Introducing the NEW Owner of Black Widow Deer Lures, Danielle Principe

The second generation of the Black Widow Deer Lures family has just taken over operations! She's not new by any means, she's grown up in the business since it's inception.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Well, everybody, we've got a special episode of Black Widow Deer Lord's podcast. I am here in the studio with the new owner, Miss Danielle Principe.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

Hi.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

This is Danielle's first podcast. She's uh taking over the rain, so you're probably gonna hear more from her and see a lot more of her on the social media channels and everything. If you call if you're a dealer and you're calling Black Widow, you're now talking to Danielle.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Yeah, they've been talking to me for the last two years.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Yeah. Yeah. So and that's something we'll kind of go over too. Danielle's actually been in the business and around the business her entire life, honestly. This is a family business, this is second generation. And um There's been uh, you know, I guess uh when you look at other businesses and you know, some like the kid like people say, Oh, the kids took over, or something like that. But you've actually grown up in the business.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Yeah, it's um it's definitely changed and evolved over time. Um you see a lot of things that have changed, you know, uh different products, different ways of doing things. Um but yeah, we we were there from the inception to, you know, I took a little bit of a break to to branch off and do some stuff in life and then um you know have come back and and really immersed ourselves in it for over the last two years.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

Um so you guys have actually ran it, ran it for the last couple of years until you fully took over ownership. Yeah, so what when you growing up in the business, like first off, when when Andy decided I'm gonna start a deer lore company, what did you guys think as kids?

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Honestly, I don't think that we really knew any different. Um we were raised, uh you know, I was only like six or seven years old. So we were we were raised in the hunting um industry and stuff, you know, early on when I mean from the time I was born, my parents had a um sporting goods shop before that. So, you know, I don't remember the sporting goods shop, but there's definitely pictures of it. Um and, you know, we were always raised around the outdoors and we always were, you know, with my dad hunting and doing stuff like that. So I don't think it was anything out of the ordinary that we thought it was something weird or strange or just a nice thing.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

You know, it was just I mean, that's what it was or something he was doing a part of the job. Yeah, because he he started it while in the sporting goods shop or after?

SPEAKER_01 2:34

It was after. It was probably a couple years, um probably a good three or four years after the fact. But it it's like I said, it was just normal.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Yeah, because I can remember him saying that you know, when he had the sporting goods shop, he just wasn't happy with some of the lures, and he remembered as a kid and younger, he would actually collect urines from a fresh harvest and use that so he knew it was like an amber color, and then so when he started picking up different urines from other, you know, commercial companies and he was selling his sporting goods, he's like, This is I can do it better.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Yeah, that's that's the way he was because I can come up with something that's better and fresher and you know, better quality, and and I think that's where he really derived the basis of our business.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

So Yeah. Yeah, and he's uh he's definitely uh um been a real stickler about the freshness and get everything going. So when you guys were kids, yeah, I remember him telling me a little bit about how he kind of included you guys or or you know, essentially you guys were helping out with bottling and the bottles, the labels. What uh what all do you remember?

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Um we did a lot of uh well back then all the bottles were glass, so you had to like heat the bottles up before you could put any of the labels on. Oh, yeah. So so yeah, you had to like heat them up and and the the labels would, you know, we'd have to put the labels on, and then um, you know, we used to dip them in in hot wax, so you would just kind of dip it in the wax. It was almost kind of like, you know, some of those uh liquors out there with the white wax seal. Yeah. Um so we did a lot of that, you know, and back then we didn't have clam packs, it was all um, you know, plastic covers and you stapled them on and we packed the orders. And um at some point later on down the road, you know, I started take when we started getting into chain stores like you know, Gander Mountain, that's not around anymore, but um, stuff like that, you know, I took over a lot as a teenager, you know, young teenager, um, all of the computer work of it because, you know, back, I mean, you're talking early 2000s-ish, and it's it's not as the internet is not as it is now. So systems were different, processes were different. So it was something that uh my dad was not very versed in at the time. So I took over kind of helping getting those POs in the systems and doing stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

And um, I know you you were the one who helped him with get his iPhone set up for all that. I mean, I know.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

Yeah, that was that was only a couple years ago.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

But uh Well, I know that's what I'm saying. I could imagine if if back then when computers were really getting in involved in business, I mean we were still on dial-up. Like right now, he's like, hey, help me out.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Yeah, we were still on dial up, I think, at that point. But uh, you know, and and as things continue to evolve, we we got um, you know, the plastic bottles and things changed a little bit and they were in bigger pack sizes, and it was easier for us to get it done. But you know, we're migrating, you know, five years in the future, where you know, now I'm a young teenager, you know, well, driving age, right? And you know, I want to go out and I want to go do things. And, you know, I have I have a my own job that, you know, I think I worked at RB's at the time, and and he's like, Oh, before you get to go out for Friday night and go to the movies, you got to do a thousand bottle labels on bottles and and do all this kind of stuff. And and it wasn't super time consuming. Um, but you know, we were really everybody all hands on deck. Oh, yeah, definitely completely immersive family business, and it still is today.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Right. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

Um but yeah, I mean, there's a lot of things, I mean, we were involved in every aspect of it.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

So now the is going back to the glass bottles. Yeah, like I do remember him briefly mentioning that, but we really know really never dove into it too much. How much uh uh work was that to actually get it to the retailers? Did it I mean as far as dealers, I mean you can think glass.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

I mean, well, early early on when it was uh, you know, just me, my dad, and my sister um it was literally during summer and during you know, during fall time, we would get in the car with him when we weren't in school and we would drive all over the state of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and he would actually physically distribute these. I mean, this is before we would even ship. This is like we would go in and he would deliver it to the stores, and which I mean, probably at that time saved a lot on shipping because those gas bottles were quite heavy. Um, and eventually we migrated into shipping further as we compete, you know, continue to expand. But at that time, you know, we drove with him everywhere, and you know, a lot of the shops were happy to see us and they always had treats for us, or they let us, you know, use our shooting lanes for you know, shooting with a bow while they were talking business, or you know, so um yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

That would have been fun. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

I definitely have a lot of fond memories of spending a lot of times in different shop different shops, and we actually talk about it now because I'll be like, what was that shop that had all those different, you know, uh African mounts or all these different things that were in the shop? And he'll be like, you know, now I do remember that. And then we'll have this whole conversation about what shop that was and if they're still in business or if they're still a you know a long-term customer of us, which actually a lot of them are, especially in the state of Michigan.

SPEAKER_00 7:39

A lot of it, especially old family-owned businesses, same thing. They've either changed hands or I I've some of them have new names. They've rebranded, but it's still within their family or you know, or friends. Maybe uh there's a couple in Georgia I know that that sold their business to a friend because they're, you know, wanting to do other things and the business is still there. It might be a different name, but it's still you know, still there. So that's uh that's fun. So you guys went to plastic bottles.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

And then now that's probably a lot easier process to put the labels and everything.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

Well, and and when I was a teenager, everything was still by hand. So like we we filled by hand, we you know, manufactured by everything was by hand. Um, and now, you know, we've migrated into the few I mean, before we got here, obviously, but you know, we have bottling machines and things that handle that stuff for us, and you know, labelers and and things have changed and evolved over time.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

Right.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

It's definitely a much smoother process now than it ever was then.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Um but so do you look at the machine now and you're like, where have you been my whole life?

SPEAKER_01 8:40

Yes. Now I will tell you, I did go into one of our storage um uh buildings and I did find the old bottler. And I'm like, well, if anything ever happened, you know, there's a backup, right?

SPEAKER_00 8:52

There's a backup.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

I I don't think I'd be very good at it anymore though.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

Well, it's like riding a bike. Yeah. You figure it out. That's so because I remember he showed me an old bottler that he did for like the one, two, fives back in the day when when we had one, two, fives uh pretty regularly, and and he showed me and I was like, How did you even think about this? He had like the light behind it so he can see how full the bottle was, and and he said, Oh yeah, well you have to change these fittings because back then they were made out of brass and you know the urines would eat it up, so you would have to change it out so often.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

And I'm like, that you that comes from hundreds and hundreds or thousands of bottles to figure out you know how that I would definitely say my dad is very much a innovator and inventor when it comes to Black Widow, and I think there's so many things that he thought up that I couldn't even think of.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

Right.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

I'm like, how the heck did you even sit there and think of that? I'm like, it makes me a little emotional think about it because I think about where we started and like where we are now, yeah, and how he completely did that without any type of help or knowledge, no automation. I mean, he didn't have a business degree or anything like that. I mean, he did this, he learned it, he did it on his own, and he built the business, and he has built an incredible business.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Right. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, and that's uh some of the stuff he figured out and and he's done. I'm just like I I I was like, is he was a problem solver. Yes. So he had a goal and how to how to do it. He just had to sit there and you could see his mind work. And sometimes when I see him like looking at stuff and he starts looking at it, he starts turning around, and I'm like, oh, what are you cooking up now? You know, especially when he's like trying to come up with a new product or something like that. I can see those gears turning, you know. And so uh it's it's pretty awesome when he shares some of the stuff that he's done as the business built, and that's kind of incredible that you actually live through all that.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

And there's definitely a lot of products like that I look back at old, you know, stacks of old brochures. I mean old, old brochures, and I'm like, I forgot we even had that product, or I forgot that that's how that label was. Like I forget that like Scrape Master, the label used to be like silver and blue, and it didn't. Yeah, I don't even think we have one anymore, but it used to be like a bright blue and a silver, like, and it didn't sell well at that time. Like people did not like it. I don't know why they they thought it was different.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

They didn't get the cons.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

Well, I think they because at that time we didn't have southern lures, so it was a gold label for the rest of our lures, and then this one was silver. And I think that a lot of people thought, well, silver's not as good as gold.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

So that's exactly why we have to work uh like we all were excuse me, always constantly working on explaining red label and gold label. Because if people see red label and gold label, they think the gold label is the better and the red label is subpar, but really it's geographical. Gold is for the northern states, red's for the southern states. So I can see that if you had silver along with gold labels, that it would be a good idea.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

And it was like immensely different the the next year when you you know you change that to bet to a gold label like everything else, the sales just skyrocketed on that product. And it's it's just crazy how interpretations from um other parts of life take into even account like the color of a label on a but on a bottle.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

Yeah, that is that is interesting. Yeah, because that's because we do have some retailers that are on on the line, or we call it kind of like a blurred line of north and south, and they carry both labels, and it and it's interesting to see how well they do with gold label and without red label, unless somebody really is going in there knowing that the red label is for the south, people automatically gold is better and they grab that.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

And it's a lot about education and making sure that our dealers also know what it is about and not um just leaving it up to yeah, it's southern and northern, you know, why is there the difference and and going into that with them and making sure that they really know. And a lot of our our individual dealers specifically are super knowledgeable. Um, a lot of them have been with us for many, many years. So they they've seen the evolution of products and and the break into you know the southern label. So when you get that, you kind of have to educate every new dealer, you know, how to sell the product as well. So we can both get a a good um outcome.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

So the old label I remember had a spider. It was the actual spider on the label too. Now, is that the spider was that on the original labels?

SPEAKER_01 13:13

Yes. So the the old label that you've seen, that was the original um version of the label. It just um I think originally it was a little different color and stuff like that, but other than that, the actual spider itself and the layout of it was the same.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Yeah, because I was trying to think if it was our backer cards have changed over time. Yeah, so I'm thinking like twin, ten years, twelve years ago when I started using it. I don't that didn't have the spider on it, did it? I don't think so. I think that was the newer the newer label with the actual the the uh skull with the spider on it, right? The spider buck, yeah. So I'm trying to remember because I do remember some labels with some spiders, and I'm like, man, that that that is.

SPEAKER_01 13:57

I actually think we have a couple rolls laying around somewhere that I found in a corner when we were going through inventory. I'm like, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 14:05

Find some relics in here. Yeah, because I I I do remember seeing I was like, that's different.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Like that's I even found I even found one of our grunt calls that we used to have. I've I've found random stuff.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

Yeah. Andy told me at one time he had grunt calls, and then you were uh last night you were talking about the um no bio.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Yep. We used to have a we have to have a no sense spray, but it was quite heavy to ship, and it it had a lot at that time. Um, you know, shippers, sorry, I got a bug. Um shippers weren't as uh innovative either as they are now. So, you know, you ship this heavy case, even though you've got you know crate stuff in there holding it together. We were having a lot of um destroyed bottles and leaking bottles. So it it just wasn't a product. It was great product, actually. Uh we used to use it in our house, our house, like if we, you know, dog wet dogs, you'll give them a bath or whatever. That that sunspray was great. Right. Um, it just was something that was heavy to ship and it just wasn't you know cost effective for us as the dealers. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

Yeah. Well, it might be some. Maybe you know, never know.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

Touch back on might resurrect some some uh some old products here.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

Right. So you like you said, you you ended up uh kind of after it was after college, you kind of went went you know in a little bit into the corporate world.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

I did, not originally. I mean I did um I started working for Sam's Club at one point and I did many years in and out of a store location and you know, worked up my way into management and really learned the basis of what um supply and demand and and business allocations and and different things, um, you know, merchandising. Merchandising was a huge thing for us. And I learned a lot of that um, you know, at my time in Sam's Club. And then I migrated into the Walmart side of the business and kind of worked more up into the corporate portion of it, where you know, you're seeing several, several locations a day and you're going in and you're helping them and you're educating them. So I learned a lot of education stuff too, not only for myself, but how to, you know, teach other people how to do things um as far as merchandising and and you know, how you want people to buy um this and that versus just you know this because you have like for example, um you have a bottle of hot and ready on the shelf, but you have it's a three ounce and you've got the ounce and a quarter on the shelf. I mean, yeah, you can sell them both, but if that's all you have and you don't have anything else for them to buy, they're just gonna pick one. They're not gonna buy both. So you're not gonna maximize your, you know, your box ring. And so you really wanna have products that complement each other. And I think that's what a lot of our line does. We have a lot of of products that complement each other and that can be add-ons for each other. You know, we have a lot of accessories which, you know, go hand in hand with the products we have. Um, so a lot of my knowledge that I learned about business and and how to, you know, run expenses and how to mitigate costs and all that, a lot of that I was honestly, I have to attribute completely to working at, you know, Walmart. And my husband is similar. I mean, he started, we met working for Sam's Club and he moved on and he worked for Red Bull um and worked pretty high up in Red Bull um for many years. And he, you know, his is a lot of warehousing and he he completely has yeah, he completely has um transformed our logistics game. And you know, uh it's you go up to our shipping warehouse, and I will tell you that is completely different.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Yeah, because I, you know, and everybody's got their way in their system, I guess you can say. And and Ray came in there and Ray's like, Well, why is this? Why is that? And he and he was very curious and he's learning, like he said, and I mean he just didn't come in like a wrecking ball, but he knew a better kind of streamlined way to make it more efficient just because of his experience. A hundred percent. And and so that's how things are are kind of, you know, more uh you know, I wouldn't say uh more organized, but it was organized in the way that Andy Janice and everybody knew where things were and how they packaged. Well then Ray came in and had his way and kind of changed things around a little bit to where it was a more efficient um you know, instead of something that you're you're accustomed to over years, he came in with that knowledge of actually, you know, the logistic, the streamline efficiency, how to cut down man hours, all that stuff that corporate really like looks at and says, okay, if we can shave off a few seconds here, a few seconds there, a couple minutes here, a couple minutes there, that's what he kind of brought into the to the warehouse side, which to say, honestly, uh everything on the shipping windows and everything.

SPEAKER_01 18:50

Oh, everything's early, everything's ahead. He he is always ahead. No, but um we're not trying to turn it into a corporate organization by anyone.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

But you're using we are using our knowledge to do that.

SPEAKER_01 19:03

And we're just honestly, like I said, my dad and and my mother Janice, they have literally built this business and they they have great bones. There was there's fantastic bones for this business, and they ran a fantastic business. There are just things that we learned that are a little, like you said, more efficient. I mean, my part of uh when I was, you know, my previous position at Walmart, I literally ran grocery pickup and everything is counted in how many steps? How many steps can you move something somewhere so it's closer to where you need it? So you cut off walk time. And that's literally all the game is about is cutting off extra, extra things that you didn't have to do. Are my boxes too far away? Do my boxes need to be moved over here? Do the product need to be moved over there? What do I use more uh more? And like, do I need boxes all the time or do I only need five boxes right now? And can I walk there and get them later? So just a lot of things. Like I said, he's he's the master up there. Ray is definitely the master of that warehouse. Uh even sometimes I go up there and I'm like, why'd you do that? Or why'd you move that? And he's like, Let me explain it to you. And and I was like, that is a really good idea. I'm glad you did that.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

Yeah, because I I mean, and you think in using that that knowledge from businesses like that that have spent millions and millions and has done the studies and everything like that to figure that out so that they can make it as efficient as humanly possible. And then, you know, Andy and Janice had figured all this out just themselves. Just you know, so they're not having that information or that study, but they still had a great operation. But, you know, taking that knowledge of the stuff that you guys learned has definitely uh increased, I guess, efficiency as far as on that side. Yeah. And that's uh that's kind of like it's it's interesting seeing the two generations coming together. And uh and and I know Andy at first he's like, What's going on here?

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Oh, he likes it. Don't let him fool you. He tells me all the time, he's like, you know, I worked hard and this is what it's all about. It's all about, you know, family and keeping things going and making sure that, you know, the next generation has the opportunities. And and trust me, nothing's been given. You know, you always see those ones that are like given. And and we made it sure that we were, you know, not just taking the business and and changing everything. We want to make sure that we are sticking by the principles that we've ran this business on and this business was built, you know, our relationships with our customers, our relationships with our dealers, um, you know, quality. Quality is the the top priority in everything we do. You know, we we constantly talk about, you know, uh do we want to switch, you know, processors for this or processors to that? What's gonna be a higher quality and what's gonna give us a better product for our customers? And and you know, we also have we have Vendors that we have dealt with since inception. Like we literally, I'm our label company, we have been with them for almost 30 years. Next year will be 30 years that my dad has been buying from that same company. And it's not because, you know, they they put out a great product, just like we, you know, they keep the quality there. Um, and honestly, their price is dang good. You can't beat it. I I tell you that. So that's great.

SPEAKER_00 22:28

So it's a a lot of it is just not so much taking over and changing everything, it's just bringing in, you know, experience and changing some of the processing just to make it a little more efficient, streamline and uh and keep but as a whole, everything is essentially the freshness, the collection, the bottling, everything is the top. The standards have always never have changed. You know, and so and I know when you came in it was a couple years back, a few years, actually a few years ago, you and Ray came in for a weekend and and Andy's like, Oh, well, they're gonna be helping with some online stuff. And I was like, Oh, awesome, and and I was like, hoping, because at at that point I could see Andy trying to figure out like what's the future? Where is this going? You know, like like like who is who wants it, who's gonna take over it. And and I did hear him a couple times like, well, I think it's valued at this, and I think it's valued. And at that time I sat there and and I remember the we were hunting in Ohio. I said, Andy, I in all my years working with you, I have never heard you really talk about value and talk about, you know, and there were some offers that were coming in, you know, here and there, and and and because they could see Andy was getting, you know, a little older, and and uh and of course we were just like, okay, well, I think y he's interested in in moving along with it. So then you guys came up for the weekend and I remember I'm like, man, I hope that the kids take an interest. And I keep saying kids, but you guys aren't, but it was just a kid. Yeah, I'm 36. So 30 to 36 is there. That's what it is. But he was always the kids, right? And even and a and another funny thing is like Andy, he'd always like, My kids, my kids. Of course, I'm thinking like kids, right? And uh, and and I always knew Danielle as uh well, or I have to tell everybody Danny. I knew you as Danny, and so he's always like, Well, Danny this, Danny that. So so honestly, when when I met them and everything, and and I actually called you Danny for a while, then she's Daniel, and she was like, Yeah, well, you know, in a more professional setting, can we go to Danielle? Because Danny's kind of like a pet name that Andy had given you a nickname, and that's how I knew him. And so here I am, like at times I I come around and I'm like, they're not kids, Andy, they're grown-ups. So it was interesting. But you guys came up for a week or so while we were in Ohio, I think, and you helped um just go over online orders and things like that, and that's kind of I guess when you guys were really kind of figuring things out. How did all that come to be? How did you guys decide? There's been several iterations.

SPEAKER_01 25:21

Several iterations over the years. I mean, I spent uh a total time 15 years working for you know Walmart's in your club. And over the course of the years, you know, there's there's restructures, there's things that happen, and you move with any business. And um, there was times where, you know, I had to change positions because you know, that position was eliminated, or they moved stuff around. And and every time my dad'd be like, You can come back. It's like you can come back. And I'm like, I don't know, I don't know if I want to do that. And you know, we were living at at the time, um, you know, many times in Florida, and then we moved to Oklahoma for my for my job. And um, especially when we were in Oklahoma, you know, he'd come for for Christmas, he'd be like, you know, Black Widow's always there, and you know, it was always like little things. And he never spoke anything serious about it until, you know, like you said, a few years back, and we were talking about innovations and like things you could do different, things, you know, to change the game on things. And um he brought up an offer. He goes, I know you guys are traveling a lot for work, you know, three to four weeks out of the month sometimes, and it was just a lot, right? But that's where we thought we wanted to go with it. And we thought that that's where we wanted to be. And then we realized as we're you know, getting to the point where we're gonna want to start a family and continue the legacy. And he's like, you know, I'm ready to to retire and step back a little bit. And I'm like, okay. And you know, my husband was like, Yeah, let's go. So Ray's like, Yeah, let's go. And and you know, so we came and visited Tennessee and because we hadn't been here. Um, well, I hadn't been here for a while, and and Ray had never been here at that point because my dad had always come to visit us because of our work schedules. Right. And um Ray's like, it's so beautiful out here, and I'm like, Yeah, and he's like falsely, he's like, Oh, life would slow down a little bit, we wouldn't be so hectic.

SPEAKER_00 27:17

And I'm like, What did you think? And you haven't labeled how many thousand bottles.

SPEAKER_01 27:23

So, and he's heard all the stories over the years, you know, and um it just came to a point where he's like, you know, come here, you know, work for a couple years, and then we'll talk about buying the business. And so, you know, we came to agreements over the last couple of years after we've been changing some stuff and you know, reinovating some stuff. And um, and he's just like, okay, here's here's what we're gonna do, and you know, here's the cost. And and we decided to buy the business. And I mean, that was always the plan when we came here. It wasn't to work, you know, he wants to to retire and go on vacation a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 27:56

So, I mean, he's still around. Don't let don't let him fool you.

SPEAKER_00 27:59

I mean, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

He he ain't far away from from the warehouse, I'll tell you that.

SPEAKER_00 28:04

He pops in, he pops in, is anything I can help out with? Yeah, yeah. And he's like, Yeah, I could see him. He's like, Well, I guess I'm not needed.

SPEAKER_01 28:12

I'll well, it's just because like I said, with with a lot of the bigger orders and stuff like that, we're we're ahead of the game. So we plan ahead and get a lot of things done um as much as we can. Right and so pallets are waiting to go out. I mean, we got a couple more leaving tomorrow. Last week was a full week of pallets going out um, you know, to our major retailers, and you know, soon it's gonna be our individual retailers that you know we're packed with pallets of individual boxes that are gonna be going out um, you know, for a couple weeks, you know, every day. Pallets and pallets of boxes.

SPEAKER_00 28:46

Absolutely, getting them out, getting them out, yeah. So so what were the when you first got here, what would say I guess when you you and Ray first got here, does and were you like all in from the get-go, or you kind of figure like, uh, I'm not sure about this. Oh, I mean, we how do you feel like do you feel like, yeah, I think this is we're gonna go all in, or how how how was it? Because you're you're talking about taking over, like you said, next year, 30-year business, you know, and coming from you know, y'all's experience at your different places, so now this is a completely change. How how did that feel?

SPEAKER_01 29:24

So obviously leaving long-term jobs. I mean, at the time that I left, like I said, I've been with that company for 15 years and and Ray had been with his at that time for nine. And it was one of those things that you can't not be all in because you know, you just left your entire life. Yeah, you so you have to be all in. And uh the positive thing is too, what I I forgot and left out is we had a you know hobby business too, but our hobby business wasn't such a hobby. We we owned a liquidation business at one point too. So that helped us realize a lot about logistics on a smaller scale, too, as far as our online business goes. So we had a lot of knowledge that we were like we're just gonna we're gonna edit a couple things, we're gonna fix a couple things, and it's all in. Everything's all in. You like you said, there's no dipping your toes in. Um, you just have to kind of see what what you have to assess the situation first. And I think that's what we spent the first couple months assessing the situation and looking at how they had done things. And, you know, for Ray never being in the business before, he had to learn how to do certain things. And he may not be as much uh hands-on in like the production space, where I'm more hands-on in the production space. He deals a lot with logistics and and packing and and packaging and and dealing with all that. Um, but he still had to learn it. He still has to know how the machines work. He still had to learn, you know, how to take things apart and how to fix it and who to call when things, you know, need to be um done or you know, any repairs or main. I mean, he even though he doesn't deal with any of the billing or any of that kind of stuff, he still learned it and knows how to go in there and do it if he had to do it. Like if I'm not here or something needs to be done, he knows how to do everything. So I think we spent a good few, well, probably six months um in different aspects, you know, maybe not maybe not every day, but learning where things were currently and where we could just tweak little things to make it better and more efficient. Um, you know, like I said, the bones are 100% or 100% here and they ran a fantastic business. It's just little things that even showing them, they're like, oh my gosh, that's so much easier.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:35

And so there's just a lot of things. And there's a lot of things that they showed me that I'm not.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

Why didn't you show me this years ago?

SPEAKER_01 31:40

And then there's a lot of things that Janice sat down with me after I had tried to figure stuff out myself, and I'm like, I can't get this to work. I don't understand why it's not working. And then she shows it to me. I'm like, oh my gosh, that just changed my entire like how I do the processes because I'm like, oh my gosh, I didn't know that was an option. So and and she had known, but it was maybe not something that had come up during like our I would say training, you know. And I'm like, oh my gosh, it's so much easier.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

There you go. That is awesome. So so now you guys have taken over the um January 1. You guys officially took over um Black Widow, and now we went to a couple trade shows, kind of introduced you to some people in the industry and kind of see some of the trade show stuff. Um and then honestly, now it's just been it just kind of you got because everything I wouldn't really say like it much has changed over the past couple years because you've been essentially running it because Andy and Janice have been vacationing a little bit, enjoying life, and then you because they they uh you know knew that they can trust you guys to run with it. So um and I want to say, honestly, Andy even said he was like, Man, I'm surprised how fast they figured out. Almost like he was like he was like, Man, like I thought I was gonna have to show like babysit you guys for a while, and he was just like, Man, he said they they figured it out so fast.

SPEAKER_01 33:00

Well, we kind of I mean, uh obviously a lot of times you go into new positions and new things, and there's there's training, but it's not most everything we've learned in our life has been on hand, you know, on the job training and learning how to do things, and not because somebody told you how to do it, but because you figured it out.

SPEAKER_02 33:16

Right.

SPEAKER_01 33:16

And some of it's common sense, and some of it is like, okay, I think that's how it works. Let me let me do it. And if it doesn't come out right, like let's figure out, you know, how it's supposed to be done. And I think we kind of had to to jump in with both feet because you know, we got here and we had a little change in in some some stuff that happened in the warehouse, and they were getting ready to leave. And we had one of our managers that left us, and it was just one of those things like, okay, now I have to pull up that card too, and I have to be that. Um, so it was like, okay, yeah, you know, here I am. We gotta do it. And we if they're not able to answer on their vacation, well, I'm gonna have to figure it out.

SPEAKER_00 33:55

We gotta figure it out.

SPEAKER_01 33:55

And luckily there's no there are there is notes for some things and you know, certain things that I didn't need to reach out to them for. And there's most stuff that I could say, it was like riding a bike. Right. You know, everything was the same as when I, you know, left when I was, you know, 17, 18 years old. Um, a lot of the stuff, you know, we do have some new stuff, but a lot of the core group of stuff, you know, products are the same. Um, and so everything pretty much functions the same. Aside from having the machines and stuff like that. I mean, everything functions similarly.

SPEAKER_00 34:25

Right. Right. There you go. So now the future of Blackwood Deer Lores. Now we've we've touched on it and stuff because I I can already see, you know, you guys looking at different things. Um, you know, I've seen some some products that we already have in different usages and things like that that you guys have been playing with. So, you know, uh, I know we discussed uh you're talking about innovation as far as you know still growing. So you guys didn't come in like, okay, this is what we got, we're just gonna work this. You guys are already starting to kind of think what's next.

SPEAKER_01 35:03

Yeah. So innovation is definitely at the forefront of our minds. Um it's not about changing what works, it's about making it um maybe not changing the product completely, but making it a little bit more efficient, kind of like the whole processes. Um, taking products we already have and maybe bringing other uses into them or um combining a couple products that make sense to to use it in different applications. Um and there are some new products that we're looking at over the next couple of years. Um, we're we're gonna work on field testing those first, uh, like we always do with our field staff. Um, one of the innovations that we had come out with, I know my dad had started it when we first got here, um, was uh the secret sauce.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:48

And we tested that for two seasons before we even thought about creating a label for it. And even this year, I was like, I don't know if we're gonna roll it out this year. And then I was like making the label order, and I'm like, I'm gonna design a label, I'm gonna do it.

SPEAKER_00 36:01

Let's do it. And so you know Yeah, because it did say dealer sample. Yes. Had dealer, we were we had just because it was just a field staff, it was not going to the public. So we had uh a dealer sample sticker and that was what was on the city.

SPEAKER_01 36:15

And I would write like SS on it for like secret sauce. Um, but no, we created a a new label for it, and um we had them printed, and you know, it's it's on it's on the website for sale now. And now let me tell you, you can go on um Black Widow Deer Lures um Facebook, you can go on um a lot of our different um partner pages, and you'll see a ton of videos of it being used um now that we've got it out in the open. Uh, you know. Right. Some of those videos last couple years had some secret sauce involved, but you know, we couldn't really put it out. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:46

Yeah, we didn't because on the field staff in their group, they would post videos and pictures, and we'd post some pictures and they said secret sauces. Well, we left that off of the of the actual main page, and we put it on different socials, Instagram or Facebook or anything like that. We would just you know, it's Blackwood Deer Lord's products, but you know, at that time it was still in testing phase, right? So there was a lot of uh lot of activity on those. Something else you guys are bringing is uh more apparel offerings.

SPEAKER_01 37:14

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 37:14

Um different things like that. The tumblers.

SPEAKER_01 37:17

You guys brought tumblers in like we have laser tumblers, um, and we're not trying to to branch out into a huge uh merch business necessarily because our our forefront is still our our lure products. But there's there was a demand for it. We had so many requests for different um different styles and different, you know, uh types of t-shirts and hoodies, the hoodies, oh my gosh, the hoodies. We got the hoodies two years ago and they blew out. We we sold out several times of the hoodies. Um I love hoodies, I wear hoodies all the time. I mean, even Ray the other day, he goes, It's June. Why do you have a hoodie on in the shop? And I was like, It's chilly this morning. Um, and and I don't wear it all day, obviously, but you know, we've got a lot of different apparel options. Um, we have some more um new hats that are coming. Um they're due to to come in any day now. Um we're gonna have several different options for that. Right.

SPEAKER_00 38:10

Um Their whole new line of shirts. Yep. About what, six?

SPEAKER_01 38:14

We have six new ones right now, um, but we do expect that there's going to be additional styles of hoodies this year. Um, long sleeve shirts are in the works.

SPEAKER_00 38:24

Um Yeah, because everybody is always asking, even dealers, hey, do you have you know, uh shirts and hats that we can put in a store? You know, because the brand has grown so much over the years, and everybody really likes the lifestyle clothing and everything that has to do with the outdoors and hunting, and especially, you know, any um representation at trade shows and things like that, different events. Everybody's always asking about hats and shirts, and you know, they buy the lures and they love it and they want to have a hat on when they're taking a picture with their harvest and t-shirts and stuff like that. So um it's good to see uh, you know, because before we would order like A run and that was it. What what we had is what we had, and when it was gone, it was gone. And it could be a year or so before we brought some more in. Um and and that was just the idea, I guess, at the time that that it wasn't really that much of a demand, but there was. Yes. There actually was, um, because like certain things, like uh if you guys remember a few years back, the um navy blue shirts and long sleeves that had the uh spider buck and the American flag. Holy shit.

SPEAKER_01 39:31

Those sold out. Like and I wasn't even back with the company at the time, but uh those sold out so fast when they had those. Oh man. And then they didn't do hoodies for another couple years.

SPEAKER_00 39:39

Yeah, they were gone. And the hoodies, those hoodies were amazing.

SPEAKER_01 39:42

I know Josh, Josh still wears his.

SPEAKER_00 39:44

Yeah, yeah, I've got one, but it's it's the pockets half hanging off. It's all toy because I wore it so much. It's got holes in it and smells like branch butter, uh, no matter how many times you wash it. But um, yeah, those are those and and the demand is there, so it's awesome to see. We've got a couple different designs of hoodies, and so you guys can go to the website and check out the whole new line of apparel and uh and tumblers, and there's some more things coming uh that we've got to be.

SPEAKER_01 40:12

Absolutely. That's been a huge request of the years.

SPEAKER_00 40:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 40:16

You know, uh beanies are gonna be back this year, so we'll have those as well.

SPEAKER_00 40:20

Yeah, so not only you got the uh freshest lures available, now you'll be able to represent with some awesome apparel. Yeah, because the orange hats, like in the south, we have to wear orange hats all the time. Now in the in the northern states, they have to do the best. Yeah. The hat and you know, all but wear a complete jumpsuit, really. Look like you're a prisoner running through the woods, you know. But here in the south, we just have to wear a hat. And so uh, you know, the orange hat, everybody's always asking. And I I think even at one time I I asked uh Andy Janice, I say, You mind if I make like six or eight hats just for, you know, locally? And they're like, you know what, we might make some orange hats, but it's just so much happening at a time. We do have at a time we did have uh eight or ten different variations of hats. We had leather patch hats, and then we've got the uh um kind of the black and charcoal camouflage, the real tree, or the mossy oak, and a couple other colors that we had in the past, but um we never had blaze orange.

SPEAKER_01 41:19

No. Yeah. We got a couple different versions.

SPEAKER_00 41:22

That was coming. Yeah, excited. That's exciting. Yeah, so there uh what would be a funny story that you remember in this business? What do you remember, whether it could be as a kid, any or growing up in the business? What is something that you would share? That's a funny story.

SPEAKER_01 41:44

I'm thinking of one, but I don't think my sister would really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 41:48

Oh no. Oh well, I guess you'll have to hear it.

SPEAKER_01 41:52

Well, there was a parateacher conference, and you know, my dad was uh, you know, we had the bottles, but he was giving some extra lure to somebody, and you know, it was fall time. So you got like apple cider and and back then, you know, it wasn't like he had Stanley uh cups and like all these other cups that you'd pour drinks in. So my dad would like, you know, pour it in an old pot of pop bottle or you know, soda bottle or whatever. And so we get in the car, and my dad had to run back inside to get something, and he had this bottle of deer pee, and he was gonna give it to one of my teachers. And um yeah, she he got back to the car right as she had grabbed it and it was taking the swig. It was taking the swig and she spit it all over the front of the car. And she's gonna kill me for that. But yeah, that's that's probably a funny story about uh about that, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:45

That's hilarious, you know.

SPEAKER_01 42:48

He's told that story before, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 42:50

Oh man, well, I said Andy, he's he's definitely I've used like he'll get power aid bottles sometimes. Yes. He's notorious for like our our bottles are three ounce bottles, right? But if we're going on a hunt or something and we need a lot, he's notorious for like cleaning out a power aid bottle and filling a power aid bottle. Like, because he he drinks drinks a lot of power aid, so the power aid bottles are everywhere, right? So if he came in the warehouse a couple years ago, it was wall-to-wall power aid bottles.

SPEAKER_01 43:20

Oh, they're still in the bathroom. So he was using them to test stuff and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 43:24

Oh yeah, testing, mixing, because they had a big mouth on them, he could cut the top off, and they were like big cups, I guess. So there's power aids everywhere. So I remember even when we were testing V and stuff like that, like he would have these Power Aid bottles full of you know, of the lure, and I'm like, man, somebody better not grab that in the dark thinking it's a power aid or something, you know, because he would always put, he's like, Well, he said, I don't want to carry ten three ounce bottles, I can just carry one of these, you know. So uh that was pretty funny to see if you know, if you know Andy, you know the the power aid bottles are they're kind of a little bit everywhere. But anyhow, Danielle, thank you for taking the time out of your day to do this, and uh, we hope that everybody had a chance to uh meet and know a little bit about you.

unknown 44:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:10

Yeah, and uh and you guys will be seeing a lot more uh of Danielle and Ray on the socials and things like that. I actually got old Ray in a in a giveaway yesterday, put him on the spot.

SPEAKER_01 44:21

Yeah, I don't know if he'll ever get on a podcast, but he uh he'll definitely you'll you'll catch glimpses of him.

SPEAKER_00 44:27

Oh, I I have to like sneak up on him every once in a while because as soon as I pull the cameras out, he's shoo! He's out of there, son. So like I have to kind of like sneak attack himself.

SPEAKER_01 44:37

Which is funny because he is so like he's so social. He is he talks, he he loves talking to people at the shows, he loves talking, but he does not like the camera.

SPEAKER_00 44:46

I don't know. Yeah, something about the camera. Pull the camera up and he's like zip. He's like either gone or he's quiet and he's trying to hide somewhere. And I'm like, you can't hide from me, boy. But uh he'll uh I'm sure after I work on him a little bit, he's gonna come out of his shell. But he is very social, great. Like he likes to talk and hang out, but the cameras, no sir. No, not at all. So well, we appreciate you guys listening and hanging out with us. And uh I'm uh happy to uh introduce Danielle to the world here. Now we did make a post earlier, and then people do know that that uh she has taken over her and Ray, but uh it's good to actually have her on the podcast so you guys can hear some of her stories and what they're about. So thank you for taking some time for the day.

SPEAKER_01 45:33

Yeah, thank you for coming to Tennessee.

SPEAKER_00 45:34

There you go. All right, y'all will see y'all on the next podcast of Blackwood Deer Lores.