1
00:01:20,910 --> 00:01:22,500
Welcome to Nerdpreneur where we have

2
00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:24,130
fun conversations with people making

3
00:01:24,180 --> 00:01:26,570
money from their nerdy passion. As always,

4
00:01:26,620 --> 00:01:29,020
I am joined by my co host Frank.

5
00:01:29,140 --> 00:01:29,860
Hello.

6
00:01:30,830 --> 00:01:33,390
And today we have a very special guest.

7
00:01:33,450 --> 00:01:34,880
His name is Andres.

8
00:01:35,060 --> 00:01:36,330
Welcome to the show.

9
00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:37,590
How's it going, guys?

10
00:01:37,610 --> 00:01:38,690
Thanks for having me.

11
00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:41,410
Awesome to have you here. Well, Andres,

12
00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:43,880
what is your nerdy passion?

13
00:01:43,980 --> 00:01:45,200
Hold on, hold on.

14
00:01:45,380 --> 00:01:47,320
If you're going to start with Andres,

15
00:01:47,460 --> 00:01:49,530
you got to keep it all the way through.

16
00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:51,330
You can't just say Andres now.

17
00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:53,310
I mean, you committed. All right, all right.

18
00:01:53,490 --> 00:01:54,620
You're going all the way.

19
00:01:54,670 --> 00:01:56,750
We totally had this discussion off mic and I'm

20
00:01:56,770 --> 00:02:00,900
fucking it up right now. Eh, Andres, Andres.

21
00:02:01,060 --> 00:02:06,690
All right, you're good, man.

22
00:02:06,750 --> 00:02:11,290
Well, Andres, what is your nerdy passion? Am I,

23
00:02:11,340 --> 00:02:13,110
am I butchering it?

24
00:02:13,300 --> 00:02:16,790
No, man, you're nailing it. I'm not Spanish.

25
00:02:16,860 --> 00:02:18,380
I'm not Spanish, so you know,

26
00:02:18,460 --> 00:02:19,270
it's a Spanish name.

27
00:02:19,300 --> 00:02:20,600
I was named after an Ecuadorian

28
00:02:20,650 --> 00:02:22,510
tennis player named Andres Gomez.

29
00:02:23,010 --> 00:02:26,020
And so that's where that comes from. But yeah,

30
00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:27,110
it's gotta be a bit.

31
00:02:27,140 --> 00:02:29,660
In your life, man. Like when you meet, it goes.

32
00:02:29,780 --> 00:02:30,700
You just are like,

33
00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:31,770
you walk into the

34
00:02:31,830 --> 00:02:34,350
casting room and you're like, yeah, Andres,

35
00:02:34,450 --> 00:02:35,230
it's nice to meet you.

36
00:02:35,250 --> 00:02:38,160
And they're like, oh, oh, that's sometimes.

37
00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:39,050
It depends on the room.

38
00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:39,750
You gotta read the room.

39
00:02:39,790 --> 00:02:40,320
Yeah, right.

40
00:02:40,420 --> 00:02:42,330
I used to live with two Mexican guys

41
00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:44,390
and they used to just make fun of me because

42
00:02:44,450 --> 00:02:46,060
you can't even say your own name, buddy.

43
00:02:47,070 --> 00:02:48,750
Two really good guys. But they were. Yeah,

44
00:02:48,790 --> 00:02:51,010
they're funny. Yeah. But, yeah,

45
00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:51,680
super stoked to be here.

46
00:02:51,700 --> 00:02:52,690
Thanks for having me.

47
00:02:53,030 --> 00:02:54,520
I would say right now, you know,

48
00:02:54,540 --> 00:02:57,910
my nerdy passion currently would be the pottery

49
00:02:57,960 --> 00:02:59,880
studio that I opened a couple years ago.

50
00:03:00,030 --> 00:03:01,900
It's called Mud Lab here in Vancouver.

51
00:03:02,470 --> 00:03:03,680
That's what I've been probably

52
00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:05,720
dedicating the majority of my time

53
00:03:05,750 --> 00:03:08,390
and focus to in the entrepreneurial world.

54
00:03:08,570 --> 00:03:09,980
I do have a lot of other things that

55
00:03:09,990 --> 00:03:11,360
I do on the side and that I have done,

56
00:03:11,420 --> 00:03:14,660
but that's definitely been the biggest

57
00:03:15,790 --> 00:03:18,480
aspect of entrepreneurship

58
00:03:18,580 --> 00:03:20,170
and focus in the last two years.

59
00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:20,850
Two, three years.

60
00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:21,870
Yeah, that's very good.

61
00:03:21,890 --> 00:03:22,960
And I kind of want to give.

62
00:03:23,060 --> 00:03:24,920
I want to give some context a

63
00:03:24,940 --> 00:03:26,940
bit like right off the bat for

64
00:03:27,030 --> 00:03:29,210
how Andreas is in this interview,

65
00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:32,070
because Andreas and I met about like eight,

66
00:03:32,130 --> 00:03:33,700
nine years ago or something when,

67
00:03:33,810 --> 00:03:35,020
when I was acting.

68
00:03:35,130 --> 00:03:36,780
And you're still acting. Right.

69
00:03:37,210 --> 00:03:37,840
Okay.

70
00:03:37,970 --> 00:03:38,810
All right, so we're going to come.

71
00:03:38,830 --> 00:03:39,440
We're going to circle back.

72
00:03:39,490 --> 00:03:41,210
That's my job. That's my job.

73
00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:42,990
That's the main job.

74
00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:45,570
Yeah. I call that. That's my career and

75
00:03:45,590 --> 00:03:48,520
my studio is my passion project, basically,

76
00:03:48,580 --> 00:03:49,650
which is mind.

77
00:03:49,710 --> 00:03:52,300
Blowing and one of the coolest things to me.

78
00:03:52,370 --> 00:03:54,030
And when you told me,

79
00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:54,970
I probably had the same

80
00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,400
reaction I'm having right now, which was like,

81
00:03:57,580 --> 00:03:59,560
you opened a studio

82
00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:02,890
as a side hustle in Vancouver,

83
00:04:03,070 --> 00:04:04,310
one of the like,

84
00:04:04,460 --> 00:04:06,420
most expensive places

85
00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:08,770
to own a brick and mortar business,

86
00:04:08,870 --> 00:04:09,840
and it's your side

87
00:04:09,890 --> 00:04:11,690
hustle. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait. But no,

88
00:04:11,750 --> 00:04:14,090
your main job is you're an actor.

89
00:04:14,190 --> 00:04:15,310
Like. Yeah.

90
00:04:15,420 --> 00:04:16,070
What?

91
00:04:17,209 --> 00:04:17,740
You know what?

92
00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:19,829
I always say that people, you know,

93
00:04:19,860 --> 00:04:22,340
during COVID they bake bread or they,

94
00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:23,970
they cook up crafts or whatever.

95
00:04:24,030 --> 00:04:25,450
My covet hobby was open

96
00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:27,000
up opening up this pottery studio.

97
00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:29,650
Yeah, that's a crazy thing to do.

98
00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:30,370
Sometimes I wish

99
00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:31,710
I just went after the sourdough,

100
00:04:31,750 --> 00:04:32,410
to be honest with you,

101
00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:35,220
but I'm here now, so. No, just kidding.

102
00:04:35,310 --> 00:04:36,450
When did you open?

103
00:04:37,710 --> 00:04:41,060
So officially open? July 2021.

104
00:04:42,150 --> 00:04:43,150
I took the lease in

105
00:04:43,190 --> 00:04:45,210
March of 2021 and then did a.

106
00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:46,640
Did a bunch of renos in the place.

107
00:04:46,740 --> 00:04:48,440
The reason why I'm able to kind of

108
00:04:48,500 --> 00:04:51,610
to do what I'm doing in Vancouver,

109
00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:52,600
as you said, is expensive,

110
00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:54,820
is because I took a space that needed a lot of

111
00:04:54,830 --> 00:04:57,820
work and was sort of more of like a warehousey

112
00:04:57,870 --> 00:05:00,550
kind of space that was pretty rundown a

113
00:05:00,550 --> 00:05:02,990
lot of damage to the drywalls and floors

114
00:05:03,050 --> 00:05:05,410
and walls hanging off, you know, wherever.

115
00:05:05,460 --> 00:05:07,990
And just really dedicated

116
00:05:08,020 --> 00:05:09,290
a lot of time to doing the renos.

117
00:05:09,340 --> 00:05:10,750
Mostly myself and a couple of

118
00:05:10,770 --> 00:05:14,010
good friends of mine. And so, yeah, so March.

119
00:05:14,100 --> 00:05:16,380
March 2021 was when we signed.

120
00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:17,230
I signed the lease.

121
00:05:17,330 --> 00:05:18,760
And then in July,

122
00:05:19,230 --> 00:05:20,650
July 4th or 5th or something,

123
00:05:20,700 --> 00:05:21,700
we had our first class.

124
00:05:21,820 --> 00:05:22,760
And I remember

125
00:05:23,940 --> 00:05:26,980
right up until the class started, I was, like,

126
00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:29,600
chopping wood, you know, trying to, like,

127
00:05:29,650 --> 00:05:30,250
build tables

128
00:05:30,270 --> 00:05:32,120
and all this kind of stuff. Like, literally,

129
00:05:32,170 --> 00:05:32,690
as people came,

130
00:05:32,710 --> 00:05:33,680
I had my shirt off because

131
00:05:33,690 --> 00:05:34,610
I didn't have a change of clothes.

132
00:05:34,630 --> 00:05:35,770
I don't want to sweat and stink.

133
00:05:35,810 --> 00:05:37,340
And I sawdust over me, and

134
00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:38,710
somebody opens the door, I'm like, oh, shit,

135
00:05:38,740 --> 00:05:39,520
I better get rid.

136
00:05:39,610 --> 00:05:40,740
And I, you know, put my.

137
00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:42,380
Put my shirt on and my apron.

138
00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:45,220
Welcome to Mud Lab. Yeah,

139
00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:46,400
put your coats over here,

140
00:05:46,450 --> 00:05:47,630
you know, and like, oh, my gosh.

141
00:05:47,660 --> 00:05:49,830
There's no idea what I was doing. And

142
00:05:51,130 --> 00:05:53,880
that was the first class. And, yeah,

143
00:05:54,180 --> 00:05:55,360
it's come a long, long,

144
00:05:55,410 --> 00:05:58,000
long way in a few short years.

145
00:05:58,050 --> 00:05:59,390
Coming up on three years now.

146
00:06:00,500 --> 00:06:02,420
I don't know a ton about ceramics,

147
00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:04,950
but I know ceramics is not easy.

148
00:06:05,140 --> 00:06:09,210
And so did you have training before opening?

149
00:06:09,250 --> 00:06:11,580
And how did that all get started for you?

150
00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:12,820
Was this a passion from when

151
00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:14,680
you were a kid or where did you train?

152
00:06:15,580 --> 00:06:18,810
Yeah, so I actually. I had no

153
00:06:19,260 --> 00:06:21,820
formal training or education in ceramics in

154
00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:24,730
any capacity kind of before opening the studio.

155
00:06:26,260 --> 00:06:28,460
And that's kind of how I approach most of the

156
00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:32,020
things that I do in my life. But pretty much,

157
00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:33,810
I had taken

158
00:06:35,020 --> 00:06:38,270
a sculpture class in Uvic as, like,

159
00:06:38,290 --> 00:06:40,260
an extra credit to get myself

160
00:06:40,310 --> 00:06:41,270
into the business program there

161
00:06:41,290 --> 00:06:43,370
because I didn't have the GPA to get in.

162
00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:44,080
I had a lot of

163
00:06:44,100 --> 00:06:45,720
great extracurricular stuff that was, like,

164
00:06:45,740 --> 00:06:46,440
keeping me afloat

165
00:06:46,500 --> 00:06:47,630
in terms of my application there.

166
00:06:47,650 --> 00:06:48,810
And then I needed the gpa,

167
00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:50,050
so I took a couple art classes,

168
00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:51,420
I took an acting class,

169
00:06:51,750 --> 00:06:56,100
and I took a two sculpture workshop classes.

170
00:06:56,750 --> 00:06:57,540
And that was the first time

171
00:06:57,550 --> 00:06:58,900
that I ever really worked with clay.

172
00:06:59,030 --> 00:07:03,080
And this was 2013, I think. 2012.

173
00:07:03,180 --> 00:07:04,500
2013 in the summertime.

174
00:07:04,590 --> 00:07:06,640
And I just really loved

175
00:07:06,700 --> 00:07:08,440
working with clay because prior to that,

176
00:07:08,470 --> 00:07:10,090
I was doing woodworking, construction,

177
00:07:10,140 --> 00:07:10,680
all that kind of stuff.

178
00:07:10,710 --> 00:07:12,180
So a lot of different, you know,

179
00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:13,680
working with my hands and things like that,

180
00:07:13,710 --> 00:07:15,030
but nothing with clay.

181
00:07:15,170 --> 00:07:17,220
And so that just really sparked

182
00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:19,400
this fascination with the medium.

183
00:07:19,790 --> 00:07:21,680
And it was a basic class, but I did really,

184
00:07:21,710 --> 00:07:22,700
really well in it, you know,

185
00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:24,360
just because I'm creative and hardworking.

186
00:07:24,390 --> 00:07:25,720
And I would go to the studio

187
00:07:25,790 --> 00:07:28,120
every Every night almost, you know, like three,

188
00:07:28,150 --> 00:07:28,750
four times a week,

189
00:07:28,770 --> 00:07:29,460
I'd be there till one

190
00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:31,090
in the morning just playing with clay.

191
00:07:31,140 --> 00:07:33,350
And so that really sparked an interest.

192
00:07:33,380 --> 00:07:34,910
And I don't think I was, like,

193
00:07:34,970 --> 00:07:36,690
particularly good at it. I wasn't

194
00:07:36,710 --> 00:07:38,040
doing any wheel throwing, just sculpture,

195
00:07:38,090 --> 00:07:39,370
but I was fascinated, so.

196
00:07:39,430 --> 00:07:40,430
And just like with anything,

197
00:07:40,460 --> 00:07:42,980
when you're nerdy about it or hyper focused,

198
00:07:43,100 --> 00:07:44,510
you figure it out, right?

199
00:07:44,580 --> 00:07:45,570
And so that's what I did.

200
00:07:45,650 --> 00:07:47,310
And that just stuck with me.

201
00:07:47,340 --> 00:07:49,040
And four years later,

202
00:07:50,180 --> 00:07:52,130
I was playing poker with a buddy of mine

203
00:07:52,270 --> 00:07:55,210
and his wife came home and she had just

204
00:07:55,230 --> 00:07:57,360
finished a ceramics class at a local

205
00:07:58,570 --> 00:08:01,180
rec center in North Van, actually.

206
00:08:01,340 --> 00:08:01,950
And I said, what?

207
00:08:01,970 --> 00:08:02,800
You're doing a pottery class?

208
00:08:02,830 --> 00:08:04,510
Like, oh, no way. I used to do ceramics. Like,

209
00:08:04,530 --> 00:08:05,080
show me what you got.

210
00:08:05,110 --> 00:08:05,670
And we started talking

211
00:08:05,690 --> 00:08:07,190
about clay and she's like, you know,

212
00:08:07,250 --> 00:08:08,610
like what you're talking about a bit.

213
00:08:08,740 --> 00:08:11,840
And so she inspired me to get back

214
00:08:11,870 --> 00:08:13,350
into it and actually sent an email to

215
00:08:13,370 --> 00:08:14,510
the instructor to help me get into a

216
00:08:14,530 --> 00:08:16,180
class there because classes are all, you know,

217
00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:17,880
hard to get into in town.

218
00:08:18,790 --> 00:08:19,620
And that was it.

219
00:08:19,670 --> 00:08:22,520
And that was 2019, 2018, 2019,

220
00:08:23,060 --> 00:08:24,730
that I actually started, like,

221
00:08:25,190 --> 00:08:26,700
doing ceramics in terms of, like,

222
00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:27,500
wheel throwing

223
00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:30,500
and getting my hands on more, you know,

224
00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:33,530
equipment and not just sculpture work.

225
00:08:33,590 --> 00:08:35,240
So that's what sparked it.

226
00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:37,960
And then I was just addicted. I was hooked.

227
00:08:38,100 --> 00:08:39,740
And I couldn't stop. I was.

228
00:08:39,770 --> 00:08:41,039
I was going as much as I could.

229
00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:41,760
I was sneaking in

230
00:08:41,780 --> 00:08:43,630
after hours as a rec center. And like,

231
00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:45,080
you can go in there at certain

232
00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:46,320
times in the evening and then

233
00:08:46,340 --> 00:08:47,340
they close and you're supposed to leave,

234
00:08:47,370 --> 00:08:48,400
but I would just turn the lights off.

235
00:08:48,420 --> 00:08:49,200
And then when the janitor

236
00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:51,340
would come by and do his rounds, I'd like,

237
00:08:51,370 --> 00:08:52,800
pop back out and I'd be there till two

238
00:08:52,820 --> 00:08:56,350
in the morning sometimes. And, yeah, and just.

239
00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:57,180
Just loved it.

240
00:08:57,250 --> 00:08:59,550
And that's kind of how it started.

241
00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:01,440
And then I was in a few different studios,

242
00:09:01,470 --> 00:09:02,940
one in LA and one here in Vancouver.

243
00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,530
And then not even a year later, I said,

244
00:09:05,580 --> 00:09:07,200
I'm going to open up this studio.

245
00:09:07,350 --> 00:09:08,680
So awesome.

246
00:09:09,230 --> 00:09:11,260
Why the studio? I mean, I understand

247
00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:13,430
that you really enjoy doing ceramics,

248
00:09:13,490 --> 00:09:17,120
but why make that big of a leap?

249
00:09:19,830 --> 00:09:22,940
I guess the question was always,

250
00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:25,060
why not for me.

251
00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:25,910
And I couldn't come

252
00:09:25,930 --> 00:09:28,480
up with a good enough answer. Why not? Um,

253
00:09:30,380 --> 00:09:32,130
I've always wanted to have

254
00:09:32,250 --> 00:09:36,050
a studio workshop kind of space,

255
00:09:36,130 --> 00:09:36,840
whether that was going to

256
00:09:36,850 --> 00:09:38,890
be woodworking or ceramics or whatever,

257
00:09:38,950 --> 00:09:40,820
like that was in my future. And

258
00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:42,350
actually this was supposed to be a coffee shop,

259
00:09:42,380 --> 00:09:44,220
pottery studio combo, which

260
00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:45,990
is something I'm still kind of working on,

261
00:09:46,020 --> 00:09:48,530
but that was something that I wanted to do.

262
00:09:48,590 --> 00:09:50,450
And so I was working at

263
00:09:50,470 --> 00:09:52,260
another studio here in town and it just,

264
00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:54,020
it wasn't a good fit for me.

265
00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:56,840
I didn't think that the community

266
00:09:56,900 --> 00:09:59,030
in Vancouver was being serviced

267
00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:01,350
in terms of like just offerings

268
00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:06,460
from a studio and type of atmosphere,

269
00:10:06,530 --> 00:10:07,920
community equipment,

270
00:10:08,020 --> 00:10:12,230
just access to different kinds of hours.

271
00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:14,480
Just so many things were not happening

272
00:10:14,500 --> 00:10:16,250
in Vancouver and there were studios in LA

273
00:10:16,310 --> 00:10:17,490
that were doing things way better. And I said,

274
00:10:17,510 --> 00:10:18,380
you know what?

275
00:10:18,570 --> 00:10:20,210
I'm going to bring kind of some of

276
00:10:20,230 --> 00:10:21,750
the concepts that I've seen and combine

277
00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:23,630
and come up with my own sort of thing.

278
00:10:23,680 --> 00:10:25,280
And it just made sense.

279
00:10:25,340 --> 00:10:26,400
And Covid happened, right?

280
00:10:26,420 --> 00:10:28,100
And everything was shut down and places

281
00:10:28,130 --> 00:10:29,590
were renting out for a little cheaper.

282
00:10:29,680 --> 00:10:30,400
And it was just

283
00:10:30,450 --> 00:10:32,200
like a perfect kind of, you know,

284
00:10:32,220 --> 00:10:33,650
perfect storm of things.

285
00:10:33,710 --> 00:10:36,560
And I met somebody named Vin Aurora who

286
00:10:36,660 --> 00:10:39,120
was an instructor at the previous studio.

287
00:10:39,300 --> 00:10:40,770
One of the best potters in town,

288
00:10:40,830 --> 00:10:42,380
and just really inspirational

289
00:10:42,450 --> 00:10:44,620
guy and really inspirational potter.

290
00:10:45,090 --> 00:10:46,470
And I said, hey man, like I.

291
00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:48,880
This is something I've been wanted to do. Like,

292
00:10:48,890 --> 00:10:50,880
what do you think? Let's go do this thing. And

293
00:10:51,290 --> 00:10:53,820
he ended up not partnering with me directly,

294
00:10:53,860 --> 00:10:56,850
but being really like a grounding

295
00:10:56,950 --> 00:10:59,120
force in being able to open the studio

296
00:10:59,170 --> 00:11:01,420
up from a technical aspect and

297
00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:04,100
just teaching me a lot about the craft.

298
00:11:04,130 --> 00:11:07,790
And so a lot of my early learnings

299
00:11:07,820 --> 00:11:10,270
and continued learnings came from opening

300
00:11:10,300 --> 00:11:12,140
this business and learning from Vin and

301
00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:13,510
learning on the job and figuring it out

302
00:11:13,540 --> 00:11:15,500
and messing it up and over firing kilns

303
00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:17,150
and messing up glazes and da da da da da,

304
00:11:17,180 --> 00:11:18,280
and teaching shitty classes,

305
00:11:18,330 --> 00:11:18,980
just all this

306
00:11:19,010 --> 00:11:21,990
stuff and somehow still, you know, making.

307
00:11:22,090 --> 00:11:23,870
Making it work and not going under.

308
00:11:23,930 --> 00:11:25,890
And now I think, I genuinely believe,

309
00:11:25,940 --> 00:11:27,380
I think we're one of the best,

310
00:11:27,420 --> 00:11:28,920
if not the best studios in town.

311
00:11:29,590 --> 00:11:33,070
So then when you got this idea, you know,

312
00:11:33,110 --> 00:11:34,540
obviously it was an idea at

313
00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:36,100
first and you had to kind of say, okay, well,

314
00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:38,020
what's the next step beyond

315
00:11:38,070 --> 00:11:39,620
the idea to actually get this thing?

316
00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:40,800
Was it go right to finding

317
00:11:40,830 --> 00:11:42,820
a space and then working it out,

318
00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:44,690
or do you have to source a bunch of stuff in

319
00:11:44,700 --> 00:11:47,300
order to be able to put in the space first?

320
00:11:47,850 --> 00:11:49,590
Or research competition?

321
00:11:50,450 --> 00:11:53,000
Yeah, I mean, I knew what the, you know,

322
00:11:53,020 --> 00:11:54,310
the market was.

323
00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:55,370
That's kind of the first thing

324
00:11:55,390 --> 00:11:57,280
you do in my opinion, is you say, okay, like,

325
00:11:57,300 --> 00:11:58,110
what's out there?

326
00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:01,380
Who's my competition and what is being

327
00:12:01,410 --> 00:12:03,610
offered and can I do this better? You know,

328
00:12:03,710 --> 00:12:05,310
because no matter what you do,

329
00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:07,920
unless you're in a perfect market, you might,

330
00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:08,990
you're going to always pretty

331
00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:10,870
much have some level of competition.

332
00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:12,040
And you got to.

333
00:12:12,060 --> 00:12:13,010
You got to know what you're,

334
00:12:13,070 --> 00:12:13,860
what you're going into.

335
00:12:13,930 --> 00:12:15,710
And if you can't adequately

336
00:12:16,580 --> 00:12:19,100
bring something unique, don't. Don't, you know,

337
00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:19,930
you're not ready.

338
00:12:20,050 --> 00:12:22,160
And I knew that in terms of the market,

339
00:12:22,210 --> 00:12:24,190
I knew that there was a hole in the gap.

340
00:12:24,220 --> 00:12:25,290
And things have changed now,

341
00:12:25,340 --> 00:12:27,340
but at the time, there

342
00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:31,010
was maybe two or three, like, decent studios,

343
00:12:31,190 --> 00:12:34,090
and now there's probably seven or eight. Not.

344
00:12:34,110 --> 00:12:34,980
I wouldn't say they're all decent,

345
00:12:35,010 --> 00:12:35,650
but it was just.

346
00:12:35,710 --> 00:12:38,610
I knew there was space. And then, you know,

347
00:12:38,630 --> 00:12:39,340
it just comes down

348
00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:41,250
to crunching numbers. You think, okay, well,

349
00:12:41,350 --> 00:12:43,320
how much is this studio charging for this?

350
00:12:43,370 --> 00:12:44,110
How many people do.

351
00:12:44,140 --> 00:12:45,410
How many classes? Like, what are they?

352
00:12:45,470 --> 00:12:46,440
How are they much? They're

353
00:12:46,460 --> 00:12:48,200
pulling in a month, in a year, and da, da, da,

354
00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:48,930
what are my expenses?

355
00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:49,980
How much does a place cost?

356
00:12:50,030 --> 00:12:51,000
How much can I get it for?

357
00:12:51,060 --> 00:12:52,980
And you just start trying to line stuff up. And

358
00:12:52,990 --> 00:12:55,200
I have a few ways that I kind of approach my

359
00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:57,430
finances and things like that. And then, yeah,

360
00:12:57,480 --> 00:12:58,360
just getting on the phone,

361
00:12:58,390 --> 00:12:59,370
calling real estate agents.

362
00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:00,690
I didn't have an agent or anything like that.

363
00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:02,110
I never had rented a commercial space.

364
00:13:02,130 --> 00:13:03,860
I know what the hell I was getting into.

365
00:13:04,510 --> 00:13:05,350
Just started going

366
00:13:05,370 --> 00:13:07,440
and looking at places and again, same thing,

367
00:13:07,500 --> 00:13:08,880
like learning on the job, you know,

368
00:13:08,910 --> 00:13:11,120
figuring out what kind of questions to ask,

369
00:13:11,180 --> 00:13:13,280
what kind of, you know, power I need,

370
00:13:13,330 --> 00:13:15,050
what kind of parking.

371
00:13:15,110 --> 00:13:16,090
Just all these things you don't

372
00:13:16,110 --> 00:13:17,670
think about when you're. You're, you know,

373
00:13:17,700 --> 00:13:20,090
getting into that realm of a business.

374
00:13:20,190 --> 00:13:22,700
And I had a lot of setbacks

375
00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:24,210
in the place that I ended up renting.

376
00:13:24,270 --> 00:13:26,310
And I had a lot of learning experiences.

377
00:13:26,340 --> 00:13:27,400
And this is kind

378
00:13:27,410 --> 00:13:28,930
of the theme of this whole thing, right?

379
00:13:29,050 --> 00:13:30,920
But it was just step by step. What's next?

380
00:13:30,970 --> 00:13:31,810
What do I gotta do? Okay,

381
00:13:31,830 --> 00:13:32,460
I gotta get wheels.

382
00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:33,230
Where am I gonna get them from?

383
00:13:33,260 --> 00:13:34,900
What's the best place to get them from? Okay,

384
00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:35,930
I'm gonna source them from here.

385
00:13:35,950 --> 00:13:37,030
I'm gonna order things from the States,

386
00:13:37,060 --> 00:13:38,100
or I'm gonna find things locally,

387
00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:39,010
or I'm gonna get stuff used.

388
00:13:39,050 --> 00:13:39,780
I'm refurbished.

389
00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:42,910
And how do I get a kiln? And it's just.

390
00:13:42,970 --> 00:13:45,530
It was just plug and play, every single thing.

391
00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:46,580
And that's part of

392
00:13:46,590 --> 00:13:47,430
the reason why I think, you know,

393
00:13:47,450 --> 00:13:49,250
taking the lease in March and opening in July,

394
00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:50,410
not only was.

395
00:13:50,790 --> 00:13:52,680
Not only was the, you know,

396
00:13:52,700 --> 00:13:55,020
the Renault took time primarily

397
00:13:55,070 --> 00:13:56,600
because I was kind of plugging at it, you know,

398
00:13:56,620 --> 00:13:58,470
a little bit at a time on my own. And

399
00:13:58,530 --> 00:14:00,510
With a couple of friends that my electrician,

400
00:14:00,550 --> 00:14:01,620
my really good buddy Amos,

401
00:14:01,670 --> 00:14:04,060
and my buddy Max helped me with a demo and kind

402
00:14:04,070 --> 00:14:06,130
of putting up some drywall and stuff like that.

403
00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:07,740
But it was really just every,

404
00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:09,600
every day and night in there. So slow.

405
00:14:09,730 --> 00:14:12,030
But also like having our wheels held

406
00:14:12,060 --> 00:14:13,790
up and shipping and having a kiln

407
00:14:13,860 --> 00:14:15,530
I had to go pick up from the island. It's like

408
00:14:15,550 --> 00:14:18,910
all these things and, and so, you know, you.

409
00:14:20,220 --> 00:14:23,380
I would never recommend somebody necessarily,

410
00:14:23,410 --> 00:14:24,170
so I'm just rambling,

411
00:14:24,220 --> 00:14:25,510
but I guess that's the point of the podcast.

412
00:14:25,580 --> 00:14:28,180
I would never recommend rambling.

413
00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:29,930
I would never necessarily recommend somebody

414
00:14:29,980 --> 00:14:31,430
just going head first into something like this.

415
00:14:31,460 --> 00:14:33,500
Especially when you're getting into, you know,

416
00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:34,750
a commercial space because you're

417
00:14:34,770 --> 00:14:36,760
signing a five plus year lease, right?

418
00:14:36,790 --> 00:14:37,970
And you're, you're

419
00:14:38,140 --> 00:14:39,580
on the hook for that and you're,

420
00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:41,180
you're spending thousands of dollars

421
00:14:41,230 --> 00:14:43,670
on equipment or whatever. But, you know,

422
00:14:43,730 --> 00:14:45,590
I think the point of the story

423
00:14:45,620 --> 00:14:47,410
is that if you have a goal

424
00:14:47,460 --> 00:14:50,180
and you're realistic with that goal,

425
00:14:50,230 --> 00:14:51,850
you're not just, you know, blindly

426
00:14:51,900 --> 00:14:54,900
going into some idea that you think is great,

427
00:14:54,950 --> 00:14:57,490
but the reality is it's maybe not.

428
00:14:57,900 --> 00:14:59,770
And maybe not that it's a bad idea,

429
00:14:59,790 --> 00:15:00,660
but maybe it's not profitable.

430
00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:02,550
And I figure that it would be. Sorry, Frank,

431
00:15:02,580 --> 00:15:03,290
you want to say something there?

432
00:15:03,340 --> 00:15:05,320
Yeah. Well, no, you can finish, please.

433
00:15:05,890 --> 00:15:07,500
No, I was just gonna say that like that

434
00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:08,740
that was the reason why I said, okay,

435
00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:09,420
I can do this,

436
00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:12,250
because I have a worst case scenario. And it's,

437
00:15:12,310 --> 00:15:15,630
it's basically break even or, you know,

438
00:15:15,700 --> 00:15:16,930
a couple of grand out.

439
00:15:16,990 --> 00:15:18,460
It's not that big of a deal.

440
00:15:18,580 --> 00:15:20,240
So worst case scenario,

441
00:15:20,290 --> 00:15:21,760
I learned a lot. And that's,

442
00:15:21,810 --> 00:15:23,360
that's why I did it. Right.

443
00:15:24,250 --> 00:15:26,410
Recognizing that learning is, you know,

444
00:15:26,500 --> 00:15:27,190
worst case scenario,

445
00:15:27,210 --> 00:15:27,830
at least you'll take

446
00:15:27,850 --> 00:15:29,430
away some really good lessons.

447
00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:31,200
And one of the things that's

448
00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:32,800
really standing out to me in this

449
00:15:32,860 --> 00:15:35,240
story is how much prep there was.

450
00:15:35,270 --> 00:15:36,230
But it wasn't really

451
00:15:36,290 --> 00:15:38,560
considered prep at the time, I'm sure,

452
00:15:38,620 --> 00:15:40,000
because you were getting to know the

453
00:15:40,060 --> 00:15:42,210
industry just by being a part of it,

454
00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:43,450
because you were naturally

455
00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:46,570
really interested in ceramics. I mean,

456
00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:49,630
I'd say given that you're sneaking into

457
00:15:49,690 --> 00:15:52,150
the studio and staying until 2am you're

458
00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:55,200
probably pretty passionate about the art.

459
00:15:55,380 --> 00:15:58,800
And when you have that kind of hunger for

460
00:15:58,860 --> 00:16:02,120
knowledge and the joy that you get from it,

461
00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:04,000
you kept doing it for years.

462
00:16:04,150 --> 00:16:05,690
And through all of that you met

463
00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:07,670
the people and you got to know it.

464
00:16:07,750 --> 00:16:11,560
And it's sometimes a section

465
00:16:11,660 --> 00:16:14,280
of starting a business that gets overlooked.

466
00:16:14,380 --> 00:16:16,130
People are just Like, I'm excited.

467
00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:18,190
I'm going to turn this into a business

468
00:16:18,350 --> 00:16:20,470
tomorrow and I'm going to make this happen.

469
00:16:20,500 --> 00:16:21,750
I'm going to make a name,

470
00:16:21,830 --> 00:16:23,390
I'm going to get the website

471
00:16:23,530 --> 00:16:25,220
and I'm going to just start doing this.

472
00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:26,880
And there's not always as

473
00:16:26,910 --> 00:16:29,280
much time or research put into it.

474
00:16:29,350 --> 00:16:30,820
So I wanted to highlight

475
00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:33,270
how important that has been for you.

476
00:16:33,330 --> 00:16:35,830
And you've been in business now for.

477
00:16:35,990 --> 00:16:38,730
You're coming up on three years pretty soon.

478
00:16:39,110 --> 00:16:39,570
Yep.

479
00:16:39,620 --> 00:16:41,340
Which is crazy. Way to go, man.

480
00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:44,170
Yep. Yeah, thanks. Yeah, yeah, it's been.

481
00:16:44,350 --> 00:16:45,790
It's been a journey for sure. A lot,

482
00:16:45,810 --> 00:16:46,330
A lot of learning,

483
00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:48,010
a lot of maturing, you know,

484
00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:50,610
And I was just having a conversation with,

485
00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:51,590
with Vin the other day.

486
00:16:51,610 --> 00:16:53,430
I still sent him a message and

487
00:16:53,450 --> 00:16:56,410
just like had to kind of say, you know,

488
00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:57,720
thanks for all the patience and

489
00:16:57,740 --> 00:16:59,280
the grace that you've given

490
00:16:59,340 --> 00:17:02,430
me like during this process because, you know,

491
00:17:02,450 --> 00:17:04,690
I come in pretty hot a lot of the times with

492
00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:07,470
how I think should things should be or my ideas

493
00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:09,470
or I want things done. Now let's go, let's go.

494
00:17:09,490 --> 00:17:12,180
And. And you know, you gotta have that

495
00:17:12,220 --> 00:17:13,599
energy in order to get stuff done.

496
00:17:13,630 --> 00:17:14,940
There's no doubt about it. You know,

497
00:17:14,980 --> 00:17:16,260
you're not gonna move. Right.

498
00:17:16,420 --> 00:17:17,579
And that's tough sometimes in the art

499
00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:18,940
world because a lot of times artists

500
00:17:18,980 --> 00:17:21,819
are the opposite. Right. It's like, yeah, man,

501
00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:23,220
I'll get to it. You don't worry.

502
00:17:23,339 --> 00:17:24,010
The month later,

503
00:17:24,060 --> 00:17:26,460
it's like it's on my desk. Like, I gotta,

504
00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:28,640
you know, I gotta. Whatever. So, you know,

505
00:17:28,670 --> 00:17:29,180
working in that.

506
00:17:29,220 --> 00:17:31,660
In that world is kind of counterintuitive

507
00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:34,270
in this kind of industry sometimes.

508
00:17:34,330 --> 00:17:36,660
And I think, you know, like you said,

509
00:17:36,690 --> 00:17:38,610
doing the research was realizing that there are

510
00:17:38,630 --> 00:17:41,260
a lot of people that want what I want in

511
00:17:41,290 --> 00:17:44,180
terms of a studio and a space to work out of.

512
00:17:44,250 --> 00:17:45,830
And they're addicted to this.

513
00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:47,460
I call it a sport sometimes.

514
00:17:47,490 --> 00:17:49,160
They're addicted to this craft. Right. Like,

515
00:17:49,260 --> 00:17:51,120
they love pottery and they can't stop.

516
00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:51,890
And I was the same.

517
00:17:51,950 --> 00:17:54,170
And I was in LA for about two and

518
00:17:54,190 --> 00:17:56,070
a half months right before COVID hit. And

519
00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:58,170
there was a 24 hour access studio there that

520
00:17:58,190 --> 00:17:59,580
had all the glazes and everything you want.

521
00:17:59,610 --> 00:18:01,350
They just like didn't give a shit,

522
00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:02,580
let you do whatever the hell you wanted.

523
00:18:02,610 --> 00:18:03,500
And it was the coolest

524
00:18:03,530 --> 00:18:05,440
thing ever coming out of, you know,

525
00:18:05,460 --> 00:18:09,740
a super restricting community studio in

526
00:18:09,830 --> 00:18:12,620
North Vancouver and great place, but just not.

527
00:18:12,910 --> 00:18:16,030
It's very limiting for actual growth and then

528
00:18:16,050 --> 00:18:17,770
seeing that and being like, holy shit, like,

529
00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:18,890
this is amazing,

530
00:18:19,630 --> 00:18:21,620
but it's really expensive. And like,

531
00:18:21,710 --> 00:18:23,500
how are they doing this?

532
00:18:23,550 --> 00:18:24,680
They're making money and I'm doing

533
00:18:24,700 --> 00:18:26,630
the calculations already. Like, oh shit. Like,

534
00:18:26,650 --> 00:18:28,970
this guy is probably doing okay, you know,

535
00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:30,800
not thinking about a lot of factors,

536
00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:32,410
but just realizing there's a business

537
00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:33,990
here and this guy is crushing it.

538
00:18:34,010 --> 00:18:35,160
He's got three locations

539
00:18:35,220 --> 00:18:37,000
and da da da da da. And you know,

540
00:18:37,060 --> 00:18:38,780
like seeing this model work and

541
00:18:38,790 --> 00:18:40,390
then come back up to Vancouver

542
00:18:40,490 --> 00:18:43,260
because Covid hit and realizing like, yeah,

543
00:18:43,310 --> 00:18:44,930
like there's just nothing like that here.

544
00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:45,630
And that's, that's

545
00:18:45,650 --> 00:18:47,110
how I knew we can do it.

546
00:18:47,130 --> 00:18:48,150
And that was that quote

547
00:18:48,170 --> 00:18:50,720
unquote research was realizing like, yeah,

548
00:18:50,820 --> 00:18:52,650
there's a lot of potential

549
00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:54,760
in this area and you just, you know,

550
00:18:54,780 --> 00:18:55,620
you got to see it.

551
00:18:55,710 --> 00:18:56,700
The only way to see it is to

552
00:18:56,710 --> 00:18:58,910
be in it and to do it and to, you know,

553
00:18:59,070 --> 00:19:00,130
know what people want.

554
00:19:00,260 --> 00:19:01,680
Well, there's so much in that story

555
00:19:01,710 --> 00:19:03,850
that you mentioned because, you know, you're,

556
00:19:04,660 --> 00:19:06,050
you mentioned coming in,

557
00:19:06,140 --> 00:19:07,270
being passionate and

558
00:19:07,310 --> 00:19:09,230
taking action and an entrepreneur's job,

559
00:19:09,290 --> 00:19:11,140
I think first is to be a problem solver.

560
00:19:11,180 --> 00:19:13,890
And it sounds like you were just a voracious

561
00:19:14,060 --> 00:19:15,760
problem solver as you went through

562
00:19:15,790 --> 00:19:18,150
this process of starting things up right,

563
00:19:18,290 --> 00:19:19,230
finding a way to

564
00:19:19,250 --> 00:19:21,250
get to the next problem and then, all right,

565
00:19:21,260 --> 00:19:22,510
we can solve it this way.

566
00:19:22,620 --> 00:19:25,420
But you also kind of knew where you wanted

567
00:19:25,460 --> 00:19:28,510
to go because you were modeling the LA

568
00:19:28,610 --> 00:19:30,670
studio that you had seen or you were taking

569
00:19:30,730 --> 00:19:32,860
some of the great things that you knew worked.

570
00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:34,660
So I love that strategy.

571
00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:36,900
I'm curious for like where,

572
00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:37,960
where does that problem.

573
00:19:38,030 --> 00:19:39,330
Have you always been an entrepreneur?

574
00:19:39,380 --> 00:19:41,210
Is that something that you just kind of

575
00:19:41,340 --> 00:19:43,370
have done in the past and you problem solve?

576
00:19:43,420 --> 00:19:45,410
Because not everybody is like that.

577
00:19:45,500 --> 00:19:46,340
So I'm curious, like,

578
00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:47,850
where does that come from?

579
00:19:49,070 --> 00:19:51,260
Yeah, I think I've, since

580
00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:53,250
day one always been very, very,

581
00:19:53,300 --> 00:19:56,310
very entrepreneurial.

582
00:19:56,350 --> 00:19:57,460
But more like you said,

583
00:19:57,480 --> 00:19:59,370
the problem solving aspect of things,

584
00:20:00,070 --> 00:20:01,590
first and foremost, it's an,

585
00:20:01,620 --> 00:20:03,240
it's an interest in something.

586
00:20:04,110 --> 00:20:06,370
I definitely have been, you know,

587
00:20:07,620 --> 00:20:08,780
clinically diagnosed with

588
00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:11,960
ADHD as a kid. Hyperactive, you know, needing,

589
00:20:12,030 --> 00:20:13,130
needing to like,

590
00:20:13,180 --> 00:20:13,900
have something to do

591
00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:15,370
or I'm going to get destructive.

592
00:20:15,420 --> 00:20:17,610
And so I get hyper

593
00:20:17,660 --> 00:20:21,680
focused on something and I can't stop.

594
00:20:21,740 --> 00:20:23,530
And if I love it, I love it. And that's,

595
00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:27,940
that's usually where my interests come from.

596
00:20:27,990 --> 00:20:30,350
Is that sort of just like, wow, this is cool.

597
00:20:30,370 --> 00:20:31,840
And I want to figure out everything about this.

598
00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:33,810
But usually what happens is I get myself

599
00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:35,910
in a pickle with something and it's like, okay,

600
00:20:35,950 --> 00:20:37,640
I bought this motorcycle for,

601
00:20:37,700 --> 00:20:39,780
you know, 500 bucks. It doesn't run.

602
00:20:39,910 --> 00:20:41,360
I don't have any money. I

603
00:20:41,380 --> 00:20:42,580
got to figure out how to get this thing running

604
00:20:42,630 --> 00:20:44,880
and sell it or whatever. And like, okay, carbs.

605
00:20:44,910 --> 00:20:45,840
What are carburetors? Okay,

606
00:20:45,860 --> 00:20:47,100
I got to go figure that out.

607
00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:48,800
And so that's typically how

608
00:20:48,820 --> 00:20:50,620
I operate is kind of out of necessity.

609
00:20:50,690 --> 00:20:51,530
Either financial

610
00:20:51,630 --> 00:20:53,720
because I hoop myself or because, like,

611
00:20:53,770 --> 00:20:55,220
I just gotta accomplish

612
00:20:55,330 --> 00:20:57,180
this goal that I've set out to do.

613
00:20:57,210 --> 00:20:58,670
And if I'm interested enough,

614
00:20:58,760 --> 00:20:59,420
nothing's gonna

615
00:20:59,450 --> 00:21:02,370
stop me from getting it done. And yeah, that's.

616
00:21:02,430 --> 00:21:03,720
That's always how I've been.

617
00:21:03,820 --> 00:21:04,360
That's what I was

618
00:21:04,380 --> 00:21:05,910
curious about too, because, like,

619
00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:07,780
there was a significant

620
00:21:07,930 --> 00:21:09,810
startup cost to doing something like this.

621
00:21:09,850 --> 00:21:10,780
It wasn't like you were starting

622
00:21:10,810 --> 00:21:12,330
an online part of pottery

623
00:21:12,370 --> 00:21:14,640
class where there's no startup cost. You're

624
00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:16,880
investing in a space and kilns and a lot.

625
00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:18,590
So there's a lot of capital.

626
00:21:19,270 --> 00:21:20,750
How much was it that you kind

627
00:21:20,770 --> 00:21:22,380
of started committing yourself

628
00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:25,010
and then having to create that, like,

629
00:21:25,060 --> 00:21:26,730
focus and passion on, all right, I

630
00:21:26,740 --> 00:21:28,560
got to figure out how to make this profitable.

631
00:21:28,670 --> 00:21:30,680
Or was there, I don't know. Or

632
00:21:30,710 --> 00:21:34,350
was it more intentional and reasoned and, like,

633
00:21:34,380 --> 00:21:35,420
careful along the way

634
00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:37,030
to get to that place where you say, okay,

635
00:21:37,110 --> 00:21:38,400
I'm opening my doors?

636
00:21:40,110 --> 00:21:41,140
Well, like I said, once

637
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:43,140
I committed to doing it, there was like,

638
00:21:43,220 --> 00:21:45,740
it didn't really matter what the cost

639
00:21:45,790 --> 00:21:48,090
was in terms of, you know, startup. Like, I

640
00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:49,760
factored all those things in, right? If it was.

641
00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:51,210
If it was not feasible,

642
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:52,150
I wouldn't have done it,

643
00:21:52,210 --> 00:21:53,930
but I knew that, okay,

644
00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:55,190
here's a chunk of money that I'm going

645
00:21:55,190 --> 00:21:56,560
to need to get this thing off the road.

646
00:21:56,660 --> 00:21:58,410
This is how many, you know, months, years,

647
00:21:58,440 --> 00:21:59,930
or whatever it's going to take me to

648
00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:01,990
break even or to at least stay afloat.

649
00:22:02,090 --> 00:22:03,330
And worst case scenario, okay,

650
00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:03,900
I can do this.

651
00:22:03,950 --> 00:22:05,670
And then, you know, like, financially,

652
00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:08,120
the last four years, five years,

653
00:22:08,190 --> 00:22:09,360
I've done well with my acting.

654
00:22:09,390 --> 00:22:11,540
I've done well with my other gigs. I've very,

655
00:22:11,570 --> 00:22:13,550
very smart with my money. I don't.

656
00:22:14,090 --> 00:22:15,630
I don't spend stupidly.

657
00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:17,850
I sell every car I buy for more money,

658
00:22:17,910 --> 00:22:19,250
every bike I buy for more. Like,

659
00:22:19,270 --> 00:22:21,500
I'm always smart

660
00:22:21,570 --> 00:22:24,050
and sensible with my spending habits.

661
00:22:24,110 --> 00:22:27,410
And so that's allowed me to be very financially

662
00:22:27,470 --> 00:22:30,590
secure and live a pretty fun life.

663
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:32,800
And so I took the money that I had,

664
00:22:32,820 --> 00:22:35,180
and I actually was wise enough

665
00:22:35,250 --> 00:22:38,210
to still take out a loan. And the, you know,

666
00:22:38,270 --> 00:22:39,290
idea was that I have

667
00:22:39,330 --> 00:22:40,730
my own finances to cover that.

668
00:22:40,790 --> 00:22:41,830
Worst case scenario, again,

669
00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:42,430
I'm not going to be on

670
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:43,870
the hook for this Loan I can,

671
00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:45,650
but I'm not going to be shit out of luck and

672
00:22:45,670 --> 00:22:48,880
not be able to pay rent, you know, right now.

673
00:22:48,940 --> 00:22:50,840
So I still took out a loan.

674
00:22:50,940 --> 00:22:52,370
I did the calculations on

675
00:22:52,470 --> 00:22:53,750
interest and all this kind of stuff,

676
00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:56,770
and I went for it. And, you know, doing.

677
00:22:56,950 --> 00:22:59,170
I'd say, like,

678
00:22:59,230 --> 00:23:02,480
I did everything that I could myself.

679
00:23:02,630 --> 00:23:03,440
I did the renos,

680
00:23:03,490 --> 00:23:05,440
I built the tables. I, you know, I had my.

681
00:23:05,490 --> 00:23:07,290
My electrician friend do the work,

682
00:23:07,310 --> 00:23:08,690
and I was side by side with him,

683
00:23:08,730 --> 00:23:09,850
helping him out, doing this, doing that.

684
00:23:09,870 --> 00:23:11,910
So, like, I saved myself probably,

685
00:23:13,060 --> 00:23:13,870
I'd say, like,

686
00:23:13,900 --> 00:23:17,080
80 to 100 grand by doing this stuff myself.

687
00:23:18,170 --> 00:23:18,720
Damn.

688
00:23:18,810 --> 00:23:20,980
And so if I didn't have those skills,

689
00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:24,720
I don't think those numbers would be awesome.

690
00:23:24,770 --> 00:23:26,570
I could do it, right? Yeah,

691
00:23:26,630 --> 00:23:27,190
I don't think it would.

692
00:23:27,220 --> 00:23:28,660
I don't think I could financially

693
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:30,720
justify it, you know, from a, like, oh,

694
00:23:30,740 --> 00:23:32,820
I have an idea perspective, you know,

695
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,820
and now, you know, since last year, we're, We.

696
00:23:36,910 --> 00:23:38,840
We broke even and we're, you know,

697
00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:39,710
now very profitable,

698
00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:40,680
and we're very profit.

699
00:23:40,780 --> 00:23:45,040
We're doing good, but we're, you know,

700
00:23:45,150 --> 00:23:46,380
had I had.

701
00:23:46,670 --> 00:23:48,490
Had to pay for people

702
00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:50,710
to do all this work for me, like, I just.

703
00:23:50,730 --> 00:23:51,690
I don't think I would have done it.

704
00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:53,720
So, you know, there are barriers

705
00:23:53,780 --> 00:23:56,190
to doing a business. And, and usually, like,

706
00:23:56,210 --> 00:23:57,170
if I'm going to approach something,

707
00:23:57,220 --> 00:23:58,200
it's because I.

708
00:23:58,350 --> 00:24:00,110
Maybe I don't have the immediate knowledge,

709
00:24:00,210 --> 00:24:01,850
but I have the skill and

710
00:24:01,900 --> 00:24:04,260
the motivation to figure it out,

711
00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:06,160
and I'm going to do it myself and not

712
00:24:06,230 --> 00:24:07,680
necessarily have to rely on anybody else.

713
00:24:07,710 --> 00:24:08,590
And that's what this kind

714
00:24:08,610 --> 00:24:10,450
of business was to me, you know, sounds like.

715
00:24:10,460 --> 00:24:12,710
You bank on yourself confidently,

716
00:24:12,810 --> 00:24:14,280
which isn't really awesome.

717
00:24:14,310 --> 00:24:14,870
You gotta.

718
00:24:14,940 --> 00:24:17,480
Yeah. Like, it just. Not everybody

719
00:24:17,550 --> 00:24:19,520
necessarily would look at that and be like, oh,

720
00:24:19,550 --> 00:24:20,240
I can't do that,

721
00:24:20,270 --> 00:24:21,440
or there's no way I could be that person.

722
00:24:21,470 --> 00:24:22,300
Because there's probably lots of

723
00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:24,040
ceramicists out there that might even be

724
00:24:24,110 --> 00:24:26,080
maybe better than you were at ceramics

725
00:24:26,150 --> 00:24:28,780
before you opened this business. Right. Like,

726
00:24:28,850 --> 00:24:30,440
but they weren't willing to go

727
00:24:30,460 --> 00:24:31,870
through all the things that you

728
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:33,970
did to get to the point of, like, all right,

729
00:24:33,990 --> 00:24:34,640
I'm going to. Like,

730
00:24:34,660 --> 00:24:36,050
entrepreneurship and the passion

731
00:24:36,090 --> 00:24:37,680
are two completely different skill sets.

732
00:24:37,700 --> 00:24:38,580
And it sounds like you got that

733
00:24:38,610 --> 00:24:41,830
entrepreneurship drive thing going for you.

734
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:42,570
And the.

735
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:44,080
And the passion was really just like,

736
00:24:44,100 --> 00:24:45,790
the big why behind it.

737
00:24:46,330 --> 00:24:48,870
Yeah. You know, it's interesting because, like,

738
00:24:49,530 --> 00:24:51,230
I do so many things in

739
00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:52,940
my life that kind of people say, like, wow,

740
00:24:52,970 --> 00:24:54,380
you just went for it and you weren't afraid,

741
00:24:54,410 --> 00:24:55,120
and you just did it.

742
00:24:55,140 --> 00:24:57,660
And a lot of times there are

743
00:24:57,680 --> 00:24:59,430
things that I actually don't care about.

744
00:24:59,490 --> 00:25:00,660
Like when I say don't care about,

745
00:25:00,700 --> 00:25:02,220
it's not that I don't care about my studio.

746
00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:03,340
I don't care about Mac and career.

747
00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:05,180
I care tremendously about these things

748
00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:07,040
that I've created and worked so hard for,

749
00:25:07,150 --> 00:25:08,590
but they're not things that I

750
00:25:08,620 --> 00:25:10,470
have felt like if I fail at this,

751
00:25:10,530 --> 00:25:11,560
I'm going to be embarrassed,

752
00:25:11,590 --> 00:25:13,660
or if I don't do this,

753
00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:14,560
or if I put this out,

754
00:25:14,590 --> 00:25:15,620
people are going to mock me.

755
00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:17,480
It's my art, it's my thing. Like,

756
00:25:17,510 --> 00:25:18,240
I have a hard time,

757
00:25:18,270 --> 00:25:19,200
believe it or not,

758
00:25:19,550 --> 00:25:22,730
putting my own ceramic work out there,

759
00:25:22,790 --> 00:25:24,650
because even though I know it's

760
00:25:24,690 --> 00:25:27,280
comparable to kind of what's out there, and

761
00:25:27,730 --> 00:25:31,190
I can make a variety of things at a, you know,

762
00:25:31,620 --> 00:25:33,990
a decent level, blah, blah, blah, blah,

763
00:25:34,820 --> 00:25:37,130
I am more afraid of having my

764
00:25:37,190 --> 00:25:39,170
artwork that I have some sort of

765
00:25:39,210 --> 00:25:41,950
personal attachment to because I

766
00:25:42,020 --> 00:25:44,840
felt like it was special to me be judged.

767
00:25:45,340 --> 00:25:47,200
Whereas something like a pottery studio,

768
00:25:47,250 --> 00:25:48,290
I'm creating a space for

769
00:25:48,310 --> 00:25:50,200
other people to enjoy and be creative,

770
00:25:50,290 --> 00:25:52,840
and that is just a business.

771
00:25:52,980 --> 00:25:53,990
And same thing with acting.

772
00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:56,620
I am a vessel for other people's work.

773
00:25:57,570 --> 00:25:59,240
Sometimes I'm good, sometimes I'm bad.

774
00:25:59,290 --> 00:26:00,600
That's on me to do the best that I can.

775
00:26:00,620 --> 00:26:01,960
But at the end of the day, like, I'm

776
00:26:01,980 --> 00:26:04,220
there to service somebody else's creativity.

777
00:26:04,770 --> 00:26:08,390
And so that's why

778
00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:11,410
I do these things in that capacity, because it.

779
00:26:11,550 --> 00:26:13,900
I'm not afraid of the outcome.

780
00:26:14,010 --> 00:26:16,780
But there are a lot of things that I would

781
00:26:16,810 --> 00:26:18,380
like to do and wish that I had the balls

782
00:26:18,410 --> 00:26:20,190
to do that other people, you know, be like,

783
00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:20,790
it'd be easier just to

784
00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:23,030
put your shit on Etsy. Like, that terrifies me.

785
00:26:23,170 --> 00:26:23,610
Right.

786
00:26:23,700 --> 00:26:24,200
Believe it or not.

787
00:26:24,230 --> 00:26:25,120
Really? Why?

788
00:26:25,270 --> 00:26:28,110
Yeah, because it's, you know, it's this, like,

789
00:26:28,210 --> 00:26:30,790
kind of said it's this feeling. And I do. I.

790
00:26:30,830 --> 00:26:33,360
So I use my photography, for example.

791
00:26:33,550 --> 00:26:34,710
I used to do a lot of photography,

792
00:26:34,730 --> 00:26:35,430
a lot of travel,

793
00:26:35,490 --> 00:26:36,330
and I've taken some.

794
00:26:36,380 --> 00:26:38,340
Some beautiful photos and I put them out there,

795
00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:40,180
and I have thousands of photos

796
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:41,740
I've never put out there or I will,

797
00:26:41,790 --> 00:26:42,850
hopefully one day. But anyway,

798
00:26:42,940 --> 00:26:43,780
the point is that you

799
00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:45,420
put out something that you feel like.

800
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:47,740
This is something that I resonate, I feel.

801
00:26:47,870 --> 00:26:49,510
I feel something about, and

802
00:26:49,530 --> 00:26:51,610
I hope other people enjoy it and they like it,

803
00:26:51,740 --> 00:26:53,140
and then they don't, or they.

804
00:26:53,170 --> 00:26:55,020
You don't get the response or feedback

805
00:26:55,050 --> 00:26:57,460
to something that you do enjoy and love,

806
00:26:57,570 --> 00:26:59,050
but you get an element

807
00:26:59,110 --> 00:27:01,180
out of that for something else.

808
00:27:01,210 --> 00:27:03,260
In your work that you didn't really find as

809
00:27:03,290 --> 00:27:05,810
appealing in your own personal craft or art.

810
00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:07,150
And then you start to skew

811
00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:09,290
how you think you should

812
00:27:09,370 --> 00:27:12,130
present or do something based on, you know,

813
00:27:12,150 --> 00:27:13,690
what you think other people might like. And

814
00:27:13,710 --> 00:27:16,080
then you become conscious about your creations,

815
00:27:16,180 --> 00:27:18,070
and that's just an artist,

816
00:27:18,380 --> 00:27:20,510
you know, conundrum. It's. It's a.

817
00:27:20,540 --> 00:27:22,130
It's a tale of time. Right.

818
00:27:22,260 --> 00:27:23,450
And to learn to get over that.

819
00:27:23,490 --> 00:27:24,020
So when it comes

820
00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:26,120
to my ceramics and my. My pottery,

821
00:27:27,060 --> 00:27:28,650
I've also been in some.

822
00:27:28,730 --> 00:27:29,520
Some scenarios

823
00:27:29,570 --> 00:27:31,330
in the studio in the past where, you know,

824
00:27:31,350 --> 00:27:32,430
I was kind of.

825
00:27:33,300 --> 00:27:35,470
The whole issue with that studio was a lot of.

826
00:27:35,540 --> 00:27:37,000
A lot of people's work

827
00:27:37,050 --> 00:27:38,650
was judged in a negative light,

828
00:27:38,780 --> 00:27:42,170
and that's what Mud Lab is. Stands against.

829
00:27:42,260 --> 00:27:43,450
We're here to you to create.

830
00:27:43,510 --> 00:27:45,210
And so I kind of got this feeling, oh,

831
00:27:45,230 --> 00:27:47,050
my stuff isn't good enough, or it's not.

832
00:27:47,130 --> 00:27:47,960
Not like this person's,

833
00:27:47,980 --> 00:27:49,010
or I will never

834
00:27:49,090 --> 00:27:51,100
be able to be as good. Dah, dah, dah, dah.

835
00:27:51,130 --> 00:27:52,720
And so you just kind of withdraw

836
00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:54,560
from putting your art out there.

837
00:27:54,660 --> 00:27:55,960
But I still have a love and a

838
00:27:55,980 --> 00:27:58,290
passion for the craft and the community,

839
00:27:58,350 --> 00:27:59,640
and I want to create something in that.

840
00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:01,530
And so that's why I opened the studio

841
00:28:01,670 --> 00:28:03,290
wasn't because I want to sell my art.

842
00:28:03,350 --> 00:28:04,100
I want to sell my work.

843
00:28:04,130 --> 00:28:05,370
It's because I love pottery,

844
00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:06,370
and I want to be in this,

845
00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:07,810
and I want to create a space that.

846
00:28:07,850 --> 00:28:10,790
That's unique and that didn't feel as

847
00:28:11,330 --> 00:28:13,660
personal to me because it's a brand, it's a.

848
00:28:13,690 --> 00:28:14,270
It's a business.

849
00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:14,940
It's something that's

850
00:28:14,970 --> 00:28:16,940
out there that people see Mud Lab, they

851
00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:19,360
don't see Andres and his creativity, and they.

852
00:28:19,450 --> 00:28:21,920
They don't feel like it's not tangible. Like,

853
00:28:21,930 --> 00:28:23,420
they hold in their hand and say, oh, yeah,

854
00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:25,470
it doesn't feel quite right or whatever. Right.

855
00:28:25,890 --> 00:28:27,090
So that's kind of what.

856
00:28:27,150 --> 00:28:28,100
That's all it sounds like.

857
00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:29,070
There's a little bit of.

858
00:28:29,140 --> 00:28:30,160
If you were to put your

859
00:28:30,210 --> 00:28:32,250
stuff out there to be judged,

860
00:28:32,350 --> 00:28:34,110
it veers a little too close

861
00:28:34,180 --> 00:28:36,940
to what else is happening in Vancouver.

862
00:28:37,120 --> 00:28:39,370
And is there a chance or is there any

863
00:28:39,430 --> 00:28:41,710
fear that it might then be the first step

864
00:28:41,740 --> 00:28:44,280
in your studio becoming like other studios?

865
00:28:45,700 --> 00:28:47,140
You mean in terms of, like, my.

866
00:28:47,180 --> 00:28:50,300
Pottery or just that people start to then

867
00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:53,500
judge pottery at Mud Lab, you know, and then.

868
00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:54,990
Yeah, I mean, I think I've done

869
00:28:55,010 --> 00:28:56,720
a good job of keeping myself, like,

870
00:28:56,750 --> 00:28:57,830
separate from the business.

871
00:28:57,930 --> 00:28:58,420
Yeah.

872
00:28:58,520 --> 00:28:58,910
I don't.

873
00:28:58,970 --> 00:29:00,600
Looking at the online presence, I would.

874
00:29:00,630 --> 00:29:01,660
I would say I had a Hard

875
00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:03,790
time finding a picture of you. I was like,

876
00:29:03,830 --> 00:29:05,240
where is this guy?

877
00:29:05,740 --> 00:29:06,430
There's a couple

878
00:29:06,490 --> 00:29:08,070
in there for sure. But it's, you know, it's.

879
00:29:08,130 --> 00:29:09,280
It's only because

880
00:29:09,430 --> 00:29:11,900
it's relevant, right? Like, it's, you know,

881
00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:13,960
teaching a class or it's like

882
00:29:14,380 --> 00:29:16,940
something specific for, you know, it's. It's.

883
00:29:16,980 --> 00:29:18,660
I don't plaster myself on it.

884
00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:19,700
I'm not the brand,

885
00:29:19,870 --> 00:29:21,480
and I never want it to be.

886
00:29:21,980 --> 00:29:23,690
And I think that's, you know,

887
00:29:23,820 --> 00:29:25,500
important to keep in mind, too,

888
00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:26,420
when you're doing these things that are.

889
00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:27,590
That are for other people,

890
00:29:27,770 --> 00:29:29,030
is that you're not.

891
00:29:29,170 --> 00:29:30,350
You're not the studio.

892
00:29:30,420 --> 00:29:31,080
You own and

893
00:29:31,110 --> 00:29:33,550
run and operate the studio. And yes, you.

894
00:29:33,620 --> 00:29:36,590
You impart everything that is, you know, living

895
00:29:36,620 --> 00:29:38,390
and breathing in that studio, but you're.

896
00:29:38,510 --> 00:29:39,410
You have to separate

897
00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:41,390
yourself from being the studio.

898
00:29:41,450 --> 00:29:43,150
And so no matter what I do,

899
00:29:43,190 --> 00:29:44,780
if I put my art out there, and I do.

900
00:29:44,830 --> 00:29:46,470
I do put stuff out there, I do sell stuff,

901
00:29:46,490 --> 00:29:47,380
I do get commissions. I've

902
00:29:47,390 --> 00:29:49,110
got working coffee shops, I've got, you know,

903
00:29:49,130 --> 00:29:50,270
requests for restaurants, all kind of.

904
00:29:50,290 --> 00:29:52,020
It's not like I don't do anything.

905
00:29:52,150 --> 00:29:53,430
I just don't push it.

906
00:29:53,470 --> 00:29:55,600
I don't put it out there. Like, buy my stuff,

907
00:29:55,630 --> 00:29:56,470
look at my art,

908
00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:57,780
and I will one day.

909
00:29:57,870 --> 00:29:59,110
I've got a great collection of things

910
00:29:59,130 --> 00:30:00,820
that I'm now really super proud of,

911
00:30:00,950 --> 00:30:01,930
and I want to build a website

912
00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:03,500
and I want to put that stuff out there.

913
00:30:03,670 --> 00:30:06,460
But that has always been a little

914
00:30:06,510 --> 00:30:09,340
bit tougher for me to take that leap.

915
00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:10,630
But I don't think

916
00:30:10,650 --> 00:30:12,560
that if I ever, you know, did that, it would.

917
00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:13,330
It would affect.

918
00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:15,500
Even if I was dog shit or whatever,

919
00:30:15,590 --> 00:30:16,450
it wouldn't affect the situation.

920
00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:18,080
It's surprising that you haven't

921
00:30:18,140 --> 00:30:19,540
started an Instagram account

922
00:30:19,630 --> 00:30:22,170
just for all your ceramics works yet.

923
00:30:22,670 --> 00:30:25,620
Dude, if I. If I started a Instagram

924
00:30:25,670 --> 00:30:27,320
page for all the shit I do, I'd have.

925
00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:28,990
I already have like seven Instagrams,

926
00:30:29,050 --> 00:30:30,590
so I'd

927
00:30:30,610 --> 00:30:32,780
have a lot more. But, yeah, you know, it's. I.

928
00:30:32,870 --> 00:30:34,780
Something that I wanted to do early on,

929
00:30:34,870 --> 00:30:36,480
and then opening the studio, you know,

930
00:30:36,500 --> 00:30:37,320
it also just.

931
00:30:37,460 --> 00:30:39,670
It took me into a different direction in this.

932
00:30:39,710 --> 00:30:41,990
In this. This art, right? In this.

933
00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:43,410
In this craft. Because

934
00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:44,870
now I'm focusing on operating a business.

935
00:30:44,890 --> 00:30:46,450
I don't have time to sit down and

936
00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:49,270
throw 40 bowls or plates or whatever.

937
00:30:49,330 --> 00:30:52,560
I have to, you know, register classes,

938
00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:53,860
and I have to do my accounting, and

939
00:30:53,870 --> 00:30:55,270
I've got this and I got that, and I got orders.

940
00:30:55,290 --> 00:30:55,970
I got to pick up clay.

941
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:56,560
I've got to figure out

942
00:30:56,580 --> 00:30:57,840
this I got to train teachers. I've

943
00:30:57,860 --> 00:30:59,570
got to figure, you know, membership shelving.

944
00:30:59,630 --> 00:31:01,010
Da da da da, da da.

945
00:31:01,090 --> 00:31:02,340
It's really interesting that you

946
00:31:02,370 --> 00:31:05,210
didn't use your brand for this like,

947
00:31:05,270 --> 00:31:06,440
that you're not leveraging

948
00:31:06,540 --> 00:31:08,390
to create your brand in a way.

949
00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:10,850
I actually think there's. You know,

950
00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:11,470
on one hand,

951
00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:12,920
you can't take the brand with

952
00:31:12,940 --> 00:31:15,390
you wherever you go, but on, you know, on the.

953
00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:17,460
On the hand that we're. We're looking at,

954
00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:21,120
you are able to have more time to yourself.

955
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:22,550
People aren't expecting

956
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:24,320
you to show up to everything.

957
00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:27,210
You can hand more off to other people

958
00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:30,320
that you deem capable in certain situations.

959
00:31:30,380 --> 00:31:32,710
And no one's gonna go in and say, hey,

960
00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:34,180
I want class with Andres.

961
00:31:34,310 --> 00:31:36,370
Like, I really want him, because he's

962
00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:37,870
the celebrity of this studio.

963
00:31:37,930 --> 00:31:40,910
He's the guy who started it. You know, like,

964
00:31:41,090 --> 00:31:42,990
we got lucky that you were our teacher

965
00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,840
when I went in with that group and, you know,

966
00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:46,980
and that we knew each other,

967
00:31:47,030 --> 00:31:48,390
but if somebody else had

968
00:31:48,410 --> 00:31:51,550
been there that was our teacher, I wouldn't.

969
00:31:51,590 --> 00:31:52,810
I wouldn't have known.

970
00:31:53,380 --> 00:31:56,280
Well, that's. Absolutely. And that's

971
00:31:56,310 --> 00:31:58,560
the thing about Mudlab is that

972
00:31:58,670 --> 00:32:00,450
everybody that is teaching at Mud

973
00:32:00,500 --> 00:32:02,810
Lab is phenomenal at what they do.

974
00:32:03,380 --> 00:32:05,740
And not to put anybody down, but, you know,

975
00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:08,980
pottery has traditionally been a craft

976
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:10,870
that is hard to teach and hard to learn.

977
00:32:11,030 --> 00:32:12,310
And you doing it, you know,

978
00:32:12,330 --> 00:32:13,630
you can maybe, you know, attest

979
00:32:13,730 --> 00:32:15,150
it may have been challenging and difficult,

980
00:32:15,210 --> 00:32:16,610
but you did it.

981
00:32:16,660 --> 00:32:17,200
Yeah.

982
00:32:17,340 --> 00:32:18,110
And you walked

983
00:32:18,130 --> 00:32:19,940
out of there with a bowl. You know,

984
00:32:20,070 --> 00:32:21,950
I was really proud of my bowl.

985
00:32:22,010 --> 00:32:24,050
It was. It was good, man. I was.

986
00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:25,550
As you should be, man.

987
00:32:25,610 --> 00:32:27,670
As you should be. Absolutely. And.

988
00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:29,930
And that's, you know. Yeah, obviously,

989
00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:31,640
there's different levels of teachers. Like,

990
00:32:31,660 --> 00:32:32,190
for example,

991
00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:33,230
people will come to the

992
00:32:33,250 --> 00:32:35,110
studio to take a class with Vin. They will

993
00:32:35,130 --> 00:32:36,510
come to the studio to take a class with me,

994
00:32:36,530 --> 00:32:37,780
or they'll repeat a class.

995
00:32:37,870 --> 00:32:39,270
But a lot of people who come, they just.

996
00:32:39,290 --> 00:32:40,060
They just want to try pottery,

997
00:32:40,070 --> 00:32:41,390
and they heard this is a great place to do it.

998
00:32:41,410 --> 00:32:42,750
Our Google reviews are great,

999
00:32:42,770 --> 00:32:44,000
and they're honest.

1000
00:32:44,190 --> 00:32:45,420
And so people come and they do that,

1001
00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:46,300
and they have a good experience,

1002
00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:47,690
and they learn something no matter what,

1003
00:32:47,740 --> 00:32:48,830
no matter who they have.

1004
00:32:48,980 --> 00:32:50,790
But, yeah, absolutely, people will take

1005
00:32:50,810 --> 00:32:52,000
a workshop with us because

1006
00:32:52,030 --> 00:32:54,550
of the teacher, so that. That's there, too,

1007
00:32:54,590 --> 00:32:56,370
but not on any kind of, like,

1008
00:32:56,420 --> 00:32:57,550
celebrity status level

1009
00:32:57,590 --> 00:32:59,710
or he's the owner of this. Here he comes.

1010
00:32:59,850 --> 00:33:00,780
Nothing like that,

1011
00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:03,020
you know? Yeah. And sometimes, you know,

1012
00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:05,640
I walk in there and, like, I'm not.

1013
00:33:05,670 --> 00:33:06,470
I'm not there

1014
00:33:06,570 --> 00:33:08,160
as Much as I was, you know, in the beginning.

1015
00:33:08,190 --> 00:33:09,540
I was teaching three classes a

1016
00:33:09,550 --> 00:33:11,200
week plus the events and Vin was

1017
00:33:11,220 --> 00:33:13,090
doing the other classes and I was, you know,

1018
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:13,950
doing all the kilns

1019
00:33:13,970 --> 00:33:15,370
with Vin or whatever and the glazes.

1020
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:16,850
And so I was there every day, you know,

1021
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:18,570
and so I was a big part of that.

1022
00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:20,450
And I was much more,

1023
00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:22,150
much more like a presence in

1024
00:33:22,170 --> 00:33:24,330
there for the first like year and a half.

1025
00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:26,160
And I think that's also something to

1026
00:33:26,260 --> 00:33:28,640
say kind of to your point of me

1027
00:33:28,660 --> 00:33:30,830
not having to be there now is that

1028
00:33:30,850 --> 00:33:32,560
you have to be there at the beginning.

1029
00:33:32,620 --> 00:33:35,430
Like you have to set this up and understand

1030
00:33:35,490 --> 00:33:37,150
the ins and outs of everything. You know,

1031
00:33:37,170 --> 00:33:39,240
when I walk in there and I introduce

1032
00:33:39,270 --> 00:33:40,780
myself to a class and I try my best

1033
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:42,940
to go with the first few classes

1034
00:33:43,110 --> 00:33:44,420
when we have a new session or whatever,

1035
00:33:44,460 --> 00:33:46,330
just to get my face out and say, hey,

1036
00:33:47,660 --> 00:33:49,350
and just so people know who I am.

1037
00:33:49,380 --> 00:33:51,870
But also I come in there now and

1038
00:33:51,890 --> 00:33:54,270
I don't know a lot of people and

1039
00:33:54,290 --> 00:33:55,680
I walk in there and I say, hey, how you doing?

1040
00:33:55,750 --> 00:33:56,630
Are you here for a drop in?

1041
00:33:56,650 --> 00:33:59,940
And they're like, yeah, why? Like, oh, cool.

1042
00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:01,830
Nowhere is, you know, where to go.

1043
00:34:01,850 --> 00:34:03,600
Okay, so Vancouver.

1044
00:34:03,740 --> 00:34:06,020
That sounds like everyone in Vancouver.

1045
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:08,830
It's, you know, it is, it is what it is.

1046
00:34:08,850 --> 00:34:09,469
Like people don't

1047
00:34:09,510 --> 00:34:10,550
necessarily know who I am. It's fine,

1048
00:34:10,570 --> 00:34:11,800
I don't need them to. But you know,

1049
00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:12,840
I also want to come

1050
00:34:12,860 --> 00:34:14,320
in there and people to say, hey, Andres,

1051
00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:15,239
how you doing? Da da da da.

1052
00:34:15,260 --> 00:34:16,030
Or ask me a question.

1053
00:34:16,110 --> 00:34:18,050
And people who know me, they do that, right?

1054
00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:20,600
And it's a very social, fun place.

1055
00:34:20,659 --> 00:34:21,989
But you know,

1056
00:34:22,050 --> 00:34:22,889
I kind of jokingly,

1057
00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:23,909
a lot of times, well,

1058
00:34:24,010 --> 00:34:25,940
I'm always a little coy and shy to say, oh,

1059
00:34:25,949 --> 00:34:27,230
I'm the studio owner here.

1060
00:34:27,350 --> 00:34:29,760
I usually like introduce myself as the janitor.

1061
00:34:30,500 --> 00:34:31,219
Honest to God,

1062
00:34:31,260 --> 00:34:32,600
I've cleaned the toilets more than

1063
00:34:32,630 --> 00:34:35,570
anybody else has and I clean up after

1064
00:34:35,620 --> 00:34:37,460
people and I do this and I do that. And

1065
00:34:37,540 --> 00:34:42,219
that's what you have to do to understand A,

1066
00:34:42,260 --> 00:34:43,310
how your business works,

1067
00:34:43,370 --> 00:34:44,080
how to improve it,

1068
00:34:44,110 --> 00:34:45,580
how to make it run as efficiently as you

1069
00:34:45,620 --> 00:34:47,880
can from a grounds up level and then B,

1070
00:34:47,909 --> 00:34:49,639
also how to be fair in

1071
00:34:49,670 --> 00:34:51,480
training people and compensating people.

1072
00:34:51,820 --> 00:34:52,860
Because if you don't have an

1073
00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:54,340
understanding of how long it takes

1074
00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:57,910
to do a task or you don't understand, you know,

1075
00:34:58,000 --> 00:34:59,470
what the levels are

1076
00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:01,480
in terms of progression in a task,

1077
00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:03,660
you have unreal expectations on people

1078
00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:06,960
and that's not a sustainable way to have

1079
00:35:06,980 --> 00:35:11,260
a business that is very manually focused.

1080
00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:13,320
It's A business that you have to

1081
00:35:13,420 --> 00:35:15,200
have people trained to

1082
00:35:15,240 --> 00:35:17,100
do things with their hands physically,

1083
00:35:17,210 --> 00:35:19,440
and if you don't understand what that takes,

1084
00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:21,310
you're off the mark and then you're going

1085
00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:23,140
to just end up having a lot of conflicts.

1086
00:35:23,700 --> 00:35:25,540
Yeah. So first year and a half, two years,

1087
00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:27,720
was like a lot of just doing everything.

1088
00:35:29,090 --> 00:35:30,950
That's the entrepreneur journey,

1089
00:35:31,740 --> 00:35:33,360
being responsible for everything.

1090
00:35:33,700 --> 00:35:35,600
I wanted to ask about something else, though,

1091
00:35:35,650 --> 00:35:37,490
because what I noticed is you

1092
00:35:37,530 --> 00:35:39,660
started with a passion towards pottery,

1093
00:35:39,740 --> 00:35:41,910
but then when you get into this,

1094
00:35:41,980 --> 00:35:44,590
your focus sounds to me like it became

1095
00:35:44,660 --> 00:35:48,070
much more upon the customer experience and

1096
00:35:48,140 --> 00:35:50,410
the brand that you were putting out. That way,

1097
00:35:50,590 --> 00:35:52,090
maybe you could talk a little bit about

1098
00:35:52,150 --> 00:35:54,530
what that is for you and how that came.

1099
00:35:54,660 --> 00:35:56,600
How much of it was chosen beforehand

1100
00:35:56,650 --> 00:35:59,000
and how much of it emerged through

1101
00:35:59,050 --> 00:36:00,770
the experience of actually training and doing.

1102
00:36:00,790 --> 00:36:03,070
It with people in terms

1103
00:36:03,100 --> 00:36:05,340
of the brand and stuff like that, or, well.

1104
00:36:05,380 --> 00:36:06,770
The brand and the customer experience.

1105
00:36:06,830 --> 00:36:07,470
Because at least what

1106
00:36:07,500 --> 00:36:08,730
stood out to me was you mentioned, like,

1107
00:36:08,750 --> 00:36:11,730
I went to other studios and things felt judgy,

1108
00:36:11,790 --> 00:36:13,230
for example. Right. And you're like,

1109
00:36:13,260 --> 00:36:15,440
I want a place where that is not the case,

1110
00:36:15,490 --> 00:36:16,610
where it's more welcoming,

1111
00:36:16,670 --> 00:36:18,570
more everyone can do pottery.

1112
00:36:18,590 --> 00:36:19,600
You leave with a great pot.

1113
00:36:19,650 --> 00:36:20,330
Frank is proud

1114
00:36:20,350 --> 00:36:23,980
of his stuff when he gets done. And, you know,

1115
00:36:24,010 --> 00:36:26,110
I was like, to me, really proud.

1116
00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:26,450
I just.

1117
00:36:26,490 --> 00:36:27,380
I just have.

1118
00:36:27,410 --> 00:36:28,820
Are you using it, dude?

1119
00:36:30,570 --> 00:36:33,370
My favorite small, like, chip bowls.

1120
00:36:33,550 --> 00:36:34,100
This is the

1121
00:36:34,130 --> 00:36:35,600
customer experience, right. So, like,

1122
00:36:35,620 --> 00:36:36,280
how much of that did

1123
00:36:36,300 --> 00:36:37,660
that emerge through you doing it?

1124
00:36:37,690 --> 00:36:39,100
Or how much of that was chosen before?

1125
00:36:39,130 --> 00:36:40,240
And it's like, that's what I.

1126
00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:42,030
What we're going to do, you know?

1127
00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:44,300
Well, like, in terms of the

1128
00:36:44,720 --> 00:36:49,350
heart of what the studio is, was. Was always.

1129
00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:51,430
I want people to always have that

1130
00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:53,920
childlike wonder of what they're making, even

1131
00:36:53,940 --> 00:36:57,940
if I've lost it, you know, And I. You know,

1132
00:36:58,010 --> 00:37:00,930
we're all guilty of accidentally imposing

1133
00:37:00,990 --> 00:37:03,170
our thoughts on people's creative processes,

1134
00:37:03,270 --> 00:37:04,120
whatever it is. Right.

1135
00:37:04,140 --> 00:37:05,830
And you got to be very careful of that

1136
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:08,130
because everybody has different sensitivities.

1137
00:37:08,310 --> 00:37:10,140
And even if you mean well. So for me,

1138
00:37:10,170 --> 00:37:10,730
it was like,

1139
00:37:10,790 --> 00:37:13,350
that's always was forefront is that I want

1140
00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:15,410
people to come in here and I want them to

1141
00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:17,440
feel free to make whatever the hell they want.

1142
00:37:17,550 --> 00:37:19,510
And even if it doesn't match my

1143
00:37:19,550 --> 00:37:21,620
aesthetic or my thought process on

1144
00:37:21,700 --> 00:37:24,460
what is good pottery, functional pottery, like,

1145
00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:25,820
I can still have my opinion,

1146
00:37:25,910 --> 00:37:27,240
and believe me, I do.

1147
00:37:27,590 --> 00:37:29,330
But that shouldn't affect

1148
00:37:29,500 --> 00:37:31,750
how somebody feels about creating.

1149
00:37:31,810 --> 00:37:32,410
Right.

1150
00:37:33,390 --> 00:37:35,890
And that's important because, you know,

1151
00:37:35,940 --> 00:37:37,180
nothing is for everybody,

1152
00:37:37,220 --> 00:37:40,120
and everybody isn't for one thing. You know, so

1153
00:37:40,620 --> 00:37:43,990
you can't expect to fit everybody's, you know,

1154
00:37:44,050 --> 00:37:45,110
palm in their hand. Like, for example,

1155
00:37:45,130 --> 00:37:46,430
here's a mug I'm holding, right? Like,

1156
00:37:46,470 --> 00:37:47,280
this works for me.

1157
00:37:47,310 --> 00:37:48,560
This isn't going to work for somebody else.

1158
00:37:48,590 --> 00:37:50,160
But the creator of this shouldn't feel bad

1159
00:37:50,190 --> 00:37:53,300
that they made this, you know, oops. But that.

1160
00:37:53,340 --> 00:37:54,610
So that was the point.

1161
00:37:55,260 --> 00:37:57,760
And so that was always number one.

1162
00:37:57,830 --> 00:37:59,030
And then b, you know,

1163
00:37:59,110 --> 00:38:00,210
I wanted to create a cool,

1164
00:38:00,260 --> 00:38:01,700
cool space that looked good,

1165
00:38:01,740 --> 00:38:04,490
felt good and inspired people,

1166
00:38:04,540 --> 00:38:06,010
but wasn't imposing.

1167
00:38:06,430 --> 00:38:07,260
Sometimes you go

1168
00:38:07,340 --> 00:38:08,890
in studios and things like that,

1169
00:38:08,980 --> 00:38:10,440
and you feel the presence of.

1170
00:38:10,530 --> 00:38:11,690
Of the owner or you feel the

1171
00:38:11,710 --> 00:38:13,150
presence of the aesthetic of the studio,

1172
00:38:13,180 --> 00:38:16,160
and it kind of makes you think, oh,

1173
00:38:16,210 --> 00:38:17,720
this is sort of what I should

1174
00:38:17,770 --> 00:38:19,100
be maybe gearing myself

1175
00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:20,750
instead of just being like, okay, like, shit,

1176
00:38:20,780 --> 00:38:21,300
this is clay.

1177
00:38:21,340 --> 00:38:22,050
What am I going to make?

1178
00:38:22,090 --> 00:38:24,310
How do I do that? Oh, fuck. This is. Well,

1179
00:38:24,340 --> 00:38:26,100
it's crazy, but it's. I'm happy with it.

1180
00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:27,360
I'm going to go with it.

1181
00:38:27,700 --> 00:38:28,780
And so that was always,

1182
00:38:28,860 --> 00:38:31,290
always going to be the fabric of the studio.

1183
00:38:31,350 --> 00:38:32,810
But in terms of just, you know,

1184
00:38:32,910 --> 00:38:34,770
figuring out branding and

1185
00:38:34,790 --> 00:38:36,670
aesthetics and stuff like that, those things,

1186
00:38:36,740 --> 00:38:38,690
I had an idea, but they change, you know,

1187
00:38:38,710 --> 00:38:40,300
and your ideas and how you start,

1188
00:38:40,340 --> 00:38:42,350
oftentimes where you end up is very different.

1189
00:38:42,380 --> 00:38:43,200
But the core,

1190
00:38:43,660 --> 00:38:45,090
a moment that I just

1191
00:38:45,140 --> 00:38:46,350
remembered from when I was there,

1192
00:38:46,380 --> 00:38:47,910
that really captures what you just said,

1193
00:38:47,940 --> 00:38:50,530
was there was a plate being

1194
00:38:50,590 --> 00:38:52,780
made and it was getting really thin,

1195
00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:54,900
and this was on the wheel, and

1196
00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:57,490
then it split and it ripped along the sides,

1197
00:38:57,550 --> 00:38:59,870
and one half of the plate

1198
00:38:59,900 --> 00:39:02,330
just drooped down and became flat,

1199
00:39:02,390 --> 00:39:04,220
and the other half still stayed up,

1200
00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:05,530
but the rest of it was connected,

1201
00:39:05,590 --> 00:39:07,240
except for where it ripped.

1202
00:39:07,780 --> 00:39:09,740
And you were like, no, no, no, no.

1203
00:39:09,780 --> 00:39:10,080
Keep it.

1204
00:39:10,110 --> 00:39:12,920
Like, don't trash it. Put that in the kiln.

1205
00:39:13,030 --> 00:39:14,650
That is really. It is.

1206
00:39:14,740 --> 00:39:15,780
And I was like,

1207
00:39:15,910 --> 00:39:18,870
he's got a really good point. Like,

1208
00:39:19,010 --> 00:39:20,410
that is sick.

1209
00:39:21,300 --> 00:39:23,140
And so I have that now.

1210
00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:25,530
I took it and, like, it got fired.

1211
00:39:25,620 --> 00:39:27,320
And I was just like, yeah,

1212
00:39:27,620 --> 00:39:28,610
they didn't want it. So I was like,

1213
00:39:28,620 --> 00:39:29,240
I'm gonna keep that,

1214
00:39:29,270 --> 00:39:30,960
if that's okay. Like, you mind, like.

1215
00:39:31,030 --> 00:39:33,930
And I put that on my coffee table. It's dope.

1216
00:39:34,720 --> 00:39:38,700
Yeah. Well, that's it, right? And that is.

1217
00:39:39,090 --> 00:39:41,140
Oftentimes when you get into the depth

1218
00:39:41,170 --> 00:39:43,050
of something creative or something

1219
00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:44,640
just that you're building and working on,

1220
00:39:44,700 --> 00:39:47,630
you lose that feeling of like,

1221
00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:49,010
this is just cool.

1222
00:39:49,150 --> 00:39:51,350
And I wouldn't keep.

1223
00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:54,110
Likely wouldn't keep that plate for myself,

1224
00:39:54,240 --> 00:39:56,650
but I know the feeling that

1225
00:39:56,710 --> 00:39:59,020
you have when you're like, yeah, this is cool.

1226
00:39:59,130 --> 00:40:01,080
And that's something that I never want to

1227
00:40:01,100 --> 00:40:03,020
take away from somebody and impart on somebody,

1228
00:40:03,050 --> 00:40:04,620
that this actually isn't cool

1229
00:40:04,720 --> 00:40:06,740
unless they come to me and say, hey,

1230
00:40:06,910 --> 00:40:08,820
do you think that this mug is too heavy?

1231
00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:09,900
And I'll hold it and I'll say,

1232
00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:11,260
you know what? Yeah,

1233
00:40:11,390 --> 00:40:13,540
it feels a bit heavy for this handle.

1234
00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:14,950
And we teach, that we teach,

1235
00:40:15,050 --> 00:40:16,720
we teach people to be

1236
00:40:16,910 --> 00:40:20,080
aware of function and feeling. And we don't.

1237
00:40:20,110 --> 00:40:20,720
We're not just like,

1238
00:40:20,750 --> 00:40:23,330
everything is great, it's art. Yeah. You know,

1239
00:40:23,380 --> 00:40:24,310
but we never

1240
00:40:24,370 --> 00:40:27,540
want somebody to not have this, like,

1241
00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:30,910
just cool feeling about what they're creating.

1242
00:40:30,990 --> 00:40:31,970
And I'm glad you said that

1243
00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:33,360
because when people make these like,

1244
00:40:33,380 --> 00:40:34,190
funky plates in our,

1245
00:40:34,210 --> 00:40:35,090
in our one off classes

1246
00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:36,860
which happens or bowls or whatever,

1247
00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:39,470
it rips and they go, you know,

1248
00:40:39,490 --> 00:40:40,390
I could touch one.

1249
00:40:40,510 --> 00:40:42,550
Hey, man, look, like, it's art now. Like,

1250
00:40:42,570 --> 00:40:44,070
it's beautiful. You made this. Like,

1251
00:40:44,110 --> 00:40:45,590
let's fire this shit and glaze it.

1252
00:40:45,610 --> 00:40:46,430
You're gonna love it.

1253
00:40:46,450 --> 00:40:48,090
And we've had people like, you know, say,

1254
00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:49,080
not trash it. I don't

1255
00:40:49,100 --> 00:40:50,470
want it. And da, da, da. And fine, you know,

1256
00:40:50,510 --> 00:40:52,200
I'm not going to force you to keep your, your,

1257
00:40:52,260 --> 00:40:53,070
your plate or whatever,

1258
00:40:53,090 --> 00:40:53,860
your bowl or whatever.

1259
00:40:53,910 --> 00:40:55,800
But that's a beautiful thing.

1260
00:40:55,830 --> 00:40:58,050
And that to me was what I remember

1261
00:40:58,990 --> 00:41:01,310
loving about pottery and ceramics.

1262
00:41:01,370 --> 00:41:03,360
And I want to see that in the space.

1263
00:41:04,220 --> 00:41:05,860
And that's what to me, like,

1264
00:41:05,950 --> 00:41:06,910
if we lose that,

1265
00:41:06,970 --> 00:41:09,560
if I start to realize that I'm coming

1266
00:41:09,590 --> 00:41:11,430
in there and I'm imparting some

1267
00:41:11,470 --> 00:41:12,940
sort of different energy in the studio,

1268
00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:14,360
I gotta step away.

1269
00:41:15,780 --> 00:41:16,450
And that's,

1270
00:41:16,540 --> 00:41:18,310
that's a reality because it can happen, right?

1271
00:41:18,330 --> 00:41:19,450
And like I go in there now and I

1272
00:41:19,460 --> 00:41:21,030
see people like making a mess and

1273
00:41:21,050 --> 00:41:22,090
not cleaning the thing properly

1274
00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:23,210
or putting the thing in the wrong place.

1275
00:41:23,240 --> 00:41:24,790
I gotta say something. Hey, you know,

1276
00:41:24,810 --> 00:41:26,490
this is not how we do this here.

1277
00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:28,470
You can't put the clay in the, you know,

1278
00:41:28,490 --> 00:41:29,340
the glaze bucket.

1279
00:41:29,390 --> 00:41:30,370
That's not how it works.

1280
00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:30,910
And you gotta

1281
00:41:30,930 --> 00:41:33,730
try and approach things as like, you know, nice

1282
00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:36,040
as you can without stifling people. Those are,

1283
00:41:36,100 --> 00:41:36,850
those are important things.

1284
00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:38,050
I get a lot of shit for that, right?

1285
00:41:38,080 --> 00:41:39,710
Like put the chairs the right way or put

1286
00:41:39,730 --> 00:41:41,190
this here or do that here. But that's, those

1287
00:41:41,210 --> 00:41:43,380
are just function and that's, that's, that,

1288
00:41:43,430 --> 00:41:44,790
that's what we set out. Those are rules.

1289
00:41:44,850 --> 00:41:47,020
But outside of that, how you create,

1290
00:41:47,140 --> 00:41:48,960
go for it, man. Have fun. Like just,

1291
00:41:49,010 --> 00:41:50,030
just express yourself.

1292
00:41:50,140 --> 00:41:51,470
That sounds very cool.

1293
00:41:57,660 --> 00:41:59,910
Hey, nerdpreneurs. Before we finish off

1294
00:41:59,940 --> 00:42:01,910
this interview with Andres from Mud Lab.

1295
00:42:01,980 --> 00:42:03,340
I actually wanted to invite

1296
00:42:03,400 --> 00:42:06,010
you on a little side quest. This quest,

1297
00:42:06,070 --> 00:42:07,430
if you choose to accept it,

1298
00:42:07,460 --> 00:42:10,030
is to check out patreon.com

1299
00:42:10,340 --> 00:42:12,850
nerdpreneur I'll link it in the show notes.

1300
00:42:12,950 --> 00:42:14,180
That's where you can sign up to be

1301
00:42:14,200 --> 00:42:18,470
a member of our awesome nerdpreneur board. Now,

1302
00:42:18,500 --> 00:42:19,460
like most side quests,

1303
00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:21,050
you don't actually have to do it, but

1304
00:42:21,090 --> 00:42:23,460
if you do sign up to be a member of our board,

1305
00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:25,550
it's going to help you level up faster,

1306
00:42:25,740 --> 00:42:26,790
gain more skills,

1307
00:42:26,860 --> 00:42:28,080
and it'll be really fun,

1308
00:42:28,210 --> 00:42:29,820
just like a good side quest.

1309
00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:31,530
Now board members get extended

1310
00:42:31,590 --> 00:42:33,480
versions of over 20 Nerdpreneur

1311
00:42:33,530 --> 00:42:35,760
interviews and talking nerdy episodes.

1312
00:42:35,890 --> 00:42:37,820
Take this Mud Lab episode, for example.

1313
00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:40,040
If you sign up to be a member of our board,

1314
00:42:40,210 --> 00:42:42,140
you'd get to hear Andres talk about

1315
00:42:42,240 --> 00:42:44,140
how he got really good at teaching

1316
00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:46,570
his keys to hiring great people,

1317
00:42:46,710 --> 00:42:49,070
his customer acquisition strategy,

1318
00:42:49,180 --> 00:42:50,970
and why he doesn't use surveys

1319
00:42:51,030 --> 00:42:52,950
to find out what his clients like.

1320
00:42:53,100 --> 00:42:54,420
The end of this conversation

1321
00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:56,050
is by far the most valuable.

1322
00:42:56,140 --> 00:42:59,970
So if you want to hear it, go to patreon.com

1323
00:43:00,140 --> 00:43:02,110
nerdpreneur and you'll be able to

1324
00:43:02,140 --> 00:43:03,970
add a special link to your podcast feed

1325
00:43:04,030 --> 00:43:05,960
so our full uninterrupted episodes

1326
00:43:06,010 --> 00:43:08,820
get to to land in your podcatcher.

1327
00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:10,420
Thanks for listening. Now,

1328
00:43:10,440 --> 00:43:13,030
let's get back to the show. Well,

1329
00:43:13,050 --> 00:43:14,860
let's go into some random rolls.

1330
00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:17,110
Yes. As far as the random roll section goes,

1331
00:43:17,140 --> 00:43:19,610
did you get the link for the online dice?

1332
00:43:19,700 --> 00:43:21,070
Oh, I did, yeah. Let's.

1333
00:43:21,140 --> 00:43:24,490
Let's crack this open here. One sec. Okay,

1334
00:43:24,540 --> 00:43:25,590
walk me through what we're doing here.

1335
00:43:25,610 --> 00:43:29,140
Again, there is a quick roll tab, and

1336
00:43:29,160 --> 00:43:31,810
on that are a bunch of different D2, D3, D4.

1337
00:43:31,860 --> 00:43:33,210
All the way at the right is D100.

1338
00:43:33,260 --> 00:43:35,640
So just click that and tell us.

1339
00:43:35,660 --> 00:43:37,020
What number and 100.

1340
00:43:37,090 --> 00:43:40,490
Okay, we got 23.

1341
00:43:40,820 --> 00:43:46,710
23. That is. Do you follow any sports?

1342
00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:49,400
And why not?

1343
00:43:49,500 --> 00:43:52,220
Religiously? And I never have.

1344
00:43:52,410 --> 00:43:54,160
I played competitive tennis growing up.

1345
00:43:54,180 --> 00:43:55,840
I played at university

1346
00:43:55,940 --> 00:43:57,470
and coached for many years.

1347
00:43:57,640 --> 00:43:59,240
We didn't have a TV growing up.

1348
00:43:59,300 --> 00:44:00,910
We lost our TV when I was like 11.

1349
00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:03,460
And so that just stopped me from engaging with

1350
00:44:03,490 --> 00:44:05,270
anything like televised or anything like that.

1351
00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:05,950
And I just never,

1352
00:44:05,990 --> 00:44:06,660
never got the habit

1353
00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:09,120
of watching sports, like watching, you know,

1354
00:44:09,150 --> 00:44:11,040
playoff games and getting

1355
00:44:11,070 --> 00:44:12,620
into things when there's a lot of hype.

1356
00:44:12,640 --> 00:44:15,760
But I don't follow any sports unless.

1357
00:44:15,790 --> 00:44:18,790
You consider pottery a sport.

1358
00:44:18,930 --> 00:44:20,630
A sport. I tell people, I say,

1359
00:44:20,650 --> 00:44:21,430
this is a tough sport.

1360
00:44:21,490 --> 00:44:22,890
I think you do mention That

1361
00:44:24,180 --> 00:44:25,260
I always say that it's

1362
00:44:25,280 --> 00:44:26,820
a tough sport on your body because, you know,

1363
00:44:26,880 --> 00:44:28,810
you're hunched over and it's very physical.

1364
00:44:28,860 --> 00:44:31,240
But yeah, okay, here. Oh, shit. Okay,

1365
00:44:31,270 --> 00:44:32,840
we got 92.

1366
00:44:33,490 --> 00:44:35,610
If your life were a movie right now,

1367
00:44:35,700 --> 00:44:37,110
what would the title be?

1368
00:44:40,050 --> 00:44:40,950
Geez.

1369
00:44:45,610 --> 00:44:46,910
Hecticness.

1370
00:44:48,300 --> 00:44:49,360
Hecticness.

1371
00:44:51,140 --> 00:44:55,440
Yeah. I think maybe like not unknown,

1372
00:44:55,530 --> 00:44:58,310
but kind of like. Yeah, I don't know. Hectic

1373
00:44:58,340 --> 00:45:01,910
might be a good hecticness. Yeah, that's.

1374
00:45:02,010 --> 00:45:03,360
That's an interesting question.

1375
00:45:03,950 --> 00:45:05,830
I think the fact that I don't have an answer

1376
00:45:05,890 --> 00:45:09,120
says a lot about where my life is at.

1377
00:45:09,150 --> 00:45:11,720
It's a very interesting time. Just

1378
00:45:11,750 --> 00:45:14,050
in terms of how much you want me to go into.

1379
00:45:14,430 --> 00:45:16,360
Shoot shit out as long as you want.

1380
00:45:17,140 --> 00:45:18,740
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Sometimes people

1381
00:45:18,760 --> 00:45:20,140
are like rapid fire and I'm like, you know,

1382
00:45:20,160 --> 00:45:22,950
I really feel like what I want to say we.

1383
00:45:22,970 --> 00:45:24,280
Have rapid fire after this,

1384
00:45:24,310 --> 00:45:26,160
but these are a little bit longer, if you want.

1385
00:45:27,320 --> 00:45:29,160
Okay. Yeah, no, it's, you know, it's an

1386
00:45:29,180 --> 00:45:31,240
interesting time in my life because, you know,

1387
00:45:31,260 --> 00:45:32,640
the business is doing really well where I'm

1388
00:45:32,660 --> 00:45:35,150
thinking of expanding or opening up some sort

1389
00:45:35,170 --> 00:45:37,570
of side business that's related but different.

1390
00:45:37,990 --> 00:45:39,640
And my acting career is doing really well.

1391
00:45:39,700 --> 00:45:41,190
And there's a lot,

1392
00:45:41,250 --> 00:45:42,450
like up in the air,

1393
00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:43,350
but a lot that has

1394
00:45:43,370 --> 00:45:44,940
grown and developed and it's like,

1395
00:45:45,070 --> 00:45:47,280
what's coming up next? I don't know.

1396
00:45:47,360 --> 00:45:50,150
No one ever really does, but like, in my field,

1397
00:45:50,210 --> 00:45:51,030
in terms of acting

1398
00:45:51,050 --> 00:45:52,630
and other stuff that I do, like, there's just.

1399
00:45:52,680 --> 00:45:54,760
You just never know what's going to happen.

1400
00:45:56,010 --> 00:45:57,450
And the trajectory is that

1401
00:45:57,470 --> 00:45:58,560
I'm going to hopefully just

1402
00:45:58,610 --> 00:46:00,740
continue to do well and grow in that. And

1403
00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:02,180
then I have this business, like what I want.

1404
00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:03,140
Do I want to expand,

1405
00:46:03,180 --> 00:46:03,730
Do I want to sell?

1406
00:46:03,750 --> 00:46:04,880
Do I want to do this? And these are like,

1407
00:46:04,930 --> 00:46:06,720
serious questions because they affect.

1408
00:46:06,850 --> 00:46:08,900
They affect how, you know,

1409
00:46:09,080 --> 00:46:10,340
not only I move,

1410
00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:12,700
but how hundreds of

1411
00:46:12,720 --> 00:46:13,830
people that I have now created

1412
00:46:13,860 --> 00:46:16,820
this community with are affected. Right.

1413
00:46:16,880 --> 00:46:17,920
And do we.

1414
00:46:17,970 --> 00:46:18,930
Do we change things up

1415
00:46:18,950 --> 00:46:21,100
or do we go the same and da, da, da. So, like,

1416
00:46:21,260 --> 00:46:22,610
where I'm at in my life is

1417
00:46:22,700 --> 00:46:25,370
very reflective on what I've built.

1418
00:46:25,500 --> 00:46:26,910
Not so much about, like,

1419
00:46:27,050 --> 00:46:28,720
what do I just want to do?

1420
00:46:28,870 --> 00:46:30,270
And that's something that I've never

1421
00:46:30,330 --> 00:46:32,570
really had to consider in my life,

1422
00:46:33,110 --> 00:46:35,030
is that when I make a decision,

1423
00:46:35,210 --> 00:46:38,270
it affects a large amount of people, you know,

1424
00:46:38,370 --> 00:46:40,860
not in a serious way,

1425
00:46:40,880 --> 00:46:42,110
but it affects the

1426
00:46:42,130 --> 00:46:43,470
way that they operate or whatever.

1427
00:46:43,510 --> 00:46:45,740
And so it's an interesting place. Yeah.

1428
00:46:45,780 --> 00:46:47,140
It's not just about you anymore.

1429
00:46:47,200 --> 00:46:47,470
Right.

1430
00:46:47,530 --> 00:46:48,780
You have a whole thing You've built

1431
00:46:48,820 --> 00:46:50,110
with people and you pay people

1432
00:46:50,140 --> 00:46:52,450
and you've got community. I mean, like, it's.

1433
00:46:52,620 --> 00:46:54,110
It's that responsibility you have,

1434
00:46:54,140 --> 00:46:55,470
but also something that's probably.

1435
00:46:55,570 --> 00:46:57,520
You must feel a lot of pride around that, too,

1436
00:46:57,550 --> 00:46:58,910
or proud of the whole thing.

1437
00:46:58,950 --> 00:47:02,610
Yeah, you know, Yeah, I am. I am now. I'm. I'm.

1438
00:47:02,660 --> 00:47:06,580
I'm really proud. But again, like, I,

1439
00:47:06,680 --> 00:47:07,440
I'm so lucky

1440
00:47:07,470 --> 00:47:10,620
with the people that I have, that have.

1441
00:47:10,700 --> 00:47:11,480
Have come into

1442
00:47:11,550 --> 00:47:13,360
my life through this, but have, you know,

1443
00:47:13,430 --> 00:47:15,720
committed and dedicated to the studio. Like, I,

1444
00:47:15,890 --> 00:47:16,550
I built this.

1445
00:47:16,580 --> 00:47:17,540
There's no doubt about it.

1446
00:47:17,600 --> 00:47:19,150
But we wouldn't be

1447
00:47:19,180 --> 00:47:21,950
anything without the people that, that we have.

1448
00:47:22,530 --> 00:47:25,360
And so I'm like, I'm just. I'm almost, like,

1449
00:47:25,660 --> 00:47:26,530
proud that I didn't

1450
00:47:26,550 --> 00:47:29,470
manage to fuck this up, like, with people,

1451
00:47:29,970 --> 00:47:32,470
because that I don't think a lot of.

1452
00:47:33,010 --> 00:47:34,010
I don't think it's talked

1453
00:47:34,030 --> 00:47:35,600
enough about in terms of, like, business.

1454
00:47:35,650 --> 00:47:38,390
And when you have an idea, like you, unless

1455
00:47:38,420 --> 00:47:40,140
you're just doing something on your own, like,

1456
00:47:40,180 --> 00:47:43,550
you have to learn how to handle yourself

1457
00:47:43,660 --> 00:47:46,790
around people and how to communicate

1458
00:47:46,850 --> 00:47:49,140
your ideas and get things done in a way

1459
00:47:49,160 --> 00:47:52,870
that is mutually beneficial and is, you know,

1460
00:47:53,050 --> 00:47:55,370
that's the toughest thing is for me is.

1461
00:47:55,540 --> 00:47:56,760
And I say dealing with people,

1462
00:47:56,790 --> 00:47:57,740
I don't mean that in a negative way,

1463
00:47:57,760 --> 00:47:59,990
but having to interact with

1464
00:48:00,030 --> 00:48:01,760
people on a daily basis in a

1465
00:48:01,790 --> 00:48:05,240
business or a boss setting, like, that's tough.

1466
00:48:05,700 --> 00:48:06,780
Do that the right way.

1467
00:48:06,840 --> 00:48:09,030
And the fact that I still have

1468
00:48:09,070 --> 00:48:10,970
the same people that I started with

1469
00:48:11,510 --> 00:48:12,880
and that people haven't just up and quit,

1470
00:48:12,910 --> 00:48:13,560
a few people have left.

1471
00:48:13,590 --> 00:48:15,860
You know, not everything's perfect, but

1472
00:48:15,990 --> 00:48:18,370
the fact that the majority of folks are still,

1473
00:48:18,460 --> 00:48:19,970
still here and they're happy

1474
00:48:20,390 --> 00:48:21,630
says that I think that's

1475
00:48:21,650 --> 00:48:23,930
what I'm most proud of. Because, you know,

1476
00:48:24,100 --> 00:48:26,500
I know that I'm a fun, outgoing guy. Hey,

1477
00:48:26,520 --> 00:48:28,070
Andres is a good, fun dude, but, like,

1478
00:48:28,140 --> 00:48:30,140
I'm not always the easiest person to deal with.

1479
00:48:30,180 --> 00:48:31,170
There's no doubt about that.

1480
00:48:31,220 --> 00:48:32,300
And when I have an idea,

1481
00:48:32,340 --> 00:48:33,570
I want something done. Like,

1482
00:48:33,690 --> 00:48:35,440
I'm going to get it done or want to get.

1483
00:48:35,460 --> 00:48:36,730
And that can rub people the wrong way.

1484
00:48:36,830 --> 00:48:38,620
And so that's what I think I'm most proud of,

1485
00:48:38,650 --> 00:48:42,210
is that I've learned that has been the

1486
00:48:42,230 --> 00:48:45,160
hardest lesson for me, and again, not perfect.

1487
00:48:45,300 --> 00:48:46,700
It's been a long

1488
00:48:46,730 --> 00:48:48,420
journey of discovery in that capacity.

1489
00:48:48,530 --> 00:48:49,880
But when people say,

1490
00:48:49,940 --> 00:48:51,520
you must be so proud you built this. Yeah,

1491
00:48:51,620 --> 00:48:54,220
I'm proud of the community and I'm

1492
00:48:54,250 --> 00:48:56,820
proud that I've changed and I've grown, I've

1493
00:48:56,850 --> 00:48:59,250
developed and matured a lot through this. That

1494
00:48:59,270 --> 00:49:01,470
is what I am without a doubt, the most proud.

1495
00:49:02,110 --> 00:49:04,670
Nice. Well, we're going to transition

1496
00:49:04,730 --> 00:49:06,390
into the rapid fire section.

1497
00:49:06,510 --> 00:49:06,860
Cool.

1498
00:49:06,910 --> 00:49:08,570
So good luck.

1499
00:49:09,110 --> 00:49:10,220
No long winded answers.

1500
00:49:10,270 --> 00:49:12,470
I'll try my best. Godspeed.

1501
00:49:12,650 --> 00:49:13,950
First one I want to fire off

1502
00:49:13,990 --> 00:49:17,220
here is within five words or less.

1503
00:49:17,760 --> 00:49:20,220
How would you define a nerd.

1504
00:49:22,470 --> 00:49:26,380
Super fixated on something nice.

1505
00:49:27,890 --> 00:49:29,390
DC or Marvel?

1506
00:49:30,610 --> 00:49:31,390
Neither.

1507
00:49:31,890 --> 00:49:33,700
Favorite Spider man actor.

1508
00:49:35,200 --> 00:49:36,510
Could not name one.

1509
00:49:36,970 --> 00:49:39,500
An actor that I see that I see their faces.

1510
00:49:39,570 --> 00:49:40,530
And that's bad.

1511
00:49:40,570 --> 00:49:41,730
And I shouldn't be interrupting you,

1512
00:49:41,750 --> 00:49:43,320
but I see their faces and Tom Holland.

1513
00:49:43,360 --> 00:49:44,050
Is that a guy? I think.

1514
00:49:44,110 --> 00:49:45,070
Yeah, that's it.

1515
00:49:45,720 --> 00:49:47,000
Toby Maguire. There you go.

1516
00:49:47,020 --> 00:49:49,620
Let's go see another Toby fan. Thank you.

1517
00:49:50,010 --> 00:49:51,740
I was wondering,

1518
00:49:52,050 --> 00:49:53,650
the Kirsten Dunst scene, you know,

1519
00:49:53,670 --> 00:49:54,260
that lives in my mind.

1520
00:49:54,280 --> 00:49:55,470
The upside down one.

1521
00:49:55,930 --> 00:49:57,650
Yes. That was him, right?

1522
00:49:57,670 --> 00:49:59,690
Yeah, it was. That was correct. See,

1523
00:49:59,710 --> 00:50:01,320
he got the right answer on that one.

1524
00:50:04,180 --> 00:50:06,680
What is your go to karaoke song?

1525
00:50:08,180 --> 00:50:09,400
Sweet Child of mine?

1526
00:50:09,450 --> 00:50:11,880
Although I should never sing that in public.

1527
00:50:13,780 --> 00:50:16,360
How many cats is too many cats?

1528
00:50:17,740 --> 00:50:18,620
I say one,

1529
00:50:18,660 --> 00:50:20,110
but it's gonna piss off a lot of people,

1530
00:50:20,140 --> 00:50:21,280
so I'll say three.

1531
00:50:21,860 --> 00:50:22,300
Three.

1532
00:50:22,360 --> 00:50:23,050
All right.

1533
00:50:23,620 --> 00:50:24,060
Wow.

1534
00:50:24,120 --> 00:50:25,450
A man of the people.

1535
00:50:26,260 --> 00:50:27,240
We're okay pissing off.

1536
00:50:27,270 --> 00:50:28,570
And three cats.

1537
00:50:29,740 --> 00:50:30,850
Man of the people.

1538
00:50:30,980 --> 00:50:32,450
Yeah. Three cats is a lot.

1539
00:50:32,500 --> 00:50:34,680
Two of you got friends, and three,

1540
00:50:34,750 --> 00:50:35,700
you're doing it for yourself.

1541
00:50:35,760 --> 00:50:36,360
So anyway,

1542
00:50:36,430 --> 00:50:38,200
which Harry Potter book

1543
00:50:38,620 --> 00:50:41,450
or movie hit you the hardest?

1544
00:50:41,620 --> 00:50:42,850
Never read a book.

1545
00:50:43,020 --> 00:50:44,210
Couldn't remember the name of the movie.

1546
00:50:44,260 --> 00:50:47,390
You've never read a book that's never.

1547
00:50:47,410 --> 00:50:48,680
Read a Harry Potter book?

1548
00:50:48,840 --> 00:50:49,840
I could probably list the amount

1549
00:50:49,860 --> 00:50:51,410
of books I've read on two hands.

1550
00:50:52,110 --> 00:50:53,210
I've never read a Harry Potter.

1551
00:50:53,240 --> 00:50:54,200
That's how you have all this

1552
00:50:54,260 --> 00:50:55,700
time to do all the things you

1553
00:50:55,750 --> 00:50:58,700
say that you do is no books, no tv, no movies?

1554
00:50:59,280 --> 00:51:00,290
Kind of something like that.

1555
00:51:00,320 --> 00:51:01,470
But I've gotten a lot more into

1556
00:51:01,530 --> 00:51:05,220
movies and TVs lately. TVs, TV shows. Just.

1557
00:51:05,270 --> 00:51:06,560
Just because I'm. I'm.

1558
00:51:06,700 --> 00:51:08,160
I'm slower now. Like, I'm not.

1559
00:51:08,200 --> 00:51:09,800
I don't always have to do something.

1560
00:51:09,840 --> 00:51:11,100
I kind of want to sit back sometimes.

1561
00:51:11,120 --> 00:51:11,870
So I've been watching a little

1562
00:51:11,890 --> 00:51:13,610
more TV and movies and stuff like that.

1563
00:51:13,660 --> 00:51:16,030
But reading is. I love reading. I just.

1564
00:51:16,130 --> 00:51:17,110
I never take the

1565
00:51:17,140 --> 00:51:19,510
time to be inspired to read. But that way.

1566
00:51:19,570 --> 00:51:20,280
Fair enough.

1567
00:51:20,860 --> 00:51:21,810
Is there any

1568
00:51:21,900 --> 00:51:24,120
subscription you can't live without?

1569
00:51:25,620 --> 00:51:26,360
No.

1570
00:51:28,820 --> 00:51:31,730
What is the last TV show you.

1571
00:51:31,820 --> 00:51:35,180
Watched that I finished?

1572
00:51:35,320 --> 00:51:38,720
No, and if you didn't finish, please say why.

1573
00:51:40,390 --> 00:51:41,470
The last. Okay.

1574
00:51:41,510 --> 00:51:43,640
The last one that I watched, like,

1575
00:51:43,670 --> 00:51:46,030
as of like a night ago was House of Cards.

1576
00:51:46,070 --> 00:51:47,240
I just started that,

1577
00:51:47,620 --> 00:51:48,990
but I don't really.

1578
00:51:49,130 --> 00:51:50,660
It's a little long draw.

1579
00:51:50,700 --> 00:51:51,700
I'm sure it's great, but I just.

1580
00:51:51,720 --> 00:51:52,410
I don't have the page.

1581
00:51:52,460 --> 00:51:53,150
I got through season

1582
00:51:53,210 --> 00:51:55,530
one and then I was like, cool. Yeah.

1583
00:51:55,820 --> 00:51:58,000
Yeah. I'm sure it's phenomenal. I just. Yeah.

1584
00:51:58,070 --> 00:51:58,630
I personally,

1585
00:51:58,690 --> 00:52:01,540
I rewatched Breaking Bad not too long

1586
00:52:01,560 --> 00:52:03,050
ago and that was the last one. And I, like,

1587
00:52:03,140 --> 00:52:04,430
I remember I stopped at season four

1588
00:52:04,470 --> 00:52:06,130
because I was just binging so

1589
00:52:06,220 --> 00:52:08,100
insanely and I had to just stop.

1590
00:52:08,180 --> 00:52:09,140
I never went back to it,

1591
00:52:09,160 --> 00:52:11,090
and I just went for it this time.

1592
00:52:11,110 --> 00:52:12,840
And I've got the whole thing in, like.

1593
00:52:12,890 --> 00:52:15,050
I don't even want to say how many days it was.

1594
00:52:15,150 --> 00:52:16,910
It was not a lot of days.

1595
00:52:17,340 --> 00:52:18,770
So that was epic as shit, man.

1596
00:52:18,790 --> 00:52:20,110
That's not a lot of days,

1597
00:52:20,260 --> 00:52:21,310
not a lot of sleep

1598
00:52:21,380 --> 00:52:23,220
and not a lot of showering. Got it.

1599
00:52:23,280 --> 00:52:25,760
If you're going to crack out on one thing,

1600
00:52:25,850 --> 00:52:26,820
Breaking Bad is probably

1601
00:52:26,860 --> 00:52:28,090
the best thing to crack out on.

1602
00:52:28,140 --> 00:52:28,910
Honestly.

1603
00:52:29,100 --> 00:52:29,700
There's a lot of

1604
00:52:29,720 --> 00:52:32,260
shows you can crack out on. Yeah.

1605
00:52:32,340 --> 00:52:34,450
And not be paid off at the end. And it's.

1606
00:52:34,510 --> 00:52:35,200
It's worth it.

1607
00:52:35,290 --> 00:52:37,450
That one rock solid show.

1608
00:52:37,640 --> 00:52:40,550
If you could spontaneously learn to play

1609
00:52:40,570 --> 00:52:43,120
a musical instrument or learn a language,

1610
00:52:43,220 --> 00:52:44,530
which one would you choose?

1611
00:52:45,840 --> 00:52:48,160
Wow. I'd say musical instrument.

1612
00:52:48,340 --> 00:52:50,180
Do you know what one you would want to play?

1613
00:52:51,110 --> 00:52:52,470
Piano comes to mind right

1614
00:52:52,490 --> 00:52:54,270
away because I never played the piano.

1615
00:52:54,410 --> 00:52:56,870
My dad was a guitarist and a bass player and I

1616
00:52:56,890 --> 00:52:58,500
can like strum a few chords and this and that,

1617
00:52:58,510 --> 00:52:59,610
and that's something I can teach myself.

1618
00:52:59,680 --> 00:53:01,310
Piano is so foreign to me.

1619
00:53:01,330 --> 00:53:02,180
We had a piano.

1620
00:53:02,310 --> 00:53:03,760
My mom had my brother in piano lessons,

1621
00:53:03,800 --> 00:53:05,570
but it was just not something

1622
00:53:05,630 --> 00:53:08,500
that I was ever presented with. I played

1623
00:53:08,530 --> 00:53:11,560
the drums and so piano would be, I think,

1624
00:53:11,620 --> 00:53:14,990
something that I would love to learn. Yep.

1625
00:53:15,610 --> 00:53:17,280
One of my best friends is an

1626
00:53:17,300 --> 00:53:19,060
exceptional jazz pianist and he just

1627
00:53:19,090 --> 00:53:20,500
inspires me every time he's on that thing.

1628
00:53:20,530 --> 00:53:21,940
So I, Yeah.

1629
00:53:21,970 --> 00:53:23,990
Would love to learn the piano.

1630
00:53:24,410 --> 00:53:27,300
My last rapid fire for you is, do you

1631
00:53:27,330 --> 00:53:29,380
collect anything that you're embarrassed about?

1632
00:53:29,570 --> 00:53:32,990
Man? Frank, you don't gotta look too far to

1633
00:53:33,040 --> 00:53:35,630
find embarrassing things about me as an actor.

1634
00:53:35,720 --> 00:53:36,510
What are you saying?

1635
00:53:36,600 --> 00:53:38,090
Just as a human being, Like, I

1636
00:53:38,110 --> 00:53:40,190
am an exceptionally embarrassing guy. Like, I.

1637
00:53:40,240 --> 00:53:41,040
And I think.

1638
00:53:41,180 --> 00:53:41,910
I think

1639
00:53:42,040 --> 00:53:44,510
that's a good thing. You know, I'm. I'm very.

1640
00:53:45,090 --> 00:53:47,060
I can be very self conscious about, like,

1641
00:53:47,090 --> 00:53:48,250
what people think and not so

1642
00:53:48,270 --> 00:53:50,420
much like what they think of me,

1643
00:53:50,490 --> 00:53:52,310
like what I look like, what I. How I dress.

1644
00:53:52,360 --> 00:53:53,840
That Was something that I, you know,

1645
00:53:53,860 --> 00:53:55,940
as a kid or a teenager or whatever. Like,

1646
00:53:55,970 --> 00:53:56,890
those were the things that

1647
00:53:56,930 --> 00:53:59,700
you think about now as an adult. Like my,

1648
00:53:59,840 --> 00:54:01,210
my extreme insecurity

1649
00:54:01,260 --> 00:54:03,640
is how people perceive my intentions.

1650
00:54:04,110 --> 00:54:05,220
I said this the wrong way.

1651
00:54:05,260 --> 00:54:06,040
I didn't mean that.

1652
00:54:06,070 --> 00:54:07,680
I rubbed this person the wrong way.

1653
00:54:07,870 --> 00:54:09,480
Those are the things that I can, like,

1654
00:54:09,510 --> 00:54:11,320
I stay up at night thinking about.

1655
00:54:11,390 --> 00:54:12,710
I shouldn't have said that. Like,

1656
00:54:12,730 --> 00:54:13,340
I didn't mean it

1657
00:54:13,360 --> 00:54:14,910
like that they're gonna think that. But

1658
00:54:14,950 --> 00:54:18,700
in terms of like my day to day person, like,

1659
00:54:18,780 --> 00:54:21,010
I don't give a shit, man. Like, I am,

1660
00:54:21,550 --> 00:54:25,560
I am a dumbass goofball. And like, I just,

1661
00:54:25,630 --> 00:54:26,530
I don't care what people

1662
00:54:26,580 --> 00:54:29,860
think of me in that capacity. Yeah, it's hard,

1663
00:54:29,910 --> 00:54:31,500
it's hard to embarrass me in

1664
00:54:31,520 --> 00:54:33,530
terms of like the things that

1665
00:54:33,580 --> 00:54:35,850
people would think are embarrassing if,

1666
00:54:35,940 --> 00:54:36,800
whatever my life goes.

1667
00:54:36,830 --> 00:54:37,730
I feel like that's a trend

1668
00:54:37,780 --> 00:54:40,660
with actors a lot of the time. I resonate

1669
00:54:40,680 --> 00:54:42,780
with what you just said. It's, you know,

1670
00:54:42,800 --> 00:54:44,560
there's things I stay up thinking about.

1671
00:54:44,630 --> 00:54:45,800
You know how I said that?

1672
00:54:45,830 --> 00:54:48,470
But it's also like, man, you know what? Like,

1673
00:54:48,590 --> 00:54:51,740
I've performed and done some dumb shit

1674
00:54:51,820 --> 00:54:54,360
on stage in front of a bunch of people.

1675
00:54:54,550 --> 00:54:57,890
This is nothing compared to that for sure.

1676
00:54:57,970 --> 00:55:00,410
For sure. But again, like, that's goes

1677
00:55:00,450 --> 00:55:02,370
back to kind of, you know, what's important,

1678
00:55:02,470 --> 00:55:03,310
because that's me.

1679
00:55:03,360 --> 00:55:05,490
I said that thing that reflects on me,

1680
00:55:05,590 --> 00:55:06,910
that thing that I did up on stage.

1681
00:55:06,960 --> 00:55:08,320
Maybe I wrote it, maybe I didn't, but

1682
00:55:08,340 --> 00:55:10,030
it was like I had to do that for that moment.

1683
00:55:10,080 --> 00:55:11,780
And maybe that lives on camera somewhere

1684
00:55:11,810 --> 00:55:13,890
or whatever. Like, fair enough. But like,

1685
00:55:13,990 --> 00:55:16,470
you're gonna judge that thing. That's not a,

1686
00:55:16,520 --> 00:55:17,700
that's not a showing of my character.

1687
00:55:17,730 --> 00:55:19,190
And if somebody judges you or

1688
00:55:19,240 --> 00:55:20,630
character based on something like that,

1689
00:55:20,680 --> 00:55:22,490
that's the kind of person that. There's

1690
00:55:22,510 --> 00:55:24,040
nothing you can do about that and whatever.

1691
00:55:24,100 --> 00:55:24,990
That's probably the kind

1692
00:55:25,000 --> 00:55:26,630
of person I can associate with anyway.

1693
00:55:26,760 --> 00:55:28,240
But it's the things that you do and

1694
00:55:28,300 --> 00:55:30,380
say that reflect on you as an individual,

1695
00:55:30,450 --> 00:55:31,520
and rightfully so.

1696
00:55:31,580 --> 00:55:33,180
People will judge your character or

1697
00:55:33,210 --> 00:55:34,490
assume things about you based on

1698
00:55:34,510 --> 00:55:35,630
the things that come out of your mouth.

1699
00:55:35,680 --> 00:55:37,820
And those are the things that I, you know,

1700
00:55:37,930 --> 00:55:39,080
I just like, yeah,

1701
00:55:39,180 --> 00:55:40,050
get in my head.

1702
00:55:40,160 --> 00:55:42,110
I have one last question.

1703
00:55:43,050 --> 00:55:44,090
Hit me, man.

1704
00:55:44,240 --> 00:55:47,350
Is there anything else you want?

1705
00:55:47,440 --> 00:55:50,150
Any advice or wisdom that you feel like,

1706
00:55:50,260 --> 00:55:50,800
you know what?

1707
00:55:50,850 --> 00:55:52,570
I didn't get a chance to say this,

1708
00:55:52,670 --> 00:55:55,110
and I'd love to say it before we wrap up.

1709
00:55:57,930 --> 00:55:58,700
I think,

1710
00:55:58,820 --> 00:56:00,480
I think a lot,

1711
00:56:00,570 --> 00:56:01,170
a lot of Good things.

1712
00:56:01,190 --> 00:56:01,890
You guys asked

1713
00:56:01,910 --> 00:56:02,910
a lot of really good questions. Actually,

1714
00:56:02,940 --> 00:56:03,950
I really enjoyed this,

1715
00:56:04,060 --> 00:56:05,690
this conversation, you know,

1716
00:56:05,710 --> 00:56:07,750
in terms of just like entrepreneurship

1717
00:56:07,780 --> 00:56:09,740
and stuff like that. I think, you know,

1718
00:56:09,780 --> 00:56:11,890
having been someone who has dibble dabbled

1719
00:56:11,910 --> 00:56:13,700
in a handful of little things here, you know,

1720
00:56:13,740 --> 00:56:16,930
and I'm really growing in that capacity.

1721
00:56:17,050 --> 00:56:18,180
I don't know

1722
00:56:18,200 --> 00:56:20,490
a lot and I have a lot to learn. But I,

1723
00:56:20,540 --> 00:56:22,520
I would just say to anybody that is

1724
00:56:22,670 --> 00:56:24,880
wanting to start a business or wanting

1725
00:56:24,910 --> 00:56:28,890
to turn whatever they're doing into, you know,

1726
00:56:29,260 --> 00:56:30,620
make it somehow scalable

1727
00:56:30,660 --> 00:56:33,640
or make money from it or whatever, just

1728
00:56:33,750 --> 00:56:38,490
like have genuine curiosity and passion in,

1729
00:56:38,540 --> 00:56:40,320
in the thing, you know.

1730
00:56:40,780 --> 00:56:42,040
And that's not always

1731
00:56:42,150 --> 00:56:43,550
necessary to start a business.

1732
00:56:43,610 --> 00:56:44,480
I had a window washing

1733
00:56:44,510 --> 00:56:45,810
and power washing company in college.

1734
00:56:45,860 --> 00:56:47,180
Was I passionate about window washing?

1735
00:56:47,220 --> 00:56:48,890
Actually I nerded out on window washing.

1736
00:56:49,970 --> 00:56:51,580
I got made fun of a lot because I would like

1737
00:56:51,610 --> 00:56:53,150
practice window washing in my, in my house.

1738
00:56:53,200 --> 00:56:57,020
But just like find, you know,

1739
00:56:57,090 --> 00:57:00,250
yourself interested in the thing that

1740
00:57:00,310 --> 00:57:05,410
you are trying to monetize or pursue. And

1741
00:57:05,450 --> 00:57:08,160
if you don't have that genuine interest in it,

1742
00:57:08,240 --> 00:57:10,290
it's probably not going to be sustainable.

1743
00:57:10,390 --> 00:57:13,360
If you want something to be sustainable and

1744
00:57:13,410 --> 00:57:15,220
not every business has to be a long term thing.

1745
00:57:15,250 --> 00:57:15,800
You can, you

1746
00:57:15,820 --> 00:57:17,490
can start something and sell it or pass it

1747
00:57:17,510 --> 00:57:19,360
on or move on to the next thing, that's fine.

1748
00:57:19,410 --> 00:57:20,340
There's nothing wrong with that.

1749
00:57:20,370 --> 00:57:22,460
And things fail and succeed, whatever,

1750
00:57:22,560 --> 00:57:24,670
but you want to really find

1751
00:57:24,730 --> 00:57:26,470
something that you're going to have

1752
00:57:26,510 --> 00:57:28,050
that like you never work a day in

1753
00:57:28,060 --> 00:57:29,550
your life when you do something you love,

1754
00:57:29,650 --> 00:57:30,860
which is bullshit,

1755
00:57:30,990 --> 00:57:32,310
you work every day,

1756
00:57:32,490 --> 00:57:33,910
but it doesn't feel like work,

1757
00:57:33,950 --> 00:57:35,700
you better make sure that you're

1758
00:57:35,740 --> 00:57:38,140
just interested in that thing, you know.

1759
00:57:38,160 --> 00:57:38,980
And I think when people are like,

1760
00:57:39,000 --> 00:57:40,020
find your passion.

1761
00:57:40,160 --> 00:57:41,990
That's a bit of a word that has always kind

1762
00:57:42,010 --> 00:57:44,430
of tripped me up because it's like, you know,

1763
00:57:44,450 --> 00:57:44,970
and that's what they used to

1764
00:57:44,980 --> 00:57:45,940
always say in business school.

1765
00:57:46,000 --> 00:57:47,320
Find your passion. What's your passion?

1766
00:57:47,350 --> 00:57:48,280
And I'm like, I don't know.

1767
00:57:48,310 --> 00:57:50,890
But what I've always found worked is that

1768
00:57:50,990 --> 00:57:53,240
I just find curiosity in something and then

1769
00:57:53,280 --> 00:57:55,300
that's going to do the problem solving, right?

1770
00:57:55,330 --> 00:57:57,240
You encounter a problem, you're like, well, I

1771
00:57:57,260 --> 00:57:58,650
want to figure this out because I'm interested,

1772
00:57:58,750 --> 00:58:00,790
not because so much that like I have to,

1773
00:58:00,840 --> 00:58:02,320
because I doing a business,

1774
00:58:02,380 --> 00:58:03,720
like there's that side of it too.

1775
00:58:03,820 --> 00:58:04,840
But if you don't have that

1776
00:58:04,860 --> 00:58:06,550
curiosity or that interest in something,

1777
00:58:06,600 --> 00:58:09,100
it's a lot harder to take the steps to push

1778
00:58:09,130 --> 00:58:10,800
stuff forward and grow in anything you do.

1779
00:58:10,840 --> 00:58:13,260
So that would be like the thing

1780
00:58:13,290 --> 00:58:15,420
that I've learned the most in terms of

1781
00:58:15,440 --> 00:58:17,110
why I've had any success in something

1782
00:58:17,170 --> 00:58:19,220
is because I just find an interest in it.

1783
00:58:19,260 --> 00:58:20,970
I just nerd out on it, basically.

1784
00:58:21,660 --> 00:58:22,660
That's great.

1785
00:58:22,820 --> 00:58:24,930
I'm glad I asked. Thank you.

1786
00:58:25,430 --> 00:58:27,080
Yeah, I'm glad that question got out too.

1787
00:58:27,110 --> 00:58:27,820
Right on, guys.

1788
00:58:27,950 --> 00:58:29,690
Well, this has been great. Where can people,

1789
00:58:29,740 --> 00:58:31,640
if they want to take a class or support you

1790
00:58:31,670 --> 00:58:33,600
or find you or hire you as an actor, who knows?

1791
00:58:33,630 --> 00:58:34,840
Where can we find you?

1792
00:58:36,550 --> 00:58:40,430
Yeah. Mudlab CA is our website.

1793
00:58:40,500 --> 00:58:42,660
Mud Lab Pottery, that's our studio.

1794
00:58:42,770 --> 00:58:44,180
Hashtag get muddy.

1795
00:58:44,680 --> 00:58:46,860
Hashtag get muddy. There you go. Yeah.

1796
00:58:47,410 --> 00:58:50,960
And I'm on Instagram. Andres x Joseph. Yeah,

1797
00:58:50,980 --> 00:58:51,690
you can check me out there.

1798
00:58:51,710 --> 00:58:52,280
I've got some fun

1799
00:58:52,300 --> 00:58:55,300
stuff going on there. But yeah, yeah, awesome.

1800
00:58:55,370 --> 00:58:56,000
Pretty much it.

1801
00:58:56,060 --> 00:58:57,010
Well, thanks so much for

1802
00:58:57,050 --> 00:58:58,600
coming on and as always,

1803
00:58:58,660 --> 00:59:01,110
everybody keep it nerdy.

1804
00:59:06,700 --> 00:59:06,930
Sa.