Jan. 31, 2026

EXPERIENCE 254 | NOW This is NOCO - With Ben and Kelsi Harris of This is NOCO

Now This is NOCO! - Ben & Kelsi Harris, Owners of This is NOCO and the NEW Discover NOCO Magazine On today’s episode of The LoCo Experience podcast, I’m excited to introduce Ben & Kelsi Harris to our listeners! They are the owners of the This is NOCO media company, and recently expanded their offerings through acquisition of Discover Fort Collins magazine - which will be adding editorial and community content and rebranding as Discover NOCO this spring! And - they’ve rece...

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Season 6

Now This is NOCO! - Ben & Kelsi Harris, Owners of This is NOCO and the NEW Discover NOCO Magazine

On today’s episode of The LoCo Experience podcast, I’m excited to introduce Ben & Kelsi Harris to our listeners!  They are the owners of the This is NOCO media company, and recently expanded their offerings through acquisition of Discover Fort Collins magazine - which will be adding editorial and community content and rebranding as Discover NOCO this spring!  

And - they’ve recently come aboard the team for The LoCo Experience podcast - Ben in production and Kelsi managing social media and Co-Hosting a new short-form Business & Community News segment on The LoCo Experience!  

Ben & Kelsi came back to Northern Colorado in 2020, escaping Covid-nation in California, where they worked together at a Christian camp - and Ben rekindled his production business, The Hype and the Heart at that time.  The opportunity to acquire NOCO Date Nights Instagram page surfaced in January 2024, and they’ve grown their following and rebranded to This is NOCO in the summer of 2025.  They are all about local, and together, we’re LoCo for Local, and so please welcome to the show - and to the team - and enjoy my conversation with Ben & Kelsi Harris of This is NOCO!


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Music By: A Brother's Fountain

Transcript
WEBVTT

00:00:00.050 --> 00:00:05.690
On today's episode of the Loco Experience Podcast, I'm excited to introduce Ben and Kelsey Harris to our listeners.

00:00:06.469 --> 00:00:13.910
They're the owners of the This is NOCO Media Company, and recently expanded their offerings through acquisition of Discover Fort Collins magazine.

00:00:15.019 --> 00:00:32.570
Which will be adding editorial and community content and rebranding as Discover NOCO this spring, and they've recently come aboard the team for the Loco Experience Podcast, been in production, and Kelsey managing social media and co-hosting a new short form business and community news segment on the Loco experience.

00:00:32.810 --> 00:00:55.490
Ben and Kelsey came back to Northern Colorado in 2020, escaping COVID Nation in California, where they worked together at a Christian camp and Ben rekindled his production business, the Hype in the Heart at that time, the opportunity to acquire NOCO Date Night's Instagram page surfaced in January, 2024, and they've grown their following and rebranded to, this is Noco in the summer of 2025.

00:00:56.390 --> 00:00:59.929
They're all about local and together we're loco for local.

00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:06.355
And so please welcome to the show and to the team and enjoy my conversation with Ben and Kelsey Harris of this is Noco.

00:01:06.615 --> 00:01:07.305
Let's have some fun.

00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:16.980
Welcome to the Loco Experience Podcast.

00:01:17.460 --> 00:01:22.171
On this show, you'll get to know business and community leaders from all around Northern Colorado and beyond.

00:01:22.861 --> 00:01:27.751
Our guests share their stories, business stories, life stories, stories of triumph and of tragedy.

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And through it all, you'll be inspired and entertained.

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These conversations are real and raw, and no topics are off limits.

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So pop in a breath mint and get ready to meet our latest guest.

00:01:42.826 --> 00:01:44.807
Welcome back to the Loco Experience Podcast.

00:01:44.897 --> 00:01:47.927
My guests today are Ben and Kelsey Harris.

00:01:48.376 --> 00:01:56.132
And Ben is the founder and executive producer at the hype in the heart, and Ben and Kelsey are co-founders of This is Noco.

00:01:56.311 --> 00:01:56.731
Mm-hmm.

00:01:56.811 --> 00:02:08.467
Which is primarily an Instagram page, but also YouTube and tiktoks and stuff, and also the owners of, uh, paper Magazine, currently known as Discover Fort Collins, but soon to be known as Discover Noco.

00:02:08.556 --> 00:02:08.947
Yes.

00:02:08.947 --> 00:02:09.817
Starting in March.

00:02:09.817 --> 00:02:09.907
Yes.

00:02:09.907 --> 00:02:11.106
Good job of co-branding.

00:02:11.556 --> 00:02:12.231
Yes, we're working on it.

00:02:12.276 --> 00:02:14.917
And nice job on the graphics, on the, uh, new business card.

00:02:14.917 --> 00:02:15.366
Thanks for sharing.

00:02:15.366 --> 00:02:15.606
Oh, well,

00:02:15.606 --> 00:02:16.086
thank you.

00:02:16.176 --> 00:02:16.687
Yes.

00:02:17.167 --> 00:02:24.097
So, um, let's just start out with you, Ben, because you've been in business for yourself for quite a while.

00:02:24.396 --> 00:02:24.757
Yeah,

00:02:25.657 --> 00:02:26.016
yeah.

00:02:26.076 --> 00:02:30.187
Technically, I've been in business for myself in one form or another, probably since I was.

00:02:30.562 --> 00:02:31.222
15.

00:02:31.521 --> 00:02:32.572
So you're unemployable.

00:02:32.602 --> 00:02:33.801
I'm really, I, I can't Oh yeah.

00:02:33.861 --> 00:02:34.972
You can be a contractor.

00:02:35.002 --> 00:02:35.151
Yeah.

00:02:35.151 --> 00:02:37.641
But, uh, if you want to, uh, hire me,

00:02:37.671 --> 00:02:41.842
I think I've actually held maybe two jobs since high school.

00:02:41.931 --> 00:02:42.442
Interesting.

00:02:42.532 --> 00:02:43.222
Working for someone.

00:02:43.222 --> 00:02:46.072
And were you doing this kind of work as a 15-year-old or

00:02:46.372 --> 00:02:46.731
no?

00:02:46.731 --> 00:02:47.032
No.

00:02:47.032 --> 00:02:49.342
I've had businesses in all kinds of different realms.

00:02:49.401 --> 00:02:49.491
Okay.

00:02:49.491 --> 00:02:51.472
So I had a painting business for a while.

00:02:51.472 --> 00:02:55.282
I had a, uh, you know, I started off with like a lawn mowing business.

00:02:55.282 --> 00:02:55.372
Sure.

00:02:56.931 --> 00:02:58.372
Um, so it's been various types.

00:02:58.372 --> 00:03:01.282
I didn't get into video production until college.

00:03:01.372 --> 00:03:01.581
Okay.

00:03:01.611 --> 00:03:02.002
And then

00:03:02.512 --> 00:03:03.262
just been there,

00:03:03.322 --> 00:03:03.711
been there a

00:03:03.711 --> 00:03:04.551
little bit ever since.

00:03:04.671 --> 00:03:04.972
Yeah.

00:03:05.032 --> 00:03:05.602
That's really cool.

00:03:05.782 --> 00:03:07.912
So what do you do like, uh.

00:03:08.556 --> 00:03:13.236
Like, what kinds of projects do you take on your, your name is kind of compelling.

00:03:13.236 --> 00:03:14.137
The hype in the heart?

00:03:14.137 --> 00:03:14.497
Yeah.

00:03:14.497 --> 00:03:15.847
Even though I couldn't read my own writing.

00:03:16.896 --> 00:03:24.257
Well, the name comes from the idea that to have, um, a good handle on marketing and communicating with people is.

00:03:24.796 --> 00:03:27.227
You know, a compelling story has to have two elements.

00:03:27.287 --> 00:03:27.317
Mm.

00:03:27.407 --> 00:03:28.007
The hype.

00:03:28.097 --> 00:03:28.276
Yeah.

00:03:28.336 --> 00:03:32.567
Something exciting, something worth seeing, something that draws you in and the heart.

00:03:32.572 --> 00:03:32.592
Mm-hmm.

00:03:32.671 --> 00:03:33.831
You have to have substance behind it.

00:03:33.861 --> 00:03:34.151
Yeah.

00:03:34.366 --> 00:03:34.727
Yeah.

00:03:34.817 --> 00:03:40.127
So that's, that's where the name kind of came from and, uh, it's been hard to explain to people ever since.

00:03:40.907 --> 00:03:44.447
Well, to me it's kind of signifies a little bit toward that hero's journey kind of thing.

00:03:44.717 --> 00:03:44.836
Mm-hmm.

00:03:45.076 --> 00:03:55.127
Where you have to be both bonded to that character and also excited for all the, the, the, the hurdles and challenges they're overcoming and trying to connect with their audiences.

00:03:55.276 --> 00:03:55.847
Exactly.

00:03:55.937 --> 00:03:56.236
Yep.

00:03:56.326 --> 00:03:56.597
Yeah.

00:03:56.657 --> 00:04:00.347
And so it was born out of, uh, uh, 2020.

00:04:00.407 --> 00:04:05.687
I was, we were leaving a job, we were leaving a state, uh, we were leaving California during the height of the pandemic.

00:04:06.167 --> 00:04:14.687
And, uh, nobody was hiring weirdly enough, so I was like, okay, I guess I'm just gonna, you know, I ran my own video production business before, um.

00:04:15.266 --> 00:04:18.901
We moved to California and then I was like, all right, we'll just start it up back and we'll do it again.

00:04:19.052 --> 00:04:19.422
Very cool.

00:04:19.422 --> 00:04:20.187
So how hard could it be?

00:04:21.026 --> 00:04:21.567
So,

00:04:21.567 --> 00:04:22.286
uh, yeah,

00:04:22.437 --> 00:04:27.836
it was born out of, uh, just a necessity of this is what we can do right now to make money.

00:04:27.896 --> 00:04:28.137
Yeah.

00:04:28.557 --> 00:04:34.437
And do you have a specialty area where you work or certain types of clients that you work?

00:04:34.677 --> 00:04:40.406
That heart thing makes me think maybe you do some stuff with, uh, you know, passion forward kind of businesses and stuff more.

00:04:40.406 --> 00:04:41.156
Mm-hmm.

00:04:41.158 --> 00:04:41.197
But I don't know.

00:04:41.307 --> 00:04:41.937
Yeah.

00:04:41.937 --> 00:04:45.297
Oddly I've kind of stumbled into, I work in the tech

00:04:45.716 --> 00:04:45.956
Oh.

00:04:46.076 --> 00:04:50.666
Industry a lot, so I do, I have a lot of larger tech clients that just kind of keep me busy.

00:04:50.757 --> 00:04:50.966
Yeah.

00:04:51.057 --> 00:04:51.836
So all the time.

00:04:51.836 --> 00:04:53.877
So they, they really kind of pay the bills.

00:04:53.882 --> 00:04:54.482
Yeah, yeah.

00:04:54.482 --> 00:04:54.641
Yeah.

00:04:54.641 --> 00:04:59.317
Um, so I, I do that a lot and, but I also do have more of a, yeah, like you said, a heart.

00:04:59.916 --> 00:05:04.732
Heartfelt mission forward kind of nonprofits and, and ministries and that sort of thing.

00:05:04.732 --> 00:05:07.416
And a lot of free labor for this is Noco, I imagine.

00:05:07.567 --> 00:05:07.656
Mm-hmm.

00:05:07.896 --> 00:05:08.137
All the time.

00:05:09.312 --> 00:05:12.427
And that seems like it's your baby, your vision first.

00:05:12.427 --> 00:05:13.627
Is that fair?

00:05:13.627 --> 00:05:15.547
You're like, I got this super skilled husband.

00:05:16.266 --> 00:05:16.687
Yes.

00:05:16.687 --> 00:05:17.317
I always say that.

00:05:17.317 --> 00:05:20.166
I film the things and then tell Ben to make it look nice.

00:05:20.172 --> 00:05:20.291
Yes.

00:05:20.351 --> 00:05:20.932
And so, yes.

00:05:20.937 --> 00:05:21.187
Yes.

00:05:21.637 --> 00:05:24.036
So tell me about, this is Noco Kelsey, if you don't mind.

00:05:24.036 --> 00:05:27.411
Like, uh, I know it started as a date night something.

00:05:27.442 --> 00:05:27.732
Yeah.

00:05:27.732 --> 00:05:29.377
Date night Foco or something like that.

00:05:29.437 --> 00:05:29.766
Yeah.

00:05:29.766 --> 00:05:34.266
So, um, Anastasia and Sean actually started it as Noco Date Nights.

00:05:34.326 --> 00:05:35.447
Um, and they started that in.

00:05:36.487 --> 00:05:38.752
Would've been like the very end of 2022.

00:05:38.752 --> 00:05:39.632
2023.

00:05:39.637 --> 00:05:39.817
Okay.

00:05:39.846 --> 00:05:42.906
And it was just an Instagram account that highlighted their weekly date nights.

00:05:43.206 --> 00:05:43.237
Oh.

00:05:43.266 --> 00:05:43.807
Um,

00:05:43.836 --> 00:05:44.706
just told those stories.

00:05:44.706 --> 00:05:44.976
Yep.

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Just told their stories of what they did when they went out.

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And then she found that people were interested in what to do for a date night.

00:05:51.697 --> 00:05:56.797
So she started this weekly schedule and she would post five events that were happening every day.

00:05:56.797 --> 00:05:56.857
Yeah.

00:05:56.857 --> 00:05:56.947
It's

00:05:56.947 --> 00:05:57.877
Tuesday night, here's something you

00:05:57.877 --> 00:05:58.026
can do.

00:05:58.026 --> 00:05:58.117
Yep.

00:05:58.117 --> 00:05:59.617
Here's something you could do for date night.

00:06:00.036 --> 00:06:03.547
Um, and people really liked that, um, in that

00:06:03.552 --> 00:06:04.632
these are friends of yours, is that

00:06:04.637 --> 00:06:06.067
No, we didn't know them at all.

00:06:06.127 --> 00:06:06.456
Alright.

00:06:06.576 --> 00:06:07.836
Um, I followed the account.

00:06:08.107 --> 00:06:08.257
Yeah.

00:06:08.257 --> 00:06:09.726
I was like, oh, I loved this.

00:06:10.026 --> 00:06:11.557
Um, and people liked it.

00:06:11.557 --> 00:06:18.007
She grew to like about 5,000 followers in a year and then she went, wait, I don't actually want a job in social media.

00:06:18.127 --> 00:06:18.367
Yeah.

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I don't want to be on social media.

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I'm gonna close the account.

00:06:21.067 --> 00:06:24.307
So in December, 2023, she just put up a post that said.

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Sorry, we're shutting down.

00:06:26.482 --> 00:06:26.692
Oh,

00:06:26.752 --> 00:06:29.601
this, um, I don't, we don't wanna do this anymore.

00:06:29.601 --> 00:06:29.961
And you're like, no.

00:06:30.382 --> 00:06:35.151
And so I sent the post to Ben and just said, oh, like one of my favorite Instagrams is closing.

00:06:35.721 --> 00:06:37.672
And he goes, well, DM them.

00:06:37.882 --> 00:06:39.351
See if they'd give it to us instead.

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Yeah.

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It's like, oh, okay.

00:06:40.762 --> 00:06:43.851
So I dmd her and said, would you sell us this account?

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And we got coffee.

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And, um, a couple people, she got coffee with probably five people that week.

00:06:48.711 --> 00:06:49.041
Okay.

00:06:49.132 --> 00:06:52.041
And, um, she picked, we really clicked and she picked us.

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And in December of 2023, we bought NOCO Date Nights.

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Okay.

00:06:57.351 --> 00:07:00.742
And essentially ran it as it was for

00:07:00.742 --> 00:07:01.101
largely

00:07:01.101 --> 00:07:01.701
unchanged, like a year.

00:07:01.732 --> 00:07:02.692
Largely unchanged.

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Didn't change the name.

00:07:03.831 --> 00:07:04.701
Well, and you guys have a.

00:07:05.226 --> 00:07:06.007
2-year-old or something.

00:07:06.007 --> 00:07:08.916
So I'm imagining date nights became harder and harder to accomplish.

00:07:08.916 --> 00:07:09.307
Is that

00:07:09.427 --> 00:07:10.086
Yes.

00:07:10.091 --> 00:07:10.132
Mm-hmm.

00:07:10.211 --> 00:07:15.697
When we bought NOCO date nights, we, that baby Ira was six months old.

00:07:15.697 --> 00:07:16.807
Mm-hmm.

00:07:16.807 --> 00:07:16.817
Okay.

00:07:16.817 --> 00:07:22.086
Um, so we say that we went from one kid to two kids and one business to three businesses.

00:07:22.086 --> 00:07:24.547
'cause we also actually started a candle business.

00:07:24.637 --> 00:07:24.877
Oh,

00:07:25.177 --> 00:07:25.987
that same time.

00:07:26.016 --> 00:07:26.166
Yeah.

00:07:26.166 --> 00:07:27.307
That candle of can that you guys

00:07:27.307 --> 00:07:27.456
gave me.

00:07:28.432 --> 00:07:30.396
So we started that the same time.

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I say I was bored on maternity leave.

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I don't know that anybody ever gets bored on maternity leave, but I did.

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Um, and so we ran it as it was and.

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That was super fun.

00:07:42.036 --> 00:07:42.997
For like a year.

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Yeah.

00:07:43.177 --> 00:07:43.836
A year and a half.

00:07:43.867 --> 00:07:43.927
Yeah.

00:07:43.927 --> 00:07:46.536
And then we kind of said, well, what are we doing with this?

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How are we gonna make this an actual business?

00:07:48.877 --> 00:07:53.076
To be totally honest, we didn't really want to just be in the spotlight of it all the

00:07:53.076 --> 00:07:53.166
time.

00:07:53.166 --> 00:07:53.286
Right.

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You're not there to be an influencer.

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Yes.

00:07:56.586 --> 00:07:59.947
Like at least, unless like somebody's gonna pay me to, it's a lot of work.

00:07:59.947 --> 00:08:00.216
Right.

00:08:00.216 --> 00:08:03.127
To create all the content and to edit it.

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Mm-hmm.

00:08:03.391 --> 00:08:03.591
And stuff.

00:08:04.447 --> 00:08:04.927
Yes.

00:08:04.927 --> 00:08:10.987
It's a lot of work and yeah, we didn't really want to be the influencers, especially in the local setting.

00:08:10.987 --> 00:08:15.067
There are so many other cool things to highlight that are not just us.

00:08:15.156 --> 00:08:15.247
Yeah.

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Um, and so we,

00:08:17.826 --> 00:08:19.086
we, we share that heart a little bit.

00:08:19.086 --> 00:08:25.567
That's like why I have this podcast is I don't want, I'm kind of Fort Collins famous, but I'd rather elevate other people's stories than

00:08:25.596 --> 00:08:26.706
Yes, exactly.

00:08:26.706 --> 00:08:28.177
Share with the community what they're doing.

00:08:28.416 --> 00:08:28.807
Yes.

00:08:28.807 --> 00:08:34.147
That's where I'm like, I can use the platform I have in that same way to share other things.

00:08:34.147 --> 00:08:43.267
So in like April we went to lunch at Locus Cider, RIP, locus Cider, and uh, met Shep Dan.

00:08:43.596 --> 00:08:43.687
Mm-hmm.

00:08:44.167 --> 00:08:48.606
And from that conversation, kind of an entire business model was born.

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Really.

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And so we, his story was so cool.

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And wherever he lands, I will tell everyone'cause his story is so cool.

00:08:57.611 --> 00:08:57.761
Okay.

00:08:58.206 --> 00:09:00.642
And from that conversation, we decided.

00:09:01.461 --> 00:09:09.231
To branch out of date nights and into all of NOCO and to start doing more feature forward.

00:09:09.412 --> 00:09:09.682
Yeah.

00:09:09.711 --> 00:09:17.152
So to feature other people to write full written articles on them, to use Ben's skills to do video features on them.

00:09:17.152 --> 00:09:17.211
Yeah.

00:09:17.211 --> 00:09:18.922
And Dan was our very first one.

00:09:19.042 --> 00:09:21.142
And were you like linking the articles?

00:09:21.142 --> 00:09:23.812
I'm, I'm kind of an Instagram noob.

00:09:23.991 --> 00:09:30.142
Like I have an account, I've had it for years, but I didn't even know you could like, sell a page or change the name.

00:09:31.701 --> 00:09:37.011
Um, but so would you like link to the articles like,'cause I think of Instagram as pretty pictures and cool reels.

00:09:37.072 --> 00:09:37.341
Yes.

00:09:37.371 --> 00:09:42.741
Which is one of the challenges is that getting people out of Instagram and to read the articles.

00:09:42.861 --> 00:09:42.951
Right.

00:09:43.162 --> 00:09:47.182
Um, and so we made an entire website that houses the articles.

00:09:47.182 --> 00:09:47.272
Mm-hmm.

00:09:47.302 --> 00:09:50.032
And then the easiest way is to link them in stories.

00:09:50.032 --> 00:09:50.091
Yeah.

00:09:50.451 --> 00:09:55.522
So you can link directly from Instagram to the website so people can

00:09:55.761 --> 00:09:55.942
Yeah.

00:09:55.971 --> 00:09:56.782
Read or watch thing.

00:09:56.782 --> 00:09:57.006
The full thing.

00:09:57.006 --> 00:09:58.522
I do wanna learn about locus cider and

00:09:58.522 --> 00:09:58.881
so

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I'm gonna.

00:09:59.601 --> 00:10:00.172
Check that out.

00:10:00.172 --> 00:10:04.701
And I imagine you could even, I dunno if you're doing this already, but like reading the articles that you've written.

00:10:04.942 --> 00:10:05.062
Yes.

00:10:07.371 --> 00:10:10.312
I have a, I have a, a podcast I listened to the other day.

00:10:10.312 --> 00:10:12.772
The, uh, it's a husband and wife.

00:10:12.772 --> 00:10:19.611
And the wife was like, you know, I read this book recently and the husband is like, you mean you watched a seven minute TikTok?

00:10:21.697 --> 00:10:23.091
And I was like, burn.

00:10:23.152 --> 00:10:23.542
Yeah.

00:10:23.631 --> 00:10:27.022
Uh, because that's a short, you know, a seven minutes is a long attention span for you these days.

00:10:27.501 --> 00:10:27.621
Mm-hmm.

00:10:28.136 --> 00:10:29.631
But I actually like to read.

00:10:30.022 --> 00:10:30.442
Yes.

00:10:30.532 --> 00:10:31.101
Same.

00:10:31.192 --> 00:10:38.481
And I think that is actually a really good balance that we have is that I, we make videos, but I don't actually really watch videos.

00:10:38.481 --> 00:10:39.621
Like, I don't go to YouTube.

00:10:39.951 --> 00:10:42.591
I'm not watching long form videos at all.

00:10:42.652 --> 00:10:43.042
Interesting.

00:10:43.042 --> 00:10:44.091
But I love to read.

00:10:44.272 --> 00:10:44.511
Yeah.

00:10:44.662 --> 00:10:46.672
And so Ben wants the video part.

00:10:46.851 --> 00:10:47.001
Yeah.

00:10:47.062 --> 00:10:49.491
And so being able to balance both of those for Yeah.

00:10:49.522 --> 00:10:50.631
Who have whoever

00:10:51.081 --> 00:10:52.672
and create the product for the appetite that's out there.

00:10:52.731 --> 00:10:53.241
Yes.

00:10:53.241 --> 00:10:53.251
Yep.

00:10:53.476 --> 00:10:53.991
I love it.

00:10:53.996 --> 00:10:55.341
So, so that's been going well.

00:10:55.341 --> 00:10:56.121
You've grown.

00:10:56.767 --> 00:11:00.606
Uh, how much had date Night grown to before you shifted to this is noco?

00:11:00.636 --> 00:11:03.846
'cause I know you've got like 15,000 in change followers now, right?

00:11:04.027 --> 00:11:04.116
Yeah.

00:11:04.116 --> 00:11:09.456
I think Date Nights was either right before or had just hit 10 k

00:11:09.576 --> 00:11:09.907
Okay.

00:11:10.086 --> 00:11:11.317
Before we changed.

00:11:11.317 --> 00:11:16.657
So it was growing steadily through your, through your tutelage there, but then also accelerated sounds like a little bit too.

00:11:16.687 --> 00:11:17.136
Yes.

00:11:17.142 --> 00:11:17.302
Mm-hmm.

00:11:17.381 --> 00:11:19.147
And so it definitely was growing.

00:11:19.147 --> 00:11:22.476
People do we do still the weekly schedule every week.

00:11:22.777 --> 00:11:22.927
Yeah.

00:11:22.956 --> 00:11:25.297
Um, and so that's something people still for,

00:11:25.297 --> 00:11:25.746
still stuff.

00:11:25.807 --> 00:11:26.106
Yep.

00:11:26.136 --> 00:11:26.376
Right.

00:11:26.437 --> 00:11:30.817
We've added some things in there, like, we'll put things you can do with your kids or things.

00:11:30.817 --> 00:11:30.966
Right.

00:11:31.177 --> 00:11:33.126
So it's a little bit more broad, but mm-hmm.

00:11:33.366 --> 00:11:35.017
People know us for that and like, it

00:11:35.586 --> 00:11:37.447
is it hard to make it.

00:11:37.746 --> 00:11:42.697
Really Noco, like getting over to Greeley or to Windsor, down to Loveland for things and stuff.

00:11:42.697 --> 00:11:45.037
When I, I know you guys are west siders of LaPorte, right?

00:11:45.037 --> 00:11:45.427
Yes.

00:11:45.427 --> 00:11:45.606
Yeah.

00:11:45.606 --> 00:11:48.517
We're up in LaPorte, but luckily Ben's family is in Greeley.

00:11:48.517 --> 00:11:48.547
Oh.

00:11:48.547 --> 00:11:53.287
So it actually feels easier to go from here to Greeley than some of the middle areas.

00:11:53.287 --> 00:11:53.346
Yeah.

00:11:53.376 --> 00:11:54.517
But my mom's in Loveland.

00:11:54.667 --> 00:11:54.846
Yeah.

00:11:55.116 --> 00:11:58.356
Um, so depending on where we have babysitting that day helps.

00:11:58.657 --> 00:12:01.267
Hey, let's have a quick date, night and video session.

00:12:01.267 --> 00:12:01.836
Exactly.

00:12:01.836 --> 00:12:01.927
Yes.

00:12:01.956 --> 00:12:02.706
Almost always.

00:12:03.187 --> 00:12:07.447
And are you like the camera guy then, uh, Ben during those things?

00:12:07.451 --> 00:12:07.591
Oh yeah.

00:12:07.591 --> 00:12:07.866
Do you?

00:12:07.871 --> 00:12:08.032
Mm-hmm.

00:12:08.116 --> 00:12:12.336
Like you video Kelsey, like, Hey, we're here at such and such place, and

00:12:12.397 --> 00:12:15.246
you know, and it's kind of been my fallback to just be Yep.

00:12:15.307 --> 00:12:15.996
I'm the camera guy.

00:12:15.996 --> 00:12:17.136
I am gonna put you on camera.

00:12:17.226 --> 00:12:21.966
So, which has been a funny dynamic over time of people know Kelsey.

00:12:22.116 --> 00:12:22.447
Right.

00:12:22.746 --> 00:12:23.317
And, uh.

00:12:23.961 --> 00:12:24.741
Not me as much.

00:12:24.741 --> 00:12:24.947
Not as many people.

00:12:24.951 --> 00:12:25.761
'cause I'm behind the camera.

00:12:25.767 --> 00:12:25.947
And,

00:12:25.947 --> 00:12:26.422
and that's okay.

00:12:27.292 --> 00:12:33.111
Uh, Laura and our mutual, well, new Loco chief of staff and new friend from book club Kelsey.

00:12:33.111 --> 00:12:38.782
She, uh, she told me, don't push too hard on Ben to be on the podcast'cause he's kind of shy.

00:12:38.782 --> 00:12:40.011
You might not want to.

00:12:40.011 --> 00:12:42.261
And I was like, well, I'm gonna ask him.

00:12:42.351 --> 00:12:44.812
You know, like I won't push him.

00:12:44.812 --> 00:12:45.231
But I,

00:12:45.471 --> 00:12:51.951
which is also funny'cause he's definitely the extrovert in our relationship and I'm Oh, introvert and I've just gotten used to being on camera.

00:12:52.162 --> 00:12:52.221
Yeah.

00:12:52.221 --> 00:12:55.701
He's like, unless you wanna run the camera, Kelsey, then you're that.

00:12:55.731 --> 00:12:56.001
Yeah.

00:12:56.001 --> 00:12:56.932
Then you're out there.

00:12:58.432 --> 00:12:58.552
So by, by

00:12:58.552 --> 00:12:59.001
default

00:12:59.211 --> 00:12:59.451
Yes.

00:12:59.451 --> 00:13:02.871
We actually met Lauren because, uh, did a feature on her husband.

00:13:03.081 --> 00:13:03.621
Oh sure.

00:13:03.772 --> 00:13:04.402
And so

00:13:04.731 --> 00:13:06.231
I've met so many people.

00:13:06.322 --> 00:13:11.302
Uh, I, I visited with one of my members that, uh, runs the honey store on the north side of town.

00:13:11.692 --> 00:13:11.841
Oh yeah.

00:13:11.841 --> 00:13:12.201
Copa cos.

00:13:12.231 --> 00:13:12.501
Mm-hmm.

00:13:12.772 --> 00:13:14.272
And he was telling me.

00:13:14.667 --> 00:13:16.647
Separately about like, oh.

00:13:16.647 --> 00:13:19.976
'cause I was asking him if he'd been down to Mead Krieger and if he sold them any honey.

00:13:19.976 --> 00:13:21.326
And he is like, well, they've got a different supplier.

00:13:21.326 --> 00:13:25.226
But I did go down there for a talk from Jackson Crawford.

00:13:25.287 --> 00:13:25.856
Yes.

00:13:25.886 --> 00:13:28.226
And I was like, well, yeah, that's Lauren's husband.

00:13:28.287 --> 00:13:30.537
I just told you I hired on the local team.

00:13:31.047 --> 00:13:31.826
So funny.

00:13:31.826 --> 00:13:32.576
Little small town.

00:13:32.636 --> 00:13:33.086
Yes.

00:13:33.086 --> 00:13:33.206
That's,

00:13:33.866 --> 00:13:40.586
and I can't wait to see Jackson talk, actually, I've watched a couple of his, uh, videos on his page and stuff, and it's pretty intriguing to me.

00:13:41.037 --> 00:13:47.397
You know, I, I watched all the worthwhile Viking shows on Netflix and on Amazon Prime and stuff.

00:13:47.397 --> 00:13:49.647
I've got, I've, I've used all my content there.

00:13:49.647 --> 00:13:49.797
You're okay.

00:13:49.797 --> 00:13:50.336
I'm ready.

00:13:50.336 --> 00:13:52.136
I need some more Viking stuff in my life.

00:13:52.136 --> 00:13:52.256
Right.

00:13:52.976 --> 00:13:57.297
So you guys are coming on to the Loco team, extended team.

00:13:57.326 --> 00:13:57.626
Mm-hmm.

00:13:57.866 --> 00:14:00.086
Um, here basically starting now.

00:14:00.162 --> 00:14:00.381
Now,

00:14:00.476 --> 00:14:00.657
yeah.

00:14:00.662 --> 00:14:00.981
We're here.

00:14:01.522 --> 00:14:01.981
You are here.

00:14:01.981 --> 00:14:05.096
We're working, uh, with Ben as the producer, really.

00:14:05.096 --> 00:14:11.157
And Kelsey as some social media, some conversation as well as, uh, soon.

00:14:11.511 --> 00:14:16.312
A co-host for a new short form content, uh, on the local experience.

00:14:16.312 --> 00:14:21.442
It will be business and community news that everybody, especially business owners needs to know.

00:14:21.682 --> 00:14:23.392
Yeah, that's, do we have a name for that yet?

00:14:23.451 --> 00:14:23.812
No.

00:14:23.812 --> 00:14:26.481
Well we, I think we talked about the Pulse.

00:14:26.542 --> 00:14:26.902
Oh, yeah.

00:14:26.902 --> 00:14:28.522
Pulse we did or something like that.

00:14:28.522 --> 00:14:33.322
It was one offered thing, but we've got our strategic planning kind of session coming up here next week or something.

00:14:33.322 --> 00:14:43.792
So, so for listeners out there, my inclination, and we'll probably flush this out more, but is to put it on the low code experience channel, but maybe we should start a new feed that's just that short form stuff.

00:14:44.032 --> 00:14:44.631
Mm-hmm.

00:14:44.633 --> 00:14:46.101
And if we can get to a faster rotation.

00:14:46.101 --> 00:14:47.662
'cause we can double publish and stuff.

00:14:47.662 --> 00:14:47.902
Right.

00:14:47.902 --> 00:14:49.461
Like we put it in a couple different places.

00:14:49.461 --> 00:14:49.701
Yeah.

00:14:49.701 --> 00:14:49.711
Yeah.

00:14:50.076 --> 00:14:50.616
And I think we should.

00:14:50.616 --> 00:14:53.631
So that's kind of my, that's kind of my thinking, so, well thanks for validating that.

00:14:53.636 --> 00:14:53.657
Mm-hmm.

00:14:53.736 --> 00:14:54.856
I guess we don't have to get into that in mm-hmm.

00:14:54.937 --> 00:14:55.456
In No,

00:14:55.456 --> 00:14:55.777
I agree.

00:14:55.826 --> 00:14:56.256
We're good.

00:14:57.772 --> 00:15:03.856
And really a collaboration of sorts where we had so much brand alignment and so much, you know, you.

00:15:04.956 --> 00:15:07.807
We've got the, the, the website Loco for Local.

00:15:08.076 --> 00:15:08.226
Mm-hmm.

00:15:08.466 --> 00:15:18.517
And you guys are just resonating with those same kind of vibes of how do we keep our economies vibrant, differentiated, special, and unique to one another.

00:15:18.756 --> 00:15:19.236
Yes.

00:15:19.447 --> 00:15:27.817
That's, I feel like that's so much of what we are all focused on, that it'll be so exciting to just see kind of how we can connect all of those things.

00:15:27.817 --> 00:15:27.876
Yeah.

00:15:28.236 --> 00:15:31.326
For Northern Colorado as a whole, it'll be so exciting.

00:15:31.386 --> 00:15:31.807
A hundred percent.

00:15:32.047 --> 00:15:33.756
Have you guys been to Pedro's yet?

00:15:34.626 --> 00:15:35.407
Oh, Pedro's Coffee.

00:15:35.466 --> 00:15:35.736
Yeah.

00:15:35.826 --> 00:15:40.777
We went one time, but when It was right back when they very first opened.

00:15:40.777 --> 00:15:40.807
Okay.

00:15:40.807 --> 00:15:41.797
And we haven't been back.

00:15:41.856 --> 00:15:42.226
Oh, oh.

00:15:43.086 --> 00:15:43.626
And so,

00:15:43.626 --> 00:15:44.706
because it wasn't very good

00:15:44.706 --> 00:15:46.022
or No, no, it was fine.

00:15:47.767 --> 00:15:49.206
I just went there for the first time today.

00:15:49.447 --> 00:15:49.777
Oh.

00:15:49.777 --> 00:15:52.626
Uh, that was where I was before I came here, and it was very lovely.

00:15:52.626 --> 00:15:57.846
I love the setting and like I was thinking to myself on the drive out there, like, I'm a motorcyclist.

00:15:57.876 --> 00:15:58.297
Oh yes.

00:15:58.297 --> 00:16:07.086
And so like, I usually go west, but, you know, cruising down to a coffee stop and, and working for a couple of hours at that kind of, I'm a country guy at heart.

00:16:07.086 --> 00:16:07.147
Yeah.

00:16:07.147 --> 00:16:07.386
You know?

00:16:07.386 --> 00:16:09.846
So being out where I can see the openness.

00:16:09.876 --> 00:16:10.147
Yes.

00:16:10.147 --> 00:16:11.076
And were the donkeys out?

00:16:11.136 --> 00:16:11.886
Was Pedro out?

00:16:11.917 --> 00:16:12.427
No, I didn't.

00:16:12.517 --> 00:16:13.626
Is that what it's named after?

00:16:13.626 --> 00:16:13.807
Yes.

00:16:13.807 --> 00:16:13.866
Is

00:16:13.866 --> 00:16:14.586
Pedro the donkey?

00:16:14.586 --> 00:16:15.517
Pedro's a donkey.

00:16:15.876 --> 00:16:16.417
Um.

00:16:16.841 --> 00:16:17.711
But yes.

00:16:17.711 --> 00:16:18.491
No, it was great.

00:16:18.491 --> 00:16:21.042
We just, we are up in LA Port, so we haven't been back.

00:16:21.221 --> 00:16:21.402
Right.

00:16:21.402 --> 00:16:22.187
Understand, understand.

00:16:22.187 --> 00:16:25.841
But, but they are having a latte art class next Thursday

00:16:25.871 --> 00:16:27.042
that's on your, uh mm-hmm.

00:16:27.282 --> 00:16:27.371
It's

00:16:27.371 --> 00:16:27.432
on

00:16:27.432 --> 00:16:27.631
your event page.

00:16:27.631 --> 00:16:28.422
It will be on the events.

00:16:28.662 --> 00:16:28.751
Yeah.

00:16:29.562 --> 00:16:31.782
She just knows what is happening at all times.

00:16:31.782 --> 00:16:32.802
How do you do that?

00:16:33.011 --> 00:16:34.662
Yeah, it's a lot of searching.

00:16:34.662 --> 00:16:36.971
It's still just me searching for events.

00:16:37.062 --> 00:16:37.152
Yeah.

00:16:37.182 --> 00:16:41.826
Um, and then people can submit them to me, um, if they want them on there, but I like, like,

00:16:41.826 --> 00:16:42.881
on this is NOCO page.

00:16:42.942 --> 00:16:43.032
Yes.

00:16:43.037 --> 00:16:43.481
Or Instagram.

00:16:43.481 --> 00:16:45.822
Either way they can be like, Hey, we'd love to have you feature this

00:16:45.822 --> 00:16:45.912
thing.

00:16:45.912 --> 00:16:46.062
Yeah.

00:16:46.091 --> 00:16:47.022
Here's the event.

00:16:47.081 --> 00:16:48.731
Um, and they can send it over to me.

00:16:48.731 --> 00:16:50.772
And normally I'll put those on as long as their room.

00:16:50.772 --> 00:16:51.402
There's room.

00:16:51.672 --> 00:16:51.822
Yeah.

00:16:51.851 --> 00:16:57.042
But, um, otherwise I spend like an hour a day just searching for different events.

00:16:57.072 --> 00:16:57.251
Hmm.

00:16:57.581 --> 00:16:58.032
That's cool.

00:16:58.692 --> 00:16:59.981
How many of those are like.

00:17:01.157 --> 00:17:02.542
Businessy oriented events.

00:17:02.991 --> 00:17:04.852
Oh, not very many right now.

00:17:04.912 --> 00:17:05.152
Yeah.

00:17:05.422 --> 00:17:08.872
But I think I've maybe strategically not included businesses

00:17:08.872 --> 00:17:09.112
events.

00:17:09.112 --> 00:17:09.122
Right.

00:17:09.122 --> 00:17:11.362
'cause you're a business consumer feed Really over there.

00:17:11.392 --> 00:17:11.781
Yes.

00:17:11.781 --> 00:17:12.112
Yeah.

00:17:12.112 --> 00:17:17.061
That's, we've kind of started to separate our feeds for consumers on this is noco.

00:17:17.061 --> 00:17:20.511
And then we did start a separate Discover NOCO Magazine feed.

00:17:20.511 --> 00:17:20.632
Oh, sure.

00:17:20.632 --> 00:17:22.132
That's a little more business focused.

00:17:22.132 --> 00:17:22.221
Mm-hmm.

00:17:22.461 --> 00:17:22.642
Imagine.

00:17:22.642 --> 00:17:22.701
Yeah.

00:17:22.852 --> 00:17:27.531
Um, and so we haven't built that one up quite as much, but would be where more of our businessy focus is.

00:17:27.561 --> 00:17:39.531
Well, I've gotta compliment you on the, the strategic shift that you're talking about with Discover noco, because they have such pretty covers that I've picked up to discover Fort Collins a handful of times.

00:17:40.011 --> 00:17:42.442
And then I always forget that there's nothing to read in there.

00:17:43.156 --> 00:17:43.166
Yes.

00:17:43.372 --> 00:17:45.557
Like, I'm willing to tolerate a lot of pretty ads.

00:17:45.557 --> 00:17:45.836
Mm-hmm.

00:17:45.922 --> 00:17:49.281
Because I do love the the photography and things.

00:17:49.582 --> 00:17:49.701
Yeah.

00:17:50.031 --> 00:17:51.951
But I need to read something like.

00:17:52.326 --> 00:17:52.747
Yes.

00:17:52.777 --> 00:17:56.646
And that's, I would say the previous owner was really passionate about art.

00:17:57.156 --> 00:17:58.987
His passion was those covers.

00:17:59.166 --> 00:18:00.787
He wanted them to be really pretty.

00:18:00.787 --> 00:18:02.826
He wanted to support the local art community.

00:18:02.916 --> 00:18:03.007
Mm-hmm.

00:18:03.606 --> 00:18:08.527
Um, and even if you flip through, a lot of the ads right now are art galleries.

00:18:08.977 --> 00:18:09.067
Right.

00:18:09.067 --> 00:18:10.882
And he was really passionate about that space.

00:18:11.376 --> 00:18:13.567
He probably always hooking them up with screaming deals too.

00:18:13.656 --> 00:18:13.807
Yes.

00:18:14.676 --> 00:18:16.297
You're like, Hey, meet the new boss.

00:18:16.297 --> 00:18:17.346
Not like the old boss.

00:18:17.586 --> 00:18:17.886
Yes.

00:18:17.886 --> 00:18:18.517
A little bit.

00:18:18.576 --> 00:18:18.876
Right.

00:18:19.356 --> 00:18:22.777
But, and so we're really excited to shift that.

00:18:22.777 --> 00:18:22.836
Yeah.

00:18:22.836 --> 00:18:27.186
And keep, we're gonna keep the covers the same focused to support local artists.

00:18:27.426 --> 00:18:27.487
Yeah.

00:18:27.576 --> 00:18:28.057
Mm-hmm.

00:18:28.297 --> 00:18:28.446
Um,

00:18:28.507 --> 00:18:30.007
well, what's more local than that, you know?

00:18:30.007 --> 00:18:30.247
Yeah.

00:18:30.247 --> 00:18:32.376
A hundred percent created right here.

00:18:32.646 --> 00:18:33.096
Yes.

00:18:33.096 --> 00:18:39.366
And so that's always our focus, but to add a little more value, to add some editorial, some coverage in there.

00:18:40.656 --> 00:18:44.826
I think what I want to ask now is like, what created this.

00:18:45.622 --> 00:18:47.511
Passion for, for localness?

00:18:48.561 --> 00:18:58.011
Like if, was it coming back to your hometown's kind of region and stuff that drove it or was it, you know, more seeing the opportunity or all of those things?

00:18:59.392 --> 00:19:03.112
Yeah, no, it is, it is definitely seeing the opportunity for it.

00:19:03.112 --> 00:19:11.811
And I think especially'cause we've owned businesses for so long and just the, the culture of small businesses is.

00:19:12.366 --> 00:19:13.896
Is, we've always been around it.

00:19:13.926 --> 00:19:18.547
And I think one of the hardest parts has always been how do you market your small business?

00:19:18.547 --> 00:19:19.926
That seems to be the biggest conversation.

00:19:19.957 --> 00:19:20.227
Yeah.

00:19:20.317 --> 00:19:22.416
I've, I always have with business owners is like,

00:19:23.047 --> 00:19:23.227
yeah,

00:19:23.227 --> 00:19:23.412
you know,

00:19:23.616 --> 00:19:25.416
I can grow to this point without much

00:19:25.416 --> 00:19:25.866
marketing.

00:19:25.866 --> 00:19:25.926
Yeah.

00:19:25.932 --> 00:19:27.126
Word, word of mouth goes so far.

00:19:27.186 --> 00:19:27.576
That's, yep.

00:19:27.576 --> 00:19:28.747
And then one of your biggest tools

00:19:28.747 --> 00:19:29.497
run attraction.

00:19:29.527 --> 00:19:30.126
Exactly.

00:19:30.126 --> 00:19:30.846
How do you do that?

00:19:30.846 --> 00:19:39.606
So we, you know, that has always been my frustration, both in running a small business and I'm typically the person that does the advertising for businesses.

00:19:40.116 --> 00:19:44.826
And I always do advertising for very large businesses and I never can do things to Yeah.

00:19:44.946 --> 00:19:45.817
'cause they got big budgets

00:19:45.817 --> 00:19:46.531
so you can reach people.

00:19:46.531 --> 00:19:46.932
They got budgets.

00:19:46.936 --> 00:19:47.467
Exactly.

00:19:47.467 --> 00:19:51.156
So, and I was like, I don't think it necessarily has to be that way.

00:19:51.156 --> 00:19:58.596
So we started, that became one of the, um, kind of leading tenants into how do we help small businesses?

00:19:58.626 --> 00:20:00.067
'cause we have a passion for small business.

00:20:00.067 --> 00:20:07.146
How do we help them, uh, get in front of the audience that, uh, wants to purchase from them, that has Yeah.

00:20:07.146 --> 00:20:07.987
Anything to do with them.

00:20:08.436 --> 00:20:08.646
Yeah.

00:20:08.676 --> 00:20:11.586
And so that's, that was kind of the, the big.

00:20:12.172 --> 00:20:15.592
Push into, uh, I don't know

00:20:16.747 --> 00:20:17.287
the reason why.

00:20:17.356 --> 00:20:17.646
Yeah.

00:20:17.707 --> 00:20:19.071
The reason why the developing

00:20:19.071 --> 00:20:19.432
Yeah.

00:20:19.791 --> 00:20:28.132
Uh, developing an audience, audience building, just to be able to capture those eyes and gain trust in the community and then say, come along businesses and say,

00:20:28.221 --> 00:20:37.551
yeah, we, I was, I was reflecting on something just now that, and it goes back a ways, but I was the banker that financed a green ride Colorado Oh,

00:20:37.731 --> 00:20:37.942
mm-hmm.

00:20:37.942 --> 00:20:41.511
Years and years ago that is now groom and is not nearly as good and all that.

00:20:42.051 --> 00:20:45.112
But when they came into the market, they were competing against super shuttle.

00:20:45.116 --> 00:20:45.247
Mm-hmm.

00:20:46.402 --> 00:20:54.862
Which was, you know, a global conglomerate that owned all the market and like I financed like eight old, 14 passenger vans mm-hmm.

00:20:54.863 --> 00:20:54.883
For them.

00:20:54.951 --> 00:20:57.606
And they eventually grew that into a bunch of coaches and they, yeah.

00:20:58.067 --> 00:21:02.362
And they didn't focus on trying to get the customers away from super shuttle.

00:21:02.451 --> 00:21:02.541
Mm-hmm.

00:21:02.751 --> 00:21:04.731
They focused on creating new riders.

00:21:05.902 --> 00:21:06.531
Of the bus.

00:21:06.741 --> 00:21:06.892
Yeah.

00:21:06.892 --> 00:21:07.521
Like, hey, who wouldn't

00:21:07.521 --> 00:21:07.912
have taken

00:21:07.912 --> 00:21:08.061
the bus?

00:21:08.061 --> 00:21:08.241
Why?

00:21:08.301 --> 00:21:08.571
Yeah.

00:21:08.571 --> 00:21:09.442
They wouldn't have taken the bus.

00:21:09.446 --> 00:21:09.646
Yeah.

00:21:09.652 --> 00:21:13.251
So like encouraging people to not drive, not park, just take the bus instead.

00:21:13.251 --> 00:21:14.842
'cause it's greener and better.

00:21:14.842 --> 00:21:14.932
Mm-hmm.

00:21:15.166 --> 00:21:15.652
And it's nicer.

00:21:15.652 --> 00:21:18.291
We've got, you know, wifi on the bus and everything.

00:21:18.291 --> 00:21:18.382
Yes.

00:21:18.382 --> 00:21:19.132
You can just sit.

00:21:19.432 --> 00:21:25.221
And so I think that's maybe the opportunity a little bit with this is NOCO and the local business movement in general.

00:21:25.221 --> 00:21:25.311
Mm-hmm.

00:21:25.311 --> 00:21:33.261
Is we just, if we can create more people that care about supporting local, then that's a rising tide that can lift a lot of boats.

00:21:33.352 --> 00:21:33.711
Yes.

00:21:34.372 --> 00:21:35.031
Affordably

00:21:35.392 --> 00:21:35.602
even.

00:21:35.602 --> 00:21:35.692
Yes.

00:21:35.721 --> 00:21:46.761
That's, which I think that has been, as we started growing an audience kind of just naturally there was so much of people I think really do want to support local.

00:21:46.791 --> 00:21:47.031
Yeah.

00:21:47.092 --> 00:21:57.652
But now so much with the social media world and the internet, it almost feels like you can't, is people think, well this thing that I want.

00:21:57.981 --> 00:21:59.362
I'll just order it real quick.

00:21:59.362 --> 00:21:59.422
Yeah.

00:21:59.422 --> 00:22:00.832
I couldn't find this locally.

00:22:00.862 --> 00:22:01.102
Yeah.

00:22:01.221 --> 00:22:03.531
Where if they knew where you could,

00:22:03.622 --> 00:22:03.892
right.

00:22:03.922 --> 00:22:08.751
I think so many more people would opt for that than do now.

00:22:08.781 --> 00:22:08.991
Yeah.

00:22:09.142 --> 00:22:09.382
Yeah.

00:22:09.382 --> 00:22:12.592
And just having like the joy of exploring.

00:22:12.832 --> 00:22:13.342
Yes.

00:22:13.342 --> 00:22:21.291
You know, everybody's kind of a go home park in their garage, don't know their neighbors, go in and watch Netflix or CHOP on Amazon Prime.

00:22:21.291 --> 00:22:21.382
Mm-hmm.

00:22:22.251 --> 00:22:26.541
Like being in community is one of the essential things about humanness.

00:22:26.571 --> 00:22:27.172
Yes, yes.

00:22:27.412 --> 00:22:30.836
And I think so much from 2020 to now people.

00:22:31.957 --> 00:22:34.446
Feel like they've lost so much of that community.

00:22:34.446 --> 00:22:37.537
And so even just being out in stores and being downtown.

00:22:37.686 --> 00:22:37.957
Yeah.

00:22:38.017 --> 00:22:41.856
And you find those little pieces of it again, even if you're not talking to anybody.

00:22:42.156 --> 00:22:42.396
Yeah.

00:22:42.457 --> 00:22:43.507
You see them out.

00:22:43.596 --> 00:22:48.727
You can actually pick up and hold things and be like, oh, somebody picked this out for me.

00:22:48.727 --> 00:22:51.426
I was just talking to the owners of close to home.

00:22:51.636 --> 00:22:51.846
Yeah.

00:22:51.936 --> 00:22:52.836
Which is down in Loveland.

00:22:52.842 --> 00:22:52.951
Yeah.

00:22:52.957 --> 00:22:52.967
Yeah.

00:22:52.987 --> 00:22:58.116
And they were talking about how they still go and Penny and Anna, it's a mom and daughter team.

00:22:58.116 --> 00:22:58.176
Yeah.

00:22:58.176 --> 00:23:02.616
And they go and pick out all of the things for the store.

00:23:02.707 --> 00:23:03.231
They're like, really?

00:23:03.231 --> 00:23:09.906
Like people assume that like it's all shipped in or we look at it online and they're like, no, we travel around Wow.

00:23:09.997 --> 00:23:18.007
To shows and pick up and choose the things, which I think is just such a unique thing that people wouldn't know about these little boutiques.

00:23:18.067 --> 00:23:18.156
Mm-hmm.

00:23:18.396 --> 00:23:18.457
Yeah.

00:23:18.461 --> 00:23:18.471
Yeah.

00:23:18.517 --> 00:23:23.287
Um, and so that's just such an idea of you're in community when you're out.

00:23:23.557 --> 00:23:23.856
Yeah.

00:23:24.336 --> 00:23:25.146
Even if you don't think it

00:23:25.146 --> 00:23:27.186
well, and sharing values with those people.

00:23:27.186 --> 00:23:29.467
And you were complimenting my sweater earlier.

00:23:29.586 --> 00:23:29.797
Yes.

00:23:29.886 --> 00:23:35.106
A brother's fountain, which is playing tonight at Washington's, but nobody will hear this until it's way too late.

00:23:35.106 --> 00:23:35.707
Until after.

00:23:35.707 --> 00:23:36.967
But if you were there,

00:23:37.446 --> 00:23:41.376
and they have, they're, they do have some t-shirts and stuff, but very few.

00:23:41.376 --> 00:23:45.906
Mostly they just buy cool stuff at thrift shops and rescue it from a landfill probably.

00:23:45.967 --> 00:23:46.116
Mm-hmm.

00:23:46.297 --> 00:23:47.646
And put a tag on it and sell it.

00:23:47.826 --> 00:23:48.186
Yeah.

00:23:48.247 --> 00:23:55.416
Which I love and is one of my goals in 2026 is to try to figure out other ways to thrift and upcycle things that I can find locally.

00:23:55.416 --> 00:23:55.747
So.

00:23:55.807 --> 00:23:56.136
Hmm.

00:23:56.257 --> 00:23:56.836
I love that idea.

00:23:56.836 --> 00:24:03.156
That would be even fun on, on your feed as like a, Hey, I scored this cute as a button thing.

00:24:03.277 --> 00:24:03.517
Mm-hmm.

00:24:03.636 --> 00:24:07.567
And I'm gonna give it to the first person that responds to this question.

00:24:07.747 --> 00:24:08.227
Yes.

00:24:08.227 --> 00:24:11.826
You know, or shows me their, their visit to a local, uh.

00:24:12.892 --> 00:24:13.251
Brewery.

00:24:13.311 --> 00:24:13.612
Yeah.

00:24:13.612 --> 00:24:14.271
Somewhere

00:24:14.481 --> 00:24:15.442
local something, whatever.

00:24:15.442 --> 00:24:18.082
Maybe that doesn't fit, but I'm just winging it here.

00:24:18.142 --> 00:24:18.592
Yes.

00:24:18.592 --> 00:24:27.892
That's, and I feel like so many, I live so much on social media, but so many of the people that I follow are in that same mindset.

00:24:27.951 --> 00:24:32.662
I feel like they're all trying to shift more to how do I support locally?

00:24:32.662 --> 00:24:34.461
How do I support the smaller things?

00:24:34.461 --> 00:24:38.781
And so giving that avenue to like, here, we can help you do that.

00:24:38.787 --> 00:24:39.156
Mm-hmm.

00:24:39.241 --> 00:24:40.882
We can make that easier for you.

00:24:40.882 --> 00:24:41.211
Mm-hmm.

00:24:41.977 --> 00:24:44.211
Is just a really exciting place to be.

00:24:44.271 --> 00:24:44.332
Yeah.

00:24:44.332 --> 00:24:51.321
Would you, like, would you feature a, a, a corporate owned chilies or something like that?

00:24:51.321 --> 00:24:53.632
Like if they're, they just, it's local.

00:24:53.632 --> 00:24:53.721
Mm-hmm.

00:24:53.721 --> 00:24:54.592
It's a local business.

00:24:54.592 --> 00:24:57.051
They, you know, cash, paychecks and stuff like that?

00:24:57.261 --> 00:24:58.852
Or do you just really kind of target.

00:24:59.257 --> 00:25:00.277
The actual local.

00:25:00.817 --> 00:25:02.196
We did recently go to Chili's.

00:25:02.767 --> 00:25:03.037
Okay.

00:25:03.277 --> 00:25:06.757
Um, their social media got us, they've been having a really good marketing recently, like

00:25:06.757 --> 00:25:07.057
surgeons.

00:25:07.086 --> 00:25:07.267
Yeah.

00:25:07.267 --> 00:25:07.896
Um,

00:25:08.047 --> 00:25:10.656
and their prices are, they got some screaming deals

00:25:10.747 --> 00:25:11.152
and they, yeah.

00:25:11.152 --> 00:25:12.696
They have really good prices.

00:25:12.997 --> 00:25:18.997
So in the, in the vein of date night, NOCO, you're like, Hey, you can get two nice meals for$22 or

00:25:18.997 --> 00:25:19.297
whatever.

00:25:19.807 --> 00:25:20.106
Yeah.

00:25:20.106 --> 00:25:21.457
Date night for under 50 bucks.

00:25:21.457 --> 00:25:22.926
That's, that's something.

00:25:23.076 --> 00:25:23.287
So

00:25:23.287 --> 00:25:23.346
Yeah.

00:25:23.346 --> 00:25:23.977
With drinks.

00:25:24.067 --> 00:25:24.336
With

00:25:24.336 --> 00:25:24.696
drinks.

00:25:27.126 --> 00:25:29.886
So I don't know.

00:25:29.886 --> 00:25:32.497
I think we probably would to an extent.

00:25:32.586 --> 00:25:32.797
Yeah.

00:25:33.096 --> 00:25:37.957
Um, because the employees and all of those things are all still local people that you're supporting.

00:25:37.961 --> 00:25:38.031
Yeah.

00:25:38.031 --> 00:25:38.311
And that,

00:25:38.451 --> 00:25:38.672
um,

00:25:38.977 --> 00:25:40.176
they pay property taxes.

00:25:40.176 --> 00:25:42.517
They, and it's still better than, way better than Amazon.

00:25:42.517 --> 00:25:42.876
Yes.

00:25:42.876 --> 00:25:48.426
You're still supporting our local economy even though it's going towards this larger thing.

00:25:48.426 --> 00:25:51.037
Do we prefer the small.

00:25:51.696 --> 00:25:53.406
Locally owned for sure.

00:25:53.586 --> 00:25:53.946
Yes.

00:25:54.096 --> 00:25:54.487
But

00:25:54.997 --> 00:25:59.136
well, and people will say, well, when you buy from Amazon, we still get those sales tax dollars here in Fort Collins.

00:25:59.136 --> 00:26:00.517
And it's like, well, yeah.

00:26:00.517 --> 00:26:02.856
That just adds to our bloated government

00:26:03.126 --> 00:26:03.426
Yeah.

00:26:03.457 --> 00:26:03.576
For

00:26:03.576 --> 00:26:04.057
the city.

00:26:05.076 --> 00:26:05.317
Yeah.

00:26:05.317 --> 00:26:06.037
It's different.

00:26:06.142 --> 00:26:06.801
It is different.

00:26:07.146 --> 00:26:08.436
It doesn't feel as good to be

00:26:08.737 --> 00:26:09.067
agreed.

00:26:09.487 --> 00:26:09.936
Yes.

00:26:09.997 --> 00:26:10.896
That's, yeah.

00:26:10.987 --> 00:26:17.406
And we do have a lot of Amazon delivery people to get their salaries from here and stuff like that, but they all hate working there for the most part.

00:26:17.406 --> 00:26:17.842
That's, I

00:26:17.842 --> 00:26:18.162
was like, if

00:26:18.162 --> 00:26:18.451
we could, yeah.

00:26:18.451 --> 00:26:22.267
It feels like if I could release some of them into some other job, that would be okay too.

00:26:22.446 --> 00:26:22.807
Yes.

00:26:22.807 --> 00:26:29.946
If they could find in the same kind of the green ride where it's like if there was the local option for them to be doing the same thing.

00:26:29.946 --> 00:26:30.156
Right.

00:26:30.277 --> 00:26:30.787
I think

00:26:31.057 --> 00:26:31.686
a lot of people would.

00:26:31.866 --> 00:26:32.227
Yes.

00:26:32.767 --> 00:26:40.717
Um, what's your vision, um, and who is the visionary in the, in the, this is NOCO space?

00:26:40.987 --> 00:26:42.217
Yeah, that's a big question.

00:26:42.727 --> 00:26:43.777
Still figuring out I out, we share

00:26:43.777 --> 00:26:44.047
it.

00:26:44.136 --> 00:26:44.376
Yeah.

00:26:44.467 --> 00:26:45.396
A lot of the time.

00:26:45.396 --> 00:26:48.366
And when I say share, I mean we usually butt heads Yeah.

00:26:48.366 --> 00:26:50.287
As far as uh, you know, who's driving the bus.

00:26:50.346 --> 00:26:50.527
Yeah.

00:26:50.826 --> 00:26:51.247
Um.

00:26:51.636 --> 00:26:53.227
But we, we do that together.

00:26:53.467 --> 00:26:57.696
You're kind of seems to me like you're the business sense guy.

00:26:57.696 --> 00:26:59.257
A little bit more Ben.

00:26:59.406 --> 00:26:59.737
Yeah.

00:26:59.737 --> 00:27:03.336
And that really only just comes from the fact that I've owned businesses in the past.

00:27:03.366 --> 00:27:05.406
Well, and you've also been marketing for businesses.

00:27:05.412 --> 00:27:05.442
Mm-hmm.

00:27:05.541 --> 00:27:09.156
So you're, you're, you're savvy is probably a little stronger.

00:27:09.156 --> 00:27:09.247
Yes.

00:27:09.666 --> 00:27:10.987
You're passionate.

00:27:10.987 --> 00:27:12.997
Intuition shines on your face.

00:27:13.146 --> 00:27:16.086
Kelsey, though, that's, that's, then you're too hairy for it to come through.

00:27:16.086 --> 00:27:16.146
Yeah.

00:27:16.656 --> 00:27:17.406
It's all hidden.

00:27:17.707 --> 00:27:17.916
Sorry.

00:27:20.047 --> 00:27:20.467
Yeah.

00:27:20.467 --> 00:27:25.386
But our bigger vision, I jokingly tell people that I want to replace Google.

00:27:25.626 --> 00:27:25.717
Mm-hmm.

00:27:26.047 --> 00:27:31.416
Um, that if you're searching for something in Northern Colorado, you come to us first instead of Googling it.

00:27:31.432 --> 00:27:31.842
Love it.

00:27:32.136 --> 00:27:34.086
Um, that seems like a really big task.

00:27:34.686 --> 00:27:35.797
Well, Google's dying anyway.

00:27:35.797 --> 00:27:37.416
You just gotta get the iis to.

00:27:37.416 --> 00:27:37.507
Mm-hmm.

00:27:37.777 --> 00:27:40.146
That's always like reference you first, somebody needs to know us.

00:27:40.146 --> 00:27:42.217
Chat GPT, you need to know us.

00:27:43.027 --> 00:27:43.146
Yeah.

00:27:43.146 --> 00:27:43.237
Mm-hmm.

00:27:43.747 --> 00:27:46.356
Um, so I would say that's kind of

00:27:46.717 --> 00:27:46.957
Okay.

00:27:46.957 --> 00:27:48.396
Like the grand scheme.

00:27:48.457 --> 00:27:48.696
Yeah.

00:27:48.696 --> 00:27:48.967
Mm-hmm.

00:27:49.152 --> 00:27:51.217
Well, and you've got kind of a multi-tiered.

00:27:51.666 --> 00:27:53.076
Media company, basically.

00:27:53.076 --> 00:27:54.307
It's a young media company.

00:27:54.307 --> 00:27:54.366
Yeah.

00:27:54.366 --> 00:27:58.957
But it's, it's a for reals thing with, you know, videos, articles.

00:27:59.527 --> 00:27:59.826
Mm-hmm.

00:27:59.826 --> 00:28:01.987
Magazines, paper, digital.

00:28:02.017 --> 00:28:02.616
Yes.

00:28:02.707 --> 00:28:05.196
That's, it feels very legit all of a sudden.

00:28:05.557 --> 00:28:05.767
Yeah.

00:28:05.767 --> 00:28:19.686
It went from this Instagram account that we didn't really know what we were doing with, to now it feels like a legitimate media company that we could really build into something outside of ourselves that can support this local area, which feels a little scary.

00:28:19.866 --> 00:28:20.106
Yeah.

00:28:20.916 --> 00:28:24.517
And, and that media side of things is something that I think we're really leaning into.

00:28:24.606 --> 00:28:29.946
We've got the magazine and we want to turn that does something that is, you know, kind of a cultural staple.

00:28:30.217 --> 00:28:30.426
Yeah.

00:28:30.426 --> 00:28:34.507
A thing to read and, uh, it's full of local businesses and that sort of thing.

00:28:34.866 --> 00:28:39.817
Um, but on the video side of thing, we're really, you know, pushing to see what that would look like.

00:28:39.817 --> 00:28:41.767
And I would love to be able to tell more stories.

00:28:41.767 --> 00:28:43.267
And that's where we've really had a lot of.

00:28:44.061 --> 00:28:47.451
Um, traction in that longer form sort of thing.

00:28:47.481 --> 00:28:47.511
Mm.

00:28:47.511 --> 00:28:49.102
And that's, um,

00:28:49.372 --> 00:28:51.892
even part of the alignment with our podcast here Yeah, exactly.

00:28:51.892 --> 00:28:53.451
Is a little bit kind of resonant there.

00:28:53.511 --> 00:28:54.021
Yes.

00:28:54.112 --> 00:28:57.412
And that really got kicked off our first little project with Locus Cider.

00:28:57.741 --> 00:28:57.951
Yeah.

00:28:57.981 --> 00:29:10.281
We were kind of, uh, we doubled down on the fact that, oh, this is a good idea when, uh, they're, we released that and their, um, their business exploded over that summer.

00:29:10.281 --> 00:29:14.152
We released it in May, and they said they had one of the best summers they've ever had.

00:29:14.451 --> 00:29:14.692
Mm.

00:29:15.201 --> 00:29:15.561
And they gave

00:29:15.561 --> 00:29:17.932
you guys, guys kudos for, for finding them a lot more.

00:29:17.936 --> 00:29:17.946
Mm-hmm.

00:29:18.142 --> 00:29:19.551
And they're like, that was so great.

00:29:19.551 --> 00:29:20.271
And we could see that.

00:29:20.271 --> 00:29:23.001
And the analytics, it was just like, you know, telling local stories.

00:29:23.001 --> 00:29:26.152
There's something to that, like people grasp onto that sort of thing.

00:29:26.152 --> 00:29:29.811
So I think it, talk to me about the magazine opportunity.

00:29:29.811 --> 00:29:32.271
Like when did that hit the radar?

00:29:32.301 --> 00:29:35.241
Uh, Ben, what was the business case for it?

00:29:36.531 --> 00:29:37.071
Or Kelsey?

00:29:37.071 --> 00:29:37.102
I

00:29:37.102 --> 00:29:37.977
was like, that was not Ben.

00:29:38.842 --> 00:29:40.821
Ben was dragging his feet the whole time.

00:29:40.852 --> 00:29:41.211
Yes.

00:29:41.211 --> 00:29:42.652
I very much like.

00:29:43.251 --> 00:29:44.451
The Instagram account.

00:29:44.902 --> 00:29:47.092
I was at King Soopers one day.

00:29:47.152 --> 00:29:47.182
Okay.

00:29:47.182 --> 00:29:48.201
Shopping for groceries.

00:29:48.321 --> 00:29:51.352
And on the rack of the magazine,'cause it's free for everyone.

00:29:51.412 --> 00:29:51.501
Yep.

00:29:51.501 --> 00:29:52.491
So you can pick it up.

00:29:52.821 --> 00:29:57.711
There was just a Word document printed out on the top that just said magazine business for sale.

00:29:58.102 --> 00:29:58.132
Oh.

00:29:58.672 --> 00:30:00.622
And that was maybe the end of September.

00:30:00.652 --> 00:30:01.192
Okay.

00:30:01.461 --> 00:30:07.132
And I came home and set, took a picture of it and came home and said, we don't wanna buy a magazine.

00:30:07.281 --> 00:30:07.701
Right.

00:30:07.852 --> 00:30:08.541
And I said, Nope.

00:30:09.082 --> 00:30:09.652
You sure don't.

00:30:09.682 --> 00:30:11.811
He said, he said, Nope, we're sticking on this thing.

00:30:11.811 --> 00:30:14.241
We've, we've just got this figured out, Kelsey.

00:30:14.241 --> 00:30:15.142
He's like, but wait.

00:30:15.201 --> 00:30:15.471
Mm-hmm.

00:30:15.592 --> 00:30:19.041
And I said, well, but it really fits with what we're trying to do.

00:30:19.372 --> 00:30:23.481
And it would just be another branch of the media company we're already doing.

00:30:24.051 --> 00:30:29.811
And so we, from there, that was like the end of September and we closed on at the end of October.

00:30:30.082 --> 00:30:30.442
Wow.

00:30:30.922 --> 00:30:31.011
Mm-hmm.

00:30:31.011 --> 00:30:32.422
So it was very quick.

00:30:32.422 --> 00:30:32.636
That's very quick.

00:30:32.811 --> 00:30:34.791
Um, the previous owner is in his eighties.

00:30:35.287 --> 00:30:37.747
Oh, so he had run it the end, he started it.

00:30:37.866 --> 00:30:39.487
And it's not a franchise or anything?

00:30:39.487 --> 00:30:39.547
No.

00:30:39.547 --> 00:30:42.547
Like the city lifestyles and the wind lifestyles and all that?

00:30:42.757 --> 00:30:43.086
Nope.

00:30:43.086 --> 00:30:45.606
It is totally a hundred percent local.

00:30:45.606 --> 00:30:46.596
There is no franchise

00:30:46.596 --> 00:30:46.747
backing.

00:30:46.747 --> 00:30:48.426
So you do discover Cheyenne even?

00:30:48.426 --> 00:30:48.547
Mm-hmm.

00:30:48.787 --> 00:30:48.846
Yeah.

00:30:48.846 --> 00:30:50.797
Are you getting some of those websites and stuff already?

00:30:50.977 --> 00:30:51.636
Oh, I should

00:30:52.386 --> 00:30:53.946
yeah's, I don't know if you've got the discovery before this

00:30:53.946 --> 00:30:54.277
drops.

00:30:54.277 --> 00:30:55.116
I better get on there.

00:30:55.717 --> 00:30:57.082
Yeah, somebody's gonna be like, oh,

00:30:57.082 --> 00:30:57.402
I'll beat up

00:30:57.701 --> 00:30:58.122
buy'em out

00:30:58.537 --> 00:30:59.017
real quick.

00:30:59.047 --> 00:31:01.207
Ava, actually, why don't you go ahead and share those sites.

00:31:01.207 --> 00:31:03.517
We can sell it back to these guys all around here in a moment.

00:31:03.997 --> 00:31:08.287
But yeah, I mean it seems like a potential brand expansion kind of thing too.

00:31:08.287 --> 00:31:19.146
Now obviously you'd need other agents selling ad space, creating content in those new markets and stuff, but if you can come up with a formula, you can scale that formula.

00:31:19.207 --> 00:31:24.576
Well, and that's, that's really the thing is we've built this in the last, what, two years, two and a half years.

00:31:25.116 --> 00:31:30.126
And it really does, it's, you know, people can pick up the formula and do this in their local spaces, and it's not.

00:31:30.126 --> 00:31:30.217
And

00:31:30.487 --> 00:31:31.416
you're okay with that?

00:31:31.507 --> 00:31:33.217
Like if they listen to this podcast and they do that?

00:31:33.221 --> 00:31:33.412
Well, sure.

00:31:33.416 --> 00:31:33.517
Yeah.

00:31:33.517 --> 00:31:35.412
We've, we've even had people contact us, be like, Hey,

00:31:35.467 --> 00:31:37.446
you love noco, so whatever.

00:31:37.567 --> 00:31:40.146
They're like, how do we do this in, I don't remember where they're from.

00:31:40.146 --> 00:31:41.257
Like Florida or something like

00:31:41.257 --> 00:31:41.346
that.

00:31:41.346 --> 00:31:41.406
Yeah.

00:31:41.737 --> 00:31:47.076
It was somebody that had lived here and followed us and was moving back to their hometown in like North Carolina.

00:31:47.106 --> 00:31:47.406
Yeah.

00:31:47.467 --> 00:31:49.987
And asked, so like, what did you, how did you do this?

00:31:49.987 --> 00:31:50.826
Did you get paid?

00:31:50.826 --> 00:31:51.247
Did you?

00:31:51.426 --> 00:31:51.696
Yeah.

00:31:51.696 --> 00:31:55.507
And I wrote it all out for her and said, you just kind of gotta do it and do it consistently.

00:31:55.656 --> 00:31:55.926
Yeah.

00:31:56.076 --> 00:31:57.652
Um, but yeah, if

00:31:57.652 --> 00:31:58.567
you build it, they will come.

00:31:58.567 --> 00:32:00.576
Have I shared our motto with you guys yet?

00:32:00.666 --> 00:32:00.997
Did you?

00:32:01.116 --> 00:32:01.866
No, I don't think

00:32:01.866 --> 00:32:02.017
so.

00:32:02.017 --> 00:32:07.777
'cause you've fitted like a glove already, but it's a ask of your needs and share of your abundance.

00:32:08.196 --> 00:32:08.797
Oh, mm-hmm.

00:32:09.156 --> 00:32:11.616
And you had an abundance of knowledge about that pathway.

00:32:11.616 --> 00:32:13.567
It was actually my personal motto.

00:32:14.392 --> 00:32:16.432
Two years before I started Think Tank.

00:32:16.432 --> 00:32:20.241
I put it on my LinkedIn page as kind of a motto kind of thing.

00:32:20.451 --> 00:32:20.902
Interesting.

00:32:20.902 --> 00:32:21.471
Even as a

00:32:21.471 --> 00:32:21.832
banker?

00:32:22.192 --> 00:32:23.902
Even as a banker, A lowly banker.

00:32:24.021 --> 00:32:24.352
Yeah.

00:32:24.352 --> 00:32:24.652
Wow.

00:32:24.892 --> 00:32:27.652
Uh, because I haven't really changed that much.

00:32:27.711 --> 00:32:31.551
Uh, you know, I, like I've told you, I'm a North Dakota farm kid.

00:32:31.551 --> 00:32:39.051
You know, I kind of had, way before local think Tank started, I had a thing called, um, what was it called?

00:32:39.082 --> 00:32:40.701
Old Town Tuesdays.

00:32:41.301 --> 00:32:43.882
Uh,'cause I was a banker and Cooper Smith's.

00:32:44.001 --> 00:32:44.092
Mm-hmm.

00:32:44.571 --> 00:32:45.652
Um, poolside.

00:32:45.711 --> 00:32:46.461
Dearly departed.

00:32:46.551 --> 00:32:46.852
Yes.

00:32:46.852 --> 00:32:47.692
But returning.

00:32:48.051 --> 00:32:48.531
Oh really?

00:32:48.592 --> 00:32:49.281
Apparently.

00:32:49.432 --> 00:32:49.612
Oh.

00:32:49.612 --> 00:32:51.711
Apparently they couldn't rent out the building.

00:32:51.711 --> 00:32:53.932
So poolside is coming back.

00:32:54.172 --> 00:32:54.622
Oh, no shit.

00:32:54.652 --> 00:32:55.612
Just let's do it again.

00:32:55.612 --> 00:32:55.701
Mm-hmm.

00:32:55.942 --> 00:32:56.301
Sweet.

00:32:56.751 --> 00:32:57.196
That's awesome.

00:32:58.201 --> 00:33:05.041
Um, so yeah, so on Tuesdays they had a deal where if you bought like a pitcher of beer, you got a.

00:33:05.571 --> 00:33:06.682
Free pizza or No.

00:33:06.682 --> 00:33:08.721
If you bought a pizza, you got a free hour of pool.

00:33:08.991 --> 00:33:09.172
Oh.

00:33:09.622 --> 00:33:12.382
Um, and so the bank would buy a couple of pizzas Yeah.

00:33:12.382 --> 00:33:19.551
And get a couple free hours of pool and just take the end cap of there and we'd play ping pong and pool and not network.

00:33:19.557 --> 00:33:19.696
Mm-hmm.

00:33:19.777 --> 00:33:20.057
Just,

00:33:20.092 --> 00:33:21.442
uh, just be together.

00:33:21.471 --> 00:33:21.892
Yeah.

00:33:21.892 --> 00:33:21.902
Yeah.

00:33:21.951 --> 00:33:27.682
And, uh, I built a group, a following of, we'd usually have 15 to 25 people there.

00:33:28.011 --> 00:33:28.071
Wow.

00:33:28.281 --> 00:33:32.721
Um, and, uh, you know, it's where I really built a lot of my ping pong skills.

00:33:33.201 --> 00:33:33.291
Right.

00:33:33.321 --> 00:33:45.382
Um, and then years later, four years later, like four of those people became the first original, some of the first original members of local Think tank, you know, so that was part of my network.

00:33:45.442 --> 00:33:49.971
Uh, thank you, uh, capital West Bank for mm-hmm.

00:33:50.271 --> 00:33:52.132
Buying all the, the pizza and the beer.

00:33:52.132 --> 00:33:52.192
Yeah.

00:33:52.192 --> 00:33:52.737
That's a lot of pizza.

00:33:53.451 --> 00:33:53.961
A love.

00:33:53.961 --> 00:33:55.821
But it was a really good tool for the bank too.

00:33:55.821 --> 00:34:01.882
I got quite a few clients from it over time and just having a place that was more about connecting.

00:34:01.882 --> 00:34:03.442
I don't know if you guys have ever been to like.

00:34:04.237 --> 00:34:10.056
Networking meetings where there's like social pressure to make referrals to five people every time you go to the meeting.

00:34:10.056 --> 00:34:10.146
Yes.

00:34:10.146 --> 00:34:10.836
And stuff like that.

00:34:10.836 --> 00:34:12.427
But it's just always kind of grossed me out.

00:34:12.487 --> 00:34:12.577
Mm-hmm.

00:34:12.817 --> 00:34:12.876
Yeah.

00:34:13.177 --> 00:34:14.106
Yes, I agree.

00:34:14.257 --> 00:34:15.306
I don't wanna be forced.

00:34:15.367 --> 00:34:17.527
No, I wanna want to refer.

00:34:17.586 --> 00:34:17.947
Yes.

00:34:17.947 --> 00:34:21.786
That's why I was like, just'cause we're in this same space doesn't mean I necessarily

00:34:22.146 --> 00:34:22.356
Right.

00:34:22.356 --> 00:34:23.197
Want to refer you.

00:34:23.257 --> 00:34:23.556
Right.

00:34:23.556 --> 00:34:28.507
And the mortgage lender that I've done business with three times and trust with everything.

00:34:28.686 --> 00:34:29.047
Yeah.

00:34:29.047 --> 00:34:31.536
I'm still gonna refer him first, even though he is not in this group.

00:34:31.536 --> 00:34:31.896
Sorry.

00:34:31.896 --> 00:34:32.077
Right.

00:34:32.646 --> 00:34:32.887
Yeah.

00:34:32.887 --> 00:34:34.237
Kind of douche bag mortgage guy that's here.

00:34:35.811 --> 00:34:36.101
Yeah.

00:34:36.101 --> 00:34:36.981
Like you botted it.

00:34:37.101 --> 00:34:37.222
I,

00:34:38.047 --> 00:34:38.916
sorry.

00:34:39.306 --> 00:34:42.097
Yeah, so it just became kind of an awkward, anyway, I digress.

00:34:42.097 --> 00:34:44.197
So I created kind of a different kind of, oh.

00:34:44.197 --> 00:34:51.306
And we had tenants of it and, and one of the tenants was like, you know, I'm better at making decisions for my business than the government is.

00:34:51.306 --> 00:34:58.746
And so the less we can have government intervention and people doing good, smart legal business the better and all these kind of mm-hmm.

00:34:58.987 --> 00:35:01.567
Been a kind of a, a vocal libertarian guy even.

00:35:02.422 --> 00:35:07.581
Way back when I was a banker, to the point where my friends were like, is your bank okay with some of your Facebook posts?

00:35:07.581 --> 00:35:08.871
I was like, I don't know.

00:35:08.927 --> 00:35:09.206
I don't know.

00:35:09.211 --> 00:35:11.782
I did never asked him because I don't think that's any their damn business.

00:35:11.956 --> 00:35:12.487
Like, are they

00:35:12.487 --> 00:35:12.927
reading my

00:35:13.047 --> 00:35:13.487
Facebook posts?

00:35:13.487 --> 00:35:16.851
Am I, am I getting loans for the bank and building relationships with businesses?

00:35:17.092 --> 00:35:17.931
Well then shut up.

00:35:18.206 --> 00:35:18.407
Mm-hmm.

00:35:18.577 --> 00:35:18.927
Which,

00:35:20.666 --> 00:35:21.086
anyway,

00:35:21.427 --> 00:35:24.202
but that's a hard place to be on social media these days.

00:35:24.231 --> 00:35:24.952
Well, it is.

00:35:24.952 --> 00:35:25.342
Yeah.

00:35:26.061 --> 00:35:26.902
It was interesting.

00:35:27.327 --> 00:35:30.981
I, I just had, uh, the founder of the Timus Chamber of Commerce on Oh,

00:35:31.342 --> 00:35:31.371
Uhhuh,

00:35:31.672 --> 00:35:36.771
um, earlier this week, Dustin Pizer is his name, and he came from upstate New York.

00:35:36.952 --> 00:35:37.431
Oh, okay.

00:35:37.581 --> 00:35:41.271
And he was talking about how, like where he grew up.

00:35:42.141 --> 00:35:45.621
There wasn't things like people starting small businesses and stuff.

00:35:45.621 --> 00:35:53.601
It was like every kid just wanted to work for the, A union shop or for the government in some capacity, and that was the goal.

00:35:53.692 --> 00:35:54.021
Yeah.

00:35:54.322 --> 00:36:01.461
And it's so different from like me roaming up North Dakota, you know, people wanted to be farmers and or a business owner.

00:36:01.492 --> 00:36:01.641
Mm-hmm.

00:36:01.882 --> 00:36:04.822
A truck driver even so they're self-employed or whatever.

00:36:04.822 --> 00:36:06.112
Nobody wanted to work at the factory.

00:36:06.442 --> 00:36:06.532
Right.

00:36:06.532 --> 00:36:06.862
Yeah.

00:36:07.072 --> 00:36:07.431
That's,

00:36:07.581 --> 00:36:08.782
or the Pizza Hut, you know?

00:36:08.811 --> 00:36:09.081
Yeah.

00:36:09.141 --> 00:36:09.592
Some,

00:36:09.802 --> 00:36:14.152
and I think Fort Collins in northern Colorado has historically had a lot of that.

00:36:14.152 --> 00:36:15.291
I think it's, I don't know.

00:36:15.351 --> 00:36:16.731
What do you feel like, has it faded?

00:36:17.992 --> 00:36:19.882
I don't know if I'd say it faded.

00:36:19.882 --> 00:36:20.572
I did not.

00:36:20.601 --> 00:36:21.202
I grew up here.

00:36:21.202 --> 00:36:21.262
Yeah.

00:36:21.322 --> 00:36:23.181
We live in my great grandparents' home.

00:36:23.902 --> 00:36:24.052
Oh, great

00:36:24.052 --> 00:36:24.532
grandparents.

00:36:24.532 --> 00:36:24.862
Yes.

00:36:24.862 --> 00:36:26.331
It was my great grandparents.

00:36:26.391 --> 00:36:29.632
Um, they actually used to live on the state line.

00:36:29.661 --> 00:36:31.311
If you take 2 87 to Laramie.

00:36:31.311 --> 00:36:34.882
Oh, there's a little building right when you cross over to Wyoming.

00:36:34.911 --> 00:36:34.972
Yeah.

00:36:34.972 --> 00:36:39.891
And that used to be a shop and they lived and worked in the state line shop and owned that bu that business.

00:36:39.922 --> 00:36:40.161
Yeah.

00:36:40.431 --> 00:36:44.422
But then when my grandmother was needing to go to high school, there was no high schools up there.

00:36:44.422 --> 00:36:44.512
Sure.

00:36:44.811 --> 00:36:48.472
So they moved to La Porte so that she could go to the old Fort Collins High.

00:36:48.472 --> 00:36:48.532
Wow.

00:36:49.461 --> 00:36:50.391
So we lived there to the

00:36:50.391 --> 00:36:50.692
city,

00:36:50.931 --> 00:36:58.072
but no one else passed that in my family or anyone I grew up with, owned businesses, talked about business.

00:36:58.072 --> 00:36:58.791
You haven't been around business ran business.

00:36:58.791 --> 00:37:01.552
So I haven't really been around business, so I don't know.

00:37:01.552 --> 00:37:04.822
It feels to me like it's very vibrant, but that's coming into it.

00:37:05.362 --> 00:37:05.512
Yeah.

00:37:05.512 --> 00:37:05.992
Now

00:37:06.382 --> 00:37:06.922
that's fair.

00:37:06.981 --> 00:37:07.461
That's fair.

00:37:08.152 --> 00:37:11.211
Um, Ben, were you from an entrepreneurial family?

00:37:11.572 --> 00:37:13.282
Yeah, my dad has owned his own business.

00:37:13.371 --> 00:37:13.402
Okay.

00:37:14.302 --> 00:37:15.711
On and off for years growing up.

00:37:15.711 --> 00:37:17.271
So I really saw it from him.

00:37:17.271 --> 00:37:26.871
But I think especially in college, there was really that resurgence of, uh, you know, almost people idolizing the, you know, the next tech CEOs mm-hmm.

00:37:27.112 --> 00:37:29.061
And startups and start your own thing and make it

00:37:29.331 --> 00:37:29.722
Yeah.

00:37:29.722 --> 00:37:32.512
Make it fast and make it young sort of idea.

00:37:32.601 --> 00:37:32.871
Yeah.

00:37:32.992 --> 00:37:34.612
And I think that really caught me up

00:37:34.731 --> 00:37:34.972
Yeah.

00:37:35.121 --> 00:37:35.692
For a little while.

00:37:35.692 --> 00:37:35.782
But

00:37:35.782 --> 00:37:37.251
how, how old are you guys?

00:37:38.061 --> 00:37:38.601
Can I ask?

00:37:38.632 --> 00:37:38.751
Yeah.

00:37:38.751 --> 00:37:39.561
I'm 34.

00:37:39.681 --> 00:37:40.461
Okay.

00:37:40.461 --> 00:37:40.481
Almost 35.

00:37:40.481 --> 00:37:41.186
Yeah, I'm 37.

00:37:41.192 --> 00:37:41.362
Okay.

00:37:41.512 --> 00:37:41.601
Mm-hmm.

00:37:42.291 --> 00:37:47.181
So, yeah, you're, um, yeah, that they had, tech had created a lot of mm-hmm.

00:37:47.422 --> 00:37:49.731
Millionaires and some billionaires and stuff for that time.

00:37:49.731 --> 00:37:57.262
So there was, and, and especially with tech companies, like with traditional companies, you're like, oh, how do I start a manufacturing business?

00:37:57.291 --> 00:37:57.592
Yes.

00:37:57.681 --> 00:37:58.251
You know?

00:37:58.521 --> 00:38:03.112
But with tech it's like, well, if I spend a lot of hours developing this cool thing

00:38:03.202 --> 00:38:03.442
mm-hmm.

00:38:03.681 --> 00:38:04.882
Maybe a bunch of people will buy it.

00:38:04.882 --> 00:38:06.322
'cause extra copies are free.

00:38:06.681 --> 00:38:06.862
Right.

00:38:06.952 --> 00:38:07.791
Mm-hmm.

00:38:08.121 --> 00:38:08.331
Yeah.

00:38:08.331 --> 00:38:17.722
And I think, yeah, it created a whole culture and there yeah, I can, I can go in deep about that, of the creation of hustle culture and maybe that's not the best thing ever either.

00:38:17.722 --> 00:38:18.052
But

00:38:18.681 --> 00:38:19.882
was that where you were at, kind of,

00:38:19.911 --> 00:38:20.871
oh, sure, yeah.

00:38:20.931 --> 00:38:25.851
I got wrapped up a day, you know, how, how much can I work in a day and how quickly can I build something?

00:38:25.851 --> 00:38:28.791
And that's, you know, that's not sustainable or healthy either, but

00:38:28.942 --> 00:38:29.271
Agreed.

00:38:29.782 --> 00:38:37.371
Um, yeah, that's, I think where it started with me and it, it eventually flowered into something that's more sustainable and more locally driven.

00:38:37.371 --> 00:38:37.552
And

00:38:37.612 --> 00:38:37.822
yeah,

00:38:37.972 --> 00:38:40.762
this is a way that I can take care of myself and my family and

00:38:40.911 --> 00:38:41.121
Yep.

00:38:41.211 --> 00:38:43.132
Do it on my terms and that sort of thing.

00:38:43.192 --> 00:38:43.552
I love it.

00:38:44.092 --> 00:38:51.922
Um, let's, uh, let's go back a ways, like I, I feel like with this talk of great grandparents and things like that, I want to go back.

00:38:52.461 --> 00:38:53.632
In the time machine.

00:38:53.811 --> 00:38:56.992
Did you guys, when did you connect?

00:38:57.262 --> 00:38:57.802
Yeah.

00:38:57.952 --> 00:39:00.472
Because I know you came from California to here and you were together.

00:39:00.472 --> 00:39:02.422
Were you together before you went out there too?

00:39:02.601 --> 00:39:03.411
We were, yeah.

00:39:03.411 --> 00:39:05.422
So I went to UNC in Greeley.

00:39:05.661 --> 00:39:05.722
Okay.

00:39:05.722 --> 00:39:06.592
Um, for undergrad.

00:39:06.592 --> 00:39:08.692
But Ben was not in Greeley at that time.

00:39:08.902 --> 00:39:09.141
Okay.

00:39:09.202 --> 00:39:11.302
Uh, he was in Denver already.

00:39:11.751 --> 00:39:12.472
Um, and

00:39:12.472 --> 00:39:14.092
chasing the tech hustle dreams.

00:39:14.152 --> 00:39:14.541
Mm-hmm.

00:39:14.782 --> 00:39:14.791
Mm-hmm.

00:39:14.842 --> 00:39:15.021
Yep.

00:39:15.382 --> 00:39:21.711
Um, but Ben's best friend forever is married to my, uh.

00:39:22.117 --> 00:39:23.317
College roommate, best friend.

00:39:23.317 --> 00:39:24.126
We all still hang out.

00:39:24.126 --> 00:39:25.146
We have kids the same age.

00:39:25.146 --> 00:39:25.356
Awesome.

00:39:25.447 --> 00:39:26.317
They live in Windsor.

00:39:26.317 --> 00:39:26.916
It's great.

00:39:27.336 --> 00:39:30.336
Um, and so we met through their wedding.

00:39:30.336 --> 00:39:31.746
So I was a senior in college.

00:39:31.806 --> 00:39:32.916
He had already graduated.

00:39:33.396 --> 00:39:42.427
Um, so we met and then like a month after we started talking, I moved to Denver and ended up in an apartment on the exact same block.

00:39:42.427 --> 00:39:43.686
Mm-hmm.

00:39:43.688 --> 00:39:43.697
As

00:39:43.697 --> 00:39:44.947
Ben ended up just coincidentally.

00:39:44.947 --> 00:39:45.186
Yeah.

00:39:45.186 --> 00:39:47.052
I'd never, I hadn't been to his house, we didn't Oh, really?

00:39:47.052 --> 00:39:47.411
Mm-hmm.

00:39:47.492 --> 00:39:47.692
Mm-hmm.

00:39:47.771 --> 00:39:48.092
Poets

00:39:48.092 --> 00:39:49.476
Row or providentially we could call

00:39:49.476 --> 00:39:49.896
it even.

00:39:49.896 --> 00:39:49.956
Yeah.

00:39:49.956 --> 00:39:52.746
But so Poets Row on Cab Hill in Denver.

00:39:52.867 --> 00:39:52.896
Okay.

00:39:52.896 --> 00:39:53.797
Mm-hmm.

00:39:53.797 --> 00:39:57.157
Um, he was at one end of the block and I was at the other in a little studio.

00:39:57.336 --> 00:39:58.416
What was the name of your building called?

00:39:58.657 --> 00:40:01.476
Oh, oh, Dickinson.

00:40:01.476 --> 00:40:01.836
Mm-hmm.

00:40:02.137 --> 00:40:02.706
All the buildings

00:40:02.706 --> 00:40:03.336
were named poets

00:40:03.342 --> 00:40:03.952
after poets were poets.

00:40:03.952 --> 00:40:03.961
Oh.

00:40:04.331 --> 00:40:04.452
Fun.

00:40:04.456 --> 00:40:04.567
Mm-hmm.

00:40:04.567 --> 00:40:05.706
That's why they call the Poets Row.

00:40:05.766 --> 00:40:06.516
Oh, very cool.

00:40:06.547 --> 00:40:06.757
Yeah.

00:40:07.507 --> 00:40:11.166
And so we dated then in Denver for a few years.

00:40:11.166 --> 00:40:12.907
I have been a special education teacher

00:40:12.996 --> 00:40:13.297
Yeah.

00:40:13.356 --> 00:40:14.286
For many years.

00:40:14.286 --> 00:40:16.086
So I was a para at that time.

00:40:16.086 --> 00:40:17.407
You special brand new classroom

00:40:17.407 --> 00:40:17.827
craft, I

00:40:17.827 --> 00:40:18.306
guess.

00:40:18.487 --> 00:40:18.637
Yep.

00:40:18.697 --> 00:40:19.086
And so.

00:40:19.836 --> 00:40:23.467
And then we got married in Denver, lived in Wash Park for like a two years.

00:40:23.496 --> 00:40:23.797
Wow.

00:40:24.097 --> 00:40:25.867
Lived like close before we moved to California.

00:40:25.896 --> 00:40:26.317
Yeah,

00:40:26.322 --> 00:40:26.351
yeah.

00:40:26.496 --> 00:40:27.456
Moved back.

00:40:27.487 --> 00:40:27.577
Mm-hmm.

00:40:27.996 --> 00:40:32.436
So we've got a lot of, uh, Northern Colorado listeners.

00:40:32.436 --> 00:40:34.447
Over half of our listeners are Northern Colorado.

00:40:34.507 --> 00:40:47.047
We have a lot of Denver listeners too, but for the Northern Colorado crew, like talk about living in Cap Hill, wash Park, like that was kind of in the best part of Denver, like 2020.

00:40:47.047 --> 00:40:51.396
Wrecked downtown Denver a lot more than it wrecked any place or around nearby.

00:40:51.697 --> 00:40:52.027
Yeah.

00:40:52.027 --> 00:40:55.626
I don't feel like we have really any understanding of what it would be like now,

00:40:55.657 --> 00:40:56.016
right.

00:40:56.077 --> 00:40:58.626
As this was like 2012 and it was wonderful.

00:40:58.717 --> 00:40:58.927
Yeah.

00:40:59.047 --> 00:41:01.237
I loved living

00:41:01.327 --> 00:41:02.376
Landmark Square was.

00:41:02.961 --> 00:41:04.342
Yeah, it was

00:41:04.581 --> 00:41:05.242
bountiful with,

00:41:05.242 --> 00:41:05.751
yes.

00:41:05.931 --> 00:41:08.302
I remember going down there sometimes around those days.

00:41:08.302 --> 00:41:08.391
Mm-hmm.

00:41:08.496 --> 00:41:09.652
And it was just a hoot.

00:41:09.891 --> 00:41:10.192
Yeah.

00:41:10.492 --> 00:41:11.001
Everything.

00:41:11.001 --> 00:41:13.851
And I never, you never felt, I never felt unsafe.

00:41:13.882 --> 00:41:15.021
I would walk everywhere.

00:41:15.021 --> 00:41:15.112
Mm-hmm.

00:41:15.742 --> 00:41:18.862
Um, it was just the very beginning of ride shares really.

00:41:18.862 --> 00:41:22.521
So like, there still wasn't really a lot of options besides walking.

00:41:22.731 --> 00:41:23.302
Mm-hmm.

00:41:23.541 --> 00:41:24.981
Um, but it was great.

00:41:25.461 --> 00:41:32.181
It was fun and it really was that like, I have everything that I need within a square mile radius and I walked to everything.

00:41:32.271 --> 00:41:32.422
Yeah.

00:41:32.422 --> 00:41:33.112
That's what I did.

00:41:33.202 --> 00:41:33.442
Yeah.

00:41:33.501 --> 00:41:36.442
Went to school, went to church, went to grocery stores, went to, yeah.

00:41:36.442 --> 00:41:37.072
All those things.

00:41:37.072 --> 00:41:38.632
Spent$85 a month on gas.

00:41:38.692 --> 00:41:39.231
Exactly.

00:41:39.561 --> 00:41:39.891
And

00:41:39.891 --> 00:41:40.791
more on parking

00:41:40.791 --> 00:41:41.032
tickets.

00:41:41.036 --> 00:41:42.652
That was like$600 a month on parking tickets.

00:41:44.422 --> 00:41:44.871
Different life.

00:41:45.052 --> 00:41:46.702
Taking your car out was always a risk.

00:41:46.851 --> 00:41:47.061
Yeah.

00:41:47.061 --> 00:41:49.942
There was the, our block was only two hour parking.

00:41:50.061 --> 00:41:50.271
Oh

00:41:50.271 --> 00:41:50.722
boy.

00:41:50.751 --> 00:41:53.061
So it was always the game of moved.

00:41:53.092 --> 00:41:54.172
You had to move your car.

00:41:54.561 --> 00:41:55.251
That was one thing.

00:41:55.251 --> 00:41:58.402
My, my mom was like, you're not doing the parking tickets.

00:41:58.552 --> 00:42:01.101
So she bought me a parking spot in a parking lot.

00:42:01.101 --> 00:42:01.371
Yeah.

00:42:01.371 --> 00:42:01.552
Yeah.

00:42:02.226 --> 00:42:04.086
His truck was always full of tickets.

00:42:04.146 --> 00:42:04.536
Always.

00:42:04.536 --> 00:42:04.746
Yep.

00:42:05.887 --> 00:42:06.666
It was part of the rent.

00:42:06.847 --> 00:42:09.847
Yeah, that's, his rent was super cheap, so he could afford it

00:42:09.847 --> 00:42:15.157
and the city would give out parking permits for residents that lived on blocks with two hour parking.

00:42:15.396 --> 00:42:18.697
But the process to be able to get those was insanely hard.

00:42:18.757 --> 00:42:18.996
Hmm.

00:42:19.356 --> 00:42:22.447
And so I did it for the first year and then I was like, that's, it's not worth the time.

00:42:23.947 --> 00:42:24.157
Yeah.

00:42:24.217 --> 00:42:27.396
That's like, that's such a good testimony, honestly, to.

00:42:27.967 --> 00:42:33.036
Bureaucracy and the impediment that government, I That's not even as a business owner?

00:42:33.041 --> 00:42:33.336
No, no.

00:42:33.336 --> 00:42:34.447
Jumping through a bunch of hoops.

00:42:34.447 --> 00:42:37.447
That was just you trying to be able to park your freaking car Yeah.

00:42:37.806 --> 00:42:39.277
Somewhat nearby where you lived.

00:42:39.336 --> 00:42:39.547
Yeah.

00:42:39.577 --> 00:42:39.876
Right.

00:42:39.996 --> 00:42:40.536
Exactly.

00:42:41.137 --> 00:42:43.956
And, and you elected not to go through the hassle.

00:42:43.961 --> 00:42:44.141
Mm-hmm.

00:42:44.222 --> 00:42:44.501
Yeah.

00:42:44.501 --> 00:42:45.501
I'll pay the tickets.

00:42:45.972 --> 00:42:46.262
Yeah.

00:42:47.226 --> 00:42:47.706
Interesting.

00:42:47.706 --> 00:42:50.766
And so then you guys packed up and moved to California.

00:42:50.766 --> 00:42:51.697
Were you married already when you

00:42:51.697 --> 00:42:51.876
did that?

00:42:51.876 --> 00:42:52.476
We were, yep.

00:42:52.536 --> 00:42:54.186
We'd been married for a little over a year.

00:42:54.456 --> 00:42:54.697
Okay.

00:42:54.697 --> 00:42:58.447
And then we moved to the most Colorado part of California.

00:42:58.476 --> 00:42:58.686
Okay.

00:42:58.717 --> 00:43:01.447
Um, we lived inside the Sequoia National Forest.

00:43:01.476 --> 00:43:01.717
Mm.

00:43:01.927 --> 00:43:04.356
So like an hour and a half from Fresno.

00:43:05.137 --> 00:43:06.427
Do you know where the Alabama Hills are?

00:43:06.817 --> 00:43:07.086
No,

00:43:08.016 --> 00:43:17.586
that is, uh, when you come out of Death Valley, headed west, you kind of climb up into Sequoia National Park somewhere there, or near, very adjacent to it.

00:43:17.586 --> 00:43:19.717
I think it's actually a national forest, but Oh, yeah.

00:43:19.717 --> 00:43:20.827
It's called the Alabama Hills.

00:43:20.827 --> 00:43:20.836
Oh.

00:43:21.007 --> 00:43:21.306
Oh, no.

00:43:21.786 --> 00:43:26.806
And it's basically, I would describe it as a, a quite a bit like Veda v.

00:43:27.367 --> 00:43:29.407
But all at the top of a mountain kind of.

00:43:29.407 --> 00:43:29.496
Yes.

00:43:29.527 --> 00:43:32.016
Instead of its own place that's out in the plains.

00:43:32.016 --> 00:43:34.507
It's like you climb this big mountain and then you've got a vu on top.

00:43:34.746 --> 00:43:34.927
Wow.

00:43:34.956 --> 00:43:39.336
Oh no, we were, that's Death Valley is kind of the south end of that national forest.

00:43:39.336 --> 00:43:39.367
Okay.

00:43:39.367 --> 00:43:39.376
Yep.

00:43:39.376 --> 00:43:40.806
And we were more at the north end.

00:43:40.806 --> 00:43:41.106
Gotcha.

00:43:41.467 --> 00:43:43.416
Um, but yeah, I always,

00:43:43.416 --> 00:43:45.487
so that's one of the few places I've, uh, stayed.

00:43:45.487 --> 00:43:53.226
We did a, so back in 2020 June of 2020, my wife and I took a, uh, RV trip.

00:43:53.376 --> 00:43:57.456
Uh, my employee at the time had a, had a 33 foot class C rv.

00:43:57.786 --> 00:43:58.146
Oh, fun.

00:43:58.177 --> 00:44:01.146
And she was willing to rent it to me, unlimited mileage for a hundred bucks a day.

00:44:01.416 --> 00:44:01.987
Oh, wow.

00:44:02.317 --> 00:44:07.626
So, um, and we had an exchange student that whose bus trip had been canceled because COVID, right?

00:44:07.657 --> 00:44:08.077
Mm-hmm.

00:44:08.077 --> 00:44:08.088
Mm-hmm.

00:44:08.166 --> 00:44:09.996
And so things finally started opening up.

00:44:09.996 --> 00:44:13.027
She stayed with us like a month and a half longer than she was supposed to.

00:44:13.027 --> 00:44:14.797
'cause she was like, I don't want to go back home to Poland.

00:44:14.797 --> 00:44:15.427
It's hard, you know?

00:44:15.606 --> 00:44:15.697
Mm-hmm.

00:44:15.936 --> 00:44:16.507
Especially right

00:44:16.507 --> 00:44:16.777
now

00:44:16.777 --> 00:44:17.677
in like Exactly.

00:44:17.706 --> 00:44:18.007
Yeah.

00:44:18.126 --> 00:44:20.706
And so we took this RV and went down to.

00:44:21.351 --> 00:44:23.902
Um, what's the big Grand Canyon?

00:44:23.961 --> 00:44:24.052
Mm-hmm.

00:44:24.322 --> 00:44:37.851
We cruised up from there, went through Death Valley, and then all the way up the California, Oregon and Washington coast, and then across the north side through the, like, way up on highway two to the, uh, right up in the border of Canada.

00:44:37.911 --> 00:44:38.001
Mm-hmm.

00:44:38.242 --> 00:44:41.061
And all the way back, 4,700 miles in 13 days.

00:44:41.211 --> 00:44:41.811
Wow.

00:44:41.996 --> 00:44:42.217
Wow.

00:44:42.862 --> 00:44:43.311
That's great.

00:44:43.371 --> 00:44:44.452
Unlimited miles to

00:44:44.452 --> 00:44:44.692
get it.

00:44:45.956 --> 00:44:49.702
And it was really where my wife and I learned that we were different creatures in some ways.

00:44:50.211 --> 00:44:55.552
Uh, well, we knew it already, but like, she was like, well, do we have the route plan and where we're gonna sleep and stuff?

00:44:55.552 --> 00:44:55.942
And I'm like.

00:44:56.556 --> 00:44:56.797
Baby.

00:44:56.797 --> 00:44:57.577
We got an rv,

00:44:57.757 --> 00:44:58.746
we sleep wherever.

00:44:58.751 --> 00:45:00.456
Oh, we sleep wherever we stop for the day.

00:45:01.206 --> 00:45:04.117
No, that would not, I would be like, no, we need to have it planned.

00:45:04.177 --> 00:45:05.226
We're gonna go this far.

00:45:05.226 --> 00:45:05.496
We're gonna,

00:45:05.586 --> 00:45:06.246
no, that's me.

00:45:06.246 --> 00:45:07.387
I'm more the free spirit.

00:45:07.507 --> 00:45:07.956
I like it.

00:45:08.016 --> 00:45:08.436
I like it.

00:45:08.976 --> 00:45:11.047
Um, you would probably like my wife Yeah.

00:45:11.052 --> 00:45:11.231
As well.

00:45:11.436 --> 00:45:11.766
We need to work.

00:45:11.766 --> 00:45:12.817
We'll get together soon.

00:45:12.817 --> 00:45:13.117
Yeah.

00:45:13.476 --> 00:45:14.226
Do you guys scrabble?

00:45:14.436 --> 00:45:16.056
I feel like you might be a good scramblers.

00:45:16.086 --> 00:45:16.327
Oh, we

00:45:16.351 --> 00:45:16.836
can Scrabble or Oh, we could Scrabble.

00:45:16.842 --> 00:45:16.992
Mm-hmm.

00:45:17.072 --> 00:45:17.152
Okay.

00:45:17.226 --> 00:45:17.376
I was

00:45:17.376 --> 00:45:17.737
like,

00:45:17.947 --> 00:45:18.157
yeah,

00:45:18.186 --> 00:45:18.637
we don't

00:45:18.637 --> 00:45:18.907
recently.

00:45:18.907 --> 00:45:18.996
And

00:45:18.996 --> 00:45:19.717
you're a words guy.

00:45:19.717 --> 00:45:20.827
Little children.

00:45:20.831 --> 00:45:21.072
Yeah.

00:45:21.077 --> 00:45:21.217
Yeah.

00:45:21.246 --> 00:45:22.177
But we can,

00:45:22.387 --> 00:45:22.806
okay.

00:45:22.806 --> 00:45:23.197
All right.

00:45:23.376 --> 00:45:28.266
I'm looking for more the, the Scrabble people, Jill and I've been playing with lately are.

00:45:29.302 --> 00:45:30.322
Just not good enough.

00:45:30.427 --> 00:45:30.646
Oh,

00:45:32.871 --> 00:45:33.021
hard

00:45:33.021 --> 00:45:33.202
their time.

00:45:33.202 --> 00:45:33.262
You

00:45:33.561 --> 00:45:35.181
quickly Relevant and Scrabble.

00:45:35.786 --> 00:45:36.007
Yes.

00:45:36.007 --> 00:45:36.126
You

00:45:36.126 --> 00:45:36.286
know,

00:45:36.317 --> 00:45:36.606
fast.

00:45:36.891 --> 00:45:37.311
Yes.

00:45:37.552 --> 00:45:41.992
Kurt, Jill Boats are in the low two hundreds and the other people are in 1 10, 25 zone.

00:45:42.621 --> 00:45:44.601
Like it's never gonna turn your way.

00:45:44.692 --> 00:45:44.931
No.

00:45:44.931 --> 00:45:45.112
Yeah.

00:45:45.112 --> 00:45:46.972
Like we could stop Actually,

00:45:47.481 --> 00:45:49.282
what would a handicap for Scrabble be?

00:45:49.371 --> 00:45:49.851
You only,

00:45:49.942 --> 00:45:52.041
maybe you get five letters instead of seven or something.

00:45:52.072 --> 00:45:52.492
Oh, okay.

00:45:52.521 --> 00:45:54.742
I was gonna say you have to do it in Spanish or something.

00:45:56.331 --> 00:45:57.286
I go Spanish thought I

00:45:57.286 --> 00:45:57.447
was like,

00:45:57.447 --> 00:45:57.847
who can check?

00:45:58.581 --> 00:45:58.762
I good.

00:45:58.762 --> 00:45:59.541
Zero there,

00:46:00.266 --> 00:46:00.487
see?

00:46:01.492 --> 00:46:01.822
No.

00:46:01.851 --> 00:46:02.842
Yeah, you get some.

00:46:03.112 --> 00:46:08.992
So, so you make this decision, I guess, or tell me about the circumstances you were

00:46:09.766 --> 00:46:10.657
Yeah, that's him.

00:46:10.731 --> 00:46:11.032
Yeah.

00:46:11.032 --> 00:46:14.362
So I, I, I ran my own video production business in Denver.

00:46:14.422 --> 00:46:14.632
Yeah.

00:46:14.632 --> 00:46:15.652
Doing that same sort of thing.

00:46:15.711 --> 00:46:20.572
And Kelsey had just gotten her job at a school that was like her dream job.

00:46:20.572 --> 00:46:21.952
It was in the dream classroom.

00:46:22.342 --> 00:46:24.052
Uh, the person she was working with, it was.

00:46:24.876 --> 00:46:26.016
Everything had a line.

00:46:26.016 --> 00:46:26.677
She loved it.

00:46:27.246 --> 00:46:28.987
Um, I got a call, I was getting kind of burn out.

00:46:28.987 --> 00:46:29.077
You're

00:46:29.077 --> 00:46:29.166
like,

00:46:29.166 --> 00:46:30.606
let me go ahead and disrupt this.

00:46:30.876 --> 00:46:31.327
Yeah, definitely.

00:46:31.327 --> 00:46:31.516
She's too happy.

00:46:31.516 --> 00:46:31.902
Mm-hmm.

00:46:32.106 --> 00:46:33.396
I was getting kind of burnt out.

00:46:33.396 --> 00:46:37.536
I would, I was reaching the point in my career where I was like, I don't have any more hours to sell.

00:46:38.166 --> 00:46:41.677
Uh, and I don't necessarily love the clients that I'm working for.

00:46:41.677 --> 00:46:43.177
It's not necessarily fulfilling.

00:46:43.597 --> 00:46:44.916
I, I'm open to a change.

00:46:44.976 --> 00:46:45.157
Yeah.

00:46:45.427 --> 00:46:56.317
Um, but I had a, an old producer boss of mine reach out and he had just gotten a job, uh, as a producer in California and said, Hey, I'm looking for someone to come on board.

00:46:56.856 --> 00:46:57.702
You guys wanna move to California?

00:46:57.702 --> 00:46:57.981
Associate

00:46:57.996 --> 00:46:58.387
producer,

00:46:58.387 --> 00:46:58.896
basically,

00:46:58.896 --> 00:46:59.856
kind of, or whatever.

00:46:59.916 --> 00:47:00.847
He's like, you wanna come on board?

00:47:00.907 --> 00:47:01.867
You wanna move to California?

00:47:01.871 --> 00:47:05.376
He said, no, and I wife kill me.

00:47:05.521 --> 00:47:05.742
Her.

00:47:05.742 --> 00:47:06.021
Yeah.

00:47:06.396 --> 00:47:12.306
And so I just casually said, Hey, uh, you know, Paco emailed me and he said he wants me to move to California.

00:47:13.416 --> 00:47:13.717
Yeah.

00:47:13.806 --> 00:47:15.246
Do you wanna, do you wanna move to California?

00:47:15.547 --> 00:47:17.376
And I had never lived outside of Colorado.

00:47:17.436 --> 00:47:17.617
Yeah.

00:47:17.887 --> 00:47:20.407
Um, and so I said, well, like we can consider it.

00:47:20.407 --> 00:47:23.347
And I was like, at the very least, if they're gonna fly us out there for an interview

00:47:23.351 --> 00:47:23.492
Right.

00:47:23.492 --> 00:47:24.331
We got a nice weekend away.

00:47:24.331 --> 00:47:24.572
Mm-hmm.

00:47:24.711 --> 00:47:25.626
We can go on a trip.

00:47:26.016 --> 00:47:27.126
So we did that.

00:47:27.186 --> 00:47:27.996
We went on a trip.

00:47:28.447 --> 00:47:34.297
Um, and the location is very unique in that it is far away from everything.

00:47:34.327 --> 00:47:35.827
It's a very small community.

00:47:36.306 --> 00:47:37.956
Um, but it is gorgeous.

00:47:38.226 --> 00:47:41.197
It is one of the prettiest places Yeah.

00:47:41.197 --> 00:47:41.856
That I've been

00:47:41.976 --> 00:47:44.887
living in the Saquoia National Forest amongst the giants.

00:47:45.036 --> 00:47:45.577
Yeah.

00:47:45.876 --> 00:47:55.597
And so when we came back, I, that dream job, which still love it, was at an elementary school in Denver and I was with my mentor teacher.

00:47:55.867 --> 00:47:58.836
So I had been a para in her classroom before.

00:47:58.836 --> 00:48:01.717
And then the job opened up to teach next with next door to her.

00:48:01.777 --> 00:48:01.867
Mm-hmm.

00:48:02.766 --> 00:48:09.456
And I came back and I went to talk to her kind of about this opportunity and she said, well, my husband got a job back in Kansas City.

00:48:09.786 --> 00:48:09.967
Hmm.

00:48:09.996 --> 00:48:10.777
So we're moving.

00:48:11.226 --> 00:48:11.496
Oh,

00:48:12.577 --> 00:48:14.226
and so you crippled the special ed

00:48:14.436 --> 00:48:14.947
department school?

00:48:15.666 --> 00:48:15.967
Yep.

00:48:15.967 --> 00:48:19.356
So I said, oh, well I think we're gonna move two then.

00:48:19.746 --> 00:48:23.916
And so in one fell swoop, both special education teachers left.

00:48:24.666 --> 00:48:29.467
And what kinda work, if I may been what, what was this job like?

00:48:29.467 --> 00:48:30.547
Out in the middle of the boonies?

00:48:31.056 --> 00:48:31.146
Mm-hmm.

00:48:31.148 --> 00:48:31.157
Yeah.

00:48:31.157 --> 00:48:32.947
So it's a, it was a Christian camp Okay.

00:48:32.947 --> 00:48:34.327
Out in Sequoia National Forest.

00:48:34.686 --> 00:48:38.016
And they predated the national forest, so that's why they could still exist there.

00:48:38.021 --> 00:48:38.161
Okay.

00:48:38.166 --> 00:48:41.916
So it was 340 acres of, of land there.

00:48:41.916 --> 00:48:42.367
And they ran

00:48:42.367 --> 00:48:43.206
undisturbed wilderness

00:48:43.387 --> 00:48:44.407
except wildness,

00:48:44.407 --> 00:48:45.947
cabins and stuff they've built over the years.

00:48:46.717 --> 00:48:48.847
And then this Christian camp plopped right there in the middle.

00:48:48.907 --> 00:48:49.686
Right on a lake.

00:48:50.376 --> 00:48:57.547
And, uh, they are, that is like their hometown, but they, they have ministries that were all over the US Okay.

00:48:57.547 --> 00:49:00.641
So they did stuff in Hawaii and internationally and Massachusetts.

00:49:00.907 --> 00:49:01.956
Massachusetts, yep.

00:49:01.987 --> 00:49:08.166
So creating a bunch of content to support, here's the amazing things where kids will enjoy if they sign up for one of our camps.

00:49:08.197 --> 00:49:08.317
Yes.

00:49:08.317 --> 00:49:08.617
Yeah.

00:49:08.617 --> 00:49:17.257
And so my, my job was in the marketing and communications department, so, which focused on a lot of either fundraising or, uh, ministry outreach and that sort of thing.

00:49:17.347 --> 00:49:17.407
Yeah.

00:49:17.407 --> 00:49:20.706
So they were very media forward and I think that is what has grown their brand.

00:49:20.887 --> 00:49:21.036
Hmm.

00:49:21.126 --> 00:49:21.786
Uh, quite a bit.

00:49:21.907 --> 00:49:22.146
Yeah.

00:49:22.262 --> 00:49:22.481
Um,

00:49:22.867 --> 00:49:25.777
and probably gave you some different chops than you'd had before too.

00:49:25.896 --> 00:49:26.202
Oh yeah.

00:49:26.202 --> 00:49:26.521
Mm-hmm.

00:49:26.706 --> 00:49:26.887
Yeah.

00:49:26.887 --> 00:49:29.976
Working inside of the nonprofit space, uh, was huge.

00:49:29.976 --> 00:49:36.697
And I, I, you know, I contributed to the raising of millions of dollars and actually understood storytelling from that perspective

00:49:36.697 --> 00:49:37.146
and

00:49:37.146 --> 00:49:37.157
mm-hmm.

00:49:37.262 --> 00:49:38.226
Um, so that was great.

00:49:38.226 --> 00:49:39.577
And I got to manage a team of.

00:49:40.012 --> 00:49:41.271
Probably a dozen kids.

00:49:41.572 --> 00:49:41.842
Oh, cool.

00:49:41.842 --> 00:49:44.211
College age kids that did a lot of the, the grunt work and

00:49:44.211 --> 00:49:44.661
Yeah.

00:49:44.661 --> 00:49:44.672
Yeah.

00:49:44.722 --> 00:49:45.621
Shooting and editing.

00:49:45.621 --> 00:49:45.891
You weren't

00:49:45.891 --> 00:49:47.152
behind the camera for a while.

00:49:47.152 --> 00:49:47.992
You were like mm-hmm.

00:49:47.992 --> 00:49:49.641
Telling these guys to get behind that camera.

00:49:49.702 --> 00:49:49.882
This one.

00:49:49.882 --> 00:49:50.211
Exactly.

00:49:50.271 --> 00:49:51.952
So, and that was a lot of fun.

00:49:52.161 --> 00:49:54.442
Well, teaching others is very fulfilling.

00:49:54.472 --> 00:49:54.652
Yes.

00:49:54.652 --> 00:49:58.192
You know, I like learning, but teaching is just as fun sometimes.

00:49:58.222 --> 00:49:58.521
Yes.

00:49:58.521 --> 00:49:59.422
It's a different, yeah.

00:49:59.422 --> 00:50:01.041
A different experience, which is fun,

00:50:01.072 --> 00:50:02.722
but, and what was your experience out there at Kelsey?

00:50:02.722 --> 00:50:07.041
Yeah, so that's kind of the big catalyst and, well, like, can we do this?

00:50:07.041 --> 00:50:08.302
Is, well, what am I gonna do?

00:50:08.362 --> 00:50:08.481
Yeah.

00:50:08.512 --> 00:50:09.561
I have a master's degree.

00:50:09.561 --> 00:50:11.302
I need to be doing something.

00:50:12.112 --> 00:50:16.882
And, um, they actually have a small charter school.

00:50:16.967 --> 00:50:17.186
Oh.

00:50:17.766 --> 00:50:19.356
In the camp property.

00:50:19.356 --> 00:50:20.677
It's a public charter school.

00:50:20.737 --> 00:50:20.947
Oh, wow.

00:50:20.947 --> 00:50:23.706
Um, but it's mostly for the camp employees children.

00:50:23.737 --> 00:50:24.007
Yeah.

00:50:24.067 --> 00:50:31.146
Um, but there were also other like national Forest families or people that didn't want to drive down into Fresno.

00:50:31.146 --> 00:50:31.237
Right.

00:50:31.356 --> 00:50:32.556
That wanted to come Okay.

00:50:32.556 --> 00:50:33.487
The other direction.

00:50:33.516 --> 00:50:33.876
Yeah.

00:50:33.876 --> 00:50:33.887
Yeah.

00:50:33.967 --> 00:50:36.126
Um, and they needed a special education teacher.

00:50:36.277 --> 00:50:36.637
Oh, wow.

00:50:36.726 --> 00:50:41.527
And so I ended up getting to run the entire special education department for K 12.

00:50:42.036 --> 00:50:44.137
Um, and so it really, that's awesome.

00:50:44.376 --> 00:50:46.777
You could tell it was really the right direction.

00:50:46.927 --> 00:50:47.347
Well, and.

00:50:47.972 --> 00:50:56.702
You know, I don't wanna use Providence too much, but gosh, it seems that you've had the visuals on Providence more than a couple times in your lives together.

00:50:56.882 --> 00:50:57.152
Absolutely.

00:50:57.152 --> 00:50:57.271
That's,

00:50:57.362 --> 00:51:04.862
it became very apparent in our, when we flew out there to interview that all of a sudden they went from pursuing me, uh, to pursuing Kelsey.

00:51:04.952 --> 00:51:05.132
Right.

00:51:05.282 --> 00:51:09.961
'cause it was a lot harder to find a credentialed special ed teacher that would move there.

00:51:09.961 --> 00:51:09.981
Move there.

00:51:10.021 --> 00:51:10.351
Yes.

00:51:10.411 --> 00:51:12.061
Rather than a video producer.

00:51:12.061 --> 00:51:12.211
Right.

00:51:12.211 --> 00:51:12.331
I was

00:51:12.331 --> 00:51:12.782
like, oh.

00:51:13.567 --> 00:51:17.527
Well, and frankly, if you didn't have each other, it would've been a tough move for either of you.

00:51:17.532 --> 00:51:17.632
Mm-hmm.

00:51:17.711 --> 00:51:17.871
Yes.

00:51:17.976 --> 00:51:20.016
Just for the isolation of it, I imagine.

00:51:20.016 --> 00:51:20.137
Yeah.

00:51:20.407 --> 00:51:20.527
Mm-hmm.

00:51:20.976 --> 00:51:21.336
Yes.

00:51:21.336 --> 00:51:22.686
Together, it really worked.

00:51:22.686 --> 00:51:31.112
And we got to, then, we didn't have kids yet, so we just got to go out every weekend and explore the forest, and we got an overland vehicle and Oh, what you get?

00:51:31.117 --> 00:51:32.106
We would just go camping.

00:51:32.166 --> 00:51:33.697
Uh, we had an TER back then.

00:51:33.786 --> 00:51:34.056
Okay.

00:51:34.507 --> 00:51:34.867
That's a pretty

00:51:34.867 --> 00:51:35.496
good four wheeler

00:51:35.496 --> 00:51:35.887
actually.

00:51:36.277 --> 00:51:36.367
Mm-hmm.

00:51:36.606 --> 00:51:36.637
I miss it.

00:51:36.726 --> 00:51:37.177
I miss it.

00:51:38.436 --> 00:51:39.697
We had an old montero for a while.

00:51:39.697 --> 00:51:48.577
It was similarly capable and, uh, they're just kind of light and, you know, not a big, big powerful engine or anything, but just put it in granny and get where you want to go.

00:51:48.577 --> 00:51:48.697
Thank

00:51:48.697 --> 00:51:50.047
God us everywhere we need to go.

00:51:50.047 --> 00:51:52.086
We, you know, we got into the rooftop tent thing.

00:51:52.086 --> 00:51:52.177
Cool.

00:51:52.177 --> 00:51:53.797
And we just, we could just.

00:51:54.242 --> 00:51:56.041
Hundreds of miles of, of fire road,

00:51:56.222 --> 00:51:56.552
right?

00:51:56.612 --> 00:51:56.791
Yeah.

00:51:56.791 --> 00:51:57.092
Out there.

00:51:57.092 --> 00:52:00.632
So we could just go and explore new space every time we went out.

00:52:00.871 --> 00:52:01.202
Yes.

00:52:01.322 --> 00:52:02.402
Hikers, fishers.

00:52:02.402 --> 00:52:03.601
Did you catch your dinner?

00:52:03.601 --> 00:52:04.262
Sometimes?

00:52:04.262 --> 00:52:05.371
We did a lot of fishing.

00:52:05.371 --> 00:52:05.612
Yeah.

00:52:05.612 --> 00:52:07.501
I'm not a, I'm not, I don't go fishing.

00:52:07.501 --> 00:52:07.802
We'll eat'em.

00:52:08.132 --> 00:52:08.581
Very boring.

00:52:08.581 --> 00:52:09.121
I'll eat them.

00:52:09.121 --> 00:52:12.181
And I, when I was growing up, I didn't like fishing then either.

00:52:12.181 --> 00:52:16.621
I would sit on the bank and read and my mom would say, well, if you're not gonna fish, you're gonna clean em.

00:52:16.742 --> 00:52:16.922
Oh.

00:52:17.041 --> 00:52:18.541
So she would catch the fish.

00:52:18.601 --> 00:52:18.751
That's

00:52:18.751 --> 00:52:19.112
a deal.

00:52:19.231 --> 00:52:20.492
And then I had to clean'em, so

00:52:21.422 --> 00:52:23.101
I think I would rather get into fishing.

00:52:23.492 --> 00:52:24.481
Right, exactly.

00:52:24.481 --> 00:52:26.672
That would've been like the, you know what, I need a fishing rod mom.

00:52:26.942 --> 00:52:27.692
I'm like, it's fine.

00:52:27.902 --> 00:52:28.742
But no.

00:52:28.802 --> 00:52:31.291
So yeah, it was, it was an outdoor dream, you know?

00:52:31.532 --> 00:52:32.492
There's a lot of stuff to do.

00:52:32.581 --> 00:52:33.001
Yeah.

00:52:33.001 --> 00:52:34.592
So, and how long did you guys stay there?

00:52:34.802 --> 00:52:37.681
We were there from 28.

00:52:37.981 --> 00:52:39.016
19 to 2018?

00:52:39.117 --> 00:52:40.532
No, 18 to 2020.

00:52:40.711 --> 00:52:41.012
Okay.

00:52:41.461 --> 00:52:41.731
Yeah.

00:52:42.632 --> 00:52:43.711
And like did they three

00:52:43.711 --> 00:52:45.422
years, 2017.

00:52:45.961 --> 00:52:46.711
17 to 20.

00:52:46.717 --> 00:52:46.856
Yeah.

00:52:47.431 --> 00:52:47.731
Yeah.

00:52:48.181 --> 00:52:53.251
And did they kind of like shut down during COVID Nation and they were like, well.

00:52:54.637 --> 00:52:57.786
You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here kind of thing or

00:52:57.817 --> 00:53:00.277
Well, they had to stop running events, right, obviously.

00:53:00.277 --> 00:53:00.367
Mm-hmm.

00:53:00.606 --> 00:53:04.266
And then yeah, there were the, the California lockdown measures.

00:53:04.387 --> 00:53:04.806
Sure.

00:53:04.867 --> 00:53:05.887
Um, and even we were,

00:53:05.887 --> 00:53:07.327
sorry you're in a forest, but

00:53:07.327 --> 00:53:10.356
we were isolated not letting, you know, public in and out.

00:53:10.356 --> 00:53:10.952
We were isolated.

00:53:10.952 --> 00:53:11.311
You the chance

00:53:11.572 --> 00:53:11.791
of

00:53:11.791 --> 00:53:13.777
COVID making it to you was almost numb.

00:53:13.777 --> 00:53:14.077
Um, yeah.

00:53:14.106 --> 00:53:16.177
But we still had at home orders,

00:53:16.447 --> 00:53:19.146
so we still weren't in our community of like 300.

00:53:19.146 --> 00:53:19.206
Yeah.

00:53:19.206 --> 00:53:20.856
We still weren't even supposed to go

00:53:21.097 --> 00:53:21.726
and talk to each

00:53:21.726 --> 00:53:22.297
other stuff.

00:53:22.297 --> 00:53:22.552
To our, yeah.

00:53:22.556 --> 00:53:24.246
To our friends for dinner or Oh gosh.

00:53:24.697 --> 00:53:31.657
But yeah, we, we worked from our kitchen table, her doing school stuff and me doing video production.

00:53:31.657 --> 00:53:33.936
'cause we were still doing some, you were stuffing with the

00:53:34.266 --> 00:53:34.447
kids

00:53:34.447 --> 00:53:35.632
or whatever, who were their parents.

00:53:36.097 --> 00:53:42.396
The houses were all close enough that we could, I could like look out the window and see them, but we would have to zoom.

00:53:42.396 --> 00:53:42.577
Um,

00:53:43.597 --> 00:53:46.657
and so we did that for three months from March to May.

00:53:46.657 --> 00:53:46.806
And

00:53:47.286 --> 00:53:48.547
yeah, we, yeah, we didn't leave them mountain.

00:53:48.606 --> 00:53:49.117
Thankfully.

00:53:49.117 --> 00:53:50.646
We had made the decision that we were.

00:53:51.081 --> 00:53:52.251
Moving back home anyway.

00:53:52.251 --> 00:53:54.561
Yeah, we, at this point we had a six month old.

00:53:54.831 --> 00:53:55.101
Okay.

00:53:55.101 --> 00:53:55.251
Yeah.

00:53:55.282 --> 00:53:55.822
Or so,

00:53:56.152 --> 00:53:56.927
made it easier kind of.

00:53:56.927 --> 00:54:01.762
And so we were gonna, we were moving back to Colorado anyway, so we were just letting the clock run out.

00:54:01.791 --> 00:54:02.032
But

00:54:02.211 --> 00:54:11.931
part of what I wrote about in that, uh, blog that followed our big trip out there was like in Death Valley, in the little town, we stopped in for lunch, just outside of Death Valley.

00:54:12.472 --> 00:54:15.382
Like, don't wear your mask in that restaurant.

00:54:15.411 --> 00:54:16.641
'cause they were like having none of it.

00:54:16.851 --> 00:54:17.632
Yeah.

00:54:17.632 --> 00:54:17.641
Mm-hmm.

00:54:17.646 --> 00:54:19.012
Uh, and just the diversity.

00:54:19.012 --> 00:54:23.092
And then we went to Pike Place Market like a week after it opened.

00:54:23.092 --> 00:54:25.461
And there were more vendors there than there were people.

00:54:25.461 --> 00:54:27.592
Those people were terrified in Seattle.

00:54:27.652 --> 00:54:28.911
Completely different.

00:54:28.911 --> 00:54:33.771
And even within California, if you would've gone San Francisco to the Valley,

00:54:34.012 --> 00:54:34.222
right.

00:54:34.222 --> 00:54:37.342
Totally different reactions to everything.

00:54:37.342 --> 00:54:37.552
Imagine

00:54:37.612 --> 00:54:38.661
the agrarian economy.

00:54:38.661 --> 00:54:41.931
They're like, and that was what I told people a little bit back in those days.

00:54:41.931 --> 00:54:45.047
I was like, you know, in North Dakota, like you, you get sick.

00:54:45.891 --> 00:54:48.262
You don't get sick, and if you get sick, maybe you die.

00:54:48.262 --> 00:54:50.362
Maybe you don't die, but life moves on.

00:54:50.632 --> 00:54:50.722
Mm-hmm.

00:54:50.961 --> 00:54:51.081
Yeah.

00:54:51.081 --> 00:54:52.282
Everybody is still,

00:54:54.141 --> 00:54:56.121
and that wasn't the way it was in the city here.

00:54:56.152 --> 00:54:56.512
No.

00:54:56.512 --> 00:55:03.231
And it's been, it was very interesting to kind of watch that balance of like, well, what do you do?

00:55:03.262 --> 00:55:04.012
Well, and who's right?

00:55:04.041 --> 00:55:05.661
You know, nobody really knew who was Right.

00:55:06.052 --> 00:55:06.981
We each had instincts.

00:55:07.012 --> 00:55:07.101
Mm-hmm.

00:55:07.672 --> 00:55:08.092
Yeah.

00:55:08.422 --> 00:55:08.722
But,

00:55:08.871 --> 00:55:14.811
well, and we got so much different, um, risk analysis profiles.

00:55:14.842 --> 00:55:15.052
Yeah.

00:55:15.081 --> 00:55:15.262
Mm-hmm.

00:55:15.501 --> 00:55:17.032
Like, I'm a motorcyclist.

00:55:17.032 --> 00:55:26.061
I've done, you know, I told you I was gonna have a local experience episode where the, the times I've just about killed me and my wife together, it's gonna be part of my local experience.

00:55:26.722 --> 00:55:29.092
And so I've got a higher risk profile than some.

00:55:29.092 --> 00:55:33.831
I'm like, you know, oh, there's a one in 100 chance you might die if you go out in public.

00:55:34.402 --> 00:55:35.902
Oh, well that's one in a hundred.

00:55:35.902 --> 00:55:36.322
That's nothing.

00:55:36.322 --> 00:55:37.702
You're like, that's great for other people.

00:55:37.702 --> 00:55:39.351
They're like, one in a hundred.

00:55:39.351 --> 00:55:40.106
Well, you're gonna freak.

00:55:40.177 --> 00:55:40.467
Yeah.

00:55:40.467 --> 00:55:40.822
For me, I'm like,

00:55:40.822 --> 00:55:41.626
freak freak.

00:55:43.072 --> 00:55:43.192
Right.

00:55:43.192 --> 00:55:43.231
It's a high risk.

00:55:43.402 --> 00:55:45.981
I'm like, I could go out 20 times without risking too much.

00:55:46.942 --> 00:55:49.702
That's, but during that, that's, my mom was still working.

00:55:49.762 --> 00:55:51.952
My mom has been a nurse my entire life,

00:55:51.952 --> 00:55:52.666
so you got to hear

00:55:52.967 --> 00:55:53.306
the stories.

00:55:53.306 --> 00:55:53.751
So she, yep.

00:55:53.751 --> 00:55:55.911
So she was still working as a nurse at that time.

00:55:55.911 --> 00:55:57.592
She was in Texas.

00:55:58.192 --> 00:56:07.161
Um, she, she's had a journey since, but she's now back here in Loveland, but, and so we got to really hear some stories, which I think made,

00:56:07.192 --> 00:56:07.251
she

00:56:07.251 --> 00:56:07.851
saw the worst.

00:56:07.882 --> 00:56:08.181
Yeah.

00:56:08.242 --> 00:56:12.681
I think made being in the forest actually feel ideal.

00:56:12.831 --> 00:56:13.101
Sure.

00:56:13.132 --> 00:56:15.141
Where I was like, well, I can go out and see the deer.

00:56:15.561 --> 00:56:15.711
Right.

00:56:15.711 --> 00:56:24.141
And I can be in my kitchen and still talk to my friends without knowing they went down and who knows Their risk exposure.

00:56:24.442 --> 00:56:24.561
Right.

00:56:24.592 --> 00:56:25.101
The mountain.

00:56:25.101 --> 00:56:26.422
I was like, oh, this is actually nice.

00:56:26.452 --> 00:56:26.692
Yeah.

00:56:26.931 --> 00:56:27.831
Like, so

00:56:28.012 --> 00:56:29.992
for places to be locked down and.

00:56:30.757 --> 00:56:34.327
Made to stay in your home, like where we lived was ideal'cause Yeah,

00:56:34.626 --> 00:56:35.137
for sure.

00:56:35.407 --> 00:56:38.766
We, we got to a point where we're like, we have to leave the house, we have to do something.

00:56:38.766 --> 00:56:40.447
We would always pile in our Yeah.

00:56:40.447 --> 00:56:46.567
Uh, extera and we would go hunt down the same, uh, herd of, of deer around the property.

00:56:46.567 --> 00:56:46.896
Every day.

00:56:46.896 --> 00:56:50.706
We'd go, you know, after an hour of driving fire roads, we'd find them and sit and watch.

00:56:50.706 --> 00:56:51.306
Oh, that's cool.

00:56:51.367 --> 00:56:51.666
Yeah.

00:56:51.726 --> 00:56:53.317
That became our entertainment for a while.

00:56:53.347 --> 00:57:03.067
Jill and I were actually on a hiking kick starting months before we were snowshoeing through January and then March we were hiking and uh, it was crazy.

00:57:03.067 --> 00:57:10.536
Like we'd go out hiking and it was like us and four other cars and six Amazon trucks and that was pretty much it.

00:57:10.536 --> 00:57:10.851
On the road.

00:57:11.132 --> 00:57:11.291
Yeah.

00:57:11.291 --> 00:57:12.876
For a few weeks there.

00:57:13.356 --> 00:57:14.077
That's bizarre.

00:57:14.077 --> 00:57:14.137
Yeah,

00:57:14.197 --> 00:57:14.916
it was bizarre

00:57:14.916 --> 00:57:15.246
for sure.

00:57:15.246 --> 00:57:17.197
It was just such a, yeah, a weird space.

00:57:17.556 --> 00:57:23.766
So, so you get like ready to depart California.

00:57:23.766 --> 00:57:26.527
Did you know you were gonna come back to your great-grand?

00:57:26.947 --> 00:57:27.907
Yes, we did.

00:57:27.907 --> 00:57:28.806
So my mom.

00:57:29.766 --> 00:57:31.206
Has owned two homes.

00:57:31.206 --> 00:57:34.447
One in Loveland, one in my great grandparents, four forever.

00:57:34.867 --> 00:57:37.447
Um, but she was considering selling Mm.

00:57:37.536 --> 00:57:42.847
My great grandparents' home, which growing up I didn't think I would've had any sort of reaction to.

00:57:42.847 --> 00:57:42.907
Yeah.

00:57:43.027 --> 00:57:45.786
I honestly did not think I wanted to live in northern Colorado.

00:57:45.817 --> 00:57:45.907
Mm.

00:57:46.206 --> 00:57:49.867
Um, my uncle lives in Brooklyn and I had always said I would live in Brooklyn.

00:57:49.896 --> 00:57:50.197
Okay.

00:57:50.286 --> 00:57:52.327
Um, which would still be awesome.

00:57:52.327 --> 00:58:01.117
But, uh, she, when she thought about selling it, I had a much stronger reaction than I thought I would, and I was very upset.

00:58:01.597 --> 00:58:11.916
Um, and so we then asked, well, if we're gonna move back, especially then after COVID and everything, I said, well, we have to have a place that we know we can land.

00:58:11.916 --> 00:58:21.007
We can't come here and not have a rental house or have, and we were coming from a ministry which historically transitioning from Yeah.

00:58:21.246 --> 00:58:21.737
That to.

00:58:22.762 --> 00:58:26.541
Regular rent prices Yes.

00:58:26.541 --> 00:58:27.021
Can be a struggle.

00:58:27.322 --> 00:58:27.592
Right.

00:58:27.621 --> 00:58:31.461
Um, and so she agreed to let us rent the house from her.

00:58:32.181 --> 00:58:32.692
So we knew at a

00:58:32.692 --> 00:58:34.101
scream and family deal probably too.

00:58:34.101 --> 00:58:34.311
Yeah.

00:58:34.461 --> 00:58:34.851
Oh yeah.

00:58:34.851 --> 00:58:35.061
That's,

00:58:35.061 --> 00:58:37.581
especially while you didn't have much income figured out.

00:58:37.612 --> 00:58:37.911
Yes.

00:58:37.911 --> 00:58:40.222
And Ben has to restart his business basically.

00:58:40.282 --> 00:58:40.402
Yeah.

00:58:40.431 --> 00:58:40.882
Yes.

00:58:41.032 --> 00:58:43.702
So she really helped with that.

00:58:43.851 --> 00:58:46.251
I don't really know how else we would've gotten back.

00:58:46.251 --> 00:58:46.612
We probably still

00:58:46.612 --> 00:58:47.362
be in California.

00:58:47.391 --> 00:58:50.061
Yeah, that's, and so, um,

00:58:50.152 --> 00:58:50.661
oh God bless her.

00:58:50.871 --> 00:58:51.411
Yes.

00:58:51.472 --> 00:58:56.422
And then about a year later, in a very similar, very, very.

00:58:56.797 --> 00:58:57.876
Gracious way.

00:58:57.907 --> 00:58:59.467
She ended up selling the house to us.

00:58:59.496 --> 00:58:59.617
Oh.

00:58:59.617 --> 00:59:01.507
Um, that's, and so now we own it.

00:59:01.836 --> 00:59:04.476
Um, which kind of solidified our location.

00:59:04.567 --> 00:59:04.717
Yeah.

00:59:04.717 --> 00:59:07.836
A little bit more than I think we had even planned when we moved back.

00:59:07.867 --> 00:59:08.197
Yeah.

00:59:08.197 --> 00:59:08.206
Yeah.

00:59:08.286 --> 00:59:10.237
Um, but it's worked out and now I love it.

00:59:10.237 --> 00:59:12.007
And our kids get to grow up there, which is great.

00:59:12.577 --> 00:59:14.706
Do you, you don't have dreams right now of moving to Brooklyn?

00:59:15.306 --> 00:59:16.956
No dreams right now of moving to Brooklyn.

00:59:17.077 --> 00:59:17.376
That's good.

00:59:17.376 --> 00:59:18.751
I would love, it's not great place for kiddos.

00:59:18.751 --> 00:59:23.976
Would love mostly to my, I would love mostly to just like, be able to go there for a summer.

00:59:24.157 --> 00:59:24.367
Yeah.

00:59:24.456 --> 00:59:25.327
And be like, oh yeah.

00:59:25.327 --> 00:59:26.827
Like, let's experience New York.

00:59:26.827 --> 00:59:28.746
What's a summer home in Brooklyn?

00:59:28.746 --> 00:59:29.106
Cost?

00:59:29.106 --> 00:59:29.347
Do you know?

00:59:29.586 --> 00:59:30.072
I don't know.

00:59:30.336 --> 00:59:33.007
But, uh, maybe you can live with uncle.

00:59:33.367 --> 00:59:35.737
I was like, they have a standalone house with a yard.

00:59:35.916 --> 00:59:36.086
Yeah, that works.

00:59:36.086 --> 00:59:36.231
So

00:59:36.572 --> 00:59:36.791
we

00:59:36.791 --> 00:59:37.351
could fit somewhere.

00:59:37.351 --> 00:59:37.371
That works.

00:59:37.371 --> 00:59:44.376
Well, the cool thing about what you're building here is, is if you get a little more scale to it, obviously and get penetration in markets and stuff.

00:59:45.126 --> 00:59:47.797
You can pretty much do most of what you need remotely.

00:59:47.797 --> 00:59:50.257
And so you could take eight weeks in Brooklyn.

00:59:50.347 --> 00:59:50.646
Yeah.

00:59:50.646 --> 00:59:52.356
Take some time and or

00:59:52.356 --> 00:59:52.746
whatever,

00:59:52.746 --> 00:59:53.586
which would be great.

00:59:53.586 --> 00:59:53.797
Yeah.

00:59:53.797 --> 00:59:58.117
To be able to kind of have it established, um, which would be awesome.

00:59:58.117 --> 01:00:05.376
No, our dreams have really shifted the other way for me from moving to the big city to, uh, we would like to have like five to 10 acres of land.

01:00:05.376 --> 01:00:05.407
Okay.

01:00:05.407 --> 01:00:07.806
Which seems as unattainable monetarily.

01:00:08.391 --> 01:00:10.371
Currently as moving to Brooklyn, but

01:00:11.001 --> 01:00:14.782
once your media empire grows, doubles a few more times then

01:00:15.141 --> 01:00:15.231
mm-hmm.

01:00:15.472 --> 01:00:16.251
Should be manageable.

01:00:16.492 --> 01:00:16.552
Yeah.

01:00:16.581 --> 01:00:16.822
Interest

01:00:16.822 --> 01:00:17.751
rates drop a little bit.

01:00:17.751 --> 01:00:18.532
That would help too.

01:00:18.532 --> 01:00:18.862
Yeah.

01:00:19.461 --> 01:00:19.552
Right.

01:00:20.842 --> 01:00:23.961
So do you have, don't have any real property to speak of at your La Porte place?

01:00:24.172 --> 01:00:24.561
No.

01:00:24.561 --> 01:00:24.922
No.

01:00:24.922 --> 01:00:25.282
It's right

01:00:25.282 --> 01:00:25.612
in town

01:00:25.612 --> 01:00:25.762
kind.

01:00:25.762 --> 01:00:26.001
Yeah.

01:00:26.271 --> 01:00:29.632
It's in LaPorte as in town as you can get.

01:00:29.722 --> 01:00:30.516
Gotcha, gotcha.

01:00:30.742 --> 01:00:32.632
Urban, the urban part of LaPorte.

01:00:32.722 --> 01:00:33.322
Yes.

01:00:33.592 --> 01:00:36.291
Can you walk to, uh, the swing station or anything like that?

01:00:36.291 --> 01:00:36.351
We

01:00:36.351 --> 01:00:36.831
can, yeah.

01:00:36.831 --> 01:00:38.032
We can walk to the swing station.

01:00:38.032 --> 01:00:38.692
Walk to Oma.

01:00:39.231 --> 01:00:39.711
Nice.

01:00:39.711 --> 01:00:39.862
Um,

01:00:39.867 --> 01:00:41.271
so you know that you got everything covered.

01:00:41.277 --> 01:00:41.677
I really do.

01:00:41.677 --> 01:00:41.717
Yeah.

01:00:41.717 --> 01:00:41.916
That's work good.

01:00:42.146 --> 01:00:42.436
Yeah.

01:01:32.847 --> 01:01:34.557
And we're back just like that.

01:01:35.788 --> 01:01:35.878
Easy.

01:01:36.358 --> 01:01:43.318
So earlier in the conversation, um, you mentioned getting into some longer form content as well.

01:01:44.293 --> 01:01:46.092
Uh, care to share more about that.

01:01:46.393 --> 01:01:46.572
Yeah.

01:01:46.572 --> 01:01:48.193
I would say that's Ben's passion area, so.

01:01:48.193 --> 01:01:48.552
Okay.

01:01:49.213 --> 01:01:49.483
Yeah.

01:01:49.483 --> 01:01:55.932
We've just started getting into, uh, what are some of the longer form stories that we could tell around town?

01:01:56.083 --> 01:01:56.293
Yeah.

01:01:56.293 --> 01:01:58.722
And some of, we've just been experimenting with different things.

01:01:58.722 --> 01:02:02.742
We did kind of a, oh, I don't know what that ended up being.

01:02:02.742 --> 01:02:09.402
Maybe a 15 minute little program with, uh, the gardens over on Spring Creek about gardening and agri and horticulture.

01:02:09.402 --> 01:02:15.282
And we got to meet with one of their lead horticultural horticulturalists and, uh,

01:02:15.342 --> 01:02:15.643
nailed

01:02:15.643 --> 01:02:15.702
it.

01:02:15.762 --> 01:02:16.182
Yeah.

01:02:16.182 --> 01:02:20.233
And do, do a, like a little a think HGTV

01:02:20.293 --> 01:02:20.472
kind

01:02:20.472 --> 01:02:21.913
of like, like segment sort of thing.

01:02:21.943 --> 01:02:22.663
Like a mini doc

01:02:22.663 --> 01:02:22.963
almost.

01:02:22.963 --> 01:02:23.862
Yeah, exactly.

01:02:25.032 --> 01:02:33.463
And so, um, our most recent project we just released, it was about a 22 minute little short documentary about, uh, beer here in Northern Colorado.

01:02:33.463 --> 01:02:36.672
So I got to go meet with all, uh, not all.

01:02:36.733 --> 01:02:41.952
There's a lot, meet with some of our favorite breweries, um, all across Northern Colorado.

01:02:42.043 --> 01:02:44.353
We tried to get one in every city

01:02:44.563 --> 01:02:44.922
Okay.

01:02:44.952 --> 01:02:45.583
Except Windsor.

01:02:45.643 --> 01:02:45.853
Yeah.

01:02:45.853 --> 01:02:46.782
We didn't get to Windsor.

01:02:46.813 --> 01:02:47.233
Oh, bummer.

01:02:48.012 --> 01:02:55.047
And then just do a little deep dive on their experiences as small business owners in a fairly saturated field here in Sure.

01:02:55.422 --> 01:02:56.233
Northern Colorado.

01:02:56.262 --> 01:02:59.202
'cause we have the reputation of being a big beer town.

01:02:59.262 --> 01:02:59.623
Sure.

01:02:59.893 --> 01:03:04.362
And so getting to talk to everyone from odell, who's been here forever.

01:03:04.572 --> 01:03:04.782
Yep.

01:03:04.902 --> 01:03:09.012
All the way down to, you know, very, very small indie band as they would call it.

01:03:09.282 --> 01:03:09.523
Yeah.

01:03:09.733 --> 01:03:11.563
Uh, like, hello Brew over here.

01:03:11.563 --> 01:03:11.773
Yeah.

01:03:11.833 --> 01:03:12.072
Hello.

01:03:12.072 --> 01:03:12.492
Brew Co.

01:03:12.552 --> 01:03:12.793
Yep.

01:03:12.793 --> 01:03:13.543
Hello Brew Co.

01:03:13.543 --> 01:03:16.483
So, um, and they're just, you know, neighbors right there.

01:03:16.483 --> 01:03:23.563
And so getting their perspective on everything from, um, why they love doing what they do, uh, what are the challenges.

01:03:23.878 --> 01:03:25.228
Of being in such a saturated field.

01:03:25.228 --> 01:03:27.688
What is, what has the beer industry been like since COVID?

01:03:27.717 --> 01:03:27.987
Yeah.

01:03:28.498 --> 01:03:29.487
So those sort of things.

01:03:29.487 --> 01:03:29.907
And so

01:03:29.913 --> 01:03:30.052
yeah.

01:03:30.777 --> 01:03:33.297
Yeah, we just released that and we, we did a premiere night.

01:03:33.432 --> 01:03:33.652
Is

01:03:33.652 --> 01:03:35.907
that on, this is Noco or is that a separate release?

01:03:35.907 --> 01:03:36.987
That's like a YouTube,

01:03:37.498 --> 01:03:38.878
it's on our YouTube channel format

01:03:38.907 --> 01:03:39.148
kind of

01:03:39.148 --> 01:03:39.237
thing.

01:03:39.237 --> 01:03:39.597
For sure.

01:03:39.597 --> 01:03:42.327
And it's all the episodes we raise released to Episodically.

01:03:42.387 --> 01:03:45.568
So there they're five, five-ish minute episodes.

01:03:45.597 --> 01:03:45.688
Okay.

01:03:45.688 --> 01:03:47.577
Up on, um, this is noco.com.

01:03:47.637 --> 01:03:52.077
You can find it and there's like a little article write up on e every episode Cool.

01:03:52.077 --> 01:03:52.527
Sort of thing.

01:03:52.527 --> 01:03:55.378
So we just did that and that has led to some fun things.

01:03:55.378 --> 01:03:57.447
We're now sponsors of Fort Collins Beer Week

01:03:57.538 --> 01:03:57.657
Oh.

01:03:57.717 --> 01:03:58.588
Um, this summer.

01:03:58.588 --> 01:04:00.538
So we're excited to be a part of that and

01:04:00.538 --> 01:04:00.987
yeah.

01:04:00.987 --> 01:04:00.998
Yeah.

01:04:01.467 --> 01:04:02.487
So, yeah.

01:04:02.487 --> 01:04:07.617
And, uh, we're, we, we've got probably a dozen ideas of different things that we want to do.

01:04:07.708 --> 01:04:08.157
Yeah.

01:04:08.157 --> 01:04:08.168
Yeah.

01:04:08.248 --> 01:04:10.438
Here in, in Colorado, so

01:04:11.038 --> 01:04:11.637
that's really fun.

01:04:12.117 --> 01:04:15.867
Jill and I have, uh, we like to go to the, the, uh, trivia night at.

01:04:16.242 --> 01:04:18.043
Uh, Breckenridge Brewing sometimes.

01:04:18.043 --> 01:04:18.072
Oh.

01:04:18.072 --> 01:04:18.733
Mm-hmm.

01:04:19.003 --> 01:04:24.253
And, uh, I noticed that they've got some kind of a Winter Brew Fest thing coming up at the end of February there.

01:04:24.342 --> 01:04:24.523
Yep.

01:04:24.523 --> 01:04:24.822
Yeah, that's,

01:04:24.972 --> 01:04:28.842
uh, which there used to be a brew fest every month just about it seemed like.

01:04:28.842 --> 01:04:28.853
Mm-hmm.

01:04:28.887 --> 01:04:33.702
And it's been kind of a, a less common occurrence, so I thought about checking that out.

01:04:33.702 --> 01:04:35.112
This, this spring here.

01:04:35.233 --> 01:04:35.293
Yeah.

01:04:35.293 --> 01:04:35.768
I think, why not?

01:04:35.768 --> 01:04:36.768
While I think's in February it looks

01:04:36.768 --> 01:04:36.927
great.

01:04:37.827 --> 01:04:46.663
Um, and it's funny, like when I was 30, the, uh, pay$40 and drink as much as you want was a lot more compelling.

01:04:46.782 --> 01:04:46.902
Mm-hmm.

01:04:47.143 --> 01:04:47.233
Yeah.

01:04:47.682 --> 01:04:53.893
Now I'm kind of like, how about if I pay$25 and drink one third as much as I could?

01:04:53.952 --> 01:04:54.313
Yeah.

01:04:54.313 --> 01:04:54.402
Mm-hmm.

01:04:55.217 --> 01:04:57.012
Gimme a set amount and I'm good.

01:04:57.853 --> 01:04:58.242
You cut

01:04:58.242 --> 01:04:59.172
me off at six.

01:04:59.177 --> 01:04:59.288
Yeah.

01:04:59.757 --> 01:05:00.047
Good.

01:05:00.193 --> 01:05:00.463
Yeah.

01:05:00.523 --> 01:05:02.623
Even we went to like the Great

01:05:02.623 --> 01:05:03.342
American Beer Festival.

01:05:03.342 --> 01:05:04.452
Great American Beer Festival.

01:05:04.452 --> 01:05:04.543
Oh, you

01:05:04.543 --> 01:05:04.902
did?

01:05:05.202 --> 01:05:06.972
And I don't think I could do it now.

01:05:07.393 --> 01:05:07.693
Right.

01:05:07.693 --> 01:05:12.012
That's I you that I would've been like 25 and that seemed great,

01:05:12.163 --> 01:05:12.463
right?

01:05:12.492 --> 01:05:12.643
Yeah.

01:05:12.643 --> 01:05:16.632
But now I'm like, I don't think I could even enjoy all the beers I'm tasting.

01:05:17.023 --> 01:05:17.262
So

01:05:17.262 --> 01:05:19.213
when you have 81 ounce pores,

01:05:19.333 --> 01:05:19.782
right?

01:05:19.963 --> 01:05:20.112
Oh.

01:05:20.262 --> 01:05:21.012
And in afternoon,

01:05:21.612 --> 01:05:22.092
that's a lot.

01:05:22.092 --> 01:05:22.873
It all blends together.

01:05:22.873 --> 01:05:24.432
It, right.

01:05:24.643 --> 01:05:28.362
One of my favorite, uh, signs, actually, bathroom signs.

01:05:28.367 --> 01:05:30.913
I'm a, I'm a bathroom sign aficionado of sorts.

01:05:31.452 --> 01:05:35.952
Um, is that the Timus Brewery or Beer Brew Beer Works or whatever.

01:05:36.583 --> 01:05:36.672
Oh, beer works, I think it's called.

01:05:36.672 --> 01:05:37.047
Mm-hmm.

01:05:37.273 --> 01:05:39.432
And it, in the men's room, you probably wouldn't know Kelsey.

01:05:39.432 --> 01:05:39.523
Mm-hmm.

01:05:39.762 --> 01:05:43.003
But it says, uh, in dog beers, I've had only one.

01:05:47.862 --> 01:05:51.612
And see, my brain goes to bathroom signs would be a great Instagram account.

01:05:52.452 --> 01:05:53.682
People would love that.

01:05:53.742 --> 01:05:53.983
Yeah.

01:05:53.983 --> 01:05:54.577
There you go.

01:05:55.063 --> 01:05:58.693
But you have to recruit Ben to the guy.

01:05:58.693 --> 01:05:59.893
The far fewer bathroom signs.

01:05:59.978 --> 01:06:00.882
I was like, what is, like,

01:06:01.242 --> 01:06:01.992
what is the art.

01:06:02.427 --> 01:06:04.197
Seen in women's bathrooms.

01:06:04.288 --> 01:06:04.378
Yeah.

01:06:04.378 --> 01:06:07.202
Do they have'em on the back of the toilet door and stuff, or No?

01:06:07.202 --> 01:06:09.117
You just above the sink sometimes.

01:06:09.117 --> 01:06:10.557
But that's a mirror usually.

01:06:10.648 --> 01:06:11.637
Yeah, that's a mirror.

01:06:11.818 --> 01:06:14.577
I guess we don't really have an art scene in women's bathrooms

01:06:15.057 --> 01:06:17.367
at Uretal are a very captive market.

01:06:17.427 --> 01:06:19.708
Like you're gonna look at the wall in front of you

01:06:19.978 --> 01:06:20.217
Yep.

01:06:20.307 --> 01:06:21.297
While you're standing there.

01:06:21.297 --> 01:06:21.898
Period.

01:06:22.108 --> 01:06:22.288
Wow.

01:06:22.288 --> 01:06:23.277
I've never thought about that.

01:06:23.668 --> 01:06:23.998
Yeah.

01:06:24.447 --> 01:06:27.987
So they, but do they put like marketing material there or just like funny signs

01:06:27.987 --> 01:06:28.498
sometimes.

01:06:28.527 --> 01:06:28.768
Yeah.

01:06:28.827 --> 01:06:29.338
Both.

01:06:29.547 --> 01:06:29.608
Yeah.

01:06:29.608 --> 01:06:29.668
Huh.

01:06:29.938 --> 01:06:30.447
Um,

01:06:30.447 --> 01:06:32.217
otherwise you look at the gr the graffiti.

01:06:32.367 --> 01:06:32.608
Yeah.

01:06:32.637 --> 01:06:32.818
Yeah.

01:06:33.387 --> 01:06:33.447
You

01:06:33.447 --> 01:06:33.688
learn

01:06:33.777 --> 01:06:36.088
what you don't do is look over at the guy next to you ever,

01:06:36.148 --> 01:06:36.447
ever.

01:06:36.507 --> 01:06:36.688
No.

01:06:37.527 --> 01:06:37.768
Yeah.

01:06:37.768 --> 01:06:40.588
That whole situation is, I'm glad I don't have to deal with that.

01:07:24.795 --> 01:07:29.822
So, um, what I think I might want to do here is we have these, uh.

01:07:29.882 --> 01:07:32.163
A random question generator.

01:07:32.163 --> 01:07:32.193
Oh,

01:07:32.222 --> 01:07:32.253
okay.

01:07:33.452 --> 01:07:42.782
And when we have a solo guest, we, uh, we usually do three random questions, but with you guys, I think let's just do two each.

01:07:42.782 --> 01:07:42.813
Okay.

01:07:42.873 --> 01:07:46.202
And we'll be relatively brief'cause we've been talking for quite a while already.

01:07:46.472 --> 01:07:49.443
But grab two balls out and then you can pass this bowl back to me.

01:07:49.443 --> 01:07:49.472
Okay.

01:07:52.322 --> 01:07:52.967
To each Oh,

01:07:52.967 --> 01:07:53.288
to each.

01:07:53.373 --> 01:07:53.643
Yes.

01:07:53.643 --> 01:07:54.213
You get some too.

01:07:54.422 --> 01:07:56.847
And then I've got this, uh, this question list here.

01:07:56.847 --> 01:07:57.088
Oh, this

01:07:57.088 --> 01:07:57.168
is

01:07:57.168 --> 01:07:57.248
my

01:07:57.253 --> 01:07:57.782
favorite number.

01:07:57.782 --> 01:07:58.503
27.

01:07:58.652 --> 01:07:59.222
Excellent.

01:07:59.253 --> 01:08:00.182
That's a favorite number

01:08:00.188 --> 01:08:00.367
I thought.

01:08:00.367 --> 01:08:00.568
Yeah.

01:08:00.572 --> 01:08:01.233
27.

01:08:01.353 --> 01:08:01.742
Interesting.

01:08:02.672 --> 01:08:04.983
That's too big for a favorite number it seems like.

01:08:05.012 --> 01:08:05.222
Yeah.

01:08:05.222 --> 01:08:07.233
I'm not really sure why, but it is.

01:08:07.713 --> 01:08:07.922
Mm-hmm.

01:08:08.132 --> 01:08:09.543
Were you that age when you met Ben?

01:08:09.603 --> 01:08:09.842
No.

01:08:09.842 --> 01:08:10.773
You were only 22.

01:08:10.773 --> 01:08:11.853
Yeah, I was 22.

01:08:13.143 --> 01:08:14.313
Um, do you wanna start Kelsey?

01:08:14.583 --> 01:08:14.943
Sure.

01:08:14.943 --> 01:08:15.242
Yeah.

01:08:15.242 --> 01:08:16.412
You wanna start with the 27?

01:08:16.412 --> 01:08:16.953
27?

01:08:17.132 --> 01:08:19.412
I can get my reading glasses out here.

01:08:19.412 --> 01:08:21.752
That's all easier.

01:08:22.682 --> 01:08:23.613
Oh, this is a fun one.

01:08:24.182 --> 01:08:27.092
What's the strangest way you've ever injured yourself?

01:08:27.872 --> 01:08:30.603
Oh, I haven't been injured.

01:08:30.632 --> 01:08:32.342
I haven't really been injured that much.

01:08:32.403 --> 01:08:32.762
Really?

01:08:32.943 --> 01:08:33.603
That's good for you.

01:08:33.608 --> 01:08:33.962
No, no.

01:08:33.962 --> 01:08:35.313
I've only broken one bone.

01:08:35.493 --> 01:08:35.823
Okay.

01:08:36.453 --> 01:08:37.233
Was it strange?

01:08:37.533 --> 01:08:38.582
It wasn't strange.

01:08:38.582 --> 01:08:40.533
The aftermath was a little more strange.

01:08:40.953 --> 01:08:43.052
Um, my mom's gonna hate that I'm telling this story.

01:08:43.238 --> 01:08:43.868
Let's hear it then.

01:08:44.108 --> 01:08:44.347
I love

01:08:44.347 --> 01:08:44.427
it.

01:08:44.787 --> 01:08:45.842
I like it already.

01:08:46.023 --> 01:08:48.872
I, um, have always been a skier.

01:08:48.962 --> 01:08:48.993
Okay.

01:08:49.052 --> 01:08:49.863
My mom was a skier.

01:08:49.863 --> 01:08:52.023
I learned to ski when I was in like middle high school.

01:08:52.023 --> 01:08:54.842
I decided that I needed to be cool and I wanted to learn to snowboard.

01:08:55.323 --> 01:09:02.132
And so I went snowboarding and fell like in the parking lot, like not even on.

01:09:03.063 --> 01:09:03.542
Okay.

01:09:03.813 --> 01:09:09.033
The hill fell when I was like at the bottom wearing my snowboard and fell back and hurt my wrist.

01:09:09.063 --> 01:09:09.092
Oh.

01:09:09.092 --> 01:09:13.203
And I told my mom that it hurt and she said, no, you're not hurt.

01:09:13.863 --> 01:09:15.273
Go get your skis outta the car.

01:09:15.693 --> 01:09:17.103
You can just ski the rest of the day.

01:09:17.222 --> 01:09:18.002
Yeah, set of snowboard.

01:09:18.182 --> 01:09:18.632
So I did.

01:09:18.632 --> 01:09:19.682
I went skiing the rest of the day.

01:09:20.252 --> 01:09:21.932
The next day, mom, my wrist really hurts.

01:09:22.847 --> 01:09:25.158
She's a nurse, as I mentioned, so No, it doesn't.

01:09:25.158 --> 01:09:25.698
You're fine.

01:09:25.877 --> 01:09:25.938
Oh,

01:09:26.177 --> 01:09:27.228
go to school the next day.

01:09:27.228 --> 01:09:27.467
Mom.

01:09:27.467 --> 01:09:28.457
My wrist really hurts.

01:09:28.698 --> 01:09:29.807
No, you're fine.

01:09:30.167 --> 01:09:30.587
Scaffold

01:09:30.587 --> 01:09:30.677
bone.

01:09:30.677 --> 01:09:40.217
It took probably three or four days until she finally took me to the doctor and I had broken my wrist and she loves that.

01:09:40.217 --> 01:09:41.057
I tell everyone that

01:09:42.198 --> 01:09:42.707
I'm sure

01:09:42.707 --> 01:09:45.528
she did not take me to the doctor, but that's, yeah.

01:09:45.528 --> 01:09:47.177
That's the only time I've broken a bone.

01:09:47.478 --> 01:09:48.078
I, yeah.

01:09:48.318 --> 01:09:48.917
All right.

01:09:49.007 --> 01:09:49.368
I'm pretty

01:09:49.368 --> 01:09:50.297
risk averse, so.

01:09:50.297 --> 01:09:50.658
Yeah, exactly.

01:09:50.658 --> 01:09:55.578
We, we've, we've come to know that between each other, which will be fun for us being co-hosts of that new program.

01:09:56.387 --> 01:09:58.518
Um, Ben, would you like to choose a number?

01:09:58.547 --> 01:09:58.997
Sure.

01:09:58.997 --> 01:10:00.108
I got 26.

01:10:00.108 --> 01:10:00.257
Alright.

01:10:00.467 --> 01:10:00.707
Right.

01:10:01.037 --> 01:10:01.278
Make be easy

01:10:01.278 --> 01:10:01.457
on you.

01:10:01.632 --> 01:10:01.922
Five.

01:10:03.167 --> 01:10:06.557
What's your go-to way to unwind after a stressful day?

01:10:06.917 --> 01:10:13.847
Oh, go-to way to unwind lately has been a lot of what my kids call rough play.

01:10:14.118 --> 01:10:14.537
Oh.

01:10:14.597 --> 01:10:15.797
Um, so they just,

01:10:15.887 --> 01:10:16.217
I don't know

01:10:16.217 --> 01:10:16.488
that that's

01:10:16.488 --> 01:10:16.938
unwinding.

01:10:17.118 --> 01:10:17.448
Yeah.

01:10:17.448 --> 01:10:19.368
Well it's, it's fun in its own way.

01:10:19.457 --> 01:10:19.847
Yeah.

01:10:19.847 --> 01:10:21.287
But, uh, it's a lot of Yeah.

01:10:21.318 --> 01:10:24.467
Wrestling I get on the ground and they really, you know, give me everything they've got.

01:10:24.557 --> 01:10:24.707
Yeah.

01:10:24.707 --> 01:10:26.898
And they're combined nine years of life.

01:10:27.257 --> 01:10:27.497
I love

01:10:27.497 --> 01:10:27.648
it.

01:10:27.832 --> 01:10:28.073
I love it.

01:10:28.073 --> 01:10:28.518
That's a lot of fun.

01:10:28.518 --> 01:10:29.778
But I'm also very into pipes.

01:10:29.778 --> 01:10:33.438
I like pipe tobaccos and that sort of thing, so when I can like old

01:10:33.438 --> 01:10:34.007
school, like

01:10:34.097 --> 01:10:34.337
Yep.

01:10:34.368 --> 01:10:34.457
Mm-hmm.

01:10:34.787 --> 01:10:34.997
Yeah.

01:10:34.997 --> 01:10:35.238
Old

01:10:35.238 --> 01:10:35.627
man.

01:10:35.688 --> 01:10:35.898
Yep.

01:10:35.957 --> 01:10:37.188
Very old man sort of stuff.

01:10:37.188 --> 01:10:37.427
So,

01:10:37.488 --> 01:10:39.618
are there certain tobaccos out there that you favor?

01:10:40.398 --> 01:10:41.778
Um, that I favor?

01:10:41.988 --> 01:10:42.887
Probably not.

01:10:43.158 --> 01:10:43.518
I'm

01:10:43.693 --> 01:10:44.568
the, the variety of it

01:10:44.573 --> 01:10:44.752
kind of.

01:10:44.752 --> 01:10:44.912
Yeah.

01:10:44.912 --> 01:10:45.677
I love the variety of, and

01:10:45.677 --> 01:10:46.712
the pipes it sounds like too.

01:10:46.712 --> 01:10:47.073
Mm-hmm.

01:10:47.158 --> 01:10:47.328
Yep.

01:10:47.387 --> 01:10:51.137
A lot of aromatics, so I like the, the smellier ones.

01:10:51.167 --> 01:10:51.797
Okay, nice.

01:10:51.828 --> 01:10:52.217
Yeah.

01:10:52.217 --> 01:10:52.228
Yeah.

01:10:52.247 --> 01:10:54.347
You know, themed caven dishes and that sort of thing.

01:10:54.377 --> 01:10:54.738
Okay.

01:10:54.948 --> 01:10:55.398
Interesting.

01:10:56.018 --> 01:10:58.927
So I like those when it makes sense to be able to enjoy those.

01:10:58.927 --> 01:10:59.167
Yeah.

01:11:00.368 --> 01:11:02.587
I like, I like wrestling with children as well.

01:11:03.398 --> 01:11:05.318
I don't have any of my own, so it gets awkward sometimes.

01:11:05.323 --> 01:11:05.382
That's,

01:11:05.382 --> 01:11:06.488
I was like, so that's a different,

01:11:09.427 --> 01:11:10.627
alright, Kelsey, you're back on.

01:11:10.898 --> 01:11:11.677
I'm 25.

01:11:11.677 --> 01:11:12.847
We're just going straight down

01:11:12.847 --> 01:11:12.938
five.

01:11:12.938 --> 01:11:13.268
Dang.

01:11:13.268 --> 01:11:14.137
You guys are right there.

01:11:15.307 --> 01:11:18.943
What's one thing on your bucket list that you're determined to accomplish?

01:11:19.643 --> 01:11:22.597
Oh, I think I would like to go to Italy.

01:11:22.927 --> 01:11:23.198
Okay.

01:11:23.318 --> 01:11:26.438
Um, I've been to Spain, been some other places, but not Italy.

01:11:26.438 --> 01:11:28.837
But, um, my maiden name is Maggiano.

01:11:29.528 --> 01:11:30.847
Um, Magno.

01:11:30.847 --> 01:11:31.238
Maggiano.

01:11:31.243 --> 01:11:33.342
Maggiano, which used to be Maggiano.

01:11:33.347 --> 01:11:33.547
Okay.

01:11:33.877 --> 01:11:36.337
Um, and then at some point the Double G got dropped.

01:11:36.398 --> 01:11:36.578
Yeah.

01:11:36.847 --> 01:11:40.478
Um, and so my mom and all of my mom's family is very Italian.

01:11:40.478 --> 01:11:40.903
Oh, very cool.

01:11:41.792 --> 01:11:43.743
So I think that's what I'm determined.

01:11:43.953 --> 01:11:44.042
Yeah.

01:11:44.103 --> 01:11:45.962
Well check out Ravena when you go.

01:11:45.962 --> 01:11:45.993
Okay.

01:11:46.443 --> 01:11:49.922
Uh, it's, uh, east of Bologna and south of Venice, a couple of hours.

01:11:50.073 --> 01:11:50.462
Okay.

01:11:50.582 --> 01:11:55.143
And, uh, my wife and I hosted a student from Italy last fall.

01:11:55.143 --> 01:11:59.582
So Sarah from Ravena stayed with us from August through December.

01:11:59.582 --> 01:12:00.033
Okay.

01:12:00.212 --> 01:12:04.533
And, uh, she was a little sister of Enrico who stayed with us three years prior.

01:12:05.162 --> 01:12:05.193
Okay.

01:12:05.193 --> 01:12:05.613
So it was our

01:12:05.613 --> 01:12:07.137
first And neither of those are the one from Poland?

01:12:07.438 --> 01:12:08.978
No, that was back in 2020.

01:12:08.983 --> 01:12:09.153
Okay.

01:12:09.457 --> 01:12:09.578
Okay.

01:12:09.582 --> 01:12:10.773
We've hosted 12 now.

01:12:10.802 --> 01:12:10.922
Oh, wow.

01:12:10.922 --> 01:12:11.733
Including Sarah.

01:12:11.733 --> 01:12:12.903
So that's our little hobby.

01:12:12.903 --> 01:12:13.323
That's very cool.

01:12:13.382 --> 01:12:15.783
And they can't work for pay while they're here.

01:12:15.783 --> 01:12:21.063
And so you could basically get one that could watch your kids at certain times for date nights and stuff.

01:12:21.063 --> 01:12:21.662
Wow.

01:12:21.722 --> 01:12:23.283
Why can't they work for pay?

01:12:23.372 --> 01:12:24.662
Well, because they're on a student visa.

01:12:24.877 --> 01:12:25.097
Oh.

01:12:25.118 --> 01:12:25.337
And

01:12:25.342 --> 01:12:26.193
they don't have a work visa.

01:12:26.193 --> 01:12:26.252
They

01:12:26.257 --> 01:12:26.853
don't have a work visa.

01:12:26.882 --> 01:12:26.972
Okay.

01:12:27.033 --> 01:12:29.283
So yeah, if you pay'em, you have to pay'em under the counter.

01:12:29.283 --> 01:12:29.493
Yeah.

01:12:29.493 --> 01:12:30.137
You gotta cash.

01:12:30.137 --> 01:12:30.778
Shouldn't do it all but.

01:12:31.533 --> 01:12:34.203
But they would probably go for a little walking around money too.

01:12:34.472 --> 01:12:34.712
Yeah.

01:12:34.712 --> 01:12:34.832
Gift.

01:12:34.893 --> 01:12:36.332
'cause their parents or gift cards.

01:12:36.332 --> 01:12:36.872
Exactly.

01:12:37.113 --> 01:12:39.573
Well, even just, uh, yeah, some cash.

01:12:39.632 --> 01:12:39.752
Yeah.

01:12:39.752 --> 01:12:40.443
For watching my kid.

01:12:40.773 --> 01:12:40.832
Huh.

01:12:40.863 --> 01:12:45.332
But anyway, you know, usually they're 16, 17 years old is the ones we've hosted.

01:12:45.332 --> 01:12:46.082
So that's fun.

01:12:46.082 --> 01:12:52.983
Lemme know if you want a connection there sometime, but we're hoping to go actually back for Sarah's high school graduation next in 27.

01:12:53.018 --> 01:12:53.307
Okay.

01:12:53.313 --> 01:12:53.762
Okay.

01:12:53.762 --> 01:12:54.962
And visit the family and her

01:12:54.962 --> 01:12:55.233
folks

01:12:55.233 --> 01:13:00.212
have reached out a couple times, but like, you can stay here whatever you want for as long as you want.

01:13:00.932 --> 01:13:01.172
We're here.

01:13:01.172 --> 01:13:01.743
Yeah.

01:13:01.743 --> 01:13:08.552
And so it's been kind of a neat, uh, having that, uh, multi, uh, kid

01:13:08.733 --> 01:13:09.243
Yes.

01:13:09.243 --> 01:13:09.962
Sequence.

01:13:09.988 --> 01:13:14.432
It just kind of cements that bond and we've had zooms with them and their parents over the years.

01:13:14.637 --> 01:13:14.927
Cool.

01:13:14.927 --> 01:13:15.127
That's

01:13:15.127 --> 01:13:15.207
really

01:13:15.212 --> 01:13:15.512
cool.

01:13:15.872 --> 01:13:16.323
It's pretty neat.

01:13:16.412 --> 01:13:17.733
So anyway, for what it's worth.

01:13:17.762 --> 01:13:17.853
Okay.

01:13:17.853 --> 01:13:18.063
That's cool.

01:13:18.453 --> 01:13:19.743
Um, maybe we'll see you over there.

01:13:19.837 --> 01:13:20.127
Yeah.

01:13:20.127 --> 01:13:20.568
Ravenna.

01:13:20.573 --> 01:13:20.853
Yeah.

01:13:20.882 --> 01:13:23.222
All right, Ben, what's your, uh, what's your other number?

01:13:23.222 --> 01:13:24.368
The last one is 1212.

01:13:29.868 --> 01:13:34.488
If you could time travel, would you visit the past or the future?

01:13:35.417 --> 01:13:36.438
When and why?

01:13:37.068 --> 01:13:37.488
Hmm.

01:13:37.787 --> 01:13:38.717
When and why?

01:13:39.198 --> 01:13:40.278
Past or future?

01:13:42.318 --> 01:13:42.797
Yeah.

01:13:42.797 --> 01:13:43.818
I don't know.

01:13:44.238 --> 01:13:46.547
I think it would probably be a lot of fun.

01:13:47.568 --> 01:13:49.518
I don't know if I'd have the guts to go to the future.

01:13:49.908 --> 01:13:50.717
Maybe they'll leave that.

01:13:51.137 --> 01:13:51.653
Leave that to the end.

01:13:51.653 --> 01:13:52.427
Leave that a mystery.

01:13:52.427 --> 01:13:52.488
Yeah.

01:13:54.078 --> 01:13:56.658
But I, so I think I would go to the past, I'm not sure when,

01:13:56.658 --> 01:13:58.667
whatever time period they were smoking all the cool pipes.

01:13:58.667 --> 01:13:58.877
Right.

01:13:58.938 --> 01:14:00.347
When that was more socially accepted.

01:14:01.518 --> 01:14:01.967
Dig it.

01:14:02.627 --> 01:14:02.988
No.

01:14:02.988 --> 01:14:04.037
So, yeah, I don't know.

01:14:04.158 --> 01:14:04.728
Time.

01:14:05.658 --> 01:14:06.228
I don't know.

01:14:06.858 --> 01:14:13.307
Kelsey and I love to have little arguments of, well, as a, as a white guy, I can visit any time in period in history and I'd be fine.

01:14:14.028 --> 01:14:16.307
Yeah, that sounds like that's a very different answer for that question.

01:14:16.337 --> 01:14:18.257
'cause I was a history major in undergrad.

01:14:18.318 --> 01:14:18.677
Yeah.

01:14:18.768 --> 01:14:22.908
But I, we discuss a lot that anything I would wanna see in history.

01:14:23.507 --> 01:14:24.497
Wouldn't have been for me.

01:14:24.618 --> 01:14:25.427
Oh, interesting.

01:14:25.457 --> 01:14:29.177
I would've been in the other, the other, so that's,

01:14:30.167 --> 01:14:30.978
talk to me about that.

01:14:30.978 --> 01:14:37.307
Like Maggiano doesn't seem like a, uh, it seems like pretty Italian name.

01:14:37.337 --> 01:14:37.518
Yep.

01:14:37.518 --> 01:14:40.337
Which, so your mother is black then, or

01:14:40.337 --> 01:14:40.608
No?

01:14:40.608 --> 01:14:43.877
My, uh, so Maggiano is my mom's last name.

01:14:43.877 --> 01:14:45.167
I grew up to a single mom.

01:14:45.228 --> 01:14:45.438
Yep.

01:14:45.738 --> 01:14:47.537
Um, so it was just me and my mom.

01:14:47.597 --> 01:14:47.927
Okay.

01:14:48.018 --> 01:14:49.818
Um, and she's very Italian.

01:14:49.818 --> 01:14:52.337
I only knew my Italian side of my family.

01:14:52.547 --> 01:14:52.698
Gotcha.

01:14:52.698 --> 01:14:53.148
Growing up.

01:14:53.148 --> 01:14:54.198
My dad is black.

01:14:54.528 --> 01:14:56.868
Um, he lives in Alabama and I did not know him Okay.

01:14:56.868 --> 01:14:58.097
Until I was 32.

01:14:58.337 --> 01:14:58.667
Oh, wow.

01:14:58.997 --> 01:14:59.028
Okay.

01:14:59.028 --> 01:15:00.828
So I just met him and my younger sister.

01:15:01.217 --> 01:15:01.547
Um, okay.

01:15:01.547 --> 01:15:01.728
Just

01:15:01.728 --> 01:15:02.387
a couple years ago.

01:15:02.417 --> 01:15:02.868
Just, yeah.

01:15:02.868 --> 01:15:03.438
Two years ago.

01:15:03.438 --> 01:15:04.637
I've met them twice now.

01:15:04.698 --> 01:15:05.207
That's interesting.

01:15:05.238 --> 01:15:11.238
Um, and so yeah, growing up here in Fort Collins, that was a very different,

01:15:11.328 --> 01:15:12.887
you were the darkest Italian that anybody had ever

01:15:12.887 --> 01:15:13.097
met.

01:15:13.103 --> 01:15:13.323
Mm-hmm.

01:15:13.422 --> 01:15:13.643
Yes.

01:15:13.757 --> 01:15:16.127
That's, but even like my hair, I Right.

01:15:16.502 --> 01:15:21.243
It was a very hard conversation often of like, well, I'm very clearly black,

01:15:21.332 --> 01:15:21.603
right?

01:15:21.842 --> 01:15:29.012
But then when you see me with my family or how I was raised and things, it doesn't fit people's perception.

01:15:29.132 --> 01:15:29.432
Yeah.

01:15:29.823 --> 01:15:31.983
And that has always been a balance.

01:15:32.162 --> 01:15:35.792
You've had very limited, almost nominal exposure to black culture.

01:15:35.823 --> 01:15:36.212
Oh, yeah.

01:15:36.212 --> 01:15:38.457
Aside from what you've watched on videos and TikTok and stuff,

01:15:38.457 --> 01:15:38.658
right?

01:15:38.658 --> 01:15:39.217
Yeah, very little.

01:15:39.693 --> 01:15:42.153
And go, I went to UNCI never really was

01:15:43.018 --> 01:15:43.457
a part of that.

01:15:43.457 --> 01:15:43.537
Yeah.

01:15:43.537 --> 01:15:44.823
There was three other black people there too.

01:15:44.882 --> 01:15:44.943
Yeah.

01:15:44.943 --> 01:15:46.592
Except for on the football team, there was a few more.

01:15:46.592 --> 01:15:46.682
Yes.

01:15:46.832 --> 01:15:47.222
Mm-hmm.

01:15:47.672 --> 01:15:47.972
Interesting.

01:15:48.018 --> 01:15:51.302
So that's always been, so is that something that you would like to change?

01:15:51.302 --> 01:15:55.682
Is it compelling to go stay with your dad in Alabama for a month or something?

01:15:55.773 --> 01:16:00.813
Well, now knowing where in Alabama my dad lives, I'm not sure that I would wanna do that.

01:16:00.842 --> 01:16:03.962
Uh, he lives on a farm, like a, a family farm.

01:16:03.962 --> 01:16:07.023
It's a hundred, like a hundred acres in the middle of absolute.

01:16:07.382 --> 01:16:08.073
Nowhere

01:16:08.103 --> 01:16:08.342
right

01:16:08.342 --> 01:16:09.967
in the south, a subsistence farm almost.

01:16:09.967 --> 01:16:10.247
Mm-hmm.

01:16:10.247 --> 01:16:10.377
Kind of.

01:16:10.377 --> 01:16:10.472
Yeah.

01:16:10.563 --> 01:16:14.672
So I would, I would rather go stay with my sister who lives in Covington, Georgia.

01:16:14.703 --> 01:16:14.733
Okay.

01:16:14.733 --> 01:16:17.222
And has like a little more of a town fair.

01:16:17.493 --> 01:16:19.113
Um, but, so I don't know.

01:16:19.113 --> 01:16:22.292
When I was growing up before I knew my dad's side of the family.

01:16:22.323 --> 01:16:22.592
Yeah.

01:16:22.773 --> 01:16:24.302
I dreamed of it.

01:16:24.302 --> 01:16:29.912
I wanted to go to an HBCU, I wanted to live that and really experience that.

01:16:29.912 --> 01:16:32.103
And then it just never really came to fruition.

01:16:32.103 --> 01:16:32.193
Sure.

01:16:32.582 --> 01:16:39.122
And now as an adult, I would like my kids who present much more white.

01:16:39.122 --> 01:16:41.403
They're one quarter black at this point.

01:16:41.493 --> 01:16:41.792
Right, right,

01:16:41.792 --> 01:16:41.802
right.

01:16:41.823 --> 01:16:42.783
Um, but I would like them an

01:16:42.783 --> 01:16:42.962
extra

01:16:42.962 --> 01:16:43.353
white guy.

01:16:43.353 --> 01:16:44.132
You married here too?

01:16:44.462 --> 01:16:44.613
Very.

01:16:44.618 --> 01:16:44.807
That's

01:16:44.807 --> 01:16:45.087
so white.

01:16:46.743 --> 01:16:55.832
So I would love to, but I also think I just met with Andrea Zen of the kind, well kind collective.

01:16:55.983 --> 01:16:56.222
Okay.

01:16:56.283 --> 01:17:02.582
Um, and we were talking the other day about how historically everybody says Fort Collins is so white, Fort Collin, which it is.

01:17:03.318 --> 01:17:07.518
But we are also not giving it the chance to like kind of see that shift.

01:17:07.728 --> 01:17:13.488
And even coming back in 2020, there are so many more people of color Sure.

01:17:13.488 --> 01:17:17.658
Of black people and all different nationalities Sure.

01:17:17.658 --> 01:17:18.738
That I see around.

01:17:18.738 --> 01:17:18.797
Yeah.

01:17:18.828 --> 01:17:28.132
And so really I would like, I think rather than experiencing what we consider black culture, I would love to be a part of what that culture is here.

01:17:28.132 --> 01:17:28.332
Yeah.

01:17:28.412 --> 01:17:32.028
A, a more colorful melting pot here in Northern Colorado, kind of.

01:17:32.717 --> 01:17:32.807
Yes.

01:17:32.807 --> 01:17:33.108
Yeah.

01:17:33.257 --> 01:17:38.537
The previous producer and, and my right hand gal for four years was Alma Ariano.

01:17:38.542 --> 01:17:38.613
Mm-hmm.

01:17:38.613 --> 01:17:38.932
Mm-hmm.

01:17:39.198 --> 01:17:43.097
Uh, and uh, she is from a Hispanic family.

01:17:43.097 --> 01:17:44.268
Her folks were born in Mexico.

01:17:44.268 --> 01:17:44.328
Yeah.

01:17:44.328 --> 01:17:52.488
And she was born in California and uh, local think tank And, and me in particular was really one of her first brushes with like.

01:17:52.908 --> 01:17:55.698
White guy culture in Northern Colorado.

01:17:55.728 --> 01:17:57.408
'cause she goes to a Hispanic church.

01:17:57.648 --> 01:17:57.828
Oh yeah.

01:17:57.828 --> 01:18:02.627
And was mostly homeschooled and just never really got into it.

01:18:02.627 --> 01:18:05.328
And it was, for me, it was like a, a huge blessing.

01:18:05.358 --> 01:18:09.167
'cause it got me some awareness of what that was like.

01:18:09.257 --> 01:18:09.467
Yes.

01:18:09.497 --> 01:18:11.568
Uh, for her and her family.

01:18:11.568 --> 01:18:20.328
And even like what it's like having Trump be elected and deportations possible for some of her fellow church goers.

01:18:20.778 --> 01:18:20.868
Mm-hmm.

01:18:21.198 --> 01:18:21.217
And stuff.

01:18:21.233 --> 01:18:21.653
Mm-hmm.

01:18:21.828 --> 01:18:29.597
You know, I think if you're in relationship with people, you can really build upon understanding and perspective and community so much more.

01:18:29.597 --> 01:18:30.318
Yes.

01:18:30.377 --> 01:18:35.837
And that's, and I think we have so much of that here, but even that where you're like, well, it on both sides.

01:18:35.868 --> 01:18:38.658
It was really your first experience with that

01:18:38.898 --> 01:18:39.377
totally

01:18:39.467 --> 01:18:39.917
thing.

01:18:39.917 --> 01:18:41.448
And it allowed, yeah.

01:18:41.478 --> 01:18:47.688
That connection, that growth to see here in Northern Colorado, we do have even like that fear of deportation, those things that like.

01:18:48.497 --> 01:18:49.578
We wouldn't know if we weren't in

01:18:49.653 --> 01:18:49.932
relationship.

01:18:50.042 --> 01:18:50.332
Yeah.

01:18:50.332 --> 01:18:50.957
Help me to understand.

01:18:50.988 --> 01:18:51.228
Yes.

01:18:51.287 --> 01:18:52.728
A little bit better otherwise.

01:18:52.757 --> 01:18:53.057
Yeah.

01:18:53.203 --> 01:18:53.493
Yeah.

01:18:53.497 --> 01:18:53.747
Yeah.

01:18:54.018 --> 01:18:55.488
Well, thanks for acknowledging that.

01:18:55.728 --> 01:18:58.698
It's, uh, I'm sure it was, huh?

01:19:00.887 --> 01:19:08.667
Did you find, like, as a kid growing up to a single mom also, uh, in LaPorte school, I reckon mm-hmm.

01:19:08.703 --> 01:19:09.063
Kind of, right?

01:19:09.063 --> 01:19:09.302
Mm-hmm.

01:19:09.382 --> 01:19:09.432
I reckon kind of right?

01:19:09.432 --> 01:19:09.443
Yeah.

01:19:09.443 --> 01:19:15.047
Like did you, did you feel like you were discriminated in any significant fashion or

01:19:15.318 --> 01:19:17.943
No, not really to say that to your perception.

01:19:18.002 --> 01:19:23.448
Say that my, from the single mom side, my mom worked, she is the hardest worker I have ever known.

01:19:23.658 --> 01:19:29.957
So that there was, there would've never noticed a difference in what my life was in comparison to my friends who had.

01:19:30.467 --> 01:19:31.368
Two parent households.

01:19:31.368 --> 01:19:31.578
Sure.

01:19:31.908 --> 01:19:33.703
Um, and still now she

01:19:33.703 --> 01:19:37.188
was still at basketball games or whatever your school things necessary.

01:19:37.188 --> 01:19:37.217
Oh,

01:19:37.217 --> 01:19:37.938
she was, yeah.

01:19:37.938 --> 01:19:38.957
She was our soccer coach.

01:19:39.047 --> 01:19:39.143
Oh gosh.

01:19:39.148 --> 01:19:40.488
She worked impressive.

01:19:40.488 --> 01:19:40.847
Nice.

01:19:41.057 --> 01:19:41.778
As a nurse.

01:19:41.868 --> 01:19:42.198
Wow.

01:19:42.257 --> 01:19:45.528
And then would come home and sleep while I was in school and then coach my teams.

01:19:45.557 --> 01:19:46.007
Wow.

01:19:46.007 --> 01:19:47.597
She That's lovely.

01:19:47.597 --> 01:19:50.417
So to this day, she is the biggest supporter.

01:19:50.417 --> 01:19:53.688
She is the one out right now taking the magazine places.

01:19:53.927 --> 01:19:54.078
Oh.

01:19:54.137 --> 01:19:56.627
So in that respect, no.

01:19:56.957 --> 01:19:57.137
Yeah.

01:19:57.587 --> 01:20:05.358
Uh, as a black person, I would say not to the extent that people expect.

01:20:05.717 --> 01:20:06.287
I think.

01:20:06.347 --> 01:20:06.587
Yeah.

01:20:06.948 --> 01:20:11.087
I, whenever I interact with people, they almost expect that I've had more.

01:20:12.092 --> 01:20:13.382
Discrimination Yeah.

01:20:13.382 --> 01:20:20.643
In my life than I feel like I have, which maybe I'm just blind to it and, but it hasn't affected me.

01:20:20.643 --> 01:20:20.703
Yeah.

01:20:20.703 --> 01:20:20.853
Maybe

01:20:20.853 --> 01:20:24.063
it's not a racist culture most places anyway.

01:20:24.063 --> 01:20:24.453
Yes.

01:20:24.573 --> 01:20:27.813
And so there were definitely experiences growing up.

01:20:28.143 --> 01:20:31.412
Um, I don't know how much you know about LaPorte history, but it used

01:20:31.412 --> 01:20:31.533
to

01:20:31.537 --> 01:20:35.912
have a, well, there was a church that was pretty crazy over there that was like anti Jew, anti-black.

01:20:35.943 --> 01:20:36.153
Yep.

01:20:36.182 --> 01:20:38.012
KKK Frenchy kind of stuff.

01:20:38.012 --> 01:20:38.103
Yes.

01:20:38.103 --> 01:20:39.783
You can see that church from our house.

01:20:39.962 --> 01:20:40.323
Okay.

01:20:40.443 --> 01:20:43.533
Um, and so they were pretty active still when I was growing up.

01:20:43.592 --> 01:20:43.863
Okay.

01:20:43.922 --> 01:20:45.212
But they never bothered me.

01:20:45.212 --> 01:20:45.363
You could

01:20:45.363 --> 01:20:47.132
ride your bike past the church and nobody liked,

01:20:47.703 --> 01:20:48.693
nobody through Sheets came out.

01:20:49.143 --> 01:20:51.903
I did know some kids at school that went to that church.

01:20:51.908 --> 01:20:52.118
Okay.

01:20:52.203 --> 01:20:55.172
And they definitely made some comments, had

01:20:55.353 --> 01:20:55.682
okay

01:20:55.743 --> 01:20:56.313
statements.

01:20:56.313 --> 01:20:58.863
One random kid had a picture of Martin Luther King Jr.

01:20:58.863 --> 01:21:01.023
He would throw darts at, in his house.

01:21:01.028 --> 01:21:01.037
Yeah.

01:21:01.052 --> 01:21:03.632
And like would just bring up as like, this is a funny joke,

01:21:03.632 --> 01:21:07.637
but probably the rest of the kids disqualified them from being relevant anyway.

01:21:07.858 --> 01:21:08.078
Yes.

01:21:08.082 --> 01:21:09.393
And so it's like, oh, hey, lose.

01:21:09.618 --> 01:21:09.677
F

01:21:10.518 --> 01:21:10.757
Yeah.

01:21:10.757 --> 01:21:11.747
Like, okay, cool.

01:21:11.747 --> 01:21:11.837
Good

01:21:11.837 --> 01:21:13.608
job expressing how illusory you are.

01:21:13.608 --> 01:21:14.233
Even more Uhhuh.

01:21:14.233 --> 01:21:14.752
Yes, yes.

01:21:15.012 --> 01:21:16.578
Um, and that's kind of how it was

01:21:17.297 --> 01:21:17.568
Yeah.

01:21:17.957 --> 01:21:18.828
All growing up.

01:21:19.188 --> 01:21:25.757
Well, and growing up in Greeley, that's quite a bit more diverse, but it's, you know, Hispanic what, like probably 25, 30% Hispanic.

01:21:25.757 --> 01:21:25.768
Mm-hmm.

01:21:25.993 --> 01:21:28.818
I mean, was it then when you were there too, or is that increased?

01:21:28.818 --> 01:21:30.167
Yeah, probably similar.

01:21:30.167 --> 01:21:31.127
Maybe it's increased some,

01:21:31.188 --> 01:21:32.387
I think it's probably increased.

01:21:32.387 --> 01:21:34.698
I mean it, the entire town has increased, but

01:21:34.997 --> 01:21:35.268
Sure.

01:21:35.297 --> 01:21:39.047
But it probably, it wasn't something that I really came in contact to with a whole lot.

01:21:39.137 --> 01:21:39.467
Okay.

01:21:39.557 --> 01:21:44.328
So I grew up kind of, uh, then when growing up was the far west end of Greeley.

01:21:44.417 --> 01:21:44.807
Okay.

01:21:44.868 --> 01:21:46.578
And I went to a small charter school.

01:21:46.637 --> 01:21:46.908
Gotcha.

01:21:46.908 --> 01:21:49.818
So I had, you know, 48 kids in my graduating class.

01:21:49.823 --> 01:21:50.033
Yep.

01:21:50.037 --> 01:21:50.118
Yep.

01:21:50.118 --> 01:21:52.278
So there just wasn't a lot of diversity in general.

01:21:52.337 --> 01:21:52.698
Sure.

01:21:52.728 --> 01:21:52.997
So,

01:21:53.028 --> 01:21:53.627
makes sense.

01:21:54.078 --> 01:21:57.018
Um, a small charter school, like a Christian school or

01:21:57.047 --> 01:21:57.768
No, no,

01:21:57.768 --> 01:21:58.273
just a, just

01:21:58.307 --> 01:21:59.148
small charter school.

01:21:59.177 --> 01:21:59.507
Interesting.

01:21:59.507 --> 01:22:00.257
That's a tiny.

01:22:00.618 --> 01:22:00.828
Yeah.

01:22:00.828 --> 01:22:01.188
School

01:22:01.398 --> 01:22:01.728
setting.

01:22:01.818 --> 01:22:01.957
Very much so.

01:22:01.957 --> 01:22:04.757
And I, I started going, I was homeschooled up until third grade.

01:22:05.028 --> 01:22:05.177
Okay.

01:22:05.177 --> 01:22:07.518
And then started going to the, the school in third grade.

01:22:07.518 --> 01:22:09.018
And I went all the way through high school.

01:22:09.078 --> 01:22:09.408
So,

01:22:09.828 --> 01:22:09.858
oh.

01:22:09.858 --> 01:22:12.047
But the graduating classes are probably bigger now.

01:22:12.557 --> 01:22:13.127
I'm sure they are.

01:22:13.127 --> 01:22:14.233
He was like the first,

01:22:14.653 --> 01:22:15.078
it was like

01:22:15.287 --> 01:22:15.768
opening

01:22:15.768 --> 01:22:16.908
a brand new charter school.

01:22:17.417 --> 01:22:18.078
Charter school.

01:22:18.078 --> 01:22:18.377
So

01:22:18.438 --> 01:22:19.068
that's kind of cool.

01:22:19.698 --> 01:22:22.307
Um, we're gonna go into the Loco experience next.

01:22:22.337 --> 01:22:22.547
Great.

01:22:22.787 --> 01:22:25.967
Um, and you can drop those balls back in there if you want to get rid of them.

01:22:26.387 --> 01:22:31.217
Um, but before we do, uh, I have to take a moment to thank our sponsor.

01:22:31.608 --> 01:22:34.608
Our spirit sponsor is Seed and Spirit Distillery.

01:22:34.728 --> 01:22:35.448
Oh, yes.

01:22:35.448 --> 01:22:36.648
I've got to meet them.

01:22:36.707 --> 01:22:37.188
Oh, good.

01:22:37.337 --> 01:22:38.807
Yeah, they've got a quick, quite a place.

01:22:38.807 --> 01:22:43.037
They're, they're, they're literally like harvesting the corn that they sprout and ferment.

01:22:43.068 --> 01:22:43.217
Yes.

01:22:43.222 --> 01:22:44.268
It's such a cool concept.

01:22:44.328 --> 01:22:48.228
Um, they have a, a product called Wiz Cal that's an option

01:22:48.228 --> 01:22:48.978
like mezcal, but

01:22:48.978 --> 01:22:49.368
whiskey.

01:22:49.368 --> 01:22:50.717
It's whiskey and mezcal.

01:22:50.747 --> 01:22:51.137
Oh.

01:22:51.137 --> 01:22:53.688
So, uh, yeah, it's kind of a hybrid between those.

01:22:53.688 --> 01:22:55.587
They, they, they made, they invented it.

01:22:56.087 --> 01:22:57.587
It's the first, like those are our two

01:22:57.768 --> 01:22:58.278
favorite.

01:22:58.457 --> 01:22:59.148
Oh, is that spirits?

01:22:59.148 --> 01:22:59.238
Right.

01:22:59.238 --> 01:22:59.417
So

01:22:59.417 --> 01:22:59.837
that.

01:23:00.903 --> 01:23:02.073
So that's, that's an easy sell.

01:23:02.103 --> 01:23:02.193
Mm-hmm.

01:23:02.432 --> 01:23:04.682
Or, or the infinity bottle.

01:23:04.743 --> 01:23:10.983
So what I'd like to do is have a a half shot, uh, of either of those and you can choose.

01:23:11.342 --> 01:23:11.882
Excellent.

01:23:11.882 --> 01:23:12.872
I'll take some Wizz.

01:23:12.872 --> 01:23:13.353
Cal.

01:23:13.983 --> 01:23:15.212
I don't know that I'm brave enough for,

01:23:16.653 --> 01:23:18.738
I, I really want to try the Wizz cow, so I think

01:23:18.738 --> 01:23:18.872
I'm

01:23:18.872 --> 01:23:19.472
gonna do that.

01:23:19.502 --> 01:23:19.863
Alright.

01:23:19.922 --> 01:23:20.523
That sounds good.

01:23:21.302 --> 01:23:25.172
Yeah, we, around the table, we just discovered mezcal like in the last like year.

01:23:25.262 --> 01:23:25.653
Oh, nice.

01:23:25.653 --> 01:23:26.342
And it's been,

01:23:26.672 --> 01:23:28.052
my wife hates mezcal.

01:23:28.323 --> 01:23:29.792
Oh, does she not like the smoky?

01:23:29.823 --> 01:23:30.783
Well, she hates tequila.

01:23:30.872 --> 01:23:31.353
Oh, okay.

01:23:31.953 --> 01:23:32.012
So

01:23:32.012 --> 01:23:32.372
that would do it.

01:23:32.552 --> 01:23:32.733
Yeah.

01:23:32.733 --> 01:23:33.542
Those go together.

01:23:33.752 --> 01:23:38.552
And, and, and she also doesn't really like smokey things either, so.

01:23:38.552 --> 01:23:38.733
Yeah.

01:23:38.733 --> 01:23:41.523
Mezcal is like a terrible thing made worse.

01:23:41.552 --> 01:23:41.792
Yeah.

01:23:41.792 --> 01:23:42.932
She's like, I'm out

01:23:42.932 --> 01:23:43.622
tequilas.

01:23:45.512 --> 01:23:46.863
And so, uh,

01:23:47.222 --> 01:23:48.063
out of a tin cup.

01:23:48.153 --> 01:23:50.103
Any, uh, yeah, we do love tin Cup.

01:23:50.103 --> 01:23:51.302
Any interest in a toast?

01:23:51.302 --> 01:23:56.042
Is there a, let's, let's toast to, uh, good relationships and prosperous.

01:23:56.493 --> 01:23:57.932
Uh, collaborations.

01:23:57.938 --> 01:23:58.028
Collaborations.

01:23:58.382 --> 01:23:59.042
Cheers.

01:23:59.042 --> 01:23:59.643
Cheers.

01:24:06.002 --> 01:24:06.182
Oh,

01:24:06.182 --> 01:24:07.412
you can take, that is my

01:24:07.412 --> 01:24:08.132
new favorite thing.

01:24:08.342 --> 01:24:08.853
No shit.

01:24:08.853 --> 01:24:09.453
That's so good.

01:24:09.453 --> 01:24:09.903
I love it.

01:24:10.023 --> 01:24:11.012
That's so good.

01:24:11.703 --> 01:24:16.922
I like the Smoky of the mezcal, but you get like that whiskey front.

01:24:16.983 --> 01:24:17.132
Yeah.

01:24:17.132 --> 01:24:17.193
Yeah.

01:24:17.193 --> 01:24:17.283
Mm-hmm.

01:24:18.063 --> 01:24:18.243
No,

01:24:18.243 --> 01:24:18.518
that's good.

01:24:18.677 --> 01:24:18.917
I love it.

01:24:19.387 --> 01:24:19.757
When do

01:24:19.757 --> 01:24:20.252
they open?

01:24:20.252 --> 01:24:21.002
We gotta go get a bottle.

01:24:21.002 --> 01:24:21.243
They're open,

01:24:21.247 --> 01:24:21.637
aren't they?

01:24:21.637 --> 01:24:22.712
Oh, they've been open for a while.

01:24:22.712 --> 01:24:24.212
Yeah, they've got the, uh.

01:24:24.573 --> 01:24:24.993
Funk Works.

01:24:24.993 --> 01:24:28.203
They've been in the back of Funk Works for a while, and Funk Works shut down.

01:24:28.203 --> 01:24:29.582
And so now they took over the whole building.

01:24:29.613 --> 01:24:30.842
Oh, I didn't know that.

01:24:30.842 --> 01:24:36.273
And the front where Funk works was the, the public area is gonna be a tasting room.

01:24:36.273 --> 01:24:37.533
An oyster lounge.

01:24:37.533 --> 01:24:37.592
Oh

01:24:38.283 --> 01:24:38.372
yes.

01:24:38.938 --> 01:24:40.037
An oyster lounge.

01:24:40.497 --> 01:24:40.717
Yes.

01:24:40.983 --> 01:24:44.198
Uh,'cause they don't wanna put a full kitchen in, but oysters, you're gonna shuck'em in, whatever, so you can shuck them and whatever.

01:24:44.198 --> 01:24:44.757
Yeah, yeah.

01:24:44.778 --> 01:24:47.912
And they've got a processing room and stuff, and then they'll have food trucks outside.

01:24:48.092 --> 01:24:48.603
Fun.

01:24:48.813 --> 01:24:49.502
That's super

01:24:49.502 --> 01:24:50.193
fun for real food.

01:24:50.193 --> 01:24:53.882
So, uh, yeah, I just got the tour when I picked up my, my first,

01:24:54.002 --> 01:24:54.783
uh, spirit space.

01:24:54.783 --> 01:24:54.957
Yeah, I know.

01:24:54.962 --> 01:24:55.203
I was like,

01:24:55.922 --> 01:24:56.643
inventory.

01:24:56.792 --> 01:24:58.802
That's, is that space open yet?

01:24:59.283 --> 01:24:59.703
What's that?

01:24:59.762 --> 01:25:00.693
The front space?

01:25:00.722 --> 01:25:01.233
No, not yet.

01:25:01.323 --> 01:25:01.382
Okay.

01:25:01.412 --> 01:25:02.403
Maybe June-ish.

01:25:02.493 --> 01:25:02.912
Okay, great.

01:25:03.002 --> 01:25:05.943
So it's in a, it's in a construction state right now.

01:25:05.943 --> 01:25:06.063
That's

01:25:06.393 --> 01:25:06.422
Uhhuh.

01:25:06.483 --> 01:25:09.363
But they've got a 150 barrels of different.

01:25:09.962 --> 01:25:11.132
Elixir is in the back.

01:25:11.132 --> 01:25:11.162
Oh.

01:25:11.162 --> 01:25:12.063
And stuff like that.

01:25:12.063 --> 01:25:13.592
So, um,

01:25:13.682 --> 01:25:13.743
yeah.

01:25:13.743 --> 01:25:13.863
It's a

01:25:14.222 --> 01:25:15.153
new date night here,

01:25:15.158 --> 01:25:15.408
Uhhuh.

01:25:15.542 --> 01:25:15.842
That's, I

01:25:15.993 --> 01:25:17.287
I was like, that's a perfect feature.

01:25:17.292 --> 01:25:17.462
Yeah.

01:25:17.582 --> 01:25:18.453
Sounds like a biopic.

01:25:18.453 --> 01:25:18.903
Yeah.

01:25:18.903 --> 01:25:18.912
Mm-hmm.

01:25:18.912 --> 01:25:22.743
I can connect you guys, uh, here, uh, sometime soon.

01:25:22.922 --> 01:25:23.222
Yeah.

01:25:23.222 --> 01:25:23.233
Yeah.

01:25:23.233 --> 01:25:23.887
I was like, that would be great.

01:25:23.893 --> 01:25:27.092
It's worthy of a tour even ahead of that time probably to kind of get some advance

01:25:27.153 --> 01:25:27.693
Yes.

01:25:27.693 --> 01:25:29.342
Knowledge of it going around the community.

01:25:29.613 --> 01:25:29.853
Yeah.

01:25:29.853 --> 01:25:31.443
'cause that's, I was like, I would love to spread,

01:25:31.712 --> 01:25:31.983
build that

01:25:31.983 --> 01:25:32.073
buzz.

01:25:32.073 --> 01:25:36.393
Especially'cause they're so unique in how they're doing things that it would be great.

01:25:36.393 --> 01:25:37.143
We did beer.

01:25:37.143 --> 01:25:40.653
I've been kind of feeling like we need to do a Northern Colorado spirits tour.

01:25:40.682 --> 01:25:41.162
Yeah.

01:25:41.252 --> 01:25:41.582
So

01:25:41.733 --> 01:25:43.292
Mount Mountain does a great job too.

01:25:43.323 --> 01:25:43.502
Yes.

01:25:43.502 --> 01:25:43.682
Got some.

01:25:43.682 --> 01:25:44.792
We just went there for the first time.

01:25:45.393 --> 01:25:45.603
Oh

01:25:45.903 --> 01:25:46.203
yeah.

01:25:46.323 --> 01:25:47.193
And it was so good.

01:25:47.493 --> 01:25:47.552
Yeah.

01:25:47.552 --> 01:25:50.132
And they had just, uh, bottled their.

01:25:50.703 --> 01:25:52.412
Or they just tapped their single malt.

01:25:52.412 --> 01:25:53.073
The single malt.

01:25:53.073 --> 01:25:54.967
They said they only tap a couple every couple years.

01:25:54.967 --> 01:25:54.978
Couple

01:25:54.978 --> 01:25:55.262
years.

01:25:55.682 --> 01:26:01.323
He let me taste that last time I was in there actually, or it was probably a year ago now, but he was like, here, try this.

01:26:01.353 --> 01:26:01.443
Mm-hmm.

01:26:01.743 --> 01:26:03.092
It's very good.

01:26:03.302 --> 01:26:05.643
They had one of the better R I've ever had though.

01:26:05.972 --> 01:26:06.212
Rice.

01:26:06.212 --> 01:26:07.533
I'm kind of a rye whiskey guy.

01:26:07.533 --> 01:26:09.432
I I You're not, you don't like that?

01:26:09.432 --> 01:26:10.203
I don't like the rye.

01:26:10.203 --> 01:26:10.622
Interesting.

01:26:10.682 --> 01:26:11.283
I like'em.

01:26:11.342 --> 01:26:13.443
I don't know how you can like bourbon and not like rye.

01:26:13.448 --> 01:26:14.328
That's, I don't know,

01:26:14.347 --> 01:26:15.783
the rye just makes me go.

01:26:16.592 --> 01:26:16.802
Am I,

01:26:19.622 --> 01:26:26.162
so the final segment is the Loco experience and Miss Risk Averse here.

01:26:26.408 --> 01:26:28.653
I know, I was, I've really thinking about it.

01:26:28.893 --> 01:26:33.182
Do you wanna do a shared local experience or do you wanna do independent ones?

01:26:33.363 --> 01:26:33.842
Um,

01:26:34.743 --> 01:26:35.582
I don't know if I've

01:26:35.912 --> 01:26:36.842
have any, do you have any shared local

01:26:36.842 --> 01:26:37.412
experiences?

01:26:37.412 --> 01:26:38.853
I was like, I don't know if we have a shared one.

01:26:39.783 --> 01:26:42.453
The one I've been thinking of is from when I was a child.

01:26:43.278 --> 01:26:43.547
We

01:26:43.547 --> 01:26:44.177
can do separate.

01:26:44.592 --> 01:26:49.698
Why, why don't you start us off, Kelsey, because it sounds like Ben's is gonna be more interesting anyway.

01:26:49.938 --> 01:26:50.568
Yeah, but maybe not.

01:26:50.568 --> 01:26:52.773
That's, I was like, I was like, this one is interesting.

01:26:52.773 --> 01:26:53.238
Maybe it's banger.

01:26:53.238 --> 01:26:53.717
I don't know.

01:26:53.717 --> 01:26:54.078
Let's hear it.

01:26:54.137 --> 01:26:58.488
But it's not something that I did, it's something that was attempted to do, done to me.

01:26:58.608 --> 01:26:58.997
Oh boy.

01:26:59.507 --> 01:26:59.747
Okay.

01:27:00.467 --> 01:27:08.328
So my mom was a single mom, as we've talked about, but uh, we also went on trips every summer, like three week long road trips.

01:27:08.568 --> 01:27:08.927
Oh wow.

01:27:08.988 --> 01:27:12.438
And so one year we took my best friend, who was also named Kelsey.

01:27:12.528 --> 01:27:13.578
So Kelsey and Kelsey

01:27:13.643 --> 01:27:13.932
with

01:27:13.932 --> 01:27:14.212
a y

01:27:14.297 --> 01:27:14.597
and an eye, or

01:27:14.597 --> 01:27:17.028
she was a y and she's blonde hair, blue eyes.

01:27:17.238 --> 01:27:19.398
But we wouldn't tell people that we were twins.

01:27:20.148 --> 01:27:20.627
My mom.

01:27:20.627 --> 01:27:22.518
And we were born like 10 days apart.

01:27:22.578 --> 01:27:22.877
Oh, how

01:27:22.877 --> 01:27:22.997
cool.

01:27:22.997 --> 01:27:29.537
And my mom would tell people on the trip that we were twins and they would just look at her and it was very funny.

01:27:29.717 --> 01:27:29.927
But.

01:27:30.528 --> 01:27:33.408
One on this road trip, we were at a hotel and

01:27:33.412 --> 01:27:34.608
and where were you road tripping to

01:27:34.608 --> 01:27:36.018
This time was out west.

01:27:36.018 --> 01:27:36.047
Okay.

01:27:36.047 --> 01:27:38.898
So I think we were probably somewhere in the desert of California.

01:27:38.927 --> 01:27:43.368
'cause we, our goal was Disneyland, but we'd always go like the long way.

01:27:43.398 --> 01:27:43.847
Yeah.

01:27:43.847 --> 01:27:43.858
Yeah.

01:27:43.938 --> 01:27:49.488
Um, and we were at a hotel and Kelsey and I were swimming and my mom was doing laundry.

01:27:49.578 --> 01:27:49.847
Okay.

01:27:49.938 --> 01:27:50.568
And the hotel.

01:27:50.568 --> 01:27:55.188
And we were doing that game when you were kids where you'd see who could stay under the water the longest.

01:27:55.307 --> 01:27:55.398
Sure.

01:27:55.427 --> 01:27:56.807
Two minutes and 34 seconds is

01:27:56.807 --> 01:27:56.898
fine.

01:27:56.898 --> 01:27:57.198
Yes.

01:27:57.318 --> 01:27:58.037
Oh wow.

01:27:58.278 --> 01:28:04.337
Um, and Kelsey popped up before me and there was an older man.

01:28:04.728 --> 01:28:08.898
On the other side of the pool that had jumped in the water and was coming at us.

01:28:09.257 --> 01:28:12.408
And so she grabbed me and pulled me up and he, you're like, you

01:28:12.408 --> 01:28:12.828
ruined

01:28:12.832 --> 01:28:12.842
it.

01:28:12.842 --> 01:28:13.243
Mm-hmm.

01:28:13.698 --> 01:28:16.307
And we ran out to my mom and thought everything was fine.

01:28:16.608 --> 01:28:21.078
And later that night, the hotel room that we were in got a phone call on the hotel phone.

01:28:21.648 --> 01:28:30.198
And it was that man from his room telling my mom that he knew that she was alone with two girls and that he was going to essentially come and take us.

01:28:30.467 --> 01:28:32.268
What, how old were you

01:28:32.448 --> 01:28:33.438
in second grade?

01:28:33.438 --> 01:28:34.278
Second or third grade.

01:28:34.427 --> 01:28:34.578
Ew.

01:28:35.387 --> 01:28:35.627
Yeah.

01:28:36.018 --> 01:28:37.578
And so she had to call the police.

01:28:37.578 --> 01:28:38.988
We had to go to the front desk.

01:28:39.318 --> 01:28:42.318
Um, but we didn't have anywhere to go in the middle of the night.

01:28:42.318 --> 01:28:46.307
So I remember like, she pushed the, like beds and chairs against the door.

01:28:46.307 --> 01:28:46.398
Right.

01:28:46.398 --> 01:28:47.297
We called the police.

01:28:47.747 --> 01:28:51.198
I believe they came and got him and nothing came of it.

01:28:51.438 --> 01:28:53.868
But I like think of that experience Whoa.

01:28:53.868 --> 01:28:55.158
In pools to this day.

01:28:57.167 --> 01:28:57.438
Ew.

01:28:57.648 --> 01:28:57.948
Yep.

01:28:58.247 --> 01:28:59.868
That's where I was like, I just,

01:29:00.047 --> 01:29:00.363
I mean mm-hmm.

01:29:01.368 --> 01:29:02.957
And it sounds terrible, but.

01:29:05.552 --> 01:29:09.837
Like a, you know, a 16-year-old girl is pretty, kind of an attractive and stuff.

01:29:09.837 --> 01:29:09.997
Yes.

01:29:09.997 --> 01:29:12.603
But even to a normal man that knows you shouldn't touch that.

01:29:12.603 --> 01:29:14.127
But a two segregator, but yes.

01:29:14.127 --> 01:29:14.137
Definite.

01:29:14.597 --> 01:29:14.837
Yeah.

01:29:14.837 --> 01:29:15.063
No, yeah.

01:29:15.063 --> 01:29:15.363
We were

01:29:15.597 --> 01:29:15.717
definite

01:29:16.358 --> 01:29:16.438
children.

01:29:17.018 --> 01:29:17.238
Yes.

01:29:17.917 --> 01:29:17.957
Ew.

01:29:18.097 --> 01:29:18.518
Mm-hmm.

01:29:18.597 --> 01:29:19.953
I'm sorry, that just disturbs me.

01:29:19.953 --> 01:29:20.012
Yeah.

01:29:20.552 --> 01:29:20.882
It was.

01:29:20.882 --> 01:29:24.993
And good on your mom for being a woman of adventure and courage.

01:29:25.052 --> 01:29:25.412
Yeah.

01:29:25.412 --> 01:29:26.552
For something like that.

01:29:26.552 --> 01:29:31.143
And I hope that didn't take the wind out of the feathers for, uh, doing more trips and stuff.

01:29:31.143 --> 01:29:31.203
No.

01:29:31.203 --> 01:29:32.103
We continued

01:29:32.162 --> 01:29:33.573
and she sounds like an amazing woman.

01:29:33.573 --> 01:29:34.113
I wanna meet your

01:29:34.113 --> 01:29:34.563
mom one those days.

01:29:34.563 --> 01:29:34.922
She is.

01:29:34.922 --> 01:29:35.162
Yeah.

01:29:35.162 --> 01:29:36.332
We'll get you guys together.

01:29:36.332 --> 01:29:37.052
She is great.

01:29:37.203 --> 01:29:41.403
But having a podcast, no, she didn't even tell us the extent of what we said on the phone.

01:29:41.403 --> 01:29:42.637
She just was like, okay, we're going.

01:29:42.637 --> 01:29:43.037
She still, I'll tell you.

01:29:43.037 --> 01:29:43.318
Okay.

01:29:43.323 --> 01:29:44.342
We're going the next day.

01:29:44.342 --> 01:29:45.393
Let's go to Disneyland.

01:29:45.542 --> 01:29:45.872
Right.

01:29:45.872 --> 01:29:46.082
And

01:29:46.262 --> 01:29:51.092
well, and also, but just for fun, you could help me push this bed up against the door.

01:29:51.092 --> 01:29:51.182
Right.

01:29:52.052 --> 01:29:52.653
It's a new game.

01:29:52.653 --> 01:29:56.823
We're gonna all sleep together in this bed against the wall, like, but

01:29:56.853 --> 01:29:57.393
wow.

01:29:57.393 --> 01:29:57.917
So, okay.

01:29:58.382 --> 01:29:58.563
Mm-hmm.

01:29:58.953 --> 01:29:59.882
Weird gross.

01:30:00.363 --> 01:30:00.603
Yep.

01:30:00.603 --> 01:30:00.752
Gross.

01:30:00.752 --> 01:30:00.903
Thanks

01:30:00.903 --> 01:30:02.432
for sharing, Ben.

01:30:03.422 --> 01:30:03.813
You're on.

01:30:04.953 --> 01:30:10.203
So I've, I've worked in video production for, uh, oh, nearly two decades now.

01:30:10.323 --> 01:30:10.533
Yeah.

01:30:10.592 --> 01:30:16.113
So traveling with, uh, with video gear is always super interesting and fun.

01:30:16.113 --> 01:30:17.703
So I always have stories of like 10

01:30:17.703 --> 01:30:18.662
grand where the gear

01:30:19.052 --> 01:30:19.113
Yeah.

01:30:19.113 --> 01:30:23.162
And take, you're taking a lot of equipment with you and it always looks suspicious in

01:30:23.938 --> 01:30:24.228
Okay.

01:30:24.528 --> 01:30:26.523
In any of the TSA stuff.

01:30:26.698 --> 01:30:26.988
Yeah.

01:30:26.993 --> 01:30:27.243
Yeah.

01:30:27.302 --> 01:30:31.773
Um, so we always play a game of like, how many times am I gonna get pulled this time by security?

01:30:31.802 --> 01:30:31.893
Mm-hmm.

01:30:32.132 --> 01:30:35.672
So, um, which story should I tell

01:30:36.033 --> 01:30:38.252
my brain went to The Bahamas, but I don't know.

01:30:38.252 --> 01:30:40.953
You're going Or the Romania romania's a different one.

01:30:41.193 --> 01:30:42.393
I'll tell two real quick.

01:30:42.422 --> 01:30:42.693
Okay.

01:30:42.693 --> 01:30:43.113
Sounds good.

01:30:43.113 --> 01:30:45.033
So I went to The Bahamas and, um.

01:30:45.962 --> 01:30:46.653
Every single time.

01:30:46.653 --> 01:30:52.682
'cause I, you know, I have a shotgun mic that's, uh, you know, has a long, looks like a shotgun microphone and it goes into a big steel tube.

01:30:52.712 --> 01:30:53.222
Oh gosh.

01:30:53.283 --> 01:30:57.243
And, uh, sometimes there's even a cord that kind of sticks out, so it looks, you know, nefarious Kinda

01:30:57.243 --> 01:30:57.603
like a bomb.

01:30:57.662 --> 01:30:58.502
Yeah, exactly.

01:30:58.502 --> 01:31:04.893
And so I always get pulled, uh, pulled into, I'd say more often than not, get pulled into back rooms or at least to the side.

01:31:04.922 --> 01:31:05.162
Right.

01:31:05.162 --> 01:31:06.422
And get everything out.

01:31:06.632 --> 01:31:07.353
Put it all back.

01:31:07.412 --> 01:31:15.842
So, um, but I went to The Bahamas one time and, um, it was my first time traveling internationally with the amount of gear that I was traveling with.

01:31:15.962 --> 01:31:16.082
Okay.

01:31:16.262 --> 01:31:21.393
And so I got pulled, um, by customs and I had to lay everything out and they said, how much is this all worth?

01:31:21.842 --> 01:31:25.323
And I told them, uh, naively told them exactly what it was worth.

01:31:25.353 --> 01:31:25.382
Mm.

01:31:25.893 --> 01:31:28.412
It was, you know, pushing$30,000 worth of equipment.

01:31:28.472 --> 01:31:28.502
Mm.

01:31:29.042 --> 01:31:30.212
And, um, they.

01:31:31.097 --> 01:31:35.268
All of a sudden came up with all of these new, uh, import taxes and fees mm-hmm.

01:31:35.507 --> 01:31:36.467
That had come along with

01:31:36.707 --> 01:31:36.978
looking

01:31:36.978 --> 01:31:38.172
for a little, bringing that, you know, little

01:31:38.177 --> 01:31:38.328
grease

01:31:38.328 --> 01:31:38.597
for the

01:31:38.597 --> 01:31:38.898
pocket.

01:31:38.898 --> 01:31:42.587
And I was like, I, you know, 25 years old, 24 years old.

01:31:42.587 --> 01:31:44.177
I'm like, I don't have that kind of money.

01:31:44.537 --> 01:31:44.597
Yeah.

01:31:44.597 --> 01:31:46.127
I worked for, to be able, I'm like, so they said, okay.

01:31:47.658 --> 01:31:49.847
I mean, until you pay us, like we can't leave.

01:31:50.268 --> 01:31:50.943
So I And how much

01:31:50.943 --> 01:31:52.037
were they trying to squeeze you for?

01:31:52.518 --> 01:31:55.967
The initial amount was like$7,000.

01:31:55.967 --> 01:31:56.087
Oh my.

01:31:56.087 --> 01:31:56.807
Or something like that.

01:31:56.807 --> 01:32:00.408
A$7,000 fee to be able to bring commercial Oh, come on.

01:32:00.408 --> 01:32:09.768
Equipment in and, um, so, you know, there was a language barrier there, but there was, uh, yeah, I had, I sat in a back room of a, uh,

01:32:09.768 --> 01:32:10.127
whoa.

01:32:10.188 --> 01:32:13.063
Of a, like a little TSA, uh, airport.

01:32:13.967 --> 01:32:24.768
Uh, for nine hours before, uh, the production company that I was traveling for was finally able to wire over some money, essentially as bribe money.

01:32:24.978 --> 01:32:25.427
Wow.

01:32:25.518 --> 01:32:31.967
And so I ended up, I think they only did like 2200, but still it was one of those situations that like you pay or

01:32:32.387 --> 01:32:32.717
Yeah.

01:32:32.837 --> 01:32:34.037
And so I was like, okay, well

01:32:34.037 --> 01:32:35.417
you can leave your stuff here or you can pay.

01:32:35.568 --> 01:32:35.868
Yep.

01:32:35.957 --> 01:32:36.318
Mm-hmm.

01:32:37.217 --> 01:32:37.682
So that was crazy.

01:32:37.682 --> 01:32:40.457
That was the longest stint that I've been stuck in a back room

01:32:40.637 --> 01:32:41.057
Right.

01:32:41.057 --> 01:32:41.148
In

01:32:41.148 --> 01:32:41.207
the

01:32:41.207 --> 01:32:41.688
airport.

01:32:41.688 --> 01:32:41.747
Yeah.

01:32:41.747 --> 01:32:42.257
Terrifying.

01:32:42.318 --> 01:32:42.948
Were you guys.

01:32:43.153 --> 01:32:45.823
You were younger, you guys weren't together or anything like that?

01:32:45.823 --> 01:32:45.953
We, we were together.

01:32:45.953 --> 01:32:46.302
We were not

01:32:46.302 --> 01:32:46.693
married.

01:32:46.698 --> 01:32:47.007
We weren't

01:32:47.007 --> 01:32:47.167
married.

01:32:47.292 --> 01:32:47.563
Yeah.

01:32:47.622 --> 01:32:48.403
Were you there too?

01:32:48.462 --> 01:32:49.962
No, I was at home.

01:32:50.023 --> 01:32:53.682
I was gonna be like, yeah, you were like hanging out, wondering when he gets to come out of the back room,

01:32:54.252 --> 01:32:55.302
just like what happened

01:32:55.302 --> 01:32:56.203
to Wild.

01:32:56.773 --> 01:33:04.063
And the other experience, I was shooting some documentary content in Romania, um, which was a very fascinating experience.

01:33:04.092 --> 01:33:10.182
Uh, but, um, they have some fairly strict laws as far as like what you can film and where you can film it.

01:33:10.302 --> 01:33:10.603
Okay.

01:33:10.603 --> 01:33:11.412
And that sort of thing.

01:33:11.412 --> 01:33:12.162
And, um,

01:33:12.162 --> 01:33:12.493
interesting.

01:33:13.063 --> 01:33:20.773
It was the end of a trip and we, you weren't supposed to fly drones and that sort of thing in this, in the, uh, we were in, in that area or whatever.

01:33:20.773 --> 01:33:21.007
In Bore.

01:33:21.007 --> 01:33:22.903
We were right in the downtown Bucharest.

01:33:22.993 --> 01:33:23.233
Okay.

01:33:23.983 --> 01:33:28.872
And, uh, we wanted to do one last, it was like a last shot before we got in the plane the next day.

01:33:28.962 --> 01:33:29.262
Okay.

01:33:29.262 --> 01:33:31.632
Uh, so we wanted to do, um, just like a shot.

01:33:32.328 --> 01:33:35.627
You know, going from our team all the way up to seeing the city sort of thing.

01:33:35.717 --> 01:33:36.078
Okay.

01:33:36.167 --> 01:33:37.967
Um, I was like, we have to do it really quickly.

01:33:38.387 --> 01:33:38.537
Yep.

01:33:38.597 --> 01:33:39.078
Um,

01:33:39.318 --> 01:33:39.618
packed the

01:33:39.618 --> 01:33:40.757
drone back up after we're done.

01:33:40.757 --> 01:33:41.597
This is, we get outta there.

01:33:41.603 --> 01:33:41.792
So,

01:33:41.797 --> 01:33:41.988
so

01:33:41.988 --> 01:33:43.408
you knew it was illegal, but you did it

01:33:43.408 --> 01:33:43.552
anyway.

01:33:43.552 --> 01:33:44.358
We knew it was frowned upon.

01:33:44.358 --> 01:33:44.898
I like your style.

01:33:44.898 --> 01:33:45.438
I didn't, yeah.

01:33:45.557 --> 01:33:50.988
So we, we did the drone shot and then, um, police showed up pretty quickly.

01:33:51.137 --> 01:33:51.318
Oh.

01:33:51.467 --> 01:33:55.608
Um, and the person that we were with told us to just, they said, get rid of it.

01:33:55.637 --> 01:33:56.927
Send it, just do something.

01:33:57.438 --> 01:34:01.247
And so I just sent it as high up as I could to where you couldn't hear the whirring anymore.

01:34:01.278 --> 01:34:01.547
Yeah.

01:34:01.728 --> 01:34:07.698
And got out our phone and we were just pretending to be taking a selfie as they were kind of out and they were saying, what are you doing?

01:34:07.698 --> 01:34:09.363
Filming for a TV show sort of thing.

01:34:09.363 --> 01:34:09.552
Yeah.

01:34:09.592 --> 01:34:09.712
Yeah.

01:34:09.717 --> 01:34:11.478
And then, uh, they went on their way.

01:34:11.478 --> 01:34:13.427
But that's, that's the closest I've ever been

01:34:13.578 --> 01:34:13.637
to.

01:34:13.637 --> 01:34:13.938
How long

01:34:13.938 --> 01:34:14.207
did the

01:34:14.207 --> 01:34:14.957
drone stay up there?

01:34:15.363 --> 01:34:18.153
Uh, it's got like a 25 minute battery light.

01:34:18.182 --> 01:34:18.512
Okay.

01:34:18.603 --> 01:34:20.103
So it could stay up there for a while.

01:34:20.162 --> 01:34:20.222
A

01:34:20.222 --> 01:34:25.743
while, but if they wanted to ask you a bunch of questions, you were gonna be like, and my drone's coming back Yes.

01:34:25.743 --> 01:34:28.172
Before, because they probably automatically home, right?

01:34:28.172 --> 01:34:28.412
Like,

01:34:28.443 --> 01:34:28.743
yeah.

01:34:28.743 --> 01:34:34.353
If it's running outta battery, it'll just, it'll just come and land and it makes a whole lot of noise while running beeping and stuff.

01:34:34.353 --> 01:34:36.573
So that was the closest I've ever been to, was smart.

01:34:37.172 --> 01:34:41.313
Uh, you know, they were only like 18 years out of, outside of communism.

01:34:41.342 --> 01:34:41.582
Right.

01:34:41.582 --> 01:34:42.063
So they're still,

01:34:42.063 --> 01:34:43.113
and then it's a real,

01:34:43.323 --> 01:34:43.922
and it's a

01:34:43.922 --> 01:34:46.262
prison cell and probably a bribe to get out of there too.

01:34:46.472 --> 01:34:46.563
Right.

01:34:46.563 --> 01:34:48.752
So that was the closest I think I came to.

01:34:49.052 --> 01:34:50.162
What were you doing in Romania?

01:34:50.733 --> 01:35:02.432
Yeah, so I was shooting some documentary content for, um, a nonprofit out there that works with, um, uh, kids in foster care or kids in orphanages because of their stent in, in

01:35:02.438 --> 01:35:02.648
commun

01:35:02.653 --> 01:35:03.693
communism segments.

01:35:03.752 --> 01:35:03.932
Yeah.

01:35:04.113 --> 01:35:07.592
Uh, they had a lot of, uh, kids in foster care.

01:35:07.592 --> 01:35:08.493
So it was talking about.

01:35:09.408 --> 01:35:10.997
Them and that, that whole thing

01:35:11.057 --> 01:35:13.847
and trying to bring'em over to America or just that

01:35:13.853 --> 01:35:15.273
whole No, it was, it was a, it was a

01:35:15.273 --> 01:35:17.747
kind of more of an investigation of what's this circumstance

01:35:17.927 --> 01:35:18.257
kinda thing.

01:35:18.262 --> 01:35:18.313
Yeah.

01:35:18.318 --> 01:35:26.028
And supporting a nonprofit that was out there that they would work with the orphanages to be able to find them, care and find them, you know, things that they need and that sort

01:35:26.028 --> 01:35:26.238
of thing.

01:35:26.238 --> 01:35:29.658
Kids really struggle when they don't have somebody to attach to.

01:35:29.658 --> 01:35:30.257
Kind of, you know,

01:35:30.257 --> 01:35:30.467
very

01:35:30.467 --> 01:35:30.738
much.

01:35:30.738 --> 01:35:30.858
Yes.

01:35:30.887 --> 01:35:35.837
Which, that's the stories of that, of the baby babies were very sad.

01:35:35.837 --> 01:35:36.257
Heartbreaking.

01:35:36.318 --> 01:35:36.557
Yeah.

01:35:36.768 --> 01:35:37.278
Yeah.

01:35:37.997 --> 01:35:40.217
Well, I think it's a good time to wrap up.

01:35:40.217 --> 01:35:40.278
Yeah.

01:35:40.368 --> 01:35:45.677
Um, would you like to tell the listeners where to find your channels, magazines?

01:35:45.677 --> 01:35:48.408
I know the magazines all here and there and everywhere a little bit.

01:35:48.438 --> 01:35:48.768
Yep.

01:35:48.768 --> 01:35:54.287
The magazine is any, like 50 plus locations, so if you see it, it is free, grab it and pick it

01:35:54.287 --> 01:35:55.847
up increasingly in Windsor and,

01:35:55.847 --> 01:35:57.018
and Greeley, Greeley and

01:35:57.228 --> 01:35:57.858
stuff too

01:35:57.858 --> 01:35:59.448
soon outside of Fort Collins.

01:35:59.868 --> 01:36:02.118
Um, right now it's mostly Fort Collins and Loveland.

01:36:02.238 --> 01:36:06.920
And then you can find us at, this is Noco on any socials or this is noco.com.

01:36:06.925 --> 01:36:07.182
Mm-hmm.

01:36:07.398 --> 01:36:09.828
Um, for all of the longer form,

01:36:10.488 --> 01:36:10.847
dig it.

01:36:10.997 --> 01:36:11.177
Yeah.

01:36:11.478 --> 01:36:14.297
And look for Ben's work in the production studio here shortly.

01:36:14.297 --> 01:36:18.438
And uh, the first episodes of Noco Pulse.

01:36:18.438 --> 01:36:19.908
Yeah, we'll go Pulse for now.

01:36:19.908 --> 01:36:20.868
Something like that.

01:36:20.988 --> 01:36:23.417
Uh, maybe in a month or even a little bit less.

01:36:23.417 --> 01:36:23.957
Something like that.

01:36:23.962 --> 01:36:24.023
Yeah.

01:36:24.023 --> 01:36:24.182
Yeah.

01:36:24.182 --> 01:36:24.422
Soon.

01:36:24.648 --> 01:36:25.578
So I'm excited.

01:36:25.698 --> 01:36:25.877
Yeah.

01:36:25.877 --> 01:36:25.908
I

01:36:25.908 --> 01:36:26.028
was

01:36:26.028 --> 01:36:28.307
like, and if I can, you'll see this on social soon.

01:36:28.547 --> 01:36:29.328
Oh, well you could do it.

01:36:29.328 --> 01:36:30.018
I'll clip this one right up.

01:36:30.018 --> 01:36:30.587
Yeah, you got it.

01:36:30.677 --> 01:36:31.127
You got it.

01:36:31.127 --> 01:36:33.078
You got full access as far as I'm concerned.

01:36:33.528 --> 01:36:35.268
Hey, appreciate your time here today.

01:36:35.297 --> 01:36:35.568
Yeah.

01:36:35.807 --> 01:36:37.938
And, uh, so looking forward to working with y'all.

01:36:37.938 --> 01:36:38.927
Yeah, it's gonna be great.

01:36:39.047 --> 01:36:39.228
Alright.

01:36:39.408 --> 01:36:39.797
Got speed.

01:36:44.398 --> 01:36:47.938
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Loco Experience Podcast.

01:36:48.028 --> 01:36:50.667
Proudly produced and sponsored by Loco Think Tank.

01:36:50.908 --> 01:36:52.948
Colorado's premier pure advisory organization.

01:36:54.087 --> 01:36:55.738
This is your producer, Ava Manous.

01:36:55.948 --> 01:37:01.078
To find all of our episodes or nominate a future guest, check out our website@thelocoexperience.com.

01:37:01.707 --> 01:37:07.587
You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube x.com and LinkedIn at the Loco experience.

01:37:08.037 --> 01:37:10.917
To support the show, be sure to follow, subscribe, and share.

01:37:11.247 --> 01:37:13.108
Until next time, stay Loko.