The "Level Up" with Duayne Pearce Podcast
I take on the role of an authoritative voice that fearlessly communicates truths drawn directly from my lived experiences. With a genuine sense of ownership, my insights are free from any hidden agendas – they truly belong to the audience. My stories and journey add remarkable value, the key now lies in harnessing its power effectively to help others.
My purpose is to create a new residential building industry. My mission is to inspire unshakable self-confidence in my colleagues in the industry, empowering them to orchestrate prosperous, enduring, and lucrative businesses that bring exceptional projects to fruition for our clients.
My goal is to foster a deeper comprehension among clients about the identity and functions of builders, redefining their perceptions.
The "Level Up" with Duayne Pearce Podcast
Why Building a Brand That Aligns With Your Values Matters in Australia with Sammy McComb
Why are so many Aussies leaving the trades to chase their dreams? In this episode, we explore the real journey of building a business in Australia—from wild setbacks to launching a sustainable sunglasses brand.
Hear about the challenges of the “laptop lifestyle,” the rise of eco-friendly products, and why supporting local brands matters. Perfect for tradies, entrepreneurs, and anyone who loves a good Aussie success story.
Follow and support Sam's Shade business:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shade__eyewear/
Website: https://www.shadeeyewear.com.au/
#aussiebusiness #sustainability #tradielife
We want as many local farms as possible to be able to sell fresh local meat, to local consumers.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Check out the Duayne Pearce website here...
https://duaynepearce.com/
So many people spend too much time worrying about and thinking about what they did wrong instead of treating it like you are, Like I said, that whole gap and gain thing. You're more focused about it. You've had that experience, you've learnt from it and now you're moving on.
Speaker 2:I made a lot of questionable choices, did a lot of bad things and upset my family and a lot of people and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:But I was raised.
Speaker 2:Well, I was always a good person. I just got caught up in the wrong scene and I still don't regret any of it today, and I'm actually grateful that I got that out of my system in my early 20s and I couldn't think of anything worse than doing that like now.
Speaker 1:But everybody has challenges and failures. And the difference between someone that ends up being very successful and someone that's not is the people that view those failures and challenges as learning experiences.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can do anything. These days you can literally do anything and it takes a good amount of effort and energy and discipline, but it doesn't really take that much time to completely change your life. Like, if you're unhappy with where you are or what you're doing, you can change that in six or 12 months.
Speaker 1:G'day guys. Welcome back to another episode of Level Up. We are back in the shed this afternoon for another cracking episode. I am pumped about this one because I literally only met this guy personally 20 minutes ago probably not even that and I'm really keen to have a chat to him today, hear his story and where he's come from, because it's quite incredible. But, more importantly, he's broken away from the building industry to create a product that ultimately, most tradies and builders wear. So a big warm welcome. To Sam from Shade Eyewear how are you, buddy? Yeah, good, dwayne, thanks for having me mate. To Sam from Shade Eyewear how are you, buddy?
Speaker 2:Yeah, good, dwayne, thanks for having me mate so mate, how do you go from being a plumber to being a sunglass manufacturer? Well, I'm definitely not a manufacturer. I mean, we've got our supplies that we deal with. But it's been a long journey, that's for sure. I think it was a vision years ago that I just wanted to get off the tools and get out of the trade and do something different with my life and create something that was more meaningful for me and felt more fulfilling for me than being a plumber, and that's where it all started.
Speaker 1:Mate, that's unreal because you hear so many people in the industry that just have lost their passion. They hate it. And lots of people have these ideas but they just never follow through or do anything about it. So before we get into the sunnies in more detail, can we go back to the early days? How you got into the trade, I guess, and where you come from?
Speaker 2:Yeah well, I'm from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, pretty small sort of town, vibes, sort of town vibes. Um, in school I sort of only felt like I had a trade to go into there. Wasn't there, wasn't really like, didn't seem like there was that many other options. What? Why was that, you reckon? Uh, I think it was just just the area that we're in, maybe the upbringing that I had as well. Mom was a hard worker, dad was a boiler maker. That's's kind of what I knew. Everyone above me older than me, were in a trade.
Speaker 1:Were you good at school? Were you one of those kids like, oh, I was at gun and shit all the time and didn't want to be there?
Speaker 2:I was smart, I was good at classes, I behaved myself and applied myself. But I also became pretty cheeky and pretty naughty in my later years as well, got up, started getting up to a bit of trouble and doing some naughty things.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So yeah, what like did you know what trade you wanted to be, or you just fell into plumbing.
Speaker 2:I actually wanted to be a chippy all through school when I was younger. I actually I was surfing when I was younger and I did some work experience with a surfboard ding repair place and I was fixing boards for about six months and that was awesome and I thought I'm just gonna do this. You know, the guy who was working for the boss was coming in at like 9 30 in the morning after a surf in the morning and I thought, oh, this is a great lifestyle, I want to do this. And my dad's like, hey, mate, there's not much money in surfboard repairs, maybe you want to think about something else. Yeah, so I thought I wanted to be a chippy.
Speaker 2:I liked the idea of building a house from start to finish and I did a lot of work experience for chippies.
Speaker 2:And then there was I would have been 17, year 12, and there was like a school holidays and the builder that I've been working for on and off doing work experience, for he didn't have any carpentry work for me, but he had plumbing work with his son who was doing like 10 units or something like that. So I went to work for a week or two with him and he was you know, I was 17. He was probably 30 at the time. I looked up to him like he was, you know, so much older than me and so much wiser than me. But there was VBs in the fridge every day after work and we did, you know, we did a couple of drains, we did a couple of rough ins and we had a bit of everything going on because there was 10 units to build and I think, just that lifestyle being around somebody who I thought was really cool and drinking beers after work, I thought, oh fuck, maybe I want to be a plumber instead.
Speaker 2:So I literally changed my mind in that couple of weeks and then, maybe a couple months later, I got an apprenticeship. It's unreal.
Speaker 1:What can entice you when you're young? Hey into working. Oh yeah, easily influenced yeah, so did you finish your apprenticeship so did you finish your apprenticeship?
Speaker 2:yeah, so I started an apprenticeship doing volume builders and we were just doing um like metric on homes and all that sort of thing, smashing them out hard, really hard work, sort of stuff, um, and I did a couple of years of that but I was getting a bit naughtier and a bit cheaper as I than I was when I was towards the end of school and then I started to get into the party scene really, really bad. So then I spent yeah, I spent a couple of years getting worse and worse and then I actually ended up giving up my apprenticeship, quit my job. I was like sleeping in all the time because I was not sleeping on the weekends and so yeah, I was late.
Speaker 1:You must have been having a good time, buddy. Oh, I had a great time.
Speaker 2:Don't get me wrong. Heaps of fun I still you know there's lots of. I still have lots of close friends from who I met through that whole scene and stuff like that. But I was pretty much going to the city every weekend in Melbourne and just partying for like three days straight and then coming home and you know wondering why I'm fighting with my boss on a Tuesday morning and rocking up late. So he kind of had enough of me.
Speaker 2:I started getting a few written warnings for just some dumb shit and yeah. So I ended up pretty much coming in and just said, oh, screw you, I don't need to work anyway. So that was it, threw it in, kept partying for like a year, sort of had a couple of little jobs like window cleaning and stuff that I didn't really hold onto for very long through that time, and then I sort of finally started to pull my shit together and I went and got another apprenticeship and then I went back to trade school and that's where it really slapped me in the face, because all the boys that I was at trade school with for my first couple of years, they were all doing their journeymans and finishing and about to get signed off and I still had a whole other year ahead of me and I thought like fuck, I really just wasted that time, you know, partying and being a feral Look.
Speaker 1:everyone's got to grow up and have have life's all about experiences, isn't it?
Speaker 2:100. Yeah, and I to this day, like I did. I made a lot of questionable choices, did a lot of bad things and upset my family and a lot of people and stuff like that, but I still was. Yeah, I was raised well, I was always a good person. I just got caught up in the wrong scene and I still don't regret any of it today and I'm actually grateful that I got that out of my system in my early 20s, because I see people now I'm 32 now and I see people now who are going off the rails in their 30s and, like now I'm you know, I've got my shit back together and so do most of my mates, because we all did it when we were younger and I couldn't think of anything worse than doing that like now yeah it good outlook, mate, because, like so many people, spend too much time worrying about and thinking about what they did wrong instead of treating it like you are and, like I said, whole gap and gain thing like you're more focused about.
Speaker 1:you've had that experience, you've learnt from it and now you're moving on. You've got no regrets.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, it's a good way to live life. Yeah, exactly, I mean way to live life. Yeah, exactly, I mean you can't, you can't hold on to the past, can you? It doesn't get you anywhere. You got to keep looking forward and just, I'm not saying everyone should go out and party and get on the drugs and the piss all the time but yeah, like you've got to live life, don't you?
Speaker 2:yeah, for sure yeah, yeah, I mean yeah, if I had my time again, I would still do things very similarly. I think, um, I probably wouldn't have gone down that rabbit hole as hard as I did if I had have known, and I probably would have spent some more time in my 20s thinking about my future. But you know, it is what it is and I'm here now and I'm happy and I've got a good life and, uh, yeah, so it's made me who I am today, that's for sure yeah, right, so I assume we're getting closer to the sunny, so how like you finished, your finished your time.
Speaker 1:And then when did you move up to Queensland?
Speaker 2:I moved up to Queensland at the end of 2019, right before COVID.
Speaker 1:So that was good timing. All my friends and family got locked down and everything in Victoria.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I moved up there, but I'd already actually started the Sunnies a few years prior to that, so it was when Facebook ads and social media sort of really started kicking off. It was all pretty fresh still then and you could see, you know that laptop lifestyle, I guess, being presented everywhere, everywhere, and you're like, how good is this? People are just making money from their laptop on a piece of this. And at the same time I'd already had a few plumbing bosses who I didn't look up to at all, like I had a. I had some bosses that were great people and I got along with them awesome but their life and their lifestyle I just didn't envy at all.
Speaker 2:They were, they were coming to work and working longer hours and harder than any of their employees, taking home less money. I mean, yeah, the business is like accumulating money, but they're paying themselves less than they were paying, like me even, um, and then they were going home doing book work and they weren't getting any time with their family, they couldn't go on holidays, they were stressed all the time, they had builders and developers and stuff not paying and it just didn't look like a lifestyle that I wanted from for myself or from plumbing, and I thought about it for a while, like whether or not I want to have a plumbing business. But try and break free from that, because that's all I could see. That was literally every boss that I knew of was stressed, overworked, not enough time with their family, missing kids, birthdays like it's the most common story in the industry.
Speaker 1:Mate, like every, almost every trading builder, that's what. That's how they live in their life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it is, yeah, and I see people now like having heart attacks and all sorts of things, super young and they've got, you know, poor diets and poor life, you know daily habits and stuff, because they're just so stressed and overworked and they don't have any time to implement any good habits, and I thought I just don't want that for myself at all. So that's where I sort of started getting attracted to that laptop lifestyle and I can tell you right now that having an e-commerce business is absolutely nothing like having this glorious laptop lifestyle. There's still so much work involved, but it's completely different obviously that's all.
Speaker 1:You see. That's why I reached out to you, because I stumbled across you or someone might have even tagged um, sent you to me or something I can't remember. But as soon as I saw it and then I found out your story, that you're a plumber, and then when we had that conversation and you're still doing a bit of plumbing on the side to fill the gaps and things I just think it's an incredible story. You see all that bullshit on social media these days and all these people trying to sell hey, look at me, I'm travelling Australia from making money on my laptop. There is a lot more work behind the scenes. It's no different to any other business. You still have to have the product, find the product, sell the product Like it's still a business. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But like, how did you take that step? Like, how did you learn to do what you're doing?
Speaker 2:I did a course initially which taught me all about online businesses, all the different types of business models, that that run online. Um, you know, affiliate businesses that make money from other businesses using your platform for ads. Um, e-commerce, obviously, service-based businesses, all sorts of stuff and I did a course learning all about those and it was about how to mostly evaluate a business to buy rather than a start-up, because start-ups are just so hard to get going, especially in, you know, online spaces getting more and more saturated every day. So, yeah, I did this course, learned all about it.
Speaker 2:There was a business for sale at the time Shade Supply Store, and it was like festival. It was dropshipping festival sunnies straight from China. I held no stock, so I ended up buying that business, massively overpaid for it, thought I valued it well, had no idea what I was doing. Um, you know, like the, the ad account I didn't even get the ad account with the business, but the ad accounts where it stores all the data from your customers and everything like that, like didn't even realize that that was like a bad thing at the time.
Speaker 2:So that was where all the value was that was where all the value was yeah, this whole business that I bought relied on ads and I didn't even get the ad account with it, like so naive. And then, anyway, I I watched a heap of youtube videos hours and hours and hours and learned how to run facebook ads and um from youtube. And then for the first three months that business actually did pretty well. I got one of the styles back and figured some things out, started sending a few emails and we actually made like 12 grand profit in the first three months of business. And that was from having no experience whatever, still plumbing full time. And then I was like, oh, how easy is this? You know I can do it, this is easy. I'm going to get an agency. Imagine what they can do. And so I hired an agency from Melbourne, spent all this money getting models and videos done and all of this stuff and pretty much lost that $12,000 in the first six weeks of having this agency. It was a big lesson for me and that pretty much just shut everything down.
Speaker 2:I sort of felt defeated after that and I just let it sit there for like a couple of years after that not doing anything. And then, but I was still plumbing full time and I still wanted to have that. Something like in the back of my mind just said, like keep it. You still want to give it a crack one day. You just don't know what that's going to look like yet. So I was still paying like the monthly fees to keep the website live and all just the minimum expenses that I could, but I wasn't doing anything with it. And then I moved to the Gold Coast and then we brought out a wood pair of sunnies, because over that time my values had changed. I'd started getting a lot more passionate about the environment you know caring about plastic waste and you know I wanted to be able to contribute to the solution, not be a part of the problem.
Speaker 2:I started being more conscious with, like my own personal consumption of plastic and things like that so is that what you mentioned before when we started?
Speaker 1:that you wanted something that was more in line with your values and yeah, purpose in life. But um, just back to your story. Like with the business side, I think, because it's something. It doesn't matter what guests I have on the podcast, it's the same story.
Speaker 1:But everybody has challenges and failures and the difference between someone that ends up being very successful and someone that's not is the people that view those failures and challenges as learning experiences yeah, for sure if you dwell on them and and focus on those, and how much money you've lost and how much time you've wasted and all those types of things you're not allowing yourself to grow and for the business to succeed. Yeah, so I think it's awesome, mate, that you've pushed through and you've kept going yeah, cheers. The lessons you've learnt already, even though you took a couple of years off. That's what's made you get to where you are now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's right, I should have mentioned to people that we've actually got a few of your sunnies sitting on the table here. They're bloody awesome sunnies, and Camille and I just tried them on. I'm not cool enough for them yet. I'm going to have to wait until I get cooler before I can wear them. They're bloody awesome, sunnies. They feel solid as they're, and I'm glad you're getting onto that now, because I was really keen to know more about what they're made of, because I haven't heard of any plant-based sunglasses before.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, yeah, the sunnies are. They're made from a plant-based material, cellulose acetate, so it derives from wood pulp instead of petroleum-based plastic, so it's a much more environmentally friendly option. You know, everything's got the manufacturing process and everything behind it, so nothing's perfect. But because I'm so passionate about it, we do lots of things to try and offset the impact that we do make. So we've got like we offset all of our shipping carbon emissions. We support Sea Shepherd Australia, so we contribute monthly part of their direct action crew team and we contribute to them every month to support marine conservation. And then we've also implemented a zero waste recycling program with TerraCycle as well. So now our customers can send their old sunnies back to us and we recycle them with our recycling partner and they pretty much break down the materials hinges, frames, lenses, everything like that back to their material and then repurpose those. And then other businesses buy those materials off them for different things as well so it keeps them out of landfill as well.
Speaker 2:So that's pretty cool, um. But yeah, I was, like you know, young guy partying heaps, snapping my sunnies all the time. So I wanted a good pair of sunnies. But that's where we were up to before was my values wanting to bring that sustainability approach and aspect to the business, and I thought if I'm going to stick with this business then it needs to align with my values, because otherwise I'm not going to be passionate about it, I'm not going to stick with it. So we got all these wood ones in sort of relaunched the business and they all kept on breaking. So they had this glue joint in the timber right above one of the lenses and pretty much every pair snapped and I I felt so bad that it happened so soon for people. I refunded them all their money and just wore the loss and that was it. And then it was back to the drawing board again and that's where we ended up coming up with the plant-based frame.
Speaker 1:So yeah, like there's all of that like um, can you break them like?
Speaker 2:oh yeah, you can you can I mean I've chucked them off a second story balcony onto the concrete to see what would happen and there was literally not a scratch on them. I haven't broken a pair yet and I've broken a lot of sunnies like I'll scratch an impact resistant lenses. So you can sort of drop them, toss, toss them around, chuck them in your bag or whatever. If they're in your pocket rubbing up against keys or something, they're pretty solid.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was saying to you the other day, like a bloody scratch mine up on the weekend at the farm. I don't even know how they got scratched, but like, literally in the centre of one side it's got this big scratch and now I put them on. I'm like focused on that, scratch, it's trying to be nuts, yeah, yeah, and your boxes, all your boxes. Your packaging is all bamboo.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. We got the bamboo slide-out cases, which are cool. They've actually got a little magnet in the bottom of the drawer, which I didn't even know was part of the thing until I got them, so the drawer doesn't even slide out of the bottom. I'm like, oh, they've thought of everything in here. But yeah, we use all eco-friendly packaging. We use heaps of good packaging that's compostable for our mailers and yeah.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, mate, awesome. So what's the plan now? So you're obviously stuck into it again. You've got some new like at the moment. What have you got? Three different types.
Speaker 2:We've got seven styles on the website. We've got four of them sold out at the moment, so we've got three in stock. Yeah, we've just been really. These two here are our two best sellers. So we've really been focusing on those last year, just trying to prove ourselves in the market, build a brand, build a presence and, yeah, just establish ourselves as someone in the industry. You know people can trust and they can buy from us and they know they're going to get a good product. And now that we've sort of gotten our space in the market, we're really going to focus on expanding our range coming into the end of this year and through next year as well. So that's going to be massive.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know you can't talk about it, but you've got a range coming out that's going to suit the construction industry.
Speaker 2:Yes, we do, yeah, yeah, very excited about that. It'll be australia's first of its type. Um, perfect for the construction industry being a plumber as well. Like just kind of went hand in hand and, yeah, I'm looking forward to that yeah, no, definitely I'll.
Speaker 1:Uh, I'll be mentioning it to the list and stuff like let us know when, when you're ready to release that and we can help you out there. But sunglasses, I know, even just looking at my own team mate, it's like every time you go to site, every fortnight or so, they've got different pairs of sunnies on. Nothing lasts on a job site. So having a good, hard-wearing pair of sunglasses but, as you say, next year having the protection and that on them as well, that's just going to be next level, yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2:I mean, we've had heaps of heaps of like compliments and heaps of really good feedback about the durability of our sunnies, and it was through that feedback that we started promoting them as a durable pair of sunnies. Like, I didn't go into it with that approach initially, and it was everyone's first reaction was like, far out, these things feel really solid, and then they'd wear them for ages and they wouldn't. They'd be fine, they wouldn't be broken, they wouldn't be scratched up and they'd be covered in dust and everything, but they'd still be good. Um, and that was when I realized like, oh shit, these actually are really strong sunnies. That's, that's sort of our new marketing angle. And then, yeah, so I started advertising them like for tradies as well. But you get a bit of backlash on that on, you know, as you do on social media, regardless, there's people commenting all sorts of shit on there, but, um, the more haters mate, it means, the better you do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah that's right, yeah, but so a bit of backlash not being safety certified. Um, you know you can't sell these to tradies if they're not safety certified. And yeah, I just said, well, they're not and we've clearly said that they're not. But I don't wear safeties on site and I know lots of people who don't wear safeties on site. They'd prefer to just have a pair of sunnies. Who am I to tell them what sunnies to wear If they want to buy mine've worn mine at work since I've had the business and absolutely smashed them like on the quick cut, getting covered in concrete splatters and, you know, dust and all sorts of stuff.
Speaker 1:So yeah, they are good, but we don't condone wearing sunnies where you're supposed to be wearing sunnies.
Speaker 2:No, that's right.
Speaker 1:Again, like you've obviously taken that into consideration, because that's what you're working towards Exactly yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're going to move into a safety range. Yeah, we're really excited about it, so that'll be cool.
Speaker 1:Mate, I'm keen to see them because I don't know if anyone else knows. But out there, I don't know of any good-looking safety glasses. Yeah, they're all shit. Yeah, most of them are.
Speaker 2:I mean, there are lots of other brands that sort of do have a bit of a safety range now. But you know, the way I see it is that, like I'm not coming in to try and take over the market, I like to think that there's enough people for everybody who wants to give it a crack. You know, there's not going to be 100,000 different Sonny's brands all going to give it a go at the same time. There's enough and there's enough people in here to satisfy everybody and for everybody to have a successful business. I think so. Yeah, obviously we want to grow and and be the best business that we can, but, um, so do all the other sunny's businesses and there's enough people for everybody to do that, I think so what's the biggest?
Speaker 1:just back to what they're made out of, like what's? I'm all for sustainability. I think, um, I do think sustainability is a word that's thrown around these days like ridiculously like yeah, yeah um, like what are not. What's a normal pair of sunnies made of is just all plastics yes, it's all virgin plastic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, petroleum-based plastic. So these are plant-based plastic, which is what makes them different to the petroleum-based plastics and better for the environment. But then for us, like we are very cautious about that too. We went pretty heavy on the sustainability, eco-friendly side of things initially as well, because it was something that I was so passionate about and I wanted I was loud and proud about it.
Speaker 1:Um, so where's the where's that passion come from? Like is that just? Been like hanging around the beach and stuff.
Speaker 2:It's evolved, but yeah, I think mostly because I've lived near the beach my whole life. I've pretty much been in walking distance to the beach since I was a kid, always sort of surfed and loved that and then as I've gotten older, I've actually got a lot into like meditation and self-awareness and mindfulness practices and that's sort of where it all evolved. You know healthy daily habits and diet and things like that. You'll never catch me buying a smoko lunch from the server or anything like that. Everything's always made the night before and just those little disciplines.
Speaker 1:You're fitting in well on this podcast. I am my big. One of my big sayings is like if you're not right, nothing around you can be right yeah, yeah, um but it's like everyone talks about it like it's woo-woo shit, but like when you get in that zone where you're more connected with yourself, that's where you're going to find your purpose, isn't it?
Speaker 2:yeah, absolutely yeah, and you do like you do get this self-awareness that you wouldn't have otherwise got and you almost like, yeah, you can't. It makes you feel good. It makes you feel good, it makes you see things through a different lens and it makes you appreciate more and be grateful for more. And you know, I've lived on the Gold Coast for since 2019. So, going on six years and and I still walk down to the beach and, and you know, my partner and I look at each other when we're walking on the beach and we go how lucky are we to live here, like this is so beautiful and there's too many people out there that just walk straight past, they don't even look, they don't even think. Think about that, and it's just those little things that, like makes me feel better. And, yeah, that's where my, my, the evolution and my passion for, you know, environmental health and well-being has sort of stemmed from good gratitude a hundred percent yeah the um geez, we could take this whole podcast off.
Speaker 1:Another tangent like yeah, but like again, it just ties in with what you're doing. Like you, you're tying that in with your business being more sustainable, like coming up with a product that um fulfills you yeah, so many people in life and that look.
Speaker 1:To be honest, that's the main reason I wanted to get you on the podcast, because to see you go from a tradie and to hear your story, um, getting into the drugs and the alcohol and the party and stuff and then to come out the other side and put time, effort, money into this, like make those losses and then still keep pushing yeah, like it says a lot about you, but for me it's really inspiring and I'm sure for a lot of people listening and watching the podcast it'll be inspiring as well. Like, what would you say to people out there that are just dragging their feet every day, not sure what they're doing is right for them? Like any advice you've got for those sort of people?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know there's, the world is you can do anything. These days you can literally do anything and it only takes a good amount of effort and energy and discipline. But it doesn't really take that much time to completely change your life. Like if you're unhappy with where you are or what you're doing, you can change that in six or twelve months. These days we've got everything at our fingertips. We've got youtube, the biggest education platform on the planet.
Speaker 2:You can learn whatever you want on there so I think, um, you know, just committing to it, going for it, backing yourself, that's the biggest one. I mean, you mentioned something earlier about failures not stopping you but learning from them and moving forward. And I read a book last year I don't read many books, but I try to and I read, read, think and Grow Rich. And in that book he says you know, failure, a failure is not a failure until you quit. It's temporary defeat and that has. That's probably the biggest thing that I've taken away from that book and that has gotten me through so many challenges with this business, because that, you know, it's been an absolute rollercoaster and an emotional rollercoaster and some days and weeks and months are so stressful and you lose money, you're not getting the sales and you're pumping all this money into ads and you're showing up every day on social media and you're not getting the traction that you think you should be getting.
Speaker 2:And then having that mindset to just look, instead of like dwelling on it, learning from it, trying to find why it didn't work and then what did work and then, like you know, reiterating on what did work to try and get better for the next time and the next time and the next time and using those setbacks as temporary to feed, learning from them and moving forward is the biggest thing. And that's going to come with everything in your life. You're going to experience that. So, for somebody who wants to get out of the trade or do something new with their life, or even stay in the trade maybe they want to start their own business they're too scared, or something like that like you're going to come up against a lot of challenges and a lot of setbacks, but you've just got to look at what failed, what worked, and you know, do less of what didn't work. Do less of what didn't work. Do more of what did work.
Speaker 2:And it sounds easy, but it takes time, it's just practice.
Speaker 1:So look, so many people hold themselves back because they keep second-guessing everything Like oh, I don't know how to run a business, I don't have enough cash, like I'm sure you've been through all those thoughts. Oh yeah, you've pushed on and like I'm guessing it's like any other business you've got to make outlays before you get money back in the door like yeah, for sure you've got to take risks to get reward, don't you?
Speaker 2:absolutely yeah, I mean only only a few months ago we had the credit card up to 40 grand because we wanted to buy heaps of stock in anticipation for, you know, growth and I didn't have the cash flow coming in to buy all the stock that we needed. So I got the Amex credit card and sent it to the roof. And my partner is a lot more conservative than me and she's freaking out and I'm kind of freaking out too but I'm like.
Speaker 2:I think I know what I'm doing. Like we need the stock, otherwise we're not going to have a business business. So I don't really see another way around this. Like we just got to spend it and get it and yeah, you know you do have to take those chances. 100%, you're not going to get anywhere if you don't take risks 100%.
Speaker 1:What you put out to the universe, the universe generally gives you back. Yeah, exactly I think it rewards?
Speaker 2:I like to think that the universe rewards people who are courageous and take big swings and and big action. Um, yeah, you know, if you've got a, if you've got a vision, and you know your why, deep down, you know why you're doing it, um, and you have that belief that it's possible and you can do it, and then you take big action to get it done, then things, things fall into place for you and it's not a coincidence.
Speaker 1:Mate, you need to use some of this shit on your socials.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Stop talking about the sunnies and talk about oh mate, it's actually good to have this conversation because I am very like spiritual and I do believe a lot in that sort of stuff and the universe and you know the power that it has and the power of your mind and all of that sort of stuff and the universe and you know the power that it has and the power of your mind and all of that sort of stuff, and it's nice to be able to talk to somebody about it, because not many people do have that same awareness. And you know when things are tough. That's been one of my biggest things lately is getting back into meditation as well. I used to do it a lot when I was like a few years ago, when I was still living in Melbourne, I was meditating a lot. When I was like a few years ago, when I was still living in Melbourne, I was meditating a lot. That's where I got into it.
Speaker 2:And then, you know, trying to have a gym routine in the morning, up at four o'clock for gym in the morning. You know I don't really want to get up any earlier so I can meditate. So you know, a few things you got to try and prioritize, but now I probably only meditate maybe a couple of times a week, but they're good, they're deep and they could last 20 minutes or 30 minutes or something like that, and that's been enough to keep me level-headed and grounded enough for the turbulence of running your own business to not let that affect you so much and you can just sort of You've got to find your own thing, don't you Like I'm not?
Speaker 1:well, I shouldn't say I'm not because I've never really done meditation, but for me it's like routines massive. You've got to have a structured routine. If I don't have a routine, I just fall off the rails. Mate. Within a couple of days I can be back doing shitty old habits.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:But I guess my meditation like I'm up early with my dog and like walking out in the bush here up and down the hills and like it's just on my own, listening to the birds seeing the sun come up.
Speaker 1:Everybody needs to find that one thing that just chills them out, yeah, 100, yeah, if you're not taking that bit of time out for yourself and that's where all my ideas come from like I can be having this, I can have the shittiest things going on in my life, but finding that time out to do that with my best buddy, my dog, and just chilling out like I come home and the same as you, like I don't do that every day, yeah, like I try to get in three, sometimes four, a week, um, but you come back from them and you just feel like you're recharged like right, oh, what's next?
Speaker 1:let's go like yeah, you can solve all the world's problems yeah but if you're not taking that time out for yourself and you just head down, bum up every day and just stuck in the grind and every day is going to just keep compounding and getting worse and worse and worse until eventually, you've lost your passion, you've lost your bloody love for life, and all you're doing is whinging and bickering about everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly right. Yeah, and it's massive for me because, you know, having a business, an online business I'm on when I'm not plumbing. I'm still plumbing a couple of days a week at the moment, subcontracting. So I'm in a bit of a transition period getting getting off the tools completely, learning how to pay myself from the business rather than putting everything back in and stuff like that. But having a business that is heavily on the laptop and on my phone, on instagram and dming people and just being as present as I can in growing that business, you really have to learn to put it down and turn it off. Put it on, do not disturb and, you know, spend time with yourself and spend time with my partner and leave it at home, go for a beach walk and do all those things because they do really bring you back to who you are and it just clears your mind so much.
Speaker 1:You just feel way less busy. Yeah, so, mate, what's next? You're going to continue with the lines you've got now. You're working on this safety one coming in the future. Is it just going to be sunnies, or is there other things you'd like to venture into?
Speaker 2:Look, it's funny that you ask I've got an idea. I've got a really really cool idea in the in the surf industry. Um don't.
Speaker 1:Don't give it away. We're working on something there at the moment.
Speaker 2:But yeah, that's a. That's a long way ahead, but at the moment it's just sunnies. All my focus is on the sunnies. We're just. I want to be able to expand these businesses until I can get off the tools completely. Uh, my partner's all into it now as well. She loves it. She's my biggest supporter. It's turned into her dream as well, so we would both love to be able to run the brand full time. You know, end up with a warehouse one day, and you know the whole. Thing big business.
Speaker 1:Everyone knows us, Everyone listening and watching this podcast. Make sure you reach out to Sh shade it's shade. Underscore. Underscore iwear yeah, yeah, that's the instagram handle we'll put your links and stuff and um website and that on the podcast and that as well. But yeah, cool make sure you reach out to sam and support him because, like one thing I really hate about australia is like we all talk people up and want it and say, like people want them to do well, but then when they start doing well, everyone's first to bag out or want you to fail.
Speaker 1:I'm the opposite, mate. Like I think we all should get behind people. Like I hope all the listeners and the people watching reach out to you and make contact.
Speaker 2:They may not buy straight away but hopefully in the future they'll grab something off you because, like, we need to support people that are taking risk and putting themselves out there and having a fucking go like yeah, absolutely, that's what that's what's exciting like we live in a country that gives us so many opportunities like support people that have a crack yeah, absolutely, and it's the people, it's those people that are putting themselves out there that need, need the most support, because they're you know, they're shitting themselves.
Speaker 1:Really, they might look confident in front of the camera, but you they're shitting themselves.
Speaker 2:really. They might look confident in front of the camera but they're shitting bricks. They're doing stuff they've never done before, hoping for the best and hoping that they can get support from people they don't know. And that's been the best thing for me putting myself in front of the camera, sort of building it as a personal brand, like. We get so much feedback from people in our emails and in our Instagram messages and people just straight up saying hey Sam, hey Sammy like calling me by my first name in the messages, people I've never met Love the sunnies, love what you're doing. You know, keep it up. All this sort of encouragement and all this positive feedback and yeah, you know, it's enough to keep me going it feels amazing when I get a message like that.
Speaker 1:I love it. Don't get embarrassed by this. Like when we started recording, before I looked over, and like your hand was shaking on the chair. Like you're genuine. You're genuine mate. Like I think that says a lot about you, but you were saying before we started recording. Like you've only been putting yourself out there on camera for a bit over 12 months yeah yeah, I.
Speaker 1:I was similar like Like I used to get pestered by a marketing lady and my wife for a long time to put myself on socials and I just wouldn't, I didn't want to bar of it.
Speaker 2:But, now.
Speaker 1:Social media is such an incredibly powerful tool for all of my businesses and I encourage it more than anything Like. It's a free tool and for me it's all about that personal connection by you and I and other people putting ourselves out there and doing videos, like people get to know you before they even reach out.
Speaker 1:Like you said, they're calling you by your first name by listening to your voice, they've built a relationship with you without you even knowing it. Um, but what? What made you take the leap to to start putting yourself out there?
Speaker 2:Uh, it was a. It was a setback, it was a temporary defeat. I hired a guy to do some video ads for me, cost me thousands, two months worth of content, and I borrowed money for it borrowed money from my mom, borrowed money from my partner and the ads were. They were epic. The content was awesome, but they just didn't convert. You know, they didn't directly relate to sales in the ad account and I was.
Speaker 2:I was shitting myself, I panicked. I'm like, fuck, what am I gonna do now? Um, you know, got no money, owe people money. Sales are slow. These ads aren't doing what I thought they were going to do. I'm going to sit on the balcony. My girlfriend's a hairdresser, so she's got a tripod for her work when she films afters and whatever. And so, yeah, I set the tripod up out on the balcony, had my sunnies like you know, I'm sam shade, I wear these are our sunnies.
Speaker 2:It's the most awkward, embarrassing video of myself I've ever seen. It was the first one I did and that ad just started getting sales straight away. And then, oh well, you know what do you do? I've got to keep making more videos like this. I guess this is what's working. And then, yeah, after a few months you just get a bit more confident and then you start telling a bit more of your story, not just like directly trying to sell your products. Then you can start sort of trying to be a bit more relatable and build that community and you know, show who you really are and be authentic. And yeah, it just expands from there.
Speaker 1:Mate, it's incredibly powerful stuff. Like you're what I tell people all the time. Like you're connecting with the people you want to sell to like the people you want buying your product whether it's a house, a sunnies, a course, it doesn't matter. But it shits me. All the time you hear so many people spending a lot of money because those companies that come in and do those campaigns they don't miss you, but they don't get that authenticity. They don't get that real you but they don't get that authenticity. They don't get that real you. And I think the one danger to it is that it becomes very hard to sell a business when you're the face of it. But these days it's all about personal business. I think they're saying now I don't know the exact stats, but personal brands are quickly. I think they're saying in the next couple of know the exact stats, but like personal brands are quickly, like I think they're saying in the next couple of years will be the biggest businesses in the world 100%.
Speaker 1:yeah, Because people get that personal connection yeah exactly, and you see it.
Speaker 2:You see it everywhere. Like you know, I don't know who you follow on Instagram or whatever, but you know there's some big names. It even starts from like the Tony Robbins and the Alex Ramoses and Gary Vee and stuff like that. They're the sort of people that I watch online and see big, big personal brands.
Speaker 1:Well, alex Ramoses is a perfect example, mate. Like only a couple of weeks ago, he broke the world record for the amount of sales in 10 hours.
Speaker 2:It's wild, isn't it Like?
Speaker 1:150 million US, so like 260 million australian or something yeah, it's crazy like, but that's all built on the back of a personal brand. It's exactly right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and now you see, you see all sorts of people blowing up for all sorts of reasons on social media and it doesn't have to be anything crazy or new, but it's just putting yourself out there being consistent if you've got, if you've got a niche or if you've got something that you want to do, and you start putting yourself out there being consistent If you've got a niche or if you've got something that you want to do, and you start putting yourself out there and it kicks off like it could change your life in a matter of months, like it happens so quick. Social media is just reaching so many people on a level that no one's ever seen before and that's the most powerful thing is like you really can reach the world with your content but that that personal connection is the perfect client.
Speaker 1:Like it doesn't matter whether you're a builder building two or three homes, a plumber doing 50 jobs a year, or someone like yourself that's trying to sell hundreds of thousands of pairs of sunglasses. Like as soon as you make that personal connection, like they're buying, like there's enough. Like you said, there's enough people in the world to buy enough sunglasses of every sunglass company.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But if they're buying off you because they're personally connected there, they value your story. But that is the perfect client, because as long as the product's good, the support's good, all that type of stuff, they will keep coming back.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's exactly right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, what else do you want? Yeah, yeah, it's good. I'm, I'm very, very, very proud of myself for like moving into that direction and and and creating like a personable brand, because it's opened up so many opportunities like this as well. You know, if I was a faceless sunny's brand and no one knew who the founder was, I wouldn't be here right now.
Speaker 1:So it really opens a lot of doors for you yeah, I only reached out to you because you're a plumber yeah as soon as I found out you're a plumber, I'm like sweet, like he's a tradie, like let's have a chat yeah yeah, but, um, I just think it's unreal, mate. But this I just want to go back, because you just uh talked about it like your growth come from a failure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like having that company that didn't work, like you could easily throw your hands in the air, going fuck it, like I'm out, like I can't afford to do anything, or you obviously made the right decision and you just put yourself out there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly yeah. It's just another temporary defeat, isn't it? It's just another lesson If you want it bad enough, you'll make it work, and if you don't make it work, it means you've quit and you didn't want it bad enough or as bad as what you thought you did. So unless you really put yourself into the hole here, max that credit card out to 100 grand, you can't get out of it. Obviously, everything, all the risks you've got to take, you've got to take, you've got to be calculated at the same time. But yeah, you've got to take big swings and you've got to.
Speaker 1:you've got to keep moving forward when things get tough and when challenges come up yep, well, look, I really genuinely appreciate you um, like you've driven up from the gold this afternoon. I appreciate your time. Appreciate you um bringing up a few pairs of sunglasses. I'll, um, I'll definitely camille's gonna get them on. I going to have to get a haircut or change my hat or something I'm keen to start supporting them, mate, and I'll tag you in my posts and things, but look guys really get behind Sam and Shade Sonny.
Speaker 1:He's a great business, as you've heard today, great story, great young guy, and we need to support local Aussie businesses and especially ones that are doing great things for the environment and coming up with new ideas and stuff, and not only that, like they're a fucking good-looking pair of sunnies. So like and strong, Like that was the first thing. When I got them out of the box, mate, I was like holy shit.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Actually one thing I haven't even asked you or checked with you yet. Do you do polarized?
Speaker 2:They're all polarized, yeah.
Speaker 1:And so like I guess to go back a little bit, I buy really good quality polarized sunnies because when we go up our farm and we got a creek in that and we go fishing for mangrove jack and that it makes a massive difference just having good sunnies that can see in the water especially like when you're throwing cast nets and things so um, I'll be checking I'll be taking.
Speaker 2:We're going to the farm tomorrow, mate, so I'll be testing them out but um, but I've always found those.
Speaker 1:I don't know why. They just seem to get damaged, like when you're on the tinny or you throw them in your tackle box, or you're in the like on the quad bike at the farm or whatever, and you take them off and you throw them in the glove box. I don't know. They're obviously not good quality because they get scratched. So easily.
Speaker 2:Well, give them a run and let me know how they go, Chuck them in the glove box and smash them around on the farm and give us an update in a couple of months and see how they're holding up.
Speaker 1:Definitely will. I definitely will. But, mate, before we get out of of here, any last words for people that listen anything you want to put out there um, I just want to say thanks for having me here and, yeah, it's been an awesome experience coming on first podcast.
Speaker 2:Hand was shaking, my heart was beating out of my chest, I was shitting myself when I got here, but uh, yeah, I've really enjoyed it, really enjoyed telling my story. And, yeah, to anybody listening or watching um shade eyewear, check us out on instagram, send me a message. I'll reply to everyone. And, um, yeah, thank you no worries, mate.
Speaker 1:Well, look guys as usual. Uh, stay tuned. Make sure you like subscribe all those types of things. Go and check out shade eyewear. Make sure you um start following them as well. Check those guys out. But, um, if you haven't seen it yet which I'm sure you have you need to get over the dwaynepeircecom website. Check out our line of merch. It's all there. So get behind the level up movement and we'll see you on the next podcast.