Share The Struggle
Share The Struggle
The Courage To Take One More Step
Ever feel like you're putting everything into your business only to fall short of expectations? That's exactly where I found myself at the Skowhegan Fair this year. After days of watching people walk past my booth, enduring stretches of 5-6 hours without a single sale, I had to make a critical mental shift that entrepreneurs rarely talk about: redefining what success looks like mid-journey.
When my original sales goals became clearly unattainable, I set new targets that would still represent meaningful progress rather than defeat. Fighting for every sale, I managed to hit my adjusted goal by exactly $50 in the final minutes of the fair's last day. This wasn't the triumph I'd initially imagined, but it taught me something profound about entrepreneurial resilience.
The most valuable outcome wasn't financial at all, but the people I met – particularly Isaiah, an 18-year-old with exceptional work ethic who approached business with remarkable discipline. "For every hour I spend having fun," he told me, "I'll do one thing I don't want to do to build my business." His perspective was exactly the inspiration I needed while navigating my own challenges.
As I prepare for the Windsor Fair and eventually Fryeburg (my season's biggest event), I'm facing serious inventory challenges and supplier delays. I've had to make tough decisions, including canceling a planned event to better position myself for success where it matters most. These choices reflect a maturing business perspective – understanding that courage isn't making one dramatic leap but taking consistent small steps forward despite fear and uncertainty.
If you're fighting for your own business dreams right now, remember that perseverance often looks less like heroic victories and more like quiet determination to simply take the next step. Check out our American-made products at loudproudamerican.com and share your own entrepreneurial journey with us on social media!
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I am back home from the Skowhegan Fair, but it won't be long until I'm out of here again. But before we go, I got to let you know just how did everything go, and I want to go ahead and connect it to some inspirational advice that I heard from a friend that I'm eager to share with you. All. That and more, on today's episode of Share the Struggle Podcast. Let me tell you something.
Speaker 2: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 effect on the way you live your life.
Speaker 2:If you find strength in the struggle, then this podcast is for you. You have a relationship that is comfortable with uncomfortable conversations. Uncomfortable conversations challenge you, humble you and they build you. 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. I'm leaving that world.
Speaker 1:The whole day gone. I'm running behind, I'm standing away To the back of the world. Good Lord, almighty, am I so excited to be with you? Oh, it's true, it is damn true. How you doing, baby boo, I missed you. You, I missed you. You know I missed you.
Speaker 1:Welcome back to this podcast, proudly named, precisely named, perfectly beautifully named. Share the struggle, because everybody struggles. As y'all already know, this podcast is brought to you by the fine folks over at Aloud Proud American already know this podcast is brought to you by the fine folks over the loud proud american, aka my mama and, uh, my, my baby mama and my baby and me. You know what I'm saying? Those would be the lib burr. T's the liberty family. That's right. We own and operate loud proud american, a lifestyle brand that produces only made in america goods for all y'all beautiful, loud, proud Americans out there. We know the mission at hand is to bring back American manufacturing. There is a great emphasis on bringing back American manufacturing and we are trying to lead the way. Think about that. Y'all Share the struggle. Everybody struggles. There's strength and truth in everybody's struggle, and the truth here, folks, is if you are willing to share the stuff that you go through, if you have the courage hint, hint, hint to share the things that you go through, that you grow through, then we all shall grow through those things together. Through that you grow through, then we all shall grow through those things together. There is strength and courage and wisdom and motivation in everybody's journey in life.
Speaker 1:Now, last week's show, things got emotional to end the show. I did not intend for them to get emotional, but they did All right, that's just the facts. That's just the way life is. We encounter things and we deliver things. We endure all things raw and in real time. Right, that's the truth about our show. It is a raw, real-time response to life.
Speaker 1:Last week I was painting the picture, a perfect little picture, of the Skowhegan Fair, loud Proud American on the road at yet another first-time event, yet another event for Loud Proud American that we have never done before Jumping into the bold waters of first-time events, getting off the old comfort couch and taking the leap of faith. How did it go? Well, I gotta to let you know. It is, you know, depending on fairs and events and things like that, the wild rollercoaster ride that is optimism and pessimism, pessimism, pessimism, pessimism, pessimism Sounds really funny. It's not. Pessim Sounds really funny and it's not. It doesn't sound right, but it's really early on a Tuesday and I haven't slept very much, so we're gonna go with Pessimism. Look at you, little Pessimism. What's wrong with you, boy? Boy, I'm gonna take y'all back to the woodshed and whoop your ass into shape and get you straightened out, because you'll be losing it.
Speaker 1:Okay, what you was trying to say, like a man, fluff up your chest there, buttercup. What you were trying to say is I wanted to show you the highs and lows, how things ebbs and flow, how things come and go. You get all geared up, you get all fired up about how great things are going to be, and then they don't end up great and then the next morning you have to freaking, wash away and wipe away the tears and fight away the anxiety and tell yourself it's going to be a great day. And you go out there and you struggle some more. That is just the peak beneath the sheets. That's just how things work, and they get magnified when you do things for the first time. And y'all have heard this broken record all damn year. But the reason why you've heard this broken record all year is because we're being courageous enough to jump out of our comfort zone to try new things, to do new things, to take big, bold, beautiful chances. That's what we've been doing.
Speaker 1:So last week on the show, I talked to you about how things didn't really get to going the way they had hoped that we thought they would go, or the way that we hoped they would go, the way that we envisioned them to go. So I took you into the deep, dark hallways of my mind, from being super excited to being let down and frustrated, but building yourself back up to being excited again to go out there and to sell and do the best you can. Because, as you already know, if you've been listening to me, sales is a transfer of enthusiasm. If you're not excited about what you're selling and what you're doing, then nobody's going to be excited about the product that you're selling, so they're probably not going to buy it from you.
Speaker 1:With that being said, this year has been a lot more challenging because you have to get up and sell your things a little bit differently, and I think I mentioned it last week to you guys that we had some direct competition in the same area as us that has a great sales pitch. Their sales pitch is a great one because it benefits the military and they can sell all these things to you. As far as this is where some money's going, I don't know a hard percentage of where the funds go or where they're going through some of these causes. I'm not making any allegations but I don't know the numbers so I can't share them with you. But they do different bundles and things and they have their own sales pitch. Right, for me it's different. I'm trying to pitch you on American manufacturing. I'm trying to pitch you on the obvious benefits of buying American right, that's my pitch, that's my sales pitch, that's my spiel. I'm trying to fine tune some things to set us apart a little bit.
Speaker 1:But one of the things I talked to you guys about last week was a direct competition. Being right next to us and said direct competition, the person that was representing that brand. They were kind of, you know, I would say, staring us down, throwing some meat mug looks from time to time. We're kind of competing. We're both competitive, right, I'm willing to say that he's working. We're trying to be competitive and I get that. But I still think that we're different and that we can support each other and there's no reason for hostility there.
Speaker 1:But we didn't really speak very much throughout the week and, ironically, on the last day of the fair, the representative had come in and asked me for some contact info and saying you know, I'm not going to stay here the remainder of this fair, I'm going to get out of here early and I just don't know who to talk to about it. And I did some research and gave them some information. And then later in the day, he was packing up and came over to me and said, and um. And then, uh, later in the day, um, he was packing up and came over to me and said hey man, um, do you have a hammer? Like, I have these stakes stuck in my, um, my, in my tent, and I can't get them out. And I was like, yeah, I can run to my bus and get them. And, uh, it's over in the infield here.
Speaker 1:So I stopped what I was doing, stopped selling, went out of my way to go get the hammer, bring it to him, leave it for him. And then a few minutes later, he comes over and says hey, man, I don't know what I did, but I can't get these things out there, they're stuck. Any chance you could help me. I have a bad shoulder and I stopped what I was doing. I went out of my way to go over and to help him and get his tent freed up and the stakes pulled and everything.
Speaker 1:Obviously he thanked me and was super polite, but to me it felt right to stop what I was doing and help my direct competitor, to help my biggest competition, to help somebody that really didn't associate with me, acknowledge me or talk to me, because that's who I am. I try to lead by example. I try to be an example for my daughter, for my family, for my friends, for my brand, right. So I didn't mind doing that one bit and I had brought that up in conversation with some friends and with my wife there. And my wife said you know, I think her line which I thought was pretty great was we mend crowns around here. We're humble enough to fix up your crown If someone's going to walk around and pretend to be better than you but they fall down, we're not afraid to pick them back up. I'm not saying this person fell down, I'm not saying this person did anything wrong. I'm just saying I thought it was quite fitting for your biggest competition to come to you and ask for help and you stop everything you're doing to help when you.
Speaker 1:I think if you ask yourself how many people in that situation would have just dismissed their competition and said let's watch them struggle, not us, not the way we do business, not how we do things. So I thought that was kind of interesting and I only brought that up because I do believe last week we talked about you know the struggle of having your competition right there next to you and I don't want anybody thinking that you know, listening to last week, listening to this week, that we're somebody that doesn't want others to do well, that we're somebody that talks negative about a patriotic brand trying to help veterans. I stopped everything I was doing to help the same brand. So I just kind of wanted to put that out there. I don't want anybody thinking anything negative of us. But I also wanted it to be a little highlight for people out there Don't be afraid to stop what you're doing to help others, even if they're your competition. Lead by example, be the example, right. I thought it was kind of fitting to share that.
Speaker 1:But last week when we were talking about the event and how things were going, we really weren't getting off to the start that we had hoped for, that we had dreamed of. But we were trying to navigate those murky waters and I mentioned to you there were some days of five, six hours without sales. Those days continued Mostly every day that we were open. It was a hurdle a, it was a, it was a hurdle man. It was five hours, it was six hours before selling something. It was a real struggle but you oftentimes would um make up for it at night. You would um, you know just, your numbers would get better at night. I think when I recorded it was a Tuesday, monday we did like a hundred dollars. Tuesday we more than doubled it. So we were going in the right direction and sales kind of trickled upward for us throughout the week.
Speaker 1:I will say that on Friday we did pretty good, but our best day of the entire fair was the first Friday of the fair. Honestly, that's kind of strange for a fair. Traditionally Saturdays would be your best day in general and you would assume the last couple days of the fair, especially when it's a weekend scenario, would be the best parts of the fair right. So I was fully expecting Friday and Saturday to dominate the previous Friday and Saturday and they didn't. They really didn't come out and crush things.
Speaker 1:But I really spent a lot of time analyzing everything, kind of thinking about what are the reasons, what are the cause, what are the effects? What can I be doing differently? What is in my control? You can only control the things that you can control right, like you can't worry about the things that are out of your control. I cannot change the forecast. I could not dial down 90 degree temperatures to a beautiful 75. I can't do it. I can't put more money in other people's pockets. If I could, I put more money in my own pocket and we wouldn't have to be there in the first place. So it is what it is. You think about location, you think about temperature, you think about finances, all those things go into it and you stop and analyze everything and you really have to pivot right.
Speaker 1:I looked at it, got to a point in the week where I said there is no ever loving way. I'm going to do what I came here to do. I'm not going to attain the numbers that I really thought that I could or that I should. I'm going to put a goal in my mind that is a salvageable number, it's an attainable number and it's something that can salvage this week, put a respectable number in place that can help us to better position us for the next event and kind of set us up to be in the right spot. So what is a number that you can be happy with, that's respectable, that's attainable, that's not mailing it in. It's still something that's going to take a lot of effort and hard work to get to, but when you get to it you can still find a way to celebrate. Does that make sense to you guys?
Speaker 1:You go into something like I went into this fair thinking I had this huge number in mind that this is a home run. Here's a realistic number. I kind of have these ranges. Here's an absolute end, all be all. I have to do this type of number. I go into fairs like that. I had to recalibrate, renegotiate in my mind what was a feasible number and then strive for that number.
Speaker 1:I had two numbers in mind going into this to make the best of this fair. Like I said, I pivoted during the week and I said, okay, those numbers that you were looking to do, they're not going to come true. What are two numbers? That number one? You say, hey, I really feel like I pushed it and I got this done and this thing really broke well, and then next year this could be a tremendous fair. And then what's the next number? That's like, hey man, this is still going to be pretty damn hard to hit and if we hit this number, we should feel good about what we've done, considering the situation that we're in.
Speaker 1:And that second number it was on the last night of the fair. I was $50 away from that number, legitimately, $50 away from hitting that number, legitimately $50 away, um, from hitting that number. And um, I had about 10 minutes or so, like, literally, it's, it's past 11 o'clock, we closed the fair at 11 o'clock and um, or it's almost 11 o'clock anyways, and it's pretty bare. Most vendors are gone. There's not many left standing that have not closed their shop or not started packing everything up and leaving. And I'm telling everybody hey man, I got to get another 50 bucks here. And, lo and behold, one more customer came in and we spent some time talking and they bought one hooded sweatshirt that retails for $50. I did it. I broke that number $50. I did it, I broke that number.
Speaker 1:I hit the number that I told myself you can celebrate, you can make a difference in your business with this number. It's not great, it's not tremendous, but if you're going to reconfigure and reevaluate your week, you have a number that can help you get ready for the next event. It's not going to pay off a bunch of debt. It's not going to put you in a perfect position, but it can help and you can justify the time that you've invested by the result that you made, because it wasn't a lost cause, right, you didn't go there and you didn't lose money. So I hit that number. There was some celebrating that has to come in play in your mind with that by saying, wow, I really, really, really had to fight for this. I had to earn every single cent of this to get to this number and that was a good feeling. It was a good feeling to get there. I'm encouraged by that and I really truly feel like I'll be back next year. I'm going to push for a better location next year and do things a little bit differently, but I do feel like it can work for me and that it could be a good fit for me. But man, one hell of a challenge for me this year, and I actually had a really good friend of mine share with me that there was another vendor that was at this fair. I'm not going to get into the details, but they sell apparel. They spent three days at the fair and they sold one t-shirt and they packed up and headed out of there.
Speaker 1:I hear stories like that. I look at my competition, who I perceive to be doing better than me. For most of the week you start beating yourself up. But when you hear the stories of others that didn't achieve nearly what you achieved, it has to be a feather in your cap to keep going, to keep pressing forward, to continue to have the courage to do the things that you're afraid to do. And that's a testament to us. That's a testament to the brand and the motivation that we have to continue to fight, fight, fight for this brand.
Speaker 1:Now, with all that said, I mentioned to you guys last week that we have made some new connections, we have met some new friends, we've added to the family, and I talked to you guys about being super encouraged by some of the youth that's in this country. It's not all a lack of work, ethic and complete disappointment. It's not all binkies and litter boxes. There's still some hardworking Americans out there that can change the future of this country, and I was excited to spend some time with them. And I mentioned to you Isaiah, an 18-year-old young man, isaiah with an amazing work ethic and an amazing personality, and I spent just about every day of the fair with Isaiah and his friend Caden, who's also a great kid. He also is motivated and wants to work and he started his own business. So he's working a few jobs, but he has his own LLC that he's doing for landscaping and overall just home improvement. And we were in the tent and all of a sudden he just pulls his phone out. Somebody on the other end answers and he says I'm going to be very direct with you, and then he just bangs out his sales pitch Now as somebody.
Speaker 1:If you guys have listened to the show, you already know if you're a day one, get your ones up. I acknowledge you. I love you. You've been here for over five freaking years. I love you. I thank you.
Speaker 1:Okay, day ones, y'all already know I'm a sales guy. I'm a sales trainer at heart, right, and I spent years in a call center doing sales for a Fortune 500 company on a military base. I've also been a sales manager. Multiple locations, multiple trainings, my last, when I say previous life, running a Harley-Davidson dealership, working my way up to owning a Harley Davidson dealership, sales, sales, sales. I was constantly training, learning and educating people on sales. You're piquing my interest here, young man, and for him to literally open the call with. You know I'm going to be very direct here and go into his clothes.
Speaker 1:I was proud of the kid and he got everything he needed to out of the conversation, set up his appointments, and after the conversation he was talking to me and said listen, I'm doing fun things today. So for every hour I spend having fun, I'm going to do one thing I don't want to do. For every hour that I'm having fun, I'm going to stop for a minute, pick up my phone and I'm going to code, call somebody and try to make some money. I'm going to try to build my business and I thought, man, look at the perspective on an 18-year-old young lad to say, hey, I'm enjoying myself today. For every hour of enjoyment I'm going to add one moment of discomfort. I'm going to do something I don't want to do. I'm going to make a phone call. For every hour that I'm enjoying myself, I'm going to do one thing to better myself.
Speaker 1:Think about that, guys. Can we adopt that? Can we apply that? Think about it All the days that you're sitting around. Maybe you're at the lake doing something, maybe you're on vacation doing something, maybe you're on the couch, doom scrolling when you look at the clock and realize you've been doing an hour of nothing. Can we implement two minutes of something to change our direction, to cause and affect our day? To put things in a positive way, I learned a lesson from an 18-year-old young fella over the week and I'm proud of him.
Speaker 1:But to get back to my point, also on Isaiah, I spent some time with the young fella and he's just a great kid man. He's the type of guy that leaves a good impression on you. It was very cool to see my wife and baby arrive and them all take to each other. Paisley really loved him, and what was kind of cool is when Allie and Paisley arrived which was a surprise to me as to when they were arriving and I had to run to the gate to let them in and Isaiah stepped up and took over the tent and when I came back he was all pumped up and said hey, man, I sold something, I sold something. And he, he never asked for training. I never showed him, um, how to cash people out, I never showed him how the computer works or anything, but he just stepped up, filled in, took care of it, sold some stuff and then the rest of the weekend, whenever opportunity allowed, he wanted to be behind the computer making sales and talking to people, and everything about that just made me proud. Everything about that just encouraged me, right.
Speaker 1:I was encouraged that, like I've said, last week, there is a population out there of young individuals in this country that still want to work for things, that still believe in things, that still, um, are willing to do hard things. And then also to know that I built a brand, that this young man was drawn to enough to work his full-time job and to come hang out and spend time with us. He also took a a liking to Kyle and Julia with Underdog Metal and was helping them out. And all of us had talked after the fair and said, man, if we were all in different positions, if we were in better positions, if we were just a little bit further ahead in our businesses, we would hire Isaiah, we would take him on the road, we would do everything we could to help propel him to the next level in life, and he is just a tremendous asset for any business out there that is looking for someone to grow with them and their business.
Speaker 1:I truly wish I was at a different spot in my business where I could welcome him on and do some things together, but, as we all know, it's already extremely difficult just to take care of myself and my family with this business. We've been struggling to get through, to pull ourselves through, but I do know there's light at the end of the tunnel and I do know there's opportunity at the end of the struggle and I do know that sticking together, staying together, keeping those connections together, someday, somehow, some way, I'll find an opportunity to help him. I'll find an opportunity to include him and do things, even if it's not full-time, if it's part-time, if it's an occasional time, whatever it might be, it shall be. I know that we were put in each other's paths for a reason. We're replacing each other's lives for a reason and I'm excited about that and I'm thankful for that. And at the end of the fair I shook Isaiah's hand and I said the best thing about this fair was meeting you, and that'll always be true, higginfair will always hold a special place for me because it put me in the right place to encounter Isaiah and to form a relationship, and I do know that I'll always be there for that young man along his journey in life. I'll always be there for him and just something to be thankful for.
Speaker 1:And I feel like in life we often go through this journey of life with blinders on but not always receptive to all the things that are brought to you. We don't always really just take into consideration. There's a person standing in front of you with a story and a journey and, um, we don't always listen to them. Right, and I understand that we can't just fully take in every single person that we meet, but, um, y'all know the difference right, when you're having a conversation and, um, something just clicks. Slow down, take the, take the time, share the time, share yourself and open yourself up to new blessings and to new people and to new opportunities. And I really truly feel that's a big part of what I love about this brand and what I love about this career path that we're on.
Speaker 1:There are so many people in my life that would not be in my life if I wasn't on the road as often as I am, from fair to fair to festival to festival, to rally, to anywhere. There's a tremendous amount of amazing people in my life that wouldn't be here if I wasn't chasing my dreams, that wouldn't have been brought to me if I wasn't jumping out of my comfort zone and doing challenging things. And we always talk about it. We always talk about getting uncomfortable, whether that's in a conversation or whether that's in a life setting. The more you get uncomfortable, the more you try new things, the more blessings will be brought to you, the more you will achieve great things and sometimes like the blessings that you deserve. Sometimes the winnings that you deserve isn't just financial right. Like I went into this fair with this high dollar number in mind. That I thought was what we could achieve and we didn't hit that number. But what we left with will have a far greater impact on me than a financial impact. Do you understand what I'm saying? Sometimes the blessings you receive are far greater than you imagine, even though the result pales in comparison to what you imagine. Does that make sense to you guys? Blessings come to you in all different shapes, forms and ways and we just need to be open-minded enough to realize them, to acknowledge them, to accept them and to be thankful for them. And that's me all days, all ways, trying to find a way to be thankful.
Speaker 1:Now, at the end of this trip you know the next day, I shall say after the event um, the wife and I we packed up and and then we hooked up to the camper and we hauled the camper to the Windsor fair and we dropped the camper off there and then we came home and, um, I tried to settle right back into work. That didn't happen. I was beat. And on the first day back to reality, I have a very um, and on the first day back to reality I have a very brief stay at home. I only have a couple days to be home, to make more product and then to get ready to get back on the road to get to Windsor Fair, which is one of my favorite events of the entire year. So I don't have very much time.
Speaker 1:But I got to tell you, man, I woke up beat, I didn't sleep for shit. I've been moping around, struggling around, dragging myself around and these long events, man, they really take it out of me. And I just kind of realized last week's schedule. The past couple weeks has really screwed me up, the fair being open until around 11,. I'm not going to sleep till 1 or 2. I'm not getting to work as far as down at the vendor location until 12, 1, 2, 3 o'clock. Man, my schedule is all messed up. I was dead, ass tired all day yesterday. I didn't hit a stride to want to work until 6, 7 o'clock at night. Man, I was all kinds of funky and I understand, based off the schedule I was keeping. That's kind of the scenario that happened. Now I can't afford to waste days. So I'm trying to recover from said scenario and I had a multitude of challenges yesterday and it's kind of funny because it's not funny at all. But let's be honest here. It's not funny.
Speaker 1:I've told you guys all year long I'm not in the best position financially and by not being in the best position financially, my product is not in the best position. So I leave one event and I have to quickly scramble to get prepared for the next event. And I've been able to do that. I've been navigating those choppy waters, even though your homie can't swim. I've been navigating those things, treading water, trying to keep my head above water, and it's been okay, it's worked out so far. I did notice when I was there running some reports. I need to add massive amounts of product to do what I need to do to end the season. My two biggest events left of the schedule is this coming week when I go to the Windsor Fair, and then at the end of next month when I go to Freiburg Fair, which is the biggest event for me.
Speaker 1:The product challenges that I have in front of me are scary. I need to find and acquire a real good amount of finances, of capital to bring in enough product to be successful. When I'm looking at what's in my possession now, when I'm running reports that show me, if I sold every single thing on my shelf right now, at this moment, I wouldn't hit the number that I have set for myself to hit for the Frybird Fair. That tells me y'all got a lot of work ahead of you. You got a lot of work ahead of you. You got a lot of selling ahead of you. You got a lot of purchasing ahead of you and a lot of producing ahead of you, production ahead of you. So there's a lot of challenges, multiple challenges, and I'm scared of those challenges. I'm realistic when it comes to looking at those challenges and knowing how difficult they're going to be. But if you all learn something about me, I have a tremendous belief in me and my business. This can work and this will work. I just need to keep pushing ahead and forcing myself to make this happen. So I've realized the difficulties that's in front of me and throughout the year doing these things, when I go from one event to the next.
Speaker 1:I have a very limited time and that's worked somewhat okay. You guys, if you've been listening over the past few months, you've heard me go to some events, down a design, down some product, because a vendor didn't deliver things in time. Well, wouldn't you know? I only have a couple of days before I have to leave again and I literally had it all mapped out in my calendar as to when I needed to make the money, when I needed to have the money deposited and when I needed to place the order to have things fall on schedule. I placed all my orders according to schedule that when I arrived home on Sunday, some of my stuff should have been here and by Monday, when I walked into my office to work, everything should have been here for a full production for me to get after it. For this week I have over 300 items that are on their way. I have new designs on their way. I budgeted and planned and I spent hours in the camper trying to maximize every single dollar and cent that I have to put myself in the best possible position to have the best possible result at the Windsor Fair that I can possibly afford for myself and all those vendors that I've used. None of them have delivered on time.
Speaker 1:I'm recording this podcast on a very early Tuesday morning and none of my products have arrived. I should have been working on them on Monday. I should have been working them on Tuesday, on Wednesday and then heading out on Thursday. With that said, I'm going to have to reconfigure and re-challenge myself and my schedule is going to have to change. So whenever these products arrive, I'm going to have to do the best I can with what I have. So I'll have some designs arriving today, but the apparel won't be here till tomorrow. So what I do have in stock, I'm going to have to work on I'm going to have to work on. I'm going to have to go through my cabinets and find all things that I can produce to help position myself. I'm going to have to get the bus ready, do things to get those things situated and then when my apparel comes in tomorrow, I'm going to have to start crushing it and instead of going to the fair on Thursday, I'm going to have to roll in on Friday and it's going to give me one single lonely day to put up one big ass display to get ready for opening day on Saturday.
Speaker 1:With all this said, my family and I have had a lot of conversations. I had another event on my schedule that I would come home from Windsor, I would have a few days, maybe a week, and then I would take off to New York and I would do a motorcycle rally in New York and be another first time event. It'd be an event that I would do on my own, an event that I would sleep on the bus, and I'm excited about doing this and adding these new challenges to the book of business. But I've done multiple first-time events this year and the family and I decided that a few things come into play. First and foremost, I hate being away from my baby girl right now because she changes so much when I'm not home. It was a challenge for me to see her and see how much she had grown. She's at that stage where she just is growing every day and changing every day and I feel like I missed out on a lot over that.
Speaker 1:But with that said, I do know that I have to sacrifice and I'd be willing to sacrifice for the better of my family and I was expecting to go to this event and maybe make enough money to invest in the product that I need. I just told you, guys, I have all this product that I have to get, so I need those finances. But the family and I decided that it might put me at a bigger disadvantage Because if I come home from that event and things aren't going as planned, if things don't arrive on time, then I could put myself at a disadvantage going into the biggest and greatest event of our business. And if there's one thing I should do, I should prepare as much as I possibly can to have the best event I possibly can at the Freiburg Fair. So I'm going to remove one of my forecasted events this season so I can allow myself the proper time to get ready to absolutely crush and overachieve my goals. So I'm going to remove a small event that I don't know how it would turn out for me, so that I can focus on the two biggest events for me and then, when those things come and go, I will reassess everything for me. But that's a difficult decision that I had to make for me and I didn't do it on my own. I chatted with the family and this is kind of the way that we feel it should go.
Speaker 1:But it's funny, yesterday I'm sitting back for a minute and I was so distracted yesterday. I'm waiting on all these calls. I'm calling customer service. I have multiple things that haven't shipped that, these things that are supposed to be at my doorstep. They hadn't even left yesterday. So I'm paying additional fees to process things, to move things. It was a fiasco things. I find myself easily distracted.
Speaker 1:Yesterday and I found myself kind of doom scrolling and my wife loves to say that and I hate saying that. I was just wasting time when I didn't have the time, but I guess there was a reason for it. I stumbled onto a post from a friend of mine, mr Tom Ringwalt, who, tom, you've heard me talk about him as Tommy Tattoo he owns Tommy Supplies and he hosts two of the largest tattoo conferences in the world, or conventions, I should say Two of the largest tattoo conventions in the world. I've vented at his conventions, I've hosted events with him and, by all accounts, he's just a tremendously successful individual and an overall just awesome dude right individual and an overall just awesome dude right. But he had a post up and I think I found it when I needed to find it and he made this post that said true fact.
Speaker 1:I took over my father's company in 2004. Not many people know this, but by 2007, I was almost ready to give up because of the amount of taxes owed and the feeling that I was spending more money than I was making. I didn't yet know how to manage it correctly. Now it's 2025 and after years of growth, I specialize in managing money and strategically planning lifetime opportunities. Thank you to everyone worldwide and to my entire team for helping make this possible worldwide and to my entire team for helping make this possible.
Speaker 1:The life you dream isn't built in a single leap, but in the courage to take the next small step. Again and again, I read that post multiple times and then I sent Tommy a message and said man, you have no idea how much this inspired me and how much I needed this today to know that here's this individual that I know personally that is tremendously, wildly successful. That is an inspiration, that is a motivation. His success will um will motivate you, will inspire you, will keep you pushing and pulling and fighting for what you believe in. And to see and know that he struggled, that he almost gave up, to see the success he has now and know that he almost gave up before achieving that success, it gives me the motivation to know that that success for me could be on the other side of this difficulty.
Speaker 1:For me, the line, the life you dream of, isn't built in a single leap, but in the courage to take the next small step. Again and again, this year has been a lot of courage in taking the next step. When so many stop signs were placed in my way, that said, go another way, I found the courage to make the next step and I will continue to have the courage to take the next step. I went as far as looking up courage on the dictionary.
Speaker 1:It is the ability to do something that frightens one Mental or moral strength to venture, persevere and withstand danger, fear and difficulty. This entire year has been full of danger, fear and difficulty, but I do possess the mental and moral strength to persevere. I have courage. I have the ability to do something that frightens me. I'm frightened by some of my choices. I'm frightened by some of my obstacles, I'm frightened by what's placed in my way, but I have the courage to fight, fight, fight for the dream that I have. The life you dream of isn't built in a single leap, but in the courage to take the next small step, again and again. I'm going to let y'all go for this week so I can go take the next small step, because I am not giving up on the life that I dream for me and my family. Until next time, thank you for supporting my American dream. That's it, and that's all. Biggie Smalls, if you're a Loud, proud American and you find yourself just wanting more.
Speaker 2:Find me on YouTube and Facebook, at Loud Proud American or the Face page as my mama calls it.
Speaker 1:If you're a fan of the Graham Cracker, want to find me on Instagram. Or all the kids are tickety-talking 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 for 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'm not saying I'm a pain. I won't make it bleed.
Speaker 2:I hate to say I told you so I truly thank you for supporting my American dream.
Speaker 1:Now go wash your fucking hands, you filthy savage.