My Origin Story

What if you could transform a hobby into a thriving business during an economic downturn? This episode promises a fascinating journey through the world of career transitions and entrepreneurship. We start by exploring a compelling shift from YouTube to podcasting, driven by the challenges of unpaid work and the chance to dive into the unique niche of trade and barter. With deep roots in a family legacy of entrepreneurship in Michigan, we bring you insights on the evolution of traditional barter systems and the benefits of modern trade exchanges.

Throughout the episode, we weave personal tales of adaptability, like how a high-end DJI Maverick Enterprise drone bought for events found new life in gutter inspections during the 2020 lockdown. This led to ventures in growing microgreens and other entrepreneurial pursuits at farmer's markets. Our diverse career paths are further enriched by experiences in the military as a special ops mechanic and flight engineer, and a pursuit of education at institutions such as Embry-Riddle and Thomas Edison State College. The journey underscores a persistent quest to align passions, skills, and financial expectations.

Finally, we reflect on the unexpected success of selling microgreens and the impactful return to the Metro Trading Association as a sales manager. Drawing inspiration from trading posts of old, we introduce "The Trading Post" podcast, where the goal is to offer practical insights for business owners. This episode also explores the importance of face-to-face interactions in podcasting and the intriguing dynamics between recessions and trading, setting the stage for future conversations that promise to be just as enlightening.

“Whistles In The West” was written, recorded, and produced by Durracell, exclusively for use with Trader Stu’s platform, always rocking the cowboy hat. The track is protected under U.S. Copyright rights to use have been granted specifically to Trader Stu for content and promotional use related to his brand and media presence.

contact:
 📧 durracellmusic@gmail.com
🌐 www.durracell.com

Survive the Apocalypse in Get Prepped! Game | GET PREPPED!

The thoughts and views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and do not reflect the official policy or position of Metro Trading Association. Although the host is an employee of Metro Trading, this podcast is intended to educate entrepreneurs on the benefits of professional trading, regardless of their location. Additionally, the host reviews various pieces of camping gear due to the association of trade, barter, and prepping.

Chapters

• 0:00 Family Entrepreneurship and Career Transitions
• 14:39 Work, Entrepreneurship, Military, and Transition
• 27:40 Business Owner Podcast and Career Ventures
• 34:15 Podcast Interviews and Recessions

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Well, all right, this is episode now two. I had to do an about me page because the episode one that I did that's titled the Pitch, which I did for testing out to see if it was kind of worth to do a podcast or not. And I'll tell you why I felt that way. This podcast, because I have been into the YouTube game for a while and got out of it because I can no longer work for free. It's a lot of work up front that people just don't see, that doesn't pay off, or may never pay off, for that matter. So, and for me it never did, so I got canceled that channel. I had multiple channels, I'll get to that in a minute. But anyway, I did the podcast as the sales pitch so I could kind of keep track of the numbers. I could see how many I sent out, how many emails I sent out with that link, and then I could you know pretty much see how much downloads there were.

Speaker 1: 1:32

And uh, it kind of took off and I had been talking to people and they say you know, you really should just do a podcast about trade and barter because there's not a whole lot out there. So I looked around and, sure enough. I really can't find anything. When you look up trade, you see like trade exchanges, like a stocking or stocks, so and that's it the trade exchange for, like wall street, really don't see a whole lot about barter and professional trade exchanges, and the differences, of course, are barter is trading a good or exchange one for one. Which is the whole idea of trade exchanges on a professional level is that we take that one-on-one barter into a credit system and then that way it becomes like a currency that businesses can use within themselves. So you don't have to use. If you're a dentist, you don't have to, you know, get a pound of bacon for a teeth cleaning, like the old days, you know, or whatever. So the trade exchange is now what we do is we put that in a credit system. That way the dentist can, instead of having to get bacon every two weeks or whatever they can uh, you know use it for whatever they need in the business besides bacon.

Speaker 1: 3:02

At any rate, I initially did an about me page a couple weeks ago now and I just didn't like it and like the audio. It sounded like crap and I only had three downloads on it anyway, because I only had it up on there for about, I think, a day or two, and so I'm sacrificing the three downloads that I got for this better one and hopefully a lot longer, longer of an audio. That is longer of an audio. That is because when I was doing the uh, youtubing it's all about how fast and how efficient can I get it, because I was doing um, the, where you're demoing or showing a product and how to use it or how to fix something. I was the Snow X fix something. I was the voice of Snow X for a long time, so I would show how to fix an engine or how to repair a plow or a salt spreader and I would do all the editing and the videography and the setup and the script and post it and all that stuff Right. So that's, that was kind of my background and how I got involved professionally into doing it and I that was one of my jobs. It's not like I was just their YouTube guy. So anyway, I was trying to procrastinate this whole about me thing because I don't like talking about me that much, I guess, and I don't think that many people care. But according to podcasting, you're supposed to do it. So here we go. I might change it to like my qualifications or why you might want to listen, you know, like why I know or something like that. But anyway, let's get into it All right. So my background In the very beginning my family has always been in business and we owned the Sato Drugs in Frankenmuth, michigan.

Speaker 1: 4:56

If you've ever been there, sato Drugs is at the top of the hill. It's now gone. Rite Aid or CVS or something like that bought it and then built one down the road and then leveled Sato's into a parking lot for, I think, the Drury Inn, and now I think that Rite Aid is probably closing. I think they closed all the Rite Aids anyways in Michigan, so that didn't work out all that well for them, or maybe it did and it's part of the conspiracy, I don't know. But anyway, on election day here I'm not getting into conspiracies because I'm literally down in my basement recording this just to get away from the TV, because I am over the politics Anyway. So Birch Run Drugs that was the other one that we owned.

Speaker 1: 5:39

My grandpa and my uncle owned Birch Run Drugs and State Old Drugstore. My great grandpa owned a dentistry at the Old Pinocchio's If you know where the old blue Pinocchio's was in Frankamuth, that was my grandpa's dentistry and it is now the Herzog Hotel. A little history there. My family also owned JR Rickey Conn's. That was my uncle, my mom, my dad and another partner they had that was JR and it was a pizza place and donuts and bread. They then moved that and I used to work in there. That's kind of where I'm going with this.

Speaker 1: 6:12

So I used to do the donuts, right, make the donuts, and I was a little kid too, working with fryers and stuff like that. I don't know how well that would go along these days, but back in the day, you know in the 80s, it was a lot of a different time and kids were different. I guess back then and so I don't I guess I did do the deep fryer, but mostly it was glazing. It's not like they left me unattended at a deep fryer, nothing like that, but anyway. Then we moved that into the Main Street Tavern, which is still there in Frankamuth at the top of the hill, which was actually next to Sayo Drugs. So at Main Street Tavern I started off doing dishes and then I was also a bar back, so I'd help load up you know the bartenders with their beer and liquor or whatever, and I'd go run that for them and make sure they were well stocked. And then I moved to the uh pizza. I made pizzas at the conveyor belt oven and then moved up to a fryer and uh and burgers. By that time I think I was almost in high school anyway.

Speaker 1: 7:19

Then Harry's Bistro we bought the old blue dolphin and Frankenmuth turned that into Harry's Bistro and that was like a fine dining restaurant. Uh, we had I mean, we even had the uh, what do you call? Escargot there, and uh, twice baked potatoes. And we, I was there, uh, I don't think I ever bartended there, but I was the pantry chef and so I did all the fancy salads. That was the first time I saw basically like flowers in a salad and uh, desserts. I was in charge of desserts. Of course, I did the dishes and I was on the fry line and uh worked the late night shift. We'd close the main kitchen kitchen and just have the fryers and a grill set up just for like bar food. And then even my dad had a company in sterling heights. Not sure what he did down there. I was a little kid, but anyway. So we're a family of entrepreneurs, right. I've seen and heard and kind of done it all, so to speak.

Speaker 1: 8:15

And then, uh, I went to New York city to try and be a actor, model or whatever. And, uh, 18 years old, I went out there after high school and I almost sold cookies door to door. I don't know how that was going to work, but basically it was like a snowstorm and this guy called me up. He's like hey, you ready to go? I was like no, I'm not, I'm not going nowhere, dude, it's cold and windy and I can't see. And out my window, I'm not going to go sell cookies, bud. But it's like I quit that job before I even started. But what I did do was sell comedy tickets and spa tickets in Manhattan. That was crazy, dude. I never thought I'd be that guy.

Speaker 1: 10:47

But that was the guy in the corner selling you like a book of stamps or tickets, you know, at a discounted rate. And, uh, that was kind of fun. I think that's the first time I ever got anything stolen from me. Uh, to my face, I think a guy took a sheet of stamps and, uh, their tickets, whatever, and I went to go grab them from them and he's like I don't know what you're talking about. You got, uh, you got them in your pocket bud. And he's like, no, nope, don't, I have no idea what you're talking about. And I'm like, okay, well, I'm not going to get in a fight over 20 bucks, whatever. It was 40 bucks. So.

Speaker 1: 11:21

But, uh, the guy I was with that was teaching me how to do this I guess it was one of my first days or whatever. I guess it was, and maybe we were just out in a group, doesn't matter and he was like going to fight him over it. I was like he was packing a gun and everything Right. I'm like, dude, are you crazy? It not worth it. Don't shoot this dude over 20 bucks and I don't think I'm gonna have to pay it back. I can't remember how I even went down. You know I got back. I'm like yo, this guy just took um 40 bucks or whatever worth of stuff for me. I mean, again, I'm all over the place with money because it doesn't matter, so I don't know how much it costs. But uh, he's like, okay, but uh, yeah, then I, after that job, I went, uh, door to door combining gas and electric services for the people of.

Speaker 1: 12:05

I was everywhere, I was in all five boroughs. That was a cool job because I got to see basically all of New York City and the five boroughs, so all of Manhattan. I was in the Bronx, brooklyn, queens, staten Island. I did it all for that job. That was crazy. I've seen some less than favorable neighborhoods and I also lived in a lesson favorable neighborhood favorable favorable neighborhood. I was in Washington Heights, which I didn't know. I told people I lived in Washington Heights and they look at me like, are you crazy? I was like I didn't know. I told people I lived in Washington Heights and they look at me like, are you crazy? I was like I didn't know.

Speaker 1: 12:45

I won this trip, uh, going to a Chicago convention to be an actor, right, and you know they have all these supposed. You know what do you call them. The agencies were there looking for people and they were scouts. Anyway, I took this extra class there as an acting thing and uh, ron milkey actually is his name and he's still an actor and he was my acting coach and part of his thing was that you win. If he, I guess, liked you or whatever, thought you had potential, he would set you up in new york city and, uh, get you rolling right. So I won the deal, and then, so, after uh, I graduated, sure enough, he sat me up with a roommate and got me meetings with uh agencies and all that stuff, and, uh, I had a couple of agents right away. So it's not like it was a lie, it just, uh, was still a tough racket.

Speaker 1: 13:42

The cool thing is, though, is I worked for the late show with David Letterman, so that was back in the day when he had his, uh, quadruple bypass surgery and actually put me on a job for a little while because he had to recover, but I think the first show I was at that I, I, you know, I was a page, and I think, um, jim Carrey was there, and that's the whole reason why I was. I was into acting, was my infatuation and mimicking and what do you want to call it with, uh, jim Carrey. I used to do all of his, you know, especially Ace Ventura back in the day, and, uh, what was the other one? Dumb and Dumber. So I, uh was really into Jim Carrey, and that was cool that he was there. I don't think I met him, but, uh, but yeah, then I went into I don't know, I guess we're skipping ahead, but droneography and photography for events in 2020.

Speaker 1: 14:39

Uh, I did that and of course we all know what happened in 2020. So, no more gatherings. So the gosh, I think it was a $3,000 drone, $3,500. It was a DJI Maverick Enterprise and I bought the biggest, baddest one you could get at the time. And of course that was all for naught, except for it was kind of cool when we were all locked down in our apartments or homes, whatever. I was in an apartment at the time. I got to uh launch it and fly it around and look at all the non-cars on the road. It was like viewing a zombie apocalypse. So that was kind of cool to do that with a drone. And then we bought all the photography equipment, including the camera and the lights and the background. We're going to do weddings and whatever.

Speaker 1: 15:29

Did a couple of jobs, but mostly what I had to do was start a gutter cleaning business and try and recoup the loss. Cleaning business and try and recoup the loss. So what I would do with the drone? I'd do a uh gutter inspection and fly it along and see where the leaves are built up and then I would clean them with a sky vac, because I didn't want to get on roofs and I didn't have the insurance for roofs, so I just used the insurance from the uh, the from the drone, and just used a vacuum system to do the leaves. I did that for a summer, I guess, and it beat the hell out of me. To be honest, I have bad shoulders from the military and I just, even with carbon fiber poles, I thought I could deal with it. After a couple hours of jiggling the pipe at two stories up, it gets heavy and then, you know, you get a wet leaves in there and it pulls it down and it gets heavier and it's just, uh, rip my shoulders apart. So I had to quit that deal.

Speaker 1: 16:39

We started growing micro greens in our basement that was a big thing a couple of years ago, right, everyone's into micro greens. And so we did that, sold those at farmer's markets. Wife made bath bombs and lotion, homemade soap, and I don't really understand how people do it. After you pay the fee of $20 or $25 at a farmer's market per day and you're there from what? 8 until 2 or something like that. You're lucky if you break even at these. You really got to sell a lot of things. I don't know, let's see.

Speaker 1: 17:14

And then military, all right, so I was a special ops age mechanic. I was stationed at Herbert Field, florida, and I did a lot of cool things with the AC-130 gunships and the Pueblo helicopters for the special operations guys. We had the pararescue guys that were on our base Did some voluntold I was voluntold to be the base honor guard Well, one of them. So I was the NCOIC of the base honor guard and did all the funerals. For a while I was a flight engineer on the KC-10s. That was an awesome job, of course, and then I was a command post controller. After that, when I was in the Air National Guard, uh, deployed to Kuwait shock and awe, two or three deployments to Altafra, even got some of that burn pit exposure and got injured. And uh, it got to the point where it's hard to even just get up and down the air stairs to the jet. So I got out and uh, but yeah, I had a good time. I flew around the world. I did end up getting an associate's degree in aviation operations from Emory Riddle Emory Riddle uh aeronautical university, uh, and also minored and took classes for psychology at the Okaloosa Walton college I guess that's the West Florida something like that, and now they changed the name and then I went to school for a little bit for small business entrepreneurship at Thomas Edison State College. So I got a well-rounded education.

Speaker 1: 18:49

Trying to figure out what the heck I'm going to do with all of these credits from all of these tech schools I took for the military. I even went to Baker College in Flint, michigan, for a while. I was going to be a orthotics and prosthetics technician and then I learned how much these guys make. They make like no money, right? So I actually went to a prosthetics place and I asked the guy in the back you know, that does the tech and I was like, hey man, what do you make here? Man, just be honest, I can't remember what he said. I think it was like, uh, 16 bucks an hour or something like that. This is back in 2009. And I'm like what? That's not even you know. 15 bucks an hour is like 30 grand a year. It was something stupid like that, maybe 40. And I'm like I'm gonna get an $80,000 loan from Baker to make 40. That doesn't make any sense.

Speaker 1: 19:45

So I dropped out of Baker of that program and uh, yeah, no, I. That's when I figured out schools. And for me, um, I mean I got an associate's degree, but only because of all the credits I got from being in the military. I really I belong in an air traffic control tower, but I'm definitely not doing that because that's a stressful career.

Speaker 1: 20:05

But at any rate, I got into video editing back in I think it was 2002-ish. I started dabbling with that back with the Pinnacle software and FX. I did my aunt's wedding and edited that not as like professional, professional, just as a hobby, and my grandma grandpa's uh 50th anniversary, I think it was. I did that and uh made a slideshow with the music and all the fancy transitions and all that stuff right, playing with it and then uh, anyway, after that I got into the small business division for ADT Security 2009 and 2013. And that was again. I learned a lot there and I got to travel a lot of Michigan, so I went all the way up to Clare and Cairo and all of that. I did all of the thumb at the Port Huron and no regrets there. I made good money. I did grew the small business division.

Speaker 1: 21:03

This is back, of course, in, like what I say 2009, yeah, so this is back in flint, when they were stealing all the copper off of the uh air conditioners, the power would go out and they would steal the power lines that went from the street to the buildings. So, anyway, after that I was getting burned out because I was starting to do so much. What happened was I grew it so well well that it was hard to do back in the day and nobody was able to stay in small business for more than a couple of months with ADT. So what they did was kept putting more reps in my area and making me work. After a while, probably three or four times, it's hard to make half the money. So I kept making all of the bonuses and you're not really supposed to make the bonus like I was making bonuses. It was supposed to be a carrot and maybe you got it, I guess, a couple of times a year, but I was getting them every month and they didn't like that. They were paying me too much. So they're like well, stu's doing well here, doing well here, here's another rep that can handle the area. And uh, yeah, I got tired of it.

Speaker 1: 22:09

So I met Mike at uh, the owner of Metro trading, uh, at a chamber event in Flint, and uh, he said he was looking for a rep to grow the Genesee County area and I said, hey, I would like to talk to you. So after the meeting, we went across the street, had a coffee and that was that. He gave me me the pitch and I was like, man, I like this. This is cool. I know all the business owners up here and, uh, I, I believe in it, so I'm gonna quit ADT. I'm working for you. So that's what happened. I guess that was, let's see, I was back in 2013. I was there for a couple of years in 2015 and I'm being a sales manager and had five reps.

Speaker 1: 22:48

And then, uh, I started going through a divorce and didn't want to deal with sales anymore, cause you're always kind of on. And I got headhunted by Douglas dynamics and they headhunted me on the internet and I said, hey, we will offer you. I forgot what it was much money. It was basically double my salary and I don't got to make phone calls anymore. They called me because they people need me to fix their stuff. I was like perfect, so I did that, went there, I did all the training videos for the company, the script, the camera, voiceover, like I said, editing using camtasia, which is actually what I'm using right now.

Speaker 1: 23:20

So it's actually overkill for a podcast because it's a video editor, but it's what I know. I got literally days worth of hours on Camtasia over the course of the last decade, you know, and so why change? I tried using GarageBand but I didn't. I didn't like it and anyway I end up traveling the country with them and taught schools on how to work on plows and spreaders. So I got tons of public speaking experience and PowerPoint. I'm pretty good with PowerPoint. Now the whole thing was the troubleshoot problems over the phone and I fixed things in the shop which you know, in the garage, whatever Installed snow plows and salt spreaders and I administered the warranty program. So if some motor came in or whatever, come in and troubleshoot it if you could, and pay out a warranty for it. That's how I did that too.

Speaker 1: 24:17

So this is back in the early days. I was 2015 and I tried doing video reviews back then and I was newly single and I was like, cool, I'll get into YouTubing as a side, come income money and do that. I had this old computer I got from when I was in Baker College. I had to go and get a laptop and it was an old VAIO and I went to a pawn shop to get this thing and what they were doing up there in Flint at the time. They were getting enrolled in school and then you get all this government programs or grants or, I guess, loans or whatever, and these kids were getting all of this gear, including laptops, and then they'd turn around and go sell it to the pawn shop down the road. So I bought a brand new laptop, unopened in the box, from Baker college through a pawn shop, essentially because that's what they were doing back then to get money. So I got an uh what I thought at the time was a nice bio computer and, uh, anyway, I tried editing with it and running Camtasia and this sucker kept overheating and, uh, I had to put it in the fridge while it rendered video, cause otherwise it would overheat so hot that it would shut itself down. So I put in the freezer or the fridge while it did its thing and tried doing a YouTube channel like that. Well, it didn't last very long, it was exhausting and it took forever to render a video. I upgraded and I got a Mac uh, mac Pro, macbook Pro or whatever and that was also working hard too to run these editing things.

Speaker 1: 25:50

Back in the days I tried doing a program called Adventures in Detroit or Stew in the D, I think it was called, and it was me. Just, everyone was like, oh man, you guys always do some cool stuff. You should, you know, vlog it essentially, and you'll get money from doing things and you're going to tax write off to do the things that you do. Anyway, you might as well put it on social media. All right, we'll try it.

Speaker 1: 26:15

Well, that was exhausting too, because now it ruins your fun. You're having to worry about camera angles and getting the best shots and recording it and then uploading it, and you know the lighting. I just didn't like it. So I was like this is stupid. I just want to enjoy what I'm doing and not to worry about vlogging it. That was dumb.

Speaker 1: 26:36

So then I was like, well, we have a house, I'm really into homesteading, my wife and I are in homesteading and you know growing rabbits and gardening and prepping kind of thing and uh, uh, disaster prepping or whatever, right. So I was like, well, I'll do a thing called vetstead, where I'm a veteran. We have a homestead and we'll talk about how we raise rabbits and, you know, preserve food or whatever. Man, that was exhausting too. You know, again, you're worried about the camera, angles, the lighting, you're trying to get something done and then here you are wasting hours trying to get it done with a camera and I was like man, this is a waste. So I quit doing that and then kind of tried doing a cooking channel. That lasted a couple of episodes, quit doing that. Then I was doing the sauna studio, which is where I am right now, and it was supposed to be like a I don't know like a vlog, but you know these talking heads there in this room and they just talk to a camera and they about whatever subject. I was going to do that and I did a couple episodes of that and nothing really ever took off.

Speaker 1: 27:40

So I tried an experiment once and this is what really made me get out of the game. There was a theory that the dumber the video, the more the clicks. I was like I lost my job, right, my, my full-time job at Douglas dynamics. They got, I got laid off and uh, I'm like, okay, I'll try, I got time, right, I'm hanging out, I got a new baby, he's sleeping, perfect. So I did a, did a uh, uh cold plunge and, uh, made it dumb and I won't get into it because it doesn't matter. But basically I got like 600 views within gosh. It was 45 minutes. It went crazy. It was like a viral video and I got nervous and stopped it and shut it down because it was super embarrassing and uh, I was like, man, this is, this is dumb, I'm not doing this no more.

Speaker 1: 28:31

I try and do educational videos and instructional videos and, uh, you know, you get 10 views on it and then you do something stupid and you get you're gonna get thousands and thousands of views for doing nothing at all, and I'm I'm not, I'm not part of that game. I'm not doing it. So what I am doing is I uh just killed all the channels like or not all the channels, but all the videos that I had. I just uh deleted the channel. I got tired of it. I figured I need a fresh start. It's kind of hard to do because I don't know if I should save the videos and stuff like that, but that was like, screw it, whatever, I'm done with it.

Speaker 1: 29:04

And I actually had one guy get upset with me because I did a uh program for him where we did like a music video and I gave him the thumb drive and he's already asked for the videos a couple of times, so I assumed he would just download them. We kept asking me for these videos, the to send them, and uh, I said I don't have them no more, the channel's gone to send him. And uh, I said I don't have him, no more, the channel's gone. So that was the only one. That's the only. I guess you know blowback I had. But he ended up finding his thumb drive and all is good now. It doesn't matter, so he's not that mad at me anymore. But but uh, yeah.

Speaker 1: 29:36

Then I tried doing uh, toppums t-o-p-e-m-s that was, um, the selling micro microgreens for Metro Trading Association. We had a booth there, had to tuck my wife into doing it because she was still uneasy or didn't know about the whole thing with trade. We made more money there in one night at their trade show than we did all summer at the farmer's markets. What else did we get going here? Oh yeah.

Speaker 1: 30:11

So I told you I got laid off in January. My baby was six months old, ended up being okay. I got a good severance package, they took care of me and there was like 45 of us I think it was, I heard I overheard. Anyways, they got laid off my plant that day. It was like a huge sweep and nobody heard about it. Of course, in Metro Detroit didn't make the news and you got to wonder how often are these layoffs like this going on, where dozens or hundreds of people are getting laid off? It doesn't make the news. I know the Pepsi one in Chicago. Just that was a layoff of, I think, 79 people and, uh, that made the news, but anyway.

Speaker 1: 30:47

So after getting to hang out with my new baby, I took a couple months off, you know, and started looking for a job again. I think it was May or June of this year, 24. Anyway, so I was like kind of getting asked by the owner of Metro Trading again, or Lois, and she was like, hey, you want to come back for us and kind of moonlight, work nights and weekends and, you know, sell for us again and sign up members. I I was like nah at the time. I, you know, I had the side business going with Topham's doing the microgreens. I had a full-time job. My wife was pregnant back then at the time and I was just like no, I'm, I don't really need the money and thank you. But no, thank you, I'll keep you in mind, though. End of June I was like, hey, yeah, so I, you guys still like to bring me back on and like, oh yeah, that'd be great, perfect. So I kind of hit the ground running in July 1st again and, uh, so yeah, sales manager at Metro trading association again. Uh, so that was eight and a half years ago, is what we figured out, and it feels like I never even left. It's really weird.

Speaker 1: 31:58

I've always wanted to do a podcast that's geared towards business owners, just because I have so much experience with B2B sales. Podcasts are great for busy people and you kind of take out a lot of the fluff, I guess, and I don't like the big long intros and let's just get down to business and talk about it. You can listen on the go while you're getting the kids from school or going to work, coming from work or whatever, right, so I like that as well. Why did I make a podcast called the Trading Post? Well, the logo of MTA literally has a skyline in the background of an old school trading post in the front. I thought that was really cool, so I'm kind of rolling with it.

Speaker 1: 32:45

A trading post is an old fashioned market or a store in a remote place in the 18th and 19th century of North America. The trading posts were where people exchanged goods and learned the latest news. So I like that. I'm going to keep rolling with that whole trading post concept where we can exchange maybe not goods necessarily, but definitely news. So, as of right now, I'm literally in my old sauna that came with the house in the basement that we don't have time to use no more because we have two kids, so I'm starting to soundproof it because the kids running around and yelling. I can come in here before everyone wakes up, hopefully, and uh, redo a recording. That's the whole idea of it anyways.

Speaker 1: 33:21

And like I said earlier, I'd like to go on the road with it and go interview my members while I'm out doing member calls and, uh, I could go up to their location. They could walk me around and tell me about how they use trade and how it's benefited them and things of that nature. Eventually I'll get maybe a Class C with a garage in it and convert it into a sound studio. That's the whole idea. Or Super C with a trailer That'd be cool too and use that as a sound studio in the trailer and just go around and maybe venture out past my direct members in the area eventually, and just do anybody that is in trade. They are everywhere. So I got cool trade companies that I talked to in Colorado and I'll be perfectly OK with going out to Colorado for a little while and doing podcast interviews.

Speaker 1: 34:15

Uh, podcast interviews and why? Why go out there instead of a phone call or a zoom business, from what I'm noticing, is starting to go back to more of a personal approach. People are kind of getting over this whole zoom thing, from what I'm kind of noticing. I don't know, I guess it depends on that generation, but uh, I like doing the in-person personal thing and, uh, walking around the business and seeing the behind the scenes. Like the Detroit Pistons were a member for a while and I got to go up in the palace Auburn Hills and go in all the back tunnels areas and all the back offices and see all the cool stuff that nobody gets to see and that's it.

Speaker 1: 34:49

Um, basically, that's in a nutshell. It's enough talking about me. The next one since we're kind of in a recession and everyone's talking about recession, I'd like to talk about that next time I do a podcast for you guys and talk about why recessions and trading go hand in hand. I guess you could say Trading associations. The membership goes up a lot during the recessions because of the extra spending and trading power. So here's the low costs, high profits. Make them come back and keep it in the black. Now that we're through, this was Stu, take care, bye-bye.