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Jan. 8, 2025

Dunkin' Dilemmas & Using Courage To Make Decisions 235

Dunkin' Dilemmas & Using Courage To Make Decisions 235

As we journey through this episode, we also confront some big questions about the future of the podcast. I open up about concerns over declining listenership and the commitment to keep making a difference as long as it resonates with our community. Through my candid reflections, I invite you to connect, share feedback, and help shape the future of our shared journey. These episodes are a testament to the everyday challenges and triumphs we all face, and your support remains the heartbeat of our podcasting adventure.

The episode takes a bold stance on courage, urging you to step out of your comfort zone just as I contemplate expanding my brand into new territories. Whether it's balancing family life with business aspirations the underlying theme is courage. With strategic planning and an unyielding passion, I set ambitious goals for Loud Proud American, aiming to make this year a landmark one. Join me on social media to be a part of this exciting journey, and let's build a legacy together, fueled by courage and shared dreams.

• Shocking and frustrating customer service experience shared 
• Reflection on last week's guiding words and exercises 
• Correlation between discomfort in conversations and personal growth 
• The significance of courage in business decisions and personal life 
• Setting and pursuing goals for 2025 through guiding words 
• Practical tips on how to cultivate courage in everyday life 
• Importance of community and shared struggles in personal growth 
• Encouragement for listeners to identify and share their guiding words

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Chapters

00:01 - Share the Struggle Podcast Update

07:34 - Dunkin' Donuts Drive-Thru Fiasco

17:32 - The Dunkin' Donuts Drive-Thru Incident

27:05 - Taking Courageous Business Decisions

36:40 - Building Courage for Business Success

48:55 - Supporting the Loud, Proud American Dream

Transcript
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00:00:01.340 --> 00:00:08.435
On last week's episode of Share the Struggle podcast, we were identifying our guiding words for 2025.

00:00:08.435 --> 00:00:14.192
One week later, that guiding word is already coming alive.

00:00:14.192 --> 00:00:17.509
Join me today as I lean into some courage.

00:00:17.509 --> 00:00:37.164
But before we go down that road of positivity, I absolutely have to share with you one of the most ridiculous customer service incidents that I just went through, one that left me lashing out just a bit outside of my character.

00:00:37.164 --> 00:00:41.893
All that and more on today's episode of Share the Struggle Podcast.

00:00:41.893 --> 00:00:44.895
Let me tell you something Everybody struggles.

00:00:44.895 --> 00:00:50.832
The difference is some people choose to go through it and some choose to grow through it.

00:00:50.832 --> 00:01:13.293
The choice is completely you If you have a relationship that is comfortable with uncomfortable conversations.

00:01:14.141 --> 00:01:19.012
Uncomfortable conversations challenge you, humble you and they build you.

00:01:19.012 --> 00:01:24.010
When you sprinkle a little time and distance on it, it all makes sense.

00:01:24.010 --> 00:01:29.171
Most disagreements, they stem from our own insecurities.

00:01:29.171 --> 00:01:33.563
You are right where you need to be.

00:01:33.563 --> 00:01:45.218
I'll take on what I find.

00:01:45.218 --> 00:01:48.959
I'll rescue my friends.

00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:50.667
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.

00:01:50.667 --> 00:01:54.587
What it do, what it do, hot diggity dog.

00:01:54.587 --> 00:01:58.331
Do I have some ridiculousness to share with you?

00:01:58.331 --> 00:02:01.980
Boy, I'm still a little hot and bothered y'all.

00:02:01.980 --> 00:02:05.088
I am still a little hot under the collar.

00:02:05.088 --> 00:02:07.165
Okay, I'm a little fired up today.

00:02:07.165 --> 00:02:12.252
But before we get into what's got me all fired up, I want to say thank you.

00:02:12.252 --> 00:02:20.460
Thank you for tuning in, thank you for listening to the podcast proudly sponsored by, brought to you by Loud Proud American.

00:02:20.460 --> 00:02:26.370
The podcast precisely perfectly named Share the Struggle because everybody struggles.

00:02:26.370 --> 00:02:28.288
Today is episode 235.

00:02:28.288 --> 00:02:36.366
That means we've been getting together and keeping it live for 235 consecutive weeks of Share the Struggle podcast.

00:02:36.366 --> 00:02:42.512
Don't forget to find all things podcast related over to wwwsharethestrugglepodcastcom.

00:02:43.861 --> 00:02:45.789
In the year 2025.

00:02:45.789 --> 00:03:03.467
I truly hope to bring to you some of the best shows that I can possibly bring to you, and I set a goal for this show to double down on the growth for this show, I'm going to give our podcast, our audience, this little positive tribe we're building the best that I possibly can.

00:03:03.467 --> 00:03:08.155
I'm going to give you what I have and I'm going to put it all on the line to to grow the show this year.

00:03:08.155 --> 00:03:10.062
Try to do some different things this year.

00:03:10.062 --> 00:03:12.387
That's a new year's resolution for the show.

00:03:12.387 --> 00:03:37.194
This year, if it does not end off where we want it to, if we lose sight of it throughout the year or the year wraps up shy of where we want it to be, then I've decided to end share the struggle podcast for what we want it to be, then I've decided to end Shade of the Struggle podcast for what we know it to be the weekly episodic show, the continuous week after week podcast episode.

00:03:37.841 --> 00:03:59.741
I will change the direction of the podcast and make it more of an occasional show, one where we kind of swoop in with updates, maybe an occasional story, some laughter, and continue to provide a legacy, one that can live on, that really encapsulates the journey of the business, the brand and raising Little Paisley Reign.

00:03:59.741 --> 00:04:11.015
Because I've always said one of the biggest benefits of this show is having a history, a history of us, the brand myself, the lessons, the lifetime.

00:04:11.015 --> 00:04:18.733
Because if I could go back right now and listen to stories from my old man, from my brother, from my grandfather, I would love it.

00:04:18.733 --> 00:04:20.100
It would mean so much to me.

00:04:20.100 --> 00:04:49.581
So I want to always have these episodes living on living life on the internet for anybody to tune into when they need a voice of reason or some strength, but to also provide that history for my family, the history of me and my loved ones, and my journey have a week to week show.

00:04:49.581 --> 00:04:50.908
This show takes a tremendous toll on, uh, on myself, on the family.

00:04:50.908 --> 00:05:06.374
I lean in to help from you know, from Allie, to join the show, for my mother to watch the little one, things like that being on the road recording from from campers, from, you know, inside of vehicles, all the sacrifices that we make to keep this show coming on week to week.

00:05:06.374 --> 00:05:08.526
I will continue to do that.

00:05:08.526 --> 00:05:16.209
I will continue to sacrifice, I will continue to lean into this show if I hear from each and every one of you that you are continuing to enjoy this show.

00:05:16.781 --> 00:05:26.911
We've seen some growth in random areas all throughout the country and outside of this country that are tremendous and it's what I have been leaning into to keep the show alive.

00:05:26.911 --> 00:05:32.052
But week after week, we have noticed fewer and fewer listeners of the podcast.

00:05:32.052 --> 00:05:44.014
So if there's something that I'm doing or not doing that is preventing you from coming back and there is something that you would like to hear on the show to make you want to always come back, please let me know.

00:05:44.014 --> 00:05:48.744
If you see a benefit from this show, then help it grow.

00:05:48.744 --> 00:06:06.802
Share the show with somebody you know, Help this podcast grow, because if it does grow and I do see that everybody is continuing to benefit from these stories from me then I absolutely wholeheartedly 1000% will continue to commit myself and my time and my efforts to this show.

00:06:06.802 --> 00:06:14.687
If I know it's landing on people out there and making a difference, then I will continue to bare my soul with this show.

00:06:15.149 --> 00:06:23.990
But I've just noticed over the past five or six months we continue to be losing listenership and it saddens me.

00:06:23.990 --> 00:06:28.319
I don't come on here to have this massive audience of popularity.

00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:38.713
I do it to know that people are getting a benefit from it and recently I just have not heard from as many of you and I've seen week after week we seem to be losing listeners on the show.

00:06:38.713 --> 00:06:41.747
So I just wanted to put that out there.

00:06:41.747 --> 00:06:43.451
I didn't plan this little conversation.

00:06:43.451 --> 00:06:45.923
So I guess this is something that I've been stewing on for some time and I just wanted to put that out there.

00:06:45.923 --> 00:07:07.326
I didn't plan this little conversation, so I guess this is something that you know I've been stewing on for some time and I just haven't mentioned it because I just continue to tune in and plug in Because, like I've said, I hear from some of you week after week and it makes me want to keep on doing this and I think about Little Paisley Rain someday 10, 15, 20 years from now being able to go back and listen to these episodes, 15, 20 years from now being able to go back and listen to these episodes.

00:07:07.346 --> 00:07:12.363
I know the benefit that has been here from some of these shows, the strength it gives people, the courage it gives people, which is where we're headed today.

00:07:12.363 --> 00:07:17.125
Some of these stories you know like the legacy of my father and my loved ones that I've shared.

00:07:17.125 --> 00:07:23.206
I want that to always live on and I will always commit to keeping the show, to helping this show grow.

00:07:23.206 --> 00:07:30.848
But it just gets harder and harder to do it each week if I just feel like people aren't listening anymore.

00:07:30.848 --> 00:07:34.055
So that's a sad confessional.

00:07:34.261 --> 00:07:35.485
I didn't plan that one y'all.

00:07:35.485 --> 00:07:37.853
I don't even have a Cabela's catalog around me.

00:07:37.853 --> 00:07:42.185
I didn't put my hand on the catalog, I didn't put my beagle eyes to the sky.

00:07:42.185 --> 00:07:42.887
That just came out.

00:07:42.887 --> 00:07:44.151
That just came out.

00:07:44.151 --> 00:07:47.824
But it probably came out because I'm fired up.

00:07:47.824 --> 00:07:50.630
I am, I'm hot and bothered.

00:07:50.630 --> 00:07:51.612
I'm some kind of fired up.

00:07:51.612 --> 00:08:02.024
I want to share with you a recent and I mean very recent, as in within the past hour little customer service experience that I had.

00:08:02.024 --> 00:08:05.112
That has me right derailed.

00:08:05.372 --> 00:08:07.398
Okay, so here's a scenario.

00:08:07.398 --> 00:08:08.440
Let me set the scene for you.

00:08:08.440 --> 00:08:10.586
I have a Dunkin' Donuts addiction.

00:08:10.586 --> 00:08:11.149
You've heard it.

00:08:11.149 --> 00:08:13.182
If you've been listening to the show, you've heard me talk about it.

00:08:13.182 --> 00:08:15.326
My wife brings it up.

00:08:16.307 --> 00:08:19.781
I have recently been scaling back on my Dunkin's visits.

00:08:19.781 --> 00:08:22.826
I'm traditionally a two visits per day guy.

00:08:22.826 --> 00:08:33.950
I've got that down to a one visit per day most days, with the occasional two visits maybe like on a weekend or on a day where you just absolutely need it.

00:08:33.950 --> 00:08:39.952
Now one of those two day scenarios has been Tuesday and Thursday.

00:08:39.952 --> 00:08:46.572
And the Tuesday Thursday double cup scenario is because I bring my mom to work at 5.30 in the morning.

00:08:46.572 --> 00:08:53.208
So when I go through the drive-thru at 5.30, same Dunkin' Donuts not the Dunkin' Donuts that I like to traditionally go to.

00:08:53.208 --> 00:08:55.307
This one just happens to be closer to my mom's work.

00:08:56.380 --> 00:09:01.727
We go through this Dunkin' Donuts twice a week, four times a week, I should say two days a week.

00:09:01.727 --> 00:09:06.423
On Tuesday we go through there at 5.30 in the morning.

00:09:06.423 --> 00:09:11.024
I order a large iced coffee for me, a large iced coffee for the wife and a medium hot coffee for my mom.

00:09:11.024 --> 00:09:21.109
When my mom gets out of work at two o'clock I pick her up and we return through that drive-thru line and we get one more large iced coffee for me and one more medium hot coffee for my mom.

00:09:21.109 --> 00:09:27.881
So we go there twice a week and in the twice a week scenario, what's that?

00:09:27.881 --> 00:09:28.943
10 cups of coffee.

00:09:28.943 --> 00:09:29.806
Does that sound right?

00:09:29.806 --> 00:09:33.961
So 10 cups of coffee from this one Dunkin Donuts twice a week?

00:09:34.702 --> 00:09:38.650
Now, traditionally they give awful service.

00:09:38.650 --> 00:09:40.453
Nobody ever wants to talk to you.

00:09:40.453 --> 00:09:48.900
There's a lady there that will take your order and then when you get to the counter, she literally half the time won't even tell you what the bill is, just waits for you to read the screen.

00:09:48.900 --> 00:09:54.779
But she'll tell you 1223, 770, and you would give them the money or have them scan the app.

00:09:54.779 --> 00:09:57.601
And if they have to give change back, she doesn't say here you go.

00:09:57.601 --> 00:10:04.067
She doesn't say change, she doesn't say thank you, she doesn't hand the coffee out the window and say you're welcome or thanks, or have a nice day.

00:10:04.067 --> 00:10:07.509
Nothing Doesn't even communicate, just drops things and lets you leave.

00:10:07.668 --> 00:10:11.371
Okay, I've come accustomed to receiving poor service.

00:10:11.371 --> 00:10:26.864
I've come accustomed to, of the 10 cups of coffee you get through there in a week, that maybe two or three of them are going to be good, maybe two or three of them are going to be manageable, but you're going to have the rest of them just be abysmal.

00:10:26.864 --> 00:10:28.389
Okay, it is what it is.

00:10:28.389 --> 00:10:31.628
I don't know why this is something that we just agreed upon.

00:10:31.628 --> 00:10:37.183
This needs to happen so frustrating right Now.

00:10:37.183 --> 00:10:44.543
Three coffees in the morning, that ends up being $12.23, and then $7.70 for the afternoon rush.

00:10:44.543 --> 00:10:49.533
So let's say, $20 a day, two days a week for this one location.

00:10:49.533 --> 00:10:56.432
So 40 bucks a week right Now, that's a couple hundred dollars a month just to this one location.

00:10:56.432 --> 00:10:59.349
Just spelling this out there because I'm kind of painting a picture here.

00:10:59.980 --> 00:11:02.590
This afternoon I come through the drive-thru lane.

00:11:02.590 --> 00:11:05.428
I am driving my dad's pickup truck.

00:11:05.428 --> 00:11:08.429
It is a single cab, long bed pickup truck.

00:11:08.429 --> 00:11:11.649
It is me, my mother and little Paisley.

00:11:11.649 --> 00:11:17.230
Paisley's in the truck with me and where her car seat goes it covers the cup holders.

00:11:17.230 --> 00:11:18.340
There's no cup holder option.

00:11:18.340 --> 00:11:25.692
So when I have the baby, if I'm drinking my coffee, I have one hand to drive, one hand to drink coffee.

00:11:25.692 --> 00:11:30.629
Sometimes my mom has my coffee and I'm helping the baby with one hand, driving with the other.

00:11:30.629 --> 00:11:34.807
Or my mom is working with the baby with one hand drinking a coffee with the other.

00:11:34.807 --> 00:11:37.484
I'm driving with one and drinking a coffee.

00:11:37.484 --> 00:11:38.966
I'm painting a picture here.

00:11:38.966 --> 00:11:39.908
Okay, bear with me.

00:11:40.610 --> 00:11:41.373
So we get in line.

00:11:41.373 --> 00:11:45.610
Me and Allie text each other back and forth while I'm in line at Dunkin'.

00:11:45.610 --> 00:11:51.783
So now there's a time stamp in my phone based off of how long I've been in line or when I arrived at the Dunkin' line.

00:11:51.783 --> 00:11:52.988
So I'm waiting.

00:11:52.988 --> 00:12:03.485
There's not many cars, there's maybe five cars in the entire drive-thru lane and I realize, man, I've been in this line for at least 10 or 15 minutes and I haven't ordered a coffee yet.

00:12:03.485 --> 00:12:06.369
So we get up there, I order the coffee.

00:12:06.369 --> 00:12:17.885
We move, you know, four pesos ahead, sitting there, sitting there, I look at my mom and I said, man, how long have we been in this freaking line?

00:12:17.885 --> 00:12:19.308
I feel like we've been in here forever.

00:12:19.308 --> 00:12:27.943
I go back to my phone and I look at the text message and I see the timestamp and I tell my mom like wow, we've been in this line already for like 22 minutes.

00:12:27.943 --> 00:12:34.075
Right, crazy, crazy to sit in line for 20 plus minutes for now.

00:12:34.075 --> 00:12:36.384
Maybe five cars in front of you, if that.

00:12:36.946 --> 00:12:38.649
So I turn the corner.

00:12:38.649 --> 00:12:41.083
I can see the window and I'm still waiting and waiting, and waiting.

00:12:41.083 --> 00:12:43.250
We get up to the window.

00:12:43.250 --> 00:12:47.825
They don't come to the window, they're just walking around doing whatever.

00:12:47.825 --> 00:12:49.388
There's like six employees in there.

00:12:49.388 --> 00:12:54.287
I look at my clock and I tell my mother we are two minutes away from 30 minutes.

00:12:54.287 --> 00:12:57.461
Two minutes away from 30 minutes in the drive-thru lane.

00:12:57.461 --> 00:12:59.604
There's nobody in the lobby.

00:12:59.604 --> 00:13:05.533
The lady comes to the window, opens the window and tells me $7.27.

00:13:05.533 --> 00:13:12.010
And I give her my cash and she turns around and I realize $7.27, it's normally $7.70 for the bill.

00:13:12.010 --> 00:13:18.100
I know that a mistake's been made, but she shut the window and she's gone off to making coffee and doing whatever.

00:13:18.380 --> 00:13:21.307
We continue to wait, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

00:13:21.307 --> 00:13:23.894
Time Waiting, waiting, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

00:13:23.894 --> 00:13:25.158
Time Waiting, waiting, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

00:13:25.177 --> 00:13:26.059
Baby Starting to get fussy.

00:13:26.059 --> 00:13:27.384
We've been sitting here and doing nothing.

00:13:27.384 --> 00:13:31.225
She's starting to complain and fuss and she's no longer happy in the car seat.

00:13:31.225 --> 00:13:32.268
So we're waiting and we're waiting.

00:13:32.268 --> 00:13:38.923
I tell my mom I think they made me a hot coffee Because the bill.

00:13:38.923 --> 00:13:47.451
So lady comes to the window, she's fussing around looking at things and I tell my mom screw it, we paid for the hot coffee.

00:13:47.451 --> 00:13:53.095
I'm going to drink a hot coffee at this point because you know, I just I'm not going to wait any longer.

00:13:54.316 --> 00:13:55.456
She gives me my mom's coffee.

00:13:55.456 --> 00:14:05.845
And then she goes to hand me the hot coffee and she starts to read off the order and she hands it to me as I take it into the truck and she says milk, m-i-l-k.

00:14:05.845 --> 00:14:08.268
And I said, oh, there's milk in this.

00:14:08.268 --> 00:14:09.389
I said oat milk.

00:14:09.389 --> 00:14:10.490
And she says no, whole milk.

00:14:10.490 --> 00:14:12.652
I said, oh, I ordered oat milk.

00:14:12.652 --> 00:14:14.374
She's like oh, you did.

00:14:14.374 --> 00:14:16.676
I passed the coffee back through the window.

00:14:16.676 --> 00:14:23.003
Here's a key point here, folks.

00:14:23.003 --> 00:14:24.086
I passed the coffee back through the window.

00:14:24.086 --> 00:14:26.321
I said also for whatever it's worth, I'll drink that if it was right.

00:14:26.321 --> 00:14:28.527
But I ordered an ice coffee.

00:14:28.527 --> 00:14:32.056
I ordered a large ice coffee with oat milk.

00:14:32.056 --> 00:14:34.302
She's like oh, really you did.

00:14:34.884 --> 00:14:40.543
Turns around and goes, oh, and then surprisingly hands my coffee through the window Large ice coffee.

00:14:40.543 --> 00:14:43.250
Oh, it was right, there Must have grabbed the wrong coffee.

00:14:43.250 --> 00:14:49.717
Fine, whatever, I don't know what you were giving me for a sales pitch on the unlabeled hot coffee.

00:14:49.717 --> 00:14:51.903
That clearly wasn't right anyways.

00:14:51.903 --> 00:14:54.327
So I take the iced coffee.

00:14:54.528 --> 00:15:03.109
I've now been in line at Dunkin' Donuts for over 30 minutes right, we're talking 33, 35 minutes just to get a coffee.

00:15:03.109 --> 00:15:06.254
Through the drive-thru lane, baby's fussing and freaking out.

00:15:06.254 --> 00:15:11.610
I pull out of there, I take one sip off the coffee and I go son of a sea biscuit.

00:15:11.610 --> 00:15:12.945
This is not right.

00:15:12.945 --> 00:15:13.727
I look at it.

00:15:13.727 --> 00:15:15.967
This is milk, not oat milk.

00:15:15.967 --> 00:15:18.950
I've waited for 35 freaking minutes.

00:15:18.950 --> 00:15:22.166
I'm not going to drink this cup of coffee.

00:15:22.166 --> 00:15:23.770
I turn around, I go back.

00:15:23.770 --> 00:15:25.547
I should have gone inside.

00:15:25.921 --> 00:15:29.711
When I rolled up I saw there was only like one or two cars in the entire drive-thru.

00:15:29.711 --> 00:15:38.726
So instead of getting out it's cold, it's windy, the baby's fussy I just go back to the drive-thru lane and I get to the window and I tell him hey, you know I ordered a coffee.

00:15:38.726 --> 00:15:40.009
This is what happened.

00:15:40.009 --> 00:15:41.691
You know I have the wrong one.

00:15:41.691 --> 00:15:42.952
All right, come on up, I'll give you one.

00:15:42.952 --> 00:15:52.841
Wait again, get to the window.

00:15:52.861 --> 00:15:56.932
We're now at a point where we've spent about 45 minutes in the drive-thru lane to get two frigging coffees, correct.

00:15:56.932 --> 00:15:57.032
Okay.

00:15:57.032 --> 00:16:02.347
So this is your third attempt at my coffee, because you tried to give me a hot coffee Wrong.

00:16:02.347 --> 00:16:03.150
Gave me an iced coffee Wrong.

00:16:03.150 --> 00:16:04.234
You go to give me a hot coffee wrong.

00:16:04.234 --> 00:16:04.976
Gave me an iced coffee wrong.

00:16:04.976 --> 00:16:06.480
You go to give me a coffee out the window.

00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:11.292
That's a small, like full cream iced coffee, not the right coffee.

00:16:11.292 --> 00:16:16.830
Third mistake realizes, puts that down, goes to give me the correct coffee.

00:16:16.830 --> 00:16:17.130
She goes.

00:16:17.130 --> 00:16:17.572
Here you go.

00:16:17.631 --> 00:16:19.783
I'm like, oh thanks, can you take this for me?

00:16:19.783 --> 00:16:28.923
I don't have any room and and I go to pass the Mistaked coffee, the mistaken, the mix-up, the mess-up, the shitty coffee they gave me.

00:16:28.923 --> 00:16:31.190
Right, I can't take that.

00:16:31.190 --> 00:16:36.826
I'm sorry, what I'm not going to take, that You're not going to take the coffee back.

00:16:36.826 --> 00:16:38.644
No, I can't take that.

00:16:38.664 --> 00:16:41.568
And I said, well, I don't have any room in here.

00:16:41.568 --> 00:16:43.501
Can you please just take the coffee?

00:16:43.501 --> 00:16:43.621
What?

00:16:43.621 --> 00:16:44.221
I don't have any room in here.

00:16:44.221 --> 00:16:44.962
Can you please just take the coffee?

00:16:44.962 --> 00:16:45.403
What do you mean?

00:16:45.403 --> 00:16:45.884
You don't have any room.

00:16:45.884 --> 00:16:47.004
I don't have any cup holders.

00:16:47.004 --> 00:16:47.946
I have a baby here.

00:16:47.946 --> 00:16:50.048
She has her hands full.

00:16:50.048 --> 00:16:51.890
I can't drive with two coffees.

00:16:51.890 --> 00:16:53.211
Can you please just take this coffee?

00:16:53.211 --> 00:16:56.515
And she says, no, you can throw it in the trash.

00:16:56.515 --> 00:17:03.908
And I said, well, I'd love to do that, but you removed the trash can.

00:17:03.908 --> 00:17:04.589
Mind you, where I'm parked?

00:17:04.589 --> 00:17:05.010
Right, you know?

00:17:05.953 --> 00:17:13.840
Eight paces ahead, there is a spot where there's been a trash can since this Dunkin' Donuts was built when I was 10 years old.

00:17:13.840 --> 00:17:17.008
Okay, it's been there the entire time.

00:17:17.008 --> 00:17:19.733
They recently took it out of the ground.

00:17:19.733 --> 00:17:23.170
It was one of the ones that had like a, you know, like a rock structure around it.

00:17:23.170 --> 00:17:25.243
Whatever, they removed it no more trash can.

00:17:25.243 --> 00:17:30.944
I said, yeah, but you guys removed the trash can, so there is no trash can on my way out of here.

00:17:30.944 --> 00:17:32.428
I don't have any room.

00:17:32.989 --> 00:17:33.830
This was a mix up.

00:17:33.830 --> 00:17:34.893
I have two coffees.

00:17:34.893 --> 00:17:36.083
Can you please just throw it out?

00:17:36.083 --> 00:17:37.005
She goes.

00:17:37.005 --> 00:17:40.173
Well, you passed a trash can on the way to me.

00:17:40.173 --> 00:17:50.962
Okay, disclaimer I'm about to start swearing.

00:17:50.962 --> 00:17:51.664
Okay, I'm about to start swearing.

00:17:51.664 --> 00:17:52.266
I'm gonna put it out there.

00:17:52.306 --> 00:17:52.988
Dunkin Donuts drive-thru lady.

00:17:52.988 --> 00:17:55.153
You passed a trash can on the way to me.

00:17:55.153 --> 00:17:56.961
Are you fucking serious?

00:17:56.961 --> 00:18:03.462
You want me to get back in this long ass drive-thru lane just to throw a coffee in there that you messed up?

00:18:03.462 --> 00:18:07.836
You want me to get in line to use a fucking trash can for a coffee that you fucked up?

00:18:07.836 --> 00:18:09.260
That's what you want me to do right now.

00:18:09.260 --> 00:18:13.348
And she starts giving me an attitude well, I'm not taking it.

00:18:13.348 --> 00:18:14.731
You can find a trash can.

00:18:14.731 --> 00:18:15.053
I said.

00:18:15.053 --> 00:18:16.605
You want me to find a trash can.

00:18:16.605 --> 00:18:17.950
I'll find your fucking trash.

00:18:17.950 --> 00:18:23.465
Can I roll forward, take that some bitch out the window and heave it back at the building?

00:18:23.465 --> 00:18:27.702
I smashed that thing off the side of the building, the window.

00:18:27.702 --> 00:18:28.986
There's ice, there's coffee.

00:18:28.986 --> 00:18:31.451
It's a large ice coffee freaking everywhere.

00:18:32.080 --> 00:18:33.904
We could have resolved this First off.

00:18:33.904 --> 00:18:41.270
I returned a coffee to you once already that you screwed up, that you put out the window and you brought back in the window.

00:18:41.270 --> 00:18:44.940
You're now telling me, 20 minutes later, on the same screwed up situation, that you can't do that.

00:18:44.940 --> 00:18:52.246
You're now telling me 20 minutes later, on the same screwed-up situation, that you can't do that and I'm telling you I don't have a place for it and you remove the trash can and you can't take that.

00:18:52.246 --> 00:18:54.989
Then you want to give me a sassy-ass attitude.

00:18:54.989 --> 00:18:57.028
I chuck that shit right back at your building.

00:18:57.461 --> 00:19:00.765
I pull out of the driveway, I am freaking out.

00:19:00.765 --> 00:19:06.123
I'm so pissed, I freaking out, I'm so pissed.

00:19:06.123 --> 00:19:07.771
I'm retelling the entire story to my mother, who, the saint, is sitting next to me.

00:19:07.771 --> 00:19:09.359
She's witnessed this whole thing, she's suffered through the whole thing.

00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:13.932
She doesn't need to know the details she was there for all of them, but she's letting me vent.

00:19:13.932 --> 00:19:18.189
Okay, I'm coming undone, I'm freaking out and I'm telling her the whole story.

00:19:18.189 --> 00:19:28.522
As soon as I calm down and I start to breathe, my mother being my ride or die just like me, raised me, understands me.

00:19:29.204 --> 00:19:38.250
This is an opportunity where, when I threw that coffee, most people next to me would have either freaked out oh my God, what are you doing?

00:19:38.250 --> 00:19:39.633
Oh, don't do that.

00:19:39.633 --> 00:19:44.730
Yell screamed, cussed you out for throwing it, or maybe laughed something.

00:19:44.730 --> 00:19:49.085
Nothing, not my mom, quiet and stoic like an oak.

00:19:49.085 --> 00:19:50.607
She lets me vent.

00:19:50.607 --> 00:19:57.767
We go down the road, I start to breathe and she literally says to me I'm still surprised you didn't throw it right back at her.

00:19:57.767 --> 00:19:59.308
I was like what I'm surprised you didn't throw it right back at her.

00:19:59.308 --> 00:20:01.373
I was like what I'm surprised you didn't hit her with it.

00:20:01.373 --> 00:20:12.364
And I just started laughing and I said you know me, because in that moment, number one, the baby's screaming.

00:20:12.384 --> 00:20:13.869
If I was more on my game and more focused, I would have gone down the road.

00:20:13.869 --> 00:20:18.807
If I'd been in this line for 40 minutes for you to screw this up, you've taken one back from the window.

00:20:18.807 --> 00:20:20.251
I would outline the whole scenario.

00:20:20.251 --> 00:20:21.825
I didn't do that.

00:20:21.825 --> 00:20:31.612
The other thing I would have done is I would have bounced that iced coffee off her face or off her chest, or I would have waited for her to move and I would have launched that sumbitch all the way across the showroom floor.

00:20:31.612 --> 00:20:34.647
So they would have spent the next 25 minutes cleaning it up.

00:20:34.647 --> 00:20:36.092
That's what I would have done.

00:20:36.092 --> 00:20:39.173
The younger me, the more ridiculous me would have done that.

00:20:39.173 --> 00:20:46.278
But my instant reaction was well, at least if I smash this thing off the window, you gotta go through with a goddamn ice scraper and clean it up.

00:20:46.278 --> 00:20:48.462
That was my philosophy, that was my plan.

00:20:48.944 --> 00:20:53.160
But I was a little disappointed in myself for not throwing it back in the window.

00:20:53.160 --> 00:20:56.892
I'll be honest, full confessional, full frontal confessional.

00:20:56.892 --> 00:20:59.018
I am a little bit pissed.

00:20:59.018 --> 00:21:03.330
I didn't just chuck it back in the window, because I've done that before, okay.

00:21:03.330 --> 00:21:11.030
But in hindsight, the thought process is there of you go to this dunkin donuts two times a day, twice a week.

00:21:11.030 --> 00:21:15.147
They probably would have just, they probably have your plates, they know the vehicle.

00:21:15.147 --> 00:21:18.003
They would have called me in for a salt with a deadly coffee.

00:21:18.325 --> 00:21:21.755
Okay, I would have been doing hard time over iced coffee.

00:21:21.755 --> 00:21:22.617
You know what I'm saying.

00:21:22.617 --> 00:21:24.122
That would have happened there's.

00:21:24.122 --> 00:21:30.263
You know we got presidents pardoning criminals and murderers and rapists and all this ridiculous stuff.

00:21:30.263 --> 00:21:31.207
But you know what?

00:21:31.207 --> 00:21:34.304
I would have been serving hard time, daddy, for some iced coffee.

00:21:34.304 --> 00:21:35.247
You understand what I'm saying.

00:21:35.247 --> 00:21:36.590
That's what would have happened.

00:21:36.590 --> 00:21:43.328
So I didn't throw it through there, I should have just dumped it all over the gosh dang counter.

00:21:43.328 --> 00:21:43.912
I should have done something.

00:21:43.912 --> 00:21:44.453
I'm still pissed about it.

00:21:44.453 --> 00:21:47.865
But what I did do was chuck that sumbitch back at the window, losing my ever loving mind.

00:21:47.865 --> 00:21:54.723
And hopefully they'd go through with a tiny ass safe scraper or a credit card and scrape that shit off the side of the window.

00:21:54.723 --> 00:21:56.185
Gosh, damn it.

00:21:56.185 --> 00:21:57.208
Hallelujah.

00:21:57.208 --> 00:22:03.824
Where's the Tylenol Gut check?

00:22:03.824 --> 00:22:06.211
What about the latest kick?

00:22:06.211 --> 00:22:21.844
All right, all right, all right, we're back.

00:22:21.884 --> 00:22:24.729
Folks, thanks for hanging in there with me.

00:22:24.729 --> 00:22:28.931
I appreciate y'all letting me get that off my chest.

00:22:28.931 --> 00:22:35.592
I thank y'all, the members of the congregation, for being here for my full frontal confessional.

00:22:35.592 --> 00:22:37.304
I appreciate you, man.

00:22:37.304 --> 00:22:40.525
I might have been a little out of character today, but it brought me back.

00:22:40.525 --> 00:22:44.778
I almost relapsed into the old me, the lunatic me.

00:22:44.778 --> 00:22:49.627
You know what I'm saying, but I still get a little crazy.

00:22:49.627 --> 00:22:52.894
But I appreciate you listening.

00:22:52.894 --> 00:22:55.682
You know this event session that we just had.

00:22:55.682 --> 00:22:57.266
I thank you.

00:22:57.266 --> 00:22:58.067
I thank you.

00:22:58.307 --> 00:23:02.214
Okay, let's move on to bigger, bolder, beautiful, brighter things.

00:23:02.214 --> 00:23:06.330
Let's get on to the most important thing.

00:23:06.330 --> 00:23:09.068
Last week it was New Year's Eve.

00:23:09.068 --> 00:23:27.209
I was joined by my beautiful wife and we were recording a nice fun little episode on, you know getting ready for the new year, asking yourself questions like what you're going to do different, how you're going to be better, doing a little Q&A Seshwan, and one of the things that came up was identifying a guiding word.

00:23:27.630 --> 00:23:30.182
I've heard from a few of you out there about your guiding words.

00:23:30.182 --> 00:23:31.006
I appreciate you.

00:23:31.006 --> 00:23:35.344
I encourage you, if you have not already done so, to identify that word.

00:23:35.344 --> 00:23:38.171
Send me a message, let me know what it is, what it means to you.

00:23:38.171 --> 00:23:38.972
Let's talk about it.

00:23:38.972 --> 00:23:39.864
Let's talk through it.

00:23:39.864 --> 00:23:42.347
Okay, let's get this rocking and rolling.

00:23:42.347 --> 00:23:49.388
For those of you that might be hearing this for the first time and you're asking yourself self what is this guy talking about?

00:23:49.388 --> 00:23:51.166
Or you're a day one.

00:23:51.166 --> 00:23:52.625
You've been listening this entire time.

00:23:52.625 --> 00:23:55.347
You can still use a little refresher course.

00:23:55.347 --> 00:24:00.502
So still use a little refresher course.

00:24:00.502 --> 00:24:00.782
So real quick.

00:24:00.803 --> 00:24:03.731
For the ladies in the back, a guiding word is a word that can help you focus on your intentions for the year ahead.

00:24:03.731 --> 00:24:08.388
It can be a word that you want to work on or something you need more of.

00:24:08.388 --> 00:24:15.009
The goal is to use the word to guide your actions and unify your goals that make sense.

00:24:15.009 --> 00:24:18.479
Guys, here are some tips for choosing your guiding word.

00:24:18.479 --> 00:24:22.769
Focus on how you want to feel rather than what you want to accomplish.

00:24:22.769 --> 00:24:28.446
Choose a word that will help you eliminate distractions and improve your focus.

00:24:28.446 --> 00:24:33.806
Consider choosing a word that will help you focus on what's within your control.

00:24:33.806 --> 00:24:39.859
Make sure you are thinking about your values, intentions and goals for 2025.

00:24:39.859 --> 00:24:43.810
There's a difference between values, intentions and goals.

00:24:43.810 --> 00:24:48.326
Your values are what is important to you, what you believe in.

00:24:48.326 --> 00:24:51.390
Your intentions are what you want to achieve.

00:24:51.390 --> 00:24:59.867
They are influenced by your values, and your goals are external proof of, or steps towards, that achievement.

00:25:00.269 --> 00:25:01.440
Is that painting a picture for you guys?

00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:08.381
Are we, you know, relighting the fire from last week or am I creating a new desire for this week?

00:25:08.381 --> 00:25:14.035
We are trying to identify our guiding word, if we have not already done so.

00:25:14.035 --> 00:25:22.233
Once you identify that guiding word, I want you to live by that guiding word to fully feel its impact.

00:25:22.233 --> 00:25:28.573
Visibly displaying your guiding word and vision board so you can be reminded of it each and every day.

00:25:28.573 --> 00:25:33.392
Finding quotes around your word or topic to reread for inspiration.

00:25:33.392 --> 00:25:38.992
Incorporating your guiding word into questions when making decisions or considering old habits.

00:25:38.992 --> 00:25:46.374
For example, if your word was thrive, you might ask is spending three hours on social media each day helping me thrive.

00:25:46.374 --> 00:25:51.853
Set a reminder on your phone for a couple of months time to check in with your word.

00:25:51.853 --> 00:25:58.171
That is a two minute refresher course of last week's question of identifying our guiding words.

00:25:58.270 --> 00:26:14.848
Last week, my words that I gave to you was sacrifice, which led me to the word courage, and the quote that I used last week for courage is that courage is the commitment to begin without any guarantee of success.

00:26:14.848 --> 00:26:17.592
Courage was my word.

00:26:17.592 --> 00:26:24.267
Courage is the word that I want to lean into, that I want to live up to for 2025.

00:26:24.267 --> 00:26:34.903
As we were giving some of these little food for thoughts, these little things about you know always asking yourself when you're making decisions, am I living by my guiding word?

00:26:34.903 --> 00:27:05.023
I'm saying all this to paint the picture so that we can pave the road on me implementing courage for the year 2025, and how, in one week's time, since last week's episode where we worked through this exercise and I identified to you courage my guiding word for this year, I am already making decisions and acting by courage, and I am here to prove it to you by grand fashion.

00:27:05.244 --> 00:27:05.905
Y'all ready for this?

00:27:05.905 --> 00:27:07.148
Are you ready for this?

00:27:07.148 --> 00:27:09.099
I don't know if you're ready for this.

00:27:09.099 --> 00:27:11.546
Okay, well, hopefully you are.

00:27:11.546 --> 00:27:15.820
I mean you must be, because you haven't hung up yet, right, you haven't changed a dial and you haven't shut me off.

00:27:15.820 --> 00:27:17.741
You haven't turned me off, tuned me out, pushed me out.

00:27:17.741 --> 00:27:18.602
You are still here.

00:27:18.602 --> 00:27:21.584
I thank you for still being here.

00:27:21.584 --> 00:27:25.826
Okay, courage, I want to use this in my everyday life.

00:27:25.885 --> 00:27:34.049
We talked about, on the family aspect, having the courage to be a dad, to do things for the first time, to be okay with failing every time.

00:27:34.049 --> 00:27:43.114
I also want to use courage in my business, taking leaps of faith, having the courage to take chances to embark on things I talked about.

00:27:43.114 --> 00:27:46.076
You know, for the business, I need to leave the house.

00:27:46.076 --> 00:27:58.127
I need to get out of my comfort zone, I need to get out of my own state, I need to take some chances, but it becomes a sacrifice because I need to sacrifice time away from my family.

00:27:58.127 --> 00:28:05.467
It's so much more difficult for me to decide on driving across country when I'm leaving my four-month baby girl at home, but I need to live by courage.

00:28:05.467 --> 00:28:10.051
So I spent a lot of time asking myself are you acting with great courage?

00:28:10.051 --> 00:28:14.050
Now there's a few things that the business has been working through.

00:28:14.050 --> 00:28:30.318
We have been spending a lot of time trying to analyze what is our next big move, what is our bold move over the winter, and if you guys were listening, if you're a day one, if you've been around since you know July 2020, you've been listening to all these episodes.

00:28:30.459 --> 00:28:55.746
Last year around this time, I actually flew out with a great friend of mine, mr Matt Perkins from Ledgeway Farm, and we stayed at his family's house, at JW's and Crystal's house, and we went to Strawberry Fest in Plant City, florida, and we checked that out and we tried to explore other avenues for us, Strawberry Fest kind of being a home run, that being an event that appears to be extremely difficult to get into.

00:28:55.746 --> 00:29:02.915
Matt from Ledgeway Farm and my brother from another mother, kyle from Underdog Meadow.

00:29:02.915 --> 00:29:06.250
They are both going to the Tampa State Fair.

00:29:06.250 --> 00:29:06.651
This year.

00:29:06.651 --> 00:29:15.794
They're heading out to Tampa and I've spent a lot of time thinking about whether I should be branching out from just fairs.

00:29:16.400 --> 00:29:19.429
Now, florida full confessional here.

00:29:19.429 --> 00:29:27.403
If I take the Cabela's catalog and place my left hand on it and beat a little ice to the sky and I make the confession, I'm not that comfortable in Florida.

00:29:27.403 --> 00:29:31.051
Okay, I'm not a big vacation person in general.

00:29:31.051 --> 00:29:39.622
When it comes to going places other than two places, I love going to Tennessee and I love going to Texas, but I also know that Florida is a great land of opportunity for me.

00:29:39.622 --> 00:29:51.153
It seems like there's a lot of like-minded folks when it comes to Florida and Loud Proud American, a lot of people there that are very prideful of their country and they appreciate American made and they're willing to support American made.

00:29:51.153 --> 00:30:02.161
So I've identified Florida as also being a state that is thriving when my home state is um hybridating Okay During these winter months.

00:30:02.161 --> 00:30:05.650
So I've identified the fact that I need to be in Florida Now.

00:30:05.710 --> 00:30:07.320
For me it came down to a couple of things.

00:30:07.320 --> 00:30:14.391
Strawberry Fest was the one that I really wanted to do, but option B would be the Tampa state fair where my friends are already going.

00:30:14.391 --> 00:30:19.946
There's a comfort level there and, knowing that you could travel with two friends, you can get down there and have support.

00:30:19.946 --> 00:30:22.833
You know you could have people to lean into.

00:30:22.833 --> 00:30:26.287
You can have, you know people to help pick you up and you know.

00:30:26.287 --> 00:30:31.691
And then just the everyday stuff of you know bathroom breaks and places to stay and commuting and all those things right.

00:30:31.691 --> 00:30:38.426
But I've also given a lot of thought to the fact that maybe state fairs aren't all I should be doing.

00:30:39.007 --> 00:30:52.286
I spend a great deal of my time at fairs and another thing that I spend a lot of my time at is motorcycle-related events and I'm received very well at both of those.

00:30:52.286 --> 00:30:59.189
I'm received very well at fairs in my state here in Maine and I've also been received very well doing motorcycle events like here at Bentley Saloon.

00:30:59.189 --> 00:31:18.501
Now if you don't know me, then you don't know that I have nearly 15 years of motorcycle experience when it comes to being in that industry, when it comes to working in the power sports industry and right before starting Loud Proud American, I had worked my way from a sales guy all the way up to an owner of a Harley-Davidson dealership.

00:31:18.501 --> 00:31:22.243
So I've got a great deal of experience in this area.

00:31:22.243 --> 00:31:32.971
Now when I left that dealership, when they decided to sell the dealership and I didn't have enough ownership to have a say about it, I really wanted to get away from that part of my life.

00:31:32.971 --> 00:31:40.715
So I haven't leaned into those type of events as much as I could for my business, because they really do go hand in hand.

00:31:40.715 --> 00:31:44.057
But I have been successful with doing those things here at Bentley Saloon.

00:31:51.160 --> 00:31:54.875
I'm saying all this to kind of give you guys a little insight, to kind of peel back the curtain a little bit, to peel the onion, to let you know what I've been thinking about.

00:31:54.875 --> 00:31:56.240
And I say all this to tell you I've been making this inner debate.

00:31:56.240 --> 00:32:00.621
I've been asking myself what's best for me, what's best for the brand.

00:32:00.621 --> 00:32:04.669
I've been asking any resource I have about these events.

00:32:04.669 --> 00:32:06.673
If this is right, where should I be?

00:32:06.673 --> 00:32:14.873
I've gotten mixed info from resources on whether either one of these are good for me, right?

00:32:15.294 --> 00:32:19.848
I've talked to people that tell me hey, that state fair is your wheelhouse, it's your people, it's going to be great.

00:32:19.848 --> 00:32:24.548
I've talked to vendors that have been there and said I didn't make any money there for the past few years.

00:32:24.548 --> 00:32:26.035
I've broken even.

00:32:26.035 --> 00:32:28.922
Or if I had to travel as far as you, I just wouldn't do it.

00:32:28.922 --> 00:32:34.146
If I, you know I'm here because I, you know I live locally, right?

00:32:34.146 --> 00:32:35.648
I've talked to people that have said that to me.

00:32:35.648 --> 00:32:43.115
So you beat that around in your head and then you come down to the other elephant in the room and that is Daytona Bike Week.

00:32:43.115 --> 00:32:49.843
And I have some fellow vendors that live in Florida that go to this event, that have been regulars of this event for multiple years.

00:32:50.023 --> 00:32:55.323
As vendors I've had a multitude of customers tell me if you get to Daytona you will kill it.

00:32:55.323 --> 00:33:04.762
I've talked to vendors on the ground at Daytona that have compared my numbers there with my numbers here in Maine and they tell me they're probably going to land somewhat similar.

00:33:04.762 --> 00:33:10.933
That scares me because there's a great deal of doubt in doing this.

00:33:10.933 --> 00:33:16.410
There's a great layer of fear in doing this If I'm traveling all the way to Daytona.

00:33:16.410 --> 00:33:18.594
There's all these factors that go into this.

00:33:18.594 --> 00:33:29.729
Right, we're talking nearly 1,400 miles one way, 2,800 miles round trip in a school bus by yourself, 10 miles a gallon, right.

00:33:29.729 --> 00:33:34.992
We're talking average gas, maybe $1,200, just in fuel.

00:33:34.992 --> 00:33:37.248
We're talking about the cost of food.

00:33:37.248 --> 00:33:43.557
We're talking about your vendor place and the fact that you're making the decision to sleep in a bus, like all these things.

00:33:43.617 --> 00:33:44.721
Right, everything goes into this.

00:33:44.721 --> 00:33:56.924
And if you sacrifice two weeks away from your family, 20 plus hours each way on the road by yourself, running this event by yourself, doing all these things, having all these challenges, there's a lot of fear that goes into this.

00:33:56.924 --> 00:33:58.807
There's a lot of self-doubt that goes into this.

00:33:58.807 --> 00:34:10.931
There's a lot of self-sabotage that can happen, where you can talk yourself in and out of these decisions in a multitude of ways right, and I put myself out there to certain things and I haven't really heard back on these things.

00:34:10.931 --> 00:34:16.246
But I sat back and I asked myself are you acting with courage?

00:34:16.246 --> 00:34:19.112
Are you living by your guiding word?

00:34:19.112 --> 00:34:22.329
Are you fulfilling your word of courage?

00:34:22.329 --> 00:34:25.750
Are you being courageous right now in your decisions?

00:34:25.750 --> 00:34:28.309
And the answer was no, not enough.

00:34:28.309 --> 00:34:31.269
I'm putting myself out there, but I'm not following through.

00:34:31.269 --> 00:34:32.646
I'm not pushing through.

00:34:32.646 --> 00:34:37.110
So I am proud to tell you that I pushed through.

00:34:37.110 --> 00:34:39.447
I used all the courage I had.

00:34:39.447 --> 00:34:44.188
I've acted courageously in a beautiful, beautiful little way.

00:34:44.188 --> 00:34:47.713
You're beautiful, you're courageous, you're great.

00:34:47.713 --> 00:35:02.742
Okay, I'm here to tell you right now, one week later, after identifying my guiding word, asking myself if I'm living by courage, I can proudly tell you that I heard back today.

00:35:03.364 --> 00:35:07.550
Your boy has been accepted to Daytona Bike Week.

00:35:07.550 --> 00:35:11.936
Oh, there he is again.

00:35:11.936 --> 00:35:13.842
Look at him Clap, clap, clap.

00:35:13.842 --> 00:35:17.389
Oh yes, oh, I'm so proud of you.

00:35:17.389 --> 00:35:20.295
Look at you, oh, you're so cute.

00:35:20.295 --> 00:35:22.920
Look at you, you proud of yourself.

00:35:22.920 --> 00:35:25.465
You should be, you should be.

00:35:25.465 --> 00:35:27.646
Look at him, oh, he's so cute.

00:35:27.646 --> 00:35:32.864
Oh, yes, that's my Eddie Murphy congratulations, because there's nobody else here.

00:35:32.864 --> 00:35:36.047
Man, I got a couple of dogs staring at me, actually, one of them staring at the wall.

00:35:36.047 --> 00:35:38.300
The other one's looking at me like I'm clueless.

00:35:38.300 --> 00:35:39.505
Hey, press, how you doing?

00:35:39.505 --> 00:35:43.478
I'm by myself right now, okay, and I'm just.

00:35:43.478 --> 00:35:46.947
I got nobody else to encourage me right now.

00:35:46.947 --> 00:35:56.802
So we're going to channel the nutty professor, we're going to bring Eddie Murphy in here and he's going to encourage us and say I'm so proud of you, baby, look at him, his pudgy little fist.

00:35:56.802 --> 00:35:59.896
Oh yeah, still proud of you.

00:35:59.896 --> 00:36:04.847
I'm going to be telling myself that the whole time I'm driving by myself through the night, I'm proud of you.

00:36:04.847 --> 00:36:07.597
Keep going.

00:36:07.597 --> 00:36:19.510
All things considered, y'all putting it all out there, I am proud to tell you we have kicked down the door on our comfort zone.

00:36:19.510 --> 00:36:27.036
We are headed to Daytona.

00:36:27.036 --> 00:36:40.184
Man, it almost seems crazy to put it out there, to put it into existence, to speak it into existence, to let y'all know we are taking on the biggest challenge of our business's history.

00:36:40.664 --> 00:37:05.603
The brand Loud Proud American is going on the road in a grand fashion, and the courage to make this decision, to double down, to bet on ourselves, to take the leap of faith, has inspired me to write my calendar in a very courageous way being strategic about what I'm doing and how I'm doing it, but challenging my business and my brain to do vastly different things than I've been doing.

00:37:05.603 --> 00:37:12.596
I look forward to sharing with you some bucket list opportunities that I am going to try to attack for my business this year.

00:37:12.596 --> 00:37:27.105
I am attempting to do some things that are going to require a lot of pushing, a lot of begging, certainly amounts of praying and pulling on some connections and some strings, but I have a few things that I'm looking forward to do this year.

00:37:27.105 --> 00:37:32.266
I've made the decision in my mind that this can be a make it or break it year for Loud, proud American.

00:37:32.266 --> 00:37:33.860
We brought in the building.

00:37:33.860 --> 00:37:39.427
We're going to need to work on that, get that up into production and get that up and running, get us organized.

00:37:39.427 --> 00:37:49.902
I'm taking a lot of time right now to slow down and work on organization because, with these big things to happen, I need to streamline my process.

00:37:49.902 --> 00:37:50.864
I've been revamping the office.

00:37:50.864 --> 00:37:51.786
I got a desk for the wife.

00:37:51.786 --> 00:37:53.088
She's coming in to help.

00:37:53.088 --> 00:37:54.438
I'm doing all these different things.

00:37:54.438 --> 00:37:57.023
I'm getting the office on lockdown.

00:37:57.023 --> 00:37:59.557
Then we're moving to the building and we're doing those things.

00:37:59.557 --> 00:38:04.407
We're making more of a production system, more of an inventory, checks and balance system.

00:38:04.407 --> 00:38:10.849
We're doing all these things to get organized to get ready to take on the biggest year for Loud Proud American.

00:38:11.815 --> 00:38:18.164
Last year was the first time in the history of our business that we did not experience growth.

00:38:18.164 --> 00:38:24.414
Last year was the first year in our history where we did not expand our business.

00:38:24.414 --> 00:38:31.208
When it comes to a gross sales number, we did not achieve greater growth year over year.

00:38:31.208 --> 00:38:34.666
When it comes to a net sales number, we didn't lose by much.

00:38:34.666 --> 00:38:37.436
We were only off by a couple of thousands of dollars.

00:38:37.436 --> 00:38:45.242
And I know that we were off because we took a lot of things off our schedule, because we were preparing for the birth of our first child.

00:38:45.722 --> 00:38:47.547
And to do it all over again?

00:38:47.547 --> 00:38:59.221
If I was asked to do it all over again, I'd do the same damn thing because that's what I needed to do for my family and the fact that we came oh so close to matching the previous year, to beating the previous year.

00:38:59.221 --> 00:39:00.487
I'm still proud of that.

00:39:00.487 --> 00:39:08.045
But I'm also here to tell you I am hell-bent and determined to destroy all previous years this year.

00:39:08.045 --> 00:39:22.110
We are going for it this year and I have made a decision in my mind and don't forget that decision comes from the Latin word incision, which means to cut off, to mean that it is a final choice.

00:39:22.693 --> 00:39:26.121
I made the decision that this year is a make it or break it year.

00:39:26.121 --> 00:39:28.385
We are going to challenge ourselves this year.

00:39:28.385 --> 00:39:33.974
We are putting ourselves in a position that in the next few years we won't have to travel so much.

00:39:33.974 --> 00:39:40.003
I will sacrifice now because I am courageous enough to make those sacrifices.

00:39:40.003 --> 00:39:41.967
You understand Hot diggity.

00:39:41.967 --> 00:39:45.217
Damn, I'm excited, y'all I'm excited.

00:39:45.217 --> 00:39:50.751
I'm nervous Shitting rocks over here, but I'm proud.

00:39:50.751 --> 00:39:59.735
I'm proud of the position we put ourselves in and I have grand illusions in my mind about what I can do when I go down there.

00:39:59.735 --> 00:40:04.606
I've talked to other vendors that have set my expectation that those numbers in my mind about what I can do when I go down there.

00:40:04.606 --> 00:40:07.072
I've talked to other vendors that have set my expectation that those numbers in my mind probably aren't attainable.

00:40:07.072 --> 00:40:15.090
But I'm going down there knowing what I should do, but also encouraged by what I'm capable of doing.

00:40:15.090 --> 00:40:15.592
Okay.

00:40:15.592 --> 00:40:19.079
So I truly feel I can go down there and do something special.

00:40:19.079 --> 00:40:21.927
So we're getting ready to go down there and do something special.

00:40:22.594 --> 00:40:45.704
While preparing for these decisions and writing out my goals and my aspirations, while starting to think about those things and forecast my year, I've really leaned into courage and, as we talked about, when we go back to some of the tips from last week, we said visibly displaying your guiding word, finding quotes around your word to read or reread for inspiration.

00:40:45.704 --> 00:40:53.025
One of those things, here we go Finding more courage, quotes and articles.

00:40:53.025 --> 00:41:05.811
To go back to, courage is the choice to face pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation and make good choices in the face of fear or obstacles.

00:41:05.811 --> 00:41:18.510
Let me spell it out for you one more time Courage is the choice to face pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation and make good choices in the face of fear or obstacles.

00:41:18.510 --> 00:41:23.545
When I made the choice to go to Daytona, that for me is uncertainty.

00:41:23.545 --> 00:41:26.057
That for me is intimidation.

00:41:26.057 --> 00:41:27.800
I'm intimidated by this trip.

00:41:27.800 --> 00:41:29.083
I'm intimidated by the journey.

00:41:29.083 --> 00:41:33.320
It's something that is completely uncertain doing these things on your own.

00:41:33.320 --> 00:41:37.619
There is a great level of danger when it comes to traveling on your own and doing these things.

00:41:37.619 --> 00:41:45.440
There's fear of the unknown, but I'm making good choices, I'm setting myself up to be successful.

00:41:45.440 --> 00:41:50.396
I'm making the right choices in the face of the fear and the obstacles.

00:41:51.358 --> 00:42:01.545
The word courage comes from the Latin word core, which means heart, and one of its earliest forms, the word courage, meant to speak one's mind by telling all one's heart.

00:42:01.545 --> 00:42:06.097
In one of its earliest forms, the word courage meant to speak one's mind by telling all one's heart.

00:42:06.097 --> 00:42:14.577
I did not know last week that courage came from the Latin word cor, which by definition means heart.

00:42:14.577 --> 00:42:25.023
That in itself has confirmed to me that I have chosen the right word, because I need a great deal of heart to do what I need to do this year.

00:42:25.023 --> 00:42:36.394
Now, when, doing a little bit of research on courage and kind of leaning into this and developing our mission for this year, I had to ask myself how can I develop courage?

00:42:36.394 --> 00:42:39.105
How can I build courage?

00:42:39.105 --> 00:42:43.144
Is it possible to build layers of courage upon itself?

00:42:43.144 --> 00:42:56.298
Did a little research, I found an article, and the article starts off with the good news is that there are many ways to tap into our capacity for courage, whether we are adults or students.

00:42:56.298 --> 00:43:00.128
Here are six ways to build courage.

00:43:00.128 --> 00:43:01.896
You all ready, quick, hidden.

00:43:01.896 --> 00:43:04.505
Six quick tips to build some courage.

00:43:04.574 --> 00:43:06.663
Number one see yourself as courageous.

00:43:06.663 --> 00:43:15.898
First, if we describe ourselves as courageous, we are more likely to act courageous and many other ways.

00:43:15.898 --> 00:43:18.786
I've said this since day one perception is reality.

00:43:18.786 --> 00:43:20.621
Whatever you perceive to be shall be.

00:43:20.621 --> 00:43:24.822
If you believe yourself to be courageous, you shall be courageous.

00:43:24.822 --> 00:43:27.891
I am speaking courageous into existence.

00:43:27.891 --> 00:43:30.556
See yourself as courageous.

00:43:30.556 --> 00:43:46.574
Number two here's one that came in big for this move Get comfortable with mistakes mistakes.

00:43:46.594 --> 00:43:49.239
We can recognize and celebrate courage with others, but it can also be a very internal, day-to-day experience.

00:43:49.239 --> 00:43:54.496
Research tells us that the fear of failure can negatively correlate with courage.

00:43:54.496 --> 00:44:01.527
But what if it's okay to make mistakes and they are even welcomed learning tools?

00:44:01.527 --> 00:44:03.090
You got to take chances.

00:44:03.090 --> 00:44:04.943
You got to be okay with making mistakes.

00:44:04.943 --> 00:44:08.637
In the beginning of starting this business, mistakes paralyzed me.

00:44:08.637 --> 00:44:13.936
I was afraid to present to the public the things I were creating because I made mistakes.

00:44:13.936 --> 00:44:15.260
It was paralyzing.

00:44:15.260 --> 00:44:16.505
You get stuck in quicksand.

00:44:16.505 --> 00:44:17.748
You just can't move.

00:44:17.748 --> 00:44:23.425
The fear of failure can just blossom into greater layers of failure.

00:44:23.425 --> 00:44:30.798
It can keep you from even trying, and that fear of failure was one of the things that was keeping me from taking this trip to Daytona.

00:44:30.798 --> 00:44:32.922
Number three keep trying.

00:44:32.922 --> 00:44:36.188
Courage at work also requires perseverance.

00:44:36.188 --> 00:44:39.681
You need to keep applying, you need to keep trying, you need to keep pushing.

00:44:39.681 --> 00:44:44.088
You need to continue to put yourself in situations where you need to be courageous.

00:44:44.088 --> 00:44:46.862
Number four look for the heroes.

00:44:46.862 --> 00:44:53.960
Of course we are feeling apathetic, anxious or fearful about stepping up and doing that next best thing in life.

00:44:54.536 --> 00:45:00.528
It can be helpful to draw inspiration from others, whether near or far, real or fictional.

00:45:00.528 --> 00:45:02.820
I'm a huge believer in this.

00:45:02.820 --> 00:45:14.844
This is why I listen to so many audio books, why I get into so many different speeches, presentations on YouTube, videos, inspirational books.

00:45:14.844 --> 00:45:15.985
I look for all these things.

00:45:15.985 --> 00:45:17.856
Try to find these heroes, these motivators.

00:45:17.856 --> 00:45:25.483
But you can also find people in your life that are role models and heroes to you, that are doing something you want to do.

00:45:25.483 --> 00:45:29.117
They're trying, at a level maybe greater than you Think about.

00:45:29.117 --> 00:45:36.159
The people that are in your little world, that are doing things that you inspire or aspire to do.

00:45:36.159 --> 00:45:38.184
Use them as inspiration.

00:45:38.184 --> 00:45:40.978
I just told you I got two friends heading to Florida themselves.

00:45:40.978 --> 00:45:47.701
Why not draw inspiration and motivation from them?

00:45:47.701 --> 00:45:49.086
I might not be going with them, but I can still be motivated by them.

00:45:49.086 --> 00:45:52.398
So, near and far people in your life, people you want to be in your life.

00:45:52.398 --> 00:45:58.320
You can look for inspiration on the internet YouTube, on Audible, all those things right.

00:45:58.320 --> 00:46:03.376
Or you can, you know, read about them, or you can find them in your day-to-day life.

00:46:04.478 --> 00:46:06.782
Number five clarify your values.

00:46:06.782 --> 00:46:12.981
You may recognize heroism or courage in others, but sometimes struggle to see it in yourself.

00:46:12.981 --> 00:46:28.240
If so, it may be helpful to ask yourself a few key questions what do I value in myself, what do I stand for, what is important to me, and what are some of my successes and accomplishments?

00:46:28.240 --> 00:46:30.927
This all comes back to perception.

00:46:30.927 --> 00:46:31.467
Is reality?

00:46:31.467 --> 00:46:49.501
Whatever I perceive to be shall be so if you can find things that you value about yourself, find things that you stand for, that you believe in those core values for you, identify what is important to you, live by those things, celebrate your small victories, cherish those successes.

00:46:49.501 --> 00:46:51.141
What are your accomplishments?

00:46:51.141 --> 00:46:52.434
Outline those things.

00:46:52.434 --> 00:46:55.884
You are building layers of courage by doing this.

00:46:55.884 --> 00:47:00.063
And number six, become part of a social force of courage.

00:47:00.063 --> 00:47:04.467
Finally, we can act on our values in community.

00:47:04.467 --> 00:47:10.335
This podcast right here is our community Share.

00:47:10.335 --> 00:47:14.414
The Struggle podcast is a positive tribe with a positive vibe.

00:47:14.896 --> 00:47:18.927
I started this show off on an impromptu rant about whether this show would continue.

00:47:18.927 --> 00:47:23.677
Up to rant about whether this show would continue.

00:47:23.677 --> 00:47:29.588
The reason why this show has stayed for 235 weeks is because I truly believe that this is a force of courage, that this is our community.

00:47:29.588 --> 00:47:31.697
We have core values.

00:47:31.697 --> 00:47:38.416
We establish values to live by, to strive by, to encourage others to live and strive by.

00:47:38.416 --> 00:47:40.025
This is our community.

00:47:40.467 --> 00:47:42.780
I hope and pray I continue to hear from each and every one of you.

00:47:42.780 --> 00:47:49.045
I hope and pray that you can share today's show with somebody close to you that can benefit from this show.

00:47:49.045 --> 00:47:51.697
Encourage friends and family to find guiding words.

00:47:51.697 --> 00:47:57.077
Encourage them to live and act by those guiding words and come back and share those guiding words.

00:47:57.077 --> 00:48:08.222
This is an opportunity for us to make a greater, more successful, positive, valuable tribe for ourselves a strong, forceful community.

00:48:08.222 --> 00:48:09.023
You understand what I'm saying.

00:48:09.023 --> 00:48:11.876
We are onto something, we are building something.

00:48:11.876 --> 00:48:23.621
I hope and pray we can make this podcast week to week to week for another four years, five years, 10 years, just like the past four nearly five years we already have under our belts.

00:48:23.621 --> 00:48:25.621
This is our community.

00:48:25.621 --> 00:48:29.485
I hope that we can continue to grow this community.

00:48:29.485 --> 00:48:37.425
I truly know that there is strength in our struggle and that is why we are sharing our struggles and our journeys.

00:48:37.425 --> 00:48:47.682
I am about to embark on one of the biggest journeys of my life and the biggest challenge for my business when I take Loud Proud American to Daytona Bike Week in 2025.

00:48:47.682 --> 00:48:54.465
And I will do so because I choose to live courageously and I encourage each and every one of you to do the same.

00:48:55.148 --> 00:48:58.039
I thank you for supporting my American dream.

00:48:58.039 --> 00:49:02.001
Now go wash your bucket hands, you filthy savage.

00:49:02.001 --> 00:49:06.802
That's it and that's all Biggie Smalls.

00:49:06.802 --> 00:49:33.304
If you're a loud, proud American and you find yourself just wanting more, find me on YouTube and Facebook at loud, proud American, or the FacePage, as my mama calls it.

00:49:33.304 --> 00:49:58.251
If you're a fan of the Graham Cracker and want to find me on Instagram or all the kids are tickety-talking on the TikTok, or all the kids are tickety-talking on the TikTok, you can find me on both of those.

00:49:58.251 --> 00:49:59.855
At loud, underscore, proud, underscore, american.

00:49:59.855 --> 00:50:04.239
A big old thank you to the boys from the gut truckers for the background beats and the theme song for this year's podcast.

00:50:04.239 --> 00:50:27.226
If you are enjoying what you're hearing, you can track down the gut truckers on facebook.

00:50:27.226 --> 00:50:29.568
Just search gut truckers.

00:50:29.568 --> 00:50:32.990
Give them, motherfuckers, a like too.

00:50:32.990 --> 00:50:35.992
I truly thank you for supporting my American dream.

00:50:35.992 --> 00:50:38.804
Now go wash your fucking hands, you filthy savage.

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