SPEAKER_02: 0:40

Oregon Media You know, I came out of public radio and I I like I love podcasts, I love radio, I love I think the human voice and the ability to just converse with someone and actually listen and um is kind of a an essential component of being human and the human experience. I have a little bit of a I I have a little bit of a different, I think, take on most podcasts. And so when someone typically says like they have a podcast, I'm like, oh, okay, interesting. But I don't typically have like any interest or any uh frankly, I'm just like, okay, I I don't I it I think it's easy to have a podcast. Many people there's total it's totally fine to have whatever podcast you want. You I checked out your podcast. I remember being really impressed with um one specific technique that you have, which is where you call uh the friend or family member of um of the person that you're interviewing, and you record a bit of conversation with that individual unbeknownst to the person you're interviewing, and then you play that for the person on mic and you get their reaction. And I thought that was really cool. I was like, I was just like, oh wow, this is this is a cool wrinkle, and um it kind of helps you get quickly past the like level one, level two conversations and further down into actually seeing and knowing and understanding an individual.

SPEAKER_00: 2:27

Every brand you love, every product you admire started as just an idea. Sparked by a moment, shaped by a person, nurtured by a community. The Circling Podcast is proud to introduce Earth of the Brands from Oregon Media and Bend Magazine. I'm Adam Shoi. Join me as I sit down with founders from across Central Oregon and beyond. On this series, we follow seven brands that participated in the 10th annual Bend Out Door Works Startup Accelerator Program. Commonly referred to as BAO, Bend Out Door Works' primary mission is to help outdoor startups scale and achieve their wildest dreams. On the seventh and final episode of the first season of The Birth of the Brands, I sit down with my friend and business partner, Dan Gummel, to pull back the curtain on Storybooth, our brand leading the evolution of storytelling and the human experience it creates. We talk about how a background in public radio met a maker's mindset, how divorce, sobriety, and self-reinvention continue to shape our approach to business, and why our real product isn't technology, it's trust. This is a founder's conversation. This is the story of Storybooth, where connection becomes creation and every voice has a place to be heard. I guess this is just our chance to talk about Story Booth. And like, I guess share the story of when we first met and how. And why you were interested in this idea.

SPEAKER_02: 4:21

So it was um I think March or April of 2024. Um about a year and a half ago. Uh my voice is normally deep, it's extra deep today because we were out late last night working. We actually were working, we were not partying, but we were working at a wedding with Storybooth. I don't even know what the word party means anymore.

SPEAKER_00: 4:49

Right, just so people understand. Um yeah, just for context, um Dan and I executed our first event with our new booth partner, Blocko, in Seattle, Washington last night, and it was an overwhelming success. Um we're back here in Portland, kind of just uh taking in the night and kind of analyzing what worked, where we can improve. Um I think I think we we we executed on all the major levels. There's some minor things to improve on. Um but overall, I think we are both really encouraged with the experience and the service we provided. And uh ultimately, I think for both of us, the joy that I think we added to the event. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 5:49

So I met you um in the spring of 2024. Uh you came um into my life at a really interesting time in my life. Um I was kind of in the middle of a career transition. Uh I had come from a public radio background, I learned radio and podcasting. And then I worked for a podcast. Well, I produced a podcast for a YouTube channel here in Portland for about seven years. And then I left that. Um, and I was kind of actively trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I was had a couple projects for different um people I was working on working with. Um but uh I was in a a friend of mine wanted to go hunt, uh he wanted to go scout for a hunting tag that he had down in central Oregon. So we went outside of Roseburg, and um I've never hunted, but I was happy to go with him just to look for tracks and stuff. And um so we were hunting and we ended up going to a uh Hot Springs, uh, the I think it's Amqua Hot Springs outside of Roseburg. And um while we were there, we ended up chatting, I ended up chatting with a couple, they had just gotten married, and they were um they were telling me about this like audio guest book that they had done, and she was like really excited about it. And I remember thinking like that's a pretty good idea. And from my just kind of from my background, I knew the kind of the technicalities and the workflow. I could just kind of tell what what was happening behind the scenes that she was just she didn't really know, she was just a customer of it. And I was like, I wonder if if this is like a real thing, if anyone was actually really tried to to apply it, or if it's it was just kind of an odd one-off thing that she found. So I went home and I looked it up, and um, sure enough, it's like a whole industry. Um, and yeah, uh, I had I had not known about it as a part of the wedding scene or whatnot, so I was kind of surprised. And um I was kind of thinking about like, oh, it would be fun to work on a project like this. And I was thinking and praying about um just ways that maybe I could have an idea like that. I I know how to build and I know how to work on just regular podcasts like educational content or um uh just you know, just kind of a typical show. Um and uh but I was kind of interested in thinking about what like what else could you do with podcasting or with conversations in a way that is a little bit more um accessible to people and a little bit more like kind of utilitarian that could kind of um I don't want to use the word scale, but in a way that could kind of be like multiplied um or or just kind of quickly it could kind of be a little bit more of an iterative process. And uh and so I was just kind of going along with my day, and then um uh I got two I think they were emails or text messages like right around the same time. Like one of them was like maybe on a Monday, and the next one was like on a Tuesday or something the day after from some of my good friends. One of them was a former boss of mine at this YouTube channel. Um and he said, Hey, there's this guy in Ben who's kind of working on this podcast project, and he uh is looking for some help or some advice, and I told him that he should talk to you. And then uh the next day, another kind of a mutual friend of ours, uh of me and my former boss also texted me. He was like, Hey, there's this guy, he's kind of looking around for help. He contacted me and um I told him that you guys should get together. And so uh I think I maybe texted John or or Ben back and said, like, yeah, give him you can give him my number and have him reach out to me if you want. And so uh you called me, and um I was happy to take the call. I was a little, you know, I just wasn't sure what to expect. And uh I remember being really impressed when you told me that you used uh Hindenburg, which is this very like it's a very um obscure editing uh editing software that's actually European. And um I believe it's German. It might be. And uh it's by far the best. Yeah, I mean it's it has it definitely has its um its kind of strengths. Um and uh you just seem to kind of I I yeah that that impressed me quite a bit, and then you told me about this podcast that you make, uh The Circling with Ben magazine, and I remember thinking like I'll check this out. And um, you know, I came out of public radio and I I like I love podcasts, I love radio, I love I think the human voice and the ability to just converse with someone and actually listen and um is is kind of a an essential component of being human and the human experience. I I have a little bit of a I I have a little bit of a different, I think, take on most podcasts. And so when someone typically says like they have a podcast, I'm like, oh okay, interesting, but I don't typically have like any interest or any uh frankly, I'm just like okay, I I don't I i I think it's easy to have a podcast. Many people there's total it's totally fine to have whatever podcast you want. You I checked out your podcast, I remember being really impressed with um one specific technique that you have, which is where you call uh the friend or family member of um of the person that you're interviewing, and you record a bit of conversation with that individual unbeknownst to the person you're interviewing, and then you play that for the person on mic and you get their reaction. And I thought that was really cool. I was like, I I was just like, oh wow, this is this is a cool wrinkle, and um it kind of helps you get quickly past the like level one, level two conversations and further down into actually seeing and knowing and understanding an individual. So um so yeah, we you were kind of telling me about this thing that you were working on called Story Booth. And uh I kind of started giving you ideas, I think, and helping you out on it. And uh I mean, I don't know, you want me to keep going? Like one thing led to another. That's that's kind of my initial impression of you. I remember driving over to Bend about maybe a week or two later after we had met.

SPEAKER_00: 13:39

Yeah, I think it was the next week. It was quick. Yeah, it might have even been less than a week. Because I remember you going saying something along the lines of, oh, I have like free time in a couple days. You cool if I drive over? And I I was really impressed by that because I was looking for someone to who shared the vision that had a skill set that I don't, um, that it wasn't a hard like twist of the arm to get them to see the vision. Right. And I felt like you saw the vision during that conversation. Uh, and when we met at the coff, the cafe, the coffee shop and bend, and you showed up with a bamboo plant uh that was a symbolization of uh you know good fortune and prosperity, um, which still gets watered and is growing rapidly. Yeah, it was uh yeah, it was it was kind of like an answer to prayer for me, quite honestly. Like, not kind of, it totally was, because I had been just going like, you know, I mean, I've I've shared with you many times, and you're probably sick of hearing it, but for people that have never heard kind of the origin story of Storybooth, um, as Dan mentioned, I got interested in starting a community podcast. I wanted to do it a little differently with a little bit more purpose and intention and kind of get to the deeper human level than just an average interview. And I think when other people hear audio about them from other people, that creates a unique human experience. And uh, you know, when I was learning how to do that, I had bought some cheap audio equipment and gone to a wedding and set up the equipment just to learn how to use it and kind of saw this application and this opportunity to give people the op the opportunity to contribute to people who are special to them, contribute to their day and their family legacy and family story in a unique way that I think only audio does. Nothing novel, just you know, exploring with a new platform on how to deliver it to people and uh you know, monkeyed around with that for a couple summers, and it just continued to validate itself. So when I had called you, I had hired a patient of mine to build me a B-grade website for too much money that happened to just like somehow like create some business, you know, like University of Washington called, and uh, you know, I was I was in over my ski tips, what I felt to say the least, and I I would I needed help. And you know, I think I had that of, I think we connected in like you know, March or April, and I had this event coming up in May at UW, and uh I had no idea what I was gonna do with the audio. I knew I could show up, I knew I could record it, but at that point in time, my kind of editing skill set, kind of creative kind of perspective on how to compile audio with purpose for a, in this case, a corporate client was I didn't know how to, I needed help with that. So um, and I had always wanted someone, a partner who had that kind of post-production audio experience expertise that you know I consider myself an amateur in. Um so yeah, man, it was uh it was, I think, is and the more time goes by, the more it was an opportunity for you and came at a right time. It also came at a really good time and and necessary time for me, um, which I think you and I would both say, looking back on the last 18 months of our relationship and partnership with this idea, um, everything has kind of worked out at a time that makes sense. And, you know, like there's been definite problems to solve for and stresses. And, you know, I mean, gosh darn it, we're sitting in, we're recording this in, you know, uh a story booth made by Bloco that four months ago was a dream. And somehow, like, we are able to develop this relationship with Blocco and Yoko and his team and work out this way of getting it here and solve the problems of how to do that. Um, both of which we learned a lot in terms of international importing on products and tariffs, and it's just been it's been a total wild ride. Total wild ride. Yeah. It's um and I love it.

SPEAKER_02: 19:19

I'm I've had do you love it? I oftentimes feel, frankly, like you're not um. I sometimes feel like you're not having a good time.

SPEAKER_00: 19:36

I think that's a fair observation. I think uh in the scope of my life with career and family and you know, like finances and all the things that everybody deals with, you know, the the more you feel committed to something and this inability to kind of back away, um, there's just a there's a level of kind of accountability that comes with that that I take really serious. And I think that that at times can affect me emotionally just because it's, you know, again, I take it very serious and I have like um a strong desire to live up to my commitments. Uh so you know, I think that just gets kind of layered on on a lot of other things that everybody has going on in their life, and it and it it definitely can stress me out. But when I zoom out and I really look at this and kind of the risk-reward, you know, ratio, um, yeah, it's overwhelmingly positive.

SPEAKER_02: 20:46

Why do you feel like you're so um uh like why aren't you more kind of I don't want to say traditional, but like why not just have like your normal PA gig? Your wife and kids and like one hobby.

SPEAKER_00: 21:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 21:09

Like you have like you have like a lot of things that you're involved in. And I remember when we first met, you told me that you started the paddleboarding club or whatever in Bend.

SPEAKER_00: 21:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 21:24

And I like why where does that come from? Why why aren't you more just kind of like, I just go to my nine to five and I come home and like, you know, rinse and repeat?

SPEAKER_00: 21:36

Well, I think I did that for a long time, man. You know, like I I look back on my life and uh, you know, I was fortunate enough to have an experience in the sport of snowboarding, um, which the older I get, I didn't realize at the time was like I'm a creative. Like I think by nature, my personality, I have a very kind of entrepreneurial, creative, kind of forward thinking outside of the box. I'm an early adapter. I've been that way my entire life. I mean, even in the 80s in North Idaho with skateboarding, like there weren't that many people that skateboarded, but it like appealed to me. And you had a septum ring. And I had a nose ring, yeah. Um, which was, you know. That's early adoption, right? That's early adoption. Yeah, we're talking like 95, baby. Yeah, bleach blonde hair and a septum ring in North Idaho in 95 was not the norm.

SPEAKER_02: 22:32

Um which is funny because I think if I were I you show me that picture of yourself the other night. Yeah. And if you if I were to look at that and then to actually um know who you are in terms of just the way that you conduct your life, and kind of the just the I don't want to say like integrity and stuff that you have, not to judge, but like you, you know, you from my understanding, like your life as a snowboarder will probably look different than other lives of other of your others of your peers. And uh yeah, I don't know. There's like this part of me where I'm like, oh, interesting. Like Adam seems to be really cutting edge in a lot of stuff. The creativity I see coming out of snowboarding, because all the snowboarders and the pros and the industry professionals that I've met through you in snowboarding, I have been insanely impressed by their creativity. Yeah. I I grew up in the Midwest and I don't know anything about winter sports. Um and uh there's a there's a certain kind of um, you know, a similar like a surfing type of mindset that comes with someone who spends a lot of time, you know, outdoors, swim uh snowboarding.

SPEAKER_00: 23:52

Yeah. And well, I think it I think it especially at that time, it was a creative outlet and less of a sport. It was, you know, like it it it it it was at a time where there weren't so many kind of, you know, it wasn't as commercial as it was. Um it was a way to express yourself creatively. There was a lot of style and culture and um, you know, just a lot of it was it was a unique uh environment that had a lot of opportunity to experiment in, um, which is basically what kind of creativity and entrepreneurship is, is is a you know, testing an idea. Is it testing a trick or testing a style? Or um, you know, so I think going back to your question, like why not just stick with my career in healthcare and maybe pick up a side hobby? Um when I quit snowboarding, I felt like the pendulum swung from like this very creative entrepreneurial side of the spectrum to okay, now I'm in kind of my early 20s, I want to live in Bend, Oregon. What's kind of the safest route to get there? Um, because there was a lot of kind of ups and downs as a snowboarder in terms of job security and income. And, you know, I mean, it's it especially at that time, it was you could have a good year one year and kind of a bad year the next, and you didn't know if your contract would get renewed. And I think the older I got, that kind of um insecurity with that job security started to make me anxious. And also, like I was just starting, like the the sport in and of itself was starting to change, the risks were getting higher. I had already had a couple knee injuries. Um, you know, there were still things in life I wanted to do, i.e., have a family, and and I just kind of started thinking, you know, I had seen people stay in the sport, maybe out of a fear of doing something else, but then kind of getting in this position where, you know, their their time dried up and they didn't know their whole identity was wrapped up in this I, you know, this this sport or this culture. And then when that dissolved, I saw not a ton of people, but a fair amount of people that were kind of lost. And that scared me. So going into healthcare, because at the time in Bend, you know, in the in the early 2000s, the industries there were, you know, outside of private business ownership were kind of like education, construction, and healthcare. Those seemed to be the staples of that community. Um, I had had experience working with orthopedic doctors as an athlete and felt that I definitely had the intelligence to do that, but also like the like perspective and empathy to maybe be good at it after being an athlete and relating with people in terms of injury and how that can kind of affect one's so, but I think what I'm hearing you say is like um I started out as a creative.

SPEAKER_02: 27:25

Yeah. As a kid. I am I did the kind of traditional, I realized I need to pivot into that kind of like traditional um career path in order to like meet the goals for the other goals I had in life. And now you're like, well, I've always been a creative, and it just so happens that like when I'm not doing my normal kind of nine to five thing, I'm just kind of filling my schedule up with these various ideas or interests that I have, and you have a lot of ideas and interests.

SPEAKER_00: 28:03

Yeah, I mean, I think a big, a big pivot point for me, as as with a lot of people, was COVID and just finally getting a little my clinic practice time essentially went, you know, I had a couple days off a week, which I had not had in years. And uh I had also like quit drinking alcohol and was starting to like mentally develop and grow. And uh you've you've quit drinking before. Can you tell me more about that? How so? Well, I'd like to know why. Why did I quit drinking? Um so I grew up with a my my dad was an alcoholic, and you know, like arguably I've seen the effect of alcohol uh over time be destructive um in my own family. I never really drank in in my early 20s. I was more focused on snowboarding and my community, it just wasn't part of what we did. And when I moved back to Bend after going to medical school, um I realized that over about a five-year period, like I think just the stress of having a profession and a kid and kids and job and mortgage, and like it quickly became kind of like a self-coping, kind of like I'm gonna come home after a long day and have a couple beers, and that was fine for a long time. I also felt that Bend is unique, especially in the early kind of 2009 to like 2015 area. You era, you had everything in BIN seemed to have alcohol associated with it. I mean, you had you had nationally recognized breweries popping up everywhere. The marketing of those breweries, you know, like there was a time where a specific brand had like people mountain biking and fly fishing on the beer can. So it felt like every event had like this alcohol aftertone associated with it. And like it feels good to get a buzz off of an 8.6% IPA, you know, after a fun mountain bike. That's super fun. Um, I also am a believer that substance abuse and just addiction and personality kind of runs. I think there's a well, not even I think. I'm I think it's pretty clear there's like science that supports there's a genetic component to that. And I just kind of paused when I realized, like, you know. In an average week, I'm drinking more than I would think is healthy. Um, and it's starting to kind of give me a brain fog and just this, what is this? I don't like this trajectory, you know. So I think I'm 46 now. When I was 41, I quit drinking and uh just kind of took it a month at a time and like quickly saw the benefit of that. So, you know, I Was there a specific moment or instance that you had that realization? No, there wasn't like any event.

SPEAKER_02: 31:30

There wasn't like um there must have been something that kicked it off where you became in in you know, dissatisfied enough that you said, I'm actually not gonna drink today.

SPEAKER_00: 31:44

I think it was more, as a lot of things are, is more of like a personal challenge. You know what I mean? Like, I'm just not gonna drink this month.

SPEAKER_02: 31:52

A challenge because you wanted to be different from others, and you felt like everything around Ben was associated with alcohol, and like I don't want to be like I don't want to kind of feel that way anymore, or a challenge because you're just like I'm I see myself and kind of like your own life history with your family growing up, and then like maybe your the demands on your time and your schedule as a kid, or sorry with kids. Like, what was the challenge? You wanted to prove it.

SPEAKER_00: 32:28

I think it was a little bit of both. It was probably a little bit of I don't like this trajectory. Um, I don't like there, you know, there was a couple nights like having friends over in the backyard and and you know, tying one on and you know, watching my kids observe me kind of tipsy, um, that was like created this level of conviction to me and like a flashback of seeing my own parents doing that. And uh like I I take parenting very, very seriously. And so that that was a that was probably a big part of it. And the other was just like, what's the upside of this? You know, like what's the upside of continuing down this road while you know, shy of like momentary, you know, like enjoyable moments, not much. So I think that combined with just kind of a challenge of like, all right, well, can you not drink for a month? And if you if you can, what's that gonna feel like? And are you honest enough with yourself to try it? That's probably the biggest thing.

SPEAKER_02: 34:21

So you're out, you're you stopped drinking in 2021. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 34:28

And I have had drinks since then. Yeah, right. But um not that often. As a component of your life, you have stopped drinking.

SPEAKER_02: 34:38

Yes. And um and you found that like what what has changed for you in that?

SPEAKER_00: 34:51

What has changed? Um, that's a good question. I I guess I just don't think about it like I used to. You know, like it's not um which might lead back to your question about paddle boarding, because I think a lot of a lot of times, like I just need an outlet, something to like, you know, like I think exercise has always been, you know, whether it was mountain biking or triathlons or, you know, like some sort of hard challenge, um has always been appealing to me. So I think once I gained a little bit of confidence and just got a little bit more cognitive, cognitively clear without the effects of high alcohol content beer, it it opened up, you know. Uh I got up earlier, I started wanting to do more actively. Um, my son's a good swimmer, he, therefore, he's a good surfer. We went on a surf trip and I just like got into the sport of prone paddling, um, basically to keep up with holding in the ocean. And that became like my new obsession and getting up early and doing that and on the Deschutes River, it's it's magical. Um, and that quickly replaced this kind of like it just became kind of a new habit. Like I'm a pretty, I'm a pretty habitual person, you know. Like I, if I can get into a flow of um just habit, it's easy for me to kind of maintain. And I think for a long time I just did that. And then, you know, there was something about that was also the same time where I started diving into podcasting and so much like my attention was just kind of captured with these new things, you know, this new skill set of like, you know, being able to talk to people and create a comfortable environment where they feel safe and vulnerable to be to get audio that maybe is different than the average interview. And um, yeah, it's just I I think I just got captured with all of that. And then you came in. What was your first like when we went up to University of Washington for that first event? Like, how did you think that was gonna go? And then like how did it go?

SPEAKER_02: 37:51

Um I wasn't sure how it was gonna go. I was surprised how hard you sweat. Like you were like moving this stuff around, and like honestly, you just like it just looks like you just like got a shower.

SPEAKER_00: 38:11

Yeah, man, it's horrible. I'm a sweater, I can't help it. Like, holy crap, yeah, I'm a big dude. I got a low thermostat.

SPEAKER_02: 38:19

Man, um, you know, it was an opportunity for me, and much of life is an opportunity for me to like um try and set aside my expectations and my presuppositions of what something is or what I think it should be, what what something I think what I think something should be, and just um just try and understand it for what it is and to not pass judgment. Uh you know, uh story brief was your idea, and um it had kind of its generation from from your hard work. When I came into the UW thing, I was I just wanted to be more conscious of that, of like kind of coming in, and um I think there are times in life when when someone presents to you something that's in process, um, it really matters how that person handles it and how they like what how they give their feedback, or um you know, like that those kinds of things can be damaging or or they can be encouraging. I I think on reflection of my life, I've been both of those people. I have been the type of person who's been like really encouraging to certain people and in uh various states of um bringing something to life, and I've also been a judgmental damaging person. Um so you know, I went to UW and I was just like trying to set just trying to come in with a open mind and um uh I thought that it was um I I mean I thought that it was the concept was good. I thought that the like the tent was we were you know you were recording in a tent and it was called a booth, but it was actually a tent. And um but there was a part of me that like I just really respected it. I really respected you just doing it. This is something that I have had a hard time doing in my life of like um uh you know, not like you have to go before you're ready. You have to start before you're ready. And um I really respected just the fact that you were doing it in a tent and moving forward um so yeah, and you know, we went I think I took the audio back and I kind of was working on it a little bit, and um I I could see the applic I I could see the application from like a perspective of like, oh, this is something to do in an event. I was struggling to see the application of like well, what do you do with the actual audio at the time? Which I think is still a still a big a big question in that space. Yeah. But um I don't know, man. I mean, that was kind of that.

SPEAKER_00: 42:14

I uh that was a pretty surreal experience for me because from my perspective, um I had sold this idea to a school, really not entirely sure of how I was gonna like deliver. Yeah, that was pretty obvious. Yeah, we showed up and like it was the first time kind of using this new walled tent idea. Yeah, that was pretty obvious. It was in a in a convention center with 300 people like five feet away from us. Yeah, and we, you know, like there was massive concerns right away. And I remember driving home from Seattle with you and you listening to the audio and me just hearing all the background noise, going, oh man, like this is not gonna work. And you know, like through your magic of filters, and somehow we we delivered them something they were happy with. Um, and I think we executed on what the goal was. But yeah, it's that was a big that was a big moment. I mean, I think that set the momentum for us to continue on with kind of some of these other ideas of application of this concept. Um yeah. And I think what is the concept exactly that you have? Of story booth? Yeah. Well, I think as we were talking about yesterday, like I think what storybooth is, in its essence, is it's an opportunity to provide just a very human experience that in 2025 is becoming less common, which is basically just the act of intentional conversation with purpose um in an in an environment that's uh comfortable with not a lot of distraction. And I think that's that's why I enjoy podcasting, um, quite honestly, is getting down and just sitting down with someone and and knowing that you know you're committed to a conversation. That's what that's basically what I view you're signing up to when you put on the mic or put on the headset and hit start hitting record. There's like this unspoken, like we're here with an intention. And uh I think that used to be maybe a little bit more common human experience that has become diluted with all the other opportunities and distractions of life. Um, you know, first and foremost, probably just your phone, you know. Um so yeah, I mean that that that's the that's the why behind Storybooth. I think at its fundamental value, that's what Storybooth is, is um a human experience. Yeah, I would agree with you.

SPEAKER_02: 45:13

I think that um uh I mean I remember, you know, my mom was a journalist for a TV NBC affiliate in Indiana. And I remember going into different stations with her as a kid, and then I remember um I had a radio show in college and I remember like putting on the headset and the microphone and stuff there, and like there's a way in which sorry there's a way in which you gotta take that.

SPEAKER_00: 45:56

No dude, your phone is that laring tone. What is that? Did you ever watch that movie Amelie? No, it's like an old French movie, it's old, but there's a there it's got a great soundtrack, and uh, I always thought that that would be a good ringtone for my wife, so that's what it is, bro. I've had that for 20 years to get over it. Wow.

SPEAKER_02: 46:28

Um you have custom ringtones for people.

SPEAKER_00: 46:36

Not you. What's mine? Darth Vader. Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun. That's right. I thought it'd be Danny Boy. I am gonna assign you a new custom ring.

SPEAKER_02: 46:50

I didn't even know you could do that.

SPEAKER_00: 46:52

I thought that went like the way of the dinosaur when it might have gone the way of original iTunes because I I remember creating those ringtones on the iTunes platform, downloading them into my iPod, holding on to them for a long time, and then when iPhones came out, I I transferred them on. I don't I couldn't do it today, they just transfer with every phone I get. So yeah, please enjoy this music while your party is reached.

SPEAKER_02: 47:23

Yeah. Um, I forget what we were talking about, but um yeah, my I think there's something important where if you can put people on mic, they hear themselves in headphones. Um there's a way in which you engage in a conversation that is different. You seem uh sometimes you seem less interested in talking over the other person, not always. Um and I think especially if you're able to actually engage with other audio, like recorded audio of of another person or whatever, and kind of respond to it, there's a way in which that voice kind of activates something. Um the human voice is like the most powerful instrument, you know, and uh it's I think it's um it's kind of part of the essence of who we are. Yeah, I think that um you know many people yeah, I think I think for me, um Storybooth is just uh it's an opportunity to kind of try and grow in that capacity for me of like helping people uh connect with their loved ones or with the people that are important in their life, helping people connect with themselves.

SPEAKER_00: 49:10

Um was that validated last night at our at the wedding?

SPEAKER_02: 49:16

Um Yeah, I mean I think yeah, it absolutely was. I think that um I don't know, I I I guess I uh what are your biggest concerns with Storybooth? I think I mean I ha the the business side like I'm concerned about is is kind of just business. How do you run a business and make a difference and then make a profit? Um I have my own just individual concerns where I'm like uh I think you all you hopefully want to be able to leave a a place, leave a business or exit um on your own terms in your own way. And I I want to be able to do that. I want to be able to um not get uh not get anxious about success or what people tell me is success. And like success is definitely in one respect like having a uh profitable business. Um but I I think I'm I there have been time I've been around some very successful, and I know you have some successful people who it like it eats at them. And then I have been around some other very successful people who uh their delight to be around. And they are it doesn't however whatever they did for to earn their kind of their worldly kind of cultural accolades, it um hasn't really penetrated, I think, them in a way that is harmful. Um so I want to be sus suspicious of success and like aware of my own tendencies toward arrogance and pride.

SPEAKER_00: 51:38

Um I think that's rare, man. Yeah. I think I honestly I would commend you on that um perspective and just insight because uh I think that is rare in our in our world for people to pursue success, but also be hesitant of some of the potential consequences of success if not kind of regularly evaluated. I don't know that many people that would that would admit that. I feel totally I I feel like I know a lot. Yeah, well, we must run with different circles. Most people that I know that are successful don't pause and um admit that this could have an impact on me that may not be net positive. Hey Gary.

SPEAKER_02: 52:42

Hi Gary.

SPEAKER_01: 52:42

Oh, yeah, you guys are talking.

SPEAKER_02: 52:44

Well, yeah, it's okay. What's up? Did you make some food?

SPEAKER_01: 52:49

I got a couple of these from the senior center.

SPEAKER_02: 52:52

Oh wow. Cheese bread. Cheesy jalapeno bread. Okay. I was gonna fry some chicken up in a little bit. I'll I'll give you a piece and I'll give you a piece of this back with it.

unknown: 53:05

I don't want to be a good one.

SPEAKER_02: 53:06

You don't want any of it? Okay. Okay. Okay, I'll bring a piece of chicken over in a little bit.

SPEAKER_00: 53:19

Loss aversion. People's tendency to prefer avoiding losses rather than acquiring acquiring equal gains. Most people are more prone to avoid doing the thing where they lose what they have rather than putting what they have at risk to acquiring something more. That that's a concept that I learned about a couple years ago that um I think was part of me wanting to challenge myself with not being you know comfortable and just like the status quo. And kind of back to your original question, I think after that many years of working in healthcare and doing something pretty safe, I I wanted like I wanted to lean back into my natural tendencies of kind of creativity. And somehow I stumbled into the into the platform of podcasting, which allowed me to do that and allowed me to dip my toe back into this creative world at a very low risk kind of way, and also wanting to build something different and new that you know, I I remember looking at myself at one point and looking at like$280 worth of recording equipment and going, what could you build with this and nothing more? You know, like is there something that you could build based on what this offers people? Um, because I you know, I don't have the extra income to invest in a bunch of, you know, risky ideas, you know. So that that answers your original question as to to why I went from healthcare back into or or this.

SPEAKER_02: 55:11

It's funny that you say that because like I I feel like maybe in some ways you and I are ships passing in the night, because frankly, I would do anything for a W-2 right now.

SPEAKER_00: 55:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 55:24

Um I'm realizing that now, or I'm just like, I uh Yeah, I'm I'm kinda out here. Um just you know free solo in it, and I I have never Jane, I I told Jane one time hanging out with Jane, and she's like, yeah, I'm really concerned about your vaccination status, whatever. I was like, Jane, I gotta be honest with you, frankly, you should be more concerned about my career aspirations and my entrepreneurial dreams, um, and my like career uh like I don't know what it is, and like you should be more concerned about that than whether or not I got jabbed. And I wasn't joking. Like I actually feel like it's um like my my I have, you know, my brother is a doctor, my other brother's a banker, my other brother was a HR guy. My dad has had two jobs his whole life. He was in the military for 20 years, and then he was a was a um officer at a manufacturing plant. And um I don't know why I have taken this weird path that I have taken. I had many opportunities to not. I had many opportunities to look into the service. I couldn't because I had meningitis in high school. Um I've had many opportunities to like do other things and I haven't. And some of me is like, am I just lazy? Am I refusing to like like uh you know play by the rules or something? Well the way I solved it 10 years ago was I was like, well, I'm gonna work hard on this skill set for a little bit, but I'm gonna marry somebody who like is more traditional. That way they can like we can have insurance and all that stuff. And uh that worked for a while and actually ended up that like once I was at Bio Project full-time, like my benefits were better than hers typically. So I actually had our insurance for a long time. She didn't she she was on my stuff, and uh uh but it's funny, like even the last time I talked to Brian, she was like, Yeah, I I I got a job, I got another job. Because when we split, she had not been uh she'd not been working, which is another wrinkle in the story. And um you know, but she's an RN. Like she's got great skill sets, and they're always gonna pick up pick her up. And uh I there's a part of me where you always want what you don't have, and what I don't have right now is like a um I I don't have a lot of sure bets in my life. I found myself at the wedding yesterday, um, and this is not the first time, but I found myself like one uh somewhat skeptical of the institution of marriage and of the um just hoping and praying that frankly that like you know the um Miles and Sarah's marriage would last. From the looks of it, like the fact that they're two parents there are two sets of parents who were married for 30 years each, and like I'm like, okay, like you you've got uh you've got good examples but um I found myself sad that I didn't have anybody to share I haven't had anybody to share Storybooth with. Not in like a like a spousal way, like um like the whole um Christopher McCanless thing about like happiness is only real when shared. I have a lot of friends and family in my corner who are like really pumped about Story Booth and they ask me about it all the time, and it's helpful. Um but I'm still just kind of coming home to an empty house right now, and I'm like, it's kind of a weird, it's kind of an odd thing to like be working on it. The audio that I'm working on is people talking about how important marriage is and how like you should stick together and always listen to each other and never go to bed angry. And I'm just like, I just charge you five thousand dollars to do this. I'm editing this by myself in my house that I bought thinking that I was gonna like raise a family with a specific woman in this home. And uh it's it's odd, man. It's just a weird, like it's a very odd thing. And I want I want to give Story with a chance. I really wish that my family was close by. Not that I want to be back in Ohio, per se. But that just that they could like see me and like support me in this way. Um yeah, I just find myself like kind of being really triggered is the wrong word, but I just find myself oftentimes like being kind of raw, more raw than I I think normally am or would be. Um yeah, when I called you uh in early January to tell you that my marriage is ending, like we were not business partners at the time, and I was like really I was kind of scared of what you were gonna say in terms of like, oh, is this like is Dan like this really shitty dude? Like, is he like um like I was worried if that would be a red flag for you? I was also I think just um it's like it's just kind of at the time I felt like it was embarrassing. Um and I didn't want to have to uh I just felt like it was embarrassing, and I've I've worked through some of that a little bit. But um in some ways I feel like I have not I've not worked hard on Storybooth at all, or I feel like I haven't actually like uh in some ways I'm scared that it's it's like just gonna fall apart. Um just like like like the like yeah, like the lift gate's just gonna collapse and it's gonna crush me. It might, man. It might. People are just gonna be like, how did Dan die? He died like on the street out front of his house, like trying to put this weird podcast dude in a trailer with some guy that he met a year ago in Central Oregon. It'd be so random.

SPEAKER_00: 1:04:09

That's what's brilliant about it, though. I mean, really, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02: 1:04:14

It's what good stories are made of. The problem, I think, and that's where I've been, I think this is also the challenge for me right now, is um my Facebook profile image is a quote that says uh live a great story. I've had that for about 10 years. I haven't changed my photo in a long time. But um I realized like over the past few months, maybe even a little longer, like that actually puts a lot of pressure on you to like am I living a great story? Is this epic? Does this look epic? You know, and you kind of become this like you have to always be um seeking or interested in some sort of novel like like um thing, and I I don't know, this is where I think maybe just some of my questions around faith come in. Like if Jesus was the greatest story, his story I don't know like what his day-to-day was like, and it's uh you can kind of tell about it in the gospels, but like um he seemed to be thinking about different things than I think about and doing things differently than I do them anytime. Um I just want to I I just felt like uh I've been trying to feel a release from the live a great story thing because I tried to do that with a marriage. Um I've tried to do that in other ways, and I don't know if I need to set my expectations. Like I'm listening to those Les Brown motivational quotes right now, and like, you know, he's like, most people fail be not because they set their sights too high, but because they set their sights too low, you know, and I'm like, I I've heard those that quote in various phrases in various ways over the years, and like, you know, what what is the utility of that? Do I need to just be like Storybooth is gonna be a we're gonna tell a million stories, or we're gonna tell a billion stories, or we're gonna make a billion dollars. Like, or do I just or is there something about like, do I just say, like, I don't know what's gonna happen? And and kind of like be nonchalant about it. Those neither of those extremes seem healthy to not try and work on something when you know that it has a good there's a lot of good bones in it, and there's a lot of validation in it, and to not try and work at it would be to be dishonest to the to yourself and to the idea. But I've always like I've never identified with like the whole like uh um I've never understood what when people say like you know you leave it all out there, you know, you never like never quit. Like you you leave just like I think John Wooden said like success success is best defined as um the satisfaction of the peace of mind of doing the best you could with what you had. If that's what success is, I don't I've never had success then because I I've never really gotten to the point of of just being like um completely at peace of mind about my own level of like decision making or effort, always asking, like, did I did I really give my all there? Like, should I have given, like, should I have stayed up even longer? Should I have said something differently there? So I don't know, man. I I I I'm kind of rambling, but I think like for me Storybooth is like this. Uh it's a very it's a very in some ways it feels very much like oh yeah, of course I'm doing this. Because I in some ways it's like I had I kinda should have had this idea, probably did have this idea like years ago, and I was just too much of a chicken to actually do it, frankly. I I was doing story core like in 2015, 2014, 2015.

SPEAKER_00: 1:09:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 1:09:51

Um, those were the first episodes I ever put together was story core episodes.

SPEAKER_00: 1:09:59

That still fascinates me. I also think it's alright, man, to like like my perspective on this over time has been um this is what I envision it as, but kind of keeping a loose grip on it and being open to it kind of defining itself as time goes on and you put your best effort into it and see how that effort kind of helps define what you're trying to do, you know. And I think like I think like the you the UW event is like a good example of that. Like I I'm not convinced, I I do think there's a a way that you could make Storybooth work for in a corporate application, but um it it doesn't seem the right time for that right now, and kind of like letting go of that and pivoting and focusing on where you're gonna get the most return for your time as you pursue that idea, you know, and being open to that flexibility. And I think we're both pretty good at that.

SPEAKER_02: 1:11:07

Um overall. What red flags or what concerns do you have about me as being a partner in this business?

SPEAKER_00: 1:11:16

Wow.

SPEAKER_02: 1:11:17

Um there's gotta be something that I do that you don't like.

SPEAKER_00: 1:11:40

I think we both have different uh workflows on Dropbox. I don't like that. Honestly, I I I would I would say right now, I don't I don't feel in a position to almost answer that because there have I been incredibly impressed with like uh and I tell my wife this all the time, like you've never once not delivered on what you said you were gonna do. Um I very much appreciate your perspective on um kind of the realistic components of making this really work. Um, you know, like I I don't have any big red flags, and I say that in all honesty. Like I the vision that you've brought to this and and the the level of professionalism when it comes to um I think helping me view this as if this is gonna be successful then um because I have a tendency to just kind of go down the idea road and ride that probably with more um confidence and I should without like pausing, stepping back, viewing it through kind of this lens of like operating budgets and true workflows and time per event. And so I I I mean, honestly, to to answer your question, what red flags do I have? Um nothing major, man. I mean um and I'm really trying to think. I mean, it it kind of bugs me when you uh are we're on a Zoom call and you walk around because I feel like um I've lost your attention, but getting to know you, I just know that you're fully engaged. You're just this is yeah, so I I don't have any big red flags, and I don't know if that's being naive or you know, like um I think a lot of it comes down to is to like the risk reward. Like we've been able to fund this thing on our own, paying for it as we go, um, which provides a lot of kind of peace of mind, knowing that like if it folded tomorrow, like what are we really out? Not much, you know, um, which I'm very thankful for. And I also think is very unique. Um you bring a lot of encouragement. Like yesterday you kept emphasizing like it's hard to do something new. And I think I think I sometimes forget that that like what we're doing has never really been done before. And you know, it's and and I think that's incredibly exciting. And I I ride that wave of enthusiasm and encouragement that comes with the fact that what you're saying is true. Like, and I think when you know Kostano was here the other night, and and you know, that dude's got a lot of experience in in kind of the marketing, advertising kind of business world. And for him to say, like, I've never seen this, like, there's a lot of like there's something special about that. I think it is hard to do something new. It's hard to create like you know, offer the world the an iPhone, right? Like, and I'm not saying what we're doing is that, but it it it it it is like it's new, and we've we've developed it. And for me, like that overrides any sort of like personality differences or um, you know, I think that we've developed a really good kind of communication style, which I think from the very beginning has been infit like kind of founded on transparency and being vulnerable with each other about how we're feeling. And I think that you've seen me at some of my more stressed out, sleep-deprived times um and hung in there. And and I've seen you work through like a massive pivot in your life, your personal life. So, you know, I I we we we commonly tell each other these are the good old days, and and when you first told me that several months ago, like it kind of just bounced off me. But the more I think about it, it you know, and especially as like time goes by and you get older and you realize like it's easy to get complacent in the moment and realize that the present is temporary, and five years from now you're gonna look back on it, and more often than not, it it it they are the good old days.

SPEAKER_02: 1:16:56

So yeah, man, I I think maybe I say that right now. I say that for two reasons. One is yeah, I saw business scale a lot, and I was a part of that, and it there is a there is a fondness once you have things relatively figured out, and then it just becomes kind of about like operations and maintenance, there's a fondness for those original days where you're trying to figure it out because I think that's part of the human like we're created as like these problem solvers, like to try and make something so that's part of it. Another part of it though is like frankly, I need to believe that right now. Yeah, like I I don't I don't feel that dude. Like, I am restarting my life at age 37. I am crying myself to sleep tonight. Sometimes I am uh and I'm asking myself, just like do I want to be doing like do I want to be doing this? Like, why not? I should like Leah, I should just become a mailman. Maybe I should. I don't know if I have what it takes. And even if I and even if if and if the story booth doesn't work out, frankly, like then what? Like, do is it like is it uh is it some sort of mark on me, or is it just like well, you know, wasn't the right idea at the right time or whatever? I'm very optimistic, I think, is I think that we would have gotten um I will know more in the fall, but to be around the level of entrepreneurs uh bow over the last eight months or whatever, and I think uh to kind of go through some of that sifting and selection process, um, and I think you and I are pretty optimistic about how we're grading out uh like they would tell us, you know, like they'd be like, You guys are full of shit. Like don't quit your day job, kind of thing. Right? Yes, and um so there's that where I I have felt like man, we're it does feel like we're kinda in the right zip code. Yeah, uh, we're just looking for the right house. Yeah, man. I I uh I don't know. I'm I'm I'm I when I say like hey, these are the good old days, like part of me is just like actually desperately wanting to believe that because I I have undergone a lot of um restarting and losing things that have been dear to me. And in Bao in the winter, I told people, I was like, hey, I'm at a stage of my life where I don't have anything showing above ground anymore. I'm I'm just basically rooting, rebuilding roots, and uh it's funny, like bamboo. I was reading about bamboo, bamboo grows underground for about six or seven years, their root structure before it actually uh go grows above ground because it can grow like 90 feet in just a few weeks, like tall. But in order for the height to be able to support, to be supported, um, it has to be like a really extensive root system that's built out. I don't know if story booth or whatever will ever take off to an extent that is like uh whatever that requires, but like um, yeah, these are the good old days for me, is like it's a little bit of an anthem right now.

SPEAKER_00: 1:21:29

Um well it's one that I appreciate, and for the same reasons, like I need to believe it as well, because everything comes with a trade-off, right? Yeah, because every hour we're doing this could be an hour that we're doing something else, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 1:21:45

Uh also, yeah, and it could be an hour that like doesn't work. You know what I mean? Like, how many times have we rebuilt something that we already did, even though we're trying to like once we have this deck, we don't need to build another deck, and then you find yourself building another deck the next week, yeah. And like yeah, and also yeah, I had the realization yesterday, I was like, it's really hard to do something new, it's really hard to do something new because you can set up shop as a, you know, like in the particular industry we were in last night, in a wedding, as a vendor for a wedding. There are defined categories of vendors, right? You've got photographers, DJs, you know, like all this stuff. What do you do when you show up with a booth that looks like a spaceship that has four microphones in it, and you have these pre-recorded questions that you did with a couple, and you start inviting people in to have an intentional conversation about why they're all there? Most people, when they showed up at the party that day, like that wasn't even a category in their brain. And so it's really it's it's hard to like it's hard to do something new. And I don't, yeah, dude, like I I I want to have the stomach for it, but I it's like a it's like a it's a lot of crunchiness for sure, man.

SPEAKER_00: 1:23:40

Which brings me back to why I wanted a partner because Yeah, I had that thought too last night.

SPEAKER_02: 1:23:45

I was like, you couldn't be doing this shit by yourself right now.

SPEAKER_00: 1:23:49

No, I mean you need, yeah, and and I don't think, and I I I totally respect where you're coming from uh when you say you want family and you know someone to share this with. But I I think even with that entrepreneurship, when you're the entrepreneur and you're building something is lonely, yeah. You know, like I I don't I don't know if I don't know if anyone else can really understand it at the level that the person who's in the trenches can. Um so like having your friendship and your partnership doing this together and us knowing kind of like, you know, how are we gonna do this? You know, I mean, we had a million, not a million, but you know, four or five months ago, we had like 20 of those. How are we gonna do these questions? How are we gonna do those questions? And we've slowly just kind of chipped away at them and been open to feedback and maybe alternative ways of doing things or pursuing the the vision that we saw on how to achieve that goal. And like, you know, I think as long as you stay humble and you just kind of keep plugging away at it, if you're bringing something of value to the world, I'm of the opinion more often than not, kind of it'll will, it'll you'll figure it out, it'll work itself out. Um and then also like when when you're like last night, you know, we I think, you know, just for for people listening that maybe don't know what the hell we're talking about with this wedding. Last night Dan and I drove up to Seattle for our first wedding with our new booth. And I think we were both nervous on multiple levels, A, just if we could unload it out of the rental truck that we had to acquire to transport it up there. But then also, like, those there's no guarantees anyone's gonna step in it. And it was by far the busiest night we've ever had offering uh space for people to have an intentional conversation um at an event like a wedding, what that doesn't happen that often for so many people that are important to that couple to be together. And we showed up and I think I think we encouraged and we prayed about this just this attitude of just like serving and like being here to improve the experience of this couple and all their friends and family, and I think we executed really well on that. And to me, there the value in that will kind of help drive the solutions to the downstream problems. It gives me a lot of energy and excitement to do that. Um yeah, I think my biggest my biggest concerns with Storybooth right now are um being a trend like a an event-to-event business, and we've had this conversation. Um I worry about the logistics of that between for multiple different reasons, but I I do believe that if we can establish a model that allows us to be, you know, quasi-permanent on properties, working with high destination resorts or properties in businesses such as TouchMark. Um, I think the magic that can happen with that human connection is there's something to be said about that. It's rare in this world. And I and I I just have a sense that it's only become going to become more rare. So I I do think that we have kind of an early advantage to like kind of bottling that up and offering it to people as a product. You know, how do you and there's not that many brands that are built around that, you know, offering up an experience that is a very fundamental human thing that anybody can do, but creating that and packaging it and um making it kind of guided and effortless as as like a as like a product, as a deliverable, and and the emotional highs that come with that, uh it's fascinating to me. Um and it's something that I think will pay dividends for the the rest of one's life. You know, I mean you can buy a new a new widget and it's fun for a while, but it it ages and it's it loses its you know novelty and it gets replaced. But I don't think people and their personalities and their spirit and their stories and their testimony and their you know their perspective on life, that stuff that's timeless. And I think that's what makes me most excited about this.

SPEAKER_02: 1:28:59

Um I'm really grateful, man, that you called me. I mean, it's crazy that both John and Ben gave your gave my name to you. Um and you've been pretty open-handed with this from the beginning. Even when I was asking, instead of just like, hey, like, yeah, let me just work on this part-time. I I mean, I I was I was kind of just like, well, let's see if Adam's open to partnership, you know, and that was a pretty easy conversation, yeah. I felt like because I I didn't know if where you were with that. I was like, um if anything, it was one of the things I learned at Bible Project was uh the if you actually feel like you're providing value to try and advocate for yourself, and uh not that where I was was that they were not like great employer, they were. I didn't have the track record, you know, like to have anything, and it was a non-profit, it wasn't set up for any sort of like profit sharing or whatever, and they took really good care of you. But when I kind of was exiting and like thinking about like how do you actually not just make a wage, but how do you like grow as an individual in their ability to contribute to the world and in their ability to like multiply like um what was your idea, you know, has been kicked around many times. And like I I'm as a person of faith, like of the opinion that like I think the Lord has put this, put the right circumstances in your life at the time to bring this to your to bring this to this place. And Story Booth will have a life cycle, it will have a beginning, a middle, and an end. That's probably something that we don't talk enough about, is that there will be an end to this at some point. Whatever that looks like, I I've been really grateful that you brought me in as a part of the beginning. um because uh I think that yeah in in some ways I'm like I'm like wow like this is awesome I I can't believe I mean I studied finance and entrepreneurship in college and then I went and just I don't know what I've been doing the last 15 years other than like making podcasts for some reason and uh yeah I I don't know uh it's a it's a it's a it's just uh life is interesting in its way that it just weaves um and I think that you're in a place i I think story booth is in a place where like um I was thinking I was thinking about this this morning like if the world were to end like tonight like if there were a bomb go off or like the economy tanks or whatever like would I be happy with this the answer is yes and no I would be thrilled with with like what just happened you know I mean I'd be like that was sick you know and knowing that there's a couple hundred people up in Seattle who like had the time in their lives or whatever is great there's a part of me that I would be bummed that it never got a chance to like continue to develop and grow.

SPEAKER_00: 1:33:10

Yeah but I have felt like I did kind of feel a little bit of a release this morning where I was like huh I need to stop measuring myself against some sort of mythical like magical endpoint like I know I'll get there when I get there when we hit X dollars in revenue or like I have X or whatever instead just like one wedding at a time one group at a time one voice at a time one prompt at a time hearing that lady from Long Island today like it cracked me up dude yeah and I'm just like there's a gift there you know hello kids you know like yeah man I yeah my my uh and I told you this last night but my favorite thing and and now more than ever with the blocco and the glass doors and being able to look in here is like the smiles on people's faces and just this level of like engagement like it it just it's like that is the thing about this specific design like if we were to go to a different design I think that the what the class is really important.

SPEAKER_02: 1:34:32

It's massive you have to be able to see somebody having a good time and just being like what are they doing over there? Yeah I want that.

SPEAKER_00: 1:34:39

Yeah yeah we're we're very fortunate to uh have partnered with these guys yeah uh but at the same time like kind of what I was saying last night was I was like when people say I've never seen this before I don't think they're talking about yeah the blocco no I think they would be if it was just sitting there right but then they're just like oh cool it's a cool meeting booth style I've never seen before they're not talking about that they're talking about the shape of this and what's happening inside yeah yeah it's fun man I feel incredibly fortunate it it it's uh it's fascinating to me where this thing's how it started and how it's developed over time it continues to kind of reassure to me that nothing good happens quick there's something to be said about you know playing the long game and just plugging away at it and uh and being flexible right so yeah man so is this enough for your episode yeah we gotta need to do a part two no this should be more than enough i don't I this has been fun just bullshitting I don't even I I I I hope I think there's something you know this is very different than the other episodes this is personal it's also like I think and I appreciate your vulnerability um and you know this is just where we're at in this and and like I don't know as a consumer of podcasts in the startup space I'm always appreciative of founders that are real and authentic and share part of their life and part of the reason why and the story behind it and you know and and I think we have a really phenomenal story. I think that the our timeline and the series of events and the relationships we've founded over this last 18 months are are consistent with our value set which is valuing people over outcome um and you know like I I'm I'm confident in continuing forward with that. I think we've learned uh new skill sets um both individually and collectively with our with the BAO cohort and with mentors I think that um you know I I don't know how we could better be positioned presently than we currently are given all the like yeah I agree all the things you know we like we're not on the hook for a bunch of money we're we're in the green or in the black um I think if anything we have I think this is more of like it almost feels like the Lord is asking us like I don't want to say I don't want to get into that but like it almost feels like it's kind of like a well how much do you guys want to work on this? Yeah like like how how much gas do you want to put in this I think that we both have like an an a a healthy perspective on that you know I think we're both pretty committed to to giving this as much as we realistically can for a set amount of time um and being open to that um yeah but I I think what I mean is like even just now coming out of the coming out of that wedding last night like um it's it's so funny man like your personality and my personality I think are are kind of uh matched in um being relatively easygoing yeah and uh because I think it's pretty quickly coming up at this pitch in October once we have um you know some cool promo marketing type stuff like how much do we want to do this?

SPEAKER_02: 1:39:18

Like how quickly how much money do we want to put into it how much time do we want to allocate to it? You know, is there a chance that girly from Long Island is gonna walk home and just start her own story booth and you hear about it on the internet in a year or two and she's two years into her version of story booth in in New York You know like I don't know but uh it's fun to just be sitting in my driveway right now like kind of sitting here at this little plateau.

SPEAKER_00: 1:39:59

I agree bro I'm thankful for you friend yeah I mean that in all honesty and with full sincerity like uh there's not a doubt in my mind that this would not be where it is without your partnership and friendship and contribution to the vision so thank you like I really appreciate it I appreciate the trust you put in me and the patience that you put into me there's one thing not in the not in the podcast per se that I think that you would be helpful to make a change in right now I think you need a dedicated workspace in your house.

SPEAKER_02: 1:40:38

Yeah I think you need a desk you need a monitor yeah I think you'll feel better dude just hook up your laptop just go get an HDMI cord grab a$20 monitor and just start you don't need everything that I built out even though I got that I got that desk from Facebook Marketplace for like a$400 like you can do all that pretty easily for I think my whole cost of build there is um not including the computer is probably$700. Yeah I think you're right. I think you need that you'll feel better rather than just kind of mo mosing around your house first to the couch to then to the other couch on your laptop you've got like six different browser windows open you're about you're running a startup right now and you're about to on an old laptop but that's my style bro dude it it's no I I hear you I hear you you're right you're right just like you are with my wardrobe I gotta get on the road yeah I know thanks man appreciate you appreciate you hey everybody thanks for listening to the birth of the brands highlighting the seven different brands that went through the Binned Outdoor Works 2025 startup accelerator program.

SPEAKER_00: 1:42:08

Visit Bindoutdoorworks.com to learn more stay tuned for new episodes of the circling podcast coming out later this fall and make sure and visit bindmagazine.com to keep up to date on all things good going on in Central Oregon