296 : Kerry Lipp – Part two of Lipp Brothers interview on what it takes to create a lifestyle business in a lifestyle business
This was a great opportunity to see the business through a younger brothers eyes. You know what, life looks pretty good from his view. I think that Mitchell has created an environment where each individual can still be themselves yet contribute immensely to the greater good. It’s almost like they both have created a lifestyle business within a lifestyle business.
Mentioned:
Mitchells previous interviews :
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Sponsors
Gaye’s Million Dollar Arbitrage List
Transcript: (note- this is a new tool I am trying out so it is not perfect- it does seem to be getting better)
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Stephen: [01:31] So amazing. Freedom Dot com. Forward slash momentum will get you to the waiting list. Then hopefully they can get you in the group and then you’re going to see me in there and we can chat anytime you’re ready. Karen lockers, group solutions, the number for ecommerce solutions for e-commerce dot com, forward slash momentum. It’s going to save you 50 bucks. Karen’s our account manager. We recommend her to everyone because she’s done so well for us. I mean that’s quite frankly the reason we’ve been paying her for last few years, but she’s become an important part of our team. Her and her team are so involved in our account. I just see the emails coming back and forth, hey, we did this for you. I just saw two listings today on like, wait a second. Why did they show up? I didn’t put any listings up. They got a.
Stephen: [02:13] They got a set off to the side by Amazon and they reactivate them for me. You know what I mean? That’s the stuff that just happens when you have a strong team and I can’t recommend Karen enough if you use my code momentum. Karen pays me. I don’t want to hide that. Of course we all know that, but you’re going to save $50 and it’s a great opportunity to really, really build out your team with somebody you can trust. That’s why I recommend them. So solutions for e-commerce solutions, the number for e-commerce dot com, forward slash momentum. It’s going to save you $50. Oh, and by the way, she’s going to do an inventory health report. Why is that important? Well guess what fees are going up. Is your inventory health number declining like ours is? Well, here’s why, and here’s what they can do.
Stephen: [03:00] What I like is I get a spreadsheet from them and it says, Hey, here’s a bunch of inventory, here’s what we recommend. And I’m like, Yep, re refund. I mean a delete a return us blah blah blah, whatever it is. And it’s are destroyed and it just happens. That’s what I like. The other thing that I have Karen helped me with a lot is creating new listings. You know, we do a lot of the research ourselves. We upload our images and then boom, magically the listing goes live and I don’t have to worry about it. Those are the services that [inaudible] offers. Can’t recommend her enough solutions for e-commerce dot com, forward slash momentum. Save 50 bucks, use my code. You save $50 a month every single month and it’s a great service. Plus you get that free inventory health report. I think it’s a really powerful way, so I can’t.
Stephen: [03:45] I’m so excited how many people have been joining it because I see it and I’m excited because the messages I get from people saying, hey, this is great. I finally feel like I can focus on something else because Karen and her team are watching this for me and you know, I highly recommend her. Next up is scale solar lamps scope. Then we’ll set it wrong. It’s amazing. I mean, it really is amazing when you sit back and think about, hey, I want to get this product up and it’s similar to this product and that’s sell that product does well. Well therefore, if that product does well, they have the right keywords, they’ve chosen things correctly, so guess what? You scope and you could see all that stuff and that’s what the most powerful thing in the world is to copy somebody who’s done it right.
Stephen: [04:28] That’s what you want to. You want to take advantage of that, right? I mean it’s, it’s fair a to c and so therefore you can take and apply it to your listing and immediately get that same benefit. That’s what scope does for me. Sellerlabs dot [inaudible] forward slash momentum. It’s going to save you $50 on the service. Oh, by the way, it’s free to try, so sign up, try it and say, oh, this is how it’s done. Boom. And then you’re going to see the lights going to go on and you’re going to be like, man, I can get my products out there. I just can’t wait. Can’t wait. So are labs dot [inaudible] forward slash momentum. The other day I bought another domain. Yes, I bought another domain. It’s almost like A. I’m admitting guilt, but it’s because I had an idea and it was something that was a pretty good idea.
Stephen: [05:17] I think it’s going to go pretty far and so what do I do? I go to try go daddy.com forward slash momentum and save 30 percent. So domains aren’t very expensive. You get a few services. It adds up a little bit and I usually buy it three years. I usually buy privacy by the way, I recommend that to buy that, you know, it’s not that much money but when you can save 30 percent it makes it that much sweeter and it makes it easier when you’re buying domains and especially if you buy a bunch of domains. I am a domain collector and so I do tend to do that but that 30 percent makes it a lot easier and I used to go down because what I like is I can pop in an address I’m thinking and it’ll say nope, nope, try this version or try this extension and then boom, there it is.
Stephen: [05:58] Hey, you better hurry before it goes away and the right, you know. And so try go daddy.com forward slash momentum save 30 percent. Also want to mention about grasshopper, was that just talking to somebody the other day? And they were like, Oh yeah, use this company called grasshopper. I’m like, dude, did you buy through my link and save 30 percent? Hello? Know they missed that. So save 30 percentage, try grasshopper.com forward slash momentum. No surprise there, but you’re going to save 30 percent and what the real cool part about that is they’re using it for their private label business and it gives them virtually a second phone on their current phone without having to get another number. They can make up a vanity number. They don’t have to go and do all the grief in sign loan contracts, pretty easy stuff, and so if you’re creating a brand that you want to identify, you want to look professional, you want to look like a real company. Grasshopper is a great tool. It’s an app you put on your existing phone and boom, you now have a customer service or you now have a sales department, didn’t have a manufacturing division. You could forward it to somebody else. You can have it go to different voicemails, different departments, and that’s all included. So try grasshopper.com, forward slash momentum. Save 30 percent.
Cool voice guy: [07:13] Welcome to the e-commerce momentum podcast where we focus on the people, the products, and the process of e-commerce selling. Today. Here’s your host, Steven Peterson.
Stephen: [07:27] Welcome back to the e-commerce momentum podcast. This is episode 296 carry lip lip brother of Mitchell Lip, Aka Harvey Specter Mitchell lit. I’m Kari is Mitchell’s younger brother and I’m, Carrie’s got a story of his own and it’s a pretty neat story. Um, I like, I like the fact that this is a family and it wasn’t like they weren’t close, but they were apart couple hours apart. Normal family stuff, right? People grow apart, they each take jobs and they move on with their lives and to be brought together because of their e-commerce business. And now it’s in their blood, both of them. Um, it’s funny when Mitchell talks about, I mean it’s his partner no doubt in my mind. When Carrie talks about Mitchell, it’s his partner. It’s not a boss, it’s not a his brother. It’s they like, it complemented each other so well and it’s just so cool to see that.
Stephen: [08:31] Now a couple of things, you know, ah, Kerry says sometimes it’s great. They get along so well because he’s on the road so much, you know, so that does make sense, right? Sometimes you can be together too much and he can just get out and do his thing, but secretly he likes to please his brother and when he hits the numbers, boom check, he’s pleased his brother and his brother has a little sway in his step because he knows his other brother is helping him. I, and to me, that’s, that’s the relationship you want. How do you find those type of people that’s not blood related? We get into some of that. There are some clues and there are some things that you know, uh, we do get to and I don’t want to miss this. I’m looking for somebody who has been working at a place for a long time who knows that there’s really no place for them to go who works abnormal hours, used to work at nights and weekends, kind of one of those, whatever it takes.
Stephen: [09:23] If you could take them out of that environment and give them security, but in a place where that sometimes it’s feast or famine or we’re going to have to work 12 hours a day, we’re going to have to go and yeah, it’s unreasonable. But then the downtime is just as unreasonable and you get to kind of set your own things. Carrie talks about the things that are important to him. Um, and I think these are all clues that you could be looking for if you’re looking to find that person because I think most of us are trying to find that person that you can have the trust that Harvey and Mitchell have and I just, it’s such a cool story to hear and it’s neat to see him step out on his own. Let’s get into the podcast. All right. Welcome back to the e-commerce movement and podcast. Very excited about today’s guest as hopefully a listeners just listened to his brother’s interview prior to this one, and his brother has been on a bunch of different times and it’s very cool to listen to him describe. Has his business has built one piece of the business that’s been consistent and he’s talk fondly about it. Who’s the key to his success is his brother Kerry Kerry lip. Welcome Carrie.
Speaker 4: [10:29] Steven, thanks for having me on.
Stephen: [10:31] You know, as I mentioned, I just had Mitchell on our harvey specter as other people. He uses that name. Um, you don’t have a secret name by the way to you?
Speaker 4: [10:39] Not really, there’s no, I don’t, I’m just curious.
Stephen: [10:42] Wait, there is a name
Speaker 4: [10:44] I used to dabble in some writing until I had a pen name for awhile. It was a little goofy, but uh, I abandoned that
Stephen: [10:49] a couple years ago. Yeah. But you did more than data. We’re going to get into that because you’re a writer and I’m, I’m intrigued by that, uh, here that um, but anyway, so we had Mitchell on and Mitchell talk very, very fondly about the relationship that you guys have developed, um, because it’s definitely closer than a brother relationship and that’s very cool to hear. So I’m, I’m very excited about getting into that. So let’s go first back, um, the way back or what were you going to do? What was, what was your thing when you were in high school? Were you going to be a writer? I mean, was that your thing?
Speaker 4: [11:22] I mean, yeah, but I didn’t really act on it for like 10 years, so, uh, you know, how bad did you really want it? Um, I don’t know. I wanted to go to college. I went to as a undecided major because I know all these people who would say I’m going to button and then their junior year they changed their mind and they’ve wasted a lot of time in credits. So I went in undecided and I just spent some time looking at some different stuff before I found something I liked.
Stephen: [11:46] And what was, uh, what was the undecided? What do they typically do they go into they study business or do they study history or what, what, what would it have been?
Speaker 4: [11:55] I primarily took a lot of gen eds, so I went to, you know, your, your standard classes, your history is your English is, you know, a math or two. And finally kind liked, uh, the communication world. I liked journalism. And then, uh, just about to graduate, I realized that I hated journalism. So
Stephen: [12:13] that’s the way to grade. I was in the newspaper business of hire, hired and unfortunately laid off a lot of journalists over the years, so I’m very familiar with that business. Um, but those people love, it’s a passion. They don’t do it for the money because they’re never going to get rich in journalism, but it’s a passion, right. It’s just a, a nose. Um, would you, would, what kind of journalists would you have been? I mean, cause there’s a lot of sports journalists who just loves sports and live and breathe it or they’re crying because they just, they’re fascinated by it. Um, or they’d like helping tell people’s story. What kind were you interested in?
Speaker 4: [12:46] Um, I did primarily news. I was the news editor for the paper at the college that I went to. Um, and so it was kind of covering on campus events and stuff like that. If I got deeper into it, I want to focus probably something more like feature writing. Probably not sports, I don’t know, sports well enough to write about him, I just like to watch them, but some, some kind of feature stuff, you know, covering, you know, music or festivals or whatever I think would be a lot more fun than, you know, what Congress talked about today,
Stephen: [13:13] but an editor is a different role than a journalist and so that’s a different because now you got to, you got to get the best from others and you got to lead with others is do you think, would you, would you say you’re a good leader? I was thinking about that earlier today. I’m thinking, Huh, I wonder, you know, cause it’s very complimentary. Yours and Mitchell’s relationship, your partnership. It’s almost like a marriage the way you’re definitely different. He’s like, you met Carrie before, right? And I said, Oh yeah, a couple times and said, you know, we’re different. And I’m like, Oh yeah, yeah, I got that vibe. There’s no doubt that you guys are different.
Speaker 4: [13:45] Right. What’d you say? You’re a good leader? You know, I might not have an executive leadership, but I worked for a goodwill for a long time before I came here and ended up who was the job that got me through college and I kind of worked my way up and before I left Dayton and goodwill, you know, I was running a small operation of about 30 people. Um, I was, you know, second or third in charge, so I had to control those people and get the job done by myself, you know, three nights a week or whatever, and then they had backup sometimes. But, uh, yeah. So I think I can do it. Um, I don’t necessarily have a burning passion to do it, but I didn’t hate it. Um, I didn’t love it, you know, I can do it if I have to. I guess.
Stephen: [14:38] So when you look at the skills that you brought to the business, uh, one of the things you talked about bringing you on, he said there are really three things that I think that my brother Kerry had when he came to the business. And that really made a well suited for any guesses. What you think they would be?
Speaker 4: [14:55] Um, I would say something about a flexible schedule or being able to work weird hours, um, because I worked third shift for a long time. I had to work a lot of holidays. Um, so I would guess that that would be one of them. Um, I would guess that trust would be one, uh, just based on what I’ve seen in the couple years I’ve been here and people, you know, who can you really trust and all that. Uh, I probably couldn’t guess at the third, but I would guess that those two are on there, but I don’t, I don’t know for sure.
Stephen: [15:25] But you are spot on. Do you guys are so much alike. I mean, he was, he named it, you know, your trust, uh, and then you know, the ability to assimilate into that environment and adapt to that because it is an evolving environment right there. It’s feast or famine a lately more feast, but sometimes it is famine and you have to be able to adapt to it. And that does take a special kind of person. Um, when were you always that kind of person? I mean, are you kind of a laid back, like take it as it comes Kinda Guy?
Speaker 4: [15:54] Yeah, I’m, I’m, I’m pretty laid back. Uh, um, go with the flow, you know, every now and then I’ll, I’ll take a stand, but for the most part, you know, I can, I can roll with anything.
Stephen: [16:05] He described one a kind of a yelling match. He said it, I think it’s really are only yelling match to really speak of, um, and he said it was kind of when you first started there, see if it rings a bell. And he talked about how you were late coming to the storage unit one day and he was freaking out and then he said he felt about two inches tall by the end of the conversation when he realized that you were stepping up to help his family and he felt like a heel. Uh, you’ve remember that?
Speaker 4: [16:34] Uh, yeah, I remember that altercation very, very well actually. Um, you know, it’s funny, it was probably right in the fourth quarter where you’re exhausted, you’re hungry, you know, you’re tired, you, there’s just a lot of pressure, you know, for everybody. And you know, like any other day that probably wouldn’t have happened, but that day it happened in, you know, we had it out but I don’t know, two, three blow outs tops and two and a half years and we get over it pretty quick. So you know, it’s, it works.
Stephen: [17:04] He described something in his relationships with the people that are in his inner circle this way and it sounds like you have the same thing. He’s like we said, when I’m on the phone with Dale or with Carrie or with some of the young guns, it’s got to go and hang up and nobody gets offended by that. Having that ability to just say hey, because they know you wouldn’t blow them off unless you had something important to do. Right? Because you have, that’s a cool place to get to. Did you always have that relationship with him where you could just kind of end something and then just pick it up again without like hurting each other’s feelings?
Speaker 4: [17:41] Well, to be honest with you, Stephen, uh, you know, we always got along, but we didn’t talk a whole lot before this started, you know, we’d talk, you know, once a week or you know, a couple times a month and see each other on holidays. But, you know, I worked there if I live of three and a half hours away, he had a family. He was doing this plus another job, you know, so I mean nothing. We’re never didn’t like each other or anything like that. We just, you know, had our own lives and you know, now that I’ve been working directly with him for two and a half years. Yeah, we’ve developed just this insanely good relationship, you know, business-wise, personnel-wise, you know, friends. Um, you know, I get to spend time with his family and his kids and I get along with all of them. You know, it’s just, it’s been great.
Stephen: [18:22] He mentioned that about you and your nephews. I mean, how important is that now? You know, now like, do you look back and say, Oh, I missed some time. This is unbelievable to have this, you know, to have family like this, so close there and feel part of something.
Speaker 4: [18:38] Yeah, well, you know, I don’t have kids of my own and he’s my only brother and you know, so to, to get to spend time with them is fantastic and you know, I got a relationship with, you know, each one of them in our own different ways and they’re, they’re fun. You can put them to work. Not the youngest, he’s still a little young, but the other two, you know, you can put them to work and they’ll usually help you out and play some video games after that or throw the football or whatever.
Stephen: [19:03] I was thinking about this too, you know, other people are thinking, would they, could they work with their family? How do you know, how did you know that working with Mitchell was the right move? Uh, because you, you know, you were successful in what you were doing. You had opportunities there. Um, how did you know that, that it would be right?
Speaker 4: [19:23] I didn’t, um, I mean, I, I, you know, I, I know that he wasn’t going to stab me in the back or take money from a job and, you know, move me into another city and leave me high and dry. I didn’t know what it would work would work and you know, I started like August, September of 15. So we started back to school time straight into fourth quarter and you know, like, I don’t think he did it by design, but like I didn’t know what hit me, you know, it’s like all of a sudden now I’m working, you know, 80, 90 hours a week and you know, I can’t get away and it’s cold out and you know, like I don’t know what I’m doing yet. And um, you know, it sucked. I didn’t really get it, you know, um, until, you know, you look back on the fourth quarter and it’s always, you’re impressed at what you did and you know, how far you took it. But it, you know, I had certainly had my doubts getting through that. And then a spring came and we kind of regrouped and really kind of started hitting our stride right about then. And so that’s when it really started working out. So I was slow on the uptake. Um, it took me probably a good six months to figure it out and you know, what this was all about. But then once I figured it out, you know, I no regrets, you know, nothing to look back on. I
Stephen: [20:35] came from a business that was sort of similar in its own way, right. Head of warehouse, had some, you know, some e-commerce or whatever, but it had, you know, moving inventory and stuff like that. It’s really night and day though, isn’t. I mean this is a fast, fast pace moving business. I don’t think many people outside of this industry can appreciate how fast paced this is.
Speaker 4: [20:57] I would never be involved in this if he didn’t do all the hard work, you know, all the ground work. Um, you know, you know, building capital and learn the systems and all of that.
Stephen: [21:07] They’re my friend. That’s a big state.
Speaker 4: [21:10] I wouldn’t have, you know, I wouldn’t have just read about Amazon and started selling on there. That’s where me and him or, you know, a lot different. Um, but given the opportunity, you know, I, I, I took it and ran with it, but he’s clearly innocent
Stephen: [21:24] trip into where are you?
Speaker 4: [21:26] Uh, I would say no. Um, you know, like sometimes people ask me why I wouldn’t just do this on my own with what I have and I just, I don’t want to, you know, like he gives me the freedom flexibility pays me well, you know, everything that I could want. I get to travel all over the country, source everywhere, visit friends, you know, I mean I do a lot on a split seconds notice to, you know, there’s certainly a give and take, but you know, I don’t think I’d be nearly as happy if I was, you know, stressed out and grinding this all out on my own.
Stephen: [21:57] It’s a, that’s a very interesting point. So I think I’m thinking about other people because this is one of their biggest fears. If I train somebody, carry, they’re going to take a copy my business and I’ve seen people do it
Speaker 4: [22:08] [inaudible]. Yeah, I have no doubt,
Stephen: [22:11] but there’s also a lot to be said for not being in charge. Right. There’s A. I used to be that way in my own job. I never wanted to be a boss. I had to be forever. They’d make me do it and then I always step back into the number two role. I’m good at number two. I’m not a great number one. That takes somebody different and to me it’s very cool that you recognize that. So what would, what are the reasons? Because I think it’s important for people to. Because if they do have a number two that they need to make sure that they’re paying attention to things. What are the important things for you? You mentioned a few things. There is some freedom, right? He, I mean he has an implicit trust with you. I mean that’s obvious, but that’s not only just because your brothers. That’s obviously earned over the last two and a half years. I don’t want to downplay that. That’s important and if you screw up at some point he’s going to be sitting there, you know, uh, hello. You know, at some point you’ve got to make it right. So what are the other things that are really important to you that he allows you, that you think others might also really appreciate. And then maybe whoever the number one is, should be mindful to pay attention to these things. You get what I’m asking.
Speaker 4: [23:16] The answer’s probably not going to apply to anybody else, but in a way he kind of rescued me. You know, I worked at this job for a long time. Um, I made good money, I got benefits, I had vacation, um, but it was third shift. I’d worked there forever. There was really nowhere else for me to go, um, you know, I didn’t know, you know, it wasn’t super proactive looking for a way out and you know, then he kind of started working on me. I had no idea how big his business was or could be, you know, so that’s, that’s a big one that, you know, always be loyal to him for that he didn’t have to do some real bad to get me to, to take that one back. Um, but in addition to that, you know, he pays me well, a very flexible with hours and work.
Stephen: [24:03] Let’s stop there a second. So flexible hours with work in that. What does that mean?
Speaker 4: [24:08] Um, so, you know, like I [inaudible] a lot and I travel a lot and the best time to sources usually on the weekends because that’s when the sales are going to be, um, so, you know, if I just want to not do anything on a Tuesday and he’s usually cool with it, uh, if there’s something that has to get done or product that has to get shipped out or whatever, then you know, we do it. But um, you know, as, as long as I’m active in either shipping stuff out or source and stuff, uh, he pretty much leaves me alone. I mean sometimes stuff has to get done and it has to get done the right way and quickly, but you know, that’s, that’s the exception, not the rule,
Stephen: [24:46] right? So you can add in a, uh, carry day if you need to or hey, I’m going to go fishing or go to a ball game or whatever you like to add those in and that’s important to you.
Speaker 4: [24:56] I hit the road and I can explore the city I’m in or you know, like I like to read books and I like video games. So when I’m on the road I’ll take a game console with me and a kindle and I just want to take a day and chill in the hotel. Um, you know, I’ll do through that because I, you know, there’s minimal distractions and you know, what happens on those days often is by about [6:00] at night, I’m ready to go out and see what I can find at the store for a couple hours.
Stephen: [25:18] Well, let me ask you a couple of personal questions and, and if, if this is secret sauce, don’t give it away, but let me just ask, does he allow you to kind of stay where you want to stay and then are your meals covered and do you get to kind of pick and choose? I understand that you can’t eat fancy all the time because it gets old and I don’t get the vibe that you’re into that fancy by yourself stuff anyway. Right? It’s not really. No. So, so is there, are there boundaries or they just implied boundaries and out of respect
Speaker 4: [25:47] it’s, it’s pretty well implied. I mean, um, so let me think of a good example. Like if I don’t work a day on the road, like I’ll pay for my own food.
Stephen: [25:57] That makes sense to see that. So respect issue, but they see that that’s a two way respect to it right there. I don’t want to lose that. That’s a two way respect issue. You feel like you would be taking advantage of him even though he probably wouldn’t say anything but deep down maybe he would feel like you were taking it. So it’s quid pro quo. You give and take as you described it earlier. That’s very cool. Very cool.
Speaker 4: [26:18] Yeah. Well, and you know, sometimes I’ll, I don’t shop for myself too often, but every now and then I’ll see something and a lot of times it’s just easier to throw it on the same transaction and then I’ll say, hey I owe you 20 bucks for this pair of pants or you know, I started my own transaction and just and buy it separately. And he usually is like whatever, like I don’t care, like buy herself some pants, like, you know, big deal like you know, or you’re on the road if you need socks because you’re out, like buy some socks, like, you know,
Stephen: [26:41] say that mean again, there’s that, there’s that implicit trust is there because you just don’t take it for granted. You just say hey, because it’s almost like you saying, hey, I appreciate this. Even though you’re always going to say take it, it’s still, Hey, I appreciate I acknowledged this and that’s important.
Speaker 4: [26:59] I love it. Yeah, well I can see a quick, funny story is I sent him a screenshot of a credit card statement for somebody who’s going to pay it or do something with it and there was a charge on there to half price books for like 20 bucks, you know, and he puffs the message messages like, Oh I guess buying your books now. And then I sent him what I bought and the price I paid for what it was going for in the rank and you know, I was like, I didn’t, you know, you buy my books with my salary, you know, but like this was a legit item. And then he was like, Oh wow, nice, fine. You know, it’s funny.
Stephen: [27:27] Back to that two inch tall
Speaker 4: [27:29] and try and make them feel that way as much
Stephen: [27:32] hospital, you know, it, it, but it does. He’s throwing it out to test you, to try to keep things under check and you know, it’s cool that you’re in that place. Would, that. That’s the playful part of the relationship though.
Speaker 4: [27:45] Well, yeah. So you said that just, I mean he was probably laughing to himself, you know, like, oh, making him them, you know, like if you wouldn’t have cared anyways if I did. It’s funny to fire right back. Like, no, this was, this was for us man.
Stephen: [27:56] That’s funny. Well he did describe that you have full range of the purse strings to so you kind of a. do you feel like you set your own boundaries there? Because I’m assuming there’s sometimes even you must like, man, I’m spending a lot of money, I’m uncomfortable spending this much. Do you check with him or do you feel. Are you now at that place where you can just do it?
Speaker 4: [28:17] I’m pretty comfortable now to just do it. Uh, I, I learned when I first started sourcing, I would call them all the time. I’d send them texts this acn and blah, blah, blah. I finally got the vibe that he would rather me just make the decision good or bad, usually side on the, uh, fall on the side of spending the money than to call him and ask him to look something up every 10 minutes. So I just kind of started doing that, you know, see what hits and what doesn’t and you know, adjust as you keep shopping
Stephen: [28:50] your schedule because it does sound like you’re on the road a lot. Yes. I mean, so can you kind of walk me through a regular week what it would look like?
Speaker 4: [28:57] Uh, no, I could not as there is no such thing. Is that why I spent, um, you know, we took a couple of weeks off after fourth quarter and then, you know, Martin Luther King weekend was the first, you know, holiday shopping weekends. So I went on the road for that. Um, was gone for, I don’t know, like two weeks. Ended up in Dayton to visit some friends on the way home. I was cruising through a mall in Ohio. I was just going to stop in and buy something on my way home and find out that an adidas store is closing and going out of business and the following day everything in the store is going to be 50 percent off. So I call him like a, you know, I’m just gonna stay here for you know, see what happens tomorrow, see if they’ll sell it to me. And I ended up spending the whole week there cause they let me buy the store.
Stephen: [29:46] So wait. So you spend a week there. What are you driving? First off,
Speaker 4: [29:51] I’ve got a Mercedes sprinter. We do that.
Stephen: [29:55] So you’ve got to, you’ve got a lot of space and your goal was to fill that van. Now are you bringing this stuff back to your place or are you dropping it for Dale somewhere?
Speaker 4: [30:04] Ninety percent of the time it’s going to Dale.
Stephen: [30:06] OK. So He. Is he meeting you or are you, you know, coordinating that somehow
Speaker 4: [30:11] I try and plan it into my trips but if you ask Dale, he, you know, the joke is like six hours to four days to whatever time. I tell him that, you know, I’m going to be swinging by because, you know, it’s just too many variables, but yeah. Uh, so like that trip. Yeah. I ended up filling up the van twice. Um,
Stephen: [30:29] and you drove the van ones drive it and drop it a dale’s, go back, fill the van again and do the same thing.
Speaker 4: [30:34] And then on the way home I stopped back there one more time. Yeah, a even close. We’ll will fill up a van if you buy enough.
Stephen: [30:41] No kidding. Yeah. Did you, would you say you or Mitchell or better at building relationships with stores?
Speaker 4: [30:53] That’s a good one. Both. I think like I’m more laid back but I get impatient and store sometimes I think even Moreso than he does. Um, but like he’s got all the relationships down here so I’ll go into the store because I don’t shop in Lowville all that often. So, uh, and, and he knows that I’m like, oh, and they don’t know where brothers sometimes too, which was funny. Um, but, you know, I got my own contacts that I’ve made and I’ve got good sources that stores a that generally aren’t super reseller friendly that will, you know, work with me. So, you know, I’ve done a few on my own, definitely want to say made enemies, but I probably didn’t come across great, you know, every single time.
Stephen: [31:37] But you’ve gotten a lot. Let me ask you that. That’s a good question. Um, when you do have the relationship, how often are you talking to that store manager? I’m, is it monthly? Is it every couple of weeks?
Speaker 4: [31:50] Um, it’s honestly not even that often. Uh, I try not to abuse it, so I just, you know, it’s at a place that I hit a couple of times a year. Um, I’m usually there for multiple days, so I go in, I don’t have her number or anything, but you know, she knows my face. She always comes out and says hi to me and we get to work.
Stephen: [32:09] And so now you’re buying, you’re filling the van, dropping it off, and you literally will stay at a hotel in that town. And just by, and by, and by what time do you start in the day when they’re in that scenario, what time do you start? As soon as they opened the store.
Speaker 4: [32:22] But it usually the mind in the morning, like I got a weird sleeping pattern. I guess [inaudible] like most people are like pop [inaudible] and like I don’t usually start my day until about [9:30] because if I’m on the road, the stores don’t open until 10 M in most cities if you’re hitting outlets or whatever. And uh, so, you know, I’ll stay up until two or three in the morning, you know, sleep till [8:30] or nine breakfast in the hotel and, and go hit it. And uh, it depends, um, you know, like if he has a number that he wants me to hit every day, but it’s not like, oh, I hit that by noon. Like, OK, you know, I’m taking the rest of the day off. You know, it’s not like that. Most of the time
Stephen: [33:07] saving every dollar spent or retail value of a dollar spent a dollar spent. So then this is another question because one of the things that I remember, this was a couple of interviews ago from him that one of the things he thought you were going to be great at is running the warehouse during the operations side of it. Right? Because that was your forte, right? That’s what your background was. And I remember him saying how surprised he was. How good you are at the other side of it. And so I ask you this, how does it feel now that majority of the prep majority of it goes to Dale, uh, to a third party, a prep company. How does that feel for you? Somebody who’s good at it? Probably as good as dale or it was as good as Dale. Um, how does that feel for you?
Speaker 4: [33:53] I love it. I mean, if anything else it frees up, you know, options and flexibility. Um, and so, ah, I’m home now. I’ve been on the road for, I would say more often than not this year I’ve spent, you know, either at a friend’s house, a hotel at different city, whatever, and I’m going to be home for a couple of weeks because a lot of stuff that needs taken care of at home and um, I’m, I’m looking forward to it as much as I love being out in the stores and stuff. Like I just, I liked the variety.
Stephen: [34:22] So it’s interesting that you’ve come from that other side and now you’re on this side and you get a. what’d you say you enjoyed this more than the other side?
Speaker 4: [34:31] Enjoy the sourcing more. Oh yeah, definitely enjoyed the sourcing more. Um, but I don’t like, I know a lot of people like I don’t want to prep, I don’t want to list, you know, like I don’t have a big problem with it. Um, but it’s way more fun to go spend $5,000 or whatever in an afternoon. That’s certainly more fun. But I like the variety.
Stephen: [34:54] Well, it’s gotta be very rewarding because you immediately get some feedback from your brother, hey, you know, hit the number or you know, hey, did you hit the number today? Of course, or whatever. But he probably doesn’t even ask anymore. Right. He’s probably just used to you hitting it. Right. And so, so when you, that’s got to be very rewarding. And then the fact that you’re dropping off at deal at his place and they’re probably rolling their eyes like, oh, here they are again. And it’s funny. Yeah, probably excited. I mean I’m, I’m sure it’s, you know, as it’s more work for them, they understand that you’re their bread and butter. I mean, so it’s kind of cool on that side too. It’s very rewarding both ways it feels like to me would be for you.
Speaker 4: [35:31] The people that he’s got working there have always been fantastic and um, you know, they’ll help me unload, like I’ll call him and you know, cause I want to unload when someone’s there because even a sprinter, if it’s loaded, good. I can take you an hour or more to unload by yourself. But you know, if you get some help, you can get that done in a half hour or whatever and it just, it saves you time. And you know, there’s been plenty of times where he’s had no one there. He’s like, I’ll just come over and help you out. I’m like, come on man, you’re home with your family. You’re burning the candle at, you know, 10 different ends. Like I can handle this and it’s hard to talk them out of it. But he’s just a good dude who’s hired very, very good help and runs a, a great service that, you know, I don’t think that we would be grown to where we’re at now. Um, or the quality of life that I have now, which I know sounds ridiculous, but without being able to rely on him for a lot of that stuff,
Stephen: [36:24] I don’t think it does. I think because you’re a young single guy you get and you get to play video games and read to the things you love to do and try and get to spend other people’s money. And Dude, I’m not here and you get to eat out all this. I mean, I’m not hearing anything bad in this scenario.
Speaker 4: [36:40] I live a pretty, it’s a very strange life, but it’s very rewarding and fun. And you know, if uh, like for example, like last year, uh, we had a little family vacation in Orlando, a I liked wwe, happened to be the same time as wrestle mania, which was in Orlando. So I go down for that visit with the family, you know, we never been to Orlando, you know, since we started this, see the shopping, he like stay as long as you want, you know. So I stayed another week or two after everybody left and, you know, got to enjoy down there. And then I went back in September, spent the whole month of September in Orlando last year.
Stephen: [37:17] I’m working at all when you were down there for the month? Uh, yeah, no, I was working the whole time. I had a uh,
Speaker 4: [37:23] family come in for another timeshare that I spent about five days with. And even then they’re like, you know, they don’t do this for a living. So they’re like, oh, we’ll take a shot, we’ll help you out. We’ll carry bags. All right, cool.
Stephen: [37:35] To the house. So you prepped yourself there at the house and that you didn’t ship it home to Dale in that scenario. I shipped a lot of it today. Yes. No kidding. Yeah. How does that happen? A, we’ve got a couple tricks up our sleeve secret sauce, but that’s, that’s a pro tip right there. So there isn’t a way to do that, what you just described and still effectively ship it to somebody else without you personally driving. Right? Uh, that’s a, that’s going to be one that you should keep close to the best because that’s a pro tip right there. Um, cause it’s one of the challenges. I mean it is geographic geography wise, you know, uh, so somebody could say, oh yeah, you could prep out of the house, but then that, that diminishes your ability to source. Right.
Speaker 4: [38:23] Do that too. Especially if I got family there, you know, like, Hey, whatever. I’ll buy your dinner tonight. You know, helped me with this for a couple hours. You know, I, it could work either way.
Stephen: [38:32] I’m good, but it’s not the, it’s not as fun. I mean, we just, sourcing is the thing he loved to do and very, that’s, Ooh, he’s never told me that he’s hiding. He’s holding out on me on that one.
Speaker 4: [38:43] Great. Probably going to get a phone call as soon as this goes live, but not,
Stephen: [38:47] no, you didn’t tell a secret. Um, but again, that’s a smart move. I’m very, very smart. So, you know, thinking about you and your writing, so as a writer, how do you get back into it after 10 years? I mean, does it just like, I’m going to start writing again and did you just do it yourself and not tell anybody or how does that go about?
Speaker 4: [39:10] Always been a big reader. Um, I finally got sick of reading. I felt like I read the same book over and over and over again. Um, and so I just kinda challenged myself to. I switched from novels to read short stories exclusively because that’s what I wanted to write. And, uh, uh, so that wouldn’t read a novel again until I published a short story and so I started, I went at it pretty hard for a while, um, and I had a little bit of success and then, uh, uh, I changed jobs, picked up everything and moved in that the whole creative bug has kind of left me. Does that make sense? Like it’s not a priority or a passion like it once was. I’m dabbling in a few things now for the first time in awhile, but, um, it wasn’t like, you know, it used to feel like something I had to do. Um, now I don’t feel like that anymore.
Stephen: [40:01] I know we talked earlier about your strengths, right? What, what Mitchell thought, what your strengths, the reason that you know, he wanted you brought on the business. Would you agree? Would you say they are your best strengths or do you think you have some other ones?
Speaker 4: [40:16] Um, I think that the adaptability and the trust are huge. Um, and those were probably the biggest ones. And then, um, you know, something else that I did that he couldn’t have done. W wants to help me and was I brought on a friend of mine, he’s a college friend who has been referred to a couple of times. Mike, we call him. Yes, we call it an easy Mike sometimes cause he’s into flipping easy’s in his spare time and he does OK at that. But uh, you know, I, you know, I left Dayton and he thought that I was insane, you know, I didn’t think this was ever going to work and then I started, you know, I trust him, you know, as much as I trust my brother. And so, you know, started showing them what we were buying, what we’re selling it for and you know, he’s just blown away. Um, and then slowly he started getting a taste and liking it. And then, you know, he’s become very, very, very valuable in interested in and fun to work with over the last, I don’t know, two years, maybe a year and a half, something like that.
Stephen: [41:13] So you get to work with your family who’s now your best friend and you work with your best friend. Additionally, I mean, again, I like your life. I do like your life who
Speaker 4: [41:22] absolutely, and I always got something like I got someone to talk about. My brother is crazy quirks with, you know, someone who gets it, you know, you’re trying to explain that to someone who doesn’t know anything about how all this works and you got nothing. But yeah, we can, we can uh, air grievances if need be.
Stephen: [41:43] How about, I know it’s cliché to ask about weaknesses, but what are the things that you hope to improve on that? Not really weaknesses but things that you just like, Hey, I’d love to get this or I’d love to be more like Mitchell this way because he’s got this analytical thing going, he’s got this, he’s got that. Anything there that you’d say that you could improve and you hope to improve on?
Speaker 4: [42:06] Well, you know, like I said, I’m pretty happy with my life but I don’t have much of a personal life. You know, I moved to a new city in the early thirties. It’s not easy to make friends when you do something like that. You’re not going to classes or whatever. And then you throw in working from home or truck traveling all the time and it’s hard to, to do some. Um, so ultimately I’d like to devote a lot more of a personal life and to see, you know, who you could bring in that might be interested in helping and maybe open up some new new avenues or something like that. Um, I don’t know if that’s necessarily a weakness, but that’s something that I would like to do in the near future. I understand maybe but not, you know, just someone to go out and get beers with would be a good start. But a, yeah, a lady, you know, it sounds good on paper how it works out in reality. Um, but um, so and then the weakness wise, and this is where we compliment each other very well. Like, you know, he’s got know, you know, it was probability. He knows equations that I couldn’t even begin to, to understand. And so like that, that’s not me. I’m more of what I see and what I’ve learned. And so I think we compliment each other pretty well.
Stephen: [43:26] That’s not a failure. That’s a win. Acknowledging I would say acknowledging who you are, knowing that it makes you a winner because you don’t have to deal with that nonsense that would would add to your life. You get to pick the best. To me, that’s an awesome thing. You know, one of the hardest, one of the hardest parts of this is I’m thinking about people who are looking about bringing somebody on. They don’t all have a brother or somebody who they love that they can trust with that. What’s your advice though, for people who are thinking about finding that really strong, number two, because they want to bring somebody on, but there’s a trust issue. They also don’t want to train somebody to steal their business. They want to train somebody who’s looking for that. You know that life that that. What does it mean? There’s a couple of things that I’ve heard in here, hey, look for somebody who’s been at a job for a long period of time, understands that there’s a limit where they want to go, want some flexibility in their schedules, not afraid of hard work, not afraid to work weekends and nights because that’s what a lot of it is. I’ve heard some of those things. What other things though, because I just, I think there’s a whole bunch of people would love to be where you guys are. We’d love it. Right.
Speaker 4: [44:32] Well, you know, like you said, nobody has or not everybody has a brother that they can even trust. Um, yeah. I don’t have a great answer for you. I feel like, um, you’d have to get someone that you had a personal relationship with, be it a cashier at a store or manager the feel like the biggest scary part would be talking them out of the job before you’ve had a trial because you know, if they’re guaranteed, you know, they’re $12 an hour or whatever and it doesn’t work out with you and they quit a job with you. Or more than that, you know, 15, 18, whatever it is. Then, you know, not only did it not work out, but you’ve caused the, um, the job that they’ve had while. Yeah, it just gets tricky. I guess I would probably try and start someone part time for those nights and weekends as a trial run to see how it worked out. But I’ve heard cashiers can make good employees that I had today and pick someone to replace me or to supplement or compliment. I don’t know, the difference, whatever. Uh, that’s probably where I would start.
Stephen: [45:37] That’s good. When you think about. No, I think it makes perfect sense. I think because a, that first off they’re used to a lot of transactions. They’re not intimidated by it. They see a lot of money. Money probably doesn’t have the same meaning to them anymore. Right? They see people by some weird stuff and they’re like, OK, whatever. Um, and what’s also cool is they might know some trends. Um, those are all positive. They’re used to handling money. So there’s probably a trust a company wouldn’t have him handling money unless there was some level of trust. Uh, so, you know, all those things are stated on their feet and they’ll probably work in lousy hours. I mean, all the stuff that you’re talking about that makes some collaborators right in
Speaker 4: [46:16] both buyers and, you know, they might be envious, they might want to taste, you know, they might know that this is for real and even explain this to people. I don’t anymore. I gave it up like I feel like it will know too much. So, you know, I don’t even tell people when you Amazon anymore, there’s online retail or e-commerce. I just think the less people know the better
Stephen: [46:37] at this point. I don’t even tell them either. So. So as we round down what are, what are some of the habits that you feel like attribute to your success that you just do? I mean, and maybe nobody’s taught you these habits. These are things that just how you operate, that may be some others could benefit from.
Stephen: [47:00] So I’m thinking, for example, like I’m thinking all right, you sleep in till 10 or [9:30] because you understand that you’re going to probably work late and you’re not going to get in the stores anyway, so you might as well make the best use of your time. So that’s kind of a, it’s actually a pretty good habit, you know, staying up late and uh, working or whatever and then sleeping in. So you’re well rested, you are ready to take on the day, you’ve had a good breakfast. Those are all pretty good habits that you’ve got. What other things that you think that would be like that?
Speaker 4: [47:27] Um, I don’t know if it’s necessarily habit, but just, you know, being easy to work with I think is just ridiculous. Important. There’s so much to nitpick about and you know, be whiny or bitchy about. But when you look at the grand scheme of things and you know, yeah, you’re going to have a bad day or yes, I was gone for a weekend and Mitchell destroyed, you know, something by dumping all this stuff right in the middle of the road. Like, that sucks. But you know, it’s whatever, you clean it up and you move on. Um, and I guess maybe that’s adaptability and flexibility, um, but know just, just taking it and realizing what you’ve got and appreciating it that, you know, I’m not cleaning a, you know, what, like I used to janitorial work, you know, for 12 bucks an hour or whatever, like I’m not doing that anymore. So I’m willing to tolerate a lot of stuff that I think would turn a lot of people off because that’s not how they did their job.
Stephen: [48:25] So that’s perspective. Looking back saying it could be a lot worse for a lot of reasons. How about this, I’m thinking about this, he’s, he’s your older brother.
Stephen: [48:36] how is that relationship now? Um, especially because you guys worked so closely together for so much. How is that, I mean, is he, has he taken on more of a,
Stephen: [48:48] fatherly advice? Kind of because you’re into his life and he’s into your life. I mean, you guys are knee deep in each other. How has that evolved?
Speaker 4: [48:57] Um, well, you know, I lived with them when I first moved down here, um, for awhile and uh, that’s when I really got to know, uh, his wife and the kids and everything and then we Kinda, you know, we still live close to each other but we don’t live in the same place anymore. So, you know, it was great getting to know them now and you know, now they’re on if there’s a big football game on a big fight on something like that, you know, I know I can pair, uh, the kids have games that I go and watch. Um, you know, it, it’s, you know, like I said, I don’t love in Biddy, um, even though it’s been here for two and a half years now, but I know that I can always see what he’s doing and see what he’s up to and we can hang out, play games online on playstation. Been planned for tonight a little bit, you know, sometimes just take a break in the middle of the day and uh, and fire up and it’s just, it’s fun. I don’t know, fun in the business with him. And then outside of the business, you know, um, I don’t get sick of him very often. Uh, that’s probably why the travel is good. I don’t know what he would say about me. Probably the same.
Stephen: [50:10] I know. I think he did. And what’s cool to me is that it’s much deeper because not only is it that close working together, there’s still that family love and I mean, to be honest with you, I mean are, be honest. Would you, would you have that if you were still in Dayton? The answers no, right? I mean, I mean, yeah, there’d be a. yeah, but it’s different.
Speaker 4: [50:33] I don’t know where I’d be, you know, probably the same job, you know, I don’t know. It’s hard to um, but yeah, I don’t think the relationship would have changed a whole lot, so you know, certainly grateful for that as well. And you know, like between surviving, you know, fourth quarter together and being born of the same blood are probably about the two strongest bonds a human beings can have. Right.
Stephen: [50:57] That’s very fair. All right, so, so the goal of this podcast is to help people who get stuck, and specifically in this scenario I’m thinking of people who are stuck because they’re doing it by themselves. They don’t have the help. You guys are in a very unique position, a related Vu compliment each other. I think that’s, that’s even more powerful. The fact that you’re not the same, both a type personalities, jam, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram. It’s the way you guys are new. Compliment each other. So. Well, what do you think somebody who’s thinking about this, what’s your advice that you would give them to help them move past that point? Because it can only do so much by themselves, right?
Speaker 4: [51:39] Right. Now I would take a good look at a pro. Um, I think that’s probably the biggest bottleneck will have, is that, you know, you got to feel stickers and bag stuff and whatever, and in that time you have the capital to do it. Otherwise, you know, I guess it’s probably worth it for you to continue prep your own stuff, but to like outsourcing it to someone like a dale. Um, you know, so you just drop off that load, you don’t ever see it again, you’re done with it and then you’re back out sourcing and whether you’re full time Amazon or you’re doing it part time, you know, that time is very, very valuable. Um, and you can find a prep center that might not be close to your house, that will take deliveries and you could shop on the way there a fun way to make a weekend, um, that, that would be my advice. Uh, if someone was stuck, didn’t know how to hire, um,
Stephen: [52:32] that’s what I would do. But I’m again, I love the story. I love the story of the two of you, um, because seeing youtube together at a party, it is different. You are absolutely different. You know, I remember Mitchell saying, you remember he’s different. I’m like, I get it, I get it. He’s wearing
Speaker 4: [52:51] her urine. It’s right. Baseball, capita, scruffy beard. Yeah. It’s weird because we’re very, very, very alike and we’re very, very, very different and sometimes I don’t even know where we’re going to align and where we’re going to class, if that makes sense. Like, you know what I mean, like sometimes like you gotta watch this, this is hilarious. I watch it. I’m like, that’s not funny, you know? And then other times it’s like, yes, that’s the funniest thing ever. You know, it’s, you know, there’s, you don’t quite know for sure even living it.
Stephen: [53:18] But let me tell you, this is a guy who’s been married 32 years. That’s what makes a good marriage when, when it is that uncertainty. So therefore that also makes a good partnership that you guys have. So, um, I think it’s very cool. I’m OK if I put your facebook contact out here if somebody has a follow-up question. Yeah, sure. Dude, I’m, I’m, I’m really impressed. What’s cooler to me is the love he has mentioned for you and I can hear the respect and admiration you have for him and I just think that’s just so cool. Very cool place to be in your life. Um, I wish you nothing but success. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4: [53:55] Well, thanks for having me on, Stephen. It’s been a good time and I really enjoyed talking to you and yeah, I’m just enjoying where I’m at and riding it until the wheels fall off so we can keep going. Take care.
Stephen: [54:07] Another great interview with what a great guy and he really is a great guy and it’s just laid back. I’m not that net Mitchell’s real intense. It’s just, it’s, they are opposite in some ways and they are like in some ways and it’s just so neat. Both real strong work ethics that’s similar. They’re not going to get rid of that. A very smart both of them. Um, but definitely carry takes more of a backseat and he’s comfortable with that. Knowing who you are and being comfortable with that. That’s the secret. That’s the secret to success. The guy who works as a janitor and loves it and does it, and because he enjoys it, who whistles while he’s doing things, he’s figured it out. That’s his thing. That’s his lane. Well, guess what? Carrie’s figured his lane now and he’s enjoying it. He’s living the life that he wants to live at. A pretty cool age. I’m a little envious. I must admit here at some of what he gets to do, it’s a pretty cool place to get to. E commerce, momentum.com, e-commerce momentum. Take care.
Cool voice guy: [55:01] Thanks for listening to the e commerce momentum podcast. All the links mentioned today can be found at incomers. Momentum [inaudible]. Under this episode number, please remember to subscribe and like us on itunes.
