Good to Know Grant Nuckolls

Paul Reiser and Nate Fluharty talk with entrepreneur Grant Nuckolls about what's going on in the local business community.

What is KTBS: Good to Know Shreveport-Bossier?

KTBS Podcasting and the Committee of 100 present Good to Know Shreveport-Bossier, a podcast series showcasing the good things happening in our area. We’ll go in-depth about economic development, community growth and other topics about initiatives that are having a positive impact in our community. We’ll have new episodes every other Wednesday. You can find the KTBS Good to Know podcast wherever you listen to podcasting. Or go to KTBS.com or KTBS Now on your streaming device to see the full interview.

Well, welcome to Good to No Shreveport
Bodega,

a podcast showcasing all the good things
happening in our community.

Nate flew Hardy.

This is my co-host, Paul Reiser,

local business businessman
and a member of the Committee of 100.

And each podcast, we're going to focus on
some of the topics and initiatives

that are having a positive impact
right here in our community.

With new episodes available
every other Wednesday, you can find.

Good to know wherever you typically
listen to podcasts.

Well, Paul,
thanks for joining us as always.

We appreciate it.

Thank you for joining us.

You guys, when you're here.

Bamford's not here, Jeffrey,
but he's doing important things

like at the Capitol.
He senators and stuff.

Yeah, he's in our nation's capital
grinding away, too.

But so I get the great honor
of filling in for Jeff today

and love to talk
about some good things, too.

Now, thank you for coming out. Well,
good thing to know.

We got another amazing guest today,

a super excited really because
we have a local remarkable entrepreneur.

This young man has brought businesses,
the town.

He's bought old businesses
and most recently

partnered in the new Rhino Coffee
den in Providence. Yeah.

So division.

So grant Knuckles hey local entrepreneur
thank you for doing Yeah, great.

Thanks for having me.

I appreciate it.

I'm a big fan of the show and it's cool
to be sitting here with you all.

Yeah. Thank you very much.

So I said, you know, remarkable young man,
just because you're into so many things.

So again, what are the businesses
you owned?

You purchased Cuban liquor,
which is awesome.

What you've done, that's right.

So, yeah,
my partner and I purchased that in 2020

and a year
before that we purchased Jacqueline's Cafe

and my partner who started running coffee
about ten, 11 years ago, he and I just

he started running our coffee
out in Providence, where I live.

And and we partnered up
and put a Southern made inside of there

with one of the local
Southern made franchises.

So, yeah, I'm in Shreveport. It's
home. Been here a long time.

My family's been here forever.

And so we,
we talk about growing the pie here.

And so that takes, as you
well know, you know, multiple businesses.

And so that's what
that's what we found ourselves in.

Yeah. So
and you also brought Twisted root.

That's right.

That was your first venture
that was in place in Shreveport.

Yeah.

Built that building ten years ago
and, and unfortunately,

just just closed it down
for new opportunities.

But we can get into that as well.

Had a good run there

that that was kind of my
my foray into the restaurant business in.

Yeah.

I tell you what when I moved to Shreveport
actually seven years ago

and Twisted Root,
one of the first businesses that I

love to check out and it was

it was so unique to me a different way
that these burgers were cooked,

the different variations
and things like that.

And it kind of
seems like some of these other businesses

that you have, it's
not the same old, same old kind of things.

Right.

And I think that's looking back there
and certainly the businesses

that we've purchased,
having that longevity in a town

like Shreveport or any town, you know,
middle sized market that can be opened

for two years as a restaurant, 90 years
as a is a liquor retailer. Wow.

They're doing something right
that's made them unique.

And so our basic goal is to take that
and and kind of nurture that brand

for the next 40 or 90 years and not mess
it up, maybe make some tweaks.

But just I kind of look at it
like we're the

kind of custodian of the brand
you know, for the next generation. Wow.

It is amazing.

You know, I had I had for
I was a franchise guy on the side,

but people ask me a lot, do you would

I should they get into a franchise
or should they start their own business?

And I usually recommend
try to find a business to buy.

Yeah, but you've done all three of them.

So I want to talk about the three
different business models today, what

it's like doing business in Shreveport,
why you stayed around.

I mean, there's so much stuff
to talk about. Absolutely.

But first of all, you're
you're raised a traveler.

You're from here, right?

Family's been here since 1863.

I think my mom's side of Shreveport.

Dad's family got to go
your parish around the same time.

So many people my age
that are here, back here,

I mean,
family's is at the top of the list.

And certainly for me to have kids that are
now seventh generation, Shreveport is.

And of course, your heartstrings pull
you here and I want to keep them here.

Part of that's making
sure that that's a fun place to grow up.

And and there's lots of good businesses
for them to go to as they grow older.

So that's that's kind of the general idea.

I went to Tulane, came back
here, worked for hardware

resources, which my my mentor
and was the founder of that company.

I found myself traveling in the hardware
business, went to China like 12 times

and for four and a half years,
and they got bought out by private equity.

And I started to get that scratch that,
that itch to do my own,

to hang my own shingle somewhere.

My dad has been in the
car wash business in Boca for 40 years.

I grew up in a small but family business,
and so I think that was just,

I guess, in the blood. So,
yeah, I like that.

What about the importance to

of maintaining that to its kind of help
the community here?

I mean you mentioned your family's
been here for a long, long time.

So to maintaining
that local aspect of things.

Yeah.

So a town the size of Shreveport
small business family business,

locally owned businesses is is up
and down every street in our city.

Right.

And many of those business
owners are multigenerational.

I mean, even my wife, her
her mom and grandmother started a ladies

boutique in 1976
and in Shreveport and village Wash day.

And that's in Paramount common
now third generation company. So

it's it's the American story.

It's a Shreveport story.

And and for those of us that grow up
in that business and luckily she did, too.

So we understand each other.

Struggles come home
after a long day at work and you know,

and you're still working,

you know, and ah, you're
you're talking about each other today.

But but I think we both understand
the value of that,

not just for our families,
but for the greater the city.

Keep it unique

that you can share a lot of that ball,
something about that it seems like

that you know, I told him
when you asking me about this, he's

one of my mentors.

I mean, one of the best parts

of getting in the committee of 100
is getting to meet him.

I mean, and we can talk about franchises.

One of my biggest frustrations, Paul,
is that people

a lot of people think a quiet franchise
with not locally owned

or franchise
with not being involved in the community.

And one thing that I always try to stress
to my friends and try to lead by example

and follow your footsteps,

I mean, this guy was super and still
is super involved in the community.

I mean, Roy Griggs, you know,
do you think McDonald's

you automatically think corporate?

Yeah.

Roy Griggs, a local McDonald's franchisee,
one of my mentors and friends,

perhaps the most community
involved restaurateur in Shreveport.

So that's something I try to drive home
and remind people of locally

owned is important,
but there's many ways to be locally owned.

Sure, that's right.

I mean, we send our royalty checks

to wherever the franchise home is,
but we own that building.

Well, in my case,
I was up in the building.

Yeah, we owned the business.

We hire the people locally.

The company does not come in on a
on a horse to save you.

If you have problems, it's your,
it's your business.

That's right.

And and you see a lot of local franchises
that get very involved in schools and

different organizations.
I know you do especially.

I know I'm very familiar
with what you do with Cuban liquor.

Yeah.

To be involved with different areas,
talk about different ways

to get involved with local community
and support your local community.

When you own a business.

Yeah,
I mean, I get twisted and many restaurants

do the give back nights,
but I wanted to make sure

that was an integral part of our business.

I actually partnered
with a local marketing upstart

and one of my task was Find Me
Schools, churches, nonprofits.

I want to do at least one fundraiser
a week.

Most of the restaurants
are giving back 10%.

We gave back 20
and just make that a part of the business.

I looked at it as a win win.

Of course I want to give back,
but also it brings

customers and oftentimes new customers in,
and that's a great thing.

And so even even at Cuban,
you would think,

I mean, it's a nicer liquor store,
but it's still a liquor store.

Well,
how can you give back to local nonprofits?

Well,
I found some other stores in other markets

that take these these out,
what we call allocated bourbon's.

Right. Pappy Van
Winkle is the most famous one.

But all these bottles that are hard to get
and you can mark them up

to a real high price,
but I didn't want to do that.

I said instead, what is it?

Let's talk about what are you familiar

with with bourbons
like the expensive fancy stuff that.

So I get to choose my words.

Yes, Yes.

I've heard about these things
on special occasions.

Yeah. So they're the ones Pappy Van
Winkle is going to be.

You know,

you can just find it on the Internet
for hun, many, many thousands of dollars.

So us.

So it comes to me with a suggested
retail price of like the ten year $79.

You go online and you're going to pay
ten times that easily.

Sure.

So in some liquor stores
will put it behind a glass cabinet

and they'll sell it themselves for $700
instead of 70.

Well, we if following others, said
we're going to sell it

for the fair price because we feel like
in the long run, that's good.

Our customers appreciate that, but

we raffle off tickets

with all the proceeds of the raffle
for many bottles like this.

And we decided on our first year
we picked 100 bottles throughout the year

and sold each of them at the normal price,
but we raffled off the right

the chance to win the right
to buy one of those bottles from us.

And so the first year we raised
$20,000, last year over 25,000.

That proceeds, which is way more than what
we even sell the bottles for.

We pick a local nonprofit.

My partner, I really believe that

I've done that
helping the children in the inner city

have access to books and reading

is critical to turning around
a lot of reports problems.

And so we partnered with the Dolly Parton
Library, United

Way, one year common ground in the Cedar
Grove community one year.

And so it's a really fun way
to get involved, give back

and while
conducting a normal course of business.

So I think that there's any way
that any business can get involved.

There's fun, creative ways

to do it, and more about the creative part
and talk about that.

Because if you own a business, people
are constantly asking you for things

every day.

It's a great question
in the restaurant business,

but it's it's every day
because restaurant food's just free.

You just give it away, you know?

So a bottle of Blanton's,

let's say, it's a nice, nice bourbon
and it's hard to get.

Yeah, man.

So how many bottles of Blanton's a month
will they send your liquor store?

Not many.

I mean, some much. You'll get a handful.

Many much. You'll get zero.

Yeah. So, you know,
always two or three bottles of blend.

So I remember

we had lunch one day and I'm like, Hey,
Grant, can you hook me up for a friend?

Right.

Yeah, With some Blanton's here,
like, dude, everyone ask me for that.

That's right.

So it's a great way to politely say,
you know, I can't give

everybody a bottle of blend,
but I do raffle it off

if you want, and it's like $65 to buy
the bottle, you know, retail, right.

It's, it's not $65 but we'll always say

like we were at sports support had a

have their annual fundraiser
at support at night the other weekend

they do silent auction
so I always try to hold back some bottles

If we get asked for a nonprofit
that we're involved with

or that means something to us
or that's doing something like that,

we made a gift

basket, had a bottle of Blanton's in it
with some old fashioned stuff,

gave it to them to where they can,
instead of me selling it for two

or $300 instead of 60,
I'll give it to them.

They can put it in the basket.
Silent auction.

They can make two or $300 on the basket.

And so it's fun.
It's a great way to be creative. Yeah.

Back and every every Friday and you're
I mean, I'm just selling Cuban liquor.

I come on a restaurant to do it
because you're

just you're creativity
in the way you do this local marketing.

So you send out the Facebook page,
you say, okay, the first.

That's right.

We'll pick a random Friday once
every four or six weeks.

And a lot of these similar
type of bottles,

we'll just put them all on a shelf.

I don't tell my wife,

not even my staff, not even my business
partner knows when I'm going to do it

because I want them to be able

to look a customer in the eye
and truthfully say, Dude,

I promise you, I don't know the next time

we're doing the right,
but you'll know when I know.

And that's
when the picture goes on Facebook.

You know, it's a Cuban liquor face,
but we'll go ahead and give you a plug.

Yeah, Yeah, absolutely.

Like, if I should
they just go there like ID friends?

Yeah, like it.
And that way I'm getting notified.

And on these random Fridays.

Well, I'll,
I'll try to put up 60 or 75 bottles

and any one customer
can they buy one bottle.

Not one of each.

Just one that gives 60 or 75
different customers in Shreveport

the opportunity to come in and fairly,
you know, purchase one of these bottles.

Now, I'm interested
for those that don't know,

they're maybe checking things out
right now.

I guess some may be asking the question,

what is making this so rare?

Is it a supply chain issue
that we've heard so many times before?

Is it just so many
people are looking for balance?

Yeah, it's it's both.

I mean,
and these brands kind of come and go.

My suppliers
tell me like ten or 15 years ago, Pappy

Van Winkle was on the closeout list
and the suppliers reps were buying it

for ten and $15 a bottle.

Just get it out of the warehouse.
This stuff's not selling.

And then there's all kind
of great documentaries about it.

But but the brands catch fire,
and then now there's

these Bourbons, in many cases
take six years.

Sometimes ten, 15, 20 years to
to make to sit there in that warehouse.

So today the supplier realizes
they've got a gold mine on their hands,

but it takes them eight or ten
or 15 more years to make more.

And so when you're in them, when they
when you're in that time waiting,

you're only getting what that little bit
that you're getting.

And so it's just this simple supply
demand.

Wow. Interesting.

Thanks for breaking that down.

Well, I mean, I love business,
so we got to be careful.

But some of the things

What?

Right. Yeah.

So if people are interested
in getting in the business, like I say,

what is the business
climate in Shreveport?

How are young people?

You know, it's mostly
older folks like me and even older, right?

Yeah, in business around.

But how do people if they want to start
getting into business,

where should they start to get involved
and what other things are you involved in?

Yes, I mean, I

I'm I'm a big believer
in giving back with nonprofit services,

not the only way to give back,
but it's a way I really enjoy giving back.

Meaning people like you is has helped me
and and it's certainly

well, I'm on the board of the Shreveport
Chamber Committee 100, the state

committee 100, the Independence Ball
Foundation, Boy Scouts of America.

I was the Eagle Scout at a young age

and had fun
giving back as I grew older that way.

So it's not like I
said, it's not the only way to give back.

Many people serve on their church boards.

Many people start their own nonprofit
or just go volunteer on a weekend.

But it's really, really important because
we can't just sit down and complain.

Every city has problems.

Shreveport has its share, but I promise
you, all cities have their share.

And I think what makes one city
better than the other is the degree

to which they're citizens.
And you just get involved and give back.

So I've enjoyed the nonprofit service,
and maybe that's a reason

why we've put in the time to get creative
on how our businesses

can kind of get involved in a fun way
and give back, too.

But I do think it's important
if I want my kids

and their kids kids
to stay here like I've stayed,

then I think they need me

to to get involved
and to try to make the city better.

That's awesome.

And I think you guys could both kind of
shed some light on this.

But as far as the overall business
climate, right, I'm sure there are worse

places to be in America right now
than the Shreveport bodega.

I mean, we see new businesses coming in.

You got some like we I think Shreveport is
so, you know, to be our size.

We have so many things going for us.

It's a blessing and a curse.

What I mean is we're the smallest city
in America with a symphony, a ballet,

an opera, a world class science museum,
a world class art museum, you know. So.

But that's great.

At the Strand Theater, we can keep going.

But but to take care of all those things
with the limited population base,

you've got to either
get that population base

more successful with disposable income, or
you've got to grow that population base.

And so that's what
we all need to be focused on doing,

because there's a lot of cities bigger
than us that don't have any of that.

Yeah, and then don't even get me
started on our legit music history.

We've got more legit music history
here than Nashville or Austin.

Wow. You know,
so we just need to cultivate that.

And then with our natural resources,
no city can build a river

or an or an interstate
or have two of the largest

rail lines in America intersecting
or have a manufacturing port

or have a world class
multimodal airport facility.

So we've got all this
and all these job announcements.

You've seen the last year or two

that that people like the brief,
the chamber, the committee, 100 in LePage,

US and Dix and these organizations
that are working together.

You're hearing these 300 600,000 person
job announcements.

It's because of all this.

And so a lot of us that are my age
and older that I've been hearing

about all the good things we have,
and you're like,

okay, well,
let's let's take advantage of all.

It takes time, but it's happening.

The General Motors facility
that we all know about that had

so many thousands of jobs in the eighties
when I was a kid and started to close.

There are more jobs there
and committed there

now than there were
when that facility closed.

That's huge.

And and and so it makes me excited
because I sit on the bottom of the food.

My wife's, you know, business that sells,

you know, clothes and in sheets
and in all kind of cool gifts.

The liquor store, the restaurant,
my dad's car wash.

These are service
restaurant retail service businesses.

We need population to survive and thrive.

And so I'm so fired up.

I want to do whatever I can to support
these these big job opportunities,

because that's going to be more customers
and employees for our smaller companies.

Yeah, like that.

We're going to have that tourism
to his list, man.

I'm telling you, you get me fired up.

Yeah, that's awesome.
And you know, you talk about this.

When you join these types of
committees, you get involved,

you you may do it.

People might join now
because I said I want to meet Grant.

What a great way to do it.

You get to do that.

You need to be around
folks like you and folks like.

And I don't get too often.

I mean,

being from here
and you meet a lot of people,

so I know
some of these large business owners,

but I certainly don't I'm
not on that level

as far as a big manufacturer or something.

So I really enjoy meeting somebody,

you know, like a Graham Walker
that owns fiber.

BONNER Trey Smith, as Ivan
Smith is huge companies, multi, multi

hundred thousand person employers.

They're operating on a different scale.

But we can learn from each other
and we can try to support each other

and find solute,

sometimes
find solutions to each other's problems

just because we come
from a different standpoint.

Yeah,
but there are people really discount.

There are some big incredible
companies here in Shreveport,

but there are some small incredible
ones too.

You know, it's fun getting another.

Well,
you know, you can be on different events

and you learn,
you make connections with people.

You opened up opportunities.

I speak for free
to a lot of your organization.

And then people call me later and ask me
to speak and actually pay me money.

Can you believe that name?

That's awesome.

It's crazy,
but I'm not doing it for that, right?

I do it
just to try to help out. So, you know,

join these

different organizations is an opportunity
to help the community.

But it always comes back to you, you know?
That's right.

I mean, what you know, another
another great part about being a city

the size of Shreveport, it's it's
big enough that there's a cultural demand

of especially young people
that want to get into to new fun things.

But it's small enough to where
if you see something that you don't

that you want to create,

the city's
not so big that you can't just go do it.

So some friends of mine a few years ago
saw a real need for more events

and festivals in Shreveport
music festivals, art festivals.

And so we just started just doing and,
and we're successful with that.

And so that's another real big
then it's the big fish small pond deal

mean it's a lot harder, harder,
more timely and expensive

to go create a music festival in Dallas
versus to go create one in Shreveport.

And is it that simple?

Is it just it's not like let's just well,
you make it sound like a good question.

If you were in a state just to do it.

Yeah, it's super simple that like,
yeah, you know, we had the first

the first public event at Norton
Art Gallery partnered with them.

Derby Day was incredible.

They had never in the in

almost 200 year history of Shreveport,
never been a free big festival

and Betty Virginia Park crawl fest
10,000 people three incredible music

the Met you know
if you're willing to put out the hard

way, it's just it's no different
than starting a business. Sure.

It's a huge risk.

It's a lot of time.

But but you can be rewarded.

And if you see a need
and and do the work, I'm just saying

it's easier than seeing and doing that
that work in a in a bigger market.

So I think people that can take that
to their advantage, you know

so you could go to Derby Day
and you can say, man, I really like this.

Who puts this on Grant Green?
I want to volunteer next year.

And then you take them
and you show them how to do everything,

and then you say, Oh, from what
I've learned and these connections,

now I can go on and do my own free thing,
you know?

And that's what part, whether you get it.

Like I've found mentors
in the restaurant business.

You can find mentors in any business.

I mean, I think most people will tell you
Shreveport is a very giving town

as far as whether it's the business,
civic leaders, the events,

whoever they are, a cultural.

If you're willing to sit down
and ask, I'm telling you,

they're going to be more than willing to
to tell you and to to kind of mentor you.

And again, that's harder to get plugged
into in a bigger town like that.

Well, guys, as we begin to wrap things up
here, wrap it up.

We're only getting started.

I got a very, very important question.

This last observation I was
I was mentioning to I'm

filling in for Jeff
by and for normally his the but

this has been

so enlightening for me to hear
because for both

you guys
that are staples of the community,

you both had so much success
in the business world.

I'm sensing a lot of optimism from both
you guys.

So I'd like to kind of ask you about that.

Is the fact that, you know, oftentimes
in the news and the business

climate, there's, you know, inflation
impacting Americans.

There's there's so much happening

economically in this world
that can be viewed as a negative.

But when we break it down
on kind of a local scale,

both you guys, again,
you both seem optimistic.

I want to ask you about,
you know, what you see about the future,

the good things that good to know stuff
and and where we

what it takes to get there. And we'll see.

I am optimistic and I've lived through,
you know, even recently

some of the tough climate with inflation
and everything.

But that's that's transitory.
That's temporary. It's a cycle.

That's an American cycle.

That's you're going to be affected
by that anywhere.

I think the things that we talked about
that can't be easily replicated

like the fabric of a community,

it's people and all these resources
and things we have going for us.

That's what makes me optimistic.

But also not just the Pollyanna stuff.

I mean, these job announcements
that we're seeing, like

I mean, Amazon, obviously,
but they've doubled down.

I mean, they've already committed
to a second location

first is not even open yet. Yeah.

And so we as America is growing south

and as companies are looking for

ways to get in
and like distribution and manufacturing,

they're having to look at towns
like Shreveport that check

all the boxes and that are more cost
effective way of doing business.

So I really believe our best days
are ahead of us.

I really, really do.

And so that's what makes me excited
to to keep trying to plug away here

and to hope that, you know, my kids
after school will come back, you know,

just like I did.

And we certainly hope that you do.

What about you, Paul?
We're going to keep giving good advice.

That's just what you guys like.

This is entering into my old age.

But I will say
it's all about people to me, you know,

And I'm also, as in the retail business
and, you know, with sales and fast food

and but you know,
you look at someone like Grant here

who's had amazing successes
but also some failures.

Yeah. So people say, well,
what happened to Twisted Root?

Absolutely mistake.

Well, most restaurants closed
in the first year, 50% close with it

know, 80% closed in the first ten years.

But you but you were open for ten years.

Yeah, it was a great run, I would say.

But tell people kind of what happened.

What happened? Yeah, absolutely.

So when we opened our ticket,
average was about

$14 a person,
including alcohol, milkshakes, everything.

When I closed, it was over 20

simply because having to raise prices
to meet all this crazy

year and a half or so of inflation
we've seen in a bigger town.

Now, one advantage of a bigger town
is that you may have more families

that could still afford
that big, drastic change in price.

But even still

in other cities,
you're seeing many restaurants close.

They're always closing.

I mean, that's just the nature of
the business is to his point.

But specifically with my overhead,
they're a big,

nice building,
huge facility, 5000 square feet.

In 2013,

the cost of running that restaurant
was much, much lower.

So the ability for me to sell
the same hamburger at a lower price,

it was a lot easier to do.

So now it needs to go to somebody
with a higher end.

You know, food item that can justify
instead of a $20 hamburger,

sell a 40 or $50 nice plate of food
that many restaurants in Shreveport

are successful doing right now.

And I think it's a great facility
and in a great part of town.

I think it'll it'll be great.

But as far as selling hamburgers in a big
facility, you know, it's just different.

The economy is change.

That's definitely not a knock on record.

It's just a knock on.

That's today's climate anyway.

It's a beautiful building.

It could be anything
but to a bias building. Man.

Go check it. It could kill off.

You're talking about ranking
the two biggest,

two most similar businesses
that I can think of that were for sale

a month or two ago

on a big

zaxby's on Erie Drive
and the old Applebee's on Burtons

have both been bought and turning it to
car washes, which is funny because that's

that's the business I grew up in
and that business a change do but your dad

I mean he wants Yeah fancy car
but all that you say all that to say is

it's not the end of the world
that's what you have to put that into your

you put that into your model
and you have to know when to pivot

and you have to know
when to make a hard pivot.

I mean, that's unfortunately I there's

that I keep a little running list
just for my own knowledge.

Over 75 restaurants have closed
in Shreveport since October. Wow.

I mean, you don't really realize it
until you really take stock of that.

But many of them reopen and something else
in some of them reopen to your point.

And, you know, it's
something completely different.

So you have to really look at the business

you're going into
and know the risks that you're taking.

But for every one that closes, it reopens.

You know, thankfully,
you've got the staples of your community

like Jacqueline's that I have.

It's been around 40 years

in many of the awesome new restaurants
that have opened here in the last five

or ten years.

We have world class restaurants
and world class operators and chefs here,

and that's equally as important
of the fabric of the communities.

I just encourage people support
all the locally owned ones

that you can and get out there
and try to find something new.

We've got a lot of cool things
in this town.

Certainly restaurants, but art and culture
and music and the list goes on.

Very well said.

How much time do we have?

Nate We're actually just about
out of time, but I think that was a great

closing statement.

Jack Williams
and what you did to get the business up.

And there's so many cool things.

But yeah, but yeah, we're
I think we're right to be optimistic,

but people think optimistic means
that you're expecting 100% success.

And sure, when I grew up there was always
a saying, you know, a big,

you know, Hall of Fame baseball guy
only hits it three out of ten times.

That's right.

That's the best of the best.

So I'm I'm luckily
I probably hit eight out of ten.

But there
are some failures or some bad ones.

But, you know, you got to expect those

and you got to prepare for them
and you got to pivot like you said. So

But anyway, man,
thanks so much for being here.

Yeah. Both you guys, I appreciate you.

Let me be here today
and it's very enlightening for me to,

you know, to to hear from both of you
about where the the area goes from here.

So this is really cool.

And you gave us a lot of good stuff,
too, now. Awesome. Thank you.

Thank you, Paul.
Thank you, Paul, as always. Absolutely.

Closes out with your official here,
the actual paid guy

that knows how to be on TV
and all that stuff.

Oh, so you're this no pressure.

Well, it's
great on behalf of all of us here at

as we certainly like to thank the fellows
for being here today

and for you to tuning in
to our good to know podcast.

Stay tuned
for much more here in the future.

Very proud to do this
and very proud of our community.