Shed Geek Podcast

STEEL KINGS: Why knowing who you are changes how you lead, sell, and build community

• Shed Geek Podcast • Season 5 • Episode 89

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What if your worth came before your work—and that changed everything about how you lead, sell, and show up? We sit down with JMAG’s Chief Branding Officer, Craig Felker, to unpack “wild leadership,” a simple framework that starts with identity and turns it into action: know your worth, initiate brave conversations, lead with energy that gives more than it takes, and dare to dream bigger than what’s comfortable.

From the Shed Expo floor to everyday lot life, we explore culture as a practical business strategy. Craig breaks down how JMAG’s family-first values shaped a booth experience people couldn’t stop talking about—ice-cold drinks, a family zone, and the Gravity Grab that sparked real conversations without a hard sell. We dig into disruptive marketing that actually fits: define who you are, then create moments and media that express it. That’s how a rap video about 16” on center (“Flawless”) turned core values—approachable, best-in-class—into shareable momentum. Some loved it, some didn’t, everyone noticed.

We also go personal. Jared shares a sobriety-driven “honesty tour” that reset priorities, deepened partnerships, and brought purpose back to the work. We talk faith, authenticity, and why vulnerability isn’t a tactic but a trust engine. Along the way, the Savannah Bananas show up as a playbook for reimagining “boring” categories: test boldly, keep what works, and be relentlessly present—on your lot, online, and in your community.

By the end, we’re looking ahead: sharpening short-form vertical content, widening the audience beyond sheds and steel while staying true to a service-first mission, and building relationships that last. If you’re a builder, dealer, or leader who wants to stand out without selling out, this conversation will give you clarity, courage, and a few ideas you can ship by Friday. If it resonates, subscribe, share with a friend, and tell us: what’s the bold move you’re making this week?

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This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: J Money LLC

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Jared:

Welcome back to another podcast with us. We are so glad that you are here. Check out our title sponsor, the guys over at J Money. They will help you out with your metal building financing, your jet financing, you do pools, windows, doors, whatever it is, the guys at J Money can help you out. Check out the guys over at Cold Spring Enterprises. If you are into bending tube steel, okay, the Versa Bend will do it in one fell swoop. Contact Cold Spring Enterprises. The team over there will help you out. Eric, my brother. I think we're on 32. 34. We are hot. Something like that, dude. I don't even know anymore.

Eric:

I just drank, I just drank a new Curie Cup that's a southern pecan butter pecan organic. I haven't had it before. And okay. Banging good. Just FY.

Jared:

Alright. I'm uh I'm enjoying the uh sugar-free Red Bull. I've switched from monsters to Red Bulls, so I'm uh on the Red Bull bandwagon. I'm not sure what you got there, brother. You got a green oh okay, a white Yeti. That's nice. Well, no coffee because it was so good.

Eric:

I drank it so fast.

Jared:

There, there, there you go, man.

Eric:

I had to because our guests today I've got to keep up with.

Jared:

So high energy, yeah, high profile. Dude, we had a blast. We've talked about the Shed Expo nonstop for the last couple of weeks. You guys know we were there. You saw us, you talked to us, you said hey. Um, we talked about this on our last episode, right? We talked about the booth that we said was the best booth at Shed Expo. The guys who were dropping people into baskets of AirPods, not baskets, but a big I mean, dude, people on a crane. I'm telling you, can you get a Diet Coke? We're paying like four dollars for Diet Coke. Cardinal hooked everybody up with $15 and vendor like free beverage money or whatever. And like people are throwing away $15 because the $15 was printed like fake money on the back of the brochure. So I was going through the trash can.

Eric:

Why never use mine?

Jared:

Dude, I was trying to go through the trash can looking for money because the bottles of pop were basically like five dollars a piece. And I'm walking past these booths and I'm shaking and howdying with people and like, hey, can I can I interest you in a Coke? And I'm like, for free? And they're like, Yeah. And sure enough, just like we talked about, it was the J Mag booth. And like you sit there and like you're not getting sold anything, you're just getting sold a good time. Um, I talked to the guy we're getting ready to interview, and they had this like jumbo trot, like the biggest screen you've seen in person, and you can get right up next to it, and there is the man, the JMAC guy, Jim. He's in a jumpsuit at a airplane hangar with like jets, and I'm thinking, who doesn't want to work with these guys? They've got ice cold coke, diet coke, they've got snacks, they've got cool dudes running around here, and they're dropping people in a crane down into a pool of AirPods and money and cool stuff, and never felt like for a second I was getting sold anything. Found out and had a good time, got to meet Craig for the first time. We're gonna interview Craig Felker today. If you're in the industry and you don't know Craig, find out who he is. He is a high energy, dynamic personality. Um, he was the host of the Shed Sales Summit, amongst other things. Um, I can tell you, high-energy visionary executive leader, former Billboard Charting, Sony recording artist. So, we're throwing in some Easter eggs here. This guy's been around. He is a cool dude. Eric, you got anything to add, brother? What are we doing this week? Anything before Craig gets in here?

Eric:

Um man, it's only Wednesday, you know, another cup of coffee, and who knows what'll happen.

Jared:

Yeah, I know. Shot out of a cannon, shot out of a cannon.

Eric:

So he's the spirit brother. He is a he enjoys life just like us. And um when you know, when you meet somebody that enjoys anything in life, um, and it's uh you it's like a suction cup of of personality, so it's good.

Jared:

This guy, this guy is responsible for a lot of and the reason I said all these things, right? This guy is the chief branding officer for J Mag RTO. He is a visionary leader, and I'm glad that he's on the podcast today. Let's bring him up. Craig, there he is. Man, you're with the Steel Kings, right? Just shot out of a cannon. So, Eric gave you balloons, just like that.

Craig:

I uh I mean, Steel King, Steel King is a cool well, I mean, Steel Kings, come on, that's a cool. I listen, I'm working out once a week now, and I hope to I hope that I could be Steel King one day.

Jared:

It's certainly not that kind of steel. Okay. We're not claiming to be now. Eric, on the other hand, Eric, Eric can put it in. I can put up some weight. I can put up some weight. Me, not so much. I'm no, I'm out on that. I get excited about other things. I get excited about shed buildings.

Craig:

I'm a runner. The fact that I the fact that I lift once a week now is like comical to all my friends, but that was that was a super generous uh intro and pumped to be here. Uh yeah, dude. Talk to you guys.

Jared:

Yeah, man. We met at the Shed Show officially. I have known of you for a while in the industry. Um, Wild Wednesdays. There's a lot of different things that you do in collaborative stuff. Um, the energy that you bring to the table as a leader in our space is really something that we wanted to reflect on today. So maybe just give a brief overview. I know we gave you a little bit of a shout out, but tell us what you want to tell us up front, and then we'll just jump in, man. We got a lot of stuff we want to hit and not a lot of time to do it. So let's go.

Craig:

Well, I would just say your energy introduces you before you even speak, right? That's right. And so, uh, so many people, I mean, they people know me as that wild energy guy, right? Um, and a lot of people initially are like, this dude, you know, is even for real. I mean, a lot of people don't, and I'd say it's the longest game possible, but uh this is just the way the Lord made me. And because I legitimately love people, like love people, um, everything we do matters. So, um it's not uh some like hype thing, it's not just a coffee thing, although I'm always probably somewhat caffeinated with a little extra juice or a little extra dope hit, dopamine, uh, because I run a lot. Um, but dude, I love people, man. And so, uh I'm pumped. A lot of people don't realize that um I did spend and I get this a lot, like I was gone from the industry for a few years because when I came into the industry, I sat on the manufacturing side um for four years, and you know, I didn't look the part, you know. I'm a big believer in that that people are when people are able to be themselves, like the way they were created, then you know, you will stand out, they will stand out. And so I think that's kind of my mantra. Just help people believe in themselves, help people see something in themselves that maybe uh they can't see or they have trouble seeing um because their light has been dimmed by some lie that they're believing.

Eric:

So that's good preaching. So we're getting started.

Jared:

We're getting started. Let's go. We're getting started preaching, but I can tell you stress on that wild energy, man. Because you'r e gonna talk to us about wild energy and leadership and all that stuff, but I think you're talking more about a culture than anything else. Yeah, who you are is part of your personal culture, yeah, and what you bring to that is how you can develop into the person you're meant to be if you're in the right spot, right? And that's what we talk about a lot here. We've talked about it a bunch on the podcast, but being who you are at all times makes you better because you don't have to be who you aren't, yeah.

Craig:

And there are plenty of people who are yes people in this world, right? Oh, yeah, and we know a lot of them grow in this world um and be uh of ultimate value. Um be the person who's yourself always. That's right. There's only one you wrong, there's only one of you in the world. So, but yeah, I mean to get to the wild thing, I mean, I mean, I was in the industry for four years, went to banking for four years, which is hilarious. Because if you'd have told me that I would have been a banker, you know, I was over client experience and led a team of about 50 people. Uh, but if you'd have told me how to banker, I just you know, I can't believe that ended up in that space, but I loved it um and went from manufacturing to banking, and then Jim Coleman, Kyle Summers uh were in my ear, and I had started to keynote and speak about this concept wild leadership uh or wild energy. And they had me come speak a couple years ago at the NSRA, uh, it was two years ago actually, uh, to this last one. And when I came back, it just felt like a homecoming uh because I love the industry, I love uh the fact that we can talk business and faith and gospel and it all kind of intersects. I don't have to I don't have to hold any of that back because the truth is that honoring people is a strategy. We could talk about that. Um that set me on a pace uh because I knew Jim Coleman and Kyle uh pretty well, and I knew I've known Kyle for 20 years. Um Kyle's band beat my band 22 years ago in a battle of the bands. And uh, you know, I'm still recovering. I'm still recovering.

Eric:

By the way, you'll get him back one day.

Craig:

One day. His band name was Jesus Christ Power Company. How do you compete? Wow, too much energy, too much energy, pure, pure energy directly to the source, baby.

Jared:

Yeah, that's right, man. They're connected directly to the source, they were loud and true.

Craig:

Uh we need to get to Wild, but so Jim and Kyler in my ear after I come back and have this homecoming moment where I get to speak at NSRA and honored for that opportunity. And I Jim understood predictive index that I'm a maverick. And Jim wanted me on J Mac's team not to be someone else, but he knew exactly who I was, and he said, Okay, you get you be you, and that's it. And so wild energy, wild leadership is this to lead people well, and everybody that's listening, whether you are in sales, whether you uh are executive leader, whether you are a CEO, an owner, entrepreneur, whether you lead a team, you're everyone is a leader because you're leading somebody somewhere at some point because people are watching all this stuff, everything we do matters. And um, so you're leading somebody, someone you're also following too. You're both at the same time, and so wild leadership is an acronym because acronyms help people remember things, and it starts with worth. Uh you gotta know your worth, and to be a great leader um is to understand that um your work is not your worth, right? Yeah, the first thing in this life is to understand that you were loved. Um, you were loved. I mean, we'll get spiritual before the foundations of the world, man.

Eric:

That's right.

Craig:

So, so like literally, before the world existed, uh I might I mean, and this is part of my faith, but I just believe that uh the king came off the throne before you even existed. Exactly. So, like, you're worth something, a whole lot.

Eric:

You're not here for no reason.

Craig:

No, it's not, I mean, like predestined works, you got work to do. Oh man, I know you got work to do, and so uh, I believe that, and so when you know your worth, then you don't have to always be right. You can stand down sometimes, you can listen longer, right? And then when you are able to listen longer and surrender, right? You can initiate conversations and you can be vulnerable because leaders who know their worth can be vulnerable and they initiate communication, they don't wait till the sun sets, right? They come after it, they initiate conversations, they're proactive. And if you're in sales, you need to be leading conversations well with empathy, listening, and then L is lead with energy, you're either giving energy, you're taking energy, D is there to dream, and that's in a pattern for a reason worth to initiate conversations which has vulnerability, leading with energy and then daring to dream, and that's wild, baby. And we're just getting going. I mean, the I you're speaking Eric's language.

Jared:

This is Eric's language, bro.

Eric:

Bro, I'm this is Eric. Yeah, I could start running if I if I didn't have a corded headset. As you're saying that, there was this like statement that I always think of, and it's doing flows from being. So, when you know who you are, that is what decides what you do. And so when you know who you are, the do the doing part flows naturally. I think before anybody figures that out, they try to be who they either want to be or who someone else wants them to be, and they don't manage their time well because they're letting somebody else like make those decisions, like subconsciously. Like, man, I'm in total agreement. Oh, I'm in agreement. Like, I couldn't say it more. I couldn't say it more, man.

Craig:

I mean, you say just ha five me and amen, and let's go. So, like, but I honestly, guys, so um that was off the dome because it's breathing for me because I really believe that.

Eric:

Yeah, yeah, I agree. I really, really believe that, and so um there's have you been have you been part of organizations in your life where culture was tougher because maybe that wasn't, yeah. And now you're part of an organization where like you're the top, you know, not the top of it, but the top of like everybody feeds off of the infectious attitude, or you know, and so it's contagious.

Craig:

Um, and and so like I actually just heard Ryan Leek. Um, I don't know if you guys have heard uh Ryan Leek before, phenomenal speaker. Um, but he talked about being who you are, where you are, and he talked about how some people uh you know they have a they might be in a position where they're ready to move to the next position because of culture. And we can get deep into culture because that's my passion, uh super passionate about honoring people and having a culture. I think it's good business. Forget the honor part, and let's talk X's and O's. It's actually just a good return on investment and good business. But then biblical.

Eric:

It's biblical to honor.

Craig:

Yeah, and you talk about the integrity, then that comes back into it. But to get back to that, Ryan Lee says this if you're in a bad culture right now, be grateful because you're probably supposed to be there, especially, especially if you are someone of faith. Um, if you're in a dark, bad culture, turn your light on. You're you may be supposed to be there for a very, very specific reason. Uh, and you need to be thoughtful and aware of that. But um.

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Craig:

Yeah, culture, man.

Jared:

We talk about that. We talk about that a lot. So, like, I'm sure the people on the podcast, I always got to get these like one-liners in. Be the light in a dark room or shine a light in a dark room. Like, we talk about that a lot, right? Finding the why behind why you're there in the first place. Yeah. So my journey over the last two years has been a sobriety journey. And not that I was ever so bad that I like had to be sober, but I found myself through that sobriety journey. And exactly what you talked about went on an honesty tour. I called it the honesty tour of 2024, when I pulled back the curtain on my life and really opened up to say, this is who I am, this is what I want to do, I'm where I want to be. And if you don't want to be there with me in this moment, get out of my way. And from that point forward, we've moved so much more forward, not just mine and Eric's partnership, not just the things that I'm doing in my personal life and all those things, but because I was able to grasp a hold of the why behind the why for me, it made my journey that much easier for me to walk.

Craig:

Yeah.

Jared:

And even if it's hard to walk, if I'm where I was supposed to be in that moment and I handled myself in a way that honors me, my family, my friends, my journey, I feel so much better for having done it. That's why when you say the things you say, I get super hyped up. Because to me, it's exactly what other folks need to hear. They need to hear people like me testify to the fact that if you're struggling with something, whether it be sobriety, whatever it is, address that head on. Talk to somebody, get out there in front of it, man. Because the second that you start hiding yourself in a cloak of somebody else or in somebody else's shadow, dude, I'm telling you, you are you are headed down a very dangerous path to not just being unhappy, but unsuccessful. Yeah, it's very hard to be successful and unhappy at the same time.

Craig:

I I don't like, I mean, I'm I don't want to hyper spiritual. I really, if you know me, I would just say this. I've detoxed a lot from religion. So I'm not I don't try to speak hyper, I don't want to come across as a hyper-spiritual guy. Um, everything's everything is though. And yeah, I'll just say this I do believe there's an enemy that tries to get you isolated. And so yeah, kudos to you because when you are vulnerable, right? Oh yeah, like truly vulnerable and transparent, yep, you're approachable, right? Because everybody, it's a it's a disarming, uh, it's a disarming position, not just not just with other people, but with the enemy, because when you confess things, it's humble in the dark, bro. They can't humble.

Eric:

A humble position is always gonna squash negativity.

Jared:

I don't find many people these days. I used to I used to run from opportunity. Now I thrive in opportunity because I live in a world now where just like you, Craig, I had to operate behind a desk for somebody else for the longest time. And even though I was pseudo-happy, you know, everybody's happy, right? You know, you got three kids, you got this great life, all these things. At the end of the day, I wasn't being who I was destined to be. I wasn't being the person that I was made to be. I wasn't in that, I was not in that form yet. And it took me breaking out of a mold that that frankly was thrust upon me in a lot of ways. Most people in their late teens, early twenties have to fit into this cardboard box makeshift version of what their life might become. There's a there's a picture, and I'll try to get it to Shannon to show everybody on the podcast of two by fours in a classroom, right? And a two by four is walking, it's basically an untethered log, a log into the classroom. And what it is, is everybody in the classroom is a two by four, and that's because they're being milled to be alike, and we need to be less alike. We need to be we need to be less like our neighbor and more like ourselves, and we would find a lot more satisfaction and personal happiness if we would just go down the road that we feel called to go on. You know, if if you want to get to the religious side of things, God made us all in his image. He loved us before we were born, he knew us in the womb. All of these things, the number of hairs on our head, he absolutely made us to be the person that we are destined to be. And if we are in disagreement with that destiny, then we're not in we're in disagreement with God in a lot of ways. Now, if you really want to get deep about it, that's where I feel. I'm like you, Craig. I've been burned a lot in church. Eric knows this, Eric knows my story, my personal story. Um, I'm a believer, I'm a strong believer. And for me personally, it comes down to representing the best version of myself because that's what God would want me to do. And that makes me a better leader, it makes me a better friend, it makes me a better coworker, it makes me a better in any role that I'm in. Yeah, and that's why I connected so much with what you were doing is culture, you know, culture as a business strategy is not something that Fortune 500 companies strive for, they strive for profit margins and you know, we got to get everything in the green, and it's all about money this and money that. And one thing you said to me at Shed Expo, which I will never forget, I learned what JMAG meant. Okay, you told me what JMAG meant. I never knew that. I've been in the industry a long time, never knew that. And the tenants of JMAG, everything that I saw in that booth has to be somewhat of a reflection of who the chief brand officer is. That's you. Fun, fun. Why can't we have fun selling sheds? Why does everything have to be so boring and plain? And I'm not no pun intended. Don't take that the wrong way, listeners. Plain meaning we're calling you out. No, no, no, no. We're not, we're not. We'll have to cut that. We'll have to cut that. Don't leave it. Don't cut that, Shannon. Don't cut that, okay? I don't, I'm not there's a difference between there's a difference between being boring and plain versus being in a plain community and honoring God in the way that you feel led to. And I would argue that I would say almost everyone in the plain community that I know is very happy and very forthright in what they're doing. And that's an honorable thing to be. It's exactly what we're talking about. Culture as a business strategy is just that that's their culture. What I'm talking about is from an outsider's perspective, like me and Eric, we're not in the plain community, right? I'm going to the shed show and I'm seeing the same old boring booth, the same old boring things. Oh, here's a carpenter pencil. Not that I don't appreciate carpenter pencils. Thank you. Shout out Shed Suite. I've got mine on my desk. I'm using it right now. Um, you know, not that I don't enjoy a free hat or a free t-shirt or a free eyeglass wipe or whatever it is. But I can tell you what hits in a hot expo floor is an ice cold Coke. Okay. And that gets me in the booth. And in the booth, I see lots of fun and interactivity. And just, I mean, really, it was just fellowship. Y'all had tables and like hangout spot, and like that's what it was all about. And to me, that's a reflection of you. That's a business culture that you help represent at JMAG. Well, I would say this a lot of people don't know what J Mag stands.

Craig:

Jim Melissa, Allie Greenley. Oh wow. Right? J Mag is so one of our core values is family first. Family first. Family first. That's Jim Melissa. I joined JMAG, and I'm the I I I would like to think of myself as I mean, pretty good in the culture space. I mean, it's what I did at the bank for four years, built the culture before that. I believe in that strategy. Jim knows that, but Jim had set the roots and foundation here. I just aligned. There was alignment in what Jim Melissa had built in JMAG, Joe, his brother. The ground was fertile here. I just get to come alongside and help tell that story in the best way possible because their heart was already established here. But I'll tell you this. I wouldn't just I wouldn't have come anywhere, right? Because that foundation was so strong here. So when you come to the booth, what you saw was fun. Okay, that's one of our core values. Like we wanna, we want to have uh, and I mean this, I don't mean this, I mean it. We want to throw the best party and invite everybody to it, you know. Um, I mean yeah, that's what we're trying to do. Throw the best party, invite everybody to it. And not to give them FOMO if they're not with us, if there was no strings attached, right? If you looked next to the human claw or the gravity grab, come on, we gotta stay on brands. Gravity grab, there we go. Uh, there was a family zone. There was a kid, a little launcher zone.

Eric:

Yeah, yeah.

Craig:

Why? Because our main core value, if you brought all the people who worked at JMAG, and I wasn't here, so I'm not here feeding them the story, right? If you ask them who we are, they're gonna say we're family first. And I want to say this: we don't mean the JMAG family, like it's a drink from the Kool-Aid cult. Yeah, exist to help their family to build a legacy for their family, right? And so you had a family zone, you had something fun happening. Precision and service is our core value. We were serving people drinks and food, right? There's no lack, and we weren't there to sell anything because here's the truth. And I really hear me, and I know that there probably some of our quote unquote friends slash competitors are here. There's no lack in this industry. There are so many great companies who do what we do and offer what we do. There are, there really are. I I'll give you their names, I'll walk down the list. There are friends, like good friends, PD Weaver, like Upward, Mott's, Huck, Tanner over at Upward, you know. There's so many companies that I could just keep going on. I love the Heartland people, I could go on with these people, okay? I love them. But here's the deal we, if we are ourselves, and we truly are ourselves, and we're on display, dreamers, that's who we are, with an unwavering belief in people who commit to life-changing partnerships that build a legacy that lasts. That's our why. And I'm not here to sell you J Mac. I'm just saying the truth is that people will either align with that, right? Or they will align with something else that fits them. And when you in marketing try to be everything to everybody, you're nothing to anybody. Yeah, that's good. So, we I'm not saying we know who we are, I think we do. Uh, we're the fun people who dream like crazy big. That's why the mission, that's why it was a booth around astronauts and little launchers, kids had stickers, and we wanted for moms who've been there all day with strollers to like actually have. A moment to take a break, like there's a lot of detail and thought in this, but the point is that we're just saying we dream big, it's our 10-year anniversary. Wish you would dream bigger and not settle with a small story.

Jared:

I love I loved that piece of it. I loved that piece of it. The one thing I wasn't able to find, which uh you know, I would encourage folks if you can, if there's a copy of that video to be anywhere shared, the mission, the mission, the mention, the mission launch video, the loop. I think that was powerful stuff, man. And I think for those of for those that are in the plane community, right, that's something very exciting to see. Because everybody has that opportunity to write the next chapter of their story. Your story isn't over yet. You've just written a you know, you've written a few chapters, you have the pencil in your hand, and you will dictate the next sentence of your story. Think about that. The very sentence, the next word. You can dictate that every single time with the decision that you're about to make. And I think that exactly what you said about JMAG, it all filters back to what we were talking about with culture as a business strategy. If Jim wasn't like that, you wouldn't have never gone to work for him at JMAG. Period. You saw the vision that he had and you share that vision, and now together collectively, the two of you are much stronger for having that relationship. Eric and my relationship is very similar to that, right? Eric founded Dayton Barnes and All Steel Buildings. I was just a customer. I bought a building. Don't forget that. Don't forget that once upon a time, Eric and I were nobody to each other. Yeah. One moment in time, one shed guy in Trotwood, God bless his heart, that wanted to sell me a metal building and did not have a demo. I'm telling you, it's that like it is that crazy how one moment in time I went to a shed lot that Eric did not own, that he had no personal say in. And that guy said, I don't have a demo. The guy in Huber Heights does. That's how I met Eric.

Craig:

Yeah.

Jared:

And here, all these years later, five years later, we're on a podcast with our new friend Craig. I mean, isn't that crazy how like the connection one moment, one second? Hey, present.

Eric:

For the record, we brought this up before, but like I went to a speedway parking lot in the pouring down rain to collect his down payment and handed him a clip.

Jared:

In the middle of COVID.

Eric:

In the middle of COVID. I said, bro, I said, bro, I'll come to you. Where you at? He's like, I'm at Speedway. And I said, hang tight, I will be right there.

Jared:

And I heard about Eric was jumping like a Eric was jumping for that 600 bucks. He couldn't get my six hundred dollars passable. Human interaction. I need this so much. I'll tell you what, dude. I can tell you, I did my due diligence. I was a super easy customer. Um, I got my stuff on time, and Eric, dude, to Eric's credit, man, it was simply hey man, just checking in on the building, just checking in on the building. Can I get a couple more pictures? People really seem to like your building. Yeah, dude, here's a couple of pictures. And then I send them a couple of leads, and then Eric's like, you know, you really ought to just do this with me. Like, maybe just come and sell some sheds or something every once in a while. Like, come hang out. And the next thing I know, like, I'm here all the time, can't get away from it. And it's like, this is where I was supposed to be.

Eric:

We had the youth, we had a youth group, I was a youth pastor, and I had the youth group. We turned we turned our office into a youth hangout that sold sheds, and they all worked there. That literally, well, they didn't really. I mean, we just their pay rate was like five guys' burgers.

Craig:

That's the ultimate pyramid scheme, man. I love that.

Eric:

Yeah, and then they all graduated, and I was like, dang, we gotta get adults now.

Craig:

Yeah. Pretty much it. All right. Here's listen, uh, and Matthew, you know, this is listen, we got to expand the kingdom. That's just what the plan was. Let's go.

Eric:

Let's hear it. Let's hear it. I love it. Well

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Eric:

Let's talk about we have we're on what minute 30? Let's go to disruptive marketing. Can we talk about disruptive marketing for a second? Like move to like this is important.

Jared:

This is important, right?

Eric:

All of our listeners want to hear this segment.

Jared:

We are in a we are in an industry that is again boring and very much paint by the numbers. Everybody does everything the same. They put the same old sign out by the road, they line up their sheds the same way, they get a metal building demo or two. Tell us how you can stand out in a crowd by being disruptive, but also very focused while you're disruptive. Is that fair?

Eric:

Online and in well, we'll try to.

Craig:

Yeah, I'll tell you I want to tell you a story about why I'm even on this call because it is disruptive marketing to a T. But I have to start here first. And I really believe this. This is a tie to the shed show and everything. When you don't know and when you haven't clearly stated who you are, right, it's gonna be hard for you to behave in a way or to even understand how to stand out. Let me explain. Most companies in our industry, most companies, period, but even more so in our industry, when you ask them if they have core values, if they have a vision, right? Do they have a mission statement? Most of them will say, sort of. I've got it, it's just not written out. That's the that's what we get all the time. Actually, at the shed show, that's all we were one of the there's only one thing we offered, and that was to help people come away with core values, a new mission statement, and a 10-year dream crazy vision. Okay, we're doing that with a handful of companies, companies that we wouldn't even get contracts from and wouldn't be partners with just because we want to help. So my point is you can't disrupt really in a long-standing way until you clearly state who you are. I'll tell you the story how I'm in this room. When I first got into the industry, um, I was the music guy, right? I had just come off the road, I'd been doing marketing for a year or two. Buddy calls me and says, Hey, Craig, this portable building company, Shed Company, needs a chief marketing officer. And I'm like, hey, I'm not taking that call. Look at me, look at my hands. Like, I I'm not a shed guy. Um, I don't come from the right background. And he told me, shut up, Craig. Take the call. Literally. I shut up, I take the call. I'm six months a year into it. I'm at dinner with our sales rep. Okay. Now, our core values, we've clearly defined. We're dependable, we're progressive, we're best in class, and we're approachable. And over dinner, he says to me, and it'd been a conversation a lot, but he was like, Man, remember, we got to do that song jingle. Now, I'm the song guy. I spent most of my adult life touring and playing music, right? I'm being me, I'm doing the culture thing, I've identified, I've clarified our message and who we are. We're the build opportunity people doing best in class, building them like tanks. So he says this, and over uh dinner, my wife responds, he says, you know, people all the time are like taking pictures and being like, yo, um, I'm flawless. And I just remember this moment right then where I looked at my wife and I looked at the sales rep and his wife, and I said, 16's on center. That's why we're flawless. And over dessert, there was a chorus and a bridge. Within an hour, we had this song called Flawless written. And the next day I go to our CEO, I'm like, here's the deal. We're approachable, we're dependable, we're best in class, and we're progressive. I'm I've written a rap song, we're gonna shoot a full-on music video, and we're going to town with this. And he was like, What? Again, holiness Pentecostals.

Eric:

That's it.

Craig:

But I'm like, listen, they're down, they're down. Yeah, I mean, we'll get a tambourine if we need to, but um, I'll insert the Holy Ghost. I mean, that's who we are, he's with us. But you know, what it why? Because when you can brag, when you're white and rap, you can talk about being best in class and be approachable because nobody's gonna take it that seriously, right? Yeah, yeah. I can I can hit our core values in a way that's gonna stand out, and nobody's done this because I'm being me, right? We so we go film the video, and everybody shows up to the video shoot. And I remember our COO at the time says this. He says, I'm only being in your video if you have me like a dog and a chain. Well, the opening shot of flawless is him holding a rock while they're on a chain, right? It's just we just go for it.

Jared:

If you haven't seen it, check it out. It's still out there, it's still floating around.

Craig:

It's silly. Nobody else has done it. It's silly, okay? Here's the deal, though. We launched it, the dealers got excited at the time. We had like 30 dealers, we broke every sales record for the next month, and you know what? Here's the deal we would have people call, and flawless would be on the video the message, right? Some people hated it. Oh man, dude, they hated it. Yeah, a lot of our competitors hated it and kept talking about it, yeah, which is good coverage. So here's the deal when you are disruptive, when you if you're not afraid to look silly, then you have probably not dreamed big enough. You gotta be the one who doesn't care, and this is why people don't do it because they're afraid of failure, they're afraid, they're paralyzed by the insecurities. We believe a little lie, and the truth is that no one really cares. Yeah, everybody is really just thinking about themselves. That's really it, and so that's right, you know, know who you are, and that's why I go back to disruptive marketing starts with clearly defining who you are. If you are some not I want to say this if every one of you tried to do flawless, that would be terrible. I probably shouldn't do flawless again, like it'd be terrible. Like, don't you don't need to be me. That's that would be one of one of me is more than enough. Uh, I see the survey sometimes. One of me is more than enough for uh for some of this stuff, but it starts with just being willing to experiment, being willing to put yourself out there, and being willing to say, I'll look silly. And most things that start a movement that are disruptive that change and move things are things that people said, oh my gosh, that's never gonna work. Don't yeah, don't do that, don't do it, don't try that thing, don't do it. And the ones who are winning are just the people who kept doing it over and over again. And I say this about the Savannah Bananas. So, when I was at um uh the bank, I was at Paducah Bank, always a culture, always a focus on people and culture. Um, when I got there, we rewrote uh something called Wow You. It was our new playbook around Everyone Deserves the Most Incredible Banking Experience on Earth. And at the time, it was around COVID, the Savannah bananas were just starting to go. Jesse Cole, man in the Tux, had written the book Fans First, um, How to Stand Out. And uh he came and spoke, and he actually uh partnered with us through some of that. Um, I'm looking at it because it's on the wall here, what we built, that playbook. And Jesse had this idea that baseball was boring. And when he first started, like nobody believed, like they like they tried to do the traditional thing, and they were like, ah, they didn't sell any tickets. And he just kept doing like baseball's boring, and I believe this. I'm gonna try this, it didn't work. I'm gonna try this, it didn't work. Oh, this worked, dancing umpire. That works. Okay, I'm gonna try this, I'm gonna try this. I'm gonna it's like major league, and now they outsell every major league team. They have like two or three million people on their wait list, and honestly, that was five years ago. Yeah, what if somebody in the shed industry, what if somebody in the carport industry was like, sheds are boring, but they don't have to be, and just you know, I'm saying, like, yeah, I guess my point in all of this is saying this define who you are, be willing to look a little bit silly, listen up, just be willing to be present in our industry. If you are literally, physically, consistently present, that will be disruptive. Right?

Eric:

That's the best marketing strategy of all time.

Craig:

It's so easy.

Jared:

We have said that, we have said that so many times on this show, Craig.

Eric:

That's good.

Jared:

That's two big interviews in a row. So we interviewed Darren. You mentioned Stor-Mor earlier. We interviewed we interviewed Darren a couple weeks ago. Darren said something that I always say rising tide raises all ships, right? And you've hit on be present. So I mean, the Steel Kings must be doing something, right? Because every time we have a guest on, they already know our one-liners. We're getting stolen by our guest. And now I mean, Eric, we're getting them stolen by our guest. You have been you have been absolutely fantastic. I think we've got more conversations in the can. We've got more time to come down the road. We're at our grace's end for today, but I can tell you, dude, this has been an absolute pleasure, an absolute honor to be on this call with you on this podcast, to spend 40 minutes with you in this moment. And again, writing the next chapter in our book, whatever that looks like for the Steel Kings and for Craig, will keep you abreast of that, right? I mean, I think there's a lot of cool stuff we can do. We'll get Craig on here every once in a while because he matches our energy level for sure.

Craig:

Can I ask one question before we end this?

Jared:

Anything you want, man.

Craig:

Come on. All right, because we've been I've been doing a lot of talking and not as much. Yeah. Ask you a couple. I want to ask this question before you. One year from now, we're having that Butter Pecan organic Curig. Hey, listen, that sounds good, but we can signed up.

Eric:

I signed up for the monthly.

Craig:

We'll get pour over somewhere. We'll get a nice pour over. Oh, a French press? I'm in. Dude, Jeffrey Petit Francais. Okay, here's my question. In one year, we're having coffee. What are we celebrating? What am I celebrating with the Steel Kings?

Eric:

Oh man, there's so much. Okay, let me let me get into it. Let me get into the future mode. We're sitting, you say, man, what's worked the past year? We mastered not only being ourselves, but we mastered short form, vertical um reels in between episodes, and it really skyrocketed our audience into outside the shed and steel building industry. And it's really produced this like um viewership that not only looks for information and value in the shed industry, but like the two likable guys that have good quality guests on where they're excited to watch our episodes. And that I think that's probably maybe that's not maybe not specific, but you know what I'm you know what I'm saying.

Craig:

Uh you know what I loved about you answering that? You went like you went like worship uh mode. You were like you were in it like and you just closed your eyes and visualize it and I love it saying it to you in the future in like a booth and a greasy spoon diner, more sugar, I need more sugar, man.

Jared:

Two o'clock in the morning, two o'clock in the morning because we grinded all night. Well, I think for me, I think for me, I agree with Eric's vision because what we want to do with the Steel Kings podcast is we want it to be something that people attract themselves to for one reason or another, whether you're selling sheds, steel buildings, whatever it is, we want to provide some sort of insight. For me personally, I want to continue to be on my journey, my personal journey, while making the Steel Kings a more focused part of my life. Because I think that what I want to bring to the table for the people who are listening to this is radical, crazy insight and truth all the time. I end every episode unless you have another question.

Craig:

No, I just it's my favorite question right now.

Jared:

I I think that that I think that that for me, I've got to write down my answer I'm gonna end it on this note because I end every episode the same way. Get out in your community and do something for somebody else, it'll make you feel better. And I can tell you, one year from now, if I'm out in my community a little bit more and I'm doing a little bit more for somebody else other than myself, I would feel that much better about what I'm doing every day. And I think that the Steel Kings, the reason I like this platform is because what we have realized over the last few weeks and months is that there are people out there who are willing to not only listen, but really digest what we have to say and value it. And truly, if you don't like what we have to say, come up and tell me. I'm good for feedback, but I can tell you at the same time, I wouldn't tell you anything that wasn't the truth. You can write down my words like they're gospel. I wouldn't lie to you. I would tell you exactly how it is. When we say we're gonna go vet people, we're gonna go vet people, we're gonna talk to these companies for you because you can't do it, you can't do everything when you're running a small business, when you're trying to run a manufacturing house, whatever it is that's your task in this industry that brings you to listen to the Steel Kings, you need help from us. And whether that's just a pickup and a laugh on a Monday morning, maybe you're drinking your coffee and you're feeling a little blue, and we can provide you some comic relief, or maybe you're actually listening to every word we said and you're jotting it down in a notebook. Man, the Steel Kings said J Mag's really cool, so I'm gonna check that out. Or they said Idea Room is really awesome, so I'm gonna check out their builder, or whatever the case is, J Money, you know, the guys at VersaBend, the podcast. I hope that one year from now we have as good, if not better, relationships with all the people that we've gotten to meet over the last year of doing this. And one year from now we're celebrating with this is a bigger, more focal, more centered personal part of my life. Because I love doing this. I could do podcasting stuff all day, every day, twice on Sunday. I'll interview anybody, anytime, anyplace, anywhere. I love getting to meet the people that are in this industry and share it with us because if we do better together, the industry will do better. And that's what we all want, right? That's what we all want.

Eric:

That's it.

Jared:

And anything else, fellas?

Eric:

Um, Craig, you had something. Craig, are you a are you are you a preacher? Do you travel preach? Do you all right? Let me all right. I'm just asking. I figured maybe you were, but I'm feeling bold. I'm feeling bold. If you're listening to this podcast, this particular one, and you go to church and you think I could add value to the in your pulpit, let and you feel led, let me come preach the word. Let me let me get in there. I will come to wherever you're at.

Craig:

I'm an encourager, but I appreciate it. I'm gonna encourage you guys to reach out to Eric because I called me a spirit brother earlier. That's I haven't I don't know if I've heard it said that way, but I'm for it.

Eric:

I'm in.

Jared:

Get out in your communities, everybody, and do something good for somebody else. It'll make you feel better. I'm Jared. He's Eric. Thank you. Big thank you to Craig Felker. We will be back at you next week with another episode of the Steel Kings podcast. And for today, we're out. Stay one. Stay Ronaldo, baby.