#323 - Sharon Lee - Respect and Kindness in the Touring Industry - LEADING LADIES PODCAST

1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,520
So you could talk about major
catastrophic.

2
00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:07,760
So that would fall under the
illness accidents, right, those

3
00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:09,760
types of things.
So setting that kind of thing

4
00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:14,680
aside, some of the challenges, I
would say I'm very protective of

5
00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:19,280
our drivers.
They're all friends and I treat

6
00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:21,880
them like that and they treat me
like that as well.

7
00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:25,240
So some of the things are not
being treated well on the road.

8
00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:30,440
That's that's a concern and that
has to be addressed.

9
00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:34,240
And some of the drivers were
like, well, I'll deal with it.

10
00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:37,400
I don't want to make waves.
You know, we had one tour, it

11
00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:40,720
was a very short tour, 5 trucks
on the tour and they were

12
00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:44,480
treated horribly.
And the lead driver didn't tell

13
00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:46,520
me until the end of the tour and
he said I didn't want to make

14
00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:48,840
trouble.
It was only three weeks.

15
00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:53,080
And every driver at the end of
that called me individually and

16
00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:54,760
said I'll never work with them
again.

17
00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:57,560
And I said neither will I That's
fine, that's OK.

18
00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:18,360
Now here's the leading ladies.
But geezers of gear on tour.

19
00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,240
Maybe she got some stories to
share.

20
00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:28,920
Now here's the leading ladies by
the geezers of gear Rockstar

21
00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:32,000
Ladies for some stories to
share.

22
00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:52,390
Because La La La La ladies.
So, Sharon, welcome to Leading

23
00:01:52,390 --> 00:01:54,750
Ladies Podcast.
Thank you so much for taking the

24
00:01:54,750 --> 00:01:58,390
time to come and chat with me.
Thank you for having me so

25
00:01:58,390 --> 00:02:00,560
excited.
Yeah, no, it's lovely.

26
00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:04,680
This is you're somebody else
that's being recommended by Cara

27
00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:07,440
Kemp from Echo Live.
So again, can't thank you

28
00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:10,400
enough.
Cara, she said that you was

29
00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:14,120
absolutely incredible and I had
to get you on and talk to you.

30
00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:17,840
So the first thing I always ask
is where, where are you now?

31
00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:20,320
Where's your home as you've got
a great background going on

32
00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:21,920
there?
Yeah.

33
00:02:21,920 --> 00:02:24,960
So home is Nashville.
I live right outside of

34
00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:27,360
Nashville and Franklin.
My company is based here as

35
00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:30,080
well.
And I am currently in a Home

36
00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:32,280
Office.
I do have an office that I don't

37
00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:37,520
go to, but I do have one.
But most of the time I'm just

38
00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:39,080
very comfortable working from
here.

39
00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:43,160
So I'm in my Home Office.
That's, I think sometimes it's

40
00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:45,200
nice to have an office and
obviously you've got a

41
00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:49,480
headquarters, but to work in
your own space, you know, you

42
00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,200
could, it's, it just brings out
the best in people.

43
00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:55,880
I know so many people are now
very frustrated that they have

44
00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:58,840
to go into an office when
obviously during COVID it was

45
00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:04,080
all home, home officed.
And I think being at home, as

46
00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,080
long as you're doing your work,
really brings out the best in

47
00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:08,400
you.
Yeah.

48
00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:12,160
And one of the things about
Nashville that I learned, I

49
00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:16,480
moved here about 10 years ago.
We are the people of Nashville.

50
00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:18,760
And I say we now because I've
been here 10 years, so I feel

51
00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:22,360
like I'm a Nashvillian.
Very social.

52
00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:25,760
So even when you're working from
a Home Office, we're very, very

53
00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:28,960
social.
So coffee meetings are a really

54
00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,400
big thing here.
Face to face is still a really

55
00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,040
big thing here.
So maybe not necessarily going

56
00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:40,680
into a physical office, although
a lot of us, you know, do, but

57
00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:42,080
especially in the touring
industry.

58
00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:44,800
We're meeting for lunch, we're
meeting for coffee, We're

59
00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,840
connecting somewhere meaning for
Donuts, Donuts are a big thing.

60
00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:50,680
Tacos.
So, yeah.

61
00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:53,360
So it's still a great.
It's I love that about

62
00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:56,400
Nashville, that it's still very
much a relational city.

63
00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:01,680
That's great because here I I
think most people know that are

64
00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:03,200
listening.
I live in Creek, Greece but.

65
00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:07,240
I am the president and founder
of High Road based in Nashville

66
00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:09,680
and we are a tour trekking
company.

67
00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:13,600
We do entertainment, live
events, anything that's in that

68
00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:19,200
space, concerts, live music,
productions, anything like that.

69
00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:24,640
I started the company in 2016.
I also have a facility up north

70
00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:30,120
in the northeast that acts as
kind of a a home base up there.

71
00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:34,840
That's where I'm originally from
and we do some local events up

72
00:04:34,840 --> 00:04:37,720
there and some warehousing and
things like that.

73
00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:42,920
But my primary base is here in
Nashville, and we focus on, you

74
00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:45,880
know, it's interesting.
We, we, we never really had a

75
00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:49,400
focus, you know, a specific
genre.

76
00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,200
People always assume we must be
country music being in

77
00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:58,160
Nashville, and we've had very
few country artists that we tour

78
00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:01,120
with.
Yeah, we tour with one right

79
00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:02,400
now.
We're on tour right now with

80
00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:07,400
Wynona Judge, which is a
fantastic tour, but for some

81
00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:12,880
reason we have slid into some
very niche markets of death

82
00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:18,280
metal, K pop and indie bands.
That's brilliant.

83
00:05:18,280 --> 00:05:22,600
That's a real whole genre of,
of, of all different, yeah,

84
00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:26,880
different types of music.
And I mean, how many, how many

85
00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:28,640
tours have you got out at the
moment, if you don't mind me

86
00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:30,360
asking?
So you you've got one country

87
00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:35,840
going out at the moment.
I think we have maybe 10.

88
00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:37,600
Out right now, that's
incredible.

89
00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:40,880
That's incredible.
And do you go and visit these

90
00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:43,880
tours, especially if maybe they
come locally to you, you go

91
00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:46,080
check on everyone, not check on
everyone, you know, like just

92
00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:48,320
pop in and say.
Check in, check in, not check

93
00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:49,880
on.
Yeah, I do.

94
00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:53,560
It's really hard to visit tours
in Nashville, to be honest.

95
00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,600
First of all, there's no market
here for K pop, There's no

96
00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:00,040
market here for death metal.
So they never really come to

97
00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,320
Nashville.
And then the ones that do come

98
00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:07,800
to Nashville, we are such a
music industry city that

99
00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,840
everyone's here.
So when a tour comes to town,

100
00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:15,800
everyone wants to go visit,
which makes it very difficult.

101
00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:22,000
And it it, it almost feels like
I'm imposing on the crew, on the

102
00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,160
production manager, the tour
manager when they're here.

103
00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:27,040
So a lot of times I will reach
out to them and just say, hey,

104
00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:30,880
want to pop in, say hello, what
city is best for me to do that?

105
00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:34,240
And they very rarely say
Nashville.

106
00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:39,720
Yeah, yeah, it's, it's so I fly
anywhere to check in.

107
00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:42,520
And usually I'll go in, I'll
meet with my drivers.

108
00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:46,600
We'll go to lunch or coffee or
dinner or something like that,

109
00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,960
visit with the crew production
manager, make sure everything's

110
00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:51,760
going well.
Is there anything they need,

111
00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:55,200
that kind of thing.
And then, you know, I'll just

112
00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:57,600
spend a day there and, and, and
visit with them.

113
00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:02,080
So if you don't mind me asking,
so before you started High Road

114
00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:05,600
in 2016, what drew you to this
point?

115
00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:09,600
So what would you do before and
drew you to actually starting

116
00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:10,960
High Road?
Yeah.

117
00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:14,640
So it's, I think it's an
interesting story, but I'll try

118
00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:17,840
to tell you the short version.
So I had been in trucking for

119
00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:21,200
years, almost 20 years at that
point.

120
00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:25,960
And I had been with a company
where we did conferences and we

121
00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:28,520
did trade shows and that was our
niche market.

122
00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:32,240
So and it was the same thing.
I would fly out to the trade

123
00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:34,520
shows, I'd go out to the
conferences, I would meet with

124
00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:36,720
the team.
I would be there on site during

125
00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:39,120
what I guess in the live music
interest.

126
00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:43,160
We call it load in, load out,
but it's very similar in the

127
00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:47,200
trade show world.
It's fairly successful.

128
00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:49,720
Loved what I did, love to the
people I worked with.

129
00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:55,040
My daughter, who at the time was
a teenager, was a big fan of the

130
00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:58,480
Jonas Brothers, very big fan.
So we did a ton of their

131
00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:01,120
concerts and she wasn't old
enough to go alone, so I would

132
00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:03,760
go with her.
And we were at a Jonas Brothers.

133
00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:05,720
No, sorry.
It was like a Nick Jonas in the

134
00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:08,880
Whatever administration tour.
We were at one of their shows

135
00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:12,320
and as we're walking down the
hallway, there were Rd. cases

136
00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,400
lined the hallway.
And I looked at them and I

137
00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,080
thought, wow, these look like
trade showcases.

138
00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:22,960
And there were some stickers on
there from some other companies

139
00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:25,960
that I was familiar with in the
trucking industry.

140
00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:30,720
And I started to think this is
probably something, I think this

141
00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:33,240
is something I could figure out.
How hard could it be?

142
00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:38,559
It's really hard.
So it took me several years to

143
00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:42,600
really hone in on that.
And I was in Boston at the time.

144
00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:47,560
I didn't know anything.
So I was calling concert

145
00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:50,240
promoters.
I was just calling anybody who

146
00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:53,480
would answer the phone and just
try to get a meeting with them,

147
00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:55,720
spend time with them, ask them
questions.

148
00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:59,680
And it was a concert promoter
who was fantastic up there who

149
00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:03,280
kind of took me under his wing
and said, why don't you come

150
00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,240
volunteer and work a couple
shows with me and just get a

151
00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:11,080
feel for what's happening.
So I did, I took tickets and I

152
00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:14,920
held a spotlight and you know,
just kind of hung around

153
00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:21,000
backstage learning a little bit
and watching things and had some

154
00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,920
great introductions, had a great
tour manager who spent time with

155
00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:28,400
me and sat down and just told me
everything that he would be

156
00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:30,880
looking for.
I was going to say everything

157
00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:34,320
he'd be looking to for those
loading load out moments.

158
00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,240
What?
He expects from from a from a

159
00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:42,480
trucking company and the level
that he would really expect you

160
00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:44,680
to be at.
Right, right.

161
00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:47,840
So, yeah.
So that was kind of the impetus

162
00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:52,040
for it.
Fast forward, that was my

163
00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:54,560
daughter at 14, and I can base
everything based on my

164
00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:56,760
children's ages.
So it was 14 when we went to the

165
00:09:56,760 --> 00:10:00,120
show.
She started volunteering with me

166
00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:02,000
at Cho's.
She fell in love with the

167
00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:05,960
industry as well and wound up at
Belmont majoring in music

168
00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:08,920
business.
And I started my company in

169
00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:11,160
Nashua the same year she started
college.

170
00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:14,480
OK.
So from that position period,

171
00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:19,760
you said that you was already
working for in the, in the

172
00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:22,760
Truckee Logistics company
beforehand anyway.

173
00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:26,960
Was there any like did, was
there any thought to make, let's

174
00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:30,520
say, your life easier and
approach your idea to them

175
00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:34,000
because obviously they had
everything already or was you,

176
00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:36,800
did you have that much
determination that you was like,

177
00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:38,920
no, I've done this with this
company.

178
00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:41,080
They do all the trade shows,
they do this.

179
00:10:41,560 --> 00:10:44,160
This is where I belong and this
is where I'm going to start it.

180
00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:48,360
Yeah, it's a longer story, but
yes, I did approach it with them

181
00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,320
and we started to look at it
with that company.

182
00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:53,440
The company that I was with
based in Boston, was a

183
00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:57,960
franchise.
And around the same time, that

184
00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:01,840
franchise lost its relationship
with its corporate company.

185
00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:08,200
And so it was almost a forced
situation where I had to decide

186
00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:12,840
what was I going to do because
that relationship had ended.

187
00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:15,920
So essentially that Boston
facility was no longer in

188
00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:19,160
existence.
So it was one of those things

189
00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:22,160
that I had to decide what to do
and this is what I decided to

190
00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:27,160
do.
And so moving to Nashville, did

191
00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:31,400
you I'm going to say lease or
buying your first truck?

192
00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:36,080
Was it you know what, like how
how did from from going from OK,

193
00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:37,320
I'm moving.
This is it.

194
00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:40,680
I'm going to start it on my own.
It's going to be all or nothing.

195
00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:46,200
So right, let's let.
Did you have any help behind

196
00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:47,160
you?
I know you just mentioned like a

197
00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:49,680
tour manager, but did you have
like an assistant working with

198
00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:51,320
you at the time?
Did you have you got like a

199
00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:54,440
business partner that you know,
you both put your heads together

200
00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:56,200
and was like, OK, we're going to
start with one truck.

201
00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:58,520
We're going to start with 10,
We're going to start with 100.

202
00:11:58,520 --> 00:11:59,840
I don't, I don't know like
where.

203
00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:03,440
No, it's not 100.
No, you know, you know what I

204
00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:05,520
mean.
Yeah, there were some people

205
00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:07,960
that were supportive and what
happened was when that office

206
00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:15,960
closed down, I pilfered some of
the staff from there and I

207
00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:20,080
bought some of the equipment.
I yeah, I took some of the

208
00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:21,920
equipment that was there and
purchased.

209
00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:26,680
It wasn't the best decision I
ever made because didn't realize

210
00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:31,880
that really wasn't tour worthy
tracking equipment, but I didn't

211
00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:37,080
know what I didn't know.
So so I did that took over.

212
00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:41,240
I, I leased a facility in
Nashville with warehousing and

213
00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:45,240
office space and hired some
people in and started doing, I

214
00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,000
just kind of jumped into it
honestly.

215
00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,680
And where that other office had
closed down, I had picked up

216
00:12:49,680 --> 00:12:52,520
some of that work.
So I continued to maintain some

217
00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:55,240
clients in the trade show space
and in the conference space.

218
00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:57,840
And that was part of what really
kept me going.

219
00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:02,080
The first couple years were a
little rough.

220
00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:07,400
And then I think it was 2018
that my oldest son joined the

221
00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:13,400
company and he came on and took
over the operations in the

222
00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:17,080
Boston facility and then really
helped to support what I was

223
00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:19,320
doing in Nashville.
So it freed because of the time.

224
00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:21,160
There was a lot of back and
forth.

225
00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:25,600
So it freed me up to really just
hone in and focus on what I was

226
00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:29,800
doing in Nashville and not deal
as much with what was happening

227
00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:32,200
in New England.
What was your inspiration to do

228
00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:34,880
it?
Being I think the word control

229
00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:38,560
freak has a bad connotation.
It's not I can be that.

230
00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:41,800
No, but I think it had a lot to
do with that.

231
00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:44,680
The company that I was in, I was
very high level.

232
00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:48,640
I had a lot of control over a
lot of things, but I didn't have

233
00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:52,760
autonomy.
And this was an opportunity to

234
00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:56,640
really do things the way that I
wanted to do them in the way

235
00:13:56,640 --> 00:14:00,720
that I felt was right.
And in even in coming up with

236
00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:03,520
the name of the company, High
Road, I was shocked that nobody

237
00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:05,520
else in trucking had the name,
to be honest.

238
00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:08,640
Did a lot of research on it, but
it really was one of those

239
00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:11,600
things that I felt like it was a
great representation of what we

240
00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:15,600
do and who we are in terms of,
you know, High Road gives you

241
00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:19,160
that, you know, visual of
trucking, right, the road.

242
00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:22,000
But then at the same time we
take the High Road and that's

243
00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,520
been one of our tag lines for a
long time, has been take the

244
00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:26,600
High Road.
And that we try to really do

245
00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:29,600
things that honors our
relationships with our clients

246
00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:32,280
and our relationships with our
vendors, our relationships with

247
00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:36,480
our employees, our drivers, you
know, kind of everybody on the

248
00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:38,080
team.
And we really see everyone as

249
00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:41,080
part of the same team.
And that's probably the well,

250
00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:43,800
that is the best way.
When you see everybody as one

251
00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:46,240
team, you've got respect for
everybody.

252
00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:48,760
You know, whether it's your
client, whether it's somebody

253
00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:52,280
that's working for you, it could
be the cleaner on the buses, you

254
00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:54,920
know, everybody, you know, we
are all the same.

255
00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:57,120
Everyone knows that.
I say that all the time when I'm

256
00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:00,240
speaking to to people.
We are all the same.

257
00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:05,320
And to make it really work as an
excellent team, you have to be

258
00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:06,840
that.
You have to be that person.

259
00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,760
You know, I can just see, I mean
already just the way you are,

260
00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:16,280
you know, I can see that.
Well, it's been a very hard, not

261
00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:22,040
hard, no, yes, it's been a hard
transition to 2016.

262
00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:24,680
Having your son come on board
helped you.

263
00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:30,160
And then of course, COVID hit.
So just as you're starting like

264
00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:34,960
you, you've had these obstacles
in in your way and obviously

265
00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:40,280
during COVID, was you able to do
anything or was it more based at

266
00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:43,720
home to build and hope that the
industry would come back

267
00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:45,880
together?
I learned to play a lot of Candy

268
00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:47,840
Crush.
I became really good at it

269
00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:50,800
during COVID.
I wasn't expecting that answer.

270
00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:55,880
It was, it was really
challenging.

271
00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:57,840
I'll be honest, it was really
challenging.

272
00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:02,040
We had, we had really fallen
into this sort of interesting

273
00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:04,880
space in the industry and a
friend of mine had really

274
00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:09,600
encouraged me in that direction.
I had a friend who was a drummer

275
00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:12,240
for and we're still good
friends.

276
00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:15,960
He's a drummer for contemporary
Christian band here in

277
00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:18,480
Tennessee.
And he had said, you know what,

278
00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:25,400
box trucks are really rare in
touring and a lot of us need

279
00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:28,800
them.
And in my first tours were box

280
00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:33,440
trucks and we developed a real
reputation in that space.

281
00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,760
Before COVID, our first, our
first tour was a box truck with

282
00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:42,480
Andre Day.
And that's it just sort of

283
00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:44,160
become part of what we were
doing.

284
00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:46,840
So we were doing semis, but we
were also doing box trucks.

285
00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:54,520
And when all of the touring
stopped in 2020, we started

286
00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:56,640
letting go of things.
We let go of trucks, we let go

287
00:16:56,640 --> 00:17:00,280
of drivers.
The only thing that really

288
00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:03,560
sustained us during that time
was we had a lot of retail.

289
00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:08,599
We we picked up retail business
because everybody was shopping.

290
00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:10,440
All online.
It wasn't it.

291
00:17:10,599 --> 00:17:12,480
It went crazy.
Yeah, yeah.

292
00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:15,560
Everybody was shopping.
So we picked up with some retail

293
00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:18,920
business that really sustained
us during that time and then PPP

294
00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:23,119
got us through.
But I was, I, I think I hit some

295
00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:30,360
pretty low lows during COVID
where I, you know, my life

296
00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:33,680
hasn't always been easy.
And it had been a struggle

297
00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:36,400
getting the company up and
running, aside from, you know,

298
00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:38,280
some other personal things that
were going on.

299
00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:41,200
And I remember sitting one day
in the office and just staring

300
00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,200
at the wall and thinking, I
don't even know if I can keep

301
00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:46,840
living where I'm living.
I don't know if I can keep doing

302
00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:48,720
this.
And you know, as a single parent

303
00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:52,760
and had kids at home and, and I
was just thinking, I, I don't

304
00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:56,560
know how I'm going to do this.
So there were some pretty rough,

305
00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:02,000
rough patches during COVID.
And if not for PPP, honestly, we

306
00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:05,240
would not have existed.
We wouldn't have gotten through

307
00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:08,200
it.
I had a fantastic banker who we

308
00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:11,240
had a great relationship with
and was very, very supportive.

309
00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:13,520
Still love him.
We have a great relationship.

310
00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,280
But then coming out of it, a lot
of things changed.

311
00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:23,480
Box trucks went away because
when when the touring season

312
00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,400
picked back up, we didn't have
any equipment.

313
00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:31,400
So when we tried to get it, it
was so expensive because the

314
00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:36,080
pricing of trucks went through
the roof during COVID, Yeah.

315
00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:39,520
So it really changed the
direction of the company.

316
00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:44,320
We stopped doing box trucks
completely and.

317
00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:46,280
Even now?
Or do you know?

318
00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:48,560
It started back up again.
OK.

319
00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:51,240
It's, it's crazy.
It's come back.

320
00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:56,240
It's come back hot.
So, yeah, so we went, we went to

321
00:18:56,240 --> 00:19:00,400
semis and everybody was touring
and everybody wanted to tour.

322
00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:05,800
And we had, we had calls where
people were bidding what, what

323
00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:07,160
is it going to take to get a
truck?

324
00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:09,840
We can't get a truck.
What's it going to take?

325
00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:12,600
And so it was nuts.
It was nuts.

326
00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,880
So I was good because obviously,
Sid, if I speaking to, you know,

327
00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:21,240
many people on here, it did all
of a sudden go boom, didn't it?

328
00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:22,760
Like it was a little bit of a
slow start.

329
00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:26,440
But even now, I mean, the the
tours are going out, you know,

330
00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:30,160
and it seems that they're not
really even it's not necessarily

331
00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:33,320
even stopping so much anymore.
It's kind of like even there's a

332
00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:36,320
real a nice steady flow.
There was used to be like the

333
00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:39,680
the offseason, but there isn't
really, you know, it's still

334
00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:43,240
just overflowing into the
Christmas period.

335
00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:46,640
I know you've said on my little
guest form that you're, you

336
00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:49,080
know, you're, you're busy right
up until Christmas, which is

337
00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:53,000
amazing, you know, and then I
already know that tours are

338
00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:54,720
different.
Tours are going out, you know,

339
00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:57,360
starting of January, going into
February already.

340
00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,960
And you always had that bigger
period.

341
00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:05,480
So have you noticed that things
are really getting busier now?

342
00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:08,760
Yeah, they, they aren't as
different.

343
00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:14,520
We, we have historically been
dead from right after

344
00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:20,760
Thanksgiving through early March
ish, sometimes a little bit

345
00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:23,480
later.
Last year we toured straight

346
00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:25,760
through.
Our last tour ended two days

347
00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:31,960
after Christmas and that was it
was a Christmas tour and our

348
00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:34,240
first tour started the second
week of January.

349
00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:37,040
Crazy.
Yeah, it is.

350
00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:38,200
I mean, it's good.
I mean it's.

351
00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:41,440
It's not very grateful.
Very, very grateful for it.

352
00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:44,520
Yeah, very, very grateful
because it was always a

353
00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:46,520
challenge getting through those
slow periods.

354
00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:50,800
So it's it started earlier, it's
ending later.

355
00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:53,800
We're seeing the same thing now.
There's a lot of theatrical

356
00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:57,120
tours that are continuing on
over the holidays that will just

357
00:20:57,120 --> 00:21:02,560
go straight through into 2026.
So it's it does feel a little

358
00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:07,800
steadier, not as.
I've never actually asked this

359
00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:10,640
question, I've never really
thought about it, but why did we

360
00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:14,160
always have that down down those
down months?

361
00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:15,200
Why?
Why did it ever?

362
00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:17,920
Why did we have the down months
and why now?

363
00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:22,040
Has it changed?
So like, I, I don't know, but

364
00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:25,200
what some of some of my
theories, which I'm probably

365
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:29,400
completely wrong, I often am, is
holidays.

366
00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:33,080
It's very expensive to have
holidays.

367
00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:36,280
And then nobody's buying tickets
necessarily because that's your,

368
00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:39,200
your family events, your company
events.

369
00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:41,680
You're, you know, you're doing
all of that.

370
00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:44,280
You're, you're, you're not going
out and doing shows.

371
00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:46,600
A lot of places.
It's just cold.

372
00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:49,400
It's just cold.
I don't want to go to shows when

373
00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:52,880
it's cold.
But yeah, it's just cold, yeah.

374
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:55,560
I thought about that.
I thought maybe maybe the the

375
00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:57,040
unreal.
What's the word?

376
00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:00,920
I can't say the unreal
reliability of the roads being

377
00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:03,680
in good conditions.
So there's that too.

378
00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:07,120
So the, the weather is a
definite issue.

379
00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,320
We have had times where we've
been stuck in weather.

380
00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:15,920
We've had a driver stuck.
Gosh, I feel like it was Wyoming

381
00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:20,040
for a week.
He was not on tour, but he was

382
00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:22,600
stuck.
He was on the road and and they

383
00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:24,760
shut, they just shut the roads
down South.

384
00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,840
That's a huge issue.
So if you are going to see

385
00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:34,640
tours, like there's some Winter
Jam is a Christian tour that

386
00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:37,040
goes out in the winter, but
they're doing like southern

387
00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:39,440
states.
They're not really going through

388
00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,480
the Midwest or where there might
be weather issues.

389
00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:46,680
Although I will say January of
this year, our first tour was

390
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:51,080
through Canada and it didn't
make sense to me.

391
00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:54,840
No, I was baffled.
I was like, how so?

392
00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:56,920
I talked to some people and I
was like, are are they actually

393
00:22:56,920 --> 00:23:00,360
selling tickets to people?
They said yes, because Canada's

394
00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:03,760
so cold.
And then when it gets warm,

395
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:04,760
people don't want to go to
shows.

396
00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:06,800
They want to go out, they want
to be outside, they want to

397
00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:09,160
enjoy the weather.
So they're more likely to go to

398
00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:11,720
shows when it's cold out because
they're kind of used to the cold

399
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:14,640
anyway.
So our first tour, our first

400
00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:16,200
major tour this year went
through Canada.

401
00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:19,480
And the driver.
Was absolutely miserable, but.

402
00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:23,920
And the roads, I mean, I've
been, I've been to Canada in, in

403
00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:28,160
January and that it was only
used just outside Of Montreal at

404
00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:30,840
the time.
And the roads were for me being

405
00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:33,680
English.
I mean, I was like, how, how are

406
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,360
you all driving in these roads?
I would be shut down.

407
00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:39,280
Right.
And in the South, if we get a

408
00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:41,960
couple of flurries, we're done.
Our day is over.

409
00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:45,560
Lock it up, send the kids home.
We're shutting down.

410
00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:48,120
And coming from Boston, I was
used to snow.

411
00:23:48,120 --> 00:23:53,240
I hated it, but I was used to
it, but there's there's a lot

412
00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:55,480
that could happen when there's
weather like that.

413
00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:58,200
You know, Rd. closures, right,
That's one thing delaying the

414
00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:01,680
show, but accidents that's a
pretty significant.

415
00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:05,200
Have you ever?
Had I know thankfully the driver

416
00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:08,000
wasn't on tour, but have you
have you ever been in that

417
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:12,600
situation or even before the the
when you very first started?

418
00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:15,360
You know, we're doing the
corporate and the trade shows.

419
00:24:15,360 --> 00:24:18,960
Have you ever had, you know, a
bad experience where the driver

420
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:22,480
was stuck and it was like, it's
out of our control, you know,

421
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:26,880
it's there's been an accident or
whatever and, and what, what do

422
00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:32,160
you do in those situations?
Light Switch is a collective of

423
00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:35,000
award-winning lighting, media
and visual designers committed

424
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,080
to changing how people
experience the world.

425
00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:39,640
For more than 30 years we have
been practicing pragmatic

426
00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:41,080
design.
At Light Switch.

427
00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:43,240
We believe it's our
responsibility to keep our

428
00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:46,840
clients creative, logistical and
financial objectives in balance.

429
00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:49,720
Light Switches range of
expertise is extensive.

430
00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:52,080
From working one-on-one with
clients and artists to

431
00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:54,800
multidisciplinary teams
collaborate on all visual

432
00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:58,000
aspects of temporary and
permanent projects, Light Switch

433
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,640
creates unforgettable moments
and powerful experiences.

434
00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:03,760
We celebrate our team, clients,
and all of our industry's

435
00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:06,880
diverse and talented people.
As a part of our commitment to

436
00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:09,560
inclusion in all aspects of
entertainment and experience

437
00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,800
design, Light Switch is proud to
sponsor leading ladies.

438
00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:19,320
Yeah, horribly, one of my very
first corporate events, I had a

439
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:23,960
trade show and it I, it was not
weather related, but we had a

440
00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:28,120
truck roll over.
Yeah, Yeah.

441
00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:35,640
So, OK, driver was fine, driver
was fine.

442
00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:38,400
What was in the truck was not
fine.

443
00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,000
So yeah, yeah.
So I mean, and things happen,

444
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,160
right.
Luckily we've been, we've been

445
00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:46,640
very blessed.
We've never had any major, major

446
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:51,040
issues on the road.
We've had some drivers fall ill

447
00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:55,160
and have some problems, but
those are things that we've been

448
00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:59,000
able to resolve.
So it's worked out and we've

449
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,960
never had any major weather
delays that have prevented a

450
00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:06,200
show from starting or and you
know, and the good thing is for

451
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,240
the most part, we're working
with professionals.

452
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:14,800
So the people doing the routing,
the people planning, they know,

453
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:17,280
you know, they anticipate, they
know what's happening.

454
00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,920
They can look at the routing and
say OK, this is December or

455
00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:24,320
November or there's possibility
of weather in February.

456
00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,200
We need a little bit more of a
stretch of a time to get from

457
00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:29,640
point A to point B.
For the most part we've had some

458
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:33,360
that have not.
And you know honestly if we have

459
00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:35,880
something where there's a
concern, we not might not make

460
00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:39,600
it.
We voiced the concern and we try

461
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:43,080
to work out solutions with them,
whether it's we skip that show

462
00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:48,520
with those trucks and they get
AB rig or we double up drivers

463
00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:51,200
or yeah, so we work with them on
solutions and we're pretty

464
00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:55,040
transparent about it.
I know we're talking offline,

465
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,600
but one of the things for when I
was doing the Formula One job

466
00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:02,800
was the logistics for the, the,
the TV.

467
00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:05,640
So there was air freight, there
was sea freight, there was

468
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,640
jumping over from the this sea
freights going around here

469
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:11,440
because that's going to take two
months to get there.

470
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:15,160
And then this one is going to
take, you know, like this will

471
00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:18,240
jump over straight away.
These these particular devices,

472
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,560
we have to fly them.
So they're air freight, but that

473
00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:23,760
costs more money.
The carnies, everything that

474
00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:26,720
goes into the carnies, we had
batteries that are travelling.

475
00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:28,880
So we had to take all the
batteries out of everything, put

476
00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:32,440
them in a separate thing.
The logistics of that.

477
00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:38,760
I mean, I look back and I think,
wow, like that was pretty like

478
00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:44,200
it intends to try and organise
and have every single TV

479
00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:48,680
basically logged within each
container going to various

480
00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:55,520
different places.
I got in trouble once because

481
00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:58,840
I'd put something all in the in
the air freight.

482
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:00,560
Oh, I think it was sea freight
actually.

483
00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,080
And then when it got there,
they're like, that wasn't on the

484
00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:06,000
carne.
And I was like, I forgot to put

485
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:08,400
like, you know, and it wasn't
even, it was quite a big thing.

486
00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:11,200
So it was like quite noticeable.
And he was like, it's lucky, you

487
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:14,720
know, we're, you know, we're F1,
so we generally don't get

488
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:18,000
stopped a lot.
But, you know, he laughed at me.

489
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:20,720
I mean, this was many years ago,
by the way, But you know, you

490
00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:24,160
have to log everything and the
same as with everything that's

491
00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:28,760
going in into the trucks now.
I mean, how does that work for

492
00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:31,480
you going?
Obviously you've got the Carnes

493
00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:35,120
in in every single truck.
Well, if we're crossing a

494
00:28:35,120 --> 00:28:38,800
border, so we don't always go to
Canada, but we do go to Canada.

495
00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:42,040
We have our Canadian authority.
We do go over the border and

496
00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:47,120
depending on the artist we're
working with, many have done it

497
00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:50,160
many times, very used to it.
They know what they're doing.

498
00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:55,840
Some go Carnese.
Yep, Temp bonds are very popular

499
00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:59,280
in touring where it's just an in
and out Carnese.

500
00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:01,160
It's not as complicated as a
carne.

501
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:05,720
One of the not complications,
but one of the more challenging

502
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:07,560
ways to cross the border is with
merch.

503
00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:11,480
If the tour is selling merch,
then there has to be a very

504
00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:16,000
clear inventory down to every
pin and sticker going in.

505
00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:18,800
And then they have to declare
coming out because they might

506
00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:23,120
have sold merch in Canada.
Yeah, and a lot of, honestly, a

507
00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:26,040
lot of our artists, they just
dump the merch at the border and

508
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:29,160
they don't take any to Canada.
It's easier.

509
00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,120
Wow.
Yeah, never the we were

510
00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:35,120
travelling because obviously in
Europe it's slightly different

511
00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:37,480
because you are going through,
well, OK, most of it's Europe,

512
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:41,200
but coming back into the UK now
really is a nightmare, like

513
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:42,960
really is a nightmare.
Brexit.

514
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:48,600
Yeah, it was a Brexit.
And on the, on the catering

515
00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:51,480
truck, like they had to get rid
of everything before they came

516
00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:55,920
over, came over And some of the
things it was like that's, you

517
00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:58,800
know, that's just a lot of
things were kept, but a lot of

518
00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:01,280
it was like, Nope, you can't
take anything through.

519
00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:03,920
And then then you go with the
wood.

520
00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:06,560
They were travelling straight
through and going into Ireland,

521
00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:09,320
which is Europe.
So then you had to get rid of

522
00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:11,320
everything you got in England to
go out again.

523
00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:16,720
Really it was like the, the
again, the, the logistics of

524
00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:20,880
that and the merch team, they
had to be aware of that because

525
00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:24,760
obviously anything going in and
out of Europe, But I'm, I was

526
00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:28,920
pretty sure that they had like,
you know, a basic another like,

527
00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:32,640
like you said, dump it at the
border or, you know, like get,

528
00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:36,000
get it sent out that way, right.
We just did 1 tour where the

529
00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:38,600
entire merch truck just stayed
behind.

530
00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:41,680
Didn't even go into Canada.
We just kept it all in one

531
00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:44,480
track, parked it.
And those poor Canadians don't,

532
00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:46,600
they don't get to buy T-shirts,
so.

533
00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:48,520
OK, fair enough.
OK.

534
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:54,920
And so going like really what
initially got you into trucking?

535
00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:57,960
So when you've, you know, when
you left college, school,

536
00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:01,320
whatever, like how did you get
into, how did you get into

537
00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:04,480
trucking?
So I had always been in sales.

538
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:08,160
My most of my life, really my
most of my life, I've been in

539
00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:13,200
some form of sales and I, I went
into sales just because I love

540
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:17,480
talking to people and I loved
the flexibility and the ability

541
00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:22,240
to just control your own income.
So, and I was at a point in my

542
00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:24,360
life where I needed to make a
decision.

543
00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:29,760
I needed to make a change.
And this is back when, I don't

544
00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:33,900
know how old you are, but at the
time the Internet was still dial

545
00:31:33,900 --> 00:31:36,880
up.
So you type out your resume.

546
00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:40,040
Yeah, you type out your resume
and you would mail it in and you

547
00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:41,640
would just wait for the phone to
ring.

548
00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:52,080
And so I had two opportunities
that were that came my way that

549
00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:55,280
were both in sales.
And I could have gone in two

550
00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:58,320
different directions.
And I chose this one.

551
00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:03,120
Honestly, I can admit now I
don't know what I was doing.

552
00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:05,520
I didn't even.
I didn't even know what the

553
00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:09,040
company did.
Yeah.

554
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:10,760
So I was hired.
I was.

555
00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:12,240
I was young.
I was cute.

556
00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:15,640
Couple of guys interviewed me,
hired me on the spot.

557
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:17,840
It was the first business
manager for this company in

558
00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:19,760
Boston.
It was a nationwide company.

559
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:24,360
My boss was out of New Jersey.
So I showed up the first day on

560
00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:26,320
the job.
My boss isn't there.

561
00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:28,600
Somebody else is.
He's supposed to be training me.

562
00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:31,600
And he said, I'm in the middle
of an emergency, go sit in your

563
00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:33,960
office and read some manuals or
something.

564
00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:38,720
So that was what I did all day.
And he came out at the end of

565
00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:40,360
the day.
And he said, So what questions

566
00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:43,680
do you have?
And I said, how many planes do

567
00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:47,080
we have?
Yeah.

568
00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:49,360
And he looked at me and he said,
what did you just say?

569
00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:53,480
And I said, how many, How many
planes do we have?

570
00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:57,560
And he said, why do you think we
have airplanes?

571
00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:02,080
And the company's name had air
in the name.

572
00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:06,080
And then the manuals I was
given, we went from airport to

573
00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:07,560
airport.
So I was learning all the

574
00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:11,080
airport codes.
We were based our my office was

575
00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:14,880
outside the airport.
So we said, why would you think

576
00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:17,680
we have planes?
And I said, there's a picture of

577
00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:19,680
them on the wall with the
company name on it.

578
00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:21,960
And he goes, those are corporate
jets.

579
00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:27,240
He's come with me and he takes
me out on the dock and there's

580
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:31,040
this big open dock warehouse
space with dock doors.

581
00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:35,120
And he said, what do you see?
And I said freight.

582
00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:37,320
And he said, what's the freight
doing?

583
00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:39,320
And I said, it's getting loaded
on those trucks.

584
00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:40,760
He goes, where are the trucks
going?

585
00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:45,200
And I said to our planes, I
mean, that was, yeah, I'll

586
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:47,360
probably never live that one
down in that company.

587
00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:48,840
They probably still talk about
me.

588
00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:55,560
But I think that's brilliant
because really, we're all our

589
00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:58,440
airplanes.
Are you still blush talking

590
00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:01,160
about it, to be honest, because
it was just a totally dumb.

591
00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:06,480
So anyway, so but it worked out.
Loved the company, loved the

592
00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:09,440
job.
I got into trucking sort of

593
00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:13,480
inadvertently.
And yeah, so I was with that

594
00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:16,600
company for a short while and
then I was actually hired by one

595
00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:19,239
of my clients and then wound up
staying there.

596
00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:20,719
Like I said, it was almost 20
years.

597
00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:24,080
And so you mentioned that your
son had joined you.

598
00:34:24,159 --> 00:34:26,440
Is your son still part of your
business now?

599
00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:34,120
He is, yes, yes, he's a, he's a
bit older than you would expect.

600
00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:38,840
I had him when I was very young
and he joined in, I think it was

601
00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:43,960
2018.
He, he really surprised me, you

602
00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:48,880
know, as a teenager he was a
little wayward and took him a

603
00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:51,840
little while for that, you know,
frontal lobe to develop fully.

604
00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:56,960
But he just kills it.
He's absolutely amazing.

605
00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:01,120
We're we're incredibly close.
We talk every single day and we

606
00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:05,560
are very much in alignment on
business and on honestly on a

607
00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,840
lot of things.
We talk, you know, we talked

608
00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:10,840
already this morning.
We have a call in the morning.

609
00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:13,160
We usually talk at least once or
twice more during the day.

610
00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:19,560
He's taken a lot of pressure off
and he's taken on a lot of

611
00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:22,200
things.
So he's, well, he's is still in

612
00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:24,360
Boston, he still manages that
facility.

613
00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:27,880
He's now really working more
with the drivers directly.

614
00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:33,320
He's managing the trucks, the
repairs, the drivers, all of

615
00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:35,720
that.
So he really embraced that side

616
00:35:35,720 --> 00:35:39,760
of it and taken on a lot of that
from me, which is fantastic.

617
00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:45,120
I is ready and I love that
there's the family connection.

618
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:47,920
So you feel like you have got
not saying that you if you had,

619
00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:50,600
if it was somebody else in that
role, you wouldn't feel that

620
00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:56,120
connection, but being that close
to your son to do it is great.

621
00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:59,960
And your daughter, is she you
mentioned that she was in the

622
00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:04,000
love the music industry.
Is she in the industry or is

623
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:05,520
she?
Did she go somewhere else?

624
00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:08,160
She is, yeah.
Yeah.

625
00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:11,000
So, yeah.
So my son actually became a

626
00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:12,680
partner.
I brought him on as a partner in

627
00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:16,040
2020.
And then my daughter, after she

628
00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:20,200
graduated from Belmont, she
became a concert promoter.

629
00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:22,880
So she's.
Yeah.

630
00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:25,120
So she's still in concert
promotion.

631
00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:29,160
She's been doing that.
She's going to kill me for not

632
00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:31,440
knowing, I guess like 7 or 8
years now.

633
00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:34,760
Yeah, it's been 7 or 8 years.
It's incredible.

634
00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:37,920
And she's based in Nashville, so
we have some.

635
00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:41,320
We really don't have a lot of
overlap, but we have a lot of

636
00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:44,520
overlap of understanding of what
each other does.

637
00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:48,200
And a lot of times we'll get
quotes or bookings, and I have

638
00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:51,320
no idea who the artist is.
So she's the first person I text

639
00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:53,440
and say, do you know who this
is?

640
00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:57,480
And she either goes no, or she's
like, Oh my gosh, you know, one

641
00:36:57,480 --> 00:36:59,680
or the other.
Yeah.

642
00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:07,120
So when you have someone that
approaches you says, OK, I need

643
00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:10,880
X amount of trucks, This is what
we're, I don't know, this is

644
00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:14,760
what we're going to be carrying.
This is what this is where our

645
00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:18,240
gigs are going to be.
Do you come up with the whole

646
00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:22,400
the plan, the route, the you,
you, you basically give the low

647
00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:26,840
down on everything to the tour
manager to the and say, right,

648
00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:30,000
this is what we recommend at
this point.

649
00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:32,040
We think you need a double
driver at this point.

650
00:37:32,040 --> 00:37:34,960
We need this beneath.
We need this is, is that kind of

651
00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:37,880
what you'll do or is there
somebody else doing that?

652
00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:39,320
Like what?
How does?

653
00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:42,680
How does your day unfold once
you get that call?

654
00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:44,920
Yeah.
So it varies.

655
00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:47,120
It varies.
Most are pretty experienced.

656
00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:50,120
They know what they're doing
most when they're running it.

657
00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:52,840
They're pretty sure they know
when they're going to need a Co

658
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:56,680
driver, when they might not.
So when they send a quote over,

659
00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:59,760
we put it in the system, We'll
run the mileage, we run the

660
00:37:59,840 --> 00:38:03,520
hours.
We know the drivers hours of

661
00:38:03,520 --> 00:38:05,760
service.
So we make sure that we know how

662
00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:08,040
long it's taking them to get
from venue to venue.

663
00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:10,800
We'll add a little extra time if
they're going through LA, New

664
00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:14,840
York, major cities, crossing
borders, that kind of thing.

665
00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:19,320
What we'll go through, we'll run
the mileage and the hours and

666
00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:21,240
then we'll put the pricing
together for them.

667
00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:28,440
We do have a program that we
offer to newer tours or smaller

668
00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:31,880
tours that if it's A1 Truck Tour
and they're not very

669
00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:35,560
experienced, we put an
experienced driver on the tour

670
00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:40,000
with them.
So we call that tour up and it's

671
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:42,800
not something we charge extra
for, but it's something where

672
00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:45,400
we're kind of investing in them
long term and we want that tour

673
00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:48,400
to be successful.
So we put it an experienced

674
00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:51,680
driver on the tour with them who
really helps them get through

675
00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:53,720
the process.
Where some of them have never

676
00:38:53,720 --> 00:38:56,920
crossed the Canadian border
before, Some of them may have

677
00:38:56,920 --> 00:39:02,000
never dealt with parking in New
York City or situations like

678
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:06,320
that where the driver is really,
really helpful and hands on and

679
00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:09,640
will will help or not help as
much as they want.

680
00:39:09,640 --> 00:39:12,000
He's there to support them in
whatever way they want.

681
00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:16,480
So most tours know what they're
doing by the time it gets to us.

682
00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:20,800
That is good.
I I've been on a tour before

683
00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:27,720
where OK on paper or on maps it
looks like this, but it isn't.

684
00:39:29,240 --> 00:39:32,360
And really, you know, if you, if
you've that, that come over from

685
00:39:32,360 --> 00:39:38,160
like the states coming over to
this side and, and even the like

686
00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:40,800
the drivers and stuff, they
weren't necessarily that

687
00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:43,360
helpful.
And there's this poor production

688
00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:46,280
production manager, He was
getting like after everything

689
00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:50,560
had been set in stone, one
person would say, oh, it's going

690
00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:53,880
to take 8 hours and then we need
the brakes and you're not going

691
00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:57,080
to get there till 12:00 in the
afternoon.

692
00:39:57,320 --> 00:39:59,680
And then you then another part
because that's all they do.

693
00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:02,720
They whisper, they whisper, they
talk and you can never get a

694
00:40:02,720 --> 00:40:05,480
straight answer.
And I was like, OK.

695
00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:10,840
So having this tour up is
brilliant because you need

696
00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:14,960
somebody that's really going to
know, not just say, oh, no, no,

697
00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:17,480
no, that's going to take you
this time to get here to get

698
00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:18,960
there.
Because all we were all

699
00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:21,480
everybody, anybody, we didn't
care if it was 12:00.

700
00:40:21,800 --> 00:40:24,600
We just needed to know, OK, it's
going to be 12:00.

701
00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:28,120
And then and then it turns out
we were, we were there at 9:00.

702
00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:30,760
So it's like, guys, yeah, come
on.

703
00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:35,120
Yeah, you do try to deal in
worst case scenarios with some

704
00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:37,640
of those situations you want to
prepare them.

705
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:41,960
But one of the things that we do
once we once we do get a booking

706
00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:45,040
and if somebody asks for it
before they book, you know, we'd

707
00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:47,920
probably do it anyway.
But generally once someone

708
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:52,240
commits to a booking, we
schedule a call together and we

709
00:40:52,240 --> 00:40:54,920
bring in the lead driver,
whether it's one driver or 12

710
00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:57,800
drivers, but the lead, we bring
in the lead driver and we have a

711
00:40:57,800 --> 00:41:00,880
team's call.
So we go over prior to that

712
00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:03,600
call, the driver has gone
through the routing, he's looked

713
00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:06,280
at the venues.
If there's venues he's not

714
00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:09,360
familiar with, he'll research
them a little bit and we'll

715
00:41:09,360 --> 00:41:13,400
address all of that on our call.
So we'll talk about things like

716
00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:17,840
venue parking or he'll say, hey,
I've been to this venue before.

717
00:41:19,520 --> 00:41:21,480
This is the challenge getting in
there.

718
00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:24,440
Are we St. loading?
Do you need this type of a ramp?

719
00:41:25,320 --> 00:41:27,720
We're picking up merch.
Do you need something?

720
00:41:27,720 --> 00:41:29,840
You know, there's a thing called
an attic that you build in a

721
00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:31,840
trailer.
Do you need an attic in the

722
00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:36,080
trailer?
So we go over all of that in our

723
00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:40,840
pre tour call, everything from
pickups to returns, really just

724
00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:42,880
getting all the information.
But it also gives the lead

725
00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:46,280
driver in the production manager
that opportunity to start their

726
00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:50,400
relationship several weeks ahead
of the tour.

727
00:41:51,240 --> 00:41:54,800
Which is great because same
thing, you need that connection.

728
00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:58,760
You can't just, you know, you
turn up the first gig and you're

729
00:41:58,760 --> 00:42:01,560
like, oh, hi, you know, I'm so
and so, yeah, nice to meet you

730
00:42:01,560 --> 00:42:03,240
and bang.
So at least you've got that

731
00:42:03,240 --> 00:42:06,800
connection from from day one.
And I mean what I mean, what

732
00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:12,200
would be like a challenge on the
road that most people even

733
00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:15,480
inside or outside of the
industry wouldn't expect?

734
00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:19,000
So what would say is like one of
your biggest challenges that

735
00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:23,040
people are unaware of, but
actually, you know, this is one

736
00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:26,160
of our biggest challenges.
Yeah, let me think.

737
00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:28,680
I think so.
I think it it falls into

738
00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:31,120
different categories.
So you could talk about major

739
00:42:31,120 --> 00:42:34,520
catastrophic.
So that would fall under the

740
00:42:34,520 --> 00:42:38,040
illness accidents, right, those
types of things.

741
00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:41,960
So setting that kind of thing
aside, some of the challenges, I

742
00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:45,720
would say I'm very protective of
our drivers.

743
00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:50,600
They're all friends and I treat
them like that and they treat me

744
00:42:50,600 --> 00:42:53,440
like that as well.
So some of the things are not

745
00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:58,840
being treated well on the road.
That's that's a concern and that

746
00:42:58,840 --> 00:43:02,560
has to be addressed.
And some of the drivers were

747
00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:05,240
like, well, I'll deal with it.
I don't want to make waves.

748
00:43:05,880 --> 00:43:09,280
You know, we had one tour, it
was a very short tour, 5 trucks

749
00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:12,120
on the tour and they were
treated horribly.

750
00:43:12,520 --> 00:43:15,280
And the lead driver didn't tell
me until the end of the tour and

751
00:43:15,280 --> 00:43:16,640
he said I didn't want to make
trouble.

752
00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:21,360
It was only three weeks.
And every driver at the end of

753
00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:23,920
that called me individually and
said I'll never work with them

754
00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:26,160
again.
And I said neither will I that's

755
00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:30,240
fine, that's OK.
But so how they're treated and,

756
00:43:30,240 --> 00:43:34,520
and drivers are a little
different because the bus

757
00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:38,400
drivers are on the bus and
they're getting to know

758
00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:40,280
everybody, right?
And so they have that

759
00:43:40,280 --> 00:43:43,440
relationship and it's developed
because of the proximity.

760
00:43:44,040 --> 00:43:47,800
Truck drivers don't have the
proximity that the bus drivers

761
00:43:47,800 --> 00:43:49,600
do.
So sometimes they're just a

762
00:43:49,600 --> 00:43:54,600
little bit outside the circle.
So pulling them into the circle

763
00:43:55,040 --> 00:43:58,080
get, you know, getting them
acclimated, making sure that

764
00:43:58,080 --> 00:44:01,680
they are part of the team,
that's really important.

765
00:44:04,080 --> 00:44:06,440
And for truck drivers, one of
the biggest challenges.

766
00:44:06,440 --> 00:44:10,240
And again, I love them, but they
gossip more than teenage girls.

767
00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:19,360
So news travels really fast and
negative things travel really

768
00:44:19,360 --> 00:44:21,800
fast and positive things travel
really fast.

769
00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:24,280
So you have to be really
cautious about what you're

770
00:44:24,280 --> 00:44:26,680
saying, who you're saying it to,
who's aware of it.

771
00:44:28,520 --> 00:44:32,320
Yeah.
So it's both a good and a bad,

772
00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:35,640
you know, because I get to hear
a lot of things from the road.

773
00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:38,360
You know, they'll call and
they'll tell me things that are

774
00:44:38,360 --> 00:44:40,400
going on.
And, and sometimes the bus

775
00:44:40,400 --> 00:44:42,720
drivers are the best sources of
information because they'll say,

776
00:44:43,160 --> 00:44:47,160
hey, by the way, I heard the
production managers leaving this

777
00:44:47,160 --> 00:44:49,920
tour and he mentioned he has
another tour coming up in the

778
00:44:49,920 --> 00:44:52,640
fall that's not announced yet.
And I'm like, oh, good.

779
00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:54,880
Well, let's let's get to work on
that.

780
00:44:56,960 --> 00:44:59,440
On the other hand, if there's
something negative and it's

781
00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:03,120
starting to spread and go around
or they're not getting along

782
00:45:03,120 --> 00:45:05,560
well, you know, those are
definitely.

783
00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:09,720
Felt that for me, I mean, when I
went, so this year we went back

784
00:45:09,720 --> 00:45:13,440
into the touring and I went into
the back into the catering side

785
00:45:13,440 --> 00:45:15,760
of things.
So I went back into the catering

786
00:45:15,760 --> 00:45:20,760
and I was doing the dressing
rooms and I always, I always

787
00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:24,640
feel that truck drivers and bus
drivers are always sometimes

788
00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:30,840
treated a little bit differently
the, the bus driver that you're

789
00:45:30,840 --> 00:45:33,560
on.
So it could be so everyone's

790
00:45:33,560 --> 00:45:35,960
friendly with their bus driver
because obviously they're,

791
00:45:36,120 --> 00:45:39,160
that's their friends.
The other bus drivers, the

792
00:45:39,160 --> 00:45:42,680
people on that say bus number 1
don't know who bus number 2 is

793
00:45:42,680 --> 00:45:44,480
or bus number 3 is, or bus
number 4.

794
00:45:44,720 --> 00:45:48,600
So often they're kind of like
left out depending on the tour.

795
00:45:48,600 --> 00:45:51,520
And I've, I've, you know, I've
done a few now I'll talk to the

796
00:45:51,520 --> 00:45:53,800
bus drivers and the truck
drivers and I'll be like, oh,

797
00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:56,400
where are you staying tonight?
I know they stay on their buses

798
00:45:56,400 --> 00:45:58,480
or in their trucks.
That's, you know, that's, that's

799
00:45:58,480 --> 00:46:00,720
what they do.
So I've got, that's not, you

800
00:46:00,720 --> 00:46:03,160
know, I don't expect everyone to
then to come into the hotels

801
00:46:03,160 --> 00:46:07,440
with us and, and be that team,
but that sometimes they're like,

802
00:46:07,880 --> 00:46:11,560
we got put like miles out the
way, like miles out the way for

803
00:46:11,560 --> 00:46:13,560
whatever reason.
You know, it could be budget, it

804
00:46:13,560 --> 00:46:17,680
could be anything.
And one particular tour, you

805
00:46:17,680 --> 00:46:20,640
know, they were like, but we
know where we can stay for

806
00:46:20,640 --> 00:46:25,080
cheaper for this, for that.
And then they do start doing,

807
00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:27,760
you know, a bit of this, a bit
of that, you know, and it's kind

808
00:46:27,760 --> 00:46:30,520
of feels like moaning like, you
know, in my eyes.

809
00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:33,440
But then at the same time,
they're just trying to like, I

810
00:46:33,440 --> 00:46:36,360
don't, I don't know, voice their
opinion that we don't feel like

811
00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:42,280
we're being welcomed right now.
And I will always, always, you

812
00:46:42,280 --> 00:46:45,640
know, the first thing we had
like a little like catering team

813
00:46:45,640 --> 00:46:48,600
meeting.
I said, guys, the first thing I

814
00:46:48,600 --> 00:46:51,640
want us to do, not only look
after all the tour, but really,

815
00:46:51,640 --> 00:46:56,440
let's make sure truck drivers,
bus drivers are really treated

816
00:46:56,440 --> 00:47:00,320
really well because not that
we're going to treat anybody any

817
00:47:00,320 --> 00:47:05,040
differently, but I've been on a
tour as well before when some of

818
00:47:05,040 --> 00:47:07,760
the catering have gone, oh, you
know, the bus drivers, they're

819
00:47:07,760 --> 00:47:10,240
the first ones in.
Yeah, Because that's the time

820
00:47:10,240 --> 00:47:12,240
that suits them, because they're
going to go to bed in a minute

821
00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:14,760
because they're going to drive
us all the way through the night

822
00:47:15,560 --> 00:47:18,680
and they've got this like
horrible feeling towards them

823
00:47:18,680 --> 00:47:20,960
or, I don't know, whatever it
is.

824
00:47:20,960 --> 00:47:23,800
I sometimes we had to make
sandwiches.

825
00:47:23,800 --> 00:47:25,800
Make them with love.
Make them with love.

826
00:47:26,080 --> 00:47:29,560
Don't just go, you know.
Right.

827
00:47:30,080 --> 00:47:34,320
Because, see, they've been
sitting in a truck and as as

828
00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:38,240
much as they are alone, they
tend to be very social people.

829
00:47:38,240 --> 00:47:40,040
Yeah, they are.
And when they're in the truck,

830
00:47:40,040 --> 00:47:42,960
they're talking all the time.
They're calling friends, they're

831
00:47:42,960 --> 00:47:45,360
calling each other, they're
having conversations.

832
00:47:45,880 --> 00:47:48,960
So when they get there, they
want to be part of the team.

833
00:47:48,960 --> 00:47:52,080
They want to be engaged.
Most of them, you know, there's

834
00:47:52,080 --> 00:47:55,000
some people that don't, but most
of them, they want to feel like

835
00:47:55,000 --> 00:47:59,400
they're part of the group.
And we've had tours where they

836
00:47:59,400 --> 00:48:01,960
have told the drivers you're not
welcome in catering.

837
00:48:02,520 --> 00:48:06,120
You get per diem, you don't need
to be in catering.

838
00:48:06,520 --> 00:48:09,160
Yeah.
Or, you know, or there's some

839
00:48:09,160 --> 00:48:11,440
tours, if they're very large,
they give out tickets for

840
00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:15,360
catering just fine.
But when they're giving them

841
00:48:15,360 --> 00:48:21,120
out, the drivers are sleeping.
So then they're chasing down how

842
00:48:21,120 --> 00:48:25,440
do I get a ticket when I'm
awake, you know, so they're so.

843
00:48:25,640 --> 00:48:26,720
Yeah.
So there's and then it.

844
00:48:26,720 --> 00:48:29,600
Becomes like A and then they
come into when they're, when

845
00:48:29,600 --> 00:48:31,920
they're, when they're trying to
find the tickets, the production

846
00:48:31,920 --> 00:48:34,080
manager or whatever is really
stressed at this point.

847
00:48:34,080 --> 00:48:37,080
So then they become like a
burden, but they're not just

848
00:48:37,080 --> 00:48:40,720
because they haven't thought
about the, you know, it's the

849
00:48:40,720 --> 00:48:42,960
same as any job.
I I've always believed in my

850
00:48:42,960 --> 00:48:45,160
life that you, I've always
started like at the bottom and

851
00:48:45,160 --> 00:48:49,400
worked my way up because I want
to know how everybody is working

852
00:48:49,400 --> 00:48:51,400
and know how everybody's
feeling.

853
00:48:51,840 --> 00:48:54,440
Very important.
OK, I'm, I'm not going to go and

854
00:48:54,520 --> 00:48:59,680
be a truck driver, but I also
asked them like I do ask, OK, so

855
00:49:00,880 --> 00:49:02,960
you know what, what is it?
What's your, what does your day

856
00:49:02,960 --> 00:49:04,640
look like?
You know, and they'll be like,

857
00:49:04,680 --> 00:49:07,160
OK, well, when soon as we get,
you don't see this part.

858
00:49:07,160 --> 00:49:10,400
But as soon as we arrive, we
load in, we load out, we then go

859
00:49:10,400 --> 00:49:12,800
clean the trucks.
So then they're cleaning them.

860
00:49:12,800 --> 00:49:18,320
So they make them all like shiny
and all the rest of it because

861
00:49:18,320 --> 00:49:20,120
it's a professional.
They don't go in there looking

862
00:49:20,120 --> 00:49:23,640
disgusting, so they don't want.
To drive dirty, they don't want

863
00:49:23,640 --> 00:49:26,760
it to look unprofessional.
They really take pride in in

864
00:49:26,760 --> 00:49:30,040
their equipment.
I've never seen a dirty truck, a

865
00:49:30,080 --> 00:49:34,160
dirty bus at any one of my tours
because that's what.

866
00:49:34,160 --> 00:49:37,000
But we don't see them doing that
because we're busy.

867
00:49:37,000 --> 00:49:39,440
We're in, we're in the venue at
this point, we're busy.

868
00:49:39,800 --> 00:49:43,240
But then what you will see
obviously is say, once they've

869
00:49:43,240 --> 00:49:46,480
done all that, they've come back
and there's SAT around or

870
00:49:46,480 --> 00:49:48,680
whatever, or they're the first
ones in catering and they're

871
00:49:48,680 --> 00:49:50,960
like, cool, you know, you're the
first ones in Kate.

872
00:49:51,640 --> 00:49:54,360
No, that's their time.
That's their rest time.

873
00:49:54,680 --> 00:49:57,200
They're also then going to go
back to the bus, They're going

874
00:49:57,200 --> 00:49:59,200
to sleep.
I mean, when I was doing all the

875
00:49:59,200 --> 00:50:02,400
buses, all the bus stock, the,
the guys would be like, OK, if

876
00:50:02,400 --> 00:50:05,760
you get everything ready before
5:00, we'll be able to help you.

877
00:50:06,040 --> 00:50:07,880
And I was like, OK, that sounds
fair.

878
00:50:07,880 --> 00:50:10,040
I said.
But if not after five, we're all

879
00:50:10,040 --> 00:50:12,560
asleep.
He goes, there's the master key.

880
00:50:12,960 --> 00:50:15,960
Let yourself in.
But again, can you be respectful

881
00:50:15,960 --> 00:50:17,760
and don't go in and go boom,
boom, boom.

882
00:50:18,280 --> 00:50:19,920
Of course I will.
Do you know?

883
00:50:20,560 --> 00:50:22,360
Oh well, we don't.
Sleep on the We don't sleep on

884
00:50:22,360 --> 00:50:24,040
the buses.
The drivers do sleep in their

885
00:50:24,040 --> 00:50:26,040
own trucks.
Or, you know, they get a hotel.

886
00:50:26,960 --> 00:50:30,440
Yeah, like buses and the truck
drivers, but a lot of the truck

887
00:50:30,440 --> 00:50:35,680
drivers, they are actually.
I'll tell you what, the last

888
00:50:35,680 --> 00:50:38,520
tour I just did there was
probably about, I think maybe

889
00:50:38,520 --> 00:50:42,040
even 10 of them.
They also volunteered or not

890
00:50:42,040 --> 00:50:43,680
volunteered.
They obviously got paid extra,

891
00:50:43,680 --> 00:50:47,120
but to do the spots.
So they did the squat likes for

892
00:50:47,120 --> 00:50:49,440
the show.
Well, I think this is brilliant

893
00:50:49,480 --> 00:50:52,160
because really they come in,
they have lunch and they're

894
00:50:52,160 --> 00:50:54,600
like, we're not going to come
for dinner, Sarah, you know, so

895
00:50:54,600 --> 00:50:57,080
you won't see us.
We'll save them a box up because

896
00:50:57,080 --> 00:50:59,240
they'll sleep right the way
through to the show, go do the

897
00:50:59,240 --> 00:51:00,960
spots and of course then they've
got load out.

898
00:51:01,880 --> 00:51:05,200
Well, that group of people that
did it all the, the truck

899
00:51:05,200 --> 00:51:08,760
drivers that did this, well,
they were loved by everybody

900
00:51:08,760 --> 00:51:12,360
because of course, they really
were part of the show.

901
00:51:12,400 --> 00:51:15,200
That's yeah.
And I thought that's really

902
00:51:15,200 --> 00:51:17,920
good, you know, because they
really wanted to be part of the

903
00:51:17,920 --> 00:51:20,880
crew more so.
So I loved that.

904
00:51:20,880 --> 00:51:23,560
I loved that they were being,
oh, I just licked my pen lid.

905
00:51:25,840 --> 00:51:28,200
They were being like, you know,
included in it.

906
00:51:28,720 --> 00:51:31,760
And there's one thing I always,
I do always talk about and that

907
00:51:31,760 --> 00:51:36,680
is mental health.
And I certainly saw a lot of

908
00:51:36,680 --> 00:51:41,560
different emotions going through
even with the the truck drivers

909
00:51:41,720 --> 00:51:46,840
and also the bus drivers,
because it must be so intense.

910
00:51:46,840 --> 00:51:50,520
And again, people don't realize
is there like I know you work

911
00:51:50,520 --> 00:51:55,080
with Echo live, but is there
like AI know a truck driver

912
00:51:55,480 --> 00:51:59,640
helpline that you have, you
know, someone's having a tough

913
00:51:59,640 --> 00:52:03,640
day and you know, they can just
call and say my.

914
00:52:03,640 --> 00:52:06,520
Cell number.
Yeah, your cell number, yeah.

915
00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:11,520
It's my cell number.
Yeah, you know, and, and, and

916
00:52:11,520 --> 00:52:16,200
truly it is my cell number and,
and my son's as well.

917
00:52:16,360 --> 00:52:18,960
All the drivers have our cell
numbers and they know that if

918
00:52:18,960 --> 00:52:24,080
they need us, we're there and
they can call if there's an

919
00:52:24,080 --> 00:52:26,960
emergency during the night.
It depends on the level of

920
00:52:26,960 --> 00:52:28,520
emergency whether or not they
call.

921
00:52:28,720 --> 00:52:33,400
They're all equipped to handle
and flat tires and you know,

922
00:52:33,400 --> 00:52:35,120
things like that.
And they're all empowered to

923
00:52:35,120 --> 00:52:38,760
handle it how it needs to be
handled, whether it's a roadside

924
00:52:38,760 --> 00:52:42,000
service or a repair or whatnot.
So they don't disturb us for

925
00:52:42,000 --> 00:52:43,760
those things.
It's usually a report in the

926
00:52:43,760 --> 00:52:45,440
morning.
By the way, this happened last

927
00:52:45,440 --> 00:52:46,440
night.
And here's how we're dealing

928
00:52:46,440 --> 00:52:51,880
with it.
But we've had some, you know, I,

929
00:52:52,120 --> 00:52:55,360
we had one tour that was
particularly challenging.

930
00:52:55,360 --> 00:52:58,480
And the lead driver called me at
5:00 AM in tears.

931
00:52:59,120 --> 00:53:03,120
And and we just.
Yeah, that's that's good though.

932
00:53:03,680 --> 00:53:04,240
That's.
Good.

933
00:53:04,680 --> 00:53:07,640
And we just talked and he cried
and I cried and we, you know,

934
00:53:07,640 --> 00:53:10,600
and I listened and you know, and
we got through it.

935
00:53:11,280 --> 00:53:13,680
And there's been some tragedies
that have happened on the road.

936
00:53:13,680 --> 00:53:20,680
But so for those sort of things,
we we do have a lot of respect

937
00:53:20,680 --> 00:53:24,920
for them and we treat them as
humans and as individuals.

938
00:53:24,920 --> 00:53:28,120
And not everybody has the same
needs.

939
00:53:29,960 --> 00:53:31,840
Time off.
We're very flexible.

940
00:53:32,440 --> 00:53:35,080
If somebody calls on their own
tour and they're having a tough

941
00:53:35,080 --> 00:53:38,400
time or a family member is sick
or something, they need to get

942
00:53:38,400 --> 00:53:42,160
home, they'll go home.
I would never ask anybody to

943
00:53:42,160 --> 00:53:45,360
stay on the road.
If they feel that they need to

944
00:53:45,360 --> 00:53:47,920
be somewhere else, they're going
to go and we'll deal with it.

945
00:53:48,560 --> 00:53:52,240
We'll deal with it.
That's a great attitude because

946
00:53:52,440 --> 00:53:56,520
if everybody that works for you
knows this, they're going to

947
00:53:56,520 --> 00:54:00,480
feel cared for, they're going to
feel loved and like this

948
00:54:00,480 --> 00:54:02,720
particular driver, you're
calling you up at 5, AMI said.

949
00:54:02,720 --> 00:54:05,760
That was brilliant because that
is he didn't deal with it on his

950
00:54:05,760 --> 00:54:07,440
own.
He called you like and you was

951
00:54:07,440 --> 00:54:09,480
there.
So that's brilliant, The.

952
00:54:09,480 --> 00:54:15,360
Funny part of that story is I
was on vacation and I never told

953
00:54:15,360 --> 00:54:18,320
him I went on vacation because I
didn't want him to think he

954
00:54:18,320 --> 00:54:21,600
couldn't call.
He still doesn't know to this

955
00:54:21,760 --> 00:54:24,080
day, so I'm not telling him
about this podcast.

956
00:54:26,080 --> 00:54:31,680
Yeah, but that again, that just
makes you a great human to not

957
00:54:31,680 --> 00:54:35,480
say it to, you know, so then
anybody can call you at any at

958
00:54:35,680 --> 00:54:37,080
any point.
And the fact that you've you've

959
00:54:37,080 --> 00:54:39,080
still never told him, you know,
like that.

960
00:54:39,080 --> 00:54:44,000
I it's that that's that's a
really, really nice quality in

961
00:54:44,240 --> 00:54:47,040
being you.
And I don't say this to lift

962
00:54:47,040 --> 00:54:51,560
myself up in any way.
I say it more as an example for,

963
00:54:53,320 --> 00:54:54,960
you know, they're, they're great
people.

964
00:54:55,160 --> 00:54:59,280
They really are.
And I, I, there's very few

965
00:54:59,280 --> 00:55:02,440
people in the world that I think
are truly horrible,

966
00:55:02,960 --> 00:55:07,360
intentionally unkind or
intentionally horrible.

967
00:55:07,400 --> 00:55:10,760
We're all just different and
different personalities.

968
00:55:10,760 --> 00:55:13,960
And my personality doesn't
always jive with everybody.

969
00:55:14,160 --> 00:55:19,200
I know that, and that's OK.
But at the end of the day, they

970
00:55:19,200 --> 00:55:22,280
just deserve to be treated
respectfully, just like I do, no

971
00:55:22,280 --> 00:55:25,480
different.
And you know, and that goes to,

972
00:55:25,520 --> 00:55:27,680
you know, that goes to my
drivers, that goes to the people

973
00:55:27,680 --> 00:55:31,560
who do the billing, that goes to
the controller, my admin, you

974
00:55:31,560 --> 00:55:35,640
know, anybody whose work our
vendors, our clients.

975
00:55:36,040 --> 00:55:39,280
It's just, there's no reason not
to play nice in the sandbox or

976
00:55:39,280 --> 00:55:41,800
just isn't.
And if you're not happy, go find

977
00:55:41,800 --> 00:55:44,280
another sandbox to play in.
It's that simple.

978
00:55:45,280 --> 00:55:48,160
And I think for people, I mean,
I remember when it was my first

979
00:55:48,160 --> 00:55:51,360
tour in over in America and it's
very different from Europe.

980
00:55:51,720 --> 00:55:55,520
You know, everything about it.
The trucks are massive.

981
00:55:55,520 --> 00:55:58,240
The like everything is just
bigger.

982
00:55:58,640 --> 00:56:03,280
And I remember there was one, I
can still see him now, one truck

983
00:56:03,280 --> 00:56:07,240
driver that came into catering
and he was really rude.

984
00:56:07,240 --> 00:56:10,480
I mean really, really rude to
myself and another lady.

985
00:56:11,000 --> 00:56:15,960
And he walked away and he
another one of the tour crew

986
00:56:15,960 --> 00:56:19,280
members came up and they were
like, well, that wasn't that

987
00:56:19,280 --> 00:56:22,000
really wasn't good.
Anyway, this particular person

988
00:56:22,000 --> 00:56:24,440
told the tour manager, the
manager came and all the rest of

989
00:56:24,440 --> 00:56:25,960
it.
And I was like, don't want to

990
00:56:25,960 --> 00:56:28,600
make a big thing about this
because I don't.

991
00:56:29,120 --> 00:56:31,840
And anyway, I approached this
truck drive and I said, I just

992
00:56:31,840 --> 00:56:33,840
want to say that was, you know,
this is the next time when he

993
00:56:33,840 --> 00:56:38,920
came in and I just asked, I
said, is everything OK with you?

994
00:56:39,400 --> 00:56:43,840
And he was like kind of rude
still was like, you know, like

995
00:56:43,840 --> 00:56:46,360
kind of who are you?
I said, I don't think you

996
00:56:46,360 --> 00:56:49,880
realize, but like we're on tour
with you for the whole way.

997
00:56:50,160 --> 00:56:52,920
And he was like, oh, you're not
local catering.

998
00:56:53,560 --> 00:56:56,760
And I said, no, I said, but not
that it should make a difference

999
00:56:56,760 --> 00:56:59,000
whether I'm local or tour
because it shouldn't.

1000
00:56:59,720 --> 00:57:04,320
I said but we are actually on
tour all together and he

1001
00:57:04,320 --> 00:57:06,560
changed.
He thought about it anyway

1002
00:57:06,560 --> 00:57:08,400
afterwards it turned out that he
did.

1003
00:57:08,400 --> 00:57:10,160
He had some family issues going
on.

1004
00:57:10,240 --> 00:57:12,600
Not that again, it's not an
excuse right?

1005
00:57:12,600 --> 00:57:15,280
Because it's not but the whole
thing.

1006
00:57:15,280 --> 00:57:19,080
But he changed like really?
And he said sorry to both of us

1007
00:57:19,080 --> 00:57:23,040
and my friend and bloody blah.
But you, you never know what

1008
00:57:23,040 --> 00:57:25,800
people are have got going on,
you know.

1009
00:57:25,880 --> 00:57:29,360
Not that I'm excusing him for
being rude because that was bad,

1010
00:57:31,000 --> 00:57:32,600
but.
I mean, let's be honest, some

1011
00:57:32,600 --> 00:57:36,880
people are just jerks.
All right, let's find out first.

1012
00:57:36,920 --> 00:57:41,520
Is there something going on or
are you just kind of a jerk?

1013
00:57:41,560 --> 00:57:43,640
Like let's.
And if you're a Jack, I'm really

1014
00:57:43,640 --> 00:57:45,280
not going to be nice to you for
the whole talk.

1015
00:57:45,720 --> 00:57:48,640
We'll just, yeah, like I said,
go play in a different sandbox.

1016
00:57:48,840 --> 00:57:50,800
Hopefully she doesn't spit in
your sandwich.

1017
00:57:51,240 --> 00:57:55,760
We'll see.
Never done that, but I mean we,

1018
00:57:55,800 --> 00:57:57,960
you know.
It's not, it's not a perfect

1019
00:57:57,960 --> 00:58:00,000
situation.
And you know, but like I said,

1020
00:58:00,000 --> 00:58:02,240
for the most part, we've had
bigger tours.

1021
00:58:02,240 --> 00:58:04,760
I'll fly into rehearsals, We'll
have a drivers meeting.

1022
00:58:05,600 --> 00:58:10,200
We had one.
We were at Lititz.

1023
00:58:10,200 --> 00:58:12,200
Yeah, rehearsals were at Rock
Lititz.

1024
00:58:13,080 --> 00:58:18,480
I flew in, I took all the
drivers out the night before.

1025
00:58:18,480 --> 00:58:21,160
We went out for barbecue and
hung out and I got because I

1026
00:58:21,160 --> 00:58:22,320
don't always know all the
drivers.

1027
00:58:22,320 --> 00:58:24,880
I know my drivers.
But then we contract in like

1028
00:58:24,880 --> 00:58:27,040
every company does bring in
contractors.

1029
00:58:27,520 --> 00:58:30,640
So our drivers are lead, we
bring in other people.

1030
00:58:31,080 --> 00:58:35,600
So we all went out the night
before we went out for BBQ, went

1031
00:58:35,840 --> 00:58:45,520
to, you know, had rehearsals and
one of the drivers and I could

1032
00:58:45,520 --> 00:58:48,560
just, I could see it during the
drivers meeting, I could see

1033
00:58:48,560 --> 00:58:51,800
there was going to be a problem.
And so the lead driver and I

1034
00:58:51,800 --> 00:58:56,720
talked about it and I said he's,
you know, I, I just, I think

1035
00:58:56,720 --> 00:58:58,480
there's going to be an issue
here from some of the things

1036
00:58:58,480 --> 00:59:02,640
he's saying.
And I flew home within a couple

1037
00:59:02,640 --> 00:59:08,800
of days during rehearsal, still
in a couple of days, lead driver

1038
00:59:08,800 --> 00:59:12,560
called me and he said, hey, he's
being unkind.

1039
00:59:12,560 --> 00:59:20,080
He's saying some things about
other people, the band, the this

1040
00:59:20,080 --> 00:59:23,760
other driver, you know, he's
kind of saying it to be funny,

1041
00:59:24,760 --> 00:59:29,080
but it's not funny.
And he's he's being unkind.

1042
00:59:29,160 --> 00:59:31,080
And I said, OK, he's done.
Like we don't.

1043
00:59:32,440 --> 00:59:35,200
He was already like we had
already laid it out during the

1044
00:59:35,200 --> 00:59:37,000
drivers meeting.
Like here's the rules.

1045
00:59:37,000 --> 00:59:40,120
I'm super laid back about a lot
of things.

1046
00:59:40,280 --> 00:59:41,760
But here's what I'm not laid
back about.

1047
00:59:41,880 --> 00:59:46,040
I'm very strict about, you know,
being kind to each other or you

1048
00:59:46,040 --> 00:59:48,360
don't make fun of each other.
You don't say negative things

1049
00:59:48,360 --> 00:59:51,760
about each other.
You know you, you don't talk.

1050
00:59:51,760 --> 00:59:55,160
To those people that wants to
laugh on somebody else's

1051
00:59:55,160 --> 00:59:58,080
expense, I hate that.
I hate that.

1052
00:59:58,160 --> 01:00:01,200
And it and it was addressed.
I saw it, I knew it was

1053
01:00:01,200 --> 01:00:03,160
happening.
I knew it was going to continue

1054
01:00:03,160 --> 01:00:05,160
happening.
He had been spoken to once, so

1055
01:00:05,160 --> 01:00:07,600
it was OK.
We're not even starting tour

1056
01:00:07,600 --> 01:00:10,320
with this guy.
We're just not it's, it's

1057
01:00:10,320 --> 01:00:12,920
already there and he's making
people uncomfortable.

1058
01:00:13,480 --> 01:00:18,480
So, yeah, you know, it's,
they're hard decisions to make,

1059
01:00:18,480 --> 01:00:22,440
but it's for the betterment of
the other 11 drivers that are on

1060
01:00:22,440 --> 01:00:26,600
the tour and the company's
reputation and but.

1061
01:00:26,640 --> 01:00:30,160
That's also really good of the
lead driver to actually really

1062
01:00:30,160 --> 01:00:33,720
notice it after you'd gone to
keep an eye on it and not

1063
01:00:33,720 --> 01:00:36,400
continue with the tour, Unlike
obviously the one that you

1064
01:00:36,400 --> 01:00:39,960
saying where you know, that
you'd had, you know, a, a bad

1065
01:00:39,960 --> 01:00:43,160
tour and that you wasn't told
about it until the end.

1066
01:00:43,200 --> 01:00:46,160
It was only three weeks.
So we just, you know, we just

1067
01:00:46,160 --> 01:00:49,000
dealt with it because again,
nobody should deal with it for

1068
01:00:49,240 --> 01:00:51,800
any amount of time.
You know, whether that's the

1069
01:00:51,800 --> 01:00:54,320
management being horrible to
truck drivers, whether it's

1070
01:00:54,320 --> 01:00:57,800
someone else, whether it's
within your team, like that can

1071
01:00:57,800 --> 01:01:00,920
really break people.
No matter how long you've got to

1072
01:01:01,080 --> 01:01:04,880
to to survive it, you know, it
can really break people.

1073
01:01:04,880 --> 01:01:09,400
And that's the dangerous point.
But I suppose with this being

1074
01:01:09,400 --> 01:01:13,920
the leading ladies podcast, how
many ladies do you have driving?

1075
01:01:15,120 --> 01:01:20,280
All right.
So I don't have any that drive

1076
01:01:20,480 --> 01:01:25,000
for High Road.
However, we do have a

1077
01:01:25,000 --> 01:01:28,080
relationship with another
trucking company in Canada and

1078
01:01:28,080 --> 01:01:29,680
they have a fair amount of
females.

1079
01:01:30,120 --> 01:01:33,280
So we do have a lot of women
that are out on the tours.

1080
01:01:35,120 --> 01:01:40,760
And honestly, to me, and I've
had this conversation with many

1081
01:01:40,760 --> 01:01:45,520
people over the years about
being a female in this industry

1082
01:01:45,520 --> 01:01:48,480
or what's it like being a female
owning a trucking company.

1083
01:01:48,880 --> 01:01:52,440
And my answer is I've never been
anything different.

1084
01:01:52,440 --> 01:01:57,080
So I I don't really think I
could even answer that because

1085
01:01:57,080 --> 01:02:00,280
to me, I know there's problems
and I know there's women that

1086
01:02:00,280 --> 01:02:04,160
have been treated
disrespectfully for their gender

1087
01:02:04,160 --> 01:02:07,040
or, you know, whatever.
And have there been times over

1088
01:02:07,040 --> 01:02:09,400
my lifetime that I felt like
little lady ish?

1089
01:02:09,480 --> 01:02:11,280
Sure.
Have there been times that I'm

1090
01:02:11,280 --> 01:02:13,240
OK with it?
Absolutely.

1091
01:02:13,560 --> 01:02:15,080
Yeah.
Let my husband deal with that.

1092
01:02:15,080 --> 01:02:17,880
I don't want to.
I'm OK with it.

1093
01:02:18,120 --> 01:02:21,920
But for the most part, I always
have felt like I've been treated

1094
01:02:21,920 --> 01:02:25,840
respectfully as a female.
As a female.

1095
01:02:26,640 --> 01:02:30,280
I don't think it's ever affected
my business relationship, my

1096
01:02:30,280 --> 01:02:32,520
working relationship or anything
like that.

1097
01:02:32,520 --> 01:02:38,520
I think maybe just the opposite,
that there's almost more of a

1098
01:02:38,520 --> 01:02:44,680
respectful relationship with the
people because I'm a female.

1099
01:02:46,320 --> 01:02:51,040
Several of the drivers call me
Mama Bear, and again, I'm OK

1100
01:02:51,040 --> 01:02:52,200
with it.
Yeah.

1101
01:02:52,320 --> 01:02:56,040
Exactly why not?
Yeah, they come to me with their

1102
01:02:56,040 --> 01:02:58,600
problems.
They know I'm going to be

1103
01:02:58,600 --> 01:03:02,920
empathetic and that is
inherently a female trait.

1104
01:03:02,920 --> 01:03:05,320
The nurturing piece of it I just
want.

1105
01:03:05,760 --> 01:03:09,240
And, you know, and some of it is
personality, but I just want

1106
01:03:09,240 --> 01:03:12,840
them to feel good, to feel
appreciated, to be happy, to

1107
01:03:12,840 --> 01:03:15,560
enjoy what they're doing, to
have a good time, to provide a

1108
01:03:15,560 --> 01:03:21,240
good living for their families.
And, and I think because I'm a

1109
01:03:21,240 --> 01:03:24,400
female, a lot of times they feel
that they can tell me some of

1110
01:03:24,400 --> 01:03:27,280
their issues, their struggles,
send me pictures of their

1111
01:03:27,280 --> 01:03:31,840
grandchildren or their children
and where if I were a male, I

1112
01:03:31,840 --> 01:03:34,280
might not be on the receiving
end of that.

1113
01:03:34,960 --> 01:03:36,320
No, I agree.
And there's something that we

1114
01:03:36,320 --> 01:03:39,920
should also be proud of that,
you know, that people feel

1115
01:03:39,920 --> 01:03:44,560
confident to come to a a woman,
a lady or whatever, you know,

1116
01:03:44,680 --> 01:03:48,360
like that do feel confident to
come because, you know, like

1117
01:03:48,960 --> 01:03:53,120
nature says that, you know,
that's, that's that's who we

1118
01:03:53,120 --> 01:03:54,760
are.
You know, where your your Mama

1119
01:03:54,760 --> 01:03:57,840
bear, like, you know, or, or you
could say, oh, I'm going to go

1120
01:03:57,840 --> 01:03:59,160
see dad now.
You can, yeah.

1121
01:03:59,160 --> 01:04:01,280
You can also go see Dad, but
he's.

1122
01:04:01,280 --> 01:04:04,040
Going to tell you some rub, rub
some dirt in it, suck it up and

1123
01:04:04,040 --> 01:04:07,280
be a man and that's OK.
It's OK.

1124
01:04:07,560 --> 01:04:10,800
That's OK.
Yeah, I mean it's just it's a

1125
01:04:10,800 --> 01:04:13,440
different, you know, it's no
different for going to see

1126
01:04:13,440 --> 01:04:14,800
different people for different
things.

1127
01:04:14,800 --> 01:04:19,040
And I just feel like being a
female it the one thing I will

1128
01:04:19,040 --> 01:04:26,880
say, I never feel like I have to
prove myself or be something

1129
01:04:26,880 --> 01:04:29,640
different.
I don't feel the need.

1130
01:04:29,920 --> 01:04:34,520
So I I'll the little asterisk
here on this is I don't feel the

1131
01:04:34,520 --> 01:04:39,360
need to curse to fit in and to
drop F bombs.

1132
01:04:39,960 --> 01:04:42,280
And I the little asterisk says I
sure do.

1133
01:04:42,600 --> 01:04:47,440
When I get mad, I get a little
bit of a potty mouth and I try

1134
01:04:47,440 --> 01:04:50,680
not to like it's a problem.
I tell myself, don't swear,

1135
01:04:50,680 --> 01:04:53,720
don't say it, don't say anything
like and I do anyway.

1136
01:04:54,320 --> 01:04:59,800
But but I don't feel the need to
change who I am to fit in or to

1137
01:04:59,800 --> 01:05:03,760
try to make other people feel
more comfortable about me being

1138
01:05:03,760 --> 01:05:07,320
there.
And one thing that's always kind

1139
01:05:07,320 --> 01:05:10,560
of a funny, it's almost a pet
peeve of mine is when people

1140
01:05:10,560 --> 01:05:13,120
will say, Oh my gosh, you want a
trucking company?

1141
01:05:13,120 --> 01:05:16,400
You're so bad ass.
I'm like, I'm really not that

1142
01:05:16,400 --> 01:05:20,440
badass.
I'm, I'm just doing my thing.

1143
01:05:20,440 --> 01:05:23,160
Like it just so happens it's
trucking, whether it's trucking

1144
01:05:23,160 --> 01:05:27,280
or ice cream or you know what?
What could I do that would make

1145
01:05:27,280 --> 01:05:29,520
me not badass?
Would you say that about me if I

1146
01:05:29,520 --> 01:05:32,120
drove an ice cream truck?
Like it's just to me.

1147
01:05:32,160 --> 01:05:34,200
It's not badass.
No, that's badass.

1148
01:05:34,720 --> 01:05:36,320
Nobody's going to say that,
right?

1149
01:05:37,760 --> 01:05:40,520
You teach ballet, badass of you.
No, it isn't.

1150
01:05:40,520 --> 01:05:43,160
It's not badass of me to own a
trucking company either.

1151
01:05:43,160 --> 01:05:47,600
It's right, it's.
Just have you had any like

1152
01:05:47,600 --> 01:05:53,080
female mentors over over your
career that really shapes the

1153
01:05:53,080 --> 01:05:58,800
journey for you or someone that
you've met now is there is

1154
01:05:58,800 --> 01:06:00,200
there?
You mentioned actually you've

1155
01:06:00,200 --> 01:06:02,240
got two friends.
I don't know if they they could

1156
01:06:02,240 --> 01:06:03,880
be male, they could be male as
well.

1157
01:06:04,120 --> 01:06:07,560
But you have two friends that
you meet, you know, once or

1158
01:06:07,560 --> 01:06:12,440
twice a month which that again
having that, which is so hard

1159
01:06:12,440 --> 01:06:15,760
when you're working hard.
I've got friends here that I

1160
01:06:15,760 --> 01:06:20,320
don't even see and we live so
close and we've said now once a

1161
01:06:20,320 --> 01:06:22,960
month we have to stop to see
each other.

1162
01:06:23,440 --> 01:06:25,120
I'm not saying they're my role
models.

1163
01:06:25,120 --> 01:06:32,720
Don't listen if you are.
Yeah, I do have, I do have some

1164
01:06:32,720 --> 01:06:34,440
close friends.
I have some close friends in the

1165
01:06:34,440 --> 01:06:38,360
industry and I have some outside
the industry.

1166
01:06:40,480 --> 01:06:44,960
There's, there's so I had
mentioned I have a couple of

1167
01:06:44,960 --> 01:06:46,960
friends that I'm particularly
close to.

1168
01:06:47,800 --> 01:06:50,520
We don't talk as much as I'd
like to.

1169
01:06:51,440 --> 01:06:55,560
I do talk to the female more
than the male and it has more to

1170
01:06:55,560 --> 01:06:59,800
do with just our roles and our
you know, she's in the industry,

1171
01:07:00,760 --> 01:07:03,120
she's a little bit more like me,
has some flexibility.

1172
01:07:03,520 --> 01:07:06,760
You know, he's a high profile
tour manager and he does not

1173
01:07:06,760 --> 01:07:09,040
have the same hours and
flexibility that we do.

1174
01:07:10,920 --> 01:07:15,600
But they're the people that I
can say almost anything to and

1175
01:07:15,600 --> 01:07:19,840
share frustrations with and they
understand it on a deep level.

1176
01:07:21,480 --> 01:07:26,640
I will say I also have that in
my husband and in my son.

1177
01:07:28,440 --> 01:07:32,440
My son understands not my
husband does as well.

1178
01:07:32,680 --> 01:07:38,600
They both understand my, my son
being in the industry gets a

1179
01:07:38,600 --> 01:07:41,680
little bit more of it and, you
know, the actual piece of it.

1180
01:07:42,080 --> 01:07:47,040
But my husband, who is not in
the industry at all, has really,

1181
01:07:47,360 --> 01:07:52,800
yeah, he's completely so removed
from the industry, but he's such

1182
01:07:52,800 --> 01:07:57,720
a kind and empathetic person and
so understanding and so engaged

1183
01:07:57,720 --> 01:08:01,240
and interested in what I do
that.

1184
01:08:02,200 --> 01:08:04,960
Yeah, I mean, he'll come.
He'll come with me.

1185
01:08:04,960 --> 01:08:07,400
He'll travel with me when he
when he can, when he has the

1186
01:08:07,400 --> 01:08:11,720
flexibility.
But if there's a local rehearsal

1187
01:08:11,720 --> 01:08:15,360
or a local load in or something,
he's right there bringing pizza

1188
01:08:15,360 --> 01:08:19,319
for the drivers.
He knows their names.

1189
01:08:19,840 --> 01:08:23,040
He knows what's going on.
He's, he's, he's actually, he's

1190
01:08:23,040 --> 01:08:25,520
a pediatrician.
And so when some of the drivers

1191
01:08:25,520 --> 01:08:28,359
have medical issues, they're
sending me pictures to show him.

1192
01:08:29,200 --> 01:08:33,600
Can you ask Andy what this means
or what's going on with this?

1193
01:08:33,600 --> 01:08:38,399
And, and he's very, very
gracious about helping them with

1194
01:08:38,399 --> 01:08:42,000
those things.
And so, yeah, so he's not in the

1195
01:08:42,000 --> 01:08:44,000
industry, but he.
Yeah.

1196
01:08:44,000 --> 01:08:46,080
And he sees what I deal with and
he understands.

1197
01:08:46,080 --> 01:08:49,640
And he's very, you know, so I, I
think I'm very blessed to have a

1198
01:08:49,640 --> 01:08:52,319
lot of people who support me in
that way.

1199
01:08:52,760 --> 01:08:56,240
And even if they're in it or
they're not in it, you know, I

1200
01:08:56,240 --> 01:08:58,040
have some friends who are
business owners that are in a

1201
01:08:58,040 --> 01:09:01,680
totally different realm, but
they understand the pressures

1202
01:09:02,359 --> 01:09:07,520
that you can face.
And so, yeah, that's one of the

1203
01:09:07,520 --> 01:09:10,399
things I'll I will say.
And, and you mentioned Echo

1204
01:09:10,399 --> 01:09:16,560
Live, one of the things that I
really am passionate about in,

1205
01:09:16,600 --> 01:09:20,240
in the industry and just in life
in general, It's so important to

1206
01:09:20,240 --> 01:09:24,240
have connections and to have
those people that you and you

1207
01:09:24,240 --> 01:09:26,240
may not have that one person
that you can trust with

1208
01:09:26,240 --> 01:09:30,040
absolutely everything.
I, you know, my best friend's

1209
01:09:30,040 --> 01:09:32,040
amazing.
She loves me.

1210
01:09:32,200 --> 01:09:35,000
She's the first person to say,
oh, you killed a body.

1211
01:09:35,000 --> 01:09:38,760
Let me go get the shovel.
That's not always the best

1212
01:09:38,760 --> 01:09:41,000
thing, though.
It's not always the most helpful

1213
01:09:41,000 --> 01:09:43,120
in the situation.
Sometimes I want her to go.

1214
01:09:43,120 --> 01:09:48,479
What did you do?
So, but you have those people

1215
01:09:48,479 --> 01:09:51,000
that always have your back that
will always listen.

1216
01:09:51,359 --> 01:09:54,080
It's so important to have those
connections.

1217
01:09:54,440 --> 01:09:57,640
And that's one of the that's one
of the components of Echo Live

1218
01:09:58,120 --> 01:10:00,720
that we really stress.
It is a mental health thing.

1219
01:10:01,320 --> 01:10:04,720
And it may not sound like it,
but people think mental health

1220
01:10:04,720 --> 01:10:08,520
and they think therapy,
counselling, working on

1221
01:10:08,520 --> 01:10:11,960
yourself, but having
relationships and friendships is

1222
01:10:11,960 --> 01:10:16,040
very, very important to your
mental health and having

1223
01:10:16,360 --> 01:10:21,960
outlets, whether it's you know,
you don't necessarily people

1224
01:10:21,960 --> 01:10:23,120
always say what are your
hobbies?

1225
01:10:23,120 --> 01:10:26,680
And I'd always say work.
I don't understand the question.

1226
01:10:26,680 --> 01:10:29,240
My hobbies are work, but it's
because I love what I do.

1227
01:10:30,040 --> 01:10:33,240
I'm happy with that.
So, but if you have that outlet

1228
01:10:33,240 --> 01:10:37,680
where you're, you love kayaking
and you go out and do that, or

1229
01:10:37,680 --> 01:10:42,840
you love to go listen to live
music or line dance or movies or

1230
01:10:42,840 --> 01:10:45,720
reading books or working out or
whatever that may be.

1231
01:10:45,920 --> 01:10:50,040
Find your people, find your
tribe, find people to experience

1232
01:10:50,040 --> 01:10:52,800
things with.
And even if you're not talking

1233
01:10:52,800 --> 01:10:56,280
about, oh, things are so
horrible or whatever, you have

1234
01:10:56,280 --> 01:10:58,520
their presence that they're
there, you're connected, you

1235
01:10:58,520 --> 01:11:02,000
feel loved, you feel cared for.
It's really, really important.

1236
01:11:04,640 --> 01:11:09,520
Let's say an open, an open
podcast with me, with myself

1237
01:11:09,520 --> 01:11:11,640
basically about mental health,
about everything.

1238
01:11:11,640 --> 01:11:15,920
Because it's very easy for me to
sit here literally since before

1239
01:11:15,920 --> 01:11:19,320
COVID, having been on tour and
go blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,

1240
01:11:19,320 --> 01:11:20,600
blah.
Yes, you should do this.

1241
01:11:20,600 --> 01:11:22,600
Yes, you should do that.
There's this, there's that.

1242
01:11:23,440 --> 01:11:28,200
But.
Actually being on tour, it

1243
01:11:28,200 --> 01:11:31,400
changed my whole my whole
perspective again.

1244
01:11:31,800 --> 01:11:37,720
So having connections like Echo
Live, having them on your

1245
01:11:37,720 --> 01:11:41,960
Facebook scroll, seeing their
posts pop up, I need to speak to

1246
01:11:41,960 --> 01:11:44,560
Cara because they don't pop up
as much as they should in my

1247
01:11:44,560 --> 01:11:46,480
eyes.
Not really.

1248
01:11:48,120 --> 01:11:52,160
And that just brought to mind
actually, because things that do

1249
01:11:52,160 --> 01:11:54,920
is, you know, when, when things
pop up, you're like, oh, yeah,

1250
01:11:54,920 --> 01:11:57,360
I'm, I'm, I'm not alone or
whatever.

1251
01:11:57,360 --> 01:12:03,040
Or it's directing at the people
that are not aware of mental

1252
01:12:03,040 --> 01:12:06,440
health and issues that people
can be going through.

1253
01:12:06,760 --> 01:12:10,240
So I actually sometimes I think
it's we're approaching the wrong

1254
01:12:10,240 --> 01:12:12,600
people.
So we're approaching the people

1255
01:12:12,600 --> 01:12:17,080
that are coming to echo live and
going, oh, wow, like me, this is

1256
01:12:17,080 --> 01:12:18,560
amazing.
I'm going to follow you.

1257
01:12:18,560 --> 01:12:21,800
I'm going to this.
But actually they we should try

1258
01:12:21,800 --> 01:12:25,480
and be approaching the people
that are so stern that actually

1259
01:12:25,960 --> 01:12:30,800
you need to like release a
little bit more and be aware of

1260
01:12:30,800 --> 01:12:33,960
your behaviour.
Like sometimes it can be their

1261
01:12:33,960 --> 01:12:38,680
behaviour that has triggered
somebody into a sad moment.

1262
01:12:39,520 --> 01:12:42,360
And the other person really,
they didn't realize they said

1263
01:12:42,360 --> 01:12:44,880
something horrible.
Like let's take the driver that

1264
01:12:44,880 --> 01:12:48,640
you didn't let go forward.
Maybe he was unaware of his

1265
01:12:48,640 --> 01:12:52,440
actions by these Diggy comments
actually hurt people.

1266
01:12:53,040 --> 01:12:56,960
Now the person that gets hurt is
the one that goes to echo live

1267
01:12:56,960 --> 01:12:59,080
or the one that looks up and
goes have I got a problem

1268
01:12:59,080 --> 01:13:01,280
because my emotions are up and
down right now.

1269
01:13:01,840 --> 01:13:03,960
But actually the trigger was
this person.

1270
01:13:05,280 --> 01:13:07,640
So now my.
I'd love to say, I'd love to say

1271
01:13:07,640 --> 01:13:09,560
he was unaware about boy, was he
aware.

1272
01:13:10,640 --> 01:13:15,240
OK, I completely agree with you.
And so Echo alive, we've been on

1273
01:13:15,240 --> 01:13:18,120
the forefront of mental health
for 12 years, more than 12

1274
01:13:18,120 --> 01:13:20,720
years, right.
So we were, you know, we were in

1275
01:13:20,720 --> 01:13:22,920
mental health before people
really thought about mental

1276
01:13:22,920 --> 01:13:26,520
health.
But we've really just come full

1277
01:13:26,520 --> 01:13:28,560
circle and we're we're looking
at the whole person.

1278
01:13:28,840 --> 01:13:31,760
And so a year and a half ago, a
little bit more than that, we

1279
01:13:31,760 --> 01:13:33,680
started a new program called Day
Off.

1280
01:13:34,520 --> 01:13:35,840
Yeah, I love this.
I love this.

1281
01:13:35,840 --> 01:13:38,080
It's in.
Nashville, it is in Nashville,

1282
01:13:38,080 --> 01:13:40,560
but we're hoping enough people
tour through Nashville that it

1283
01:13:40,560 --> 01:13:44,440
makes a a difference.
And you know everybody in the

1284
01:13:44,440 --> 01:13:46,920
touring industry, but you just
had on Ave.

1285
01:13:47,320 --> 01:13:49,240
What's that?
You just had one?

1286
01:13:49,240 --> 01:13:51,840
Was it on the 12th or something?
We did, yeah.

1287
01:13:51,840 --> 01:13:53,600
We just had, yeah, we just had
one.

1288
01:13:53,760 --> 01:13:58,080
So we do it every month and we
target the second Monday of the

1289
01:13:58,080 --> 01:14:00,040
month so that there's
consistency.

1290
01:14:00,360 --> 01:14:03,560
It is generally a day off for
people if they're in Nashville.

1291
01:14:03,600 --> 01:14:07,000
But we we do all kinds of social
activities together.

1292
01:14:07,360 --> 01:14:10,240
And I mean everything,
everything you can think of.

1293
01:14:11,000 --> 01:14:13,200
It was really boring.
If I had some friends in the

1294
01:14:13,200 --> 01:14:16,000
industry and we would get
together when we were all in

1295
01:14:16,000 --> 01:14:17,720
town and we would go do just
whatever.

1296
01:14:17,720 --> 01:14:20,240
I was like, I don't want to go
meet for happy hour.

1297
01:14:20,240 --> 01:14:22,680
I don't necessarily want to go
drink and I don't really want to

1298
01:14:22,680 --> 01:14:25,960
take time away at home away from
home in the evenings either.

1299
01:14:25,960 --> 01:14:29,520
But you know, I'm definitely,
I'm not interested in sitting at

1300
01:14:29,520 --> 01:14:32,360
a bar all night.
So we would go do other things.

1301
01:14:32,360 --> 01:14:36,600
We'd go kayaking, we went to the
zoo, we went and walked the

1302
01:14:36,600 --> 01:14:39,200
cemetery one day because it was
one we had never been in and we

1303
01:14:39,200 --> 01:14:41,680
were just curious about the
history of the whatever.

1304
01:14:42,040 --> 01:14:43,600
So we just would do random
things.

1305
01:14:43,920 --> 01:14:46,200
And so I was like, wouldn't this
be fun if we did this as an

1306
01:14:46,200 --> 01:14:49,080
industry?
And so we started day off

1307
01:14:49,080 --> 01:14:51,400
through Echo Live.
Chris Lyle, the founder, was

1308
01:14:51,400 --> 01:14:54,160
very enthusiastic and
supportive.

1309
01:14:56,240 --> 01:15:00,240
And we've done so.
We now have an event committee

1310
01:15:00,240 --> 01:15:03,840
that plans this monthly and we,
you know, look for different

1311
01:15:03,840 --> 01:15:07,880
opportunities and it may not
every month, may not speak to

1312
01:15:07,880 --> 01:15:11,600
everyone, but we're hoping that
there's something that will, you

1313
01:15:11,600 --> 01:15:13,920
know, spark your interest and
you'll want to come.

1314
01:15:13,920 --> 01:15:19,440
So we've done goat yoga, we have
done cornhole tournaments, we've

1315
01:15:19,440 --> 01:15:23,840
gone and served the homeless
together hayaking.

1316
01:15:23,840 --> 01:15:26,640
We went to a comedy night, went
to a baseball game.

1317
01:15:26,640 --> 01:15:29,360
We have an ice cream social
coming up in September.

1318
01:15:29,840 --> 01:15:33,360
So there's always something
unique and different.

1319
01:15:33,360 --> 01:15:35,200
We'll do a tour.
We did a tour of a production

1320
01:15:35,200 --> 01:15:38,640
studio.
We try to keep the cost as low

1321
01:15:38,640 --> 01:15:41,480
as possible.
It's either free or we keep it

1322
01:15:41,480 --> 01:15:44,320
around $10.
We try to get sponsors to come

1323
01:15:44,320 --> 01:15:47,280
in and offset the cost, but it's
an opportunity.

1324
01:15:47,280 --> 01:15:51,120
And one thing I will say is some
people wind up, you know, either

1325
01:15:51,120 --> 01:15:54,400
they commit and they don't go
ready to go and they're like,

1326
01:15:54,400 --> 01:15:57,240
oh, it's going to be, I don't
know anybody.

1327
01:15:58,000 --> 01:16:02,840
I have never gone to a day off
and not met somebody I didn't

1328
01:16:02,840 --> 01:16:12,760
know before.
Excuse me, I have never gone to

1329
01:16:12,760 --> 01:16:14,880
a day off and met someone I
didn't know before.

1330
01:16:15,640 --> 01:16:19,280
The day we went kayaking, there
was only four of us and I didn't

1331
01:16:19,280 --> 01:16:22,240
know three of them.
So there's always an opportunity

1332
01:16:22,240 --> 01:16:23,840
that there's going to be new
people.

1333
01:16:24,360 --> 01:16:28,880
And so for someone to not come
because they think I don't know

1334
01:16:28,880 --> 01:16:31,000
anybody, This has been going on
a while.

1335
01:16:31,440 --> 01:16:33,400
I'm uncomfortable going to this
alone.

1336
01:16:34,320 --> 01:16:37,640
I go alone all the time and
there's always people I don't

1337
01:16:37,640 --> 01:16:41,120
know and, and that's OK.
And you'll meet people.

1338
01:16:41,120 --> 01:16:42,400
Yeah, of course it is
connections.

1339
01:16:43,120 --> 01:16:46,480
Yeah, I, I, I just, I love that.
I love the day off.

1340
01:16:47,280 --> 01:16:49,880
I'm a huge supporter of Echo
Life.

1341
01:16:49,920 --> 01:16:52,760
I have been since it was touring
career workshop.

1342
01:16:53,120 --> 01:16:56,200
Yes.
Like really, it's something that

1343
01:16:57,360 --> 01:17:01,040
it's needed.
It's needed to be part of the

1344
01:17:01,040 --> 01:17:06,080
industry.
Yeah, the more that every second

1345
01:17:06,080 --> 01:17:09,720
two second Monday you do this,
the more people are going to

1346
01:17:09,720 --> 01:17:12,800
know about it, you know, and I
didn't know it was, I knew it

1347
01:17:12,800 --> 01:17:15,320
was once a month, but I didn't
know that was I, I didn't know

1348
01:17:15,320 --> 01:17:17,120
that that was the, you know, the
plan.

1349
01:17:17,840 --> 01:17:21,880
Which, right, Not every event
can happen on that date, but we

1350
01:17:21,880 --> 01:17:23,360
shoot for that.
That's the goal.

1351
01:17:23,400 --> 01:17:29,880
Yeah, and that really is having
people know, like, who have I

1352
01:17:29,880 --> 01:17:31,440
just had on?
Oh, it's a lovely night.

1353
01:17:31,440 --> 01:17:34,160
Rachel Bronstein.
So she came on last week.

1354
01:17:35,280 --> 01:17:37,040
She's.
Amazing.

1355
01:17:39,080 --> 01:17:41,920
Rachel's one of my people.
Is she?

1356
01:17:42,200 --> 01:17:43,320
She.
Is my Yeah.

1357
01:17:43,440 --> 01:17:49,200
She's one of the tribe, yeah.
Really and everything that she

1358
01:17:49,200 --> 01:17:52,080
does and you know, we spoke
about all of this as well.

1359
01:17:52,080 --> 01:17:56,880
You know how financial aid can
be in that same category as

1360
01:17:56,880 --> 01:17:58,680
well.
But she, you know, she was

1361
01:17:58,680 --> 01:18:02,280
talking about Echo Live and
yeah, really I was like, yeah,

1362
01:18:02,280 --> 01:18:06,480
you're, you're, you're great.
And the more people that we're

1363
01:18:06,480 --> 01:18:09,560
aware of that are out there, I
always believe is a is a really

1364
01:18:09,560 --> 01:18:13,440
good thing, you know, So even me
doing this, the, the leading

1365
01:18:13,440 --> 01:18:16,480
ladies, I have met some
incredible people, including

1366
01:18:16,480 --> 01:18:21,000
yourself, including Rachel Cara.
And I'm so honoured to be sat

1367
01:18:21,000 --> 01:18:24,840
here talking to you about your
career, where you've gone and

1368
01:18:25,120 --> 01:18:30,040
difficulties that you've faced.
Yeah, super lucky because that

1369
01:18:30,040 --> 01:18:33,320
actually makes me a better
person hearing these things as

1370
01:18:33,320 --> 01:18:35,440
well.
So I hope people that listen to

1371
01:18:35,440 --> 01:18:37,880
the podcast get the same
feeling, you know, that's that's

1372
01:18:37,880 --> 01:18:41,040
why, that's why I do it, you
know, just to make people more

1373
01:18:41,040 --> 01:18:46,440
aware of jobs in the industry,
problems, all of these things.

1374
01:18:47,360 --> 01:18:51,440
So, Rachel.
And Rachel's been such a

1375
01:18:51,480 --> 01:18:54,720
blessing to Echo Live.
She joins the board this year.

1376
01:18:56,600 --> 01:19:01,200
She does fantastic work with her
own company, Lifesjam, but she's

1377
01:19:01,200 --> 01:19:05,680
brought that financial part into
Echo Live and really opened a

1378
01:19:05,680 --> 01:19:09,160
lot of eyes of how important
finances are to your mental

1379
01:19:09,160 --> 01:19:11,920
health because what's the number
one thing everybody worries

1380
01:19:11,920 --> 01:19:12,960
about?
Money.

1381
01:19:13,280 --> 01:19:14,360
Number one.
Right.

1382
01:19:14,360 --> 01:19:18,000
It's money, it's relationships.
It's yeah, So but money is

1383
01:19:18,000 --> 01:19:21,320
really high up there, especially
for people who tour with

1384
01:19:21,320 --> 01:19:24,800
inconsistent incomes.
So she's done a great job of

1385
01:19:24,800 --> 01:19:26,400
that.
And she's really brought that to

1386
01:19:26,400 --> 01:19:30,280
Echo Live and opened up that
communication with us and really

1387
01:19:30,440 --> 01:19:34,960
started to dive into that more
where we recognize that finances

1388
01:19:34,960 --> 01:19:38,200
are a big part of mental health.
So like I said, when we talk

1389
01:19:38,200 --> 01:19:40,600
about mental health, we're not
just talking about therapy,

1390
01:19:41,720 --> 01:19:45,840
counseling.
No, it's, I think that's an

1391
01:19:45,840 --> 01:19:49,520
important part of mental health,
but it's not the only part of

1392
01:19:49,520 --> 01:19:53,280
mental health.
No, I mean it's it's huge like

1393
01:19:53,280 --> 01:19:57,200
it like mental health side of
things like like bringing on,

1394
01:19:57,200 --> 01:19:59,320
you know, Rachel, the last week,
you know, actually a finance.

1395
01:19:59,320 --> 01:20:02,200
That's a huge thing.
You know, that's a huge part of

1396
01:20:02,280 --> 01:20:04,160
how it can affect your
day-to-day life.

1397
01:20:04,160 --> 01:20:09,200
How can it affect everything?
And you know, even for yourself

1398
01:20:09,200 --> 01:20:12,920
now being really what?
OK touring.

1399
01:20:13,960 --> 01:20:17,480
F1, all of it, we call it a male
dominated environment, which is

1400
01:20:17,480 --> 01:20:19,920
slowly changing, but the
percentage is still, you know,

1401
01:20:19,920 --> 01:20:24,480
it's still male dominated for me
in my eyes, you with the truck

1402
01:20:24,480 --> 01:20:26,360
in that really is male
dominated.

1403
01:20:26,680 --> 01:20:29,480
You know that that's really
that's a male dominated world.

1404
01:20:30,720 --> 01:20:33,200
When I asked you like how many
lady drivers do you have?

1405
01:20:33,200 --> 01:20:39,440
Like, I've probably only met, I
would say less than half a dozen

1406
01:20:39,440 --> 01:20:45,440
in my whole touring career here
and F1, that there was a lady

1407
01:20:45,440 --> 01:20:48,040
driver.
Really, there's been there.

1408
01:20:48,080 --> 01:20:54,640
There was very, very few.
So I suppose my if we've got

1409
01:20:54,640 --> 01:20:56,600
anything else as well.
But one of my last questions

1410
01:20:56,600 --> 01:21:01,720
would be what advice would you
have for young women looking to

1411
01:21:01,720 --> 01:21:05,600
break into the industry, the
logistics world of trucking and

1412
01:21:05,600 --> 01:21:08,520
also touring?
What advice would you give them?

1413
01:21:09,960 --> 01:21:12,360
Do it.
I mean, it's it's not Yeah.

1414
01:21:12,360 --> 01:21:14,080
Just like there's no reason not
to, right?

1415
01:21:14,080 --> 01:21:16,280
Like just just do follow your
passion.

1416
01:21:16,280 --> 01:21:20,360
I think, you know, there are
more women drivers in the

1417
01:21:20,360 --> 01:21:26,680
industry now than before, But
with that, I it's not for

1418
01:21:26,680 --> 01:21:29,360
everybody.
It's not something that's cut

1419
01:21:29,360 --> 01:21:32,280
out for everybody.
And, and like I said, with, with

1420
01:21:32,280 --> 01:21:35,000
the drivers, right, drivers,
drivers can be very social.

1421
01:21:35,280 --> 01:21:40,200
Women tend to be very social.
So it's a very isolating job to

1422
01:21:40,200 --> 01:21:45,800
be in a truck by yourself and
you're, you're generally long

1423
01:21:45,800 --> 01:21:47,640
periods of time.
I mean, you'll drive 10 hours a

1424
01:21:47,640 --> 01:21:51,840
day and then you're sleeping 10
hours a day, so or whatever, you

1425
01:21:51,840 --> 01:21:55,600
know, whatever they're sleeping.
So it can be very lonely and

1426
01:21:55,600 --> 01:21:58,640
very isolating.
Yeah, but that's not necessarily

1427
01:21:58,640 --> 01:22:04,520
for somebody who's more social.
There's parts of touring that

1428
01:22:05,520 --> 01:22:08,360
some people love.
I could never imagine sleeping

1429
01:22:08,360 --> 01:22:10,760
in a bus.
I couldn't do it.

1430
01:22:11,160 --> 01:22:13,200
I just couldn't.
I love that part.

1431
01:22:13,560 --> 01:22:16,320
Yeah, no, I couldn't be with
that many people in that much of

1432
01:22:16,320 --> 01:22:20,520
A confined space for that.
I'm I'm social, but when I need

1433
01:22:20,520 --> 01:22:24,040
my downtime, I need my downtime
and I don't want anyway.

1434
01:22:24,080 --> 01:22:26,960
What about, Yeah, I just need it
to be quiet.

1435
01:22:26,960 --> 01:22:32,920
And yeah, I couldn't do it.
But I will say, if you have a

1436
01:22:32,920 --> 01:22:37,160
passion for first of all, for
one thing in particular, if you

1437
01:22:37,160 --> 01:22:42,080
love figuring out how things
work, go figure out how things

1438
01:22:42,080 --> 01:22:46,320
work, whether that's audio or
visual or you know, you're on

1439
01:22:46,320 --> 01:22:49,560
the production side.
If you're musical at all and you

1440
01:22:49,880 --> 01:22:52,440
don't want to be an artist, go
be a guitar tack.

1441
01:22:52,440 --> 01:22:56,640
Figure that piece out.
There's a lot of non touring

1442
01:22:56,640 --> 01:22:58,960
jobs.
My daughter is a huge music fan.

1443
01:22:59,320 --> 01:23:01,840
Huge.
And when she first started, it

1444
01:23:01,840 --> 01:23:03,440
was funny.
When she first started gaining

1445
01:23:03,440 --> 01:23:06,160
interest in the industry, she
was like, I think I want to go

1446
01:23:06,160 --> 01:23:09,320
on tour and she quickly was
like, I never want to go on

1447
01:23:09,320 --> 01:23:12,440
tour.
And you know, and she's, she's a

1448
01:23:12,440 --> 01:23:15,440
concert promoter.
So there's so many different,

1449
01:23:15,440 --> 01:23:17,720
there's business.
If you're, if you're into

1450
01:23:17,720 --> 01:23:20,160
numbers, there's, you can be a
business manager.

1451
01:23:21,480 --> 01:23:24,000
There's so many parts of the
industry that I think people

1452
01:23:24,000 --> 01:23:28,040
just aren't aware of, you know,
and for logistics, if you are

1453
01:23:28,040 --> 01:23:31,880
very logistics minded, that'd be
great.

1454
01:23:32,040 --> 01:23:37,360
Come, come do some quotes.
Do routing help figure out how

1455
01:23:37,440 --> 01:23:39,640
how the trucks get from point A
to point B?

1456
01:23:39,640 --> 01:23:41,960
You can be a mechanic if you
like fixing trucks.

1457
01:23:41,960 --> 01:23:44,560
There's there's just so many
things that support.

1458
01:23:44,560 --> 01:23:48,160
If you think about a concert and
people go and they enjoy and

1459
01:23:48,160 --> 01:23:51,080
they like the music and then you
know they feel good and they go

1460
01:23:51,080 --> 01:23:53,720
home.
But if you stop for a minute at

1461
01:23:53,720 --> 01:23:58,680
a concert and you look around
and you really think about what

1462
01:23:58,680 --> 01:24:02,600
it took catering.
People that don't know still.

1463
01:24:03,040 --> 01:24:05,040
Right.
So that's what I mean, if you

1464
01:24:05,040 --> 01:24:11,000
don't know, I think, I think
anybody in any position could go

1465
01:24:11,000 --> 01:24:16,640
to a concert and look around and
figure out what they could do to

1466
01:24:16,640 --> 01:24:19,120
work in the live music industry.
I don't.

1467
01:24:19,120 --> 01:24:21,320
Think.
Let's play that game at some

1468
01:24:21,320 --> 01:24:23,760
point.
Like what I was just going to

1469
01:24:23,760 --> 01:24:28,040
say that would not work.
Maybe a Formula One driver, but

1470
01:24:28,160 --> 01:24:33,640
he could drive a truck so.
A lot of times, and I mean,

1471
01:24:33,640 --> 01:24:36,120
you'll, you'll probably know
this as well, like you're not

1472
01:24:36,120 --> 01:24:39,880
allowed to do post things on
socials because it's all very

1473
01:24:39,880 --> 01:24:42,000
secretive.
It's all like everything about

1474
01:24:42,000 --> 01:24:46,480
it.
So maybe that's kind of one

1475
01:24:46,480 --> 01:24:51,040
thing why people are unaware of
what goes on behind the scenes

1476
01:24:51,400 --> 01:24:57,240
because you're not allowed to
take a photo from backstage or,

1477
01:24:57,800 --> 01:25:01,600
you know, like those thousands
of people come into an arena,

1478
01:25:02,200 --> 01:25:05,480
they sit down, it's all done.
Everybody's calm.

1479
01:25:05,480 --> 01:25:09,040
Everybody's they don't realize
that where they walked in,

1480
01:25:09,320 --> 01:25:13,240
they've had trucks turning back
and forth, the odd time lapse

1481
01:25:13,240 --> 01:25:16,360
video that's gone, gone around.
But you know, how many people

1482
01:25:16,360 --> 01:25:21,800
are going to see that I'm, you
know, but really for me, maybe

1483
01:25:21,800 --> 01:25:26,120
if it wasn't so I understand the
secretiveness of it because you

1484
01:25:26,120 --> 01:25:31,960
don't want to spoil the whole
mystery, the mystery of

1485
01:25:32,400 --> 01:25:36,160
everything.
But how many people are really

1486
01:25:36,160 --> 01:25:40,360
looking at it and going, how did
they put that light up there?

1487
01:25:40,560 --> 01:25:42,960
I bet they just think that stage
is there the whole time and the

1488
01:25:42,960 --> 01:25:45,680
band just rock up and go and
leave.

1489
01:25:46,240 --> 01:25:48,000
They don't realise.
I mean the amount of people that

1490
01:25:48,000 --> 01:25:51,720
I've told them that we just
toured and there was 20 trucks

1491
01:25:51,720 --> 01:25:53,520
and there was 8 buses.
What?

1492
01:25:56,200 --> 01:25:59,120
Even even being in the industry,
sometimes I meet people and I'm

1493
01:25:59,120 --> 01:26:02,200
like, what do you do?
That's a thing.

1494
01:26:02,520 --> 01:26:06,560
Oh my gosh, you know, I spent
went to the conference at Lititz

1495
01:26:06,800 --> 01:26:09,800
two years ago, I think, and I
gave somebody a ride to the

1496
01:26:09,800 --> 01:26:11,560
airport.
We drove from Lititz back to

1497
01:26:11,560 --> 01:26:14,320
Philly and we talked and I was
like, So what do you do in the

1498
01:26:14,320 --> 01:26:16,880
industry?
So he's the one who goes and

1499
01:26:16,880 --> 01:26:24,080
like lays out the, the stadium
before the tour and literally

1500
01:26:24,080 --> 01:26:25,960
lays it out.
And I was like, that's a thing.

1501
01:26:26,360 --> 01:26:28,040
Oh my gosh, how did you get into
that?

1502
01:26:28,040 --> 01:26:32,560
That's amazing safety people who
follow the weather to make sure

1503
01:26:32,560 --> 01:26:35,440
what's going on.
It's like there's that's, you

1504
01:26:35,440 --> 01:26:37,680
know, it's funny.
We do this thing High Road has a

1505
01:26:39,120 --> 01:26:44,480
on our Instagram, High Road USA.
We do this thing called

1506
01:26:44,480 --> 01:26:48,760
frequently asked Fridays where
we take questions that

1507
01:26:48,960 --> 01:26:51,120
somebody's asked outside the
industry.

1508
01:26:51,120 --> 01:26:54,840
What do you want to know about
live music or entertainment or

1509
01:26:54,840 --> 01:26:57,040
the industry?
And so some of the questions are

1510
01:26:57,040 --> 01:27:00,480
pretty interesting, but that
just made me think of it.

1511
01:27:00,480 --> 01:27:04,360
That would be such a fun thing
to do, to go to a concert and

1512
01:27:04,360 --> 01:27:07,880
say to somebody, OK, let's
figure out what you could do

1513
01:27:07,880 --> 01:27:09,440
here for a living.
What do you do?

1514
01:27:09,440 --> 01:27:11,760
You're an accountant, great.
You could be a business manager.

1515
01:27:11,760 --> 01:27:15,320
You could be a tour accountant.
You, you're a Baker, great.

1516
01:27:15,320 --> 01:27:17,400
You could go on.
You could be a you could be on

1517
01:27:17,400 --> 01:27:20,000
the catering team.
You could do this, do that.

1518
01:27:20,000 --> 01:27:24,640
I mean, there's really, whether
you travel, you tour or not, you

1519
01:27:24,640 --> 01:27:29,760
support in an office, there's so
many jobs out there that people

1520
01:27:29,760 --> 01:27:32,640
can do.
We're actually we're organizing.

1521
01:27:32,640 --> 01:27:35,960
So you say, are you going to go
to the conference at Lititz this

1522
01:27:35,960 --> 01:27:38,360
year?
Yes, I've been every year since

1523
01:27:38,360 --> 01:27:39,000
started.
Yeah.

1524
01:27:39,640 --> 01:27:42,120
OK.
So we're going to be at LDI this

1525
01:27:42,120 --> 01:27:47,400
year, which I think is like a
couple of days before and we're

1526
01:27:47,400 --> 01:27:52,040
organizing in the daytime.
I say where it's going to be my

1527
01:27:52,760 --> 01:27:56,840
I'm I'm the secret one, but it's
Marcel the boss, like the the

1528
01:27:56,880 --> 01:28:01,280
the names on the it's obviously
LDI doing this X live, which is

1529
01:28:01,280 --> 01:28:03,280
panels.
And we're going to be talking

1530
01:28:03,280 --> 01:28:05,360
about road to success is one of
them.

1531
01:28:05,800 --> 01:28:09,720
And it is aimed at the younger
generation coming in to the

1532
01:28:09,720 --> 01:28:13,040
industry to ask, you know, the
questions and all the rest of

1533
01:28:13,040 --> 01:28:15,880
it.
And we've also got Jake Berry.

1534
01:28:15,880 --> 01:28:18,760
He's also organising it.
So it's it's kind of a big thing

1535
01:28:18,760 --> 01:28:21,360
right now.
And then in the evening and

1536
01:28:21,360 --> 01:28:24,920
we've got something called
Dining with Dinosaurs and it's

1537
01:28:24,920 --> 01:28:26,880
going to be, I think at the
moment we've got like 20

1538
01:28:26,880 --> 01:28:30,520
dinosaurs.
But it's we've got, I top up

1539
01:28:30,520 --> 01:28:33,680
first name Roy Bickle.
He's the legendary rigger.

1540
01:28:35,040 --> 01:28:36,760
We had him on the podcast the
other week.

1541
01:28:36,760 --> 01:28:39,560
He's amazing.
I've been doing so much work

1542
01:28:39,560 --> 01:28:42,200
with him.
He's going to be on the panel.

1543
01:28:43,360 --> 01:28:45,800
We've got some Carol Dodds is
coming on.

1544
01:28:46,000 --> 01:28:49,840
We've got so many incredible and
we're calling them dinosaurs,

1545
01:28:49,840 --> 01:28:53,800
but like they're the legends
that have started our industry.

1546
01:28:54,280 --> 01:28:57,360
And the same thing we're going
to be talking about how they got

1547
01:28:57,360 --> 01:29:01,000
into the industry, but also
giving the guidance to kids

1548
01:29:01,000 --> 01:29:04,360
coming into the industry.
But what I would love to do is

1549
01:29:04,360 --> 01:29:07,720
how do you reach the school
kids?

1550
01:29:08,360 --> 01:29:12,240
How do we reach these people?
Well, so we live in Nashville,

1551
01:29:12,240 --> 01:29:16,160
so this is a very music focused
area.

1552
01:29:16,480 --> 01:29:20,840
And so I will say for our local
county, we have music business

1553
01:29:20,840 --> 01:29:24,440
programs that are not focused on
being an artist.

1554
01:29:24,440 --> 01:29:26,960
And a lot of these kids, their
parents are artists or the

1555
01:29:26,960 --> 01:29:30,000
parents are touring or the
parents are in the industry,

1556
01:29:30,000 --> 01:29:32,720
right.
But we have that in this area

1557
01:29:32,720 --> 01:29:36,320
where it's a music business.
One thing, so you mentioned

1558
01:29:36,320 --> 01:29:39,200
touring, career workshop, Echo
Live, our workshop is coming up

1559
01:29:39,200 --> 01:29:42,720
in November and we're in the
process of working out our

1560
01:29:42,720 --> 01:29:45,920
sessions.
But one session that we've been

1561
01:29:45,920 --> 01:29:50,080
thinking about, everybody talks
about the young people coming

1562
01:29:50,080 --> 01:29:52,640
into the industry and how can we
raise that up.

1563
01:29:53,200 --> 01:29:57,200
But there's so many of us that
this was not, we didn't get into

1564
01:29:57,200 --> 01:29:59,880
this as children.
We came into it later in life.

1565
01:30:00,160 --> 01:30:03,880
I came into it after 40, Rachel
came into it after 40, a good

1566
01:30:03,880 --> 01:30:07,080
friend who's a tour manager came
into it after 40.

1567
01:30:07,360 --> 01:30:11,200
So it's OK for it to be a late
in life career too.

1568
01:30:12,360 --> 01:30:14,240
One, 100%.
A lot of people don't think

1569
01:30:14,240 --> 01:30:17,560
about that, but if you could.
Get into it sooner.

1570
01:30:18,280 --> 01:30:23,880
I mean, OK, here in Crete, for
one, really nobody's heard of

1571
01:30:23,880 --> 01:30:26,800
the jobs even that I do that
I've done before from Formula

1572
01:30:26,800 --> 01:30:29,560
One to this, really.
And everyone's like, you've just

1573
01:30:29,560 --> 01:30:33,200
gone and done what?
Like they're just shocked at the

1574
01:30:33,200 --> 01:30:34,280
moment.
I've got a little.

1575
01:30:34,280 --> 01:30:39,200
And he's very intelligent.
He's you know, he's, he's not

1576
01:30:39,200 --> 01:30:41,280
that you have to be intelligent.
That's the wrong word.

1577
01:30:42,000 --> 01:30:44,400
His confidence is amazing.
That's the word.

1578
01:30:44,560 --> 01:30:46,960
He's an 11 year old boy.
He's English.

1579
01:30:46,960 --> 01:30:51,360
He's just spot on already.
He's he's, he's Greek and he's

1580
01:30:51,360 --> 01:30:55,400
like, how do I get into this?
I said, what do you think you're

1581
01:30:55,400 --> 01:30:58,360
interested in?
He's like, well, I love and he

1582
01:30:58,360 --> 01:30:59,920
mentioned accounting side of
things.

1583
01:30:59,920 --> 01:31:05,560
I said, OK, he said, but anyway,
I said the the array of jobs

1584
01:31:05,560 --> 01:31:11,480
that you can do is unbelievable.
You want to be a chef, study

1585
01:31:11,480 --> 01:31:14,360
hard now work, work, work with
he owns a taverna.

1586
01:31:14,520 --> 01:31:17,720
Learn everything from your dad,
learn everything from your mom

1587
01:31:17,720 --> 01:31:19,320
who's doing the front of house
kind of stuff.

1588
01:31:19,320 --> 01:31:21,680
You've got a basis for that.
You want to do lighting.

1589
01:31:21,680 --> 01:31:25,360
There's a stadium here when
you're older, go to the stadium.

1590
01:31:26,040 --> 01:31:29,560
If I'd been, if I'd been told
that you could go push boxes in

1591
01:31:29,560 --> 01:31:33,480
a in a stadium or the theatre
nearby me when I was growing up

1592
01:31:33,480 --> 01:31:36,400
outside of London, never knew
that this job existed.

1593
01:31:37,640 --> 01:31:40,760
I just went to the school fair.
Maybe England's different, but

1594
01:31:40,760 --> 01:31:43,760
the school fair that told you
that you're either going to be a

1595
01:31:43,760 --> 01:31:46,440
doctor, a nurse, some kind of
lawyer.

1596
01:31:46,480 --> 01:31:50,120
You I was never, I never went to
college because I knew I wasn't,

1597
01:31:50,600 --> 01:31:53,640
I wasn't, I didn't have that
brain capacity to be these,

1598
01:31:53,680 --> 01:31:56,040
these people.
And I was like, why am I going

1599
01:31:56,040 --> 01:31:59,480
to spend all this money?
Like I really, that was my, my

1600
01:31:59,480 --> 01:32:02,800
theory then my only thing I
wanted to do was travel the

1601
01:32:02,800 --> 01:32:05,160
world.
And I can say, no, I have

1602
01:32:05,160 --> 01:32:07,600
travelled.
Not all of it, but I, I'm, I'm

1603
01:32:07,600 --> 01:32:11,600
very happy with where I am at
the age of 45, sat in my desk in

1604
01:32:11,600 --> 01:32:12,720
Crete.
I'm very happy.

1605
01:32:14,240 --> 01:32:17,600
But I wish I'd have had more
guidance.

1606
01:32:17,600 --> 01:32:21,080
And I, I still believe now
there's not the guidance in the

1607
01:32:21,080 --> 01:32:25,600
UK in places to really, I don't
know.

1608
01:32:25,720 --> 01:32:29,480
And that's where I'd love to.
I think it's, I think we're

1609
01:32:29,480 --> 01:32:31,960
getting there in some ways.
I think a lot of people are

1610
01:32:31,960 --> 01:32:37,280
pouring back into it.
Rock Lititz is doing a fantastic

1611
01:32:37,280 --> 01:32:39,920
job.
They've started a college there.

1612
01:32:40,920 --> 01:32:45,320
They are really just lifting up
that next generation of kids and

1613
01:32:45,320 --> 01:32:48,520
and teaching and training them
every year at the conference.

1614
01:32:48,520 --> 01:32:50,600
There's interns there that are
learning.

1615
01:32:51,040 --> 01:32:55,360
Live Nation does has a similar
program where they're teaching

1616
01:32:55,360 --> 01:32:58,040
kids in the industry.
So I think it's, I think it's

1617
01:32:58,040 --> 01:33:02,240
there.
I think it's like you said, it's

1618
01:33:02,240 --> 01:33:05,880
there.
It's not there to get that word

1619
01:33:05,880 --> 01:33:12,800
out more and really encourage
more people to share the

1620
01:33:12,800 --> 01:33:16,320
information and.
Or maybe they people just don't

1621
01:33:16,320 --> 01:33:19,840
want it to be there because
otherwise the other jobs they

1622
01:33:19,880 --> 01:33:24,320
won't get filled either so.
Well, I mean it all.

1623
01:33:24,320 --> 01:33:27,320
It will all work out the way
it's supposed to work out.

1624
01:33:27,440 --> 01:33:29,840
Yeah, No, for sure, Yeah.
It's not, you know.

1625
01:33:30,120 --> 01:33:31,800
It is unique.
It's not as glamorous as

1626
01:33:31,800 --> 01:33:34,480
everybody seems to think it is,
and I think it's.

1627
01:33:34,480 --> 01:33:38,080
Certainly not glamorous.
It's hard work, it's long hours.

1628
01:33:38,120 --> 01:33:42,400
You have to be strong.
But you either love it or you

1629
01:33:42,400 --> 01:33:45,560
hate it.
And that, that that's been my

1630
01:33:45,560 --> 01:33:49,640
thing.
And I've never been, let's say

1631
01:33:49,640 --> 01:33:51,760
I'm not going to say the word
boy.

1632
01:33:51,760 --> 01:33:54,240
I'm going to say it now.
Normal but conventional, the nor

1633
01:33:54,240 --> 01:33:56,840
the typical type of person.
I never had been that person.

1634
01:33:57,160 --> 01:33:59,920
So this life on the road has
always suited me.

1635
01:34:00,920 --> 01:34:03,920
Other people, it's just not
going to suit, you know, and.

1636
01:34:03,920 --> 01:34:07,520
It's not a conventional.
Yeah, it is not conventional,

1637
01:34:07,520 --> 01:34:11,040
but it's also not very conducive
to being a parent.

1638
01:34:12,160 --> 01:34:15,600
Yep.
And so there's that part, right?

1639
01:34:15,600 --> 01:34:18,680
So, you know, so for people who
want to have families then, you

1640
01:34:18,680 --> 01:34:21,160
know, maybe they go on the road
for a season and then they come

1641
01:34:21,160 --> 01:34:25,200
off or but it is really hard to
be away from kids and your

1642
01:34:25,200 --> 01:34:27,400
significant other for long
periods of time.

1643
01:34:28,320 --> 01:34:31,200
Really don't know how some
families do do it.

1644
01:34:31,200 --> 01:34:33,840
I mean, I've, I actually know a
young family right now.

1645
01:34:33,920 --> 01:34:38,320
They, they're both chefs.
They met as chefs and I think it

1646
01:34:38,320 --> 01:34:40,760
must have been about six years
ago they had their first child.

1647
01:34:41,080 --> 01:34:47,840
They decided to live in the UK
and start a stable, normal job

1648
01:34:47,840 --> 01:34:50,280
in restaurants.
They hated it, they couldn't do

1649
01:34:50,280 --> 01:34:53,520
it.
So now one of them goes away on

1650
01:34:53,520 --> 01:34:55,440
tour.
It could be for however long.

1651
01:34:55,440 --> 01:34:58,160
When they have the days off,
they fly the kids out to see the

1652
01:34:58,160 --> 01:35:00,120
dad or the mum who's out on
tour.

1653
01:35:00,920 --> 01:35:04,280
There's always one parent with
them, the mum or the dad, and

1654
01:35:04,280 --> 01:35:05,960
then the mum or the dad will go
off on tour.

1655
01:35:05,960 --> 01:35:07,600
Of course, money's so much
better.

1656
01:35:07,960 --> 01:35:10,760
So then they'll come back and
they'll spend, I mean, they went

1657
01:35:10,760 --> 01:35:12,840
for two months in Thailand with
the children.

1658
01:35:13,000 --> 01:35:14,320
Amazing.
Amazing.

1659
01:35:14,320 --> 01:35:16,800
You know, they, they found the
way to make it work.

1660
01:35:18,920 --> 01:35:21,560
Yeah.
So it's it's everyone will find

1661
01:35:21,560 --> 01:35:24,320
their own way to make it work
because they will.

1662
01:35:25,800 --> 01:35:27,920
Yeah, because I will do.
So what's next?

1663
01:35:27,920 --> 01:35:29,280
Let's let's I think we've gone
through.

1664
01:35:29,280 --> 01:35:31,800
I was just saying to you,
normally we talk for about an

1665
01:35:31,800 --> 01:35:33,000
hour.
It's been like an hour and a

1666
01:35:33,000 --> 01:35:34,120
half now.
I'm so sorry.

1667
01:35:34,120 --> 01:35:35,440
I know.
We're like best friends.

1668
01:35:35,560 --> 01:35:36,960
I think we need to hang out
next.

1669
01:35:37,160 --> 01:35:39,440
I I've never been to Greece, but
I'm coming now.

1670
01:35:39,440 --> 01:35:41,520
I'm going to come if.
You come.

1671
01:35:41,720 --> 01:35:45,120
Really.
My doors open, but what's next

1672
01:35:45,120 --> 01:35:46,160
for you?
Yeah.

1673
01:35:46,280 --> 01:35:49,920
So couple things, yeah.
We were talking about this and

1674
01:35:49,920 --> 01:35:53,360
it's interesting.
So I do, I do spend time at

1675
01:35:53,360 --> 01:35:55,600
conferences.
I speak at several conferences.

1676
01:35:55,600 --> 01:36:01,720
I am doing NOLA music on.
I'll be speaking there in

1677
01:36:01,720 --> 01:36:06,800
October at South by Southwest.
I am on the list as a panel

1678
01:36:06,800 --> 01:36:13,760
picker have this you choose the
panel sessions and so if you are

1679
01:36:13,760 --> 01:36:17,680
so inclined, go to the South by
Southwest site and vote for our

1680
01:36:17,680 --> 01:36:20,400
panel.
And it is called Beyond the

1681
01:36:20,400 --> 01:36:25,360
Grind and it's about careers in
the industry, how to develop

1682
01:36:25,360 --> 01:36:29,200
work life balance, what touring
careers are out there that are

1683
01:36:29,200 --> 01:36:32,480
non touring that support the
live music industry.

1684
01:36:32,760 --> 01:36:37,280
So I think it's a great topic.
It just falls right into what we

1685
01:36:37,280 --> 01:36:41,840
were just talking about.
And hopefully, yeah, if not at

1686
01:36:41,840 --> 01:36:44,360
South by Southwest, I'm sure
it's going to be on a panel

1687
01:36:44,360 --> 01:36:49,080
somewhere at some point.
You'll have to drop me the link

1688
01:36:49,080 --> 01:36:51,520
for that, so if you you could
send me the link and then I'll

1689
01:36:51,520 --> 01:36:53,880
add it to to the post at the end
of it as well.

1690
01:36:53,880 --> 01:36:54,920
Perfect.
Awesome.

1691
01:36:54,920 --> 01:36:57,880
Yeah, I will do.
Let's see what else is next.

1692
01:36:58,760 --> 01:37:00,960
Echo Live.
Just continuing to work with

1693
01:37:00,960 --> 01:37:02,120
Echo.
Very excited.

1694
01:37:02,120 --> 01:37:07,240
We have our fall workshop coming
up in November that is free to

1695
01:37:07,360 --> 01:37:11,400
anyone who wants to attend and
the sessions are all really just

1696
01:37:11,400 --> 01:37:15,000
based on the whole person.
So it could be anything from

1697
01:37:15,280 --> 01:37:18,680
talking about a career, talking
about your next level career,

1698
01:37:18,680 --> 01:37:22,520
talking about getting on the
road, off the road, housing,

1699
01:37:23,520 --> 01:37:27,880
health insurance, could be just
about anything.

1700
01:37:27,880 --> 01:37:32,000
We're really just hitting every
breath of the topics that affect

1701
01:37:32,000 --> 01:37:35,080
people and tour.
Let's see, what else.

1702
01:37:35,880 --> 01:37:39,320
Follow me on social media.
I hate saying that so much, but

1703
01:37:39,800 --> 01:37:42,800
my PR agency reminds me all the
time.

1704
01:37:42,800 --> 01:37:46,320
I'm on Instagram, Sharon High
Road and on LinkedIn.

1705
01:37:46,840 --> 01:37:48,160
Yeah.
I love it.

1706
01:37:48,160 --> 01:37:51,360
No, that's exactly what we want.
And that's also, I'll put all

1707
01:37:51,360 --> 01:37:53,160
the tags for people to follow
you as well.

1708
01:37:53,160 --> 01:37:56,040
So I'll just make sure that
we've got all of that.

1709
01:37:56,360 --> 01:38:00,480
And yeah, that's pretty.
But thank you so much for coming

1710
01:38:00,480 --> 01:38:02,120
and talking to me.
It's been a real pleasure.

1711
01:38:02,120 --> 01:38:04,920
How much fun?
I feel like we can keep going.

1712
01:38:04,920 --> 01:38:06,880
I might need another cup of
coffee, but we could.

1713
01:38:06,880 --> 01:38:08,240
Thursday we do.
I'm just like.

1714
01:38:08,240 --> 01:38:09,560
I just.
Looked at the time and I was

1715
01:38:09,560 --> 01:38:12,200
like, oh, I normally about, you
know, 50 minutes to an hour.

1716
01:38:12,200 --> 01:38:14,720
It would be like an hour and 40
minutes and I still could carry

1717
01:38:14,720 --> 01:38:15,840
on.
I know.

1718
01:38:15,840 --> 01:38:17,080
Me too.
Me too.

1719
01:38:17,080 --> 01:38:19,200
Yeah, this has been wonderful.
Thank you so much.

1720
01:38:19,200 --> 01:38:21,360
I feel like I feel like I have a
new friend.

1721
01:38:22,000 --> 01:38:24,480
Thank you.
OK, all the best.

1722
01:38:24,480 --> 01:38:27,680
And yeah, thank you for coming
to Leading Ladies.

1723
01:38:32,280 --> 01:38:44,360
La La La La ladies, the ladies.
Now here's the leading ladies by

1724
01:38:44,400 --> 01:38:50,800
Geezers of Gear on tour.
Maybe she got some stories to

1725
01:38:50,800 --> 01:38:55,240
share.
Now here's the leading ladies by

1726
01:38:55,240 --> 01:39:01,840
the Geezers of Gear, Rockstar
ladies with some stories to

1727
01:39:01,840 --> 01:39:05,760
share.
Because la, la, la, la, la, La

1728
01:39:06,120 --> 01:39:17,520
La La La La La La La La La La
La.

1729
01:39:19,200 --> 01:39:28,520
Yeah, she's a high.
Now here's the leading ladies by

1730
01:39:28,520 --> 01:39:35,560
Kizers of Gear Rock Star Ladies
for some stories to share.

1731
01:39:36,040 --> 01:39:43,280
Now here's the leading ladies by
the Kizers of Gear on Toilet.