Seizing Ambition & Cultivating Connections 190

Sometimes, to believe your dream, you need to see it. To achieve it, you need to experience it. And if you want to reach it, it's essential to feel it. Today we prepare for the next steps. In our brand loud, proud American, teaming up at Ledgeway Farm, we hit the sky with high hopes and big dreams. Let me tell you something Everybody struggles. 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. If you find strength in the struggle, then this podcast is for you. You have a relationship that is comfortable, with uncomfortable conversations. Challenge you, humble you and they build you. When you sprinkle a little time and distance on it, it all makes sense. Most disagreements, they stem from our own insecurities. You are right where you need to be. Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. What it do. What it do, hot diggity. Damn, am I so excited to be back with you. What it do, baby boo. How y'all feeling, how's your mom and them? How's your mentals? How's your dentals? Yeah, that's a quick checkity check on all my podcast peeps out there. If you are a day one, get your ones up, all my loyal listeners that have been here since day one or maybe you miss things when the story begun, but you've gone back, You've read all the chapters, you've read all the verses and you're up to date. Y'all, consider yourself a day one. Get your ones up. If this is your first day, then I like to say welcome today, welcome to the Loud, proud American Podcast, properly, precisely, beautifully, perfectly named Share the struggle, because everybody struggles. The truth is that our greatest strengths come from sharing those struggles. Y'all so excited to be back with you. So 190, how do you do 190 proof, that's ever clear, right there. For those of y'all out there listening that have a bit of a drinking problem, and you heard 190 and you thought about that grain liquor get you messed up quicker. Yeah, mm-hmm, nothing like that. Come on liquor Get you sicker. The sickest drunken episode of my life, one of the greatest disappointments of my life, came off that ever clear, that 190 proof. Oh my God, wow, what a bad mistake that was. I don't think I've ever looked into my dad's eyes and saw more disappointment than I did that night. I'll tell you that. But moving right along, mm-mm-mm-mm, I'd rather not think about that little memory Embarrassing much. Well, on that note, let's get down to the meat and potatoes. Let's get this show rocking and rolling, because I am so excited to let you know by the time this podcast drops. If you're a regular listener, if you listen weekly on Wednesdays, on a little day we like to call Winning Wednesday if you're a Wednesday listener and you just happen to be listening to today's show on the day that it drops, which happens to be February 28th, then it's a big day for me and a great friend of mine, because today, on this podcast day, I'm teaming up with Matt Perkins from Ledgeway Farm and we're putting our ass on an airplane and we are heading south. We are headed south y'all. We are going to explore, examine and experience one of the biggest fairs and festivals in our greater area. I don't know how to label the geographic area here to make sense, but what I should be telling you in a more professional manner is we've both identified Florida as a great opportunity for us, as a great potential state for us. Our research has indicated this is going to be a great loyal customer base for us. We just need to get our products out to these potential customers. So in doing so. We've done some research and we've identified one festival that just happens to have the reputation of the best festival for the state of Florida, and that is the Strawberry Festival in Plant City, which is just outside of Tampa. My research shows that the Strawberry Festival actually brings in about 600,000 people over the course of that fair, which is phenomenal. I mean, we do fairs in our state that bring in 20,000, 50,000, right, the biggest fairs in Maine might be around 100,000. If we start doing the math on some of these things, right, fiberg's a different beast, windsor is one of our biggest fairs, but when you start cost averaging out fairs and you start thinking about 600,000 people, that's a pretty phenomenal amount of people going to this fair. And the other thing is that you run the risk, if all you do is stay in your local area, that you're oversaturating your market. And we have an extremely loyal fan base, customer base, family base. That's what I consider our customers as family. It's a relationship with us, it's a way of life with us. It's not just a transactional situation with us. It's not just a oh hey, here's a t-shirt Next. That's not the case. We are a lifestyle brand. There's a mission. Our mission and our message is to bring back American manufacturing. This goes far beyond just that tangible transaction of buying apparel. It is different for us. So, in effort to broaden our horizon, to strengthen our customer base, to build that loyal following, there's a couple of states that I personally identified for myself, and one of those is Florida and another one is Tennessee. So today, on the day this podcast drops, we're taking our first great step in bringing loud, proud American to the great state of Florida. So Matt and I are headed out. Matt's family has been gracious enough to house us for a few days. I'm going to go out just for the better part of this week and the weekend. Matt's going to be there longer than myself, but his family's been gracious enough to have us invite us in and to house us for a bit and allow us to get out and experience this festival and then really just try to make sure hey, is this the right fit? Is this the right demographic? I mean, as we're looking at things and doing our research, we really, truly feel this is a great fit for us. But when you're having this big of a financial investment, it just makes sense to get down there and spend a weekend before you invest everything into this one event. To put into perspective for y'all just how big this event actually is, I'm just going to read through some of their entertainment for the week. Y'all ready for this? Let's see if I get this going. The Oak Ridge Boys Oliver Anthony that's the dude that sings. Rich man North of Richmond which, spoiler alert, I picked up tickets for that little show for Matt and myself. The Beach Boys are going to be there. Jordan Davis, the Black Eyed Peas, parker McCullum, the Bellamy Brothers, zz Top, mark Lowry, zach Williams, craig Morgan, riley Green, gene Watson, kirk Franklin, the Commodores, lorynner, jody Messina, flo Ryder and Cody Johnson Y'all believe that? Is that a lineup of entertainment or what? Man? I'm pretty stoked about that. When you have that level of entertainment, you know the level of attendance that's going to be there. I know they keep those things separate, but it's all right there. We really truly feel this is going to be a powerful festival and a great potential event. All research has indicated that this is a very difficult event to get into. The application process is at least a year in advance. I'm no stranger to difficult tasks when it comes to entry into fairs. I got really fortunate getting into Freiburg in my first year. Without the help of Matt and Sarah, I probably wouldn't have gotten into Windsor last year. But it's a lot more difficult than people might think. These great fairs and festivals the best ones. They have a real waiting list. They don't just let in any freaking savage off the street, if you know what I mean. It's an application process to get into these big ones which makes it worth it. We know it's going to be a difficult task. We know it's a year in advance. By the time we really identified this festival as a potential fit for us, it was too late to apply for this season. We decided let's get down there, feel it and experience it ourselves together and then make sure that it's the right fit for us and then see if we can make a connection, build a relationship, do whatever we possibly can to help get ourselves there. That's what it's all about for us. If you hear me talking hard and fast, it's because I'm feeling excited. I'm feeling nervous. There's a lot of moving parts here. It's a big possibility and potential for the brand. It's hard to really weigh these things out because, yes, we're leaving, we're heading there, we're checking it out, but we're not going there to make money. We're just going there to. Actually, it's going to cost us money to explore things. As excited as I am about the step for the brand, I know it's not going to pay off instantly. There's not an instant payoff from this, but it's planning seeds and building for the future. This is Johnny Appleseed here. Man, you didn't just show up and have apple trees, you got to plant the seeds. We're going to go ahead and try to develop some seeds and then we're going to fertilize the crop. Hopefully next year we are reaping the benefits of those happy, happy little trees. Look at them, happy little trees. That's my Bob Ross right there. I was challenged to work in Bob Ross into an episode and it just happened To further my Bob Ross reference. Today, matt and I will be flying in some happy, happy little clouds just some happy clouds. I don't know why my Bob Ross impersonation actually sounds a lot like my Donald Trump impersonation. So if I had Trump and Bob Ross put together and they were drawing a little painting, I think it would sound a lot like this you ready, go Bo様. Some happy, happy, happy little clouds. We're going to be flying through some happy clouds. It's going to be a big, beautiful day. It's going to be great, great happy little clouds, and we're going to fly over some happy little trees and when we're going to get there, we're going to find some fantastic seeds and we're going to plant some really fantastic seeds and we're going to flourish them into happy trees. Huge, huge happy trace. Huge happy trace. That's my mix, the best I can do of Bob Ross and Donald Trump right there. That's the best I can possibly do. I don't know where that came from, but as I'm thinking about planting trees and happy trees and happy little clouds, it all just kind of came together. But that is a real screenshot. America. That is a peak beneath the sheets as to what's going on in my mind, because I have so many mixed feelings going on right now. Y'all feel me. You understand what I'm saying. This isn't just a happy little vacation. I'm not just going out here to crush beers and just eat bad food all week. This is research and development. This is about opening our eyes to possibilities. Like I said, to open the show, sometimes, to believe your dream, you need to see it. To achieve it, you need to experience it, and if you want to reach it, it's essential to feel it For us. We've been doing some of the same things year after year after year and they continue to get better. And you continue to build and advance and make the best of every opportunity in front of you. But if you don't step out of your comfort zone, if you don't widen your horizons, you're gonna be pigeonholed into that same lane. That same lane is often gonna yield the same results. If you take the same route to work, you're gonna eventually learn that it takes an hour and two minutes to get to work. That's a little joke there to my brother-in-law, because I was talking to him on the phone yesterday and he said it's an hour and two minutes to get back. What the work. So it's great to be consistent, right? And when I'm thinking about my commute to and from work, being consistent is great. Knowing how long it takes me to get to work is great. When I'm thinking about business, it's great to be consistent and it's nice to know if all things considered end up going the way they've always gone. This is the result I'm going to always achieve, but in knowing that if you want to increase that result, if you want to believe and achieve a greater end result, you need to take a different road to work. You need to choose a different lane. You need to get out of that comfort zone. Not the commuter lane, the that's what it's called, right? Is it what big cities call it? Your commuter lane? Is that true? I don't know. See what happens when you're from the country. You don't know shit. America, and that's one of the reasons why maybe I should be a little bit nervous leaving my own damn state. So I don't know much. Just a publicly educated, often regulated, crazy, proud American. That's way too loud, hence the name of the company. But you all see in the connection. Now, what's great about what's going to happen today is that Matt and I are jumping out of our comfort zone. I know this isn't just having the cahoonies to jump in the truck and drive to Florida and just attend the event, which kudos to my man, kyle from underdog metal. He did that a few weeks ago. He headed down to Tampa State Fair and rocked that fair just cold blooded man, right From the couch to the show. Truth be told, if I have the opportunity to get into this show last year to like submit my paperwork to get in for this year, then I probably would have done exactly what Kyle did, because when opportunity knocks, you open the damn door. But because we weren't able to get in for this year, we decided it would be in our best interest to go out and experience it this year. But this is really opening my eyes to what possibly, potentially, could be an opportunity for the brand If I can get out there and experience this festival and really truly feel like this is a fit for us. That's where the vision begins for us, because then I'll be cruising through this fair watching, observing every single vendor, any like-minded vendor with a similar product. I'm gonna be watching them how they interact, checking their products, how long is their line, how they treat their customers, their presentation, everything. I will take in every single ounce of the competition and I don't say competition as I'm going out there to seek and destroy the competition. I'm going out there, as in this competition is my competition, because they're currently doing something that I aspire to do and they're gonna inspire me to do so. And by viewing them as competition, I'm gonna find opportunities in Windows where I can be better than said competition, where I can bring my own personality and product to this place. So I'm gonna take in all vendors that I can learn from, that I can possibly earn from. You understand what I'm saying, because if I can set myself apart from them, I can earn some dollars off of them. Does that make sense? I'm not trying to wish harm or do harm here in America. I'm trying to find a better way to do things my way. You understand that right there, boys and girls, is the American way. I thank you. Sorry for that rant right there. Y'all can feel me. You can feel I'm a little fired up about what's to happen here. But the point I'm trying to make is this is where it all starts for us. If I can go there and it feels right for us, that's where the vision starts for us. I go to all these vendors. I observe, I watch, I learn and then I envision myself my display. Where would I be? How would I look and how would I make things cook? How do I interact with the customers? How do I provide an experience? Then I start looking around. Where would I stay? What's the housing look like? Am I looking at motels, hotels, holiday ends? Is it B&Bs? Is it living in a bus? I don't know. It's analyzing all those fine details, figuring out the products that might work, the amount of inventory that it's gonna take. It's really starting to build that dream. If you're gonna believe that dream, you need to see that dream. I am on the road to seeing that dream and when, if I'm going to achieve the dream, I need to experience the dream. You see, if I'm gonna share with y'all the depths of my dream, that dream for me as a handful of big, major events, I have a few events right here in my great state that I'm never gonna say goodbye to, because I truly enjoy those events and they are a foundation of the brand. They have been the bloodline to success for the brand. One of those events is the Freiburg Fair. Without Freiburg, this brand is not still in business. Another event that'll never go anywhere is the Windsor Fair, because last year might've only been my first year, but I can feel and see what's to come for me. I know how critical and pivotal this fair is going to be to my brand and I feel so well accepted at this fair that those two are not gonna go anywhere. But I wanna broaden and I wanna widen my horizons and I have my eyes peeled for a major event in Tennessee and this big event in Florida and maybe another one. You're gonna see in the weeks to come that I'm gonna be expanding my events in New England, stepping out of my comfort zone, even a little bit more than I've already been doing, kinda trying to broaden this horizon a little bit. But the real meat and potatoes of the vision for this brand is a handful of big events that I do throughout the year. I sprinkle them in, spread them out and make them a more manageable year for myself, for my wife, for my family. I wanna spread out some of my events so that I'm not so stressed out. It's more manageable and I know, living in the state that I'm in, my bulk of my season here only happens in a few short months. I understand that. But I wanna spread out some of my wealth and opportunity by having events during the slow times in my state, like right now. If you look at my calendar for the state of Maine, I don't have an event in Maine until May. I can't go from January to May. I can't take five months without an event. So getting to Florida in, you know, february, march, could be a big deal for me, finding some events in January and April, sprinkling those things around and not having myself on the road for months at a time. My plan for this brand is to really pick and develop the best possible events for my brand, maximize those and crush those. Give my best possible presentation, put my best foot forward, give my best experience and yield my best results into a handful of major events and then grow and maximize my online sales. I'm never gonna give up face-to-face relationship sales. That's the foundation of me. That's the essence of my brand. I will never give up the opportunity to shake hands, to give out hugs and just meet, greet, welcome and make and form relationships. That's what the foundation of this brand has been and will always be. But it's critical for me to grow that online. If I want this brand to produce for my entire family, I need to grow online. I need to have an online presence where I'm on the road, making deals, building relationships and my family could be home mailing out orders, shipping out packages, and together this works Together it becomes an absolute provider for our family. I'm not building this brand to get rich. I've built this brand to bring back American manufacturing, to shed a spotlight on American jobs and to provide for an American family. I just want a comfortable life for me and my family, and I want a legacy that I can hand down to my children someday. I want a legacy that lives on after I'm gone. For me, this is that next major step in identifying and bringing ourselves to bigger events. This is a bucket list moment for the brand. This is the first step. So, as you can imagine, I'm currently a large ball of anticipation. Right In my stomach there's just these butterflies, there's this energy floating around, because it's the potential possibility of what could ultimately, possibly, potentially, hypothetically, maybe, happen in the future. Right, this is that first chance, first dance romance where you're just out there starting to envision, starting to feel, starting to hope. This is a big opportunity, it is a big moment, but it's not the moment. Right, it's the build up to the moment. This is the R&D, this is the research build up to the moment. So it's a critical step in that direction. I know I've rambled and I'm talking crazy and I might have a lot of energy, but I just want you guys to kind of understand how I'm feeling. I'm excited, I'm optimistic, but you gotta be a touch pessimistic, right, you're being real about what's happening. I'm not actually going to the event with the opportunity to make money. I'm going to the event with the hopes to possibly someday make money. This is the leap out of the comfort zone into the wide unknown. I want to give a big old congratulations and kudos to my compadre, my tag team partner and this great American adventure, mr Matt Parkinson, ledgeway Farm. Without Matt, this isn't possible. We're both scratching the surface. We're both having this discussion about possibly attending this event. Right, this goes all the way back to us, sitting in the cougar that's their camper, matt and Sarah's camper, having a conversation about what's next for both of our businesses. What I love about the relationship and the dynamic that Loud, proud, american and Ledgeway Farm has is the mindset that we never settle. Let me try to explain this to you guys. We are at one of our biggest events of the year. We're at the Freiburg Fair. We're posted up after a long day at the fair. We are in the cougar, the camper, hanging out, having conversations and, instead of being just satisfied with our season that's coming to an end, freiburg wraps up the season for both of us as far as these big events goes, and as happy and encouraged as we are with the results of this fair and this entire season. We're never satisfied, and that's the relationship we have. That's the dynamic we have. We're always looking for other opportunities, we're exploring other avenues and we're encouraging each other to push ourselves, to apply ourselves and to just continue on this journey for our businesses. I'm just gonna throw this out there to anyone listening If you are in business, if you own a small business, if you're starting a small business, if you have a big business, it's crucial for you to find other businesses, like-minded businesses, where you can challenge each other to grow. You can encourage each other to grow. Now, if you're listening to this and you're saying, hey, man, I don't have a business, what does this conversation have to do with me? Well, these practices in business are practices in life, whatever it is. It doesn't have to be what you wanna do for a career. It could be how you wanna live your life, what aspirations you have, what things you want to accomplish, things you want to experience, things you want to achieve. If you find other people that are positive-minded, with that same positive outlook, that want bigger and better in their lives as well, you can share those conversations with each other, you can motivate each other and you can better each other. Get yourself some people in your life that are willing to listen to you, to push you, to challenge you, to encourage you. So while we're sitting there and we're recapping our season, we all four of us are on our phones looking at events, we are looking at attendance sizes, we're looking at the process to get in when this little nugget happens and Matt says I think we should fly on down to Florida and check it out. You and me, let's figure it out, let's get our foot in the door. The accountability that we each have towards each other has held both of us to the fire to make this meeting happen, to make this moment take place. The fact that we both had this conversation and we both said I do much like our marriage. You're not going back on this, I do. You understand? You make the commitment. When each other makes the commitment, there's a level of accountability based off the relationship and the respect you have for each other. That relationship and respect results in action. That action is us flying to Florida and putting our best foot forward. That is a relationship I encourage and hope for all of you to have, whether it's business or it's life. I want somebody in your life that can hold you accountable. Matt. Sarah, thank you for the accountability. I hope you feel some of the same for my end, gotcha. Laopraud American is a lifestyle brand dedicated and determined to represent the American spirit, with an unrelenting commitment to provide made and the USA products. If you would like to join the 2% of Americans that buy American and support American, head on over to wwwLaopraudAmericanshop. Together we can bring back American manufacturing. All right, all right, all right, welcome back y'all. Thank you for being a part of that gut check and thank you to Jeff Foran and the gut chuckers for the theme song and the background beats of this podcast. I appreciate you, jeff. In effort to tie the knot and connect the dots between this milestone mission that Matt and I are on and the current Loud Proud American Book of the Week Club, I want to introduce you all to a new book that I'm taking on Now. Here's a little disclaimer, y'all, if you are just getting new to me and my style, I like to partake in some books and then bring some of those lessons to the podcast, share them with y'all. If any of those speak your interest, you can go ahead and get the book yourself. Also, disclaimer left hand on the Cabello's catalog Eye to the Sky Truth from this guy. I don't always physically read the book, I don't always own the book and cruise through the book, because that tends to also actually make me fall asleep. I don't know what it is. I have a tendency to put myself to sleep when I read, which you know. I guess it's a good way to fight insomnia, I guess. But it's not that beneficial when you're trying to do a book report Until this day and age. And they do this little thing called Audible. So I take on all my books, almost all of my books, via the Audible app from Amazon. I think it's a great feature and it allows you to crush books at all times. So if you're in the office, you know doing random things, or you're. I mean, what am I? What am I telling you guys this for you? You're podcasters, you get this. You're podcast peeps. You understand, you know what this is about. You can jam this knowledge anytime you want. It's the same thing with Audible people. When I'm flying out today, I'm going to be finishing the book we're talking about right now. The name of that book is Be Useful, and it is by none other than I'm going to swallow some of the good. Yes, get the leech off. Ah, yes, I'm talking about that, donald, I am the gummy bear of candy corn. Yeah, yeah, I know that's. I'm a weird. I'm a weird dude. Here's the thing. I'm going to also put this on disclaimer out there. I don't always agree with everybody's thoughts and theories and beliefs. When I partake in their book, their message, their podcast, their mission, whatever it is, I'm taking in all information. So when you hear me pull something up about a book that I've listened to, that I've read, a speech that I've heard before I've been to, don't hold it against me if you don't like the actual person. Okay, sometimes there's just as I said before, success leaves clues. Obviously Arnold's a successful person. I'm not crapping on Arnold right now, I'm just saying y'all might be listening to some of the things I say and then you might profile me as to who it is that I listen to. And oftentimes I'm going to be jamming on somebody that I really enjoy and I might be two books in and I go this guy's kind of a D-bag. That has happened more times and I care to explain and you're never going to see eye to eye and agree on every philosophy from anyone that walks this earth. That's going to be the same for me and you. But when it comes to Arnold, there's some things he said and done that I don't agree with. There's a lot of things about Arnold that I absolutely love. If you know the story of Arnold, that is actually a rags to riches success story. I'm only going to share some of his philosophy so I'm not going to get into the roots of his life and his story, but I got a quick page of one liners and subject finders here that are going to connect today's message and we're going to tie the knot on this entire episode. So I heard some real powerful information from Arnold today and one of those messages from him is on our critics. This, for me, is a big topic of discussion because it does not matter if it's Sally across the street, if it's your brother from another mother, if it's your coworker, if it's your competition, if it's your boss, if it's your neighbor Eileen, it don't matter to me. People are critics, people talk shit and in the world that we live in, too many people are starting to feel there's no consequences for the shit that they actually be talking. People say things without fear of the repercussion. Back in the day. That wasn't the story, right. If you said something, you got your ass checked. You had to stand behind what you said. I think the kids these days call that standing on business. You heard that line. I know it's a lot of broken English from our kids these days. I actually kind of like this one. It just feels like it's got a little something to it Standing on business. When you're a kid these days and you say I'm standing on business, that means I'm standing up for what I'm saying. I'm backing up the message here. What I say, I mean and I'll prove it to y'all I'm standing on business. So in the worlds of Arnold here he's talking about critics and he's applying this much to the message that we're carrying today. And that's on that business side of life where, hey, if you have a dream for yourself, if it's a hobby that you want to turn into your mainstream income, if there's a dream that you have for yourself that you just want to chase, if there's something that you're good at you're an artist, right, you've been painting on the side and you're about to tell your friends and family that you're going to drop out of school and you're going to chase being an artist. It's this type of stuff. Right? You're going to leave your 10-year career to chase that hope and dream? You're going to give up on college? You're going to give up on 30 years for one company, for one business, and bet on yourself when those things happen, when you do those things, when you leave a shitty relationship that everybody assumes was a good relationship, all these things come with critics, right? If that's Sally across the street, your neighbor, I lean. Y'all know what I mean. You come with critics. Life comes with critics. When Arnold's talking about the critics in his life, he says there's two things. There's two ways to react to those critics. You can ignore them. You can totally tune them out and ignore them 100%, which for some of us is easier said than done. When you're starting a new business and you're suffering through that imposter syndrome where you're questioning yourself and your beliefs and your abilities and you're questioning whether you're actually on the right path, when those critics come along and they will come along you might find critics from people you never expected. Your parents could be your critics, your loved ones could be your critics, or it could be Joe Schmoe, internet warrior behind the keyboard. But when those critics come, you can ignore them. It's not that easy when you're new at something, when you're challenging yourself to something. It's a very elite skill set to ignore those critics. Arnold uses another method and that's motivated. You need to be motivated by your critics when you make a decision. I love that decision. When I say decision in this moment, with this impact, when I'm standing on business and I say decision, I always think back to a speech I heard from Tony Robbins when he said decision comes from the Latin word incision, which is to cut off. When you make a decision, you're cutting off any other outcome, you're cutting off any fallback option. When you make a decision, you're cutting that limb off. So when you make a decision to chase your dreams and those critics come along, you can ignore them or you can be motivated by them. When they come to you and they talk shit to you, you can use that as a proof. It moment, I'm going to show you, sally, you understand, I'm going to show you. I'm going to stand on business and the word of this new generation of English I'm staying on my business. You heard, that's how they probably say it, right? I mean, am I sounding really old right now? I don't think so, right? No, it's got to be. Your head is the shell on it when the talk comes, when the bullshit comes. You stand in the face of that bullshit and you use it as motivation. You can remember what was said when you are reaching the mountain, when you're accomplishing those milestones. You can use all that hater, all that hater words, as hater aid. You understand, you can use all that negative Nancy nonsense as fuel for your fire. Arnold says I'm going to give you two options for your critics you ignore them or you'd be motivated by them, but whatever you do, never believe them. Whoo-hoo, that hits right between the blinkers. Your critics, which will come, I guarantee they will come from those close to you, from those that are far away from you. When your critics come, you ignore them or you'd be motivated by them, but you never believe them. I've often had another conversation on these episodes of the podcast and it's about having a plan B right, having that backup plan and the back of your head. That is the pivot plan right. It's hey, man, I did the best I can. I'm paving this lane and the sides just keep caving in. I see a dead end sign and I don't think this road is going to pan out, I got to pivot in a different direction. I often go into events with a bit of a backup plan. If this happens, this is how I'm going to respond that type of scenario. I was really intrigued today listening to Arnold as he was talking about the backup plans and plan B's. I was really interested in what the gummy bear of candy called you. I had to say it was plan B's. I think there's a lot of power there when I talk like Arnold, I don't know Just putting it out there. This whole book, by the way, is read by him. So, go figure, I really found some fire and some inspiration in hearing Arnold say nothing good comes from a plan B. Plan B is a plan of failure. Okay, I should probably use my own voice here. Nothing good comes from a plan B. Your plan B is a plan of failure. It is the path of least resistance that plan B will lead to acceptance. Man, let's unpack some of this right here. Nothing good comes from a plan B. Plan B is a plan of failure. If I focus on those two lines there, I'm gonna preach to how true it be, how true it be, hallelujah, hallelujah, how true it be. Nothing good comes from a plan B. Plan B is a plan of failure. I Can't tell you how many times when I started this business and the back of my mind I always told myself Well, if this doesn't pan out, I know I can do this. And I don't mean if this event doesn't work. I'm talking about if this business doesn't work. I have a backup plan. If this business doesn't go, I know where to go. I had this whole plan in the back of my head. That said, if, if hellfire in brimstone happens on this business, I have a couple of phone calls off the top of my head that I know I can call. I would reach out to holly davis in corporate and pursue a job as a trainer, the School that I graduated from for a general management Academy, this, this training facility, which I'm gonna actually talk about them a little bit in another episode because it's kind of an I Ironic moments coming to a connection here, but I don't want to get too far off the rails. It was a, it was a gig, it was a career that I thought I could really enjoy and it's a company that I really believe in. So when I started off this, this plan, this business plan. To start loud, proud American, I had a B plan and that B plan was calling holly davis in corporate and above that was calling this Company that I'm proud to be associated with. That had nothing but great things to say about me in their class. That was a backup plan. What that backup plan was for me Was this path of least resistance. I knew if I failed I would make this call. I also knew if I failed, I knew how much time I would have to go somewhere else and make enough money to prevent the gates from closing. Meaning if all Shit was scattered, if things aren't working, if, if I Am just on my final straw, I have that, that one thing this is break glass in case of emergency. I knew I could go to any dealership around here and make enough money in the course of a couple of weeks to get back on my feet. The problem with thinking this way is that's the path of least resistance. That's also the path of acceptance. I can accept my failure, I can accept that my grand plan isn't gonna work and I can get back on that track of Of least resistance. All that did for me was hold me back from truly betting on my business. All that did to me was hold me back from advancing my business, applying everything that I know, own and believe to my business, because I clogged my own mind With a path of least resistance. I knew this could happen and the words of Chris Farley I still got the meat lovers in the trunk. Anybody here a fan of Tommy boy? There's a great sales analogy there that people don't really understand. If you go back to Tommy boy when him and David Spade and Chris Farley and David Spade are out Trying to sell Calhann auto parts because I'm big jump Calhann son when they're out there trying to sell auto parts and they out, they're trying to sell the business, tommy fails every one of his sales pitches. The only sales pitch that actually goes right up until this point is when they're in a diner and the waitress tells him that the kitchen's closed. When he orders chicken wings and she tells him the kitchen's closed, he goes off on this tirade acting like a hooligan, which I happen to love. Tommy likey, tommy, what we need. At the end of that she looks at him and says I'll go fire up the fry aliters and Make you some chicken wings. When she walks away, david Spade looks at him and says that two by four to the head, knock something loose back there. And he says what are you talking about? And he says this spiel, this, this what you just did. You got her to make chicken wings. And that's when Tommy boy said it doesn't matter, because I still got the meat lovers in the trunk. His thought process in that time was if she says no to the chicken wings, I can go back to the meat lovers pizza in the trunk Now, and Tommy's case that helped him get the sale. In our case it can help you lose your dream, because if you feel like you can try a little bit and then fall back on that safety net, on that trampoline, you might not fully bet on yourself. I Will 1,000% say having that approach when you sell yourself is definitely the way to pitch it. But when you educate yourself, when you regulate yourself, if you always have that meat lovers in the trunk, that is the path to least resistance. If she said to you chickens, kitchens, clothes, no chicken, you could very well be outside eating that cold pizza without asking twice. The path of least resistance leads to acceptance and I can tell you your couch is certainly the path of least resistance. Arnold had another great philosophy on plan B. He said if you have a plan B, your plan B is to make sure plan A succeeds. Oh man, do I love that. If you want to have a plan B, america, if you have to have that plan B, then make damn sure that that plan B is making sure plan A succeeds. I love that. He says a plan B Shrinks your own dream. That's exactly what I'm speaking to. That's the experience I'm coming from. The longer that I left in the back of my head that plan B was there for me, the further I was away from fully chasing my dreams to fully embracing my mission. Man, something really just Hit me in the fields here that I didn't realize and I didn't connect to until I stood here and shared this with you in front of this microphone. But a few episodes ago, my wife mentioned in her Reiki session that my dad came forward and she mentioned that he was adamant about us having a fire in this barrel and this barrel. If you listen to this episode, ali talks about it being like a hobo barrel, like she just had a vision of a bunch of hobos around a barrel and that's my dad's burn barrel. He has this thing, that he's burned quite a few unmentionables in his time and this barrel and I must say I got to put it to rest because it's actually rusted all the way through the bottom. But what I can tell you is one of the most difficult nights of grieving that I've had since my dad passed was a night I use this barrel Now, this burn, because I knew my dad was asking for this burn. There was a few things that happened. Number one my mother had been saving all this paperwork. My dad used to own his own business many years ago and she had all this different tax paperwork and all these things and just all kinds of paperwork that was, you know, his hers and Together in the companies and whatever. So she said part of her moving on was to get rid of all this paperwork and my dad's old mail and stuff. So there was all this stuff of his trash bags and trash bags of Of just nonsense. But that nonsense is a connection, it's a memory. She needed to get rid of those and they weren't just gonna go on the trash. We felt it's necessary to burn those now being a part of that, with my mother in knowing that she's letting go and that part of her and me you're letting go at the Same time. There's that spiritual connection there and there's also something else there and that's that Since I left the Harley-Davidson dealership I've kept this large tote of all my old information. I've got pay plans in there, I've got breakdowns on every Dime, nickel and penny that went through the dealership. I have just complete history of me and Harley-Davidson. I have every, every ounce of homework, every, every notebook, every test I took from my general management academy. I have all these things. So when you heard me say a few minutes ago that I always had this plan B and this plan B and the back of my Mind was I could go back to Harley-Davidson, I'd never go back to that dealership, but I do have a path of entry to Harley-Davidson. And that academy, that school that was out in Denver, colorado, holds a special place to me and that had a special opportunity for me because it changed me and it helped to make me who I am. It actually, you know, punch some of my man card for me. It placed me in uncomfortable positions and Challenged me and I overcame those and I exceeded those and I succeeded beyond my own imagination and all of those. So it holds a special place to me. These things are my plan B. This tote is every connection to both of those worlds. I dragged that tote out there and I burned it. I burned every article. I watched every pay plan. Now I could tell you there's something that Messes with your confidence in your psyche when you think about Going through months in the wintertime where you show no profit for your business, going through months in the wintertime where you're you're Borrowing money from equity lines to pay you a mortgage to put gas in your vehicle. You have no real financials, just Support coming in from any direction. And you're standing out there in front of a burn barrel in the middle of the winter freezing your ass off and You're burning receipts from old pay plans when I can see statements for 5000-8000 dollar commission checks Getting burnt in front of me and I'm letting go of that past. I'm letting go of those achievements. I'm letting go of all the the past of me, that that ten years of my life. I'm letting it go. You know what else I'm letting go? I didn't realize how I was letting go was my plan B, because that entry to Harley, that was all in that box for me and I burnt it. That connection to the school, all my contacts, all my research, all my information, all my success stories gone, I Burnt it. That was my plan B. I had the hardest time out there burning all this stuff for a couple reasons. Number one mentally it was hard. Number two the shit was dense, it was thick, it was heavy, it didn't want to burn. The only way it would burn is if I continue to stand there and repeatedly stir it up, stir it up, move it up. You Every single book. I had to take a pitchfork and open pages and watch them burn. I suffered through every one of those moments the pain of my dad's stuff and the pain of my old life being burned right there. All those experiences left me questioning my direction. It left me questioning if this dream is right for me. It left me questioning if I'm making the right choices for my family. Can I build a family off of this business? Will this support me? Will this sustain for me? Can I provide with this? All these questions were there for me and it pained me and it hurt me and I cried out for my dad and I asked for help and I had the worst night's sleep and I struggled for days over this decision as the world would have it. The next day, I'm on my phone, endlessly scrolling through social media, and on Instagram I see a video. I see a video from that school, from that academy, looking for help. I put out a video asking for trainers. Asking for instructors, potential partners, all the things that I would have died for back in 2019 when I left the dealership. All the stuff that I really wanted to do, that I would have had to push for because they weren't even hiring for. But now they're looking for. It's right there in front of me. It's all there for me to take. I know, if I make one phone call, that door opens and the opportunity's there. My history, my experience, my personality, what I've already done, the road I've already paved, I would have that job. I know it. I know it. I beat myself up over these decisions. I beat myself up being here right now recording a message that, as it falls on your ears, I'm in a plane headed south to double down on my hopes and dreams, to potentially further those dreams, to see bigger and better and brighter for me and my dreams. I realized that my plan B was shrinking my dream. I kept those plan B's in the back of my mind this entire time, man, the path of least resistance almost led to acceptance that plan B was definitely shrinking that dream for me. I did not come on here today ready to deliver that message. I did not come on here today with thoughts of delivering this message, because this message was unclear to me today until I pushed record on this microphone and stood here with you today. That's the benefit of sharing my struggle with y'all. That's the benefit of being transparent with each and every one of you. I hope that can encourage you to be transparent with the people that you care about, to share your story, to share your message because, hot damn, today's show has become therapy. Y'all. I cut the cord on my plan B as much as I've been doubting that plan B, as much as I've been fighting in my own mind what direction to take. This moment, right here, this message from this book on this podcast connected the dots and tied the knot and proved to me that that plan B was shrinking my dreams. And now that plan B is nowhere inside of me because I'm doubling down on my brand, on my business, on my dreams right now, man, I'm gonna end this with one last line from Arnold Others doubting you is wild. You doubting yourself is a whole different level. When we go back to those critics that were out there when I started this business, those critics that were there when there was times when I ignored them, when I had the ability to ignore them, there was times when I had the strength to use them as motivation. There was times when I made the mistakes to believe them. All those critics being there, the ones that were close to you, the ones that don't even care about you, those critics that noise, those negative naysayers, them having those opinions and sharing that message is wild. But me doubting myself, me keeping that plan B, me not believing in me, that was a whole different level. Today I take a step to prove to me and to everybody else you damn well better believe this dream is gonna happen for me and because of that I want to say thank you for supporting my American dream. Now go wash fucking hands and don't be sad. That's it and that's all. Biggie Smalls, if you're a loud, proud American and you find yourself just wanting more, find me on YouTube and Facebook at Loud, proud American. I love Face Page, as my mama calls it. If you're a fan of the Graham Cracker, you want to find me on Instagram, or all the kids by Tickety Tocking on the Tick Tock. You can find me on both of those at Loud, proud, american Big ol'. Thank you to the boys from the Gut Truckers for the background beats and the theme song for this year's podcast. If you are enjoying what you're hearing, you can track down the Gut Truckers on Facebook. Just search Gut Truckers and motherfuckers. I like to. I truly thank you for supporting my American dream. Now go wash your fucking hands, you filthy savage.