Shed Geek Podcast

STEEL KINGS: Building Friendship Reflecting on 2025 and building in 2026

• Shed Geek Podcast • Season 5 • Episode 112

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A small industry feels big when the right people link arms. We close the year with honest wins, a few hard lessons, and a clear plan to help shed, metal building, and post-frame pros grow in 2026—without losing the heart that got us here. Together with our friends at Shed Geek, we map out an eight-episode pole barn series leading into NFBA, a slate of dealer spotlights, and a consumer-first video push that meets buyers where they scroll with fast, clear answers.

We talk strategy that actually moves the needle: financing options that reduce friction at the lot, digital tools that generate qualified leads, and content that explains site prep, delivery, and build quality in plain language. If you’re a dealer or installer, this is your heads-up to get involved. If you’re a manufacturer or vendor, this is a chance to support education that lifts the entire category. And if you’re a buyer doing research, expect short, practical videos that help you compare a prefab shed, a custom metal building, or a post-frame build with confidence.

Underneath the tactics is what keeps us steady: friendship, faith, public service, and a shared belief that business works best when it serves people. You’ll hear stories about showing up for community, saying thanks to mentors, and making space for missions work—proof that strong companies come from grounded lives. We’re grateful for every download, handshake, and candid critique this year, and we want more of it.

Want to be featured, ask a tough question, or shape the upcoming series? Reach out and tell us what would help you sell more, build better, or buy smarter. If this resonated, subscribe, share with a friend who needs encouragement, and leave a review so more builders and buyers can find us.

For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.

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This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: J Money LLC

Intro:

Hey, this is Joel Oney at J Money in the Heart of the Buckeye State. And I want to personally welcome you to today's episode of the Steel Kings podcast with my good friends Jared Lefford and Eric Olson, better known as the Steel Kings. Be sure to check out JMoneyLC.com for financing solutions for your buildings. And now let's get back to the Steel Kings podcast.

Jared:

Yeah, what I'll tell you, dude, is I am beyond January. It is time to get motivated about your business. It's time for some personal development. It's time to get out and shake a hottie with people. I can tell you, man, the Steel Kings are what one thing.

Eric:

I mean, if I can say one statement about the tech, is that people need to wrap up from there.

Jared:

We have to get out in your communities, everybody, and do something good for somebody else. It'll make you feel better. What's going on, guys? Technical difficulties as they are. We're just getting jumping right into it, guys. I'm Jared, and this is the team from Shed Geek, Cord, Eric. We're the Steel Kings, and this is the Shed Geek and Steel Kings end of the year extravaganza. So, as always, boys, I start off the episodes with a shout out to our title sponsor, J Money. Thank you so much to the team at J Money. Joel and his team will get you helped out on all your financing needs. If you're a contractor, if you sell metal buildings, sheds, whatever it is in the home improvement space, the team at J Money will help you out. The team at Defined SEO, Velocity360, Idea Room and Cal, thank you for your support. As always, we usually start these episodes with Eric and I, but we're having technical difficulties. Your boy was uh having a little bit of a traffic concern and some crazy children this morning. So as we were setting this up, I was gonna do the two speaker, which is me and Eric typically, and then we would break into Cord and Shannon. But since we're here and we're all on the screen, we're just gonna shoot from the hip, fellas. It's been a tremendously uh successful and happy 2025. We've had roadblocks, everybody has. We've had issues here and there, everybody has. But I can tell you, man, I would not be oh man, I would not be uh any more thankful than I can be right now to be on this call with you guys, to be on this podcast with you this morning on a Friday, um, reflecting on end of the year. What's going on with you fellas? Hope you had a better morning than I did. How about that? Well, it's not been probably not been a whole lot different.

Cord:

Yeah, my kids are at least uh, you know, get themselves out the door and don't don't require a ride anymore, so it's slightly less stressful. Although then it's uh it's bumping into, you know, me and my daughter are always uh leaving the house right at the same time. So then we're like bumping into each other, going down the hallways, going different directions. So it's a different kind of a different kind of craziness whenever they get older, but uh you know, you gotta enjoy that, Jared. I mean I would uh I would I would take a a very hard to get out of bed snowy morning any day, you know.

Jared:

I'll tell you what, man. I was up and at it. I was ready to get going. I am very meticulous in the morning. I lay my clothes out the previous night. I'm up and ready to go, and they were like an hour late for school today. So I can't, I can't, you know, we had some snow here, and I think they were having the Christmas blues, they were feeling like they needed to stay home, and I guess they wanted a couple extra minutes with dad. I can't complain about that, but when traffic's hard to get in, I mean, I you know, we're uh we're up here and there's a traffic circle and there's always traffic, and I'll tell you, you guys were more than gracious to me this morning because I'll tell you what, I was I was having a struggle with them, and uh that's just not normal, man. But I'll tell you, I I I I eat your words up, Cord, because I can tell you I love my kids and I would do anything for them, including take a little bit of extra time with them on a Friday morning. How's that? Eric, I know you wanted to jump in there. Shannon, what's going on, brother? How are you?

Shannon:

Man, things are good. I'm channeling my inner Jared today with my backwards hat. I gotta tell you, I don't, I don't, I don't know. Uh it's we're empty nester, so I don't know what it's like anymore to rush kids off to school or whatever, but I'll tell you what, I feel much younger just uh wearing my hat backwards today. I feel much cooler, you know. I'll tell you what, man.

Jared:

I'll tell you what, you walk around with that steak, you walk around with that beard and that backward hat, you walk around with that beard and that backward hat, and uh that wife of yours is gonna want to take you out for a steak dinner.

Shannon:

I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what, it's funny you say that because we're actually getting her to enjoy some Patty's uh settlement here in West Kentucky near Paducah. If you guys ever get a chance to get down here, we'll take you to Patty's two-inch thick pork chop. Some of the people in the industry know about it. So yeah.

Jared:

That sounds that sounds good, man. That sounds like a good Friday evening, a little top off for the week, man. That sounds like a good way to finish up the week.

Shannon:

That's great. Well, we're actually we're looking at really good with like oh, dude, you should, yeah, you you'd love it. You guys should get get down here sometime. It's right on the lake. I mean, they've got like they've got like this little Christmas village. You walk around, see the lights, and all that stuff. It's straight out of a you know, Hallmark movie. So yeah, that's that's what's on the agenda for Friday afternoon, fellas.

Jared:

They're pies looking. Well, that sounds like a good Friday. That sounds like a good Friday evening, man. Anywhere where you can get pie by a lake and get big old pork chops, count me in if I'm in Paducah. You can you can sign me up.

Eric:

They got something called the sawdust pie. That's a that's a good one. That's the okay, yeah. I'll tell you what, fellas.

Shannon:

Yeah, you should you should be around here. You should be around the office. I we I literally said that someone should be following us, probably you guys too, with a camera the whole time because they'd be so entertained. I walk out of my office yesterday, Cord's behind me, and I walk around there, and I said, Hey, I just want you to know that I love to snack. And I know that you know that. And I just want you to know that I appreciate that you love to snack too. Like me and Cord. We're like like you get you get a box of little Debbie around here and it's gone by the afternoon. Like, probably not healthy. All right, all right.

Cord:

Well, it's it's it's Christmas, Eric, so it has to be the Christmas trees.

Eric:

Okay, all right, all right, okay.

Shannon:

Boring answer, but so so so I found something the other day that I can't seem to find again, which is Nutty Buddy Moon Pies. Nutty Buddy Moon Pies all those are amazing. They're amazing. I went back, they were all sold out, so I can't even get them. Yeah, I'm gonna require Lieutenant Governor over this.

Jared:

I like I like the Nutty Buddies. I'm gonna I'm gonna go with Nutty Buddies on mine. I'm not a big fan of the Christmas tree cakes. I can I can zingers.

Eric:

I think zingers are hostess, though.

Jared:

Yeah, I think you're right, Eric.

Eric:

I think if I'm little Debbie, I'm going cosmic brownie. 100%. They just need to be like, solid.

Jared:

They need to be with where the conversation strawberry shortcake, the rolls. Where the conversation will go on a Friday morning when you're talking to the Steel Kings and the Shed Geek. I haven't eaten. Where else would it go to little Debbie's into food? Where else would it go on a Friday morning?

Shannon:

I dude, I'm there's nobody here missing any meals, Jared.

Jared:

That's true. That's true. We could all afford, we could all afford a couple of minutes. Well, Eric's the one. Eric's the one who exercises and gets on treadmills. I don't do that. Hurts my knees. I always I try to break even.

Eric:

I try to break even so I can just eat what I want and then you know cancel out.

Shannon:

You know, Eric, the I know that I know that you're deep in the word, man, and I think the word says only the wicked run when no man chases. So, you know, I don't know. Like, I'm I'm gonna have to have to think about man.

Jared:

I can tell you this much. Little looking Deborah's chasing me. I'm big Deborah. I can I can tell you this much, fellas. Debbie, as I was looking at as I was looking at guests, so we've done a lot of podcasts this year. I was looking at guests for this last episode, and we had talked about potentially having some kind of dealer, wanted to have several dealers on and do like an end-of-the-year consortium, and we still want to do that. So if you're listening to this and you're a dealer, I I implore you, reach out to me and Eric. We want to get you on the podcast, we want to hear your stories, we want to talk to you about what you're doing, especially if you're selling metal buildings. Um, if you're selling metal buildings and you're having a good time with it, we want you to come on the Steel Kings and talk about your brand, talk about what you can do in the industry, what you feel like the industry needs to do for you, and how Eric and I might be able to be of assistance to you. We want to do that periodically through the year as a give back to our friends in the industry. And as I started to kind of map out, we've got so many episodes coming up. So the Steel Kings are working on a series that's gonna start next week. So you're hearing this um right after Christmas. You guys have just opened the presents, you're starting to think about putting the tree away. Um, but as 2026 rolls around, the Steel Kings are getting ready for the NFBA trade expo at the end of February. You guys have heard us talking about it off and on, but we're gonna be doing a series. Um, we're gonna do eight episodes leading up to um uh the trade show at the end of February. And for us, uh it's gonna be seven episodes of content specifically driven and driven towards pole barns. So if you're interested in potentially selling or manufacturing or installing pole barns, these are gonna be episodes that you want to pay close attention to. They're gonna be really, really heartfelt and thought through. We've really taken care of picking the right content providers and right partners that I interview. But while I was looking at the list of potentials that we have, I couldn't think of anybody better to interview than Cord and Shannon. Because I can tell you, Eric and Jared don't have a podcast without Shannon. We've said that and we've had such a blast this year in 2025, and I think you guys have started to see us ramping it up. We're pushing out more content. If you haven't been on our YouTube, check it out. It curates just our episodes. If you haven't been on our RS RSS feed, check it out. It's just the Steel Kings. We're still gonna be producing content with Shannon and those guys at Shed Geek all year next year and probably going forward in perpetuity. But at this point, what we want to give you guys is an opportunity to listen to us and just listen to us if that's what you want to do. And we want to clean up your guys' news feeds a little bit. We want to get more people in the industry talking about the things that matter. So you're gonna get more shed content with the shed geek guys, you're gonna get more metal building content and post-frame kind of content from the Steel Kings. And I think that's what I'm excited about going into 2025, end of the end of 2025, and going into 2026 is that we really have a game plan for everyone that's listening to our in here to get the best content that they possibly can basis in short form and long form, whatever you're into, sheds, metal buildings, or post even post-frame. Um, we want to give you that content. So, what are you guys excited about? I mean, I know that was a little long-winded, but I wanted to give everybody an update. I know we're having fun this morning, we're shooting from the hip, but what are you guys thinking about, man? Where's 2025 ending for Cord and Shannon and Eric? How are we feeling going into uh 2026?

Shannon:

I well, I feel I don't know about you guys, but I feel I feel really good about you know going into 2026. I mean, we you know, hard lessons learned, business adventures, and all the stuff in 2025, you know, wrapping up year five, going into year six in March of podcasting, you know, um, well over 400 episodes recorded at this point, you know, uh getting close to what 150,000, 160,000 downloads over or or more, closer to 175, I think, total overall. If you count in like the um uh the playing community's landline call-in and things like that, you know, seeing the industry, seeing things move, seeing folks like you know, Joe and Velocity 360 coming to fruition, interviewed those guys three years ago. You know, there's other guys we interviewed, and I'm thinking to myself, like, where are we missing out on bringing some of those guys in? Uh obviously, uh, people like Joe add value, and it's like we want to continue to add value. So that's our mindset, obviously. Um, but then uh I was just sitting here thinking, we need to get you guys on the the the carport uh sales professionals page and and kind of help grow that like we did that shed sales professionals. I'm super excited that you guys are doing more content that is like specifically geared towards post frame and pole barn and metal buildings because man, that's just like that's just like there that that was always a hole that I was like, there's just not enough time to fill that. And that's you that's your wheelhouse. That's what you guys already know about. And you're you know, I went to a couple of NFBAs and you know, hopefully we can be there with you guys this year. But uh so just excited to see you guys grow and and just like your own personal brand and things like that. Um, you know, one thing that's exciting, I think, for us, and maybe I can let you know Cord speak on this so I don't take too much of the mic and and thank you for the kind words, Jared. Like, trust me, you guys you feed me uh just as much as as as I feed you. Like it means so much to have friends and and uh uh folks that we just connect with, like yourself in the industry. Anyway, um, yeah, we're we're excited about doing something that's consumer driven, man. Like, you know, is that a podcast? Like, can you do a medium long-form content? You know, uh, like are people gonna start listening to podcasts before they go purchase a building? I don't think so. But I'll tell you what they will watch is they'll watch a channel. They'll watch a channel with content and they'll watch a channel that has relevant content that kind of talks about the quality, the products, the processes of what it looks like to purchase a shed, kind of like a mini documentary, if you will, over you know, what the shed industry looks like, all the different things about it from the consumer side. We get this really B2B fun side that we get to all talk about and experience, but man, it'd be really nice to actually bring the consumers into the fray. And Cord can probably elaborate on that better than I can.

Cord:

Well, no, I mean I think that's fairly thorough as far as what the what the vision is, right? Um, you know, as far as what those channels would look like, as you said, you know, not as much of a podcast, uh, but really something that lives in that uh vertical video space, whether that be on your uh Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, right? Like something that is is going out and meeting people where they are, uh, which we talk about a lot um, you know, within our sort of B2B conversations that we know that the industry needs to do that better as a whole. Uh, and I think who better to kind of leave that charge um, you know, and begin um you know, really, really offering some of that insider information. Everybody can go to their phones and kind of look right, look right now. I mean, obviously there's lots of uh sales material out there where you are telling people buy my shed because this, that, or the other. But there's very, very little um, you know, what I would think of as that thought leadership uh inside of that space. And we know that these are purchases uh that are happening every day that are a huge industry, the third largest purchase outside of a home and and uh an automobile that most consumers make. And so I think talking to them directly about what the I mean, we know how much content there is around homes, how much content there is around cars, right? Just kind of talking about the the benefits and comparing side by side of do it this way, do it that way. Um so yeah, I think I think we're gonna deliver a ton of value. And where does that hit the ground as far as uh you know, for us? I mean, obviously uh that's uh a potentially consumer um you know, uh that could be a really big audience that we could gather there. So um, but as far as how we use it or what we do with it, I think it's still up in the air. We just see a need, uh, and maybe that's not always the the best way to to you know put a business strategy in place. But um, you know, I think that's what your your heart has always been uh for is to go and find a need and and to help to fix it. And yeah, that's what we aim to do. I'm I'm very, very excited about it. I think it's gonna be a great year.

Jared:

I think I think what I hear from you guys, so we talk offline, obviously, and then we we kind of determine what we're gonna talk about on the podcast. So I kind of knew what you'd say, but I think one of the avenues that we want to basically extend out, and the reason why I keep asking for people, and we've had several at this point reach out to us and partner with some of the you know the def the defines, the velocity 360s, the idea rooms, the cals, the J Moneys. We've gotten feedback on things like that as far as advertising and things that might want to be sold to one of our listeners. But this is an opportunity for our listeners to contact us and be part of something that can help the industry grow going forward that doesn't cost you anything. You might get a call or an email from one of the four of us in this project, probably Cord or Shannon more than likely. But if you're sitting on a shed lot somewhere and you have a beautiful shed lot and some beautiful inventory, and you might want to feature it in some sort of consumer-facing uh, you know, like like Cord said, a vertical video that's in your lap, that's in your house, that's on your computer, that's right there with you wherever you're going. Reach out to Shannon and Cord. I mean, I can tell you right now, I think you've heard me say it enough. A rising tide raises all ships. We want everyone in this industry to win. That's sheds, metal buildings, pole barns. Even though Eric and I sell them, we're not shy about advice. You guys have Shannon said 400 plus episode episodes. Well, this is our episode number 41. So we've got a long way to go to catch up to Shannon. We'll never catch him. But the fact is, is we want to be around for 400 episodes. We want to know what you guys need, what the industry needs to make a pivot to the left or to the right, based on where we're at as an entire field. And we want to get that feedback directly from you all right because if you're taking the time out of your week to listen to us, we not only are grateful for that, but we want to be good stewards of what you guys need to be successful in your businesses. That's what we really want to do. That's that's the heart behind the ask of reach out to us. We may be able to help you. We may have an idea, you may have an idea. There might be something that we can collectively do to make everyone's 2026 just a little bit better. Eric, you've been awfully quiet over there, man. What are you thinking? You look stoic this morning, brother.

Eric:

I got a lot on my mind. I've been I had a busy week. Um, yeah.

Jared:

I'm thinking about also Eric, Eric's preaching tonight.

Eric:

I'm preaching a message tonight at a church that's a good one. Yep. Yep.

Jared:

Um, I'm almost done weekend at Christmas party.

Eric:

Yeah, almost done with um itinerating that trip to Nicaragua next month. And um, I'm just dude, there's so much going through my mind. Honestly, I'm I'm thinking about uh 2026 and how different it was this this year when we started. I mean, we didn't even have a pole barn company yet. And so This year is like been, I don't even know how it's December 12th. I'm gonna be honest, I have no clue how it's December 12th. You know, sometimes like when you're on the phone and you're like and you're talking and you're driving down the road, and then you get to wherever you're going, you're like, how did I even get here? I don't even know. I mean, I know I stopped and turned and like, you know, but how did I even get there? You know, and then you look up and you're like on the other side of it, and you're like, Well, that's what 2026 is gonna be like.

Shannon:

I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why Eric's been quiet. The reason Eric's been quiet is because he's been looking at this Patty's menu because he's just text over while we were on the podcast.

Eric:

I just sent that out. I literally sent you a picture like five minutes ago of the pork chop.

Jared:

Let me let me say this. Let me say this. I'm a little jealous. I think this is this is this is a this is an off the cuff, thankful for 2025, reflective on what's going to be in 2026 kind of episode. But let me stress to you guys too, like I know I'm I'm giving you I do a lot of these like breakout monologues where I'll just kind of give you my advice. Find yourself some friends in the industry, like real friends that you actually talk to, like not ones you just shoot a text back and forth with every six weeks or eight weeks, not somebody that you bounce inventory off on. Like the four of us, we talk all the time. We're on and off Zoom calls or Google Meets or podcasts or whatever it is. And like I hope that reflects when you hear us and see us. Because it's like, you know, I mean, even though we shouldn't be texting while we're on a podcast, it's like that's what we're doing. And like that's just the reality of what's going on in front of you is like we're just four guys, we're four guys who really care about frankly you. If you're listening to this, we really care about you. We really do. And I I get on these, I get on these long ones. I mean, these these end of the years are hard for me. You guys heard me last week. I gave you kind of a a little bit of a testimony about me. I can tell you this type of this time of year is not the great greatest time of year for me. I don't like holidays. I've never liked holidays, it just doesn't do it for me personally. And uh when you have people like the three guys I'm I'm on this podcast with that have your back, that have your six when you need it, that's the kind of things you need to take the next step in your life, right? To be happy tomorrow, be excited for 2026, love your job, get up and get motivated. Because I know there's a lot of you that are thinking, man, I sell sheds. How exciting is that? And then there's some of you that's like, I get to sell sheds today. How many are we gonna sling out the front door? We are selling five sheds. That's how you need to look at it, and somewhere in between, right? Not everybody's gonna be shot out of a canon all the time. But find your motivation, man. Find your friends. Like the way we were just interacting just made me feel good, right? And I want to share that with you guys because I mean I think that's one thing that we're doing a lot in our lives these days is we get more into our phones and more into social media and more into all this, uh, all the things that are taking over our existence on this planet, including the podcast, right? But I can tell you, hear my words, find a friend group, find people that you can lock arms with and do something together. Make plans, make plans with your family and your friends, take every moment and make it the most, right? I mean, that's what you need to be thankful about this time of the year. It's the stuff that nobody talks about. You know, everybody's talking about how many gifts I'm gonna get or I'm gonna be at church all these days. And I mean, whatever your bag is, whatever your bag is, that's fine. But be thankful for what you got, because you got more than some do. I promise you, even if you don't have much at all. So I'm getting long-winded in the motion.

Shannon:

Get get this get this man a pulpit. We're gonna have to start shouting. Amen. You know, you know, me and me and me and Eric are both Pentecostals, right? You're like, be careful, you know. I'm just saying. Oh my gosh.

Jared:

Oh my gosh. I'm just telling you guys, I I get emotional this time of the year.

Eric:

My Craig Felker. We're just missing Craig now.

Jared:

Yeah, we need Craig enough energy for all of us. You know, he'd start rapping on us. He'd start rapping, and we'd all be we'd all be dancing a jig like we're on the stage at Shed Expo.

Shannon:

There's only one commitment I can give to the audience is that you probably will never hear me rap. Uh I'm just gonna I'm gonna go ahead and and and die on that heel. Uh, I'll leave that completely up to Craig. Okay.

Cord:

I mean I've heard it though. Not original, but I've heard you rap other people's songs before.

Eric:

We all do that still. Facts. You would be so entertained.

Cord:

It's just yeah, we were younger. That's exactly what I was thinking.

Eric:

There's a guy that lives in there's a guy that lives in uh in Brookville named Shirk. He does our raps. And every once in a while, because I knew I knew him when he was like 13, every once in a while I'll send him just some 1990s hip hop song out of nowhere, just drop the YouTube video to him. And and and and he knows that I know, and I know that he it's like unsaid. We know all the words.

Jared:

We remember being there. We know we know the words. We remember being there. We know the words. So now we've now we've risen above those upbringings, right? Eric, we're in a we're in we're in a different lane. So that's Eric, you were you we cut you off, brother. You said you were going to Nicaragua. I think you wanted to share that. Um that's something I know you're super grateful for in 2025. Is doing you've gone through the missionary uh training. You almost completed it, right? Or you have completed it.

Eric:

Yeah, um, pretty close. I've got like maybe a couple more weeks of it, and then I gotta itinerate, which means I gotta go preach and basically be humble and ask people for money, honestly. I don't want to, but um but but anyway, I think the long the near term and long term is you know, defined SEO and podcasts is pretty much my lane, web development and building that. And I believe that the doors open for if I'm in another location, I can do both still, and that's um I can see some door uh like that is the not tied to like being you know what I mean.

Jared:

So uh I'll be honest with you. You went to where did you go? Honduras? Where did you went to Belize in July? Belize, let me tell you something. So Eric is on on is is wherever he was in Belize, and it looked Belize for sure, but I can tell you, this dude had cell service and Wi-Fi like right now. He he called on the call. I called you at six.

Eric:

I caught I called you at 6 15 a.m. Belize time, and I sold I sold a building. Yeah, yeah, you sure they have they have like really junky coffee there. I had to use brown sugar, it was just and I was I remember, and there's like wild dogs everywhere. There's dogs like in the streets, yeah, and so you can't even, you know, so anyway. That's I don't know why I said that, but you just trying to paint the picture, and I I literally was on the phone somebody because it's two-hour difference, and I was like, it's like it's eight, and I was like, All right, I gotta get this thing because like in an hour I had to go buy a pinata to go take to a kid's event, and I was like, I'm like, my life is crazy. I remember looking up, like, why okay? I can do this on both America and non-America, like I can maybe not the the level of James Price is doing it, but you know, yeah, you're you're an international salesperson, you're an international shed seller. Um my claim to fame at Dayton Barns is I've sold a building from the air. I sold it, I closed a building in an airplane on the way to Arizona, so I took a down payment over the internet in the air, and then and then Belize. That those are the two coolest sales I've had.

Jared:

The airport. I took it, I took a sale in the terminal, but not in the air. Yeah, you sure did. I was with you.

Shannon:

I actually know Belize. When I was in the National Guard, we went we went down there uh in the year 2000, they were building schools down there, and I got to spend some time. And I drove a military tanker truck uh across those bridges that, as you know, have no sides on them. So whenever you're in a semi, it's even worse because now you're looking down and you basically see the 400-foot gorge below you. And what was most interesting, so I I drove from uh Belize City, we flew into Belize City, took a helicopter back, but we drove from uh Dandriga down to uh Belize City. So I drove through the whole part of the country. I was like 21 years old driving this military like tanker truck full of uh fuel, you know, and it was just the most interesting thing for me at to be at such a young age. And uh what I remember was just you know how foreign it was, literally, you know, like obviously below sea level, the graves that were above ground instead of below ground, the septic tanks were on top of the ground, you know. Uh, but what what probably caught my attention the most for some unknown reason was uh watching a guy pull a low boy trailer with a bulldozer on it, and there was a guy hitching a ride in the bulldozer seat going down the road. And I was just like, Yeah, you just don't see that here. You can't even ride the back of a pickup truck anymore. You know, it was so interesting, but but beautiful, beautiful.

Eric:

One of the one of the one of the coolest, one of the coolest moments is they've got these little towns, and there's a tortilla guy. You know, because they eat tortillas every I I eat tortillas when I go to Taco Bell, basically, like twice a week or once a week, you know. They have a guy in a truck that honk flies down the dirt roads and is honking his horn constantly down the neighborhood, and and everyone knows he's selling tortillas, so he makes like a thousand tortillas in the morning, and then he just literally circles the village, honking his horn, and then you run out and you buy like five or ten, or you know, like what it's it's super cool, dude.

Shannon:

It's it's like the ice cream, it's like the ice cream truck for adults.

Eric:

But but really good tortillas. I mean, they're banging tortillas.

Jared:

I kind of want I kind of want tortillas now, Eric. You got me kind of some homemade tortillas, yeah. Tortillas with some like breakfast ingredients sounds kind of good this morning. And he's yelling, yeah. You know how like you know how to do it.

Shannon:

Yeah, what's what's the tune playing? Like, what's the what's the tune that's playing? Kind of like the ice cream tune that you know the trucks in the neighborhood, like what's the tortillas?

Eric:

It's just some bad things. It's just it's just some sketchy, listen, it's like some super sketchy, like Nissan truck that looks like it's got 500,000 miles on it and no shocks or breaks. It's just ripping. Ripping. You know, you want to know something? The thing, the people there are so humble, they're nice. But Belize is like two places. It's like, it's like Miami. Okay, if you think of America and you're not from America, and someone was like, Oh, uh, like describe downtown Miami, Florida, like that's not America. America is like Nebraska. Like, like, like, I'm just making that up, but you know, like there's it's two total. So you have like you have like, but it makes sense because like when you think of Belize, you're like thinking of like tourists, like tourists, like you know, if you're on the coast, it's more like America or or Miami, Florida.

Jared:

Like, you know, it's like at a lot of places though, right?

Eric:

Well, you drive in one hour and now you're at the Mayan ruins, yeah, and and and it's super uh it's super cool, like like it's just different, and and uh yeah, but totally two different places. I can tell you I don't even like to go out of Ohio.

Jared:

I don't even like to leave Ohio, so I'm gonna leave the Nicaraguas and the Belize's and the wherever wherever it is that Eric's going, he can go on my behalf. He'll go with my blessing and my and my prayers, and I can tell you.

Eric:

Let me say a plug. If if you feel like giving, give, give, if you want to put 20 bucks in, that would mean the world to me. I will send back pictures. 20 bucks, 10 bucks, whatever. We'll drop a link in this episode. Um don't give me more than 20. 20 bucks, you got 20 bucks, put 20 bucks in. If 300 of you do 20 bucks, the trip's covered. It's not going to meet, it's going to the yeah. That'd be cool. Sorry for the plug.

Jared:

We are no, we're I don't even know what to say. Because I've I've watched you and we've been friends for so long at this point that to watch you doing what I've I know you've dreamed of for a long time and literally everything that we've gone through together, could not be more proud of you. Honestly, brother. I know we're not in the same room right now, and I don't know when I'll see you again. Um but I am very proud of you in this moment because I can tell you, you have been telling me for years that this is what you were gonna do and wanted to do, and uh stuck it out through all of the all of the problems, all of the wins, all the losses. And I can tell you, dude, from from your team here at dayton Barns, we're all very proud of you. So as we reflect on the end of the year, that is uh something that's on my heart. That's why I wanted to make sure you got that in because I know you're proud of it yourself, and you should be. It takes a lot of uh self-awareness, self-reflection. It takes a lot of just inner gumption to do the things that you're doing, because trust me, I'm not doing it. I I would love to you get out in your communities and do something good for somebody else. I say it every episode, and I mean it with the I V I vehemently mean it, right? I mean it with every ounce of my spirit. I love what I'm doing in my community and I don't want to leave it. I don't want to leave the two and a half square miles that is Brookville, right?

Shannon:

We're just sitting here talking about year in review, and I realize that like so much of the content that's actually being addressed here is kind of like an insider peek. Like, you know, if you were to look into and I want to say a couple of things, you know, first and foremost, Eric, I I I echo the sentiments of Jared there. And I've even got a buddy who lived in Nicaragua on full-time missions for about a year. I'd love to connect you with. He's not he's back in the States now, lives in San Antonio, but he may have some advice to offer, some or things like that. Uh, he went down there and lived for a whole year uh on mission trips in Nicaragua. And so much of this industry is very familiar with like just mission trips in general. I mean, you you said something about James earlier. I mean, that's what he does, is you know, is uh uh uh you know business as missions or missions is business, you know, where he's in, you know, um uh Vietnam and there's so many other people. I mean, I think back to Jonathan Olrick's story where he talked about uh you know his dad being out there. A lot of the Texas shed manufacturers, some of them uh ended up moving to this country because of that reason. So like the the word of God trans transcends generations through opportunities of people just being like obedient to their calling. And and I I'm gonna jump on that bandwagon while we can here to say, I mean, you and Cord both serve on city council, and like Cord is actually an alderman, you know, for the the ward that that our office is in, you know, like uh uh you know Jared does the same thing, like every one of us are to some capacity has dreams and visions and opportunities that we want to pursue outside even like we love the shed industry. I mean, Cord's talking about starting a podcast that's very specific to Southern Illinois for the purpose of building community where neighbors don't know neighbors anymore. We've talked about you know, this this core to say this isn't necessarily my jam, but I'll help you how I can because that's just who he is. But like, you know, I'd love uh to do a prison ministry podcast uh that kind of like curtails into addiction uh ministry because I believe, you know, and I'm gonna go on a rant here and do this one of those long-tooth monologues, Jared, but you know, there's 600,000 men and women getting released from prison every every year, you know, uh in the US. And like Cord knows just how conservative I am, but we joke about how liberal I become very fast when it comes to things like insurance and prison reform. But all that really means to me is like I care, you know, I care about people and I care about agape love, you know, because I've experienced it. God gave me that, right? Like He He loved me when I was Judas' kiss, like He loved me when I couldn't, you know, love myself, you know, and you want to give that back to people when you experience that kind of love. So like there's there's the shed geek and the Steel Kings, but then there's this like whole other part and dynamic of who we are that people don't see. And we probably struggle with bringing that into the content. It's like, do I just keep this very shed heavy today? Do I just keep this very carport and steel heavy today? How do I do that without showing my personality? Because it's just so hard to separate my love for people and and that love of ministry, you know, in also uh an industry that welcomes that, first of all. Most people, and I'm not saying we all get along, you know, through doctrine. You know, me and Cord literally like like go toe to toe when we're going down the road, right? Like, and this is like I I Cord's already laughing because like he knows exactly what I'm gonna say. We will literally get in a heated battle over the most intense things you could imagine politics, religion, things of today, things of yesterday, things of tomorrow. And then what happens, Cord, when we get hungry? I'll just stop, look at you, and say what? Arby's it's that simple. We'll literally stop and be like, so uh what you thinking Arby's or what? You know, that's us. That's literally us in a in a nutshell. Like, you know, how can we be better people? How can we help others be better? And uh, you know, like we just find that camaraderie with you guys, and it's not even like it's just not difficult. Like our conversations are easy.

Jared:

Well, it's funny because we we have this like we have this like mirrored image, right? It's like Cord and Jared are kind of the same person, Shannon and Eric are kind of the same person. And it's it's it's funny that we we just ride so closely together, but yet we're so similar in nature. Like, if we were all in the same city, we'd probably be the best of friends, friends and be running around all the time. And that's me and Eric always has Saturdays, yeah. Yeah, I mean, the biggest issue that Eric and I have had is that our relationship's been built on you know, the phone. I've spent more time on the phone with Eric and deep, long, suffering conversations, big, long, happy conversations than I've probably spent in a room with him in my entire life, and isn't that crazy? And look at all that we've accomplished just because we love each other. You know, you talked about that agape love, right? That unconditional, selfless, uh, uh charitable, regardless of condition, regardless of circumstance, regardless of enemy, friend, and difference. It's it's just that unconditional, undying love for someone or something that you just don't care about it. The only the only thing you care about is how much you love that person, how much you can build into that person, regardless of what you get in return. And I think that that's where I take the conversation that we have today is that we share a form of that love between the four of us, and and nothing weird, right? It's just we really genuinely care about each other, and that reflects out into what we do in this industry through this podcast, through our interactions with others, and we want that to reflect back in a positive way to us.

Shannon:

And again, that's why we want to talk to people, Jared. Yes, that's why we want to talk to them. Everyone, everyone has a story. I'm always so amazed at the people who say I have nothing to offer. I'm like, oh bro. Trust me, we just talked for 45 minutes. And if I could have recorded that, people would have ate it up. Some of the best podcasts we've had never got recorded, unfortunately, because of just conversations that we're having with people. And I'm like, I wish you could have just seen how important and how valuable the last 45 minutes was. Because I always get the best feedback from the people who say, I have nothing to offer. I don't want to come on there and brag. Hey, look, you're not bragging on you. You're bragging on the Lord and what he's done for you in your life. Like, there's a song that I just shared with Cord recently, and you guys have heard it as a hymnal, but this was by Cody Johnson, a country singer, says, I can't even walk without you holding my hand. And like, you know, I was telling him about how important that is. I think back to my time, uh, Curtis Creeson, whenever he was my boss at Graceland, I was in purchasing, you know, and and Curtis told me I can't get up and walk out uh this door without his permission. That was 12 years ago. And so I sent him that song and said, thinking of you because of something you said to me 12 years ago. And this song still reminded me of you today. I don't know at that point if I'm trying to do business, if I'm trying to get somebody's shed business or or whatever, because I'm not thinking like that. I'm thinking, like, man, this guy said something really cool to me that resonated for 12 years that I thought of later when I heard a song. Uh, and I want to say thank you, right? Like, I and at some point it's like, is that for sale? You know, do I want to do business with them or some way? Of course, if there's an opportunity, but it it's just kind of like just displaying who you are in general. I mean, I I'm not trying to sell anything, I'm just trying to say thank you. Because I I was in a pretty bad way whenever you said that to me. And you know what? Your kindness and your, you know, that that meant a lot to me because I was very vulnerable at that time in in my life trying to figure out who Jesus was. And he was an example showing me that through his just interactions. And like, how do you say thank you? And like, oh, by the way, we want to work with you. Can we consult with you? Or how do you how do you sell something because you just like I don't know, Lord, open the doors, open the doors, Lord, because I'm trusting you.

Jared:

Think about the impact. Think about the impact you made back on him, Shannon, by sharing that with him. You know what I mean? The impact that you may have had on his day by sharing that thought that you had. And I think that that's one thing, again, I will stress stress that to you. You guys have heard me talk about it on and off the podcast for the last year. My three-year sobriety journey, my three-year truth tour, all these things. And the one thing that I learned is when you start the conversation, you would be surprised as to what you get back. And a lot of people tell you to stop texting and then you'll figure out who your real friends are. My argument is if you don't start it first, you might not ever hear from those people that you really want to hear from. And I think that that was one thing that I was told when I was going through what I was going through was the people that are important to you, they need to know it. And whether or not in this moment they think that you're important to them, it doesn't much matter. Okay. What matters is that they they know that you know that they're important to you. And just like Shannon said, that was 12 years past, and he might have changed that guy's entire day. You don't know where that guy was that particular day. I can tell you recently, so I did get elected to city council, and I'm super thankful for that. It's something I've always wanted to do, and I'm having a blast with it, by the way. But I reached out to a uh a former high school teacher of mine that was really impactful in my life. I was the FFA president my senior year, and I feel like that specific thing really helped turn the trajectory of my life in a totally different direction. FFA was something that I really, really grasped a hold of and enjoyed in my high school years. And I reached out to my ag advisor who's now kind of a big deal. I think he's like the big principal at one of the career technology centers locally, and he's a he's a Clay Township trustee, so he's also kind of a big deal. And I mean, he came to see me get sworn in. We've texted back and forth a handful of times since I sent that text message, and this is a connection now that's gonna probably benefit me and him long term because we're sharing the same type of uh struggles, right? He's a township trustee, I'm a city councilman, and that that was a that was a relationship that had really sat stagnant for the better part of 18, 19 years, you know, and I just thought of him and thought, you know, I want you to know that I'm very grateful for the the opportunities you gave me when I was a kid, right? So again, take a lesson from Shannon, take a lesson from me. And if you don't want a lesson, just do it for your own good. Because I'm telling you, there's probably somebody in your life that you have a lost relationship with, a friendship, a love, or whatever it is. Reach out to that person and let them know that you care about them. This is the time of the year to do it. Another old Lang Zion, right? This is the time of the year. Start 2026 off with a bang. We have kept you guys far longer than the Steel Kings normally keep you. So I will tell you this.

Cord:

And far shorter than the shed geeks normally keep you.

Jared:

There you go. We're right in the middle, we're right in that happy middle sweet spot. Cord's trying to get us, Cord's trying to get us formatted. So you'll see a little bit more formatting in 2026. I can tell you that, and we'll thank Cord for that. But I can tell you this much. If you liked, if you liked the last couple episodes, the last couple episodes were raw and real. You're just getting you're getting the straight story from Eric and I, you're getting the straight story from the four of us on a Friday morning. What I can tell you is if you like this, we'll do it more. The Steel Kings will get over on the Shed Geek podcast, Shed Geek Crew can come back on the Steel Kings podcast. We want you guys to be familiar with us and comfortable with us. That way when we see you at a at a trade show, whether it be NFBA in February or Shed Expo in the fall, late summer, whether it's the any of the Shield Wall shows, whatever show we're going to, we're happy to be there and blessed to be part of it with you. And just know that we want you to walk right up to us with a firm handshake or a hug and say we appreciate you or we don't appreciate you. And if you ever need something to tell us, I mean, seriously, Janet will tell you we have people come. I mean, you guys know this. We have plenty of people come up and say, Hey, you know, this is what you did wrong or whatever. We don't care about it. Give us the feedback. I can tell you in the meantime, we are very, very grateful and thankful for you. If you're listening to this or watching this podcast, we are very thankful and grateful for you. And we hope that you have had a successful and happy holiday season, a Merry Christmas with your loved ones. However, you celebrate those holidays, we hope that you had a blessed and safe one. And I can tell you, going into 2026, the team at the Steel Kings and the team at Shed Geek, we are really appreciative for what we've got going on here. You guys got closing remarks for me?

Shannon:

We're just gonna ride out on that. You know, I'll I'll give you one that's mutual, uh, that's mutually beneficial for that. You know, um, you guys are friends with Joe, you know, studio sponsor Jay Money over there. And Joe, uh Joel shared this with me re uh not too long ago, and he's probably shared it with you guys, that the Theodore Roosevelt speech called The Man in the Arena, which basically, you know, says, and it, and and for those who haven't got it, we'll put a link to it, basically says, you know, the the the future belongs to those who are who are in the arena, not in the seats. The ones actually getting in there, getting their hands dirty, basically, and making it happen. And you'll never have so much advice in all of your life or so much help in all of your life as to when you start something. I'm just gonna be honest with you. I started the podcast every so many people said it won't work. And then so many people were like, Well, I was gonna do that. That was my idea. Here's how you should do it. This is you know, hey, look, you try things along the way, you mess up, you fail. This you're not really defined by your failures, you know, you're defined by how many times you're able to get back up. And like we've made mistakes, we do our best to correct them whenever they're whenever we, you know, uh uh see that. And uh we're learning just like anybody else. So thank you. I I I kind of echo what you said. Just thank you. We're we're thankful that you listen. It means a lot. Definitely check out our newsletters, you know, like like call on our vendors, give them a shout-out. You listen for free, right? You listen for free. We're not charging. One good way that you can give back to us that cost hardly anything, these vendors. We heard about you on Shed Geek. We heard about you on Steel Kings. That goes a long way for us, you know. That gives us the opportunity to keep funding a show. So if you want to do us a solid, just tell them you heard about it at Shed Geek or Steel King. So that's my closing, I guess.

Jared:

We talk about we talk about it a lot, but we are very, very thankful for all of you. The team at Defined SEO, Velocity 360, Idea Room, Cal, Shed Pro, um, all of the above. I can tell you, if you reach out to those guys, we're not just giving you an advertisement, we're giving you a handoff to a friend. Okay. We know these people personally, we know that their products work if you let them work for you. And if you have issues with anybody at any time with anything that we've referred you to, reach out to us personally. Don't hesitate. That's why I put the emails at the bottom of the podcast every episode. Because that way you can reach out to us. We don't want to stand behind a friend, and if a friend's struggling, we need to help pick them up. And we we want to be there to help them make it right for you. In the meantime, check out the team at J Money. Joel is one of our very best friends. Joel has been very good to the Steel Kings and to Shed Geek. We love Joel and his team at J Money. They are doing all of the all of all of the great things that we need in this industry to try to help get us a financing option that makes sense. We love our RTO partners, but we love financing too. And I can tell you, if you have not reached out to Joel, he is a phone call away, and I can tell you he'd be happy to help you with your home improvement needs going into 2026. Nothing would make him happier than getting you a big win next year. So I can tell you guys, it has been a great, great, great, great check out Jared. Have a happy, safe, and responsible New Year's. All right. I appreciate you guys. I'm Jared. It's Eric, Shannon, and Cord. We are out for this week. Get out in your communities and goodness gracious, do something good for somebody else. Show some agape love. Get out there. We'll talk to you soon. Peace out, guys. Steel Nation, thank you for tuning in to the Steel Kings Podcast. If that episode fired you up, make sure you hit subscribe, leave a review, and share this with someone who is ready to level up. We drop powerful episodes every week filled with strategy, stories, and real talk helpful builders, shape. Stay hungry, stay focused, and keep the building stronger. Make sure to visit us at theseelkings.com for more resources and industry tools. This is the Steel Kings Podcast, where the industry talks back. See you in the next one.

Intro:

Before you go, the J Money team wants to thank you for listening to today's Steel Kings podcast. Remember, money is king, and if you need a financing option on your portable woodsheds or steel buildings, we are here to help. Just check us out at jmoneylc.com for more information. And don't forget to catch the next episode of the Steel Kings podcast and have a great day.