FTV: Creating a Strategic Marketing Plan for Your Business, with Brand Expert DruStew

Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details of what actually works from mainstream fashion to fashion on Main street and the entire ecosystem behind it. How do we scale your company and do it with the balance and the happiness that we all seek? Let's hear from those insiders, experts and strategists that actually make it happen. I'm your host Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub and I can't wait to chat. Hey Boutique Chat listeners. Thanks so much for tuning in this week and honestly for joining us each week since we've launched. I have been so humbled to hear your guys feedback and reviews since listening to the show each week. Thank you for sending those my way. And more than anything I'd love to just keep that conversation going. So keep those screenshots and those posts happening over on Instagram. Send send me a message Jalderson or boutiquehubbusiness on Instagram. Send me a screenshot of what you're doing while you listen to the show, what questions you have for our guests on the show and who else you would love to hear. And I'm happy to respond and get back to you or get your questions answered while on the show this week. I am so pumped to have this conversation because we're going to be talking to one of my favorite guys in the marketing space, one who was a keynote speaker at the 2018 Western Summit, which is an industry conference we hosted for both Western retailers and brands this January at the WESA Market in Denver. And as I think about this guest and really the overall mission of this podcast, I want to make sure that we're always doing our best to cover topics in areas of this industry that are important to all of us. Not only boutique owners, but also makers and designers who are looking to scale those of you who have started wholesale brands, our wholesale brands and reps, as well as those in this industry who help tie it all together and make it happen. And as I think about the Western Summit, I think that we did a good job pulling a lot of those different pieces together. And part of that was a special thanks to our guest who's going to be on the show today. Western is my background and it's a big reason why I fell in love with boutiques and retail in the first place. So getting to talk about not only retail industry, but also marketing strategy and rodeo all in the same conversation does have me pretty excited for today's show. I think we're going to have a.

Lot of fun along the way.

I can't Wait to introduce you. Drew Stewart is the founder of marketing agency Drew Stu, which is a one stop shop for many of the western industry's largest brands. From Pro equine group, Cactus Ropes, Resist all, and so many more. Drew works with companies to not only develop strategic marketing plans, but also run advertising campaigns, media buys, ad development, and digital assets. It keeps him and his team quite busy. Besides having a keen eye and a real breath of fresh air approach and vision for this industry, Drew is also a team roper and a rodeo announcer. And as we joke about, he may be one of the few cowboys that we know who actually goes to the rodeo with a guaranteed paycheck every time. Kudos. So this week, Drew and I are going to talk about what it really means to fail and why that might be the best thing that's ever happened to you. We're also going to cover why mentors are so critical to your growth and how you can find them. And we're going to dare to answer that elephant in the room question. Is print media dead? But hands down, perhaps one of the biggest nuggets that you're going to want to hear this week is how Drew is a dad to twins and how he views his role as a father and, and how that relates to work life balance.

It's a really good one.

Guys, thanks so much for listening to Boutique Chat. And let's get started. Let's meet our friend, Drew Stu. Hey, guys.

Welcome back to the podcast. I am so excited to bring you a real special treat this week because we've got a guru on the show and he's gonna love being called a guru. But the truth is, this is my friend who I've been so fortunate to get to spend some time and really get to know, someone who I admire and look up to so much because I think he is a big vision thinker in this industry and he's here at a time when we need someone like him the most. So please help me welcome, let's call him the guru of brand strategy, strategic marketing and messaging, a team roper announcer and a dad of twins. Drew Stu, welcome to the show.

Oh, well, thanks for having me. A guru. I think you kind of overdid it right there for sure. Now there's all these high expectations I'm going to have to deliver.

I like it. Guru pickup, right? So you have such a unique story and kind of a unique where you've come from, how you've built this brand of Drew stew and dabble in so many different things. I'm excited to dive into the details of that. But tell us kind of how you got started before Drew Stu was a thing.

Okay, I guess. I'm a rodeo kid. I'm a ranch kid from Montana. My dad owns an excavation business. My grandfather on my mom's side ran a bunch of cows. So we, you know, we just grew up working. Working in the hay fields and raising cattle. Had about 500 mama cows and a bunch of sheep and a bunch of hay ground and all that. And started roping early, you know, like a lot of us do. Started taking my team roping serious when I was about 13 and went through the high school rodeo deal, college rodeo deal, and thought I wanted to be a professional team roper. So ended up moving to Texas. I didn't finish college. I don't know if I'm supposed to tell anybody that, but I didn't. I ended up getting a job, moving to Las Vegas first, actually, and worked for the world's largest auction company as their youngest auctioneer. And then decided, I want to go back at rodeo. So ended up in Texas, lived at Alan Bock's place, and really worked on Heland steers. And about in my mid-20s, I decided that I wanted to do something more. I had always announced to Flint Rasmussen's my cousin, and him and Will, his brother Will's a great announcement, and their dad Stan, is an announcer. And so I had tripped and fallen into that announcing gig kind of through high school and stuff. Actually, we had a family reunion, and Flint's dad called me and he's like, hey, are you going to go to the family reunion this weekend? And I said, yeah. He said, no, you're not. You're going to go to White Sulphur Springs, Montana, and announce the rodeo for me. And I was like, okay. So I think I was 16 when that happened. So that's kind of 16 or 17. And that's kind of where the announcing went. And I'd go to team ropings. I'd announce just to make some extra money because as a team roper, you're always broke. So I'd rope, and then I'd finish the weekend off announcing and worlds.

Because you go to an event and it's guaranteed paycheck every time, you can't be bad as rodeo.

Absolutely. It was the sweetest deal ever. So. But like I said about my mid-20s, I realized that I was going to be broke forever and was tired of entering on money that I didn't have. Just praying I was going to win something and kind of fell into the marketing gig in 2007 I was hired by Helamatic and Hematic Training Systems makes practice dummies. And it was awesome because I was in the team roping world selling practice dummies to team Ropers. So it was the easiest thing in the world. Got it. Fell into the marketing side there. I don't even remember how that happened, but fell in under Terry Edwards and Chris Cooper. These are people that are marketing people in the western industry and they really helped me out, taught me Photoshop. Just kind of got into the deal and then I went to a strategic planning meeting with. I can't remember this guy's name but he was like 109 years old and everybody would fall asleep. The entire pro equine group would go to these strategic planning meetings and this guy was so lame and so boring and would talk about SWOT analysis and we'll talk about visions and missions and goals and blah blah blah. And I just loved it. And it was so boring but I loved it. And so I started reading books about it and like Michael Porter books back in the day, strategic planning books and just kind of learned a lot about the strategic planning process and that's kind of how it all started I guess.

So what was it that made it so exciting? Was it just like seeing that plan on paper and catching a vision that no one else could see or what turned the switch for you?

I think the, I don't know, this is going to sound really dorky but the thought experiment side of it. So when I say thought experiment I mean like being able to sit down and from a 30,000 foot view look at your company today or look at what you're doing today and then go through the process of where you're going to be in a year, where you're going to be two years, where you're going to be three years, five years on down the road and like go through that process and then you even get on down to like the micros of the deal. You got your micros and macros of everything that you do and you dive down into it and you say okay, here's the deal. How is my inventory and shipping and production and manufacturing and marketing and the sales team. How's everything connected to get us to that five year plan or one or three or five or ten year plan and it just, I just love that. I love being able to sit down and just think through that entire process. And so I think that's probably what intrigued me the most because it's, it's tough. Running a business. Running a, running a business is easy. Running a profitable business is not. So as you and I were kind of talking before we jumped on air, it's tough. And I think that is what really, really got. I'm a very competitive guy and I think that's what it is, is like, we're gonna figure this out. We're gonna figure it out on the day to day and then we're gonna figure it out for the future too.

Absolutely. So that's something today that you deliver to many of your clients as well. Right? Today you've built this brand justu. You've taken on a number of clients that are in the western industry. Talk about some of those clients and the services that you offer them and how you kind of tie that strategic marketing back into it.

Okay. So I'm very fortunate with, with the, the Pro Equine Group is the group. They're my main client and they're the client that I've been with basically for the last 10 years. The Pro Equine Group is Cactus Ropes, Cactus Salary, Cactus Gear, Fastback Ropes and Elimatic. And then the same gentleman owns Resist all or Hatco, that's Charlie One Horse Resist All. They make all the Stats and hats as well. And I know I was the VP of marketing for that group and then I stepped out and did my own deal here a little over a year ago and got to retain them as a client, which was just like the perfect storm. It was beautiful and I appreciate them for allowing that to happen. And anyway, so what we do is the strategic planning for them is where it all starts. You know, what's our plan, guys? What is our brand identity? What new products are we going to bring to the marketplace? When are we going to launch products? Right now, today. We're in the middle of product launches for two of the companies. And so we offer everything from the strategy, the graphic design. We build all the, all the catalogs, we build all the pages for nrs, South Texas Tech. We do all the ad buys, Team Rope and Journal, you know, all the different magazines that we're in. So we, we pretty much handle everything from A to Z with those clients. Pro Equine being a big one. Luberson is a brand new one. We've been friends with the Luberson guys forever, but we're just, we're doing some video work for them. I'm actually sitting here staring at Premiere on my computer screen. It's right behind the screen that you and I have up and I'm working on some resist all commercials right now that I need to get banged out for the American. And then we're starting to do some work with the World Series of team roping, the USRC too. So one big event that we have is the Bob Vice Invitational. It's a four day, it's the biggest open team roping, but it's more like an event. It's in June and we do everything for them. The website, logo design, all of that stuff from the banners to back numbers. So kind of the whole gamut of marketing, I guess. Marketing is a very big word.

I like it. One stop shop and you're still tying together the best of both worlds, team roping and marketing all in one spot. I have this nephew and when he was like 6 years old, our whole family rodeos as well as, you know. And I'll never forget my sister asking him, she's like, you know, are you gonna ride bareback hors like your dad? And he's like, no, I'm going to go to the rodeos and I'm going to sell popcorn and beer because then I have a guaranteed paycheck every time.

Yep, Drew, that's it. That's it. That's perfect.

So you and I recently got to spend some time together. We put on the first ever Western Summit together with Western lifestyle retailer which was held in Denver during the Western Market in January. And you were one of our featured speakers and panelists during that event. And, and you were kind of a big deal. You were a hot commodity. You had Dale Brisby shout outs during that event and a lot of great feedback. And from that event there was a lot of conversation about the future of this industry, the future of marketing, the future of Western and these brands and retailers. As you look back to that time, what were some of the takeaways that you had and where you see this industry kind of going as we enter this new time?

Well, I was scared to death first of all because that, that's a lot of ladies to try to impress all at one time for sure. You know, but it was, it was super fun. First of all, thank you for having me at that deal. It was, it was really, really fun. I talked to Dale Brisby after the fact and you know, being on a stage with guys like him and Keith Mundy. Keith Mundy is like, Keith has helped me. He's, he's on my short list of people to call when I am stuck on something. And that guy is a genius. What he did over at Cinch and what he's doing now at American. And I know they're competitors with Resist all and Resist all is my home, but he's a phenomenal marketing guy, phenomenal business guy, and Dale's just unreal with what he's done. But, you know, I think it is very first of all, I've always wanted to do what you did, and I was, like, kind of jealous that you did it first, to be honest. So my hat's off to you, Mary Jane Carpenter, who's doing all the heavy lifting at Resist all on the marketing side. Her and I have talked about it for the last three years. We're like, we need to do a Western summit. And then you did it. So hats off to you. That's very, very cool. Very cool, man. I thought it was a great event having everybody there and from not only the boutique side, but the brand side and listening to everybody's stories. And, you know, the thing that gets me the most is we all have virtually the same. I don't want to call them problems. We have the same obstacles and walking around there and talking to everybody from the brand side of it or the boutique side of it, hey, I've got a store in North Dakota. Hey, I've got a store down here. This is what I'm doing. Everything. We're all dealing with the same exact problems. It's just trying to find the solutions that match whatever our little niche is, you know, and it's just very interesting.

You know, what do you think some of those main problems or obstacles, what do you think they are for both brands and retailers right now?

I think the biggest thing right now is finding your differentiation in the marketplace. You know, we. I mean, I don't want to be this blunt, but we're. I just got done saying we're all doing the same thing. Well, we are all doing the same thing. We're all selling the same apparel. We're all selling the same boots. We're all selling the same ropes. We're all, you know, cowboy hats. We're all doing the same exact thing, Right? And so getting down into what. What makes you different, like, what. What are you basing your business on that is going to make you more desirable to those customers? I mean, that is the bottom line. You and I can talk about all this marketing stuff and all the frill and all this and that. The bottom line at the end of the day is we got to sell product. Like, we've got to move product, and if we don't move product, we don't have a job and our business goes under. So those are the things that, you know, that's the biggest obstacle that we all have is how do we move more product. And I think really finding your niche and using, I think I talked in Denver a lot about making it personal. You've got to be yourself. Your brand is going to take on the identity that is you. And don't try to mimic anybody else. I mean, you can use best business practices for sure, but man, make it look and feel and act like you be the hero of your story. And that is the one thing that I think people miss. I think we get kind of looking at what the other guy is doing all the time. If the other guy is being really successful. Yeah, look at it for sure, but don't mimic it. Model the business side of it maybe, but man, have your own look and feel and really be proud of who you are and who your brand is and do that little thing that's going to make you a little bit different and then have extremely good customer service.

Yeah, all of this. Do you think kind of the shift that we see as consumers are moving from more of those big box stores that they shop with more to the independent retailers or those niche brands, do you think that's why? Because that customer service and that one on one they feel like they have a relationship with an authentic brand and a human being?

I do. I think, you know, it's tough because Amazon is killing it. But one thing like I'll give a story like this happened to us yesterday. So we do have twins. So we have all kinds of stuff coming from Amazon all the time. Like my wife Sarah is an Amazon shopper. So the reason she deals with Amazon is because the customer service, even though they're huge, everything that she's bought from them, if there's something wrong or she wanted to exchange a stroller yesterday, a double side by side stroller and get a chance jogging stroller. And it was way over the timeframe on the exchange. It was way over everything. And she just talked to the guy at the registry service, they exchanged it, she got the new stroller for 10 bucks, $10 difference. And it was that customer service that makes her shop at Amazon. So it doesn't matter if it's Amazon or a boutique, you have got to have that customer service. I think that is the number one foundation on everything is your customers have to have that confidence where when they come in and shop at your store or they look you in the eye and you ring up the cash register they know that when they walk out with that product, if there's something wrong or it doesn't fit, no problem, we're gonna swap it, we're gonna take care of you. And I think that one thing right there is, will just put you light years ahead of other people because good customer service is a lot of work. It's a lot of work and it costs you money because you're going to have to do the exchanges, you're going to have to do the refunds, you're going to have to swap product out, you're going to have to give some stuff away free. When you send something out that had a hole in it that, you know, something happens, you know, so I think that is the number one thing a company should focus on is your customer service.

In my eyes, it's almost like living in scarcity versus living in abundance. You know, you live in abundance in terms of customer service. You're willing to go the extra mile and sure it may cost you a little bit, bit up front, but your long term gain is going to far outweigh the couple dollars you're going to save in that return. You know, it's never worth it to fight a customer and have that chance of them leaving you a bad review on social media.

Absolutely, absolutely. You know the deal. I mean, you know, the customer is always right. It's cliche and it's pain in the butt, but it's the truth. You know, take care of them, take care. And for every customer that complains, there's 10 that may not complain. There's 10 that, 10 that may have had a bad experience with you, that are just going to tell their friends that, oh man, it was the shits dealing with these people. But, you know, so for that one that does complain, if you are consistently having that bad customer service or the bad experience, for every one person that complains, there's ten more that aren't. So you got to make sure that you negate that whole thing that people are going, man, they're doing something, such a good job and they're trying so hard.

Let's talk about marketing channels for a second because I think you are someone who's right in the thick of being on so many different channels, not only yourself, but with the brands that you work with. Talk about that Omni Channel strategy for both retailers and for brands and how important it is to be where your customers are.

You know, we, of course, I mean, social media is the ticket right now. I mean, every, everybody, if we haven't figured that out, you're a little late to the game, that's for sure. The websites are huge. You know, there's everything that you deal with. So there's the print side of it, there's any tv, radio that you do from your commercials. Then your tv radio commercial side of it can be cut down. And that's your content for your, for your digital strategy. Whether it be your email blasts that are going directly to the people. And there's two sides of that. There's reaching out and touching your B2B customers. If you're a brand, your business to business side or the B2C side of it. Now that goes with your website as well. Do you have a website that sells direct to customers? Do you have a website that sells directly to stores, to other stores on the B2B side? The social media right now of course is, I mean that's the easiest. Just like this podcast. I mean the digital side of it in social media is the ticket. That's how we touch everybody every single day. And that's where you have to be really, really good at social media. And that's I would say that like us, even at Drew Stu, that's our constant deal is we got to get better. We are not great at social media. We are trying to get great at social media because there is so much you can do. I feel like we barely even use a quarter of what Facebook offers or Instagram and Twitter and everything else. And then when you get into Snapchat and all that, figuring those strategies out is pretty tricky. But you have to deliver everywhere. You have to deliver on all of those channels or you need to be really good at the digital side or the social media side. For sure.

Absolutely. So there's an elephant in the room I have to ask about and you're involved in. So I want to know, do you think print is dead?

Oh boy, I could lose so many friends right now.

But I know you're not.

I mean we're fixing to send ads out tomorrow. So it's not dead. It's definitely not dead. But here's what I think these. As a person that buys print ads, if you have a store or you have a brand, you need to look at these people that the AIM medias of the world, the cowboy publishing's of the world, you need to talk to them and say, alright, here's the deal. What else do you have to offer? Well, we have a circulation of 40,000 or we have a circulation of 100,000 or whatever that circulation is. Okay, that's great. So we're gonna do some really beautiful artwork in your, in your magazine. But what do you, what do you got on social media? Well, we have a hundred and some thousand followers on Facebook. Rodeo News is a huge one. They have three or four hundred thousand followers on Facebook. So when you talk to them, these magazines are where people go to get their information. There's no two ways around that. And they've made it where especially Team Rope and Journal on the team roping side of things for us, that's where people go to get results of the World Series. Ropens now AIM Media owns the USTRC as well. So they own the two biggest team roping organizations in the world. So we make Team Ropes. We have to be there. But they have a big following on their social platform. So it would be ridiculous to me to just tell my guy, hey, Nick Griggs, who's my rep over there, hey, I just want an ad. Just give me a inside front cover ad for Cactus Ropes and not talk to him about the digital side of it. Because each one of those platforms has a digital side. So print's not dead. But you. It's dying for sure because of social media. But use those organizations, those publications, because they do have a big digital following and work that out with your salespeople to say, hey, we'll give you the ad, but I need this back. If I'm gonna do 12 months with you, I need three months or four months of some social media stuff too. And I think we often forget about that. But they have a lot to offer on that digital side too and make sure and use it. And you know as well as I do that they. I don't want to say this on the air, but I'm going to because it'll probably bite me in the butt. The digital is cheap right now. It's super cheap. They put a premium on these ads and then they sell you the Facebook stuff for cheap. So do that. Buy that stuff. That's cheap inventory.

So maybe rather than it being dead, it's like a reinvention of print. Print is now a huge deal versus just you're getting magazine. But now there's all these other benefits that go along with it. I think we saw that even, you know, thinking about Western Summit going back to that with Western lifestyle retailer, the magazine we even print at the boutique hub for the nfr. It's not the ad that sells just like you're saying it is that package deal. How do you leverage and build a.

Campaign out of it right yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It goes back to that Omni Channel that you're talking about. The. You just have to not be scared to ask that. You know, those people call you all the time. They're like, hey, you want to put an ad in our magazine? And you're like, how much is it going to cost? Well, it's going to cost a couple thousand. You're like, oh my Atlanta, that's a lot of money. Well, if it's a couple thousand. But you can be basically guaranteed to reach X amount of people. And that ad isn't going to guarantee you anything. It's going to guarantee you something pretty in a book that's going to sit hopefully on somebody's countertop for a couple weeks until the next one comes out and then it's going to go in the garbage. But if you can develop something that touches their social media side of it, touches Facebook, touches Instagram and demographic wise, you figure that out. For the demos that I talk about, Facebook is our big one. That's where we push the, the most. We try to get the kids on Instagram a little bit on Snapchat, but Facebook is the big one. So get that stuff out there. Do something that's going to drive, you know, drive people to your, to your Facebook or drive back to your website, but it can all be done through those publications. So that package deal is muy importante.

I like it. Absolutely. You can retarget the heck out of those people once you get a single click into your own profile.

Absolutely.

When you're working with clients, how do you sit down with them and kind of create this strategic plan? What's that layout look like when you're building a campaign that includes print, radio, video, social media? Like, how do you start that layout.

Process from the very, very beginning?

Well, let's say high level overview. What could someone listening take away today and go, okay, I get it. Like, this is how I can tie it all together so I'm not spinning my wheels and just posting crap everywhere.

Take the time to go online and look up strategic planning. Read a book. First of all, if you are on here and you are in that spot in your business where you don't know really what the next step is and you feel like you are spinning your wheels, you have got to figure out a strategy and you have got to figure out where you're going with your business and that is the most 100% important thing there is to do. I'm going to totally do the opposite of what you just asked me to Do. I'm going to get off in the weeds here for a second. Okay, so here's an example with Resist All. Three years ago, they had, you know, they do a huge amount of hats every single day. Like a crazy amount of hats every day. They are in the United States, the biggest or one of the biggest hat makers in the world. Okay. They were doing these other things too. They were in apparel and they were doing some. Some other things over here. And they'd kind of lost sight of really what they were. So we did a three day strategic planning meeting. And the very first day, we started off by diving down and figuring out exactly who Resist all was. We figured out what that guy's name was, what he looked like, what he drove, what color his horse was, where he lived, what part of the. You know, what part of the country he lived in and developed this idea of exactly. If you were gonna turn the brand and mold it into clay and make it a person, this is what the brand would physically look like in the flesh. And then from that we know, okay, basically what that does is that gives you a target to sell to, if that makes any sense. So here's our guy that buys our products, or here's this woman that buys these products or uses these services. Now we got to figure out how do they purchase? Well, what does this guy do? Is he on his phone looking on Facebook? Maybe not. Maybe he goes to the co op and does most of his shopping at tractor supply or wherever. Anyway. So the long and short of it is you have got to go through this thought experiment or putting it on paper, this strategic plan of who is going to buy your product and how they're going to buy your product. And simply you have to figure out the easiest way to make that happen. And it's not rocket science. It's just going through and taking the time. Where businesses fail is they fail to take the time to build a strategy, it is never going to go exactly how you want it to. There. I can't remember what the saying is, and I think I tried to use it, your deal, and I butchered it. But basically, planning doesn't ensure failure. Failing to plan does ensure failure.

Yes.

So if you don't plan, you will fail. Now, everything's not going to go per that plan, but at least you have an idea where you're heading and you can lay everything out. And you've got to do that strategy before you come up with the ads, before you come up with the commercials. Because if not, you don't even know who you're targeting. You don't even know where that stuff's going. You might be making hot pink and turquoise ads and look and feel, that's really fruity and whatever. And you're selling it to 65 year old men. Well, you know, that's a swing and a miss and it just costs you a lot of money to do that. So you've got to do that plan. You've got to figure out. You and I talk about the SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis, strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. You've got to do a SWOT analysis for your company and you've got to look at the competition, you've got to look at what's going on in the marketplace. You've got to do all of those things and you can go online and you can download a business plan. There's templates out there, there's a thousand of them. I've used numerous ones. I write the business plans for these companies every single year. And you can go down those and just go through the process. And it's mundane, it's boring, but I promise you, you've got to do it. And it's really not the 30 pages that you end up with at the end of the deal, it's the process of going through it and it gets your mind thinking about it and that's where the value comes from.

Absolutely. So do you sit down with these companies every year and create a new plan or a marketing plan and then do you go from that point into the minutia of, okay, here the Americans coming up. So here, resist all our cactus. We're going to create a campaign then just around the American.

Yep, absolutely. Try to do like a 24 month plan. So you don't want to have to do it every single year, but you just need to come in and tweak it, you know, like in August or whatever or whenever your fiscal year is. So you build that plan and that's your foundation. You know, kind of think about it like a pyramid. So your foundation is that plan. And then you just start building up and the things get smaller and smaller and smaller. Okay, what products are we gonna launch? What assets do we need to launch those products? We need the logo, we need the color scheme, we need the fonts. Do we have any endorsees that go along with it? What print are we gonna do? Social media. And then you go all the way up to the delivery of it and then hopefully tracking sales from there. So, but it all starts with that plan. And then, you know, you look at your calendar and say, all right, we got the American, the bfi. It used to be the George Strait. All of these other events that are coming up, the high school finals, the NFR is a huge one. When do we have to have product ready if we're going to launch and all of those things. But it all starts with that master plan.

Absolutely. And how do you, like. You do a lot of audio and video, obviously. So how do you, let's say if someone's listening and they want to maximize their budget, how do they create some good basic assets and then recut those in a couple of different ways to be used across their campaign, you know, to save money?

I would say just, you know, learn by the Adobe Creative Suite and you can do anything on YouTube and learn those little things. You know, if you want to do video, do remember that people love to be entertained. People love to laugh. People love. They love to be entertained. So, you know, if you have products, I mean, you know, do some fun little videos with product and just start building content. And you can take, like, if you go and do a long video, you can take and put it in Premiere Premier's, like, it scares people. It's super easy to learn. Or you can use your phone. You guys use your iPhones, like, really use your phone and use Imovie and cut things up on there and take really good pictures. You do not need to have fancy graphic design anymore. We're going away from it because it takes so much time. Just take good pictures and everybody's phone takes good enough pictures now. You know, our phones are as good now as cameras were five years ago. So use your phone, take good pictures of your stuff and just build a lot of content. It doesn't have to be that fancy. And then if you need to do a print ad, yeah, you might have to get a graphic designer to help you with that because, you know, you want it to look good if it comes out in a book. But everything else you can do yourself and just, you know, Facebook and YouTube and ask questions, reach out to people like you, reach out to people like me. We're more than happy to help you learn how to do that stuff.

Let's talk about content strategy. One thing that you are well known for besides the marketing and being the guru of all these things, right, Is all these team open videos that are out there that you created. You're like a YouTube sensation, right?

No, far from it. Far from it. I tried. I tried for a little while. It was fun.

How can brands do what you did because you went, you were serving your audience in a way that was so beneficial to them. But that's something brands can do to help gain credibility, relationship and eventually sell more product just by serving first.

Yeah, just, you know, find that deal that gives back to people. Like, I love to teach people how to rope. And I'm not the greatest roper in the world. The highest number I ever held was an eight card. I was an eight healer forever. And so, you know, I'm not a world champion or anything like that, but I could give back because I was fortunate enough to live around a lot of world champions and stay at their homes and through the business of Cactus and Gilomatic, be around Clay o' Brien Cooper and Jake Long and Alan Bach back in the day and all of these different guys. And like I said earlier in the deal, I was never good at anything. I had to work my butt off to get good at stuff. And. And so I was like, man, when you really have to work at it, you kind of learn. And through the announcement and stuff, I'm fortunate enough where I can talk. And I was like, well, I'll do these videos and talk to people. So giving back is the most important thing you can do. Cactus Ropes and Gilomatic benefited from those videos. And I never sold a rope. I never sold a Gilomatic. It was soft selling using the product. So it was personalized because it was me. So I implore you as a brand to find that person that can do that for you. Find that person that is the Dale Brisby out there or even you at your own deal that kind of has a good sense of humor, that isn't scared to be on camera, that can help people. And I don't care if it's helping people with their golf swing or helping people accessorize or helping people, whatever. If you give back to people and you make it kind of entertaining and educational at the same time, people are going to watch. I mean, people are going to watch my wife and I watch the DIY network flipping houses and all of that stuff all the time. Because it's fun, it's entertaining. They're teaching you how to do it. Are we flipping houses? No. You know, but. And we go and we follow them on social media and on Pinterest. We use Pinterest a lot. And, you know, you're a guy and.

You admit using Pinterest a lot.

I thought Pinterest was for chicks and recipes. That's what I thought Pinterest was for. Pinterest is probably my favorite social media, to be honest.

Oh, I'm gonna hashtag that. Hashtag follow Drew stew on Pinterest.

Yeah. But yeah, just be entertaining. That's what people want. They want to be entertained. They want to have a good time. Don't be dry, but give back to some. And here's a big one. Here's a big one. Don't take for granted everything you know and expect everybody else out there to know what you know. Does that make sense? Like, here's an example. I was talking to Chad Masters. He's a two time world champion team roper. Okay. I was talking to him two weeks or three weeks ago at the Wildfire Open, and we were out hanging out at the trailers and we're talking and this conversation came up and he's like, nah, I don't want to do social media and whatever. I'm like, chad, you think it's not cool because you're Chad Masters every day. It's really cool to those kids out there and to those people out there, what you do at your house, it's really, really cool. How you ride your horses, what tack you use, what ropes you use, what truck you drive, it doesn't matter. It's really cool to somebody else when you take it for granted because you do it every single day and you're like, well, I'm not that cool. Well, you may not think so, but you may be, like, the best merchandiser in the world and you may have, like, the coolest store that when people walk in, it's an experience. Share that with people. Teach people how to merchandise a store. I mean, that would be stuff Lane and I would watch here at the marketing company because I'm a terrible merchandiser. I do marketing, but I'm bad at that. That's something I am bad at and so forth. Find that thing that you can share with people, even if it's mundane to you, it might be worth so much and have so much value to somebody else.

Yeah. You know, and let me put even this girly spin on it, because I am right there with you. And I hear this for boutiques daily. You know, they're worried about selling the product and staying on point with, like, a topic. But they forget that women, like these boutiques have a group of women in their community at their disposal that not only like clothes, but they have hundreds of other things in common. Absolutely. As a test we threw out in one of our Facebook groups, it's just for people who like to shop boutiques, I threw out a random Question. I said, hey, I'm in the market for some new mascara. What do you recommend? We have like 200 comments in the first 30 minutes because it was a little off topic, but it still fit the bill. So right to your point, find that thing and build conversations not just around your product, but all these other things. Fallon Taylor. What another great example of someone who has had that conversation and gives people that experience of having a day in the life of. On many different topics.

Absolutely. She, you know, we were fortunate enough to do a lot of stuff with Fallon and get to know her really well over the last couple years. And in our industry, nobody, nobody's done it like Fallon has. And it doesn't matter if it was on the horse side of things, the barrel racing side of things, the health and wellness side of things, with man, sports and everything else. Like, she, she's taken that conversation to a totally different level and with a whole different group of people. And you're absolutely right. I mean, look at, look at your target audience that is watching your stuff and don't, don't be so worried about selling them stuff all the time. And think, man, what, what else? Well, they all, they all wear masc. They all do this and this and this. You know, I mean, find those things and just keep a conversation going and it will, you will reap the rewards so, so much just by actively engaging. And that's engaging social media and that's what you want.

Absolutely. So kind of last question on that topic. If someone was listening, a brand or a retailer, and they were interested in finding that thing, but also finding that person an endorsee or an influencer, a Dale Brisby, how do you think that process should go? What tips could you give for someone looking to get into that market?

Don't force yourself or don't go looking. Don't say, I need Dale Brisby or I need Fallon Taylor or I need Drew Stu or I need Ashley, don't say that. Like, look at your brand and just think about who personifies that brand and just let it happen really natural and say, you know what? That person really fits, or, it's me. This is my brand and it's me. There's nobody else. And that right there is probably the scariest thing for people to do is embrace that it might be you. Well, I hate being on camera. Well, get over it. I mean, I hate to be blunt like that, but get over it. Just go do it. Have fun with it. And it'll get easier and easier as you do it. But if you are finding those endorsees or you are looking for those people to represent your brand, do not. Do not compromise your brand or yourself for those people. Does that make sense? Like, do not take somebody that does not represent your morals, what the business looks like, because they are going to be a brand ambassador. And if they have a patch on or they are representing you out in public, man, they better talk the talk and walk the walk and be a good brand ambassador. So don't ever jeopardize that kind of stuff just to put your label on somebody cool. Don't ever do that. Make sure it really, really fits.

Yeah. And just like Dale Brisby was saying, you know, I only endorse things that I truly use and believe in to begin with. So that has to be a piece of that strategy, too, right?

On the flip side, you can't make them. You can't make somebody love your stuff. You know, Dale and I have talked about that so much. He's not going to use a product that he doesn't believe in. You know Kimmy Wall, a barrel racer. She's made the finals last two years. She's a dear friend of mine. Whenever she gets an endorsement opportunity, she calls me and she's like, hey, what about this? What about this? And the first question I ask her is, tell me what your gut feeling is. And she goes, nah, it doesn't really fit. Okay, then the answer is no. Well, they're offering me 10,000. The answer is no. The answer is no. Because you don't believe in it. You're not going to use it. And people are going to see that you don't use it. They're going to show up to a rodeo, you're going to have 10 girls standing around, and they're going to say, why aren't you using XYZ product? And you're going to have to put a fake smile on and say, oh, and you're going to have to make some story up. Don't do that. Don't put yourself in that situation.

So good, so true. And so many people, I think, get lost in that. It's kind of like the stay in your own lane, like you were talking about beginning authentic to you in all ways, always.

Yeah. Be yourself. Be you.

So let's talk more about you, my friend. I want to know the man, the myth, the legend. I want to know more about who your mentors are as you go through this in this industry. You talked about Keith Mundy. Tell me more about your mentors and where you look for inspiration on a daily basis.

I am so fortunate, so lucky, so blessed to have some of the best people in the world that I can call anytime. And I know I'm gonna forget people, but you know, of course my parents, you know, I've got to start out there. My dad and mom just have always worked their ass off and that was the big deal, like work first. And so the whole work ethic definitely comes from my parents in the industry. Danny Gentry, the World Series of Team rope and the USRC, him and his wife Connie, the whole family, actually, Danny's been my guy. Whenever I need to call somebody, I call Danny. And the other guy is Carl Stressman. You know what's funny now is Carl and Denny are working together. So I had them both on the phone the other day and it was really funny. We had a really good conversation. I can't repeat any of it because there was a lot of off color comments, mainly from me, but it was, it's very cool. Those two guys are whenever, you know, growing up in this industry and they've got me by 30 some years and you know, being able to call those guys. Keith Mundy, good friend of mine, another guy that's extremely successful and I'll tell you another, there's a couple other guys. I have a buddy of mine, Bill Myers, that was a coach in the NFL for 25 years and having him just talk about, you know, the mental game of things and I'll be really open up to you. So I fight my weight a lot and out of anything, I hate being overweight and I've let myself go the last few years and I've been on the phone every single day with John Baxter. If you follow college football. John Baxter is SC Trojan's special teams coach in California and like the biggest, most well known special teams coach in the ncaa. Every day he texts me and he's got me on this workout program. And so, I mean, Ash, I'm the luckiest guy in the world. My network is so good. I'm so fortunate to call these guys my friends and you know, and people like you too. I mean, I get inspired by anybody that's good at something that has put in the time. I think you got to look at them, I think it's great. It doesn't matter if they're the top of the top or if they're just doing it, you know, starting a business, but if they're working their tail off and they're good at something, man, I think they're really worth looking at because you can take something from everybody. But those are kind of my. My people that I talk to all the time. And Dustin Noblett, and probably I skipped a guy that I do have to mention. Dennis Carroll, who owns the Pro Equine Group and Resist all is where I learned so much. And he gave me the opportunities to be in these companies and be the general manager of some of these companies. And without those opportunities, there's no way I'd be where I am now at all. Dustin Novlet, Ricky Bolan at Resist all. And I mean, their list goes on and on, but that's kind of the top of the top. Those are like the top eight or 10 guys, I would say.

So it's not always what you know, but it's who you know, right?

It is for sure.

Listening. Like, if they're. Let's say they're a new business owner. You and I were talking about, like, being owners of businesses earlier and the struggles you face at different stages of business. Do you think if someone's looking for a mentor, they should just find, like, who is that person for you who really inspires you and just go for it. Just call them. How do you think people should. Should find that mentor, man?

Don't be scared. So I was talking to. I don't know who I was talking to the other day about this. They're like, how you get to work. How'd you get to know all these people? And the bottom line is, I wasn't scared. Like, I got to live at Alan Bach's place, and I don't even remember or remember how back in the day, but I wanted to be around the best ropers in the world. So I got there. Like, I just did it. Like, I don't even know how. Like, be good at positioning. Put yourself in the front of the line, you know, reach out to those people. I was fortunate I got to work with Chris Cox. You and I were talking about this off air a little bit, and how I got there is I just called him, you know. You know, hey, who are you? And we ended up developing a really good friendship and a work for the guy. And because I was. I liked that he was really super good at what he did, you know, so don't be scared to just reach out. And 99% of those people appreciate people that are trying because they're a type A personality. You're a type A personality. You're going for it. You're trying. Every one of those people at the top have failed numerous times. Numerous times. They will help you, I promise. And if they don't, they're not the guy you want to talk to.

Anyway, man, you know, we've had a lot of dynamite conversations, I feel like, even off air before this podcast. But to your point. Exactly. It's not how you fail, but it's when you fail. And everyone has to fail in order to succeed, right? We were talking about failure even for you. Even for me. What did that look like for you? Was there a point where you felt like you had to fail in order to then succeed?

Every day. Every day. So I'm a huge risk taker. And, you know, I'm always like, it's my wife. She's like, quit, like, be solid. And I'm like, I'm solid in the fact that I'm always going to be this way. I'm always going to be half cocked. And you know, it's. I failed, man. I failed out of college twice, maybe three times. Full ride rodeo scholarship, you know, and lost. I had to announce the regional finals rodeo in Missoula, Montana, because I was ineligible to rodeo and couldn't go to the college finals my junior year. I went my freshman year in the caf rope and I couldn't go my junior year in the team rope and had one of the best partners in the world because of my grades. And that was a huge failure. I'll tell you what here, recently, last year, I did a deal with one of the big brands that I represent and it cost him $100,000. And it was my fault. And that sucks. And that is something that I've had to get over because it made friendships rocky and I made a bad call on hiring some contractors and it literally cost the company 100,000. I don't know how many people can say that, but let me tell you, Ashley, it sucks, but life goes on. And that was recent. That was last year. And so. So it's hard to come back from those things. But I tell you what, I learned a lot from that little incident, you know? So you go cost a company 100 grand that's been with you for 10 years, it's pretty hard to look them in the eye the first couple times, you know?

Yeah. But when you're being so authentic along the way, like the fact that you can own up to it and talk about it like that, I think says a lot, because not a lot of people will admit to failure.

So, yeah, you got to just own up to it and you're gonna fail. That's the deal. It's. It's you know, it's about, ain't about how hard you get knocked down, it's about how many times you get up and, you know, just get up and keep your feet moving. And one thing about it, the world's gonna keep turning. Don't get hung up on it. It's gonna suck, but just learn from it. It's really easy to say after the fact, but while all this was going down, I mean, I was like fighting depression and it sucked. And then we had the babies and everything and I was, I was in a bad spot mentally, you know, but it's just work. It's just work. You know, it didn't, we weren't curing cancer, we didn't kill anybody. You know, nobody died because of it. We just. I had some pissed off people, especially in the accounting offices, but, you know, but we're good now.

So let's talk about the bright spot that came after that because a lot of people listening to this podcast and in our community are going to hear you say the word twins and they're either going to be right there with you or they're going to get the cold sweats. One or the other. Balance is such a huge topic today and I think with this generation that we're raising, balance is so important. How do you work and have work life balance? You hear the deal all the time, don't you?

Oh man.

What does that look like for you?

It's probably the hardest thing because very competitive with my work and I can stay here and edit video or Right. Strategies or whatever till midnight every day and to go home. When I first got married to my wife, that's what I would do. And I was basically doing the work of two or three people just time wise because I would, from 7, 8 o' clock in the morning till literally midnight 1 o', clock would just work on my computer and try to go rope a little bit. But that was it. And so when I got married to Sarah, she's like, enough of this. You've got to be. You're my husband now and you've got two stepchildren because we've got a 9 year old and a 14 year old of hers. And then we had the twins in July and they were 28 weeks, they were premature and we were in the NICU for two and a half, three months. And you talk about balancing things. I had a brand new business that I was going on. I'm in the middle of that major screw up. I've got employees that are working for me. And we've got one baby in the hospital that. That has the leading killer of babies. So there was a lot going on. And you just, you know the cliche deal, you figure out what's real important really, really fast. And one thing about it, and I said this to everybody at your deal, remember that you don't need to work for the job. The job has to work for you. And what I mean by that is, these are not this business, Drew. Stu is not a living, breathing entity. It's a business. It's a job. And now, granted, I'm going to do everything I can to grow it, make it successful, all of that. But at the end of the day, my babies and my wife and our family is the most important thing. It's not this job. And so this job is a means to put money in my bank account. And at the end of the day, yeah, it's a passion for sure. But that's what it is. So it cannot rule me. I have to rule it. And I would say to any young business owner, young, meaning not your age, but if you are just getting into the business ownership, remember that. And Keith Mundy is who told me that, and Keith Maddox, who runs American Hats, told Keith that because Keith was working 60, 80 hours a week. Don't let the business run you. You run the business. And that's what we've got to do. Let the business work for you. So I'm fortunate. I couldn't if I was working for a business. Here's the flip side of it. If I'd have been working for somebody that gave me two weeks paid vacation or whatever, I couldn't have spent two months in the hospital with my wife and babies. So by having my own business, I could do that. And thank God I have Lane Tiltrum. He's my right hand. My left hand, pretty much. He runs the business and I own it. And I. Without good employees, there's no way I could have done it without him.

Gets that for a reason. Right?

Right, Right. So, yeah, just remember that everything else is way more important. You know, we spent an hour talking about business. That stuff at home is the reason we do all of it, you know, so.

Yes. So the question at the end of the day remains, as you look back at all this, are you a better team roper or a better marketer?

I suck at roping right now. I mean, good night. I haven't ridden a horse in a year. I lied, I roped, I jumped on a heel horse at a Resist all photo shoot a month ago and roped three right legs in a row and stepped off. And I said, hey, at least I'm consistent. Yeah, no, I'm a little. I roped the head and dummy the other night for the first time. Literally my right hand. I've got blisters from basically the tip of my little finger all the way down to the knuckles. I roped the dummy 105 times in a row on the head and side, and it just completely tore my hands up. I have office hands right now, big time. So, yeah, I would have to probably lean on the marketing right now, for sure.

I like it. Well, last question before we wrap this up. We've talked a lot about every aspect of the industry and business and strategy and all this and what you've built at Drew Stu and the person that you are and the way that you inspire and lead people is really a force to be reckoned with. It's just such a breath of fresh air. And I just want to commend you and thank you for being so open and so honest and being a mentor to people that you may not have even met yet. So thank you for that. So as you walk away, let's say, you know, fast forward several years when you do get to retire and sell the business and move on and move to Arizona and rope like every other retired cowboy. What's the legacy that you want to leave in this? The single thing that you want people to remember the most about you and your life?

I want them to, you know, so you basically, you're asking me what I want to put on my headstone, right?

Yeah.

Good guy. Like, I don't know how else to say it. I know that sounds really general and really broad. I want to give back to this industry. I want to give back everything that's been given to me and then some for my children. I want them to have the opportunities. My parents gave me, every opportunity in the world. And I don't come from a multimillionaire family by any means. I come from upper middle class, working hard family. And I want to give my kids that opportunity, my stepchildren and my own twins. To the industry and to people in business. I want to inspire people. I hope that they say, man, this guy helped me build my business and help me be a better person, you know, help me keep things in line, help me find out what's really important in my life and push forward. That's. That's the legacy I want to leave. It's not how good I roped or how great a marketer I was or anything like that. I'm going to work to do those things, especially on the marketing. But I want to be remembered as a guy that helped people. That that's the most important thing, man.

Well, Drew, Stu, you are a good guy. Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast and we will catch you again soon.

Well, thanks so much for having me. And it's been, it's been really fun getting to know you for sure. Thanks for having me in Denver and starting this little journey.

Perfect. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'. Am.

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Sam.