Relationships, Reinvention, and RTO with Kevin Silvers

In this episode of The RTO Show, Pete Shau sits down with Kevin Silvers to trace a career built on relationships, adaptability, and a genuine love for people. Kevin shares stories from his early days around golf legends like Arnold Palmer and Michael Jordan, his transition into the jewelry business, his deep involvement in rent-to-own, and the path that led to King of Promotions. Along the way, he talks about training, leadership, vendor longevity, and why knowing people matters more than making the pitch. This is a conversation about staying curious, showing up, and building a reputation that lasts.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

What is the craziest thing you've ever seen when you popped in on the store?

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Oh my God. Yeah, I don't know if I'd want to say it. I've seen some fist fights and I've seen alligators in stores. I've I've seen uh yeah, I won't even tell you which store had the alligator, because you know, you would know. But yeah, I've seen some wild stuff. I've seen people, yeah, I've seen some crazy stuff. I've seen I've come up and I've been, I went to one of Jamie's stores, uh Buddy store one time, and we got there early and and the truck was parked in the parking lot and the whole top was ripped off, you know, like it been peeled off like a thing. And I guess they hit a bridge thing or something. And we take seeing a picture, and he takes us back that that truck was noob.

Wild Store Stories Cold Open

Welcome And Subscribe Pitch

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Hello, and welcome to the RTO show. I'm your host, Pete Choo, and today I am talking to an amazing guest. But first, let's handle some business. Guys, I want you to know, after doing some research, guys, I'm telling you right now, half of you that are listening have not subscribed to the RTO show. You need to go on, you need to subscribe, hit that little bell, make sure that you're being told, hey, we're on, we're live, and we have a new episode. You can do it on YouTube, and you can go on to anywhere where you listen. I know that uh my guest here lives on Apple Podcasts. You can do it on Spotify or any place else. iHeart, do that so that you know, I know, hey, you're listening. Not only that, if you want to go onto the podcast, www.the rtoshowpodcast.com, buy some swag, let me know that you're out there and support the show. My guest today, Mr. Kevin Silvers with the history lineup. Truthfully, a history lineup that I didn't even know because as I've gone through the history, as I've gone through done some homework of my own, and then you you helped me out there, Kevin. You've just you've done quite a bit. And I mean, we're talking about from let's say, let's start in the 90s all the way till now, before you got your break into rent to own, as you got your break into rental own, and then where you are now. You have done some amazing things, sir. First off, tell me how how did you how did you mess up on David Duvall? How did you mess up on this?

SPEAKER_00 2:06

That was the brain fart there, yeah. I saw him hit a couple of balls, and I thought, this guy will never make it. He really, I mean, he looked terrible. And I think at the time I picked Lynn Matisse, which was a had a great short game out of Florida, and I thought, man, I'll ride this guy to the Masters. And then Dave, and then God, he he fell apart, and and my buddy was on his back when he won the British. Yeah, the guy, same guy that took the bag was with him at the British, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Right, right. Well, if you guys don't know, and what we're talking about is he was a caddy during the golf scene, and David Duvall ended up wearing 13 PGA tours, including a 2001 Open Championship. And you know, Kevin was just like, this ain't my guy. I don't see this guy happening.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

But you know, hey, it I did get to, you know, I got to caddy for a lot of great people. I was a good player back then, but I I had a few injuries, so um now I'm not that good a player. I'm I'm actually getting old.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Well, see, now I know why every time that they have those golf opens, every time that we have like, you know, one of the things where they golf ahead of time, that's where Kevin's at. I'm always working.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

Don't ever let that fool you. I mean, if people think I'm dying, I'm dying. You know, I I I think you can have fun and work too. I think there's a balance. If it's not fun, it should always be fun, actually.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

If there's anything that uh Anthony could tell you, we're always working. We might have fun doing it.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

That's right. Those are just for everybody else to see their pictures. I'm just doing it, you know.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Well, listen, not only that, also for Palmer and Michael Jordan.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Back in the day, yeah, Michael Jordan had the biggest hands I've ever seen in my life. His grips were huge.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

So, you know what? That is that is an actual thing that people have said that Michael Jordan has, he actually has some of the biggest hands out there. He was able to palm a ball with the uh craziest ability.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Smooth smooth as glass. If I had to, I would take him to if I had to make a shot, I would not maybe a putt, but to shoot a basketball, I would definitely take him. He was he was cool as a cue.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

I would I'd play softball with him. I don't know if I'd play basketball with him. I don't be embarrassed to be able to get a big thing.

Caddying For Jordan And Palmer

SPEAKER_00 4:09

And Arnold Palmer, pro group, was based out of Udwal, Tennessee. So uh Mr. Tucker was you know, ran pro group, and uh you know Arnold Palmer would come in and we'd all get to caddy for him or whatever. He was a great guy, he had the strongest forearms I've ever seen in my life. I mean, he was strong even in his 70s or whatever, you know. I mean, he he was older when I caddied for him. He was already on, I think he was a senior term.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

Yeah, I mean, he I mean he last game he played was in 2016. Yeah, he could have been, you know. Now, now, mind you, when we're talking about the Arnold Palmer with 62 PGA tour wins and seven major championships, shaking and rubbing elbows with Mr. Kevin Silvers over here before he decides to get into the resin.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

Most gracious person I've ever met in my life. But actually, the guy that owned the course, Mr. Lepton, was that was really how I got there. And I didn't realize it at the time that he owned like the largest Coca-Cola bottling company in the world, sold it for like 1.4 billion. You know, actually, I was his caddy for a year. But I we used to just rifle through his desk. We didn't know he had any money. So we used to make long distance phone calls in his office, you know.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

But Kevin, like like this all talking about all that kind of leads me to the source. How did that affect you in those years to be the person that you are today, right? Because you are probably one of the most outgoing, most upbeat people I've ever met in the rent-to-owned scene. Everybody kind of knows where you are, when you are, and when you're coming. And how how did how did the interactions with the because I can tell you right now, in the mid-90s, and I was a little bit younger then, but in the mid-90s, I was like just focused on work. I didn't really have the I just wasn't who I am now. I wasn't, I didn't have that ability. Um, but meeting a few people did change that along the way. Did these did did meeting Jordan and Palmer and Duval and a lot of these guys being on that course, you know, talking to people who have sold, you know, plants for over a billion dollars, how did that change you to to get on the course that you're on now?

Confidence From Meeting Famous People

SPEAKER_00 6:12

I I think you never really once you get to that point and you meet those people, you know, nothing who else could you really meet that would make you nervous or you know, you couldn't talk to, or if you embarrassed yourself in front of them, really is there anybody left? So I think and you listen to him talk and you know, inner he learned so many things, you know, Little Debbie's based out of here, and Shaw Industries, Bob Shaw, you had uh Berkshire Hathaway. I remember going to like Circuit City with him to get a television for his house. Had a big Lincoln Continental that he was trying to shove it in the trunk back when they were big, you know. So I mean, you literally, I mean, those people, I mean, they, you know, once you meet them, you kind of everybody else is you know they're awesome. You just got to get to know them to understand how they're awesome.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

Well, you know, sometimes when you meet those people, right, you you you have this air, this idea uh that you build them up a certain way, right? And then you shake their hand and you do something with them, and you find out they're just normal human beings that do extraordinary things, right? They're they they get up, they eat, they eat breakfast, they have the same problems as we do, the same health issues that we do, they eat breakfast and put on our pants the same way we do. The only thing is that makes them extraordinary is what they do with their time. And so as as they move on, um, so did you. And then you decided that you're gonna, you know, you're not gonna stay in the caddy scene.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

You gotta have a little luck. You know, the I mean a shot goes in, but you know, it may not a little bit of luck. It caught a little rim, or it, you know, you made a decision that kind of worked out, or you know, that's another thing too. You gotta have a little bit of luck in life.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

So after the scene, well, you know, well, chance for favor is the prepared, right? So as you get through that, um So you entered the jewelry industry with Jerry Bogo.

Entering The Jewelry Manufacturing World

SPEAKER_00 8:04

So I I think, you know, at the time I wanted to go work on Wall Street. You know, you'd seen you know the movie Wall Street, and I thought, man, that'd be awesome. But I didn't have his hair, so I thought, you know, I wouldn't be able to do that in the locker room. So I was like, you know, I better find something to do. And Jerry Bogo was just a he was a fascinating guy, extremely smart. You know, in the summer he would get dark. He was just smooth as glass. And uh so eventually he said, Well, hey, come to work for me. And I came and I learned about the jewelry industry. And we actually had three jewelry manufacturers based in Chattanooga, uh, Jerry Bugo Company, uh, Olenberg Corporation, which was based, had a huge facility downtown, and then E. B. Harvey, which was uh based out on Bonnie Oaks. And if you had a wedding band in the late 80s, mid-90s, it probably came from E. B. Harvey that was based here. Uh he had taken the machinery, put it in, you know, moved it from like Germany to here. And I mean, he basically had to take the building apart to get it in. And so I went to work for Jerry Bogle Company and uh, you know, learned manufacturing and, you know, back then it was all paper and fax, and you know, you got triple A would fax you over your directions, and and you know, and I I really didn't think sales would be my calling, but everybody else said, hey, you should be a salesman, you know, sell something. And I thought, well, jewelry will work, I'll do that. So um we had a lot of mom and pop jewelers, and you know, and and back then in the jewelry business, you know, if you were a pretty good sized jewelry manufacturer, you wouldn't go to somebody that was in, you know, 50 miles off the beaten path. You might send them a flyer, but you wouldn't go see them. And Jerry Bogo said, well, what if we went and saw him? And he built a huge company, and then I would call him, you'd sell them flyer programs. They'd buy X amount to support whatever flyer, and they'd get so many free flyers, and you know, and and it wasn't anything. We sold Spencer gifts and server you remember service merchandise, right? Uh where they pulled the ticket. Can you imagine pulling a ticket and waiting in line to buy something? We saw Paul Schultz catalog. I mean, we did a lot of that, and and the jewelry business was really interesting. I mean, you met a lot of people and a lot of different, you know, you go to the diamond district in New York and our buyers were from India, and you know, I learned how to grade diamonds, you know, kind of sorting rice, and then learning how to pick up the stones. And, you know, I mean, it was and it was really clean. You got to wear a bow tie and a coat. And I thought, you know what, I could make a living doing this, it'd be all right. And then uh, so that that's kind of how I got into the jewelry business. So that's how it started. Actually, I thought Jerry would probably fire me after, you know, week two, but he kept me around for a while.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

Well, two things right now, Kevin Silvers is part of King of Promotions, and I'm looking at two jewelry pieces you have over your left shoulder. Under the trip sign, he's got two necklaces over there. If you guys have any questions, please reach out to Kevin. But I I'm gonna talk to you about those a little bit later. But then as you move through that, right, there was something in here that I saw that really kind of stuck out to me, and we'll we'll probably jump around a little bit. Tupelo, Mississippi. Yes. That place had it comes up quite a bit, especially in the Legends series that I've done. Tupelo, Mississippi was a lot larger at one point than it is now, but it was it was like it was the place to go. And and so you had a run in there.

Training And Relationship Based Selling

SPEAKER_00 11:26

Oh wow, yeah. So, you know, Robbie Tyson, me and Robbie have worked together for 30 years. I mean, you know, and I actually had you know, I always worry about doing these and not you know, everybody that helps me has helped me. Thank you. I'm just gonna say that in advance. So, you know, but in case we forgot. Oh my god, I know what Anthony, thank you too. I mean, I've listed all the people you wouldn't believe. So I was, you know, always I'm very thankful for my friends. But so Robbie and John Blair, they'd go down there and rent a house. You know, you couldn't get a place to uh, you know, really stay. That place it was packed out, and they had the Ashley trucks lined up and and we sold any everybody. We'd do the rent own, we'd finance credit furniture. I mean, we would do anybody that you know, furniture stores started picking up cute, you know, a lot of their own paper. They keep a percentage instead of financing it through whoever. So we did tons of jewelry through, you know, in Tupelo. I mean, you come in, they buy. Back then it was live, and we'd supplied the cases, the displays, the training, and and I actually was probably more on the training side than sales. I mean, I always think training and sales go hand in hand, but but I really focused on the training part. And I was great in in the stores with the managers and the the people, you know, and I'm always asking questions. So I think people like to tell you what they do, you know, and and I know you appreciate it, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Well, you know, you have a lot more technical background than I thought when when I I looked at it because you seem like a natural salesman. When I talk to you, uh, you know, there are certain things about salespeople. And and you know, you can tell the contrived ones, the ones that have studied it and done it, and they do it, you know, they they give you the paper and say all the right things and all the catch lines or something that you read in a book somewhere. And then you have a salesperson that, you know what, I probably read three books in my entire life, but that's not it, because it's about making the relationship, making the connection with that person and solving their problem. What do I have that's gonna solve your problem and give you the best result, the best bang for your buck? Because nobody wants to buy$10 worth of something and then they just do an even exchange. They want to solve a problem, right? So if I'm thirsty, I'm gonna give you this so that I am not thirsty. If I want something to sit on, I'm gonna give you this so that I have something to sit on. And it could be good or bad. And really the truth is, you know, everybody's like, well, price and this and that. Yeah, price definitely pays a portion of it. But you have to know the player of the game and you have to know how to do it the right way. Are you really solving a need? Are you solving a need and a want? Can you do both at the same time? Selling the product, selling yourself. And talking, talk about that. I I do have to know. You are the only man in the business with the boat.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

Well, you know, and so back in the until you'd also get a kick out of this. So back in the day when I used to, I mean, I I probably would see stores. My goal was or used to be to see stores, well, whoever had our programs, like four times a year, which but became very hard because we had a lot of stores. I mean, you know, because we had picked up Renaissance and Aaron's and buddies, and you know, we had Rentway, and I mean, so it was very hard to do. But I've spent a lot of training meetings just teaching like 10 guys how to tie a bow tie, which was very it's very fun to watch, guys. That back then some of them wore ties, but not uh but a lot of them were really strong. They were still clipping them on, a lot of them, but so you know, I used to say, but people love the bow tie. I'm not even sure I can tie the other one, but uh the bow ties I can tie. I've I you know it kind of stresses people out when you come in because they either think you're buying the store, buying the company, or you're a lawyer. They can't decide which one to uh, you know, which one they start to worry a little bit, you know.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

That's that's the secret sauce, Anthony. I you don't know who I am. Hi, I'm Pete Chow. You may know me from the RTO Show podcast, but today I'm doing something a little bit different. Apro and Wild Brands have launched a special project to bring the story of our industry to life like never before. They've asked me to sit down with some of the true legends of Rent to Own, capturing their stories, their impact, and their vision for the future. And now I get to share those conversations with you straight from the legends themselves. All of this leads to something groundbreaking, though. A new book, The Rent to Own Revolution, a definitive history of advocacy and consumer access, written by April CEO Charles Mitcherman and WoW brand CEO Brian Kraft. The book explores the grassroots of RTO, the advocacy that has defined it, and the future that we're building together. Here's where you come in. We're giving away free copies once the book is released. Just head over to RTORevolution.com and sign up for a chance to receive a copy in early 2026. Don't miss the chance to be among the first to hold this piece of RTO history. That's rto-revolution.com. Check it out and become a part of RTO History. So let's move on a little bit. Late 90s, your introduction to Rent to Own came via Richard Grossman.

Rent To Own Revolution Book Giveaway

First Look At Rent To Own

SPEAKER_00 16:15

We did. We had an incredible salesman back in the day. You got to remember, jewelry now, the price of gold and product has gone up, but probably the average average cost of a piece of jewelry might have been less than$300. So, and this was a salesman that literally probably sold$3 million a year. I mean, he was incredible. I mean, he would he was the most, you're talking about a natural salesman. And see, I didn't drink. So if you're not out drinking with him and whatever, I think I really struggled on that. Because I mean, I I they'll tell you, I'll t I'll say I'm going to the bathroom and I'll just leave. Because I mean, when it becomes about 11 o'clock, I want to go to bed, you know? So and they'll usually make a joke about that. But uh anyway, so he was going through and he he came across a store in, I think it was Birmingham, and it had rent to own on it. And he goes in and I guess the guy gives him the spiel, and he m I think he sold him some, and then he calls me and Robbie and everybody to to talk about it, and we're like, eh, you know, we've never heard of it. But it didn't but it it wasn't as far fetched for us because in the jewelry business, in the the mom and pops always carried their own paper. You know, you got the piece and you'd bring X amount in weekly or monthly based on whatever you did. You know, if you were um you know, grew something or fixed something or whatever. So that that really didn't uh in jewelry back then you probably did get four turns, so it wasn't that big of a thing. So when he told us about it, but about that same time we had got a message or somebody had left a message for Cherry, and it was Bob Marshall with Rena Center. So we didn't know who that was, so we had to look them up like in Dunham Brad Street, and we saw, you know, well, the credit was good and you know, they seemed okay. Yeah. So and we by then, I think uh not long after that, we sold about all the Renaissance stores. I mean, just I mean, I remember you but the orders came by fa that was Thorn, though, I believe. That was before, you know, they were acquired by renter's choice or whatever. So that was before then. But you literally couldn't keep paper in the fax machine. I mean, that's the orders were massive. I mean, they would come across. But r rent to own the you know, the the foot traffic in in rent to own back then was I mean, you'd open up a store and you'd have to just about taser them to keep them out. I mean, yeah, I mean you I heard you mention, you know, you know, getting your return on your investment, you know, as far as the the quickness of it. I mean, back then product turned fast. You know, you could rent yourself poor. I mean, you know, if you weren't you weren't careful, you had to be there's you know, always tell people there's a way to rent, there's a way to rent profitably. And that's probably too, you know, you can get a little go one way or the other, you know.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

I mean, well, you know, and I I think that's what's so beneficial to some of the things that we have as far as the people that are in groups, right? So if you're in the trib group and the meeting of the minds, or you go to the RTO worlds, or you go to some of the RDAs and say, okay, guys, I've never done this before. I have a little bit of my pocket, I want to open this business, but how do I open it smart? How do I do the make make the right decisions? And you know, you have the Windsors and you have the Tissits and you have, you know, the ferrymans to say, slow down a little bit. Uh we had Ernie at one time, you know, to say, Lou Allen to say, hey, this this is what you probably want to look at. This is probably what you want to do. You know, don't get too excited. Uh you want to be always be excited, you always want to be hungry, but don't make these mistakes because it can come back to get you.

SPEAKER_00 19:50

There's a way to rent. I always tell people, I said to grow to you know, same sort of revenues, to keep increasing, doing better, you got to really work on the edges. You know, you got your core products like your furniture that are, you know, profitable appliances, electronics, but you better have, you know, your club programs, jewelry, cell phones, you know, all the speakers. I mean, there's a lot of things that make up uh that pie, you know, from year to year. If you want to do better, I mean, it's really hard. I mean, you know, and cost of product has changed so much. I mean, you know, we've been lucky. We're me and Robbie are pretty good at moving things and creating and whatever. And we've really we haven't been as uh affected as much as everybody else, probably by the the tariffs and whatever. We do a lot of manufacturing here, so but it it's hard. I mean, rent to own is a business, you know, it the franchise sometimes throws me a little bit because if you're gonna buy the franchise, if you're gonna do it every day, I think it's the best thing in the world. But rent to own's never gonna run itself. It's a day in, day out type of business, you know. I mean, it I think that's why I like it because I'm a I think I'm a little bit of a workaholic, so it's fun to you know, and I and I and I'm a talker, so uh you know, a little Kathy Chatterbox, but I like to talk. I mean, I you know, you like to see people and I love to learn. You know, me and Tissot have become probably uh one of the best friends I've ever had, but he literally has taught me and I talk to him I've probably not every day, but every other day, and he literally teaches me something every day. I mean, which is you know, everybody asks me what his quality or what he he re-energizes you every day. I can be having the worst day in the world. Talk to him. I feel like I've just climbed you know climbed Everest. I mean, and I mean, and the building could be falling apart. So I think it's just that's the key, I think, to being successful in our industry. You've got to re energize your people and yourself every day.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

When you say re energize, does that include reinvent?

SPEAKER_00 21:56

Oh, yeah. I think you always reinvent yourself every morning you. Wake up, you're a little different. I mean, I'm different than I was yesterday. Hopefully, I'm a little smarter. I'm definitely a little more bald and a little heavier. But yeah, I hope you reinvent yourself every day. Mistakes are a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

One of our legends said he reinvented himself every five years to make sure that he wasn't staying behind the times and that he really was able to kind of see what was coming, uh, change with it, and find the progressive way to be like, okay, how do I make this work for me? It was every five years. So I I love seeing that. So I I see in the late 90s, and you mentioned this, right? There was Rack. Um, you know, you had built a relationship with buddies, best way, countryside, uh show place. Um, like first off, this was Rack Thorne, right? When you when you talk about Rack, this was before the the changeover.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

The when there were what British, whatever it was. I mean, yeah. Yeah, yeah, that was back then. And then I think Tally, Renter Schwarz came in and bought him. And you know, Tally was not a jewelry guy. So, but didn't mean we didn't pitch him, you know, but I mean he definitely had different philosophies about rent owned and and did, you know, opened a lot of stores and you know, and you know, every it's it's weird, you know. I always tell people I said uh you know, you look at jewelry and people always think this, that, or the other, but you know, I think it's just you have to just keep evolving, you know. And I think he kind of went a little backwards to go forwards, and you know, so we didn't we did do Thorn and then we didn't do Renner's Shorts. Yeah. So that was it, yeah.

Reinventing Yourself And Your Team

SPEAKER_01 23:32

I was a Renner's Choice guy. I actually started Renner's Choice and yeah, I did. And then when there was the acquisition with Thorn and we became Renaissance, you know, there was a lot of talk like, why are we becoming Renaissance? And I was like, well, they got more stores, they got more you know, market share. They actually have a the name. I mean, come on, it was Renner's.

SPEAKER_00 23:48

Renaissance a good thing. They mentioned it in Goodwill Hunting, you know. I mean, yeah, yeah. So it's a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

We made it to the big so for sure. But now, you know, when you say countryside, how many stores did they have then? Was it 1920?

SPEAKER_00 24:02

Back then, that was probably when Mr. Tisset was, you know, they probably didn't have that many. I mean, it was probably smaller than that. I mean, so they were I think they opened up what in 85. So, you know, when we started working in them, they might have had what half of maybe 16, something like that. Maybe not probably not even that many. Because, you know, that I got flyers, I think, where I had sent you, or you know, where they had 18. And so that we'd already been doing business with them for quite a while, you know, before that catalog. So it it yeah, I would say they probably didn't.

SPEAKER_01 24:37

Well, I'm gonna send Anthony the pictures that you sent me. We're gonna post that up on the flyer so that you know they can see exactly what we're talking about.

SPEAKER_00 24:43

Yeah. From every I used to say I collect everything. So fly I've got flyers from the early 90s, and you know, you can tell they're just if you want the RTO museum, we need the we need to see Kevin's.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

One of everything they can do.

SPEAKER_00 24:55

I've got like 22 tubs of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 24:59

So as you go on, we add on rent way, action, home choice. I mean, you're doing payday loan stores. Uh like finance. Talk to me about this. Yeah, talk to me about that because as you're moving on, I mean, you you you just have a wave of different things that you're kind of getting into and you're you're you're talking to so many companies. Where did that part of your your past come in and how did it play into what you're doing now?

SPEAKER_00 25:24

Whenever you think you do one, you always can do something else. And it and what's weird is is I always say the you know, check into cash, mariner finance, they were all based out of Cleveland, Tennessee. John, well, Johnny Holden sold to Mariner Finance. And then uh so they were there, and I thought, well, if you could do one and any of the laws changed, you know, some st some states couldn't do check hatching, some you had to have a firewall and whatever. But the ones that you didn't, I mean, we'd put up a jewelry display, they'd have miscellaneous washers and dryers, and so they'd loan you the money to buy whatever. So we put jewelry cases in there and we went to every finance show in the world. I mean, anywhere we could go, we would we would go. And it was amazing. We s I guess we were halfway decent salesman because we would tend to sell them something, you know. I mean, but you had to sell them the complete turnkey package. You know, you couldn't just sell them a product, you had to sell them the display, the product, the training, the you know, the way to handle the product. So there was a lot of things you had to that went in there. It's very labor-intense what we do. I mean, people don't realize it. We're everywhere because you really have to participate a lot.

SPEAKER_01 26:39

Yeah. Well, that is one thing that you're good at, getting I think I see.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

Don't ever give me your home address because I will show up. As long as you make dinner good.

SPEAKER_01 26:50

But you know, why looking at that, is it because I see a lot of similarities, right? A lot of people who say the payday loans, they are it involved in two things. It's either rent-to-own or uh, you know, they have some type of business where they're and I don't I don't want to say they're brokers or stuff like that, but you know, um what what is it when you have uh something and you go to sell it? The pawn shops, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 27:13

So it's either a pawn industry a lot, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:16

Yeah, so you know, is it is it because they were all tight knit that you kind of kept going?

SPEAKER_00 27:21

Well, I mean, I guess in s in some people's, you know, I I would say the rent to own and the payday loans, you know, I've never seen a lot of people do both well. Now the strongs, they do both well. You know, Michelangelo and Strong, they do they do it both good. You know, the times we've seen it together, you know, they did okay, but you tend to loan people that owe you money and then they don't pay you one or the other. So you gotta be there's a fine line on that, I guess. But there's not too many people doing it.

SPEAKER_01 27:57

There's not too many people doing it.

SPEAKER_00 27:59

No, I've never that's I think that's the reason. I think it's hard to do both well. I think you know, you can always grow, you can do your rent-owned business better. You know, you really have to have you know a great skill set to do both. Yeah, you know, in the same environment.

SPEAKER_01 28:15

You know, I think it's Well, I know there's castle, there's castle rent to own and and uh, you know, um Ben McCauley, I'm sorry if I can always say I always say them wrong. It's it's either castle rent to own or castle rents or whatever the case is, but they actually do pawn and uh RTO out there in Arkansas, which is really cool because again, the the things that you don't see together very often, and somebody might find a way to really make it make it stick. Um but they are one of the few.

SPEAKER_00 28:40

And pawn is a great, as long as you know, I always tell people we work with pawn shops, you know, uh quite a bit, but you always have to have an outlet for whatever you buy. You can buy great stuff. I can own a ton of real estate, but you know, I gotta have somebody wanting to buy it on the other side. You gotta have a funnel, you know, it's gotta keep moving. You buy product to buy, you know, to sell it to buy more product. I mean, I think that was in a book somewhere, but yeah. I think the Dollar General guys or something, maybe, you know.

SPEAKER_01 29:07

So, you know, one of the things that you said is that managers taught you more than you ever taught them. You said you did a lot of training, you went around, you did a lot of things, but there was a comment that you made about managers taught you more than you ever taught them. What did some of the GMs or management or RMs or owners, what did they teach you that you've taken along with you through the years to be where you are today?

SPEAKER_00 29:26

You know, it's amazing. The I always tell people rent to own, you know, being a regional is I could be a divisional or a manager, but if I was a regional, uh, I mean, because you're part, you know, psychologist and you know, friend and helper and teacher. I mean, if anybody ever writes a book that has, you know, some kind of balance in it, you could sell a million copies of that. You know, but you know, they taught me how to interact with people and and and a lot of the people that they a lot of our customers have had hard lives. I mean, you know, they you know, it's not that they they just need an environment to get great stuff, which you know, we created for them. And the managers, I mean, the way they work with them, and they did marketing and service, sales, they manage people. I mean, they fix trucks. I mean, it was amazing all they did and just watch them. Whenever I get frustrated and I think my day is full, I just go back and talk to a guy managing a million-dollar store. That guy's day is full. You know, probably a million and a half now. But yeah, I mean, that day is full. It isn't right. It is that day is full.

SPEAKER_01 30:35

Yeah, the the you know, I remember it's funny you say that because I I forgot who I was talking to. And we like the the day of the million dollar store, which it used to be like that that was a showcase store. Okay, if you had a million dollars, now it's like, well, no, now it's like a million and a half or a two million dollar store. Oh, you know, it's not going to be a few.

SPEAKER_00 30:49

That I learned a lot from because back in the day you'd have, and I'm I'm lucky enough to know people that were I've seen people that they weren't even a million dollar store, and they went to a million, a million and a half, two, and you know, they've progressed, which that in and of itself to manage I most people will get to it back in the day, we'd get to a million and they would either it would just blow up, you know, and they'd go back down, or they'd keep going, or they'd promote them to a regional and then they'd have to let them go in a month because they, you know, you know, that was the what I learned the most is you never I sometimes you know there are people that'll they just they want to be a delivery driver. And to have great delivery drivers, oh my god, if I was a manager, I'd hire my delivery drivers first. That's not being called.

SPEAKER_01 31:35

Well, you know, there's there's that point too, because there's that point of when do I stop becoming an employee and I become a leader? You know, you can say a manager, but really a manager is just someone who tells other people they they manage the day-to-day. That's not really a leader. A manager needs to be a leader. And getting somebody from the hourly position to, and I'm just saying that you could be, you know, a salary or whatever, but when you get an hourly position to a leadership position, they're not the same. You're not built the same. And you know that you've been into hundreds of different stores, which again, I always see you on the circuit as in, you know, meeting of the minds, RTO World, the RDAs, I see in the big events. I never really knew that you spent so much time in individual locations. How if you had to guess, if you had to put a finger on it, how how many stores would you say you've actually been in?

SPEAKER_00 32:21

Oh probably Tony Dawnson could tell you about thousands. I mean, uh, you know, I've been at, you know, I've been in, I used to go see probably a hundred, a hundred stores for, you know, four times a year. That was, you know, real way. And then we saw buddies, and then we saw, you know, I probably was in show plates or countryside or and there were so many that were, you know, uh s everywhere. I mean, if there was a time where they action home choice, they all kind of started, you know, acquiring, you gotta make sure your receivables were in line because you never really knew where to collect your money. You know, it changed departments and then yolly, thousands. I mean, I've been in well, and in some stores I've been in multiple times, but yeah, and managers, man, I'm telling you, that was that was a great Mark Ray used to with Leopard. He was a manager regional. Greg Skinner was an incredible regional, you know, Ron Taylor.

SPEAKER_01 33:19

Yeah, I didn't know he was an operator until one day we sat down and had a conversation, and I did not know that. It was amazing what you again, it's amazing what you find out when you talk to some of these people.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

All these people, you you did show place, Joe Adams. I've known him for 30 years. He was a great regional. Uh Homberger was an anomaly. He's another great, you know, he's like Tiss It and Gary and all that. They're just, you know, I mean, always Todd was always God, I've known him forever. We used to go on a ski trip with all of his great Chris Caprio. Um, Schuler was Premier. I mean, there's just there are so many good people in our, you know, great managers. And now you see that we're they're owners or they were regionals and now they're owners. Yeah. And it's tough to go from that.

SPEAKER_01 34:04

Yeah, Anthony, he's pulling all these names out. No, no, Anthony's like, I have no idea. These are legendary names in tone that he's talking about that we go back years and years and years. And he's, I mean, Homberger actually had to uh, you know, I actually connected with him on social media not that long ago, and it's just nice to see him again after all, you know, after everything. I didn't really get to know him. I knew him in passing, but it's, you know, when you mention these names. He's a good one.

SPEAKER_00 34:26

Jamie Slatten, he taught me a lot about product back in the day. I mean, golly, he was one of the guys when I was young, I used to be, I mean, I was just I was not as outgoing as I was now. And I remember, you know, there were some big personalities in the rent owned industry. And I remember if you you know, I always wanted to hang around Jamie because he would tell you anything. You know, he was and he was funny. And him and Robbie were so close and and slats back in the day, which I didn't really get to work with him, but I mean, I could I could hear him yelling at Jamie, but uh, you know, I could, you know, you just didn't want to get caught in that wave of, you know, whatever. Right, right. But Jamie would teach you so much about product and people, you know, I mean, how to deal with and just seeing them interact with other reps. You know, I always tell people never judge a uh a vendor, you know, if things are going well, my you know, a girl that was, you know, a sophomore in high school could do it. But judge them by when things are going bad. Because eventually things are gonna go wrong. And when you call them and how they handle it, I'm you you'll never not find me. You know, the buck stops with me. I mean, I'm not gonna I'm never gonna spend your money like I mean, I'm gonna spend it like it's mine. You know, and I am tied if any and I'm sure every and I'm never gonna sell you all the time. I mean, if you find somebody that ever says, you know, Kevin, you know, he was selling me on the golf course or whatever, sometimes I'll forget to sell you. I mean, I am that, you know, I mean, it's not, you know, and I'm you know, but they'll buy from me eventually. I think I knew Chisp for a long time before I ever sold him anything. I thought I didn't want to mess up the friendship. It was going so well. You know, didn't want to jack anything up. So, and that's most Aaron. I mean, you know, I mean, it's it's definitely not about making a dollar. You gotta make a dollar, but it it's definitely not the end all be all.

SPEAKER_01 36:18

You gotta you're gonna have to mark this, Anthony. This is one of those weird times where somebody's gonna say, I am a vendor, I sell to the dealers, and it's not about selling for it.

SPEAKER_00 36:25

Yeah, it's definitely they'll tell you it's not about selling for me. I'm not really, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:29

You're you you're figuring that part out. Like, like you got it all down to a science. No, never a sign. You know what?

SPEAKER_00 36:34

But I mean, it's you know, it's weird. I think the more I understand our business, our business has gotten so much better about how they make money. You understand it so much.

SPEAKER_01 36:43

Well, we we had to be more efficient. We've had to be more efficient, especially coming out of the era. I'm not even gonna call the C era anymore, but you know, we've gotten through it, we made it out alive, and we're still, you know, I think we're still trying to figure it all out because everything went digital and a lot of people stayed indoors.

SPEAKER_00 36:57

Everybody loves change up to about two weeks. And then, you know, you go back to the the other way. You know, we all love change. It all sounds good when we leave those training meetings and you know think, oh, I'm gonna go back, and then two weeks into it, you're like, eh, that's really kind of hard. I'm gonna go the other way again. Do it, and then you go back to another one. But we've done well. I mean, i I think rent-one will always be a people per seventy percent of our new customers or whatever come from our existing customer base. So you I think taught or I would say they do. I mean, I'm not saying that's the number, but uh if I had to guess, I would say that's the number. And somebody may have told me that, but you're gonna you gotta still be a the AI and all that and how you email and text, you know, it's a little overwhelming to our customers sometimes. I think you got you still have to be that guy that participates and then you know goes to the the events in your area and goes out and knocks on a few doors, does some in-home visits to their top 10%. You know, if you're wanting to grow.

SPEAKER_01 37:55

I mean, well, I can tell you, you know what's funny? Uh just recently, um Charles Smith herman, uh the CEO of April, he does this this webinar thing. You know, April does have a webinar, and he had one very recently about AI and the information on that. And it was just absolutely mind-blowing some of the information and some of the facts that he was putting out there. And I gotta say, April, great job on doing that, but wow, there was just some information on there about the the differences between how things are going and where they're going and the the amount of generations that we have now, right? And the difference between the eldest generation and Gen Z right now. It's completely, or I should say almost Gen Alpha right now. It's just getting to the point where it's like it's night and day, they handle things, they look at things, and they do things not you know different. Going back to 2005, you know, talking about new things, you you brought up some stuff. You brought up mowers. I didn't even I forgot all about mowers and when they first came out. You were talking about that and how that that came out. How did that impact you when you I mean you brought it up? Uh Gary and Tissett were doing that, and you kind of made that connection in in certain ways.

New Categories And Customer Behavior

SPEAKER_00 39:00

And I actually found uh the uh because I was like, you know, it was amazing. You see these things, you just take it for granted everybody's doing them. You know, and I'm not even sure the brand didn't even I mean it wasn't like you know, whatever. It was like a brand I'd never heard of. And so I went back and pulled flyers from different areas or what and he's right. I mean, actually the Ohio area, it seemed like they were I mean, the front page of that was jewelry and mowers. So they were so far ahead of the you know, the other groups. And yeah, I mean, they were, you know, but Gary's super smart. I know Mr. Tissett was like a Daryl, the I always called him Mr. Tissett, but like Mr. Carico always called him Mr. You just feel, you know, I mean you they deserve it, you know. So that's another way that kind of I learned a lot from Joe, but you know, they were so far ahead. It's really they're willing to take the chance, you know. I mean, our customers, you know, we customers want to pay. I mean, we couldn't stay in business if they didn't. I mean, now there might be some to get. I always tell people if you've got a credit problem in the store, it already was there. You know, it's not because somebody quit paying or whatever, you know, they didn't want to collect their five and do their calls and verify the address. If you do all that stuff, I mean, I could probably collect on them. I mean, usually we cause the credit issues. We make a good customer bad, and and they were willing to take a chance and do some stuff. I think there's still an outer, you know, a lot more you could do in our industry. I mean, I mean if I can see it, I know there is. I mean, I'm not that big.

SPEAKER_01 40:39

Well, you know, I think about all the time. Yeah, we we talk about all the time. You know, especially uh when we're in the doing the green room and some stuff, and sometimes we're you know in meetings and we come up with these ideas. Like there's a lot out there, and there's there there's some needs in the RTO industry. There's no doubt about that. We got to catch up on certain things. But you know, you've Kevin, you always seem like somebody who's looking out for the new, right? You you you were you started in one place, you were able to see trends, you've gone out, you've done training, you've done loans, you've gotten kind of you're you're doing comparisons, you're meeting a ton of people, which you have that kind of personality about you that you're like, hey, I you know, I'm gonna meet some. Just so you know, Anthony. I actually met Kevin at our RTO World in Tampa. Didn't know Kevin from anything, but he heard about the show and he pulled me over and he's like, hey, I'm gonna introduce you to some people. And goodness gracious, if I I if it didn't make a difference, I do I've always appreciated that I've ever told you that, but I've always appreciated that um because I really didn't know a lot of people in the room at that particular point in time. Um, I was basically like a Florida native at that time. I knew everybody in Florida and that was it. And this introduced me to a whole different world of a whole different gamut of people that they weren't going to the RDA, right? You know, Florida, our rental dealer association to me was like, that was it. And uh so getting to see all these people, and you know, you helped me out, and I saw I met a few people then that I actually still talk to to this day, so I do appreciate that. But one of the first listeners, one of the avid listeners of the RTO show was right here, so I appreciate that. Seeing the new trends, right? That's what I'm talking about. Like he sees those trends. You've always kind of been on the edge of that to see something new coming. So, how did you get into right now? We're like 2010, something in there, you know. How do you get into the king of promotions? Where did that come from from your background? Because you're meeting the big guys, you're on the field, you know. Let me rephrase that. You're on the golf course and meeting all these wonderful people. You change over to do something else, and now you're you know, you're you're going into stores, you're doing payday loans, you're doing all this kind of stuff, you you get involved in the RTO stores, and then out of that, the king of promotions starts up. And and you and Robbie now are starting to do it.

SPEAKER_00 42:40

Well, we were always we did jewelry and that, but so is it was funny. So, John Blair, he was, you know, I've all John Blair's a great guy. I'll never be able to. I love John Blair.

SPEAKER_01 42:50

I love John, I love you.

Networking That Opens Industry Doors

How King Of Promotions Started

SPEAKER_00 42:52

I used to hang out with him all the time. He literally, me, him and Robbie. I mean, we were, you know, I'm surprised we didn't get him fired. I always tell Charles the same way, Smetherman. He needs to cut us loose. We'll end up getting him can. But he uh, you know, but we we love Charles. With Dennis, I said we couldn't be luckier. If you it's come work with me in the jewelry side for a while, you will so appreciate our industry. I mean, the jewelry side is so different than, you know, it's a bunch of butts. I mean, it's a very tough, tough thing. But so anyway, so John and Robbie were at Western, I think Western finance. And they went went to this, they were having a meeting doing the jewelry thing, and um, I believe it was Western, and then they're they went there and they were sorting out all this swag, hats, whatever. And John said, you know, what are you doing this for? And they said, Well, it's our customer appreciation event. And and I think he he said, Oh yeah. He goes, Well, if we could sell those a dollar cheaper, would you buy 'em from us. And needless to say, he called back and you know, we went to work and uh and he we definitely can make them a dollar cheaper. And then I've actually had a pretty good talent for the promotional stuff. I had a pretty creative mind. I can make I mean, you literally, if you called me tomorrow and said, hey, I need to make a car for, you know,$17,000 or whatever, I can make it for you. I mean, I literally think I can make anything. I've made everything once. And, you know, I mean Anthony, we're gonna get a bunch of calls from people.

SPEAKER_01 44:24

I don't know if I can figure it out.

SPEAKER_00 44:25

I told somebody who said, you know, I understand why everybody went into betting because literally I can make if you give me the specs, I can make it cheaper and everybody else. I mean, it's just one of those things, you know, you just you get good at making and creating. And and and and the with the promotional stuff, I think the one thing that I saw was that people bought a lot of stuff, but sometimes maybe it didn't have an exact purpose. You know, it came in and it maybe it said or you just gave it out and whatever. So I created a lot of organization type to it. You know, we developed websites where you could, you know, you allocated the expense and you knew what it was coming for, and it came with packing sheets and you know, you knew what event and and and cost was a little out of whack in our um in our group. I mean, I you know, the people that I mean not to say that, you know, the I've heard the the guy that we compete against on here and they're super sharp, make great stuff. I mean it but you know, I just thought, well, we could do it all a little better. And and and we we worked hard at it, you know, to you know, uh we have got two facilities we work with here and we literally can make anything. I think today I just po I posted a challenge key, not a coin, an actual key that was logoed and you know, I mean, so but it would fit in your pocket. So, you know, somebody said, Can you do a key? And I was like, Oh yeah, no problem. I can do a key. I've never done a key before. And like the sound boost that you put the speakers in that uh, you know, they wanted a booth to display their speakers. And I said, you know, it'd be better if it had lights and it kind of coordinated with the music. And I never made those. I mean, literally I had to get them to put them together instead of paper instructions. So in these jewelry cases, I was like, oh yeah, I can make displays, no problem. I can bring them and all this, you know, lifestyle stuff. I said, I can do all that, no worries. And we you know, we happen to be really good at it. You know, me and Robbie, we team good together on that. You know, we and and you know, it's we try to make it right and we try to make uh you know the thing about promotions and all that is you wanna do them, get them in place, and then you don't wanna you shouldn't have to worry about it. It should just happen. You know, if you place an order for apparel, it should just come, you know, I mean, and you should get to wear it on day whatever. You know, you shouldn't have to call four times. I mean, and I think I think most people subbed a lot of it out. So that made it and so we eliminated that and just really focused on, you know, and making it and you know, you don't want it to be you know, we you want people to put more in it because we need our industry to do better. You know, that's one of the other things I learned too is we all need to do well. We're still a really small sector. We all have to do great. Now you may want to do a little better, but we all need to do well. And I'm not good at keeping a secret. So if you ever tell me a secret on something good that you do, I'm sharing it with everybody.

SPEAKER_02 47:30

Well, we know ahead of time if you give him that modern one, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:33

I'm not, I suck at the secret thing because I mean if it's exciting and new, you really, and I think Mike taught me that to say, I mean, he shares everything, and I never I've never seen that before. Where and Gary and and Keith and Aaron, they share everything. You share everything. The show is an anomaly. I'm trying in my mindset.

SPEAKER_01 47:53

Well, we're trying to do that. Hey everyone, it's Pete Chow here from the RTO Show podcast, and I want to tell you about a company that's making a real difference in the rent-to-owned space, WoW brands. I've seen firsthand how they approach marketing. Let me tell you, it's not just about ads. WoW brands build complete digital ecosystems designed specifically for the rent-to-owned industry. Their e-commerce and lead generation strategies are built to bring qualified leads. Did I mention that they are actively working with the rent-to-owned industry while also being members of April and Trib? Listen, these folks are passionate problem solvers. They don't just slap something together, they design, build, and scale the kind of digital retail tools your business needs. Your customers actually want. So if you're serious about growing, reach out to WoWBrands at WoWBrands.com. I trust them, and I think you will too. Talking about that, because I'm glad you're saying that, I'm glad you're talking about sharing, because you have it apparently a lot more than I knew. You have a lot of experience from a lot of different areas. Going into being king of promotions and and really having to, you know, a master. You know, uh uh when you're talking about somebody who has to do a lot, right? So I've I've done quite a bit, and I I don't think I've mastered anything, right? So they say that you know, as as you go along, um you've mastered a lot more than you think.

SPEAKER_00 49:14

You've done, but you're you're you've been really.

WoW Brands Digital Marketing Break

SPEAKER_01 49:16

I've tried. I've tried. I had to bring guys in so that I could do, you know, do it right. But like as you move on, you know, you get to do a lot of things very well, but you don't master them because you know you you just have to be a jack of all trades and a master of none. And so it sounds like you you've really put your your finger on that heartbeat and really have been able to ride that for years now. I mean, we're talking about years. What if you're talking to somebody right now, they're coming into the rent-owned industry, now you're you're you're doing it from a vendor side, and they're saying, hey, like I'm a new vendor, because I've seen people come to some of our shows and they don't last a year or two for whatever reason. You know, what is some advice, some secret sauce from Kevin Silvers, who's been doing this for years, and you know every name in the business, you've seen them all. What is some advice you would give to say you want some longevity, you need to do this?

Longevity Advice For New Vendors

SPEAKER_00 50:02

You know, I think the I think to be to do well in our industry, you you you can't take it if somebody tells you no, take it very gracious. You know, I mean, God, everybody's told me no in our industry at one time or another. Because I mean, that's just the way it is. And I think if you stick and you're you're genuine and you care, and you know, and you're and you're selling something of value, I mean, and you show them how it makes a little money, you're gonna eventually be successful and get to know them. I mean, I could tell I could probably tell you something about everybody in our industry, whether it's Lynn Lynch and his dog, or Gary, and you know, he married the greatest lady in the world and chits it and his dad and his mom. Don't let Mike tell you his business mind is like his mother's and his dad he's got his dad's heart. So that it's reverse. He always says that, but his dad was sharp too. But I think you have to learn a little bit of something about everybody before you should never sell anybody before you know them. You know, I mean that's really unless you just have some tires. I mean, if I had tires, I mean, you know, it's got a I know nothing about automotives, but if it's got like a 50 mile, thousand mile thing or whatever, you probably can put them up there and, you know, Jonathan Rowe's probably gonna buy them and you know, I mean, but unless you, you know, most of the things we do, our products a little, you know, it's a little it comes from distributors a lot of times, sometimes it's straight from the manufacturer. I think it's you know, you just gotta learn a little bit before you start selling, you know. Everybody thinks their product's the greatest, but you know, it it's probably not the greatest. I mean, it's good. You know, it's solid and you know, it's got a lot of value, but there's probably a like products out there. I mean, you know, that are just as good.

SPEAKER_01 51:47

So would you say come and mingle, meet everybody, talk first, get the get to know them?

SPEAKER_00 51:52

You can't get frustrated, you know. I mean and they ought to uh uh I think I made the suggestion to somebody I said at these shows, maybe they position a you know, a new vendor with an old vendor. You know, I mean if you can stand the noise, because we're extremely loud, but I mean if you can you might put one an old with a new and maybe you know kind of pardon them partner them up a little bit. That would be I think that would probably be good for new members also, kind of partner them up. I mean, y'all do that a lot, help each other out. Vendors were not as friendly as y'all are.

SPEAKER_01 52:26

Talking about that, you know, uh LedgeCon is coming up now uh in April, and they actually have the fellows program to do just that. They stick some of the new guys with some of us who've done it before so that we have the ability to kind of take them along with us, which is an amazing ride. Uh, and I love that that part of it. You know, you said and and you act like it. So I'm gonna I'm gonna say this. You put on here that you never saw it as work and you've always loved the people. Is is that why is is that why it's it it feels like it's so flowy because you just you love what you do.

SPEAKER_00 52:56

I think I love the people. You know, I mean, I've been lucky. I mean, I you know, I I I'm a man that would tell you if I loved you, I love you. I mean, I love you, Pete. I hope you have a great day. I mean, I I'm just that way. I mean, you know, and I I I love them all. I mean, I can't think of anybody I don't like. You know, somebody told me one time though, I like everybody, but you know, they could hit me with their card, I'd still probably like them. But I mean it, you know, you but it's true. I mean, everybody has some great stuff about them. You just gotta let them show you a little bit. Everybody has the ability to be, you know, I always tell people the harder in our industry or in life, it's easy to be a great person when everybody's watching. You know, when nobody's watching. You know, can people tend to not be as great, but in our industry, when they're not watching, they're awesome. And I mean, if I told you all the great things these people did, first of all, they'd never be my friends again, and they probably never tell me, but they do some incredible stuff. I mean, and help so many people.

SPEAKER_01 54:02

Well, you know who's really good at doing things outside and in the community. John Cleek and the Cleeks do an amazing job in their community. And I'm not gonna take it away from anybody else. I'm not saying that nobody else does it, but they are they are they are always doing something for their community. Uh, they always have it an event, and John is never shy of calling people and hey, you need to support this. Come on down, come see what we do for our community. Does an amazing job of that? So, John Cleek Jr., we do appreciate that. I know that you know the cliques are always doing something about that. Um, talking about recognition, talking about recognition, 2019 Trip Vendor of the Year, 2020 John Blair Hall of Honor, and then the first recipient of the countryside vendor of the year in 2020 for countryside rent own. Talk to me. You you you've been doing it for a while, and somebody says, Kevin, you you made it. You have arrived. Here you go.

SPEAKER_00 54:57

I mean, if they've given it to somebody else, I don't know, but that was pretty cool. You know, I mean, you know, Mike's been in crowd. I mean, I can't imagine a better friend. But he is, I mean, him and Rob, I mean, they're, you know, he just guy and that meant a lot to me. And getting the, you know, the vendor thing, but I'm not big on awards. In fact, but I but everybody I think I I enjoy when the people that give them, that is really what you enjoy. Not as much the award. Because they, you know, you just look at them and you're like, man, they really appreciate it. You know, I mean, they care about you. And most people when they get get an award, it's not as much about what they do, it's that the people care about them. And uh they appreciate it, you know. I mean, because most of those vendors that win, I'm sure in 2019, I jacked up a lot. You know, I mean, it was 2020. I did too. So, I mean, but I would say on the whole, i you know, sometimes it's all uh it's more about the effort than it is what you accomplish.

Awards Gratitude And Industry Culture

SPEAKER_01 55:59

I mean, which is well, you know, I think it's definitely a a a team. You know, I love being involved in a team. I love being involved in people and everybody coming up together. That's always been my thing. I'm not I'm the same way. I don't really care about the award. I care about everybody being better, I care about the industry being better. I care about if anybody gets one thing out of any one of these shows that makes them better. I'm happy with that. You know, talking about some of the Legends series, if you you know Mike Tissett was on the show very recently talking about his father, and there was a couple moments and he got a little choked up because I mean he really cares about his father, and there's there's a lot of love in there. A lot like that. John Cleek Jr. was doing the same thing. We're gonna have some more of the legends come out before it's all over with, before LeggeCon. And if you guys want something good to listen to, you gotta listen to that. But you know, you mentioned you mentioned Mike a lot. Mike actually did a lot for the show as well. He was one of the people that actually first came on and did the first one of the first interviews that really went out there and and you know, kind of got a lot of people involved, just like yourself coming out and saying, Hey, let me introduce you to some people. So I really appreciate that from you and from Mike. You know, going into the last leg of this, there was a couple of things that I put on here. I'm just telling you now, I'm gonna put you in the hot seat and ask you some questions.

SPEAKER_00 57:09

You're asked me to go. They're not that crazy. I want to ask you. Like I said, I don't have the ability to lie anyway, so I'm good.

SPEAKER_01 57:16

All right. So, most famous golfer that you ever met in life. Oh, Jack Nicholas. Jack Nicholas.

SPEAKER_00 57:22

Yeah, I met him at the honors course uh when his uh Gary Nicholas was playing, I think, in the Southern Amateur. Jack Nicholas is the most gracious human being. I mean, you know, Jack Nicholas was the only athlete to ever dot the eye in the Ohio State marching band. Okay, you know, when they march out and they dot the eye, you know. I think the only athlete that's ever done it.

SPEAKER_01 57:45

That's awesome. Okay. Question off the scene What is the most famous golfer that you ever met and disliked?

SPEAKER_00 57:53

Oh, uh, Charles Howe the Third. I think it was Charles Howe, the uh little skinny one. He was not very nice.

SPEAKER_01 58:01

You know, I don't I don't I don't know. Now you're gonna make me look him up. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:04

He was a good player to still do. I think he plays on the senior tour now, but yeah, I think it's Charles Howe the third. Yeah, he was not nice. He was he was not nice. Daly was great, but he was always drinking then.

SPEAKER_01 58:15

So you've been to a lot of stores. You've you've shown up, you've seen things. What is the craziest thing you've ever seen when you popped in on a store?

Rapid Fire Golf And Store Stories

SPEAKER_00 58:24

Oh my god. Yeah, I don't know if I'd want to say it. I've seen some fist fights, and you know, I mean, I've seen some wild stuff, yeah. No, I've seen some crazy stuff. I've seen alligators in stores. I mean, I mean, yeah. Oh wow I've seen uh yeah, I won't even tell you which store had the alligator, because you know, you would know. But yeah, I've seen some wild stuff. I've seen people, yeah, I've seen some crazy stuff. I've seen I've come up and I've been I went to one of Jamie's stores, uh Buddy store one time, and we got there early and and the truck was parked in the parking lot and the whole top was ripped off, you know, like it been peeled off like a thing, and I guess they hit a bridge thing or something, and we text him a picture, and he takes us back that that truck was new. So yeah, I've seen some wild stuff. But I mean, I think that's I don't, but that's not a negative. I mean, that happens in every every industry. If I told you things that happen in my company, you would be, you know, I mean, holy crap, I've had some weird stuff happen. I like it now though, because they have the camera and they always say, I don't think we can make it, and then they still hit the, you know. I mean, you think you would stop when they say, I don't think we can make it, and they still hit it and knock the knock the top.

SPEAKER_01 59:39

Well, you know, the I'm telling you, rent own has the highest uh you know rates as far as insurance. I always have. Oh, and I'm a terrible driver.

SPEAKER_00 59:46

Never ride with me. I'm a terrible driver. No, I'll just throw that out there. I'm the worst driver in the world. Yeah, I've got a ticket to every I have about nine or ten points every year. I'm lucky I haven't lost my license.

SPEAKER_01 59:59

Oh my gosh. Uh wow. I we gotta talk about that one day. There's there's there's a there's a big history there. Um, besides the RTO revolution, what is the best book on RTO or business that, you know, or best book for RTO or business that you've read in the last 12 months?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:17

Oh, wow. Uh well, it's not a lot about the you know, the RTO. Uh I mean, specifically, I like the Let Them was a great book. I read that one. I mean, I mean, you know, I think in our world we take and rent to own, you take a lot home. You know, you can't leave it, and you know, you can teach and do and develop, you know, but eventually you have to put them within the guardrails and let 'em drive down the highway. And I think a lot of times we if they fail, it's like we've personally failed. I mean, you can evaluate how you've taught or how you communicate it to them, but in reality, I mean, I can no more, you know, define how you do your show than a man in the moon. I can give you suggestions that I can help you, but if you decide to do it, I gotta let you do it. I think that's one of the things I think that would be a good one. I think, you know, we you know, regionals, you know, when they have a blow-up in a store, they tend to go to a store and run it. But in reality, that's not how it probably works. And I'm not saying I definitely don't know everything about rent home, but I think you gotta, you know, you gotta let people you gotta let people succeed and let people fail. So I think that's a good one. But there I mean, God there's a million good books. I I just now read Shoe Dog because I am not a uh a sport, you know, that I've been in the Nike complex, you know, and and you know, went there, snuck in, you know, somebody else's badge. So I got a question for you. You would get a kick out of this. So what's the only statue they have inside the complex? And they may have more now, but at Nike, which who do you think it would be? No, Steve Prefontaine, the great distance runner. You know, it was out of Oregon, Coos I think Coos Bay or something, you know. That's the only statue they had. Until we got kicked out, it was a really cool place. I mean, it was, you know, I mean, we've been every Turner Broadcasting. I've been a million different places that we shouldn't have been, you know. We just keep on. If you act like you're supposed to be there, nobody ever asks you if you should be there.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:22

Most most people mess don't mess with you. Last questions I I got. Favorite trib meeting of the mind location.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:31

Oh, that right. Meeting of the mind trip. Probably Atlanta, because I won Vendor of the Year, I think, that year. And me and Angela Strong, we tore one out. Boy, and Mike, I remember that's a drunk. I don't even drink, that's the drunkest I've ever been. I don't even know if I attended the show. Celebration time. I don't even remember the show. It took me like a month to recover.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:54

All right. Where's the worst location you think they've ever put it?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:57

Oh, um, I've never had a bad show. I mean, so it would be very hard for me to say. I literally, every time I get those surveys, I have great shows, every show. You literally, the place could have caught on fire and I would have loved it. I mean, you know, I mean, it I love see, I I love seeing everybody. I mean, Vegas is the most expensive, you know, and I mean it's more of a Vegas, Vegas, yeah, I've heard of the It's a challenge to get your stuff in and out and you know, whatever, but I got the patience of Joe. You could lose all my stuff, and I would still be comfortable sitting in a chair and talking to you in the booth. So it wouldn't bother me. If you're a good salesman, you do that. They would actually use great. I believe that. If they did, I mean, you should get a little sympathy buys right there.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:43

So well, Kevin, as usual, I thought that it would be a great conversation. And it has, listen, if you guys have never, ever done business with King of Promotions, you gotta call Kevin. Kevin, if they want to do business with King of Promotions or you or whatever the case is, everything that you guys can get your hold of, how would they get away?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:02

Yeah, you'd be just call myself 423-400-1029, email, call the trib office, call Charles, you know. I mean, any of those. I mean, I've known Charles forever and Dennis forever. So and you can call any trib member and hopefully they would give you a glowing report. You know, if they didn't, they were probably they're lying because they've had a great experience. No, no, I'm not.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:26

If you guys want to get a hold of Kevin Silvers or Robbie Tyson, give them a shout. You can go to the Meeting of the Minds and see them, or you could just reach out to Trib. Trib and April, they have his uh information. You've got his cell phone number. Reach out, make sure that you guys just support some of our vendors in this business. We do appreciate that. And I would tell you guys, I appreciate you guys supporting the show. You know that you can see us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube where you're gonna see this. Make sure you go to the show's website at www.theartoshowpodcast.com, get some swag, go on there, listen to the show, find out some events. You also have the ability to subscribe and make sure that you hear us all the time. You can hit me up at Pete at the RTO Showpodcast.com. If you just want to talk, if you want to say something about Kevin, like, hey man, we love that bow tie and we want to know if you're gonna have a class on how to tie those things. We can set that up for you. Kevin Silvers, King of Promotions. I am really, really glad that you were able to make it on today. So much I learned about you. That's why I love doing this show. So many things that I didn't know you were a part of that now I know. Now everybody knows good or bad. The RTO show.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:32

And hopefully we could do this again. We should do this again.

How To Reach Kevin And Closing

SPEAKER_01 1:05:35

Well, just so you guys are aware, the RTO show will be live in RTO World that's coming down to West Palm Beach in Florida. And if you're around, maybe you have a chance to show up and talk a little bit to us.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:46

Oh, I would love to. Anything. I yeah, I'm open on this. It definitely. This is my format uh because I literally no buffer. That's good.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:53

Well, what we're gonna do, just so you're aware, and just so everybody is aware now, we're actually gonna be doing a hot mic during the show. So we're actually going to have a live show and we're going to do a hot mic. So Anthony's going to be with me. We're going to be going around and kind of introducing ourselves to everybody that already knows us. But we're going to say hi. We're going to say hi on camera, including yourself. We'll snag Robbie for a little bit and kind of talk to him and just get everybody involved. And, you know, the show is so important to us. We want to make sure that you guys know everything about rent own and everything that's going on. Kevin, thank you for being on the show today. And I'm going to tell you guys, as always, get your collections low to get your sales high. Have a great one.