In this week episode I interview my good Akbar Chisti the CEO and co-founder of Seamus Golf. Akbar started Seamus Golf out of his garage with his wife Megan Chisti in 2011. Since the beginning, every product they make is meant to tell its own story. Whether it’s the U.S. Open, The Masters, or a number of custom projects they have pursued for some of the most influential and inspirational people, their company stands to partner with their golfers and give them a way to represent and connect with others. They are proud and grateful to their Makers and Administrative staff who work tirelessly together to overcome the challenges of small business in the modern era. They are grateful to their partners, customers, and vendors who have combined together to embrace and permit them to become the most sought-after accessory maker in golf.
In this week episode I interview my good Akbar Chisti the CEO and co-founder of Seamus Golf. Akbar started Seamus Golf out of his garage with his wife Megan Chisti in 2011. Since the beginning, every product they make is meant to tell its own story. Whether it’s the U.S. Open, The Masters, or a number of custom projects they have pursued for some of the most influential and inspirational people, their company stands to partner with their golfers and give them a way to represent and connect with others. They are proud and grateful to their Makers and Administrative staff who work tirelessly together to overcome the challenges of small business in the modern era. They are grateful to their partners, customers, and vendors who have combined together to embrace and permit them to become the most sought-after accessory maker in golf.
Today we play golf. Let me show you how we do it in the pros. Welcome to Behind the Golf Brand podcast. I never missed with the Seven Iron, a conversation with some of the most interesting innovators and entrepreneurs behind the biggest names in golf. My friends were the golf clubs. I lived on the golf course, I lived on the driving rein from Pro Talk . You should learn something from each and every single round. You play to fun from on and off the green. Why would you play golf if you don't play it for money? Just let me put the ball in a hole. This is Behind the Golf Brand podcast with Paul Libert tore . What's up guys? Welcome to the Behind the Golf Brand podcast. This week I have my good friend Akbar Chisti from Seamus Golf. You guys know what Seamus Golf is because they make some of the coolest accessories planet. You probably seen 'em at tournaments. You probably seen 'em on tv and I'm super excited to have 'em on the show because , um, it's is so high quality stuff that like, I don't know , I'm , I'm like a , I'm a fanboy. So welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me, Paul. I'm excited to get to catch up with you today.
Speaker 1:Me too. So where are you located?
Speaker 2:We're in Beaverton, Oregon, just west of Portland, and we've been here since we started.
Speaker 1:Oh really?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. So
Speaker 1:Have you, as you've grown, have you like changed locations? Like, like size-wise, like in
Speaker 2:Real estate ? Yeah, so every two, three years it seems like we're moving and , um, we started out in our garage and then we went into this corporate park and, you know, these flex parks or designs such that you can kind of grow and shrink or whatever space needs you have. So we're constantly like changing where we're doing stuff. And so, but mostly all in the same little area, about five, 10 minutes from Nike.
Speaker 1:Oh really? Oh , that's cool. Yeah, yeah. Um , so are you a professional golfer?
Speaker 2:Um, uh, no. I, I mean I would never, I would never be able to find any success , uh, in this game if I had to perform. So I'm definitely in the amateur side of golf and I'm really good at being an amateur.
Speaker 1:Me too. Me too. I mean, I don't know. I would like to get down, like I started at 24 last year. Well, I've been like that probably forever. But like, I think I'm a 15 now. I wanna get down to single digits, like, that'd be cool. And then I, you know, get down to scratch be awesome .
Speaker 2:I have a vanity handicap because I don't play as much as I talk about golf. And my handicap is like a nine, but it's technically <crosstalk> . Holy crap.
Speaker 1:Oh, amateur. That's awesome.
Speaker 2:Uh , thank you. But I mean, my last two rounds were like in the mid to high eighties, like it's like that you're
Speaker 1:Not playing enough. Yeah,
Speaker 2:I mean, earlier this summer I got out and shot like 78 out at Waverly or something and that was really sweet. But it , it's very few and far between and the circumstances, the sun has to be in alignment with the moon , uh, <laugh> or some something to make that happen, but,
Speaker 1:So how'd you get into golf? Like, did your family play or?
Speaker 2:My family didn't play. My family's all from Pakistan. My dad was , uh, grew up playing cricket and then when I was young, he was a squash player really at the time, in his age bracket of like over 40. He was the best in the country. And like, so I come from like a family of high performers, whatever they're doing. And I was actually a swimmer for a bit 'cause my older brother was a swimmer and I just sucked at it. I was so slow. And this one time I got out of the pool, my family's all rooting me on this moment, I remember. And I looked around and I didn't see any kids. It was like, did I win? And they're like, no, the kids are all in the locker room, man. Get out of the pool. <laugh> . For real? I was like, I don't wanna do this. <laugh> <laugh> . My dad's like, you gotta go find some sport you like. And I said , I wanna play golf. And he's like, what the is golf? And I'm like, this is a cool game because my friends play it <laugh>.
Speaker 1:So, so did you grow up in Oregon then?
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm. <affirmative> . I was born in la um, and then we lived there for like five years. It was in Cerritos, orange County area. And uh, but my parents moved up. My dad got a job up here and , uh, I haven't moved far. I mean, my parents live like five, 10 minutes from me too.
Speaker 1:How did you get into golf then? Like if your friends were playing when you were <crosstalk> ?
Speaker 2:I guess I didn't answer that. Okay. So my buds , um, like, let's see here. I had a , uh, we we , there's a nice little Pakistani community here that we were with. And you know, we'd go to the mosque on Sundays. I mean, that was back when I was more, you know, participating and stuff. And there was another family that they'd go and play golf and they took me out and I was like, it was this course called Arin of Woods. It's not around anymore. It's like , uh, housing development. But they had like, you know, I was big into nature. So like, I'd be out there like, we're playing golf and then we're like walking up this creek and catching CR ads and then we're going and playing golf again. And then I'm like, oh my god, there's like a eagle. You know, like I just, to me it just combined . Yeah.
Speaker 1:Those
Speaker 2:Things. And then I'm with these, you know, buddies and little kids, big open grass spaces. It's like, heaven, you're like doing cartwheels and. So I was like, this is everything I like. And so then, you know, the , the community of golf , uh, here in Oregon is really , um, embracing for kids. You know, there's a kids program everywhere. And so my parents just started putting me in 'em and then I made some buds that were just the kids that get dropped off at the course in the morning and parents come pick 'em up at night. And, you know, my parents were like, this is great. You know, like, you're around what seems to be people , nice
Speaker 1:People , you're outside like , yeah , you're getting a
Speaker 2:Little bit of exercise, you know, <laugh> . And so , um, it just stuck. I just loved it so much , um, the social side of it too.
Speaker 1:So then you just kind of grew up just playing, like did your dad end up playing with you or you just played with your friend ?
Speaker 2:My dad. My dad started playing golf , um, because I was playing golf. He was taking me and he was like, well, maybe I'll try. And , um, his swing is like, he's swinging at cricket bat and the results are really not that different. A very low stingers and stuff like that. But , um, he just liked to get out and then my little brother got into it. Um, and, and yeah, so I would play in high school golf, like state tournaments and never
Speaker 1:Really, so you got good, like you got good 'cause you're playing a lot.
Speaker 2:I didn't win tournaments, but I would always get out there . Gimme the
Speaker 1:Golf team. That's cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, we , and we did well, I mean I , um, but I, I ended up making more friends on the golf course than I did really, because I wasn't really beating people and match play . I'd just be like bullshitting. So like , um, having fun with
Speaker 1:It and enjoying it,
Speaker 2:Like , yeah . Yeah. And, and then , uh, you know, the real ignition for my like golf passion came in 1996 when the US Amateur came to Pumpkin Rich . And I was like 13 and I went to go , um, they recruited the kids around to caddy in it. And so I got to go caddy in the U S M . Um, and that was like this moment, you know, I, I was a huge Tiger fan 'cause he had come to Portland just a year two earlier for when he won the US Junior out at Waverly. And so he had this kind of legacy around here. Um, and so that, you know, seeing him play and win and then, you know, seeing Phil Knight following him, you know, back in the day it was a pretty impactful thing
Speaker 1:Really. So like you like that was the early , that was early. Early. 'cause he hadn't even won. Wait , 96, when was that? Was that
Speaker 2:No, he'd already won three masters , three juniors. That was his third us . Um , and he had played in the Masters twice already. And then he was gonna forego his he year Yeah . To end up going in ONM 97 and winning. Remember
Speaker 1:That ? He'd already remember this is like right before all this. So you could see, like, you could see it happening already though, even, I mean obviously you as a kid you're watching like, oh, this guy's gonna be the next Michael Jackson.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And , and like until nights year ,
Speaker 1:Like, oh hell yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh my God. And you know, like, I , I was waiting, remember for my par I remember waiting afterwards for my parents to pick me up and I'm like one of the last people there. And I watched Tiger and Phil get out and walk into his Acura, N S X and drive off. I was like, everybody was like, I don't know if he's going, going on tour or not. I'm like, no, he just drove off with Phil Knight. He's going on tour. That ain't like, Hey , we're just hanging out with Phil thing.
Speaker 1:No, no, no , no. And then ,
Speaker 2:And then the brigade like drove by my parents' house, like, and I remember seeing that of like all these black Hummers with swooshes on him . And I'm like, this is the coolest thing ever. This guy's like, just changed his career path completely. Like, I mean, I mean, he's already on , on that path, but it was just like pretty cool to see.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's already made the next step. Like, like, I mean, once it, I mean , 96 he was when like Jordan , it was Jordan. Like everything was Jordan. I mean, I mean mm-hmm . <affirmative> , I remember when he won in 97, the Masters , I remember watching that. And that was like 19, I think at the time, maybe 18 mm-hmm . Nine 19 . But then you see something like your age pretty much, or close to your own age, winning the masters and you're like, oh, this is the next , this is it. Like this is the next big thing. Yeah . Like you already knew it. Like, I feel like that's like a big time in like golfer. It changed the industry completely. I mean my , well ,
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, it was a big deal for me because, you know, being in golf, like I , uh, my family's in Pakistan, I , I don't look like a normal golfer. And to see this guy who didn't look like a normal quote unquote golfer , um, basically destroy the barriers and then destroy everybody. And it , it just showed that this game had a way of kind of balancing things out. I mean, it , it's not as discriminatory as one might think.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And also like, because
Speaker 2:Of his work, you know? Really?
Speaker 1:Yeah. I love Tiger. I mean, Tiger's my favorite. I mean, I think anybody grew up in our generation I think is like, that's their number one, you know? That's crazy. So then did you go to college then in Oregon? Or what'd you do after that?
Speaker 2:I went to Portland State. My mom was an accountant there. And then I got a couple of tiny scholarships for accounting and <laugh> . I, you know, in our culture, we , we are supposed to live at home until we get married. So I lived at home and I got rides to school with my mom when I was in college. How cool is that?
Speaker 1:I mean, I used to bum rides all the time for my friends. I was like a bum. But no ,
Speaker 2:I would like call my mom that's
Speaker 1:One that blower , I'm
Speaker 2:Like
Speaker 1:Calling my mom, like come out of like the minivan Uhhuh .
Speaker 2:Oh, that's that . That's exactly who the hell I am . And, but it was like, you know, I had to go have lunch with my mom, <laugh> , I don't care . I mean like <laugh> ,
Speaker 1:You know , Hey , free food , free stuff, your mom .
Speaker 2:Okay. So, oh wait, key thing , she's working at Portland State. So as a son , I get a badass discount. It was like 10 bucks to go to college or some. It was like so cheap. So I was able to,
Speaker 1:Yeah , that's not worth it .
Speaker 2:Get an accounting degree and you know, there's a lot of cool people at Portland State. It's a pretty diverse school. I like that. And is
Speaker 1:That in downtown Portland?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and every member of my family has gone to Portland State. So at some point could
Speaker 1:It cost like $40 for everybody to go?
Speaker 2:Well, unfortunately , uh, well it might've, I mean, my dad went in like the seventies or whatever, <laugh> . But he went after going to Reed College and then my mom went there, like after she had us to get her accounting degree. And then me and Oh,
Speaker 1:Is your mom's an accountant too?
Speaker 2:She is, yeah. And your
Speaker 1:Dad's an accountant?
Speaker 2:My dad , uh, is sort of a serial entrepreneur. That's awesome. And
Speaker 1:That's where you got it from, bro.
Speaker 2:He's a business dude. But really math is like his gift. I'd say. He studied physics at physics and calligraphy at , um, Reed College with , uh, and he took calligraphy from the same professor in classes with Steve Jobs. They were like buds in college. That's
Speaker 1:Crazy, dude.
Speaker 2:But super artisty. And you know, my dad will never say he did all the things they do, everybody does at Reed <laugh>. But Reed's kind of known to be a super liberal shroom fest. But <laugh> smart people
Speaker 1:Though that like, yeah, you did that or whatever. My dad does the same. I'm like, you're in the seventies. Read smoke marijuana , smoke weed . I'm , it was a sixties, bro. Like you didn't No , my roommates did it. I'm like. Yeah .
Speaker 2:Like I don't , could not that
Speaker 1:Go
Speaker 2:To read college in Portland. Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's crazy. So what kind of things did your dad do for like, serial entrepreneur? Like what kind of business? Oh God.
Speaker 2:Well, he first got into banking and he, so outta school, he went to LA to work for a bank and built all these branches and they gave him all California. He oversaw for the bank. And because he was flying , he was going all over the place all the time. He decided to get his pilot's license and that's sick . So he bought a plane before he bought a house, and he had this twin Comanche that was his, did he
Speaker 1:Really? Did I to fly twin Comanches. Dude , that's crazy.
Speaker 2:I know. He's a death
Speaker 1:Trap,
Speaker 2:Huh?
Speaker 1:I think he's a death trap. <laugh> .
Speaker 2:So her, his, his his teacher pilot teacher died in a crash.
Speaker 1:Really? Then
Speaker 2:My mom is like, you're selling that plane, your wing's eclipsed and we're buying a house. So he never flew again. But, you know, he's just kind of a , you know , uh, an awesome spirit. So he would go on and, and you know, did the banking thing. Then he did like data outsourcing and had like one of the biggest, most up and coming companies here in Portland back in like the nineties. Um, like data
Speaker 1:Was like starting, right? Like when
Speaker 2:People were like , yeah . So he like secured contracts for like legacy healthcare systems and stuff like that. And then, you know, the business kind of fell apart. I mean, there was some other businesses he had along the way, but every business he had kind of got to a certain size and then just kind of like fell apart. Which it was just kind of like, it was tough because he would didn't just roll into like a consulting thing knew . And he's done that for a while . Yeah . And he's found
Speaker 1:Success
Speaker 2:With that. Um, but the funniest business that he started was a chocolate business and he bought it and grew it and it was out of, they were sending a huge order to Mexico. Biggest order ever. And the chocolate melted Mel . Yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah. I was like, it would've melted <laugh>
Speaker 2:The chocolate melted
Speaker 1:It like, pour out the back of the truck when we open it, it's all always like chocolate melted out and like
Speaker 2:Money .
Speaker 1:You
Speaker 2:Know , I haven't gotten him to tell me the exact story 'cause he's so still kind of like that sucked <laugh>. But so , um, he's kinda like my business coach too, so, well
Speaker 1:We've seen it all right? He's , he's done it like, like,
Speaker 2:Oh God, when I'm doing
Speaker 1:Something stupid , like all the life experience, he's like , do
Speaker 2:That . He knows exactly. He's like, don't, no, you're up. Like, and my dad is like super direct. So I mean, it's nice to have that influence. I'd say a lot of my business success has been him. I mean, we had so many times where I could've it up and, and sometimes I oftentimes did. But , um, the biggest thing that he gave me was don't ever take investment. So from
Speaker 1:Outside, outside investment.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Don't ever take money otherwise you won't have it anymore. And so I have had the big conversations with the big people and every time I get real close or whatever, and I just say,
Speaker 1:That's the hard thing. I feel like, isn't it like with any business, it's like you get to a point where like, it'd be nice to have the investment so you can do whatever the next thing is that you wanna do, but there's like such big strings attached to that and you lose so much control that like
Speaker 2:Yeah ,
Speaker 1:Like
Speaker 2:I think everybody gets into business for different reasons, you know? Um, for me it was like an independence thing. Like my parents wanted me to be an accountant and you know, in Southeast Asian culture, it's like, you gotta be a you doctor . You have to be a engineer , uh, or your c P A . Okay, that's it. Otherwise you're out of the family. So the the thing for me was I was a C p a , like I sucked at it. Oh,
Speaker 1:You have your C P A license, you have your C or your Oh,
Speaker 2:It's an active now. Um, but yeah, I got my C P I , I worked at K P M G , did audits, and I hated it. It sucked ,
Speaker 1:Bro. Like what ? That's cool. I mean, that's like, I mean, you, like, you did the consulting thing and Yeah, it's like lucrative. You can make good money doing it, but it sucks.
Speaker 2:I never made any money doing it. I , you know, and the thing is, it was such a, like, everybody was like a fraternity guy and like, I didn't fit in, dude. It was like, they tried to bring me in under like this diversity thing and it was like, oh
Speaker 1:Gosh , nice . Oh , like so hard too . And you're like , it
Speaker 2:Was total. Like, it didn't really like, fit and like, you know, I , I wasn't culturally fit for that, you know? So , um, anyways, I , it just was like, it was impossible for me to grow because like if I didn't, if I wasn't like a duck or a beaver or if I didn't have like a parent that owned a business, like they didn't care about your success and path. So , um, I kind of got knocked around a bit.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Is that when you got outta college, you went , you went from a co did you go from like college to like K P M G ? Is that what you did ? I
Speaker 2:Went , uh, yeah, so it was organization called Inroads, which was like, they helped place diverse candidates from college and, and actually like coached and mentored. And then they were essentially like a recruitment agency. And so you would go through this process of like taking their classes and, and stuff. And then it became like this cohort that I had, and these kids all went to Price Wireless Coopers or you know, this insurance company standard or, and there was some really great partners and, and it was really an awesome nonprofit . And , um, that's , they're the reason I was able to get into K P M G . I wouldn't have gotten in otherwise. And , um, and so I , uh, went through that and actually was like really involved. Like, I became the president of this organization. I had like, you know, 200 guys be kids in there and I'd be helping the other guys that were trying to do stuff. And , um, but then once I got into that harsh world of public accounting, like, my God, it was crazy
Speaker 1:Hours and like , yeah. Oh
Speaker 2:My God. You know, and , and the ,
Speaker 1:Oh , it's tax season. We'll we won't be seeing that car for a while . Like, you know ,
Speaker 2:I was an auditor of those. I , I I didn't do turns , but , but you know, I worked on some great clients and I really loved manufacturing. So they put me on anything that had inventory. Uh, and I became kind of really good at costing and inventory. Uh , that was my specialty. So For
Speaker 1:What? For like, like personal property tax or like what?
Speaker 2:Costing and inventory. So it would be like, my clients were in focus. They did like projectors. Um, and then I did, my biggest client that I managed was like doing a couple billion bucks. It was ConAgra's , uh, subsidiary of Lamb Weston . And they made french fries and I was homies with all the plant operators and just go around eating french fries. It was pretty sweet <laugh> .
Speaker 1:And they're all cool . They're all like awesome dudes.
Speaker 2:Yes. Yes. Um, what are we answering right now? What am I talking about? Your
Speaker 1:Life? Does it matter? Life, whatever , like how you got from uh , oh my God. It's hilarious. So my , okay, so a buddy of mine obviously in comments , I gotta put this on dude here. All right . This is my buddy Rob. So like, we used to work together and
Speaker 2:Wait, are we listening to this conversation right now?
Speaker 1:How ? Yeah, we're alive , bro. We're,
Speaker 2:Oh my God, I didn't know that. Hi Rob.
Speaker 1:I told you that I , this is my , this is my friend Rob. He is listening on LinkedIn right now, but like, he worked, he did Inroads too. Look, so he with Inroads during my time at ey, 'cause he was at ER and Young Thank , so he left. We worked together 20 years ago 'cause he worked with my dad's firm and he left to go to work the ei ey. That's crazy.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And , and I don't even know if it's still around. Um, you know, everybody's working on d e I stuff now. It's almost like baked into the, the system. So yeah, I worked on all those things. I didn't make it to senior, which was a big deal, like a kind of a let down . So I didn't get my c p A there. I ended up
Speaker 1:<crosstalk> How long did it take to get senior? 'cause that isn't that kind of like the carrot and the stick. It's like, oh we're ,
Speaker 2:It is
Speaker 1:A senior. It is . We're gonna make you a partner. And you're like , we're didn't off . And they're like, oh, sorry. I worked my safari.
Speaker 2:I worked so much and they didn't promote me to senior. And I literally was so. I was like , oh ,
Speaker 1:I would be like beyond because it's parent ,
Speaker 2:You guys threw this client on me and they made me live out in the Tri-Cities and then you me like this. Like, I was like, get that. I was like, I'm I'll
Speaker 1:Be so, bro. You
Speaker 2:Guys are not that .
Speaker 1:That's why it's like in the legal field too, dude. It's same . Yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh ,
Speaker 1:Make your partner. Oh , partner ,
Speaker 2:Partner . And then, you know, afterwards, like when I started Seamus, they started inviting me to like the reunion events and I was like,
Speaker 1:All
Speaker 2:Of a sudden you guys want me to hang out? Great .
Speaker 1:Oh , now we're buddies. Now we're bro . Yeah . P us like founder ball markers and some head covers like Yeah . Outta here .
Speaker 2:Uh , so anyways, you
Speaker 1:Know, you went to it though.
Speaker 2:Oh, I did. Yeah . You know , because I love the people
Speaker 1:Was . I'm
Speaker 2:No , I
Speaker 1:Own Shameless now. You could've
Speaker 2:Look dude, I never worked around so many smart people. Like at the same time people were all gone places. I love my cohort of people that were at kpmg. They were so awesome. And I had like one , it's
Speaker 1:Just , it's a corporate world though. It's just, it's <crosstalk> , right ? And I had ,
Speaker 2:I had , you know, advocate for me. I had one partner that was an advocate for me. That wasn't enough there. You had to have a lot of people that had your back. But this guy, Tim McCann was just a badass. I mean, he's the one who called out Enron from a Arthur Anderson. And I just like resonated. That
Speaker 1:Was really with the guy
Speaker 2:We connected. Yeah. You're
Speaker 1:Like, oh, he got the badass.
Speaker 2:So when it all went down, I went and talked to him and whatever, but you know, and he was supportive. Got me in another firm, Perkins and Company. That was great. Um, but ultimately I got laid off there , uh, during the , so this was a real cool during
Speaker 1:Oh eight or whatever , nine .
Speaker 2:Yeah,
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then , um, the IT guy was a good bud and his wife had a little accounting firm. So then I went there and then ended up working for one of her clients, the real estate developer doing low income housing, these complex tax credit entities . And it was really interesting and kind of fulfilling work. Uh, rural, it was all rural Oregon, but man, I got there at the time to be pretty busy. 'cause he started, you know, on a couple buildings defaulting on notes and
Speaker 1:Big stuff . So we had to do some
Speaker 2:Yeah. But the guy,
Speaker 1:Yeah .
Speaker 2:Became like a, a mentor second father to me. He was , uh, Dave Glenny , um, out of sale Oregon . And I still play golf with him today. And he was one of the most active proponents of me starting Seamus. Um, yeah , he let me work for him and take calls with clubs and sell stuff out of his office. And oh ,
Speaker 1:That's ,
Speaker 2:He helped me build my projections. We'd do all the stuff that we were doing . I was working a lot for him. And he was like, look, let's go figure out how you're gonna do this Shamus, you know, 'cause I think you can actually do this. And I remember, you know, he'd be like, so what do you need to sell this, that? And then he'd just like, order like 200 head covers and send 'em to all of his like , um, investors, friends,
Speaker 1:You
Speaker 2:Know. And , and these were guys like Jim Kerr who was like, he's the c e o of DA Davidson member out at Rock Creek Cattle Company too . Like all these different ,
Speaker 1:Like the who's who, like his boys. Like, he
Speaker 2:Was like,
Speaker 1:Okay , here's my guys Dave
Speaker 2:Davis, right ? Tremaine , like super awesome people that were investors. George Puentes who owned like, I think he sold his company to the research . He just was the most network. Great dude. And you know, I didn't have that many people like that, that just gave that much of a. I mean, and he's just, so I worked there, did that. And then I worked for him for a little bit. Are we still going? Is this still?
Speaker 1:This is cool. This is cool as . Lemme just keep going. So is that where you met your wife? So where'd you meet your wife at?
Speaker 2:I totally glossed over that most important part of the story. Uh , no ,
Speaker 1:You brought up a little bit.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry. My wife Megan , my wife is amazing. Okay. She's amazing. And I met her while I was at K P M G because a buddy of mine there, Matt Kenton, we became great buds. He's a , he was known to be kind of a dick. But I love people like that. He's very honest. He's, and that's why I liked him. And we could both be the same way. 'cause
Speaker 1:He's real. Right? Like you , like he real , he's not he's not
Speaker 2:Real . I'm nice. Yeah , he's not . But I really appreciate real, you know, he's very authentic. He's an. it. I don't care. And he, he was going down to the Civil War game, which has been changed names, you know, because of all this stuff. And that's fine, but I don't know what they're calling it now. It's Oregon State and U Ubo . What's that ?
Speaker 1:Oh, okay.
Speaker 2:Football. And we went to go see our buds and he needed help moving a couch to his sister's house. So I go and I'm moving this couch with him and his sister must have noticed my muscles or something , <laugh>. And uh, so I was like, Hey, Matt's sister, well hello Megan <laugh>. So it was awkward for a little bit, but we, we hit it off. But Megan didn't really, she didn't notice my muscles at all. And she thought I was weird for a while , but , um,
Speaker 1:She's like this creeper <laugh> . Yeah . Why did keep on calling me.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But I thought she was pretty, and I thought she was really nice and a lot of things that I would look for in , uh, person. And , um, she's also very real, but she's not a dick. Like Matt , Matt like was on another level. Matt's a dick .
Speaker 1:Dick
Speaker 2:Get togethers now for me. Like, you know, he got over this a long time ago. That
Speaker 1:<crosstalk> like 10 , 15 years ago. You like ,
Speaker 2:Yeah , now we hang out. It's like, we're just like buds at a family thing. Like I can't ask for a better thing. Like, we're both like kids, kids are over there. We're over here being reckless dads drinking beers and whatever. It's just
Speaker 1:Hanging out. Yeah .
Speaker 2:It's awesome. So , uh, I met her, met her through her brother.
Speaker 1:That's crazy. So, all right . So you, what year, when did, when did you start thinking about starting Seamus? I
Speaker 2:Wanted to start a business when I was five. Dude, my , uh, my, my uncle had a manufacturing business in Pakistan. Surgical instruments. And, and then every time I'd go to visit, I'd go to work with him . <laugh> from 6, 7, 8 years old. I mean, like, you
Speaker 1:Like fascinat , right?
Speaker 2:I wanna go see how they're, you know, 'cause they were hand forging stuff, metals. That's where I saw hot steel melting and hammering. And I was like, this is so cool. And then I was like, is there other factories here in Pakistan that I can see? And he's like, I'll set you up with my buds that make soccer balls. I'll set you up with my buds that make, you know, knives. Where they make the Rambo knife , you know , the Rambo up . Yeah. saw the Rambo knife . I'm
Speaker 1:Gonna set you the guy that makes AK 40 sevens . I'm gonna set you guy up to make the bow and arrow from Rambo movies. All right .
Speaker 2:You see all kinds of in Pakistan, that's for sure. Uh , partially why I'm probably so screwed up. But , um, anyways, I really love that. So ever since that age, I knew I eventually wanted to start a business. Didn't know it would be golf. Oh yeah. So I guess I should mention in college I caddied at Bandon Dunes and worked in the shop. Oh,
Speaker 1:That's a big part of this.
Speaker 2:Yes .
Speaker 1:So
Speaker 2:I did. You
Speaker 1:Had to walk that bad boy a lot.
Speaker 2:Oh my God. I, so I went, I have a very privileged life now. You know, I've done a lot of amazing stuff. But one of them was playing Bandon dudes in 1999 for 35 bucks . 35 .
Speaker 1:Seriously?
Speaker 2:Dollars . Yeah. And that was, I went with my family. We all stayed in one room and my mom walked along with us and we're blown away. Then I went again in 2001 when Pacific Dunes open. And the first day I go up and it's like Tom do's staring at his course and he's there like, and it's 'cause we, he just opened it and you know, we played Pacific Dunes and I was like, this is, I don't ever wanna leave. Have you been there?
Speaker 1:I wanna go so bad. Like so, so, so bad.
Speaker 2:Paul, you can do all this talk show stuff, but you need to get to Bandon Dunes . We need to take you to Banon Dunes .
Speaker 1:Let's do it bro. I'd love to do that. If we could film it, that'd be so much fun.
Speaker 2:Or we could just play golf. I'm over
Speaker 1:Do that <laugh> . I'd do both. Or I'd do one or the other. I wanna go so bad. I you have no idea. Like, I wanna go so bad. Abandoned . Oh my God . I talked to ,
Speaker 2:Thats is so awesome because it's the best golf I've played without all the really?
Speaker 1:You know,
Speaker 2:All the like country club, this, that it is. Like you can be yourself out there and I love that. Um,
Speaker 1:It's gorgeous too. 'cause we're in the ocean, right?
Speaker 2:And it's of course. I mean, so anyways, I played it and then I was like, I wasn't doing anything. So I wanted to work there. And I asked them afterwards, I was like, do you guys ever hire? And they're like, we can't hire anybody or get anybody here if you wanna work here, show up on Monday.
Speaker 1:Seriously. Oh. 'cause like no one even knew what it was yet. Right. It wasn't like a Yeah,
Speaker 2:It
Speaker 1:Was like a ju it was like a jewel that like wasn't nobody knew about. Right? Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I couch surfed in 2001 , um, in Bandon . The buyer, Amy Ergas let me stay on her couch. Like she had her brother living there. Wow . And her boyfriend and me on the couch. I was like, and then , uh, the next summer I brought all my buds back. 'cause there was a lot of jobs they needed. And it's
Speaker 1:Good money too, right? Because it's all you're , if you're caddying and you're walking all that like, it has to be good cash .
Speaker 2:Spiritually . Yeah . I saved a bunch of money and then, yeah . Um, and then in 2001, my , my , my dad encouraged this and we bought a place down there because I was like, I'm gonna go back there every summer and there's nowhere to live. I'm gonna bring all my buds. Like we're gonna do the caddy and work there and play golf everyday thing. And um, property was very inexpensive then . And so back
Speaker 1:Then, now it's probably like exorbitant.
Speaker 2:Nah , I don't know. I mean I think it's higher. Like yeah, it's more but not like crazy. So , um, so yeah, we bought a place that was within like 400 yards of band and trails number eight in the woods. Wow . And it's like a few acres there. It's like , um, so then I just would go there and eventually ended up working , uh, in accounting and almost took a job as a controller or assistant controller
Speaker 1:Abandoned
Speaker 2:Instead of doing the K P M G . Yeah.
Speaker 1:Holy crap. I mean it's kind of a good thing you didn't do that. 'cause you'd probably be like C F O or whatever there abandoned . And you probably wouldn't have done, you know, Seamus because you would already had , you would already been doing something .
Speaker 2:No . Rets different path . Is that what the tattoo says? No, regs.
Speaker 1:<laugh>. Yeah. It's crazy though. Like those times in your life or like Yeah , you know, like the easy, I dunno the easy thing, but like the less, I don't know what the word is, but that's crazy. So you go start, so you start Seamus in what year? In your mind you're like, okay, I'm going to , we're really gonna do this. So how did it start?
Speaker 2:How does Shamus start? It was just basically, so Megan is a huge part of this and she was a women's wear designer at Pendleton Woolen Mill . Have you heard of Pendleton? They make the blankets and stuff. Yeah . Native American cards here in the Pacific Northwest. Um,
Speaker 1:Her background was designed ,
Speaker 2:She grew up here in Beaverton, 10 minutes away from me. And she studied , um, apparel design at Oregon State. So , um, she , I had this head cover that I really love this head cover right here. This is prop number one, you can see.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's cool.
Speaker 2:This is a heck, heck cover . My dad brought me back from Royal Troon and then this part was falling off. And so she just sewed on one of my old socks. You know how accountants wore black socks? Yeah .
Speaker 1:This is
Speaker 2:An accountant's black sock . She sewed that on there and fixed it. And then she was like, you know what, I think we can, I think we can make these with Pendleton. And so she started making them , um, with scraps from work. And um, that was kinda like how it started. 'cause then I started giving it to buddies and then , um, you know, of those buddies, like Amy was at Bannon and Jeff Simons is still there at Bannon. They, you know, I just took it to them and I was like, do you guys think you'd ever buy something like this? Like, 'cause nobody was really making tart and head covers. You know, we really designed our own thing. I mean, nobody made a barrel style head cover like this. So like, you see these on
Speaker 1:Lot
Speaker 2:Of Everywhere. Yeah , every, everybody Here's what they did. They took our head cover. If you see it on a website, that head cover that looks like this, it is a copy of a sea of golf . We're original in the way we made this. And we designed it and it didn't, you know, the way we designed it didn't have a logo on it or anything. And they were like, you should probably think about embroidering the lid or something. So they helped us figure out how to make the product and then they ordered a bunch of 'em and my wife made 'em all with her aunt, you know, and that was how it started in 2011. Our first sale was to ban noons .
Speaker 1:How many did they order? Do you remember?
Speaker 2:I think it was like a couple hundred.
Speaker 1:There's a lot, you know, like that's Yeah , I mean it's seed money right there. You're like, oh hey. Whoa, we got some.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah. Oh yeah. And , and , and so then Megan was working and she quit her job. She's like, I don't think I'm gonna quit my job to do these . I was like, we gotta sell a lot of head covers . Megan , I don't think that's a good idea. You're
Speaker 1:Like, are you sure about this ?
Speaker 2:We really ready Just because we sell to to a banner , do some head covers . Doesn't mean we get to quit our job. Megan , I don't know if this is a good idea.
Speaker 1:Were you still working as an accountant though? So it's like , not as risky.
Speaker 2:So then I took a second job with Jones. I took that. I said, Hey . Oh
Speaker 1:Really ? I went to Jones
Speaker 2:Seamus , I'm working for this real estate developer and you guys have an accountant that sucks. So I will help you. And
Speaker 1:So I did you side job with Jones?
Speaker 2:Yes. So I had three jobs at that time and I worked every day .
Speaker 1:Seamus and I
Speaker 2:Worked every morning
Speaker 1:The developer
Speaker 2:Dude , real estate developer, Jones,
Speaker 1:And then Di Okay.
Speaker 2:And I didn't pay myself for three years from Seamus.
Speaker 1:So you pretty much, you use the Seamus money to re just reinvest the money in the brand and pay off ? Well I guess, I mean, if she was getting paid or whatever, getting extra money, you might be able to take a , a withdraw or something like that. Yeah , probably just rolling. No , just rolling it . Rolling it , rolling it. Trying to like you're working her off. Trying to make cash to pay your
Speaker 2:And then Megan paid herself since the beginning. Her annual , her annual salary. Lemme tell you what it was. She worked probably 60 hours a week. You ready?
Speaker 1:Yeah. 18 grand.
Speaker 2:18,000 bucks
Speaker 1:For the whole year.
Speaker 2:For like four years.
Speaker 1:That's the thing though, people don't understand like when you're like, like , at least for me too, it's the same kind of thing. And that doesn't
Speaker 2:Include the months She skipped
Speaker 1:<laugh> . Oh yeah. Like you don't make. I mean like, you just roll it and roll it and roll it and roll it and then like everyone else gets paid. My dad always told me this 'cause he has his own company. He was just like, the owner gets paid last, just remember that. He's like, everyone else gets paid. And so I'm like, yeah. You know? Yeah , I guess that's true. So I mean that's, I don't know . I think it's a life lesson too. You're gonna start a business. It's like you're not gonna get rich right away. You gotta just like, want to do it and like go all in and try it.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So you started, so you started, you told abandoned . And then how did you get like more sales if she's making 'em , who, how were you doing? Like how did you get out further? Like, you know what I'm saying? So you got the original order abandoned , didn't know what happened.
Speaker 2:Well, we had between 2011 and January, 2013, kind of a runway. Um, because we didn't have kids. My daughter was born in January of 2013, January 4th. And , um, and so Megan would work and she worked while she was pregnant and so she was managing production. And then when I was working, you know, the nice thing about golf , uh, business is a lot of East Coast stuff. So I get up at four 30 and I'd make calls and work until 6 37. And then I get to go into work and then I'd be doing calls and stuff in , in during the day. And I cold call places, man. I would call everybody. I would go after anything that looked like a sale. I was a hound dog. And then I went to the P g A show in January of 2012 with a backpack full of head covers. And I stopped everybody and talked to them about what I was doing . I didn't stop talking. So
Speaker 1:Who'd you go , who were you talking to at the show? Like did you go to like,
Speaker 2:Anybody that looked like a golf pro?
Speaker 1:Like any, did you go to Booth or anybody? Just anybody. Well , saying you go the booth and be like, I had so and so golf . Yeah ,
Speaker 2:You had a booth . Chris Carnahan at Jones had a wedge company before he started Jones or went to Jones with the lemons. And he was like, dude, these head covers are cool. I have a booth, I already paid for it. You come, you can sit in my booth and and hustle out of the corner. And I'd set up meetings, I talk about his wedges, which he ended up leaving the that company. Um, but, and then I talked about that. And then , then he went to Jones, I went again the next year, you know, and I, and then I would sit in their booth and um, you know , we shared it. And , and I did that a couple years and that, that was a really good way to do it until I got in trouble. And the PGA shows , how'd you get in trouble? PGA a show is notoriously challenging to work with people. The Read Expo people. And at the time , um, you know, you weren't supposed to like share booth between two brands because it means they get less money.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Like, and as in like tens of thousands of dollars.
Speaker 2:Yes. And so in advance of the 2014 show, they were reviewing the places golf channel was going to interview founders. And they were like, what's the Seamus? What's the Seamus Golf probably
Speaker 1:See this <laugh>?
Speaker 2:They're like , uh, they don't have a booth. So then they wrote me a letter and they were like, totally pulled the rug out from under me, like the day before the show. And I'm like, I have meetings and I got as, you know, golf channel coming. This is amazing for us. I cannot ,
Speaker 1:This is huge.
Speaker 2:Not go, I'll buy a booth. And they're like, will you? I was like, I'll throw the deposit down today. And they're like, well, we don't have any more booths for you bro.
Speaker 1:And I'm like,
Speaker 2:<laugh> . So I was like, how's next to your sound? And they're like, okay. And then I booked that booth and then I got to do it again for one year with the Jones Boroughs. And they, they of anybody, these guys at Jones were so supportive of us finding some success, man. And, and then we just kinda like, we put our booth next to each other or whatever, you know? And so it was nice to have that relationship .
Speaker 1:So how did you meet the guys from Jones though? Like, how'd you become friends with them? Did
Speaker 2:You meet with those guys? Golf is a special game, dude. You meet people and we <laugh> Carnahan and I went back to junior golf days. Carne Shada , I didn't ever play. And, and you know, high school golf, he played for West Albany. He was a talented, talented golfer. And he, he got what golf was about, you know , um,
Speaker 1:Community.
Speaker 2:Well that, and like, you know, he, he's also like just a purist with but but with a modern style to him. I mean, he's one of my favorite people. And um, he, he, you know, we went to Bannon once , lemme tell you about Carnahan for a second. Carne . And I go to a , with, it's basically Jones guys and the Shamus guy . So I brought like Maddy the mayor from band , uh, from from Gerhardt and , uh, buddy Alex kpi . We went and played a match Ryder Cup style, and we all went half set for blades and persimmon.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:And I'm playing with Carnahan out of Pacific Dunes, and he's using the cool cat , this cork filled yellow persimmon driver and bombing at three 40 off the tee .
Speaker 1:And
Speaker 2:I see him every once in a while in the tee boxes in the greens. But I didn't see him much after that that day. And he shot 68 with eight clubs,
Speaker 1:Abandoned ,
Speaker 2:Abandoned . And those clubs were all over 50 years old. <laugh>.
Speaker 1:Crazy. That's crazy.
Speaker 2:Isn't it amazing. So
Speaker 1:That's a , so Ava wasn't, I mean like that's really cool that they actually like, kind of took you under their wing too because they were doing their own thing.
Speaker 2:'cause I didn't have the resources to invest in anything, you know? Yeah, no ,
Speaker 1:I get it. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And they were like, they, they would like, you know, be supportive of me and then like, like vice versa, vice versa. So anytime I got into a situation, I was talking like, have you heard of Jones? Have you , they're coming back, they're doing this cool stuff. Like, and then we took our photos together, you know, so , um, they were a big part then .
Speaker 1:Yeah , it's a different kind of , it's like a friendship though. It's not like, oh yeah, we know each other.
Speaker 2:Brands don't do this anymore, dude. Like, they just don't, like they don't start out like that, you know? It was , everybody's trying to d each other and do like,
Speaker 1:Or steal ideas or like
Speaker 2:Stealing of ideas and this and that. It's just like, dude, come on. Like ,
Speaker 1:Like you invented. And it's like, Hmm , dude ,
Speaker 2:None of us really, you know? I know I was throwing No ,
Speaker 1:I'm talking about , yeah , I'm talking like, you know, like , people do that though. They , they , they act like they , I feel like, because now, I don't know, I think maybe it's a bit different because like, you guys were in the same city. You guys already knew each other. You had two up and coming brands. He was a little more established than you were, right? Mm-hmm . <affirmative> . But it was cool you under his wing. I think like, I , I worked with a lot of brands and I know a lot of people and I feel like a , I I think at the core of it, I think a lot of these, the brands at least I work with, they're all kind of the same type of people. Like, cool, wanna help you out. You know, it's a two-way street. But there's, there's also a barrier there too, because I think I'm always trying to get something for free or like, how can I use you to do this other thing? Or whatever it might be. And I think like, I think as we become more , um, I feel like we're islands in a way, right? Brands are islands and it's like, you don't, like, you , like for example, Ava Brand will reach out to me and he's like, Hey, do you know, so do you know anybody at so-and-so? And I'm like, oh yeah, I go golfing with those guys , right ? Like all the time they're like, oh, could you introduce me? Yeah, no worries. Like, they're cool as. And like, because I know both these guys are good dudes, I'm like, oh yeah, that'd be , that'd be a , that'd be a cool collaboration, you know? Right. But like,
Speaker 2:But Don people do that. Well , there's a lot of good collaborations going on in golf. I don't want to dis on what's going on. Everything's really in a much better place now . Um, okay, so then Bandon News , let's talk about the, can we talk about the landscape of golf when Sure . When I started, there was no Sand Valley. There was no , uh, stream song. There was no Sweetens Cove. You know, this whole under movement towards authentic, you know, design golf was just beginning guys like Tom Doke and Gihan were just starting to redo everything. And, you know, people didn't have a fried egg to listen to, to hear about what a Rodan or Bez was, you know, and all the cool things that exist within golf courses that were just plainly getting overlooked. And , um, so the movement towards like the authentication of golf had just begun. So if you think about our success since then, like starting out, had that not happened, yeah, this would've been a pretty dumb idea. But the way it's turned out, by luck and chance that people were really gonna invest in this direction for the game, it , you know, created a ton of opportunity. And, and, and a lot of that, that I was able to find our path was because of my commitment to what golf is about. Like, and, you know, as it was meant to be by the guys, you know, the Kaisers . And so I, I was very fortunate to have that relationship with , um, these Kaiser properties as they opened up, because I'd be on the ground level of trying to figure out what the best products would be and have 'em launch there. And, and , and the Kaisers that's so cool have changed huge impact on the change of what golf is today. Um, and these properties that they built just grew and grew and they built such great brands within these golf courses and told great stories and their retailing efforts. And, and so that partnership was strong. And then that led to like the , who are they working with? A lot of hosting of U S G A . Well, like, you know, so we got to Chambers Bay , um, very early because some of my friends went to Chambers Bay to work , uh, as they were launching it and opening it. And so the U S G A took note, they're like, we're looking for a local purveyor to do some product. We like to do that when we go to different places. Mary Lipinski's like, oh my God, I love Mary. She's the buyer for U Ss G a and she's so smart and I learned from her so much. Um, and so she had me and Megan come and have our product at the US Open at Chambers Bay. And since then, she'd have us come up with a new line and present it to her and her team. And then they would, you know, we ended up getting to do every US Open since then. Um, you know, and the US Open is like, you know, all these people talk. So then the masters came about and I started designing unique products for the masters. And you know, that that was really cool because like we were designing tartans for clubs at the time. Like when Tara Edie opened , I designed a tartan for them. And um, you know what a tartan is? It's a plaid, it's like a wall . Yeah . You know, like
Speaker 1:That's a Scottish Yeah, Scottish plaid.
Speaker 2:This is the steward of Apen . This is , uh, David McClay kids tartan. And so he has a kilt in this , you know, like it's a familial thing. But what happens is clubs can, you know, the, it's actually possible to register and trademark your own tartan and have it with the Scottish Authority. And so I did that for like Balta Straw and Sea Island and um, uh, so cool . And so then that led into doing that for Augusta. So that was a big, big deal. 'cause the member is from Seamus. And so we did the stuff for the member shop and then Berkman's place, which is like a nice shopping ex , it's like the most elite shopping experience. And that was really by virtue of the relationship and you know, people saying good things about us, whether at Bannon and that , you know, Mary and her team probably made some comments that were like, yeah, you could , you should check this guy, these guys out. A shame is ,
Speaker 1:Wow . Oh, I think it's so cool too, is that like, I think it's two pieces. One, it's like, it's still high quality, right? So it's not like you , it's your product speaks for itself. But then I also think it's, it's you and Megan , like, I think, like they, like, it's like two parts, you know? So it's like
Speaker 2:Absolutely you
Speaker 1:As a person and you as a brand, and it's like, if you put 'em both together, that's why Seamus is Seamus . Because if it wasn't one of these were missing, right? Yeah . Then it wouldn't have , it would not be, it would not be like that. You know? Yeah . So I think that's , that's amazing. Yeah. You guys are everywhere and you're like everywhere, like all the cool places, you know, like all, and you're exposed to another level of, of golfer or buyer or
Speaker 2:Our, our golf shop expansion into like all these great places that exist that it , it really was driven by our product mix evolved too . We , um, we started making , um, you know, ball markers and stuff and, and like, you know, like this is the tour card . We , I , I'm trying to find a ball marker , ball marker . Really changed our presentation in those clubs because we started selling them in the, on the counter and stuff , uh, of these shops. I can't believe I don't have a , you pull
Speaker 1:Up to , I can share, oh ,
Speaker 2:Here we go. This is the most unconventional ball marker I could show you, but it's a Leon. Yeah , it's for Leon Bridges. We did a guitar pick . Uh , oh ,
Speaker 1:That's ,
Speaker 2:I love this one. Uh, but I met a blacksmith here. I love his work. He's making bottle openers like this, like this is the one we did for L A C C . And, and I , I , I liked his work and it reminded me of like a hold hickory club, right? That's , everybody says Hickory Club. Hickory Club. Well , I love hickories. Nobody says hand forged club, but all the heads were hand forged using these techniques from eras, way back, I'd seen the hand forking from my uncle's factory in Pakistan. So like, I was like, I love melting metal and hammering it. This is what it's all about. Everyone's unique. Everyone is different, everyone's worth holding onto . It's a quality thing. And so we made him , I talked to Lyle , I'm like, Hey man, I met him , make some ball marks for like, you know, you put it on the green, like, you know what I'm talking about, like the golf, A ball goes on green, you know, the divot tool. And he is looking at me like I think I know what you're talking about. I'm like, really? He's like, yeah, I'm like an eight handicap. I'm like, <laugh> talking about <laugh> . You don't think Dick? He's like, just watching me explain a divot tool . I make like horseshoe
Speaker 1:Laughing for like horses and he's kind of
Speaker 2:Like giggling. I'm like, why are you laughing at me? I'm like a potential customer.
Speaker 1:And then you're like, oh, I like this guy because he's already,
Speaker 2:Yeah . And then , um, so I like was like, okay, make me some ball marks. This is how I want 'em . This is like perfect. 'cause everybody was buying poker chips then . And those are just, I thought stupid. You know ,
Speaker 1:I mean this , whatever . I have one right here. Look at this .
Speaker 2:Of course you do those things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but this isn't mine. Somebody gave it to me .
Speaker 2:I actually used to have poker chip ball marks and I thought they were cool, but then I'd use them and I'd be like, the ball, like, how does this make any sense? The ball like knocks off. Like why don't you just put a bloody coke then can down and mark your ball with that. So their ball marks are flat and you
Speaker 1:Could technically, as long as somebody doesn't complain and then you have to like change it out. I learned that rule, right ? Somebody told me that.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So , yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I'm
Speaker 1:Gonna do that. Hey, when we go play , uh, Bandon , I'm gonna use the Coke can as a ball marker the whole time.
Speaker 2:You can do anything you want. I'm totally Did you
Speaker 1:Laugh your off? What was a , what was a beer? Can
Speaker 2:I'll be laughing my off. Whether or not you do that probably. 'cause that's what I do my golf do .
Speaker 1:Uh , you'd be like, bro, you're terrible. You need to get outta here. And I'd be like, that's all right .
Speaker 2:I'm
Speaker 1:Gonna be me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I, okay. So the ball mar thing helped us did in the golf shop. We got on the counters. The one guy that helped me do that was Scott Mahoney at Peter Millar . Oh really ? He was the first one to order our ball marks. He saw it and he was like, dude, you should sell these to golf shops. I was like, nobody's ever gonna buy like a $30 ball mark , Mr. Mahoney. He's like, yes, they will. Have you heard of Scotty Cameron <laugh>? Like, and , and I was like, okay, well, he's like, I want some with my logo on it and I'm gonna give them to my buds. And I'm like, you're gonna give my ball mark to your buds, Peter Malar . You guys are,
Speaker 1:I love her logo too. Their logo is so sick.
Speaker 2:It's the best. And so they are the best. They have like the, like best people working there. They work with the best golf shops. They make the best product and, and they do it all at the right price every time. And it's like most figured out things. So I , I was very lucky to be able to talk to him early about, you know, opportunities he saw for us. Um, and then so much that, like even Todd Martin, the sales guy, let me have a couple of their independent reps. Eric Boin and Steve Nadel , Midwest, these are the best reps in the industry , um, that, that would help me get into these shops. And, and, and you know, a little company like ours don't deserve that. I mean that's like pretty, it was pretty, pretty awesome stuff. And it
Speaker 1:Wasn't the heck , like , it , it speed , it speeds up everything, right? Because these guys have the relationships, has everything, and it's like, oh , here ,
Speaker 2:Here's
Speaker 1:My guys . And they're independent.
Speaker 2:Don't even
Speaker 1:Worry about it . And you're like, yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh my
Speaker 1:God, thank you. I'm cold. Call a thousand more people that don't even know us
Speaker 2:Well . Yeah. Yeah. So they were , um, very supportive.
Speaker 1:So what, right now, like what is, what's, what's happening for the rest of this year with Seamus ? Like what do you guys got going on? Oh
Speaker 2:Man. I think the Ryder Cup is coming up. We got some stuff I'm working on for that. Um, the , I'll be very excited to have that be a nice little presentation. We do. Um, you know, to tell you the truth, a lot of what I've done hasn't really been the type of work I wish I was doing. I don't know if you've heard that from people that you've interviewed, but this past few years since the pandemic began, it basically destroyed my production process because it was a heavy people component. And , um, we've struggled a lot since the beginning of the pandemic to get things made. And so, you know, I'm spending a lot of time working with third party manufacturers domestically right now. And some components might, you know, I don't know. I have to look at some international options too , because we tried to just grow by adding people that sew and, and stuff. And, and , and the , the , the , that only , that worked really good in the beginning when we were small, but it really curtailed our ability to respond to our golfers , um, and, and what they were wanting. And, and
Speaker 1:Your orders get bigger and bigger and Bigger's like that's,
Speaker 2:It's impossible. Yeah. So I'm at that point where it's that moral decision of what we want to do and how we want to do it. And, you know , we need to make sure that when we do it, it's all done. Right? And, and that we communicate with our customers that yeah, we're working with third parties and or we're working internationally to get some parts of our covers made, you know, or something like that. Um, to scale the part that is like struggling. And then, you know, I'd say a lot of the stuff I'm working on, then once we can get the right partners in place to cut and sew that, you know , um, I still have my shop here and I have all my cool stuff I'm doing and that's never gonna go away, but we just can't run big orders through the cool stuff place otherwise we don't do the cool stuff anymore. You know? And we get a hard time to just churn out really cool projects. It's
Speaker 1:A hard dilemma too, because it's like, it's just, it's supply and demand, right? I mean, it's like you can't, well,
Speaker 2:Golf kind of blew up, but it also blew up our company <laugh> . Like, we have to like, rebuild everything now. It's like, and it's, it's, it's been a learning experience. I mean, I , I used to have a lot more confidence in my ability to run a business before the pandemic and then the pandemic came and I was like, dude, I suck at this like this and this sucks <laugh>. It's like I'm trying to figure out how to deal with, everybody's got issues. We all have issues now. We all have this issue. And , um, oh,
Speaker 1:Everybody does. I mean, yeah, I mean ,
Speaker 2:You know, but the great thing ,
Speaker 1:It's going away slowly, but it's, it's still there. I mean it's , yeah , it's a double-edged sword, right? Because it's, it , a sport blew up,
Speaker 2:But then it , but this type of work of sewing and the people componentry, it's like, it just pushed people into new jobs and new things. And so anyways , um, I don't wanna rant about that. I mean, right now is the time that I start working on stuff for next year really. So I'll be working on like the US open spread and trying to see if we can do that again. I'd love to do that again out at Pinehurst next year. Um , and then working on, you know, our new collections for next year. Um, that's something I'll be doing a lot of here. And , uh, you know, I've been working a lot with this team I have, which is incredible. I have the most awesome team now because like we went through the shakeout and, you know, I've got , um, a really good account management team and, you know, I started getting these guys out of this University of Oregon sports management program. Um, and they're , they're sharp. And , uh, I've got a good content creator , um, which, you know, I was running and gunning a lot during the pandemic and that just was unsustainable.
Speaker 1:It's hard. It's hard. It's so , there's so many facets to balance. Like, it's not just, you know, it's like if you don't realize that, you know, it's like even with the social or with the content creation or the pictures you need for the website, and then you have the networking and then you have the orders and you have
Speaker 2:Supply , it's no longer , it's , it's a young person's sport, you know? It's not for me anymore, the social thing because it's so fast-paced and I don't have the ability to keep up with it and I'm not even that good at it. So , um, anyways.
Speaker 1:That's awesome.
Speaker 2:Uh ,
Speaker 1:Yeah . So where can people find Seamus? Like if they wanna look you guys up or find you?
Speaker 2:Our website outside
Speaker 1:Of normal stores. Yeah. What is that?
Speaker 2:Is there , uh, seamus golf.com and then, you know, our product is mainly just available at golf shops and destination resorts. So the best collections Yeah , you have out there are definitely at places like Bannon Dunes and Sand Valley. Um, there's some others, but they're , and they're great, but I don't know , I don't have my account list. I mean, there's
Speaker 1:No , that's cool. They're everywhere . All the cool golf courses or you can find 'em on your website and that's about it. You're not gonna find it third party retailers. You're not gonna find it like, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Amazon, it's like you're gonna find it , the golf course or you're gonna find it on our website and that's it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But awesome . Yeah . Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for being on the show. I had a lot of fun. Like, this is fun. I wanna talk to you more, but
Speaker 2:So are you gonna bleep out all my cuss words? 'cause I just realized they cussed a lot on this thing.
Speaker 1:No, no one cares. Are you sure it's , do I cussed ? I'm not bleeping me out. Oh, you
Speaker 2:Did? Okay, good. So we're good. You cussed . I cussed . We're good. Okay. All good.
Speaker 1:It's all good.
Speaker 2:All we want.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you so much for being on the show today. You guys have to out Shamus golf, like, it's seriously, like the nicest stuff. It's like so high quality . And as you can see, Akbar is totally cool. And it was really cool to hear their story today and
Speaker 2:Oh man, you're too nice. It was , thank you. Thank you for having me on your show, man.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Yeah .
Speaker 2:For
Speaker 1:Being on my show, <laugh> . Yeah. All I'll see you guys the next episode.
Speaker 3:Thanks for listening to another episode of Behind the Golf Brand podcast. You're gonna beat me, the golf stay connected on and off the show by visiting golfers authority.com. Don't forget to like, subscribe and leave a comment. Golf is always more fun when you win. Stay out of the beach and see you on the green.