S2-E49: Behind the Booth: The Pond Digger Team's LA Pet Fair Experience

Summary

The Deep End with Eric Triplett

S2-E49: Behind the Booth – The Pond Digger Team’s LA Pet Fair Experience

Date: July 17, 2026
Host: Eric Triplett (“The Pond Digger”)
Guests: The Pond Digger Team (April, Austin, Jake, DJ, Leah, Michael)

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Episode Overview

This engaging roundtable episode takes listeners behind the scenes at the LA Pet Fair, where Eric Triplett and his diverse team recount the chaos, creativity, teamwork, and lessons learned from pulling off a standout booth. The conversation moves beyond Instagram highlight reels, offering authentic insights into prep work, booth design innovations, team dynamics (from new hires to departing members), memorable customer interactions, and tactical takeaways for future events. Entrepreneurs, contractors, pond fans, and business leaders alike will find nuggets about leadership, branding, and event execution, all told in the team's energetic, candid, and often humorous style.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Team Roles, Camaraderie, and “The Machine”

• Multiple Perspectives: Eric introduces the team—from industry vets to new hires (and even someone leaving)—to highlight the differing experiences and lessons everyone takes from the same event.
• "It's moments like this where the camaraderie and... the experience of the LA Pet Fair and meeting people and doing exciting stuff like this that he'll always remember." (Eric, [01:39])
• Team energy: The episode radiates an authentic bond, with both serious appreciation and friendly teasing underscoring how team culture fuels event success.

2. Creative Booth Design: From Napkin Sketch to Showstopper

• Design Improvisation: April describes designing the booth remotely, trusting the crew to bring her vision to life (with only a napkin sketch).
  • “Napkin drawing and just came out perfect.” (Austin, [04:32])
• Elevated Displays: A last-minute decision to build plant stands rather than leave buckets on the floor transformed the booth’s visual impact.
  • “When you elevate them and make a stand, it sets it off... they’re honored. Like, these are special, right?” (April, [04:38])

3. Booth Location and Vibe: Turning Disadvantages into Strengths

• Tucked Away, Yet Crowded: Despite being “deep in the cut” (back corner), the booth drew crowds—thanks to clever display, team energy, and the sensory environment:
  • “It was just like, we had a crowd around us, like big time.” (DJ, [09:44])
  • “The mix of the AC and then the tropical noises... it was like Rainforest Cafe... it was really awesome.” (DJ, [10:21])
• Atmosphere: Bird sounds, wind from the AC, and strategically placed plants created a living, immersive booth that attracted curious passersby.

4. Show-Stopping Plants and Customer Engagement

• Victoria Lily as a Crowd Magnet:
  • “That thing drove a lot of people to the booth. A lot of people.” (April, [12:57])
  • Visitors returned just to show friends or touch the giant lily; its sale sparked disappointment and even social media buzz thanks to influencer “Jumanji John.”
• Unique Specimens Matter: Size and rarity draw attention, with people “doing rounds” to revisit standout plants.
  • “You can’t hide our plants in a bag, they’re so big. Everybody was seeing what you had.” (Eric, [37:49])

5. Sales, Networking, and Brand Positioning

• Orange Makes an Impact: The team debated shirt colors—finding the bright orange Pond Digger gear made staff unmistakable and approachable in the crowd:
  • “We stood out when there was like five, six people in the booth with orange pond digger shirts... people were like, ‘oh, there’s people to serve people here.’” (April, [22:49])
• Plant as Entry-Point: Many attendees were more interested in plants than the fish—highlighting the value of broadening product appeal beyond traditional markets.
  • "There was a lot of people that were just plant heads there. Oh yeah, people just wanted plants." (Austin, [35:22])

6. Learning & Improvements: Honest Reflections

• Logistics:
  • Pain points with security and loading in/out were solved by being "genuinely, authentically cool" to staff. (April/Jake, [20:35])
  • “Smile and be really nice,” and “compliment the lady’s hair” for smoother event access. ([20:35]–[21:54])
• Future Tweaks:
  • Bigger tubs for future lilies, more lotuses, better humidity controls for plant transport, and illuminated tanks for better fish and plant display.
  • “Next year, mandatory, we need the giant swords. Floating swords. Floating ferns.” (April/Eric, [43:30])
  • “We could really hit such a large array of people... most people can take a plant home or put a plant in a pot that’s filled with water.” (Eric, [34:23])

7. Humor, Humanity, and Team Highlights

• Fun banter: Frequent jokes fly about revealing short shorts, “dwarf wharf” vs. tiki booth vibes, hibiscus flowers behind ears driving plant sales, and more.
• Newbies shine: Michael’s precise craft on the plant stands; Jake “shine[s] up his baby blues” for customers; DJ’s emotional connection as both former attendee and current staff.
• Memorable Interactions:
  • “I had that one lady, like... ‘I think I want that hibiscus because I had the hibiscus in my ear.’” (DJ, [25:19])
  • “For Jake to come and shine up his baby blues to everyone, it was just amazing experience.” (April, [58:34])
  • Breathless plant selection trips (“April was picking plants like a mad scientist... numbers going around in her head” – Austin, [26:48]) and the hilarity of accidental rain inside the van from humidity ([47:02]).

8. Big Takeaway: Events Build Teams, Brand—and Stories

• Behind the Curtain:
  • “Everybody walks away with a different story, and that’s what this... podcast today represents.” (Eric, [60:52])
  • Building a “wild, successful brand rooted in nature” isn’t just about products, but people and moments that knit a team together.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On booth “energy” drawing crowds:
  • “I think a lot of it has to do with the energy, too, though. I think that we're all, you know, happy, friendly people.” (Jake, [08:59])
• On teamwork and first-timers:
  • “It was pretty interesting setting up because the team that we had had never really worked together as a team before... and it ran so smoothly.” (Eric, [25:34])
• On building plant stands last-minute:
  • “Michael, this is what I need you to build. Hurry up. Let's go. Gotta be done by tomorrow.” (April, [04:38])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Topic/Event | Timestamp | |-------------|-----------| | Team introductions & setup philosophy | [00:42]–[01:46] | | Booth design: from napkin sketch to execution | [04:02]–[04:38] | | Plant stand inspiration & “elevated” displays | [04:38]–[06:12] | | Impact of booth location and atmosphere | [07:51]–[10:05] | | Plant selection & the Victoria lily story | [12:37]–[14:34] | | Influencer sale (Jumanji John) and social media ripple | [17:08]–[18:39] | | Security & logistics—navigating confusion with kindness | [19:01]–[21:54] | | The importance of booth “uniform” (orange shirts) | [22:49]–[24:26] | | Team dynamics—new crew members, learning on the fly | [25:31]–[26:15] | | Exit trip plant procurement, driving stories | [26:43]–[27:29] | | Inspiring customers with “you can do this too” displays | [28:07]–[30:07] | | Education: teaching about aquatic plants to new audiences | [39:52]–[42:41] | | Reflecting on plant selection & what sold out | [44:30]–[46:11] | | Humidity van “rainstorm” logistics horror | [47:02] | | Final reflections from each team member | [53:51]–[58:33] |

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Final Reflections & Takeaways

• Growth and Connection: Each member—from the founder to the newest—felt challenged and bonded through the adrenaline, fatigue, and little victories of the Pet Fair.
• Iterative improvement: The group eagerly discusses how to up their game for next year, viewing setbacks as fuel for creativity.
• Team culture: “It’s essentially a look inside the machine.” The team’s mix of experience, humor, learning, and hustle is central to the Pond Digger brand.
• Business lesson: Building a booth (or business) that stands out is as much about internal culture, visual storytelling, and genuine connection as it is about product.

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“Everybody walks away with a different story, and that’s what this... podcast today represents.”
— Eric Triplett, [60:52]

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Transcript

[Eric Triplett]

Welcome to the Deep End with Eric Triplett, the pond digger and inventor of Helix Life Support Pond Filtration. For over three decades, Eric and his team have been in the field designing, building and protecting breathtaking aquatic ecosystems that reconnect people with nature right in their own backyards. Ponds, koi, craftsmanship, culture, business. This is where we dive deep into building a wild, successful brand rooted in nature. Let's dig in.

Welcome back to the Deep End. I'm Eric Triplett. I'm excited to have this whole conversation

[April Triplett]

shared with you today.

[Eric Triplett]

If you've ever wondered what it's really like to pull off a major event with your team, not just the highlight reel, like all the fun stuff, which was really cool on Instagram. We shared all these cool, amazing parts and our stories and reels, but not, like I said, not just the highlight reel, but everything that leads up to it. You're going to enjoy this one because we just wrapped up the LA Pet Fair instead of giving you my perspective and laying down the foundation and, and recording what happened there. So we had something to, to go back to listen to, to, you know, in order to make the next event even better next year, which is part of my plan here with the podcast. I gathered up the crew under the oak tree after work. We cracked a couple beers, got the microphones out, and we laid down, like, all of our perspectives from the event. And what's cool about this is, I

[April Triplett]

mean, you're going to get to hear

[Eric Triplett]

from my daughter April. She's, you know, she's in her mid-20s. She's been working for me since she could barely walk. But professionally, for 15 or 16 years, she's been on the payroll, grinding and working and learning the business and plants, fish, all this stuff. Right? So you can get her perspective. But Austin, who's our construction crew chief, who's been with us around, I think pushing seven years, so he's, you know, he's no newcomer. Right. But the interesting thing is you're gonna have Jake, our ranch manager. He's been with us less than six months and you got a new guy that's on our team. He's been with us barely a, um, at this time, so he was only a couple weeks in with us when he was coming out to help us prepare for this. His perspective's cool. And then you have someone else dj. He's been with us just about a year and he's leaving. He just gave us his two week notice. And the cool thing is he doesn't really want to leave, but he's It's a stepping stone to something big in his life and he's getting ready to take off. But it's moments like this where the camaraderie and, you know, the experience of the LA Pet Fair and media meeting people and, you know, doing exciting stuff like this that he'll always remember. And he even said that next year he'd like to come back just to work the show with us even, you know, even though he's traveling the country doing big, you know, big, cool, amazing stuff. So it's. It's just really cool because we throw down at this event. You know, it's a big event and it takes a lot, a lot out of our team, A lot of preparation, a lot of thought and long weekends, right? So we talk about the preparation, the chaos, the booth set up, the crowds and some funny moments, the plants that stopped people in their tracks, and what it's like when everyone on the team experiences the same event from completely different perspectives. That's what you get to hear today. So whether you're building a business or leading a team, you're going to love what happens behind the scenes. You're going to love hearing this, the scenes behind a big event. So let's dive into it. Let's check it out. This is the deep end.

[April Triplett]

I think the coolest thing about the fair for me was I didn't have to set the booth up. I, like, designed it. We, like, executed. And I sent you guys on the way. It was. It was actually hard for me because I was like, I gotta be there. I gotta set the booth up. And then I was like, I don't need to go. These guys got it.

[Austin]

It was crazy for us because you drew on a piece of paper and sent it to us over the phone while we were in Exitor. Like, me and April just looking at it, like, what the is this? And, like, we get there and just executed it. Mike was like, okay, we got a plan.

[April Triplett]

Napkin drawing and.

[Austin]

Yeah, napkin drawing and just came out perfect. It's beautiful. It was awesome.

[April Triplett]

So I kind of want to set the stage. So we wanted to be two years ago was the first annual LA Pet Fair. This is the first one he's done a lot of. It's the reptile show and bird shows, all stuff. But the first LA Pet Fair, and we did really well at that show. I had just a small booth. I was podcasting, talking to people, sold a great job. And I was like, oh, I'm going to be. We're going to go harder next year. Then we went really, really hard the next year, and I didn't do that well. You know, it's just like. I don't know. And so that this time, I was like, maybe I should scale it back a little bit. I don't know. But I had the plan of what we would do, but then just life got in the way. I didn't have the resources at the time to, like, get a bunch of stuff, like banners and, you know, new shirts and all, like, all this crazy stuff that I wanted to get. But I didn't have the. The resources at the time. And by the time I had the resources, I didn't have the time, so. But two days before the event, we made those plant tables, and Michael had just started with us, and I was like, I want to. I want to elevate the plants off the floor. Because last year we just had the plants, like, in buckets on the floor, and it kind of like, all the plants are just on the floor, you know? But when you elevate them and make a stand, it, like, sets it off for, like. Like, they're honored. Like, these are special, right? So I think that was the big deal. I was like, this is the biggest impact we can have. We made those stands. And I just like, michael, this is what I need you to build. Hurry up. Let's go. Gotta be done by tomorrow.

[Eric Triplett]

Yeah.

I actually had at least, like, three or four people come over to say how amazing of an outdoor setup it was, and they didn't think about having something like this, and it made them think about having some type of water feature in their backyard, because it wasn't

[April Triplett]

in ground, even on their patio.

[Eric Triplett]

Yeah,

[Leah]

I know. I had a couple people come up to me, too. And even when I came there and I saw it on your Instagram and everything and you guys building it, I was like, that's a great idea. I was like, that looks really cool. And it's really convenient for people that just want to have little plants, aquatic plants in their yard without, like, a water feature. And people love that idea. And I remember a girl coming up to you and, like, specifically pretty much just asked about that and how much it would be. So I thought that was pretty cool.

[April Triplett]

Tell us about making it. When I said, like, hey, this is what I want you to make, like, Michael, what were you thinking? Like, okay, this could be fun.

[Leah]

Yeah.

[Jake]

Took a little bit to. To get them going and figure out exactly what we were doing, but we executed it, Eric and I. And what, eight hours or something? We made six of Them. And I think the legs or the. This.

[April Triplett]

The.

[Jake]

The round legs on the outside is a great idea. Something I wouldn't have thought of.

[April Triplett]

Kind of gives it a wharf kind of effect, you know?

[Jake]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then with the lights under the bottom and. Yeah, it was super cool. I enjoyed making them and was really excited to see everybody love them so much. And, yeah, the.

[Leah]

The.

[Jake]

Our booth just looked awesome. I thought it was the coolest looking booth there, to be honest.

[April Triplett]

We got. We had a lot of props on the booth, but we were way in the back, too. Way in the back.

[Jake]

Yeah. And you wouldn't have thought that we were way in the back if you just put me there. I would. I would have thought that we were at the very front, facing the front. For how many people came to see us and were excited, like, because I didn't really walk around that much, so I didn't really have a perception of, like, where we were. And then when we were leaving and, you know, carrying everything out a football or three football fields away, you're like, wow, we're. We're way in the back. That you would never know. And, I mean, we were just as busy as anybody else.

[Leah]

Yeah. Well, what I noticed when I was walking around and I would take plants out to customers, I'd come back and it felt like a big crowd was, like, right there with us, and, you know, there would be, you know, bigger crowds, other booths. Booths or whatever, but it felt like the majority was, like, centered around us, and they were really, like, in our booth, and then it would kind of draw them to the ones around us, and it just, like, came out really cool.

[Jake]

I think a lot of it has to do with the energy, too, though. I think that we're all, you know, happy, friendly people. And. Yeah, I. I think that that plays a big part. Yeah. Yeah.

[DJ]

I liked how it was just like, seeing the people again. We were deep in the cut, and then seeing people that were kind of, like, thinking that it's kind of towards the end and they're at the end, and then they come around, they see, and they're like, whoa, hey, look at what's going on here, guys. That was cool. So, like, I was gonna move some plants and put them in the pots, and April was like, no, leave those there, because it catches people's eye as they're coming down the aisle, like, oh, what are those? And I swear to God, like, that was working. Exactly. People were touching those first plants going, whoa, whoa.

[April Triplett]

Look at that lotus.

[DJ]

Look at that big old lily. Like, So I think that was a big key of, like, we were kind of deep in the cut, but it was just like, we had a crowd around us, like, big time. Every time I was going out to use the bathroom or step outside, get something to drink, same thing. It was, like, kind of mingling around, and then you get closer to us, and it was just like, whoosh, like, all around us. It was. It was dope, dude.

[Eric Triplett]

It was also probably convenient that we were so close to the AC. I think pretty much, like, maybe 10 people just stopped to get AC and it allowed me to talk to them and get them in. One lady was really funny. We were acting like she was gonna be hired into the booth. It was hilarious.

Yeah.

[DJ]

I think the mix of the AC and then the tropical noises that we had playing on the Milwaukee, it was like. We were saying it was like Rainforest Cafe, dude. Like, it was just awesome. It felt like a vibe. It was. It was really awesome.

[Leah]

And then. And then you, like them. It had switched at one point, and it started playing, like, thunder noises.

[April Triplett]

That was hilarious. I thought the building was coming down when that. When it changed. There's like a. That's like a wave crashing, everybody. Yeah, it was crazy. But, yeah. Well, when the. The coolers were not that good last year, we were in the same spot last year. We were a little bit bigger. We had, like, a 30 more space. But last year, it wasn't that cool. And that. That. That swamp cooler thing, whatever they did, they must have had it worked on because it was blowing and all the plants in the booth were, like, moving.

[DJ]

And, like, that probably had an impact, too.

[April Triplett]

Massive impact, right? It wasn't just static in our. It's like our booth was alive.

[DJ]

It was alive.

[Eric Triplett]

Yeah. Actually, it even helped because somebody was in a windier area, and they were like, well, how do these plants handle in the wind? And I was like, look at that one. It's standing just fine. It's been getting beat all day by the air conditioner. And she was like, oh, okay. Well, I want two of those, because I can tell that they're gonna last in the wind.

[DJ]

Yeah,

[Eric Triplett]

the.

[April Triplett]

I think. Austin, was that you saying, like, it needs to be, like, the rainforest, or was that you?

[DJ]

No, it was dj.

[April Triplett]

I think DJ was like, we need the rainforest sounds. And I was like, oh, okay. And I was like, birds. I'll get some bird sounds. And it was perfect.

[Leah]

Oh, it's because I was making a joke, like, the Rainforest Cafe thing. I was like. And then we had, like, gorillas and monkeys and Hippos. It just like, starts raining and thunderstorm or. And then the thunder actually came on.

[DJ]

I was like, oh,

[April Triplett]

but the bird sounds were so, like, they were just like little songbirds. So it wasn't like you heard a macaw or like in, you know, some toucan noise or some kind of.

[Austin]

But, like, the crazy thing is you could have been on the other side of the venue and very faintly heard our bird signs or our bird sounds from across the room. Just very faintly. As you got closer to the pond digger booth, she's like, it feels like I'm walking into a jungle. Then you see all these tall ass plants and then all these big ass lilies and thunder going off, and it was crazy.

[April Triplett]

One of my big surprises was when you guys came home with that Victoria lily. It surprised me because I hadn't had Victoria lily in, like, a few years. And so when you said you had it, I was really excited. And we. We were totally underprepared, so we had to come back, get this. Get something big enough to even house it. That. That thing drove a lot of people to the booth. A lot of people.

[Leah]

Yeah.

[Jake]

That was a stunner for sure.

[Austin]

And it sold quick.

[Leah]

Great centerpiece, for sure. Yeah.

[Eric Triplett]

I think that next year we need a slightly larger tub, the same design, because I had about. I had a lot of people just ask me if we would do it bigger and if there was a larger size. And so having that second display, something that they could maybe actually keep a koi or something in, would be really interesting to show, and then would actually give space for a larger lily, and we would see the koi, which were a little difficult to see this year.

[Jake]

And a lot of people that already have a pond were interested in those as well as an addition, you know, not just someone in an apartment or

[April Triplett]

whatever, because you just don't see them that often.

[Jake]

Yeah, right.

[Eric Triplett]

Yeah.

[Jake]

Yeah. It'd be a great addition to a pond. And then one guy lives in an apartment, and he said that he wanted to get it for the court, the courtyard, and so. Yeah, that's sick, dude.

[April Triplett]

We had a lot of people coming back to the booth just to see the Victoria lily. Like, they were, like, doing rounds. They came back to see Touch it, show their. Their friends, family, whatever. And then when it sold, like, everyone was crushed.

[Austin]

Yeah.

[April Triplett]

Like, wait, what? It was for sale? Y. I didn't know it was for sale. I would have bought it.

[Leah]

Well, that. When. Even when it sold, everybody, like, came around. I saw people. I was looking around. People were like, with their phones out, like looking at us picking it up and putting it in and everybody's, you know, documenting it and everybody's looking at her booth. What I think, which I think brought more people from around to come over. And they're like, oh, what's going on here? And they're like, oh, that's a big ass lily. And look at the bottom, it's purple and it's got veins and it's. It's cool. Yeah.

[Eric Triplett]

I actually ended up cutting off a leaf or two before the event started. And I regretted not having that around because they were yellow.

[April Triplett]

They were bad kids with it.

[Eric Triplett]

Well, just to show people the bottom because everybody wanted to pick up the lily and I was like, you're ripping my leaves. And I get it. Because who would even know that they're that delicate and so heavy at the same time? And so nobody thinks about it, but it would be cool to have one to just show them. So nobody had to like pick up the leaves 45 times and put tiny little cracks all along. Nancy's.

[April Triplett]

I was like, oh, no, hey, it's triplet here. Listen. In a world where quality is often overlooked, Helix Life Support stands proud, bringing you American made excellence for your koi ponds and water gardens. And I want you to know I worked in the field for over 15 years and had professionally built nearly a thousand ponds before I designed my own proprietary filtration equipment. So trust and believe when I say that Helix Life support is a product line that was crafted for those who demand durability, advanced technology and a deep commitment to fish friendly designs. Now at the heart of the product line is our patented, award winning Helix pond skimmer. Built with the safety for your koi and other fish as our top priority. No sharp edges, no unnecessary risks. Just an innovative fish friendly skimmer you can trust. And every piece of Helix equipment that's made is with high quality materials so you can get a filtration system that's as tough and reliable as. As it is efficient. Whether you're a first time pond builder or professional contractor looking to elevate your game, my team and I are ready to help you realize that vision for personalized pond design assistance or to get your hands on Helix Life Support filtration equipment. Give us a call today at 800-522-5043. That's 800-522-5043. Support American craftsmanship and choose Helix Life Support for your pond. Built for koi. Built for life. Built for you.

[Austin]

I thought it was pretty cool when it sold it was, what, two hours into the first day we were there. And you had to tell the guy that we had to rent the plant until the end of the show. We sold both our two best lilies and one of our best lotus in one shot. And Eric had to rent the plants from the guy, so to speak, so we could keep them in our booth.

[April Triplett]

I was like, how much you going to charge me to keep these boot these in my booth? And it was kind of a funny thing.

[Austin]

But.

[April Triplett]

So that guy. That guy that bought it from us, Jumanji. Jumanji John. He's. He's got a pretty dope Instagram page.

[Austin]

Yeah, he's a big plant guy.

[April Triplett]

Yeah, he's got, like, I don't know, 25,000 people on his page. He's got quite a lot. Here's the cool thing. So when we were. When we were like, packing it for him and I was filming it,

[DJ]

he

[April Triplett]

had us film out. I think he was live, maybe.

[DJ]

Yeah, yeah, he was filming with Michael.

[April Triplett]

Yeah. So he was live streaming and I was. I was like, doing all these cuts. So I had, like, this three minute, three and a half, almost four minute video of us folding it, putting it back together, and then I cut it down to, like, just under two minutes, and I put it up as a post. And he was like, it's a cool. It's a cool clip because it shows you, like, it's perfect in the pond. And then all of a sudden, we're all getting stung and, you know, bit by Ed. And it was. It was cool that he shared it to his wall, so it was cool.

[DJ]

Awesome.

[Leah]

Yeah. Michael actually talked to him for a while.

[Eric Triplett]

Yeah.

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Austin]

I think.

[Jake]

Was it you and I that walked it. Walked it all the way out with him? Yeah, yeah. He said that he's gonna have that. He's gonna be doing his live streams with that behind him, so that'll be cool to see. Check out his Palm street live stream and see that lily in the background.

[DJ]

Dude, we need to get him a sign. We need to get him something that says, like, this Lily came from pond.

[April Triplett]

No kidding.

[DJ]

Y going to be doing podcasting and using it like a centerpiece.

[April Triplett]

Have a little flag. I think he does a lot of live stream. I do need to get him on the podcast. That would be sick.

[Leah]

He actually mentioned he had, like, an overnight podcast. Right? Like one where it just. He has a. He has a pawn and then he has, like a podcast or not podcast, sorry, live stream that just sits on the pond.

[April Triplett]

The whole.

[Leah]

That's what he said, I don't. I haven't looked it up. But I, I just kind of forgot about it. But I definitely have to look that up.

[Eric Triplett]

You got to send him a night blooming lily.

[April Triplett]

No kidding. No kidding. How was, how was the other parts of the experience? How was like the overall getting in and out was little trouble. We did have some trouble with security. I think they just had a lack of communication. Normally they're really clean and cool, but it was just like, yeah, you can come in. Hey, what the hell are you doing here?

[Austin]

Get out. Exactly. It was very, very mixed up. A lot of lack of communication. One people telling you to do, or a set of people telling you to do something, then the next set of people you pull up to are telling you to get out. Like, I don't know. It was weird with security this year. Last year it wasn't like that.

[DJ]

Yeah, when we, when I hopped in the van with you and the security guards, like, you can't go any farther than this. And we're like, what do we do? We drove 20 more feet to the next security officer, we're like, hey, we got to go right there. She's like, yeah, no problem. You got until 9:30. Just don't be any later than that. And we're like, oh, okay, we're going. Here we go. And we parked right next to these two big ass horse trailers. And they were there for a long time. So I know they weren't as upset with us as they were as them. Yeah, they saw us unload our stuff, get in and get out. And then Austin moved the van and even that lady was standing right there, the security guard, she was like, thank you, thank you.

[April Triplett]

You made that quick. I appreciate that.

[DJ]

So it was like, huge communication issue. But we still got in, got our booth set up, got out. So it was nice.

[Jake]

Yeah. I think the biggest trick with all that is just to put a, A big smile on and just, you know, be really nice to them and. And usually they'll give you a little leeway, you know, with those kind of events because they're always just on edge because they're dealing with all kinds of people all day and they don't know who you are.

[April Triplett]

And everyone's an asshole to them.

[Jake]

Yeah, everybody's an asshole. So I. Yeah, Junior and I. Junior, yeah, Junior and I pulled up and I just smiled and, and put on that southern accent a little bit deeper. And she was like, go on, go ahead. And.

[DJ]

Yeah, so smooth sailing.

[Jake]

Yeah, it was smooth sailing.

[April Triplett]

You gotta compliment the lady's hair, right?

[Eric Triplett]

Yeah, yeah. We were coming into the parking area. We were trying to compliment her because we had to ask her to do multiple transactions. So she had to go to multiple kiosks. And she was really cool about it because we gave her a compliment right off.

[April Triplett]

But I didn't. I didn't compliment so I could get the extra treatment I didn't know I needed.

[Eric Triplett]

Being nice. Yes, Be nice first and then if you need it, it'll be easier next time.

[April Triplett]

I was nice to her and then suddenly there was a problem with like, hey, a credit card. And I got to use multiple because I was paying for everyone's vehicle. Like, I want to pay for that one. That one. That one.

[Jake]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[April Triplett]

She's like, oh, I can't do it with one transaction. And then this thing's gonna be read your card and it's not gonna let me. And I was like, oh my gosh, what are we gonna do? She's like, oh, don't worry, honey. I'm gonna go over to this booth and I'm gonna go over to that booth. And she was like, I was just nice, genuinely, authentically cool to her. Problem popped up. She's like, we're going to solve this for you. Don't you worry about nothing.

[Jake]

That's the way to do it.

[April Triplett]

But her hair looked nice.

[Eric Triplett]

It did. She definitely had it blown out. She paid some money for that hairstyle.

[Jake]

I know for sure I missed the hair. It must have been on the first day.

[Eric Triplett]

It was the. No, it was the second day. Second day. But you drove right past the parking attendant cuz you didn't pay, so you probably didn't notice.

[Jake]

Yeah, probably. Yeah, yeah.

[April Triplett]

So you were pretty pumped that Brett recognized you, huh?

[Austin]

Yeah, that was pretty cool. You know, Brett Raymer, somebody I've been watching since I was a little kid watching his show, came up to me and was just like, hey, what's up, man? How you been? Where's Eric? I was just like, yeah.

[April Triplett]

Wasn't he like, hey, Austin. Austin, what's up?

[Austin]

He didn't say my name. He couldn't remember my name. He asked me my name. Yeah. He was like, what was your name again? I'm like, my name's Austin. He's like, he's like ponding. That's what he called me. And I was like, yeah, it was really cool being in that orange, man.

[Jake]

For sure.

[Austin]

Yeah.

[DJ]

No way.

[Austin]

I brought Jake up to him. I was like, oh, this is our guy Jake. And let him shake hands with him too. So that was Pretty freaking cool, not gonna lie.

[April Triplett]

So I probably would have printed really clean, nice looking polo shirts for everyone. Like black ones. Looks all clean, professional. And Jake was already like, hey, I'm gonna bring my black one. I'm like, okay, cool. And then you were like, I need a black shirt. You know, it's like kind of this deal, but I'm like, I think orange is going to be cool. Like everyone just wears a brand new orange shirt. You're like, I don't want to wear a construction shirt. But like, we stood out when there was like five, six people in the booth with orange pondiga shirts on long sleeves. And like, people were like, oh, there's people to serve people here. Right, Right.

[Eric Triplett]

Actually, I joked with another vendor because he was wearing pink the first day, a really hot pink. And the next day he wore a yellow. And I was like, oh, the pink stands out better, man. Like, I spotted you better in the crowd. And he was like, well, I'm actually gonna make orange shirts because I can spot you guys so well. I want. I want to match your guys. You guys are so visible. So I actually think the orange is better. We just need nice orange polos, I guess.

[Austin]

So that's why I sent it with the orange polo because I didn't want to look like a sleazy construction worker. I wanted to look like a sleazy salesman, you know? So I decided. I decided to throw on the orange polo. And I think that was a pretty good kind of like professional look and still an eye catcher because of how bright I was, you know? And it was brand new orange polo.

[Eric Triplett]

Yeah.

[Austin]

And then when I got the black polo, you know, sleek.

[DJ]

To be frank, I only wore that because that was the nicest one. I had that pawn digger. All of my orange ones are dirty as hell.

[April Triplett]

So I had to wear a nice

[Austin]

one shirt that I'm wearing right now.

[Leah]

Eric had to give me a brand new orange shirt because all of mine are stained with fish muck and all that fun stuff. So he had to get me a new one.

[April Triplett]

But it's worse than that because my daughter calls me. She's like, how could you let him come to work like this? He's got these tiny short shorts on. His balls are hanging out, his shir dirty, his hat's all sweaty. What? You know, you want me to take.

[Leah]

They're not that short.

[Austin]

They're not that short. They were pretty revealing, bro.

[Jake]

You were wearing shorts.

[Leah]

You don't remember?

[Jake]

I don't even. I didn't notice they were shorts, bro.

[April Triplett]

They Were shorts, Daisy Dukes.

[Jake]

I didn't even notice or recognize Jake at first because I've never seen you without orange on or. Or a hat.

[DJ]

I know I haven't.

[Jake]

You had your hair, your hair all

[DJ]

falling back for a little bit, dude.

[Eric Triplett]

Looking pretty luscious.

[DJ]

I had that one lady, like.

[April Triplett]

I just.

[DJ]

I think I want the hibiscus because I had the hibiscus in my ear.

[April Triplett]

That's why it's old. Huh?

[DJ]

I. I want to say. Yeah, I want to say that's why

[April Triplett]

that pink hibiscus next to your baby blues, bro. Come on.

[DJ]

She.

[Eric Triplett]

Yeah, I. I actually would say it was pretty interesting setting up because the team that we had had never really worked together as a team before. I've never really worked with Austin that closely and, you know, two newer guys and it ran so smoothly. I was really surprised with how well we worked together. It was. It was a cool experience.

[Austin]

Yeah, it went super smooth. Junior and Michael were just on top of everything. Anything that me and April said they were executing, it was. It was amazing.

[Leah]

Yeah.

[Eric Triplett]

Own good ideas putting in here and there.

[Austin]

Like even Junior's little ass, dude. Throwing out ideas and figuring it out. Getting all the lights put on the bottom of the tubs for us.

[Eric Triplett]

Yeah, it was. It was really interesting how, how well it worked.

[Austin]

Except the AC wasn't on that day. It was hot as hell in there.

[April Triplett]

It costs money, dude. It costs money.

[Austin]

Yeah.

[Jake]

They don't turn it on when you're loading up.

[Eric Triplett]

No. They don't care about you like that.

[April Triplett]

So tell us about the trip to Exeter before the show. Like what we, what we go through to make it happen. It's not. We didn't just show up and pull these plants out of our butt. We, like, we had to go and hand select them. Tell us about that.

[Eric Triplett]

I'm just mad we didn't have our red root floaters. I'm still not over it. I can't. I can't get over it.

[Austin]

Well, we sent it on a four and a half hour drive at six o' clock and we were supposed to be there before noon. They closed at 1:15. We got there at 12:15. We had about an hour to load up all of our plants. And April was picking plants like a mad scientist. Just walking around and just see numbers going around in her head and just pointing at everything she wanted. I'm just sitting there, I'm like, this is a lot of plans. We're not gonna be able to load this up by 1:15. And sure enough, he was just like, all Right. Go sit by the trucks. And me and April are just kind of confused. Like, what? Like all of a sudden, some ladies are coming up on quads with little trailers, all our plants and totes ready for us to load into the truck. And we were out of there by, like, I'd say, like 1:45 at the latest.

[Eric Triplett]

Yeah.

[Austin]

So we gave them a little overtime. They weren't too mad about it. They probably got good paycheck that day. And we got all our plants loaded up and sent them on a overnight trip home.

[April Triplett]

So I want to let everyone know. I mean, part of this podcast is just to share the experience. So, I mean, I think people should come. It was a great event. And the reptile room is unbelievable, and the bird room, and they have all those succulents and cactus and carnivorous plants and, like, you know, insects. Just. It's a really fun experience, but also kind of like document our journey. But. So we're building out these new stands.

[Eric Triplett]

Here's.

[April Triplett]

I want to talk about that, too. We kind of brushed off of that, but they're put together really well. High quality material. Pressure treated. Yeah, the pressure treated wood, I mean, they're just really clean. Kind of looks like a fence, but it kind of has that wharf kind of vibe. Everything's done on a chop saw and all screwed together. They're all super tight, but, you know, they. They're. They're pretty basic. You know, they're super basic. You're like, oh, everyone's like, I could do that. But if you look at them close, the. Dude, all those joints are just kissed, man. Because Michael's a perfectionist. This is just so perfect. So it's funny because I wonder how many people. And I told you guys, part of the mission is to inspire millions of people to put water in their yard and fish and plants and that kind of stuff. I know that this weekend, usually 30,000 people come through that event. We inspired people to go home and try and do that because dozens and dozens of people were like, hey, how much for this? Because they thought they could just buy it and take it home. But when they found out it was 1250 bucks because it's expensive.

[Eric Triplett]

Yes.

[April Triplett]

They're like, I think I'm gonna go try and make it. But by the time they. Do you have a chop saw? Do you have the. The right impact in the. You have the right screws that aren't going to rust out. And, you know, like, it's. We put a lot into those things.

[Austin]

I had a guy, Nigatal, is Right off the bat, a carpenter come and inquire me about one of those things. And you could see him taking mental measurements in his head, asking me questions. And he just turns around to me, he's like, you guys got a really good carpenter. I'm like, it's funny you say that. He's been here for about a month. He's just this guy over here, and he's just like, wow. Like, so you guys really handcrafted these? Like, I was like, yeah, they're made by us. He's like, not gonna lie. I thought you guys bought them. I'm like, no, but they are for sale if you want to buy.

[April Triplett]

Nice. Yeah, that was sweet. Yeah, they're clean, man. They're super, super clean.

[DJ]

Like you said, they have that.

[April Triplett]

That dwarf vibe.

[DJ]

I get. I get tiki. I get a tiki vibe from it because I look at it.

[April Triplett]

Wharf. Not dwarf.

[DJ]

Dwarf.

[April Triplett]

What the matter with you?

[DJ]

Same thing. The fisherman's dwarf. That's what I call it. But no, it gets that tiki vibe from it. And even though, like you were saying, like, I heard that one guy talking about, oh, I have an apartment, and, like, I live in apartment complex, and this is pretty simple, and this could be pretty badass and very, very easy to do and simple. So I really think that goes a long way when people look at something like that and they go, oh, dang, I can have a pond. So big sellers. And again, like, for Michael just getting on the team, I really feel like that was a huge star on the top of the Christmas tree. To be like, look at our booth, guys.

[April Triplett]

We have the carpenter.

[DJ]

That hand makes him right here.

[April Triplett]

Yeah, I still want to put a third leg on every corner.

[Leah]

Yeah.

[April Triplett]

Because that'll give it that dwarf warpy, warfy effect. But not only that, I want to wrap some. Some rope around the top of some of those guys. Yeah, we won't be able to wrap rope around all of them, but maybe a couple of them or whatever. Or we staple them in and give it that kind of look. But that'll. That'll, like, really set it off. And so here's the interesting thing. Those guys are meant for outdoors. They're literally meant for outdoors. It's a high quality plastic. The interior piece, we cut everything to fit it like a glove. And then those. Those lodge poles on the corners, they're. They're treated as well. So, like, for us to put them outside here at the ranch, April thinks she's taking two of them home. But outside of the ranch. Now, I know yeah, and they're not

[Jake]

easy tubs to get either. That's the other thing. They're not easy tubs to get either. That's a. That's a unique size and a nice tub. Luckily, we. We didn't have any leaking. I mean, we had a. A little bit come out of a valve, I think, but we. We've handled it. But.

[April Triplett]

Well, just the tubs alone, they're like 200 bucks. And you can't just put them in a box and ship it. It's like it has to be on a pallet to get shipped. So it's like just a. Just a tub alone is probably 250 bucks.

[Austin]

I'll tell people the plastic was 400, dude. And they were believing me. I'm like, yeah, the plastic was 400 bucks.

[April Triplett]

You are a little douchey scumbag settlement, huh?

[Austin]

You had that numbers, dude. I didn't know, like, the exact price. Yeah, that's probably like 3, 400 bucks.

[Eric Triplett]

Like, when you put that.

[Jake]

You put that polo on, and that comes out. Silky polo.

[April Triplett]

I feel like the vendors, like, I didn't get around to many booths. I walked the aquarium room once or twice and kind of went through it, but. And I feel like not all the booths were, like, slammed. There was definitely some booths that were busy, but I feel like I was like, hey, how'd you do? They're like, oh, we did okay. And so I think our booth was very desirable. People wanted to hang out.

[Leah]

Well, even, like, the bigger name booths where we were doing better than some of the bigger name booths, like the ones who sponsored the event. I. I noticed, like, even I don't know the name of it, but one of the ones that sponsored that was on the back of the shirt that I saw that. I was like, oh, that shirt's sick. Anyway, I was like, dang. They're only getting, like, some people coming by and then walking them up. And then I'd go past, and then I go into our booth. And the funny thing is, when you go through the front door, you only see the back of it, so you don't even notice it's there until you see all the people around it. And you're like, oh, what could this be? You know, and then you go around and you just see this beautiful display of plants and the centerpiece of that giant Victorian lily and just stuff everywhere and those really pretty tubs. And everybody's like, wow, this has a really cool vibe to it. It's not just a table, you know,

[April Triplett]

a tables with shit on it and

[Jake]

the toy, the or the tub had koi in it as well, which was cool.

[April Triplett]

All the kids, like, we struck out on the koi. We didn't do great with the koi.

[Eric Triplett]

It's also because you couldn't see the koi. But I also think that, like, massive lily. Yeah. CK Fish World and Ocean Aquatics had really nice booths. But I think the biggest thing about our booth that drew in so many people was because you could really. So many people could access our booth. Some of the taro could technically go inside. And a lot of people are into different types of alocasias these days. And so that was drawing in people who liked indoor plants. And then, of course, we drew in people who had actual ponds and larger backyards that they could put that stuff in. But then we were getting people with apartments or patios that wanted just an, like, above ground setup. And then even on top of that, I mean, you could put some of our plants not even necessarily in water. They can be transferred to be outside of the pond and just around your yard. So I was like, oh, just put them in a pot and keep them with water. Do whatever you want. So we could really hit such a large array of people. Not everybody needs or can even have a tank in their house. Nobody needs. Everybody wants, but, you know, not everybody wants. And not everybody can have a tank even if they do want it. But most people can take a plant home or put a plant in a pot that's filled with water. So it was like a really cool attraction piece from us.

[Leah]

Well, going back to the. The koi thing, I was thinking that we should put the light in the bottom, then kind of illuminate it, and then you could see.

[April Triplett]

Yeah, that was cool.

[Leah]

And then even the light would be kind of cool with the lily on top and kind of illuminating it. I don't know. Just a idea that maybe for next

[April Triplett]

year we're doing lights in the. In the lily ponds next year for sure.

[Jake]

That's a good idea.

[Eric Triplett]

And a bigger one.

[Austin]

I don't necessarily think that we completely struck out on koi. Bringing small fish like that to just show the attraction still gave us, you know, publicity and showed people that we do have fish and that we can offer bigger fish. It gave the kids something to do, kind of like poke their fingers around in there and they're like, oh, do they bite? They're like, nope, but that plant does, so be careful. You know, it was. It was kind of fun like that. And then, like, what they could expect with, like, ocean aquatics and CK Fish World. Don't get me wrong, they have badass booths. I love Kenny, I love CK Fish World, but they can expect the same thing every year. Nobody's going to come in there and be like, oh yeah, I'm going to go look at some really badass pond plants right now. They're not going to expect that. Nobody expected us to have a booth like how we did this year. Last year. Yeah, we had some cool ass plants, but this year we were mainly focused on plants and, and I don't know if you guys thought the same as I did, but there was a lot of people that were just plant hits there. Oh yeah, people just wanted plants. They didn't care about the water, they didn't care about the fish. And they inquired us about plants and like April said, we were like, oh, throw them in a pot with water. And they're like, what? I could do this? Or like do one of these little plastic totes and you could put all these plants in there and you throw aerator in there and you get some oxygen in there. Throw some little mosquito fish in. It just was making people's eyes just wide enough, you know.

[April Triplett]

Okay, I'll buy that. Yeah, yeah.

[Leah]

Well, banking off of that, when I took out some plants to a couple, well, even Jumanji Joe, you know, Jumanji Joe came in, Jumanji John. Oh, Jumanji John. My bad. That's on me. We took it out and he only got the plants, you know, they were there. And you know, a plant guy gets plants in a, in aquatic section of, you know, the whole thing. Yeah, in an LA Pet Fair. Yeah. And then the first people, I took out stuff, all they got was plants and it was just us. And they got there, they went there, they were going on a little date night. Had the kids at home, they said. Exactly. And then they were like, like, yeah, we just left the kids at home. They're conversating with me and they're like, we love to go to the LA Pet Fair. And I'm like, like noticing they don't have anything but our plants. And I was like, that was pretty cool. That was a pretty cool thing.

[Eric Triplett]

Yeah. And we had a lot of really larger varieties that we don't typically keep in. I mean, we have all the same varieties, they're just not typically that big. And I had another vendor come over and specifically say that people walking around with our taro and how big the plants were specifically was an attraction towards our booth. And they kept seeing people walk by and they had that yeah, that. She was like, where did you get that? I need one. Like, what is happening? And so people were coming to our booth just because you can't hide our plants in a bag, they're so big. Everybody was seeing what you had.

[Austin]

Yeah, it's like imagining like a six foot man like me walking around with another six foot tall plant around this venue. Everybody's going to be like, holy, look at that plant. Where do we get that? And then they see the six foot plants all around our booth. They're like, got them, let's go. And that's just, it's that easy. They come in and they're like, I want that. I want what that guy had, you know?

[April Triplett]

Yeah, well, to jump back to the fish kind of being this fun thing for the kids to see, but like to, to piggyback on everything you're saying, like. So Michael's new to the team. He doesn't have any experience with aquatic plants, but he's, he's actually doing a lot of propagation of plants and succulents and cacti at his home. So it was cool for him. And so it's like someone like him could have walked in kind of with a, you know, cactus from the botanical wonder place and saw our place was like, wow, I can do this in my backyard. So I think that was, that was part of the attraction too, for sure. Because, you know, last year, think about this. Because we did that wood, we built those wooden structures. People could see something like that in their yard because it was pretty. Last year we had black tubs on the ground. There's like, oh, cool, it's a plant. I guess you plant this in the ground. So by us having them demonstrated up up in the air like that honored boom, that was the, that was the ticket. Yeah. So tell us about, tell us like Michael knows like Latin shit. Like, you know, he talks Latin. When he starts talking plants, he goes Latin. You're guys gonna freak out in the next three months. He's gonna be a fucking killer. You watch.

[Eric Triplett]

Actually, it was pretty funny because I, I'm usually the person telling everybody about plants, but when me and Austin were out at the, you know, plant nursery in Exeter.

[April Triplett]

Oh, you feel like an idiot, huh?

[Eric Triplett]

I'm such an idiot out there. I don't know anything compared to those guys. They're speaking straight Latin when they talk to me. A lot of the plants Latin names are a little close. And so I know maybe the first one, but I don't know the second actual identifying name to the plant. And so I'll be saying the common name. And they're like, oh, well, there's three different types of that. Is it Sagittarius? I'm like, I. It's that one. And I'm like, oh, God, I feel so stupid here.

[April Triplett]

Hey, it's triplet here. Let's be real. In a world of reels, swipes and virtual trends, it's easy to forget what really moves the needle. Pond Trade magazine isn't chasing clicks, it's preserving the craft of water features, arguably the last stronghold of long form education in our industry. Where real pond building builders, koi pros and innovators share their knowledge unfiltered and unrushed, you won't find gimmicks or clickbait in pond trade. You'll find depth, detail, strategy, story. From advanced filtration systems and aquatic plant care to retail strategies and contractor spotlights, pond trade is where the best in the business speak freely and where the next generation of pond builders learn what it really takes. If you build ponds for a living, maintain them, design them, or dream about doing it all better, this is your magazine. Delivered free. Written by professionals respected by the entire industry. This isn't just content for the algorithm, it's content for legacy. Subscribe [e-mail] stay connected to the heart of the pond world. Now back to the show. Some of the plants, some of those little Sagittarius and like the melon swords and things like that, when they have that, I, I describe it as this. This is how I see it. It's this cool little like flat bladed plant, melon sword. Think about it. It shoots off this tall spike like an orchid and then boom, pops all these little white flowers. It's gorgeous. I'm like, imagine this is an orchid in your pond. You know, it's not an orchid, but it's really cool like that. The flowers look like that and they hold their bloom for quite a while. But the cool thing is that spike, unlike an orchid, you know, the flower just dies. Each one of those flowers becomes a new little plant. And I was trying to explain that to people and I think it was like, there's an education part of it too, because they come to our booth, they learn something, they see something, they're inspired. As part of our core values, we want to inspire people, you know, and so I remember taking off a couple of cuttings. This is the funny thing. You sold this melon sword or a giant melon sword. I was like, hey, I want to take a cutting she's like, you can't take my cutting. I was like, okay, I won't take a cutting off your plant. Because she had already bought it. We're holding it for. And then, like, two hours later, I was with another vendor, and he loved our plants. And I'm like, I'll get you a cutting. Don't trip. And I walked right over to that plant, and I took a cutting off of it. And then I was holding this cutting in my hand, and I looked down to see the red tag, and I'm like, oh, shit. I took a cutting off her plant. I'm in so much trouble. You know, I gave it to the guy. He was. He was totally happy, and he was like, dming me. Later on Instagram. That was the coolest thing that you just gave that to me. And one underrated plant, the floating fern. It's like, did you see the big ones there?

[Eric Triplett]

I brought the big ones.

[April Triplett]

We didn't have any big ones.

[Eric Triplett]

Oh, the extra big ones. No, I didn't see the extra big ones there.

[April Triplett]

It's like a staghorn fern that you would hang on a tree, but it's floating in your pond. So cool. Totally underrated. And in our booth, they were just like, no one really saw them. Next year, I want, like, a bunch of those. It'll blow. That's like a dinosaur plant. Like, when. When the T. Rex was running the planet. That plant was there with him. I guarantee it. And it was so understated in our booth that I didn't want. I just didn't want them to go away. Like, I gave one to John Neiman's. I gave one to this other vendor, and I. This one vendor was, like, really cool to me. Nice. He's like, I sure wish I had some of your stickers for my booth. I'm like, here's some stickers. Oh, and here's something that you're really going to love. And, you know it looks unbecoming. It's this little bag. But I promise you, next year, when he sees us, he's going to go, that plant.

[DJ]

Oh, my God.

[April Triplett]

It was amazing. So next year, mandatory, we need the giant swords. Floating swords. Floating ferns. Floating ferns, yeah.

[Eric Triplett]

It kind of surprises me every year because this is more of a specialty show, so I specifically only chose specialty plants when I went. And I personally. Well, I don't know the true Latin secondary name that says this, but it's called Thalia in my head, and it's an amazing plant. And I only got, like, six because I wasn't entirely sure. And there were so many things that kind of surprised me that people got. And it also kind of surprised me that there was people who came back from last year looking for the more common specimens, because they're common to us, but also aquatic plants aren't really that common to anybody.

[April Triplett]

Right.

[Eric Triplett]

So it was eye opening to see for next year what we're gonna bring.

[April Triplett]

What about the lady? Early on is. The very first day was early on. There's a couple things I want to talk about. The very first day when we opened up, it was like 11:15. We opened at 11 or 10, 10:15. It was pretty dead in there. I was like, we brought a lot of plants. This is a lot, man. This cost me so much money. We built all these things out, you know, look how much invested in there. So, like, that thing as an entrepreneur, that's always going through my mind, you know, it's like the risk, the roi, I got to. I got to wager those things. And I was like, it's going to be fine. It's going to be fine. And then within 45 minutes, it was just complete chaos, Totally packed. But this lady came there. She was early. She's like, I came here first. I don't even. Like, I don't even have a pond. But I came here first because I had to get a Lotus. I know you sold out last year. So she came to the pet fair, pulled her car, and just beeline straight to find us. And then. So she got her Lotus because she didn't want to sell out. And then. Can we just talk about. We fucking basically sold every plant in the booth the first day. Like, now what do we do?

[Eric Triplett]

Yeah, it was a regret. I actually really enjoyed having Austin there when we were choosing out plants, because I looked at him every time, and I was like, okay, as a plant person, I love this plant, but do you like this plant? And so we went back and forth a couple of times, and if he really liked something, I got a couple of more, even if I hadn't thought so. And it was like our plant selection from a really planty person and a person who likes plants but isn't a planty person. Like, that was exactly what we needed to sell out. And I regret not bringing more Lotus. It was our biggest failure besides the red root floaters.

[April Triplett]

The red root floater was the biggest failure.

[Austin]

It was pretty cool to be able to do that too, because I have a pond. I know what I like in my pond, and it was cool to be able to go and Be like, no, dude, that plant's ugly. And you're like, no, I love that, Mike. And put that in my pond. You're like, okay, yeah, let's not do that one. He's like, what about this one? I'm like, I actually really like that. You're like, I don't. But let's get six of these. Okay. I'm like, cool. It's perfect. So it came from, like a non professional plant guy, but a professional pond guy's perspective and just knowing what I like in my mind. And it worked out perfectly at the booth.

[Jake]

So you guys knocked it out of the park buying all the plants. And it was cool, too, how you picked them up, stayed in, what, Bakersfield, and then drove straight to the fair and we unloaded them.

[April Triplett]

Yeah, that's where the plants could just be like the freshest, most perfect.

[Jake]

Even though it was 110% humidity in the van, right?

[Eric Triplett]

Yeah.

[Jake]

Dripping from the ceiling.

[Eric Triplett]

It was so bad. Yeah, it was dripping from the ceiling on the way through.

[Leah]

Was it really?

[Eric Triplett]

Yes, it was raining on me.

[Austin]

It's fucking raining in here.

[Jake]

Did you have the AC blasting the whole time?

[Eric Triplett]

Blasting. It was so bad. We put up trash bags over some of the windows that weren't in the shade. So I think that definitely increased the humidity. And so next year, if we have more Lotus, I'm really going to need a hood because it's going to be so bad. I don't even know what to do.

[April Triplett]

I don't want to go to trailers. I don't want to go with trailers, because trailers is next year.

[Austin]

We need to invest in something that's going to get that humidity out. Because I got in that truck in the morning and I almost puked, it smelled so bad in there. And April's like, if you puke, I'm going to puke. Like, I'm just sitting there.

[Leah]

Like,

[Eric Triplett]

humidity keeps the plant leaves alive, so we can't take the humidity out as much as it sucks.

[Austin]

I was miserable for like an hour.

[Eric Triplett]

It's really bad.

[April Triplett]

Well, Michael's driving the truck up there next year. He's. You're gonna. You would freak. Yeah.

[Jake]

Hell yeah.

[DJ]

Oh, God. We're gonna have to line out the back of it so it's just all humidity proof and smell proof.

[Austin]

Unit one next time, because we could close the door from the cab to the bed.

[Eric Triplett]

Then you need the ac. That's the problem is you need the AC from the cab to go back to the plants, and then you also need the humidity to stay. So there's no winning. You just have to just deal with it.

[Austin]

I was going to puke.

[Jake]

Well, next year, Next year we might have quite a few of our own plants. Yeah, you know.

[April Triplett]

Yeah, we. I have an idea for more specimens next year. So imagine this. Imagine like a 15 gallon, like a big one. Not, you know, a five gallon is actually kind of small.

[Leah]

Yeah.

[April Triplett]

In a, in a pot, in a potted plant. Imagine 15 gallon specimens of giant papyrus that are 12ft tall. And imagine a taro that has like eight, you know, giant bulbs in there. And then they have two foot leaves. Like, imagine that. Because at one point towards the end, we had no plants. So our booth started to look like kind of bare. It wasn't attracting people anymore. But if we have 15 or 20 just specimen plants throughout the whole place, that. That says something.

[Austin]

That's where I think our bonsai trees came in. Effect last year we had those out like we were selling them, but we weren't really like trying to inquire people with them. They were just like, it was like, you come to us and ask us about them, then we'll sell them. But when they were around the booth

[April Triplett]

last year, they were big too.

[DJ]

Yeah.

[Austin]

And we had lights in them. And like that was really a big attracting as well. So like, if we would have done that this year, just threw some big bonsai trees out and threw some lights in it, I think that would have given us our aesthetic look when we were bare on plants.

[Leah]

You did something for the raffle, didn't you? One of the rock ones, the rock bonsais.

[DJ]

So, yeah, the art thing.

[April Triplett]

Here's the thing. Like, even all the plants we sold, it's kind of a break even for us, in fact, because I have a lot of. A lot of bodies there. The booth, you know, the plants, it's kind of a break even. So it's like if we get leads in terms of construction project, then then it becomes really a big benefit, Right. So this guy comes by, he's like, hey, we're looking for stuff to raffle. If you want to donate something. If It's. If it's 200 or under, it's a silent auction. If it's over 200, it's a live auction. And I was like, what can I do? You know, I don't want to send a 30 plant. And I'm like, what else do I have? And I'm like, I want it to go live. Like, hey, this is from the pond digger booth. And I was like, boom. Take the sponsor Rock 300 bucks. He's like, oh, that's great. So that's a bonsai I've been working with for, like, five years, and I really love that one. I love the effect. It's a. It's an informal upright with a cascading part. It's on a. It's on a featherstone rock that I carved to. For the pot.

[Eric Triplett]

I mean, it's.

[April Triplett]

It's pretty dope plant, and it. It kind of hurt me to let it go, but I was like, that's cool. It'll be. It'll help us get more exposure, our name out for all the people that are there. And then it could be cool. Like, oh, that was from that one crazy booth. And so I thought I could get some buzz out of it. And. But another thing was, like, I still had one left. I'm like, I still got my rock Banzai. It'll be cool. And my fucking daughter, she forces it on this guy for $50, and she sends it to the vendor. And I'm like, you sell my shit for $50?

[Leah]

No.

[Eric Triplett]

Okay.

[April Triplett]

I bought it back from the guy. Just so you know.

[Eric Triplett]

I know you.

[DJ]

You.

[Eric Triplett]

You bitched at me about it. Okay, so here's the thing. 1. There's lots of different types of trees, and so I didn't know how small you got that one originally. And so I've seen them price at that before. And we brought a lot of stuff in. We were taking a lot of stuff out. And so I was like, dude, we've had these rock things forever. He can't move them. And so in my head, it wasn't the fact that you didn't want to sell them. It was the fact that we hadn't found the right person yet. And so I was like, let's just get this out. He's really cool. He's so interested in it. Let's get it. And then you yelled at me about it. So my bad. But I'm glad you got it back.

[April Triplett]

I had fucking bought it back from the guy. I was like, I'll pay you. I'll pay you double.

[DJ]

And then you bought it back? Yes.

[Austin]

So it was to one of the guys that we did a really big plant order for. Yeah. And he had a booth in the reptile. In the reptile building. Right. So we went to go deliver him his plants, and me and Jacob had this rock bonsai on the bottom of the cart. I see Eric looking at it, and he's just so. With the bonsai on the bottom of the cart, and I'm like, oh, April sold it for 50 bucks. And I seen his heart drop from his face. He's just, what? Oh, fuck. Sorry, April.

[Eric Triplett]

You know, the other bonsais are like 4ft tall. We're selling those for 700. This wasn't the same height. I'm like, okay. Thinking he got this big, massive plant order. So I'm like, okay, I'll give him a bit of a deal on it. You know, because he got so many plants from us. He spent a lot of money with us.

[DJ]

Yeah, hook him up.

[Eric Triplett]

Yeah, so it was like a bit of a hookup slash the end of the sale, slash, you know, 14 other things. I was like, it's good. And then you were like, my seven year project. What's wrong with you? You're the worst daughter in the world. I was like, oh, that's sucks.

[Austin]

I'm not gonna lie. When Eric told us to go buy it back from him, I was so embarrassed. I made Jacob do it. I went and walked to a different booth. I was like, hey, go tell him you have 100 bucks. Like, go buy the plant back.

[April Triplett]

I think Leah bought it back for me. Did she not?

[Austin]

You know, it was Leah. You're right. Yeah, it was Leah.

[April Triplett]

We.

[Austin]

I walked away from her and I was like, I'm gonna go. Look at this.

[April Triplett]

She's got a great smile.

[Jake]

Aquarium cute.

[April Triplett]

She has big boobs. Like, go buy my plant bag. Here's a hundred dollars.

[Austin]

It worked out perfect. He didn't ask anything.

[Eric Triplett]

He was just happy to see her again. He wasn't even mad.

[Austin]

It's fine with me.

[April Triplett]

All right, cool. Well, let's. I mean, this is. After work. I wanted to grab you guys and just like chat this up and share some of our experiences. I learned some stuff tonight that I didn't know. What did I learn?

[Jake]

So, what, the trash bags on the.

[April Triplett]

Oh, yeah. It was raining from the rooftop in the. In the. Dude, that's gnarly. I didn't know that. So cool. Any final words?

[Eric Triplett]

April?

[April Triplett]

D.J.

[DJ]

yeah.

[Leah]

Had a good time. It's fun working with the guys and girl. And Leah was there.

[DJ]

Oh, yeah.

[Leah]

I wasn't. I didn't work Sunday, so. No, it was definitely a really fun time. Fun time bonding and being. Getting to hang out with the Pawn Digger family. For sure.

[Austin]

It was definitely a great time for me. I have a good time every year. I'm a total fish head, so, you know, it's the perfect place for me. But, you know, it was really cool to watch some of our new guys and then me learn some more about plants. I'm the type of guy that rips them out and puts them in, doesn't really read the names. And now I feel a little more knowledgeable about what I'm ripping out and putting in a pond. So it's pretty cool.

[Leah]

Oh, yeah.

[Jake]

I enjoyed being thrown into the gauntlet because you were. Yeah, because for me, you know, I'm so new and, you know, I. I don't really know that much about aquatic plants, even though I'm. I'm on it and I'm. I'm learning and getting into it. By day two, it was just like, totally different than day one, you know, just getting used to talking to people about these plants and. And what we do and. And yeah, it was awesome. I really enjoyed it. And it was cool seeing. Seeing how excited April, Leah and Austin were to go to the other booths and check out their, you know, the. The miniature or the tiny crabs and all the stuff that they got, you know, and. Yeah, so I just had a blast. It was a incredible experience, for sure.

[DJ]

Yeah, I really enjoyed it because I used to go to the LA Pet Fair a lot as a kid and kind of as an adult too, but I used to go there, spend a money and buy reptiles. And I used to always look at all the reptiles and all the animals, not so much the plant stuff. It was never really like, in my vision of like, oh, I want some plants. But being there a part of like, Pondigger, and seeing that we're selling aquatic plants, it's not just like, oh, we have plants here, guys, buy this. It was like you said, like, people have this idea of like, oh, wow, I can have a pond. I can have this. And again, like, back on the fish, we had one fish that wasn't not doing so good. So we pulled them out of the big tub, put them in a. The one of the smaller wooden tubs, hubs that we hadn't built. And I had multiple people walking around

[April Triplett]

going, whoa, look at.

[DJ]

There's fish in there.

[April Triplett]

Wow, how cool that is. You can put fish with the.

[DJ]

With the plants. And it was just really cool being that I used to go there and be that little kid and be like, whoa. And again, I was the little kid at the same time because I'd never been a part of, like, the plant life and the plant section. So it was like, it's really cool to see how much these plants, like, actually touch people's lives. It's just as good as an animal to a lot of people. Yeah, I think that's just rad, dude. It's just super rad because I look at that place, I'm like, pets, reptiles, crazy spiders, and like crazy looking birds and like all these things, but other people look at it like, that's the place I go and get some really sick plants. Like, I love that. It was just, it was really awesome to see a different side of the pet fair of what I'm used to. So I really appreciate you having me there. It was awesome. Thank you.

[Eric Triplett]

All right. I guess I'll say one thing. I do really look forward to the Play Pet Fair every single year. And picking out plants for it is probably one of my favorite experiences. It's like the shopping trip of my dreams that I can't afford or put in my backyard because I don't have space. So it's really cool. And I really, I think Austin enlightened that experience this time just because it was cool to see a different perspective, a different viewpoint, learn more for what people are looking for. And I. I really learned a lot for next year.

[April Triplett]

Cool. I guess I'll say this. I love seeing the team grow. I love seeing the connection, which is amazing. Two days before the fair, before we're like getting ready to go, April's like, hey, I'm excited about the weekend. I'm like, I'm not. I. I would, I would cancel right now if I could. There's so much going on. And she was like, what are you talking about? We're going. I want to be there. We got all weekend. This is my beautiful. Looking forward to this. And I was like, oh, cool. I'm really happy to see that excitement there. And then when I was like, hey, I think Austin would really enjoy the trip to Exeter to see those greenhouses in person to go hand select stuff. I think he would like it. And then he was so into it, which was cool. You know, DJ just gave us his two weeks notice, but he's still, like, so engaged. You know, he's like, I love it here. I just can't pass this opportunity and working with my father and all this other things. So it's like, that was cool. But for him to still, oh, gosh, that's my dog. For him to still be engaged. Excuse you, dj. No, that's my dog.

[Leah]

So for.

[April Triplett]

So for DJ to still be like, disengaged is really, really cool. And then Michael to the Gauntlet, right? Because when I first envisioned these tubs that we're going to bring that were such a big hit, I was. I wanted to notch each One of them, like a fence post and have, like, the wood inset into them. And when I went out there, he was notching one exactly like I asked him to, and it was doing a good job. And I knew it was taking too long. I was like, nope, we gotta change the plan. I gotta pivot, I gotta move. This is never gonna happen. Otherwise. I gotta stay up all night. We're not gonna make it. And he was in the gauntlet. He was like, I'm trying to do exactly what you told me to. I'm trying to do it, you know, to perfection. And I was like, change of plans. Immediately switch gears. And he's like, okay. And then, you know, for Jake to come and shine up his baby blues to everyone, it was just amazing experience. I can't wait to do it again next year.

[DJ]

Yeah, I'm hyped.

[Leah]

We.

[DJ]

I'm hyped for next year, big time. See me there. I'll be there all weekend.

[Leah]

I might have to return to the Pond Digger for next year.

[Jake]

Yeah, right.

[DJ]

You're a special guest.

[Jake]

The longest two weeks ever.

[Austin]

I'm super excited for next year. But I will say one thing. If you have a booth in the LA Pet Fair, be prepared for your social battery to be drained. You're going to talk to a lot of people.

[April Triplett]

The thing I love the most about

[Eric Triplett]

this episode is that you don't just get to hear my voice rambling on about what happened. You really get to hear the voices of the people who actually make the Pond Digger what it is. It's essentially a look inside the machine. And if you go back through our podcast episodes, we do a series called A Look Inside the Machine, and we'll interview one of our employees and talk to them about their experience, how long they've been with us, and what it's like to do, you know, things like this, their favorite pond build, how long they've, you know, how long it took to learn things. And so this is like a look inside the machine behind the scenes with a cool event like that. So every event and every project, every crazy idea, every mission that we have set out, it takes people to deliver a vision of. Of what the company is supposed to do, right? So. So everybody walks away with a different story, and that's what this.

[April Triplett]

This.

[Eric Triplett]

This podcast today kind of represents. So if you enjoyed the conversation, share it with someone who believes that great businesses are built by great teams and great leaders. And I hope to see you at the LA Pet Fair next year. You can bet your bottom dollar will be there so thanks again for your ears and attention to the Deep End podcast.

[April Triplett]

We'll catch you on the next one.

[Eric Triplett]

Until next time, I hope you do dig Ponds as much as I do.