13 - Jon Carne from Port City Apparel: Navigating the Apparel Industry

Ever wonder how entrepreneurs manage to succeed for over two decades in the ever-changing economy, business climate, and consumer trends? Meet Jon Carne, who is behind Socco, Legacy Knitting, and Port City Apparel. We get an in-depth look at his journey, the ups-and-downs, his wildest design requests, and the challenges he encountered while navigating this industry for 27 years.

Our conversation with Jon isn't confined to the apparel industry. We venture into life's complexities, debating the efficiency of a 'one size fits all' solution to intricate problems.
He gives us a peek into the future of his companies. He shares his thoughts on the corporate reshuffle in Wilmington, its impact on the city in the next decade, and how he navigates of managing a team.

You can find out more about Jon and his companies here:
https://www.portcityapparel.com
https://legacyknitting.com
https://socco78.com

This episode of Toucan Talks in brought to you by More Than Clay.
Use code TOUCAN for 10% off your pottery order at:
https://morethanclay.com
Follow More Than Clay on IG at:
morethanclay

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Meet your hosts and learn more about Kickstart Collective at kickstartcollective.co

Kickstart Collective is a creative marketing agency based in Wilmington, NC. We offer our clients a creative advantage through creative content and marketing strategies. 

Get more from Toucan Talks!

Watch on YouTube
Follow on Instagram
Subscribe to our email list

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Meet your hosts and learn more about Kickstart Collective at kickstartcollective.co

Kickstart Collective is a creative marketing agency based in Wilmington, NC. We offer our clients a creative advantage through creative content and marketing strategies.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to the Two Can Talks podcast, where we bounce from topic to topic with our guest to give you an inside look at their life as a business owner. No question is off limits as we talk about what has led to the successes, the challenges and more.

Speaker 2: 0:15

And this podcast is brought to you by Kickstart Studios. Kickstart Studios is Wilmington's newest video podcast studio, equipped with multiple camera angles and an in-house producer. Creating a high quality video podcast has never been easier. Don't let the tech and gear learning curve hold you back from jumping into podcasting or created video content any longer. Our team takes care of it all for you, so you can focus on the message you want to share. You simply show up record and receive the final product. No more wasting time setting it up and breaking down the gear, setting up lights or doing sound checks on your own. We're in-house producer one Everything set up and ready to go for you. Check us out at Kickstart Studios.

Speaker 1: 1:06

Welcome to the Two Can Talks podcast. Today's guest is John Karn from Port City Apparel. You also have, is it, two or three other?

Speaker 3: 1:15

Two and a half.

Speaker 1: 1:15

Two and a half perfect.

Speaker 3: 1:16

I love it.

Speaker 1: 1:18

So Socco, and then I'm going to check my notes Legacy Knitting and they're all based here in Wilmington.

Speaker 3: 1:24

Based here in Wilmington.

Speaker 1: 1:26

Awesome. So you and your wife have been in business for is it 30 years in the apparel industry, or give or take?

Speaker 3: 1:31

So yes, so we actually we got married, started. We both were employed previously, but in 1997 we got married, bought a house and started a business. So 26, I'll go with this one. 27th, year.

Speaker 1: 1:46

Awesome, very cool. Yeah, if you want to give us just a quick breakdown of each company and go from there.

Speaker 3: 1:52

So obviously they're all in the apparel business and people always ask us what does apparel entail? Yeah. So I'll start with the sock companies, because they're the simple ones.

Speaker 3: 2:02

They just make socks and now we're starting to get into beanie. So Socco is our USA Made sock brand, and when you say USA Made, we try to incorporate the yarn, the boxes, the plastic bags, the hooks. The process is completely USA Made, which is getting more and more difficult. Then we have the company that is the parent company of Socco, which is called Legacy Knitting. Okay, cool, legacy is a knitter for like a tremendous amount of brands. We do high-end brands. We also do everything from breweries to insurance companies or energy companies, so socks and custom beanies. Port City Apparels are a decorating company, so decorating apparel would mean anything promotional, any type of wearable or everything from a Yeti to a tote bag. And then JMJ is our original company, which is a manufacturing company and it's all these other businesses were the offshoot of that and it is a pure manufacturer. So that's where the machinery came from and the know-how, and that's where we are today, nice.

Speaker 3: 3:15

Y'all aren't busy at all, no, yeah, people ask all the time like why separate? And so when we started, we were working with some big brands, so our main customers were Hard Rock with JMJ, Universal, which is not just the music side but also the entertainment side, and then Disney, and those companies didn't want to know that we were working with a gas station or whatever.

Speaker 3: 3:45

So, at the end of the Port City, apparel was created to go after auto dealers and just all of the types of businesses that would need that product, that it wouldn't need to be custom made. We could brand other brands apparel and then the SOC companies were an idea that came out of 2008. The economy took a big hit, so a lot of our business was with entertainment based brands and companies and we had to come up with something that would sustain itself. So you started this podcast. We started a SOC company, hoping yeah, we'll see what happens.

Speaker 3: 4:20

And yeah. So it's been a labor of love, but that's where that came from. Awesome, very cool.

Speaker 1: 4:26

Well, sweet. I think what we'll do is I will explain how this game works and then we can jump into our lovely kind of questions. So, basically, all you're going to do is drop a coin and if it lands on a one, I will draw a question out of the business can, and if it lands on a two, this will be our party can.

Speaker 3: 4:51

Okay.

Speaker 1: 4:52

Lots of random, fun, fun things in there and before I get started, I'm going to just shout out our sponsor for this month, which is more than clay, which is where this beautiful month came from.

Speaker 3: 5:03

Very cool Cameras, beautiful.

Speaker 1: 5:05

All angles. Yes, so you can find more than clay on Instagram, at more than clay online at more than claycom. And use code, get it to can. Like the bird. Where's my bird? Like the bird. Not the can for 10% off, so that's where I limited time. So if you guys want some pottery, now's the month to do that. All right, I think that's Good for housekeeping. Let's do it so anywhere on the board.

Speaker 3: 5:39

Is therea Favorite?

Speaker 1: 5:42

It seems like Every guest will like find a spot, and then it will always learn on the same number Okay, so I'm gonna see what happens and that I was about to warn you. That does happen.

Speaker 3: 5:56

Okay, I think I'm gonna go further.

Speaker 1: 5:58

Yeah, I think our count is up to five. You're gonna beat our score. See, this is why people invest in those fancy Etsy boards we were talking about before we started recording. All right, all right, all right, and I probably should. We do have a set of like standard questions and each can that every guest has an opportunity to get, and then we have some like Specific to you and your businesses. Okay, what is the craziest? Either apparel or design request you guys have gotten that you can share.

Speaker 3: 6:40

Sure, so we Maybe. 13 years ago we were maybe 13 or 14 we were working with a licensee that had Universal and they were also producing products for Hooters.

Speaker 3: 6:58

So they came to us and there was the big swimsuit, competed he asked us to make the swimsuits but they had these incredible Like warm-up suits that the young ladies were gonna wear before they went out to do whatever they were gonna do, yeah, and so they asked us to make these custom-made Hooters Sweatsuits and they only wanted a hundred of them and it was. So that was a very big. To make some of the custom that small Was very difficult, yeah, so that is probably.

Speaker 2: 7:25

That's probably one of the craziest that off the top of my head. That's a pretty crazy question.

Speaker 3: 7:29

Yeah, but yeah, that would probably be, yeah 100 custom hundred custom sweat suits for this, for the swimsuit competition.

Speaker 1: 7:38

Yeah, it's a good one, Awesome, all right, I think your trend is gonna be the fun. Okay let's see All right. So y'all have been Doing business in Wilmington. You said about 30. No, we've been here since.

Speaker 3: 8:07

So we've been in business since 97 as a couple, michelle and I, and then we've been in Wilmington since 2006 awesome, so you should have some experience in Wilmington.

Speaker 1: 8:20

So, you could change your magic wand. If you could change my view away of a magic wand and change anything about Wilmington, what would it be? Oh. It's a tough tough question so.

Speaker 3: 8:34

So I'm a obviously we're a small business owner, so we're very aware of expenses and cost and other things, and then we're also property owners and so I think the like we had three boys that were in school when we moved here and then they went through school here, and so my biggest Concern, just saying all the development, is we we have some team members on it in our business that are educators or married educators and just a lack of Resources, slash funding, slash infrastructure that's going into the school system. Yeah, so you're gonna move in. I mean, you see the population numbers right, there's Maybe another 30,000 people they're estimating that are gonna move here. Yeah, and they're building apartments like crazy. But you go to the schools and you know, yes, there's a few little add-ons here and there.

Speaker 3: 9:22

Yeah but to truly upgrade the infrastructure here in Wilmington, get the hospital, so all of those things that the residents, the people that are that are invested here, been here for a while. They're watching it happen and and then the you know, if you just moved here then you don't know.

Speaker 3: 9:39

Yeah but if you've been here for a while you're like, wow, we probably it's time for another school. But then you look around the county and you're like where would they even have the land to do it? Right, but they do seem to come up with Land to put up thousands of apartment buildings. So I'm like it's kind of crazy how they keep coming up with that land. So if there was one thing I think that would probably, from my opinion, that would benefit the community the most, is to to really rethink the infrastructure for the future generation.

Speaker 1: 10:07

Especially kids and the education side. Yeah, I think that's a great one for sure.

Speaker 3: 10:12

Okay, nope.

Speaker 1: 10:24

All right, this is an easy one. Why socks?

Speaker 3: 10:30

Great question, so we were scrambling in as.

Speaker 3: 10:36

I said 20 oh wait, yeah, and the like, just some of the destination resort business. I mean when I say it dried up. The financial crisis in 08 was pretty dramatic and I go back like our business got rocked very hard in 9-11. And for that next year it was, and then also the pandemic. So in the last 23 years there's been three really big upsets in business. And so we were.

Speaker 3: 11:06

We literally were sitting around our old office on 23rd Street and we came up with a boat ramp where we were gonna do this amazing, like we get a piece of land, like we were thinking of all the different types of businesses we could do, and so at the time we had a graphic artist that we were working with who said John, you know, I think this is something that would be really valuable If you could make something USA made, you'd set yourself apart and then do like a classic 70s three stripe sock, like not like everybody else was doing at the time, which at the time sounded great, but people in the year for really the next five years, they weren't ready for a three stripe tube sock, and so it was definitely the first few years a labor of love.

Speaker 3: 11:53

Then the tide turned and, all of a sudden the style of soccer we were making got very popular and so this last few years it's definitely been an upswing. So I would love to tell you there was some amazing like epiphany, but it was really born out of just hardcore brainstorming. And then it was not just socks, it was USA made, which was a very difficult thing then and it's very difficult now and then to try to get it into the 70s and 80s like a Southern California three stripe work. So there was some thought to it but we didn't test it, we just did it and then the market kind of guided us yes it took a long time.

Speaker 1: 12:36

Head of the trend. Okay, thank you.

Speaker 3: 12:38

A bad time to be. Yeah, yeah, that's one way to look at it. We were wondering what was going on for a few years. We're like why isn't anybody at the wholesale level, the retail level, by? We always had a little online presence and then that's what led to legacy. We started making cuss. People loved our socks, but they're like can we get our logo on them? And we're like sure.

Speaker 3: 12:59

So we started that and then it turned out that that was really a pretty big business, and then the brand slowly caught up on the other side.

Speaker 1: 13:06

So yeah, it merged. Yeah, which is neat. Yeah, awesome. Yes, let's see Okay.

Speaker 3: 13:23

Oh, that looks like a long one. It's a long one. Has some build up.

Speaker 1: 13:28

So as Wilmington has grown, as the city has grown, there's obviously going to be more opportunities for Wilmington businesses and, that being said, you've definitely worked with some like bigger names and brands and all that good stuff. So I think hopefully that's you know, more of that's going to come to Wilmington. But what were some of the steps or strategies that you guys took to kind of land those clients in that?

Speaker 3: 13:55

Yeah, another great question. So when we went out to create the company which was Port City Apparel to really, and then again we didn't really Google Port City, and so we named it and then we incorporated, and then all of a sudden a couple of friends said you do realize, there's like 700 businesses that have the name Port City, something like there is. And so the good news was we had a good idea and plan. Maybe the naming wasn't as unique as the business, so we had some contacts and then we brought in some really talented team members that were able to share the manufacturing expertise that we brought to the business. And when we first started, most of our manufacturing was still in Southern California and we were working with retail brands that wanted super high end product, and so we brought that type of thought process and expertise to the branded apparel side of it.

Speaker 3: 14:59

So it allowed us just to have a head start over maybe online business or some of the smaller businesses here, and there's a. It's like, as you said, there's a huge opportunity. There are more businesses moving here and that means there's more competition, which is also awesome because it just helps everybody continue to sharpen and get better. And so I, yeah, but we had some and have some very awesome team members that have developed relationships and we do work with a lot of the bigger businesses. But we also we have a nationwide. We probably close to a thousand accounts and so I'd say probably 60% of our businesses in North Carolina, 40% outside.

Speaker 1: 15:43

Very cool, yeah, yeah. So do you feel like from like a sales standpoint, like having team members that like knew how to do that, but also build relationships and like maintain? That has been kind of key, yeah.

Speaker 3: 15:59

I mean, we are constantly training, we're constantly learning. So I my wife was a business major and I was a history English major. So I was, you know, and I wanted to play volleyball, which I did. I was like, okay, I'll teach, I'll get my summers off and it'll be great. And then we got into this business a long time ago. So I didn't do any of those things.

Speaker 3: 16:23

But I think the most important thing very early on was we had a couple of very strong mentors that, because I didn't have formal business training, they were like John, there's really smart people that you can bring alongside you. You won't meet them, but they're in a book or they're an author or they're, or there's video series that you can purchase for your business. And so we constantly are training our people and I go through them with everybody, because each time I go through these I learn and I get better. And you know, you can get complacent and the only way to continue to grow is to literally continue to grow. So we really encourage everybody on the team to participate and then we are yeah, we're always looking. If somebody else is really good at something in our business, we applaud them, we celebrate it and then we look really closely how they're doing it and say okay, how would we do that differently for our clients?

Speaker 1: 17:20

Very cool. So, yeah, that's awesome Sweet. All right, we'll do this last one and then we'll probably reload it and do one more round.

Speaker 3: 17:30

Ooh, I was on a streak. Every now and again, one wall. Okay, I'm going, I'm going way over here. I think there's something wrong with that peg. Okay, all right. Okay, back to the two's.

Speaker 1: 17:44

Oh, All right, since you guys are in the apparel business, obviously, how have you seen like apparel trends change and then do you feel like you have to adjust, like your business, to that or is kind of the niche you're in, like the classic solids that like last throughout time?

Speaker 3: 18:12

So we would have three. I mean, this is very general. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 18:17

I would say they're separated into three different classes of clients. So if you're a traditional business, let's, let's select. We work with Chick-fil-A supply, so it's the people that supply their locations. We work with the companies that supply other large restaurants groups. They have uniform requirements. So what they do, what they don't want to do, is change all the time. They want to keep things pretty consistent because they have turnover. They don't want to be changing styles out.

Speaker 3: 18:45

We then have like a very large group of auto dealers around the country. They're the same way. They want to make sure their team members are at least in something for a year or two years. So they're pretty consistent. And then we work with a lot of everybody from a coffee house to breweries that are pretty cool, pretty hip, and they do want the latest. And they'll see something at a retail store or a boutique and they'll say I would like that from my store or I want that from my brand.

Speaker 3: 19:15

So those three different groups, we have to figure out a way to supply them with the blank goods that we're going to embellish. And so we work like we're unique in the sense that we don't promote one or two blank suppliers, we promote the client. So if you come to us and say you know, our, our company is really looking to be edgy and we want to be, you know, up there as like we don't want to be a restaurant or we don't want to be a brewery, we want to look like a real brand, then we would produce product that would look like that. Or if you say I really would like something traditional, we're going to advocate for that and we'll line up based on price, obviously, but the best options for that. So that is what, like, our formula that has worked really well is listening to the client, finding out which silo they fit in and then promoting the product and making sure it looks amazing when they get it. But yeah, that's a it is a constant battle to keep.

Speaker 3: 20:12

And you know like we were watching this Jordan documentary on the Air Jordan trip.

Speaker 3: 20:18

So my wife and my son wanted to watch it. Yeah, I hadn't seen it. And so I go back and I watch it. And I, and I said to my son, I was like, well, I had a pair in 85, like the first ones and and they were very different. And then I was looking at the documentary and there's, you know, everybody's wearing these baggies, like MC Hammer was in, and it was like, wow, so I'm old enough to remember all these ebbs and flows. So, yeah, and I was like, uh, anyway, I don't know how I got off on that, but no, we watched the documentary.

Speaker 1: 20:47

It was like very interesting, just from like yeah, I.

Speaker 3: 20:52

I liked it. Uh, I lived a little bit and I mean like from the outside. I was a very interested observer of the NBA and then also those personalities, and so I watched it and I and I, um, I wish they would have had a little bit more um interaction with Michael and obviously his father is not around anymore, but just some of his family. So you cause, it's always interesting to me when they have a documentary about somebody and then you see him for 30 seconds Like well, what did he really think about this? Cause it was kind of everybody else's take. So I think what would be really neat would be to be a 2.0 where he's watching it and like and then stopping it and going well, they have.

Speaker 3: 21:29

This is actually what was going on, and just to get his thoughts.

Speaker 1: 21:33

That'd be a great podcast.

Speaker 3: 21:34

There you go. Let's get Michael on. Yeah, he's from Wilmington, no big deal.

Speaker 1: 21:42

I'll add him to my set.

Speaker 3: 21:43

He'd want to have a three on here, though, so you could get a 23.

Speaker 1: 21:46

He'd be like him and Blake Ligelier are now our celebrity goals.

Speaker 3: 21:50

Okay, oh man, I'm telling you, I'm the two can today.

Speaker 1: 22:00

Two can All right, this is a fun one. What is your spiciest opinion that most people disagree with? What's your like? Controversial hot take?

Speaker 3: 22:13

I couldn't even begin because we'd have to cut.

Speaker 1: 22:18

Yeah, right now. Do you like remember? This is on the internet, it's about a 30 minute episode.

Speaker 3: 22:23

Is that a serious question? Oh yeah, I mean, don't get yourself in trouble. No, I won't, yeah.

Speaker 1: 22:27

No, no, no. I said I didn't believe we really walked on the moon.

Speaker 3: 22:32

Okay, that's true, we did not Thank you, yeah, so there's like, well, I'll, just I'll give you the one I was going to share, but before I do that, so you remember the video of all of them jumping, you know, once, once, so the, you know, the dust is coming off their shoes and everything is floating back down, right, well, they're in, right. Then if the rocket took off, wouldn't it have created like a dust cloud? That would be flipped right? So, anyway, so there's a studio somewhere in New Mexico that's probably got like the, the dust cloud, anyway, so I'll, I'll, I'll. This will be really quick. So what would happen if I brought a bowl and I gave you a cut, a haircut, and I just cut your hair, and then I cut everybody's hair in the whole world with a bowl?

Speaker 1: 23:26

Just a bowl cut? I don't know. I probably would look like my brother.

Speaker 3: 23:31

So that's my, so that would be my, so like, how would you ever think everybody could have the same haircut right? So then, how would you like, how would you ever treat cancer or anything else with the same? Drug or anything else. So that's my most controversial thing is if you come with a-.

Speaker 1: 23:49

One size fits all solution. One size fits all solution to any problem.

Speaker 3: 23:53

It's gonna probably not go well, it's gonna work. Yeah, yeah that's a good one, so, and I'm glad you don't have a bowl cut, but I wouldn't even be able to get a bowl, cause I-.

Speaker 1: 24:04

I'm actually I've been surprisingly like long head this way, so I probably wouldn't wanna work.

Speaker 3: 24:10

No.

Speaker 1: 24:10

I don't, yeah, I don't, yeah.

Speaker 3: 24:11

That's a good one, that's not too controversial, so that would be my con-. Yeah, well, I mean In some circles. It's amazing, I can't even talk about those Cause. I have to talk about bowl cuts, yeah, otherwise I get in trouble.

Speaker 1: 24:23

Just bowl cuts Bowl cuts themselves. Actually should be controversial. I would agree, they need to stay in the 90s.

Speaker 3: 24:34

My little son's gonna be very excited that you are not. You totally think the moon was-.

Speaker 1: 24:41

So we did that question, my husband and I. Luke did the first like pilot episode and by the end we'd like Google, like the first round of people who would like lean on the moon. And then I was like feeling bad. I was like man, I'm like stripping these people of their like life accomplishments, like by this you know slim chance. I actually did it and I felt bad. And then I went back on what I said and then I was like no, Well, I like.

Speaker 3: 25:05

So. I have a friend who's he's a he was in the middle, I mean he's a smart guy, very smart guy, he knows his stuff.

Speaker 3: 25:12

And he said, I said to him, I said, how would you get all those people there was? Cause, all the people that were in the you know Houston, they were all like on the TV with their little pencil ties and they were you know, and all the computers were like, remember, they had lights and then you had all the people. Like that would be where the rocket took it, like and then they.

Speaker 3: 25:30

And then you had the astronauts themselves, and then you had the like probably somebody in the military, that. And so then I'm watching TV, like two weeks ago, and Robert F Kennedy Jr came out and said I have proof, the CIA murdered my uncle and my father. And I was like, well, that would probably be hard to keep a secret too, right. So I was like, wow, so I think the moon things, I think you're right, I think it was. So I guess it is possible to keep it a secret.

Speaker 1: 25:55

I guess man, I don't know. Anyway, we'll never know.

Speaker 3: 25:58

We'll never know.

Speaker 1: 26:01

Probably won't. I feel like you kind of touched on this, but how did you get into or how did you guys get into, like the apparel industry?

Speaker 3: 26:09

Another kind of fell in. So I was, my wife and I both went to San Diego State a long time ago and I was a volleyball player, she was a student business major, and so when I wasn't playing indoor I was playing out on the beach. And that was my dream, was I was going to tour and play. And so my senior year I met this guy who had a little volleyball apparel company in San Diego and he's like, hey, I'll help you with your plane tickets. And back then they were all like maybe the top 12 guys were making really good money and then the bottom 60 were like just eating peanut butter and jelly and sleeping 12 to a room whenever you would travel. It was a lot of fun if you're young. But he said, hey, come work for us. And so I didn't. And I said I don't know anything about apparel.

Speaker 3: 27:05

So I went to work in this little warehouse down on the border of Mexico and San Diego little town called Chula Vista, and he just asked me to help out whatever I could do, and I didn't have any computer skills, and so I was like, okay. So I went in and I asked him. I said, oh, we'll start in the warehouse, you'll do inventory and everything, and so I really enjoyed the people more than the actual apparel side of it, and the people were amazing and I loved the process, just what like? I've worn clothes my whole life, right, but I never saw them start in a roll and then go through the entire process and be sewn, and it was fascinating to me. So that's how I started and then, when my wife and I, I literally couldn't get out of the business and then we decided after we got married, that we'd start this company, and so, yeah, Very cool.

Speaker 1: 27:58

It's a good little backstory. All right, let's see. See what happens. I really like this second shot. I think it's a lot of fun. Oh yeah, we like the second shot. I'm glad it's kind of rapid A lot. Cutlery he's just like Entry got a little luckier and I love the end outcome. In some way, it's the most fun and let's go to op-ed questions.

Speaker 3: 28:24

So to have us talk Deaf or Asian in a show, you can go to any. Okay, although t skirt only just because it's very recent, but we drove by this place on Market Street all the time and my wife's, like you know, like you, just would never stop there. And then we had a couple friends that said, hey, you should try it. It's this little Italian place called Roselys and I'm like you know it looks like it's a little.

Speaker 1: 28:50

Josh is excited about that one.

Speaker 3: 28:51

Ok, yeah, I mean, it's pretty like I couldn't believe it. It looked like an old fast food place that had been stuck out over.

Speaker 1: 28:59

I think I know what you're talking about.

Speaker 3: 29:00

But the chef is in there like actually there oh cool. And the food is amazing, the portions are amazing, and then just the like if you don't have a reservation, don't even try. Like I walked up and like can we get in? And they're like three hours later. I'm like what, I'm like this and so anyway. So that would be probably one of my. I mean, I could name a few others, but my wife's.

Speaker 1: 29:25

She loves that place. Yeah Cool, I haven't tried that one. We'll have to put it on the list, Josh. I assume from your reaction you tried it.

Speaker 3: 29:32

It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. Yeah, you have to take some home, but they have a. I don't know if you like salad, but it's not a salad, it's like a work of art. It's amazing and it's amazing. That's all I'm going to tell you. And you're going to leave there and go. How did I not Like? How long have you lived here?

Speaker 1: 29:52

My entire life. I was born here.

Speaker 3: 29:53

And you say oh my god See that's what I said. So we've driven by it for years and years and we finally tried it. Yeah, it's amazing, You'll love it.

Speaker 1: 29:59

Ok, I'm going to put it on the list. Maybe by the time this episode comes out, I'll can leave my official review in the show notes. Ah, All right, we're getting down to.

Speaker 1: 30:10

there's only a few left, so we're going to get down to the. Oh my gosh, they're all tangled together. Ok, oh, right on time. So this question was added to the can as a standard question after one of our podcast guests suggested it. So, instead of a spirit animal, what would you say? Your spirit food is the food that best represents the essence of who you are.

Speaker 3: 30:42

Triple berry pie.

Speaker 1: 30:44

OK, yeah, ok. What are the berries?

Speaker 3: 30:47

Raspberry, boysenberry and I want to say blackberry.

Speaker 1: 30:51

Oh, nice yeah.

Speaker 3: 30:52

OK With the you know Alamo. Yeah, a little scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Speaker 1: 30:57

Yeah, I made a blueberry pineapple like a dumb cake the other day and we didn't have any ice cream and Luke was so sad.

Speaker 3: 31:06

Oh. So, last night I went to get a drumstick and my wife makes the world's greatest homemade banana splits.

Speaker 1: 31:15

Oh nice no-transcript. It's like it's unbelievable, like how do you make it?

Speaker 3: 31:20

but she made it and so it was like 8 30 last night. She and normally I get a smaller one, but last night I don't know what she was thinking she made this giant one. Yeah, so that's my. That would be my other go-to beer, banana split, but if I get a fresh triple berry pie with a scoop of vanilla, yeah, money, yeah, get in a hammock and go to sleep.

Speaker 1: 31:39

All right, we'll see if you get a business one this time. It was trying, it was trying it was like you might be about to read our record. Might be time for us to invest in that nice board.

Speaker 2: 31:57

Yes.

Speaker 1: 31:58

Fancy board also has a plexiglass oh, to keep it from bouncing out.

Speaker 3: 32:02

Okay, I think you could probably make one of those. Yeah, just.

Speaker 1: 32:07

One day, you know how the cove it.

Speaker 3: 32:09

They were like they put those things up everywhere. I think you.

Speaker 1: 32:21

Cool, so you're operating, operating three and a half. So what do you feel like has been like the two or three key things like it makes that that possible for you guys to like sustain and be successful sure possible.

Speaker 3: 32:38

Well, first, every day. I actually had this conversation this morning with one of the people that we interviewed, I said you know, we're, we're excited, and so I think, if you're an entrepreneur by nature, you don't just have one idea or two you probably have more and then hopefully somebody in your circles like let's work on these right, this let's.

Speaker 3: 33:04

Let's think about that one. So I think the first and foremost thing is is you have to be energetic about what you're doing, passionate about what you're doing. And then, in my case, I have my amazing, talented, beautiful wife, who is like she's I don't want to say we're opposites, but we're opposites. She's uber organized, she's very thoughtful, she's she's got everything moving.

Speaker 3: 33:29

Yeah and so we spend All day together, and then we obviously spend the rest of the day together, and then we parent together, we business, so all these things together. So if we weren't on the same page, I think it would be tough. Yeah and then the energy that we bring is different, so my mine is more cheerleading and Crazy ideas and how do we get in and really Loving and hugging not just our team but our clients as well?

Speaker 3: 33:58

And so that's the first thing. The second thing is you. You have to have amazing team members who are in the right seat on the bus.

Speaker 3: 34:06

Yeah and if you have somebody in the wrong seat, it makes it tough. And then the third thing is it doesn't matter how passionate you are or how amazing your team is if you're not in the right business or you're not on the right page, yeah, or you're just looking at it. You know what I mean. Like they're like half the businesses that Open, close, maybe more, yeah, and it's so. To sustain a business for a long time, you have to continually, as I said earlier, you have to grow, to be willing to be coached, and that goes for me and my team as a whole.

Speaker 3: 34:44

Yeah, but then you also have to innovate constantly, so that takes passion too. So I think those three Components a team and passion, and then also a good product.

Speaker 1: 34:54

Yeah, you don't have a good product Really gonna work in the way, yeah, so yeah, cool, that's awesome. Um, well, thank you for Joining us and playing along and sharing your knowledge. Um, we wrap with the same kind of general questions each episode. The first one is what could people expect from you next? Do you guys have anything you're brewing up or super exciting?

Speaker 3: 35:20

So we actually Each of the businesses is is got growth going on. So we're Just the sock. Companies are going out to some trade shows. We just got back from outdoor retailer with legacy and then so goes going to a couple trade shows in September, with a whole bunch of One in New Orleans and one in Chicago. So those are just opportunities for us to meet not just clients but also fans of the brand. Port city apparel is Just every day getting more and more connected on socials. So our like our big Goal there was to actually get noticed. Yeah, and over the last year and a half We've spent a tremendous amount of time and effort Just really putting ourselves out there. And now the phone is. I mean it always rang, but now it rings like incessantly yeah, it's great. And then, from a, from a Growth perspective, we're getting ready to add a couple of team members. So that's always a challenge, yeah. And a good one, we love opportunities.

Speaker 3: 36:26

Yeah, we want to be adding so, yeah. So those are some cool things that are coming up awesome.

Speaker 1: 36:32

A lot of our listeners are obviously other business owners, which obviously you guys. That's also your client, which is awesome. So for those people wears, and we'll put this in the show notes as well, so it's easy for people to find. But where is the best way for them to get in touch with you guys?

Speaker 3: 36:49

So, like for the for the Wilmington area, I think the most important business that we could share with a community or other business owners would be port city apparel. So that's the UWW port city apparel calm, we're local, we're in the North Kerr business park and we are like when we when I say we're open, like we love drop-ins, it's easy to find us, google us, and then we just like, if that's what's so great, is we cross train everybody. So if one person isn't there, the next person's ready to greet somebody and meet somebody and you're always gonna be welcomed and treated Like a friend. So, yeah, port city apparel would probably be the most important business for us to share locally.

Speaker 1: 37:27

And then, yeah, Awesome, well, good, well, yeah, we'll put links to the website and socials on the show notes. Those are easy for everyone to find. Yeah, other than that, is there anything else you are hoping to share that we didn't get to in this? I mean?

Speaker 3: 37:43

I think that you kind of shared earlier a little, you know like what's one of the the you know controversial things and I think, for business in general in Wilmington. Yeah, this last few years we worked with a lot of amazing people that were really Doing everything in their power to fight through. Just we have we work with a lot of restaurants and breweries and other things, so the pandemic was a pretty difficult time, yeah, and so I'm like just really excited to see the vibrancy of the community.

Speaker 3: 38:15

Come back, everybody out. We were down for the 4th of July downtown and it was just, I mean, it was packed and so just super exciting to see that and then also see some of the corporate moves that are happening. There's people moving here, offices are growing. It's just, it's exciting. So for the community it's a great time and if you look out, over the next 10 years this is gonna be a big Little town. Yeah, it's growing quickly so excited.

Speaker 1: 38:42

Yeah, awesome. Well, yeah, thanks again for joining us. This was a fun, fun time. Thanks for always playing.

Speaker 3: 38:49

I'm gonna get yeah see if what I can do for this.

Speaker 1: 38:52

Yeah, we'll see. If we invest in a better board will invite you back.

Speaker 3: 38:57

Well, thank you, I appreciate the opportunity and, yeah, I love. I can't wait to watch this. I guess my son's gonna be excited about the moon thing. He's gonna be so excited you brought that up Good, good.

Speaker 1: 39:08

Tell him to subscribe on YouTube.

Speaker 3: 39:10

Okay, I will.

Speaker 1: 39:11

Awesome. Well, thank you, thank you you.