Welcome to Elevate with Elsner. Join us for inspiring conversations with individuals who have transformed their lives and are making a difference through the work that they do. And now, here's your host, Blake Elsner.

All right, Real Ones, welcome back to Elevate with Elsner. You already know this show is about growth, impact, and execution. And today's guest, he embodies all three. This dude took fatherhood, branding, and business to the next level. You've seen his brand, Tactical Baby Gear, where he made dad life look like a special ops mission. But he didn't stop there. He's also the force behind FightSoap.us, helping fighters, athletes and everyday warriors stay fresh with all natural soap designed for battle. And on top of all that, he's got the brodie bunch where he keeps it real with his family and shares what it's like to build an empire while being a present dad. So if you're into branding, business, and doing things your way, this one's for you. Tactical, brutal, honest. Let's get into it. Beav welcome to Elevate with Ellsner.

Blake Elsner

Thanks, man. I appreciate you. Thanks. I love that intro. It was great. You made me sound awesome.

Beav Brodie 

Yeah, that's right. That's like my bread and butter right there.

Yeah. I might steal some of those.

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So let's let's just I kind of want to go back to when you're a kid, honestly, actually real fast. And tell me about it. Did you have a business mindset growing up?

That really started in high school, so I've always had extreme passions for stuff. And I always was like 110, 120% into those things. And, um, I never did a lot of. different things at one. I mean, there was a period of my life, you know, like late middle school, early high school, where I was really into like two or three things. But I was like, those are the only two or three things, two or three things that mattered in my life. School, I was a terrible student, you know, like, I ended up graduating high school early because they just were like, get this kid out of here. Like, you've got enough credits to get out, like, go. Um, and they, they just knew, it's not like I was a bad kid or anything like that, but I, I was not putting any effort into school. And that was very apparent to everyone. And they were like, you need, you need to move on to the next thing. Cause they, everyone knew I had a passion for what I was doing. So in, you know, my business stuff really started in about ninth grade. I was really into cars, you know, um, that was, that turned into a career of mine and I would kind of get into that for a second, but, um, I was really into cars and I was working at a body shop and learned how to paint. And I was, you know, learning how to work on engines and doing all these things from some other buddies of mine and, um, had no real, you know, like professional training, but I was fucking ninth grade. Right. Like, but I was the only kid in school that really knew how to work on cars and all my buddies. had cool cars and they always needed something or wanted something done or they, you know, hit hit somebody's mailbox Friday night and they need their mirror fixed or replaced or, you know, whatever it was, right. Or it was putting turbo kits on or body kits or lowering kits and, you know, that kind of stuff. I was so, that was a business I was running out of my parents' garage all through high school. And that like, everyone just knew me for that, which is where like, they were like, all right, Get out of high school. I went to Wyoming tech, which is an automotive tech school based out of Laramie, Wyoming. I went to a campus in Blairsville, Pennsylvania. And, um, I just like, that's all I cared about was cars. And so I go through tech school. I crushed it. That was the only time I've ever done in school, done good in school. I excelled at everything in school and instructors that were trying to hire me and all kinds of stuff there. And. I didn't want to live in Pennsylvania because thanks. I'm from South Carolina. Like I don't do, I'm a tropical person. You know what I'm saying? I don't do this cold weather stuff. So, um, I had a pretty extensive automotive career for about 15 years and it didn't happen overnight. It was a struggle. Um, when I got out of school, I went directly to working for someone else in their shop. Cause I didn't, I mean, that's. That's kind of what you do, right? You go to a shop, you get a job. And I did really well. I was making a ton of money. I was really good. I was really fast. And in a world of automotive where you get paid by the amount of work you do, not by the hour, Um, I was fast. I was efficient. I was effective. I was good. And I just, I made a ton of money. And that was, I, by the time I got done with WyoTech, I mean, I was only eight. I went, I went, I started there when I was 17. I was 18 when I got out of there. And then I was making almost a hundred grand a year at like 18, 19 years old. And I thought I was like on top of the world, right? Like, first of all, I had no business making that kind of money at that age. Cause you do really stupid stuff with it. I still do stupid stuff with money. So I'm thinking to myself, man, if I'm making this much money working for someone else, I'm going to open my own shop. I'm going to do my own thing my way, and I'll really crush it. This place is holding me down. Here's 19-year-old me. I'm like, yeah, I'm awesome. I know everything about life and business, and I'm going to start my own shop. And that's what I did. I was really wrong about all of it. I went to making no money, but doing everything I loved to do. I didn't have to work on Mrs. Smith's Cadillac that had a squeak or an oil leak anymore. I was building really cool custom stuff and hot rod stuff. high horsepower race cars and all kinds of stuff. And it was awesome. And I loved every second of it. And I didn't care that I was working 20 hours a day and got no sleep and any of that stuff. I just loved it. So that goes on for years and years. And, um, you know, you get through some, some ups and downs and that sort of thing. And, um, We ended up having a lot of success. We ended up building cars that set world records for selling prices. We built stuff for like A-list celebrities. We, we did all kinds of stuff, stuff that was featured in magazines and that kind of stuff. And then it was like kind of at the height of that career. Well, not even the height of that career. Somewhere within there, I start having kids. Right. And this is where we kind of lead into tactical baby gear. So I'll, I'll stop and let you kind of pick apart anything you want before we get into that journey. Otherwise, I'll just keep talking.

You keep you keep talking. I love this because obviously, you know, making 100 grand at 18. I'm assuming this was in the early 2000s. This would have been 2003, 2004. So that's I mean, yeah, I can't imagine if I was that age making that money, I would have been doing some some crazy thing.

I did some good things, too. Like I bought a house, my first house when I was like nine, 19 years old. you know, and I was really fortunate to be able to do that then because I got in on a really low price and I held on to it for, I don't know, 10 or 12 years, you know, sold it when things were good, but, you know, bought another piece of property, stayed there for a while, made a bunch of money on that, bought some other property. Like, so I ended up accidentally making a ton of money in, in real estate, to be honest, like it was never my goal. It just happened. And I was like, all right, well, I just made another 400 grand on that deal. Sweet. You know? Um,

So you had to, so back from, from the real estate side, which is funny because everybody, it seemed to, you know, the past, um, 10 years seems to make money off real estate. Now being in real estate, it's, I think going to flip a little bit is, you know, things are a little longer.

Um, I mean, listen, over the last 10 years, if you lost money in real estate, you were fucking up dude. Yeah.

That's why I go, you better be careful on some of these classes you hear, because it's a little different now. Today's today's world. But no. Yeah. So going going back to, you know what? So did you decide to sell that business? And, you know, you decide obviously kids came in the mix, like you said, and then.

Yeah. So. Some within that journey, I meet my wife. We have our first child that was a girl. And. You know, my, my, we live, like I said, in South Carolina, Hilton head Island specifically, it's like a resort Island. Really nice. It's a tourist place, lots of vacation and it happens here. And, um, so she worked at a business that was very driven by tourists. So she, uh, worked late nights until like till sunsets. And right. She's, she's working until 10, 11 o'clock at night sometimes. And so that meant I had our daughter. you know, all evening, right? I would shut down my shop, you know, 5.30 or whatever it was, go pick up my daughter from daycare, get her home. We'd do dinner, we'd do bath time. I'd put her to bed, the whole nine yards, and my wife'd get home at 11 o'clock at night. And, you know, any errands I had to run, I was, you know, taking her to the grocery store and going to Target and getting this and doing that and whatever I had to do. And it's just, I don't want to say it was like a single dad, but if you imagine life as a single dad, it's like you and your daughter all night, every night, because your wife's at work. So it was just me and her a lot. And, um, I was carrying my wife's diaper bag all the time just because it was just like, well, that's just what you do. Your wife got this bag at the baby shower and that's the diaper bag. And it's purple because we have a daughter and like, that's just what I'm stuck with. And I, every time I picked it up, I was just like, I really hate this bag, but like, this is the diaper bag. So like, whatever. And, um, a lot of times I found myself like just kind of leaving it behind. I was like, I don't want to take this thing with me. This thing sucks. Or I'll, I'll leave it in the car. I don't need to bring that in the store. But my, my, my buddies are in there. They might see me. I might, you know what I mean? Like, I don't need to take this thing in the grocery store. It's fine. And then my daughter would like blow it out. I'm like, I should have brought that with me. So anyways, um, a couple of years goes by, my wife's pregnant again, we find out it's another girl. And in that moment, I was like, son of a bitch, I got to keep carrying this purple bag around. I do not want to do this. So I'm like, I'm, you know, I'm buying my own bag this time. I'm like, I've got this kids more than not. Like I'm, I'm getting my own bag. So I go to, to try to like, start shopping for a bag for myself and like nothing existed. You know, and this, again, this is 2013, so 12, 12 years ago. And I'm like on Google, like this is like pre Amazon, like, you know, I'm on Google, cool diaper bags for dads. Okay. Nothing there. Um, you know, men's diaper bag, nothing there. And it's like this stuff that would pop up, there's like a gray or a black version of like your wife's diaper bag. And it still just looks like a diaper bag. I was like, man, these really suck. Like, this is not me. Like I'm a guns and gear guy. Right. You sell these guns behind me. I'm like fully tatted. I'm like these things, like I want something that's me, you know? So I was like, screw it. I'll make a bag because in my, my background in automotive with cars and all that kind of stuff, a lot of, we did a lot of upholstery. So that's where my sewing and I was something I learned at, at school. And, um, I had sewing machines and all that stuff. We did some upholstery and so I was like, well, I'm just going to make a bag. So I did. And then. Um, it was like, oh, I'm going to make a tactical diaper bag. That's the kind of like the stuff I'm into and those sorts of things. And then my buddies see it and they're like, dude, that thing's sick. Will you make me one? And I'm like, yeah, of course. Every dude feels the same way. Like, especially like this other, like. segment of the world. It's like the guns and gear guys who have little girls and like none of us want to carry some flowery, frou-frou diaper bag, really. Like, well, most of us will step up and do it because that's like, you try to be a good dude and try to be a good dad and all those things, but like in the back of your mind, like this thing kind of sucks. So I developed that and my buddies all want one. So I'm like, yeah, this is a good like side thing. Like, because I had plenty of time for side business, right? I got two kids, I got a car shop that I'm like working a million hours a week and, and, uh, my wife's working all the time. Like I have plenty of time for another business. And, um, so I started this like side tactical baby gear thing. And I like went on Instagram and got a handle. I went to. Like GoDaddy, I think, and bought the URL and, um, went on LegalZoom and like started the business. I didn't, listen, you, I can't express to you how broke I was back then. Like, so I had to finance the LegalZoom. I had to do their $700 fee. I had to like make, do their payment plan on it. You know what I mean? I was broke. Broke. But yeah, that's how I got started in it, you know? And then I was trying to start this like side hustle business thing with no time and no money. It was like, that's brilliant. And eventually it got to the point where I was like, I don't have time to sew these bags. I don't have time for this, nor do I really. And I was like, how? And then I was like, well, I need to find a factory to make these bags, but I can't afford that. Cause I've got to make thousands and thousands of them for a factory to make them. And I wasn't making enough money on cars back then to be able to save enough money to make thousands of bags. So I started another business. I started another business to make cash, to save money, to get the factory, to make bags. I was hustling brother. Um, yeah. So I started making gun holsters and that was like fast cash and that worked, that worked well. What kind of holsters were those? I was making kydex holsters. You know, are you familiar with a kydex holster? Uh, I don't know.

Not, not exactly, but I got, there's one that I have that's like goes on the inner inner inside of, uh, is it like a plastic material? Yeah.

Yeah. So that's kydex. That's the type of material. So we make kydex holsters. We were doing inside the waistband, outside the waistband. We ended up making stuff for a bunch of like law enforcement groups and, um, We made really nice stuff to the point where I like I hired somebody who was doing that. And, um, eventually that guy ended up, he was also working for me in the car shop. And then he ended up transitioning to be like our operations director at TBG. Like he was, he was the man. Um, And I got a lot of guys here like that. They're like super loyal. We've all worked together since like high school days. So it's been pretty cool, you know, in that capacity, but yeah. So it's just like a hustle, man. It's just like, I feel like there's, and I knew at that point I knew track tactical baby year had enough traction to where it was worth investing the money because the demand was, I was like, I don't, I can't keep up with demand of like making bags and doing things. So I've got to get a factory to do this. Cause I, I can't anymore.

What was that day that you go, wow, this, this is actually going to take off. Like, was there a bunch of orders or a bunch of messages?

Um, or is this a word just kept spreading? I mean, the word kept spreading and it was like, okay, we'd sell a diaper bag every couple of days or something. And I was like, okay, this was cool. And then it became a diaper bag every day. And then it became like one every day and then two every couple of days. And then, you know, it was just sort of like slow snowball and there wasn't You know, and eventually it was like, that's where I was like, I can't like, and my wife is like, we're shipping this stuff out of the living room. You know, my I'm feeding a baby and I'm packing a box. And, you know, it was like, it was awesome. It was like the just typical. American bootstrapped story, you know, which most people don't understand or see that side now. Cause looking at TBG, like you're a customer, you're like, Oh, they're this big company. They're probably always been successful or whatever. But like, brother, I was sitting there packing, packing boxes, sitting on the couch, feeding the baby in one hand and like giving a dog a treat in another hand and trying to like, you know what I mean?

So, yeah, well, that's one thing you've been is true on your Instagram. And I've noticed that, you know, on your posts that, you know, you're real raw and authentic. And that obviously resonates with people like myself who want to even more buy your product then.

I appreciate that. I mean, we really strive for that. Um, and it ebbs and flows, you know, from time to time, but depending on even what I have going on in my personal life, it may, it may dictate what you see on Instagram or not. And there's that sort of thing. But, um, but yeah, I mean, I knew that there was like enough traction at one point to need to get someone else to do the bags. Cause I didn't have the capacity to do it. And then there was the only, the. There was only one time, one moment that I was like, holy shit, this is going to work. And that was even further on down the road where it's not like I was making a bunch of money from it. Cause all the money we were making, we were reinvesting into the business to, to buy more inventory, to keep up with demand and pay for Facebook ads and do all these things to help grow the business. So I wasn't really. making income, the business was making money, but I wasn't making any income. So I continued to build cars and do all this other stuff so that I still had income for my family while I was trying to grow the business. And at one point I knew that I couldn't do enough of it on my own because I just didn't know retail products and retail business. Cause I came, I'm like a fricking knuckle dragger. That's like welding shit together in a shop. Like I don't know how to sell. you know, or, or manufacture stuff and sell retail stuff and all this kind of stuff. So, um, this would have been about 2014. So 2015, maybe a year and a half into this, we've got some traction, things are going and I'm like, I don't know what to do from here. Right. So I had a, I had a good buddy of mine who was kind of a mentor. He owns his name's Shane. He owns fuel clothing and he's been around since the early nineties. He's got a huge business and he does really well. And he was, he's I've known him forever. So he gave me some, some pointers and some insights. And then one day on Facebook, I see a post from an old buddy of mine. I've known since like second grade and he had posted a picture of the product that he developed, um, and was selling it to target. And it was like a picture of his product on the shelf in target. And he was all excited about it. And I was like, Alex, that's the dude I need to talk to. He'll know what I should do from here. You know? So I hit him up. I'm like, Hey, remember me? And he's like, yeah, of course. Like we've known each other since second grade. I'm like, Hey, I've got this, this brand I started. Um, things are going good. I got traction. I've got like more demand than I can keep up with. I'm trying to get a, find a factory to like make this stuff and blah, blah, blah. But like, other than that, I don't really know the retail business because I'm like, you know, the idiot that works on cars. And he's like, well, have you gotten UPC codes yet? I'm like, what's a UPC code? He's like, you know, like the barcodes. I'm like, oh. No, you know, just like really simple, basic stuff. He's asking questions about, and I'm like, I don't know, dude, that's why I'm calling you. Like, I don't know anything about this crap. And, um, one thing leads to another, he ended up, I brought him on as a business partner. He buys into the business for 50% and he's my, you know, still my business partner today. And he's awesome. Wouldn't be here without him. Uh, he's really smart. He's like, definitely he's the finance and operations guy. Um, I'm just the idiot that comes up with cool ideas and makes it look cool. Right. Give yourself a little more credit. Dude, I mean, that's about as much credit as I can give myself.

But you delegated. You obviously knew what you could do and couldn't. So you went out and you delegated what you couldn't do.

Delegation is definitely my weakest point for sure. But yeah, yeah, you're not wrong. Yeah, man.

So he's on the shelves at Target. I mean, you couldn't think of a better person to go to.

Yeah. I mean, he's Target, Macy's, Urban Outfitters, Total Wine, all these big box retailers he was selling to. And that was his business for a while. And it turned out he was having some issues within his business because he had a business partner that was stealing from him and there was a bunch of issues. It, the timing actually worked out really well. Cause he was like, you know, that's how he became a partner. It was like, I'm ready to get out of my business because it's, it's a kind of a mess and it's this guy stealing from me and like, I'm just going to sell it to him and let's, let's go with TBG, you know, kind of a thing. That's the short version of it, but that's pretty neat.

So he's having for a reason, right?

Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So he's a lot of the driving force of what really structured us as like a real company and a real business and that sort of stuff. And he took on a lot of the stuff that I'm not good at and don't like to do, which allowed me to continue to work on cars while we worked on manufacturing and all this kind of stuff. And then, um, eventually things get good enough to where. The income from TBG was like far exceeded the amount of money I was making on cars and that kind of thing. And I was like, this makes zero sense for me to be working on cars anymore. So, you know, the stuff that we build, it used to take, you know, it was like six or nine months to build one of some of these custom cars we were doing. So we just quit taking on customers. A couple of us stayed in the shop and just like finished out a few of these cars that ended up being some of our coolest projects. Some of them, some of those were like the ones that got featured in magazines or set the world record at Barrett Jackson, um, and that kind of stuff. So it was like, it was kind of cool. Cause I went out with some of these really cool things at the very end. Then I was like, peace, I'm out. Um, and then just went all in on TBG, uh, whatever year that was 2016, maybe something like that. But.

That's impressive because I mean, obviously what you built with these, this car business, and then going out with such a ginormous bang going, well, well, gosh, I got to leave this. I'm setting records and I got to leave this behind to go full throttle into TBG. Obviously you knew that tactical Bay, like you said, tactical baby gear had just taken off that it, there was no need to turn around.

Yeah. I mean, I was, listen, I had been doing it for, A long time at that point, it would have been about 12 or 13 years. And, um, about 13 years, I was pretty burnt out. You know what I mean? Like I was happy to not work on, I was like, if I never see a car again, a day in my life, I'll be happy. Like that's where I was mentally. It was just so physically exhausting and it was just dealing with these customers and problems and issues and you know, whatever. And, um, I was pretty over it. So, and TBG was just like on a freaking streak, you know? And I was like, I, I'm the bottleneck. If I keep working on cars, like I ain't doing TBG. And then if I'm not doing TBG, like it all falls apart. So like, screw these cars. Um, And I didn't want to see a car after that for a long time. Now I'm like trying to find every excuse I can to go back out and shop and work on a car naturally. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's fun again. Cause it's a hobby. It's not business anymore. It's a hobby again, you know? So it's fun again, but.

It's kind of like when you, you know, they say your, your mind and heart have to be in it. And, you know, when your heart escaped at the first time, you just, you're just not fully in it now. It's like you say, it's a hobby and you kind of want to dip your toes back into it. But I, you know, it's kind of cool to think that I always thought TBG started with a carrier, but it started with a backpack.

It actually started with the shoulder bag, similar to the deuce. Yeah. It was just like a shoulder bag. I didn't know how to make a backpack back then.

Yeah, that's right.

Um, yeah, it started with just a simple, like over the shoulder bag with a bunch of Molly webbing on it. And then we made a little pouch attachments for it. So everything was a pouch back then. Um, the bottle pouches and wipes, like everything was just a modular pouch until I figured out like how to really. Actually, it wasn't until we got a factory. I would make, I still make all the prototypes and that sort of stuff here. Um, but I didn't, I didn't know how to make a sophisticated bag back then. You know what I mean? I had to learn that kind of stuff over time, but yeah.

Well, one of my favorite products that you have that I think I, I want to wear it every day is that fanny pack as the most functional, it's like a minivan, like literally like, I mean, it's the most functional thing you can ever wear. I'm like, why do we not wear these like all every day? Like, I mean, everything you could possibly have, you don't have to have anything in your pockets. It's cool. You can put a patch on there. I mean, you combine that with a backpack and a carrier, you don't have to, you're it's, Instead of buying back your time, you're buying back your hands. That's right. That's right.

I mean, what?

Yeah, what? What? I know you got the whole fight. So, too, which we'll get into that after. But what kept making you want to just continue that tactical baby? Just you just obviously just you just kept nerding out on products and prototypes just kept drawn.

Yeah. I mean, I had a such a love and a passion for it. And it was just taking off. It was just like snowballing, you know, we'd revenue would go, it would just double every year, you know, so you'd, you'd hit a million dollars and two or two and a half million dollars and $5 million and $8 million and $10 million, $12 million, like, so it's just like, you kept making, making, making money. And it was just like fun and exciting and new products and, you know, all this kind of stuff. And it's like, what is there to not like about this is awesome. Like, this is great. And it's, It's a grind for sure, but like, that's what we do. Right. You just, especially when you have a passion for it. I mean, that's what you were talking about a second ago. And you know, so many people in my career, whether it was cars. And I think that's why I led with, when I was a kid, I had these passions, but I would do them at like 110, 120% all in, which my parents always supported. They're like, well, we're not going to stop you from doing this. It looks like how amazing you you're doing with whatever that is. And, um, It's the same with these businesses where the car business, my parents supported me. They were probably like, you're an idiot in their heads, but they were like, go for it. You know? And they always just like believed in me and pushed me and supported me with whatever it was. Um, and I think it's that it's that passion, right? That people are always like, how do you have the energy to keep doing what you do? Whether it's the car stuff for the holsters or the baby, like whatever it is, it's just like, I love it. Like I just have a passion for it. And that passion creates the energy to keep going. No matter, even if things are shitty, it's like, I still love it. It's still fun. It's still awesome. I'm still on the, like a mission to save the world one dad at a time, you know? So, um, yeah, I mean, you just gotta love it and you gotta have that passion for it for sure.

Yeah. Well, that's one thing you do. And I noticed you keep up with products and you're always thinking of new things. And also, I've noticed you're willing to push things. If obviously something's not selling, you're like, let's put it on sale. Let's get it out. Let's think of something else. You have to. Yeah. You're always on the fly. But yeah, as a business owner, you know that.

Yeah. You're always on the fly, but you're always like, okay. Because You know, you're also thinking about business growth and you don't want it to die. You don't want it to turn off tomorrow. So it's like, all right, where's the market going? What is the trends? What are, you know, where, where do we see TBG going? You know, there's, we read comments, we take those kinds of things into consideration and feedback from this or that. And it's like, okay, well, we're, we're really cornered in the market. I'll give you a real example here. Really cornered in the market with like very tactical baby gear stuff that's like. The comments are, well, my husband wasn't in the military, so I can't buy this. I'm like, yes, you can just because like, you can absolutely buy this and you can use it and wear it and whatever. Um, those kinds of comments or the people who are like, oh, this is so military. You're so insecure. You know, you must have a small penis, all these kinds of things. And so it's like, all right, well, like, I get that those people are like small minded and they're just, they want to be heard on the internet. So they type things like this out. And then it's like, well, how can we, how can we appeal to that? Some of those guys, cause these are also parents, you know, you look at these profiles, like, well, your dad, how could you not appreciate this? Why are you putting someone down? Like, who's the one that's insecure, you know? And so it's, it's interesting to like go down these people's profiles when they leave comments like that, but. Like, well, how can we appeal to more people and even some military guys, right? Who they're in uniform all day. They're wearing this stuff all day. They don't want to. get off, take their uniform off and then put on some military looking stuff again. So we developed that whole line, the stealth line that was not military looking, the expedition bag, the classic bag like you have, um, you know, and some of these other, like the baby carrier light, like no webbing, no Velcro doesn't look tactical. It's blue, it's red, it's white, it's whatever. And, um, try to appeal to that market so that we can go a little bit wider with our business. and grow the business, right? We want to reach as many people as possible naturally. Um, but it didn't, it didn't hit the way we wanted it to. I don't think we did a great job launching the product line, if I'm being honest. Um, and there's a reason for that and I'll touch on it in a second. I'm sure we'll get into it. And then, um, I don't think we communicated the purpose of that stuff very well when we launched it either. But I was also really distracted during that time. I, my middle daughter ended up being diagnosed with cancer and all kinds of stuff. So it was like. I didn't really care about the product launch. I was like, whatever, like it's live, go buy it. Anyways, I'm back in the hospital.

So, um, first for her, how has she, you know, I don't want to stop in mid conversation, but how is she doing now? She's awesome. Yeah, she's really good.

She's been in remission for almost a year now. And, um, she's doing great. And. We can get into more of it, like the Brodie bunch stuff that you were talking about. Like that's really the focus on that channels is really all about Kendall. Um,

That's neat. So you had just launched these like non-military, non-combat style bags, like I have a basic white backpack with, I mean, it's just like the one I went to school with pretty much, but it's got bottles up front that I can store. That's what you had just came out with, all that?

Yeah, that was all like at the same time. And, um, you know, the idea was it was a stealth collection, right? It's more of a covert, more undercover, you know, you could take it out to the mall or Disney world and people aren't looking at you like that. Guy's probably got a gun in his bag or, you know, whatever, like whatever people might think about that. Like I, and I've been like that too, right? Well, like I was walking around Miami one time. With like our coyote Brown day pack and it felt like everyone was just staring at me. I felt so out of place. Cause I'm like downtown Miami, everyone's and I'm like, here I am. Like I just, you know, like roll off the ship. And I was like, all right, we need, we need a different product line for this, you know? So. That was kind of the reason behind all that stuff was like broaden, broaden the market, have stuff that was a little bit more covert, a little more streamlined blends into the crowd. Security's not going to stop you and want to search your bag, that kind of stuff, you know?

Yeah. But then obviously you got a lot of, uh, so a much bigger, um, thing to worry about in your daughter, Kendall. So how did you, I mean, that's it's uncharted waters. I mean, how, yeah.

Yeah. No one can prepare you for that, you know? Um, yeah, we, she was just like sick one night saying her tummy hurt, which you've heard, you know, she's eight, eight at the time. And you've heard this a million times, right? My tummy hurts. My tummy, you know, My wife and I had just gotten home from a late dinner and it was like 1030, 11 o'clock at night. And it's like, yeah, sure. Whatever kid go to bed. Like you'll feel fine in the morning. And then her older sister, like hollered for us to come up to the room and she's like, you need to like a Kendall stomach. It's like sticking out and like hard. We're like, what? So I, she lifts up her shirt and her, her stomach, it was, it was like sticking out a little bit and this is in December, right? So you don't really notice it cause she's wearing jackets and it's cold out and sweatshirts. And so, and she's at the age where she's showering herself and these kinds of things. So it's not like when you have an infant, you see them with their clothes off every hour when they shit themselves, you know, we're using our blowout kits. Yeah. You know, so as your kids get older, you see them less and less with her, with her clothes off and. Um, so yeah, her stomach was, it was hard as a rock, hard as a rock, like table hard. I was like, when's the last time you went to the bathroom, you know? And she's like, I don't know, earlier this afternoon, I was like, all right, well, that's weird. It's a Saturday night. So we're going into a Sunday morning and a resort Island that like shuts down on Sundays or there's nothing's open and all this stuff. We ended up at the hospital and. They did an x-ray and they were like, uh, she has a massive cancer tumor in her abdomen. You need to get her to a children's hospital immediately. And like your whole world changes in that sentence. You know what I mean? So that was crazy and heartbreaking and devastating and like a million thoughts running through your head every minute. And you're just like, you know, I'm calling my wife to tell her what's going on. Of course, she's breaks down. She's crying. I'm trying to, trying to keep her calm, talk her through what she needs to do to get to the hospital. Of course, we had another, we had a third child at home by then. who was like a year old at the time. So it was just like crazy, um, trying to sort all that stuff out. And so that was a two year battle. I won't go into all those details cause I'm sure not everybody cares, you know, that much, but it was the craziest two years of our lives with every up and down you can imagine. And, um, scary stuff, lots of. Like tons of different treatments, a bunch of different surgeries back and forth to New York city, trying to like find like to deal with like. the world leader in this cancer. Um, and the surgeon there was like just crazy stuff. Um, and a lot of incredible things happen just because we're sharing the story and being able to get connected to people who we would have never otherwise gotten connected to. So that was incredible. And that was through the TBG community, right? When I first put this out there, it was like, one thing got to someone who got into someone who called me, who ended up. Within a few hours, I was on the phone with like the guy, the world leader of this cancer. And it was awesome. Um, but, uh, yeah, she's, she's good now. She's been in remission for almost a year and she's kicking ass.

That's awesome. Yeah, that's, uh, she's definitely kicking ass at that. I mean, and the whole time, you know, you sit there and you. Meanwhile, you're still launching a product. You're still having to, you know, I mean, I worked through it for two years.

I mean, I'm still working through, I was just at the hospital on Wednesday doing checkups and scans and all this stuff with her. Um, but to be honest, work is the thing that kept me sane. Like when everything else is like just chaos and out of your control and you don't know if your daughter's going to make it or. You know, all these kinds of things, it was like the one constant and the one thing I could kind of control a little bit was the work I was doing. So it actually kept me sane and people were like, I don't know how you do it. I'm like, you just, you just do it. Like you just, I mean, and that's not the case for everyone because I've met a lot of other parents now through that at the hospital. It's not the same for them. Right. It's like some of them start drinking and some of them it's, it gets bad, right? Like mentally you, it's definitely a mental game. You gotta be able to, to get through. But, and a lot of people are like, Oh, you're such a good dad. You do so much for, you know, Mike, you would do the same thing. Like anybody I talked to who like cares about being a good parent would 100% step up to the plate and take care of their kid fighting cancer. You just, that's just what you do and you can't prepare yourself for it and you can't be ready for it. But when the time comes, that's you would, you would do the same thing. You would step up and just do what you got to do, you know, but. Yeah, it was tough, man.

Man, that's a, yeah, that's, that's a strong, strong story and a powerful story. Cause I know that'll just help somebody down the road because I can't imagine, like you say, like we're all built different. Our human design's different and you know, like how you. you know, took that and work saved you, you know, like you say, some people have to like, yeah, drink. So yeah, you hope maybe someone else will say, Hey, instead of, you know, putting something bad in my body, I'll just go ahead and try to keep working and stick to my passion. Or in this case, what you did was tactical baby gear. So that's pretty.

Well, I told you I'm not very smart. So in the middle of this with her, I bought another brand. I'm like, Hey, this is a great idea. Keep your saying, you know, I'm like, Hey, well, I got a great idea. Let's buy another company. Fight soap. Right? Yeah. That was it. That was it. So tell us about fight soap. Yeah. So fight. So, I mean, I didn't do it because I'm stupid. I did it because of a, of a opportunity timing thing. And Fight Soap's been around since 2009, and it had a cult following, right? People were collecting Fight Soap-like sneakers. It was crazy. Myself included. I was a big fan of the brand. I ended up becoming friends with the guy who owned the brand and we did some fight soap, TBG collabs. We did like baby soaps and several different soaps over the years and whatnot. I'll show you these examples in a second. The, his business kind of fizzled out and faded out because he went through life and he had some kids and then he got a divorce and then he was going through all this stuff and he just kind of let the business go. So for a couple of years, I had harassed him. I'm like, Hey man, why don't you sell it to me? Why don't you sell it to me? You know, he's like, nah, I'm not ready to let it go yet. Well, I'm like, you're not doing anything with it. Sell it to me. Let me revive it. And he's like, yeah, man, I'll let you know. I, I, I trust you, you know, a lot of people have reached out and I know what you guys have done with TBG and we're close friends. And like, I know that you'll do the right thing with it. And, you know, so if I decide to, to do that one day, I'll, I'll let you know. So, you know, every six months or so, I'd be like, Hey man, you ready to sell it or what? And that was one of those things where he, like some communication back and forth, he's like, Hey man, you know, let's, let's do this thing. And I was like, cool, let's do that. And then I think, and then I think my daughter was diagnosed. So I'd already had kind of already been like harassing him for like two years. And then he was finally ready to sell it, which probably meant he needed some money. And I was like, man, if I don't, if I say no, someone else is going to buy it. Cause he's trying to unload it now. So I kind of have to like, I got to get this. So I bought it and just sat on it for a little while, while I dealt with some stuff. And then my brother who was working for us at TBG. had kind of had enough of TBG stuff and he was commuting a lot to come work with us and that sort of thing. So he and I bought Fight Soap together and he runs Fight Soap now in Charleston, South Carolina. But it's, we've taken it and we've done a lot more with it, right? So it's, we've introduced a bunch of new products. It's still, it's an all natural hygiene products, right? Bar soaps, body washes, gear spray, foaming hand soaps. We're constantly adding different stuff. We're playing with different formulas, trying to solve different problems with hygiene without all of the bullshit and all the chemicals and all that stuff. Um, and it's just, you know, we have a funny saying that like, not all soap is clean, you know? Um, and it's true. I mean, so much of the products in the aisle or in your bathroom have so much. Chemicals and bullshit in them that it's like, it's scary to be honest, because even though some of these products may only have a little bit of a bad chemical or product in it. you're rubbing this stuff on your skin and in your hair and wherever all over your body every single day. And that small amount adds up. So like over the years and years and years that you're using these products, I mean, you've introduced an enormous amount of chemicals to your body. So, which is obviously very close to my heart with my daughter and having cancer and us being hyper aware of the stuff that's in the things we're using. especially somebody like her as a girl who's like 11 now and you know is playing with makeup and I'm like what's on that what's in that makeup because anything you put on your skin gets into your bloodstream anything you're putting in your hair gets into your bloodstream so there's a lot of a lot of crazy stuff in the in these products but so we go supernatural we just released this is our most recent limited edition drop not to get like, you know, any kind of political in here or anything, but we did a Trump, we did, we called it the POTUS pack. So we did a Trump bar, which is, you know, a gold bar cause Trump, it's gotta be gold, right? This reflective gold labels and in his name and that sort of thing. And, uh, I had a lot of fun with these. We did a Vance bar.

Um, all natural too.

Yeah. So in like, so things like this, right, right now, red dye is obviously on the chopping block for good reasons. Red dye is so bad for you, but this doesn't have red dye in it. The red from this comes from. uh dragon's blood oil which is a tree that you find in asia so dragon's blood is so good for your skin it's really great for healing stuff it's good if you like i get all like red rashes and in my face gets rid of like skin irritations rashes that sort of stuff so like all the all of the colors that you see in these bars are are natural colors like this green for example this is a This is our tattoo wash like. After you get a tattoo. You know, for that week, you're like washing your tattoo to keep it clean. So 100% natural stuff in here. The green in this comes from chlorophyll, which is what makes plants green. Um, it's got aloe in it. It's got eucalyptus in it, but smell those natural scent, natural color, natural, everything. So good for you. And it like, it works amazing. Like, you know, I feel like so many natural products got such a bad rap for a long time because people would use like natural deodorants and they didn't work. And you still smell like a stinky old hippie, you know? And you're like, what? Um, but that's just, you know, you get the right stuff and it works. People love fine. It's still we got a kind of a a really cool cult following where people love to collect those like limited edition drops, you know, we do stuff with Tattoo artists and we do a custom tattoo soap for them or you know, these ones are we Trying to look at something that we did a supreme one that looked like supreme like the sneakers, you know, but we did so preem and We manufacture soap for other companies like beach bum tanning salons. That's another interesting one that we didn't realize was a thing was they reached out to us because, because it's all chemical free detergent free, it doesn't wash off a spray tan. So they were like, Hey, can you make soap for us that we can sell on our tanning salons to these women? Because it won't wash off their spray tan. And we were like. Amazing. Yeah. We'd love to do that for you. So they have like, you know, 50 something locations up and down the coast that we make soap for them. And, you know, so it's pretty cool.

That is pretty cool. So I could, I can put my promotional product on the, on the soap too. When are you going to do that? Right.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we do stuff. We've done stuff for fundraisers, for schools we've done. Yeah. That's cool. That is pretty neat that we did actually for real estate. This one's interesting. We did one for a power wash company who does like power washes houses. And, um, he, we, we did a, we theme all of these, right. With the color or the scent or whatever it is, we try to make it match the, whatever the branding is of this, this, whatever company is. But this guy, we did like a light blue color. So it kind of looked like pool blue, you know, and had a really fresh, clean scent. And then he takes it to all these realtors as like a, you know, they put in their little gift bag for someone when they buy a home. So when they need a power wash, they have this nice little bar of soap that's got his company on it and how to reach him in a QR code. And it's like something that smells good. It looks nice. So hopefully that drives business for him. Right. So.

Yeah, that's smart. I mean, you know, what's interesting is that I kind of think back to your like beginning, your background of like products of cars and working on cars. And I'm sure as you know, a car guy, there's probably only certain products you'll put on cars. Um, right. And in a way, I feel like this kind of came back around, um, into the soap world because you only want to put a certain product on your body. Right. Cause you don't want to tear the paint. You don't want to tear off your skin. Right.

Yeah, no, you're right. I never really thought about it that way, but you're right. And I think it's just, I probably without being educated on how bad these products are for you. I mean, forever, nobody cared. Even now, most people don't give a shit. They're like, Oh, it's all natural soap. Like, whatever. Does it smell good? You know, which is the hardest part of our business. The hardest part of our business is that most people want to smell the soap before they buy it. Because what do you do when you go, you're walking through the store, like, Oh, I need some soap. And you pick one up and you're like, Oh, that stinks. Next one. well, that smells pretty good. And then you're like, what is it? How much does it cost? And it all starts with what it smells like. So like, figure that one out over the internet, you know? Yeah, that is kind of funny. I'm going to start sending out scratch and sniffs.

Yeah. No one ever goes, yeah, what's in that soap? Just the smell.

They don't. Now, with guys like RFK and, you know, all the different information and education that's coming out in the world today, Um, whether you agree with any of these people or not, the, the, the science and the data backs up the fact that there's a lot of shit in the chemical and the things that we. Use and consume that are terrible for you that you just don't want anything to do it. So that's becoming more and more apparent. And, um, people are going to be paying more attention to that kind of stuff moving forward, but it's, it's a tough business.

Yeah, it's kind of like that red dye. Like I, I never really thought about it, but then all of a sudden, like, wait a minute, they're going to actually ban it. Well, now I better actually think about it. Like, you know what I mean? It's like, well, we can get ahead of the game. Yeah. Yeah, we'll get ahead of the game with these with this soap. And before it gets all the stuff gets banned, might as well get ahead of the game with with all natural soap. I mean, that makes complete sense, right?

Mm hmm.

So no. Well, I really, really appreciate you coming on here and sharing your, you know, your story. And obviously, I'll be praying for Kendall because that's that's the biggest thing. You know, that's bigger than any business you've you've ever built.

So Well, Kendall was the one that made me start tactical baby gear. She was the second daughter, but I was like, all right, I got to start. I can't do this diaper bag thing again. Right. So Kendall's pretty special, you know, to, to the world where she gave us tactical baby gear. She's inspired so many other kids and people through our Brodie Bunch channel, like a YouTube channel that really has covered her whole story for the last several years. And we were doing like weekly vlogs on that stuff and all the different complications and things and like people love Kendall. She's got a huge following and she's just inspired so many people. So she's done a lot of positive stuff in the world for sure.

That, yeah, that's, that's really awesome, man. And that, that's something we didn't really touch on on the end is you got the, the Brodie bunch and other Instagram, um, that you can follow. So obviously you can find tactical baby gear. Anywhere, just about any ad, you'll probably see an ad pop up after you get done listening to this. I get to see the ads every day, this guy going through the bags. Um, so yeah, tactical baby gear, fight soap.us. Uh, you can find them on Instagram, uh, Facebook. You know, any of these, he's also got a podcast. That was one more thing I was going to say. You got an ultimate dad podcast, um, which is pretty cool. I listened to it today and you got good information on that as well. So I appreciate you coming on here.

Yeah, ma'am. Thank you. I really appreciate you.

Any last things, uh, any last word for anybody to, you know, any specific product you want besides obviously some fresh soap, um, maybe a, a, like I said, that, that, uh, uh, Fanny pack's my favorite, but.

Yeah, that's a good one. No, I don't wanna push any product here at the end of this. I just wanna say thank you, and the people who are listening, I think I just wanna emphasize to really chase your passion, to do the things you love to do, and don't chase it to make a quick buck. I mean, there's a time and a place for that, but ultimately, you gotta do what you love to do.

Heck yeah, I appreciate it. All right, until next time, one love.

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