Brian Johnson - Green Bay Public Market, Broadway, Politics, & a Hand Up - Ep#48

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What's up, friends, Welcome back
to Routed Wisconsin.

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Appreciate you for clicking
another episode.

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Appreciate you for being you.
Excited to drop today's episode

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with Brian Johnson from On
Broadway Inc in Green Bay and

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local Alderman.
And I have a story to kick us

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off that I think encapsulates
Brian and who he is.

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He accepted the interview to
come on Routed Wisconsin without

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knowing that I didn't have an
affiliation with his

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predecessor.
Prior to him in his Alderman

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role was Guy Zima.
And if you are familiar with the

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historical activity of local
Green Bay politics, pretty

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polarizing figure in local
politics and our last names are

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spelled the same.
But for those of you who don't

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know, my name is Brad Zima and
Brian accepted coming on the

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podcast without knowing that if
there was a connection or not.

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He didn't even ask any questions
about it.

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And I didn't think twice about
it until afterwards.

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We were chatting after the our
conversation.

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So I think that encapsulates who
Brian is.

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He's open to the conversation.
Local politics is a tough space

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and he handles it well.
And I'm excited to share our

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conversation about that and much
more.

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We talked about the Green Bay
public market coming to Green

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Bay, which is super exciting.
His history in local politics.

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He actually thought he was going
to be in Congress.

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That was his goal when he got a
Poly sci degree, ended up going

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some different directions, was
an entrepreneur, sold a

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business.
We talked about all that and

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much more.
The importance of local

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businesses, locally owned
businesses to a community and

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adapt or die mentality.
Of course, not literal death,

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but think of it through a
business lens for the most part

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and his passion for bolstering
his community and much, much

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more.
Excited to share it with you.

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Appreciate you coming along.
Shout out to our sponsors at

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Riverside Pizzeria in
Ashwabanon.

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Stop by Ryan and the entire
fantastic crew for an awesome

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pie and support a great local
business.

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Enjoy the episode Brian Johnson.
So have the ways we try to lift

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our neighbors.
Where did the love go, Where did

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the talk?
And we need to help to make

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this, I think, an awesome place
to start.

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Today we'll get to a lot of your
story.

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I reached out specifically
immediately after a LinkedIn

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post you made a while back that
captivated me.

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But first, I think the the buzz
is around the Green Bay Public

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Market, right?
Like when by the time this airs,

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it'll probably be old hat,
right?

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Everybody will know.
But what I was interested to

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know what's what's the
overarching vision of it five

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years from now?
What do you see the Green Bay

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Public Market being to the
community and the folks that

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live here?
Well, look, when we kind of

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started this process, it wasn't,
we didn't go into it saying,

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Hey, we're going to open a
public market, right?

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It it was really taking a look
in my role with on Broadway and,

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and you want to build successful
downtowns and what does

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successful downtowns have?
They have amenities that attract

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people.
And you know, in the city of

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Green Bay, you have multiple
nodes that are emerging.

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You obviously have the title
town district in Lambeau Field.

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You have what's going on at
UWGB.

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And so downtown needs to
differentiate itself.

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And, and so we started
brainstorming some alternatives

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in terms of amenities, right,
that could, that could attract

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volumes of people.
We, we had the shipyard that was

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originally proposed to be the
Green Bay Bullfrogs Stadium.

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And, and, and we all know kind
of how that ended.

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And that's actually what
inspired me to run for public

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office, which is another story.
But the, you know, so we kind of

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sat down, we really said, Hey,
what, what could be that next

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thing.
And, you know, we visit a few

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public markets.
We love the one in Milwaukee.

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And that really kind of put us
on a journey to visit a whole

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lot more.
We've, I, I mean, I've

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personally visit over 50 to 60
different public markets across

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the world.
We met with a few aquarium

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operators, interestingly.
And you know, because they're,

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they're popular in other places.
You think about the Shedd

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Aquarium in Chicago, it's three
hours away, right?

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So I mean, you've got Discovery
World in, in Milwaukee, you

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know, but that's kind of limited
in in, in scope, you know, but

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just we still really do in the
analysis, right, the cost per

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visitor and how what we'd have
to raise for an aquarium was

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just it was pretty substantial.
So, so again, we looked at some

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other options, right, other
types of stadiums and different

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things, and we just ultimately
settled on the public market

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being the thing that price per
visitor, right, would have the

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biggest bang for the buck here
in in downtown Green Bay.

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So that's kind of how we landed
here.

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Yeah.
And you know, I think it's going

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to add, I, I, I look at things
from the grandiose creative side

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of things like what does it
bring to the culture of a city?

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And I think it's going to do a
lot for that.

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Like we see, I was, I had a cool
conversation yesterday about how

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busy our, our markets are, like
our local markets.

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It seems like within the past
what, 5-7 years?

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Like everybody started a market
and they all are packed every

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single time.
When it's the number of calls we

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get from folks throughout the
region who are familiar with our

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farmers market on Broadway,
which it's 2022 years old maybe

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I think this year that attracts
almost a quarter of a million

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visitors every year.
And, and people just wanted to

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recreate it.
And, and I love that, right.

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Like it's, it's about supporting
the entrepreneurs and and small

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business owners.
In our case, it was a place for

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monk farmers really to get their
start because they weren't able

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to get into the traditional
Saturday market.

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It was it was full.
And so there were some folks who

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came together who really wanted
to create an outlet for those

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individuals.
And what started as 10 vendors

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now has grown into over 100
vendors every week.

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And but more importantly, the
number of visitors that come out

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right.
And that's what kind of drove a

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little bit that this this
vision, right?

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How do you go from a pop up
weekly market in the summer?

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It's just something that can be
here year round and also

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recognizing some of the needs of
the neighborhood.

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It's one of the city's lowest
income census tracts.

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It is a USDA designated food
desert.

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And and we, you know, so of
course we talked about visitors,

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but we also saw an opportunity
to address some of those other

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community needs and you know, by
bringing in some of the products

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that save a lot who's there
doesn't offer, right.

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So compliment them, not compete
with them.

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And and that's really kind of
what we're trying to achieve.

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Yeah, absolutely.
And it does it well.

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And I, I think one of the cool
parts, just as a citizen member

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walking around is like you, you
see, you'll see a a hoodie from

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Seymour and you'll see something
from Hilbert and Luxembourg,

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whatever, like people come from
the out ranges to enjoy it.

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Yeah, we use, you know, there's
a number of software platforms

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out there, of course, but Placer
AI, it, it uses your cell phone,

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it, it pings, right.
And so it, it gives us some

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really good data that shows us
where people are coming from.

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It helps us more accurately
predict the number of attendees

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at the event, how long they
stay, where they come from,

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where they're going to, that's
all in aggregate, right.

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So we'll, we'll know if they
came from home, but I won't know

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if you came from home, if that
makes sense.

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So but the, the data trends are
amazing.

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And, and then you can see, OK,
if our market was the first stop

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and then people went somewhere
after, and then you can start to

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calculate some of that economic
impact.

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That's so with that and people
to your point, they're coming

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from all over on the farmers
market and it's just, it's

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really cool to see, yeah.
Did they grab a bite or did they

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stop at this gas station?
Exactly right.

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Absolutely.
I can't let it pass.

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So the good Segway you started
public office because of the

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Green Bay Bullfrog Stadium?
What's the story?

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Yeah, it's in my my roll a thon
Broadway, right.

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I've been working with the
owners of the the Bullfrogs for

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about a year on building on what
is now the shipyard site.

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And they, as you know, they,
they wanted to build a stadium

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as part of that.
Mark Skogan had come out and

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wanted to build a concert venue
there, and Doozies had proposed

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to build a restaurant.
And, you know, at the time the

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City Council was negotiating
essentially like the city would

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have built the stadium, the
Bullfrogs would have been a

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tenant.
And, you know, things it just

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dragged out for four years.
For four years, the bullfrogs,

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you know, tried to get in, get
this deal done.

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And there's an old saying in
development time kills all

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deals.
And this is this was a deal

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killer.
And it got to the point where in

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one meeting, certain member of
City Council was negotiating the

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price of hot dogs.
And and it's just beyond what we

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need to be right.
And and so, and I think it

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misses the trees for the forest.
And, and, you know, so we, I

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remember the owner came into my
office one morning and he said,

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look, Brian, we appreciate
everything you've done for us.

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Wanted to pay you the courtesy
in person to let you know that

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we're going to have a press
conference later today to

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announce we're moving to
Schwabenon.

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He said we've been doing this
for four years.

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Green Bay hasn't been able to
get it done.

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And, and he referenced my
predecessor.

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He said, if it wasn't for this
person, we'd be playing baseball

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in Green Bay.
And, and you know, that was kind

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of the moment when I said, OK,
I, I've been trying, I love

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local politics.
I've been trying to get folks to

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run for office.
I think every seat should be

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contested.
And, and it finally, I couldn't

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get anyone for, for the district
that I lived in, right.

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So it was one of those things
where I said, OK, if, if, you

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know, I'm asking other people to
do this and if I'm not willing

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to put my name on the ballot
while I'm asking other people to

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do it, you know, what am I doing
here?

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So, so, but that moment when I
knew that the negotiations

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installed really because of the
struggles with the current

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makeup of council, you know, I
said I'm going to put my hat in

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the ring and we'll see where it
goes.

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Yeah.
Here we are seven years later.

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Nice think about how how
seemingly or or think about how

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different society could be if a
lot more people said I love

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local politics.
Like even uttering that phrase

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means something.
Well, it it, you know, tip

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O'Neill, former Speaker of the
House is, is often quoted as

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saying all politics is local.
And it's so true, right.

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When the rubber meets the road,
you know, are folks really

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talking about, you know, AD
Ukraine?

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Certainly there's a portion of
folks that talk about that.

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But the reality is what people
are most concerned about is if

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the pothole got filled or if
their garbage got picked up or

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their neighbor's fence is
leaning over their yard.

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You know, those are the kind of
things that that are kitchen

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table topics that that, you
know, people often times want to

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talk about.
And that's what we do.

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We solve those problems.
Sometimes it's constituent

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services where you're helping
them get connected to the right

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people at City Hall and, and,
and sometimes it's obviously

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advancing bigger ideas like like
development within the city of

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Green Bay.
And sometimes it's just

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modifying old policies and
ordinances that are out of date,

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right, to make them more
relevant.

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So working with people at the
local level though, has just

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been the joy of my life.
Yeah, yeah.

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And recently we had a guest on
that talked about positively

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impacting your communities from
the ground up.

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And he co-authored, he's a, he's
a progressive.

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He co-authored a book with a
conservative and they both

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talked about the same topic,
about how they could come

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together.
Because you know, you when you

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00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:24,840
think about the conversations
that happen when it's not

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00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:26,320
somebody that's immediately
close to you.

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00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:29,120
A lot of times it's news,
national headlines that drive

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00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:31,040
the you know, they do Ukraine
stuff that you said.

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00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:38,080
But I think there's a lot more
space for the other ones the oh,

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00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:42,440
you know, what is happening to
this area of the city or have

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00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:45,040
you ever considered for running
this for this office or

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00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:47,280
something like that?
And I don't know, it's an

233
00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:48,520
interesting thing to think
about.

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00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:52,800
We're in a place where a lot of
people are timid of that at

235
00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:56,320
times, rightfully so, right?
There's a lot of risk to even

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00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,360
career and stuff.
And when you think about, you

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00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:01,720
know, the amount of families
that are hanging on to their

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00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:03,920
house on a week by week
paycheck, are you going to stick

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00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:06,600
your neck out and say, I think
this should happen right here?

240
00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:09,040
There's a lot of valor in that,
man.

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00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:11,640
Well, now you're absolutely
right.

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00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:14,160
And and they're even sometimes,
you know, I'm in a very public

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00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:16,880
facing job as well, my full time
job, right.

244
00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:20,480
And sometimes decisions I make
on City Council create

245
00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:22,800
challenges for me with my full
time job.

246
00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:25,280
And you know, but at the end of
the day, I'm always going to do

247
00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:27,920
what's right and and you know
what I perceive to be right

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00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:30,360
based on the feedback I get from
the folks I represent.

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00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:34,920
The, you know, the reality is
though, I think a lot of people,

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00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,520
sometimes people get sometimes
enabled, right, with, with what

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00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:40,400
they see or perceive to be local
government, right.

252
00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:42,880
And they're like, Oh, I get to
be on the news or I get to, you

253
00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:45,080
know, be the smiling face at
this ribbon cutting, whatever it

254
00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:46,760
might be.
The reality is behind the

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00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:49,160
scenes, it could be a lot of
tense conversations.

256
00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:53,200
You get yelled at a lot.
You get, you get angry emails

257
00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:55,360
because you're getting people in
their most vulnerable moment.

258
00:12:55,680 --> 00:12:59,240
And, and and I've always said
you just you have to listen and

259
00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:01,680
understand where they're coming
from because they're frustrated

260
00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:04,800
with something, they've been
harmed by something, right?

261
00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:07,760
And that's, that's the job
you're actually running for.

262
00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:10,080
It's not to be in front of the
news camera.

263
00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:13,200
It's, it's to help this person.
And you have to give them the

264
00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:17,240
time and the space to be angry.
And then and then, you know, OK,

265
00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:20,000
now here's what we're going to
do to solve the problem and

266
00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:21,680
whether it's engaging the right
department.

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00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:23,760
Like I said, might be changing
the law, could be a number of

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00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:27,040
things.
But yeah, it's not always, not

269
00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:29,400
always stars and rainbows.
And I've said they've some

270
00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:32,080
doozies over the years, you
know, some emails and

271
00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:35,360
voicemails, you know, just for
posterity, you know, someday

272
00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,520
maybe go back and write a book.
But some fun stuff out there.

273
00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,680
I bet, I bet.
But from a marketing lens, like

274
00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:44,800
me looking at a marketing angle,
that person that reaches out to

275
00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:46,800
is motivated.
They're motivated to do

276
00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:48,760
something.
They were motivated to call you.

277
00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:52,720
They might be pissed at you at
the moment, but they they were

278
00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:55,440
motivated to call you.
And motivated people change

279
00:13:55,440 --> 00:14:00,120
things and act on things.
Even if it starts with making a

280
00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,480
phone call, it can be a next
volunteer for an organization

281
00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:05,480
saying, hey, this is how we can
positively impact it.

282
00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,760
We'll give you the tools.
Do you want to spread the word?

283
00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:10,920
Yeah, type thing.
Well, in, in, in, in a way,

284
00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:12,880
right, You have to be a little
bit of a chameleon when you're,

285
00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:17,200
you're elected because I, I have
passions and interests, right?

286
00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:19,800
But what that person's calling
me about could be something I

287
00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:24,320
have no knowledge of, right?
Like it's, I think about a local

288
00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:27,720
ordinance that we had adopted
around massage parlors, right?

289
00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,840
So local massage ordinance, it
was really to try to disrupt sex

290
00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:33,000
trafficking in our community.
That was the intent.

291
00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:36,800
You have to understand the
downstream effects around folks

292
00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:40,200
who are legitimate licensed
masseuses, right?

293
00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:42,640
And, and the impact that this
has on them and their business.

294
00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:46,120
But boy, the first time I ever
got a call, right?

295
00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:49,320
Like this is a problem in our
neighborhood and, you know, we

296
00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:51,080
need this address.
And I don't know a darn thing

297
00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:54,640
about massage licensing.
You know, so you have to become

298
00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:58,760
an expert and be a chameleon and
adapt and, and learn, you know,

299
00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:02,000
in that environment and become
just as passionate about that

300
00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:04,800
topic as the person that's
calling you because that doesn't

301
00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:08,080
always come out organically.
That's a good segue.

302
00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:11,440
And one thing I wanted to talk
about today, just your career

303
00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:13,720
trajectory in general.
After you made the LinkedIn

304
00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:16,400
post, I kind of checked out
where you'd been graduated on

305
00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:21,320
undergrad, looked like did sales
for a couple years, but then

306
00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:24,920
started a landscape scaping
company and then moved to the

307
00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:28,240
chamber, right?
So how did your path come to

308
00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:30,480
light there?
Like Speaking of diverse

309
00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:34,800
interests and being able to
pivot and do other things I

310
00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:37,880
like?
I'm of a similar vein I have.

311
00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:42,040
My interests have wavered and
changed throughout the years and

312
00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:43,720
I've followed him and chased my
passions.

313
00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:47,160
That interested me immediately.
How has that developed?

314
00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:50,680
Yeah, I mean, gosh, I, you know,
I was a first generation college

315
00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:54,640
student in like a lot of us,
you, you go to school and you

316
00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:56,680
don't know what the heck you're
doing.

317
00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:01,000
I started out as a math major
because I, I liked math and

318
00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:04,160
ended up, you know, I started
out at University of Wisconsin

319
00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:06,920
Manitowoc, which is now, of
course under the UW Green Bay

320
00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:10,400
umbrella.
And I, I ran out of math courses

321
00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:15,200
and, and I started taking poli
sci and history courses and just

322
00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:16,520
really fell in love with the
subject.

323
00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:20,920
And when I transferred to
Madison, I, I changed my major

324
00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:23,480
to political science.
And the idea was, you know,

325
00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:25,320
gosh, I like politics.
It's, it's fun, It's

326
00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:27,160
interesting.
You know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna

327
00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:29,760
run for Congress someday.
And 50% of the people in

328
00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,680
Congress have a political
science degree or, excuse me, a

329
00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:36,200
law degree.
So, so my, my brain was working

330
00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:38,480
in such a way where if I'm gonna
get to Congress, right, I need

331
00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:42,120
to get a poli sci degree, go to
law school and then run for

332
00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,240
Congress.
And of course, now Congress is

333
00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:47,480
probably the last place I'd ever
want to be, you know, and that's

334
00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:51,160
how life changes, right?
But I, I sort of ultimately

335
00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:52,480
decided not even go to law
school.

336
00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,360
Shirley Abramson, who was the
Chief Justice at the time,

337
00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:58,320
really drilled me.
I, I was the vice president of

338
00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:01,840
the pre Law Society in Madison.
And, you know, so we had that

339
00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:05,160
access and, and, you know, it
really drilled me and like, this

340
00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:07,040
is what lawyers do.
Is this what you want to do?

341
00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:09,000
Do you want to be this person
that does this or that?

342
00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:11,640
Do you care about this subject?
And I'm like, oh man, and she

343
00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:14,040
did exactly what she should do,
just talked me out of something

344
00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:17,720
I probably was not prepared for.
And so here I am, right, with a

345
00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:19,640
poli sci degree coming out of
Madison.

346
00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:22,079
What the heck do you do with
that if you're not going to law

347
00:17:22,079 --> 00:17:24,079
school?
Well, a friend of mine calls and

348
00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:26,160
says, Hey, why don't you come
work for my company?

349
00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:30,040
He ran a home building
construction company that I

350
00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:31,080
worked at in the summers.
Right.

351
00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:35,160
So I was roofing siding, you
know, it's all the things I

352
00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:37,560
didn't know how to do but was
getting paid to do.

353
00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,440
And I still look back and wonder
how on earth that guy ever made

354
00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:43,640
money, right.
First day in the job, he puts me

355
00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:45,760
on a roof and says tear it off
and put on a new one.

356
00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:47,240
And I'm like, well, what do I
do?

357
00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:49,680
And he just, I don't know,
you'll figure it out.

358
00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:53,840
And he leaves and, and I'm, you
know, scared out of my mind

359
00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:57,280
being on a roof, you know, I
have no idea what a hammer is.

360
00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:00,320
And, but somehow I got to figure
out how to tear off this roof.

361
00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:04,160
And, and, and so when I
graduated from college, it's the

362
00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:05,240
same guy, right?
He calls me up.

363
00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:07,920
Why don't you come work and work
for us, help us figure out the

364
00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:09,720
office side.
Their business was growing.

365
00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:12,480
I said, all right, well, I
worked a few summers for you.

366
00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:17,400
Clearly I'm an expert in
construction now and, and so, so

367
00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:19,560
I took over the office.
So I for three years I served as

368
00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:22,040
the general manager of his
business and you know, figured

369
00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:23,440
out QuickBooks.
It's where I got to learn

370
00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:26,080
accounting and, and do some
other things and the business

371
00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:29,720
side of stuff, insurance and
helped with sales a little bit,

372
00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:32,240
did a lot of things there.
One of the things we observed at

373
00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:36,320
the time was, gosh, there's a
need for more landscaping

374
00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:38,800
services in the community where
I was from Manitowoc.

375
00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:43,080
And so me and another one of the
business partners there, we

376
00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:44,680
brought in a third partner.
So we're going to start a

377
00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:47,240
landscaping business.
No idea what I'm doing, right?

378
00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:48,600
It's what everybody in their 20s
does.

379
00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:51,920
And so we did that for seven
years.

380
00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:53,480
We had a partnership for the
first 3.

381
00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:54,840
And like a lot of partnerships,
right?

382
00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:57,680
You fail to put the plan
together on the front end like

383
00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:01,360
everybody tells you to do.
And no, we're different and of

384
00:19:01,360 --> 00:19:04,480
course we're not.
And and so it just kind of came

385
00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:06,400
to this moment where the three
of us got together.

386
00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:07,960
All right, guys, this isn't
working, right?

387
00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:10,680
Something's gotta change, you
know, either I'll go, you guys

388
00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:13,120
can go.
And both of them said we're out.

389
00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:15,720
Yeah.
Because, you know, it was a, a

390
00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,080
business that had actually
accumulated quite a bit of debt.

391
00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:23,040
And and so for me, it just
became like a, a thing of

392
00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:26,520
determination, right.
I, I'm not gonna leave local

393
00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:28,320
vendors hanging right, with
debt.

394
00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:32,040
And, and so I worked really hard
for the next four years to build

395
00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:33,960
that business, to pay off all
that debt.

396
00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:36,920
And then I'm like, alright, I,
what am I doing in landscaping?

397
00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:39,280
I don't like this.
And so I sold the business.

398
00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:42,960
And, but while I was doing that,
I was also volunteering for my

399
00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:45,720
community and I started the
young professionals group in

400
00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:47,200
Manitowoc, which was called
sale.

401
00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:49,840
And then the job became
available at the Chamber in

402
00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:53,040
Green Bay to hire a young
professionals and career

403
00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:56,600
education program manager.
So applied for it, got the job.

404
00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:00,480
And I remember, gosh, my
landscaping business, we did

405
00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:03,480
snow removal in the winter and I
didn't sell the business right

406
00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:06,080
away.
So I would go to work, you know,

407
00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:08,800
I'd have to commute right from
Manitowoc, 45 minutes, go to

408
00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:11,200
work all day at the Chamber,
sometimes into the evening with

409
00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,200
events, have to go home at night
because there's a snowstorm.

410
00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:17,720
I would plow snow all night
long, never get any sleep and go

411
00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,000
back to work in Green Bay the
very next day and do it all over

412
00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:22,200
again the next night.
Because you have clean up work

413
00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:24,840
to do after a big snowstorm.
And those are, those are a hard

414
00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:26,560
six months.
But character building,

415
00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:30,120
character defining.
And then I, yeah, worked at the

416
00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:32,880
chamber for 10 years.
So the connection to the chamber

417
00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:36,040
was really less about the
business that you saw, right.

418
00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:38,920
It was more about the volunteer
work that led to the full time

419
00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:42,040
job.
And then of course, 10 years of

420
00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:44,440
experience at the chamber then
let me do on Broadway.

421
00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:48,880
I spent some time in the UW
system as well, a little bit of

422
00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,600
time working as a student
activities coordinator on an

423
00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:53,680
interim basis, which was really
fun.

424
00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,720
And, you know, kind of work with
your students in it.

425
00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:59,680
I was so involved in in student
government while I was in

426
00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:03,440
college that when they needed
someone, they just called me up,

427
00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,080
said, hey, you used to do this
as a student, I bet you could do

428
00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:08,760
it as an employee.
And so I did that, did that for

429
00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:10,160
about a year as well.
OK.

430
00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:15,000
And like at that time, did you,
as you were selling the business

431
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:20,000
and starting the new one, did it
start to kind of come alive

432
00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:23,200
that, oh, this might actually be
where my passion is and

433
00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,640
connected to those things that
you had loved doing previously

434
00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:28,760
that maybe you weren't 'cause
there's probably a reason you

435
00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,320
sold it right there.
There's, we all like doing

436
00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:33,960
different things.
And did did that connection

437
00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:36,320
click or was it just the next
step that happened to work?

438
00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:37,160
You know what I mean?
Yeah.

439
00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:40,360
You know, running a a business
that's undercapitalized and that

440
00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:43,560
you don't have a great passion
for it's that's tough.

441
00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:49,520
And so I, I think for me
getting, but I, I really like

442
00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:51,280
the creative side of running a
business, right?

443
00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:52,720
And, and trying different
things.

444
00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:56,360
And so I think for me, that
transition to the chamber

445
00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:01,080
allowed me to still be an
entrepreneur, but do it within

446
00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:03,240
an organization, right?
It's just often times referred

447
00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,200
to as an intrapreneur.
And, and the chamber gave me a

448
00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:09,240
lot of latitude, right, to take
a program and build it and be

449
00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:13,200
creative and, and just be
impactful and, and, you know,

450
00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:15,680
achieve these outcomes.
So I think for me, the

451
00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,120
transition was a little bit
different, right, because you go

452
00:22:19,120 --> 00:22:21,280
from being the boss and making
your own decisions to having to

453
00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:24,680
do what you're told.
But they also gave me a lot of

454
00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:28,080
latitude to express those
entrepreneurial skills and

455
00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:31,120
talents that I had in a way that
helped them grow programs and

456
00:22:31,120 --> 00:22:33,160
quite frankly, some of the most
impactful programs they had at

457
00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:36,600
the time.
And talk about a huge gap

458
00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:39,520
between being the boss of
everything to something like

459
00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:41,880
that, where everybody else is
the boss of you.

460
00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:43,760
It's not just like you're
working for somebody else, like

461
00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:47,080
every everybody's your boss.
Well, yeah, I mean, I had a, a

462
00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:50,240
direct supervisor.
You have their supervisor, every

463
00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:52,000
chamber member in a way is your
boss.

464
00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:55,200
That's what I mean, you know,
but you, you boy, for 10 years,

465
00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:57,920
I, I worked there and you meet a
lot of people.

466
00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:01,080
You learn a ton about your
community, the amazing people

467
00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:04,240
that make it up, the things,
when you go into these

468
00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:08,080
businesses right across our
region, the things that they do,

469
00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:10,720
it's, it's, it's amazing.
And I just, there's so many

470
00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,360
great stories there, I think
that don't get told because

471
00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:16,320
businesses are so focused on
their business and they want to

472
00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:18,160
tell their story to their
customers, but their customers

473
00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:20,280
could be nationwide, right?
So you don't always hear it

474
00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:22,280
locally.
And there's some pretty

475
00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:24,800
remarkable things.
I mean, I think one of the,

476
00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:27,560
gosh, I think of coding
excellence in Wrightstown, First

477
00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:30,920
time I took a tour of that place
and that little pink sweet and

478
00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:33,320
low packets.
And this was at the time.

479
00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:36,600
So it's been a while, right?
But they printed 2 billion a

480
00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:40,280
month in Wrightstown, Wisconsin.
So anytime you take a sweet and

481
00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:43,040
low packet, right, that paper
product was printed right here

482
00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,120
and all over the world, right?
And I thought, gosh, this is so

483
00:23:46,120 --> 00:23:48,000
cool.
And, and, you know, there's a

484
00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:49,200
lot of stories like that out
there.

485
00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:53,000
So many actually one relevant
that I just heard recently from

486
00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:57,320
on Broadway.
I was talking to Chris and he he

487
00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:00,640
got an order for a copious
amount of his caramels.

488
00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,080
Like it's a small part of his
business.

489
00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:05,480
He puts together those nice
little caramel boxes and gives

490
00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,000
them to people.
But he he got an order and we

491
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:09,160
crunched the numbers.
The other.

492
00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:11,840
He crunched the numbers in front
of me the other day and it was

493
00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:15,480
something like if he kept at the
same scale he was at now, It was

494
00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:19,800
like, what was it?
It was like 45 days of 10 hour

495
00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:22,240
days of making caramels before
November.

496
00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:24,280
Yeah, Yeah.
It's just.

497
00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:24,880
So did.
He say.

498
00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:26,120
Did he say where the order came
from?

499
00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:28,720
He did, but I'm drawing a blank
on it right now.

500
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:34,280
But it was a it was a company
that does gift baskets for their

501
00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:38,160
Wisconsin employees and his
caramels were going to be one of

502
00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:40,720
the add insurance for the gift
baskets.

503
00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:44,640
But like 45 days of caramels at
10 hours a day when he runs

504
00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:46,440
three through 5, like that's the
gig it's.

505
00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:49,000
Yeah, we, we, we ordered them
this past year too, right?

506
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:52,920
Where we gave them away as gifts
to the businesses in our

507
00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:56,320
district because, because to
your point, it, it's not his

508
00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:58,560
primary business and he flies
under the radar a little bit

509
00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:02,480
that he does these amazing
caramels and, and, and I even

510
00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:04,400
had to message him.
I'm like, do you still do this?

511
00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:07,440
He's like, yeah, I say, OK,
perfect, 'cause we're going to

512
00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:09,800
order some.
And it, it's always interesting

513
00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:11,600
to me, right?
Like how you get an experience

514
00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:14,360
like that and how it can domino
effect, right?

515
00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:16,160
And so he, he gets this huge
order.

516
00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:17,280
Where did that come from?
Right.

517
00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:20,600
Nobody knows.
Well, he probably does, but you

518
00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:23,880
know, somebody along the way
knew about him, knew about, had

519
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:25,880
the product as a sample,
whatever it is, right?

520
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:29,320
And so just the power of
persistence and being present

521
00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:32,760
and, you know, kind of making
sure your product's always out

522
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:35,200
there and eventually someone's
going to grab onto it and, and

523
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:37,440
get a windfall.
Yeah, the persistence thing, I

524
00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:39,760
mean, that screamed through your
story and that's one of the

525
00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:41,680
common themes.
So I like to talk about that

526
00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:42,960
specific thing.
Like these for?

527
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,040
Are these for consumption?
Yes, please go ahead.

528
00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:46,640
I saw you crack one open.
Absolutely.

529
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:51,200
I was feeling left out.
Yeah, so NA hoppy water perfect

530
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,520
from Badger State Brewing.
Cheers, cheers.

531
00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:55,440
Thank you for.
Coming.

532
00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:57,720
I have a couple of employee
reviews to give later this

533
00:25:57,720 --> 00:25:59,120
afternoon, so I'm glad this is
not beer.

534
00:25:59,120 --> 00:26:02,200
Yes.
Yeah, that was a that it's a

535
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:04,320
large part of it.
So I, I don't, I stopped

536
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:07,240
drinking alcohol seven years
ago, something like that.

537
00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:10,520
And I'm always, I love where the
industry is going because I'm

538
00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:13,360
getting so many more options.
And I recently had some cool

539
00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:17,280
conversations with Badger State,
and this is just something right

540
00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:19,760
up my alley.
Look, as you, you probably know

541
00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:22,480
then, right, a few years ago,
micro brews nationwide hit their

542
00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:26,280
their highest peak ever, right?
And, and that's not sustainable.

543
00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:29,280
And, and you've started already
to see that consolidation.

544
00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:33,320
And, but what I love about it,
to your point, right, products

545
00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,760
like, you know, whether it's
White Claw, Carbola, stuff like

546
00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:38,920
that, right?
They, they cut into that, that

547
00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:41,400
craft beer market.
And what I love is when I see

548
00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:44,200
breweries react to that, right?
They're like, you know what,

549
00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:47,360
we're not going to be a victim
of, you know, of, of

550
00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:50,120
competition.
And so when they do water,

551
00:26:50,120 --> 00:26:54,200
you've seen some of them do some
of the seltzers, right?

552
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:55,600
Local breweries that come up
with that.

553
00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:57,760
And I just, I love how they're
adapting to be competitive

554
00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:00,160
because they're great
businesses, great people, great

555
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:01,440
owners.
You want to see them succeed

556
00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:03,960
long term and.
Yeah, you have to, you have to

557
00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:06,800
adapt or die.
I mean, you have to and they're

558
00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:08,240
they'll always have their
market.

559
00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:10,040
It's not going to go away.
But you're right, it's going to

560
00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:13,680
compress, especially with what
the younger demographics are

561
00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:19,400
choosing to do around alcohol is
so positive I think to see in so

562
00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:24,040
many ways and it can all fit
together cohesively like 100.

563
00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:25,600
Percent.
Yeah, you can have people that

564
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:29,240
are going to love it.
You know, in all actuality of

565
00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:35,640
the of the alcohol industry, the
craft brew industry has always,

566
00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:37,320
I think been relatively
positive.

567
00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:41,240
It's not like people don't go to
a craft brewery to drink 17 and

568
00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:44,920
you know, like do the bad things
that come with alcohol.

569
00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:47,680
They literally like they truly
enjoy it.

570
00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:50,880
So my wife's really excited
about the Badger State

571
00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:52,400
conversations because she loves
beer.

572
00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:55,040
She like loves different kind of
beers with different types of

573
00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:57,120
foods and Badger State some of
her favorite.

574
00:27:57,120 --> 00:27:59,640
So she loves the whole vibe
around it.

575
00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:02,160
And then this, something like
this just makes it so much

576
00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:04,800
easier for us to where I can
like grab something that's cool.

577
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:08,880
I'm a carbonated water person.
I love it so it it fits, but I

578
00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:13,760
love where the industry's going
and I love the back to the

579
00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:15,840
original point where you're
talking about no good.

580
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:17,440
I go down a lot of rabbit holes
so I get.

581
00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:20,120
I love it.
We'll end up in some weird

582
00:28:20,120 --> 00:28:24,160
places today because I do the
same thing, but like to circle

583
00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:29,760
it in about adapt or die.
That concept rings through

584
00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:31,960
through anything, right?
Like you have to do that as an

585
00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:33,200
Alderman.
You have to do that with on

586
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:37,600
Broadway, and we do it every day
as humans trying to figure out

587
00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,160
what the next step is.
You know, and sometimes it's OK

588
00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:43,680
to die, not literally, right,
but but knowing when you've sort

589
00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:46,200
of exhausted the value that you
can offer to something, it's

590
00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:48,960
knowing when to quit and and
that's an OK thing.

591
00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:51,680
And because you can just sort of
sometimes recharge and re

592
00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:54,480
channel that energy into the
next the next opportunity.

593
00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:57,960
Right.
Identifying that's incredibly

594
00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:01,440
hard, yeah.
Change is hard for everybody,

595
00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:02,840
right?
And I think that's the hardest

596
00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:06,080
part.
It's it's a change disruptor and

597
00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:08,920
you know, the path of Lisa's
distance is what humans do.

598
00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:11,600
It's what we want.
It's the easiest thing, you

599
00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:14,160
know, for us to understand.
And so when you kind of end up

600
00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:17,720
in a situation where you have to
intentionally choose to disrupt

601
00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:20,680
something that's comfortable for
you, that that is hard.

602
00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:23,880
Most change happens when it's
forced upon people, right?

603
00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:27,000
And it's truly those folks that
know how to intentionally go in

604
00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:29,080
and disrupt and change and be
comfortable with that.

605
00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:31,840
To me, where are the ones that
often times you see that are,

606
00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:35,200
are your change makers in a way
that, you know, are the ones

607
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:36,920
being talked about, right?
They're on the news, they're in

608
00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:39,120
print, they're wherever because
they're doing something unique

609
00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:42,480
and bold and, and, you know,
making people uncomfortable,

610
00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:46,760
which by the way, means you're
going to make a few enemies

611
00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:48,960
along the way, right?
Because people don't like to be

612
00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:51,120
disrupted.
And, and that's hard.

613
00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:53,720
And it doesn't mean they're bad
people, right?

614
00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:58,280
It's just, I love the old saying
from Henry Ford.

615
00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:00,240
If I'd have asked the people
what they wanted, they would

616
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:04,080
have said a faster horse, right?
And it's, you know, so

617
00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:06,760
understanding that, hey, the
change is, is going to be

618
00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:10,080
uncomfortable, but boy, it can
be, you know, it can be totally

619
00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:12,360
transformative in terms of the
way that you live your life and

620
00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,960
experience, experience it.
Absolutely, Yeah.

621
00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:17,480
Change management's so
important.

622
00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:19,720
Actually, the previous guest I
was talking about who wrote the

623
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:23,200
book built a career on community
activism and change.

624
00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:26,240
He had a cool story where he
fought for accessibility on

625
00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:27,880
public transportation in
Philadelphia.

626
00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:31,680
And like, sure, maybe the people
that work for the bus company

627
00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:34,160
were like, this is going to cost
us a lot of money and got a ton

628
00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:37,280
of pushback.
But look at look at the positive

629
00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:39,120
that comes out of it.
And you know what, some of those

630
00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:42,280
enemies end up wrapping around
back to be friends once they see

631
00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:43,760
what the end outcome is, you
know?

632
00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:47,480
I see this in politics all the
time, right where you'll pitch

633
00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:49,200
an idea.
I could offer an example.

634
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:53,400
I won't because then I'll yeah,
of the persecuting those

635
00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:55,560
involved.
But it, it's, you know, where

636
00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:58,160
you, you sort of pitch an idea
and it's just people get

637
00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:00,400
entrenched, right?
And they resist and they, they

638
00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:04,280
hate the idea.
And as things progress and then

639
00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:06,560
all of a sudden they're the
first in line, right, to be

640
00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:09,440
like, I love this.
I, you know, I was part of this.

641
00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:12,800
And to me, that's always a great
accomplishment when you can flip

642
00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:16,120
someone from, you know, being
resistant to the idea to someone

643
00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:18,440
who's really embracing it and
advocating for it.

644
00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,360
And then it's so important to be
the person that has your arms

645
00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:25,880
open and welcomes back as
opposed to the other side, which

646
00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:27,640
is the I told you so, you know,
like.

647
00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:29,960
Yeah, yeah.
Look, I think all of us probably

648
00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:32,240
have that urge right inside to
want to do that.

649
00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,200
And I'd be lying if I said I
never did it.

650
00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:38,360
You know, it can be gratifying
for a short period of time, but

651
00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:41,040
long term probably an unhealthy
habit.

652
00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:43,640
Yeah, yeah.
Especially if you need to build

653
00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:46,440
allies.
Yeah, it's OK to feel it, feel

654
00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:49,680
it, harness it and then use it
as motivation for your next

655
00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:52,360
project.
You know, kind of along that

656
00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:56,320
line, an interesting thing we
could chat about today is you,

657
00:31:56,360 --> 00:32:01,680
your position with on Broadway,
you probably hold a lot of

658
00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:04,680
pseudo roles with your partners,
right, And the businesses that

659
00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:08,920
are in your district and they,
it probably comes in a diverse

660
00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:12,200
blend of different ways.
That sounds fascinating to me

661
00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:14,120
and really fun.
Is that the case or is it more

662
00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:16,440
stress than that?
It's both.

663
00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:20,720
Yeah, it is, you know, and when
I first started, you know, the

664
00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:23,280
district was half the size that
it is, and not by geographic

665
00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:26,920
size, you know, but by the
number of businesses in the

666
00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:29,360
district.
And you know, the rail yard area

667
00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:32,160
in particular has seen
tremendous growth in terms of

668
00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:34,280
new spaces, right, New
developments brought in new

669
00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:36,800
businesses.
And and so the demands on the

670
00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:38,560
job have have changed quite a
bit.

671
00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:42,480
And sometimes people will
benchmark you or compare you

672
00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:45,200
right, to predecessors.
That happens all the time.

673
00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:48,600
That's fine, you know, but it's
like, well, you know, so and so

674
00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:54,240
did this or did that, you know,
OK, But our workload has changed

675
00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:56,120
and it's just fundamentally
different.

676
00:32:56,120 --> 00:33:01,440
And you know, when you have
right now or right around 150

677
00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:05,240
businesses in the district, you
have 100 different properties.

678
00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:08,880
Now some of those property
owners are redundant, right?

679
00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:10,680
They could be the business owner
as well.

680
00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:14,280
But then you're working with
sponsors, you're working with

681
00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:17,880
vendors in your events.
We obviously have a larger staff

682
00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:21,400
now that we did many years ago.
It's a lot of personalities,

683
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:26,000
board members and volunteers,
committee members who all have

684
00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:28,880
an idea, you know, of, of what
to do.

685
00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:31,920
And we do our best right to try
to honor and deliver on some of

686
00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:34,520
that.
One of the things I, you know,

687
00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:37,080
was part of our core values when
I started and it still remains

688
00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:39,520
there today.
And it, it's a topic.

689
00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:42,680
I, I, I love the statement.
It's like we manage a lot of

690
00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:46,280
emotions and, and the idea is
that you always have to maintain

691
00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:50,080
your composure, listen to people
and, and understand that they're

692
00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,480
coming from, you know, different
perspective.

693
00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:54,760
And it's not a wrong
perspective, it's just

694
00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:57,080
different.
And you know, when you're

695
00:33:57,080 --> 00:34:00,320
managing emotions, that's a
challenging spot to be in.

696
00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:04,640
And I think back to, and this
was before my time, but when

697
00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:07,840
Walmart had proposed right to
come and do to on Broadway.

698
00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:11,280
And just the level of emotion
that sparked with the business

699
00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:14,000
owners, property owners, people
in our community to build a

700
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:17,120
Walmart Supercenter in the core
of your downtown, right?

701
00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:20,440
That I mean, one that's just bad
urban design, you know, but

702
00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:23,880
it's, but you had a lot of
emotions that were charged up

703
00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:26,080
around that issue.
And that's not easy to manage.

704
00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:28,920
It's not easy to handle, but I
always find that when you over

705
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,800
communicate, you explain the
why, you explain the how.

706
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:36,239
People, even if they don't agree
with you, will feel better about

707
00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:38,679
it because they feel like you
took the time to listen.

708
00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:42,239
And then you know when you can
explain it back and they feel

709
00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:44,800
like you've like articulated
something that they were

710
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:48,400
believing and then they're like,
OK, he really did listen, right?

711
00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:50,400
He's not just, it's not just
platitudes.

712
00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:54,360
Fascinating.
So that that actually happened

713
00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:59,040
like Walmart advocated or like
requested to build a spot.

714
00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:03,040
Where the railyard is right.
So, you know, that was a split

715
00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:06,840
council vote if I recall again
before my time, right.

716
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:09,680
But I think the mayor, actually
Mayor Schmidt cast the tie

717
00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:13,200
breaking vote on that, you know,
but that the city had owned that

718
00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:16,080
land and, you know, could have
been a Walmart Supercenter with

719
00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:19,520
a very large blacktop parking
lot instead of what you see down

720
00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:24,280
there now, which is, you know,
400 residential units, restored

721
00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:27,600
warehouses that have just
beautiful office space with

722
00:35:27,720 --> 00:35:31,400
roughly 60 different businesses,
you know, in that space.

723
00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:36,320
A lot of really cool shot you
think of like Voyagers bake

724
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:41,800
house, you know, and, and, and
the crate place that just

725
00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:45,960
opened, which is delicious, by
the way, nice wedding dress

726
00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:47,960
shop, right?
So you see a lot of sort of that

727
00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:50,840
retail type of activation as
well along that street.

728
00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:53,800
I mean, that's, that's the stuff
that makes downtowns, you know,

729
00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:56,440
where people talk about it.
They don't talk about how they

730
00:35:56,440 --> 00:35:58,800
visited a Walmart Supercenter in
your downtown.

731
00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:02,040
You know, they talk about all of
these other unique experiences.

732
00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:04,800
Now, for the record, like a
Walmart Supercenter has its

733
00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:07,200
place, right?
That it, it, it, it serves a

734
00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:08,680
very important need for a
community.

735
00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:11,400
I think at the time, though, the
leadership just felt that there

736
00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:13,960
was probably a better place for
it and that, you know, they they

737
00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:17,000
prioritize sort of preserving
and protecting the integrity of,

738
00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:19,600
of downtown.
Yeah, and the integrity of your

739
00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:23,280
community, like you're right, it
does have, it does have an

740
00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:27,200
important place in, you know,
the things we need and the

741
00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:28,600
things your community members
buy.

742
00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:35,320
But boy, like I, I hear that as
the layperson who didn't even

743
00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:36,760
know what happened.
And I'm like, man, that would

744
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:40,040
have been a travesty if it was.
Yeah, And it would have knocked

745
00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:42,640
down all those old warehouse
buildings that are there right

746
00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:44,280
now, right?
They're beautifully restored.

747
00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:47,800
And again, when people think of
downtowns, you think of density,

748
00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:50,400
you think of walkability, public
art, right?

749
00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:54,400
It's really great book Walkable
City that talks about if, if you

750
00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:58,040
want to have an active downtown,
you have to make the walk

751
00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:02,720
interesting and walking past
empty parking lots, even full

752
00:37:02,720 --> 00:37:05,160
parking lots.
It's just parking lots, period.

753
00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:09,560
That's not interesting.
It's it's it's a utility need,

754
00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:11,080
right?
You have to provide parking in

755
00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:13,640
some capacity for your downtown,
but it should be an

756
00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:16,360
afterthought.
You know, you can't.

757
00:37:16,720 --> 00:37:19,640
I mean, nobody goes downtown so
that they can park.

758
00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:22,600
They go downtown because they're
going to something, an amenity,

759
00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:27,640
a show, an event, right?
So it's really making sure that

760
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:31,200
you're creating a downtown
that's, you know, desirable and

761
00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:34,200
and doesn't have all these
disruptions within its

762
00:37:34,440 --> 00:37:35,840
streetscape.
Absolutely.

763
00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:38,480
And that is the foundation of
this thing.

764
00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:41,040
Like, I'm, I can't remember
where the content even came

765
00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:44,040
from, if it was a show or if it
was just me ranting recently.

766
00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:47,160
But I I this narrative we get
constantly, especially through

767
00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:50,040
the lens of pro sports of like
nothing to do in Wisconsin.

768
00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:54,400
Yeah, can't stand it.
And that's the foundation of it,

769
00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:56,240
right?
The foundation of it is like, we

770
00:37:56,240 --> 00:37:58,400
see these things.
We see these things developing

771
00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:01,040
and it exists and it's going to
continue to get better because

772
00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:02,440
of like decisions you're making
and.

773
00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:07,160
And knowledge of this, and I
can't agree more, like that is

774
00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:08,880
why that's what they're talking
about.

775
00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:12,200
There's plenty of stuff to do
here and let's put, you know,

776
00:38:12,240 --> 00:38:15,520
some effort and intention around
it as the person who says that

777
00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:17,160
and said like, go visit.
Like.

778
00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:20,640
Go take a walk around and see
what's next and maybe like if

779
00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:22,240
you're an entrepreneur.
What could you do?

780
00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:25,080
Well, part of that for, you know
what we do try to spark that

781
00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:27,400
interest, right?
You know, I always used to joke

782
00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:29,440
that you, you have folks in our
community who are making

783
00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:31,840
decisions for a city who had
never even left the city.

784
00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:35,920
And there's a whole world out
there and there's some amazing

785
00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:37,240
things to see.
And you know what?

786
00:38:37,240 --> 00:38:39,080
There's amazing things in Green
Bay.

787
00:38:39,560 --> 00:38:43,640
And sometimes marrying a couple
of ideas can make us even better

788
00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:45,480
and stronger.
And that's why I love to travel.

789
00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:49,480
It's, it's one of my core
passions and I love taking these

790
00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:51,640
ideas back to Green Bay and
figuring out how to implement

791
00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:52,960
them.
You know, my, my girlfriend

792
00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:55,800
always just makes she, she
started taking photos of me

793
00:38:55,800 --> 00:38:58,440
taking photos of things.
And she's convinced she's going

794
00:38:58,440 --> 00:39:00,520
to build this album of me just
taking photos, right?

795
00:39:00,520 --> 00:39:02,680
Because I'll be like, Oh my
gosh, look at this parking meter

796
00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:05,840
and how they set this up or look
at how they put this dumpster

797
00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:07,920
into this space and it made this
walk, you know, more

798
00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:10,200
interesting.
And, you know, so I tend to look

799
00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:14,040
at a lot of these things that
disrupt streetscapes and, and

800
00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:16,560
figure out how we can conceal
them or, you know, because

801
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:18,440
they're, you need some of these
things.

802
00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:20,800
You can't just not, not have
them like parking or a dumpster,

803
00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:23,120
right?
But how do you make them less

804
00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:26,960
obvious, but still serve their
purpose and, and allow you to

805
00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:28,000
bring in some of these other
things?

806
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:30,360
And part of that is looking at
unique businesses.

807
00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:31,960
And that's become one of my new
favorite things.

808
00:39:31,960 --> 00:39:34,760
I'm not a big shopper, but I
understand the importance of

809
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:37,240
retail to downtown.
And it's one of the things I

810
00:39:37,240 --> 00:39:39,840
still maintain that we struggle
with a little bit in Green Bay.

811
00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:43,200
And, and I think we need more
retail density in our downtown.

812
00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:46,280
Part of that is we need more
spaces, but also we need more

813
00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:49,240
support networks for our
entrepreneurs so that, you know,

814
00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:52,000
you're not just pushing them off
a Cliff and seeing if they can

815
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:55,360
fly.
And, and so I love visiting

816
00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:57,520
businesses when I go to other
communities and talking to them.

817
00:39:57,800 --> 00:39:59,280
How did you get the capital to
start?

818
00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:02,240
Is this your one and only
location or do you have others

819
00:40:03,080 --> 00:40:04,400
you know?
Like do you sell?

820
00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:08,600
Products online are you sort of
an Omni channel, you know, type

821
00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:11,160
of sales, production and, and
you really start to get to know

822
00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:13,560
the businesses and then you can
take that knowledge back and be

823
00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:16,040
like, hey, I visited this
business in cities.

824
00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:17,840
So and so I think it could work
here.

825
00:40:18,040 --> 00:40:19,880
And then sometimes you just find
the person who's an

826
00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:22,600
entrepreneur, right, who, who
doesn't care what they do.

827
00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:25,520
They just want to be creative
and be an entrepreneur and you,

828
00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:28,600
you, you plant the seed and
watch it grow.

829
00:40:29,040 --> 00:40:32,160
Absolutely, Yeah.
So while you were talking there

830
00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:35,160
about the walkability thing, I
had a vivid cross.

831
00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:40,120
I went on a bike ride earlier
this week and by the coal piles

832
00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:42,360
that are soon to be moved, we'll
talk about that in a second.

833
00:40:42,720 --> 00:40:47,800
But under that overpass, there
are all those cool paintings

834
00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:50,600
that for the first time ever, I
ride my bike through there all

835
00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:52,160
the time.
It's, it's part of like my

836
00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:55,360
normal bike ride I do.
But earlier in the day I was

837
00:40:55,360 --> 00:40:58,240
with my son across the river and
I looked across and I saw a

838
00:40:58,240 --> 00:41:00,920
bunch of people walking on the
river by the coal piles.

839
00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:03,720
And I had never been there.
So later in the day I went on my

840
00:41:03,720 --> 00:41:05,800
own bike ride and rode through
there.

841
00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:09,000
And I never noticed any of that
art that was there under all of

842
00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:12,800
that, under that overpass.
And that's just a prime example

843
00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:15,880
of that, of something that, you
know, now the cold piles are

844
00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:17,080
getting moved.
I want to talk about that in a

845
00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:21,320
second.
But aesthetically unpleasing,

846
00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:23,000
right?
Like a big overpass going

847
00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:24,720
through that you can park under
and stuff.

848
00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:27,720
But turned it into just like the
first time I had ever noticed

849
00:41:27,720 --> 00:41:29,360
riding my bike through.
They're like, cool art.

850
00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:31,480
And it got my mind thinking,
like, who painted this?

851
00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:33,840
Why did it happen?
Like, this is awesome.

852
00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:34,760
Yeah.
Type stuff.

853
00:41:34,960 --> 00:41:36,080
Well, there's a couple things,
right.

854
00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:39,960
So we, that area within the city
to me has been one of the most

855
00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:43,760
neglected, right, in terms of
disinvestment, I would call it.

856
00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:48,760
And in the last few years it's
been a real high priority area

857
00:41:48,760 --> 00:41:50,920
for me in my City Council
position.

858
00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:54,320
And that area has seen more
investment than any other part

859
00:41:54,600 --> 00:41:57,480
of the city of Green Bay.
And it hasn't happened

860
00:41:57,480 --> 00:41:59,880
overnight, right.
This is for seven years we've

861
00:41:59,880 --> 00:42:02,840
been working on this and there
is a whole lot more to come.

862
00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:05,760
And part of it is because there
was sort of this untapped

863
00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:09,000
potential there, right?
You've got industrial uses that

864
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:11,440
are sort of in your midtown and
your downtown area there.

865
00:42:11,640 --> 00:42:14,000
Well, the city's grown up and
evolved, right?

866
00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:16,920
So you have to figure out how to
move some of those things, which

867
00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:19,680
is, you know, kind of tied back
to the coal piles, but also

868
00:42:19,720 --> 00:42:23,080
recognizing where the public,
where government can be a

869
00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:25,560
catalyst for change.
And that's really what the

870
00:42:25,560 --> 00:42:27,800
bullfrogs were about, right?
How do you get them on that

871
00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:29,120
site?
The city owned the land.

872
00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:31,600
They owned the land for 50
years, had done nothing with it.

873
00:42:31,600 --> 00:42:34,320
It was a challenging site.
The private sector wasn't going

874
00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:36,720
to step in on that site, mostly
because of the challenges it

875
00:42:36,720 --> 00:42:38,800
had.
It was 6 feet below the

876
00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:41,160
floodplain.
It had contamination.

877
00:42:41,240 --> 00:42:44,080
It actually used to house coal
piles there, but you're

878
00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:47,080
surrounded by nothing but other
industrial uses.

879
00:42:47,400 --> 00:42:49,360
So the city really had to come
in and inspire change.

880
00:42:49,360 --> 00:42:53,280
And, and unfortunately, like I
said, the the ship sailed with

881
00:42:53,320 --> 00:42:56,760
with the baseball stadium.
But, you know, I got together at

882
00:42:56,760 --> 00:42:59,480
the time Jim Schmidt, who's
mayor, and Kevin Vonk was the

883
00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:01,560
city's development director.
And it was kind of, we need to

884
00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:05,760
do something else here.
And, you know, that's where the

885
00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:08,800
shipyard was, was really born.
That that concept, that idea.

886
00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:12,840
You know, I love the shipyard.
I still think it's a distant #2

887
00:43:13,720 --> 00:43:16,160
you know, to what a baseball
stadium would have done because

888
00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:19,720
a stadium it, it, it brings
people in, right?

889
00:43:19,720 --> 00:43:22,640
It drives traffic automatically.
Whereas the shipyard is going to

890
00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:25,800
have to be a little bit more
intentional and, you know, and,

891
00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:27,680
and you're going to have to
invest more time and effort into

892
00:43:27,680 --> 00:43:28,680
programming.
What's the?

893
00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:30,800
Drop.
Yeah, that can happen.

894
00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:33,120
I just think it's going to take
more time and effort more, you

895
00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:38,960
know, in, in, you know, but it
is a beautiful waterfront park,

896
00:43:38,960 --> 00:43:40,400
right?
So if you if what you want is a

897
00:43:40,400 --> 00:43:43,720
waterfront park, right, it that
that's perfect.

898
00:43:43,720 --> 00:43:46,000
That's what you do.
So we have more things to do to

899
00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:47,400
really kind of focus on the
programming.

900
00:43:47,400 --> 00:43:50,640
But how many years, right?
We've been working on this

901
00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:54,080
projects take time because you
have to get them site ready.

902
00:43:54,400 --> 00:43:57,760
I mean, the dirt that we had to
bring into there and then just

903
00:43:57,760 --> 00:44:00,800
let it settle for years, right?
And then you have to deal with

904
00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:02,880
railroad tracks and industrial
uses.

905
00:44:02,880 --> 00:44:04,880
You need to development
agreements from private

906
00:44:04,880 --> 00:44:08,400
developers because it's the
property taxes that they're

907
00:44:08,400 --> 00:44:11,120
contributing that we're paying
for the shipyard.

908
00:44:11,480 --> 00:44:14,080
So if you pay for the shipyard
first, right, you can see how

909
00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:16,280
you're, you know, so there's
some creative things we had to

910
00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:19,120
do to make that happen.
But boy, phase one of the

911
00:44:19,120 --> 00:44:20,880
shipyard is complete now.
It is awesome.

912
00:44:21,360 --> 00:44:23,640
So if you've been down there and
and rode around, it was really

913
00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:26,040
the perimeter, right?
So think about the the dock

914
00:44:26,040 --> 00:44:29,160
walls, the boardwalk and some of
that stuff.

915
00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:33,440
Phase two, we're designing right
now and, and hopefully we can

916
00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:35,520
start construction on that later
this year, maybe next year.

917
00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:37,000
But that's going to include the
interior.

918
00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:40,480
So think about the great lawn.
There'll be a dog park, beer

919
00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:45,000
garden, there'll be like an
adult playground area in urban

920
00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:47,520
beach, beach volleyball courts,
right?

921
00:44:47,520 --> 00:44:50,720
So a lot of really cool things.
And then now what?

922
00:44:50,720 --> 00:44:54,120
But because the City made this
investment, private developers

923
00:44:54,120 --> 00:44:56,000
are taking interest.
So you have merger of a

924
00:44:56,000 --> 00:44:59,080
development who wants to build
225 apartments right across the

925
00:44:59,080 --> 00:45:03,720
slip, right across the street.
You've got another developer

926
00:45:03,720 --> 00:45:06,200
who's going to put in roughly
100 units, I think 93.

927
00:45:06,440 --> 00:45:08,880
But the city needs a new fire
station.

928
00:45:09,040 --> 00:45:12,120
So we're going to put it in
conjunction with that, right?

929
00:45:12,120 --> 00:45:15,560
So it's that street activation,
there'll be some retail that

930
00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:18,080
goes along with that, right?
And community development is a

931
00:45:18,080 --> 00:45:19,960
slow process, 20-30 years
sometimes.

932
00:45:20,280 --> 00:45:23,680
And and the pieces are falling
into place in the murals that

933
00:45:23,680 --> 00:45:27,240
you talked about where our
public arts coordinator at the

934
00:45:27,240 --> 00:45:30,360
time, Laura Sly, she I believe
it was a National Endowment for

935
00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:33,560
the Arts grant because we are
doing the shipyard that's going

936
00:45:33,560 --> 00:45:35,200
to be the short term parking
solution.

937
00:45:36,240 --> 00:45:39,200
Like, we don't want people to
just look at these huge, like,

938
00:45:39,760 --> 00:45:42,680
you know, underpass pillars.
How do we brighten them up like

939
00:45:42,680 --> 00:45:45,920
many other cities have done?
And but it costs money, right?

940
00:45:45,920 --> 00:45:47,840
You want to pay your artists a
livable wage.

941
00:45:48,200 --> 00:45:50,320
And so this grant from the
National Endowment for the Arts

942
00:45:50,320 --> 00:45:54,480
was submitted and secured.
And it was, I believe it was 10

943
00:45:54,480 --> 00:45:56,440
different artists.
Our organization on Broadway

944
00:45:57,040 --> 00:45:59,480
worked with the city on, you
know, reviewing all the

945
00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:03,440
applicants and selecting the
artists and, and as you said,

946
00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:06,880
beautiful pieces of art from
people all over the place.

947
00:46:07,440 --> 00:46:12,560
So it's, I mean, our we, we've
put in on Broadway, you know, 50

948
00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:14,880
murals in the last five ish
years.

949
00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:18,960
And it it there, there one, it
supports your arts community,

950
00:46:18,960 --> 00:46:20,720
which is so critically
important, right?

951
00:46:20,720 --> 00:46:24,680
You art is the thing that stands
the test of time, right?

952
00:46:24,680 --> 00:46:27,480
What do we talk about 1000
years, the things that happened

953
00:46:27,480 --> 00:46:30,400
1000 years ago, art and
architecture and, and all the

954
00:46:30,400 --> 00:46:33,880
things, right, that the ancient
Roman Empire had and you know,

955
00:46:33,880 --> 00:46:35,840
the Mona Lisa and all these
things, right?

956
00:46:35,840 --> 00:46:39,600
So we need to invest in our
artists because they make a

957
00:46:39,600 --> 00:46:42,040
beautiful community, an
interesting community.

958
00:46:42,280 --> 00:46:46,360
And, and, and murals are one of
those things where we were

959
00:46:46,360 --> 00:46:49,640
lacking art completely across
the board, but they're probably

960
00:46:49,640 --> 00:46:52,400
the lowest barrier, right?
So, so we invested in that.

961
00:46:52,400 --> 00:46:54,120
Let's make a punch.
Let's do it right away.

962
00:46:54,480 --> 00:46:56,840
And then, you know, we're
starting to pivot now where we

963
00:46:56,840 --> 00:46:58,160
said, you know what, we've got
50 murals.

964
00:46:58,440 --> 00:47:00,520
What's the next thing?
If we're going to take our

965
00:47:00,520 --> 00:47:02,480
public art funding, what's the
next thing that we can do?

966
00:47:02,760 --> 00:47:04,840
And so we're going to see,
you're going to see at least a

967
00:47:05,120 --> 00:47:09,600
series of maybe different
implementations that will just

968
00:47:09,600 --> 00:47:11,880
kind of help, you know, spruce
up, brighten up the Broadway

969
00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:13,600
District and make it more
interesting.

970
00:47:13,600 --> 00:47:17,120
And it's always fun when it can
come as part of projects like

971
00:47:17,120 --> 00:47:19,240
the shipyard, too.
Yeah, still still in the

972
00:47:19,240 --> 00:47:21,800
brainstorming phase or anything
you can tease out there that?

973
00:47:21,800 --> 00:47:23,400
Yeah.
I mean, again, you don't we

974
00:47:23,400 --> 00:47:27,240
always joke in the nonprofit
world it's, it's our our R&D RIP

975
00:47:27,240 --> 00:47:30,400
off and duplicate, right.
So I mean, the reality is, I

976
00:47:30,400 --> 00:47:33,600
mean, how many, how many ideas
and implementations are truly

977
00:47:33,600 --> 00:47:35,880
unique ideas, right?
Not, not many.

978
00:47:35,880 --> 00:47:39,800
And it's usually some type of
variation of something that

979
00:47:39,800 --> 00:47:43,760
somebody did.
And so and, and I think the

980
00:47:43,800 --> 00:47:45,920
well, the next thing we're going
to be doing is we have a number

981
00:47:45,920 --> 00:47:47,360
of utility boxes in the
district.

982
00:47:47,360 --> 00:47:50,080
They're unsightly.
People graffiti them, right?

983
00:47:50,280 --> 00:47:52,560
So we're just going to put wraps
on them.

984
00:47:52,720 --> 00:47:54,480
Military Ave.
District did that too.

985
00:47:54,480 --> 00:47:56,960
And you know, they look really
great.

986
00:47:56,960 --> 00:48:01,600
So another thing where we lose
local artists to design, create

987
00:48:01,600 --> 00:48:04,120
the designs, but then we'll, you
know, use someone who'll create

988
00:48:04,120 --> 00:48:06,800
the wrap because it just stands
up a little bit better than

989
00:48:06,800 --> 00:48:10,200
paint, you know.
So that'll be coming next.

990
00:48:10,200 --> 00:48:13,400
And the whole lot, a whole lot
of other things we've got, you

991
00:48:13,400 --> 00:48:16,560
know, in our five year plan, but
that'll be the next one because

992
00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:18,240
again, it's just low cost,
right?

993
00:48:18,240 --> 00:48:20,640
But it can have a nice punch, a
nice impact.

994
00:48:21,840 --> 00:48:24,720
Yeah, I got a really cool new
podcast intro for about 6

995
00:48:24,720 --> 00:48:29,000
episodes now that would R&D Theo
Vons intro pretty closely.

996
00:48:29,280 --> 00:48:31,280
But it's just 'cause you
appreciate what they do, you

997
00:48:31,280 --> 00:48:35,000
know, like something done well
and appreciate it is good.

998
00:48:35,400 --> 00:48:37,680
One thing you said in there
though, I want to touch on a

999
00:48:37,680 --> 00:48:40,320
little bit.
How is it with that slow

1000
00:48:40,320 --> 00:48:44,000
feedback loop?
You know, I in my, in my other

1001
00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:47,200
job outside of here, I have a
relatively slow feedback loop

1002
00:48:47,280 --> 00:48:50,720
that I see human growth and
development happen over a couple

1003
00:48:50,720 --> 00:48:52,360
year period.
And sometimes that's a little

1004
00:48:52,360 --> 00:48:54,200
slow for me.
I wish it would happen faster.

1005
00:48:55,600 --> 00:48:59,440
How, how does your personality
fit that slow feedback loop and

1006
00:48:59,440 --> 00:49:02,880
how do you work with that when
you're wanting to impact change

1007
00:49:02,880 --> 00:49:06,720
but you know you have to resist
in spots or restrain in spots, I

1008
00:49:06,720 --> 00:49:08,880
should say, how do you work
through it?

1009
00:49:10,840 --> 00:49:15,200
Well, I agree, right.
It, it can be slow, but the, the

1010
00:49:15,200 --> 00:49:18,720
pieces can be fast and you just
have to break it up, right.

1011
00:49:18,720 --> 00:49:22,480
And so for us, it's, it's, it's
not that we come up with the

1012
00:49:22,480 --> 00:49:25,640
idea and then force it on you,
it's that we work with our

1013
00:49:25,640 --> 00:49:29,200
community to drive those ideas.
And then, you know, and then we

1014
00:49:29,200 --> 00:49:32,640
package it, we bring it to our
board, we get the support, we go

1015
00:49:32,640 --> 00:49:35,480
find the funders or the donors,
and then we implement, right.

1016
00:49:35,800 --> 00:49:38,040
So that means you're breaking up
that in pieces.

1017
00:49:38,040 --> 00:49:43,000
So, you know, the initial piece
is really going to be, you know,

1018
00:49:43,040 --> 00:49:45,840
really working with sort of the
community through community

1019
00:49:45,840 --> 00:49:47,920
listening sessions, surveys,
things of that nature.

1020
00:49:47,920 --> 00:49:49,560
Like what do you want to see in
your community?

1021
00:49:49,680 --> 00:49:51,520
You know what, a lot of times
they give you really great ideas

1022
00:49:51,520 --> 00:49:54,560
you didn't think of.
And so we don't have to come up

1023
00:49:54,560 --> 00:49:56,840
with these ideas and implement
them and then wait for people,

1024
00:49:57,240 --> 00:50:00,400
you know, to tell us if they
like it because it's what they

1025
00:50:00,400 --> 00:50:03,480
told us they wanted, right?
So you have to have the patience

1026
00:50:03,480 --> 00:50:06,480
to to kind of go through the
whole cycle and and you know,

1027
00:50:06,480 --> 00:50:08,560
and that's kind of the deal with
community work, right?

1028
00:50:08,560 --> 00:50:11,480
You have to talk to people
because what I mean, communities

1029
00:50:11,480 --> 00:50:14,640
are always better when they're
organically develop in a way

1030
00:50:14,640 --> 00:50:17,240
that the community is a
participant, right?

1031
00:50:17,240 --> 00:50:20,360
And it's in fact, one of the
things that that's really cool.

1032
00:50:20,360 --> 00:50:21,720
Next week I'm going to a
training.

1033
00:50:22,560 --> 00:50:26,240
We applied for a grant.
We were one of six organizations

1034
00:50:26,240 --> 00:50:29,000
in the country that were
selected to receive this grant

1035
00:50:29,880 --> 00:50:32,480
to really focus on capital
absorption.

1036
00:50:32,480 --> 00:50:35,760
Meaning when you have often
times development in the

1037
00:50:35,760 --> 00:50:38,920
community and developer comes in
from out of the area and

1038
00:50:39,040 --> 00:50:42,360
dictates the community what what
they get based on what they can

1039
00:50:42,360 --> 00:50:46,400
get for a rate of return, right?
And so there are a couple of

1040
00:50:46,400 --> 00:50:48,520
priorities that we have or we
really want to see at the

1041
00:50:48,520 --> 00:50:50,440
opposite.
And it's how do you get the

1042
00:50:50,440 --> 00:50:54,640
community mobilized around what
they see is in need and then get

1043
00:50:54,640 --> 00:50:58,080
the capital deployed in a way
that that can make those changes

1044
00:50:58,080 --> 00:50:59,760
happen.
Now, the problem is that doesn't

1045
00:50:59,760 --> 00:51:02,080
always create the rate of
return, right that a private

1046
00:51:02,080 --> 00:51:03,760
investor wants to see with their
equity.

1047
00:51:04,320 --> 00:51:08,360
And So what we're doing to this
grant program, it's funded by

1048
00:51:08,360 --> 00:51:11,400
the Robert Wood Foundation
nationally is how do you create

1049
00:51:11,400 --> 00:51:13,960
the funding sources where folks
aren't pursuing the rate of

1050
00:51:13,960 --> 00:51:17,280
return, but they're, you know,
they're they're pursuing

1051
00:51:17,280 --> 00:51:20,360
community good, right?
So it's now it could be real

1052
00:51:20,360 --> 00:51:23,520
estate and infill development,
which is actually one of our

1053
00:51:23,760 --> 00:51:25,920
program goals.
And the other one is creating a

1054
00:51:25,920 --> 00:51:28,440
revolving loan fund for small
businesses and entrepreneurs

1055
00:51:28,440 --> 00:51:31,880
because they go to a bank and
you know, a lot of times banks

1056
00:51:32,360 --> 00:51:35,680
that loan is too small.
You're you're you're too high of

1057
00:51:35,680 --> 00:51:38,360
a risk profile, But it's the
kind of business that would be

1058
00:51:38,360 --> 00:51:40,400
just super cool to have in your
downtown.

1059
00:51:40,720 --> 00:51:43,480
So how do you get them that
10,020 thousand right?

1060
00:51:43,480 --> 00:51:45,040
There are crowdfunding platforms
that do it.

1061
00:51:45,040 --> 00:51:46,920
Well, if you don't have a
customer base yet, that's really

1062
00:51:46,920 --> 00:51:49,160
hard.
So, you know, we really want to

1063
00:51:49,160 --> 00:51:52,080
build a program where we're
taking folks like Kiva as an

1064
00:51:52,080 --> 00:51:53,480
example.
And that's even a tool that we

1065
00:51:53,480 --> 00:51:56,360
use right now.
It's crowdfunded, you know, but

1066
00:51:56,360 --> 00:51:59,040
it's where people are giving
smaller amounts and saying, you

1067
00:51:59,040 --> 00:52:02,520
know what, like I, I might lose
this, right?

1068
00:52:02,520 --> 00:52:05,600
I, I might, but more
importantly, like, I want to

1069
00:52:05,600 --> 00:52:08,680
make a loan to help improve our
community because the

1070
00:52:08,680 --> 00:52:11,080
community's saying that's what
they need and it'll make our

1071
00:52:11,080 --> 00:52:13,520
community better.
You know, if, if we do that and

1072
00:52:13,720 --> 00:52:16,040
my rate of return might not be
the same as if I had it

1073
00:52:16,040 --> 00:52:19,200
invested, you know, in an index
fund somewhere.

1074
00:52:19,200 --> 00:52:21,680
But I'm going to feel really
good about it.

1075
00:52:21,880 --> 00:52:24,280
And I know that I'm going to
change someone's life because,

1076
00:52:24,640 --> 00:52:26,720
you know, I helped the small
business owner get to where they

1077
00:52:26,720 --> 00:52:28,840
need to be because they had
enough capital to do it.

1078
00:52:29,240 --> 00:52:33,560
Yeah, that's fascinating.
So you're almost you're, you're

1079
00:52:33,560 --> 00:52:35,920
providing the tools in a
different way that you are

1080
00:52:35,920 --> 00:52:40,000
analyzing not by dollars and
cents, but by intention about

1081
00:52:40,040 --> 00:52:42,800
how things are developed That's.
Exactly right.

1082
00:52:42,800 --> 00:52:45,280
And I think part of the problem
to your point with that feedback

1083
00:52:45,280 --> 00:52:48,800
loop, right, it's again, if, if
community development is the

1084
00:52:48,800 --> 00:52:51,680
spectrum, it's a process and you
have to start with the community

1085
00:52:51,680 --> 00:52:53,920
engagement.
What often times happens with

1086
00:52:53,920 --> 00:52:57,160
outside equity investment, if
you have this spectrum, right,

1087
00:52:57,600 --> 00:53:00,800
those folks come in like over
here and they miss this whole

1088
00:53:00,800 --> 00:53:03,760
part about community engagement.
And you, you can't fault them

1089
00:53:03,760 --> 00:53:06,200
for that, right?
Their their job is to to turn

1090
00:53:06,640 --> 00:53:09,640
make a return on investments.
To make money, yeah.

1091
00:53:09,920 --> 00:53:11,640
And, and so you can't fault them
for that.

1092
00:53:11,640 --> 00:53:14,280
But what our role is, is a
nonprofit organization to say,

1093
00:53:14,280 --> 00:53:18,800
no, this, this section or this
end of the spectrum is important

1094
00:53:19,040 --> 00:53:21,640
and we're going to do it.
And what happens right now a lot

1095
00:53:21,640 --> 00:53:25,320
of times is organizations like
ours all across the country,

1096
00:53:25,320 --> 00:53:27,320
right?
They'll do this piece, but then

1097
00:53:27,320 --> 00:53:29,640
they get stuck.
They get stuck because there's

1098
00:53:29,640 --> 00:53:32,320
no money then to implement what
the community said they wanted.

1099
00:53:32,680 --> 00:53:36,560
So we have to figure out, OK,
how do we get this capital that

1100
00:53:36,560 --> 00:53:39,120
the private sector's putting in
without community feedback,

1101
00:53:39,560 --> 00:53:41,840
right?
We've gotten the community

1102
00:53:41,840 --> 00:53:45,640
feedback, but it may not
generate that return to attract

1103
00:53:45,640 --> 00:53:47,520
a private investor.
So how do we find it

1104
00:53:47,520 --> 00:53:50,480
differently, right, So that we
can truly implement the things

1105
00:53:50,480 --> 00:53:51,840
that the community's telling us
they want?

1106
00:53:52,520 --> 00:53:53,400
Right.
Yeah.

1107
00:53:53,400 --> 00:53:57,520
And a lot of time it's, I mean,
it could be, it still has to be

1108
00:53:57,520 --> 00:54:00,680
driven by ROI, But if your
community tells you they want

1109
00:54:00,680 --> 00:54:03,720
it, then hopefully they support
it, whatever it is.

1110
00:54:03,720 --> 00:54:05,560
It has to be sustainable is what
I would say.

1111
00:54:05,760 --> 00:54:07,080
I don't think it's driven by
ROI.

1112
00:54:07,080 --> 00:54:08,320
Well, that's a good.
Way to put it, yeah, yeah.

1113
00:54:08,320 --> 00:54:11,880
So, so if it, it as an example,
right, If you're a private

1114
00:54:11,880 --> 00:54:14,880
developer, you come in and let's
say you want a 10% cap rate on

1115
00:54:14,880 --> 00:54:17,840
on your investment, right?
That's the number.

1116
00:54:18,160 --> 00:54:22,280
No, nobody's going to invest
money into your deal if you

1117
00:54:22,280 --> 00:54:26,920
can't guarantee that, right.
So if it in, in, because what

1118
00:54:26,920 --> 00:54:28,680
they'll do is they'll put the
money in the stock market,

1119
00:54:28,680 --> 00:54:29,960
right?
They'll they'll put it elsewhere

1120
00:54:29,960 --> 00:54:34,000
where they can get that return.
Now nobody's going to give you

1121
00:54:34,000 --> 00:54:36,000
money either.
If you say, you know what, you

1122
00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:39,240
give me money and we're going to
do this, but you're not going to

1123
00:54:39,240 --> 00:54:41,200
get your money back or you're
going to get a negative return.

1124
00:54:41,200 --> 00:54:43,400
Well, that's just philanthropy
then that's different.

1125
00:54:43,800 --> 00:54:46,680
And, and so that's not the idea
here, 'cause we, we already do

1126
00:54:46,680 --> 00:54:49,640
philanthropy, right?
But think of like if the

1127
00:54:49,640 --> 00:54:51,640
neighborhood said, hey, we
really need a hardware store,

1128
00:54:52,120 --> 00:54:53,200
and we're like, yeah, that's
great.

1129
00:54:53,480 --> 00:54:57,400
But you know, the numbers, the
demographics, the, the total

1130
00:54:57,400 --> 00:55:00,920
number of residents, whatever
isn't quite sufficient enough

1131
00:55:01,320 --> 00:55:05,080
for them to make it and pay off
a bank loan, you know, with a 6%

1132
00:55:05,080 --> 00:55:07,520
interest rate.
But what if we gave them a loan

1133
00:55:07,560 --> 00:55:12,880
at 0% or 1% and now all of a
sudden they can make that

1134
00:55:12,880 --> 00:55:15,480
payment because they're not
paying the extra interest,

1135
00:55:15,680 --> 00:55:17,920
right?
So that's the idea is they still

1136
00:55:17,920 --> 00:55:21,400
have to be sustainable, but you
want you want it so that they're

1137
00:55:21,400 --> 00:55:26,120
not pursuing it right for the
huge return and that, you know,

1138
00:55:26,120 --> 00:55:29,120
you're providing the capital in
a way that doesn't, doesn't

1139
00:55:29,120 --> 00:55:32,080
require, you know what that
lender might typically expect

1140
00:55:32,680 --> 00:55:35,040
for them to say yes within their
risk profile.

1141
00:55:35,120 --> 00:55:39,160
Yeah, absolutely.
That's too, too good of a Segway

1142
00:55:39,160 --> 00:55:43,240
for me to let go because I like
I could talk about that all day

1143
00:55:43,240 --> 00:55:45,920
that that whole conversation
right there fascinates me.

1144
00:55:45,920 --> 00:55:50,320
But you just gave too good of a
Segway to not take advantage of.

1145
00:55:50,320 --> 00:55:52,600
So from your LinkedIn post that
I reached out to me.

1146
00:55:52,600 --> 00:55:54,480
Hey, you keep references.
And I don't know which one it.

1147
00:55:54,520 --> 00:55:55,400
Is you don't know which one it
is.

1148
00:55:55,400 --> 00:55:58,520
So virtually you're talking
about a hand up and not a help

1149
00:55:58,520 --> 00:56:02,040
out or hand how?
Oh boy, that's not going to be a

1150
00:56:02,040 --> 00:56:02,840
sound bite.
You're going to.

1151
00:56:02,880 --> 00:56:03,600
Have to.
Edit that.

1152
00:56:05,520 --> 00:56:12,720
Yeah, hand up, not hand out.
Yeah, your LinkedIn post about

1153
00:56:13,280 --> 00:56:18,640
growing up and overcoming
adversity and being, well, you

1154
00:56:18,640 --> 00:56:20,480
referenced being a first
generation college student

1155
00:56:20,480 --> 00:56:25,080
earlier and stuff like that.
The transparency and

1156
00:56:25,080 --> 00:56:27,880
authenticity in that is what
draws me into human connection.

1157
00:56:28,880 --> 00:56:30,880
So I had thought about having
you on for quite some time.

1158
00:56:30,880 --> 00:56:34,200
But I I remember vividly in that
moment I was like, OK, got to

1159
00:56:34,200 --> 00:56:36,560
reach out to Brian because I
think I had sent you a LinkedIn

1160
00:56:36,560 --> 00:56:39,520
message a couple months earlier.
And then I got busy and and I

1161
00:56:39,520 --> 00:56:42,800
didn't followed up.
Yeah, but then I read that and

1162
00:56:42,920 --> 00:56:51,600
that is what we need as a
society, you know, and how, you

1163
00:56:51,600 --> 00:56:53,600
know, you don't have to share
your whole story or whatever it

1164
00:56:53,600 --> 00:56:56,480
was.
But I remember a couple pieces

1165
00:56:56,480 --> 00:56:58,520
of it.
One part was about you

1166
00:56:58,520 --> 00:57:01,440
remembering as a child sitting
in country kitchen.

1167
00:57:01,440 --> 00:57:03,680
I think it was in the booth
while your mom was working.

1168
00:57:04,640 --> 00:57:08,480
And like, it's important to give
that to our business members.

1169
00:57:08,720 --> 00:57:10,480
It's awesome what you were just
talking about.

1170
00:57:10,480 --> 00:57:15,080
But the segue into then the
human side of life again and

1171
00:57:15,560 --> 00:57:21,120
what a vibrant community can do
to positively impact society, I

1172
00:57:21,120 --> 00:57:26,200
think mirrors that that
individually or personally, as

1173
00:57:26,200 --> 00:57:28,960
you know.
So that's the post I was talking

1174
00:57:28,960 --> 00:57:30,280
about.
I don't know how that leads into

1175
00:57:30,280 --> 00:57:33,040
more conversation right now, but
it was a, it was a great segue

1176
00:57:33,040 --> 00:57:36,960
because it was a hand up, not a
not a handout for businesses.

1177
00:57:37,400 --> 00:57:40,800
And like you had a really
poignant way about putting that

1178
00:57:40,800 --> 00:57:44,640
how that positively impacted
your life individually.

1179
00:57:45,160 --> 00:57:49,520
Yeah, and it was it was a
Mother's Day post and and it was

1180
00:57:49,520 --> 00:57:54,520
really kind of acknowledging,
gosh, you know, I mean,

1181
00:57:54,520 --> 00:57:56,480
obviously the the endearment I
have for my mother.

1182
00:57:56,480 --> 00:58:00,280
But you know, the The funny
thing about life, and you

1183
00:58:00,280 --> 00:58:02,840
alluded to it earlier, right?
You don't always feel that way

1184
00:58:02,840 --> 00:58:04,640
or always appreciate it in the
moment.

1185
00:58:04,680 --> 00:58:08,880
And boy, when I was a teenager,
man, I was a Dick, right?

1186
00:58:08,880 --> 00:58:13,120
Like, and I just, I think back
to, oh, the hell, I must have

1187
00:58:13,120 --> 00:58:16,080
put my mom through, right?
And part of that was just not

1188
00:58:16,080 --> 00:58:20,280
being disciplined.
And you know, it's, that's a

1189
00:58:20,280 --> 00:58:22,840
skill I've certainly learned and
acquired over time.

1190
00:58:22,840 --> 00:58:27,400
But as I grew older and wiser,
right, and you really reflect

1191
00:58:27,400 --> 00:58:30,800
back on your like, Oh my gosh,
my mother is a St. not only for

1192
00:58:30,800 --> 00:58:34,520
putting up with me, you know,
but for doing what she did.

1193
00:58:34,840 --> 00:58:37,640
And we did.
We had a hard childhood.

1194
00:58:37,640 --> 00:58:41,000
One of the reasons I chose to be
vulnerable, you know, I've

1195
00:58:41,000 --> 00:58:44,840
always been, it's not that I've
not talked about it.

1196
00:58:45,160 --> 00:58:46,720
I've been a little bit guarded
about it.

1197
00:58:46,720 --> 00:58:48,880
And I think the reason is
because sometimes people have a

1198
00:58:48,880 --> 00:58:52,600
tendency to judge you, right?
And what was what, what I was

1199
00:58:52,600 --> 00:58:55,720
finding as a representative
right in the, the district where

1200
00:58:55,720 --> 00:58:58,760
I am, it's a very eclectic and
diverse district.

1201
00:58:59,560 --> 00:59:02,720
But as I alluded to earlier, it
is one of Green Bay's lowest

1202
00:59:02,720 --> 00:59:07,440
income census tracts.
And I, I found myself being

1203
00:59:07,440 --> 00:59:11,800
judged, but in the opposite way
where people were saying, you

1204
00:59:11,800 --> 00:59:14,280
know, you came from a privileged
background, you don't

1205
00:59:14,280 --> 00:59:16,960
understand, right, the the
challenges I'm going through.

1206
00:59:17,600 --> 00:59:21,480
And of course, when you hear
this repeatedly, which is what

1207
00:59:21,480 --> 00:59:24,760
was happening, I was like, OK, I
think it's, I think there's a

1208
00:59:24,760 --> 00:59:26,440
learning opportunity here for
everybody.

1209
00:59:26,440 --> 00:59:29,640
And, and I chose to be very
vulnerable because I worked

1210
00:59:29,640 --> 00:59:33,200
hard, right, to go, as I
mentioned, to go to school and

1211
00:59:33,200 --> 00:59:37,040
it working the jobs I did.
I very fortunate in high school

1212
00:59:37,040 --> 00:59:41,720
to find myself not falling into
a bad crowd and couple of

1213
00:59:41,720 --> 00:59:44,640
friends that really kind of
picked me up and you said, Hey,

1214
00:59:44,640 --> 00:59:46,480
you know what, this guy's a
little rough around the edges,

1215
00:59:46,480 --> 00:59:52,400
but you know, he's fine.
And and parents that you know,

1216
00:59:52,840 --> 00:59:54,880
we're willing to say, hey, you
know what, don't hang out with

1217
00:59:54,880 --> 00:59:57,240
my daughter.
We're willing to say, hey, why

1218
00:59:57,240 --> 01:00:00,920
don't you come have dinner with
us and and let let's get to know

1219
01:00:00,920 --> 01:00:03,080
you and talk right.
And I think that level of

1220
01:00:03,080 --> 01:00:06,000
mentorship.
Made the world of difference for

1221
01:00:06,000 --> 01:00:10,040
me and, and for many kids,
right, who are out there where

1222
01:00:10,200 --> 01:00:11,960
they don't know that there's
another way.

1223
01:00:12,360 --> 01:00:15,200
And so I grew up incredibly
poor, right?

1224
01:00:15,200 --> 01:00:20,200
We, my mom was 16 when when she
got pregnant, married at 17.

1225
01:00:21,680 --> 01:00:26,840
My dad was in prison most of my
childhood, which is actually

1226
01:00:27,280 --> 01:00:29,280
seeing the response I had around
the Mother's Day post.

1227
01:00:29,280 --> 01:00:32,080
I've been contemplating a
Father's Day post to, you know,

1228
01:00:32,080 --> 01:00:34,080
to talk about the dark side of
that.

1229
01:00:34,440 --> 01:00:39,080
And, you know, surrounded by a
lot of drugs, a lot of crime,

1230
01:00:39,400 --> 01:00:40,880
right, That that was my
childhood.

1231
01:00:41,240 --> 01:00:45,680
And sometimes you just don't
know that there's something on

1232
01:00:45,680 --> 01:00:48,040
the other side.
And I think I've always had a

1233
01:00:49,800 --> 01:00:52,480
lot of hope and, and, and love
for those kids, right, who are

1234
01:00:52,480 --> 01:00:54,320
struggling in these same
environments where they just

1235
01:00:54,320 --> 01:00:56,680
don't know.
And you know what, if you want

1236
01:00:56,680 --> 01:01:00,600
to make a choice and that's the
life you want to live, you know,

1237
01:01:00,600 --> 01:01:03,240
obviously there's consequences
with every decision we make.

1238
01:01:03,680 --> 01:01:05,760
I just want to make sure that
kids can find themselves in a

1239
01:01:05,760 --> 01:01:08,560
position where they know that
there's another path and that

1240
01:01:08,560 --> 01:01:11,440
there are people that will, you
know, embrace them and support

1241
01:01:11,440 --> 01:01:13,680
them.
And if you're a parent, right,

1242
01:01:13,680 --> 01:01:16,480
you talk about generational
poverty, that's a real thing,

1243
01:01:16,920 --> 01:01:18,440
right?
Because the parent didn't know

1244
01:01:18,440 --> 01:01:20,880
any better.
And, and that's the hard part.

1245
01:01:20,880 --> 01:01:24,400
And there needs to be something
sometimes that breaks that

1246
01:01:24,400 --> 01:01:28,280
cycle.
And in a weird kind of way, I'm

1247
01:01:28,280 --> 01:01:30,880
a little bit of a subscriber to
the you, you need to pull

1248
01:01:30,880 --> 01:01:34,200
yourself up by the bootstraps.
But I'm not all in on that,

1249
01:01:34,240 --> 01:01:36,560
right?
Because you do have to pull up

1250
01:01:36,560 --> 01:01:38,760
your bootstraps and you have to
work hard and you have to, you

1251
01:01:38,760 --> 01:01:40,560
know, you can't just sit back
and say, well, what are you

1252
01:01:40,560 --> 01:01:42,240
going to do for me?
What are you going to give me,

1253
01:01:42,280 --> 01:01:44,280
right?
You have to work for it.

1254
01:01:44,280 --> 01:01:47,320
For all the listeners out there,
we just had an technical scare

1255
01:01:47,920 --> 01:01:49,520
that thought the whole file
lost.

1256
01:01:49,520 --> 01:01:51,440
We crashed a computer, but
either way, we're back up and

1257
01:01:51,440 --> 01:01:56,120
running.
And like the I think the

1258
01:01:56,120 --> 01:01:59,200
connection between your story
that you shared in that LinkedIn

1259
01:01:59,200 --> 01:02:02,680
post and your story is your
childhood of, of overcoming that

1260
01:02:02,680 --> 01:02:07,200
adversity connects to your
mission of what you're trying to

1261
01:02:07,200 --> 01:02:13,560
do of back to the Walmart
conversation, bolstering your

1262
01:02:13,560 --> 01:02:16,560
community with people who are in
your community.

1263
01:02:16,560 --> 01:02:19,400
And those people, man, those
people are the mentors.

1264
01:02:19,400 --> 01:02:23,680
Those are the next mentors that
talk to little Johnny and say

1265
01:02:23,680 --> 01:02:27,920
like, you know, provide the
avenues that like so I love that

1266
01:02:27,920 --> 01:02:31,240
you made the bootstraps quote
because I I'm firmly in the same

1267
01:02:31,240 --> 01:02:32,600
camp.
I believe the same exact thing.

1268
01:02:32,600 --> 01:02:36,080
Like of course you have to work
hard, but like somebody has to

1269
01:02:36,080 --> 01:02:39,160
sew the bootstraps on.
Like, if the bootstraps aren't

1270
01:02:39,160 --> 01:02:41,040
there, how are you going to pull
them up?

1271
01:02:41,200 --> 01:02:45,840
And how like, we see it
constantly that the cycle

1272
01:02:45,840 --> 01:02:49,400
doesn't break itself.
It takes a special human who's

1273
01:02:49,400 --> 01:02:52,240
willing to do some things and
step out of their comfort zone

1274
01:02:52,640 --> 01:02:57,840
and want something for
themselves, but it takes a whole

1275
01:02:57,840 --> 01:03:00,160
lot more than wanting something
for yourself.

1276
01:03:00,160 --> 01:03:02,040
Sometimes they don't even know
what that want is.

1277
01:03:02,080 --> 01:03:05,600
Right, you can't even identify.
When you come from nothing, you

1278
01:03:05,600 --> 01:03:09,040
don't crave something, right?
You, you, you just think that's

1279
01:03:09,040 --> 01:03:11,240
life, right?
And how do you take a kid like

1280
01:03:11,240 --> 01:03:15,920
me who is, you know, and I don't
know it like a non school day.

1281
01:03:15,920 --> 01:03:18,440
I'd be riding my bike through
the city sewer system.

1282
01:03:18,440 --> 01:03:22,320
I kid you not, that's what we
did for fun and pop up and

1283
01:03:22,320 --> 01:03:24,240
manhole covers, right?
And look around.

1284
01:03:24,240 --> 01:03:26,200
I mean, how do you take a kid
like that?

1285
01:03:26,200 --> 01:03:29,440
Right?
To to like, hey, that that's not

1286
01:03:29,440 --> 01:03:32,520
OK, right.
You should want to like, I don't

1287
01:03:32,520 --> 01:03:35,320
know, start a business someday
and contribute to society.

1288
01:03:35,400 --> 01:03:38,120
Like what's that?
You know, So it's, I mean,

1289
01:03:38,120 --> 01:03:41,960
there's a big gap there that
that, you know, it just doesn't

1290
01:03:41,960 --> 01:03:45,440
happen organically to say, you
know, pull up the bootstraps.

1291
01:03:45,440 --> 01:03:48,400
You, you have to figure out how
you get those kids right to the

1292
01:03:48,400 --> 01:03:51,240
next step And and you're not
going to get them there

1293
01:03:51,240 --> 01:03:52,560
overnight.
But that's the value of

1294
01:03:52,560 --> 01:03:54,240
mentorship.
That's a long process.

1295
01:03:55,160 --> 01:03:57,000
But making sure that we're there
as a community to lift each

1296
01:03:57,000 --> 01:03:59,840
other up, You know, we can't
neglect that responsibility.

1297
01:04:00,000 --> 01:04:03,000
Excuse me, we cannot neglect
that responsibility.

1298
01:04:03,000 --> 01:04:06,000
A little bit of a slur there.
It's water, I promise.

1299
01:04:06,360 --> 01:04:12,440
It is, yeah.
How did?

1300
01:04:12,920 --> 01:04:15,360
Well, first, how did you start
riding your bike through the

1301
01:04:15,360 --> 01:04:16,880
sewer?
What was the first time?

1302
01:04:16,880 --> 01:04:18,600
Why?
Who decided to take the manhole

1303
01:04:18,600 --> 01:04:20,480
cover off and say, hey, let's go
for a spin down here?

1304
01:04:20,520 --> 01:04:23,280
Gosh, I don't even know.
We're me and my, my, my good

1305
01:04:23,280 --> 01:04:25,440
buddy from childhood and we're
still best friends to this day,

1306
01:04:25,440 --> 01:04:27,320
right?
We, you'd go in there, you'd

1307
01:04:27,320 --> 01:04:30,240
ride your bikes in as far as you
could, the big tube that, you

1308
01:04:30,240 --> 01:04:32,760
know, blew out at warm waters,
right, Arrow Park.

1309
01:04:32,760 --> 01:04:35,000
And so you ride your bike in as
far as you could and then you

1310
01:04:35,000 --> 01:04:37,560
leave your bike and then you'd
start crawling, right?

1311
01:04:37,680 --> 01:04:40,240
And my gosh, we went way into
the city.

1312
01:04:40,240 --> 01:04:43,560
And I think the time that
honestly ended, it was we were

1313
01:04:43,600 --> 01:04:45,680
up at municipal field and this
is in Manitowoc, right?

1314
01:04:45,680 --> 01:04:48,480
And we, we popped up a manhole
cover and there's a car coming

1315
01:04:48,520 --> 01:04:54,160
at us and, and you know, you
quickly dropped it down and let

1316
01:04:54,160 --> 01:04:57,200
the car pass, you know, popped
it up, slid it over, crawled

1317
01:04:57,200 --> 01:04:59,360
out.
And then we just started walking

1318
01:04:59,360 --> 01:05:02,480
back to the beach, you know,
where the, the main pipe is.

1319
01:05:03,000 --> 01:05:04,960
And somebody must have called
the police.

1320
01:05:04,960 --> 01:05:09,000
And we get down there and the
police were down at the pipe.

1321
01:05:09,120 --> 01:05:12,120
And so we wait for them to
leave.

1322
01:05:12,120 --> 01:05:14,240
And then we went in and, and got
our bikes.

1323
01:05:14,240 --> 01:05:18,880
And the next day there were bars
being installed on the pipe, so.

1324
01:05:19,680 --> 01:05:21,920
Because two kids almost got
decapitated.

1325
01:05:21,920 --> 01:05:24,120
You know, but only once did we
ever find a rat down there.

1326
01:05:24,120 --> 01:05:25,280
I mean, for the most part, you
know.

1327
01:05:25,280 --> 01:05:28,000
No Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
You know, look, people do this

1328
01:05:28,000 --> 01:05:30,960
for a living, so it's, you know,
not, can't be that bad, right?

1329
01:05:30,960 --> 01:05:33,440
But definitely not a place for
kids.

1330
01:05:35,720 --> 01:05:37,920
So when you think about that
feedback loop that I asked about

1331
01:05:37,920 --> 01:05:40,720
earlier that wrapping up,
wrapping up with this thought is

1332
01:05:40,720 --> 01:05:44,320
that I find you very effective
at what you do.

1333
01:05:44,360 --> 01:05:47,520
Is that a driver?
Is that something that motivates

1334
01:05:47,520 --> 01:05:50,200
you when you think about that
and what it does for the

1335
01:05:50,200 --> 01:05:52,960
community?
Because when I think about why I

1336
01:05:52,960 --> 01:05:56,160
started the podcast, I want to
positively impact our Wisconsin

1337
01:05:56,160 --> 01:05:58,480
communities.
That's my entire intention.

1338
01:05:59,160 --> 01:06:01,680
Is that your motivator?
What where it stems from?

1339
01:06:02,160 --> 01:06:04,920
Boy, I don't know, I I get it.
Some individuals are just wired

1340
01:06:04,920 --> 01:06:08,840
differently, right?
And it's and, and, and thank

1341
01:06:08,840 --> 01:06:10,600
goodness for that, right,
because we have so many

1342
01:06:10,600 --> 01:06:12,920
different needs in our
community.

1343
01:06:12,920 --> 01:06:15,200
And if we were all wired the
same, but you'd have a lot of

1344
01:06:15,200 --> 01:06:19,680
gaps.
But for me, I think it's just, I

1345
01:06:19,680 --> 01:06:21,640
don't know.
I think it's I, I'm hard wired,

1346
01:06:21,640 --> 01:06:24,720
always need to be doing
something and wanting to chase,

1347
01:06:24,920 --> 01:06:27,520
you know, a new idea.
I think one of the, the great

1348
01:06:27,520 --> 01:06:31,160
things about the people I work
with is we're all very honest

1349
01:06:31,160 --> 01:06:34,560
and transparent with each other.
And you know, part of it is

1350
01:06:34,560 --> 01:06:37,040
making fun of people too.
No shortcomings.

1351
01:06:37,040 --> 01:06:40,960
And, and for me, it's I, I'm
really good at, you know, coming

1352
01:06:40,960 --> 01:06:44,760
up with all the things that I'd
love to do, you know, and then

1353
01:06:45,400 --> 01:06:47,400
recognizing, right, that you
can't do all those things.

1354
01:06:47,560 --> 01:06:49,080
It's not a band enough
bandwidth.

1355
01:06:49,080 --> 01:06:51,480
So, you know, how do you scale
it down to things that are

1356
01:06:51,480 --> 01:06:54,240
achievable so that you're not
overextending and that you're

1357
01:06:54,240 --> 01:06:56,840
truly, you know, following
through with some of the things

1358
01:06:56,840 --> 01:06:58,560
that you're doing?
And, and thank goodness I got a

1359
01:06:58,560 --> 01:07:01,440
good team around me that
recognizes that.

1360
01:07:01,520 --> 01:07:05,160
But yeah, for me, I'm just, I'm
restless.

1361
01:07:05,160 --> 01:07:07,240
I don't know, I, I have to be
doing something.

1362
01:07:07,240 --> 01:07:09,680
And, you know, the feedback
loop, I would say is not

1363
01:07:09,680 --> 01:07:13,120
necessarily what drives me.
It's important, right?

1364
01:07:13,120 --> 01:07:17,440
I mean, it's nice to hear when
you've helped someone and you've

1365
01:07:17,440 --> 01:07:19,960
changed their life.
But I think it's maybe more of

1366
01:07:19,960 --> 01:07:23,520
like a justice thing, right?
Where, Where, if, if I see

1367
01:07:23,520 --> 01:07:25,640
somebody struggling, that's not
justice.

1368
01:07:25,800 --> 01:07:26,880
That's what I was getting at,
yeah.

1369
01:07:26,920 --> 01:07:28,600
Yeah.
And, and, and I think that's

1370
01:07:28,600 --> 01:07:32,400
maybe my spark and my motivator
because I want to help correct

1371
01:07:32,400 --> 01:07:35,400
that.
And, and, and that's the thing

1372
01:07:35,400 --> 01:07:38,920
with, you know, I joked earlier,
right, like Congress not for me,

1373
01:07:39,080 --> 01:07:40,440
right?
Because it's just very, it

1374
01:07:40,440 --> 01:07:43,000
turned in, it's turned into at
the state and federal level

1375
01:07:43,280 --> 01:07:46,240
this, you know, hyper partisan
environment where either you're

1376
01:07:46,240 --> 01:07:49,200
an R or you're AD and I just
think it's nonsense.

1377
01:07:50,120 --> 01:07:52,240
If it's a good idea, it's a good
idea and I'm going to do it

1378
01:07:52,520 --> 01:07:53,840
right.
And I think that's why people

1379
01:07:53,840 --> 01:07:56,040
have had such a hard time
pegging me at the local level

1380
01:07:56,320 --> 01:07:57,920
because they want to identify
you.

1381
01:07:58,480 --> 01:08:01,120
It's easy to understand someone
when you can identify or label

1382
01:08:01,120 --> 01:08:04,000
them and they can't do it.
Because there are things that

1383
01:08:04,000 --> 01:08:07,400
have come forward where, you
know, Democratic members of our

1384
01:08:07,400 --> 01:08:09,240
community of support have said,
yes, that's a great idea.

1385
01:08:09,240 --> 01:08:10,880
And other things that
Republicans have come forward

1386
01:08:10,880 --> 01:08:12,320
and said good idea.
And I said yes.

1387
01:08:12,600 --> 01:08:17,920
So it's just, I am perfectly
fine in life with shedding that

1388
01:08:17,920 --> 01:08:20,840
party label and, and just
saying, you know what?

1389
01:08:20,840 --> 01:08:25,680
I'm, I'm motivated by the things
that I feel are just, but the

1390
01:08:25,680 --> 01:08:28,319
feedback that I obviously get
from the community that says

1391
01:08:29,000 --> 01:08:32,080
that points those injustices out
and, and, you know, make

1392
01:08:32,080 --> 01:08:34,319
suggestions on what we need to
do to correct those things.

1393
01:08:34,479 --> 01:08:37,600
Absolutely, yeah.
I think at the community level,

1394
01:08:37,600 --> 01:08:41,520
I think the one of the lights at
the end of the tunnel or the

1395
01:08:41,520 --> 01:08:46,080
shining pieces of it is that
that is still possible.

1396
01:08:46,200 --> 01:08:49,080
Yeah.
That that want that in the

1397
01:08:49,080 --> 01:08:51,800
ability to implement is still
possible where it doesn't get

1398
01:08:52,479 --> 01:08:57,439
completely driven by money.
And I think I truly believe that

1399
01:08:57,439 --> 01:08:59,720
there's a lot of people that
were in those shoes that said I

1400
01:08:59,720 --> 01:09:02,640
want to be in Congress that are
in Congress now that started

1401
01:09:02,640 --> 01:09:05,760
there.
I believe there's very few, if

1402
01:09:05,760 --> 01:09:08,600
any that are still there because
of that same reason you.

1403
01:09:08,600 --> 01:09:10,399
See it all the time, people that
exit, right?

1404
01:09:10,399 --> 01:09:11,920
Yeah.
But also, I would say at the

1405
01:09:11,920 --> 01:09:16,560
local level, it's starting to
change and, and you're seeing,

1406
01:09:17,040 --> 01:09:19,319
yeah, you're starting to see a
lot of that investment through

1407
01:09:19,319 --> 01:09:22,359
PACs and other things because
they see that as a, as a place

1408
01:09:22,359 --> 01:09:24,760
to cultivate, you know, new
party leaders.

1409
01:09:25,080 --> 01:09:28,359
And but also it, it can be a
good litmus test around other,

1410
01:09:28,800 --> 01:09:32,680
other elections, right?
So they'll make decisions about,

1411
01:09:33,000 --> 01:09:36,120
you know, flooding a local race
with with PAC money to see how

1412
01:09:36,120 --> 01:09:39,640
voters react because that might
impact how a Supreme Court race,

1413
01:09:40,800 --> 01:09:45,080
you know, reacts or how
governor's race, something like

1414
01:09:45,080 --> 01:09:47,000
that might react.
And of course, northeast

1415
01:09:47,000 --> 01:09:50,080
Wisconsin already being a hotbed
because we are so purple.

1416
01:09:50,520 --> 01:09:52,800
I mean, the amount of money
invested here because this is

1417
01:09:52,800 --> 01:09:55,440
truly a flip state.
And more importantly, Brown

1418
01:09:55,440 --> 01:09:59,480
County has really been
identified as a place that is

1419
01:09:59,480 --> 01:10:01,560
critically important to people
all across the country.

1420
01:10:01,560 --> 01:10:05,360
So I think especially in this
area, local races are starting

1421
01:10:05,360 --> 01:10:07,680
to see more attention from from
outside money.

1422
01:10:07,960 --> 01:10:10,360
That sucks.
It does.

1423
01:10:10,880 --> 01:10:16,480
That is just the it's the anti
thesis of what local government

1424
01:10:16,520 --> 01:10:19,680
is that it's that's
disheartening.

1425
01:10:19,680 --> 01:10:21,280
Well, and you know, and the
thing with PAC money in

1426
01:10:21,280 --> 01:10:23,920
particular, right?
They don't ask you.

1427
01:10:24,000 --> 01:10:26,200
There's there's no consultation.
It's illegal, right?

1428
01:10:26,200 --> 01:10:28,880
So, so that means it just
happens.

1429
01:10:28,880 --> 01:10:33,640
And you know, I, I've, I don't
wanna say I've been the victim.

1430
01:10:33,640 --> 01:10:35,040
Victims is the wrong word for
it, right?

1431
01:10:35,040 --> 01:10:39,520
But I've, I've received sort of
ads against me that, that have

1432
01:10:39,520 --> 01:10:43,640
come out and, you know, because
they perceived me to be a threat

1433
01:10:43,640 --> 01:10:46,240
to maybe something else, you
know, and all of a sudden, I

1434
01:10:46,240 --> 01:10:49,640
gosh, we still joke about it.
A lot of folks that follow local

1435
01:10:49,640 --> 01:10:53,000
politics, right?
I got 2 red flags and was told I

1436
01:10:53,000 --> 01:10:56,920
was a threat to democracy
because, because I abstained on

1437
01:10:56,920 --> 01:11:01,480
a resolution that, you know, I
felt was misleading, right?

1438
01:11:01,480 --> 01:11:05,200
So am I going to topple the
United States government?

1439
01:11:07,160 --> 01:11:08,400
I'm a threat to democracy,
right?

1440
01:11:08,400 --> 01:11:10,920
And so this is but these are the
messages that they try to test.

1441
01:11:10,920 --> 01:11:14,480
Now, I will say I was incredibly
grateful to a lot of our local

1442
01:11:14,480 --> 01:11:17,720
party members who saw that and
said, Oh my gosh, this, this is

1443
01:11:17,720 --> 01:11:19,960
not Brian, right?
And literally got on the phone

1444
01:11:19,960 --> 01:11:22,560
and not only called local
people, but state people and

1445
01:11:22,560 --> 01:11:24,160
said, you need to pull this ad.
And.

1446
01:11:24,360 --> 01:11:27,160
Even opponents.
Well, again, it it.

1447
01:11:27,160 --> 01:11:30,560
I don't know that it was the
opponent that was doing it.

1448
01:11:30,560 --> 01:11:32,160
You.
Might not have even had anything

1449
01:11:32,160 --> 01:11:33,240
to do.
With it, but it but it was the,

1450
01:11:33,280 --> 01:11:37,120
the, the, the people involved at
the local level that were, you

1451
01:11:37,120 --> 01:11:39,240
know, a member of this party,
you know, they, they kind of

1452
01:11:39,240 --> 01:11:43,080
said, hey, this isn't this isn't
right, you know, and it wasn't

1453
01:11:43,080 --> 01:11:45,120
just me, by the way there was
there was another candidate

1454
01:11:46,000 --> 01:11:47,920
Alder Mark Steuer.
Again, just incredibly, we're

1455
01:11:47,920 --> 01:11:50,720
both incredibly moderate, right.
We just, we're independent

1456
01:11:50,720 --> 01:11:55,600
thinkers and, you know, kind of
boiled on to that one resolution

1457
01:11:55,600 --> 01:11:57,960
and and it is what it is, right?
This politics.

1458
01:11:57,960 --> 01:11:59,440
I, I did, I never took offense
to it.

1459
01:11:59,440 --> 01:12:03,560
I just thought, quite frankly,
found it humorous, you know, but

1460
01:12:03,640 --> 01:12:06,440
like I said, I was so grateful
for those folks that that said,

1461
01:12:06,440 --> 01:12:09,240
Hey, this, this isn't right.
And really stepped up, even

1462
01:12:09,240 --> 01:12:12,440
though it was, you know, their,
their party that was doing it,

1463
01:12:13,280 --> 01:12:16,720
you know, to have the courage,
right to step up and say, now

1464
01:12:16,720 --> 01:12:18,920
we, we need to take this down.
I thought that was pretty cool.

1465
01:12:19,000 --> 01:12:19,920
That's awesome.
Yeah.

1466
01:12:20,080 --> 01:12:21,720
Yeah.
Something that gives you that's

1467
01:12:21,720 --> 01:12:26,160
a glimmer of hope at the end.
And and that's the that's the

1468
01:12:26,160 --> 01:12:31,720
wish, you know, that's the
ultimate want is that we can do

1469
01:12:31,720 --> 01:12:35,680
that, whether we're in local
politics or not from our seat,

1470
01:12:36,960 --> 01:12:40,080
can we positively impact and do
the right thing?

1471
01:12:40,600 --> 01:12:44,040
You know, and even the right
thing is different to everybody,

1472
01:12:44,040 --> 01:12:48,040
But I don't know if you follow
your, your right direction,

1473
01:12:48,640 --> 01:12:53,280
we'll be in a better place than
the the way that the way that

1474
01:12:53,280 --> 01:12:56,600
PAC money comes into existence.
Well, it's let's just be

1475
01:12:56,600 --> 01:12:58,920
neighbors, right?
And I think a certain level of

1476
01:12:58,920 --> 01:13:03,600
accountability has has gone away
and is eroded since it's become

1477
01:13:03,600 --> 01:13:05,640
so easy to be a keyboard
warrior, right?

1478
01:13:05,640 --> 01:13:10,000
When there's not someone on the
other end, you know, you can't

1479
01:13:10,000 --> 01:13:15,120
visibly see them hearing or
receiving your attacks, deserved

1480
01:13:15,120 --> 01:13:17,800
or otherwise, right?
When we're sitting here face to

1481
01:13:17,800 --> 01:13:19,480
face.
And if you give me constructive

1482
01:13:19,480 --> 01:13:21,800
criticism, the reality is you're
going to put a filter on it,

1483
01:13:22,320 --> 01:13:23,320
right?
And you're not going to be a

1484
01:13:23,320 --> 01:13:27,440
jerk more often than not, right?
That's productive, right?

1485
01:13:27,440 --> 01:13:30,960
But when you go online and you
call people names and you know,

1486
01:13:31,000 --> 01:13:35,320
you attack them for things that
are, you know, characteristics

1487
01:13:35,360 --> 01:13:38,360
and not about ideas or policy,
right?

1488
01:13:38,360 --> 01:13:41,520
That's, that's just rude.
And, and, and I think we've lost

1489
01:13:41,520 --> 01:13:42,520
that a little bit as a
community.

1490
01:13:42,520 --> 01:13:45,400
So I hope we can get back to
being neighbors and, and really

1491
01:13:45,400 --> 01:13:48,720
respecting that we all have
different lived experiences and,

1492
01:13:48,720 --> 01:13:52,000
and we all come to the table
with different challenges, but

1493
01:13:52,000 --> 01:13:54,200
different solutions.
And if we work together right,

1494
01:13:54,240 --> 01:13:56,160
that that's when you really see
positive outcomes.

1495
01:13:56,600 --> 01:13:58,760
Absolutely perfect feather in
the cap.

1496
01:13:58,760 --> 01:14:00,280
Appreciate you spending some
time Ryan.

1497
01:14:00,280 --> 01:14:02,720
It was awesome to talk with you.
Yeah, enjoy it.

1498
01:14:03,040 --> 01:14:06,080
I'd love to come back sometime,
but more importantly, I, I would

1499
01:14:06,080 --> 01:14:09,400
love to get you down into the
Broadway District and we'll work

1500
01:14:09,400 --> 01:14:11,360
on finding a a spot.
Of course, these guys are great

1501
01:14:11,360 --> 01:14:13,040
too.
It's not to pull, pull away from

1502
01:14:13,040 --> 01:14:15,160
here.
But I don't know, I just love to

1503
01:14:15,160 --> 01:14:19,000
see this type of thing happening
in our community and love it

1504
01:14:19,000 --> 01:14:20,440
even more when it's in the
Broadway District.

1505
01:14:20,560 --> 01:14:22,160
Absolutely.
Keep up the good work, all

1506
01:14:22,160 --> 01:14:22,320
right?