Episode #34

Harrison and Nate discussed: 

• Boot fitting - razzing Nate about his MasterFit boot fitting certificate
• Working at Nova Bikes in VA - both Harrison and Nate worked there
• Transitioning from retail to medical device sales at OR Solutions
• Open heart bypass surgery
• Appointment setting
• Picking your line and looking ahead
• Driving the speed limit
• Advice for someone that wants to get into the industry
• Running a shop sustainably
• Office Space
• Online retail 
• Harrison Hates persona
• Solution based selling
• Shit kits
• Harrisonhates on Instagram 
• www.harrisonhates.com
• WTFkits.com
• South of The North

Quotes from the episode: 

"At the end of the day the cyclical part of our entire lives comes down to the buying and the selling."

"I had fallen asleep at the wheel and broadsided a one ton dually pick-up truck… I have seven titanium plates in my face, jacked up my knee and knocked all the teeth out of my mouth."

"So here I was 24 - 25 years old and I was the number one salesperson in the company."

“I experienced thing professional that I didn’t enjoy that helped get me to where I am.”

“At this point if someone is dismissing snowboarding as a fad - they should be punched in the face.”

“Some of my friends gave me shit - instant rep, just add water.”

“I’ve had some really good years, but it’s been seven or eight years since it’s been great.”

“Skateboards don’t cost as much and the margins suck.”

“I’d love to be the guy drawing the lines… There’s this recurring theme about the lines.”

“Marketing is the closest thing to being a sales rep, but you get a paycheck…”

“If it wasn’t for the retailers, I wouldn’t have a job…”

“Too many retailers have tried to be too big. Too big a store, too many staff, too much product and not a real plan to deal with it when it doesn’t work out.”

“Why would we open another store while this one’s not perfect.”

“My job is not just to sell you stuff - it’s also to be an advisor.”

“Invest in the little guys - invest in the guys that aren’t all over the internet.”

“There’s still a touch it, feel it, see it component to how I buy.”

“Would you really want to buy a car online without driving it?”

“What’s the most important part of your set-up? Boots man.”

“Oh, and then there’s Harrison with 25% of the country.”

“…What has made all of those experiences worth it is the guys that I get to do it with.”

“I walk into a shop and I’m like what is this bullshit on the wall!”

“If you have a sale section in your store - it should be the smallest part of your store.”

“I don’t think I’d want to open a shop with less than 100K in the bank.”

“You can’t make a living in this industry just selling one thing anymore.”

Episode #33

My buddy Paul Horning and I sat down and chatted with Marty over Skype - we discussed Marty’s new custom snowboard company Custom Cult Snowboards. Paul and Marty reminisced about the good ole days a bit which was quite funny as Paul used to work for Marty at Whitetail. We walked down the path that Marty took in building his first online business - which actually has nothing to do with snowboarding. It was a really fun conversion - Marty is amazing at deconstructing processes and seeing opportunities that others don't see or act on.

We covered:

New Mexico living

Reminiscing the good ole days at Whitetail

Paul’s mullet and goatee

Eric Gibson’s vert ramp teardown

Skating vert in snowboard boots

Paul’s work ethic

Nate’s bow hunting skills and the zombie apocalypse

Paul gets shot with an arrow

Working for Kingpin Snowboards

Background on Custom Cult Snowboards

US Open at Stratton

Tim Ferriss and his book The Four Hour Work Week

Western Belts and moccasins on E-bay

Snowboards made out of dirt

Quotes from the episode:

“I remember - every year that I instructed or worked at a ski resort. I never made enough money to cover my expenses. I went into debt deeper everyone of those years.”

“I’ll get this ramp and people will just magically come help set it up… people would rather be snowboarding than setting up a ramp.”

“See Nate, Marty’s a good friend.” -Paul

“I ride with a zero zero stance… I tried to have a skateboard stance on my snowboard.”

“It was an eye opening experience - just how different you can make a board by tweaking just one spec”

“There’s a handful of custom shops around the world”

“I think you can make a surfboard with less equipment and overhead than a snowboard.”

“I’ve been doing the board design for Smokin since they began.”

“I’ve started my businesses by accident… I was completely broke, unemployed and almost homeless.”

“I noticed that I’d get up in the morning and spend 5 minutes pronging ou the labels and sending via the internet fax regardless of if I sold one item or a hundred items.”

“About a year ago, I took all my snowboard making equipment and threw it out.”

“You don’t want a board designed for you by someone you don’t know. You want a board designed for you by someone who’s riding style that you look up to or that you’d want to emulate. You don’t want a board designed for you by someone that’s a poser or someone that sucks or an engineering nerd.”

“Shit I know a bunch of people that look up to Paul’s riding…”

“I hated sitting in front of the computer screen all day… and I realized that I’d probably die a virgin.”