Latest / age / Ep. 01: Labels, Identity & Finding Your People

Transcript

Ep. 01: Labels, Identity & Finding Your People · age

• 0:00
  Dylan, what was your favorite part in today's episode?
• 0:04
  My favorite part was that I thought I sounded really smart.
• 0:06
  Oh, I agree.
• 0:07
  Reggie.
• 0:08
  I love Tim's white-up statement.
• 0:09
  Oh!
• 0:11
  And I love that Mary said, let's just wing it.
• 0:13
  Let's just be one yet.
• 0:14
  I like when Tim quoted the dark night.
• 0:17
  Awesome.
• 0:18
  Oh.
• 0:19
  Can't you feel it?
• 0:29
  Can't you feel it?
• 0:30
  Let's not breathe in for both over two and out for more.
• 0:34
  Okay.
• 0:35
  Oh, I breathe too early.
• 0:37
  Okay.
• 0:38
  I'm really, I'm really, I'm really, I'm really, I'm like, I'm going to open it.
• 0:41
  It's like too excited.
• 0:43
  One, two, ready and...
• 0:52
  Hi.
• 0:53
  And welcome to age.
• 0:55
  I'm Mary Green.
• 0:56
  I'm joined by my colleagues Dylan Garcia, Reggie Tidwell and Tim Scroggs.
• 1:00
  I feel like I should take that again.
• 1:01
  Hi.
• 1:02
  Now I love it.
• 1:03
  It's so beautiful.
• 1:04
  It's so formal.
• 1:05
  It was.
• 1:06
  Hi.
• 1:07
  Welcome to age the podcast.
• 1:09
  We don't really know what that means yet.
• 1:13
  Age.
• 1:14
  Where I was pitching for a while, age less, which I thought was kind of more us, but there's
• 1:20
  a couple of us.
• 1:21
  We hope it becomes age less.
• 1:22
  Yeah.
• 1:23
  Well, we are ageless.
• 1:24
  Oh, I like that.
• 1:25
  The young people, I don't think are allowed to say that, yeah.
• 1:27
  The young people.
• 1:28
  The young people.
• 1:29
  Is that where we're divided?
• 1:30
  Yeah.
• 1:31
  Like the oldies and the youngies.
• 1:32
  And the oldies over there.
• 1:35
  So we basically were having a lot of conversations about each of us was born in a different decade.
• 1:40
  We have about 10 years of life separating us.
• 1:43
  And we just started noticing how much of a difference that makes on our worldview and
• 1:48
  our view of brand and politics and philosophy and technology and all those other things.
• 1:55
  And we like to wax a little bit poetic and get a little mushy sometimes.
• 1:58
  So here's an outlet for that.
• 2:02
  We should also probably tell them that we are a creative studio based out of beautiful
• 2:06
  Asheville, North Carolina.
• 2:07
  Ooh.
• 2:08
  This up.
• 2:09
  Is there anything else?
• 2:10
  Oh, we should explain the trash cans.
• 2:11
  Do you want to tell them?
• 2:12
  Yes.
• 2:13
  Does it need an explanation?
• 2:14
  Where are we?
• 2:15
  Who are we?
• 2:16
  Do you want to do names and like where we came from?
• 2:18
  No, just who are?
• 2:19
  Could you, you know?
• 2:20
  40 yards.
• 2:21
  Yeah, yeah.
• 2:22
  I know.
• 2:23
  Like our names.
• 2:24
  Creators of enduring value?
• 2:25
  Is that what you mean?
• 2:26
  We're like us.
• 2:27
  You're Mary Graeme.
• 2:28
  She's Dylan Garcia.
• 2:29
  I figured we were going to keep her.
• 2:31
  This definitely turns fraud.
• 2:32
  No, I'm Mary Green.
• 2:34
  I'm Dylan Garcia.
• 2:35
  I'm Reggie Tidwell.
• 2:36
  I'm Tim Scroggs.
• 2:38
  Scroggs.
• 2:40
  Scroggs.
• 2:42
  When we came together to talk about all of the differences in our age, we wrote a bunch
• 2:46
  of topics.
• 2:47
  Each one of us wrote all of these topics on these little sticky notes.
• 2:51
  It's true that consciousness really.
• 2:52
  Yeah.
• 2:53
  And so our plan is to pull one out and talk about it today.
• 2:58
  Do you want to do the honors?
• 3:00
  Oh, I would love to.
• 3:04
  I hope it's good.
• 3:05
  I'm nervous.
• 3:06
  This is unpret.
• 3:07
  Labels.
• 3:08
  Unedited.
• 3:09
  Labels.
• 3:10
  Yeah, yeah.
• 3:11
  Labels.
• 3:12
  Dylan wrote all of these.
• 3:13
  Yeah.
• 3:14
  Labels.
• 3:15
  Okay.
• 3:16
  First, away it goes.
• 3:18
  I think about.
• 3:19
  Yeah.
• 3:20
  What do you think?
• 3:21
  Labels.
• 3:22
  I hate labels.
• 3:23
  I hate labels.
• 3:24
  Yeah.
• 3:25
  I hate labels.
• 3:27
  I hate how it like has personally like I hate when people like put this label on or like
• 3:31
  a stereotype and it's like.
• 3:34
  It just feels like you're just writing it off mentally and your brain and not like allowing
• 3:39
  like true personality to come out because you've made the stereotype.
• 3:43
  So I have a bitter taste about labels in my mouth.
• 3:46
  I feel like label.
• 3:47
  I'll go ahead.
• 3:48
  I was going to say I feel like labels can be very limiting to you because once someone labels
• 3:51
  you you kind of feel like you're either having to play into that label and it could kind
• 3:57
  of keep you from whatever your true trajectory is.
• 4:00
  Right.
• 4:01
  I see that labels is definitely negative.
• 4:04
  What were you going to say?
• 4:06
  But you design labels for living.
• 4:07
  Labels all the time.
• 4:08
  I mean that's true.
• 4:09
  It's kind of our whole.
• 4:11
  It's like an interest.
• 4:12
  Yeah.
• 4:13
  I do feel conflicted.
• 4:15
  I also like my first reaction, especially if somebody puts it on me.
• 4:20
  Hate a label.
• 4:21
  Like I think a lot of people have that reaction to things like astrology.
• 4:24
  They're like, well, that doesn't determine my life path and who I'm going to be in my
• 4:28
  right now.
• 4:29
  It's the same.
• 4:30
  Exactly right.
• 4:31
  Alex takes that stuff too.
• 4:32
  He's like, don't put me in a box.
• 4:33
  Yeah.
• 4:34
  Yeah.
• 4:35
  And I.
• 4:36
  I'm labeled Taurus.
• 4:37
  I'm not like any other Taurus.
• 4:38
  Come on.
• 4:39
  But the Reggie likes his things.
• 4:43
  And Reggie.
• 4:44
  Nice thing.
• 4:45
  Reggie's a home body and like makes the environment.
• 4:48
  Taurus stuff.
• 4:49
  Mm.
• 4:50
  Oh.
• 4:51
  But I.
• 4:52
  You are your label.
• 4:54
  But I also feel lighter.
• 4:56
  So those things exist.
• 4:58
  And like it can be frustrating.
• 4:59
  But I also am from, I mean, it's not everybody in their 30s.
• 5:03
  But I think that there are certain things that especially when they first come to like exist
• 5:09
  in a zeitgeist, like giving it a name helps you figure it out.
• 5:14
  Like, I'll use queer identities as an example with all these different ways you can identify
• 5:20
  and you can have a specific word for everything.
• 5:23
  Like, are you bisexual?
• 5:24
  Are you pansexual?
• 5:25
  Yeah.
• 5:26
  And it's like there are so many people who don't even care to get into the nitty gritty of what that means.
• 5:30
  And that's not even language that enters their mind.
• 5:34
  But for some people, it's really helpful to like pinpoint that part of your identity.
• 5:39
  And that's not to say it can't change.
• 5:41
  So I don't know mixed emotions about it.
• 5:43
  I actually agree with you on that point.
• 5:45
  Like, for instance, a DSMB-5, which is the book that has all the personality disorders and psychological...
• 5:52
  I thought you were naming like a camera.
• 5:54
  No, it's a great one, guys.
• 5:57
  Think about it.
• 5:58
  So they will label people based on a certain number of traits that they have.
• 6:04
  And what can be helpful in that is that if they are exhibiting a certain amount of traits
• 6:10
  based on something they've already identified as a condition,
• 6:14
  it may help them be able to support that person better.
• 6:18
  Or like, okay, so this person is a borderline personality disorder.
• 6:22
  They might benefit from this type of treatment.
• 6:26
  Well, the huge one, I think, in this era is all kinds of neurodivergence.
• 6:30
  Absolutely.
• 6:31
  Yeah.
• 6:32
  What do you think of labels?
• 6:33
  I have that kind of embarrassing story about labels.
• 6:35
  Oh, really?
• 6:36
  Yes, yes, yes.
• 6:37
  So I grew up...
• 6:38
  What's kind of embarrassing stories?
• 6:39
  Kind of lower middle class or upper...
• 6:42
  Lower class?
• 6:43
  You have upper lower class?
• 6:44
  Yeah.
• 6:45
  Upper lower class?
• 6:46
  I didn't have a lot of money.
• 6:47
  That's all I'm saying.
• 6:48
  As a kid, and I couldn't afford the labels that the kids at school were wearing.
• 6:51
  Yes.
• 6:52
  And so I had a Walmart shirt that was very similar color to North Face Yellow.
• 6:58
  And I loved North Face.
• 7:00
  I was a climber as a kid or I'd wanted to be, but I also couldn't afford that gear.
• 7:04
  So I took a Sharpie and I drew...
• 7:08
  ...somewhat off-center and...
• 7:11
  I don't know where this is.
• 7:12
  ...diagonal because I looked at it later and I didn't have the shirt organized right.
• 7:15
  I drew the North Face logo on my shirt.
• 7:18
  It was actually pretty good.
• 7:20
  So it's like an expression of my art and my skills as a designer.
• 7:24
  And we're taking sponsorship bits.
• 7:26
  If anybody wants to get in.
• 7:27
  The North Face.
• 7:28
  And North Face is still a strong label.
• 7:31
  And Patagonia and all these labels that you see walking around.
• 7:35
  But as a kid, I guess I saw that label as a group I was connected to.
• 7:41
  Like a thing I like to do or a value or a quality I wanted to be.
• 7:46
  So I wanted to relate to it and be inside of it.
• 7:48
  And so I just made my own label.
• 7:50
  Did you get a laugh?
• 7:52
  No, but everyone was probably not saying anything.
• 7:55
  I thought you walked into school.
• 7:57
  It's embarrassing.
• 7:58
  It's embarrassing now.
• 7:59
  And I also had blonde tips on my hair.
• 8:02
  No, that's more embarrassing.
• 8:03
  So you...
• 8:04
  I feel like it's like white and white.
• 8:06
  And I have a big shirt of this.
• 8:08
  So if anyone wants to see it, I'll post it.
• 8:10
  I definitely want to see it.
• 8:11
  I need public.
• 8:12
  We need to flush this matter out of my mind.
• 8:14
  We need episode, like, you know.
• 8:16
  No, I need will to put that in.
• 8:18
  The gallery.
• 8:19
  Right here.
• 8:20
  It's just the same type of stuff.
• 8:22
  The references from the...
• 8:24
  So like the rest of us, I am conflicted about labels because I love them.
• 8:28
  And I hate that they do what you're saying.
• 8:31
  My generation right now is like on this trend of like we're not going to wear people's brands.
• 8:36
  There's like 50-50 of us.
• 8:37
  It's like 50 of us are like really invested into like wearing the brand and like wearing the label.
• 8:42
  Like whether it's like the iconic gap logo, like the Nike, everything like that.
• 8:47
  And the other 50% is like, why am I walking around as free branding for someone?
• 8:51
  I know.
• 8:52
  Free advertising.
• 8:53
  I don't think about it.
• 8:54
  Remember the like back in the day, the Tommy Hill figure and Nautica were all about big branded labels on everything.
• 9:02
  And I never got into that because I was like, you know, I didn't feel very unique to me for one.
• 9:08
  And then two, like why it's same, I have that same feeling.
• 9:12
  Like why am I going to walk around as a big advertising statement for some brand that I don't even really care about?
• 9:17
  But on the flip side, and this starts to get into like the business world that we live in.
• 9:22
  And this is hilarious that we're saying all these things about labels as people who like design logos.
• 9:27
  They're saying the conflict.
• 9:29
  I think, you know, there's also a side of it that is if a brand stands for something.
• 9:35
  And I might say North Face is an example of that.
• 9:37
  Patagonia.
• 9:38
  Patagonia.
• 9:39
  Patagonia is a really good one.
• 9:40
  Like you were tapping into something about the thing that people who like North Face share these values or this world.
• 9:48
  And either you wanted to participate in that or you wanted to be seen as participating in that.
• 9:54
  Some way.
• 9:55
  Right.
• 9:56
  So I think in some ways when it comes to something like a logo where it's like a banner that you're waving for everyone to see.
• 10:03
  It's a little bit about like finding your people.
• 10:06
  It definitely is.
• 10:07
  And I think everything comes back to brand.
• 10:09
  I think it is like a grouping mechanism.
• 10:11
  Imagine the impact brands have today.
• 10:14
  The brand Elon Musk moved the election.
• 10:19
  His brand, SpaceX Tesla, Elon, moved an election.
• 10:23
  His money.
• 10:24
  But brands make money.
• 10:25
  Like there are these, there are power.
• 10:27
  I think governments will actually become sidelined because of brands and corporations that have, right.
• 10:32
  Attention.
• 10:33
  And move and power in that attention.
• 10:37
  And what's weird is that I grew up feeling more like us now.
• 10:41
  And I don't know if you feel this way too, Mary.
• 10:43
  But I don't like wearing big branded things.
• 10:45
  I don't like my shoes to be branded.
• 10:46
  I don't like my clothes to be branded.
• 10:48
  Which is the direct opposite of what I was then.
• 10:50
  So I think that there was like an identification issue I had.
• 10:53
  Like I didn't know how to identify who I was to someone that didn't know me.
• 10:57
  So I thought just putting a label on myself would give me that.
• 11:00
  I'm like, I'm like, these people.
• 11:02
  Right.
• 11:03
  But you know what I'm noticing now and maybe this comes with age.
• 11:06
  I don't know.
• 11:07
  Why didn't you name this pie?
• 11:10
  But like I, you know, I'm less attuned to, in fact, I'm very put off by the label with the words and the graphics.
• 11:19
  Unless it's like cool, like street style, which has its own like lore and background.
• 11:23
  But I'm more attuned to like, oh, who's the maker of that cool thing?
• 11:28
  And you start to notice the design qualities of the item.
• 11:32
  Yeah.
• 11:33
  And it's less about whose name is on the item.
• 11:35
  And it's more about craftsmanship and style of the things.
• 11:38
  And the type of company that they are too.
• 11:40
  I think that like you were saying about North Face and Patagonia.
• 11:43
  If there are company with sensibilities, like it makes you more attracted to them.
• 11:48
  But don't you think it hides or at least manipulates when something could change value even under the same brand?
• 11:57
  Like when it's sold into a bigger VC, where it's sold into a bigger brand.
• 12:01
  And they start taking ingredients out or lessening them.
• 12:04
  Like in the back in the early early early times.
• 12:08
  You used to know someone in a community and they made this type of bread.
• 12:12
  And they everyone loved it.
• 12:13
  And there was a quality.
• 12:14
  And your Tim's bread.
• 12:15
  Right. There was an understated branding there because it was word of mouth and it was a name.
• 12:20
  And everyone trusted that person as a part of the community.
• 12:23
  And now brands have come in and kind of run off a lot of the smaller shops.
• 12:27
  And you have to trust that that brand is giving you that same level of interconnected community based quality.
• 12:35
  That someone holds them to it.
• 12:36
  Have you ever tried to call a customer service at a big brand?
• 12:39
  Oh, these days.
• 12:40
  That's like a lot.
• 12:41
  Yeah. No matter if it's like US Postal Service or UPS, there's no one that wants to talk to you.
• 12:47
  It used to be that they outsourced it to somebody who would work for cheaper overseas.
• 12:50
  Yeah, yeah.
• 12:51
  They may or may not.
• 12:52
  Now they just give you the run.
• 12:53
  Yeah.
• 12:54
  Now we'll just like.
• 12:55
  Press for if you want to stay in the same system forever.
• 12:58
  I tried to call capital one the other day, be from some scan chart.
• 13:01
  Over before you started.
• 13:02
  And I got moved.
• 13:03
  I was on the phone for like two hours, moved between six different agents.
• 13:06
  Oh my gosh.
• 13:07
  And I outright threatened them.
• 13:09
  I was like, this is the worst experience I've ever had ever come into your house.
• 13:14
  I know.
• 13:15
  And one guy just blatant, like almost like an AI.
• 13:18
  Oh.
• 13:19
  He kept seeing the same thing over and over.
• 13:20
  Oh, that's good words.
• 13:21
  I said, I need you to prove to me that you're human.
• 13:23
  That's because you sound like AI right now.
• 13:25
  Yeah, that's so infuriating when they do that.
• 13:27
  Right.
• 13:28
  So brands, I think, have changed labels, brands, the power.
• 13:33
  It's a conflicted type.
• 13:35
  You were talking about brands that maybe stood at some level of desirability at some point,
• 13:41
  but then had fallen because they either started outsourcing their stuff to be made in China or whatever.
• 13:48
  But Mogue was one of those companies that had this in the.
• 13:51
  And based in Nashville, the world based in Nashville.
• 13:53
  Right.
• 13:54
  Really powerful company.
• 13:55
  The president's a friend of mine.
• 13:57
  He actually did the whole employee own thing, which I was like, man, you really got to support this.
• 14:02
  But then he sold it.
• 14:03
  And then the company that bought it ended up basically.
• 14:08
  I don't know how much of it is actually handmade in Nashville anymore.
• 14:12
  A lot of it is made in like China.
• 14:15
  And then sometimes they elevate the hand done to a higher level than it was.
• 14:20
  Yeah.
• 14:21
  And they lower the quality of the stuff you're used to buying.
• 14:23
  But before everything was made like, I knew the engineers here that were making their friends of mine.
• 14:28
  So I knew you see Mogue on a stage.
• 14:30
  You know that that is a high quality synthesizer that has been tested and built and handcrafted.
• 14:37
  Right here in the mountains of Nashville, North Carolina.
• 14:39
  And now when you see it on a stage, it doesn't have the same value.
• 14:43
  And that literally hurts me at the heart because this is what we do.
• 14:47
  Yeah.
• 14:48
  And I have an existential crisis like every six months or so because this is what we do.
• 14:52
  And it's not what we're talking about isn't what we do.
• 14:55
  But we do branding.
• 14:56
  Yeah.
• 14:57
  Which can be made to cause these type of issues.
• 15:00
  Absolutely.
• 15:02
  This is the thing that really will get into like chicken and egg conversations.
• 15:06
  We're trying to figure out our agency strategy in these uncertain times.
• 15:10
  And I think part of our issue is that if you state that you're a branding agency, you're a label agency.
• 15:17
  Yeah, right.
• 15:18
  It's like, oh, let me make a logo.
• 15:19
  Let me make the mask that covers up all the values.
• 15:21
  But I do think, I mean, we've all talked about this before.
• 15:24
  The shift is going toward values.
• 15:27
  And I think that I'm interested to run some tests and be like, what have you just led values first?
• 15:33
  And then let the name be the backup.
• 15:35
  Like, oh, and when I want to remember who has these values and sells this thing, I'll call them this.
• 15:40
  I don't know.
• 15:41
  But I feel like the hierarchy is shifting.
• 15:43
  But imagine if the youngins are not wanting to wear brands.
• 15:47
  So young, imagine if you pulled your label back and you let it with a value set.
• 15:52
  Well, there's a, um, I can see Dylan designing her own labels to wear.
• 15:55
  Oh, my God.
• 15:56
  That's what I'm asking this morning.
• 15:58
  Did you sell those?
• 15:59
  This is my grandmother shirt.
• 16:01
  Really?
• 16:02
  Yeah.
• 16:03
  We had to talk more about your grandmother in the future.
• 16:04
  Yeah.
• 16:05
  She sowed these on.
• 16:07
  Is this the Vogue grandmother?
• 16:09
  Yeah.
• 16:10
  Oh, yeah.
• 16:11
  So I can call her Vogue Grandma.
• 16:12
  Yeah.
• 16:13
  She called Grandma Grandma.
• 16:14
  Grandma used to work for Vogue.
• 16:15
  She's such a badass.
• 16:16
  This is why Dylan always looks better than we.
• 16:18
  Yeah.
• 16:19
  She's better than all of us.
• 16:21
  And so, um, this is like a, what is it?
• 16:23
  Talbot's shirt?
• 16:24
  Talbot.
• 16:25
  Oh, it's a Talbot shirt.
• 16:26
  It's a Talbot shirt.
• 16:27
  Yeah.
• 16:28
  And she sowed all those little rings.
• 16:30
  That's great.
• 16:31
  That's the stuff on there.
• 16:32
  I love it.
• 16:33
  I'm seeing more people doing it than like changing buttons and broaches.
• 16:35
  They're huge right now.
• 16:36
  But, uh, I'm curious.
• 16:38
  Do you relate to the idea of quiet luxury?
• 16:41
  Does that mean anything to you?
• 16:42
  I think it really does.
• 16:43
  Because I, I think as me as like being in like at a young age,
• 16:48
  I was immersed in like the luxury kind of brand.
• 16:52
  That's the old one.
• 16:53
  I know.
• 16:54
  You're like, what are they talking about?
• 16:57
  To me, it's like, then you maybe have a different explanation.
• 17:03
  But it's just like subtle luxury.
• 17:05
  Like if I brought in like, let's say a coach bag,
• 17:09
  but it has like the quiet labeling.
• 17:11
  Well, you know what screaming is on there.
• 17:13
  It's very unshotted.
• 17:14
  It is a quiet luxury then.
• 17:18
  I like my luxury because especially-
• 17:20
  It's just into the term.
• 17:22
  Especially with just my grandmother and working for like these brands,
• 17:26
  like very luxurious brands.
• 17:29
  I got like immersed in like some really high quality things really soon on as a child.
• 17:34
  And so my taste as a young adult kind of was very fluctuated.
• 17:39
  And if there's anything experimental, it's high fashion.
• 17:42
  Oh, yeah.
• 17:43
  Like they go crazy.
• 17:44
  And then we get filtered down some like deluded drawbacks,
• 17:49
  like a version of what's being experimented with.
• 17:51
  So I love that edge of fashion,
• 17:53
  where you can just take a shirt from a random department store and stuff on it.
• 17:57
  And all the sudden it lives.
• 17:58
  Yeah.
• 17:59
  Yeah.
• 18:00
  To me.
• 18:01
  Thanks for going to walk out and walk into a big room and see four people wearing the same shirts.
• 18:05
  Yeah.
• 18:06
  Well, don't you think though, again, this might be growing up.
• 18:09
  I feel like I am more attuned to like, oh, what's this fabric?
• 18:13
  What fibers is this made of?
• 18:15
  This is what it seems like cotton to me.
• 18:17
  It's all that's fabric.
• 18:18
  Yeah.
• 18:19
  And this has been laundered and it's crisp and it's taken care of it, you know.
• 18:24
  It's a story.
• 18:25
  Yeah, there's more to it that says something about who,
• 18:29
  not only like the brand that you bought this from,
• 18:31
  sorry to me, this whole thing about this amazing shirt.
• 18:33
  Hey, I'm really glad that we did.
• 18:35
  But like, yeah, the qualities of it and then what you've done with it.
• 18:39
  Did you laundered it?
• 18:40
  Did you so exciting?
• 18:42
  I was going to say broaches.
• 18:44
  There's all little stuff.
• 18:45
  There's a dragonfly.
• 18:47
  Is the word laundered like quiet luxury?
• 18:50
  No, it's actually like more really laundered money, you know, that's more.
• 18:55
  Oh, no, like in the dark where they throw it in the dark.
• 18:58
  That was like money.
• 18:59
  Have you laundered the clothes yet?
• 19:01
  It does sound very luxurious.
• 19:03
  It does.
• 19:04
  It's doing the laundry is like, yeah, throw it in there.
• 19:06
  No, throw it in there.
• 19:07
  Exactly.
• 19:08
  It's a tone thing.
• 19:09
  The laundered is like, I starch this and I iron it.
• 19:12
  Or I like, it's a whole process.
• 19:13
  It's a whole process.
• 19:14
  Yeah.
• 19:15
  I'm having this laundered.
• 19:16
  It's like a spa day.
• 19:18
  It's a luxury.
• 19:19
  I know.
• 19:20
  Maybe I can.
• 19:21
  My clothes are having a spa day because they're being laundered.
• 19:24
  Well, here's something I find interesting about when you were saying about the materials is
• 19:28
  that there is a need in our economy to scale things.
• 19:34
  You can't do.
• 19:35
  Or is there.
• 19:36
  Well, the thing is that you can't make.
• 19:38
  Well, there's a desire.
• 19:39
  You can't make the product and enough money to live unless you scale.
• 19:45
  There's frustration of this friction.
• 19:48
  So, even of a local company here in Asheville, which we love, Eastwark, we knew them when
• 19:53
  they were designing and making with their hands their dishes, their pottery.
• 20:00
  They have scaled up and people around the nation maybe even the world know them now.
• 20:05
  Oh, yeah.
• 20:06
  They're very well known.
• 20:07
  So, you change certain processes, which they get some heat about because they're not all
• 20:12
  handmade anymore.
• 20:13
  They do certain handmade specials.
• 20:15
  But a lot of them are built in a different way.
• 20:18
  And all of us old lovers of the brand.
• 20:21
  We can complain about it.
• 20:23
  But it's like in an effort to support more staff to make the company more of an impact.
• 20:30
  They pay all their employees a living wage and they keep increasing that as living wage goes up.
• 20:36
  This is not supposed to be a commercial for Eastwark.
• 20:38
  Even though we would do Eastwark commercials.
• 20:41
  I need a mug.
• 20:42
  But the thing I was saying is that you get stuck in this.
• 20:45
  It's like maybe it's like this relationship with the environment you're in that you can become the thing you hate.
• 20:53
  Because you want it to be good.
• 20:54
  Like Patagonia started off with this really intense and it still is intense.
• 20:58
  Yeah, yeah.
• 20:59
  Compared to other organizations of their size.
• 21:01
  But I know someone personally who worked inside of Patagonia for 11 years.
• 21:05
  And they say it's nothing like you think it is.
• 21:07
  It's not a great environment to work in.
• 21:10
  Ivan Shanard does not come in with the glorious halo on his head like we all think he does.
• 21:15
  He's intense.
• 21:16
  He comes in and he just yells at people.
• 21:18
  I'm not going to spread rumors.
• 21:20
  We don't know.
• 21:21
  He's intense.
• 21:22
  And probably it's his right.
• 21:25
  You have that size company.
• 21:26
  You just got to get intense.
• 21:27
  I'm just saying that.
• 21:28
  And then some thousand intensity is.
• 21:30
  It's like the quote in the Batman movie.
• 21:33
  You live long.
• 21:34
  You die the hero or you live long enough to become the villain.
• 21:38
  Oh, yeah.
• 21:39
  Only the good guy young.
• 21:41
  I don't know.
• 21:42
  What are you feeling now?
• 21:43
  I feel like we're looking for Will for real.
• 21:47
  I feel like we'll get started.
• 21:50
  They said so brands like they start off East Fort Patagonia as this hero.
• 21:55
  Yeah.
• 21:56
  We make all our own fabrics with.
• 21:58
  Yeah.
• 21:59
  And then the 80s and some country where they're supporting their home life.
• 22:03
  And then all of a sudden like 10 years later, they're like just kids are producing everything.
• 22:07
  Yeah.
• 22:08
  So it's, what is that?
• 22:09
  Well, let's scale.
• 22:11
  Not to question the premise, but let me question the premise and say like, do we need to scale?
• 22:18
  Do you explore it?
• 22:19
  Or is that just the norm?
• 22:21
  And everybody wants to become a billionaire.
• 22:23
  And the only way you become a billionaire is to scale and get involved in higher financial markets and things.
• 22:28
  I mean, the East Fort example I think is cool because to Tim's point, like part of their desire to scale was so that they could support more people.
• 22:38
  And be able to play, pay their employees a living wage.
• 22:42
  Their employees are pretty awesome.
• 22:44
  And the people that I know that work for East Fort are really like completely elated to be a part of that company.
• 22:52
  And so there are stories like that that feel really good.
• 22:55
  But then I'm sure there are a lot of them where the company has scaled because the leadership wants to be wealthier and wealthier.
• 23:02
  And that doesn't trickle down to this staff.
• 23:05
  But here's the thing, there are two types of businesses.
• 23:07
  Well, they're multiple types.
• 23:08
  But the two types that are kind of grouped with what we're talking about.
• 23:10
  The two label types are a growth.
• 23:12
  A growth based business.
• 23:13
  You're a label, though.
• 23:14
  Which scales and grows.
• 23:15
  I know.
• 23:16
  And let's label.
• 23:17
  Since it's called label and let's label them.
• 23:18
  And then there is a lifestyle business.
• 23:20
  Lifestyle businesses are ones that don't have that much investible value.
• 23:26
  What someone has done and they love the life it brings them.
• 23:29
  They like equality.
• 23:30
  They like the daily tasks.
• 23:32
  And retired people will actually get into lifestyle businesses because they just want to work.
• 23:36
  But you can actually accidentally create a lifestyle business does not know it because you're not growing.
• 23:41
  That's what makes a company valuable is to have cash flow and growth.
• 23:45
  So scale is a growth company.
• 23:48
  So if you want to build a growth company and like we don't have retirement coming to us most likely.
• 23:53
  I mean, I might because I'm older.
• 23:55
  But you might not.
• 23:56
  So we so now we have to think of different ways to.
• 23:59
  We're hearing it here first.
• 24:00
  What is that made you?
• 24:01
  I'm older than you.
• 24:02
  You're definitely going to have retirement.
• 24:04
  Am I retired already?
• 24:05
  You guys are doing well.
• 24:06
  Oh my gosh.
• 24:07
  Maybe something.
• 24:09
  But the thing is that you're we are trying to figure out different ways to be able to retire.
• 24:14
  And a scaling growth based business is one way to retire.
• 24:17
  Absolutely.
• 24:18
  You sell the company.
• 24:19
  A lifestyle business you can't sell it.
• 24:20
  If you build it to a certain level you could just keep working until you die.
• 24:23
  Which maybe.
• 24:24
  I don't know.
• 24:25
  That's not bad.
• 24:26
  I feel like a lifestyle business will be attractive to a potential buyer.
• 24:30
  It just doesn't have.
• 24:31
  I mean, it could.
• 24:32
  But that person.
• 24:33
  It's more of an apprenticeship model.
• 24:34
  I feel like at that point somebody's got to be in the flow with you and then just naturally.
• 24:38
  And if you want money to retire on you need it to be valuable.
• 24:42
  It can just give it away.
• 24:43
  I also feel this way about like corporate and self-employed.
• 24:46
  Yeah.
• 24:47
  So like you guys, especially starting this.
• 24:49
  Thank you.
• 24:50
  Because this is supported me for a year.
• 24:51
  We're having a good time.
• 24:52
  Thank you.
• 24:53
  I have a good time on this ride.
• 24:55
  So I met a really good friend of mine now.
• 24:59
  He is like a franchisee of like Jersey Mikes.
• 25:02
  And.
• 25:03
  I know who you are.
• 25:04
  Yeah.
• 25:05
  We will accept payment in subs or pottery.
• 25:07
  And.
• 25:09
  He is self-employed.
• 25:11
  And we were talking about this conversation with him of like, yes, he's setting up a rough
• 25:16
  R.A.
• 25:17
  Everything like that.
• 25:18
  But if like something happens with the Jersey Mikes brand.
• 25:21
  He's gone.
• 25:22
  He's gone.
• 25:23
  Right.
• 25:24
  And his whole family.
• 25:25
  Everything like that.
• 25:26
  So I kind of feel that same way about like self-employed.
• 25:29
  It's like is really hard.
• 25:30
  Yeah.
• 25:31
  To be in self-employed to like produce this like art business lifestyle business.
• 25:36
  Whatever you call it.
• 25:37
  Mm-hmm.
• 25:38
  And.
• 25:39
  Be able to have the same as the corporate.
• 25:41
  So it's like I praise corporate in some ways because it's able to like.
• 25:45
  Do the financials look like retirement.
• 25:47
  Consistency and you've got the benefits.
• 25:49
  Yeah.
• 25:50
  But I feel like there's like a really good joy in like being self-employed as well.
• 25:54
  But.
• 25:55
  The American dream, right?
• 25:56
  Yeah.
• 25:57
  It is the American dream.
• 25:58
  I'll say this.
• 25:59
  And we talk a lot about my baggage from my, you know, one decade of agency experience.
• 26:05
  That's a long decade though.
• 26:06
  Yeah.
• 26:07
  Oh.
• 26:08
  It was a decade that took me 30 years.
• 26:09
  I've only been in a bagage.
• 26:10
  Is it.
• 26:11
  Is it.
• 26:12
  Is it.
• 26:13
  That way.
• 26:14
  Is it.
• 26:15
  Is it poetry?
• 26:16
  Is it culturepindy?
• 26:17
  What kind of baggage are we talking about?
• 26:18
  Quite luxury baggage.
• 26:19
  You know, I was definitely social climbing at the time.
• 26:22
  So it's some sort of somebody.
• 26:24
  Yeah.
• 26:25
  I'm fashioning baggage.
• 26:26
  I don't know if it's high fashion.
• 26:27
  It's probably like one of those millennial like all birds.
• 26:30
  Certainly.
• 26:31
  Oh.
• 26:33
  Oh, so it's not for tour anything like that.
• 26:35
  Like new ways.
• 26:36
  Like what was I going to do?
• 26:38
  But I think that I will say this.
• 26:41
  And I'm.
• 26:42
  You two have been entrepreneurs for a really long time.
• 26:45
  I've been running your own entrepreneurial endeavors, like individually and with a team.
• 26:50
  But I will say when I stepped out of agency life, the narrative that you hear when you quit your full-time job is like, oh well, that you've lost security.
• 26:58
  Like there's no.
• 26:59
  Yeah.
• 27:00
  You're out there on your own.
• 27:01
  In the wild.
• 27:02
  Yeah.
• 27:03
  And you know, there's some people get excited about that.
• 27:05
  And maybe there's a little part of me that was.
• 27:07
  But I think I felt so subject to the decisions of my business owner at the time.
• 27:14
  The person who was in that company that I was working full-time for, the people who founded that company, which was a small business.
• 27:20
  I think we were in LLC until the last year that I was there and then we became an escort.
• 27:24
  And we had fewer than 30 employees.
• 27:26
  We were constantly the freelancer dance that so many agencies do.
• 27:30
  We'll do another episode on how the agency model is dying and we're reacting to that.
• 27:35
  But.
• 27:36
  Oh, if it's any trash can.
• 27:37
  Yeah, throw it in.
• 27:39
  Let's trash that one.
• 27:40
  Trash that idea.
• 27:41
  But I felt an immense sense of relief.
• 27:44
  Not only because I was like had an opportunity to become less burned out by that system, but also just the security that I was supposed to feel in that full-time role.
• 27:53
  I was not getting.
• 27:54
  It felt very much like they could make a bad decision or play support bet.
• 27:59
  And now my whole job is whatever.
• 28:01
  It's going to leave me open any moment.
• 28:02
  Yeah.
• 28:03
  Like there was no loyalty or sense of like because you've been here.
• 28:08
  Oh, trust me.
• 28:09
  Yeah, I had no trust because I'd seen it go poorly for other people.
• 28:12
  Right.
• 28:13
  And because I knew that I was at the end of the day like a tool.
• 28:15
  Like I was being leveraged to get from my native point being.
• 28:18
  Which is that's difficult.
• 28:20
  That's difficult.
• 28:21
  We have to war with that here.
• 28:24
  You got that in your experience.
• 28:26
  Like you felt that while you were living through it.
• 28:28
  So when I was growing up, that was the goal to get into that safety.
• 28:32
  Yeah.
• 28:33
  Because I don't know how advanced entrepreneurship was when I was a kid and a teenager.
• 28:39
  My first job was at Gap and there was.
• 28:43
  It's where I established this fashion sense.
• 28:45
  I learned to fold.
• 28:46
  That's why I luxury.
• 28:48
  I learned.
• 28:49
  You should see me fold now.
• 28:50
  I still got it.
• 28:51
  My kids say, I'm dead.
• 28:52
  They do that.
• 28:53
  You're laundering.
• 28:54
  I'm laundering.
• 28:55
  But when I was raised, I guess the structure was built in a way that you needed one of those jobs to fit into the society.
• 29:07
  Well, if you wanted to have kids, if you wanted to have insurance, you had any of this stuff.
• 29:12
  And I grew up in a church playing music.
• 29:15
  So that's what gave me my rebel spirit to do whatever I wanted because I was a musician.
• 29:20
  But here's the thing.
• 29:21
  Right.
• 29:22
  I mean, that was part of it.
• 29:23
  But here's the thing with music.
• 29:24
  You're also trying to get in with the record labels in my day.
• 29:27
  Like sign a deal.
• 29:28
  But the thing is, record label.
• 29:31
  The thing is that when you want or need a label deal, they don't want you.
• 29:37
  When you don't need or want a label.
• 29:39
  They can't.
• 29:40
  Right.
• 29:41
  They want you so bad.
• 29:42
  So there's this.
• 29:43
  There's this.
• 29:44
  Again, the friction.
• 29:45
  This is this controversy happening between what it means to be in a label or in a company.
• 29:50
  In safety.
• 29:51
  Excuse me.
• 29:52
  Excuse me.
• 29:53
  That's you.
• 29:54
  Excuse me.
• 29:55
  Sorry.
• 29:56
  Sometimes that was unscripted.
• 29:58
  That was.
• 29:59
  Sometimes you're just sneezing in his office.
• 30:02
  And Dylan and I will lock eyes.
• 30:04
  We're like.
• 30:05
  He died.
• 30:06
  I just explode.
• 30:07
  What's they saying?
• 30:08
  It's me.
• 30:09
  You're right at it.
• 30:10
  It's okay.
• 30:11
  We won the film.
• 30:12
  Oh.
• 30:13
  What do you call it?
• 30:14
  So I was going to say now I feel like entrepreneurship is a label.
• 30:21
  And that's something we're being in Asheville especially.
• 30:25
  Well, then we can talk about that.
• 30:27
  Right.
• 30:28
  And so.
• 30:29
  And I brought this up.
• 30:30
  You Dylan.
• 30:31
  I was like the first question I would want to would have want to have been asked.
• 30:34
  When I was starting out on this journey was do you want to be an entrepreneur?
• 30:37
  Oh, yeah.
• 30:38
  Not that I would have understood with that men.
• 30:40
  You didn't ask yourself.
• 30:41
  I didn't even know what this meant.
• 30:43
  I didn't know.
• 30:44
  I didn't know I'd be doing my own taxes, my own business management,
• 30:48
  my own everything that wasn't creative.
• 30:50
  You're not doing it.
• 30:51
  And I don't know that a lot of creatives.
• 30:53
  No.
• 30:54
  No.
• 30:55
  At my first agency when I was freelancing, I was just going to be this free creative.
• 30:58
  Oh, yeah.
• 30:59
  That's not how it works.
• 31:00
  And I know a lot of creatives out there young creatives feel that sense of like they want to be free.
• 31:06
  But there is some protection in numbers.
• 31:09
  Yeah.
• 31:10
  You know, there is safety in a community of numbers.
• 31:13
  Yeah.
• 31:14
  Because when you're solo, the hatch you wear is.
• 31:16
  It's just.
• 31:17
  You're going to leave.
• 31:18
  Three jobs.
• 31:19
  Four or five jobs.
• 31:20
  Right.
• 31:21
  And I was like me.
• 31:22
  You're like, this is not me.
• 31:23
  You're like.
• 31:24
  No.
• 31:25
  So we throw Dylan around.
• 31:26
  We're like Dylan.
• 31:27
  Go there.
• 31:28
  Yeah.
• 31:29
  We do this and she has done it so far.
• 31:31
  Right.
• 31:32
  But I want it.
• 31:33
  I wish it was back.
• 31:34
  I wish it was back.
• 31:35
  I wanted to do music to do music and that career kind of ended because of the world.
• 31:38
  And then I went into, I went back to school at a late age, had two kids in college.
• 31:44
  That was fun.
• 31:45
  A whole experience.
• 31:46
  But I came out of college wanting to get into the agency world, which is where you were.
• 31:50
  Yeah.
• 31:51
  Because I thought I could learn the ropes in that world.
• 31:54
  And I wanted to go to Brand Center in Richmond, Virginia.
• 31:57
  So I had to go back to school to do that.
• 31:59
  So that's how I got back into school.
• 32:00
  But when I got out, my wife and I were like, let's just start our own creative company.
• 32:03
  So we didn't even know we were getting into entrepreneurship.
• 32:06
  Right.
• 32:07
  We just thought we could do it and we did it.
• 32:09
  And it was intense.
• 32:11
  And I would say out there, anyone that's getting into this, know if that's what you want to do.
• 32:16
  If entrepreneurship is how you want to roll because it's a battle.
• 32:21
  It's a brutal act.
• 32:22
  It's a brutal act.
• 32:23
  I can tell you that.
• 32:24
  Right.
• 32:25
  It's not that it doesn't come without its rewards.
• 32:27
  Oh, yeah.
• 32:28
  And it's benefits.
• 32:29
  But I think here we want to create a place where creatives can learn in a different community,
• 32:34
  then just go out there and like die on the battlefield.
• 32:36
  Right.
• 32:37
  I'm worried.
• 32:38
  This is one of the like changing dynamics that I'm like, is this the cutting edge that we ought to be like riding?
• 32:44
  Is there some in between?
• 32:46
  Like historically, I viewed it as either you are the business owner and you're an entrepreneur
• 32:51
  and you're out there on your own.
• 32:52
  And maybe you've got people that you're trying to support at your company like you sport.
• 32:56
  But like it's up to you to like navigate the business world.
• 33:00
  Do the taxes.
• 33:01
  Keep compliant.
• 33:02
  All that stuff.
• 33:03
  Or you're this full-time employee.
• 33:05
  You do what you're told.
• 33:06
  There's a ladder for you to climb.
• 33:08
  Right.
• 33:09
  They supply you with your tech and your benefits and your whatever in the workplace.
• 33:14
  And they build a culture, whatever.
• 33:17
  But I feel like we're coming to somewhere in between.
• 33:21
  Yeah.
• 33:22
  Because the full-time thing doesn't appear to be working for agencies.
• 33:25
  And the freelance thing doesn't fully appear to be working for creatives.
• 33:30
  Yeah.
• 33:31
  And especially for someone, sorry, I just like.
• 33:34
  I like this.
• 33:35
  You were the shirt.
• 33:36
  The shirt is drawing us in.
• 33:37
  Yeah.
• 33:38
  I mean Dylan draws us in every day.
• 33:40
  She's bringing inspiration into our lives.
• 33:42
  But I think like somebody coming out of school,
• 33:45
  the idea that you graduated and then immediately began like,
• 33:49
  well, you interned and began freelancing.
• 33:52
  It's sort of a wild concept to me.
• 33:54
  Like that was not ever in the cards from where I was standing.
• 33:58
  Like you had to go work in an agency and cut your seed.
• 34:01
  Yeah.
• 34:02
  That was part of why I left North Carolina.
• 34:04
  I was like, well, I'm going to do it.
• 34:05
  I'll do it now.
• 34:06
  Right.
• 34:07
  I have the exact same path as Dylan.
• 34:09
  Really?
• 34:10
  I did an internship.
• 34:12
  And then I actually started freelancing before I graduated.
• 34:16
  And then I started my own business right out of school.
• 34:19
  Did you have your degree was business, right?
• 34:22
  No.
• 34:23
  Well, I had my under my associates was in business administration.
• 34:27
  You had transfer studies.
• 34:28
  But then I got a BFA and graphic design.
• 34:30
  But actually, what's interesting is that I actually did that for a year.
• 34:36
  So low.
• 34:37
  Yeah.
• 34:38
  And I decided to go to the corporate world.
• 34:41
  I ended up having the reverse experience where I was like,
• 34:45
  I'm lonely.
• 34:46
  I'm in this basement designing by myself.
• 34:48
  And I'm a social creature.
• 34:49
  And I'm like, this isn't very fun.
• 34:50
  Very fun.
• 34:51
  To the Instagram.
• 34:52
  He's a social creature.
• 34:54
  Working at a Fortune 500 company as their resident graphic designer.
• 34:59
  And they would happen to be a macro media authorized training facility,
• 35:02
  which is where I learned flash and became this nationally recognized flash developer.
• 35:07
  I'm sorry.
• 35:08
  I know.
• 35:09
  I'm on tech now.
• 35:10
  But it gave me a lot of inroads to I was the web partner for all the big agencies in St. Louis.
• 35:17
  So basically, it definitely helped poster my career.
• 35:20
  But to the point of being an entrepreneur, especially if you're so low, like a freelancer versus being a part of something bigger,
• 35:30
  it really also depends on who you are as a person.
• 35:33
  Like what your tendencies are.
• 35:35
  I want to be around people.
• 35:36
  Yeah.
• 35:37
  Right.
• 35:38
  I love that because I think who you are, because the youngest and the oldest have this similar path.
• 35:43
  And we have a similar path.
• 35:45
  But it's interesting how life gives us hints that relate to us in our story.
• 35:50
  You know, like yours, you get this hint to freelance wire in school.
• 35:54
  Like life somehow pushed you into that.
• 35:56
  And there was an element of that in mind when certain things failed and I had this opportunity.
• 36:01
  But that is for all of us.
• 36:02
  There's a unique path that we're all walking on.
• 36:05
  So maybe the wrong question asked myself about entrepreneurship.
• 36:08
  That's how we are.
• 36:09
  Right.
• 36:10
  Right.
• 36:11
  We're like, what are you talking about?
• 36:12
  Yeah, exactly.
• 36:13
  Who the hell are you?
• 36:14
  But I do think that those to bring it back to labels, there's an understanding about what all these decisions mean.
• 36:23
  That's built in the label of what our world has made, the meaning of that label.
• 36:28
  And to the point about like, let's not put it in a box, even the label itself is always shifting.
• 36:35
  It is expanding, contracting, and repositioning.
• 36:38
  And so like, it's really, it's not evergreen.
• 36:42
  You know, it's like a brand, it's constantly changing.
• 36:45
  And the anti label becomes the new label.
• 36:48
  The mean culture becomes the new label or the anti meme as my son likes to talk about.
• 36:52
  It's just not funny on purpose and I'm looking at like postmodern meaning.
• 36:56
  Right.
• 36:57
  And then postmodern's a label.
• 36:58
  Yeah.
• 36:59
  You know, modernism is a label.
• 37:00
  There's just, it's, you can't get away from it.
• 37:03
  So what is, what is the meaning?
• 37:04
  Why do we have labels?
• 37:05
  Well, I have a linguistics degree, which I clearly bring in Mary.
• 37:10
  But everything is just a label, guys.
• 37:13
  Everything is just a label.
• 37:14
  Something that does something is a, that's a packing blanket.
• 37:16
  We're using them for soundproofing.
• 37:17
  And like, that's what we described it as.
• 37:20
  And so now we, and the reason we did that was probably one for the joy of hearing ourselves say something like we enjoyed communicating.
• 37:27
  But it's so that you and I could connect and be like, oh, we share reality for a moment.
• 37:32
  You and I both agree that that's a packing blanket.
• 37:34
  And so I think there's a beauty in that in the language of it.
• 37:38
  I mean, if you can allow yourself, if you can refuse to be constrained by it, I guess.
• 37:44
  And like, love the ambiguity of it.
• 37:46
  It's not about what the word means.
• 37:48
  It's about what meaning do we share with it?
• 37:51
  I wish I hadn't known that in my early 40s.
• 37:54
  Oh, but that's called a packing blanket.
• 37:56
  No, no, no.
• 37:57
  It would have saved me so much time.
• 38:00
  And epiphany.
• 38:01
  It was when my wife and I were still friends.
• 38:03
  We weren't even dating yet.
• 38:05
  And we're hanging out one day.
• 38:07
  And she referred to me as middle aged.
• 38:10
  And my whole world, like, love.
• 38:12
  It's like in middle aged.
• 38:14
  I'm like, 41.
• 38:15
  I'm like, I'm not middle aged.
• 38:17
  And then I had the harsh reality and like awake.
• 38:23
  And they're like, oh, I guess I am middle aged.
• 38:25
  And I became old, like overnight, just like that.
• 38:28
  And you're thinking?
• 38:29
  Oh, yeah, I just became old.
• 38:31
  Oh, so your body just likes.
• 38:32
  No, I'm just kidding.
• 38:34
  But you touched on a good point, though, when you start to subscribe to the label.
• 38:38
  Yeah.
• 38:39
  How does it change your actions?
• 38:40
  Yeah.
• 38:41
  I definitely found it very jarring.
• 38:44
  And I'd like pushed back.
• 38:46
  And then I was like, well, wait, maybe she's right.
• 38:48
  And then there is this whole like process that went through.
• 38:51
  It was like a grieving process.
• 38:53
  Yeah.
• 38:54
  Actually, it might have been 38, which didn't feel like middle age.
• 38:57
  My children think 38 is very old.
• 38:59
  Oh, yeah.
• 39:00
  We're only eight.
• 39:01
  I'm compared to like the people who describe that label.
• 39:05
  Yeah.
• 39:06
  We're middle aged.
• 39:07
  I've been 35 since I was, I don't know, 12.
• 39:10
  12.
• 39:11
  So I looked at two.
• 39:13
  I'm curious.
• 39:14
  You gave me an idea.
• 39:15
  We've got a little list of things that we're trying to hit.
• 39:17
  So that's what I'm looking at.
• 39:19
  We're the next like segment.
• 39:21
  Excuse me.
• 39:22
  Sorry.
• 39:23
  That's a label.
• 39:24
  I don't like that label.
• 39:25
  That's his least favorite label.
• 39:26
  Yeah.
• 39:27
  The dance segment.
• 39:29
  The dance segment.
• 39:30
  I think that to your point, Reggie,
• 39:35
  like if you inhabit and body,
• 39:38
  good trigger right now, if you embody the label,
• 39:41
  it does change you from the inside out.
• 39:43
  Yeah.
• 39:44
  And so I think knowing that and being aware of it,
• 39:47
  you can hijack the system.
• 39:48
  Could change the whole.
• 39:49
  Yeah.
• 39:50
  You're like in a label that levels you up instead of draws you down.
• 39:53
  Oh, I love that.
• 39:54
  What inspires you?
• 39:55
  What can you step into and become?
• 39:57
  It's like the process of becoming.
• 39:59
  Like you're constantly growing into something.
• 40:01
  What are you growing into?
• 40:02
  I'm not middle age.
• 40:03
  I'm half-glass full-aged.
• 40:05
  Oh.
• 40:06
  Well.
• 40:07
  Yes, absolutely.
• 40:08
  Okay, but I'm going to push back a little bit only because sometimes when you
• 40:11
  are in a scary position, like if you don't have enough money or
• 40:15
  we don't have friends, you want the label to help save you.
• 40:20
  Yeah.
• 40:21
  What you gaze upon creates who you are.
• 40:24
  So if you watch in the videos back to back,
• 40:26
  you can actually change yourself to become something.
• 40:29
  Yeah.
• 40:30
  So if you know like fake it to you make it is a thing that is real.
• 40:33
  It's true.
• 40:34
  It's something about walking into the unknown is about faking it to you make it.
• 40:37
  But there's also a point at which you can fake yourself out
• 40:40
  and end up somewhere you don't want to be.
• 40:42
  Yeah.
• 40:43
  And so I call this just a few days ago I recorded a video that I was talking about
• 40:47
  ruthless authenticity and I know authenticity is a buzzword
• 40:50
  and every company has it on their values, which is kind of lame.
• 40:54
  But in this case, it fits.
• 40:56
  Routhless authenticity.
• 40:57
  Like be ruthless about who you are.
• 41:00
  Yes.
• 41:01
  And if you don't know who you are, be aware that what you're watching
• 41:06
  can save you or who you are.
• 41:09
  And so in a time, in a difficult time.
• 41:13
  You are what you consume.
• 41:14
  We sometimes think we have to contort ourselves to fit and to be successful.
• 41:20
  But that's not the way branding works.
• 41:23
  The differentiator is the most important part of branding and labels
• 41:26
  sticking standing out.
• 41:29
  So what sets you aside from your competitors?
• 41:31
  Right.
• 41:32
  So it's like I like how you were bringing an optimistic or like what inspires you.
• 41:36
  Live into that label of yourself and maybe only maybe name your label for yourself.
• 41:42
  But then we want community.
• 41:44
  So if we're aware that the label we're diving into can change us,
• 41:50
  then maybe we become more aware about how we're choosing that or how we're walking into it.
• 41:55
  I love the food metaphor.
• 41:57
  Like you are what we eat.
• 41:58
  Yeah.
• 41:59
  The same goes for like your eye.
• 42:00
  Yeah.
• 42:01
  Whatever you consume is who you become.
• 42:03
  Yeah.
• 42:04
  Right.
• 42:05
  And there are whole digital farms that put content out to make something look like the trend.
• 42:11
  Yeah.
• 42:12
  And so sometimes we will think all the lot of people are into this.
• 42:15
  I can be a part of it and it's not even it's a scam.
• 42:17
  That's the digital world we live in.
• 42:19
  It's a part of the side of the scam.
• 42:21
  Yeah.
• 42:22
  You have to be with people.
• 42:23
  You have to be in spaces to feel what's real.
• 42:26
  You also have to like what.
• 42:29
  What you're saying to me also resonates on the level of like self-knowledge or knowing that you don't know yourself.
• 42:35
  But like a sense of identity and like what is in here, agnostic of what's out there.
• 42:40
  Yeah.
• 42:41
  And I think.
• 42:42
  I mean we're we're ones to talk like pot kettle kind of situation, but you can't let what is popular dictate what's in here.
• 42:50
  You can inform the way you navigate.
• 42:52
  Like I think you should be aware as you're moving through it, but it doesn't mean that you have to become it.
• 42:56
  Right.
• 42:57
  And even in the agent AI where we're like running all our emails along text through this AI engine that's like you should sound like this.
• 43:03
  Everyone wants you to sound professional.
• 43:05
  We're losing a sense of each other.
• 43:07
  Like how does this person respond to their emails?
• 43:09
  Oh, they're kind of dry humor.
• 43:11
  Yeah.
• 43:12
  This person's just kind of curt and straightforward.
• 43:14
  This person's really friendly and bubbly.
• 43:16
  Why do you point at me?
• 43:17
  I know you started your emails that way.
• 43:20
  But I think that there was a part of that that helped us connect to each other.
• 43:25
  And now AI is kind of where the thought of AI and how it's influencing people is that you need to sound clear.
• 43:33
  You need to sound professional.
• 43:35
  I sanitized almost.
• 43:37
  It's like what's the land everybody out?
• 43:40
  And I think our capacity to even take in those different kinds of personalities or quirks are like to recognize humor when we see it is probably being decreased because we're getting so much of the white bread.
• 43:52
  Sorry, white bread people.
• 43:54
  White bread.
• 43:55
  It was trained on the internet, which is largely.
• 43:59
  The land.
• 44:00
  It was just the lowest common denominator.
• 44:02
  The denominator.
• 44:03
  The denominator.
• 44:05
  The denominator.
• 44:07
  Do you think so?
• 44:08
  No, no, no.
• 44:09
  I have this like crazy envision and like maybe it's just the world we're living in and like the young adult media.
• 44:15
  The young adult media all that I consumed was that like you know you had the Hunger Games like the Maze Runner.
• 44:22
  And it was like there was all these like very bland people who got very manipulated into the system.
• 44:28
  Yeah.
• 44:29
  And they were the cut and narrow like the squares basically.
• 44:32
  And then there was always like I'd call them the circles.
• 44:35
  But like the people who would always like revol and like have that personality.
• 44:39
  I feel like brands and like we were talking about earlier how like government like swayed with these brands.
• 44:45
  I feel like it's all part of the plot.
• 44:48
  Like I feel it's like if someone can have you buy into this label or brand.
• 44:52
  They've manipulated you in some way.
• 44:54
  Yeah.
• 44:55
  Like whether it's good or bad.
• 44:56
  Like you wear the jeans until like that's going to make your life better.
• 44:59
  Get in on the bed.
• 45:00
  Get in on the bed.
• 45:01
  Get in on the bed.
• 45:02
  Literally.
• 45:03
  And I think once it's the buy-in it's like oh we could release this trend like the gap jeans.
• 45:08
  I have a pair of gap jeans.
• 45:10
  They're iconic.
• 45:11
  Yeah, iconic.
• 45:12
  No these are not gap.
• 45:13
  Oh I was going to say I have a pair.
• 45:15
  But I bought into it and then everybody has these striped jeans.
• 45:19
  And I was like I am part of like what is it the Truman show.
• 45:23
  Oh yeah.
• 45:24
  I was like I am Truman.
• 45:25
  I was like I am that's where I get a little like conspiracy theory about labels and everything like that.
• 45:32
  Because I'm like this is all a system.
• 45:34
  This is all a plot.
• 45:35
  And however like when it's trendy and it gets duped and it does all this stuff it's like you're buying into this manipulation.
• 45:42
  And I tell you here I'm not going to tell you which elementary school but it's one that I attended.
• 45:48
  They made teachers.
• 45:50
  I only attended one.
• 45:52
  Sorry.
• 45:53
  Don't you be doing some research.
• 45:55
  I know.
• 45:56
  We're going to look it up.
• 45:57
  You have to sign a parent has to sign a permission slip to let children read the Hunger Games.
• 46:02
  Oh really?
• 46:03
  I learned that last year.
• 46:05
  Wow.
• 46:06
  Interesting.
• 46:07
  Hey at least they didn't ban it.
• 46:09
  I mean it might as well be.
• 46:11
  I don't know if they specify why.
• 46:14
  Is it that that made that require their permission slip or is it because it was it's kind of a it's intense.
• 46:23
  It's intense killing kids killing kids.
• 46:26
  I would hope it would be because of that.
• 46:28
  But don't you think that her brand helped the revolution?
• 46:31
  Yeah no.
• 46:32
  So it was almost like the same thing that's not almost like exactly like the same thing can be.
• 46:37
  That's right.
• 46:38
  That's right.
• 46:39
  That's right.
• 46:40
  That's right.
• 46:41
  That's right.
• 46:42
  That's right.
• 46:43
  That's right.
• 46:44
  That's right.
• 46:45
  That's right.
• 46:46
  That's right.
• 46:47
  But they try to use your brand for evil but she rises up inside of it to.
• 46:51
  Yeah.
• 46:52
  Become good.
• 46:53
  And to.
• 46:54
  So we were talking about protesting.
• 46:59
  Oh yeah.
• 47:00
  And we were talking about how protesting can get so easily manipulated.
• 47:03
  And they send rogue agents in and just ruin the movement of a protest.
• 47:08
  It's in provocateurs.
• 47:09
  Right.
• 47:10
  And it's like this it's almost like they've ruined what protesting used to be in the 60s and 70s.
• 47:16
  And I was asking Reggie what is the new protest?
• 47:20
  I don't know that the way we protest now is the most effective way to change the things that we want changed.
• 47:27
  Well it's not buying things.
• 47:28
  It could be not buying but what if it's turning the label against the one who.
• 47:33
  Like re re giving it new meaning.
• 47:36
  Right.
• 47:37
  What if labels and brands are the new protests?
• 47:39
  Cancel culture.
• 47:40
  It could be canceled but it could be adopting a brand that is.
• 47:44
  No, I like yours.
• 47:45
  I like cancel culture.
• 47:46
  I like this happens all the time.
• 47:48
  But do we cancel or do we do I'm torn again like a contradiction like if we adopt a brand that has the values.
• 47:56
  Yeah.
• 47:57
  That do protest against what's wrong.
• 47:59
  Yeah.
• 48:00
  That much movement together in a community could change it.
• 48:03
  That's like a protest of what you're buying.
• 48:05
  Yeah.
• 48:06
  Of what you're supporting.
• 48:07
  And it's great.
• 48:08
  The problem is when you do have agent provocateurs and you have this movement and it's positive and everything is happening.
• 48:15
  And then these people get sent in to like I was just watching this person.
• 48:19
  My wife and I were watching the new show with what was the name of it.
• 48:25
  It's with Claire Danes and there's this one scene where they're trying to have this like peaceful protest about this development coming in and taking over this like community.
• 48:36
  And they, the sort of the protagonist, the protagonist in the whole thing or the antagonist was sending in these real agents to like, you know, blast off and create a big scene.
• 48:52
  And so that everybody goes, oh, yeah, see, they're not peacefully protesting.
• 48:57
  And so then all of a sudden the label gets shifted to like we're no longer peaceful protesters.
• 49:03
  But we lost control of it.
• 49:05
  So that could happen in the in the branding world too.
• 49:08
  Oh, it absolutely could.
• 49:09
  But don't you, there's an element of that that's just like, you've got to lock eyes and stand together and hold ground.
• 49:17
  Rootless.
• 49:18
  Yeah.
• 49:19
  And it's about positioning.
• 49:20
  Yeah.
• 49:21
  All right, I'm not moving.
• 49:22
  Right.
• 49:23
  And holding your position.
• 49:24
  And the cool thing is people are seeing they know this is a thing now.
• 49:28
  I see one recently where they were having this protest and this guy obviously a provocatory came in.
• 49:35
  He's like, didn't look like everybody else, but he was like, he burned a flag in the middle of the thing.
• 49:40
  And these protesters followed him and filmed him and said, hey, who sent you here?
• 49:45
  You're not a part of this.
• 49:46
  Look, you're getting in.
• 49:47
  You're waiting.
• 49:48
  You're not talking to us.
• 49:49
  And so this isn't our movement.
• 49:50
  Right.
• 49:51
  And they were exposing it.
• 49:52
  Yeah.
• 49:53
  Like, I don't know why I'm going back to the Hunger Games.
• 49:55
  I don't want to make this about Katniss.
• 49:56
  Psychonic.
• 49:57
  They are attempting her to join their wealthy high end.
• 50:03
  Don't suffer anymore life.
• 50:05
  Yeah.
• 50:06
  And she refused to.
• 50:07
  Don't suffer anymore like that.
• 50:08
  So she hasn't, I think she has.
• 50:09
  You are a tourist.
• 50:10
  I'm so sorry.
• 50:11
  I want to don't suffer anymore.
• 50:14
  But she chooses against it.
• 50:17
  Like she is ruthlessly who she is.
• 50:19
  Yeah.
• 50:20
  And her story is such that.
• 50:22
  And I don't know.
• 50:23
  Maybe this is a fairy tale.
• 50:24
  Maybe there's no one this ruthless.
• 50:25
  But there's got to be people that stick to their guns when they have something.
• 50:29
  I think it's that.
• 50:30
  She was able to stand on her true values.
• 50:33
  But also there are so many people that were pouring into her.
• 50:36
  Right.
• 50:37
  I don't think you get ruthless.
• 50:39
  Authenticity without knowing inner being.
• 50:42
  I feel like that's where a lot of entrepreneurs like when we get in this scale is like all billionaire.
• 50:47
  It's all like internal.
• 50:48
  You're going to justify anything like.
• 50:50
  That's so true.
• 50:51
  If you say something to someone and you're like,
• 50:53
  Oh, I'm never going to see him again.
• 50:54
  You're justifying your poor action against them.
• 50:56
  Yeah.
• 50:57
  So that's how the climb happens.
• 50:58
  That's how like the trickle down happens.
• 51:00
  It's not really a personal business.
• 51:02
  It's business.
• 51:03
  Yeah.
• 51:04
  I think the ruthless authenticity that we want and that we're craving.
• 51:08
  We have to like pour that into other people.
• 51:10
  If we want these businesses to thrive with this like culture we're doing.
• 51:14
  So it has to be like your internal values.
• 51:16
  We have to find people who or they will come to us that want to have these values that they stand on.
• 51:22
  But then also we have to like you got to pour into people what you want as well.
• 51:26
  Right.
• 51:27
  So it's like such a true.
• 51:28
  If you're being ruthless, like ruthlessly authentic,
• 51:31
  chances are you didn't get there by yourself.
• 51:34
  Yeah.
• 51:35
  And so I think it's like taking that image of self out of it.
• 51:38
  That's how I think growth really happens is when you have the poor end.
• 51:42
  And you get to bring up a wisdom.
• 51:44
  That was beautiful.
• 51:45
  I mean honestly all the time.
• 51:48
  We get pretty heavy and Dylan's like guys,
• 51:51
  but what if we were just maybe like nice to each other and connected with people.
• 51:55
  Sometimes it says stupid symbol.
• 51:58
  Like he just brings it down, brings it.
• 52:00
  Yeah, I think Reggie can kind of do that too.
• 52:01
  He's like, but what if we just watch the movie?
• 52:03
  And we're like, actually, that would be nice.
• 52:05
  Maybe ten in a row.
• 52:06
  So keeping it simple, I like that.
• 52:10
  So, so what's the what if here?
• 52:14
  What if we kept it simple?
• 52:15
  What if we did?
• 52:16
  And just love each other.
• 52:18
  I think that that sounds so ridiculous, but I hate that that sounds so ridiculous.
• 52:22
  What if we?
• 52:23
  I don't know.
• 52:24
  It feels like not allowed to love each other in a professional context.
• 52:28
  You absolutely can.
• 52:29
  I think you should be able to too.
• 52:30
  What if I love you?
• 52:31
  I love my best friend.
• 52:32
  Absolutely, buddy.
• 52:33
  You are mine.
• 52:34
  And I love you, Dylan.
• 52:35
  You've been with us for a while.
• 52:38
  And Mary, I, you're not like that.
• 52:41
  You guys already know I love you because I tell you guys all the time.
• 52:44
  But I do come in and hugs everyone every day.
• 52:47
  That is true.
• 52:48
  I'm waiting for HR to turn.
• 52:51
  He touches people too much.
• 52:54
  Isn't that interesting?
• 52:55
  I was like, oh, there's this broker.
• 52:56
  Like there's this professional distance that you're supposed to keep.
• 52:59
  Yeah.
• 53:00
  I mean, I can understand moments where those boundaries are important,
• 53:03
  but I trust you to hold that boundary for yourself.
• 53:05
  Yeah.
• 53:06
  I think that's our relationship that you can come to me and say,
• 53:08
  actually, Mary, it made me uncomfortable when you grabbed my ass.
• 53:11
  Oh, I'll be like, you know, I was trying something new and I got it.
• 53:16
  Thanks for saying it for me.
• 53:18
  I'm just kidding.
• 53:20
  I don't think that's a joking matter.
• 53:22
  That does happen.
• 53:23
  But the reality of their each true love in places.
• 53:29
  There are people that care about people.
• 53:31
  So my what if is what if we embrace the labels that serve us
• 53:36
  and reject the labels that hold us back?
• 53:40
  And Ron had long toward the good ones.
• 53:42
  Yes, absolutely.
• 53:43
  And don't be talking.
• 53:44
  Even if that label hasn't occurred to you yet, you know, just work toward it.
• 53:49
  Just to find it.
• 53:50
  Yeah.
• 53:51
  Yeah, to Mary's point, just Ron had long.
• 53:53
  We love defining labels.
• 53:54
  Yes, we do.
• 53:55
  I don't mean just like here at 40 Hearts, but we as humans,
• 53:58
  I think Carl Young said this.
• 54:00
  We are meaning makers.
• 54:01
  Yes.
• 54:02
  We are storytellers.
• 54:03
  Yes, we do.
• 54:04
  Take events.
• 54:05
  And we share reality and we say, this is what I think it all adds up to.
• 54:08
  And I think if we do that, we're literally like creating the reality that we want to live in.
• 54:13
  And we kind of, I mean, will can tell us because he gets to like step away a couple days a week.
• 54:20
  But like we kind of get into our own little reality bubble here, I think.
• 54:24
  And it can have its downsides if we're not careful.
• 54:26
  I think we try to stay vigilant and like tapped in.
• 54:29
  But there is some level on what you can be like, yeah, we're going to just make the dream happen.
• 54:34
  We're just going to do the dreams.
• 54:35
  Exactly.
• 54:36
  And not be talked off of it.
• 54:38
  We're just following Dylan, basically, whatever she goes, we're going to.
• 54:43
  I think there's a missed opportunity for the label company Avery to like do some kind of play on like labels of life, you know?
• 54:52
  Yeah.
• 54:54
  Choose your own label.
• 54:55
  I've chosen that label at first, but name tags.
• 54:58
  They do name tags.
• 54:59
  Printable.
• 55:00
  All the labels.
• 55:01
  I like that you bring this up.
• 55:02
  All the labels you put in the like printer to print on.
• 55:04
  All those are Avery labels.
• 55:05
  Yeah.
• 55:06
  They could totally do a campaign like choose your own label, right?
• 55:09
  Maybe we should like pitch it up a little bit.
• 55:13
  But I love when someone wears a name tag.
• 55:15
  Yeah.
• 55:16
  That makes me feel like I can talk to them in a different way because it's like you're giving like a doorway into someone's life.
• 55:22
  And Wassel, that works here?
• 55:24
  No, I will forget it.
• 55:25
  Wassel, you're wearing the name tag.
• 55:27
  If he's going to wear a name, we're going to require people to wear a name tag.
• 55:32
  No, Wassel wears one.
• 55:33
  He does.
• 55:34
  Yeah.
• 55:35
  The first one is his friend of ours in the place we work, the building we work.
• 55:38
  Where's a piece?
• 55:39
  He bought a Taco Bell one.
• 55:40
  Yeah.
• 55:41
  It was hilarious.
• 55:42
  A Taco Bell name tag that said Wassel.
• 55:43
  I know.
• 55:44
  There's a value.
• 55:45
  I'm a Taco Bell Stan.
• 55:46
  I'm not really proud of it, but I also kind of am.
• 55:49
  I love Taco Bell back in the day.
• 55:52
  Like, wearing a name tag is like saying, hey, I get that I'm an unknown entity, but I want to connect with you.
• 55:57
  Right.
• 55:58
  And it's your name.
• 55:59
  What a label.
• 56:00
  Yeah.
• 56:01
  We didn't even get into that one.
• 56:02
  That's the best label.
• 56:03
  Because we can't.
• 56:04
  I was labeled Reggie and I'm okay with it.
• 56:06
  Some people change their names.
• 56:08
  That's the most...
• 56:10
  That's your fundamental label.
• 56:11
  Don't talk to Mary about names.
• 56:13
  Mary.
• 56:14
  Mary is a really hard time with names.
• 56:16
  We're not going to be an episode into this, but there's the baggage with the name Mary.
• 56:22
  Okay, so what mine is what if labels didn't define us, but empowered us.
• 56:31
  Oh, I like that.
• 56:33
  That's mine too.
• 56:35
  I'm just going to take that.
• 56:37
  Label Shower.
• 56:38
  I feel like that's a really good one.
• 56:40
  What should we, what are we going to change or do because of this?
• 56:43
  Like, how does this need it?
• 56:45
  You're not in more labels.
• 56:47
  We're going to approach Avery and say, we've got a great idea for you.
• 56:52
  I do.
• 56:53
  I think I do feel that I want to explore and experiment with what it means to pull a brand back.
• 57:01
  I call it quiet or more precise branding.
• 57:04
  We're not just out there like yelling and creating a lot of noise and trying to get attention,
• 57:09
  but you're attracting it in and more values forward.
• 57:12
  What?
• 57:13
  Move.
• 57:14
  I like that.
• 57:15
  It's movements were created like this.
• 57:16
  Where someone real was at the center of it and that value went through the movement.
• 57:23
  They were the attractor that brought, like, my people into the movement.
• 57:27
  Right.
• 57:28
  And people just keep it.
• 57:29
  And it's like old-school word of mouth when you have that level of interconnectedness.
• 57:33
  And I think that brands that come out, and this is, I guess, a case in point.
• 57:37
  This is why this doesn't have much branding or labeling to it because we just couldn't figure it out.
• 57:43
  I feel like this is something so weird and different in the world that, and it's not a new idea.
• 57:48
  It's not a new idea.
• 57:49
  A podcasty is probably the most worn out idea there is.
• 57:52
  Like, we're not fresh on that, but the reality that we came into it, not knowing what we're doing,
• 57:57
  and trying to define it over and over and spending so much money to try to define it.
• 58:01
  I don't know who's been harping on the money, but it's like we knew what it was until we didn't know what it was.
• 58:06
  And then we knew what it was until we didn't know what it was.
• 58:08
  I think we're finding it to the place of, I don't know what this is.
• 58:12
  We had it labeled it like three or four times and we kept taking it apart.
• 58:16
  And now it's just age, and it works for me because it allows the movement and the flex of what we evolve into in the process.
• 58:24
  Well, and it'll start.
• 58:25
  I hope you all can tell us it will start to make more sense because regardless of what we call it,
• 58:31
  there's something here, and I think it will manifest.
• 58:35
  Totally.
• 58:36
  I think that we're doing something in my life, I don't know about how the rest of the world is living,
• 58:42
  but like this is an experiment in presence, and I'm going to say embodiment again,
• 58:47
  that it's like, what if you stopped saying it and just started doing it?
• 58:50
  Yeah, we live into the label.
• 58:52
  The label will define itself as we keep living our truth through these conversations.
• 59:00
  And for all those that are being inundated with like personal branding narrative,
• 59:08
  it's good.
• 59:09
  I think that personal branding is good in the world of AI, where you need a stance and a value set.
• 59:14
  And it makes you think about yourself too, which is there's some space to do.
• 59:18
  I think branding is all internal and it just emanates out, but I would say when you're looking for a personal brand,
• 59:24
  do it quietly.
• 59:26
  You know, find it in you.
• 59:28
  Don't try and push it on yourself.
• 59:31
  Let yourself develop and evolve into it.
• 59:35
  Process your ideas, process your thoughts, and your values and things you like to do and things you don't like to do.
• 59:41
  It can be simple.
• 59:42
  Live your truth.
• 59:43
  But don't just do it just to be successful to have a brand, because that is the most distracted trail you can take.
• 59:50
  It's a very entrepreneurial take on brand, but I have felt I went to the NC idea conference in 2023.
• 59:58
  Wonderful organization.
• 59:59
  You should look them up.
• 1:00:00
  And I walked away from that conference thinking, ah, I mean, there's a number of levers that we're going to pull to like,
• 1:00:07
  write the ship that is the United States or maybe the globe, I don't know.
• 1:00:11
  But I was like, entrepreneurship could be the thing that changes the world.
• 1:00:16
  Like people going into business to make stuff that they believe in for the community that they're in
• 1:00:22
  could be the thing that fixes all of it in a way.
• 1:00:26
  And I think that that's a very different approach being an entrepreneur and saying,
• 1:00:30
  well, let me take what's inside of me and figure out how to make it real.
• 1:00:33
  It's very different then.
• 1:00:35
  Let me study the market and identify where the gap is and let me
• 1:00:39
  take that claim and become what they need.
• 1:00:41
  It's like be who you are and find the people who need that.
• 1:00:44
  Right.
• 1:00:45
  Obviously be who you are.
• 1:00:47
  Love that.
• 1:00:48
  Are we done here?
• 1:00:49
  Yeah.
• 1:00:50
  I love it.
• 1:00:51
  That's great.
• 1:00:52
  So thanks for watching.
• 1:00:53
  This has been Age.
• 1:00:54
  Can't wait for you to tell us what it is.
• 1:00:57
  And hope we'll see you next week.
• 1:01:00
  Or are we going to get back together and do another one of these?
• 1:01:02
  Absolutely.
• 1:01:03
  I think so.
• 1:01:04
  I'm excited.
• 1:01:05
  Look after week after week.
• 1:01:06
  All right.
• 1:01:07
  Bye.
• 1:01:08
  Thanks for watching.
• 1:01:09
  And listening.
• 1:01:10
  Yeah.
• 1:01:11
  Oh, yeah.
• 1:01:12
  I'll break down.
• 1:01:13
  Sorry.
• 1:01:14
  So me smiling there just like we want to do a poll right?
• 1:01:17
  Do we even have that film?
• 1:01:18
  I can actually find the camera.
• 1:01:20
  Thanks for listening.
• 1:01:21
  This podcast was created and developed by our hosts.
• 1:01:25
  Reggie Tedwell, Tim Scrogs, Mary Green and Dylan Garcia.
• 1:01:30
  Produced by me, Mary Green, live production and editing by Will Kennedy.
• 1:01:35
  Graphic designed by Dylan Garcia.
• 1:01:38
  And set designed by Megan Scrogs.
• 1:01:40
  Today's episode is presented lovingly by 40 Hearts.
• 1:01:45
  Creators of Enduring Value.