Ep 324. Day 2 at Sponsor Games + Inside PodHouse San Antonio!

Summary

Podcast Summary: Side Hustle Squad – Ep 324

Day 2 at Sponsor Games + Inside PodHouse San Antonio!

Host: Mike Garvey
Date: April 9, 2026
Guests: Triplet, JT, and others

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode dives deep into Day 2 of the Sponsor Games event, where creators team up to produce branded video content under pressure. Mike, Triplet, and JT reflect on their experience working with real brand briefs, the collaborative process, key creative decisions, and the valuable feedback they received. Additionally, the team discusses the unique studio setup at PodHouse San Antonio and brainstorms improvements for their future podcasting and content creation ventures.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Sponsor Games: Real Brand Brief Challenge

• [00:52] The group recaps Day 2 at Sponsor Games, focused on receiving and executing a real brand brief—a concise creative guide from a sponsoring company.

  • “We got handed a real brand brief. And what a brief is from a brand is, ‘Hey, this is the creative that we're thinking about doing. We'd like you to take it and run with it and [it] has very specific details…’”
    — Triplet [01:18]

• Structure: Eight teams of 5-6 content creators each, collaborating to create a video for the sponsor within strict guidelines and timelines; competition adds high-stakes pressure.

  • “One shot and there was eight teams and zero room to screw up.”
    — Triplet [02:25]

• Process: Teams receive different creative prompts (e.g., a funeral procession, ambient sounds) with specific deliverables, such as using the product on camera and hitting time constraints.

• Time Pressure:

  • “Hour and 15 minutes to shoot, edit, upload and finish, right?”
    — Mike Garvey [05:03]

2. Creative Process and Teamwork

• Preplanning:

  • “We were getting ready, plotting, planning… The shoot. That was awesome, I thought.”
    — Mike Garvey [04:26]

• Role Division & Creative Tension:

  • Triplet led with “strict but constructive” direction, ensuring the team stayed efficient.
  • “You telling everyone what to do in a constructive, nicest way possible. But strict. And I like that.”
    — JT & Mike [04:39–04:52]

• Challenges: Filming all members, managing sequence shots, last-minute decisions (e.g., using keys as a prop instead of coins), and rapid editing (“Banging it out really fast…” [07:40]).

• Collaboration: JT helps solve a structural issue (“JT had a…he figured out the ending for us.” [06:29]), balancing tension and creativity under the time crunch.

• Memorable Problem-Solving:

  • “I was trying to like, find someone to film all four of us together at the end. I really wanted that bad.”
    — Triplet [06:43]

3. Lessons from Watching Other Teams

• Feedback Session: After lunch, Justin Moore (Creator Wizard) critiques each team's video as if he were the brand.

  • “Justin broke out every single video, and he broke it down as if he was the sponsor watching it and then gave constructive feedback...”
    — Triplet [03:08]

• Learning from Mistakes: Many teams missed crucial requirements—spelling the brand name wrong, not featuring the product clearly, omitting paid promotion tags, etc.

  • “All the teams missed certain things that Justin brought to our light.”
    — Triplet [03:16]

• Creative Highlights:

  • Some teams chose humor (“high school videos” [20:26]), others were more story-driven. One notable video played with the word “Shure” (brand pun) [12:11–12:18].
  • “They spelled the company's brand name wrong, and they spelled the product name wrong. And that dinged them up, but big time. But the creative, I think, was done really well.”
    — Triplet [10:38]

4. Key Moments & Quotes from Their Own Experience

• Critical Shot:

  • The team’s “money shot”—a well-timed bird flying and screeching as the mic is featured in frame, which happened serendipitously.
    “As I framed up this way, the sun was popping in on the camera. And then his hand went into the sun and the mic was there… it was actually very, very cool.”
    — Triplet [25:11]

• Creative Decision: Using jingling keys as an audio prop after an improvisational suggestion from JT—“It helped me… it triggered me in two different ways…” [14:54]

• Team Dynamics: Pressure and accountability, e.g., “I started to get annoyed...but the pressure from each of you guys was helpful...”
  — Triplet [27:25]

• Editing Under Pressure:

  • “I had to cut four minutes out and I went exceedingly fast… I almost got stressed because… I could lose this cut…”
    — Triplet [07:36]

5. Reflection on Feedback & Contest Structure

• Comeptition Critiques: Some wish the scoring process valued collaborative and production skills over test-taking speed (i.e., a written quiz was heavily weighted).
  • “I didn’t like the fact that it was so heavily based on, like, the numbers. Because some people read faster than others… they can just, like, make quick decisions.”
    — Triplet [31:12]

6. Behind the Scenes at PodHouse

• Studio Life: Lighthearted chaos in the studio, e.g., Mike on a professional call while Triplet makes jokes about “big, juicy booty” and towel usage [37:09–38:19], and banter around studio etiquette.
• Guest Management: Discussion about formalizing processes—NDAs for guests, giving out swag bags, and managing house rules and studio access [39:40–42:06].
  • “As the guest comes in, they sign an NDA… this is not a party house…” [40:01]
  • “Any guests…should get a shirt and a jersey or something.” [41:42]

7. Networking & Pitching to Brands

• Pitch Practice: The team discusses pitching to two different brands during the event. Garvey demonstrates his approach, nudged by his teammates.
  • “I'm like, hey, what's up, people? My name's Mike Garvey…” [45:31]

8. Takeaways for Listeners

• Communicating Value:

  • “This was about communicating value to a brand in 60 seconds. Get it done in an hour and deliver a product in 60 seconds, which is your video. And that’s the game.”
    — Triplet [46:39]

• Advice:

  • “If you can’t communicate clearly and quickly in a good format and fashion, authentic and yourself, you lose. Period.” [47:13]
  • “Sometimes you just got to start shooting. Because you start shooting, you deliver, you get a little better, and you just keep going on and on and on.” [47:38]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments with Timestamps

• “One shot and there was eight teams and zero room to screw up.” — Triplet [02:25]
• “You telling everyone what to do in a constructive, most nicest way possible. But strict.” — JT & Mike [04:39–04:52]
• “Justin broke out every single video, and he broke it down as if he was the sponsor watching it and then gave constructive feedback…” — Triplet [03:08]
• “They spelled the company's brand name wrong, and they spelled the product name wrong. And that dinged them up, but big time.” — Triplet [10:38]
• “As I framed up this way, the sun was… on the camera. And then his hand went into the sun and the mic was there… it was actually very, very cool. And it was like, boom. Quick, quick, quick cut right there.” — Triplet [25:11]
• “Sometimes you just got to start shooting. Because you start shooting, you deliver, you get a little better, and you just keep going on and on and on.” — Triplet [47:38]

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Suggested Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------------------|--------------| | Sponsor Games intro & team setups | 00:52 – 05:38| | Real brand brief challenge & reflection | 05:38 – 13:47| | Creative process, time pressure, and collaboration | 13:47 – 20:53| | Critiques, feedback, and learning moments | 20:53 – 31:12| | Studio / PodHouse banter & guest management | 37:09 – 43:09| | Pitching to brands, event wrap-up | 45:00 – 46:39| | Final takeaways & advice | 46:39 – 47:38|

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Tone & Vibe

The episode is energetic, candid, occasionally irreverent, and packed with real-life lessons, mishaps, and laughter. The hosts' chemistry and willingness to share both successes and blunders create a relatable and inspirational atmosphere for side hustlers and aspiring creators.

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Key Takeaways for Listeners

• Be adaptable: Embrace improvisation and let creativity flow, even under time constraints.
• Teamwork matters: Utilize each member’s strengths and encourage collaboration—even amid stress.
• Details count: Ensure you follow all requirements—paid promotion tags, correct spelling, product visibility.
• Feedback is gold: Accept criticism as a tool for growth. Learn from both your team and competitors.
• Brand communication: Whether making a 60-second video or pitching to a sponsor, communicate clearly and authentically.
• Enjoy the process: Stay lighthearted, enjoy the chaos, and build relationships along the way.

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For those who haven’t listened, this episode offers an honest, detailed look into the high-pressure world of creative brand work, what it means to work as a team, and how to turn lessons learned into future wins—both in business and content creation.

Transcript

[A]

Are you ready to kick back and get inspired? Grab your favorite drink, pop the top and join the side Hustle Squad with Mike Garvey. This podcast is the perfect resource for anyone who's already started their side Hustle or is just considering taking the lead. With in depth interviews featuring guests from the green industry and beyond, you'll gain valuable insights and learn what it takes to succeed in running a business while juggling a full time career. From personal stories to practical tips, the Soc side Hustle Squad podcast has everything you need to turn your passion into a thriving business. Now, here's your side Hustle Squad host, Mike Garvey.

[B]

What's happening all you rock stars? It's triplet here live from Podhouse Studios, San Antonio, Texas. And today I'm gonna brain dump here. I got my partner in Pod House, Mike Garvey in the house from the side Hustle Squad podcast. And I got my brother JT from his podcast is inside the mind of jt. And today we are going to be brain dumping basically our day two at sponsor games. And today was really interesting because we got handed a real brand brief. And what a brief is from a brand is, hey, this is the creative that we're thinking about doing. We'd like you to take it and run with it and has very specific details of, you know, how long they want it to be, what, what's the, the, you know, what's the hero shot inside the, the video that they want you to produce and so on and so on. Remember, this is sponsor Games with Justin Moore and it's about working with brands that will sponsor you and your podcast or your business or whatever it is. And you're expected to deliver a certain amount of deliverables. And so what we got handed today was the real brand brief. One shot and there was eight teams and zero room to screw up. So it's part of the sponsor games is imagine you have eight teams in the room. There's five or six people per team and they're each content creators and then they're expected to work together to create something. So you know, Justin really put it as a, in a twist to get people to collaborate and create and film something together that you can actually present to the brand. And everyone's got different ideas and different approaches and it's a chance to really learn together. So we're going to share with you our experience today from our team's inside look of during the filming. And then we had an opportunity after lunch to go through and watch all eight videos and sit Back and watch and then learn from them. The really cool thing about this is at the end of each video, Justin. Justin Moore, he's the guy from. Is it Content Wizard? Is it. Do you remember what it is? The Content Wizard. What's this company?

[C]

Content Wizard.

[B]

Yeah, Content Wizard.

[C]

Yeah, Creator Wizard.

[B]

Creator Wizard. Okay. Yeah, I just want to make Screw that up. So, you know, Justin broke out every single video, and he broke it down as if he was the sponsor watching it and then gave constructive feedback at the end of it. It was actually very, very interesting. It's something that I didn't expect would happen, and it was a very rewarding part of the whole sponsor games experience. And let me tell you right now, most of us missed really important factors. All the teams missed certain things that Justin brought to our light. So in this episode, we're, like, kind of breaking down what I saw from my perspective. Garvey saw from him, JT saw from his perspective. We're gonna kind of go through all that, see what worked, see what flopped, see what we laughed about, and then say, see how you as a contractor can take what we've learned together from this experience at Sponsor Games 2026. And you know how you can use film, a winning brand video for your own personal brand, or maybe a brand that you're working with or you want to work with, even if you've never, ever, ever done this kind of shit before. Let's rock and roll, Garvey. How'd it go? Because we talked about it in the podcast we released. You know, just the one right before this, because we. We knew that this. We were up against this today.

[C]

Yeah, we were doing our homework. We were getting ready, plotting, planning, and the shoot. That was awesome. I thought.

[B]

Did it go like you thought it

[C]

would exactly how I thought it would.

[D]

What?

[B]

What do you mean?

[C]

Just you telling everyone what to do in a constructive, most nicest way possible.

[B]

But. But strict.

[C]

But strict. And I like that. I'm like, yes, sir. Okay, bro.

[B]

It was. It was like we were fast paced. Can you imagine if, like, we had. What do we have? An hour and five minutes to get it done?

[C]

It was. It.

[B]

No, it was hour and 15 minutes.

[C]

Hour and 15 minutes to shoot, edit,

[B]

shoot, edit, upload and. And finish. Right?

[C]

Yeah, Right. And everyone had a different brief with a different setting and a different thing they had to do. And it was. It was really interesting how some people, they're like, oh, I'm gonna play a game of telephone and blah. Like. Like that one. You know what I mean? Or other People did different things. But like ours was like actually like ours were storyboarded. Storyboarded.

[B]

Who had to do the funeral procession thing? I don't remember that. How did that work?

[C]

It was the table right in front of us and it was the woman standing up and it was like, oh,

[D]

oh.

[B]

It was a funeral procession. It was like from the mic was dying and we needed a new. Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah, I didn't totally get that one.

[C]

No. I was like, what's happening? They're like, oh, yeah.

[B]

I'm so glad we did not get that brief. Oh my God. I would have just jumped in the river.

[C]

It's only three feet deep.

[B]

Broke my neck in the shallow ass water.

[C]

Jeez, jtb, wheeling you around forever. I don't know.

[D]

I wasn't really a fan of that. I was like, yeah, no, I get. Everybody was cheering every on and it's like ours. Ours seemed more storyboarded and we had more little clips.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Too.

[B]

We had the storyboard figured out, you know, except the end wasn't really clear. JT had a. He figured out the ending for us. That was really.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was cool. Yeah. And we all had to be in it at some point.

[B]

I was trying, remember, I was trying to like find someone to film all four of us together at the end. I really wanted that bad.

[C]

I'm like, just give me like a 20, 20 year old girl that knows how to operate a phone. Like there's no.

[B]

Or if you know a seven year old kid.

[C]

Seriously. Yeah, yeah. You could hand them. I got, son.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

I still think we should have put your big booty comment in there, dude.

[B]

What? I would, I would have. I was trying to actually, because I thought it would be fun, but the audio was not really good on it because of the way it was set up. But yeah, that little. That little joke was kind of last minute.

[C]

Oh, on the stairs. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

So. But listen, so we had 50 seconds, right? So we shot all those, those clips just so you know. There was a couple of like long takes and we would just let. Let it ride so I'd have a chance for editing. But when I uploaded all the videos, it was like almost five minutes.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

So I had to cut four minutes

[C]

out and I'm just.

[B]

And I went. I went exceedingly fast. More normal. Faster than I normally would where I almost get stressed because I'm like, I'm gonna. I don't. I don't wanna. What if I lose this cut and then I gotta go find it? Again and then try and get it out of my camera back if it's

[C]

really important fine art.

[B]

And I was just like banging it out really fast and just. I got it down to like a minute three and I'm like, okay, I can easily cut this to. I can cut four seconds out easily. And then we went out and watched it and yeah, it was. It was quite a lot of fun.

[C]

I thought it was. Was really cool. And then to like, all right, now we go to lunch and then we're gonna come back and he's going to analyze these like, hard. And he did.

[B]

So, you know, Joe. Joe just thought we just hit a smashing home run. Like, we were victors, you know, like we were the ones, right? And I felt. I felt pretty confident, but I. I had this sense of like, there's a lot of good creators in here. We got 50 creators in the room, you know, like. But the thing is, like, our table, our team was fairly small and you. We, the three of us know each other and I was just gonna bully my way into like, yeah, let's go. But can you imagine if. If, you know. And I love Paul Jameson, but if he was there, he. He would have thrown a completely different vibe into it and it might have changed the pace and then we would have had some creative conflicts potentially. And so it is really interesting like that.

[C]

But even those other groups, some of them are like, yeah, like those. Someone. I don't know how those people all made it work either. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you saw some of that.

[B]

Yeah, they got it done. I. I actually really liked the one. I like the one where they talked about, you know, someone dying in the river or the rivers, like, so let's just set the. It was. I don't know how the brief was set up, but it was. Imagine taking this microphone that you plug into your phone. It was a. It was a sure. MV88. You know, mobile. Mobile phone that you can just. Or mic that you plug into your phone and then use the Motive video app and you can just record and get all the audio and have all the four different stereo and cardenoid and all that. All those different things. Right. So the. The sense was this. It's like record a scene. The way they worked it out, it's like they're going to record a scene and I don't know what they did, but they were like talking. It was real noisy and loud. Yeah, it said, hey, this is. They always dye the river green for St. Patrick's Day. And then, yeah, it was like, they had to figure out what they.

[A]

Wait, what?

[C]

Someone died in the river. It was the game. Yeah. The telephone game.

[B]

Right.

[C]

Yeah. And then it ended up.

[B]

So they. They. The. The. The. No, the. The un. Unreliable audio. By not using the mic, you couldn'. Then you were, like, guessing what they said. It was like. That was the kind of. The premise of it. It was very clever the way they did it. And there was probably like, six different ones, and, you know, all these different cuts. It would. I think they did a really good job, but landed.

[D]

It was spilling it wrong.

[B]

They spelled the company's brand name wrong, and they spelled the product name wrong.

[C]

Wrong in that.

[B]

And that dinged them up, but big time. But the creative, I think, was done really well.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And the other. The other one that they did. I don't know what the briefing was, but the one that I liked was when they. You know, this is a sure mic, which is S H U R E cool little remote podcasting mic, you know, on the fly, on your phone. In fact, I do like that one quite a lot. I used. I ran one of those for, like, two years. The one. The model prior to that one.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

I ran it for, like, two years, and I lost it in Florida, and I never bought a new one.

[D]

Well, we got a new one coming.

[C]

And you can do podcasts. Yeah, right into it.

[B]

Right into it, bro. I would just set. I would set my phone up.

[C]

Yeah, that's cool.

[B]

On a. On a tripod. And I'd put it in this. In that. That dual setting. And then it would. It would go back and forth, and then. So I'd set it in between whoever I was interviewing. I'd put it on the motive app and just boom, It's a. It's Motive is Sure app. Sign for that, and I just press go. I still use that motive app today. And we're not officially even sponsored by sure yet. But, you know, we're gonna talk to Mario tomorrow. We'll see. But yeah, it was. It was actually. It was a mic, and I. I actually like it more than the. The lapel DJI mics. You know, I mean, for the right scenarios, I think it's a really fantastic mic. But that. That creative part was. They. They had that pun of like, are you sure that this is what we're talking about? Are you sure you want to do this?

[C]

That.

[B]

And they. They kept saying the word sure, but in the wrong context. And so it was very clever and funny. I thought that was.

[C]

Well, yeah. Are you sure? Blah, blah. Yeah, like, they you down the shore, whatever. They kept using the shore, you know, Now I can't think of anyone clearly.

[B]

They had to just jump into chat CBT and give me 12 different to say, sure. And they just banged it out. And so it was fast, it was creative, right? Yeah. And so. Hold on one second. Let's pause.

[C]

Hey, what's going on, guys? With Jobber, you can easily manage jobs, track your team, get paid faster, all from one simple app. Join thousands of satisfied lawn care professionals who trust shopper to keep their business growing strong. Visit the link in the bio today and start your free trial.

[B]

Hey, guys. Adam Fullerton here with Branded Bull as a proud sponsor of the side Hustle squad podcast. We're all about helping lawn care and landscaping businesses make their mark and stand out from the competition. Visit [e-mail] to learn more about our professional branding website and graphic design services and how we can help your business us look awesome and grow. I needed a little bit of time before we began. We. We came in, we found our seat and got it all ready, and I was ready to kind of, like, sit in and, like, we're gonna figure it out. Not a big deal. And then I was like, no, I gotta walk this. I gotta walk out there a little bit and figure out where our first couple takes are. And I walked out that front door and made that right hand turn and saw that big, beautiful tree. And I knew it was my opening shot. I was like, this is my opening shot.

[C]

Started off great.

[B]

My opening shot. And here's the cool thing is I was. I was. I was trying to figure it out. This is funny because this. You guys don't know this, but I was trying to figure something out, and jt, like, kind of interrupted my. My thought process, and he, like, pulled his keys out of his pocket, and he was kind of jingling them, and, you know, he was like, hey, here's the keys. I couldn't find the change like you asked for, but, yeah, these keys. This could work. And I. And I was a little bit like, just give me a minute. I'm trying to figure this out, you know, Like, I was in my brain. In my brain. That's what I was thinking, right? But as soon as he jangled them in his hands, I was like, oh. I was like, oh, yeah, those. That will work really good. I. I like that maybe better than coins and change.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah, because he had the coins go everywhere, so.

[B]

But. But in that sense, you know, like, I'm controlling my emotions and. And, like, how to go things and it was so fast paced. It just. It wasn't like I was pissed at my little brother, but it was just like, well, I'm not ready for it yet. I'll. I'll ask for it when it's ready. But he, you know, he. He fed it to me at the perfect moment that. For my mind to capture it. And the key sounded so good in his hands. I was like, oh, this. I'm gonna go straight from this beautiful tree. I'm going straight to the. I'm going straight to those keys. I. It, like, it really triggered me. It helped me, you know, it triggered me in two different ways. So came out, opening shot to the tree. And then, you know, I had Joe, like, walk in really fast. And. Did you. Did you like? I was like, hey, if you can't act, bro, I'm gonna. I'm gonna be yelling at you, like, do it again.

[C]

Go.

[B]

And he. He was very responsive.

[C]

He was. Yeah, about it. For a moment, he's like, no, no, I can. I can do this.

[D]

Yes.

[C]

I can take direction. Like. Like, he was like, maybe somebody else want to try. Like, he could have backed down. He was like, nope, okay. Y.

[B]

Well, and he doesn't even know me. Remember, he didn't check my YouTube channel?

[C]

No, I asked him.

[B]

Yeah, I know. I saw. So here he is. He's got 75,000 followers on YouTube. He's, you know, generating an income. And like, he could have easily been like, hey, wait a minute, let me see what you're trying to do. Because I do this all the know, like, he could have easily flexed on me, but he just, like, he just was like, okay, you guys seem to know what you're doing. You're working as a click. I'll just gonna go, let's go.

[C]

And when he went up there and he was like, I mean, when he was up there, he goes. These guys, I owe this, everything to them for producing this. This is like, unbelievable. Like, these professionals. He was.

[B]

By the time I showed him the third. The third take, I was like, I gotta watch this real quick. He, like, came over my shoulder to go like, let me see what this guy's doing, you know? But by the third take, he, like, looked at it, and then he looked at me. He's like, oh, like, yeah. He didn't say it, but in his eyes, he was like, okay, this is.

[C]

This is cool.

[B]

Yeah, this is gonna work. And then I was like, next. I'm like, no, no, you gotta go faster. And you know, like, why. Why did you move so fast? You can't walk out of frame. You gotta keep walking straight, you know, like, wow, let's go. You know?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And. And I was just. I was wishing I could get inside the mind of Will he. That was filming us. He was. Because Joe's, like, in the. He's like one of the stars of

[C]

the reality show Reality Happening. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. So, you know, and I think that was helpful, too, because he was already, like, in I'm the talent phase. Like, well, they're already filming me. I might as well let you film me too. You know what I mean? So I think that really worked in my favor.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Because if he wasn't part of the talent on that side, he might have pushed back more.

[C]

I thought it was great. You told him to get out of your shot.

[B]

Yeah, he was embarrassed, too. He wasn't.

[C]

He's kind of like a younger kid, like, trying to.

[B]

Yeah, he's like, yeah, you're right.

[C]

I was in it. Yeah, you're right. Yeah.

[B]

So I kicked him out of our shot. The videographer for the. For sponsor games.

[C]

Hey, that was our set.

[B]

Yeah, dude. So, you know, because he's supposed to be filming us like a fly on the wall, you know.

[C]

Right. Yeah.

[B]

You can't be.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So I just knew we were gonna go from that tree to the water. And then Jason, you know, interjected the keys and I. The keys was one of my favorite parts, the way we picked the keys up.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

It was because it was early on in. There is early on. It, like, kind of shook you. And we weren't even. We weren't even technically using the M in the whole content piece yet, because it was like, as he walks out real quick, I'm just going to try and explain it to the audience. Walks out of this museum real quick and, like, looks up into this beautiful, majestic tree and then hear some birds. And, like, it just stopped him in his tracks. And he slowed down and he was like, hey, wait a minute, let me

[C]

pull out this microphone.

[B]

I got this mic in my pocket. I want to use it, you know?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And then so, like, when he reached in to get the mic, his keys were on top of it and they fall to the ground. And I catch this really close up scene, and this keys just explode into the microphone on the. On the ground, which was really cool. And then he reaches in, pulls his mic out, opens it up, sticks it on the phone, and then he hangs it to the sky and walks down the riverwalk trying to catch audio. So that was the whole thing.

[C]

Scenic things that we were supposed to catch that capture. Correct.

[B]

And that was. That was done in like 12 seconds. Just like, wow, boom. Capture your face.

[D]

Yeah, well, that was the point of. That was the point of. Of our. Our little video capture. The brief ambient sounds on the riverwalk.

[C]

Right.

[B]

That was part of our brief.

[D]

That's why I think. I think it was. We. Obviously, we may not have won that, but I think technically wise, I think we did. We did our job. We did everything.

[C]

Yeah. Ours looks like a professionally produced piece where some of. Some of them, they were trying to be funny. They were high school videos. They were like the one you make in high school. Yeah, I agree. Like, you know, oh, make a video about whatever. You know what I mean? You know, and that's what it reminded me of, where ours was, like, legit.

[B]

Did you like how I made the other team go back down the stairs?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So we were. I was headed towards the waterfall and I thought, hey, there's a lot of stairs and steps and maybe I can record the steps. Like the feet. Right. And as I was. We were trying to shoot the foot, the way the feet hit. Right. I was doing the frame shot where he's going to walk down the stairs holding the mic to the air. Because what the audience that's listening to the podcast right now doesn't know is that the. The. The physical mic had to be in our shot more than 50%.

[C]

Right. And we had to be using the mic, which was another mic, the same product.

[B]

The prop mic on his had the real mic on mine that was doing all the video. So that was kind of the setup. But I was trying to set up, like, hey, you know, he's going to be, like, filming in the air, trying to look for birds, and then he was going to walk down the stairs. And then I wanted to capture the. The moment of the stairs, like, the feet on the stairs. And I thought this was a spot since each of us team members had to be in that. In the film, in the 50 seconds. That was one of the requirements of our. I was going to have someone, you know, Jason walking up the stairs as he's walking down the stairs as that framework. And then somehow I was going to capture the feet movement down the steps before we went to the water. So I was just trying to, like, in the moment, like, oh, I'm just going to fit this in now. Because what I didn't want to do is film a bunch of shots, and then I wanted it to be all sequential. I didn't want to have to go, oh, Well, I shot the. The water scene after I shot the foot scene. So I'm going to do the scene to the water scene.

[C]

Like. Right.

[B]

No, it's just got to be sequential. That's. We're going to go from the. The tree to the keys to the setup walking down the stairs, straight to the foot shot, over to the water. Let's get the water. Like, that was kind of the. That's the way my brain was thinking. But when. When all those people ran up the steps, I was like, oh, that's the shot.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

And I. They were a team, and they were on timeline, too. I'm like, can you guys do that again so I can film it, please?

[C]

Yeah, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was cool.

[B]

And then. So I think that works out really well because all those feet coming up the steps, it was really, really good.

[C]

I loved it.

[B]

That was just like, on the fly.

[C]

And then. So then we went from. From that. We got everything critiqued. And then what was after that meeting with the. The Q A with the sponsors.

[B]

Well, wait a second. Let me. Let me finish the video. Yeah, I think this is where we don't have to hang there long, but I think one of the. The. The coolest spots. I mean, I remember I asked that guy with. He was dragging that little squeaky ass. Oh, yes, the squeaky card. I'm like, hey, can you stop and get on film? He's like, yeah, that was fun. But the real money shot for me was I wanted to hear that crackle or grackle or whatever that bird is called. That little.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Loud pitch, you know? And so we went to the trees. JT identified that, too, I think. Right.

[C]

He's like, where they were?

[B]

They're over there. We gotta go over there. So we ran over there, and, dude, just by happenstance, just so easily, like, we barely. I was filming it. Him was pointing that camera to the sky, and the bird flew right over, and it. It yelled at him as it flew over him. And then I had to pan because he was moving. But I don't know if you remember on the video. You'll see it again. We'll show it again tomorrow. But when we win and they play it again for us. Let's hope.

[D]

Seems like a popularity contest.

[B]

Maybe, maybe. But as I framed up this way, the sun was. Was kind of popping in on the camera. And then his hand went into the sun and the mic was there, and it was like, back.

[C]

Really backflip of the sun.

[D]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

It was actually very, very cool. And it was like, boom. Quick, quick, quick cut right there.

[C]

That's awesome.

[B]

And when I had that shot, I was like, that is the money shot that's gonna save us.

[D]

Well, Mario already said they got. They picked a winner. He said they already picked it.

[B]

Yeah, but he's gonna announce it tomorrow.

[D]

But we did have lunch or dinner with him.

[B]

Well, that's what I'm saying.

[D]

Well, he does know that I bought those two mics, so.

[B]

And I tried to offer to buy him drinks because. Well, when he said the Palms, he was in our boat for the riverwalk to have dinner with.

[A]

Right?

[B]

And I asked him like, hey, Mario, just tell us straight, bro. Tell us who had the best video. And he's like, you'll find out tomorrow. All business. Strictly business.

[D]

This technical. I think technically we. We hit all that.

[C]

Yeah. On all that, on the production.

[D]

Everybody else trying to be funny, but we took it serious and. And connected all the dots, I think. So.

[B]

So Jason came up with the final. The final scene, which I think was great. Just us walking, catching him and the way we would set up and. And, you know, if you guys wouldn't have kept pressing me on time. I was getting. I started to get annoyed. Like, I got time. It was good. You guys kept pressing me because I suddenly looked at it.

[C]

He's good at the time management and telling you it's time.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[D]

Because I know how my brother wrote.

[C]

You could hear, like, the 50 year, like, the 50 years bond in his voice. He's like, come on.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, we should still be their shoot right now. It was. It was good. The timing was good. It gave me 45 minutes to edit, and it took a solid half an hour to put. Put all those clips together and trim them down. And then I had, like, another five minutes, and I took you guys outside. We watched it. I wanted to do a little bit more editing. And you're like, no, you gotta load it. Load it now. And then it was gonna take like, 15, 20 minutes to load. And I. Then that's when I was like, oh, wow.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

I. I might have lost it just from time wise. So I think. I think it all worked out. And. And the truth be told, like, that's what I'm saying is, like, there was moments during the. The creative process where I was getting annoyed and I was, you know, like, no, no, no. Like, and. But. But the pressure from each of you guys was helpful as much as, like, it was everywhere else when I was yelling at Joe, do it again. Bastard. Let's go.

[C]

Are you Gonna keep your arm up in the frame or are you gonna move it over here?

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

So that was cool.

[B]

It was good.

[C]

You were in your element.

[B]

But the critiquing was all great. I think when he went up there and, and gave us all solid feedback on that, that was very, very. It was instrumental in us, in us learning, like, what to do next time.

[C]

Yeah, absolutely.

[D]

Well, I don't think we normally would have used Joe's shirt. You know, I think, I think that was just something. He was just like found something to.

[B]

Well, let, let's explain to the audience because, like, well, what happened was there was like an actual role play. So there was, there was like make believe critique, like as if.

[C]

Right. He was the brand and we were submitting that pie of work for approval or edits.

[B]

And so he had to come up with like, reasons why he would maybe want you to change things a little bit. And so for us, he didn't have a lot to go off of because we kind of landed all the stuff spots right. We spelled everything right. We got all the stuff done right. The paid promotion, all that stuff was in there. And so he was like, you know, Joe, all those, you know, those, your shirts got all those advertisements for those other companies on there. We think it's conflict for our brand. And so like, yeah, like it gave him a chance.

[C]

Wear that. Yeah, right.

[B]

I mean, so there, there was, there was good quality learning in that aspect of as well. I, I did. I like that quite a bit.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. You know, you, you had mentioned it would be interesting, maybe a more level playing field because, like, how much of that counted towards, you know, the top eight finalists?

[C]

None.

[B]

Yeah, you know, it's like all of it was that testing and you know, I wish, I wish our. I, you know, that they should have awarded a certain team a certain amount of points.

[C]

Yeah, you get 10 points.

[B]

Yeah. Like whoever's at that table, let's just, I don't know, Logan or Liz or, you know, whoever. Who. Maybe Joe B. Or, or John B. Like, maybe if they're at that table, like whoever's at a certain table maybe could have scored more points because they hit all the things and like, you know, maybe they could have said, hey, this is first, second, third place and then could have scored points and then each team member, like, I, I don't. It's so hard. I'm not, yeah, I'm not trying to critique it too heavily, but I feel

[C]

like it shouldn't be off. The finalist should be off at 2020 question test that you have to answer seconds. Seconds. And you're not really. I can't even the screen. You know what I mean? Yeah, it's okay.

[B]

But what's about, like, filming under pressure and getting that timeline.

[C]

Yeah. Opposed to.

[B]

Right.

[C]

Multiple choice. Getting it the most quickly.

[B]

Yeah. Well, it was that. I did like that, but I didn't like the fact that it was so heavily based on, like, the numbers. Because some people read faster than others, some people comprehend things faster than others, and they can just, like, make quick decisions. So.

[C]

Well, yeah, I'm like. I'm like, how are people answering? And you're like, people read fast.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

I'm on like, the fifth word of the question. Like, I don't read that fast. You see it Answering. I'm like, like, like, why are we. Who reads like that? Like.

[D]

But, hey, God bless Molly's witchcraft, bro. Yeah, dude.

[B]

Well, I. I do think it was good. It would have been cool if somehow there's a way for them, like, the in the field stuff or the person that went up on stage to do a. A real role play and, like, did really well. They could have got.

[C]

That should be point. If you go up there.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

If you go up there, that's. Maybe they don't tell you, but, like, hey, they're. We're analyzing different things. There's. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

So I think. I think some of that could have done. But, you know, he's also filming the reality show. Yeah.

[C]

He's not running alive. Yeah.

[B]

So they need.

[C]

They need a simple way to test it out.

[B]

So it just so happens, you know, I. I had snuck away to use the restroom. So I'm in there, you know, got my man junk in my hand. I'm going to the bathroom, right? And someone says to me something as they, like, come around the thing. And I look over and it's Justin. He's got his man thing hanging his hand. He's doing his thing in there. And he's like, how's. You know, he's like talking to me. Like, usually I don't talk to people when I got my dick in my hand. I usually don't. I just that, you know, I talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime, pretty much like a partition.

[C]

Like.

[B]

No, no, it's no partition.

[C]

And you gotta keep your head straight. There's a partition you could turn. There's no partition. You keep it straight. Am I right? Dude, you turned your head.

[D]

Not to get sidetracked, but you just thought. You just made me think of something. Dude. I went into A bar recently with the partitions were. Were clear.

[C]

What's the point? A spray deflector.

[D]

And I'm like. It was literally.

[B]

It was clear. It was like clear plastic.

[D]

I'm like, what the.

[C]

Well, you know what I'm saying, If. If there's no partition, you keep your head straight and you talk. You talk to the wall. Yeah, Justin, things going great. Yeah, it's great. But if there's a partition here, you're like, yeah, man. Yeah, you can turn.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

What did you do?

[B]

Well, so. I mean, so if. If truth be told that, you know, there was. There was a urinal between us, you know, he didn't.

[C]

Oh, good.

[B]

He didn't just, like, come right next to me.

[C]

He went, okay, so if there's a urinal between us, you could do a 45. A 45 degree.

[B]

You can barely turn your head.

[C]

Yeah, yeah. Ye.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

There's etiquette here.

[B]

Yeah. But as soon as someone comes in the middle, you, like, you can't. Yeah.

[C]

Oh, God.

[B]

Flip back straight. So we finished. We know, doing our thing. We put our man junk away, and then, like, we're. We're washing our hands.

[D]

In this case, he was just like.

[B]

And as. As we. As he goes, just like. Like a little. Like, little simple. So as we leave, we're walking to the museum, and I was. And I was like, hey, just wanted to throw this out there. I mean, it would be. I don't remember how I said it, but it was like, hey, what's a guy got to do around here to, you know, maybe grab an interview with you on his podcast? And he's like, oh. Oh, yeah. Like, I'm down. That would be cool. Can you at least give me a chance to, you know, like. Like, how did he say it? Like, more like, can you let the dust settle from the event? Like, it's got. I need a little bit of time. And I'm like, no, no, no, I. I totally get it. I just wanted to throw that bug in your ear. Love to get you on in the future. I know, I know. The event's got a lot going on. He's like, sure would have been nice to make an appearance at Pod House, though. And I was like, one of these days, we'll make that happen. And then we went down. I was like, I'm traveling the rest of the month. You know, you got a lot going on. I'll reach out to you and I'll shoot you a message in April. He's like, cool. Yeah, it'd be great. I'd love to get on.

[D]

I'd really like to see you guys start incorporating some video, though, for.

[B]

We will. Per.

[D]

Pot House.

[B]

Yeah, Pot House one we did.

[C]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[B]

Pothouse one. We have video. It was. And I saw.

[D]

I saw a few clips, but it would be cool.

[C]

Like, she could see the whole episode.

[B]

Trust and believe, bro. It's coming.

[C]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[B]

You can see your little boop thing on film. Yeah, we. We don't need that on video right now.

[C]

Oh, you know, we didn't talk about how you were on the. The call, the big client call yesterday over at that desk.

[B]

Oh, yeah. So last night. Last night, after we did our. Our podcast on day one, you know, our debriefing, I got on a. I got on a Zoom call with one of the clients in. In Pod House, everything's supposed to be a studio, supposed to be quiet on the set, and Garvey comes walking down the steps half naked, talking about his shower and how he had to use a towel, you know, on his big, juicy booty. Like, I'm like that.

[C]

I used a big towel as a washcloth because JT's just sitting here on his phone. I'm like, oh, man. It was like. You're like, how was it? I was like, oh, I got used a towel as a washcloth in there because my ass is so big. And I started, like, demonstrating, like, the flossing of, like.

[B]

And meanwhile, Jason doesn't say a thing. I'm on a zoom call with a client in San Diego. San Francisco.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

You know, and you're like, guys, million dollar client.

[B]

And. And I turn, and I'm like, garvey

[D]

on the phone, bro.

[C]

Like, oh, I'm sorry, man. That's what it's all about, right? Jesus, the chaos.

[B]

Hey, one.

[D]

One, dude, my attention span can go from like this to, like this in, like, mere seconds, right?

[C]

You lost. It's time.

[B]

So. But the one. One cool thing is we did have several people. We had lots of podcast. Pod House, you know, like, interest inquiries. Yeah, yeah, Inquiries and so forth. And a lot of podcasters were there, and they wanted to know more about what we're doing and everything, right? So there's two or three people. I'm gonna get Zoe on the show. Yeah, she was fascinating. I think she's going to be great, a great guest. But we. We fig. Need to have a short, quick NDA, because if we're at a convention like that and we want to bring someone back, like, we're here for three, four days, right? So we. You Know, we might have two different guests each day. So eight people could potentially roll through Pot house while we're recording, you know, have a cocktail with us or have, you know, snacks or drinks.

[C]

I think that would be perfect. Yeah. You could almost do, hey, a 5:30 and then do a dinner and then an after dinner guest. Yeah, right. Like that's manageable, I think.

[B]

Yeah. But you could potentially do two or three a day.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

And then have a chance for us to do two or three independent ones.

[C]

Correct.

[B]

So we can really bash. Record lots of stuff. But you know, as the guest comes in, they sign an NDA that, you know, they, they gotta go home. This is not a party house.

[C]

You have to leave your transportation.

[B]

Yeah. Have your. We're not taking you home. We're not break picking you up and taking you away. Like you got to handle your stuff and you can't share our location.

[C]

Yeah. And it's almost like once your interview's over, you know.

[D]

Bye.

[B]

Bye.

[C]

Thank you.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[D]

Unless they're midgets. And then we can negotiate. Negotiates.

[B]

Well, but you know what, what's interesting there, there is a potential to have a small gathering. You know, like, hey, we're gonna have dinner at 8. We're gonna do a couple things. We're gonna have dinner and we'll have, you know, talk and then you guys can take off because like at this particular house, it's amazing. By the way, congratulation. Good job. But like the one that we that had, like when at the compound we had in Las Vegas, easily could have said, hey, you guys gonna have to step outdoors. You know, we have Pothouse Studios or we're gonna have, you know, kit studios or sponsor game studios or whatever brand that we might be working with inside the house. Have two or three different studios. But that was big enough and the weather was, was nice enough. Could have stepped outdoors and guys could have been playing pickleball and just talking and hanging out.

[C]

Hanging out. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Hey, we want you to have dinner with us. Thanks for being on the show. This was great. I don't want to like use and abuse him. Kick him to the curb.

[C]

No, no, no, no.

[B]

That cool experience.

[C]

But I agree.

[B]

At the same time. And then give them a swag bag or something to that effect.

[C]

Thanks for coming. You know, that needs to be.

[B]

Any guests that needs to be a thing. When they come in, they're going to get a shirt and a jersey or something.

[C]

Well, that's like, like, you know, even unlike all the late night shows and stuff, like that or, you know, you come on the green room. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

I mean, green room.

[C]

Yeah, yeah. You have a whole thing set up and you know. Oh, you walk away with a whole bag of stuff or whatever.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

You know, you guys can just have some printed copies of that.

[B]

Right?

[D]

Like you don't have to do the docusign. Just carry, you know, 10 freaking copies of it just in case. That way they just sign.

[C]

Right. Or just have it at the house.

[B]

What are you, what are you old or something? Yeah, I'm just saying.

[C]

Then am I gonna get a. Yeah,

[B]

of course you can do the facsimilar. Yeah. You want to use. No, use the DocuSign. You email it to them. We have it for our records and it's, it's a piece of. Because, you know, like, think about it. What. I want 10 papers. What am I going to do with them? Put them in my backpack.

[D]

I'm just saying, like, we're going to

[B]

put them in a document to the cloud, to the sky, where. I mean, bro, we're with the ages here. Because we, we want, you know, we have permission to use the audio like for our podcast. Like all that stuff has to happen. So this, this, this.

[C]

Yeah, you're going to be on video.

[B]

Yeah. The second voyage of Pot House. I think it's a big success.

[C]

Yeah, I think so too. I've been like, just figuring more things out.

[D]

Was thinking, dude, because when are you. When are you coming back into California next time?

[B]

Sunday.

[D]

Yeah, so you, you'll be back in California Sunday to win.

[C]

Sunday to Saturday. Oh, well, now we're. Then we're going to Vegas.

[D]

Because I would much rather have you in person in this, in the studio than, than, like, you know, doing it over the, the. The ether.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

What time you land?

[C]

Sunday, Saturday night.

[B]

Oh, Saturday night. And then maybe, you know, I'll.

[C]

Or during the day Sunday, I'll let

[B]

you drive my truck because I'm probably going to want to see my wife on Sunday for that because I haven't seen her in two weeks, so.

[C]

Well, I can always also fly it on Sunday, so you could have.

[B]

You're more than welcome to come. I'd love for you to see the ranch and things like that.

[C]

Right. But then I can evaporate.

[B]

Yeah, we either Uber you over to his house and you can sit down and do a. Yeah, a show.

[D]

Well, I think it'd be cool if you were there too, cuz I actually haven't had two guests at the same time, you know, so be able to use My board and stuff.

[C]

Sorry, Mrs. Triplet.

[B]

Yeah, sorry, Mrs. Triplet, I haven't seen you in two weeks. But I'm gonna go.

[C]

I can come back out to Florida. I mean, California at any time.

[B]

We'll figure it out.

[C]

Yeah, yeah. Don't worry.

[D]

Same.

[C]

I think there's some dates that I. I am back.

[B]

Okay, well, let's button this up. Let's leave it at this day. Two sponsor games did not let us down. It was a good, good time.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

And, yeah, I was super excited about it.

[C]

Oh, and then we also pitched to two brands. We. We're in the competition.

[B]

We did pitch to two brands.

[C]

Well, you did because you got the savvy.

[B]

That was funny. He's like, I'm gonna pitch to this brand. And you know, like, you were like, hi, my name is Mike Garvey.

[C]

I'm like, ah, this. Get over here.

[B]

And so I sat down. I'm like, hey, what's up, people? My name's Mike Garvey.

[D]

Twins.

[B]

All right. You got any final words?

[C]

No. This has been great.

[B]

Well, we're gonna do another one. We'll do a follow up to this in Vegas.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

So we can. Because we. We don't. You're not going to be around for the finale at three.

[C]

No, no, Your.

[B]

Your flight takes off early, but. So we'll. We'll finish it.

[C]

I can't wait to hear how the rest goes. And then we'll.

[B]

We'll.

[C]

We'll do a final.

[B]

I'm still trying to bribe the.

[C]

I know it ain't wor. And you tried with the. The one judge, like, I really love your book. Can you come scientist? She's like, yeah, sure.

[B]

Yeah. So, you know, try surpr. We'll see, but we'll. We'll see what that looks like. We'll. We'll have to get that. So you have any final words?

[C]

Not right now.

[D]

I don't either, man. I had a good time, though.

[B]

All right, cool, man. Let me button this out. So. All right, look, this wasn't about just making a cute little video today. This was about communicating value to a brand in 60 seconds. Get it done in an hour and deliver a product in 60 seconds, which is your video. And that's the game. Now, whether you're trying to land a sponsor or sell a job or just get someone to trust in you enough to pick up the phone to do business with you, like, this is the. This is the way we have to do it today. And if you can't communicate clearly. Clearly and quickly. And you know, in a, in a, in a good format and fashion, authentic and in yourself. You lose. Period. So take what we learned today and apply it to your next video that we just shared with you and give those things some thoughts and stop overthinking. Sometimes you just got to start shooting. Because you start shooting, shooting, you deliver, you get a little bit better, and you just keep going on and on and on. So that's it. We're going to catch you on the next one as soon as possible. Pod House Studios, San Antonio, Texas is out for today and we're going to be at Pothouse Studios in Las Vegas, Nevada next week. And man, this has been a blast. Catch you on the next one.

[A]

Thanks for tuning in to the side Hustle Squad Podcast with Mike Mike Garvey. We hope you enjoyed this episode and gained valuable insights to help you succeed in your Side Hustle journey. Connect with Mike using the links in the podcast description. If you love the show, please leave us a well worded five star review on Apple Podcasts. Your feedback and support help us grow and continue to provide you with the best content. And don't forget to follow the show to be notified when the next edition of the side Hustle Squad podcast is available. We have many exceptions, exciting guests and topics lined up so you won't want to miss a single episode. Thanks again for listening and we'll catch you next time on the side Hustle Squad podcast.