Unpacked In Santa Cruz
Mike Howard talking ....
Unpacked In Santa Cruz
Episode 40: Maddy Keith Owner of Pointside Market, Putting the Local in Local
How does a pizza shop employee become a successful entrepreneur in the vibrant community of Santa Cruz? Maddy Keith's story is one of love, resilience, and an enduring commitment to her hometown. Join us as we explore Maddy's incredible journey from flipping dough to managing surf shops and ultimately owning her own meat shop. Her tale is intertwined with the joys and challenges of growing up in Santa Cruz alongside her husband, Zane. Maddy's insights into family dynamics, business trials, and the passion for her community reveal the essence of a life spent in this unique coastal town.
Food isn't just about sustenance; it's a journey of self-discovery and creativity for Maddy. We share how her culinary adventures have helped shape her authentic self, emphasizing the importance of character over mere skills. From the bustling energy of local street fairs to the spontaneous joy of creating delectable dishes, Maddy's enthusiasm is palpable and infectious. Her story inspires us to embrace the unknowns of entrepreneurship, turning challenges into opportunities to delight others and deepen her connection with her community.
Santa Cruz is more than just a backdrop; it's a living canvas of cultural evolution and personal tales. We reflect on the transformation of surf culture and the rise of activities like jiu-jitsu, which mark this community's dynamic spirit. Maddy's memories of outdoor escapades and family traditions paint a vivid picture of a town where unity and connection are paramount. Whether discussing the impact of new residents or the shifting attitudes towards relationships, Maddy's experiences underscore the enduring bonds that define Santa Cruz, inviting us to consider our own connections to place and people.
I don't know if I can handle it. I mean I'm thinking about it. Yeah, tyler Mortensen said he might go, so if he's going on, I'm going to tag along with him and stuff.
Speaker 2:I told Nate I donate meat and stuff. But yeah, that's really cool that you're doing that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'll be there. It's a lot for me. I haven't seen his dad in so long and stuff, so well, hello everybody.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the unpacked and naked podcast. You've been listening to, uh, maddie Keith from Pointside and I talking, but I want you all to know that this podcast is partly sponsored by Sanford's Vibes Magazine. We'd love to be part of their media library and also from Pointside Beach Shack just a really great space to do some shit with less than 100 people. Look them up, look them up. Yeah, it's awesome. But, maddie, here you are, you finally fell for it. Hello, michael, I've been bugging you for how long now?
Speaker 1:Oh, probably a month or two. Yeah, a month or two, or a year.
Speaker 2:But here we are. I'm excited to have you on the show. It's been a very interesting few moments for us. Just for all disclosure, Maddie owns the business in front of me, so we have spent a fair amount of time together through COVID and through a lot of different things. But before I start getting into any of my thoughts, why don't you tell us all a little bit about yourself?
Speaker 1:You already said my name's Maddie. I am born and raised here in Santa Cruz. I've never left because I love it so much. I met my husband here when I was 14. He is also born and raised, so Santa Cruz holds a super special spot in my heart and I am stoked to be able to have a business here and hopefully be able to create a family here, and happy to be able to be here and do stuff like this with other people that love Santa Cruz.
Speaker 2:And, yeah, so we can get really well how long have you been married?
Speaker 1:Three years married now but we've been together almost 13.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's, it's. It's been a minute, which is which is strange. And you know, Maddie, is you're the age of my oldest child, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah, 29, 29.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So, um, you know, it's not often you find people that meet young and and fall in love early and and stick with it. What's that been like for you being married this long? Well, just like in this relationship.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a long time. It's crazy, I mean, especially starting so young you get to grow up together. I mean, santa Cruz is such a small town, you really know everybody, so the dating pool isn't really that large. But you know, I mean I think that it is something that is different. I don't know. A lot of people ask me, like what is it? Like, what do you do to stay together so long? And you know there's not really anything that you do. It's just I think that a lot of it is kind of luck and finding that person early, and a lot of people don't find that early, like that. And I mean it's a lot of work. It's not an easy thing. I mean I think a lot of people think you know, if it's hard bounce find somebody, that's easy and that's really not the right thing to do.
Speaker 2:Well, I believe that you and I have a similar nature and proclivities to us, both loyalty and a zealousness to life both things. But I think I found oftentimes I look in the mirror and know that I'm probably the hard one that's creating the hard situation.
Speaker 1:I think a good thing with Zane and I is like we agree we're both probably equally just as hard, all right you got me, I got you Okay.
Speaker 2:We get it, we understand this thing, yeah. So do you have any brothers and sisters, or?
Speaker 1:Yep, yeah, yeah, I've got, uh, two sisters and a brother from separate parents, so I'm the only one from my parents. My mom has my brother. He's 21. No, yeah, he'll be 22 today. Actually it's his birthday yeah, yeah, that's good. Jameson his happy birthday, yeah and my sister is 20 and my dad's got a daughter and she is 17 great great. Just got accepted to a couple colleges, so ready to leave mm-hmm so she's ready to leave.
Speaker 2:So you can hear the boys in the background. The boys who own the establishment are having their little wild moments. I hear them laughing in the background, that's them back there. Yes, this place is very phonetic at times, but you bought a meat shop.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2:So why don't you tell us a little bit about your background? I know that you've managed surf shops before. Yeah, first job was plush pizza.
Speaker 1:You have really cut your teeth, yeah, in high school I got in trouble for cutting class so I could go and work. I loved working at that shop and then went on and did home daycare, worked at Claudio Frances for a while and did jujitsu for a bit and then I was like, all right, I got to figure out what I'm doing here in Santa Cruz. I mean, you've got to work a lot to be able to afford to live here and so started going to Cabrillo doing that kind of stuff, knew the Duics and pulled up outside one day and I was in Cabrillo College and doing I wanted to be a dietitian and thought that that was the route, that that was going to take me these knuckleheads back there.
Speaker 2:Speaking of the Duics, they only have one decibel level. It's funny when they talk to each other hey, ed, ed, ed, especially with Ed. Yes, unbelievable.
Speaker 1:But pulled up outside one day and they had just put in that big roll-up door and Zane and I were like what are you guys doing in here?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:They're like we just got free to meet in here, we're going to open up a little shop. And I was like, oh, that's cool, and Kevin's like you want to, you want to manage it. I'm in school, like I got things going on, I don't know if I can do this. And uh, he came back to me and he hit me up and was like hey, we really need somebody. We just opened up last week and we need somebody to run this shop, yeah. So I was like all right, like let's do it, I'll do it and I can do college classes while I'm in there and Cabrillo is like all online at this point you know it's.
Speaker 1:COVID, and so I started working there and got the opportunity to buy it and went to Zane and I was like, hey, the Duics gave me this opportunity. And he looked at me and he told me I had to do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean it's. I've. I've known them for a long time. I mean we're high school friends on on top of just still being really close now. Um, you know, it's not often that you get these opportunities in life, where, where you get to dream. You know, when I talked about certain proclivities, know, what I see in you is just someone who has dreams, who's willing to take the risk. What's it like being an entrepreneur at this time? You know it's like this. This is the worst time to get in retail anywhere.
Speaker 1:I mean I but I can't tell the difference if it's just because it's something I've never done and I've never really. I mean I was going to Cabrillo for science. You know, I was taking chemistry classes and that kind of stuff. I was not doing business stuff. I was not taking anything that was going to prepare me for something like owning a business, or you know, I mean nothing will prepare you for owning a business in Santa Cruz, like it's crazy, between the County, the costs, everything that you have to deal with. But um, yeah, I don't know if it's just because right now is so crazy in our time or if it's that, but it is, it's, it's gnarly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, super gnarly, yeah, I mean just, I mean as a piece of content more than anything. I mean it's always this way. I mean with a young entrepreneur especially yeah, there's a lot of ideas that you have about how things can go, and then there's what the customer wants, yeah, and then there's customers you want, then there's customers you get and trying to find that seam. Yes, you know of what it is they really want.
Speaker 1:It's ever-changing. Every time I think I'm bringing something in that people want it's. You know the opposite. Or you know it's hard to read people and it's hard to read what they want. And I think when you're so young, you think that you can do it all and you want to have everything in there and you want to be able to like, please every customer that walks through that door. And I think the older I get, the more I do it, the more I realize it's you're not going to please everybody, you're not going to have everything that everybody wants, and you've got to find that thing that you want to put out there and find those people that enjoy that yeah, so you've had a lot of attraction lately.
Speaker 2:I mean, double meets really. Really put you on the map. Why don't you tell us a little bit about double meets and then what you're doing now?
Speaker 1:with the shop. I mean they just have that chemistry and that vibe that just appeals to everybody. And Daniel came out a few times and has done some videos for me and I mean blew me up the traction that I got, I mean the followers, everything. So many people came in from that video not knowing I had Freedom Meats and were like, oh my God, you have Freedom Meat Awker in here, like I had no idea. And so it's the sandwiches, it's the meats, it's everything.
Speaker 2:So that exposure was huge. Yeah, yeah it's. You know you and I are. Well, you're going through it in a different way because you're actually providing a product. You know, as I've been discussing with you, as I just went live here, you know, a week ago, these metrics that you're sitting there looking at, and there's these odd formulas that are all of a sudden part of your vernacular, all of a sudden. It's just how you begin thinking. I'm a formula guy anyway, as you well know that there are just ways to do things. You have to find the formula, stick with it, do your best in that thing, but the formula is the thing. And why don't you tell us a little bit about what happened when Double know, when DoubleMeat showed up?
Speaker 1:Like my wall was in power. I mean we had people standing in line waiting out the door. It was insane.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you had how many followers before DoubleMeat showed up?
Speaker 1:Probably like 1,700, and I got probably at least 700 followers just from that.
Speaker 2:Just that one video yeah, so like just these weird jumps, all of a sudden you're looking at Instagram a different way oh yeah, you know crazy poking through all these metrics that they hold for you it's trippy, the whole going viral thing and everything.
Speaker 1:I mean. I posted myself making that sandwich on TikTok like horrible editing I don't. I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to social media and stuff like that, but videoed myself making this sandwich and put a friend's audio over it and posted it on TikTok. It's got 800,000 views.
Speaker 1:That's so crazy I don't my other videos have like 500, you know. And so it's just like you hit those audios or you hit those certain trends and stuff like that and there is metrics to it and I'm not a metric, so I get excited when I hit those things.
Speaker 2:We'll go over that in a couple of hours about what the formula looks like. You know I'm poor Maddie. I always I'm always data dumping on her, like, like you know, you you've caught a little bit of wind of what I do with other entrepreneurs and the other space that I am in capital raising and all that kind of thing. But because I don't even know if you've begun the exercise that I think we may have found?
Speaker 1:Yes, we have.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but you know, I mean Maddie gets ear raped periodically when I'm sitting in watching things and all that.
Speaker 1:I nod and I soak it in.
Speaker 2:I soak it in, just absorb whatever you can in the moment. So she knows how drilled down I can get about trying to find who the person is. You know, which is really, even though we've known each other for a while now, it's still just finding the human that is you. That, apart from the physical attraction, apart from all this kind of thing that you're doing in business, it really is about expressing yourself and who you really are and then other people experiencing that. In your case it is through through food. So there is a product.
Speaker 2:Not you know, as much as I want, want to imagine somehow podcasting will be different. It's not people either like my voice or they don't. They either like the people that are attracted to me or they don't like. Like they're judging you and and it's weird, I've been a hairdresser for almost 40 years now. You know when I had to face the fact five years in, like I'm just being judged, like it doesn't matter whether I'm good, bad, they either like me or they don't. You know cause? I was working in lots of shops where the hairdressers were horrible, like just ruining hair. Yet they're making a ton of money because people just like to sit with this weird gossipy person who talks shit about everybody.
Speaker 2:That's their thing and it's like it was hard, you know, when you're trying to be really, really good at your craft and people oftentimes don't care, like that's not why they're there and and you know, at least, you know I know your food, you know I care about food. You know I care about what I stick in my body. Yeah, you know, you've been putting some sandwiches out now that are like you know, I'm a sandwich guy in that like I don't like a bad sandwich and there aren't many good sandwiches. That's me, you know. But you just made a tri-tip sandwich that I went okay, first bite, like what the hell was that? Yeah, like so. So there's a thing inside of you that that I see growing, that I love watching just with anybody as they discover themselves that what is inside of them really matters and it matters to others and it brings comfort, like that. That's really. All you're doing is that you're catching people at a bad moment and you're making it a good moment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm hungry, I need something to eat and I want to enjoy it. You know, I think it's interesting with a lot of people that, especially with food, I think they pour so much passion into it before they start their venture, so before they're going to open their kitchen or anything like that. Um, and with me it was kind of like are you going to buy this business, or are you you know, are you not? So it wasn't something that I like prepared for for years and dreamt about and had this vision in my head of doing. It was kind of like here it is, what are you going to do with it? Are you going to make it successful, or you know, or not? And so it was interesting to have to kind of do it at the same time as figuring out what I'm going to do. I had to keep moving, I have to keep making money, I have to keep this business running and I have inventory, inventory like what the hell is that?
Speaker 1:And I have to figure out what I'm doing with it. You know like it's, you know I have to keep it successful, so that has to keep going and to not know where you're going and still have to go there, it it was. You know it was not easy, but I'm figuring out as I go and I think you know I've taken the right pass there and I'm happy where I am and I know where I want to be and, um, I'm super excited for summer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I think it's going to be good. You know again, I'm still voting for wieners.
Speaker 1:We'll be at the um. I just booked a booth for the uh street fair, so we'll be doing sausages at the street fair. Super excited for that, okay.
Speaker 2:That's totally awesome. I forgot what I was going to ask you, but it was sitting right there. Let's see if it comes to me in the moment before I go to Santa Cruz and what it was like to grow up here. But maybe we'll just go to that and see if the conversation comes back to this great imaginary question I had. That has now disappeared. So you grew up here. The people who listen to the podcast have heard a lot about my experience in Santa Cruz, how it shaped me both in good and bad ways. What is your experience like having grown up here? You're in this really strange transition moment. That that you're, you're, you know're, gen z. I know that. My experience with my sons. It went from raising them in the ways of the jedi, yeah, to where it. You know. The surf culture was what it was and then, when it got to the youngest one, five years later, everything changed oh yeah like all the dads are showing up taking videos.
Speaker 2:My two older kids that are you know one's only three years older. They're still getting beat up yeah you know, like, like, like what, what's this? You know I raised kids who know how to fight. That sounds weird to anybody who doesn't surf, but like you had to surf well, fight well. You had to know your game because and you had to respect people.
Speaker 2:You had to respect people. You had to respect people. And then come the time when most of my generation finally decided to have kids which is Brennan's age All of a sudden I don't think soft's the right word it got gentle in a good way, because the parents finally started showing up. And surfing was not just this hobbyist concept where it's all stoners and whatever else, or latchkey kids.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a lot of latchkey kids.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, yeah, a lot of latchkey kids it really became a thing, and I'm curious what you think of this, because you are actually like it was one way, then it's another in a very short order.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I hate it. I hate it. I think it's ridiculous. I mean Zane and I talk about this all the time he had the skate shop across the street from us and he grew up getting taped to telephone poles and you know getting beat up and rolled up in rugs and stuff like that. And so when he went and he was old enough to start doing that to little kids, the cops got called and you know it's like we joke about that all the time, like we're hoping to start a family here soon and like how we're going to raise our kids here.
Speaker 1:Like obviously we want to stay here, we're not going to leave and it's. It's a trip to think about how different it is going to be from growing up. I mean I watched it with my siblings, my siblings. I was nine by the time my first sibling was born, so that's a huge gap between us and it was different from them being raised from you know, from me, and to watch. That difference was trippy. So to think about even having kids here is going to be like.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, it's going to be so difficult, but I mean I loved growing up in Santa Cruz. I loved the way that it was and it's not ever going to go back to that way. I mean, I think once they started, you know, changing the rails and paving the whole point, it was it was over when you know it's no longer the locals walking there. It's I mean you go Saturday, sunday it's packed.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, I mean it's packed now.
Speaker 1:I mean there's people dinging their bikes at you on the pathway and you're like dude, I'm walking here with my dog Like it's ridiculous, but it is what it is. That's why I love being able to have Pointside and just hold that little piece of Santa Cruz culture, especially right here on 41st and I mean, like I said, my first job was Pleasure Pizza and I can almost literally see it from the shop so to be able to still be in this little neighborhood and-.
Speaker 2:Really part of an iconic space, you know, because Pleasure Pizza really is the center of people's perception of this place, Like you know, with you know, Jay, and the. Mavericks scene that whole idea of what Santa Cruz is. You were in the hub of that during those moments Like it's.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, it was so cool. Like my stepdad used to work there it was his first job and like they used to have the big photo wall up and like you would see pictures from then.
Speaker 2:And while I, was working there.
Speaker 1:Working there, it's like it really was a piece of, you know, santa Cruz. It still is a piece of Santa Cruz history yeah, yeah it.
Speaker 2:So you know good parts, bad parts, about how this town has shaped you. I mean, it's it's hard to describe Maddie to anybody who's listening right now because she is one of the sweetest people like in just meeting you there there's. You're not a tough looking person no, not the exterior is very kind, but there's also this thing, and you know, every everybody I podcast with has has addressed this thing that is santa cruz yeah that I I think you, more than anybody I've met in the last five years really embody it, because it's such a contrast to the shell.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know that, that I just want to tell you all. I would not fuck with Matt. She would kick my ass, and it's not. You don't figure it out. So you're about two minutes into a conversation but, as you know, you expressed you. You know about Claudio and all that kind of stuff, but you were training jiu-jitsu at what age?
Speaker 1:God, I think I started at like like 12, 13, 12, 13.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you're right in the, in the peak of that whole tough guy like vortex, like, like, like jujitsu, before I showed up, you know, which is only seven years ago. So we're talking, you know 17 years. No, not 17 years, uh yeah, 15 years ago you know this this moment, you know you're living in an apex moment of like. Not only was surfing all these things, now jujitsu is apexing in town. And so you were. You were in the like tough guy hub and girls my age weren't doing jujitsu.
Speaker 1:There was no girls that were. You know, there was a lot of older women in their thirties and forties that were getting into it and wanted to do self-defense and stuff like that, but there was no girls my age that were wanting to compete or do anything like that. So I was competing with boys until you turn, I think, 16, they, um, they put you together, you're the same yeah. I was either beating boys or I was getting the shit beaten out of me by boys because they wanted nothing to do with losing to a girl.
Speaker 1:So it was, you know, either they were pissed off because they just lost to me, or they were pissed off because they had to fight a girl. So it was definitely, you know.
Speaker 2:yeah, I mean, I mean it's, it's fun, you know cause? I saw it more with Brennan, my youngest, you know when the girls really started showing up to wrestling.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I'll never forget. You know, end of year Girl, what the hell. Well, end of year tournament, you know. Well, end of year tournament, right is like.
Speaker 2:Not only that, she was hot, you know, like, you know here, my 14-year-old son, who is beautiful himself, has got like a very well-formed human and he's in the final and I look at him he's like, yeah, no, I mean he wrestled her, but he's like, no, this is all the wrong signals to my body. You know, and I do think things have changed quite considerably since that moment. You know that that's a more accepted practice. You know, again, us being one of the regions that have really helped. You know, young women, women in general, get into these more masculine seeming sports and and really succeed. I, I, I know one of those girls like almost went all the way and stayed, like like it's really cool to see that kind of thing and it's cool to be from a town that that is on the front end of that. You know, for all of its discrepancies, is like this is what a place like Santa Cruz allows.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, we celebrate it. Yeah, two places around here, you know, and some amazing black belts here in santa cruz.
Speaker 2:So yeah, yeah, I mean what, what a pleasure to see the, you know, I think. I think we're like at 20 something. You know the level of instruction, all that kind of stuff yeah you know from all the black belts. But um staying in the same santa cruz, you know what was it like being in that vortex of that culture. Did you surf at all? Also?
Speaker 1:Oh gosh, I mean when I was younger, when my stepdad married my mom, he was a surfer, always has been, and so he would take me out and go surf, and it was. I mean, I was probably eight, nine years old and, mind you, I was scared of the ocean. Until I was probably about five I wouldn't touch wet sand. My mom did not push me to be that kind of kid or anything. And my stepdad came in and he was like no fucking way, am I?
Speaker 1:going to have a kid that is scared of the ocean or anything. So he taught me how to surf. But he was tough. He wanted to really teach me, and so we would get out of the water. My hands would be so numb and cold and he'd make me take my wetsuit off and I'd be sitting there almost crying like I can't get it off. My fingers won't work.
Speaker 2:Did he take you just down the street here at the hook? Yeah, yeah 38th, yeah, yeah, 38th. He would take me to the point, shaw and Kim would be down there One of the most annoying things. Here's a little tidbit about Michael Howard Shad DeWitt. I'm calling you out. My son served first with Shad. He wouldn't do it for me. My youngest one, unbelievable Shad, pushed him into his first wave and, like you, turkey, I'm still upset about that when he was four.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But that was becoming normal at that time. There just weren't dads doing that. You know Chad myself, clearly, your dad you know being some of the first who were actually spending time at beaches that aren't beaches. You know, putting the ice chest up.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:There's a 10, 10 foot patch of sand where you can sit and, just being in an element that we're comfortable with, that used to not have a staircase to go down.
Speaker 1:Yeah, See, my stepdad would be there, but he would surf If I wasn't surfing.
Speaker 2:I'd be sitting on the sand by myself. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's, that's what we all did. We were dicks. Yeah, you're fine, I don't care if you drown you'll figure it out.
Speaker 1:There's a leash on the board yeah, and then I did guards for probably a good 10 years capitola junior guards. So I mean, that's where I I've spent every day every summer at capitola beach so what was the program like for you?
Speaker 2:it was, it was. I loved it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love the program. I mean I'm friends with all of my instructors. Now it's cool. They come in, they have their kids come in. I mean Capitola Guards is number one for sure.
Speaker 2:You don't have to convince me, I know a guy.
Speaker 1:I love that program and I mean it taught me so much about the ocean and went to regionals in Santa Barbara for a year and that was epic and yeah.
Speaker 2:What events did you do? Paddling Paddling yeah, of course. Okay. So did you ride dirt bikes? Did you do any of the mountain biking Road dirt?
Speaker 1:bikes, no mountain bikes, road dirt bikes. Broke bones on dirt bikes, road dirt bikes hard for sure. My brother competed for a long time raced. I just always rode for fun. Dance class I think no, Never dance. How did?
Speaker 2:you get to do dirt bikes.
Speaker 1:My dad loves baseball. He played baseball his entire life and always dreamt of me going down that route, and it was never my passion.
Speaker 2:Just watching grass grow.
Speaker 1:I couldn't do team sports. I mean dirt biking, jujitsu guards. Team sports were not my thing. I would get in trouble at school for yelling at my own teammates. I'm a solo sport kind of girl.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was trying to think of a descriptor for you and it's like you're not a tomboy, you're like Laura Croft, tomb Raider, just a hot, crazy chick. That'll just be the shit out of you if you get in her way.
Speaker 1:The Tomb Raider Very nice.
Speaker 2:Very nice though. Yes, very, very kind. So you know you look forward to raising kids here, like, like, what about this place makes you endeared towards that?
Speaker 1:Probably just sentiment. I mean just growing up here, you know, and I mean just the proximity to the beach and being able to have kids grow up there. And I mean also Zane and I are up in SoCal and we absolutely love it up there and we're on an acre and a half and there's the creek, it's warm, it's nice, it's really beautiful, and I mean it's expensive, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you got that mountain and surf Exactly. It's expensive, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Yeah, you got that mountain and surf thing and it really is one of the things that makes this place so unique, that we really have it all, or have access to most things that you would find, at least in the continental United States. It's just here. You're 15 minutes from somewhere.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, other than snow, snows, you know three and a half hours away.
Speaker 1:But I mean what a unique spot. It's hard to do but I mean you can have that small surf town life and still have, you know, an acre with a chicken coop and land and stuff. And it's not easy but you can do it and to be able to have that opportunity is you. You don't find that, yeah, hardly anywhere, you know.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I mean kim, and I poke around a little bit about you know if we did where same and I did that before you know, before we decided like let's start a family, like okay, is this where we're gonna do it right now everybody's leaving to Idaho, everybody's leaving places and you know, are they doing the smart thing?
Speaker 1:And it's been a huge topic of discussion. But with I mean Zane's got a sibling still in high school, I've got a sibling still in high school. Like our family is rooted here, I don't think we could ever do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So what has family meant to you that way? Because I found this town to be an odd mixed bag, right, because it's really a vagabond town. There's a lot of people who don't have family who come here to experience family in some way. I'm, I guess, second generation, my kids being third. You know, my parents moved here when they were very young.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Were, in essence, raised here through their, you know, late childhood, early teenage years, and so there's something in me that is just part of who I am. This place was a rescue to them from where they were from yeah my dad from really bad part of stockton, my mom from the northwest klamath falls, oregon, and so there's the. But you know I I grew up, you know I had a pretty conservative household.
Speaker 1:I grew up in yeah.
Speaker 2:Pearly blue collar. You know Capitola was not what it is now in any way, like it was kind of the step up from poor yeah. At the time that I grew up. It was a good neighborhood, but it wasn't like the neighborhood.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Now it is one of the spots in California. So you know, I've watched that change, you know. But the schools have never been great, you know. It just really is that mixed bag. So what has family meant to you? You know, having been raised here, as family begins to establish not just mob families, but you know, I mean, family is huge for me.
Speaker 1:Like I said, I wouldn't never even think of leaving Santa Cruz because of what it would mean leaving behind. And you know, like my parents split when I was young I think I was maybe two years old so I grew up in Santa Cruz with my dad and his roommates and my mom, and you know, separated, and so I think for me, Sorry about that.
Speaker 2:There was a little pause.
Speaker 1:We're back.
Speaker 2:You will hear a little bit more banging. They're leveling out a aluminum ceiling in the back at the shack. They're always doing something. You know I miss them when they're not around, but when they are around it's very loud. Lately but, back to family here.
Speaker 1:But yeah, like I was saying, I I think family is is you know, obviously, the people where you come, that you come from, but with me growing up there were so many more people that were in my family that weren't actually related.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I think that's a big part of Santa Cruz too is like it really is such a small town we joke about like walking down the point, you will. I mean you go 15 feet and there's somebody 15 feet, there's somebody you know. I mean you're going to see somebody everywhere. And so I grew up with so many people that were part of my family aunts and uncles that aren't actually aunts and uncles and I think that that was a huge part of growing up here is just having so many people that were so close and I mean, yeah, it's between my husband and I. We both have split families, so we've got what is that?
Speaker 1:Two stepmoms two stepdads, two moms and two dads. So I mean it's huge. We used to do the four Christmases we were, you know, every morning we'd be up at 6 am and we'd go to all four houses and you know that no longer happens.
Speaker 2:We're like once we have a kid, you guys are all coming back.
Speaker 1:That is some sanity, but family is huge. I mean I give my dad a lot of credit for making me the tough person that I am. I mean I always tell this story of I think I was probably 12 or 13 or something like that and he was supposed to come and pick me up. And my dad's an early bird. He was like all right, I'll be there at 8am, and 12 or 13 after a sleepover, you're like fuck time.
Speaker 2:Like okay.
Speaker 1:And uh, I think I texted him probably at like midnight and was like, hey, can you pick me up later? Like I want to hang out in the morning there. My friends were probably going to do something and I wanted to do it. And I got it in the next morning and I got a pickup at 8 AM and he dropped me off at the um bus stop downtown and he gave me it was like a dollar 25 or something, and we lived in Scotts Valley at the time. My dad and uh, he was like I'm going to drop you off here and I'll pick you up at the Scotts Valley bus stop. You need to figure out how to take a bus. If you want to have your own schedule and you want to make your own timeline, you're going to be able to do it yourself. And you know, as like a 12, 13 year old town, with the only amount I've like I can't fuck this up.
Speaker 2:I you know, I, you had the amount.
Speaker 1:I have the amount to get myself to where I need to be and so I think, just growing up like that with somebody who really is going to push me to figure it out and he still is there to this day he's always in the shop I mean he's one of your clients.
Speaker 2:We all love to see Brian.
Speaker 1:And he comes into the shop and he gets it done. He says what's your plan with this? And I mean I told him I wanted to move my counter space and that kind of stuff. And the next day he was there before the shop was open and he was like, let's do it. So I mean I I hold a lot of that to him and I think he gave me that tough side and I think my mom gave me definitely my, my um kinder, softer side for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, I was speaking with Lucas from Quicksilver just last week. And he talked about this really rough veneer, like when he showed up, because he was down in Orange County before he came up.
Speaker 2:And you know it's not the easiest town to penetrate. But there's this decision you make to decide to be from Santa Cruz. But if you don't decide to be from here, you never get past the thing that is Santa Cruz, and I noticed that with the people that move into my neighborhood, which has become a transitionary spot. In reality, that people come here, they buy a house. It becomes worth a half million or a million more. They sell it.
Speaker 2:That's what they do yeah you know they from a little bit more means, but they can never feel you know what's like, why they don't fit in, because it's not your typical place. You know that I believe that we celebrate people who want to call this place home, not just to experience it, but actually be a part of it. And I guess in my questioning back there in the background, I'm trying to capture a little bit from your view that thing. You know, how would you describe that reality? You know, as you grew up here and the people who come and go. You know you're. How would you describe that reality? You know, as you grew up here and the people who come and go. You know you're coming up on 30.
Speaker 2:Now you know what makes this place feel like home to you Because you know everybody comes from somewhere and everybody has family. There's something very family ish about this town that's very different. You know, I think it happens in Hawaii. You, um, you know we were talking about san diego, lucas and I. It's like people are really way nicer down there but you don't make good friends like it.
Speaker 1:San diego also is a lot bigger of a town than we are. I think that santa cruz is getting so blown out with the, the people that come here and the money that comes here, but I think deep down it really is a small town. I mean, there's so many people that aren't from here, but I think there still are so many locals and so I think a lot of towns, when we get washed out with people that aren't from here, the locals bounce they'll leave, they'll go find somewhere else. That's more like what they had instead of staying where they are. And I think with Santa Cruz, everybody's still stuck here. We all stayed and it's kind of trying to mesh and I think we see a lot of it happening out in the water the people that live here that want to say they're locals and the people that are actually from here trying to both you know, have both have what they want.
Speaker 2:How do we make this work?
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, and it doesn't work. You know, and so you definitely see that out in the water a lot, a lot of you know it used to just be like scrappy. You know scrappy people would fight out in the water. Now it's, you know, people are getting banned from going out and surfing and people are getting charges and all that you know.
Speaker 2:Maybe someone's getting punched here and there the last few months. Yeah, and unfortunately, it's usually between the guys that are from here, but whatever we know not to touch the non-locals.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Then you'll get in trouble. Then you'll really get in trouble Between the locals. Maybe it can be sorted out. What's your favorite memory?
Speaker 1:Oh, that's a hard one. Favorite memory.
Speaker 2:Favorite memory. What's the thing that, when you think of home and the place that this place represents, what's the moment that you look back in your life on and go yeah, it's that, you know there. There, I mean, I have.
Speaker 1:I think that it's. It's more of just like being with my family out on the point or those memories not a specific one, but just like being able to experience. That is probably my favorite and just especially like just with my younger siblings and stuff like that being able to have those moments with them before it's all. Just you know how it is now.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, you know it's. I guess you could call it sentimentality, but it's become the bike ride before eating on Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you go to Rockview and watch the sunset.
Speaker 2:Then you come back. You know time's getting shorter. Dinner's going to be served at six 30. So you're watching the sun go down.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Just, you know, it frustrated me to no end over COVID when all of a sudden you got a band setting up at the end of Rockview. Now everybody goes and watches the sunset at Rockview Like nobody used to be there, Like Sue was there, Like that's it. And then in a week everything changed. You know, all of a sudden everybody's showing up. Now good luck finding a parking spot at sunset at Rockview Good luck being able to even get out in the water.
Speaker 1:In short, order.
Speaker 2:But you know, I know in my own heart, I was like look, we used to do this when nobody was here. But for me, I want to celebrate this. People are now seeing this place, lots of people, and they're coming and doing this thing I used to never do, even though I lived here, and yet there it was all this time yeah and and I was missing it. And now I get to go be there during that moment that people saw. That I didn't see before, that I just took for granted yeah you know, does it kind of live in that yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:I mean it's it's hard to explain Santa Cruz. It is it's hard to explain Santa Cruz. It's hard to explain growing up here. It's definitely. I mean I have nothing to compare it to, so it's just how it was, and I mean I loved growing up here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it really is a special place.
Speaker 1:I also loved I mean growing up here with my husband. We met when I was 14 years old. So, being able to experience all of that with him graduating high school and doing all of that kind of stuff together. I mean we met at the church on 26 at a core event and I mean I moved in with him when I was 17.
Speaker 1:And so I mean, I was still in high school when I moved in with him and I think that's a big part of Santa Cruz too is like there's so many couples that start so young and it's just it's, it's not normal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I mean you know enough about my story that Kim and I met when we were 18 and 21,. Like it's nuts.
Speaker 1:I think, if you talk to a lot of locals, though I mean a lot of them stayed together, like there's a lot of longterm relationships here that are really cool to look up to.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean we're surrounded by it. You know, like everybody within our circle, you know with the boys and all that. Like all of us are in it almost 30 years or more. Yeah, like it's, but it was us. It wasn't Kim and I alone. That really is at least a big difference. I'm noticing with your generation that there's not a lot of other couples to glean off of.
Speaker 1:No, that's the whole thing of this new generation. I'm going to make myself happy, no matter what it means to anybody else, and I think that that's I mean. While it is really powerful and cool to do, I think that that's this whole like loss of respect and loss of unity is because everybody's like well, it makes me happy. I'm going to do it because it makes me happy and I think that that is a huge thing. That is, you know, the detriment to a lot of relationships.
Speaker 2:So so do you feel really different from your age group in that way?
Speaker 1:Always have I mean Zane's three years older than me. I've always felt like I'm like older than I always have been and growing up as such an older sibling than my you know, younger siblings, I mean I always was the one that was helping out. I mean I got my license and it was like cool you got gas money. No, I mean, they were like all right, you're going to drive your siblings to school now.
Speaker 2:And so it was.
Speaker 1:You know I got turned into that kind of sibling and stuff. So I think that that helped me grow up faster a little bit. So I've always felt a little bit out of my you know kind of age range.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know, looking back on my own child raising, you know, and what the boys are encountering and their relationships great people, none of that kind of stuff, but the difference of like. Actually, this is just how we grew up, you know. You kind of got kicked out of the house at 18, figure it out, you know? Uh, and some of us, including myself, have held on to that value.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like like best way to know to do it is do it you know, find out, do it wrong, figure your shit out, you know, because you're gonna. You're gonna make mistakes, so make them early.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Up against, you know, a generation of belief, and I think it's across the board, whether it was in church, culture or anywhere else, that, no, I need to guard my children from the things that I felt harmed me A hundred percent, and it's not as though I wasn't thinking about those things and educating my kids on on the perils that do exist in this town.
Speaker 2:Cause there's some really black holes here, like you find yourself with the wrong group and you're in a world that you don't want to be in and you're in the can from the time you're 21 on. So it's not as though these these things don't exist here. It's just that those values which we were just steeped in you know you're hearing a lot about Gen X now talking about like, yeah, you know, all of our parents got divorced. You have no idea what it's like to have to cook for yourself and all that kind of stuff, but I taught my kids how to do all that stuff with an intact family.
Speaker 2:You know, in a way you think you're trying to bring the best of both worlds to it, but also it really excludes them from relating to this generation. That I don't think it's wrong. They've just been catered to more throughout that process, that they were having to grow up more and I don't know what the right answer is there. You know, in retrospect I don't know if it's good to be counterculture in this moment it certainly hasn't benefited them in a way that you can visually see. You know it's not like their career paths are moving past anybody. Like the culture is going how the culture goes at the pace that it goes.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But, that being said, I see a set of tools that they have that you know when, when others, their age turned 35, 40, they're dealing with things a 25 year old would have dealt with, especially a 25 year old like you who got married.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, they're now going to get married. Begin to think about having kids, so that decision-making process gets you know. I think, push pushed away a little bit and it just changes how you experience life.
Speaker 1:I think a lot of it has to do with COVID and I mean, I know, like with my, my siblings growing up and going to school during that time and stuff, it was all just so sheltered it was, you know, protective and poor them and they don't get to experience these things and all of that kind of stuff. And so I think that that kind of started this whole, like you are special because you went through such a traumatic time during this and I mean it was like that for everybody, just because you know you're in high school or whatever you know. I mean it was hard to be able to miss out, or to miss out on certain things in high school is, you know, a bummer and stuff. But I think that it went a little too far into the realm of poor you and I think that that started this whole new, you know.
Speaker 2:Paradigm whatever this is, whatever this is, but.
Speaker 1:I do believe that that really had something to do with it, where it was just.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, it's strange from my vantage point because, you know, not in the woe is me, but I suffered from depression for so long. You know, covid hit me differently due to that in some way. And to be walking out of it as I'm watching almost the whole of culture become clinically depressed like for real, and it's like you know, everybody's tired and they don't know why they feel slow like that. That's depression. Oh no, I'm not depressed like. Oh yeah, you are, it's. It's weird to see what covid I mean I snapped and zane with me during.
Speaker 1:You know all of the shutdowns and everything, but I, I, I think to, to be someone that lived alone or to be someone you know, I think that would have been just yeah, that would have been really difficult.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Such a lonely time and, and you know, I don't, I don't know if it's because people were sitting with themselves and just becoming aware of how they were actually lonely.
Speaker 1:You couldn't even take a walk on the beach.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, there's that part of it, you know. But but again, that's a short time. These guys, you know that was it felt like an eternity, but anybody who's lived for more than 40 years you know it was just three months. You know, if we're being honest about how shut down it was, it was happening across the globe, so I don't think that we're unique that way. But that being said, you know, in my estimation I'm looking at people going like you actually were forced to sit with yourself and now you don't like it, you know and not being able to reboot. You know your business experience, what Mike's did, you know that also a lot of opportunity for people to sit there and find things that they want.
Speaker 1:I mean, you're never going to get another chance to be able to just sit in yourself and figure it out and think about things and think about life and think about what you're going to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean you're sitting in one of those opportunities. I mean when it got shut down here, I mean all three of us, you know Brian. I mean when it got shut down here, I mean all three of us, you know Brian. Kevin and I were crying back here Like when it shut down, like you know. You know how leveraged they are yeah. You know it looks shiny on paper but you know to have the level of responsibility that they have on their books.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, I know I'm the sole breadwinner for my house.
Speaker 1:I'm being told that okay, I'm going to make $2,400 a month. When you work for somebody else and you're getting you know supplemented and stuff, it's not nearly as scary as. Okay, my doors are going to be closed and there's there's no upper management. That is going to be, you know, figuring this out for me. This is, you know, if I can't pull out of this, it's done.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, and at least you know, for me it was an amazing year in a really cool way that somehow I survived on. I think I barely made $4,000 more than I made the first year Kim and I were married and like that was not a pretty number and I'm like, okay, I have $5, five grand in my bank account for the first time. What just happened, like like there's no way that this miracle, in a way that COVID was to me of, like huh, like, wow, like what was I spending my like?
Speaker 1:what was that Like, like, what was really makes you look at?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it really does, you know you're not driving anywhere, you're not doing the things, and and again, you're self-employed. I'm self-employed, yeah, but you know when, when we were in the back here and they were coming up with ideas, it was like boom. Immediately they yeah. You know that's vacant. We're putting a store in there. That's just them. They're always looking for new opportunities. It goes from a store to trucks, and now they're. Not that they weren't contractors before, but now they're engineering contractors building bridges.
Speaker 2:Very important basements for very important people, and sidewalks everywhere and all that kind of stuff. They had that spark in them, but that reality of like, oh no, now what?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like there's just going to be no cash flow.
Speaker 1:I mean I feel like just working for them for the few years before buying the business from them. I mean I learned that from them. I mean you flip them on their back. They roll right over. It's really cool to watch what they do.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So what are your drivers? What's the thing that gets you up in the morning? What do you hope for, as we really, as I think you've made it through the rough spot You've had the business now for is it a year and a half?
Speaker 1:May will be two years. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So there are mistakes, clearly, that we make first years.
Speaker 1:It's fun, I got this thing, yeah, yeah, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and everything's propped up the way it was. And then the way it was doesn't work. You're starting to add your personality to the store, yep, and some of those things are working. You know again that two to three year first, you know hurdle of what is this business that I'm in, and you know, as you're seeing a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel, you know what is it that wakes you up in the morning now. Is it just fear or are you like I think?
Speaker 1:there's more excitement. That wakes me up in the morning than fear I think I have.
Speaker 1:like I said I, this was not my dream, this was not something that I thought up and wanted and thrived for, but it is something that I have built and and grown into and, and so to wake up every morning and be excited to be like, okay, what are we doing today? Excited to just go and make sandwiches for people for the day, excited to go out to Freedom and see all of the people there and I mean Howard and Sarah are absolutely so amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the generosity that flows from those people. I mean, I've known of them. One of them was in my client sphere.
Speaker 1:I mean, I owe so much to them there. They treat me so well and just going out there and hey Maddie, hey Maddie, it just those make those days, make my week. And um, yeah, just people being so excited to come into the shop and I get so many this is such a cool shop and all that kind of stuff, and that kind of stuff drives me I think more than like, am I going to make rent this month? Or you know I think there, there are those days for sure, you know Um but, uh, I think more of the driving factor is, just like I said, there's.
Speaker 1:there are those locals, and I am so happy to have the space that I do because I get those people that come in and they know who I am and they know how I am and it's special.
Speaker 2:So what's brewing at Pointside? What's on tap, do you think this spring summer?
Speaker 1:Some hot sandwiches coming in. I just got a big old commercial panini press so I'm excited to start rolling those things out. You know, some beer and wine here soon be able to come sit on the patio at point side, have a sandwich, bottle of wine with your girlfriends, couple beers with your friends, and that's going to be really exciting this summer. I want to be able to rent the patio, have a little little get together for the night or anything.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, that that I'm. I'm super excited and you don't necessarily know this, but you know, when the boys bought this space, they asked me to come over. You know we got something for you and there was already shop in the front. You know where your location is and you know there's some negotiating going on with the hairdresser who owned it, who's since passed and and uh, and you know for them it's like you know this is cool and what you've described to us about what you want, because you know they've had other properties yeah but when they took me to what was a storage closet, it was funny.
Speaker 2:they looked at me and they said you know, howie, like we just know you and we think this is your space, and you know there's been a bunch of different feelings that shop has had. I have three chairs and one like that. You know I had in my imagination, you know, what did I really want to do towards the end of my career? These ideas and we would just sit in this room back when it was just a gym, no walls, no, nothing in here, and just sit here and dream. And you know you guys can't see it, but you can go to point side beach shack and go have a look.
Speaker 2:this was in their imagination what they did with this space is insane and and at the core of it, which is what I love, is that you know we just want a place where we can hang out with our friends. And you know, here we are, 14 years later. You know, as the imagination has continued, you know, little bits at a time to be able to get this spot.
Speaker 1:I'm sure you can hear them hanging with their friends Always, yeah, hanging with their friends.
Speaker 2:If they're around, there's always people around. The conversations are not always.
Speaker 1:They came up with a bunch of meat yesterday and barbecued out here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for Kevin's birthday and, as you know, I'm moving my podcast room over to the man cave thing that we're going to create over there and have a gym and all that kind of stuff and, as I bring in other podcasters over here, just what sits in our imagination and what they wanted to bring to life, watching it come to that. And it's going to take 20 years to get to that spot. You weren't here for the inception, but the future is bright. The amount of traffic that we've seen increase walking by. You know the hurdles that were in the way the little strip down the street has finally gotten solidified.
Speaker 1:The little signs are better.
Speaker 2:Just all of it. You know all the things. You know the, the, the. The owners of 41st Avenue who have been a barrier are now becoming out of the way. Yeah, and to be a part of this space, when it was all in essence kind of massage parlors, basically all hookers and like this was not the good part of the neighborhood, it was what it was. It's been a really fun to just watch it at this age and to see a young person like yourself help bring that growth is just a pleasure. On my end, I'm glad you're here. You know I love you dearly. I'm so stoked to be here. You know it's so fun to have a little daughter around my kid's age and talk with you. But, Manny, thank you so much for coming and being part of it. I can't wait to see the bodies sitting in front of my place. Maybe I can pick up some more business on that end, counseling or otherwise. But anyways, Manny, thanks for coming to the show.
Speaker 1:Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:And really appreciate you and good luck. I can't wait for all that we see next Thank you All right.
Speaker 1:Bye, everybody, luck. I can't. Can't wait for all that we see next. Thank you All right, bye everybody have a good day.
Speaker 2:I love that. It's pretty fun, right.
Speaker 1:That was epic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're still recording a little bit, so good, it's actually fun to be on the show. Guys, have a good day.