Nov. 19, 2025
Milestone Met, Spirit Intact
The kind of moment that keeps a dream alive doesn’t always arrive with a banner; sometimes it’s a quiet ping at the register and a lump in your throat. We finally crossed the sales number we set five years ago—through shutdowns, grief, a newborn, and more near-misses than we care to count—and it hit us with a wave of validation bigger than the math. The goal wasn’t about getting rich; it was about proving this American-made lifestyle brand could stand on its own legs and keep serving a community that’s carried us from day one.
Along the way, we open up about mental health and the heartbreaking story of Marshawn Nealon, reflecting on how fatherhood can rewire purpose and help us stay one more day. Then, at a Bangor Mall pop-up, we watched something rare: two women who had lost their jobs after blowing the whistle on abuse in a mental health facility nearly sold out their crafts. On day two, a local shop owner stopped to browse their partner’s Yu-Gi-Oh cards, paid sixteen hundred dollars, and then offered scrubs, toys, and a chance to bring the rest of the collection for a fair deal. Tears, hugs, stunned silence. Call it timing, call it grace—it felt like a Christmas miracle.
If you’re chasing a target that keeps slipping away, this story is for you. We talk candidly about setting realistic goals, the squeeze of cash flow during growth, and why showing up in real communities creates surface area for luck and kindness. We also share the laughs—yes, we said “Yogi cards” before getting corrected—and the gratitude that fuels us into the next season.
If this resonated, subscribe, share with a friend who needs a lift, and leave a review. Your words help new listeners find the show and help small, American-made dreams keep going.
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00:00 - Kicking Off And New Listeners
05:30 - Mental Health And Marshawn Nealon
11:20 - Bangor Mall Pop-Up And Sales Goals
18:10 - The Five-Year Revenue Milestone
23:30 - Gratitude And Brand Mission
24:30 - A Christmas Miracle Unfolds
39:30 - Laughter, Corrections, And Sign-Off
WEBVTT
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On this week's episode of Share the Struggle Podcast, we break the news on a loud, proud American milestone achievement that has been five long years in the making.
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And I also share with you the first Christmas miracle of the season.
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All that and more on today's episode of Share the Struggle Podcast.
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Let me tell you something.
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Everybody struggles.
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The difference is some people choose to go through it and some choose to grow through it.
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The choice is completely yours.
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Which one you choose will have a very profound effect on the way you live your life.
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Good.
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Low Almighty, am I so excited to be back with you?
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Oh, it is true.
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It is damn true because I love you, Boo.
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Welcome to episode 280 of this year podcast.
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Perfectly precisely named Share the Struggle.
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Because everybody struggles.
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This podcast is brought to you by the fine folks over to Loud Proud American, home of that apparel brand that focuses on the American spirit, bringing back American manufacturing.
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There is no better gift to give in this gift-giving season than that of a gift proudly made in the USA.
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Support American manufacturing and this family right here.
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Head on over to loudproudamerican.shop.
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Get yourself something really nice.
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I'm going to be updating the website here shortly.
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We have a lot of major projects going on at the home front.
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I am eagerly awaiting and anticipating the announcement of some cool stuff going on at home here on the Ponderosa for the family, both business, personal, pleasure, what have you.
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All great things.
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It is the busy time of the season for us.
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Usually things slow down this time of year.
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We come out of Freiburg and I take a few months off.
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We position ourselves to be uh good to go through the holidays and through the season.
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Um, but that's not the case this year.
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If you've heard me talking over the past few weeks, I am continuing to stay as active as I possibly can.
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So we just wrapped up two back-to-back weekends at the Bangor Mall.
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I'm going to get into some details on that here shortly.
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But I'm just kind of giving you the little screenshot of things and how they're going here in the home front.
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Uh, we were looking into doing some more shows, but the vehicle situation is kind of holding us back.
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Our uh company vehicle is out of commission right now, so it's been kind of a juggling act between, you know, figuring out where to go, how to get there, versus the things that need to be done at home for the business and for the family.
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So um it's crunch time over here, and uh, we're going hard and fast as best as we possibly can, navigating all that we can.
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So that's really some of the stuff that's on tap for this week.
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I have an awesome announcement about the business, and uh I wanted to share a little heartwarming thing that uh I said heart warming.
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It sounded like I said worming.
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Nobody nobody wants heartworms, man.
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My dogs are laying in the living room right now being jackasses, and and I'm pretty certain one of them just woke up when I said heartworm.
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They were like, oh no, not me, big daddy.
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Heart warming.
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I'm having a hard time saying it now.
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Warm.
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I'm trying to emphasize the A, warming, but it ain't working because it sounds like wormin'.
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Heart, you know what I mean?
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Whatever.
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It makes you feel good, is what I should say.
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I only went far as far in life as my parents' taxpaying dollars would take me.
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I am publicly educated and over-regulated, so you know, just it is what it is, okay?
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Take it for what it's worth.
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But Share the Trucker Podcast.
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Let's get back on track here.
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Y'all know the routine.
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This is that show where we share whatever it is that we're going through that we're growing through, and we know if we have the the confidence and the vulnerability to share what it is that we're experiencing in life, then it will provide strength to others experiencing similar situations in life.
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That is the reason for this here's show.
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I still can't believe we are at 280 consecutive weeks over five years of this here beautiful podcast.
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We've got a lot of loyal day ones.
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And when I say day one, I'm acknowledging the folks in the room that have been here since day one.
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Get your ones up.
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I love you.
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I acknowledge you.
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But I also want to welcome to you a bunch of new listeners.
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Thank you to all of you that are listening for the first one.
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The first time.
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This is your day one.
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I welcome you.
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Don't forget you can go back and uh listen to all the years episodes.
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I think that uh a lot of people reach out and say they love binging the podcast, they enjoy doing that.
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Welcome back to Kevin Balanski from from New York, from out in the Syracuse area of New York.
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He is back on track with the podcast.
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Love you, big Kev.
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Wanted to say thanks for coming back.
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I got the message from you, but I'm saying these things about um some new listeners because I found this little stat that I think is pretty cool.
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I never noticed it in my podcasting app before, but it actually lists out um a few new locations.
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So I think this is kind of cool.
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I was um just getting ready for today's podcast, and I was trying to refresh my memory as to what episode today was.
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280, okay.
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So I went on my um my uploading site to uh check what that number was, and then I also noticed this spot that says new locations.
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So let's just throw them out there.
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Uh for all the regular listeners.
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I think it's just kind of cool for you to hear different places that people are coming in and tuning in from.
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And for all of you that are that are new here, hopefully maybe I'm shouting you out, and if that's the case, then I welcome you, I appreciate you, and uh send on a little uh message, a little how do you do on over.
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That'd be great.
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But uh welcome to the new folks in the room from Jackson, Mississippi.
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I've actually always wanted to go to Jackson, Mississippi.
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So fun fact, I think um actually Jackson is the my favorite joining cash songs.
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Maybe that's where that comes from.
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Jackson, Mississippi.
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Also, welcome to the room.
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Madison, Wisconsin.
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I wonder if that's Maddie out in Wisconsin.
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We made some friends on the road in Wisconsin.
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So Madison, Wisconsin, welcome to the show.
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And uh I'm gonna have a hard time pronouncing this one, but uh uh it looks like Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
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Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, welcome.
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And this one I will definitely mess up, but welcome to the show, Helsinki Usama.
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The fine folks in Helsinki.
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Booyah, I love saying Helsinki, so that's kind of helped make this stick.
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But four new locations.
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Thought that was kind of cool.
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It only showed uh like four locations.
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I think that might be just kind of what it peeks out at when I open it up to kind of like a little news thing.
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Like, hey, here's four new spots for you.
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So probably changes every day, but very cool.
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Maybe I get in the habit of sharing that every time we we jump on.
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I thought that was kind of cool, kind of fun.
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Shows the outreach that we have started to build, and I owe that to each and every one of you.
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So thank you.
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I appreciate you, I acknowledge you, I love you, and I welcome you back, and I welcome you in, friends.
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Hope all y'all are doing well.
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I hope you're uh gearing up for the holiday season, you're starting to count some lessons, you're starting to feel awful thankful, and um, that's the way I hope all of us can be moving forward.
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I want to touch on something from last week.
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Last week's episode uh was a fun episode and a heartfelt, um, difficult episode at the same time.
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We got into some difficult conversations on mental health, and we talked about um being a better version of you so you can so you can help other people.
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And uh we were talking about Marshawn Nealon and that story of the young man at only age 24 who took his life second-round draft pick in uh defensive end for the Dallas Cowboys, Marshawn Nealan.
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It took a little more sad turn um right after recording the episode.
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I learned that um they're expecting that Marshawn's girlfriend is pregnant with their first child, so um crazy to uh to think about.
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And I say that because I am uh a new father here, and um so I guess I'm ultra sensitive to all of those things, but it's already easy to see and to say that my greatest accomplishment on this earth is already having my daughter and um welcoming Paisley to the world.
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She's already meant so much to me and my family and been an amazing blessing and gift that um I can't help but think if Marshawn could have actually made it, like if he could have just stayed strong long enough for that little one to show up, that it might have changed his whole life.
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I know he was dealing with the death of his mother, and um, you know, for me here dealing with the death of my father, and very shortly actually on my father's birthday, his first heavenly birthday, finding out I was going to be a dad, it changed everything for me.
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And I was certainly scared shitless, and I'm sure he was too, and that might have factored into it.
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And I'm guessing when you're battling with mental health, maybe you're thinking you're not adequate enough to be a father, and those are all things that I think all men deal with and battle with, but I can't help but think if he would have just made it to that to that little baby's birth that his life would have changed, and um, you know, it just it's really sad because I spent the weekend.
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Obviously, I spend every day with my daughter, but I spent the weekend at the Bangor Mall and and um watching her interact and talk to people and play with people and um just how special it is and how so many people just gravitate to her already.
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And um, we actually spent the past two weekends at my cousin's house, um, something that I've we we haven't hung out since we were children, and um just all of these things just kind of connecting us together, and it just you know, you think about people missing out on that, and it was a special week for us here because last week, well, first off, little Paisley's a crawling champion and she's getting close to walking, and she can walk and hold on to things, but she hasn't really been walking on her own.
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And last week with the wife working from home and me working from home, my mom had um little Paisley and she sent us a video that said it's happening, and she was upstairs just walking.
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And you know, we've been up there with her, and now you know, we ran up there with her, I should say, and watched her walk and play, and now she's kind of a walking machine.
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So she's off and running, she's often walking, and uh life comes at you fast, things come at you fast, but I'm feeling awful blessed and awful fulfilled over here, and um, it's just really sad, it adds another sad element to that whole story.
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So I just wanted to drop that that recap on last week, kind of connecting the dots a little bit.
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I didn't want to um you know make everybody sad, but I guess I'm saying it in case there's some people out there that are struggling that do have some um, you know, mental health battles right now, and maybe you find yourself in a similar situation as Marshawn, where maybe you have a little one on the way, and I just want to empower you to stay.
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I just want you to know that if you can make it a few more weeks, a few more months, when that little one comes, it's gonna change your entire life.
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Uh, if you're like me and you're like Marshawn, you're you're hurting from losing a parent, there's nothing like um the the void in your heart that gets filled when you have when you have a child.
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So hopefully that reaches some people out there, and that's kind of why I'm I'm putting it out there.
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But I want to remove ourselves from last week.
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Let's get into this week.
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You know, we've been talking about our two weekends back to back at the Bangor Mall and the real inspiring feeling for us as a brand to have a storefront, to have a brick and mortar.
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It's been tremendous to be able to go into a store and experience that Christmas hustle and bustle, the holiday season.
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It's been tremendous.
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This past weekend, we did not do uh nearly as good as we did the first weekend, but it was a great weekend.
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Uh, so much so that on our Saturday this year, we actually passed um the two-day combo of last year.
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So last year we did it for one weekend, a Saturday and Sunday.
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And on Saturday, this past weekend, it was uh a bigger day than both Saturday and Sunday of last year.
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And uh Sunday was another pretty decent day for us when you package them all up together.
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Um I actually had a great uh four-day, two-weekend event.
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And if you guys have been listening and you know me, you know that I put some goals on the table, some hopeful goals, some realistic goals, and some lofty goals that are within reason.
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And I hit the lofty goal that I thought was within reason.
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So uh a major success for us this weekend.
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And and I just want to say thank you to each and every one of you that might be listening, that came out, that participated, that that um that showed up, that showed out.
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It took a village for us to get there, and the village showed up for us to have a tremendous weekend.
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So I just wanted to say a thank you, I appreciate you, and um, I'm counting you as an absolute blessing this year.
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I got to spend time with some of my cousins, Hannah, Amanda, Bree.
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I get to see and spend time with some new extended family, the entire Tracy family showing up and showing out and supporting us back-to-back weekends.
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And if you guys have been listening throughout the year, you know that um I met a young fella that has been um a really special addition to the family, somebody that I foresee us always having a relationship with.
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I was at the Scowhegan Fair, uh suffering through a very slow fair, and I met a really special young man named Isaiah, and he spent a week with us, and we've stayed in touch, and he made the trip from uh from his home to the fair to the mall, I should say, and spent the day with us on Saturday.
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And it's really cool.
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Like, you know how sometimes things just fit, right?
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Sometimes people in your life just fit, and I guess there's no better judge of character than that, to that, than your 14-month-old daughter, because she instantly starts to um like play hide and seek and interact and socialize with Isaiah.
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She's not really big on strangers picking her up and stuff, and uh she was basically asking him to pick her up.
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So within a very short amount of time, he's holding her and walking around with her, and they're interacting and and playing, and and uh they were just having a really good time.
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So the that was really fulfilling for us to um to have.
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So I met Isaiah this year.
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I'm certainly counting him as a blessing this year, uh, meeting this young man that gave me hope and inspired uh the thought process in me that maybe this future generation is gonna be okay, right?
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And uh he's just a really tremendous hardworking individual, 18-year-old kid out on his own, um, putting in 80 hours of work at the farm, uh, followed by a 60-hour work week at the farm, followed by uh hanging out for five, six hours at the mall with the family.
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So um very cool.
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It was a great weekend and a great blessing.
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And I will say that I started today's show mentioning a milestone moment and achievement for the business that has been five long hard years in the making, and I'm excited to share that with you.
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I can't get into exact details on it, but what I can say, and to all of you that have been listening all along the way, you've heard me say this many, many times.
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When I started this business, my first year in business, I forecasted this number.
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I said, Hey, if I can sell, if I can net, if my net sales are this number right here, I think the business is working, I think it's providing, I think we can make a living, and I don't think it'll hold us back.
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This is the number that I need to be at.
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Now, I will say over the years I've realized there's a lot more to that number that I didn't realize.
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There's a lot more things that come out of that net profit that don't really um correlate to me making that amount of money.
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So it's still not really a comfort level for me, but I don't want to overshadow or or shy away from or not appreciate and celebrate this particular story here because this number that I set for this business, I've been chasing for five seasons for five years.
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Actually, we're approaching our sixth year in business.
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The first year we didn't come anywhere as close to that number.
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We suffered through uh COVID, through the pandemic, through all the shutdowns.
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The second year we experienced tremendous growth.
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We almost doubled, maybe even did double our number from the previous year.
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Um, every year since then, we've we've grown, we've gained.
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Um, that following year after that, my father passed, and we were having we were on pace to have our best every year.
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And um my father passed, and our business and our lives basically shut down for months.
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And um it certainly put us out of business for the whole holiday season, and uh we missed out.
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And then last year we, you know, battled and battled and tried to overcome a lot of things.
00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:53.920
And and little Paisley arrived in September, and we took a lot of things off of our schedule because you know we were we were anticipating her birth and then having the birth and then coming out of Freiburg and not being able to travel very much because we have a newborn and all those things.
00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:56.960
Um, we gained a little bit of ground and we came oh so close.
00:18:57.039 --> 00:19:04.400
We came within thousands of dollars, a few thousand dollars shy of attaining that number that I set for myself.
00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:10.960
So I'm saying this to tell you that every year for five years I've fallen short on this goal.
00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:16.400
I am yet to hit the goal that I thought we would attain in our first year in business.
00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:20.319
I thought first year you're gonna hit this number, and then we're gonna start growing from there.
00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:29.680
If you can hit this number on year one, then you know there's growth for you, that you know there's gains for you, you know there's profit in dollars and a life for you.
00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:32.559
There's hope for this dream to come true for you.
00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:36.319
But the truth is, folks, I've never hit that number.
00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:41.839
Not in year one, not in year two, not in year three, not in year four, not in year five.
00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:48.559
As we're closing in, wrapping up what will be or the coming to the end of year six, I'm really bad at math.
00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:50.960
Is that is this becoming obvious?
00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:53.839
How many times do the wheels on the bus go round and round?
00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:56.559
My daughter's depending on me to count America.
00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:11.599
I guess I'm rambling and I'm and I'm uh confusing myself because I'm excited to share with you that Loud Proud American finally attained that number.
00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:16.960
Not only did we hit that number, we passed that number.
00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:25.519
That number, that goal, that lofty goal that I set for myself on day one that began to feel impossible, it came true.
00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:31.839
I even remember the exact transaction when we passed that number.
00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:36.480
Because it was a close family friend.
00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:41.680
Um I think that made it even more special.
00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:57.200
If you guys have been listening, you know my story about going to Florida, and uh one of my best friends, Brian, and his boy Zach, putting their life on hold to help me achieve a dream and heading to Daytona and um selling there at Daytona at Bike Week.
00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:07.920
And um Brian and his wife Christy were the first actual people that I ever trusted to run my business for me, to cash people out, to represent the business and the brand.
00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:32.400
And um it was very fitting the fact that Brian's wife Christy and her girlfriends were on a girls' trip and they came up to see us, and her and her friends made the final transactions to push Loud Proud American into the number that I've been hoping for, praying for, and working oh so hard for.
00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:40.400
It feels oh so good to finally hit that number.
00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:41.599
I don't know what it is.
00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:54.000
The number doesn't provide the life I expected it to provide, but it validates the journey, it validates the fight and the struggle, it validates that there is more growth here.
00:21:54.319 --> 00:22:11.200
That Proud American, if you're doing the math on this, folks, this means right now, in November, the middle of November, we have already achieved the greatest net sales year in the history of our business.
00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:20.720
We have a month and a half to go, and we have attained the greatest net sales of our history.
00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:28.400
We currently are up 14% in net sales for 2025 over 2024.
00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:32.400
You guys know how difficult it is to make money this year.
00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:41.680
Y'all should know how difficult it is to afford anything this year, and here we are this year achieving our greatest success.
00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:48.960
14% net sales growth this year with more time to go.
00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:57.680
I will say the ironic thing here, folks, is I feel broker than we ever have as a business, but I do know there's a lot of growing pains of the business.
00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:04.079
We're trying to expand, we're struggling with some of those hurdles, and we've broken a lot of things this year with this business.
00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:10.880
But I'm encouraged by this business, I'm rejuvenated by this business, and I'm hopeful for this business.
00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:15.359
This is our greatest year ever.
00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:20.799
I can't believe it.
00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:24.880
Thank you to each and every single one of you.
00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:36.079
Whether you have made a purchase, whether you've, you know, liked, commented, shared our business, invited other people to follow our business, support our business, help grow our business.
00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:39.039
It means everything to us.
00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:40.960
We love you.
00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:42.480
Gotcha.
00:23:47.039 --> 00:24:01.279
Lau Proud American is a lifestyle brand dedicated and determined to represent the American spirit with an unrelenting commitment to provide made and the USA products.
00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:13.039
If you would like to join the two percent of Americans that buy American and support American, head on over to www.looproudamerican.shop.
00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:17.839
Together, we can bring back American manufacturing.
00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:21.119
Alright, alright, alright.
00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:46.400
Well, folks, in between all the celebrations, in between all the motivations, motivating myself to take the brand to bigger new levels, imagining ourselves with brick and mortars and storefronts and all those things, in between counting blessings and being grateful and all the hustle and all the bustle.
00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:50.880
I also mentioned a Christmas miracle.
00:24:51.279 --> 00:25:00.640
And it was pretty damn cool this weekend being at the Bangor Mall and being on the sidelines watching a Christmas miracle.
00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:05.839
Let me try to explain this to you folks as best I possibly can.
00:25:06.880 --> 00:25:09.759
We set up inside the storefront.
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:19.680
So I think I gave you a little uh painted little picture the past couple of weeks about this, but malls all throughout the country, they are um beginning to be abandoned, right?
00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:26.240
So many stores are empty and vacated, and um all the kiosk in the middle, and most of them are pretty much gone.
00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:35.039
So what happens in Bangor, Maine, is that um crafters and small business owners, entrepreneurs take over the mall for two weekends in a row.
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