Man That Can with Lachlan Stuart
Welcome to Man That Can with Lachlan Stuart—the podcast dedicated to empowering men to break through barriers and achieve their full potential.
Hosted by Lachlan Stuart, this show dives deep into the challenges men face, offering actionable insights, real-life stories, and expert advice. Whether you're focused on fitness, business, personal growth, or fatherhood, you'll find inspiration and tools here to help you rise above any challenge and become the man that can.
New episodes drop every Monday and Thursday. Tune in, get inspired, and start living the life you’ve always wanted.
Join us in the Strong Men of Value Academy
https://www.themanthatcanproject.com/strong-men-of-value
Follow Me:
https://www.instagram.com/lachlanstuart/
www.youtube.com/@lachlanstuart91
Support the show:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/997123/supporters/new
Man That Can with Lachlan Stuart
Country Liberty, Dragon's Den & Hockey | Sawyer Hannay #589
Mentioned On Today's Show:
🤝 Standing Up for Those Who Feel the Same
🤝 Navigating the Identity Crisis
🤝 The Power of Shared Values and Lifestyle
What does it take to transition from the ice rink to the boardroom? Join us as we uncover the incredible journey of Sawyer Hannay, a former professional ice hockey player turned thriving entrepreneur. After sharing my own quirky achievement of running a marathon on a cruise ship, Sawyer and I delve into the challenges and triumphs of career transitions, the founding of Country Liberty, and the big move from Canada to Nashville. From sports to business, we unpack the determination and adaptability required to navigate such shifts and the pivotal role of passion in sustaining one's entrepreneurial spirit.
Sawyer's story is a testament to the power of following your passions and embracing growth. We explore how his small-town values from New Brunswick have influenced his business ethos and the importance of community and authenticity in building meaningful connections. Hear about Sawyer's experience pitching on national television during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, the extensive preparation involved, and how his commitment to staying true to his roots paid off. This episode sheds light on the significant life lessons Sawyer has learned, from overcoming adversity to leveraging his competitive spirit in the business world.
Listeners will be inspired by the motivational insights shared on maintaining consistency and the different driving forces behind success. Sawyer opens up about his ventures, including the exciting launch of Cabina House, a unique tiny home resort in Nova Scotia, and upcoming events at the CMA Fest. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or simply looking for an uplifting story, this episode offers valuable takeaways on turning ideas into profitable ventures while staying grounded in your values and passion. Don't miss out on this dynamic and heartfelt conversation!
Join The WAITLIST NOW.
https://www.themanthatcanproject.com/strong-men-of-value
Join us in the Strong Men of Value Academy (Waitlist Open)
https://www.themanthatcanproject.com
Follow Lachlan:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lachlanstuart/
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@lachlanstuart91
Website: https://themanthatcanproject.com/
Newsletter: https://lachlan-stuart-tmtcp.ck.page/profile
Do Something Today To Be Better For Tomorrow
G'day everyone. Welcome back to the show. So I wanna start the episode with something a little different. Let's take a moment to have a humble brag. So I was thinking about it over the last couple of days and on our call during the week with the Academy, and a lot of people don't take time to brag about some wins and some success that they've had in their life, especially if you're from Australia because of, well, tall poppy syndrome. So I want you to take a moment to do that. Now I'm going to do my own little humble brag. I ran my first marathon on a cruise ship, so I did it in three hours and 48 minutes and it was 170 odd laps around this 250 meter track on the ocean. So it was pretty unique and pretty special. So while you guys are taking a moment to think about your wins for the week, I want to introduce this episode.
Speaker 1:This week's episode is a former professional hockey player or ice hockey for those back in Australia. He runs a company called Country Liberty and has been on Shark Tank. So what you can expect to learn is how to create or turn an idea into a profitable business, how to transition from one career to the next. I know that's something that a lot of people experience and really struggle with, but then also the power of taking a risk and moving countries. So Sawyer Hanay is from Canada. He's joined us here in Nashville, so it's a really cool story and an even better blow. Now I want to give you a recap of what's been happening over the last seven days for myself. So obviously I had that little humble brag, but a few things to keep up with for those who are following the podcast and the newsletter. Personally, we enjoyed that cruise and swam with sharks, which was pretty incredible.
Speaker 1:I released the episode with my brother-in-law, george, and we went back and forth with some questions that we haven't asked each other before, but we wanted to really figure out those answers, so it's a really interesting one. What I would encourage you, if you listen to that, is take those questions and maybe ask them to people in your life. The other one was I made progress on the launch of the new program that's coming out and, as last week I was saying I didn't have a name for it, I found out the name. It's gonna be called the Focus Success System and the wait list is open now. You can find it in the link in the description or head over to the website and you'll get more updated information when that is ready to go live and it's going to be a live intake as well, which is exciting.
Speaker 1:What's coming up? Plenty more podcasts. We have just got back from San Francisco at the time of recording this and I'm heading back to Australia for the Fit on the Farm workshop in just over two weeks. So some exciting things happening. Stay tuned. But for now let's dive into this week's episode with Sawyer Hennay from Country Liberty. Welcome back to the man the Can Project podcast. Today we've got a Canadian on the other side. Welcome to Nashville, brother.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks, man, I'm stoked to be here.
Speaker 1:Mate, there's something in the water in America and Canada where you guys are always about four feet taller than me. I thought I was like relatively moderately sized, and then I meet you guys and I'm just at the shoulder shoulder width. But, dude, it's a pleasure and obviously we just worked out. We're both in nashville in june july 2022, and that's when this city really made us want to move here absolutely yeah, that was, um, it's hard to believe that was, you know, two years ago now.
Speaker 2:Um, I've been coming back a lot since and and um, I've been to a lot of cities, been to a lot of different places and when I was here, something just felt like really special about this place and I've been actively working on getting my ass back here what is it?
Speaker 1:what is it that you love about it?
Speaker 2:I like I'm not a big city guy, like I grew up in a really small town, um, on the east coast of canada, and I like that this city feels like a small town with like city opportunity. You know, like I feel like other cities feel like a city. You know New York or Toronto, which is basically our New York, or you know those other cities even in Canada I just I didn't really love because they just felt so city. Where I find here it feels country but it has the opportunities of a city. You know. So as an ambitious guy that likes kind of the country life, this is like the perfect blend.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was listening to a podcast you were on and you're like, yeah, I grew up in a small town but it was like 30,000 people.
Speaker 2:No 800.
Speaker 1:800, 800,000 or 800?
Speaker 2:No, no, 800. That's it and stop.
Speaker 1:I must've been in daydream when I was in 30,000. Yeah, I can relate to that, but 800, dude.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 800. Well, I mean, if you look us up on Wikipedia, I think we're at like 814.
Speaker 1:Are you on Wikipedia with that number?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we are. Yeah, it's there, man, the facts are there. But yeah, really small town. I mean, we have a city Don't ask me the population about 45 minutes away, so we're not like completely out in the middle of nowhere but it's a 45 minute ride to get to, you know, your closest Walmart or something, or movie theater or whatever Something beautiful about being isolated in a way where you can appreciate the.
Speaker 1:You know, I guess the peace and quiet and life is very I feel like it slows down because you don't have a lot of folk like things to focus on, so you can actually just enjoy the present moment. But then, as you said, 45 minutes away you can sort of get into the hustle and bustle as you are ambitious and very similar to me.
Speaker 1:I dream of being back on the farm and and having that peaceful life. But then my wife's like do you really want to go back to the farm? I'm like, well, I'm pretty ambitious as well. So, maybe, like, find that sweet spot where you balance yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:My, my goal, my long-term goal, would be to um and this is premature, probably to say this but have a place here. You know, maybe own a house out just slightly outside the city, um, and then I have a house back in New Brunswick that I have no plans on selling. I've had people want to buy it and I haven't even considered it, uh, cause I love it. Um, so just have both places and kind of go back and forth is kind of my goal.
Speaker 1:It's cool that you're thinking about that and I guess, yeah, we can jump there and then we'll go back and find out more about how we got here, but having a goal and, obviously, that being important, the business that you've created. You played hockey to get to this point as well, but I am always curious with people who build businesses around what their goal outcome is and what success actually looks like from them. Would you be able to sort of pull that apart, what it looks like for you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I mean now, um, with maturity and experience and things, I kind of have more of a structured plan. But I didn't start that way. Like naturally I'm a pretty disorganized guy. I'm very widespread, honestly, like I love a lot of things. Um, actually, when I was on widespread, honestly I love a lot of things. Actually, when I was on Dragons, then I was called a jack of all trades, master of none, so that was kind of a dig at me but I was like I can't even argue. That's kind of how I'm programmed.
Speaker 2:So lately, I'd say in the last two years, when I kind of got further educated and more mature and experienced, I realized, okay, the importance of a plan, um, and the my plan as of now is what I just kind of mapped out for you having the balance of both and selling within both markets and things like that. But when I started, man, um, there was no plan. I took 400 bucks and I was like, geez, I hope to make my 400 bucks back. You know that was my goal, um, and I just kind of started and I just followed the bread trail, like I just followed what seemed to be working and just kind of bounced around following that general route, like making mistakes here and there, off course, but then like just kind of being re re um corrected on my on my course and uh things, just like the market just kind of spoke, spoke for me and said you know, there's something here like so you need to continue, because the market was just supporting it.
Speaker 2:You know, I didn't have a grand plan, I had no plan at all, I just wanted to make my 400 bucks back, you know, and then it just kind of happened. I mean, this was me in my early twenties too, so take it with a grain of salt but um, but yeah, that was kind of the plan, like there really wasn't one until later. And now I'm realizing the importance of that structure and strategy and plan. And now I'm looking at it from a personal perspective too, like where do I want to live? Where do I want to spend my time? You know, I'm not, like in my early twenties, starting a business anymore.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm 31 now and I got to think about, like, what kind of life I want to live, and that's why Nashville, to me, is such a perfect blend of personal opportunity, personal fulfillment and also a lot of business opportunity here in the city as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you nailed it there as well and I think, going back to like just wanting to make your first 400 bucks back, I remember when I started in business mine was 600 bucks, I think, the loan, and I took it from mom because I had no money and my goal was I just got to make this back. But as soon as I made it back I had this insane level of confidence. I'm like, if I can make 600 bucks, six grand's coming. And then when I did that and it just keeps compounding and, much like you, the market sort of speaks to it or it directs you where you need to go and if you stick around long enough, you'll really get to where you want to go. When you initially set out and invested that first 400 bucks, aside from making the 400 bucks back, what did you believe was going to be possible for you?
Speaker 2:well, the whole reason why I started country liberty was I was moving around. I left my town of 800 at 16 and um I moved to halifax, which is our biggest east coast city, still not like a major city, but for us that's a big city, um, and then I got drafted the nhl so I started traveling to vancouver, which was a bigger city. I went to camp in Chicago at one point, kind of through the Vancouver program, which was another bigger city, and then I eventually moved to Salzburg, austria, in Europe, at 19.
Speaker 1:So I was gaining Salzburg is so beautiful, it's stunning Like wow.
Speaker 2:The mountains and the lakes and stuff the lakes there, man, all these small towns with like a church right on the water, and these beautiful like rocky mountain, like peaked mountains and the lakes, yeah, it's a beautiful place.
Speaker 1:Dream, bro. Yeah, dream, sorry to cut you off.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, no problem. So I guess I was having all these like different cultural experiences to what I grew up within and and and where I grew up. I just was naive and thought everybody grew up the way I did, which was kind of quite the opposite. Like most athletes at the higher levels kind of grew up in, um, you know, like suburban neighborhoods outside of cities and things like that, like they didn't really grow up like I did, like you know, in the woods, like you know on family land and you know, uh, it just was a different lifestyle. So I realized that difference.
Speaker 2:So then when I was in Europe, I was like, hey, I want to like, represent my feeling of pride towards the way I grew up, like I'm different, I'm proud of it, you know, and I want to represent that Um. So then when I eventually went back to university hockey, I left the professional game. Um, my goal was like just make my money, money back, but I want to represent what I'm proud of and I just want a couple people to wear a t-shirt that represents that.
Speaker 2:That was it, that was the ambition, um, and then once I made the money back and people came to me wanting, wanting this new t-shirt logo thing that we had, um, you know, I just said, okay, yeah, it's like my duty to like produce more. I actually made a little bit of profit, like maybe 20% margin or something on those.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like you know, and then I was like I got a little bit more money out of that 400. So let's order tank tops, and that's what I did. And then the 50 tank tops rolled over into, you know, hats or sweaters. I kind of forget what was next after the first 50 tanks, but it just kind of happened and my ambition was just I want to represent where I'm from with literally 10 t-shirts.
Speaker 1:And then it just became real you know, I think that's something beautiful about travel as well. I moved over to France to play rugby and in that period of time as much as it was like a tough experience I started to really appreciate where I grew up as well. My mom's side's all from property and the farming industry and growing up I hated that. I was like no, I don't want to be a farmer there. That's lame, like that's hard work and everything like that.
Speaker 1:But then as I've grown older and I've traveled a lot more and lived in different countries, I've really become proud of where I've grown up, because now that I see, I guess, and appreciate how far I've grown, it's like I want to give back to that who may be young people who don't have those opportunities or don't think those things are possible, because probably, similar to you, where we grew up really shaped a lot of our fundamental beliefs and skills and everything like that. So it's cool to be able to then take that and build a business that represents that. I think that meaning that you have behind that is unreal and probably why you've had so much success.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I always say, like people ask me because I've started a few different businesses. They're like oh, what business should I start? And I always say start a business you're passionate about, because when the going gets tough which it will that's what gets you through, is the passion, it's not the dollars and cents. And it you know, because often, especially in startup culture, if you look at the, the numbers or or the finances, there's a lot of reasons not to continue, you know, but if the passion will push you through.
Speaker 2:So I always say, start with that, start with a business you're passionate about, and then it doesn't really feel like work. You know as much. I mean, there's definitely days that it feels like a job, but, um, for the most part it's just, it's fun and it's and it's yours, you know yeah, there's a lot of people who don't agree with that, and I've called bullshit on that because I've done the exact same thing it's like I started my business based out of something that I truly loved, and there's definitely days where you're like, oh, oh, I could just take an easy job and not have this stress.
Speaker 1:But every morning I wake up and I think about it and I could not imagine waking up thinking about something so much and not being able to act on it. You know what I mean. I think that would be just like a forced torture. So building a business out of your passion is something that is such an exciting experience and who you become in the process. She said it's not about the dollars and cents, like, obviously we we want to buy our houses in the places that we want to leave, of course do all that sort of stuff, but who we become like.
Speaker 1:Even getting to meet you now like this is awesome. This is going to be documented for life yeah um, you get to learn so much and grow and evolve and meet great people, and that's to me one of the best things that comes from business, because I don't think I'd push myself as much if I was working for someone else. I'd be like, oh, I could do that, but nah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's another thing too. Even these connects like this. We just met, we wouldn't have otherwise met. So I love that part from even a personal I. I mean, this could be good for business too. But from a personal standpoint I would be unfulfilled if I just stayed within the four walls of my home in new brunswick and didn't get out there.
Speaker 2:You know I really would be because I love this, you know, and it's such a learning experience. I mean, you're from australia, right. Like how else would I have met someone from australia and and had the chance to sit down for an hour and speak and hang out with them, right? So there's a lot of really just great things that are associated with entrepreneurship and starting business and just being like proactive and going after things, you know, just kind of getting out of bed in the morning with purpose. So, yeah, I love it, I wouldn't have it any other way.
Speaker 2:And I think that people should work jobs. They don't necessarily like like. I've been working since I was 12 years old. I was I cut lawns for $7 an hour as my first job, and I've worked a lot of jobs. Most of them I didn't like, you know, cause it was labor, construction, lawn care, things like hard, gritty jobs. Um, and now that I have a job I love, I appreciate it every day, cause I'm like I work jobs. I hate it, you know. So it's it's like to me it's just all the stars aligning at once and, yeah, I wouldn't have it any other way.
Speaker 1:It's cool that you were able to experience lots of different jobs. One of the things that I grew up believing is like whatever I chose at 17 when I was finishing school, that was it Right, and I fucking hated studying in school.
Speaker 2:I was not very good.
Speaker 1:So my dream was, uh, professional rugby, probably would your dream hockey, or yeah, oh, yeah, yeah. So, and when that didn't work out, I was like, oh fuck, yeah, I'm in strife here and fortunately, you know, I met my wife and I just tried multiple different things got a carpentry apprenticeship, ticked that off, did uber driving, marketing daughter. You know so many different things and, much like you, I remember what it was like to do jobs that I absolutely hated, like we're just living for the weekend. So now, even on the tough days, I'm like, well, I could go back and do that, but that's not for me, like, so I'm going to do whatever I need to do to have this breakthrough to you know, live another day in business, thrive another day in business, Absolutely.
Speaker 2:And, um you know, there's days I don't even know what day of the week it is sometimes, Cause it's just I, I love working, I don't look forward to the. And there's days when it's a long weekend, cause it's a holiday and I'm like damn it, the world is going to be closed Friday.
Speaker 1:Like I want to work Friday, I want to be productive Friday.
Speaker 2:You know people aren't going to answer my emails on Friday cause it's. It's just funny the difference, because, to your point about living for the weekend, I definitely had jobs where it was like, okay, one more day. You know, get through it two more hours one more hour till lunch break. You know like in it, and since I started my business I've never done that once, and I'm happy to say that you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's, there's definitely something to it. I wanted to ask for you so pivot, so pivoting from professional hockey, then going back to college and and study yeah, what gave you the, I guess, a drive and ambition to do that? Because when I reached that fork in the road, I was just lost and I didn't know what was next. I never really wanted to study, or I never thought I was could start a business, so I was just like drank myself to oblivion for a while until until I had nothing else going on. So I was just like drank myself to oblivion for a while until until I had nothing else going on. So what was it for you that?
Speaker 2:was like I'm going to go study. Well, universities was weird for me because my mother had gone to university but it was never really talked about because we my mother grew up in New Jersey and she moved to Canada to marry my father, have kids and things so we were very much living in my father's like ecosystem. He was a person that always said you know, you don't need a degree, you can have success. And he did have success, um, without a degree. So in my family, university was never really talked about and and I believe I was the first in my extended family, um, within like, let's say, the first cousin range to go for a degree, if not the first, the second. So it wasn't really talked about.
Speaker 2:And in high school I wasn't a good student. I was, and my mother was one of my teachers that's how small my town is yeah, and I got like a c in her class. Like I almost didn't graduate high school because I was just a shithead that wanted to play hockey and I was distracted and I wasn't interested. Yeah, um, and then so for me to go to university shocked everybody. But when I was playing pro even myself, no, honestly, man, it was like, yeah, it shocked everybody, like the hell's this guy doing? Even some of my old high school teachers.
Speaker 2:I remember one of them in particular. She's like so what are you doing now? Like being polite, and I'm like, oh yeah, I'm going to university and her jaw dropped. She's like what you? I was like, I know right, it's wild, surprise, surprise. Yeah, no, exactly. Um, but yeah, so it wasn't really talked about that that much, but when I was playing pro, I was in indiana in the east coast league yeah so you know, two steps from the nhl, kind of a humbling league because, like you're not right, you're not very close to kind of making it big.
Speaker 2:So it's just, it's a professional league but it's not super glamorous. And I was there and, um, I remember our captain, somebody stepped on his wrist cut some cut some tenants in his wrist.
Speaker 2:He was about my age now, he was like 31 or something, and uh, he could never play hockey again. He had two kids and no experience, no education, and he was in panic mode. I think he got like 10 grand workers comp. It's like here's your 10 grand, good luck with life.
Speaker 2:And uh, I just I remember looking, just looking at that situation at 21 and I was like I don't want to be in that position. Um, you know, I don't want to be at the mercy of an injury, I don't want to be at the mercy of my coaches and stuff. Because I've seen a lot of the hockey, the business side of hockey, politics, and hockey, the politics. And that's when I really said like I want to control my own fate. And I left pro at that point to go back to school, which again shocked everybody. I got an athletic scholarship which if I, if it was academics alone, I never would have got into school. So I'm very thankful for that. I got in. But then I started learning about business and my degree is in economics. But I took I'm missing one course of having a double major for a business degree. So I took a lot of business courses. That's my minor and almost my major, and I got obsessed with business and learning and all of a sudden I started getting good marks, which shocks everybody, including myself.
Speaker 2:So I was like all right, all right, this ain't so bad, I like this. And then I started my business and at the time I wanted to accelerate my degree to play pro again. The deal with myself was I have this full ride scholarship. It's a really great opportunity. I can play hockey, go to school, get my degree, which at the time was my insurance policy, in case someone steps on my wrist when I'm 31, you know, my fallback is this degree and I made that agreement with myself. So I accelerated my degree. I finished it in two and a half years.
Speaker 2:Overloaded summer session intercession just went right through it, cause I started at 21. I felt like pretty old, being at in first year classes at 21 after like traveling the world, whatever I was just like I want to get this done as quickly as possible. But through that process I learned about business and I started country liberty in university. So I started kind of slinging t-shirts on campus and the backseat of my car just like super rogue, um, you know, just kind of doing it that way.
Speaker 2:And then by the time I graduated I was at a crossroads. It's like do I go back and try to play pro again or do I continue on this business thing and and the business had like under 50 000 sales overall, like over a year and a half or whatever, like it wasn't enough to sustain an income. Yeah, but it was enough to prove concept. So I was at that crossroads and and ultimately my decision was after injuries, after the business side of hockey beat me around, after all those things, I just decided I was like I want to. Business is the game I can play forever for one Injuries and things aren't going to really occur in business yeah, yeah, I mean some businesses, hypercuts out right, so then I can't provide for myself or my family over the longterm and I really enjoy it.
Speaker 2:I loved hockey, I love business. So to me a lot of athletes do have that identity crisis of like, what do I do next? But I never really had that because I had two really good options when I graduated university and I chose the business route so I never felt like I had nothing else going for me, so I better try this business thing. I feel like I had two good options and it was a difficult choice to choose one or the other, but there was never really a gap of like identity crisis where I didn't know what to do. I just kind of took my passion for hockey and poured it into business and never looked back and it just makes me realize how much I didn't have another option in my life like I'm sitting here thinking, how did I just not even consider anything else?
Speaker 1:and maybe that's where I should have gone to university, because it may have exposed me to other things and built some belief for me to have a crack at other things.
Speaker 1:Before I was like at rock bottom to change things.
Speaker 1:And I feel, as you were saying, like a lot of athletes get to that point and it's it's when you've run out of options that you have to make something work rather than actually just being prepared, and I think too many people are saying just burn the boats and go all in on something, and that works for a very select few.
Speaker 1:But I think it's actually smart to have an option, but also building experiences, what you've done you you played, you lived overseas, you then had college, you worked multiple different jobs, so you were collecting all these skills, building your network and meeting people and just getting experience, which then helped you see things differently, or see things that I didn't see when I was going through those, I guess, periods of life, and I think the pressure that I experienced finishing school it's like go to university, get a trade, and a trade for me was for people who weren't going to be successful in my eyes financially which is a big mistake or be a professional athlete. There was only one that really stood out to me, so once that's off the table.
Speaker 2:You're just like stark as naked but, to be fair, like the people that make it and the reason I didn't make it is because you have to be completely consumed by your sport, like you have to be all in, you have to burn the boats, you know, and a lot of people, we, we, we recognize the names and the headlines that make it, but there's way more people that never made it and their lives fall apart behind the scenes. Um, so you need to be completely consumed and one dimensional on your, on your sport. So to your point, uh, you know, only focusing on rugby at the time. I understand that because I was only focusing on hockey for 99% of my hockey playing days. It was just that final 1% where I started to get interested in business and just kind of followed that instinctive path. But yeah, the ones that are successful are completely consumed by it and those are the ones that I think have those identity crisis on the other end when it doesn't work out.
Speaker 1:The fact you had the foresight to see that injury and go. I don't want to be in that position. That, to me, is what I find very unique. Like we all get moments like that in our life where we can go. Oh, maybe I don't want to end up like that. I should do something differently. But I think maybe I wasn't prepared to learn lessons at that point in time. I was just like this is it. But looking back, there's multiple things that I can think of where I'm like that could have changed my life a little bit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you should have learned from that. So the fact that you had.
Speaker 1:The foresight to me is mind blowing. But probably there's some people who listen. Who's like lucky, you're a dead shit, like anyone would make that decision off the back of it.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I don't know, I haven't thought about it really in depth like that. Like I think it was a bit of a wake up, but it was a combination, because the business side of hockey pushed me around too and that was a big reason that that that is what took my love out of the game. Yep, and the best thing for my business career now was that I lost my love for hockey, because had I still been as in love with hockey, maybe I would have just stuck with it and grinded it out and just never let go. You know, maybe that.
Speaker 1:So it's kind of a perfect storm of a combination of things there's also something about taking your fate in your own hands, like knowing that if it's meant to be, it's on you, rather than having the politics of a coach doesn't like you or an injury pops up. It's like if I want to earn more money, I know exactly what I've got to do. If I want to um impact people's lives, I know what I got to do. If I want to meet cool people like yourself, I know what I got to do and it's up to meet cool people like yourself. I know what I got to do and it's up to me If I get those results pat on the back. But don't let your head blow up and just keep going If it's not work harder.
Speaker 2:That's right. Yeah, absolutely. I fell in love with that because I definitely had coaches and GMs and different people that you know I'm the same player and if the coach changes all of a sudden I go from getting all the ice time to no ice time, like just the difference of a coach. Maybe he doesn't like my personality, you know. Maybe he didn't like the joke I cracked at the team meeting, whatever the hell. Right, it could be anything, cause I was the same player, but I definitely had coaches that liked me a lot more and then I had coaches that didn't like my style as much and I just said I don't gamble. You know, like I, I like to put my investment in things that I can control in terms of effort and things like that right, but I don't like rolling the dice. That's not.
Speaker 1:That's not really who I am it's a good way to look it. It's a gamble by having your employer determine whether you're going to get a promotion or not, or the hours that you work, like if you really want to take control of your life and build a good life, and there's never been a better time to start a business. Really, it's not taken away how fucking hard it is. It's hard. However, we have access to so many like podcasts where you can learn perspectives, insights, tips, tricks, all that sort of stuff. You can pay mentors, but then access to whether it's apparel or technology just has made it accessible to everyone, and a lot of it comes down now to brand and community, which is obviously what you're doing really well. And one thing that I really wanted to dive in with you but around the, obviously the movement you decided you wanted to represent, where you're from and that sort of culture how have you gone about building that brand over the years?
Speaker 2:Well, in the early days I didn't even really realize how widespread or how many people felt the same way I did. You know, Because when you look at the numbers, starting a small town brand based on small town populations and often small town like disposable income levels and things like it, doesn't logistically it's not like the ideal market, right, it's not the Gucci market with like a thousand percent markup and whatever right. But I didn't think about any of that, I just wanted to represent. And then, as I figured, as I started selling, I realized more and more people um, shared my values and connected with me the same way, uh, and felt the same way about the way they grew up or the lifestyle they were living and how proud they were. So it just became kind of um, in a sense like a civil duty where it's like I, I need to represent these people. They don't have representation, they don't have a brand that they can wear that represents exactly what we're kind of selling in terms of, like, lifestyle and culture. So they, you know, they just started to support and that just fueled me further. I was like, oh well, how far can we get this thing? You know, like how many other people outside of New Brunswick. You know the other provinces feel this way as well. Great, across Canada. There's more people that feel this way, great.
Speaker 2:And then now, exploring the Southeast US, I'm like there's a lot of small towns or a lot of small town minded or people with small town values in the Southeast US. So that's kind of where I have my eyes now. It's like I want to represent on an even bigger scale. You know, as business people, that's what we want to do. We want to grow and expand and, and I think that right now it's it's time to expand and reach people that um have aligned values to us and I always say like, if you don't, if you don't think the brand's cool or you don't like it or you don't connect with it, that's no problem. I'm not trying to sell to you, you know. I'm trying to represent the people that feel this way. I'm not trying to jam products down everybody's throat. I want this to be a product fit with the individual that's buying it, and that's my goal is to is to market and make myself known and build awareness to those people that align with our brand values. Yep.
Speaker 1:So when you're talking about, like small town values for people listening like, what does that look like for you when you, when you talk about that?
Speaker 2:yeah, so, um, our name, country liberty. Liberty is a synonym for freedom. So when I was going through the process of creating the brand, I was like what's the single value that represents the country lifestyle? And this is, you know, years ago now. So put yourself or I was in my younger mind Right, and I remember thinking like being free, like free of restraints, like where I grew up, like, you know, you could crank music as loud as you wanted, you could walk around with no shirt on, you could run around bare feet or have a party or drive, like whatever, fool around, like go out in the woods and get hurt as a little shithead kid, whatever, so to me, me, that was like what I felt like the country lifestyle was. It was freedom. Yeah, where I feel like here, you know, if I walk around with, well, maybe nashville, you can wear no shirt, I don't know, but there's certain places where it's like you get a frown upon frowned upon or get a slap on the wrist and whatever.
Speaker 2:So it was really freedom that that was the number one value that I really wanted to to push and promote was just how free the country lifestyle uh was. So that was number one. But I also say like small tan mentality, like if, um, I grew up, if we were out of milk, you'd go to your neighbors and, yeah, get a bag of milk.
Speaker 1:We do bags of milk in canada which is weird for most people, but you know yeah, it's odd.
Speaker 2:So we would get a bag of milk from the neighbor. If you you know we're short a few, you'd go next door and get a few eggs. So that type of like hospitality and generosity and empathy and all those wonderful things that we're proud as Canadians that we encompass but also small town community members encompass, those are kind of the values that I have really been thoughtful about while building this brand and those are the things I want to push because it's what I believe in and it's what I grew up with it, you know I really subscribe to them and I think I feel it's why the world is experiencing so much pain at the moment, because most people don't even know their neighbors.
Speaker 1:Right, we're obviously in a complex here and they call this aussie alley because we we've made friends with the neighbours. Oh okay, it's like a real communal area, this area Cool, whereas most people just don't connect anymore. It's like we literally lend milk to each other or eggs.
Speaker 1:It doesn't matter, because it's just helping people out. It's not about like, oh, you owe me this or you owe me that. It's like it always the law of circulation. And I think as well. Coming back to the point of when you look after yourself, when you build yourself up, you have an abundance of stuff to give and it always comes back and a lot of people are feeling lonely, a lot of people are confused. They don't know what they believe. They're being told to believe certain things and maybe they don't subscribe to that and they get picked on for disagreeing with things. So they don't. So everyone's just like tiptoeing on fucking eggshells.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I think then, when what you're talking about there with like freedom freedom for me, you know, means not having to stress about money. It means being able to be authentically me, show up how I want to show up, the aussie lucky, not feeling like I have to be, you know, wear a suit all the time, or all of that. Those subscriptions that they tell us that we need to be in order to be successful, that didn't work for me. So then when you're saying, you know, freedom, this is how we do it. We build relationships with people, this is what we stand for. I think so many people can buy into that because, as you said, people don't have anyone speaking for them and a lot of people don't have enough confidence within themselves to be that person. Yet it can be, but at the moment we're all trying to find someone that we go. That's my fucking dude, or?
Speaker 1:my my, my, my girl. That represents what I believe in and I want to walk with them, yep. So I think it's cool what you're doing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, and that's the whole premise of it. Like we just want to be that representation. That's my goal and I want to represent the people that feel the same way. And if you don't feel that way, it's no harm, no foul, but I don't expect you to buy my stuff you know what I? Mean, and that's fine, because there's enough people um that align with the brand yeah, especially in america.
Speaker 2:You know, like it's it, just yeah, it's it, it's. It's the message I've been um, ever since I started country liberty. It's the message I've been ever since I started Country Liberty. It's the message I've been conveying and now I just it's so much fun because now I can do it on a bigger and bigger scale as I continue to grow.
Speaker 1:Yep, what have been some of the challenges you've faced in business? So we quickly touched on. We haven't dove into, but you're on Dragon's Den. For those in Australia it's shark tank, yeah. So can you run us through what that experience was like, what that taught you and how that's helped you? And then I'd love to sort of chat about some challenges.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, I mean, the funniest thing internally for me with that is like going back to school like I couldn't get through a presentation at school, like I could not get through it. I was like I think they just passed me because they didn't want to deal with me the next year, you know. And then I go on and do a presentation in front of the whole country, and you know. So it was such a different experience, right, and it's just like anything. It's all preparation, like you need to really prepare, and I knew that I did not want to make a fool of myself on TV. So I overprepared. I'm really happy that I took that approach because I felt very comfortable being out there.
Speaker 2:But yeah, that could have been really bad because on, the Dragons and CBC, which is the production company that puts it on, are two very different entities. They want two very different things. The Dragons want good business people and business opportunity. Cbc wants good television. So good television can be embarrassing the hell of yourself, right, yep, and and, and the dragons don't really care, they understand there's a tv component if you go on and kind of skunk yourself, um, but uh. So you know, knowing all of that, I watched the show. I I watched every episode of the show up until the date that I went on. Um took notes. I did a lot of configurations on the numbers because I know what they viewed was a good business ex-profit margin, ex-profit ex-revenue, so on and so forth. So I knew not to go on if my numbers were not interesting to them in that ballpark Exactly and, oddly enough, two years prior, because they have tryouts.
Speaker 2:They come to every province, which in America would be every state. Um, but they come to every province and, uh, they do these pitches with producers. So you go, that's like the first tryout, so you pitch regionally to one of their producers that's on tour doing all these pitches across the country. Um, and the first year I never got past that step. Uh, I didn't know why, because again, my business seemed okay, but it was much smaller. The second year my ego was like bitter, so I never tried out.
Speaker 2:And then the third year I impulsively was like I'm just going to go try. I seen an ad on my phone. It was in the first quarter of the year and I wasn't that busy that day, literally. So I jumped in my truck, drove three hours, did the pitch with no expectation, because the first time I got rejected I was a little crushed. So this time I was like I'm just going to wing it, I'm not going to invest like days worth of work, I'm just going to wing it. But then my business was bigger, so the producer liked what they saw. And then I moved on to the next step of valuation and that was in, let's say, february and then March of 2020, as we know, covid.
Speaker 2:Things happen, things happen, right so all of a sudden, life as we know it is flipped upside down. My next step was a and it might be different in non-COVID years, but for me this was my experience. The next step was an interview over Zoom did that? Then the next step was they said you know, you made it. We want you to come and pitch. We're not sure what that's going to look like.
Speaker 1:How are you feeling at this point?
Speaker 2:I was. When I got the news that they were getting that, they invited me on the show. My office at the time was in my old middle school, okay. So I was in my old computer lab, which is now my office slash warehouse, and the whole building was empty and my mother's a teacher, so she was teaching virtually at the time. So she was at one end of my office teaching her students virtually because she doesn't have internet at her home. So she was in my old middle school. It was just her and I in the whole building.
Speaker 2:I was working. I don't even know if I was supposed to be working because of, like, all the crazy rules, but I was like I'm working. So I was, you know, working and she was at the other end. And I remember when they called me on zoom and they told me that I was on um, I played it cool and you cool and got off the interview and as soon as the computer shut, like mom and I, the big hugs and we got a little emotional. It was really exciting and a really moment I cherish with her Because, like I said, the building was a ghost town and it was just her and I and she overheard me.
Speaker 2:She thought it was just an interview. She didn't know that they were going to yay or nay me to be on the show and they recorded my reaction and they did that on purpose. They told me it was an interview and then. But they wanted to get the reaction, so I didn't really react because I was just like robotic. But then I reacted off, off screen, with mom, so that was really special.
Speaker 2:But there were so many question marks because it was COVID. They said you know, is the pitch going to be virtual? Is, are you going to come to town? We're not sure. And I knew, being obsessed with the show and not being that afraid of covid, I was like I want this to be a real experience, I want this to be in person, I want the real deal. Like I didn't wait for a long time, to years, to go on this tv show, to do it from my laptop in my living room, you know. So, um, then they gave me the option. They weren't sure when we were going to film or if we were going to film because the rules were changing every two weeks, and then they finally said sorry, you can fly in, but if you test positive for COVID, you're done. You're not going to get on, or you can drive and if you test, same rules, if you test positive, you're out. But I figured driving would be safer because I wouldn't be in an international airport right yeah, so I drove.
Speaker 2:I drove 14 hours to toronto. I had to sign an nda, so nobody like at the time, our provinces were on lockdown. You weren't supposed to leave the province. Uh, and if and if you did, you had to quarantine for 14 days and anyone that left the province was viewed as kind of selfish, because it's like we're all sacrificing our life. We're not traveling, but you're gonna travel what an asshole, what an asshole.
Speaker 2:So it was a weird thing and I signed an nda so I couldn't tell anyone while I was traveling. So, on the low key, I just left and and went quarantined for seven days in toronto. Um, uh, had to do a covid test. Did my pitch. I had to do a COVID test. Did my pitch. I had to be at the studio for 6 AM. My pitch started at 8 AM.
Speaker 2:I had no human contact. I was not allowed to bring anybody else with the pitch. No models, nothing, cause all the social distancing, right. So, uh, even the producers like they were like you know go over there, like from a day, like they wouldn't even come and like hold my hand to bring me to my dressing room. They're just like it's over there, man, I'm like what? Yeah, so no one could get close, right? So, um, I sat there antsy for two hours before my pitch. I was the very first pitch of the morning. I go out nervous as hell. Yeah, lights like just these. I could hardly see the dragons because the lights were so bright on me. And I always say like I didn't even realize my eyes were green until I watched that TV show and the lights were just bringing out every color in my eyes. Right.
Speaker 2:And yeah, the cameras and everything. There was a little red piece of tape. They're like you got to go stand on the red tape and do your pitch. Well, I'm like 50 something feet away from these dragons, which is kind of an unnatural way to have a conversation too Definitely. So I'm happy I was prepared, because once I hit my script it just kind of rolled off the tongue. But there was a lot of distractions, like the lights, the cameras, where you got to stand, how far you are the situation. Of course I'm nervous because I like idolize these dragons, right. So just a lot of emotions. And the rules were you get 60 seconds of uninterrupted pitch. After 60 seconds they're allowed to jump in. So I really built my pitch on a 60 second scale. I said I need to get out xyz information within 60 seconds because they might interrupt and derail my whole pitch here. Um, I got about two minutes of uninterrupted, so I got lots of time to say what I needed to say.
Speaker 2:That's awesome and then it was q a after that, so q a to me was more natural, uh. But yeah, I got about a minute and a half or two minutes of just like kind of elevator pitch style.
Speaker 1:Did you find it hard to sell yourself? Because obviously those elevator pitches, you're selling yourself right.
Speaker 2:It was. It was hard. I tried to focus on the successes of the business. Our numbers were good. There was a lot of good, promising aspects to the business, so I didn't really sell myself personally too hard. However, I did rope in. I used to play pro hockey. I name dropped a few things just to add credibility, which is always uncomfortable for me because I don't want to sound like I'm bragging. I also knew I they.
Speaker 1:I need to yeah.
Speaker 2:I needed them to know that I'm not just a joker like I'm. You know, I have a background of success and I'm here to succeed, like I'm not just here because I want to be on TV.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my business is shit guys, so I'm gonna go home now, I'm gonna let myself out, but yeah, exactly right so. So, yeah, it was, bragging yourself up is always uncomfortable, you know, but I did have to do a little bit of that, just cause I wanted to put my best foot forward and know that I left it all on the on the table, you know.
Speaker 1:I think it's an important skill to develop and I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with it, cause we don't want to be told we're bragging or we're big noting or we're full of ourselves. However, to get what you want from life, you have to put yourself out there and you have to lead with the best foot because, especially now, people's attention span is shocking. So if you can lead with those key points, it maybe shows that you have attributes of discipline and all the things that lead to success. People are more likely to gravitate to that because, going back to what we said before, people are looking to be led, led and influenced, and if you've got those qualities and have a few runs on the board, uh, you can fast track your success. And that was one of the biggest things I struggled with, and I believe americans do it super well, like they're. They're awesome at selling themselves and the american dream.
Speaker 1:You're like I'm buying whatever you're selling.
Speaker 2:I don't care.
Speaker 1:And what I've learned here is like you've got to do that because people are. You know, there's a lot of transactional conversations that happen here, which is fine, it's the nature of the beast. So every day it's like I've got to pitch what I'm doing and what I'm here to do, and it's uncomfortable. However, the progress and the growth and getting comfortable with that changes with that and you end up getting better results from your life and like that's what we all want.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's noisy too. Like if you don't say things that are memorable, people forget because they meet. So, like it's such a dense populated country, yeah Right. So like it, if you don't stand out, you don't stand out, you know. So in a lot of ways, to your point, you kind of have to say things that are memorable or that will separate you from the noise yeah, to me I look at it as like standing up to stand out.
Speaker 1:A lot of people we're fearful to have our own opinion or, yeah, share what we're good at. But it's like that's us standing up and going look, I'm here this is what I'm aiming to achieve.
Speaker 1:I need some help, or I want to learn this, this, this. And then you stand out because most people don't want to look dumb. Right, I I feared looking dumb and making mistakes, but it's like I'm very comfortable with that now because I know that you have answers, that I need to learn to improve my life. Uh, so many other people do, so I'm willing to put my hand up and ask for help and ask them what's perceived as a dumb question, to get get the answers from the people who have it. Um, and to me, that is me standing up, because normally I just sit down and go. I'll jump on Google after and ask it and it's like, well, I've just delayed my own success because I didn't want to put my hand up, or whatever that looks like, which is ego too right.
Speaker 2:Literally 100%, yeah, if you can set your ego aside and get vulnerable and stuff. A lot of positive results are on the other side of that.
Speaker 1:What's your biggest fear? Talking about ego, what would be something that you fear in your life? Like that you're working hard to avoid, whether it's through business or the man that you'll be coming Um?
Speaker 2:Hmm, that's a good question. Uh, I used to be afraid of heights, but now, now I just jump off stuff to like overcome it. I'm still just as afraid, but I'll jump, I don't know. Something that's really important to me is like being a good family man, being a good husband one day and father and stuff. That's something really on my mind. I'm not going to say I fear it, but that's something I very actively am working on myself to become. So that's pretty well outside of business.
Speaker 2:In terms of business, I'm competitive, like I don't want to lose, right, but I'm not afraid of losing in the way that I know I built the proper skills to do it all over again, but I just don't want to take a step back. I don't want to lose. I don't want to like lose everything and have to start over. So, in terms of like fear, maybe that would be one of my fears, but I'm not, like I said earlier, I'm not a big gambler. So I certainly never get over leveraged to a point that like my life would just combust if things went bad. Um, and I feel like I've done it. I built things properly in the way that I could build again if I had to, but I really don't want to. Yeah, yeah, no one does.
Speaker 1:It's like the hard work. I think when you start anything, it's like this bell curve in the beginning. It's like heaps of late nights, lots of mistakes and then eventually you learn to become more efficient.
Speaker 1:You create leverage through team members and whatever and then you can sort of grow with a bit more ease. Yeah, um, but it's an interesting question to think about, because I feel like most people who have an ounce of ambition there's part of, there's something in their back pocket that they're trying to run away from. Yeah, I believe, and I think my psychologist thinks that's not healthy, but I'm like I'm running from a lot of shit and it's motivating me and fueling me and for me it's like I just don't want to be a liability. So that's why I prioritize making money, being healthy, being a great husband, being a great mate, because at some point, there's people who become overweight and they're a fucking liability People. There's people who become overweight and they're a fucking liability people who can't fend for themselves financially and nothing against that Cause. That's what they're, the people that I want to help. But for me personally, it's like I want to take responsibility for all of that and that's why I work so hard and I think not enough.
Speaker 1:people talk about what they're not running from but trying to fucking avoid. We only talk about what we want.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that and that from, but trying to fucking avoid, we only talk about what we want. Yeah, I, I love that. And that reminds me I was at a conference in november and, um, there was two speakers. One of them got up and talked about, um, all the people that have screwed him in his life and he's like I fucking remember them and he's like a rah-rah speaker and he's like jacked and it's like he looks like a, he looks like an action figure.
Speaker 2:I'm like, oh fuck, is this guy gonna hit me speech? Like, and he's all amped up and he's like I remember this person, this person. He's listing the people that kind of screwed him over in his life and he's like I fucking have a chip on my shoulder, you know, and I go out and, uh, I think about them when I'm grinding, when I'm doing my 5am workouts, when I'm, or 8 pm sales call or whatever, oh, yeah, okay, all energized. And then the next guy gets out with long hair and he's like, yeah, no, like I think that. Uh, you know, I don't think we should be motivated by resentment, and you know, and two completely different schools of thought, all the opposites, and I don't know what the answer is I've certainly had times when I was like fuck you, man. Like you fucking you, you know you tried to screw me, like this one's for for you, you know you're going to see me succeed Like you know, and I've definitely had that before too, and that would be kind of fear based maybe.
Speaker 2:I don't know, but I don't really. I'm undecided on what's better. The healthier version is probably the hippie approach where it's like, oh no, it's laissez faire.
Speaker 1:But you know, sometimes those things motivate you right. Sometimes fear motivates you, or even resentment, as kind of toxic as that sounds, it can motivate you. That chip on your shoulder right? I don't think, yeah, I don't think there's any right or wrong. I think I guess the way I look at it is what works for me. If it's working, keep doing it. Right. To me it's ultimately like if I'm getting the results that I want and it's not detrimental to my life, meaning I'm not coming home and angry asshole to my wife, which I don't, but it's just like I do use that as as a fuel and a lot of people don't.
Speaker 1:So then, ultimately, the hippie approach works for some people yeah like it's now the hippie approach everyone the hippies are probably pissed off right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but if that's what works for you.
Speaker 1:If that's what motivates you, then awesome because I find myself going through seasons. Right Because I don't burn the candle all year round. I do like sprints in business, Like I'll have starting next week. I have like a three-week sprint for a program and a workshop and then I'll deliver that and I'll cruise for a little bit and then I'll put maybe like seasons in fashion, right Like you do that.
Speaker 1:So when I'm grinding, I need to be like, well, if I fuck this up or if I don't do this call, then I could lose it all. And I don't want to lose it all because there's always and you always hear about it, especially in sports it's like there's someone younger with more hunger coming for you and for me it's like, well, I don't necessarily want to start again, so I can light that fire when I need to, but I also know that I don't want it to control my whole life. It's just, you know, I think, building that healthy relationship, yeah, who?
Speaker 2:knows. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:And to your point about the younger hungry like I was that younger hungry guy that started a brand yeah you know now I'm at a different chapter, but I remember what that little bastard was like and I don't want to go up against something. You know like that guy will cut corner, he'll cut my throat if he has a chance to cause he wants it Right. So it's like you do always have to kind of remember that what you have you're like um at my lat or one of those guys say like rent is due every day. With success You're paying rent every day. You're not entitled to it Just because you had success yesterday, you're not entitled to success tomorrow. Rent is due every day. And you got to put in the work and you got to stay motivated. So if you have different ways to motivate yourself, it can't be all bad. If it's bringing you down the life you want to live, get amongst it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean I'm for it. There's definitely people in mind like I don't hold the resentment because I've asked myself this question after I reflected and I was like, geez, I am a little resentful towards a couple people, but I think the difference is you don't, I don't house the resentment.
Speaker 2:24, 7, no every once in a while it's just like a nice little tap on the ass. Get going, sawyer, you know, uh. But yeah, I'm not bringing it home with me and it's not keeping me up at night no, yeah, that I guess to wrap up my point like I don't.
Speaker 1:it doesn't impact other areas of my life, but if I need competition for whatever it is, I can, I can find a way to generate that, and whether it's stuff that I got over 20 years ago and I need that today, then I'll use that.
Speaker 2:Right, right right.
Speaker 1:Um, and that's how my mind works Like I've got this challenge coming up. Actually, I, Actually I'm not going to talk about it because I haven't announced it yet.
Speaker 2:Sure sure.
Speaker 1:But when I do big fitness challenges and stuff, that's the stuff that I'll use when all the people doubt you, or with my business, when people are like you're never going to make anything. I was saying 10 years ago 2014 was when I started my business. I was like I'll be able to travel the world, do this cool stuff with my wife because of what I'm doing right now, and everyone, especially in a small town as well, they're like fucking loser.
Speaker 1:No way. And here I am and I'm like I take it for granted because it's now just my reality. But then I go back to like 22-year-old Lockie. Back then I'm like, dude, just back yourself, because it's going to happen. I feel, especially a lot of people who listen to this show. They want a better life, and whatever that looks like to them is completely unique to them. But they're going to have a lot of people who doubt them, especially as you do start getting some runs on the board, because the person that you start becoming is different to what everyone that you've ever known knows, and we don't like change. People don't like change. So they're going to try and bring you back, and that's when the real test comes. It doesn't matter whether you decide you're going to do it. It's whether you can, I guess, consistently show up Right? I watched a reel of yours where you were talking about consistency and the power of consistency.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:Talk to me man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I finished. Over Christmas I read a book called the Compound Effect.
Speaker 1:Have you read that? Darren Hardy? Yeah, dan Hardy, dan.
Speaker 2:Hardy? Yeah, I believe, because I've read his books. I always mix them up, but you know what I'm talking about the compound effect.
Speaker 2:And it's just consistency, in the sense like you could make a five-minute habit part of your daily routine and that will compound Everything you do, for better or worse compounds. Nothing just stays. It's either moving forward or moving backwards. So what do you want to compound? Do backwards. So what do you want to compound, you know? Do you want to compound your uh, which this is a terrible example, cause I don't eat super well, but like the handful of cookies every night? That'll compound, you know. Or do you want to compound the morning workout Right, like you know in your world, because you're obviously in wicked shape, so like.
Speaker 1:So you understand that I was just thinking about the cookies man I was. I had some yesterday, yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm a pig man, it's not good, but that's one habit I want to correct. But I guess, just in terms of consistency, like things compound, yeah, but also showing up Like sometimes you need to outlast your competition, you don't need to, like, crush them, you just need to survive longer than them, right, and sometimes that's you know, but at the end of the day it's consistency. You have to show up all the time. It's very sexy and very glamorous to look at, say, an idol of yours and say, geez, he just hit it big and it didn't take much effort and he's living a fun, you know party lifestyle, he's chilling, all that stuff. There's like one of those in a million. Everybody else that has success is grinding consistently, showing up every single day, you know, and to me it's consistency, it's just everything.
Speaker 1:And I think, when you break it down like that and especially going back, because I wrote a newsletter on it this morning- of the compound effect.
Speaker 2:That's why it was front of mind when you said it.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's ironic, but it's like when you look at things as 1%, you can manage to improve multiple areas of your life at once. Because when people go, I need to go in like let's use a six-week challenge fitness people just shred down, they cut out alcohol, they don't do anything that they would normally do in their life, so it's not really a great representation and they're not changing habits. And then the six-week challenge is over and they go balls to the wall on the booze and the drugs and the cookies and they blow back out again, whereas for me I go okay, these are the key areas of my life and for me that's my marriage, time with my buddies, my business, my health and lifestyle. So if I go, what does 1% better look like in these areas? For me today I can manage to do that Because sometimes it's literally just let's go for a quick stretch. That's the 1% of my health.
Speaker 1:It might be a date night or it might be whatever it is that then becomes a habit, becomes part of the routine which builds a better life ultimately, and the compound effect of that to your point is like people in the beginning of a relationship it's hot and heavy and it's awesome. Then you hit like the real work and then people stop doing the date nights and you go. Why don't you just do a date night? What do you fucking do for a date night? We've been together for 10 years. It's like I've got a fucking list of stuff I could do for a date night.
Speaker 2:So if I know I needed one, because you know we've been traveling or whatever it's like.
Speaker 1:I'll just go to my list and go this one that looks awesome and the compound, and probably much like business when you start systemizing things, experiencing new things. If you document it, that's going to come in very handy at some point. Right like the podcast for me. It started as a tool for me to learn to communicate better. It's now got me in the room with so many incredible people that maybe I would normally have to pay, like probably to even sit down with you. Like to sit down with these incredible people I wouldn't charge you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I appreciate that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there you go but like to learn from people like yourself who are doing incredible things. That is this podcast has afforded me from doing it for seven years consistently, and I never started with that intention. So I think to your point the compound effect of just investing daily deposits in whatever it is that you want to improve and recording it whether that's in a diary, in a journal, in your notes, on your phone, it doesn't matter that shit's going to come in very handy at some point, whether you're starting a business for yourself, whether it's in the coaching space or podcasting or business, and you've got connections, notes, whatever that you can then leverage and it's going to fucking make you super efficient and super effective yeah, absolutely, but it's those tedious things right and people don't.
Speaker 2:Well, I can skip that today, or I can you know it's those tedious things that compound and build, build up.
Speaker 2:And there there's an expression I like, um, uh.
Speaker 2:You know the famous expression of the first million is the easiest uh, which is true in terms of like you have like liquid cash to like make more money with.
Speaker 2:Of course, that's the conventional sense of it, but the way that I interpret that is like the easiest million to make, the first million to make is your easiest, because you become the person that can make a million dollars, just like someone that gets in really good shape. It's not about doing a six-week program and then laying on the couch all year. It's about becoming someone that values fitness. It's about habitually becoming that person that values fitness or that person that can build a business to a million dollars. But it's all those very small compounded efforts over the course of time that give you that result. A lot of people want to win the lottery and collect the money, but the realistic, the logical approach is you habitually compound all of those very positive and growth-minded efforts and then eventually you get to a place where you can earn a million dollars not just win a lottery for a million dollars or get in really good shape and stay in good shape because you become a person that values those things and they just become ingrained in you over time. Dude.
Speaker 1:Well said, well said, obviously, for the Australian audience. You're not in Australia yet.
Speaker 2:Not yet.
Speaker 1:Who knows, we'll get across the pond but for people who want to follow your journey, what you're up to and support the brand. Where can people find all of that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the brand page is Country Liberty, just at Country Liberty on Instagram, at Country Liberty on Facebook, countrylibertyco is our website domain. Personally, it's just my personal channels are all at Sawyer Hanna. Yep, I also just opened a resort in Q1 of this year, that's at Cabina underscore house, so a tiny home resort based in Nova Scotia.
Speaker 1:So I see yeah.
Speaker 2:If you want a place to stay, we're right off a ski hill, it's a nice location and yeah. So Cabina and Country Liberty are my two babies and yeah, if you want to, you know, reach out at sire hannah's where you find me. And if you want to support at country liberty and at um could be an underscore house dude.
Speaker 1:It's been an absolute pleasure, man, and I look forward to uh, obviously come and check out your store this week at cma fest and obviously continuing to support your journey thanks, brother, I appreciate it cheers awesome.
