Latest / The JEMS Report / From Firehouse Shifts to Frontline Optics: Building a Brand for First Responders

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From Firehouse Shifts to Frontline Optics: Building a Brand for First Responders · The JEMS Report

• Nat Kapustin: What's up everybody? Welcome to Just A Little Salt, the podcast hosted by me, the Salty Paramedic. If you or anybody you know wants to be on the show, make sure to send a request to Justalittle Salt Podcast at gmail.com. If you want to support the podcast and the work I'm doing for first responders, it's easy. Go on the saltyparamedic.com. Everything there, books, merch, resources, is built around this community. If you're looking for bonus episodes or content you're not going to hear anywhere else, make sure to join the Patreon. Go on patreon.com and search the Salty Paramedic. That support directly helps me keep bringing this content to life. Without further ado, thanks for listening. Here's the show. What's up, everybody? We're back with a new episode of Just a Little Salt. I've got Frontline Optics CEO with me. he's gonna introduce himself, tell y'all a little bit about himself, and we're gonna dive right into the questions. What's up, everybody? yeah, I'm Mike. Happy to be on the show. a little about myself. You know, I was used to be a firefighter for the city of Coronado. had an awesome time there. I was there a little over five years, kind of worked my way up to acting engineer position. But all while doing that, I was developing a sunglasses brand as well. started to kind of take off, hit a crossroads where I could either be a shitty fireman who sat in the back room all the time instead of you know working on the craft, or or I could be an entrepreneur and it just kind of itched at me. It was a something I I needed to roll the dice and take a shot at it. And here I am now five years five years in of to frontline optics and it's it's my full time gig. That's awesome. So yeah apparently you wanted to be a firefighter since you were a kid. Where where did that come from? you know, like most kids, you just are distracted by the flashing lights, the sounds, you know, the sound of the growler, right? Like it was always cool. I used to like jump on my bike and try and like chase it down. And then as I got older, I learned about those Thomas book map guides. And so I'd listen to the dispatch notes and see if it was close to my neighborhood and try and cruise over and, you know, and see whatever it was that was going down. So I guess I just had this weird fascination with it. and it never really left. I guess it was always kind of there. And That's what led me to the fire service. heck yeah. yeah, I read somewhere. Did you work on ambulances in San Diego back in 2012? yeah. So I I got my EMT in 2012, started working for City of San Diego's EMS provider, which was rural metro at the time, as a 911 EMT. eventually became paramedic and started working as a paramedic also for the city. just getting my shit pushed in. But but it was a blast. And then that transitioned to getting hired by the Julian Cuyamaca Fire Protection District. It was still an ambulance position, but it was a rescue ambulance. So firefighter paramedic, firefighter ENT on the ambulance. We had all the rescue equipment. We were attached to the engine whenever something would go down. and that was kind of my first exposure to the fire service before getting picked up by Coronado, which also has an ambulance. okay. Your your time working EMS and then Fire, what what was the first call you really remember you that you were like, crap, this is this is really my job? Yeah. I mean it was my first code, right? Like it's all and sometimes they happen fast, sometimes they happen slow. But for me, I was like a bit of a white cloud. So, you know, nothing happened for a very long time. And then the first time we had a co a code and I saw them get ROSC, you know, and like all this stuff was happening, it's like that they're dead, like they have a heartbeat, right? Like my God, right? Like drive fast. And they're like, don't drive that fast, right? Like slow down. So that was like the whole thing. I remember the, you know, the adrenaline going, like my foot was shaking as I was driving, you know, to the hospital and it was just it was wild and it was adrenaline hit and it was addicting. So yeah, that was definitely the first wow, this is it moment. Yeah, you you mentioned your foot shaking. My very first stroke Shafar I was pumping just got done with a killer leg workout and my foot was on the gas pedal but I remember it shaking like going up and down on it. I was like I and I was like trying to hit it with my other foot and keep it down. I was like I was I was so nervous but man what an adrenaline rush you know even though you didn't get to go inside. what what did you love most about the firehouse that you remember? The camaraderie. I like since leaving the fire service I haven't laughed as hard as I used to on almost a nightly basis. You know, we had we had this one dude, I'm gonna call him out by name, Chris Balkey, and he would tell these stories and they're hilarious, but then it just wouldn't stop. It was like you think the story's over and then he would do some like little gesture and it would like keep going and then he'd throw another line in and it was like you'd be crying at the table. I miss that. I miss that a lot. I miss that a lot. Yeah, I I agree with that. What was there any particular part of the job you didn't like That you remember? I mean the three AM wake up is never never awesome. No. The the six thirty in the morning as you're putting your bed together and the captain pops his head in, you hear the phone ring, right? Captain pops his head in, tell you, Hey, sorry, you know, you're on the forest, you're not going home. those are the things that are just kinda like, Ugh, you know, they sting. don't miss that at all. But you know, it's it's kind of the nature of the beast. So Yeah. No, absolutely. That's what you sign up for. Was there ever a call you experienced that just fundamentally changed how you look at life? yeah, for sure. it was the first hanging that I was on. I think that was like the the first like dark moment. And again, I was I was relatively young. I was still in the EMT at the time, and I remember like we wanted to beat the engine. We wanted to get there faster than the engine because we wanted to get in and see it, right? Like and you're stupid thinking that, but like you don't realize at the time. So We're rushing through, we get there, go into the bedroom, and you know, this dad had hung himself. and you know, you like see it for the first time and like that that was like one of those first things that like plastered in my mind. And for, you know, few weeks after I'd be like trying to go to bed and you'd kind of see it. and you know, it's still like it's very clear in my mind. It doesn't bother me as much anymore as it, you know, kind of did at the beginning, just because I've seen so much. since then but I mean I can I can picture the dude's face like right now. Like it's you know it's no, absolutely. Yeah, that was when I like, well life's life's a little more fucked up than you y you would think, right? So No and and those type of calls, you know, the image itself you know is really disheartening to see but I don't know about you but I remember those type of runs where I would just look around the room and get little glimpses of that person's family life. You know, they might have a picture of their family or it's just that's what really got to me. I was like, you know, you know, yesterday was totally different for And you know, you gotta interact with the family after the fact and it's just it it just really makes you think. And it just seemed to really fundamentally change me those type of runs as well. How how would you say that working emergency services affected you as a husband and a dad? it's it's hard being a dad. I would say with it, because we've seen so many bad things happen that you see your kids just doing kids stuff, and immediately you go into like, that's not safe. Like, you want to end up in the hospital? Like, I've seen this, right? Like no one else would respond that way. But like us, we've seen that like zero zero zero, you know, one percent chance of something happening, but we've seen it. And so like it's a it's a risk that's so real to us and so foreign to most others that you know it just makes you kind of overly protective even though you don't want to be. But then at the same time you'll be like under protective on other things, right? Like 'cause they're like, whatever, like kids being kids, you know? So it's very inconsistent. It's probably hard for them too, 'cause they're like, well, what's dad gonna react, you know, to this situation? I don't know. Yeah. It I I agree. You know, so it seems like small things don't really affect me or I'm sorry, small things are the things that do affect me, it seems like. I get all keyed up over and it's it's the big things like big emergencies that you're calm at. And a lot of times I have my wife telling me that. It's like, why why are you freaking out over this? I don't know. my emotions are all over the place. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's weird. I mean, my kid mentioned he wanted to to get involved in in racing recently. and he's young, you know, he's he's eight, he's going on nine years old, but His dad likes racing, you know, so he didn't really understand it. And then they had this event at their school where they had these little pedal bike cars and the rule was to go slow and he's like, nah. And he went full speed and he tried to chase his friend down and he passed someone and he got off and he's like, I get it now. And so I'm like, Cool, like where can we go? Get you signed up, you know, where will they let you? Because he's, you know, he's too small for like K one go karts and whatnot. And so we like found some stuff. My wife's like, What are you doing? Right? Like this is so dangerous. Why are you trying to get I'm like, yeah, you know? But then he tries to jump off a cinder block wall and I'm like, stop, you know, just stupid. Yep. I understand. l let's talk about the idea of frontline. Take me back to that exact moment that you were just like, I'm gonna start a sunglasses company. Yeah. so I had a friend who I guess as a friend's little brother who had started a very successful sunglasses brand. and I was reading an article he had sold it, right? And like he had sold it to the tune of like seventy million dollars, you know, and it's like it's not the he's a good dude, but it's not like he w had anything that was like made him special, right? Like in this realm. It was like just grit determination and like, you know, an unwillingness to stop. And so of course I looked at that and I was like, wow, and I was a big sunglasses fran fan at the time, and I was constantly breaking sunglasses at the time. And so, you know, that was like that light bulb, like almost stupidly like, Wow, well f well he could do it, so could I. And I'll market it to firefighters and you know, we're gonna do the you know, that's just like where it started. My wife's like, ha, whatever, you know, thinking it's another one of those just stupid ideas that I had. Yeah, yeah. And then, you know, a few weeks later, I guess more than a few weeks later, but a few months later, you know, three hundred sunglasses show up, a bunch of boxes and got a website and it like cool, like We got a sunglasses business now, right? And here here I am, five years later. When you when you first started, were your coworkers pretty supportive or they were like, Mike, nobody's gonna buy your damn sunglasses. It was a mix. I mean, I still remember getting samples and we'd all be sitting in the bullpen and it'd be passing like the samples around. Guys are trying them on. I like these, I don't like these, you know, but it was just kinda like a stupid little hobby, at first. And then as it started to turn into something a little more real, that's when more of the like awkward conversations, I guess you could say, might start happening. But initially at the start, you know, they helped me pick out, you know, our our prototypes and it was fun fun moment. I distinctly remember it. You know, the guy's like this one's cool. It's a little too loud. You know, like this one's the you know, it was it's fun. Well that's your clientele, so that worked out good, you know? Yeah. Yep. Real people trying them out and giving you feedback. I read somewhere you started frontline with about five thousand dollars in overtime. How terrifying was that to put your own money into an idea that you didn't know would work? You know, it it wasn't that terrifying at the time because you know, COVID was getting started. So we were getting forced constantly. Cause if you had like a little sniffle or scratch in your throat, they're like, Nope, can't come, can't come to work today. So like we were all just getting hammered. So our paychecks were very flush, to the point that you didn't care. You know, you wanted your time off, not the money. So so at that particular moment in time we were just so financially stable that taking five grand out was like no big deal. so it was like, you know, some people spend that at a casino, you know what I mean? Like I wouldn't encourage that, you know, don't do that. But but yeah, it wasn't it it wasn't crazy scary like it would have been if like money was tight. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I get it. At what point did you realize like, hey, this this isn't just a side hustle anymore? This is something bigger. Yeah. it was the moment I figured out advertising, I I didn't know what I was doing, right? Like I was taking pictures with my phone and like random places and just putting it on the internet and hope it sells. And it's like, you know, I need a couple of sales here, a couple of sales there, but that's not marketing, right? Like Yeah, yeah, yeah. So then I started trying make movies and they were just slideshows, you know, like I didn't have anyone who could really help me and Those also were like cool. People just scrolled right past that stuff. There was no hook. so then I found this hook where I dropped my sunglasses out of the engine, had my turnout staged in the background, and it like slow motion falls to the ground. And I said, like, stop beating up your sunglasses on the job, basically. And then cool music, and then you know, the whole thing. And that was like the click. That worked. And all of a sudden, like orders started coming in like crazy. Like, you know, we went from like Two or three a week to like ten to fifteen a day, you know, like like that. And it was like, my gosh, right. And you put a little bit more money into that ad and it just kept generating. And that was when I I kind of realized like, wow, like one, I need help. You know, my wife and kids can't just like help me pack orders because now it's like a real thing. And I'm at work for four or five, six days in a row, you know, and then to come home, it's like, cool, well, before we hang out, you know, I got like couple hundred orders we got a pack. so that was when it was like, wow, like this is this is real. This is something. I'm curious how far it can go. Yeah, it's it's insane how much you know, social media videos actually truly help. I've I found that out along the way, you know, with my own products because I advertise everything myself, you know, that one video will hit the algorithm just right and that will make a huge difference in your sales. Right. So it's it's just it's something I'm figuring out, you know, and not not all videos work. No. Not all of them are good. No, even when you copy what you did that did work, sometimes it doesn't. You're like, what? You know, like I'm doing the same thing. Exactly. But that's the fun of it all. Yeah. this is one of my favorite questions to ask entrepreneurs, because that's where we learn the most. What what would you say is frontline's biggest early on screw up? Like what what did something you messed up on that you learned from? It's a good question. I mean, there's so many. You make so many mistakes. You know, I went I went all in on a couple products that just because I wanted variety when like I could have kept it very narrow and just focused on one product, but it slowed things down because I bought a whole bunch more to try and increase the options, only for them not to not to sell. And now you've got cash that's tied up in this inventory, but you need that inventory to sell to have more cash to buy what works, and it like dramatically slowed things down. And every time I did it, like I it took me a while. Like I kept, all right, well I'll try like three new styles or four new style. You know, like I would just put more and more stuff out before I finally figured out like, okay, like maybe try one thing at a time as a test, you know, and then keep the rest of the money and what you know works. that definitely slowed me down significantly at the start. It's it's been around for about five years, you said. So, you know, there's probably a big difference in designs from when you started to now. What would you say is the biggest difference between like the first pair you made to now, like things you've changed along the way? Yeah. I mean, everything, right? Like you don't know when you go in, right? You you go I didn't come from a background in sunglasses. I didn't come from a background in any kind of manufacturing. So I literally would just look at a catalog and be like, can you do that? put our logo on it and like send it, right? That that was it. So our original products were not anything to write home about. you know, of slightly higher quality than like, you know, your your gas station junk, I guess you could say, because we did put a little more effort into it, just because I would tell them I want it to be premium. And so they'd send me stuff and I'd be like, this feels flimsy. This feels nice. and that was kind of how we went. But then as time went on, it's like, well there's like all these different types of lenses that we can put in. There's different types of plastics, right? There's different types of metals. There's there's these different things that you can do to increase the quality of your product. Even though it's still going to look the same, it won't feel the same. It won't wear the same. And so that was as we started to kind of level things up just from learning. So you know you take a pair of our glasses now, like, you know, they're gonna, they're gonna look and feel like you would get from something that costs $100 more. 'Cause that's what we're designing after. You know, we're taking those big name brands where truly you're paying for their logo, right? the the components are basically identical. And so we've now really got a premium product versus, you know, when we started out, definitely not so much. Me myself, my most asked question and then statements people make to me is they can't believe I'm still in the fire service and I'm still doing this. that's that's something that I've had a lot of inner conversations with myself. Because I strongly believe if I took that leap and I just went all in on this, I could lead the fire service and just do this full time. That would be great. However, I still love working in the fire service and I can't imagine never not doing it up until I retire. how hard was that to make that leap? because you know, I I'm sure you love the fire service as well, but then you recognized the potential of this. was that just a huge decision you had to make that ju you just had to you know, constantly think about? Yeah, I mean it was it was hard, but the environment when it happened, right? COVID. we were just getting so beat down that like the things that made the job great like were were basically gone at that point. It was like just Get me home so I can go and like hang out with my kids. Get me home so I can get a good night's sleep. It was hard. And like we were at a small department and the department always seemed to have some type of staffing issue. And again, when you have a small department, it's all those things are magnified, right? In a bigger department, there's a ton of dudes who are always gonna pick up the overtime, right? Like it just doesn't sting as much. But when, you know, you only have a handful of firefighters and one of them's gone, it it's a bigger gap that you have to fill. And during COVID, we had, you know, two guys have b have babies. We had a guy go out on mental health leave. We had a couple guys leave leave California, right? During all that that chaos. And so that but we didn't hire because we couldn't put on test, right? Like everyone was locked down. And then once you finally do float a test, it's like, cool, it's gotta go for a month and gotta go through like mega codes and interviews, then background checks, and then there mini academy and then they're training before they can go on the floor. So it still takes months, you know, before they can kind of get on. So I was getting beat down. my mental health was declining significantly as time went on. It was getting worse as time went on. And I kinda hit I hit a breaking point where like the fire service was almost it was almost ruined for me. Like the things that made it so special couldn't be You know, they were outweighed by the things that made it terrible, right? and then I had this business, right, that was taking off. And so one, I identified that like my passion was kind of moving in a different direction. probably a lot of that sparked by and fueled by like how bad it kind of got there. so yeah, it was it was an easier transition at that point for me, however As I've kind of grown further away, those wounds have healed a little bit more. And looking back, it's you know, it it it really is a special career and a special thing and there's for sure aspects of it that I do miss, though I wouldn't go back. Yeah, no, I get it. I tell people all the time that I I hate that I didn't start this social media during COVID because it was so easy to blow up then everybody was stuck at home on their phones. but it's a good thing that I didn't because like you talked about. the toll, the mental toll during as a first responder during COVID, the things we went through. I think if I had been where I'm at now during COVID, I would have left in a heartbeat and went f full in on this. the the only thing keeping me from it is material on on the comedic side. Yeah. I was on a I was on a run the other day and as soon as we got in the ambulance, the guy was riding with looked at me. He You're gonna make a video about that, aren't you? I like, Yeah, probably. Yep. Yep. So that's the only thing keeping me in. But I I understand completely. I wrestle with that every day, you know, because this salty paramedic thing is just like it's it's brought something out of me I thought was never in there. It's just just so much passion and determination fueled with it. But we'll we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. I I wanna pivot real quick to the design ex Design of the sunglasses and just the sunglasses themselves. the other day I was on the ambulance and the paramedic I was precepting, he jumped in the driver's seat because we were alternating runs. And I forgot I left my frontline sunglasses in the seat. And he he sat on them and they the end of them broke a little bit from the actual lens part. And he's my gosh, I'm so sorry, man. I'm so sorry. I'll buy you a new pair. And he he had no clue about You know, y'all offer free replacement program with you know, the fee of shipping and everything. so I gotta tell him a little bit about that, but I was able to fix them, but no no problem there. But l let's talk about that especially because as first responders, we go through so sunglasses so easily because they're getting beat up and you know, we're doing things and I I can't tell you how many I've gone through lost as well. was that policy always in effect since you started the company, the replacement program. Yeah, that was one of our I guess claim to fame was definitely replacement program. And it was for that very reason. Like I was I was a big Oakley guy when I got on. I liked the Hallbrooks, which you can probably kinda tell when you look at the styles of the things on our site, right? They're the that same style. But I was wrecking you know, and every time you wreck it was expensive. It was too expensive. and then there's no right There's no program there to like help you out. It's just kind of like, cool, go buy another one, right? Or wait for a sale. So that was kind of the trigger for for me to make this thing happen. Was I want to make sure that that program was in place simply because as first responders, we don't have time to like take our glasses off nicely and put them in a case and put, you know, put them away. It's like if you're in the ambulance or you're on the rig, you're going to something. As soon as you're there, right? You got to take them off. They get. thrown around, they get put on a seat, someone sits on them, someone steps on them. they hit something metal because everything's made out of metal inside a fire engine, they get scratched up, dinged up. So, you know, it was kind of like a necessary thing to have if it was going to be duty sunglasses, which is what I was trying to make. You know, and initially I wasn't trying to replace people's collection of like designer shades. It was like, no, like these are work shades, like wear these at work. And as time went on and the product got better, it became very clear that these were lifestyle shades. something you could kind of like tag your identity to. functionable, right? At work, anzi's rated, right? Like durable replacement program. But at the same time, like if you wear them on the beach or you wear them on vacation, then you're gonna fit in just fine. Tell me a little bit about Flovex. What what's makes that lens technology different? Well, I can't tell you too much about that. yeah, just in read. It's a proprietary blend that we use with the manufacturing of our glasses, including, you know, the base layer, different coatings that go on it, just like the overall creation, tint, like everything. So we mix that all together and the the purpose of it is just glare reduction. That's like what we're looking for. We're not trying to enhance colors or make anything pop like we want. your vision ex or visual experience to be just like you get with the naked eye, only the glare's gone. So, you know, cheap sunglasses, they're gonna tint things down. A lot of other companies create these color pop lenses where it's not like true visual experience that, you know, enhance different colors, greens, red, whatever it may be for the environment they're in. we wanted you to be able to just same as the naked eye, almost to the point that you'd forget you're wearing them. I've been there. is there is there any abuse like testing that goes on, like y'all put the sunglasses through? Yeah, we we have a pretty rigorous like QA process and then honestly the biggest QA process is getting them out in the field and then getting feedback from first responders, you know, and as we see things come in, we take very detailed notes on like our customer service tickets and any type of issue that's being tracked or any type of suggestions that are being made and like those basically go into a bucket that gets reviewed weekly and as those buckets continue to grow they create you know design ideas or product development ideas that we can then work on to to constantly improve the product. So the feedback from from the field you can't really replace that. Right. You can't you can put it on a bunch of machines. You can do you know a bunch of random tests but at the end of the day like they got to go through the shit. And then we get the feedback from that and build it up. And continue on. I assume you y'all make prescription glasses as well. How how difficult is it to develop those as opposed to the other ones? that was a challenge, especially because we wanted the replacement program to be in effect with those as well. But you know, the the whole program itself, it took us almost two years to get it off the ground from the moment we we wanted to do it just to make sure it was done it was done right. And We've partnered with the labs. We have, you know, we have a partner. Obviously, it's like a very complicated thing, an expensive thing to do. So it wouldn't make economic sense for, you know, a company like ours to start building out laboratory equipment and going through that whole process. So we we partnered with with another company that helps kind of handle all this stuff for us, knowing exactly what we need and what we're doing, to make sure it like falls in line exactly with what our customers have grown to expect from us. Now looking at all the designs, because y'all have a decent amount of designs on your website. What what would you say has been your all time favorite? the Pomona collection. It's I mean, it's hands down been our best seller. I don't know if it'll ever get unseated. It just seems like people seem to really, really gravitate towards them and like them and we keep changing them, right? Like little things about them to try and make them stronger, right? What they were first NZZ eighty seven rated and then we created side shields. We had to change the the plastic that was inside of it so it could pass a few more like high impact, high velocity tests with the side shields attached. So, you know, if you if you had bought one, you know, a year ago, for example, and then got one today, you would notice it looks the same, but once you hold it, you'll realize that it's a it's a different material. So you know, it's but it's maintained its status up at the top. I mean the Pomona collection Probably accounts for 70% of our business. okay. now speaking of, you know, Pomona and all the other designs, who names these? Did do you and your employees just sit around a table and brainstorm or what? Yeah. so the brand was born in Coronado. So everything for the most part, at least when we started, was very Coronado themed. So the NATO, which was our flagship product, and will always be there because it was, you know, what we launched with short for Coronado. Right. The Pomona is a street in Coronado. The Glorieta is a street in Coronado. We had a style that we call the Dell after the Hotel Dell, which we no longer had. We had a style that was the strand and the silver strand, which was the big freeway that was like running through Coronado to Imperial Beach. So we tried to focus on on those kind of aspects. And then from there, as we've grown, we've, you know, moved things a little bit around. We've got the North Island, which is named after the military base. That's in Coronado, right? Where they where they filmed the second the Top Gun Maverick movie. So heck yeah. Great movie. It was fun to be on shift while they were while they were filming that stuff. but yeah that's that's kind of where the names come from and we try and always make sure that there's some kind of tie to either the region or, you know, fire and emergency services. Yeah. I wanna ask a few more questions about the replacement program. So you know, you receive these claims. Are there any claims you remember that's just like just a funny story about how they got broken? Was anybody just telling a good story about that? You know, not not really. You know, we've we've heard certain stuff, but it is a no questions asked replacement program. So we literally ask no questions. The only time we've ever asked questions is if like we had a feeling that maybe there was something that was like on our side and not their side, because if there's ever a craftsmanship type issue, we cover those at no cost, right? Cause if it's if it's our fault that something happened, we're gonna own it. If it's your fault that it happened or you lost it, right? Like, well, that's what the replacement programs for. But we're always going to stand by our products and make sure that we're we're kind of support, you know, supporting the people, right? Like our customers mean the world to us. So we're gonna take care of them. but yeah, I mean, and even now the process is completely automated. So you go on the website, you plug in the email address that you use for the order, you plug in the order number and it populates and you go through it just like a normal checkout and then it shows up on our back end and we package the order and ship it out. So I wish I knew more, you know. It could be fun to be like, you know, whoever gives me the best story. I bet there's good stories out there. But you can imagine, I mean, like yeah, the stuff we go through. So let's talk about having first responders as your customers. Who who do you think's hardest to please? Firefighters, cops, medics, or nurses? Firefighters. At least at first. were I mean, we always throw that term like Ricky rescue out, right? And you the the last thing you want to be is a, you know, a Ricky rescue. And so a lot of times when like a new brand comes out that's trying to like push that there for the community, people don't want to get behind it for that very reason because they don't want to look, you know, Ricky rescue. But eventually, if you're around long enough, you keep doing what you're doing, you get more people involved, you get people of like authority in the space behind what you're trying to do. It starts to kind of gravitate into the department and then word of mouth kind of spreads from there. Once one, you know, guy or girl gets them, people see it, right? They sit on the the, you know, the the kitchen table or they're in the bullpen and what's, you know, what's that? They try them on, right? And then you we we're starting to see that. Word of mouth is growing this thing tremendously fast in addition to our advertising spin. But you know, we have a post purchase survey and anywhere between like fifteen and twenty percent of the people responding typically say that someone at the department had them and that's why they they purchased them afterwards. So once we hit that point, it became a lot easier just because we had authority in the space. Was it was there has there ever been an instance where you've just been out in general public and seen somebody wearing your sunglasses? Yeah. the first time I distinctly remember was I I teach at the local community col college. So EMT and paramedics to stay relevant and I have so much experience that I wanna be able to at least pass it on in the next generation because the EMS and fire, like that's it's it's something I'm still passionate about, even though I'm not doing the thing, but I can at least help the new foundation come up that's gonna now go do the thing and learn some of the lessons that that I learned. I think I'm As a teacher, I'm a little more like raw and authentic, especially especially because I did leave, you know, the industry. So I'm not scared to explain the downsides of it. And I think that's also important to explain early on to people coming in rather than like having the carrot dangled in front of you like I did. Best job in the world, best job, you know, and you don't realize the downsides of it till you're in it. And at that point, you've dedicated so much time. Right. So Anyway, I was at the college and the local college police officer was walking by and he had a he had a pair of Pomonas on and I was like, nice sheets, you know? And it's like, yeah, you know, I got these from this company and I was like, Is it frontline optics? you know, and I was like, Hey, I'm like, I you know, I started that thing. So that was pretty cool. And then last year, again, not in the fire service anymore, so I'm not in the field. My friends were always sending me pictures of people wearing them, but you know, I wasn't seeing 'cause the general public doesn't typically gravitate towards it because we don't market to them. but I went to FDIC last year and as we were walking in, like I just kept seeing them on people. I'm like, there's that, there's that. Like and it it was like really cool to see how many people had them on there. who had no idea who I was at the time, right? As I was walking this at my booth up. So it was special moment. Was last year Ural's first year there or yeah. Okay. But it was it was stupid of us to wait so long, but right from California To get everything out there is is expensive, not to mention the booth space expensive. So it was always like, well, is it worth it? Right. We're we're doing a lot online. And every year, are you coming? Are you coming? Are you and so last year we're like, okay, like let's give this a try. And within four hours of the show opening, we were like, my, we didn't bring enough stuff. You know, like next day aired more stuff in, right? AM delivery to our Airbnb, Just so that we could keep up and it was like very clear from that point forward that like we will be there every year. Yeah, it's it's great. Last year was my first year there with a booth and I'm lucky because I only live two hours away. So I drove every all my stock with me and I still barely had enough st I I I packed my SUV with stuff and it was me and my buddy with dolly just trying to run stuff back and forth from the stadium where you unload. And it's a learning experience because you know I'd been there the year before to just a few days to walk around and I was just I was like, this place is huge. There's so many people here. Insane. But as a business standpoint, like it's it's very, very good idea to, you know, get a booth there because you that's all your clientele. There's forty thousand people there last year. And for for a direct to consumer brand that's online, like you never know what you're getting when you purchase something on the internet, you know. So to like have the product physically there for people to like touch, try on, feel. And we're still getting people now who put in how they heard about us on their post purchase survey that it was from FDIC. So it's like, you know, months later it's still paying dividends. Yeah. That's awesome. Well, I'm sure I'll see you there next year. I I plan on setting up a booth again. It's right on. We'll be in the ignite section. So come find us. Okay. Awesome. I want to talk a little bit about the children's foundation. It says you all donate a po portion of purchases to a children's foundation, so just talk about that. Yeah. It was important for me, obviously, when we built the brand that like it it had to be bigger than just like a revenue generating thing for myself, right? So if it wasn't doing something within our space to kind of help, then it's just greedy, I guess you could say, right? So we you need to make sure there's something behind your brand. so during my research, you know, the brand is focused on all first responders, not just fire. So I wanted to make sure that I found an organization that wasn't just for firefighters, just for police officers. And in that search is where I discovered the First Responders Children's Foundation. kind of built post nine eleven where we lost everyone, right? So I I wanted to back this organization just because it did help the kids left behind you know, by our brothers and sisters across the umbrella of the first responder industry, who have, you know, life altering or or death on the job from service to their communities. It helps take care of their kids, send their kids to college, help with like funeral, burial costs, things along those lines. So it was important for me to support them 'cause their mission is great and it covers all of us. and so that's ingrained in the in the culture of this this business. I I love that. I've always been a big supporter. you know, as a as a business you have to give back when you can and help others. something I haven't really talked about, but my my wheels are turning. Speaking of FDIC next year, I I'm I'm thinking about selling raffle tickets at my booth and then all donations will go to a certain charity. But whoever gets their raffle ticket called, I'm gonna let them shave my mustache live at FDIC. Yes. I I thought about that. I was like, you know what? Because you know, I I make donations and stuff during Christmas time and other times and I'm like, that would be a great idea to not only get people to my booth but, you know, just you know, it just I don't know. I think it would be hilarious. It would make f funny content. So that that'd be amazing and you need to make sure you tell me exactly when you're gonna be shaving it 'cause I'm gonna be there with my camera, only taking selfies. Yeah, 'cause I I shaved it a year into starting the channel on live. I I donated to tunnels to towers foundation. Okay. I think I raised like five hundred dollars just online and I shaved it on Instagram live because I can grow this thing back in a month. It's no big deal. Right. But it it's probably gonna happen. So if you if y'all are listening and you're going to FTIC, come by the booth and get a raffle ticket. Unless I chicken out. I think it's gonna happen. No, and I you just made it public. It's gotta happen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can't go back now. let's talk about motorsports. So it said something that y'all recently announced a motor sports division. Tell me about that. Yeah. So as a kid, right, like I another passion of mine was was motorsports, which, you know, growing up in Santa Barbara, like no one liked racing, you know, so I was that weird kid who had, you know, NASCAR video games and, you know, would would always turn it on the TV and like I'll be honest at that time I wasn't really paying attention to anyone winning. I just like watching the big wrecks, you know. So Yeah, so I I distinctly remember my uncle was a big race fan and kind of talked me through like how I could become a race car driver. He was like, like you're gonna start with, you know, carts and then you're gonna go to this and that. And so we had this whole plan together. And I went to my parents with it and I was like, All right, so in Santa Maria, we can go and do these carts and it was like, No, right? And it was it was done, right? So that dream over, right? Instantly. So now as things have kind of progressed, A couple of years back a NASCAR team came out and approached us about sponsoring a car. And it was like, right. Like, well, can we split this car up with a you know a few others? They're like, Yeah. So I got the American Fire Brigade and Trevor Williams from Williams Key. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the three of us wrapped a car in Las Vegas and we went out there, had the event. Super awesome. nothing necessarily came out of it financially because we didn't planet, right? You know, to like to capitalize on it was more like a cool thing for us to go to go do. Yeah, yeah. And then I got the seed, you know, as I walked in, I'm like, cool, well you look at all the little trailers in the camp there, and there's like thin red line flags, thin blue line flags, very patriotic, right? And it was like, you know what, like this is a group of people who, many of which are blue collar, many of which need eye protection, right? And they all love this same thing that we love. It would make sense to bring them kind of into the fold and like this can be for you too, right? Like n obviously the core of our brand, as you can tell, always will be first responders, but we also don't want people who support first responders to feel excluded. And I I felt like motorsports would make make for a really good bridge while also keeping me involved in an industry that I'm I'm passionate about from a hobby standpoint. So Now I get to be by the race cars, I get to go by pit road, I get to, you know, have relationships with all these guys. It's you know, it's it's a fun experience. And, you know, at the same time, we're building a a portion of the business now around that that side of things, which has been fun to see unfold. That's awesome. So, you know, it it's it's been a thing for five years. you've made big changes, big growth. Five years from now, where do you want to see frontline optics? we want to have a bigger retail presence. so I would like it to be something where if you go into a uniform store and you're picking out your boots, right? You're picking out your long sleeve or short sleeve, class B, all that, at the same time you can have sunglasses like right there available to you, you know, to add to the compliment. And with them being Z87 plus rated, right? It's it is PPE. So in theory, as we continue to grow this thing, we could get them onto, you know, departments approved purchase lists since it is eye protection. And therefore we can start to kind of like grow ourselves in that in that channel, I guess you could say. and then continue to just grow from here. I want to be involved in everything, right? I've I have dreams of being heavily involved in things like the FDNY NYPD hockey match where they beat the shit out of each other for basically the entire game and it's you know televised and everywhere, right? Like how cool would it be if both sides had like a you know, frontline optics patch on their on their jerseys or something on the ice, right? So just getting more involved in some of these other efforts that aren't necessarily like performance based marketing, which is what we focus on now, but more just branding and as a whole. So people just start to r recognize our logo and our name is just something that encompasses all first responders in in all levels of life. That's great. In closing, I just have a few rapid fire questions I want to ask. All right, let's do it. Number one, firefighter or CEO, which one has more bullshit meetings? CEO. I kind of figured that one. CEO for sure. Most overrated sunglasses brand. I don't want to call them out by name. It's alright, you can tell me off camera. It's fine. But there's a lot of them out there and you know, they They were something. Let's just say this. They were something when they were independent. They were rad and they are now part of a mega corporation out of Italy that is jacking prices up, lowering the quality of the product. And you know, people still think it's you know what it was in the nineties. So No, I get it. medic unit or engine? The engine. I felt like I made a bigger impact on the world on the medic unit. but there's just something Something about riding in the engine that you can't replace. Coffee at the firehouse or Starbucks? Jet fuel at the firehouse for sure. That yeah, that coffee is thick. best firehouse meal. Devos Huevos. Shout out to to Dave Hingley, retired. He made the most banger of a breakfast of all time and I definitely at one point held the record for the most eggs included in that, but I do think I was dethroned. if you could put frontline sunglasses on any celebrity or athlete tomorrow, who are you choosing? Maybe Steve Buscemi. nice. All right. I mean, he's authentic to the brand. Guys used to be firefighter before moving on, so that'd be my pick. That dude's hilarious. I love it. He is hilarious. in closing, one last question. You've already done the thing a lot of firefighters dream about. You built something successful enough that you could leave the job. But was there every ever a period after leaving where you would have traded the success to be back sitting around the kitchen table with your crew? No, I wouldn't trade it because the independence I have in my life now and the ability to be, you know, present with my kids. You know, I'm coaching baseball now. I'm, you know, I I don't miss anything that's important to anyone in the family because some other thing is pulling me away. So I wouldn't trade it. However, I definitely do miss it. And not too long ago I got invited back to to my station and had breakfast with the boys, which was pretty special to be back, like welcome back in and That was a nice moment 'cause it's something that I've definitely missed. I love that answer, man. too many times I've seen individuals in our careers that has focused so much on the job that they neglect their family. And as as even myself, like the last few years of not being around the job as much because I'm doing this, having more time with my family, I cannot tell you how much that's done for my mental health. And I just hope people out there listening will If if they're struggling with that, they'll they'll realize it. so yeah, thank you for talking about that. That is I love that answer. Yeah, absolutely. Do you have anything else you want to mention? you know, of course, shout out your all's website, whatever else is going on before we close. Yeah, if you need a pair of shades, check us out, frontlineoptics.com. again, back by that no questions asked replacement program. So lose them, break them, scratch them, do anything to dog chews on them, spouse borrows them. don't matter. We'll replace it one time. It's a $19.99 service fee. When you utilize it, we'll ship you a brand new pair. and that includes prescription. So yeah, if you have trouble seeing, get those prescription Sonnies and and those will also be back by that replacement program. So other than that, I mean thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure to be here. it's always fun to to chat and yeah, never a dull moment with you. So Well, thanks, man, for coming on. I really appreciate it. everybody that's watching right now, thank you for listening. I'm back to my regular scheduled programming. Episode should be out every two weeks at this point. Now we're in the winter months coming up and I don't have as much going on. So if you can, make sure you're following the podcast. If you're not liked the video, share the video, all that jazz, and I will see you guys on the next one. I appreciate you.