How Collars & Co. Went from Side Hustle to Shark Tank Success

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Looks amazing. Am I bangs? I'm happy today. Hi,

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everyone. Welcome. Welcome. We've got another

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brave soul. I was just telling Justin, Justin

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beer, by the way, B -A -E -R, but pronounce it

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like that beer that could be in your backyard.

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So double check before you take out your garbage.

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That was my PSA for the day. So I'm really excited.

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Justin, you're here. I always start saying you're

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brave, bold. your hands up, so I'll have to add

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the H in there. And I have no idea who you are,

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which is so exciting to me. So I see collars

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and company, so I'm like, ooh, is this pet related?

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But maybe it's, I hope it's not, you know, like

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choke collar. You introduce yourself and let

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me know. Yeah, hopefully you will be easier on

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me than the sharks and shark tank were. Oh, you

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are the shark tank. I can't wait to hear that

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story. Yeah, so I'm the founder of Collars &

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Co. We are an innovative menswear brand. Our

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hero product, which is what we went on shark

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tank for, was our polo shirts. It's our polo

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shirts with really firm collars. So these collars

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sit up. And the initial idea was wearing them

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under a sweater, because I hated that feeling

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of wearing a long -sleeved dress shirt under

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a sweater. The sleeves get pulled up. pulling

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them down, just doesn't feel as good. So basically

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we made a polo shirt, but put like a really firm

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collar on it. These are our dress collar polos.

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And that's kind of what went viral and started

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this whole idea from one white shirt to we're

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in the full menswear brand. So we have performance

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dress shirts now, we have performance blazers,

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make an array of polo shirts. We have, I think,

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300 different skews, you know, 20 ,000 square

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foot warehouse here. So it just kind of went

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crazy from a silly idea that everyone thought

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was kind of - Not a silly idea. So first of all,

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I don't know if you know, but I grew up in the

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promotional products logo merchandise industry.

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The MAS stands for Masters of Advertising Specialty,

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which is 2 % of the logo merchandise industry.

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Are you in our industry? Yes, we are. We're one

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of the vendors there. And we have embroidery

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in -house now, so we can embroider polos. pullovers,

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sweaters, quarter zips, the works. Oh my God,

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distributors, are you listening? So I have, you

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know, even when I started with LinkedIn over

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20 years ago, I made sure as a distributor, my

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parents started a large distributorship, which

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is still alive and doing very well run by my

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brother, Jerry Barker Specialty Company. Not

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sure if you know Barker, Barker Specialty, but

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you're welcome to reach out and talk to them

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about your collars. That was always the thing

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when we were showing like, you know, when you're

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showing a golf shirt. good, better, best, right?

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And what would make a better or a best? It was

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always the colors. I love this. Are you in the

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companies like Samar or Alpha, any of those larger

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warehouse? We're not. We have a few other that

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maybe some of the smaller, I don't know what

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you call them, suppliers or distributors. I know

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in your, in your industries, wholesalers, wholesalers.

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But we sell direct right to brands and we'll

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also sell to wholesalers. But we're not in San

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Mar or the other ones. But I think having one

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of our shirts, it has a premium quality to it.

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We're a little bit less money than you would

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say like a Peter Millar shirt, but give that

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same quality. And the thing is, is we've got

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a million dollars a month of advertising going

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on right now, whether that's podcasts, digital.

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So people have heard about it and they're kind

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of curious, what does this kind of firm collar

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thing do? And the benefit of it is... it has

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multi -use. So you can wear it to play golf,

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you can wear it to go out to dinner, you can

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throw a sport card over it, you can put a sweater

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over it and it acts like a dress shirt. So it's

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kind of like a fun product versus just your other

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run -of -the -mill floppy collar polo. You really

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can't. So when you're selling a golf shirt, oftentimes

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I can tell with the stitching if it's going to

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be something that holds up and usually in the

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description it will say no curl collar. But still,

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a lot of the ones that are very inexpensive,

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almost like a t -shirt with a collar. Yeah. You

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know, the gildans that are not that great. But

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I always wonder, like, why spend the money when

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you get, for a few dollars more, get something

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that'll be worn that won't, that will reflect

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your brand. At the end of the day, it's all about

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brand integrity, right? I love this. You had

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no idea I was in the logo merchandise industry,

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did you? No. And ASI, You know, love ASI, Norm

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Cohen. Every time I see him, I cry. He reminds

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me of my father, an amazing man. So were you

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at ASI last January? We weren't. I think we're

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going to go. There's a show in July that we possibly

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are going to go to. And then we'll probably go

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to PPAI in Vegas. I think it's what, next year?

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Yes, yes, yes. So I was a PPAI for the last couple,

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I mean, I've gone my whole life, but I do some

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work with Organic Tea Star, a very organic, out

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of Bulgaria, European company, sustainability.

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But it sounds like you're thinking of going to

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the PPAF show, which will be amazing in July.

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I may see you there. Maybe I'll go to the ASI

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show, too. I love that. So Tim Andrews, I'm going

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to tag you because it's a cool conversation.

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And Tim is a great guy. If you don't know him,

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he's the president of ASI. And just everyone

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there is incredible. So OK, so I understand why

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you started it because you saw a need and then

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you you you saw the problem and you came up with

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a solution. Yes. And is it. a secret formula

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to make the collars is like, is the solution

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like something that is it patented? Like what

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is that? Yeah, we're patent pending on the collar.

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So it's actually different parts from the different

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places of the world. But yeah, it has an insert.

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People are like, oh, my God, it's really firm.

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So it it has an insert into the collar that that

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keeps it pretty firm, even after washing, of

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course. So we've obviously tested that. And,

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you know, the shirt's gotten so much better since

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when we started about four years ago. But yeah,

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we always say, you can wash it, washing machine,

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we say gentle wash, hang dry, good to go. But

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yeah, that's what put us on the map. I love it

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and all the styles. So very, very exciting. Wow.

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If you have any questions on the industry, please

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let me know. I'm here to help because I do have

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over 35 years. It's actually 40, but okay, ageism

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is a real thing. So I have to, a lot of us feel

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awkward if we say over 35, but I love this, Justin.

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This is just making me so happy today. All right,

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so you're doing the rounds, getting the marketing

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out, and how is that going? Tell us a little

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bit how you're spending the million dollars.

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A month, you said? Yeah, a month. You know, it

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started with, you know, we're mostly digital.

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We're in podcasts, a little bit of television,

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but mostly Instagram, Facebook ads. And, you

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know, getting out there, we do catalog, kind

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of you name it, we're doing it. And, you know,

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so far, really building a following. We've sold

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over one million shirts so far. So that we just

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crossed that back in December. So, yeah, we're

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excited. I mean, working my tail off, that's

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for sure. You know, people are asking, because

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this was like a side hustle concept that I was

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doing during COVID. I was like, you know, I always

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itching to do this idea. Let me see what happens.

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are you doing that full t it was full time. It's

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mo time. It's double time. Oh want to hear more

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about t the shark tank. I'm really if you're

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just joining bear from collars and co. exciting.

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It's the collar right now on his collar a fun

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talking about the pr but you got a chance. So

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w tell us everything. Don't Everything. Food

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in the green room. Just tell us all. Right. Well,

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I guess kind of behind the scenes with people

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don't realize one. Well, when I came up with

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the idea, people were always like, oh, you should

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go on Shark Tank. Like you've probably said it.

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We've all said it to some people with come up

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with a crazy idea. And I was like, you know,

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I'm never really going to make it on that show.

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Like, what are the odds to get on there? I was

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like, you know what? I think I probably have

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to know somebody to get on. Like, maybe I can

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find a producer's name and know somebody at Sony

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or wherever. And I couldn't find anybody. So

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it was late at night one night. I was like, you

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know, I have nothing to lose. Kids are sleeping.

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I'll just go to abc .com just like other 50 ,000

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people and fill out the form online. And that's

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what I did. And three weeks later, they called

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them. And now when they call, they're like, you

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made it on the show. And really, you just made

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it to the next round of like 10 interviews that

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are that are that go on and they can cut you

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at any time. And then even when you go to shoot

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that day, you could shoot the show and film it.

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and they may not air it, in which case it happened

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to 50 % of the people in the day that I went

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to shoot. So there's always that nervousness,

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and you just put all this work in for the full

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year, and it's a godly amount of paperwork that

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needs to happen. But we thankfully filmed the

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show. We got two sharks, Mark Cuban and Peter

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Jones, as investors, and they aired the show,

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which was really exciting. And then we actually

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close the deal. And also, people don't realize,

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I think only 30 % of deals actually end up closing.

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Because for whatever reason, the charts do their

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own due diligence, the entrepreneur could be

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lying. Who knows? There's a million reasons why

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the deals don't go through. Our deal went through,

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and Mark and Peter have been great, super nice

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guys, very helpful when needed. And I mean, it's

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insane. Mark, well, I could text him. He'll text

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back. You guys are so busy. So it's pretty cool.

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And yeah, we're just grinding over here, building

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the next great American brand. Oh my god, I'm

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so excited. Who else was in the room? Let's see.

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Damon was in, Kevin, Mark, Laurie. And then Peter

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Jones was like the guest shark that day. Yes.

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Oh my God. You know, years ago, I think maybe

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like eight, nine years ago, I was at PPAI and

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Damon was there with one of the brands that came

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into the promotional products industry. That

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was fun. And I had an opportunity to speak to

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him because my father at the time, but we still

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have the art galleries. And my dad had wanted

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to see to talk to him about certain artwork that

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we had and that we, you know, that we could sell

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for him. And Damon seemed interested. And then

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I think lost my business card, never called me

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back. I was really annoyed, but I'm so excited

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for you. All right. So when you went into the

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shark tank, you had enough equity available,

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right? Is that like one of the biggest things

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where people kind of have watered down their

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equity and then it's harder for them to make

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a deal? Yeah. For me, we've never taken outside

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investment at all. So I fought pretty hard. It

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was a really fun episode. They've aired it a

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bunch of times, which has been great. And they

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actually did a an update on us. So you know,

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they're like, last time on Shark Tank. So they

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did one on us. Actually, I ended up shooting

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the show myself. It was really interesting. During

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COVID, the update happened and they would usually

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send out a film crew. Well, now what they did

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is, well, we don't want to have to send out a

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film crew. We're just going to send you this

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box of gear. So they literally sent a box of

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gear and we remotely shot it with the producer

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on Zoom, like you're doing now saying, oh, can

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you move the camera a little to the left and

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to the right? and asked me the questions, and

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we shot the update. So if you guys see the update

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on air, I actually shot that with my own phone,

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and it was good enough to air. Oh, my gosh. You

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know I'm going to be posting those YouTube videos.

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Amazing. Just Google Collars and Co. update,

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or Collars and Co. with Shark Tank update. It'll

00:11:43.139 --> 00:11:46.759
be on there. I'm just so impressed. OK, let's

00:11:46.759 --> 00:11:50.120
go back to business. So now, the embroidery machines

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that you have. Tell us what you have. Um, so

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we, they're not actually in our warehouse. Um,

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I don't honestly, I couldn't even tell you the

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names of, I mean, you have like, like four heads,

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eight heads, you have enough to do. There's a

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lot. Yeah. I mean, we are doing three, 400 shirts.

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I mean, a good amount of embroidery merchandise.

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Um, and we also have college licenses. So I think

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we have about 27, 28 licenses now. And, um, yeah,

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so we're. We are actually also, we are the official

00:12:23.629 --> 00:12:26.230
performance dress shirt of the Aero McLaren Indy

00:12:26.230 --> 00:12:28.789
car team as well. So we're doing local merchandise

00:12:28.789 --> 00:12:31.169
for them. So if anybody needs local merchandise,

00:12:31.350 --> 00:12:33.509
we have somebody here that's solely works on

00:12:33.509 --> 00:12:37.230
it. So email us Jordan at collars and code .com.

00:12:37.389 --> 00:12:39.929
That's his name. Jordan. Okay. And so is that

00:12:39.929 --> 00:12:43.909
a NASCAR driver? Was that? Oh, Indy card. Okay.

00:12:44.269 --> 00:12:47.220
Yeah. It's the McLaren Indy car team. the Indy

00:12:47.220 --> 00:12:50.220
car team. Okay. So they are like sponsoring.

00:12:51.179 --> 00:12:53.779
We are the performance dress shirt of that team.

00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:57.100
So that's our we have officially licensed merchant

00:12:57.100 --> 00:13:00.120
merch from them that they can find on. I mean

00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:01.980
we have regular polos but now we've got a full

00:13:01.980 --> 00:13:04.940
line. We've got this very cool like Italian looking

00:13:04.940 --> 00:13:09.240
line where it's a merino wool polo and some other

00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:15.000
cool stuff that you can do with it. when it comes

00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:22.220
to golf sho 100 % cotton? Is it the 50 no pull,

00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:28.139
no, no stag. L I mean for us, it's our it's our

00:13:28.139 --> 00:13:32.460
original. We hav collar styles. So this is popular.

00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:38.779
It's our semi s but we've got some really cool

00:13:38.779 --> 00:13:40.820
patterns, but you know, white, navy, black, I

00:13:40.820 --> 00:13:42.740
guess in your world, in the promotions world,

00:13:43.299 --> 00:13:45.019
does great, but we've got some really neat patterns

00:13:45.019 --> 00:13:48.399
as well. But yeah. What about for women? What

00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:51.100
about women? We have women's also. So we do a

00:13:51.100 --> 00:13:54.340
cap sleeve and a full, more of a longer sleeve.

00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:56.360
Oh, wait, wait. We have sleeveless and cap sleeve.

00:13:56.899 --> 00:13:59.059
Oh, and then the collar. I think that was really

00:13:59.059 --> 00:14:01.360
pretty. Oh, it's really firm too. Yeah. Yeah.

00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:03.980
Women are still wearing it with a sweater instead

00:14:03.980 --> 00:14:05.919
of wearing like a blouse under a, you know, you

00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:09.110
kind of seeing a more chunky v -neck sweater

00:14:09.110 --> 00:14:11.710
that you would see, and instead of wearing a

00:14:11.710 --> 00:14:14.750
long sleeve dress shirt under it, ladies can

00:14:14.750 --> 00:14:17.990
wear just a comfortable polo. This is like six

00:14:17.990 --> 00:14:22.950
-way stretch, super lightweight, with the collar

00:14:22.950 --> 00:14:25.850
on it. Okay, so let's tell Justin, let's tell

00:14:25.850 --> 00:14:32.549
the audience why. Why should I bother to actually

00:14:32.549 --> 00:14:36.740
have my employees We're a collared shirt. Well,

00:14:36.840 --> 00:14:38.500
you know, and nobody's going to want to buy my

00:14:38.500 --> 00:14:41.299
logo and have that. So why should I even put

00:14:41.299 --> 00:14:44.179
it in my company store program? And why should

00:14:44.179 --> 00:14:47.120
I hand them out there? I don't hand out collared

00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:49.240
shirts. I hand out T -shirts like give us some

00:14:49.240 --> 00:14:51.720
answers to some of these questions that you hear

00:14:51.720 --> 00:14:55.059
and some of the Debbie Downers. Well, I think

00:14:55.059 --> 00:14:58.759
what you said earlier, like your brand is everything

00:14:58.759 --> 00:15:01.399
right. And everything you do and everything you

00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:03.799
touch, whether it's our images, whether it's

00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:05.889
the giveaways you do, whether it's the kind of

00:15:05.889 --> 00:15:09.769
pens you do, all represent your brand. And if

00:15:09.769 --> 00:15:14.029
you would think about, let's say, we could use

00:15:14.029 --> 00:15:16.070
any brand. I was saying Ralph Lauren or Gucci

00:15:16.070 --> 00:15:18.590
or Louis Vuitton. What kind of pens do you think

00:15:18.590 --> 00:15:20.610
Louis Vuitton has at their store? I can tell

00:15:20.610 --> 00:15:23.830
you they're not the cheapest 10 cent pens. They're

00:15:23.830 --> 00:15:27.889
probably pretty nice. Or if you go to a nice

00:15:27.889 --> 00:15:32.960
hotel wherever around the world, The pens are

00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:35.620
nice. So it's a reflection. It doesn't really

00:15:35.620 --> 00:15:38.980
cost that much more to get an upgraded item when

00:15:38.980 --> 00:15:41.700
you're talking about a premium. So it's a reflection

00:15:41.700 --> 00:15:45.559
of your brand. Now, if you're a junky, cheap

00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:47.440
carpet cleaning place, maybe you have junky and

00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:51.100
cheap pens or junky and cheap polos. But if you

00:15:51.100 --> 00:15:52.940
want your people to look a little nicer and look

00:15:52.940 --> 00:15:56.039
a little more put together and have a fun gift

00:15:56.039 --> 00:15:58.159
to talk about. When it comes to our shirts, it's

00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:00.519
not just a polo shirt. People have seen it online.

00:16:01.220 --> 00:16:05.679
It's as seen on TV in a way. It has that versatility

00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:08.179
of being able to wear it with a blazer, under

00:16:08.179 --> 00:16:10.940
a sweater, by itself. So it's fun. It's definitely

00:16:10.940 --> 00:16:13.019
a fun gift. It does more than just a regular

00:16:13.019 --> 00:16:17.860
golf shirt. Golf shirts are kind of like towels,

00:16:17.980 --> 00:16:20.340
right? You know what's in your closet. You know

00:16:20.340 --> 00:16:22.620
what the logos are. You know when you like to

00:16:22.620 --> 00:16:25.320
wear. A lot of people collect them. You know,

00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:27.539
golf shirts and they have them. They all lined

00:16:27.539 --> 00:16:30.279
up nicely. So I love it. So nobody would really

00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:33.980
throw away your collared shirt unless they, whatever,

00:16:34.299 --> 00:16:35.759
spilled something horrible and they couldn't

00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:37.899
get the stain out. I love this. How much did

00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:39.919
you know about the promotional products industry

00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:45.389
before you got into this? Nothing at all. So

00:16:45.389 --> 00:16:48.490
yeah, we're learning it and it's really because

00:16:48.490 --> 00:16:50.850
people have reached out to us That's how we kind

00:16:50.850 --> 00:16:52.909
of initially stepped into it is people is that

00:16:52.909 --> 00:16:55.990
hey, we love your shirts I that you know, the

00:16:55.990 --> 00:16:58.429
CEO might have 15 of our shirts is as a I want

00:16:58.429 --> 00:17:00.889
my company to have all these shirts so that's

00:17:00.889 --> 00:17:02.649
kind of how it started and you know, we're learning

00:17:02.649 --> 00:17:05.789
and Trying to get reps and you know, you name

00:17:05.789 --> 00:17:08.660
it. We're working on it Oh yeah, that's not so

00:17:08.660 --> 00:17:11.880
easy to get reps in the industry. We don't have

00:17:11.880 --> 00:17:14.240
a ton of multi -line reps out there that are

00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:17.700
not already repping a line. Yeah. Or wanting

00:17:17.700 --> 00:17:20.759
like, you know, just... Whatever. I know I've

00:17:20.759 --> 00:17:24.220
done my research before. I totally, I totally

00:17:24.220 --> 00:17:27.640
get it. I've been a strategic brand coach and

00:17:27.640 --> 00:17:29.940
consultant in the industry for about 10 years.

00:17:29.980 --> 00:17:32.460
Once I stepped away from it, I lost my mojo selling,

00:17:32.460 --> 00:17:35.119
but this would get me hyped up. Like to be able

00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:37.839
to sell something like this is really cool. I

00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:39.640
think it's fantastic. It has a, you know, has

00:17:39.640 --> 00:17:41.839
a shark tank or around it and people are always

00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:45.819
curious. So it's been fun. Have you met, um,

00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:48.960
wait, what's his name from Oregon? Now he's with.

00:17:49.429 --> 00:17:55.009
Oh my God, Jason, I'll have to introduce you,

00:17:55.029 --> 00:17:58.289
if you don't know, from Rupt, R -U -P -T. I don't

00:17:58.289 --> 00:18:01.910
know. Okay, he was the one, he did a, like his

00:18:01.910 --> 00:18:03.930
first one, the first time he was on Shark Tank,

00:18:04.190 --> 00:18:06.450
he had this like piece that he put on a pizza

00:18:06.450 --> 00:18:11.009
box and that became a speaker. And then he developed

00:18:11.009 --> 00:18:13.210
Oreg Audio. He's really killing it at the industry,

00:18:13.269 --> 00:18:15.509
but it'd be nice for the two of you to meet to

00:18:15.509 --> 00:18:17.599
talk about it. I don't think, I don't know how

00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:19.460
many other, I think there's a couple of other

00:18:19.460 --> 00:18:21.420
ones that have been on the shark tank that have

00:18:21.420 --> 00:18:23.339
been there. Hopefully maybe Mark can come, that

00:18:23.339 --> 00:18:26.859
would be amazing. Also to get him to speak at

00:18:26.859 --> 00:18:30.640
PPAS. Well, you can just email him. Yeah. I'll

00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:33.069
tell you, yes or no. It would be nice. It would

00:18:33.069 --> 00:18:35.450
be nice on you. And then also, there's a pitch

00:18:35.450 --> 00:18:38.789
contest that's really, really cool at PPAI that

00:18:38.789 --> 00:18:40.690
I think you would do really well with. So I'm

00:18:40.690 --> 00:18:42.450
glad we're connected. I think there was a reason

00:18:42.450 --> 00:18:45.450
for it because you have someone now that really

00:18:45.450 --> 00:18:48.049
knows the industry, like the back of my hand,

00:18:48.049 --> 00:18:50.230
I always say. How many employees do you have?

00:18:50.930 --> 00:18:57.230
We have 20. And then we've got some, we've got

00:18:57.230 --> 00:18:59.759
an agency that we work with as well. Got it.

00:18:59.880 --> 00:19:02.380
May I ask where you're manufacturing the shirts?

00:19:03.140 --> 00:19:07.420
Manufacturing in Pakistan. Nice, OK. So the Pakistan

00:19:07.420 --> 00:19:10.579
Indian War is not helping us right now, but is

00:19:10.579 --> 00:19:12.799
that an issue right now? As far as that'll be,

00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:16.039
they actually closed flights yesterday. I mean,

00:19:16.039 --> 00:19:18.720
we are warehouses stocked, so almost everything

00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:21.759
we keep in, you know, in inventory. Just like

00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:24.619
one of the wholesalers would, but yeah, I heard

00:19:24.619 --> 00:19:28.599
that our UPS rep said that. Flights were stopped

00:19:28.599 --> 00:19:31.039
yesterday, but they're going to start again.

00:19:31.400 --> 00:19:33.519
I mean, hopefully everything comes down probably

00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:36.440
by the weekend. Yeah, I hope so, too. I hope

00:19:36.440 --> 00:19:38.200
so, too. But that's good. That's nice that it's

00:19:38.200 --> 00:19:41.579
coming from that region with so many people not

00:19:41.579 --> 00:19:45.039
liking another country and kind of putting their

00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:46.980
foot down. Do you think that these shirts could

00:19:46.980 --> 00:19:50.299
ever be made in the USA? It's interesting. I

00:19:50.299 --> 00:19:52.880
was on Fox Business last week, two weeks ago,

00:19:52.980 --> 00:19:55.069
to ask that same question. Of course, anything

00:19:55.069 --> 00:19:56.650
can be made in the USA. I mean, we make fighter

00:19:56.650 --> 00:20:00.490
jets, right? The question is, do we want to make

00:20:00.490 --> 00:20:02.369
shirts here? Do we want to make buttons? And

00:20:02.369 --> 00:20:05.329
do we want to make zippers? And the problem is,

00:20:05.349 --> 00:20:07.029
it would take at least a decade to even bring

00:20:07.029 --> 00:20:09.210
in the factory equipment, which would come from

00:20:09.210 --> 00:20:13.549
China, to even make this stuff, let alone set

00:20:13.549 --> 00:20:16.509
it all up. So could we do it? We could absolutely

00:20:16.509 --> 00:20:19.289
do it. If they made it in America, I would absolutely

00:20:19.289 --> 00:20:21.190
be making my shirts in America. I'd be the first

00:20:21.190 --> 00:20:23.650
in line to do it. But we just don't have the

00:20:23.650 --> 00:20:25.630
infrastructure. It's going to take decades. If

00:20:25.630 --> 00:20:27.869
you want to make shirt manufacturing here, I

00:20:27.869 --> 00:20:30.809
don't know if we do in America, but if we do,

00:20:30.809 --> 00:20:33.569
I'm sure you'd have to invest a lot of money.

00:20:33.670 --> 00:20:35.769
I think that we have a problem finding an investor

00:20:35.769 --> 00:20:38.950
to even create a factory here, because an investor

00:20:38.950 --> 00:20:41.230
would know, hey, in three years, a new administration

00:20:41.230 --> 00:20:43.789
comes in, makes everything free trade, and your

00:20:43.789 --> 00:20:47.269
factory is out of business. So I think it's a

00:20:47.269 --> 00:20:50.710
nice idea. And I think for certain items, we

00:20:50.710 --> 00:20:53.130
want to from a from a national security perspective,

00:20:53.250 --> 00:20:54.829
wanna make some stuff in the United States probably

00:20:54.829 --> 00:20:58.269
that isn't made here yet. But when it comes to

00:20:58.269 --> 00:21:03.049
buttons and zippers and shirts, it's gonna be

00:21:03.049 --> 00:21:04.690
a long road and probably pretty tough. You can

00:21:04.690 --> 00:21:06.210
find an investor to do it. But if you can, if

00:21:06.210 --> 00:21:08.190
they're out there, let me know. We'd love to

00:21:08.190 --> 00:21:09.910
make our stuff in America, absolutely. I love

00:21:09.910 --> 00:21:12.509
it. What about decorating besides embroidery?

00:21:12.730 --> 00:21:14.829
So if someone wanted a laser edge, if they wanted

00:21:14.829 --> 00:21:18.890
it screened, if they wanted... a patch, any of

00:21:18.890 --> 00:21:20.390
that you're able to do? Yeah, you can do that.

00:21:20.789 --> 00:21:23.069
Yep. And we make blazers also. We make this really

00:21:23.069 --> 00:21:25.730
cool performance blazer where you can crumple

00:21:25.730 --> 00:21:27.849
it up into a ball, pull it out. Looks amazing.

00:21:28.210 --> 00:21:30.109
It's got some built in pocket square. It's got

00:21:30.109 --> 00:21:34.109
eyeglass loops. It's got all kinds of cool passport

00:21:34.109 --> 00:21:36.269
photo. And that, because you mentioned patches,

00:21:37.009 --> 00:21:38.750
we've got some actually some golf clubs that

00:21:38.750 --> 00:21:42.609
are actually patching them. But they're really

00:21:42.609 --> 00:21:44.490
awesome. That's our Maverick blazer. If you go

00:21:44.490 --> 00:21:47.990
to collegeandco .com. Oh my gosh. You know, I'm

00:21:47.990 --> 00:21:50.589
just going to say this out loud here because

00:21:50.589 --> 00:21:53.029
you know, LinkedIn is amazing. I love LinkedIn

00:21:53.029 --> 00:21:56.009
and I have some clients in the industry suppliers

00:21:56.009 --> 00:21:58.690
doing reach out campaigns. I handle the reach

00:21:58.690 --> 00:22:03.049
out campaigns to distributors and it works. So

00:22:03.049 --> 00:22:05.029
if you ever thought of like, how can I do this?

00:22:05.210 --> 00:22:07.410
You got an insider that can help you. We love

00:22:07.410 --> 00:22:09.990
your help. I mean, yeah, we want to get distributors

00:22:09.990 --> 00:22:12.410
known about college and co. We think we. can

00:22:12.410 --> 00:22:15.109
go up against the Peter Millars of the world

00:22:15.109 --> 00:22:18.809
as far as quality goes. And our factories are

00:22:18.809 --> 00:22:22.430
just as great. But I think we offer something

00:22:22.430 --> 00:22:24.750
a little bit different. It's got a little more

00:22:24.750 --> 00:22:27.589
versatility, and the pricing's probably about,

00:22:28.150 --> 00:22:30.609
in some ways, going to be 40 % less than theirs.

00:22:31.670 --> 00:22:35.009
And it'll give your clients the same kind of

00:22:35.009 --> 00:22:38.420
prestigious aspirational shirt. Oh, I love it.

00:22:38.460 --> 00:22:40.859
I love it. I love it. I think that this is, it's

00:22:40.859 --> 00:22:42.599
really exciting to me because that was always

00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:44.339
the thing when I was selling a golf shirt. I'm

00:22:44.339 --> 00:22:47.319
like, no, the color is good. So I love that.

00:22:47.400 --> 00:22:49.480
Remember the old book, the, even the, um, wait,

00:22:49.480 --> 00:22:51.839
are you doing it to the, what do they call it?

00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:53.779
The, the, I'm going to say the men's shirt, the

00:22:53.779 --> 00:22:56.460
dress shirts. We have full, we have performance

00:22:56.460 --> 00:22:58.440
dress shirts. Yep. Full performance long sleeves

00:22:58.440 --> 00:23:02.000
as well. We have full shirts, long sleeves, sweaters,

00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:04.799
marina wool sweaters, cotton and cashmere sweaters,

00:23:05.019 --> 00:23:09.349
our quarter zips crush. we've got some dry release.

00:23:09.789 --> 00:23:12.289
So yeah, check us out. Do you remember when they

00:23:12.289 --> 00:23:13.690
had the little pieces? I can't remember they

00:23:13.690 --> 00:23:15.549
were called collar somethings and you would have

00:23:15.549 --> 00:23:17.410
to put them in your collar to keep your collar

00:23:17.410 --> 00:23:20.690
straight. Yep. Yes. We have like a built -in

00:23:20.690 --> 00:23:23.650
collar stay. This is pretty firm in here. It's

00:23:23.650 --> 00:23:26.269
amazing. It's pretty firm. So it doesn't require

00:23:26.269 --> 00:23:29.309
a collar stay. It's built in. But our dress shirts

00:23:29.309 --> 00:23:31.829
are reinforced, but we do have a spot for a collar

00:23:31.829 --> 00:23:33.329
stay just in case someone wants to put a metal

00:23:33.329 --> 00:23:37.039
one in there and maybe do a magnet. Yeah, they're

00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:40.059
they're they're amazing and interesting McLaren

00:23:40.059 --> 00:23:42.859
ones. That's Aaron McLaren ones. What about have

00:23:42.859 --> 00:23:44.380
you thought of doing? I want to say it right

00:23:44.380 --> 00:23:48.839
is at the end FID where where reads your phone.

00:23:48.859 --> 00:23:52.420
So if you're walking by so it could have information.

00:23:52.819 --> 00:23:55.180
Yeah, we've not thought of that, but that's interesting.

00:23:55.400 --> 00:23:57.359
I think it's an RFID RFID. Yeah, I don't know

00:23:57.359 --> 00:23:59.839
if anybody wants that in their shirt. Well, they

00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:01.859
do make them now where they have them so that

00:24:01.859 --> 00:24:04.180
you when you walk by it would like ping you and

00:24:04.180 --> 00:24:07.000
say hey Don't forget to watch, you know the Masters

00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:09.980
or however, it's program. That's cool Also, some

00:24:09.980 --> 00:24:12.440
shirts have tags that give you like from seed

00:24:12.440 --> 00:24:15.460
to table kind of like where that shirt has been

00:24:15.460 --> 00:24:18.559
Yeah, that looks like very very neat Well, this

00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:20.720
has been a really fun conversation because it's

00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:22.779
like right up my alley and I love doing this

00:24:22.779 --> 00:24:26.859
because I have no clue who's on, but I'm absolutely

00:24:26.859 --> 00:24:30.940
thrilled to meet you and I'll send you some more

00:24:30.940 --> 00:24:32.980
information about the LinkedIn so you can see

00:24:32.980 --> 00:24:37.579
how that works. Is there anything I should have

00:24:37.579 --> 00:24:40.339
asked you that I didn't ask you? No, that was

00:24:40.339 --> 00:24:44.839
it. Check it out. I love it. I love it. I love

00:24:44.839 --> 00:24:46.640
it. Justin, thank you so much. So we're live

00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:48.700
now. And then what's going to happen is I'm going

00:24:48.700 --> 00:24:51.059
to turn this into a podcast and then I'm going

00:24:51.059 --> 00:24:54.140
to tag you so you know that you are in and I'm

00:24:54.140 --> 00:24:56.599
glad you're doing other podcasts. That's great.

00:24:56.819 --> 00:24:59.900
Do some magazine articles, but get this is a

00:24:59.900 --> 00:25:02.099
great way to get your name out there. So I love

00:25:02.099 --> 00:25:05.720
it. Are you doing LinkedIn ads? Uh, we don't

00:25:05.720 --> 00:25:08.759
do as many LinkedIn ads. No, don't listen. LinkedIn.

00:25:08.759 --> 00:25:11.779
Close your ears. It's so expensive. Like, you

00:25:11.779 --> 00:25:13.279
could do a reach out. It doesn't work so well

00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:15.759
for DTC. You know, the pricing is so high, but,

00:25:16.759 --> 00:25:18.559
you know, for B2B, when you're selling $10 ,000

00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:20.619
software wherever a month, it's going to probably

00:25:20.619 --> 00:25:23.319
work. Yeah. Oh, I'm so excited. All right. So

00:25:23.319 --> 00:25:25.660
Justin, thank you so much for your time. Have

00:25:25.660 --> 00:25:29.720
a great day. And you know what we say, go callers.

00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:34.700
We can use that. That works. Or everyone loves

00:25:34.700 --> 00:25:37.559
a stiff collar. Right. There you go. That's true.

00:25:37.559 --> 00:25:42.380
Oh, a little dirty. I love it. Thank you so much.

00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:45.680
Thanks for everyone listening. Really great.

00:25:45.740 --> 00:25:48.380
Look at my bangs today. Everyone in my hair compliments

00:25:48.380 --> 00:25:51.680
of Nolan's nest and she has a soap shampoo and

00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:53.619
conditioner that is a killer. My husband's like

00:25:53.619 --> 00:25:55.319
your hair looks so good. And I'm like, I know

00:25:55.319 --> 00:25:57.480
I gotta tell Kate anyways. Thank you, Justin.

00:25:57.599 --> 00:25:58.480
I'll talk to you later.