How They're Here

What is going on everyone, welcome to the 11th episode of How They’re Here. As always I’m Tyler Webb, and last week I recorded one of my favorite conversations to date with the CEO and Founder of the digital media agency the Social Butterfly, Brandon Poliszuk.

Coincidentally, Brandon’s interview was the first one I recorded on video which I find fitting given his and his teams videography and photography abilities, and while this production will be no where near the quality of a Social Butterfly video, it gives you an additional insight into who Brandon is and how he’s growing his agency.

What started out of a college bedroom, turned office is now a growing agency that is already working with top brands, athletes and personalities nationwide, and behind this crazy growth is a 23 year old CEO and self-proclaimed grinder. 

Brandon’s story is insane when you consider the fact that he had never even picked up a camera much before launching the Butterfly, and now he and his team of talented creators are shooting with pro athletes, multimillion dollar brands and even Gary Vee. Brandon and I talk about this evolution in his career, how he picked up these skills so quickly, how the Butterfly is gaining business at such a rapid pace, the outline to collaboration and providing value, the problem with “Hustle Culture,” and the crazy set of circumstances that led him to working directly with Gary Vee.

I hope you all enjoy this episode, and learn a thing or two about how being a leader, networker and an entrepreneur and gain some valuable insight into how they’re here. 

Here are just a few of the best points from a really unique and interesting conversation with the founder of AdditionU, Jay Louricas. 

Listen to the full episode for exclusive insights into the apparel and branding that you're not to going to find anywhere else. 

Jay’s life started out pretty ordinary. He was your typical suburban kid in your typical suburban family, but this all came to a screeching halt when his dad got addicted to drugs. This launched the rest of Jay’s life into an unpredictable spiral, with his dad popping in and out of his home, often high and unruly. Jay even recounts a specific instance in middle school in which he came home to find that his dad had stolen literally everything in his bedroom, including the bed.

Now this brief summary does not do justice to what Jay has had to overcome, and while we don’t dive too deeply in the personal aspect of Jay’s life on this podcast, I do encourage you to hear about it in an interview he did on the Backpocket Podcast.

Nevertheless, Jay has turned this unfortunate circumstance into a platform to help other families who are suffering from the effects of addiction. Jay describes the platform as the resource he, his mom and his sister never had and hopes to provide invaluable video and teaching resources to families, schools and clinics across the country to break the stereotype and taboo around families with a loved one struggling with addition. 

Hear how Jay is turning his raw passion into a feasible career, the resources he’s using to get started, the mistakes and failed ventures he’s had along the way and so much more. 

I hope you all enjoy this episode, and learn a thing or two about how to start to formalize your own passion, and gain some valuable insight into how they’re here. 

What is going on everyone, welcome to the tenth episode of How They’re Here. As always I’m Tyler Webb, and last week I had a really unique and interesting conversation with the founder of AdditionU, Jay Louricas. 

Jay’s life started out pretty ordinary. He was your typical suburban kid in your typical suburban family, but this all came to a screeching halt when his dad got addicted to drugs. This launched the rest of Jay’s life into an unpredictable spiral, with his dad popping in and out of his home, often high and unruly. Jay even recounts a specific instance in middle school in which he came home to find that his dad had stolen literally everything in his bedroom, including the bed.

Now this brief summary does not do justice to what Jay has had to overcome, and while we don’t dive too deeply in the personal aspect of Jay’s life on this podcast, I do encourage you to hear about it in an interview he did on the Backpocket Podcast.

Nevertheless, Jay has turned this unfortunate circumstance into a platform to help other families who are suffering from the effects of addiction. Jay describes the platform as the resource he, his mom and his sister never had and hopes to provide invaluable video and teaching resources to families, schools and clinics across the country to break the stereotype and taboo around families with a loved one struggling with addition. 

Hear how Jay is turning his raw passion into a feasible career, the resources he’s using to get started, the mistakes and failed ventures he’s had along the way and so much more. 

I hope you all enjoy this episode, and learn a thing or two about how to start to formalize your own passion, and gain some valuable insight into how they’re here. 

Here are just a few of the best points from a phenomenal conversation I had the founder and CEO of Skyline Specs, Scott Ballard.  

Listen to the full episode for exclusive insights into the apparel and branding that you're not to going to find anywhere else. 

Scott founded Skyline Specs as a class project, but now his custom engraved wooden-framed sunglasses can be seen representing nearly every major city across the country. Scott is using the power of social media influencers, the Mall of America and unabashed salesmanship to grow this business podcast by podcast.

What is going on everyone, welcome to the ninth episode of How They’re Here. As always I’m Tyler Webb, and last week I was able to have a phenomenal conversation with the founder and CEO of Skyline Specs, Scott Ballard.  

Scott founded Skyline Specs as a class project, but now his custom engraved wooden-framed sunglasses can be seen representing nearly every major city across the country. Scott is using the power of social media influencers, the Mall of America and unabashed salesmanship to grow this business podcast by podcast.

Here are just a few of the best points from a fantastic conversation I had with Army Officer, Marketing Strategist and Co-Founder of MB Outdoors Apparel, Austin Dummer.

Listen to the full episode for exclusive insights into the apparel and branding that you're not to going to find anywhere else. 

Austin had some fantastic stories to share, both about the inspiration and aspirations he and his partners hold for the brand. As an Army Officer, professional marketer, and co-founder, Austin is able to provide a ton of insight into what and why MB Outdoors stands for what it does. For those of you who don’t know, the name MB Outdoors stands for “Midwest Backcountry Outdoors” and has developed into a prominent brand for adventurers and outdoorsmen alike across the midwest. But it also stands for a strong pillar of values that Austin and his co-founders share, to support several veteran organizations with proceeds coming from each product sold.

What is going on everyone, welcome to the eight episode of How They’re Here. As always I’m Tyler Webb, and last week I had the pleasure of sitting down with the co-founder of MB Outdoors Apparel, Austin Dummer.  

Austin had some fantastic stories to share, both about the inspiration and aspirations he and his partners hold for the brand. As an Army Officer, professional marketer, and co-founder, Austin is able to provide a ton of insight into what and why MB Outdoors stands for what it does. For those of you who don’t know, the name MB Outdoors stands for “Midwest Backcountry Outdoors” and has developed into a prominent brand for adventurers and outdoorsmen alike across the midwest. But it also stands for a strong pillar of values that Austin and his co-founders share, to support several veteran organizations with proceeds coming from each product sold.

With this foundation of regional community and veteran support, MB Outdoors is growing faster than ever. Austin and I dive into the idea of growing a brand in such a short time, why they chose the saturated apparel market, the stupid mistakes they made, how they set up a revenue positive workflow model with team-members in different states, the role of social media and influencers, and their plans to scale the whole operation.

I hope you all enjoy this episode, and learn a thing or two about how to start your own brand or business (apparel or otherwise), and gain some valuable insight into how they’re here. 

Here are just a few of the best points from a great conversation I had with long-time friend, colleague, former influencer and current social media lead for the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee’s athletic department, Frank Kugel.

Listen to the full episode for exclusive insights into the podcast/media industry you're not to going to find anywhere else. 

Frank was one of the first guys I thought of to interview when I started this podcast because he not only checks the boxes of someone who has and continues to have entrepreneurial success, but he’s someone I always enjoy talking to about everything from life to social media.

Frank got his start as a young founder of a popular Twitter account called I Live For Football. His work through the account reached upwards of 25 million athletes, coaches and fans monthly, and his leadership of a young team of content creators helped grow the account’s reach to over 140,000 followers. 

I, myself, was a part of this team and was fortunate to work with Frank for almost 2 years in creating a football community that was nationally recognized. 

In this episode, Frank and I talked about how he grew an audience of this magnitude at the young age of 14, his favorite run-ins with professional athletes and fans, how he leveraged this high school passion-project into a revenue driving business and later job at one of Wisconsin’s primer Division 1 sports program, and the professional obstacles he’s had to overcome at such a young age.

I hope you all enjoy this episode, and learn a thing or two about how to jump start your professional careers with social media, and gain some valuable insight into how they’re here. 

What is going on everyone, welcome to the seventh episode of How They’re Here. As always I’m Tyler Webb, and today we have a personally highly anticipated episode with long-time friend, colleague, former influencer and current social media lead for the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee’s athletic department, Frank Kugel.

Frank was one of the first guys I thought of to interview when I started this podcast because he not only checks the boxes of someone who has and continues to have entrepreneurial success, but he’s someone I always enjoy talking to about everything from life to social media.

Frank got his start as a young founder of a popular Twitter account called I Live For Football. His work through the account reached upwards of 25 million athletes, coaches and fans monthly, and his leadership of a young team of content creators helped grow the account’s reach to over 140,000 followers. 

I, myself, was a part of this team and was fortunate to work with Frank for almost 2 years in creating a football community that was nationally recognized. 

In this episode, Frank and I talked about how he grew an audience of this magnitude at the young age of 14, his favorite run-ins with professional athletes and fans, how he leveraged this high school passion-project into a revenue driving business and later job at one of Wisconsin’s primer Division 1 sports program, and the professional obstacles he’s had to overcome at such a young age.

I hope you all enjoy this episode, and learn a thing or two about how to jump start your professional careers with social media, and gain some valuable insight into how they’re here. 

Here are just a few of the best points from a great conversation I had with the photographer, film maker and student, Josh Moe.

Listen to the full episode for exclusive insights into the podcast/media industry you're not to going to find anywhere else.  

Josh was an extremely interesting guy to talk to, because he is straddling the line between being a traditional student seeking a fairly standard job after graduation and becoming an entrepreneurial film-maker and photographer who is touring the country with artists, forward-thinking businesses and friends. 

Josh’s perspective into creative work is even more interesting when you consider the fact that 3 years ago he hadn’t even picked up a camera yet, but now he’s on his way to making a living with one. In this episode we discuss what Josh believes to be the necessary traits of an aspiring photographer, videographer and entrepreneur, how to navigate the complex ecosystem of creative professionals in your area, and his strategy to growing his brand as a business. 

I hope you all enjoy this episode, and learn a thing or two about how to move forward in such an interesting and complicated industry, and gain some valuable insight into how they’re here.