Latest / Curiously Guided Podcast / Ep.86 | From Candy Bars to a Multi-Million Dollar eCommerce Business w/ Nick Norman, CEO of Polar Protector

Transcript

Ep.86 | From Candy Bars to a Multi-Million Dollar eCommerce Business w/ Nick Norman, CEO of Polar Protector · Curiously Guided Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the Curiously Guided Podcast.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_02: We're your hosts, Mariah and Jay.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: Two online business strategists passionate about rewriting the rules to success within both life and business.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: This podcast started because we both felt frustrated by the lack of deep, meaningful, and transparent conversations around what it takes to actually run a business that we both feel good about.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: So we decided to create that for ourselves.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: We want our solo episodes and guest interviews to be examples of how you two can chase your dreams and go down your own rabbit holes, ultimately leading to a more sustainable and fulfilling life.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: We believe that curiosity is our superpower.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: And trusting the nudge is a muscle that's meant to be strengthened.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: Especially if we want to create a lifestyle that feels good from the inside out.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: So are you ready to open your mind and let curiosity guide the way?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_02: Let's take this journey together.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: We're so glad you're here.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: Now let's dive in.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back, friends.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: We have another stellar guest interview for you today.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, as I share when we bring Nick Norman on the actual episode, he and I go way back.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: We were actually laughing when we quit recording.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: There's um a lot of uh compromising home video out there of Nick and I and his sister um as tweens in like oversized t-shirts and swimsuits singing silly songs.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I have known Nick for a while, long story short.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: He is a very inspiring guy.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: His story, um, if you guys are like Mariah and I, you're gonna finish this episode and wanna get off of here and like go light the world on fire.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: Like he is just incredible in his ability to see opportunity, come up with new businesses, start them, see them through.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like he just makes me feel like I can do anything when it comes to like entrepreneurship.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so I am very excited to, I was excited to share his story with Mariah.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm excited to share it with you guys.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: And um, we did want to like focus in on one idea that Nick really hammers home throughout the whole episode and his mantra.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: He kind of shares a mantra or like a something that drives him.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: And it's this idea of surrounding yourself with fountains and not drains.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so getting back to the idea of A, who you're surrounding yourself with is the one of the most important decisions you can make in your life and B, doing an audit are the the energies that you're surrounding yourself with, are they filling your cup?
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Are they a fountain in your life?
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: Or do they feel kind of like a hole or a drain?
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so that idea has really helped Nick kind of grow through all of the different chapters in his business journey.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: And it's also an idea that's weirdly been popping up in like almost every other interview that we've done since then.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: So um, yeah, I'm excited to share Nick with you guys.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_02: This conversation was so fucking cool to hear.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: So, like, yeah, Shay has known Nick literally since childhood.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_02: And it's funny because like when Shay has people in her life that she brings onto the podcast, it's funny because how much contact Shay has before the interview and like how little context sometimes I have before the interview.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: But I think that that helps really like round out the conversation.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: And both of us hosting this podcast, we're really good at being like, hey, this person has a really interesting story.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: Let's bring them on.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_02: We're super excited about this.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_02: And like we kind of trust each other's like perception of that.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_02: And then the conversations just end up being like everything that we could ever want, essentially.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: So you'll hear me.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'm kind of like playing the dummy in this episode because like Shay and Nick have way more experience in like the e-commerce world in terms of like not selling things directly on a website, where I have a little bit more experience like helping clients sell products when they're selling on their own website.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: But like Shay and Nick, as you'll hear, they're talking about Amazon, they're talking about eBay.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: But hopefully, my questions kind of help y'all stick around with like how all of this works.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: And like it's so funny.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: I was listening back and I was like, I'm so glad that I asked what FBA stands for.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: Otherwise, I would still be wondering.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I think that this conversation is really fun.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: And like I didn't expect, I didn't expect the conversation to be essentially like a commercial for SEO, like search engine optimization, but like, and it's a lot more than that.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: But it's really cool to hear how other people are using keywords and SEO and just like how it really can change the game in like an online business.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: And like I see it so often with clients, but like it's so fucking cool when like people that I've never met before are telling me all of these wins and success stories from using this specificing this specific marketing channel and like hearing all of the different ways that like Nick solves problems and makes money online.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's just that really cool reminder of like I can do anything that I want to if I just allow myself to put one foot in front of the other and allow myself to figure it out.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: So this episode is really, really fun and we're excited to share it with you.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: So Nick Norman is the owner and creator of Polar Protector, a new product category that creates accessories for stock tanks.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: Nick has been an entrepreneur for most of his life, from selling candy in high school to creating a line of women scrunchies, and so much more that we get into this episode about.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: His core beliefs are that entrepreneurs must be adaptable, learn to fail, and use whatever ability they have as a tool for their business.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: Nick and his wife enjoy traveling with their two pups, Casey and Peanut.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: Nick loves to tinker with new ideas, hike, explore, or take a nap in his spare time.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: So, all of that being said, friends, let's just kick it into the episode.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: All right, friends, welcome back.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, today I'm pretty excited for this episode.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: There's a handful of people that I've had in my life and in mind for this um podcast, pretty much ever since we've started it.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: And they're all gonna come on this season and share their story.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: And they all are like the most wonderful examples of people who are building outside the box careers.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I think of as people who have really kind of trusted themselves and their intuition as they've kind of built businesses online and in unique places.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so the first one in the lineup is Nick Norman, who is someone that I've actually known since middle school.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, his sister, Samantha, was on the podcast.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: We'll have to link to her episode, maybe season two.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, both Nick and Sam have always been my uh role models for entrepreneurship.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: My parents were very like in the box, nine to five people.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: And you guys had like, I think, different um, your parents just had like a different perspective on things, and you guys have always kind of been building your own thing and doing your own thing and giving me the confidence to do my own thing.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: So this episode is special.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'm happy to have Nick on.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for joining us today.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for having me.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think we'll just kind of dive right in.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't mind, you know, um, share with us a bit, and you can take this in whatever direction you want, because I know the origin story is long and and windy, but tell us a little bit about like kind of how you got started.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'd love if you could like, you know, our parents always said this and that gave me these beliefs, but like how did this all come to be like from then until now?
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um I it's hard to say if like we were born with entrepreneurship or if we were just like it was our environment.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: It was just because Sam and I are just both just grinders and we've just kind of always been that way.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like she would take me around and sell rocks around the neighborhood and like use me as a marketing tool, which is great, genius.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it just I kind of always had that just in me, just to be an entrepreneur when I was young.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: I just saw people working and not having time, but like one of their biggest assets is time um to their ability, to to their to what they what they want to use it for, and it just never made sense to me.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I just figured if I use my time correctly, I can really change that asset and and use it how I want it.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: So really I just started looking at uh just how I could I could gain capital money, and then that would allow me to have more time.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: So, like for example, I started very, very young, around in middle school.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was yeah, around eighth grade.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: I started selling candy.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: So the candy man was my was my nickname in high school.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I I'm I'm at school for what, like six hours, seven hours at least a day.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why I need to make money during that time, which is which is crazy because most people just don't think that way.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: They want to study or you know well, tell them why.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm glad you brought this up.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: I was uh telling Mariah about this before we hopped on.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: That tell them why you wanted to save up money.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: So originally it was I was saving a trip to go to Costa Rica.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: We uh my family didn't have the means.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: And it was like two, three thousand dollars back then um for the flights and just get it, you know, everything.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: And the schools were just a scam.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: They basically you had to work through this third-party candy company that would sell you a piece of candy, basically a box, and they would sell each candy for 75 cents.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: You sell it for a dollar and you make a quarter.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, this is silly.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I as an eighth grader, I was like, this is ridiculous.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, what I did is I got a Sam's uh card basically and went to Sam's, bought that candy, Sam exact candy for 15-20 cents, put it in the boxes that were given to me from you know this other company and just reuse the boxes constantly and just sell that way.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so my profit margins went through the roof, and I was just such a good kid at school.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: I just didn't step on anyone's toes.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: I slipped teachers at a candy bar every now and then, keep them quiet.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: Even even our like the police offer the officer that was always there at school would like check out my my candy box to make sure I guess there wasn't anything hiding in it, and I would always slip them like a Snickers real quick and the those deals.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I did that, so I I raised the money for Costa Rica like instantly, like very, very quickly.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then I was like, why would I stop now?
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'll just keep saying I'm just gonna go to Costa Rica.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: And and I did.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: I did actually go three times and through the course of high school then for four years, I raised well over about twenty-two thousand dollars um just going to school.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: Let me twenty-two thousand dollars um starting in eighth grade through high school, you're saying?
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, right.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: And you continued it into college, right?
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh no, I stopped at the college.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Stopped at college.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: I I got I got two old.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: Or the and and and it well, I so I found out that my market wasn't really caring about like school was so great because the kids were locked in, they couldn't go anywhere, the vending machines were locked, they could only get candy in a certain amount of time.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's during lunch.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, kids are hungry all throughout the day.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I was able to give that I saw a need and I filled it.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I was able to give them what they needed.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: So already what I think is cool is there's like two neat lessons you learned there.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: One is like the power of margins, right?
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: In sourcing, which is something I know you've used later.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but then the other thing is just like, hey, I have this ability to like solve my own problems and like earn my own money.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think that like right away, um and like you said, three actually was being able to notice a need and think about your audience and what they want, and then be aware of when that changes, you need to change.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: So then take us into college.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how did that work?
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: So college, I just basically went for a uh zoology degree, got my zoology degree, and um I really I had a couple little tiny jobs, but um I kind of focused a lot on studying there and figuring out figuring out what I really wanted to do.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: And um it was really actually right after college is where things kind of started to change for me.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I graduated, was looking for jobs, and um my family home was uh being foreclosed on my childhood home.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I basically got a call from my mom saying, if you really uh want anything in there, now's time to get it because the bank's gonna take it.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: So um I went in and uh basically took uh as much as I could and sold like my childhood toys, my grandmother's clothes, like anything that I could to make an extra dollar.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I was able to save basically around six or seven thousand dollars and use that to then start my e-commerce business.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's how it all started.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it gave me the seed money that I needed to start that.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't realize that that was all going on in the same time period.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: So when you say you start the e-commerce business, what was that?
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I just first started snowballing my inventory.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I would go and go to auctions, go to estate sales, and buy inventory, resell it on eBay.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's still common to this day.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, this was back in like 2013, 2014-ish, maybe a little bit earlier.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I just started snowballing it and get it buying more inventory, reselling it, buying more inventory, reselling it.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: But that I noticed quickly, I did that for a couple of years, but I noticed that it wasn't scalable.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm a huge component on scalability.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I tell entrepreneurs all the time that if you want to like, you know, make your quarter million, you know, half a million a year, open up a BB in Vermont, you know, that that's fine.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: And that works for a lot of people.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: That that's great.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: You're comfortable, you you work every day of your life, if you enjoy it, you you know, you but it's not scalable to a sense.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Some things can be a little bit, you can franchise and things like that, but for the lion's share, it's not scalable.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where I I noticed that hey, uh, this is I I there I can't keep doing this, I can't scale this to what I really, really want.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where I started looking at Amazon.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon was just, you know, starting to become the Titan that it is today.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was still growing, and there was definitely people on it, but the you know, it was a lot less competition than there was today.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I just kind of looked at different products and I I kind of figured out that hey, I the easiest way people usually make money on Amazon is they take they sell, for example, like a trash bag.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: They they'll just sell trash bags online, try to be the cheapest one.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't work uh for you know nowadays, and really it didn't work that well back then.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: But what changed for me was I'll take something and I'll make it unique and I'll make it different and I'll make it to a niche market.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: So we just uh my wife and I just experimented and we got uh like hair scrunchies were starting to become an uptrend in and uh on you know Google Trends and things, and we looked at that and we noticed that there were no like dog breeds on hair scrunchies, so we just took a dog breed, looked at the five most popular in America, put a pattern on there on a hair scrunchie of them in like a funny little cartoon um thing and sold them on Amazon and they took off.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so this is all very fascinating to me.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_02: And how so and I I think that we we often do this so much as business owners in our field because like we know what the fuck we're talking about, right?
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_02: But then other people listen, you're just like, yeah, I just like happen to go on Google Trends and I just happened to notice this thing, and then like, oh look, I just created this graphic.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, how did you learn all of these skills?
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: When did you know that Google Trends was a thing?
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_02: And then I think that a big issue for some people are like, yeah, cool, I could create dog scrunchies too, but like, do I have to pay somebody to create this design?
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_02: Where the fuck do I get this?
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_02: Do I have to be an illustrator?
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_02: Do I have to be a designer?
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: Like, can you kind of break down like how did you figure those things out?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh, a lot of trial and error.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it just you just fall uphill and you you just it was really so like my wife is a great designer and she she designed a lot of them, but we also had things like um Fiverr as like at our disposal and just outsourcing it and um and create that's for the design aspect, but for for the trends aspect I'm I'm relentless.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: My brain, I I figured out that just how my brain works, my brain works differently than a lot of people.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like I just constantly think of what problems can I solve and what do people want.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: I I as a kid, as you you know what I told earlier, I I just always had that thought.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: And um I just think that people have that ability too.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not the only one, I'm I'm not super special.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that if people just look at a problem, or if they look at something that exists already and just think about how they can make it different, or if they buy something, they're like, Man, I really wish it had this.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: They could do it.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like you there are there are so many resources now available.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: There's Alibaba to buy buy things, you know.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: Just you can contact a factory overseas and just have them make it fairly quickly.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's there's Fiverr, there's there's so many resources um to to do now that uh it's just I think it's it's become a lot easier.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: But back then, you know, it was still available, it was a little bit harder, but um fear is also a really big thing.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, people are just scared.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: People love to live in their bubble and they they they really, you know, times are tough and they want every cent of cash they have available.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and fear holds a lot of people back.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think that if people were debating on being an entrepreneur, they have to be prepared for the fear aspect of it, that you're gonna have to spend money and you're gonna have to potentially be in debt and you're gonna have to learn to walk before you run, and it's gonna take time.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: And um so so yeah, that that's kind of where I started.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: I I took fear and I tried to push it to the side.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I know that you have well, hey, I want to backtrack a little bit.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: We are all in this space, but if any of our listeners aren't really aware of like the Amazon FBA process, the way it works is you kind of come up with an idea like Nick has, and he certainly has like a knack for a good idea getting good ideas that are um gonna be profitable, and then you go and you find a manufacturer in China, and what you do is you typically find several and ask for samples, and then you find one that you like and you can have a good working relationship, and then you order a bulk amount from them, they'll ship all the stuff either to you um from China or to Amazon, and then Amazon will actually fulfill all the orders for you.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of the the Amazon FBA process in a nutshell.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_02: I what does what does Amazon FBA stand for?
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: You can go ahead and fulfill by Amazon.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it's amazing to me.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: Super fun.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's amazing to me because like I Shay and I have just been in it for for a while, that like a lot so many people still don't know that Amazon is mostly comprised of I think it's what like 60% of small businesses of just people like me and you putting up products.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's not people think of oh, I bought something off Amazon and they think it's just Amazon, like it's just it's just Amazon corporate, but no, it's actually a small business that has sent their product into Amazon for them to fulfill.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I just I lose track that so many people still don't know that to this day.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: And I have no idea how how the hell would I know?
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_02: Do you know what I mean?
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like I wouldn't have anything.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's so funny because like when you're shopping on Amazon, you see like sold by trinket shop 7224.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, nah, that's a ploy, it's probably Amazon.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like, right, no, you're just a person or a family or a brand.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: My last sales consulting gig, the company, the whole company was selling kind of like um listing services for Amazon sellers.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: So people like Nick who need photos and video and things that go on an Amazon listing, that that's they were a creative studio only for Amazon sellers.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: So that's how big the market is, and they're one of many.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I think most people are like you, where they think, oh, it's Amazon or it's like an Amazon shell company, but really it is a lot of like small businesses.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of Chinese manufacturers, that's a change that's happened that are getting on there.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what Nick is saying is um typically commodity type products like trash bags where it's hard to make them unique are really difficult to sell on Amazon, but where you can kind of get an advantage is coming up with a unique something and an innovation, a kind of twist in being aware of what your audience is looking for.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of the two magical pieces that come together.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Mariah, you were gonna say something.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, do you have to contact somebody in China or is there somebody like US that can create these things?
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: You could do either.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, typically overseas it's just it's just cheaper and they have more um I guess more capabilities just because of their infrastructure's better than the United States.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: But there are still a lot of things in the United States you still can manufacture and create.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I sell uh uh concrete block molds that are made out of steel that have to be, you know, welded and fabricated.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Here in the United States.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: And um that's just one example that you still can do it in the United States.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: More challenging, but still available.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's just wild to me.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: You're just like, yeah, I have a supplier that creates metal things that are welded together.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: And my brain is like, How the fuck do you even figure that out?
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like, are you just calling places?
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_02: You're just picking up the phone and you're like, hey, I have this idea for this mold, or like you're going and you're just emailing, like emailing people and being like, Hey, this is what I need.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_02: And then like you never meet these people, or like you don't go down and like check out the factory.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_02: You're just like, I trust that you're gonna do it, and then hope that they do it.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, so there's uh it's I would say it's I'd say it's actually safer now.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like people are very, very nervous about sending money overseas, which you should be.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, like, one hack that I always do is that I I always book like if you wanted to experiment with a new product, you have an idea, you wanted to contact someone in China to do that, then I would go through Alibaba.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: They have an insurance kind of plan where if the factory were to go under or was just scamming you, you would get your money back.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: But you'd also use a credit card, which would also have insurance on it, basically, that if that were to happen, hey, you have two lines of insurance you can go through your credit card and a platform like Alibaba.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like, don't just sit there and like wire them money for the first time.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, uh so yeah, it's just yeah, talking to them and there has to be a level of trust and and again, risk and fear.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, uh again, it's just it's just a little bit of that.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I've been doing business on platforms like Alibaba and overseas for the past 10 years, and I have never had an issue with someone, a factory going under scamming me, taking my money, um, you know, anything like that.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: Been very, very fortunate.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, first one of your first suppliers was actually in the Middle East somewhere.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: Is that right?
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so um, so then after I snowballed and and made the scrunchies, uh, that's kind of my next story.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: Was I I looked, this was just by mistake.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: This was just there was no skill in this.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: This was just luck.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Forge and Fire was a huge show on like the history channel that was getting really, really popular, and people were talking about these handmade like knives and you know uh uh folded steel that was you know, it was just it was just a uh a popular show.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I looked at Etsy, Etsy was up and coming.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: This is like 2017-ish.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um 95% of customers on Etsy are women, and I had the thought of if there are that many women shopping on Etsy, if that's that big of a market, just 95% of women shopping on Etsy, they would need to buy things for their partners in their lives.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I thought this is an easy thing that it would be a good um uh item that they could purchase uh is a is a knife custom in uh custom made in Pakistan, which I found a supplier through there.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: They were great to work with.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: I made and designed knives, folded steel, um, custom knives made out of all sorts of different materials, imported them in and sold them on Etsy.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: And over three years I did uh just over a million dollars on that, was able to snowball that and just I there was no competition.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: At the time, people thought, why would you ever list a male type product on Etsy?
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't make any sense.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: But to me, it made perfect sense.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: Women were already shopping on there, why wouldn't they get something for the their partner?
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like it just made perfect sense to me and it worked.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_02: You know what's fascinating to me about this?
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_02: That I feel like you don't realize, I don't think, about like what kind of gift you really have here, but like, because you're it's just so funny how nonchalant it is.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I just thought I got another side of that I wanted a knife and then I created one and made like all this money, like yada, yada.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, cool.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_02: But the cool thing I think that like you getting into this industry like earlier allowed you to see possibilities because the rest of us look around, and I'm not saying like we only see problems.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_02: Like I'm I'm a fantastic problem solver.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_02: But like when I look at something, I don't see like, uh, that's a possibility that I could have a solution for that created and then be able to imagine what that next step in the process is.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that that's where a lot of fear and hesitation comes from because we're like, well, if it's not created already, it must not be able to be created already.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's like it's hard to know what's available in terms of resources and what's available in terms of like turning an idea into a possibility when you've never gone down that rabbit hole before.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like you going down there, now you're literally like looking at the world through this really fucking cool lens of like, I can do whatever I want.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_02: Essentially, like I can, if there's a problem that I see and I create a decent solution, we can connect that to trends and to SEO keywords and all of that.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's like there's no way that this isn't gonna be successful.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I just think that that's really cool.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: Once you have the experience, it's just edit, copy, edit, paste.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: It and that's the hardest part, though, is getting that experience and putting that step in.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I just, I just tell people, just try it.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like it what's the worst that could happen?
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like it just don't overextend yourself and just try it and put you know, there's you there's YouTube, you can get your YouTube degree in it.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's so many resources now, it's just putting forth that time and effort, and that's and just that fear, it's just it's time, effort, and fear, and and it holds a lot of people back.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I I hope that people have that not hold them back in the future.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: I know that you've mentored quite a few people that wanted to get in the e-commerce and the Amazon process in particular.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_01: Do you think you know you've seen them struggle?
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: Is that kind of what what advice do you give them when they're dealing with fear and navigating risk?
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: I just I always tell them that don't for one, just don't overextend yourself.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like it we put whatever you're comfortable in.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: So that's having a budget, that's having a certain dollar amount.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying just to YOLO your life savings into it quite yet for your first time.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: Again, learn to walk instead of run immediately.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so just starting small, it could be just such a small thing.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: I could go on Alibaba today and contact a factory to make a sample of something that can cost less than 50 bucks.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: And and it's just doing that is is just takes effort and just that fear, and you just have to let those things go.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: If it's something you really, really want, I think that you'll eventually get there.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's just when in your life you will.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what's popping in my mind right now is um we had a guest on earlier this season that talked about we're all co-creating the internet, which is fun to think about.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like, and you really see yourself as that too.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like, hey, I can be a solution here.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: There's a gap here.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that skill is so valuable.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: But one thing I'm noticing is there's like a bit of a slum dog millionaire storyline here of like you've done all these almost kind of random different things.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: The one thing we skipped over is you also have a zoology degree and you started to work at a zoo and then just didn't fit in there and like kind of did this.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: True.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you've been kind of learning different things, and and now you've almost taken what I consider is like the next level for e-commerce people, which is um developing your own intellectual property where you're actually prototyping a new invention and you're working, it's not even getting really a sample done.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: You're working with a manufacturer to create something completely new and you're going through trademarking and copywriting, it's a whole new level.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so tell us through like how did we Polar Protector is your business?
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us about how Polar Protector kind of was birthed out of all of this.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so so after the knife uh sales were happening, uh basically around 2019, 2020, Etsy shut me down overnight.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like to this day, I don't have a they didn't give a reason as to why they shut me down.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's probably because I got just too big on that site.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: I I still don't know.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: I we they never gave a reason.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I had a huge amount of my eggs in one basket.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: I had a I had Amazon, but I also had Etsy, and uh I learned then not to have your eggs all in one basket.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that was one lesson from that.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: But um I feel like I got very comfortable, and that kills ingenuity and kills the grind as an entrepreneur.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: One piece of advice for entrepreneurs I have is to to never be comfortable.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: Now I know that can't be all the time, you would be an anxious little mess if that were to happen.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I I I understand that that you have to kind of turn it off and turn it on.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: I try to wake up every day knowing that my bank account is at like$10 just just just to make myself have the grind to to know I need to push forward, I need to create new things.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: So 2020 happens, COVID, e-commerce explodes.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm still able to, you know, sell like crazy on Amazon, but I'm complacent.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just like, oh, you know, things are doing great.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um why should I change that?
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: And then uh e-commerce started, it's you know, around 2022, um, things start to you know slow down, calm down a little bit.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm just like, you know, sales were kind of tapering off a little bit, that trend was kind of settling down, and I was just like, Well, what can I do?
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: What can I do?
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I looked for jobs, no one would hire me because I just worked for the past eight years by myself.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: I was literally a troll in a basement, basically, um, you know, not having any meetings, uh, just pushing numbers on Amazon, pushing, you know, inventory in and out.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then something very, very important happened to me.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I had my next door neighbor, uh, who was around 54 years old, um, died suddenly of a stage four geoplastoma in his brain.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: He was dizzy one day, went to the doctor, and died within about seven, eight weeks.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_00: I saw this man work his entire life, like go to he worked at a big bank.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: He he went at 6 a.m., left at 6 p.m.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like every single day.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: And he I saw him literally buy his dream car, this gorgeous car.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: He was so excited to get this car, like he worked his entire life for this.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: This which brought him joy.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: And he died, and and he he I watched him throw away his entire life away in in a a weekend, basically, and sell his car, and he's gone.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I that woke me the fuck up.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, holy cow, this could happen to anyone.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's a balance, you can't live your life every day like you're gonna die.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I I get that.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: There's a for sure a balance, but there's also I don't think people they're not in the center of that, they're way more of I need to work, work, work, and and time, I'll have stuff later.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like, wow, I do not want a job.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, screw this.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: I to me, you know, it was a good, friendly.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: I've always had that kind of view set.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want a normal nine to five, but this kind of kicked me back to where, oh man, I don't want anyone telling me where I have to be, when I have to be at, what I have to wear.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_00: Nope, not for me.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: I can't do this.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: So um I took my wife and I took like a solid three weeks to really like sit down and figure out what we wanted and kind of get back to to the entrepreneur, you know, mindset.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: And we started uh doing ice baths.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: We started uh we we got a stock tank out like in our local like farm store and put it in our backyard.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: It was like January, February at the time, and we filled it up with water and it froze over at night, and you basically sit in it and you freeze your butt off, and it helps with inflammation, anxiety, stress, all these things.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: It was a TikTok trend, you know, it was on Facebook and Instagram.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: You just kind of would see it.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_00: We're like, oh, let's try that.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: And uh the we really, really loved it.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the first things that she said was, I remember right where I was.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_00: This is about 18 months ago now.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: So just to give you a little, it's early 2023.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: And uh she said, Okay, we really, really like this.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: I want a nice cover for this stock tank.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want bugs getting in, I don't want leaves getting in, I don't want it to get all gross.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want you know algae and everything, all that.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, Oh, sure, I'm an Amazon seller, I sell on Amazon, I will get one off Amazon, no big deal.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I typed in stock tank cover on Amazon, and it literally showed zero results and a couple like paid advertisements for like a grow cover or something, and I was like, Oh my, okay, um, there could be something here.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I uh couldn't sleep that night basically.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_00: I was I that my entrepreneur mind just started going, and I contacted so I used all my knowledge from the past of contacting, you know, factories and um that that kind of whole process of the e-commerce side and was like, let's let's try to see if there's something here, and um looked at like you know, Google Trends and SEOs, and people are searching for it, and there's just not there just didn't exist.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_00: So within about four months, I threw trial and error, different prototypes, I invented and patented it a cover, but for stock tanks, and Buller Protector was born.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: We decided, hey, let's try to sell this to the iceplunge community.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: This is great.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we'll you know, we'll sell to them, and it took off.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: I listed on Amazon, it was an instant success, and this is that is rare.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: So, like, don't if you're an entrepreneur, do not view like you're gonna have instant success.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_00: That is not the case.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: This is an anomaly.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_00: Please don't view that.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: You're you know, well, I'll challenge you a bit on that.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's not it wasn't your first rodeo, you know.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_01: You kind of learned the do's and don'ts along the way to where true, you know, you launched with a good foot forward, but you're right, it's extremely rare to launch that strong and experience again.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's for the experience.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: If you're gonna, if you the best time to start something is today, if you want experience, so just just just start it today and just try it to get that experience.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's gonna take trial and error, it's just it's just learn as you go.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_00: This is how how it is.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but uh so I was like, okay, so we started selling more and more and more, and it just started snowballing.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_00: I was out of inventory, had to restock, out, restock, and I was just like, there cannot be this many crazy people like like my wife and I doing these polar plunges.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_00: Who is buying these?
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I contacted uh some of the customers and um looked at where some of the orders were going.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_00: And to my surprise, which shouldn't have been a surprise, I should have known this, but uh a huge amount of people that were buying these covers were farmers and ranchers and uh who buy stock tanks as well.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, okay, that's interesting.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I contacted them and like, why are you buying this?
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: And they explained to me all the different reasons why.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, evaporation is a huge thing.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: So when cattle are being rotated, horses are being rotated and out of fields, stock tanks sitting there and not being used, and just evaporating water, getting creating algae, mosquitoes are breeding in it, they just throw one of our covers on.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: Stopped all that.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and uh they can cattle come back in, take the cover off, it's done.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like, okay, the farmer and ranch market's a much bigger market than the cold plunge community.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_00: So, how how can we tailor to them as well?
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_00: And it just kind of started snowballing ever since.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_00: I and so then I, you know, have to work with a patent attorney now.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, we have we have you know uh trademarks and and things like that now.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so now it's starting to grow a little bit more.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm getting more experienced with that.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_00: And it just started snowballing more and more and more again.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just I I wake up every day, you know, take it day by day.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: I now have, you know, I went from a troll living in a basement to not having any meetings or going anywhere.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: To now I'm having to go to trade shows and having meetings, three or four meetings a day with people.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_00: And that's another piece of advice I give entrepreneurs is that to be flexible.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like you, you it's just such an entrepreneur, you have to be a thousand different things, and and you'll find out what you're good at, what you like, what you don't like.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: And through that, I learned that it was really until Polar Protector I learned that I my brain works differently, and how do I use that skill to my advantage?
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_00: And with that came confidence.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_00: So that that fear kind of went away because if for some reason anything were to happen, I could I know how my brain works now, and I can develop and create new things down the road in the future.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and now I have that safety net, I know that and that confidence in myself, and that is a huge learning curve to learn, basically.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_00: It took this long for me to really sink in and understand it.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_02: When you started selling these covers, you were only selling them on Amazon, like you didn't have your own website.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_02: Is that correct?
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_00: Correct.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's how it first started.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_02: It's so fascinating where our different brains go.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_02: Because to me, as a search engine optimization consultant and educator, I have this where it's like, oh, if you if you want to sell a product, you have to create a website.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_02: You have to create a brand, you have to create this, you have to create that.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_02: And it's so funny because what I'm hearing, you're just like, no, but like we made the dog scrunchies and we sold them.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_02: Like, nowhere did I hear you say, I created an about page and I had to set up my contact page and I had to launch a website.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_00: So it it's it's equity efficiency.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: So Amazon spends billions of dollars a year to push products.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have that equity.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: And when you're starting out, you you most people don't.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I think why I went the Amazon route first was because it was the path of least resistance, and I was able to use that snowball that equity and the the the capital I was getting from Amazon to then diversify and create my own website and you know, to start doing TikToks and start selling on that platform and doing all these different things.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um Amazon really pushes a product for you in a sense.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_00: And with equity being constrained, if you're first starting out, uh use them as a tool, use them, you know, don't use them uh against you, use them for you.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_00: You have them their SEO and their capability work for you.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_02: So did you, when you were pushing this thing out, did you do any like manual marketing?
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_02: Or did you like was your job essentially to create the product, make a listing?
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_02: And so with the listing, you have to have obviously a smart product title, you have to have a good description, you have to have good photos, but like outside of that, did you do marketing yourself or you really focused on like just the product page?
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was primarily just the product page.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I did like little Amazon ads.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_02: Fuck, dude.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_02: My brain is like melting out of my ears.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just Mariah.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_01: This is where SEO comes in.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_01: Because if Amazon is doing all of the marketing, they're getting wanting buyers, or what's that right word in marketing?
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_01: Buyers that are ready to buy in one place, and you know that they're searching for what you've got, it's a great place to get proof of concept because you don't it kind of takes marketing and sales out of it, and you just get to focus on is this a desirable product?
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then what Nick did is the right order of operations.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_01: Think about how much Coca-Cola over the last century has spent building brand recognition.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_01: Right now, Nick has nothing, you know.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_01: So, like letting Amazon take care of that as a new seller and get some momentum, and then you can build the website, and then you can get on TikTok shop, and then you can do the rest.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's like a really cool way to kind of slowly build, like you're saying, Nick.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I just feel like it it makes it so much more approachable from a business owner that like wants to test some shit out.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_02: But I guess like as me, you guys have like lived and breathed and swam in this ocean for so long, both of you, that like to me, I didn't realize.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not saying that like it's simple to grow this business, but in comparison, I didn't realize the simplicity that can come with it.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_02: But also there's cons.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like the competition on Amazon is way fucking deeper.
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_02: And then you're playing like a price, a price game with people.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_02: You want to be the lowest and like all of that.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_02: But like if you can find a product that you can connect to keywords and like you create a product that you know if you know anything about your target people or anything about copywriting, it's all possible, and it's just like hilarious to me.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_00: I I mean, I honestly had chat GGP write most of my things, and it that was a huge amount of my success with Polar Protector.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_00: Was I chat GGP found all the keywords that I needed and took that strain away from me.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, yeah, AI is becoming an amazing tool for sellers right now.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that I think that people are underutilizing right now, they need to utilize it more, and it's just it'll do it for you.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I know this sounds absolutely crazy, and it sounds so overwhelming listing a product on Amazon, but again, you just you have to dive in and get that experience first.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_00: And once you do one and learn, watch a couple of YouTube videos, it's not that hard.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_00: It really isn't.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, one thing I really like, Nick and Mariah just pointed this out, but like you have this really cool experimental mindset.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I like, I'm glad you shared.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_01: That was one of my questions for you is like, how do you not get stuck and stay stagnant?
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think we can all get into that, like, oh, I'm finally comfortable, I'm finally out of that like fight or flight.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_01: This feels awesome.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_01: But if you stay there too long, it the trends start moving in the wrong direction.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so, like, um I'm curious how You said something earlier that I can't get out of my head.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_01: You said, like, my brain works differently, and how can I use that to my advantage?
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: Image.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I, where my brain went after that, was like, I've spent so many years of my life really shaming myself, especially in the online community, as like my brain works so much different than everybody else I'm seeing.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_01: I need to fix it and I need to be more like it.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_01: And what you're saying is like the exact opposite, which I think is so encouraging.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of entrepreneurs get into entrepreneurship because we feel like square pigs and round holes.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, will you tell us a little bit more about like what does that look like for you?
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_01: How how did you I'm surprised to hear you say polar protector was kind of when you realized that.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think I I I had that similar mindset that you did that, like, you know, I it's exhausting.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: Trust me, how my brain works is exhausting.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: I do therapy and a lot of you know uh self-help that I've had to learn how to use it as a tool.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_00: But everyone has a skill.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_00: I there's not one person I've ever met on this planet that didn't have a skill of some sort.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_00: We all have it.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's just how do you want to utilize it?
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to utilize it to promote a business and grow that?
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to use it just for fun?
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's up to you.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's just using that, that the way that your brain works, everyone's different, and just how you want to use that in your life.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_00: And realizing that is huge.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_00: It is just such a huge, monumentous feat that you that once you do, you're unstoppable.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_01: Well, the other string that you're pulling together here that I think is interesting is this experimental mindset you've had.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, geez, Nick, you've talked about knives, scrunchies, cement blocks.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_01: I know you made a squirrel feeder, you've got your tank cover.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like you, I think a lot of us feel like when we get into this entrepreneurship space, and this honestly has turned me off a lot, is like, I gotta pick a lane and I gotta become the expert in that lane.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I gotta know everything about cement blocks, and I'm gonna be the cement block dealer.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_01: And you have really turned that on its head of like, I don't necessarily have to be a subject matter expert in all of these things.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_01: I have to figure out where are the trends and like where are the people kind of coming together and find the solution or solve the problem.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was a moving target for sure to start out.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you just have to be entrepreneurs have to be adaptable and and know where the trends are going and just know, and I think it just took time to I so the other thing I want to point out is that I feel after doing all this stuff, Polar Protector is different.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_00: It it just the way that the sales went, the way that that it is going, it is just different.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_00: It is a different beast that is way more sustainable long term.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: I have ideas for the next 10 years for this line that people have not even, you know, that that that I've thought of that I can't do because I don't want to grow myself out of business.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's another challenge that I'm working on right now is pulling back the reins and being like, hey, don't and get it's good.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's what it's on Shark Tank.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's what they call it too, inventoritis, where you just you're like a little, you know, ADD kid who's just running around trying to constantly do different things, but focus on what's working and do slow growth, slow down and focus.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's another huge challenge that I'm working on.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us about how I know, you know, one of the things I wanted to talk about today.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_01: My husband works for Nick.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and in the job application, it was unique.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I could tell that you were very interested in self-development and personal growth.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_01: You were asking questions like, what's your star signs?
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_01: What's your Enneagram?
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and so tell us a bit about like what role has like therapy and like personal development, like how is that kind of factored into this whole story?
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I just never want to conform to like normal things.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_00: I just I don't I get that they are they're set up in certain ways to help big giant establishments, but I get I have the opportunity now to do things and how I want to do them.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_00: So uh I am like Spock.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_00: I am sometimes I am so logical and just so um almost to a fault where it's just so black and white.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_00: But I will say with things like you know, Enneagrams and horoscopes, I can't explain it.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know why.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_00: It just sometimes it just I'm a Sagittarius and I I'm a three, I'm a uh an achiever, but like Sagittariuses, they love sleep.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_00: I I just sleep a lot, and I've always been that way.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what it is, but there's something to it, and I hate it, but there is something to it that I can't explain it.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_00: My brain always questions everything.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's how another just how I'm a scientist, a zoologist at heart, and that that kind of mindset has also helped me become an entrepreneur is to question everything.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_00: And um yeah, I just I wanted to give I I just I've always wanted people to to use them correctly and use them as a skill set.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I am I'm an idiot in a lot of things, and uh someone who's smart will you will help have people basically there to that are smarter than them in certain fields.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_00: Your husband is amazing with website building and SEO things, and I'm a complete idiot, and he is so invaluable, so valuable with that, um, that it's just I I I wanted people to I wanted a certain type of person to kind of to work with.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_00: And those are people who are you know want to develop things on their own, who want to learn things, who want to better themselves.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I I really don't want like a normal nine to five person.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_00: I just it just wasn't my MO.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_02: As you so you said that Polar Protector is kind of different from the other businesses that you've created a little bit.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_02: Question if we go back to the other ones, and then I'm gonna have a follow-up question about this one, but like, how does the management of those businesses look?
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_02: Like you put something on Amazon, and I know that I keep coming back to this, but it really is just like my brain is fascinated with how the shit works.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_02: Like, we even we had a guest on a couple of seasons ago talking about drop shipping, and it's just like there's just so many fucking ways to make money that it's really, really cool.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_02: So, how does the management of this look?
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like, let's say I wanted to sell something on Amazon.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like, once I get it up there, obviously I have to worry about inventory, but like I don't have to ship it out of my own house per se, but I have to worry about Amazon's inventory.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_02: But like, how does like is there customer service?
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_02: Is there things that you have to do on the day-to-day?
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like, how does that business management for like that level of business go?
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_00: On the Amazon side, it's it's Amazon takes care of a lot of it through their FBA system.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_00: They have an FBA fee, which they're gonna charge you for.
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_00: So that's incorporated into your product cost.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_00: But with that fee becomes their services, their shipping and their like customer service.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_00: So they take care of most of the customer service.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't really have to do that, they do it.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um so it was really just inventory management was probably the lion's share and just making sure that there wasn't like a weird, I don't know, flag on your listing for like a trademark infringement or just something random that just their algorithms sometimes do.
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_00: So just keeping in track of like where your rankings are in the listing and just making sure the listing's healthy and it and it's um making sure the ads are healthy, just really day-to-day stuff like that is really just inventory management and making sure your listing isn't being hidden or suppressed for some reason.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_00: Very, very simple.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, okay, cool.
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_02: That's really helpful.
• 51:12
  SPEAKER_02: And then you said that Polar Protector is different.
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_02: How because you don't want to work a nine to five, but I'm sure that you're finding that creating this business brings in a lot of other things that you probably haven't had to consider before.
• 51:27
  SPEAKER_02: And now it probably feels like now I'm doing all of this admin.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_02: I'm doing this more like nine to five feeling stuff.
• 51:36
  unknown: Yeah.
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_02: How does that feel for you when you really got into this?
• 51:40
  SPEAKER_02: It like to fuck around and find out.
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_02: And now you're finding out that you're fucking around like real well, but then you're just like, now I don't have time to like invent as much or like play with that creative side.
• 51:52
  SPEAKER_02: Now it's more structured.
• 51:53
  SPEAKER_02: Now I'm managing people.
• 51:55
  SPEAKER_02: Now I'm having conversations with like massive retailers and wholesalers.
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_02: And it feels like a little bit more adult feeling than like that super creative, let's throw this up and see what we can do.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_02: Like, how are you handling that?
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, very good question.
• 52:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, because you're right, it becomes like I become the thing that I swore I wouldn't become.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm officially on the dark side almost, but there's a balance.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I absolutely don't want to work a normal nine to five, and this is starting to kind of mutate into that.
• 52:30
  SPEAKER_00: And my logic is is that through time, and if I hustle correctly and I'm really efficient, that as I grow, I will be able to hire people to help me with all of that.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_00: And during this whole process, I've learned one thing about myself, and that is and I tell us to entrepreneurs too, like find out what you really, really want to do, what makes you happy.
• 52:55
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a very hard question to answer.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_00: But I really enjoy tinkering, inventing, pushing it to market.
• 53:03
  SPEAKER_00: I love that aspect.
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_00: That is where I really thrive and I really have fun.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I want to do for the rest of my life.
• 53:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I think surrounding yourself with people that can help you with that, who want to do the other other day-to-day things to help you manage a company and a business where I'm grinding right now and I'm gonna have to take up that lion's share of that load, that eventually at scale, that will become something that I can outsource more, that I can help um help hire people to help me with that to where then I can have more time for myself.
• 53:39
  SPEAKER_02: So it's kind of like a means to an end type thing.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like you're seeing the North Star and you're like, Okay, I'm walking through the woods and I can't really see the star right now, but like I know that the star is right there.
• 53:49
  SPEAKER_02: And then it's like you're seeing these glimpses kind of as you continue to walk on this journey.
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 53:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so, like having a mentor is also huge.
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I also have a mentor that's like in the retail space that knows that he's amazing.
• 54:02
  SPEAKER_00: I if you have your entrepreneur, get yourself a mentor just to help you out, like try to find one.
• 54:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I there is definitely I'm I'm always going to work.
• 54:13
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't think that I'm ever the type of person that's gonna just like, oh, you know, I made my you know, seven million dollars, I can live off the interest now this you know, the seven percent return on the stock market for the rest of my life.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm done.
• 54:25
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think I'm ever gonna be that way.
• 54:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to work for every day for the rest of my life.
• 54:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's like I can't turn this off.
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_01: This isn't gonna ever stop.
• 54:33
  SPEAKER_00: I I haven't learned that yet.
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I don't know if I ever will.
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's just it's just human nature in itself is to always push and always be curious and to to always try to develop and make new things.
• 54:45
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what makes it fun for me.
• 54:47
  SPEAKER_00: And each person's different, each person has their own thing.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, just I I I see the North Star and I'm I'm getting closer, you know, every day.
• 54:56
  SPEAKER_00: And um it's just a means to an end, and uh not not an end, just a a place to where you could be more have more fun and we have more time.
• 55:06
  SPEAKER_00: That is more that is my ultimate goal, honestly, is time.
• 55:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's an asset you you only have a finite amount of, and time is just so invaluable.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I calculated that I was spending over um 30 minutes a week vacuuming.
• 55:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like that to me was like it was a whole day out of the year.
• 55:26
  SPEAKER_00: I was just vacuuming.
• 55:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, this is silly.
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_00: Why am I doing this?
• 55:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I got I sp I calcu did my calculations and noticed that if I spent on a really, really nice cleaning robot um that would do that lion's share of that, I could have so much more free time.
• 55:40
  SPEAKER_00: And Polar Protector has given me that to where I can buy that, you know, really, really fancy thing to to to vacuum for me.
• 55:47
  SPEAKER_00: But just simple things like that create more time for you.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_00: And that that is the ultimate goal, is just to have time.
• 55:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the ultimate freedom is time.
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_01: I'm glad you tied it back to that.
• 55:58
  SPEAKER_01: And that was actually something I wanted to talk with you about is you know, you and Aaron, your wife have done a great job of what we we call this lifestyle design, but kind of building a career and a business around the life you want to live.
• 56:11
  SPEAKER_01: And you guys do a lot of correct me if I'm wrong, but like working remotely and you'll go on a whim and stay somewhere for three weeks.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us a bit about like how you guys have kind of structured your lifestyles a bit more around the business.
• 56:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we we vice versa.
• 56:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, we we definitely uh do that.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_00: We're you know, we're able to do stuff remotely, and like you know, I'm able to hire someone now to do like shipment, you know, the you know, little the orders that I have through, you know, eBay, Etsy, um, and and our website and things like that.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm now able to have someone do that for us.
• 56:43
  SPEAKER_00: So we're able to to travel more and and to to work remotely.
• 56:46
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, it's definitely given us the opportunity to do that, and that's a great thing about just Amazon in general.
• 56:53
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, Amazon started for me as a side side fun gig, and it turned into a full-time job that gave the ability to work remotely, and um that's what I really enjoy about this, probably is just being again.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a Sagittarius, I love adventure, I love new things.
• 57:10
  SPEAKER_00: I I hate that that's that is so stereotypical, but it's so true.
• 57:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's just it's where I'm most happiest.
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_00: So, so yeah, it's navigating that is has been fun.
• 57:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 57:21
  SPEAKER_01: You guys just got back from Michigan, is that right?
• 57:24
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, we did, yes.
• 57:24
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 57:25
  SPEAKER_01: And and what's next?
• 57:26
  SPEAKER_01: Are anything planned yet?
• 57:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, we're going to we go to Gulf Shores every year for for two or three weeks and get some ocean time in and um just go south.
• 57:36
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so that that's that's next.
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_00: And um, we have some other little trips planned for fun, but you know, we're just kind of seeing so like but then here comes like the balance then.
• 57:47
  SPEAKER_00: So like next year, you know, there's potentially 20 trade shows that I could go to that could that I can travel.
• 57:53
  SPEAKER_00: I I went to Salt Lake City this past year, did a big trade show there and had an amazing time.
• 57:57
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, it kind of turns back into okay.
• 58:00
  SPEAKER_00: Well, do we need to hustle more and grind it out to get into these retailers and become more like a nine to five job, or do we balance it and be like, oh, maybe we'll do 10, maybe we'll it's all life is also just about balance and just in creating that is is everyone's a little different with that.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_01: I like that you're kind of like working it out.
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's always going to be kind of like going one way and the other and finding like back and forth.
• 58:27
  SPEAKER_00: Very fluid.
• 58:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, very fluid.
• 58:29
  SPEAKER_01: And then there's one other thing I want to make sure we talk about one very interesting thing about Nick is that he's gone through the shark tank process in the past year or so.
• 58:38
  SPEAKER_01: What whatever you can share with us, tell us I from what I understand, it was quite a learning experience.
• 58:43
  SPEAKER_01: And they kind of gave you some feedback on your business and and how to scale and grow.
• 58:47
  SPEAKER_01: Do you mind like taking us through like how did you get on?
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_01: What was or you not that you were on, but like what did it all look like?
• 58:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was it was a fun, great experience.
• 58:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, uh I you basically just go to an open casting call, you pitch it, and uh if you're enthusiastic, I mean they'll and if they think it's a decent product, they'll give you a call back and then you answer some questions.
• 59:10
  SPEAKER_00: I was really surprised about how involved they were in like you know, doing a background check and like looking at all your social medias to make sure you're not a crazy person, which I makes complete sense, right?
• 59:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like that that all makes complete sense.
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_00: But um, yeah, then if you know eventually they will they're like, hey, why don't you do a video for us to see how you know well you work on camera?
• 59:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I did that filming process and um did some other little interviews and uh yeah, I'm I'm planning on applying.
• 59:36
  SPEAKER_00: I was encouraged to apply again.
• 59:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um uh so so we'll see.
• 59:41
  SPEAKER_00: I I mean I I may be too busy next season to even apply.
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's also another problem.
• 59:47
  SPEAKER_00: Typically, if you apply one time your first time, you don't get on.
• 59:51
  SPEAKER_00: They just said that that's normal.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_00: You have to kind of wait until you apply three or four times, maybe even.
• 59:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, very rarely do you apply once to get on, but um yeah, it's just great having that support system.
• 1:00:01
  SPEAKER_00: I I tell people there are fountains and there are drains, and to surround yourself with fountains, not drains.
• 1:00:08
  SPEAKER_00: So the the moment that I didn't surround myself with people that just pulled me down, that were you know negative, that were uh questioning, you know, questioning negatively, I should say, to a sense.
• 1:00:21
  SPEAKER_00: I encourage positive questioning, but um if you surround yourself with people who just bullshit up and like want to support you and and and you support them and they they they keep you accountable and they help you grind and they they do those things.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_00: They they just they're like a fountain.
• 1:00:36
  SPEAKER_00: That is when I really noticed I started becoming successful.
• 1:00:39
  SPEAKER_02: How did you find those people?
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_00: You just have to look at your relationships, I think, which is hard, um, definitely challenging to to really take a step back and see how relationships are viewed.
• 1:00:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's a very self-awareness tool that I don't think a lot of people are even aware of.
• 1:00:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um uh, but it was just noticing patterns and just um just the feeling that you get when when someone is is encouraging you, or you know, just just noticing things about them.
• 1:01:09
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I love the language you're using there of like, okay, does this person feel like someone that is filling my cup up, like a literal fountain, or does this person feel like they're poking holes in my cup and like sucking the energy?
• 1:01:21
  SPEAKER_01: That that feeling is something I can definitely anchor on to.
• 1:01:24
  SPEAKER_01: I love, I haven't heard that language before.
• 1:01:26
  SPEAKER_01: I really like that um a lot.
• 1:01:29
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for sharing that.
• 1:01:31
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, no, yeah.
• 1:01:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's I fountains and drains, baby.
• 1:01:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's just you gotta keep your fountains around.
• 1:01:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I have a question.
• 1:01:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I think a lot of us entrepreneurs, one thing I hear consistently is like we have no shortage of ideas.
• 1:01:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we're people that are ideas people.
• 1:01:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I tell you, I think of a new business idea like almost daily.
• 1:01:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm truly truly all the time.
• 1:01:55
  SPEAKER_02: And then I'm over here, like I need seven websites, and then I have to do all of the marketing, and you guys are really helping me shift that to be like, bitch, how can we make this a little bit more simple on yourself?
• 1:02:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I I'm curious what, and I know this is loaded, Nick, but like what advice do you have for the people that are like, I have so many ideas and I don't know which one's a good one and which one's worthwhile and which one I should throw out?
• 1:02:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how do you decipher a good idea versus bad idea?
• 1:02:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, great, great question.
• 1:02:27
  SPEAKER_00: So to add to this, I started another company right when I started Pular Protector, literally at the same time.
• 1:02:35
  SPEAKER_00: And it was called Social Claw, where I basically was the only company in St.
• 1:02:41
  SPEAKER_00: Louis that rented out claw machines to parties, events, trade shows, weddings, where you could rent a claw machine, get booze out of it, little like little airplane bottles.
• 1:02:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry.
• 1:02:51
  SPEAKER_01: Are you fucking kidding?
• 1:02:53
  SPEAKER_01: No, and Mariah, I'm glad he brought this up.
• 1:02:55
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted you to know he still gets leads from this business he has never done anything with besides put a website up just because so many people are searching for claw machines in St.
• 1:03:05
  SPEAKER_01: Louis.
• 1:03:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like he's drowning in leads that he can't fulfill because of SEO.
• 1:03:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I took that as that is my BNB in Vermont, where I could do a hundred, two hundred thousand dollars a year.
• 1:03:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's great, you know, it's a nice, nice little business.
• 1:03:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I never put any money into advertisement.
• 1:03:24
  SPEAKER_00: I still get leads today.
• 1:03:26
  SPEAKER_00: It it is just it is such a good idea.
• 1:03:29
  SPEAKER_00: I just I had to let it go though, because Polar Protector is infinitely scalable in terms of reaching everyone across the United States and Europe and Canada.
• 1:03:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to make money while I sleep.
• 1:03:41
  SPEAKER_00: That is a goal that I've always had that Amazon has done for me, Etsy and eBay have done for me, to make money while you sleep.
• 1:03:49
  SPEAKER_00: And those products can do that.
• 1:03:50
  SPEAKER_00: I can only be at so many places at once in a weekend to rent out a claw machine and to do an event.
• 1:03:56
  SPEAKER_00: So if that's something that you want to do, like you just want to be have your normal service type business that does that, that is amazing and great.
• 1:04:06
  SPEAKER_00: That is what a lot of people do.
• 1:04:07
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing wrong with that.
• 1:04:09
  SPEAKER_00: That fills your cup, perfect.
• 1:04:11
  SPEAKER_00: But if you want something that's scalable, that is that is infinitely scalable, that uh that you put not necessarily put less effort into, I won't, I don't want to say that at all, but that you just have to shift your focus and your energy in a different way than like e-commerce and product development is is probably more your route.
• 1:04:30
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a personal thing.
• 1:04:31
  SPEAKER_00: There's no right answer to that.
• 1:04:32
  SPEAKER_00: That is just how what you want to do.
• 1:04:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, honestly, it there's just net deciding that is up to you.
• 1:04:41
  SPEAKER_01: So it really is coming back to for you, how to buy your time back.
• 1:04:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like you started off this conversation, that's your number one priority.
• 1:04:48
  SPEAKER_01: But for the rest of us, as we mentioned in every single episode, it comes down to self-awareness.
• 1:04:53
  SPEAKER_01: What are you looking for?
• 1:04:54
  SPEAKER_01: How do you want to spend your time?
• 1:04:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, do you want to be able to travel and go to Michigan and fulfill your orders, or do you love going to my sister-in-law was almost about to buy this business because she's the type of person that like loves parties and is an extrovert and wanted to do something on the side.
• 1:05:09
  SPEAKER_01: So, like for her, that could have been perfect.
• 1:05:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I like what you're saying about like there's a little bit of research that your ability to spot patterns and think about trends goes into this, but there's also this side of like, and who are you as a person and what it feels like a fountain feels like filling you up, and what feels like a drain, and that kind of goes into it.
• 1:05:27
  SPEAKER_00: And that can change weekly, daily.
• 1:05:29
  SPEAKER_01: Such a good thing to point out.
• 1:05:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's something that I really struggle with.
• 1:05:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:05:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that can absolutely change.
• 1:05:34
  SPEAKER_00: So navigating that too.
• 1:05:36
  SPEAKER_00: And then and it's not like picking one lane and you have to stay in that lane forever.
• 1:05:39
  SPEAKER_00: It could shift and change over time.
• 1:05:42
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it things also can change very quickly.
• 1:05:45
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's helpful to just like hear all of these different successful fucking ideas that you've had.
• 1:05:53
  SPEAKER_02: Because, like, it's just like a reminder that A, every business is so different and they don't have to all fun fall under.
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_02: One umbrella and you can solve a problem for as long as you would like to solve the problem for, and then you can stop solving that problem and solve a new problem that you feel even more excited about.
• 1:06:10
  SPEAKER_02: And as you were talking, I literally just Googled like claw machines in Buffalo, and like that's where I'm from.
• 1:06:15
  SPEAKER_02: And ain't nobody doing this.
• 1:06:18
  SPEAKER_02: So, like, if anybody's listening, I personally don't want to spend my weekends at a party and doing whatever I would like to do, what I would like to do, but like I would have never even thought of that.
• 1:06:29
  SPEAKER_00: That that was just a TikTok.
• 1:06:30
  SPEAKER_00: I saw I saw a Japanese couple getting married in Japan and they were using they rented out a claw machine like arcade, and that's what they did.
• 1:06:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, why isn't like that?
• 1:06:39
  SPEAKER_00: Would be so fun.
• 1:06:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh also, but you know, my sister owns a wedding venue in in St.
• 1:06:44
  SPEAKER_00: Clair.
• 1:06:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember a long time ago, like when we first started, I was like, let me put a claw machine out here and like charge people for it, like these little kids that are running around wanting something to do.
• 1:06:53
  SPEAKER_00: And she's like, No, we cannot have a light up claw machine, tacky looking thing and charge our client like you know, for that.
• 1:07:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's ridiculous.
• 1:07:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, Yeah, yeah, you're right, that'll look pretty bad.
• 1:07:02
  SPEAKER_00: But like now, if it's like rebranded and bougie and it's filled with alcohol or something fun, fun favors, it's a huge thing.
• 1:07:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I I get leads constantly, which is trade shows, people just wanting to put their, you know, they they work at a big corporate company and they're they have you know little merch stuff that they want to fill it in, you just rent it out and it's done.
• 1:07:22
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, huge need.
• 1:07:25
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just no one's really fulfilling it.
• 1:07:28
  SPEAKER_02: Do you have to stay as people are using it?
• 1:07:31
  SPEAKER_00: It so there's there's a couple different packages.
• 1:07:34
  SPEAKER_00: If you're doing alcohol, you can charge for an attendant, you know, to be there to make sure you know a little kid doesn't get a bottle of booze.
• 1:07:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if you're at a birthday party, just like a birthday party rental, drop it and leave, it's done.
• 1:07:46
  SPEAKER_02: So you just had to like buy a couple claw machines like from an auction or something like that.
• 1:07:52
  SPEAKER_00: Overseas again, fear.
• 1:07:54
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people are hesitant, you know, buying something overseas, spending, you know, eight hundred, nine hundred, a thousand dollars on something like that, hoping that it just shows up.
• 1:08:02
  SPEAKER_00: And uh yeah, I just I just went, bought a couple claw machines on Alibaba, got them wrapped, found a guy who wrapped cars and like, hey, can you do a claw machine?
• 1:08:11
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, Oh, sure, I'd love to do that, and um wrapped them and uh we created social claw, so yeah, and if yeah, it's it's again that's just not what I wanted, and yeah, I I have to let that baby go.
• 1:08:25
  SPEAKER_00: And um, but it's just you know, there's so many things out there.
• 1:08:30
  SPEAKER_00: One thing that I really learned through like just going to trade shows and being out kind of more in the world than being a troll in the basement, is that there is so much out there, there is really so much wealth, so much opportunity out there that it just has to be uh gotten.
• 1:08:45
  SPEAKER_00: You just have to go and chase it, really is really it.
• 1:08:48
  SPEAKER_00: And um, there's just a lot of opportunity out there.
• 1:08:52
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's it's it's almost overwhelming.
• 1:08:58
  SPEAKER_02: It's incredible, it's so cool to just be like I'm just gonna buy a claw machine for like 900 bucks.
• 1:09:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna roll up, I'm gonna do some shit, and we're gonna see if we can sell this thing.
• 1:09:11
  SPEAKER_02: And then you created a website though for the claw machines.
• 1:09:14
  SPEAKER_00: I did, yeah.
• 1:09:15
  SPEAKER_00: That was that was it.
• 1:09:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, just a simple, it was like literally like a Squarespace free template, and uh put bought the domain, that was really it, and we didn't do any advertisement.
• 1:09:28
  SPEAKER_00: We created a social media page, posted a few times, but I still to this day, I mean it's been over 20 months roughly.
• 1:09:36
  SPEAKER_00: I still to this day get leads, just people like, hey, I'm there's uh uh you know a bar misfa.
• 1:09:41
  SPEAKER_00: I want to have a claw machine there, or there's a you know, my 10-year-old's having a Spider-Man themed birthday party.
• 1:09:47
  SPEAKER_00: Can you get me a hundred Spider-Man toys, fill them in, which I can upcharge for, and put it in there?
• 1:09:52
  SPEAKER_00: Just like so many good opportunities for it.
• 1:09:55
  SPEAKER_02: Your brain is cool.
• 1:09:56
  SPEAKER_02: You have a cool brain.
• 1:09:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's exhausting, but it's but but one, but once you learn how to control it and use it as a tool, it could become your best friend.
• 1:10:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, well, I I'm getting off this episode feeling fired up, but I'm sure everybody else is as well.
• 1:10:13
  SPEAKER_01: Of just like, you can fucking do anything.
• 1:10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's you have I've been taking notes.
• 1:10:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure you guys have heard me like frantically typing when I forget to mute myself, but like you have shared so much wisdom that you've learned, like through this journey you've gone on that is so solid.
• 1:10:31
  SPEAKER_01: And that I kind of want to summarize that in a minute.
• 1:10:34
  SPEAKER_01: But before we kind of start wrapping up, um, one of the final questions that we like to ask, actually, before we go to this, Mariah, do you have any final questions or anything?
• 1:10:44
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like I could probably if I re-listen to it, but no, as of right now, I feel pretty good.
• 1:10:49
  SPEAKER_01: The one question we always like to, you may be know this already.
• 1:10:52
  SPEAKER_01: We always like to ask people at the end, what is sparking your curiosity currently?
• 1:10:57
  SPEAKER_01: So, right now, today, I know you have a lot on your plate, but like what is kind of feeding that creative spark that you have?
• 1:11:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what are you on a rabbit hole about or like obsessing about?
• 1:11:09
  SPEAKER_00: I I guess now that I have confidence and skill and just knowing how my brain works, I'm really curious at how like the next 10 years are gonna go for me and what I want to do with that.
• 1:11:27
  SPEAKER_00: And that is something I'm really, really curious about.
• 1:11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm I I never look at the past.
• 1:11:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm always someone that just focuses on the future.
• 1:11:37
  SPEAKER_00: And how that's gonna be navigated for me is something I'm really, really excited and curious about.
• 1:11:44
  SPEAKER_00: And and just you now that I have this this way that my brain works and this and these skills to help it, how is that gonna help me and propel me in the future?
• 1:11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you're like really on the precipice of something big, it feels like.
• 1:11:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm excited to see as well.
• 1:11:59
  SPEAKER_00: We'll we'll see.
• 1:12:02
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see.
• 1:12:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, well, yeah, I just wanted to like summarize for you guys.
• 1:12:06
  SPEAKER_01: I hope you were taking notes, but like some of the things that I took away from this episode that Nick has learned that I am hoping to incorporate into my life more.
• 1:12:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um the theme that is cool, honestly, to me, is like you really don't have to market much if what you're offering, you know people are searching for and you know the trend is heading in the right direction.
• 1:12:28
  SPEAKER_01: And you have shared over and over and over stories of like, hey, I had this idea, I noticed this gap in the market, and then I had the sample and I tested it.
• 1:12:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of us get hung up on like marketing, marketing, content creation, like how do I get out?
• 1:12:41
  SPEAKER_01: How do I get noticed?
• 1:12:42
  SPEAKER_01: And like you're saying instead, find the problems, be aware of your audience, where are the problems, solve those problems like it's your job.
• 1:12:51
  SPEAKER_01: And the rest kind of falls into place, you know, be on the right platforms.
• 1:12:54
  SPEAKER_01: You certainly have had a strategy to all this, but I think that's so encouraging.
• 1:12:57
  SPEAKER_01: And then the idea of the fountains versus the drains, my God, like I can I'm thinking of like doing an inventory of my life.
• 1:13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how does this person feel recondoing my relationships?
• 1:13:08
  SPEAKER_01: I really enjoyed that.
• 1:13:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, don't get comfortable, I think is really that was one thing I wanted to ask you about is like you are doing new things in new spaces in all different spaces all the time.
• 1:13:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so this idea of being aware, I think you you said this, like there are moments for comfort and absolutely take those and breathing in and nourish yourself.
• 1:13:29
  SPEAKER_01: But then you're always gonna have to grow.
• 1:13:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like the things are always gonna be shifting and your markets can be shifting and changing.
• 1:13:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I love that message that you shared about like being flexible and going to where your people are.
• 1:13:40
  SPEAKER_01: And you could you and Aaron could have been like, no, this is only for cold plunge people and like stayed with that.
• 1:13:45
  SPEAKER_01: But instead, you kind of opened your minds and said, Oh, actually, our people are over here too.
• 1:13:49
  SPEAKER_01: They're ranchers and farmers, and what do they need?
• 1:13:52
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm reaching out, reaching out to all the people that bought it, and you're like, actually give it back.
• 1:13:56
  SPEAKER_02: Give it back.
• 1:13:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:13:58
  SPEAKER_00: Nope.
• 1:13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Cold plunge use only.
• 1:14:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:14:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then obviously just don't put all your eggs in one basket.
• 1:14:04
  SPEAKER_01: You're like the dictionary definition of that story.
• 1:14:07
  SPEAKER_01: But um thank you so much, Nick.
• 1:14:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like I I um I knew that this interview was going to be cool, but it was neat to kind of like tell your whole story in one line.
• 1:14:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm laughing about like all the, oh yeah, and this, and oh yeah, and this business and that.
• 1:14:23
  SPEAKER_01: So um it was awesome.
• 1:14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, appreciate it.
• 1:14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I always say too, the cream always rises to the top.
• 1:14:29
  SPEAKER_00: So if if you have a good idea and you have something, it it will no matter how much marketing and things you put towards it, it it will, if it's the best, it's the best.
• 1:14:38
  SPEAKER_00: If it's what people want, it's what people want.
• 1:14:40
  SPEAKER_00: The the cream always rises to the top.
• 1:14:42
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, huge companies can spend a lot of money on things, and if it people don't like it, it's not gonna do well.
• 1:14:50
  SPEAKER_00: But you can literally put up a product on TikTok, and if it's if it's what people want, you don't have to spend a cent on advertisement or marketing or anything like that.
• 1:14:58
  SPEAKER_00: The cream always rises to the top.
• 1:15:01
  SPEAKER_02: Damn, don't let the online business world hear though.
• 1:15:05
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like yeah, it's okay.
• 1:15:08
  SPEAKER_02: So I lied.
• 1:15:09
  SPEAKER_02: I actually do have one question, then we can close it down.
• 1:15:11
  SPEAKER_02: But if you could do one thing differently and looking back at everything, is there one thing that you would do differently, or maybe you wouldn't?
• 1:15:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's a very good question.
• 1:15:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um I don't know because even my failures, I just I I love failing because I you you do learn.
• 1:15:30
  SPEAKER_00: You learn so much and it molds you who you were to who you are today.
• 1:15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um I don't know.
• 1:15:37
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think so.
• 1:15:38
  SPEAKER_00: I I really don't.
• 1:15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, I would I would say, oh, I wouldn't have put so much towards Etsy, but that you know, like that helped me in the long run.
• 1:15:47
  SPEAKER_00: That helped me um develop new things and learn not to be complacent and not to do that.
• 1:15:53
  SPEAKER_00: So there's nothing really like sticking out that that really I I would do differently, honestly.
• 1:16:00
  SPEAKER_00: It it makes you who you are.
• 1:16:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I have a similar, I have a similar thought about that too.
• 1:16:05
  SPEAKER_02: Me and me and my boyfriend get into fights all the time about this, and not all the time, but he sees things a little bit differently than I do.
• 1:16:12
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, what do you mean?
• 1:16:13
  SPEAKER_02: I've never really failed.
• 1:16:14
  SPEAKER_02: Like I've just like learned, like it's learning to me.
• 1:16:16
  SPEAKER_02: And he was like, Why can't you just say that like you failed at this, but it wasn't the end of the world?
• 1:16:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, No, like I was so resistant even to the word failure.
• 1:16:24
  SPEAKER_02: Because I was like, What do you mean?
• 1:16:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's just like a learning experience.
• 1:16:26
  SPEAKER_02: And it was, we were just saying we saying the same thing, but like in different words.
• 1:16:30
  SPEAKER_02: But it's always interesting to hear if people like if they look back and they're like, Oh, well, this would have made it easier.
• 1:16:36
  SPEAKER_02: But I feel like the real juice is kind of going through that, where like the knowledge then becomes wisdom.
• 1:16:43
  SPEAKER_02: Do you know what I mean?
• 1:16:44
  SPEAKER_02: Of like, you can learn these things, but like until you integrate and put into practice, and then you've done it and iterated quite a few times, it doesn't really become wisdom.
• 1:16:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:16:52
  SPEAKER_02: And then like you can't forget wisdom.
• 1:16:54
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like you can forget knowledge.
• 1:16:56
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 1:16:56
  SPEAKER_00: Very, very good point.
• 1:16:58
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 1:16:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:16:59
  SPEAKER_00: You if you want to become an entrepreneur, learn to fail because that will happen.
• 1:17:06
  SPEAKER_00: It it just will.
• 1:17:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's just failure is inevitable in life, and uh failing can be good.
• 1:17:13
  SPEAKER_00: It it it it's not, it shouldn't be as negative as what people say.
• 1:17:16
  SPEAKER_00: So um learn to fail.
• 1:17:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure.
• 1:17:20
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, cool.
• 1:17:20
  SPEAKER_02: So can you just tell our listeners where they can find and connect with you?
• 1:17:24
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe link out the uh the website and all of that fun stuff.
• 1:17:27
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 1:17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you find me at Polar Protector.com.
• 1:17:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you check out our TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Polar Protector.
• 1:17:34
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, if you do ice plunges or have a stock tank or have cattle or anything, um horses, you want an accessory with your stock tank, I'm the guy.
• 1:17:45
  SPEAKER_00: I we got you covered.
• 1:17:46
  SPEAKER_00: If you need a cover, we got you covered.
• 1:17:48
  SPEAKER_01: You also get to see really fun pictures of like Nick's shipments coming in.
• 1:17:52
  SPEAKER_01: So, like sometimes they'll show pictures from China of them like loading the trucks, and I always like to see the behind the scenes.
• 1:17:59
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a fun story to follow along with.
• 1:18:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:18:02
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, cool.
• 1:18:03
  SPEAKER_02: So we will put all of the links to the fun stuff in the show notes below.
• 1:18:07
  SPEAKER_02: But Nick, I just want to say thank you again so much for coming on the podcast.
• 1:18:12
  SPEAKER_02: And I think we're ready to close this episode down.
• 1:18:15
  SPEAKER_02: So remember, friends, you have the power to create whatever the fuck you want.
• 1:18:19
  SPEAKER_02: Follow the nudge, ask questions, and let curiosity guide the way.
• 1:18:24
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see you in the next episode.