Austin Maxwell: The Clemson-Kanga Success Story | EP 16

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I was like hey guys, I'm a brand
ambassador for like Barstool

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Sports and Chubby Shorts.
I have some ideas for how we can

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maybe mark it and put this on
social media.

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We call it Spike Day.
It was like 1,000,000 views.

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It brought more revenue and
website traffic to our site than

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our shark take episode.
Well, this King guys have like a

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skate like 1/2 pipe in their
office that is so sick.

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I think people are really
passionate about working at a

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place that's fun and different.
We pitched the producers.

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We left.
We thought nothing of it.

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We were like, OK, like we're
obviously like too small.

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Hey guys, we booked two flights
to LAX.

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We're going to film it to these
studios.

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We have your hotels here.
The reason it became so

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lucrative was because.
Growing a small to mid sized

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business is like pushing a stop
train.

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You're going to need help to get
that initial momentum going.

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Administrative tasks like
payroll, managing health

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insurance, and HR operations
only add unnecessary weight to

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your already busy schedule.
That's why I'd choose Questco.

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They'd take care of all the
behind the scenes administrative

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and HR work, letting you focus
on what truly matters, growing

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your business.
Questco is your trusted

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outsourcing HR service provider
to help you get that train

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moving.
That's QUESTCO.

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Questco.
Visit questco.net or call your

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local Questco representative,
Thomas Owens at 864-477-0843 to

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get started today.
Yeah.

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How long you been at?
It's been 8 years and two weeks.

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Yeah, we just hit it.
Yeah.

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So March 7th, 2017 was like the
day that the LOC documents were

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signed at Clemson.
So were you a Clemson student

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whenever it first?
Yes, so Logan and Ryan are my 2

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Co founders and they were part
of the college class project

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where the idea was born.
Like it was Logan's idea for for

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a koozie for a case of beer.
Like that was the idea was

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running around college, you
know, at at at at Clemson game

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day.
Like everyone's either like

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lugging around a big bulky
cooler or drinking.

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Yeah, or they're drinking more
beer.

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Like we would call it a naked
case of beer, which would be

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someone going to fast point,
grabbing a 12 pack and just

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walking around campus with it as
it got warm.

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But also like the condensation,
sometimes the handle would break

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on you.
So like beers would maybe fall

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out within like 45 minutes.
It'd be warm.

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So he was like, we all, we all
like have coozies for individual

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cans.
Why don't we have coozie for the

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entire 12 pack?
So that's how the idea for Kanga

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was born.
And then what we learned very

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early was that your class
project partners don't always

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make your best business
partners.

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That's fair.
That's fair.

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So the Long East Ryan, yes, he
was the class project.

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That worked out perfectly.
Like how lucky it was that one

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of the five people actually
ended up being like a great

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business partner.
The other three guys, not so

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much.
So there was originally 5.

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Guys, there's five people
automatically assigned to Logan.

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Everyone's team and.
Was crazy as Clemson actually

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back then required you to set up
a proper LLC and a binding

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operating agreement, so actually
distribute equity and make it

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legally binding, which is
insane.

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They don't do that anymore.
We were kind of like the the,

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the pigeon to make sure that
that doesn't happen again.

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And and yeah, we're just, we're,
we're lucky that the way that it

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all, it all panned out.
Yeah.

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So how did you get involved when
you weren't part of the class

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project?
So I saw as part of the class

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project you had to do a
Kickstarter campaign.

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You guys know Kickstarter, It's
like a crowdfunding.

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So they made a video for it.
I thought the video was like

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really, really bad.
And at the time, I was like,

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something that I found out early
at Clemson was how much I hated

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the degree I was pursuing, which
was engineering, not somewhat

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because of the subject matter
and like stuff we were learning

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I wasn't like super interested
in.

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But 2 when I would like get to
class and look around at my

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classmates, I realized I didn't
have a ton of similarities with

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these people.
You can relate to that.

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Right, like the social component
this is.

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True, you have an outgoing
personality inside this Austin.

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And there's always diamonds in
the rough, like some of my best

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friends are engineers.
Right.

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Well, and engineering, you're
kind of just putting your head

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down on the dirt and you're
solving a lot of problems and

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you're not really doing a lot of
like communicating or like

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selling things or like big
presentations and stuff.

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It's kind of just like do the
math, do the coding in my case

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and I don't.
Know, I, I realize how much I

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hated it like sophomore year as
I like got past like the Gen.

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Ed classes and I started
specializing in like industrial

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engineering, which people call
imaginary engineering.

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But at the end of the day, it's
still like pretty difficult.

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And so I had to overcompensate
to satisfy that itch that I had

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for other things like business
and entrepreneurship.

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And so I became a brand
ambassador for a whole bunch of

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companies also because I wanted
to get like free stuff like

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hats, shirts, chubby shorts,
stuff like that.

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How?
Busy were you during that time?

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Oh, dude, I was like, yeah,
seven companies.

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Like I was repping all these
brands, but I was so fascinated

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by marketing and sales and stuff
that came from, you know, being

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a brand ambassador.
And so I got into like GoPro and

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videos and market and like
posting on social media.

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And then when I saw the Kanga
Class project Kickstart video, I

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was just like, I'm no video
expert, but I just think it

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could be better.
Did.

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You know the guys and I.
Posted it.

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Didn't know any, didn't know any
any of the Kanga guys didn't.

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I just saw it was called case
koozie back then.

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But we got a cease and desist
because the word koozie is owned

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by BIC.
The the company that makes the

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pens owns the word koozie.
Who would have thought?

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And our company name was Case
koozie.

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Say to rebrand to it was the
case mate is the product yeah.

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And then Kanga cooler.
So the Kanga case mate.

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And so I just reached out to
them.

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I was like, hey guys, I'm a
brand ambassador for like

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Barstool Sports and Chubby
shorts and I have some ideas for

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how we can maybe market and put
this on social media.

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And so they brought me in the
five guys during the class

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project phase and we quickly
realized that the three guys

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that weren't really involved
didn't want to be involved.

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And then I kind of replaced
those three guys.

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They went away mostly quietly.
Yeah, not all of them.

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One of them kind of hung on for
a little longer than probably

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should have.
But we were able to acquire all

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the equity back that was
distributed through the Clemson

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class project and then
redistribute it that summer.

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Good.
Did any of them see it past a

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class project?
No, yeah, I think.

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Class.
It's like a senior year project.

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Exactly.
I think we were a senior at the

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time.
Yep.

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I was a senior, Ryan was a
senior and Logan was a junior.

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And then I did a fifth year.
So part of that engineering deal

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was I there was no way I was
going to graduate on time.

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So I had, but also who wouldn't
want another football season?

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Exactly.
Right so I did the did the extra

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semester part.
Part of the deal for

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engineering, though, is my
grandma was going to help me pay

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for out of state tuition with no
scholarships as long as I

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pursued engineering.
So I went to my counselor

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sophomore year and said, hey, I
am not loving engineering, can I

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switch majors?
And the counselor was like,

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yeah, yeah, for sure.
But you'll be here for five more

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years from this point.
That's when I was like, I just

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got to stick out engineering.
Yes.

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Also shout out grandma for
helping me right because.

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Where are you from?
You're from up north.

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Annapolis.
Maryland, OK, which is gorgeous.

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Yeah, I went to Annapolis for
the first time.

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Like really?
Oh, what were you doing there?

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We have family friends there and
we did a four of the Naval

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Academy and the whole area was
beautiful.

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I told Heath I'm like, we need
to go up together one weekend.

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That's like a diamond in the
rough.

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I feel like in Maryland is that,
yeah, I grew up like 10 minutes

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from there.
How'd you pick Clemson?

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Literally just a whim.
I wanted to go to the South.

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I wanted to get out of Maryland
and like experience a new

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culture and new people.
And I applied to 9 schools from

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North Carolina to Georgia. 8 of
them I got into and and seven of

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them I had got scholarship money
from one I didn't clunk but.

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Shout out grandma.
Again, shout out grandma for for

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that part of it, but so so
awesome.

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Like I I fell in love with the
the the one the campus, my like

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tour guide.
I just the passion that she had

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for the university.
Like whatever.

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I always wanted to be a tour
guide at Clemson.

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I never found like the time to
to be 1, but that like they sell

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you on the school so well
because it feels genuine.

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It actually is like, wow, this
sounds like the best thing ever.

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And when you tour University of
South Carolina or High Point or

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Chapel Hill, it just didn't feel
as intentional when you're doing

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the tours.
So that was like, unsafe.

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But shout out to her.
So what's your role with Kanga

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currently?
Thank you for spending your

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valuable time with us.
We know you're likely incredibly

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busy, and we truly appreciate
you tuning in.

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We hope you're finding these
insights just as valuable as we

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are.
Throughout this journey, we've

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been fortunate to receive
incredible support with many

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people asking how can we help or
how can we support you?

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If you haven't already, one of
the best ways you can support us

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is by giving us a follower
rating on Spotify, Apple podcast

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00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:32,280
or whatever platform it is
you're listening on.

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It just takes a second.
You don't even have to pause the

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episode.
And it makes a huge difference

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in helping us bring to you even
more of a top tier, high

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00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:40,880
achieving leaders in our
community.

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Thank you again for being part
of this journey.

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Now let's get back to our guest.
It's interesting because, you

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know, up until this point, for
the 1st 7 1/2 years, it had been

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all sales because that's an
early business needs revenue.

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Like that's what you need to be
focusing on.

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And there's different chapters
of the eight-year journey so

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far.
And it's funny because like once

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sales start to perform, then the
challenge becomes operations.

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Well, how do we fulfill this?
How do we order enough product

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to get this?
So then it's like operations and

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supply chain becomes the
challenge.

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Well, then when you start
solving for that, OK, well now

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you need more sales to keep up
with the operations that you

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just built, you know, moving
into new warehouses and hiring

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more people seven times in eight
years and.

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Y'all are now on Woodruffer OR?
Pelham we were, We were

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Woodruff.
I remember you're the Marivan.

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Center Marivan Center.
Right.

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Now we're like near Topgolf on
Pelham Road.

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Yeah, amazing 30,000 square foot
facility.

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Wow.
And it's something we can grow

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into.
Like we won't have to move for a

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while.
That's the goal at least.

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If we do, then yeah, it's a
blessing that we are getting to

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move again.
Sure.

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But this is a place I think we
can get to pretty significant

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run rates before the system
start to break again.

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So how long were you the sales
guy and the operations guy?

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Never operations guy.
So I was never I never had to be

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the operations guy fortunately.
But as the sales has grown as as

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the businesses, you know,
eclipse 88 figures of annual

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revenue.
Nice.

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I'm realizing that I'm not the
best suited to be our point for

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sales like the sales leader.
What I really like doing, what

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00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:25,600
I'm passionate about and what I
think adds the most value to the

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business is organic social
media, the power of TikTok, PR

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partnerships, Kangaboo.
We just did a local partnership

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with New Realm Brewing and we
have our own beer and it's in

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Publix and it's going to be in
total.

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Wine.
No, it's in Publix.

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It's going to be in 15 Publixes
in Greenville, 7 in Columbia.

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We're working on Sphinx right
now.

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How?
Do you?

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00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:49,600
Yeah, How do you get them into a
Publix or into a Sphinx like

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00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:51,200
that?
So it's, it's really, it's a

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full circle moment because the
chief sales officer at New

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00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:58,160
Realm, New Realm is like in it,
Atlanta and Virginia Beach.

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It's, it's a regional brewery,
but they have like 8 locations.

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They just opened up the one in
Main Street down in Greenville.

242
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Just.
Gorgeous, awesome, cool.

243
00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:07,680
It's like a wedding venue
converted to a brewery.

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Like that's a dream high.
School prom.

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Was there, Was it?
That's makes sense.

246
00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:14,840
That's a brewery.
The the chief sales officer,

247
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Jeff Chasner is my mentor.
He was also my former boss when

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we worked at Beatbox Beverages,
which is like an 11.1% slap the

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00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:25,720
bag, you know, portable party
punch.

250
00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:31,000
And so I was with him for four
years at Beatbox and then when I

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left for Kanga full time and he
went to New Realm, we'd always

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talked about like we got a
partner up somehow.

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And it never made sense until
the the Greenville location

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opened.
Because 1 of Kanga's like lofty

255
00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:45,000
goals is what Yeti is in Austin,
TX.

256
00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:48,720
Kanga wants to be to Greenville
and also like adjacent Clemson.

257
00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:50,040
Yeah, it's like we try to
always.

258
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Become in that.
I hope, I hope so.

259
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I.
Would say at least an hour age.

260
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Majority of Clemson students
knew of Kanga.

261
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And still do.
I would hope they do.

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I don't.
I can't.

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00:12:57,200 --> 00:12:58,640
I don't know any Clemson
students nowadays, but.

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I just was, I was at Clemson.
I taught three classes last

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00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:03,400
week.
Teaching is exhausting.

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They're like, no, but I got, I
got invited to told.

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00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:10,160
Teacher.
Yes, Adam, Professor Adam Stone,

268
00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:12,560
he's like one of the capstone
marketing professors.

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They're really successful
private equity guy.

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And he invited me to teach three
of their like senior marketing

271
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classes.
But you, you're just standing up

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00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:21,920
there and talking for an hour,
hour, 15 minutes.

273
00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:23,400
And there were three classes in
a row.

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00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:26,720
But I asked the students like
who, who had heard of Kanga and

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00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:29,040
I'd say like almost all of them
raised their hand.

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00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:33,400
But when I spoke at Clemson two
years ago, even 2023, I would

277
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ask that question and it would
be less people really.

278
00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:40,520
So I think the, the awareness is
growing with, with how Kanga has

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grown.
Spent a lot of money on

280
00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:44,200
advertising, right?
So we get, we get in front of a

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00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:48,960
lot of people, but it does feel,
it feels really cool that we're

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getting that in Clemson.
And I hope we're getting it in

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00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:53,560
Greenville, 'cause you said you
maybe tried Kangaroo at fall.

284
00:13:53,560 --> 00:13:55,640
For Greenville, yeah, yeah,
'cause I remember seeing like

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LinkedIn or something and I was
like, hey, let's try it.

286
00:13:57,600 --> 00:13:58,480
You got a shot.
I just saw it.

287
00:13:58,480 --> 00:13:59,960
There it was.
It was pretty good from what I

288
00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:01,320
remember.
Yeah, you liked it.

289
00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,720
I #2 And then in terms of it
being recognized in Clemson,

290
00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:07,720
like maybe there was a gap from
the time we were there to now,

291
00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:11,320
but I at least remember while we
were there and Kenga was such a

292
00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:14,320
big deal, there was a huge party
at 35. 6 Did you go to that?

293
00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:15,320
Oh my gosh, yes.
Yes.

294
00:14:15,560 --> 00:14:16,320
I was there pretty.
Well.

295
00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:18,240
Yeah.
And we we probably didn't even

296
00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:20,640
know each other at the time, so.
We knew each other, we just went

297
00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:21,360
together.
So.

298
00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:24,360
Anyways, I mean, Kenga was
definitely a huge deal during

299
00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:27,080
our time at Clemson and then
maybe as y'all were building,

300
00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:29,200
they may have been a gap with
whatever the next generation at

301
00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:31,560
Clemson was, but now for sure
it's a known.

302
00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:36,400
I, I think, I think it's
important like to localize it

303
00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:39,760
and, and if we can be well known
and it's something that people

304
00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,800
are proud of when they're visit
Greenville or they can purchase

305
00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:46,240
one at a store around here, they
can try kangaroo.

306
00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,040
Like I think that's what Yeti
nails really, really well.

307
00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:52,320
It's like they embody what
Austin, TX is and like, and I

308
00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:54,480
think we can do that with
Greenville and there's not too

309
00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:57,560
many consumer products in
Greenville.

310
00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:00,120
There's some wildly successful
Greenville businesses.

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00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:02,640
Yeah, but in terms of like a
physical good and we've had

312
00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:06,120
Southern Tide come out of here,
which is South Carolina founder,

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00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:08,880
you know, so I don't know.
We're we're proud of like the

314
00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:11,080
localization of it.
Yeah, as you should be.

315
00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:12,600
You've done a great job with it.
I appreciate it.

316
00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:15,800
So, yeah, you've also been part
of, if not currently, a bunch of

317
00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,320
other businesses as well.
Are you still juggling working

318
00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:20,280
with other businesses or what
have your experiences been with

319
00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:21,840
that?
Yeah, it's funny.

320
00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:24,080
I think before the cameras were
rolling, we were just talking

321
00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:28,440
about like taking on too much.
Maybe you're taking on too much

322
00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:31,680
the, the podcast and everything.
It's the time to do it right

323
00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:34,040
now.
And you know, the, the age that

324
00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:36,680
we are and I guess the energy
levels that we have.

325
00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:39,320
But I've realized that I've
potentially over committed

326
00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:45,680
myself to too many things.
And now my the skills that I

327
00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:50,720
need to be learning and
perfecting our delegation and I

328
00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:52,520
don't think I'm super good at
that.

329
00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:55,480
I take on a lot and I like what
you do and I ask who edits the

330
00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,240
podcast You're like why do too
yeah, who distributes the

331
00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:00,880
podcast?
Why do Well, who set up the

332
00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:02,840
studio and is doing it right?
Let's.

333
00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:03,920
Christina Help.
A.

334
00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:07,000
Lot, not much, y'all, it's all
he, but we get where you're

335
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:07,920
coming from He.
Can relate.

336
00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:11,160
Yeah, it's, it's, it's one of
those things where there's been

337
00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:13,840
moments over the last couple
years where I felt like I could

338
00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:18,120
potentially be invincible or
Superman and then I'll add a new

339
00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:21,040
project and I'll kind of get
like my knocked in a little bit.

340
00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:25,800
An example of that is my one of
my, my best friends, Braxton

341
00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:28,440
Wilson and I, we bought a party
bus last year.

342
00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:29,840
It's called the Greenville Luxe
bus.

343
00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,880
It's a really good business.
It can be a very profitable

344
00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:38,600
business, but what I'm learning
is every good business requires

345
00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:41,360
a lot of time.
It's a baby.

346
00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:45,360
It actually needs to be nurtured
and and it needs someone

347
00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:49,000
focusing on all aspects of it.
There's like, there's no such

348
00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:51,320
thing as just like throwing a
party bus into the Greenville

349
00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:53,200
market and expecting it to get
booked.

350
00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:55,360
Then who's going to drive it?
Who's going to maintain the bus?

351
00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:56,560
Who's going to run the Facebook
ads?

352
00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:57,760
Who's going to manage the social
media?

353
00:16:57,760 --> 00:17:01,160
There's customer service.
So that was a wake up call for

354
00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:04,680
for my wife and I who who joined
Braxton and his wife Grayson in

355
00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:09,079
that venture, because I'm very
passionate about learning new

356
00:17:09,079 --> 00:17:10,440
skills.
And the reason that that

357
00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:12,760
business intrigued me because
it's a service based business

358
00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:15,400
and everything I'd ever done to
this point was in like consumer

359
00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:17,599
products or consumables in
Beatbox.

360
00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:22,119
And I always thought that I
could leverage social media to

361
00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,400
make a business successful.
But there's so much more to it

362
00:17:25,839 --> 00:17:27,960
than just being good at posting
on social.

363
00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,160
And now even sometimes we
neglect the social media for

364
00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:34,080
that because it's just on lower
priority list for for a lot of

365
00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:35,880
us.
And so it's an interesting

366
00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:37,360
business.
I still think it has a lot of

367
00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:39,240
opportunity.
They just think we have to find

368
00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:42,280
an operator who's passionate
about that, like you were

369
00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:44,880
saying, maybe an intern, maybe a
Clemson student, someone who can

370
00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:48,920
come in and, and they'll learn.
They'll learn from people who

371
00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:52,320
are, are doing some unique and
fun things and, and we can

372
00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:56,200
mentor that person.
And my wife and I started a

373
00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:00,440
travel content business like 2
1/2 years ago on our honeymoon.

374
00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:03,840
I'm just fascinated by TikTok
and social media.

375
00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:08,840
And at Kanga we had a TikTok go
so viral couple years ago, we

376
00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:10,920
called Spike Day.
It was like 1,000,000 views.

377
00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:13,120
We've had videos that have had
20 and 30 million views.

378
00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:16,640
But something about this
specific TikTok, it was

379
00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:19,000
storytelling, right?
I was talking about the journey,

380
00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,920
the class project, you know,
cause and effect before and

381
00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:23,240
after.
People really resonate with

382
00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:25,720
that.
For Kanga, it brought more

383
00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:29,120
revenue and website traffic to
our site than our Shark Tank

384
00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:30,480
episode did.
One video.

385
00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:32,600
That's one video.
That's how long.

386
00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:34,920
Yeah, 60 seconds.
Unbelievable.

387
00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:40,000
So ever since that moment, like
one 1.1 million, like not even a

388
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,960
crazy amount, but it converted
people because it wasn't me

389
00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:48,280
selling them on Kanga.
It was me just sharing a journey

390
00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:52,560
and a story and some adversity
that we had faced and that just

391
00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:54,960
like struck a chord of people.
So ever since that I've been

392
00:18:54,960 --> 00:19:00,040
fascinated about organic free
traffic from just posting on all

393
00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:02,000
platforms.
And so my wife and I started

394
00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,040
posting just travel tips and
tricks on our on our honeymoon.

395
00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:08,640
I remember that Facebook page
and everything and I was like,

396
00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:10,960
I'm jumping in, where do we need
to go?

397
00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:14,120
And they've been a big help.
I ask for recommendations all

398
00:19:14,120 --> 00:19:16,480
the time, so.
My wife will critique me again

399
00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:19,680
too for, for that moment being
like we're on our honeymoon and

400
00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:22,840
you can't push the pause button,
you can't stop working.

401
00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:25,520
But it's just like, I don't know
how my, my brain is just wired

402
00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:27,760
right now.
For me, it's like it's fun.

403
00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:30,200
I like, I like being creative.
And so that's why I was talking

404
00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:32,680
earlier about how I'm trying to
step out of a sales role at

405
00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:34,040
Kanga.
I always want to be selling.

406
00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:35,800
I always want to go to the big
meetings with Dick's Sporting

407
00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:38,120
Goods Academy ACE.
But I really want to bring value

408
00:19:38,120 --> 00:19:41,040
to the business in the form of
content and social media and

409
00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:43,800
partnerships and doing more of
the brand building, building

410
00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:48,640
that Greenville connection.
And, and so the travel stuff is,

411
00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,600
has been very successful.
My, my wife was able to quit her

412
00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:54,760
occupational therapy job that
she went to grad school for and

413
00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:58,960
got her master's in just because
it's, it can be lucrative.

414
00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:03,440
And I realized the the reason it
became so lucrative was because

415
00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:05,640
we posted every single day for 2
1/2 years.

416
00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:09,400
So we're approaching game #900
we're almost, yeah, we're at

417
00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:11,800
like 2 1/2 years now.
Who does all the videos and

418
00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:13,880
edits the content and post
content?

419
00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:17,200
I, I normally do in the evenings
and weekends and that's where

420
00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:19,400
we're at this like interesting
partner life right now.

421
00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,400
We're we, we don't have
unlimited time, but we have more

422
00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:24,600
time than when we have a family
because I'm like super

423
00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:29,040
passionate about setting myself
up to be extremely involved in

424
00:20:29,120 --> 00:20:33,240
my like children's lives, be the
soccer coach, be there, like not

425
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:36,080
have to be working 12 hour days.
But right now I'll make that

426
00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:38,840
sacrifice to work those extra
hours to earn that.

427
00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,280
And so we, it's funny because a
lot of people are like, well,

428
00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:45,320
what's your day look like?
It's like, well, and I get up, I

429
00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:47,200
go to, I go to Kenya, I try to
work out in the morning.

430
00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:49,080
It happens some days, it doesn't
happen in other days.

431
00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:50,760
We'd rather play volleyball than
work.

432
00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:54,080
Out for sure would rather play
volleyball you know go to Kenya

433
00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:58,640
from between 8830 to 6:00 and
7:00 PM come home like have a

434
00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:00,960
quick dinner with Courtney and
then go upstairs to the computer

435
00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:03,120
and start working on the the
other businesses, you know

436
00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:05,520
Maxwell's travel and and the Lux
bus.

437
00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:09,560
And I think that it just it just
fascinated me how like that

438
00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:14,240
consistency of posting valuable
content to people led to a point

439
00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,640
where Courtney was like wait I
can actually like leave my full

440
00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:22,080
time job and join this you know
remote business just really

441
00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:24,400
really interesting and I think
it's because you're giving

442
00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:26,320
people information that they're
actually going to use to make

443
00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:28,520
their lives better.
We weren't like selling people

444
00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:30,120
something.
We're like now we host group

445
00:21:30,120 --> 00:21:32,120
cruises and yes, we have
affiliate links and now we have

446
00:21:32,120 --> 00:21:34,800
ways to monetize that business.
But for the first like year and

447
00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:37,200
a half, it was like, hey, I
really want to make your next

448
00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:39,480
cruise a little bit better.
I have a tip that maybe could

449
00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:41,880
help you, hey, you should use
credit card points on your

450
00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:44,640
flight instead of paying $1000
for that round trip domestic

451
00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:46,760
ticket, right?
Like this is information that

452
00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:48,960
like helped people and I think
they felt that that was a

453
00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:50,760
genuine offer so.
Definitely.

454
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:54,200
And now I see too, even on the
Facebook page, people all the

455
00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:57,560
time are putting in questions or
need advice on this or we're

456
00:21:57,560 --> 00:21:58,760
going here.
What do y'all think?

457
00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:01,680
So I feel like it's gotten
pretty active, not only with

458
00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:03,520
y'all leading it, but just the
people involved.

459
00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,480
That's the coolest thing is like
building the community of people

460
00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:07,800
who kind of just help each
other.

461
00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:10,000
Yeah, right.
Like that's the, we just host a

462
00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:12,880
group cruise with 100 people
last week and and they're from.

463
00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:16,160
I like did my introduction to
them and we had like a private

464
00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:17,320
room.
It was like a welcome cocktail

465
00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:20,400
hour and I was like, listen,
guys, like this is also very

466
00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:24,320
weird for Courtney and I that
you met us on the Internet and

467
00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:27,360
paid thousands of dollars to
come on a week to two week

468
00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:30,320
cruise with us, You know, and
it's not a scam.

469
00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:31,640
We're here.
But I get it.

470
00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:34,960
It is very strange.
But I think people just like,

471
00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:38,040
can build trust now through, you
know, moments like this,

472
00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:40,800
podcasts, people listening to
this can like maybe feel like a

473
00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,360
genuine connection and people
will take action because of

474
00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:45,640
that.
If you're like your true self.

475
00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:48,120
In that sense, and I know it's
hard to narrow down, but if you

476
00:22:48,120 --> 00:22:51,880
had to give us a top destination
from your Maxwell travels over

477
00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:54,000
the last two years, what would
you say?

478
00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:55,440
This is somewhere y'all need to
go.

479
00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:58,360
There's some Regency bias to
this, but we went to a wedding

480
00:22:58,360 --> 00:23:01,840
in South Africa this this
December, and we got to do

481
00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:04,400
everything from like Kruger
National Park to like, seeing

482
00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:06,480
the animals.
Yeah, three days of safari,

483
00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:08,560
you'll never look at the zoo the
same again.

484
00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:11,960
But then we went to Cape Town,
which is just the culture there

485
00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:13,760
is amazing.
I never felt unsafe.

486
00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:15,920
And people talk about how like
unsafe Africa can be.

487
00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:17,800
I'm sure there's lots of places
that are but.

488
00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:19,720
That's anywhere.
But that's anywhere that's

489
00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:20,960
Atlanta.
Have you been to Atlanta?

490
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:25,440
Like literally.
And and so and we went to the

491
00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:27,480
wineries they had they got
married on a winery.

492
00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:31,040
And and so that to me is like
little recency bias, but like, I

493
00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:32,960
would definitely recommend.
Yeah, it's definitely a bucket.

494
00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:34,120
List.
It's a bucket list for my

495
00:23:34,120 --> 00:23:35,480
parents.
They keep talking about it.

496
00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:38,000
They're like, we have to do a
family safari one day.

497
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:42,200
So this will be more incentive.
We're going to Japan and Vietnam

498
00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:48,760
and Cambodia this this weekend.
So I am very bullish on that

499
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,280
being a new top favorite because
we've heard just incredible

500
00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:53,000
things.
About give us recommendations.

501
00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,280
My parents are heading there
with my sister this summer

502
00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:57,760
graduation trip.
She graduates for their masters,

503
00:23:58,080 --> 00:23:59,560
so they're heading there.
That's amazing.

504
00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:01,280
That's amazing.
Goodness, all the tips.

505
00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,240
Oh well.
So going back to your business

506
00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:07,400
journey, when you reflect on
your first day at Kanga full

507
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:11,840
time, what was that like?
Scariest thing ever because so I

508
00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:13,840
worked for Beatbox all through
college.

509
00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,840
It was also Beatbox was also
part of scratching that itch

510
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:19,440
that I was never getting at
engineering like that.

511
00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:23,120
Like I just want to interact
with people and sales and

512
00:24:23,120 --> 00:24:25,840
marketing and like get a product
into new places.

513
00:24:26,120 --> 00:24:27,480
And so engineering never gave me
that.

514
00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:31,760
So I like overcompensated by
joining Beatbox Beverages and I

515
00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:35,160
feel like I was extremely well
compensated for fresh out of

516
00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:38,400
college, like better than I
would have been as an engineer.

517
00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:42,080
So leaving that leaving that
when I did have some student

518
00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:45,520
debt because grandma would only
help four years, not 4 1/2

519
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:47,040
years.
So I did have an out of state

520
00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:50,200
loan, which was still high
because Clemson is not cheap.

521
00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:55,800
I, I, I was very scared because
I took over a 50% pay cut.

522
00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:59,840
I moved from Atlanta to
Greenville and I went from a

523
00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:04,640
place of somewhat comfort in my
financial situation to extreme

524
00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:09,240
discomfort like lived by myself.
Had a nice apartment in Atlanta,

525
00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,520
could go out to nice dinners
when Courtney would visit from,

526
00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,720
you know, for the weekend to.
I need to get 3 roommates now in

527
00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:20,440
Greenville, I need to start
grocery shopping at Walmart and

528
00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:23,400
ALDI, and I need to like, really
change my lifestyle.

529
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:27,440
And it was worth it.
It was, but it was scary.

530
00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,080
What When did that decision to
leave Beatbox and do Kanga?

531
00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:35,320
Kanga just aired on Shark Tank
and it was always The hope was

532
00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:38,240
to get to that point.
Like what is the I remember

533
00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:41,720
Logan and I and Ryan, like we
jotted down what we thought our

534
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:43,760
minimum living expenses would
be.

535
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:45,640
Like what is the bare minimum we
could live off of?

536
00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:49,720
And at at which point Kanga
could cover that salary.

537
00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:52,120
That's when we would make the
transition, no questions asked.

538
00:25:52,120 --> 00:25:54,920
Take the leap of faith.
And it's easier said than done

539
00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:56,840
when you're jotting it on a
paper, then when it's time to

540
00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:01,200
put in your two weeks at Beatbox
and and join that for such a

541
00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:03,320
insignificant amount of, of
money.

542
00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:09,760
But it really like humbled me
and I gained a lot of discipline

543
00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:12,760
doing that too.
Our warehouse at the time we

544
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:16,400
moved from Logan's parents
basement, which was warehouse #1

545
00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:22,960
to LA Lower Anderson, SC.
I like that I've not heard of

546
00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:25,760
that before.
Pretty rough part of LA.

547
00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:29,920
There was like a shooting at the
gas station right next to our

548
00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:33,120
office.
We had no heat, no AC, The

549
00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:36,400
electricity had major issues
like if I wanted to microwave my

550
00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:38,400
ramen and charge my Mac at the
same time.

551
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:40,040
Like short circuit the entire
building.

552
00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:43,200
What are the other?
And sometimes like we wouldn't

553
00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:45,240
even the breaker was on the
other side of the warehouse and

554
00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:47,880
sometimes we'd be so lazy.
We just and it happened so

555
00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:49,520
frequently just work in the
dark.

556
00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:53,720
No, no lights, nothing, no, no
computer battery charging.

557
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:56,760
But we had a skate ramp in
there.

558
00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:00,400
There was the silver lining.
We were 22 years old, first

559
00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:02,720
warehouse and it was always this
butt.

560
00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,440
But how can we make this fun?
How can we make this different?

561
00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:09,880
How can people who visit us be
distracted by like how bad of a

562
00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:12,720
like work environment that was?
And all they would walk away

563
00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:16,880
from is, well, those Kanga guys
have like a like 1/2 pipe in

564
00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:21,000
their office that is so sick.
And so that was a one year

565
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:23,720
before we actually moved to like
Woodruff Road and got into the

566
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:26,640
Merivan Center that I hated at
the time.

567
00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:31,400
I hated the LA, the lower
Anderson situation.

568
00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:35,280
Like I again, it went from
extreme comfort and very well

569
00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:38,680
compensated and a nice fancy
apartment in Atlanta with a,

570
00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:42,800
with a, with a job that was
comfortable to massive

571
00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:46,280
discomfort on top of a massive,
just like I worked in an office

572
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:48,920
this size with six people on top
of each other.

573
00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:50,960
So 6 deaths backed up to each
other.

574
00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:55,600
And so I, I, when we moved to
the Marivan Center and we had

575
00:27:55,600 --> 00:28:00,440
carpet working bathrooms, 8, you
know, heat and AC, electricity,

576
00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:03,840
I was like, wow, this is like
seeing that growth, that

577
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:07,120
movement just gave us like a new
level of like wind and

578
00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:10,160
excitement in our sails.
And like, it was really cool to

579
00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:12,000
see that all kind of come
through.

580
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:14,080
And then each year we're just
like, well, we outgrew this

581
00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:15,520
space.
Let's go to a bigger space, go

582
00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:18,240
to a slightly nicer space.
Yeah.

583
00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:20,080
And it definitely humbled,
humbled me a bit.

584
00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:23,960
What are some of the goals or,
or guess what, yeah, what are

585
00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:26,440
some of the things that Kank is
focusing in on today?

586
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,560
I know you talked about having
partnerships with like Publix or

587
00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:31,200
New Realm like.
What are some of y'all's

588
00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:34,200
objectives today?
New new products, new products,

589
00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,200
new distribution.
So some of the big wins from

590
00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:42,200
like the last six months, we are
in 70 of the top Academy doors.

591
00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:45,760
We're in 2000.
Ace Hardwares, we're working

592
00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:49,320
right now on pursuing like a
Bass Pro, Cabela's, REI, Those

593
00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:50,440
are accounts we want to go
after.

594
00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:53,240
We have a really cool summer
program with Palmetto Moon,

595
00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:55,960
great local store.
We absolutely love big.

596
00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:58,880
Time companies, yeah.
Retail Retail is really

597
00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:02,240
important, hiring quality people
like that's.

598
00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:04,640
It's funny because I have some
friends in other businesses that

599
00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:08,360
are, we're primarily ecommerce,
like ecommerce first and then

600
00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:11,120
customization second.
So like we would work with

601
00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:13,080
brands and breweries and
companies to do, you know,

602
00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:17,000
unique corporate gifts and then
#3 would be retail and

603
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:19,680
wholesale.
And I have friends and other

604
00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:21,880
companies that are in a similar
position that are actually like

605
00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:24,200
slashing staff.
They're trying to lean out the

606
00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:26,080
business.
They're trying to become more

607
00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:30,400
profitable in the sense of like
having less overhead and having

608
00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:33,280
less people and like outsourcing
to contractors to do their

609
00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:36,520
marketing and to do other like
3PO and other aspects.

610
00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:39,600
King is the opposite.
We want to bring as much in

611
00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:41,360
house as possible.
So that's why you have a

612
00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:43,360
warehouse manager.
We fulfill everything in house

613
00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:44,440
here.
That's why we have all our

614
00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:46,840
marketing in house.
We just hired a product

615
00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:51,080
developer and the idea for him
is to create new innovative

616
00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:53,760
products in the cooler in the
drink Ware space over the next

617
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:57,960
couple of years so that we can
inject new products into this

618
00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:02,680
growing distribution channel.
And so that that's like the

619
00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:04,960
focal point right now.
I'm in final interviews this

620
00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:09,600
week for a sales manager to help
relieve my sales, you know,

621
00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:13,920
obligations that I have so that
I can focus on the things that

622
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:16,640
I'm better at, but also that I'm
really passionate about.

623
00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:20,040
So I think it's taking the 15
people we have at Kanga and

624
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:22,800
putting them in the roles where
they love doing it and they're

625
00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:25,800
adding the most value to the
business. 15 is pretty good. 15

626
00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:29,400
it's, it's, it's a lot of people
like HR is, is a big chunk of

627
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:31,840
our day too.
It's just like making sure that

628
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:35,160
everyone is, we don't
micromanage at all.

629
00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:36,520
Can't get like we do the
opposite.

630
00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:39,320
We give such amount of freedom
that sometimes you do have to

631
00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:42,800
come in with some guidance and
like, you know, pinpoint what

632
00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:47,320
people should be working on.
And so I, I just, I, I think

633
00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:51,560
that that strategy will pay out
better for us then cutting

634
00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:53,600
people, leaning out the
business, trying to squeeze

635
00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:56,640
profit on e-commerce and
outsource everything, think like

636
00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:58,120
great people, build great
businesses.

637
00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:01,680
And so I want to bring in the
best possible candidates now

638
00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:05,720
into the environment.
And I just, I hope that strategy

639
00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:07,280
pays off.
That's an expensive strategy,

640
00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:09,040
right?
Because like, it's a new

641
00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:11,280
headcount.
It's, it's, it's benefits for

642
00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:14,480
everyone.
It's it's another office build

643
00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:17,720
out potentially to to grow
headcount, but I have to imagine

644
00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,360
that it like investing in those
people, it will reciprocate.

645
00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:23,400
Absolutely.
So is it mostly Clemson people?

646
00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,160
It used to be.
Now we're the minority, like 4

647
00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:30,320
Clemson people left the Kanga
now, which is crazy all over.

648
00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:33,280
And that's what I've been so
impressed by is all over.

649
00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:35,640
Yeah, all over.
We've had people relocate from

650
00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:38,240
the northeast, from Colorado to
Greenville.

651
00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:41,840
One shout out, Greenville, it's
like the most incredible city

652
00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:46,760
and I think that helps us
because it is such a growing and

653
00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:51,040
fun and unique place to to live.
But I think people are really

654
00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:54,280
passionate about working at a
place that's fun and different

655
00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:59,720
and fast-paced and growing.
And so we haven't had too much

656
00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:02,280
trouble recruiting really,
really good talent.

657
00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:06,000
Even people like leaving their
other companies to like come

658
00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:09,400
join us, which is I just that's
been something I've like

659
00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:10,880
reflected on a lot in the past
year.

660
00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:13,520
I was always nervous and
thinking we had to recruit fresh

661
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:16,720
out of college, train those
people, you know, bring them

662
00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:19,600
under our wings.
And that can work to a certain

663
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:21,360
point.
But once you get once you're

664
00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:23,720
trying to get to this next
level, which you know, we want

665
00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:26,080
to have like 10 million
advocates of the brand over the

666
00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:27,880
next couple years.
Like that's insane.

667
00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:30,600
Right now we probably are
approaching a million, maybe not

668
00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:34,320
even maybe half a million
advocates for kanga coolers in

669
00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:37,320
the country of 300 + 1,000,000
people.

670
00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:41,160
We're going to need to hire
experts who teach me things.

671
00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:43,280
So that's like crazy.
Some of these like sales

672
00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:45,320
managers I'm hiring are like
they're approaching the end of

673
00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:47,560
their career, right?
But they're like, yeah, I got

674
00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:50,040
five years left in in that
sales, some right there.

675
00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:52,960
And I'm like, it will change the
dynamic of the culture, which is

676
00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:55,200
like, you know, very young and
youthful.

677
00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:59,160
But we have people ranging from
like 23 to 40 right now.

678
00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:01,200
And I think there's some value
in.

679
00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:03,520
I don't want to.
One of our mentors has called it

680
00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:05,480
like Gray hair.
It's not really Gray hair, but

681
00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:07,080
bringing some is that.
A lot at work, yes.

682
00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:09,720
I always have to bring Gray
hairs with me to meetings.

683
00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:13,680
Experience being 26, you know,
and with what I do in the

684
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:16,920
financial services industry, I'm
always bringing a Gray hair to a

685
00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:18,800
meeting, so it's a good thing.
It is a good thing.

686
00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:21,280
I don't think it's offensive.
Like, I probably have some Gray

687
00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:24,800
hair peeking out.
But I, I think, I think that is,

688
00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:29,320
is such a cool thing is to see
different types of people who

689
00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:32,240
are VPS of sales at $100 million
businesses.

690
00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:34,040
They're like, yeah, I'm familiar
with cane coolers.

691
00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:35,680
Like I'd be really interested in
applying for that role.

692
00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:39,320
And I'm like, dude, I hope we
can afford you, you know?

693
00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:44,280
But there there's also people
now I think yes, like it's so

694
00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:48,000
important to have a job that is
compensates you market or well.

695
00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:51,000
But so many people now are
caring about their work life

696
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:52,880
balance and they actually want
to enjoy what they do.

697
00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:56,200
And people are leaving jobs that
pay really well to do something

698
00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,120
for less money that they love
doing.

699
00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:02,200
I think Kenga is like very well
paying market for for everyone

700
00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:04,320
that we have.
But it's also interesting to see

701
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:08,440
people who are maybe overpaid
that are like, yeah, I'd come

702
00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:09,880
work there.
Like, that sounds like such a

703
00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:11,840
cool place to to work.
And I want to be a part of

704
00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:15,800
something like this that can
become, you know, an

705
00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:18,920
international brand, so.
Yeah, with the growth of Kenga,

706
00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:21,159
I mean it's clear and evident
y'all are growing in many ways

707
00:34:21,159 --> 00:34:25,239
and sales employees as a team,
there obviously had to be some

708
00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:27,120
obstacles along the way.
A million.

709
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:30,520
Can you share with us some that
stand out to you over the last,

710
00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:33,440
you know, 5 to 10 years where
you're like, man, this was real

711
00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:35,679
tough, but we overcame it.
We're here now.

712
00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:39,719
Yeah, there there's so many that
that's what again, I think is

713
00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:42,280
like being a leader of a team
right now.

714
00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:47,040
It's a good mix of HR and just
putting out constant fires and

715
00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:49,880
then like the other 20% is doing
the stuff that you you really

716
00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:51,239
want to do the.
Fun stuff.

717
00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:54,880
So a funny one that comes to
mind for me is a couple years

718
00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:58,560
ago we had a it was a golf
tournament for a brand that

719
00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:01,880
ordered 300 custom coolers.
Really, really, really.

720
00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:07,080
I think they were in North
Carolina and our container was

721
00:35:07,240 --> 00:35:10,080
coming from our factory.
We have a factory in China,

722
00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:14,120
Cambodia and El Salvador.
Wherever it was coming from was

723
00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:17,200
super late.
And the golf tournament, it's a

724
00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:19,840
golf tournament, like if you're
going to have player gifts, you

725
00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:21,240
got to have the product there,
right?

726
00:35:21,240 --> 00:35:23,280
Like you can't ship it to them
after.

727
00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:25,240
It doesn't have the same appeal.
If the golf tournament ordered

728
00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,040
and they thought they were going
to get it on time, it's our

729
00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:30,600
responsibility to deliver on
that and that obligation.

730
00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:33,640
So the container arrived late to
the Port of Charleston and it

731
00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:39,160
was a, we were not able to get a
chassis or a trucker to deliver

732
00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:44,320
from Charleston to Greenville.
And so Logan and I, we rented AU

733
00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:47,440
Haul from Greenville.
We drove to the Port of

734
00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:50,960
Charleston.
We broke into our container like

735
00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:55,200
we had to bring the little like
Clippers broke into our

736
00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:58,600
container.
We had like minimal permission,

737
00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:01,720
but like it was, it was funny
showing up in like a 20 foot

738
00:36:01,720 --> 00:36:04,200
U-Haul because everything at the
port of Charleston is like these

739
00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:06,800
40 foot plus huge vehicles.
It's.

740
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:08,440
A massive.
Port and we were coming in with

741
00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:12,320
this like teeny little U-Haul
and we pull in we cut into our

742
00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:14,920
container we get our product and
we drive it straight to the

743
00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:16,720
customer whose event was the
next day.

744
00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:19,200
We documented it all posted on
LinkedIn.

745
00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:21,240
There was a lot more value that
came from it, but like, that was

746
00:36:21,240 --> 00:36:23,720
something that we were like, we
will do what it takes to get

747
00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:27,600
stuff to our customer.
Another slightly funny part

748
00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:30,520
about that, when we picked up EU
Haul in the beginning and we

749
00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:33,600
opened up the door that there
was a homeless person living in

750
00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:36,600
EU Haul that we had rented,
maybe staying there a couple of

751
00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:40,560
nights or so.
So we also had to remove the

752
00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:44,040
homeless and, you know, ask them
politely, Hey, do you want to go

753
00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:46,520
to Charleston to to the shipping
port with us?

754
00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:49,400
And if not, maybe you just want
to stick around here and and

755
00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:52,720
green, I don't know how you got
in there, but it's like moments

756
00:36:52,720 --> 00:36:55,760
like that, but that that exact
story has happened, you know,

757
00:36:55,760 --> 00:36:58,360
dozens of times.
And us like going above and

758
00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:00,720
beyond to get coolers to a
customer.

759
00:37:00,720 --> 00:37:04,800
If, if there's a late arrival,
again, it's not in our control

760
00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:09,720
if the container gets held up at
customs or if the fact after he

761
00:37:09,720 --> 00:37:11,760
was three days late to, to ship
it out.

762
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:13,800
But it's still our
responsibility and obligation to

763
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:16,520
get the product to the customer
they ordered from Kanga coolers.

764
00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:20,800
And so I think we'll just do
whatever it takes to, to to

765
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:24,760
deliver our end of the bargain
to customers.

766
00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:27,280
And sometimes that does mean
like removing a homeless person

767
00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:31,080
driving round trip 6-7 hours and
breaking into a container.

768
00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:34,400
That's a great story.
Well, I think one of the most

769
00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:39,600
exciting things for us as king
of fans in an early memory is

770
00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:42,080
Shark Tank.
So y'all obviously went on the

771
00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:43,840
Shark Tank.
It went well.

772
00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:45,200
There was a huge party at
Clemson.

773
00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:47,400
We got to attend to celebrate.
I love that you guys were there.

774
00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:51,400
We loved it.
So why don't you tell us who had

775
00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:54,720
the idea to go on Shark Tank and
what was that process like?

776
00:37:55,080 --> 00:37:59,520
I think we all like Logan, Ryan
and I and and Teddy at the time,

777
00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:03,880
we were all always passionate
about going on to the show or at

778
00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:05,480
least like throwing her name in
the hat.

779
00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:08,360
But we were way too early when
we actually went on.

780
00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:12,160
So Kim from Daisy Cake, she was
on like season 2 or 3.

781
00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:13,960
She did a deal with Barbara.
She's from Spartanburg.

782
00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:19,400
She spoke at Clemson and Logan
went up to her after the the

783
00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:22,640
talk and after she presented him
was like, Hey, we have we have

784
00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:24,520
this unique product.
We're in prototype phase

785
00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:26,320
effectively, but like we'd love
an opportunity.

786
00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:28,760
Do you have any advice?
And she was like, oh, there's a

787
00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:30,880
live audition in Atlanta in like
2 weeks.

788
00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:32,120
You guys should definitely go to
it.

789
00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:33,800
And we were like, we're not
ready.

790
00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:36,000
Like it's prototype phase.
We're not ready for this.

791
00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:37,960
She was like, doesn't matter.
Go to it anyways.

792
00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:40,360
Like you'll go and learn and
then for next year you'll have a

793
00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:42,560
better understanding.
It's like, so we, we went to

794
00:38:42,560 --> 00:38:45,720
Atlanta American Idol, you know,
swizzle line.

795
00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:49,000
We stand in stand in line 45 AM
and like we're.

796
00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:50,480
Talking 10s of thousands of
people.

797
00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:55,200
It was maybe 1000 people were in
line that morning and I think

798
00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:58,640
they had, you know, 250 or 300
spots.

799
00:38:58,640 --> 00:39:00,520
So you had to be in the
beginning of the line to get

800
00:39:00,520 --> 00:39:02,680
that.
This is pre COVID.

801
00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:05,080
So they're doing a lot to like
live auditions around around the

802
00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:06,960
country.
But you get 90 seconds with the

803
00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:08,560
producers.
We pitched the producers, we

804
00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:09,560
left.
We thought nothing of it.

805
00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:11,360
We were like, OK, like we're
obviously like too small.

806
00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:13,080
We don't really have sales yet
to do this.

807
00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:16,760
And we got the call back and
they were like, now you have to

808
00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:20,480
submit a 20 minute video and you
have to sign off on all these

809
00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:22,520
documents.
And we went through that summer

810
00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:27,560
of 2018, the whole round 2-3 and
four, which is like multiple

811
00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:30,160
video submissions.
Still didn't think anything of

812
00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:32,120
it because it was like, OK,
maybe they just like thought we

813
00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:33,280
were fun.
But once they hear about our

814
00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:35,360
revenue numbers, it's not going
to be anything exciting.

815
00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:37,720
Sure enough, August comes
around.

816
00:39:37,720 --> 00:39:39,760
So March was the application in
person.

817
00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:42,200
August comes around and we get
the final call back.

818
00:39:42,200 --> 00:39:45,880
Hey guys, we booked you flights
to LAX, you're going to film it.

819
00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:48,480
So many studios, we have your
hotels here and we were all

820
00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:51,920
like, this is crazy.
But at the time we had only done

821
00:39:51,920 --> 00:39:54,400
the Kickstarter campaign, like
truly had only done the

822
00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:57,240
Kickstarter campaign, which was
like $40,000 in revenue and our

823
00:39:57,240 --> 00:40:00,360
brain, it was like $40,000 in
revenue is just going to get

824
00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:02,600
laughed off the stage.
If you guys have you, we've all

825
00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:05,520
seen the show like that's and
that's not a very attractive

826
00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:08,360
amount of top line revenue.
We'd only been in business a

827
00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:11,320
couple months, but still we
thought $100,000 was the number

828
00:40:11,320 --> 00:40:14,040
we had to get to in order to
impress.

829
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:18,200
The sharks.
So for I guess it was July,

830
00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:21,840
August and the first half of
September, we hustled to sell

831
00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:24,600
custom coolers.
We called law firms, we called

832
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:28,200
real estate agents, we called
accountants, we called every

833
00:40:28,720 --> 00:40:32,160
basically like B to B business.
We could think of breweries to

834
00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:34,920
try to do full custom orders and
get P OS in hand.

835
00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:37,000
So we at least had that revenue
that we could go in the show

836
00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:37,480
with.
Nice.

837
00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:41,800
And in that two-month, maybe 2
1/2 month period, we generated

838
00:40:41,800 --> 00:40:44,320
another $60,000 in revenue just
from hustling.

839
00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:48,560
So we got to our 100,000 mark,
one of the show filmed.

840
00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:52,360
We were surprisingly very
successful because I didn't

841
00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:54,200
think it was going to be as easy
as it was.

842
00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:57,520
One of the reasons I thought it
went as well as it did was

843
00:40:57,520 --> 00:41:01,200
because the week before we flew
out, we had five extremely

844
00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:03,640
successful South Carolina
entrepreneurs come meet us at

845
00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:07,000
the Watt Center at Clemson and
do a fake mini Shark Tank.

846
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:10,720
So for an hour and a half, we
told them, RIP our business

847
00:41:10,720 --> 00:41:13,920
apart, be serious, like take
this, we are going to film, film

848
00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:16,640
it and analyze it.
So we went into this room, Dun

849
00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:18,760
Dun, Dun, Dun Dun, you know, the
music, everything.

850
00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:21,440
And they were five sharks
pretending to be sharks.

851
00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:24,840
And it was very difficult
because they did dive into the

852
00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:26,600
business details for an hour and
a half.

853
00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:28,920
They kind of like ripped us to
pieces.

854
00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:32,320
We asked for it, but then we
learned how we would better

855
00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:35,200
respond to some of those
difficult questions then now

856
00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:37,840
when you get on Shark Tank, we
passed out beers.

857
00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:40,040
I had a beer in hand.
We're wearing a kangaroo suit.

858
00:41:40,040 --> 00:41:42,640
The sharks were in a good mood.
They didn't ask any difficult

859
00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:46,040
questions.
It felt very seamless because we

860
00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:48,200
were so over prepared for that
moment.

861
00:41:48,720 --> 00:41:51,000
We wish they had asked us some
of the tougher questions that

862
00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:53,080
the Clemson entrepreneurs in the
South Carolina entrepreneurs

863
00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:55,200
asked us a week prior.
Never got around to it.

864
00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:56,920
We just knew our stuff.
We seemed confident.

865
00:41:57,080 --> 00:41:59,200
We controlled the room.
Obviously everyone feels more

866
00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:01,240
confident when they have a beer
in hand and they're like, you

867
00:42:01,240 --> 00:42:02,440
know, having that back and
forth.

868
00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:06,960
And maybe Cuban had a couple
beers in a few minutes and we

869
00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:08,320
were in there for like 25
minutes.

870
00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:11,520
They made an offer.
We did the deal on the show and,

871
00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:15,680
and, and it aired in April of
2019.

872
00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:19,560
So it was 13 months from
application to that episode

873
00:42:19,560 --> 00:42:21,640
airing.
And no, people, a lot of people

874
00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:24,080
don't realize how long the the
process actually is.

875
00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:29,080
Yeah, but I still think Kanga
would get to the success that

876
00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:31,120
it's at today without Shark
Tank.

877
00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:34,640
But I think it catapulted us
probably one to two years into

878
00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:37,680
the future.
It made things easier as we were

879
00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:40,520
selling into retailers, as we
were trying to leverage

880
00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:42,680
advertisements or open new
doors.

881
00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:45,920
So I think the Shark Tank effect
is really powerful, but I still

882
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:49,280
believe in our our team and the
product that it would get to

883
00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:51,200
where we are now.
Yeah, maybe we just wouldn't

884
00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:52,280
need another year or two.
Yeah.

885
00:42:52,280 --> 00:42:54,840
So you all accepted that offer
from Mark Cuban pretty quickly,

886
00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:56,200
it looks like in the episode,
yeah.

887
00:42:56,280 --> 00:42:58,400
Did you actually have some
discussion on the side that was

888
00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:02,880
kind of edited out or?
No, we had our constraints that

889
00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:04,400
we agreed on before the show.
Yeah.

890
00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:08,920
So if it was like Cuban at 20%
for $100,000, except if it was

891
00:43:08,920 --> 00:43:13,400
Cuban plus one other shark at
20% for 100K, except if it was

892
00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:16,400
any other shark, it was like 15
percent was the match we were

893
00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:18,320
gonna do.
So we wanted Mark in that

894
00:43:18,320 --> 00:43:21,920
situation for lots of like
partnership reasons in the NBA

895
00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:23,440
and the sports background and
such.

896
00:43:23,960 --> 00:43:26,920
But we would have taken an an
offer from a lot of them.

897
00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:29,600
They never even had an
opportunity to go out because

898
00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:32,760
Cuban was like, I need to know
right now, take it or leave it.

899
00:43:33,080 --> 00:43:34,440
This the.
Shot clock.

900
00:43:34,560 --> 00:43:35,840
Up.
There's no negotiation.

901
00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:38,480
And the other thing that we did
really to to prepare for that

902
00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:41,640
moment is we watched nearly
every episode up until that

903
00:43:41,640 --> 00:43:45,920
point and we jotted down notes.
We knew if there was multiple

904
00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:48,640
occasions where Mark said it's
shot clock, take it or leave it.

905
00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:51,160
And the entrepreneur didn't take
it right away and tried to like

906
00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:54,400
either negotiate or push back.
And Mark would get pissed off

907
00:43:54,480 --> 00:43:57,000
and say I'm out and pull and,
you know, redact his offer.

908
00:43:57,160 --> 00:43:58,400
He really meant to take it or
leave.

909
00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:00,080
It take it or leave it.
And we felt like we were in

910
00:44:00,080 --> 00:44:03,160
control until that moment.
And I think that was especially

911
00:44:03,160 --> 00:44:05,960
for TV.
It again, you got to think ABC

912
00:44:05,960 --> 00:44:09,160
puts on a TV show.
It needs to be entertaining for

913
00:44:09,160 --> 00:44:11,800
the audience watching.
And so that was really important

914
00:44:11,800 --> 00:44:14,320
to us too, to make it, you know,
stand on the cool, accept the

915
00:44:14,320 --> 00:44:15,920
deal.
It was within the constraints.

916
00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:19,240
And yeah, there's been big
moments like since then, though.

917
00:44:19,240 --> 00:44:21,440
It's crazy.
I think maybe 15 to 20 million

918
00:44:21,440 --> 00:44:24,360
people totals are Shark Tank
episode, like maybe 10 million

919
00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:26,640
live.
Then you've got like Hulu and

920
00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:29,720
CNBC in the reruns.
Last year, we won a contest that

921
00:44:29,720 --> 00:44:34,560
Shopify hosted with Mr. Beast.
And so Shopify basically is one

922
00:44:34,560 --> 00:44:38,320
of his largest advertisers and
Shopify goes, you know, we,

923
00:44:38,320 --> 00:44:41,680
we're paying Mr. BS X millions
of dollars for this ad placement

924
00:44:41,680 --> 00:44:43,680
in one of his videos.
But we're going to do something

925
00:44:43,680 --> 00:44:46,120
for our merchants.
We're going to give away this ad

926
00:44:46,120 --> 00:44:49,760
space to a lucky small business.
So we just threw our name in the

927
00:44:49,760 --> 00:44:52,840
hat, shot in the dark.
I had 0% confidence we would get

928
00:44:52,840 --> 00:44:55,720
it, but I said why not like
apply for this anyways, they

929
00:44:55,720 --> 00:44:58,120
called us Kanga coolers.
Congratulations, you've been

930
00:44:58,120 --> 00:45:01,440
selected for the free Shopify
Mr. Beast advertisement.

931
00:45:01,760 --> 00:45:06,040
It's a 92nd clip and one of his
most popular videos is where

932
00:45:06,040 --> 00:45:09,440
this guy lives in a grocery
store and he gets $10,000 for

933
00:45:09,440 --> 00:45:11,160
every day that he survives in
the grocery store.

934
00:45:11,400 --> 00:45:15,440
But every day he has to donate a
portion of the food and the

935
00:45:15,440 --> 00:45:19,040
resources in there to charity.
So he's getting less stuff in

936
00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:21,520
the where in the grocery store
as days are going on.

937
00:45:21,680 --> 00:45:25,160
It's very interesting episode
that video between Twitter and

938
00:45:25,160 --> 00:45:28,480
YouTube or X in YouTube it's
over like 600 million you're on

939
00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:32,240
that episode we're on that
episode 600 million views, but

940
00:45:33,000 --> 00:45:37,040
Shark Tank and that TikTok still
converted more sales and

941
00:45:37,040 --> 00:45:38,720
revenue.
Why do you think that is?

942
00:45:38,720 --> 00:45:39,880
It's.
Not all about the views, it's

943
00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:42,240
quality or quantity.
Yeah, who's Mr. Beast's

944
00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:44,360
audience?
It's like Indian people, it's

945
00:45:45,560 --> 00:45:48,120
like India like loves.
Him, yes, he he's very

946
00:45:48,120 --> 00:45:50,360
international and we don't have
a presence in international and

947
00:45:50,360 --> 00:45:53,320
it's very young.
I figured it's definitely a

948
00:45:53,880 --> 00:45:55,680
elementary to high school age
group.

949
00:45:55,920 --> 00:45:58,800
So we got lots of requests for a
lunch box.

950
00:45:59,040 --> 00:46:02,720
So last year we launched a lunch
box slash beer cooler.

951
00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:07,120
I love this called the brew box.
I love it to appeal to again,

952
00:46:07,120 --> 00:46:11,080
not to young kids, but just to
offer a different version of our

953
00:46:11,080 --> 00:46:14,800
product that could appeal on to
the blue collar worker who's

954
00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:16,760
once enjoys beers in the
afternoon.

955
00:46:16,760 --> 00:46:19,600
But take, you know, take his
lunch firm with the for the

956
00:46:19,600 --> 00:46:20,200
daytime.
But.

957
00:46:20,360 --> 00:46:22,480
You take lunch every day.
I mean, there's lots of people

958
00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:23,760
who take lunch to work every
day.

959
00:46:23,960 --> 00:46:25,800
That's right, I might go get a
little king of lunch.

960
00:46:25,800 --> 00:46:27,880
I'll tell.
You the one that the one that I

961
00:46:27,880 --> 00:46:29,280
brought you the pouch, you
definitely can.

962
00:46:29,280 --> 00:46:33,760
But we do have one that's
purpose built for, for because

963
00:46:33,760 --> 00:46:36,160
of that moment and because it's
just like, and so that's what I

964
00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:39,480
think we're doing now and in the
future is like whatever our

965
00:46:39,480 --> 00:46:42,120
customers want.
Where is the gap in the market?

966
00:46:42,120 --> 00:46:43,480
The cooler space is very
crowded.

967
00:46:43,720 --> 00:46:45,400
The drink Ware space is even
more crowded.

968
00:46:45,880 --> 00:46:49,120
What can we introduce that's
unique, different, innovative

969
00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:52,720
and fun that's different from
what these other guys are

970
00:46:52,720 --> 00:46:54,000
bringing out?
And I think the biggest thing

971
00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:57,520
that Kanga is different is we
value convenience over

972
00:46:57,520 --> 00:47:00,680
performance, but we still want
it to perform good enough.

973
00:47:01,080 --> 00:47:03,960
So in my opinion, if you have a
12 pack of beer and you're

974
00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:07,880
drinking it with someone else,
6-7 hours is plenty of time for

975
00:47:07,880 --> 00:47:10,560
two people to enjoy 12 beers,
right?

976
00:47:10,760 --> 00:47:14,040
And so we value the lightweight
convenience, portability of our

977
00:47:14,040 --> 00:47:16,280
products over that 12 pack of
beer.

978
00:47:16,280 --> 00:47:19,160
Sinkhole for two weeks.
What does the product design

979
00:47:19,440 --> 00:47:21,320
process look like?
Have an idea?

980
00:47:21,320 --> 00:47:24,000
It's actually getting it
manufactured and the actual

981
00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:25,760
final product.
Yeah, great question.

982
00:47:25,760 --> 00:47:29,640
It's it's sketches drawing, it's
brainstorming first and then

983
00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:32,920
it's trying to build a prototype
with a 3D printer or ordering

984
00:47:32,920 --> 00:47:35,280
materials and actually like
taping it up and putting it

985
00:47:35,280 --> 00:47:37,160
together.
And so we hired a guy last year,

986
00:47:37,160 --> 00:47:40,320
Brad for product Evo and he's
been working super hard on

987
00:47:40,320 --> 00:47:42,640
launching.
We've 12 ideas right now on the

988
00:47:42,640 --> 00:47:45,520
on the drawing board and I think
we're going to bring 7 to market

989
00:47:45,520 --> 00:47:49,480
in the next two years from drink
Ware to coolers to accessories

990
00:47:49,480 --> 00:47:52,960
to some really fun creative
things that I think are going to

991
00:47:52,960 --> 00:47:55,400
be impactful.
And that's what's like that's

992
00:47:55,400 --> 00:47:57,560
what's so interesting about the
position we're in right now is

993
00:47:57,560 --> 00:48:02,000
we cannot just launch another
hard sided cooler or another

994
00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:03,680
soft sided cooler or another
cup.

995
00:48:04,240 --> 00:48:09,120
Kanga's brand, although can feel
strong in in a microscopic in a

996
00:48:09,120 --> 00:48:11,240
lens.
But when you look at the scope

997
00:48:11,240 --> 00:48:14,320
of the United States, like there
are massive brands that can slap

998
00:48:14,320 --> 00:48:16,440
a logo on a dog bowl and sell it
really well.

999
00:48:16,720 --> 00:48:18,760
Kanga's not there yet.
So we actually have to introduce

1000
00:48:18,760 --> 00:48:21,600
products that are highly
innovative, highly

1001
00:48:21,600 --> 00:48:23,960
differentiated.
And so that's what's important

1002
00:48:23,960 --> 00:48:29,200
right now is not launching stuff
that is just super common, but

1003
00:48:29,200 --> 00:48:31,160
maybe adding our own unique
tweak.

1004
00:48:31,160 --> 00:48:33,680
Like some of our, our koozies
are unique and that they have a

1005
00:48:33,680 --> 00:48:34,880
finger strap built onto the
side.

1006
00:48:34,880 --> 00:48:37,640
And people love that.
Like they, they eat that up.

1007
00:48:37,840 --> 00:48:40,360
Our coolers are functional in
that they can be used without

1008
00:48:40,360 --> 00:48:42,960
ice or with ice.
They're portable.

1009
00:48:42,960 --> 00:48:44,560
You can fold it up, throw it in
a suitcase.

1010
00:48:44,560 --> 00:48:47,960
And so we have to look through
that lens for every single item

1011
00:48:47,960 --> 00:48:50,520
that we that we launch.
Yeah, that's detailed.

1012
00:48:50,680 --> 00:48:54,200
So in thinking about Kenga and
all that you've learned over

1013
00:48:54,200 --> 00:48:57,600
these years, if you could start
over with Kenga again today,

1014
00:48:57,600 --> 00:49:00,320
what would you do differently?
Good question.

1015
00:49:00,320 --> 00:49:05,280
I think I would continue to
invest in quality people and it

1016
00:49:05,280 --> 00:49:08,120
probably invest even earlier
like I would.

1017
00:49:08,440 --> 00:49:12,400
I would try to get more experts
in the building in their

1018
00:49:12,400 --> 00:49:16,800
specific field at an earlier
stage so that we didn't have to

1019
00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:19,080
make mistakes along the way and
learn them.

1020
00:49:19,400 --> 00:49:22,920
Now there's value in what we
learned by doing it ourselves

1021
00:49:22,920 --> 00:49:26,160
and that we have maybe a more
well-rounded perspective right

1022
00:49:26,160 --> 00:49:28,160
now.
But I think the money that could

1023
00:49:28,160 --> 00:49:31,680
have been saved by just hiring
an expert would have prevented

1024
00:49:31,680 --> 00:49:33,680
some of those mistakes from
happening.

1025
00:49:34,400 --> 00:49:36,440
And the other thing, I think I
would have even doubled down

1026
00:49:36,440 --> 00:49:40,440
more on media and storytelling
that we post almost every day on

1027
00:49:40,440 --> 00:49:43,720
TikTok on on Kanga and we post
like 4 times a day during Q4

1028
00:49:43,720 --> 00:49:45,920
during the holiday season on
TikTok.

1029
00:49:45,920 --> 00:49:49,040
It's cross posted against
YouTube shorts, Facebook reels,

1030
00:49:49,040 --> 00:49:51,720
Instagram reels, Pinterest,
Twitter.

1031
00:49:52,680 --> 00:49:55,560
It's like 6 or 7 platforms that
it one video goes across.

1032
00:49:56,760 --> 00:49:59,680
But looking back, I would have
doubled that output.

1033
00:49:59,920 --> 00:50:03,000
I would have done more videos,
more storytelling because it's

1034
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:04,880
free.
The only thing that it's taking

1035
00:50:04,880 --> 00:50:07,880
is, is your time, which
obviously is extremely valuable.

1036
00:50:08,120 --> 00:50:11,960
But if that time can convert to
a free video that generates

1037
00:50:11,960 --> 00:50:14,560
1,000,000 views and brings more
revenue than a Shark Tank

1038
00:50:14,560 --> 00:50:18,000
episode does, that time is well
worth the what, what you're

1039
00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:19,960
using.
And so, you know, I'm, I'm just

1040
00:50:19,960 --> 00:50:22,920
so fascinated by organic and I
still think we're at the early

1041
00:50:23,120 --> 00:50:26,440
stages because there's so many
consumers of social media and

1042
00:50:26,440 --> 00:50:29,040
there's not that many creators,
not that many people who are

1043
00:50:29,040 --> 00:50:31,080
still hitting post.
They're just scrolling all day

1044
00:50:31,080 --> 00:50:32,480
long.
So.

1045
00:50:32,720 --> 00:50:35,720
Is there a tool that you use to
post something cross-platform,

1046
00:50:35,720 --> 00:50:36,920
or do you have to do it
individually?

1047
00:50:37,120 --> 00:50:39,400
We've looked into a lot of those
tools before.

1048
00:50:39,400 --> 00:50:43,760
I have not found one that fits
exactly the distribution

1049
00:50:43,760 --> 00:50:46,880
strategy that we're trying to
have, so it's still very manual.

1050
00:50:46,880 --> 00:50:50,320
I think the best solution we're
going to have is just hiring a

1051
00:50:50,320 --> 00:50:52,760
contractor who can help us with
the distribution.

1052
00:50:52,760 --> 00:50:56,640
But I usually want to manually
and physically hit POST on each

1053
00:50:56,760 --> 00:50:58,680
platform.
I think there's an algorithm

1054
00:50:58,680 --> 00:51:02,040
component that actually benefits
that as opposed to as opposed to

1055
00:51:02,040 --> 00:51:04,200
like an auto generated.
Do you study the post?

1056
00:51:04,280 --> 00:51:07,400
For algorithms.
I wouldn't say I study, yes, I

1057
00:51:07,400 --> 00:51:10,280
guess I, I do, I study, I study
them in the sense that like I

1058
00:51:10,280 --> 00:51:12,200
am, I consume a lot of media
myself.

1059
00:51:12,200 --> 00:51:15,280
And I understand, I think what
works in, in and how things

1060
00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:17,680
work.
And that my #1 conclusion that I

1061
00:51:17,680 --> 00:51:21,120
have from social media analysis
over the last couple years is I

1062
00:51:21,120 --> 00:51:24,800
just think a volume approach
works better than a quality over

1063
00:51:24,800 --> 00:51:27,240
quantity.
Now, if you can do quality

1064
00:51:27,240 --> 00:51:30,600
quantity posts, if you can have
really good posts in quantity,

1065
00:51:30,600 --> 00:51:32,280
that's great.
But when people are asking and

1066
00:51:32,280 --> 00:51:34,760
they're starting off, hey,
should I post one time a week?

1067
00:51:34,920 --> 00:51:38,320
Should I post 7 * a week?
I always say 7 * a week.

1068
00:51:38,320 --> 00:51:43,040
Even if it's only 80% quality,
the amount of efficiency and

1069
00:51:43,040 --> 00:51:46,400
learning that you're going to
get from hitting post 7 * a week

1070
00:51:46,400 --> 00:51:49,840
as opposed to that one after a
month goes by and you've done 28

1071
00:51:49,840 --> 00:51:52,400
posts and person B has only done
4 posts.

1072
00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:55,880
It's like you've learned so much
and you understand how the

1073
00:51:55,880 --> 00:51:58,040
audience is responding to your
content, so you actually know

1074
00:51:58,040 --> 00:51:59,520
what type of content to focus
on.

1075
00:52:00,160 --> 00:52:03,240
Yeah, I just exactly.
I just think volume is like

1076
00:52:03,480 --> 00:52:04,680
that's what we did with Maxwell
Travel.

1077
00:52:04,680 --> 00:52:06,440
That's what we do with King.
That's what I wish we could do

1078
00:52:06,440 --> 00:52:09,840
with the the Greenville Lux bus.
It's like a volume of of content

1079
00:52:09,840 --> 00:52:12,360
because you just learn what the
audience does and and then they

1080
00:52:12,360 --> 00:52:14,760
can expect like the content will
improve.

1081
00:52:14,760 --> 00:52:16,160
Your first hundredth posts may
suck.

1082
00:52:16,160 --> 00:52:19,720
The 101's going to be pretty
decent. 1000 your thousandth

1083
00:52:19,720 --> 00:52:21,640
post probably going to be
incredible.

1084
00:52:22,160 --> 00:52:23,360
Right.
But you are getting close to

1085
00:52:23,360 --> 00:52:25,560
that on some of your own the the
travel agency stuff.

1086
00:52:25,560 --> 00:52:27,560
You have 100 hundred days, I
think.

1087
00:52:27,600 --> 00:52:30,200
Yeah, three more months.
You'll be 1000.

1088
00:52:30,200 --> 00:52:31,800
Haven't missed a day.
That's one thing like we

1089
00:52:31,800 --> 00:52:33,600
probably Courtney pride
ourselves on, like we have

1090
00:52:33,600 --> 00:52:36,520
simply not missed a day if we
have to schedule it in the app

1091
00:52:36,520 --> 00:52:39,960
or if we have to, like, buy
Wi-Fi at a random cafe or

1092
00:52:39,960 --> 00:52:43,200
something crazy like we will to
get that video posted.

1093
00:52:43,200 --> 00:52:45,040
Yeah.
Kind of on the lines of volume.

1094
00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:47,920
How often has your Shark Tank
Shark Tank episode aired?

1095
00:52:48,360 --> 00:52:50,920
Crazy.
We had a rerun 2 nights ago.

1096
00:52:51,440 --> 00:52:57,000
I think we get roughly one per
month on CNBC and CNBC is a much

1097
00:52:57,000 --> 00:53:01,000
smaller audience than ABC.
But again, the episode performed

1098
00:53:01,000 --> 00:53:03,560
really well.
I don't credit any of that to

1099
00:53:03,560 --> 00:53:05,120
King of Coolers.
Maybe a teeny bit.

1100
00:53:05,320 --> 00:53:07,800
The company that went right
before us, they had a door

1101
00:53:07,800 --> 00:53:08,760
stopper.
I don't know if you guys

1102
00:53:08,760 --> 00:53:10,640
remember when, I don't know when
the last time we watched our

1103
00:53:10,640 --> 00:53:12,960
whole episode, but we watched it
that night at 356.

1104
00:53:13,440 --> 00:53:17,360
Their product is a door stopper
to prevent thefts and so their

1105
00:53:17,360 --> 00:53:21,200
pitch was showing you how easy
it was to break into a regular

1106
00:53:21,200 --> 00:53:22,920
door.
They couldn't break it, I

1107
00:53:22,920 --> 00:53:24,520
remember.
They kept kicking the door and

1108
00:53:24,680 --> 00:53:27,800
it wouldn't come down.
So that failure of a pitch,

1109
00:53:27,800 --> 00:53:30,760
which I'm sure that business is
like very successful because

1110
00:53:30,760 --> 00:53:33,560
it's a good product, but that
failure of a pitch just

1111
00:53:33,560 --> 00:53:37,120
projected the the website, the
the actual episode success it's.

1112
00:53:37,440 --> 00:53:39,280
Memorable.
We're riding the coat tails a

1113
00:53:39,280 --> 00:53:43,600
little bit of that one for sure.
So you've been part of a handful

1114
00:53:43,600 --> 00:53:46,080
of other businesses, you've been
part of Beatbox, which actually

1115
00:53:46,080 --> 00:53:47,760
really quick.
What was your role with Beatbox?

1116
00:53:47,760 --> 00:53:49,480
We didn't really get into.
That it was a sales role.

1117
00:53:49,480 --> 00:53:52,000
I think that that was something,
again, it was overcompensating

1118
00:53:52,000 --> 00:53:54,440
for hating the engineering
stuff.

1119
00:53:54,440 --> 00:53:56,960
I was learning, I was just
fascinated by like people and

1120
00:53:56,960 --> 00:54:00,560
conversations and, and, and
because selling isn't really

1121
00:54:00,560 --> 00:54:02,520
selling.
It's just like, how well do you

1122
00:54:02,800 --> 00:54:04,080
have a relationship with
someone?

1123
00:54:04,240 --> 00:54:06,360
If they trust you and they like
you and they think your products

1124
00:54:06,360 --> 00:54:08,520
actually going to like make them
money or add value to their

1125
00:54:08,520 --> 00:54:10,160
lives, they're going to buy it
from you.

1126
00:54:10,160 --> 00:54:14,000
And Beatbox was that bucks is a
200 + 1,000,000 dollar company

1127
00:54:14,000 --> 00:54:15,360
right now, which is
unbelievable.

1128
00:54:15,360 --> 00:54:17,880
They've absolutely catapulted.
We were just a couple 1,000,000

1129
00:54:17,880 --> 00:54:19,480
bucks when I, when I worked with
them.

1130
00:54:19,480 --> 00:54:23,360
But I, I, I managed people and
distributors and a sales team.

1131
00:54:23,360 --> 00:54:26,080
And that's why I think it
translated in the beginning

1132
00:54:26,080 --> 00:54:28,040
stages of Kenga.
But now that Kenga is getting to

1133
00:54:28,040 --> 00:54:30,680
the scale it is, I just think
there's better people suited to

1134
00:54:30,680 --> 00:54:32,800
be our sales manager and to, to
take.

1135
00:54:33,080 --> 00:54:35,760
And I actually am like, OK,
saying that I don't have the ego

1136
00:54:35,760 --> 00:54:37,600
to be like, no, it's got to be
me.

1137
00:54:37,600 --> 00:54:39,040
I want to be the one to build
this.

1138
00:54:39,040 --> 00:54:41,760
I want to focus on the things
that I think I had the most

1139
00:54:41,760 --> 00:54:44,960
value on and and hire people who
are better than I am at the

1140
00:54:44,960 --> 00:54:47,600
things that I'm not as good on.
And I think I could get Ken get

1141
00:54:47,600 --> 00:54:50,600
to this point again in it or
another business to this stage

1142
00:54:50,600 --> 00:54:53,320
if as a sales leader.
But to where we're trying to go,

1143
00:54:53,320 --> 00:54:55,600
yeah, I'm not the guy and I'm OK
with that.

1144
00:54:55,920 --> 00:54:58,040
I'm excited to bring in someone
who's going to teach us and

1145
00:54:58,040 --> 00:55:00,920
teach me.
And even if it's Gray hair, it's

1146
00:55:00,920 --> 00:55:02,440
all good.
It's probably better.

1147
00:55:02,440 --> 00:55:05,120
It's preferred.
What fuels you as an

1148
00:55:05,120 --> 00:55:08,280
entrepreneur?
Everything I come back today, we

1149
00:55:08,280 --> 00:55:11,080
talked about it a little bit
before is right now I'm so

1150
00:55:11,080 --> 00:55:14,240
focused on eventually having
freedom of time.

1151
00:55:14,480 --> 00:55:16,440
I don't have freedom of time
right now.

1152
00:55:16,440 --> 00:55:21,000
I'm definitely involved in too
many things that are I'm I'm

1153
00:55:21,000 --> 00:55:24,720
needed in to to keep them going
and to be successful.

1154
00:55:25,560 --> 00:55:29,000
But when I have a family, I want
that time back.

1155
00:55:29,040 --> 00:55:33,280
I want to have businesses and
systems built that allow me to,

1156
00:55:33,520 --> 00:55:39,160
if I want to go pick up the kids
at 2:00 from school, if I want

1157
00:55:39,800 --> 00:55:44,760
to travel freely, if I want to
exercise when I want to exercise

1158
00:55:44,760 --> 00:55:47,200
like that is that is like my
North star right now.

1159
00:55:47,520 --> 00:55:50,240
But at the same time, I need to
be in a financial position to

1160
00:55:50,240 --> 00:55:54,480
support my family to, to allow
that and to be a good dad and a

1161
00:55:54,480 --> 00:55:57,960
good entrepreneur.
So right now I'm just busting,

1162
00:55:57,960 --> 00:56:01,680
busting my butt to try to build
a system that can allow me to

1163
00:56:01,680 --> 00:56:03,440
get there.
I'll never like, I don't see

1164
00:56:03,480 --> 00:56:05,400
ever wanting to retire.
I'm not the one who's like,

1165
00:56:05,640 --> 00:56:07,880
can't wait to retire when I'm 40
years old.

1166
00:56:08,240 --> 00:56:11,960
You know, I used to think like
that, like I turn 30 tomorrow

1167
00:56:11,960 --> 00:56:15,640
and I used to put so much, much
pressure on myself to be at a

1168
00:56:15,640 --> 00:56:18,200
certain place.
By the time I hit these like,

1169
00:56:18,600 --> 00:56:21,400
metrics for ages, I don't feel
that anymore.

1170
00:56:21,400 --> 00:56:25,000
In the last two years, I've just
had such better perspective on

1171
00:56:25,000 --> 00:56:28,880
what's really important.
It's like family and health and

1172
00:56:28,880 --> 00:56:31,840
freedom of time and being able
to pursue the things that like,

1173
00:56:31,840 --> 00:56:33,880
genuinely make you happy.
It's not money.

1174
00:56:34,360 --> 00:56:36,360
Money unlocks a lot of those
things, right?

1175
00:56:36,360 --> 00:56:39,720
So like, yes, I'm still going
after that, but it's not for the

1176
00:56:39,720 --> 00:56:42,440
dollars to purchase things.
It's for the dollars that can

1177
00:56:42,440 --> 00:56:45,840
purchase that freedom of time to
do the things that make me

1178
00:56:45,880 --> 00:56:48,440
really, really happy.
And so that's, that's the North

1179
00:56:48,440 --> 00:56:50,160
Star right now.
And that's what I'm, I'm

1180
00:56:50,160 --> 00:56:52,960
actively going off of.
And so like you, we need to

1181
00:56:52,960 --> 00:56:55,800
become experts in delegation.
And it's not something I'm an

1182
00:56:55,800 --> 00:56:58,840
expert at right now.
And so I'm trying to learn, you

1183
00:56:58,840 --> 00:57:00,520
know, one of the books I'm
reading right now is by Dan

1184
00:57:00,520 --> 00:57:02,560
Martel and it's like how to buy
back your time.

1185
00:57:02,840 --> 00:57:05,000
He talks a lot about virtual
assistants and executive

1186
00:57:05,000 --> 00:57:07,640
assistants and how to delegate
certain aspects of your day to

1187
00:57:07,640 --> 00:57:10,120
other people to free you up to
the things that you're really,

1188
00:57:10,120 --> 00:57:14,160
really good at.
So like that's 20252026 hard and

1189
00:57:14,160 --> 00:57:16,800
heavy goal is to get to a better
place there because it's

1190
00:57:16,800 --> 00:57:19,080
overwhelming.
You know, like I do, I daily

1191
00:57:19,080 --> 00:57:22,920
feel like overwhelmed.
I've pulled off that pressure of

1192
00:57:22,920 --> 00:57:27,800
myself to like hit X revenue
metrics or personal financial

1193
00:57:27,800 --> 00:57:30,200
goals by the age of 30.
Like that's me.

1194
00:57:30,360 --> 00:57:33,000
I think that that that my 30s
decade is going to be my best

1195
00:57:33,000 --> 00:57:36,640
decade yet.
But it's because I now know

1196
00:57:36,640 --> 00:57:39,040
what's really important.
I didn't right out of college.

1197
00:57:39,040 --> 00:57:41,840
Dude, there's too much pressure.
Our parents are pressuring us.

1198
00:57:41,840 --> 00:57:44,280
Our our friends are pressuring.
You're comparing yourself to

1199
00:57:44,280 --> 00:57:47,280
your, your friend who got the
big boy job and you, you're

1200
00:57:47,280 --> 00:57:51,440
selling a, a koozie for a case
of beer for, you know, basically

1201
00:57:51,440 --> 00:57:54,640
ramen money.
And, and that that like weighs

1202
00:57:54,640 --> 00:57:57,000
on you a lot.
But like, once you have a little

1203
00:57:57,000 --> 00:57:59,920
bit better Peace of Mind after
the years go by and you realize,

1204
00:57:59,920 --> 00:58:02,960
like, it, it's going to be OK,
it's going to work out.

1205
00:58:03,400 --> 00:58:05,600
Or you at least have to like
blindly believe that it's going

1206
00:58:05,600 --> 00:58:08,640
to work out.
It it's puts you in a better

1207
00:58:08,640 --> 00:58:10,680
place.
I learned a ton from that.

1208
00:58:10,680 --> 00:58:12,000
Awesome.
We're getting closer now or so

1209
00:58:12,000 --> 00:58:13,200
we'll wrap it up, but I
appreciate it.

1210
00:58:13,200 --> 00:58:14,360
Man, That was great.
Happy early.

1211
00:58:14,480 --> 00:58:16,760
Birthday.
Thank you.

1212
00:58:17,080 --> 00:58:17,640
Good decade.