Ep. 22.3 | Going Pro: Travis Austin

What's up, guys? Welcome back to the Least Fast podcast. This is segment three with Travis Austin, and we're joined with Cody Maldonado. Maldonado.

Yeah.

Oh.

I had to, like, say it 10 times in my head to make sure I didn't mess up.

That's when it's being super cash.

That's one of the names I can actually pronounce. My last name is Gutierrez. So, yeah, I get a lot of people, like, good, good.

He's. He's. He's the world's only Irish Mexican.

I'm right there with you.

I've got 23andMe results. We'll check after this.

I didn't believe him when he told me it took me, like, a solid month until I met his dad.

Dude, no. Like, I showed people pictures of my dad. This has nothing to do with anything. I showed people pictures of my dad. Like, I was just excited to show people pictures of me and my dad. They're like, shut up, man. And, like, nobody would believe me. I'm like, no, I promise that's my dad. And, like, because they're all, like, Mexican, like. Like, he had a hat that had it said Mexico on it. And he's just. I have no. I cannot get a suntan. He's, like, short and dark black.

Ha.

Yeah, dude, I'm right there with you. That was my life growing up. Mexican vanilla is what they call it.

You know what saved me was 23andMe. Seriously, I started doubting. Like, I asked my mom. Like, mom, are you sure?

And so he started to think bad things about his mama.

The place my wife worked before coronavirus happened. They were all, like. They didn't believe in me. So they pitched in. They're like, we want him to do 23andMe. So they all, like, took up a collection. So I did it.

Are you kidding me?

No, no, no. And so I did it. And of course, Mexico was my last, latest heritage or what, however they label it.

But we could have some good conversations.

Yeah.

Let's do our own segment after this. We'll circle back up. Let's get together, talk about our troubles with this.

Well, guys, welcome.

Yeah. So we're back. We're still here.

We have not left. We're moving in.

The cool thing is, I didn't notice this till we cut earlier, but you can see pictures going up from the first segment till now. Like. Like, literally, this is. This is coming to life right now. So this is moving day minus 28 hours now.

28 hours.

Yeah. No, it really is so this is.

Wasting time with you fools.

Well, we're just learning about what it did.

True, it's good covers across the street, but yeah. So we're here in Nashville, Tennessee at Travis Austin Customs, and it is their move in day and Travis has become a friend and was super gracious to get on and tell some of his story. It's so much more in depth than we've even been able to cover in the last hour. But so we, we were like, we're going to do this in segments. We'll let you talk about whatever you want to talk about. And, and so in this segment, our final segment, we're going to talk about two things. We're going to talk about team and the strength of their team here. Because it's incredible. Like, honestly, every time I walk in the building, I meet someone new and it's like, this is the person who handles this and this is the person who handles this. And then it's obvious that you guys have such a strong family vibe because last night when we just crashed two days ago, like, we just walked in on your, like, where you were carrying stuff up still. And there were so many people in here like, like pitching in and helping and being a part of it. And you know, if anybody follows you on Insta, they see their son here all the time. And you know, I love blurring that family to work team line because that's how we are at lead fast. And, and people say don't hire your friends and family because, you know, you never, you might have to fire them. But like I, in my experience, I've had both of my parents work for me full time. My best friends have all worked for me full time and worked.

He fired all of them.

So now they were, they, they got very nice parachutes when our company got acquired, thank you very much. So they're. None of them are complaining, but they, it was, I mean, we had hard times. We had, we had to fire friends, you know, and it sucks a lot of times, though.

It happens naturally. Like, people just find their way into this after a while. Like people become family and then all of a sudden they're just here because they want to be here. And we all hang out together every day, so it's the most natural thing ever.

Yeah, it makes the, it makes the hard stuff harder, but it makes the good stuff so much better. Yeah. So, man, we're going to talk about team. So Cody is what, I mean, I've heard the word manager, but like Cody's.

My, my manager and he, he allows Me to. To put my effort and emotion into these four walls and is a branch of me to, you know, whether it's, you know, Bud Light or, you know, or other large companies or festivals or activations or just forward thinking. Also kind of my, my buffer and my, my protector a lot of times because I. I get big crazy ideas and want to go fast, fast, fast. And he's my governor.

I have one of those.

I'm the no guy.

Yeah, he's. I'm the yes guy. And sometimes in the same conversation, like I'm saying yes to somebody and Cody's behind me going like this. Yeah.

So Cody, what did you think when he said hey? I said yes to a podcast on Move In Day.

I didn't know until you showed up and then you left. And I was like, so what's that about? He's like, got a podcast tomorrow. I was like, perfect. That's usually how. No, we've just had a lot going on, but I'm all for it.

I can totally relate.

So I'm just gonna say I'm sorry then.

No, no, not at all. We've just been running around like crazy. But any opportunity we have to grow the brand, we're all about it. And y' all are family now, so this is just like hanging out.

So that's cool, man. That's cool. So, so tell me about this relationship. How did this get started?

Yes.

How did you find your way into the gravity? That is crazy.

So I was living in Dallas with a good buddy of mine, Brody. And Brody had met Travis, I think, at a concert. I think it was a Charlie Crockett concert in Dallas, Texas. And I was living with Brody, and Brody and I were actually here in Nashville, and he was wearing his Travis Austin hat everywhere in Broadway, and he was getting a lot of attention. And I had already started the process of getting one made through a company in Georgetown, Texas. And so anyways, Brody was like, man, go see Travis. I'll set it up. So went over there and basically what you experienced, like you've been talking about, you know, that feeling, that vibe whenever you walked in and that immediate connection. That's what Travis and I had immediately. And, you know, my 30 minute consultation turned into a two out, two hour hangout, you know, and then I kind of became this ambassador for him, you know, sending him a lot of clientele. And, you know, there's probably about 15 or 20 people that are in this little circle that he knows just through Brody and I from back home in Dallas. A lot of them were at the Music City Outlaws event family. So that's kind of how it started. And then, you know, through my other job, I was in Nashville a lot and he was here. Our clientele kind of crossed paths and then I came out here to hang out just for like a week in Nashville and was. Was looking to get into talent management. And, you know, my heart was out here in Nashville. I knew that I was going to end up here one day. I've been in Dallas for the last seven years and kind of hit a ceiling there. Yeah. And, you know, Travis has gotten to the point obviously where, you know, I've never seen anything grow so fast over the last two years. And, you know, he had been approached by management and there's a lot of opportunities out there that, you know, he can't really set down and stop and go get. So he kind of popped the question, I guess, and it was a no brainer for me.

That's so cool. That's.

I mean, I popped. I actually proposed. I got down on one knee. See, Tommy asked him to move to Nashville, represent me.

Tears and a proposal, man.

This guy knows how to treat his employees.

He sure does.

Well, that's awesome, man. So. So how much of the. The daily grind do you like, are you overseeing like that? Because essentially I'm asking because we've got to find that person. Poor McKenzie is. I have. I have so much grind. I've got.

Yeah. I mean, Travis has so much going on day to day. Like as soon as he gets up, you know, he's dealing with Jagger and, you know, he's got. He's a father, he's got the house and then he's here and it's just non stop. So I, like you said, I'm kind of his buffer, his wingman. You know, I wear a lot of that stress just because of who I am inherently. Like, I'm just an ocd, like, very type a type of person, which is why I think he brought me on, because he's very kind of like fly by the seat of his pants. Big ideas. You know, we usually end up at the same spot, which is crazy. But I think I provide that balance for him. So usually I'm here just, you know, whenever he needs to step away and chop it up for a second in between consultations or, you know, clientele, whatever it may be. We. We always have meetings together. We usually have like two or three. Whether it's zoom or coffee breaks, you know, there's people always trying to steal his attention to, you know, if They've got some sort of big idea that they want to run by them. And you know, Travis, at least once a day or, you know, he'll call me maybe whenever I'm not at the house or whatever and he'll, you know, run this big idea by me. And you know, he's, he's got, that's why we're, we're at. Where we're at right now is because, you know, he dreams. No little dreams.

He's.

That's where he's at. And you know, in my mind I'm shaking my head yes, but I'm also like thinking about logistics and cost and everything else and how we're going to make this happen. So I provide that balance. And you know, really my goal is trying to align us with brands and partnerships that make the most sense. You know, I think our first big win was with Bud Light, which is obviously Anheuser, Anheuser Busch, you know, one of the largest companies in the world. You know, we turned that into a little influencer pay for post deal to a, you know, now Travis is a culture creative for Bud Light Seltzer. You know, that's kind of like where we're headed, you know, working on different manufacturers to get in here to help better streamline. You know, him and I are already looking forward to next year, whether that's Chicago or New York. You know, we're just basically, I'm basically trying to help him fill in the gaps and make all this make sense because sometimes, you know, he's been going nonstop for the last few years.

Yeah.

And you throw in Covid and you throw in a child and you throw in growing this team, you know, he really does need that help. And so I try to be that for him.

That dynamic quality wasn't, it wasn't possible. Before Cody and before, you know, we talked about building the team and having the most well rounded team possible because of everything that he just mentioned. It's impossible for me, even though I want to, it's my nature to think outside these four walls at all times. It gets incredibly difficult to do so. So your growth becomes very limited. Your growth is only what you can accomplish that day within these four walls. But over the course of, you know, the past six to eight months now all of a sudden my growth is infinite because I can share these ideas and we can learn how to take 3, 4, 5, 6 different industries, merge them together into one vertical and, you know, prove our value to brands that you might not ever think that made sense with a fashion House or a designer because, you know, now all of a sudden we can serve so many different, you know, different verticals. And that was the exciting part for me is that now I can be the dreamer because I can just make my verbalize my dreams. And now, you know, Cody can go chase them down in his own very type a controlled way. But that gives such a amazing, well rounded character to our team and our company. It makes a lot of things possible.

Yeah, I mean, bro, me and you are so alike. It's scary. It's real scary. But like. Yeah, I don't think so. You don't have the hair, but maybe.

You just took all the hair jeans.

I did. Maybe. I don't know. But it's, it's, it's nothing for, you know, me to walk in the office or on the way up here even. It's a great example. We were, I got to keynote speak at a chamber of commerce thing in our city the morning before we left. So like six, six o' clock start time. We did a 22 hour day. But that's. The whole team did like everybody was in for it. Like, let's go. We had an intern named Mark who's 18. This is his first real job and he's just hanging out. We're still trying to figure out what he wants to do and what he's good at. It's his day off and he still came. And he came at 6 in the morning and he's 18. He's just a kid. He's getting, doing it. It's awesome. But then on the way up here, we're talking about like, you know, they're. Oh, so now I see that. I see that like you talking in front of a crowd is a thing that we should be marketing. Like that's a thing. Like we should do that.

Can I stop you for two seconds? Yeah. Late last night and it's so frustrating for me because I get really excited. I call Cody. Very first thing I do. My wife doesn't care anymore.

She just.

Because she's heard so many ideas. Cody's quickly become getting to that point to where I'll call. Cody's super excited with an idea and all I hear is, yeah, okay. And I'm so frustrated that he's not as excited as I am. But I called him last night because I was so excited about today's story. Right. I was so excited about sitting down and getting to share a lot of this stuff that, you know, I made sure, I wanted to make sure Ryan was here. So we could capture the story from different vantages. I called him. I don't. Hey, man. We're doing this podcast tomorrow, and I just really think there's more we can do. Like, I want to go capture this. You know, speaking engagements and keynotes and conferences, and I want to do this. You know, we can go make a lot of money, but also help a lot of people. So I just want to let you know I have additional content coming tomorrow. We're going to wrap this up into a sizzle. I need you to celebrate. So, literally to go do that, because I realized that these stories have power.

Yeah, yeah.

Outside of these four.

Yeah, for sure.

But that's what I mean, that's what Cody has to deal with, is my crazy ideas and then underreacting. And then, you know, a month down the road, it's done, and all of.

A sudden, I would have to guess. Correct me if I'm wrong. At this point, maybe underreacting is the wheels turning because the dreams get bigger, and you're like, okay, how are we gonna piece this together? Like, you got a beat on it, but you're trying to finalize.

I think. Yeah, I think that's what it is. I mean, I have so much going on in every different direction, but obviously, Travis is my priority. So, you know, I'm trying to.

When.

When you're, like, have the personality that I have, and you're trying to, you know, make everything work. You know, one of those. Even that little idea, it's, like, a little bit stressful, but that's right. Like, I'm basically trying to figure out how to fit this and. And make it work. And then I told him, you know, we get asked to do a lot of auctions and raffles, you know, for whatever it may be. And so I came back to him, and I was like, that's a great way to tie in, to possibly make you the keynote whenever we're, you know, making a leather jacket for whatever raffle that we're doing, you know, but, yeah, that on top of, you know, the TV show and bringing in new manufacturers, partners, you know. Yeah, it's definitely a lot. But, yeah, he knows by now that, you know, whether we're on the golf course or it's a phone call or we're sitting there just bullshitting. Like, if he ever brings up an idea like that and I seem underwhelmed, you're right. Like, it's more me. Just like, okay, how can we get this?

I know that because that. That happens to me a lot. With Tom So you probably get, like, a different aspect of business when he calls you. But for Tommy, like, on this trip down here where he was like, hey, oh, we can set this up. Oh, we can make a stage over here. We can. And in my head, like, he's excited about it, and I'm not even thinking about my level excitement. I'm thinking, okay, exactly. Do I have the equipment to do this? Okay. What would this look like? And then I'm piecing together this in my head, and so I come across.

I'm like, we want somebody to be.

Yeah.

Excited as we are.

You know what?

I'm gonna Speed genetic. This Irish Mexican thing.

Cousins. It's in the blood. No, I. I guess I probably need to be a little more intentional of being sharing that excitement with you, so.

I don't want you to be excited.

I'm super excited right now.

You're not gonna get what.

You don't even try.

But, like, I, I, I. I really, honestly got him at. I'm at a point. I'm 40, man. I get, like. I'm a lot. For a lot of people. I just do, like, most people can't hang out with me very long, and because I'm intense about everything. If we're gonna do it, like, we're gonna. We're gonna crash the walls to do it, like, we're gonna go get it. But I don't need.

Literally, I don't need.

Yes. Often I don't. I don't need, like, the rest of my team to match my level of excitement, because I feel like that's not them. And I. I have them because I want them to be the best them. I have teammates that are just excitable people.

Yeah.

Like. And they're. They. They're just people I call and, like, get hyped with and then while. And. And their job is just as important because their job is to keep me excited while the execution is happening because there's a gap from conception to birth, and somebody's got to keep me excited about the baby coming, you know, and throw. And throw, you know, parties, and.

That's a great way to put it.

Yeah.

Because they're out there doing the work.

Exactly. You know, and he's. As many wins as Travis has had, he's also been burned a lot.

Yeah.

You know, and that's just part of it. You know, I mean, we've all been there, for sure, but fireproof at this point. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, the fact that we, you know, when I met him just under two years ago, and the fact that, you know, he was in this small little. I don't even know, I guess you call it a studio in Dallas, which you would. If you blink, you'd miss it. That's how small it was. And now we're sitting here talking to you guys on one of the busiest streets in the United States.

It's pretty crazy.

So I would call it a win at the end of the day, but it's my, you know, responsibility. And this is kind of my first go at all this, you know, I mean, I have maybe the credentials or whatever you want to call it to be in this position. And obviously he believes in me, but I'm only 27, and I'm still, you know, I'm kind of the young one, and I'm still, you know, with my personality and him kind of putting all that faith in me, you know, I just take it very seriously and. And it's my job moving forward to make sure that it's all wins. I know that's, you know, hard to do, but we're going to have some bumps in the road, but, like, we've had the last few weeks, but you know what I mean? I'm trying to just protect him and. And make sure that, you know, this. All. This all works out.

Yeah, I think you have to have. You have to have bumps in the road. I think you cannot be all wins.

You'll.

Yeah, you're not doing something right if there's no bumps in the road.

Exactly.

Exactly.

So let's. I want to. I want to get into. Because I was telling the guys. It was so funny in the last episode segment of this, Travis said, yeah, you know, it's not always great. You know, my. My water's been turned off in my light. And then this is, like, recent stuff. And then the next breath, he's like, but, you know, like, next year we're going to be in Chicago. We're going to be in New York. So it's like, yeah, yeah. We're trying to figure out how to even, like, just get cash for. To do receivables and get the bills paid and also expanding to two more major cities.

I mean, you know, this, like, you can't stop thinking for thinking because, I mean, if you do, our growth stalls. And if I had to become complacent and fulfilling, you know, problems one through five, you know, we're never gonna grow, and I'm never gonna create that future for my family or the 10 families behind me.

So. So what. Let's talk about what you envision this being at the end because, so, because this is a thing that I tell entrepreneurs to do all the time. But so we talk about reverse engineering everything. So like, where do you see, like I tell entrepreneur, like, hey, this is what I need you to do. I need you to go right down in your, the way it smells, tastes, feels to you, everything sort of how you did the assessment with me for the, for the custom. What do you think your business looks like when it's successful? And then we always say, so how many people are running it, doing what roles? And I make them fill out an org chart of the entire thing and put their name in every slot because one, it's visual and you can't, you can see like, oh, I can't do all this.

Yeah.

But then as they hire people, they just take their name out and then that's how they know they've gotten where they need to be. Right. And, but that exercise for me, always. And I do that. I do it daily. Like when we, we bought a farm and we're going to do a wedding venue in a restaurant, I was like, all right, well, I've got to have an executive chef. And so I just put the name down and that's going to be me for now. Okay, great. Nobody wants to eat my food, so that's going to fail. Right. So that's. But what I know is that like I can't have an opera. I get, I could have an opportunity to have a grounds management manager come in and be like, oh, but that's not on my org chart. And so that helps me say no to things that will get in the way of the dream. So I'm interested in what Travis Alston at scale in your, in your imagination looks like.

It's, it's a little tough for me to answer that right now. And I'm not afraid to admit that because I'm, I'm smack dab in the middle of building and construction, constructing that vision in my head every day.

Yeah.

And little things that I do here within these four walls is me kind of ironing a lot of those teams out. So I can envision the architect, you know, the, the, the building of this couple years from now. But to me, in, in five to 10 years, if we have, you know, you know, eight to 10American showrooms where we can successfully transition people's thoughts and emotions when they're shopping retail. And that's through a series of different things within these four walls. You know, whether it's a consumer facing hat bar where people can build their own experiences and their own stories into a Travis Austin hat, which states our workload offsets or offloads our workload. As we move forward and grow, you'll start to see that those activations within our, within the showrooms. It won't be Mike and I making every single hat, but we'll give the consumer their opportunity to build their own stories. Obviously, the accessory and ready to wear product has to. Those verticals have to grow to be able to effectively scale the company. So that has a lot to do with it and can. Continuing to solidify and build our platform as a fashion house, but also, you know, continuing to, to understand the, the importance and the, and the impact of art, the way that people collect art and the way that people collect fashion and how to merge those two things. I know this is all very abstract, but my, my overall goal is to take the fashion world and take the art world and really mesh the two, overlay the two. Which it's, you know, certain houses have done it here and there, but I don't think anyone has taken the way that people purchase fashion and collect art and really, truly overlay those two acts, those tangible acts on top of each other. And that's the goal of, of this fashion house, is to take the feeling of collecting art and the feeling of purchasing fashion and layering those two on top of each other. That I think happens over the course of opening these showrooms, but also just continuing to pit and pat full cultural references and respecting people and telling their stories effectively. And through those things, I think we accomplish what I want to accomplish. Accomplish.

That's so cool. Like, there's, you know, there are some people out there that. And you're probably aligned more with that that are going to go like, okay, well, it's going to be A plus B plus C. And this is what. And this is, this is what it looks like. I have a business partner, and he's very much like Cody. Like, he's, he's very linear. He's a software engineer by, you know, the trade. And so it's just next, next right step, Next right step, next right step. But he always gets to the same answer I do, working backwards. So we always like to say, like, his is 2, his is 3, plus 3 is 6, and minus 2 times 3, 6. It's the same damn answer.

Yeah, that's a beautiful thing.

Yeah.

And that's yes. I mean, that's exactly what it is. And, you know, I, I look at it as almost like a triangle. If you Will, like, I see every. Every angle together as the sum of those angles equal, you know, the. The perfect. The perfect angle. So the perfect triangle. But this. This A plus B plus C equals one thing. This A plus B plus C equals another thing. And this A plus B plus C equals another thing. And together they're perfect.

Right.

But they're three separate strategies and. And growths. My. My goal is to have all of those in line and functioning well. Yeah, the three. Three different, you know, offshoots and strategies, but collectively, they're going to make something beautiful. And to us, it's the different industries in the different verticals that we. That we work in. But I think we have. The platform is strong enough in what Mike and I have learned within people. I continue to grow as an artist and a designer every single day in my studies in the way that I respect these cultures, in these industries. So that continues to grow, and then the team continues to solidify. And those are the three points of my triangle. My respect and studentship as an artist and a designer. Our team growing, and then Mike and I continuing to evolve as listeners and designers.

That's so good.

Those are our. That's my triangle. And that's how we succeed.

That's amazing.

So we should charge people for that.

We.

We should.

Welcome to my master class.

Yes. Yeah. No, that's exact. The whole time of the whole day, I've been like that, thinking that. Well, that's. That's. Man. I just want to say thanks again, like, for all the hospitality you've shown us and letting us crash your place.

Our home is your home. I mean that.

I. I did put my bed back there in the. Close to the.

You're gonna kick Mike out. You're gonna make Mike roll over.

We put a couch back there for a reason. At least all of us will crash here. At least. At least one. So this truly is our home.

So I get it. We've spent. I've spent many nights on the couch of the office, so I 100% get it. Well, man, thank you so much and Cody, so much. So nice to meet you, man, and hear how you're interwound into the story here. And, you know, Daniel, any. Any final thoughts to take us out?

Yeah, what's. What's your Instagram handle? Is it Travis?

Oh, yeah, let's do that.

Yeah. Travis Austin Customs. Travis everything.

Do you have a website?

Yep. Travis Austin Customs. Com.

Look, you guys need to start. I know we have a little bit of merch right. Right here, but you need to stop Check out his website. Definitely follow my Instagram. But I'm telling you, the creativity, the merch, it's all next level. I mean, it's. It's.

It's gonna make you feel bad about your marriage because him and his wife are the trendiest people on the planet. They're like, whatever. You're gonna feel bad about yourself, but go look at them anyway. They're cute.

If you guys. I do want to give, like, kind of one.

Yeah, dude, do your thing, man.

Or two things.

As many things as you want.

Whether you're learning how to be an entrepreneur or, like, looking for. Should I look, like, straight into the camera?

I've got this. Hang on.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

You're doing it.

Tommy really wants to do this.

Now we're gonna show the camera moving in everything.

All right, all right. So two themes that. I mean, within the. Within this chapter of my life that I've truly learned to understand and. And feel. Whether you're a young entrepreneur or you are looking for the confidence or the. Or the guidance or mentorship to become an entrepreneur, whether you. Maybe you already are and you're going through your first, like, set of. Like of issues or problems, learn to displace your pride and lean on those around you. My wife has dealt with more tribulation and issues and months without money and our electricity and cut off over the past two years than any one woman or young mother should ever have to deal with. But our world is going to change probably within 12 months. And it's because I have people like that, like Mike, like Ally, who you guys didn't meet today, but means. I mean, without her, none of this. None of this works. You have those people to lean on to help you through those times. If I didn't have them, I would probably be back behind a bar somewhere. Which is the most powerful fear? It's a rational fear that I live with every day, which is a perfect transition into just reiterating. Just don't. Don't be afraid to be terrified. I am terrified every single day. Two years from now, I'll continue to be terrified every single day. I think that's what. That's what makes a powerful entrepreneur. I think that's the type of humility and emotion that allows yourself to. To be the member of a team and a leader. More importantly, I'm very proud of.

Our.

Ability as a team and my ability as a leader to feel those things. So if you feel those things and you learn to lean on those around you, rather than trying to bust through the walls by yourself, your business or your life or your family. All those things will prosper. But the past few weeks trying to move into this space has. Has torn all of those things down for me and allowed me to truly understand what I have around me, who I have around me, and what's ahead of me. And it's only because of those things that we'll ever be successful.

So that's awesome.

And that's so good, guys.

That was all for me, by the way.

Just you. That's all you needed to hear. All that.

You should have just turned and looked at me. That was. I received that very well.

So good. Yeah. All right, guys.

This has been three segments in one day with Travis Austin here in his soon to be immaculate showroom, 3rd and Broadway, right above the Nash Collection. Like, this is the busiest corner, maybe in America. It's crazy. At 10 o' clock this morning, bands started firing up outside. Come to Nashville, come check him out. Go online, buy everything. I. I already have, so you'll be second, but that's fine. Go buy it anyway. We'll talk to you guys soon.