WEBVTT
00:00:42.320 -->
00:00:48.560Hello, everybody, and welcome to another amazing episode of the Unstoppable Success Podcast.
00:00:48.560 -->
00:00:50.240I'm your host, Jaclyn Strominger.
00:00:50.240 -->
00:01:05.200And on this podcast, we hear from amazing professionals who share their leadership insights, success strategies, and the real stories behind how they have created unstoppable success in their business and in life.
00:01:05.200 -->
00:01:15.200And today's guest has built his career by recognizing opportunities others overlooked and having the courage to go all in.
00:01:15.200 -->
00:01:20.640So Michael Pierce is a film producer, serial investor, entrepreneur, and CEO, and father.
00:01:20.640 -->
00:01:26.719He's producing and financing credits include The Cooler, Running Scared, Flawless.
00:01:26.719 -->
00:01:34.560He has he was also an early investor in companies including Thrive Market, Cameo, and Cargomatic.
00:01:34.560 -->
00:01:38.319That sounds like it should be like an inventing machine, and you'll have to tell me about that.
00:01:38.319 -->
00:01:48.800Today, Michael is the founder and CEO of American Gun Owners, where he is working to simplify and rebuild experience for first-time firearm virus.
00:01:48.800 -->
00:01:49.680So important.
00:01:49.680 -->
00:01:55.439And across Hollywood venture investing in entrepreneurship, the thread running through Michael's story is clear.
00:01:55.439 -->
00:01:57.280Find the opportunity everywhere.
00:01:57.280 -->
00:02:04.960Find the opportunity everyone else is sleeping on and commit to the vision and figure out the rest along the way.
00:02:04.960 -->
00:02:14.000So get ready for a fascinating conversation about calculated risk, reinvention, leadership in pursuing ideas bigger than your comfort zone.
00:02:14.000 -->
00:02:17.439So welcome to the show, Michael.
00:02:17.759 -->
00:02:18.960Thank you so much, Jaclyn.
00:02:18.960 -->
00:02:19.840So great to be here.
00:02:19.840 -->
00:02:21.039Thanks for having me.
00:02:21.360 -->
00:02:22.240It is such a pleasure.
00:02:22.240 -->
00:02:22.560Okay.
00:02:22.560 -->
00:02:24.640So I kind of want to kind of just like jump in.
00:02:24.640 -->
00:02:30.799So you have built your life finding the opportunity everyone else is sleeping on and having that courage to go all in.
00:02:30.799 -->
00:02:34.879I'm really curious where did that instinct come from?
00:02:35.199 -->
00:02:40.719You know, I get asked that a lot, and I don't even know what the right answer is, but I'll give you a number of possibilities.
00:02:40.719 -->
00:02:48.560Sometimes I feel it's it's kind of genetic because my father was an entrepreneur and he had a similar trajectory.
00:02:48.560 -->
00:02:52.879And I was old enough to kind of see him build a company from nothing.
00:02:52.879 -->
00:03:02.879With I didn't see the genesis of the idea because I was too small, but when I kind of was in the more formative years, I kind of saw his vision and he would talk about it a lot.
00:03:02.879 -->
00:03:10.960And I watched, you know, 10 or 15 years of him realizing this vision and and I got a back kind of a front seat view on what it took.
00:03:10.960 -->
00:03:23.199I traveled a lot with my dad, and I was privy to board meetings and meetings with investment bankers and marketing people and headhunters at an age where most kids were probably not doing that.
00:03:23.199 -->
00:03:32.079And some some sometimes I think that was enormously helpful now, later in life, but at the time it was somewhat dysfunctional.
00:03:32.079 -->
00:03:34.719I found myself not assimilated.
00:03:35.039 -->
00:03:39.039Sitting in the boardroom, you know, yeah, iPhone or anything like that to play with then, maybe.
00:03:42.879 -->
00:03:51.919I could have been, you know, doing more proverbial things with my peers, but I had I had kind of this example of a father in front of me like, listen, you're gonna travel with me to New York.
00:03:51.919 -->
00:03:53.599I think it's important that you see things.
00:03:53.599 -->
00:03:57.199And at that time, I was a teenager, I thought that's actually interesting.
00:03:57.199 -->
00:03:59.759Whereas my my friends might have been doing something else.
00:03:59.759 -->
00:04:01.439I was just, I thought it was just lucky.
00:04:01.439 -->
00:04:03.199So I absorbed as much as I could.
00:04:03.199 -->
00:04:04.879So maybe, maybe that's one answer.
00:04:04.879 -->
00:04:23.280And I think also having worked a few jobs when I was younger, some some jobs that were somewhat tedious, like every every young person should do, and working for other people, kind of in it was ingrained in me that I wanted to be my own boss one day.
00:04:23.280 -->
00:04:26.879I guess it's a rebellious streak I may have had or still have.
00:04:26.879 -->
00:04:36.160And some people are just more inclined to want to go out on their own and take chances and try to bring an opportunity to to fruition.
00:04:36.160 -->
00:04:41.360And it doesn't seem that as difficult for me as I know some people struggle with that direction.
00:04:41.360 -->
00:04:43.439For me, it felt like a more natural path.
00:04:43.439 -->
00:04:45.439Again, maybe that's just how I'm wired.
00:04:45.439 -->
00:04:48.240So I don't know what the right answer is, but that's kind of my answer.
00:04:48.480 -->
00:04:49.439Yeah, no, I it's great.
00:04:49.439 -->
00:04:50.160It's I I love it.
00:04:50.160 -->
00:05:00.160But and one of the things, as you're talking, the thing that I that you know that I'm thinking about is, you know, we you know, we see what our parents are doing, right?
00:05:00.160 -->
00:05:04.560And but one of the things that you said, you know, your dad would share his vision, right?
00:05:04.560 -->
00:05:10.160So, and that is such a quintessential part of leadership and doing something and going after something.
00:05:10.160 -->
00:05:18.800So you it is, it was built into almost like what you were doing because he he's he shared vision and maybe acted, right?
00:05:18.800 -->
00:05:30.800Share, act, and so you're like, ooh, you know, and I don't, you know, maybe you saw some of the things that didn't go great, but it was so you see that and it does, it becomes ingrained in you.
00:05:31.120 -->
00:05:36.480And it certainly wasn't a direct line from seeing his vision and and then me realizing mine in my life.
00:05:36.480 -->
00:05:37.760I've got to be honest with you.
00:05:37.760 -->
00:05:41.520So he died suddenly of a heart attack when I was 20, 23.
00:05:41.520 -->
00:05:49.439I was in my second year of law school the day before my final exams, and I got the phone call from my mother, obviously, a phone call never forget.
00:05:49.439 -->
00:05:52.640And that set my life on a completely different path.
00:05:52.640 -->
00:06:00.640So that's why I moved to Hollywood and said, you know what, I've always wanted to be a film producer, and that is very far-fetched from where I grew up.
00:06:00.640 -->
00:06:05.280That was almost like people saying, Now, well, I'm going to call, I'm gonna colonize Mars.
00:06:05.280 -->
00:06:09.840You're like, okay, it's possible there's a vision there.
00:06:09.840 -->
00:06:14.480All right, but at that point it was almost that way for me.
00:06:14.480 -->
00:06:19.439Sorry, I'm getting distracted here from someone in my office.
00:06:19.760 -->
00:06:20.720That's okay, that's right.
00:06:20.720 -->
00:06:27.840So, so when you decided you're so I'm assuming you didn't take the bar exam.
00:06:28.240 -->
00:06:28.960I did not.
00:06:28.960 -->
00:06:34.879So I finished my degree and then said I'm moving to Hollywood and I'm gonna be a film producer.
00:06:35.120 -->
00:06:38.400And uh did you know anything about film producing?
00:06:38.640 -->
00:06:41.520No, I knew absolutely nothing, but I started reading books.
00:06:41.840 -->
00:06:42.800Oh okay.
00:06:43.120 -->
00:06:44.800So kind of an autodidact, I guess.
00:06:44.800 -->
00:06:45.600I started reading.
00:06:45.600 -->
00:07:02.400I did have a law degree, but I didn't have you know any other formal training, and I studied a lot of media law, but I just kind of seemed somewhat logical to me on how you go about doing this, but it took many years of struggle to have any even small measure of success.
00:07:02.400 -->
00:07:04.160I have to be be clear on that.
00:07:04.160 -->
00:07:06.400It was a not an easy path.
00:07:07.280 -->
00:07:13.520Yeah, so you didn't basically land in Hollywood and you know, like pull up to the studio and be like, all right, I'm here to produce.
00:07:13.760 -->
00:07:14.960Yeah, they would laugh at that.
00:07:14.960 -->
00:07:24.960They're like, okay, pal, get in line at the mail room where there's 500 applicants for 10 spots to be in the mail room, a lot of whom have law degrees, just like you.
00:07:24.960 -->
00:07:26.879That's what I learned.
00:07:26.879 -->
00:07:29.200That's that's a true story.
00:07:29.200 -->
00:07:31.360It's a very difficult business.
00:07:31.360 -->
00:07:32.400This changed a lot now.
00:07:32.400 -->
00:07:40.960When I started, actually, it was it's different than it is now, and now it's so corporatized, owned by you know multi-billion dollar multinational corporations.
00:07:40.960 -->
00:07:44.640Back then it was actually more of a kind of a pure art form.
00:07:45.920 -->
00:07:47.760I would think, I would think it's gonna be.
00:07:47.760 -->
00:07:52.960When I think about producing, all I think is someone's putting in some money, and that's what you got.
00:07:53.280 -->
00:07:54.960Yeah, if only it was that easy.
00:07:54.960 -->
00:08:00.720It's actually more that way now, just because you know it's it's it's run so much more corporate, it's like a big business.
00:08:00.720 -->
00:08:06.240So people basically analyze the story and see if it has marketing potential.
00:08:06.240 -->
00:08:13.360And does it click all the quadrants on the marketing plan, like four quadrants, uh studio marketing people like to say?
00:08:13.360 -->
00:08:20.240And if it does all this, then only then will they think about kind of the creative is secondary to the commercial prospects.
00:08:20.240 -->
00:08:29.439And that wasn't the way it was when I started, kind of in the mid-90s, late 90s, 2000, where it was like, oh, this is a really great story, and let's see if we can tell it in a very creative way.
00:08:29.439 -->
00:08:38.320And the people who were in charge of studios were famous for taking enormous gambles on just a hunch and on an actor and a story that's never been told.
00:08:38.320 -->
00:08:43.200And you saw, I think, a golden age of cinema that's different now.
00:08:43.200 -->
00:08:47.360Now everything is based on you know pre-existing IP where it's a safe bet.
00:08:47.360 -->
00:08:50.960There's already been five uh five iterations of this movie.
00:08:50.960 -->
00:08:53.680Now the sixth one is based on all the previous five.
00:08:53.680 -->
00:09:01.519So we know we have a built-in audience, and it's not such a risk for the studio, and you get a lot of derivative work, in my opinion.
00:09:01.680 -->
00:09:15.440So right, yeah, and no, I feel like the movies, yeah, and as you're well, I should say, as you're speaking, I'm thinking this is the reason why I think I like so many more of the older movies because there's a true story behind it, you know.
00:09:15.440 -->
00:09:35.680And I when I say older, I I mean I was just watching like a movie from 2004, you know, 19, like you know, 19, you know, 99, like the older, I mean, I'm dating myself here, but they're they just seem to have more, they were original.
00:09:36.240 -->
00:09:40.080Well, that's that's that's our more our generation, right?
00:09:40.080 -->
00:09:41.920And that's kind of what I'm saying.
00:09:41.920 -->
00:10:11.200If you talk to young people now, though, you know, they don't necessarily make movies for people like you and I anymore, unfortunately, especially not theatrical-driven movies, they're very much special effect driven or based on a comic book, or you know, a best-selling series of books, or something like that, or they're also not necessarily as story-driven as they are, more visual and appealing to people who have grown up playing video games their whole life, or based on a video game.
00:10:11.200 -->
00:10:14.399You know, that's it's different, unless you go to a smaller budget independent film.
00:10:14.399 -->
00:10:20.320And those are very difficult for anyone to see now because those movies don't get big theatrical releases anymore.
00:10:20.639 -->
00:10:20.879Right.
00:10:20.879 -->
00:10:21.759They don't get that.
00:10:21.759 -->
00:10:26.560So part of me is thinking to myself, because I just I listened to podcasts.
00:10:26.560 -->
00:10:31.519Um, if you've ever listened to Acquired, it's a great podcast.
00:10:31.519 -->
00:10:36.560I'll put a link to this, but they did a two-part episode on Disney and the Disney flywheel.
00:10:36.560 -->
00:10:45.360And so as you're talking, part of me is also just thinking, like back, you know, the producing set is like, okay, what do you like how many parts of that wheel can we monetize from it?
00:10:45.360 -->
00:10:46.720So you know, right?
00:10:46.720 -->
00:10:56.800So, you know, so you we need to do the release, the second release, the how many, you know, what is the um swag that we can, you know, produce from it.
00:10:56.800 -->
00:11:01.759So it needs to have all these additional pieces, where before it was a movie.
00:11:01.759 -->
00:11:14.560It, you know, I mean, like we we it was like a beautiful story that was coming out, and you were looking at the box office hits because it would people would go to the movie theaters, and and that's that's so fragmented now, too.
00:11:14.800 -->
00:11:15.920Yeah, it's all true.
00:11:15.920 -->
00:11:22.399And I just happened to get lucky that the first movie I made was a big hit, or I probably wouldn't have been making any more movies to be candid with you.
00:11:22.720 -->
00:11:23.680So, what was the first movie?
00:11:23.920 -->
00:11:27.120That was The Cooler with Alec Baldwin and William H.
00:11:27.120 -->
00:11:30.159Macy, and it it did really well for Lionsgate.
00:11:30.159 -->
00:11:34.320Lionsgate was a small distributor back then, and this was a huge hit for them.
00:11:34.320 -->
00:11:39.040It was a very small movie and it had a fairly modest theatrical release.
00:11:39.040 -->
00:11:48.480It did fairly well, and then had a huge video recruitment that it made tens of millions of dollars in profit for the studio.
00:11:48.480 -->
00:11:55.920And that allowed me to make a ton of other movies because once you have a hit back then, at least it was different.
00:11:55.920 -->
00:11:57.759It was like, okay, what do you want to do next?
00:11:57.759 -->
00:12:01.040And I had a good producing partner, a great director, writer, director.
00:12:01.040 -->
00:12:06.960And so we got to make a whole bunch of movies, and then I was lucky I got to kind of go along that journey for 15 years.
00:12:06.960 -->
00:12:09.759I made I make nine or 10 movies, I made a lot of movies.
00:12:10.080 -->
00:12:11.200Wow, that's okay.
00:12:11.200 -->
00:12:12.159So I'm just kind of curious.
00:12:12.159 -->
00:12:18.000So so what was like what was the one thing that almost like that helped you get that movie?
00:12:18.000 -->
00:12:20.879Like, was it the you know, was it the persistence?
00:12:20.879 -->
00:12:25.920The was it the you know, standing in front of somebody with like a bag of donuts or something, you know?
00:12:26.159 -->
00:12:26.800That's funny.
00:12:26.800 -->
00:12:29.040You just you just read my mind, Jaclyn.
00:12:29.040 -->
00:12:34.480That was the word that was gonna come to mind, and I think that word I will use many times during this podcast.
00:12:34.480 -->
00:12:43.840If there's one bit of information I wish I had been told earlier in life, is persistence, perseverance.
00:12:43.840 -->
00:12:48.879I basically try to get that movie made for three years.
00:12:48.879 -->
00:12:55.120I sent it to hundreds of people, my my partner and my team and I, and everybody passed.
00:12:55.120 -->
00:12:57.759And they passed for a myriad of different reasons.
00:12:57.759 -->
00:13:00.159Oh, it's a is it a comedy or is it a drama?
00:13:00.159 -->
00:13:01.040Is it a dramedy?
00:13:01.040 -->
00:13:06.159It fits between two genres, and I like it, but I don't know how to make it, I don't know how to market it.
00:13:06.159 -->
00:13:08.560No, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass.
00:13:08.560 -->
00:13:16.320And then finally, you know, one one day, the the story I've read about these stories, but it happened to me.
00:13:16.320 -->
00:13:17.120I had given up.
00:13:17.120 -->
00:13:20.480I literally was like, okay, I gave it a solid try.
00:13:20.480 -->
00:13:22.159Three years of trying to get a movie made.
00:13:22.159 -->
00:13:23.120I gotta make a living.
00:13:23.120 -->
00:13:27.519I can only trade stocks for so long here on the side, it's a side hustle.
00:13:27.519 -->
00:13:38.399And I left Hollywood and I went to central, I went to South America with my friend to hike in the jungles of Ecuador with no, there were no cell phones, then there was no electricity.
00:13:38.399 -->
00:13:40.399Went with some jungle tribe for like three weeks.
00:13:40.399 -->
00:13:42.560I'm like, wow, this is really going out there.
00:13:42.560 -->
00:13:44.960Got in by canoe, motorized canoe.
00:13:44.960 -->
00:13:51.040And then I went after that's a heavy and of itself, but I'm just yeah, not that much happened actually down there, but it was uh interesting.
00:13:51.040 -->
00:14:00.000I came back three weeks later and there was a message on my answering machine, because that's what we all had, saying, Yeah, I want to talk to you about this project you had, the cooler.
00:14:00.000 -->
00:14:03.680I'm like, oh wow, someone actually is interested in making the movie.
00:14:03.680 -->
00:14:06.320It turns out they were, and they did make the movie.
00:14:06.320 -->
00:14:08.320It was a very famous producer named Edward R.
00:14:08.320 -->
00:14:10.879Pressman, and they brought most of the money.
00:14:10.879 -->
00:14:15.920I put together the rest of the money, and the movie was made for like two and a half million dollars.
00:14:16.240 -->
00:14:16.560Wow.
00:14:16.560 -->
00:14:19.680I mean, by movie standards, that's that wasn't a lot.
00:14:20.000 -->
00:14:21.519Even then it was nothing.
00:14:21.519 -->
00:14:24.960Now it's still, you know, it's very low budget, and the rest is history.
00:14:24.960 -->
00:14:28.800So my phone rang, so to speak, finally.
00:14:29.680 -->
00:14:30.000Okay.
00:14:30.000 -->
00:14:30.639I okay.
00:14:30.639 -->
00:14:31.680Listen, there's two things.
00:14:31.680 -->
00:14:36.639Number one, I you have to take this persistence is so important.
00:14:36.639 -->
00:14:48.960You know, you know, make you and then the other thing is this thing I'm holding up if you'll if you're listening to this and you're driving your car, you can't see it, but it's a phone.
00:14:48.960 -->
00:14:52.560Use the phone for what it is actually.
00:14:52.560 -->
00:15:02.960You press buttons, it rings, and somebody on the other end answers and you leave a message, or you actually talk to somebody, do it, use it, toss somebody.
00:15:02.960 -->
00:15:05.200It's really funny.
00:15:05.200 -->
00:15:10.480But it's true, big be persistence, have the grit, you know, find the numbers.
00:15:10.480 -->
00:15:15.840You know, that's actually to me one of the best things about AI right now is that you can find numbers anyway.
00:15:16.000 -->
00:15:28.960But so I love that persistence, grit, you know, that's and I have to say, my definition of success, this is not original, I think it's Winston Churchill, is stumbling from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
00:15:28.960 -->
00:15:31.440Yeah, I never really got that.
00:15:31.440 -->
00:15:33.920I find it harder and harder to do that now that I'm a lot older.
00:15:33.920 -->
00:15:36.080It's like, wow, it really is tough.
00:15:36.080 -->
00:15:38.320Back then, I kind of just had so much energy.
00:15:38.320 -->
00:15:43.920I like I got no a hundred times, and the 102nd time I came back for more.
00:15:43.920 -->
00:15:44.879Thank God I did.
00:15:44.879 -->
00:15:55.120But I honestly now have a tougher time bouncing back because I'm stumbling from failure to failure all the time as a venture capitalist, as an investor at early stages.
00:15:55.120 -->
00:15:56.720Nine out of ten fail.
00:15:56.879 -->
00:15:57.200Right.
00:15:57.440 -->
00:15:59.360And so that is a bitter pill to swallow.
00:15:59.360 -->
00:16:06.320And that that success definition I recently found somewhere, a couple, maybe a year and a half ago, because I was trying to figure out how do I stay doing this.
00:16:06.320 -->
00:16:07.759And I talked to people who are successful.
00:16:07.759 -->
00:16:13.600And what I realized is people that are much, much more successful than me in every way.
00:16:13.600 -->
00:16:15.440That was a quote I got from one of them.
00:16:15.440 -->
00:16:19.440I'm not going to name drop who it was, but it was some, I mean, it's a very impressive person.
00:16:19.440 -->
00:16:21.519And I was like, wow, I never really thought about that.
00:16:21.519 -->
00:16:23.840Yeah, you got to keep your enthusiasm level up.
00:16:23.840 -->
00:16:28.560And because even people at the very top who you read about every day, you know how much they fail?
00:16:28.560 -->
00:16:31.360You don't think about it, they fail so much.
00:16:31.360 -->
00:16:32.960And I never thought about it.
00:16:32.960 -->
00:16:35.279So I don't feel so bad now when I fail.
00:16:35.279 -->
00:16:37.040It's okay, it's a rite of passage.
00:16:37.040 -->
00:16:39.519You can't succeed without first learning to fail.
00:16:39.519 -->
00:16:42.000And there's such this sounds like such proverbial statements.
00:16:42.000 -->
00:16:44.560And when I was younger, I never really digested it.
00:16:44.560 -->
00:16:49.360But now I teach this to my children every day because it's hard out there.
00:16:49.360 -->
00:16:52.480No one has instant success in anything.
00:16:52.879 -->
00:16:53.200Right.
00:16:53.200 -->
00:16:55.600Nobody has instant instant success.
00:16:55.600 -->
00:17:02.480I mean, you know, I always say, I always, you know, kind of will say something like to the effect of it's like the 15-year overnight success, right?
00:17:02.480 -->
00:17:05.599Because it's like you don't see the buildup.
00:17:05.599 -->
00:17:22.720You know, if we're seeing somebody's, you know, hit the mainstream media with a movie or an athlete or a business, nine times out of 10, we're not seeing those first 10, 50, 5, 10, 15, whatever years it took for them to get there.
00:17:22.720 -->
00:17:29.039So it's like at the 15-year overnight success until unless you hear the story of somebody, you know, right.
00:17:29.039 -->
00:17:29.599Right?
00:17:29.679 -->
00:17:46.799Like, and we see that now more with a lot of I think sports programming is really expanded in the last five to 10 years, where you see behind the scenes lives of some of these great athletes, whether they be quarterbacks or basketball players.
00:17:46.799 -->
00:17:53.199And it used to just be so flowery and see them driving their Ferrari and pulling up to their mansion and all this.
00:17:53.199 -->
00:18:00.879And now you had these more common, candid conversations where some of these people are more inclined to open up about how difficult it has been.
00:18:00.879 -->
00:18:04.719And one who comes to mind is Tom Brady, because he's lived such a charmed life.
00:18:04.719 -->
00:18:06.639And you think, oh, the guy's got everything.
00:18:06.639 -->
00:18:07.599I hate him.
00:18:07.599 -->
00:18:10.639But then he realized you see the man behind all that.
00:18:10.639 -->
00:18:13.599This is a guy who was drafted way back.
00:18:13.599 -->
00:18:15.039I didn't even think about this back.
00:18:15.039 -->
00:18:16.240I didn't know who he was.
00:18:16.240 -->
00:18:17.599I didn't follow football.
00:18:17.599 -->
00:18:18.959It was a long time ago.
00:18:18.959 -->
00:18:26.399He was like a skinny guy who no one gave any had any faith that he would ever be a good quarterback.
00:18:26.399 -->
00:18:28.959And he he kept like went to camp.
00:18:28.959 -->
00:18:35.039He said this, and he's famously said to Robert Kraft, I think the owner of the Patriots, I'm the best decision you've ever made.
00:18:35.039 -->
00:18:37.279And everyone just kind of laughed at him.
00:18:37.279 -->
00:18:40.799Cut to the end of his career, he's the greatest quarterback of all time.
00:18:40.799 -->
00:18:43.519If that isn't the perfect example, yeah.
00:18:43.519 -->
00:18:46.879And now I never even thought about that, how it relates to my own life.
00:18:46.879 -->
00:18:59.199But now that I've had some retrospection, having kids, and and as I've had some time to think about the things I've done, most the most time that you have is the journey.
00:18:59.199 -->
00:19:05.359It's not the actual win or the success or the monetization, it's the journey, it's the ride.
00:19:05.359 -->
00:19:09.759And I never again really understood that till as I was an older man.
00:19:09.759 -->
00:19:15.199And Tom Brady seemed to articulate that quite well too, that it was just that journey that he embraced.
00:19:15.199 -->
00:19:17.199I find that very powerful personally.
00:19:17.199 -->
00:19:18.959It's people that are listening to your podcast.
00:19:18.959 -->
00:19:21.039I love your on your unstoppable.
00:19:21.039 -->
00:19:24.159You want to be unstoppable, these are things you should keep in mind.
00:19:24.480 -->
00:19:24.719Right.
00:19:24.719 -->
00:19:25.759Well, and those are the things.
00:19:25.759 -->
00:19:33.119It's like you keep those stories in mind because you have to you have to always be in love with what you're doing.
00:19:33.119 -->
00:19:35.679And actually, somebody shared that earlier today on the podcast.
00:19:35.679 -->
00:19:43.919You, you know, you if you don't love what you're doing and you're not, then it's going to be hard to be able to keep that momentum going all the time.
00:19:43.919 -->
00:19:59.439You have, I mean, you have to be passionate about it, and you have to know that and remind yourself along the way, just like in relationships and in life, there are there's highs and lows, but you have to work through them if you want to keep it going.
00:19:59.839 -->
00:20:04.639That's true, but I'll push back on that a little bit because you can't be in love all the time.
00:20:04.639 -->
00:20:12.319And even with your passion, I defy you to find one.
00:20:12.319 -->
00:20:13.519Oh wow, what's that?
00:20:13.839 -->
00:20:15.359We got some built, we got some balloons.
00:20:15.919 -->
00:20:16.159Awesome.
00:20:16.159 -->
00:20:17.359Balloons went up.
00:20:17.359 -->
00:20:18.000How did that happen?
00:20:18.000 -->
00:20:18.559But I love it.
00:20:18.719 -->
00:20:19.839Because you didn't you went like this.
00:20:19.919 -->
00:20:21.199You didn't know what does that mean?
00:20:21.279 -->
00:20:26.879Oh, with with with Zoom and depending upon you have them, sometimes like I don't I turn mine off.
00:20:26.879 -->
00:20:29.679So if you go, if you put your see, there's confetti.
00:20:30.240 -->
00:20:30.639I love it.
00:20:30.639 -->
00:20:32.240Oh, that's so cool.
00:20:32.240 -->
00:20:33.519Let's do it anyway.
00:20:33.519 -->
00:20:37.039So, yes, it's not always fun.
00:20:37.039 -->
00:20:40.719This is the thing that I also have to tell people that it's hard.
00:20:40.719 -->
00:20:45.919You have to have discipline because you know, discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.
00:20:45.919 -->
00:20:47.519That is a really great proverb.
00:20:47.519 -->
00:20:49.119Again, I'm stealing it, I don't know where it came from.
00:20:49.119 -->
00:20:57.519I say that again because I want listeners to hear like that's not discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.
00:20:57.519 -->
00:21:02.559Yeah, and it is one of the most important components of perseverance.
00:21:02.559 -->
00:21:03.919You've got to be perseverant, sure.
00:21:03.919 -->
00:21:08.079But if you don't have discipline, I don't care who you are, you ain't gonna succeed.
00:21:08.079 -->
00:21:13.599Not one person I know ever in the history of my network has succeeded without unbelievable discipline.
00:21:13.599 -->
00:21:20.480I mean, I'm pretty disciplined, but when I see some of the my role models and I see how they've lived their lives, they are very disciplined.
00:21:20.480 -->
00:21:24.159And discipline can be the little things like Tom Radio, perfect example.
00:21:24.159 -->
00:21:31.359He just practiced his art and his craft many multiple times more than anybody else did.
00:21:31.359 -->
00:21:32.639He will tell you what he did.
00:21:32.639 -->
00:21:44.559He would be so accurate, he would never make mistakes, he's never gonna make the greatest play, he's not the greatest athlete, he's not the strongest guy, he doesn't run that fast, he doesn't throw the ball as far as someone else.
00:21:44.559 -->
00:21:56.399But on the highest percentage passes that make the difference between winning and losing a game when it's third and nine or third and six, he's always gonna put that ball exactly where it needed to be.
00:21:56.399 -->
00:21:59.119He never he he minimized his mistakes.
00:21:59.119 -->
00:22:02.480I'm using this football analogy only because I think it's an easier one to digest.
00:22:02.480 -->
00:22:07.119Yeah, and it's the same in business many and in life too.
00:22:07.119 -->
00:22:09.599I mean, marriage is is amazing.
00:22:09.599 -->
00:22:13.519I love my wife dearly, but it does require some discipline.
00:22:13.519 -->
00:22:17.919I mean, it sounds crude, but it requires discipline to be a good husband.
00:22:17.919 -->
00:22:22.799Every business and Ever I've ever done being an investor requires incredible discipline.
00:22:22.799 -->
00:22:38.159What I'm trying to do now, starting another company, direct a consumer from scratch, is so hard, requires so much discipline from my entire team every day to get up and try to move that rock a little bit higher up the mountain.
00:22:38.159 -->
00:22:40.159So anyway, I'm big on discipline.
00:22:40.159 -->
00:22:45.519And I'm not saying like drill sergeant discipline, like oh 700, get down and give me 50.
00:22:45.519 -->
00:22:46.959No, not that.
00:22:46.959 -->
00:22:49.439That's a form of discipline.
00:22:49.439 -->
00:23:07.279But no, it's like you know you have to at some point during whether it's a day or a week, whatever increment is applicable to what you're trying to accomplish from it, you better have some plan that you're following to move that process forward.
00:23:07.279 -->
00:23:10.879And that I don't care what anyone sells tells you, takes discipline.
00:23:10.879 -->
00:23:12.559And it's not always fun.
00:23:13.359 -->
00:23:18.000Well, I've always said before, too, that it's true, like discipline, it does take that.
00:23:18.000 -->
00:23:25.519And at some point, if you're building a business, in some ways, it's boring in the sense that right like that is correct.
00:23:25.519 -->
00:23:26.240Right.
00:23:26.240 -->
00:23:44.959You have to do the same small task things that you're going to do, and it can get boring, but you have to know that that those repeat, and I always say income-producing activities, because you could organize your office, whatever you can do, but what are the things that you're going to be doing to move the needle?
00:23:45.199 -->
00:23:46.559That's so good, Jaclyn.
00:23:46.559 -->
00:23:54.879I I totally like your message because sometimes people get down on me and they say, Oh, you're too hard on people, you're too hard on yourself.
00:23:54.879 -->
00:23:57.519And it's like, I'm not really, I just a realist.
00:23:57.519 -->
00:23:59.039I know kind of what it takes.
00:23:59.039 -->
00:24:00.480And I'm not the most successful guy.
00:24:00.480 -->
00:24:07.439I don't even purport to be, but success that I've managed to eke out, these are some of the principles that have really helped me.
00:24:07.439 -->
00:24:15.839And one of the biggest problems I have on making, you know, moving a company forward from nothing is it is kind of boring.
00:24:15.839 -->
00:24:24.000The increments involved right now in trying to build an e-commerce business that's in the gun space.
00:24:24.000 -->
00:24:35.199There's so much friction to that, requires repetitive action trying to manipulate an algorithm and open up all of our outlets to market this product.
00:24:35.199 -->
00:24:38.240I marvel at what the engineers are doing every day.
00:24:38.240 -->
00:24:47.679They're writing code, they're working with Google and Meta and trying to unlock the algorithm and start doing all the SEO work on our marketing plan.
00:24:47.679 -->
00:24:49.759And it's super boring.
00:24:49.759 -->
00:24:50.719It just is boring.
00:24:50.719 -->
00:24:52.079But I have to be involved in every day.
00:24:52.079 -->
00:24:52.959I have to understand it.
00:24:52.959 -->
00:24:54.959I have to be there alongside these guys.
00:24:54.959 -->
00:24:57.279And it's pretty effing boring.
00:24:57.279 -->
00:24:58.639Making a movie.
00:24:58.639 -->
00:25:02.480People have no idea how hard it is to make a movie.
00:25:02.480 -->
00:25:03.439I had no idea.
00:25:03.439 -->
00:25:05.839I just had I looked at it through rose-colored glasses.
00:25:05.839 -->
00:25:08.079Oh, movie those just so glamorous.
00:25:08.079 -->
00:25:09.839And then I got making this movie.
00:25:09.839 -->
00:25:12.799It was like six days a week, 18 hours a day.
00:25:12.799 -->
00:25:14.879It was absurdly difficult.
00:25:14.879 -->
00:25:19.199And I liked it, but I can't say every moment of it was joyful.
00:25:19.759 -->
00:25:23.119Yeah, you weren't sitting on the movie set sitting there drinking cocktails all day long.
00:25:23.119 -->
00:25:25.439I mean, you're working, and it's like that's right.
00:25:25.679 -->
00:25:29.119You know, it's a hard process to make a movie.
00:25:29.119 -->
00:25:30.319It's on a shooting schedule.
00:25:30.319 -->
00:25:33.759Often you shoot late into the night, then you have a very short, what's called turnaround.
00:25:33.759 -->
00:25:37.279You have to be up in the morning on set again because you have a finite amount of money.
00:25:37.279 -->
00:25:43.919You have to fix, fix, fit that schedule into as short a time period as possible, you'll run out of money.
00:25:43.919 -->
00:25:45.199You don't have a hundred million dollars.
00:25:45.199 -->
00:25:47.359Even on the big movies now, people don't understand.
00:25:47.359 -->
00:25:48.559It's very corporatized.
00:25:48.559 -->
00:25:59.199So you have a budget, you have people from the studio that are on set every day, making sure every page is being shot the way they want, on time, on schedule, and not over budget, or you'll never make another movie if you were.
00:25:59.199 -->
00:26:02.559We had nobody uh over our shoulder, it was just our own money and our investors.
00:26:02.559 -->
00:26:05.359So if we if we ran out of money, well, you're you've screwed up.
00:26:05.359 -->
00:26:06.159So that's it.
00:26:06.159 -->
00:26:09.439Yeah, you have no more money and you have a shitty movie, you've lost all your investors' money.
00:26:09.439 -->
00:26:10.559Okay, shit.
00:26:10.799 -->
00:26:11.519Right, right, right.
00:26:11.519 -->
00:26:13.119You better do it, you better do a good job.
00:26:13.119 -->
00:26:17.839So so let's talk about this company that you're getting started.
00:26:17.839 -->
00:26:20.799You know, it's American gun owners.
00:26:20.799 -->
00:26:34.240And so talk talk a little bit about like did you wake up one day and be like, I gotta, I, I gotta get more guns into people's hands.
00:26:34.240 -->
00:26:42.799Like, what was the what was the like I or or is it more like American gun owners, we need to get the right guns into the right people's hands?
00:26:42.799 -->
00:26:43.199I don't know.
00:26:43.839 -->
00:26:45.759Okay, you know, you're getting you're getting closer.
00:26:45.759 -->
00:26:47.679So uh this I love answering this question.
00:26:47.679 -->
00:26:57.839I haven't answered it much yet because we haven't really started, we've only launched like a month ago, and we're just slowly marketing it around the country now, so it's not really even out there.
00:26:57.839 -->
00:26:59.439But I'm happy to tell you the story.
00:26:59.439 -->
00:27:03.439Yeah, the genesis of doing this company is my wife.
00:27:03.439 -->
00:27:15.119So we live in Los Angeles most of the time, and some people around the country may know this, but Los Angeles has faced a real crime wave in the last kind of eight to ten years.
00:27:15.279 -->
00:27:17.359Where it's I would never have heard that on the news.
00:27:17.359 -->
00:27:17.839I'm just kidding.
00:27:18.079 -->
00:27:18.480Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:27:18.480 -->
00:27:19.759I know you never would have heard that.
00:27:19.759 -->
00:27:26.559So never people like my wife who live in the suburbs don't feel safe in their homes anymore.
00:27:26.559 -->
00:27:36.319And one of the problems is there's there's a lot of reasons for this, and I don't know what the there's not one singular reason, but here's some things to consider.
00:27:36.319 -->
00:27:41.919Number one, there's less policemen than ever in Los Angeles on the beats.
00:27:41.919 -->
00:27:48.079There's 8,200, depending on who you want to believe, to 8,600 policemen in LA County right now.
00:27:48.079 -->
00:27:49.599On LA, sorry, LAPD.
00:27:49.599 -->
00:27:50.319LAPD.
00:27:50.799 -->
00:27:54.879LAP so 8,000 8,000 8,500.
00:27:54.879 -->
00:27:55.439Okay.
00:27:55.919 -->
00:27:59.599And the last time the number was that low was the mid-1990s.
00:27:59.599 -->
00:28:01.679But the city is growing much bigger than that.
00:28:01.679 -->
00:28:06.719So they have a real shortage of actual police on the streets.
00:28:06.719 -->
00:28:09.439Policing in a giant, complicated city.
00:28:09.439 -->
00:28:13.199There should be like around 11,000, is what I'm told by experts.
00:28:13.199 -->
00:28:20.639But they've had such budget problems, they have low morale, and people don't want to be policemen in LA because it's a very difficult job.
00:28:20.639 -->
00:28:26.079You're held to a high standard, you have a camera on you all the time, you make mistakes, it's very dangerous.
00:28:26.079 -->
00:28:27.679It's it doesn't pay that well.
00:28:27.679 -->
00:28:29.759Who wants to be a cop in LA?
00:28:29.759 -->
00:28:32.079And it turns out not a lot of people.
00:28:32.079 -->
00:28:33.679So that's one reason.
00:28:33.679 -->
00:28:35.279Then you have a myriad of other problems.
00:28:35.279 -->
00:28:37.759You've had all the racial unrest, right, with the Rodney King.
00:28:37.759 -->
00:28:46.159Then you had COVID, and you've had the decriminalization of a lot of things like theft and burglary over the years with a very soft DA.
00:28:46.159 -->
00:28:47.759This has now been changing the last few years.
00:28:47.759 -->
00:28:50.399You have a new administration, new new DA.
00:28:50.399 -->
00:29:05.759So all this has led to people who lived in seemingly safe neighborhoods all around Los Angeles, who before would leave their doors unlocked, now experiencing real crime, a lot of theft, a lot of home invasions, tons of home invasion, mostly driven just by people wanting to rob you of your stuff.
00:29:05.759 -->
00:29:12.240They know that there's jewelry and there's cash and there's stuff, and they people typically aren't you know putting their stuff in safes.
00:29:12.240 -->
00:29:14.000They were never that worried about it.
00:29:14.000 -->
00:29:26.480So the end result is mainstream people who are kind of in the middle of the gun debate, they don't hate guns, but they don't want guns, are now not feeling safe in their home.
00:29:26.480 -->
00:29:32.959And so they want to arm themselves responsibly and safely and confidently, including my wife.
00:29:32.959 -->
00:29:34.240So my wife came to me one day.
00:29:34.240 -->
00:29:40.399I actually grew up on a cattle ranch, so I've been shooting guns since I was young, and I am very well versed with guns.
00:29:40.399 -->
00:29:43.679So I feel safe when I'm around.
00:29:43.679 -->
00:29:47.679She knows we have guns, but they're locked up and they're appropriately stored.
00:29:47.679 -->
00:29:53.199But I am skilled and instructed on how to use a gun if I needed to.
00:29:53.199 -->
00:29:58.159She doesn't like guns, but now she feels unsafe.
00:29:58.159 -->
00:30:15.199And she's one of many, many hundreds of thousands of other people we found in our research that now want to buy a gun for all these reasons, who've never wanted a gun before and aren't going to go and affiliate with someone on the far right of the spectrum and be and go necessarily to a gun show.
00:30:15.199 -->
00:30:25.199And when they go online to buy a gun, there are sites out there like guns.com or Palmetto, which are great companies, but they are designed for people that know what they want.
00:30:25.199 -->
00:30:28.079There's literally hundreds of guns to choose from.
00:30:28.079 -->
00:30:41.039There's accessories, and the customer journey is so long and convoluted that someone like just using my wife as example, because she was the genesis of the idea, she goes on to say guns.com.
00:30:41.039 -->
00:30:43.919She goes, Well, what gun do I buy?
00:30:43.919 -->
00:30:45.679I don't have an effing clue.
00:30:45.679 -->
00:30:47.279And also, where do I get instruction?
00:30:47.279 -->
00:30:48.639There's nowhere I know where to get instruction.
00:30:48.639 -->
00:30:51.519Well, you go to YouTube and watch a video, or you can watch a manual, right?
00:30:51.519 -->
00:30:54.799Or you can go to the NRA website, but I don't really know what the NRA is.
00:30:54.799 -->
00:30:55.919I don't affiliate with the NRA.
00:30:55.919 -->
00:30:56.879I doesn't feel good to me.
00:30:56.879 -->
00:30:58.399I don't know what to do.
00:30:58.399 -->
00:30:59.599So that's an opportunity.
00:30:59.599 -->
00:31:01.359That was a white space, and she wasn't alone.
00:31:01.359 -->
00:31:03.599I started researching it, and this is what I do.
00:31:03.599 -->
00:31:12.079We started finding out that all across the nation, and particularly in a lot of blue states like California, where people don't own guns because they make it very difficult for you to own a gun.
00:31:12.079 -->
00:31:13.199This is another problem.
00:31:13.199 -->
00:31:16.319It's expensive, it's hard to qualify.
00:31:16.319 -->
00:31:18.399You have to actually take and have some instruction.
00:31:18.399 -->
00:31:21.359You can't just go and get a gun, like say in Texas.
00:31:21.359 -->
00:31:28.399It's a constitutional carry state where you can just go down as long as you're a citizen and you can buy a gun and pass a background check and walk out with it.
00:31:28.399 -->
00:31:30.480California requires a cooling off period.
00:31:30.480 -->
00:31:31.359It's very expensive.
00:31:31.359 -->
00:31:34.079They put all these impediments before you, but people want guns.
00:31:34.079 -->
00:31:35.279So I said, you know what?
00:31:35.279 -->
00:31:43.519I am going to create a space now for people who are normal people who don't necessarily want to have anything controversial.
00:31:43.519 -->
00:31:51.839They don't necessarily want to have a, for lack of a better example, an AR-15 with a bump stop that has a hundred cartridges.
00:31:51.839 -->
00:31:56.480No, no, they're far from that, but yet they don't believe that everyone should not have a gun.
00:31:56.480 -->
00:31:59.439They're not on the far left saying, no, no one should have a gun in the city.
00:31:59.439 -->
00:32:01.919Well, if that matters, we have the second amendment in this country.
00:32:01.919 -->
00:32:03.359Everyone has a right to have a gun.
00:32:03.359 -->
00:32:07.279And I want to exercise my rights, but I am somewhat moderate.
00:32:07.279 -->
00:32:13.599And I couldn't find any company or any site that spoke to that demographic.
00:32:13.599 -->
00:32:15.839And that's why we started American Gun Owners.
00:32:15.839 -->
00:32:28.799So if you go online and see it, American Gun Owners.com, you'll see three bundles that you have a choice of buying a pistol or a revolver or a self-defense shotgun.
00:32:28.799 -->
00:32:40.319And each is bundled with eye and ear protection, a lockbox, a subscription for ammunition that's discounted, and an instruction path for hundreds of classes that you put your zip code in.
00:32:40.319 -->
00:32:53.439We'll find the right instructor that's close by you for anything you want to learn, how to use your pistol, how to store it, home invasion safety, target shooting, all these myriad of different instructional resources are available for you when you buy your product from us.
00:32:53.439 -->
00:32:57.439And these instructors are mostly based on National Rifle Association instructors.
00:32:57.439 -->
00:33:00.399There's 128,000 of them nationwide, and they're all built in.
00:33:00.399 -->
00:33:01.759We built the API for them.
00:33:01.759 -->
00:33:04.959So when you put that zip code in, you have access to all those resources.
00:33:04.959 -->
00:33:07.039And it's discounted and it's very simple.
00:33:07.039 -->
00:33:08.559We have a recommendation engine.
00:33:08.559 -->
00:33:15.439So if you really don't know what you want, like people in our demo doesn't, you go and you go and click on the recommendation engine.
00:33:15.439 -->
00:33:17.199I say, I don't know what I want.
00:33:17.199 -->
00:33:18.480And then there's like six questions.
00:33:18.480 -->
00:33:19.599You just click on the first one.
00:33:19.599 -->
00:33:21.039Do you live in an apartment or a house?
00:33:21.039 -->
00:33:22.319What's your physical stature?
00:33:22.319 -->
00:33:23.679Have you ever owned a gun before?
00:33:23.679 -->
00:33:24.719Do you have children in the house?
00:33:24.719 -->
00:33:26.000All these practical questions.
00:33:26.000 -->
00:33:35.839And then the recommendation engine will spit out the right self-defense, either a pistol or a revolver or shotgun, whatever you choose for you, and you'll go pick it up at your closest gun store or range.
00:33:35.839 -->
00:33:37.839And that's that's that simple.
00:33:37.839 -->
00:33:38.959So we're marking.
00:33:40.079 -->
00:33:41.439I actually I totally love it.
00:33:41.439 -->
00:33:48.639So I have actually, when I went to overnight camp, I shot a rifle, but and I was comfortable, I actually was pretty good at it.
00:33:48.639 -->
00:33:52.559But what was interesting is living, I I grew up in Massachusetts.
00:33:52.559 -->
00:34:08.639Now living here in Reno, Nevada, which is different, suffice to say, you know, I went, I wanted to check out a pawn shop because I was curious about selling some jewelry and like pricing it out.
00:34:08.639 -->
00:34:28.400And I walked in, I didn't sell it there, but walked in and I looked behind the counter, and there is like this myriad of guns, and I was like so taken back because they were just there, they weren't behind anything.
00:34:28.400 -->
00:34:39.679Like there was no case, there was no, and I was like, oh, I wish I actually had one with me right now because I don't really feel super.
00:34:39.679 -->
00:34:41.679It made you like pause, right?
00:34:41.679 -->
00:34:47.519And made me think, and and I will say, so that was a little, I don't know, I found it was odd.
00:34:47.519 -->
00:34:48.880Like I'm thinking, like, why aren't they?
00:34:48.880 -->
00:34:49.440Why aren't they?
00:34:49.440 -->
00:34:52.480I mean, they're behind a counter, but anybody could just jump that counter and I don't know.
00:34:52.480 -->
00:34:53.440It was just kind of a thing.
00:34:54.159 -->
00:35:05.039Another thing, too, and not sorry to interrupt you, is that people who are younger, and I mean under 30 now, that's not me, but they don't want to go to a store, they won't go to a gun store anymore.
00:35:05.039 -->
00:35:09.679My generation, I I would go to a gun store because I was comfortable, I knew what I wanted.
00:35:09.679 -->
00:35:14.079And typically it was an older white guy behind the counter, and I could relate to him.
00:35:14.079 -->
00:35:19.679Now, if you're a person of color or you're a woman, you're not going to a gun store, you're not feeling comfortable.
00:35:19.679 -->
00:35:39.599And also, gun stores have a reputation, unfortunately, of being like used car stealers, which are incidentally that whole business has been disrupted by Carvana and other really great companies, where it takes that kind of sleaze factor out of the process, because basically you don't want to hang with some used car guy or even someone who's trying to buy your used car or sell you a car because you know what he's gonna do.
00:35:39.599 -->
00:35:46.719He's gonna sell you the car that has the best margin for him, but not necessarily the car that you want.
00:35:46.719 -->
00:35:50.159And it's even more pronounced in the gun world.
00:35:50.159 -->
00:35:51.679So you walk into a gun store.
00:35:51.679 -->
00:35:58.559If you're arguably, let's say you're whoever you are and you don't know anything about guns, he's gonna say, Well, this is a perfect gun for you.
00:35:58.559 -->
00:35:59.360And you're like, Really?
00:35:59.360 -->
00:36:00.799Okay, you're not gonna know any better.
00:36:00.799 -->
00:36:01.039Right.
00:36:01.039 -->
00:36:03.360But that gun may be the wrong gun for you.
00:36:03.360 -->
00:36:11.360Maybe it's a 44 magnum or something that's you know just not appropriate for a first-time gun buyer, and he's gonna sell it because he gets the best margin.
00:36:11.360 -->
00:36:15.199So we take all that guesswork and all that silliness out of the equation.
00:36:15.199 -->
00:36:17.839Like, nope, the recommendation is gonna give you the gun that's right for you.
00:36:17.839 -->
00:36:19.599We guarantee it at the best price.
00:36:19.599 -->
00:36:26.400So it's not like we're reinventing the wheel, we're just taking that concept from other verticals and applying it to buying a gun.
00:36:26.400 -->
00:36:28.000It's not that complicated.
00:36:28.319 -->
00:36:33.440Yeah, no, I absolutely love it because it and I will say, you I think you're spot on with people.
00:36:33.440 -->
00:36:49.839I mean, obviously you've done the research, which so you are, but even people, even people that I've talked to have said, oh, I think I want to go buy a gun and I need to go get I need to go get training, you know, and so there's definitely a lot more people that I know that want to have that.
00:36:49.839 -->
00:37:06.319And then what which is interesting, you know, is as you share, like you all the additional schooling that you can get, you know, whether it's tactical, whatever, being able to put people in and be able to connect people with those classes, it's so important.
00:37:06.319 -->
00:37:18.400And then it goes back to actually to what we were saying with you know, Tom Brady, take the classes, do the do the extra work so that you're you're feeling comfortable with the device that you've now purchased.
00:37:18.400 -->
00:37:21.440It's like the um, you know, driving a car, right?
00:37:21.440 -->
00:37:27.759You have to go through a process of you don't just get behind the wheel, you do have to right.
00:37:27.920 -->
00:37:29.599And this is where it gets interesting, Jackson.
00:37:29.599 -->
00:37:32.639I have to tell you, because it's been somewhat controversial doing this whole thing.
00:37:32.639 -->
00:37:37.279We're just getting started, and I'm kind of prepared for what's coming on the left and the right.
00:37:37.279 -->
00:37:43.039And I will say this to us a gun is not political.
00:37:43.599 -->
00:37:44.159No, it's not.
00:37:44.400 -->
00:37:50.319The gun is a utility, it's there for you to defend yourself.
00:37:50.319 -->
00:37:54.960But our politics has got so wacky in this country now with the far right and the far left.
00:37:54.960 -->
00:37:56.559I want nothing to do with that.
00:37:56.559 -->
00:38:03.679We are just providing a you a piece of metal that is a utility for you to protect yourself.
00:38:03.679 -->
00:38:06.319I don't want to hear arguments from the right or left.
00:38:06.319 -->
00:38:08.559I I care, but I don't care in this context.
00:38:08.559 -->
00:38:10.079I want everyone to understand that.
00:38:10.079 -->
00:38:16.719I grew up on a cattle ranch, and the gun to me was used to hunt deer to feed us.
00:38:16.719 -->
00:38:22.880And I hunted and we ate the meat, and it was great meat, but I never thought about the politics of this gun when I was a kid.
00:38:22.880 -->
00:38:25.119And now all of a sudden the gun's so political.
00:38:25.119 -->
00:38:27.119And so that's I'm clapping back against that.
00:38:27.119 -->
00:38:29.759We're American gun owners, but we're not political.
00:38:29.759 -->
00:38:33.839We're just providing a utility for normal people to be able to defend themselves.
00:38:33.839 -->
00:38:35.119It's that simple.
00:38:35.679 -->
00:38:42.480And I think like to me, it's like the gun, the car, the AI.
00:38:42.480 -->
00:38:43.360It's a tool.
00:38:43.360 -->
00:38:54.719It's it's it's but what you wrap around it and how you treat it, whether you're making it political or it's just it doesn't to me, it doesn't belong there.
00:38:54.719 -->
00:39:09.199You know, there's so many different parts where I believe that politics does not belong in, you know, you know, and at the same time, you know, yes, it's absolutely horrid when you have shootings and things like that.
00:39:09.199 -->
00:39:19.199Don't get me wrong, that is not, I don't feel like that's acceptable, obviously, because that's not what the gun was meant to be used for, to that type of harm, you know.
00:39:19.199 -->
00:39:24.239But that's because that that's a different type of a problem.
00:39:24.559 -->
00:39:27.920Yeah, but also remember, we're not selling right all types of guns.
00:39:27.920 -->
00:39:30.480It's very, I have to be honest, it's quite calculated.
00:39:30.480 -->
00:39:34.319We're just selling a revolver or a pistol or a self-defense shotgun.
00:39:34.319 -->
00:39:34.719That's it.
00:39:34.719 -->
00:39:36.480This is a very clear message.
00:39:36.880 -->
00:39:37.440One, two, or three.
00:39:37.440 -->
00:39:37.599Right.
00:39:38.000 -->
00:39:41.519If you want those other guns, the controversial ones, fine, go buy them.
00:39:41.519 -->
00:39:44.000I'm not saying you can't buy them, but that's not what we're selling.
00:39:44.000 -->
00:39:44.400Right.
00:39:44.400 -->
00:39:50.799We're selling for people that just are feeling unsafe and they need instruction so they can get confident with their gun.
00:39:50.799 -->
00:39:52.079That's important.
00:39:52.319 -->
00:39:52.559Right.
00:39:52.799 -->
00:39:59.119Not trying to restrict or enforce any rules or laws or question anyone's devotion to the second amendment or opposition to it.
00:39:59.119 -->
00:40:00.079I don't care.
00:40:00.079 -->
00:40:00.799Right, right.
00:40:00.960 -->
00:40:02.319Yeah, no, to be able to defend your.
00:40:02.319 -->
00:40:03.519And I I think it's great.
00:40:03.519 -->
00:40:09.279And I love the fact that you're giving people the instruction or the ability to find instruction because I think that's so important.
00:40:09.279 -->
00:40:12.880And as you said, get comfortable, get comfortable with it.
00:40:12.880 -->
00:40:21.519Because you, at the end of the day, if somebody is invading your house or you're not feeling safe, you want to be able to use it comfortably.
00:40:21.759 -->
00:40:23.519Well, confidently is the word we like to use.
00:40:23.519 -->
00:40:25.440Yeah, you want to be confident.
00:40:25.440 -->
00:40:27.759Yeah, that's a that's a dangerous thing in your hand.
00:40:27.759 -->
00:40:30.880It's gotta be you know used carefully.
00:40:30.880 -->
00:40:31.360Yeah.
00:40:31.360 -->
00:40:33.039If you have to use it.
00:40:33.279 -->
00:40:33.599Yeah.
00:40:33.679 -->
00:40:35.360So anyway, that's that was the story.
00:40:35.360 -->
00:40:36.480It's a true story.
00:40:36.480 -->
00:40:41.920You know, it's this all came from my wife, and she felt quite strongly about it.
00:40:42.239 -->
00:40:42.719Yeah.
00:40:42.719 -->
00:40:48.639But what I also really love is that you're applying the principles of other, you know, other businesses to this.
00:40:48.639 -->
00:40:52.239You know, one of the, and I think this is actually it's one of those things.
00:40:52.239 -->
00:40:56.079If you you don't need to reinvent the wheel, you just need to make a better wheel.
00:40:56.319 -->
00:41:00.239Yeah, well, I'm not I don't know if I'm that arrogant to think I hope I hope that I am.
00:41:00.239 -->
00:41:03.199It's hard to do, but hopefully that's what we're striving to do.
00:41:03.519 -->
00:41:05.279Yeah, no, I think it's actually really right.
00:41:05.279 -->
00:41:11.599So, do you, you know, when you're thinking about this, I mean you're is it gonna start nationally?
00:41:11.599 -->
00:41:14.559Are you just starting locally in California?
00:41:14.960 -->
00:41:15.759Yeah, good question.
00:41:15.759 -->
00:41:28.960So we're starting in just some western states, it'll roll out over the next year to all 50 states, but right now we're primarily just in western states like Utah and Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona.
00:41:28.960 -->
00:41:33.440So we're just kind of we're to where we are geographically.
00:41:33.440 -->
00:41:36.799That's kind of a jurisdiction that we know because it's very complicated too.
00:41:36.799 -->
00:41:38.480Every state has different laws.
00:41:38.480 -->
00:41:43.119So we had to then build the software in conjunction with a software that already existed.
00:41:43.119 -->
00:41:49.360So when you put in your zip code, we'll only sell you a gun that's compliant in the jurisdiction that you live.
00:41:49.360 -->
00:41:52.000That took a lot of time and effort to figure that out.
00:41:52.000 -->
00:41:57.759Because in California, for instance, you can only buy certain guns that are on what's called the California roster.
00:41:57.759 -->
00:42:03.599And often people go to these gun sites and they they check out and then they realize the then, oh, uh, we can't ship this to you, you got to pick it up here.
00:42:03.599 -->
00:42:08.159And like, that's not where I live because you live in a state that the gun's not compliant in.
00:42:08.159 -->
00:42:11.279I mean, it's all sorts of complexities in this business.
00:42:11.279 -->
00:42:13.759So that's been keeping me busy for about a year and a half now.
00:42:13.759 -->
00:42:16.319We're finally launching, but man, has it been hard.
00:42:16.719 -->
00:42:22.079Oh, I can't, I can only imagine because now when you said that, it's like there are you know, yeah, every state is different.
00:42:22.079 -->
00:42:25.519Every state has a different, you know, rule.
00:42:25.519 -->
00:42:29.039I mean, when it comes to to those things.
00:42:29.039 -->
00:42:32.480So starting, you know, on the western side.
00:42:32.480 -->
00:42:44.960And so, you know, if you're thinking about, you know, five years, is there something that you kind of like think like, you know, that you hope that it helps do X, Y, and Z?
00:42:45.440 -->
00:42:46.159Absolutely.
00:42:46.159 -->
00:42:55.039I think that there's uh and particularly in in blue states, a big segment of the population that is not being treated fairly.
00:42:55.039 -->
00:42:56.639This is a little bit political.
00:42:56.639 -->
00:42:58.239I'm gonna go there anyway with you.
00:42:58.480 -->
00:42:58.719Okay.
00:42:58.960 -->
00:43:02.799They don't live in gated neighborhoods, they don't have private security.
00:43:02.799 -->
00:43:08.559Maybe you're a single mother with a couple of kids and you live in an apartment in a lower income neighborhood.
00:43:08.559 -->
00:43:12.799It's a neighborhood that's very slow police response time.
00:43:12.799 -->
00:43:20.480And maybe your ex-boyfriend or husband has a restraining order out against him, but he continues to threaten this person.
00:43:20.480 -->
00:43:26.639Those people have a tough time getting guns like anybody else, if for all the reasons that I've mentioned.
00:43:26.639 -->
00:43:33.119And I feel they deserve to be able to have their gun to protect themselves and their family.
00:43:33.119 -->
00:43:39.039And right now it's not easy in a lot of blue states, in particular, for that individual to feel safe.
00:43:39.039 -->
00:43:40.719And that doesn't sit well with me.
00:43:40.719 -->
00:43:43.759That's really driving a lot of why I did this.
00:43:43.759 -->
00:43:50.079Because I was my eyes were opened up to this from people I've met from different parts of Southern California who gave me these examples.
00:43:50.079 -->
00:43:53.119And I met lots of people who were in that unfortunate circumstance.
00:43:53.119 -->
00:43:57.119And like, I can't even, I don't know how to go to a gun store and get a gun, I don't know what to buy.
00:43:57.119 -->
00:44:03.759And I just want someone to just make it simple for me so I can just click on it and get education and have my gun so I can have peace of mind to defend my family.
00:44:03.759 -->
00:44:08.079Because I've got all these other circumstances that make me feel unsafe.
00:44:08.079 -->
00:44:13.360And then I get clapped back at you know, some of the very wealthy elites in Los Angeles.
00:44:13.360 -->
00:44:19.199I'm not gonna pick on anyone here, but people who are more liberal who live in a five million dollar house in the gated.
00:44:19.199 -->
00:44:24.960Neighborhood who tell me no one should, you're just making gun ownership, you know, available to more and more people.
00:44:24.960 -->
00:44:28.000That the last thing we need is more guns in this country and this society.
00:44:28.000 -->
00:44:29.839I'm like, okay, that's easy for you to say.
00:44:29.839 -->
00:44:30.719Where do you live?
00:44:30.719 -->
00:44:31.920Like great for you that you're there.
00:44:31.920 -->
00:44:33.839Maybe you earned that money, I'm happy for you.
00:44:33.839 -->
00:44:37.039But a lot of people don't have that luxury, and the police aren't going to get there.
00:44:37.039 -->
00:44:41.839And all of the aforementioned that they live under that constant fear.
00:44:41.839 -->
00:44:49.440And I never knew this until my partner in this business, who comes from a very different background than me and grew up in a different way, took me to the neighborhood.
00:44:49.440 -->
00:44:55.759I've met dozens and dozens and dozens of people, a lot of women, a lot of people of color who are just living in fear all the time.
00:44:55.759 -->
00:44:58.480The police really honestly aren't there to help them.
00:44:58.480 -->
00:45:01.039And it's hard for them to navigate this process.
00:45:01.039 -->
00:45:05.519And so they just want to be able to exercise their rights under the Second Amendment to defend themselves.
00:45:05.519 -->
00:45:08.319I think that's pure pure pure pretty noble.
00:45:08.319 -->
00:45:13.279And if I can make that easier for these people, then that's really my goal.
00:45:13.679 -->
00:45:30.000You know, I I I totally love it because I feel like it's just gonna make in some ways, if it can help, if it can help make somebody feel that they can put their head down at night and worry about one less thing, that's something beautiful.
00:45:30.000 -->
00:45:39.519And if you can and it's in some ways that's if you can make it so that you know somebody also protects themselves from somebody in their family so they don't get hurt.
00:45:40.159 -->
00:45:42.159Can I confide something in you and your viewers?
00:45:42.159 -->
00:45:46.079I'm gonna make I'll tell you something that's quite personal about my family.
00:45:46.079 -->
00:45:54.639One of the other reasons I did this is there, my my wife is the landmark case in Los Angeles County for felony stalking.
00:45:54.639 -->
00:46:02.799Oh which means she was the first case that the DA actually prosecuted and got a criminal conviction as a felony for stalking.
00:46:02.799 -->
00:46:05.199This was back a long, quite a long time ago in the 90s.
00:46:05.199 -->
00:46:07.839So up until that point, it was just a misdemeanor.
00:46:07.839 -->
00:46:12.000So she was stalked by her ex, and he threatened to kill her numerous times.
00:46:12.000 -->
00:46:20.400And he was physically, I don't want to say too much because this is personal to my wife, and I don't want to betray her confidence here, but that has been a big motivation for me.
00:46:20.400 -->
00:46:27.920I abhor violence towards anyone who doesn't deserve it, particularly violence against women, which I absolutely have no patience for.
00:46:27.920 -->
00:46:31.360And she's told me many times how she couldn't even sleep at night.
00:46:31.360 -->
00:46:40.000She had to go sleep at friends' house for months because he was out there and he would drive by or he would throw something in the window and he snuck under her balcony, threatening to kill her.
00:46:40.000 -->
00:46:41.199She didn't know how to defend herself.
00:46:41.199 -->
00:46:43.440She's never had a gun, doesn't own a gun.
00:46:43.440 -->
00:46:45.440Put yourself in her shoes.
00:46:45.440 -->
00:46:46.559I can't think of that.
00:46:46.559 -->
00:46:47.440I've always had a gun.
00:46:47.440 -->
00:46:48.559I want to know how to use a gun.
00:46:48.559 -->
00:46:49.599I'm safe with my gun.
00:46:49.599 -->
00:46:51.440Uh no one, no one's ever messed with me.
00:46:51.440 -->
00:46:53.199I've never had any problems in life.
00:46:53.199 -->
00:46:58.639But a lot of people don't have that luxury for, and so that hit really close to home when I met her.
00:46:58.639 -->
00:47:03.119And I was really on the tail end when all this happened, but it really I saw the fear in her eye.
00:47:03.119 -->
00:47:04.079I'm like, wow.
00:47:04.079 -->
00:47:07.599And I didn't realize back then, that was 15 years ago, that this is what I'd be doing now.
00:47:07.599 -->
00:47:09.199I never would have dreamt it.
00:47:09.199 -->
00:47:16.480But now it feels good because I don't want you or anyone like you to ever be fearful of someone who's threatening you and you can't defend yourselves.
00:47:16.480 -->
00:47:25.759And she would say many times, I would call the police, they wouldn't come because oh great, another boyfriend, a stalking, ha ha, that big effing deal.
00:47:25.759 -->
00:47:27.199They wouldn't even come.
00:47:27.199 -->
00:47:28.639Who is she gonna turn to?
00:47:28.639 -->
00:47:29.839Who's gonna protect her?
00:47:29.839 -->
00:47:30.799Only herself.
00:47:30.799 -->
00:47:31.679Only herself.
00:47:31.679 -->
00:47:32.880There you go.
00:47:33.279 -->
00:47:33.839Wow.
00:47:33.839 -->
00:47:52.719Yeah, well, like I love what you're doing because I think it's absolutely I think it's I think it's absolutely amazing because it has such it also because it comes from a place of such heart and the place that can help so many, so many women and so many people, well, male and female, because there's you know, people on both sides, you know.
00:47:52.960 -->
00:48:03.199But let's face it, 90 it's between 95 and 98 percent of all violence is committed by men in America.
00:48:03.199 -->
00:48:05.360It's a huge number.
00:48:05.360 -->
00:48:06.159It just is.
00:48:06.159 -->
00:48:07.920I don't know what to say, but I'm a man.
00:48:07.920 -->
00:48:13.679I don't, I'm not one of those 97 or 8% of men who commit violent acts.
00:48:13.679 -->
00:48:17.279But if you're a woman, you're you have reason to be scared a lot.
00:48:17.279 -->
00:48:25.759It's just I live my I have a daughter, I know lots of women friends who have had issues in Los Angeles of being assaulted or being stalked or all sorts of very bad things.
00:48:25.759 -->
00:48:28.960I feel sometimes I'm just a protector of women for whatever crazy reason.
00:48:28.960 -->
00:48:30.880I just really bothers me.
00:48:30.880 -->
00:48:33.759So anyway, I don't want to hijack the podcast over this issue.
00:48:33.920 -->
00:48:39.679But but no, but I but it there's a lot about that.
00:48:39.679 -->
00:48:44.960I mean, about I mean, there's so many societal things about where we are with the police and all that stuff.
00:48:44.960 -->
00:48:57.279But it's true, is that you know, yes, we can, you know, I'm all for being able to, you know, find ways to defend yourself so that you don't have to, it's like I need a man for.
00:48:57.279 -->
00:49:00.400No, you need to be able to take care of yourself.
00:49:00.400 -->
00:49:01.920And I've always been that way.
00:49:01.920 -->
00:49:10.880Like as a female, you know, it's like earn my own money, earn your own money, be able to take care of yourself, don't have to rely on somebody else.
00:49:10.880 -->
00:49:33.279And that's where that's where what you're doing adds to that, so that you know, take, you know, go get one of the guns, get yourself comfortable, make sure that you feel good behind behind the gun, and do the things that you need to do to be able to defend yourself and take care of yourself and your family.
00:49:33.279 -->
00:49:37.119So, you know, and that means a lot to me.
00:49:37.119 -->
00:49:39.519That means, you know, I I think it's really important.
00:49:39.759 -->
00:49:40.079Thank you.
00:49:40.719 -->
00:49:41.119Important.
00:49:41.119 -->
00:49:42.480So, Michael, all right.
00:49:42.480 -->
00:49:49.119So, I where can people connect with you to see and learn about you and also this great website?
00:49:49.519 -->
00:49:54.079Well, I mean, www.american gunowners.com is simple.
00:49:54.079 -->
00:50:01.039That's that's the company, and you can we have social media as well, Gun Owner American Gunner's on Instagram and and Facebook.
00:50:01.039 -->
00:50:08.079And I actually have a podcast as well called Lock Load and Listen, which I've done in about seven episodes.
00:50:08.079 -->
00:50:11.759It's gonna be rebranded actually next month, but right now that's what it's called.
00:50:11.759 -->
00:50:16.319So you can you can see some of my conversations with various people there, lockloadandlisten.com.
00:50:16.559 -->
00:50:16.719Okay.
00:50:16.960 -->
00:50:21.039Other than that, my venture firm is Digi Ventures, Digiventures.
00:50:21.039 -->
00:50:22.719That's a website too.
00:50:23.039 -->
00:50:25.119All right, so I will put all of those in the show notes.
00:50:25.119 -->
00:50:29.599Listeners, please do me a favor, connect, please connect with Michael.
00:50:29.599 -->
00:50:37.199Go to the website, share this, please share this episode with your friends, your family, because it's a very, very it's very important.
00:50:37.199 -->
00:50:42.159There's been great insights, but what Michael is doing is also incredibly, incredibly important.
00:50:42.159 -->
00:50:44.799So please share this episode with your friends and family.
00:50:44.799 -->
00:50:50.319And if you haven't subscribed on your local, you know, your podcast app, or you know, please make sure you subscribe.
00:50:50.319 -->
00:50:55.199And lastly, listeners, please do me the favor and become a supporter of the show.
00:50:55.199 -->
00:51:12.079For $3 a month, it actually helps us do provide great people onto the show, but also you get select special information emails that will give you more background information and special content just for being a subscriber.
00:51:12.079 -->
00:51:13.199So please make sure you go do that.
00:51:13.199 -->
00:51:15.039And that link is in the show notes as well.
00:51:15.039 -->
00:51:17.759So thank you, Michael, for being an amazing guest.
00:51:17.759 -->
00:51:20.159This has been good to have you on again.
00:51:20.400 -->
00:51:20.719Thank you.
00:51:20.719 -->
00:51:22.000Jaclyn, that was so much fun.
00:51:22.000 -->
00:51:22.960Thank you for having me.
00:51:23.279 -->
00:51:24.000It's such a pleasure.
00:51:24.000 -->
00:51:29.440And listeners, this is the Unstoppable Success Podcast where we help you leap to your greatest success.
00:51:35.839 -->
00:51:38.559Here's to your unstoppable success.
00:51:39.039 -->
00:51:43.519You've been listening to the Unstoppable Success podcast with Jaclyn Strawinger.
00:51:43.519 -->
00:51:48.639Subscribe, share, and keep building your unstoppable life.
00:51:48.639 -->
00:51:50.639We'll see you at the top.
