>> The fact that I'm able to, not only enjoy what I get out of music,
but I'm also able to enjoy what other people get out of music.
Whether it's a customer that bought one of our guitars in the retail store,
whether it's a customer we made a custom for.
Last year, we ended up building a left handed model for a guy
who had never had a single cutaway left handed.
And his unique need was, he was so used to playing them right handed,
that what he needed was a left handed guitar to where he could reach the upper frets.
But he needed a bridge reverse like a right handed.
So, it's actually a left handed guitar that I could actually play as a right handed player.
So when we handed it to him, he was able to reach in these frets for the very first time
in his life, and it brought a tear to his eye.
And he said: "I've never played up there before."
And that feeling you get from something like that from knowing
that you helped somebody achieve something, that they weren't able to do one their own,
is exactly the same feeling I get when I teach.
You know, I'm able to help somebody achieve what they weren't able to achieve on their own.
And that's, you go to bed at night with good feelings when you do something like that.
Some of the bigger challenges with, when we first launched Pladd Dot Music
as a retail store were, I didn't have any retail experience
in the sense of owning it, and distribution.
And figuring out how I would, you know, which vendors I would be affecting.
What I did have, and what I knew that one of my strengths was, was just being a people person.
But my struggle, as a people person, the challenge I encountered was, not everybody is.
So trying to find people that are good at what they do, and to let them excel at what they do.
But not necessarily think that they're going to be as good at what you do as you are.
You need to find their strengths and maybe their weaknesses,
and understand your strengths and weaknesses.
And know how to exploit your own strengths, and take advantage of your weaknesses as well,
to figure out what you need to improve on.
So, that was one of them.
When it came to manufacturing, that was a whole new ball of wax.
It was, not only did I not have the experience in manufacturing,
I had to figure out: How do we build these guitars?
How do we make them affordable?
How do we build our amplifiers?
Where do we buy parts from?
And you're talking about over 300 parts and one amp.
So where do you source this out?
Where do you get this in?
Where do you use this?
Learning how to deal with internationally.
How to deal with international companies?
How do you import?
How do you export?
Like this week, we've got a shipment going off to Germany.
I never anticipated shipping overseas,
yet we have a pretty sizable shipment going off to Germany this week.
So, it's learning how to handle the import-export side
of your business, as well when it comes to that.
There are so many hurdles that there, that you have.
The only advice I could ever give to anybody,
about any challenge they could ever face, is don't give up.
If you believe in what it is that you do, no matter what it is, whether it's music,
whether it's film, whether it's art,
whether it's making the absolute best hamburger in the world.
No matter what it is that you do, whatever hurdle you come against.
If you believe in what it is that you do, and you know you're willing to work 112 hours a week
to make it happen, you can overcome the hurdle.