Shed Geek Podcast
The Shed Geek Podcast offers an in depth analysis of the ever growing and robust Shed Industry. Listeners will experience a variety of guests who identify or specialize in particular niche areas of the Shed Industry. You will be engaged as you hear amateur and professional personalities discuss topics such as: Shed hauling, sales, marketing, Rent to Own, shed history, shed faith, and much more. Host Shannon Latham is a self proclaimed "Shed Geek" who attempts to take you through discussions that are as exciting as the industry itself. Listeners of this podcast include those who play a role directly or indirectly with the Shed Industry itself.
Shed Geek Podcast
Wild Energy: How Personal Values Shape Your Brand
What happens when a former touring musician discovers his calling in the shed industry? In this captivating episode, Craig Felker, Chief Brand Officer at JMAG, shares his remarkable journey and deep insights on authentic branding that resonates beyond product features.
Craig reveals how his past as a Christian rock band frontman unexpectedly prepared him for leadership in an industry he never imagined entering. "I thought I had separated my identity from being Craig, the front man of Hearts of Saints, and it was this really hard time because I was like, what am I going to do?" This vulnerability becomes a throughline in our conversation as Craig emphasizes how authentic leadership creates environments where people feel valued.
The conversation takes a fascinating turn when we explore what truly differentiates successful brands. "Good companies have customers. Great companies have fans," Craig notes, pointing to examples like Harley-Davidson and Bucky's that create emotional connections before customers ever encounter their products. We unpack how shed companies can develop this same passionate following by leading with core values rather than simply selling structures.
Perhaps most provocative is our discussion about the industry's fragmented marketing approach. We challenge conventional thinking about dealer networks and manufacturer relationships, suggesting that collaboration and unified brand messaging might better serve everyone. "If you lead with your culture, your core values, and that is your brand... people want to align themselves with companies, with brands that they have shared values with."
Whether you're a dealer struggling with positioning, a manufacturer questioning your market approach, or simply fascinated by authentic leadership, this conversation offers refreshing perspectives on standing out in a competitive landscape by simply being true to who you are.
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Studio Sponsor: Union Grove Lumber
CAL
LuxGuard
Shed Geek Marketing
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Making Sales Simple
Okay, welcome back to another episode of the Shed Geek podcast and very excited guest here today. You sure about that? Yeah, absolutely, and a first for us here In Metropolis. In Metropolis, I'm the first one. You are the first guest in our new building absolutely, that's a lot of fun that's cool, that'll be a that'll, because that'll always be a memory.
Shed Geek:You won't remember the second, third, fourth guest. I mean, unfortunately you won't, but you'll be like I remember who my first interview was here absolutely well. So, who are you? I mean, people want to know who you are.
Craig Felker:That's the question I ask myself every day. Craig Felker, Chief Brand Officer at JMAG. Yeah, and kind of back in the industry after a pause, but we've known each other for a while. I'm sure we will get into that story how we both kind of sort of came into the industry roughly the same time. Yeah, yeah, and kind of watching this. I mean I'm honored to be here because, as Shed Geek really has become this, I mean you've really just elevated and taken this to another level. To watch it kind of grow has been a lot of fun from a distance, I guess I will say the things that need to be said, but they're also true.
Shed Geek:You know, the lord's been good, the lord's been good, and, and I, and I think, um, you know that's, that's been part of our, part of our oh, I don't know what you would say. Our identity is to always try to honor God in, in everything that we do, and it's easy to forget those things sometimes, uh, because we get a little bit. You know, like I'm somebody, I'm something, or and the reality is I. This is my favorite joke. I'm like if you, if you tell somebody outside of the shed industry, I'm the shed geek, you know they're like I don't care.
Craig Felker:What what?
Shed Geek:what is that? There's an industry, yeah, I like to say you know, yeah, you know. Tell them you're the shed geek, and between that and a nickel you can probably get a bus ride. That's you know. They don't care.
Craig Felker:You're a shed Liberty, though no, I.
Shed Geek:I. My goal is to interview, shed liberties like you and Sam Byler and guys, that, that, that just you know, the, the, the Phil, uh um Falls is and stuff you know what I mean. Like people that always looked up to and things like that in the industry, uh, and learn from and somehow subsequently became like this notorious voice, it seems like for the industry and I'm like, oops you know like what do I?
Shed Geek:what do I? What do I do with this? Now?
Shed Geek:Yeah, Like what do I do with this now? Yeah, Like what do I do with this? Because I want to make sure to honor God and other people in that.
Craig Felker:I just said this to you, and I meant this. I think the reason that you guys, you've been very successful is that is different. The Shed Geek brand is different, but also and I think you were early and first, but I think the other thing is you're really good at conversation. You're a great conversationalist and I appreciate that. I think great leaders ask great questions and they listen well, and we just were talking about communication and um, I'm honored to be here. You know I was to know my story. I mean, I was in the industry on the manufacturing side for four years and then took a break, was director of client experience over a team of about 40 at Paducah Bank, leading people and culture. That's a big part of my story, my passion, that is your story, like when I think of you.
Craig Felker:That's what I think of, I'm so passionate about honoring people and creating a culture that honors others, and it's all around communication, my story and the platforms just change. But to come back to this industry has been so much fun and you know I'm honored to be here. We ended up here over a Facebook thread about the brand. And it's like we should just talk about this.
Craig Felker:And so, I'm honored to be here because I've watched you grow and I've watched your voice and it just magnified. That's fun, knowing a little bit about where we started and how we started how we intersected.
Shed Geek:It's an honor. It's an honor for me. Likewise, you know, I heard a pastor say one time you don't just minister to people. Whenever you preach, you get ministered to yourself, and you'd be amazed at what, like you know, being able to sit down and interview people, how it's, it's expanded my personal growth. You know what I mean, like my knowledge, my opportunities, just being inquisitive, you know and I know it seems like, oh, you're a podcaster, so you're a talker. You talk for a living, and it's like you know. I know all the things, though, guys, I know all the things. God gives you two ears, one mouth. You know. Better to be quiet and thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Craig Felker:You know what I mean. Like, I know this, I know the things you know.
Shed Geek:So, I know to be quiet and listen, and I promise you, it's because I try to actively take the time to listen that I feel like I have something to say, because otherwise you know what's the other saying Better to say nothing at all unless you have something valuable to add. You know, don't break the silence if you don't have something more valuable than the silence and it's like, well, I think I have something to say. But if you don't have something more valuable than the silence, and it's like, well, I think I have something to say, but I try to ask questions. I'm just immersed in the industry and I just poured myself into this one thing and it's really paid dividends. The Lord's been good and really the industry's been good. The people have been good too. You can't do anything, craig. You know this Wild Wednesday we're going to talk about it. You can't be vulnerable and put yourself out there. Let me rephrase that you can't put yourself out there without being vulnerable.
Craig Felker:You have to be vulnerable.
Shed Geek:You have to be vulnerable. You're going to get criticism. You're going to get you don't have to be so.
Craig Felker:I have this whole idea that, like vulnerability and transparency, is what makes people approachable.
Craig Felker:And so from a leadership perspective.
Craig Felker:You know, it's rare that leaders are vulnerable. You know, and part of that starts I don't want to get too far into this but it starts with worth. You've got to know your worth in order to understand, because you know when a leader knows their worth, when anyone knows their worth, I mean that kind of feels like the mission. I'm on is to help people understand who they are whose they are and who they are that they're loved and that it's not because of the work that they did.
Craig Felker:You work from an understanding of understanding your love and then, when you know, when you know your worth and man, that's such a great position to surrender, to mindfully listen, that you don't have to be right all the time. And but again, I mean, I don't know at all, I guess at all about this topic, but uh, my whole story is around communication, whether it starts from music and all that good stuff on down the line.
Shed Geek:So, yeah, well, first of all, honored to have you here as well too. All the things you said, I could turn them right back around at you Great conversationalist, great listener, great brand ambassador, your energy is phenomenal. I think that's a staple and a part of like who you are, and I'm envious of your. I'm envious of your energy.
Craig Felker:It's just if you get up in the morning and you run, you get that dopamine hit. Yeah, that's all it is. But it's funny, I do think energy is something we have the ability to control. We can talk about that, but Well, let's start with your.
Shed Geek:Let's start with your story. So the one thing I you talked about communication and one reason I like the podcast is we're interviewing a gal Wednesday. She doesn't even have anything to do with the shed industry and I met her kind of through a shed industry connection. But, dude, her story and actually, like, I'm considering like using, I want to give back somehow and I'm thinking about using her business, her nonprofit, as something that, a way that we can, an avenue we can give to. There's so many good things to give to muscular dystrophy. You know, one of the important people in my life went through that.
Shed Geek:Deanna's been through breast cancer. So, like, you know, Susan G Komen and all the, all the places. But I'm hoping that it goes as well, as I hope it's going to go and we really want to support her, even though it's not in the industry. Uh, I think you guys will be blessed by the story. But let's, I think that's what the podcast is, it's what is your story? Yeah, everyone has one and like that's why we, whenever people are like I'm afraid to speak, I'm afraid to public speak, I'm like, first of all, it's edited it's not live, you know.
Craig Felker:Let's start there.
Shed Geek:The second of all, I don't think anybody who knows me is worried about that. That's right, right, but you have a story to tell, no matter who you are right, and maybe that's in and out of sheds yeah but you know, I think you were one of the first people to talk about this. We were in Hopkinsville at the shed show. I don't know if you remember this went out to eat with uh me, you, Kyle and Trendan, I think. Maybe, maybe went out to eat.
Craig Felker:I remember that.
Shed Geek:And I remember you talking about not separating your ministry.
Shed Geek:And I was in that moment of my life.
Shed Geek:at that time where I'm like work sheds, jesus, you know, you put this one in a box, that one in a box. No, you throw them all in a box together and you just do life.
Craig Felker:One person you know work-life balance. It's like you are. There's not a believer slash a work, it's not business, slash personal, it's all one and I'm a huge believer in that. That shed show is funny. That's the shed show that I won a rifle, a shotgun at. And if you know me, you know that you know this guy. This guy knows his way around. He's a hunter. I stick out like a sore thumb but, um, you winning, you winning a rifle. I sold that rifle to a hauler but I didn't think it was even legal to give a uh at the time I remember you asking questions and can you even do this?
Shed Geek:can you give a gun away? We were going out in the parking lot after you won this. They called your name and you were like I don't know, can I touch the gun? What can I do with it? You were just like I don't even know what to do and I was like Craig, it's Kentucky. They give you a gun when you're born yeah it's okay, it's fine. I just remember laughing about that because you were just like, oh my God, I want a gun oh my gosh.
Craig Felker:I brought that gun home and my wife was like what are you going to do with that? And I sewed it to a hauler the next day. That great. It was a 24-hour in-the-house gun for Craig Felker. I liked the giveaways.
Shed Geek:I think they're awesome. That was a fun. That was actually a really fun show it was like 2016, 2017 or something.
Shed Geek:It goes back a little bit, and it was close to home for us. Who's Craig Felker? Let's start from somewhere. The beginning, whether it's birth or whether it's uh, before the industry you pick.
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Craig Felker:Well, I mean, if you told me I was going to be in the shed industry a decade ago, well it would have been more than a decade because technically it was a decade ago, but I just never thought I would be here and my whole, I mean I felt called to do music. I mean my whole dream and passion from young adult, you know, late 19, 20 year old kid, was to tour and being a worship rock band. You know, and, and I did that and I can tell you the, I could paint you all the stories about success. I mean had the record deal and, um, you know, played in 34 states, played with every Christian artist that you can probably think of, I mean Joel Smallbone, for King Of Country, sing back up on our first record that's hilarious, that's just you know like crazy.
Craig Felker:I got crazy stories and then I could go and say you know, here's what my bank account looked like, yeah, um, and so like when I stopped doing music, it's a really hard time because I thought I had slayed or separated my identity from being Craig, the front man of Hearts of Saints, the band, and it was this really, I don't want to say dark time. But it was this time where I was like what am I going to do? This was what I was supposed to do, and it just didn't end the way I thought it would end. And it's funny, right after we said we're going to pause, I had our son Milo. About a year before that, we were nominated for a Dove Award. It's like, oh, we quit, and we were nominated for a Dove Award. So, after that it was like what am I going to do? And a good friend of mine was like Paducah Symphony orchestra is looking for a director of marketing.
Craig Felker:Well, all I had ever done was people and figure out how to promote and market, and that's my degree was in music business, with a double minor marketing and mass communication. It's like thanks, thanks for that double minor, you know, uh, and so I did that. And while I was doing that, um, I was also working and traveling the country for Compassion International because I had been a spokesperson for them, as an artist on stage just advocating for kids getting one-on-one sponsorships. And about a year and a half into that, I was really finding my rhythm and my buddy calls me and says, hey, there's this shed company that needs someone to lead marketing for them. And I remember saying to him this is 2015. So I don't know when you came in 2017.
Shed Geek:Yeah, so I would have started in 2014.
Craig Felker:Oh yeah, I left for a couple of years, that's right, you were with. Yeah, yeah, I started with Graceland, yeah, I started with Graceland in.
Shed Geek:I started with Graceland and in purchasing uh, it was a great experience. Love the company. Still to this day we appreciate that opportunity more than they know. But then me and you connected later, probably 2016 ish, so I came.
Craig Felker:So, my buddy says this they need this, uh, marketing person. And I was like I'm not taking that call. Look at me, I'm not a shed guy like what. My like what. My dad, my whole family are blue collar. They're plumbers, union pipe fitters. I'm not that guy. I was never really hand. I was like I don't know. And he said shut up, Craig, you take this call, this is a call you've got to take. And I called and the guy at the time who was running the marketing was actually from Nashville, was really good friends with a music industry guy that was over at Conduit Church. Conduit Church was a new church I was very familiar with because I had built some houses in Haiti. I'd been to Haiti three times with Darren over at Conduit Church and Darren is.
Craig Felker:You know he's Dave Ramsey's right hand pastor. He does all there's. You know Darren's. By the way, he's plugged for Darren Tyler. Uh, the power of seven a great book around spiritual giftings, um, but Darren knew, um, Paul Farmer. Paul farmer ended up going and leading wood techs for a minute, um, and I don't think that company's around, but I knew Paul very quickly because of the connections in the music industry and I had peace really quickly. So, I came into the industry in 2015 and did that for four years and I'm so grateful for that opportunity. And that particular company doesn't exist now or is morphed, but I learned so much in that working for that company about branding, about marketing and how to stand out, and it was the place where I learned that I belonged or felt like. It gave me the opportunity to be at the table from an executive leadership perspective.
Shed Geek:A lot of growth.
Craig Felker:A lot of growth. I mean you and I met I mean obviously Kyle and I'm. I knew Kyle before that, but so many people Tiffany Strong came through there. Gosh, the secure guys, secure.
Shed Geek:I mean the Gaither boys.
Craig Felker:A lot of connectivity, you look back at that who kind of came from the industry Christie was there, who now runs Frontier, Justin Arnold so many people in the industry came through at the time EZ, and then I left in 2019. I really wanted to grow in the leadership. I really was like I need somewhere where I can grow in leadership and I went to Paducah Bank, connected to the industry, which is hilarious.
Craig Felker:I did not understand that connection then, but I went to where I was the director of client experience and I did that for four years and that taught me how to lead large groups of people. That gave me the opportunity to lead a large team. If you'd have told me I was in the shared industry, if you'd have told me I'd be a banker industry, if you told me I'd be in a banker even worse, I never would have thought I've been a banker. Um, but man, it's all been this story around people and communicating, which is really around how to listen. Well, that's, that was the piece. And, um, I got the call a year and a half ago to come and I'd been doing some keynote speaking on this topic of wild leadership. You know, because I'm really passionate about culture and leading with culture, I think that's the brand starts internally, you know, and then goes externally.
Craig Felker:But um, I got the call to come speak about wild leadership at the NBSRA, which is now the NSRA the National Shed Rental Association which we helped.
Craig Felker:Uh, I have had the privilege to kind of work and working on the rebrand, still on that but I came and spoke and after that started it was like homecoming, you know. There were a lot of friends in the room and it just was like I love, I love this place where I can, um, I can speak freely around. Uh, you don't have to worry about the story, you don't have to worry about talking about faith, you don't have to, and I just love actually encouraged.
Shed Geek:It's so encouraged. Yeah, it's like people.
Craig Felker:you say not that you avoid it, but like I've learned how to talk about it without necessarily talking about it.
Shed Geek:Yeah, Most corporate structures are going to be like. You know, uh, some of our people may be offended and some of this, uh, that was one of the things that we talked about in the podcast early on was I was like, you know, be offended, like no one's, no one's ever said that. Maybe to some people it's like, but we've got to be careful, cause they'll be offended and it's like be offended, I Be offended. I mean, what am I supposed to do about that? You know what I mean? Like as I'm supposed to have this magic fix for, like, if I, if I pray on the podcast and they're like well, we can't sponsor you because you pray on the podcast and I'm like don't sponsor it.
Craig Felker:Yeah, it's okay. The older I get, the more I'm, and I'm never been one to really shy away from. I'm going to be the wild energy guy.
Shed Geek:You'd never be good at being anybody else, craig, I promise you I'd be so bad and there doesn't need to be any more of me, that's too much. Just be you, because it's the best you'll ever be. I believe that about everybody.
Craig Felker:Yeah, just be. Everybody is one of one, and so that's how you stand out, and I really get into that with branding when you are yourself, there's no one else like you, you know, and so I just that speaking opportunity got me reconnected and with a lot of things and um, and that's why I joined JMAG. I just loved the idea and the culture that was happening there. Obviously, I knew Kyle and finally just again shut up and listened.
Craig Felker:And I came back last year, and I love the industry because of the people. I love it and I think there's an opportunity to help leaders in this industry continue to grow and differentiate themselves. I don't believe this. I'm going to say this very clearly. I think I've heard a lot of people say it's just a shed. It's a shed. It's a shed and we're not selling sheds. That's right, Right. So, there is so much room for companies to differentiate themselves, and there's enough. You know there's enough.
Shed Geek:So no, you're that's you're, you're, you're 100 on. Uh, you know, we talked a little bit, me and me, and you talked an hour, just to be clear probably two hours before we started the podcast and we may talk an hour after who knows, it's just uh, uh, it's easy to do. You're one of those guys. That's conversation to have you know, and I enjoy that it's simple, because I'm not very complex.
Craig Felker:No, I think it's great.
Shed Geek:I think you're. I think it's great because we just, I think me and you are excited about ideas or excited about people. So, like when we start me and you start talking, a buzzword comes up like communication and my wife's like oh, there's a 45 minute conversation happening right. So, and all those buzzwords that show up, Branding is definitely one of those. Branding is how we kind of started this, at least conversation.
Craig Felker:That's how I'm here. We're on Shed Sales Professionals page. You made a comment and I'm like, hey, I got some thoughts on that.
Shed Geek:Yeah, so it's like, well, we and the truth is we could talk about anything. We talk about so many things, and we probably will. Who knows, maybe we'll make this a regular thing or something, but branding is definitely one of those things because it's your passion about it. Yes, and I would make the argument that branding hasn't been my passion. It has been something that I fell into Interesting, okay, interesting, okay. So, like, I don't think that I I I had all these thoughts and they were well developed and well even executed. Yeah, I think I fell into some success in many ways on accident, but by what you said, just sort of being the first to be like I'll be vulnerable, I mean, and I think that's where it starts sometimes lord send me yeah, lord, send me.
Shed Geek:If no one else is going to go, send me. So, it's just kind of like I'm traveling around and I'm talking to all these people.
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Shed Geek:And they've got really good stuff.
Craig Felker:Yeah.
Shed Geek:Yeah, and they don't even realize I got good stuff. Because they're just like oh, I'm just a boring old country boy, I don't really have much to offer and I'm like, those are the best podcasts.
Craig Felker:It's almost like, when you listen long enough, the story, the brand is there it is. It's just a lot of people can't see because they're so close. It's almost you.
Shed Geek:Yeah, I think you do a good job with that, you're right. It's really about the story of magnifying. I love that they can't see because they're so close.
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Shed Geek:They're like what do I have to offer? And I'm like so much Well. And they believe a lot.
Craig Felker:I mean, we all have this little. We talked about this little insecurity and a voice saying you're not good enough.
Shed Geek:People won't care what I have to say.
Craig Felker:They won't care what I have to say. I'm too young.
Shed Geek:I don't want to brag on myself.
Craig Felker:I've never done this.
Shed Geek:That's one I get a lot of times. I don't want to come on there and brag on myself. I was like, well, have you ever listened to it? And they're like yeah.
Craig Felker:And I'm like do you feel like people were bra saying listen to me, because I know all listen to me and that's that whole humility thing is something in this industry that you know it's actually selfish and I don't know, go for it I do. I do think it's a bit selfish because, like, if you are a faith and you have a gift, are you supposed to hide it? It's actually selfish not to share it, yeah. And so, like you know, now there's a position. If you're only out for your gain, okay.
Craig Felker:Yeah, but like man we're supposed to grow. Yeah, that's actually the mandate. So, um, you know, not at not, not with intention to destroy others, but like focus and like share you know I hard the hard part becomes.
Shed Geek:The hard part becomes, you know it's a small space. We think of the shed industry as a big space, but there's so many players and we all know each other and, because faith's a big part of it, you attempt to be, be friends and the hard part is like where do you, where does that come in when you compete? Yeah, and this is I think this is something I shared in that same post is like if you compete with me, come on the podcast yeah like, like if you, if you compete with me, advertise on the podcast, they're like, what do you do if somebody else gets that business?
Shed Geek:and I'm like, oh, come on man, yeah, I can't win them all. Yeah, if I tried, I'm not supposed to win them all. Anyway, like there's going to be certain people that are going to just want to work with craig and his team, because of who they are yeah, and that's okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's perfectly okay. You know what I?
Shed Geek:mean there's going to be some people that that you're going to win and there's going to be some business. You're not going to win, but can you? I think you're really leading by example whenever you say like that, like the NSRA yeah, we can come together yeah we can come together in a conversation here's what I love.
Craig Felker:This industry is very much pro-industry. We all want the industry to do well, right, and so there is that camaraderie, there's that faith, there's that. One area, though, that I think continues, that continues to be improved on If we would just focus on where we're going, like, just have the vision of where you're going.
Shed Geek:It's great to have a pulse of where other people are doing, but, like, there's been a lot of copycat over the years in this industry, and I see I see more and more people um kind of breaking out of that, but like Steve Byler mentioned that if they at the I don't remember if it was that NSRA or before, but he actually made that comment, I remember while on stage and I went up to him afterwards and I was like wow that was really to actually hear it out loud and he was like, hey, the copycat time, it's time to put it to rest.
Craig Felker:Yeah, how many. I mean a lot of companies are like well, that's what their price is, so that must be what my price is. I'm like what if that's a terrible margin, like the terrible way to run a business like, but and I honestly I think that's been one of my advantages early on in the industry and because I didn't come from sheds and I just wasn't trying to be like everybody else.
Craig Felker:So, like you know, the, the silly hip-hop, the flawless flawless video, you know that's silly, but like there was nothing like that, and so like it, it did cut through the noise yeah now whether it's your cup of tea, whether you liked it, whatever. I mean we broke some sales records four weeks in a row.
Shed Geek:That certainly helped there you go, proofs in the but, and it wasn't I think it was.
Craig Felker:Just people are excited, right, you know people get bought in and engaged and so you know sometimes like just being different alone is enough, and but again, like different for the sake of different, no, I don't think that's always great, but how does it line up with your brand? How can you just when you are yourself, you're different. So, I am kind of that wild energy guy, and some people think I mean I have to battle that. I mean I've had a lot of people tell me you have this energy about you, and I thought it was fake. I thought you were fake.
Shed Geek:No, it's just who you are.
Craig Felker:And it's like well, just give me like a couple years, and then you'll just maybe be annoyed. This is I'm not really like, and I do love people. I do, I do love people, and I want others. I want to honor people wherever they are, and that's probably a little bit of the people pleaser in me.
Shed Geek:Well, some of that's hard to get away from. One thing you talked about was like branding and copycat and doing things, because they've always been that and I've told this one here before and you've probably heard this I don't know if you've listened, but you know one of my favorite stories from the pastor was, you know, like cutting the ham.
Craig Felker:I don't know if you've heard that. Yeah, I've heard you talk about that you know basically it's like why did you do that?
Shed Geek:it's because grandma, grandma, grandma did it. You find out where grandma did it.
Craig Felker:She didn't have a big enough wasting all this ham, this good, all this ham.
Shed Geek:It's baking my heart because that's the way we've always done it.
Craig Felker:I was a poor joke and that is the what I missed it. I'm sorry I said you're baking my heart all this ham waste. I do love a pun man. I do love dad puns that's good.
Shed Geek:I love dad jokes, it's perfect, uh, uh, but no, I, I, I, I think that. So, what is that? That's the. I don't want to necessarily equate conservative with republican. We're certainly not going to get on this big political spill here. But, like, what is, what is what is the saying? Right, you know, republicans are the party of no. Yeah, that's what they say. They're the party of no. When you think about, like, you know, no, no, we're not doing that, no, we're not doing this. Nothing new, nothing changes. And it's like when nothing changes, nothing changes, right, like things stay the same, you begin to live in an echo chamber.
Shed Geek:Mean, you talked about travel yeah and how travel exposes you to different people, different things, different ideas and it's like look, I'm not, I'm not here to you, know, I mean, I trust me.
Shed Geek:I got called all the things whenever we talked about prison ministry, man, you off the air, yeah. And whenever I worked in the jail, I got called all the things that you would imagine. Uh, uh, craig, because you know, when you go to work for a jail or a prison, it's almost as though, like, like you're supposed to punish the people, as though, like, like being in jail is part of the punishment, right, like they paying a debt to society, that's why they're supposed to be removed from society. Now I'm supposed to add to it by making their life difficult. Right, I got called all the things left wing, bleeding heart, hug, a thug, you know like yeah hug a thug, you know, like, ah, you just feel sorry for them, don't you?
Shed Geek:And I'm like I think they're people. That's what I think. I think they're people. And I think we go back to the Bible and we see that Paul and Silas were in prison too.
Craig Felker:Yeah, you know what I mean. Was John the Baptist a thug?
Shed Geek:I just believe I'm like you. I believe the good in people. I want to see the good in people and I want to see that even people who make mistakes have the ability to rebound from that and we don't just put them under our thumb forever and quote unquote, lock them up and throw away the key.
Craig Felker:Not only in prison, but you could be in a prison of your mind and be perfectly free. Well, I think I mean you talk about poverty, and poverty is really a mental thing in a lot of ways. Yeah, you know, and, and I don't want to get, no, I believe it, my dad's got a saying.
Shed Geek:My dad grew up poor and he says Jesus must like poor people. He sure made a lot of them. And I'm like dad, that's not.
Craig Felker:I don't think that's the right mindset, yeah, I do think generational poverty is a thing, though, and that's yeah, I did before um, before doing full-time music I did and I think you know this but ran a social program yeah and that gave me the ability to have empathy for foster kids and kids without yeah, yeah and that man, um, it's hard to break out when you know and I told you this quote earlier but like I heard a guy say, a guy from Uganda say, potential is everywhere.
Craig Felker:Opportunity is not Someone's, opportunity is in your hands. And sometimes generational poverty. You can have great work ethic but not have the opportunity. That's right, you know, and for every story you see of, like Billy's been walking for two years to burger king every day and now he's got somebody's gifted him a car, is um the opera, the 50 stories of somebody who couldn't keep walking because of xyz. And then you know it's tough. I mean you have to work hard, but sometimes that's even not enough to break. Yeah, you know, and I don't know how we're talking about?
Shed Geek:No, it's good. It's good, let's give people.
Shed Geek:No I like it.
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Shed Geek:So, let's give the people what they want. Let's talk about branding a little bit. Let's give it to them so.
Craig Felker:Gerald's going to be happy. Gerald Rhodes is definitely.
Shed Geek:He was like he was like he's like man's like man. I'm looking forward to that conversation, so hopefully we can actually have something that he can take away and some fat to chew on. Where do we want to start on branding? What's your thoughts? I'm going to let you lead. Just take it wherever you want to take the conversation. I can ask you questions if you like, but go for it, you're far away.
Craig Felker:I would say this I, if you like. No, no, you go for you, you far away. Uh, I would say this um, I've been on a big kick, I. I spent the last four weeks, um, on Wild Winsday talking about core values. Okay, and I think I really believe branding starts with the core and identifying, because core values are really the DNA, it's the lens for which a company behaves right. And so, if you don't know as a company and you haven't explicitly written your core values down, man, that's the first place this whole thing has to start, because that's how you behave, that's how you will behave, that's how you make decisions, and so, like I'm really just huge on that.
Craig Felker:That's where it starts. Before you get into story, before you get into, you know, and those are the things that help you stand out and be different. And you know, I one of the reasons I was drawn to JMAG is because there was a focus on culture and that starts with the core and when you have, I think Simon Sinek says I'm big Simon fan, I wanted to talk about that and I was like before I was almost before you even made that comment.
Shed Geek:I was like I want to get started there on the why. Because, as Simon talked about, apple just sells computers, but they could sell anything.
Craig Felker:They sell an idea.
Shed Geek:They sell an idea. Well, I mean like a thousand songs in your pocket, yeah. But then whenever you think about Gateway they sold computers, right. You think about other music players like Sony and things like that. But look at how quick they were able to infiltrate that by just selling the idea. It was an idea. So, when you think of Apple, you think of I use this. So, like I've done a couple of keynotes this last, you know, 12 months, and this is getting into. For those who have been at it, it's getting into kind of part of those conversations. You know who is Apple in the shed industry? I always like to ask that question. You know what? What comes to mind, even whenever I say John Deere, yeah, Harley Davidson, yeah, like, like you know. So, I begin to have those conversations and then this is one of my favorite yeah is what comes to mind whenever I say Buc-ees.
Shed Geek:Yeah, because like clean bathrooms, clean bathrooms absolutely.
Craig Felker:That was their differentiator you, you know, you know what? That's how. That's how they be. That's how they be. You realize that that was the key thing that differentiated them.
Shed Geek:You know, you know what I like. I like, whenever you walk in, everybody says welcome to Bucky's and you will not get a welcome to Bucky's Cause I've said this in our keynotes, you know, I did one in Millersburg recently where I said guess what you always get whenever you walk into Pilot? Now, welcome to Pilot. And I'm like ah quit trying we already know it's been done.
Shed Geek:We know what you're doing right now. But it's welcome to Amoco. I mean it just don't sound the same. But welcome to Bucky's. You're going to get 30 of them. You're going to get a clean bathroom.
Craig Felker:Yep, somebody is there, just on the bathrooms You're going to get an experience.
Shed Geek:So, I'm like I know the ones who are booing, and I know even the ones who are booing right now, who are listening to my hollers, because they're like they don't let trucks in there.
Craig Felker:Oh listen, listen, haulers, shot callers, my ballers. Are you going to rap now? Is that what you're doing? Dropping those buildings with hydraulics?
Craig Felker:Come on the next shed. Haulers bash I'm. I'm ready to drop some bad, uh, some bad rap.
Shed Geek:If you ever get a rap song in front of the haulers and get a standing ovation, listen I mean, look, I got something.
Craig Felker:Why has somebody not rhymed
Craig Felker:hydraulics. Yet I can just see like the bounce you know what I'm saying like the old, like like just the hydraulics bouncing.
Shed Geek:Let's work on that, uh but you know, you know what the problem was. Like it's. It's like they're not anti-trucker is what I tell people they're not anti-trucker but they know they, but they are.
Craig Felker:They are they Buc-ees is what it is today is because they realized that getting the women was the smartest thing they could do, because if they got the women, they got the men, and that's what they did. They said what's the biggest problem?
Shed Geek:bathrooms that's why I had to explain to people they're not. They're not anti-trucker, they're pro clean. But bathrooms and when you go to a truck stop, unfortunately it's not always the best experience and that and that makes families not want to go there.
Craig Felker:So, but I will agree with truckers and haulers. Listen to me, Craig Felker, see money, I'm not a huge fan of Buc-ees. I'm on record, saying it. Okay, I'm not. But I understand and I appreciate what they're doing. I get it the, the.
Shed Geek:the question really is what does the brand say? Yeah, before you mention the brand, yeah, because if you're driving down the road and you start emotional connection, like I, there's, there's just things that you can throw out, like Coca-Cola. Yeah, okay, you don't have to have a sales team with a full built out. You know all the tools, the CRMs, automation funnels, everything Right, you got all these cool things going, right.
Craig Felker:Yep.
Shed Geek:But someone stops at Buc-ee's before any of that stuff. So, I always ask the question like who's the Buc-ee's of the shed industry? Because just the name evokes an emotion. Yeah, and like we've tried to do that with Shed Geek. Yeah, and like what has that been? We've tried to build our brand on trust. Yep, why? Because who do people buy from? Yeah, people that they trust who do people want to work with People they trust? We have never wanted to be in a situation where we're having to defend ourselves.
Shed Geek:No, no, no, no. Let me rephrase that I don't mind defending myself. I don't want to have to be in a position to where I'm lying in defense of myself because I want to be. This is who we are.
Craig Felker:That's what I want to put out there and I want them to systematically think I can trust you, so it's, so, it's trust, but um and so like. If I ask you what the Shed Geek core values are, is trust in there? Trust, absolutely. What I would say is and I really, really believe this there was this huge topic a couple years ago around this great, was it the great? Resignment.
Shed Geek:Yes, resignation, the great resignation.
Craig Felker:Why do I always miss it Somewhere Craig Gentry is laughing at me the great resignation where people don't want to work, and I think that was to some degree true, but I think we are in an era right now where people want to align themselves with companies, with brands that they have shared values with Absolutely. So, if you are, leading with your culture, your core values and that is your brand, because good companies have customers. Great companies have fans. Harley-Davidson has fans. I'm not a Harley-Davidson fan. They have raving crazy.
Craig Felker:I'm not going to say crazy, but people are just mad, crazy about Harley-Davidson. If you're a Harley-Davidson person, you only own Harley Davidson's and you, you know you wear the gear. You literally wear the gear. It's a lifestyle. That's what a fan does and that's the piece like Patagonia. Okay, I'm, I don't know what their stance, but they're, they're trying to be just. That's one of their be just. It's all about sustainability, protect the earth. So, they're very climate driven. So, guess what? Their prices of their stuff is very expensive. They're not trying to get. They're literally on record saying I don't want you to buy 20 of these, want you to buy one of these in the last year, 20 years now it's going to cost you the what 20, right, but like they're not even. They're not even because people are lining their values airbnb, airbnb.
Shed Geek:I was gonna say this one doesn't necessarily, uh, hit in terms of like I don't know what value they bring, but I mean Lamborghini, you know the you know the saying why do Lamborghini owners, uh, why does Lamborghini not advertise on tv? Because people who buy Lamborghini's aren't moved by a tv ad. You don't, you don't? You don't consider a brand new Toyota, which is the most reliable vehicle perhaps, perhaps on the on, you know, on earth?
Shed Geek:and it's proven that for several years it's not and then say I'm considering the toyota corolla, but that lamb, that Lamborghini just may win me out, because I saw that advertisement.
Craig Felker:That Honda Accord you know, it's you know what, if you have to ask, then you don't get it. Yeah, right, yeah. It's the exclusivity it's. That is a rare, unique experience.
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Shed Geek:To bring this back to branding, do you think anyone in the shed industry has been able to open up that Pandora's box in the, in the, in the, in the public's eye of a brand? Because this is what I find. I find that if you go to uh name, I don't know any city around here. Or, like you know, go to Marion Illinois, yeah, and let's say that you've got a couple of shed lots there. Yeah, I tend to believe that most customers don't one couldn't tell you the name of a brand, of a shed industry or of a shed uh company. In most cases, to save their life, in most cases. I'm not saying it's exclusive, I'm just saying, in most cases, and, and you, you do this. I mean, I used to even do this.
Shed Geek:Me and Jim did this whenever we'd sit down to eat, go to Applebee's. We'd be like you know, hey, we was thinking about getting a shed around here. Where would we go to get it? And guess what? 90 of the conversation was around. Probably Home Depot or Lowe's, yeah, and like. But. But yet we're in. We're so entrenched in our product knowledge because we're on the inside looking out that we think that people know our shed company and their name and the question is like does anybody have that Buc-ees, that that Harley Davidson, yet has anybody capitalized?
Craig Felker:do I think that, yeah, I would say, um gosh, we were, when I go back to you, know what we were trying to do at easy 2015 to 2019, when I was there and we had built it was before idea room we built our own 3d configurator and that thing was crushing. It was real images and it was only based on colored images. We just wanted a real photo where the wife could change the colors, because I believe that if the wife could change the colors and see the, the look, then the man could get the space he needed.
Craig Felker:Yeah, like think about the woman, because you get her, then the guy can get his building. I certainly felt like what we were doing was way unique and different and ahead of its time, and I think that's why, sort of I guess we had some success, or at least you know.
Shed Geek:My question to you, though, I would say yes.
Craig Felker:The short answer is more so than ever before, do I think brands are starting to stick out more, but I think there is still a lot of work to be done yeah, my my question's.
Shed Geek:Like you know, do you think it's penetrated the small too, the?
Craig Felker:right. Well, and that's that's kind of my point young and like you almost have to be like a national brand. Yeah and then it's so to be like a national brand?
Shed Geek:Yeah, and then it's so hard to do a national brand. And who are the national brands in the shed industry?
Shed Geek:Yeah, because then you?
Shed Geek:start having that conversation. Yeah, and you start going. Well, I mean, does that come down to network, Does that come down to dealer?
Craig Felker:network. How many dealers that used to be? Oh, they've got 700 dealers.
Shed Geek:Well, here's my question about branding.
Shed Geek:You're a consignment, let's say you're a consignment dealer. Yeah, this is one thing that we push on marketing constantly, this concept I mean for one, the customer acquisition time. Yep, I was told when I got into marketing. I actually called one person who was kind of doing some marketing and I said is it going to bother you? I knew there was a few people, but I said is it going to affect you? And they said go for it, because people in this industry don't understand marketing, so you're never going to be successful anyway. Well, we found just the opposite, because what we did was we took a long-term customer acquisition approach and I said I'll sit with you for an hour and I'll answer all your questions in your broken language. We'll sit down and ask and I'll tell you what really got me.
Shed Geek:I've talked about it on the podcast before. It was whenever we was doing a website for a guy and he said oh, by the way, for that price, I want you to make that thing show up first on Google. I, I want you to make that thing show up first on Google. I know that's really important. I've heard people say that, yeah, that's really important. And I was like, ah, I realized how disconnected they were from like SEO, right, like the other day we were at a meeting, we were at a dealer's meeting, very sharp uh, a salesperson Okay, sales lady who's doing well over a million a year.
Shed Geek:She that's okay, that you asked that.
Shed Geek:I'm glad you asked it because that means that you're like wanting to. You know, I was at a point one time where I was like what's SEO? Right, and so that's okay. You, you know, you're, you're learning, but the world's changing and like so what used to happen is like let's throw a bunch of investors out there and let's get 700 dealer lots out there and it's like and that's going to be success. Of the questions I've been asking on shed sales professionals lately is like how many of you guys are selling inventory? Is inventory your main seller or is new construction builds? And then you start getting the data and they start going. Well, 90 of mine, or 50 plus, are new buildings and I'm like so would the key to growth be to go open up a whole bunch of more dealers?
Craig Felker:yeah, well, I mean I, and I think I'll say this if you lead a sales team out there and you're listening to this, clarity is everything. Donna miller, who's one of my biggest influence in the marketing space, says whoever says it in the least amount of words wins. That's what's around clarity, right? Most dealers don't know, because they don't have clear expectation or an understanding of what a successful year looks like. Some of them understand a million dollars, but if you are a manufacturer and you are putting inventory on the lot, how many times is that money? Because that's money in cash and our industry cash is cash flow is king, right flow is king.
Craig Felker:So, like how much? How many times is that turning and does have you broken that out and reverse engineered it?
Shed Geek:dude, you know what I'm saying. Like you're speaking my language.
Craig Felker:So much if you're gonna put a hundred thousand dollars in inventory out there. It needs to turn four times. That's four hundred thousand dollars. Let's divide that by 12 and, at a very bare minimum, a dealer needs to understand that a good business investment needs to be x amount of dollars and everybody needs a path to get there here's the flaw and.
Shed Geek:and. This is why I say, like I always say, most of the dealer network would have hated me as a sales manager. Yeah, cause, like, the one thing I did was I was like oh, you want more inventory? I was like, cool, if you sell more, I'm going to give you more.
Craig Felker:Yeah.
Shed Geek:But if you don't sell more, how can I justify giving you more? And you're saying that I need the chicken, you know, instead of the egg, and I'm saying on, but how do you justify a company that has, or a dealer, even who has zero inventory, who's selling 130 000 a month? Yeah, now, now let's not talk about whether or not they have 40 buildings versus 30 buildings, because that's a little bit of a moot point right now, isn't it? Because I'm talking about a company who has zero dollars in inventory, selling 130 to 150.
Craig Felker:there are companies there are companies out there doing it and that certainly throws a wrench in the spray and pray.
Shed Geek:That's exactly right. Shotgun approach that's exactly right, which I don't believe in.
Craig Felker:We didn't believe in it so much. You remember this at EZ and I don't want to talk too much about that, although I am grateful you and I talked about this I am so grateful for all those years, yeah because it taught me so, so, so, so much.
Craig Felker:But we did something different. We were doing, you know, to be a dealer at that time. You remember we had a marketing package. Yeah, it was our um barrier to entry. Yeah, because we were trying to be best in class, didn't care about everybody else's prices, we were like, actually the most expensive by far. We believe we were building the craziest best house building back then and I think we were at the top or right there. But we had a marketing package for those dealers remember.
Craig Felker:And in order to be a dealer, you had to buy into a marketing package. Now why would we do that? Fear of loss is the greatest marketing tool we have, as anybody in branding and marketing.
Craig Felker:Fear of missing out, it's FOMO right and the belief was if you one buy into that marketing package, it was like I don't know, 700 bucks or three thousand dollars. It wasn't that much money. If you couldn't invest in that, were you going to invest in yourself? Were you going to be engaged? Because we were trying to find people who were going to be fully invested and engaged, that is the achilles heel right now in the shed industry.
Shed Geek:In many ways is that. So, this comes back to branding, and I'll tell you why. Because you have craig starts a company today. It's called craig sheds yeah and all of a sudden craig starts selling or not selling on a wholesale model, that's. That's something we see in the east coast, that's quite a bit right. But here in the Midwest we definitely see a lot of craig starts it. He gets a bunch of investors, he opens up 70 lots, yeah. So now I'm going to become one of your lots yeah right, and you're selling craig's buildings.
Shed Geek:Yeah, and now I open up Shannon's, your Shannon's, your Shannon's brand so now I'm trying to brand, you know, Shannon's Sheds.
Craig Felker:Yes.
Shed Geek:And then the customer's coming up and they're saying whose sheds are these? Well, these are Shannon's Sheds. And it's like well, who's the manufacturer, who's the maker, who's the model? Well, they're Craig's Sheds. And it's like well, I don't understand what's going on here about how much is being lost in SEO value. Think about how much is being lost in uh, uh ads. All right, and now, and now, and now, even if you've got a successful dealer, yeah, who's doing? And let's call that a million, let's just put that at a million, let's for the sake of conversation. All of a sudden, you know they're making 10, they got 100 grand and they're like I can't afford what's necessary to create an effective marketing strategy because I've got to try to create this brand locally, while they're out here with a brand that is five, six, seven states wide. Why isn't the manufacturer? And then it's like but now let's turn our focus to that.
Shed Geek:The manufacturer has already given you $200,000 in free inventory and no, no industry that I know of does not do that without a net 30, 60 or 90. So I think that you're gonna have to have a shrinkage in many ways. I think you're gonna have to have a.
Shed Geek:You're probably gonna see more consolidation, I feel like, because the big guys are possibly gonna eat the little guys lunch if they actually. And yet, at the same time, I tell small companies all the time you have all the power in the world right now and they're like why? I'm like because big companies aren't doing it, they're not embracing it. There's actually big companies that we know right now that we've even talked to them and we're like I can't believe they are not going down this avenue.
Shed Geek:They sell $300 million a year and they're
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Shed Geek:So, my question to you is this it's like, whose responsibility is it to brand or to market or all those things underneath it? Is it the? Is it the companies? Is it the dealers? I don't know? Give some thoughts on that, yeah.
Craig Felker:So, I mean, my mind has always been this, and hear me, mom and pop, um, you know, one-stop distributors, wholesalers. Okay, I've always believed in the idea of compound interest. It's a really easy concept to understand. You know, over time it worked Time is our friend.
Craig Felker:Same thing in branding. I always believed if we could find the right people. So if I'm a manufacturer and if I can find the right people that are engaged and I can figure out a way to honor them, respect them and provide them opportunities to grow and really it's our job to make sure that people see an unlimited ceiling of growth right and do equip them then we would be better as a brand, footprint-wise, if we could be a voice together. Now it takes vision Agreed.
Craig Felker:It takes a lot of vision and a lot of heart and a lot of empathy and a lot of care, and that's hard because you have to have the long game in mind to do that.
Craig Felker:And there are some companies that are doing that, there are some companies not doing that. Well, and I think that obviously contributes to people going out and saying you know what? I'm going to do this on my own and just pick and choose what I want. I'm going to build my own business and you can do that. You just have to define what success looks like. Is it monetary, is it impact? You know, most people want to be a part of something bigger and there's usually one big right story, and that's what I'm constantly trying to find. What is the big story? You know, what are we doing? How do we find that big story and not settle with something smaller? Yeah, cause everybody wants to make an impact.
Shed Geek:Well, it's so hard as a. As you know, I always go back to the story wrong in either no wrong in either way there, by the way.
Shed Geek:No, no, and that's the thing.
Shed Geek:I'm always careful not to suggest to people you're doing it wrong. I always suggest what I see others doing well.
Craig Felker:It'll just be hard, right? It'll just be hard if you're out there by yourself, because we were made for community.
Shed Geek:That's right. Lone Wolf is the challenger sale.
Craig Felker:The Lone Wolf, that's the least successful person in most cases it's just hard to break through the noise out there solo.
Shed Geek:You need to be plugged in. You need to be plugged in, but you can do it.
Craig Felker:You can do it and it's never been a better time in the history of humanity to do that. Because you can I mean, shed Geek can have one million. Let's just pick any social media platform. You could have one million followers. Craig Wild Wednesday could have 12 followers, whatever and I could create one piece of content that gets viewed 12 million times, and doesn't matter how many followers. That's right. It's all about the actual content. So, your ability to get visible has never been greater for somebody who has little to no start or following. Now, how to do that? That is something that if anybody in this industry or anybody in marketing could give you the exact formula, and there will be people who try to sell that, and good luck, because they don't know the algorithm. They have best practices that can get you in the ballpark, but there's no exact to it. But again, what matters is consistency knowing who you are, being relentless about, knowing you are, which is why I go back to core and culture you talked about content.
Shed Geek:I mean just content alone. I felt like we can have an hour conversation. I mean, content is king and it's part of the reason why I mean there's. There's things I've been amazed at. Yeah, I've had a couple companies who've come to me and they've been like hey, I want to be on the podcast. I'm like cool. And they're like no, I mean like, when I'm on the podcast, I want you to send me the raw copy. I want you to send me the this. We're going to chop it up, we're going to put it on social media feeds, we're going to put it on all the uh, all the outlets that it can be possibly out there. We're going to use it for our purposes as well. And then I have some people who are like I don't want to be on it because I don't want to brag yeah and I'm like oh my gosh, you're actually missing a great marketing opportunity to even be on it like don't even
Shed Geek:just be on this one.
Shed Geek:Be on all of them. Be on all of them, you can absolutely you know like uh, that conversation was uh, we'll throw this in the mix. Uh, shed, hub sheds for sale. It's like, which one should I use both, yeah, along with everything else that'll help you sell a shed. Why are you limiting your mindset?
Craig Felker:why would you not be? Why would you not be an auto trader? Why would you not be on all the places?
Shed Geek:be in every like, like my advice will always be this be in everywhere. That will help you because you're trying to get helped you, and I think some of that comes back to conversations we've even had recently about, like, there's this, there's this appreciated loyalty yeah and that's great, yeah. But then there's also this like hey, be loyal to your, to yourself and your business and your, your, your ministry and your employees, and all that by being successful also.
Craig Felker:Yeah.
Shed Geek:And that means you owe it to yourself to find the solution. And the solution is not always in this undeterred loyalty to one specific company or one specific thing. You can find success by I don't read one book and say I've got all the knowledge, got it.
Craig Felker:I got it.
Shed Geek:I read all the books to try and get the knowledge. So, you know I don't go to try and get the knowledge.
Craig Felker:So, you know I don't go to church and say I got the message, yeah, it's a position of growth.
Shed Geek:Yeah.
Craig Felker:Right, it's a position of constantly realizing and adapting and trying. I mean, he's trying. Sometimes some marketing is just I want to try something and being undaunted by putting something out there that doesn't stick, that's a lot of it.
Shed Geek:I think the hardest part is you take a look at a lot of the dealers, especially the consignment networks, I just feel like sometimes I feel like they're on an island just by their self, just a little bit alone. I think that's the hardest part.
Craig Felker:It's funny though you say that, and I agree, probably some of the most engaged, like some of the best as far as like hooked up and like can really really know their stuff, yeah, and so it's not a knock on that, it's just it comes back to who do you want to be and what do you want to do, and if from a from a brand perspective, from a manufacturing perspective, that's on us, yeah, that's on the manufacturer to sell a vision that's right sell it but believe it so much that people want to be a part of it.
Craig Felker:I mean, if we don't, you're just going to create, potentially, the opportunity for people to go out and uh and be.
Shed Geek:They're going to people, people who are hungry people who are hungry won't wait around, that's right. People who are hungry, uh, to succeed, they, people who are good visionaries, they, they won't wait around, they will, they will go and create. Um, you know, the hard part is I and I do believe this I believe that it takes two to tango right. It takes a visionary, it takes an implementer, and I think that's the hard part.
Craig Felker:Yeah.
Shed Geek:Yeah, I think that it does take that, because I just recognize my deficiencies in in certain areas and I don't try to go be good at what I'm not good at. I'm not saying that I couldn't, I'm saying that I would lose some of myself to try and go and learn that strategy. So, I believe in myself but also believe other people are created to do things, meant to do things, and sometimes you just got to get behind them and embrace them. And I have found that whenever people actually get behind those ideas with me and we work together and collaborate, I mean I'm actually my success is the success of a story of collaboration, whether, whether I want to admit it, or others do or not, it's the ability to work together with people at a high level and turn the airplane in half the space that is necessary, at a fast pace, if, if we need to, and that's what we have, I feel like that's what we've developed.
Shed Geek:Man, I, I want to, I want to have you back. I want to line out like three or four things for us to talk about that we just like and I hope I've done enough to shut up and listen- and also talk and add value when necessary.
Craig Felker:I love talking to you Guys we didn't talk about. We could keep going, but I'm radically passionate about leaders communicating, which is really just active listening. We need to talk about that and what your cadence of caring for people is. I'm really passionate about that.
Shed Geek:If we didn't have to eat.
Craig Felker:But we have to eat. We both have two o'clocks.
Shed Geek:And if we don't eat?
Craig Felker:it's listen. Yeah, I definitely want to eat, but I mean it's fun to talk about this stuff, this to me is like, I guess what I want to be and people ask me like. So, I mentioned Don Miller. I read his book recently, his latest book, which is Hero on a Mission.
Shed Geek:Okay.
Craig Felker:And I would say this Part of reading that book is understanding that at different times in your life you're the victim, at different times you're the hero. The ultimate thing is to be the guide right. Yoda was way cooler than Skywalker. Yeah, yeah, yeah, because he was the one that Skywalker I mean. Heroes are weak most of the time until the end of the story. Yeah, okay, they stink, but a hero sacrifices something for some bigger cause. Part of reading that book was me getting to a point and writing my eulogy.
Shed Geek:You talk about a brain, yeah, you don't want to go there, right? It's not a real eulogy. It's one of the best exercises you could ever do.
Craig Felker:Huge there. Right, it's not a real eulogy, but one of the best exercises you could ever do huge and so, and the very first part of that is this and this is who I want to be in life and in this industry. I want to be that energy guy, but I want to be the life of the party. Hear me when I say this when I walk in, I'm not the only one who walks in. When I walk in, I'm not the only one who walks in. I can talk about my faith and I love that. The Spirit walks in. The Spirit changes the atmosphere. I literally want to, whatever room or whatever place I am, I hope to bring life, to help people see in themselves that peace that they are insecure about. I want people to be encouraged to be themselves all the way to come alive.
Shed Geek:I feel like you get fed.
Craig Felker:That's like in this industry, whether it's talking about leadership, culture, brand, it's all around honoring people, helping people come alive. That's who I want to be wherever I am. And gosh, I have't. I have failed so many things. I don't have it all figured out, but that is that's the journey, man.
Shed Geek:That's the journey. You know what I mean. Like, you, you know, and I know it's the it's, it's the, it's the journey. You know it's not the destination and uh, I feel like that's uh, you know, that's just kind of innately who you are as an individual. You just you want to be a helper, you want to. You're a people person by nature. You're going to be that, with or without the shed industry.
Craig Felker:I want people to believe in themselves. I just want to like shake them and then walk out of the room and then be like, okay, yeah, I can do that.
Shed Geek:That's awesome, man. Well, listen real quick, because I do this for everybody else. Yeah, you have any questions? Uh, always like to end the the the segment by saying whether it's podcasting, sheds anything, life or whatever, because I usually spend so much time asking questions me and you our conversation is just way different.
Shed Geek:Uh, I don't have to pull anything out of you. You just come prepared like this guy needs to shut it down. No, no, you're good. You're good. I welcome it. It's appreciated, I promise you. But do you have any questions for me? Just anything, full transparency, whatever you want to ask.
Craig Felker:One year from now. This is a question and I'm going to kick on questions. Okay, one year from now, Shannon, we're having coffee. Okay, what are we celebrating?
Shed Geek:it's a very thought-provoking question. It's not one. I've got a. I've got any answers ready for um? So here's what I've learned to do. I've learned in a moment like this this is probably one of my biggest maturing moments. I don't have an answer for you and this is something I've learned to do. I've learned in a moment like this this is probably one of my biggest maturing moments.
Craig Felker:I don't have an answer for you, and this is something I've learned to do over and over and over is to say, craig, are you okay to let me think on that and come to a conclusion and a good answer instead of I just need to give him an answer right now the point of that question is not that you have an answer, as much as it is that you think yeah um, because I guess shared experiences are everything for me, and we talked about this like I just so like, if I know you're building something, you're dreaming about something or you're trying to, you know, get somewhere, what an opportunity to walk through that or at least encourage you or dream with you or eventually celebrate with you, whatever that is, you know and that's the that's what I promise.
Shed Geek:I'll make this promise to you. I'll text you what that is Okay, or maybe I'll even share it with the industry, but I've just learned. Whenever you're like, stumped.
Craig Felker:No, I think it's wise.
Shed Geek:I used to be like oh, I have to answer this and then I have to make up an answer and then I have to stick with that answer because I've got to double down on it and I don't know. I don't know the answer to that. So, what are we celebrating?
Craig Felker:I don't know, but I promise and I know that you are a person of faith. Do you care to just say a prayer just in the podcast over the industry, that kind of thing? Lord, I don't have to ask for your presence because your word says we're two or more gathered and I just trust and believe you're with us. I believe you are a God that is for us. I believe you're a God that gives us more than we can handle, because you are with us always. So, I thank you for every breath because it's a dependence upon you. So, I thank you for grace and I, just right now, I would just say um over this industry. Lord, I just pray for um, that you be lifted, um, that you realize that there's no lack, that you'd help us realize that there is no lack, um, because you are coming. You have plenty. Uh, you have plenty for all of us.
Craig Felker:Lord, may there be a spirit of unity and a spirit of peace in a time where it seems like everything is divisive. Lord, may we rally around you. May we rally around peace. May we have so much peace that we don't even have to necessarily be loud or right, but we can just be kind and be your love on display. Lord, thank you for this opportunity. Let's pray for blessings for Shannon and for Deanna and for Shed Geek and for everyone listening. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.
Shed Geek:Amen. Appreciate you, brother, definitely. I didn't know we were going to Amen. Appreciate you, brother, definitely.
Craig Felker:I didn't know we were going to do that, but that's cool. Hey, I know you do that. I know you do that a lot. Well, I put you on the spot. You did. I'm sorry about that. No, there's nothing.
Shed Geek:You know, I believe that it's important to man. God has been so good, he man God has been so good, he has been so good to us and we don't deserve it. We have literally, I have to say we, I have literally been Judas' kiss, you know. So, for him to continue to search after me, break down walls to find me, to leave the 99, dude, I will never, ever in my life be in a place where I cannot give God the honor and the thanks and the glory for what he's done. And hey, man, whatever he's got for me, I'm running toward it.
Craig Felker:So sincerely thank you for having me on and I just appreciate the opportunity and you know this industry. It's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful thing. I think we all want a lot of the same things, but that whole.
Craig Felker:That whole unity thing right now means so much to me. Um, the um. The enemy wants to divide us in all the ways. I don't mean that politically per se, but it absolutely is in all the ways. Look for the opportunity to be peace all of us, especially within our industry, together. So many people of faith here.
Shed Geek:We all know each other. That's the faith here. We all know each other. That's the hardest thing we all know each other.
Craig Felker:Let's be a display of that. Let's actively and I'll close with this, I'm a little passionate about this. Shakespeare says In delay there lies no plenty. Don't let the sun set. Don't let the sun set. If you are leading people and you have something that needs to be said out of love, go and meet with them. If you have forgiveness, go. Don't wait. It's just too important. Hopefully we can be a real source of joy and a real source of unity on display hey, let's do that via sheds yeah, who would have thought sheds is what he would use, right?
Craig Felker:appreciate you, appreciate you buddy, thank you