Latest / Hawaii Travel Podcast by Hawaii’s Best: Plan a Better Hawaii Vacation / The Sunrise Shack Update - With Founder Travis Smith

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The Sunrise Shack Update - With Founder Travis Smith · Hawaii Travel Podcast by Hawaii’s Best: Plan a Better Hawaii Vacation

• 0:00
  Travis Smith: I'm happy that I got to take a step back from the center, I Shaq. I'm just like, way more in line with what I want it to be. And I feel like it was getting a little bit away from what, how I pictured it and stuff like that. So now it's more back on track. And I realized too, that it's just such a fun little business. You know, it shouldn't stress me how like that sometimes. That's a clip from today's conversation with Travis Smith, who is the operating founder of the sunrise shock. Travis happened to be our very first guest on the podcast back on episode two. It's great to have him back as we catch up and talk a little bit more about how COVID has impacted, specifically the sunrise shack.
• 0:41
  Travis Smith: And also before we dive into the conversation with Travis I'm going to talk a little bit about what travel looks like as Hawaii begins to open up this week to transpacific travel. Let's go.
• 0:57
  Hawaii's Best: Welcome to Hawaii's Best travel podcast where we help you prepare for your next trip to Hawaii.
• 1:03
  Hawaii's Best: Discover the experiences businesses and stories that make Hawaii the Aloha state. And now your host, Brian Murphy.
• 1:12
  Bryan Murphy: Hello, and welcome to Episode 40 of Hawaii's Best.
• 1:16
  Bryan Murphy: I'm Brian Murphy, the host and owner of Hawaii best travel where we help prepare you for your next trip to Hawaii. And hopefully that is sooner than later. I feel like it was just a couple months ago, we were looking at August 1 as the opening and obviously that was postponed. And here we are the week of Hawaii reopening to transpacific travel. And I want to give you a quick snapshot of what to expect. But I also want to direct you towards Hawaii COVID-19 dot com. That is the state's official site where you can get the official info on what to expect and how to travel to Hawaii come October 15. Now there's a lot of talk happening.
• 1:58
  Bryan Murphy: And I just want to direct you towards that site. Because you're going to get the most accurate and up to date info happening right now. So that's Hawaii COVID one 919 dot com Hawaii COVID-19 dot com. So a quick snapshot, if you if you listen back in August, we did a whole show about what opening is gonna look like and some of those details are the same. And some of them have changed. So there still is a test a covid test that has to be done within 72 hours of getting on the plane. And obviously that test needs to be negative in order to not quarantine for 14 days in paradise. But the test has to be done by an approved partner of the State of Hawaii. So I just want to again, draw your attention to Hawaii COVID-19 dot com. Now, if you're planning on going to the Big Island, you still have to do the 72 hour test for COVID. But then, once you get to Big Island, they also are doing a rapid antigen test that is free of charge. And just note that this the main COVID test is at the travelers expense. So you're going to want to budget for that. But on the Big Island first you have to do the normal COVID test and get negative on that. And then once you land, they're going to do a rapid antigen test right there at the airport. That's no charge to you. So that's something that big island is doing. Governor egay did give the other counties the outer islands permission to tweak the plan even more. And that's kind of has led to even more confusion. I don't think I can say it enough. Go to Hawaii COVID-19 dot com to get the most up to date info. I'll link that in the show notes as well. So after our interview with Travis, you can go ahead and check out more about the shack and also go to Hawaii COVID-19 dot com. One other thing just to note is that as of right now, there is no inner Island travel well meaning you can't travel Island Island without having to quarantine for 14 days. And that's so we'll see what the update is once we hit November 1. But as of right now, doing a multi Island vacation might be pretty tricky and pretty tough. So I would just choose one island if you're wanting to get there this month in October, choose one island and just stay there. A lot of things are open like the beaches hikes, but they are limited to groups of five most of them. So just be aware of that as you're making plans to come. So my main thing I just wanted to get across is keep dreaming about Hawaii. Keep planning. And I think as you hear from my conversation with Travis, is that people are ready and are wanting to have travelers back and wanting to host travelers again and obviously we want to do it safely. So we talked a little bit about that Travis As I said at the beginning of this episode is the operating founder of the sunrise shack.
• 5:03
  Bryan Murphy: Travis grew up on the island of kawaii he became a professional bodyboarder. And he competed at a young age of 12. world famous pipeline. And he actually went into modeling for quite a few years at the age of he started out at age of 16. He traveled the world and for eight years working as a high fashion model.
• 5:24
  Bryan Murphy: But Travis moved back to the islands at the age of 24 to start the shack and is now the operating founder. The other founders of the shack are CO and Alex Smith and co Rothman were all phenomenal surfers in their own right. The shack started in October of 2016. So it's pretty cool to be able to air this on their, really their four year anniversary. The Smith brothers they started with a coffee shop in a small shack on a Plumeria farm. And that's on the North Shore. That's their original spot where it's this yellow, cool looking shack on the North Shore. And then in just two years, the sunrise shack had an opportunity to expand. They have a second location in Waikiki, which is connected to the outrigger hotel. And they're also looking at expanding even more across the globe, and maybe even possibly on Oahu, but I'll let Travis go ahead and explain all that. So let's talk story with Travis Smith from the sunrise shack.
• 6:31
  Bryan Murphy: Alright, ciao Travis, thanks for coming on Hawaii's Best again, it's good to see you. And how are you doing? First of all?
• 6:37
  Travis Smith: Yeah, everything's good. I'm actually this year and I'm in Venice Beach, California, and decided to get off of the island for a little bit. And I was pretty much there for the whole pandemic and just feels good to see a different kind of scenery right now.
• 6:52
  Bryan Murphy: What do you been up to the last couple weeks? You know, I've actually been
• 6:55
  Travis Smith: on the road for like a month now. Okay, why was not producing any waves and stir crazy. I just had the idea to get down to Mexico and stare for a week. Then I met my girlfriend, her family's from Colorado. And so we flew into Colorado. And then we did like a road trip all the way to California from Colorado. Yeah, then we kind of drove through Arizona and Utah. And saw like the Delicate Arch and Zion National Park and I haven't really experienced much to the mainland is really cool for me.
• 7:34
  Travis Smith: And I feel like the pandemic has, has made the kind of the nature just so popular, which is kind of cool to see. The National Parks and stuff have been going off. I mean, we did a hike in in Xi'an. It was so crowded, there's hundreds, literally hundreds of people. It was like a line to get into like a grocery store or something crazy. There's a park and there's a hike.
• 8:02
  Bryan Murphy: Well, as you know, we live in Southern California.
• 8:04
  Bryan Murphy: And when all this went down, I think it was like in June, we were like we're done. Let's hit the road. And we went to Zion.
• 8:12
  Bryan Murphy: And arches for the first time we also went to Canyon lands do which was pretty amazing. When we're there though it was like a ghost town. So that's crazy to hear that glad that you know because very similar to and we'll get into how things are Northshore but like very similar like people in that community especially Zion, they rely so much on tourists and that type of traffic. So it's good to hear that that that's starting to pick up there.
• 8:37
  Travis Smith: Yeah, for sure. I heard like we went to like Vail, Colorado as well. Okay. A lot of like the restaurants and stuff there. Were saying that it was like the busiest summer they've ever had crazy. And I cool. You know, I'm stoked that some people are kind of like, thriving and the panda.
• 8:55
  Bryan Murphy: Oh, what about you guys maybe kind of switch into a wahoo compared to you know what?
• 8:59
  Bryan Murphy: You see me going on mainland, how are things right now? On Island.
• 9:06
  Travis Smith: That's interesting. I think since we're on an island, it's easier to kind of like, make rules and govern them and have people follow them. The pandemic when it started pretty much in March for America. It was really scary. Nobody knew what to do.
• 9:22
  Travis Smith: It was really scary for the sunrise shack because we were in the middle of expanding like, we had this amazing commissary kitchen where seemed like the people before there were like, like a noodle shop or something that they just made all of their broths and food and stuff out of this huge kitchen. They spent over a million dollars on the build out and they just literally laughed. And so the landlord's like, well, we'll give you all this for pennies on the dollar, the whole space and everything. Like you know, we don't really need this for like, only support Like two locations, but if we had like more locations, it'd be worth it. So we're like, okay, like, we're gonna expand and have this commissary kitchen, all this stuff. So we did that, like the last quarter of 2019, in the beginning of 2020. And then the pandemic just hit and like, yeah, we are this kitchen. And we didn't shoot for that. And like, we're spending so much money on it. And we're like, about to pull the trigger on like, our third location and had like, kind of some money invested in that, and we pulled out. So it is pretty wild. For us, the sunrise shack, and we just get so many people that are interested for, like having another sunrise shack, you know, whether it's locally in Hawaii or like internationally. So we figure like, yeah, we should definitely have more than two.
• 10:51
  Travis Smith: So 2020, we're going to try to make for me, this is not a plan anymore. But we kind of pivoted and we, you know, I'm, I'm actually really happy that I mean, I'm not happy for the pandemic, but I'm happy that I got to take a step back from the center I shack. And I'm just like, way more in line with what I want it to be. And I feel like is getting a little bit away of from what, how I pictured it and stuff like that. So now it's more back on track. And I realized, too, that it's just such a fun little business, you know, it shouldn't stress me how, like it does sometimes. But yeah, and we got to focus on like our e commerce, which was really cool. We weren't doing many sales before the pandemic, but then, you know, we grew massively, I'd say over over the pandemic. And so that's been really fun. And people are just buying like our coffee online and different things like that, and trying to figure out how to grow and strategize and that aspect. But yeah, I mean, it's been good. We're still kicking still in business.
• 12:01
  Bryan Murphy: I mean, that's encouraging to hear. But maybe going back a little bit, I mean, thinking about March, and when all that hit. And it's been a common thread that I've heard from other people as well, maybe you have to, like no one wanted this to happen. And I wish this to happen. But I think people with the right mindset, have seen opportunity and as well.
• 12:22
  Bryan Murphy: Okay, what do I need to do to get refocused on what truly matters? In my life? What are some of the practices that kind of brought you to that point?
• 12:29
  Bryan Murphy: And then, what would you identify the shack as, like, its core vision and purpose?
• 12:39
  Travis Smith: Yeah, that's a good question. You know, I feel like, first off before the pandemic, I was probably taking it for granted on like, how good we were doing, you know, we're killing it. We just had lions all day, every day, both our locations, just like, you know, and not that I wasn't happy. But I was just like, thinking I needed, you know, more locations and stuff like that. And, like, wasn't satisfied with the level I was at. And so now looking back at that, I'm just like, what, what, how to do having a line all day, Oh, my gosh, so yeah, I made me worry, like, grateful of just where I'm at.
• 13:17
  Travis Smith: But I feel like we got to focus, like, like I said before, on our website and stuff, and just took a step back and realize that Santa shack has to offer to kind of the community and different people that get to experience it. I feel like the sunrise shack is like, all about like, good vibes. And it's all about just like, sharing, like the health and wellness. That's so important. And I feel like this pandemic has really been those two things, that has kept me centered, and is so positive to share. You know, I think like a positive message, and a healthy lifestyle is the right way to go. And I think like, you know, the virus pandemic, and everything has proven that I think the people that have had a realization like, Oh, I should probably start exercising more.
• 14:08
  Travis Smith: So I'm not susceptible to get, you know, COVID or I should start being more healthy and start sleeping more and things like that. I think those are the people that are really prospering and are even if it's a career path, maybe someone had a nine to five job that they didn't really like but now they're working like an online business or something, you know, but maybe they've been a little more independent and stuff. So I feel like as tough as it's been, and for everybody, I think it's been an awakening for the world and share good things or come out of it. depends who you are.
• 14:48
  Travis Smith: But I think good things have already came out of it so far for me personally.
• 15:49
  Bryan Murphy: right for you, and I know maybe for a lot of people has been a wake up call talking about health specifically. What are some You're kind of non negotiables when it comes to health, like, what are some of those healthy habits that you've implemented, and maybe that would be helpful for somebody who is maybe just starting on this journey of a wellness path?
• 16:09
  Travis Smith: Yeah, for me, it's really important how like, I get my day started. I'm not saying like, every single day, I start my day perfectly, you know, that's really important. I'll wake up and drink good water and make like a little bullet coffee. And I just, that's just what makes me feel good, I get a bunch of energy, then maybe I'll just sit there in silence and meditate for a little bit or do a little exercise or sit in the sun. But yeah, starting the day, the right way, makes me feel good throughout the day, you know, saying some positive affirmations thing, what you're grateful for staying away from technology in the morning, those kind of things. But then throughout the day, staying really hydrated, I have like a half a gallon hydro flask that I always have on my side, I drink two of those, like minimum a day, so a gallon of water. And I definitely make sure I like get close to nature, even just in the sun, just staying in the sun for a little bit. That kind of thing makes me feel grounded and makes me feel so good about myself. That ties into like exercising. So important exercise. And yeah, yeah, I mean, when you're eating food, try to pay attention to how you feel after you know, if you're feeling a little tired. Try food that tendering your performance, you know, just start noticing, I mean, get in tune with your body and your mind. And now if something's bothering you, it's like a little thing that's nagging you or whatever, just try to think what that would be from and how can you make it better? And you know, just in tune with yourself. I mean, that's, that's what I like to do. Like, I'll just be stretching doing yoga, whatever.
• 17:47
  Travis Smith: Like, I feel like if I push that a little too much like I hurt myself, no, I never get injured.
• 17:55
  Travis Smith: Like I, I get these little things sometimes, but I surf big waves in the ocean. And I definitely like run my body pretty hard. And I just feel like you can be in tune enough to not get injured unless there's really something extreme that happens to you. Last time we were on Oahu, I think it was in February, we started our days at the shack, and it was like, it just feels you right? Like it just kind of kicked off. You're starting your day. Yeah, if no one's been to sunrise shack.
• 18:25
  Travis Smith: What are some like you guys's most popular items? And what would you recommend someone's first time say, you know, a month from now this recording October 15 when hopefully, transpacific travel opens up.
• 18:35
  Travis Smith: Yeah. What would you recommend someone come to the shack for the first time? Yeah, so the center shack, I feel like you know, it's an overall organic cafe. But the two biggest components of the menu are like the bullet coffees, we have like seven of those flavors. And then the other side of the menu is like the smoothie bowls. So the Asahi bowl is the most popular thing was there. But then there's like the Blue Dream bowl, which is like super amazing. I feel like depending what like you like to eat or drink, I would get like a bullet coffee and or smoothie bowl, and just kind of whatever ones sound good to you. The bullet coffee is interesting, because I feel like that really helps like our brand spread word of mouth, because it's such a unique thing. And we're not the only people that do it. But we definitely dive in really deep to it all, you know, we're throwing like almond butter and some of our recipes or coconut cream or coconut oil. Some of my recipes get pretty wild. And the reality is is just like pretty amazing coffee, you know, thrown in a blender. And it's between like, almost like a shake, like protein shake thickness to like a latte. You know, it's gonna be like creamy, foamy, frothy, and the energy feels amazing and you want to just get like the coffee the chances of like feeling more energy are greater. For me personally, I'll only do bullet coffee in the morning because I don't want like the fats and stuff to just store while the sugars the the energy burner because that's what your body does it prioritizes like burning sugar glucose first before fats.
• 20:16
  Travis Smith: So I try to just in the morning if I'm only drinking fats, then I tend to burn the fats in the morning. And I feel really good and energy but I mean, say it's a Saturday morning and you're on holiday like a smoothie bowl as well. Or like avocado toast and I like to look at fast is like there's good fats and there's bad fats like avocado is a good fat and people put avocado on everything. So it's okay to have fat throughout the day and you want to avoid the bad fats which tend to come from a lot of plants which is weird like soy soy bean oil.
• 20:53
  Travis Smith: canola oil, like sunflower seed oil, grapeseed oil kind of all these like, fruits and plants and different things that the oil is just not good for you, you know, that's what that's gonna clog your arteries and, you know, be bad for your brain and different things like that.
• 21:14
  Travis Smith: But like other oils like krill oil or good fish oil or avocado oil, coconut oil, he butter or, you know, normal grass fed butter, these kind of oils are actually really good for you.
• 21:27
  Travis Smith: They kind of lubricate your brain and lubricate your joints and just make you feel really good. So yeah, I mean, that's, that's all the stuff and it goes on and on and get kind of scientific and stuff. But yeah, and the smoothie bowls are the most popular thing we use there.
• 21:42
  Travis Smith: We have like five, it's really bowls, and all of our toppings are super cailler. Like our granola is like gluten free, vegan and not free. So it's pretty much friendly for everybody. Those are the best things we have to offer. And like, when they come out, they look really pretty. So you could like take a nice photo of that or whatever. I've fully seen some people like that, and now they'll maybe be like an Instagram couple that comes by the center and Shaq and like the the wife, like we'll just order like a whole crazy smoothie bowl with all these toppings. And she'll just have like a full photoshoot with it. And then she'll just give it to her. Like she doesn't even like smoothie.
• 22:29
  Travis Smith: It's funny, I mean people order, just because they're so pretty.
• 22:33
  Travis Smith: But I mean, they're really tastes good too. Well, when when?
• 22:37
  Bryan Murphy: Yeah, there's so much behind just the how it looks and what has been something these last six months.
• 22:46
  Bryan Murphy: And hopefully we're getting out of this. Who knows. But regardless, these last six months as maybe you're in a position of being able to kind of in retrospect, look back and maybe zoom out a little bit.
• 22:56
  Bryan Murphy: What has been something maybe that that surprised you in regards to support and love from people who who love the shack? I know, obviously not a lot of people are ordering bullets. And a lot of people aren't on Island right now. But like just from afar, what has been something that has surprised you as far as the love and support that people have for the shack?
• 23:18
  Travis Smith: Yeah, I mean, it's just been amazing to see kind of, you know, we're just like this little shack out of Hawaii.
• 23:24
  Travis Smith: And I think we are quite famous these days, you know, like even a, I was just walking in erawan in the grocery store over here in California. And I was ready to center a shack shirt, and someone behind me is like, Oh, I love that place. It's pretty crazy, how much we've grown. And that's been really amazing to see. And we would like to keep growing. You know, I think Hawaii has been a great market for us. But I think there's other markets in the world, whether it's like the East Coast or the West Coast that like Australia, that we would really thrive in. Just been really cool to know that like, times are tough for sure. People maybe can't get to us. Yeah, they can maybe support us online a little bit. But it's nice to know that people haven't forgotten about us and you know, we're just a small business and owned by for surfers. And yeah, I mean we continue to grow and we're excited to stay where we are and we had some points throughout this whole pandemic, I almost just thought we're just not going to make it even you know, more have to close the location down or something but we never shut down one day we were really loyal to our main employees like we never gave them a pay cut. We never fired any of the main people that like our managers and you know general managers and stuff like that. So we just wanted to be there for them. Now I wasn't trying to like you know, pocket a bunch of cash or anything during this time I was just like all the capital for sunrise shack is on the line and we're just gonna do whatever it takes to make it through these times. And I personally believe like after this pandemic rolls over that concepts like ourselves will probably be prospering You know, I think that we're into health before hopefully will be now and that's kind of right down our alley, you know.
• 25:26
  Bryan Murphy: Hey, just want to pop in real quick hope you're enjoying my conversation with Travis. You know during this time of wanting to travel again and doing staycations I found the perfect travel backpack.
• 25:34
  Bryan Murphy: I've become this collector of travel backpacks for some reason. And I found one that I have fallen in love with and for me the search is over. It's more than a travel backpack because you can get any travel backpack and it protects, you know, your laptop, your important stuff and all that but this one also, you can pack for three days. So it serves as kind of like this pool, travel backpack carry on thing, but it's not too bulky or anything like that, because it has is expander. But what I love most about this backpack is its durability and options. This thing is built so comfortably, but also like a tank. I don't know how to describe it other than it just feels right is from nomadic and at the time of this recording, they have this really great sale going on. So if you're listening to this right now and it's you know, October 14, head on over to Hawaii's Best travel.com slash nomadic and you can check out all the sales that they got going on right now. For me I have what's called the travel pack on their site. But there's so many options so many different types of bags, cases for your cameras, luggage accessories, head on over to Hawaii's Best travel.com slash nomadic. All right now back to my conversation with Travis pivoting into October maybe at towards it, even the end of the year. And hopefully once you know that, when a swell comes, you guys will be hopping in long lines and all that good stuff. Yeah. In your opinion, what do you think things are gonna be like, once visitors come back? What do you think that first initial wave is gonna look like?
• 27:12
  Travis Smith: Yeah, it's interesting. I think Hawaii has been super conservative throughout this whole pandemic, you know, right. And I think it's, it's a little wild that it's so crazy that we are an island and we are restricted like, and I think you can kind of the government restrictions, like more in your face, because we're just on a little island, like, where do you go, you know, they closed down the beaches, like just recently. And then there's given like, $5,000 tickets out, I saw a photo of like, at this alamanda Beach Park, it's like hardly even a beach and there's a right there.
• 27:50
  Travis Smith: There's like an older lady sitting in a wheelchair. And they just wrote her a $5,000 ticket. She's just sitting under the tree by herself. You know, it's just like, so I don't know, I feel like, it's been interesting, because I've been over here on the mainland for the last month. And, you know, I was in Arizona, which is like, very just, I don't know, it feels like they're just like, I could not care. I didn't see I went into a restaurant. There's our waiter wasn't wearing a mask, you know. So I think the powers and the people, it's just gonna be really interesting to just see how the people react.
• 28:26
  Travis Smith: But, I mean, as far as the government of Hawaii goes, they're super conservative. And it's been interesting. I mean, I just feel like, you know, like, before the pandemic, I, you know, like, test things out and hear on the news and all this stuff. But now I'm just like, with all my trust with the media and stuff has gone out the window. I'll trust like a meme on Instagram, more than one of the major broadcasting networks, you know, and yeah, I just feel like I've, I've personally, I've just been lied to throughout this pandemic so much. And maybe I wouldn't care so much if I just like, didn't have a business or something. But I'm like, I'm looking after myself, my family, my partners, and like, all the people. Yeah, all those people. I'm just trying to make the best decision. And it's just really been hard for me and confusing for me to be like, even if I didn't hear anything from the news in the media or whatever. I've always known that, like viruses die in the sunlight. They don't like warm weather, salt, water, and stuff definitely is not like easy for anything to live. So the environment Hawaii is like, I think it's hard to like, catch something like COVID. And yeah, I mean, all for all the precautions and stuff but nobody's talking about how ginger can boost your immune system. Like simple things, you know, exercise can boost your immune system. I don't know after hearing all this stuff.
• 29:55
  Travis Smith: People say this. People say that, right? I just feel like this pandemic is just like, there's definitely something else going on. I don't know what it is. I mean, I was funny. I was just like, so fed up. At some point. I was like, I just beg from society. I just like hiked in to the jungle and stayed out there for like a week by myself. And there's like, phone service or anything. But it's been really confusing, to be honest.
• 30:22
  Bryan Murphy: But it's interesting. Yeah, it is. and shoot, there's a lot to kind of even unpacked there and who knows what it all is and what it all means. But I think kind of going back to our own core beliefs and our own mindset and our own health. At the core of it all is what truly matters, and taking care of those around you. And I think at least for me, and my family, that's something that's been, you know, huge and there's no one else that you can rely on other than those that you love and and your own self.
• 30:57
  Travis Smith: Definitely, yeah, I mean, I think that throughout this pandemic, it's taught me that, like, a simple life was just a really nice life, you know, right. Like, if you I mean, for me personally, if I'm eating healthy business is running and supporting people, and we're spreading awareness in the way we would like to, you know, like, sharing health and wellness and a positive vibe.
• 31:18
  Travis Smith: Yeah. And we get some waves sometimes I'm pretty happy, you know?
• 31:25
  Bryan Murphy: Is that, um, you know, not to sound trite or anything like that. But is that how you would define success for you?
• 31:31
  Travis Smith: Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, my goal for myself is to, like, buy a nice piece of land and start a farm and have a family there. And I feel like that'd be my success.
• 31:43
  Travis Smith: personal success.
• 31:45
  Bryan Murphy: Would you see yourself back on Hawaii or?
• 31:47
  Bryan Murphy: Yeah,
• 31:48
  Travis Smith: Stefan cry? I already know, like, the piece of land that I think millions of dollars, but I just like, have it. In my mind every day, pretty much.
• 31:58
  Bryan Murphy: They all get there somehow. I don't know. How do you see the shark going? Going?
• 32:01
  Bryan Murphy: outer islands?
• 32:04
  Travis Smith: I don't know. It's a good question. I feel like we're like focused on the mainland before. outer islands.
• 32:10
  Travis Smith: It's just the
• 32:11
  Bryan Murphy: ocean man. I'll I'll I'll do Southern California. Let's do it.
• 32:15
  Travis Smith: I mean, we're actually working on and sheis all the paperwork and stuff.
• 32:19
  Unknown: Exactly.
• 32:20
  Travis Smith: Yeah, it's so in depth. It's like, nation, it's crazy. But we're almost done.
• 32:24
  Travis Smith: And in 2021, we're gonna start looking for franchise partners in California, and then in Florida, those two states we're gonna work on. Right. Yeah, I mean, I feel like that was like a huge pivotal moment for us, because it's so expensive as a business to just opened one location year after year, you know, it's like hundreds of thousands of dollars per location. And like, I don't know, as a as a company, I don't want to just be like, you know, a million dollars in debt for opening up five locations. I think it would be easier for the business to have that trust in operating partners. Elsewhere, like I think anything on a wahoo would definitely have covered I have such an amazing team that works for the center shack and but that team can really help people you know, wherever they want to start a center I shack and we get so many people reaching out. And I just really feel like Hawaii is not even the best market for the center I shack, because like California, and like Florida, and like Australia, and different places like that are like, probably the best. So yeah, we're just working on that kind of growth.
• 33:37
  Travis Smith: And yeah, I mean, just go with the flow.
• 33:40
  Bryan Murphy: I love that.
• 33:40
  Bryan Murphy: You're still dreaming. I love that.
• 33:42
  Travis Smith: Yeah. For sure. I mean, I don't know if we'll just have to center shacks, or if we'll have no 1000. I don't know. I'm definitely working out like I'm making more than we currently have. That's awesome.
• 33:58
  Bryan Murphy: Yeah. Something I love to ask everyone who comes on the podcast is if someone's traveling to Hawaii, let's say for the first time, and let's say they're going to Oahu, what is something that you'd want them to know prior to getting off the plane?
• 34:12
  Travis Smith: Yeah. And why? As like the capital of Hawaii, you know, it's like, can't compare it to any other island. There's the most like opportunities in Hawaii, like career wise and things like that. On a wahoo.
• 34:24
  Travis Smith: And then pretty much like the South Shore is like the city, or Honolulu is Waikiki. I feel like it depends who you are as a person. But that's pretty epic to like, stay in a hotel, like a nice resort there like go surf in Waikiki, like, go shopping or you know, really nice restaurants. Then I live on the North Shore of Oahu and North Shore of Oahu is like one of the most famous places in the world for surfing. And it's funny. I mean, my brothers and I are such surfers that I will have never even done like this popular hike before or something has nothing to do with me, because I just feel like I'm so focused on surfing. But yeah, I mean, you have to definitely see pipeline, like the world's most famous way, straight there. It's only a mile away from the sun. I shall have to see that. And there's just so many good hikes in Hawaii and depends on the season. But snorkeling is really amazing. There's even like a shark diving tour you can do on a Holly Eva, I just did that, like a month ago. And it's always so cool to swim with sharks and see how, you know, they're not actually like such bad creatures, right? They're like dogs in the ocean. And they're just swimming around checking you out. Like they're so smart and they're not trying to eat you, you know, like oz movie. I mean, Hawaii is just super amazing. And definitely, just like Look after yourself.
• 35:58
  Travis Smith: And you know, a lot of people die in Hawaii just by getting washed away by big wave and stuff. I mean, people a year, so just be really cautious about that, like, ask the lifeguard at the beach, where safe and where the currents are and things like that. And then just Hawaii is like, so amazing. And the reason why it's so beautiful, is because we're so far away from pollution, but you just got to really like pack your trash look after yourself. And that way, even down to the sunscreen you use, you know, the normal sunscreen that you buy in a grocery store, chances are just one drop of that sunscreen can kill up to like hundreds of feet of reef so you got to be mindful on that part as well. And, and just like come to Hawaii and really appreciate the beauty and stuff but like don't know, leave your trail behind of theirs.
• 36:54
  Bryan Murphy: Yeah, we had a marine biologist on about a month ago, we talked through just the life of coral reef and all that and and how even reef safe has now become even like this term that people will just put on their products, not knowing exactly how it's gonna affect the reef. Yeah, so it's important as always this marketing check, right? And so how can people continue to learn what's going on with sem rush x support you guys and get online?
• 37:23
  Travis Smith: Yeah, I mean, I think we're the most poppin on Instagram, Cena, Shaq, we're always posting fun stuff, my brothers and I have a YouTube channel called Smith brothers, Hawaii, you just type in Smith brothers, and you'll probably find it, if you subscribe to that. We're always posting fun stuff. And then our website, we are kind of turning it into an e commerce website. Because we found over the pandemic, there's a lot of people that wanted to buy like a coffee and merchandise, we have some really fun mugs and stuff that have like positive affirmations on that. So those are all kind of the ways you can support or working on like a third location right now, on a wahoo. We can't really say where it is, but it should be open before the end of the year. And it's going to be exciting to do that. I know. I mean, it's hard when I mean, it's like if you're like in the stock market or something, it's like, when everybody else is scared and selling and and you're the one that's buying like, lay the opportunist, you know,
• 38:27
  Unknown: absolutely. That's a smart.
• 38:29
  Travis Smith: Yeah, I mean, that's what we're doing right now, we kind of just had a friend that he's like, you know, I'm not gonna make it through COVID. And I'm a pandemic, and I'm just gonna shut my business down, like, would you guys want to just buy everything from me?
• 38:40
  Travis Smith: That was pretty much the situation. And we don't really know when things are going to open back up. I mean, if Hawaii is shut down for a whole year from now, then I don't think not even one small business will be in business still. So I'm feeling like that's not going to happen, because I don't think the state of Hawaii will allow that to happen. But yeah, you just never know. I mean, a virus never goes away. And I don't think just the vaccine or something is going to just cure it all. I think it'll be around and we'll have to live with it.
• 39:11
  Travis Smith: I just recommend to people to the prize start getting healthier, start exercising mass here. That's the best vaccine on say,
• 39:21
  Bryan Murphy: yeah, Travis, thank you so much for coming on today. And definitely, for me personally, man, like, you're a huge encouragement to, you know, because like these past six months for me has been, you mentioned, like, quitting that nine to five, like, I quit that nine to five, at the beginning of all this, and it's been this hustle on this grind that I know I had in me, but it wasn't until this pandemic like kind of kick my butt like, Okay, I got it.
• 39:48
  Bryan Murphy: It's on me to do this. And, you know, unfortunately, I let my health that last, you know, six months, like, I had all the things in place. And that's gone. So for me personally, this conversation has been just kind of a Oh, yeah, I got to come back to what truly matters. And if I don't have my health and that is not a priority, then all the other things that I say that I love and care about are gonna be affected by that. So just thank you for that man for Yeah, appreciate that. Yeah, so awesome. I can't wait to to get back on the island and and actually be able to say what's up in person?
• 40:29
  Travis Smith: Definitely. Yeah.
• 40:29
  Travis Smith: I can't wait to meet you in person. It's gonna be cool. And yeah, I mean, who knows when while open back up, like officially, but as of right now you can October 15. You can come in if you have a negative COVID test. Yeah. Come see why and support the small businesses of why and I don't know. Yeah. It's crazy how all of Hawaii just depends on tourism. I mean, locals are awesome, but they, you know, they can even support all the small businesses by themselves. You know, it'd be nice to have some tourists back.
• 41:06
  Bryan Murphy: Alright man, I appreciate you. And thank you for your time. No worries.
• 41:08
  Bryan Murphy: Thanks, Brad. I just want to say a big thank you again to Travis for coming on the show for his time, and for his hospitality, for him, just keeping vision, going strong can totally feel and sense it in that conversation, His love and His care for the people that he leads, and the love and the care of the mission and vision of the sunrise shack. So to get all the links and all the things that we talked about in the episode, the simplest way to do that is to go to Hawaii's Best travel comm slash Episode 44 zero. You can also check out the shack that sunrise shack hawaii.com. And you can check out their online store where their locations are out and learn more about who they are and what they're up to and look at their menu because their menu is amazing. And if you found value in today's conversation, you enjoyed it. I would love to hear from you. You can drop a review below wherever you're listening to this right now. Hit subscribe leave a rating that really helps other people who love Hawaii just like you find this podcast. So I just want to say thank you so much for your time, your valuable time and keep dreaming of Hawaii. We're getting through this. I'm an optimistic, obviously, but I just care so much about Hawaii and so much about his people and I want you and I want everybody else to just enjoy the love. That is Aloha. So until next time, guys be well. Aloha.
• 42:41
  Hawaii's Best: Thanks for listening to Hawaii's Best travel podcast. To stay up to date on future episodes. Be sure to subscribe. For more information to help you plan your next trip to Hawaii visit Hawaii's Best
• 42:53
  Unknown: travel.com