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Transcript

Quick PSA And Big News

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What's up guys? I'm James Lauriello, the host of the Steep Stuff Podcast, uh, coming to you with a quick little PSA mini episode on some inside baseball. Uh finally, finally, finally, uh so excited to announce the first of our sponsors uh slash partners going forward as well as the presenting sponsor for the Steep Stuff Podcast, and that is gonna be CDUS USA. Um I've been on the athlete team personally for CDUS for about a year now, and I have just been so excited on their product line. Um it has worked really well for me and my training. And uh when I was sitting here thinking about like, all right, well, what do I do about partners and sponsors for this thing? Because obviously I want to grow the podcast, I want to, you know, bring a better listener experience to you guys. And you know, for the better part of the last two years, I've been, you know, outside of some support from Ultimate Direction, like I've been bootstrapping this thing myself. Uh so just putting in the equity, putting in putting in the work, and uh because I love it, because this means the world to me. And I just genuinely care so much about the sport and want to grow the fan base. So when I was thinking about partners, I was like, dude, I don't really want to partner with something I don't believe in. Like I want to partner with a product that I really give a shit about and something that works like really well for me. And I I couldn't think of like anything other than Cedus and and you know, some shoes obviously that work really well for me, but I think when it comes to socks and insoles, the only product I'll really wear or will wear is Cetus. Um, you guys might have seen like, I don't know, Jim Walmsley, Hayden Hawks, um, you know, Robin Lesh. A lot of the big names in the sport wear the Cetus product. It's immensely popular in Europe and has a very growing fan base in the United States market, and rightfully so. I think the product has worked immensely well for me. I think it works immensely well for others, and it's kind of great across the board. It's comfortable for the ultra athletes and it's high performance for the short trail athletes. So it works really well for anyone and everything kind of in between. Um, me personally, like I've always needed, uh, especially on my left foot, a little more Achilles support. Um, you know, they've got I use the run-in atomic comfort and the run-in atomics. Those have worked like extremely well, um, as well as I've always kind of had a little more flat feet, uh, not flat, but like flatter feet. Um, so there's some specific insoles that I'll use as well to kind of give me a little more pop in my in my stride. Um and they just have been able to help me dial, dial in my recovery and performance when it comes to uh what's working well for my feet specifically, um, from kind of a top to bottom approach. Um, like I said, Achilles support, they've got strips in there, they've got like anti-odor stuff, which um, you know, for those with significant others that don't want to smell your feet, or if you don't want to smell your own feet, uh, it's it was worked really well. So I I've just been a big fan of the products and it's something I just truly believe in. Like you guys know me, you know my rants and like some of the anti-uh consumerism stuff I've kind of thrown out there. Like, you know, I'm not gonna pitch something I don't believe in, and I'm not gonna throw something out there that I don't like that I wouldn't do or I wouldn't try. I I really have a hard time with that. So for me to like pick a partner, I'm very specific and very intentional. I think intentional is the right word, about like, you know, who I want to work with and and what I want to do, because you know, I care a lot about the sport and I care a lot about you guys. And I think the only way we drive value forward with anything is with intentionality, you know, and that's coming from the heart, and that's coming from like who I truly am as a person, and I really care. Um on the business side of the house, as far as CDS goes, the people have just been incredible to work with. Uh, I'm not gonna name names because that's weird, but like the uh the marketing folks, I think have made things just extremely fun, and uh, we're gonna be just bringing a ton of community. I think that's the right word for uh our partnership is gonna be community. Um, you guys are gonna be in the I'm gonna be in the community doing a lot more uh to uh with their support to you know do more with the podcast. And what does that mean? Like, what does that mean value guys for you guys and value for the podcast? Well, it's gonna help me get to places. Like you're gonna see me this year, I'll be at the Cetus booth, our first like quote unquote activation, if you will, uh, or like where you're gonna be able to see me in person and get to collaborate with you guys and have some fun with the podcast, coverage and interviews and things like that is gonna be at the Cetus Booth uh at the Broken Arrow Sky Race in a few months. And I couldn't be more excited. Uh, we'll be there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So everything from the VK or whatever they want to call it now, the Ascent, um, all the way to the 23K, I will be there. We are gonna be having a ball. It's gonna be a big party, um, lots of interviews with some of your favorite athletes. Uh, again, not gonna name names, but there will be some stars there that we're gonna be, you know, talking to and and collaborating with and having some fun conversation around. And so I do invite you all, please, please, please, check out the Cetus Booth if you're gonna be a broken arrow. Come by, at the very least, uh, come say hi and uh talk socks with me and insults and we talk shop and stuff like that. What does that mean for the rest of the season? Well, I'm gonna be announcing, I'm gonna put out, I gotta make it uh it's on my list of things to do today, but um, I'm gonna be putting out a list of where we're gonna be and what I'm gonna be doing in conjunction with my race schedule. That's why I haven't put out a race schedule yet, because there's also a podcast coverage schedule. So you guys are gonna learn more about what that looks like and uh where I'm gonna be in person this year and travel and uh where I'm gonna be uh what I'm gonna be covering, what races, both now internationally and in in um you know, in the studio and and things like that. So there's gonna be a lot of really fun stuff there. Um, what else value-wise can I bring to you guys as the listeners? Um, the first thing is is there's gonna be a discount code for you guys. This doesn't help me in any way. I I think if anything, it's just gonna help you guys value-wise. Use code steep stuff, that's one word, steep stuff, it's gonna get you 20% off. It's for our listeners. Um, it's one you one time only. Um, so use it wisely. Um, but yeah, use code steep stuff that's gonna get you 20% off your cart, and uh it's gonna be some good value and some good stuff there. Um, and I think that's it. I think that's all I gotta say. Uh I'm just I I think the most important thing is I just I couldn't be more excited to be working with Cedas this year. Um, I think they're a amazing fit for us going forward, and uh I just can't wait to see what we're gonna do together. I mean, everything from uh live coverage at the rut and and and Pike's Peak and Broken Arrow and some of these large name US races to uh you know getting some of the best names in the sport on to also continuing to tell the stories of all these amazing up-and-coming athletes so you can continue to learn their stories and learn more. So we're doing nothing but just driving the fan base and uh and uh you know helping to create more fans out of you guys and and and just doing doing good work. I think that's the the right thing, doing good work, doing work that I'm stoked on. Um yeah, and that's all I got. So I I really appreciate you guys' support. And one last thing, uh, if you've been riding with me since the beginning, or if you're new to this, or if you're a new fan, or if you just started listening to me and you're you're getting through some of my rants, um, or if you're you're excited about some of the work we're doing, thanks, thank you. Like, thank you for sticking around, thank you for your support. And uh yeah, I couldn't be more excited. Like I think we're we're finally gonna take this thing in the direction that I want it to. You know, the first two years have been great. I mean, we've had success and growth, and I don't really care about any of that stuff. Like for me, it's just like being able to tell good stories and and you know, making new friends and and uh you know growing the fan base of the sport. But if you've been listening and enjoying what what we've been putting out into the world, I just want to tell you how much I appreciate that. And uh yeah, stay tuned. We're the ship is growing and uh we're moving in a great direction. So uh I think that's all I got. Thanks for tuning in. We're gonna have more announcements coming through soon. Um, I'll tease a little bit. We are partnering with one of the biggest uh race series with a big race series in the United States, which is that's gonna be super fun, uh bringing you guys some exclusive coverage in conjunction. I think that should be announced in the next few weeks, and then we've got other partner announcements coming. Um, but the Cetus one is is near dear to my heart, my heart, because this is this one means a ton, and uh, like I said, very intentional with with what I bring you guys, and I want it to be the best. I don't want to bring you guys bullshit. This is this is me um yeah, just bringing you guys what I think is cool value. So um thanks for tuning in. Thanks for the ride and uh or thanks for riding along. And uh yeah, more to come. Lots of cool episodes coming. I'm gonna drop one tomorrow with Marcel Hosh. I call him Hosh. Uh I the pr the German pronunciation of his last name is is is really intense. Uh it's uh I I'm working on you if you listen to this, you know I'm working on my my French and German and in Italian here. We're getting we're getting better because there's gonna be more Europeans on in the coming months, and uh my dialect just can't handle this. So thanks, guys.