Following Passion: Billy Brown of Make Ready Firearms

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:04] Speaker B: Welcome to Life Liberty and Equipped podcast. I'm Greg Davis, founder of NeoMag. This podcast is about living boldly, using liberty for good and staying equipped in mindset, skill set and gear for whatever comes your way. Today's episode is ads free but it's made possible by NeoMag. We build innovative American made gear to help you stay better equipped. If you want to support the company and get great gear, head to theneomag.com or support us for free. Subscribe, leave a review and share the podcast. Also love to hear from you. You can email us at Life Liberty equipped with 1p gmail.com. also hosting with me today is Nate Hills and our guest today, Billy Brown of Make Ready Firearms. [00:00:47] Speaker A: Hi Billy. How are you guys doing? [00:00:51] Speaker B: Great. Especially now you're here. Nice fade, Nate. [00:00:56] Speaker C: I'm doing my best. [00:00:58] Speaker B: So Billy took my seat in the middle which means Nate is now running the board upside down. [00:01:04] Speaker C: Doing my best. [00:01:05] Speaker B: And I feel like our NeoMax sign just got really bright. [00:01:07] Speaker A: It. [00:01:08] Speaker C: Something just brightened. [00:01:09] Speaker B: That was weird. [00:01:09] Speaker C: Probably the new mag sign. That's fine. [00:01:11] Speaker A: Nice. Awesome. [00:01:12] Speaker C: You know, technology supposed to make life easy. So, Billy, I'm gonna read your intro. You ready? [00:01:18] Speaker A: Sure. [00:01:19] Speaker C: We stole it straight from your website. So you wrote this for yourself? [00:01:21] Speaker B: Verbatim. [00:01:23] Speaker C: Billy has always had a fascination with guns and shooting. As a young adult, he started acquiring and collecting firearms. After many years of collecting and shooting, a deep passion for guns developed and a dream started building in his mind. A dream that would allow him to be involved in the firearms industry and share his passion with others. After many years, Billy put this dream into motion and enrolled in a school where he graduated with honors, earning a degree of Science in Firearms Technology. Along with being a licensed gunsmith and the owner of Make Ready Firearms llc. Billy is a Glock Sig Sauer and AR certified armorer, an NRA certified instructor in pistol and rifle, and is an NRA Chief Range Safety Officer. He is CPR and T Triple C certified with advanced training in medical trauma, works on a specially response team and does armed security. [00:02:16] Speaker A: I need to update that a little bit. [00:02:17] Speaker B: Well, you know, you know, what do you want to. What would you want to update on. [00:02:21] Speaker A: Go ahead and update. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm not sure. Just. Just need to change it up a little bit. That's from the original. So, you know. Well, there's not on the website much. That's. That's the problem. You know, everything is. This is social media. So you know, the website's important, but it takes so much more Time to do that and change compared to just uploading and stuff. So strongly need to look over the website and do a few updates. Nothing's changed so much, but just more things have happened. Yeah. Yeah. It's just a lot more that needs to be. [00:02:47] Speaker B: The website is a constant. Yeah, constant. It's a hassle and I still don't think this is for us too. I don't think. I still don't think I give it enough. [00:02:55] Speaker A: Well, I know, you know, attention and. Yeah. You know, the Internet's a time suck. [00:03:01] Speaker C: Yeah, that's true. [00:03:02] Speaker A: So anyway. [00:03:03] Speaker C: That's true. [00:03:04] Speaker A: Got to have it, though. Got to have it. I mean, when you take a break from it, you can tell, like messages drop, you know, things start dropping. So, yeah, I need. I need to look over the website. [00:03:13] Speaker B: There are some things that I didn't know about you. So we've known each other for quite a. Quite a while. So I think we met, I think class, probably Donovan's class. Point 1 tactics. This is long ago, way back, and we took. Yeah, we took a number of classes together and kind of down from that, [00:03:33] Speaker A: some say it's been Kentucky area, six years. Six years, probably seven years maybe. [00:03:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:39] Speaker A: So. Yeah, six or seven years. [00:03:41] Speaker B: Yeah. Six, seven. [00:03:43] Speaker C: Nate, you and I have only known each other probably a little over three years. Yeah, we met at Shot was the first time we met. You came by the Shot person. In person. [00:03:53] Speaker A: In person. [00:03:54] Speaker C: And then when Greg and I were at Modern, one of Scott's classes down at Impact wouldn't have been last summer, but the summer of 2024, you came and visited, came by and said hello. Hello. And you. And then you and Angela came out to dinner. [00:04:12] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:12] Speaker C: Afterwards. Yeah, we all hung out there. [00:04:14] Speaker A: Right. [00:04:15] Speaker C: And that's where we spent quite a bit of time together then. So. But we've been. When we. After we had met in person at Shot is when communication between the two [00:04:26] Speaker A: of us started in hardcore. [00:04:30] Speaker B: It's a hardcore compassion. [00:04:31] Speaker A: Well, he was flirting all the time. [00:04:33] Speaker C: All the time. [00:04:33] Speaker A: So, I mean, I couldn't. [00:04:34] Speaker B: I don't understand how you don't. [00:04:35] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, you know what I'm saying? I mean, look at him. [00:04:37] Speaker C: Yeah, right. [00:04:39] Speaker B: Passion. [00:04:40] Speaker C: The passion. [00:04:41] Speaker B: I was talking more about you, but. [00:04:42] Speaker A: Oh, well, okay. You know, gee, I'm now blushing. [00:04:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:46] Speaker C: So multiple years of friendship all around. [00:04:48] Speaker A: Yes. [00:04:49] Speaker B: Cumulative. [00:04:50] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, I use the word friend very carefully in my life and, you know, I do consider. I'm gonna say I do consider you two friends. So for me to say that, you know, for whatever it's worth. It's. It's a deeper relationship than most people. I have a whole lot of acquaintances, a whole lot of buddies, but I've had very few friends. [00:05:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:05:09] Speaker A: And. And you two are definitely friends, so thank you for having me up. [00:05:11] Speaker B: I feel the same. Yeah. Thanks for making love. [00:05:13] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:05:13] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:05:15] Speaker B: So you live down. You're actually in Kentucky, right? [00:05:18] Speaker A: Yep. Walton, Kentucky. [00:05:19] Speaker B: Walton, Kentucky. [00:05:20] Speaker A: 30 minutes south of Cincinnati. [00:05:21] Speaker B: Okay. [00:05:21] Speaker A: So it's all Cincinnati area. We're on the better side of the Cincinnati area, of course. But yeah, down in Walton, Kentucky. Moved. We lived in Union before. Moved down to Walton. Made that move going on five and a half years ago. Best move Angela and I have ever made. And we love it there. [00:05:38] Speaker B: It's beautiful. [00:05:38] Speaker A: We love it. Yeah. [00:05:40] Speaker C: Your house is amazing. The shop is amazing. I got to spend some time. It was in November of last year. I was down there right before Thanksgiving. Yep, right before Thanksgiving. Got to spend some time. Piece of property you have is beautiful and the house is awesome and shop is great. It's a great place to be. [00:05:56] Speaker A: Yeah, we love it. And you know, like I said, we weren't planning on. We weren't looking when we found that. When Angela found that place. She's always looking at real estate stay just because. And we were, you know, moving was in the five year, five year plan, but not, not then. And we found that place and went and looked at it just to look at it. And as we were pulling down the driveway, I looked at her as I was looking for traffic. I'm like, we're moving, aren't we? She goes, I think we are. And you know, like I said, it's the best thing we ever did. So we're blessed beyond measure, for sure. Yeah. [00:06:26] Speaker B: It's really cool. So we have a lot to get to. You are a phenomenal, so phenomenal shooter. I've taken, like I said, we've shot together a lot. Phenomenal Seracoder and, and all those things. But I think you're even, even more than all that. You're a phenomenal person. And so. [00:06:44] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:06:46] Speaker B: I just want people to get to know you and just learn more about you because I believe that, that a lot of our, our customers buy from us. You know, you can get Seracote a lot of places, you can get firearms accessories, you know, cassette carry accessories a lot of places. But I think a lot of times what, what drives a lot of. A lot of people's decisions on is they want to support people. [00:07:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:08] Speaker B: And so. [00:07:09] Speaker A: And I, you know, it. There's a Lot of people. And in business, it's not always the best practice. But I tell customers, I tell everybody. Like, I sell by relationship, right? You know, I want my work to be as high quality as it can be. The best that it can be that I can possibly do. But. But I need that relationship first. You know, I'm not the guy that's just pushing for money and all that stuff. I want to know the people. You know, there's a lot of people, like, why don't you have pricing on your website? You know, it's because I want to talk to everybody. And, you know, it's time. It's time consuming, but I want to build that relationship. I want to get to know that person. Because I also say that 80% of the people come in my shop with an idea, what they want, walk out with something completely different. Because I've taken time to get to know them and see what's important to them and things that aren't important to them. And then we come up with something totally custom for them, and they walk away just thrilled. [00:08:01] Speaker B: And then when they see what you're capable of, they're like, oh, you can do more than what I had pictured, which is art. So before we get too much into this, which, if you aren't watching, I would recommend when you get a chance, go to YouTube and watch this video. Because we're surrounded by firearms right now, which is a fantastic thing. Of the reasons why we're doing this pre recorded. Because YouTube doesn't like guns. Doesn't like guns. But they're okay with. [00:08:28] Speaker C: They're not live anyways. [00:08:29] Speaker B: They're okay with pre recorded. [00:08:31] Speaker C: Wary about live guns. [00:08:32] Speaker B: Yes. So let's just get. Let's just kind of go back. I don't know how far back you want to go, but I'm old, I guess. Let's start with this question, right? I mean. All right, Billy. [00:08:48] Speaker A: So I'm officially the oldest person in the room. So, you know, let's. [00:08:51] Speaker C: Let's go back. [00:08:51] Speaker A: Is this a history lesson? [00:08:55] Speaker C: Tell us about your childhood. Would you like to. Would you like to lay down on the couch and give us a. [00:09:00] Speaker B: Well, let's start with this. What. What is your. What was your. What was. Gosh. Driveway. What was your. I want to say, what was your childhood like? But what was your. What was it like being brought up? Like, where were you brought up? What. [00:09:16] Speaker A: You know, so I was actually born and raised in Ohio in Monroe and raised in Christian home. My mom, you know, was very active in church and made sure we Were too. And yeah. Had it. Had a good childhood. I mean, we, you know, we weren't rich or anything like that, but we. We didn't have needs, you know, we. But things were different then too. Like, people didn't have to live that luxurious thing that they try to strive to now. But yeah, just I would say pretty normal childhood, you know, My grandparents were my idols, my heroes, you know, and I am. It's kind of weird. I was fortunate enough I had. I had three of my four grandparents till I was 42 years old. [00:10:03] Speaker B: Wow. [00:10:04] Speaker A: Which I didn't realize how. [00:10:05] Speaker B: That is rare. [00:10:06] Speaker A: That is. [00:10:07] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:10:08] Speaker A: That my children, Cody and Abby got to know their great grandparents like into their teenage years. [00:10:16] Speaker C: That's. I mean, that is significant. Like, I'm thankful my. My two kids who are 5 and 7 are getting to know my dad's parents. I'm very thankful that they get to hang out with them. But my mom's parents were both might say long gone, but several years gone before either one of them were born. [00:10:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:10:36] Speaker C: And I suspect that my dad's parents won't be around much longer, so my youngest nieces and nephews, I would suspect, won't have any memories of my dad's parents just because age. Right. Like that kind of thing. So I'm very thankful my kids are going to have memories of my grandparents, but I can't imagine they'll be around for their teenage years. That's significant. [00:11:00] Speaker A: And I remember one of my great grandmothers, but I was very, very young. The fortunate thing is they, I mean, they're teenager. I mean, they. They have fond memories and very vivid memories of being with their great grandparents, you know, and that's. It's just really rare. So I'm thankful for that. But yeah, I mean, childhood, you know, sports did all the things. Lots of. Lots of baseball, soccer, a couple years of football, you know, tennis, drama. I mean, all that stuff, you know. But active. Active in the church the whole time. Youth group, music. I come from a very musical family. I was more sports driven, unfortunately. And now if could I go back, I would change that. I would put the effort into the music because, you know, I can't do something now. I could do music all the time. So, you know, but yeah. [00:11:49] Speaker B: Did you grow up around guns and shooting like your dad? [00:11:52] Speaker A: So that's the thing. My dad had guns and, you know, he had one of the most beautiful gun. That's when you could still have a gun cabinet with glasses. They're on display, their art, you know, and he was very Stock, but, but they were just beautiful. I remember just sitting all the time and just staring at it. But, you know, it wasn't one of those things. I wasn't allowed to open it, touch him. He didn't take me shooting all that stuff. He didn't. I mean, he taught me to shoot, but like pop cans, you know, like once in every other year or something like that. Maybe I had one out, but he didn't, he didn't do a lot and stuff like that. So I didn't get that chance. So the yearning was just there, more and more. That's why, you know, the minute I turned 18, went out, bought the shotgun, went out and bought this, went and got into black powder like that. That's where like I was just waiting for it. So I think that's what kind of drove it even more and made the passion even deeper is just because I wasn't around it, it wasn't forbidden. It just, just not something they did a lot. Even though he had tons of guns, you know, so. Yeah, and so I just, you know, from then I just ran and I'm, I'm a go big or go home kind of guy. If you guys know me, I'm, I'm all in or not in. [00:12:57] Speaker B: Yeah, [00:12:59] Speaker A: yeah, it became, it became sickness, if you will. [00:13:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:13:02] Speaker C: You know, I wouldn't call it a sickness. I call it a deep seated passion. [00:13:06] Speaker A: Right, right. Yeah, right. So anyway, yeah, that's, that's, that's kind of where we're at. [00:13:12] Speaker B: So what did you want to, if you were to go back then, what would you have wanted to do as an adult, say back in high school, college? [00:13:19] Speaker A: Well, like when I got into, you know, middle school and high school, beginning high school, my, my thing was to be presidential Secret Service. That was what I wanted to do. And then I found out that you had to have natural 2020 vision and they didn't have Lasik and corrective surgery then. So that got wiped out. So then I was like, well, just do FBI then. And then I found out there was like a six to eight year wait at that time for the FBI. And I'm like, yeah, that's not happening. And then, you know, then you go through like, what are you doing? What are you doing? Then it was like maybe an architect, you know, maybe it was computer programming. That's when computer program was the future, remember? And, and then really junior, senior year, it was going to be police, I was going to be a cop. And ended up fell into the category of 81% of the people that don't go to college right out of high school never go back. That was me, you know, just got into self employment, that kind of stuff, did general contracting, then went to work for Sherwin Williams after that, and then left Sherwin Williams to go to the Cincinnati Zoo. [00:14:28] Speaker B: Okay, yeah, I definitely want to get into the zoo. [00:14:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:14:31] Speaker B: Because that's a pretty. [00:14:32] Speaker A: And that's another rare thing I didn't realize. Like, I've only. I've always had multiple jobs just because that's me. I just, I work a lot and I've always had like multiple jobs just to have extra money or just to fill time or whatever. I've only had three major jobs since high school and I didn't realize how rare that was. [00:14:46] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:14:47] Speaker A: So, you know, it's kind of. It's kind of like, kind of weird. But yeah, I love my job now, you know, so I work a lot every week now. [00:14:58] Speaker B: Were you always artistic? Because this is like a lot of what you do now is creative. So. [00:15:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Person I want to say I had, I had the creative and artistic side. I didn't really like, I would draw. Like I loved art and stuff like that, but I never really like pursued that. And I think then, like, I want to say, like, not that it was discouraged, it wasn't discouraged by any means, but like, you didn't think of artist as being like that, you know, fulfilling job that just paid the bills, you know, that starving artist, you know, that's kind of what you had. Like, oh, if you make it, that's great. But most people don't make it. [00:15:35] Speaker B: Your school counselors aren't. Are saying you should go into. [00:15:39] Speaker A: And I would say I was creative, but not like, you know, you know, the people that were very artsy that were like, dude, that guy just. Or that gal needs to pursue this. And because they think different. I mean, artists think different. Sure, you have to. That's what makes them so great, you know. So I would say I had to art, but it was never one of those things I really wanted to pursue right now. [00:15:58] Speaker C: One of the things that I know about you as a part of this job is the attention to detail on top of the fact that you do have an eye for it. You do have. Whether you were artsy back then or if this is something that has developed over time, you do have an eye for it, but you also have the attention to detail, you have the aesthetics, you have a look that you're going for. Have you always had that attention to detail? Or is that something that Came over time. [00:16:23] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I think I always had that. You know, I would say in certain things my father was a perfectionist. Okay. Almost to a fault. Right. And now I'm that way as well. Like to a fault. Like I'm my own worst enemy. I'm my own worst critic. So yeah, I mean I would say I had that. But you know, both my grandfathers were carpenters. All my uncles have been in the construction field at one point or another. And I said I was not going. That's the one thing I said as a kid, like I'm not going into construction or not going into this. That and sure enough, you know, I had a general, general general contracting business as a young man. So it was kind of fate, if you will. But yeah, I'd say I had attention to detail. Then it. As I've gotten older, I've learned to appreciate that about myself and of course now taking it to the extreme, you know, so it's always been there. [00:17:19] Speaker B: Okay, that's cool. So you mentioned you had three jobs. What are those? What are those three jobs you've had? [00:17:26] Speaker A: So I had my, I had my own company, so I did general contract painting, polyurethane foam insulation, all that kind of stuff. Just general contractor remodeling, bathrooms, kitchen, stuff like that. [00:17:37] Speaker B: How long did you do that? [00:17:38] Speaker A: I did that for about 12 years. [00:17:40] Speaker B: Okay. [00:17:41] Speaker A: And like so self employed. And I was Sherwin Williams. I was a customer of them. Pretty, pretty good, pretty good sized account. And this when the going back, I don't want to bore people, but like the war hit back in Iraq. Damn, that's how old I am. This would have been, you know, and 2003 started like clinging. [00:18:03] Speaker C: You talk about which war? [00:18:04] Speaker B: Which one? [00:18:05] Speaker A: The first one. [00:18:06] Speaker B: The first one. [00:18:06] Speaker A: Desert Storm. [00:18:08] Speaker B: We're going back to the 90s. [00:18:09] Speaker A: Yes. [00:18:09] Speaker B: Okay. [00:18:10] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Desert Storm. Desert Shield. [00:18:11] Speaker C: Right, yeah, got it. [00:18:12] Speaker A: So anyway, you know, economy was kind of drying up commercially, which is what most of that did because people, they weren't spending money like we need to. We don't know what's going to happen. And people in the residential side started spending money like improving what they already had their houses and stuff like that sinking into that. So I was kind of like, who? You know. So I shifted more towards residential in that one. Well then the second war hit, you know, Desert Shield up. I believe that one was, boy, I'm really dating myself. And Sherwin Williams was looking for people and we had talked before and it just didn't make sense monetarily and all that stuff. And this time I was like, well, I'm not really looking, but it's a pretty good idea. It's a billion dollar company and there's a lot of growth. So I went to work for Sherwin Williams. Very slowly they worked with me. I was able to shut my business down slow, go to work for them. Did that for seven years. The zoo was one of my clients, one of my accounts, and they were. The Cincinnati Zoo is like the greenest zoo in the country. And they were switching that over. So all their codings need to be lease certified and stuff. They were looking for somebody to kind of take over the paint department, if you will. And we'd been members of the zoo for years and years and years. And I always said, like, you know, zoos don't pay well. I mean, typically, you know. And I always said, you know, if it ever made sense, like that would be a cool job. Like just come to the work at the zoo every day. And the more I thought about it, the more I kept looking into it and stuff. I'm, I'm like, you know what? I thought I was going to retire Shurim, but we're going to make the switch. So that's been 12 years ago. I made switch to the zoo. I'm one of the maintenance managers now and I have a really good gig that's got a whole lot of benefits that people really only dream about. And I share stories with you all. You all ask, you guys always ask about the zoo stories, you know, so I'm blessed. I'm blessed and I love my job, which is why I work both of them make ready and the zoo still is because I really do love my gig. [00:20:15] Speaker B: So now I think when I think of Cincinnati Zoo, I think of Jack Hanna, right? No, I'm sorry, not Jack. [00:20:20] Speaker A: That's Columbus. [00:20:21] Speaker B: That's Columbus, Yep. [00:20:22] Speaker A: Wasn't there Thane Maynard. Okay, yeah, yeah, he just retired. [00:20:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:27] Speaker A: So, yeah, according to you ask, we're definitely a top five zoo in the country. [00:20:32] Speaker B: 100%. Yeah. [00:20:33] Speaker A: Top three is what most people say. Some say the top. I mean we are definitely the greenest. We are definitely put probably the most into conservation. I'm very proud to say that I am employed by them. Blessed. And yeah, it's just, it's just great. [00:20:50] Speaker C: I mean, it's an amazing zoo. If you have not been to the Cincinnati Zoo, go, yeah, it's, it's well worth the trip. I've been there a couple times now. I've gotten to be there with you, which was a lot of Fun getting to walk around with you at the, actually at the zoo. Um, it's, it's clean, it's well maintained, which I know is actually your department. So I am giving you kudos on that. But wasn't the intent. Sorry. [00:21:11] Speaker A: Great team under me. [00:21:12] Speaker C: But it's truly a really, really nice zoo. We have the Cleveland Zoo up, up in this direction. We have the Akron Zoo. My family is a membership, has a membership at the Akron Zoo because it's a nice small zoo. It's, it's easy to run to. You can go over there, see what you want to, and you can actually probably see the whole zoo in the course of three or four hours. You don't have to spend a day there. For us, it's 20 minute run. If our kids get antsy, no big deal. We're members, we go home. But when you compare, even the Cleveland Zoo, which I think size wise is probably comparable to you guys, I have no idea. I mean geographically it's actually probably bigger than Cincinnati because you guys are kind of. [00:21:51] Speaker A: Yeah, we're landlocked. [00:21:52] Speaker C: Yeah, landlocked. [00:21:53] Speaker A: We're an inner city zoo. [00:21:55] Speaker C: But I just think from perspective of numbers of animals, that is what I'm thinking is comparable to you guys. You guys might be a little bit more or have a few more exhibits than they do, but we'll just say it's comparable. You guys knock Cleveland Zoo out of the park from a perspective of facilities and the cleanliness of the exhibits and the cleanliness of the park and the, just the experience across the board. So. [00:22:20] Speaker A: And the worldwide reach we have, I mean we sink lots and lots of money. We're a nonprofit. We're not run by the city, anything like that. We're nonprofit. So we sink a lot of money back into conservation and, and we have worldwide relationships. [00:22:37] Speaker C: Well, you were just in Africa this last fall. [00:22:40] Speaker B: That's the next thing I was going to bring up. [00:22:41] Speaker A: So yeah, I was in Kenya. [00:22:43] Speaker B: Yeah, tell us about that. [00:22:44] Speaker A: In September, actually my second trip with the zoo. It's awesome. We go down to the Southern Rift. We have a partner there. It's actually the zoo's oldest partner worldwide partner of Ceralo, which is the, it's the, the landowners of, of the Southern Rift. And they're, they're phenomenal. I mean people, the people of Kenya. I can't say enough about, like I tell everybody, if you have a chance to go to a third world country, everybody needs to do it because it'll change your perspective. But I went to Kenya the first time back in 06 on a mission trip. And I've been to Kenya twice since then with the zoo and, and, and it, it changes me every time. I have part of my heart's in Kenya. It's. It's an amazing thing. But we do, you know, I got to work with the ranger program over there. That actually is the liaisons between the government and the community people and the Maasai. And they have changed me. And, you know, I feel, you know, they tell me that we've impacted them as well, and it's a great partnership that I look forward to all the time, still stay in contact with them constantly, and it's an amazing opportunity that I've been able to do that. [00:23:54] Speaker B: Yeah. The little bit that you share on social media, just looks. [00:23:59] Speaker A: Yeah. People tell me like, hey, you should share more Africa stuff. More Africa stuff, you know, so. [00:24:04] Speaker B: Yeah, I love to see more. [00:24:05] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:06] Speaker B: That's very cool. All right, so then I. I don't know if I want to quite get into make ready yet, so. [00:24:14] Speaker C: Talk about the red pandas. [00:24:16] Speaker A: The red. The cutest animal, the best. [00:24:17] Speaker C: The best animals in the zoo. [00:24:18] Speaker A: Stand in one zoo, hands down. [00:24:19] Speaker C: That's it. Sorry. That's it. [00:24:20] Speaker B: And I. [00:24:21] Speaker A: And you know, I love the snow that I. I love you, but the red paint is. [00:24:26] Speaker B: Yeah, I need to get down there. That's what I'm gonna do. It's 100. It's on my list. [00:24:31] Speaker A: Your kids don't know it, but they. They're begging you. [00:24:33] Speaker B: I guess if I have to bring them too, I guess. [00:24:35] Speaker C: But I'd actually tell you, don't bring the kids. They. They ruined the whole experience. Go down as an adult. [00:24:39] Speaker A: It's great. [00:24:39] Speaker B: A grown man. I want to go to the zoo. [00:24:41] Speaker A: And yes, I've had many people come by and they're like, well, I thought this was for my kids, but this was more for me. [00:24:46] Speaker C: 100. [00:24:47] Speaker B: So I don't know how much time you have outside of work, but if you aren't working one of your jobs, like, what's. What's something that you like to do? [00:24:55] Speaker A: What's that now? [00:24:56] Speaker B: Yeah, that's what I was expecting your answer to be. But, like, is there anything else that you like to. [00:25:02] Speaker A: Well, I used to like to shoot. I don't know what shooting is anymore. And I know it's. It's. I don't have time to shoot. You know, I don't make time to shoot. And I know that's the real answer, but I do have a quite a jam schedule. Both my wife And I work a lot. She's in this with me all the way. So. Thank you, babe. Hopefully I'm not saying, you know too much, you know, hi, Angela. But she's an amazing. Not not only an amazing wife, but she, she is an amazing person. You both know her and, and, and. And everybody that knows her says the same thing, so. I'm blessed beyond measure to have her by my side as my best friend and my partner. But yeah, we, you know, our shop. We're blessed that our shop is on our property in a separate building, which, which makes it nice. I do have separation there, so. You know, I like to shoot bows. I like to shoot guns. I would like to travel. That just doesn't. That's just not right now. That's not in plans and that we knew we planned for that. Like, you know, it's a major investment what we did, and we planned on not having the vacation, but I do like to travel and that's the goals. One day, you know, we'll be traveling around, but I really don't do much [00:26:15] Speaker B: other than that between. [00:26:17] Speaker A: Just. Your work is just what it is, you know? Yeah. So it's a choice we made and it's not like I don't regret it, but. Sure. But it's just. That's what we do. [00:26:25] Speaker B: Yeah. Well. And you truly have a passion for the, for those, you know, for the zoo and for. [00:26:30] Speaker A: Right. [00:26:31] Speaker B: For make ready. So when, when that's a passion, it's. It doesn't seem, it really doesn't seem like work. [00:26:37] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, we're tired. [00:26:39] Speaker B: There are moments. Yeah. [00:26:40] Speaker A: But you know, and that thing is, you know, do what you love and it's never work. It's still jobs, you know, everything is. It's still a job. And there's still the days you're like, I. I don't want to do this today. And you know, that's the thing with, like, when you're doing the stuff like this. If you're not feeling it and it's not jiving, you're probably just spinning your wheels. Probably gonna have to redo stuff because, you know, I'll say sometimes I'm gonna go out shop for a couple hours and then you get. You find that rhythm. You find that, that channel of just. And it's like you're out there hours and it doesn't feel like it. You just. I can't stop this right now, you know, so. Yeah, I mean, I would agree that we like what we do, and it's not really Work, you know, but it is at the same time. There's just not a lot of time for anything. Luckily, we both like being home, you know, and we enjoy our property, so, you know, it's what we've worked for and we're just there. [00:27:37] Speaker B: Yeah. Very cool. So I've a little bit of a left field question for you, but if you could. If you could relive one day your life, not to change it one day. Relive one day your life, not to change it, but just to live it [00:27:50] Speaker A: again, one day to relive. So we can't change the day? No, just, just, just experience it again. [00:27:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:27:57] Speaker A: Wow. That is a man. I need it prepped for that. [00:28:00] Speaker B: I probably should have. [00:28:02] Speaker A: That is. I don't have an answer. I can't. I can't put anything down. [00:28:18] Speaker B: How about we'll come back later. [00:28:21] Speaker C: It was right before Thanksgiving, I think is the day you want. I think it was when I was down. That's when you want to relive. [00:28:27] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, that was a good day. You know, it's like relive one day you're leaving somebody crucial out in your life. You know, it's like multiple kids, wife. Wow. I would think not to change it, you'd have to go back to your childhood. [00:28:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:46] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:28:47] Speaker A: You know, but I'm not. I don't know what's standing out right away. [00:28:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I. I almost want to go back and relive it. This kind of is almost counter to the, to the point of this question, but I almost want to go back and relive. Yeah. Something in my childhood I don't remember anymore. Like, you know, like, I still remember my kids being born. I remember when I got married. Right. There's all these great days that I've had that, but I still remember those things. I almost want to go back to like, what. [00:29:14] Speaker A: What was like 12 and before that. Something's taken the place of that memory that up until 12, like, you would have never forgotten. [00:29:22] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:29:24] Speaker A: That's a really good question. I might have to get back to you on that one. [00:29:26] Speaker B: Okay. [00:29:27] Speaker A: Yeah. I can't pinpoint anything right away. [00:29:29] Speaker C: I don't have a specific one. It would just be go back to experience an eternal summer day. You know, when you were a kid and summer just never ends and you're like, this day is going to be forever. And not literally forever, but you just feel like the day lasts forever. You got up with the sun and you go to bed long after the sun has gone to or the sun has Gone down and the fireflies are out and you run around the backyard and you're picking up fire or you're catching fireflies in a mason jar or something like that. At least for me, when I was a kid, those are the days that I look back so fondly of. When you're young, you don't really have responsibilities. So the summer literally seems like it's forever. [00:30:03] Speaker A: You don't have problems. They're overcast by the good things. [00:30:06] Speaker C: Right. [00:30:06] Speaker A: Or you're not thinking about them. [00:30:07] Speaker B: Yeah, Yep. [00:30:08] Speaker C: Those. That's the kind of day that I just would love to go relive and remember. Oh yeah. There was a time that there was no. [00:30:14] Speaker A: Right. It would have to be as a child. I just. Nothing's popping out again because again I'm older than you also, like my memory banks are even farther back and overfilled with more adult, you know, memories. So. I don't know. That's a really good question. [00:30:28] Speaker B: I know the 90s had its. Had its problems, wars and stuff like that. But I look back at the 90s as my core childhood. So I look back on it just all these. With these rose colored glasses of like it was just such an easy great time. And you know, my problems didn't. You know, so I. Yeah, it's probably [00:30:46] Speaker A: going like half my single age. Childhood was in the 70s. [00:30:49] Speaker B: Yeah. No, I know. [00:30:50] Speaker A: You know, so the 80s was, was that 80s. [00:30:52] Speaker B: Sweet. Yeah. I was born in 82. [00:30:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:30:54] Speaker B: So I remember a little bit of like the, the NDA end of the 80s. [00:30:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:30:58] Speaker B: But like the, yeah, like end of 80s and 90s are that sweet spot for me. I like to go back and relive. Yeah. This time before because that was such a different life back then, you know. [00:31:09] Speaker A: Yeah, it is totally different. I mean, you know, I was just talking about that, you know, we talk about all the time. I was talking about it yesterday with, with a co worker like we did. We were talking about how creativity has just kind of went out the window especially. And we were talking about movies and everything now is just a remake, a spoof or spin off some other idea because nobody has the creativity anymore to make their own plots correct. You know, the Spielbergs and all that stuff are not around. Like there's different, you know, the Quentin Tarantino's, they're just not around. Everything's. And as kid, I think it's because we didn't have like I had screens like Atari and then Nintendo came out. When I was a kid, we weren't allowed to have video game systems in the house. But we had to have the creativity. We had to go make the sticks and the, you know, and stay outside and find stuff to do. So you weren't bored there wasn't the screens and all that? [00:31:59] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, as I was asking. As I was asking a question, for some reason, one of the thoughts came to my mind, like, going back to. Is I remember, you know, cutting down a sapling of a tree. Making a bow and arrow, you know, and cutting down. Yeah, making a bow and finding a smaller stick and making an arrow and going and trying to shoot frogs in the creek or whatever. Like, that was just a summer day. A little. [00:32:19] Speaker C: I remember a little boy. [00:32:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:20] Speaker A: And when I was a kid, your biggest possession was your bike. [00:32:23] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:32:23] Speaker A: It took you places and, you know, and. And it's like you did things to customize your bike. Oh, yeah. With. With no money. [00:32:30] Speaker B: No money. Yeah. [00:32:30] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. You know. [00:32:31] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, put the baseball cards. [00:32:33] Speaker A: We still got, you know, a quarter for your tooth. You know, I found out the other day, somebody got some kid got 20, 25, 50 bucks for their tooth. I'm like, how do they afford that? Like, you know, there's a lot of teeth in there. [00:32:43] Speaker B: I don't know how many teeth you have. [00:32:44] Speaker A: You had to save up your allowance of a dollar a week or 50 cents a week or whatever, a long time to buy anything. And then you had to get to the store. You weren't there every day. You weren't there every time. On the way home, you stopped. Right. So, you know, it's. I wouldn't change the era I lived in. I say it all the time, and I'm like the old guy, you know, But I wouldn't want to be a kid in today's world. Me, personally, I just wouldn't. And that's because I'm not a kid. So I don't know their perspective, but I just don't think I would. [00:33:17] Speaker B: Yeah, we shouldn't feel the same way, but we. We just. We'd go a little extra mile just to protect their innocence, you know, just because it's. They get exposed to so much at such an early age now that you just have to work so hard to. [00:33:28] Speaker A: And I find there's too tight. You know, there's. The kids today, they have to grow up too fast or the ones that never have to grow up in the negative way. Like, you know, it's not because they're be. It's just. They just. No responsibility. No. None of that. So, you know, that's a Whole rabbit hole, though. We could. But yeah, I, I don't. That's going back to the question. I'd have to really think and study that to give you an answer. Yeah, nothing's popping right off. [00:33:53] Speaker B: If next week you think of something, shoot me a text. [00:33:55] Speaker A: I will, I will. [00:33:56] Speaker B: Here's what that is. All right, so let's get into this. We have all these beautiful firearms in front of us. Got some behind us, I guess. Go back to what was, what prompted you just to start this and what year did you start? [00:34:11] Speaker A: So at 40, I decided I was going back to school to get my degree in firearms. I did the program online, which, you know, I wanted. I would rather have taken a gunsmithing class. Hands on. There's a few across the country. But I couldn't uproot my life just to go move and do that, so [00:34:31] Speaker C: that would be difficult. [00:34:32] Speaker A: The next best option is online doesn't teach you everything you need to know by any means. In fact, probably very little that's, that's applicable to what I do now. But it was, it was just a course of action I want to take and conquer. And so I did that at 40 because. And I tell the story, but like my research of not having a gun business was 10 to 12 years to build a clientele big enough to kind of survive on. You know, it takes a long time to build a clientele. I'm like, I don't want to do that at 60 when I retire. So this all started as a retirement gig. That this was something to have when I, when I retire to have something to have some income and be able to piddle around, if you will. And it just got way bigger than I ever dreamed, way quicker. So I started out just wanting to have that little gun store, you know, that people could come into and buy a little shop. This, that and the other. And then after. So it. We started at the end of 18. This one officially started. Things really didn't kick off, I'd say till, you know, February of 19, but towards the end of 18 when we got the license started, it started up with the logos and this, that and the other, not. February of 19 is when started like customers started coming and then wasn't in the plans at the time, but I got into stippling. And it's funny because at the time I really didn't like stippling. Like I thought stippled guns were not that good looking. And it's, it's evolved since then, but for sure it just, I didn't like Stiffly. I didn't. I didn't understand the point of it, you know, and. But I realized that stippling was taking off, and I'm like, I think I could do that because it looks a whole lot easier than it is, guys. It really is. [00:36:27] Speaker B: You know, I played around with a [00:36:28] Speaker A: little bit of it. Yeah, it's. It's, you know, so you just. You know, I went through. I'm like, I'm gonna do this. And I look back now on the first frame, like, those are horrible. In fact, I tell people, like, three of the first five frames I did for people I've actually bought back so that they weren't out there and my name was on them. [00:36:45] Speaker C: You can't get those other two. [00:36:46] Speaker A: He's always growth. No, one of them, he's like, no, this was. This. This, to me, this will always be a reminder where you start, like, this. This is meaningful to me and. And everybody. Gross. So you're not gonna eliminate that. It's not that, you know, you're embarrassed, [00:36:59] Speaker B: but, like, I look back on stuff I did last year, even months ago. Yes. Especially when it comes to creating content and stuff. I'm constantly looking back at, like, oh, I can't believe I posted that. [00:37:08] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And. And. And, you know, I look back now, I'm like, yeah, I shouldn't have been doing stippling for people. You know, I shouldn't have. You should have waited longer. But that's growth. That's how you. That's how you judge where you're at. That's how you judge growth. You. You. So, you know, I kind of take a different outlook on that now. Everybody's got those, like, whoo, that was bad. But it's where you were. I mean, that. That should be a trophy because now look. And I'm still not the best stippler out there. I mean, there are people. I mean, I do work. I'm grateful that I do work with, in my opinion, you know, a bunch of the. The very best Simplers. [00:37:45] Speaker C: Sure. [00:37:45] Speaker A: That are out there in the game. And you guys know who I'm talking about. But they're. They're. They're the best in the game, in my opinion. And I'm lucky enough that they. They have chosen me to do most. Most of their Cerakote work. So I appreciate that. But everybody has their flavor, too. And I tell people, like, you know, somebody had pointed out, like, some people don't want that. They. They like your flavor of still, you know, and so I. I've learned to Just grasp that. And I am who I am and I offer what I offer. And you know, I recommend people all the time. If you're looking for more of this, then, then look at these people. You want this? Look at these people. So, yeah, stippling got into the thing and that became kind of the, you know, building ars and, and stippling was kind of the, the two things that I focused on for the first couple years. And with Cerakote, because I have paint in my background, like, you know, commercial painting and stuff in the back. My background that was always. Eventually I'd like to do that. And while again I mentioned I'm go big or go home. So why people can start very small and do Cerakote in the garage and all that stuff. That's, that's just not me. And so we saved up, saved up, you know, all this stuff. And, and then I went before I even decided I was going to do Cerakote. I went and took a class. I went and took a Cerakote class for a whole weekend. And I remember, I remember calling Angela when I got back to the hotel after the first day. And I'm like, this is what I'm doing. This right here is. I don't want to say my calling, but, you know, people call it. This is what I'm supposed to do. [00:39:24] Speaker C: This is what I'm first for. Yeah, this is what I'm fit for. [00:39:27] Speaker A: This is, this is me. Like I'm seeing myself like, because again, I'm my own worst critic, my own worst enemy. So, you know, the, the outlook on me is like, you can be better, you can be. But I just felt it. And then I went back the next day and it just. After that I'm like, yeah, this is it, this is it. So we're doing this. And so we planned for the next year after that. Still hadn't bought anything. Just planning out to make sure all the layout, the equipment that I wanted and all that stuff and, and it, and it, and it. We put it in and it got delayed. That actually got delayed because my. I found I was going to Kenya for the first time with the zoo. So it got delayed six months because I was, had to concentrate on that. But then when I got back, it was like, game on. [00:40:16] Speaker C: Well, I don't, I don't think people quite realize, like you're talking about all the stuff you had to purchase. I think, I don't think people realize that if you want to do it big, like you're talking about going big or going home. I've seen your setup. It is go big or go home. The way that you do it, I mean, yeah, you can, you could do it in your garage and that kind of stuff. [00:40:35] Speaker A: Absolutely. And there's some of the best. I know do it Nat. You know, they don't have the paint booth, they don't have this. [00:40:40] Speaker C: But to do it professionally, do it well, do it clean, do it, you know, all of those things is a very expensive proposition. [00:40:50] Speaker A: It can be, yes. [00:40:51] Speaker C: You know, you have, you know, we talked about the oven that you're curing all of your stuff in and it keeps the temperature, what is it? [00:40:58] Speaker A: Within a degree. [00:41:00] Speaker C: Within a degree of what it needs to be. The paint booth that you have, which draws an insane amount of air and the even just the sandblaster you have just to blast the firearms that you're, you know, that you're about to coat and everything. All of those things that you have are of a high quality, a commercial quality that are going to work well. Yeah. You can go buy a sandblaster on Amazon. You could probably buy a vent system from Amazon that's cheaper and it'll work. [00:41:26] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:41:27] Speaker C: It'll be fine. [00:41:28] Speaker A: Yes. [00:41:28] Speaker C: And you could buy a cheap oven that'll get within the degrees that you need. But the reason, there's the talent that you have to do it, there's the attention to detail. You have to do it. But then you also have purchased the equipment that is only going to assist and make sure that what you're doing is at the best quality it can be. [00:41:47] Speaker A: Absolutely. And you know, it's one of those things that most businesses and the smart business plan is you buy stuff to get started and then you upgrade as you go, as you grow and as you, you know, and that's fine. That's. That is the more make sense business way to do it. I did everything to where there is no upgrading that I need to do. If I have to upgrade, it's because I'm moving to a new building. [00:42:10] Speaker C: Sure. [00:42:11] Speaker A: Some of that equipment's still going with me. Yeah. You know, I don't want to have to like this equipment, sell it and then buy another one. Because I'm to that level. Everything I did right or wrong, and there's arguments for both, is this is it, I'm have to upgrade. [00:42:28] Speaker B: So I have a similar outlook and I think a lot, I think some of it comes with age of just like I want to do this right. Yeah. First time. But yeah, buy ones, cry once. Because by the time I buy several cheaper things and eventually get to the thing. If I would have just bought that in the first place, I would have saved up, you know, and bought that in the first place. I actually would have saved. [00:42:46] Speaker A: Right. [00:42:47] Speaker B: A bunch of money. I actually would have in time to switch out. [00:42:51] Speaker A: Even if it's a debt, you know, quality, it's just. [00:42:54] Speaker B: There's so many. [00:42:55] Speaker A: And again, there's. There's probably more arguments to do it the other way. [00:42:58] Speaker C: Sure. [00:42:58] Speaker A: Probably more positive. [00:42:59] Speaker B: And there's a great reason to do it that way. [00:43:01] Speaker C: Exactly. [00:43:01] Speaker B: It depends on where you are in [00:43:02] Speaker C: your life, what's your finances. [00:43:05] Speaker A: Do not discourage that. If it's, hey, this is where I'm at and this is what I do to get started and you have a dream and a passion, then by all means do it. Do it. Go out and do that. [00:43:14] Speaker B: Because if that's what it takes to get started. Yes, you have to start. Step one is starting. [00:43:20] Speaker C: So if the difference is doing it that way and you're never going to start or just do the thing, then do the thing. [00:43:27] Speaker A: Just do the thing. And I read something, I think it was yesterday and I'm paraphrasing, but basically the point was embarrassment is starting. Half the embarrassment is just starting. Yeah. Because you're going to fail in things. You know, you might be successful in things, but the, the embarrassing, you know, that, that your own mind blocks is just the start. [00:43:45] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, and there is, there's. If you're going to start something, there's. There's risk of failing and you're going to fail. There are things. I've probably failed more times than a lot of people have tried. [00:43:56] Speaker A: Most billionaires have failed 80% more times than they've succeeded. [00:44:01] Speaker B: You fail 50 times for the one time that you succeed. But there is also mitigation that you can do. And that's where the buy once crowd, once thing comes in. I'm willing to fail at this because I'm starting something. I'm willing to fail, but I'm going to do what I can to mitigate the loss as much as I can. If that means getting, you know, getting, getting them a higher end, something or whatever. [00:44:22] Speaker A: Most successes come from what you learned by failing. [00:44:24] Speaker B: Yeah, 100. So, yeah. And being willing to fail, be willing to. [00:44:29] Speaker A: And it's hard to look. [00:44:30] Speaker B: Yeah, it can be. [00:44:32] Speaker A: I've failed a lot in my life. I mean, a lot. And I hate failure. But it's part of it. It's just. You just got to do it. [00:44:44] Speaker B: If it wasn't for the failure, if [00:44:45] Speaker A: you don't Fail, you're not trying. [00:44:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:46] Speaker C: Yep. [00:44:47] Speaker B: Without failure. Without failure, you don't have success. [00:44:49] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:44:50] Speaker B: So, yeah. And I think that's. That's probably one of the biggest things that stops people from honestly trying anything, whether it's starting a business or that. [00:44:57] Speaker A: And fear. [00:44:58] Speaker B: Picking up a hot. Yeah. [00:44:59] Speaker A: Fear shackles people. Yeah. [00:45:00] Speaker B: If you're freezes. Absolutely. And. And that's still something. [00:45:05] Speaker A: I'm. [00:45:06] Speaker B: I'm 11 years into this business and I still have those moments of. [00:45:09] Speaker A: For sure. [00:45:10] Speaker B: Of fear and failure for sure. All the time. Actually. I think part of me maybe expected like, oh, as I do this longer because, you know, people say, you know, when you get to five years, that's a. That's a mile marker. When you get to 10 years, like most people. Most businesses don't make it to 10 years. Whatever. I'm like, oh, so that must also mean that once you get to that point, things. Things are easy or whatever. No, no, I don't. [00:45:34] Speaker A: I. Look, they're, they're. They're measure sticks. [00:45:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:38] Speaker A: It probably is harder after 10 years because, you know, that's when people get comfortable. That's when a lot of businesses go stale. Now, not always, if you have a good product, that. That's not going to, you know, that people are constantly need. But everybody's trying to be the next big thing, the next big innovator, and especially in this industry. Right. And there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, the innovation is, you know, I look at guys like Vinnie. You know, Vinnie is. Has worked his butt off and changed a lot of the stuff. You know, you see it now, like companies, big companies now are doing what Vinny's doing aftermarket, you know, and kudos to him. And Vinny and I are good, good friends, you know, and I look at those things like, you don't think he was scared, right? [00:46:19] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:46:20] Speaker A: And you don't think that. You don't think John Browning was scared? Right. Right. I mean, everybody, 100, you know, how many Henry Ford, like, you know, really, you're to going, why do we need that? You know, so it's constantly changed. I just, I'm comfortable in the lane that I'm in that, you know, I just want to do what I do the best that I can possibly do it and try to do it better than anybody else can do. And it may not be the most innovative. It's just when you see it that that's the best it can be done. [00:46:52] Speaker B: Yeah, we're going to. We're about ready to start seeing some Stuff here. Obviously, if you're listening to the audio, it might not be. [00:46:59] Speaker C: You won't be able to see it. [00:47:00] Speaker B: Sorry, you can't see it. But we'll try to explain things as good as we can. Yeah. Go and watch this video. To see this artwork, I do want to ask, what is there? Maybe it's the most recent, or maybe you have a favorite. But what's a customer story that you have that means a lot to you is. Has been a cool experience? [00:47:25] Speaker A: Well, I say. I'd say all the time. So when people come to the shop, I still very much work the local crowd. I think it's very important, and I do put a lot of energy into the local crowd so that people can come to the shop and they get to know what's being done, how it's being done. They can see. I walk the customers around the shop. Everybody that comes to shop goes through a consultation before we do anything to make sure they're getting what they want. And so my favorite thing still yet is when I put the gun out on the table, and, you know, the table I'm talking about right past the office, I put it out there, and they walk in and they see it, and I specifically watch their face. [00:48:05] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:48:06] Speaker A: That is the most fulfilling thing to me still to this day is just seeing. And, you know, usually it's words like, it's even better than I imagined, or I. I love the idea, but I couldn't envision it. And I think that's one thing that I do have, is I'm very much a visionary. I can see things in my mind before they even are finished. So. And I think that's one thing. And, like, doing kitchen and bathroom renovations, like, I could see the finished product [00:48:36] Speaker C: before it was actually done. [00:48:38] Speaker A: Okay, this would, you know, and I use that. So that's still the most fulfilling thing, is just watching the customer's eyes. And even on the mail end, I do a video consult before it goes back to make sure, first of all, that they're happy with the product, that they don't have anything that they want changed, and to make sure that they are, you know, satisfied with the product. And I still get to see that reaction. [00:49:00] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:49:01] Speaker A: So. [00:49:01] Speaker C: Well, and it's. It's interesting, like, you talk about that I was present unintentionally. So when your friend came to the shop when I was down there in November and he brought his Walther in and he was like, I don't know what I want to do with this. He had had some thoughts and but he wasn't quite sure. And you walked him through. I was like, well, we could go this direction, we could go that way. I was like, well, I really just kind of want it black. He's like, yeah, well, we could do that. [00:49:30] Speaker A: But he's like, he goes, I want it different, but, but I'm, I'm an all black factory gun guy. [00:49:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:49:36] Speaker A: So what do we do that, that still looks somewhat factory. That's not flashy, you know, and that's part of it. And everybody's got their different little niche that they get hung up on or that they don't want to change. [00:49:48] Speaker C: Well, and then we just talked about it, you know, as we were going to lunch. You just posted the video of that Walther and it turned out so clean, so perfect. You said, he even said, he's like, wow, it looks like it's a factory gun. It looks like it came out of the factory. And that's the kind of, that goes back to that attention to detail I was talking about earlier that you have. You put so much effort into these guns either. Even if it's just single color, which, you know, some people like, oh, well, that's easy. It's like, I mean, yeah, it's not gonna have the masking that a multi color camo job has. Or, you know, as Greg has shown some of these on the video, he's showing off the camos or the tanninized M and P or your, you know, ARG bill or ARG build, that kind of stuff. Yeah, those, those require some extra effort. But there's still attention to detail in those even single color jobs that I just think you do so well. [00:50:49] Speaker A: Thank you. You know, single color, I mean, you know, you have to worry about thickness, you have to worry about dry spray, you have to worry about the way the light hits and reflects off things. And, and you know, there's, there's a proper way to do everything and there's ways that you can get by. That's. That, that's, I would say, is sufficient. But we don't, we don't, we try to make sure that everything goes out as top notch. [00:51:13] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. I mean, obviously, actually one of the guns that Greg just showed is actually my personal gun done up in. It's the first gun that left your shop in your signature. [00:51:23] Speaker A: The first one out in the wild. [00:51:25] Speaker C: Out in the wild. [00:51:25] Speaker A: But that, that pattern's been a two and a half year process. [00:51:30] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:51:31] Speaker A: Just because I wasn't happy with it. [00:51:33] Speaker C: So, so this, which Greg showed you're not Gonna be able to see it so well from back there. But that's okay. Is his sheen camo. It's a tri color, very subtle camo that Billy came up with. Mine is the first in the wild. I love it. It's fantastic. I got to be present for it. We did actually do it twice. [00:52:00] Speaker A: We did again. I wasn't happy with the first time. [00:52:03] Speaker C: He wasn't happy with the first time. We actually changed the colors. The second time, we changed the layout or the formulas of the colors to make it exactly how you wanted it, and it turned out fantastic. So that goes back to that detail. [00:52:17] Speaker A: Black is not black. [00:52:18] Speaker C: Yeah. Right. [00:52:19] Speaker A: You know, there's so many blacks out there and so many shades and different things. So black is not black. [00:52:28] Speaker C: Yep. [00:52:28] Speaker A: But, yeah, that. That. That's been a. A headache process. [00:52:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:52:33] Speaker A: Because I'm just like, I want it. I want it just right. But it's also been that thing that. And. And the whole inspiration behind sheen camo was the guys that want custom guns, but they don't want the flashy. Not that they don't like it. Some of them just don't like color on guns. [00:52:47] Speaker B: Sure. [00:52:47] Speaker A: But it's the people that are very traditional, but they still want that customer. Kind of set them apart. [00:52:52] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:52] Speaker A: And I'm gonn. My boy Shane Cardwell from Impacts Union center was a big inspiration to that whole pattern. He didn't ask for it. He didn't know he was an inspiration at Tom, but he was the type of. Exact type of person that I was thinking about when I. When I thought of that idea. [00:53:07] Speaker C: Well, I think the cool part about the fact that he's the inspiration is it's also on his signature gun. [00:53:11] Speaker A: It is. It happens to be on the Impact edition M and P that you can get through AIM Surplus. But Shane is the inspiration behind that particular model. It is the softest shooting MMP that I've ever shot to date. I do have three more MMP builds in the process right now, so we'll see how that. If that holds up. But yeah, that's a very soft shooting gun. [00:53:37] Speaker C: Well, and you also did your. That's the Nubian. Your Nubian stipple texture on there. So I'm a big fan of it. We also did a custom shop, so Greg's showing it off right now. So Billy did for us for shot show last year a mini tray, NeoMag, EDC, TACTRAP, and then this Zev in a custom duck camo. Greg is a big fan of duck camo. Billy took it and did a spin on it, his own color palette that turned out really, really good. So again, the cool thing that Billy does is he'll take your idea. He's like, yeah, I like that. But let me. Let me spin it. Let me make it work with the color palette that I think will actually [00:54:19] Speaker A: work a little bit better than personalize it. Greg is a huge fan of green, and he mentioned that. And you know, duck camo is very much a normal duck camo. Is a lot of tans and browns, rightfully so. But, you know, we. We talked and actually it didn't really take that many conversations for me to grasp what you were trying to do. [00:54:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I was like, I just. I want like a. A dark green duck camo. Yeah. As Nate was saying, I love. [00:54:43] Speaker A: Does it scream at you? [00:54:44] Speaker B: I love duck camo. It's pretty subdued actually. On the camera anyway, it looked a lot brighter than what actually. What the green actually is in person. I don't know how it'll look on YouTube, but it's much more of like a subdued green. It's knocked out of the park. Now, I know that pattern is also a huge pain in the butt. Right. [00:55:01] Speaker A: It's a tedious. There's tedious patterns. You don't mind. And that's just one. That to me. And again, that's my eyes. Like one stencil in the wrong place after you peel, it's like, oh, that just ruins it. [00:55:14] Speaker B: So you did that one several times? [00:55:15] Speaker A: I did that one a few times. Well, that would. Yes, because that one was going to shot. Like, you didn't have much time to like get that before. Like, that was a last minute thing. Like, hey, you want to do a gun for shot? I'm like, sure. Well, you want to do a tray and this. I'm like, sure. But it was one of those things that I was looking in my head again. I had a certain vision and you know, the first couple times, like, maybe I didn't like the way I laid certain stencils or there was one stencil in the wrong place on the gun that I just couldn't get over. And that's all I'm going to see. So, yeah, I mean, I did it a couple times. And that's, you know, you know, the thing about Cerakote and I was told by. By one of the best. He was. He was kind of my mentor. And. And I mean, Cerakote would not be where. Sir, what Cerakote is with. Without Michael from Blown Deadline 100%. I appreciated that guy we had a good relationship. I admired his work. I mean, again, I say Cerakote would not be what it is without him. And he told me, he said, billy, just. Just remember the great thing about Serakote is if you're not happy with it, you don't like it, you just blast it off and start again. You know, it's not like stippling where the frame's done. [00:56:21] Speaker B: It's done. [00:56:21] Speaker A: Yeah. So, you know, and I cherish those words, and I keep those words very close to me and repeat them in my head a lot. And I've had people like, don't. What are you doing? That. That's. It's good. And I'm like, no, I'm gonna redo it. And I blast it right in front of them. They're like, what was wrong with it? [00:56:37] Speaker C: You did that with me. [00:56:38] Speaker A: I did. You were. Yeah. So, you know, and I'm glad we did, right? Oh, yeah. [00:56:42] Speaker C: I mean, I was not unhappy with how it turned out the first time. But you weren't happy, meaning, like, you weren't happy with it. So we did it. We redid it, and I'm ecstatic with how it turned out. [00:56:53] Speaker A: Yes. [00:56:54] Speaker C: So it worked out great in the end. [00:56:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:56:57] Speaker C: But the things that you caught were things that I never would have seen [00:57:00] Speaker A: and most people wouldn't. [00:57:01] Speaker C: And. But that's not. Again, that goes back to that attention to detail. Now, ultimately, I think what we turned out with was much more betterer than the better. Oh, I said it. [00:57:13] Speaker B: Okay. [00:57:13] Speaker C: Much more betterer than the first time. But I think for the average Sarah coder, probably the first time would have been fine. You know what I mean? Like, they would have been like, yeah, yeah, that's good. I achieved what they wanted. [00:57:26] Speaker A: I mean, quite honestly, as far as application, there was nothing wrong with the first. [00:57:29] Speaker C: Well, that's why I'm saying that there [00:57:31] Speaker A: was nothing wrong with. Didn't have what I envisioned it. [00:57:36] Speaker C: Well, but that's. That's what I'm saying, though, right? So you took it the next step. You're like, that's not what I want. So I'm going to break it down and do it again. [00:57:44] Speaker A: Right. And, you know, my PDP that I have with my sheen camo. [00:57:48] Speaker C: Yep. [00:57:48] Speaker A: It's. There's nothing wrong with it. And that was. That's. That was redone probably five, six, seven times because it was all part of the experiment. It. [00:57:56] Speaker C: And. [00:57:56] Speaker A: And I'm like, oh, this is it. And I actually put it out on the booth last year, you know, but even when I, I'm like, I'm going to redo that one because what. I, what, whatever we, you know, I found out whatever we were working on with that one. I'm like, that's, that's what I was waiting for. That's what I needed. Yep. So I was happy with the pdp, but not now. I'm not. [00:58:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:17] Speaker A: So that, that one has to be redone. [00:58:18] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:58:19] Speaker A: Has to be redone. [00:58:20] Speaker C: Yep. [00:58:21] Speaker B: So I, But I also want to give you kudos. I'm more than just. It's beautiful to look at, but you also, you also fixed that gun. You also made that gun more enjoyable to shoot. So you did. I believe you did an undercut on the. [00:58:33] Speaker A: Yeah, undercut on the trigger guard. [00:58:34] Speaker B: You stippled it. [00:58:35] Speaker A: And we did. We did a little bit of a grip reduction. [00:58:38] Speaker B: Yep. [00:58:38] Speaker A: That, that grip, to me, Zev put [00:58:42] Speaker B: weird concaves where you don't need concaves. And they didn't. Yeah. [00:58:47] Speaker A: You guys know Zev came to the booth at Shot Show. [00:58:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:50] Speaker C: Yep. [00:58:50] Speaker A: And gave you a card and said, hey, we'd like to speak to this guy. And they, you know, I went back to their booth and we talked, you know, all that stuff. Talked to the president of the company or. Yeah, I think it was the president company. [00:59:02] Speaker B: Just cut down the beaver tail on it. [00:59:03] Speaker A: Yeah. First of all, the beaver tails. These beaver tails are getting ridiculous, in my opinion. I'm not a huge beaver tail fan. There's certain guns that, it's fine, they need to be there, but to extend them out an inch, like, no, we don't need that. [00:59:15] Speaker C: But. [00:59:16] Speaker A: So we definitely cut the beaver tailed on this. We did an undercut and we, we literally did a little bit of reduction on the script because it is so much better now. And I talked, I gave, I told Zeb what we did. And like, yeah, we're working on things because we hear, we hear people's complaints, you know, and not everybody's gonna complain. You're gonna have that with any gun. [00:59:38] Speaker B: Sure. [00:59:40] Speaker A: You know, there's, there's going to. People be people out there that argue that Glock is perfection. You know, they're wrong, but. They're wrong. But, but, you know, they're, they're. That's their opinion and they're tied to it. And we talked with Zev about, I talked to him about it. So, yeah, we did. We did an enhanced finger groove. Did a grip reduction, obviously, put, put the texture on it. This is also the Nubian texture. But, yeah, I, I, after feeling this, I'm not a zeb fan. I'm just not. But I like. I wasn't feel that one. I like the feel of this gun now. Like this gun. I. I haven't shot this gun, but I would like to shoot this gun because I guarantee it shoots completely different. [01:00:18] Speaker B: It's much better. [01:00:19] Speaker A: So. Yeah. So thank you for the opportunity. [01:00:22] Speaker B: Thank you for. [01:00:23] Speaker A: I think it was a hit at shot last year. [01:00:24] Speaker B: Yeah. And I've got a one of one matching NeoMag tray tactrap gun. [01:00:29] Speaker A: You do. [01:00:30] Speaker B: We have talked about doing a production, like a very small production run of this pattern, but even before that's going to happen, we did meet before the podcast. We are going to do a custom shop with you. [01:00:43] Speaker A: That's awesome. I'm excited. [01:00:45] Speaker B: And what do we say? May. [01:00:46] Speaker A: April. [01:00:47] Speaker B: April and April we're going to be doing. So the sheen that you saw on Nate's M and P. So for those who aren't watching it because they're probably driving or whatever or even people that [01:00:58] Speaker A: are, because I'll tell you, the cameras don't do it justice. [01:01:00] Speaker C: True. [01:01:01] Speaker B: Explain the sheen because this is what we're going to do for. For a custom shot. [01:01:08] Speaker A: It's. It's. It. It started out. It's what it is. It was. It was different. Different blacks with different sheens so that you can look at it. And it just looked like a black gun. But the way the light hits it, then you see the camo pattern through it. And again, it's very hard. I've struggled. There's not a lot of video out even on my Instagram about it because it's so hard to grab the concept of it. [01:01:30] Speaker C: There's more on mine than yours. [01:01:31] Speaker B: Right. [01:01:32] Speaker A: And then. And I was telling Nate this, and then when he got his and he tried to do. He goes. I don't know how many times I filmed this. You just can't grab the essence of it, which is the whole point. That's kind of the point. It's. The whole concept of this pattern is that it doesn't scream at you. It's very subtle. And it's only the way light hits it in a certain way that it shows up. [01:01:49] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:01:50] Speaker A: So that's the only really way I [01:01:52] Speaker B: know how to decide. Imagine instead of camo having different colors, you have different sheens. [01:01:57] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. [01:01:58] Speaker B: And. [01:01:58] Speaker A: And it's not, you know, like. And it. And where I was trying in the concept when I had such a problem is I was trying to make every color a different she. You know, every color of black. Every different black that I Had and I've got tons of blacks in the shop even. I mean, and this, this ended up becoming custom mixes. But it's, it's just the way, you know, it's been a battle, it's been a two and a half year battle. But I think we've got it now and I'm honored that you guys want it done as a custom shop and I hope it does. Phenomenal. Yeah, I hope it sells out like the quickest of any of them. [01:02:28] Speaker B: Yeah. So we're going to do a limited run, large trays, mini trays, tact traps and neo mags is the plan. And yeah, very limited run of each of those. And then we may be ready for that drop. We may, may. I'm probably speaking out of turn here, but we may even see if we can work something out where if you want your gun to have the same finish to match your tray and the omega type drop and everything kind of similar to the stuck camo situation here, then you could have it done. I mean, honestly, regardless, you could reach out to Billy Make Ready Firearms and say, hey, I want that sheen. Honestly, getting that going now would probably be a good idea. That way by the time the custom shop comes out. [01:03:07] Speaker A: Yeah, we're a little backed up right now. Just some, I had a back issue stuff kind of put me even more back. So. Yeah, it would probably be better if you're, if you're interested. Of course they don't know what it looks like. And again, you know, I don't think you can really do it just so you see it in person, but it [01:03:25] Speaker B: looks different every light you get into. [01:03:26] Speaker A: It does, which is the cool thing. I mean it looks different artificially and natural light and all that. So. Yeah, but if they're interested, they can do that. They can, you know, either reach out to you, reach out to me. One way we'll get it together. And because I will say that if you go back and there's plenty of videos From Shot show two years ago now on NeoMag and my page that this, the whole matching setup looks really, really cool. It looks really cool together. [01:03:49] Speaker C: Now I will say this. There's another area of your business that I don't think people you don't talk about at all, Billy, almost at all and no one gives you credit for is your AR building skill. I got to shoot, I don't know, eight of your rifles, something like that, maybe nine, something like that. When I was down at your shop in November, every one of them was probably one of the smoothest Nicest shooting rifles I've shot. A couple of them were your personal training rifles and then some of them were just, I think some of shop demos. Yeah, shop demo rifles. Fantastic. [01:04:25] Speaker A: Appreciate that. [01:04:26] Speaker C: So if you're looking to have somebody build you a custom rifle, on top of the fact that he can Cerakote it, make it look super, super slick, he also builds amazing rifles. They shoot super smooth, they cycle well. Everything that you could want out of a rifle. Billy can do that for you too. So I'm gonna shout that out as well. Don't, don't sleep on that part of his business. It's something that he has quite the skill set in. [01:04:51] Speaker A: I appreciate that. Yeah. [01:04:52] Speaker B: And you can throw a pretty slick Cerakote on that. Yeah, that nice running rifle too. Yeah. [01:04:57] Speaker A: And I guess I need to make mention that, you know, my wife has also has her side of this business. [01:05:01] Speaker C: That's true. [01:05:02] Speaker A: Well, so you know, Micro Firearms, Make Ready Finishes, they're. They're sister companies, different names for different reasons. You know, auto parts and stuff like that. The whole thought behind it is it's two different LLCs under the same company basically. But auto parts, brake caliper stuff, like if we get contracts, they don't want to sign contracts with firearms companies to cerakote their brake parts or laser engraving. So Make Ready Finishes is that side of it. The laser engraving Cerakote on that. My wife has her own jewelry line through that business. Custom jewelry and tumblers, all that kind of stuff. That is phenomenal stuff. And I tell people all the time she's put her heart and soul and especially the jewelry line, if you read it's called the I am jewelry line, but if you have a chance, and I don't know that I think every one of them is on the website. But I have customers that, you know, they're waiting, like we'll make a little change or you know, I stipple something in. It's still a little too aggressive or it's not aggressive enough, you know. So I'm making those changes while they're waiting and the tables are back to back and they start reading those cards like what the I Am series, It's I am blessed, I am strong, I am enough. I am all those things and the means behind them. It's like I'm not looking for jewelry, but after reading that, it makes me want to buy it. You know, she's done phenomenal job. So that's, that's the make ready finishes side of it. And go check that out. Separate website makereadyfinishes.com separate Instagram page. But yeah, kudos to her for pouring her heart and soul into something that is empowering women. [01:06:28] Speaker B: It's beautiful stuff. [01:06:29] Speaker A: It's awesome. It makes great gifts. They're not, they're not expensive and, and everything can be personalized. So it's, it's a great idea. [01:06:37] Speaker B: Yeah. Very good. All right, so I'm gonna do a kind of quick fire questions here. Just gonna ask you. [01:06:44] Speaker A: Hopefully it's not as deep as that last one. [01:06:45] Speaker B: No, it's not. It should be pretty easy. All right, this is all about your carry. [01:06:51] Speaker A: What gun do you carry most times a Sig365 but it's, it's actually one [01:06:58] Speaker B: of the ones on the table here. [01:06:59] Speaker A: It's the, the frame's been changed out. It's obviously Cera coated slides been changed out. But. But I love the 365 platform. It is, it is the thing that Sig did absolutely right in my opinion. [01:07:10] Speaker C: It's the only thing they've done right. [01:07:12] Speaker A: It's the. That's not true. That's not exactly true. But, but handgun wise, this is the most right. You know, I mean you get back in the 22622 nines228. I mean they were, they were right. [01:07:22] Speaker B: But which grip modules it. [01:07:24] Speaker A: That is the Mischief Machine. I do want to give a shout out here though because just recently and I'll go ahead and. Sorry, no, it's quick fire. But I do want to say we just did a, a Halo gun for shot show and it actually was in the Osight booth. But I do want to say like I love the Mischief sheath grip module. It's. It's awesome. And that is a Fidez works slide on there. But I recently with that Halo gun I came into contact. It's. It's the ECM 11. And first of all with that build got me the opportunity. Mark, the owner of ECM contacted me. But I was blown away with that grip module. I mean blown away. And, and I will have one. It is probably the best feeling grip module for the 365 that I. Well, I know it's that I've ever felt and it is, it's all metal and it's kind of based and I'm not a 2011 guy. I'm just not. They're great guns. They've. They are what they are. I just, I'm just not that guy. But it's kind of. It was based off of a 2011 down to a 360 and it is phenomenal. So ECM Precision. If you, if you have not looked at the R11 frame, do yourself a favor. You will not be disappointed. If you, if you have a 365, check that frame module out. It's. It's unbelievable. But that is a mischief scheme and it's a great module as well. [01:08:48] Speaker B: Yeah. What holster you put that in? [01:08:52] Speaker A: That. That is actually in a North coast tactical. It is the one without the mag. If I carry one with a mag, I use north coast tactical as well. But I'm also a big fan of tier one concealed. [01:09:02] Speaker B: Very good ammo of choice. [01:09:05] Speaker A: Ammo is Angel Fire. [01:09:08] Speaker B: What belt do you use? [01:09:09] Speaker A: Belt? I, I, I do the next belt. [01:09:12] Speaker B: And what is another piece of gear that you always have to have on you? [01:09:16] Speaker A: A knife. [01:09:17] Speaker B: What do you have a certain knife? Is there one knife? [01:09:20] Speaker A: Microtech otf. [01:09:21] Speaker B: Yep. [01:09:22] Speaker A: The other one I do carry is Brotherhood Blade. They're flipper I again, I, I'm go bigger home. So everything I have is that I try to get custom. It's a one of one. So they made me a special one with copper inlay and all this stuff. So, yeah, Brotherhood Blade. Shout out. That's my boy. Love, y'. All. Microtech is, is my most. I mean, I've carried this. Microtech I've carried every day for five years. [01:09:45] Speaker B: Nice. Yeah, they're great. Nice. Okay, cool. Is there anything else that you want to. Before we get into faith and fuel, is there anything else that you want to. [01:09:55] Speaker A: No. I appreciate you having me on. I appreciate the, you know, the compliments. We are always trying to get better. You know, our, our motto is triggered by passion, crafter with precision. And, and I don't think that I ever reach where I'm going with that. And if I do, it moves. So, you know, we're, we're getting, we're trying to get better every day, everything we do. And with creativity comes mistakes. So, you know, it may work, it may not. Just like I said, it's two and a half years on that pattern and it doesn't look that complex. Yeah, but we're always striving and we hope to get better. And, and you know, I, I want to get bigger, but I don't want to get better at the cost of quality. And there's a lot of companies do that. So, you know, where are we going? I can't say that. I have this goal, right, that's perfectly laid out, which isn't always a good thing. But I just want to make sure that whatever we do Quality gets better and doesn't suffer. Relationships never stop building. And that people, when they talk about us, they talk about the customer service before the product. That's our goal. [01:11:05] Speaker B: Very good. That's awesome. [01:11:07] Speaker A: So thank you. [01:11:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:11:08] Speaker A: Thank you for the opportunity to be on here. [01:11:10] Speaker B: Absolutely. So, you know, I think one of the things that makes us like, you're saying we are friends, but I also look at us as brothers as well. [01:11:17] Speaker A: Right. [01:11:18] Speaker B: You know, not every guest that we're going to have on the show is going to be a believer. So we won't necessarily always do this segment, but because we have someone who is I guy, Textability is actually on his. On his way here is like, hey, what's a. What's a verse that has stuck out to you lately? And you said that that's one of your life verses. [01:11:34] Speaker A: Yeah, it's my life verse that you know. And it was funny because I, I don't want to say picked. I chose these verses as a teenager as my life verses. And, and that's another thing that can change as life goes on, but it hasn't for me. It hasn't. I chose these as a young, young teenager, and it hasn't changed like these, but here, lately. And it's funny that you asked that. I was thinking about that. I'm like, well, what did I, you know, what have I read? What do I, you know, I'm also, you know, dangerous but good. I'm. I'm. I'm a ambassador for a brand ambassador. Dangerous, but good. And I love what they're doing. And, you know, Noel's a great guy that's always putting weekly things out. And I'm like, you know, maybe one of his, you know, really stood out. And here lately, the last few weeks, my life verses have been on the forefront of my mind. And it is what it is. And I said, yeah, it's my life verse, which is Philippians 3, 12, 14. This is from the NKJV. It says, not that I've already attained or I'm already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching for those things which are ahead. I press towards the goal, for the prize of the upward call in God, in Christ Jesus. And, you know, it's funny because I mentioned that these are my life verses I picked as a teenager and the biggest struggle in my life that I've had even to this year is forgetting the things that are behind my mistakes, the failures. It's been a struggle for me my whole life. And the last couple years especially, I've really tried to change the outlook on that. And where I used to let my mistakes and problems shackle me, you know, they just literally were just holding me down, drowning me. You know, I adopted a few years ago, well before I knew you, actually. Post seven years ago. Always a student, Always a student. Just when my bail life moto my life motto, sorry, I don't ever want to stop learning and you have to learn from mistakes, which I just sat on here and told everybody, you have to learn from mistakes. But it's hard to practice. For me, it's hard to practice what I'm preaching at because I let my mistakes just constantly burden me, constantly hold me back. So the last couple years, I have really tried to kind of grasp another life motto of they're not shackles or stepping stones. You know, instead of a millstone that's holding me down and drowning me, it's a stepping stone. I'm on top of it, not underneath it, right? So, you know, those things that are behind, we need to forget those and just keep looking forward. So I'm doing a better job at that. But, you know, those verses, I mean, there's a few things that they mean to me. We can't be perfect. We cannot be perfect, and we can't be complete on our own. We're not designed and made to be complete on our own. Yet we try to do that. And there's many people that are doing a worldly, successful job of doing that. But we're not designed to be complete on our own, and we're not designed to be perfect. Christ's death and resurrection did that. That's what makes us perfect. Perfect, you know. [01:14:56] Speaker B: So verse 12, the ESV, the second half of verse, last part of verse 12, says, because Christ Jesus made me his own. Yeah, there's been one perfect person, and he has made us his own. [01:15:10] Speaker A: And mind you, he was perfect. That doesn't mean he didn't struggle. [01:15:13] Speaker B: No, he was tempted. [01:15:15] Speaker A: He was above it. But that means he didn't struggle with it, you know. But, you know, our past failures should not keep us from stepping into what God has done for us. And. And I feel like I have allowed myself to do that. I've allowed my failures to keep me from what God has called me to do in every area, you know, not all of them, but like, in every area, you know, I'VE fulfilled. But there's things I've fallen short because I've let the past mistakes. I'm focused on that instead of what he's calling me to. So, you know, the prize that we're striving for is that union with Christ, that relationship. You know, I say it all the time. Religions send more people to hell than anything because it's not about religion. It's not about rules and regulations. It's about a relationship. [01:15:58] Speaker B: Amen to that. [01:15:59] Speaker A: It's about a relationship. And I think that's why, you know, I said, my mom raised me in the church. My grandparents were the pillars. When you talk about the salt of the earth, my grandparents were that. And there's not any person on this earth that knew him that would not. That would argue that with me. They. They were the epitome of what a relationship with Christ and a Christian was supposed to be. And that's not just my words. Like anybody that knows them says that. And so, you know, my mom is very much was raised under that. She did, you know, a very good job of keeping, keeping us grounded as children. And, you know, doesn't mean you're not going to struggle, you know, so, you know, forget your Pat. Don't, don't. I don't want to say, forget your past. Don't let it. Don't let it own you. [01:16:51] Speaker B: Don't define you. [01:16:52] Speaker A: Don't let it define you and own you. But also, don't. Don't do what I do and just relish in it. And then I wish I could have done this. I wish I should have done. I should have done this. I knew better. That's just going to drown you. [01:17:04] Speaker B: I think for me, it makes me want to take more control. I try to keep taking more control, [01:17:10] Speaker A: which is the exact opposite of what he calls us to do. [01:17:13] Speaker B: 100% right. [01:17:14] Speaker A: You're right. [01:17:14] Speaker B: He wants us to. He wants to. He wants to take that. That burden from us. We can learn from it. We can. We can acknowledge it. But to not let it define us. We only let Christ define us. And we give that to him. Yeah, yeah, 100%. That's. That's hard. [01:17:30] Speaker A: It is. And I'm being as transparent as I know how to be. I mean, you know, there's a lot that I'm ashamed of, you know, probably more so than. Than really is reality. But that's just. That's just me. That's my nature. And I'm striving to be better. And I'm 50 years old, you know, I'M a half a century old, and literally just in the last year, maybe two. I'm kind of grasping the idea that now. That doesn't mean it's changed. [01:18:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:18:01] Speaker A: Doesn't mean I'm not struggling. But I'm. I'm like, oh, wait a second. This has been your life versus for 35, over 35 years. And you're just now, like, grasping the concept of how deep it is. So, you know, it's how patient God is. Right? [01:18:19] Speaker B: Like, so patient with us. Like, he gives us. He gives us time to. To learn. [01:18:25] Speaker A: I would not be considered a patient person, but I am so more patient than I was 10 years ago. It's uncanny. Yeah. So I'm a pretty straightforward guy to a fault, Right. You know, I speak my mind. I mean, I know when to bite my tongue sometimes, but I wear my emotion on my face. I can't filter that. I was talking to my boss yesterday, and he was like, yeah, you pretty much know what you're thinking by your face. And it's because I don't want to be fake. I want to be real. And that comes with faults. Everybody has their course. Everybody has their faults. And I don't mind people seeing that. I'm not proud of it, but. But, dude, it's tiring to try and be what you think you're supposed to be. And you're made like you. And that doesn't mean. I want to say that doesn't give you a license to stay where you're at. You know, I hear that all the time. Well, I'm bae. I am who I am. Well, you should try to evolve. We can all be better. But there are qualities about me. The bad qualities are what drives the good qualities. [01:19:29] Speaker C: True. [01:19:30] Speaker A: You know, so I don't want to change everything that's bad in me. I want to tweak it. But some of those good qualities that I have, you know, especially the attention, detail, being my own worst critic, it's what drives me to be that way. So if I remove those, then I lose that too. Right. And this is getting deep. I mean, I understand that, but you can always tweak. You don't have to change completely. Just be the person God called you to be and listen to what that person is. Because it's going to change over life. [01:19:59] Speaker B: Yeah. Submit to his plan. [01:20:01] Speaker A: There's different seasons of our life that we're called to be, different people that we're called to grow or we're called to suffer. We're called to stay. What is going on in My life. Why is all this happening? I've had far too many seasons because of bad decisions in my life that I've had those seasons. It didn't change. I made decisions, seasons came with that, that have hurt people and caused pain and caused, you know, relationship problems in my life with, with you know, different levels of people. But I can't change that. And if I just waller in it, what's that going to do? Yeah, it keeps me down. So, you know, just constantly evolved to be a better person and be what you were created to be. [01:20:43] Speaker B: Very good. I appreciate that a lot. Well, I think we're going to wrap up here. We've been, I got on gone just long enough to you guys just to get a taste of who Billy is [01:20:56] Speaker A: and yeah, we're gonna do a giveaway. [01:20:58] Speaker B: I appreciate you. What's that? [01:20:59] Speaker A: Do a giveaway? [01:21:00] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah, we're doing giveaways. [01:21:02] Speaker A: How do I do this? [01:21:04] Speaker B: I think the easiest way to do it because we have so many different social media things that there's no way. And so what we're gonna do today is February 19th. This process, this podcast will go up the 25th. So you guys will all be seeing and hearing this starting the 25th. Think about giving it to March. Do you want to give it to March 6th? [01:21:29] Speaker A: Well, I mean what you. It's your all spot, you know the. [01:21:31] Speaker B: Yeah, let's do March 6th because that's a Friday. Yeah. Not everybody listens to podcast straight away. If you hear this By March 6th, I want you to send me an email. It is Life Liberty Equip EQ L I F E L I B E R T Y E Q U I p life liberty equipmail.com just send me an email, include your address please, a name and address and I will pick somebody to receive this. So what do you, what are you going to do? [01:22:01] Speaker A: It's just a make ready swag pack. You're going to get this cleaning mat which you can't see right now, but it's a cleaning mat that, that, that we have. You're going to get a PMAX laser engraved with our logo, our logo on it. You're going to get our latest patch [01:22:17] Speaker C: which is pretty sweet. [01:22:18] Speaker A: Pvc. Yeah. So again, triggered by passion crafts with precision. I did a little spoof patch. I don't know how close you can see that but it's, it's spray can. So the whole rattle can versus Cerakote argument that people have, you know, we can make rattle can last longer that we can still do the rattle can. Look, we just make it last longer, you know, so it's, we spray with, with, with passion and precision. So it's just the rattle cans, like we're spraying with that. And then you're going to get a whole sticker pack in here, all kinds of stickers and all that stuff. So, yeah, just a little thing to, to give back and you can win it for free. [01:22:51] Speaker B: Very good. [01:22:52] Speaker A: Who? [01:22:53] Speaker C: Swag. [01:22:54] Speaker B: Send me an email. [01:22:54] Speaker A: Swag. Yes. [01:22:55] Speaker C: Gotta love swag. [01:22:57] Speaker A: All right, gentlemen, thank you. [01:22:59] Speaker B: Yeah, thank you. [01:23:00] Speaker A: I appreciate your business. [01:23:01] Speaker B: Absolutely. [01:23:02] Speaker A: I appreciate you as people again. We love you. This friendship has grown, you know, over the years and just gotten deeper. And I do, I admire both of you and I love what you're doing. So keep at it. Keep it up. [01:23:17] Speaker B: Likewise, brother. Thank you. [01:23:19] Speaker A: Love y'. All. [01:23:19] Speaker B: I love you too. [01:23:21] Speaker C: See if I do this right. Thanks for tuning in to life. Liberty and equipped. If today's conversation challenged you, encouraged you, [01:23:34] Speaker B: or helped you get more equipped to [01:23:36] Speaker C: pursue your mission, share it with a friend, drop a comment and leave us a review. [01:23:41] Speaker B: Don't forget to hit that subscribe button and leave a review. What takes a few seconds to help turns into more opportunities to reach new people. If you're not already part of the NeoMag Insiders club, now is the time. Get early access to NeoMag gear, exclusive content and a front row seat to everything we're building. Go to theneomag.com to sign on. Till next time, live, boldly stand for liberty and stay Eclipse. See you soon.