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Sometimes the things that feel like setbacks turn out to be the moments that change your life.

Host Wade Shoemaker sits down with Eric Seymore, founder of Rise, for an honest conversation about faith, family, turkey hunting, cancer, and the unexpected journey that led to one of the fastest-growing faith-based brands in the outdoor space.

Eric shares the story behind his cancer diagnosis, a Bible reading that shifted his perspective, and a failed turkey hunt that ultimately became the catalyst for launching Rise. What began as a handful of hats and shirts designed to share a personal story has evolved into a movement centered around faith, hunting, family, and authenticity.

The discussion explores the challenges of starting a business with no apparel experience, the importance of trusting the process, and how unexpected opportunities like NWTF and DUX helped accelerate the growth of the brand. Along the way, Eric reflects on parenting, purpose, entrepreneurship, and why keeping the main thing the main thing continues to guide every decision.

Topics Covered
  • The story behind the Rise brand
  • A cancer diagnosis and its impact on perspective
  • Faith, purpose, and personal growth
  • The turkey hunt that inspired a movement
  • Building a company from the ground up
  • Family, parenting, and raising kids with strong values
  • NWTF, DUX, and the growth of Rise
  • Entrepreneurship and trusting the process
  • Supporting others through storytelling
https://www.riseturkeyhunting.com/

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Send feedback: DUPodcast@ducks.org

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Creators and Guests

Host
Wade Shoemaker
DUPodcast Host

What is Ducks Unlimited Podcast?

Ducks Unlimited Podcast is a constant discussion of all things waterfowl; from in-depth hunting tips and tactics, to waterfowl biology, research, science, and habitat updates. The DU Podcast is the go-to resource for waterfowl hunters and conservationists. Ducks Unlimited is the world's leader in wetlands conservation.

Eric Seymour:

Before we're doing really was a culmination of all that. Was like, alright. My wife gets mad at me because when I

Wade Shoemaker:

say that was when it kinda became real. She's like, what

Eric Seymour:

was real before that? And I say,

Wade Shoemaker:

you're right. You're I say you're right.

Eric Seymour:

But only about 10 people knew about it.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. You brought us all the way to and you're saying it's just now really?

Eric Seymour:

That's right. Yeah. So now

Wade Shoemaker:

that that was just such a cool thing.

VO:

You're tuned in to the Ducks Unlimited Podcast. Conserving wetlands, restoring habitat, and working to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow, and forever. From field tested hunting insights to the biggest conservation wins across North America, this is your front row seat to wetlands conservation in action. The DU Podcast is proudly sponsored by Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails. Whether you're wrapping up a hunt with your best friend or kicking back with your crew, Bird Dog brings award winning flavor to every moment.

VO:

Enjoy responsibly.

Wade Shoemaker:

Hey, folks. Welcome back. I'm your host, Wade Shoemaker, and today, I've got a pretty special guest. This is a fellow who started something, I'd say almost by accident. I mean, he he'll correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's turned into something that's gained popularity like crazy.

Wade Shoemaker:

I've got mister Eric Seymour here. He's the owner and founder of Rise. Eric, I'm I'm stoked to have you on the podcast, dude. I'm stoked to let everyone hear your story because there is one. There's a strong one here.

Wade Shoemaker:

And and please, like, dude, before I get too excited here I because I wanna go ahead and, like, kinda give the beginning of how this started. But before I get too excited and do that and spill the beans, like, I want you to go ahead and kinda introduce yourself if you don't mind. Yeah, man.

Eric Seymour:

This is Eric Seymour with Rise from Easley, South Carolina. Grew up in Easley, lived a bunch of different places over about a twenty year stretch, ended up back here, back home, and just excited to be

Wade Shoemaker:

with you today, man. We got a chance to meet,

Eric Seymour:

I guess, probably a month ago. And Yeah. Something like that. Had a chat and been trying to put this together. So just glad to be here, man.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. And you said you're from Easy and been around a bunch. I mean, where's the in between been?

Eric Seymour:

So I went to Clemson for school, which isn't too terribly far away. But then between military experience and civilian work stuff, just kinda moved around. Some South Carolina, some other places. Yeah. I was kinda one

Wade Shoemaker:

of those guys growing up.

Eric Seymour:

I was like, man, I don't know if I'm ever gonna go back home, you know, once I leave. And it seems like every year I was going, it it was more important to get back. And especially now, you have a wife and two young kids, and just being back around home is fantastic with the people and the memories and just everything to do around here is fantastic.

Wade Shoemaker:

So Yeah, dude. I was coming home kinda, like, probably a little bit apprehensive to go home to begin with, and you got there and you're like, yeah, there's there's no place I'd rather be.

Eric Seymour:

Yeah, man. It's great. You know, we we're just blessed. I'm in the Upstate Of South Carolina, you know, kind of between Clemson and Greenville, and it's just a great place to be and raise a family. And we got a great community here.

Eric Seymour:

And with we're gonna talk about today with Rise, especially, you know, we've people that are just all in and behind and trying to help everything we're doing here. So it's it's huge to have that support. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Yeah. Very cool, man. Not that anybody would ever know, but you're kinda down for the count right now. You gotta sit still just so you

Eric Seymour:

don't mess anything else up. Yeah, man.

Wade Shoemaker:

So in a very strategic maneuver, I

Eric Seymour:

had knee sched knee surgery scheduled a couple of weeks ago so that if everything lines up right, I shouldn't miss any hunting at all. Heck yeah. We'll definitely be fully rehabbed by turkey season, so that's good.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. That's some miles right there. Yeah. Cool, man. Like, I hate you sitting down.

Wade Shoemaker:

I hate I mean, I hate you gotta sit down. I know you're worried about that. Yesterday, we were talking about it, but I think we'll be fine. I told you that I had a painting. I thought it was plants, but it was actually a vase with plants up here.

Wade Shoemaker:

I told you to catch the bottom of it. So I mean, like, hey. It it don't matter. We're here having the conversation, but let's let's get into it, man. Like, I wanna I wanna talk about Rise, and I know this is you know, these podcasts can be about anything, and we'll get into the hunting stuff later, you know, if we get to it.

Wade Shoemaker:

But I wanted to get some info on Rise and not the story of of how kinda you started it because we're gonna get there in a little bit. And I I don't I don't really want the elevator pitch either. I don't want the short, like, with this, this, and this, you know, like, the the three points. But I wanna hear your heart behind it. I wanna hear the why behind it.

Wade Shoemaker:

What's the mission of Rise?

Eric Seymour:

You know, Rise really started to tell a story, and and specifically to tell my story about running from God and cancer and a Bible challenge and grace and turkeys. And this whole thing started just as a way for me to share this story with others and made a dozen hats to do it. The cool thing now, you know, we started Rise to tell this story, and now we're just hearing stories from everybody else as we tell ours. And we're having, you know, people pour into us with amazing stories and testimonies and support. And so it's really cool, man.

Eric Seymour:

I think, you know, what started something very small has turned in very quickly over the last six, seven months into something that I think is pretty electric, and people seem to be pretty fired up about.

Wade Shoemaker:

I mean, you you hit a couple different pieces there. So, I mean, on that, it feels like there's a lot of pieces of this story. Right? Like, a lot of little bitty things that didn't make sense, and and I've we discussed it, and I'd say really hardly any of them probably made any sense to you at all other than frustrations in one way, shape, or form. But at some point, it did make sense, and hindsight kicked in.

Wade Shoemaker:

You're like, oh. But, man, like, what events you mentioned you know, you touched on it just then. You just you know, you mentioned, like, running from God. You mentioned the cancer. You mentioned several things.

Wade Shoemaker:

But, like, what kind of unpack those for us. Like, man, what what events led up when you finally was like, okay, God. Like, I guess I guess we're gonna do this.

Eric Seymour:

This fast spring, February 2026 at the National Wild Turkey Federation, was really the culmination of four years of a lot of questions. Yeah. Four years of why did I get cancer? Why didn't it kill me? What am I supposed to do with it?

Eric Seymour:

You know? How am I supposed to use this time I've been giving back? And so so, really, you know, when we got to the opportunity to go to NWTF this spring, I was like, alright. This is real. Like, we're we're doing this.

Eric Seymour:

And I know we can we will get into a little more detail later, but that that was really for me. It just hit me. It was probably the first day. I'd never even attended NWTF. Right?

Eric Seymour:

And so I get there. Crazy this year. It was, man. And, you know, just to see the response of everybody there, attendees, vendors, industry people, just everybody, excitement and support for what we're doing really was the culmination of all that. And was like, alright.

Eric Seymour:

My wife gets mad at me because when I say that was when

Wade Shoemaker:

it kinda became real. She's like, well,

Eric Seymour:

it was real before that. I say, yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

I say, you're right.

Eric Seymour:

But only about 10 people knew about it.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. You brought us all

Eric Seymour:

the way

Wade Shoemaker:

to Nashville, and you're saying it's just now real?

Eric Seymour:

That's right. Yeah. So no. That was just such a cool thing. Because, I mean, when you look at four years over a lifetime, it's really not that long.

Eric Seymour:

But four years is it's a pretty significant chunk of time.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. No. It is, dude. You're right. I don't know.

Wade Shoemaker:

Was there ever any, like and let's let's talk about Nashville. Was it when you saw the people, but, like, let's back up to where, like, when you created the first dozen hats, when you started printing the first shirts, what made you say, okay, I gotta make these hats and I gotta make these shirts? What switch flipped, man? Or what was the switch that flipped?

Eric Seymour:

I think for me, man, I was so reluctant reluctant to to tell tell my my story story and to really tell others about, you know, my walk with God and some things I felt like he was doing in my life because I didn't feel like I was worthy to tell it. And honestly, the hats were an easy out for me. Even when I got the hats made, I would only tell the story if somebody asked me what my hat meant while we were tourguin. And so if they didn't ask, I wouldn't tell. But if I told them, I would give them a hat.

Eric Seymour:

And then, you know, as I started telling the story, it just kinda kept snowballing. Was man, you gotta keep telling that. You gotta keep telling that. So before too long, I ran out of hats. I was like, well, maybe some other people might wanna hear this story in hats.

Eric Seymour:

And, you know, so I started a little website. I think before NWTF this year, we might have sold 30 or 40 shirts, And it was all the people that we knew, and we lost some money. But, you know, again, for me, it really wasn't about making money, and it it still isn't. I mean, it's just about telling the story. Because I'll be honest with you, man.

Eric Seymour:

In this whole journey, I have received so much more than I feel like I've given, and it is just so cool to have to yeah. Just to see and hear all the neat things that people are doing out there and and how supportive they are. So it's been it's been awesome, man. I mean, it's just been such a blessing.

Wade Shoemaker:

I love that, dude. So this started out sort of as the turkey thing. Right? Like a turkey themed brand, I would say. You love Jesus Hunt turkeys, but it's it's not exactly that now.

Wade Shoemaker:

You know? I I think it it's more maybe like most things at its core, it's always gonna be kinda the reason to always always will be a turkey focus on that. Obviously, there's more to it like the actual message, but it was built around love Jesus hunt turkeys, but it seems to be turning into something a little bit bigger, something more maybe, you know, branching out your your shirt is love Jesus hunt ducks. Do you feel that that's the case? Like, it's gonna it's gonna scale into, like, everything, you know, like, love Jesus, catch fish or whatever, you know, like or am I just am I over here, like, with some wishful thinking just knowing knowing what it what it could turn into?

Wade Shoemaker:

And you're just like, no, man. This is kinda where we wanna keep it.

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. You know, I mean, this whole thing started because I got diagnosed with cancer in 2022. I was six months into a Bible challenge, two weeks behind where I should have been when I figured out I had cancer. I got up the next morning to read, and my reading for that day was John 11. And I got to John eleven four.

Eric Seymour:

It said, this sickness will not end in death. It'll be used for God's glory. And so Mhmm. I've been running from God for a long time. The night before, I was finally like an uncle.

Eric Seymour:

You got me. You win. I give up. I was like, you're gonna kill me, kill me. You didn't leave me here, leave me here.

Eric Seymour:

I said, just look after my family. The next morning I get up and I read that, and I said, okay. Well, you got my attention. And so, you know, really over the next six months, I went through surgery, cancer went into remission. Fast forward to the turkey season of 2023, and I had a chance to back into the single season grand slam by accident, basically.

Eric Seymour:

So I end up after a long season of running around just tremendous opportunities with others and on my own. I end up in Kansas with a kid I've known about twelve hours. We shared some hunting ground together in South Carolina. I've been on a text thread with him. Talked to him on the phone one time.

Eric Seymour:

We'd never met until we got on a plane to go to Kansas. I sat in the same spot for six hours to get my Rio to finish my slam, and I missed the same turkey three times at 30 yards, which is highly improbable. Right? Yeah. Yeah.

Eric Seymour:

TSS and a red dot and everything else and and end up chasing this turkey on foot as far as I can run

Wade Shoemaker:

without giving out. I measured it later. Was about a half mile dead sprint trying

Eric Seymour:

to catch him. He wanted to live worse than I wanted to catch him. But, know, through that whole series, right, God had taken for me fitness, which was an idol, and turkey hunting, which had been an idol somewhat. Because really after my cancer, was like, man, getting this grand slam is gonna be my way to fix everything. He's gonna make it right.

Eric Seymour:

I'm gonna get back on top. I'm gonna

Wade Shoemaker:

get another check-in the block.

Eric Seymour:

Because I'm very much type a, very driven, very task oriented. And I was like, hey, this is just another win. You know, when that got taken away, that was really the catalyst for the whole Rise story. Because a few months later, you know, I woke up 02/01/2024, drew the Rise logo, I told my wife, I said, hey. I think I know what I'm supposed to do with this.

Wade Shoemaker:

I said, I think I'm just

Eric Seymour:

supposed to tell people about cancer, bible challenge, and trying to fill the void with everything but God. Nothing's gonna do it. And I said, you know, because I am so imperfect and I struggle in so many areas, I was like, I think I'm the one I think that's why God wants me to tell it because none of us are perfect. Right? And so, yeah, so

Wade Shoemaker:

to your back a long answer to your question was No. I I like it. Yeah.

Eric Seymour:

Turkeys are what drove Rise. You know? But as an avid outdoorsman, we love to hunt everything. I mean,

Wade Shoemaker:

I was talking to a buddy of

Eric Seymour:

mine today. We're prepping for a dove hunt. Labor Day weekend up here with a bunch families and barbecue and shooting doves and love to turkey hunt, obviously. Love to duck hunt. Love to upland hunt.

Eric Seymour:

I got an awesome dog, English cocker. We upland hunt a bunch. Had deer hunt. So you name it. Yes.

Eric Seymour:

The Rise has started, you know, branching out into everything because what Rise is really all about is it's it's faith forward apparel and telling people, hey. Like, I love the outdoors, and I love Jesus. And and to your question is if you know, what we talk about all the time is if this top line right here, if you've got that figured out, it doesn't really matter what's below

Wade Shoemaker:

it. Right? Yeah. I like it.

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. And so it's neat, man. It's a lot of fun, and, yeah, it's just there's so many opportunities and everything to talk when you're wearing this shirt because my buddies and I talk about it. Like, it's a conversation starter because somebody either either wants to know where you got it or what in the world it means. Like, that's those are either two questions.

Eric Seymour:

Like, what's on your shirt mean? So

Wade Shoemaker:

yeah. No. That's cool, man. It's pretty like you said, it's it's faith forward. I I think it it makes the statement, and a lot of people that wanna know what it means, it's not they don't understand what you're trying to tell them.

Wade Shoemaker:

It's like, you know, like, is there more to this? You know? Like, what's That's alright. What's the deeper meaning of that? And it's like, there's not one, man.

Wade Shoemaker:

This is exactly like, it's not too complicated. That's that's cool. I love it, man. I I'm I'm excited to hear that from you because that that lets me know that, like, we're gonna have all kind of other stuff. You know?

Wade Shoemaker:

Like, all other, like, whatever you're doing, you can have a love Jesus shirt for it. So, like, I'm stoked about that, dude. I'm and I know you are too, but, like, just know that that makes other people excited whether you care. You know, I know you care.

Eric Seymour:

I know, man.

Wade Shoemaker:

It's cool, man.

Eric Seymour:

I think that's the best part is that, you know, I was even reluctant to make love Jesus on turkeys t shirts. And Yeah. I called my buddies. I said, hey. I got this idea.

Eric Seymour:

Oh, that's awesome. I was like, nah. Nobody will buy it. I was like, I'm not gonna do it.

Wade Shoemaker:

And they were like I got this idea, but, like, don't get out of it. Please.

Eric Seymour:

No. Like, you need to do it. I was like, nah. Nobody's gonna buy that. Was like, it's

Wade Shoemaker:

too in

Eric Seymour:

your face. Nobody's gonna like it. They were like, dude, just do it. And I was like, alright. No.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's funny.

Eric Seymour:

That was yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

Are you the guy calls are you the guy that calls somebody and says, hey. I I I got an idea, but, like, please talk me out of it. Like, is that what you do?

Eric Seymour:

Or usually I'm like, hey. I think it's when I say it out loud. And it's like, it's it's it's awesome in hearing that I say it out loud. I'm like, oh, that didn't sound that good when it came out. Yeah.

Eric Seymour:

It's like, maybe I don't need to see that.

Wade Shoemaker:

But then they're like, yeah. You're like, no. No. No.

Eric Seymour:

Sorry. Bad idea. Thanks for picking up. Talk to you

Wade Shoemaker:

later. Yeah. Thanks for making me hate hate that I said this out loud. That's funny, dude. I like it.

Wade Shoemaker:

All that you mentioned you, you know, you were in Nashville back in February, and that's kinda where you not the, uh-oh, whatever, but you knew, like, this is where I'm this is what I I need to do this. We went in the hole, but, like, we went in the hole because we didn't bring enough stuff for the most part. Probably really what it boils down to. So I think I saw it, and and maybe that's maybe I only saw it in MBTF for the first time because that's when it was actually the first public appearance of it. Is that right?

Wade Shoemaker:

Did I did I remember that right?

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. Like I said, before that, we had probably sold about 30 or 50 or some some insignificant number of shirts, you know, for that. I had been calling NWTF for about a year trying to get a spot. And in December '25, they basically said, hey. Like, quit calling.

Eric Seymour:

We appreciate your enthusiasm, but you are not gonna get a spot this year.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. We don't know who you are.

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. That's right. You know, it's three weeks before NWTF, we got an email. There was a spot. So we had forty eight hours, and I'll tell everybody I took about forty eight seconds.

Eric Seymour:

I was like, yep, we're in. And I'll come on.

Wade Shoemaker:

The email Three weeks before? Middle of

Eric Seymour:

January. You're like, the third week of January. Yeah. And so just to frame this in perspective, like, didn't have any inventory. I had no show experience.

Eric Seymour:

I have no apparel industry experience. I'm literally just ordering hats, like, la carte and shirts a la carte, making them one at a time. Yeah. And so in three weeks You were

Wade Shoemaker:

were pressing these like, you were making these

Eric Seymour:

even doing it. I had somebody helping me.

Wade Shoemaker:

Right? Okay. That's what I'm saying. But, like, you weren't, like, going through a just like a a manufacturer that you oh, just wow.

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. And so in three weeks, we put together a booth, all the inventory. I had a good friend of mine took time off work. His wife took time off work. They pulled their son out of school to come up and help.

Eric Seymour:

I had another really close friend of mine who was attending NWTF who went from an attendee with his wife having a good time to help him fold T shirts in the booth. Yeah. And so all these people and all these things just came together. Right? And I don't remember if I told you the story about the trailer when we were in Memphis, but these are some of the green lights that, you know, talking about hindsight coming back in.

Eric Seymour:

We were out west with the military Yeah. Right right before that. Moved back to South Carolina January of this year. We bought an enclosed trailer to move home with, and we had no need

Wade Shoemaker:

for a I have not

Eric Seymour:

heard the story. So we had no need for an enclosed trailer. It was we didn't have money set aside for a closed trailer, but it was a better deal

Wade Shoemaker:

than renting a U Haul.

Eric Seymour:

I said, I'll buy this trailer, sell it when we get home. Not a So big I buy an enclosed trailer we don't need.

Wade Shoemaker:

I can't sell it. I call the five or six guys that

Eric Seymour:

I know will buy a trailer or anything for a deal every time. Yeah. None of them want it. Right? And so I'm sitting there thinking like, man, I got stuck with this trailer that we don't have a use for.

Eric Seymour:

And then all of a sudden, guess what I need to go to Nashville to haul the whole of our year. Right? Uh-huh. 16 foot enclosed trailer. And so it's just it's just all these things that look like either bad or I didn't understand all lined up.

Eric Seymour:

And, you know, now that trailer's sitting in our driveway with the Rise logo on the side and it's been pulled, you know, halfway across the country a few times. And so it's just that all came together in a matter of three weeks. And then we were headed to Nashville, and and ever since then, it's just been we've been running. So it's been really

Wade Shoemaker:

And how long ago did you buy that trailer when you are moving across the country?

Eric Seymour:

I'd had that trailer, like, three weeks before I got the call about NWTF. Maybe four weeks. Mean, so it was fresh. Know.

Wade Shoemaker:

Crazy how that stuff just falls into place when and then and then you're you're mad about it, you know? If you're like, I know. I was hot.

Eric Seymour:

I was hot.

Wade Shoemaker:

I was like, man. I was like, I was wasting all this money on this trailer. Should've rented U Haul,

Eric Seymour:

you know, and all this, but

Wade Shoemaker:

it's because been buddy, 16 foot trailers aren't cheap, not good ones, you know?

Eric Seymour:

No, not at all. But you know, what that what that experience has done for me too is recently, you know, when some bad things have happened, like we got stuck in Iowa, I try to go, alright, what's there maybe there's some purpose behind this. Right?

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah.

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. And Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. There he is.

Eric Seymour:

And there is. Right?

Wade Shoemaker:

There he is. There he is. We'll we'll get to that. I know that story. So I got it my notes, and I got a place for it.

Wade Shoemaker:

I'm not gonna let you tell that right here at the beginning of it. So, anyway, I wanna get to that. But I did see a lot of her hats and stuff, you know, WTF, and I saw it on Instagram. That's where I saw I saw it at the show, and I saw it show up on Instagram. And then, like, was just for me, like, never hearing about it before and then just seeing it all over my, like, the stories.

Wade Shoemaker:

Right? Like, I don't know. I can't say there were a thousand people should putting stories up, but I did see it prob I did probably see a rise at a thousand times. You know? People were pumped about it, dude.

Wade Shoemaker:

So Yeah. So, like, transparently, this was a brand that I kind of like I do this just because I'm weird like that, but I lock in on some things that I think are are like, this is cool, and and this is probably gonna do something cool. Right? So I I just pay attention to them because I like to I like to keep my finger on the pulse with everything and, you know, and and knowing kinda without knowing who you were, where you're from, like, or what the whole idea behind it. I knew that I loved it and what I saw and that the trajectory of it was still yet to be determined, but I knew that whatever that trajectory, you know, however long it took, it was up either way.

Wade Shoemaker:

Like, it's going up. With the success of Rise as it is now, and I think I know the answer to this question, but I've gotta ask it. Do you or have you recognized, you know, how freaking cool, like, the vehicle is that you're in? You know, when Rise is the vehicle. Right?

Wade Shoemaker:

Like, because you're using it to go places, to take to take you places even. Have you realized how cool that is?

Eric Seymour:

You know, sometimes I think I get lost in the minutiae, right, where I'm worried about, hey, do we have enough wood screws to put this panel up? And where are these shirt sizes and these things? Or I'm running around taking stuff to a screen printer. But, you know, I think where it kinda hits for me is through this whole journey over the last year or so. I've got to meet people in the industry that I've always seen on TV.

Eric Seymour:

And, you know, I mean, I'm

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah.

Eric Seymour:

I'm in my mid forties. Right?

Wade Shoemaker:

I'm not like a young kid, but I'll still kinda You fangirl a

Eric Seymour:

little bit.

Wade Shoemaker:

Starstruck. Yeah.

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. Fanboy there. Star starstruck. And I'm like, oh, man. That's so and so.

Eric Seymour:

And so it yeah. It's been super cool. And really, you know, and we'll get into this too. Know with my kids, that's been the coolest part for me because we made a decision within WTF and then immediately following, like, hey. We're gonna do this as a family.

Eric Seymour:

We're gonna do this together. We want good, bad, or indifferent. We wanna do it as a team. And so that has been just the coolest thing to be able to go places and meet people and see things and do it as a family where and we can have conversations with our kids like, hey, you remember that? Instead of me telling them, oh, y'all should have been there.

Eric Seymour:

You missed this or you missed that or you know. So that's been really cool. Yeah. And that's probably been the

Wade Shoemaker:

best part for me. Yeah. And they're digging it. And I've got I've got something about I got something in my notes about them later that like, yeah, we'll get to it, dude. I I love your kids, man.

Wade Shoemaker:

They're they're great. But you do realize it. I mean, it is a it's not, you know, it's not necessarily a a means to to do things you've never done, but it it it is something that's taking you places you probably never you'd be. And man, I mean, the people like like you mentioned, the people you've met along the way, man, I I just it's such a cool thing how things like that bring us together and how the the people we meet along the way, especially the ones that, like, you never thought you would, you get to meet them and they're like, oh, wait. Like, I love what you're doing.

Wade Shoemaker:

You know? Like, you're you're excited to meet them, but then they know who you are and they're like, oh, no. Wait. I love your stuff. I got jailbunked because I know that's happened to you.

Eric Seymour:

I don't think you've told me that, but

Wade Shoemaker:

I know that's happened.

Eric Seymour:

Brooks Tinsley with

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Brooks.

Eric Seymour:

Off break. Right? So Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

I know Brooks.

Eric Seymour:

We're working in Memphis, and I'm, like, up there at the register, and it and it's just me and my wife and our kids. Right? And then we had two young couple boyfriend and girlfriend that had reached out to us back in the spring, and they ended up being there. Fisher Nolan, he works for Carter's Big Island.

Wade Shoemaker:

Carter's. Yeah. Yeah. I was there when he come by. I was talking

Eric Seymour:

him when he come Emma. Right? And so they kinda helped us at the show some, but it's just really us. Right? And Memphis was I mean, I think we saw the numbers the other day.

Eric Seymour:

It's a 30,000. There's there had to be twice that there. I mean,

Wade Shoemaker:

easy. If it wasn't, they come through twice.

Eric Seymour:

You know what saying? Yeah. Oh, yeah. But I look up and and Brooks Tinsley is there. Right?

Eric Seymour:

And I don't know

Wade Shoemaker:

Brooks.

Eric Seymour:

But I was like, hey. He's like, I'd to buy a shirt. I was like, this is gonna sound really weird, but I was like, you have spent a lot of Sunday mornings with us. And he's like, what are you talking about? I was

Wade Shoemaker:

like, man. I said, just before church on Sundays, I was like, we'll cook breakfast and watch lost break while we get ready for church. I was

Eric Seymour:

like, so, like, that's our

Wade Shoemaker:

thing on Sundays. Like, I cook bacon and eggs and and pancakes for my daughter,

Eric Seymour:

and we watch lost break, and

Wade Shoemaker:

then we go to church. So, like, I'm having this conversation with a guy that I've only

Eric Seymour:

seen on TV before. And, you know, now we're texting and talking, and and he's got an awesome story, and he's helped me meet some people. And that that's the cool stuff. But, yeah, I mean, I'm still I still get

Wade Shoemaker:

I still get a little starstruck even now and then. That's good, though, man. I I think stay that way. You know? Don't don't let that ever go away because I just I think that's a cool thing.

Wade Shoemaker:

And Brooks, like you said, I'm glad you mentioned him. He's one of the he's one of the real ones as I call some of the folks that we have around us. And I'm a fan of that fella. You know, even even his light boot brand he's got pushing out, like, that's a cool thing too. Just

Eric Seymour:

Oh, absolutely.

Wade Shoemaker:

I love to see people like that winning, dude. It's a cool it's a very, very cool thing.

Eric Seymour:

I don't

Wade Shoemaker:

know if I asked this question. You know, like, have you ever have you ever kinda stepped back and figured out, like, you know, this is cool. I still don't know what I'm doing, but I'm just gonna keep doing. Are you there? Like, I don't know what's you know, you started out, never done show, never done merch, whatever.

Wade Shoemaker:

Now you've done those things and you've had you've went through three of the largest shows in the country when it comes to waterfowl turkey, So, like, even though you've done them, you still you got a lot to grasp. Like, do you ever like, I still don't know what I'm doing, but we're just gonna keep going?

Eric Seymour:

Oh, every day. I don't know that I would have been prepared to handle this in my twenties as well as I am now. Right?

Wade Shoemaker:

No. Absolutely not.

Eric Seymour:

You know? Because, I have been you know, I look back. You know, I think at the time I would tell you

Wade Shoemaker:

I did all these things. And now looking back, I'm like, alright. Well, everything that I did either came from God

Eric Seymour:

or there are resources others gave me or help others gave me or grace others gave me. Right? And so Or or a trailer that you had to buy because you need them to. You know? Yeah.

Eric Seymour:

And and, you know, I I try to work hard and do the right thing. I screw up a lot. But, you know, looking back over all these years of challenges I've had and figuring out how to do it, I mean, this is it's the same way. But, I mean, I never had any intent to start an apparel business. Right?

Eric Seymour:

So I didn't sit down with a business plan or I didn't pitch a bank or private equity for capital. We're building the plane while we fly it. Yeah. And so what I'm having to do is work hard and figure things out and really find great people that I trust to help me out along the way. And it's been so cool.

Eric Seymour:

I mean, from, you know, the folks that print our T shirts to stickers and hats and patches and signage, just all these things that I have no experience with. You got all these great people helping out, and so I'm learning as we go. Yeah. Yeah. We're just we're figuring it out.

Eric Seymour:

Right? But, you we're kinda burning the boats, man. We're there. We're on the beach. We're burning the boats.

Eric Seymour:

We're not looking back.

Wade Shoemaker:

When you say that, like building the plane, why it's going down, you know, I don't know if that's the phrase, but like, you ever seen the movie this is gonna be funny. Have you ever seen the movie Legos?

Eric Seymour:

I have, but it's You have? I think I saw it once. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So I've got I've got a couple boys, you know, one's nine. He'll be 10 this week, another one's seven, and which by the way, love their shirts.

Wade Shoemaker:

Sounds like they love it, dude. Like, my my nine year old, well, he'll be 10 this week. He will wear his, and then I'll see it on him again, like, right at no one had even washed yet. And I'm like, hey, dude.

Eric Seymour:

Did you

Wade Shoemaker:

did you put that in dirty clothes for mom? And he's like, nope. Just spares it, dude. Like rolling. I love it.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah, dude. They're they're pumped, man. Thank you for that. They love it.

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. Absolutely.

Wade Shoemaker:

Anyway, Legos, I I forgot my fault, but Legos, like, I watched it with them one time, and they had a thing on there called, like, master builder. You know? Yeah. And and it's like master builders can build this, and they literally are building a plane, like, with floating Legos as they're falling off a building or something like that. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

So anytime I hear that, it reminds me of, like, master builder. And the cool thing is for me to hear that is just like, you know, the way it's the way it's talking, the message it's sending, and the forward facing piece of it, it's like don't know if this even sounds right. It sounds right in my head, but I'm gonna say it. It's like, you're running in your building, but, like, you're you're building with a master builder. So, like, you're it's gonna happen.

Wade Shoemaker:

So we don't have to call this Legos, but it's it's got a lot of similarities to it.

Eric Seymour:

I know for me, sometimes, like, I can get you know, because I have business experience. I have operations experience. I have different experiences in my background, and sometimes I've just gotta let that go and be like, alright. Like, we're just gonna try to do this faithfully. We're gonna make sure we keep the main thing the main thing.

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. We're you know, we gotta make sure that we understand why this whole thing started and why it exists is to tell a story. And, you know, from what I've seen, there's been some scary days in there, you know Yeah. As far as cash flow and some other things Sure. With not understanding requirements.

Eric Seymour:

But at the end of the day too, we talk about it, and I'm like, well, you know, we're gonna try hard, and we're gonna be be diligent, and we're gonna be faithful. And if it doesn't work out, it didn't work out. But, you know, as long as it does, we're gonna keep telling the story. And every time I get a doubt or I get worried, hey, it's not gonna work out, or I'm like, man, I don't know if this is the right thing, there's always a nudge from somebody. Mhmm.

Eric Seymour:

It's either a customer sends an email back or there's a message on Instagram or I run into somebody, they're like, hey, I like your shirt. Keep doing that. You know? And so that's really for us what keeps it going. And and to your point, man, seeing the kids, I mean, my my son and daughter have a great group of friends here, and now we'll be at church or something or out in town, and I'll see kids wearing a Rise shirt.

Eric Seymour:

I'm like, yeah, that's pretty cool. You know? Like, to see to see kids wearing it and and being able to talk about Jesus and hunting or fishing.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it's cool. And the other side is just having a local group, like a local pile of people that are supporting it too.

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh, yeah. You know, that's I don't think a lot of people understand that's that's a really hard thing to do. You know? Like, to have your real close not your close friends, they'll do that, but, like, the local group. Like, if you can win them over, you've done something, dude.

Wade Shoemaker:

You know? Yeah. You can't be a prophet in your hometown, and that goes that goes for a lot of things. But, look, I've gotta stop here for a second before I get to the next part. This piece that I'm about to tell you is sort of where I ended up realizing this brand was more than just kind of like a clever phrase that's piggybacking off of Jesus.

VO:

Stay tuned to the Ducks Unlimited Podcast sponsored by Bird Dog Whiskey after these messages.

Wade Shoemaker:

I realized at some point that this brand was more than a clever phrase that's piggybacking off of, you know, Jesus. A lot of people do that, man. Like, they they wanna throw that in there because they know it's gonna sail in the South and the bible belt. You know, they do. And I think for me, when I see things for the first time, it's like, here we go again.

Wade Shoemaker:

You know? Like, even yeah. I just like, man, I just because I just feel like it's exploiting sometimes. You know? And I don't I don't like that.

Wade Shoemaker:

Maybe that's taken the wrong way. I just don't like it when people do it with ulterior motive. Right? But I so I ended up working a show at an expo about a month ago, below over a month ago now, but I got absolutely flamed by this kid in cornhole. Like, I mean, it was you know what I'm talking about.

Wade Shoemaker:

And it was still pretty early in the morning. Don't know if it was Saturday or Sunday. I can't remember. But but it was early in the morning. So this this whooping I took, it it stuck with me the whole day.

Wade Shoemaker:

Right? Like, it's not something that had just happened. It was like, oh, let's clean up and leave. This this dude whooped me, and and I just had to think about it. Like, you know, what's going on?

Wade Shoemaker:

And he walked up wanting to play cornhole, and I was like, yeah. Sure, kid. Like, let's let's do this. You know? And I like kids.

Wade Shoemaker:

Like, so he was good. You know? But I swear that as soon as he stepped out, remember if you're looking at the booth I was in, there's I was on the right. He was on the left. And I remember looking, and this dude took his step, and he put his arm back, And I knew I was like, this kid ain't from here, and he's about to whoop my tail because he was just too confident.

Wade Shoemaker:

And I knew I was like, this form is southern. Like, there's no doubt this is a southern dude. And I it wasn't long after that I had my suspicions confirmed. He whooped me on the boards, and there was no it was undisputed. Like, there was no, like, this is close.

Wade Shoemaker:

I let him I was easy on him. No. Whooped me. And then this super confident, like, young lady walks up and asks if she can play. And I'm relieved because I know, like, all these people have been seeing me get whooped by a kid, and now I can let her get whooped.

Wade Shoemaker:

New people see it so it don't look as bad. I can quit getting embarrassed, but like, the joke was kinda on me because I didn't know at the time that that was his sister, and she was as good as he was. So still had no idea they were your kids, this whole thing going on. Just know I'm getting whooped by these kids wearing rye stuff, which is not not uncommon. You know?

Wade Shoemaker:

That happens. Whatever. But man, I guess, like, I was just kinda distraught, and I and I was just like trying to put the two and two together of like, how are the both of these kids good? And anyway, they they walked me whatever the reason was, I can't remember, but soon after I, like, got into the games with them, you walked by pretty quickly, and and I saw you were wearing some of them rides. And I don't know what you said to him or whatever.

Wade Shoemaker:

You know, you were in a hurry to get somewhere else. He's like, hey. What's up? Y'all have fun. But that's when I put it together.

Wade Shoemaker:

I was like, okay. This dad has raised these kids to be this way, and I and they didn't do anything out of the ordinary that other kids do. They were just good kids, carried themselves well, confident, and polite, and I just for whatever reason, your two kids were such a joy, and this is just me being transparent with you, were such a joy to be around and hang around. Minus the cornhole like situation, you know, love them, but there's only one obvious reason they are the way they are, and that's because they're raised right. And I can put those two things to get those things together and say, okay.

Wade Shoemaker:

It takes a certain kind of person to raise kids this way. And then, you know, I see them again in Memphis. They're the same way. You know? I'm not gonna say it's a rare thing.

Wade Shoemaker:

It's just not common. Kudos to you and mom, you know, like, for what you guys are doing and just keeping everything centered where it should be and just know that y'all are crushing it. And you you are leading and living by example, and your your kids are are like they are echoing what everybody feels about you and your brand right now.

Eric Seymour:

Man, we're You so know, we fail miserably as parents every day. But two things, you know, two things I try to say I'm sorry as much as I can. I'm just telling people all the time, I'm so thankful that my kids are more gracious than I

Wade Shoemaker:

am because they give me all kinds of grace I

Eric Seymour:

probably don't deserve. And, you know, to your point, I was probably coming to look for them because we hadn't seen them in an hour and a half. Right? They were they were booth. Yeah.

Eric Seymour:

Because they were walking me, dude. Yeah. Especially with William. I I started taking him to breakfast with a group of older businessmen when he was probably three or four years old. Like, if he did well in preschool and they get in trouble, we gotta go to breakfast on Fridays.

Eric Seymour:

Right? And so we've always made it a point. We take our kids everywhere. Like, my daughter wants to go hunting, she goes hunting. Son wants to go hunting, he goes hunting.

Eric Seymour:

You know, they wanna go. We try to do things as a family as much as we can, and it's built a ton of independence and confidence in them. On the backside

Wade Shoemaker:

of William? How old's William?

Eric Seymour:

William's 11. 11. Yeah. And Nora Grace just turned nine. But on the backside of that, they will straight up disappear at a trade show for like an hour and a half, and you don't have any clue where they are.

Eric Seymour:

And go whoop

Wade Shoemaker:

a stranger

Eric Seymour:

at cornhole. And I'm like, where have been? They're like, oh, it's just playing cornhole with Wade. I'm like, oh, okay.

Wade Shoemaker:

Like, well, we were kinda worried, and we didn't know where you were.

Eric Seymour:

He's like, I'm good. He's like, look at you. He'll be like, look at all the free hats I got. I'm like, hey. Good for you.

Eric Seymour:

But, yeah, it's so cool. I mean, there are ambassadors and our our PR team because, you know, with this being such a small company, Crystal and I, we never get out the booth. And then all of

Wade Shoemaker:

a sudden, William's like, hey. You need

Eric Seymour:

to come meet Wade. I'm like, okay. Or he's like, hey. I met so and so.

Wade Shoemaker:

Come over here. Hey. These guys wanna talk to you.

Eric Seymour:

I was telling them about Rise. And, you know, in Memphis, William decides to enter the World Cut Down Duck Calling Championship.

Wade Shoemaker:

He did. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Eric Seymour:

He's been blowing a duck call for, like, a week and

Wade Shoemaker:

a half. And he's like, hey, dad.

Eric Seymour:

I'm gonna enter the culling contest.

Wade Shoemaker:

And I talked to Fisher. He said, was like, hey. Well, is he gonna be okay? He's like, yeah. He'll be fine.

Eric Seymour:

I didn't I don't think I understand, a, which contest it was and the magnitude of it. You know? And then Yeah. Next thing I know, he's locked in a room with 40 grown men who do this for a living for about five hours and goes out on stage, makes it to the second round. I mean, and just super proud of him because he ain't I mean, he ain't scared of anything.

Eric Seymour:

No. And nor Grace has even less fear. I mean, she's Yes, boy. She's awesome. So it's just cool, man.

Eric Seymour:

We are we are so blessed. They're so much fun. And a lot of times I can lose sight of it, you know, whenever homework's not done or the room's messy. But, you know, to hear when you hear other people say, hey,

Wade Shoemaker:

you got good kids. You know? It makes you

Eric Seymour:

feel like you're doing something right.

Wade Shoemaker:

It does. And to

Eric Seymour:

your point with the cornhole and stuff, I mean, we are we're pretty adamant in our home about as little screens as possible. Like, they don't have devices. We got TV, but, you know, we wanna keep them outside sweaty and dirty and tired. And so, you know, throw corn old bags or we just got a bow. He started shooting a bow in the backyard.

Eric Seymour:

I mean Heck yeah. Baseball, lacrosse, gymnastics, cheerleading, whatever. We try to just keep him busy. I'll tell you a quick funny story. When we were out west, we were at, like, a cookout for work, and there was some guys playing bocce in this yard.

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh, yeah. They mentioned bocce.

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. So my kids were like, what is that? I was like, well, you basically try to put the the big red ball near the little white ball. And they're like, can we play? And I was like, that's easy.

Eric Seymour:

I asked the guys. I was like, y'all care if they play? They're like, yeah. Sure. Go ahead.

Eric Seymour:

I think they beat everybody for about two and a half hours straight, you know, to the point where people didn't wanna play them anymore, and Nora Grace is just trash talking 30 year old men in the backyard.

Wade Shoemaker:

You you know that we even Nora Grace were just like, man, that's easy. Why couldn't we play that with these guys? Yeah.

Eric Seymour:

I was like, I don't understand what the complexity is. You just throw it near the other thing.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah, dude. That's awesome.

Eric Seymour:

And then just

Wade Shoemaker:

humble these dudes.

Eric Seymour:

And then the

Wade Shoemaker:

next thing I know,

Eric Seymour:

like the Sunday of Memphis, Williams on stage with Jim Ronquest and Seth Fields doing the Live DU Podcast with you guys. And so and people are like, I just saw William on the TV.

Wade Shoemaker:

I'm like, what what's happening here? William's on SideQuest, dude.

Eric Seymour:

He's just living Best life.

Wade Shoemaker:

Dude, there's nobody that's a better advocate for that brand than he on. Like, he's he's up there on stage, you're over there in the booth just kinda selling stuff. You know? I dig it. That's funny.

Wade Shoemaker:

With all of that that we've went over to prep I we've went over that. I wanna preface I I used it to preface this. I'm super curious what the future is like for Rise. Like, whether you you know what you're doing or you don't right now, you're still figuring it out. We know that.

Wade Shoemaker:

We know it's some cool other, we'll call it adjacent phrases, you know, under love Jesus, just something different, hunt, fish, whatever. But have you even had enough time to give a thought on scaling? You know, like making it big, not necessarily more phrases, but just or more messages, but just bigger. You know? Like, what's that look like?

Wade Shoemaker:

And if if no, though, like, what's the next year look like for a mission? And I'll call it a mission because that's what it is at this point, you know, like Rise. You know, is it's just is it sustaining it and evolving into whatever it's called to be, or is it just, like, really dialing in everything else that you've got going on?

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. I think it's twofold, man. I think we have been extremely inefficient at a lot of things because, again, we had three weeks notice to essentially put together an entire company setup with inventory and boost and all this stuff, and we did it very hastily. I think we did

Wade Shoemaker:

it well. But then looking back, you're like, okay, man. I gotta figure out how to get this tighter and this is that.

Eric Seymour:

You know, this lead time is a lot different than I thought it was. And so trying to refine what we're doing and at the same time understanding, you know, there's different opportunities come up. I think we're gonna dabble in some retail space and see how that works for us. You know, we're gonna grow the lines with some different different garments or maybe, like, you know, different designs. You know?

Eric Seymour:

So really for us, it it's how do we stay true to the core message of Rise, which is, you know, love Jesus hunt, you know, love Jesus fish, and just love Jesus, basically. You start with that, everything else will kinda fill in. And so how do we stay true to that? How do we provide, you know, faith forward apparel that people wanna wear that's pretty cool? How do we keep it fresh?

Eric Seymour:

And then is there is there something else we can add, you know, that maybe bring some value from a clothing line side of the house? So Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we're just we're trying

Wade Shoemaker:

to figure it out. Like I said And that's not easy. Like you said that I I don't know if like, just I don't wanna stop your thought, but, like, growing and going, keeping keeping the core of the core is the goal, and trying to grow it and evolve it as a business or a company, it's hard to do while keeping everything the mission at the center. Right? Like, is because other things become your priority to, like like you said, tighten it up or get costs down or get distribution better or whatever.

Wade Shoemaker:

And it's hard to do that all at the same time.

Eric Seymour:

It is. I mean and we talk about this all the time. I mean, especially, you know, with our kids and things is like, we wanna live our life set apart. That has a very broad definition. Right?

Eric Seymour:

Obviously, we wanna be set apart with our our beliefs. We wanna be set apart with, you know, how we work, with our fitness, with the way we treat others, with the way we handle money, the way we approach tasks, you know, the people we surround ourselves with. And so we're trying to do all those things and it's tough, man. I mean, you know, the military, there's a different section for current ops and future ops for a reason. Right?

Eric Seymour:

I mean, they split those out and when you're trying to do both at the same time, it can get pretty challenging. But, you know, I'm thankful, especially my wife. I mean, you know, I spent a lot of time in the woods this spring, mostly because I love to chase turkeys, but also to help promote rise and do some things and, you know, she's took to school and packing orders and and and doing things like that. And, you know, so without her, none of this is possible. There there have been some tough days.

Eric Seymour:

Sure. But, you know, it's all worth it when, again, you just get a message from a random person that says, hey. We love this brand, and we really appreciate you making these shirts and just keep doing what you're doing. I mean and for us, I mean, that's that's the most important piece of it. So

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. I dig that, dude. You got any plans to let the two cornhole sharks, like, design anything?

Eric Seymour:

Like, maybe help Yeah. You with get constant constant feedback from our kids on things we should do. Some of it is awesome. Some of it is a little you're like, I don't I don't know that we can that's really a market for that, but we'll we'll we'll take a look at it. Yeah.

Eric Seymour:

But no. That'd be fun. Yeah. It's it's great. I mean, you know, we have a shirt really that was made.

Eric Seymour:

Our wingman series, which is on Proverbs twenty seven seventeen, iron sharpening iron. So it's really about, hey.

Wade Shoemaker:

You'll be a wingman too, buddy.

Eric Seymour:

But also, you know, with kids, being wingman, you know, have a Yeah. Have a relationship. And it may not even

Wade Shoemaker:

be a kid. It just may

Eric Seymour:

be I didn't grow up. My dad didn't hunt. And so my best friend's father took me. And, you know, had it not been for that, I probably wouldn't have got the same opportunities in the outdoor. Right?

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. No doubt. And so, yeah, we're coming up with some more some more kids stuff, you know, just continuing. We try to get buy in from from the whole family on everything. Right?

Eric Seymour:

We had to make the decision last minute. Got the opportunity to go to Memphis last minute. In order to do that, we had to reschedule my daughter's birthday party. Right? But we sat down and I said, hey.

Eric Seymour:

Look. We don't have to move your birthday party. If you say no, we'll skip it. And she was like, hey. She said, we can have my birthday anytime.

Eric Seymour:

Let's go to Memphis. And I was like, alright. Let's we're in.

Wade Shoemaker:

So Yeah. My girl, I like that, dude. So it's

Eric Seymour:

cool, man. We and it really helps when, you know, if you got there buying and they're engaged and then the the late nights and early mornings aren't near as as late or early, man. They they're in. So

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. No offense.

Eric Seymour:

They argue all the time about who's the cofounder of Rise. They get in a fight about it. I am. I know I am. And it was like, alright.

Wade Shoemaker:

So I guess I need to go back and change your intro to like cofounder

Eric Seymour:

of Rise.

Wade Shoemaker:

It ain't just you.

Eric Seymour:

I'm just assistant to the cofounders.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. I just work here. I love it. That's right. Cool.

Wade Shoemaker:

Well, dude, like and thinking about like her being good with pushing her birthday party back, you made a mention of just making sure you the kids in everything you do, especially with Ryze. Like, if that's the case, then she loves it too, you know, Will loves it too. Like, they're in. And if it's like move my birthday party back, you know, like, for a nine year old dude, like No.

Eric Seymour:

I know. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

I mean ask me at nine? No, man. We had my birthday party. That's cool.

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. That's awesome, man. That's great. It'd be great to see them to it just makes me super proud to see them be selfless sometimes in a very selfish world. So

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh, yeah. That's a fact, dude. Well, you mentioned last minute Memphis. I know some of the story. You know, you went to the show where I mentioned you could hang out for a bit, and the plan was to leave the expo in Iowa and and from there, go back straight across the country to get home, apparently to the birthday party.

Wade Shoemaker:

You know, I didn't know that was the thing, but the plan was to not take your time getting back. But that wasn't what happened. Like, go through this. We got car troubles. You had to call an audible.

Wade Shoemaker:

Like, let's let's go run me through that.

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. So, I mean, we went to Iowa, pulling into town. I get an engine light, and I got a fairly new truck. You know? So it's Yeah.

Eric Seymour:

Cylinder warranty and make a callback. Thankfully, I got a guy that works for, an auto dealer here, in the service. I call him, like, hey, man. What like, what's going on with this? These are the codes.

Eric Seymour:

And he said, oh, yeah. You're gonna have to take that to somebody. I'm good. He said, because it's probably, you know, it's probably something with the intake. You know, if you're pulling a trailer a thousand miles, it may be a problem.

Eric Seymour:

So, thankfully, they're in Iowa, find somebody to fix it. They said they'll have us ready on Saturday. Well, in the meantime, we weren't were on the waiting list for Memphis because we had gotten in the game so late, you know, with really not being on the scene till five, six months ago. And Yeah. Talked with Logan.

Eric Seymour:

Great guy. He's like, hey, man. Like, probably not gonna happen. Yep. Logan Evans.

Eric Seymour:

Yep. Yep. Probably not gonna happen. You know? I said, well, if anything comes up, let me know.

Eric Seymour:

And he actually texted me the

Wade Shoemaker:

day we rolled into Iowa and said, hey. I got

Eric Seymour:

a small booth available, and it wasn't the size we needed. We had the birthday party. I had another meeting on that Friday. I was like, man, we just can't make it work. Yeah.

Eric Seymour:

And then for the next couple of days, you know, we're there at the show. My truck's getting fixed, especially being on Saturday. Everybody I'm talking to, you, you're like, man, are you going to Memphis? We're see you in Memphis? I'm like, no.

Eric Seymour:

I was like and so I'm just kicking myself like, hey, is this an open door that I I didn't walk through? Am I being faithful? Am I worrying about things that don't really matter? Not that your daughter's birthday party and a meeting at work don't matter. But Right.

Eric Seymour:

Right. Didn't matter to her. That's right. Yeah. That's right.

Eric Seymour:

And so sure enough, man, Saturday turns into Sunday, Sunday to Monday, Monday to Tuesday. Everybody's going at this point. We gotta ask somebody to help us pull our trailer up to load it.

Wade Shoemaker:

It's sitting there.

Eric Seymour:

We're stuck in Iowa, and it's about an hour and a half before we go pick up a truck to drive home. And I get a text from Logan that says, hey. The size you need and a spot you want is open.

Wade Shoemaker:

I like you wanted?

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. I was like, are you kidding me? And he said, no. I said and I said, give me three minutes. And that's when we had to talk about birthday parties and other stuff.

Eric Seymour:

I called him back. I said, man, we're in. That's so cool, dude. We loaded up and drove straight to Memphis and, you know, got it. It was a little bit of a struggle because we packed the trailer as if we were going home, which wasn't in a very neat fashion.

Eric Seymour:

And we got to Memphis. We got stuff everywhere. We don't know

Wade Shoemaker:

where anything is. We're trying to figure it out.

Eric Seymour:

But, man, just from the moment we walked in the door at DUX at Memphis, just people excited to see us because they're, oh, man. I didn't think you were coming. I was like, you're never gonna believe this story. And Yeah. You know?

Eric Seymour:

So just people helping us get set up and and do things. It's just so cool, man.

Wade Shoemaker:

That fires me up.

Eric Seymour:

Another awesome thing where we're trusting when the door gets open that we're supposed to walk through it.

Wade Shoemaker:

So That's right. That's right. Pretty cool, man. I've got here in the notes, like, what lesson learned or reiterated, but it sounds like it's just just don't worry about the little things and just go through the door. That's right.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's cool, man. That is so cool. Dude, I've got a lot of things, like, that I think I'd like to talk to you about, like, another time too. You know, we're we're about at the end of this hour, and we covered everything we wanted to cover. I do think that there's more to this story as as as the days go, and I mean that because I think you're gonna have some growth here that and and honestly, just a platform, you know, to use for the things you're trying to do, and I think it's gonna be a cool thing.

Wade Shoemaker:

And I believe that. I'm excited for that for you and for the family. And and, dude, I I'm looking forward to the next time we do this, and we've just got you know, it's more that we're talking about. It's it's what's happened since the end. It's how many lives you've changed, how many or, know, that that's been changed through just the conversation of what is that or what that means and just the things you've been put in the places you've been put in and the people you've been put in front of because of that turkey you missed.

Wade Shoemaker:

You know?

Eric Seymour:

Oh, yeah, man. That's I love it. I tell people all the time getting diagnosed with cancer is the best thing that ever happened to me. They're what? You know?

Eric Seymour:

And then, you know, I go into a little bit of the story, but, you know, I'm just thankful as imperfect as I am, you know, I'm able to do something bigger than me and help us something bigger than me. That is just a cool thing, I think, because I think the message really behind our eyes is like, we're all perfectly imperfect. Yeah. And that that's how God wants us. And and without that, we don't.

Eric Seymour:

That's right. So it's cool just to meet meet other people that feel the same way I do. Like, hey, am I enough? Or I'm never gonna measure up? Or this is happening, but, you know, none of it really matters.

Eric Seymour:

And we can lean on each other and I'll wear some Love Jesus shirts and have a good time and hang out, and it's pretty awesome, man.

Wade Shoemaker:

I love it, dude. Well, you're do I mean, you're doing it. Missus Seymour is doing it. Norman Grace is doing it. William's doing it.

Wade Shoemaker:

Like, it's it's happening, man. And I just hats off to you and and them. I just I I love to see it. I really do. I do wanna close this out here.

Wade Shoemaker:

I want I I have a thing I do at the end of everything. It's at the end of every podcast, and it's like it's a simple question. I'm a big fan of everybody winning. I'm a big fan of seeing everybody succeed. I'm a big believer in the pie is big enough for everyone.

Wade Shoemaker:

And I stole this from one of my podcast hosts, and I think it's the perfect way to end a podcast. But out of the brands and people, the people you've met, you know, the brands you've met, the things you see even now as a business owner in this space, people moving the needle in this space that you love, you know, and you love what they're doing. Who are some people or brands that you wanna give props to? It can be in the hunting, not in the hunting, but what are who's a couple people or brands you wanna give props to?

Eric Seymour:

This this is a tough question because It is. There's so many to pick from. The team at Rolling Thunder, the team at Makers, you know, the just great duck call people. They've got I've got some really awesome guys in the turkey space. David Hopper with limb hopper calls, Ricky Padgett, Spring Allure.

Eric Seymour:

But, you know, two companies for me, really. Fowler, Heizerfly, which I don't know if you know Cam. You know Drew?

Wade Shoemaker:

I know Cam. I know.

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. I mean, so the cool thing about them is I got connected with them as a consumer Yep. Before NWTF even happened. And Yep. Drew and I were on a phone call, and I just needed them to make some some custom leather pieces for my family because we all wanted the same color gun lead.

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. And so I was gonna have them put our initials on it. And then next thing you know, I'm on the phone with them for an hour and a half, and we're talking about Rise. And then Which Drew

Wade Shoemaker:

you said?

Eric Seymour:

Yeah. That's Drew. That's Drew's brother.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Yeah.

Eric Seymour:

Know, they're just they've been such a big help and encouragement to us through all these shows and giving I call them like, hey, man. I was like, what do do about this? Where does this go? How'd you make this? Like, send me a picture of your booth.

Eric Seymour:

And they'll yeah. They're so I'm

Wade Shoemaker:

learning as much as I can from these guys, and they're just fun to be around.

Eric Seymour:

And Yeah. Products that they make are just awesome. Just heirloom quality products. They make it all by hand. It's just so cool.

Wade Shoemaker:

And then a guy here in South Carolina, Brandon Bond, his brand

Eric Seymour:

is Squatchy Game Calls, kinda like Sasquatch. Squatchy Game Calls. He's kind of a I tell everybody he's like a a boutique turkey call guy. He does diaphragm and pot calls, but he's kinda been with us from the start and just a great friend. He and I talked on the phone for probably two years before we ever met and had a chance to hunt together this past spring.

Eric Seymour:

And he's just a neat guy, man. He I'll call him up and be like, hey. Like, I need a diaphragm call that does this, this, and this. And he's like, alright. I'll make I'll make one and send it to you.

Eric Seymour:

So he's just doing some pretty cool stuff because he's he's smaller and has some flexibility to to do some custom work on calls, and it's really cool, man.

Wade Shoemaker:

You said it's it's squatchy?

Eric Seymour:

Squatchy game calls. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

Is is he a Sasquatch guy? He just thought it would be cool.

Eric Seymour:

You know, his slogan on his website is says, believe in yourself even when no one else will. Right? And it's got see, that's all I should say.

Wade Shoemaker:

Okay. I

Eric Seymour:

got it. Well, and I will say this. He does this really cool thing every year in South Carolina. It's called the king of spring, and he gets a Okay. Custom he gets a custom belt buckle made.

Eric Seymour:

And you enter you enter this competition, and you, you know, you can get one turkey a year. You enter it. There's a point system, and whoever wins the tournament gets a belt buckle that says king of spring. And so

Wade Shoemaker:

And that's for the year?

Eric Seymour:

That's for the whole turkey season. Yeah. It's pretty cool.

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh, sick. Okay. Yeah. That's cool. That's I think

Eric Seymour:

I've heard

Wade Shoemaker:

of that.

Eric Seymour:

And he's one of those guys, like I said, anybody, you could call him up and like, hey,

Wade Shoemaker:

Here's what I need, or here's the kind of calls I like,

Eric Seymour:

and he'll he'll put something together for you and send it to you. So that's really

Wade Shoemaker:

I dig that, man. I really do. I I appreciate it. I I love that piece of the the the podcast as much as any of it because it gives it gives us a chance to, like I've never heard squatchy calls. You know?

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. And and Cam is a good friend of mine. Like, I love hearing people that I know be talked about, you know, in that in that regard. So this has been great. And I I know there's a lot more to do and a lot more to be said, and I think we're gonna have a whole lot more to cover next time.

Wade Shoemaker:

But, Eric, thank you for for your time and and for your heart and for what you got going on with Rise, and I'm stoked to see this thing do more. And I know it will. So is there anything you wanna close us out with, Eric? Anything that you wanna say while we're closing?

Eric Seymour:

Just wanna, yeah, really say thanks to thanks to everybody. I mean, thanks to you. Thanks to the people that have taken time to speak, to tell stories, to buy a T shirt, to buy a shirt for somebody else, and really just support a small business who's telling a story like it means more to us than than you'll ever know. And just, you know, you taking a chance on a on a guy for a podcast that hadn't been around very long, just, you know, thanks for allowing us to tell the story.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's very cool, man. That that's per that's the perfect thing to end on. So I'm gonna do it. Folks, thank you for joining us again on the Ducks Unlimited Podcast. Eric, a pleasure.

Wade Shoemaker:

I'm your host, Wade. I'll be back next time. See y'all later.

VO:

That's a wrap for today's episode of the Ducks Unlimited Podcast brought to you by Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails. From post hunt unwinds to celebrations back at camp, Bird Dog delivers award winning flavor to every moment. Enjoy responsibly. Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe, and check out ducks.org/dupodcast for more stories, science, and all things waterfowl. Guest opinions are their own and don't necessarily reflect those of Ducks Unlimited.

VO:

Until next time, stay fired up, stay focused, and stay tuned to the Ducks.