Alaska Fishing Lure Manufacturer, Scent Striker, Partners with the Alaska MEP

Curt Anderson  00:00

Hey, good morning, good afternoon. Happy Monday. Damon Pistulka, handsome devil, how are you, dude? Uh, great.

Damon Pistulka  00:08

Ready to go?

Curt Anderson  00:09

All right. Well, happy Monday, everybody. Welcome to the show. This is going to be a blockbuster, man. We had to go. We had to go your neighbors, right up the road. Damon, we would just right up the street to your friends in Alaska. So let’s start with the lovely, wonderful, amazing human being, Sami. Jo Lewis, good morning. Sami, how are you good morning.

Sami Jo Lewis  00:30

I am doing pretty good today. This was my daughter’s first day going to daycare. So it was a busy morning,

Curt Anderson  00:37

big day. How’d it go?

Sami Jo Lewis  00:40

I don’t know. I mean, she’s gone, it’s going, well, she just got dropped off a little bit ago. Well, of course,

Curt Anderson  00:48

I was referring to Mom. How’s mom doing? Yeah.

Sami Jo Lewis  00:51

Oh, me, you know it’s going to be a good thing. A little sad. Big sister was super excited to take her, though. So,

Curt Anderson  00:59

so big sister got little sister to daycare. Well, good luck. Super exciting, Big day today. So speaking of big day, we’ve got our dear friend the amazing what a wonderful entrepreneur we have. Don haberger, so Don, how are you happy Monday? What’s happening, man? Well, thank

Don Habeger  01:15

you, Curt, thank you, Damon, it’s a pleasure being here. I’m great. And what makes days like this great is it’s not raining in Juneau, Alaska, yeah,

Curt Anderson  01:26

yeah. And so that’s a that’s a rarity, right? So coming in the end of September, Damon, you were just up in Juneau, were you not?

Damon Pistulka  01:32

Yes, we just passed through on one of those lovely love hate cruise ships that stopped there. I know for the locals. It’s a love hate relationship. But yeah, it was, it was the typical cloudy, sunny, little bit of rain.

Curt Anderson  01:50

That’s right. So Alright, so let’s dive in. So Don long time you know well, newer entrepreneur, if you will, just for friends out there, just share a little bit about your background, your past, and then we want to dive into your entrepreneurial journey, how you dove into manufacturing. Please share with folks a little bit about your background.

Don Habeger  02:09

Certainly, my my background is a little bit varied. Since Damon brought up the the port of Juneau, I ran the port of Juneau for 20 years, and so got a lot of experience with cruise ships. And by the way, Damon i That evolved into government relations position with, at that time, the second largest cruise line in the world, and I managed essentially half of North America, as far as territory for Government Relations, all the way from Hawaii up to Alaska on over to the east coast of Canada, and after that, we have a number of recessions. So moving on, did a stint with state government, was a deputy commissioner of one of our departments here in Alaska, and then finally, because government also changes, and a new governor came in and decides to downsize the workforce, you do something different. So that’s when I went fishing, because in some of my spare time. Prior to that, I built a boat and had to use it, so once I got on the water, I figured there were better ways to make fishing lures, and that’s how I got started in manufacturing trying to solve my problem to hold scent on on salmon lures longer, better. And ended up with a patent on that particular idea, and now in manufacturing.

Curt Anderson  03:48

Wow. Done. Yeah, I’ve known you for years, and I learned quite a few things just in that that little spread. So, Okay, done. Were you? How were you on cruise ships? Like, did you go on cruises take advantage of this, this opportunity, or not so much

Don Habeger  04:02

well, for work purposes, absolutely, and I, I only been kind of a customer of a cruise line a couple of times. All the other travel was for work. For work. Alright,

Curt Anderson  04:18

so question outside of the amazing, incredible, wonderful port of Juneau, which is the best port on the planet because of your leadership? What’s the second best port that you’ve ever visited?

Don Habeger  04:32

You know, I’m going to say Fort Lauderdale only because I had an opportunity to do some work with Fort Lauderdale and I fell in love with the people there, and I think it’s a great place. Nice,

Curt Anderson  04:46

wonderful. Alright, well, great answer. Hey, we’ve got a couple friends here today. Damon Trish is in the house. Trish Happy Monday, just doing wonderful work that she does, helping manufacturers figure out that whole translation thing. We’ve got Diane Byron. House. So Diane, happy Monday. Hope you had a wonderful weekend. She yells out fishing. So Sami, Jo, let’s go here. You’re with the Alaska MEP, long time friend, repeat offender on the program. Damon, we’ve been in person. We’ve been out to dinner with burner. Wonderful wonder. We gotta get back up there so we can have dinner with the whole family. So see me, Joe. Just share a little bit about yourself, your background and why are there? Who’s the Alaska MEP, yeah,

Sami Jo Lewis  05:27

1. Thank you so much for having me on. Curt and Damon always wonderful to be here. So thank you so much. I’ve been with the MEP for going on a little over four years now. So that’s super exciting. I started on as the client services manager. I’m now the Communication and Outreach Manager. The MEP is a resource for manufacturers. There is an MEP in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, and so it’s really great program and resource to help the manufacturers grow in their state, whether that is e commerce strategies, exiting your business strategies, I know we’ve had lots of workshops with you guys. We have lean we have supply chain optimization, ISO certifications, food safety. Really just want to be the resource to manufacturers to call and hopefully get them connected and help them grow the state economy, and then, since there’s, it’s a national resource, if we don’t know, we can just kind of call in on our neighbors and get it figured out that way. So it’s been just a really wonderful program to be a part of.

Curt Anderson  06:32

Wow. You guys are doing amazing work. Shout out to your entire team, doctor, Alyssa Megan and everybody else out there, Peyton, and just love what you guys are doing. Just so wonderful to partner with you. And so don let’s go here long time, you know, just doing a wonderful work for the great State of Alaska. And then I’ll send you this whole entrepreneurial bug hits you later in your career. Talk a little bit about, you know, how did it go from, you know, hey, solving my own problem. I’m out fishing. I think there’s a better way. How did it go? From idea hobby to business? Can you kind of walk us through that process?

Don Habeger  07:09

Yeah, first of all, it’s a it’s it’s a learning experience. So from Hobby, one thing I forgot to mention Curt is that I actually have two businesses, and so I do have a service, government relations, community development business that is my full time business. It’s the one that provides enough profit to invest in scent striker. So with that caveat, I consider scent striker my hobby business. So I wanted to put that in framework going into hobby business first of all, is a labor of love. You have to you have to know that there are going to be challenges along the way. You have to know that challenges become, at times unexpected, and I can explain that one a little bit later, and you have to be willing to accept those challenges and then roll up your sleeves and move past them. Let’s take just a simple one as as an example, shipping to Alaska from the lower 48 is is just a it’s an interesting endeavor. For example, I need two ounce bottles for some of the scent product that I now manufacture. And you can pick those bottles up for like 4050 cents with cap and shipping them to Alaska, usually on an overnight Express, is almost triple the cost of the bottle itself or a package of bottles. So overcoming those kinds of challenges, you know, you just have to be willing to work through it. Yeah,

Curt Anderson  09:13

there definitely are disadvantages, you know, Sami Jo that proximity, the geography, you know, and you’re facing it with multitude of your clients. What do you face? What do you see? What are some of the conversation you have with manufacturers in Alaska facing that challenge? No,

Sami Jo Lewis  09:30

absolutely, there’s. That’s definitely been a huge challenge. Is supply chain, and I think that it’s not, it won’t. It’s not easy to be a manufacturer in the state of Alaska. There’s, like, no way around that. It’s people that are manufacturers in Alaska. I mean, they love it. They have a passion for it. And, you know, they’re sigma, their brand Alaska made, and it is incredible. But there’s definitely a huge, you know, resilience to these manufacturers, because, because of our geography and, like, where we are located. Created supply chain is just constantly an issue. So we actually have, now we have a supplier scouting through NIST that helps, if you’re looking for a tool or a product or something to help make your item. We can get that sent out. We actually got a grant this year, so now we have a scone. Is what it’s called, but it’s a supply chain optimization manager. And so I’m not saying that all of these issues are fixed. They’re definitely not going to be fixed, but we have somebody on our team now full time who is dedicating helping supply chain optimization and maybe just finding some loopholes and just pulling in on our resources. But again, some of these logistically, they just, they’re, they’re going to be there.

Damon Pistulka  10:42

Yeah, you know, you bring up some good challenges. Oh, Sami Jo, it’s it logistics, right? Let’s just, we know, there’s a lot of lot of distance and and if a small manufacturer can partner with a bunch of other manufacturing and go, Hey, let’s all go in and put a container together. Because if we plan ahead and we do this, that’s huge savings over over a year for somebody. Even if you had 100 manufacturers with a few few pallets, or a pallet each in there, it would be a great thing. So that’s that’s cool, how you guys can work with with a bunch of people, whereas I’m sitting here, Don sitting there, and we’re going, Wow, it’s going to be hard to get those bottles, but if I can coordinate with the MEP, and we have a whole bunch of people putting bottles on, I can plan, and maybe my bottles for next year come that way, and I’m a lot better off,

Sami Jo Lewis  11:28

right? No, absolutely. And a big, another big way that this player Scouting has really helped is if you’re, you know, you’re sourcing product, and maybe you’re spending, you know, a little bit more than you’d want to, you’re able to fill out now, and we have it on our website, you’re able to fill it out a form, and then you’re able to, we’re able to send that out. And so then you now you have a bunch of different options, and maybe you’re able to find the exact thing you’re getting, but maybe at a discounted rate. And so you’re able to save money that way. And then vice versa, we know we also get the forms of other people in other states that are filling it out. So we have those opportunities as well on our website. So if all of a sudden you’re looking to like, Hey, I know how to make that, and now I can make money off of that, and somebody else needs it, they are able to get connected with that opportunity as well. Nice,

Curt Anderson  12:14

yeah, that’s fantastic. And again, what a wonderful resource. So manufacturers out there reach out to, of course, if you’re in a great state of Alaska, reach out to Sami Jo. She would be what she would love to help you anytime. And so for any other states that you’re you’re coming to us from reach out to your local manufacturing extension partnership, and they are there for your service, just all sorts of wonderful attributes, resources that they have on your you know, just really to help manufacturers move the needle, Don let’s come back to you, my friend, as you know, long time civil servant, just doing wonderful work for the great State of Alaska. Your community in Juneau, entrepreneurship. What are some of the so we talked a little bit about the challenges. What are some of the really I might put you on the spot on this one. What are some of the really fun, exciting things about being an entrepreneur that maybe you’re like, geez, I didn’t think about that or that you’ve really cherished or enjoyed anything that you want to share. As far as the excitement on entrepreneur side, certainly

Don Habeger  13:14

not sure you wanted to hear it this way. But one of the most exciting things is, in the middle of the day. If I need to go test it, Laura, I get to go fishing. Yep. Why not go out and, you know,

Damon Pistulka  13:31

make sure it works.

Curt Anderson  13:32

Make sure it works, right? Let’s you know. Sami Jo Damon, I don’t know if you knew that Sami Jo had, we’re going to start a chocolate manufacturing business, but she was, she was worried I’d eat us out of business, right? We face the same challenge, but Don I think that’s phenomenal. And I really want to run into this. You know, you took a passion, something that you love, there was a challenge, there was a frustration. And Sami Jo, it seems like how many of our clients that we Damon, how many clients that we work on there, I have a problem. I can’t find a solution. Well, guess what? I’m going to take the bull by the horns. I’m going to create my own solution. And that little hobby evolves into a business. So Don let’s talk about scent striker and like, why is your fishing lure? Honest to goodness, the best on the planet. Don’t be modest.

Don Habeger  14:17

Well, thank you. You know we have two products. We have three products, but the number one product that began it all is I was looking for a solution, like I said, to hold a fish attractant or a scent product on artificial lures. And I scoured the West Coast. Anytime I went looking for a fiber ball with the hole in the center, oddly, it did not exist. So we have the fiber ball with the hole in the center that you can put on your line or leader, in combination with any artificial lure or natural bait, if you like. I have a. Few customers that use it with natural bait. And the point is, and we’ve developed what we consider the bait bite hypothesis. And really, the bait bite hypothesis is that fish use all their senses to find their prey or their food source, and the more senses that you ignite in your fishing lineup, the better your response for that fish. So you want to add action, you want to add scent, you want to add really sight. Many fishermen and women certainly know about action site those kinds of color. But increasing that led to product number two. There’s a common fishing product for at least salmon fishermen, which is what I’m most familiar with. It’s called a bullet head. And product number two is we put the fins to spin the bullet head, so we have a design patent on that, and those fins now increase skirt action, and it doesn’t twist your line or leader. So that’s product number two. That’s why it’s the best out there. And then Curt you and I just mentioned or talked about product three. It’s in design right now. I’m waiting on some specifications for for wire manufacturers to see if I can get what I’m I envision. And if I get positive response on that, we’ll go to the go, try patent that ID. And so we’re working on product three. So that’s where we’re at. Well,

Curt Anderson  16:45

super exciting. Damon, we got a couple friends here that I’m going to pull up. So we got Muhammad here gives a wave. We got 50 gives a bunch of thumbs up. So Happy Monday. Diane says we are all better together. Couldn’t agree with you more. Says it’s great way to make logistics affordable, to keep it a price. So you’re describing Damon, and then Diane says, love it. I think I need to test the lure. Yeah, why don’t we, Damon? Do you want to add a comment? Because I’m going to go ahead, let’s take a little road trip. And I’m, you know, how about we go on a fishing trip instead of a road trip? I’m going to show off Don’s website. So here we go. Let’s go here. Let’s go here. Let’s go here. And hey, how about this wonderful website right there? Scent striker, there we go. Don Yeah, so walk us through. You just mentioned your dive into a few products here. What is, um, what the heck is that email right there?

Damon Pistulka  17:35

Yeah, I know. Curt scroll down and click the X.

Don Habeger  17:39

There it is. There you go.

Curt Anderson  17:42

Okay, so let’s get, let me make this a little bit bigger and so people can see this. So Don walk us through what we’re seeing here with your website. Certainly,

Don Habeger  17:51

what you’re looking at is the new, what year are we in? 24 products? So that is, this is skirted vortex, and you look at the on the left side of the lure on your screen is the turbo fin bullhead. And so as this rotates, as you drag the product through the water, those those fins now turn your skirts so you’re increasing your action, really what you’re doing. And that skirt spins around your liner leader often. What I’ll do is, right behind the bullet head, I’ll add a couple of scent striker balls, fill those full of scent, and I’ve got the complete package. I’ve got color, I’ve got action. And frankly, action is needed because I believe fish, through their lateral lines and other mechanisms, feel their environment. And so if you’re adding that action, we call it sound. Often, fish feel it, but it’s the same percussion wavelength that that you see in the air, and so they’re going to feel that lure. In some studies say that fish are so sophisticated in hearing or feeling that it’s like 3d radar, and they sense that around them. So we’re trying to use all of those senses again to add more fish to your fish box.

Damon Pistulka  19:28

Yeah, yeah. So how has this changed the way that you fish?

Don Habeger  19:35

I use my products exclusively, and you know, our goal is really to fill our freezer with fresh fish for the winter, and that has always been what we’re after, and we have not failed yet.

19:50

There you go. Okay, boom,

Curt Anderson  19:54

easy, that’s good. So the you have some wonderful tag. Here. And I think, what the dinner bell like? What’s the dinner

Don Habeger  20:04

Yeah, so cool. Well, dinner bell smell is, you know, you and I remember a home cooked meal or a favorite meal through odor from mom. Yeah? Why can’t fish do that. Now, one of the phenomena about salmon, particularly is they come to their home stream where they were reared or hatched, really bored through smell. So why not take advantage of that? And so dinner bell smell is I went to our local hatchery. I asked them what they feed their smolt and fry before they release them. I incorporated part of that into dinner bail smell, and it’s just a reminder that salmon coming back, at least to our waters, recognize that and go, Oh, I’m going to bite that. I remember that odor very well,

Damon Pistulka  21:03

just like mom’s home cooking,

Curt Anderson  21:07

just like mom’s fish smell prey. And I just absolutely love this. And Don here, you know, you won the best fishing tackle in the fish Alaska magazine. You’ve got it pointed out right here? Yeah. Well, all you’ve got a fantastic we’ve got a couple of videos. I’ve got another video that I’m going to pull up here in a second. So Sami Jo, your thoughts on, you know, you’ve been working with Don for years, and you’ve watched the evolution of like, you know, when he got things started, and now has built a really nice website. He’s getting an E commerce. Your presence of working with an entrepreneur like Don, a manufacturer, as you watch him grow,

Sami Jo Lewis  21:41

no, this has been absolutely amazing. I’ve loved being able to keep in touch with Don and just see all the wonderful products that you keep on producing. And your website has just been phenomenal, like it has just grown so much. And I just absolutely have loved and able, I mean, you have, you’re working on your third product now, so that’s amazing. And I’m looking at all these, and I’m like, man, you know, these are probably just going to be Christmas gifts for my dad and brothers.

22:09

See, you know what Don you’re, you’re not just,

Curt Anderson  22:10

you know, you’re not just helping other Fisher folks. You’re, you’re, you’re making people’s Christmas shopping much easier, right?

Don Habeger  22:18

Yeah, yeah. Well, I certainly hope so. One of the problems I have is I don’t know E commerce well enough and Kurt, that’s why I got connected you way back when both you. Sammy Damon, you always encourage me to do something. I confess I don’t always get those, those checklists ticked off, but you always come back. You’re always friendly. You’re always say, how can we help? And I as a manufacturer, as somebody trying to come up with new ideas that is so important and so valuable. Well, thank

Curt Anderson  23:00

you. Don, I we appreciate that, and it’s truly a privilege. And you know what? I think it would see me, it was like, three or four years ago, we were doing a little marketing cohort, and Don, you graciously came in. And the thing is, is, you know, we never take that for granted. You know, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, they’re busy. They have 1000 things to do. You have a lot of different choices, and it’s like, all right, who do I trust? And so you know, we never take that trust for granted. So thank you for your friendship, your trust to work with the Alaska VP, work with Damon and myself. And so you know why we’re going there. I You shared a wonderful video. And so if you don’t mind, I am going to shamelessly show I’ve got it right here. Alright, there you guys go. Alright. You see this, Damon, wait till you see this video. This is awesome. Okay, ready? Here we go. Yeah, let’s

Damon Pistulka  23:44

watch it. You it. That’s really cool.

Sami Jo Lewis  24:08

I love it. Get bit I love it, and I love how the AK stands out.

Curt Anderson  24:14

Isn’t it awesome? So Don so just share a little bit you. So you got vortex just, can you educate folks like, what are we looking at there,

Don Habeger  24:20

yeah, as I said earlier, we put the spin fin on a very common lure called the bullet head. And really what, what it does is it imitates that bait fish. And there’s an old, at least for salmon fishermen. There’s this sort of, I’ll call it wives tale. I’m not sure if that’s appropriate, but the thought is that when prey fish come about, in this case, salmon, and they go through a school of A. Bait fish, in this case, herring. They slap them with their tail and they stun them. Once they’re stunned, you’ll get this wobble or this wiggle or this roll, and vortex really simulates that wounded bait fish roll. And so that was the concept behind it, and that’s what brought it to market. And if you take any time to watch schools of bait fish, particularly when they’re being attacked, they begin to circle, and as they circle, you get an awful lot of light bouncing off those scales. So we put fibers in our skirts there that absorb or bounce or do various things with light to ensure that you add that site, that action in that wounded bait, Butch fish roll. So that’s those are the concepts behind that design

Damon Pistulka  26:00

that is super cool, dude,

Curt Anderson  26:01

yeah? I mean, it’s so intentional. And like, yeah, like, there’s such a thought process. And like, you know, Damon, we’re not very scientific. We’re probably the whatever the word pet sauce. But I just love like, how you’ve got it down to such an art, yeah, science, Don and like, you’re so methodical, on how you’ve come up with this concept you last week, we talked a couple weeks ago, and you shared that some exciting news. Do you want to share? You had some nice wins for 2024 you want to share some of the exciting things that are going on at sense striker, anything that you want to share?

Don Habeger  26:35

Yeah, well, what I share it is the one of the challenges as well as one of the wins. So we’ll start with the winds. As you played the video, and I shared that video with you because we sent it out to new territory. We sent it down the West Coast. Let me take a step back. My marketing plan has always been Alaska first get the foothold, go down the West Coast, then over to the Great Lakes area, which has a great salmon fishery. However, Alaska just would. They’re stubborn people at times, and I wasn’t making those inroads as I should. So I thought, Well, I’m just going to take this video and I’m going to attach it to, in this case, Facebook and send that ad out and try it. And so I went to various markets on the Pacific Northwest, and I went over to the Great Lakes, and it did so well that most of my orders came out of that those areas, and we are on track to having our best revenue year since the inception of the company.

Curt Anderson  27:52

Hey, congratulations. Well done, my friend. So love it, you know, and it’s, and it’s having the courage to to, you know, like you said, not you know, social media is not really your your your superpower, bandwidth, whatever, and it’s getting down to your comfort zone and trying some different unique things. Sammy, Joe, anything that you want to share. I know you’re working with a lot of different manufacturers that are kind of tipping their tone, like new digital marketing. What are you seeing and like your thoughts when we you and I had this conversation with Don a couple weeks ago? No, I

Sami Jo Lewis  28:21

was, I was thrilled. I’m just so excited for you dawn. I think that’s amazing. And I absolutely, I mean, I think that Facebook ads, I mean that that’s what seems to be going I know we’ve been talking about using some ads moving forward, just with the MEP standpoint. And so just be able to put those ads out there and really pick and choose the different places that you can send them, and then to see the response and see that it’s actually working. I mean, not just that’s definitely the way it’s going, is to be able to put the ads out there to reach the reach newer audience. So I’m super happy that that worked well for you.

Curt Anderson  28:53

Yeah, I I love that. Go ahead. Don Well, I

Don Habeger  28:57

just said, thank you. I appreciate that encouragement. And

Curt Anderson  29:01

I think Dana, we talk a lot of like, understanding who that ideal buyer is, because, you know, and I love what Don let’s recap what Don’s doing here. You know, so many manufacturers, or just as marketers, were like, you know, and I’m guilty of it, trying to be everything to everybody. So like, hey, you know, if I sell fishing lure, well, I’m targeting every Fisher person out there, right? Well, what Don’s done? He’s like, No, I want to get a foothold in Alaska, and then I’m going to go down the coast. And I’m like, well, there’s been some challenges. You know, I’m not really resonating with as many folks as I thought. So let me take a pivot. And so now methodically, I’ve got a new piece of content that I think you have, maybe a family member, maybe a son who does a wonderful videos, I’m just guessing. And so you’ve got this killer video. And so now you just, you know, hey, let me, let me test the waters. Pun intended. And speaking of pun, I gotta pull this one up. Damon, did you see this comment from now? Yeah, I did. Sammy took the line from me. Lol, sorry about the pun. No, we’re not Christmas gifts. Yes, think my crew. Needs to test it in the Atlantic Ocean and East Coast fish. So Don, there you go. Dude, you just cracked the East Coast thanks to our little live show here. So absolutely love it. But Damon, anything that you want to share, as far as, like, Don’s, you know, how he’s, you know, the thought process behind the product itself, and then how he’s attacking the market to try to crack the code there. Well, I

Damon Pistulka  30:20

always love when someone has a problem and they’re just their business evolves from a problem in real life for them that they need to solve, right? And it’s cool that you’ve been able to do this and then take your methodical and scientific approach at the challenge right down to the point where you’re just your vortex with the colors and and then the just the the whole combination of products. And you start with one, you’re adding another one, you’re adding the third product to really be able to continue to enhance that fishing experience for your customers. And then, as as Kurt said, you weren’t getting the depth that you wanted, or the penetration in the market you wanted in in Alaska only. So you started to move into the other markets to see how that works. And that’s turned out nicely. So, yeah, just really cool,

Curt Anderson  31:05

good stuff. So Don, let’s go here. So as we’re coming, I guess we’re starting fourth quarter tomorrow. I don’t know who, who plotted out the counter 2024

Damon Pistulka  31:14

just out a few months there. Geez, Don. So

Curt Anderson  31:17

what are we looking forward to in the 2024 and out and beyond. What’s exciting for you looking down the road,

Don Habeger  31:25

let me go back and tell you about challenges. And I mentioned this to you before. And so there’s a process in Juneau, Alaska at this point in time, where we have this fine glacier lake that has now burst its banks, and it’s happened twice, and so both in 2023 and in 2024 now almost a year apart. In fact, it was a year and a day our plant got inundated with with water, and fourth quarter is rebuilding the plant a second time, you know, in a little over a year. So with that, you’ll see me take a step back a little bit and and rebuild the plant, recondition my machines and go from there. However, in that the challenge, or excuse me, the opportunities, are we intend to try to bring what we’re calling the Magnum product to the market next year. The Magnum is now the next size up for the scent striker product, and it’ll have a larger diameter hole, and it’ll be used for the what I call the deep drop. For those in fact, the East Coast could use it well, any fish that is down about 200 feet or below, they use scent much more than those in the upper column, and the reason for that is light penetration fish evolve so that they adapt to their environment. So let’s take advantage of that. Let’s send out a bigger plume. Sent plume for those deep drops. So that’s the Magnum product. You put it on your line same way, it’ll take up to a 300 pound test line. And for Alaskans, that means halibut. So that’s what we’re working on, and we hope we have the stamina to bring it all together, fix the shop and bring the new product out there. Nice.

Curt Anderson  33:38

Well, so, sorry to hear the news with the plant. And I know I can’t even imagine. I know our friends down south got hit with a horrible hurricane.

Don Habeger  33:45

And so, yeah, that’s true. That’s, that’s, that’s terrible. These

Curt Anderson  33:49

natural disasters are just not fun, friendly. Definitely impact our businesses. And that’s, you know, back to the entrepreneurship of just, you know, the tenacity and just love your relentlessness and just plow through these challenges. Sammy Joe, you see all sorts of manufacturers going through, you know, difficult times, difficult challenges. Why? I know like you love working with these manufacturers like Dan, what are you super excited about coming into fourth quarter and going into next year?

Sami Jo Lewis  34:16

Man, I am just super excited about just getting the opportunity to continue to work with manufacturers. So I’m just super excited that the MEP has been renewed again to continue serving Alaska and reaching new manufacturers. I feel like we’ve added a great superstar to our team, Megan, who has been wonderful who is manufacturer, and now she’s on our team, so she really has that mindset of a manufacturer, but then it’s just so well connected with the manufacturing community, so that’s just been amazing to get her added to our team. And so I’m super excited just to continue to grow in my position and be able to work with people like dawn. One and others and just really see them, you know, go through their challenges and grow, and we’re just here to help them and see them succeed. And so every time I see you succeed, or you’re hitting your greatest failure, which I’m super happy for you, I just, I just get super excited, because I love being able to learn more about what’s being made in Alaska and seeing them thrive.

Curt Anderson  35:20

Well, excellent. Sami Jol, and just while you’re on stage, real quick, let’s go. You know what? Let’s go here real quick. Share a little bit you have a live stream show. And just, can you just share with folks on how can we learn more about the Alaska MEP,

Sami Jo Lewis  35:34

absolutely. So I do have our own live show. So thank you to mister, Uncle Kerr up there, who really pushed me and gave me the encouragement I needed to get started. So it’s been, honestly, such a wonderful experience. I’ve had a lot of fun getting to meet and connect with look there’s Damon right there,

Curt Anderson  35:59

right there, Sami Jo. Look at that. Look at that guy right there.

Sami Jo Lewis  36:03

No, it’s been wonderful because we’ve been able to have that easier reach out, that easier call to manufacturers, to invite them on the show and learn about them, with them not being a client, as well as to, you know, have experts on the show, like Curt, like Damon, Jessica, other people from the MEP, it’s been amazing. We try to do it. We do it every other Thursday at noon, just for 30 minutes. We try to have an expert on, and then we try to get a local manufacturer on, just to share their their story, and then tips and tricks to how they got started, to hopefully inspire other manufacturers in the state. And it’s just been super neat to meet experts, meet more manufacturers and just get them on the show and hear the story. So if you want to learn more about the MEP and other people that we’ve had on our show, please feel free to check it out and we go live on Thursdays.

36:54

Yeah, I

Curt Anderson  36:54

love it. Damon, we got to visit this handsome guy at the end. Yes, we did, but we were actually on site at his manufacturing facility, and so again, Sami Jo, just love what you guys are doing at at Alaska MEP. Go to the Alaska MEP website. You can learn more there. Don, here’s, I’m going to, I know you’ve got, man, you got a lot of fish to catch here. So we’ve got, we’ve got fish to fry, fish to catch. I don’t know how that same goes, right? Damon, so we’ll, we’ll start winding down here. Don let’s best question I’d love to ask every guest is, as an entrepreneur, when you made that transition from, you know, working government for decades, doing a wonderful job at the port of Juneau, into your entrepreneurial journey, was there any particular advice that really stuck resonated with you, that has helped you get through these challenges, these tough times, best business advice that you’ve received.

Don Habeger  37:48

You know, really, some days when you wake up and you look at your schedule, you look at the things that are thrown at you, and you’re trying to figure out what to do, because some days it’s just overwhelming. The best piece of advice I’ve ever received is just do the next right thing. And you know, whether it’s the right thing for a customer, making them square or giving them a better deal than they anticipated. That is so important, and it pays dividends in the end. So when you’re overwhelmed, narrow it down to the next right thing and get that done and then go on to the next so that really has helped me navigate some of these tricky we’ll call them waters. So there you go.

Curt Anderson  38:47

Well, my friend, that was brilliant advice. I’m actually, I’m currently reading the book called The One Thing, and I just, and I feel like you just kind of, that was a total drop the mic moment. This book has sold, like, 3 million copies, and I feel that you just gave the exact same advice. And so that was just absolutely brilliant. Sami Jo, any What advice would you want to share? Or what do you kind of hear, you know, work with a lot of manufacturers. How about advice that you on your next on, on that you share with manufacturers? Yes, no. I

Sami Jo Lewis  39:15

think biggest advice is to be flexible and be adaptable. I just think that there’s so many manufacturers, I mean, that that is probably the biggest thing. You get started, and you get started because you’re so passionate about it, and that’s why you’re doing it. But then there’s so many challenges, especially being a manufacturer in the state of Alaska, that you really have to be resilient, and you have to be flexible, and you have to be willing to adapt. And so it’s like, you know, maybe you do it a little bit slower, maybe you take some pivots, but you’re still, as long as you are moving forward, you can’t take off. You can’t butt off more than you can chew. And so I like that, you know, you’re doing the next take the next step, but be flexible, be able to adapt, and you will get there to succeed. And then one of my favorite advice is something that you always say Curt is, you know, you can’t be everything to everyone. And so I really think once you’re able. To niche that down and be flexible, really narrow down, like who you’re offering it to. That’s when you’re really able to find, find your market and find your audience and move forward to succeed. Wow.

Curt Anderson  40:12

Dame, it. Man, it’s almost unfair the advice that we get on a weekly basis, isn’t it? And so Diane jots a note. Do the next right thing. That was a total drop the mic. Thank you. Diane, brilliant advice from our friend Don Damon. Your takeaways on the show today. What are your thoughts?

Damon Pistulka  40:28

Oh, it’s just cool to see, Don’s you know, the progress of your products and how things are going there. And I love how Sami Jo and the Alaskan MEP are working together with manufacturers, and you’re reaching out. And because we all know that manufacturers, you’re so busy working on your stuff that it’s hard to just pick your head up and look. And with your outreach, Sammy Joe, you’re putting these people together, building a community that then they have more resources to solve these problems, and even the in the first place, see that there’s flexibility in what they can do in different ways, which is so cool because you’re you’re truly making a difference in the Alaskan economy.

Curt Anderson  41:09

Yeah, no doubt. And our friend Bill here says, MEP centers are a valuable resource for our manufacturers. Bill, thank you. Couldn’t agree with you more. Yeah, as we start winding down, let’s Hey, Diane has a comment. I think I’m purchasing for myself. I can go out and fish my best catch. It would be a game challenge. Thank you for that comment right there. How awesome was that. Don any what would you share with friends, family, your dog, your pets, about your experience working with Sami, Jo and the wonderful human beings the team at the Alaska MEP. What are your thoughts there?

Don Habeger  41:44

Well, I’m glad you gave me that opportunity. One of the things I appreciate about my Alaska MEP is really, I’ll call it tenacity, just the fact that that I get so focused on either rebuilding the shop, and I ignore you all for long periods of time, I have this wonderful voice in the background called Sami Jo, who either drops me an email or dropped or really will Pick up the phone and give me a call and get me back centered and get connected with you all. And that is invaluable, from the standpoint that you’re not alone, you’ve got friends, you’ve got neighbors, and we’re in this together, I think, as somebody already said in the comment and that voice, even when you don’t want it, is significant.

42:48

That’s awesome.

Sami Jo Lewis  42:50

Thank you, Dawn. No, I love I love working with you, and I always love getting to catch up with you. So even when I was born, I know you’re always there, and eventually we’ll get reconnected. And so that’s right, well,

Curt Anderson  43:03

you might get a little MEP chant here. Yeah, Amy, Joe going, and Diane says, MEP so I will start winding down. So first off, Damon, I want to just thank everybody in the chat box, yeah, taking a time out your busy schedule. Join us for this wonderful, amazing, incredible, inspiring conversation. So thank you to everybody in the chat box. If you’ve been hanging out with us, great time. Maybe if you’ve been sitting down at your computer, stand up. Stretch. Give a big round of applause for our wonderful guests here, Don and for Sami Jo, they are just absolutely crushing it. And as Bill says, Made in America. And I’ll tell you, our manufacturers are the backbone of our economy, just like Don here and just like Sami Jo and the entire MEP network helping our manufacturers. So big shout out to these two and Damon. We’ll start winding down. As we close out, we just love to say, just go out and be someone’s inspiration. Just like Don just like Sami Jo in the world is going to be a much better place. So go to scent striker.com. That is Don’s website. If you are a fisher person, or you have a fisher person in your life, what a great stocking stuffer. What a great Christmas holiday gift, birthday gift, whatever holiday you sell, celebrate, go to scent striker. And if you are a manufacturer, check out your local MEP. We’re going to close out. We have a wonderful, incredible, amazing guests coming back this Friday. We will see you there. So Sammy, Joe, Don hang out with us for one minute, and we will see you guys soon.

Damon Pistulka  44:27

Thanks everyone.

Sami Jo Lewis  44:29

Thank you.

Don Habeger  44:30

Thank you. I’ll.