The Outdoor Hospitality Podcast
Hear from the elite operators and brands driving the glamping and the outdoor hospitality industry forward. Gain insights on everything you need to launch, grow, and sell your business.
Our content includes glamping, STVR (short term rentals), unique stays, landscape resorts, RV Parks, RV resorts, and campgrounds
This podcast is powered by Sage Outdoor Advisory, the outdoor hospitality industry leaders in feasibility studies and appraisals.
The Outdoor Hospitality Podcast
Glamping on WHEELS? The story behind Sandy Vans and building a $350K van (Founder Story)
Hear the secrets behind Sandy Van's meteoric rise in the luxury adventure van market. We are joined by Alan Mondus CEO and Evan Purcell COO as they share their journey from building vans in their driveway to building a $350K luxury adventure vehicles.
Learn more on the Sandy Vans website or instagram.
Sponsor: Sage Outdoor Advisory is the outdoor hospitality industry leader in feasibility studies and appraisals. Schedule a complimentary consultation with the Sage team at sageoutdooradvisory.com.
The Glamping Insider (Nick's newsletter)
- Shari's email: heilala@sageoutdooradvisory.com
- Connor's email: schwab@sageoutdooradvisory.com
- Nick's email: nick@posh-outdoors.com
Welcome back to another episode of the Unique Hospitality Podcast. And I have to say, I think out of all the episodes I've recorded on this podcast, this might be the one I'm most excited for, the one that I think will be the most fun. I've been kind of waiting for my opportunity to ask Nick to let me do this one because it's a little bit outside of glamping, but I think uh I think we can do a nice spin and basically say it's uh it's glamping on wheels. And this episode uh I'm joined by Alan Mondis and Evan Purcell, uh two good friends of mine and also business partners. Um we they're the founders, or we're there's six founders behind Sandy Vans, and uh we basically uh I wanted a chance to get the Sandy Van story. Um it's been quite on quite a uh exciting and meteoric journey since uh since the company was started four or so years ago, and I thought it'd be there'd be a lot of good business learnings for any type of entrepreneur and broadly in the outdoor space, in the outdoor adventure space. And so uh yeah, Alan and Evan, welcome to the show. Thanks for having us on, Connor.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, excited to be here. Thanks for finally making this happen. We've you know uh heard about the podcast, know you've been uh working on this for a while now and excited to finally be uh yeah, to be here with you and talk about Sandy Vans.
Connor Schwab:All right, well, I wanted to start with something fun, and that is you guys, all of your vans have names, um, and they're usually related to action heroes or movie stars. Can you can you tell us maybe what's some of your personal favorites that you've come up with or any favorites that some of your customers have come up with?
Evan Purcell:Yeah, I think uh that whole thing started with you, Connor, actually, why we did the uh the names, because you came with me to look at my very first van that I bought. It was a 1990 Ford E350. It was uh yeah, it was an old school beat-up rundown van, and uh you looked at it, and and what did you say, Connor?
Connor Schwab:Oh my god, what is his name? Um, why can't I think of it? I actually wasn't trying to tee myself up as the person who forgot this. I forgot.
Evan Purcell:This is what kicked off the whole thing, and then we'll actually answer the question. Van Zell Washington. Van Zell Washington. You looked at it, you're like, this just gives me Van Zell Washington vibes. It just feels like Vanzel, like or Denzel, Washington. And then look back at you was like Van Zell Washington, and that name stuck with that van and then carried over into Sandy Vans uh that we just had to come up with funny names for all the vans. Um that's been great.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, and the the customers have have loved it. It's always been something that's uh caught attention, whether it's been on a listing or on our website. Uh, and then one of the favorite ones we did was um Hugh Jack Van. And it had a Wolverine type theme. It was when we were also uh developing new lighting features, and this one had like three lights, LEDs that were going at kind of like this zigzag and looked like a you know Wolverine mark on a on a ceiling. So uh so yeah, it's been fun to incorporate different design elements, you know, with the names or get customers involved in naming their own van and uh and having a little fun with uh yeah, what what really is uh an exciting, uh adventurous toy to get out there and you know experience the outdoors and have a fun name to drive around and call it.
Evan Purcell:I I think my my favorite was uh uh Vangelina Jolie. Yes. And this is one of the first vans that we had built. And to all the trade shows we'd go to, we had this little placard with a Tomb Raider photo of Angelina Jolie that Vangelina Jolie that went with the van was attached to it, and uh it got just so many chuckles and great reactions from from all of our customers. And uh we haven't leaned into them quite as hard as we did at the at the beginning, uh, but that was my favorite. Yeah, it actually at first we had bobbleheads too.
Alan Mondus:Oh, the free van and khaki van and little bobbleheads and yeah, they included with the purchase of every van.
Evan Purcell:So we definitely gotta bring that back.
Connor Schwab:I forgot about the bobbleheads. Oh man. Yeah, Vangelina Jilly. That was the first Joe Van. That was a good looking van. It was well named.
Alan Mondus:Yeah. Um still on our uh on our homepage. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Connor Schwab:Yeah. And uh I think I heard of one that you guys had a customer name called Obi Van Kenobi, and I thought, oh as a Star Wars nerd, I thought that one was pretty good. And the the lighting with the Star Wars themed and the lightsabers in the van was pretty sick.
Evan Purcell:That was such a such a fun project. And like Alan said, it's really cool when we get the opportunity to um to attach a name to a van and then carry that theme throughout the design in it. And so this customer loves Star Wars, and so we got to build them a uh a lightsaber entryway that had a motion detector. So when you opened the slider door, it detected that that door was opening, and in your entry step, there was a blue lightsaber that would then light up and you'd have the beam extend through it. And then we we should have done the sound. So this was a missed opportunity there. Uh and then we had these galaxy panels for the ceiling lighting, which is really, really cool. It was a challenging one to figure out how to make it all work, uh, but it came out so well. It was a really cool beautiful one of my favorite bands we've done. Yeah.
Connor Schwab:Oh, love that. All right. Well, maybe you guys could just give us a quick overview of like where is Sandy Vans at today as a business.
Alan Mondus:Well, here it is, right here in Miramar. We're down in San Diego. Uh, we're at our headquarters, uh, a really uh exciting space, 12,000 square feet uh in Miramar. And uh Sandy Vans out of San Diego, you're not having the right adventure unless you got a little bit of sand in that van. Uh so that's where the name comes from, from the location and use case. Uh and uh yeah, we've been in this facility now for uh almost two years, 18 months or so uh before that, down in Chula Vista. And before that, Evans Driveway, actually, you know, you guys both lived at that house on Gallison back in the day. So uh yeah, obviously have you know made a journey through locations, and now we're at uh 22 full-time employees plus uh a number of contractors. So uh over 30 individuals working on this business uh day in and day out uh and building three vans per month, uh, as well as a full suite of products. So there's a few different divisions uh within the the company now, and uh each division you know growing with regards to you know revenue and uh and just responsibilities over the the products and the personnel. So um yeah, on track to to do uh $5 million in revenue this year, and this will be the the fourth year of operation. Amazing.
Connor Schwab:What does one of these vans go for? Like what's the price range?
Evan Purcell:We started about 129, uh, and then that ranges up to um on our 144, which is the small wheelbase, uh, to about 200 fully optioned out. And then recently this year, uh, we had a really exciting project uh called the Concrete Oasis, which is actually a collaboration we did uh with Edn and Nicole, who run Ananda Living Experiences, and they do um high-end boutique designs, and they've done that in a couple different vans. And we were able to take the one that they had done, the Concrete Oasis, that had gone viral on the internet, and actually turn that into a limited series. Uh, and so now we're producing a limited run of those. Uh, and so that's getting up to the upper end on our price point, and that one starts at 300.
Connor Schwab:Yeah, and that's uh such an exciting opportunity. And if you go on the website of Instagram, you can see some amazing uh you know photos and videos of the concrete away. So it's it's probably you know in the top 1% of uh luxury and uh quality craftsmanship builds that you that exist you know in the US of custom sprinter van builds. So it's top, top tier. Um super exciting for for both uh uh Inan Nicole and and Sandy Vans, that partnership. And we'll maybe we'll dive into that a little bit more later. But um maybe we could back up a little bit and just uh you could tell uh maybe Alan will start with you and just give us a little bit of your background how you got into how you got into Sandy Vans.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, yeah, that's um that's a journey. I mean it basically, you know, entrepreneurship and uh you know, starting our own company. I was involved in a products company in 2017, launched on Kickstarter. Uh it was a coaster company, actually, of all things, called the Barnacle Coaster. And it was something like an idea that uh, you know, a friend had, and and we decided to develop this product and launch it uh on Kickstarter and had great success. Uh the Barnacle, Barnacle Coaster, it basically stops those condensation rings, those pesky condensation rings on your on your coffee table, uh, you know, from your iced coffees, and and yeah, had some success with that and uh really enjoyed you know the process and and uh you know launching a product and starting a brand. Um and that was on the side of the day job, which had always been in you know different sales and marketing roles, uh, and was working in the medical device um manufacturing uh world for many years. Uh and during COVID, the company I was working for got acquired and and kind of left me at a crossroads of what's next. Uh so uh got in a van of my own, actually, and uh a built-out 2013 uh sprinter. We called it Van Diesel. They always had that, they all have a name. And so uh I was on a trip up uh up to Oregon and hey, ran into to this guy. Obviously, all of us are friends through uh many different you know paths, but uh a core uh I think to the friend group activity-wise is kiteboarding, kite surfing. And so we were up in Hood River, the Columbia Gorge, and and cruising around there and doing um, yeah, as much kite surfing as we could that summer, four summers ago, actually, right now, I think. Uh and and yeah, Evan uh had built out that van that we already talked about, Van Zell. Uh, and so he was he was out of that band. And so we, yeah, we were van camping, adventuring and kite surfing, and and on that trip, you know, starting to see during you know COVID the opportunity that there was in the Class B van space, how uh accessible it it made um, you know, the band made getting to all the activities that I love to do or that we love to do, um, you know, surfing and kiting and biking and you know, anything, you know, being closer to where you're adventure and then having a home base right when you're done with your adventure to wash your gear off and make some food and have a beer with friends and talk about the amazing session on the water. Uh it just yeah, it was like that moment uh that really, you know, uh opened the door to me, uh to my eyes, to like what the vans are capable of and looking more at the space. Honestly, Evan, being a product engineer, and we'll get to his story, you know, kind of came up with some ideas about products on that trip. And it was kind of like that energy of the trip, it's like, well, let's do it right now, you know. And Evan's like, oh, we could build that. And so we had this idea for a storage box on the back of the vans that no one was really doing at the time. And so all the kite surfing gear, instead of throwing it in the van or on top of the van, it's like, oh, we need a you know, a place to put this on the rear side of the van. And so I went to, you know, one of Evan's friends' shop and uh shops and uh manufacturing facilities in Idaho and and made a prototype. And on the rest of that trip throughout the Pacific Northwest, there were a lot of people going, hey, where did you get that? And that was the moment that I think spun into you know the idea of Sandy Bands.
Evan Purcell:There's something here. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
Connor Schwab:All right, how about you, Eve?
Evan Purcell:Um, so like Alan said, my background's in uh product design, manufacturing, engineering. Um and so I actually did uh I've done done a couple different different business ventures and startups in the past. Um and I don't know if you guys remember this, but I actually I moved up to Colorado, I left my own gas job, moved up to Colorado to start doing engineering and product design. I had all of my possessions in my truck, and then met you guys the first night I got in Colorado. Breaking ridge, yeah. Then we started our first business that night. Our very first business. So we all had been, yeah, I've been drinking for a while, came in strong. We all all drank probably more than we should have. Well, yeah, you won the test every martini.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, the difference between every martini because one of the members of the crew didn't know the difference. I didn't know the difference.
Evan Purcell:It was an educational experiment, which led us to our first business venture, which at dinner that night, I think we realized your girlfriend at the time, Connor, um, was big in the crypto space. And so she was talking about all these NFTs and cryptos. I'm like, hey, I don't know what any of that is, but we could buy the domains and sell the website domains. Right, right. And so we punched all of them in and we got on GoDaddy. We started buying web domains for crypto dragons and all sorts of crypto Google. And uh I remember passing the phone around, guys. We got to make sure this is all spelled right and everybody at the table check it. Yep, yep, that's right. Okay, perfect. Purchase, purchase. And then we're genies for the rest of the trip. Had an amazing ski trip together. Uh, and you know, that's the start of a fantastic friendship with uh with the two of you gentlemen. Uh and then I remember at the end of the trip, we're driving down to the airport, and we uh we remembered that we had purchased these domains. We needed to check and we hop on, and we see one of our domains that we had purchased three nights before for $12 is now selling for $10,000. It's like, guys, we did it. Yeah, we just paid for the ski trip and uh you know, I don't know. I didn't list it. Did you list it? How did we get this listed for $10,000? And then we went into our account and realized we had misspelled every single domain that we had purchased. We had not spelled one of them correctly, and we'd misspelled them all in different ways.
Alan Mondus:That's right.
Evan Purcell:Yeah, the martinis worked big one that night. Yeah, definitely. Um, so anyways, um that was kind of the start of my uh my career. In uh in entrepreneurship uh product design. I ended up going um doing product design consulting for individuals, and that led me up to Cordelaine, Idaho, uh, where I did hypersonics engineering, uh was employee number one for a small business up there, um, sending things up into space and using hypersonics to break rock. Um while doing that, um, I saw Alan over here launch this Kickstarter that he had mentioned earlier. He's like, hey, I think I can do that. I know how to design products. I don't know anything about sales or business, but I know products. Um and so I ended up uh kicking off a business called Nobo Pets, uh, had designed a leash, got a few different patents on it, uh, called up Alan, said, hey, how do I do this Kickstarter thing? Um, got that kicked off and ended up doing well on Kickstarter. And then uh realized I had to go fulfill it and actually do a little bit more than just design the product. So I called you up, Connor, and said, hey, how do we do sales? And uh and we got involved in that and um we were doing great. It's rocking and rolling uh until the injection molding company uh that we had spent $20,000 on an injection mold with uh ended up getting bought out. And so we ended up going through a lot of issues with being able to get our product produced. So we ran out of product to sell. And in that limbo period is when we decided to go on this van trip, linked up with Alan, and uh had a business with no product, uh, but still the entrepreneur appetite. And uh so that's when the the idea for Sandy Vans came about. Uh and getting back from that trip, it was it was full court press on Sandy Vans. And um, you know, Nobus still exists and floats around, but no real effort going into that. No time. Yeah, no time. Yeah, yeah. Sandy time is a full full-time job and a half.
Connor Schwab:I didn't know that you talked to Alan about the Kickstarter. I didn't I didn't notice that connection. Oh, that's too funny. Um, so what what would you guys say? You know, I think it's interesting when you listen to some other entrepreneurial podcasts like how I built this, like you, you know, you see that a lot of folks who uh you know hit it big on a company, they've usually had a couple uh swings at bats that they've done before. You guys both did, you know, barnacle coasters and no bo pets and you had some uh and crypto dragons um and you know a couple other swings at you know small business and entrepreneurship, I guess. What lessons did you take forward from those um that that you applied to Sandy Vans or maybe helped you with that?
unknown:Uh-huh.
Connor Schwab:You know, maybe there's two. One would be like what informed your opportunity selection where it's like, oh, the Sandy Vans is a good idea, this is a good business venture, and then maybe from like an executing standpoint.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, um, from my perspective, it was you know, Barnacle was a yeah, like you say, great first swing and it and it was a uh a product, right? It wasn't really uh a business. So there's a great learning opportunity where you know, I think everyone in America you're kind of brought up with that idea where you can uh that's a million-dollar product right there, right? And and and that's kind of like uh that's that's that mindset is just, you know, and that opportunity does exist, right? But it's more than that if you're trying to make one product and then sell it to a company that already has the established, you know, like like Evan said, all the other things in business, the supply chain, the sales, the customer feedback, the um um, yeah, the packaging and shipping and all those all those other hurdles that it take, that it takes to have a successful company. And so um, you know, we were looking to to start a brand from a product and from uh from a coaster of all products, which was uh a tall task. Uh and and then also in there was uh two other partner, business partners I had in that uh journey, and um, but Barnacle still exists, and you can you know buy them on on the way uh online right now today. Uh, but what happened was you know, in trying to go down that journey, entrepreneurship is a very difficult path. It's a very difficult thing to decide that you want to do, and you have to um be willing to yeah, to to to climb every you know mountain and and and really you know keep charging uh and have um you know persistency in this journey. And and it really takes uh a core team. And that's what I found out about, you know, that was a side project that working for fun with you know others. And so um, and and everyone had their own jobs and their own careers and their own lives, and and our lives took us to different locations. We were all in San Diego and wanted to end up, you know, work moving to Houston to uh also, you know, work on things that were going into space. He he worked for NASA and uh and then the other one moved to Orange County and had a family. And so that core team, you know, started to uh move to different locations. And and so what I found when I was going into Sandy Vans and going into the next entrepreneurship type of journey was all right, a team is so important to bring different skill sets to the table and really uh you know work with people that that you trust and know are gonna have your back. And uh and I think uh you know, I think partnerships get a really bad rap in the business community because it's it's tough to be on the same page for a long time uh in business. So uh sooner or later you're gonna have different conflicts and you're gonna have different you know things come up. But if you have uh a team, a core team that you know truly has you know friendship and uh and trust and the same type of vision in mind, uh, it's going to go further quicker, uh, in my mind. And so that's what I learned in that uh that short snit or that you know kind of uh side hustle project from from Barnacle and really going into uh Sandy Vans with that open mind of uh coming together with a really awesome team to the leadership team to make something happen quick.
Evan Purcell:Yeah. I think um man, there's so many, so many learnings from every step that you take. Um and uh you know, first thing was right, Crypto Dragons spell things correctly. Uh the real lesson that I think I took, the biggest one from Nobo Pets, uh, was there's so many different risks that you take on uh when you start a business. Um and so coming into Sandy Vans, there was a couple risks that I didn't want to take. Um, one of which being um having a uh a supplier risk. And so with that business, we had one supplier that controlled everything. And if they got bought out, disappeared, uh all of a sudden we couldn't get our product and now had to shift things, and it caused so many issues within the business that caused this little loss of momentum, and then you know, lost some momentum in myself as well to steer into another big business venture. Um, so that's been a big one in Sanity Vans is there is no vendor risk that we have within the business. Every single product we have, there are multiple vendors that we can get that from. Um every time we send something out for quote, it's going out to multiple people. And anything that that we can't control or trust a single vendor to uh to be able to handle for us, we bring that in-house and we control it ourselves. Um so I think that was probably my biggest learning and and takeaway uh is you're the owner of your own destiny. Uh, and so you need to figure out which ones are most important for you to control.
Connor Schwab:I love it. Was there uh was there like a why behind creating Sandy Vans?
Evan Purcell:It came from passion, honestly. Um, you know, we both were out on van trips in our own vans because it was a conduit or tool to be able to allow us to go do the things that brought us the most joy. Um, you know, in that particular trip, we were out kit surfing and just chasing the wind. Uh, and there really isn't a better way to be able to do that than having a van where you have all of your gear with you and you can just in an instant up and move and chase whatever it is with the swell conditions, the wind conditions, um, and having that access to be able to go do these hobbies and adventures, go down to Baja and chase surf. I mean, and and be in the middle of nowhere. There are no hotels out in some of those spots, there's no Airbnbs. Um, and just having uh yeah, being able to have that access is incredible. So I know for me it was something that I was passionate about uh and something that could really connect with all of our customer base on.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, I think you know, as you get older and you're just looking for more of the whys in in life, and I think uh community is so important. Uh this was uh a time in life where there was a break for myself when it came to work, and it was uh nice to have that and nice to have flexible and freedom to spend some time in a van and being out in nature and being with you know incredible friends and and community and doing the things uh I love to do. Uh and so I think this vehicle literally you know allows you to get out and feel more alive. So that's that's kind of the essence of what Sandy Vans is trying to capture is that that feeling of being alive, whether it's you know being with your community on uh a unique uh kayaking trip in the middle of nowhere or down surfing through Baja, which we had an amazing experience when we kicked this company off. We brought 18 people down through Baja with the first couple of vans we built and uh and and you know, chased wind waves and uh awesome swell and and just had uh bonfires on you know uh desolate cliffs in the middle of nowhere and uh and had a really unique experience. And and that's what these you know, these vehicles, Sandy Vans, is able, you know, to provide.
Evan Purcell:And I've actually got a great photo right right behind here in the lobby of that first trip. It's a sunset van and uh and a surfboard in hand.
Connor Schwab:Yeah. Oh man, uh maybe at the end of the episode we'll have you guys give us a little tour of the dream factory that you're sitting in right now. If you're watching it on video, you can see otherwise you can go see some stuff on their website. Yeah, um maybe maybe you could walk us through the uh like how how how did you like raise money for this business and maybe through like your first two vans, Jackie Van and Morgan Freevan, and like the you know, the first six months of being a business. You know, that's probably always the most exciting part. Like, what was that like?
Evan Purcell:Yeah, I think kind of going back to the first question of some of the learnings we had from previous business ventures, that was another one. I talked about risk. Um, was figuring out what I was willing to risk and what risks I didn't want to take. And coming into this one, um, I didn't want to risk my own personal capital um on this this business venture. So once Alan and I decided that this is something we were gonna pursue, uh, we went to build the right team, like Alan had mentioned, uh, and then also to find the cash um that we needed to be able to get the business kicked off. Um and so we went to to uh our closest friends uh is where we started, going to friends and family. Uh we raised $140,000, um, which you know today's dollars of how much the business spends is nothing. Goodbye in a week. Um but uh that's what we needed to get kicked off. Uh and we set out, we had a pitch deck together, pitched our friends, um, said, hey, we need to raise $140,000 to build two vans and prove that there is uh an opportunity here and then build these couple products.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, and we came back just full of energy, right? That trip was uh just ignited the the passion, the interest for the space, uh, and and just yeah, just excitement. We just thought, okay, this is this is it. Um, we just had this amazing trip. So we're coming off of this high. We built this prototype, you know, out of a shop, and then we're on a kite trip and got asked, hey, where did you get this? And in that moment was like, okay, there's energy, there's people that that want these products, there's not that much uh in the space right now. And so we came back, you know, on the way back, making a pitch deck and had kind of an A, B, C tiered list of individuals who we've come across who are were, you know, entrepreneur-minded or uh investors, or you know, individuals we, yeah, just high net worth individuals that we've come across in our own personal journey. Um, but first we're like, okay, let's go to our circle. We have this really tight-knit kiteboarding community that are good friends. And like, hey, let's so we had a pitch in my kitchen uh or living room and on my own screen, you know, TV, flat screen, and got it set up and brought, you know, five friends in. And and yeah, uh luckily, luckily enough, we were able to raise it, you know, within our community within that first pitch, and and that gave us more more motivation and uh and energy that we're on, you know, uh going the right way, uh, excitement that we're on the right path. And so uh, you know, from there, we you know, we kind of had it mapped out where there was uh 18 months, like this is where we were gonna budget that 140 grand, and we had a lot of different business paths, uh, three different prongs of the business. You know, Connor, you Sandy Van's experiences was involved in the original pitch. There was the van builds themselves, and then there were products, which is actually what the core of the company was uh gonna be based on. And uh, and as we got into it, those first six months, you're learning. We learned so much, of course, you know, and how you know, financing, and we didn't even think about like, oh, you know, being a dealer and and how you're gonna resell these vans or own these vans and the insurance and where do you park? You know, there's just so much you start to uncover when you don't know what you don't know, but that also ignorance is bliss because that helped. If you knew all the red tape and all the headaches that were gonna come, you know, there's a lot more hesitation, and we just went guns and blazing full on into the battle. Um, you know, just just saying, hey, we got optimistic mindset and uh and some energy moving us forward. So it took us, you know, clean into that first marketing trip, uh the first two builds, building those two vans out of your driveway in six weeks and not knowing what we're doing, also designing products, also, I mean, just working 20 hours a day and just living and breathing Sandy Vans uh and every you know new logo design and trying to come up with you know website creating at night when the sun's down while we're not building the vans. It was uh full on excitement, and so was the first marketing trip. And then our first van sale happening right away when we listed, you know, listed the van for sale. It just once again gave us another win and allowed that momentum to really carry carry forth um to to help you know get us to where we are today.
Connor Schwab:Yeah, and I could maybe elaborate on that and chime in. And when when Evan and Alan came to the uh sat us down in in Alan's uh living room for the pitch, um you know, it was a a group of friends and a lot of really talented people with with different uh skill sets um and a lot of people who've been successful in their uh their previous uh ventures. And uh yeah, and and it was a really a dynamite team. And I remember when I was uh when I was listening to the pitch, I was like, all right, well, uh first and foremost, I believe in uh in Alan and Evan and the team they've assembled and their and their skill set and their just like track record of success that they're gonna get the job done. Uh-huh. And then the second piece was I really believed in the product and the problem that it was solving. You know, I work a lot in the RV space as well, and I really think that these operator vans, I don't think that they're just a fad. I think that they're uh solving a very real problem for changing customer preferences. Uh-huh. I think the days of you know wanting a 35-foot RV that's a bus that you know our grandparents drove around that you could put you know six kids in. I don't really think that's really the the direction the industry's headed. Uh-huh. And I think you have people that uh you know live in suburbia or that live in urban places and they want something uh uh that's smaller, that's minimalism, that's sleep, that's sexy, that allows them outdoor adventure, can get them to uh off the grid, hard-to-reach spaces, you know, vehicles that are all wheel drive and have lifted suspension um, you know, so they can get to really remote and outstanding places uh while still being able to drive into a city and go get lunch with their friends and be able to uh park their vehicle. Um and then the last thing is, you know, it's an industry that I really believe in that I think is going to continue to grow, and that's just outdoor adventure. And I think that's never going to stop growing. So, you know, that was a really big reason why I believed in these guys and put a little bit of that startup capital in. And I was also working with them part-time for the first six months. And then ultimately had to make the one of the toughest decisions of my life to choose whether to um continue working with Sage and do the glamping thing that I've been working on for three years or work uh continue to work with the Sandy Vans guys and ultimately made the the very tough choice to go with Sage. And I think it broke broke my heart, but but alas, here we are. And moving on from that.
Evan Purcell:We're always here, Connor. You can come back. We got desk for you up too. The mega desk still exists. Wait, is it the same mega desk?
Connor Schwab:The exact same same desk. Oh man. All right. So maybe get a little more color on the like first six first six months. So so they buy their first two vans. First of all, like what does it what does a new Mercedes Sprinter van cost?
Evan Purcell:50,000. Yeah, 55, I think at the time. Yeah.
Connor Schwab:For real rear-wheel drive we're getting. We haven't done a rear wheel drive in a minute. Yeah, long time. Yeah. And then basically, you guys were in the driveway of Evan and Evan and I's house. I remember looking out the window, and you guys are cutting holes in the van and starting to build the first prototypes. And as soon as it's finished, what do we do? But with like, oh, what's the first thing we're going to do? We're going to do on a thousand-mile road trip down through Baja with our brand new shiny product. Like walk us through that decision.
Alan Mondus:Well, it was in the original pitch deck. It had to be done. It was part of, you know, so the but the marketing expense was a big chunk of that, not a big chunk, but a reasonable chunk of that 140,000. And luckily enough, we were able to kind of work with some uh you know partners within the industry that were family friends to help get the funding uh sorted out or straight away from the first two vans so we weren't putting the those huge chunks down for the vans. So that helped a lot. And then um and then yeah, we we led with marketing in mind because this is like everything you just mentioned, Connor, it's it's one of those opportunities to get you into unique places and they they photo so well the video that's captivating, and that that marketing is what really drove us to um you know to have this brand kick off as fast as it did. And this marketing trip, whether it was basically, you know, work like uh non-stop around the clock to build these first two vans and then go uh for six weeks down through Baja and hire a film crew um through the kyboarding community that we knew and build that first brand video and get the content that we need to launch uh the website and social media and everything to really kick off um the visuals behind what Sandy Vans was gonna stand for. So uh yeah, it was nerve-wracking and definitely a push to even make it happen and all like all these things coming together uh to have the right crew to join us. Uh so to get like 18 people together, even at any point in life, to head down to Baja was uh yeah, it was you know, really grateful for that time and that journey and for those individuals who jumped on board to come help make something really cool. And that brand video is on our YouTube, and it's it's really one of those things we're definitely proud of to this day.
Evan Purcell:Yeah, and I think that that kind of goes into the the everyone bringing their own element to the team, you having a background in sales and marketing. Uh, and one of the big things you were really emphasizing at the beginning is like, hey, we need to be brand first and build a brand. Uh, and it takes content, it takes something that can be emotive to people. Uh, so we started out with that that trip to be able to have the right foundation to build that brand on. Uh, and it it shows today. I mean, we continued with that same mentality over the last four years, um, but it is it is cool to see um you know so many people out in Sandy Van swag. You know, or what's rule number one? Brand new friends. Um but I I hear it all the time. I get texts from friends all the time, like, man, I was wearing my Sandy Vans hat and complete stranger came up and said, Oh, Sandy Vans, I love those guys. I'm just seeing their YouTube videos or whatever it is. Um, and just hearing that so, so frequently because we've gone to such emphasis to be able to have this brand. Uh, and then that filters down into the community through our owners that we've bought as we set out to build this brand that shows the uh the action adventure, the types of things that you can go out and do with these vans, uh, and then bringing our owner group and customers into that community to be able to go out and do that and share that together. And we have a Facebook group where they're all posting and sharing their photos. Uh, and it just starts with that little catalyst uh on the brand, and now um it all lives through every one of our customers on the road.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, we recently had a customer, it's a couple with four kids, and there's the six of them out, and they hit every state this summer in there. They started from here and just went throughout the entirety of the United States, and they got a pop top and they got the full cap. It's just such a cool and they've um posted about every day. And so it's been so fun to just like see these, you know, these stories, these customer journeys. Uh, and there's an insider, you know, Facebook uh community uh that they're all part of, and so they're sharing the stories and really starting to, yeah, just kind of build that community across you know the country with now 70 plus vans uh out there.
Connor Schwab:I didn't know that. That is so cool. That should be its own Sandy Vans TV episode, right? Definitely we'll get to that. Yeah, yeah, right. So um it's so funny heading down to Baja, you know, in the first in the first two months. And one to kind of product test it and get a feel for your own products, you see what could be improved. Also to be brand first, get this content, also to you know, feel alive and go go, you know, really sink into the reason that we started the company was to get people out there. Um and yeah, we we hired through you know um Kiding and Hood River a really talented group of videographers who came with us and we let them uh borrow a van for free. And they basically did a super high quality episode with the van. And it was a really, really strong start. And you guys have always constantly been brand forward, and maybe we'll get into kind of Sandy Van's TV stuff in a little bit.
Alan Mondus:But um yeah, definitely shout out to Jackson Lepsack and the Siccos, they've absolutely blown up since then. That was the starting point for for the Siccos. Now they have a YouTube channel with I think it's over a half a million, you know, subscribers and uh yeah, just adventure forward type of really you know fun and active, uh doing wild, wild things all the time and you know, kite surfers, and that's where we connected with them in in Hood River in the gorge. Um, but yeah, Jackson had done work with Jamie O'Brien out and uh you know, surfing in in uh Hawaii and on the islands for many years. And so it was really cool to have you know his talent, you know, within our our trip to kick off our brand was was just like a jump start in the right direction.
Connor Schwab:And the way, you know, we'd met them briefly in Hood River kiting, but basically we reached out and said, hey, we know you guys want to create fun new episodes for the Sicco's channel. Like, what if we give you a van and you shoot great content and we we basically are giving you an episode of content in a van to use and you trade us content and it worked out great. And yeah, I mean, there's stuff now. So actually, Jackson did the brand video on Sage Outdoor Advisory's website, which I which was a project that I don't know. Oh yeah, yeah. It's super cool, and there's some Sandy Vans shots in there, actually. So a little nugget, if anyone goes to the Sage website, there's a Sandy Vans clip in there that I had Jackson put put in. But uh I love it. He's probably one of the most like uh I don't like he's one of the most prolific content creators that I've seen. Like his stuff is unbelievable. So we really got in there early. So good good work on on that guy. Yeah, yeah. What uh tell tell me about uh naming Sandy Vance, because you know what well, one of the moments that we had when we were sitting down at a table and trying to decide to start, you know, we decided to start the company. I think we signed the agreement, raised the money, and we're like, all right, what are we gonna name this? And I think our what our first 50 names were taken. There was already websites and there was already van companies. So like three hours in to looking to brainstorming names, we're like, oh wow, we're gonna have a lot of competition in this space.
Evan Purcell:I yeah, I think it was we didn't realize how many players were in the space until we went down the name search. Uh and it it's a business that has a really low barrier to entry because you know it could be some buffoons in their driveway kicking things off like we did. And uh that's how we started. Um, and so it just takes you know a couple power tools in a driveway to to start a business, and it takes a hell of a lot more to build a brand and a company. Um, but uh yeah, yeah, as far as the name, we had quite the list and so many were were taken in the space. And I'll let Alan take it away because he was the biggest uh advocate for for Sandy Bans.
Alan Mondus:Well, yeah, see, I don't I I might remember it differently, I guess. So because I thought the name was always Sandy Bans, but I believe there was a um what is it? You know, everyone's coming to a kit pitch forks. There was a bit of a chain turning of the tides, and I realized I was outnumbered at one point, and there was a long list, and I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, what do we already have the name, guys? So I think there was some uh some pushback, we'll just say, but I do remember the moment it was actually when we were driving back into the gorge from Sandpoint, Idaho. We just built the first ever boost box, and we were once again just like on cloud nine, you know, feeling like good energy, like this is the right path, and um, and this awesome product that we just kind of like whipped out on a weekend, and then and then we were like brainstorming different names, and and I was just looked at it and it was like the sun was setting. I was like, wait a San Diego, like what about Sandy Vans? And I was like, oh, kind of like that. And and so I remember like from that moment, I was like, oh no, it's it's Sandy Vans. And and then there were a lot of other, you know, stoked and West Coast and Ocean and surfing, like there's a lot of different things, like variants kind of like thrown out over the next you know, couple weeks, months as we you know put the business plan in place. But what was on that original pitch deck was definitely Sandy Vans. Now there were a lot of different logos, and I know we went every different direction, uh, and we had a lot of different voting on I remember on the logo, but in my eyes, it was always Sandy Vance.
Connor Schwab:So Sandy Vans was your first choice.
Alan Mondus:Oh, he's always Alan's first choice.
Connor Schwab:That's so funny. I I always the way I remember it is like it was our 50th choice.
Evan Purcell:No, no, it was Alan's. And I I I mean I liked it for me. It was always like this is good, unless something better comes along. You know, it's kind of like waiting to see if we came up with something else. There was one that was kind of like like flow or something, or rhythm.
Alan Mondus:Rory was all about the flow bands or something. Yeah, I mean, there were some other ones I remember it came up, and Rory really didn't like Sandy Vans. I hated it. And he was gonna be an investor, and he didn't pass days. But uh, you know what, Rory, uh, he should have got behind it. So I still love you, Rory.
Connor Schwab:Still love you. That's so funny because yeah, I always like, oh, Sandy fans, you you know, you got stand in your van. Like, uh But but you know, I think that is just a testament to the brand because a brand, you know, regardless of the name, it makes you love the name. And like now I see even just like the sign in the background that you guys have in the shop right now, it's like, oh, that sunset, that sunset logo has just come to be, I don't know, obviously iconic in my own mind, but it's really start to become something pretty special. So I think what you guys have done in the last, is it just three and a half years? I have that right. Well, almost four.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, it was uh November 21. So yeah, we'll be gonna be four years in November. Holy smokes.
Connor Schwab:So talk to me a little bit about uh the product.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, so the original pitch was mainly around DIY kits, and we're we're it's still at that time, midst of COVID. Now it had blown up, of course. Like, you know, people were building vans in their driveways always, but um, and it was growing more and more popular in the in the 2015, 16, 17, 18. But COVID happened and everyone was building, you know, vans in their driveway, and and and having this problem. So we're like, okay, this is perfect. Let's uh build our first two vans, design the kits from it, and then that'll be the main product. Uh so that was like revenue generator number one. That was the primary goal of the business from the get-go, and that pivoted quickly, right? So that was something that we built.
Evan Purcell:We sold one in exchange for our domain name. Oh, that's what the words so to build these first vans, the the initial concept with building those vans was we needed to design all the kits and design all the components and cat everything. Actually, build the van. Actually, yeah, we had to build vans, figure out all the pieces that would go into being able to do these flat pack kits. Uh, amidst doing that, we ended up somebody owned the domain, sandyvance.com.
unknown:Yeah.
Connor Schwab:Southern California, uh Orange County. I'll chime in because I think this was one of my greatest contributions to Sandy Vance was that I found I was able to contact the guy who had bought the name, reached out to him, got him on the phone, found out he was a pretty nice guy, and he's like, Oh yeah, I thought about doing it with something. I got a van, and I was like, listen, you know, we want to start a company with this name. Like, we're in San Diego. And I was like, would you consider selling it? And I was like, listen, like we're just a bunch of friends who started a company. Like, we don't have any big amount of money to pay you, but like maybe we could pay you like 300 bucks or something like that, or we could trade you for products. And then um, yeah, we ended up uh we ended up trading him and Evan, maybe you could take it from here because I think you actually facilitated that that trade.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, we ended up we had uh we got to we met him a couple times, but uh yeah, we've done a number of work, uh a decent amount of work on his van. So we ended up like yeah, installing some products and and doing at like Evan said, the first ever wall panel kit and some fabric wrapping, and and he's like he just is a guy with a band, and he's like like he was naming his own band Sandy. So he's like so Sandy Vans.com, you know, and then we're like, wait a minute, we're gonna build this company, and and um and yeah, funny enough, it it worked out. So yeah, shout out, thanks, Connor, to uh finding this guy. And then and then, yeah, the one kit that we sold was uh in exchange for the domain.
Evan Purcell:I was saying, I think that the reason we made the pivot on that is we started to see the opportunity in doing the full van builds. Um and so we wanted to really lean into that. I think that was something we we saw the opportunity in leveraging having things pre-engineered and pre-designed. We could deliver a van in a much, much shorter period of time of what you saw most of the competitors doing. Um, so at that time, and even now, what you mostly see is you either got your Winnebagos uh and your RV companies that are just cranking vans out super, super quickly. Uh, but the vans have no soul, they have no character, they don't have punny names. Um and there's just so much plastic and they're not built very well. And then you have the other end of the spectrum where you have these beautiful boutique vans that are being built and they're gorgeous works of art, but these builders are building three, four vans a year. And so you have this gap in the market uh where you could build something that had that character, had that personal touch. You could build a custom van for somebody, uh, but do it in a short time period uh and get to where we're turning these around in a four to six week time frame as opposed to a four to six month time frame. Uh we were able to do that with pre-engineering these kits that we'd use internally and having the bones of the build be identical throughout the various builds. And then we could put the last 10% is where we did that custom element. And we worked with the customer to pick their laminates to do a custom wild ceiling design, um, do some crazy epoxy countertops and still give them that custom fit, feel, and finish, but do it in a reasonable time frame to get more people out on the road. Uh so that is is the opportunity that we saw, and that's why we made that's why we made that shift uh into actually doing the full van builds as opposed to doing the kits. Um so we still made the kits, it was just for ourselves.
Connor Schwab:We'll have the editor throw in some shots of the of the interior so people watching B-roll in there. I think one of the things that that you guys did really well uh in addition to that is I think that there most van builders were building these super rugged, super masculine, super industrial uh vehicles. And there wasn't a lot of people building a van that was kind of like uncomfortable and had a real interior design aesthetic. And I wouldn't say that our our vans are like feminine, they're pretty neutral, but it but it is like a a a very I don't know, aesthetic interior design that I think appeals to you know people that don't just want to do like super hardcore mountain biking and and and that's it. Um and and I think you guys occupied a niche in the space really well that no one was really doing um doing in a in a super effective way.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, I think uh, you know, a lot of the industry is building, you know, it's guys building for guys, and guys don't really care as much about you know an aesthetic that's like, hey, I want a really nice garage on wheels to put all my gear in and to have the comforts at home and then to get out and and ride or you know do what they're gonna do. Uh which I think there's plenty of that out there, and uh many of the companies focus on that. And uh and obviously they that works, right? Uh so we came in with a different twist saying, okay, let's get a little bit of more of that luxury aesthetic, that uh boutique, you know, ambiance of a you know, nice hotel room or Airbnb feel uh in the van. Once you're in it, you feel like you have the amenities at home and you have that um that warm feeling. But then still, I you know, as our vans have uh evolved over time too, it's like now you have separation of okay, your gear goes back here and it does feel like a garage in the back. But then when you're in the front, you have these different unique lighting features, um, you know, all dimmable, and you know, you have your nice, you know, rug and and hot water and all the things you need um with a nice feeling of home uh on the go. So yeah, I think that blending uh the two worlds is something we really focused on with the fit form and finish.
Evan Purcell:Yeah, we always say luxury meets adventure is what we're trying to bring to the table.
Connor Schwab:Which I think ties in super well with the glamping space and you know what we talk about on this podcast all the time, which is like, hey, you want to go be in nature, you want to go have fun, but you don't, you know, you want to get a good night's sleep and you you know wanna still want to take a hot shower or you know be able to use the you know the restroom in the middle of the night when it's dark. Um and so and I think you know you guys uh have done that very well. Alan, maybe you can uh talk with us a little bit more uh about all things marketing and advertising. What what was the strategy uh you know when you first started? Imagine it was throwing a lot of different things against the wall. Um and you know, what did you find that worked? You know, and you know, basically what did you what were you like, hey, we're gonna spend more money in these areas and we're gonna defund these other areas that that aren't working?
Alan Mondus:Yeah, at the first, I mean, any entrepreneur will say, you gotta get scrappy, right? And and just do more. So doing as much as we can, like you say, throwing things at the wall, seeing what sticks. Uh, the big thing that we you know had, we're we're building vans to sell. So it wasn't, we didn't have the customers lined up. So we're building a van as what we thought, you know, the market wanted, uh, into and testing price points and putting it out there uh and going to the expos. So uh getting out in front of people, having people walk through uh our vehicles, being the ones, the owners out there, talking to the customers, trying to listen, understand, get feedback, uh, and really just putting uh ourselves uh in in the customers' shoes, right? So knowing that this is what we wanted to do and hoping there was more people like us that that wanted to live this experience and have this uh type of product to do it. Uh, and then and then taking that feedback at every one of the shows. So, I mean that was that's been a core of our um of our marketing presence since day one, you know, since we uh went to the show with Jackie Van and uh Tiny Fest here in San Diego as our first show and uh and the snowball the next year going to 10 shows. And then, you know, last year we did 25 different expos across the country, GoPro Mountain Games and Vale and um Barrett Jackson uh show at San Diego Auto Show, uh all the way up into you know the Overland show in in Oregon, up near you and you know, Bend. And so yeah, it's just you know, being out there uh talking to customers, getting that feedback has has been a core. And then uh part pairing that with online presence. And we knew from the get-go that you know that we're entering a world where you know everyone is is on uh social media, Instagram, and this is a great product uh to be you know visually appealing on on those platforms. And so uh so yeah, making sure that we had the right content that's being released you know weekly as as much as possible, uh, getting uh you know others in it that are adventure-minded outdoor enthusiasts in our vans in exchange for content. That is another thing that you know we've worked uh diligently on making sure that we are constantly content is king, we're constantly getting more content, having more options for more content. Um so so yeah, doing more, doing as much as possible and trying to keep uh it is uh as scrappy as possible when you're a smallest growing business.
Shari Heilala:Hello, listeners. This is Sherry Halala, founder of Sage Outdoor Advisory. If you're launching an outdoor hospitality project like Lamping, we can help. We offer feasibility studies and appraisals. What that means is we look at your specific market and proposed business offering and complete an in-depth analysis to make sure that your planned business will be profitable. Getting a second opinion on your proposal and forecasted financials is critical to understand before you spend years of your time and hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is particularly important if you are looking to raise money for your project from a bank or private investors. They are going to want to see this type of deep dive analysis from an independent third-party specialist in the industry. We at Sage have completed well over 250 feasibility studies and appraisals in outdoor hospitality in North America in the last four years. So we understand what it takes to bring a project from concept to reality. If this sounds like it could be helpful to you, you can go to our website, SageOutdoorAdvisory.com, and schedule a call with our team. While you're there, check out our proprietary glamping database map too. Thanks. Now back to the show.
Connor Schwab:I think I had a question in the lineup for scariest moments, and uh I think I might know one of yours, and it's when you thought we lost our our Google Drive with all the content in it. Maybe you could tell tell us about that and if and if any companies need a uh cautionary tale about making sure they have a backup, a backup drive.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, when you're a small business, yeah. I mean, we still are running our whole business off Google Drive, right? But it's um yeah, you're working with different partners and trying to figure out who is gonna, you know, be these first hires, and a lot of things are being outsourced at first. And um, you know, one of the marketing partners, it's all about you know just meeting people and finding different people that believe in that, your story and your journey and and want to help out or connect you with the right people. And yeah, so we had a marketing partner that you know helped us develop a lot of the original content and the original website. And um and yeah, they had uh we had since moved on and they had moved on with their own life or their own business.
Evan Purcell:But you're the one that set our Google Drive up for us, right? Correct, yeah.
Alan Mondus:And so they had ownership of the drive of that marketing folder, and that that business was no longer. So that business had got bought by another business, and there was no one managing it. And uh, we didn't really realize it was all under their account being paid and they got payment, and all of a sudden it's all gone one day, and our whole marketing drive is just empty. And I'm like, oh no. And it was it was almost you know, two years in, a year and a half in. So it was, yeah, not a moment uh where you could think about starting over. So it was a scramble. I'm like, Connor, Connor, did you set this up? You know, it was a hair on fire type of day, but got it started.
Connor Schwab:Yeah. And and there's just so much work that goes into that content folder. It's kind of hard to describe, and it's also it's like the half the sales funnel, you know, it's half the sales force of our business, right? Is those pictures and those videos and the ways that we get how people bleeds and people in the door. Um maybe you could tell us a little bit about you know, when I when I'm talking about the Sandy Man's marketing team, I'm always like, hey, I I have the chance to sit in on the Sandy Man's Wednesday marketing thing. And it's like a team of uh eight or nine specialists, and it's it's a whole group of people. And you know, maybe you could just talk about the team, the strategy, how that works.
Alan Mondus:Absolutely. Yeah, it's been fun uh yeah, growing that that division uh over the years, and and it all started with yeah, just kind of so a lot to do and and trying to do as much as possible on your on your own and making sure there's listings in different areas and making sure the bands are in the right spot and the right shows. Um, and then you know, not only you know creating content, but putting it in the right areas and then having um you know ads and and and all the different things. So, you know, at this point we have today's Wednesday, we had our filmer in uh today, so he's here every Wednesday. We have a marketing manager who kind of ties it all together. We got a Google Analytics specialist making sure that you know our listings, our business is too two-pronged for the most part. You know, we have the vans itself and then all the products that Evan was mentioning. So we've over 155 SKUs on the website, and so it's just a matter of making sure those are all approved through Google, you know, tracking all the metrics onto our website where all that traffic is coming from. Then we have an ads manager, uh, and oh, from there, SEO, an SEO specialist, uh, and then all the different business units of products, the Solid Woodworks product line, which we still have to talk about. Uh, and then uh and then yeah, the sales rep that's here uh daily on the shop floor, uh taking all those inbound leads and working to turn them into van builds. So yeah, it's a large uh it's a large team that uh is mainly started out uh as contractors, right? Taking those specialists and um you know that are focused on doing this one niche for many different clients. Uh and so you know, their time uh being super uh pointed and efficient with regards to to Sandy Vans. Uh and then you know that being you know growing over the years. But yeah, now we've started uh a Sandy Vans uh YouTube channel or a TV show called Sandy Vans TV. Uh that was a big initiative this year. So many of our customer, you know, our customer base is you know living and breathing and watching all these tours on YouTube to uh to understand about the products in the vans more because this is yeah, one of the most expensive purchases they're gonna make in their life. Anyone would, it's $150,000 to $200,000 plus van. Uh so they're looking at all the different research uh and product options there are, and we want to make sure that we you know we have enough out there to have brand recognition and make sure that people are understanding the journey of what it's like to buy a Sandy Van. Uh so that's been uh a big push this year is uh Sandy Vans TV, with which recently got picked up by DirecTV and is now on channel 4366, which is an RV channel uh on DirecTV, which has been really exciting. So, all thanks to that, yeah, that marketing group's effort.
Evan Purcell:It's actually a bit of a funny story on how that kicked off, too. What got us going down the path on Sandy Vans TV? Yep. We had um maybe a year ago that we had someone approach us, one of our customers um works in the TV world, she's a producer, and she said, Hey, I think that there's a fantastic TV show here in what it is that you guys do. Um, you know, think pimp might ride, but van edition. And so she brought a whole team. She said, Would you guys be willing to uh film a sizzle? Or it's like a pre-pilot um for this. We said, heck, yeah, let's do it. And so she comes in, brings a whole film crew in. You know, they've got the lights and the camera, multiple camera angles, and it was a wild production. Uh, and they shot everything, and then crickets just absolutely never never never saw anything from it, yeah, nothing. And uh yeah, I think that that they just ended up getting uh pursuing other projects. Um, and so it was coming into this year, we're starting to game plan how we want to uh focus our marketing efforts this year. Uh and it kind of circled back to that and said, hey, think there's something there. Like we we want to give our customers uh the opportunity to uh to get to know what it is we do here better, to get to know the personalities within the company better. Uh, and also the sales journey is such a long process. This isn't something that somebody just decides on a Tuesday what they want to buy in a van and Wednesday they are picking it up. Um, most of these people are researching this for years. So here's an opportunity for us to get that connection with that customer and have that extend over multiple years. Uh so we said, hey, you know what? All right. Didn't work out to end up doing it with this producer and that this actual production company. Um, what if we end up taking this on ourselves? And we had another one of our customers who had actually had a similar idea. I'll let you take it over from there because they reached out to you. It's actually the owner of Morgan Free Band.
unknown:Uh so one of the original bandowners.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, and he came back around the shop and I was playing golf with him and talking to him about uh the business. And he goes, Hey, you know, you guys uh would make really great TV. Like I got a friend who uh does work with um, you know, Jay Leno. He does some, you know, TV shows that are on, like automotive TV shows. Uh, and you know, I will introduce you. And so he's actually in San Diego and uh a director and done. This, you know, really great work and in this industry. And he saw Sandy Mans, took the tour around. He's like, Yeah, you guys got something here. Let's let's film an initial pilot and see where we can go with it. And so that started, yeah, to kick off the year. And we've got three episodes that are uh on our YouTube now or and on direct TV. Uh and then four and five have already been um have already been yeah, filmed and and going through editing. Uh so yeah, season one is underway and it's been a ton of fun. And I think, yeah, it gives an opportunity for for customers and and just you know fans uh of the brand to kind of stay involved and and check out what uh what Sandy Vance is up to. I know it's oh go ahead.
Evan Purcell:I was a man, is it a challenge to uh to run a production facility and also try to film at the same time. Uh neither one of them play that that nicely together. So it's definitely been uh been a challenge to make sure we're maintaining pace and everything with the production and actually running a business, not a TV show. Um and then running a production is so involved in and of itself. And so trying to merge the two has been it's been a really challenge. Yeah, a lot of really big noises.
Alan Mondus:Like right now, we're filming, you know, this uh after business hours because during the day there's 20 people buzzing around here and a CNC running, and there are lots of loud noises. So uh Seth is, you know, he has an ear for if he hears a car drive by outside, he could hear it. So when he gets here, he's just like looking around, it's like can quiet on Seth, can you guys shut that down, please? Stop it. And it's it's comical because Brian, our other business partner, uh, you know, he loves it. He's just like, oh, Seth is gonna, his head's gonna explode.
Connor Schwab:Man, that's that's so I know it's really early. Uh so you're really not gonna know how SVTV's really been performing from like an ROI standpoint. But any like early indications of how of if it's been getting leads and if it's been working. I know it's the first episode dropped like what, two months ago?
Alan Mondus:Yeah, yeah, I think three months, but uh yeah, there's been a number of customers that are coming through the sales process, working with Tanner, our sales manager now, on um, you know, going through a build consultation and then they come in person and you know, get a chance, and Evan or myself are walking in, or we meet the potential customer as well and be like, oh yeah, I feel like I know you've seen you on YouTube, you know. So they they're going through and they're watching the the content because they're involved with you know the company and Tanner and the build consultation and the build process. So I think it is a great pairing. Like, I don't know if weeds are coming directly from the shows yet, but they're starting to get some traction. The first episode has just hit over 100,000 views. So we are seeing some some major traction from the shows, uh, as well as the concrete oasis, I know has a ton of content out on YouTube, uh, but this is unique and kind of a different spin on it. And we have seen some more uh conversations get started for the the build slots of the concrete oasis due to the the episodes because the episode two and three are on kind of that product line and that that partnership with Edna and Nicole, which was a really special uh, you know, just relationship with them, as well as that product is just unmatched.
Connor Schwab:Yeah, it's it's interesting. I uh I always try to encourage people to think of their marketing and advertising and really in terms of investments and and what are or what are when are you just spending dollars and when are you investing in something that will you know live on and have uh reoccurring views? And I think uh long form YouTube content um is a really good way or you know, that those videos that you're investing time and money in now are gonna you know live on YouTube and be seen forever, right? It's an asset of the business. Um and uh you know what I think what we've seen from bringing a lot of really high profile guests on this show is that uh people really want to uh see and connect with the humans behind these businesses. And uh, you know, you know, when we think of uh you know Isaac French and Ben Wolf and you know uh Tori and Seth Bull the Farm Treehouse the people that get over a hundred thousand, five hundred thousand uh followers, you can see they lean way into uh uh filming themselves talking. Like it's a human, it's a story, it's an experience, it's a person, there's emotion. Um and so I know it's a little early in the journey, but I think you guys are gonna really kill it with uh with this SV TV stuff. So I'm excited about it. And uh we did just do uh uh an episode, we just shot an episode cycling down the Oregon coast. I got to sneak in for two days of that, which was a ton of fun. So, you know, stay tuned, go check out the Sandy Van's YouTube video if you want to see Evan and Alan and I in really tight biking shorts. It's it's quite a sight.
Evan Purcell:Rand X, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a that was a fun one to do. And uh yeah, we had a little competition amongst uh amongst all of us. So, you know, when we launched that, go out and uh vote for Connor and I's team as uh as the victors. Yes, that we we won.
Connor Schwab:Yeah, Evan and I uh came in with no road biking experience, but yeah, you'll you'll just have to watch the episode to know who wins the competition. Stay tuned. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Alan, what do you think from a marketing and advertising perspective has been uh maybe the most high ROI that you're like, well, you know, I don't know where our sales funnel or like our business would be if we didn't invest in this thing, you know, whether it's SEO or organic socials or you know, long forward YouTube content or uh influencer partnerships, like what what do you think it is?
Alan Mondus:Yeah, it's not one thing. It's uh it's that's the the toughest thing about marketing is you never know what's going to get take you to that next level or why those eyes are going to hit. You know, it's not a perfect science. And that's where you know doing more and spreading and spreading yourself, honestly, you know, more and more thin because you're you're trying so much. Like, you know, we went uh we went to SEMA, um, we we did a write-up in Motor Trend, uh, you know, we did all of these things SEO-wise backlinks on on all these different publications, uh, and just building our domain, our domain now being one of the, you know, we're domain being over 30, which is equal with all the the top companies um in, you know, van companies in the space, you know, for a relatively newer company oncoming company, three and a half years, uh, it's been such a journey to be able to accomplish that. And it and it does take you know all the blog creation, uh, continuously updating the website, continuously seeing what you know we can tweak on the website, adding new products, and making sure, you know, blog, YouTube, and all different content like works together to be able to bring customers that are searching the internet, you know, realistically we're trying to get people searching on YouTube or uh YouTube and Google onto Sandy Vans, right? And and what are they looking for and making sure our content, copy and uh and visuals are are fitting, uh matching with with the customer needs is is basically it. But but yeah, there's there's not one silver bullet, that's for sure. It's it's quite you know complex and it's different every month, really.
Evan Purcell:Yeah, which is interesting because I know some businesses just find we have this one thing, this is where our leads come from, and it just works. Uh, and I don't think we we haven't found that one thing. It really is uh a combination effort of of so many different ones. Uh and I think some of that comes down to this being such a long customer journey. Um, like I mentioned earlier, is it's just this is something that so many of our customers will meet him at a show two years later, they're coming in the door and buying a van from us. Uh, and so it makes it one tough to track, and also you need to have those multiple touch points. Um, because there's I can't tell you how many people I talked to at a show and they say, hey, this is my retirement plan. When I retire in three years, when my kids go off to college, this is what I'm doing. And so they start thinking about this and think about it for so long and research it for so long. You want to make sure that they're seeing your billboard um up as they're you know, they're driving to work and whatever it is. And yeah, we ended up we we had a billboard. Um, I guess I just took that down, huh?
Alan Mondus:Yeah, it's actually here. We're gonna put it up now next. It was like a large vinyl. We got to keep it so it'll be up in our uh in the shop uh you know, parking lot here soon. But that was that was a really cool moment. We got to, you know, see, you know, over the Pacific in San Diego, sunset, which was actually this this photo was the billboard. Um, you know, Sandy Vans was kind of like a moment you we got to set sit back and be like, oh wow, we have a company that has a billboard. It's pretty cool.
Connor Schwab:That was a very cool moment.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, yeah. I think you know, going back, it's it's like we have three core values here at Sandy Vans. Um, you know, we take pride in our work. Uh the we try and innovate as much as possible with you know Evan's engineering experience for the industry of how we build things, how we bring things to market. And then we have uh customer obsession. We're trying to really understand who our customer is uh and you know, be be friends with them, make sure that they're like fans of the brand. And here's an example like one is this one of the first ever, do you remember the first ever show we did, Connor? It happened to be in La Ventana, Mexico.
Connor Schwab:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Alan Mondus:You set it up. We had we had vans and champagne. We brought the van into Playa Central, which is a little kite boarding shop in La Ventana, small little town Mexico. And honestly, there was like 50 people that showed up and walked through the van, and one of the guys there, he was a yacht captain, and he happened to be like cruising through. It was his couple days off, and he was back here yesterday, three and a half years later, and just bought his first product from us. He's been following us the entire time. We stayed at his house in Vale last year at GoPro Mountain Games. So, so that's where we're just trying to be, you know, be relatable, be human, like you said, and be fans uh of our customers and have our customers be obsessed with our brand. And and that is, I think, the biggest lead to our success is saying, hey, we're, you know, we're the company, we're the people behind the company. And, you know, when we want uh to help you uh achieve what, you know, he was here with his son, they're going camping this weekend up in Big Bear, and they needed some products and and their Bronco to help achieve, you know, their goals of being off-grid and overlanding. And uh, and that's what you know, Sandy Vans and this company is all about.
Evan Purcell:And I I think that's been one of one of our biggest emphasis in the business, one of our biggest strengths and successes. And we get this all the time where people touch base with us and like, wow, you know, they call us up and say, hey, you can actually get a human on the phone with Sandy Vans. And that's something we're gonna make. We've got three people that are always attending to those phones. So you're always gonna be able to contact somebody. Um, once you've bought a van from us, if you have issues in warranty, you've got Alan's personal cell phone number, you've got my personal cell phone number. So you're able to get directly in contact with us. And people are reaching out to us at wee hours of the night, but we're gonna do whatever we can to make sure we get you sorted out, get you back on the road. Um, if there's, I mean, I can't tell you the number of FaceTimes I've been on with customers to walk them through. Well, you got to press and hold that power button. You can't just tap it once or whatever it is. Um, but I cannot think of many other businesses in our industry that you get that kind of um uh connection to the business uh in that kind of customer support. And that's been our biggest emphasis and something that uh we want to make sure we maintain as the business grows and scales.
Connor Schwab:You know, I I still am connected to the the Google Business account. So every time a customer leaves a review on the Google Business account, I get a little chime, and I've been it's just been going off lately. So I think you guys, whatever you're doing is is working because uh I think it's 4.9 stars out of like 130 reviews now, which is amazing. Uh um so the I think the the dedication and customer obsession is really shining through. And I remember sitting in on one of your guys' uh uh Wednesday meetings for for the marketing and advertising, and we were talking about SEO and and you and we had basically and this was a year ago, so we were two and a half months into the business, and our SEO person was like, Yeah, we're now ranking number third when someone types a luxury adventure sprinter van. And I was like, we're we're number third on Google. There's companies that have been in there for 10 years that are doing $50 million in in van and product sales, and we're ranking ahead of them because of like this team and what they've been doing. And I actually just Googled it just now. I just Googled luxury adventure sprinter vans, and guess who's number one? It's Sandy Vance. Um, whatever you guys are doing um is working. It's probably a good time to chat about Nectar Media. Um, do you guys want to chat at all about that?
Evan Purcell:Yeah, definitely. That that one kind of came about. You talked earlier a little bit about the team that we had uh had assembled um and kind of having the realization that we've we've built this rock star team of uh of marketers. Um said, hey, they've done so much to grow our business and our brand and grow us to where we are today. Um what are the opportunities of having these people, instead of being individual contractors, actually put them under one umbrella? Um they're already acting as a team for our business, but what if they acted as a team for other businesses as well? And I'll let you take it away from here.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, it was really it's been uh fun building out this team and why it all started is because of the content we were originally putting out, and and because we were brand focused from the get-go and worked with Jackson to create such an incredible brand image and brand video. That was our original content we put out. That got eyes on individuals who were young, hungry, looking uh for this type of work. Uh and our content creator, uh, our filmer, who is incredible and has been here for three years now. You know, he started when he was 18, you know, just out of out of high school. And he's like, this is what I want to do. I've been behind a camera since I, you know, could hold a camera. And he's incredible. He's all-time uh and our marketing manager, same with her. You know, she had done some work in real estate, but they got attracted to that original content and the and basically, you know, this this lifestyle and what we were putting out, and now have, you know, been here developing this brand for the last three years, uh, as well as yeah, just kind of like working within that niche and seeing how great um, yeah, how how we've been impactful in those in those meetings with that team. So wanting to recreate this because they were working for they have been, you know, all these individuals are have been contractors working, you know, on different projects as well. So having them all having us all under one house, uh starting a company called Nectar Media, uh looking to launch in the next couple months here, have our first couple you know, clients. Also, obviously, Sandy Man's gonna continue being done the marketing from Nectar, uh, and it'll be kind of housed remotely uh as well as out of this facility. So um, yeah, more content will be coming from Nectar in the coming months on the official launch. But um, yeah, we will be working and focusing on the overlanding, you know, lamping and outdoor uh industry and sector as a whole.
Connor Schwab:Yeah, and I think it's it's a it's honestly a perfect product for I think 80 to 90 percent of the things that work in the lecture adventures printer man space will work in the um in the glamping space from a content and media perspective. So if uh if any you know glamping operators are interested in getting in touch with you guys to learn more about your media services, what's the best way for them to reach out or contact you?
Alan Mondus:Yeah, Nectar Media on uh Instagram just launched, but uh Sabrina, she's uh the manager and so to be Sabrina at NectarMedia.com, and that's NKTR Media. So uh yeah, there's there's more, but uh you know it's you gotta you gotta you gotta squeeze it out to to get more of the story behind Nectar Media, and that'll have to be in the next podcast.
Connor Schwab:Yeah, the next the next episode. Yeah, if you want to check out uh Sandy Vent stuff, you can just go go check out their Instagram. It's just really beautiful, high quality content. What's um uh Evan, what'd you guys do? What was your last month of product sales?
Evan Purcell:I think we've been uh now with Solid Woodworks. Um I guess that's another thing we need to touch in into is we ended up um acquiring uh a business through um that does slide out drawer systems for forerunners, Tacomas, um, and then we started expanding that product. Yeah, maybe you can we've got one sitting on the wall right next to us. Um but it's it's a uh camping solution um for uh SUVs, essentially. Um so it's a phenomenal leader product um that so many people I started myself in the back of my truck. So many people start out in Forerunners, trucks, uh, and eventually move into the van space. Um so it's awesome to be able to capture the the customers at that um you know at that early stage on that overlanding journey.
Alan Mondus:I mean, this goes back to your original idea, really. I mean, Brian, who are our business power business partner, you know, he started Solid Woodworks six years ago and you know he worked uh in his wood shop up in Huntington, but it's literally a flat pack kit for any of these SUVs to build out a camping solution, sleep, store, explore. It goes as a kit to someone's driveway, and all they need is a uh you know, a screw gun impact to just put this together, you know, IKEA style, and then put it into the back of their vehicle, which yeah, it's kind of full circle because that's exactly what Evan had for ideas for obviously on the vans uh years ago. So it's it's made such a great pair and uh and having that under one roof with the CNC building that product as well as the same CNC is building all the cabinetry designed by Evan for you know the vans itself. Um just been such a good a great pairing for the product line of the business.
Evan Purcell:Yeah, you actually have one in the back of your forerunner, don't you?
Connor Schwab:I was literally about to say I got one and I use it all the time. It's it's freaking amazing. Best best purchase I ever made. Um but yeah, coming back to the question that you answered.
Evan Purcell:So um all of that's going through Sandy Vans now. Um so our product sales that average about 150 grand a month right now.
Connor Schwab:Yeah, which is I know on quite a trajectory of of growth right now from some of the board meetings, um, which I think 150 grand a month in any products business is is phenomenal and growing. So um yeah, the marketing and advertising team is is incredible. So reach out if you're interested. Uh shifting gears a little bit. What's what was maybe the the scariest moment at Sandy Man's where you thought uh the wheels might fall off?
Evan Purcell:There's been a couple of those, but uh my my scariest one uh was gonna be right when we moved into this facility that we're in. It was a big stretch, a big leap, going from paying, what was it, four grand a month, $45,000? Yeah, four four grand a month in rent uh to $25,000 a month in rent. Um huge step up. We had to put $75,000 down to get into the facility. So first month's rent, last month's rent, security deposit. Um, and that was basically all the cash we had. Um, we had actually had to take out uh some loans to even be able to get that cash together. We moved into the facility and um didn't didn't have a ton of builds lined up at the time. Um, so we had a couple, uh, move into the facility, and then the uh the company that was here before us uh was a race shop that had gone bankrupt. They went out of business and just left everything in the shop. So we're excited to move into this brand new facility that we just paid $75,000 to get the keys to. And we come in day one, and the floor is just covered in oil. There are racks of just car parts and junk all over the place. Uh, there is a rolling chassis of a Porsche Boxter in the back and gin's broken down.
Alan Mondus:There was uh seven lifts hoists in here. I had a customer coming that day to drop off their van. So we were full scrambling. We had just gotten back from SEMA. Uh, you know, it was yeah, it was a scary situation. We made the best of it. We actually, thank goodness we have the best friends. We had every friend we knew come show up, and we moved everything out of the the shop floor that day. And we had a customer in the next day, and uh, and we just we just made it work, you know. Honestly, it was like like Evan said, like this was such a huge leap for us to go because we were riding this wave, this momentum that had continued to help us propel this business that we were, you know, the original 140, but we were bootstrapping from there. It was all like organic sales, growing the business and being scrappy, working, you know, all day, every day, living and breathing sandy vans, and saying, okay, this is the natural progression for this company if we want to continue to grow it. We need the space and we need to be in a the right location. And and this was it. This is an amazing place and facility. Um, but it was definitely a reach to try and you know take this leap.
Evan Purcell:And we not only had that, so once we got things moved in, we had all of our friends come help clean out the space, get this van in for this customer, this one customer that we have or building their van and helping get some cash back in the bank. And uh, and then all of a sudden the bank comes and says, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on, we own everything in here, you guys can't move in. And so we started moving all of the things from our old shop that now we have to get out of. We've moved it into this new shop that we just spent a whole week cleaning out, had all our friends come, and now we're getting kicked out by the bank uh from because they own everything that's here and um and they uh from the the company that previously had been here and had gone bankrupt. And say, well, we we have a customer van in here we have to build, we don't have a facility, we can build it over here. What are we supposed to do? Uh and it came down to where our only choice was to just buy everything that had been left here, all of this junk. Um, and there's some great stuff too. But again, we had spent all of the money we had on getting in the door. We're getting the bank is coming and telling us we can't access the facility, we need to get out. We've already started moving out, we have to be out in a in two weeks out of our old facility. We have a customer's van that we need to build. So we ended up just settling with the bank. We bought everything that was under the roof with money we didn't have. It was 55 grand to buy all of that. Uh, and so we had to dip into a business line of credit to come up with the cash to do that. So now we're taking on even more risk in the space, um, and then had to buy all this stuff that we had to figure out what to do with. But that's what allowed us to be able to operate in the facility to make the move that we needed to have, to be able to deliver this van for a customer that we had had deadlines. And it all worked out.
Alan Mondus:We had to sit and right at this time, you know what my idea was? All right, so we're gonna throw a grand opening. So we literally had November 1st was our first day, and we ran into this debacle. And then I was like, all right, we need to get this place cleaned up and ready for operation. Like, there's only one way to do it. We got to throw a party. So we had this party December 14th. And so we honestly we we we lived here for 30 days, and it was like non-stop trying to one navigate this whole very complex problem with our new landlord, the bankruptcy attorney from the old company, and um the auction company who was meant to be selling it all and buying. It was wild because you could just originally, like, yeah, we lumped some, purchased it, but you couldn't do that because you had to go through the the the right the right process, which basically said we couldn't actually move anything until a month, which would happen happened to be December 10th, four days before the party. So I had everything. I I I became my job for that month was well, one, of course, sell vans, two, sell the $55,000 worth of products, hoists, lifts, engines, you know, all these different be become an expert in Porsche parts. And uh we ended up selling it all for you know above the 55. So we made our money back and it all moved out literally the day that we were cleared to move it, which was the 10th. Had an amazing party where 300 people showed up and we did an awesome grand opening to uh unveil Sandy Man's new shop. Uh and uh yeah, it all worked out, but there were a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in that month, that's for sure. Yeah.
Evan Purcell:So that was definitely my scariest moment. It was like watching us throw all of our cash into this big unknown and then not knowing if we're gonna be able to operate. It was it was a wild, wild month. But yeah, one of the most fun we've had too. Yeah.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, it's I mean, there's there's so many scary moments. And that's you know, the roller coaster of entrepreneurship and being a business owner, it's you never know what's around that next Ben. And uh, and honestly, you think the the bigger you get, you know, ah, I read, you know, the more stats you read, the more scared you get, right? With not many businesses make it past the five-year mark, not many businesses make it past the million dollar mark, not many, you know, it's like it's very difficult. And um, and my thought always was okay, the bigger you are, the more established, and obviously the uh the more secure and and stable a business is. And uh, and to be honest, you know, in some businesses that's true, but uh our business has tons of inventory. We went through today and walked around the shop and realized how much inventory is in our on our balance sheet. And it's just uh it's it's constant challenges as well as the expenses don't ever go away. So the bigger you get, you know, that payroll expense and the $25,000 rent, those ones don't uh go away. But sales you got to continue to fight for. So it's uh the the scariest moment is always waiting for you around the bed and keeps you on your toes and uh also keeps you alive. You know, that's part of being an entrepreneur and a business owner. Uh so it's there's been many, and I'm sure there'll be many more, but it's uh it's a ride that's worth it, you know, when you're having great customers and and and really awesome employees and the team here at Sandy Vans, you know, it inspires me, inspires, you know, our customers, and uh, and really creates amazing products. So uh it's worth it, but yeah, it's it it keeps you up at night sometimes.
Connor Schwab:So that's a uh that's certainly a frightening moment. I remember when you guys were were going through the van space move with everything going on, and I just felt for you. My my heart ached for for how much work that you guys were doing at that moment in time. And um it was scary. Yeah, I remember when you guys came to us and were like, hey, we found this incredible facility, it's kind of the dream facility in Mirabar. It's uh gonna take all of our cash off, basically. Um but it's gonna be awesome. Uh-huh. And yeah, it's that uh that super scary moment where you know entrepreneurs take big bets or big risks, and uh and I think like uh it paid off huge. I remember when you guys came to us to raise the money originally, you guys had a photo in the presentation of the dream factory. I think it was Rob Deirdre's Dream Factory. And I think what you have behind you, yeah, and and what you guys have now behind you, I would say, is you know, the Sandy Van's Dream Factory where you guys can, you know, build, fabricate, create uh anything that you could imagine and a place that like brings people in to make their wildest dreams come true. So it's uh it's quite a special thing that you guys have uh been able to create with no lack of uh blood, sweat, tears, and sleepless nights, I'm sure. Yeah.
Alan Mondus:Um every once in a while we still have a have a party you can see right here. There there is a giant disco ball in the shop, you know, just to keep it fun around here.
Connor Schwab:Where where do you see Sandy Vans three to five years from now? What's the what's the vision for the future? Great question.
Evan Purcell:Yeah, that's when we gotta we gotta just get on the same page as us. Um it's um yeah, it's it's it's funny asking this, and yeah, I I think we need to have some more discussion. And so there's there's alignment. So much uh of the business, it's so easy to get sucked into the day-to-day. And we try to have that line of sight um and make sure that we have that that direction that we're striving towards. Um, but it's been a it's it's been a little challenging lately because so much of that direction we wanted to get to and where we're striving to is to max out this facility. Like since the day we moved into it, we said, you know, we got a five-year lease here, we're locked in. How do we maximize the production that we could do here? And we are getting to the point where we're bursting at the seams. And so that now opens the door for us having that next line of sight of where are we gonna go? What are we gonna do? Um, but I think that, yeah, it's just been we've been working towards this goal and we're getting really, really close to that goal at this point. Um, so we need to have that next alignment. Um and I also I just I had a uh had a new employee that I had an interview with um uh a couple weeks ago. And at the end of the interview, I was like, You got any questions for me? And he uh he asked a great great question, and it's one I want to ask both of you guys. Um he said, in five years from now, what decision do you want to look back on and hope that you made this year? Um and I sat and reflected on that, and he was asking in in terms of the business, and my answer to that question, um, and it also answers yours a little bit, um it was to uh to take that next leap and that next step. Um and what I mean by that is we took this massive step to be able to move into this facility, and it was terrifying at the time. Um but we look at it and it's like, man, it worked out. It's uh it's everything that the business needed to grow to that next point. And now we're getting really close to where there's the next bigger step that we need to take. And guess what? This one is far scarier than that last one was, it's far bigger and comes with more risks. Um but the thing that I want to be able to look back on five years from now, uh, and the decision I hope that I make this year is to be able to take that next step and that it works out.
Alan Mondus:Yeah, yeah. Each of each time it's um that appetite for risk uh you know shifts. And that's what I mentioned at the beginning of this podcast is it's interesting. That's the you know, difficulty when I talk to mentors and other uh entrepreneurs and business owners is that partnerships uh have different paths or partners within business. And there's always these different decision points where uh people might be on different paths within their appetite for risk. Uh and and I find that you know fluctuating within myself, uh, you know, sometimes daily. No. But It does, you know, when the business is going well and we're on an upswing and and things are firing in all cylinders, it's easy to say yes, it's easy to take on more risk, and it's easy to to feel like we're gonna, you know, uh go around the bend and and be able to face whatever whatever um comes up. But when you're going through the lows, it's uh it's like, man, woof, you know, uh a remote job that pays six figures and it lets me surf every day sounds pretty good, right? So, you know, it's it's uh yeah, it takes a certain person uh and and a certain amount of willpower to really go for move forward with each of these risks. And uh, and I agree, it's it's one of those, hey, you have a cup and we're trying to fill it up. And as you start to see it fill, it's like, okay, are we ready to you know go for that, the next size, the next uh say amount of scale that uh it takes to really grow a business to become a household name and a national brand. And um and yeah, I think there's different ways that we're we're looking at right now of how the business can uh focus on these different segments and spending more time looking at each business unit and what's doing, what's working well, what's not, uh, and and knowing that you know we're we're betting on the right horse and and we're trying to look into that crystal ball as much as we can because there's uh there's a lot of unknowns. And in the end, this is a really, really cool toy that you know people want to have. Uh, but there's other you know factors involved in the industry as a whole, and we got to be wary of that and making sure that we're doing the best we can within the industry, right? So um, so man, I don't know. Those those are some good questions and and you got us thinking, and and this is great because these aren't things we're doing on a daily basis because we're you know fighting the daily battles and uh you know taking care of the fires that need to be put out. But um, yeah, these are the the big things that you know are fun to talk about and dream about.
Connor Schwab:Any any advice you would have for entrepreneurs in the trenches? Maybe it's something that you'd tell yourself, you know, and you if you're in your first two years of just in the trenches and trying to get the business you know profitable. And uh like if if you were gonna give advice to other folks out there, what might that be?
Evan Purcell:I think for me, the biggest thing um is finding the right people to do it with. You know, some people are able to go on the solo entrepreneur journey, but for the most part, you're not gonna do it alone. You're gonna be finding other people, um, and whether that's through people that you employ or through business partners. Um but I think that the the thing that's been the most important for me is having somebody by my side going through feeling the exact same stressors. Um and being able to do this all with friends has been really incredible. Um but so much of it, honestly, has been been you, Alan, is there's there's times that that you know the business gets stressful, uh, but it always feels like we're able to find a bit of balance between one another. When one of us is having a low, the other one could be there to lift lift you up. Um, and there's been so many lows I've had where Alan's just been able to be my rock and and support me. And I hope that I'm able to do that for you. Um, and that's I couldn't imagine doing this journey without that. Um, that has been the only way that I've been able to continue at this for as long as we have. Um, so that would be my my biggest advice is find that that person or those people that can be by your side doing it together and uh yeah, and help support you through it all. Because it's not easy. Yeah, it's you can see by the emotion.
Alan Mondus:It's it's really it's tough. Uh it's yeah, it's it's going to battle every day. And if you're doing it alone, like, yeah, there's so many times you're like, oh man, throwing in the towel. Like, what does that look, what does that path look like? And you're kind of like, wait a minute. Um, am I sure the juice is worth the squeeze? You know, is this um is this a battle I want to continue taking? Because it's gonna take uh it's gonna take different impact on you know your your personal health, your relationships, you know, uh just how much how much time you get to sleep at night, it it's it's a hard path to choose. Um, so I I couldn't agree more. Yeah. I mean, relying on, you know, having good, yeah, good people around you in general, like relying on your network asking for help. I think that's been uh impactful for for Sandy Vans is is having such a a great like support system uh in general. Like within the business, 100% I agree with everything you know Evan said. And and that's uh I've you know, we both have to had to check out at times and be like, all right, you're too interesting.
unknown:You watch the kid.
Alan Mondus:And so that is huge in having that. I think that's why I believe so much in partnerships. And I'm I'm in these different, you know, like um entrepreneurship like groups now or mentorship groups, and and uh hear like the others' ends of it and people not believing because they've gone through partnerships and has seen seen uh maybe you know what happens on the other side or could happen. Um, but yeah, I'm a I'm a huge believer in that. So an advocate. So completely agree with what Ev's saying. And then, but then if you are a solo entrepreneur or you're starting something and yeah, you're within those first two years and you're hitting all these roadblocks, and um yeah, it's honestly like you you don't know how much support you gotta have this um you know delusional optimism yourself for sure, and just keep it going and just fake it till you make it. And hey, we're moving into this giant shop and we don't have a line of you know vans ready to be built, but we know build it and they will come. We know that once we're here, it's all gonna work out. We know that we don't know, but you gotta believe that you know. So that optimism and that has to come. That's part of being an entrepreneur. If you're not an optimist, then you know, you should stay having a you should get a job. So it's just like having optimism and then it's rely, you know, leaning on your network, honestly, um, reaching out, don't not being afraid to knock on doors, ask for support, ask for help. Um, you know, the different questions and conversations I've had, and it's led to, you know, new banking relationships, new customers, Sandy Ban's TV director. You know, you never know these different um worlds can collide and start to help you in different unique ways. So uh I know Connor, you're really good at that. You stay in touch with people so well, you're so well connected, you really value relationship. And so um I think that goes a long way when you're an entrepreneur struggling and and you um you need some some help from your circle, uh, lean on them and ask for it. And and so I think I would say, you know, that would be uh a number one when it's you know comes to advice and uh and going through the trenches, yeah. Thanks, guys.
Evan Purcell:Yeah, it's and and just having transparency with that. I think that's that's something that a lot of businesses, I mean, you know, we in this podcast, we've talked a lot about our financial numbers. Um, and just being willing to be open about that stuff, the more open you are with people, the more uh open they'll be with you, the more vulnerable they'll be with you. And then the the more they'll be able to understand your needs, your hurts, and be able to step in and help out where they can. Um, I come from a product design background, and there's so many people that are like, I've got this million-dollar product idea, but I won't tell you anything about it. You gotta sign NDAs, you gotta go through all this process. And if you have that fear to share with people, you're never gonna get in the right circle or in the conversations with the people that can actually help and do something because those people aren't gonna sign NDAs, right? They've got way too many things coming to them. Um, and so just by having full transparency, full open openness about whatever it is in in your business will uh will lead to much, much more beneficial um conversations with X.
Connor Schwab:I couldn't agree more. It's not the person who has the idea, it's the person who executes and you like you can't do it alone takes a village. Yeah, exactly. Um wise words, all right. Last question. Uh what's either you know your your favorite moment that you've had in a Sandy van or maybe a customer shared, you know, shared something that they did in a van that was just really uh special or inspiring or crazy.
unknown:Oh man.
Connor Schwab:Oh, I can go first to let you guys think.
unknown:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Connor Schwab:I I always love the video. You guys gave the um the vans to a bunch of uh like super high dive cliff jumpers and uh they they parked a sandy van on this crazy high bridge and then they they jumped off off the wall of the bridge and then kicked the wall of the sandy vans and did a like these like a triple backflip off this huge bridge. And I was like, this is this is insane. And that was I I just loved that one, it was so unique. So cool. Just high diving off a sandy van.
Evan Purcell:Yeah, yeah. And then we immediately messaged him, don't do that again. Yeah, but it was really cool. It was a cool shot. Um Travis. Uh I think I don't know if this particular moment in the van, because there have been so many. I mean, that's what's amazing about the van is the the experiences you get from it. Um, but I think the most unexpected one that's come from Sandy Vans as a whole has been who it's connected us with. Uh, it's opened a lot of really incredible doors and gotten us in a bunch of other rooms with people that there's no other way that I could ever see myself getting into uh because it is a cool product. It's something that uh that a lot of people are interested in. Um so we've got to connect with big time influencers and heroes we've had. We've gotten to sell to pop stars, we've gotten to sell to billionaires and actually have conversations with these people and uh people like I never could imagine connecting with. Um and yeah, we've had a pop star where we're talking about doing a Baja surf trip to uh to go um take the vans down and she wants to write some music in the van and do some content with it. And it's like to get to go have that experience with her. There's no other way we get get in those doors. Um, and so it's been really, really neat where it's put us.
Alan Mondus:Yeah. Yeah, yeah, just the access. Access has been really cool. I think this product captures like the imagination of uh so many people of that dream, you know. It's like, oh, what would you do with this? Like this dream has become you know so common. And um, I remember like that, yeah, going back to that Hugh Jack van selling. It was one of those vans we finished, and the next day this guy came and he's like, This is the van, this is my van. And it just was one of those sales that are those you know, customer journeys that was so uh like serendipitous, and he wanted to you know live this nomadic lifestyle. And he his first year, he was full-time in at Starlink. He is a project manager and and could work anywhere, and he put Starlink, it was early days of Starlink, it was like three years ago, and he went to Alaskan back 25,000 miles on the van, and he was sending pictures every month. And it was there was a moose in front of the van, and there was him on this mountain, you know, in Alaska, and it was just uh it was so cool to see uh this this this customer just living out their dream, you know, and being so connected to to us and the brand. And um, you know, we we did this, you know, I I love to get people together and build community and and have events. And and we started uh burning vans we ran for three years in a row out in the desert down here in San Diego, and that customer came to Burning Vans, multiple of our customers came to that, and it was uh, you know, these people, there's some people who flew from all over and uh led to a pop star buying one of our vans and led led to all these unique experiences. Uh, and and it was uh just our community and and seeing all of our vans um with customers, with have become friends, uh uh grow the Sandy Man's community, just you know, that's what puts a smile on my face. And uh and and every time I do get those texts, you know, sometimes they're you know, a question about, hey, how does this work again? Or shoot, my van, you know, something broke. Uh, but and sometimes they're they're just pictures of, you know, hey, I'm out here with my family and can't thank you enough. This this is a this is what brings us you know joy to my life and and this moment right here. And it has to do with you know the van that got them there, and and that's that's special.
Connor Schwab:Oh amazing, guys. All right. Um all right, actual last question. Evan, what's the name of your van? We haven't got that yet. Oh, the name of my van? Yeah.
Evan Purcell:The latest one? Indivana Jones.
Connor Schwab:Ah, there we go. That hadn't come up yet. All right, gents. Um, do you have any asks of the audience and if people wanted to get in touch with you about vans, about partnership, um, anything like that? What's the what's the best way?
Alan Mondus:Well, first of all, if you're in San Diego, come see us. Our doors are open Monday through Friday, 9 to 6, and we'd love to give you a tour of the facility, show, show off our latest show band is named Gordon Vansy. You know, he'll be here for it for a tour as well as Concrete Oasis and uh and the whole shop. So we're here in Miramar, sandyvans.com. Uh, spelt like it sounds, uh, you can call the main line during business hours, 619-812-1903, get in touch with us. Uh, and of course, yeah, the YouTube Sandy Vans uh Sandy Vans TV now on our YouTube. Um and you know, if you type in Sandy Vans, we hit we that we better be number one there. So you should be able to find us no problems.
Connor Schwab:Perfect. All right. Well, this was so much fun and really special for me to get this colliding of worlds to get to have you know my Sandy Vans friends on our glamping podcast. So thanks, guys. Thanks for coming on. Thanks for making it happen.
Evan Purcell:Thank you so much for having us, Connor.
Alan Mondus:Appreciate you, Connor.