Latest / Built In The Bayou / Episode 6 | Ambassador Meetup

Transcript

Episode 6 | Ambassador Meetup · Built In The Bayou

0:06
SPEAKER_07: Hi, and welcome to another episode of Built in the Bayou.
0:10
SPEAKER_07: This is a really special episode.
0:12
SPEAKER_07: It's an off-the-grid episode, but I'm not at a wheeling event.
0:17
SPEAKER_07: We are here in Pigeon Forge for Great Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion.
0:21
SPEAKER_07: And I actually was able to throw together with the help of a lot of people on the team our first ever ambassador meetup.
0:30
SPEAKER_07: So the ambassador program at Skyjacker is my baby.
0:35
SPEAKER_07: And it's something that takes so many moving parts, so many people.
0:40
SPEAKER_07: It's definitely a passion project for us.
0:43
SPEAKER_07: And I'm really proud of that program.
0:47
SPEAKER_07: Not because of what we've been able to do as much as the people that are on this team.
0:52
SPEAKER_07: These ambassadors are truly one of a kind.
0:56
SPEAKER_07: We have such a wide range.
0:59
SPEAKER_07: We have our show trucks, our show jeeps to our hardcore rock crawler group, and honestly, kind of everybody in between.
1:07
SPEAKER_07: We have trucks, we have jeeps, we have broncos.
1:11
SPEAKER_07: And so I'm really excited for this event because 16, maybe 17, but 16 to 17 of our ambassadors are actually here.
1:22
SPEAKER_07: Some for the Great Smoky Mountain event, and some came in just for this special night.
1:27
SPEAKER_07: And we're hosting them here at our Airbnb, and we are feeding them and giving them goodies and having a great time fellowshipping, playing pool, and just hanging out.
1:38
SPEAKER_07: And this is the first time most of us have gotten to meet face to face, even though we've been communicating for four years, some of us.
1:52
SPEAKER_07: Um for the podcast to tell about who they are, what their build is, what they do.
1:58
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so I'm really excited for that.
2:00
SPEAKER_07: And they'll get to have their handles and talk about their builds.
2:04
SPEAKER_07: And um, it's just really special because just like our employees, Skyjacker is nothing without the people that make it up.
2:11
SPEAKER_07: And these ambassadors are a whole new part of our team.
2:14
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so we've been able to grow the program over the last four years, three years solid for the style of program we have now.
2:24
SPEAKER_07: Last year we were able to add an elite group, um, and we'll talk to some of those members who are here.
2:31
SPEAKER_07: Um, and then next year we have something special planned, a whole nother group of that program.
2:36
SPEAKER_07: Um, so I'm super excited.
2:38
SPEAKER_07: I think we have right now 62 ambassadors total, and they're all over the country.
2:44
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so just imagine 62 different people of all walks of life, all different kinds of builds, all who love your product and your company and what you believe in and what you stand for.
2:54
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so it's a huge blessing for us.
2:58
SPEAKER_07: I hope that they feel super loved and appreciated tonight.
3:01
SPEAKER_07: And I can't wait for you all to get to see who's here.
3:07
SPEAKER_07: Okay, so one of the first ambassadors that we have with us is Ashley.
3:10
SPEAKER_07: Hi, Ashley.
3:11
SPEAKER_07: Hi.
3:12
SPEAKER_07: Thank you for being here.
3:13
SPEAKER_07: Absolutely.
3:14
SPEAKER_07: Um, okay, so I just want you to tell me a little bit about you, your life, um, what vehicle that you have right now.
3:21
SPEAKER_07: Um, and if they have uh anything uh special names.
3:26
SPEAKER_07: I know you have a couple that you're kind of known for, but you also have a new rig that's here that is awesome.
3:32
SPEAKER_07: So tell us a little bit about all the things.
3:34
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I'm from Pennsylvania, near Hershey.
3:37
SPEAKER_00: Um been an ambassador for three years, I think now.
3:41
SPEAKER_00: Um we got two Jeeps that we show now.
3:45
SPEAKER_00: Now we have Envy, the black one with leopard print, it's all like tricked out.
3:51
SPEAKER_00: And then we just got a 392 a couple years ago, and we finally got that build done.
3:56
SPEAKER_00: Well, partially done.
3:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but yeah.
3:58
SPEAKER_07: Okay, so Envy actually wins a lot of awards at shows.
4:02
SPEAKER_07: So you're like, you've been doing you did that build for a decent amount of time.
4:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we um started showing it shortly after we got it.
4:10
SPEAKER_00: We just you know started adding stuff, showed it, and like a normal Jeep owner, yeah.
4:15
SPEAKER_07: Slowly but steady and getting it there.
4:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I feel like we're finally at a spot where it's we're content, we're done with it.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: Let's go on.
4:23
SPEAKER_07: And then now we can build like the next one.
4:25
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
4:25
SPEAKER_07: Okay, so the 392 is at the show.
4:28
SPEAKER_07: That's the one y'all have shown a lot this summer, and it's the one that's here for the show.
4:31
SPEAKER_07: Yes.
4:32
SPEAKER_07: Um, so this is dope.
4:36
SPEAKER_07: Like, I did not know it's green, it's a 392, it's gorgeous, and it has the bronze powder coated parts, and I was like, oh great, I can't wait to see it.
4:43
SPEAKER_07: And then I walk up to it and I'm like, what are with these seats?
4:46
SPEAKER_07: So tell us all the details of that.
4:48
SPEAKER_00: So they are alligator, they're PRP seat covers, and we had actually sent them the fabric that we wanted for them to approve it to make these alligator seats.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: That is they're so fun.
5:01
SPEAKER_00: I love them.
5:02
SPEAKER_07: And then y'all also dipped a bunch of the other parts to kind of like go with the theme.
5:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we hydro dipped the fender liners, um, added a little 392 badge in there, and then we did the dash as well.
5:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
5:14
SPEAKER_07: Hydro dipped and well, um, first of all, the build's awesome.
5:18
SPEAKER_07: I was so glad to get to see it.
5:19
SPEAKER_07: And I was also glad to get to meet you because yes, three years, it's been three years.
5:22
SPEAKER_07: Yes, and like that's so crazy.
5:24
SPEAKER_07: But you're an elite ambassador, one of the only females.
5:27
SPEAKER_07: There's I think two female elite ambassadors that were for our 2026 season.
5:32
SPEAKER_07: Um, and you guys show up all the time.
5:35
SPEAKER_07: So obviously you have to love what you do, right?
5:38
SPEAKER_00: Oh, we absolutely love it.
5:39
SPEAKER_00: It's so cool being in the booth, talking to all the customers that come up, learning so much about Skyjackers, lifts, and products, and yeah, you know, and I think so many other products too.
5:50
SPEAKER_07: Obviously, it's like rolls off, not just suspension.
5:52
SPEAKER_07: The next thing you know, you're like, oh, I want this lighter.
5:55
SPEAKER_07: Oh, I'll this is cool.
5:56
SPEAKER_07: And I think that's what's so cool about this event versus like a rock crawling event that I normally make it out to.
6:01
SPEAKER_07: And we talked about this earlier today, is all the different personalities that we got to see.
6:06
SPEAKER_07: Like at this event.
6:08
SPEAKER_07: When we first got in, we were like, Whoa! Like, because we just I mean, I've been to we do Moab and Charlie Hero, and there's Jeeps everywhere, but it's not only Jeeps everywhere.
6:18
SPEAKER_07: And here it's for this show, it's only Jeeps Everywhere.
6:20
SPEAKER_07: And right when we pulled in, there was four or five themed Jeeps in a row.
6:24
SPEAKER_07: There was the dude, no lie.
6:25
SPEAKER_07: Shout out to the Mr.
6:26
SPEAKER_07: Grinch, okay.
6:27
SPEAKER_07: Grinch hands hanging out, like full Grinch.
6:30
SPEAKER_07: Nothing else was in Grinch, just his hands.
6:32
SPEAKER_07: And it was just so funny.
6:33
SPEAKER_07: Like, I guess for his Jeep wave.
6:35
SPEAKER_07: I don't know.
6:35
SPEAKER_07: Anyway, so it's just been really cool to be a part and obviously to have you guys in the booth.
6:39
SPEAKER_07: We appreciate that always.
6:41
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so your husband, this the 392, is that actually his build, or y'all just both like kind of actually I begged for that 392.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: I finally convinced him that we needed it.
6:53
SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
6:54
SPEAKER_00: And actually, a lot of the ideas I came up with, he just kind of like tags along.
6:58
SPEAKER_00: He's like, fine.
7:00
SPEAKER_07: It's great to be a support on that.
7:01
SPEAKER_00: Oh, he totally is.
7:02
SPEAKER_00: Totally.
7:03
SPEAKER_07: Um, and then so you also have two kids.
7:07
SPEAKER_07: And like they're pretty cool.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: Yep, and they're also like getting into the whole Jeep thing, too.
7:12
SPEAKER_00: Our son has an XJ.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: He brought it last year to this show.
7:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, it was in the booth inside with um Rock Hard 4x4.
7:19
SPEAKER_07: You're cool.
7:19
SPEAKER_07: I didn't know that.
7:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and um, so he was unable to come this year with it.
7:23
SPEAKER_00: But our daughter just got her license.
7:25
SPEAKER_00: She got her first Jeep Jeep.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: I know.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: Okay, good.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: I was hoping you're excited.
7:28
SPEAKER_07: I don't like to always throw everybody's personal stuff out there, but when I saw that she got a Jeep too, I was like, yes, now it's a full Jeep family.
7:35
SPEAKER_00: Our driveway is full.
7:36
SPEAKER_00: We're known as the Jeep family in our development.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: Um Darren has to park his on the road because it's it's too full now.
7:44
SPEAKER_07: Oh my gosh, I love it.
7:45
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, well, I'm really excited.
7:47
SPEAKER_07: Um, obviously, to have people like you guys, uh family who like loves the industry because um obviously we love we do suspension, but it's not a need, it's a want.
7:59
SPEAKER_07: And so, you know, it's really cool to have people who they really truly love the Jeep life, whether it's off-road or show.
8:06
SPEAKER_07: Um, and I feel like the industry across the board is just like the best.
8:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's so fun.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: The community is awesome, they really are.
8:14
SPEAKER_07: I don't I haven't been around a community yet that's like it.
8:17
SPEAKER_07: Um, and I didn't come into this industry until like eight years ago.
8:21
SPEAKER_07: So, I mean, I've been just like totally shocked with how how cool and supportive and everybody is.
8:28
SPEAKER_07: And so we're super glad to have you guys.
8:30
SPEAKER_07: Thank you obviously for all that you do and always showing up.
8:33
SPEAKER_07: And we're really looking forward to 2027.
8:35
SPEAKER_07: Um, Ashley and I have actually talked about a few things that are going to be coming in 2027, hopefully.
8:41
SPEAKER_07: So stay tuned for that, and we'll give a little bit of sneak peek on that later.
8:45
SPEAKER_07: Yes, okay.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for having me.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: Yes, of course.
8:49
SPEAKER_07: Okay, bye.
8:50
SPEAKER_07: Bye.
8:52
SPEAKER_07: Okay, guys, I'm really excited about this guest because this guest was our very first ever signed ambassador.
9:02
SPEAKER_07: And I really think that that's super special because we have a good bit of people left from that first year, but that first year was a lot of bumps and a lot of figuring it out, and they were really, really patient with us as we did that.
9:19
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so this is Danny.
9:22
SPEAKER_07: Hi, Danny.
9:23
SPEAKER_07: Thank you for being here.
9:25
SPEAKER_07: Um, okay, so what I want to do is I want you to tell us about yourself a little bit, what you do um about Ruby.
9:35
SPEAKER_07: Okay.
9:36
SPEAKER_07: Um, and then just what got you into into the industry.
9:40
SPEAKER_10: Okay, so I'm Danny.
9:42
SPEAKER_10: I'm a mom of two twins.
9:45
SPEAKER_10: They're both five, boy and a girl.
9:48
SPEAKER_10: I am 34 years old.
9:49
SPEAKER_10: I've been married for 14 years.
9:51
SPEAKER_10: Yes, I have a baby face, but I've been married for 14 years.
9:54
SPEAKER_07: That's right, girl.
9:54
SPEAKER_07: You'll be looking good too tonight, okay.
9:57
SPEAKER_10: I actually work uh for Gulfstream, so I'm a production mechanic, which is really cool.
10:02
SPEAKER_10: So I work on pieces for the tail and the wing for the uh private jets.
10:05
SPEAKER_10: I don't get to see them built.
10:07
SPEAKER_10: My husband does because he works in Service Center.
10:09
SPEAKER_07: Okay, I didn't know that.
10:10
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, y'all work in the same for the same company, though.
10:12
SPEAKER_10: Same company, but completely different buildings.
10:14
SPEAKER_10: Yeah, yeah.
10:15
SPEAKER_07: And so you work a lot of shift stuff, like a lot of shift work.
10:18
SPEAKER_07: And so does he work, is his the opposite of yours?
10:21
SPEAKER_10: So his side is kind of like you know, like the 24-7 Walmart side.
10:26
SPEAKER_10: It's always open.
10:28
SPEAKER_10: Mine'll shut down for the holidays and stuff like that, but they're always there.
10:32
SPEAKER_10: Oh my gosh.
10:33
SPEAKER_10: Things need service.
10:34
SPEAKER_10: Like the built jets need they need to be serviced.
10:36
SPEAKER_10: They come in, they strip out the inside of it, and he redoes the wiring on the inside.
10:40
SPEAKER_10: That's why he does a lot of my wiring on my Jeep.
10:42
SPEAKER_10: Oh, well, that's nice.
10:43
SPEAKER_07: Because I mean, that's expensive.
10:46
SPEAKER_07: Yay!
10:47
SPEAKER_10: Yay, Humpy, thank you.
10:48
SPEAKER_10: Yeah, shout out to my man.
10:50
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, hello.
10:51
SPEAKER_07: Okay, but so you also like to game.
10:53
SPEAKER_07: You have a pretty cool gaming setup, too.
10:55
SPEAKER_10: Yeah, so um, I used to game, like I have five brothers and two sisters, but I grew up like watching my brothers play like Resident Evil, like watching them in the background, and I played games too.
11:04
SPEAKER_10: We had all the games growing up, like our house was the fun house.
11:08
SPEAKER_10: Yeah, so like it just stuck with me.
11:10
SPEAKER_10: Like, I've always loved video games, and I actually collect a lot of like retro stuff.
11:13
SPEAKER_10: I still have like a Sega Dreamcast, and I have like the PlayStation one with the screen on it still.
11:18
SPEAKER_10: Don't tell Joe he will find it, he will find you, he will not be there.
11:22
SPEAKER_07: Like he loves that kind of stuff.
11:24
SPEAKER_10: It just stuck with me, and that's just been like my escape from like life.
11:27
SPEAKER_10: Yeah, you know, sure.
11:28
SPEAKER_10: Everybody needs that.
11:29
SPEAKER_10: Yeah, so like we built the well, I built it, he just helped fund it.
11:34
SPEAKER_10: Yeah, but um, I turned our extra room, which was like our just our little den, into like our game room.
11:39
SPEAKER_10: Yeah, it's like a his and hers, and like it's just our escape from like our real world, you know.
11:44
SPEAKER_07: But that's cool that y'all, and he so he likes to do it too, or at least that's now.
11:48
SPEAKER_10: So uh for Christmas, I got him a PC.
11:50
SPEAKER_10: So like I had um I have a PC and then like I customize it for like a Sailor Moon theme, obviously.
11:56
SPEAKER_10: And then he likes the flash.
11:57
SPEAKER_10: So um I bought him the PC for Christmas.
11:59
SPEAKER_10: He said he didn't want one, but I'm sorry.
12:02
SPEAKER_07: But he loved it.
12:02
SPEAKER_10: I'm gonna get you one, and he almost cried.
12:05
SPEAKER_10: That's right.
12:07
SPEAKER_10: But he loves it.
12:08
SPEAKER_10: So like we played a game, he'll stream a little bit here and there, but I stream while I do mine because you know I like you know, people to see like things.
12:14
SPEAKER_10: I'm like, I'm kind of funny playing a game.
12:16
SPEAKER_10: Yeah, I say a lot of stuff.
12:18
SPEAKER_10: Oh yeah.
12:19
SPEAKER_10: If it's I play scary games, like all kinds of stuff.
12:22
SPEAKER_07: I'm open to a lot of things, but yeah, but that's really cool though, because if you're open, then like how many more opportunities or people have you gotten to meet that way, right?
12:30
SPEAKER_07: And you're close to all, like I know, which is funny because I feel like some of the coolest I'm I'm sorry, I have to say this because my daughter's in high school, okay, right?
12:39
SPEAKER_07: So we've all been there, done that.
12:40
SPEAKER_07: When we grew up in high school, it's like not cool to be a nerd like you got picked on.
12:44
SPEAKER_07: When you think nerd, you think like I don't, I don't know.
12:47
SPEAKER_07: I guess you think like glasses, nerd, books, whatever.
12:49
SPEAKER_07: Right.
12:50
SPEAKER_07: Let me tell you what, if you're not nerdy now, you are not cool.
12:52
SPEAKER_07: Nerds are in, thank you.
12:54
SPEAKER_07: Nerds are in.
12:55
SPEAKER_10: Nerds are the new cool.
12:56
SPEAKER_10: That's right.
12:56
SPEAKER_10: Yep.
12:57
SPEAKER_10: I mean, I'm trying to read a book all the time.
12:59
SPEAKER_07: And Joe's like, unless it's a movie, I'm not watching it.
13:01
SPEAKER_07: But he's, you know, so hands-on with mechanics.
13:04
SPEAKER_10: When I'm listening to like um stuff at work, because we can wear like the bone conducting headphones, like I'll listen to like a lot of audiobooks and true crime.
13:11
SPEAKER_07: Me too.
13:12
SPEAKER_07: Oh, I love true crime.
13:13
SPEAKER_07: That's my that's my favorite thing.
13:16
SPEAKER_07: Girl, okay.
13:16
SPEAKER_07: Well, let's talk about that later.
13:18
SPEAKER_07: I want to know all the things you're reading.
13:21
SPEAKER_07: Oh, okay.
13:22
SPEAKER_07: So on the Jeep side, on that, on that side.
13:25
SPEAKER_07: So when did you first get into that?
13:27
SPEAKER_10: So I've always wanted a Jeep.
13:29
SPEAKER_10: And when we first, me and my husband got together, like that's all he used to talk about.
13:32
SPEAKER_10: I would point them out when we were driving.
13:34
SPEAKER_10: I started actually with a white Cherokee, and I named her Khaleesi.
13:38
SPEAKER_10: Yep.
13:39
SPEAKER_10: That was before I got my um the black Lady B.
13:43
SPEAKER_10: Lady B.
13:43
SPEAKER_10: Yes.
13:44
SPEAKER_10: That's the one that started it all.
13:45
SPEAKER_07: Lady B was black, right?
13:46
SPEAKER_07: Not yellow.
13:47
SPEAKER_07: She was yellow because she was yellow.
13:48
SPEAKER_10: She was that Baja yellow, that golden yellow.
13:52
SPEAKER_10: I still miss that Jeep.
13:53
SPEAKER_07: I know.
13:53
SPEAKER_07: Well, that's what you got accepted on the ambassador program at first Lady B.
13:57
SPEAKER_10: So, and then the crazy thing is when I um got my first uh lift kit, I bought Skyjacker lift kit.
14:02
SPEAKER_07: See, it was just meant to be.
14:04
SPEAKER_10: Yeah, and I liked it so much, and I was like, I'm gonna get another one because I wanted taller because I got a three for, I think I got, yeah, I got a three-inch.
14:10
SPEAKER_10: And then I almost messed up and went with 33s when I first got my Jeep.
14:14
SPEAKER_10: And at the last minute, I switched to 35s.
14:16
SPEAKER_10: And I looked at it and I was like, I'm gonna be so mad if I would have gotten two.
14:19
SPEAKER_10: Yes, or you'd have just had to turn right back around.
14:21
SPEAKER_10: Yeah, but then like I started hanging out with more people, and I was like, dang, my Jeep looks short.
14:27
SPEAKER_10: Like, it looks so small, like a baby.
14:29
SPEAKER_10: And then I ended up getting the um the three and a half that I had after that.
14:34
SPEAKER_10: And I made a lot of regrets the first time and learned from that, like going around because like the first time I was like, I didn't know I could powder coat it.
14:41
SPEAKER_10: I didn't know about any of these things.
14:42
SPEAKER_10: I was new to that.
14:43
SPEAKER_10: So like I just had black springs at first, you know, and all that.
14:45
SPEAKER_10: And then the second girl, I was like, I don't have them on yet.
14:48
SPEAKER_10: I can powder coat them.
14:49
SPEAKER_10: So I like I learned to do all that, and I tell people too all the time, they're like, What's it what the advice that they would give to you?
14:54
SPEAKER_10: And I'm like, um, the things that I would say to people, I'm like, powder coat your stuff before you put it on.
15:00
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
15:00
SPEAKER_07: Well, and it makes such a difference on yours today, because now they're this really cool purple lavender color, and then Ashley's with like the bronze, and it just stands out so much.
15:09
SPEAKER_07: Makes it pop.
15:10
SPEAKER_07: It really does.
15:11
SPEAKER_07: And especially if you are trying to be like in the show side of it.
15:15
SPEAKER_07: I know for us, like we like to powder coat our stuff sometimes, but it's not necessarily for the show, it's more for like um just like the marketing side of the for the product to stand out.
15:25
SPEAKER_07: But like these groups, like they like to really like make their colors.
15:28
SPEAKER_07: Oh, yeah, we can do that.
15:29
SPEAKER_07: So it's really cool.
15:30
SPEAKER_07: Yes, I love it.
15:31
SPEAKER_07: It's like ours is always so dirty and beat up and busted.
15:34
SPEAKER_07: Like it's like it's a jeep.
15:36
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, it's a jeep, it's a jeep, but like it doesn't ever get shiny and pretty, you know.
15:39
SPEAKER_07: So I'm like, oh man, I can really appreciate y'all's colors.
15:42
SPEAKER_10: I never cracked windshield, but you know, it's alright.
15:44
SPEAKER_07: So does so does Daisy.
15:46
SPEAKER_07: And Joe has not fixed it yet.
15:48
SPEAKER_07: And I was like, Joe, we have an event.
15:49
SPEAKER_07: And he's like, I don't care, we don't have time.
15:51
SPEAKER_07: I'm like, that's the thing.
15:52
SPEAKER_10: That's the least thing, like last thing on my mind is the windshield.
15:56
SPEAKER_07: But I'm like, it's on the passenger, it's on the passenger.
15:59
SPEAKER_07: It's all right.
16:00
SPEAKER_07: Okay, so then, so then since then, you have now you have this Jeep.
16:04
SPEAKER_07: So tell us about this Jeep.
16:05
SPEAKER_10: So when I got this Jeep, um, I really actually I wanted to find a yellow, but I couldn't find a yellow one.
16:12
SPEAKER_10: I wanted the hella yellow.
16:14
SPEAKER_08: Yes.
16:14
SPEAKER_10: Because it was kind of close to the Baja yellow, but I couldn't find one that I wanted with all the things I wanted in it.
16:20
SPEAKER_10: So I was like, if I'm gonna get a new one, it's gonna be either white or black.
16:24
SPEAKER_10: And I was like, I can just wrap it to whatever I want it to be.
16:27
SPEAKER_10: And when I got that Jeep, I was actually talking to my best friend Nayla, and then we were trying to figure out a name.
16:32
SPEAKER_10: And I had on the Sailor Moon shirt at the time when I got it.
16:34
SPEAKER_07: It was missing.
16:35
SPEAKER_10: And she was like, How about Ruby Moon?
16:36
SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
16:36
SPEAKER_10: She was like, you know, for Rubicon, and then like, you know, Moon for Sailor Moon.
16:40
SPEAKER_10: I was like, that is really good.
16:41
SPEAKER_10: And I said, That's gonna be it.
16:42
SPEAKER_10: Yeah, and it's become me.
16:43
SPEAKER_07: Yes.
16:44
SPEAKER_07: Well, and your rap now is awesome because it's literally you, yeah, as Sailor Moon.
16:48
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah.
16:49
SPEAKER_07: It's really cool.
16:50
SPEAKER_07: I really like the vibe.
16:51
SPEAKER_07: Uh um, it's not like my normal style, but again, like being open to different things, and then you see it, and then you meet you in person too for sure.
16:58
SPEAKER_07: I mean, obviously, you have the you have the it factor.
17:02
SPEAKER_07: You're always so cool and vibey, but in person, I mean, like, look at you.
17:05
SPEAKER_07: Hello.
17:06
SPEAKER_07: And so, like, your Jeep, that's what Ashley when Ashley and I, she was showing me hers and we got to yours, and she was like, Is this not her?
17:12
SPEAKER_07: Like, that was what she said.
17:13
SPEAKER_07: So it's like it definitely is like you, yeah, which is really cool.
17:17
SPEAKER_10: Like, I'm walking around and like what I normally wear, and then like people like I'm walking to the park and I'd be like, Is that your Jeep?
17:22
SPEAKER_10: I'm like, Yeah, yeah.
17:23
SPEAKER_07: It's like they know, see?
17:24
SPEAKER_07: It's like perfect.
17:25
SPEAKER_07: I love it.
17:26
SPEAKER_07: Well, um, hopefully, um, for 2027, we have some really cool things.
17:31
SPEAKER_07: Um, we can't wait to share.
17:33
SPEAKER_07: We want to do some things for the guys, you guys who show up and do shows.
17:39
SPEAKER_07: Um, so that's something new that we want to do this year.
17:41
SPEAKER_07: But we're really thankful for you being the first one ever.
17:45
SPEAKER_07: I think everyone's like, oh, that's is that that's cool.
17:47
SPEAKER_07: And I was like, Yes, that was like four years ago.
17:50
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, it's been a long time.
17:51
SPEAKER_07: It's been a long time, and it's been a lot of ups and downs, and to like have the people stay with you as you like learn the process and like things like that.
17:57
SPEAKER_10: I mean, I love you guys.
17:58
SPEAKER_10: Y'all have been good to me.
18:00
SPEAKER_10: Yes, but the same, same.
18:01
SPEAKER_07: And so, like, it's just it's worked good.
18:03
SPEAKER_07: I always want to make it mutually beneficial, and so we definitely have like always get so much out of you guys, and y'all always show up.
18:09
SPEAKER_07: And so, we love that you and your husband do that together too, and he always supports you.
18:13
SPEAKER_07: Like, yes, I love that.
18:15
SPEAKER_07: He ain't got no choice.
18:16
SPEAKER_07: That's right, that's right.
18:18
SPEAKER_07: Well, thank you so much for being here tonight and for coming to the event.
18:22
SPEAKER_07: And hopefully, um, we'll see all new things in 2027.
18:25
SPEAKER_07: Can't wait to see.
18:29
SPEAKER_07: Okay, so now we have Shannon on, and so what we're doing is we're just kind of talking about everybody's build and what got them into the industry.
18:37
SPEAKER_07: So, do you want to tell us a little bit about yourself and your build?
18:40
SPEAKER_09: Yeah, so my name is Shannon.
18:42
SPEAKER_09: Um, I have a 2017 Jeep JKU Wrangler.
18:46
SPEAKER_09: Um, I've had it now for six years, kind of started off as a baby Jeep, and I started going to shows with a friend of mine, and I was like, okay, this is pretty cool.
18:57
SPEAKER_09: Yeah, and then I started doing upgrades and things like that.
18:59
SPEAKER_09: And then once you start, as Jeep people say, Exactly, like you don't stop.
19:05
SPEAKER_09: So it was like full board, and that's also when we were going through the COVID stuff.
19:09
SPEAKER_09: So this was kind of like my COVID project, yeah, like something to keep us busy, and it just kept going and kept going.
19:16
SPEAKER_09: And I just absolutely love the Jeep community.
19:19
SPEAKER_09: I have made so many friends, like not even just locally, but like nationally, like people like you guys, and you know, people like Riley, people that have met with other companies and things like that.
19:31
SPEAKER_07: So well, and I think one thing that's cool is especially even like the group of people that are here tonight, it's only 16 people out of the 60 that are ambassadors, and everybody has such different styles and different rigs.
19:44
SPEAKER_07: We have show trucks, we have off-road guys, we have show jeeps, we have like everything in between.
19:50
SPEAKER_07: And it's like but it doesn't matter, like everybody still like uh supports the same way because the community is that way.
19:57
SPEAKER_07: Exactly.
19:58
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, and it's I've only been in the industry for eight years, and it's like the wildest thing.
20:03
SPEAKER_07: Like you almost don't like believe that it's that genuine, but it really is.
20:06
SPEAKER_09: Yeah, like I've been in different scenes, like I did this part, like the sports car scene and things like that.
20:11
SPEAKER_09: There's nothing like the Jeep community, but like I just so much love for all of them.
20:17
SPEAKER_09: Like it's amazing.
20:18
SPEAKER_07: Well, um, and so what all do you have on your Jeep?
20:20
SPEAKER_07: Because you have some pretty cool wheels.
20:21
SPEAKER_07: You were in the wheel, uh wheel booth for this show.
20:24
SPEAKER_09: Yes, so I have right now I work with TIS wheels.
20:28
SPEAKER_09: Um, I have a set of 24 by 12s right now.
20:30
SPEAKER_09: Um and then I'm sitting on 37-inch tires.
20:34
SPEAKER_09: So she sits on a six-inch skyjacker lift, which I love.
20:38
SPEAKER_09: I just did that last year because originally I was on just a four four-inch, and then I'm like, I want to go bigger, and of course now I have six and I want to go even bigger.
20:46
SPEAKER_09: It's like it never stops.
20:48
SPEAKER_07: It never stops, it never stops.
20:50
SPEAKER_07: Well, we um we have a lot of plans for 2027 for show season.
20:55
SPEAKER_07: Um, you're one of the ones who is really great about shows.
20:58
SPEAKER_07: You like to be out there and the social part of it as well, and so we hope that um 2027 is even better for what we can offer because we love you guys so much and we want to help streamline the show season side of it.
21:12
SPEAKER_07: So um, we're really looking forward to that.
21:14
SPEAKER_07: So thank you so much for being here.
21:16
SPEAKER_07: Thank you for coming tonight.
21:17
SPEAKER_07: We really appreciate it.
21:19
SPEAKER_07: Good to meet you in person finally.
21:21
SPEAKER_09: Finally, we got to meet everybody, everybody, yes.
21:24
SPEAKER_09: Yeah, yeah.
21:25
SPEAKER_07: And so we're gonna try to have you know a couple of these a year going forward so that way, at least at some point during the year, as many people as they can can get together.
21:32
SPEAKER_07: I love that.
21:33
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, so that's great.
21:34
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, okay.
21:35
SPEAKER_07: Well, thank you.
21:36
SPEAKER_07: Yes.
21:38
SPEAKER_07: Okay, so we have Riley here with us, and Riley is kind of a cool ambassador because he also works in the industry, he's not just a spectator of the industry.
21:48
SPEAKER_07: So tell us a little bit about yourself, what you do, and what your build is that you like to work on.
21:53
SPEAKER_04: Yep.
21:54
SPEAKER_04: So my name is Riley.
21:55
SPEAKER_04: I work for XK Glow.
21:57
SPEAKER_04: So we are obviously an automotive lighting company.
21:59
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
21:59
SPEAKER_04: And we uh Uh are uh pretty big here in the Jeep space.
22:02
SPEAKER_04: So Jeep is our main industry that we kind of tackle.
22:05
SPEAKER_04: So I got to blend a passion of mine, which was Jeeps.
22:08
SPEAKER_04: Uh, when I was 16, I got me a TJ, old rusted out, four-banger five speed, um, swore I would never get a JK.
22:16
SPEAKER_04: And I got married, and my wife wanted the four-door JK.
22:19
SPEAKER_04: So I thought, you know what?
22:20
SPEAKER_04: I'll buy her a gift, got her the JK.
22:22
SPEAKER_04: Um, so it was her hers for a few years.
22:24
SPEAKER_04: And then when I started working for XK Glow, um doing a lot of graphic design, moved into the social media space.
22:30
SPEAKER_04: Um, we were kind of looking for another Jeep to start taking the shows with us, and I thought, hey, my wife's got one that I can, you know, pretend that it's mine.
22:37
SPEAKER_04: So kind of stole that from her and uh started upgrading that Jeep and kind of turning it into the build that it is uh here today.
22:44
SPEAKER_04: But it's a 2016 uh JKU.
22:47
SPEAKER_07: That's funny.
22:47
SPEAKER_07: It's just life always does that.
22:50
SPEAKER_07: Like, I'm never gonna do this, and then we do, and then like then it was the best thing.
22:54
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it was so bad.
22:55
SPEAKER_04: I was like, I'm not waving to JKs.
22:57
SPEAKER_04: Like I'd be in my old TJ, a little kid, blaring country music with my hat on backwards, like snowing with no top, no doors on, and I'm like, look at these JKs with their doors on.
23:06
SPEAKER_04: Like it's barely snowing.
23:07
SPEAKER_07: So now that jeep.
23:09
SPEAKER_04: And now I got my heated seats on, and now I'm driving with everything on.
23:12
SPEAKER_04: It's nice.
23:12
SPEAKER_07: So that's hilarious.
23:14
SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah.
23:15
SPEAKER_07: Well, um, okay, so what do you what is your does your wife like to do?
23:19
SPEAKER_07: Any Jeep things with you?
23:20
SPEAKER_04: Oh yes, she loves it.
23:21
SPEAKER_07: So is she still her Jeep, though?
23:23
SPEAKER_04: It is still, she still claims it's okay.
23:25
SPEAKER_04: Okay, yeah, she claims it is hers.
23:26
SPEAKER_04: So uh they get to come out to the shows.
23:28
SPEAKER_04: We've got two little ones now, so they don't get to travel as much.
23:31
SPEAKER_04: But my son's got the little Tyke's Jeep, you know, and he calls it my big monster truck, thanks to the Skyjacker lift that I recently put on there.
23:38
SPEAKER_04: So I've officially upgraded to monster truck status, but they get to come out and uh we try to do some family Jeep events taking it out and stuff.
23:46
SPEAKER_07: So yeah, and this this event is my first time at this event, and I was shocked at how much there was to do.
23:53
SPEAKER_07: And then I the more and more I would talk to people, especially other companies that were here, they're like, we make this one of our family vacations because there's so much to do here while we're here.
24:01
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, it's like, oh, you know, so Joe's already like pretending he's ziplining without Kylie and sending stuff at home, and she's like, No, you're not.
24:09
SPEAKER_07: So like she's like, You have to let me come next year.
24:11
SPEAKER_07: So that's awesome.
24:12
SPEAKER_07: Anyway, I just love that it's such a um, it is such a community.
24:16
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, all the people.
24:17
SPEAKER_07: And so we're glad to have you.
24:19
SPEAKER_07: We're glad to have another like-minded person.
24:22
SPEAKER_07: It's cool that you work in the industry.
24:23
SPEAKER_07: I think you're one of the only ones that works at a company in the industry, as like I said, and not just like a um and a spectator of the sport.
24:31
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
24:32
SPEAKER_07: So um, we're glad to have you here.
24:34
SPEAKER_07: Thank you for coming out tonight.
24:35
SPEAKER_04: Appreciate you guys for having me and all the support that you guys have been for the build.
24:38
SPEAKER_07: So for sure.
24:39
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
24:41
SPEAKER_07: Okay, our next ambassador that we have is Brandon.
24:45
SPEAKER_07: Brandon Carroll.
24:46
SPEAKER_07: Hi.
24:47
SPEAKER_14: Hello.
24:48
SPEAKER_07: Um, so we actually got to know him through on uh Ultimate Adventure at the time.
24:52
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so had you who was your first connection with Sky Jacker?
24:57
SPEAKER_14: Um, first connection, I guess, was uh was Lonnie.
25:01
SPEAKER_07: Lonnie, okay, or JR Uncle Lonnie.
25:03
SPEAKER_07: I call him Uncle Lonnie, so but funny.
25:06
SPEAKER_07: But yes, okay.
25:07
SPEAKER_07: So you did not you had not met any of us until UA, right?
25:10
SPEAKER_07: Correct.
25:11
SPEAKER_07: Okay, okay.
25:12
SPEAKER_07: And what year was that?
25:13
SPEAKER_14: That was 2023.
25:15
SPEAKER_07: Okay.
25:15
SPEAKER_07: Well, so oh, we've come a long way since come a long way.
25:18
SPEAKER_14: It's been a minute.
25:18
SPEAKER_14: Yeah.
25:19
SPEAKER_07: I feel like that those group, that group of guys, and and ladies, but mostly the men, especially in those early days, there weren't a ton of women that would go.
25:27
SPEAKER_07: Now more do go, and some wives go too.
25:30
SPEAKER_07: Not me, never.
25:31
SPEAKER_14: It willn't, I will never really go.
25:34
SPEAKER_14: You need to go.
25:35
SPEAKER_14: Um, and so but apparently it used to be like men only, like yes, it was for a really long time, which I support.
25:43
SPEAKER_07: I support you, men.
25:44
SPEAKER_07: You go do that four or five-day stinky camping with no shower.
25:48
SPEAKER_07: It is roughing a little bit.
25:49
SPEAKER_14: But my wife went in 24 when I got invited back to be their attorney.
25:52
SPEAKER_14: She did go.
25:53
SPEAKER_07: Oh, that's right.
25:53
SPEAKER_07: She did, but she she seems like she really digs it.
25:56
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, she does okay.
25:58
SPEAKER_14: She does.
25:58
SPEAKER_14: So we don't get me wrong, we had to add some you know, necessities.
26:01
SPEAKER_14: Necessities, 100%.
26:03
SPEAKER_07: But I also think it depends like what time of year and where you go.
26:06
SPEAKER_07: Some of the places they've gone have been like, oh my gosh, yes, I want to go just for the views.
26:10
SPEAKER_07: I'll camp there.
26:11
SPEAKER_07: And then they have some where it's like the hot years, the hot places, and I just I just don't know if I'd survive.
26:17
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, that's kind of how it was when she went in uh 24.
26:21
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
26:22
SPEAKER_14: It was uh Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado.
26:24
SPEAKER_14: So we were excited about going to Colorado.
26:26
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, that one was that was such an awesome place.
26:29
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, and that trip is so amazing.
26:31
SPEAKER_14: Like I grew up kind of following it and watching it, and I had all the DVDs when I was younger of uh every single one that come out every year.
26:38
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, so it was always a lifelong dream, but yeah, it was uh it was awesome trips for sure.
26:43
SPEAKER_07: Well, but back up because that helps lead me into my next question.
26:46
SPEAKER_07: Like, what got you into the off-roading side?
26:48
SPEAKER_07: Because you're not a for for listeners who don't know Brandon, he is not a show truck, he is a rock crawler, and he will tear it up in the best kind of way.
26:59
SPEAKER_07: So, what got you into that?
27:00
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, far from a traditional show Jeep.
27:03
SPEAKER_14: Yes, but um, so um, probably kind of like anybody, my first Jeep or my first vehicle was a Jeep Wrangler, and um, you know, kind of grew up on floors and dirt box on a farm, but my first vehicle was a Jeep Wrangler and it was super clean, it was a 91 YJ, like nice.
27:19
SPEAKER_14: We bought it from a lady school teacher who daily drove it, and it was just of course downhill from there.
27:24
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, I gave a 16-year-old kid a full drive Jeep, and uh it was just on from there, and then slowly kind of morphed into more hardcore rock crawling with it, and it by the time I got rid of it, it looked like my XJ does now, you know, just all critical, not a straight body panel.
27:40
SPEAKER_07: It's not, it's so funny.
27:42
SPEAKER_14: It's just I don't know.
27:44
SPEAKER_14: I I do think it's such a conversation piece though.
27:46
SPEAKER_14: Like even today, yeah, like being parked at the booth, people everybody had something to say, like comment on just how beat up and rough looking it was, you know.
27:54
SPEAKER_07: And what's crazy is you've taken that thing everywhere, yeah.
27:57
SPEAKER_14: I mean, it doesn't look like it would, but it'll drive down the interstate, like on UA for example.
28:03
SPEAKER_14: It has to, it has to, yeah.
28:04
SPEAKER_14: But I mean it is full hydro steering, but I mean it'll drive, but yeah, it morphed from my first first Jeep and um you know just kind of snowballed from there, and then ended up getting rid of that Jeep, and we moved to Florida.
28:19
SPEAKER_14: My wife and I, if we got married for a couple years, just why not go live the beach truck?
28:23
SPEAKER_14: Yeah, and uh got into motorcycles a little bit and then and then once we had our first child, Blakely, um wanted to move back home to the mountains, so I wanted to get another Jeep, and then that's where my exj came from and built it from there.
28:37
SPEAKER_07: Well, when you first met Corey, was she into it?
28:39
SPEAKER_14: Not at all.
28:41
SPEAKER_14: So she's a great sport then.
28:43
SPEAKER_07: She is a great sport, yes, she is.
28:47
SPEAKER_14: And that's the thing about us is like we do everything together.
28:49
SPEAKER_14: We go wheeling, camping, shows, everything as a family.
28:52
SPEAKER_14: Like we're always all together.
28:53
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, but this industry though supports that, yes, which is what I love.
28:57
SPEAKER_07: It's not like other industries, which I'm not knocking certain things.
29:00
SPEAKER_07: Everybody has a place for whatever, but this one really does support that family element.
29:04
SPEAKER_14: Yes, it does, and that's what we love about it and love about working with y'all so much because y'all, y'all come from a family-owned business and a lot of people can say that these days, and it shows through the way y'all do things, and like even this ambassador program y'all have, it just it just radiates, you know, family-owned, operated from the way you take care of us.
29:24
SPEAKER_07: Yes, thank you.
29:24
SPEAKER_07: And it's it's hard because there's it's not many of us left.
29:28
SPEAKER_14: Absolutely.
29:29
SPEAKER_07: And I know that like the people who aren't probably wish that they still were, and so you know, I just I want to always give a space for the other people in the industry who are like-minded and who cherish that same thing because it's really even though the industry is wonderful, it's hard to still find where like you have the same person you can talk to every time, and it's you know, not a corporate situation and like decisions are made differently, um, which can be good and bad.
29:54
SPEAKER_07: Y'all know a lot of times I'm like, I haven't answered you back, but I promise I saw it, you know, and so you could be a little short-handed on on this, the latter side of it.
30:01
SPEAKER_07: But um, we're just super grateful for events like UA that get us into contact with guys like you and families like yours.
30:10
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so you're one of the ones who always show up at shows, and we really appreciate that because even though it's fun for you guys, it still takes a toll, it's still effort to get here and money's spent, and that's some of the things we're looking for 2027 to help better um for the show for the people who do shows.
30:26
SPEAKER_07: So we're trying to work on it's a sneak peek.
30:29
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, uh yeah, a program for the people who do shows and try to help better get them supported on product and different things.
30:36
SPEAKER_07: And so we're just we appreciate families like you, we appreciate you for being an ambassador and still wanting to be one.
30:42
SPEAKER_14: And I'm I'm I'm in it for the long haul.
30:44
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, well, and we are too.
30:45
SPEAKER_07: So that's a good thing, is you know that we're here, you know.
30:48
SPEAKER_07: So, but okay, well, thank you for coming tonight.
30:51
SPEAKER_07: Absolutely.
30:51
SPEAKER_07: Thanks for hopping on.
30:52
SPEAKER_07: We appreciate that.
30:53
SPEAKER_14: I appreciate y'all.
30:55
SPEAKER_07: Okay, so now we have uh another one of our OG ambassadors.
30:59
SPEAKER_07: You've been an ambassador for a while.
31:01
SPEAKER_06: Um four years, I think three years, something.
31:04
SPEAKER_07: And so one of the one of the OGs, so we're super glad to have you here.
31:07
SPEAKER_07: So we always call you Bo, but it's really Robert, right?
31:11
SPEAKER_07: So okay.
31:14
SPEAKER_07: Yes, I know.
31:15
SPEAKER_07: On all the bags are different things.
31:16
SPEAKER_07: I'm always like officially, and then I'm like, wait, wait, wait, Bo, you know, that's better.
31:21
SPEAKER_07: Um, okay, so I want to know how long you've been an ambassador, which we answered.
31:26
SPEAKER_07: So, what is the current build you're working on, or what what trucks or builds do you have?
31:30
SPEAKER_07: Because you're one of our truck guys.
31:32
SPEAKER_07: Yes, and then um, what got you into that?
31:34
SPEAKER_06: So my first truck was an 85 square body.
31:38
SPEAKER_07: Okay.
31:39
SPEAKER_06: About four inches of lift, 35s.
31:41
SPEAKER_06: I mean, it was old school, you know.
31:43
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, which we love.
31:44
SPEAKER_06: And uh going up through high school, a bunch of people started getting like big wheels, you know.
31:50
SPEAKER_06: 20s was big at one time.
31:51
SPEAKER_07: Oh, it was.
31:52
SPEAKER_07: Oh, yeah, I agree.
31:54
SPEAKER_06: Right about the time 24 started getting big, I ended up having enough money to go buy a set, so I threw a set on, and we do stuff around our house.
32:04
SPEAKER_06: Little shows, nothing like a lot of vendors or nothing like that.
32:07
SPEAKER_07: And I was like, Yeah, but y'all actually have put on some events.
32:11
SPEAKER_06: We have so uh Calhoun, Paradise Drag Strip.
32:15
SPEAKER_06: We did three or four events out there, they were pretty big, two of them packed the whole place out.
32:20
SPEAKER_07: I was gonna say that it ended up being a good turnout for y'all.
32:22
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, it was.
32:23
SPEAKER_06: We had to take a break due to us having our son.
32:26
SPEAKER_06: Yes.
32:26
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah, which is real life.
32:28
SPEAKER_07: That's part of it.
32:29
SPEAKER_07: I mean, everybody up here who's had kids has said we were full-fledged into our build, then we had to take a break because we had a kid, you know, or whatever, because life be life's right.
32:39
SPEAKER_07: But um, okay, so what did you drive up here today for the show or for the event?
32:43
SPEAKER_06: For the show, um, I had helped my buddy out on getting a set of skyjacker springs for F-250.
32:49
SPEAKER_06: So I ended up barring his truck because my truck is in pieces.
32:53
SPEAKER_06: Is it?
32:54
SPEAKER_06: Um it's not done yet, but it will be.
32:56
SPEAKER_06: So it's a 2017 F-250.
32:58
SPEAKER_07: Okay, cool.
32:59
SPEAKER_06: It's on some Skyjacker Springs, 28 by 16s and 38s.
33:03
SPEAKER_07: I didn't think that was yours when he rolled up, but I I hadn't had a chance to catch up with you since you rolled in.
33:08
SPEAKER_06: It's not, I wish it was.
33:09
SPEAKER_06: I would love to have that truck.
33:10
SPEAKER_07: Sorry, I didn't return your truck.
33:12
SPEAKER_07: Right.
33:13
SPEAKER_06: But uh I wanted to drive something that I'd at least had a part in helping somebody put together.
33:18
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, for sure.
33:19
SPEAKER_06: He loves them too, by the way.
33:20
SPEAKER_06: They ride so good.
33:22
SPEAKER_07: Well, the truck springs really make a difference.
33:25
SPEAKER_06: I mean, we took a four-hour drive at 85 mile an hour on 38, like it was nothing.
33:30
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
33:30
SPEAKER_07: And that says a lot for that truck.
33:32
SPEAKER_07: That truck's a big old truck.
33:33
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, it's it's big.
33:34
SPEAKER_07: We had a couple big trucks tonight, and I was like, oh my gosh, up these mountain roads.
33:38
SPEAKER_07: I was like, I'm so sorry.
33:39
SPEAKER_06: It's tight, it's line to line.
33:42
SPEAKER_07: Well, um, so what do you have going on for 2027?
33:45
SPEAKER_07: Just to put your truck back together.
33:46
SPEAKER_06: I'm working on getting it back together.
33:48
SPEAKER_06: Um, I'm looking at different sets of wheels and stuff on whether I want to try to run the new set of uh Mickey Thompsons that they're the real wide bullet holes.
33:57
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
33:58
SPEAKER_06: Or if I want to do a big wheel setup again.
34:00
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
34:00
SPEAKER_06: But uh, I got to get the axles back under it, get everything painted, all that stuff.
34:04
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
34:04
SPEAKER_06: And then we got jeeps too, just got two XJ's.
34:07
SPEAKER_07: Oh, nice.
34:07
SPEAKER_06: And I'm looking at getting a long arm for it around Christmas time.
34:10
SPEAKER_07: Okay, yeah.
34:11
SPEAKER_06: So definitely we ought to be able to do a lot more off-road stuff.
34:14
SPEAKER_07: Yes, we would love to have y'all come to some off-road stuff.
34:16
SPEAKER_07: I would love to, which is totally different.
34:18
SPEAKER_07: So that's really cool.
34:19
SPEAKER_07: You get to experience like both sides.
34:20
SPEAKER_07: Because have you ever done a ton of like true off-roading?
34:23
SPEAKER_06: We've done a little bit.
34:24
SPEAKER_06: We've got a mountain close to our house that it's not a lot of technical riding, but it's just fun riding.
34:30
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
34:30
SPEAKER_06: In the middle of nowhere.
34:31
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
34:32
SPEAKER_06: I want to do a lot of crawling.
34:33
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
34:34
SPEAKER_06: So I've done the truck stuff for a while and I'm still going to continue to do it.
34:37
SPEAKER_07: Sure, sure.
34:38
SPEAKER_06: But I just want to kind of have something else that we do throughout the year so we we're not as repetitive.
34:42
SPEAKER_07: Well, and you get to do it as a family, which is really fun.
34:45
SPEAKER_07: Because that's like, even with Brandon, like they all come, like his wife, the kids, like, and so it's always like a really good time.
34:51
SPEAKER_06: Like my son loves it.
34:53
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
34:53
SPEAKER_07: So there that's gonna be good.
34:54
SPEAKER_06: He's almost two, he's getting to that age that he'll he really understands like what you're about to get to do.
34:59
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, that's fun.
35:00
SPEAKER_07: Okay, well, hopefully then you get those built out.
35:03
SPEAKER_07: You can come to some wheeling events with us, and we'll take you, we'll take you on the scary stuff.
35:08
SPEAKER_06: I'm ready.
35:09
SPEAKER_07: Well, thank you for coming.
35:10
SPEAKER_07: Thank you for being an ambassador for four years.
35:14
SPEAKER_07: You and Danny are the I think the only two from that first group that we did.
35:21
SPEAKER_07: I think we did like five, our first five or ten for our first one, our first year.
35:25
SPEAKER_07: And so it's been an honor to continue to have you sign every year.
35:29
SPEAKER_07: So hopefully 2027 is even better.
35:31
SPEAKER_07: And I'm so glad we got to see you guys.
35:33
SPEAKER_07: Thank y'all for coming all this way.
35:34
SPEAKER_07: I know it wasn't a huge drive for y'all, but it still took some time to get here.
35:38
SPEAKER_07: Four hours.
35:39
SPEAKER_06: Hey, we very much appreciate y'all's patience with us.
35:42
SPEAKER_07: Oh, always.
35:43
SPEAKER_07: It's been great.
35:44
SPEAKER_06: This is the best thing I've ever done.
35:46
SPEAKER_07: Oh, well, if anybody knows that life be life in, it's a family ran business.
35:51
SPEAKER_07: I feel like that is truly like there's not one thing that someone can come up to us and be like, I'm sorry I didn't get this done because of this.
35:58
SPEAKER_07: Oh, yeah, we had we had that.
36:00
SPEAKER_07: We had three people in our family had a baby this year that work at Sky.
36:03
SPEAKER_07: You know, so it's like we get that and we love that.
36:05
SPEAKER_07: We know that only grows the passion for it even more.
36:08
SPEAKER_07: And it builds up next generation of wheelers or truck showers or whatever.
36:13
SPEAKER_06: He will, my, my son will be right behind me.
36:16
SPEAKER_06: I can almost guarantee you.
36:17
SPEAKER_07: Love it.
36:18
SPEAKER_07: Well, thank you for being here tonight.
36:20
SPEAKER_06: Thank you.
36:21
SPEAKER_07: Okay, so we're here with another ambassador, and this is Jason.
36:26
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so one thing that we're asking everybody is what got you into this industry that what got you into either building your truck or building your jeep out, and then like what rig that you have?
36:38
SPEAKER_11: Well, I I was looking for a new vehicle.
36:41
SPEAKER_11: Uh, and to be honest, I probably wasn't gonna buy a Jeep.
36:44
SPEAKER_07: Really?
36:45
SPEAKER_11: They brought me out a baby blue two-door.
36:48
SPEAKER_11: I had a broke foot.
36:50
unknown: Oh.
36:51
SPEAKER_11: So I had a cast on, and I couldn't drive it at first.
36:55
SPEAKER_11: Uh, and then we went across the street where they had a big lot, and we found one that we liked, and I was like, you know what, we can do this.
37:02
SPEAKER_11: The kids are all grown up, they're out of the house.
37:04
SPEAKER_11: Sure.
37:05
SPEAKER_11: So now we have the room for it.
37:06
SPEAKER_11: Yeah.
37:07
SPEAKER_11: So we can, you know, for us.
37:08
SPEAKER_11: So that's what got me into the Jeep.
37:11
SPEAKER_07: So you didn't like have any type of back history.
37:14
SPEAKER_07: You just were at there at the dealership looking, you're like, I think I want to go with the Jeep.
37:17
SPEAKER_11: Yeah.
37:18
SPEAKER_07: That's really cool.
37:19
SPEAKER_11: That's what got us into the book.
37:20
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
37:20
SPEAKER_07: So is a Jeep like really popular up in your area?
37:23
SPEAKER_07: Because I feel like sometimes, obviously, down here this week, it's nothing but Jeeps.
37:27
SPEAKER_07: At home, you see a decent handful, but like when we vacation or go other places, for whatever reason, it's like all you see is Jeep.
37:35
SPEAKER_07: So it's like, is it prominent in your area, or are you just like randomly?
37:38
SPEAKER_11: Yeah, it's picked up quite a bit.
37:40
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
37:41
SPEAKER_11: Uh I I got my first one, it was uh 2018, the last of the JK.
37:46
SPEAKER_11: And uh, I decided to wait on the JL to have the bugs kicked out of it before we did that.
37:51
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
37:52
SPEAKER_11: Uh we just fell in love with it.
37:54
SPEAKER_11: Yeah.
37:54
SPEAKER_11: My son actually decided, he said you should start an Instagram, and that really is what started it.
38:00
SPEAKER_07: Isn't that crazy?
38:02
SPEAKER_07: Did you ever think that you would have an Instagram that talked about your vehicle?
38:05
SPEAKER_11: No, not at all.
38:06
SPEAKER_11: I know.
38:07
SPEAKER_11: No, not at all.
38:09
SPEAKER_07: I know it's it's I have a lot of people who are like, Mallory, I never even did Instagram for anything, and I only did it for my vehicle.
38:15
SPEAKER_07: And then like that got them to so many different places in life.
38:18
SPEAKER_07: And a lot of the other ambassadors I've had to be like, hey, can you send me a picture of like yourself?
38:24
SPEAKER_07: Because like they only post their rig.
38:26
SPEAKER_07: And so if they would come up to me, I wouldn't know who they were because I only know them by their vehicle or their social media handle.
38:31
SPEAKER_07: Um, you know, which is I think it's funny, and they're always like, Oh my gosh, like you would not recognize me.
38:36
SPEAKER_07: I'm like, no, like I wouldn't know you, you know.
38:38
SPEAKER_11: But usually a lot of times all you see are just the just the vehicle, yes.
38:42
SPEAKER_07: And especially like being at events like this.
38:46
SPEAKER_07: Have you ever been to Great Smoky Mountain before?
38:48
SPEAKER_11: Um, this is our third year.
38:49
SPEAKER_07: Okay, okay.
38:50
SPEAKER_07: And so I've never been to the this specific event, and it is crazy.
38:55
SPEAKER_11: It it's it's totally different.
38:57
SPEAKER_11: We've been to Daytona, okay.
38:58
SPEAKER_11: A couple of small events, but it's it seems like it's everything's packed right in here.
39:03
SPEAKER_11: Packed.
39:04
SPEAKER_11: Like just crazily packed in.
39:05
SPEAKER_07: Yes.
39:06
SPEAKER_07: And so um, like when we do some of the other events that I go on, there's jeeps.
39:11
SPEAKER_07: I mean, it's rock crawlers, and but you see a bunch of other things too, and here it's being just jeep.
39:17
SPEAKER_07: I mean, I'm like, oh my gosh, the people in this town are probably like whoa, which I mean, I think that all the locals that we've like interacted with have loved it.
39:25
SPEAKER_07: They're like, we love this week and we love when the Jeeps come.
39:28
SPEAKER_07: And so that's cool.
39:29
SPEAKER_07: Because I don't think you always get that from like the town.
39:31
SPEAKER_11: I like that they're all customizable.
39:33
SPEAKER_11: You can but you don't see one that's the same.
39:36
SPEAKER_07: Yes, I totally agree.
39:38
SPEAKER_07: We I was telling somebody, I don't remember, but when we first came in yesterday, we passed like two or three guys in a row, and they all had this cool different theme.
39:46
SPEAKER_07: And then at the very end, it was a Grinch, and he had a Grinch hand on only for his Jeep waves.
39:52
SPEAKER_07: And it was his Jeep was a Grinch theme.
39:55
SPEAKER_07: And so anyway, but just people being able to express their personality through their Jeep or what they love, I think it's really it's a really cool thing.
40:04
SPEAKER_11: So they can at least push it out as they're yeah driving.
40:08
SPEAKER_07: Well, and I think since COVID and since we're I mean, it was happening before COVID, but I feel like it really ramped it up and like social media and things.
40:15
SPEAKER_07: People get to have like really cool business and life experiences from being in this industry and building out their jeeps.
40:22
SPEAKER_11: Oh, yeah.
40:23
SPEAKER_11: But actually, I've I've met a lot of people through through this through jeeping and whatnot.
40:28
SPEAKER_11: And actually, to be honest, I had three other friends that bought Jeeps because you had a friend, because they got to see you, yeah.
40:35
SPEAKER_11: Like, well, I can do that, and they end up getting them too.
40:37
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
40:38
SPEAKER_07: Well, so um, does your family do Jeep stuff with you?
40:42
SPEAKER_11: I know you said your son is no, they they're all grown up, they do their own things, families, yeah.
40:47
SPEAKER_11: They do their thing.
40:48
SPEAKER_07: Uh but he was the one that got you on Instagram.
40:50
SPEAKER_11: He's the one that got me on Instagram, and then if it weren't for him, I probably wouldn't have customized things or did things I wanted.
40:58
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
40:59
SPEAKER_11: But he gave me that little push, and then I just kind of went with it.
41:01
SPEAKER_07: Then you went with it, and then then you get to see it for yourself and grow that.
41:05
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, that's really cool.
41:06
SPEAKER_07: Well, um, do you remember how long you've been an ambassador?
41:09
SPEAKER_11: I want to think from the very beginning.
41:12
SPEAKER_11: It's been like at least five years.
41:14
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, it's I think you were maybe you're one of the other ones with Danny and with Bo, who've been with us from the beginning.
41:20
SPEAKER_11: Yeah, because I it was when I had my previous Jeep the 18.
41:23
SPEAKER_07: Yep.
41:24
SPEAKER_11: I was in it.
41:25
SPEAKER_07: And so um, I think that's one of the reasons that finally it's gotten to the place where I can step away to do these events and we want to have them a couple times a year and do them in different places.
41:35
SPEAKER_07: This is just the first random close your eyes and point that we picked, but um, because it's really rare that you have anything last five years, let alone have loyalty from people to be on your team and want to be a part of an ambassador program for you.
41:51
SPEAKER_11: You know, I had when I with the other install of on the other JK, the technicians, they don't do a lot of lifts up where I am sure on trucks mostly, and they couldn't really figure out how to put it on.
42:05
SPEAKER_11: Yes, it literally I took the phone, I grabbed my phone, I called up Skyjacker, Tech Support.
42:10
SPEAKER_11: Yeah, I spoke to somebody within a minute and a half, an actual somebody that could help.
42:15
SPEAKER_11: And I had it on speakerphone and it walked them right through what they needed to do.
42:19
SPEAKER_11: It was almost as if they were there telling them, hey, do this, this, and that.
42:22
SPEAKER_11: Yeah, and then that was that's I mean, you don't get customer service like that at all.
42:27
SPEAKER_07: No, and I think I think one of the reasons that ours is good on that is because we have employees that have been there 25 plus years.
42:37
SPEAKER_07: A lot of the sales guys have been there that long, and so they're super dedicated to like taking care of the customer and they're knowledgeable.
42:45
SPEAKER_07: They're not now we do have new people come in, obviously, you have to have that, but we're really blessed to where a lot of our key employees have been there 20, 25, 30 years, and that is what I think puts us on a different playing field than cor all the other corporate companies.
43:01
SPEAKER_11: Oh, yeah, for sure.
43:02
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so we appreciate that that's something that you value because that matters to us tremendously, you know.
43:09
SPEAKER_11: Well, and I also see that whomever is actually behind it on online that does the Instagram, they actually celebrate the employees when they hit milestones, yeah, birthdays, or just random things like, oh, this is this is who this position is, yeah.
43:25
SPEAKER_11: Introducing them.
43:25
SPEAKER_11: Yeah, and that's fantastic.
43:27
SPEAKER_11: I mean, I you don't see that in in any uh everyday company.
43:30
SPEAKER_07: I agree, and I think that our employees would agree too, because I know for me I'm family, and so I always get a little bit more of an accolade than a normal employee because it's my family, and they're like, Oh, you did a great job on that, I love that, but not everybody gets that.
43:44
SPEAKER_07: And even though I think that most people would say they don't need that that of boys, I do.
43:50
SPEAKER_07: And so I feel like it's important to give that to the people who do good.
43:54
SPEAKER_11: Every now and then.
43:54
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, and so I love that those are the things that you see because those are things that I think we We've definitely gotten better at.
44:02
SPEAKER_07: I don't think it was always that way, but I think we definitely, especially our team, like you said, the people behind the social.
44:07
SPEAKER_07: We have a really good team.
44:08
SPEAKER_07: There's three or four of us who have to run it because it's that busy.
44:12
SPEAKER_07: Like not one person could handle our social media.
44:14
SPEAKER_07: It's like, oh my gosh.
44:16
SPEAKER_07: But um, you know, taking care of our employees matters so much, just like trying to help take care of this program and build it.
44:22
SPEAKER_07: Um, but the employees have to stay and the ambassadors have to stay.
44:25
SPEAKER_07: So we appreciate you guys who stay and are loyal too.
44:28
SPEAKER_07: Because there's a lot of companies out there, you know, there's a lot of cool things out there, and so um, we just appreciate you and thank you so much.
44:35
SPEAKER_07: And thank you for coming all the way here.
44:37
SPEAKER_11: I did y'all drive here?
44:39
SPEAKER_11: Yeah, about 11 hours.
44:40
SPEAKER_07: Okay.
44:41
SPEAKER_07: Oh, that's not that only an hour and a half more than us.
44:44
SPEAKER_07: That's crazy.
44:45
SPEAKER_11: Half the distance to Daytona.
44:47
SPEAKER_11: So this was an easy one.
44:50
SPEAKER_11: This was an easy one.
44:51
SPEAKER_07: Oh my gosh.
44:51
SPEAKER_07: Well, so what are your y'all's plans?
44:53
SPEAKER_07: Y'all traveling for shows or anything the rest of the year?
44:56
SPEAKER_11: Um, we might actually go out to Jeep Jam in the Myrtle Beach.
45:01
SPEAKER_11: Oh, yeah.
45:01
SPEAKER_11: I think it's like the end of October, end of November.
45:04
SPEAKER_07: Yes, we're gonna be some of our team will be there.
45:06
SPEAKER_07: The rest of us will be at SEMA.
45:07
SPEAKER_07: Um, last year we took a break from SEMA, so our uh I think Roger was able to hit that show.
45:12
SPEAKER_07: I think Wayne's gonna go for for that show this year, but that was a good show last year.
45:16
SPEAKER_07: Another different crowd in that that area.
45:18
SPEAKER_11: And we've never been to actually North Carolina at all.
45:22
SPEAKER_07: They said it was actually a really good show, so that'll be good.
45:24
SPEAKER_07: I can't wait to hear how how it goes.
45:25
SPEAKER_11: That'll be good.
45:26
SPEAKER_07: So, okay, well, thank you so much.
45:28
SPEAKER_07: It was so great to put face to name since I keep thinking that I've known you for so much longer, but I guess it's just because you have been an ambassador for so long.
45:37
SPEAKER_07: So um, we really appreciate that, and thank you for coming out.
45:40
SPEAKER_11: Thank you for having me.
45:42
SPEAKER_07: We're here with our next ambassador.
45:45
SPEAKER_07: So, what we're doing is we're asking for name, build, what you have, and then what got you into this industry.
45:52
SPEAKER_13: All right, so my name is Rob DeSouza.
45:54
SPEAKER_13: Um I have a 2014 Jeep JKU.
45:59
SPEAKER_13: Um and I I don't know, I just I just bought a Jeep one day.
46:06
SPEAKER_07: I love that.
46:06
SPEAKER_07: You're the second person, they're just like randomly got a Jeep.
46:09
SPEAKER_13: I just randomly got a Jeep um and then just fell into this.
46:15
SPEAKER_13: Yeah, I just fell into this lifestyle and the rabbit hole of fixing up a Jeep.
46:22
SPEAKER_07: Well, so okay, so when you first got it, did you um go to a show before you started fixing it up?
46:28
SPEAKER_07: Or like what got you going into like building it out?
46:32
SPEAKER_13: It actually was a it was COVID.
46:37
SPEAKER_13: That's just started.
46:40
SPEAKER_13: Um I during COVID there wasn't much to do, and I I had a blank canvas and I just started I bought uh skyjacker coils, skyjacker shocks, um bumpers, tires, wheels, um, and it went from there.
46:58
SPEAKER_07: And this industry is awesome.
47:00
SPEAKER_13: It is, isn't it?
47:01
SPEAKER_13: It is um very supportive.
47:03
SPEAKER_13: Yeah.
47:04
SPEAKER_07: Um well one thing that I like is it doesn't matter if you're super experienced and been in the game for 10, 15 years, or if you're brand new, you're so welcomed, and you have people who will help you.
47:16
SPEAKER_07: Like, you don't get that a lot of places.
47:18
SPEAKER_07: Like, you know, when we were building our Jeep, our personal Jeep, not our company Jeep, we're like, I don't know.
47:23
SPEAKER_07: I I don't know what I want.
47:24
SPEAKER_07: Do I want a call over?
47:26
SPEAKER_07: Do I don't?
47:26
SPEAKER_07: Do I not?
47:27
SPEAKER_07: Like, do I want this bumper?
47:28
SPEAKER_07: Do I want that?
47:29
SPEAKER_07: And you know, to have people say, Well, what do you want your ride to feel like?
47:31
SPEAKER_07: Or what it, you know, and help you along the way.
47:33
SPEAKER_07: Like this industry is just so open and helpful.
47:37
SPEAKER_13: Yeah, and even just regular, everyday, you know, Jeep drivers, they're so excited to talk to talk about their vehicles and what's on there and what worked for them and what didn't work for them.
47:49
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
47:49
SPEAKER_07: And that's always that that's what's cool about this group is we have um not stock.
47:55
SPEAKER_07: I don't think we have anything stock, but we have some that aren't hardcore rock crawlers, but they're not like a ton, they don't do like a ton of shows either.
48:03
SPEAKER_07: They just they love Jeeps or they love their truck, whichever one it is, and they're just passionate about the automotive sector of it all and what it brings to like their family or like you know, with their friend group or whatever.
48:15
SPEAKER_07: And so it's cool to have so many of our ambassadors in the same place, getting to kind of like talk, and everybody's everybody's story is different, but there's so many commonalities between it all, which is really cool.
48:27
SPEAKER_07: And I think COVID really did start a lot of people's passion.
48:30
SPEAKER_07: So it's like if that's what came out of it, at least something really good came out came out of it.
48:36
SPEAKER_07: Well, um, okay, so how far did you travel for the show?
48:38
SPEAKER_13: So from Massachusetts, um, it was a 15-hour drive.
48:42
SPEAKER_07: You are the furthest so far, yeah.
48:45
SPEAKER_13: Um, my wife and I drive a lot, yeah.
48:47
SPEAKER_13: Yeah, we do a lot of road trips, yeah.
48:49
SPEAKER_07: And so she's supportive of the Jeep life.
48:52
SPEAKER_13: Yes, yes.
48:53
SPEAKER_13: Though I had to promise her a Dollywood stop.
48:57
SPEAKER_13: That's a bargain I could take.
48:59
SPEAKER_13: But it was, yeah.
48:59
SPEAKER_07: So did you get to go to Dollywood?
49:01
SPEAKER_07: Yes, we went to Dollywood.
49:02
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, was it awesome?
49:03
SPEAKER_13: It is so awesome.
49:04
SPEAKER_07: Oh my gosh.
49:04
SPEAKER_07: Well, and the theme of this Airbnb, and if you go downstairs to like the pool area, pool table area, there's Dollywood, and uh there's books about her life and things like that everywhere.
49:16
SPEAKER_07: So it's like that was the theme when we got here.
49:18
SPEAKER_07: It was like, oh my gosh, this is like perfect.
49:21
SPEAKER_07: So anyway, it fit the theme.
49:23
SPEAKER_07: But so, okay, well, thank you so much for being here.
49:25
SPEAKER_07: We really appreciate you guys making the 15-hour drive to the ambassador meetup, first one.
49:31
SPEAKER_07: Hopefully, have more of these in 2027 and um hopefully a great year with some new things coming for the program.
49:38
SPEAKER_07: So thank you for being a part.
49:39
SPEAKER_13: We're looking forward to it.
49:40
SPEAKER_13: Thank you.
49:40
SPEAKER_07: Thank you.
49:42
SPEAKER_07: Okay, so now I'm here with Nate, and Nate is one of our truck ambassadors.
49:47
SPEAKER_07: I know you've probably seen his truck, Silver Trucks 78.
49:51
SPEAKER_12: Yep.
49:51
SPEAKER_07: Uh, didn't want to get that wrong.
49:53
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so Nate is one of our newer-ish, like two years.
49:57
SPEAKER_07: Two years, yeah.
49:58
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, two years.
49:59
SPEAKER_07: We've had so many from our OG group be here.
50:01
SPEAKER_07: So I'm like, wow, two years, which is still a long time, sure, is not compared to some of these OGs.
50:06
SPEAKER_07: But um, so Nate is actually gonna be in SEMA this year.
50:10
SPEAKER_08: Right.
50:10
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so I'll tell you, I'm gonna let you tell us about your life, your build, and what got you into the industry.
50:18
SPEAKER_12: Oh, wow.
50:19
SPEAKER_12: Okay.
50:20
SPEAKER_12: So um married, have uh a daughter who's three and a half, a son who's 19, and another son who's 17.
50:27
SPEAKER_07: Wow, okay.
50:28
SPEAKER_12: So my oldest is in uh college for aerospace engineering.
50:31
SPEAKER_12: My younger son is an electrician.
50:33
SPEAKER_12: So finishing a senior high school, but I I sell and design homes for a living.
50:38
SPEAKER_12: Oh wow.
50:39
SPEAKER_12: Yeah, so I do uh home design and uh work from home, so that's a a plus in this one.
50:44
SPEAKER_12: But the truck community, it's always been a hobby.
50:47
SPEAKER_12: So I've enjoyed it as in high school and then really got into it maybe 10 years ago, 15 years ago, I guess.
50:53
SPEAKER_12: But um so never really sought the show scene when I was building the truck, sure.
50:59
SPEAKER_12: And that sort of came like, oh, maybe I should take it to a show, and it just kind of snowballed from there, yeah.
51:06
SPEAKER_12: So and and I just built what I liked, and you know, others, you know, some like it, so that's that's cool.
51:11
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, a lot of people like it, yeah, which is awesome.
51:14
SPEAKER_07: Um, so you're another one of our family ambassadors, which almost, I mean, honestly, almost all of them are at this point, but like you do everything with your family, which is really cool.
51:24
SPEAKER_07: Like your wife's here and your daughter's here, and you know, it's not an easy event to always get to, especially end of August.
51:31
SPEAKER_07: And so um, I guess that's really cool that she supports all the things.
51:36
SPEAKER_12: Yeah, she's very supportive.
51:38
SPEAKER_12: I will say that the actual shows have been mostly me and my youngest son, so he like really has that interest, and she will come and support and be supportive on the back end, but she's you know not the one to necessarily come and sit at the show all day, and that's totally cool.
51:52
SPEAKER_07: Oh no, that's I think sometimes that support can be different, not always having to be here just supporting the fact that you that that's the passion.
52:00
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, she she I did get to visit with her today and she was cracking me up.
52:03
SPEAKER_07: She was like, uh-huh.
52:04
SPEAKER_07: What is that good?
52:05
SPEAKER_07: You know, like joking because we were talking about Toro, you know, in your truck getting picked, and she was like, he was like, No, this is a big deal.
52:12
SPEAKER_07: And I was like, No, it is a big deal.
52:14
SPEAKER_07: She was like, That's what he said.
52:15
SPEAKER_07: It was so funny, you know, because like that's how it was for me until I like really dove in.
52:19
SPEAKER_07: I was like, Oh, that's cool.
52:20
SPEAKER_07: Like, because you just don't really grasp that like that's major.
52:24
SPEAKER_12: I'm so honored with the opportunity.
52:26
SPEAKER_12: I don't even know fully, I can't even grasp fully what to expect at this point because I haven't been to Sima, but excited is an understatement.
52:34
SPEAKER_12: Um and my son who does the shows with me, Eli, he is beyond excited as well.
52:39
SPEAKER_07: So it's gonna be, yeah, it's gonna be really cool to be to be able to share that with him too.
52:43
SPEAKER_12: Exactly.
52:44
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so I'm excited, and all the things it's gonna be wild, it's gonna be, but in a good way, in such a good way.
52:50
SPEAKER_07: So I'm so excited, and we're gonna be able to catch up with you for a full podcast episode in Vegas.
52:55
SPEAKER_07: So we're gonna plan that out.
52:56
SPEAKER_07: So, okay, thank you for being here.
52:58
SPEAKER_07: Absolutely.
52:59
SPEAKER_07: Thank you for coming.
52:59
SPEAKER_07: We appreciate it.
53:00
SPEAKER_07: And we will see you in Vegas.
53:02
SPEAKER_07: Awesome.
53:03
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, awesome.
53:05
SPEAKER_07: Okay, so we're here with another one of our ambassadors, and this is Colton.
53:08
SPEAKER_07: Hi, thank you for being here, and nice to meet you.
53:12
SPEAKER_07: Um, so what I want to know is what build that you have, like what is your passion in the industry as far as what you're driving, and then what got you into it?
53:21
SPEAKER_03: Uh, it is a the bright orange 1978 Ford F-150.
53:26
SPEAKER_03: Um kind of a family thing.
53:29
SPEAKER_03: Uh, so my daddy he drove the same truck, well, not the same truck, went just like it in high school.
53:35
SPEAKER_03: I actually drove this truck in high school, it was my first truck.
53:38
SPEAKER_03: So going on 15 years, I guess.
53:42
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
53:42
SPEAKER_07: Well, and that sounds like sounds like us.
53:45
SPEAKER_07: Like that's how our family is.
53:46
SPEAKER_07: And I think that skydker kind of started on um a generational level.
53:51
SPEAKER_07: Like people would come back and be like, I had a skydrocker lift on my dad's truck or my grandfather's truck, so I want one on mine now.
53:57
SPEAKER_07: So you kind of fit that story, I feel like.
54:00
SPEAKER_03: He had a lift, and then my first lift was skydrocker.
54:02
SPEAKER_07: So yeah.
54:03
SPEAKER_07: And so um, what got you into this?
54:05
SPEAKER_07: I guess it was because this is what your your dad had or your family had.
54:09
SPEAKER_03: He uh he got me into it at a young age and in the mud bogs and all that stuff.
54:14
SPEAKER_03: And uh for some reason, ever since I was a little boy, I wanted a bright orange.
54:18
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, so he built me one and then but that's good though, it stands out, you know.
54:23
SPEAKER_03: It's uh then his brothers had them too, so it's just a a family thing.
54:27
SPEAKER_03: And we're actually redoing his daddy bought his truck new in 78.
54:31
SPEAKER_03: He grew up in it and then turned to a mud truck, but we're restoring it now for another show truck.
54:38
SPEAKER_03: So it'll be just a lot.
54:39
SPEAKER_07: What what all shows do are y'all planning?
54:41
SPEAKER_07: Do y'all have any more for this year?
54:43
SPEAKER_07: Are y'all done for the year?
54:44
SPEAKER_03: We'll go to Indy.
54:45
SPEAKER_07: Indy, okay, yes.
54:46
SPEAKER_07: That'd be the new.
54:47
SPEAKER_07: And then for 27, you might have some new trucks out there then.
54:50
SPEAKER_07: Hopefully.
54:50
SPEAKER_07: Hopefully.
54:51
SPEAKER_07: Fingers crossed.
54:53
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
54:54
SPEAKER_07: Okay, well, thank you for being here tonight.
54:56
SPEAKER_07: And thank you for being an ambassador.
54:58
SPEAKER_07: We're so glad to meet you and have you here.
55:00
SPEAKER_07: And obviously, being at shows and things like that, those have made a world of difference for us and just the variety that all of you guys bring.
55:08
SPEAKER_07: And we hear such good things from our sales team about how nice you guys are, and that kind of stuff just always that's what we want, that's what we live for, and that's what like just vibes with our brand.
55:19
SPEAKER_07: And so we appreciate guys like you who come out and appreciate you giving me the opportunity.
55:23
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, of course.
55:24
SPEAKER_07: It was so nice to meet you.
55:25
SPEAKER_03: Nice to meet you too.
55:26
SPEAKER_07: Okay, we are here with our next ambassador.
55:29
SPEAKER_07: Please give us your name, your build, and what got you into this industry.
55:33
SPEAKER_05: That is a lot of information at once.
55:35
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
55:36
SPEAKER_05: So, uh, my name is Chris Corey.
55:39
SPEAKER_05: Uh, I have multiple builds.
55:41
SPEAKER_08: Yes.
55:41
SPEAKER_05: Uh, but my main one is a 21 gladiator that I call Aries 6.
55:47
SPEAKER_05: And uh it's named after my first unit deployment uh when I was in the Marine Corps.
55:53
SPEAKER_05: But uh I think my my granddad got me into this when I was probably about eight, nine years old.
56:02
SPEAKER_05: He lived out in St.
56:03
SPEAKER_05: George, Utah.
56:04
SPEAKER_07: Oh wow.
56:05
SPEAKER_05: And uh he had this uh I want to say like an 86 K5, but it was the diesel, and it had a had a nice like six or eight inch skyjacker lift on it.
56:17
SPEAKER_05: And that's the first time I'd ever heard of Skyjacker or anything like that.
56:20
SPEAKER_05: And growing up, he was the kind of guy I wanted to emulate.
56:24
SPEAKER_05: He was uh in the army during World War II.
56:28
SPEAKER_05: He's just a hard dude, and I was like, man, I just want to be like that.
56:32
SPEAKER_05: And so when I got got older and I got you know grown-up money, yeah, I actually I went and bought a uh an 88 Bronco and it had some janky put together kind of lift kit on it, and I was like, man, I could make and put so much better stuff on my own builds, and that's that's kind of where the bug I got the bug from that.
56:58
SPEAKER_05: So I went from off-road vehicles to building performance cars, like I had a 65 Mustang, and then I went to bikes and then finally came back around years later and all started out with a TJ and just went from there, went from there.
57:14
SPEAKER_05: Once you get back into Jeep, I feel like it's really hard to not stay in the Jeep, and and now it's a it's a it's a family uh thing because so I said I had a bunch of Project Jeep, so my wife is actually driving my rock crawler because her car broke down.
57:30
SPEAKER_05: It's a a 96 ZJ and it's got an eight-inch long arm suspension on it.
57:35
SPEAKER_05: It's got the old big old 5'2 in it, it's huge.
57:39
SPEAKER_07: Man, those days.
57:41
SPEAKER_05: My son he turned 16 this year, and he's getting his license, and so we bought him an old XJ, and I was he's like, but I want the the big one.
57:53
SPEAKER_05: I was like, you gotta put in the wrench work on it.
57:55
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I love that.
57:56
SPEAKER_07: I love that.
57:57
SPEAKER_05: I was like, so I said, I will help you do everything you want, but you gotta be willing to get your knuckles busted like everybody else.
58:04
SPEAKER_05: I was like, I ain't gonna hand you nothing.
58:05
SPEAKER_05: So he's excited.
58:06
SPEAKER_07: Oh man, it's like talking, it's like talking to Lonnie Sr.
58:09
SPEAKER_07: right now.
58:10
SPEAKER_05: He's get he's getting excited, man, and he's like, every time he sees me do something with with my projects, he's like, I want to do that too.
58:17
SPEAKER_05: I was like, you gotta get outside.
58:18
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, get outside and do it.
58:20
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, so that's really cool though.
58:21
SPEAKER_07: And I like that that that mentality, yeah.
58:24
SPEAKER_07: I feel like there's been a generational gap there of that mentality.
58:27
SPEAKER_07: So thank you for raising up the X one.
58:30
SPEAKER_07: Thank you.
58:32
SPEAKER_07: Because I I do think that like obviously the automotive industry's always been here, but I do think that um it's important to keep it going because I know you like you said, you've been in a lot of different spaces, and I feel like the automotive space, especially the Jeep family space, is one of the best ones.
58:50
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and one of the things that I've found throughout the years, because like I um alluded to earlier, I'm I'm a Marine Corps veteran, combat veteran.
58:59
SPEAKER_05: And when I came back and you know, dealing with all that kind of stuff that you deal with, I had to do something with my hands, which is why so initially I started doing woodworking, and then I was like, man, it just doesn't feel alive enough.
59:13
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
59:13
SPEAKER_05: And so I started building my Jeep, and the more I started building it, the more other veterans would come up and talk to me.
59:20
SPEAKER_05: And so now I use my Jeep as a platform to reach out to other veterans who are struggling and stuff like that.
59:27
SPEAKER_05: I love that.
59:28
SPEAKER_05: It's just ridiculous how many people just And who need it.
59:31
SPEAKER_05: They yeah, they just come out and they're like, Hey, I appreciate what you do.
59:36
SPEAKER_05: I got this old Tacoma or this old forward.
59:39
SPEAKER_05: What do you what do you want to do?
59:40
SPEAKER_05: What do you think?
59:41
SPEAKER_05: So it's it's amazing just just to see this it's not just the Jeep community, it's the off-road community as a whole.
59:48
SPEAKER_05: And it's just it's like the another brotherhood or sisterhood, and you just feel welcome.
59:53
SPEAKER_07: Oh, I I totally agree.
59:54
SPEAKER_07: I totally agree.
59:55
SPEAKER_07: Because I was really green when I first came into it, and I came into it around all these people who knew my family all these years who were true veterans of the industry.
1:00:04
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, and so it was like I had to learn really, really fast, but they were great.
1:00:08
SPEAKER_07: They're like, just tell us you're green, ask the questions.
1:00:11
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, we want to help you.
1:00:12
SPEAKER_07: And so I love that you're doing that for other people too, because I had to have those people.
1:00:16
SPEAKER_07: Um, and I have those with our sales team, our sales team's great, and so like I bug them all the time, especially when I first started.
1:00:22
SPEAKER_07: I was like, yo, I don't know what this means.
1:00:25
SPEAKER_07: You know, help me out here.
1:00:26
SPEAKER_07: Like, because the marketing side of it's one thing, and the technical side of it is totally different.
1:00:31
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so anyway, I I love that you're using your experiences to drive a passion that helps other people create something that they might really need, a tool or hands-on, like you said, a stress relief, a focus, you know, something that that can help them in that same way.
1:00:50
SPEAKER_07: So I love that.
1:00:51
SPEAKER_05: It's an amazing tool.
1:00:51
SPEAKER_05: I love it.
1:00:52
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
1:00:53
SPEAKER_07: Well, thank you so much.
1:00:54
SPEAKER_07: You're one of our probably two-year, two-year ambassador.
1:00:58
SPEAKER_05: I think it's might be around three years now.
1:01:01
SPEAKER_07: Is it?
1:01:01
SPEAKER_07: God, I don't even know what year it is.
1:01:03
SPEAKER_07: And when I start talking about that, I'm like, oh gosh.
1:01:05
SPEAKER_07: But so, I mean, we have a lot of, I don't think we've even had an under one year ambassador here tonight.
1:01:09
SPEAKER_07: We've had five, which was like our very first, which wasn't even like a real all the way program, all the way to now.
1:01:16
SPEAKER_07: So those OGs have been here.
1:01:17
SPEAKER_07: I'm like, yes, thank you.
1:01:19
SPEAKER_07: But I mean, two years in, so this will be three years coming up for these for these contracts.
1:01:23
SPEAKER_07: And um, I know that you come out to the shows and we love and appreciate that.
1:01:27
SPEAKER_07: We have hopefully some good things coming for the group of people who do shows.
1:01:32
SPEAKER_07: Um, I definitely always want to talk about veteran opportunities so we can always touch base on that.
1:01:38
SPEAKER_07: I love that.
1:01:38
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I love to hear your passion for that because I might have seen it on your social, but to hear you talk about it, I can see that it's such a passion.
1:01:44
SPEAKER_07: It like really lights you up, and I love that.
1:01:46
SPEAKER_07: And I want to help we like want to help support that as well.
1:01:49
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so thank you for being here and getting to talk to us.
1:01:52
SPEAKER_07: You're very well meeting me.
1:01:54
SPEAKER_07: Yay! Bye bye and all the other team, but you know.
1:01:57
SPEAKER_07: Um, so um, anyway, we just appreciate you guys.
1:02:00
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, we appreciate you all.
1:02:02
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we really do.
1:02:04
SPEAKER_07: Okay, we are here with one of our next ambassadors, and this is Joe.
1:02:08
SPEAKER_07: Hi, Joe.
1:02:09
SPEAKER_02: How are you doing?
1:02:10
SPEAKER_02: Good, how are you doing?
1:02:11
SPEAKER_02: Good.
1:02:11
SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me.
1:02:12
SPEAKER_07: Yes, of course.
1:02:13
SPEAKER_07: Okay, so I have gotten to officially meet everybody this weekend, which has been so much fun.
1:02:20
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so you have actually been at Skyjacker in spirit because you gifted us with the really awesome, what what would you even call that?
1:02:30
SPEAKER_07: Um, a hood prop.
1:02:31
SPEAKER_07: The hood prop.
1:02:32
SPEAKER_07: And it's hanging up in our office.
1:02:34
SPEAKER_07: So any of our local guys who have come in and seen that, we've had so many comments on it.
1:02:38
SPEAKER_07: Like, oh man, that's so cool.
1:02:39
SPEAKER_07: It's like one of our ambassadors made that and gave it to us, and we have it under like our ambassador wall.
1:02:44
SPEAKER_07: And so you've been there in spirit.
1:02:46
SPEAKER_07: Yes.
1:02:47
SPEAKER_07: Thank you.
1:02:48
SPEAKER_07: Okay, so but let me know, or let the the listeners know what build you have, what you're working on, because you actually have a couple things.
1:02:56
SPEAKER_02: I got a couple things going on.
1:02:58
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
1:02:58
SPEAKER_02: Right now we have a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 that's on the show circuit now, and we have a 1989 first gen RAM W150 that we're gonna do a complete restoration on.
1:03:13
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I'm excited about that.
1:03:14
SPEAKER_07: We're gonna talk more about that one later on, and I'm excited to hear about that.
1:03:18
SPEAKER_07: Um, and then you're actually here at this show in a Jeep.
1:03:21
SPEAKER_02: In a Jeep, yes, and we also just recently started breaking into the Jeep scene, and we got a 2024 Jeep Rubicon Wrangler, and uh I'm gonna venture more into the Jeep side of things now.
1:03:36
SPEAKER_07: And it's a super nice Jeep, too.
1:03:37
SPEAKER_07: When I first got here, which I saw your name on the list, but anytime I picture you, I picture your truck, and so I was shocked.
1:03:46
SPEAKER_07: I was like, oh my gosh, the Jeep looks great.
1:03:48
SPEAKER_07: So I was so glad to see that you were here in a Jeep.
1:03:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thank you.
1:03:51
SPEAKER_02: We're trying to get the the truck and Jeep side of the four by four custom stuff going.
1:03:58
SPEAKER_07: But I think it's cool because um both sides are so great, and I feel like that's one thing about our group, everybody's so diverse, which is awesome.
1:04:05
SPEAKER_07: Um, but I feel like both blend in our group well.
1:04:10
SPEAKER_07: Yes, like we have so many different like show truck side, more of like aggressive off-road side of the truck world.
1:04:16
SPEAKER_07: Then we have the show Jeep princesses or nice show vehicles, and we have our you know, Brandon's that's like beat to death, like type.
1:04:24
SPEAKER_07: So it's like, but everybody like coming together and being at the shows with different builds and how everyone supports and so like it's really cool to see all the things.
1:04:32
SPEAKER_07: So I love that you're doing truck and jeep.
1:04:35
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, it keeps me keeps me and us busy.
1:04:38
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
1:04:39
SPEAKER_07: Well, so what got you into the automotive side?
1:04:42
SPEAKER_02: Um well, when when when I was younger, my dad always was into the race cars, not race cars, but hot rods and stuff like that.
1:04:49
SPEAKER_02: And then I went into service, and then coming out of the service, I'm like, well, kind of fell into his footsteps, but I ended up doing the four by four side of it.
1:04:58
SPEAKER_02: I just didn't want to do the hot rod side.
1:05:00
SPEAKER_02: I guess I had to be different, and I said, do the lift-the-truck scene.
1:05:04
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, that worked out though, and it worked out, yes.
1:05:07
SPEAKER_07: So you've been doing that for a while then.
1:05:09
SPEAKER_07: Yes, yes.
1:05:10
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so you do that with your family, with the family.
1:05:15
SPEAKER_02: Um with I have uh two daughters, three granddaughters now.
1:05:20
SPEAKER_02: So now we're getting uh the grandchildren into getting into it, and we actually attached our youngest one to the channel as our youngest crew member.
1:05:29
SPEAKER_07: Oh cute, I love it.
1:05:30
SPEAKER_07: We have quite a few crew members in that sense as well, like the Skyjacker family in general, not me.
1:05:38
SPEAKER_07: But um, but I think that's the good thing about this industry is it is so family oriented.
1:05:43
SPEAKER_07: You can do things as a family.
1:05:44
SPEAKER_08: Yes.
1:05:45
SPEAKER_07: Um, and I think that's what always drew us to the certain ambassadors that we've picked.
1:05:50
SPEAKER_07: Not that you have to be a family person, but it I think it just helps that w our likenesses are the same and that we support that.
1:05:57
SPEAKER_07: Because a lot of times when you come to the shows, For you as an ambassador, you get to meet every other people's kids, like young kids who are here.
1:06:04
SPEAKER_07: Like a lot of times, my daughter will come to events.
1:06:07
SPEAKER_07: And so I feel like um people get to really know families and people.
1:06:12
SPEAKER_02: Yes, it becomes the whole team turns into a family in an essence.
1:06:16
SPEAKER_07: And I love that.
1:06:16
SPEAKER_07: And so we're super glad to have you on as part of our family.
1:06:19
SPEAKER_07: I'm look looking forward to the builds that you're going to be doing and that you're in the Jeep in the Jeep side of it as well.
1:06:26
SPEAKER_02: So we'll see you even more on some things.
1:06:28
SPEAKER_02: Right.
1:06:28
SPEAKER_02: So it I mean, my first Jeep show was this past weekend with you guys, and it it was different, it was neat, and yeah, I actually enjoyed it.
1:06:35
SPEAKER_02: Good.
1:06:36
SPEAKER_02: A different crowd, a whole new group of people to get to see.
1:06:39
SPEAKER_02: It's a different community, but yet as a whole, the community's all together.
1:06:44
SPEAKER_07: Yep, exactly.
1:06:45
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
1:06:46
SPEAKER_07: Well, thank you for being here tonight.
1:06:47
SPEAKER_07: And it's so nice to meet you and catch up.
1:06:49
SPEAKER_07: And I can't wait for 2027.
1:06:52
SPEAKER_07: Okay, we are here with our last ambassador of the night, Cassandra.
1:06:56
SPEAKER_07: And you're one of our out of this group, especially that's here, you are one of our newest ambassadors.
1:07:01
SPEAKER_07: So um tell us a little bit about what you do and what build you have and what got you into the industry.
1:07:08
SPEAKER_01: Well, I've been wheeling since I was 16.
1:07:11
SPEAKER_01: Nice.
1:07:11
SPEAKER_01: I have a Jeep Cherokee, and then I just recently, a couple years ago, got the JK.
1:07:16
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
1:07:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, Robert Keller helped me get here.
1:07:20
SPEAKER_01: Another UA guy.
1:07:21
SPEAKER_01: That's how we met, just like with Brandon.
1:07:23
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
1:07:24
SPEAKER_01: Um, I work construction.
1:07:26
SPEAKER_01: Cool.
1:07:27
SPEAKER_01: Um, I live up here.
1:07:28
SPEAKER_07: So, what do you do uh construction-wise?
1:07:30
SPEAKER_07: Like what type of construction are you doing?
1:07:32
SPEAKER_07: Like commercial, residential?
1:07:34
SPEAKER_07: Okay, okay.
1:07:35
SPEAKER_01: It's mostly residential.
1:07:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's for a company down in Florida, and I work remotely from up here.
1:07:39
SPEAKER_07: Oh, nice.
1:07:40
SPEAKER_01: So I do all of his office.
1:07:41
SPEAKER_07: You get to do all that stuff and then live in the mountains.
1:07:43
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
1:07:44
unknown: Huh.
1:07:45
SPEAKER_07: Nice.
1:07:46
SPEAKER_07: Next, I want to know, I know I want a new job.
1:07:49
SPEAKER_07: I know that's like the worst part, is like when you come here and you get to experience um this nature and like these mountains and these views, and you have to go back to Weston Row, Louisiana, which I love our home.
1:08:00
SPEAKER_07: But I'm like, being in this industry, which I've only been in it for eight years, has spoiled me to some of the most beautiful places.
1:08:07
SPEAKER_07: We get like Utah is my favorite place.
1:08:10
SPEAKER_07: Like if I could live anywhere, I enjoy Arizona, I'll enjoy Tennessee, like just places I would have not gotten to experience in the same way because we would have not been way up in the mountain.
1:08:19
SPEAKER_07: We would have been in town at a hotel doing like other stuff and not these things.
1:08:24
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
1:08:24
SPEAKER_07: Um, so anyway, so I didn't realize that you were from here.
1:08:28
SPEAKER_01: I'm actually not, I'm from Florida.
1:08:29
SPEAKER_07: Oh, but you live here though now.
1:08:31
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I've lived here 13 years.
1:08:32
SPEAKER_07: 13 years, okay.
1:08:33
SPEAKER_07: Yep.
1:08:34
SPEAKER_07: And so you do some really cool like riding though.
1:08:37
SPEAKER_07: Like y'all, so tell us about events or different things that you do with your rigs.
1:08:42
SPEAKER_01: Oh gosh.
1:08:43
SPEAKER_01: So we I'm at for Onyx, so we're always out in the woods.
1:08:48
SPEAKER_07: Um and that's crazy because you're going out there with like I actually did that today earlier.
1:08:53
SPEAKER_01: Did you?
1:08:53
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:08:54
SPEAKER_07: Like so, you just like you get to just do explore like new places and map it out.
1:08:58
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
1:08:59
SPEAKER_07: That is like the dream.
1:09:00
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
1:09:01
SPEAKER_07: Don't tell Joe that's what you do.
1:09:02
SPEAKER_07: Joe's gonna be like, I want a new job, actually.
1:09:05
SPEAKER_01: The side job, yeah.
1:09:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:09:06
SPEAKER_01: So um how long have you been doing that?
1:09:09
SPEAKER_01: Uh um probably about the same time as I've been with you guys.
1:09:12
SPEAKER_07: Wow.
1:09:13
SPEAKER_01: So less than a year.
1:09:14
SPEAKER_01: That's that is so cool though.
1:09:16
SPEAKER_07: So is there actually a lot of this area that is unmapped?
1:09:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:09:19
SPEAKER_01: So um I went and we mapped 30 trails out in like right above North Knoxville, like above Winrock.
1:09:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:09:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, so we we did a lot of that.
1:09:29
SPEAKER_01: We did a little bit in Kentucky, and then I tried to go find some today, but was unsuccessful.
1:09:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:09:35
SPEAKER_01: So there's a lot in Piscah National Forest that's not done.
1:09:39
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
1:09:39
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's it's a lot of fun.
1:09:41
SPEAKER_07: And so what's um I mean, obviously they're sending you places, so I think it just shows that like people's need for this lifestyle is just growing more and more.
1:09:51
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
1:09:52
SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, like if you look at Onyx on like the West Coast, there's so much out there.
1:09:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it's a lot, a lot of it's mapped.
1:09:59
SPEAKER_01: There's so much of this side of the United States, it's not mapped.
1:10:02
SPEAKER_07: That's not, and that's because I feel like wheeling wasn't as dominant in some of these other places.
1:10:09
SPEAKER_07: I mean, same for us, like in Louisiana.
1:10:12
SPEAKER_07: There's very few places to actually go.
1:10:14
SPEAKER_07: Wheel, we have to travel for that.
1:10:16
SPEAKER_07: But I feel like that wasn't really a known thing in certain parts of this side of the country, and now people are wanting wanting that to be a thing.
1:10:22
SPEAKER_07: So, like, no, wait, somebody make me a trail.
1:10:25
SPEAKER_07: So that's really cool to be a part of that process.
1:10:27
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
1:10:28
SPEAKER_07: Um, because we all use Onyx when we they go on UA or different things, and so um, I haven't got to talk to anybody who does this part of it.
1:10:35
SPEAKER_07: So that's really cool.
1:10:36
SPEAKER_01: It's a little fun.
1:10:37
SPEAKER_01: We're we've we're mapping for Golden Mountain off-road park out in uh Sparta.
1:10:41
SPEAKER_01: And so they just they got new ownership a couple years ago, and they're trying to rebuild the park and get it all like that's awesome back to wheeling.
1:10:48
SPEAKER_01: And so they've allowed me to come out there and map for them for Onyx.
1:10:52
SPEAKER_01: For Onyx.
1:10:52
SPEAKER_07: And so we get to help them build up the park and do events out there and which I'm sure that like that's all people could want is like the help to get that stuff going back again.
1:11:02
SPEAKER_07: Because I mean, I feel like you have to truly like love it and appreciate it to want to get a park back to what it could be or what it can be if it's never been, whatever.
1:11:11
SPEAKER_07: I mean, but that takes a lot of effort.
1:11:14
SPEAKER_07: I think that's what some people don't get who are newer.
1:11:16
SPEAKER_01: Some of these things it takes a tribe.
1:11:18
SPEAKER_01: Yes, it takes people from all I mean, you guys you guys are a part of it.
1:11:22
SPEAKER_01: Yep, you guys are donating to the event in September.
1:11:25
SPEAKER_07: Yep.
1:11:26
SPEAKER_01: And like they're all excited to to have people in the industry that want to back.
1:11:30
SPEAKER_07: That want.
1:11:31
SPEAKER_07: Well, we don't get to experience it without helping.
1:11:33
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
1:11:34
SPEAKER_07: I mean, and we've gotten to experience it for many, many years.
1:11:36
SPEAKER_07: I mean, 50 years they've been doing this, so it's like we have to be able to give back, right?
1:11:40
SPEAKER_07: And I think that if we give back in the right way, it only sets it up for the next generation to come in and do that.
1:11:46
SPEAKER_07: And it's like that's what we should want.
1:11:48
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
1:11:48
SPEAKER_07: I mean, I think COVID proved that more than anything, that that's what we sh that that matters the most, the time that you can spend exploring and with your people, which brings me to so you do this with your husband.
1:12:00
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
1:12:01
SPEAKER_07: Okay, cool.
1:12:01
SPEAKER_07: And so he likes this lifestyle too.
1:12:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:12:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:12:04
SPEAKER_01: So we we um we've known each other for 10 years.
1:12:07
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
1:12:08
SPEAKER_01: And we grew up only 45 minutes away from each other, basically.
1:12:11
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
1:12:12
SPEAKER_01: And then I moved up here, and then me and him started talking again.
1:12:15
SPEAKER_07: So then he had to move.
1:12:16
SPEAKER_01: So then we got married, and then he had to move up here.
1:12:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:12:19
SPEAKER_01: Come on, come up this way.
1:12:20
SPEAKER_01: So we're both from Florida, and then both live up here.
1:12:23
SPEAKER_01: Only 45 minutes away from each other.
1:12:25
SPEAKER_07: That's crazy.
1:12:26
SPEAKER_01: And now we're both here.
1:12:27
SPEAKER_07: And so um, what is he comes uh from what I've seen, he's been at events and different things with you.
1:12:32
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah.
1:12:33
SPEAKER_07: So that's cool.
1:12:33
SPEAKER_07: I think that's what kind of the pattern between everybody is, everybody's person, whether they come or not, are always supportive.
1:12:40
SPEAKER_07: Um, so I think that that's something that's really cool and needs to be like, yes, our people for supporting.
1:12:46
SPEAKER_01: So many, so many years I picked bad people.
1:12:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:12:48
SPEAKER_01: And he did too.
1:12:49
SPEAKER_01: And right before me and him got together, I said, I will not pick another partner that is not going to support me in this industry.
1:12:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:12:56
SPEAKER_01: Because so many times I had that person's like, the woman can't outshine the man.
1:13:01
SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
1:13:02
SPEAKER_01: And he's not trying to outshine me, he's trying to stay there with me or push me to the top.
1:13:06
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
1:13:07
SPEAKER_07: I love that.
1:13:07
SPEAKER_07: And that's I love that you brought that up because there it's it's rare and there's not a ton of women in the industry.
1:13:14
SPEAKER_07: There's more away now than ever.
1:13:16
SPEAKER_07: Oh, for sure.
1:13:16
SPEAKER_07: But I think in in those early years, the reason it there weren't as many women is because of that reason right there.
1:13:22
SPEAKER_07: Not only like as a spouse, but also like in the workplace in general, supporting.
1:13:26
SPEAKER_07: So I love that you have that.
1:13:28
SPEAKER_07: It's hard.
1:13:29
SPEAKER_07: It is hard.
1:13:29
SPEAKER_01: It's so hard because like I grew up with a a lot of good friends who who pushed me.
1:13:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:13:35
SPEAKER_01: I mean, even Robert Keller, I've known him for so long.
1:13:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:13:38
SPEAKER_01: And when I told him I wanted to start getting my name out there, and I mean it it's been so long.
1:13:43
SPEAKER_01: I should have had my name out there a long time ago.
1:13:45
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
1:13:45
SPEAKER_01: And he was like, Here, let me help.
1:13:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:13:48
SPEAKER_01: And he's not he doesn't care if I outshine him.
1:13:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:13:50
SPEAKER_01: He wants to support me.
1:13:52
SPEAKER_01: He wants to support women, and that's nice.
1:13:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it is.
1:13:55
SPEAKER_01: There's not a lot of people out there that'll do that.
1:13:57
SPEAKER_07: There's not.
1:13:57
SPEAKER_07: And so I'm I definitely love that that's I hate that that was your experience early on, but I love that you have the support now.
1:14:05
SPEAKER_07: Because now look what you're getting to do, and you're getting to do it boldly and like really enjoy it and it not be like a stressor of you know, it's like I have being held back.
1:14:14
SPEAKER_01: Well, that one of the other things that I do is um I did Artemis Rally.
1:14:17
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, yes.
1:14:18
SPEAKER_01: I did it two years.
1:14:19
SPEAKER_01: This was my second year this year, and now next next weekend I'm going to host a training for women to teach them to do it.
1:14:27
SPEAKER_07: To do it.
1:14:27
SPEAKER_07: I mean, that's that's all we can do is to help encourage them too.
1:14:32
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
1:14:32
SPEAKER_07: And I th I like I had a really easy road into the industry.
1:14:36
SPEAKER_07: Now my knowledge I had to grow, but I came into an industry where my family had made so many connections for so many years, it was easy for me.
1:14:46
SPEAKER_07: But I know that the women who came before me and didn't have weren't able to walk into an already built relationship status with people, they've said like their journey was a lot harder.
1:14:57
SPEAKER_07: And so I feel like you giving back to something that could have held you back, but instead you're giving that and encouraging other women and helping train them to where they can go.
1:15:07
SPEAKER_07: That's I love that.
1:15:09
SPEAKER_07: So good for you.
1:15:10
SPEAKER_07: It's just confidence, yeah.
1:15:11
SPEAKER_07: Yeah, but people need that, and women don't have that, especially in the automotive side.
1:15:15
SPEAKER_07: I mean, even for me, I'm like, Joe, am I doing this right?
1:15:18
SPEAKER_07: Come look at this, you know.
1:15:20
SPEAKER_07: But I I have similar support, you know, and Joe's always good about being like, yeah, because he's the one that's so good at it.
1:15:25
SPEAKER_07: I'm like, I'm here for the I'm here for the videos, like he's the one that can work on all the stuff, not me.
1:15:31
SPEAKER_07: But I I love that there's so many women coming up that are so hands-on.
1:15:35
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
1:15:36
SPEAKER_07: Um, and so well, what are you doing for 2027?
1:15:41
SPEAKER_01: Any plans?
1:15:42
SPEAKER_01: We're not really sure yet since he's moved here now.
1:15:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:15:45
SPEAKER_01: We planned on doing um the Terror Trophy together.
1:15:48
SPEAKER_01: Oh, fun.
1:15:49
SPEAKER_01: It's it's fun doing Artemis because it's women only.
1:15:51
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
1:15:52
SPEAKER_01: And I got to bond with my sister who we haven't talked in years since our dad died.
1:15:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:15:58
SPEAKER_01: Brought us back together.
1:15:59
SPEAKER_01: I love it.
1:16:00
SPEAKER_01: So um, terror trophy is not women only.
1:16:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:16:03
SPEAKER_01: And we want to race.
1:16:05
SPEAKER_01: I'm just not sure we're ready to race.
1:16:07
SPEAKER_07: Oh, you're ready.
1:16:08
SPEAKER_07: You're ready.
1:16:09
SPEAKER_07: I don't think the vehicles are ready.
1:16:11
SPEAKER_07: Well, we'll have to get the vehicles ready because then we have to see this.
1:16:15
SPEAKER_07: We have to see a racing couple on the team.
1:16:17
SPEAKER_07: You have to be that team.
1:16:19
SPEAKER_07: It would be a lot of fun.
1:16:20
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
1:16:21
SPEAKER_07: Okay, well, we can't wait to see what happens.
1:16:23
SPEAKER_07: And hopefully, um, I know we have a lot of fun things planned for the group for 2027.
1:16:27
SPEAKER_07: So I'm excited to see all the things.
1:16:29
SPEAKER_07: Me too.
1:16:30
SPEAKER_07: So thank you for being here, and it was so great to meet you and to chat with you.
1:16:33
SPEAKER_07: And power to the women, girl.
1:16:34
SPEAKER_07: I love killing it.
1:16:36
SPEAKER_07: I love it.
1:16:36
SPEAKER_07: Okay.
1:16:38
SPEAKER_07: So I hope you all are able to really see the different personalities and the special traits and builds that all of these wonderful ambassadors bring to our program.
1:16:50
SPEAKER_07: And I'm sure you got a little sneak peeks of what could possibly be to come for 2027.
1:16:56
SPEAKER_07: Um, if you have time, go make sure you give these guys likes and follows and support them.
1:17:02
SPEAKER_07: They they really care about this industry and they're really solid people.
1:17:05
SPEAKER_07: Um, and I hope you get to see a ton more of them.
1:17:08
SPEAKER_07: And hopefully, we'll have another one in 2027, another ambassador meet and greet where we get to meet the other side of the country's group of people.
1:17:18
SPEAKER_07: So, anyway, that's all for now.
1:17:21
SPEAKER_07: Bye.