Episode 82 – Scott Graham

00:00:00:03 - 00:00:18:05
Scott Graham
I love exploring nonsense. It's one of my favorite things to do. Being able to walk around in public and see s- people walk by you wearing stuff that you designed or came up with or manufa- whatever. Dude, I've been doing this 19 years and it doesn't get old. Um, I mean, you can only I was gonna make a stupid joke.

00:00:18:06 - 00:00:35:16
Scott Graham
I filtered it. You filtered it. I filtered it. Live? Oh, that's cool. Don't have to worry about editing that out. And now I can feel ethically justified taking this project on, because I know you can be successful. Are we gonna lose your audience talking about email management? No, this is actually really, probably the most sophisticated thing we're gonna talk about this entire time.

00:00:35:18 - 00:00:54:18
Scott Graham
So let's get it out of the way. You're doing Pilates. Can we just start that? Yeah, I'm gonna do Pilates. I'm gonna do so many of them.

00:00:54:20 - 00:01:12:13
Brandon Adams
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to The Blueprint. Today I've got, uh, Scott Graham times 3 episode trace. Uh, this guy just keeps coming back and, uh, I have put pesticides out, everything to keep this guy away, but he keeps knocking the door down. So hopefully this time he has something worthwhile. The other ones were kinda funny, so I'm hoping this one kinda does the same thing.

00:01:12:15 - 00:01:20:11
Brandon Adams
Uh, I actually forgot what he does, but stay tuned, he's gonna tell us about it. Also, if you guys can hit that subscribe button on the bottom, it's gonna help us get more of Scott Graham coming up in the next few months.

00:01:20:11 - 00:01:23:12
Scott Graham
So- That's what everyone wants.

00:01:23:14 - 00:01:25:18
Brandon Adams
Stay tuned. Hey, Scott.

00:01:25:19 - 00:01:27:14
Scott Graham
How's it going, buddy? Good, brother. How are you?

00:01:27:16 - 00:01:50:04
Brandon Adams
Good. I, I actually really love, uh, these podcasts because they're a little bit all over the board. And so sometimes we go through the formatting of telling someone's story and everything, which we've already done with you and covered a lot of that stuff. So I'd just like to kinda go wherever you wanna go today. You know, I've got some questions kinda queued up and I've got And I asked you to kinda bring a few things, but I'd like to kind of explore some nonsense for a while.

00:01:50:05 - 00:01:54:08
Scott Graham
I love exploring nonsense. It's one of my favorite things to do.

00:01:54:09 - 00:01:58:15
Brandon Adams
Since you've been coming onto the podcast all the time now, all the time, uh, third time- This is the hat trick episode

00:01:58:16 - 00:01:59:18
Scott Graham
Is the hat trick episode.

00:01:59:19 - 00:02:01:19
Brandon Adams
this is the hat trick. It's the most, I don't know.

00:02:01:19 - 00:02:03:18
Scott Graham
Is this the most- That's a hockey reference

00:02:03:20 - 00:02:05:16
Brandon Adams
I think Brandon Calley's, with different guests, has been here 2 or 3 times.

00:02:05:16 - 00:02:06:15
Scott Graham
Been here.

00:02:06:17 - 00:02:10:18
Brandon Adams
Huh?

00:02:10:18 - 00:02:11:18
Scott Graham
Oh, you got a tie.

00:02:11:20 - 00:02:13:03
Brandon Adams
A musician.

00:02:13:04 - 00:02:16:24
Scott Graham
Oh, I can probably kick his ass.

00:02:17:00 - 00:02:28:16
Brandon Adams
We'll set that up. Um, since you've been doing this a lot, uh, has people started to notice you from the streets and talk about your podcast and everything else that you've been doing?

00:02:28:18 - 00:02:59:19
Scott Graham
Um, no. But I've, I do send the episodes out to, uh, friends, family, customers and they get a kick out of it. But I haven't yet had to, like, bat people away that are wanting an autograph or a selfie. Although in Nashville, um, probably 3 or 4 months ago, I was in Nashville visiting a customer, and we were walking around downtown and these college chicks come up to me. And they're like, "Can we take a picture with you?"

00:02:59:19 - 00:03:02:00
Scott Graham
And I immediately knew they thought I was someone that I'm not.

00:03:02:01 - 00:03:02:08
Brandon Adams
Cole.

00:03:02:08 - 00:03:05:16
Scott Graham
Cole Wetzel. Uh, no.

00:03:05:18 - 00:03:08:00
Brandon Adams
Zack Galifianakis. Um, and I was, but I leaned into it and I was like, "Yeah, sure."

00:03:08:02 - 00:03:17:05
Scott Graham
So I just, like, took a picture with them and, you know, did, like, the whatever, some cool hand signs or something.

00:03:17:06 - 00:03:18:03
Brandon Adams
You, you did those or that or something.

00:03:18:04 - 00:03:18:16
Scott Graham
Yeah.

00:03:18:17 - 00:03:19:21
Brandon Adams
Uh- You did the half heart.

00:03:20:02 - 00:03:36:24
Scott Graham
And they took the picture and they walked off, and as they were walking off, one of their friends goes, "Who is that?" And I could hear them go, "That's Luke Bryan." And so there's, like, some And, and I'm not a Luke Bryan fan. Like- Luke, if you're watching this- I love you

00:03:36:24 - 00:03:38:01
Brandon Adams
I love you.

00:03:38:03 - 00:03:42:00
Scott Graham
neti pot, bro. Neti. Before every single performance.

00:03:42:02 - 00:03:43:16
Brandon Adams
He's got a little, got a little nasally- So nasal.

00:03:43:18 - 00:04:07:19
Scott Graham
Oh, gosh And then you watch, like, his documentary where he's, like, dancing like this while he's singing country music. It's like, what are we doing? So I'm not a Luke Bryan fan. He might be a super nice guy. He probably is. But he's got a real punchable face. But they thought I was Luke Bryan, so there's some girls in Nashville with a picture of me- Of you in their phone that they showed somebody the next day and was like, "Look, we met Luke Bryan." And they're like- Nope "That ain't Luke Bryan, dumbass."

00:04:07:20 - 00:04:08:04
Scott Graham
Yeah.

00:04:08:05 - 00:04:09:19
Brandon Adams
Did you pat them on the butt on the way out?

00:04:09:19 - 00:04:11:04
Scott Graham
No, I didn't.

00:04:11:05 - 00:04:11:20
Brandon Adams
Get your hands in.

00:04:11:20 - 00:04:13:24
Scott Graham
Kept your hands where they needed to be. I haven't, I haven't been doing that for months.

00:04:14:00 - 00:04:17:15
Brandon Adams
Oh, good. Well, that's good to see. What were you doing in Nashville?

00:04:17:17 - 00:04:19:07
Scott Graham
Uh, the Grand Ole Opry.

00:04:19:09 - 00:04:21:20
Brandon Adams
As a customer.

00:04:22:00 - 00:04:25:23
Scott Graham
Are you singing? Um, I sing there and then I make their merch.

00:04:26:00 - 00:04:27:15
Brandon Adams
You make the merch for the Grand Ole Opry?

00:04:27:16 - 00:04:27:22
Scott Graham
We do?

00:04:27:23 - 00:04:32:18
Brandon Adams
We do, yeah. How'd you get that gig? Um, is it bad that I don't know?

00:04:32:20 - 00:04:34:21
Scott Graham
Is it bad that I don't know?

00:04:34:23 - 00:04:35:14
Brandon Adams
It's pretty bad.

00:04:35:15 - 00:04:59:14
Scott Graham
It's pretty bad. That's pretty bad. Right? Um, no, there was a call popped up on the calendar with the Grand Ole Opry, and they're fun, man. They, uh It's, like, vintage country Nashville meets surf skate is kinda the vibe that we're going at them with. So we're doing a lot of, like In fact, this T-shirt that I'm wearing is the blank that we developed for their T-shirt line.

00:04:59:19 - 00:05:02:06
Scott Graham
It's, like, a real heavyweight cotton. Um- Why is it blank and not Grand Ole Opry on there?

00:05:02:08 - 00:05:03:23
Brandon Adams
Why is it blank and not Grand Ole Opry?

00:05:04:03 - 00:05:07:21
Scott Graham
It was the sample. If you were to look- Oh in my neck right now, it has a Grand Ole Opry neck label in it.

00:05:08:02 - 00:05:08:24
Brandon Adams
Oh, nice.

00:05:09:00 - 00:05:18:22
Scott Graham
'Cause it fits my giant belly and skinny arms. So, um, but yeah, man, they're fun.

00:05:18:23 - 00:05:26:13
Brandon Adams
So you took the, you took some customers, you met them down there to go over what was happening at the show, or they- We went- they called, they called you down to check it out.

00:05:26:15 - 00:05:38:17
Scott Graham
Dude, this is embarrassing. So we, they called us down there to go check it out. They gave us tickets to the show, and they wanted us to kinda get a feel for the vibe and all that, and then m- meet with them at the office the following day.

00:05:38:18 - 00:05:39:06
Brandon Adams
You and a couple teammates.

00:05:39:07 - 00:05:44:03
Scott Graham
Uh, Parker and I. Parker, who runs, kind of like, runs sales for me.

00:05:44:04 - 00:05:44:19
Brandon Adams
Spider-Man.

00:05:44:21 - 00:05:45:20
Scott Graham
Spider-Man.

00:05:45:21 - 00:05:46:11
Brandon Adams
He's awesome. Peter Parker.

00:05:46:12 - 00:06:06:08
Scott Graham
And we get down there, and there's the venue, and then next to the venue is the store. Well, we really wanted to see, like, what are they selling now? What kind of product are they moving? What's cool? What's, what could be improved on? So we said, well The show had already started, and it was, I wanna say it was, like, 7:00 something.And we said, "Well, let's go in there and get some video and stuff like that, and talk to the people that work there and just get a sense for

00:06:06:10 - 00:06:23:23
Scott Graham
And then we'll go into the show." Well, we do that, and then as we're, as we leave to go into the venue, the show ended, like early. Like I figured it would be going till like 11:00.

00:06:23:24 - 00:06:26:09
Brandon Adams
You slow played it, and then you ran out of time.

00:06:26:10 - 00:06:33:15
Scott Graham
Yeah, basically. So then we had to go into the meeting the next morning with the, uh, Opry entertainment crew.

00:06:33:19 - 00:06:35:05
Brandon Adams
They're like, "What'd you think about Dolly Parton?"

00:06:35:07 - 00:06:50:05
Scott Graham
And Parker, I'm gonna throw him under the bus, he was like, "Dude, let's just tell them it was great. Just tell them it was great." "Just leave it alone." "Say we really enjoyed it." And I was like, "I can't. I can't do that, dude." "I can't." Like- Lie I'm the worst li- Like, I'm the really bad liar because I have no poker face.

00:06:50:07 - 00:06:50:21
Scott Graham
So I would have been.

00:06:50:21 - 00:06:52:06
Brandon Adams
So I would've been like- Do you like my hat?

00:06:52:08 - 00:06:53:08
Scott Graham
I actually do like your hat.

00:06:53:09 - 00:06:53:20
Brandon Adams
All right. Cool.

00:06:53:21 - 00:07:09:20
Scott Graham
All right, cool. Um, I would've been like, "The show was " "It was great." Like I would've, I wouldn't have been able to do it. I can't do it. So I was like, "You know what? We missed the show." "We spent the whole time doing our jobs- in the retail area,"

00:07:09:22 - 00:07:11:03
Brandon Adams
And what'd they say when you told them no?

00:07:11:03 - 00:07:12:03
Scott Graham
They thought it was hilarious.

00:07:12:04 - 00:07:12:12
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

00:07:12:13 - 00:07:21:00
Scott Graham
They, they And they were like They've brought it up several times since then about the next time, time that they give us tickets we have to actually go to the show.

00:07:21:02 - 00:07:23:03
Brandon Adams
And you thought it was gonna be like a several-hour show, and you were gonna get to- Yeah, dude, I thought it was a freaking concert, you know?

00:07:23:05 - 00:07:25:06
Scott Graham
And that was a freaking concert, you know?

00:07:25:08 - 00:07:27:06
Brandon Adams
And it lasted?

00:07:27:08 - 00:07:28:08
Scott Graham
Hour and a half.

00:07:28:09 - 00:07:30:00
Brandon Adams
You were an hour and a half late?

00:07:30:05 - 00:07:40:08
Scott Graham
We were 30 minutes late, and we spent probably an hour in the, in the store. That's embarrassing. Thinking that we had another couple hours of showtime. That sounds like- Yeah. It was- That sounds like some poo-poo right there.

00:07:40:09 - 00:07:41:11
Brandon Adams
That sounds like some poo poo.

00:07:41:14 - 00:07:48:18
Scott Graham
It worked out. We made We designed a bunch of cool stuff, and they ordered a bunch of cool stuff. And now we're designing their next collection and they're, they're fun, man.

00:07:48:20 - 00:07:51:11
Brandon Adams
So you sold that on personality?

00:07:51:13 - 00:08:04:06
Scott Graham
Um, no. Uh, I No, definitely not. Um, I think that they just The actual answer is that the level of customization that we manufacture is not something they were accustomed to.

00:08:04:08 - 00:08:06:00
Brandon Adams
So- You say custom one more time?

00:08:06:00 - 00:08:06:20
Scott Graham
Custom.

00:08:06:22 - 00:08:07:04
Brandon Adams
Custom.

00:08:07:06 - 00:08:08:14
Scott Graham
Or their good customer.

00:08:08:14 - 00:08:09:00
Brandon Adams
Customer, yeah.

00:08:09:01 - 00:08:21:06
Scott Graham
Um, so I think that they got real excited when they saw, like, how we n- we nerd out on all the details and trims and all that stuff. So yeah, it was a good fit. I mean, they're right up our alley, dude.

00:08:21:06 - 00:08:29:14
Brandon Adams
So you came back, and, and I know that last time we were talking you said, "Look, I'm somewhere between president and janitor."

00:08:29:15 - 00:08:30:00
Scott Graham
Janitor, yeah.

00:08:30:00 - 00:08:38:07
Brandon Adams
How much time do you spend with each of those roles? And which is really taking the bulk of your, your daily Um, less time janitor now compared to a few years ago.

00:08:38:09 - 00:09:02:10
Scott Graham
There have been a lot less messes to clean up. Um, I don't wanna jinx anything, so. But we're humming right now, man. There hasn't been a whole lot of I've got a really good team in place. Um, our factories are all kicking ass. Um, our customers are cool.

00:09:02:12 - 00:09:08:15
Scott Graham
Uh, everything's Right now it's just email management that's the bane of my existence, but other than that, there's really no, no messes to clean up.

00:09:08:16 - 00:09:23:23
Brandon Adams
You know what's so crazy is all the email, uh, I mean, we live by it. Like, if you have a company, you live by email all the time. Like, it never goes away. But you think about this, all the stuff that has come and gone in the ti- your time, which has been a long, long time on this earth.

00:09:23:23 - 00:09:24:10
Scott Graham
Long time. Old.

00:09:24:11 - 00:09:26:01
Brandon Adams
Really long time.

00:09:26:03 - 00:09:27:09
Scott Graham
I'm almost as old as you.

00:09:27:10 - 00:09:31:00
Brandon Adams
Don't worry about that part. Email is still here.

00:09:31:01 - 00:09:32:00
Scott Graham
Yeah, dude.

00:09:32:02 - 00:09:34:16
Brandon Adams
Like, that Like, you would've thought they'd came up with something else for that, right?

00:09:34:17 - 00:09:35:18
Scott Graham
I think we're close.

00:09:35:19 - 00:09:37:12
Brandon Adams
What, what's What do you mean?

00:09:37:15 - 00:09:58:24
Scott Graham
So I think with AI, I think we're close. Because what I want is, I have always had since I was, since, since I was 24 years old, when my dad and I started Pinpoint I've always had this goal of inbox 0. And, like, my, my, my stress level is tied to how far away am I from inbox 0.

00:09:59:05 - 00:10:14:08
Scott Graham
And I'm super anal with how I organize emails. I don't want I don't like the feeling of, like, somebody coming to me and being like, "Hey, I sent you an email." Like, you've had that. You've come to me before and been like, "Hey, I emailed you this," and I was like, "Dude, I'm sorry." I don't like that feeling. It makes me feel unorganized and it makes me feel almost, like, disrespectful.

00:10:14:09 - 00:10:17:00
Brandon Adams
And it almost makes me feel like you're not respectful of me.

00:10:17:00 - 00:10:21:04
Scott Graham
There it is. Right? Which I am. And that's what pisses me off is that I d- I am respectful of you.

00:10:21:04 - 00:10:22:11
Brandon Adams
But it doesn't feel respectful.

00:10:22:15 - 00:10:28:04
Scott Graham
Um, that's why we're talking about this. This is why I'm bringing it up.

00:10:28:06 - 00:10:28:11
Brandon Adams
Quite.

00:10:28:17 - 00:10:45:11
Scott Graham
Point taken. You know? Um, and I think that we're at a point s- I think we're gonna be at a point soon, all the youngsters are probably watching this like, "This dumbass doesn't know we've been at this point for a year." Mm-hmm, respectfully. Or Claude or you know, plugins from Claude and all that. Um, Claude's an AI.

00:10:45:13 - 00:10:47:10
Brandon Adams
Oh, is it? Yeah, the artificial- I pay a lot for the- Ar- artificial intelligence.

00:10:47:12 - 00:10:48:12
Scott Graham
Artificial intelligence?

00:10:48:12 - 00:10:50:17
Brandon Adams
I, I pay a lot for Claude, yeah. I'm very familiar.

00:10:50:22 - 00:11:09:06
Scott Graham
Where I, I wanna be able to just wake up- and go, "All right, dude," like to a, to, to an AI. "What do I have?" "Oh, you have this email." "Okay. Well, write him back, say this. What's next? Uh, file that under that cu-" 'Cause I'm anal about how I file emails. Like, if I send someone a quote, it gets marked green.

00:11:09:08 - 00:11:11:12
Scott Graham
Are we gonna lose your audience talking about email management?

00:11:11:13 - 00:11:15:24
Brandon Adams
No, this is actually really probably the most sophisticated thing we're gonna talk about this entire time.

00:11:15:24 - 00:11:31:06
Scott Graham
All right, cool. So let's get it out of the way. So I mark it green. If it contains a cost from a factory, I mark it yellow, and then I file it under that factory or under that customer or whatever. So I'm, I'm, like, super anal about filing emails so that when I need to access something, I can I know exactly where to go.

00:11:31:08 - 00:11:34:01
Scott Graham
I think AI's gonna be able to take that over for us pretty quickly.

00:11:34:02 - 00:11:39:10
Brandon Adams
But the system is still gonna be emailed. It's just gonna go through You're saying Claude will be the inbox.

00:11:39:16 - 00:11:45:21
Scott Graham
I think Claude will be a plugin that helps you manage your inbox. Whether it's Claude or what's the Microsoft one?

00:11:45:23 - 00:11:46:09
Brandon Adams
Um- Gemini.

00:11:46:10 - 00:11:50:02
Scott Graham
Gemini. What's the one that plug, that, that there is in your Outlook?

00:11:50:07 - 00:11:52:09
Brandon Adams
I don't have Outlook. Who uses Outlook?

00:11:52:14 - 00:11:54:01
Scott Graham
What- I use Outlook. Should I not be? Exactly, no.

00:11:54:02 - 00:11:55:09
Brandon Adams
Exactly know what?

00:11:55:09 - 00:11:56:17
Scott Graham
What should I be using?

00:11:56:19 - 00:11:57:21
Brandon Adams
Gmail.

00:11:57:23 - 00:12:07:23
Scott Graham
Dude, it doesn't have the same I don't know. I was about to- You- make, like, a statement as if I had information about what Gmail was and wasn't good at. And then I stopped 'cause I don't know.

00:12:07:24 - 00:12:08:11
Brandon Adams
You don't know.

00:12:08:15 - 00:12:10:08
Scott Graham
No, I probably should inform myself.

00:12:10:09 - 00:12:28:04
Brandon Adams
That was a sad take you had right there. Um, so I mean, for everybody else that's out there, like, I, I really am big on AI and what's going into it. We use that completely now. We actually had a long conversation about that today at the office, about get on board or get out of the way you know, type of scenario.

00:12:28:04 - 00:12:45:07
Brandon Adams
Like, you can fight it all you want to, but at the end of the day, this is a new tool that's coming, and you can be You can ride the wave or get swamped by the tsunami, right? Talk of the difference between you hear everybody I can tell by the ti- by the type of conversation I have with someone, the terminology they use, how much they're into AI,

00:12:45:09 - 00:12:51:24
Brandon Adams
If someone says, "Oh, yeah, I use Chat," and I go, "Okay, you're surface level on this still."

00:12:52:02 - 00:12:56:08
Scott Graham
But if they say ChatGPT, then they're just noobs.

00:12:56:14 - 00:13:13:18
Brandon Adams
But yeah, ChatGPT is noob, right? I just got into it, heard about it. Chat is I'm used to playing with this for a while or whatever. But the other systems that go into it that are more sophisticated, I realize, okay, this person's really kinda locked in. So explain the difference from your point of view, uh, of these new AI systems that are out there, if you know what they are.

00:13:13:18 - 00:13:16:07
Brandon Adams
You don't.

00:13:16:09 - 00:13:30:18
Scott Graham
I'm, so my, my- Respectfully my knowledge level on this is limited, but I've engaged with Chat, Claude, and Grok. Grok or Gronk? Grok. It's Grok. Grok. Um, Gronk's a football player. It's a totally different thing.

00:13:30:18 - 00:13:31:11
Brandon Adams
I thought it was Gronk at first.

00:13:31:11 - 00:13:34:21
Scott Graham
Yeah, yep. His n- his, uh, brother lives in my neighborhood.

00:13:34:21 - 00:13:35:23
Brandon Adams
Was on the podcast.

00:13:36:00 - 00:13:40:14
Scott Graham
g- huge arms. Yeah, he did. Freakishly big arms.

00:13:40:14 - 00:13:45:13
Brandon Adams
Well, have you seen his brother? Oh, okay. Would you say we're similar in size or?

00:13:45:15 - 00:13:49:00
Scott Graham
You and, you and Gronkowski? Big Gronkowski? Yeah, any of them.

00:13:49:01 - 00:13:50:19
Brandon Adams
Any of them close.

00:13:50:20 - 00:13:52:18
Scott Graham
Close.

00:13:52:20 - 00:13:55:07
Brandon Adams
Um, so- Look, we'd look like family members.

00:13:55:08 - 00:14:17:21
Scott Graham
ahead. You'd be like the- Finish your story adopted cousin. Adopted. Um, so Chat's new image model from a design standpoint is actually really useful. We're You know, it's all in through a work lens first. We use AI for things like, hey, we've got these elements, and we wanna know how to lay them all out together into a design or whatever it may be.

00:14:17:23 - 00:14:44:10
Scott Graham
Um, and we're never gonna be the ones that are like, "Hey, let's take this off AI and vectorize it and make that our entire design," you know? But we'll use it for elements. Um, so Ch- I think Chat, I've gotten the best results with Chat. Not just with creative stuff, but also just general conversation and whatnot. I don't love how f- freaking PC it is.

00:14:44:12 - 00:14:51:19
Scott Graham
You know? Like, it All, all of its, all of its responses to any sort of a politically charged question seem to be extremely- One-sided?

00:14:51:24 - 00:14:53:06
Brandon Adams
One sided.

00:14:53:08 - 00:15:14:17
Scott Graham
One-sided for sure, but almost like, um, like they're derived from some sort of coding, uh, in its conception. You know what I mean? That's like, "Okay, here's how you're gonna answer to questions like this and questions like this." I don't love that. I think truth should just matter. You know? Like, if something's true, it doesn't matter if I like it or not, or if someone else likes it or not.

00:15:14:18 - 00:15:16:18
Scott Graham
If it's true, it should be the answer.

00:15:16:24 - 00:15:27:04
Brandon Adams
Well, uh, uh, hang on a second. Like, I don't think people understand that this AI system is not something out there deciding what's true or what's not.

00:15:27:05 - 00:15:28:12
Scott Graham
When it comes to facts?

00:15:28:13 - 00:15:40:03
Brandon Adams
It is researching the internet. It is researching and finding out what- It's re- someone else has already written, compiling that, and putting it out there. So if there's enough that says it's already written that way, it gives you that answer.

00:15:40:04 - 00:15:40:18
Scott Graham
No it doesn't.

00:15:40:19 - 00:15:41:08
Brandon Adams
No, it doesn't. Yes, it does.

00:15:41:14 - 00:16:03:24
Scott Graham
Dude, okay, so you're right. It is, it is going out and, you know, spidering the, or crawling the internet, whatever- Yes finding all these different answers, combining them into one cohesive thought. But if the information that it gathers goes If, if that information goes against the political, um, undertone of its creator- SureIt won't It'll give you- it won't give you the information.

00:16:03:24 - 00:16:05:07
Brandon Adams
Correct.

00:16:05:07 - 00:16:05:19
Scott Graham
And that's.

00:16:05:19 - 00:16:07:21
Brandon Adams
And that's where, that's- You were saying it will nerf something.

00:16:07:22 - 00:16:09:00
Scott Graham
It'll- What does that mean? Uh, like give you less of.

00:16:09:02 - 00:16:11:09
Brandon Adams
It'll throttle it back.

00:16:11:10 - 00:16:27:05
Scott Graham
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It'll Or it'll straight up tell you, like, you know, "That's, that's not the right lens to look at this through." "The correct lens to look at," you know? And it's like, dude, if I ask you an infor- for, for a p- for a piece of information that's readily available just give me the piece of information. And let me be the human being that decides how to emotionally react to it.

00:16:27:05 - 00:16:46:04
Brandon Adams
This is even more, uh, uh, defining of what I was saying. Like, this thing is, uh, it's a script that is going out and pulling things and, and sending it out. It is not someone on the inside. When someone thinks AI, they think there's a bot in there that's just going like, it's having coffee or something while y- you wake it up to ask it a question.

00:16:46:05 - 00:16:59:04
Brandon Adams
That's not what this is. This thing is sourcing information putting it out based upon how it's been built, right? So it's a information gatherer, right? And if someone says, "You can't go down that road," you can't go down that road. That's fine. It won't allow it to go down that road.

00:16:59:04 - 00:17:19:12
Scott Graham
I think you're right to an extent, but it is, it is a synthetic brain with synthetic synapses and neurons. Like, I mean, they've, they've built this thing to be a digitized brain. So it does do its own thinking and reasoning. It doesn't necessarily have emotions. It can emulate emotions but it's, it's not, it's not a search engine.

00:17:19:12 - 00:17:20:20
Scott Graham
It's not, you know, like a- It is a glorified search engine.

00:17:20:20 - 00:17:25:14
Brandon Adams
It is a glorified search engine.

00:17:25:16 - 00:17:27:08
Brandon Adams
Uh- Where is it getting the information from?

00:17:27:08 - 00:17:47:14
Scott Graham
It's getting information from all media that's ever existed. Internet, you know, scripts of movies and, and, and transcripts from every podcast that's ever existed. And, you know, it's, it's- Gather, gather, gather it, it is a, it is a, it is gathering and it's not doing It's not terribly dissimilar from the way we operate.

00:17:47:17 - 00:17:51:05
Brandon Adams
Except you can create- We gather information something original.

00:17:51:07 - 00:18:20:20
Scott Graham
Oh, I see what this is. Dude, you're, you of all people, I think are the best positioned for AI because you're, you're a fine artist. You know? And I think fine art is going to have a massive resurgence. I agree. Because, you know, you I mean, there's a, there's a painting, "painting," hanging in our office that I made in chat that's like this crazy colorful explosion of

00:18:21:01 - 00:18:33:08
Scott Graham
It looks like Albert- Einstein Albert Einstein, right? And the guys at the office call it Albert A. Einstein, um, which I think is hilarious. Clever. Einstein and A. Einstein- Oh, and good, you said it and they, they mashed them together.

00:18:33:09 - 00:18:33:14
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

00:18:33:14 - 00:18:38:09
Scott Graham
Thank you. But it's not It- it's soulless.

00:18:38:11 - 00:18:38:24
Brandon Adams
It is.

00:18:39:00 - 00:18:42:00
Scott Graham
It's soulless because all I had to do to create it is- Do something like Brandon-

00:18:42:01 - 00:18:42:20
Brandon Adams
Do something like.

00:18:42:24 - 00:18:52:23
Scott Graham
make me a cool color thing of Albert Einstein and give it spot color and give, you know, bright pal- blah, blah, blah, blah. You you prompt it. Communication skills are gonna be increasingly more important- Yes

00:18:53:00 - 00:18:53:14
Brandon Adams
Absolutely.

00:18:53:16 - 00:19:13:05
Scott Graham
Because you have to communicate with these agents. Um- Yeah. But I think that, and I've been saying this since the first time I saw AI create something creative if you will. I was Dude, I was blown away for days. I was, like, calling my friends and family like, "Dude, can you believe it does this?" Like oldest, most old man thing ever.

00:19:13:10 - 00:19:19:04
Scott Graham
And, like, the guys at the office were like, "Yeah, dude, it does that." They didn't want me to know it did that. Um- You're fired.

00:19:19:04 - 00:19:19:20
Brandon Adams
You're fired.

00:19:19:21 - 00:19:50:17
Scott Graham
You're fired. Well, we'll talk about that too because it's actually been the opposite. Um, but I think that there's gonna have to be a way to identify what was created by a freaking human. And anybody out there that's looking to start a business that wants to do something cool and unique that's, that's cutting edge, create some sort of a certification process for fine art on this was created by a human. And it's like, you know, it's Call it whatever you want.

00:19:50:18 - 00:20:14:02
Scott Graham
It can be a little, an emblem or it can be a certificate or it can be whatever. But we did the research on this piece. It was created by Brandon Adams using this medium on this date. Here's documentation of him in the process creating it, and it's s- it's certified human-made. Because people are There, there's about to be a massive market for AI-created home art, you know, that, that you just make it on AI and you vectorize it, and then you print it on canvas or whatever 00:20:14:04 - 00:20:30:23
Scott Graham
it may be and stretch it over a frame and boom there you go. 20 bucks, you know? But people are gonna get so jaded by that I think over the next 10 years, that they're gonna be like 00:20:30:24 - 00:20:31:21
Brandon Adams
I want something unique.

00:20:31:22 - 00:20:36:14
Scott Graham
I want something unique. I want something that was, that it's organic, that came from a human brain not a digital brain.

00:20:36:14 - 00:20:48:18
Brandon Adams
And again, that's what, kinda what I'm getting at. And, and I don't wanna take it into the art side of things, but what I'm saying is it can take things, duplicate, replicate, uh, source, um compute.

00:20:48:20 - 00:21:18:18
Scott Graham
I think where you, I think where your point holds the most water is in cinema. Because if you look at what AI Sorry. If you look at what AI Just blur it out. Blur it out in post, bro. Um, let me drink this excessively sweet coffee real quick. Diabetes in a glass- If you look at all the stuff that it's creating as far as movies and short, uh, short films and this and that, like the only reason it's able to do that is because of all the hard work- Other people put in, yeah

00:21:18:20 - 00:21:19:13
Brandon Adams
Other people put in.

00:21:19:13 - 00:21:37:22
Scott Graham
yeah, that other people have put in. I think the same thing applies to being able to go on there and say You know, like we did a, we did a, um, a design on a, a hoodie for Leupold Optics. And I had a very specific vision of how I wanted it to look, and it was like a vintage hunting magazine cover.

00:21:37:24 - 00:22:02:01
Scott Graham
And I just went on Google and grabbed 20 different hunting magazine covers and said, and fed it in there. And I was like, "Okay, this is, this is, this is your muse." Palette. You know? Uh, I want, I want a, a dall sheep, and I want it in these colors, and I want, you know And we pulled the image, and then we obviously Photoshopped it and changed and added copy and distressed it and moved elements around, but it got us 70% of the way there.

00:22:02:01 - 00:22:22:23
Scott Graham
You know? But it was only able to do that because those 30 things that I uploaded were created by a human in the 50s. You know? So I get that, but it does reason. It does, it does think. It does process. Um, it's the only, that's the only reason you're able to have a conversation with it, you know?

00:22:23:00 - 00:22:45:21
Brandon Adams
And I think even, even Claude specifically, let's go- Okay back to my original question between the 2, between the systems. Claude is like, for me, has gotten to where it is, uh, more conversational, more options, more, uh, processing ahead of, uh, the question before you a- But when you ask a question, it, it comes back to you with, "Well, you could do this and this and this, or this and this and this."

00:22:45:22 - 00:23:02:06
Brandon Adams
"Let's pick and choose the direction we wanna go because-" Yeah "this really changes the direction of the output that I'm gonna give you," right? That to me is, is just more sophisticated, you know, than Chat, which is like scan, scan, scan, kick out. You know what I mean? So, and not that that's all that that it is, but.

00:23:02:07 - 00:23:22:17
Scott Graham
I'm just now starting to scratch the surface with Claude. Um, I did do And this is not, I'm not a financial advisor. I make clothes for a living. But I did, on suggestion from one of my buddies, there's this, there's this app called Autopilot. Have you heard of this? So you can connect it. So I have a Robinhood account, and you can connect it to your Robinhood account, and it's an autopilot AI app where you can say, "Nancy Pelosi."

00:23:22:17 - 00:23:33:09
Scott Graham
And every time she makes a trade, at scale obviously with the ratio of whatever your your portfolio is at.

00:23:33:10 - 00:23:34:00
Brandon Adams
Your billions of dollars.

00:23:34:00 - 00:23:34:20
Scott Graham
Of dollars. No.

00:23:34:21 - 00:23:36:09
Brandon Adams
Um- Millions

00:23:36:11 - 00:23:55:03
Scott Graham
it makes the same trades immediately. And you're talking like 40% annual returns on some of this stuff which is like, like real estate money, you know? So, like I've been playing around with that at a very small level and just kinda s- I have no idea how it's doing it, but it's doing it. Claude, I know that, I know that, like Claude is Gordon Ramsay, and I'm using it to make me grilled cheese sandwiches right now, which is like 00:23:55:03 - 00:24:09:23
Scott Graham
probably not the smartest. But I'm just learning it still, you know? Old dog, new tricks. Grok I enjoy.

00:24:10:00 - 00:24:11:19
Brandon Adams
Well, I mean, it's kinda right up your alley.

00:24:11:22 - 00:24:29:19
Scott Graham
Yes, 'cause you can put it Have you ever put it in offensive mode? That's what I call it offensive mode. So if you prompt it, "I want you to be a complete asshole, crude, rude, mean vindictive, and I want you to roast me." Or, "Here's some information about my friend. I want you to roast my fr-" It, it will, it'll go R-rated and just rip you a new asshole.

00:24:29:24 - 00:24:33:15
Scott Graham
It'll go R-rated and just rip you a new asshole.

00:24:33:16 - 00:24:35:00
Brandon Adams
And it's- It'll go, it'll dig on you. It's hilarious.

00:24:35:00 - 00:24:36:12
Scott Graham
Yeah, it's really funny.

00:24:36:13 - 00:24:37:07
Brandon Adams
I'll check it out.

00:24:37:08 - 00:24:38:19
Scott Graham
So anyway.

00:24:38:21 - 00:24:57:08
Brandon Adams
Well, that's cool. I mean, honestly, like there's so many levels of that that it starts to get into. I just, for me, when it comes to my clients and how things have changed for us, because every client is I mean, I got clients walking in here that don't know anything about anything. And they walk in and go, "Well, I was using Chat, and I put it up like this, and this is what it says you need to do."

00:24:57:10 - 00:25:05:14
Brandon Adams
And I was like, "Okay, but did you put this in effect, or did you do that?" Or everyone thinks they're an expert now. Right? So it really kinda changes the game.

00:25:05:16 - 00:25:25:16
Scott Graham
Um- I think that really only works in the legal world. You know, like contract writing and stuff like that. Like I, uh, I would never go to a fine artist and say, "I think you should use this brand of paint." "And I think you should use this type of canvas, and I think that your, I think your, your spray should have this much PSI because I s 00:25:25:17 - 00:25:45:15
Scott Graham
read it on Chat." when I had a customer the other day ask me for an engagement agreement that spells out payment terms, cancellation clauses design fee, like all, everything that we talked about on the phone call in the back of my head, I'm like, "I don't have an agreement like that." Like, "I don't have that, but I can put it together for you."

00:25:45:20 - 00:26:03:10
Scott Graham
So it took me 20 minutes. I just went into Chat, and it spits out with all the legalese. You know, notwithstanding the foregoing and, you know- all the, all the stupid contract language that you hear. And it just, and I just I changed a few things, sent it off to an attorney, spent $400 for that attorney to read through it make any changes.

00:26:03:10 - 00:26:05:11
Scott Graham
He knew it was from Chat. He could tell.

00:26:05:17 - 00:26:08:07
Brandon Adams
And he's real happy you did that. Thank you very much.

00:26:08:09 - 00:26:11:24
Scott Graham
Um, but dude, Yeah that's, that's kinda where we are.

00:26:12:00 - 00:26:26:07
Brandon Adams
Like- Well, 100%. There are gonna be jobs that are completely affected by this. Uh, accountingMm-hmm super affected by it. CPAs uh, uh, legal people. I mean, like, as it starts to go through that, there's things that are gonna be wiped off the board.

00:26:26:08 - 00:26:56:18
Scott Graham
Yeah, I think we touched on this the last time where we talked about the radiology thing, where there's actually been an increase in radiologists because it frees them up to do what their actual job is which is diagnose disease, not analyze images. But it's the same thing at Pinpoint. You know, like, these g- the designers saw what excitement I had about it, and I think that I freaked them out a little bit 'cause they were 'Cause, I mean, obviously they've been These guys sit at a computer and make cool stuff all day.

00:26:56:20 - 00:27:14:19
Scott Graham
And if there's an AI that sits at a computer and makes cool stuff all day, like, is that a threat to them? But I don't see it that I don't, I don't, I don't wanna have a business where I'm like Like, I take pride in the fact that we send stuff to our customers that we create. You know? Like, um, so I don't wanna have a business where I'm just sitting there by myself, and an- there's all these, like, Tesla bots walking around that are 00:27:14:21 - 00:27:32:06
Scott Graham
that have large language models in them that are my employees, and I'm like that sounds boring. It sounds awful. So it's just, uh, they use it as a tool. And it makes, it makes each one of those designers 3 designers. Correct. You know? Multiplies them.

00:27:32:07 - 00:27:37:04
Brandon Adams
So- So when I said a minute ago, like, "You're fired, you're fired, you're fired," you said it's quite the opposite.

00:27:37:06 - 00:27:50:24
Scott Graham
It's quite the opposite if you're grandfathered in. Hit me. So the designers that I have on staff, I have 9 of them, and to them it's a tool. But it's tripled them, and it's- Which means I don't need another one.

00:27:51:01 - 00:27:52:17
Brandon Adams
And which means I don't need.

00:27:52:17 - 00:28:09:20
Scott Graham
Exactly. So I'm not gonna be hiring the way I normally would you know, 'cause as we grow, it's designers that I'm hiring. Um, so I'm not gonna be hiring as aggressively as I would without AI. So it is gonna impact the job market in that way, I think, because you just don't need as many humans anymore.

00:28:10:01 - 00:28:19:11
Scott Graham
It's not necessarily like, "Oh, I'm gonna fire everybody that works for me." It's just as revenue grows, I don't have to grow my overhead at the same ratio that I otherwise would have to. You know?

00:28:19:13 - 00:28:21:06
Brandon Adams
Spend that in shelves.

00:28:21:07 - 00:28:25:11
Scott Graham
Exactly. Or a mural. Yeah, which is still on the radar, by the way.

00:28:25:13 - 00:28:25:20
Brandon Adams
I don't.

00:28:25:21 - 00:28:52:03
Scott Graham
How? Is it? I, dude, I promise you, public forum- w- I will engage you for that mural. I just, I, the, the g- the truth is, I have not had Actually, that's not the truth. I've had the time. There you go. The truth is, in order for me to do it justice with you, I need to get myself into a mindset where I can sit down and spend 5 hours giving you direction that is not micromanagement direction, but like, "I want these elements here, these elements here."

00:28:52:03 - 00:29:16:15
Scott Graham
"Go." But like, I also don't want to stifle your brain. So all I wanna do is, is give you, like, a black and white Photoshop file. Uh, backstory, I got a big giant wall at Pinpoint's office that wraps around our entire bullpen that I asked Brandon to do a mural on, that he was kind enough to make me a mock-up for 3 weeks ago, 4 weeks ago?

00:29:16:15 - 00:29:19:02
Scott Graham
M- more?

00:29:19:04 - 00:29:20:01
Brandon Adams
W- January.

00:29:20:02 - 00:29:20:21
Scott Graham
January.

00:29:20:22 - 00:29:22:07
Brandon Adams
January? January.

00:29:22:08 - 00:29:31:24
Scott Graham
I'm sorry. Um, and I told him, I was like, "Dude, let me This is, like, 90% there." But so anyway on my word, we will have that mural done by th- before the end of the year.

00:29:32:00 - 00:29:33:23
Brandon Adams
No, no worries. I just like busting your balls.

00:29:34:00 - 00:29:35:04
Scott Graham
It's okay. I would too.

00:29:35:05 - 00:29:35:13
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

00:29:35:14 - 00:29:51:07
Scott Graham
But it is, it's a, it's a priority for me. It's just do you ever have that, where, like, if something's on your to-do list, you can either not be in the zone for it and get it done or you can wait until you're in the zone and just fricking crush it. You know? Like, I wanna do that.

00:29:51:08 - 00:29:55:13
Brandon Adams
So do you think Christmas? Um, how about this?

00:29:55:15 - 00:30:04:00
Scott Graham
I will have that direction to you in a, and we will have I will have everything to you before the end of May.

00:30:04:06 - 00:30:14:06
Brandon Adams
Let's see how that goes. Um, let me ask you this. What is a piece of advice that someone gave you that you think is total crap?

00:30:14:08 - 00:30:15:21
Scott Graham
Always be closing.

00:30:15:23 - 00:30:18:24
Brandon Adams
Always be closing. You don't think you should be?

00:30:19:01 - 00:30:50:17
Scott Graham
I pro- there's probably industries, you know, if you're, if you're going door to door selling vacuum cleaners, you gotta always be closing. But I think that if you're selling a product or a service that sells itself I almost, I almost subscribe to the antithesis, which is never be closing. Because, you know, and I Part of that could be 'cause, like, right out of college my first few jobs were outside sales and it was like, "Always be closing, always be closing."

00:30:50:17 - 00:31:05:17
Scott Graham
And I'm like, "Okay, well, I know that Johnny Prospect just told me a week ago that he's interested and to follow back up with him in 3 months. I can freak him out and be like, "Hey are you ready to move forward?" You know, "What's, what's preventing us from moving forward today?" "Are there any objections we can overcome toge Like, I don't want any of that crap.

00:31:05:22 - 00:31:29:15
Scott Graham
I'll bring a horse to water. If it's gonna drink, it's gonna drink. If a brand wants to work with us, they're gonna work with us if they're a fit. Um, you know, it's But what we do is big ticket, too, you know? I mean, these are And you're not gonna take somebody that doesn't wanna work with you and convince them to work with you and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on merch because you've been following up with them.

00:31:29:17 - 00:31:32:07
Scott Graham
Like, that's just Yeah, so always be closing doesn't resonate with me.

00:31:32:08 - 00:31:43:19
Brandon Adams
You feel like that's a, a, a fake feeling you give people and it's more badgering than it is you're almost, it's like you become the, the guy who wants to go on a date with a girl and then you're chasing versus- Yeah, which is a fine line.

00:31:43:20 - 00:32:01:06
Scott Graham
I mean a girl wants to Back in my day at least- in the '90s and 2000s, you know, they wanna be pursued, but if like if you seem, like, desperate and it's like, "Ugh. Go away." You know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, I mean, you can only was gonna make a stupid joke. I filtered it.

00:32:01:07 - 00:32:01:21
Brandon Adams
You filtered.

00:32:01:21 - 00:32:02:02
Scott Graham
You filtered it.

00:32:02:03 - 00:32:07:05
Brandon Adams
I filtered it. Live? Oh, that's cool. Don't have to worry about editing that out. That was- No that was pretty nice.

00:32:07:08 - 00:32:12:21
Scott Graham
My brain edited it out. That happens at least once a year. Or I filter a joke before it comes out.

00:32:12:23 - 00:32:18:21
Brandon Adams
Do you, uh, do you get in trouble for saying stuff that, y- you probably shouldn't say often?

00:32:19:02 - 00:32:35:15
Scott Graham
So my wife was talking to 1 she told me this story yesterday. She was talking to one of her friends, and she was saying that Brooke, my wife, was saying to her friend that, you know, her husband is kind of a loose cannon, that, you know, you n- you never know what I'm gonna say in a in a public setting.

00:32:35:15 - 00:32:38:17
Scott Graham
I might 'Cause I go for shock value a lot.

00:32:38:19 - 00:32:39:16
Brandon Adams
Like the black pearl?

00:32:39:17 - 00:32:44:20
Scott Graham
That. The black pearl. #episode2. Or episode whatever number I was on second.

00:32:44:20 - 00:32:45:24
Brandon Adams
Second 69.

00:32:46:00 - 00:33:06:04
Scott Graham
That's right. Dude, how do I keep forgetting that? Um, and she was saying, "Man, my husband will just, you know, he'll You never know if he's just gonna walk up and make some offensive joke to a group of people we don't know very well." And the, her friend goes, um, 'cause her friend doesn't know me. "And, um, is he on the spectrum?

00:33:06:06 - 00:33:17:07
Scott Graham
Does he have Asperger's?" Her friend was dead serious. And Brooke had to explain that, like, "No, he's just, he's just a child that's 43 years old," you know? I th- I don't think I'm I mean, could I be on the spectrum? Possible.

00:33:17:08 - 00:33:19:20
Brandon Adams
I mean, there's a touch. There's some, there's some 'tism in there.

00:33:19:20 - 00:33:27:17
Scott Graham
What is Asperger's? That's, like, where you're socially awkward and you can't interact with people, right? I don't- What a weird name.

00:33:27:19 - 00:33:29:01
Brandon Adams
I, I think they could've renamed that, don't you?

00:33:29:02 - 00:33:45:01
Scott Graham
It's like, okay, listen. We get that the guy who identified this disorder his last name is Asperger. Normally- Is that German? Nor- Probably. Asperger. Um, normally we would name it after this person's last name. You know?

00:33:45:02 - 00:33:48:17
Brandon Adams
Like- Don't you think he had a first name, though? I mean- Steve.

00:33:48:21 - 00:33:49:10
Scott Graham
Sh- she's got- He's got Steve

00:33:49:12 - 00:33:49:23
Brandon Adams
He's got.

00:33:49:23 - 00:33:54:07
Scott Graham
Steve syndrome. You know, maybe we don't go with Asperger.

00:33:54:09 - 00:34:05:17
Brandon Adams
You know, as this thing grows across the world, where could this be offensive? I don't know. Maybe the US where it's like every half of the world is gonna be using this as a derogatory term.

00:34:05:18 - 00:34:06:10
Scott Graham
Yeah, exactly.

00:34:06:11 - 00:34:06:19
Brandon Adams
I mean.

00:34:06:19 - 00:34:28:13
Scott Graham
I mean, not- Is he on the spectrum? Does he have cock gobblers? You can beep that out if you need to. Sorry. Beep. Oh my gosh. I don't ever know what's too far on this show. No, you're, you're too far. Um, um, you know, as we're going through this, you know, I'm sitting here thinking about you and what your wife says about, like, I don't ever have to

00:34:28:15 - 00:34:41:07
Scott Graham
Uh, I mean, you never know what happens with him. What is something that is a part of you that you really need to improve on but that you're probably never, ever gonna do that? Ooh.

00:34:41:09 - 00:34:59:06
Scott Graham
Insert crickets. Um, something I need to improve on that I'm probably never, ever- You have 0 interest in improving on yourself. Currently? Currently, yeah. Nicotine. That's probably a boring answer, though. It is a boring- I like nicotine. Uh, let me see if I can think of something better. Um, the, the thing, the thing

00:34:59:08 - 00:35:17:16
Scott Graham
Blah, I just had a stroke. The thing I need to improve is my physical health. Um, that has absolutely taken a backseat in my life over the past 15 years. You know, the funny thing that- But I plan to, I plan to. Stop it. Actually, Brooke and I are gonna start doing Pilates. We just decided.

00:35:17:17 - 00:35:24:06
Scott Graham
Next year, man- You're doing Pilates? we'll start that. Yeah, I'm gonna do Pilates. I'm gonna do so many of them.

00:35:24:08 - 00:35:48:03
Scott Graham
I'm gonna do, like, 9 Pilates. I'm gonna do, like, 4 or 5 Pilates a day. Uh, you know, I, I keep hearing this as I'm listening to other entrepreneurs or, or, or business owners out there that are, that are telling me about the mental perspective of, uh, a business owner. And they always tell me, "If you can't take care of yourself, what makes me think you can take care of your business?

00:35:48:03 - 00:36:08:05
Scott Graham
So getting your health together is just as important." Yeah, for sure. I mean, you have to be alive to do anything, right? And- Alive is the goal I'm not 25 anymore. Um, I think it depends- Is it 6pack abs, or are we talking, like, just living? I just wanna go back to dad bod, dude. You want dad bod. Like, I just want, I j- I want A cups.A cups Not C's.

00:36:08:07 - 00:36:36:05
Scott Graham
Yeah, yeah You know? Um- What are those, what are those called? Is it ice cream that you're on? I eat s- okay, so this is gonna sound I eat steak every night. I love steak. How's the gout? Uh, I, nothing yet. not real. Uh, c- cholesterol just got checked. It's normal. It's not real wood. Um, yeah, man. Um, but it's Fitness used to be a really big part of my li- not like fitness like CrossFit, but 00:36:36:05 - 00:36:52:20
Scott Graham
um, you know, playing sports and all that stuff. You like, you're de facto in shape. You know? Um, and then there was that short period of my life where I thought I was gonna be a UFC fighter, and it didn't last long until I realized I was like- Somebody beat you up?

00:36:52:21 - 00:37:08:10
Scott Graham
No, I just, I- You're too tall for this I g- I realized I was good, not great. And that's not something you wanna do if you're not great. Um- You know, we had Guy Mezger on here the other day. I saw that. Yeah, he was at The Lion's Den, and I trained there a couple times- Well, he told me- before I figured out- he saw one of the podcasts that you were on and said he would've beat you like a pulp.

00:37:08:12 - 00:37:45:16
Scott Graham
He would've. He just said to tell you when you come back. He would've probably still totally destroyed me. Yeah, he said it. That's fine. And I've, I take no issue to that. Okay, cool. So you have 0 interest in, like, getting back to- I do. I do. I mean, I think I've told myself So I, I always have this, like, watering can metaphor that always runs around in my head, which is like, if you have a certain amount of water, and you have all these plants in front of you, like, be a good husband, be a good dad, be a good son, be a good boss, be a good

00:37:45:16 - 00:38:04:20
Scott Graham
You know, take care of yourself physically, take care of yourself mentally, take care of yourself emot- like, if you have a finite amount of water, if you have a finite amount of water, I'm on the fence on whether or not that water's finite. I just, I, I've, I've made a conscious choice for that not to be one of the plants that gets a ton of water or any water right now.

00:38:04:21 - 00:38:19:08
Scott Graham
It used to be. But right now I wanna spend time with my ki- and it Listen, just as I was saying it, I can hear all the people listening, they're like, "Don't hide behind your kids as an excuse." "You have the time." And you're right, I do have the time. Um- Don't hide behind your kids. Yeah, exactly.

00:38:19:09 - 00:38:41:18
Scott Graham
Um, yeah, I mean, I guess the truth is just stop being a pussy, make time for it, and handle business. Be a man. Get rid of the C cups, dog. Yeah, You know? Uh- I say this from someone who has a 6pack, you know what I mean? I- Yeah, Send me your- Can we edit this out- Send me- from here? You should edit one in. Yeah, just put like a- Or lift your shirt, tell August to edit one in, and then you don't do it, and then you air it with his real belly.

00:38:41:19 - 00:39:02:13
Scott Graham
I just pull it up like this. There's just jelly rolls all here. Um, I did just take my first injection last night. Retatrutide. Not Retrutide. am I right? Retatrutide.

00:39:02:15 - 00:39:24:21
Scott Graham
Talk, talk to me about it. So it's a GLP-3. Which I'm assuming is 3 times as good as a GLP-1. Um, I haven't done the research on it that I probably should do before injecting a foreign substance of- Okay or a synthetic peptide into my stomach. But, you know, YOLO. YO- This is a phenomena- I don't think I've ever said YOLO until just now.

00:39:24:23 - 00:39:55:18
Scott Graham
It feels g- it feels good. YOLO. This is a phenomena that I really believe is- You're not, you don't do it? I'm on, yeah, I got peptides. Oh, okay. I, I'm on Sloop. I've got, uh, I'm on testosterone. Sloop dog? Sloop 332. Oh, okay. Um, uh, I've got, um, I'm on testosterone. and then as we go through, like, we have a couple of, uh, Dynamis Online, shout out, uh, is, is one of our, uh, companies that we do marketing for.

00:39:55:18 - 00:40:06:11
Scott Graham
And, uh, we've learned a lot as we've gone through, you know, and, and, and Sparta Wellness, they've done some stuff as well. And we've learned as we've gone through and, um, learned a lot about these.

00:40:06:13 - 00:40:27:01
Scott Graham
Now, here's the thing that I, I really do believe I want to get into this question with you. You just said, "I haven't done the research on this that I should." Internally, we talked about this, and at different ages- I think people fear that more. At what time do you- Taking a leap of faith on something you don't understand?

00:40:27:02 - 00:40:55:17
Scott Graham
At what age do you just say YOLO? Um, I have relinquished myself to the, the fact that I'm, I'm not gonna be able to make mastered level decisions. I'm not gonna be able to inform myself on every topic that I make decisions on. You know? Like, I'm not gonna When I get on an airplane, I'm not gonna sit there and calculate, like, what are the What's the likelihood that this thing's gonna go down, and what, you know what's the, how many pounds of lift does each of the wings have?

00:40:55:18 - 00:41:08:20
Scott Graham
And, like, you know, I mean, I'm just not gonna do that. I mean, you have to, I think in order to function in society, you have to have a l- a little bit of like, "Screw it. Let's just try it."

00:41:08:22 - 00:41:24:14
Scott Graham
I don't know how you decide where you draw the line on that. I mean, I think the appeal for a peptide like that for me is that I can continue watering the plants that I've been watering and hopefully in the background without me having to put forth any- Effort any effort or make any, make any, uh, more- How about a shot?

00:41:24:16 - 00:41:55:10
Scott Graham
Dude, why not? You know? Like, I mean, I get that there's people out there that work their freaking asses off and look outstanding at my age. Those guys are douchebags. Right? I think to be 43 years old and be shredded. If you own a business and you're 43 years old and you're shredded and you're a present father and you're a good husband and you, you take time to your, to, you know, go get a, go get a foot massage every now and then and you're like, you know, help people with their plantar fasciitis. Like, if you're

00:41:55:11 - 00:42:09:16
Scott Graham
You're probab- And if you're shredded you're, you're either a superhuman or you're lying about one of those things. You know, like, it's I don't, I don't under- I mean, outside of genetics- I don't understand how people do that.

00:42:09:21 - 00:42:20:07
Brandon Adams
You don't think they trade their time out at the gym, which let's just say it's an hour a day. It's the same time you sit on the couch watching a TV show or playing Xbox- Dude, dude

00:42:20:12 - 00:42:38:02
Scott Graham
or- Bro, listen, I, honest to God, I don't sit on the couch and watch TV. What do you do? So- So I don't I do sit on the couch after the, the girls are asleep. This is, this is something I'd like to improve on, is like 3, 4 nights a week, a week I don't go to bed with my wife. That's horrible.

00:42:38:03 - 00:42:59:22
Scott Graham
It's awful because, you know, that's, that's when I can, going back to the email thing those are the hours, you know, say 9:30 to midnight where I can actually do damage. I can actually, you know, catch up and, and It's just Whac-A-Mole though, dude. Like, you pop down these emails and these ones pop up and it's

00:42:59:23 - 00:43:23:24
Scott Graham
I'm not complaining about it. I'd rather I'd rather have that than just be sitting there twiddling my thumbs with nobody emailing me 'cause they don't wanna work with me. Like, it's, I'm very, very fortunate to have that problem, but it's still like not enough time in the day. You know? Um, so then I, you know, I go to bed at midnight and I end up waking up at 7:30, right when my kids are ready to go to school and I'll drive them to school most days.

00:43:23:24 - 00:43:41:13
Scott Graham
Some days I sleep right through that. Whoa. Um- Man. That's a lot. I mean, time management's tough for me, dude. Like, I'm And I think it is for everybody if they're honest with themselves unless they're just like, like super, super regimented and organized and, um, yeah, that's always been a challenge for me.

00:43:41:15 - 00:43:51:05
Brandon Adams
So what you've done is you've gone ahead and put everybody in a bucket that instead of, that does manage their time a little bit more, you've called them giving up on one of those other things.

00:43:51:07 - 00:43:54:06
Scott Graham
Um, is that what I've done?

00:43:54:08 - 00:43:56:18
Scott Graham
That's not what I've intended to do.

00:43:56:19 - 00:44:00:14
Brandon Adams
Good father, 6pack 6pack at 43?

00:44:00:16 - 00:44:01:20
Scott Graham
present father.

00:44:02:00 - 00:44:14:00
Brandon Adams
Just depends on what food you put in your body. Depends on how hard you work. I know 'cause I've got one. I know. You know what I mean? Um, depends on how hard you work. No, but I do have, I have had some, some guests that have gone on here that I know are really good fathers. I know they're very dedicated people.

00:44:14:00 - 00:44:29:05
Brandon Adams
I know that they, uh, are very in love with their wife and there are times that they go through, and these guys are, like, really put together, and I've challenged myself because I'm not I spend my time painting or when everybody goes to bed, I go out and do that or I We make choices of what we wanna do.

00:44:29:06 - 00:44:36:18
Brandon Adams
Like, if I'm making, if I'm painting on the outside and I'm, and I'm bringing that in, well, I could easily flip that and do 50 crunches, you know?

00:44:36:19 - 00:44:49:21
Scott Graham
You're right, dude. You're right. I mean, I, I shouldn't, I shouldn't paint people with that brush, and that's not what I intended to do. Like, I, I've got a ton of respect for guys that are pulling all that stuff off. I just as, at this moment in my life, I'm not one of them. You know? I wanna work on that though.

00:44:49:23 - 00:44:50:20
Scott Graham
Yeah. Yeah.

00:44:50:21 - 00:44:55:23
Brandon Adams
Well, that's not what the question was. The question was what do you have 0 interest in fixing, but I like how we got all the way to that point.

00:44:55:23 - 00:44:56:06
Scott Graham
That point.

00:44:56:07 - 00:44:57:16
Brandon Adams
I don't have- You have to get better at that

00:44:57:19 - 00:44:58:24
Scott Graham
I don't know that I have 0 interest.

00:44:59:00 - 00:45:00:15
Brandon Adams
Let's go back to nicotine then.

00:45:00:20 - 00:45:01:21
Scott Graham
Oh, I love nicotine, dude.

00:45:01:22 - 00:45:02:18
Brandon Adams
It's never going away.

00:45:02:19 - 00:45:03:24
Scott Graham
It's never going away.

00:45:04:01 - 00:45:05:05
Brandon Adams
Why?

00:45:05:07 - 00:45:13:01
Scott Graham
'Cause it calms you down. It's like I've had nicotine in my system since I was 18, you know?

00:45:13:03 - 00:45:14:14
Brandon Adams
Uh- Is it cigarette or dip or- If it has nicotine in it, I've tried it.

00:45:14:14 - 00:45:33:08
Scott Graham
Really? Uh, I can't dip because it gets Like, I don't know how people do that, dude. It's in here? Well, like you put it in. One of my best friends from high school used to throw a dip in- at kickoff in the football game running down the field, and he would swallow his dip. It was this tradition.

00:45:33:10 - 00:45:39:21
Scott Graham
Crazy. He would swallow his dip while he was running down the field on kickoff, then he ended up in the WWE and he's a total psychopath.

00:45:39:23 - 00:45:42:03
Brandon Adams
Um- You wanna give a shout-out? Uh, sure.

00:45:42:05 - 00:45:43:15
Scott Graham
Nick Mitchell.

00:45:43:20 - 00:45:44:15
Brandon Adams
What's up, Nick?

00:45:44:15 - 00:45:54:03
Scott Graham
He, he was, uh, he was on the, uh God, It was like some s- cheer squad or Spirit Squad. He was on the Spirit Squad in the WWE.

00:45:54:04 - 00:45:55:09
Brandon Adams
What is the Spirit Squad?

00:45:55:10 - 00:46:01:07
Scott Graham
It was like 4 d- 3 or 4 dudes that played mar- They had played, like, a male cheerleader character.

00:46:01:08 - 00:46:07:20
Brandon Adams
Wait, is this like the, uh, the big guys on the side of the Mavericks that are doing the dancing and stuff like that?Yes, but sarcastic That's what these guys are.

00:46:07:22 - 00:46:09:18
Scott Graham
Yes. But sarcastic.

00:46:09:20 - 00:46:11:00
Brandon Adams
Oh, they are?

00:46:11:01 - 00:46:14:02
Scott Graham
Oh, okay. Then yeah. Interesting.

00:46:14:03 - 00:46:16:12
Brandon Adams
Thought he was like maybe doing the

00:46:16:14 - 00:46:22:11
Scott Graham
No, they had like the cones and they would pump around. I don't know. I don't spend any time on Nick.

00:46:22:13 - 00:46:24:10
Brandon Adams
Anyways, nicotine, you're still gonna do that no matter what?

00:46:24:10 - 00:46:25:13
Scott Graham
Mm, I think so, yeah.

00:46:25:13 - 00:46:27:20
Brandon Adams
What if they main- what if they mainline that thing?

00:46:27:22 - 00:46:38:13
Scott Graham
Like into your vein? I don't think it'd be quite as enjoyable. Like I like, I like the idea of- Absorbing it? just th- yeah. I wanna absorb it.

00:46:38:15 - 00:46:41:14
Brandon Adams
So do you have to drink water as well? Or do you get thirsty when you're doing those?

00:46:41:15 - 00:46:58:08
Scott Graham
Dude, I don't drink nearly enough water. Really? And by nearly enough I mean like- 0? It's not 0. I will make myself chug a cup of water a day. But dude, it's, it's b- it's bad. Like, I need to- A cup of water a day is where you're at?

00:46:58:13 - 00:47:00:04
Brandon Adams
A cup of water a day where you're at.

00:47:00:05 - 00:47:01:08
Scott Graham
Yeah.

00:47:01:10 - 00:47:03:23
Brandon Adams
Has a doctor talked to you about that at all?

00:47:03:24 - 00:47:05:16
Scott Graham
What did he say? Drink more water.

00:47:05:18 - 00:47:11:15
Brandon Adams
That's just it? Like, your foot's gonna fall off or- No I can look inside your eyeballs and see- No

00:47:11:21 - 00:47:16:19
Scott Graham
that you got- No. But dehydration. Apparently I have like Apparently I'm dehydrated. I don't know why.

00:47:16:21 - 00:47:19:05
Brandon Adams
It's in your blood test. They can tell that?

00:47:19:06 - 00:47:35:02
Scott Graham
But like you can still see my veins, and I don't have like the, yet, well, you know, like all the telltale signs of dehydration, but- Uh-huh I definitely am not drinking water the way I should. My wife crushes water, dude. I think all women do. You know?

00:47:35:04 - 00:47:36:24
Brandon Adams
I try to drink a lot of water.

00:47:37:01 - 00:47:38:23
Scott Graham
How many? How much water do you drink?

00:47:38:23 - 00:47:48:21
Brandon Adams
How much waters? I probably drink 5 or 6 bottles of water a day. Really? That's- And I don't feel like it's enough accor- apparently it's not.

00:47:48:23 - 00:47:51:12
Scott Graham
Apparently you're suppo What's the math?

00:47:51:14 - 00:47:52:14
Brandon Adams
I don't know.

00:47:52:15 - 00:47:56:16
Scott Graham
I have 0 idea. It's like you're supposed to drink your, half your body weight in ounces or something, like something like that.

00:47:56:18 - 00:47:58:14
Brandon Adams
I don't know. Way past that 'cause my body weight keeps going up, but- Yeah.

00:47:58:15 - 00:48:00:10
Scott Graham
Well, now I have a 6pack.

00:48:00:12 - 00:48:01:13
Brandon Adams
Yeah, great point.

00:48:01:14 - 00:48:02:20
Scott Graham
Yeah.

00:48:02:22 - 00:48:19:20
Brandon Adams
Um, no, but I just, I don't know. I don't know at what point I crossed over where that is more refreshing to me. I don't like a soda unless there's whiskey in it or something like that. I don't like it at all. It's like, um, or unless I'm trying to do something to kinda wake up. That's the only time I'm drinking a soda or a Red Bull or something like that.

00:48:19:20 - 00:48:26:06
Brandon Adams
Like that's the only time, you know? So, um, the rest of the time I'm, I'm trying to throw water down or, or Gatorade or something.

00:48:26:10 - 00:48:28:21
Scott Graham
I drink fake sugar. I drink a lot of fake sugar.

00:48:29:00 - 00:48:30:13
Brandon Adams
Oh, like Gatorade Zeros?

00:48:30:15 - 00:48:46:10
Scott Graham
Uh, no. I like a regular old Gatorade, man. We keep it stocked at the house, which is really bad for me. Apparently it has like just as much sugar as a Coke. Sugar's my thing, dude. I don't drink a whole ton of alcohol. Like, if we're It's not that I'm like, "Oh, I don't wanna drink alcohol." It's just you know, I weight 255 pounds, so like for me to like get a buzz- Oh, really?

00:48:46:10 - 00:48:51:03
Scott Graham
For me to get a buzz off some alcohol, it's gotta be a commitment.

00:48:51:04 - 00:48:53:08
Brandon Adams
What kind of alcohol are we talking about?

00:48:53:10 - 00:49:01:10
Scott Graham
I'll dri- uh, if I'm drinking, I'm drinking either Jameson on the rocks- Okay or super filthy, like Britney Spears dirty martinis.

00:49:01:12 - 00:49:02:13
Brandon Adams
Okay. Or.

00:49:02:14 - 00:49:07:21
Scott Graham
Or, or if I'm on vacation- it's gonna be something real, piña colada.

00:49:07:22 - 00:49:08:12
Brandon Adams
Frou-frou.

00:49:08:12 - 00:49:15:14
Scott Graham
I like a Lava Flow. Do you know what that is? It's a piña colada, a little bit of that strawberry puree on top, and then it flows down.

00:49:15:15 - 00:49:17:19
Brandon Adams
Oh, like a Lava Flow. If I'm at a pool- Like a Miami Vice or something?

00:49:17:19 - 00:49:38:00
Scott Graham
It's like a Miami Vice, but it's, it's a little bit more piña colada and less strawberry daiquiri. But if I'm at a, if I'm at a pool in Mexico- What's that called again? I'm not gonna say it again. If I'm at a pool in Mexico where there's a server I'm in, I'm just one after the other, dude. Really? And they are good.

00:49:38:02 - 00:49:39:10
Scott Graham
Do you li- But they're also laxatives

00:49:39:11 - 00:49:44:19
Brandon Adams
do you like going to like Mexico and going to those all you can drink resorts?

00:49:44:21 - 00:49:45:13
Scott Graham
Okay.

00:49:45:15 - 00:49:46:05
Brandon Adams
Tip toe- All-inclusive resorts

00:49:46:05 - 00:50:01:02
Scott Graham
tip toe through. If it's a nice one. I've found that all-inclusive can be a trap because sometimes it's like it includes everything, but everything's shit.

00:50:01:03 - 00:50:01:21
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

00:50:01:23 - 00:50:18:22
Scott Graham
But then there's ones that it's all-inclusive and it's really good. Uh, don't ask me to name them. I'd have to call my wife. I mean, they're all, they all bleed together in my head. All those places. Um, but yeah, I mean, I li- I like, I like going on vacation and not having to do stuff.

00:50:18:24 - 00:50:20:21
Brandon Adams
Beach or a mountain kind of guy?

00:50:20:23 - 00:50:45:04
Scott Graham
Depends on the season. I don't, I don't know how to ski. I fall over. So this is what, Just fall over? So I don't know how to ski, but I was in Montana a couple weeks ago um, uh, visiting a customer, and I called my wife after being there for, like, 3 hours and I was like, "W- w- if we're not living in Montana within the next 10 years, we've messed up somehow."

00:50:45:06 - 00:50:46:02
Scott Graham
I love Montana.

00:50:46:03 - 00:50:46:10
Brandon Adams
I haven't.

00:50:46:10 - 00:51:10:03
Scott Graham
I haven't been there. It's, it's amazing. Um, apparently the winters are a little rough. But in April it's pretty. um- Apparently- I'm not a beach guy necessarily. Me either like, the sand thing. Like, my wife is like, she has to recharge. There's some sort of a battery in her that the beach recharges. That's my wife. Yeah, so we go q- we try to go at least a few times a year.

00:51:10:04 - 00:51:24:22
Scott Graham
Um, and I'll do the beach thing, you know, but I'll, I end up just getting one of those, like, long noodle things the big thick ones that like hold the big boy up. And I just float in the water on it 00:51:24:23 - 00:51:28:14
Brandon Adams
like this the whole time. Do you float by the bar? Is that what you do? Or do you go out to the ocean?

00:51:28:15 - 00:51:30:09
Scott Graham
Ocean.

00:51:30:10 - 00:51:32:04
Brandon Adams
You don't ever hang in the, the swimming pool?

00:51:32:04 - 00:51:42:03
Scott Graham
Well, it depends where you are. Like, if you're in Cabo, you ain't in the ocean. You're in the pool the whole time. No, for sure. Um, we're going back to Exuma this summer, and we'll be in the ocean the whole damn time.

00:51:42:03 - 00:51:44:12
Brandon Adams
Never, never by the bar? We'll be

00:51:44:14 - 00:51:47:19
Scott Graham
don't think so, dude. Like, we'll bring the cooler down there and- Take the kids or just y'all?

00:51:47:20 - 00:51:48:13
Brandon Adams
Take the kids. Or just.

00:51:48:13 - 00:51:56:23
Scott Graham
Uh, we're bringing the kids. Us and one other family. We're gonna be going there. Um, stoked for that. Have you been to Exuma?

00:51:57:00 - 00:51:58:09
Brandon Adams
don't think so. Where is that?

00:51:58:10 - 00:51:59:21
Scott Graham
It's awful.

00:51:59:23 - 00:52:00:09
Brandon Adams
Nobody should go.

00:52:00:09 - 00:52:02:09
Scott Graham
Where's it at? It's in the Bahamas.

00:52:02:11 - 00:52:03:14
Brandon Adams
I've been to the Bahamas.

00:52:03:15 - 00:52:10:13
Scott Graham
Did you go to Nassau? So Nassau and Exuma are kinda like the, the 2 main destinations for- Went to Atlantis.

00:52:10:13 - 00:52:12:18
Brandon Adams
For went to Atlantis. Yep. Okay.

00:52:12:19 - 00:52:26:04
Scott Graham
Um, Exuma is a bit more rural than Nassau. Doesn't have quite as many activities. But if you're a boring vacation person like me it's, it's the way to go.

00:52:26:05 - 00:52:34:18
Brandon Adams
I've gotten to the, where we just start renting a house, and then I'll get 4 or 5 couples to go. And then we'll get, like, a chef to go with us.

00:52:34:22 - 00:52:35:12
Scott Graham
And then you guys just throw your keys into a bowl, right?

00:52:35:12 - 00:52:37:12
Brandon Adams
No, we do not do that.

00:52:37:14 - 00:52:37:17
Scott Graham
Oh.

00:52:37:18 - 00:52:56:11
Brandon Adams
I am- No? Oh, never mind way completely off of that 1 Okay for sure. Um, we get 4 or 5 couples to go, and we'll get a chef and just stay there. And for what you can spend for 2 people to go to a all-inclusive resort, you can get a really nice place, and you can get all these people to go together and you can have a chef, and you can have this r- you know, it's all by yourself.

00:52:56:12 - 00:53:01:09
Brandon Adams
You ain't worried about standing in lines for stuff. It's just nice. 100%. You know? You ever done that route?

00:53:01:10 - 00:53:05:19
Scott Graham
That's what we're doing in Exuma. We rented a house.

00:53:05:21 - 00:53:09:18
Brandon Adams
Um- That's cool. I appreciate the invite. third time on my podcast. You know?

00:53:09:19 - 00:53:11:16
Scott Graham
Kinda cool. Is that a rule?

00:53:11:18 - 00:53:13:19
Brandon Adams
Thought it was 2, but- All right

00:53:13:21 - 00:53:18:03
Scott Graham
you know. Uh, I w- I think that we'd have a lot of fun on a vacation together. How old are your kids again?

00:53:18:07 - 00:53:19:13
Brandon Adams
20 and 17.

00:53:19:14 - 00:53:25:23
Scott Graham
10 and 12. So they'd find- So same age some common ground somewhere. Same age. They'd be going, "Six, seven" the whole time or something.

00:53:26:02 - 00:53:29:09
Brandon Adams
Mine would've been like, "You want to Zen or"

00:53:29:10 - 00:53:33:00
Scott Graham
You know? Where my kid would be like, "Yes."

00:53:33:02 - 00:53:39:23
Brandon Adams
100%. Well, you, I asked you to bring some questions to the, to the podcast today. What, what did you bring? Anything worth talking about or?

00:53:39:23 - 00:53:57:21
Scott Graham
I wanna learn more about Smoking Gun. So, like, what's the elevator spiel? I mean, obviously I understand I think at a cocktail party level what you guys do, but, like, how do you explain what you guys do? I feel like you you have so many guests on here that talk about themselves the whole damn time. Like, I wanna hear about you.

00:53:57:23 - 00:54:14:02
Brandon Adams
Well, honestly, like, uh, I've been in the business for 29 years now. Um, and, uh, I've kind of picked up a lot of traits and things along the way. I worked in TV commercials. I've done 3D. I've done web development. I've done, uh, marketing and social and- Porn

00:54:14:03 - 00:54:15:02
Scott Graham
Foreign.

00:54:15:04 - 00:54:16:17
Brandon Adams
package development and- Package development

00:54:16:18 - 00:54:17:09
Scott Graham
Package developed.

00:54:17:13 - 00:54:31:18
Brandon Adams
uh, yeah, it's the same P word, different P word. Uh, but, um, you know, as we've gone through this thing, it's y- along the way you just pick tools up and put them in your toolbox, right? I know how to do that, and I can do that, and I can do that. So at 1 point I was just like, "I kinda wanna go out and do my own thing.

00:54:31:18 - 00:54:51:01
Brandon Adams
I have all these tools in the box. Like, let's just make a full service agency." And, and I wanna be a little bit different than other people. Like, I wanna be the disruptor. I d- if everybody says go left, I wanna go right. first off, there's just a lot of joy in that. Um, being, like I said, unique is kind of the thing that I talked about earlier.

00:54:51:02 - 00:55:17:05
Brandon Adams
Um, as an artist and everything too, like, I want to make sure that we're doing things that are not a rinse and repeat. I want somebody who, uh, is unique, you know, as a, as a, as a customer. Right? Um, so anyways, currently the way we set up right now, we, we've either taken a new customer or s- a new company or an existing company that really needs a lift. You know? So we take them and- Whole package

00:55:17:05 - 00:55:19:03
Scott Graham
the whole package branding, logo- Bring you in

00:55:19:04 - 00:55:34:17
Brandon Adams
website. Check your name. Is your name good for you? Is it not good for you? Trademark, all that kinda stuff. Build your logo out. What's your brand look like? What are your color palettes? Where do you wanna sit? Where, how do you wanna be perceived? And then we'll take you into building a website out. Once we build a website out for you, it's like, what's the customer journey for this?

00:55:34:17 - 00:55:51:18
Brandon Adams
Are you tr- looking for leads? Are you looking for, uh, a business card basically for people just to see you out there? Are you looking for exposure? Are you looking for an e-com site? Like, what do you want this thing to achieve as we go to start building your site out? 'Cause it's very, uh, very different for each person, and if I tried to, you know, rinse and repeat a, a website for every single person, like, it just wouldn't perform the way that it performs.

00:55:51:18 - 00:56:08:18
Brandon Adams
Um, and then once we get a strategy together for the way that we build that out, then we start building websites to do certain things. Um, and then we start, uh, we build that out, we get that set up, and then we go into SEO.SEO for me, like I'm telling you, I hear these people- Total opposite side of your brain, by the way.

00:56:08:23 - 00:56:11:10
Brandon Adams
SEO for me, like I'm telling you, I hear these people.

00:56:11:16 - 00:56:30:12
Scott Graham
Like, for those people who don't under- like, that's what makes you unique. That's what I've learned about you. I would like to think this about myself, not sure yet, jury's out. But I know for a fact that for you, you have this extremely rare ability to activate both sides of your brain simultaneously.

00:56:30:14 - 00:56:51:00
Scott Graham
You're able to activate the creative side of your brain for things like logo design, web design, UX, feel, vibe brand, while simultaneously turning on SEO and SEM- and PPC and all, like all these things that are extremely linear and data-driven, and n- that's why you're able to do what you do.

00:56:51:01 - 00:56:59:08
Brandon Adams
I really thank you for saying that. I really love I mean, it I, I try to put people in my, in, on my team and in my life that are good at the things that I'm not good at, right?

00:56:59:09 - 00:56:59:22
Scott Graham
Most, most.

00:56:59:22 - 00:57:02:08
Brandon Adams
And so- Most, most things. I mean, most, which is all of the things.

00:57:02:10 - 00:57:04:20
Scott Graham
Um, but- After I just told you how good you are at everything.

00:57:04:21 - 00:57:05:06
Brandon Adams
Yeah, I mean, really- I'm gonna knock you back down a peg.

00:57:05:07 - 00:57:06:19
Scott Graham
Really like you back down a peg.

00:57:06:22 - 00:57:25:24
Brandon Adams
R- but really truly, like, I wanna learn from the guys that I'm hiring for a certain reason. Right? I want the, I wanna see what their thoughts are. I wanna see the way that they would take something from this direction. Like, everyone who knows me knows I'm a challenger. Like, that, you can, you can have the answer, but you better be able to give me the answer of why it is what it is.

00:57:26:01 - 00:57:41:12
Brandon Adams
Because I'm going to challenge the fact of how did you get to that? Did somebody tell you that? Did you experience that? Do you know that that works? You know, I really wanna know, and i- if you do have a solid answer and I, and I agree with it, then cool, that's I'm down. That's all you gotta do.

00:57:41:13 - 00:57:57:13
Brandon Adams
But just don't tell me it is and you don't have an explanation for it, right? So that, that You'll, you'll catch me kinda digging in that all day. So I really look for guys who, um, are just kinda nerding out in whatever they do. Right? Whether you're on the creative side, do you nerd out in it? Whether you're in the, the, the back end stuff, do you nerd out?

00:57:57:13 - 00:58:08:19
Brandon Adams
And you're do- you know, the development side of it, do you nerd out in that? Is that, like, your passion? And in any time I'm interviewing somebody, if they use the word passion, man, I, it, my ears p- perk up.

00:58:08:20 - 00:58:09:23
Scott Graham
Right? That's- It's your ears that perk up?

00:58:09:24 - 00:58:10:09
Brandon Adams
It's my.

00:58:10:09 - 00:58:11:05
Scott Graham
It's my ears- Okay

00:58:11:09 - 00:58:21:22
Brandon Adams
first- Okay that perk up. But really, that is a, that's a big key for me. I really love to see someone who's completely in it. Like, I don't mean like, "Yeah, that's cool," and then, uh, once I get out of here I'm gonna go do something else.

00:58:21:22 - 00:58:22:20
Scott Graham
Yeah, it's not their widgets.

00:58:22:21 - 00:58:23:09
Brandon Adams
Yeah, man.

00:58:23:11 - 00:58:45:10
Scott Graham
Yeah, man. You know? It's something that they love, you know? The way you are about art and branding and the way I am about merch. You know, like, I love it. Like, it's Being able to walk around in public, not to turn this around about me but I just wanna agree with you. Um, and see s- people walk by you wearing stuff that you designed or came up with or manufac- whatever.

00:58:45:12 - 00:58:51:24
Scott Graham
Dude, I've been doing this 19 years and it doesn't get old. Brooke and I were down in Seaside last week, and we- Saw a Bucky shirt.

00:58:52:00 - 00:58:52:13
Brandon Adams
Saw a Bucky.

00:58:52:13 - 00:59:10:03
Scott Graham
That. That happened too. We got a story for you on that, by the way. Um, actually, I'll probably tell it to you off-air. Sorry, guys. Um, but we went down to Seaside and, you know, one of the days we spent with the, the team at the Seaside Style, which is, like, all those shirts you see that say Seaside, we make a lot of that stuff.

00:59:10:03 - 00:59:35:05
Scott Graham
And just being in Seaside and having all these people walking around wearing, "Oh, we made that performance hat and that bamboo hoodie, and we made that, that tennis jacket, and we made" Like, these people are just walking around going about their lives, and these are products that, like, my team and I sat in a conference room and, like, sketched out and, like went back and forth on fabrics and fits and passion goes into it, you know? Um, and that never gets old.

00:59:35:06 - 00:59:37:20
Scott Graham
You know. Another question I had for you.

00:59:38:00 - 00:59:39:03
Brandon Adams
Well, let me finish the other one first.

00:59:39:04 - 00:59:39:07
Scott Graham
Okay.

00:59:39:08 - 00:59:54:14
Brandon Adams
Okay, sorry. Um, the SEO side of things, I hear people all the time say, "That's dead. That's not a good thing. That's" And I, if I hear somebody say that, I'm gonna tell you right now, and especially if that's a marketing company that says that to you, they're not worth their salt.

00:59:54:15 - 00:59:57:24
Scott Graham
They either don't wanna do it, so they're saying it's dead 00:59:58:01 - 00:59:58:18
Brandon Adams
Or they're not good at.

00:59:58:18 - 00:59:59:09
Scott Graham
or- Or they're not good at it. Or they don't know how to do it.

00:59:59:09 - 01:00:19:18
Brandon Adams
Or they don't know how to do it, right? Because I can tell you right now, I bring in clients all the time, and we build their site up and we build it a certain way, and then we put the SEO monthly into this thing, and we watch these people just start to go up Google. And they all call us back and they go, "Dude, I got somebody calling in from Houston," or, "I got somebody from Louisiana," or, "People are calling me from California," or whatever.

01:00:19:18 - 01:00:34:17
Brandon Adams
It's like people never even I, where did these things come from? I call them and they're always quizzing us. How did we get those leads? How did, how did those people know about us? How did this exposure happen? And we can show them month over month, over month, over month, how the keywords in there start to grow, and how all this stuff has to happen with them.

01:00:34:17 - 01:00:51:16
Brandon Adams
And then they come back and they go, "I asked them on the phone, how did this happen? And they always say, 'Oh, I found you on Google.'" Mm-hmm. And it just has to do with the amount of work and how you put it in to the website. So it's like a payoff. You know, it doesn't matter what your name is individually. It doesn't matter what your website looks like.

01:00:51:16 - 01:00:52:18
Scott Graham
Looks like.

01:00:52:20 - 01:00:54:07
Brandon Adams
What if it's Assburger? Yeah, Assburger still has made it.

01:00:54:07 - 01:00:54:22
Scott Graham
It okay.

01:00:54:23 - 01:01:09:14
Brandon Adams
Right? It doesn't matter what your website looks like individually. Doesn't matter how it works individually. Doesn't matter how it ranks individually. But you put all of those things together, and you get them done right all together, that's a wave, and it's a multiplier.

01:01:09:15 - 01:01:38:13
Scott Graham
What's fascinating me, to me about your ability to do that is it's you versus Google. You know, I mean, SEO, you know, for those that don't know, these search engines don't love SEO. They want you paying per click. Right? They want you doing SEM, search engine marketing, not search engine optimization. So, and I know this because when I was out of college 21 years ago. This is, that's how my wife and I met, is we had a job in this world. Um, it's you versus Google.

01:01:38:15 - 01:01:54:01
Scott Graham
And Google's pretty damn good- Yeah, they are at what they do. So they're con- it's a moving target constantly. They're catching on to y'all's tricks and trades and r- readjusting algorithms to fight it. And you're having to readjust your prac- Like, it's a really difficult thing to do correctly.

01:01:54:01 - 01:02:03:17
Brandon Adams
But here's the, here's the deal that I really see SEO as. If you go to a casino and you go to the craps table Or do you gamble at all?

01:02:03:19 - 01:02:05:02
Scott Graham
Mm-mm. Only 'cause I'm not good at it.

01:02:05:03 - 01:02:23:15
Brandon Adams
Let's just say you go to the craps table. If you look around there, everybody's betting on these high odds things, Big odds, big odds, roll, get lucky, blah, blah, blah, whatever, right? And you see these people come in, they win big, but the majority of people lose. And Vegas is there because they're there for losers, right?

01:02:23:17 - 01:02:39:02
Brandon Adams
And everybody's losing, and they're paying out some for those stories so people continue to come back. When I go to Vegas and I go to the craps table, I bet on the don't pass line, which is betting with Vegas, and I'm betting everyone around the table's gonna lose, right?

01:02:39:03 - 01:02:41:18
Scott Graham
So, and you make money every time?

01:02:41:20 - 01:03:03:12
Brandon Adams
Systematically, if you put down $5 and you lose it, then you put down 10. If you lose that, you put down 40. I mean 20. If you lose that, you put down 40. You lose that, you put down 80. And then it covers, because they're only gonna lose so many times in a row it covers, you start over. You put down 5, you win, you put it in your pocket, then you put down 5 again. And then you start that thing up.

01:03:03:12 - 01:03:07:01
Brandon Adams
So it covers every loss, and then you pick up every win, right?

01:03:07:01 - 01:03:12:11
Scott Graham
I know nothing about gambling, but I will ask you, if that's the secret sauce, why doesn't everybody do that?

01:03:12:13 - 01:03:26:19
Brandon Adams
Because people get mad at everybody around the table. It's the people that are encouraging you not to do that. "Oh, you're voting against us," blah, blah, blah. And they pressurize people not to do it. You go watch. You go start putting that on the don't pass, every, everything on- What does it mean don't

01:03:26:19 - 01:03:28:23
Scott Graham
What does that mean, don't pass line?

01:03:28:24 - 01:03:30:22
Brandon Adams
That means you won't make your number.

01:03:30:24 - 01:03:39:22
Scott Graham
So you're, so whoever's throwing the dice, you're saying, you know- Loser y- yeah. Douche. Loser. Betting against you and your- Loser ability to randomly have these dice face a certain direction.

01:03:40:00 - 01:03:59:12
Brandon Adams
And you're down there on vacation trying to win, and I'm sitting here rooting against you, and they're pissed, right? Look at everything on the board, and it's all a bright color and a big number and a cool design and all this other stuff, right? Don't pass is a black bar around the outside, bottom right corner, right? It's like- Hmm they don't want you to do that.

01:03:59:12 - 01:04:15:22
Brandon Adams
But here's the deal. It's the same thing with Google. Google needs to do things to win, and I'm trying to find the things that they're doing to win, or my team is finding the things that they do to win, and we're serving them those. Oh, frequently asked questions. You wanna know what those are? I'll write my stuff just for you.

01:04:15:24 - 01:04:20:11
Brandon Adams
Oh, Google, you wanna know these keywords and everything else? I'll write my stuff. I'll serve you what you're looking for.

01:04:20:15 - 01:04:28:20
Scott Graham
Is SEO as simple as it was when I was in it, which was like, you can just hide some white text on a white background?

01:04:29:01 - 01:04:46:02
Brandon Adams
All the time, they're trying to catch you for doing stuff. They're making new rules, and we're, we're getting informed on them all the time. I have a SEO specialist over here who's informing us all the time and teaching us all the time. But they're trying to catch you doing things, right? And they're trying to limit your exposure on how you can do that.

01:04:46:02 - 01:04:51:06
Brandon Adams
So you have to rework the system every s- 3, 6 months. Okay, cool, you can't do that anymore. Now we gotta find another way.

01:04:51:06 - 01:04:54:19
Scott Graham
Now you gotta go into every website that you're managing- Yes and adjust it.

01:04:54:20 - 01:05:07:24
Brandon Adams
Every- Yeah, that's- And that's why we say monthly that This is why we set people up on monthly, um, uh, SEO plans, is because we have to put things in every single week, and there's maintenance that goes with all those. You don't just build a website once and then let it ride. Mm-mm.

01:05:08:01 - 01:05:09:00
Scott Graham
That's what I did.

01:05:09:01 - 01:05:12:09
Brandon Adams
put a boat out in the ocean, just let it, you know, go out and go nowhere, right?

01:05:12:10 - 01:05:20:04
Scott Graham
But, you know, the websites you're building are consumer facing. Our website's more of like a, you know, we've had a conversation and you're going online to make sure I don't suck.

01:05:20:05 - 01:05:21:01
Brandon Adams
A business card.

01:05:21:02 - 01:05:30:19
Scott Graham
It's a business card. It's not a, I'm not out there trying to market to the consumer. When we do, it's like, "Hey, can you make me softball jerseys?" Or- Well, here, yeah "Hey, I wanna start a clothing line," or, you know, stuff like that.

01:05:30:19 - 01:05:54:04
Brandon Adams
So here's the deal. It doesn't have to be the, the little guys that you go after, right? There's only one of you. I use this analogy all the time. Let's say you have a Ferrari, and that's your business, right? Or your website. And you don't have an engine inside that, that Ferrari. It's parked in your garage. Every time that you have somebody that's over to your house "Dude, check out this Ferrari I got out here." And everybody walks, "Ooh, that's super cool.

01:05:54:10 - 01:06:09:21
Brandon Adams
Let's go. Let's take it for a spin." I can't, doesn't have an engine, right? But that's one person that you showed that you had a really cool Ferrari.Put an engine inside that thing, drive it around town, and now boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. All these people are now starting to see who you are and what you're doing, and now it's bringing people to you.

01:06:09:21 - 01:06:17:01
Brandon Adams
Not little guys, but the who you're targeting out there. So- Right?

01:06:17:03 - 01:06:36:24
Scott Graham
is it possible if, so if I tell you who we target you can tell me whether or not that's feasible for- 100%. So who we target, we have what we call the hat trick. It's gotta be a consumer-facing brand. Not a clothing line, which I know sounds counterintuitive, but like producing clothing for clothing lines is very emotionally heavy.

01:06:37:00 - 01:06:59:00
Scott Graham
Um, if you're, if you're Black Rifle Coffee and I call you and I'm like, "Hey, your, your hoodies are a week late," they're like "Okay, whatever. We're selling coffee." So a dr- consumer-facing brand. They have some sort of direct consumer model, whether it's e-com, brick-and-mortar, through their own brick-and-mortar stores like Buc-ee's or a combination of both.

01:06:59:00 - 01:07:20:06
Scott Graham
They're not a clothing brand and they have a cult following. Right? They have, they have some sort of a rabid audience that loves Gold's Gym loves King Ranch loves Lucchese Boots. L- like, what, they have a, a rabid fan base. If there, if there's a brand that covers those 3 bases and they're not a s- even if they are a startup, if they have capital- then I wanna know.

01:07:20:07 - 01:07:20:24
Brandon Adams
Those are your people.

01:07:21:00 - 01:07:21:24
Scott Graham
Those are my people.

01:07:21:24 - 01:07:39:05
Brandon Adams
Those are my people. You build out a strategy to go attack those people, right? You don't build out, like, soccer shirts and, and band shirts and things like that where people really need that. You build out, "I'm going after X," and then we start to build, uh, targets, right? And then when we go find those targets, and what do they have in common, and then, then we start to find out what people are researching when they look for those.

01:07:39:05 - 01:07:47:03
Brandon Adams
You know, or what those people are researching when they're looking for people like you, right? What are they typing in? I don't know that I would know what the hell to do with

01:07:47:05 - 01:08:06:12
Scott Graham
Like, if we did what we're talking about right now and all of a sudden phone starts ringing, even, like, I don't know what I would do. Great problem. Yeah, I mean, our, our business, our business is in an industry that is less than impressive. You know, most merch companies, they're all selling the same shit.

01:08:06:13 - 01:08:27:14
Scott Graham
It's like, oh, it's a Port Authority polo with a logo on the left chest or, you know. We've built a business doing really high level of customization in small quantities for consumer brands that don't make clothes. So it's a very niche thing and it's, you know, our, our official, our official slogan is, "Make cool shit," which there should be

01:08:27:15 - 01:08:46:18
Scott Graham
Yeah, there's an MCS on the back of this hat. Like, if you just make cool shit, do what you say you're gonna do don't be a jerk um, word gets out. So we've, we've grown- 100% we've grown for 19 years just off word of mouth. We do have a software that if there's a brand, this is how we got King Ranch.

01:08:46:18 - 01:08:55:19
Scott Graham
If there's a brand that we really, really wanna work with like, we, we know we can make some really cool product for that brand. We could crush it. It would be fun. The designers would enjoy it.

01:08:55:21 - 01:08:57:20
Brandon Adams
Give me some contacts.

01:08:57:22 - 01:09:17:03
Scott Graham
You go- have you heard of ZoomInfo? Dude. It's almost freaky. Like, you can go in there and put in, you know, Buc-ee's, and up pops Don Wasek, the own- one of the 2 founders of Buc-ee's, and you click on his thing, and then here's his cell phone number. Here's his direct email. And we just make little videos. I think we'll do this 2 or 3 times a year where we'll make a video in the showroom and be like, "Hey, this is for the Pinpoint crew.

01:09:17:03 - 01:09:32:09
Scott Graham
You know, we really wanna work with you." And just text it to him. Straight to the top. I don't wanna sell to the merchandise manager un- so eventually who we may end up working with. But we wanna start at the top and have that trickle down versus try to claw our way up the ladder. All your way up.

01:09:32:10 - 01:09:42:03
Scott Graham
Um, and that works, but yeah, man, I mean, I'm s- I'm sure that there's a lot of stuff I'm not doing correctly where I'm leaving opportunities on the table like this that we're talking about.

01:09:42:06 - 01:09:58:10
Brandon Adams
Well, it just depends on how fast you wanna grow, right? Like, if, do you have the infrastructure? Are you, are you choking now? There's, about investments earlier, right? Do you have, uh, the capital for things that come in to be able to have that flexibility to take more on or, or not? You know?

01:09:58:11 - 01:10:17:07
Scott Graham
And so- Yeah, we, we do because we don't do any financing. You know? So, like, we're paying down payments to our factories, and then we're paying balance payments when goods arrive or d- either, either when they dispatch from the factory or when they arrive, depending on the factory. So all of our customers are like, you know, that's one of our 4headed monster things is like this ain't a net 30 thing.

01:10:17:07 - 01:10:37:06
Scott Graham
You know? Like, there's a down payment involved so that we can mill the fabric and dye it and make all the trims. Um, so we're not out of pocket. The co- Covers some cogs. Yeah, it covers cogs. Well, the 40% down covers enough of COGS to where we're not in a cash flow bind on the balance. Um, we have a couple c- like, Buc-ee's doesn't pay down payments.

01:10:37:07 - 01:10:56:17
Scott Graham
You know, so, you know, they send you an order for 250,000 pieces of a product. You gotta figure out how to fund it, you know? And then 4month production time, hits your warehouse, and then you got 3 or 4 months to sell it into the stores, and then they, they pay you like clockwork once it delivers to the stores.

01:10:56:19 - 01:11:06:17
Scott Graham
Um, but most of our customers, matter of fact, all of our customers except for Buc-ee's, pay us that 40% down payment. So my answer to your question is yeah, we can scale, dude.

01:11:06:22 - 01:11:25:10
Brandon Adams
I mean, I love this, and this is a big thing about us, I think is I'm not saying we're unique to this thing, but we love strategy. I wanna talk to you about where you wanna go, and I wanna come up with a solution of how to get there. And I wanna make sure that I'm giving you KPIs to show you points along the journey of how we did X.

01:11:25:11 - 01:11:40:04
Brandon Adams
Right? And if I can do that, and I can show you where your money's going, this is a win-win. Like, if you give me $2 and I turn it into 4 Yeah why would you not? You know? It's a pretty simple solution, you know? And so it's not like you're signing up with me for your first child.

01:11:40:04 - 01:11:44:14
Brandon Adams
It's like- How do you- let's sign up and watch things grow and see how they grow, you know? 100%.

01:11:44:16 - 01:12:06:04
Scott Graham
One thing I find fascinating too about your side of the business being creative service, how do you price that, dude? How do you know to quote this customer versus what to quote Is it by hour or is it a monthly retainer? Or like, 'cause for us, I leave, I knowingly leave a lot of money on the table by not charging for design.

01:12:06:08 - 01:12:22:21
Scott Graham
You know, if you fit our hat trick and you wanna work with us, and it's something fun like, let's roll. You know? So, like, we're, we'll- we'll design your entire collection. We'll make 7, 8 versions of the deck if we have to. And then we, when it's, when it's ready to quote, we cost it all out, and they place the PO, and we, and we go to production.

01:12:22:22 - 01:12:43:01
Scott Graham
I could probably be seeing quite a bit more income if I charged for that process. But number one, I don't because I don't know how to cost it. And number 2, I also don't want to be in a position where the customer, after version 9 of the deck, is like, "Well, I actually, my uncle has a merch company. Why don't you just send us the vectors?

01:12:43:01 - 01:13:01:24
Scott Graham
We're gonna get it produced there." 'Cause, like, I'm not, I don't wanna I'm not in the business of design. I'm in the business of making product. You know? And the design is a catalyst to get me there. But for you, you're purely in the business of design and creative service, and there's not really a tangible product necessarily that you're selling, not a big part of your revenue, I don't think.

01:13:01:24 - 01:13:03:13
Scott Graham
Correct me if I'm wrong. How do you quote that?

01:13:03:15 - 01:13:20:09
Brandon Adams
It's all about number of hours, and so when we go to start building things out, I, I know what it takes for us to build a, a product that, what you're asking for. That's why I have this up-front sit-down. I got, you know, a couch and 2 chairs up there and a coffee table, and when people walk in the door, I try to vet out to them, "Are you one of somebody that I wanna work with as well?"

01:13:20:10 - 01:13:27:13
Brandon Adams
Right? And so then I, I start to talk to them about what are their goals, where do they wanna go, what- Were you

01:13:27:16 - 01:13:43:19
Scott Graham
Sorry to interrupt you. Was it like that for you off the bat? What do you mean? Were 'Cause for me, off the bat, it was like, "Oh, you, you wanna work with us? Come on." You know? But till you get skin on the wall, it's like you gotta, you gotta take what you can get until you get your business to a point where you can start being more deliberate about which brands you take on.

01:13:43:23 - 01:14:00:07
Brandon Adams
I would say I've always been kind of selective, but I would say I've gotten more selective as I've as we've gone down the road. Um, and, and not that I mean, there's people that come in all the time, and I'll listen to them and hear their story and everything and, uh, give them some advice and things that they should be doing, but they're just not a fit for us, you know?

01:14:00:08 - 01:14:08:17
Brandon Adams
And so, um, I, I'm happy to help people, and, and quite honestly, like, I've done some things for people that, uh, we don't make no money on.

01:14:08:17 - 01:14:10:01
Scott Graham
Yeah, same. That's, but that's good karma, right?

01:14:10:01 - 01:14:13:10
Brandon Adams
Just because they're little guys and I wanna see them grow, you know? That's good karma. It's cool. It's a cool story.

01:14:13:11 - 01:14:27:21
Scott Graham
Yeah, and it's the right thing to do, dude. Like, it's not gonna hurt So we had a I'm not, like, virtue signaling or anything, but, like, to add to your point, like, there was a brand that came to us wanting to do bamboo hoodies. They had seen the bamboo hoodies that we had done for some other customer, and they liked them, and we were on the phone for an hour talking about these bamboo hoodies.

01:14:27:22 - 01:14:49:18
Scott Graham
And they wanted to order the bare minimum quantity. He was a really nice guy. And I kind of stopped the conversation in the middle, and I was like, "Listen, I'm just gonna send you the CAD. I'm gonna intro you to the factory. You can save 30% by not having us manage the project and do all that stuff.

01:14:49:20 - 01:15:08:18
Scott Graham
Just, just go. Just go do it." You know? Um, turned out that it ended up being more expensive because he was going to the factory just as his brand versus 'Cause that's what Pinpoint basically is dude, is one big-ass purchasing pool. You know? Like, uh, the, our factories don't care if we're putting Montana Knife Company or Springfield or Benelli.

01:15:08:23 - 01:15:27:00
Scott Graham
Like, they don't care what's going on. It's a Pinpoint order. You're negotiating the price down, yeah. Yeah, it's a Pinpoint order. So all of our customers get to enjoy that. So even with our margin, it's oftentimes more cost competitive. Um, but point being, like, it's like, it's not gonna hurt me. It's gonna help you. You're a good dude building a business. Like, just go. Good to You know, I'll get out of your way.

01:15:27:01 - 01:15:29:09
Scott Graham
There's times where I know when to get out of a customer's way.

01:15:29:10 - 01:15:49:21
Brandon Adams
So I do w- ho- honestly, I want to make sure that I'm giving people like that some good advice, right? And then I, but, but I do wanna talk to those people when I'm getting in there. are your expectations true? Do you have an understanding of what you're asking for? Right? Because, uh, let's just say somebody wanted a lead, right?

01:15:49:21 - 01:16:09:17
Brandon Adams
And they're like, "I need 75 leads out of this money," and I'm like, you've got $1,000," right? "What kind of lead are you looking for?" Because some of those leads- could be 200 bucks. Some of those leads could be 400 bucks. Because the lead that comes out of that, you're gonna get a $30,000 job. Like those leads cost X, and that's me making $0.

01:16:09:18 - 01:16:25:06
Brandon Adams
And you're telling me you want 75 out of $1,000? You're not being realistic. You're not doing the math. You know? And so that's why I sit down with people to find out, like, do you have the money or the wherewithal to jump into the pool that you're asking to jump into? 'Cause it's, I don't want it to be my fault 01:16:25:07 - 01:16:26:21
Brandon Adams
for you to feel- That's, that's it right there

01:16:27:00 - 01:16:47:00
Scott Graham
That's why I, that's why I've quickly fell out of love with the marketing world is because And, and granted, this is like 2006. Right? So this is like, we were literally on phone calls calling local businesses, plastic surgeons, carpet cleaners, franchisees, all that. It's like "Hey, you need to get out of the Yellow Pages." You know, "It's time to go on Google."

01:16:47:00 - 01:17:11:23
Scott Graham
"What's that?" "Oh, well, go on, just click your mouse here." Dub a dub a dubba. Exactly. Um, the, you know, they have a website that sometimes the website's badass, sometimes the website's total dog shit. You know, so it's like, we're giving you the exposure. You're getting the clicks. You're getting, you're getting exactly what we told you we would get you. But you're pushing them into this doo-doo website that as soon as people get on it, the

01:17:11:24 - 01:17:31:22
Scott Graham
So that's an opportunity for you being full package is that you can you can be honest and say, "Hey, listen, we can put eyeballs on this website-" Yep "you're showing me." But before we So the same thing happened for Pinpoint. There was a gun brand, really well-known gun brand, that, um, CEO from one gun brand that we produced for went to this gun brand and brought us with him.

01:17:31:23 - 01:17:54:12
Scott Graham
That's a lot of how we grow, you know? And wanted to spend a pretty large chunk of change on a whole new merch line for this gun brand. And I said, "Well, what's, how are you gonna sell the stuff out- other than their distributors?" And he said, "Well, we got the, we got the shop blah, blah, blah.com." And he showed it to me and it was, it was It looked like some- it looked like a high school- Garbage

01:17:54:12 - 01:18:25:15
Scott Graham
class made it in 1995 in HTML. Thumbnails are this big and spaced this far apart. And there's just a solid color header with a little non-vectorized logo at the ti It was just awful. And I said, I said, "Listen, I want, I want to do this project." Like, 1, I think the product's cool. And 2, like, the business owner in me sees this dollar number and I, like, I want it. Don't get me wrong. But I'm gonna be setting you up for failure to make this beautiful product line if that's the way you're gonna sell it.

01:18:25:17 - 01:18:41:08
Scott Graham
So we did a deal where So in the gun industry, you can't sell on Shopify. If you're selling any gun parts at all, even if it's like magazines or, uh, you know, sights or anything like that, doesn't have to be firearms. If you're selling anything that's gonna go onto a firearm Shopify won't, won't work with you.

01:18:41:09 - 01:18:59:13
Scott Graham
So we built them all on BigCommerce. Um, so we made a deal where we built them a new BigCommerce store. And then they sent me some guns. And it was like, "Okay, now I can feel, uh, now I can feel ethically justified-" Yeah "taking this project on because I know you can be successful."

01:18:59:15 - 01:19:03:13
Scott Graham
You know what I mean? So same with you with, like, building a new website for someone that comes to you with a piece of doo-doo.

01:19:03:14 - 01:19:07:09
Brandon Adams
Well, I mean, you have to talk to somebody. That, that's why strategy is really big for us.

01:19:07:10 - 01:19:07:24
Scott Graham
Yeah.

01:19:08:04 - 01:19:32:02
Brandon Adams
I'd say there's 2 parts to every ti- or 3 parts, first off, to every time that you come into, uh, trying to get some, some leads or a sale, right? Did I drive people to you? Did you answer the phone when the call came across? Were you able to take that lead and capture that lead and, and get somebody in contact with them that could make the call one way or the other?

01:19:32:08 - 01:19:33:15
Scott Graham
Do you ever use proxy numbers?

01:19:33:21 - 01:19:34:17
Brandon Adams
Yeah, yeah.

01:19:34:18 - 01:19:41:23
Scott Graham
Where you can record the call- Yeah, 100% and be like, "Hey, you got the phone calls." They just didn't So- They were fat breathing into the phone when they answered and yeah.

01:19:41:24 - 01:19:54:14
Brandon Adams
Well, this is what people are gonna tell us. "Those weren't good calls," 'Cause their people are gonna defend it on the other side, "Why didn't you close the deal?" Uh, that was crap. You know, they sent crap over all the time, or they're spammers or whatever. So we do have to listen to the calls, right?

01:19:54:19 - 01:20:09:08
Brandon Adams
But on the other side of that too is, like, I t- I look at the entire funnel. What happened when they came in there, right? Who c- were you able to close the call? When you sent somebody out there, were they able to do their job? Were they able to close? 'Cause there's a percentage drop-off between every one of those.

01:20:09:09 - 01:20:12:00
Scott Graham
Did they walk into the house smelling like a fresh pack of cigarettes?

01:20:12:02 - 01:20:20:03
Brandon Adams
Did they have dirt on their shoes? Did they, were they, were they kind and polite and all these other things? Like, what happened to it? Did they get a Did they ask for a review after it was over with?

01:20:20:03 - 01:20:22:19
Scott Graham
Like, the only- And at that point, you kinda feel like you're running their business for them.

01:20:22:22 - 01:20:40:14
Brandon Adams
You are. You truly are. But at the beginning, you have to You're sending stuff their way, but you're only successful if you know how the funnel works. So for every business, I sit down and I talk to them. What's it like when we send a lead over? What's it like when someone clicks on your website and they fill out that form? How fast do you get it answered?

01:20:40:16 - 01:20:47:16
Brandon Adams
How fast do you get in contact with these people? When it, when they don't answer, what do you do? How do you, how do you follow up on that again?

01:20:47:18 - 01:20:50:05
Scott Graham
Before it ends up being my fault. Are there certain industries that you target?

01:20:50:07 - 01:21:12:11
Brandon Adams
We actually have a wide variety of industries. So we do service industries, so plumbing, electric, uh, sewer, um, HVAC. Uh, we've done those services. Roofing. Um, but we also do, like, medical, uh, facilities where they're selling supplements or, uh or, or health advice for- Peptides.

01:21:12:16 - 01:21:16:00
Scott Graham
Pep- peptides. Peptides is one. Fair will talk. I like me a peptide. A little cheat code.

01:21:16:06 - 01:21:27:15
Brandon Adams
Um, well, that's what, uh, Guy and Boomer came on for the other day to talk about theirs. Um, we have, uh, rally companies. We have, uh Red Bull's one of our clients. We have, um- Just throws it in there.

01:21:27:17 - 01:21:50:08
Scott Graham
No big deal. I don't know if you've heard of it. It's called Red Bull. It's an energy drink. Um, so if a, let's say a car And I know you're supposed to be interviewing me, but I find this stuff fascinating. Let's say a, a, a plumber with 5 locations across the state of Texas comes in. And they have a crap website, and they know they have a crap website so you don't have to hurt their feelings.

01:21:50:09 - 01:22:10:00
Scott Graham
And they say, "We want you to build us a new website, we want you to run our social media and we want you to run our SEO." And that's, that's the package. What's, like, a low budget that you and what's, like, a crazy high budget? Like, what's a range of what something like that might cost?

01:22:10:05 - 01:22:19:21
Brandon Adams
Anyone that comes in for a, for a logo design, that can be It depends on what kind of freedom you're giving me and how stringent you're gonna be on me with the logo. 1, I've given logos to people before- Yeah, puppy dog

01:22:19:22 - 01:22:20:02
Scott Graham
Yeah.

01:22:20:03 - 01:22:46:08
Brandon Adams
if you let me do the logo. If you wear me out, the longer you play in this role, the more it costs you, right? I've done logos for 7,500 bucks for a package, and that package comes with logos, black and whites, 4 colors, um, a style guide that comes with those, fonts a setup, all the, the entire thing that you can set that up and take that to a media group or anywhere that you wanna send that to, right?

01:22:46:08 - 01:22:47:24
Scott Graham
Everything's vectorized, everything's ready to go.

01:22:47:24 - 01:22:54:24
Brandon Adams
Everything's vectorized, ready to go. You know, whether it be a large format or something for embroidery, like, we set all that stuff up 'cause you're gonna have 10 different things you're gonna have to choose from.

01:22:54:24 - 01:22:56:16
Scott Graham
You're doing DST files and everything?

01:22:56:18 - 01:22:58:19
Brandon Adams
We're doing We've got this whole thing set up in this mo- Like, we- You're doing digitizing?

01:22:58:22 - 01:22:59:18
Scott Graham
You're doing digitizing.

01:22:59:19 - 01:23:08:11
Brandon Adams
We're not digitizing, but we're doing e- we're do- setting up logos to where if I gave it to a digitizer, they're not gonna go, "Well, you're gonna lose that, and you're gonna lose that."

01:23:08:11 - 01:23:24:07
Scott Graham
That's an opportunity for you, dude. Digitizers suck. Like, they'll be You know, customer will just be like, "Hey, I got my logo embroidered on a hat," and it's like no depth to it. Like, it's a, just a s- an outline silhouette when it should have, like, elements inside of it. You know? Like, that'd be a good opportunity for you to throw that on there.

01:23:24:07 - 01:23:53:12
Brandon Adams
Look into it. Um, and then we, you know, give them that package, and then when it comes to a website, like, if it's a business card, like, I want a landing page and an About, I mean, 3,500 bucks, right? If they're doing something small like that. If it's, if it is a website to where it has to perform and it has an engine on the inside of it, man, we're looking at anywhere between 10 and $17,000, $18,000 for a website.

01:23:53:14 - 01:23:56:04
Brandon Adams
17, $18,000 for a website.

01:23:56:05 - 01:24:00:03
Scott Graham
Have you ever had a customer approach you saying they wanted to pay you in equity?

01:24:00:05 - 01:24:01:03
Brandon Adams
Uh, no.

01:24:01:05 - 01:24:25:22
Scott Graham
So there's a 0 one of my customers, that's what they did. They had It was You know, the guy had started a consumer brand and he had a Brandon Adams, not a 6Pack Brandon Adams, just a regular Brandon Adams um, that he was using for marketing. It was doing a killer-ass job, and smartest thing this guy did was sat the guy down and said, "Hey, listen, I'm gonna give you a slice of a hefty slice 01:24:26:01 - 01:24:34:14
Scott Graham
"I want you to You know, "I'll focus on making the product." "You focus on the brand and marketing." And they're exploding. They are exploding.

01:24:34:14 - 01:24:52:19
Brandon Adams
I've got some, I've got some futures that are coming, not, not from clients that are coming into me, but through a, a conglomerate, right? That's That we're all kinda doing that. We're all kinda coming together to do some of that stuff, so. That's awesome. That's cool. Um, but anyways, and then once So, but I've even got, like, a, a one site which is completely 3D world, right?

01:24:52:20 - 01:25:05:01
Brandon Adams
So it's not like we've done a video of this thing. You're going into a 3D space, and it's rendering as you go through it. And it takes you through a journey at birdiechasers.com. Um, check that one out. That one's, that one's really, really cool, man, and this- It's a golf brand?

01:25:05:02 - 01:25:05:08
Scott Graham
Golf.

01:25:05:08 - 01:25:19:02
Brandon Adams
It's a golf brand where they, they just want you to play golf. They just want you to get out there and, uh, experience what it is. And so if you find one of these, uh, a, a Girdy, it's like a little doll or whatever, if you find one of those, it looks like a golf ball, looks like a bird with some legs that's white and fluffy with a orange nose, if you find one of those at a golf course that where one's been tagged on the map 01:25:19:02 - 01:25:36:22
Brandon Adams
there's 1,000 of them across the US. And if you find one and you report it, you scan the QR code and you report it back to them, they'll pay your green fee for, like

01:25:36:23 - 01:25:45:24
Brandon Adams
Like, a year. Pay your green fees- Damn for, like, a year. I mean- That's smart it's crazy, right? And so, uh, but you can also go there and, uh, get on there and buy merch, and every bit of merch he gives away, like, 10,000- It's like Pokémon.

01:25:46:05 - 01:25:47:09
Scott Graham
10,000 Pokemon.

01:25:47:10 - 01:25:47:19
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

01:25:47:20 - 01:25:53:15
Scott Graham
Wasn't that what that Pokémon craze was a few years back? People were going around looking for little Easter egg-type things.

01:25:53:16 - 01:26:17:22
Brandon Adams
Yep, and the cool thing about that too is, like, you, you go on there, you buy something, it gives you tokens that go into, uh, a, a pot where you can win $10,000, right? And so it's really cool, and there's games in there you can play and whatever, but the whole world is all s- you know, immersive. Well, those are the kinda clients I look for because they're When, when she first talked to me, I started talking to her about SEO and everything that went into this-And she's like, "I'm in."

01:26:17:23 - 01:26:36:24
Brandon Adams
And then she said, "You know, Brandon, I, I love One of these images on here made me think completely different about where I wanna take this. And although you did what I asked you to do," we had, like, hidden a Gertie behind, uh, one of the little tombstones that was in, just in an image. Like, it was hiding out there, right?

01:26:37:00 - 01:26:40:09
Brandon Adams
And her mind went off into a different direction and said- Let's do this in real life

01:26:40:10 - 01:26:41:00
Scott Graham
The students in.

01:26:41:00 - 01:26:57:09
Brandon Adams
let's do this thing real. This is an immersive world that they're in. Let's build that world. Right? And so we started going- Smart telling the story and all this, all, all the way through it. It's really, really cool, man. And so those are the kinda clients I'm looking for. So we've built this 3D world. I mean, there's Everyone I show it to, they're just like, "I've never seen anything like this before."

01:26:57:09 - 01:27:11:24
Brandon Adams
And that's what we want to do. I've never seen this before. I've never seen anyone do anything like this. That's the, that's the cutting edge stuff that I wanna make sure that when somebody else says not possible or too hard or whatever-

01:27:12:04 - 01:27:17:04
Scott Graham
Yeah You know? And so- Well, what's cool about that too is that you can be like, "Listen, we've never done this before, but you can bet your booty we're gonna figure it out."

01:27:17:06 - 01:27:26:05
Brandon Adams
You know? And that's the kinda client that's The same ones are gonna come to you because you know that, "Hey, man, look, I've never seen anything done like that, but I can promise you- like, I will make this thing happen," you know?

01:27:26:06 - 01:27:46:06
Scott Graham
It happened to me with the 25th anniversary of Street Fighter. The video game. We're sitting at Capcom's office in San Francisco, and they're like, "We need something cool that's, that we can s- make to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Street Fighter." And we're just sitting around BS-ing about ideas, and I said, "Well, we'll come back in the morning, and we'll have some ideas."

01:27:46:06 - 01:28:03:15
Scott Graham
And my creative director and I went to a bar that night, and we just started bullshitting about what would be cool. And we came up with 3 ideas, and one of them was a chess set. And we started sitting there on, writing on the back of our bar tab. Like, you know, these characters can be the goods- the good team. These characters can be the bad team.

01:28:03:15 - 01:28:20:15
Scott Graham
The king will be this. Queen will be that. We went full nerd. And, 'cause I grew up playing that game. It was a big part of my childhood. And, uh, went back the next morning, and they were like, "Love it. Let's do it." And I'm like, "Uh, I make clothes for a living." Like, I don't- Yeah. I don't know how to make a damn chess set.

01:28:20:16 - 01:28:38:08
Scott Graham
So, but we figured it out. I was like, "Well, I've never done it." I think that people value that candor too. You know? Of like, I have this I'm not gonna represent that I'm an expert at you know, molded resin pieces and sandblasted glass boards and all. Like, I'm gonna figure all that out. Which we did, and it ended up being a really cool project.

01:28:38:13 - 01:28:46:12
Scott Graham
Um, but those are fun, man. We get, like, one or 2 of those a year where it's like we have no idea what we're doing. Correct. And we're just like, "Let's figure this out.

01:28:46:12 - 01:29:03:07
Brandon Adams
This will be fun." I wanna build stuff that is just completely one-off unique. I don't wanna grab stuff off the shelf. Nobody gets joy out of that, not in, not in my group anyways. Every time we wanna be able to find a way to beat the system of what's out there, we wanna find a way to challenge ourselves.

01:29:03:08 - 01:29:25:20
Brandon Adams
We wanna find out what tools are out there. We're all back and forth. Like, if something comes out, we have a, a, a chat on our Google where we all just kinda throw it in there of like, "Hey, did you see this?" Or, "Did you check this out?" Or whatever. "This thing's new," or whatever. And we're just sharing with each other all the time because we all get really excited about the, the groundbreaking thing or what's changing or what's new or how it can open up, you know?

01:29:25:20 - 01:29:36:07
Brandon Adams
And so really proud of this team, man. This team is, uh, we're at 7 people now, and so, uh- That's awesome it's growing. I mean, really, really happy about the brands that we have and what we're doing. And, um, now we're not for everybody. I'll, I'll say that.

01:29:36:07 - 01:29:39:00
Scott Graham
You don't wanna be for everybody dude. So- You know?

01:29:39:01 - 01:29:39:23
Brandon Adams
Like, yeah.

01:29:39:24 - 01:29:48:21
Scott Graham
I love that. I love that you're not for everybody. Um- If you're for everybody, you're for nobody. You know, unless you're a water brand. Everybody but me drinks water.

01:29:48:23 - 01:30:01:08
Brandon Adams
You know? No, water would be bad if we weren't gonna stay connected, for sure. Um, well, I mean, at, as well, like, with your company, next, what's for you? What, where are you going into? I mean, I've talked about mine and what we plan on doing and how we're growing, but- Um, you mean from, like, a product standpoint or from, like, a business model standpoint?

01:30:01:08 - 01:30:06:05
Scott Graham
But, you mean from, like, a product standpoint or from, like, a business model?

01:30:06:06 - 01:30:17:17
Brandon Adams
The whole scope. Like, I mean, when you started out, you started out, you know, "I just had this dream," and I started, like you said, race to the bottom. Yeah, I mean, it was- And then you flipped the script, and then it kind of exploded on you.

01:30:17:19 - 01:30:38:12
Scott Graham
Yeah, so Dad and I started the company in 2007, and our slogan I think I covered this last time, but touch on it. Our slogan was, "We put your logo on stuff." And it was, like, key chains and koozies and Gildan T-shirts and stress balls that you give away at a trade show, and USB drives. And I hated it, dude. Because everybody was selling the same stuff.

01:30:38:13 - 01:30:50:07
Scott Graham
2 cents cheaper. I can make that, I can make that lanyard for you for cheaper, right? Like, and what are you gonna sell on? You know? Like, I'm fun to hang out with. You know, like, you'll enjoy me being somebody who you work with.

01:30:50:11 - 01:30:51:09
Brandon Adams
Like- Do you know about the Black Pearl?

01:30:51:10 - 01:30:52:22
Scott Graham
Exactly.

01:30:52:23 - 01:30:53:05
Brandon Adams
Do you know about the Black Pearl?

01:30:53:05 - 01:31:17:12
Scott Graham
I got a story for you. Um, so what seemed like a curse at the time was the Great Recession 'cause it almost put us out of business. We, we were down to our last 5 grand. So, 'cause, you know, in a recession, people stop spending money on stuff. They're giving away. They're, you know. So it forced us to adjust. And I wanted to get into retail manufacturing, and Gold's Gym was the first brand.

01:31:17:12 - 01:31:29:18
Scott Graham
I met them at a trade show, and we, we kinda hit it off, the CEO and I and he gave me a shot. You know, I was a 25-year-old- cocky kid that was like, "Oh, I"

01:31:29:19 - 01:31:31:20
Brandon Adams
I remember I sent him an email. Did you say punk, though?

01:31:32:00 - 01:31:48:21
Scott Graham
We'll just clear that up. He actually sent me an email that says I wrote some email that was, I thought sounded cool, and it sounded real arrogant like, "I'm gonna crush this," something like that. And he wrote me back and was like, "Young and cocky, I remember those days." That was his only email. That was his only line in the email. Um, but he gave me a shot.

01:31:48:22 - 01:32:06:10
Scott Graham
We built the Gold's Gym program, which we still do a lot of production for Gold's today, and it blew up. Um, that got us into cut-and-sew apparel, cut-and-sew headwear, cut-and-sew bags, and really just opened up the world of what's possible if you stop selling on speed. Everybody was selling, "Oh, I can get it to you in 2 weeks."

01:32:06:11 - 01:32:25:16
Scott Graham
You know? And it's like, no. Why, why don't, instead of me getting you a piece of shit in 2 weeks, let me get you something badass in 4 months. Plan ahead. Let's order ahead of time. Let's make it factory direct. So that's when the company started to grow. Um, we started working in the gun industry in, like, 2015 and then had another growth surge.

01:32:25:16 - 01:32:46:13
Scott Graham
But the whole time, Dad and I have kinda had a plan of, like, let's grow this thing at a pace that is good, but not at the expense of our own sanity and family lives and, you know, all that. But, and then I'm gonna buy his portion out. So, uh, my wife and I are buying his portion out at the end of this year.

01:32:46:15 - 01:33:07:16
Scott Graham
Have you ever had anybody offer to invest money in this? How do you decide if you do or don't wanna do it? Because I've learned a lot over the past month, 'cause I've been having a lot of conversations with major customers that we produce with that are merch nerds. You know, a lot of the guys that we produce for, girls that we produce for, they're merch dorks and they just really love what we do, and it's fun.

01:33:07:16 - 01:33:21:08
Scott Graham
And you know, they've made a little bit of cash, and they're trying to find places to invest it. And, like I said, it's a, it's a big chunk of change to buy my dad out, and, um, you know, he's not terribly involved in the business anymore.

01:33:21:08 - 01:33:22:09
Brandon Adams
He's- I've got $2,000.

01:33:22:10 - 01:33:42:10
Scott Graham
You got 2? I'll give you 20% of the business. Um, he still functions as CFO, manages cash all that stuff. Um, but he works from home, you know, so he's But he's 70. And he's about to be 79 this year. You know, he's ready to retire. So, um, I can either s- take on debt and just take all the money out.

01:33:42:16 - 01:34:05:03
Scott Graham
I mean, the bank's willing to do it. Bank, we've been working with our bank for many, many years. And they, they, they're familiar with us, and they've seen us go to war, and they've seen us get through shit, and they, they, they're, they're there for it. So I can either take out debt from the bank, own 100% of the shares, or I can raise that capital through these customers that want in, that are cool people that I would like to work with.

01:34:05:05 - 01:34:23:07
Scott Graham
You know, maybe I'm giving up 25, 30% of the business, but I wonder, let's say in 2035, you know, we decide to sell the business. Which I don't know if I would or wouldn't wanna do that. It de- it depends, I guess it depends on where we're at in life and health and where the kids are and all that.

01:34:23:07 - 01:34:51:12
Scott Graham
But if, if you did, is, is 70% of the business with those people involved constantly 'Cause they know everybody, these customers. They know everybody in their industries, you know, and they're in different industries. And if they have a piece of the pie, they may be sending brands over, and we can grow a little bit more aggressively. So is 70% of the business with them involved gonna be worth more than 100% of the business without them involved?

01:34:51:12 - 01:35:08:20
Scott Graham
And I think it is. I really think. And if, guess what, if it's not, I'm not gonna be living under a bridge. You know, like, it's I just think it would be fun to bring some people on that love what we do. You know? Um, and then the silver lining, obviously, is I don't have to go quite as into the hole- I would just say-

01:35:09:00 - 01:35:15:19
Brandon Adams
from a debt standpoint for, for me, it's a little, like, how much influence are people gonna have, you know?

01:35:15:20 - 01:35:16:13
Scott Graham
Over the business.

01:35:16:13 - 01:35:17:23
Brandon Adams
Over the business? Over the business.

01:35:18:00 - 01:35:39:09
Scott Graham
Uh, that is a conversation I've had with all of them which is I need to be able to make decisions on the fly. I don't wanna give up control of the business. Um, will I hear their ideas and opinions and t- and give credence to all? But I need to be able to make hiring decisions, firing decisions, factory dec 01:35:39:09 - 01:36:02:06
Scott Graham
like, I wanna be able to make s- good decisions, bad decisions on the fly. That's how we built the business. Not every decision I've made has been great, but it's gotten us where we are. You know, the net-net has been positive. And, but that, dude, none, these guys all have their own businesses that they run. You know, that they're focused on. And they're not, they're not, they're not wanting to call me every month and be like, "Hey, let's get on a Zoom call to talk about the P&L."

01:36:02:07 - 01:36:11:19
Scott Graham
Like, they're, that's not they just wanna be involved and send their friends' brands over to make cool stuff, and then eventually we'll exit. You know?I think Yeah.

01:36:11:21 - 01:36:28:04
Brandon Adams
I mean, for me that's, that's kind of the thing and like how, how soon is too soon? You know, do you stretch yourself enough? Do you need that? Do you not need it? Like you said earlier, "I don't really need my phone to ring more." But now you're telling me that you could get more cool brands in.

01:36:28:10 - 01:36:38:24
Scott Graham
I think whether or not that is a good thing is gonna be a factor of how well do I hire over the next few. So like, a guy named Parker St-

01:36:39:00 - 01:36:40:09
Brandon Adams
Parker, Spider-Man.

01:36:40:11 - 01:36:41:18
Scott Graham
Sh- shout out Alyssa Soznicki.

01:36:41:19 - 01:36:42:14
Brandon Adams
Alyssa.

01:36:42:20 - 01:36:44:16
Scott Graham
Sh- uh, I mean, there's folks on my team.

01:36:44:16 - 01:36:44:24
Brandon Adams
Don't wanna.

01:36:44:24 - 01:36:47:02
Scott Graham
There's- You don't wanna talk about any of the others though, for sure Well, I do. I could name them all, but- We're not talking about you right now

01:36:47:02 - 01:36:48:01
Brandon Adams
But we're not talking about it.

01:36:48:02 - 01:36:50:01
Scott Graham
it's, feels weird saying names of people they don't know.

01:36:50:05 - 01:36:51:21
Brandon Adams
Um- Yeah, someone's getting left out

01:36:52:02 - 01:37:12:10
Scott Graham
it's allowed, like, h- some of these hires that I've made have allowed me to do the stuff I enjoy which is sit and bullshit in the conference room with brands about what would be cool to make. You know? Like yes, I const- I'm, I'm, I'm having to do the, the boring stuff also. Um, I'm having to activate that side of my brain, which may not be as enjoyable, but it's necessary.

01:37:12:14 - 01:37:31:09
Scott Graham
But I think if you hire the right people underneath you that are company people, not yes people, they'll tell me when I'm doing something stupid. But they're company people, you g- you make sure that they're properly incentivized to stay with the brand, grow with the brand. Like brand, it's not really a brand. Stay with the company, grow with the company.

01:37:31:11 - 01:37:55:02
Scott Graham
I'd rather make less money and be happier. You know? So, but that would f- that if, you know, if I can continue doing that, I, I had a conversation with them yesterday about bringing in additional support underneath them to help take some of the stuff off their plates that, that is, um, a- under their pay grade, you know? Uh, making costing spreadsheets and sending follow-up emails and all that sort of stuff.

01:37:55:02 - 01:38:04:02
Scott Graham
So, um, yeah, I mean, I'm, I'd love to grow the business. As, as, you know, as long as I'm hiring the right people to take some of the whack-a-mole off me.

01:38:04:03 - 01:38:10:08
Brandon Adams
You know? And I know you had talked earlier, did we talk about the last time about the way you hire people? The, uh, like the interview process 01:38:10:10 - 01:38:12:22
Scott Graham
or where I find people?

01:38:12:24 - 01:38:14:15
Brandon Adams
Uh, where you h- the interview process.

01:38:14:16 - 01:38:16:04
Scott Graham
I don't know if we did or not.

01:38:16:07 - 01:38:32:07
Brandon Adams
The interview process, uh, for you is very unique, and for me, like we try to ask questions, and I'm gonna let you get to yours. We try to ask questions that are, "What do you do for hobbies?" I try to get them quickly outside of work and, and say like, "What do you do? What's fun? What kind of music do you like?

01:38:32:08 - 01:38:46:06
Brandon Adams
Like, what are, what are you really excited about?" You know? And so, uh, "Do you like movies or whatever?" And I try to get them talking about themselves, and the more they start to open up, then I find out, you know, if they're passionate or if they're gonna be a fit for us or, you know conversation-wise, day-to-day. What do you do?

01:38:46:07 - 01:38:48:16
Brandon Adams
It's very unique.

01:38:48:18 - 01:38:55:23
Scott Graham
Um, our interview process is very unorthodox. Initially it's pretty standard. You know, we look at, you know, if it's design, we look at their portfolio.

01:38:55:24 - 01:38:57:12
Brandon Adams
We have- Do you wear a suit when they come in?

01:38:57:13 - 01:38:57:17
Scott Graham
Oh.

01:38:57:17 - 01:38:58:11
Brandon Adams
Hell no.

01:38:58:12 - 01:39:19:23
Scott Graham
Um, I don't know that I've worn a suit outside of a wedding or a funeral in 20 years. Um, I have this thing where, and it's gotten, I say worse 'cause I don't know if it's a net positive or negative, but I have this trait where as I g- and as I get older it gets more intense, where I don't-

01:39:19:24 - 01:39:36:07
Scott Graham
I don't want to see the fake version of anybody. I don't have any interest in it. I don't have any time for it. I want, with everybody that I meet, if I'm gonna spend time with someone, I wanna see the version of them that their high school friends know. Oh, yeah. I wanna see the version of them, I wanna see their sense of humor.

01:39:36:07 - 01:39:59:10
Scott Graham
I want them to be vulnerable. I want, you know, I don't want any f- so we try to tear that wall down in people, not just employees but customers. Like human connection as quickly as freaking possible. And then comes the shock value. Because at Pinpoint, you know, we don't, we have 46, 47 employees.

01:39:59:15 - 01:40:16:04
Scott Graham
Gosh, so good. We don't have an HR department. You know? So- You're it I had an interview with a candidate today where I told them, I was like, "I mean, it's me." Right? So, like you have to decide am I somebody that you can work with because I'm not for everybody. I'm pretty intense and I'm, you know, kind of brash at times. Mean. I'm not mean.

01:40:16:04 - 01:40:24:13
Scott Graham
You're very mean. I'm an asshole. But, you know, if I were to, if you were to come into work one day and I walk up and slap you on the butt, there's no HR department for you to go to.

01:40:24:13 - 01:40:25:08
Brandon Adams
You're going to me. Have you done that?

01:40:25:09 - 01:40:54:10
Scott Graham
No, not in, not in weeks. Um- our interview questions So once I decide, okay, this person has the skillset they seem cool they seem like they'd be fun to work with uh, we bring them in, and we ask them And when I say we, I mean, like, every chair in the conference room. I try to bring in, like, 10, 15 people that happen to have 10 extra minutes or can make 10 extra minutes to come in and help me in the, like, the gauntlet, which is what 01:40:54:16 - 01:41:12:05
Scott Graham
we call it. Like, it's the gauntlet part of the interview. And they don't know it's coming. And there's a person in every seat, designers, it doesn't matter who you are. Like, we're all part of the same machine, you know? And they go around popcorn and ask a seriously stupid question. Like, um- Give me an example

01:41:12:09 - 01:41:14:01
Brandon Adams
Give me an example.

01:41:14:03 - 01:41:27:16
Scott Graham
if you had to mo- If you had to move your asshole somewhere else on your body where would you move it and why? You know? And I don't care what they say. I just wanna see if they're like, "Ugh, excuse me?" You know? Like, or you can tell when people- Or if they laugh about it

01:41:27:16 - 01:41:28:10
Brandon Adams
People laugh about.

01:41:28:10 - 01:41:34:21
Scott Graham
or if they think it's funny and they come up with an answer. And everybody always says the bottom of their foot which is what everyone's thinking right now.

01:41:34:22 - 01:41:36:11
Brandon Adams
Uh- I was behind my right knee

01:41:36:16 - 01:41:41:10
Scott Graham
s- people have said behind the knee. I said on the hand, like, I don't It doesn't matter where you would move your asshole.

01:41:41:12 - 01:41:43:03
Brandon Adams
You think you could shoot that out like Spider-Man?

01:41:43:05 - 01:41:46:10
Scott Graham
I mean, if it'd been long enough. You know?

01:41:46:12 - 01:41:47:24
Brandon Adams
Um- What do you mean by that?

01:41:47:24 - 01:41:49:12
Scott Graham
What do you mean by that? Since your last BM.

01:41:49:13 - 01:41:50:04
Brandon Adams
Oh, okay.

01:41:50:05 - 01:42:12:08
Scott Graham
okay. Or HM. Um- Hand movement hand, yeah. Um, I don't care what they say, though. I just want to You know, so, um, it'll be like, if, you know, if there was a zombie apocalypse, and, you know, we were a s- a group of survivors, and you stumbled across us, and you wanted to join our group what would be the skill that you would bring to the table to let us, to get us to bring you into the fold instead of just killing you?

01:42:12:09 - 01:42:13:01
Scott Graham
Yeah. You know.

01:42:13:02 - 01:42:14:04
Brandon Adams
You know? And- What's the best answer been on that?

01:42:14:09 - 01:42:32:09
Scott Graham
Uh, somebody said that they would be the jester which was pretty funny. Um- That's nice one person talked about how good they are at cooking. Oh, all right. Um, a lot of it's like, "Tell me the most offensive joke you know." Which that one throws people for a loop because it's like they think it's a test. And it's like, "No, it's, this is not a test."

01:42:32:14 - 01:42:52:03
Scott Graham
I want you to make me comfortable that you're not gonna sue me for saying some stupid shit. And the way you're gonna make me comfortable is say some stupid shit to me right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know? Say a really offensive joke to me right now. So, um, I've, I've, we've had some zingers that I'm not gonna repeat that are people that are still at Pinpoint that can't believe that they got a job making that- After saying that

01:42:52:04 - 01:42:52:17
Scott Graham
Yeah, yeah.

01:42:52:22 - 01:42:57:13
Brandon Adams
yeah, yeah, yeah. But- Do you have any paperwork that you sign people up with that, "Please don't sue me for blah, blah, blah"?

01:42:57:15 - 01:43:20:20
Scott Graham
I mean, we have all the, we have all of, like, the same documentation that any other business would have as far as like, employment agreements, and, you know, if push comes to shove, termination agreements and releases and all. I, I mean I do, I do it correctly- minus everything I just said which is not correctly. Oh, okay. Um, but it, but it, but it keeps If somebody has accepted a job at Pinpoint, they know what they're signing up for.

01:43:20:22 - 01:43:34:07
Scott Graham
We're a bunch of creative hooligans that sit around coming up with cool ideas and make cool stuff, and we act like it's 1995. We talk like it's 1995. Um, and that's just, that's our culture 01:43:34:10 - 01:43:35:13
Brandon Adams
you know? Um- It's the year I graduated.

01:43:35:17 - 01:43:39:08
Scott Graham
Is it really? From, uh, kindergarten? High school. Oh, okay.

01:43:39:09 - 01:43:40:03
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

01:43:40:05 - 01:43:47:00
Scott Graham
I was- You know? I was high school '01. So you're 49?

01:43:47:02 - 01:43:49:15
Brandon Adams
Bicentennial baby. It's a big year for me.

01:43:49:17 - 01:43:52:11
Scott Graham
Yeah, dude. What do you think over the hill is?

01:43:52:15 - 01:44:11:21
Brandon Adams
You know, it's funny, that's changed over time. I don't I've never been scared of the next birthday. Uh, when I hit 30, I didn't think it was weird. I've, I've loved every decade that I've been in more than the previous decade that I didn't think it would be that. I thought it would be the opposite. My 40s have been my favorite time of my entire life.

01:44:11:23 - 01:44:14:05
Brandon Adams
Um, hoping the 50s just continues the trend.

01:44:14:06 - 01:44:16:00
Scott Graham
Yeah, dude. You know? I'm, I'm stoked for my 50s.

01:44:16:01 - 01:44:27:11
Brandon Adams
Yeah, man. Like, Look, I've worked for 29 years to get to this spot. Hopefully, I'm hockey sticking now as opposed to, like, on the treadmill. You know?

01:44:27:13 - 01:44:44:23
Scott Graham
I think, and this is coming from a guy who's still 7 years away from his 50s, but I would venture to bet that whether or not you enjoy your 50s is directly correlated to whether or not you made a good decision on who you married. Oh, yeah. Because that's when like, kids are gonna be out of the house and it's back to dating.

01:44:45:00 - 01:45:03:15
Scott Graham
You know? Um, you're just dating with a more comfortable lifestyle. You know? Um, and I'm excited for that, dude. Yeah, man. Like, I, I think that's g- I mean, I'm not in a rush to get my kids out of the house. I love having my kids in the house, but I'm not afraid of going back to just Brooke and I, you know?

01:45:03:21 - 01:45:17:03
Brandon Adams
No, me either. Uh, my wife works here. We hang out at the house together. We hang together on the weekends. We go to w- Like, I, she's my BF, man. Like, I I don't That's great. That's a I, I'll take that dub all day long.

01:45:17:03 - 01:45:20:18
Scott Graham
What do you wanna eat tonight? Where do you wanna go? Cool, great. What movie you wanna watch?

01:45:20:19 - 01:45:24:15
Brandon Adams
It's gonna be weird. And we don't have to do anything. We can just sit next to each other and just be calm.

01:45:24:16 - 01:45:27:08
Scott Graham
You know? It's like, it's great. What does that look like? You guys just kinda

01:45:27:10 - 01:45:31:01
Brandon Adams
We don't look directly in each other's eyes silently like a killer like that.

01:45:31:04 - 01:45:38:19
Scott Graham
Have you ever heard that- Like, what you just did theory of, like, to really get to know someone, you have to sit in silence for 5 minutes with continuous eye contact?

01:45:38:21 - 01:45:39:24
Brandon Adams
I think that's crazy.

01:45:39:24 - 01:45:40:24
Scott Graham
I think that's crazy.

01:45:41:04 - 01:45:52:18
Brandon Adams
Whoever said that is just a straight weirdo. I mean, I- Straight up weirdo I don't believe any of those nonsense things that people say. How about you get to know somebody by seeing their actions over time and how they handle stuff, and are they ever- And communicating with them and-

01:45:52:18 - 01:45:53:06
Scott Graham
With them?

01:45:53:09 - 01:45:59:16
Brandon Adams
I'll tell you a big thing for me is me and my wife never in public, we could be really upset with each other- You don't hit her in public, though.

01:45:59:18 - 01:46:01:05
Scott Graham
You don't hit her in public though.

01:46:01:06 - 01:46:04:07
Brandon Adams
Not in No, not in public. Uh, but we can walk out- Are domestic violence jokes acceptable again?

01:46:04:07 - 01:46:06:22
Scott Graham
Walk out domestic violence jokes. Acceptable. I didn't.

01:46:06:23 - 01:46:07:09
Brandon Adams
I didn't make.

01:46:07:09 - 01:46:08:21
Scott Graham
I didn't, I didn't make oneI didn't either Oh, okay, good.

01:46:08:22 - 01:46:17:23
Brandon Adams
Um, but we can walk out in public and you would not know. We'll turn that off and we know that we're with each other for the long haul.

01:46:18:00 - 01:46:18:06
Scott Graham
Yeah.

01:46:18:07 - 01:46:32:23
Brandon Adams
And we can put that conversation to the side for a couple hours. Go out and do that thing, and then come back to that conversation later. You know? It's, it's an easy thing to do, man. It's like I Look, I know, I know you probably didn't like the way I handled that, or I didn't like the way you handled that, or did whatever.

01:46:33:03 - 01:46:42:13
Brandon Adams
Let's We really have to go do this thing now. Let's, let's bench that. You know? Let's go handle this. And we're never gonna You'll never see us 2 in public where we're- At odds with each other

01:46:42:15 - 01:46:43:03
Scott Graham
At odds with.

01:46:43:03 - 01:46:45:08
Brandon Adams
at odds with each other.

01:46:45:10 - 01:47:09:07
Scott Graham
That's great. That's good, because that means that when you do get back into private, into privacy, you're also re-, uh, engaging in the conversation with less emotion. You know? What, what do you guys typically I- if you do have conflicts, what's it What are If you're comfortable sharing, what's it about? Uh- Petty things?

01:47:09:12 - 01:47:31:13
Brandon Adams
You know, honestly, man, we've been together for 29 years this year. Um, I know people are gonna think I'm lying when I say this, but we've probably been in 5 arguments in our career. And generally, it's me probably being a, a jerk. You know? Like, I get really driven on a lot of stuff, and it's really, like, people have to keep up.

01:47:31:15 - 01:47:35:22
Brandon Adams
And when I don't feel like someone's keeping up enough, then I'll- Be like, "Hey."

01:47:35:24 - 01:47:36:04
Scott Graham
Go.

01:47:36:04 - 01:47:58:15
Brandon Adams
"Hey." You know? "Speed up." And it's probably it's probably a little more It's like, well, you're my partner, not my, you know, do your part, you know, scenario. Like, I'm I just get a little cut and dry sometimes. Uh, so it's probably all me anyways. Like, she's, she's always easy to get along with. She's never I see all these videos all the time about people freaking out about the way their someone so did this, or I'm gonna teach them this, or I'm gonna act like this.

01:47:58:16 - 01:48:04:22
Brandon Adams
She ain't that way. She's low-key- Yeah, dude chill, my ride or die. She's easy to go. So- Yeah, yeah what about you guys? What do y'all fight about?

01:48:04:24 - 01:48:09:02
Scott Graham
Uh, we really don't argue much. Um, we more

01:48:09:04 - 01:48:31:12
Scott Graham
We've, we face some things together as a team. Like we're, um You know, Brooke stays home. She made that decision when we had kids. You know, she wanted to, to stay home with the kids and one thing I'm battling with my kids right now is that And I think there's probably a lot of m- stay-at-home moms or stay-at-home dads that can relate to this, which is, like, their kids don't really understand what they're freaking capable of.

01:48:31:13 - 01:48:48:24
Scott Graham
Like, what they sacrificed- Yeah, for them to be there. You know? So, like, I had that conversation with my daughters the other day. It's like, "You realize that if the roles were rever- if the, if, uh, if Brooke and I's roles were reversed, and she was running Pinpoint and I was staying home with the kids, Pinpoint would be a $100 million company- Yeah, yeah

01:48:49:00 - 01:48:53:14
Scott Graham
and I'd be shredded." I would be so jacked, dude. 'Cause that, that would be my- That would be your role

01:48:53:16 - 01:48:53:20
Brandon Adams
That.

01:48:53:20 - 01:49:01:22
Scott Graham
I mean, that's why she looks so much better than me. You know? Um, going back to the whole, like- We've talked about this making excuses and everything- Yeah, we're talking about it, yeah that's been doing again now.

01:49:01:24 - 01:49:02:15
Brandon Adams
Um- Falling on the sword, buddy

01:49:02:15 - 01:49:20:07
Scott Graham
but yeah, that's I am. It's tough, dude. Um, but yeah, so, like, that's a little frustrating, 'cause it's like, "No, dude, you don't get it." Like, your mom was, your mom was the best salesperson I've ever met in my life still to this day. Like, we She could just pick up the phone and be like, "Hi, I'm Brooke," and they would just 01:49:20:09 - 01:49:41:15
Scott Graham
start, be like, "Here, just take my money." Yeah, mm-hmm. She's Her energy is so positive and her accent, like, she's just, she's great. And she, um, but she stays home and the kids see her, you know, dropping them off at school. You know, she plays tennis. Um, and they're like, "What have you been doing all day?"

01:49:41:16 - 01:49:45:19
Scott Graham
And they're starting to do that. And it's like, "No, no, no, no." "You ain't gonna"

01:49:45:21 - 01:49:46:12
Brandon Adams
Yeah yeah.

01:49:46:15 - 01:50:15:14
Scott Graham
Yeah, exactly. Um, start showing them foster parent websites and stuff. Um, so that's something we battle together right now. But those are, those are 2, those are I think those are normal problems to be expected. I mean, like, we, we're both very fortunate to Like, we both really value communication big time. And I don't, I, I, I believe that outside of, like, terminal health problems or something, like, there's no real relationship problems that can't be addressed by just communicating.

01:50:15:15 - 01:50:20:05
Scott Graham
You know? I mean, there are mistakes you can make that are insurmount- insurmountable. Insurmountable, whatever the word is.

01:50:20:05 - 01:50:21:10
Brandon Adams
You can't spell that either way- Yeah, ex- ex-

01:50:21:13 - 01:50:23:18
Scott Graham
so just keep going. I can spell the last couple syllables.

01:50:23:19 - 01:50:24:03
Brandon Adams
Don't worry about it.

01:50:24:03 - 01:50:41:08
Scott Graham
Liar. Um, but communication's everything, and we try to teach that to our kids, too. You know, like, "If you're pissed off, sit down and tell me what's up." You know, "And let's figure it out." Um, so, but yeah, we don't Let's see, what do we

01:50:41:10 - 01:51:03:14
Scott Graham
I don't really think that we argue. I can't really think about the last thing we got in an argument about outside of, we've faced this parenting challenge, I think we need to zag. She thinks we need to zig on how we handle it, you know, and it's like, well, which, which one of us has the right approach to how to handle this parenting challenge?

01:51:03:16 - 01:51:24:01
Scott Graham
Um, we don't really I mean, we're, dude, we're, we're lucky to the degree that, like, we like the thermostat at the same temperature. Like, she- We, you know, we, we keep our house at, like, 65 degrees, dude. Us too. And can you imagine if you had one of those wives- I'm cold that was always cold? I'd be like, "Listen, like I know a good divorce attorney."

01:51:24:06 - 01:51:32:17
Scott Graham
Like, we're I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding. But, like you don't think about that kind of stuff. You know? How fortunate you are to have a spouse that likes the house at the same temperature as you, so I think- We pick the same t- we pick the same furniture together.

01:51:32:18 - 01:51:45:06
Brandon Adams
We pick the, uh, she The temperature's the same. We like the sa- Everything is, like, it's very I don't know if it's just 'cause we've been together for a long time but we go in and we choose the th- She even likes my artwork.

01:51:45:07 - 01:51:50:22
Scott Graham
You know? Well, of course she does. Your artwork's fricking phenomenal. Well, thank you. You'd have to be a blind person to not like your artwork.

01:51:51:01 - 01:52:04:05
Brandon Adams
Um- But she now puts that around the house, and I'm like, you know, had no art in my house whatsoever. Started and boom, got a museum at my house now. But it's like, it's funny because she's bought into all that stuff, and she's like, "Can you make me something for this or for this or whatever," right? So it's cool, man.

01:52:04:05 - 01:52:06:03
Brandon Adams
I, I really enjoy it. I think, uh- That's nice to have a wife that hangs your artwork in the house.

01:52:06:05 - 01:52:10:01
Scott Graham
That's nice to have a wife that hangs your artwork in the house. Yeah. For sure. Yeah.

01:52:10:03 - 01:52:15:09
Brandon Adams
So it's been cool. Well, I'll Let's close it. I mean, we're way long right now on this deal. Uh, that one went really fast, but- Yeah, it did

01:52:15:09 - 01:52:16:13
Scott Graham
But yeah, it did.

01:52:16:16 - 01:52:28:16
Brandon Adams
I'll say this: leave some- leave someone with some advice on, I'm getting started, advice you would wish you'd had when you were 25 years old.

01:52:28:18 - 01:52:36:05
Scott Graham
On, in business? Business. Success is going to be a combination of hard work and luck.

01:52:36:07 - 01:52:38:01
Brandon Adams
There's- How much of each? Uh, th- I think it just depends.

01:52:38:03 - 01:53:01:06
Scott Graham
But like, you know, to use me as an example, like, luck has to strike in order for you to capitalize on that luck with hard work. You know? F- like, using Gold's Gym, the first brand to ever give us the time of day, 2009. You know, like, I slept at the office probably 7 Yeah 8 nights.

01:53:01:09 - 01:53:05:20
Scott Graham
Not in a row, but, like, I was work- Um, Brooke almost broke up with me 'cause I was working so 01:53:05:21 - 01:53:06:22
Brandon Adams
freaking hard.

01:53:06:23 - 01:53:23:21
Scott Graham
That'd been a mistake. To b- yeah. I know, right? I mean Idiot. Um, C cup. But I was working so hard to build this program that I had no idea how to build. You know? This this goldsgear.com thing. But in order for me to have the opportunity to work that hard, he had to walk by my booth at a trade show.

01:53:23:22 - 01:53:29:21
Scott Graham
That's luck. You know, so, like, be aware enough to know Do I look in the camera for this?

01:53:29:22 - 01:53:30:23
Brandon Adams
I feel weird.

01:53:30:24 - 01:53:49:08
Scott Graham
Point to wherever you wanna go. Right there. Be aware enough to know when luck is striking, and have the discernment to know to jump on it. So, like, in movies, you know, like, one of the girls that I, that works for me, she's worked for me for 6 years. I met her at She was working at a Vineyard Vines clothing store, and we were just having a conversation, and I was in the market for an assistant at the time, and I gave her a business card, and I was like, "Hit me up."

01:53:49:08 - 01:54:02:19
Scott Graham
And she never did. So I went, I went in there, like, 2 weeks later, and I was like, "Hey, I never heard from you." Truth be told, now I know she thought I was full of shit and was like, "Yeah, okay.

01:54:02:21 - 01:54:24:13
Scott Graham
I'll hit you up, dude." But I told her, I said, "In movies, when there's a pivotal moment in the character's story that" Not that, not that, like, working for me is a pivotal moment, but, like, something that could change your trajectory or the character's trajectory. There's music that plays. The, the lighting changes. Bum, bum, bum, bum. Yeah, exactly. Like, there's cues to tell the audience, like, "Okay, I gotta pay attention.

01:54:24:13 - 01:54:43:02
Scott Graham
This is pivotal." That doesn't happen in real life. You have to pay attention to, "Holy crap, that's the president of Gold's Gym walking by." "Let me go stop him in the middle of a conversation with his VP and literally grab his arm and be like, 'Hey.'" You know? Like, that's luck. Freaking capitalize on it. And then be ready to work your ass off.

01:54:43:03 - 01:54:43:16
Scott Graham
Yeah.

01:54:43:18 - 01:54:46:09
Brandon Adams
And networking is everything.

01:54:46:10 - 01:54:47:06
Scott Graham
Yeah, it's all you know.

01:54:47:08 - 01:54:52:19
Brandon Adams
It is networking, networking, and you don't have to come into this thing knowing, but you have to go out and try to meet everybody.

01:54:52:20 - 01:54:53:09
Scott Graham
Yeah.

01:54:53:12 - 01:54:54:02
Brandon Adams
Period.

01:54:54:04 - 01:55:24:08
Scott Graham
Don't be afraid, and especially for the younger, the younger crowd, too, that had the misfortune of growing up with devices and being able to solve conflict via text and, you know, break up with their boyfriend on a text message, you know. Like that ain't how the real world works. Nope. You know, you have to be ready to have You have to be prepared to have uncomfortable conversations in person with other human beings. Um, or else you, you cannot be successful without communication skills. And you have to have the balls to just walk up to people and start a conversation.

01:55:24:13 - 01:55:39:03
Scott Graham
If you can walk up to a human being, call a human being on their cellphone, and just start a conversation and not sound like you're trying to sell them a vacuum cleaner, and just be like, "Hey, I know this is random, but I got your number from so-and-so. I just wanted to reach out and see if we can" Don't say Don't even say what I just said.

01:55:39:03 - 01:55:53:02
Scott Graham
Don't say, "Reach out." Don't say, "Touch base." Don't say, "Circle back." Don't say all the corporate lingo. Just have a- Grass roots conversation with them as if they're your friend's parent or- Hey, bud you know, and just be human. Be human, work hard, do what you say you're gonna do. Don't be a dick.

01:55:53:03 - 01:55:56:20
Brandon Adams
Here's a clip of me talking about the Black Pearl.

01:55:56:22 - 01:55:57:15
Scott Graham
Talk soon.

01:55:57:20 - 01:56:14:11
Brandon Adams
That's sick. Well, you guys know where you can find him, Pinpoint Merch.com. Uh, what's your OnlyFans? Uh, Pinpoint Merch. Pinpoint Merch on OnlyFans. Uh, you guys, make sure y'all check him out. This guy's the best. Thank y'all. Thank you for coming again, honestly. Like, really enjoy our conversations.

01:56:14:12 - 01:56:21:00
Scott Graham
Same here, dude. Thank you so much for having me. I know that it's a risk every time you put me in front of a microphone, so- appreciate you rolling the dice on me.

01:56:21:01 - 01:56:23:10
Brandon Adams
Well, it's worth a laugh either way.

01:56:23:10 - 01:56:24:00
Scott Graham
Thanks, dude.

01:56:24:01 - 01:56:27:09
Brandon Adams
Well, everybody, until next time, that's The Blueprint.