146 | Brandon McCoy: Turning Passion for Custom Paint into a Thriving Career

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: Becoming UnDone
Episode: 146 | Brandon McCoy: Turning Passion for Custom Paint into a Thriving Career
Host: Toby Brooks
Guest: Brandon McCoy, Gooch Customs
Date: January 18, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode spotlights Brandon McCoy—better known as Gooch Customs—a custom paint and pinstriping artist whose journey from small-town Kansas to nationally recognized creator showcases grit, patience, creative risk-taking, and the power of forging your own path. Host Toby Brooks guides a wide-ranging discussion covering Brandon’s origin story, his drive to turn art into a sustainable business, and the importance of embracing uniqueness (down to his viral painted toilets). The episode explores the transformational moments and values that propelled Brandon’s career, offering practical advice and vivid stories for creatives and entrepreneurs alike.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Early Influences: Small Town Roots and Creative Curiosity

• Brandon grew up in a small Kansas town, raised by working-class family: “I know the tattoos and all that stuff doesn't look like small country boy, but they raised me as a man. I feel like a handshake is all you ever need.” (00:11)
• Art and cars were always twin fascinations: doodling in class, studying Mini Truck and Lowrider Magazines, breaking down paint jobs visually as a teen.
  • “For as long as I can remember, I've always been gravitated towards the art and paint jobs on cars.” (06:04)

2. Path to Profession: From Side Hustle to Main Gig

• Initially, art was a personal escape after work, not a career goal.
  • “It was like my escape. I come home from my job…practice pinstriping, practice airbrushing. It was always like a therapeutic, an escape.” (07:57)
• Attended college for art and tech school for auto paint, but found limited overlap between academic art and real-world custom jobs.
• Shifted to full-time art after realizing side work was outpacing day job earnings. Notably gave his employer a generous six-month notice.
  • “My art was always…an escape. I never approached it as, ‘I’m gonna do this for a living one day.’” (07:57)
  • “This is my six months notice. I'm not going to give you two weeks… Six months from now, if it's still like this, I'm out. And he's like, I respect that.” (09:37)
• Calculated risk in leaving stable work: planned his exit instead of an impulsive leap, ensuring the numbers made sense.
  • “The life that we want is being held ransom by the life that we've accepted.” (10:54)

3. Hustle & Growth: Car Shows, Community, and Social Media

• Broke into the mini truck scene via local shows in Missouri, leveraging word-of-mouth inside a tight-knit subculture.
  • “The mini truck scene's a pretty tight knit group. You kind of become—you need some pinstriping? Oh, Gooch, he's got you. He's the guy.” (17:17)
• Early days included scrappy moves—like buying a canopy only to return it after a show and charging $10 per hood.
• Social media exploded his reach:
  • “If social media wasn't the way it is now, I truly don't feel like I would be where I'm at…it's so, so easy for someone in Australia to see your work.” (13:53)
• Most work now is national, with commissions and invitations stemming from online exposure and car show appearances.

4. Breaking Through: Adaptation & The “Toilet” Moment

• Forced to leave painting out of his rented apartment garage after a neighbor’s complaint, he turned this setback into a growth milestone.
  • “I should have done that a long time ago because the second I had I got my shop…it just took off.” (27:36)
• Embraced painting unusual items (not just cars) to stand out at large events like SEMA:
  • “Paint something memorable…so I told myself, next year...I need to paint something that's gonna get someone's attention from like 50ft away, and then that's gonna bring them in.” (37:08)
• Viral toilets: Painted a “killer 90s mini truck inspired paint job on a standard porcelain toilet,” which became a social media sensation and recurring commission.
  • “They’re cool because there’s no limitations. I go crazy on this thing. I’m not trying to please anybody except myself.” (38:41)

5. Creative Process, Perfection, and Customer Relationships

• Reads each client’s aesthetic and draws on era-aware cues to design custom work.
  • “The first process doesn't start with the vehicle. It starts with the person…That's a driving force for when I start my paint jobs.” (19:06)
• Opposed to cookie-cutter or perfectionist mindsets, focusing instead on authenticity and pride.
  • “As an artist…it's impossible for art to be perfect…If it's perfect, it's not art. It's as simple as that.” (31:46)
  • “Nothing leaves my shop unless I'm proud of it…There's no other way around it.” (31:09)
• Willing to challenge customers:
  • “If I don’t think it looks good, I’m just going to tell you…I’d rather break your heart right up front.” (31:46–32:22)

6. Notable Projects: Talladega “Indy Killer” Truck

• Sanded out as a nationally-recognized project reimagining a classic truck for Twin States Hot Rod Shop, showcasing freedom, ‘90s nostalgia, and bold graphics.
  • “They wanted to have the ultimate indie pace truck…we want your version. If you had worked for Chevy in 1993, what paint job would you have put on it?” (41:53)
  • “That truck is so cool. The attention to detail…is just unreal. We were finishing each other’s sentences…It was a phenomenal experience.” (43:13)

7. Mindset & Advice: Persist, Teach, and Stay Humble

• Advice he’d give his younger self: Be patient, don’t doubt yourself too much, and know when to listen (or ignore) family and friends’ advice.
  • “Don't listen to compliments your grandma gives you…Take advice and criticism from people that know and are educated on what they're looking at.” (47:29)
• Wants to give back by teaching more—blunt about tricks of the trade:
  • “I always tell people…if you’re at all interested in pinstriping, come back here and give it a try… I really like to do that, and I really like to teach.” (54:38)
• Remains approachable and unpretentious:
  • “I get that all the time…‘I know you’re probably never going to respond to this’…I'm just a paint guy, man. What's up? What are we painting on today?” (57:04)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On perseverance:
  “The life that we want is being held ransom by the life that we’ve accepted.” — Toby Brooks (10:54)
• On art and imperfection:
  “As an artist…it's impossible for art to be perfect. If it's perfect, it's not art.” — Brandon McCoy (31:46)
• On honesty with clients:
  “If I don’t think it looks good, I’m just going to tell you…If me and you can’t see eye to eye, I’m not your artist.” — Brandon (32:09)
• On viral creativity:
  “The idea was simple. Paint something memorable, something that leaves an impression, something no one had really seen before…I knew it was getting attention because people were walking up going, ‘Oh my God, we found it! We found it!’” — Toby Brooks & Brandon (38:41–40:06)
• On community and giving back:
  “If I can help the next cat come up…Maybe push him to take the next step, I want everybody to win.” — Brandon (54:38)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Brandon’s upbringing and handshake ethos: 00:11
• Discovering passion for automotive art: 06:04
• Art as escape, not initial career plan: 07:57
• Turning side hustle into career (six-month notice): 09:37
• The “life held ransom” insight by host: 10:54
• Breaking into the car show/mini truck scene: 13:53–17:17
• Creative process and customer relationships: 19:06–21:40, 31:46
• Getting fired in Florida, apartments to own shop: 22:24–27:36
• First viral painted toilet at SEMA: 37:08–38:41
• Indy Killer/Talladega pace truck project: 41:53–46:27
• Advice to younger self: 47:29
• On teaching and giving back: 54:38
• Brandon’s approachability: 57:04

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Closing Reflection

Brandon McCoy’s story on Becoming UnDone is not one of a dramatic collapse followed by a comeback, but rather a narrative of steady, intentional growth—powered by relentless work, adaptation, creative risk, and humility. His refusal to conform to perfectionist or “cookie-cutter” standards stands as advice for all creatives: stay obsessed, remain proud (not perfect), keep your voice distinct, and help others along the way.

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Guest Social Media Links

• Instagram: @gooch_customs
• TikTok: GoochCustoms
• Personal Facebook: Brandon McCoy
• Business Facebook: Gooch Customs (less active)

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Theme Songs Mentioned

• Social Distortion – “Winners and Losers” (52:14)
• Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Soul to Squeeze” (53:39)

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For More

• Brandon’s portfolio and tutorials: Instagram/TikTok @gooch_customs
• Episode notes and links: unownpodcast.com/ep146
• Show host on socials: @tobybrooksphd

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This episode is for anyone who’s ever wondered how to turn what they love into what they do—reminding us that falling apart isn’t always part of the story, but rising into authenticity always is.

Transcript

[Toby Brooks]

This is becoming undone.

[Brandon McCoy]

The way I was raised, like I said, small town. You know, my grandpa, my dad, they raised me. I know the tattoos and all that stuff doesn't look like small country boy, but they raised me as a woman. I feel like a handshake is all you ever need. And once you move from that small town to the big city, the handshake doesn't necessarily mean anything to some of these people. When it means everything to me. Nothing leaves my shop unless I'm proud of it. Nothing leaves my booth unless I'm proud of it, period. There's no other way around it. So when I have something out there running around, it's. I'm proud of it. You know what I mean? As an artist, something art. It's impossible for art to be perfect. If it's perfect, it's not art. It's as simple as that. And, you know, I get it all the time. I. Pinstriping. Oh, man, that perfectly matched on the inside. No, I did not. I may have came close. It's never, ever, ever, ever perfect. Because with what I deal with, I consider myself. I am absolutely obsessed, like, obsessed with custom paint. So there's nothing out there that, if you fe thought of it, I've probably thought of it. If you've seen it on the Internet, I've probably seen it. You know, if you've seen a paint job, I've probably already broken it down in my head 50 times before. You've shared it to me on Facebook. That's how obsessed I am with it. So I consider myself a professional, you know, in the paint scene. And with that mindset, I kind of expect my customers to respect that a little bit and be like, I want your opinion. What do you think? I'm Brandon McCoy. Gooch Customs. I'm undone.

[Toby Brooks]

Hey, friend. I'm glad. Glad you're here.

[Interviewer/Host]

Welcome to yet another episode of Becoming Undone, the podcast for those who dare.

[Toby Brooks]

Bravely risk mightily and grow relentlessly. I'm Toby Brooks, speaker, author, professor, and performance scientist. I spent much of the last two decades working as an athletic trainer and a strength coach in the professional, collegiate and high school sports settings. And over the years, I've grown more and more fascinated with what sets high achievers apart and how failures that can stink in the moment can end up being exactly the push we needed to propel us on our paths to success. Each week on Becoming Undone, I invite new guests to examine how high achievers can transform from falling apart to falling into place.

[Interviewer/Host]

I'd like to emphasize that this show.

[Toby Brooks]

Is entirely separate from my role at Baylor University, but it's my attempt to apply what I've learned and what I'm learning and to share with others about the mindsets of high achievers. Hey y'.

[Brandon McCoy]

All.

[Toby Brooks]

We are back for 2026 in a brand new place with brand new studio, but with the same old purpose. To bring you the stories and the strategies to help motivate you and inspire you to name what you have left undone and then go after it with all you have. Over the Christmas break, I missed you, but I wasn't just sitting still relaxed on the couch. First a trip to Florida to visit my parents, followed by a trip to Southern Illinois to visit some family, then Lubbock to celebrate with the kids. Then after all that, we had to move from our rent house in nearby Hewitt to our new place in Martin hall on the Baylor campus. I was recently picked to be, let's call a faculty in residence for one of the residence halls of BU. This one home to 262 Baylor freshman guys. After a year of empty nesting with our kids still in Lubbock, we are excited to be able to serve in a new way here in Waco. But that said, there are some changes for sure. First off, our apartment is about 100 yards from Texas I35, one of the busiest stretches of interstate in the country. On top of that, we are in a residence hall that's home to hundreds of Baylor undergrads. All that to say, you may actually hear some evidence of the move in the audio file. I do my best to give you a top shelf first class experience when you listen to the show, but at the end of the day I'm just a dude working night and day to bring you these stories from where I'm at. So don't hate if you hear what we'll call some audible organic authenticity in the background. But enough about me. Let's get into it. Today's guest is someone who proves that you don't have to crash to find clarity, but sometimes stepping away from comfort. That's the boldest move you can make. Brandon McCoy better known in some circles behind his highly respected custom graphics art and pinstriping studios name Gooch Customs didn't ever really plan on being a full time artist. What started as an after hours escape turned into a nationwide reputation for custom paintwork that's as fearless as it is unforgettable. From mini truck shows to viral videos from pinstriping in a rented garage to building one of a kind pieces for clients coast to coast. Brandon's journey has been anything but typical. In this conversation, we'll talk about creative freedom, standing out in a sea of sameness, and how learning to trust your own style can be the real turning point. And yes, there are painted toilets involved. Trust me, you'll want to stick around.

[Interviewer/Host]

To hear that story.

[Toby Brooks]

I hope you'll enjoy my conversation with Brandon McCoy in episode 146. Let's get into it. Greetings. Welcome back.

[Interviewer/Host]

Becoming Undone is podcast for those that dare bravely risk mightily and grow relentlessly. I'm your host, Toby Brooks, and each.

[Toby Brooks]

Week we bring you a high achiever.

[Interviewer/Host]

Who'S managed to go from falling apart to falling into place. And this week's guest, we were talking a little bit before the show, Brandon McCoy. By his own acknowledgment, he hasn't had a lot of failure, but, man, he has grown so much. You've probably seen him in social media circles. Brandon, thanks for joining me tonight.

[Brandon McCoy]

Thanks for having me, man.

[Interviewer/Host]

So this one's been a long time coming. I've been hassling you for a better part of two months now. I saw your, I think you have a silver old body style Chevy video that really blew up. There's been a number of others, but you're a graphic artist based out of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. So I usually just start at the beginning. What do you want to be growing up and why?

[Brandon McCoy]

I get that. I get that question a lot. I'll be honest. I don't, I don't know. I've been doing this for so long. I feel like once I reached an age to where I got to thinking about maybe what I wanted to do when I was older, it's always been sort of automotive related a little bit. I still haven't grown up. I'll just say that. I mean, I'm still just a big kid and in an old man's body. But for as long as I can remember, I've always been grabbed. I've always gravitated towards the art and paint jobs on cars. I remember being in like middle school and going to the local library and looking at a mini truck magazine, lowrider magazine. I remember looking at all the paint jobs just kind of, you know, gravitating towards that. And I was, I was always able to look at those paint jobs and kind of break them down. Like, all right, it looks like they covered this area painted here. Then maybe, you know, I just didn't, I just didn't know how to paint. I didn't physically know how to paint. So I feel like maybe that is when I was like, well, maybe after I'm done with school, I'll learn how to paint cars and, you know, how to properly, you know, spray gun, spray with paint guns and this and that. Maybe the artwork stuff will kind of follow. Yeah, but I've always kind of been an artist. I was always that kid in class that doodled and got in trouble for drawing in class. That was always me in class. Top kids. So.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah, well, it's obviously served you well. And I've had several artists, athletes, high performers from all different walks of life.

[Toby Brooks]

And in the arts in particular, it's.

[Interviewer/Host]

It'S not a clear cut path. Yeah, you could pursue it in college. There, there are some ways that you could train to be an artist, but let's face it, Da Vinci didn't go to college. I mean, the, the best artists are typically self taught. They're influenced by a lot of different people and they usually had to figure out a path because it's kind of hard to pay the bills when it's first starting out. So talk me through a little bit about how artwork became profession for you and maybe how you navigated that difficult transition from a job that pays the bills to really pursuing your passion.

[Brandon McCoy]

So I'll be completely honest. I never had a, I never started doing art with the intentions of being an artist or I want to do this for a living one day. It was never, ever like that. My art was always, it was like my escape. Like I come home from my job and I would, you know, sit down, throw the headphones in. Practice pinstriping, practice airbrushing was always like a therapeutic, an escape. And I never approached it as, I'm gonna do this for a living one day. It was, it wasn't really like that. Now I did go to college, I played football in college and I needed a, you know, major. So I was like, well, I'm good at drawing, I'm art, so I'll do an art major. So I did actually do all the art stuff in college. Now I'll be completely honest, I didn't learn a thing because it doesn't translate over to what, what I'm doing. I remember in college we were drawing like, you know, the typical naked models and stuff, doing all that. I was like the worst kid in the class because that's not my, that's not my thing. So I did that part really didn't translate over. Now I do feel like a lot of us artists are, we're wired a little different than most people. My, my mind and my thought process is a lot different. I feel like then I guess you're not artistic person maybe. So I've always liked to kind of carve my own path and I've always been that way. I approach that way with, I'm like that with everything. So I just, I always had, you know, a regular job. I did go to college, tech school to learn how to paint cars. I did do that. And you know, once I learned how to paint cars, you know, I'd work at body shops and do restoration stuff, just, you know, your basic bodywork type stuff. And I always did the artwork on the side. And it, long story short, it just got to the point to where I was, I was making more money on the side than I was going to my job. It got to the point to where like, man, I could go work this 40 hour work week or I could stay home in one day and make. Make 40 hours worth of work in a day doing my art. So once that, once I reached that point, I told my boss I worked at this restoration shop in Dewey, Oklahoma. I told my boss, I was like, man, this is my six months notice. I'm not going to give you two weeks. I'm not going to do that to you. Six months? Yeah. Six months from now, if it's still like this, I'm out. And he's like, I respect that, you know.

[Toby Brooks]

This story is a bit of a departure from what I've tended to look for in guests for this show because unlike a lot of my past interviews, thankfully, Brandon hasn't had his world crash down around him. Well, there's absolutely no doubt that he's worked relentlessly to get to where he is today. He hasn't had to do it in the face of crushing adversity. And that's a great thing. But at the same time, his story is still one that I know people need to hear. Because even though he doesn't tell of a past that broke him, he does tell of a journey that required incredible patience, grit, tenacity and hard work. I think the same thing could be said for most creatives and entrepreneurs. Maybe a story can help explain it a little bit. I've been working on my book for the better part of six years now, off and on, and I've been doing this show for three. I love both of those pursuits. And honestly, there is nothing that makes me feel more connected to my purpose than sharing what I've learned, whether that's through writing or speaking or teaching or presenting or Podcasting, whatever, whatever it is to help inspire others to reach their maximal, God given potential. Thankfully for me, my day job is pretty much directly connected to that purpose. The work I do at Baylor is closely aligned with my desire. But I've had seasons where what I was doing to pay the bills was probably actually pulling me away from that purpose. But I still had bills to pay, so I had to make ends meet. That's when it dawned on me that for so many people, the life that we want is being held ransom by the life that we've accepted. The pay that we earn from the thing that we're willing to do for money is in a way kind of holding us captive from going all in on the thing we want or need to do. And if we aren't making much, honestly, it's not that hard to step out in faith and eventually replace what we'll call obligation pay with what we could earn if we were able to follow our heart 100%. However, as we grow and get promoted and hopefully get raises, we also start to spend more. We get mortgages and we have to buy diapers. Eventually, there's other expenses like college tuition and savings accounts. The more we spend, the more we become dependent on that bigger salary and the ransom for our freedom grows ever higher. For Brandon, he didn't just wake up one morning and quit his job with blind faith that everything would be okay. There are some people that do that and that's cool. But Brandon was more strategic than that. Tempting as it may sound to some of us, some days more than others, Brandon had an exit stretch. He'd calculated his ransom amount and he knew what he was making at the restoration shop, and he knew what he needed to make in order to do his own thing. It worked. By the time he exited, business was good and growing, but he still wasn't even close to being done yet.

[Brandon McCoy]

Six months later, it was. I was even more busy. My job, my day job was even more of a pain to go to. So I was like, you know what, I'm going to try to branch out. I'm going to try to be an artist and I'm going to try to do this. And that has been. This will be my 10th year as a full time artist.

[Interviewer/Host]

So that's great. And it's, it's great to be able to turn passion into something that, that can help you pay the bills. When we were chatting before the show, and maybe even a little bit yesterday, we talked through a little bit about how you started off in the show circuit and Maybe you went to a couple and, and we're doing some, some live stuff and now that's become really central to what you do. And you also mentioned that social media has really helped you blow up Gooch customs.

[Toby Brooks]

You're everywhere.

[Interviewer/Host]

Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, all the regular sources. Talk me through a little bit about how social media has contributed to your growth as an artist and as, dare.

[Toby Brooks]

I say, an influencer.

[Brandon McCoy]

Social media is a weird thing. I was at the kind of, at the beginning of it. I will say this. If social media wasn't the way it is now, I truly don't feel like I would be where I'm at because we're so connected now. It's so, so easy to someone in Australia to see your work and so easy for someone across the United States to see your work and maybe ship you something to paint when, when that wasn't around, you know, it was all word of mouth and you'd have to rely on, you know, local car shows, this and that. And I'll be completely honest, I mean I get local work, but I don't get a lot of I. Most of mine is traveling. People send me stuff, commission me stuff, or I'll go to car shows all over the country, set up pinstripe, sell my art, you know, market that is, that is where I've kind of built my following. Now I will say that didn't happen overnight. I went out there and I hit the road and I, I feel like I, I definitely earned it, but definitely didn't start, start like that. I'm a mini trucker at heart. I've always been into mini trucks from a super small town up in Kansas. Mini trucks are, are not a thing there. It's just, it was me and that was it. And I remember looking at all mini truck magazines and I would see the, I would see where all the local or all the upcoming shows were. And the closest show to me was in like Springfield, Missouri, which was about three hours. So I saved up like all my money, I got a hotel room for like the first time ever by myself, you know, and me and some buddies went to this little mini truck show and I took my truck and, and that is where it all kind of started. I went there. It's kind of hard to explain unless you've been in the mini truck scene. But the mini truck seems very, it's big, but it's also tight knit. Like if a new dude shows up with like a truck no one's seen, it stands out. Everybody's like who, dude, who's. Who's, you know, Chevy. Is that. Who's that guy? Because everybody's so used to seeing everybody. Well, I was that guy. I showed up my truck and it was like all. I went to the paint and body school, and in that school they let you work on your own vehicle. So I candy painted some stuff, did some interior, small tweed interior, you know. Well, I show up at this car show and I'm the new guy. Well, immediately everybody's like, who are you? Who are you? You know, and asking me about my truck, and I met some guys. It's so weird to thinking back at it, because I was putting these people like, these are dudes I'd seen in magazines. They're all my friends now. But like, at the time, these were like, oh, my God, that's so. And so now they're just like, they're just mini truck guys, you know, that I've just seen magazines, you know. You know, I got to hanging out with some of those guys and talking to them, and one of them put on a car show, this show called Soldier. And they had it in Joplin, Missouri. And he invited me to set up as a pinstriper because he found out I pinstriped. And I couldn't wrap my mind around how you really think people are going to, like, pay me, the stranger, to stripe their car. And he's like, I really do, you know. So again, I go out and I sit up at this show. Don't have any money. Like, I'm a broke college kid, I promise you. The canopy that I used to. To set up, I didn't even have enough money for that. So, like, I bought it with the intentions of using it and taking it back and getting my money back at Walmart, you know, because I. I wasn't even prepared. So I set up at the show and I was charging like 10 bucks to do a hood because I didn't know what to charge. And I. Dude, I. I made like 300 bucks. Doesn't sound like much, but at 10 bucks a hood, I was busy, you know, and I just couldn't believe that people, you know, wanted it done. And so I did that show and I was like, man, that was. That was pretty cool. I got me some beer money for the weekend. I paid for my trip, you know.

[Interviewer/Host]

And then that's how it works.

[Brandon McCoy]

You know, you go there and there might be a guy that's at the show, that's a show promoted for another show. He sees me, hey, man, I've seen you at sol, you know, you. And you set up my show. And that first year I did like two or three shows. And then the following year I did those same shows. And I think I maybe added. Added one. And then I just kept doing that over the years and years. And now I do like 15 to 20 shows a year all over the country. Not just local, you know, all over the country. Just word of mouth. And then, you know, getting on social media, posting pictures. And then like I said, the mini truck scene's a pretty tight knit group. You kind of become. You need some fence dropping. Oh, Gooch, he's got you. He's the guy. Kind of how it works, you know.

[Interviewer/Host]

Right, right.

[Toby Brooks]

Well, behind me.

[Interviewer/Host]

Let's see if I can do that. That. That award is from the 1996 style.

[Toby Brooks]

And concepts Sport Truck Nationals.

[Brandon McCoy]

Nice.

[Interviewer/Host]

An obs guy back in the day.

[Brandon McCoy]

And I haven't heard styling concepts in a long time.

[Interviewer/Host]

I know, right? Like AIM Industries and. And what was the one Traders, all those magazine companies. But Styling Concepts had a show in Owensboro, Kentucky, and. And I had actually left early. I was like, man, screw that. I had my subs going. I actually blew the back window seal out and the rain was coming. I'm like, I'm going home. And a buddy of mine, he's like, hey, I got your award. Like, I saw him the next day. I'm like, what award? They give a top 25. It's like one of the highlights of my life, and I wasn't even there for it, man, you're right. Like, definitely a. A tightly knit community. Well, when I look at your work, I know that every artist has a different process and every artist has different influences. And I've heard you say it multiple times. Like, when you are at your best, the customer gives you some guidelines, but then just kind of let you go.

[Toby Brooks]

When.

[Interviewer/Host]

When you're staring at a blank canvas, talk me through kind of how it goes from just scuffed clear coat to finished product in your mind.

[Brandon McCoy]

Okay, That's a tough one. It's hard one to explain that. I. I teach a lot of classes, custom paint classes. I'm a firm believer. I could teach you how to pinstripe. You give me a full day. I could teach you how to pinstripe. I cannot teach you what goes up in my mind. I really can't. I can. I kind of can walk you through, but that's like the. That's like. That's like going to an athlete and be like, hey, man, how are you athletic?

[Interviewer/Host]

Right?

[Brandon McCoy]

You're just, you just kind of are, you know, it depends on the day. Every day is different. A lot of energy drinks, a lot of tool on the radio. I don't know. I've never had a problem with that. Obviously, every project's a little bit different. I'm really good with communicating with my customers. I get a feel for the style they're going for because I can do all different kinds of styles. The first process doesn't start with the vehicle. It starts with the person. I'll get a good judgment off of a person. Like you, for example, you're talking about the styling concepts. 17 inch billets, billet tweed interior, stuff like that. I know what era you come from. I know like what the paint jobs look like. Then I know what you probably think's cool and what you don't. So right out the gate, I'm. I'm noticing little things like that and I log that and as I'm. That that's a driving force for when I start my, my paint jobs. But I'll be honest, I. It all comes so naturally and I, I don't want to say it's never going to happen. And I know a lot of artists get like, artist block. I've never really had to. I've never really dealt with that because I don't know, man, I. When I start taping stuff, it just kind of comes to me. And most of my customers are super cool and they're like, give me creative freedom. I'm not afraid to try different stuff in the moment. I'm very, very anti cookie cutter type stuff. There's a lot of cookie cutter paint jobs out there, and I don't ever want to be one of those, those guys. I want every one of my paint jobs to be better than the last. Or maybe like, try something a little funky. That's risky. It's going to pay off. It might not pay off. I feel like having that mentality going into it, kind of having some balls kind of helps me a little bit maybe. And for the most part, it's. It pays off. Every now and then, you know, I might go back, be like, I really don't like that spot. I'm gonna go back and fix that. But it's a hard one to. It's a hard one to explain. It just kind of comes to me. I, I'm real big into music. The music's a big thing. Anytime you see me working, like on a paint job, I always have some headphones in. If I don't have headphones In I got a Bluetooth blast and some, you know, some music and, you know, you get in a good rhythm and good. Got your jams going. You just start, you know, have. Start to have a good time. You know, you get the head bobbing a little bit, and that's when the magic happens.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah, absolutely. We were talking a little bit before the show. Again, we're talking with a graphic artist, Brandon McCoy. Gucci Customs. You said you didn't really have like a rock bottom moment, but there was an occurrence in your progression that really kind of set you on the path that you're on today. And you were working and as the side job became bigger, you eventually got kind of redirected.

[Brandon McCoy]

Yeah.

[Interviewer/Host]

So tell us a little bit about that. We won't call it a rock bottom moment, but that transition and how it pointed you in the direction you're in currently, even today.

[Brandon McCoy]

Well, now that we've talked about it and I've thought a little more, I can think of a few more. So I'm just going to kind of start from like the. We'll start kind of from the beginning.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah.

[Brandon McCoy]

Again, from a super small town, Kansas. Thousand people. No one knows anything about paint. No. Anything about airbrush. That's not my clientele. I'm just from that town. So one, I ended up. I ended up randomly moving to Florida. Moved down to Florida. Just didn't know a single person, not anybody. Didn't have a job. I had like, I painted this like a 35 Chevy coupe. And I paid. I got paid like five grand for it. So I had like $5,000 in my pocket. Most money I've ever had in my life. Couldn't believe I'm moving to Florida. See you guys. So I literally, like that week I moved, go down to Florida. I get this job at this restoration shop down there off Craigslist. And I kind of went them over with my art and they hire me on for like the. I'm gonna be like the pretty much the bottom of the barrel shop guy. But you're gonna be the artist in the. In the shop. And he gave a cause in his hiring me. He's like, you got to bring in custom paint jobs. So I was like, okay, whatever. Well, I've been there for a couple months and, you know, I'm. I don't know anybody at. At all down there. And so I'm not just going to be able to bring all these custom paint jobs in overnight, you know. And he started to get a little aggravated maybe a little bit with me because I wasn't, you know, bringing stuff in, which I was like, dude, I don't, I don't know anybody. I mean it takes, it takes time. So long story short, I end up getting fired, he ends up firing me. And so then that really lit a fire under me. Like I was like, I'm gonna show this guy, you know, I'm gonna, I'm, you don't do that. And so I, I ended up staying down there for a couple more months. I just, I could not find a job, could not find work. So I ended up have to move back home. And I remember moving back home and I remember there were some of my friends and I heard people, small town, you know, people talk, I hear the chatter, oh, you know, he, I knew he wasn't going to last very long down there, blah, blah, blah, you know, and that just, I'm just, you're just, you're turning the fire on me. So I always had that in the back of my head. Fast forward to going to the car shows. Stuff starting to take off a little bit for me. I got another job. The last job I had before I ended up going full time, worked for that guy for like 4 or 5 years. Stuff started popping for me a little bit. Became self employed, I got an apartment and you know, I, I couldn't. Once I went full time, I was like, man, money's tight. Like, I, I, this is scary. I'm an artist, you know, so there's no way I could afford a shop. So I was like, well what I'm gonna do, I'm renting a garage in my apartment and I'm just gonna spray out of that, that apartment garage. I'm just gonna be doing airbrushing, small stuff. I'm not ever going to be doing big stuff, you know. Well, you know how that goes. You know, we start doing that, the next thing you know, man, I need to, I really need to clear this motorcycle tank. I'm just going to clear, but I'm going to wait till late tonight to clear it, right. I'll be honest, I started running a freaking shop out of my apartment garage. Single bay garage, like a detached garage just kind of off by itself. And I mean, I'll be honest, the apartment field, they knew what I was doing. They just really didn't care. They just kind of turned the blind eye. Well, I worked out this garage for like five years. I was paying all kinds of bikes. I painted my full car in there like piece by piece. Now that apartment garage, in five years, it went five years Before I ever got a complaint. And I was out there one night and it was, it was like one or two in the morning, super late, and I had my door cracked open. I've seen this guy walk by and he's kind of like in there looking, you know. And next day I got a complaint. My, my manager called me, she's like, hey, we had a guy complaining he's seen you in there painting last night. Which in my defense, I wasn't clear coating. I was just airbrushing, very minimal overspray. And he was worried that I was going to get overspray on his truck, which his truck was like 50 yards away. Anybody that knows anything about airbrushing knows there's no way that's ever going to translate over. But anyway, not the point. I shouldn't have been painting in there. So she's like, we can't let you paint there anymore. You got to figure something out.

[Toby Brooks]

I love the way Brandon recounts this season of his path from employee to entrepreneur and how his humble beginnings paved the way for the artist he's known as today. After making the jump into full time art, he finds himself in that tough in between phase where massive growth and tons of high paying customers would require a big cash outlay and would probably be much easier with a big, spacious and expensive shop.

[Interviewer/Host]

However, without the cash to layout, he.

[Toby Brooks]

Had to keep expenses as low as possible. So he uses what he has and he continues to build his business around his reputation as the go to guy for graphics and pinstriping. Until one night when some nosy neighbor narcs on him for painting out of his single bay apartment garage where he'd been conducting business for five years.

[Interviewer/Host]

Whoever you are, if you happen upon.

[Toby Brooks]

This episode, let me just say, nobody likes a snitch. So honestly, I hope you have the day you deserve, sir.

[Interviewer/Host]

And at the same time, thank you.

[Toby Brooks]

Because that one reality triggered the next season in Brandon's growth as a renowned artist. He was ready to step up to the next level. And this tattletale neighbor actually helped force his hand for his next move. Gucci's customs wouldn't just be a hungry, talented artist doing its best to make it in a forbidden garage space. It would be a legitimate enterprise that eventually would reach millions through the power of the Internet and eventually one killer toilet. But more on that one in a minute.

[Brandon McCoy]

So I was like, all right, well now you know, I got my five years worth. It's time to, you know, take the next step. Let's get a shop, make it legit. You have me a works. A designated work area at my shop. And to be completely honest, I should have done that a long time ago because the second I had I got my shop, it just. I don't know, it just stuff took off. More area, more room. I could bring vehicles in my shop. Just. Just a game changer. A total game changer. Wasn't scary, absolutely. You know, more money, overhead a month. But I've had this shop now for, I think five years, my fifth year here. So I'm glad. I'm glad. I'm glad old boy turned me in because, yeah, we're probably still spraying that little apartment garage.

[Interviewer/Host]

Well, I think certainly there. There are things that we wouldn't have chosen, but a lot of times they're the redirection that we need, and I think that definitely counts as that. The title and the theme of the show is is becoming unknown. Going from falling apart and things not being as we would choose to being unfinished, having a goal or a big dream that we're working toward. As an artist, have you ever had maybe think of an example of something that didn't go according to plan? Is there a project or. Or any job that you had that didn't go as according to plan, but it still ended up being really meaningful, important and influential in you and your journey as an artist?

[Brandon McCoy]

Honestly, man, nothing really that sticks out. I mean, I've had a few nightmare customers that kind of maybe opened my eyes a little bit that people aren't genuine, people are out to get you to use you a little bit. I've had. I've dealt with that. You know, I had a customer one time that was like that, and I learned my lesson from that. I feel like to this day, you're never going to convince me I was in the wrong. So I wasn't. But at the. When it was all resolved, he kind of ended up apologizing. And I found some stuff out, you know, that kind of made sense. But I guess from that moment on, I kind of opened my eyes, like, maybe not be as trusting. I feel I'm pretty good with reading people, but maybe have my guard up a little bit more because there are people out there that'll try to use you or, you know, get it, you know, get one up on you type of a thing. An example the. The shop owner that fired me down in Florida, you know, once I started kind of popping on social media a little bit, he. He ended up reaching back out and he tried to like, you know, man, I'll bring you back on all this and that because he had seen he wasn't willing to invest the time with me then, but once I did all the legwork, he was ready to go back in. You know what I mean? So.

[Interviewer/Host]

Right.

[Brandon McCoy]

Maybe that learning that people aren't as genuine because the way I was raised, like I said, small town, you know, my grandpa, my dad, they raised me. You know, I know the tattoos and all that stuff doesn't look like small country boy, but they raised me as a man. I feel like a handshake is all you ever need. And once you move from that small town to the big city, the handshake doesn't necessarily mean anything to some of these people when it means everything to me. So maybe, maybe, you know, learning that, understanding that. But as far as getting into a car or something, man, I'm not. Nothing leaves my shop unless I'm proud of it. Nothing leaves my booth unless I'm proud of it, period. There's no. There's no other way around it. So when I have something out there running around, it's. I'm proud of it. You know what I mean? So I don't want to ever have any, like, regrets about it or any second guessing. It's. Once it's out there, it's out there. I feel like you have that mindset. It's. It'll pay off in the long run.

[Interviewer/Host]

I love how you say that. You say you're proud of it. You didn't say perfect. A lot of times in this show, the theme of perfectionism comes up and how for high achiever, that can drive you to do great things, but it can also eat you alive. Talk to me a little bit about perfectionism and then, you know, in the car show world, whether it's Riddler or take your pick of whatever the high profile car show is, it's a world about result. And being perfect for graphic artists can be a lonely space sometimes. So where do you draw the line between done and undone? How do you know when something is something you're proud of?

[Brandon McCoy]

So as an artist, something art. It's impossible for art to be perfect if it's perfect. It's not art. It's as simple as that. You know, I get it all the time. I pinstriping. Oh, man, there's he perfectly matched on these side. No, I did not. I may have came close. It's never, ever, ever, ever perfect. And also perfect is. That's in the eye of the beholder. Like something that I think is perfect is absolutely spot on. The next guy Might absolutely hate it. That ain't. That. That looks terrible. That's not. You know, but to me, it's perfect. Something I'm proud of. Like I said, I won't paint anything unless I'm proud of it. If I get a customer, that the whole customer is always right. That's a bunch of. That don't. That. That. That don't work with me. Anybody that knows me that's got stuff painted is you. Bring me your ideas. Tread lightly, because I'm going to give you my opinion. And if I don't think it looks good, I'm just going to tell you. I'm just going to straight up tell you. Like, I'm not going to be a jerk, but I'm gonna be honest with you. And you can either respect it and take it my professional advice, or you can go to the next guy, they'll cater to your every needs. And then you go to a car show and everybody's talking about how ugly it is. You know what I mean? I would rather break your heart right up front. Like, hey, man, that. That ain't the way we need to go. That's just my personal opinion. And if you. If me and you can't see eye to eye on. I'm not your artist because with what I deal with, I consider myself. I am absolutely obsessed, like, obsessed with custom paint. So there's nothing out there that, if you thought of it, I've probably thought of it. If you've seen it on the Internet, I've probably seen it. You know, if you've seen a paint job, I've probably already broken it down in my head 50 times before. You've shared it to me on Facebook. That's how obsessed I am with it. So I consider myself a professional, you know, in the paint scene. And with that mindset, I kind of expect my customers to respect that a little bit and be like, I want your opinion. What do you think? If I don't get that, then we're just not going to really see eye to eye throughout the project. And it's going to be a pain and I'm not going to be interested because I'm not going to have my heart in it. I'm going to be painting something I'm not proud of. I wanna. I wanna have that feeling of when I leave the shop at night and go home. I can't sleep at night because I'm so excited about waking up to work on your project.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah.

[Brandon McCoy]

If I don't have that feeling, it shows in the artwork. You know what I mean?

[Interviewer/Host]

Right. So.

[Brandon McCoy]

So the perfect thing. That's a tough one because I've never had a. I've never even came close to having a perfect paint job. Maybe, you know, I think it's cool, but there's always something wrong with them. I'm just really, really good at tricking people's eyes. Getting you away from the mistakes. That's what makes a good.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah, absolutely. Well, you're famous in your social media for saying if paint will stick to it, you'll put a custom paint job on it. You've painted anything from kitchenaid mixers to toilets. I know you're famous for mini truck inspired toilets. Tell me how a pinstriper goes from doing hoods at a car show to being asked to do things like that that are a little off the wall.

[Brandon McCoy]

So, I mean, believe it or not, a lot of people, they see me as a pinstripe first and the custom painter second. It's actually the exact opposite of that. I, I painted first, did graphics first. The graphics needed a pinstripe outline, so I didn't know anybody that pinstriped. I couldn't afford anybody that pinstripe. So guess what? I'm gonna learn how to pinstripe. So I actually did the graphics of first the, you know, paint jobs first and is the pinstriping came later because I was trying to be all in house. The pinstriping, though, is. That's where people get confused. They see me set up at car shows pinstriping, because I can do that at a car show. I can't paint your car at a car show. I can't airbrush a car at a car show, but I could pinstripe it at a car show. So a lot of these people, for the longest time, they thought I was just a pinstriper, when this whole time I'll be like slinging paint jobs, like, oh, I could paint that, no problem. Well, you can, you can do that. Yeah, dude, I can paint that easily. So when I started doing, doing, getting my social media, when I started getting my paint jobs out there, people started to understand, oh, he does both. Because a lot of guys, they'll do one or the other. They'll either pinstripe campaign or they'll paint. Can't pinstripe. I want to be all a one stop shop. So the translation never. It was just always there. I feel like I've always been like 50, 50 half the time on pinstripping, half the time I'm painting the toilets was kind of a random thing. I'll be completely honest. I can't even take full credit for the. For the first one I did because my buddy kind of came up with the idea. I had thought about painting a toilet before, but how all those came about. I went out to. I went out to sema. I don't know, about five years ago, my first time to go to sema. Super excited. You know, I get out to Sema. Seema's the bad, the baddest of the bad. You know, all the painters are going to be there. Every. Anybody that's. Anybody's gonna be a sema. So I was excited about seeing some of these painters stuff in person. And so I get there, and the first thing that I noticed is there were some of the baddest painters in the world there. Beautiful paint jobs. But nothing stood out to me because they all painted the same thing. A skateboard, a motorcycle, a helmet, a mini hood. Same things. So it's very easy to walk by some stuff that was a banging paint job, but it's just like some skateboard. Cool.

[Interviewer/Host]

Whatever.

[Brandon McCoy]

Look at the next one. So I told myself, I was like, all right, next year when I come out here, I need to paint something that's, like, gonna get someone's attention from, like, 50ft away, and then that's gonna bring them in. Then they're gonna look at the paint job. So then I was like, well, what are we gonna paint? Well, my buddy Eric, he has a shop kind of really close to my shop. He stops by here all the time, are really good friends. Me and him are at the shop one day, and we were talking about it. He's like, dude, you need to do a toilet. You need to paint you a toilet. He called it a glitter. And he's like, I'm gonna go buy one. He's like, I'm gonna buy one. He's like, I've been wanting to kind of learn this stuff too. He's like, well, I'll go buy one, and we'll. I want you to walk me through how to paint well. So I was like, all right, cool. I was like, I'll be honest. I've been wanting to do one for a while. I've done some toilet seats, but never a full toilet. So he goes and gets his toilet, brings up the shop, and we figured out how to prep it and everything. And, you know, he leaves to go do his whatever. And I'm stuck here all day staring at this toilet. So I get excited, and it's like, I'm gonna start taping this thing. So I start taping it, throwing these crazy colors on it. And because I know what Eric likes, he likes bright, loud. He's just like, I am. So I start blowing some of these colors on it. And I'm like, dude, this thing is. This thing is thick. So I call him like, hey, you ain't getting your toilet back. I was like, I'm keeping this. I was like, I'll buy you another one. I go, but I'm keeping this one. I was like, I'm taking this to sema. And he's like, ah, that's, that's fine. It's fine. So anyway, I ended up doing it. I ended up paying this crazy toilet for myself, realistically. So there was no limitations. I go crazy on this thing. I'm not trying to please anybody except myself. So I went wild on this toilet.

[Toby Brooks]

You know, we don't always know what will make an impact and what won't. But it's hard to argue Eric and Brandon's logic here. In a sea of killer artwork on run of the mill applications like skateboards and mini hoods and all the rest. The idea was simple. Paint something memorable, something that leaves an impression, something no one had really seen before. But just because it was simple doesn't mean it wasn't absolutely genius. The Specialty Equipment Manufacturers association, or SEMA trade show is held annually in Las Vegas where over 160,000 attendees and 2,400 plus exhibitors descend on the Las Vegas Convention Center. The scale is massive. I've had friends tell me that they've walked more than 10 miles in a day at the show and didn't see it all. So with the idea of making a splash, Brandon shoots a killer 90s mini truck inspired paint job on a standard porcelain toilet. He shoots a simple 27 second Instagram reel once it's on the floor in Vegas today, that video has over 54,000 likes. Another toilet video from a later project has over 269,000 thousand views on Facebook. And another one has over 60,000. A simple idea. Absolutely. But sometimes it's those simplest ideas that matter most.

[Brandon McCoy]

Man, I take that thing out to SEMA and it just. It got so much attention out there. I knew it was getting attention because I posted. I posted a video of it and it went. It went viral and I knew it was getting a real attention. Whenever people were walking up and being like, oh my God, we found it. We found it. Like, they were literally like, sema is the best. All these crazy cars, they're looking for a toilet. So I knew I was onto something, so I did, I did it. I did that and then it went viral. And then I had, you know, people obviously how much to paint one, and I ended up selling it at sema. And then the commissions kind of started coming in for toilets. And I'm working on. I just finished up number 14 and I have four in line right now to do one more. Yeah.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah, that's cool.

[Brandon McCoy]

So, yeah, they're cool because they're. I take that back. I have another one that's out there, but I can't talk about it because it's gonna, it's. It's. I can't talk about it yet, but stay tuned for that one. It's gonna be really cool. It's gonna be. It's gonna get some real. Yeah, it's, it's, it's. It's for a TV show. I'll just say that it's gonna be really cool. I can't talk about Bill, but that's gonna be.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah, that's so cool. Well, probably one of the more high profile and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but definitely in, in my interaction with your work and then looking at what you do, that the indie killer OBS truck is top shelf. And it just so happened like three or four of those builds. There's even a dually that came out all kind of around the same time. But the one you were involved in was in my opinion, the wildest, the coolest. And you mentioned in our prep leading up that there's really a cool story behind that truck. So talk me through a little bit about how you got involved in that project and what it meant to you.

[Brandon McCoy]

So that truck was built by a shop down in Meridian, Mississippi. Twin States hot rod shop. Anybody knows anything about Twin States, those guys, those guys build some super nice stuff and they have an eye, they have a. The perfect eye for like 90s nostalgia sport trucks. Like, they're the guys and I didn't really know them. The owners, Justin and Eli, they're brothers. I'd seen them at some car shows. You know, we go to the last same car shows I've seen him, but I never really like, you know, didn't really hang out with them or anything. And customer, a customer took, took them the truck and they were wanting to build it and they wanted to have the, the. The ultimate indie pace truck is what they were going for. Because you need to see a lot of guys. They'll build the indie trucks and it's the same. We've all the same ones over and over and over again. They throw a decal kit on it. They're all cool. Whatever. We've seen them before. They ever want to do a little different, they want to do a little bit of a twist. So they get a hold of me because they see me paint mini truck stuff, and they're like, hey. They're like, we want you to. To come down. They're like, we're gonna have this truck ready. We want. We want to put your version of what the indie killer. Like, if you would have worked for, like, Chevy in 1993 in the graphic design department, what paint job you would.

[Toby Brooks]

Have put on it?

[Brandon McCoy]

And I was like, are you sure about that? And they're like, yes. They're like, full artistic freedom. We like your stuff. We want your spin on it because we're tired of looking at the same old trucks, you know? So I was like, dude, I don't know why. It blows my mind that no one's thought about this idea before, because it's a cool idea. So I was like, absolutely. Let's. Let's do this. Well, so it started out they were building an indie truck, you know, the indie pace truck. Build an indie truck. We get down there and we're like, they're working on. And first off, I show up, this thing is like, without the paint job, this truck's still ridiculous. It's immaculate. Like, the metal work they did on this thing, the attention to detail is just next level. If you're an obs guy, you already know. If you've seen the indicator, it's just absolutely next level. Them. Well, at the time, they were kind of like there was another. There was another indie truck getting built at the same time, and they were kind of going to debut around the same time. They were kind of competing shops a little bit like some friendly fire type thing. And the other shop ended up debuting their truck first at lst. And it gave a chance for the Twin State guys to get eyes on it, which in my opinion was kind of a mistake, because you get eyes on, you're like, all right, now we see what we got to work with. We're going to go above and beyond. Well, anyway, they come to find out the truck, the Indy Killer, it used to be. Used to be the maintenance truck at the dirt track in Talladega Motor Speedway. Like, the maintenance truck. So they're all thinking. They're like, everybody does the Indy truck. Talladega has never had a truck. You know, there was never a Talladega Pace truck or whatever. Their plan was to debut this truck at Battle in Bama, which was at Talladega Motor Speedway. This isn't. This isn't an indie truck. This is a Talladega truck. Yeah. So that's why they call that truck the Indy Killer. Yeah, because they're. They're trying to kind of go there immediately. This is how I like, again, earlier, I was talking about against the grain. That's how I am. And that's what they were going for against the green type of stuff, because immediately they're going to be making a lot of the purists mad because we're switching the graphics up, you know, because we're not. We're not staying true to the graphics. We're tossing those up. So what was cool about that truck is it got. It was the dirt track truck maintenance truck gets completely rebuilt and then gets debut. It's like, it's like a coming home type of a thing. It's debuted at Battle in Bama at Talladega with this brand new makeover, you know, of the. Of the. Of the Talladega truck. That's why if you look originally on the doors, we had painted the. You know, it has like the. It has a. The instead of the little Indy car, it's got an obs kind of lean back with some, you know, the same flames and stuff coming off. It said Talladega truck underneath it. It. But it ended up. It was a little much. We ended up getting rid of that and just having the. The obs on there with all the graphics underneath it and stuff. But that, that truck. That truck is. That truck is so cool. Like, it is the attention to detail in that thing, it is just unreal. And those guys down there at Twin States, we were so like, we were finishing each other's sentences. That's how on board we were with each other. You know what I mean? It was. It was a phenomenal experience and I built a good relationship with those guys. And we got some stuff in the works coming up. I'm gonna be going back down there here pretty, pretty soon to do another one. And Eli, I'm calling you out. Eli's exact words were, we're gonna top the indie killer. So it's Eli's personal truck too, so I believe he'll do it.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah, well, incredible build, no doubt. And the thing I love about it is, like you said it, it definitely has that 90s flair. And that's your wheelhouse. I mean, if anybody follows you on social, they know your fits are All. All classic Nike Air sneakers and. And starter jackets. And I mean, that. That was. That error. And that color scheme is right in your wheelhouse as well. But it's like he's on right now. It's like that. Cal Concepts or.

[Brandon McCoy]

Yeah, yeah, I'm actually going to Cal Concepts this weekend to paint a truck that's. I'm going to California on Saturday. I'm leaving out to go to Cal Concepts in the truck.

[Interviewer/Host]

Super cool.

[Brandon McCoy]

Yeah. 90s, man. That's my childhood. That's my. No, that's my childhood.

[Interviewer/Host]

Again, we're joined by Brandon McCoy from Goose Customs, artist and kind of social media extraordinaire. Think a little bit about how you've grown over the years. If you could go back to the version of yourself that first picked up a pinstripe or an airbrush or, you know, first started down this path, what words of wisdom would you give him?

[Brandon McCoy]

Patience. Be very patient. Don't. I probably would have told myself not to doubt myself as much maybe. Actually, I don't know if I would have done that or not, because everything to this point, maybe don't doubt yourself as much. I'm pretty hard on myself at first, you know, but I feel like you kind of need to be that way a little bit. You need to be your biggest critic. And maybe at first, back to the whole. Being from such a small town, you know, a certain type of a person lives in a small town like that. No offense, my whole family lives there, but they're wired a little different. They don't need much type of a thing. So when you're getting advice from people like that, like, man, you know, no one's gonna pay for that stuff. That's. Your pinstriping's too expensive. You kind of start to believe that a little bit, you know, and you kind of let that get to your head. So when you get out in the real world and, you know, maybe go to a big car show or a place where there's some real money, you're kind of trigger shy about your pricing or your, you know, your trigger shy about, you know, should I be charging this much? And then you realize that those people back home just really don't know what they're looking at. They're just not cultured in the in heart scene. So may maybe that maybe, you know, don't be as hard on yourself and don't listen to your friends and family, but also don't listen to your friends and family sometimes, because that can be. That can be a little mixture of both Like I always tell people, like my students when I teach classes, I always tell them, don't listen, don't listen to compliments your grandma gives you. You're always going to be little Brandon in your grandma's eyes. You can't do no wrong. You know what I mean? She's gonna, you know, you're the sweetest thing ever. Your work is amazing. That needs to go in one ear, out the other. Thank you, granny, I appreciate it. But take, take advice and criticism from people that know and are educated on what they're looking at. Right. You know, if a guy that's been fence driving for 20 years walks up, you have, dude, that design you just did, that is nice. Take that to heart, log that and find out why that guy maybe thinks that's nice. Pick his brain a little bit. It's easy for your friends and family to gas you up a little bit, you know?

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah, right. I grew up in small town, rural southern Illinois. And the voices I heard back then were, you get yourself a good job and good jobs were at the prison because they had good benefits and steady pay or teaching jobs. Those were like acceptable professions. Anything other than that, like, you're crazy. Why would you pursue a career where you don't get a regular paycheck? My daughter was a vocal performance major and she said her first day in class, she sat down and the professor said, congratulations, you've all won the argument. And they're like, what do you mean? Well, you've all probably had to convince or argue with your parents to pursue a career as an artist. So congratulations on winning and pursuing your passion. So right. Life of a starving artist. Yeah, you're an overnight sensation. That's 10, 15 years in the making now.

[Brandon McCoy]

Yeah, it's same thing in my hometown. It's oil field or just like ranch farm pretty much. You don't strap work boots on in the morning, come home filthy, you're not doing nothing. That's one of that, that kind of a mindset. Definitely. Now I will say this. My family was very supportive. They've always been very supportive of me. But it is funny, I, I can distinctly remember my, my Grandma, she's like 84 now. But this is probably, I don't know, probably five years ago. And I've been pinstripping for. This will be my 20, 21 years. You know, I've been going to car shows for probably 13 years now or something. And about five years ago, my grandma was like, or my nickname is Do Baby. She calls me Do Baby. She's like, do, baby. She's like, do you ever make any money going to these car shows? And I'm like, granny, like, bless your. You're so clueless. You don't even. No, I'm just. I've just been out here just not being able to pay my bills for the past, you know, 15 years. Nope, I don't make any money at all. And she just. She just can't. She couldn't wrap her mind around it. And then my dad brought her to a car show one time. Wasn't even. It wasn't even anything crazy. It was like some local car show. She just could not believe that people were walking up and they knew my name. Baffled her. Just could not wrap. Could not wrap her mind that these strangers knew who I was. And I was just like, you know, yeah, I'll put the time in. I've been out here, you know, hitting the road. You know, I've worked out there, this and that. Well, now she's got Facebook, so she sees it all the time. Also, she's all about the Facebook. She's figured out Facebook, so she sees all these people, you know, commenting and liking my stuff.

[Interviewer/Host]

Right?

[Brandon McCoy]

It.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah. Do baby is kind of a big deal. Granny. Do baby is kind of a big deal. That's funny. Well, couple. Just two left. The first one. I ask of all my guests, if we were to watch a montage of your life, what music would you pick to play in the background and watch?

[Brandon McCoy]

Man, you asked me this the other day, and I've been. I've been thinking about it, probably. I mean, there's. There's a couple songs that come to mind. One of the songs is a song by Social Distortion. Winners and Losers.

[Song Singer (Social Distortion)]

Are you happy now? With all the choices you made? Are there times in love? You know you should have stayed Will you compromise and realize the price is too much to pay? Winners, Losers.

[Brandon McCoy]

It's not one of my favorite songs, but I feel like I can relate to that song because it's kind of a song about, you know, you have choices throughout your life. You're gonna be a winner, you're gonna be a loser, you keep going down that path type of thing. But to be completely honest, a song that I listen to, I'd say five times a day. And it. No matter how bad of a mood I'm in, it will always, like, make me feel good. Sold a squeeze by Red Hot Chili Peppers.

[Song Singer (Social Distortion)]

Bad disease.

[Brandon McCoy]

And I don't even know. I don't know why. But the second that song comes on, I'm Just like, all right, today's about to be a good day. And I feel like. I feel like my. My life up to this point has been very. I've been very fortunate. I'm a very happy, funny guy. So I feel like that'd be a good background because that's a good. It's just a good upbeat song. I really like that song. Sure. Anybody that watches any of my other videos on my social media, besides my painting type stuff, knows how kind of goofy I am. You can't take me serious with anything. So I've always been the kind of the class clown guy. So that, that song, to me, kind of fits me pretty good.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah. Well, the theme of the show is becoming undone. So we go from falling apart to falling into place, having something left undone. What for? Brandon McCoy is left to do what's undone.

[Brandon McCoy]

Yeah, that's a tough one, too. I'm never full. There's always some. There's always something left. I'm never fully satisfied. But with that being said, I'm a very, very simplistic person. I. I'm not one of these guys that I don't need the big house, I don't need, you know, the brand new car. The little things in life make me the happiest. So I'm very, very, very, very easy to please. And I've always said as long as I can wake up and do whatever I want to do and not have to answer to anybody and not have a Monday, I'm doing something right. So as long as I can continue to do that, I'm not ever going to get selfish. I'm not ever going to get greedy. Obviously, there's some, you know, some accomplishments I would like to achieve. You know, I want, 20 years from now, I want people to look back, be like, man, he was a, you know, he was an amazing painter. He was even a more amazing person. And I really want to teach as many up and comers as I can. You know, whether in the future it translates into more teaching classes or, you know, giving advice to certain, you know, paint things or whatever. I'm all about that. Maybe, maybe it'll gravitate towards that. But my thing is, and I'm with this, with everybody. I know what it's like to be young and hungry and like, dream about kind of doing what I'm doing. I want everybody to have that feeling. So, like, I just want everybody to. I want everybody to win. And if I can help a little bit with helping the next cat chat come up and, you know, maybe Push him to take the next step. Or, you know, maybe that's why if you ever see me at a car, so when I see anybody interested in watching me, I always bring them in, like, hey, you know, this is why I'm doing this. If you're. Are you at all interested in pinstriping, come back here and give it a try. You know, anybody that knows me knows I'm all about that. And, yeah, you know, I really like to. I really like to do that, and I really like to teach. And I don't know, as long as I can. Like I said, as long as I can wake up happy and not have a real job, I'm okay. I'm okay with it.

[Interviewer/Host]

Absolutely. I will give you your flowers. One of the things that. That I love about your social is you'll share the tricks of the trade. You're not trying to hoard that knowledge to yourself. A lot of people, there's no shortage of ego in the auto scene and the custom car scene. And so I love the humility, and I love the fact that you're always willing to. To help that person that has a question. I mean, you. You answered a thousand emails and messages from me, so I really do appreciate that.

[Brandon McCoy]

What if it's weird? It's weird to me thinking about. I get that all the time. Someone will be like, a lot of times I'll get a message, you know, it might be a Facebook message, and they'll. They'll still. They'll always start out. I know you're probably never going to respond to this or even see this. And that's just like, I. I don't. I don't. It's just baffling to me that, like, there are truly people out there that won't respond or won't look. I just don't understand that because it doesn't. So, you know, I'll respond back. I'm like, oh, my God, you actually.

[Toby Brooks]

My dude.

[Brandon McCoy]

I'm just a pain guy, man. What's up? What are we paying on today?

[Interviewer/Host]

Right?

[Brandon McCoy]

You know, and I just. I don't know. It's weird. I don't know if it's just because I was raised a certain way or I don't. I don't know. It's strange to me that. That I get that. You know what I mean?

[Interviewer/Host]

Don't change, man.

[Brandon McCoy]

I'll never fail. My mom raised me better than that.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah, for sure. How can people follow your work? Drop those socials there. I'll be sure to drop them in the show notes. And descriptions. But where can people follow the work that you're doing?

[Brandon McCoy]

So I post a lot of my stuff on TikTok Instagram. My Instagram is Gucci underscore customs. I think my TikTok's just Gooch customs. And I'm not. I'll be completely honest, I don't even know what my Facebook is something on there. I have a business page on Facebook, but I never ever post on there. My personal page is just Brandon McCoy, but usually I'm real active on on on Tik Tok and Instagram and I do a lot of, you know, try to do a lot of tutorial stuff, a lot of paint stuff. And then every now and then I'll throw a funny video up. Anybody knows. Everybody that follows me knows I'll do some storytelling every now and then. So we keep it real around here. I'll just say that.

[Interviewer/Host]

Absolutely. Well Brandon, thank you so much for joining me. It's been a real treat. I really do appreciate your time. Thanks for coming on the show.

[Brandon McCoy]

I appreciate you having me on, man. This has been fun. Brandon McCoy Gooch Customs I'm Undone.

[Toby Brooks]

Brandon McCoy's story reminds us that becoming undone doesn't always mean everything has to fall apart. Sometimes it just means letting go of the safe and predictable to make room for what's possible. His journey from a small town kid with a sketchbook to a highly sought after artist with a coast to coast following. It wasn't built on perfection. It was built on persistence, on pride, and on the courage to go against the grain. In a world obsessed with clean lines and perfect results, Brandon chooses a different path. One that's bold, raw and unmistakably his. Maybe that's the real message here, that our work doesn't have to be flawless to be meaningful. It just has to to be ours. I'm thankful to Brandon for dropping in and I hope you enjoyed our conversation. For more info on today's episode, be sure to check it out on the web. Simply go to unownpodcast.com ep146 to see the notes, links and images related to Today's guest, Brandon McCoy.

[Brandon McCoy]

Foreign.

[Interviewer/Host]

The usual quick updates about the show.

[Toby Brooks]

Even though we've been off for a couple weeks due to the move and all, we've still managed to hang tough in the top 10 on Apple for both education and self improvement. Currently sitting at number 10 in the world. As always, thanks for your listens and your support. They mean everything and I've been pouring my everything into these episodes for years now. So I'm thrilled that at least from the looks of it, you're still digging it. So once again, my deepest thanks to you. My goal for 2026 is to get back in that top five within the education category and maybe hit the top 100 in all shows across the board around the world. With your help, we can do it. If you'd be so kind to share the show with a friend that you think might enjoy it, maybe leave a comment or a view that would be most appreciated.

[Interviewer/Host]

If you're still listening, I'd also like.

[Toby Brooks]

To invite you to check out my new molasses app [e-mail] just all one long word. Scienceofthecumback.com it's perfect if you're ready to grow, but you're not sure where to start. I built it from the ground up as an exclusive tool to help you get laser focused on your goals and then pursue them each and every day. I myself use it daily and it's helping me, so I know it can help you too. Again, that's scienceofthecumback.com check it out and subscribe.

[Interviewer/Host]

Coming up on the show, I've got.

[Toby Brooks]

A solo shot coming up next week on Resilience and Persistence that I think you'll like, so be sure to check that one out. Also, I'm working on a new whole person development series where we'll focus in with experts in mental, physical, spiritual and social growth. There'll be plenty more where that came from in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. This and more coming up on Becoming Undone Becoming Undone is a nitrohype creative production written and produced by me, Toby Brooks.

[Interviewer/Host]

Tell a friend about the show.

[Toby Brooks]

Follow along on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn at Becoming UndonePod and follow me at Toby Brooks, Ph.D. on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Check out my link tree at linktr EE backslash Toby Brooks, Ph.D. listen, subscribe and leave me a review at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Interviewer/Host]

Till next time.

[Toby Brooks]

Keep getting better.

[Brandon McCoy]

It.