Manufacturing Greatness in Alaska
Live with Alaska MEP
Join us as we interview Samson Shepherd to discuss working with the Alaska MEP.
Live Summary
Join Sami Jo Lewis from the Alaska MEP and eCommerce Evangelist for Manufacturers Curt Anderson - Founder of B2Btail as Samson Shepherd owner of Arctic Manufacturing Services shares insights about working with the Alaska MEP and manufacturing in Alaska.
To learn more about how the Alaska MEP can assist your business, connect with us online: https://alaska-mep.com
Key Highlights
• How did studying abroad help shape your entrepreneurial journey? 6:31
• The importance of following your passion. 12:41
• Manufacturing in the state of Alaska. 18:59
• The products they are focusing on. 23:13
• The value of being yourself and having a network. 30:18
• Do hard things, do hard things. 35:00
• Advice for entrepreneurs getting started. 39:02
• Taking time to reflect internally on the company. 42:24
• The importance of being seasonless. 44:30
Transcription
Curt Anderson 00:01
Oh my goodness team and look at all these people on stage what on earth is going on here? Dude?
Damon Pistulka 00:07
I feel like I’m in a party this this is
Curt Anderson 00:11
a party man thank God it’s Monday how Damon How was your weekend?
Damon Pistulka 00:15
It was awesome awesome
Curt Anderson 00:19
I’m Max life I need to come back as demon pistol gotta tell you that I don’t know anybody has a better life than Damon Pistulka Gods any hey let’s do some introductions here let’s I’m going to save our the man of the hour we’re going to save him for last but Hey Sami Joe Lewis is in the house button. Repeat offender frequent guests here on our little tiny program Sami Joe, Happy Monday to you.
Sami Jo Lewis 00:43
Thank you, Curt Happy Monday. I’m happy to be here.
Curt Anderson 00:46
I am so honored so thrilled. So Sammy Joe comes to us from the great state of Alaska. She’s with the Alaska MEP. So Sammy Joe, thank you for being here. We’ve got a really fun live show coming up on Thursday. We’ll talk about that. A rate below me this wonderful, handsome devil. And Jason Dearing’s in the house. Jason Happy Monday, brother. How are you?
Jason Deering 01:06
Happy Monday, guys. Glad I’m here. Well, we
Curt Anderson 01:09
are glad you’re here too. So let’s get to the guest of the hour. Man Damon, you sit down for this. You ready? Man? This is gonna be fast and furious. Samson Shepherd. How are you, brother? Happy Monday.
Samson Shepherd 01:23
How are you? How are you? Curt? Do
Curt Anderson 01:24
you have a good weekend? Man, it was so good. We almost had to call 911 It was that good man. It was like this close. I’m just teasing Sammy Jo, not. It was close to a Daymond. It was it was just a spectacular, wonderful, amazing, beautiful weekend. So Samson, we’re with Arctic manufacturing. You’re up in the great state of Alaska hanging out in Anchorage. David, dude, like we just said, we were just there. Why don’t we just there like yesterday, or maybe a month or so ago? But why don’t we just there? Are you on mute now?
Damon Pistulka 01:56
Oh, I am sorry. Yeah. It’s been a while though. But it sounds Yeah, it’s Yeah, I haven’t done this before. So I’m a little rusty. But it’s it’s about it feels like it feels like yesterday, but it’s actually been a while now. It’s almost been two months since
Curt Anderson 02:10
it’s been. It’s been a little it’s been a little while. So at Samsung. We’re gonna dive right in. Dude. Are you ready? Are you? Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s get after you. Rest it up all weekend for this because it’s not ski. We caught you now because it’s not ski season because I knew of a ski season. Yeah.
Samson Shepherd 02:24
When don’t winter training for ski season now. Come on. Okay. All right. So as soon as you’re off the show, you get
Damon Pistulka 02:30
back to training and training. Yeah, exactly. Samson
Curt Anderson 02:33
as a guy grown up in Alaska, just man just majestic. Wonderful, amazing. Beautiful. Damon, we had such a great time. Out in Alaska, as a little guy grown up in Alaska. Like being this fierce entrepreneur that you are is a little guy growing up who was your hero, who’s your hero is a little guy growing up in the great state of Alaska.
Samson Shepherd 02:57
For no particular reason Houdini, I like to do a lot, and I’ll stand by that just off the top. So it’s probably not gonna feed into the entrepreneurial side of the manufacturing side. But he was, uh, you know, he’s good at what he does. And he’s professional. And I appreciated that. You know, a lot of magicians I saw kind of growing up were kind of a joke. And then here’s this guy who had some, like, you know, kind of crazy tricks. And he was very professional serious about it. And yeah, it felt more more than just a show and more of a kind of people were bought in. So let’s go through dini.
Curt Anderson 03:34
You know, to Dennis, first off. Phenomenal answer. We have Damon never had that on and you’re talking about one of the greatest showmen on Earth was who DD in pure entrepreneur through and through? I think that is a phenomenal answer. Samsung. So thank you very much for that one. So I this show is going to be pure magic. Let’s dive in. So I man that was a good answer. And you and you didn’t know that was coming. Did you? You didn’t know that question was even coming.
Samson Shepherd 04:06
No, no. It’s for better for worse now.
Curt Anderson 04:10
That’s awesome. Man Who would have thought of who? Dini that was then drop the mic on that one. All right. Chi CME Joe, what do you think of that one? What do you think of Houdini? Was that a great answer?
Sami Jo Lewis 04:23
No, it was a really really great answer. And when I was not expecting so I was not
Curt Anderson 04:27
you know, so I was I caught a podcast over the weekend. This guy built a multi 100 million dollar company Baba Baba bah Good for him. Right, Mr. Successful. And he said you know what? Everybody needs to have a little PT Barnum and Bailey. You know the whole showmanship? Yeah. And you just listen to it over the weekend. And so yeah, this is a perfect example. Everybody needs a little bit of Houdini and then we’ve got to stop being the best kept secret so let’s dive in. So Samson, we go So starting in Alaska, I believe Boston University I saw on your LinkedIn profile you end up in Tel Aviv did I see that correctly.
Samson Shepherd 05:01
Yeah. Boston University had the opportunity to study abroad as like a direct study abroad program. So the engineering classes that would have taken that view I was able to take, or many people were able to take at a number of different universities. One in Mexico, I think it’s quite a hard to resident in Germany. When was Tel Aviv? I did not get into Germany, which was the one I wanted. They were like, Well, would you be interested in going to Israel? And I was like, of course, why not? So yeah, I spent six months there. And it was probably the best teacher to student ratio that I’ve ever had. I mean, it was 10 of us from the engineering school view. And to like one professor for 10 students for, you know, electric circuit theory, biology, linear algebra. So absolutely phenomenal experience for educational. And then, I’m sure as you guys are aware, or, you know, have heard the best way to kind of learn about a culture and learn about different places. You just live there. And so that was that was phenomenal to have that opportunity.
Curt Anderson 06:06
Well, man, I want to dig into that. I want to give a couple shoutouts Hey, Diane Byers. Here. Diane, happy Monday through from my friend, John bugling. How’s John had a killer weekend, I saw one of his posts, family was doing great. We’ve got Jyoti. I’m seeing that correctly. Happy Monday to you, my friend, guys, let us know that you’re here connect with our esteemed panel here on stage. Let’s go there. What so we’ll talk a little bit about Tel Aviv. What was that experience? Like? And like? How did that kind of help shape your entrepreneur journey? Let’s let’s go there.
Samson Shepherd 06:36
Um, yeah, I don’t know if it helped him the entrepreneurial side right, off the bat. But it did. I guess it provided that opportunity to strike out on my own for lack of a better term in the sense of, I’m there with, you know, several other people that I do not know. But you know, you’re kind of put into it, you do a language intensive, you get a general feel for kind of reading the not thick, thick, the figures of that length. And then you kind of get thrown into it. But yeah, I think that is maybe the kind of the Alaska card is helpful in going into environments like that, where you’re kind of just, you know, oh, a problem comes your way and you got to solve it, or you just kind of keep moving forward are you roll with the punches? But yeah, you know, asked you deal with a lot of weird problems all the time. Some of them are fun and good, others are just weird and hard. And so, you know, being able to take that and go and, like, apply that in a different country in a different culture, or not applied I think is the better thing to think about is that I was able to kind of watch and take in and talk with people and not have a preconceived notion about what was going on, or, you know, how things were laid out, or any of that it was just there as a completely, you know, like, tell me about what you got going on. And yeah, today, even, you know, that’s what I enjoy about manufacturing, especially in Alaska, is it’s small enough, small enough industry here that people are really not exposed to it. So I’m able to then, you know, when people are interested and willing and able to listen, you know, I’m able to kind of expose them to that and show them hey, check out this like, crazy machine I have or like, because, you know, like, we can make things like kind of anything you can think of we can make those things. And so yeah, just having that open mindedness and being to interested in like, you know, sharing that I think is helpful that maybe that helped put the entrepreneur side seems like good enough went
Curt Anderson 08:40
yeah, I do. Oh, great answer and I tell any young folks out there boy when you get a chance to go abroad or study abroad or you know, just is Samson just really hit it right on the head, just wait a great way to expand your horizons, broaden, see other cultures, and you know, whether you get into an entrepreneur, you know, pathway or whatever direction you’re gonna go, and just couldn’t encourage that enough. And just, it really shapes who you are. And I just I love that. So now, you follow up from V. Boston University, go to Tel Aviv, then you close things out at Drexel top university on the East Coast. Let’s kind of let’s go there. And like what, what really triggered you to go the engineering route. So I want to kind of close things out and then we’re going to dive into your manufacturing journey.
Samson Shepherd 09:22
Yeah. So I’m from Alaska. I as you alluded to enjoy the outdoors. In Boston, there’s not a whole lot of one specific outdoor which is scheme. There are some in that area, but not that much. And so I started my junior year at Boston University and, frankly, was not doing school. I was paying for it. I was going to it but I was not doing well on tests. I was not doing my homework. And Boston University being a very expensive school. It quickly dawned on me why am I paying for this thing that I don’t that I’m not doing? So what did I want to do? I want to ski so I went to Montana. My brother is going to school Bozeman lived in his basement for I think it was like four or five months. As Season Pass, just 20 minutes from my house worked in a restaurant, it was great. I could not afford a new set of skis though. And restaurant work as much as it has been like kind of a good fallback. For me, it’s not. I can’t afford new skis on that budget. And with that kind of time off, I couldn’t realize the engineering was of very much interest to me, I enjoyed it a lot. I really enjoyed the learning process. It turns out, I really enjoyed, you know, knowing about these kind of like how things are made, how they work, and having that kind of baseline. So I decided to go back to school. And as a transfer student, schools don’t care about your grades, they don’t care where you came from who you are, they want your money. And so it’s really easy. You go wherever you want. And so I kind of looked around, and I’ve been to Philly, I think maybe once maybe, and but I didn’t, I kind of heard some things about Philly. And I really liked the idea of living in Philly. So I applied to Drexel. They also have a Co Op program, which I enjoyed the idea of and in practice I enjoyed as well, which is basically a six month to 18 month throughout your five year four or five years internship program. And see I attend school there. And it was amazing, I was able to tack on a master’s degree. And basically the reason for that was I didn’t want to do a senior design project for the team. I wanted to do it on my own. And so I could do that with a master’s thesis. I also conveniently had a very good advisor who I learned an immense amount from Yeah, and then graduated from Drexel, went to California for a year for kind of the dream job. It was the dream job. I was working at a you know, a bicycle manufacturing company making amazing cool things. But I was living in the Bay Area. And it turns out that they also don’t have schemes. But that’s many hours away. So after a stint in the Bay Area, I moved back to Alaska, worked for a couple of companies for I don’t know, handful years, five, six, probably decade and then started my own business or manufacturing services in 2020, June of 2020. So we just recently had our three year anniversary. We I they all of us had our three year anniversary. And yeah, that was kind of brings us up to date, you’re kind of
Curt Anderson 12:40
okay, so much to unpack right there. And I just I love what you said, you know, it’s following your passion. I heard you know, mentor, you had a great guy, you know, guide counselor, you know, following your pursue understanding what you don’t want to do what you do want to do I know right on your LinkedIn profile, you’d have you know, worked or lifted work, not lift to work. I have that backwards. Work to live don’t don’t work to live, right. Yeah, you know what I’m saying? Work to live not live to work. Thank you. And that was really easy for me to say. Our last live. So anyway, as we, as we kind of unpack all that, you know, West Coast all over the place. Skiing is really the common thread of where your pursuing your passion is. Am I correct?
Samson Shepherd 13:26
Yeah. Yeah.
Curt Anderson 13:30
So and you, Damon, so let’s go here. We had the honor privilege of getting a tour of Samson’s facility artic manufacturing, in Anchorage? What was your perspective? Like, dude, like, I had a heck of a time getting you out of that place. It was like you were just so blown away by it. Well, yeah. What was your takeaway of Torian? Samson’s facility?
Damon Pistulka 13:51
Well, I mean, it’s really cool. It’s just set up, you know, to be able to help people, you know, they’ve got ideas, turn your ideas into reality, and, and you’ve got the technology and the equipment to do it. And then to watch how you, you’ve taken some of the latest technology with your new machine there. And really, up, you know, taking the manufacturing part of the of the production stuff that you’re doing to a whole different level. So cool. Yeah, cool.
Samson Shepherd 14:23
No, I, I, one of the things that I have kind of come across is that, as a small business owner, you don’t have to have 1000 customers, I don’t have to have 1000 customers, some people do. I don’t have to make a million dollars, you know, for better for skeans relatively cheap, it’s not cheap, but it’s relatively so I can, you know, keep my operation somewhat small and sustain myself sustain, you know, kind of mentoring programs and you know, good outreach, things like that. But really, if I can Improve my internal processes and really refine things and kind of basically become more efficient internally. Selfishly, that allows me more time to ski so
Damon Pistulka 15:14
or workout for skiing this time here.
Curt Anderson 15:16
Yeah. workout for skiing this time here. And I love that how you have your priorities just you know, great, man, just great head on your shoulders. So let’s go here. So I’m going to pull in Sammy, Joe. So Sammy, Joe, can you were you’re with the Alaska MEP, and we’re going to tie in your relationship here with Samson, Samson, I’m gonna dig into like, you know, what your scope and like your relationship here, semi job. Can you please describe the folks who and what is the MEP network, who is the Alaska MEP?
Sami Jo Lewis 15:46
Thanks, Curt. So the Alaska MEP is part of a national network of MEP s as an MEP in all 50 states, including Puerto Rico, and we are here solely to provide resources to manufacturers in our state, and work to advance the manufacturing sector and Alaska.
Curt Anderson 16:06
Perfect. Thank you. And as you said they you know, Damon, we have the honor and privilege we interview all sorts of folks from different MEP networks, great resource, incredible, you know, set of the talent, the skill set, you know, folks like Sammy Joe, and I think there’s 1300 Strong that work nationwide at the MVP network, Samsung, how did that how did the Alaska MVP come on your radar?
Samson Shepherd 16:32
world of manufacturing Alaska is very small. So I started a manufacturing company. And very quickly found actually no I a previous company I’d worked with, I think you all did a PPE project with Dallin. Bock And I think that might have actually been kind of the first to like that was even before I worked with you all. And that was kind of like okay, for Alaska Manufacturing Extension Partnership. But yeah, then I started a manufacturing company and saw what they were doing. I was like, Okay, it’s it makes obvious sense to reach out with them. And so, I would say that our relationship is also through your straw. And yeah, it has been, I guess, one of the things I enjoyed most about it is that not everything is fitted for me, but they keep having things and that is the best part. Right. So, you know, just because I don’t like apples doesn’t mean the grocery store shouldn’t also offer me, you know, oranges and pears and bananas and chips maybe. And so that’s been really cool and fun to watch me D kind of expand their partnerships and expand their offerings and things like that. And yeah, it’s, I think that the most exciting thing is what I see other people use those opportunities. You know, it’s one thing for, for me personally, in my company to be able to take advantage of that. But when I see someone that I was like, Oh, wait, you guys also awesome, what like small world? Do Yeah, that has been kind of my, my introduction with them. And then over the years, things have grown here with, you know, what they have helped me with how I’ve been able to help them even. And so I would say it’s, you know, become a really nice symbiotic relationship with, you know, kind of continuing that small Alaska manufacturing community aspect where, you know, we can’t help each other with everything, but it is awesome to know that like, oh, I can reach out to them with a question or they can ask me something. And it’s, yeah, it’s very easy. No, no red tape. It’s very nice.
Curt Anderson 18:31
Just lots of awesomeness. Wonderful people. Right, and Sammy, Joe, let’s let’s you know, how cool is that? You know, when Damon Knight we come up. And you know, you get to do this on a daily basis. But just, you know, just talk a little bit about some of the incredible inspirational stories like Samson here a lot of the other folks that we know, you know, we can list off all sorts of folks. Stacy, Don, Daisy, just you know, share some of the exciting things that you see from your perspective of what’s going on in manufacturing in Alaska.
Sami Jo Lewis 18:59
Yeah, no, it was super excited to have you guys up and visiting. I think that there’s manufacturing in Alaska is small on the smaller end, but it is growing and there’s a lot of different neat manufacturers in the state. And I think it’s really just creating that awareness and getting people to really resonate that they are manufacturers and they’re not just making beer or making kombucha or beating or making clothing. I mean, there’s like so many different facets or even different furniture pieces, and maybe they’re like redoing them, that sort of thing. There’s so many different facets of manufacturing in the state and it’s really just creating that awareness. I know I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Samsung, I love they said it really has been a collaboration I see said he got started about three years ago. The Alaska MEP Alyssa got that started in 2019. Samsung got started 2020 So we’re really able to just kind of like build and grow this relationship together. So I appreciate it when he said collaboration because it’s really been a lot of give and take as he was new, we were also new. So how can we really help each other and be there for the manufacturers in the States? So?
Curt Anderson 20:07
Well, I love it. And you started right before I believe you started early 2020. Right, Sammy,
Sami Jo Lewis 20:11
did you have Elizabeth? Early 2020 as her first employee? So
Curt Anderson 20:16
yeah, so first employee and Samsung, you started the business just because of Sammy Jo. Like she needed something to do, right. She
Samson Shepherd 20:23
was like, I’ve got this amazing new employee, I heard that you’re just like looking to burn time.
Curt Anderson 20:30
For our business, hey, in between scheme, could you just start a business? So I have something for Sami Jo, right. That’s exactly how it went down. Of course. But Samsung, let’s go here. So you are so your business, artic manufacturing is a COVID? Baby, right? June of 20. And you’re sitting around like, hey, let’s get things started. Let’s go here. So you know, brilliant engineer, talk about you could work for many different companies, hey, I’m an employee, I’m going to do my gig, you could be a hired gun, it really would fit your scheme passion very well. What flip the script? What changed? The was there an aha moment where you’re like, you know what, I’m throwing my name on the door, I want to go down this entrepreneurial route. What was what was that transition? Like?
Samson Shepherd 21:12
I’m sorry, I guess, yeah, I left one job and had the opportunity to look for work I looked for work, did not really see a whole lot of opportunities that I wanted. Basically, I like manufacturing, and I want to and want it to stay in that realm. There’s not a whole lot of it in Alaska. Now, there’s a whole lot of it that, frankly, can afford me. I’m a stamp mechanical engineer in Alaska, that makes good money. Manufacturing, as a manufacturing world, not as like a stamping engineer does not make amazing money. So I decided to kind of try it doing on my own. And what I was doing first was just offering engineering services out of my house. So that’s very low overhead. You know, I’ve got insurance and licensing software, things like that. But that allowed me to build capital. And that winter, I bought a pair of Nordic ice skates. And as any self respecting engineer did, I immediately took them apart and made a 3d model of them, and quickly figured out that like, oh, I can make these or like, these are not actually that complicated. And then kind of with a little bit of like project management and like estimating and kind of just do job project managing experience. I was like, Okay, well, you know, how do I get this made like are sourced the individual parts. So people get quotes for free, it does not cost anything, to get a quote. In fact, it is a good thing for companies to fill the sales funnel. And yeah, I kind of had this idea, okay, well, it’s actually a reliable thing that I can make, and it’s affordable. And yeah, I was able to kind of leapfrog that engineering services that low overhead and building the capital, moved into commercial space on a machine to make these Nordic ice skates. And giants. I don’t want to say I’ve grown a whole lot since then. But things have sustained themselves, which has been really amazing.
Curt Anderson 23:17
Right? And Damon, when we were there, we got the honor and privilege of seeing some of these products. So you know, let’s go there, Samson. So you know, you’re the avid outdoorsman, just you know, diehard skier? And you’re kind of staying in that realm. Can you you know, you mentioned the ski the skates rather, can you talk a little bit like, what are some of the products that you’re really focusing on?
Samson Shepherd 23:35
Yeah, so I have found that it’s very easy for me to be passionate about things that I’m passionate about. And that is helpful when I make a product. You know, if it is a, if it’s something that is not exciting to me, I’m going to drag you into this JSON right now. I owe Jason content for an amazing website he’s produced for me, but that is like, so difficult for me to do. What I’d rather do is make things and so yeah, it’s been easy for me to kind of ramp those things up. And so yeah, in short, this is a Nordic ice skates. And the general idea is that a cross country ski boot attaches to it. Nice. And yeah, so this is kind of the first widget that I that I came out with. And I put it in the kind of spectrum of like, you know, outdoor equipment or outdoor recreation. That’s what I’m passionate about. And so as I pursue projects and products in that industry, I have been able to be excited about those products and products. It’s been very easy for me to pursue those things. And so yeah, I would say that, you know, that’s for my kind of internal, you know, widgets to sell is the outdoor recreation worlds and then you know, outside that if I can support other manufacturers in the anchorage bowl or job shop work from a machine shop. That’s kind of the other. The other big piece of revenue that I that I that I search out.
Curt Anderson 25:08
Was it was it? Yep. So Damon we got with no state of the art equipment, you know, yeah, Samsung has a wonderful, amazing, brand new piece of machinery has another piece of machinery again, like, you know, a small shop. You know, Samsung was it, let’s put ourselves in like, say there’s an entrepreneur and say there’s an employee out there. And they’re kind of like, man, like, this is really my jam. Like, I’m really enjoying hearing what what I’m what you’re saying here, Samson? Was it tough making that transition from working out of your house to like making that plunge like me, like you’re going all in? Or like, if the engineering thing doesn’t work, I can like, I’m just, I can go somewhere else. But like, once you start buying equipment and overhead, and like, you know, we were there? How was that trip? Was it scary? Or not? Like, what was that transition? Like for a potential budding entrepreneur out there?
Samson Shepherd 26:00
Yeah, definitely. 100% Scary. Every decision I make, I feel like I’ve made it too early. Yeah, I moved into commercial space IRL, I tell myself six months before it should have, but how do I sell sell manufacturing services without a shop? Right. So I think that I am also very lucky and have you know, a, I’m from Alaska, so I have a very strong support network here. You know, my family and friends are all very supportive, encouraging. You know, I have amazing parents that are active and supportive. So if I burn everything down and fail, I can go live in their basement, you know, I am a very lucky person in regards to that support network. And so I think, you know, it’s also that I realized, I have that, and that is helpful. And so I think as you know, budding entrepreneurs, you know, don’t keep your head down, pick your head up, look around, look at the people that are, you know, being appreciative of you and, and realize that, you know, I’m, I have support here. And oftentimes, it’s the emotional support that is most important. Because I can make the money thing work, I can, you know, not that I’m gonna, like, find money or like, you know, all of a sudden, I get a million dollar contract. But if I don’t believe in myself, I’m never gonna be successful, right? Like, I need to be confident that like, Okay, I’m gonna move forward, and I’m gonna have a problem. But like, No, I think I can overcome that problem. Versus the like, just viewing it as a monetary thing that that is very important to me, I’ve very fussy in particular, about my books, but the idea of running the business in that manner of like, growth oriented, or, you know, just try and push out as much revenue as I possibly can. No, I want to be happy and content. And I, my birthday was this month, and one of the things that I asked myself every year is, you know, would six year old Sam be happy with where I am? And I’d be fucking stoked. Like, look at this cool equipment I have like, and so that is like, That’s awesome to be able to realize that and to feel that way about about my business. Right. I think that’s the important part about entrepreneurship. Is that because I’m passionate about my business, all of you are excited about my business. Other people are excited to learn more about my business. And so I think that is, that’s, you know, that can be very helpful and important is that kind of infectious nature of passion or excitement in general, right.
Damon Pistulka 28:30
It’s key, it’s key to it. And I think it’s so it’s so great to a realize you’ve got this, this support network, and feel that behind you. And then and then the way that you you show your passion and enthusiasm for manufacturing, it’s infectious dude, and just great to be around you. And I just got to laugh because Kevin Thompson put a comment in here. That’s so funny. If it all fails, you could live in a van.
Curt Anderson 28:58
So speaking of man, you know so the program today guys manufacturing greatness in Alaska. Boy, he’s gonna catch our interview with Kevin Thompson. We were actually in Alaska MVP office for that he’s doing some great things in the great state of Alaska ad when we’ve got Whitney here in the house. But you know, what? multiple, multiple drop the mic moments there. So yeah, so I want to recap a couple of things to it. I just I love the inspiration. And guys, you know, he hit it on the head, what you know, it’s almost like a what do I have to lose? mentality Samsung, and what would my six year old self say today? That is like, that was a total Jotham migrate there, you know, go out there and just, you know, unlock your potential. You know, unlike oh my gosh, I’m getting shows Daymond This is so good. So let’s, let’s go. You talked about your six year old self, you talk about you know, we’ve got so much to unpack here. You know, having that enthusiasm. If you don’t believe in yourself, who is if you don’t believe in yourself, who is So speaking of like someone I believe in deeply here, Damon is this handsome young man right below me, Jason Deering. Jason, you came in, you got to know Samsung, you guys have been good friends working on a project together, what’s your assessment of Arctic manufacturing and just this relentless drive that Samsung has? What’s your perspective?
Jason Deering 30:17
Oh, it’s fantastic. I mean, it was a project that coming in, you know, it’s, you know, at first, it’s just another manufacturer. But then when you start talking to someone like Samsung, like just, he, he’s he, there’s a lot of instances where it was similar similar concepts you pick on me all the time saying that I need to assign a money psychologist, because you know, that’s my, my whole, I don’t need to be a millionaire, I just need everything to be taken care of, and I get all my wines all my needs, or not all my once I get all my needs taken care of. Right. And as long as I can do that, and have a little, you know, play money to play with my kids and everything else. That’s why we, and that’s, you know, Samsung, we’ve had, we had a couple conversations like that. It’s just getting to know him. It’s very similar kind of mindsets. And so that that always makes projects like this. Much more enjoyable. Right? And I see him and, you know, I started, what is it now, almost 15 years ago, 14 years ago, whatever it is, and going through some of the same type of steps and all that kind of thing. And it’s just, and he’s on the other side of the country, right? So it’s just, it’s nice to see someone like him has that. That entrepreneurial mindset, and that one too, and I’m a coach, and I love that one too. And you know, when people show that one, too, it’s like, I want to be friends with you. I want to help you, you’re gonna help me let’s do it. Let’s, let’s get you to where you need. And so like, Arctic is probably one of those great examples for me of a project that I truly enjoyed.
Curt Anderson 32:09
Yeah, all Thank you. That was awesome. And again, from a coach perspective, I love that it’s, you know, what, I want to just come in, you know, it’s just aligning yourself with people. You know, Damon was here, like, our buddy Greg tissue always says that, no, like, trust no, like, yes. And Samson, that’s the thing is like, you know, you kind of, you know, you have that mindset of like, you know, hey, this is who I am, right? Take it or leave it, you know, if it’s a Friday afternoon, you know, it’s Friday afternoon under skin skin, as it’s known to slopes, man, you’re not going to find me, right? So, you know, what, where did you find where was this foundation from? Just kind of like being yourself and just that drive? Where does that come from?
Samson Shepherd 32:45
I’m sure there’s all kinds of psychoanalysis, youngest child, like, all my siblings are two years apart, and therefore I, you know, I, I don’t know I, I, let’s go with Alaska, it’s a place where you are kind of raised and you can do, you know, you can be in your, in your house and do you know, kind of city things for your entire life, or you can walk 100 yards, and you’re gonna run into a moose. So it does not take very far here to kind of be pushed outside your comfort zone, your elements. And I mean, that’s a reason that I absolutely love it here. But being raised in that atmosphere, and around a community like that, I think kind of helps encourage, you know, kind of like, okay, yeah, I can’t figure that out. Like, I don’t know anything about fixing a tire, but like, I’m stuck here. And I need to figure this out. And so if someone helps me, I’m going to make sure that I know, after they’re done how to do it, or, you know, I’m going to make sure that I hook them up with some meat or something. Yeah, and so I think part of is, you know, being raised in Alaska, and then again, having supportive family that maybe could have encouraged me in some other incident, I guess, provided more encouragement. Now, that seems to be a common trait of parents or parents of my age. My age is, I don’t know, is that they, you know, I enjoyed to I enjoy the like, you know, compliments and being, you know, things like make me feel good, right. Appreciation. And so I think that they did a good job of providing me a good environment to, you know, experiment and to, you know, like, oh, yeah, you want to use the tools like, go use the hammer and the saw, like, you know, if you want instructions, you can ask, and if I break it, then yeah, that’s never good. Yeah, so I don’t know, I think, you know, between my parents and then kind of the little bit of an oddity that Alaska is just, you know, it’s a place of extremes. Perfect. All right, so
Curt Anderson 35:00
let’s go ahead. Let’s hit on that because I think there’s an important point right here. And again, Kevin, thank you for Kevin.
Damon Pistulka 35:04
Yeah, do hard things. Where you said so so
Curt Anderson 35:10
that’s I’m gonna hit on that Alaska thing for a minute Samson, because like, you know, a lot of times it’s, you know, like by their scarcity mindset or like, you know, instead of the can do attitude as the I can’t do, I can’t do that, because I’m in Alaska, I can’t do that, because everything’s against me, I can’t do that. Because of my upbringing. I don’t have the right degree, I don’t have the right this, I don’t have the right that, you know, you’ve defied so many things. And again, like you’ve come into you intentionally went to Alaska. And so like, for other folks that are like, Man, I just, I would love to start my entrepreneurial journey. However, I have the but it you know, I have the but excuses. You know, I don’t have this. I don’t have enough money. I don’t have not, you know, whatever you chose to do manufacturing in Alaska? That’s like, let’s go there for a little bit. Yeah. Like you’re defying, you know, excuses. Like, what advice do you have for folks of like, that are, you know, kind of have that list of excuses? Or, you know, can you hit on that for a minute?
Samson Shepherd 36:07
Yeah, I got a really easy one for it, it’s called decision matrix. And you put everything into it. And on one side, you have your ID usually in the top you have your concepts or your ideas. So that could be leave my job, stand my job, start a business, my own moved to Peru. And then on the side, you have all of your your needs. So you know, I need to afford to live, I need to have fun. And then you assign a numerical value. And out the other end comes a very, very objective decision and decisions made. So, you know, did I apply that to my own decision making process? Yeah, definitely. You know, did I look at my surroundings and say, Okay, what do I want to do? What do I enjoy doing? Yes. And then did I also look at like, Okay, I want to make money, I don’t want to compete with a shit ton of people, I want to provide a service that is a niche, or is not as satisfied as it could be. And did I do an actual chart? Maybe I did. And so that’s I as an engineer, and as someone that is trained in a product development strategy, that is a very common product development conclusionary item, as well as for, you know, just kind of scientific method almost, you know, the idea of propose a hypothesis, analyze it, experiment tests, and of course, repeat as many times as you can. But you know, don’t allow it to be a subjective or emotional decision, which is very, very hard to do. But if you can set yourself up to, to remove that emotional side, by using things like decision matrices, or by separating your wants from your needs, just as Jason alluded to, that is very, very helpful, just to kind of clear your mind and have a better idea of how to move forward. Man, I
Damon Pistulka 38:06
love that. Go ahead, Damon. No, no, that’s awesome, dude. Because because it is, you know, we clutter our minds is so much junk. And you just you just gave a masterclass there and about a minute and a half of just a cleared the junk out, make the decision, quit quit worrying about excuses. Right.
Curt Anderson 38:25
Now, that’s fantastic, Sammy Jo, I’m gonna pull you back on stage here. You know, we’ve talked about this many, many times, you know, some main companies in Alaska, you know, trying to get some momentum, it’s difficult, you know, trying to go back and forth transportation wise, especially manufacturing, you know, with goods, net, you know, you know, natural resources, raw materials getting from the lower 48. What are some of the challenges that you see are like, how do you at the Alaskan AP, how do you help some of these manufacturers overcome these challenges, to just say, like, Hey, man, this is a great place to do manufacturing. What are some of the advice that you have for manufacturers just starting out in Alaska?
Sami Jo Lewis 39:02
No, absolutely. I think that, as you mentioned, Alaska does have obviously, its unique challenges. And it definitely makes it a little bit harder for just different challenges when you’re trying to start up and you know, entrepreneur, I think supplier supply chain is a huge one, just because we’re so far, just getting the goods and the products that we need. Through the MEP network, there is a supplier scouting opportunity that we use a lot. And so we can have manufacturers come to us and need product or even looking to like switch suppliers or see if there’s better prices out there. We can funnel that through our supplier scouting form. That form gets sent out to all the MEP centers. So all 50 states in Puerto Rico, and then they can get that request. They can look over and see if they have they know of suppliers and then we can basically generate a list that then gets sent off to the manufacturer with just the least more opportunities and so I think that Something that we really try to do is work as a one stop shop to caters to manufacturers needs. And so the advice I would have for entrepreneurs Getting started is to reach out and ask for help and ask for support. I think a lot of times we get in the mindset, especially Samsung knows, I’m also born and raised Alaska, the Alaska mindset is like, oh, I can just like do it myself. I’ve got this, you know, I don’t. And a lot of the times you really, you really do need help. And so I’m not saying that we have the answers for everything we absolutely don’t. But we are well positioned within the university and SBDC. And if they just can reach out and ask questions, we can at least try to find the answer for him or solution for him or get them connected to someone to get them the right answer. So definitely reach out and ask for help because we want to be a resource to manufacturers and we’d love more foreigners to get started Alaska
Curt Anderson 40:49
CME jaw, dropped the mic right there, my friend Damon, how about that? How about, you know, we went out to dinner with Sammy Jo, her beautiful, amazing daughter, daughter. And she took us to this wonderful restaurant and they had all sorts of like great scenes a route like there must be dozens right does. And it just, it really just sparks exactly what you’re saying. When you live in Alaska, you just you know, you’re going to be resourceful. You’re going to just figure it out. You have that can do attitude, because you just don’t have a choice. And man, I’ll tell you the resiliency, just the relentlessness in Alaska. Damon, what do you think?
Damon Pistulka 41:24
Yeah. And I think it’s it is there is quite a balance between figuring who not how sometimes, right? Because we can get stuck in this do loop of how how how, how am I going to figure this? How am I going to figure this out? Yeah, as you said, Samsung and Sammy Jo, it’s, it’s reaching out when it’s appropriate, because sometimes trying to figure out how is way more time consuming than finding who can help me Yeah, and that it’s in their sweet spot, they can get it done better, they can do it way better than you ever could. And you can do more of what you really are good at and get get farther faster together.
Curt Anderson 42:04
Right. Awesome. All right, let’s go. Let’s go here. So Samson moving forward for 2023. goals, aspirations, we’re going to see Arctic manufacturing and no schemes a top priority, you’ve got some really cool products, you got a brand new piece of machinery what’s going on for 23, rest of the year here in your world?
Samson Shepherd 42:24
Well go to work retreat to Indonesia.
Damon Pistulka 42:28
Rock and roll.
Samson Shepherd 42:30
Yeah, no, I got a very large engineering contract. It was like 1800 hours of engineering. So that’s all from a computer anywhere in the world, which is amazing. So I have found that it is very helpful for me to basically set some, some side a time, some time aside each year, to reflect internally on the company on where I’m going, you know, revisiting my business plan. I know doing it every year is mind numbing. But the idea of just take some time to I don’t work on customers work, I work on my own stuff internally. And yeah, so that’s going to be what I do in Indonesia, there is is kind of, yeah, make sure that I’m on the right track. And if there’s a new widget that I come up with, that’d be amazing. If I spend the entire time you know, refining an existing process, that’s fine. But yeah, I think that there’s a lot of value, or I found I have found a lot of value in that just, I have, you know, as a small business owner, separating business and home is hard. And so, you know, I’m working, working, working and trying to make money trying to make sure that you know, I can pay my bills those things, and oftentimes, you’re like, oh, yeah, that’s right. I was gonna make a sign for my building and then four years later, you still don’t have a website. So yeah, that would be another another thing I’m really excited about is for Jason and I to put the finishing touches on on the website that the MVP has very mentally help kind of facilitate the launch of and adjacent has created and so yeah, getting that rolled out and then yeah, ramping up production backup here in September August time to start making much Nordex gates and yeah, I don’t know hopefully help some people make some stuff
Curt Anderson 44:30
you know, Damon consistent like you know, Kevin’s here today you know the the wisdom the and when I see maturity I want to see like seasonless if that’s if that’s the right word like
Samson Shepherd 44:42
yeah, we don’t want to go with like actual maturity Yeah. For breakfast or for dinner last night. So
Curt Anderson 44:49
other than other than say, Me, Joe, there’s really nobody mature on stage here today, but your hands down the most mature person here but when I say you know just the man I just wish I had your acumen when I was you know, 20s 30s It’s just like I’m just blown away. You know a couple of great takeaways here. You know, working on your business instead of always in your business, knowing your gaps knowing your blind spots and like you know taking time for yourself and go to Indonesia man, I just I feel this is gonna be awesome. Hey, Diane here says websites and E commerce. So we’re gonna start winding down and Kevin, I’m assuming you’re saying with maturity cap, you’re right. You’re right there with his brother. But you know, Kevin was just completely blown us away. You know, here we have a war hero veteran. And just taking a deep dive for just giving us an entrepreneurial masterclass Samson, you’re doing the exact same thing here right now. Just this is just a pure masterclass on entrepreneurship. So let’s go hear your experience with the Alaskan VP with our dear friend, Sammy Jo, this wonderful handsome devil Jason, would you suggest advise recommend your to your family, your friends to your dog? The wonderful people of the of the Alaska MEP? What’s your experience there?
Samson Shepherd 46:01
Yes, all the above i minus my dog is pretty needy, I might have to have another employee, which I mean, for the sounds of it, MVP. He’s got at least two more in the works. So but ya know, I would I would wholeheartedly endorse reaching out to them and working with him. I mean, I don’t mean to like, maybe it’s just because my business is special for some reason. But most of it’s free. I don’t I like it’s very inexpensive, if not free to be involved or ask them or to, you know, reach out for help with them. And yeah, they, I would say, just as David alluded to, that idea of they are an amazing resource and other connections, right? So, yeah, there’s no reason that I should figure out from, you know, from a zero point of like, how do I do cardboard boxes for a product? Like, I’m gonna ask me about that. And they’re gonna be like, Okay, we don’t know what this company does, and this company does, or maybe they do know, or maybe they have, you know, somebody that can help design it or whatever. And so, you know, reach out to them. When I started out, it was at the I think it was just under a bear sense of like, Hey, I’m starting a manufacturing business, right? Like, that, was it? I don’t think I can ask or a give. And I don’t think you need one, right? I mean, get kind of that’s the, you know, been one of the themes of this. It’s been that kind of Yeah, just ask, just reach out. It does not hurt to ask a company, how much does it cost to make this thing? If you have an idea, and it’s just a napkin sketch? Just ask? Because if you don’t, you won’t know. And so yeah, I think, you know, if you have questions about manufacturing, if you have questions about I mean, even I would even go like small business entrepreneurial questions. I think BP has done a really good job of, you know, helping provide perspective on that kind of thing. But yeah, just it’s easy to be involved. Do it.
Curt Anderson 48:05
Just raise your hand and ask right hey, you know, how about this right here, David? How about you know, Sammy Joel, three years I mean, EP, so they will get a little MVP chant going right. And he P. And Kevin, our dear friend says I love these guys can’t wait to work with them. So Kevin, appreciate your shout out and we think wholeheartedly and no matter what state you’re coming to us from there is an M E P, rate in your backyard. So guys, and you’re an entrepreneur, particularly manufacturer, reach out, you know, Sammy Joel mentioned SBDCs for non manufacturers, that’s a small business development centers, MEPs manufacturing extension partnerships for manufacturers. In Damon, we talked about this all the time, man in entrepreneurship. It gets a little lonely at times. Yes, it needs to be alone. And like Samsung just said, and Diane says right here, man. Hey, just ask. You know, the answer is always no. Unless you ask the answer is always no. So let’s start winding down here. Samsung. How about this? Any young folks out there kids in high school college? Why are all the cool kids going into manufacturing? Can you please like I don’t know anybody? Damon, Samson might be the one of the coolest dudes that I know. And I’m because I’m very I made
Samson Shepherd 49:15
this. Like, I don’t know, like, is that do you need another reason? Like
Curt Anderson 49:23
a short time? Let’s see that one more. Let’s see, like, just show that thing. And look at that.
Damon Pistulka 49:30
Yeah, yeah, I think
Samson Shepherd 49:33
so manufacturing is I mean, for me, I got a degree in engineering. It has been an amazing backup. That is how I treat it. I make things for living. That’s what I enjoy most doing. And I think that is kind of I don’t want to say needs to be the draw, but I think that helps a lot. Is if you if you like or enjoy making things and yeah, look at manufacturing. And then I think Just as Sammy Joe alluded to manufacturing is not just CNC machines, it’s not just drill presses and sheet forming equipment. It is packaging equipment is, you know, medical devices it is, you know, the cardboard boxes itself. There’s an entire food industry, it’s a, it’s an immense industry, and I am a strong proponent of re onshoring, or the idea of, you know, kind of making more things in in, or I guess, closer to where I live, I don’t really care about the country, to be honest, what I care about is like, why am I going to pay somebody 5 million miles 5000 miles away to make something when someone who I buy coffee from can also make it for me? Or, you know, whatever the idea of like, yeah, he’s gonna my money locally, it goes a little bit further. And with manufacturing, I feel like that is becoming a lot easier to do. And I think that is a, a common thread, in particularly in America right now is the idea of, hey, actually, I am maybe interested or able to spend one or 10% more on a product so that I can know who made it and support them, right i i am making more purchasing decisions off of the individual or the entity that I’m supporting than that’s a lie is basically quality or like Product functionality. And then it’s tough to go into. Yeah, where it comes from, or how, how it was made. But I think people are interested in that. And then with manufacturing, I think that will continue to grow. And that will continue to be an industry that is supported by that that kind of general conversation of, hey, let’s make things closer to where we are.
Curt Anderson 51:48
Right? I absolutely love it. Hey, Paula, happy Monday apologist don’t have a good idea. Make it happen. I know. Hey, that was Nicole Donnelly’s dad’s line right there. Right. And of course, Daniel, that make it happen. So I look, I we could chat all day. Let’s start winding down here. Jason, let’s go to you closing thoughts, words of wisdom, anything that you want to share from your perspective.
Jason Deering 52:13
I, I love the concepts or the conversation that we’re going you know, just make it happen. Right? You know, you, you have something in your head, just go get it done. You know, go go to university, you know, go to Israel, you know, do all kinds of different things to you know, shape yourself as a young entrepreneur. And then you know, you have an idea, just go get it done. Go ask for the help. You know, if you want it, you can get it. You don’t have nothing has to stop you. It’s you can deal with anything. And it’s just, you put it in your head. You go figure it out. There’s tons of help everywhere. You know, go get it done.
Curt Anderson 52:58
Get it done. Get her done. So Sammy, Joe, your words, words of wisdom, closing thoughts. What did you think of this little jam set? Was this man? Was this amazing or what?
Sami Jo Lewis 53:08
No, this was amazing. Thank you so much for having me on Curt and Damon and Samson, it’s always a joy to be able to connect with you and talk with you more. So I really love this. Thank you so much for
Curt Anderson 53:17
Jay Z. Thank you for all that you guys do at the Alaska MEP helping manufacturers and so again, our hats off to you. We salute you, applaud you, man. We have a fun live session plan on this Thursday. We’re doing a little video marketing jam session together. Amen. Closing thoughts, your words of wisdom. You know, again, we if you guys didn’t catch it earlier, Dima and I were on site at Samsung has got a wonderful tour team and what are your closing thoughts?
Damon Pistulka 53:43
Well, I’m really agree with Samsung here. And the reason people move on to manufacturing, if you like to make stuff, everything has to be made, right? The computer screens we’re talking into the furniture around us the cars we drive, the everything that you know, the the whatever it is, it has to be made somewhere. And there are people that are doing it every day. And this is not just engineers, this is accountants and this is people that want to work with their hands that want to learn how to weld or they want to learn how to bend metal or paint or whatever the heck they want to or put stuff together. Manufacturing is so cool, because you don’t know what’s being made down the street from you. And this is literally you don’t know what it is. And it could be some of the coolest stuff ever. I mean, like Samsung and his Nordics skates. It’s like they’re cool as heck. You drive up to the place you go, Oh, yeah. And they go Yeah, that’s really cool. What you’re making there that’s what manufacturing is about. I think people just need to realize that
Curt Anderson 54:49
it’s not the dark and dirty is not grant Ashran anymore. So Samson, take us home brother parting thoughts. where can folks connect with you? What What’s your last words of wisdom for our crowd today?
Samson Shepherd 55:04
I don’t make stuff in turn, and my question for him was, or one of the questions was, what’s something that you’ve broken recently? And he really struggled with that but I think that yeah, yeah ask yourself what’s something you’ve broken recently with something you’ve made and it’s six year old happy with you.
Curt Anderson 55:25
It’s your old you know what do that that’s a moment of silence as a matter of fact, we’re just gonna close it out with that one right there man. Just you know six year old is six year old you happy with you? So, man, if you Damon resistant I didn’t expect this to be so inspirational. But hey, Diane, Allah Kevin, everybody out there. Fans, you know make stuff love it. So Whitney Houston, everybody out there today. Thank you for joining us. Please connect with your local MEP wherever you’re at boy check out Samson’s new website done by the none other than the one and only Jason Dearing. He is a website guru just can’t wait to get that thing launched. So guys, thank you for joining save we’re gonna close out team on stage hang out with us for one second, Damon we’ve got Kelly Robinson this Friday.
Damon Pistulka 56:13
Yeah, it’s gonna be fun. Learn about remarketing top talent for retention.
Curt Anderson 56:18
That’s right. So I guys manufacturing greatness in the great state of Alaska. We’re closing out for today. And just like we’d like to share you know, just like Samsung be someone’s inspiration, man. Just be someone’s inspiration. Page out it says thank you. Thank you for joining us today guys. We’re gonna close it out. God bless you. We will see you every day.