Twenty-five years can soften details or sharpen them, and for me 9/11 does both. I go back to September 11, 2001 and tell you what I still remember clearly: waking up to the TV, the fear that spread through ordinary phone calls, and the way strangers gathered in candlelight vigils and ended up singing Amazing Grace together. That memory isn’t nostalgia for its own sake. It’s a measuring stick for what unity looked like when politics didn’t matter and neighbors did.

Before I get heavy, I also pull back the curtain on real life: preparing Loud Proud American for the Freiburg Fair, the biggest event we do. That means made in USA inventory planning, reordering graphics, stretching cash flow, and trying to make smart marketing moves without mortgaging the future. I talk about the growing pains that come with a lifestyle brand that’s expanding, and the tension of chasing big goals while still trying to be present as a husband and a first-time dad.

Then we zoom back out to the bigger question: what happened to the patriotism and togetherness so many of us felt after 9/11, and why does the country feel more divided now than ever? I connect that to COVID as another factory reset moment, how quickly good habits die, and why homeschooling has surged as parents push back on narratives they don’t trust. I end where I think the foundation still lives: God, family, and country, plus the choice to grow through struggle instead of just going through it.

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Thank you for Supporting My American Dream!

The fair ends, the camper finally gets quiet, and that’s when the real recap starts. We’re coming off the Windsor Fair run on fumes, talking through what it’s like to bounce from location to location just to keep the podcast going and keep the business moving. We share the honest behind-the-scenes of fair season life: long days, short sleep, parenting on the road, and the weird mix of pride and pressure that comes with chasing the biggest event of the year.

We also break down why Windsor continues to hit different for us. Loyal customers don’t just buy once, they build tradition, and that kind of community support can carry a small business through slow stretches when other vendors struggle. We talk inventory problems, selling out of the best stuff, trying to restock without a “helper crew,” and the constant math of time, cash flow, and energy. Along the way, we share a few moments that made the week bigger than dollars, including camping with family, reconnecting with relatives, and the small-world connections that remind us how tight a community can be.

Then we shift into a raw, opinionated conversation about accountability, sparked by the Clancy trial and the public response around it. We dig into why consequences feel optional in modern culture, how social media fuels unchecked behavior, and why we think “mental illness” gets used as a hall pass in ways that can blur right and wrong. Whether you agree with our take or not, the central question stands: what kind of society are we building if we stop drawing hard lines around harm?

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Thank you for Supporting My American Dream!

We’re back on the Loud Proud American Express, parked for once, recording a late-night campground session at the Windsor Fair. The vibes are calm, but the stories are not. If you’ve ever wondered what life looks like when a small business owner is living on the road, working fairs, chasing better stops, and trying to stay grounded, this one puts you right in the passenger seat.

We start with Buffalo road stories that sound made up until you remember fairs bring out every kind of human behavior. A woman literally hides behind our apparel rack to record video because she thinks she just caught her husband cheating at the fair. From there it’s fish-to-the-head chaos, a personal chicken wing record, and the kind of “how is this my life” moments that only happen when you’re running booths, closing late, and squeezing in real life wherever it fits.

Then we top it off with an accidental adventure at the new Buffalo Bills stadium: we sneak in for photos, go hunting for the buffalo statues, and realize the gate got locked behind us. It turns into a problem-solving scramble, a security encounter, and one of those stories you’ll be telling for years.

Finally, we bring it home to Windsor: record-setting early days, sweatshirts flying off the shelves, and why this fair feels like family from the staff to the vendors to the customers who make us part of their tradition. The heart of the episode is celebrating our daughter’s birthday at the same fair where she was born, and remembering the point of all this hustle in the first place. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves a good road story, and leave a review if the struggle-to-growth message hits home.

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Thank you for Supporting My American Dream!

The Erie County Fair is over, and we’re back home with that strange mix of relief, gratitude, and frustration you only get after a long road run. We went in with big goals for Loud Proud American, fought through two straight weeks of travel, and still watched sales fall far short of what we expected. Add in wild storms, shelter-in-place alerts, and a crowd that showed up but didn’t spend, and you get a real-world lesson in how event vending, pop-up retail, and small business cash flow can flip on you fast.

We also talk through what we learned by standing next to serious competition, comparing pricing strategies, and hearing the same message from vendor after vendor: it wasn’t just us. When your booth location turns into a teen hangout after 6 pm, you feel it in your numbers, and you either get bitter or you get better. So we share how we adjusted our selling, how we tried to stay welcoming even when the day dragged, and why completing a million-attendee fair still counts as progress even when it isn’t pretty.

Then the mindset shift hits. “Admit it, but don’t submit to it” becomes the line we’re hanging onto, along with the reminder that it can be UGLY until God lifts you. A surprise highlight comes from the carnival “Fool The Guesser” guy, a masterclass in charisma, humor, humility, and working a crowd in the pouring rain. Watching him sparks a new why for us: building a life where Paisley grows up with the confidence and people skills to handle anything.

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Thank you for Supporting My American Dream!

A 1.2 million-attendee fair is supposed to be the win you’ve been chasing. So what happens when you finally land the biggest event of your business life and the sales barely move? We’re recording from the Erie County Fairgrounds in Hamburg, New York, walking the campground before the day starts, giving you the unfiltered vendor reality of life on the road with Loud Proud American.

We talk through the behind-the-scenes details most people never see: the long fair hours, the heat bouncing off the pavement, the pressure of being placed in an area that hasn’t historically had vendors, and how a crowd full of kids and teens can completely change the buying vibe. We also get painfully specific about the numbers. If you’ve ever run a small business, worked events, or tried to make entrepreneurship work while you’re far from home, you’ll recognize the mental math instantly: food costs, travel costs, inventory, and the brutal moment when an 11-hour day turns into $54 in sales.

From there, we shift into the real work: adjusting expectations without quitting, staying honest without spiraling, and remembering that fairs can turn on one strong day. And then, because the fair always delivers chaos, we tell the true story of getting hit in the head with a goldfish in a bathroom and MacGyvering a rescue with paper towels and a water bottle. It’s ridiculous, it’s funny, and it’s somehow the perfect metaphor for doing your best when things get weird.

If you like honest business talk, fair vending insights, and a little motivation earned the hard way, subscribe, share this with a friend who’s building something, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

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Thank you for Supporting My American Dream!

The highway is loud, the stakes are louder, and we still hit record. We’re rolling south on I-90 in the Proud American Express, headed for the Erie County Fair in Hamburg, New York, and we’re doing it on limited sleep, last-minute repairs, and sheer commitment to keep the podcast streak alive. If you’ve ever tried to build a small business while life keeps moving, you’ll recognize every ounce of this pressure.

We talk through the behind-the-scenes reality of preparing for a major vendor event: fixing a bus with expensive parts and tight timing, testing just enough to take the leap, and trusting the people who show up to help when the plan gets heavy. Then we get into the grind of inventory management for an apparel brand, including pushing hundreds of heat-pressed items into stock, launching new products, and trying to get everything organized before stepping onto the fairgrounds.

But the real core is mindset. Vendor checklists, insurance requirements, sales tax certificates, tent rules, inspections, and potential fines can spiral into imposter syndrome fast, especially when you feel like you “mortgaged the farm” to take the shot. We say the quiet parts out loud, then walk through how we’re handling the anxiety in real time: focusing on the next right step, leaning on faith, and choosing to grow through the stress instead of just going through it.

If this hits home, subscribe, share the episode with a friend building something hard, and leave a review so more people can find these honest conversations. What’s the biggest risk you’re taking for your dream right now?

If you found value in today's show please return the favor and leave a positive review and share it with someone important to you! https://www.sharethestrugglepodcast.com/reviews/new/
Find all you need to know about the show https://www.sharethestrugglepodcast.com/
Official Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077724159859

Join the 2% of Americans that Buy American and support American Together we can bring back American Manufacturing https://www.loudproudamerican.shop/
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Thank you for Supporting My American Dream!

I’m running on almost no sleep while we race toward the biggest opportunity Loud Proud American has ever had, and I’m not going to sugarcoat how heavy it feels. Between inventory debt, vehicle repairs, and family grief, I’m trying to find the silver lining and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
• juggling early mornings, parenting, and the reality of burnout
• preparing for a massive fair with new vendor requirements and costs
• breaking down why inventory is the hardest part of the apparel business
• explaining the vicious cycle of restocking, cash flow, and credit card pressure
• rebuilding the bus while deadlines slip and parts fail
• sharing a charity booze cruise DJ gig that turns from panic to a career highlight
• reframing discouragement by focusing on what failed at home, not on the road
• making the decision to say goodbye to our family dog
• grounding the whole grind in the life and experiences we’re building for our daughter
Find all things podcast related at www.share the shrugopodcast.com. If you're allowed Proud American and you find yourself to think more, find me on YouTube and Facebook and Loud Proud American on the Facebook. If you're a fan of the Grand Crackett, you want to find me on Instagram, Robbie Kids, a tickety talking on the TikTok, you can find me on both of those clouds underscore crowds underscore America.

If you found value in today's show please return the favor and leave a positive review and share it with someone important to you! https://www.sharethestrugglepodcast.com/reviews/new/
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Join the 2% of Americans that Buy American and support American Together we can bring back American Manufacturing https://www.loudproudamerican.shop/
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Thank you for Supporting My American Dream!

A small business doesn’t pause just because the world gets loud. We start by pulling back the curtain on what life looks like right now for Loud Proud American: early mornings in Maine, daddy-daughter duties, piles of apparel to press, designs selling out at the worst possible time, and the stress of gambling on inventory before the biggest challenge in brand history, the Erie County Fair. On top of that, we’re rebuilding the bus again after brake and ABS problems, pouring more money into parts and repairs because the road still calls.

Then the tone shifts hard as we talk about the ICE agent involved shooting near my hometown and the protests that followed. I’m not here to pretend I have every confirmed detail, but I am here to call out what I’m watching in real time: media outlets that thrive on gasoline, local politicians chasing attention and votes, and a community getting pulled into chaos that shuts down streets and hurts nearby businesses. If you’ve been trying to understand the Maine protests, the immigration debate, and why national headlines feel engineered, you’ll hear exactly where I stand and why.

We also get into the online backlash my wife took after sharing a post asking why some deaths get riots and others get silence, including the fast jump to calling people “racist” instead of engaging the principle. From there, we talk outside agitators, performative outrage, and what “common sense” looks like when consequences are on the line. I close with the simplest standard I know: equal rights, equal opportunity, equal consequences.

If this hits home, subscribe, share the show with a friend who needs it, and leave a review so more people can find the conversation.

If you found value in today's show please return the favor and leave a positive review and share it with someone important to you! https://www.sharethestrugglepodcast.com/reviews/new/
Find all you need to know about the show https://www.sharethestrugglepodcast.com/
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Join the 2% of Americans that Buy American and support American Together we can bring back American Manufacturing https://www.loudproudamerican.shop/
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Thank you for Supporting My American Dream!