WEBVTT - Our Strange Life 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:03.360 Hi to everybody. Welcome to the Granger Smith Podcast. Thank 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:06.400 you for watching and listening. Thank you for all the support. 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:09.080 I love this I love this thing. I love the show. 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:11.079 I love to get on here and be able to 0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:13.640 use this platform to speak my mind and talk to 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:16.799 some guests and talk to some friends and answer your questions. 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:19.479 I do have to say this is episode forty four. 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:22.360 If you don't know anything about this podcast, if you 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:24.759 stumbled on here for the first time, I encourage you 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:27.200 to go backwards a little bit. At some point, pace yourself. 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:29.680 Go backwards. It starts all the way back at episode one. 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:33.159 I started telling the story of where I came from 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:36.920 and how I got to be where I am now, 0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:42.239 and that is with music and my family and my 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:47.400 life and here at yee ye the brand. So I 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:50.920 started this podcast not really thinking this was going to 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:54.240 be a ton of episodes. Now I think it is. 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:55.840 It's going to be a ton of episodes. But back 0:00:55.840 --> 0:01:00.520 then I wanted a long form explanation of some deep 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:04.160 stories from me of where I came from because I 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:06.200 was so used to being on radio shows where they 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:08.640 would say, so tell us a little bit about yourself, 0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:12.640 and I would say, well, how do you answer that 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:14.760 question if you know in the back of your mind 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:18.039 you have about ten seconds of radio time to tell 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:20.520 them where you came from or who you are or 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:23.960 what's your music about. And so I thought you I'll 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:28.199 start a podcast. I'll answer some of these questions myself 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:30.760 and just do it in long form where it takes 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:32.720 a while and I could really get into the depths 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:38.200 of where I came from. That turned into story after 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:41.319 story after story, album after album, song after song, and 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:43.880 it led into bringing some guests on, and then it 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:47.400 led onto where we are now, where we're on all 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:52.280 podcast apps and YouTube as well, so you could actually 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:55.960 see it and hear it if you want. And it's 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:58.840 something I love doing every single Monday morning. So this 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:01.920 is hopefully on your drive to work or getting your 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:05.040 weeks started on a Monday. So thank you for being 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:09.000 with me. I'm grateful to have it. The most important 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:10.600 thing I could tell you right now about me in 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:13.279 my life is we have an album coming out in September, 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:15.760 and I'm going to announce that album. I'm gonna tell 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:19.400 you everything about it when exactly the day in September 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:21.600 you could expect it and what it's going to be 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:23.360 about and the songs that are going to be on it. 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:26.760 On August twenty eighth, I'm gonna tell you that that's 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:30.080 when we're gonna announce it. We're gonna give you the 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:34.519 pre order link, the pre save link for the streaming services, 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:37.320 and you'll be able to hear some examples. I'm probably 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:39.040 going to go on social media and show you a 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:41.960 little bit of every song at that point. So the 0:02:42.000 --> 0:02:44.720 point being there's only there's like, if you're listening real 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:47.960 time on this podcast, in like three weeks, you're gonna 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:50.919 get all that info. And that is a big, big 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:54.040 deal to me because I've worked so hard on this album. 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:57.200 It's been about two years in the making. There's a 0:02:57.240 --> 0:03:00.800 lot of songs, a lot of stories, and I think 0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:03.320 it's my best work I've ever done. And this is 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.320 my tenth studio album, and I think it's my best one. 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:09.000 I know that everyone says that, and even I've said 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:11.520 that in the past, but it feels different now. It 0:03:11.520 --> 0:03:17.400 feels that just feels it feels like my best So 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:21.960 I'm pumped. It's not the it's not the first time 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:23.600 I'm going to talk about this. I'm gonna I'm gonna 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:25.240 wear you guys out about it, just because I'm so 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:29.120 excited and I want to hear how these songs in 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:32.400 this period of my life twenty nineteen and twenty twenty, 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:35.840 the songs I wrote and produced during this time. I 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:39.640 want to know how they bounce off of your life 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:43.240 and how you react to them, and which ones speak 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:45.720 to you, and which lyrics speak to you, And which 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:48.200 melodies make you want to jump in your truck and 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:51.000 roll the windows down and drive, and which ones might 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:54.400 make you want to get a big old cup of 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:57.280 coffee and soak it all in. Which ones make you 0:03:57.280 --> 0:03:59.000 want to crack a beer and be with your buddies 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:03.080 and light a bonfire, which makes you want to contemplate life. 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:06.400 I want to know that, and I'm just so excited. 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:10.560 It's for an artist. For a musician, it's like Christmas 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:12.640 morning when your album comes out and you finally get 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:16.600 to see everyone react to your work, good and bad. 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:19.800 Even bad's good. Even when people say it sucks, it's like, well, 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:23.640 they listened, and that's feedback. So that's better than someone 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:26.479 not hearing anything. It's better than indifference. Like I don't 0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:28.320 even care Granger has an album. I don't even care. 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:30.400 It's better if they say I hate it, because that 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:33.000 means I got to you. The music got to you 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:36.800 and it made you react in some way. If you 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:39.120 want to get a hold of me now, A really 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:41.120 cool way to talk to me now is through Cameo. 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:44.080 There's an app you could download, the Cameo app. You 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:45.920 can go to cameo dot com and then you could 0:04:45.960 --> 0:04:48.560 find me in the search and you could book me 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:52.680 to say anything you want on a video message. So 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:56.960 I could say happy birthday or congratulations, or happy anniversary, 0:04:57.200 --> 0:05:02.279 or welcome home from the play oom or I've done 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:05.839 so I've done just pick me ups, like hey, talk 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:07.800 to my sister. She's going through a tough time, where 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:11.599 you just tell her something funny I've done. I've done 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:15.280 ones for someone that asked for themselves for me to 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.039 tell them something or answer a question. So that's a 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:21.000 cool it's a cool thing. I do it daily, Cameo 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:24.560 c A M e O and I love doing it 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:26.719 and it's a really good way for me to keep 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:30.800 good touch with you guys. I wish that we're touring. 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:34.480 I just had another TOURD eight cancel from when you're 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:36.920 watching this real time, we were playing in North Platte, 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:40.440 Nebraska this coming Saturday. It just got canceled. I found 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:45.000 out yesterday. So so frustrating to know that we're still 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:47.920 dealing with this virus and that shows are still canceling. 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:51.360 I was at a point when I thought that it's 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:53.280 we're kind of even out now, like it's not going 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:55.320 to get any worse. And I think what I'm kind 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:57.039 of learning is the shows that we're going to play 0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:02.200 are going to be in red states that are small towns, 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:08.680 that are Upper Midwest type scenarios where it's run by 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:11.479 a local venue and they follow the rules and it's 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:16.640 not city or county or a committee run at all, 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:18.599 because those teams would be the ones that want to cancel, 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:22.120 or's the fairs and the committee run things that have 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:27.360 too much liability. So we do the weekend after next 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:29.880 we are out. We have a three three day run. 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:35.159 I believe it's like Missouri, Kansas, maybe Nebraska again, Wyoming. 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:37.760 Wyoming's in there. So we're trying, guys, we're trying to 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:39.839 get out. We're trying to tour and I wish we're 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:42.600 with you right now, and we will be really soon. 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:44.560 And in the meantime, I can hope I could scratch 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:47.000 that itch by releasing new music. In this new album. 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:51.520 Today's podcast, I'm going to bring back my brother, Parker Smith, 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:55.960 who is our CEO here at EE Apparel. He's our 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:59.919 brand manager. He's a smart dude. Not just saying that 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:04.080 he's my brother, but Tyler and I we worked really 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:06.560 hard on getting Parker to work here. And I know 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:09.039 that that sounds crazy, but there was a lot of 0:07:09.120 --> 0:07:12.120 feeling like, hey, we don't want to bring him in 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:14.440 just because he's our brother, and we don't want to just, 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:18.520 you know, just bring him in because we feel sorry 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:21.280 for him, or he's the only he's left out. We 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:23.720 legitimately fought for him to come here because he had 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:26.000 a lot of good job offers, a lot of places 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:29.520 he could have gone, and we, at least I did. 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:33.720 Tyler was worried that if we convinced him to come, 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:36.800 he would be disappointed. But what ended up happened as 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:39.920 Parker came here and just really really set the company. 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:42.000 We were doing good, but he set us on a 0:07:42.040 --> 0:07:45.120 whole new level and set a new trajectory, which we're 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:47.600 not We're not there yet. We have a long way 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:50.760 to go, but we're on a great trajectory and God, 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:53.480 thank God every day for EE Apparel during this touring 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:58.320 shutdown when I have no other work but this and songwriting. 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.960 So anyway, Parker Parker went on social media and asked 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:04.880 questions from his Instagram, which is a little bit of 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:07.800 a twist for this podcast. He's gonna come on right now. 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:10.800 I think you're gonna love it. He's an awesome dude. 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:52.720 Welcome to the Granger Smith Podcast. Did d my long line? 0:08:53.320 --> 0:09:13.160 Fool hup and down? Going back? Crazy coolation? All right, 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:17.600 so you have collected questions. This is the first time 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:22.840 somebody else has collected questions for this podcast. So Parker, 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:27.120 you went to your Instagram and you got some questions, 0:09:27.160 --> 0:09:29.200 and this is kind of your idea for this podcast today. 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:31.439 So I'm gonna let you lead it. We're gonna go 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:36.040 through some brother questions. They're probably brother related, and since 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:40.720 you're also closely working with me, it's also ye yee related. 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:43.240 So what you got? Yeah, I think it's cool when 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:48.520 people give you an idea of what's going on behind 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:51.000 the scenes, and especially with us. I think Q and 0:09:51.000 --> 0:09:53.320 A's are so cool, especially for brands that I like. 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:55.959 I like to hear about what's going on behind the scenes. 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:59.559 And so I did a I just did a Q 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:02.800 and a Instagram story and I got some some pretty 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:05.079 entertaining questions, some pretty funny ones. I try to pick 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:08.840 the ones that would be the most enjoyable to the listeners. 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:14.640 So first we have what do you and your brother's 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:19.280 bond over, especially with you being so young? And this 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:22.480 was an interesting question because I feel like, I feel 0:10:22.480 --> 0:10:25.280 like a lot of brother relationships are our relationship has 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:30.200 kind of been the opposite of what most brother relationships are, 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:32.400 and that like, you're usually close when you're young, and 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:35.760 then as you get older, you get a family, and 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:37.120 then you get a job, and then you move to 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:40.120 a different city, and then you see your brothers on holidays. Sure, 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:44.440 and with me being the youngest, I was basically an 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:48.120 only child as a kid, and you were basically like 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:50.880 an uncle to me, if I'm being honest, Like I 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:54.280 would see you on holidays and like that's it. And 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:56.600 so I didn't really know you that well. It sounds 0:10:56.640 --> 0:10:59.240 bad to say that, but anybody who has a big 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:01.600 age gap with like a brother or sister kind of 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:06.440 understands what I mean. Because you you weren't aware during 0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:08.600 your younger years when I was with you and you 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:11.520 were a young kid. You probably don't don't even remember 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:16.400 those days because we're thirteen years apart. So I remember 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:19.040 you as a baby and as a toddler, and as 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:21.959 a little kid, and as like a elementary school kid, 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:24.600 but those are probably vague memories to you and your 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:31.319 age of reckoning. I was off to college and making music. Yeah, yeah, 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:35.280 it was you were you like, had this job that 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.000 I didn't understand. It was just what it was. It 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:45.839 you were out doing music, and that was just People 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:47.319 think that's it. They're like, what's it like having a 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:49.559 brother who's a musician, And like my childhood, it was 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:52.560 just it just seems normal. That may sound crazy, but 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:55.480 whenever you just grow up with something and then you 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:56.959 get older and you're like, oh, yeah, that was pretty 0:11:57.000 --> 0:11:59.200 cool or that was pretty out of the ordinary. For me, 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:02.160 that was just normal. So anyway, back to the question, 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:05.200 what do we bond over? When I was younger, it 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:07.800 was just Texas A and in football, because I'd see 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:11.320 you on I'd see you on holidays, and then our 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:14.520 whole family my dad went to Texas A and m 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:16.440 Grangeur went to Texas A and M, and then I 0:12:16.559 --> 0:12:20.480 ended up going there, and so my childhood was holidays 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:26.319 watching Texas A and M play Texas and then also 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:30.280 deer hunting because we'd usually go to our ranch and 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:32.440 so we kind of bonded over that from a young age, 0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:36.880 and me as a child literally crying when A and 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:39.840 M lost to Texas because we took it so seriously. 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:44.920 What year was that, I don't know. We lost a 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:46.960 lot when I was a kid. We had some rough years. 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:52.040 That was two thousands, yeah, yeah, I was Dennis friend 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:59.360 Joni terrible years. Yeah. Yeah. And then as we got 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:06.240 older we work really yeah, and working out. We all 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:12.960 work out together. Yeah, yeah, you working with us. I 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:15.760 never say for us. I always correct myself it's with us, 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:18.440 because you are pretty much in charge of your whole 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:21.559 realm of EEE, and Tyler's in charge of his realm 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:25.440 and I'm in charge of mine. And then we intersect daily, 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:29.680 but it's in the scope of what we do for 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:34.560 ee You do a lot more by yourself, and I 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:36.120 do a lot more by myself, and Tyler is a 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:40.199 lot more by himself than we do intersecting. But we 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:42.600 intersect daily, two or three times a day. In fact, 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:47.560 we've been on zoom calls today already twice today over 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:50.679 two completely different things, and it's like, oh, there's Parker. 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:55.040 And your role has also changed since Tyler's out of 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:58.840 town with the Bachelorette, your role has increased. But yeah, 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:02.920 to say we bond over work is saying it lightly, 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:06.280 because I mean my office is here, your office is 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:10.199 too over there, and we see each other every single day, 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:13.280 especially me not being on tour. So yeah, for sure. 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:17.720 That segues into the next question, which was how many 0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:20.280 people work at EE Apparel and how's it grown stage 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:23.120 by stage. I'll go over this. I'll give you the 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:25.880 short answer because I think I covered this a little 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:27.520 bit in the last episode that I was in. But 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:30.960 it's a cool story, and I don't think people heard. 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:32.680 I don't remember if you said this last time, But 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:36.600 where Ye Apparel was at before, it was Ye Apparel 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:39.200 with just you and Amber shipping out of your garage. 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:48.680 Originally you were just an artist selling shirts and we're 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:52.880 in you were shipping them yourself, right, Yeah, yeah, it 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:55.600 was you and Amber out of that garage before that, 0:14:55.680 --> 0:15:01.440 Mom was shipping some stuff. Yeah, hey mom, somebody bought 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:05.480 a CD his name is Bob George and here's here's 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:09.720 his address, let me write it down for you. Yeah, oh, 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:16.040 we gotta sale. We got to sale today. So twenty 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:20.440 eleven hits and then Earl Divilis Junior comes around and 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:25.080 Tyler's acting as manager for you. And then also Tyler 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:29.080 kind of takes over the ordering of the apparel and 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:33.240 kind of takes over the management of the apparel side, 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:36.840 which was at the time just buy shirts with Earl 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:42.160 Divilis Junior's face on them and sell them. And we 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:45.000 did that for a while, but it wasn't yee wasn't 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:49.240 its own brand. It was it was just sell them 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:52.400 on the Granger Smith store and you just also had 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:57.280 ye stuff there and so kind of what my my 0:15:57.440 --> 0:16:00.800 job was to So that was like that was like 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:03.160 from twenty twelve. That was probably like four years of 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:06.080 that if Tyler trying to do both right, Yeah, and 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:10.000 then Tyler with one other person shipping and then handling 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:13.000 customer service and returns and exchanges and stuff. And then 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:15.760 I went to Texas A and M and then graduated, 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:18.080 and then my job was to come in and sell 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:21.200 EEE Energy, which I talked about a little bit before. 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:27.120 And Ye energy drinks. Were talking about this the other day. 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:30.960 Energy drinks are just very difficult for startup brands like 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:36.920 we were because they're so heavy, they're really expensive to ship, 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:39.560 and you just it's just really hard to be successful 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:43.680 as a small business selling energy drinks. And we couldn't 0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:45.960 get them into stores because at the time, I didn't 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:47.360 know that the best way to do that was to 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:52.200 connect with a sales rep who actually knows the owners 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:56.240 of Tom Thumb and HB and Shell gas station and 0:16:56.240 --> 0:17:00.360 that sort of thing. And so I realized that time 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:03.120 that that was going to be an uphill battle, and 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:05.400 I was like, I was like, well, these shirts are 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:09.400 selling really well, and these hats are selling really well, 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:12.800 and so then I just began to look at how 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:17.159 do we increase the quality of these products so that 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:24.080 we can grow the apparel side, and and over time 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:28.080 very slowly. If you bought a hat or shirt from 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:31.320 us in like from twenty twelve to twenty sixteen, god 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:35.080 bless you, because I mean, we were them and we 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:36.560 liked them, and at the time they were good. But 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:39.800 looking back now, it was it's just almost humorous how 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:41.200 much we didn't know what we were doing in the 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:43.960 quality of them. Hey, speak for yourself. I still have 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:46.359 some of those hats and shirts. They're awesome. They call 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:50.760 them ogs. Yeah, it's just that that's a world that's 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:53.879 it's just a big learning curve and you just you 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:56.760 don't know what you don't know. And so so I 0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:59.040 came in and saw I just slowly started building up 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:00.720 the quality of the product and the shirts and the 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:02.600 hats and trying to meet the people that I needed 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:06.120 to meet to hit the standards that we needed to hit. 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:10.080 And then that was like twenty sixteen to twenty eighteen 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:14.200 to nineteen where we just slowly got better and then 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:19.200 and that was still just me in our least office 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:23.800 in Huddo, Texas, and we had one other person shipping 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:27.520 and handling returns in exchanges. And then two thousand, i'd say, 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:30.960 twenty nineteen, twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, like these last two 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:35.120 years have been where we've really shifted to think bigger 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:39.720 and I've just modeled what I've seen some other brands 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:45.760 do in that it's like, Okay, you create collections based 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:48.480 on the type of year it is, in the season 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:51.119 that it is, so we create, you know, a spring 0:18:51.160 --> 0:18:53.560 collection and then a summer collection and then a fall 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:57.679 collection and then have products that actually like portray like 0:18:57.760 --> 0:18:59.240 what you'd be doing that time of the year, Like 0:18:59.280 --> 0:19:02.200 Spring's going to be rider colors and like have fishing, 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:04.359 and then fall was going to be like camo and 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:08.440 hunting stuff. And so it's just slowly evolved from that 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:14.159 to people asking me a lot. It was there like 0:19:14.240 --> 0:19:16.439 a certain point, like a certain shift, or like a 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:19.639 big moment for EE Apparel that was like a cornerstone 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:23.639 of the business. And I'd say I'd say this last 0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:27.040 April when we did EE Day, which was Tyler's idea, 0:19:27.359 --> 0:19:31.880 which was to celebrate celebrate the day that we trademark 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:34.080 EE or that was it the day, Yeah, it was 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:37.280 the day we trade marked it, right, And so we 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:39.280 bought a bunch of exclusive products that were only going 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:43.600 to be available that day, and we were like this day, 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:45.760 this time, this stuff is going to release, and we 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:50.200 got a cool countdown clock on the website and then 0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:54.359 we sold out of everything in like like ten minutes. 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:56.639 You were on Instagram Live talking about it and I 0:19:56.680 --> 0:19:59.240 was like, dude, we're already out of everything. Yeah, like 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:01.639 hang up the phone, hang up the phone. Yeah. In 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:04.919 thee because I'm like, everybody, go to EE Apparel at 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:06.800 EE day, make sure you get this. We've got a 0:20:06.800 --> 0:20:08.679 big sale. And you come in there and you're like, 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:11.280 hang up the phone, hang up the phone, the sales over. 0:20:11.359 --> 0:20:15.320 We're sold out of everything. Yes, So we we were 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:19.639 not expecting that at all, and that was the day 0:20:19.680 --> 0:20:21.560 when we sat back and we're like, holy calic, I 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:26.440 think I think this could be really big. Uh. And 0:20:26.520 --> 0:20:30.080 so that kind of leads us to where we are 0:20:30.160 --> 0:20:34.280 now with h We have a lot of people are 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:37.119 curious as to like who our employees are. So you 0:20:37.200 --> 0:20:40.560 and Tyler I categorize as owners. You still have you 0:20:40.640 --> 0:20:43.000 still have a lot of say in like what products 0:20:43.000 --> 0:20:44.760 we make and like the type of designs that we 0:20:44.800 --> 0:20:46.880 do and that sort of thing. But when it comes 0:20:46.920 --> 0:20:48.919 to the day to day operations, I handle the day 0:20:48.960 --> 0:20:52.760 to day and kind of oversee what we call the 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:55.800 EE brand side, and then the other side of the 0:20:55.800 --> 0:21:01.639 EE Farm office is EE Distribution, which, for people who 0:21:01.680 --> 0:21:05.000 don't know what that means, basically, it's just employees shipping 0:21:05.040 --> 0:21:09.159 the product out to you guys at home, and a 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:11.439 lot of people have paid somebody else to do that. 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:14.280 But we just always wanted to do it ourselves because 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:16.760 nobody does it. If you want to do something right, 0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:18.720 you do yourself. And I know that you and Tyler 0:21:18.760 --> 0:21:21.840 had a lot of issues with other people shipping your 0:21:21.840 --> 0:21:23.800 stuff for you, and so we like it because we 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:27.639 can do awesome like Camo boxes and Camo polymailers and 0:21:27.760 --> 0:21:29.920 the bags that they're shipped in are all custom yee 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:33.600 branded and so they look cool. And so we have 0:21:34.160 --> 0:21:37.719 on the brand side, we have myself overseeing operations, Hayden, 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:41.880 who handles all of our marketing. And if you are 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:44.639 if you're a big enough support to watch this podcast, 0:21:44.720 --> 0:21:48.000 you are likely in the ee Nation Facebook group, and 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:51.240 if you're not, you should check it out and you'll 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:55.160 probably know Hayden from that where he's always talking about 0:21:55.200 --> 0:21:58.280 new products and what we're releasing and keeping everybody. He 0:21:58.280 --> 0:22:01.560 does an awesome job of just keeping the conversation going 0:22:01.600 --> 0:22:06.320 between the brand and the people in EE Nation. And 0:22:08.000 --> 0:22:11.119 Maddie handles all of our on the distribution side. Maddie 0:22:11.160 --> 0:22:16.480 handles all of our customer service and our returns and exchanges. 0:22:16.520 --> 0:22:18.920 So many time you ever return something to us, that's 0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:20.920 Maddie dealing with her. If you email us, it's Maddie 0:22:20.920 --> 0:22:25.760 it's not somebody in another country, and she's amazing. And 0:22:27.000 --> 0:22:31.879 then Caleb, who handles all of our warehouse. He's our 0:22:31.880 --> 0:22:39.040 warehouse manager, so he handles incoming inventory, outgoing inventory, day 0:22:39.080 --> 0:22:43.360 to day shipping and keeping track of everything in that warehouse, 0:22:43.359 --> 0:22:46.399 which is a full time job. And Caleb as an 0:22:46.400 --> 0:22:49.320 old drummer of mine. Yeah, he was my drummer from 0:22:49.320 --> 0:22:53.720 about two thousand and nine to about twenty thirteen when 0:22:53.800 --> 0:22:57.119 Dusty came in and Caleb essentially retired and started working 0:22:57.119 --> 0:23:02.119 for us. Yeah, and he's been he's been awesome for 0:23:02.200 --> 0:23:05.800 that role. Yeah, he's been really good and he's he's hilarious. 0:23:05.840 --> 0:23:08.119 So if you guys follow e Apparent on Instagram, you'll 0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:10.639 see him on our story. Whenever we do behind the 0:23:10.640 --> 0:23:13.240 scenes of what's going on here, you may see Caleb 0:23:13.400 --> 0:23:17.879 saying some joke, Caleb Kelly. Yeah. And so Caleb is 0:23:17.880 --> 0:23:22.639 our whareouse manager. And those are all the salaried employees, 0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:27.400 and then we have anywhere from five to fifteen hourly 0:23:27.440 --> 0:23:31.520 employees that come in and help ship during during launches, 0:23:32.760 --> 0:23:35.600 and so usually we're just texting. I'm literally going through 0:23:35.600 --> 0:23:38.840