← The $100M Entrepreneur Podcast
The $100M Entrepreneur Podcast
How to Build a $100M Brand When You Can't Afford Expensive Advertising
00:44:29
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- [00:00]
Danny
People did feel like they were becoming a part of it. So then in turn, we started being a lot more upfront, honest, and raw. Once I had sustainability and the money, I stayed that way. Everything that I want to be, to be the best man that I could be, is what I focus on now. All of these profound moments in my life came from what the business has taught me.
- [00:21]
Podcast Host
So, Danny, your first hundred million, did you notice? Was it a celebration? Did it just roll through? How did that happen?
- [00:28]
Danny
You know, I've heard that there's people that it doesn't affect or they don't even notice. I very much so noticed. Yeah, I was going to do absolutely anything possible that year to get there. And so it was like. It was a milestone in my life. I actually have, like. I have a tattoo right here that it looks like, like a dollar kind, and it says 100 million. And got like a, you know, a special necklace. Hang on.
- [00:49]
Podcast Host
Did you get it beforehand or did,
- [00:50]
Danny
you know, had to be after. I remember we were, like, so close to it, and it was like, you know, it's coming down to, you know, the end of holiday, really. And we were looking at her just like, so close. So close. Come on.
- [01:04]
Podcast Host
It's almost like I want to buy $1,000 worth of my own stuff. Just so we take over.
- [01:09]
Danny
These conversations were definitely.
- [01:13]
Podcast Host
So let's go back then, because obviously Huntington beach, the beginning, I guess, though, that culture of Huntington definitely had an impact on the start.
- [01:23]
Danny
Absolutely. So. So really the impact from the start is that I grew up in Anaheim, California, so that's where a lot of the influence of writer culture and stuff came from. Got like, you know, introduced, like, say, the elements of hip hop and whatnot at an early age. Now you fast forward a little bit, and I go to, like, south Orange county later in, like, in high school, and then right when I graduated, went to Huntington. So it was really a culmination of. Of everything. All the cultures mixed in there. I kind of. I took a nice little tour of Orange county, you know, so it was taking all the subcultures that I had been a part of and then basically expressing, you know, at an older age, for one, probably that I miss them, you know, being younger. Oh, yeah. You know, and then. And then for two, just the expression of being able to be a part and be able to pull creativity from. From the passion and the love for those cultures.
- [02:19]
Podcast Host
Yeah. So one of the things I don't think a lot of people realize is that to build a business this big, the culture is really important.
- [02:26]
Danny
Yes.
- [02:26]
Podcast Host
And you've done an amazing job of the culture, not just being your team, but being your customer base. Right on purpose, planned. Did it just happen? How did you get that culture in your customers?
- [02:39]
Danny
So I think in the beginning, the thought was I was going to sell to people who were me. Now, somewhere along the way, I learned that a great marketer can market to anybody. You should know how demographics move, how they feel, what they want, what they value, what their daily life looks like. If it's someone that's, you know, like, I. Like I use this example for my team. I tell them, like, you know, you might not be Mormon Gilbert mom, but I. You need to know as a professional how exactly that looks like on a daily. What do they value? What can you sell to them? So there was definitely a turning point for that, which, you know, which allowed us to, you know, scale customer base. But. But it was very important, and it's still very important now, staying authentic and genuine to, you know, what. What we're truly rooted in. But now, given the tools and everything that we know along the way, it's. It's the ability to, you know, to speak to all people.
- [03:43]
Podcast Host
But you. You have. Let's just say they kind of fanatical, some of your clients. Hundreds of pieces, like, not, you know, not one Dickson shirt. They got hundreds of the dang things. We've.
- [03:56]
Danny
We've definitely somehow instilled this. This culture of supply, demand, collectability. You know, we make funny memes all the time that it's like, got my first Dixon, and then it's like, two months later, and there's this closet, like, full, you know, and it's a great thing, you know, and that I feel
- [04:15]
Podcast Host
like we should do like an Alcoholics Anonymous. A Dixon Anonymous video. One day, you know, I bought my first Dixon shirt, and Now I have 783 of them. I think I'm gonna get divorced. Yeah.
- [04:28]
Danny
Yeah. Here I am getting divorced. She wants to take half my dix.
- [04:33]
Podcast Host
But that's the culture that you've bred, and I really want to bring it back to business side of it, because that culture is a part of what holds your company and your customers together.
- [04:46]
Danny
Right. It's. You know, I can't say in the beginning, we set out to do, like, the limited supply. And I've. I have admitted this a couple of times. You know, it's like a lot of people tout our businesses being like, wow, that was a great model. And in the beginning, though, it was because we didn't have the money.
- [05:06]
Podcast Host
Yeah. So I could only make 100 because
- [05:08]
Danny
I didn't have the lack of supply, you know, and so like the model, though.
- [05:14]
Podcast Host
And we'll come back to the model because I think there is some genius in that for a lot of people to learn from.
- [05:19]
Danny
Absolutely right.
- [05:20]
Podcast Host
But going back to the culture thing, it's pervaded into your hiring as well.
- [05:26]
Danny
Yes, I. So, yeah, that. That goes twofold. Like, I. I love us having a very multicultural and very diverse workplace. And it's great because, you know how half of our employees don't look like. Don't look like they would even wear Dixon.
- [05:42]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [05:42]
Danny
Or they don't want to or whatever. They're very expressive and creative in themselves.
- [05:47]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [05:47]
Danny
And so it's just a place that. That oozes so much inspiration and creativity. And so I really enjoy fostering their ability to create and seeing what comes out of them. And you make, you know, and that in itself has created the culture inside.
- [06:02]
Podcast Host
So another quarterly of the culture for you is exactly that word quality. You've stuck to that. Your guns are very. We do great, right? Or we don't make it type thing. Tell me more about how that happened.
- [06:18]
Danny
So the quality kind of comes from an obsessiveness of, like. Part of, like, my OCD is actually, like. So when I. When I was looking at flannels first time, I could not wear the flannels because I would wash them once and they would wrinkle so bad that I couldn't walk outside my door. Like, I have. I can't do that, you know, and it's like. And so I wanted to make something that wasn't out there. And. And in doing that, it in turn kind of fell apart, fell on all of our products that way. Like, we're not going to make it unless it solves a problem. You know, find a problem in the market and fix it due to, you know, it's not like everyone's super OCD about it, but if I start the product there, I know that eventually when they wear something like that, they will appreciate it and realize that nothing else will.
- [07:08]
Podcast Host
You don't want to go back once you have quality, it's like, I'm not going back. No, no, no. I'm sorry, but the Target flannel is not going to be for me ever again.
- [07:17]
Danny
And even more that has segued into different things where, you know, we'll have so completely made. And it's not abnormal for me to completely scrap a category after we've already made it, because it's just that trust that you build with your customer, they're. They trust me that everything that we put out that they can't touch and feel right away because they're on the Internet, for the most part, they trust that it's going to be good, it's going to be quality, and if we're making it, it's going to solve some problem that whatever they have that might look the same, that it doesn't have the problems it has. And so breaking that trust in business with your consumers, I think it's a very, very dangerous thing. That's where you see, you know, that juxtaposition when people turn a corner and they stop paying attention to, you know, to those little things.
- [08:05]
Podcast Host
Yeah. It's easy as you get bigger in business to forget the details and hand it off to someone else and just. No, if you don't require, if you don't bring people on who have the same level of OCD you do, it's like, no, no, no, no, no, no. It gets to that thing. So I want to go back to then you talk about being online, right. And one of the things that I see businesses think that, oh, my social media is to attract new customers. A lot of your social media is more built around making sure your existing customers feel part of the tribe almost right. And that they can relate to other customers. And yeah, it brings more, more purchases, all those sorts of things. But did you set that up that way? Did you bring someone in that saw it with that vision? How did you decide to keep the tribe mentality sort of thing?
- [08:59]
Danny
So what I didn't know then, but what I know now, I would, I would answer this saying, I. Growing up, I was always someone that like, could be somewhat like lone wolf. I kind of like float around. I know a lot of people, but I was never the one that really fit in to having that one group of friends that were all together from kindergarten to college and we go to fraternity together, blah, blah, blah. That's never been my thing. I'm kind of oddball. Like, I was odd man out always. And like, what do people crave? One thing that we all have in, in common as humans is that we, we crave love, we. And in that you crave acceptance or being a part of something. So I essentially was like building this world for myself where I can exist and then in turn knowing that there are several black sheeps out there that are going to feel the same, you know? And so as you're building on it, you started seeing that, like, that people did feel like, they were becoming a part of it. So then in turn, we started being a lot more. A lot more upfront, honest and raw and showing the behind the scenes. And then like, and even when I do speaking engagements or that I've done in the past, you know, after I watch everyone that's up there that touts everything that they've done, I'll walk up there and say, I'm. I'm not going to waste your time. I'll give you 45 minutes about what I had did wrong.
- [10:20]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [10:20]
Danny
You know, because. Because that's what I feel like they. They really don't hear and that I didn't have access to hearing that when I was building. And I look it up like, you know, on the Internet, like, clothing line burnout, or like, quick success, sudden failure.
- [10:39]
Podcast Host
Everyone thinks that with the Internet the way it is, that everything's perfect, like, and no one shows that hard stuff behind the scenes. Like, let's go back a ways. Making your first million. How hard?
- [10:55]
Danny
Gosh, you know what? I think that was when it crept up and I, you know, almost like, oh, my gosh. Like, I can't believe we got there. I remember I got a bank statement back and we had a million in the bank and I was like, oh, my. Holy shit. Like, this is a. I've always dreamt of, like, it doesn't feel the same. Becoming a millionaire. It's a very different thing than what you pictured when you're young. Right. But. But it was. It was incredible. It was. That was kind of a oh, my gosh, I did it moment. But it was just as.
- [11:30]
Podcast Host
How much did it revolve around you, that first million? Like, your energy, your effort, your everything.
- [11:35]
Danny
I was everything at that point. You know, I think by that time I might have had like two employees. And if I'm being honest, like, they would have probably like, paid under the table.
- [11:47]
Podcast Host
We'll edit that bit out later. Don't worry about it. You know, if anyone comes in here,
- [11:52]
Danny
you don't work here.
- [11:55]
Podcast Host
You know, you're my cousin. It was.
- [11:56]
Danny
Yeah, it was.
- [11:57]
Podcast Host
We don't look the same, but we're related. Yes.
- [12:00]
Danny
I think that it felt sudden, though, because it really. Realistically my first year of doing it full time, where it was like, you know, safety net is gone and you have to like. We're like.
- [12:13]
Podcast Host
But you're so down backside up at that point that you're not really looking at the goals and everything.
- [12:20]
Danny
You just go, absolutely. It's just like you're kind of trying. Everything is like, what can. What can we do to get here, get here or whatever? At that time, I didn't really have number expectations, and I think a lot of times I get asked like, did you ever think that you would hit this spot? And to be honest with you, I didn't know that it was possible. Yeah. So I did.
- [12:41]
Podcast Host
Reason for this pod.
- [12:42]
Danny
Yeah.
- [12:43]
Podcast Host
I'm 100% clear with you and everyone listening that people seem to think that you got to be like Mark Zuckerberg to go and do this stuff. Right. But normal businesses in normal products do this all the time. And I don't think we get it that it's normalized. Going for 100 million, it's something that we can do.
- [13:05]
Danny
Absolutely.
- [13:06]
Podcast Host
So 10 million, how did you have to build your team and how did you have to make it different to go from a mil to 10 mil?
- [13:13]
Danny
So mil to 10 mil was. It was a tough time for me. I think that we quickly went to 5. It was like 1 to 5 next year, you know, and then. And then 5 to 10 actually happened really quick too. I thought that that was going to be like a. A lull, but I just hammered down and kept my head down and kept going. But I. I now go by something and, and hearing this in my earlier days, but practice it more like the day that you. The day that you believe your own hype, you're just. You're done.
- [13:44]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [13:45]
Danny
And I went. I suffered some of that at that time. And. And like, I didn't know what I didn't know.
- [13:51]
Podcast Host
Well, people around you start telling you how good you are.
- [13:54]
Danny
It was like, well, maybe I am. Like, now I've gotten to the point where I'm going to the grocery store and I'm not afraid of whether my card's going to work or not. You know, that's. That's a whole new feeling.
- [14:06]
Podcast Host
You know, I was telling someone the other day that business is not supposed to be like your first car. I don't know about you, but my first car, it was a. You'd walk out in the morning, you go, I wonder if it'll start today. But that's what getting to that first million is kind of like. How did you have to build your team to go from a mill to 10 mil? Did you have to bring in managers? Did you have to bring in. What did you have to build?
- [14:29]
Danny
So one of the. One of the difficult parts that I put myself through at that time was I wanted to build like a family, if you will, to. It was personal friends and, and that's that brings a lesson all its own. And so we can spend hours on that one. Oh, yeah. And then. And you'll see that through those, you know, those next milestones of like, you know, trying to take your friends and you want to share success with them, but you can't make everyone a, you know, an eventual, like, C level, you know, executive. It's just, it's really, at some point
- [15:01]
Podcast Host
you've got to professionalize your management team.
- [15:04]
Danny
Right. I just wasn't ready to do it, to be honest with you. I think at that time I was like, we're a lifestyle brand. I'm living this lifestyle. And you know, and I just, like, I was having a lot of fun and at the same time, I was working 18 hours a day. So I was like, I was trying
- [15:21]
Podcast Host
to find not much lifestyle in 18 hours.
- [15:24]
Danny
So it was like, we got to shove it in. And I think we were trying to be so, so much of a disruptor. And I did. I don't think that that was like, really my thought process at the time, but we're like, we're going to do it harder and faster than anybody else. We have to prove it. And so at that time, it was like, half the day was like, you know, was like packing orders and doing stuff like that rest of the day was spent on content of just doing the craziest, wildest stuff, you know, like living the semi jackass, like, life and then like trying to run the business at the same time. And so it was, it was hard and it was very tiring, but it was the way that I did, it was not sustainable.
- [16:05]
Podcast Host
Not. No, I remember that as a young man realizing that just because I owned the joint didn't mean I needed to be the person doing everything right. And it was, how did you, how did you get through the letting go thing? Because at some point you have to let go of stuff.
- [16:24]
Danny
Oh, this is, this is.
- [16:24]
Podcast Host
And trust others.
- [16:25]
Danny
This is much later in the process. I, you know, like, I, I see now, like, friends, businesses and as they go through this stuff, you know, and, and that letting go part, I tell them all, I was like, this is absolutely instrumental of you ever getting to the next spot.
- [16:42]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [16:42]
Danny
And I was so burned out. Like, I had been running our social media for seven years and then, you know, they're my own. I was doing like my own podcast at the time. And I was, I was basically like, amplifying to the world what I needed to hear. But, like, that also gave me this imposter syndrome feeling. And I think that, that's, that's very relevant.
- [17:03]
Podcast Host
We all get imposter syndrome.
- [17:05]
Danny
I really ha.
- [17:06]
Podcast Host
They gave it that name, though. It's like, you know, you know what it is because you know what an entrepreneur really is. They're a person who claims something and then goes and makes it real.
- [17:16]
Danny
Right.
- [17:16]
Podcast Host
You know, because you have a vision, and the reality of it is that vision is not real. But, you know, you can make it real. At some point, I had to learn that it wasn't me building a business, it was the business building me. Did that ever hit you in the face or was it slowly crept up on you, or how did you fit in with that?
- [17:36]
Danny
I think that that was a later personal struggle that I felt because I was. I got stuck at this point where I was like, where do I begin? And where does the character end?
- [17:46]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [17:46]
Danny
And I think. But that also had a lot to do with. I never wanted to be the face of the brand, and I. And I became it. And so I'm not that person, really. But at the same time, as a positive now, the skills that I picked up along the way because of being, like, forged in that fire, you know, they're irreplaceable. I wasn't a very talkative person. I didn't have the social skills that I needed to have. You know, I, I, I didn't have as much like, emotional regulation as I should have.
- [18:15]
Podcast Host
You know, really, the entrepreneur without emotional regulation. That's never happened.
- [18:20]
Danny
How many laptops break around that time? You know, it's like. And it sucks because you go back on. You're like, man, it's not worth it. You don't have to feel that. But I think going back to what you were asking about, letting go, that's where all that comes from is like, when you start seeing. You know, I was so scared to let go. But then that's when I started hiring people that were better than me.
- [18:41]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [18:41]
Danny
And, and getting. And instead of being like, I'm the guy drinking my own Kool Aid, it becomes like, hey, like, there's no ego involved in this thing anymore. Like, or no, you know, no pride in it. It's really. If my pride is in my business and my people, the best thing I could do for them is to have the leaders that they need in those spots that do it better than I can. And so what that's resulted in is, you know, I get to do the parts of the business that I like and that I thrive in, and that's where my freedom's at. And all the other parts of it that I felt were. Were painstaking are what people thrive at. You know, it's just they have a different set of tools than I do.
- [19:21]
Podcast Host
I am.
- [19:21]
Danny
And it's like that's. That's the greatest thing you could find a business in my.
- [19:25]
Podcast Host
I think you put it perfectly right there. You know, I want to go back then to bit of the business side of it now. So what you seem to have done better than most is focus on the demand side of the business more so than the supply side of the business. I see too many businesses, they're so focused on supply side, they forget that you got to create demand.
- [19:52]
Danny
Right.
- [19:53]
Podcast Host
It goes back to that original drop model of the business. Tell me, obviously start from the beginning where it was a money related thing, but you've kept that model through. Teach us more about how you've kept that demand of the business growing.
- [20:12]
Danny
Yeah, that was so in the beginning, you know, kind of like we were talking about earlier. It was, you know, when you start a business with 180, you're used to
- [20:22]
Podcast Host
just like my dad signed a note for me to start, start my business. It was like, thanks dad. I'll make sure I survive. You know.
- [20:30]
Danny
Oh man, it's. I. Those are the best parts when you look back on it, right? Yeah, I looked. So I look back on that and I just focused on reinvesting every, every step of the way so I get more product and so. But. But as much as we're growing, I couldn't really keep up. And this was a great time because it allowed me to really branch out and say, okay, like do we do a drop just for fall? We release 13 colors and then you know, and then those. You see like we're watching our sales so they like, you know, they're kind of like this and then we go up again, you know. And the predictability for me to be able to financially, you know, figure out how to run this thing is like, you know, it was a whole different thing, you know, especially for us. Like it is our. Our like creme de la creme of the year is like, you know, is pretty much holiday because we move into colder weather. Your fall winter is great and then I'm just hustling my ass off through summer. But all those bills come, you know, come due at that hard part of the year. And so, you know, like trying to figure out how to like keep that all rolling and everything. But so at the time it really was just. We would sell out of things fast and really was because I Didn't have any more money, and I refused to take on loans. And, like, I did a couple little things. Like, at the time, they had that PayPal loan thing, and all my stuff was through that. And my mom would.
- [21:53]
Podcast Host
15% and.
- [21:55]
Danny
Yeah, exactly. It was like, 15, 20%.
- [21:58]
Podcast Host
Dear Elon, here's your money. Yeah.
- [22:00]
Danny
My mom even asked me at one time. She's like, are you serious? That's what you're doing? And she's like, I offered you some help, like, you know, if you need some capital. And I was so against. I just wouldn't go. I wanted to do this thing on my own. I felt like. I felt like if I did it as survival, then. Then I would figure out my way, you know, and so I would do those a little bit, you know, bump up, like, 20 grand so I could buy some stuff and then, you know, do a couple big releases, try to, you know, pay the thing down, not keep any, like, balances. And I actually continued doing, you know, not using the loans. Once I had sustainability in the money, I stayed that way. I. For me, artistically, I couldn't. I couldn't focus on my creativity with this looming thing behind my head.
- [22:46]
Podcast Host
If I'm gonna. That kills so many people. Yes.
- [22:48]
Danny
It's like that pressure and that weight on your shoulders is too much, you
- [22:52]
Podcast Host
know, I was chatting with a guy the other day, and he'd fallen to a goal in his business of just pay the bills. And that's one of the reasons I do what I do, because if your whole goal in business is to just pay the bills, that's all you achieve. You've lost sight of why you started the business. You've lost sight of your dream of that vision of freedom and all of those things. And as you said, you lose the artistic ability at that point. But you've kept demand in focus the whole time.
- [23:21]
Danny
How.
- [23:21]
Podcast Host
How did you do that? Give. Because when people are listening to this, they're going, all right, how did you create the demand for 100 million? One other addition to that question. How did you find the demand? Because I think there's two sides to your story on that.
- [23:37]
Danny
Yes. So finding the demand, I would say, you know, when I started out, like I said, I was trying to sell to people who are me. I'd already been in the motorcycle industry for a while because me and my dad had a shop before that. And exactly what you said about, you know, all you're doing is living to pay these bills. That's what that was like. And talk about taking the Biggest passion in your life. And then, you know, everything associated with it just looks like debt. You know, it's just. That's a tough thing. But the good part about that is, like, I'm never gonna live like that again. And that really segued me into that next business, but that creating that demand. What I saw at the time was like, there's a lot of skateboard companies that were trying to switch over to moto. Like, it was like, you know, skateboarders don't like skateboard companies anymore, but we're all, like, suddenly into choppers and stuff like that, so we're gonna start trying to get their way into this. Whereas, like, you know, very staunch, like, guys that were only motorcycles almost didn't want, like, that barrier of entry there, or they wanted to keep that barrier of entry because it's like, you know, this is our thing. Stay out of it. You guys are trying to cash in on something that is, you know, kind of a deal. And so the authentic authenticity and where I came from and then already knowing the magazines and stuff like that, it was like, it. It was almost like the years of work, the seven, eight years before Dixon, that really came into play because it allowed me to show myself as, like, you know, now I'm already. I've already built, like, you know, a handful of bikes that were great. I'd already, you know, learned everything I could about the retail portion and about, you know, service centers, all that kind of stuff. And now at this point, I'm working at Harley during the day for 10 hours a week, and then, you know, and shipping orders at night. So I found the demand in the people that were around me, really. And. And I think that. And the reason why I talk about those other companies was because our authenticity was rooted straight there.
- [25:32]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [25:33]
Danny
And so at first it was like, I. I thought, like, is. This is what we are? You know, we are motorcyclist guys, but, you know, we grew up on skateboarding and blah, blah, and all this other stuff. But I realized how small that was as well, and I started thinking about the other things I liked and in those niches, like, really getting into them and serving them the same way. So that's. That's where, like, when I got my first Impala, like, it's like that, you know, then I'm active over there doing that stuff. I had to. I guess, in a. In a roundabout way, what I'm trying to say is that I became the people or I. I got on the ground with them. It was like, you know, it was like not saying, like, I was above them, but I was, like, I got on the ground with them, seeing them face to face, and really was able to show that we are people selling to people, and that's who people want to do business with. You know, they want to know, you know, about you. They want, you know, you shake their hand and, like, genuinely thank them for their business and always treat them like that as the things grow. And if you put your head down and you keep on fostering that and showing them your passion and showing them how you have this purpose and, you know, an awareness of, you know, of the finer things in these cultures that it naturally kind of like, paved the way, you know, I think that it became something that they can feel it. And this is something that I continue to say, you know, even present day. Like, I'll be in a marketing meeting yesterday, and I say this every single marketing meeting. We don't sell shirts, we sell feelings.
- [27:10]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [27:10]
Danny
And. And that's where that really came from. And so I think a lot of that had to do with how we built up that customer base.
- [27:19]
Podcast Host
Yeah. I think, you know, being in Harley at some point had to help you understand they don't sell motorbikes.
- [27:24]
Danny
Right.
- [27:25]
Podcast Host
You know?
- [27:25]
Danny
Yeah. Their whole business plan is. Is like, we're here to rebel. Yeah. Like, kind of thing. We sell rebellion.
- [27:30]
Podcast Host
You know, I remember I interviewed the head of communication, and he just talked about that. He said we didn't. We basically don't communicate about the motorbike.
- [27:38]
Danny
Right.
- [27:39]
Podcast Host
You know, we communicate about what the experience is, and I think that's something you've created for your customers in an amazing way. So let's flip it to the next phase then. Right. Because, you know, at some point, business owners, when they start getting to your size, you start getting the. The companies knocking on the door going, hey, ready to sell yet? Type thing, because we're all going to have an exit from our business at some point. Pine box or financial, you know, and. Or. But even having your team run the business without you now, you've done an amazing job at building a good team that can do most of the running of the business without you today. How does that feel, by the way, to have a team that's that solid now?
- [28:20]
Danny
It's taken me a couple years to adjust. I've. I felt a lot of guilt for a while.
- [28:23]
Podcast Host
Oh, yeah.
- [28:24]
Danny
Because I was just like, I. I'm like, what am I supposed to do? Then. Then I realized that I was like. Like, I get frustrated about stuff. I didn't know about. And I realized that that was a lot of. That's a big ego thing really. You know, it's like I'm mad at myself for not being there and this mistake happened. Now I'm angry. You know, it's like when I, I kind of stepped back and I calmed down and really looked at the blessings of it. That's where, that's where it really was. Like, okay, this is wild. I didn't know this was coming like at all. I didn't know that, you know, like I, I knew that I was letting go in sense of like, you know, in giving these people my trust and my respect and, and, and trusting it. Oh. You know, but I didn't know why exactly yet. And so then, then I have this uncomfortable moment where I'm like now truly one of the issues I talked about earlier, who am I? Like where, where do I begin and stop? And what am I without this business? And was I paying a character the whole time? And now like you're facing these weird reality checks and you know, mentally and, and those. If you're not ready for that, that can. That's a whole nother journey.
- [29:34]
Podcast Host
Right. I was lucky in that when I reached that phase, I also became a dad. And now with five kids, I like, I had something to. It's almost like I had another. The business baby was replaced with an actual baby for me. And it was like, okay, I see this new role I'm stepping into.
- [29:51]
Danny
That timing is great.
- [29:53]
Podcast Host
It was a great way of doing it. Four years off running the company and was a dad for four years. And I, I went back, I remember sitting literally on the red couch with my daughter and I'm, I think it was Dora the Explorer or something. And I was singing every song in my head and I knew every single word. And I'm like, oh my God, I need to go back to work. I'm gonna die on this couch.
- [30:15]
Danny
You can only watch Yo Gabba Gabba so many times, you know, so if
- [30:19]
Podcast Host
you look at the. The next game for you then Because a lot of you know when you reach that 100 million, it's like, well, okay, what's the next game? Do I go for the billion? Do I create another nine brands that are this, you know, like, because you've learned how to build 100 million dollar clothing brand, do you go and do that 10 more times? Do you go and do you know what's. Is there another game or are you just loving this game so much you want to build this brand and you're already global, but you could take it to so many places.
- [30:49]
Danny
Yes. So the good part about some of the product segments that we went into that we didn't need to do like say sunglasses, stuff like that, is that myself and my brother in law Chris, who's like, he's like my right hand man. And honestly, I couldn't do this without him. He's a very, very important part of our success. But we decided that we wanted to learn how to make everything because we would talk to each other, almost like reassuring each other in a sense, like, hey, well guess What? If everything falls 50%, like we could do this. And we're gonna create this like, this shirt, we're gonna sell it to TJ Maxx, like blah, blah. We'll make like 85000 of them. Just one shirt and it'll just be called whatever, SoCal, palm tree, whatever. You know, like we're just like thinking of all of our outs to create our own nets. Because the nets are gone. You know, the safety nets are completely gone. The training rules are off. It's all up to you. And if you crash a burn, you don't have anybody to blame but yourself. And so, so real realistically going through that, I kind of got a lot of that creation side out of the way. I know how to make everything and, and it's. Which is cool. But I am open to new challenges. But, but if I'm going to be completely honest, is now my time has been spent being a father.
- [32:13]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [32:13]
Danny
And this is the part where I get this little girl tears me up every time. So as my wife is like, hey, this is great for you to like, you need to learn how to calm down. You know, like, I'm still running. I'm like just running around the house in circles, like trying. I'm trying to make problems just so I could fix them. It's like, because that's what I do almost. I'm a solution maker.
- [32:37]
Podcast Host
Right.
- [32:38]
Danny
And when you run out of problems,
- [32:40]
Podcast Host
you're like, once you've reorganized the pantry 17 times, you've sort of, okay, I gotta stop that.
- [32:46]
Danny
Yeah.
- [32:46]
Podcast Host
I went and ran charities for a while because I just couldn't.
- [32:49]
Danny
That's a great idea.
- [32:50]
Podcast Host
And then I, you know, because it was like, I gotta do something type thing. I took up golf because that's what I thought retired people did. My, my dad was the only retired person I knew, so I played golf with my dad. After three weeks of that, I wanted to punch myself in the face.
- [33:07]
Danny
It was like, you're Like, I. I don't understand how that, like, calms anyone down. That's. Golf is like an obsession, you know, if you're an obsessive type of person that you'll never be perfect at.
- [33:17]
Podcast Host
Oh, yeah, you know, I think they invented it just to annoy obsessive people. But so you look at. And this is something that I talk with a lot of people that I coach in that. What is next for you once you've achieved X? What is the next mountain? What is the next goal? Because it's a hard challenge when you. When you hit that. And I think that, you know, the people listening to us are like, dude, I just want to know how to get to my first 10 million. Don't worry about the.
- [33:43]
Danny
Stop talking about yourself. Just how'd you get there? Right?
- [33:47]
Podcast Host
But you got there. And if I can summarize to people, you got there by building a great product and building a culture that surrounded that product and building a tribe of customers that love and repeat buy from you and become amazing advocates. The level of tagging of people wearing your shirt is just like, people don't understand social media. Maybe you can touch on this just for a second. We'll go back to the other subject. Social mentions for you guys is insane. People tagging your brand when they're wearing your brand is more than I've seen in so many other products in your space. Did you plan that? Did it just happen? How did that kind of.
- [34:31]
Danny
That came together as, like, that family vibe. So as much as I was trying to create that in the workplace, you know, and. And that's evolved over time, it's like a much healthier family vibe now than it was before, because it was just like my best friends. And when, you know, you're with them outside of work, you're with them at work, you know, and, you know, that starts blur the lines a lot. And so with the consumers, the same way we were doing lots of shows, and like I mentioned earlier about the handshake and the genuinely thanking them for things, it really. It evolved into a family quite quickly and. And quite effortlessly, you know, just naturally, I guess. And so when you create that culture in it, then they want to show they're part of the family. They want to show off their accolades in their collection.
- [35:19]
Podcast Host
The crazy thing I see in your brand, and I noticed this, I have a Irish restaurant in Vegas, and I noticed in an Irish restaurant, your brand, when people tag it, it's more of your other customers commenting about them than it is their friends. Right? They've got more friends than who wear the shirt they do. Than they do friends in real life.
- [35:40]
Danny
Right, Right. So it's so true. That's so I think that there's a couple lessons in there, I think for entrepreneurs or I should say in apparel space, just in branding in general. I guess like we always looked at it. I would tell these are just self taught lessons that are based on nothing except for I think that the true. And so like I tell them like, hey, we have to focus on hats. And let me tell you why is like because guy could buy a shirt and he might wear it once every two weeks. Guy could buy a hat and he can wear it with six different shirts. And in our selfie generation this thing is going to be repeating itself and everything. And it doesn't look bad if the guy's wearing the same hat all the time as long as he changes his shirt sometimes. Right. And so, and then what we do is, you know, we don't have big blazing logos on most of our stuff stuff. So that's your, that's your, you know, your chance. Right. So focusing on that and then inviting them and now very naturally our user generated content is insane. Yeah. You know, it's like it does it for, for ourselves and then what it, what it allows us to do though is be so authentic by showing. We're like, we're showing the people that do this, they're the same as us and, and like here you go. So they're seeing people that are just like them, you know, and, and it's like instead of us showing them these are all the fun things that you don't get to do at your desk job, you know, blah, blah, we're showing them, hey, like this is that lifestyle that you get to live when you're off at work. And then at the same time we're going to make great products for you while you're at work, you know, and everything in between. We want to be a part of your life in every part. You know, it's like the hard work, the blood, sweat and tears that you put into everything you're so proud about whatever you do, from working class guy all the way to white collar dude or a doctor lawyer. Then at the same time when they want to let loose and we give them, we give them the ability to express themselves in a way that like, you know, you have a funny shirt with flamingos on it, you know, and then you know, there's some really nice shirt that they wear weddings, you know, and stuff like that. And it's like, it's. It's pretty. It's pretty cool how it works.
- [37:51]
Podcast Host
Yeah. I think that one was one of the funniest. Like, I literally saw a photo of a guy wearing a Dixon at a wedding, and it's like.
- [37:56]
Danny
Like, huh.
- [37:58]
Podcast Host
All right. Oh, now we've reached a different brand level.
- [38:00]
Danny
You had no idea how many wedding invitations we get sent to us because they're going to be all wearing Dixons at the wedding.
- [38:07]
Podcast Host
Oh, fantastic.
- [38:09]
Danny
Like, they're. All. The groomsmen wear, like, matching flannels. You know, it's.
- [38:14]
Podcast Host
That's cool.
- [38:15]
Danny
Really big in the Midwest and the South.
- [38:16]
Podcast Host
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So I always finish this with, how did the business build you? Like, not. We've talked about how you built the business. How did the business build you?
- [38:31]
Danny
Oh, gosh, dude. All of my biggest, like, changes, personally, all of all of these profound moments in my life came from what the business has taught me. It's like, it's the day that you realize that you need to take all the lessons from business and start, you know, putting them towards your. Towards your life. I think in the last two years, my growth personally has been like. It's not only instrumental in my life, but also, like, it. It's compounded so many times. It's. I focus so much on taking care of my staff. Like, they're my kids and. But I did everything at work, and I didn't get that. I didn't get the time to be the dad that I wanted to be. So sorry.
- [39:25]
Podcast Host
So, dude, I know five kids. There's not, like, sometimes they make me cry because I think about them in a nice ways. And other times it's like, damn.
- [39:35]
Danny
Later today, I'm sure I'm like, oh, my God, teenage girls. But, you know, it's. It's like now I realize that. That everything that I want to be personally, and that's after you have that realization of your character and everything else. Everything that I want to be, to be the best man that I could be, is what I focus on now. And. And there's. There's parts of it that go to business, too, but a lot of it is mostly the normal things that people find mundane in their lives are the things that I'm absolutely ecstatic about right now.
- [40:08]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [40:09]
Danny
You know, it's like spending time with my daughter. You know, as much as it sucks getting on or asked to, like, you know, study and stuff like that, it's like, that's my job. Yeah. You know, and I take pride in that job and I think that the roles that we play in at home end up, we find out, are so much more profound than what we do in business. We figure out how to make money. And then you're like, well, I got that formula down. I could go do it again, you know, and I could do it in a completely different space, you know, But I don't get to go back and. And get this time with my children again. I don't. I don't get to go back and be this age right now, you know, the youngest, and will ever be again today with my wife, you know, and it's like. And. And so that's really what it dialed down to is that I think a lot of people think that my life is probably extremely social and. And loud, and it's not. It's very. It's quiet. It's. It's very personal. It's like, I spend all of my time with my wife. She's my best friend. She's my rock. She's, you know, she's everything that keeps me going. And. And she's the side. She's the other side of everything that keeps the train on its tracks. And then, you know, and then I have my daughter, and I try to spend as much time with her as well, and trying to bring her up in ways that, like, now my goals are to say, like, okay, I was. I was weird and artistic and didn't fit in. My daughter is exactly the same way, and she's taught me a lot about, like, you know, from. From the way she struggles with things. I was like, wow, I have that. I didn't know that. I didn't know that, like, my severe ADHD was, like, debilitating me in these ways, you know, and so now I try to foster that as like, a connection in a way of, like, of providing her the places of creativity. We recently just bought a house in Brooklyn, like a brownstone. Has been me and Alison's dreams, you know, even when we weren't together, we share that dream that we wanted to do that. And it was in a lot of that had to do with just like, building this brand and the multiculture, like, in the multifaceted parts about it. My daughter needs that in her life, you know, and sometimes this isn't the best spot for it. So why not five months out of the year, you know, we. We spend over there and her getting to just. Just jump into creativity fully and make her feel comfortable in her skin. Yeah, I got this outlet in life to make me feel comfortable, and it was and it took 30, 30, 35 years to get there. Right. And it's like I would rather be able to like instill that in my daughter now. And that's. That to me right now is everything other than that going into work and when I go like watching this well oiled machine, it brings a tear to your guy, your eye. Every time I walk into my, our shipping warehouse and is bigger than a Costco and it still rocks me to my core. Yeah, I, I operate like I'm the guy Allison tells me all the time, we got to stop this. I operate when I'm at work like I'm the guy that's still carrying around totes of flannels in the back of my Scion and like, and, and I blind myself with it. So now as I'm emerging and becoming the man that I always wanted to be, you know, I'm looking at things multi, multifaceted and, and enjoying looking at investments, enjoying looking at real estate, enjoying in all the facets of life that I get to, you know, instead of ignoring it and being like, I built a brand to be fucking 21 forever. It was like, I'm really enjoying this.
- [43:42]
Podcast Host
Didn't that company go bankrupt? Which means we cannot all be 21 forever. You know, if, if I can summarize with this. You're proof that everyone has their tribe. Sometimes you just gotta go and not find your tribe, but build your tribe. Hey, follow, buy the Dixons, wear the Dixons, do the whole thing. Keep coming back for more on the hundred million dollar podcast. Thanks for joining me on the $100 million podcast. If you've got value from today's episode, make sure you've subscribed and share this with all of your friends. Never miss a strategy that could change your business and your life. And remember, the fastest way to scale is to learn from those who've done it. That's what this show is all about. See you on the next episode.