https://www.listennotes.com/e/49c197213e0447d8bd1d80f8e3e4eb9f

All right, you ready?

Let's do it. What's up guys? Welcome back to the Leaf Fast podcast. This is episode two, thanks for the cheers. This is episode, no this isn't episode, this is segment two. Segment two. I don't know what episode it is, but we're still here. 700. We're still live. We're still with Travis Austin and we're still in downtown Nashville. So first things first, if you guys didn't hear the episode before this, stop what you're doing, go back. Watch what is that? Oh, I thought that was a sound effect. I was like, what are you doing for that one? Why would you play that?

There go a drill.

It sounded like ocean waves at first. I was like, okay, we're getting a little intimate here. But no, we're still here in downtown Nashville, and for those who don't know, we're across the street from, I think, Kid Rocks. So if you hear somebody playing, all you gotta do is put a drink in my hand.

It's not our background music. It's the band.

Is that a Kid Rocks song? No, but they were, they were, don't blame me for that. Yeah, we're not held to the truth. But Tommy is now wedged between two Music City Aloha Hatts. The first episode, I didn't have one. Now I do. Travis's stuff is awesome, by the way. I did a little live tour and looked at some of his stuff. And I've only seen the hat that you had, the one of one.

Yeah, the Travis, the white corduroy.

You know, you're the first person I've.

Ever seen in general.

I tell everybody that. Everybody sees it and they go, man, what a sick hat.

I'm like, you know, I was first.

I don't know if you believe me. It was in a month.

Before it was released. Yeah.

Some Jehovah's Witness came to the door and started talking. Tommy's like, Hang on, let me tell you about this hat.

And then they left.

They were gone.

They were out of here.

Do you know Jesus?

Do you know I had this hat before anyone else? Do you know? He's pulling out the Instagram.

Travis Austin relinquishing you from religious since 1989. I really feel like there is a business idea in that.

But that's another, that's a whole nother episode.

12Th business, right?

Yeah.

The number 12. Number 12.

Oh, man.

So, guys, we're having a great time. We're hanging out with Travis Austin, and we, if you haven't listened to the first segment, you got to go. go back and listen to it because he said like some incredible things. And we were talking about like this guy is incredible because he's an artist. Like so he's got this like mind for art, but he's also like, you know, was played baseball at the highest level all his life except, yeah, without the exception of going to the pros, he played on the USA under 18 team and he like just a competitor all his life and then became a fashion designer, which is incredible. And we talked about his journey there and how he got up and he's just said some amazing things about conquering fear, but not even conquering it, like absorbing it. living in it, understanding it and letting it motivate you. It was so good, but it was a good place to stop. So we're going to we're going to pick a story back up now. And so I want to know, like, how like the Travis Austin brand, because you're not front like you did. You weren't originally here in Nashville. Like you were in Texas, right?

Yeah, it's the the brand and the company is done all over the place. So it started in California. when I was in San Diego, Los Angeles. And then I did it, like, privately there, kind of just feeling it out, learning how to do all this for probably three or four years. And then my wife and I, we had gotten engaged, California, Metro, and she grew up in Dallas or, like, greater Dallas area. So, uh, we're both from Southern families. We, you know, we have rooted in, in the South. and we knew that California meant a lot to us. We had met each other in California. We had a lot of friends and family in San Diego, extended, you know, but we knew we. We had to go back, you know, to raise our kid and to get married and all that. So in 2017, we moved to Dallas, and at that point in time, I opened the first. I I began to open the first Travis Austin show room. The very first physical location. At that point in time, it was just leather jackets. What it is now is not even remotely what it was at that point in time.

And you have to be really into fashion to do a leather jacket brand in Texas.

Yeah, and that's honestly, thank God that happened, because if I would have stayed in LA or went right to New York or something, maybe I would have just tried to just do leather jackets. Oh, yeah. it's a little bit more viable in those markets. But because it was in Texas, I knew, you know, that I had to, to be able to scale the brand, to be able to really create a future and build a team and all that, I had to make it more variable and approachable and accessible to all consumers. You know, it just people are going to walk in off the street in the middle of Texas and buy 2500 leather jacket. That's just not going to happen.

So.

Vintage was the first kind of foyer into accessory product. It's something that I really, it was my style, it was something I really enjoyed. So I'd go out and hunt 70s, 80s, 90s, like rock and roll, you know, vintage stuff. And that was the first accessory product that we really built on. Then I got lucky. I found a, this outlet that sold, like, stunts and resist all, you know, hats at a super deep discount. And I went and bought eight hats one day. And I was like, all right, well, maybe this is something hats have just already become popular. I customized them very simply, nothing compared to what we do now. And just like kind of the way that I've, I felt, you know, to do it and didn't know what I was doing. I was probably using Elmer's glue and, and Scotch tape. I have no idea, honestly. and I put eight of them on the website. But then they are $175 and I thought to myself, all right, if these sell in two weeks, this is my answer. I know this is something and this is how I grow my company. And I put them online, they sold in 30 minutes.

So.

I went back to the outlet, I bought a bunch more hats, I raised the price a little bit and that was 3,000 hats a go. And now, holy man. Now we're the hat people.

The hat people. Yeah, that's incredible. Like 30 minutes they sold out.

Yeah, I mean, I have a really great group of like family and friends and that's probably why, but thank God, you know, because it affirmed to me that it was a great accessory to where my heart is as a designer, which is in leather. And I knew I could build one vertical while growing the other and they could off each other. And, you know, a leather jacket and a hat, you know, with an outfit is perfect. And it's so timeless. The most important part of our brand is the word timelessness or timeless and just creating something that, you know, whether you're 18, 35, 45 or 60, you're gonna love wearing. And it was that transition of moving to Dallas, learning how to build the verticals and then, you know, continuing to grow the company that really started all this. Wow, that's incredible.

I love, I love that, you know, so in the first episode, so we're trying to keep some people, keep it, keep everybody up that didn't hear the first one, maybe, I don't know what they're doing with their life. Why didn't they listen to the first one? I can't apologize for them out there. But, you know, you talked about, you know, taking, like, sewing classes at Joann's. And then, so, like, I love that the transition was, you know, I'm gonna take sewing classes at Joann's and figure out how to do some custom merch. and then I'm gonna go try some hats. And, like, I love the experimental. And maybe that's part of that confidence thing we talked about. But this idea that, like, you just gotta keep trying something.

Yeah.

Like, you can't.

Entrepreneurship is not like, if you. I mean, I did go to school, but, like, if you go to school and then go to the. Go, you know, take your MBA, and then if you believe that there's a true, real framework. To entrepreneurship, that's great. You're entitled to your own thoughts, but you're wrong.

You're in it.

Entrepreneurship is taking a handful of Spaghetti and throwing it at the wall and 99% of the noodles are gonna fall down. But one Spaghetti is gonna stick to that wall. And you take that Spaghetti and you make it work. But then the next day, you take another handful and you throw out the wall, and one more is gonna stick. And for 18 months, two years almost, I threw spaghetti at the wall every single day. And two years down the road, Mike came into my life, and. And that day, that was the piece of spaghetti. And then he came into my life, and we both. started throwing spaghetti at the wall. And for the past 13 months now, we've done that every single day. And now we have a full bowl of spaghetti. It's there. We have a lot to work with now and we have a platform and we have a team and we have all these auxiliary things that we can go forth and not only build our greater, build our platform larger, but assist others in building theirs.

Yeah.

That's so cool. I love the timeline there because, you know, there's all those, you know, I'm a 10-year I'm a, I'm a 10-year I'm a 20-year I'm a 30-year overnight success, you know, and everybody sees it, like, all of a sudden you were popular, but that was all the work in the background. And, like, just hearing, hearing, because you guys have, like, blown up. Like, I mean, seriously, you are, I think you've reached that level of momentum that it would It would require a complete meltdown from your team to slow, and it would have to be like meltdown. We all walked away to stop it from being this huge smash success.

Yes, and it's awesome to be in the middle of that and realizing that. You know, we haven't had a showroom for two and a half weeks. We've been working on my kitchen. And, you know, I'm sorry, Christina. Thank you though for letting us do that. And you would think that like, you know, not being able to really sell for two, three weeks at a time, like to a business, that's like a death sentence.

Yeah.

But because our, our platform is so strong and people love following our journey, we're okay. And I was a, we were able to basically take three weeks off of really, truly working and selling and we're going to be all right. But on social, I mean, you see one thing on social media and again, going back to me trying to be as transparent as possible. you say we've blown up in some. Some ways, shapes and forms. Yeah, we have. We have. But within the past 12 months, my electricity has been turned off three times. I didn't have water when my wife was eight months pregnant for a week, because every dime that the company makes goes to everyone that works for this company, not including myself. and that doesn't mean because those things happened, that doesn't mean we're a failure. That means that this is growing a little bit faster than I can, than I can keep up with. Yeah. And every dime that comes in, it, that dime is cut up and used before it even, before it lands while it's in Shopify, before it goes to the bank account.

And.

I, it's times like these and it's My ability to share these stories means a lot to me because people order hats from us and it might be 16 weeks before you see your hat. And people don't really understand. They think, okay, why I paid you for this, why don't I have it? Well, hopefully listening to things like this really explains things for people.

Sure, yeah.

You know, we do things the way that we have to do them and we put every ounce of effort and emotion into your piece no matter Whether we make it the day after you order or four months after you order, but it's because so much goes into these things and it's caught up so many different ways before it even lands. And building a business is incredibly difficult, especially when you're building families and trying to maintain and catch up to the growth at the same time. Catching up to the growth is almost the hardest part of leading a business. if, if Mike and I only had two orders a day, and it would be really easy to make those hats. Yeah.

Running that week, running a failing business is easy.

Yeah, it's incredibly easy. But touching up to your growth and realizing what's, what's actually happening and trying to scale a company and build efficiencies and tools and procedures for all of you while you're waiting for your hats, that's incredibly difficult. And that's kind of where we're at.

Right now in our, in our trajecTory. And I don't think everybody understands, like, I think so I see it as, like, an art piece, right? And so, like, so, like, for example, and I'll be, I'll be a great example of this. Like, you know, we, we kind of all hoped, like, fingers crossed that we would have, like, I could get a hat today. Like, that was the thing. But I called you last week and I was like, look, dude, I know where you're at. Yeah, I get it. Like, you're moving, like, don't sweat my hat. Yeah. Because I want the best art.

And so that's what I'm investing in. I want the, but not every consumer is like that. And I do want to, I do want to Make this a point because hopefully a lot of my platform will listen to these these sentiments 95% of the people who purchase things from us are amazing. Yeah, and they are understanding and they see they see me on my Instagram every day and they they follow me through our days and they know what's going on We do feel a lot of complaints, I'll say. And it just people wondering. And if, if those, if those people can just take from this, this sincerity and, and the, you know, the true emotion into, like, how our days actually work and, and the amount of effort and, and focus and also anxiety that goes into each and every order.

Yeah.

If they take anything away from that, then, then I'm a happy guy, but. It's just, it's heavy.

Sure. Yeah. Well, let me back out. You talked about, you know, the effort. The first thing that I noticed when we walked in, and of course, I'm not on the receiving end of a hat, so I'm not looking at a timeline. And the first, absolute first thing I noticed, you start talking about when you walk in, this is what we want it to look like. This is what we want to feel like. There was not just an idea. There was a vision. It was thought through. It was laid out. because you can tell the difference between a thought and idea and like, I hope that it looks like this and then you know where you're going, you know what you're gonna do. I think the key word would be intentional. You have thought this whole entire space through. I feel like the same goes, and I've just heard you have conversation as we're setting up with your team about, you're still working as we're doing this and getting ready for that. The passion that goes into that. is like, I've not seen that anywhere else, really. And I think that people also should understand, like, it's different to see the passion, you know, like firsthand and see what goes into it, but also know that that's the kind of work that's going into the product that you're doing. And I feel like if it was any less, it wouldn't be what it is. And it's.

And I'll just say, as a customer, it's so special. I was telling him, it's the craziest retail experience I've ever had because. It's not, you really are building a relationship over a consultation. Like, when you asked me about my kids and my life and what like themes ran through my life and what was important to me. And I left feeling known, which is value in itself, because it's powerful. Yeah, it is, it's incredibly powerful. And most, and there are people who never feel that way ever in life. And you provide that in a retail environment, which is so unique and so cool. But then I also feel so confident that this thing that I'm gonna get, this piece of art that I'm gonna get to wear, and I'm gonna wear it like, I'm just gonna be obnoxious 'cause I'm gonna wear it all the time. But this thing that I'm getting that's gonna be like this one-off, really unique, solely for me, like you have to, there's a weight to that that you and Mike carry as creators because you have to deploy so much empathy to make the things that are important to me important to you.

And so I want to, and Dan, I'm gonna touch on this, but remind me to come back to like consumership and the science of buying, which is something that I'm, it's where we're at right now, like literally today, is that, and it's something that I pride myself in and I really want to talk about. But the emotion and the empathy that Tommy you just brought up, so, and, and I think at this point, most people who, who do shop with us or, or inquire about shopping with us understand this. And, and it's, I think a lot of the reason why people do come to us, period, Mike and I both were very much the kind of people that if, if our grandfathers would have given us their, you know, handed down their Stetson or, or their old hat or a handkerchief or anything like that, we're very much the, the makers and the types of people that we would wear those things until they literally fell apart. Right, exactly. That's who we are. Unfortunately, in some instances, like, you know, even though our families are great, we were never really given those things. They just never came down to us. Sure. So we put an unbelievably large amount of effort and emotion into creating that for other people. So every single piece, whether it's a jacket, or a hat is made with the intention of being generational and being there 100 years from now for your grandkids, your great-grandkids. So when you buy from us, the first thing that happens is either you schedule an appointment with us or you did a consult sent to you online. We do everything we can to make that, excuse me, make that consult as personal as possible, even if it is coming online. But that consult, whether it's in person or through email, is meant to pull stories out of you. A lot of times, talking about yourself is not easy. And maybe when you're older, maybe when you're in an interview setting, telling stories about yourself is not the easiest thing to do. And a lot of times, it's just not super exciting. so what we do is we have done this for a long time now to where we understand how to represent certain stories through design and balance and, and, you know, functionality. So we take all these details, we put them into your hat. We, we then explain to you, you know, if there's, you know, a certain number of studs or a certain number of wraps of chain or a certain type of design that we branded into your hat or a certain, you know, the way that we laid the cards versus the matches versus the straps on the top. All of those things mean something. So our our goal is to put the stories into the hat. So one day your kids are super fucking excited to wear that hat and tell your stories.

Right. It has meaning to it.

Exactly. that way, your stories or the things that are important to you live one, two, three generations from now. That is why these things are so heavy for us. That is why that we don't get a piece of paper. You know, it's not a. It's not a GM. It's not an assembly line, right? We don't get a paper in this side, and we put it in an easy bake oven and shoot out a hat on the other. We limit ourselves to two hats a piece. per day so that we can spend an absorbent amount of time on each person's story. It's a privilege, though.

Yes.

Absolutely. We don't take it lightly. You're giving us your life stories or your wedding present for your significant other or a birthday present. Or people have come to us after one of their parents have passed away with things from their parents that they want to put into their hats. That's a privilege for us. So we're not, it would, we would be so wrong to take these things, not process them honestly and truthfully, and then spit them back out with, you know, just to look good or just to be fast fashion. So if you're waiting two, three, four months for your hat, well, one, I'm sorry. I know this isn't traditional retail, but this is gonna be there for your kids and your kids' kids to tell your life story. So also, I'm not sorry.

Sure, yeah.

If I missed a couple of your messages or I missed a couple of your emails, I am sorry about that. I am honestly not the best communicator when it comes to that stuff because the rest of my day is so heavy.

We're running a business.

And we are doing what we can to take care of customer service. I promise. It's gonna get better. But that's why it takes a while, because we truly are putting our our whole selves into this. And then to touch back on experimental retail and consumer science.

Yeah.

So retail, we all know, is kind of dying. The traditional retail, the retail that we all grew up with, going to the mall, going to stores and shopping with your mom, it's just way different. I know that, obviously. I'm not an idiot for popping up physical locations everywhere. But there is a ton of opportunity for new industries and new verticals. And to me and this company and our team, that industry is experimental retail. When you come in here, you should feel like you're in an art gallery. You should spend like you're in a retail location. And you should experience as if it's a , you know, a social experiment or social celebrity status or any of the Instagram, you know, activations, all of that. So, yes, it's a physical location, but you are experiencing three different industries, three different mediums, three different ways to feel all at the same time.

Yeah.

To where you're proud to be here, you're excited to be here, and you're going to talk about it after you leave. Yeah. That's, that's the, that's the goal. The, the second you step foot into a Travis Austin location, whether it's Dallas, Nashville, next year, Chicago, New York, no matter where it's at, that's how you're going to feel.

Yeah.

And we're super excited.

We're super proud of that. Yeah. I've seen that firsthand. I mean, Tommy, you know, Tommy is the kind of guy. How do I say this? He can go wherever he wants to and get whatever he wants to hat wise. I mean, you know, like, anything was really. But, like, I can afford to buy a hat. Yeah, that's. I was gonna say it.

Now.

Tommy can't afford to buy a hat. All he has to do is flash that smile. That's it, yeah. You want my hat? Give it to me. But I was here when he went to meet with you to talk about, you know, like, and I don't think you knew what was gonna happen. I don't think you knew you were gonna have the conversation.

I didn't know if he was gonna be there. I think the thing I said to him when I walked in was like, oh, there's the man, the myth, and the legend right there.

Like, I just walked into the shot. I had no idea. I just wanted to go get something. He knew, like, he'd been talking about it, and he was excited about the possibility of, you know, being able to stop in here for our schedule allowed it and, you know, like, like, talk to you, but get a hat. But when he came back to the hotel, this dude was on another level. Like, he showed me the can that. That he had, and, like, he was.

It was.

It was something, but prize possession, by.

The way, like, it's. It was so cool. Like, when he told me, it's like, dude, I got.

He told me on the phone.

He called me before he got to the hotel. I was like, dude, you're not gonna believe this. And he was telling me about.

Okay, so now you're embarrassing me.

Yeah.

He was like, do you want to spray paint cans? He was. I'll give you one.

I want right behind us. I want all of them. All right.

He was crying. No, I'm just kidding. But he, he was telling me about this, this cannon. I'm like, oh, that's cool. You got a spray, you got a spray paint can, like, yeah, but I.

Didn'T understand what all had happened.

And, and he was just like, dude, I mean, that can made, made a bunch of. Yeah. But it's the story behind it. So he came in, he's like, dude, we sat down and talked, and I told him my story, and, like, I think that is such a, like, an incredible experience if for any consumer. I mean, like, I obviously can't influence how people are buying. If you want a hat right now, go your ass to Foot Locker in the mall and buy you a hat. Like, but if you want an experience.

If you want art, like, it's, Tommy said this, too. Like, some people don't get to feel like this ever in their life. Yeah. And, and I, I would love if, while we're talking about this, if I could bring Mike into, yeah, just two sentences. 'cause, I mean, we make everything together. So his emotion is just as strong as my emotion when it comes to this stuff. But a lot of the people that we get to meet on a daily basis, one, we're just incredibly humbled and honored that people want to meet us or want us to make stuff for them. But you can just, you can see the excitement and sometimes the nervous energy in people when they come in because you can tell they've never gone through anything like this or they've never realize their pride in some of these things or, or had anybody so, we don't just ask you questions. Like, we did, we did pump.

Yeah.

Like, we did excited.

Like, you tell us, love that.

You tell us that, that something that your family, you know, had a cool story back in the day or, or you are experiencing something really great. Like, we're, we're there with you, like, and a lot of times higher than you are when we're talking about it. so I, we, we really realize the role in lives and, and current culture and, and all of that that we play. And it's not just t-shirts it's not just trucker hats. It's not just bomber jackets. It's, it's lasting memories and stories. And I think, I think Mike would have a really great.

Yeah, that's good.

Kind of.

Yeah.

Reflection on that. as so he doesn't walk around.

He could just walk right in front of the cameras.

It's fine. He wants to make an entrance.

Oh, yeah.

Where's the Applause at? Ladies and gentlemen, Mike. Yes.

Sit on the. You didn't. Wait, wait. We're gonna do it again because he didn't get to hear his own Applause. Go ahead and put the headphones on.

And ladies and gentlemen, Mike.

Well.

So I'm super excited, dude. So I, if you saw my Instagram, I was like, this is, I was showing the whole shop and stuff, but like, so Mike does so much creative stuff too. And I mean, we've talked a hundred, you know, minutes now about like team and, and, you know, Travis has talked about like that coming together moment for you guys and all the emotion, but how do you handle that on a daily basis? All the like, I mean, are you get, you don't get hate too, do you get hate too, or does he get to shield it all 'cause his name's on it?

Yeah. He gets to shield it all.

I'm free and clear.

But that's awesome. So, you know, so what's that, 'cause that is, I just can't, I get to create business stuff. Like, so for me, businesses are, it's the same thing. And so like, I get to create all the time 'cause we're creating businesses and we're doing these new ideas. And I, my like, attorneys on speed dial, we get LLC set up in like minutes. Like, you know, like, it's like, that's how we roll. But I don't have any, there's not weight to that for me. You know, when you guys do so, yeah, it's a phone call and it's an agenda item on a checklist, but for you, you get weight every day. What's that like?

I mean, you just gotta filter it out. Like saying earlier, people come in, they kind of don't know what they're expecting. you know, they've, they've seen it on their screen and things like that. But we do the best that we can to bring that emotion out of people and make them feel at home and comfortable, because that's why we create this space for people to feel like you're a part of the family. And when you get something that we've made, you're now a part of our family because we put that emotion into it that you give to us.

I love it. I think like you said earlier, like people are wrong if they think there's a thing for entrepreneur, but there are generalities that rule it. And I love the idea that if you make every customer special, then your business grows. That's a general rule. Like if you can at scale make whatever it is the part of your, so if your story is hope, if you can at scale make hope sellable, if it's individualism, if it's legacy, if it's whatever, like when you can get to scale, when you can make those things, timelessness, scalable and work, then your business grows. But it's not about the widget. And so I love that that's what you guys are creating, is you're creating this thing, you're making art and legacy scalable.

I love that you love doing it. I mean, I feel like that, you know, doing that in and of itself, your business is going to grow. I think when you love doing that, you know, like when you guys have a passion, it's not like, okay, well, here's a new thing. This is nobody's doing this. Let us do it and just see how. No, it's like you guys are passionate about that.

And I mean, we went through something.

That we had a conversation.

Right?

Yeah.

I was just going to say, like, aside from scaling and creating new things, like, that's fucking awesome. That's why we do it. Just to keep that creative going. But as artists and creatives, you you hit roadblocks, like, mentally, and you're like, do I want to do this anymore? Like, am I doing the right thing? Like, what can I change? And it's like that, for us, we can get over, and nobody can help us through that but ourselves. Like, people can throw at you and say, but it's your. It's your mental.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But I said to him the other day, it's like, what keeps us going is, like, we're doing all these things, and we're making all this hats and. Sometimes to us, it can just get repetitive. But the feeling that people get when they open that box or they walk in and see that jacket done, and they cry and they hug you, like, you can't replace that. There's no dollar amount on that. And that's why.

Dang.

That's so good.

That's what breaks up the monotony.

Yeah, for sure.

And we, no one, and Mike said this, no one can get us through that. besides ourselves.

Right.

And a lot of times it's literally me sitting Mike down, shaking him by the shoulders or vice versa, letting each other know or reminding each other that, hey, this isn't, this isn't just a project to us.

Right.

This is not only $500 to this consumer. This is like their life. Right. And they are, their emotion is, grater than we could ever imagine as artists.

Yeah.

And we, no one besides the two of us can remind each other of that. Yeah. I think that goes with what we're.

Talking about in the first segment about fear, like just being terrified about, you know, those are things that go in my mind. Like, it does get me. It doesn't matter what you do. It gets monotonous. It gets, you know, like, you can go through the cycle for so long and then it starts wearing on you. And that's, I think that plays into, okay, Am I doing this right? Should I even be doing this? Am I cut off? I don't even know what it feels like to have gratification, like being able to see somebody react emotionally to something that you have created emotionally. There's part of yourself, yes, their story, it's their product you created, but there's pieces of you emotionally and mentally creatively, all that stuff in the final product. And then for you to see that, Them them get the first glance and then you just see the appreciation that.

I feel like you should feel that way every day. You do that for me like so.

Like that but that's Tommy doesn't cry though. Tommy hasn't cried for me yet.

I'm working on it. I'm getting there.

I do it in my office.

I shut the door and then I cry. But like so you know, he's he's all the creative that we do, you know and like I was a graphic designer like I had that job and we were talking about it on the way up here like I'm good at taking a bunch of ideas that I've seen other places and kind of combining them and making something that's different out of it. But he creates out of thin air, like, oh, here's this thing that never existed in the world, and now I just made it happen. And so every time, it's just every time we see something, it's like, oh, I redid this brand thing of what we were doing for this episode. And look at it now, and it's like, oh, this is a billion times better than I did before you got here.

Show them a tear every once in a while. Make them feel appreciated.

Yeah, Tommy, come on. I'm always doing the neck rub thing.

Yeah, the neck rubs have increased recently, so I must be doing good.

Super weird.

And like, that's one of the cool things. Another one of the cool things about what we do is like, people come in and they give you all these ideas.

Mm-.

And in their head, they just think they're talking.

Yeah.

And, but in our heads, the process.

Yeah. Absolutely.

Things down mentally. And when they come back in, they're like, holy shit. Like, yeah, I. I knew this was gonna be cool, but I had no fucking idea that you guys were gonna be able to take everything that I gave you and put it into this.

Listening is a superpower.

Well, I mean, that's the job. You guys are the creative part of it, and I'm not on that level, but I understand when someone's talking about.

Oh, my God.

That was the best. Where's the sound effect? Which one? There it is. There it is. That's what it was. So, no, but like the creative process of like somebody tells you, this is what we're looking for. This is what we want. A lot of times I'm listening past what they're saying and trying to figure out what they're wanting. So like the delivery of what I do, I mean it's not taking me anywhere near as long as what it takes you guys to do. Like I don't have to have that process physically to create what they're looking for. But I know what it feels like to have to take somebody's like words and be like, okay, I see what you're saying, but let me hear what you're actually meaning and taking that and then making it into something and then that delivery that tells you you're doing the right thing.

We're trying to hear words, listen to words and visualize emotion or visualize design at the same time, which I think, talking about the growth of the company, the company is not always going to be this. Mike and I are not gonna always be able to make custom hats all day long. We have to grow and evolve. We will figure out a way to keep this product, this vertical going and these stories going. We'll fit to that part of it. That's our job. But this three-year period for me, 18-month period for him, of listening to words and designing emotion, that combination right there is such an amazing kind of like preamble for us to be able to go grow one hell of a fashion house.

Yeah, it's so cool.

Over the next five years.

Yeah.

Because every single capsule, every single season, every show that we produce is gonna have those same feelers and those same tactics and that same relatability that we've over the past two years together.

Right.

So all of you, whether we made you a hat two years ago on the road six months ago or the one that we're gonna make for you, all those stories that we took from all of you, from all 3,000 hats, you're gonna see for the next 10 years of clothes that come out of Travis Austin.

Yeah, that's so good.

And that's, yeah. For us, like, that's our whole life's dream. Like, that's it right there.

Yeah, well, that's what, that's what makes you so much different than just anybody else who does it, because you could easily, you know, somebody can tell you what they're looking for, and you can check that box off and just be, okay, I'll. I'll do what you're saying, you know? And it'll look good.

And.

And you guys, I'm sure, could be successful with that. Like, I know what that's like. When someone tells me, this is what I'm looking for, and in my mind, I'm like, they think they know what they're looking for. But you could just say, okay, well, I'll give you exactly that. That's what you want, and I'll get paid. They'll be happy. I'll be happy because I got paid.

But.

Or I could just go the extra mile and be like, hey, listen. I think this fits your brand. You know, like, like you have the real conversation and hear what they're really saying and bring that to life. I think that's what makes you guys so, like, extraordinarily.

But I think that's all birthed out of what he talked about, about being comfortable with fear, because that's a risk. Yeah, that's a risk to, to sell an interpretation. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Selling an interpretation is a risk.

Yeah.

I thought about that while you guys were talking earlier, and it was like, we're in here. We're in this beautiful space that's not built out yet. And we see the vision in such a short amount of time. And then you kind of sidetrack and you're like, well, is the boutique down the street? Like, how are they doing it? And are we doing something right? Are we doing something wrong? But we're not doing something wrong. We're just doing something different.

Yeah.

And being different is what got us here in the first place. So why would we want to be like, exactly.

Yeah.

That's the confidence that you guys are talking about. Because I was going to ask, I know we, I, we can't get into this, but I was going to ask, you know, how much do you let outside influences influence your direction? Because I, obviously what you're doing is different, and you know that. So that, that it's already, that road is, is already narrow. There's not a lot of people doing that.

Dan, that's scheduled for part five.

Yeah.

Part five, six and seven.

Yeah.

Nice. Yeah. I was going to ask, I definitely.

Know we don't have time for that. But I do want to talk about the rest of the team. I want to get to all that. I want to talk about the future of Travis Austin. I want to get to all that. But we are at 40 minutes. And so for everybody watching, we're going to go ahead and end session segment two here. And then we're going to come back and we're going to talk about how they built this incredible team around them. You guys, if you've ever heard me say anything of value at LeadFast, I guarantee you it was about our team. and how we have been able to maintain so much momentum through teamwork and all the other things. And so we're gonna cover that because it's so critically important to everyone's success. This has been such a cool going Pro because I feel like there's so much more to dig into. So we're gonna get to that, come back for segment three, and we're gonna take a little break and then start recording. We'll see you soon.