Full Transcript for From Business Failures to Building Our Dream: The Wild West Bowling Story with Tom Kennedy (Part 2)

and he knew he's in trouble. 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:11.919 So he walks down the back and goes through the back door and around the back of all the bowling pin centers. 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:13.520 You'll see the footage. 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:20.639 And then he comes back up and around, and it's just like, oh, and everyone's in there bowling, and there and no one's at the counter. 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:23.279 I'm chasing me Brahmin bull around the back of the bowling alley. 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:26.399 And he comes back up, and I don't, I think I stopped filming. 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:39.199 And he just looked there and let this almighty big roar out because a Brahmin bull doesn't just do the moo like a normal cow, they have this bellow roar, it's different, and it's quite intimidating if you're in front. 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:40.959 It's like a massive, you know, big. 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:43.839 It was at this moment I knew we weren't normal. 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:44.720 Yeah, yeah. 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:46.399 Took us a while to figure that one out. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:50.959 So we had this bowling alley and we'd taken it over. 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:59.439 Dad had brought two horses home, and then one day brought this little Brahmin calf home. 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:09.439 And that is also a really critical part of our story because that's when our lives completely changed, even though we didn't quite realize it at the time. 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:17.439 Yeah, it was setting us on another trajectory path that um it was only through fun, you know, and just filming Bruce. 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:35.120 And I had some uh, you know, some horse ridey mates and uh girls, and they've got their little mates always filming, and I'm trying to film Bruce on my own and develop my own style without realizing I was just having fun and and just wanting to share it on Facebook, you know, they let other people on. 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:39.600 So yeah, it's um that's another story a bit later on we'll talk about. 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:46.000 Well, tell me how did the next venture come into play, which was the Cowgan Stampede Rodeo. 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:47.199 I actually have no idea. 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:48.639 I don't know why. 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:53.759 It's probably just me uh reminiscing about how wonderful rodeos was when I was a kid. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:56.639 You really romanticize your childhood a lot. 00:05:56.879 --> 00:05:58.000 Yeah, it was a great childhood. 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:02.399 And you were just trying to recreate that and you're seeing how much the future's evolving and changing. 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:03.519 You're like, no, I don't want that. 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:04.800 Let me re-write the class. 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:32.560 I don't like the way it's all gone, so everything's so controlled, but I also like enjoying seeing people happy and creating the rodeo, um, the concept of having a rodeo where you got the

amazing skill sets of uh horse riders and people getting flung in the air off the bulls was something I wanted to showcase because you know, this is the wild west, and you know, and this this is um Albany that used to have a rodeo when I was a kid and went to it. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:37.519 Same as the drive-in, you know, the problem I had was that everything had been forgotten. 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:46.800 So when I came up with the idea of doing the rodeo, I did it mid-January, and I thought that'd be great because you know it's warm weather. 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:55.519 And I found out that everyone's into show jumping and ponies and you know, English. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:57.040 What the hell's English writing? 00:06:57.120 --> 00:06:58.480 Oh, that's all that crap, you know. 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:00.879 I thought it'd still be Western stuff. 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:02.000 No, it's all gone. 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:03.120 It's that far gone. 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:06.800 It was it was in the 80s, it's 20, 30 years ago. 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:08.879 So let's start up this rodeo. 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:10.959 Who knows why we're gonna suddenly do a rodeo? 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:11.920 Was the family on board? 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:12.639 No, they weren't. 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:13.920 It was another Tom idea. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:21.920 I went to the local, um, I looked around ferries and I went to the local caravan park and asked, you know, are you happy for us to set up a rodeo and give it a go? 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:23.600 I went and got the council on board. 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:30.959 They came and had a look, and so we all agreed that, you know, we'll give it a shot and couldn't get any funding, you know, and had to do it all my own. 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:33.279 And so I was setting up all the power, the water. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:41.600 So as usual, I'm thinking way over the top than starting off small and building it. 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:43.120 It was gonna be the best ever. 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:45.680 It's gonna be three days of total excitement. 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:48.319 We're gonna do Utes, V8 Ute, barrel. 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:49.439 We're doing everything. 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:51.600 I was gonna have tug awards with Clydes. 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:54.000 There was literally a petting zoo. 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:57.360 No, that was literally like reptiles, like animal music. 00:07:57.680 --> 00:07:58.560 Yeah, we had the petting zoo. 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:04.639 That was all bouncy castles, food vans, we had heaps of food vans, mechanical bucking balls, everything. 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:07.120 You know, it was it was gonna be a maze balls. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:11.040 We ran the first one, it was just absolute chaos. 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:13.360 The money it's cost to set it up, everything. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:17.680 Uh, and luckily the temping bowling was able to cover all of that, so we didn't have

to borrow more money. 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:19.759 So that was an$80,000 loss. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:25.040 That was uh that was about uh$80,000 to$90,000 setup cost. 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:33.279 Um, and then you know, we uh yeah, we we lost around$90,000 on the first one. 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:35.440 It was mid-January, it was stinking hot. 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:39.360 We ran the it was actually quite successful in its own right. 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:52.639 Do you know what is worth mentioning is when you're running these events the first one we didn't have online ticket sales pushed as hard as the later ones that we ran. 00:08:53.360 --> 00:09:05.120 But what happens is you have all these ticket sales coming in at the door, you get all this cash, and once again you get this false sense of security and confidence that, like, oh my gosh, we're making so much money, we're bringing it in. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:08.159 And then you get the A B C R A. 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:10.720 All the costs and they're like, Where's our prize money? 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:15.759 We need money for the judges, we need this, and boom, 30 grand's just gone, like that. 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:29.039 And and you're just literally, I remember we'd be sitting in the caravan and we'd be counting all the notes, and you're counting that many notes, and money's going out so fast that you can't add anything up anymore. 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:31.919 Like you actually can't add 10 plus 10 plus 10 plus 10. 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:33.679 Your brain's just fried. 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:34.399 Yeah, yeah. 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:38.639 I would have people ask me a simple question about something and I couldn't answer it properly. 00:09:38.720 --> 00:09:39.600 Where do you want the hey? 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:40.320 I could not answer it. 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:43.919 I was that fried, we're running on adrenaline, was set this place up. 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:52.080 It was the most one of the most chaotic, hectic draining exercise we'd ever done. 00:09:52.320 --> 00:10:00.320 And then when we're, you know, at the end of the rodeo, I'd marketed everyone, we're gonna run the V8 Utes around the barrels, and no one left. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:05.200 You know, at the end of a rodeo, normally half your crowd just vanishes straight away. 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:07.039 And everyone sat there waiting. 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:11.840 The grater came out, the water truck come out, and we were running a Mustang. 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:17.759 Uh, Shane was bringing his Mustang out, and he was gonna, you know, do a bit of speedway around the rodeo. 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:24.720 So he did that, and someone on a quad bike came out, and then we had a lineup of Utes, all the down south ute models. 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:27.039 Oh, this is the most bogan thing you've ever seen. 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:33.039 They've all got their flags, these exhausts uh popping off, and it was just very bogan. 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:34.639 Yeah, it was pretty cool. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:40.000 And to me, I I I was so impressed with the none of the crowd had left. 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:41.519 They're all up there watching it. 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:48.639 And so we've got, oh I'm on the microphone, I heard absolute ball taking them piss out of everyone and how bad they're driving. 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:50.639 They're getting bogged in the sand. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:53.360 And then Rod Caddies comes running across to me. 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:55.679 So Rod was my mentor for Rodeos. 00:10:55.919 --> 00:11:02.960 He was trying to tell me how to get it set up and you know what to do, and you know, some of the stuff. 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:06.720 So when Rod, I he didn't realise I was doing V8 barrel racing. 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:10.240 So when he saw this, Rod's had a look at the bar. 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:11.679 He's had a look at the band. 00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:19.279 I paid five grand for that band plus GTS plus GST, GT plus accommodation, food, everything. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:22.559 The the bar staff standing around picking their noses. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:27.519 He comes running out in the middle of it all and says, Tom, you gotta shut this down. 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:28.720 Said, why, Rod? 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:30.320 I said, it's it's looking great. 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:32.240 Look at everyone, they're having fun, they're laughing. 00:11:32.399 --> 00:11:35.840 He said, Look at your um bar, that's where you make your money. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:38.240 You got no, I had about like five people. 00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:40.799 I've got Renegade down, they're a damn good band. 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:43.919 It's about five people standing up in front of Renegade. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:47.039 And in my mind, we were being successful here, you know, this is great. 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:48.240 And he was right. 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:52.399 So um, anyway, so I listened to Rod. 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:56.559 I had to tell everyone, they'd all pay their money, had to give all their money back, they're all lined up. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:59.919 And so they were spewing, but I had to tell them the honest truth. 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:03.759 Hey, we're gonna crash and burn if we don't get everyone over at the band. 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:08.240 And anyway, um, and we didn't have a lot, we only had about 1,200, 1,500 people. 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:09.919 We're expecting two and a half thousand. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:18.000 Break even I figured out afterwards around you know, 1,200, but because I'd put the 90 grand into the setup cost, we'd lost a lot of money. 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:19.120 Um Do you know what? 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:21.360 I didn't even get to see any of this. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:34.000 I could only hear it because I was sitting in a little shell of a little hut caravan-y thing with no air con for 13 hours selling tickets

because no one else would sell tickets. 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:40.000 Yeah, and so those first few rodeos didn't even get to see the rodeo because I was just sitting selling tickets. 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:41.360 Yeah, yep. 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:52.159 Um, and we were trying to get two bucks off everyone for parking, so they were getting abused, you know, the poor kids running that, and and then um, you know, everyone's got card, they want to pay for parking with a car. 00:12:52.399 --> 00:13:03.679 We didn't know, you know, it's a it was a nightmare, logistical nightmare, because you've got to get the cattle in, you've got to get the the rodeo arena in, you've got to set it all up, you've got to have the hay for the cattle, you've got to all your competitors. 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:09.759 You've got to look after competitors, then they've got to have showers, toilets, toilets for all your um customers as well. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:10.960 You've got to have your bar. 00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:13.600 It's actually one of the hardest events to organise. 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:25.759 Because if you look at a music festival, you have your stages, you have your bars, you have a first aid area, like you've got all of that, and they're they're pretty easily controlled because you're just working with humans. 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:35.919 But when you have to add in animals, you've got to add in your bar staff, like okay, and then you've got all your competitors, then you've got your people at the gate, then you've got your bands. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:43.759 There's so many people demanding so many different things of you that, like you're saying, with I I don't know what to do, like with the hay on you're just overwhelmed. 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:51.120 So then we did a second rodeo because I believed, you know, if we try hard enough, we'll get more people coming in, it'll be fine. 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:58.080 So then the second rodeo, and when what happened was after the first one, Sharon and I felt so down and out. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:06.080 And Sharon said, I think we're gonna have to sell the Tarano, we've got an SLR 5000, and I bought for Sharon for a 30th, I think that's that how long ago. 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:08.720 So um I said, Yeah, I think we're gonna have to. 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:10.799 And I said, but oh well, let's just think about it. 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:17.120 So for two to three days, we tried to digest how bad things were. 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:18.320 How much did we owe? 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:20.720 We owed businesses left, right, and center. 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:24.000 They were our best friend when they're all being a part of it. 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:27.120 But when we couldn't pay them, that's when it went to poop. 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:32.320 And I came up with a saying that, you know, everyone's your friend if you're paying them money. 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:36.000 And then, you know, when you're not, it just turns that people can turn on you. 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:38.960 I thought, you know what, these guys are profiting on our effort. 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:41.600 They want their money, they want their profit and everything. 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:44.960 They want the cake, they're gonna eat it too at our cost and expense. 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:47.200 How's about they suffer with us? 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:49.120 And so I said to Sharon, stuff it. 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:58.080 We're not selling the Tirana, we're not gonna just, you know, we're even if we sell the Tirana, we're still gonna it's such a temporary fix. 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:03.200 And that Tirana is the only muscle car we have left. 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:08.320 We've had we've had a fair few over the years, and we've had to sell some previously because of the debt. 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:25.120 But it's almost like a like the one thing other than loot, like we haven't lost the house, but like the Tirana and the house are the two things that still have existed through all of this crap that we, you know, there's that that temptation to sell it and what if, but we've just found a way. 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:26.240 There was an easy way out. 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:28.720 And so I said to Sharon, you know what, they're gonna suffer with us. 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:31.279 So I told everyone we're just gonna keep. 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:34.639 And so luckily we had temp in bowling, the old bowling alley. 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:39.519 Um, and so we kept running that and we just kept paying everyone until we'd literally paid them off. 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:42.080 We owed one guy um, you know, 10 grand. 00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:47.679 And as we ran into the next rodeo, we had an outstanding debt of up near 20 grand, I think, total. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:49.600 Uh security guys were great. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:51.039 They were part of what we had. 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:51.919 Still owed. 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:54.240 So we run it a second time. 00:15:54.399 --> 00:16:00.720 Um, we had the utes there again, but they did key bangers, horses are going up in the air, almost land on star pickers. 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:02.000 It was a nightmare, it was shocking. 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:06.559 The rodeo guys running over telling us um, you know, the announcer ran over. 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:09.679 He said, Oh, you're gonna have no one here next year if you keep this crap up. 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:11.519 So it it was getting nasty. 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:13.840 So we thought, right, no more, no more utes. 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:17.120 And we couldn't get insurance if we want to do it again anyway. 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:21.200 So, and then um we left it for a year. 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:23.279 I didn't run it the following year. 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:26.480 No, we actually need to say the second one didn't work out. 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:28.639 Second one, we almost broke even. 00:16:28.720 -->

00:16:28.960 Yeah. 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:36.720 And that's where I realized for 1,200 people, we can sell 1200 tickets, we can actually break even because we didn't have the setup cost like we did the first one. 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:42.799 Yeah, and then so I sat there and it it it took me till Easter to pack it up. 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:45.039 I had bits of the bar still there. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:46.399 I was that down and out and depressed. 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:55.200 You can't even put into words how much this event takes out of you physically, emotionally, financially. 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:59.360 But like it takes six months to kind of prepare for it. 00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:18.799 That last two months is like setting up the rodeo arena, the fencing, everything, and then the the you're not enjoying Christmas or anything around that because you're stressed, and so then you've got like the the week before, it's like, oh, we got time, and then the 48 hours, there's no time to sleep because you're just running out of time. 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:20.960 There's no time to sleep, you just gotta keep going. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:27.119 Then you do the event, and you are burnt out for the next one month at least. 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:33.680 Yep, and then you've burned all your friendships up with everyone, and now you've got to pack it up. 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:36.559 You've got to pack up the rodeo rent because the next guy wants it. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:40.640 So, stuff me, we're gonna try and get everyone out to come and help, and no one wants to help. 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:43.359 And we have no employees at bowling at school holidays. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:45.200 This is when you would make your money. 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:46.000 Yeah, yeah. 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:49.759 So I'm back there trying to run that, or Sharon's running, I'm trying to clean up. 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:51.359 We've got to clean up all the mess off the ground. 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:53.119 Then we've got to pack up the temporary fencing. 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:54.880 So I'd bought a lot of temporary fencing. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.440 We'd sort of covered some costs in that way as well. 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:01.359 So, anyway, we ran the second rodeo and I could see it had potential. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:03.119 So we were just that over it. 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:04.720 Um, we didn't run it for a year. 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:06.640 So we ran it in mid-January. 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:10.960 The following year, um, we had a break. 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:12.480 COVID hit. 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:14.480 Then we ran it. 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:15.039 Yeah. 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:15.920 COVID hit. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:18.720 That's you couldn't travel out of stage. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:19.119 Yeah, yeah. 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:22.559 You couldn't go to Bali, you couldn't even leave. 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:27.599 So what I did was I went and did some research because I remember taking this is why I did it. 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:28.000 That's right. 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:29.119 This is why I want to run the radar. 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:40.480 Because I took Sharon and the kids to a rodeo back in 2007 or eight, and they ran it at the horse um pacing Gloucester uh horse pacing track, whatever that's called. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:42.880 The trotting track. 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:45.920 And so that was successful. 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:55.680 So I went back and I went through all the old notes in the public um in the public library, and you can go through all the old advertiser local newspaper. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:57.200 So I went back trying to find it. 00:18:57.279 --> 00:18:58.000 When did they have it? 00:18:58.079 --> 00:18:59.039 What date did they do it? 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:03.039 It was the 27th of December, the day after Boxing Day. 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:04.880 So I thought, right, that was successful. 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:11.119 There's a big event at the horse racing, not the trotting, but the horse racing track that on Boxing Day. 00:19:11.279 --> 00:19:13.200 But they, and that was still on then. 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:15.599 They ran it successfully, it went well. 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:18.799 I reckon we can do this if we change the date. 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:21.359 And I th I said to myself, three strikes when we're out. 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:28.960 We gotta, we've put so much effort, well, I've put so much effort in building this and telling everyone how great it's gonna be and trying to convince my family it's worth doing again. 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:32.880 And we had been running it around the 12th of January. 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:33.519 January, yeah. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:40.079 So by that time, everyone who's come down for Christmas or your tourists, they have left. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:40.559 Yes. 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:49.200 And you cannot, unfortunately, cannot rely on the Albany locals to support something because it has to depend on the weather and how they're feeling that day. 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:53.119 We had more tourists supporting our events than we did locals. 00:19:53.359 --> 00:20:01.680 Yeah, so the locals will winge about the cost of you know,$35 to get in, but they'll go and buy a packet of cigarettes or a can of export, um, carton of export. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:08.000 You know, we're putting on entertainment for a rodeo, we're putting on um a music festival as well. 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:11.279 You know, we've got the and we've got food vans coming down for it. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:16.720 You know, it's pretty cool setup, and the it's the best location right near the river. 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:19.519 You know, you couldn't get a better, and it's all grass banks. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:20.400 It was it was awesome. 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:25.680 We put a huge amount, little Mikey, him and I were doing roll-on lawn, making

this bank bigger and better. 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:28.480 We had other businesses locally bringing in dirt for us. 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:31.759 It was just, it was really coming together for this big one. 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:36.160 Now, COVID had been um had hit and had been in. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:40.240 We changed the date to the 27th of December. 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:44.640 On the 1st of January, they changed the rules for COVID. 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:47.759 We managed to operate and get ours running. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:54.480 We were allowed to run it, but the guys that were in overpassed in uh January, they had to cancel theirs. 00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:57.039 So we were really fortunate we're able to get ours running. 00:20:57.119 --> 00:21:00.160 I can't remember, it was 2021, I'm not sure when it was. 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:06.000 Anyway, um, so we ran it and uh it was looking bad when we were starting to open up. 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:07.200 Is anyone gonna rock up? 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:13.599 Suddenly we had a line of cars just all the way down the road coming in, and it was awesome. 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:17.200 And I remember thinking, please stop coming in, please stop coming. 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:20.720 We haven't ordered enough car parking bays just by changing the date. 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:22.880 So we hadn't changed the the event. 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:25.359 All we did was change the date. 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:30.000 Now, when you go between Christmas and New Year, everyone is in party mode. 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:40.480 All the Perth crews are down, all your, you know, your cattannings and all your farmers generally, if they've got their um, you know, their crops have all been done. 00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:47.680 They're all down, they're all in happy mode, everyone's in party mode all the way up to 1st of January. 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:50.240 After 1st of January, it's a different story. 00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:52.799 So it was super critical. 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:54.079 We got that date right. 00:21:54.160 --> 00:21:57.119 And I could not believe I was saying to myself, please no more cars, please. 00:21:57.200 --> 00:21:58.240 You know, that was just weird. 00:21:58.319 --> 00:21:59.200 They're all rolling through. 00:21:59.279 --> 00:21:59.759 We had nowhere. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.799 A park and we overflowing into another area we'd prepared and it went off. 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:05.680 It was brilliant. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:09.519 No Ute barrel racing, anything like that this time, just a good rodeo. 00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:14.240 And what we learned was people don't care who's there as long as they're getting flung in the air. 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:17.359 They don't care who the bull rider is, what the bull's name is. 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:25.519 Um, you know, it was in that sense, it's easy um to to have that it's just pure entertainment. 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:27.440 Now then we had to get the music right. 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:29.920 So there's the music during the rodeo. 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:38.160 We had trial two different guys, and they're supposed to time the music when the bull comes out or the horse comes out or the steer wrestling is happening. 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:39.440 You got high-energy music. 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:43.599 Our mate Bailey loves his amplifiers and sound steps. 00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:45.359 But Rodder, Bailey, you have a crack at it. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:48.079 We did some practice runs on video. 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:49.759 We're watching the rodeo, how it went. 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:51.200 Right, and this is when you're gonna do it. 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:58.240 And he got his wow, then he got the high-energy music, AC, DC, all that as they're coming out, just changed the atmosphere. 00:22:58.319 --> 00:22:59.359 The crowd loved it. 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:00.960 Paul Casey's an announcer. 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:02.400 Oh, he's the best. 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:03.359 He's just awesome. 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:06.079 He has the best presenting voice. 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:12.319 Like he just, if that rodeo didn't have him, our rodeos just wouldn't have done that. 00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:13.039 Nah, no. 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:20.559 Anyone else who fills in when he does some steer wrestling or something, they don't have the the you know, the voice, and he's very storytelling. 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:35.839 You know, he'll he'll talk about some guy, you know, walking across and taking the Mickey out of him and you know, pick on one of the girls as she goes to hop up, he'll put his hand there, and as she's about to step in, he drops his hand and she falls on the ground again, and you know, takes the Mickey out of it, and they get on so well. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:42.480 He makes the rodeo, and so the music makes the rodeo, the date made the rodeo, and running it in the evening. 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:45.759 So you've got to run in the afternoon in the evening, the evening under light. 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:46.960 So we'd learned all that. 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:52.640 And also, your first year, everyone's like, oh, that sounds cool. 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:53.680 Maybe I'll go. 00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:55.920 Second year, it's like, oh, I don't know, the weather. 00:23:56.079 --> 00:24:04.559 Third year, you're like, you've got that brand reputation, you've created this FOMO and there's social proof. 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:09.839 It's very hard to fear of missing out for people my age, fear of missing out. 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:18.480 If you don't have any social proof, you don't have photos, you don't have videos, it's very hard to actually market an event because you are selling. 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:19.839 Yeah, yeah. 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:27.599 So I'd been going to the old road, I've been going to the Boddington Rodeo, I've been going to Rod Caddy's Rodeo, and I was filming it all up in

Bustleton. 00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:35.680 Rod had one, and then I went to Waging and I filmed all that, and then I used that footage to start selling it on Facebook. 00:24:35.759 --> 00:24:38.960 And this is before Sammy got involved with the helping with the Facebook stuff. 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:41.359 I was just doing it all on my own, the best I could. 00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:46.079 Um, and you guys weren't really behind the rodeo at the start. 00:24:46.160 --> 00:24:47.279 It was another dad idea. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:49.920 It was I remember the first one. 00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:51.119 We went really big. 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:56.240 We did three days, and the first day there were people, the second day was the main event. 00:24:56.480 --> 00:24:58.640 The first night was bull riding. 00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:01.279 Um, it was a bull riding clinic. 00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:02.079 That's right. 00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:03.200 That was on the Friday night. 00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:04.240 The Saturday was a regular event. 00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:13.759 And then the third day, I remember it was one of Mike's friends and his grandparents, only people that showed up the entire day. 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:15.279 Yeah, we we'd pulled the pin. 00:25:15.359 --> 00:25:16.000 We were cleaning up. 00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:17.279 No, we it was too much. 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:19.119 So I'd over overestimated dungeons. 00:25:19.359 --> 00:25:21.440 You don't need a three-day event, you just need a really good one. 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:23.359 One good road, and that's what Rod told me as well. 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:24.160 You snatched it. 00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:28.319 Anyway, so so by the third one, we were very successful. 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:29.759 We were very happy with it. 00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:34.720 The weather was great, um, bands, local bands were great, and we just got it right. 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:47.359 And it was it if the one key point was getting the date right, who would have believed that moving it two weeks back, but that took a little bit of research and me um trying to figure out why it wasn't it working. 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:49.599 If it's worked before, why wasn't it working? 00:25:49.839 --> 00:25:53.440 So it's crazy that it cost you almost 150 grand to figure that out. 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:56.240 Oh, that was yeah, it was a costly expense. 00:25:56.400 --> 00:25:59.920 So then when we ran um another one, that went really well. 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:04.960 So the first one allowed me to buy the bowling lanes from Planet 10 pin when they were closing. 00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:10.000 So we managed to buy the actual lanes, synthetic lanes, the gutter guard system, the scoring system. 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:14.640 And then the second one allowed us to put a deposit down. 00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:16.319 Uh sorry, the fourth one. 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:22.799 So the third one was successful, fourth one was successful, allowed to put us deposit down on the bowling alley property. 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:24.000 This is a new track. 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:25.680 Yeah. 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:31.519 So we'd done a deal to purchase to lease, uh, lease to purchase, and we're gonna build the bowling alley in there. 00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:34.160 We had no financial and nothing was figured out. 00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:37.759 It was just all done on a wing and a prayer. 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:41.680 So then the um what would that be? 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:43.599 Then the fifth one we ran. 00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:52.000 Um I remember that one because we had 5,000 people rock up, and that was just like, whoa. 00:26:52.160 --> 00:26:53.920 We've we've there was no standing room. 00:26:54.400 --> 00:26:55.519 We've literally nailed this. 00:26:55.599 --> 00:27:24.799 And each year we also behind the scenes had a lot of issues with trying to figure out the right layout because you have liquor license requirements, and so you have half your arena with you know, people under 18 are allowed, and then if you wanted to have this over 18 area with alcohol, people would bring their kids in, and the liquor license law was like you have to have your child within five metres of you at all times, otherwise, security has to kick them out because we can get a massive fine. 00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:28.640 The fifth rodeo, there are a few crazy things that happened. 00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:35.279 One was Mike decided that he was gonna ride a bull, and that was unreal. 00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:38.880 Like Mike's never wrote a bull, no lessons, nothing. 00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:42.079 And he decided one time up at work he was gonna do it. 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:42.799 Did he do lessons? 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:43.359 Oh, did he? 00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:44.480 Yeah, he did it on Bruce. 00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:46.160 So we're all we're all having a bigger. 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:48.319 Bruce is not real lessons. 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:53.200 That's like that's like giving someone like a little like play card to go into. 00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:57.359 We got bigger foot to be at a shower. 00:27:57.680 --> 00:27:58.400 Okay, yeah, yeah. 00:27:58.480 --> 00:28:01.839 So Bell Bell showed him a bit about riding, but not much. 00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:03.440 And he actually did all right. 00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:06.480 I was I was like, I was so scared. 00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:07.440 I was like, please don't die. 00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:12.880 Yeah, you just don't want him trodden on, and his physical strength is what really helped him. 00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:13.920 Yeah. 00:28:14.319 --> 00:28:21.599 The other key moments of that, like number one, we had 5,000 people here, but I remember this is one of my favourite things. 00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:23.039 We probably sat there. 00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:30.960 We were this was the first kind of rodeo where we as a family actually got to experience it and watch it, and we weren't super

stressed about everything. 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:31.440 Yeah. 00:28:31.759 --> 00:28:33.279 Sweet Caroline comes on. 00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:40.480 Paul's there, and we have 5,000 people singing Sweet Caroline. 00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:40.960 Yeah. 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:43.440 And I just sat there and I was like, we did it. 00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:44.400 We've achieved it. 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:46.000 We finally did it. 00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:49.119 So Bailey's there on the PA system. 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:50.880 He's got Sweet Caroline going. 00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:55.920 Now he had said to me, we really need a bigger cable running from the Gen set to the music system. 00:28:56.240 --> 00:28:59.039 But um, anyway, we didn't quite get that done. 00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:02.720 He's decided in the excitement of the moment to turn the volume up. 00:29:02.880 --> 00:29:08.079 As he's turned the volume up, his amplifiers have sucked too much power and tripped the breaker. 00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:09.759 Paul Casey's in there. 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:12.720 Now wave your hand, and it just goes dead quiet. 00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:17.440 And all the crowd is waving and singing, sweet Caroline, and it dies right. 00:29:17.680 --> 00:29:17.839 Oh. 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:18.960 But it was great. 00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:20.400 They kept carrying it, you know. 00:29:20.480 --> 00:29:23.920 They were panicking, run to the Gen set trying to find out. 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:26.079 And I was like, oh, yeah. 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:27.440 That was a key moment. 00:29:27.599 --> 00:29:39.039 Another key moment was Mike and I had 20 grand in pockets, and we're walking, and we've got to take it over to the competitors. 00:29:39.119 --> 00:29:46.079 So, like, I'm walking in this black hoodie, like, please, no one rob me, please no one hit on me, please, nothing go wrong. 00:29:46.319 --> 00:29:48.640 Because I have a lot of money on me right now. 00:29:49.119 --> 00:29:55.519 So we're walking, and we see this drunk guy at the back of the arena trying to climb the fence. 00:29:56.319 --> 00:30:00.000 So he's climbing up, and then they're like, no, you can't come in. 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:12.960 And then we're kind of just walking, like, oh, this is like we're we're kind of close to this guy, and all of a sudden there's another guy that's come across, and they've wrestled. 00:30:13.279 --> 00:30:17.200 This guy that was trying to break in is now pinned to the ground. 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:24.559 Turns out it's an undercover police officer, and he's been causing issues, and he's he's got him pinned to the ground. 00:30:24.880 --> 00:30:26.640 The army couple of police wasn't causing issues. 00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:27.519 No, no, no, no. 00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:28.160 It was the other guy. 00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:29.359 Make sure people understand. 00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:29.920 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:32.000 So sorry, the bad guy was the drunk guy. 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:38.880 Yep, and then the undercover police officer was trying to do the right thing by kicking him out, making sure he didn't cause any issues. 00:30:39.039 --> 00:30:44.240 So he's wrestled this guy, got him pinned out, and Mike and I were like, what the hell is this guy doing? 00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:53.359 He's like pinned to the ground, his neck's like this, and he's gone, I'm gonna give you until the count of ten, and you better let me go, I'm gonna fuck you up. 00:30:53.440 --> 00:31:02.640 And so, anyway, he's gone ten, nine, eight, and he counts all the way, and he gets three, two, one, and he's just sitting there and he can't move. 00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:08.160 Manages to move his hands, grabs the police offer's nuts and twists them. 00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:19.519 And then I ended up having to go to the hospital for another reason because uh someone that was with me was having a very allergic reaction to all the dust and stuff, and so we had to take her to the hospital. 00:31:19.759 --> 00:31:27.200 And I see this police officer walking in like waddling, and I didn't put two and two together until after that this is what had happened. 00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:28.319 This poor guy. 00:31:28.480 --> 00:31:31.920 Yeah, and it turns out he was like one of the high-up police officers. 00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:33.680 He was a liquor licensing officer. 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:34.000 Yeah. 00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:39.920 So Mike had been in there and and he'd copped the twisted balls, and he wasn't going too good. 00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:46.400 Um, yeah, and I spoke to him after, and he he wasn't that upset. 00:31:46.559 --> 00:31:47.279 I was surprised. 00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:50.160 I thought he's not gonna make it easy for us next year. 00:31:50.319 --> 00:31:53.359 Um, I was so surprised how well he handled it. 00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:58.880 Um, blew me away that, you know, well, no, it's only, you know, these guys can do that sort of thing. 00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:03.440 That was a turning point for me that I actually felt a bit people were not respectful. 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:06.960 Oh, yeah, and I I thought, well, Mike got hurt because of us in a way. 00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:09.599 I felt that, and I was sort of feeling responsible. 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:18.480 When the and the dickhead factor was starting to creep up a bit, people cracking whips, crapping whips, cracking animals, cracking whips at 2:30, 3 a.m. 00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:23.440 Everyone's trying to sleep, you know, people's trying to steal them from an alcohol out of the truck. 00:32:23.519 --> 00:32:24.559 So I've got to camp there. 00:32:24.720 --> 00:32:30.640 So there were a few areas there that started to have a bit of a negative, and I thought, is it worth the money, the effort? 00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:33.519 And and then Sammy said to me, This is a turning point. 00:32:33.759 --> 00:32:36.240 I'm not coming next year if you're running the rodeo. 00:32:36.480 -->

00:32:40.720 I'm going overseas for Christmas because I'm not enjoying Christmas, you know. 00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:45.119 I've pushed the family too far, and I've pushed all my friends and everyone that helps. 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:46.880 No one really wants to be involved anymore. 00:32:46.960 --> 00:32:48.799 I've worn out my friendships. 00:32:49.039 --> 00:32:52.640 Um, and so we decided the very final one. 00:32:52.960 --> 00:32:57.920 No, we didn't know that that was going to be the final one until we were running it, and we were like, I think this is it. 00:32:58.160 --> 00:33:03.039 Well, the final one was we decided we're gonna run a music festival and a rodeo at the same time. 00:33:03.200 --> 00:33:04.880 Well, three days after each other. 00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:11.119 And the reason why we were doing that is because the old bowling alley had come to the end of the lease. 00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:21.119 It was October 2023, which meant we weren't gonna continue paying any rent there because the new bowling alley needed to start getting built. 00:33:21.279 --> 00:33:26.559 Now that the old bowling alley had been closed down, we really needed more cash. 00:33:26.880 --> 00:33:28.079 A bigger cash injection. 00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:38.799 And so we were really relying on this rodeo to do well, and because we had the setup of the rodeo, we could just leverage like the toilets there, security, everyone, everything's already there. 00:33:39.039 --> 00:33:40.720 We'll just turn it into a music festival. 00:33:40.880 --> 00:33:45.440 Yeah, and so I went and bought a stage truck, and we're it was an awesome setup. 00:33:45.519 --> 00:33:52.160 We flipped it, and so when people came three days later to the music festival, it was a totally different layout. 00:33:52.240 --> 00:33:56.400 It wasn't just the same, same truck, same band, uh, same bar, everything it was all changed. 00:33:56.720 --> 00:33:59.519 It was a a tenth of the effort of the rodeo. 00:34:00.640 --> 00:34:16.800 And you almost sit there and you're like, man, if we had taken all that risk and done music festivals, it would have been very interesting in like alternate reality because you still would have lost money the first couple of events, regardless, and you would have had to pay a huge amount for the axe versus the animals. 00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:21.360 Like, I wish you could just see that's where you need AI to have a parallel universe for you. 00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:22.559 And you go, boom, let me try this. 00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:23.920 Let me try that. 00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:29.039 And so we found that the the music festival is easy to run, easy to organize everything. 00:34:29.199 --> 00:34:31.039 After running rodeo, it was simple. 00:34:31.280 --> 00:34:32.079 Do you know what? 00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:39.599 One thing that I will say about the music festival is it is very disappointing how unorganized the bands are. 00:34:39.679 --> 00:34:42.239 They have no branding, no

marketing materials. 00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:47.280 And how am I meant to promote you and get excited about you playing? 00:34:47.440 --> 00:34:51.519 I know you're all right at playing, but like there was like Don't even have a logo. 00:34:51.679 --> 00:34:52.880 Nah, it was bad. 00:34:53.119 --> 00:35:00.719 Like it was, and once again, it was the same problem as probably the first rodeo where you don't really have the social proof. 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:07.840 You have a few videos maybe from the previous rodeos, but it was only until like that fifth one that we really filmed content as well. 00:35:08.079 --> 00:35:08.320 Yes. 00:35:08.480 --> 00:35:10.719 We didn't prioritize content because we're just trying to run the event. 00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:12.960 That's when Sammy came on board more then. 00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:13.199 Yeah. 00:35:13.440 --> 00:35:14.639 Yeah, with that marketing side. 00:35:18.639 --> 00:35:27.039 It was easy to run, but psychologically hard to get right because with the rodeo, no one cares who's there, what bulls are there, nothing. 00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:29.119 As long as people getting flung in there, they're happy. 00:35:29.519 --> 00:35:36.159 But with the um music festival, it comes down to oh, I've seen that act, I've seen those guys before. 00:35:36.320 --> 00:35:38.000 It's like, oh stuff me, don't you get it? 00:35:38.079 --> 00:35:40.960 You're coming into a big open area event. 00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:43.760 You're not seeing them playing in the local little pub anymore. 00:35:43.840 --> 00:35:45.119 It's a nice big open area. 00:35:45.199 --> 00:35:46.320 Come and enjoy it. 00:35:46.559 --> 00:35:48.079 And so um, it was very hard. 00:35:48.159 --> 00:35:53.119 Now, if we went and got a good Perth band, it would have been, oh yeah, well, I've seen them, they're not the best Perth band. 00:35:53.360 --> 00:35:56.320 So you wouldn't get them, you know, it was just a nightmare trying to get it right. 00:35:57.280 --> 00:36:00.960 You have to pay for the ban, you have to pay for their accommodation if they want to come down. 00:36:01.039 --> 00:36:04.079 So you have to find accommodation because it's peak accommodation time. 00:36:04.239 --> 00:36:15.199 Yeah, like there's a lot of logistics and things that go into running these events that now I can completely understand why there aren't as many festivals. 00:36:15.519 --> 00:36:20.320 Running in parallel to the rodeo was Brucey Um Brahman. 00:36:20.639 --> 00:36:25.599 He was our mascot, you know, and so Bruce would come into the rodeo, he'd be there helping set up. 00:36:25.679 --> 00:36:27.119 So I'd be filming all this. 00:36:27.280 --> 00:36:30.639 Brucey's now starting to develop a following. 00:36:31.039 --> 00:36:35.679 And as the rodeo's getting bigger, people were coming to the rodeo just to see Bruce. 00:36:35.840 --> 00:36:37.039 Yeah, especially young kids. 00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:42.480 The bonus was seeing the rodeo, but they actually come to

and Bruce would do his walk around the arena. 00:36:42.719 --> 00:36:43.920 He was just known. 00:36:44.079 --> 00:36:46.480 I just let him go and he'd just cruise the arena. 00:36:46.639 --> 00:36:49.920 Kids are just trying to touch him, pat him, hey Bruce. 00:36:50.079 --> 00:36:54.239 And he'd be laying down in his little area so people come and look at him and see him. 00:36:54.400 --> 00:36:57.360 So he was quite a star of the rodeo that no one else had. 00:36:57.519 --> 00:37:00.719 So we had this draw card that, you know, made us pretty cool. 00:37:00.800 --> 00:37:02.480 The location was cool, everything was great. 00:37:02.639 --> 00:37:04.239 Albany's got beaches all around it. 00:37:04.320 --> 00:37:06.400 People were just coming down every year now. 00:37:06.559 --> 00:37:13.039 So we developed that following with the rodeo that people were planning the holiday to come down to it. 00:37:13.199 --> 00:37:15.440 The people that support us were the local businesses. 00:37:15.599 --> 00:37:16.239 They loved it. 00:37:16.320 --> 00:37:19.199 You know, they're happy to, you know, in the end, we were giving them free. 00:37:19.360 --> 00:37:25.360 You you print out your things, we'll put them up for free because we just want everyone to benefit and be a part of it. 00:37:25.599 --> 00:37:44.159 So that developed for us a um a realization that the Kennedys were actually trying to do something for the community, which we didn't realise at the time, but the spin-off and the um payoff for us later when we're trying to build this Wild West bowling alley, um, really helped. 00:37:44.960 --> 00:37:58.880 So we had that last rodeo, and there were things that we started realizing that we just knew this is the last one, mostly because the audience that was coming weren't as respectful. 00:37:59.039 --> 00:38:06.400 There's obviously these incredible supporters who have been there since day one, and they are the best, and we appreciate them because they've grown with us. 00:38:06.800 --> 00:38:17.119 However, there were some really horrible things that happened behind the scenes that just made you go, Why am I putting all this effort in and why are we doing this and getting treated like this? 00:38:17.599 --> 00:38:20.719 People were kind of using and abusing you. 00:38:20.880 --> 00:38:29.440 Um, and there was some stuff going on with the animals which we weren't aware of, and then once you do become aware of it, you're like, nah, I don't want to be a part of this anymore. 00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:39.519 Your relationship with Bruce grew so strong, and then I think as that developed, you started to see the perspective of how would these animals feel if they were people? 00:38:39.760 --> 00:38:41.519 How would I feel if Bruce was in there? 00:38:41.679 --> 00:38:46.800 You know, getting and so that, yeah, I think that helped me see another side. 00:38:46.960 --> 00:38:56.159 And so if I had it again, I'd if I, you know, if I had a choice, I'd rather run

a music festival, it would be uh a lot easier as well. 00:38:56.239 --> 00:38:57.760 So do you know what? 00:38:58.000 --> 00:39:11.039 From my perspective, seeing your excitement coming into it, it was like, oh, all the entertainment and the excitement of the bulls by the last one, so six rodeos in, it was I don't like how the animals are being treated, I don't feel okay doing this anymore. 00:39:11.199 --> 00:39:16.480 And you could see how much your perspective shifted because of the relationship you built with Bruce. 00:39:16.639 --> 00:39:18.400 And it we actually had an awesome event. 00:39:18.639 --> 00:39:20.800 Man, that rodeo was awesome. 00:39:20.960 --> 00:39:30.159 It the when you see um one of my friends, Brad, got up there with his drone, took some amazing shots of the whole scene, it's just unbelievable. 00:39:30.400 --> 00:39:33.440 So, yeah, it's just another stage unfortunate of a life. 00:39:33.519 --> 00:39:39.360 If we held one more, I reckon, and we promoted it, we'd probably the last one, it'd go off if we did it right. 00:39:39.519 --> 00:39:48.159 But you know, with our previous businesses, it was like the more money you injected into this, it wasn't gonna get any better. 00:39:48.239 --> 00:39:49.199 I think that was a reality. 00:39:49.280 --> 00:39:53.199 Like at Simworld, you could just keep putting more money hoping that you know one day it's gonna pay off. 00:39:53.280 --> 00:39:57.599 And it's just not the right business model, it's not the right market, there's not enough demand. 00:39:58.800 --> 00:40:03.599 I really felt that when we had the conversation, do we want to host another one? 00:40:04.480 --> 00:40:06.880 We had actually finally learned our lesson. 00:40:07.280 --> 00:40:15.119 We finished that rodeo, we didn't lose money, and we knew, okay, we can end it on a high. 00:40:15.280 --> 00:40:15.440 Yes. 00:40:15.760 --> 00:40:19.360 And we hadn't built huge resentment towards it. 00:40:19.519 --> 00:40:22.400 We hadn't absolutely crashed and burned, we'd actually turned it around. 00:40:22.480 --> 00:40:28.239 We were like, you know what, this has worked out, we've had a win, let's just end it on a high here. 00:40:28.400 --> 00:40:30.480 And same thing with the music festival. 00:40:30.719 --> 00:40:32.960 That event was meant to make more money. 00:40:33.039 --> 00:40:34.880 I think in the end, we lost about$10,000. 00:40:35.360 --> 00:40:37.280 It cost us a few dollars, which was a shame. 00:40:37.440 --> 00:40:41.920 And we still profited off the rodeo, so it wasn't like we were in the red. 00:40:42.079 --> 00:40:45.280 It wasn't as much money as we were hoping for our cash injection. 00:40:45.599 --> 00:40:48.960 But I think what we pulled off was a miracle. 00:40:49.039 --> 00:40:52.800 I mean, we're building a bowling alley while running a rodeo and a music festival. 00:40:52.880 --> 00:40:54.559 Like, there was a lot going on behind the scenes. 00:40:54.719 --> 00:40:59.679 And for the people who wonder, like, what's it like being in our lives? 00:40:59.840 --> 00:41:03.679 The best way to put it is we've never stuck to one thing until while West Bowling. 00:41:04.079 --> 00:41:06.480 We've always been running two to three businesses at the same time. 00:41:06.639 --> 00:41:15.360 Like it was go-karts and the bowling alley and the drive-in, or it was go-karts and the bowling alley, and and then there was the rodeos. 00:41:15.840 --> 00:41:16.239 You've got to do it. 00:41:16.400 --> 00:41:27.280 Yeah, we've always had two to three businesses, which I think subconsciously I have developed very strong work ethic because I don't know any different. 00:41:27.519 --> 00:41:32.719 When I was growing up, the only days I'd ever see you take off were maybe Christmas and Easter. 00:41:33.440 --> 00:41:35.280 Which I don't think is probably a good thing. 00:41:35.440 --> 00:41:37.280 I think you should have taken more time off. 00:41:37.679 --> 00:41:43.679 But I saw you work really hard, and I guess the other side is like, I wish we worked smarter, not just harder. 00:41:43.920 --> 00:41:47.599 You could work hard for decades and still have nothing to show. 00:41:47.679 --> 00:41:49.360 And we're finally getting smarter. 00:41:49.679 --> 00:41:57.039 Yeah, and a good example of that is you can get the wrong advice, and people can say, Oh no, that's a great idea. 00:41:57.119 --> 00:42:00.000 It's a great idea, you know, you're having a crack, good on you, mate. 00:42:00.159 --> 00:42:04.480 And you can be flogging a dead horse, and and it's not going to get you anywhere. 00:42:04.559 --> 00:42:12.800 And so if you haven't done your homework and your passion has overclouded your judgment, which is what happened to me, and uh quite a few things. 00:42:13.039 --> 00:42:21.199 So if if you can just get some good advice, if you've grown up in a family with a business and observed it, you can be so much better off. 00:42:21.519 --> 00:42:24.159 Um, nothing of this is taught at school, you know. 00:42:24.719 --> 00:42:30.880 So when you look at the bowling alley, we had pulled out equity from the home again. 00:42:31.199 --> 00:42:36.000 And that was what was kind of funding this new bowling alley fit out. 00:42:36.079 --> 00:42:48.960 You'd been accumulating Jarra, you'd been accumulating the bowling lanes, you've been slowly sinking into the reality that, hey, it's time to start building this bowling alley once you'd recovered from the rodeo music festival. 00:42:49.280 --> 00:43:03.360 I remember the projected timeline that we had in our minds at first was we'll close down the old bowling alley in October 2023, and by Easter, which was April 2024, this new one would be open. 00:43:04.000 --> 00:43:19.679 There was a lot of things going against us, and COVID had affected a lot in the fact that even the freight from Los Angeles, suddenly the freight, they had 100 plus ships sitting out on the wall out in the um harbour, let alone getting them to the

wharf. 00:43:19.840 --> 00:43:30.079 So they upped their freight from I think it was a 42,000 to$90,000 plus dollars for one sea container to get across a 40-footer. 00:43:30.320 --> 00:43:40.239 And then the freight guys we're dealing with said, look, we've tried to get a sea container from the UK across, and the client has purchased their own container. 00:43:40.639 --> 00:43:44.639 They won't put it on the ship because they're not making any money off the rent of the container. 00:43:44.800 --> 00:43:46.400 So he said, We won't go that way. 00:43:46.480 --> 00:43:48.880 We'll make sure we'll rent their container. 00:43:48.960 --> 00:43:52.079 So somehow he managed to, it just dragged out forever. 00:43:52.239 --> 00:43:55.840 Somehow he um the cost came back down to the 40,000. 00:43:56.079 --> 00:43:59.519 This is where my dumbass brain kicks in that I've just saved$40,000. 00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:04.639 Now I can buy that um buck and bull, mechanical buck and bull always wanted. 00:44:04.800 --> 00:44:05.519 I went and did it. 00:44:05.599 --> 00:44:06.719 I didn't tell Sharon. 00:44:06.800 --> 00:44:08.079 I put the deposit down. 00:44:08.239 --> 00:44:10.559 I told her after that, you know, this is going to be great. 00:44:10.639 --> 00:44:12.000 It's a marketing tool. 00:44:12.320 --> 00:44:18.000 To take it right back, we'd I'd seen this bowling alley for lease, sorry, Hammers Furniture Store. 00:44:18.159 --> 00:44:22.719 Brian Hammer owned it for lease or purchase for literally four years. 00:44:22.880 --> 00:44:28.000 I've been running the old bowling alley one night, Easter, Friday night, it was dead. 00:44:28.639 --> 00:44:30.000 I could hear cars everywhere. 00:44:30.159 --> 00:44:31.360 So, right, I'm going to shut this. 00:44:31.440 --> 00:44:32.239 I'm going to go for a drive. 00:44:32.400 --> 00:44:35.440 And I measured up the bowling alley before I left. 00:44:35.599 --> 00:44:36.639 I'm going to go for a drive. 00:44:36.800 --> 00:44:37.519 Where's all the cars? 00:44:37.599 --> 00:44:38.239 And I followed them. 00:44:38.320 --> 00:44:40.880 They're going from the cinema down York Street and back. 00:44:40.960 --> 00:44:44.960 And I went out to this, you know, the site that we're at, and I measured it up. 00:44:45.039 --> 00:44:47.119 And it's bigger, it's longer and it's wider. 00:44:47.199 --> 00:44:48.000 I could not believe it. 00:44:48.320 --> 00:44:49.039 It didn't look that. 00:44:49.119 --> 00:44:54.400 And so that's when I decided, hey, why don't we go and put a bowling alley here and go from there? 00:44:54.480 --> 00:44:56.800 So we did a deal without any finance in place. 00:44:56.960 --> 00:44:58.960 There was no subject to finance. 00:44:59.039 --> 00:45:00.559 It was lease to purchase. 00:45:00.719 --> 00:45:07.360 Someone came along and offered Brian a thing 100 grand more once they found out what we'd got the bowling alley for. 00:45:07.519 --> 00:45:09.039 And Brian stuck to his guns. 00:45:09.199 --> 00:45:13.440 Brian's in his 80s, and he's He's not in his early 80s. 00:45:13.519 --> 00:45:14.800 He's in his like mid to late 80s. 00:45:15.039 --> 00:45:17.199 About 87, 88 at the time. 00:45:17.280 --> 00:45:19.679 And and so Brian was a good businessman. 00:45:19.760 --> 00:45:25.199 And but he also stood by his um, you know, beliefs that I don't want to mess someone around. 00:45:25.280 --> 00:45:27.039 I've been there before, I know what it's like. 00:45:27.199 --> 00:45:35.360 So he stuck to his guns, gave us the deal, and um the rodeo itself allowed us to put that deposit down. 00:45:35.440 --> 00:45:40.239 Who knows how we're gonna get the rest of the money to buy it, pay for 1.2 mil plus GST. 00:45:40.639 --> 00:45:49.679 So we've done this, we've signed up, and suddenly we get this invoice from the um Department of Housing or what's it called? 00:45:49.920 --> 00:45:55.280 Whoever does the settlement, the settlement agency says, Oh, now you're gonna pay your duty, you've got to pay your stamp due to$59,000. 00:45:55.760 --> 00:45:56.400 So, why? 00:45:56.559 --> 00:45:58.320 Well, we haven't purchased it yet. 00:45:58.400 --> 00:46:02.880 We've just put a deposit to hold it, you know, um, till we buy it. 00:46:03.039 --> 00:46:05.280 Oh no, it's got to be paid within six months. 00:46:05.519 --> 00:46:07.519 Six to twelve months of signing. 00:46:07.760 --> 00:46:15.760 And so I'm trying to uh I'm trying to work with the um Department of Land and whatever else, the tax revenue mob, or whoever they are. 00:46:16.000 --> 00:46:17.039 And what do you know? 00:46:17.199 --> 00:46:22.559 They can do us a deal that we can hold it off, but we got to pay them, I think it was 12% interest. 00:46:22.800 --> 00:46:28.079 Yeah, so every six months that you delay this payment, it's 12% interest. 00:46:28.480 --> 00:46:31.599 And we had to delay it, was it two or three times? 00:46:32.079 --> 00:46:35.760 Yeah, about almost three years, two to three years. 00:46:36.079 --> 00:46:37.840 But luckily they allowed us to do it. 00:46:38.000 --> 00:46:50.000 I actually said to them, I went to our local MP, I went to um someone else in Perth, another um department of a minister for whoever it was, um, land, and explained their situation. 00:46:50.159 --> 00:46:50.800 No one cared. 00:46:50.880 --> 00:46:52.480 That's the rules, bad luck. 00:46:52.719 --> 00:47:06.880 And luckily, um they although they gave us the extra extensions when they normally wouldn't, because they knew it's and the guy told me it's tied in with land, we know it's safe, so we can still, but they're still judging 12%. 00:47:07.199 --> 00:47:08.079 It's ridiculous. 00:47:08.559 --> 00:47:10.159 They're crucifying a business. 00:47:10.239 --> 00:47:14.159 I said, we haven't even started, we haven't even got it running, and he are making it hard for us. 00:47:14.320 --> 00:47:19.679 Then we had Western Power with the upgrade for the power, had to fight them and went public about that.

00:47:19.840 --> 00:47:26.400 People, new people in Western Power, and and some hierarchy got upset with us, and we managed to get that um. 00:47:27.119 --> 00:47:43.360 Yeah, I put up a Facebook post and they were initially wanting over 50 grand to do this big power upgrade so that we could have enough power to run our business, and then there was another building next door getting built, and instead of subsidizing the cost for everyone, we were all of a sudden having a lot of people. 00:47:43.679 --> 00:47:44.400 Sharing their cost. 00:47:44.639 --> 00:47:45.119 Yeah. 00:47:45.360 --> 00:47:52.239 Um, and yeah, there was uh it was weird because no one wanted to touch this building. 00:47:52.480 --> 00:47:59.760 And once we had signed up with Brian, within six months, Albany had started to explode. 00:47:59.920 --> 00:48:03.599 Yeah, the property beside us sold, big development going on. 00:48:03.760 --> 00:48:14.079 And when you're talking about the jar before, the sawmill, um, the local sawmill, everyone was closing down sawmills, you know, and we were collecting as much jar as we could. 00:48:14.159 --> 00:48:18.480 We looked like a bunning superstore inside with timber everywhere. 00:48:18.719 --> 00:48:22.320 And that was before sawmills were announced they were going to be shut down. 00:48:22.480 --> 00:48:26.159 So we only paid for all that timber, literally 20 grand. 00:48:26.400 --> 00:48:27.519 You know, it's ridiculous. 00:48:27.760 --> 00:48:37.920 So there was a whole heap of circumstances that fell into place that, you know, we're able to secure our cars against a loan to get us another 150 grand. 00:48:38.480 --> 00:48:51.760 Um, someone, one of our neighbors selling their house, they sold it, they won 1.1, they sold it for 1.2, went straight to my um to Cameron, our broker, and told him he said, Oh, well, we'll get it re-evaluated. 00:48:51.920 --> 00:48:54.880 Your house, suddenly we got another 100 grand on ours because they'd sold it. 00:48:54.960 --> 00:48:58.639 And so we're we're just leapfrogging as we could. 00:48:58.880 --> 00:49:00.719 I had no financial control. 00:49:00.960 --> 00:49:02.719 I was just doing whatever I wanted. 00:49:02.880 --> 00:49:04.559 No one questioned what I was doing. 00:49:04.639 --> 00:49:07.199 I was just spending money left, right, and centre. 00:49:07.360 --> 00:49:14.480 Um, and then uh a few friends and neighbors helped us as well financially. 00:49:15.280 --> 00:49:21.039 Tell us about that time you called me up and you were like, I don't think we're gonna make it. 00:49:21.280 --> 00:49:24.000 I had till Friday, we owed 13 grand. 00:49:24.880 --> 00:49:26.880 Um, is that the time you're talking? 00:49:27.119 --> 00:49:28.719 Nah, there was one where it was like 30 grand. 00:49:28.960 --> 00:49:30.639 You're like, I need 150,000. 00:49:30.800 --> 00:49:31.599 Actually, do you know what? 00:49:31.679 --> 00:49:36.639 I think there was probably about three or four separate phone calls where we would just make it through. 00:49:36.880 --> 00:49:40.400 And you're like, I just need a hundred thousand, and I just need an extra 100,000. 00:49:40.480 --> 00:49:43.119 And here's Brian going, mate, you need another million. 00:49:43.440 --> 00:49:46.159 Yeah, see, what was happening, our holding costs monthly were incredible. 00:49:46.239 --> 00:49:49.440 So we had home loan, we had loans that we were servicing. 00:49:49.599 --> 00:49:51.440 We had no income coming in. 00:49:51.599 --> 00:50:03.599 So I think it was about uh 20 grand or 21 grand a month it was costing us just to um because we were paying a lease to Brian because we'd burn up our rent-free time. 00:50:04.000 --> 00:50:11.039 And we were getting loans out, and these loans were actually not going towards us finishing the fit out. 00:50:11.119 --> 00:50:13.519 It was actually just buying us more time. 00:50:13.840 --> 00:50:16.960 And that is the scariest part because you go, oh, okay, cool. 00:50:17.119 --> 00:50:21.440 I've just got this private loan secured, it's at 20% interest or something crazy. 00:50:21.599 --> 00:50:30.239 And then you're like, okay, I've got this money, and then all of a sudden, okay, here's your rent due, here's this due, here's your insurance due, like the building insurance. 00:50:30.320 --> 00:50:37.920 There were so many costs that just kept coming out, and all of a sudden, you know, uh, fifty thousand dollars felt like a five dollar note. 00:50:38.079 --> 00:50:38.639 Yeah, yeah. 00:50:39.119 --> 00:50:42.239 Literally every we we just buy another three months' time. 00:50:42.320 --> 00:50:42.639 Yeah. 00:50:42.800 --> 00:50:56.880 And and so if we looked at it, it was a hard one because if we got tradesmen in, so to give you an idea, to come in and I said to the guys um putting in the lanes, look, I've only got, you know, 15, 20 grand to uh budget to finish it. 00:50:57.039 --> 00:51:02.079 So they came in and we get a bill for 42 grand, you know, to to finish off the installation. 00:51:02.480 --> 00:51:06.239 Not even it it didn't even finish there because they needed to come back again. 00:51:06.400 --> 00:51:07.920 It's like they did it in multiple parts. 00:51:08.159 --> 00:51:09.199 Oh yeah, that was the final one. 00:51:09.360 --> 00:51:10.320 Yeah, so there's more. 00:51:10.400 --> 00:51:12.719 So there's over 100 grand to install the lanes. 00:51:12.880 --> 00:51:25.039 But my point is that if we had applied that to every trade to come in and do everything, like versus the time of holding, it was a it was a catch 22. 00:51:25.280 --> 00:51:27.119 You know, do we try and get tradies in? 00:51:27.199 --> 00:51:28.639 Are they gonna do the job we want? 00:51:28.719 --> 00:51:30.480 And and so it was really hard. 00:51:30.559 --> 00:51:32.239 So we built most of it ourselves. 00:51:32.480 --> 00:51:35.760 It was dad, Hans, and our neighbor Dave. 00:51:36.079 --> 00:51:43.440 And while all this is going on, Hans is got heart issues,

we're driving him up to Perth, he's getting a stent put in. 00:51:43.519 --> 00:51:48.559 There was like all of this stuff on top of trying to deal with all the stress. 00:51:48.639 --> 00:51:52.239 It was like you could not make up how many things kept going wrong. 00:51:52.480 --> 00:51:54.400 No, and and things that went right. 00:51:54.480 --> 00:51:55.519 And yeah, miracles. 00:51:55.840 --> 00:52:04.559 And yeah, and so uh another uh a really good one was how are we gonna lift the floor up for all the bowling lanes? 00:52:04.719 --> 00:52:07.360 Then another one was the floor where you bowl from. 00:52:07.519 --> 00:52:14.079 You know, we didn't want to have to make everyone step up to bowl and step back down to their lounge area. 00:52:14.320 --> 00:52:19.920 So I I thought, I'll just ring up West Beam after the rodeo and you know, and everything. 00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:22.400 I was on a high that, you know, things were going well. 00:52:22.480 --> 00:52:26.639 And rang up West Beam, had a chat with them, they talked to the Bunnings guys. 00:52:26.800 --> 00:52:30.880 The Bunnings guys said, Yeah, they're they're doing a really good job, support them. 00:52:31.199 --> 00:52:49.599 So the big head honcho um approved it, and suddenly they've provided us with literally 20 grand's worth of eye joists to do the rest of an area we wanted to do as a sponsorship because they saw the video of me walking around saying how good West beams were and you know, some things you just can't plan. 00:52:49.679 --> 00:52:53.440 And suddenly we lifted the whole bowling alley up where the lounge areas as well. 00:52:53.599 --> 00:52:57.920 It all matched three sets of steps instead of one big long one everywhere, and man. 00:52:58.320 --> 00:53:21.599 And we also were documenting the journey, and every person that came in or business that was helping out, we were filming each section and putting it on Facebook, and so it wasn't like it was hey, the bowling alley's here, you know, it was this is the process, and people were getting frustrated because they're like, Is it ready yet? 00:53:21.840 --> 00:53:28.559 Like, you know, we were hoping it was ready a year ago, and then you have cars rocking up out the front, and you're having to say, sorry, we're not open. 00:53:29.440 --> 00:53:34.639 And there were kind of these signs that we felt the pressure was on and we knew this business was gonna work. 00:53:34.880 --> 00:53:40.320 Behind the scenes, there was still so much to do, but we had like 20 cars rocking up each day trying to come bowling. 00:53:40.480 --> 00:53:41.440 We're like, We're not open yet. 00:53:41.840 --> 00:53:45.679 Because we had all the artwork done at the front, so they could see, oh, it's uh it's a bowling alley. 00:53:45.920 --> 00:53:53.440 It's the first probably business where we were so busy before we ever we had to turn people away. 00:53:53.599 --> 00:53:57.599 We just knew demand was there, and that's probably what put the pressure

on even more. 00:53:57.679 --> 00:54:00.960 Because every time we were like, I would be like, Dad, when are we opening? 00:54:01.039 --> 00:54:03.920 Like, we're just gonna pick a date and we're just gonna have to commit. 00:54:04.000 --> 00:54:21.039 And so we did pick a date, and unfortunately, the building inspector came in, and there were some crazy little things we had to do, like the 10 mil out on the steps, and we had to redo them to standard, the disabled handrail, yeah, a few little things, but it wasn't a nightmare. 00:54:21.679 --> 00:54:27.679 Um, and then the city of Albany were great, you know, they got all the planning stuff done for us and helped us make sure. 00:54:28.079 --> 00:54:32.719 And I think through documenting it and showcasing people did want to see it and they did want to help out. 00:54:32.880 --> 00:54:42.400 And that is a really important thing because we built this massive sense of community and we showed we're not perfect, we're not getting it all right, and we're having fun. 00:54:42.480 --> 00:54:51.920 And even though those were some of the most stressful times of our lives, you look back now and you're like, wow, look what we achieved, and and all the incredible people that came on the journey. 00:54:52.559 --> 00:55:20.400 When you started talking to the other business owners and the individuals that were involved, some of them were going through marriage breakdowns, some of them were struggling in their own businesses, and there was just this turning point of realizing we were building something that was giving so many people a sense of purpose and excitement, and and still to this day, like we just wouldn't be here without the people who believed in us and helped us out. 00:55:20.480 --> 00:55:32.880 Like, I remember was it the concreting guys, and then you also had like the steel um bars and frames and stuff around the building, like we yeah, so we got sponsorship from areas we'd never think of. 00:55:32.960 --> 00:55:41.679 All your a lot of the local hardware stores are on board, Reese Plumbing are on board, Metrol, um Costa Steel. 00:55:42.079 --> 00:55:44.480 Yeah, Costa's helped a bit there. 00:55:44.639 --> 00:55:53.679 We had Neville's hardware, we had Harrow Electrical, even little Stevie, sorry, the Hanson concrete hands and concrete, yeah. 00:55:53.760 --> 00:55:57.760 And there's so many books I'm gonna feel bad if I like miss them. 00:55:58.000 --> 00:56:01.599 Um and then John O with his uh Great Southern Sign Code. 00:56:01.679 --> 00:56:02.480 Yeah, um, did that. 00:56:02.880 --> 00:56:04.719 That actually was something I was not happy about. 00:56:04.800 --> 00:56:09.920 I was like, Dab, we do not need to spend 30 grand like you know, on this. 00:56:10.159 --> 00:56:11.519 Oh no, we can get a good deal. 00:56:11.599 --> 00:56:23.760 And it was just like it felt like one of those things where you were just my prioritization versus yours was very different because you were like, no, we need

the artwork, we need to have this Cactus Canyon pinball machine. 00:56:23.920 --> 00:56:27.679 Like there were a few things I'm like, do we really need the pin if we don't even have a bowling alley? 00:56:28.159 --> 00:56:39.039 But actually, something worth mentioning is getting the building to the certification standard required to open was like one whole thing. 00:56:39.199 --> 00:56:50.880 And I guess you kind of have all the money that's just going into the building, as in like your toilets and the structure and the bowling lanes, and then you got all your barrels and the saloon, how it's set up. 00:56:51.199 --> 00:56:53.280 So, what happened was the big turning point. 00:56:53.360 --> 00:56:55.599 Um, I'd kept annoying Brian. 00:56:55.840 --> 00:56:58.480 So Brian's the owner after a while of the property. 00:56:58.639 --> 00:57:07.280 Brian rocks up, and he'd have this property since the 80s, and he set up Hammers Retro uh Hammers Furniture store and was very successful. 00:57:07.440 --> 00:57:11.119 And so Brian had decided he wanted to sell it. 00:57:11.440 --> 00:57:17.920 Um, and we done a deal to purchase off him, and I kept teasing Brian, so hey Brian, can you just give us another rent free? 00:57:18.320 --> 00:57:21.519 Brian, why don't you just will us this property when you die, would you? 00:57:21.599 --> 00:57:26.639 You know, and I just I was just being real cheeky with him, and he's probably going, Oh, who's this loser? 00:57:26.719 --> 00:57:31.440 Anyway, so after a while, Brian got quite involved with us and he loved coming in. 00:57:31.679 --> 00:57:37.280 He was 87, you know, carrying timber four-meter lengths of wandu. 00:57:37.360 --> 00:57:39.039 Now it's heavy timber floorboards. 00:57:39.119 --> 00:57:45.920 And we're trying to, I said to Mikey, quick, get over there and hold the other end for Brian because he's, you know, he's already had a pacemaker put in. 00:57:46.159 --> 00:57:51.760 So Brian decided he was gonna put in some dollars into our account just to help us. 00:57:51.920 --> 00:57:59.280 And this was a turning turning point for me having to ask for everyone else's permission to spend money. 00:57:59.360 --> 00:58:06.960 So I'd gone and decide I want to put my flashing disco lights in up on the roof because if I don't get them in now, we got access with the seal. 00:58:07.440 --> 00:58:11.519 We can't put them in later, it's gonna be a pain on a ladder, it's gonna be dangerous, whatever I could justify, you know. 00:58:11.599 --> 00:58:14.000 So I'd gone and bought these things, and Brian's walked in. 00:58:14.079 --> 00:58:15.440 I said, Hey, Brian, have a look at these. 00:58:15.679 --> 00:58:19.360 I turned on the flashing lights to show him, and I was so proud of him. 00:58:19.519 --> 00:58:27.840 I could see Brian looks at him and I could see in his face this is what you've just spent the money on that I've helped lend for you to finish. 00:58:27.920 --> 00:58:29.679 And I don't know, I could just tell. 00:58:29.840 --> 00:58:35.760 So, anyway, one of my friends rocked up and he just started up a business and it was doing very well. 00:58:36.480 --> 00:58:38.159 And he told me the figures. 00:58:38.559 --> 00:58:45.840 And I said to him, and Brian's standing up on the uh approach where we just got the you know, lift it all up. 00:58:46.079 --> 00:58:50.159 And I said to him, Are you happy to share your figures with Brian? 00:58:50.639 --> 00:58:51.920 He goes, Yeah, I can do that. 00:58:52.159 --> 00:59:04.159 Brian is like the sharpest person that you've ever met, even in his late 80s, he could work out the exact number of customers, the exact amount of money, maths, interest, compound. 00:59:04.239 --> 00:59:07.519 Like you could not get a dollar, even a cent past him. 00:59:07.599 --> 00:59:08.400 He just knew. 00:59:08.960 --> 00:59:15.199 So my friend went up there and we had a chat with Brian and we discussed how his business was going really well. 00:59:15.360 --> 00:59:20.719 He'd done his research well, and his concern was that ours was going to go really well as well. 00:59:20.880 --> 00:59:28.000 And that have we thought of all the labor and how we're gonna pay everyone and and uh the amount of people we're gonna need because it's gonna go gangbusters, you know. 00:59:28.239 --> 00:59:28.880 He could tell. 00:59:29.039 --> 00:59:30.320 And I said, Are you happy to? 00:59:30.480 --> 00:59:39.679 And so he shared these figures with Brian and to give Brian a sense of um sort of understanding or relief that, you know, maybe this is worth putting some more dollars into. 00:59:39.920 --> 00:59:47.440 So Brian was the turning point that he'd gone from just being uh an observer of seeing how we're going to getting, you know, involved. 00:59:47.519 --> 00:59:51.840 And that's when Brian also said, Look, are you happy for me to see your figures? 00:59:52.000 --> 00:59:54.480 Because he loves paperwork, book work, figures. 00:59:54.559 --> 00:59:59.440 And I said, actually, Brian, I'd be on it if you do, because that's an area that I'm not that good at, you know. 00:59:59.679 --> 01:00:03.760 And so he sat down with Sammy and Sharon and they went through everything. 01:00:03.840 --> 01:00:05.440 And that's when the decision was made. 01:00:05.599 --> 01:00:13.199 No money is getting spent by Tom unless it has been approved by the Board of Money Financiers. 01:00:13.360 --> 01:00:15.199 So anyway, um, Brian just came. 01:00:15.440 --> 01:00:17.280 He and nothing's free with Brian. 01:00:17.360 --> 01:00:18.639 No, no, no, you're paying it back. 01:00:18.719 --> 01:00:23.760 So it wasn't just a handout, everything was documented, and that's where Brian said, now who do you owe money to? 01:00:24.000 --> 01:00:26.239 Okay, you gotta pay them, you've got to pay him, you gotta pay him. 01:00:26.320 --> 01:00:28.079 He made sure everyone was paid. 01:00:28.400 --> 01:00:32.880 And in the end, Sharon was going, Brian, please do not put any more

money in our account. 01:00:33.280 --> 01:00:35.760 We don't, I don't know if we can repay you, you know. 01:00:35.840 --> 01:00:47.119 And so Brian and believed in us, and so did the rest of the community, and that's probably our point was the rodeo and the drive-ins and the go-karts and the old bowling alley. 01:00:47.360 --> 01:00:53.840 That created a sense of belief in us that we were not just doing it for ourselves. 01:00:54.000 --> 01:01:03.679 And I remember at the rodeo, you were on the PA and you told everyone that the money that we're making from this rodeo is going into our bowling alley. 01:01:03.840 --> 01:01:07.920 And people were saying on Facebook, it's great to see there's a purpose for this, it's awesome. 01:01:08.000 --> 01:01:09.679 They were it's going back into the community. 01:01:10.000 --> 01:01:20.079 I actually remember one guy specifically said, it's great to see that this money is being invested back into something for the entire community and not spent on a fancy holiday. 01:01:20.320 --> 01:01:24.559 And I was like, Oh, but we need a holiday, you have no idea. 01:01:24.639 --> 01:01:35.840 But you know, it was just like I remember announcing that, and that was just a huge turning point because the rodeo is a one-day event. 01:01:36.000 --> 01:01:53.440 Yeah, there's no entertainment in Albany really, and everyone loves bowling, and also the fact that it it works for any person, any age, any ability, disability, whatever, it it's for everyone, and all weather, it just works. 01:01:53.679 --> 01:02:00.880 And the crazy thing is, this business, it's not one of those trendy businesses where it's gonna last, you know, two to five years and then crash and burn. 01:02:01.119 --> 01:02:05.199 We've seen the old figures, we've seen the consistency of it. 01:02:05.360 --> 01:02:10.320 We weren't just building a business that was gonna be a you know a five-year and then we'll see what we do. 01:02:10.400 --> 01:02:12.159 This is like a business for the next like. 01:02:12.960 --> 01:02:14.800 I reckon up to I reckon up to 50 years. 01:02:14.880 --> 01:02:17.119 So the old one have been running for 40. 01:02:17.679 --> 01:02:22.719 So, you know, to swap out the pin setters is easy for ours now, it's pretty simple. 01:02:22.880 --> 01:02:26.719 So, you know, you can swap out the synthetic lanes to some really cool stuff. 01:02:26.800 --> 01:02:28.400 So you can always rejuvenate. 01:02:28.480 --> 01:02:29.920 I reckon this is a 50-year build. 01:02:30.000 --> 01:02:31.599 So and that's why you couldn't rush it. 01:02:31.679 --> 01:02:31.840 Yeah. 01:02:32.079 --> 01:02:36.159 If you took the shortcuts and you tried to do things, then that wouldn't have worked. 01:02:36.320 --> 01:02:47.360 Something that we haven't mentioned is that in order to get finance when we were in those really tough times, Brian and one of the other guys from Albany Finance John John Barnesby. 01:02:47.440 --> 01:02:48.800 Yeah, who's in his 90s? 01:02:49.119 --> 01:02:55.679 They required Mike to quit FIFO and come help dad build the damn thing because they were worried it wouldn't get finished. 01:02:55.920 --> 01:02:57.360 Yeah, so that you're exactly right. 01:02:57.440 --> 01:03:11.360 So it's young Mikey provided the security that Brian needed to see, and John Barnesby to see that his money was secure, that there was a young fellow that's gonna help his dad. 01:03:11.599 --> 01:03:21.920 And so Mikey pulled the pin on his job up north on a mine site to help finish the build for six months. 01:03:22.079 --> 01:03:26.960 He got no income and only free rent, uh, free board at home. 01:03:28.159 --> 01:03:29.280 You'd hope so. 01:03:29.679 --> 01:03:30.800 He worked so hard. 01:03:30.880 --> 01:03:34.239 I'll give you an example of how switched on he is. 01:03:34.960 --> 01:03:43.679 What may have taken the electrical company with a crew of them maybe a week or two, Mike smashed out in two days because he just knew it needed to get done. 01:03:43.920 --> 01:03:45.679 Two to four days, he just went hard. 01:03:46.000 --> 01:03:52.719 And the help Mikey provided, and he was he'd say, You go home, dad, you know, you have to be up in the morning again, I'll keep going. 01:03:52.880 --> 01:03:54.159 And unbelievable. 01:03:54.320 --> 01:04:00.079 So the things that happened, the people that helped, it and it wasn't a question of is this gonna work? 01:04:00.159 --> 01:04:03.519 It was a question of can we survive and finish it? 01:04:03.679 --> 01:04:06.559 We know it's gonna work, we just got to get it built. 01:04:06.880 --> 01:04:09.280 So, yeah, Hans and David were awesome. 01:04:09.440 --> 01:04:11.360 Hans's health was a challenge for him. 01:04:11.440 --> 01:04:13.440 He stuck at it, he kept going. 01:04:13.920 --> 01:04:16.320 We had so many miracles happen. 01:04:16.400 --> 01:04:25.840 Yeah, it uh you actually can't even describe the level of like blind faith that we had. 01:04:26.079 --> 01:04:42.800 And even though things were just it felt like it was the end, or we had no money in the bank account, and we knew we had all these expenses due, or for example, the costs have gone up insanely, or we can't get this certain material, things would just fall into place. 01:04:43.119 --> 01:04:52.159 Yeah, some someone gave us well over a hundred thousand dollars, and I were um he came to see us, and I just started crying at the front door. 01:04:52.320 --> 01:04:56.400 I said, hey, these are tears of happiness for for you helping me. 01:04:56.480 --> 01:05:00.480 It's unbelievable that you could actually help us like you have. 01:05:00.800 --> 01:05:08.159 Um, and so that was when we literally owed, you know, uh eight to ten grand that weekend. 01:05:08.320 --> 01:05:12.400 Money was put in our account, and it was pay us back whenever you want. 01:05:12.639 --> 01:05:13.519 No, it wasn't even that. 01:05:13.599 --> 01:05:15.039 I've got some extra, would you like it? 01:05:15.679 -->

01:05:17.199 I said, look, there's more there if you need it. 01:05:17.280 --> 01:05:20.880 I said, um, well, we need this amount to try and achieve this. 01:05:21.119 --> 01:05:23.280 And so, yeah, unbelievable. 01:05:23.519 --> 01:05:31.760 So, anyway, there's the amount of help we received, and none of it, it doesn't people just don't help you for nothing. 01:05:31.920 --> 01:05:34.159 You have to build that respect, you have to earn that respect. 01:05:34.239 --> 01:05:38.719 And Brian was one of them that, you know, you have to earn his respect. 01:05:38.880 --> 01:05:40.239 It ain't handed to you. 01:05:40.400 --> 01:05:44.079 And earning Brian's respect, yeah, that was an effort and a half as well. 01:05:44.159 --> 01:05:46.880 And so Brian had rock up at eight o'clock at night. 01:05:46.960 --> 01:05:48.639 He's driving past seeing what we're doing. 01:05:48.719 --> 01:05:50.320 Here's Mike and I up the other end. 01:05:50.400 --> 01:05:52.079 We've just hit the water pipe. 01:05:52.320 --> 01:05:59.199 Oh, and there's water spraying out over toward the um servo, and he's cruising up seeing what we're doing. 01:05:59.280 --> 01:05:59.679 So Brian. 01:06:00.239 --> 01:06:11.119 Seeing us there in the dark, water going everywhere, trying to sort out this trench we got to dig, so he could see, you know, these guys aren't giving up, and they're not they are gonna get this done. 01:06:11.199 --> 01:06:15.760 So that's when he was convinced he's gonna help us, um, and without his help. 01:06:15.840 --> 01:06:17.920 And sadly, only just passed away, you know. 01:06:18.000 --> 01:06:20.400 He he got to see it, he got to be a part of it. 01:06:20.559 --> 01:06:22.320 He would come in and do the dishes. 01:06:22.559 --> 01:06:23.039 Oh, yeah. 01:06:23.360 --> 01:06:26.800 And he would so much banter, he just pull the piss out of everyone. 01:06:27.199 --> 01:06:29.280 But you see, he liked the fact that you guys give it back. 01:06:29.360 --> 01:06:35.920 Yeah, you know, um, for for Sharon and Sammy to just give it straight back to Brian respectfully, and he loved it. 01:06:36.159 --> 01:06:38.880 And he said to us, Look, this is really interesting. 01:06:39.039 --> 01:06:45.679 I've really enjoyed, and you've given me a purpose now in my later few years here, observing, you know, how this works. 01:06:45.760 --> 01:06:51.119 He would walk past and he'd calculate the lanes, the earnings, he'd walk past the arcade, calculate how many kids are on the games. 01:06:51.199 --> 01:06:53.599 That's how his mind worked, and it was interesting, you know. 01:06:53.920 --> 01:07:06.480 Obviously, opening is a big part, but while we're on the subject of Brian, one of the biggest miracles out of all of this is that we managed to get it open. 01:07:07.199 --> 01:07:09.360 We managed to actually succeed. 01:07:09.599 --> 01:07:10.000 Yes. 01:07:10.239 --> 01:07:14.079 I remember telling him, I'm going for this award, you know, I think we can do it. 01:07:14.159 --> 01:07:22.079 And he's like, Oh, and I remember telling him that we'd won the award and he was so proud and like wow, and then he got in on the photos for the openings. 01:07:22.639 --> 01:07:28.800 Yeah, he was there the whole way, and then we had a lot of debt owed to him. 01:07:28.960 --> 01:07:29.360 Yes. 01:07:29.599 --> 01:07:33.440 We managed to pay that debt off before he passed. 01:07:33.599 --> 01:07:36.320 We managed to purchase the property before he passed. 01:07:36.480 --> 01:07:38.960 Yep, and it was supposed to be purchased in 2028. 01:07:39.039 --> 01:07:40.559 We managed to pay it and buy it. 01:07:40.880 --> 01:07:47.039 One of the most grateful parts you could probably have out of that whole thing is you got to say goodbye the day before he died. 01:07:47.360 --> 01:07:55.679 Yeah, got to give him a hug, say goodbye, thank him for helping our family, literally changed our direction um for the rest of our lives, you know. 01:07:55.920 --> 01:08:11.679 So yes, it was it was sad, but it was also very good being out of to finish off um that chapter, and then for his daughter Karina to be involved as we were going along, she'd come down and see it. 01:08:11.840 --> 01:08:27.039 She was really thrilled to see her dad being involved and getting such a thrill out of seeing our family because Brian placed a lot of value on family and um you know the how we all got along. 01:08:27.199 --> 01:08:38.000 It made a lot that Sammy and Sharon could um get involved and be a part of it and help Brian go through all the book work and answer any questions he had. 01:08:38.239 --> 01:08:42.319 So, yeah, it was um another another massive part. 01:08:42.399 --> 01:08:54.079 And so when Mikey took off up to Bunbury one night and he went, he did a thunder run-up and got this longhorn uh cattle horns that we really wanted for the bar. 01:08:54.239 --> 01:08:58.800 And he's got back with it, and Brian's in there in the saloon, he goes, Oh, it's a bull bar, you know. 01:08:58.880 --> 01:09:08.159 And so, oh, that's the word we and so we called it Brian Hammer's Bull Bar, and we we, you know, in honour of Brian, um, because he's we know he's not that young at the time. 01:09:08.640 --> 01:09:10.880 So if he knows, he'd give a bit of a legacy. 01:09:11.039 --> 01:09:19.840 So yeah, it meant a lot to us, and um a lot um a lot of people in Albany were very fond of him as a businessman, so very fair. 01:09:20.239 --> 01:09:28.720 You know, there was a time when he was alive that dad put up a post about Brian helping at bowling, and Brian was really interesting. 01:09:28.800 --> 01:09:43.039 He would come in and, you know, he had this like folder of all these compliments, letters, notes, because he didn't have Facebook, and he printed them out or had them in this folder. 01:09:43.279 --> 01:09:52.560 And we put this post up, and people were commenting about how he would help them on something like Christmas Day, their fridge is not working, he's gone and

got the fridge for them. 01:09:52.720 --> 01:10:00.960 Like he was a real man of the community, and when all of that happened, dad printed out all the screenshots of the Facebook post and gave it to him. 01:10:01.279 --> 01:10:03.119 Yeah, he kept that close to his heart. 01:10:03.359 --> 01:10:06.079 Brian, yeah, he definitely made us work for it. 01:10:06.239 --> 01:10:13.279 But by the time that he passed, and even putting up the video and speaking with Karina and everything, like he had become our family. 01:10:13.520 --> 01:10:15.760 All in all, the bowling alley did open. 01:10:16.000 --> 01:10:28.880 We did have a bit of a flop at the start, and that was bad on my behalf because we didn't have the money to finish, and we were borrowing as much as we could from Brime without overspending. 01:10:28.960 --> 01:10:42.960 And so I was securing in Christmas functions, trying to get paid, and those Christmas functions that were booked with us so grateful for those businesses because they actually provided critical cash flow for us to even open our doors. 01:10:43.039 --> 01:10:45.920 Like they have no idea how much that meant to us. 01:10:46.319 --> 01:10:56.560 And we also had this event that I thought, because we're having so many cars rock up, we're like, oh my gosh, it's gonna be so packed, and we're gonna have to have like sessions. 01:10:56.640 --> 01:11:10.399 And I did this ticketed thing, priced at$50 per person, and then it didn't sell in how we did, and then people were rocking up while the opening launched, and that was probably one of my biggest mistakes, and I felt bad for all the customers. 01:11:10.560 --> 01:11:15.279 Sent out an email, copped a bit of abuse from a couple, and just said, Look, we're so sorry. 01:11:15.359 --> 01:11:23.840 And we were we were worn out from physically burnt out, and we tried to do this big opening ceremony thing coming in different waves during the day. 01:11:24.079 --> 01:11:27.520 It was like 16-hour days the month leading up to opening. 01:11:27.760 --> 01:11:29.520 It was like you would get in there at 6 a.m. 01:11:29.680 --> 01:11:31.119 and you would leave at like 10 p.m. 01:11:31.359 --> 01:11:32.399 And it was just constant. 01:11:32.479 --> 01:11:36.479 And then, well, we've just always been a small family business. 01:11:36.560 --> 01:11:44.640 We didn't have staff, so then we had to run it, and then we're trying to remember how to run the old bowling alley because it's been a hot minute. 01:11:44.800 --> 01:11:49.760 And we're and you're forgetting how to use the software, and then oh, food, and how do we cook things? 01:11:49.840 --> 01:12:00.399 And and also how do we manage to get the food order and okay, we'll make some little forms up, and it was just like we didn't have the bar running, so that was probably made a bit easier. 01:12:00.640 --> 01:12:06.960 And it was a typical like thrown in the deep end because it wasn't like we were opening up in one of our quiet times. 01:12:07.119 --> 01:12:10.000 We open up in December, 30th of November. 01:12:10.079 --> 01:12:14.479 So December rolls in and it's just Christmas function after Christmas function. 01:12:14.800 --> 01:12:18.960 And people have been hanging out for this bowling alley. 01:12:19.439 --> 01:12:29.439 What we had to deal with is the expectation of, I guess, when you have, you know, when you're waiting for food and it takes like two minutes, you're like, oh, the food's here. 01:12:29.680 --> 01:12:32.960 If you're waiting half an hour or an hour, you better. 01:12:33.439 --> 01:12:33.600 Yeah. 01:12:33.760 --> 01:12:35.600 And that's how it was with the bowling alley. 01:12:35.680 --> 01:12:42.800 People, and we got some like one-star reviews, we got some really tough things, and people were like, Oh, it's so hot, there's no air conditioning. 01:12:42.880 --> 01:12:51.359 I'm like, we've put all our dollars on the line, we've almost gone bankrupt, we've struggled through this whole period, and you know, that to install that air comp well, that's 70 grand. 01:12:51.600 --> 01:12:53.039 Do you have 70 grand, Belinda? 01:12:53.279 --> 01:12:53.760 I don't know. 01:12:55.119 --> 01:13:01.199 Yeah, and even if we did, we had to insulate the roof, send you to a conditioned airspace, it just goes on and on. 01:13:01.279 --> 01:13:08.239 Um, even to finish that venue to get it to where we really want, you're probably easily pulling another two million dollars if you wanted to. 01:13:08.479 --> 01:13:14.640 Yeah, just to understand, people that haven't owned a business, they expect um unrealistic goals. 01:13:14.800 --> 01:13:22.479 Like they see corporates that come in and spend, have an endless budget and build a bowling alley with amazing arcades, amazing everything. 01:13:22.720 --> 01:13:24.640 They've figured their business model out. 01:13:24.720 --> 01:13:36.960 They're not realizing that a small little family has struggled and put everything on the line and they've just opened up, barely got it open, and they're there to pull it apart because they don't understand. 01:13:37.119 --> 01:13:42.000 So you can't take it to heart if you do, you're not you're not gonna be in too good a headspace. 01:13:42.079 --> 01:13:45.920 So, you know, they're whinging about the extension leads between the games and all this. 01:13:46.720 --> 01:13:53.279 So once we and I we don't get any like one-star reviews now, like it's amazing how many five-star reviews. 01:13:53.359 --> 01:13:59.600 And I'm like, can we just like give a little grace for maybe the first three months of a new business opening? 01:13:59.840 --> 01:14:06.560 Because you are dealing with operations, staff, like delivery of your service or product. 01:14:06.640 --> 01:14:11.359 Like, I feel like there's like everyone expects so much, but you're you're in the human. 01:14:11.600 --> 01:14:20.159 Some of those customers in the early days were people who'd followed our journey, and I think there's a really

respectful way of giving feedback in a way that's constructive. 01:14:20.319 --> 01:14:21.840 And this is my experience. 01:14:22.000 --> 01:14:27.119 And you can go, oh wow, I didn't see it from that way because I'm I'm burnt out, I'm trying to just do all these things. 01:14:27.199 --> 01:14:34.640 And we did take on a lot of feedback, and now, even with our launches, we we put lots of polls up and we ask questions. 01:14:34.800 --> 01:14:39.920 And I, even when I was coming up with like our new leagues, which aren't really leaks, they're just fun social bowling. 01:14:40.319 --> 01:14:42.239 Actually, sit down, talk to the customer. 01:14:42.319 --> 01:14:42.880 What do you like? 01:14:43.039 --> 01:14:43.840 What do you not like? 01:14:44.000 --> 01:14:48.720 And sometimes that feedback is scary because you're like, oh, am I going to get rejected? 01:14:48.880 --> 01:14:52.079 Is it all this hard work I've been putting in and someone doesn't like it? 01:14:52.319 --> 01:14:54.720 But you don't improve unless you take on the feedback. 01:14:54.880 --> 01:14:56.960 Yeah, and a good one was this poor lady. 01:14:57.039 --> 01:14:59.600 She expected a nice margarita pizza. 01:14:59.840 --> 01:15:02.960 And uh, we we had listed and it was basil, you know. 01:15:03.199 --> 01:15:05.680 So I've and she wanted a gluten-free. 01:15:05.840 --> 01:15:06.960 All right, no worries. 01:15:07.119 --> 01:15:10.640 So I'll provide the gluten-free pizza, margarita. 01:15:10.800 --> 01:15:13.439 And she got all upset with me and said, Well, where's the basil? 01:15:13.680 --> 01:15:15.520 Well, we got the dried basil, we sprinkle it in there. 01:15:15.600 --> 01:15:16.479 Well, I can't even see it. 01:15:16.560 --> 01:15:17.760 I said, Yes, because no one likes it. 01:15:17.840 --> 01:15:19.920 She said, Yeah, because the dry basil's horrible. 01:15:20.079 --> 01:15:21.520 That's why no one likes it. 01:15:21.760 --> 01:15:24.159 So I said, Well, what do you recommend there? 01:15:24.239 --> 01:15:28.960 Well, you should have, you could have your own basil, you can put real basil in it. 01:15:29.199 --> 01:15:33.760 And um, okay, so and you know we now we have our own garden at bowling. 01:15:34.079 --> 01:15:45.439 So what I did was I rushed off down, I bought real basil, I rebuilt this damn pizza with real basil in it, and um, I don't know if we put tomato in at the stage, but I then cooked it up and she was just leaving. 01:15:45.520 --> 01:15:48.720 I said, Right, I want you to take this, even if you're leaving. 01:15:48.960 --> 01:16:01.680 And from then on, we now do real basil, we grow it in the garden and we add tomato, you know, and we've made a nice little margarita pizza from a crap one, only money because I took on board. 01:16:01.920 --> 01:16:06.640 I did get a little bit offended, you know, you know, put the barriers up. 01:16:06.720 --> 01:16:09.600 And then once I listened to her, I thought, and I tried to put myself in her shoes. 01:16:09.680

--> 01:16:11.279 I said, Well, you've eaten half it. 01:16:11.359 --> 01:16:12.640 Well, the kids ate it. 01:16:13.359 --> 01:16:15.600 Oh, well, most of it was gone, actually. 01:16:15.680 --> 01:16:18.479 There were about three pieces left out of the 12. 01:16:18.560 --> 01:16:22.319 So then they'd eaten theirs plus hers, and hers, you know, she needed gluten-free. 01:16:22.479 --> 01:16:27.199 So I took it on board, went and did it, gave it to her, and she was a bit, oh, I can't take it. 01:16:27.359 --> 01:16:27.920 So, yeah, you can. 01:16:28.000 --> 01:16:29.119 No, no, you're not paying for it. 01:16:29.279 --> 01:16:30.319 No, no, you take it. 01:16:30.479 --> 01:16:34.960 We just want you to realize that you've actually helped us understand how to do something better. 01:16:35.039 --> 01:16:37.279 So it was pretty cool to turn that around. 01:16:37.520 --> 01:16:40.159 It it's very easy to uh get stuffed. 01:16:40.479 --> 01:16:41.920 We have a really interesting brand. 01:16:42.000 --> 01:16:46.079 Like we have a business where we're not perfect, we're not polished, we're not always politically correct. 01:16:46.319 --> 01:16:48.159 We have a lot of banter. 01:16:48.399 --> 01:16:50.560 We'll tell our customers you are not in the right. 01:16:50.800 --> 01:17:01.680 And, you know, I think that also partially comes from a lot of years of putting up with crap and just being a people pleaser and then realizing, you know what, we don't need to be treated this way. 01:17:01.760 --> 01:17:02.880 Everyone deserves respect. 01:17:03.039 --> 01:17:05.359 If you're going to be respectful to us, we'll help you. 01:17:05.520 --> 01:17:10.159 It's just kind of like, but we created this brand with so much banter, and it is the Wild West. 01:17:10.399 --> 01:17:11.119 It's not perfect. 01:17:11.439 --> 01:17:14.960 We we're not the Wild West, they want their own cap, the cappuccino, whatever. 01:17:15.039 --> 01:17:17.600 And Dan goes, Oh, we're not fancy here, mate. 01:17:17.680 --> 01:17:18.319 This is the Wild West. 01:17:18.479 --> 01:17:19.840 Yeah, so you can get away with it, you know? 01:17:19.920 --> 01:17:20.399 They go, oh. 01:17:21.119 --> 01:17:26.000 And I think that's the best thing about the culture and the community. 01:17:26.560 --> 01:17:31.680 We just have a business that is not just a business, it's fun. 01:17:31.840 --> 01:17:33.680 We've got great crew. 01:17:34.000 --> 01:17:41.279 We have introduced staff members into the business, whereas before it was just our own family. 01:17:41.439 --> 01:17:45.840 Now we've got this reality TV show where each person plays a character. 01:17:46.079 --> 01:17:56.399 Our audience on social media and our customers and our community, they feel like they know us even more and they're coming in and they're in on the inside jokes, and it's just become this really beautiful thing. 01:17:56.720 --> 01:18:02.720 Just this last week, by the time this episode comes out, maybe it's like a month, who knows? 01:18:03.039 --> 01:18:09.520 We brought everyone up to Perth in our crew, and we stayed at Crown Towers for two nights. 01:18:09.600 --> 01:18:14.319 We attended the Australian Hotels Association, they run their hospitality awards of excellence. 01:18:14.640 --> 01:18:19.840 And there were 727 nominations this year, up from 605 last year. 01:18:20.239 --> 01:18:21.439 That's why we didn't win heaps. 01:18:21.600 --> 01:18:28.960 There were 1,200 people who attend this event, and we were up finalists for four categories. 01:18:29.119 --> 01:18:39.920 So there was small bar, themed venue, tourism initiative, and our amazing bar manager, Dan, Deputy Dan, he was up for bar manager. 01:18:40.239 --> 01:18:43.439 And it was really incredible to see. 01:18:44.000 --> 01:18:46.000 We actually sold a table of 10. 01:18:46.079 --> 01:18:49.920 Last year it was like three of us, mum, dad, and I, and we got up and we had the award. 01:18:50.239 --> 01:18:51.520 And that was a big wow moment. 01:18:51.600 --> 01:18:52.159 And Nick. 01:18:52.319 --> 01:18:53.520 Nick didn't get up on stage. 01:18:53.600 --> 01:18:54.560 He was the cameraman. 01:18:54.640 --> 01:18:55.760 He's supporting us there. 01:18:56.319 --> 01:18:57.760 Don't forget your boyfriend. 01:18:58.239 --> 01:18:59.279 Sorry, Nick. 01:19:00.560 --> 01:19:04.159 And like from our crew, we didn't even have Mike. 01:19:04.399 --> 01:19:07.520 So it was we just, it was just our family, plus Nick. 01:19:07.680 --> 01:19:08.640 Love you, Nick. 01:19:08.880 --> 01:19:11.760 And we get up, we set this award, and it was like, whoa. 01:19:11.920 --> 01:19:14.560 But then this year is the whole table. 01:19:14.640 --> 01:19:17.600 We'll all go, woo! And we're all walking up on stage. 01:19:17.760 --> 01:19:19.439 And it was something special. 01:19:19.520 --> 01:19:34.640 And I think the biggest best moment that I got collectively from everyone was after the awards, the day after, like the evening after, we're sitting at the pool, we're having a few cocktails, and you know, you're just having some DMs and reflecting back on everything. 01:19:34.960 --> 01:19:35.840 Deep and meaningful. 01:19:36.000 --> 01:19:36.720 Yeah, yeah. 01:19:37.680 --> 01:19:38.079 Lol. 01:19:39.920 --> 01:19:44.000 And we also something that hasn't even been mentioned. 01:19:44.159 --> 01:19:45.760 The business has been successful. 01:19:45.840 --> 01:19:57.359 We've turned it around, we've created jobs, we've created a community, we've built this back shed, which has turned into the coolest man cave you've ever seen. 01:19:57.920 --> 01:19:58.239 Yeah. 01:19:58.399 --> 01:20:04.239 It's literally like got massive TV, uh, smoked meats every Sunday, barbecue. 01:20:04.479 --> 01:20:15.119 The cool thing is now, like even when we have days that feel long and hard and tired, you can't even complain. 01:20:15.600 --> 01:20:17.279 Because we finally did it. 01:20:17.439 --> 01:20:18.880 We finally made it. 01:20:19.119 -->

01:20:23.279 We finally have a business that works. 01:20:23.439 --> 01:20:25.600 We finally have a business that customers support. 01:20:25.680 --> 01:20:29.520 We finally have an incredible crew and and just community. 01:20:29.600 --> 01:20:34.720 Like to have the support we do, it's it's just it's really there's not a day where you're not grateful. 01:20:34.800 --> 01:20:40.000 And you and you're driving home and we always look at each other and go, Wow, what a business. 01:20:40.239 --> 01:20:44.399 Yeah, and and to own the freehold, yeah, to purchase that. 01:20:44.720 --> 01:20:51.439 And I think to also um be just grateful and not think you're above others. 01:20:51.600 --> 01:20:53.840 And we saw that from Brian, you know. 01:20:53.920 --> 01:20:56.319 I always thought, oh, this is a shrewd businessman. 01:20:56.399 --> 01:20:57.760 I'd never met him before. 01:20:57.920 --> 01:21:09.199 But to see how he uh interacts with people and he'll talk to young guys, people, and treat them all as uh equal, not just look down at him because he's you know better off than them. 01:21:09.359 --> 01:21:12.159 So yeah, um, I think that's a huge one. 01:21:12.239 --> 01:21:20.479 And being grateful for me, because I've been up north a lot and been on mine sites, you get up and you, you know, 4:30 a.m. 01:21:20.640 --> 01:21:26.000 you're out the wet mess and you're or the mess and you're going getting ready and 12-hour day and it's stinking hot. 01:21:26.159 --> 01:21:30.720 Whenever I feel annoyed that I'm stuck there at the counter, I've just got to think of that. 01:21:30.800 --> 01:21:32.800 And I thought, no, this is a good deal. 01:21:32.960 --> 01:21:34.880 You know, this is I cannot complain. 01:21:35.039 --> 01:21:38.720 You just if you've done it tough, then you'll realize how good you got it. 01:21:39.039 --> 01:21:46.640 We're still in like$2.8 million of debt, but would the risk be worth it? 01:21:46.800 --> 01:21:47.199 100%. 01:21:47.520 --> 01:21:48.000 Oh, yeah. 01:21:48.239 --> 01:21:53.920 I I think those years were some of the hardest of our lives, the last few building the bowling alley. 01:21:54.479 --> 01:21:58.000 But knowing that there's a light at the end of the tunnel, so grateful. 01:21:58.079 --> 01:22:03.279 And also to mum, like behind all of this, like we're we're more in the spotlight. 01:22:03.439 --> 01:22:11.520 Yes, but mum, she has stuck in her marriage, for better or for worse. 01:22:12.239 --> 01:22:14.960 She has raised Mike and I. 01:22:15.439 --> 01:22:18.079 She has continued her nursing job. 01:22:18.239 --> 01:22:23.600 She puts everyone else above herself and really gives that care. 01:22:23.760 --> 01:22:25.760 And it hasn't been an easy journey. 01:22:25.920 --> 01:22:26.000 No. 01:22:26.239 --> 01:22:33.600 You know, Paw and Gungung, her parents, they have backed us, supported us, believed in us because they've had their own business as well. 01:22:33.840 --> 01:22:37.840 And also Sharon's now in the limelight a bit more with the videoing, you know. 01:22:38.000 --> 01:22:45.439 She doesn't mind taking the Mickey out of me and having a laugh and gets on well with Dan and stirring up Dan and the girls. 01:22:45.520 --> 01:22:50.239 And so, yeah, she's getting really into it, whereas the old bowling alley didn't really want to get involved. 01:22:50.319 --> 01:22:53.119 So this is the first business that she's been happy to be in. 01:22:53.199 --> 01:22:53.359 Yeah. 01:22:53.680 --> 01:22:54.399 And it's a choice. 01:22:54.720 --> 01:22:56.159 Oh my gosh, she's a workhorse. 01:22:56.239 --> 01:22:58.960 She'll work from like 7, 8 a.m. 01:22:59.119 --> 01:23:03.520 at the hospital, finish at 4, come to bowling, and she'll like bowling will close. 01:23:03.600 --> 01:23:07.039 You want to go home at 9.30, and she's decided I'm gonna mop all the floors. 01:23:07.119 --> 01:23:16.079 Yeah, I'm gonna put every single receipt in the perfect facing way in time order, and every note with the same window facing the same way. 01:23:16.159 --> 01:23:18.479 Like she's and all the bowling balls are all exactly. 01:23:18.960 --> 01:23:22.079 Yeah, but that's a good one because you can see how many are vanished. 01:23:22.239 --> 01:23:22.479 Yeah. 01:23:22.640 --> 01:23:26.079 Or how many are missing, or where they're hiding somewhere under the back of the machine. 01:23:26.399 --> 01:23:32.800 I think for every visionary, every business owner who has the big dreams and the ideas, you actually have to have that support person. 01:23:33.279 --> 01:23:42.880 You you wouldn't be able to do what we've done without mum being as much of a backbone as she has been. 01:23:43.439 --> 01:23:56.800 I know young Mikey resented me for what I'd got us into, but after he got to talk to Brian and John um Barnesby, that helped turn him round and you talking to him as well. 01:23:56.960 --> 01:24:02.800 So now I get to see the whole family was involved and supportive, and that meant a lot to me. 01:24:02.960 --> 01:24:09.840 But now our simulators, back to similar, we've now got them in there, we've upgraded them a bit, um, all the control system. 01:24:10.000 --> 01:24:17.119 So now they're in there and they're they're quite a cool part of the bowling alley and that no one else has got, and people still love them. 01:24:17.279 --> 01:24:24.880 So, you know, there's some of our past has sort of caught up with us and it's working to our to our benefit and in a positive way. 01:24:25.199 --> 01:24:40.720 If you were to look back on this entire journey and think about what is the one piece of advice that you would give someone else who's going to embark on a crazy delusional journey in business, what would you tell them? 01:24:41.119 --> 01:24:46.239 I would make sure that your wonderful idea is actually a good one. 01:24:46.399 --> 01:24:57.760 And and if you can get a mentor on board, someone who's been there done that to help you, I didn't have that, and so I just kept pushing

and pushing hard with no real understanding. 01:24:57.840 --> 01:25:05.760 And when I had friends going, no, good on you, mate, you're having a crack, you know, you can take that in a positive way and go, yeah, yeah, I can do it. 01:25:05.920 --> 01:25:17.520 And if if it's not a good business idea, you're literally wasting your time, your money, and some don't let your passion overcrowd, overcloud your judgment. 01:25:17.600 --> 01:25:19.760 That was one thing I just came up with all the time. 01:25:19.840 --> 01:25:22.239 That one's big mistakes. 01:25:23.039 --> 01:25:28.720 So one thing with the bowling alley was failure wasn't an option. 01:25:29.199 --> 01:25:31.039 We had to make it happen. 01:25:31.279 --> 01:25:35.760 But you only want to make sure that's your slogan if it's worth doing. 01:25:36.399 --> 01:25:38.479 We've got an unbelievable business model. 01:25:38.800 --> 01:25:39.680 We didn't create it. 01:25:39.840 --> 01:25:41.600 It's something that has just worked well. 01:25:41.760 --> 01:25:46.479 Bowling alleys work well with limited staff, and we've made it work with limited staff. 01:25:46.640 --> 01:25:48.079 So yeah. 01:25:48.640 --> 01:25:52.079 My piece of advice is get figure out what the hell you're doing. 01:25:52.159 --> 01:25:57.520 Don't just tell everyone what a great idea it is and go for it because you can make it happen. 01:25:57.600 --> 01:26:04.319 When Tony Robbins and whatever say how good it can be and you believe in yourself, well, it'd better be a damn good idea first. 01:26:04.560 --> 01:26:07.359 Otherwise, you're gonna be wasting your time, your energy, your money. 01:26:07.920 --> 01:26:13.119 The future for Wild West bowling is to do a second level. 01:26:13.359 --> 01:26:23.119 When we were building it, I stalled on the the timeline because I was trying to figure out how to do our second level and get the engineering done. 01:26:24.159 --> 01:26:34.159 From that, we put the footings and foundations in for the big universal beams that hold up the weight uh separate to the building. 01:26:34.239 --> 01:26:42.000 Now we're just trying to get all that drawn up, engineered, and ready to go when we are ready financially to do it. 01:26:42.079 --> 01:27:03.840 And then we are not sure what we're gonna do up the top, whether it be a really nice cocktail bar or we do some extra food up there, but people will be able to sit out the front and look at the spectacle of 38,000 cars a day going round a roundabout, trying not to hit each other, and that's quite a uh entertainment, and you'll see your own friends whipping round. 01:27:03.920 --> 01:27:07.199 And so we want to utilize that space up top if we can. 01:27:07.359 --> 01:27:26.079 We've got to go jump through a lot of hoops, and it's something I only want to do if the family is supportive of it, and it will also get the tin away from all the bowlers and the radiant heat and allow us to insulate the roof and provide a really better environment because the roof, and this is a cool thing. 01:27:26.159 --> 01:27:30.880 I remember taking the Mickey out of Brian, oh Brian, you gotta fix the roof, it's yours. 01:27:31.119 --> 01:27:40.159 So we got to replace the roof, we've got to lift the roof to do that and get the tin away, the distance in and in winter it's the opposite, it radiates the cold onto everyone. 01:27:40.319 --> 01:27:43.520 So sorry, it's hot in uh summer, everybody. 01:27:43.600 --> 01:27:51.359 We're trying, we've got three evaporative air cons there, and that's what we want to do lift the roof, increase the space up top, toilets up there. 01:27:51.760 --> 01:27:54.079 We just need a cheeky like one and a half mil. 01:27:54.479 --> 01:27:57.119 Yeah, we just need every put it on your dab. 01:27:57.439 --> 01:27:58.000 Yeah, yeah. 01:27:58.079 --> 01:27:59.840 Like Brian said, my calculator and you go. 01:28:00.239 --> 01:28:01.039 To$10,000. 01:28:01.359 --> 01:28:03.199 It should go to$1 million. 01:28:03.760 --> 01:28:06.000 A lot of mistakes with my calculations. 01:28:06.159 --> 01:28:08.239 But that's the that's so there is a future. 01:28:08.319 --> 01:28:13.039 So people coming in spending money, it's not just us waiting to buy the latest Lamborghini. 01:28:13.119 --> 01:28:18.399 We want to actually get that money and throw it back into it and create an even better setup. 01:28:18.720 --> 01:28:20.079 You wouldn't even buy a Lamborghini. 01:28:20.159 --> 01:28:27.600 You would buy a broken Lamborghini, the shell of it, the engine broken, you'd call up Dave and Les and say, Hey, I've got this project and we can do it. 01:28:27.840 --> 01:28:30.159 And then you'd sell it because you forget. 01:28:30.640 --> 01:28:31.920 I'd buy my XC coupe. 01:28:32.159 --> 01:28:34.079 You need to stop buying broken projects, I think. 01:28:34.239 --> 01:28:34.560 Yeah, yeah. 01:28:34.800 --> 01:28:36.960 That's also another thing that we've we've done. 01:28:37.039 --> 01:28:42.800 We've wrote a lot of broken things and then we try to fix them up, and then you feel like you're saving money, but you actually spend more money than if you would have bought the money. 01:28:43.840 --> 01:28:45.359 Stop picking on my poor judgment. 01:28:45.520 --> 01:28:48.000 We're also going to increase the arcade. 01:28:48.159 --> 01:28:50.079 So we'd improve the arcade, sorry. 01:28:50.159 --> 01:29:02.800 So we'll go into hopefully redemption machines, card system, and uplift the whole bowling, uh, the bottom area in the arcade and make it a pretty cool setup for especially for party. 01:29:02.880 --> 01:29:07.119 So, yeah, there's directions we're trying to take without getting any more debt. 01:29:07.199 --> 01:29:08.560 So we want the business to fund it. 01:29:08.720 --> 01:29:09.199 Yeah. 01:29:09.439 --> 01:29:10.479 So watch this base. 01:29:10.720 --> 01:29:17.520 We'll have, I'm sure, another episode probably in six to twelve months' time when things are happening and there's more updates.

01:29:17.680 --> 01:29:22.239 There's honestly, if we we could do an episode every day, there's always crazy stuff happening in the Wild West. 01:29:22.479 --> 01:29:33.840 But like, even to just put our journey into two episodes, there's so much that's been missed, but we try to give you the context of like a little bit of an insight. 01:29:33.920 --> 01:29:41.520 But it's been a really um, it's been a really rewarding journey now that we are where we are. 01:29:41.680 --> 01:29:42.960 So very grateful. 01:29:43.039 --> 01:29:45.680 Um, and thanks for watching the show. 01:29:45.840 --> 01:29:48.800 Thanks for listening to our story. 01:29:49.039 --> 01:30:10.560 And I look forward to delusional and what impact it makes because yeah, it wouldn't be what it is without the childhood I had and the people that I've had around me, and you know, really loving to have these conversations with business owners because it's not all sunshine and rainbows, it's not Lambos and luxury holidays and seven figures in your bank account. 01:30:10.720 --> 01:30:13.680 It is a lot of heartache and pain and sacrifice. 01:30:13.760 --> 01:30:28.479 And I think going first and sharing the reality behind it is what would be more beneficial for people to understand that there is a journey and then alone in it rather than just comparing to the people who are miles ahead. 01:30:28.640 --> 01:30:32.479 They've already made it and you're thinking, Well, I'm a failure, why isn't this worked out faster? 01:30:32.800 --> 01:30:33.760 It is a journey. 01:30:42.479 --> 01:30:43.760 And having kids. 01:30:45.520 --> 01:30:54.720 I haven't had kids, but being the kid and seeing what it was like growing up, it's you know, a lot of people talk about like what it's like having kids and you know, running a business. 01:30:54.800 --> 01:30:57.600 And I'm like, have you ever actually asked your kids what it was like for them? 01:30:57.840 --> 01:31:01.039 Because that's a big perspective that people don't realize. 01:31:01.119 --> 01:31:08.479 You know, you learn the beliefs, the behaviors, the language, the habits, the actions, you you absorb all of that. 01:31:08.640 --> 01:31:13.760 And you got to do a lot of work on yourself to unlearn the bad ones and double down on the good ones. 01:31:13.920 --> 01:31:29.520 But yeah, I actually truly believe that bringing your family in on family business is one of the best things that you can do because it will teach your kids to become resilient, it will expose them to finances, it will expose them to developing a work ethic. 01:31:29.760 --> 01:31:50.720 Some of our best employees, the young ones especially, everyone bags out Gen Z for being, you know, entitled and lazy, but we have had some incredible crew come from family business, and they have great morals, great values, very thoughtful, good sense of initiative most of the time. 01:31:51.439 --> 01:31:52.720 So, yeah. 01:31:53.039 --> 01:31:54.960 All the best for everyone in your own journey. 01:31:55.039 --> 01:31:57.840 And I look forward to catching you for next week's episode. 01:31:58.000 --> 01:31:58.880 Thanks for being here, Dad. 01:31:59.039 --> 01:31:59.680 Thanks, Emmy. 01:31:59.840 --> 01:32:00.479 See ya.