Road-Life Reality For A Small Business Vendor

Recap And A Mindset Choice

SPEAKER_00 0:01

With America 250 now behind us, let's recap the event that was. Let's share some more disappointments from the road, and hopefully find a positive story to be told. Let me tell you something. Everybody's struggled. The difference is some people choose to go through it and some choose to grow through it. The choice is completely yours. Which one you choose will have a very profound effect on the way you live your life. You are right where you need to be. What it hot Did it do? Speaking of hot. It's been real hot, y'all. It was a steamy birth weekend of America. I don't know where y'all were who might be listening, but I know the Northeast was in a little bit of a heat wave. Okay? It was scorching. I did see some places, obviously. Um the great American fair that uh President Trump was putting on in the firex. I know that had a lot of rain and some stuff going on, but not where we were. We avoided the rain, but we surely participated in some heat. I'm gonna recap that event that was. We're gonna share some of the details. We're gonna preview what's next to come for Lower Proud American, and I'm gonna try to stay positive and motivated because things have been happening in a positive direction. We have been experiencing positive results, and I don't want that positive ball of energy that we are starting to build up, to ball up, to get barreled up, to roll downhill. I don't want to derail the positive energy with a negative mishap, but I had something go wrong yesterday that has carried into my day today that I must confess to you is weighing on my mind, and it is preventing me from doing what I need to do, and it is preventing me from being as optimistic as I like to be for you. So I'm having a real hard time with that. I'm having a real hard time not starting the show with this dark cloud that I am dealing with. There is a positive undertow to this dark cloud, but until it's resolved, until you put it behind you, when it's right there in front of you, and you have to continue to work through it to find a solution to it, it's hard to be optimistic of it. You know what I'm saying? But I certainly do feel blessed by the way it went. And um y'all are listening and you're completely confused, unless it's a select few of you. You're very completely confused, and you're saying, just say it already. Well if I'm gonna be frustrated about it, you're gonna have to be frustrated about it too. That's called a cliffhanger and show business. So uh I'm gonna share that with you in a minute.

Six Years In And Still Grinding

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Let's get back to the heat. Episode 313, 313 consecutive weeks of Share the Struggle podcast. This is July, y'all. The key thing about July is that it was the summer of 2020. It was July 2020 when we started this here podcast. When we started Share the Struggle Podcast, it was July 2020. That is six years, y'all. Oh look at y'all. Oh, look at him clapping, clapping. I hope today he don't have to clap, you know what I'm saying? He can clap all he wants. Oh, look, he's snapping. Oh, he you know, if you saw him this weekend, he was about to snap. This is a different kind of snap. He clap oh you have he's happy. Celebrate, boy. You you did it. You earned it. Six years. Oh, six glorious years. Thank you to each and every one of you. Six years. I should have planned something special. Hey, the month's not over. We'll see what happens. But uh it's all my day ones. There's a handful of you that have been here since day one that listened to the very first episode, and you've held true and through all of it. 313 consecutive weeks. I not only acknowledge you, I love you. It's true. I do, it's damn true. If this is your first week, I don't know what you've been missing, I don't know what took you so long, but I'm not gonna start our relationship off on a negative note, okay? So welcome. I appreciate you. I thank you, and I encourage you to go back and listen to some of the chaos that's been me and my story and my struggle and my journey. I know I should probably have guests on here more often, but we are so busy it's hard to actually do the guest thing, and then I'm completely encouraged by those of you that like to continue to listen to the chaos that is my life and like to tune in to the building blocks of Lao Proud American as we build this business, this American brand, and I feel like we're starting to see and feel some real traction on the brand as we do this. I think it's awesome to share some of these stories and to look back at where we started. And when I encounter struggles these days, I still look back at the old days and I smile for who we are and where we are and how far we've come. And it's because of each and every one of you that continue to support us, root for us, encourage us, and pull us through. So I thank you. Six years, share the struggle. Thanks, y'all. I appreciate you. All things podcast related, WW Share The Struggle Podcast.com. All things merch related, loudproud American dot shop, y'all. Now, it's hot, it's been hot, it's been real hot. Last week was another week of Loud Proud American events that are new to us that we have not done before. If you've been listening over the past few weeks, we really spelled out that this year we took some chances and um we've replaced consecutive or consistent regular events with um an eye on optimism. We've tried some new stuff and we found new locations, new events, new faces, new places, that whole that whole chestnut. And we are wrapping up a streak of weeks where um we've just been in a new place every single week. And we've been so many places I can't even really recap and think about all of them. But we were in the proving grounds in Lebanon, Maine. We were in Barnyard in Livermore, Maine. We were at the Moose Lottery at the Acton Fairgrounds in Acton, Maine. We were at the Springfield Fair in Springfield, Maine, and uh there's a couple more out there, I'm certain of it. And we also just finished our 4th of July celebration in the Central Maine 4th of July rendezvous. How do you do celebration? I like you type of deal. So this here event was another new opportunity for us. Uh Matt Perkins from Ledgeway Farm put us on to this event and said that you know it would be a great fit for us and that we would love it. And uh this event is in Clinton, Maine, and it is, I would say, about maybe an hour and 45-ish to two hours away. Um this is a good a good location for us because it's in between some successful busy areas for us. So we're just really feel like we're we're growing and expanding our brand. Now we had this massive heat wave coming in, and I was set to uh build the display on Wednesday, and Wednesday was gonna be like 100 degrees. So I reached out to the promoter, organizer, Kevin, super awesome dude, really funny guy. Um, big heart for charity. This event, I'm just gonna put this out there to y'all. It was free to attend, free to park. You can donate to park. And if you wanted to use the amusement rides, because they had quite a few of them, it was like $9.95 or $9.99 a day. $10 a ride bracelets for kids. Ride all day long. Most places are $30, $35 for that, and they also charge you to get in. They'll charge you, you know, $20 a person to get in, and they'll charge you $10 to park. No parking, no entry, $10 ride till you shit your pants. You know what I mean? Pretty incredible. Uh, free entertainment, lots of vendors, and a free amazing fireworks show. So put all that together, good recipe. I asked Kevin if it was okay if I showed up on Tuesday evening when it was cooling down to put up the shell of my tent, and he was cool with that. So me and my mom actually rolled up, built the uh shell, put everything inside, dropped the trailer, came home, and then I was able to work all day Wednesday to prepare to head out to the fair to get things going. So um that was perfect for me. I was able to produce some more stuff. I put yet another brand new design on the shelf because of this. Super excited, super encouraged by the fact we continue to keep adding new products to the shelves. So uh extremely grateful and thankful for that. Excited for y'all to start seeing some of the new stuff drop. So keep your beady little eyes peeled, America. Good things are coming your way.

A New Fair And Smart Setup Plan

SPEAKER_00 10:11

So uh Thursday, I head out there. It is blistering hot. We get everything uh I'm on my own this time around, and I put in just enough, you know, get the product loaded, get things set up, get things looking good. We didn't have to open till like two o'clock, and then we were supposed to be there till ten, I believe. It was pretty hot. So once I got things built, I kind of stayed put and tried to be productive on my computer and just kind of do little random things that I needed to do. This is one of those days that that um is a blinking light when it comes to some difficult story to share for vendors living that road life that I live. Like for the small business, the entrepreneur trying to make it, this is one of those bootstrap days, right? It's about 95 to 97 degrees. It's blistering hot. You're in a field, you finish setting up, you're pouring sweat, you're standing over fans trying to cool yourself down, and you're open from two to ten o'clock at night, and you make sixty-nine dollars. Hello! I think it was like 69 bucks. If it wasn't 69, it was close to 69, it's way cooler to say. So let's just say I made like 70 bucks. Open for eight hours, worked for like 10, right? Do the math on that. Consider how much you spent on fuel to get there. You don't make any money, right? Uh, one of the best things about Thursday was the fact that uh Matt from Ledgeway Farm he offered up um his house. So he actually uh I jumped in with him at the end of the night. We rode back to his house. He put me up in a super awesome camper, we had cold beers, enjoyed ourselves, and went out to breakfast in the morning. And it was a nice way to have an event, still unwind, spent some time with a great friend. Um, that hospitality um is incredible. And um, that's really if you start to really think about being on the road and doing what we do, that's what it's about, right? Those connections, that's what it's about. It's funny for me to think, as we're here in July, and I'm about to tell you where I'm going next, and where I'm going next is the Ospie Valley Fair. But what I can tell you is that in 2020, that fair, like every other fair, was canceled. But in 2021, I was at the Ospie Valley Fair, and it was the first time I ever set up at a fair, and I met Matt Perkins at that fair. So if I think about this show growing over the years, and I think about the business growing, started thinking about friendships and relationships growing. Um, going to this fair that I'm about to go to, that's when I met Matt, and we've been uh we've become family since then. And uh that's pretty incredible to think about. Just kind of realize that as we're talking. Today's one of those days where I have absolutely no notes. I'm just sitting here um shooting off the cuff, so much so that I'm pushing record and I'm gonna take a sip of sweet tea, which is really bad for radio. Oh yeah. My wife hates it when I do that, and I should go back in and edit that out. But I won't. No, I won't. Not today. Not today. What was I saying? Squirrel. Anyways, uh, Friday was a better day. Nothing tremendous, but it was a it was a better day. We did a lot better than we did on Thursday, and um the wifey and uh and Paisley, the baby, they came up and uh spent the um second half of the day with me. And also, um, if you guys have been listening uh last year, just over a year ago, or not quite a year ago, I met a young fellow named Isaiah at the Scoutheakin Fair. Here we are again, talking about small business vendors on the road and how these things happen and change you and impact your life. I met Isaiah. I shared a few stories with you about this young fellow that inspired me, that gave me hope for the next generation. Because you continue to see and hear and read about the youth of today being uh destructive, being lazy, um pathetic, however you want to look at it, right? No work ethic, and um just entitled, you hear about that, to see a young fella uh who's now on the verge of being 19, that um, you know, goes and gets up at two in the morning to go to work on the farm, and then he'll work all day and he'll drive an hour to two hours to come hang out with us. He's become family. Isaiah came on Friday and we were able to hang out and spend some time together. And then me, Allie, and Paisley got a hotel, which uh it's nice sometimes to do those things too. Instead of hauling in the camper, it's nice to go to a hotel and kind of get a little mini vacation, a little mini break with the family where it forces you to just be present and in the moment and enjoy each other. Those are some of the other perks of this business and kind of being on the road. There's struggles, but there's also opportunities, you know? So uh we spent the hotel um stay Friday and Saturday night. Saturday we get up and um go down to the fair, watch the parade, and I expected to be really busy early, and we weren't. It was kind of a slow build during the day. We really took hours before we really started to get some sales, and then things started to happen, and it felt like we were way ahead of where I thought like I felt like we were trending towards the goal I set for myself for the day, and uh we weren't anywhere as close to it, and I was like, oh, this just that's kind of weird. And uh then at one point we got kind of like to the halfway point, and uh me and Allie took took little Paisley over to like a little build-a-bear, and while we were there, Isaiah got slammed and he ran the tent, and he almost did equal to what me and Allie did all day long. And then um Allie went over there to help him, and me and Matt went for a stroll, and by the time I came back, the two of them have doubled what I did during the day. And at this event, you just start seeing people rolling in, and it's just a steady line of traffic heading down the road that is just non-stop, and this sea of people just begin to arrive and fill in in front of you, it's just lawn chairs as far as the eye can see, and um the promoters getting phone calls from the state police that traffic is backed up on the interstate, which means the interstate's like two miles, I would say, from the event from the actual field that the event's at.

Patriot Crowd And A Huge Saturday

SPEAKER_00 16:32

So you're talking about traffic two miles deep now holding up on the interstate. It was incredible the amount of people that you see at this hometown festival. The patriotism at this place is just incredible. As soon as you get off the exit, you start seeing posters on every light post uh honoring a member of the military, whether it's Vietnam War, whether it's you know, World War II, whatever it is, they're just just literally just honoring all these veterans. It's uh it's pretty incredible. And um, it's just really, really patriotic. A lot of patriotism. It's amazing seeing everybody wearing red, white, and blue. It's amazing seeing all the flags flying, the faces painted red, white, and blue. And uh, we were received incredibly well. The goal that I set for ourselves for Saturday, we crushed it. Like we absolutely crushed it. And it made for a tremendous event, a very successful event. And um, it just felt welcome. You just felt part of the family and you just felt appreciated. And um, we definitely made some new customers uh, and that was incredible. They were so busy that we were supposed to be done at 10 o'clock, and they made an announcement um before the fireworks that the vendors and the rides would stay open for an extra hour to accommodate the traffic. So we were there till uh 11 o'clock, and we had planned on tearing down on uh Sunday on Saturday night, but because of the extra hour, we just said this isn't gonna work. Let's get the baby back to the hotel, let's get to bed. So we went we went back to the hotel, and in the morning we had breakfast together, and then we headed out to the field and started packing, and uh, we got everything loaded up.

The Trailer Wheel Drops At Home

SPEAKER_00 18:13

And I look at the trailer that I've borrowed from my great friend Chris Woodcock, and the wheel looks a little tilted. And I went over and it was like, the lug nuts loose, is the are the hubs bad? And I went over and I pulled on the wheel and nothing, no issues, everything was everything was good. And then I'm like, I looked back at it and I'm kind of loaded at an angle and parked in a hill, and I said, that's gotta be the situation here. So I jump in the truck and and um Allie and Paisley are following me, and and we head up and set sails for home. And uh, like I said, it's about a two-hour ride home. No issues, no nothing, nothing alarming me, alerting me to any situation whatsoever. And uh I pull into my driveway and I get about halfway down my driveway and I hear a loud thud, and I instantly know that the trailer's on the ground. And I'm asking myself, what the heck happened here? I instantly go to a tire because I mentioned I did like a systems check, just making sure that nothing was wrong with the with the tires before I left. So that was the first thing I went to look at. Sure enough, I look in my passenger side rear view mirror, and I see the wheel flopping off of the trailer. I get out of the truck, I walk to the back, and at this point I'm thinking lug nuts must have busted off, the hub must have broke, like what's going on? And I'm kicking myself in the ass because I'm like, you tugged on this, you checked this, like you you looked at this, like how would this how could this happen? And I get after the side of the trailer and I look and the damn axle snapped in half. Right where the hub meets the axle, it's snapped in half. I couldn't believe it. I could not believe it. The first thing I had to do, being the person that I am, is call my good friend Chris. I brought his trailer. I just snapped the friggin' axle on his trailer. I called him and um he owns a garage and a tow company, and he must have been busy doing a tow because he asked me, like, is everything alright? You uh you in an accident, you broke down, you need something? And uh said, I need to talk to you about your trailer. Um he's like, Are you broken down? I said, I actually need to talk to you about your trailer being broken down. And he laughed at me and said, Alright, I'll I'm straight, I'm out straight or something, I'll get back to you. And uh I've just stood on it this whole time, just feeling like shit, you know? And um I jacked the um the trailer up and um put an um an old tire and rim underneath it to level it off, jack it up so I could finish getting it down the driveway, get it to a spot where I could work on it to assess the damage. And um I looked at it, and the incredible thing is is where the axle broke connected to the hub, there's only about two inches of fresh steel showing. And I think that, you know, this pipe's gotta be like a three or four inch diameter, but if you travel it all the way around, there's only like let's say I don't know, 20% of it is showing bare, fresh steel being broken. The rest of it's rusted. Like this thing had been broken for a while, and it was just holding on by this small piece of metal, and it just finally let go in my driveway. After I try to calm myself down, feel like a horrible friend, after I start to try to assess the damage, figure out the you know, uh uh The reason and try to come up with a solution. I start to count my blessings and say, man, God was certainly with me on this one. If that wheel snaps off the axle ten minutes ago, I'm going down the interstate at 75 miles an hour and my wife and daughter are behind me. I'm in 4th of July traffic. I'm, you know, surrounded by tons of tons of cars. I could have seriously hurt somebody. I could have seriously hurt somebody else. I could have hurt my own family. I could have totaled my own vehicle. I could have totaled his trailer and I could have hurt myself. The fact that I got home and that tire just ever so slowly fell off. God was with me on this Sunday. As upset as I am, as disappointed as I am, I'm thankful. There's a part of the story that I forgot to share because I have no notes and I'm kind of shooting from the hip. When I was um finishing my setup at the fair on Thursday, Matt snuck in the backside of the tent and I couldn't tell what he was doing. And I turned around and he had this big ceramic eagle that he bought me. And if y'all know me and you've been listening through the years, you know that to me and my family, my father who passed, he comes back to us um as an eagle. And um Matt was out antiquing with his dad and he found this eagle and he almost bought it. And he said, Hey, my friend would really like this. And then he got in the truck and he left, and he was driving off, and then he something just was talking to him, and he said, You know what? I just I gotta go back. And he turned around and he went back. And when he walked in, the uh owner of the antique shop said, You're here for that eagle, aren't you? And he said, Yeah, I've got to get it for a friend of mine. And he bought this eagle and he brought it to me, and I um put it on display at the event, and some people even came in and took pictures of it, and we had a successful event, and at the end of the event, we put that eagle on the passenger seat right next to me, wings spread, just soaring. And me and that eagle drove home two hours. And when me and that eagle pulled into my driveway, that wheel ever so slightly just fell off. Like I'm here, I made it here, I'm done. Like that eagle escorted me here, and the trailer's saying, You're safe now. Now this is your problem. I got you this far, now this is your problem. I've talked to a few people um about this situation, and and everybody said, Man, I can't believe how lucky you are. I can't believe how lucky you are. Because a lot of times when you tell somebody what happened, they're gonna say, Man, you're lucky, dude. All your vehicles break down, all your equipment breaks down, everything you have turns to shit. I don't know what's cursed you. And um, my wife even got to a point of starting to tell me, man, there's this black cloud that follows you around, and uh, there's some kind of voodoo on you, man. There's some kind of curse on you. And uh I actually have this voodoo doll magnet that one of my best friends got me in um New Orleans, and I've had it for I don't know, man, 20 plus years. And uh Allie saw it and was like, no, no, no, no, I'm taking this out of the house, it's not gonna be here. It's in my mailbox, curse in the mailman and bills, curses on my bills. And um when we got baptized, you know, Allie had said to me, like, there you go. The curse is over, bud. Like that black cloud's not gonna follow you anymore. And when this happened, she looked at me and said, See, you've been blessed. You made it home. And that's what I keep telling myself. And I'm thankful and I'm blessed, and I'm grateful.

Searching For Parts Under Pressure

SPEAKER_00 26:24

But I'm also upset. I destroyed a trailer for one of my best friends, who's out of the kindness, goodness of his heart, is allowing me to use. So I very quickly got to work on this. I was up first thing this morning, jacked the trailer up, leveled it off, um, started working on getting the getting the tires off, the other tire that was still on, off, and um working on getting the axle off. And Chris messaged me and said, Hey, I'm gonna come over and see what's going on. And um I had texted him and said, Hey man, I gotta run to the to the hardware store. And um, he's like, you know, I'm running late, don't worry about it. And uh eventually uh his mechanic came over to see what the situation was and was sending him pictures, and um that bothered me because like I wanted to be the one. I didn't I called, he was the first person I talked to. I you know, I I I called and um I wanted to tell him, but he was in the middle of something and I didn't want to drop this this bomb on him like that, and then I just said, well, if he's coming over because I hadn't heard from him, then I'm just gonna show him. But I wanted to get to work on it, and so then for him to get it secondhand to get pictures and a conversation from his mechanic, um I just I feel bad about that. Like I just I feel bad about that, and uh together me and him got the um got the U-bolts off and we pulled the we pulled the um axle out and I'd already been researching it and I already got all the information and I just needed the measurements. I needed the measurements of how long the axle is and um where it where the length is for the springs. And um I just needed to get that out. And I already looked, tractor supply, had a bunch of them on the shelf, and um this is a small little utility trailer, six by twelve. So I'm thinking this shouldn't be this shouldn't be too bad. And uh before I left, you know, when I borrowed the trailer before, I bought a new rim and tire for it, and I want to fix it up and do things for him because it's got some some small issues, and I just want to fix those things before I bring it back to him, anyways. And um, I'm like, well, I'll just put a brand new axle on this, I'll figure out whatever else has to be done, and um, you know, I'll I'll take care of it. And um we get this axle off, and then very quickly I realize that it's a extremely particular axle for this unit that isn't really made anymore. And um, we've talked to the manufacturer and they're not reproducing it. I have called no short of 20 trailer sales and repair places today, trying to find um these units. I literally have tried to buy the axle with the hubs, with the springs, with everything, no matter what the situation was, just to get it here. And that still can't happen. If it was an inch longer, tractor supply has it. If it was an inch shorter, tractor supply has it. So now I'm in a situation where I've got one of my best friends' trailers jacked up on blocks in my driveway, full of all my merchandise. I'm headed out to my next show on Wednesday, and I have his trailer disassembled and uh full of my product. No way to get my stuff to my event, uh, no way to get his trailer put back together. And I say no way at the moment because I'm not giving up. And some people have offered me to um, you know, use stuff like um I'm not gonna mention uh names in case they don't offer it to everybody, but it's been offered uh to me. But I personally can't go from borrowing somebody's trailer and and and having it break to borrowing somebody else's trailer without replacing and repairing the trailer I already borrowed. Does that make sense to anybody? Like, I just can't do it. If that was my own trailer and it broke and I'm waiting on parts, okay, I'll borrow somebody else's. But that's not mine. That's not my trailer. And here I am trying to put these pieces together. I'm still waiting on a few phone calls, but it appears that my only option is going to be to reach out to a custom axle company and have them just um custom build one for me based off of my dimensions and and uh go from there. So that kind of looks like that's what my option's gonna be, but I have a few more feelers out there. One person is supposed to get back to me tonight, we'll see how this goes. But uh I feel like shit. I really do. I feel like shit. I broke one of my best friend's trailers who out of the kindness of his heart trusted me with it to keep me on the road, to keep me making money. And um you know, you're gonna come from being on the road and having a successful event, and you're gonna take all the money that you made and put it back into replacing and fixing something that you broke. That's kind of been the story for me. That's kind of been part of the struggle for me. That seems to continue for me, and that's that's frustrating. I'm grateful and I'm thankful this happened in my driveway. Don't get me wrong. Because if this happened coming down 95, then I don't know what happens, and I don't know how I move on from it. You know what I mean? So here I am, yet again, in the swirl trying to figure it out. Tomorrow I have to haul my camper to the fair, come home. By the grace of God, if I can find an axle, I'll put it together tomorrow and be back on the road for Wednesday. But if not, I gotta figure something else out and then be on the road Wednesday to get to the fair, to start setting up, to be open Thursday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, to be home, to unload, figure things out for only on Tuesday to drive to upstate New York to Syracuse, six or seven hours away. At this point, knowing if I have to order a custom axle, it will not be here by the time I go to New York. Those things um are heavily on my mind. My bus is still broken, my bus is still down. It's a lot, and it um it's it's really beaten me up. You know what I mean? That's why when I started the show, I said, man, I don't want to start this show on a negative note. But I got this negative situation that I'm working on. Now, if I was able to find an axle on the shelf and I was able to put it back on that trailer today, and I was able to get everything repaired and straightened out, and then I was able to have my friend Chris come over and I can show him the old one and say, hey man, I pulled in my driveway and I broke this. But um, I've been busting my ass and I fixed this and we're all set and it's good to go, man. And I apologize and I'm gonna make good on it for you. And I get on to my next event and we work on getting the bus back and figuring all those things out. Then I just sit back and I am grateful and I am thankful for the blessing that it happened in my driveway, that nobody got hurt, that nothing went worse than it did. You know what I mean? I'm just thankful and I'm grateful and I'm encouraged and I'm blessed. But when you're in the middle of the swirl, you don't have an answer, you don't have a solution, and one of your best friends pieces of equipment is sitting outside in your driveway on blocks, you feel like you're not a good friend, to feel like you're letting them down. And I know this is out of my control, but I'm human, and this is how I feel. And it sucks. And as I'm saying this, I'm probably gonna get off the phone and I'm gonna call him and see if we can have a conversation to apologize because this sucks. And it's not how I wanted uh wanted this to go, and I am gonna make good on it, but uh it sucks, man. It really, really does. Sorry for the long pause there, but sometimes these obstacles, man, they just begin to feel a bit overwhelming. You know what I mean? Like this situation that I'm working on, I only gave myself two days at home to get ready for my next event with a multitude of things that need to be done. Um, things that need to happen for me to go to this event, for me to be there, for everything to go okay. I took this whole day today and didn't do any of the things that needed to be done because my only priority today was to fix the trailer that was broken. That's it. That's my only responsibility. Like that's what my focus was. That was my goal, and it's not done. And as the sun's going down, and that I have no answers on that trailer, and nothing else that needed to be done got done, it's disappointing, and you feel disappointed in yourself. And that's tough. But this is some of the struggle, some of the nonsense, some of the obstacles that you have to go through and you have to overcome when you're owning your own business and you're trying to build your brand. I just can't wait for the day when the struggles are over. You know what I mean? When uh I get through this valley when I'm out on the mountaintop and I can see and appreciate. Man! It just keeps on getting tough, man. It just keeps on getting tough. But this could have been a lot worse. And I will find a way and I will figure it out. That's me. That's what I do. That's what I always do. I will figure it out. It might be a setback, but it's only getting me positioned for a comeback. I will find a way.

Next Stops On The Road Ahead

SPEAKER_00 36:44

If you would like to uh see us and uh encourage us or make fun of us, love us, support us, you can find us, all of us, at the Ospie Valley Fair in High Remain. Fair opens on Thursday. We will be there till Sunday evening. And then on Tuesday, I will be heading out to Syracuse, New York to see the fam, the extended fam in Syracuse. And um, we're gonna have um the Syracuse Nationals on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, a VIP private party concert from none other than Daniel Johnson. Iowa-born, Texas-raised, Nashville-based country troubadour, good friend of mine, and the first and only Lao Proud American sponsored artist Daniel Johnson. If you were cool, you could be there too. I love each and every one of you. I appreciate you, man. Thank you so, so much for supporting my American Dream. This road show rodeo that I just happened to be on. Ups and downs, but you can't let them keep you down. Thank you for supporting my American Dream. I'll go wash your freaking hands. You filthy savage. That's it, and that's all, Biggie Smalls. If you're allowed, proud American. Now go wash your fucking hands, you filthy savage.