Share The Struggle
Share The Struggle
When Your First Time Is Your Worst Time, Keep Going Anyway
The journey to Syracuse Nationals wasn't just another road trip – it was a testament to resilience in the face of adversity for Loud Proud American. What began with a production nightmare when our custom racing t-shirt design arrived completely wrong quickly cascaded into a series of challenges that would test our limits.
Picture this: six hours on the road in 100-degree heat with a temperamental air conditioner that alternated between cool and hot air every 20 minutes. Our 10-month-old daughter experiencing her longest journey yet in our converted school bus. Then suddenly, a rough patch of Massachusetts highway sends our entire merchandise display crashing down, with clothes and products flying with every bump thereafter. This was just the beginning.
Upon arrival, the hospitality of Paisley's godparents Lance and Jen became our saving grace. Their unwavering support, along with our entire Syracuse family, created moments of joy amidst the chaos. But business challenges continued as powerful winds turned our setup day into a battle against the elements, and our booth location kept us isolated from the main flow of foot traffic at this massive event.
Yet within disappointment lies opportunity. During slower periods, I discovered a vendor using a souvenir trailer that sparked a vision for expanding our business model. Despite not meeting our financial expectations, we still made money, gained invaluable experience, and set ourselves up for greater success next year. Most importantly, we created precious memories with our daughter while pursuing our entrepreneurial dreams.
The hard truth I've learned is that your first attempt at anything in business is often your worst. But rather than being discouraged, I've returned home more determined than ever – already securing another new event opportunity before even recording this podcast. This will be our most uncomfortable year yet, but discomfort breeds growth, and I'm steadfast in my belief that pushing beyond our limits will ultimately lead to breakthrough success.
What challenges are you facing in pursuit of your dreams? Remember, tough times come, but tough times pass. Don't let distractions derail you from your direction.
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And just like that, another milestone weekend is in the books for Loud Proud American. So today, on Share the Struggle Podcast, we are going to recap the weekend that was as we set our destination on Syracuse, new York, home of the Syracuse Nationals and, more importantly, home to some of our favorite people on earth. That and so much more. On this week's episode of Share the Struggle Podcast, let me tell you something Everybody struggles. The difference is some people choose to go through it and some choose to grow through it. The choice is completely yours. Which one you choose will have a very profound effect on the way you live your life. If you find strength in the struggle, then this podcast is for you. If you have a relationship that is comfortable with uncomfortable conversations. Uncomfortable conversations challenge you, humble you and they build you. When you sprinkle a little time and distance on it, it all makes sense. Most disagreements, they stem from our own insecurities. You are right where you need to be Back on time. We can fight for our dreams. We hope they come from behind. Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. What it do, what it ha Did it do. Good Lord, almighty, am I so excited to be back with you? Oh, it's true, it is damn true.
Speaker 1:I do believe this is episode 263. That is 263 consecutive weeks of you and me. That's right. Boys and girls, chipmunks and squirrels here we are yet again reunited and it feels so good. I think I'm just starting to come back into my groove. I'm just starting to feel normal again after a jam-packed weekend and a long ride home. I think I'm finally starting to settle back into the routine and get back to life.
Speaker 1:And I say that at 7 o'clock pm on a Tuesday night when I got home Sunday night, so you could chalk up day one as a loss okay, of being home, but actually not a total loss. I mowed the lawn all damn day. Still have more yard work to do, but it's tough, man, when you leave and you're all over the place like we are. When you get home, your outdoor projects are staggering. I spent all day mowing the lawn. Still have a bunch more to do because that thing turned into a hayfield when I was gone.
Speaker 1:And, above and beyond that, while you're on the mower riding around, you're looking at all the other things that you haven't done, that you need to do, that are just sitting around waiting on you. That's another downfall, right there, folks, full frontal, confessional downfall of a small business owner. The moment you're home, you start realizing all the things that you should be doing that you just haven't done. That honey-do list is got chapters in it okay, chapter 6, revision 7, line 14, that whole deal. It's getting aggressive, getting aggressive. But y'all ain't here waiting on me to do things that need to be done. You are here, dialed in, listening to hear and learn the recap of just how things went, the things that are already done, folks. Let's talk about those.
Speaker 1:So last week, when we had this episode of the podcast, we were getting ready to hit the road we were talking about. You know, when the episode dropped I'd be on the road making things happen, heading south, and we kind of set the scene for some of the struggles. And we've been talking over the past few weeks as life and times into a small business owner and what happens when you're getting ready to hit the road and packages go missing and things don't show up and you just keep putting one foot in front of the other and you just keep just thriving and driving, fixated on the common goal the end result, pushing out all worries and doubt. That's how we do it right. So, as I was giving you guys that story and letting you know this is what's going on and I mentioned to you I'm doing this AM Szechuan recording and then I'm going to have some time with the baby and then I'm going to get in here and it's going to be production time and I'm going to make things work. Well, that's what I set out to do.
Speaker 1:I get in the office after a nice full day with the baby, start getting ready for that second shift, right Second into third, I guess you would say. So I get in there to start working, unpack my new design, start pressing on it because I promised you guys I was doing new designs for each event. So I start to press a couple shirts in. I realize this don't look quite right, okay. So as I look at my design, I start to think about the fact that I had some communication back and forth with my graphics team over the design I created and they thought I needed a black outline around my design because some of the areas were like too fine and thin for print and they would wash away or just not show up. So I okayed the outline, not realizing that the outline meant they were going to fill the entire design.
Speaker 1:Now I know this might sound kind of confusing for some, but what I'm trying to explain to you is, when I design an image for a t-shirt, I'm trying to make it as wearable and breathable as possible. So I remove the color of the t-shirt from the design and I remove the color of the t-shirt from the design and I let that color of the t-shirt replace the color in the design. That allows it to breathe, not feel so heavy and it looks a little more seamless and natural. So this particular image was going on a black t-shirt. I removed all black from my design. When they outlined it, they put everything back into it. So a full day of work gets replaced with this outline, which actually fills the entire design, which makes it one solid print, which can be okay.
Speaker 1:But the situation here is that on a t-shirt that's just going to be really heavy. Maybe I could use this for sweatshirts in the future. But also while doing this, there seemed to have been some kind of mix-up in the graphics themselves. Because when I make my design, I load it into a template from my print company, then I download it and send that off. That template somehow lowered the image quality of my design. So when my design arrived it was blurrier than expected, way heavier than I actually tend to work with, so it was a no bueno.
Speaker 1:I pressed a few shirts before I realized this just ain't right. I had to follow up with my print company. They made it right on their end and said you know, I'll print the project free of charge, get it back out to you, but it's not going to make your deadline. You're not going to be going to, you know, this event with this design that you've been working on with this event in mind. So that's a real mood killer when you have been working on something that you feel like this design is going to work everywhere as I go, but it's really going to work at you know, these racing or car show inspired events, because we're making our own Loud, proud American racing t-shirt.
Speaker 1:Now I couldn't afford this project going into the Osprey Valley Fair, where I feel like it would have sold really well, would have fit that crowd perfectly. So then I made the decision hey, I'm going to come out with my Midnight Hammer t-shirt, a tribute to the B2 Bomber mission in Iran. And I'm glad that I did, because it was my number one seller at the Osprey Valley Fair and I told myself we're going to bring this Loud, proud American racing t-shirt to Syracuse. That's going to give me two new t-shirts for two events and I'm just going to continue to kind of stack up on that momentum and use it to our advantage. I'm also putting a lot of weight into this event working and being tremendous for me because I'm kicking the can and rolling the dice here.
Speaker 1:So as I set the scene for you realize that that design that I had in mind for the first two events, there are these next two events. I couldn't afford it for the first event and it showed up wrong for the second event. So my intentions for two events is now, no bueno, not going to happen. The old me when I first started this business would have been devastated. I would have beat myself up over this, I would have let it ruin my momentum and ruin my day. And I have gotten better at pushing that out and realizing that when you go into these things it's never going to be perfect. The image in your mind of what you're going to look like, what you're going to be able to sell, what you're going to be able to offer, is always going to be greater than reality. The success of the event is often greater than reality and that was quite the case for this weekend. But in the past I would have let this derail me.
Speaker 1:But again I'm trying to focus on being a better me, being present in the moment, responding to the things that I can handle. I can't handle that. It's out of my control. My company that makes those is in California and Atlanta. They're not going to have it here overnight for me to make it to New York, it's just not going to happen. So I put that project aside and I move on and I restock and reload the items that I can that I feel like will be successful. The next frustrating layer to this is the fact that I've come to agreements, or I've come to a realization and understanding that this design that I've had these intentions of using in these two events isn't going to happen.
Speaker 1:But the trickle-down effect of this is that when I was at my last event, I moved all the funds I had possible from that event into restocking for this new event in Syracuse. I also used all the funds I had to pay for this racing-inspired t-shirt and design for this New York event. So if you guys are following along here. I couldn't afford it for one event. I get to that event, I'm gonna make it right for the next event and I push all my eggs into the basket and I order that new design for the next event and it shows up wrong. So that's a trickle down effect. You come to the understanding and you embrace the fact that it's not going with you.
Speaker 1:But the trickle down, the peeling of the onion, is well, the finances, the funding that you could have used for this event or for other bills or other finances or other situations. You've used it up, banking on having this design that you felt would sell really well at this event, and now you don't have that. So you spent the money, you put the money on the line for the design, but you don't have the design to recoup the money. That's the frustrating part. But you can't dwell on that because if you dwell on it, you're going to swell on it. If you dwell on the negative, you're going to swell like a big negative fat tick and you're going to be sitting around just feeling sorry for yourself. So I had to pack up, push on, move on, press on. You understand what I'm saying. That's just what I had to do.
Speaker 1:We dealt with a few more mishaps, some mechanical failures and things. But that's kind of a custom for me and my scenario. But I worked into the late hours that night getting some stuff done, getting our production to a point where I felt comfortable with it, and then in the morning I had a haircut and we got the baby locked and loaded and we hit the road and I will say that Little Miss Paisley did tremendous both there and back on the ride. That's another big challenge for us. As I started off in the beginning of the show, I said it was a milestone weekend yet again for Loud Proud American because we are leaping out of our comfort zone. Earlier in the year I said it was a milestone weekend yet again for Loud Proud American because we are leaping out of our comfort zone. Earlier in the year we headed to Daytona, Florida. This time around we're heading to Syracuse, new York, about a six-hour ride away from home. Nothing too crazy.
Speaker 1:But when you sprinkle in a little beautiful baby, things can get crazy. So when you have a 10-month-old riding in a school bus, first off I had to install a seat, mount a car seat, do all these things just to make this trip work. And then you're taking this journey with her. You can't travel as far and as long as you would like to. You're going by what the baby says is okay when she needs a break. You got to take a break. Traditionally, when we stopped for gas, we would get her out and kind of let her stretch and play. And you try to factor in one stop, traditionally around halfway about that three-hour mark where she can come out and play for 45 minutes or an hour, because it's just a long time to be locked into a car seat. So that's another challenge. That's another reason why this was a milestone moment for us. This was little Paisley's longest trip. This was our longest trip as a family in the school bus. So all these things that you're kind of checking off the list.
Speaker 1:When we hit the road, things were going beautiful. The only downfall was it was probably pushing 100 degrees outside and my air conditioner couldn't keep up with it. No, no, you would have cool AC for about 20 minutes and then you would have hot AC aka might as well be your heater for the next 20 minutes. So it would be a vicious cycle of turning the air on, getting what you can, turning it off, dropping the windows, airing things out. The baby's sweating, we're sweating, we're miserable, we're cranky. We're dealing with traffic, we're dealing with the road.
Speaker 1:We hit a section of road in Massachusetts which traditionally shocker to all the people in Massachusetts. I hate to disappoint, but I hate driving through Yalestate. Okay, I just really do. And again this rang true for me because coming through, uh, some construction in um Massachusetts on interstate 90, I hit just a big section of road that wasn't there as some bumps and whatever the hell you would call it, and my entire shelf in the back of the bus just gave in, just went kaputs. I have basically a closet rod that goes the entire length of the bus basically holding all of our merchandise, with some shelvings above it holding more merchandise, and there's five metal shelf brackets on there that decided they had had enough. They decided time to tap out those folded clothes. Everywhere, boxes flopping down. Now every bump you hit, something else comes flying off the shelf. So Ali's trying to make sure nothing's going to hit the baby. You're dealing with that whole situation. So you have a 10 month old trying to deal with her. You know, longest car ride. By any means, you have really, really no air conditioning, it is about 100 degrees out and you have stuff and clothes and things flying off the shelf the entire time.
Speaker 1:That was the first leg of our tour. Right there? Okay, sounds romantic and peaceful. Right, anybody would do it, am I right? The great thing about this trip is we were going to see family and friends and friends and family, so that made it all the more worth it. It made it make all the more sense and all the more special we were arriving at our actually Paisley's godparents' place. So, lance and Jen Barnes, those are Paisley's godparents, great friends of ours, brothers and sisters of ours, those are Paisley's godparents, great friends of ours, brothers and sisters of ours, and we're going to be spending the week there with them and their hospitality, first and foremost, was above and beyond.
Speaker 1:And I just got to say before we even get going here, because there's a lot of shout-outs and thank yous I can give along the way, but before I get any further, I must throw down the gauntlet, take off the velvet glove and issue, for the first time in a long time, this week's Winning Wednesday Weekly Shoutout To Lance and Jen Barnes for being the most incredible hostesses you could ever imagine. They were such good hostesses that they're better than the little hostesses. Cakes, little dessert cakes you know what I'm talking about. It was incredible. So not only do we have our own room, and the baby had her own bed set up and everything was good to go and the baby had snacks. They just welcomed us with open arms. There was dinner made, there was all this stuff just ready and set and above and beyond anybody's expectation. And then they also give my wife the keys to their brand new Chevy Tahoe for us to drive back and forth every day. They just made sure that every single aspect of this event was as easy peasy as possible and as enjoyable as could be, and you really can't ask for that. You certainly can't expect that. So, lance and Jen, y'all already know we love you, but you went above and beyond.
Speaker 1:I'm not even sure the best ways to say thank you, but I'm just going to take my Cabela's catalog right here. Let me grab it. Can you hear it? Oh, that's a heavy one this week. Boys Must be some good deals in there. Left hand, beady little eyes place them towards the sky Full frontal confessional from this guy.
Speaker 1:I love y'all from the bottom of my heart. I'm truly blessed that our paths have crossed and it has emerged into family. We've become family that will always be there for each other and I can't believe it. But I can believe it. It's the type of people that you are, but I'm just saying. It still blows my mind. But I thank you, I love you and I appreciate you. None of this would have been possible without you. The none of this would have been possible, that none of this would have been so enjoyable, that none of this would have been so successful.
Speaker 1:Extends to everybody from New York the whole Syracuse crew that embraced us, that helped us, that supported us. Literally we roll into Lance and Jen's house. Kip is there waiting, we're having a couple of beers and then Kevin and Amy are over having drinks with us and hanging out. We're just making memories. Little Paisley running around the Lancerford Inn. It was just incredible making these memories, uh time here and just say that every single one of them helped us in so many ways every single day, so literally during our setup. We're having one of the worst setups of our life. Lance and Jen come out of nowhere to save us during all of the each and every day of the event. Somebody, sometimes, some way came over in their own special way, checked in, hung out, purchased something, shared stories, shared memories. It was incredible. So I'm so thankful for everybody.
Speaker 1:And then, as I mentioned on the way there, I didn't have air conditioning. We had AC on the way home because Kip showed up on the last day of the event and recharged our AC before we hit the road. At the end of the event, everybody, so many of them stuck around, hung around just to pack us up, to get us home Lance and Jen, kip and Shelly, kevin and Amy they all just formed an assembly line and it was the quickest, smoothest pack up process we have ever had. It was incredible and that's not everybody the people that we were able to spend time with Mikey and Kim Brown, you know Frank coming over and hanging out and bringing some freaking cello with them, and spending time with Allie and her baby Carter, like you know, lance's kids with his grandkids, bo, like everybody about it, man, everything about it was just tremendous the just family, the welcomeness, the embracement. I don't even think that's a word, but I'm just full of excitement. I literally could record the most boring episode of a podcast ever it's anybody that wasn't there by standing here and listening all the ways. I say thank you and I appreciate you, but I'm going to save those of you that weren't there from the trouble of hearing me just wallow in gratefulness. But each and every one of you, please know you made a special impact on us. We are blessed to have you in our lives. Thank you, thank you. Thank you, gut check. Thank you, thank you, gut check. Loud Proud American is a lifestyle brand, dedicated and determined to represent the American spirit, with an unrelenting commitment to provide made-in-the-USA products. If you would like to join the 2% of Americans that buy American and support American, head on over to wwwlalproudamericanshop. Together we can bring back American manufacturing.
Speaker 1:Now, when I was just swimming in gratitude back there, you did hear me say that our setup was one of the worst setup days we've ever had. I was so encouraged about setting up because I was like man, this is going to be a smaller setup, I can crush this out, no issues. Bada, bing, bada, boom. Coolest guy in the room Me and the wifey going to crush this. Make this happen. We got a full day to set up. I'm not worried about it. He, he, he, he, he, he, he. Way to jinx yourself, partner.
Speaker 1:Here's the thing. First off, imagine all your storage, all your organization and all your preparedness goes away on Interstate 90 on the way in. Sharedness goes away on interstate 90 on the way in, because when all of our stuff fell all over the place. It makes the setup a lot more difficult because things are everywhere, they're mixed in everywhere items you need you're finding in totes and random spots on the floor, right like where's the hardware for this, where's that? I don't know. Dig a hole and find out. You have that part of it. The next part of it is, as we open the tent up, the wind.
Speaker 1:The Santa Ana winds that came through this parking lot was no joke. I spent more time holding onto my tent praying that it wouldn't fly off than I did actually setting up. It was so bad. At one point we're in the tent, allie's standing on weights holding the tent down because she can't reach the top. I'm to send a message over to Lance and Jen and say I am completely effed right now. They came over with about 300 pounds of weight and helped hold the tent down and I was able to get back to setting up. But I'm just going to tell y'all it was the wildest setup I have ever dealt with. It was crazy. So what would have taken us an hour or so took us a full day and then you have a baby being cranky, being stressed. Man, it was a lot. Y'all it was a lot. Where was that cool breeze and wind the day before when I was on the interstate for seven hours without an air conditioner? God, anyways, we made it through, got everything all squared away.
Speaker 1:We go back to the Lancer for end for the evening and Lance and the boys were planning on getting up super early and bringing their hot rods, their muscle cars, their awesomeness, to Syracuse Nationals, getting in line early to get their favorite spot. That required getting up at man, I want to say 1.50 in the morning. Let me check. Yep, pull up my alarm 1.50. 1.50 am and I said I'm a guest here. Y'all welcomed me here. This is my first time here for Nationals. I should be a part of the whole experience. First time here for nationals, I should be a part of the whole experience. I volunteer myself to get up with Lance, jump in the hot rod, jump into that Chevy pickup and hit the road. So I got up at 1.50 in the morning, got myself all together, went downstairs, got me a coffee, jumped in the truck and we hit the road.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to think I think it was a little bit before 3 am when we rolled into the gates and got ourselves in line and they supposedly don't open the gate until 6 am, but they let us in a little bit earlier. I think it was like 5.30 in the morning. But sitting in the truck watching the sun come up, waiting for the gates to open, it was a pretty cool experience. I was honored to be a part of it, to be a part of the group and being out there doing those things. I didn't want to go there and miss out on that. I can't say I'd do it again, but I'm thankful to say that I did it.
Speaker 1:So we get in, they get to their spot, they get set up and I don't have to open until. I want to say 8 am, yes, 8 am. I don't have to be open until 8. And I'm already inside the stadium at 5.30 in the morning. So I just do the finishing touches on all of our display. Go around, get some breakfast. I'm feeling incredible about our display. I think it looks great, the entire feel of everything. I'm just feeling positive.
Speaker 1:When we rolled into this place for the first time, it was incredible. It is so massive, I don't know. It's like three, 400 acres, all the separate gates. Then you go to this this big old um carnival tent to check in and a guy in a golf cart brings you to your spot. The level of security and the massive size of the place. I truly felt like I was at an NFL game, like I was checking in to be a vendor at an NFL stadium. That's how crazy it was. When they brought us to our spot, I felt like it was a great spot. I was out in front of the expo building and I was inside. You go past the first lane, you go inside and to the right I was one of the first few vendors. Usually that's a pretty good hotspot.
Speaker 1:I was kind of confused when I was setting up because there was no real vendor setting up around me and I was like, man, this thing opens tomorrow. Why is there really nobody setting up around me? I would later find out that that clue should have been the dead giveaway to let me know there really isn't going to be anybody around me. So as things opened up on opening day, I quickly noticed that we weren't going to get the traffic that we thought, and as the week progressed or the weekend progressed, I should say, we came to realize that this was an anniversary year for the Syracuse Nationals. This was an anniversary year for the Syracuse Nationals and the area that I'm in doesn't traditionally house vendors, so I'm kind of a ways away from the traffic, at least the traffic of people that would be spending money not just there to look at vehicles, right, so, not a prime spot, but I'm still encouraged.
Speaker 1:By noontime on opening day I had an awesome number for a pre-lunch number and I thought we were going to crush it. But after lunch until closing time I never really gained anything. It didn't pick up for us. We usually get a great deal of sales at night, but literally by like 6 o'clock everything's closed. People are getting kicked out and that window where we normally make money which, like typically when I go somewhere it's between 5 pm and 10 pm is when we really start to make it rain. Well, I didn't have that opportunity because they were closed. So we closed up and went out and spent some time with everybody and we actually celebrated. Lance and Jen's 10 spent some time with everybody and um, we actually celebrated lance and jen's 10-year anniversary with them at dinner, paisley colored for the first time. So we put some, some milestone memories on the table there.
Speaker 1:Saturday, we got up and and really just fully expecting to absolutely crush the day, but knowing what we were up against as far as our location, we went in and we made the best of it, but in no way, shape or form, did we attain the numbers we expected. As you guys know, for me, I go into every event with an absolute must have, need to make number, to break even. Then I have a. You know, this is where we should at least be. This is where we need to be. This is where I'd like to be. This is where we need to be. This is where I'd like to be. We have all these goals structured out. I have the home run this is amazing and I have the satisfaction number.
Speaker 1:Neither one of those were attainable for us and there was some time in the day when I was rather discouraged about it, but I did the best I could to remain positive. And everybody, the whole family from New York, they kept coming in and supporting us, buying things from us, probably just because they felt bad for us, but they were pushing and shoving and asking everybody to come in and buy from us. They were out there promoting us to the best they possibly could, but we were just up against it. Man, it's not anything that we did, we just found ourselves in a tough spot. But that's the nature of what I do. That's what happens when you do things for the first time. When you're the new guys on the block. You can't make demands. You are just fortunate to be there and I know that, based off of our location, I'm also very fortunate to have done the numbers that we did. We made money, thanks to everybody that cares about us and supports us. And we did. We made money, thanks to everybody that cares about us and supports us and promotes us. We made money. We didn't lose money. There was people next to us that didn't pay their rent. So I know the struggle that goes into this, especially when it's a year one vendor. I am encouraged and stoked and eager to go back, but I will ask for a better spot when I go back.
Speaker 1:When you were trying to get into an event for the first time and if you guys have been listening for all these weeks, you've heard me say. I have this list of events that I'm really trying to do, but I can't hear back from any of them and I was pulling all the strings and connections possible to get into this actual event. So by doing that, the old saying rings true beggars can't be choosers, you just need to get your foot in the door. Sometimes the cost of entry to get your foot in the door is six hours away. It is what it is. I drove way further to Florida to do the same thing. You just need to get your foot in the door.
Speaker 1:And as tough as it's made it on my business, when I'm looking at things, our net number is up, we're having the best sales year we've ever had, but we're not feeling it because we're sacrificing more to get it. We're putting out more of a risk, we're taking more challenges and we're extending our risks by just adding more dollars to the bottom line. So it's a catch 22,. Right, you're looking at things and you're realizing our sales are up, our finances are down, we don't have nearly as much in the bank account as we normally would, we're running on the red and basically all avenues of our business, but our sales are up. It's a real catch-22. You can't beat yourself up because you know that things are up, but you also realize, man, I've never been at the end of July and couldn't afford to pay rent at my next events. This has been an incredibly challenging year. We are going to set a record for sales this year for our business, I guarantee it. I'm just hopeful by the time I set that record we can actually see daylight, that we put our business back in the green, or back in the black, as I should say, because right now it just ain't there.
Speaker 1:But I continue to take chances. I continue to take risks because I'm confirmed in my beliefs that this will work. I was having a conversation today with one of my best friends and I just had this epiphany and I don't know why it took me this long to have this. But as I'm having the conversation with him and I'm telling him the situation and I said, you know what I've, literally since I've been in this business, realized every year that you do something for the first time is the worst time you're going to do that something, whatever it is, because you're always going to have the worst, the shittiest, the worst location possible right, the least amount of traffic and the least amount of visibility. So I said to him I'm doing a lot of things for the first time, but I got to remember that'll be the worst time, because your first is always your worst and I've put a lot of stake and dependency on some of these events hitting massively, but they're all in their first time. Sometimes you're going to get lucky and one of these days one of those first time events is really going to pan out for me. It's going to pay off for me and it's going to reset the calendar for me. But until then I have to just keep treading water. I have to just keep fighting for what it is that I want, for what it is that I know that is there for me.
Speaker 1:This weekend was yet more proof as to why I want to continue on this journey, because I made so many amazing memories with my beautiful baby girl and my beautiful wife. None of those things would have been possible if it wasn't for Loud, proud, american and the chances and the risks that we take. Without doing those things, the stories, the memories, the moments from this weekend, they wouldn't exist. So I know I need to continue on this road because those memories and those moments, they're only going to multiply. I just need to keep my foot on the gas and keep hammering down. You understand, a lot of people would come out of this weekend that I just had and they would feel discouraged, they would start losing motivation. That's not me, that's not us. I'm feeling encouraged.
Speaker 1:There was a time during the day on Saturday when I just wasn't making any money and I went for a walk and I turned the corner and all I saw was a sea of people. I saw literally 10,000 people, probably 15, 20 wide, just walking down an aisle away and I said to myself self, if you were right here, you would be doubling, tripling, quadrupling your money, right friggin'. Now I'm going to tell you it is a humbling and difficult experience to be sitting in your tent talking to one person every freaking half an hour, when you know there's tens of thousands of people, literally just a couple hundred odds away from you, but you can't see them and they can't see you. That, folks is a humbling, difficult task to endure, but you need to keep telling yourself if you stay resilient and you stay steadfast and focused on your dreams and your goals and your aspirations and you make demands next year and you come back next year. You will be a piece of that action and you will crush it.
Speaker 1:I found an event. We found an event that will be an incredible success for Loud Proud American next year. We just had to get our foot in the door and pay the price of admission, which just happened to be our rent, and 14, 15 hours in the bus. That's it. You have to look at it that way, but along with feeling encouraged. That's it, you have to look at it that way.
Speaker 1:But along with feeling encouraged, I had to find a positive. I had to walk around and take advantage of the slowness. I had to take advantage of the situation and seek motivation and I set my eyes on a new goal for our business while I was there because I found another vendor selling merchandise. I was there because I found another vendor selling merchandise, selling apparel, that had an old souvenir trailer from basically like a NASCAR track, and traditionally, when I think of those trailers, they're much larger and they're hauled by a semi like a tractor trailer truck, but this one could be hauled by probably a 2500 pickup and I looked at it and I realized this could open up all new avenues for me. I could go to events that are one day events when I just open the freaking trailer door up. I could maximize so much with something like this and I could build it and make it look professional and make it grab people's attention At some of these big fairs that I do. I might not bring that trailer, I might just want to run my tents because I can have more product in there, or maybe I want to run that trailer alongside some of my tents to gain visibility. I'm not sure. But I set my sights and my sails on affording one of those trailers for our business. That will raise the image, that will provide credence and value to our brand, that will take us to new customers, to new places and elevate our presentation.
Speaker 1:I went into something that should have totally demotivated me and in fact I found a way to let it motivate me. That's the secret sauce for any small business owner me. That's the secret sauce for any small business owner. That's the secret sauce for anybody that wants to live the life they want to live. Tough times come, but tough times pass. They do not stay. This too shall pass, I know if I keep applying and I keep trying and I keep pushing and I continue to not be denied. This will happen. I know it to be true. So much so that today, before recording this podcast, I picked up that phone yet again and I reached out one more time to a place I've never been. I put it all on the line, sold myself, pitched my product, and I will be waiting to announce to you yet another event in the near future for Loud Proud American at a place we've never been, at an event we've never tried.
Speaker 1:I told myself at the beginning of the year that this needed to be one of the most uncomfortable years of my life. I needed to put myself out there in more ways than I ever have. I need to try new things to reach for all the big things I knew if I came home from this event and I just sat back down and felt sorry for myself, if I began to dwell and swell and become that fat ass tick sitting on the couch eating Fritos, then this would fail. I would lose momentum. I would let the hard days win and the hard days shall not win. I will not dwell and swell. I will pack up, press on and move on. I took another chance, I made another sacrifice and I signed another commitment. Stay tuned for details on another event and another challenge for Loud Proud American. We are going to go more places and do more things that we've never done before in the history of this business.
Speaker 1:Right now, this year for this business, I'm steadfast, hell bent and determined on success. This will happen. This year will be a success and when y'all find out some of the things the wife and I are working on in the background, some of the things that will come true, that we will revere to you in the future, it'll blow your mind to say that boy, boy, I'll tell you what. Him and his lady. They a bit crazy, okay, they a bit crazy. They. They might be sniffing the catnip. Them too, okay. Those whiskers and friskers, they, they. They be out to lunch, to lunch, okay, I don't know about them, but we know about us. There's big things for us. There's big things that are meant for us. We keep stacking up obstacles and chopping them down.
Speaker 1:This year is, hands down, the most difficult business year of my life. It is making the most difficult financial year of my life, but at the end of it I am committed to make it the greatest and most beneficial of my life, because I continue to apply and I continue to try, and it will pay off, like I've been saying over the past few weeks. Pay off, like I've been saying over the past few weeks. I take these struggles and I give them to God, and I know that my heart is in the right place. I have the best of intentions and the best of reasons, and this will come true for me, just like it can come true for you too. Don't give up on your dreams, no matter how big or how small. You deserve them all.
Speaker 1:With all that said, I came home from a tremendous weekend with friends and family and very quickly was welcomed back to nonsense and ridiculousness from family that I shouldn't give any time to. Yet again, here I am just delivered a big ball of negativity, a big ball of ridiculousness, another case of nonsense. I shouldn't be surprised by it. There's a track record of it. There's a long-term, long-time history of it and, as you learn in life, history has a tendency of repeating itself. You should not be surprised by someone's immaturity when they have a history of immaturity. I had to fight all urges and tendencies to come on here and express to the world how I feel and how ridiculous a situation is, how immature certain people are. But I'm not going to give any more of my time to a situation. I'm not going to waste my energy, my positivity, on a negative situation, on a negative individual. I'm not going to do it. Not for me. Not doing it, I refused to dwell and swell. I'm shining in positivity. I only say this, I only share this, to highlight this for you.
Speaker 1:When you are focused on your goals, when you have the best of intentions for you and your family and you're focused on your direction, don't let any distraction derail you from your direction. Don't let any negativity from the sidelines take you from the game. You understand what I'm saying. There's going to be times, there's going to be people, there's going to be situations, there's going to be these things that come to you, that come at you, that try to derail you, that try to take you from where you are headed. That is the devil on your back. That distraction is not for you. You are better than this. You are greater than this. You don't have time for this. So for me and my situations in my life, I'm focused on my business. I'm focused on my family. I'm focused on our goals. I truly promise you when you see big things for you.
Speaker 1:There will be people close to you that will try to derail you. There will be people close to you that will try to pull you down, that'll try to keep you down. There will be people close to you that will distract you, that'll throw hate at you, that'll pour negativity on you. You don't have time for them. Keep on moving away from them. Let them do them. Let them figure themselves out and grow up and figure it out. If they don't want a life of shine, then leave them behind. You are going to be too damn busy and too damn determined working on yourself and your goals to drag somebody else along with you. Keep it on, move it along. You understand what I'm saying. When you start to have a little checklist in life that says every time I interact with this person, I feel a negative way. Anytime I have to listen to this person, I feel this way. Anytime I hear from this person, I get angry about this person. Leave that person, no matter who that person is. You understand what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:We talk about this week to week after week after week, and I keep telling you I will continue to cut negativity and my wife will continue to cut negativity and my mother will cut negativity. We my wife will continue to cut negativity and my mother will cut negativity. We've been doing it our whole lives and when you do cut negativity, you will find bigger and better and more beautiful on the other side of negativity for you. But I continue to repeat and re-say these things to you because they will always come back to you Every time you find a challenge or an obstacle. Sometimes you succeed and negativity punches you in the blinkers. Sometimes you fail a little bit and you're feeling down or you're feeling in your feels a little bit and negativity will come back to you. I repeat this to you because it'll always come for you. But I say this to you because this is not the life for you you are built for. You are destined for bigger and better. Leave the bullshit in the past. That is my ending rant for the week.
Speaker 1:We had ourselves a little Syracuse recap. We had some milestone moments. We had some setbacks. We overcame them. We came out of it positive, checking off milestones, named them. We came out of it positive, checking off milestones, setting more goals, taking more risks. We dealt with negativity and we flushed that shit out.
Speaker 1:That, boys and girls, is a well-rounded episode of Share the Struggle Podcast. So thank you, thank you. Thank you to each and every one of you supporting our American dream. Now go wash your hands and they'll be savage. That's it and that's all, biggie Smalls.
Speaker 1:If you're a loud, proud American and you find yourself just wanting more, find me on YouTube and Facebook at Loud, proud American, or the Face page, as my mama calls it. If you're a fan of the Graham Cracker, you want to find me on Instagram. Or all the kids are tickety-talking on the, you want to find me on Instagram. Or all the kids at Tickety Talkin' on the TikTok, you can find me on both of those, at loud, underscore, proud, underscore, american. A big old thank you to the boys from the Gut Truckers for the background beats and the theme song to this year's podcast. If you are enjoying what you're hearing, you can track down the Gut Truckers on Facebook. Just search Gut Truckers. Give them motherfuckers, a like too. I hate to say, but make it bleed, I hate to say, but I told you so. I truly thank you for supporting my American dream. Now go wash your fucking hands, you filthy, savage.