universe is
putting this thing in front of me. I reached out
to them. They had actually already hired someone and so
(07:55):
that was happening. I thought, oh, well, it's not going
to happen, and then two months later that didn't work
out called me back and like, I just came into
this job, and like I said, it was a dream.
I mean, Kelsey wasn't even nearly as busy as she
is now, but she was still doing very well, and
like I really enjoyed her as a person and it
was a great experience. But around that time, my dad
(08:16):
got diagnosed with lung cancer, and I think that's just
I mean, you know, just as well as anybody, that's
one of those things that really just like it'll knock
you right into perspective, right, you know. And I had
just met Kevin, my husband, and that's when I started
to really so I started working for Kelsey at the
beginning of twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Everything you're explaining right now is in the last five years.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yeah, last five years. I mean, it's crazy when a
lot has happened, what is time? Yeah? Yeah. So I
worked for Kelsey for all of twenty nineteen. My dad
was sick. I was flying back and forth. It was
a bit of a roller coaster. He went into remission
and then it came back. But around the end of
twenty nineteen, I was really like, I think I'm just
done with all of this, you know. And it was
(09:00):
so emotional for me because I loved working for Kelsey
and like, I love the whole crew, like her tour
manager Dustin is like so one of my best friends
to this day. That was the first time that I
really had to be like, okay, guy, like it's not you,
it's me. And that's such a weird thing to say.
It sounds so cliche, but I just it was me,
and I just wasn't the right person. She had so
many opportunities coming her way, and I just wasn't able
(09:23):
to give all of myself anymore. And so around that time,
I again this was like the end of the year.
I don't know what it is with me, and like
the end of the year that's when I like can
get my nerve up enough.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
That's kind of fitting that we're records end.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Yeah, well too, Like I'm an enneagram nine, So I'm
like they say, you live half your life as like
one of your wings and half your life as the other.
And I was really in my like perfectionist people please
her sort of wing, and so like making a decision
for myself was really really hard. But I mean when
I called them to like put in my notice, I
was like bawling on the phone, and like my dad
(09:58):
was really sick, and that was he subsequently ended up
only being alive for like a couple more weeks after
I made that phone call, and so it was just
a really emotional time for me. Yeah. So that was
January of twenty twenty that I put in my notice,
and I just kind of thought, well, you know, I
if I think I made a mistake, I can always
go back to music, you know. And then obviously my
(10:20):
dad passed away at the end of January, and that
was in ways, like obviously very leveling, but also very relieving.
Because he was suffering, and I just like that wasn't
something that any of us wanted to go through anymore.
But my dad was like that was like my best friend,
my dude, you know, And so it was very very
hard for me. And I also felt like I couldn't
(10:41):
be working for somebody else in the way that a
manager does, like I couldn't give that capacity to anyone
with like where I was in my life. So yeah,
(11:02):
January twenty twenty put my notice in. Kelsey had an
album coming out March twentieth of twenty twenty, which ended
up being like a very not good time to have
a record coming out. Shout out Covid, Yeah, shout out covid,
and so you know, the world started to shut down.
And so my actually, like my last month of work
in the music industry ever was like it was very
anti climactic. My last meeting was like a zoom call,
(11:24):
and I was like, guess we'll see you guys later. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
But then at that point, did you know you were
going to be starting MV Goods?
Speaker 2 (11:31):
No, I had no idea.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Okay, which we didn't mention the company. How she is
an entrepreneur now and it's a company called MBI Goods.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
You've heard me talk about it before.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Kenil's she actually has on one of her awesome trucker
hats now and some of her Cruse socks which I
bought those brown, the brown striped Creu socks.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Over them all the time.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Now I got to come back and get I don't
know what other colors are available, but I need them all.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I mean you, I think you posted about them and
broke the internet like every I mean, they're they're so
comfortable and like they're all we're now too. So they're
great socks.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
They're amazing.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
We have a trucker hat a part of the giveaway
that is going on right now from the Gift Guide
episode that went up last Sunday and then this Saturday,
so in like two days I'll be picking a winner.
There's so many amazing things in this giveaway. But I
see your hats everywhere now, not only just online but
all throughout town. They're just definitely have a stamp of
(12:27):
approval from so many people. The one you're wing right
now is the United States versus Bruce Springs.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Steene Yes, which I want you to explain that in it.
I don't know what that's about it.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Very it's very pro Bruce Springsteen. Yeah. So I always
had like a very gender neutral sense of style, and
I was always very picky about what I wore. One
of the big things when I left my job was
I knew I had probably about like six months before
I really need to start like figuring out what I
was going to do, Like financially, I had sort of
prepared myself, and I just really needed that time to
(13:00):
like open up my brain. It's so hard when you're like,
you know, you hear these stories about people trying to
change their lives, and you're like working these jobs, and
it's just so hard to make any decision like that
when you're so in it where they say you can't
see the forest for the trees, and I really felt
that way. I felt like I couldn't possibly consider what
(13:21):
I wanted to do next without just taking a step back.
And so I bought like an embroidery machine. You know. Kevin,
my husband, he trains dogs, and we kind of thought like, oh, well,
like customized dog stuff and we'll give it to your
customers or whatever. We were, you know, embroidering jackets. Like
had you ever sound before so My mom is an
incredible seamstress, but it was one of those things where
(13:42):
like as a kid, she would always try and teach
me stuff and I had no patience for it. But
a couple of years ago I had asked her to
send me one of her old sewing machines, so I
had one lying around and so that's when I started
to dabble with the banners, like the banner that you
know I did for you this on the showy, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
When you do like the little banners for Luke Combs's merch.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Right, yeah, so we did. We ended up doing some
like Luke Holmbs did this whole stadium tour this year,
and they wanted every show like kind of when you
were a kid and like you would travel and get
a pennant. They gave everyone on the crew a pennant
for each stadium show.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Okay, so the end yea Thomas Rhett had a new
jacket for each city he was in that you did.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Yeah, So, and.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Then Nate was on say his last name Barghetzi Bargetzi. Yes,
he was on Saturday Night Live and wanted to represent
old Hickory, Tennessee with that zip code and his team
called me.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
I just saw the video.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Of you, like, so in start picturing you, I'm like, gosh,
you know just a few years ago, Yeah, you weren't
even behind a sewing machine, and there you were, like
last minute making Nate like multiple hoodies because you had
no idea what side he was gonna need. You know,
you get a shot and you just have to like
go in and go for it, like you could have
maybe not fully had your thinking cap on him and like, okay,
and it's probably a large, I'll whip one up and
(14:59):
send it. But then what if like that didn't work,
and then you run the resk of him being like, ah,
I can't wear it. So you were like, all right,
I'm gonna do three different sizes or how are many?
And I'm gonna stay up, I'm sure all night sewing them,
making them happen. Yeah, and then ship them out and
cross the fingers and we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
And sure enough, theory is on Saturday Night Live wearing
your hoodie.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
And that was one of those things that I don't
think I even had time to really think about what
that meant. You know, my friend Amber is a wonderful
stylist in town. She styles a bunch of country artists
and comedians. And I've known Amber pretty much since I
moved here, and she has had a couple projects that
she's called me about. Because that's the thing about what
I do is I have this brand that's like a
(15:39):
retail brand, but also I just I mean a credit
to like every step that you take puts you in
a certain position. Like so many of these music things
or celebrity things that I've been able to do, it's
all calls from friends, you know, and the music industry
is obviously, as you know, very last minute, and so
these things come up and I have like an under
(16:00):
standing of what they are and what the situation is,
and so when they call me, I'm like, cool, I
get it, you know. And so it's very easy for
me to work with artists and their management teams because
I understand where they're coming from and usually, like I
understand what the end goal is. So yeah, she called
and she's like, we're not going to be able to
see him before the fitting, and I'm like, I totally
(16:20):
understand that, and so she was like, I think we
need to do a bunch of different hoodies, and she
was like, I'm going to get four that like I
know he likes. And then I was like, well, I
have these two that I know work really well, like
with the Felt, and so we just like put together
this thing and sent it up there. And yeah, and
it's also a thing where it's like I know that
sometimes oh maybe he just decides he doesn't want to
wear that or whatever. So I didn't like talk about
(16:41):
it or get my hopes up, and then the next
I didn't even I didn't even stay up. I watched
it the next morning. I was like, WHOA, there it is.
And it was just like this surreal experience, you know,
because I've been with artists to not to s and L,
but to like the same floor. There's like I can't
remember whether it's Fallin or Seth Meyers that filmed on
the same floor, but we've been in that space and
(17:02):
I don't know. It was just like a really cool
full circle moment. But yeah, I can't hem your pants,
but I could sew a straight line.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
So you've got an embroider.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
We'll go back to twenty twenty when you're yeah, we're
gonna make dog stuff.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Yeah, we're gonna make dog stuff.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
We're gonna embroider things for dogs.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Yeah, and it just it started turning into like this
funky little custom business. Like it was. I was buying
all these machines, heat presses, embroidering machines, sewing machines, and
I was just kind of figuring out what can I
do with these that I can sell? You know, I
was sewing masks during the pandemic. I was dying bandanas
(17:38):
like just anything. I was selling stuff on Etsy like.
I was just trying to figure out what that business
was gonna be. And in the meantime, I had taken
a part time job at a cookie shop that's in
the shopping center where my shop is now. It's shops
at Porto East Place called hig Fi Cookies. And while
I was just working part time at Hi Fi, working
the register, someone said, Oh, there's a shop opening up
(18:00):
in the shopping center a space yeah, And I was like, oh, man,
I could never do that. I'm not like a real business.
That I found out how much the rent was and
it was like very manageable, and I just said, well,
I'll put an application in and I just thought, Oh,
there's gotta be so many people that will apply that
are so far ahead of me in having a business.
I mean I barely had a website, and luckily, like
(18:23):
everyone who was in front of me, there was already
like a competitive business in the space, and so they
gave it to me, and I honestly couldn't believe it.
I was like, oh, I guess I have a store now,
like fricking water, here we go. Yeah, And I didn't
go to the reverse route, like I didn't have a
strong online following. I feel like the store actually gave
me a lot of legitimacy, like to be able to
(18:44):
build the business. So yeah, I just started thinking, like
what am I going to fill this shop with? And
I've always worn hats, like since I was a kid.
I played tennis when I was young, and like you're
always out there, you wear a hat, like because it's
sunny or whatever. So I just always wore hats, and
so yeah, I had I had some banners, I had
some apparel, and then I started doing trucker hats and
(19:04):
that that was really like when things started to get like, oh,
this is like a real thing and people are into it.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
So do you do all the designs yourself?
Speaker 2 (19:12):
You know? In the beginning, I literally like designed everything myself.
I don't what, Like, I didn't even know how to
use photoshop when I started this business, like, and that's
a big thing that I really try to impart on
anyone who I talked to about my story, Like, I
know you hear people say this, but like I had
and still have, very little idea of what I'm doing.
(19:32):
I used to think that you had to be like
Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, that that was what an
entrepreneur was, you know. And meeting my husband who owns
his own businesses, and like having friends like Amber who's
a stylist, or people that work for themselves, it really
taught me that, like, these are just people doing stuff
(19:52):
and that is what owning a business is. And so
it gave me sort of like the courage and perspective
to just say, right, I'm gonna do this. And every
time I needed to design something, I would like YouTube
how to do this in photoshop. I learned everything from
the Internet and trial and error.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
YouTube is great.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
YouTube is amazing, It's absolutely amazing. Yeah, so I don't
have any design experience, but I do know that I
have like a really strong sense of style, and when
I have an idea.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
It's a vibe.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
It's a vibe. Yeah, And that's what I think a
lot of people have been so supportive because I'm just like,
this is it, Like this is me one hundred percent,
you know. I mean, I'm wearing my overalls today, Like
I just I've really settled into like the genuine and
authentic part about this business is that it's me. Like
I don't make a single thing that I wouldn't wear
(20:43):
that I don't like feel really good about putting my
name on. So I get these ideas and then I
have like a very specific vision, like almost immediately of
like kind of what it needs to look like. And
since I don't have a super strong design background, in
the beginning, it was really frustrated and because I'm like,
I have this picture in my head and I can't
figure out how to do it, and so some stuff
(21:05):
like kind of fell short a little bit. But you know, now,
obviously I've been able to like work with some really
great designers that are like super pros, and so I
can kind of like get the idea out of my
head and they can make it look really really great,
and then we go in together and like tweak it
and get it to a point, But like the wild
Heart one, that one like came together on my own,
the Rodeo Club one.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
That what's the number one selling hat.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
I feel like that's the one I see the most,
But I also see the United States versus Bruce Springs.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
I think it's probably a dead heat between the two.
Those are for sure the two most popular designs. And
the funny story about the Bruce Springsteen hat is that
actually it was like the first celebrity moment that I
had that like really helped the trajectory of the business,
which what was that. I'm from New Jersey. I love
Bruce Springsteen. Obviously I'm fine. I'm finding a way to
(21:52):
talk about him right now because I love him. So
he did this Broadway show. It was maybe twenty nineteen,
twenty twenty. It was right before the Super Bowl. This
thing came out that he had gotten like arrested, and
it was like they were trying to charge him with
a duy and so the whole story was, and this
is really why I made the hat, is that if
you live in Jersey, everyone has this like folklore of
(22:13):
like oh I saw Bruce at the ice cream place,
or oh I saw Bruce at the record store, and
it's like this thing like because he's out, he doesn't
like he doesn't stay in his house, like people run
into him at bars and stuff like that. And so
he was riding his motorcycle at this it's a national
recreation area in Jersey. He gets off his motorcycle and
these people are like, holy crap, that's Bruce Springsteen. So like,
(22:34):
you gotta take a shot with us. So he like
takes like a little like fake shot with them, and
a park ranger pulls up, gives them all tickets, tries
to get him on a duy. Obviously, he goes to court.
The duy is dismissed. Drinking and driving his no joke,
So it's dismissed. That wasn't even a thing. But because
it was a national recreation area, he had to go
(22:55):
to federal court for his fine. And so there's an
actual court case called the un States versus Bruce Springsteen.
So if you google it comes up. But the gist
of it is that you know, he just like is
a regular dude, and I love that about him. And
so I heard that he was like making a joke
about it in his Broadway show and we were going
up to see it. So I was like, I'm just
(23:16):
gonna make a hat like my own, and I'll just
wear it and it'll be like a fun thing. And
then the more I wore it, I was like, man,
I really like this. It has this thing about it
that it looks old, it looks like something you've seen before.
And so again this is when I go back to
my music marketing brain. There's a guy named Danny Clinch
who's an incredible rock and roll photographer. He's taking pictures
(23:37):
of everyone under the sun, but he's done a lot
of work for Bruce. And his gallery is in Asbury Park,
which is where my mom is from. My grandfather was
a mailman in Asbury Park. I grew up going to
the boardwalk as it was like becoming dilapidated. And anyway,
Danny has been a really big part of the resurgence
of Asbury Park. And so I said, I'm just gonna
send him a hat. So I just put it. I
(23:58):
never I never met him, you know, I never talked
to him. So I put a hat in a box,
I addressed it to the gallery, and I sent it
down there, and like three weeks later, I got this
message in my inbox. It's like we just opened this hat.
Danny loves it. He wants two more because he wants
to send one to Eddie Vedder and Bruce Springsteen. And
I was like yeah, And so like that next week,
(24:22):
Eddie Vetter Pearl Jam Leeteninger Pearl Jam was playing in
Asbury Park. Danny gave him the hat in person, and
you know, when something like that happens, you like think
the phone's gonna be like, oh, that's cute, and then
like whatever. But Eddie ended up wearing it all day
and so there were all these photos of him wearing it,
and then that's when like it went crazy and I
(24:43):
was like my phone would not stop going off. I
was getting orders and I was like, oh my god,
this is a real thing is happening, like and it
was such a cool thing. And Danny and Tina who
runs the gallery, like they've just become such good friends
and they've like been so supportive of the business and like,
I wouldn't have a business right now if it work
for people like that, And that's just a testament to
(25:05):
like I think a little bit of having a music
background and a marketing background, but also like we just
vibe because we're from Jersey and I was like, my
letter to Danny was very simple and very authentic. It
was just like I grew up going here. It was
falling apart, and I'm so stoked that like someone like
you was here to make it better again. And that
was it and then we made this connection.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
That's also sort of yeah, that going for it, having
the idea and then being authentic and then shooting your shot. Yeah,
like you knew I could go unopened and you may
never hear a thing, but at least you sent it
yecause I think that's something too that sometimes people might
be like, oh, this could be annoying or I don't
want to they don't want to deal with the fact
that they may not open it. Or how do you
(25:48):
see failure? And how does failure show up in your storyline?
Of like were you okay if you knew you were
going to fail at this, or did you know okay
I could learn from this, or like failure is not
an option? Or how do you see failure? How do
(26:14):
you see failure?
Speaker 2 (26:15):
I mean I think my younger self was definitely afraid
of failure, Like I was always that person that's like, oh,
I don't want to bother him. I don't want to
do this that the other. But I think the older
I've gotten and the more like I've gotten to know
myself and just where i feel like I kind of
stand in the universe, I'm like, yeah, I mean, what's
the worst that could happen? You know? You certainly don't
(26:36):
want to be like rude or overbearing, Like I'm always
very sensitive, especially like with artists that I've worked with before,
Like I never expect anything. I don't want to be like,
oh I worked with you, like you're gonna do something
for me, Like that's not an expectation at all. And
I'm usually like I actually shy away from asking people
I know for anything. It's like if you want to
wear a hat, like awesome, I love that you actually
(26:59):
love it, But I'm not gonna be like, hey, can
you wear this? And can you post for me? And
like I just don't feel good about that and I'd
rather people just like the stuff and wear it. I mean,
like you like you wear your hat all the time,
and I'm so appreciative of that, and I would never
be like, oh, can you tag me? Like and you
do because you just want to but I just think
that there's like a lot of that going on in
(27:19):
the world and some kind of sometimes you can get
weird and I'd rather just like have my friends be
my friends, you know. But I appreciate the support, but
it's not an expectation at all. And I think that
when it's going to someone that I don't know, it's
definitely just a like, yeah, if they open it and
they think it's weird that they just put in the
trash and like, I guess, like I never hear about it.
There's certainly hats that I've like given away and said
(27:41):
that I've never heard a thing about, and I'm totally
fine with that. And the reward for me is more
not even like selling the hats, it's like making the
connection with someone. Because I mean, not to go back
to Bruce Pringsty, but I think that there's like this
this connection that people have with him, and like when
you connect in a genuine way like that, it's more
than just like a piece to merchandise, you know. So Springsteed,
(28:06):
it's embarrassing, Like Kevin will get in my truck and
he's like, did you know Forurce Springstea's on the radio,
so weird. Yeah, but any hat, you know, the wild
hard hat or anything. I just really it blows my
mind that I made something and that people like it
and spend their money on it, you know, and so
I just always want.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
To deliver place of gratitude.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Yeah, I mean I think you see this a lot too.
Being a behind the scenes person in the music industry,
that's all I ever wanted. Like, I love being someone's
like right hand. I love being back in the shadows.
It's very unnatural for me to like step forward and
being a business owner. I've just had to do that
out of utility. You know. When I started the business,
(28:50):
I couldn't afford models, I couldn't afford social media people.
I still can't really afford any of that stuff. And
so a lot of what you get is me, and
that has forced me to become more comfortable with showing
up and allowed me to define like how I show up,
which is me, you know, no makeup, truck or hat.
Overall's like that's what you're gonna get.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
I love that you are your socials, you are the brand.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Yeah, it's weird. That's like, it's just a weird thing
for me because I worked with artists and I see
them be the brand and that's something that I always knew,
but it's very weird to like now be in that
position myself.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
I think it was after maybe Nate Word on Saturday
Night Live and then you know he had tagged you
or you reposted you or something, and so obviously new
people are coming to check you out. And I think
you did a little like hey I'm Camilo video and
it was so I don't know if you'll love this
word or hate it, but it was freshious because it
(29:49):
was you and it was from the heart and it
was like, hey, cool, there's new people here. I want
you to know, like this is my business and this
is what we do here, and it's me making your
stuff and this is my sandwich that.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
I'm eating, you know.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
So, like we had a meeting a couple weeks ago
and I knew I was gonna text you. I'm like,
can E bring you a Sammy?
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Because I mean you because you are the brand.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Like we learn about you. Oh Camille eat sandwiches in
her truck. That's what she's got time to do. So
that's what I picture you doing, is being a small
business owner that's going around making connections, creating community, and
grinding it out. Yeah, and that's what you've got time
to be in your truck. Listen to Bruce Andy.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
In a sami.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
While you're delivering stuff or setting up stuff or doing
you know a different yeah, flea markets or trade shows
or whatever it is. Yeah, do so you know you
touched on failing, like, okay, if you're going to send something,
you kind of got to shoot your shot.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Well, don't have the expectation.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
What about as a business over all, Like if someone
were thinking about looking into twenty twenty four or even
twenty twenty five, that they got some planning to do,
because obviously you had the six months of savings.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Not everybody has that.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
But you can start to build towards what your next
move is going to be. It doesn't mean you can
walk away from your current situation tomorrow, but maybe at
some point next year you build up to where you
can so that you can step into what you truly
want to do. But there's always that fear of like, well, okay,
what if this whole thing just flops totally? What about
fear in a sense of what you touched on not
(31:21):
knowing what you're doing.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
You just kind of got to figure it out and
do it.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
But do you struggle with that still, even with the
success that you have had, but knowing that this is
still an operation, there's still you're not done yet. You
can't just throw in the talent's ongoing. So do you
still struggle with like, ugh, what if this whole thing
just flops and I tried this whole thing and now
I'm a complete failure.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Yeah, I mean I think that every day, I'm like,
when are the order is gonna Like tomorrow, my phone's
just not going to be going off anymore. Like I
think it could happen at any moment. And I mean,
obviously I've built this thing that I'm really proud of
and I think it can be consistent. But I think
I always have. I mean that fear kind of like
drives me to think. You know, we live in a
very very fast society, and so I'm definitely not one
(32:03):
of those businesses that's like new drop, new drop, new drop,
Like I want to make things that people are going
to appreciate and have for a long time. I understand
the importance of like bringing new things, and I try
and like Pepper, those things in But I don't push
myself to be like making new stuff every week. I
just think that's unreasonable and it's not the kind of
economy that I want my business to be. But yeah,
(32:25):
I think it's the same mentality that I had when
I quit my job in New York to move to Nashville.
I don't necessarily need to know exactly what my career
is going to be. When I was moving, I was like,
if I don't find a job right away, I'm totally
fine getting a job, you know, a retail job or
like you did the cookie shop, Like you did at
the cookie shop. I mean I literally went from like.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Working at a record in New York, then moving to Nashville,
working with Brett Eldritch and then Kelsey Vallerini and then
And I have goosebumps even saying that, because I think
sometimes we have to set aside the ego.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
That's what it is.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
It's any it's there's any ego of like, well, wait,
I can't go work a cashier wherever it is, and
those jobs are very important, But when you've come from
where and you don't know where you're going, and then
you have to do something in the interim, it's like
being okay with whatever that is.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
I drove I do. I drove Amazon Like I literally
delivered Amazon packages after I left the music industry because
I was like, one, I didn't want to just like
burn through my savings and two I'm not the kind
of person that can really sit around and do nothing
all day. But like, there were literal moments where I
delivered Amazon packages to like country music people that I knew,
and I would be like on their ring cam like
(33:34):
doing it dance because I'm like, what you know?
Speaker 3 (33:38):
But do you see how like where some people might
be in that position, they might be like, oh shoot,
I can't go up to their door. Yeah, like I
used to work with them or be on the road
with them or doing things and now which all these
jobs are important. I guess I'm just thinking of sometimes
how our brains.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
No, I definitely, like I will say, the first time
I got a package or someone I knew, I definitely
had this moment of like, oh, man, are they going
to like what are they going to think? Are they
going to see me and be like, man, she really
fell off, Like because when I left music too, it
was weird timing because the pandemic did happen. A lot
of people didn't know if like I got let go
or whatever, and it was very much on my own
terms and so, but I also didn't feel the need
(34:13):
to like broadcast that either. Yeah, and so I did
have like a couple of moments where I was like,
oh man, what will people think? But I don't know.
You just like got to get over it and do
your job. You know, at the end of the day,
what am I going to do, like lose my my
job because I don't want to go drop a package
off on somebody's door because I feel like weird about it,
you know, like I don't know it.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
Just yeah, or I love two that you didn't even
have to explain it. Yeah, like I don't know whatsoever.
Something else that I love that you do is the
like surprise packages or what do you call them.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
They're like grab bags or like gift bags or whatever.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
So explain how that works.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
So part of my ethos too, is like I really
don't like wasting a lot of stuff, and I've learned
like owning a business, that you do end up with
stuff that maybe's like slightly imperfect that maybe I don't
feel like I can put in the store. But I
just have all this stuff. And so we do these
grab bags where like you can if you just want
a truck your hat, you don't care what it looks like,
like it's still gonna be cool, you know. But I
don't know, maybe like one letter is like bent Over
(35:09):
or something. We do these grab bags where it's like
ten or fifteen bucks and you just tell us if
you want a hat or if you want like a
T shirt, you just tell us our size, and I'll
just like grab something off the shelf.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
And you don't know what you're getting.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Yeah, so whoever orders it, you don't know what you're getting.
So you just kind of got to buy into like
what we do and know that it'll be something from
our catalog and you'll hopefully think it's cool. I also
take a lot of pride in like when people get
something and they're like, this is exactly what I wanted.
I'm like, yeah, they nailed it, you know. And sometimes
it's me picking it, or sometimes it's like someone who's
like we have part time workers or whatever. But I
(35:41):
don't know, I just think it's like a fun thing.
I really my greatest joy is like the connections that
I've been able not like connections, but like connecting people
who are really like just excited about the brand, you know,
because like I said, it still just blows my mind
that anyone even pays attention to one I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
More connection was one of my words for the year. Yea,
more connection, more work. And the more work wasn't just
more work work things like work work, diversifying my work,
trying new types of work, challenging myself with work, and
also working on myself.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Yeah, the work in a sense of that.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
It's so cool, like to be open to stuff like
that too, you know, Like I used to make a
lot more banners in the business, and it's just something
that's sort of like fallen to the wayside a little bit,
and that's something that I've had to be okay with, Like,
you know what, that's just not where we're at right now,
you know, Like, yeah, like the banner I made you,
it's like I.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Love Bobby's not going to listen to this.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
He won't hear it, and if someone sends him a note,
that would be weird. But Camille is it's not Christmas
quite yet, I work, But Camille's making a banner.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
That's my Christmas gift to Bobby.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
They're these banners, they're beautiful and then you get them
framed and this is a really nice gift.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
And to me that's like fun now, you know, Like
so that's become something a little bit different from the
business that like I just do in my in sort
of my spare time when the right project comes up,
you know. So being open to letting the business. I
had such a like rigid idea in my mind when
I started it, like there were these businesses that I
aspired to be like, and I've really just like the
(37:19):
last couple of months been trying to let myself just
be like, no, this is whatever I want it to be.
You know, I don't have to have these like markers
and milestones. And it's very unnatural for me again to
sort of like say I did this, but it is
like one of the most fulfilling things is after working
(37:39):
so long to truly like make someone else's dreams come true,
like you're behind them, you're doing everything in your power
to accomplish their goal. To have any measure of success
just completely on my own back has been incredibly fulfilling.
You know. I always thought oh, maybe I'll meet this
(38:00):
person or this person like via the music industry. And
now I've gotten to meet some of those people and
talk to some of those people because of what I did.
That's crazy to me and feels like so good, like
it's so rewarding.
Speaker 3 (38:16):
Well, Camille, I have loved our chat so much. Like
you're welcome anytime.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
I mean back, I feel like we've got hours more of.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Yeah, we could do.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
Many more, So you're welcome to come back anytime and
and be goods.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
Where can people let's give your.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Yeah so and be goods? Shop and be goods? Is
the Instagram that's in is in Nancy b as in
Boy shopinbigods dot com. If you're ever in Nashville, you
want to visit the store. We're over in East Nashville.
Also just opened up a second business, uh with the partner.
It's called Lucky Rabbit Candy. We've got a little candy
that's next time. But anyway, it's all right there in
(38:54):
the same shopping center and.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
My Nancy Boy Oh so.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
NB stands for Neilie's Bend, which is where we live
and started the business. And originally I thought like the
business would just be about like making our neighborhood cool.
Obviously it's grown into so much more, but I kind
of liked that it's a little mysterious. People kind of
like like to guess what it is. Like some people
think it's not bad goods.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Anyway, It's just they're not bad.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
They're not bad. They're pretty good. They're good goods.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
And it's the website.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
It's shop and begods dot com shopping goods. Yeah, and
uh yeah, it's my face on the Instagram. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
Go see what Camille I even listening to your voice.
Go check her out, see what she looks like. And
then let's wrap with your favorite Bruce Springsteen song.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
Oh my gosh, this is a big one, very unfair question.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
Well you get one.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
I am going to go with tenth Avenue Freeze Out,
because it's a song that is about the relationship that
he had with Clarence, who was his saxophone player. And
not to get too deep, but like Clarence is black,
Bruce is white. They were playing all the IT shows together,
like in the sixties and seventies, in this very tumultuous
time and they just have this very special relationship. And
(40:07):
Clarence passed away like now, when Bruce plays it, he
does a little montage to him and it's about a
street that's like in Asbury Park, where my mom is from.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
Okay, that's the one, Bruce.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
What about since you've worked with Brett and Brett Eldridge,
Kelsey Valerie, your favorite Brett song and your favorite Kelsey song?
Okay you're thinking, because you might have to decide my
favorite Brett never.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
Made it to radio.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
Oh same, does it bring you back? M oh?
Speaker 3 (40:29):
I like that, but got to get there. Oh that's
because my kids love it. Well, I love it. It's like
fun as well.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
It's a little ditty. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:37):
One of our trips actually to Colorado has seen my
sister and anytime you put it on now, which we
get in the car, my kids will be like, put
it on. They don't even say, they say, put me
on a train. You even know, like they've got to
get there. They'll finally get to the title, but they
don't don't even know if that.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
They're like, they know it's Brett, but.
Speaker 3 (40:52):
They're like this alway seems to think of Colorado. It's
so great, but it's yeah on a.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
Train that's also yeah. Now, mine is a song called
bringing Back. It was on the first record, It was
the title tracks of the first record and just never
Found a Home. But it's a it's just an amazing song.
And I was always like pushing for that to be
and I think Bret was too, but you know, just
things worked out the way they did. Gosh, Kelsey, honestly,
(41:17):
I mean this EP. I wasn't working with her for it,
but this EP that she just put out is I mean,
it's great.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
I know this welcome Matt.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
Yeah, I mean, I know there's a lot around it,
but for me just knowing her and knowing you know,
I don't know all of it, but knowing a lot
of what she's been through. You know, we're still close,
we still talk, and I'm just like so excited for
her and so excited for like this chapter in her life.
And she's just like just living for herself and I'm
(41:46):
pumped for her.
Speaker 1 (41:47):
So are you Yeah?
Speaker 2 (41:49):
Yeah, Yeah, I mean you are, You're yeah, I am
in your thing. I am. And it took like leaving
her to do that for me, and now she's doing
it for herself. So like, I don't know, it's cool.
We're just living over here. You know, this is awesome.
Thank you so much for letting me come hang out
with you.
Speaker 3 (42:07):
Thank you, Camille, and I hope y'all are having the
day that you need to have and.
Speaker 2 (42:11):
A lucky day.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
A lucky day.
Speaker 3 (42:13):
Yeah, Okay, Bye,
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Host
Amy Brown
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