Who's Driving
Who's Driving with Wesley Turner & Steven Merck is all about the entertaining stories we share and brainstorming topics we discuss as two best friends would on a long road trip. Come along for the ride as we check in with friends & offer a wide range of informative topics centered around running small businesses, social media, and all things Home and Garden.
Who's Driving
Who's Driving- Pepsi Pam & More S3 E27
Recording from The Nested Fig warehouse, we kick off September with our annual pumpkin PSA, check some messages, and discuss the busy fall season for small businesses.
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Join the conversation by calling their hotline at 864-982-5029 with your own stories or topic suggestions, and experience the authentic charm of two best friends who truly never know who's driving or where they're headed.
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Let me get into place. Ooh, buckle up. We in the parking garage today, parked up at the warehouse. We didn't learn our lesson last week, I guess, with the shit show, but you know what?
Speaker 2:That's the way we roll, but you better hope this thing don't click off this time, because if it does, I'm kicking it through that window.
Speaker 1:It's time for another episode of who's Driving. Welcome to who's Driving. I'm Wesley Turner.
Speaker 2:And I'm Stephen Merck. We're two best friends and entrepreneurs.
Speaker 1:Who's Driving is an entertaining look into the behind the scenes of our lives, friendship and business.
Speaker 2:These are the stories we share and topics we discuss, as two best friends would on a long road trip.
Speaker 1:Along the way, we'll check in with friends and offer a wide range of informative topics centered around running small businesses, social media and all things home and garden.
Speaker 2:Buckle up and enjoy the ride.
Speaker 1:You never know who's driving or where we're headed. All we know is it's always a fun ride. So, welcome to September. Yes, it's Labor Day. We're coming to you from the Nasty Fig Warehouse. We're coming to you from the Nasty Fig Warehouse In case you're watching and wondering what the hell we're doing, because we waited to the last minute to record. But you know what? It's September Labor Day. We got a lot of stuff going on. It's our. You know this starts our crazy busy season. I mean, it's already started for fall holiday, all the fun things.
Speaker 1:Small business welcome to the world. Yeah, I mean, it was literally. We've been over there working doing our own projects, just the way it is. It's the way we roll. So you got anything to talk about? You just want to sit here and look at them. Sit here and look at them. Hey y'all, I got something to start off right out of the gate, because you know what, like I mentioned a few times, now it is September, it is time for a pumpkin PSA, it's our annual reminder Are we going to have a pumpkin bath?
Speaker 2:Bubble bath? Are we going to have a pumpkin bath? Are we going to have a bubble bath? Are we going to wash our pumpkins in the bubble bath?
Speaker 1:It is your reminder that you don't need to wash your pumpkins in your sink, you don't need to give them a bubble bath in your bathtub. You don't need to do nothing.
Speaker 2:If you do anything, use Clorox wipes. Use some kind of antibacterial wipe on it.
Speaker 1:Don't wash them, don't spray them, don't spray water, do just. You know what I do. No, it'll be showing up on Instagram. I haven't seen one yet.
Speaker 2:If I want them real pretty. If they're outside they're just fine they don fine. Yeah, I don't do nothing to them, but when I've had them inside I've taken like oil and polished them, but what you do is like we've done all of our like.
Speaker 1:All y'all know, All y'all.
Speaker 2:All y'all.
Speaker 1:You didn't ever do anything with the pumpkin. You got it from the roadside stand and you threw it out there and that is what it was.
Speaker 2:And these people I washed my teeth in the bubble bath. The idiot just gets on her. I mean, oh gosh, where that? Where, what is that? Where you cut it? What am I trying to say? The stalk, yeah, once that gets wet, that's something. It's like a wick, yeah, it's just. And it just starts rotting immediately and then the bottom butt part water goes in there.
Speaker 1:I call that the belly button, but you can call it the butt if you want to.
Speaker 2:The butthole, whatever, belly button, butthole, whatever, but water goes in there. I mean it's very logical. Yeah, I mean it has a pumpkin and a gourd. They have that waxy outer layer. Right, you don't want moisture in there. You're going to get the bacteria and nothing smells any worse than that. It's true.
Speaker 1:This is also a good time to own a different soapbox. No, just a reminder, because it is getting the time where you're going to see well, you should already be seeing them, mums at the garden centers, at your box stores. They usually get them earlier than your local garden center. But when it comes to moms, we won't go into a full horticulture lesson here, but every bud you see on a mom, that's all the buds that that mom is going to have this year Ever. So if you get one that it just looks gorgeous and no buds, it's going to be done blooming for the year in about two weeks.
Speaker 1:So if you are having a party, say next weekend, and you're like, oh, my summer stuff's dead, I need some moms and you want it to look good specifically for a party, then get the one that has all the open blooms. If you are getting one now, thinking you're going to have it till you know Halloween or something, then you want it to be green. If you're buying it now Because it's going to, once those buds start opening up and you're seeing big flowers, I would say once more than three-fourths of it is bloomed out, you probably have about two to three weeks, depending on light, water and temperature. You know, if you're up north and it's a little cooler you might get a little longer, but about two to three weeks there's no deadheading and re-blooming.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that means it's going to be done in two to three weeks blooming. It will still be green and, depending on the variety, you can plant it for next year. Oh hell no I try to remind people. No, I try to remind. In your garden, I try to remind people to cut them back around 4th of July and they'll bloom in the fall. It depends on what you want to do.
Speaker 2:You know, if you have a good perennial garden, it makes me angry when I see somebody plant one, don't it's like saving a poinsettia, but we'll touch on that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we'll touch on that later. And the other thing with your moms is water from the bottom, like water at the base of the plant, or let it wick up from the bottom like water at the base of the plant, or let it wick up from the bottom, mm-hmm, because the leaves are not going to absorb any water and all you're going to do is let—they're going to get really wet and they will break, they will pop and you will ruin your mom. Yeah, and people do that all the time At the old garden center, people that didn't know how to water a mom would, always they would and then you got broken moms in there. They're fragile when they're with wet water and stuff and if they come with a cage under there, leave it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if they come with a plastic support cage, you're going to leave that Same thing with a poinsettia, because they've been bred to be full of blooms but the plant's actually weaker, so you want to leave that in there if it does come with like a support cage or something like that.
Speaker 2:And the southernism for today. Oh, we're getting right into it. Yeah, we got to talk about Southernism. If you're relocating to the South and you're going to live in the country, like out where you live, where I grew up, where you grew up in Anywhere in the country, like that, people are going to ask you it doesn't matter if you're Catholic, if you're Jewish, it doesn't matter what you are. They are going to classify you by what church you go to Go to. And that's the question what?
Speaker 1:church are you going to?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a very Southern, it's a very Southern thing and they will judge you based on that, you know.
Speaker 1:If you're watching and see that I'm scrolling through, I'm scrolling through our live phone, our podcast phone, our podcast phone, our hotline here. So we're going to get to some of these, but keep going with your thing, you know.
Speaker 2:So it's very comical to me. So my mother's side of the family was Methodist and you didn't think with my grandmother, you didn't think about going to a Baptist church or any other church. You went to the Methodist. And you know I mean it's no secret on here I'm a big queer and my ex and my ex Are you? Yes, we'll talk about that later. My ex was Jewish.
Speaker 2:He was Jewish. So you know I kind of hear you've got the gay. I brought in my Jewish partner and then my cousin I'll never forget this was marrying for the second time, oh yeah, and his now wife is Catholic and I can remember my grandmother. My grandmother was hysterical.
Speaker 1:She did the cousin that robbed you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, my grandmother was hysterical, but did not try at all. Yeah, like she made me laugh constantly. I laughed constantly and she would say why are you laughing, mm-hmm, but I'm like it just—. Is this the one that would pinch you and say are you sure, do you need that piece of cake? Mm-hmm. And then she would whisper do you need that? Do you need that? I should have said I don't know. Do you need your teeth? No, I wouldn't have done that, but it was hysterical. When my cousin was marrying this girl, she was sitting at the dining table Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:She said well we have the worst angle. I can't look at myself this week, we are slouched down on a sofa. I keep getting distracted.
Speaker 2:It's like a dog bed.
Speaker 1:And I got rolls and tits and I don't know what's going on here. I can't look at myself and then my back hurts from lifting everything.
Speaker 2:You turn one way, it's a roll. You turn another, it's a tit.
Speaker 1:I'm so distracted I don't even know what you're talking about. I look up and I'm like damn, where did that roll come from? Where did that tit come?
Speaker 2:from. They're not that big. Evidently they are. Oh gosh, yeah. So my grandmother said well, we have everything else in this family, so why not bring a Catholic in too? So it's funny. No offense to any Catholics. I have Catholic people in my family too. So no offense to anybody, it was just my grandmother.
Speaker 1:And I just can remember dying laughing yeah.
Speaker 2:But it was. You know, that's just the way it is. But I think that's not, I mean, that's not abnormal, like, for you know, with my ex, with his family, I mean, jewish families want you to marry Jewish. Yeah, and why would they? Yeah, it's a culture thing. Yeah, I like that. Listen, if I could have found me another one, I would have Dylan to this day, oh my gosh. No, I know what I'm saying is ironically. I meshed well with the whole dynamic, which is very odd because I'm very Southern, but it worked.
Speaker 1:Do you want me to dive into some of these, because I don't even know where you're going?
Speaker 2:with that story, did you?
Speaker 1:have more Southernisms, uh-uh.
Speaker 2:No, I'm just talking about you know, you got to be careful where you go to church, Don't be judged on it.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I'm going to go through a few of these and if you have anything else to talk about, just jump in at any point. But it's been a while since we've come through the hotline. But this person said you know, a few weeks ago I made the comment about customer service and how people email in and it's the end of the world, I'm so disappointed. And I was like I'm less sympathetic. If you start out like that, I kind of make you wait, not on purpose. I want to clarify before I get there.
Speaker 1:Subconsciously it's I decided because I kind of felt bad after I said that, as if I wasn't providing the customer service part of it. It's not that we will make anything right. The reason why, if I come across one that is oh, I'm so disappointed and you ruined everything and blah, blah, blah, the reason why that one doesn't get handled as quickly and put on the back burner is because there's the emotion already involved that then takes an emotional, feel-good reply to it to support them, versus if it's just hey, I wanted to let you know I got the wrong item or this item came broken. Here's a picture. You know, send a replacement if you have one, and that's you and that's you and that's you.
Speaker 2:And there's a reason I don't get in that email. I won't tell you right now Because I will cuss you out. Yeah, I'm not putting up with that.
Speaker 1:I mean, but like okay, for example, we had a new customer the other day and I love customers.
Speaker 2:I'm very good. I'm very friendly, very customer focused, but I'm not tolerating abuse.
Speaker 1:Very friendly, very customer-focused, but I'm not tolerating abuse. Yeah, but we had—Lisa was out of town a couple of weeks or so ago and I was trying to check as many emails as I could, because what a lot of people also don't realize when it comes to, well, the stores, but also the Nesbitt Warehouse and our online. We are a small business, we have—for online. We have one office person, lisa. We have a person, a receiving person, that gets everything on the shelves and located and pulls all the orders, and then we have packers, which fluctuates how many we have. There's not, I think, people because we do so much and present ourselves. They think we have 24-hour email call respond. No, our prices would be so much more Right and we try to keep it, but anyway.
Speaker 1:So I had, I was doing Lisa, I was checking the emails. We normally that's Lisa and back to back. We had the same problem with two customers, which was our fault but was also the vendor's fault. But it was for conditioner hair conditioner. We had a conditioner and there was a set and the vendor mixed it up with a leave-in conditioner versus a washout conditioner and we didn't catch it on our side because the way that vendors sent it to us as the conditioner, the appropriate so we sent to the customer the wrong conditioner and I had two emails back to back.
Speaker 1:One has been our customer, one was a new customer. The one who's been our customer may have was a new customer. The one who's been our customer may have listened to the podcast, I don't know and was like hey, just want to let you know I ordered this conditioner. I got this one. Can I get the correct one? Respond immediately hey, I will get this out on Monday for you. Thank you, sorry, that got mixed up. The next customer, who was the new customer, was like oh my gosh, I don't think I can ever order from you again. This is my first order and it took a long time to get to me. I know you said pre-order. Well, first of all, we told them six weeks and it got there in three, so it was within the time and I got the wrong item and it was just like how horrible we were and how we didn't get them the right item and I hope you said please do not shop.
Speaker 2:I did not.
Speaker 1:I'm saying, if you're listening, please, that is why you're not in the emails. But see, that was a whole different. The first question took me 30 seconds to respond. I got up, printed her order.
Speaker 1:And we were wrong. I went and pulled it and put it on the thing for her to go out. The next one, I had to read it, process it, cool the hell down, then respond, and it was a whole process. So that's my point of reasoning and in the end we did sin the wrong and in the end we corrected it. We did For both. Yes.
Speaker 2:But at the same time, you know, and it's neither here nor there for the customers, the customers don't give a shit. Whose fault it was? But it wasn't our fault, we did Right.
Speaker 1:But we're going to make it, but it doesn't matter, because they want the right thing and that's the thing. It's how you approach it. And this I'm not saying with just the nested fig and us, I'm saying anytime you're wanting something from someone, you got to understand they do that job all day long. They have seen every problem possible because that's their job. So, like, if you're at a hotel, if you are at a restaurant, you are not the first person that this issue has ever happened to. Chances are 99.9999.
Speaker 2:And you know my saying has always been and still is I can't wait till my life gets so perfect that my biggest issue is a pickle on my cheeseburger and it's kind of the same. I'm very conscientious now when I get stuff is a pickle on my cheeseburger Right and it's kind of the same.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm very conscientious now when I get stuff. If something's messed up and you really want to get your way is, don't put the emotion behind it and make it like, hey, I know this wasn't you that did this, but this happened, what can we do about it? You'll get a much better result than how you ruined your life.
Speaker 2:A good example is I ordered some glasses for a friend for Christmas and then they came in shattered, shattered I mean. I picked the box up it was like, and I just was like, hey, I love these, but they came in shattered and I really want them, so can you send me some?
Speaker 1:more pictures and that's how you get your soft, just like that, because they don't have to explain. You're not asking for next week, I'm not bashing them.
Speaker 2:I know it wasn't the owner's fault.
Speaker 1:But this person said that they agreed so much with what we were talking about how to approach customer service. She worked in payroll for 30 years. We've had this happen too and know how important everyone's money is to them. But when I picked up the phone and heard someone screaming at me, I was far less sympathetic than about their problem. You know we've had that in the past before. It's been a while. I don't know if you and I have. I know I have at the garden store, I did at McDonald's. All the time they act like you purposefully. You're robbing them, Cheated them. You're gonna Like you don't have to work with them and see them every day. It wasn't like you fired them and cheated them. I mean, it's just a regular and I have Mine is wrong.
Speaker 2:How could this have happened? You probably don't even know this. Now, in our terms of employment for us, I have in there that any errors, any payroll errors, will be corrected on the following payroll. But when I do their orientation and paperwork, I say this says this. But if I were to make a mistake and your paycheck is missing, I'm going to find you and write you a check. Right, if I shorted you $20, you're going to get it corrected on the next paper. Yeah, it's, you know, it's whatever's most reasonable. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:This person also said and previously we talked about blaming things on your spouse which I do not, I never do. I don't do that Like like how customers will say like, oh, I got to check with my husband or this or whatever she said. She used to do it all the time. She used it as an excuse. When I worked, my coworkers used that excuse all the time when we planned an office outing. Maybe she didn't do it, maybe her coworkers did it. I thought that was funny. I got to check with the husband.
Speaker 2:That drops me crazy, I mean certain things, though, certain things you just don't check, Like certain things, I tell Dylan I'm like we have to do this, we're doing this. I know you don't want to, but we have to. And then if it's something we don't, I say you don't have to do this. Mm-hmm but I'm not going to like certain things I have to do with him. I don't want to. Yeah, I might not want to do, but I do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I don't like it when— you use it as an excuse. Excuse in public, like not getting out of a plan, but like—.
Speaker 2:Well, I would never put it on him. That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:I would just say I don't want to go to your shit, that's my point. Or Say I don't want to go to your shit, that's my point. Or even shopping, when customers come in and like oh, I got to get my husband and bring him back before. No, you're not, you're not. Just say you don't like it, it's not what you're looking for, I'm not doing it. Yeah, see, but we're too independent.
Speaker 2:I'm just like no, I don't give a reason I just say no, I'm not doing that. Or if they would say I really want that, but if I spend that much money, my husband will kill me. I could appreciate that. Don't act like you got to go. He cares what pillows you're getting, because he doesn't.
Speaker 1:People do that all the time he doesn't.
Speaker 2:He doesn't care what pillows you're getting, he doesn't. And if he does care what pillows you're getting, he doesn't. And if he does care what pillows if he cares what pillows you're getting, then he's picking out pillows with his boyfriend.
Speaker 1:I'm kidding. I just listened to what you were saying. I'm kidding. So this person said this was from a while ago. But good evening, stephen and Wesley. I think she had a bone to pick with you it really is.
Speaker 1:I have listened to your podcast since the beginning and I'm a little behind, so I have been listening to several this week trying to get caught up, several this week trying to get caught up. I thoroughly enjoy them. But I was just listening to a podcast from May and you were on the Southerners segment discussing whether people use the word pop or soda etc. And all of a sudden you started ripping on Pepsi. Like I said, I love listening to you guys. I feel like I'm hanging out with friends and you can call us northerners or breeders or whatever you want. But I realized as soon as you started ripping on Pepsi I was a thin Laugh out loud. Pepsi, I was a thin Laugh out loud. I want to still like you guys. So I literally had to fast forward through that segment.
Speaker 1:I was getting so annoyed at the Pepsi shaming. I'm sorry you guys like to drink straight acid because that's what Coke tastes like. Here in Northwest Illinois we call it pop and we love our Pepsi. I don't know if Culver's restaurant chain has made its way to the South which it has, south Carolina but it's very popular here and about a year and a half ago they quit serving Pepsi and my family has not been back since. That's how big of a Pepsi lover we are. I love that comment. Sorry, steven, and I love you, whoever you are. I can just see Wesley cringing right now. I'm just giving you guys a hard time. I will still be a huge fan, but this is strike one. We'll see. Culver's got smart because they knew everyone wanted Coke.
Speaker 2:I loved it. Pam, what's her name? Pam? Pam, I love you and I love that you sent that in, because that is truly that is the best example of how it is in this country anyway, with Coke and Pepsi. Yeah, it is. You are either a Coke person or a Pepsi, and I have believe it or not. I have both in my family.
Speaker 1:I have Coke people and Pepsi people oh those Pepsi people are. I know which ones they are. Yeah and Pepsi, oh those Pepsi people are.
Speaker 2:I know which ones they are and yeah.
Speaker 1:I know which ones are the Pepsi ones.
Speaker 2:You know they are. That is a real camp, though You're either in Pepsi or you're in Coke, but it's okay, pam, I still like you and I like the fact. I like the fact that you stand by your Pepsi.
Speaker 1:You stand by it. I think it's too sweet, flat shit.
Speaker 2:She says it's like Diet Coke's, like straight acid. It is stronger.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they are stronger, but I don't drink any sodas anymore. I don't.
Speaker 2:Soft drinks. I don't buy them. I have maybe. I have maybe one every one or two weeks. I have been drinking.
Speaker 1:A brand sent me um like a PR box, but they didn't pay me anything so I didn't talk about it or whatever. But it is really good. I'll have to look up. I can't remember the name of them now so it doesn't even matter, but it's. I'll bring one and tell you about it, because it's natural things with fizz, but it's not gross like LaCroix.
Speaker 2:Well I bet it's what we have at home. Dylan's been buying them and they're like probiotic. Yeah, yeah, they are, is it?
Speaker 1:bubbly. It's not the bubbly. I think that is one.
Speaker 2:But there's another one too, I think this is what I just happened to look in the bar fridge and I was like, oh, they're good, they are good, they give you the fizz.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because I do miss the fizz occasionally. Yeah, give me the fizz. Yeah, because I do miss the fizz occasionally, and not that I won't ever drink a soda, but I don't. Sometimes we do at market Market.
Speaker 2:Mainly for the caffeine.
Speaker 1:And I feel like when we do like floor resets, like Christmas or something at the stores always do, because I think moving everything is like dusty and I feel like it like— Eats the dust out, clears out of my throat, yeah, but in a pinch, pam— I will never drink Pepsi, not even in a pinch.
Speaker 2:You know, though I got—.
Speaker 1:I drink 7-Up. Is that Pepsi product? I think it is.
Speaker 2:I think it's its own. Every now and then there's a few restaurants we go to that serves Pepsi. I'll still go to the restaurant if they don't serve, but I usually get water.
Speaker 1:But okay, I've been with him. When he goes to somewhere that serves Pepsi and he's in the mood for a Diet Coke, he will let the ugh. How Pepsi. Yeah, okay, pam, you can come back and fast forward in there. This is a different, another one Listening to the Memphis episode. This was from 2024, she said Stephen, you are not. If you have not already been to Graceland, I would highly recommend it.
Speaker 2:He tells me not to go.
Speaker 1:Memphis is a really rough area. Wesley is not exaggerating Capital, not. We stayed at the Graceland Guest House oh good Lord, I'm so glad you survived which is owned by Elvis' granddaughter. It is gated and patrolled. Even if you don't stay the whole time, at least stay there one night. They have an Elvis Theater, restaurant, bar and coffee shop.
Speaker 2:But it is really in a bad area.
Speaker 1:Yes, they also serve peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at night. The sandwiches were not very good, but the little old lady who attended high school with Elvis Presley was serving them and she was a joy to me. I would recommend getting up early, grabbing coffee downstairs and walking to the mansion. Around six or seven they will open the gates and let anyone walk up to the meditation garden where Elvis is buried. If you visit the mansion, make sure to buy the whole package. You are safely shuttled around the grounds and you don't miss a thing. I would not recommend shopping or getting gas slash groceries in Memphis. We drove out of Memphis to do any eating or shopping. If you visit Beale Street, don't, but go during the day and on a weekday. Let me know how it goes.
Speaker 1:I want you to go. I'm going with you. I want you to go.
Speaker 2:I ain't going with you. I've always wanted to go to Graceland and Wesley's from there, and he will not go with me, let's get a group together, but there ain't nothing to see.
Speaker 1:There ain't nothing to see. Why are you going to go to?
Speaker 2:Graceland, there's something to see. A little gonna go to Graceland. There's something to see.
Speaker 1:A little old house that's from 1950s. It ain't even big compared to nowadays houses.
Speaker 2:No, it's not big.
Speaker 1:I mean, my house is like bigger than that, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Anyway, Well, you just are a music person and you don't really like Elvis yeah. But like I don't know, like where That'd be, like me saying I don't even know, but your mom said like when she was in high school it was really nice yeah.
Speaker 1:It was a really nice area. I know it was like when she was in high school it was really nice. Yeah, it was a really nice area.
Speaker 2:I know, it was like 80 years ago.
Speaker 1:Not that long, but it was a long time ago yeah. Memphis used to be really nice.
Speaker 2:Well, it's such a historic city.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Anyway, city. Yeah Anyway, this was I wanted to say that it is a very common.
Speaker 2:It is very common in rural Alabama to eat milk and gravy on, milk gravy on cantaloupe we eat cantaloupe at breakfast with gravy made with bacon, grease, flour and milk, not sausage gravy Makes me want to throw up and it's really good like chicken, chicken gravy, Sausage gravy would be fine with me as long as it was milk.
Speaker 1:So, yes, yes, this is a different person. Yes, all the meals in my house had cantaloupe and milk gravy. If cantaloupe was out of season, it got replaced with pear salad. Have you ever had pear salad? Yes, for sure, a staple. Half of a pear with a teaspoon of Duke's Anything else was a staple and cheddar cheese, cheddar cheese and a cherry and a paraschino cherry. It's actually good. I've seen that too. But here's a great Southernism. I ain't got a pot to piss in and a window to throw it out. That's true.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but that came from in the days when they used chamber pots. You would pee in the chamber pot. Oh dear Lord, can you imagine? Okay, I have a question. I guess if you back then I never used a chamber pot, but if you had to go doo-doo, I guess you had to use it in a little chamber, right? Oh no, I ain't thought about it.
Speaker 1:They have a lid Gross. But here goes maybe that's when you don't want to run out, I guess, if you woke up in the middle of the night and had to go, number two, yeah, oh my God, if you got it, if you got it, if you got it. I won't tell it, I won't embarrass you today.
Speaker 2:That's pretty bad.
Speaker 1:I won't embarrass you today. That's pretty bad. I won't embarrass you today. That's pretty bad. There was an incident one time with Stephen and a and a trash can and a trash can. It didn't go so well so you wouldn't have done great in the chamber pot. I wouldn't.
Speaker 1:Oh, my God, what else I like hearing names Some Southernisms for Stephen Over yonder I think we talked about that. Don't let your mouth write a check. Your ass can't cash. That's a good one. That is a good one. She doesn't have a pot to pee in, that's true. She's got more nerve than a long-tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Yeah, I've heard that one. That's funny. Oh my gosh, I know you can't use these on the air, but I've heard my husband's family say these Well, why can't we Higher than a horse cock when referring to an exorbitant price of an item?
Speaker 1:I haven't heard that, but I love it Slicker than owl shit. Yeah, I've heard that when referring to a slippery floor yeah. I've heard that Higher than a horse cock. I'm going to start using that one.
Speaker 2:It's higher than a horse cock. Now we grew up saying that's slicker than owl shit, yeah, or owl's grease too, that's if you were trying to clean it up.
Speaker 1:I got a lot of like spam texts on here. I haven't pre-read this one so I don't know. Let me just read it. And I don't know what it is because it's a long thing. But I worked in the recovery room at the hospital when I was in nursing school and went to an older gynecologist Well, 50-something was older for a visit. So I worked in a recovery room at the hospital when I was in nursing school, went to an older gynecologist for a visit. I knew him from the hospital and you go to talk to them in their office.
Speaker 1:After your visit he turned red and got embarrassed. When doing my exam I said to myself why is he red, slash, blushing. He just saw my lady parts. It's not like I saw his penis. I was done. After that he also talked to me about my weight. I wished I'd I was that small. Now I switched doctors and told him first thing, please don't talk about my weight Not here for that and please don't turn red. We work together and I'm just looking at your junk. So, okay, all good. Now I don't know. That would be weird If they turned red.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean so when I had my colonoscopy one of the sweet I had the best nurses. I mean, if you live in Greenville, you need to go. I don't know where it was, I'll have to think, I'll think of the name, but they're great. They are with Prisma Health, yeah, and they were great. And the nurse was young and cute and she had symptoms and needed a colonoscopy. And she was talking to me about it because I was a complete psychopath. And she said you know, I work with these people all day, the nurses and the doctors so she went somewhere else. She did. She was like they don't need to see.
Speaker 1:You don't want to walk around knowing they saw You're an asshole. But you would think, because she does that, that she would know it's not really a thing. But I guess when it comes to you, they took a picture they took.
Speaker 2:and he told me this because I said I have to have 10 minutes with him before, 10 minutes after.
Speaker 2:I have to. I don't care if that's the way they did things. He was great. And he told me you know specifically everything he was going to do. And he said and I take a picture of the outside before he said it's just my standard practice to do that. And, sure enough, I opened up my chart and right there was my butthole. I said, well, hello, that's funny. I said well, hello, that's funny. I said well, hello.
Speaker 1:That is funny. Yeah, it was just there.
Speaker 2:I guess he was just making sure he didn't wreck it or something. I don't know what he was doing. I mean he had a great bedside manner, yeah, I said. He came in and he was like hi, I'm Dr Lizardo, and he was great. I was very impressed. I said oh, are you the one that's going to be violating me? And he laughed. He said but the good news is, I have small hands.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's funny. He had a great personality. That is funny. Yeah, this one turns from funny and this one is from May. We should have answered. I should have looked at it but I didn't see it. So if you're listening, because she says she listens to our podcast, but this could be for anyone, but she wants to know, loves the podcast. I look forward to listening.
Speaker 1:But question about business Knowing everything you know now about retail and e-commerce, if you yourself was going to start a business today, would you choose to open a physical store or would you focus on selling online? Curious of any advice you might have for someone who's interested in selling interior decor in the ever-changing world of retail. Both, yeah, I would do both. They go hand in hand and I think the question is where to start and it could be different for each. They go hand in hand. I would do both and here's the way I would present it. If you already have some people that you know or social media presence, anybody you can market to, I would start small online, but at the same time, I would be trying to open a physical retail location. You need both because people want to come in and see things, but people want to shop 24-7 as well.
Speaker 1:And one thing that we talk about in our own business here, because we started in retail and then got heavy into e-commerce both of them are every changing. That's just business and small business. You're always going to be ebb and flow and trying to change with whatever time it is. The benefits of, say, a retail store is you can build that as a person, like we've built our retail stores and we have employees. Those employees show up to work every day, do a great job If everything's going right, ours do and do a great job and they sell for you.
Speaker 1:So our retail stores are open, selling, productive and successful, independent of us. Independent of us On a day-to-day On a day-to-day sales-wise. And then online, though, is more about us, because if you're watching or listening or doing a live sale, it's heavier on us. Am I designing something at my house? Am I unboxing something on Instagram? Are we doing a live sale? That sort of thing is what drives the sales. Not that we don't get—you also get sales that just come in as well but we're the biggest generator. Yeah, the biggest generator for the business is us doing the live sales redecorating, unboxing something, showing stuff on Instagram.
Speaker 2:I would also tag on to that. I would do both, but I would probably if I were giving you advice, I would say do both, but start out smaller on both ends and have it in one building.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and you could do like how we started online. We had our retail store and we were literally shipping product off of our floor and from our back room and we had like a what an eight by eight room that we boxed and packed stuff in and we were very selective on what we put online. We didn't have our huge and everything that was in our store online we did like items that we had enough. You know like, oh, we got 12 of this. We can put six online, have six in the store and we changed our inventory often and we're shipping that way. But you can generate money that way. I mean you can generate for your retail store extra. You know, a lot of money. That's the way I would start out. So I would have it like Stephen is saying under one roof and just have things listed online and not get overwhelmed, yeah, and then you can grow it and see what part you enjoy, what's taking off too. Enjoy best and what's taking off, yeah.
Speaker 2:Because the store's busier.
Speaker 1:If it's taking off more than the e-commerce, you can focus more on that or you know whatever. But having the physical store, there's still benefits of being able to have. You know, open houses, you can do workshops, depending on what it is. You can have a lot of things that draw in physical people versus, like online, build your brand, yeah, but to me they definitely go hand in hand. I think, whether you're even just a small business, you should sell online, even if you just offer local pickup, because you never know when your customer from your physical store is laying in bed at night and like, oh, I need some candles, let me go ahead and order them and then I'll just go by there and pick it up. Like you can sell online and not do the shipping. You're not going to have as broad of an audience. The benefit of doing e-commerce, you know, is reaching beyond your audience or your customer base that you would have just with your physical store as well. That's a huge benefit, but it doesn't have to be. But I would definitely have both as options and then control how you do it and which area you grow in. So that's my info from there I have.
Speaker 1:I'm done looking through those because I feel like I'm distracted, but I have something I saw on social media that I think we need to. I should have shown you some so you could picture it, but I have been scrolling through and I don't know how these started showing up. I lost it. I'm probably sitting on it on this sofa or something, but this was on TikTok. I saw, and I guess I clicked on one and then you know it feeds you more and more of it, but neither one of us have kids. So we are going to talk about this from an outside standpoint. But there's people you know gender reveals are a big thing. Now you have a gender reveal party. I mean for some people, not everybody.
Speaker 2:I mean it used to be the gender reveal, used to be the date of birth.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you announced it's a boy or a girl with a cigar or a candy cigar or something that's here and there. But people are posting these gender reveals and they're being videoed and they're like crazy, disappointed at what the sex is. That's terrible, isn't it? Because I'm like now, the way things stick around, like your kid could see it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like I have videos. Well, I mean, I've had my iPhone since 2008. So I have videos and stuff on my phone from 2008,. Which is it's nothing for a video to stick around 10 years. And then your kid's like I don't know. And then everyone's there like, looking at you, I think that's I'll have to show you something. Then everyone's there like, looking at you. I think that's I'll have to show you something. That's bothersome to me. It is, and people were saying in the comments that gender doesn't mean like, but that the gender disappointment is a real thing, doesn't mean like you don't want the baby or you're not going to love it. Want the baby or you're not gonna love it. But I just feel like if you were doing, if you felt so strong about wanting one or the other, why would you do a gender reveal like, why would you set yourself up for that?
Speaker 2:disappointment. You know what I'm saying. That's where I don't like yeah and get a dog. Well, I mean, if you're that.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, I don't know. No see, that's where we can't put ourselves in their shoes because we don't have kids. But I just feel like if you are sitting at home and you feel like if I'm not having a boy, I'm going to be crazy disappointed, then don't do a gender reveal and don't video and don't post it.
Speaker 2:Well, and I kind of will put it like this too, I have a friend, have a friend McDonald's owners and she got pregnant with their third child. Yeah, and it was an oops surprise, yeah, and she called me. I mean, and this is a great mother, great wife, great mother, great friend. She called me and she could not get out of bed for like a week. She was hysterical. I couldn't say anything, anything. I said it would just be a wailing crying, like if I was like well, maybe it's going to be a good thing, maybe you'll have, maybe this one will be a boy. She was just inconsolable. But her thing was is now after a week. She was excited and happy and she adores her child now. But her thing was it was allegedly. Now he does drive her crazy, so she may still say she had planned on just two children. You know they had bought a McDonald's, moved to a new city.
Speaker 1:So was it? Was she hysterical because it was an oops and she got pregnant? Or because it was a boy Oops and got pregnant, she didn. Or because it was a boy Oops and got pregnant, she didn't?
Speaker 2:know it was a boy then oh, but see that's different yeah but I'm saying, maybe it's like that. I don't know.
Speaker 1:No, I mean, that's like, oh God, all my plans have just gone down the shitter because I'm starting over. You know you're in a different mindset. That's different.
Speaker 2:Now I can see from a practical standpoint. If you've had two or three of the same sex and maybe you won't maybe you have two boys and you're like God, life would just be easier if it was another boy. Half clothes, you know.
Speaker 1:I know, but if you feel so strongly about it, why are you doing a gender reveal? You find that out in private and have a meltdown and process it. Yeah. Yeah, I'm not saying that, just your disappointment. I haven't seen any of it. I'll send them to you. You'll get on the. It's a lot of them. I mean, and like just meltdown or throw fits, or, and I'm like, and sometimes it's the woman that does it and sometimes it's the man that does it, you know, I'm like I mean, there's always a preference.
Speaker 1:I mean, I'm sure you get your hopes up. If it's one or the other, I don't know what do y'all think. Tell us and text us on our hotline. I'll have it down in the comments because I don't know what do y'all think. Tell us and text us on our hotline. I'll have it down in the comments because I can't remember the phone number.
Speaker 2:I mean I just love all kids, but I will say if I were having I mean that used to be my number one disappointment was not having children. Now it is not. I consider it a blessing because it's just harder now, right, raising kids, and I have my nephews that are like my kids, I know.
Speaker 1:I can't imagine. You know, I wanted kids too for a long time, and now I'm like I can't imagine raising kids In this in 2025.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's got, but I guess you also do it.
Speaker 1:You do what you got to do and you navigate it. So it's one of the—, but it's just harder. I mean, parents have a—, but with cell phones and AI and just—.
Speaker 2:And drugs and everything so expensive I mean, and it's the most important job in the world. So props to all you parents out there. I don't know how you do it and I sure as hell don't know how you do it with more than one. I mean I would just sink. But I can say if I'd had a child, I would. I mean I don't know because I would be like, well, having a girl would be fun, having a boy would be fun. I wouldn't have cared either way. I wouldn't have cared either way. I don't think.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I wouldn't have cared either way, but I can see how you won't. If you already have two girls or two boys, you might want opposite sex.
Speaker 1:I can see. I can relate to people wanting one or the other. I can't relate to publicly doing the reveal, if you feel so strong about it Now.
Speaker 2:I always think it's weird and y'all can tell me because I haven't had children. I always think it's weird when people are like well, we have three, but we're going to keep trying until we get a girl and I'm like that could be a long body time, expensive and you have to do.
Speaker 2:I mean go buy one, like adopt a girl or something Like then I wouldn't keep doing it. I've had people say that and I'm like I don't know. But whatever, you know, I also I have friends that have five, six kids, you gotta love being a parent. I know McDonald's owners that have like six kids and y'all. I could barely manage my life with no kids owning McDonald's.
Speaker 1:That's what I don't get. How do you do it? I don't know.
Speaker 2:And the people in McDonald's. I know that I'm thinking of right now in my head. The mom is the original owner. Yeah, and let me tell you, I'm not knocking any dads out there who do not attack me, but the mothers. I do not care how good your father is, there's great dads out there. The mom carries the weight. I feel like they catch all the balls Right, because they're catching the balls for the husbands. I mean not literally, well, that might be, but you know the moms, they deal with the dentist appointments, the doctors, the shots, the school. You know, I feel like they really carry the weight. And how do you do that with two, three, four, five, six kids and operate a multimillion-dollar company? I don't know how they do it. I don't know either.
Speaker 2:Women just debate Y'all women out there. I was telling a friend of mine today. She was talking to me and she was talking about hormone therapy and you know all the stuff women are going through at our age now. And I said damn. I said y'all need some kind of like, y'all need to be carried around on a pedestal. I said y'all. I said if everything that was dumped on women were dumped on men, we would be extinct. That's true. Wouldn't be no babies, we'd be in the bed every month for a week with periods, wouldn't be able to do nothing, that's funny, Just sick.
Speaker 1:Oh well, it's time to pull this baby over. That wraps it up.
Speaker 2:Oh, you're just ready to get the hell home, aren't you?
Speaker 1:I am. I got to go home now and edit this and it's already 9 pm. This puts me in bed about 2 30 by the time I get home have a little dinner. There's no edit, but it's not even the edits. I have to upload it. Then I have to do this. I have to do the front and the beginning, cut it off where we start. Then I have to download it to my computer. Then I have to upload it to the hosting website and because it's so long, each one of those takes like 45 minutes. Then I have to do it for just the podcast without the video.
Speaker 2:Y'all better be glad he's a tech-oriented, because none of this shit would be fun.
Speaker 1:Even with no edits like I don't have to cut anything out. It takes three to four hours Just because of download upload, download upload. Is this the?
Speaker 2:best use of this time.
Speaker 1:I don't think so, but I love it, so we're still doing it. That's why we're here. So, yeah, we're pulling this baby over and I'm going home.
Speaker 2:Finish off my Labor Day night. I know I've got a busy week too. You do too.
Speaker 1:Fall time. Alright, thanks for being here. Remember to leave us a review wherever you're listening. Share us with your friends. That's the biggest compliment you can give us for the podcast. And remember you can join our online community where you can watch the shit show if you want to, at whosetrivingpodcastcom.
Speaker 2:Bye and drink your Coca-Cola Pam.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Pam, loosen up and drink a Coke. Bye.