Hawkeye Syndicate a weekly podcast looking at branding and social media through the lens of 3 Gun, Americas fasting growing s

Hawkeye Summer Series Match Director and my business partner Kevin Harrington and I sit down to talk about changes we are making for the 2021 3 gun season to make sure the most possible shooters get to shoot. We discuss the ammo shortage, COVID related issues and other delights that will effect the 2021 Hawkeye Ordnance Summer 3 Gun Series.

After the loss of her brother Taylor Thorne took her love a competition shooting and adventure on the road.  

In this episode I sit down with James Tate to discuss all the things Open Class and what he can tell me about servicing the deadliest jet fighter on planet earth.

This episode is packed with the genius of Charlie Perez as he shares his brilliance on the sport of practical shooting and the art of discovering your Suck List. For more on Charlie, visit him on Instagram or his website, www.bigpandaperformance.com ———————————- WHAT CHARLIE HAS DONE AND IS CURRENTLY DOING (10:00…) -currently a Grand Master Limited Shooter in USPSA, with several top 10 rankings in the last few years, Charlie unprecedentedly went from an unclassified shooter in 2008 to Grand Master 18 months later -he was new to shooting at an aggressive pace and needed to re-learn the game and how to shoot at this new speed -he spent a considerable amount of time at indoor ranges and booked himself at first at the slowest and then the busiest times in the range to practice blocking out the inputs from other shooters -in his practice he discovered that there were several abnormalities (like your shooting stance and pistol grip) that were not automatic to human nature, and that if he put those abnormal things into his daily practice they would become second nature to him INTEGRATING AN AGGRESSIVE PRACTICE: DRY FIRE SHOOTING (20:00…) -in his dry fire practice Charlie started focusing on how we grip the pistol -what most people aren’t doing is using the same grip on their dry fire practice as they are in a match or live fire practice. -any time a gun is between Charlie’s face and a target, he is practicing his grip — and doing that until it’s natural for him every time he holds it. -if you are practicing dry fire well, you will only be able to do it for about 15 minutes before your forearms are annihilated. THE ART OF A GRAND MASTER (25:50…) -any stage performance is an orchestra of skills — and Charlie deals with which of those skills are leveraged in each match, adding the time and frequency, and create a training plan based on all these metrics. -looking minutely at the stages and the skills combined to create them gives Charlie access to shaving off those half second time donations that no one wants to give. -you can compile a collection of these skills and put together a training plan based on the performance value and then put what is costing you the most at the top of your list. -bottom line: make a Suck List.  Love your list.  Add to your list.  When your list is done, you’re done.  So if you want to keep playing, keep up with your Suck List and prioritize what you suck at. -your training is going to be the most effective when it’s customized to what you need, not what someone else is doing -when Charlie trains people, instead of “giving them a fish,” he is focused on teaching you how to see, observe, and feel what you are doing that’s not working, so with our without him, you now have access to adjusting yourself. CHARLIE’S CURRENT SUCK LIST: -Retreating / Shooting backwards on the move -Getting into contorted positions with a limited range of motion (after a knee injury last Spring) -Re-learning how to call his shots as his vision changes over the years MARK’S NEW SUCK LIST: -I don’t assess my shooting -I don’t know how or have a way that I would measure that -Pistol performance Charlie’s bottom line with training: EVERYTHING WE DO IS MEASURABLE — from the movement of your feet to how fast you raise your pistol, to the number of steps you take and the way you move to the next target.  Get interested in all of it and get to work. You can grab a copy of Charlie’s book, “Path of Focused Effort: A Learning Guide for Practical Shooting” on his website, as well as other product recommendations.

For more on Cotter visit him on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube Mentions: Training Glasses: Vima Rev Tactical Glasses Atlas Gunworks’ Customizable Athena  Ally Outdoors  Atlas Gunworks   Safariland Group Shooter’s World Powder  Shell Shock Tech  PC Bullets  Hunters HD Gold  ATR Targets  https://thegundies.com/ Save 5% at Arnzen Arms, Atlas Gunworks and Triple C Pro Shop Use CODE: Conversations5

THE LIST: #2: FITNESS GEAR: Squat Rack X-3 Bar  #6: RANDOM: Nordic Axe  Double-Kick Pedal #1: GUNS: Sig 552 Commando  Wilson Combat Supergrade Commander  #10: POKEY STICKS: Karambit (Or a Folding CRKT)  Benchmade Infidel  Benchmade Butterfly Razor #3: SUPPLEMENTS: CBD Balm Ancestral Supplements #4: GEAR: Vortex Razor 1-10 2011 Mags  Ulfhednar Range Bag  #5: SOMETHING YOU WANT THAT YOU DON’T WANT ANYONE TO KNOW YOU WANT: Moped The Great British Baking Show OneWheel Skateboard  Banjo #8: BOOK: Coloring Books Across The Fence Founding Fathers Books #7: PIECE OF ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT: Earbuds DJI OSMO Mobile 4 #9: SUBSCRIPTIONS: Spotify Audible For all purchases at Atlas Gunworks and Arnzen Arms, use Checkout Code CONVERSATIONS5

This podcast is commentary on the last 8 years of shooting, content, videos and reviews with Blair and myself.  You can find more of our shenanigans on YouTube and Blair’s pistol, rifle, and shotgun modifications at the shop. Quick Hawkeye History: 8 years ago I walked out onto my first 3 Gun field with a brand new set of Nothing I Needed and a 6.5′ bearded Viking pointed at me and told me I was with him.   And that was it. Blair grew up in Decorah, Iowa with his dad who had a love of of guns and hunting.  In 1979 he started his reverence for shooting with a Savage Single Shot 22 and has never looked back. For the rest of our mentions, check out our video history below. Any purchases made through Arnzen Arms, Atlas Gunworks, or Triple C Range, use checkout code CONVERSATIONS5  

Highlights and Commerce You can find Adam and Atlas Gunworks on Instagram (@AtlasGunworks), Facebook (Atlas Gunworks) and YouTube IMPACTS FROM 2020 include: from embargo taxes on Chinese steel, there is a limited supply  pressure from elections, then throw in COVID  you’ve got the prepper-mindset people who are now looking at this situation a lot of first-time new buyers (about 5 million of them) demand on the system has never been stronger A look at the supply chain for the steel / aluminium / plastic parts / small widgets system There are something like 70 parts in the Atlas 1911 Doublestacks Atlas makes nearly 60% of their parts in-house.  For everyone who is importing parts, they are now dealing with:  COVID situations in other countries shipping delays customs delays What Atlas is doing about parts manufacturing and the pros and cons to manufacturing everything in house. Expectations with long-term and trickle-down effects on manufacturing — both in the firearms industry and elsewhere. The world of Atlas and smaller smiths, including: Dealing with the demand on your vendor Atlas’s pivot to parts and the dance with space, power, and the growth of the company Atlas history, 101 Predictions for 2021 opportunities and dangers in the industry and with the current and future administrations. In addition to what Adam is looking at, he highly recommends getting square with your ammo and firearms wishlist. Plugs and opportunities including what’s coming in 2021 with the additional floor space. Military / law enforcement project R&D including a new 4” pistol with aluminum frame Frame-grip-slide customizable combos what to do with no Shot Show in January

Bona Fides: Mike Stoker started in practical shooting in early 2018. As a competitive athlete since childhood Mike quickly became addicted to competitive shooting and hasn’t looked back. He shot over 50 matches in his first year with many top finishes. Mike competes in both the USSL and USPSA in single stack and limited division. He plans to continue to excel as a competitor and attend as many major matches as possible in his second year. Mike enjoys helping others and growing together as competitors. When you see him at the next match introduce yourself!   @atlasgunworks @supervel @aimcam_official @runandgunapparel @crossfitpsyched @atrtargets Priority 1 holsters   Question Options: Pipeline to shooting and competitive shooting…   Pipeline to Super Vel Ammunition   Short history of Super Vel   Vista: "We currently have over a year's worth of orders for ammunition in excess of $1 billion," Metz said during the Nov. 5 call. “With demand far outstripping supply and inventory levels in the channel at all-time lows, we see strong demand continuing, and this metric informs our viewpoint of what a recovery or normalization could look like.” Vista on Fox   Context: COVID19, Civil Unrest, Election year   General questions and conversation around ammunition manufacturing and distribution   Specific questions about dangers and opportunities for Super Vel   Plug social etc.

MY NOTES: Started law enforcement career in 2007 as a volunteer for the Lake Wales Police Department in Florida He later served at the Winter Haven Police Department and quickly progressed into specialty units. During his time at the department he was assigned to patrol, Field Training, Tactical Patrol Unit, General Crimes Unit, Violent Crimes Unit, Special Investigations Unit, and took over as the lead detective for the Gang Suppression Unit.  Emergency Response Team in 2014 - Entry, Sniper, instruction For the past 9 years Farewell has been an avid competitor in USPSA and 3-Gun. In 2019 he was selected to represent the USA at the IPSC Rifle World Shoot in the Semi-Auto Open Division where he took home a hard fought silver medal with Team USA.  Other notable finishes include the 2019 3 Gun Nation National Champion (both practical and 2 gun divisions), 2019 USPSA Area 6 Multigun Champion, and the 2020 Florida State USPSA Limited Master Champion. In 2016 Joe started Farewell Firearms Training and offers instruction for all shooters, from novice to advanced.  There are very few people that make their living primarily from the shooting part of the firearms industry.  Endorsements, Training, Salaries, etc. Defensive Classes: Intro to CC, Handgun Fundamentals, Carbine Fundamentals and Ladies Handgun. Why don’t you see more intermediate and advanced defensive classes? Comp Classes 3 Gun Level 1/2, Comp Handgun, Pre Match 3 Gun Clinic, Advanced 3 Gun. Open discussion Remote Training: Where you doing these classes before COVID or is it a direct response? What do you think the natural evolution is? Dry Fire Challenge: Experience Editing this series. Significant change to my pistol presentations and holster placement. Sponsors: UM Tactical, G9 Ammo, Big Daddy Unlimited, Dissident Arms, Vortex Optics, Atlas Gunworks, Grizzly Ears, Priority 1 HolstersStart discussion around sponsorship and influence. Free 3 Gun Gear Guide: Striking a balance between great info and sales.  Sales Funnels 3500 followers on Facebook:Is FB still relevant for you? 20k followers on Instagram: Is IG still a powerful tool of influence or is it in decline? 115k on TikTok: Open discussion

The Tactical Games is the hot new expression of the second amendment and physical fitness bringing Crossfit and multigun together into a shoot-em-up puke fest. In 2020 the Tactical games launched a franchise opportunity called Tactical Games Skirmishes. My good friends Dustin Sanchez and Shawn Nelson along with MN 3 Gun Group and Forest Lake Sportsmen's Club are bringing the games to Minnesota on May 23rd. Companies you should check out: Obsidian Arms Shooters Source Rep Fitness Honorable Mentions Archway Defense Project Citizen Zero Crye Precision 5.11 Tactical Spartan Armor Topics What are the Tactical Games? What can I expect from a match? Tactical Games training Tactical Games Guns and Gear

My name is Tim Jensen. You may know me as the "Grunt Style 1SG". I have drank more beer, pissed more blood, banged more quiff and beat more ass than all you numb nuts put together.  I am an ass kicking, hard charging salty soldier of the sea, so that means don't jerk me around or I'll kick your ass off this friggen planet. I like drinking whiskey and smoking fine cigars, play a lot of poker and can shoot the hair off a fly's ass well over 1000 yards away.    Military Career Marine: Vehicle Commander, Rear Section Leader as well as dismounted infantry squad leader of Mobile Strike Team One. Direct Mission to support 4 line units with recon, intelligence collection and tactical employment of combined arms with mobile infantry. Additional duties included HVT acquisition, counter ambush/mortar patrols, QRF, EPW transfers and route clearance. Also conducted operations as Fire Direction Center Chief of 81mm mortars platoon. Logged over 5000 miles and 200+ combat missions within the violent Triangle of Death, Iraq.   Grunt Style  To us, what you wear is more than just a necessity to be clothed. It's about attitude! We have taken the American fighting spirit and instilled it in everything we do. You don't have to be a Veteran to wear Grunt Style, but you do have to love Freedom, Bacon and Whiskey. We provide more than apparel, we instill pride.   PRIDE IN SELF, IN MILITARY, AND IN COUNTRY.   With nearly 400 US Veterans and Patriots, our mission is to deliver the highest quality, most Patriotic apparel on the planet, straight to your front door. Backed by our unbeatable lifetime guarantee, you will always be blown away by our products, our service, and our ability to America! Tim Jensen : President of Grunt Style   "It was a very difficult time for me, to the point where I lost my family and lost my children," Jensen told ConnectingVets.com. "It was really difficult, but there was a moment when I made that change, where I psychologically said 'this is not gonna happen, I gotta stop this behavior, everything that's occurring.' That's when I found Grunt Style.”   "Harness their capabilities, harness their ability to organize, harness their ability to provide task and purpose in assaulting missions that are laid out in front of them."   Started in 2009, screen printing T-Shirts, hoodies and hats Much has been written and discussed about how you worked from the ground up from folding T-Shirts to President, Check out the podcast Life Drives Success for the story on that. What I am more interested in talking about is your leadership style. You refer to yourself as a First Sergeant.  https://www.gruntstyle.com/   G3 Dynamics  https://www.g3dynamics.com/ is a trademark of Grunt Style  Leader in Competition Entertainment.   Promotional sponsorship of sporting events for adult participants; Promotional sponsorship of adult individuals and teams of adults participating in sporting events; Endorsement services, namely, promoting the goods and services of others; Promoting adult sports competitions and events of others     Mammoth Sniper Challenge https://www.facebook.com/MammothSniperChallenge/ The Mammoth Sniper Challenge is a 4-day precision rifle shooting competition that test the human body, mind and spirit. Do you have what it takes? Fort Gordon, Georgia January 9-12   Sponsors: Grunt Style and Vortex Optics   The challenge, which dates back to 2010, pits two-person teams in a grueling series of shoots held on both natural terrain and inside man-made structures. Two team styles — Tough Man and Regular  — will be offered, varying in the physicality of the event.   Tough Man teams will have to stay in the field throughout the three-day challenge, carrying everything they need with them over the course of 30+ miles at a minimum pace of 16 minutes per mile while on the move.   Regular teams will still have to ruck the same distance but will be allowed downtime to stay offsite each night.   This Event will be held for the second year in a row at Fort Gordon, GA Ranges 1 through Range 14 on the 56,000-acre base will be utilized for the challenge,

Part 2 with Sean Burrows: Marketing and Influence in 2020 Let’s start with a little context: For yourself: What is your overall goal here? Where are you going with this? What industries do you look to for inspiration? Strategically: What are you using your influence to do… Personal website, sponsor website, tracking Tactically: Influence @seangoboom on Facebook (740 followers) Instagram catch all Twitter (1016 followers) Seans Political Voice Sean Borrows on Youtube (5800 subs) 136k Vid, several 10k plus vids, looking to build this to 10k subs for SHOT Show. @sean.go.boom (interesting that Sean Burrows didn’t return IG page in search Instagram (32.5k followers) Likely will become a lifestyle page. Long form content will be sent to youtube etc. Formulas: The content waltz * Gun Porn * Gun Porn * Video What are you liking for equipment these days? Tripod, DSLR: Cannon T7i Sponsors: Federal Premium Ammunition, Breda, Safariland, Vortex Optics, Emerson Knives, Dakota Tactical, ShootSteel.com, HKParts.com, Gargoyles, 5.11 Tactical, Briley 3 Gun, ELF, Dueck Defense and Rhino Metals

This week on the #syndicast I am speaking with shooter, industry influencer and content creator Sean Burrows… better known as SeanGoBoom I suspect we are going to cover a lot of ground in this episode and it may seem a little overwhelming. If you are a shooter with less than 1000 followers on your primary platform pop over to http://hawkeyesyndicate.com/first1000/ and get a copy of how to get your first 1000 followers. For those of you that are already there and wondering what’s next go to http://hawkeyesyndicate.com/influencer/ and schedule a 1 hour call with me to do some brainstorming. Most conversations make their way on to the podcast where you and your sponsors will get some new exposure. Finally, if you are a business and would like an assessment go to http://hawkeyesyndicate.com/jointhesyndicate/. I will look at your business from the outside, provide you with what’s so and actionable steps you can take to take it to the next level. Finally, you can find all of our recommendations for business development books and content creation tech at our Amazon Store: https://www.amazon.com/shop/hawkeyeordnance3gun Without further ado welcome Sean Burrows Introductions and Bona Fides Tell us a little about how you got into the shooting sports and the world of content and influence. Sponsors: Heckler and Koch, Breda, Safariland, Vortex Optics, Emerson Knives, Dakota Tactical, ShootSteel.com, HK Parts, Gargoyles, 5.11 Tactical, Briley 3 Gun, ELF, Dueck Defense and Rhino Metals Sponsor changes… Heckler and Koch gave you a built in crossover audience from the tactical world One of the things you are known for in the industry is your influence and you are really respected for your opinions on the game of influence and marketing. What are you seeing happening to influencers in our industry? I would like to go through each platform and get your take on them. Influence @seangoboom on Facebook (740 followers) primarily shares from IG Twitter (1016 followers) fairly political Sean Borrows on Youtube (5800 subs) 136k Vid, several 10k plus vids @sean.go.boom (interesting that Sean Burrows didn’t return IG page in search Instagram (32.5k followers) Website: http://www.seangoboom.com/ Blog and VLOG under Sean Burrows Competitive Shooter

Intro: if you have been following my Instagram feed lately you will probably have notes I am training for the Tactical Games. My guest today is the man that keeps me from doing anything too stupid in that process - Bryan Everett (Spelling)   Welcome to the syndicast https://www.amazon.com/shop/hawkeyeordnance3gun   Bryan’s background: 1. What are your current credentials and where can listeners find you if they want training?    1. DM Bryan on Instagram: @beverett23    2. Current and prior military and first responders can train free provided they are members of Lifetime Fitness 2. Tell us a bit about your journey to where you are now? Sports, military, education, etc.   What is the Tactical Games? THIS IS CROSSFIT-MEETS-COMBAT.   If climbing obstacles, running with a rucksack on, carrying heavy things, and shooting from unconventional positions excites you, than The Tactical Games is for you! WHAT ARE THE TACTICAL GAMES?   What is the difference between a professional baseball player, pro-football player, or basketball player and a tactical athlete? Professional sports players get an offseason. Tactical athletes, however, are on point 24/7/365 with No Off Season!  A Green Beret, SEAL, or Delta Operator doesn’t have the luxury of taking a day off. They don’t get to say, “I’m just not into it today!” They are constantly deploying or preparing to deploy.   Why am I doing this? Turning 45, set a goal of 15% body fat for my birthday, I want to know what’s possible for myself, I ain’t real bright...   Go over evolution 1 1. Spartan model 2. Weights Discuss training evolution 2 1. Changes, Pilates 2. Weights Another episode prior to evolution 3 and after games to discuss the repair season   Diet: Current discuss live Supplements, discuss live   What am I missing? Sleep, rest, recovery techniques like sauna etc.

Hunters HD Gold is the Official Eye Wear of USPSA and Steel Challenge anecdotally I have seen their eyewear showing up all over competition shooting starting with where I first saw them at the PCC and Rimfire Championships. If you are aware of Hunters HD Gold odds are you have met my guest Brian Conley. Speaker 1: [inaudible].  Speaker 2: Hey everybody, and welcome back to the Cindy cast on this episode we've got Brian Connolly from hunter's HD gold. They're the official eyewear of USPSA and still challenged. And anecdotally I've been seeing their eyewear showing up all over competition shooting, starting with where I saw them first at the piece of seat and rimfire championships. If you're aware of hunter's HC gold, odds are you've met Brian.  Speaker 3: He's joining us now. How are you doing Brian? Hey, what's going on? Gosh, it's been a, it's been too long since we've been in the dirt together. It's been over a year at this point. It has and I'm have not been back to, um, where we met and um, it, Lucas all arranged so far yet this year. That was a pretty long ago. Yeah. I mean, just to be straight, I don't think anybody has, I mean, I went there twice last year, so I'm not missing, I logged 21 days in that house last year. Well, I never got the pleasure of I'm staying in the house. I had to drive to Warsaw every day, so I got it. Yeah, it's um,  Speaker 4: I, oh, sorry. I got my dog, Lucy here. Who is going to come here? Cool. Get in there. You're going to take a little break. Come on. Oh, you're all over my stuff and we're going to have to drop an edit in here. You're working loose Kendall up. There you go. All. Alright. She is a  Speaker 3: business associate and my secret lover, but um, she's a pain in the ass sometimes. All right, so here we go. So yeah, you know, Lucas, um, it's an interesting thing. They, um, you know, I was involved. So last year I was involved with um, strategic mash design and a couple of other companies that were doing major events and um, I got into it on the, well they wanted me to do media, which translated to, would you also do our prize tables? Wow. Yeah. So I did six last year and um, and then, you know, and it was, I learned a ton. It was totally worth the, the mental exercise. And at the same time, I don't think you'll see me doing that again. I can understand that. I actually had to, um, had the joy of walking a prize table for somebody this year when they weren't gonna be able to walk it.  Speaker 3: And I decided that was the first and last time I want to do that as well. So yeah, I definitely have my, I want to talk about prices with you a little bit cause you guys have been really gracious, but you also have kind of a spin on that that I really like. Um, so then we can talk about a little bit later in the cast as we get deeper into, um, hunter's ht gold specifically. But tell me before we do that a little bit about you, like you started out in insurance, is that what I've, I'm gathering, I've been in retail management since I was, um, 21. Okay. And I, I'm 48 now. Got It. I used to tell everybody I sold everything buddy insurance back. And then I had a friend of mine who was, um, owned an insurance company and he says, Hey, well go get your, go get your license and everything and this and this. He had a  Speaker 5: practice. He was starting up an insurance. I was like, well sure, why not? So 50 exams to the hardest test. I still keep those. I'm insurance licensed current today. He'd taking the ced seat CD be correct. Can't talk, taking the credits every two years to keep my license current in the state of Alabama. So I've got a backup plan. If I ever got to go back and sell insurance, I'm not going to lose my license cause I think now they're requiring a lot more to get your license and insurance, everything else. So every couple of years I walked back into a classroom and take eight hours of credits and um, fulfill those. But based on how everything is going now, I don't really think I'm gonna have to go back down that path. And You Thompson know you guys are having a great run and uh, well so tell me like how do you go from now you, you were born and raised in Alabama, right?  Speaker 5: Yeah, I was born in Tuscaloosa and in 92, um, moved up in Birmingham. I had been in Birmingham area every since. And, um, you know, I got, you know, like I said, I went to school and, um, at the university and, um, when in criminal justice and had a path set there for me but never really finished. Once I get into retail sales, um, got a call from the local police department that I was gonna go work for. And um, they tell me my starting salary, I think back there was going to be 16, five, and at that time in retail management as a young manager at 21 years old, I'd made I think 30 something thousand dollars. So I might've, I made a commitment in our decision and saying, well, I'm not gonna, um, turn around and look back. I can make this much more money and not get shot at.  Speaker 5: And, um, then that's kind of the path that shows every since I got that. And I would, I would imagine there's more than one human being that made that calculation in their lifetime between laundry is one of those things that, um, I've never been in a situation where I haven't had gainful employment based on being in that kind of environment. Had to change jobs a lot because in retail management, the way you may got a pay raise was getting recruited by somebody else certain or changing in a career path to sell something different. So, um, lots of, um, lots of training through that, through the years being able to go from different positions. I've managed and sold everything from, um, let me see, you know, video contents backward guy started in 92 selling big springs and camcorders and after five years that company closed up, they wrote about Tandy Corporation went to go manage your radio check and then I didn't like selling the parts that made the big screens when I was selling the big screen.  Speaker 5: So I got out of that and went to another type of sales. But I've managed everything from targets to the best buys to being in the wireless industry for multiple years. And then, um, then I was in of course like we just talked about selling them insurance with a, um, insurance agency. And then, um, my current wife's ex husband at the time, you know, called me about wanting to do their marketing and, um, stuff for the lab that I worked for now. Yeah. And, um, that was kind of an interesting blend, but we had a great working relationship and, um, started doing marketing in the lab business. So I went from the selling retail to, I'm talking directly to ophthalmologist, not Tom Matricis about how to, um, improve their sales in their field and quote unquote selling the accessories that were up. Because in the optical world, the essential, these are, you know, ars photochromics colors, tans, anything, you know, something besides just the normal thing that insurance is going to cover.  Speaker 5: And I did that for four years and then, um, got involved with, um, I'm all over the place. But then I got involved with, um, two other friends that were, one was a Napkin kinda strain. One was an older gentleman that I've known forever or 15 years now that was in the wireless industry. And we went together and bought some hunting property. And that was in back in, um, 2013. Um, place called triple forks hunting. We do executive hunts and stuff like that. So I had all these tools at the lab and I wanted to make myself a hunting lands and I wanted to, you know, something to enhance my hunting, you know, for what I was doing. Cause I had, um, prescription outwear and I kinda had all the, all the fun toys to play with at the lab to design something. And that's Kinda, you know, the beginnings of where I've got, you know, where I am now.  Speaker 5: So it really cool. So that's optical prescription lab, which is the, the lab, correct? That's correct. And incorrect. Triple fork hunting LLC was something you created in 2013 it looks like. Yup. Yup. That's correct. And that's where we basically, we didn't just want anybody with a hunting license and you know, a gun to come hunt. We wanted to open it up to corporations or a place for them to bring their employees and um, and really have a place to, you know, bond and um, team build based on the, you know, you know, to build the relationships with either their clients or their employees and works extremely well. And one of my business partners is still running that more. I'm not running it as much based on where hundreds HD go does that now. So I'm lane is really stepped up and made a difference for that, keeping it going on the side.  Speaker 5: So cool. I'm always curious about something. So you're, you're, I mean at this point, whether you intended to or not, you're heavily involved in the firearms industry. Um, and so, well you're not selling guns. You're definitely directly marketing to that group with both the hunting and the, the, the hunters HD gold. So did you grow up with guns? Did you, how'd you fall out? This is, my dad had guns and um, we always use, I mean, we used to only brought them out. Usually when we traveled, it was kind of the time he put the gun in the, you know, in the trunk. And we traveled to Texas to see his family and my mom's family in Fort Worth, you know, Dallas area. And that's how I remember about growing up with the guns that don't really have the history of out shooting guns myself. I just remember my dad would always take guns out there and trade with some relatives and stuff like that. Um, October of 2011, my, um, father passed away and we stayed with him the last two years of his life. I'm helping him. He died of, um, cancer and he was in a situation where, um,  Speaker 1: yeah,  Speaker 5: that's where I inherited, you know, seven guns that he wanted me to have guns. You know, why? Um, grandfather was the mayor of, um, Bessemer, Alabama for 18 years. So he had these guns that bought a shot, guns and um, all these 11 Remington, 11 hundreds that were, um, back from the fifties and sixties. And how all these pictures with, um, local, um, celebrities, we'll call it the, um, bear Bryant's and stuff like that of shooting these guns and out shooting together and doing a bunch of 'em dog hunting and stuff. So there's a lot of history with these guns that I inherited. And that's Kinda what got everything started. Cause every time I look at sharing, we're talking or something, I always like, you know, you realize your fathers, you know, started this back in 2011, just had no idea where I was going to go. Yes.  Speaker 5: So that kind of got me involved in, you know, collecting guns and um, and getting started there in 2011. And that's what caused me that, you know, back here in the, um, previous presidency where I was wanting to say anyway, he bought some property and, you know, I have a place to shoot this and train and you know, hot and, you know, and everything else that was being, you know, jeopardize back in the, um, the 2000, you know, late 2000. Yup. Years of that. And, um, that's kind of where everything got started. And then when I actually had a gentleman, when we were building the lake at, um, triple forks hunting and, um, had a gentleman, Marketo bulldozer, it, it was moving dirt for the lake and he comes up to me and goes, hey, I need you to get me some more of this wasp spray.  Speaker 5: Um, that looks like it's in Pelham, Alabama. And I was like going, Huh, it's in my backyard. Sure. I go and look into it. Yeah. And, um, so I took this can, it was, um, kind of rainbow wasp spray. So I took it to the building and um, had to be buzzed in. They weren't open to the public and I was like, I walked to the door and I was like, Hey, I want to buy this wash spray. And I'm like, well, we really don't sell to the public, but hold on one second. And they went back in the back and then gentleman came out and he was like, where'd you hear about this? And I want it just to go on a bulldozer and I'm no, Port Alabama handed it to me and said, you know, come get some. He goes, well, we really don't.  Speaker 5: Some of the public, you know, but, but however, you know, here's the icing on the land of Basaam and you know, so forth and I'll let my business card with you before it's hunting. And he gave me his, um, and um, I went off on my merry way and went online and ordered some. And um, then about, yes, about a week later, if not yet, not that long. Um, the one of the owners of Rainbow Technologies, Larry Joe steely junior called me up and says, you know, hey, I see that you have a hunting camp and, um, so forth and tell me about that. When did that process, and he actually booked a hunt with his brother and one of his employees to come out there during hunting season. And then, um, we become a cane. You know, Franz went after, did the hunt together in the early fall, late fall season when the hunting season was starting.  Speaker 5: And, um, he saw the lenses there that I had used. I'd made up some just some demo stuff there as you want to use tested with, um, you know, people that were coming to hunt. I'd already was testing the lens with some game wardens, stuff like that. You know, just trying to get their feedback and stuff cause I was made a lens that, you know, allowed me to see a lot earlier in the mornings to hunt and in the state of Alabama hunting hours of defined 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset. These were actually bringing in enough light to be able to hunt during those hours when it's pretty dark. So having the hunting property, I'd already made friends with a bunch of the game wardens cause I wanted them to be, you know, the places, two hours from where I live. So I always wanted them around the property to be able to keep watching what was going on and gave them full rights to come out there anytime they wanted to.  Speaker 5: They saw some suspicious, you know, come hang out at the place and you know, using this, it's kind of your home base. So that met Larry and Larry come out there and did a hunt and he got me involved in them. He goes, you ever do any competitive shooting or anything? And I was like, no. And um, he was doing cowboy action shooting and not a time slap, you know, single action shooting to Saudi SAS. And he got me involved in that and I was pretty intrigued cause I always, you know, like I said, I was collecting guns that look like this was going to give me another reason to, um, to buy some more guns, which I was all about. So got my cowboy outfits together and um, we got me at, um, an 1873 navy arms of Winchester that had been ridden and um, couple of Ruger voke heroes that we'd set off to have tripped out.  Speaker 5: Um, stoker double barrel shotgun and I wish you can. Cowboy action shooting was a blast. And I've had these lenses I've made there and I'm using them. And couple of locals there were like, what are you wearing? It's awesome. And made Larry Joe some of course, and he was all about it. And Larry Joe steely, if you don't recognize that name, he's the gentleman that now alone still target paint. Oh Man. That's the correlation there. This is before still target pink was even created. Yes. So if this time, you know, he was telling me, you know, I'm thinking about making a paint for the steel targets, he saw a need there. And um, the locals were all kind of intrigued about what I'd done with these. Lindsay goes, I really think you got something here. You gotta to see what you can do with it. And I started getting more intrigued cause I was already, I was kind of, you know, thought about going down the hunting road and I was doing a couple of, I didn't do any shows.  Speaker 5: I was visiting a couple of 'em, you know, directs expos and stuff like that. Just trying to see what was going on and made it a couple of visits to shot show with, um, some of my friends that start arms, they're hearing best from Alabama, about 20 minutes away and became good friends with them. So I was, you know, intrigued in what was really happening around the lands and what kind of feedback I was going to get. So I went to shot show a couple of years before it was, um, anything just to see if anybody was offering something I'd already created in the lab and make sure I wasn't walking into something that was already there. So why create something that somebody else is already putting out there? And there's already a market that's already been exposed to it.  Speaker 5: Um, come to find out there was nobody that was putting a traffic's lands together with a photochromatic combination. And, um, so I was even more intrigued to see where this would really go. And then I guess about a year later, Larry Joe Staley Jr was running, you know, had his thing going with still target paint. And he had called me up and says, I think I found a way pressed again and the competitive shooting, I was like, what do you mean? You know, everybody, you know, Sass already knows about it locally. You talked about something that goes, no, no, I think it's something bigger. Even with this thing called steel challenge. He goes, he had met a, he had met a competitive shooter named Steve Foster out of Georgia and was thinking about putting a team together. And um,  Speaker 1: okay,  Speaker 5: he asked me if I wanted to, um, sponsor the team. I was like, well sure, what does that, what do you want? What do you want to do? He goes, well, I'm just very, we put them all in hunters, HD gold. Well I'll put a Jersey together and we'll get your, you know, logo on the Jersey. And I said, sure, why not? Sounds great. And um, that's Kinda how I got involved with, um, steel challenge. Really cool. Wow. Oh my goodness. An interesting, you know, why do you get into it? Cause I had no idea what I was doing and I was, you know, I knew what I was doing on the land side, but I had no idea what the, um, competitive shooters of steel challenged was. I knew about Calloway shooting cause I've been doing that for about, you know, six or eight months, you know, once or twice a weekend.  Speaker 5: And I had a lot of fun with that. I didn't really think it was going to go much farther. And I was focused on the hunting side. So we were already testing a lot of products at triple forks hunting. I was obtained up with, um, Pradco, they're here in Birmingham as well and they all, they all Moultrie summit on tree stands Code Blue Night and hell game calls a lot of other brands. Yeah, I had come pretty close with veil and still close with them. Today. I'm testing their products out in the field and I'm had a lot of those guys, you know, helping me. Um, did some testing with hunters HD going and having some other avenues with on the hunting side. You know, with, I'm trying to get a hundred HD go to see what kind of um,  Speaker 5: way I could break into the industry. You kind of see what that looks like with my, with my lenses, but I'm meeting, I'm stay, you foster kinda change that entire direction. I kind of told the hunters I'll be back with you later. This is something that's really happening now. And Steve Foster had actually told me that um, he was always finished in second and third and once he got a hold of the 160 go and he was actually finishing first, that's the only thing he changed. Found that kind of, you know, intriguing because I didn't realize, you know what, I was really opening up to the competitive shooters to find them a shooting at vantage. I knew we had one in cowboy action shooting, but the targets are a lot closer and there's not much distance involved. It was just about more of transitioning and being able to work a leap or action and reloading your shotgun fast regardless,  Speaker 3: regardless of the platform, regardless of the game. I think Jerry Mitchell, he says it best is like you can see it fast, you can shoot it fast.  Speaker 5: Yup. And that's what [inaudible] when we were thinking about slogans, we were going through that, my wife and um, we were going back and forth cause one of the things she said is you can only shoot as fast as you can. See that's what it is. That's what it is. She always wants to put something together with the lenses being able to change in the eye. And she actually came up with a slogan as well. They changed so you don't have to. So that was kind of, you know, that kind of told a story about you know, the land without, you know, getting too much into it just because I have a lot of people would still walk up to the tent today when I traveled and I go, what is this? They changed it. I'll have to, and it just opens up the story. So it's working real well.  Speaker 3: That's really good. Well, okay, this is like, you just opened up like a bout a thousand conversations. Okay, good. So first thing I want to say is, is I've been, I've been in the firearms industry now for Ah, well, let's see. I've been really engaged as a consumer for about seven or eight years now and I've been engaged as a service provider for let's say five or six of those years. And I can't tell you how many people stumble into their careers. Like I just was looking for something for myself that worked better. Alex gun works. Great example. That guy just wanted a gun that worked better for himself, made a gun work great, kept making him. Um, you know, I'm here, I hear this over and over and it's really interesting to me how few people in the modern games are, um, on the gaming side of things.  Speaker 3: Uh, started with hunting and started a lot. I mean like, you know, you and I both grew up, like I didn't grow up around guns and sound like you, you know, you had him in the House, dad had him, but no, it wasn't like you grew up shooting every weekend or he lived on the farm shooting all the time. Um, and just how many people have like really who have really advanced the sports significantly come from like a whole different world of um, you know, uh, firearms used to saw post 18, you know, um, it's fascinating. But let's do this. I um, so when you were starting to develop this lens, so let's just explain this to those who you know, I'll give the simpleton. So for those of you who aren't watching this on video or you've never seen 180 gold lens is a essentially a very bright yellow lens, not unlike what you've seen in inexpensive, um, lenses.  Speaker 3: Like, if you just saw somebody walking by, you know, you find that like you buy the three pack, there's the smoke, there's the red and there's the yellow and you throw away the yellow and you take the smoke and the red with you out to the right, you know? Um, and so it looked kind of like that, but then you put them on and instead of it just liking everything, like super vivid and uncomfortable. Cause when I wear yellow lenses, I'm just like, I mean it's just like I'm being assaulted by light. I don't like it. You put these on and it takes a second. Especially if you haven't worn them before and then you sort of like, I don't know, you're like relax into this. Just sort of flow a light into your eyes all day. And what you don't notice is they're photochromatic so they're adjusting and the amount of light they're letting in based on the conditions outside, which is something like, you know, if he told me his photochromatic I immediately would be thinking of my brother's like 1978, you know, a glasses that he wore that were just not cool by even 1978 standards does that.  Speaker 3: But as a shooter, as a competitor outside all day long and all kinds of different light, you know, light's always changing and you're either switching lenses all day long or your, you know, you could wear these and they give you that all day sense. And I, I use them all the time. Um, I have them, I mix them with a couple of other things and I want to talk about that with you in a second. Cause I've recently gotten into this tactical games thing and um, I think I need a specific set of la or like frame for that. I got it. I'll talk to you about that, maybe offline, but like, um, cause I've got, I w you know, you made me, you gave me a set of the archers right away, the day that we were out there and um, at, I think that was PCC championships, there's a PCC roll championship.  Speaker 3: Give you a pair of orange shoes to wear around. I wore, Oh man, I wore them all. I wore them for the two days of the event. And see for me the biggest issue I have is I'm always transitioning back and forth between shooting the guns and dealing with cameras and electronics when all that kind of stuff. So like I'm changing things now. My eyes have gotten a little a showing off my, you know, readers right now, but my eyes in the last couple of years have significantly, um, diminished and quality. But I'm, I'm always switching back and forth between glasses, between what I'm shooting with when I'm working with, you know, polarized glasses, make my screen look like crap. Um, you know, there's a lot, whatever you go back and forth. So like I where it's just become kind of a thing for me. I've always got three or four pairs when I'm going to shoot and do cameras.  Speaker 3: I always just wear the eight hundreds HD gold now cause they just worked perfectly for both. Um, and the only negative is occasionally I've got to flip them up so that I can like make sure my color balance is correct before I start filming something. I have on a couple of occasions gotten an under saturated shot cause my lenses were exaggerating the Co, you know, so much the color richness. So, um, and I just, so I use them all the time and you've got a couple of friends here up in town now. Like A, Dustin Sanchez is one who is wearing your lens now and um, and they're released. We made him a pair of custom pair as well. Yeah, I know. I know we're all were us three gunners or a bunch of premadonnas or like I can't possibly wear  Speaker 5: in shooting sports offhand. That I think I learned that the hard way at the PC works with PCC world championship and everybody goes, Oh, all righty.  Speaker 3: Yeah. Well look, I mean, and I, you and I had a pretty cool interview. If you go to the huck origins youtube channel, there's an interview of the two of us that I did, um, at the PCC champion. No rimfire we met at PCC, but we did that when it rimfire and I'd had some experience then with your lens and that's when you made me the ones in the Oakleys. I was like, I love these lenses. I don't like the frames. Okay. Whatever. So, and we've had this conversation, we don't need to rehash this, but um, so you made me a set of Oakleys I took a set up. Yeah. I think I took a set out of my car and sent him with you. And you made a set of Oakleys for me with these lenses. And those were the ones that were, I mean, I literally wear 'em all the time.  Speaker 3: That where I'm driving around I where I'm there, they're kind of my constant rotation. If I'm wearing black boots, I'm wearing my hunters h g gold for wearing brown boots. I'm probably still wearing my Oakleys, but you know, so, um, so that's Kinda like I'm a pretty simple guy. It's like my glasses go with my boots. Um, but, um, and then I wear them, you know, all summer. I am also setting up matches I'm doing. And then I shoot the match and they work all day for all of that. And we run right up until nine o'clock here in Minnesota, which this time of year we're getting to the point where it's almost dark and I'm not switching to clears, which is just huge. Um, I can't, I wouldn't tell you if there's an advantage per se, um, in my shooting, but I'm not at the level where like any, especially any more where like you, I would notice such a subtle difference.  Speaker 3: Right. You know, not, not a hundred thought at first place, you know. Um, and so, but I will say that just from a personal comfort level, they're fantastic. And then I wear 'em all the way home in the car because I have like a blue light thing. It's like I tried to get my s I'm really conscious of my sleep and um, and they block some of the blue light from my car all the way home, but I could still see and drive and they blocked glare. So they just kind of cover me from the moment I leave the house till the moment I come home and I never, the glass is just managing that. So that's kind of like the layman's term of what they're doing. But I'm curious from your standpoint, like what was the design philosophy like? I mean, I know you tried a bunch of different things, but what did you finally end up with? Well, there was a lens that came out  Speaker 5: how many years ago? Back in the light, I guess early two thousands and then went through the probably 2010 or left. And that was a, um, company that had put out a actual actual shooting and hunting lands that had been discontinued. And that gave me an idea where to start at, because when I was talking to my wife about what I wanted to do, she goes, I think there's already something like this out there. I said, well, why is it not being, you know, talked about? And she was like, well, doctors don't, the aren't talking about it because they aren't asking their patients lifestyle questions. They're just trying to get through as a general thing. They're just trying to get through and do the eye exams and try to control what insurance is going to pay him. But they're not selling multiple pairs of glasses. Right. And that's something we deal with every day still today in the optical industry.  Speaker 5: You know, trying to get doctors to talk about more lapdog questions. Because when you get into people's, you know, what they do besides, you know, just going to work every day, you know, they need glasses for different things that they do. And if you're on a computer all day, there's a computer lands. If you're playing golf, there's a golfing lens. If you need no shooting and hunting, we now know there's a hunting lands. If you are driving, there's a driving lens that helps out for different things. And I'm fishing of course you need Polaroid polarized lenses and fishing and you need prescription polarized lenses and you know, you can find that by actually talking to people. And that's what I kind of brought to the optimum industry with all my years of experience in retail was qualifying a customer to really, you know, talk to them and find out what other needs they may have than just needing quote unquote glasses.  Speaker 5: And that's what gave me the idea of running into so many different things, whether it be with a hunting lands, because you know there's a lake, I don't know how much you want to remember. I'd probably do somewhere, but going through all the R and d of the one away lenses that this thing I'll work cause I know work. Yes, I like this, but no I don't like this. And then, you know, we, we threw away a lot trying to find the right combination of what we wanted to do and, or what we wanted to accomplish and what we wanted to accomplish was, um, one, we knew that the base of being tribex was superior to plastic or polycarbonate hands down because tribex by itself is lighter and stronger than plastic or polycarbonate, and also allows 43% more light to pass through the lens than polycarbon now.  Speaker 5: Okay. Wow. We knew the only other optics that are better than tribex is glass. And we didn't want to have glass anywhere around any including my own, anywhere near around our eyes as something catastrophic happen because glass, you know, shards and just is a disaster for your eyes. Yeah. That's not that dog will hunt. But believe it or not, I still see people wearing Kostas every day when they go shooting. And that's just, you know, I like coach. I, there's that role with that coach is a great brand. So [inaudible] jams. There's a lot of great brands out there in the [inaudible] industry, but those are fishing glasses. And that's how they marketed. But people still use them today because they want the, you know, the big C on there, you know, they're on their truck when they go hunting. That's just part of it. Totally. But if you stand around any three gun match, you rimfire match anything where the steels be in shot, you're going to eventually end up a wipe and blood off your face from a frat.  Speaker 5: Yeah, exactly. And when I went to my, when I went to Sherri and I said, this is where I'm wanting to go with this, I really think I've got something. And um, she goes, well, where the hell is our liability? I'm not taking a company. We started back in 1977 and gets screwed up or something. We just coming up with and I was like, oh, well that makes sense. I said, hell no, I'll get back with you. So about two days later, I got back with it. I said, I figured it out. We're gonna do everything. And um, OSHA safety frames and all the lenses. We're going to do an ansi standard 2015 cause most of the cyclins that are out there, only 2000, three, 2010 and we're going to take it all we 2015 and she says, well get me the OSHA certificate and you can go from there.  Speaker 5: And um, about six months later I got everything approved going through a lot, some more trials and this working and not working and paying a lot of money to have a bunch of lenses come back to me and didn't pass and trying to figure out why and put other coatings together and other solutions together to finally get the certificate. And um, we move forward at that point. And that's what informed the original selection of frames. Correct. Is the ocean rating. That's, you know, that's why we have the frames we have, cause they're all Ziad, seven plus one and z 87 plus two for prescriptions. And that's the difference than our frames are. And you should have saw the frames that were out when we first got started. We'd come along on frames because you know, there's no such thing as a sexy safety frame. And now wife to this day still hates these frames as a huddle.  Speaker 5: And the new velocity that we just came out with was another frame style that finally came out that we worked with the manufacturer to get some that were listening to us to try to get some things like we want. And that's kind of where we're at now. And I've got some, still have some frame manufacturers I'm working with up in New York area that are, you know, tried to design more and more stuff. That is, I'm quote unquote getting more of a more photo friendly. Here's your commitment. Those to stay OSHA approved with all of your frames. It is okay. And the reason being is is it's about safety. We're talking about safety, we're talking about protecting the only two eyes you're gonna have period. And you know, do we have some stuff out there? What? You've got one that's not us framing. We have the conversation, it's got the same properties, it's got the same thickness, it's got the same everything. But you've got to remember, I can't put an anti rated frame and a non safety frame. So conversation I have with you, you got the same thing. It just doesn't have the Ansi markings. Correct. It won't, you know, based on what OSHA has put in front of us, it will not, you know, provide the same protection. But conversation is, is this the same thickness as the same everything you know, it should, you know, just don't have the same, you know, Angie ratings on, yeah.  Speaker 3: So does that, does that make it impossible to have a, a lens that has no w you know, sorry I say this better. Does that make it impossible to create an OSHA rated lens that doesn't have any frame around like the bottom half for example?  Speaker 5: Not at all. There's one thing about it, there's not an interchangeable lands out there that is OSHA approved. I got now. Now that was saying that we are working on some things now on a model that's going to roll out if everything still goes as planned in January of 2020 yeah. So we have been, we've got some things in testing. We're still waiting to get some stuff back from, um, the writings. But there is that OSHA approved, you know, rimless frame that we are working on. That's going to be a game changer for almost to get into the shotgun world more. And also to get in a situation where we can deliver what you and all the other shooters you're telling me, you know, hey, what can we do to get nothing at the bottom? What can we do to get nothing, you know, there, so we're working on that.  Speaker 5: Um, that's gonna be a whole different, um, level of taking it to the next level for hunters HD because one of those things that's going to be, you know, we've still got to worry about the, um, the safety, but we're trying to listen very diligently to every, you know, shooter we can to get the feedback. Cause when I do demo days, I do it for two reasons. One is to go out there and use the Lens, you know, I know what they're going to like about it, but I want to, I want to hear more from the shooters that don't like it. Yes. Can I tell them that? Because if this is where I can take the brand in the future, does it mean it's going to happen tomorrow? No, but if I get enough feedback on a certain area, just like we were talking about now with rem lists, then guess what?  Speaker 5: The future is bright. We're going to have a rimless site, the frame going as planned. And when you talk about that then you're talking about different shapes and different things best. Let's make clear, it's not going to be just a one piece frame. We've talked about one piece lands, we talked about that before, that that's an injected molding process and it's all, you know, call the carpet. There's a lot of things there that, you know, we're limited to the blanks of the, of the, of the lands itself at 80 millimeters. You know, it's gonna have to still be two separate lenses, but it's going to be something that is going to be, you know, lighter and uh, keep the same strength as well.  Speaker 3: Well let me, let me dig into this a little bit cause this is like really interesting to me personally. And I, you know, and I don't know if others will enjoy it. And that's not really why I do this. Um, so, so really cool. So like I would say, you know, arguably, well first of all, there's, there's a lot of great conversations and I want to exclude a handful of things to begin with to make life really easy and fair for us to have a conversation. So, um, I let me say this anecdotally, I am standing at Ahrens and arms, which is an awesome gun shop here in town. We sell lots of high end equipment, lots of high end guns. If you want three gun gear, you're probably coming or USPSA gear, you're probably coming to us, right? And they'll, um, I can't tell you how many people are like, like, I mean, just like, uh, obsessing about the details between two or three, $2,000 optics for their rifle.  Speaker 3: And then they tell me that and I asked them what shooting glasses they're wearing and they're spending about $45 over the counter. And I'm like, ew, this doesn't matter. Get the cheapest thing possible. Cause you know, if you're not gonna look through a good lens. So we can, we're excluding everything in the, in the lower cost categories for the most part in this conversation. Right. And I say that because, you know, this is one thing about a hundred days she called. This is not an inexpensive lens, right? That's correct. Yeah. And so this is somebody who's looking for a very high end, very tailored lens specifically for what they're up to. Now you go into rim fire or steel challenge shooters, they're always living with a single focal point with their eyes or sh or directly through the glass and they're making small adjustments, right? They're not having to like calculate targets, you know, 90 degrees to their left in order to see where that's happening before they break a shot and move.  Speaker 3: Right? There's certainly not dealing with what we're dealing with, whether they're looking through the top of their eyes and the bottom of their eyes, depending on the angle up and down, they're dealing with [inaudible] long range rifle shooting. So, um, then we kind of get into like what's out there in the, you know, premium marketplace and really there's only a couple. And I would assume you hear a lot about Oakley in your world, right? Just cause the Oakley's the, um, the painless, you know, there's a lot of ranger arms, there's a lot of Nice stuff. Yeah. And they make two lenses. We specifically see a lot of in our world, which is the flax, which is a two lens interchangeable model. And then the tombstones, they have a couple of versions of the wraith and whatever. Um, and I have a set of the tombstones that I use.  Speaker 3: Those are my primary, if I'm doing lots of shooting on multiple angles at different, you know, targetry and all kinds of stuff, that's one of my go to lenses because it's lightweight wraps around the head and I've got completely unobscured vision anywhere. I might, you know, angle the gun short of like shooting down through my feet, which doesn't happen very often. Oh yeah, it has happened, but it doesn't have ever happened. That's usually a result of some sort of catastrophic mistake. On my part where now the only way that you can engage the target is on my back through my legs. Um, but that's a hasn't happened. It has. Um, and that's, I go to that Lens for that very specific reason. So big terrain matches lots of running, lots of open space. That's something I'm wearing. Um, that's the only other shooting lens that I wear besides the HD Gold's now.  Speaker 3: And, um, and so for me, that's the one thing about these glasses that I, you know, and even with my Oakleys, which are perfect, um, that's the one time that I don't wear them. And that's just because I just don't have the Mo. I mean those, I think the wraith and the, the tombstone line has got arguably the most field of view available without obstruction on the marketplace. So I'm not sure where I'm going with this other than to say like, how are you dealing with that? Um, cause you're, you're convincing three gunners, slowly but surely, I'm starting to see these things show up. Um, you know, obviously it's an objection you're dealing with. What is the conversation like around that?  Speaker 5: Um, take them to trial. Yeah. Really, really tight. Come and try him. Um, cause I, and I've had this conversation with some shooters, I won't mention their name, but because they are very, they do a lot of training and they're very specific in what they do. And I don't want to get involved in some detailed conversations. Yeah. When the, when you try them and you use them and you put yourself in a, and when I, I'll back up 20 seconds, I'll tell you, I'll tell them to take them with them off the stages. Yeah. Well the walk that, you know, they got to 10 minutes so I'll take, take them with the law at this stage. No, I can, when I did a lot of matches, especially three Golytely, they've all been championships. Nobody likes to change gear in the middle of the match. Correct.  Speaker 5: I get that they're already there. They're there to win. They'd been practicing. So take them and try and when you want the stage. And that's my soft approach to saying, put them on, see where the contrast is and when you walked the stages, you know, walk and see exactly what's happening when you move your head with these lenses. Um, come to find out with the new velocity that we have, um, that we just came out with in January for USPSA Ayers gives a lot wider view than people imagine with a smaller lands. And that's a little bit more wrap on it. But  Speaker 1: yeah,  Speaker 5: people are finding out, you know, when they, when they see me at the [inaudible] that can put them on, they're like, well I can see this. I can see that. Well of course you're not engaged in high heart rate, high situation, the timer's not going off and your focus is not where it needs to be, which is through your optics, where your sides, um, when this happens for lack of a better vision, for lack of better words, tunnel vision and your direct focus has taken over. Yup. You don't notice anything but what you're looking at and what's your end game? 100% I call alligator brain. There, there is transition period where you have to cut your eyes and be ready for the next target. But it doesn't really affect that either. On some of the frame styles we have, there are some, we had their closed off and that's, you know, it's not good.  Speaker 5: But I always tell people, you know, we have the discussion when I go to these matches, you know, they say, well, what's the difference? I was so, all the lenses are the exact same. So the only differences yet and what we're looking for in a frame, they pick this up. I'm like going, that's not gonna work. Try this one. And I'll put them in. I push towards the gauge, the aviator, um, for the, for the 70s, you know, look, or the either the velocity because I know the rat allows a lot more. Yes, you can get it. I have fun with all these, you know, [inaudible] it doesn't bother me when people say, well, I look like a, you know, an old, you know, seventies, you know, you know, porn star, it doesn't bother me. You know, it's not my fault. They have a mustache. That's right.  Speaker 5: But oh wait, we have a lot of fun with it. But truth be told, it's once we get past the vanity, which is not easy to do. I want, I want people to focus on the lens. And when people try and when they go out and use them, they're like, you know, they come back going, well I didn't notice any of the sides. You know, I don't want to look at somebody and say, well you're not gonna notice that when you shoot, cause I don't shoot myself. I just know based on what the eyeball does, I don't want to get in people's, you know, I not tell them what they're gonna say or how they're going to see it go track theirself. And I guess getting back to the answer, your question specifically is just go demo it for yourself. Go try it. Um, does it work every time?  Speaker 5: No, but I get the feedback I need where I can take it to the next level. And, um, when, you know, like I said, what's going to happen come January is going to be, you know, a lot of people coming back around and saying it's time for me to try it again. Well that's really good. So let's transition just a little bit. I mean the one thing I've really noticed cause I, I did a little dive on like the overall like um, know like I would for any company that solicited my business, the marketing firm, right. This is just do a little dive in like what, where you are, where you're out there in the digital space and all that. And you know, I mean you have a decent presence on several sites but I mean the main thing that you've seem to be doing is you're out there every weekend at the match, putting the glasses in people's hands.  Speaker 5: Is that the last year primary strategy for the company? It's, it's one of those things where when I talk to Sherry about it, I said I've got to go educate people on lenses and technology. You can't do that. You can, but nobody's going to just take the time to go to the benefits page 160 and go and study that. I mean, it's there, everything's there. But to be able to actually talk to somebody about it and actually say, well, why is it doing this compared to this? And I get to talk about the technology to people and educate when I go to these matches. I'm not, you know, this sounds crazy. I've been in, I've been in sales my whole life. I'm not there to just sale. I'm there to educate and build relationships. Yup. That's what it's all about. I've been doing, you know, I have so many people don't have some people walk up that are in sales saying, why didn't you ask for the order?  Speaker 5: I'm like going, they're not ready to buy yet. They're going to let you know. I can get, don't get me wrong, I can sell it better. I've been doing it all my life, but I go out there and I start selling and promoting and putting somebody in a position where they're going to go home and go, what the hell did I just buy? Right? Then you have buyer's remorse that for sure in the social media world that we live in today, you know, that can kill your writings real quick. You don't want that. And that's one reason why when I do demo days, there truly is no pressure. My job is to educate, let people experience it. And even on the prescription side, I actually make your prescription before you buy it and you get to demo with your prescription as well. There's nobody ever heard of this before, and my wife goes, you've lost your mind. I've got doctors that don't pay their bill. I said, you don't these shooters, myself being a shooter when I got started. Yep. The, we're different and we're not going to be known as that individually. We're not gonna be known as that guy or that person that didn't pay for something. And especially Zuni world. It's a very, it's a, it's an amazingly huge shooting world, but it's a small world when it comes to somebody doing something or not supposed to do  Speaker 3: blows me away. I, it's one thing, I mean obviously you've gotten to know a lot of shooters now and you've, you've come to a conclusion that um, that many do. I mean, I take a, I'm like the only game in Minnesota that'll take a credit card for a matching and I don't ask people to sign, which is obviously a, a liability from a business standpoint. Never even crossed my mind. I'm like, we don't, we don't  Speaker 5: either. It's just one of those things that, you know, I always have people ask me all the time, you know, especially I get a lot of emails and everybody goes, what's the warrant? I'm like going, well, what it a warranty warranty? A warranty is nothing but a state of mind. Correct? Correct. Okay. I've sold extended warranties to all the places I worked. I've sold warranties, I've sold, I've sold people a state of mind. And the reason being that there's no actual warranty listed on the website is because warranties don't have to really be curated until somebody take it takes advantage of something. Now let me tell you what I mean by that. My philosophy, when somebody catches a frag or something happens, they contact me. I'm just gonna replace the Lens. Yep. No questions asked. Um, if somebody sends me a pair of glasses that have had, um, I can, I can we say lenses every day by our doctors that returned stuff for warranty.  Speaker 5: It's where the manufacturer, we are the warranty. We handle everything. Yep. So seeing lenses come every day, I can tell when a lens has been abused. You know what I mean by abused is leaving it just on the dash your car in extreme heat, um, cleaning it, um, and causing scratches because of clean. Um, we see everything and that people try to put my people a lot smarter than me in the lab here. You know, we know how to identify things. So when I talk to people about, you know, cleaning, you know it with, they come with cleaning instructions, like they come with a, they come a z clear, which is a cleaner, an atoll fogging agent, you know that, you know, we try to do anti fogging in house. I have all the tools to do it in the house, but there's another heating and cooling process that causes us to fail Ansi standards.  Speaker 5: So we had to find an outside source and I met up with um, Chris Ward who owns z clear and then that's why we package everything and hunter's HD go. Was he clear? There are specific things we put in place with every part of the process to be able to try to overcome the objections before they become objections. And I've had people that have brought me lenses before saying I've got this stuff in here. I can't get it off the lens. Am I going? Yeah, this is where pretty much you cleaned your lenses with your jersey, where your shirt, which is the worst thing to do because every bit of dust and dirt that's on that Jersey is going to get in there. And that's what scratches and this, it's when you're using that, I'll talk to them. I say, well take them back. I'm still replace them for weed because I'm here to, I mean I'm not here to sell another pair of lenses every time someone has a problem or I'm here to, you know, build customers for life.  Speaker 5: So I'll tell them, you know, well next time before you clean your lenses, take whatever liquid you have, be it, um, water, kool-aid and Gatorade poured on lenses cause there's a hydrophobic top coat that's not gonna allow anything to stick to them. Then clean them with the stuff that we provided. And then, you know, here's a new, you know, here's your, here's a set of lenses and replaced no charge. If this happens again, I'm gonna charge you $2,000. So it's just, you know, cause we've had, you know, it's all a part of training happens. Um, so, you know, we, I have fun and I'm not just dealing with, you know, if somebody has a problem, it's just not a customer. I said it's a person. I've met some person I've come to know and we have, we have a real life conversation just like we just had, you know, she's like, this is, this is how you, how you can overcome this in the future.  Speaker 5: Don't do that. It's so clear. Cause I see you out there and there's just, there's always a line of people to come talk to you and check them out and figure it out. And part of that is, I also have been, I don't know if you're still doing this, but at least the last season you were doing like a custom set of glasses for each, for each. Yes. I still, I still do that. Getting Ready to, you know, not when I'm sure this podcast is going to be produced, I mean published, but I'll be somewhere else this weekend with another custom pair everywhere I go. And um, that's, that's part of the fun because it does two things. One, it brings people to the tent to see what I've got. Cause I don't ever release any pictures of it until the day of. So people want to come see what I've put together and I gathered their email address for any kind of, you know, a future marketing's or any new product releases.  Speaker 5: What's a good way to, you know, the catcher that on the business side, I'm always have people all the time ask me, you know what, they email me all the time. I said, I don't have time that, you know, so you may get an email once or twice a year about product, you know, a new product update or something that's happening in the, in the, in the honey hundreds HD gold world. But, um, those are mine to keep and I'm not going to sell in anybody. So, um, I've had people ask me in the industry, you know, hey, can I get, you know, have some email addresses for this and this? And I'm like, no, I can't do that. Just like the, when I became part of the USPSA I talked to them and I said, do y'all have an emails out there that can market to, and it's actually in their bylaws, the answer's no, which is fine.  Speaker 5: So I still had to create a way to, you know, build my own list and um, my list I feel in some cases is better than their list because um, if they're not at the award ceremony, the only way I'm going to contact and let them know is through email cause I'm not collecting phone numbers or anything else. So they, they're, you know, they're inclined to give you their correct email address. So when I do have time to send out an email about a product release or what we're doing on youtube or whatever we're doing, um, which has happened, not all think, but once this year when our first time I contest the beginning of the year that lasted out the entire year, they actually emailed everybody. And when are, when I sent out that email, I had a pretty high, I mean, think my open rate was like 80 something percent. So that's pretty high based on talking to other people that are only getting 20 or 30% of their open rates. So kidding. When I email somebody, it's like, hey, you know, it's not very often and you know, we all get those emails two or three times a day from the same company and we, you know, they just become like, I just need to go away. They just see everything and you stuff  Speaker 3: that's a real markable number. Right? That's like, I mean, when we were marketing my mom, uh, my family's been residential real estate for a very, very long time and she was very early on in the email marketing and when we were sending out emails, you know, like 2005 to 10, somewhere in there, 70 to 90% open rate was like pretty awesome. Right? Uh, but now 70 90% is like three x. They did not it. Like I told you, when I go meet all these people, what am I doing? I'm, I'm making friends, I'm building relationships. How many times you open an email from your friend [inaudible] it's all about building that relationship. Well, the other thing too is, I mean, I don't know if you're aware of this, but like I, you know, if you went to American Express and you asked them for email addresses that were as fine tuned as humanly possible to get, um, to get like the right client, right?  Speaker 3: You'd pay like five to $10 per email address. Wow. And that's nothing compared to how refined they are when they opt in directly to your company. Right. So when I tell my clients, for example, is like on your website, wherever you're at, consider that every time someone gives you an email address, it's like they handed you a $5 bill and that's on the bottom of the value of it, right? And you start looking at these assets. I mean, we've got companies that have 10, 12,000 email addresses. I mean, that's a 50 or $60,000 minimum asset that people have built up over time. Um, you know, look, I mean you're not in a position where tomorrow going to come along  Speaker 5: and say you can't market anymore on Facebook because you're a, you know, you're in the protective. Oh really? Some of the tags I've done, I've had some stuff taken down before. Just people shooting competitively based on maybe a Hashtag. I don't know what it was, but they said it was something I promote. Um, firearms or something I liked going and actually challenged it. I'd actually challenged it one time when I tried to boost a post that was um, nothing but the um, it was a youtube page when I looked at that. When I do now, I go around and I, when I'm doing everything, when everybody is shooting, I'm just sitting in a tent. Yeah. I have chosen to go out there and get videos of people shooting and capture like you to use your words that I heard you use a year ago. They're Disney world moment.  Speaker 5: Yeah. And I took that from you, kind of go capture, I take videos of people and at the end of the end of that day, I go put on a youtube page for free. I'm not making money off of Youtube. They're there for them to download their self. Yup. It's a way, you know, to do, you know, promote that. But when I promoted at one time on the 160 go youtube page, they shut it down. And based on my, um, promoting the sh, promoting ammunition and stuff like that, it was weird. So I counteract it and came back and said, I'm promoting safety prescription. I'm promotion to safety, protective eyewear, just like the list that eight other companies that were same thing. And it came back. And finally, you know, I, I won, I won my, uh, you know, I've had my problems too. Robin had the same problems over the hour.  Speaker 5: But when I, you know, I'm very careful on what my hashtags are now. I can't put certain hashtags on there when I want to boost something. But it's one of those things that, um, I'm waiting for the day and I'm always out there looking for something that is, we're not being shadow banned. We're not being, you know, I can go type in, you know, looking for certain companies out there and I actually have to type in the company. Exactly right. Or it doesn't even pull up anymore. He used to get tight, hey, and there's angle lamination and all these other companies at Chi, everybody's right there now. It's like you type I and it's like, nope, nope. You have to type them specifically what they are to get them to pull up now. Yeah. Is that the answer? Is that the way they're doing it now? I guarantee you that's what they're wanting to happen. It could be. It could be either. So my philosophy on all this stuff is I don't get romantic about any of it. I just look. The fact is, is if I had a new company tomorrow that sold guns and I could get away with two months of Facebook advertising before they shut me down, I do it in a second. Um, it was earlier this year actually, that for whatever reason, because we run tests pretty much monthly. Yeah. On Google, on Facebook and places like that.  Speaker 3: Or I just, I've got a couple of hundred bucks this kind of rolling all the time to see if I can get ads through and Google all of a sudden just all my gun ads got through. So we just quintupled down on that for like, I don't know, three or four months. Then all of a sudden we started getting disapproved, disapproved, fine, whatever. I made like 300 grand in the process. I'm not for the companies that I, so I'm just, I just don't get romantic about it. Cause the truth is, is that's just what, where we're at. What we're dealing with and still today, Facebook is, is one of the great arbitragers for your dollar in advertising. And, um, the one thing I'll tell you though is you can get a f an advocate at Facebook. So you've, if you got a couple of ads that have been knocked down, you can apply for an advocate.  Speaker 3: And once you have an advocate, if you're a proven product, they go through and do all the research and you guys aren't selling anything. What you want to make sure is there's no, like there's no, you know, like right now, uh, if I go to your page, I'm at a hunter's ht gold and I go to your, uh, ba Ba ba Ba ba. I was at your testimonials where, yeah, you've got your gold team partners and I can link right to a Chi, for example. And he sells guns. So what you might want to do there is if you were to, it's like one degree of separation you've got to put in place, right? So you could create a page for your website, for each of your, where you give it, like, uh, so the click through goes for a Chi, goes to a page on your site that has what you think of, you know, stuff about a Chi.  Speaker 3: And then there they can click over and go to your, um, to their page instead of having just directly to the correct. And if you do that and the advocate clears all that, then you probably will be okay. And you can run ads all day long and you can still do what you want to do, which is promote your, you these companies, right? And so, um, and you get that in place. Uh, you know, there's some like kayaks holster companies, technically holsters or not banned on Facebook, but try to get an ad out on a, on a holster. It's like fricking impossible. So you got to go through the process and get an advocate and go through the whole thing. And the problem is most holster companies spend a lot of time promoting guns and they don't realize they're doing it. And all they have to do is just do a little clean up and get their house in order. Now look, I don't want it to be that way. Right? But who gives a damn what I want. No, my job is to make money for my and see. Right?  Speaker 3: So, so, you know, and I, I just don't get too romantic about it. And the thing is, if, you know, my competition out there is going to be upset about it all day long and just not pay for advertising on Facebook, they're welcome to do that. But the truth is, is I'm gonna win right at the bottom line. And so I just don't. So are they shadow banning? Probably. Are they making life more difficult for us? Probably, but I don't spend any time thinking about it. Right. You know, and do I want to give my money to a company like that? No. But the truth is, most of the companies I work for are well south of $10 million a year. So, even if you had a $10 million company, your ad budget being 1%, it's gonna be, you know, that's a hundred grand, right? Right. If your ad budgets 3% is $300,000, tell me where you can buy that kind of exposure for 300 grand.  Speaker 3: And I'll do it. It's certainly not the backpage at USPSA front sight magazine. That's correct. So that's where I started to, you know, I start to look and I'm like, well, in the, in the big cost benefit analysis of marketing, um, I just bet ponies and I'll bet whatever pony is gonna win the best of my ability. If I have an option between a winning pony and another winning pony that doesn't, you know, um, put us in third gear all the time. Um, then I'm going to, I'm going to pay for the one that's open throttle. Right? But, but at the same time they don't exist. Right. So it's interesting. Okay. So, look, we covered a lot of stuff and I got a couple of things I just got to ask you because one thing we do a lot on this show is, um, is we talk about how we get our business done and you are traveling like basically every weekend, nine months of the year from what I can tell. What's your, what's your like, what's your key, like what do you like, what are your go to things to like, you know, keep your life in order to keep your business in order. Any tips or tricks, you got hacks we like to call them. Um, it is to, um, one, stay real with yourself. Really good.  Speaker 5: And that's what I mean by that is not just with business but with, with home and everything else with life. Um, Sherry is, um, very, very supportive and everything I'm doing, I

On my recent vacation I started writing a book on getting started in 3 Gun. I really want to highlight as much of the community as I can. Please email me: Pictures of life at matches / practice Great 3 Gun Quotes Short stories about 3 gun Here are a couple paragraphs from the intro to the new book (unedited). After 2 or 3 matches I remember standing by a couple 50 gallon barrels and eves-dropping on a conversation between Jay Schmitt and Jomar Villamor. Jay and Jomar along with Chris Cazin run the MN3GUNGROUP here in Minnesota which puts on the weekend matches in town and host the previously aforementioned Nordic / Vortex Tri-gun. They were talking about the 3 Gun match coming up. I just remember saying to myself if 1 gun is fun 3 must be ridiculous. Back to the net I searched 3 Gun and was rewarded with videos from Stag Arms Team Members Jesse Tischauser and Kalani Laker. Either for lack of fear or brains I went back to shop with the chicken wire on the windows and the stale cigarette smell to consult with “The Wizard”. I walked out of the shop 72 hours later (delayed) with a Mossberg Mariner pump shogun and a shiny new Sig Sauer M400 AR15 with not 1 but 2 30 round magazines (I was learning) and a Barska Red Dot Sight. I got back on Unholstered.comand ordered an AR Mag Pouch and anAP Custom4x4 Traditional Load shotshell carrier. Match day came and, again, I had no idea what to expect. I knew how to not get DQ,ed that first experience would come years later, and that’s about it. I went to an indoor range before the match and shot 50 rounds through the shotgun just to see how it worked and sighted in the rifle at 25 yards (longest range available) just to see how it worked. This is where my partner at Hawkeye Ordnance makes his first appearance. At the safety briefing before the match Lucas Webster (USPSA Grandmaster, Holmen, WI 3 Gun Match Director and all around great dude) asked if anyone was “new”. I revised my hand and the Viking standing next to me said “your with me”. Now, you’d shou8ld know that Blair is one of the best people I know but he is 6 something, bald headed with a biker beard and 100% Norwegian. He literally looks like he is either going to rape or pillage you. After some basic introductions we started the stage and I was hooked from the buzzer. I knew for sure this was what I would be doing with all my free time from here on out regardless of the cost in time and treasure. Over the next several seasons a lot changed which I am not going to go into in detail. This book is about getting started. There are far better shooters and resources than me to take it to the next level many of which are included in theResourcechapter. Use them! What is important to know is I played as much as I could, started going to major matches, progressing up the ranks, producing content, reviewing gear, being sponsored and generally emerging myself in the culture of 3 Gun. I made so many costly mistakes in gear, made several less than ideal decisions around training and tried sponsorship; and I shared all of it with the YouTube and Facebook community. Ultimately, I sold my previous business and started our marketing firm Hawkeye Syndicate, which specializes in marketing companies in the competition shooting space, and later Hawkeye Ignite which promotes matches in Minnesota. My mission is to raise the quality and quantity of great content in the firearms community and make action shooting accessible to everyone. The following chapters are written in the spirit of my mission and with the sincere hope that you will get off the couch and join us in the dirt!    Welcome to the Sickness!

Cameras and Gear for filming 3 gun and creating influencer content   You can find all the gear we recommend on our Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/shop/hawkeyeordnance3gun   Stick with your smartphone at least at the beginning. You can do a ton with a smart phone and basic editing software.   Upgrade 1: Filmic Pro Mobile for iPhone and Android gives you a lot more control of the quality of picture, focus, compression, etc. It gives you zebra stripes for exposure and edge highlighting for focus. $14.99   Upgrade 2: Small table top tripod / Large Tripod $20 - $200 Look at Sunpak or Manfroto   Upgrade 3: Rode VideoMicro $50-60 with the dead cat and all the cables you need for mobile or a DSLR Option: Samson GoMic $200 lavmic   Upgrade 4: Osmo Mobile 2 $120-130   1080 vs 4K from Filmora.com: There are a number of reasons why 4K has pulled clearly ahead of 1080P in terms of picture quality. These reasons focus mainly on factors surrounding the way it is able to resolve extra fine detail, being able to see this detail when seated closer than ever to the screen, and from a production point of view, the ability to scale down the recording to regular HD and other formats while retaining the high contrast, highly detailed quality of the original (particularly when viewed up close). The top three reasons that 4K video trumps 1080P are: Detail, Closer viewing, Scaling   Upgrade to DSLR or Video Camera   Highly recommend a comcorder for ease and cost. Sony has some awesome cameras for all price ranges we particularly like the AX53 $800-1000 * 4K Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) recording of more subtle detail and color * Balanced Optical SteadyShot™ with Intelligent Active mode * 1.05 inch ZEISS Vario-Sonnar® T* lens with optical 20x zoom range   DSLR will give the very best video quality but requires the most work We love the Panasonic G85 $600-700 with a basic stabilized lens and G5 $1400 body only. Expect $300-whatever for a lens.   Other considerations and gear:   Batteries Storage, on camera Storage, off camera Processing requirements for editing More Microphones Rode Pro Editing software Inexpensive: iMovie free for mac Adobe Elements $70 one time Top of the line: Adobe Premier $20 per month and Final Cut Pro $300 one time  Mobile: iMovie, android adobe has an option google best video editor android and read..   Lewis Bisono, 3 Gunner, Short Bio: I did not grow up around guns as I was raised in an anti gun household. I started shooting in 2010, about 2012 I started shooting bowling pins and steel plate matches. I wanted more action, found 3gun around 2013.    So I’m very particular when it comes to video content. In the early days when Instagram was only 15 seconds I jumped in and started creating small comedy videos which can still be seen on my other page @lewis_kankoo. It’s been prob 5 years since I filmed a comedy skit and mainly got out of it because I felt like the market was getting saturated with garbage content that wasn’t funny. On top of that people started paying for subscribers and I wanted to organically grown my own audience without having to buy fake followers. Then I really started getting into shooting so that page kind of died off but I still leave it up because a lot of people enjoy the old ones. Heres a quick example:   https://www.instagram.com/p/mgSPNvmwXtOeN5yHJv9KLqwdKZb28F44Fsu6s0/?igshid=aekeo8bhb32x   Those were the good old days. All done on my iPhone 4 lol. My current goals would be to share what I’m learning and seeing everyday with my audience. I think the #1 thing that makes phone videos kind of blah is the audio. I tend to watch much longer when something  is recorded with a mic versus someone recording how to’s as they hold their phone. I’d like to start a YouTube channel for videos that are longer etc. plus it would be cool to get some badass stage videos.      

In this episode I speak with new 3 Gunner Chad Swartout who took on the first 1000 challenge and knocked it out in a matter of months. We discuss: Instagram Facebook Youtube Social Media Privacy Hashtag Strategies and more... Links: Download the first 1000 Document Schedule an interview Hashtag Generator Check out all my recommendations at the new AMAZON STORE  

Dave Hartman is at the heart of 3 Gun with his podcast the 3 Gun Show. In this weeks episode we talk about the evolution of the 3 Gun Show, the sport of 3 Gun, Dave's process for producing the show, monetizing content and much, much more.

References: Bulletproof Workout Plan: https://blog.bulletproof.com/bulletproof-body-workout-plan/ Ben Greenfield Fitness: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/

Hive Recommendations: https://www.amazon.com/shop/hawkeyeordnance3gun   Ari Meisel has turned his hobby--optimizing productivity--into a popular framework and consulting service for automating and outsourcing life's tasks. Ari now has several companies including one that I use daily called Get Leverage. You can find out more about them if you are interested here: https://getleverage.com/ mention my name as the referrer and get a $50 credit. Optimize: Seriously, you have probably been doing the same several tasks day in and day out and don’t realize how much time you are wasting.    Automate: There are several ways you can accomplish this with tech. From autoresponders to bots, or even slick automations using a company called Zapier.  Feedly to airtable Geofencing with phone for door, lights, thermostat saving images from emails to a drive Notifying someone to do something when you upload a document or make a change   Outsource: Once you have everything optimized and automated that can be optimized and automated start looking at outsourcing.   There are several companies that handle this and I pretty locked in with GetLeverage because of their marketing support capabilities. I lean on them when we are busy with large projects. They handle my book keeping, Admin, scheduling and we are currently transitioning them to take over the editing and distribution of the podcast, some video and other personal branding task.   Don’t forget to mention me at GetLeverage and a $50 credit for work!

This week on the #syndicast we are talking with Dustin Sanchez - Heavy Shooter, Influencer, Marketing {title} for JP Rifles, and now a marketing partner for the Nordic / Vortex Tri-Gun.   Welcome brother! We have been trying to get this done for a while…   Heavy Shooter:  How did you get started in action shooting? Multigun? What is the fascination with Heavy?   Lets talk a bit about your influencer journey. It is similar to mine. Some up front and a lot behind the scenes.    Personal IG : 1000 Personal FB : 900 JP IG : 27.4K JPFB : 21k   Sponsorship:  When did you first start repping companies? Paid or unpaid? Who are you working with now? We have had some offline conversations and I think you and I are headed in a similar direction. What is your plan for this season?   “Follow my shit!"   JP Rifles:  How did you get started at JP? Wen did you move from the assembly line to marketing? Was it mostly photography? Last year you got thrown head first into taking on JP’s sponsorship and more marketing. What has that been like for you? I love JP but, I wouldn’t consider them an open book until recently. It has been fun to watch them bust out of their cocoon. What has been your role in that? What have you learned? For more info on JP Sponsorship: dustin.sanchez@jprifles.com   Nordic Vortex Tri-Gun From the outside it looks like after the 2017 Nordic Vortex Tri-gun the MN3GG realized that they needed to make a change in how they delivered value to their sponsors. Did they come to you right away? What was your strategy last year? What can we expect this season?

Breathing is Define woo :   Option 1 : BOX Breathing : The most normal practice : Free   The following technique is recommended by neurohacker Mark Divine. A retired Navy SEAL Commander, Mark now runs SEALFIT in Encinitas, California, which is a program to develop elite level physical fitness and mental toughness. He calls this breath control practice ‘Box Breathing,’ and cites it as his secret weapon for creating a balanced, energized state, and a calm, focused mind. Here’s how you do it:   The Basics: * On the inhale, expand the belly, then the diaphragm, then the upper chest. On the exhale, let the breath go first from the upper chest, then the ribcage, then the belly. This helps you relearn how to breathe deeply. * Inhale and exhale solely through the nose. It stimulates the nerves that activate the parasympathetic nervous system and counters the fear response of the sympathetic nervous system.     Steps: * Inhale for a count of 5. * Retain and hold the breath for a count of 5. * Exhale all the breath from the lungs for a count of 5. * Retain and hold the breath for a count of 5. * Repeat. Length: Start with 1-3 minute “spot drills” several times a day before an important meeting or event. Work up to 5-10 minutes a day. ___________________________________________ Option 2: Wim Hoff Method : A little more woo : Free to $200   Breathing exercises are an important part of the Wim Hof Method. The other 2 methods are cold therapy and mental Training This infamous and powerful method enabled ‘Iceman’ Wim Hof to achieve extraordinary things like climbing Mount Everest in his shorts and running barefoot in the snow for extended periods of time. WHM is like, Tummo and Pranayama, a type of breathwork, but has his own particular features. The WHM breathing exercise will help you gain control over your body and mind, and ultimately help you to influence your nervous system and immune system. As Wim puts it, his method is based on ‘cold hard nature’ and helps you battle forces like cold, heat, and stress.   These breathing exercises are only one of three pillars that form the Wim Hof Method. The other two pillars are cold therapy and training your mindset. When combined, the three pillars will help you to become stronger and gaining better health. Known benefits of the Wim Hof Method include:   * Stress reduction * Faster recovery from physical exertion * Better sleep * Improved sports performance * Enhanced creativity * More focus and mental clarity   The Wim Hof Method is also linked to reducing symptoms of diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, asthma, sarcoidosis, vasculitis, and several autoimmune diseases.   Steps: *Get comfortable Find a comfortable place to do your breathing exercises where you won’t be disturbed. You can sit or lie on your back, but do not do this exercise whilst driving or standing up. *Do 30-40 power breaths Once you’re comfortable, you can start to breathe in and out 30 times. This is essentially deep breathing at a steady pace in and out through the mouth. Inhale fully but don’t exhale all the way out. As you inhale you should feel your belly rise and on the exhale, you should feel your belly fall. It may feel a bit like you are hyperventilating, but you are in control. Like me, you may also feel a tingling or lightheaded sensation throughout your whole body, when you do this for the first time. This is perfectly normal. * Hold your breath After doing 30-40 Wim Hof power breaths, empty your lungs of air and retain the breath for as long as you can without force. During the retention, I found it relaxing to close my eyes and focus on the space between my eyes. Just remember to set a stopwatch if you’re interested in recording your results. You might want to see how you progress with the breath retentions if you plan to do this regularly over a set period of time. *Breathe in for 10 seconds After the breath retention, take a deep breath in and hold it for a further 10-15 seconds, before exhaling. *Repeat steps 1-4 Repeat the whole process for another three rounds. Remember to record your times down, so you can track your progression. ___________________________________________ Option 3: Soma Breathwork : Very Woo : $179 WEEK 1 Initiation Phase Guided 20 minute breathwork meditation in downloadable audio format prepares you for the deeper practices.   WEEK 2 Awakening Phase 40 minute guided audio breathwork meditation awakens your ‘inner pharmacy’ strengthening, healing and nourishing your body with vital oxygen while giving you the therapeutic benefits of intermittent hypoxia.   WEEK 3 SOMA Phase 60 minute guided audio breathwork meditation releases the ‘Soma’ molecule from within giving you bliss, connection and the peak human experience.  

During the summer of 2018 I got to spend a bunch of Time with Brian Conley form Hunters HD Gold. I fell in love with the lenses for shooting, driving and the health benefits from an all day blue blocking lens. These glasses rock! I do still have a bone to pick about the frames. Basically, they don't make one that I like. Not a problem. Hunters HD Gold will put a set of their lenses in a pair of frames that you do like. Check out the pic to see my custom Ray Bans! More info: https://huntershdgold.com/ Styles: https://huntershdgold.com/products

Welcome to the HIVE5. On this episode we are talking about how to start dealing with your diet in a meaningful and lasting way starting with a question. How good could it get?   I got clean and sober 9 years ago. I was a full blown opiate addict - sadly not the first time - God willing the last. At that time I was down to about 150 pounds, my ideal weight is 175. My body was a mess… In treatment I packed on 20 pounds of fat which, at the time, was necessary. I was malnourished and my body was a total mess. For the next couple years I was incredibly focused on habilitation - like, I needed to earn how to live. Rehabilitation would come later. After a couple years of pounding out meetings and rebuilding my business I was looking for something to do so I bought a pistol which led me to 3 Gun and ultimately I got really curious about performance. If I could do it all over again I would start with:   Sleep: Check out HIVE2 http://hawkeyesyndicate.com/hive2-hack-your-sleep/ Diet: Which will talk about today  Fitness: The final piece not the first    Let me first say the I have tried nearly everything. At first I used what I learned from the body building community. At the time this was all I could find. The body builders have a lot of on the court evidence for what they believe and they are very good at building muscle. I don’t discount this today I just am not that interested in picking on a ton of muscle weight. Today I am pretty clear that there is not a one for all diet. In fact there are probably about 7 billion perfect diets on the planet - 1 for every human being and I would urge you to start where you are at, stop thinking about it as a diet and start thinking about it from the statement “how good could it get?"   So, how good could it get? I am not a fan of huge sweeping changes. I am for taking small steps and then asking the question again. How good could it get?   Step 1 - Beginners : Start by eliminating or decreasing the biggest offenders.  Processed foods: Soda diet and other wise, energy drinks, fast foods, microwaveable meals (I don’t care how good they say they are), candy, and any foods containing sweetners derived from corn or a lab. They go by several names: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Dextrose, Maltodextrin, Sucralose and a whole bunch of other nasties that are highly addictive. Pop, snack foods, fast food, candy and other mouth fun is designed to be addictive. It will take a little while for the cravings to go away but it is totally worth it. hang in there for 30 days. Do not restrict calories or do anything else for a month. Just get this crap out of your system and see how you look and feel.   Note on Alcohol: This is another big offender. If you have a problem deal with it. If you don’t but like to drink reduce your intake for 30 days in step 1.   Now look… how do you look and feel? Ask yourself again. How good could it get?   Step 2: Look at the next big offenders and replace them The main thing in step 2 is to start shopping from the perimeter of the grocery store as much as possible. This is where you will find fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh meats, small batch breads, dairy, eggs, yogurt, etc. Start reading labels on multi-ingredient items, and then start dealing with the next level offenders for inflammation and glycemic variability.   Glycemic Variability: glycemic variability basically refers to how much your blood sugar bounces up and down. Think Sugar buzz vs. being Hangry. Ref: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4543190/   Continue reducing sugar in your diet and increasing activity after meals   Inflammation: Inflammation in the body is a normal and healthy response to injury or attack by germs. We can see it, feel it and measure it as local heat, redness, swelling, and pain. This is the body’s way of getting more nourishment and more immune activity into an area that needs to fend off infection or heal. But inflammation isn’t always helpful. It also has great destructive potential, which we see when the immune system mistakenly targets the body’s own tissues in (autoimmune) diseases like type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Whole-body inflammation refers to chronic, imperceptible, low-level inflammation. Mounting evidence suggests that over time this kind of inflammation sets the foundation for many serious, age-related diseases.   Ref: https://www.drweil.com/diet-nutrition/anti-inflammatory-diet-pyramid/reducing-whole-body-inflammation/ Deep fried foods Excessive alcohol Sugars Processed meats Vegetable oils Dairy products Breads and pastas Processed corn   Now, most of you are probably thinking, holy shit!, that is all I eat. I got it. Don’t try to scale this mountain all at once. Look where you can make reductions slowly and track the difference it makes. Some people are good to go on breads and dairy so start with reducing or cutting our fried food, reducing alcohol intake and replacing vegetable oils with Olive oil, Avocado Oil and Coconut Oil for 30 days. See how you feel and then ask the question. How good could it get?    The next step is really dialing in your diet for what you want to accomplish but I submit that you can’t get there from where most of you are. You might for a short while but it won’t last or even worse, you might set yourself further from your goals. Here is my invitation. Look at where you are at and get started. If you are already through step 2 there will be other podcasts in the future or find someone way smarter than I am at all of this to figure out what’s next on your own. If you are a mess, like I was 9 years ago, do step 1 - if step 2 makes more sense jump in right there. Remember, you fucked up your diet over a long period of time and, while you can undo a lot of that in short order, lasting change comes slowly. Have an awesome weekend and feel free to message me at mark@hawkeyesyndicate.com if you have questions or comments.              

Bohb Blair's Bio As the Global Chief Experience Officer, Bohb Blair’s passion lies at the intersection of technology and ideas, where next-generation strategy and design combine to create experiences that meaningfully connect consumers to our clients’ brands. He is a deeply creative mind and conceptual thinker who most recently served as lead for the Starcom USA Experience Design practice. He has won multiple Cannes Lions for transformative global-to-local work, including Airbnb’s “Night At” platform that transformed unexpected locations into real listings for +32% awareness and +14% consideration. What you need to know is this. Bohb is one of the top minds in alternative marketing and you should listen to every word of this show if you are serious about being an influencer in 2019.

Welcome to the HIVE4. On this episode we are talking email and hands down the most impactful and consistent business hack I use   I get somewhere between 200 and 300 emails a day better than half of it is crap. The remainder is mostly from companies that I have engaged to get blogs, updates, etc. Some of these include Tim Ferris, Seth Godin, Gary Vee, The MFCEO Project, Leverage and Michael Hyatt. I also get a ton of stuff from cool companies I like. The last and smallest bit is direct communication for works, kids, church, AA etc. I break the important emails down even further and, for me, they fall into 3 categories.    It doesn’t need to be dealt with It doesn’t need to be dealt with NOW It needs to be dealt with NOW   This is important to get - I have a clear hierarchy for emails that I don’t have to think about. You may want to have fewer or more categories and create rules for them but I think the aforementioned gives you a good start.   Next, each category elicits a specific Action:   It doesn’t need to be dealt with - ARCHIVE OR DELETE It doesn’t need to be dealt with NOW - SCHEDULE IT Put the time to deal with it in my scheduler Use the email scheduler feature  It needs to be dealt with NOW and I can and will do it NOW - RESPOND AND ARCHIVE   The goal is to reach INBOX ZERO - I know some of you just looked at your phone and there is a 1572 in a red notifications box hovering over your mail client and this seems impossible. So how do you get to INBOX ZERO to start with - it depends   Archive anything older than 90 days - trust me, if you haven’t used it by now, you are not going to and if you use the archive function instead of deleting it you will still be able to search for it. Flip through the last 90 days and see if there are groups of emails that you always want to deal with at the same time. I have all my blog articles hit my inbox Saturday morning and I read through them all at one 1 time per week. This will batch a bunch of the remainder for when you can regularly deal with them. Archive everything that fits this along the way and in the process solve for a bunch of email in the future. This is also a good time to unsubscribe from emails you don’t need or want. Setup a rule or Use the auto scheduling feature in your mail client Also consider just forwarding certain emails by rule to someone else to handle   Apply the specific actions of ARCHIVE, SCHEDULE or RESPOND to the remaining messages and you will be at INBOX ZERO. You will need to tweak your rules the first month or so - if you stick to it you will find that you are only dealing with the most important email when you check your inbox. In a later podcast we will be going over daily routines. With the system above most people will only need to check your messages a couple times a day.   If you want more information about INBOX Zero check out Ari Meisel from Leverage and Less Doing. He has a slightly different take on this and it works as well. I started with his plan and tweaked it to fit my needs. My invitation to you is to pick a way forward and stick with it for 30 days. Once you have it you can tweak it to suit your specific needs.

This week on the syndicast we welcome pistol builder and market disruptor Adam Nilson from Atlas Gun Works.   Before we start the show I want to say thanks for all the people that signed up for the download or the meeting.  If you are a shooter getting started as an influencer go to hawkeyesyndicate.com/first1000 we will email you an ebook If you are a shooter that has 1000 followers and wants to know what to do next go to hawkeyesyndicate.com/influencer and we will schedule a 1 hour meeting with you If you are a company that is interested in getting an outside in look at your company go to hawkeyesyndicate.com/jointhesyndicate and we will schedule a meeting to go over our findings with you and send you actionable next steps for your company.   Without further ado Adam Nilson...   When did you get started in competition shooting? When did you know you were hooked When and how did Atlas Gunworks happen? What were the early days like? Design Business production Marketing Business Philosophy? When did the youtube videos start? When did you know you were a disruptor in the marketplace? Lets Talk about he current Lineup of Pistols Titan Chaos Titan SS Titan Operator Nemesis Hyperion Erebus Nyx Full Custom Work What’s next for Atlas? How do you take care of yourself? Physically Mentally Spiritually Do you have any routines: Morning / evening Practice Competition What advice do you have for someone starting a company? Maybe they have a successful widget or a great idea and they just need a little push. What would you say?   Link:  hawkeyesyndicate.com/atlas   Mentions: Brian Enos Forums: https://forums.brianenos.com/ Brian Whelan: https://cprifle.com/ Blue Steel Ranch: http://www.bluesteelranch.co/

Welcome to the HIVE2. On this episode we will discuss creating your day and how to manage both a digital and paper calendar.   Check this out! Michael Hyatt Full Focus Planner: https://fullfocusplanner.com/?utm_source=mhwebsite&_ga=2.197593839.1706666103.1543085531-421313335.1540304929 Analog vs. Digital:  https://michaelhyatt.com/digital-analog-hybrid/   Notes from Michael Hyatts Blog: 1. Full digital. You can do everything with a digital solution such as Nozbe, Todoist, or Evernote. Digital environments are not just plagued with distractions, they’re designed to produce distractions. Going full digital means inviting all those distractions when you should be focusing on your most important priorities and tasks.   2. Full Paper. You can do everything with a paper-based system such as a Bullet Journal, Day Runner, or the Full Focus Planner™. But going full analog has drawbacks of its own. Not only do you have to manually copy and re-enter a lot of content, you also miss some of the benefits of digital—such as collaborating with others on your calendar or managing longer lists or projects. That makes full analog unworkable for most people I know.   3. Hybrid system. You can do some things digitally and some things on paper.   How I Use a Digital and Paper Calendar: Fantastical 2 and Hyatt Planner

Hey everybody and welcome to the #syndicast on this weeks episode we are talking to Dillen Easley about the business of sponsorship, how its changed, how its changed for him and how to go from 10th to 1st by shedding extra weight and getting fit.   Before we get into the the interview with Dillen I have a couple items to share.    This week we have some great content coming out. Wednesday night check out the PWS PCC review on Hawkeye Ordnance FB and Youtube and Friday on the HIVE we are talking about creating your days vs. surviving it. Should be a great week and I invite you to take it all in.   Once again I encourage you to take the following actions! If you are new to being an influencer and have less than 1000 followers on FB or IG please pop over to www.hawkeyesyndicate.com/first1000 enter your email address and we will send you a PDF on how to get to 1000 followers on IG.  If you already have 1000 followers on IG or FB you may still want to grab the pdf but I also want to personally invite you to schedule a call with me to look at where to go next. This is 60-90 minute call just like the one you are about to hear with Jaime. We may use some or all of it on an upcoming episode of the #syndicast. Head over to www.hawkeyesyndicate.com/influencer to schedule a meeting. If you are manufacturer, retailer, gun range, shooting club, etc. go to www.hawkeyesyndicate.com/jointhesyndicate to schedule a meeting. We will do a deep dive on your companies marketing presence and provide you with a 1 hour meeting and a report with actionable items you can use to take your company to the next level whether you do it yourself, have us do the work or you use the document to shop other firms this will be an invaluable conversation.   Dillen’s Current Sponsors: Vortex, Rise Armament, Warne, Weber Tactical, Pheonix Trinity, Rubber City Armory, MBX, Shoot Steel.com, MAXT, Area419   Leader Questions How long have you been Competing?    How has your perception of the business side changed?   You look like you are having more fun right now than you have in a while. What do you attribute that to?   What are you doing about fitness?   Tony Wells: Find him on FB https://www.facebook.com/tony.wells.52   Thanks for listening. Please check out all of the Hawkeye Family of businesses:   www.hawkeyeordnance.com for 3gun reviews, mods and articles www.hawkeyeignite.com for matches in Minnesota www.hawkeyesyndicate.com for the syndicast, hive podcast, insights on marketing and influencers www.strategicmatchdesign.com for national matches across the US.   Have an awesome week!

The number 1 hack! Hands down for improving performance, productivity, mood, resilience and even longevity is sleep and most of us suck at it. Just about everyone in the medical, health and athletic fields agree that sleep is critical   2 Main Sources I go to for sleep related learning: Bulletproof Blog supported by data from PubMed : promotes 5 hours of deep sleep Ben Greenfield Fitness : promotes 7.5 to 9 hours of sleep including a nap if necessary Both Blogs have a ton of info - check out the links in the show notes Ben Greenfield: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/article/the-last-resource-on-sleep-youll-ever-need-the-ultimate-guide-to-napping-jet-lag-sleep-cycles-insomnia-sleep-food-sleep-supplements-exercise-before-bed-much-much-more/ Bulletproof: https://blog.bulletproof.com/improve-your-sleep/   The mental benefits One night of good sleep can improve your ability to learn new motor skills by 20%.[2] Quality sleep increases your ability to gain new insight into complex problems by 50%.[3]   The physical benefits Good sleep promotes skin health and a youthful appearance.[4] Sleep increases testosterone levels.[5] Sleep controls optimal insulin secretion.[6] Sleep encourages healthy cell division (helps prevent cancer).[7] Sleep increases athletic performance.[8] SIMPLY PUT 1) The brain cleans up cellular garbage while you sleep; 2) The body repairs itself while you sleep.   Good news - there are a ton of improvements you can make to your sleep that cost nothing: Sleep in a pitch black room Minimize exposure to bright light and computer screens 2 hours before bed. Stop using caffeine 8 hours prior to bedtime 12, 2, 4PM theories Go to bed before 11PM so you are asleep before a cortisol spike that usually happens around 11PM making it difficult to fall asleep Limit physical activity 2 hours before bed time   Other things to consider Get curious about your bodies Circadian Rhythm and how to reset it Tracking your sleep with your smartphone Wearables, Smart Watch, Oura Ring, Fitbit Light therapies, Sunlight replacement and Red Light Therapies. The quality of your nights sleep starts when you wake up. Blue Blocking Glasses

On this weeks podcast we check in with Jamie Langworthy as she emerges as new influencer in Action Shooting. Jamie has over 1000 followers on Instagram and Facebook So what’s Next!    Welcome to the #syndicast. Before we get into the interview with Jaime I want to encourage you to take an action today. We have something for everybody! If you are new to being an influencer and have less than 1000 followers on FB or IG please pop over to www.hawkeyesyndicate.com/first1000 enter your email address and we will send you a PDF on how to get to 1000 followers on IG.  If you already have 1000 followers on IG or FB you may still want to grab the pdf but I also want to personally invite you to schedule a call with me to look at where to go next. This is 60-90 minute call just like the one you are about to hear with Jaime. We may use some or all of it on an upcoming episode of the #syndicast. Head over to www.hawkeyesyndicate.com/influencer to schedule a meeting. If you are manufacturer, retailer, gun range, shooting club, etc. go to www.hawkeyesyndicate.com/jointhesyndicate to schedule a meeting. We will do a deep dive on your companies marketing presence and provide you with a 1 hour meeting and a report with actionable items you can use to take your company to the next level whether you do it yourself, have us do the work or you use the document to shop other firms this will be an invaluable conversation.   Sponsors: Angelfire Ammunition Weber Tactical Vortex Optics MK Machining Taccom Lays Archery and Guns Rise Armament Lucas Oil   Facebook: 1074 following IG: 1641 Following Twitter: 62 followers Youtube: 968 Subs   Evolution in branding Digging the logo Consistency   What is your ultimate Goal?   What is the contribution you want to be?   Legacy?   Facebook: Build out the about sections off all your brands and work to make the messaging consistent Discuss what FB Likes Low engagement - Consider how you might start a conversation instead of just presenting information Creating FB Native programming   Instagram Content is great and lively Discuss what IG likes My story vs. Feed Hashtags for growth Commenting on your comments Commenting on other peoples posts Twitter Could be a breakthrough Service for no other reason then they can’t be counted out Pintrest opportunity Youtube Mostly Match video Consider creating long form content In conduction with FB Rev.com Final Thoughts: Time to become a brand Consider 3rd party solutions like hootsuite, Sendible, Zoho, etc. to schedule the posts that drive business objectives. Free or inexpensive Canva or other editing could ware for upping the overall look and feel The Context is decisive  

This week on the Syndicast we are talking to Adam Weber from Weber Tactical about all the new gear coming from their shop.    Gamer Series Packages USPSA Holster 3 Gun Holster Weber Tactical Signature Holster Hanger CARBS Belt from Carbon Arms Modularity Ratchet System DOTS Attachement System Cost of the Aluminum Mounts Consistency Issues from old manufacturing System New System for making Holsters and Mag Pouches How old school Kydex Holsters were made Weber Tactical is not a one man show anymore Quick Ship Program Black on Black, Carbon Fiber and Red, Carbon Fiber and Blue all ship within 3/5 days Custom ships in 21 days Don’t wait for gear... Whats next fro Weber Tactical Complete Belt Solutions Shotgun Caddies New gun Models like the X5 from Sig Sauer CZ, Tangfo and other USPSA Markets 

Welcome to the HIVE. These Friday episodes are designed to be little nuggets for you to contemplate on your weekend or perhaps while you are pretending to work on your Friday afternoon.   A little over a year ago didn’t look all that different from today. I had the businesses, the kids, the competition, you know the day to day requirements of a father, a business owner, a person living a modern life. The big difference is I was really unfulfilled. No matter what I did it wasn’t enough to be    Each week I will bring you something to chew on from the following categories:   Health and Well Being Productivity Sports Performance AND Personal Development   Now, I am not a doctor, a consultant, a life coach or a personal trainer. I am just a guy trying to take the hill like everyone else. I will not suggest anything that I have not done myself and quantified the result. The plan is to point you at something interesting and the best resources I have found for deciding whether it makes sense for you or not.   Today I want to introduce you to the people that have been the most helpful in my search for information.   Ben Greenfield: bengreenfieldfitness.com : In 2013 and 2014, Ben was named as one of the world’s top 100 most influential people in health and fitness, and by 2015, Ben was coaching the world’s top CEO’s, chefs, biohackers, poker players, tennis, motocross and endurance competitors, and professional athletes from the UFC, the NHL, the NBA, the NFL and beyond – all while advising and investing in top companies in the health, fitness and nutrition industry. This guy is a monster in life and business. He also owns a company called getkion.com - I use most of their supplements.   Tim Ferriss: has been listed as one of Fast Company‘s “Most Innovative Business People” and one of Fortune‘s “40 under 40.” He is an early-stage technology investor/advisor (Uber, Facebook, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ others) and the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers, including The 4-Hour Workweek and Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers. The Observer and other media have called Tim “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, which is the first business/interview podcast to exceed 100 million downloads.   Andy Frisella: in addition to serving as CEO of one of the world’s leading nutritional supplement companies, 1st Phorm International, Andy has founded and run five other businesses that collectively generate 200M+ in annual revenue: Supplement Superstores, Alpine Sports Products, Carbon Fire Nutrition, Paradise Distribution, and 44Seven Media. He is also the host of the wildly popular podcast: The MFCEO Project.   Dave Asprey: Is the founder of Bulletproof and author of New York Times bestseller The Bulletproof Diet, is a Silicon Valley investor and technology entrepreneur who spent two decades and over $1 Million to hack his own biology. Dave is the creator of the widely popular Bulletproof Coffee, host of the #1 health podcast, Bulletproof Radio, and author of the New York Times bestselling books, The Bulletproof Diet and Head Strong.  Through his work Dave provides information, techniques, and keys to taking control of and improving your biochemistry, your body and your mind so they work in unison, helping you execute at levels far beyond what you’d expect, without burning out, getting sick, or allowing stress to control your decisions.   Honorable Mentions: Gary Vaynerchuck aka Gary Vee, Tim Robbins, Joe Rogan, and Ari Meisel's Less Doing Podcast   All of the details and links are in the show notes at hawkeyesyndicate.com/hive1  

We Are BACK! On this weeks episode of the Syndicast we will be talking about where the hell we’ve been and what we have coming up next. We will also let you know about a new show we will be launching this Friday called the Hive. All coming up next!   Welcome to the podcast everybody… This week I am not asking you for anything but a few minutes of your time On top of an already busy life with work, kids and my mistress 3 Gun (who didn’t get much attention Health Scare in January Strategic Match Design A year of personal and professional development Landmark Biz Dev Re-organized the business Health Sleep Nutrition Fitness Biohacking to make it all work Syndicast most Tuesdays at 12: we will continue to produce a long form show of 60 plus minutes with a focus on Branding and Marketing through the lens of action shooting. We have some awesome interviews lined up and ready to g starting with a recording I did with Adam Weber from Weber Tactical. Look for that next Tuesday! We will also simulcast the video of the Syndicast on the Hawkeye Ordnance Youtube channel. But it will primarily be a stand alone podcast.   HIVE most Fridays at 12: The hive will be a show speaking directly to my customers and clients. It The focus will be: Productivity Holistically Sleep Nutrition Fitness Quatification Biohacking Technology Practice tips Basically whatever I am interested in that I haven shown a proven positive effect on the stuff that really matters like work, family, health, and generally being a mother fucker in life! So that’s what’s up. Check out the Syndicast each Tuesday and the HIVE on Fridays at noon! See you Friday!!!

This episode is full of great advice from Adam Weber, Owner, Weber Tactical. We talk about: 3 Gun, USPSA, IDPA How Weber Tactical Got Started Growing Weber Tactical and the recent issues with parts and supply Sponsored Shooters Being Sponsored The Value of Influence and a bunch of inside jokes

This weeks episode is brought to you buy Arnzen Arms. Free shipping on all order over $300. Josh Tarrant and I speak about: 3 Gun Instagram Facebook Websites Sponsors Being Sponsored

For those of you that are aspiring videographers this #syndicast is loaded with little nuggets about story telling. Listen up to Tim from HIPERFIRE!

I was lucky to have the chance to interview Forrest Lucas at the Lucas Outdoor Shotgun Championships. We talked about: Building the Range in Cross Timbers The PCC and Shotgun Matches The Gun Oil Business Race Tracks and New Products Gunsmiths, Youtube, Gun distribution and Sig Sauer The Trucking Industry The stunning Lucas Cattle Ranch The business of influence and branding MAVTV The Second Amendment and Forrest's thoughts on how best to inform the public www.protecttheharvest.com ROI on matches DO IT RIGHT / IF NOT ME THAN WHO Huge thanks to Lisa Marie Judy and Strategic Match Design for making this happen.

This week on the #syndicast we welcome Dianna Muller. Dianna served 22 years in the Tulsa Police Department before transitioning to a full time pro-shooter and 2A personality in 2014. She is an accomplished 3 gunner,  founder of the DC project, and represents some of the finest companies in the industry including Benelli, Fiocchi, Hiperfire, F1 Firearms, Hayes Custom, Leupold Optics and 5.11 Tactical. I had the pleasure of shooting with DI at one of my first major matches and appreciate her drive, conviction and most importantly I see her as a role model for my daughter, women in shooting and the sport in general.   Welcome to the show...   Facebook 14,000 Instagram 3800 Twitter 1100 The #syndicast is primarily a show on social media, marketing and branding through the lens of the emerging sport of 3 gun. I would love to know what techniques and tactics have worked well for you in the past?    What are you looking to improve on or add for 2018    USA Shotgun Team - Fiocci for the world shoot  Defending a Gold Medal for standards Silver Medal Personally   Lucas Oil and Strategic Shotgun Matches April 14th and 15th Location: Cross Timbers, MOThis is an IPSC style shogun a match with 20 stages. IPSC rules- scoring- divisions and targetsGeneral match, with the following divisions: Modified, Open, Pump, Standard DC Project  Tell us about it What advice would you give to shooters on how best to handle the current political climate?   DCproject.info  Girlandagun website   Rockcastle Shooting Center all ladies match

This week we are joined by one of my all time favorite people in 3 Gun, Business and HELL I would say life! He is a serial 2A Entrepreneur, shooter, Texan with a capital T, Match Director, Range Manager and owner of Shooters Source. Please help me welcome Jeremy Moore. Topics: North Texas Multigun Vortex Presents Shooters Source Multigun Championships Shooters Source Triple C Range Telling the 2A Story

On this weeks Episode I speak with Dustin Sanchez on on Shooting, JP Rifles, Team Breda and Nordic Vortex Tri-Gun Marketing. Topics: What was the catalyst for his interest in Social Media Dustin's journey at JP Rifles from Rifle Builder to Marketing Associate Being a sponsored shooter for: JP Rifles Vortex Optics ORM Tech Ammunition Bread Taccom Marketing / Sponsor Advocacy for the Nordic Vortex Tri-Gun His view of social media now that he is involved in Shooter Sponsorship Corporate Marketing  Match Marketing

In this weeks episode I get a chance to sit down with Rob Romero and Charles Sole to talk about their new venture strategic Match Design. We cover: The back story What Strategic Match Design is out to accomplish and why Thoughts on Match Sponsorship Lucas Oil IPSC Shotgun Matches Wyoming Governors Match Fort Benning and much much more!

I think it is time we take a serious look at what we feel we are ENTITLED to and square that with our belief in freedom and personal responsibility. 3 Gun has long been one fo the ultimate expressions of freedom and personal responsibility and yet, we still want discounts and participation awards. 

On January 11th, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would be changing its news feed algorithm to prioritize content from “friends, family and groups.” “You’ll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media" Zuckerberg cites “a responsibility to make sure our services aren’t just fun to use, but also good for people’s well-being” as justification for the change, admitting that businesses are going to have to work harder than ever to gain their customers’ attention on the platform.

Arghhh! Missing a full day of SHOT Show due to a massive snow storm. I used the opportunity to tell my #2AStory. I encourage you to pick a medium and do the same.

The 2A community has lost control of the narrative in a big way assuming we ever had it at all. Our old ideas of staying out of the media are not working and we remain in a vulnerable place around our rights. I submit it is time to reframe the story and we haver an incredible set of tools for doing so!

Shooters!  Who among you wants to do more for your sponsors and get paid more appropriately in the process? This conversation and document is a first step in making that happen. For a copy of the document or more information email me mark@hawkeyesyndicate.