What can you learn from 7-year-old entrepreneur, Auggie Keenum?

This special episode is with 7-year-old entrepreneur, Auggie Keenum.

Augustus (Auggie) Lee Keenum is a 7-year-old son of Keaton and Kali Keenum.  He has always had a desire to create and been interested in “fine” works such as beading and sewing.  After being exposed to Trout fishing and all of the amazing insects (also a passion of Auggie) he was introduced to Fly Tying by his grandfather (PopPop).  His parents saw this joy and invested in tools and materials for fly tying which quickly turned into hours every weekend fly tying, a welcome replacement from roughhousing and TV watching. 

In the Summer of 2022 Auggie was approached with the opportunity for “Makers
Market”.  This was a great event put on by the Lake St. Louis Farmer’s Market every year, for homeschooling kids to get a taste of what it is like for a start-up business.  Auggie worked for weeks in preparation and realized this was a fun way to earn income. He showcased his organic sales skills on market day and surpassed his goal that was set during the business planning.

Between baseball, basketball, and motor bikes, Auggie is still found regularly at the kitchen table making “bugs” that he hopes to catch the next “BIG FISH” on or sell for someone else to get that enjoyment.  This was Auggie’s realized takeaway during this business launch, “I have fun making the flies and bugs, and the people who buy them have fun fishing. I hope they catch a lot of fish with my flies, or maybe one big fish. Or maybe they don’t catch anything but have a great memory. That’s all that matters.”

You can shop Auggie's flies on his Facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088538287383 

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Transcript

00:02

Welcome to the You Don't Know What You Don't Know podcast, by Innovative Business Advisors, successful business owners who have started, grown and led businesses share their journey and direction for the benefit of those traveling the same path.

00:17

Well, my dear listeners today we have a very special treat for you. We're gonna get at the essence of entrepreneurship, something that I fundamentally believe cannot be taught. We will dance with what drives somebody to share their vision and talents with others. Today, we're going to be speaking with Auggie Keenum and Auggie found that he has a special talent and he learned that sharing his talent could earn him money. This by itself is not all that unusual. In many instances, there have been whole industries and fortunes that are built on a founder’s talent. What's unusual about Auggie is that he's only seven years old. And he learned that the entrepreneurial spirit is important. Let me add that it helps that he’s being raised in an environment that honors and empowers this. His family nurtures the spark in him and supports his talent. But the spark of entrepreneurship is strong here and Auggie puts his passion into action to help others. Now, I make my living working with business owners and I'm genuinely interested in your stories, but this is my first seven year old entrepreneur. And let me warn you, the episode starts kind of slow and honestly, that's just me struggling to get in his head and understand what drives Auggie. But don't let my slow uptake keep you from discovering all that he shares. The conversation really begins to get insightful when we begin to talk about the Maker's Market. During the event Auggie does something that kids do naturally, he makes a friend and formed an alliance. Together they begin to do what he calls previews, which is actually Auggie tying custom flies for his new friends. And the effect is he begins to draw a crowd. Auggie describes this pretty well and I'm gonna leave it to you to listen to hear the excitement that this generated. The example just left me wondering how many other businesses could spark some interest and excitement with new alliances. Keep listening and you're gonna hear where Auggie makes up his mind to close a particular sale. Listen carefully to his motivation behind this and what that meant to him. He talks about how he had to begin to think differently in order to make the sale happen. Then he almost knocks me out of my chair when he talks about quote a win or a win. Pay very close attention to that. And remember, this is coming out of the mind of a seven year old. Let me emphasize that this is a kid that did $70.60 in sales in less than two hours from a folding card table at a school sponsored Maker's Market in the middle of a shopping center. I know it doesn't sound like a lot but you should know that many of the small retail shops in that very shopping center and on Main Street USA don't sell more than $70 worth of merchandise every two hours. But even a seven year old entrepreneur doesn't always have Maker's Market where he could sell his craft. So listen further where he talks about taking his product to his available market with the help of a red wagon. Now Auggie goes on to talk about how his product is really good, an opinion most artists share about the products that they make with their own hands. But more than that, he demonstrates that he knows the market and he knows how his product compares to what the customers could buy in a traditional tackle shop. Auggie and I got into his selling price formula. This is really good stuff. Listen to Auggie reason out his process for setting the price that he does for his products. The key is, Auggie is focused on his customer, something Jeff Bezos used to guide his startup. So I hope you'll agree that Auggie is a fascinating entrepreneur with an early head for business. He amazes me again a few minutes later when he talks about using the proceeds of the sale so that he can make more flies. Finally, listen to his viewpoint on podcasts and remember he's seven years old. In the shownotes you're gonna find links to his Facebook page and you my dear listeners, you've got friends, family and loved ones who will enjoy hearing the story of this young man so please share it. Christmas is coming. So are anniversaries, birthdays and other special days in the lives of those that you know and love. I guarantee that a gift of one Auggie’s flies along with his story will be a gift that they will remember forever. So go to his Facebook page, buy his product, share it with those you know and love and I believe you both will be blessed by the story of Auggie and his flies. We’re talking with Auggie today about his custom fly business where he makes his own flies and Auggie you were telling us a little bit about the snow monster. Tell me about using the snow monster while you've been out fishing. What, what kind of experiences have you had with those? Well,

04:48

the first time I made the snow monster, I used a black bead, a hook, a hook size 12, and the first one I made, it had bright orange string and then I put a white feather around it and then all the other ones I used everything, the same size hook, the same color bead, the same color feather but the strings were different. So the first color string was orange. The second color string was black. The third color string was olive green.

05:34

Okay, and then did you ever fish with those snow monsters?

05:39

Well, my PopPop fished with the green olive one. You gave your PopPop one of the snow monsters? Yeah. The green one. Yeah. And how

05:52

come you gave him the green one? Because

05:54

I just don't know, there's something about a grandpa that green just matches with it. Green matches

06:04

with grandpa? Yeah. Okay. That makes sense. Did you fish with the other two? Oh,

06:10

well, I fished with the orange one and I got this one that broke my rod. Like if I had my whole rod, and this wasn’t a reel up rod, it was just a rod that you could toss out. It wasn't a fly rod. It was just tied on to the end and it didn't have any reel.

06:32

Didn't have a reel on it, was just just the pole and-- Yeah, just the pole. And and the line and the hook.

06:37

Yeah. It snapped about maybe two feet from the handle. The the

06:45

pole snapped?

06:47

Yes.

06:48

How did it snap?

06:50

It was just a really, really, really tough fish.

06:53

You caught a really tough fish who broke your pole? Two feet

06:57

from the one foot handle, so three feet from the bottom of the pole. And then it broke my rod. So the string was tied at the very end of the loop. Yeah. So it broke my rod and then it didn't have to break my string. My whole rod just went-- the fish took the whole rod away--  bump bump bump bump and just went down.

07:29

Did you ever get it back? Nope. Gone forever.

07:32

Yeah, that was the second time that Dad had to replace that rod. That was a big fish. Yes. The first time there was a tree above me. But there was a big limb that was really strong and then whenever I went back to do it--

07:51

The line got caught in the? No, the

07:54

line didn't get caught. I was just really strong and I pulled it back and then it hit so hard that it broke my rod. Snapped

08:04

the end of your rod. Yeah. Wow. Wow. Don't know your own strength sometimes. Very cool. Well, it sounds like you have a lot of fun fishing. Yeah. And a lot of fishing stories to tell. Well,

08:17

I did have this one fish. Well, we went to Arkansas, and I went with Dad because it was bas-- on his birthday. It was his birthday weekend. I got to go there--

08:36

With your dad on his birthday weekend. Yeah,

08:40

I got to fish with him in the afternoon. He was catching so many and I barely catched any but then, bam. I was catching a lot and he barely caught one.

08:53

That's pretty fun, huh? How come you think the fish were attracted to your to your line?

08:59

I don't know. I just had this fly on it. I think it was maybe my third fly that I tied, it was called the snow monster. The snow

09:09

monster. Why is it called the snow monster?

09:12

Well, I use a blackhead number 12. And I used bright orange and there was this white feather that I wrapped around and it was all foamy up with it. So I call it the snow monster because it was basically white.

09:34

Cool. Looked like a big white, big white snow monster huh? Yeah. And the fish seemed to be chasing that one eh? Yeah,

09:42

I made a olive green one. I don't, I mean with the string, an olive green string and a orange string. Um, we went to Rock Bridge and it was PopPop’s birthday, and I gave him the green snow monster. And actually, quite quickly, he caught a fish maybe a minute after we started. Wow.

10:12

So it sounds like sounds like those fish like to chase those flies that you that you tie, huh? Yeah. So tell me, how did you learn to tie flies?

10:23

Well, actually, I was about to tell you about that. Oh, please do. Um, I was at, I was having a sleepover with my sister at Marmie and PopPops and I just needed a drink of water and I didn't want to go into Marmie's room because Henrietta was sleeping in that room. I got my very own bed, though. But I went to PopPop’s room, which was down the steps and whenever I went to turn in, I saw a light, not in his room but in the next room. And I looked and and he was tying a fly and so I walked in and said, Hey, PopPop, what are you doing? Well, to be more accurate, I said, whatcha doing?

11:25

And what did PopPop say?

11:26

He said, Oh, would you like to help me tie my very first fly? And I don't think he said my very first fly but close to that. And I did it. It was quite cool. And he said, Come by any time. And then once he was done, he said, hmm that’s something really cool. And I said, Yeah, you made something really cool. And then he said, Well, that's nasty. And then I said, Yeah, it's horrible. And then he said, it's horrible. So we went on saying how disgusting it was on and on until it was time to go back to bed. We got a drink of water and then secretly, this doesn't involve anything of fly fishing, he gave me a mini ice cream. Ah,

12:19

nice. Nice. Very nice. Yummy. Very cool. So, so PopPop taught you how to fly, how to tie flies? Well,

12:29

I only--  Were you guys

12:30

learning together, were you both learning at the same time? Kinda

12:33

Well, I didn't really necessarily learn how to do it there. Okay. I've only really tied about five flies there. Okay. But mostly Dad taught me.

12:45

Mostly dad taught you? Yeah. Okay.

12:50

I was like, I really, I did a Maker's Market and I didn't know how to do with the width finish yet. And I was just like putting maybe five or six half inches on it, to tie it off. And I just was like, I'm gonna give this a little go. And then I just did it. Boom, you did something different huh? And then I said, Hey, Dad, I think I learned how to do width finish. And then Dad came in and then I did it. And he said, Oh, he said it was good.

13:28

Awesome. Awesome. So you started tying flies, and now you tie a lot of flies, right? Yes. How do you do it? What is, tell me how you do that. What does it take to to to make a fly?

13:45

Well,

13:46

You need a hook, right? Yeah. And then what else do you need? Beads.

13:50

One of the most important things is string. Okay. Because without the string it’s just a hook.

13:57

Okay. And what else do you use, beads and string and the hook and what else?

14:03

Um, sometimes I use flashabou, I use wire. I never used glue by myself before. I hardly ever use glue but it's a thing that Daddy uses.

14:22

And and do your, when you make your flies, do the fishes like them?

14:30

Yes.

14:32

It attracts the fishes? Well,

14:35

I wouldn't say like attract like a movie but like they start looking at it. We had whenever I was in Arkansas, whenever I did that little trip with Dad, there was this rock that it was, we were standing maybe across the room from it. Okay. And the water was maybe up to my chest, chest. Yeah, the bottom of my chest. Yeah. And there were these three bass. It was like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They were all small mouth bass. But forget Goldilocks. There was a small one, medium size and a bigger one. They took nibbles at our hooks but we just couldn't set the line fast enough. After a while Dad caught the smallest ba--, small mouth bass. And at first I thought, is that a bass? And then he said, Well, it's a type of bass, it’s a smallmouth bass. Oh, it’s not like a creamy bass. I made that one up.

16:00

So, sounds like you're learning all about fishing from your dad and your PopPop, huh? Yeah, ma--

16:06

mostly my dads. Mostly

16:08

your dad? Yeah, dads. Yeah. And has he taught you all about the different kinds of fish and so forth as well? Well,

16:15

when I was maybe five, the only like pond fish I can remember. Literally, I cannot remember any other type of fish except the bluegill. Lots

16:29

of bluegill in the pond that you fish in? Well,

16:33

I mean, it was really hard, but it was the only fish that I could memorize in my brain. Now I know a pumpkin seed. I know, bass, smallmouth bass. Yeah. I know, a lot of different types of fish now.

16:48

But your superpower is you like to tie flies and your, you’ve become pretty good at it, haven't you? Yes, yes. And you talked about the Maker’s Market. So tell us how did you end up at the Maker’s Market? Was that a, was that a school project?

17:06

Actually, yes it was.

17:09

And tell me what you had to

17:11

do there. Well, Mom said, Would you like to participate in the Maker’s Market? And I said, can I tie flies? And she said, You can do whatever you want if it involves you making something, you can't buy something. And I said, Okay, I'll make it.

17:30

And everything you did you had to make? Yes.

17:34

Well, I didn't have to make the table or the chair that I used. Yeah. But I had to make all the flies. You had to make everything you brought to the market? Yes. Yeah. And I had to make the sign. Oh, you had to

17:45

make the sign too? Yeah. And how did that, how did that work? Were you able to sell many flies at this Maker's Market?

17:52

Well, at first I wasn't getting that many things. But then I started to get more quite quickly. I made a friend across the market. He was selling bow and arrows. Like he actually used a stick and string to make a bow and arrow.

18:17

Okay. Was he sending people over to you to talk about your flies? Well,

18:21

he said, I'll come over and gets one and I thought he was joking after a while but then he came over with his dad and he asked for two flies of preview. A live preview. And once I was doing those previews a bunch of other people lined up to try seeing me do my previews. And yeah, we were quite the buddies.

18:53

Then then you guys got pretty busy huh? Yeah. So when people were coming to preview, right, what happened, did people start showing an interest in your flies at that point?

19:03

Well they were mostly for the show, not to buy. Oh. They just wanted the show. Okay, did

19:12

you talk to him about the flies while you were giving him the show?

19:15

Nah. I didn’t really? I just, I just wanted to be more focused on the what I was doing--  Okay-- using things.

19:26

But did did a bunch of those people end up buying those flies while they were standing there? No, not

19:30

a single one. Not a single one. Except the one that actually wan-- except my buddy that actually wanted to buy something.

19:38

Okay. And how many did he end up with? Four. Four flies?

19:44

Wow. Wow. He got two on preview and actually no, five flies, thr--  two on preview, three just buying.

19:58

How much do you sell your flies for? Oh, that was

20:01

the thing. Um, for my preview, if you're just buying one, it's two apiece.

20:08

Okay. $2 apiece if you're just buying one. Yeah. So

20:13

it's basically double it if you want, if you buy two of them, it's actually the same cost of one preview.

20:24

So $4 per for a preview. Yeah.

20:27

$4 for preview. And

20:29

then how many flies do you get in a preview?

20:33

One per preview? Okay. Because I can't make, I don't have two vices so I can’t make two flies at the same time. Okay, gotcha. But it would be interesting. When

20:46

people are watching you make one in a preview, do they get to choose the things or do you choose everything that goes on the fly?

20:53

Actually, they do get to choose.

20:55

Oh, they do? Do you help them with those choices? What? Do you help them make the choices about what beads and and other things you use? Yeah, maybe. And what string and so forth?

21:07

Yeah. Yeah? Um, but I do want to say that not that many people wanted to choose the things so I said, Would you like to choose or would you like for me to choose for you? And they asked for me to choose. Okay.

21:25

Do you know what works good on flies?

21:27

What do you mean by that?

21:28

Well, do you know what what the fish like to go after on the flies?

21:33

Um, I think they like to go for ones that are maybe black or lighter color. Okay. Sometimes brown. I got an inspiration for one, because I went to the bird sanctuary. And whenever I was playing on the playground there and I came over to have a snack, on my apple, I saw a worm crawling on it. I saw an inchworm and then I saw like one of those furry greenish worms. So that's where I got the idea of making these ones. With

22:20

the, with the green, green and black fur on them? Yeah. Yeah? Yeah. And have you tried them? Have you tried fishing with them?

22:29

No, actually not. Not yet, huh? Me and Dad did a competition where we can make two and then Mom, we didn't tell her which ones we made and then Mom chose this, her favorites. And she chose one of mine and one of his. Well, we asked her to pick two and she picked one of mine and one of his and then she picked one of those and she liked mine better. Oh,

22:59

interesting. So, what's the hardest thing about tying flies?

23:05

The hardest thing probably is if you're using dubbing. Now what is dubbing? Well doublings this, it's basically like just little fur lines that you take them and then you're just rip them up, and this is how you use it, you rip them up and then you see the strands that are up and down so you put them on like that and then you have both hands and then you twist opposite ways.

23:44

So does that make the strands stand up?

23:48

Yeah, and it keeps it on the string so it doesn't just bl-- because you can't tie it on because it'll just rip off.

23:56

Oh, so you’ve got to kind of wind it around the hook then. Well

24:00

wind it around the string and then I wrap the string around so. Got it, got it. And the hardest thing about that is before Dad got this waxy stuff to keep it on the string was to keep it on because I wrapped it and then it would like get big and then it would come off and then I had to wrap it and then I would ruin the fly basically.

24:24

What's the easiest thing about tying a fly? The

24:28

easiest thing? Yeah. Oh, I have one more thing that’s

24:33

the hardest. Okay, what's the other thing that's the hardest?

24:37

Getting beads out but then putting back beads in. Back

24:43

into the--  container-- into the container? Yeah. Because the beads are pretty small.

24:49

And um on the little container there's a little bump at the top of it to keep too many from coming out. And it keeps one from coming out but then when I try getting that one out it gets like eight out. Yeah. And then it's hard to put them all back and keep one or two.

25:07

Your mom probably wants you put everything back in the container, right? Clean it all up afterwards. Yeah. Yeah. Where do you where do you tie your flies? Do you have a, do you have a workbench to do that? Well,

25:18

usually we just do it at the kitchen table. Okay. Dad usually at night whenever we have to go to bed, Henrietta falls asleep really quickly, and Mom puts Everett to sleep so he can do it on the coffee table where it's low and can reach but nobody gets to him.

25:39

Yeah, cuz you don't want, you don't want your little brother and your little sister playing with hooks and beads and so forth. They'll probably make a mess of things, won’t they?

25:47

Yeah. Um, once I got, I don't know if you can see it, but there's still a little hole in my nail because a hook got in my nail and got pushed here. Well, the hook was in my nail and then the little circle was here and it was pushing so it stayed in and just pushed it even farther.

26:14

That didn't feel very good, did

26:15

it? Well, I couldn't feel it because my nail is pretty thick. And I do flintknapping so the antler that I use to hit the rock gets, it hits my nail all the time so I'm used to it.

26:32

Okay. Okay. You think, you think you're going to keep tying flies and selling flies? Yes. And when you sell your flies, what do you do with the money?

26:43

That's a good point. I’ve never thought of that. Yeah. I think I'm gonna spend it on more new materials. Because we have plenty of 12s, 14s, 18s, and 16s, but we don't have even one 10 left.

27:01

Does your dad, your dad gets all the materials for you? Does he have a supply you can, you can use?

27:07

Yeah. Okay. Um,

27:11

Does your dad like to use your flies? Or does he tie his own flies?

27:15

Well, sometimes he'll use my flies. Yeah. I don't really remember when but I'm pretty sure he does. Okay. Yeah.

27:23

Okay. Do you enjoy tying flies and selling them to people?

27:28

Yes, I haven't really sold that many. Because--

27:32

Was the, was the Maker's Market the first place where you started doing that?

27:36

Yeah, the Maker's Market was basically the only place I've ever done that. Oh, it was the

27:39

only place you've ever done it, huh? Okay. Okay. And did you, did you sell many of them while you were there?

27:48

Yes and no.

27:50

You don't remember the exact number? Yeah. Well,

27:52

I do remember how much money I got.

27:56

Oh, well how much money did you get?

27:57

I got $70 and 60 cents, I think.

28:05

You must have been there all day long. No. No, you weren't there all day long? No. How long were you there?

28:11

I was there for about maybe two hours.

28:14

You sold $70 in flies in two hours? You must have been pretty busy.

28:21

Actually, not that much, not that busy. The first customer I had didn't actually want to buy a fly, she just gave me a tip. She

28:31

just gave you a tip? Yeah. Why, why do you think she did that?

28:34

She said aw, these are so cute. Would you like a piece of tip? And then I said yes. Because who wouldn't want a piece of tip?

28:44

Yeah, everybody wants a little tip, right? Yeah. Did you tell her all about the flies too? Well,

28:51

I said, Which one would you like? And she said, Oh, I'm not that much of a fisherman. And I said, Okay, thank you, first customer. And she said, Oh, I'm your first customer? And then I said, Yeah, kind of, no, because he didn't buy any. And so--  But she was your first tipping customer? Yeah. Yeah. Um, my, I don't know if you're gonna ask me this, but, um, one of my problems, one of my biggest problems that I had a solution for was this woman came by and said, Oh, these are nice. And then I said, Oh, would you like one? And then she said, I'm not that much of a fisherman. And I said, Hey, wait, does your husband like to fish? And then I did this. And then she said, Well, no, but my brother likes to fish. And then I said, Well, Christmas is right around the corner. You should give your brother a Christmas present. And so I, I helped someone else's needs and helped my own. Were

30:05

you, were you thinking about that? Is that how you were thinking about that that you wanted to help her needs so that you can help your own? Ah,

30:13

actually, I wanted her to get it and I also wanted me to sell one. So it was a win for win. A win 

30:22

for win. Wow, that's awesome. Where did you hear that, a win for win? I just made it up. Well, that's a, that's a cool way to think about things, isn't it? Yeah. If if if she gets what she wants, and you get what you want, everybody wins. Right? Yeah. That's an awesome way to do things. Yeah. Yeah. So now, was she your first paying customer then for your, for your flies?

30:46

Ah, actually, she was my, yeah. She was my first paying customer. Wow. I was like, No, lady you're not going away from me without buying another fly. Wow. I am done with customers going by.

31:02

Yeah. So you made a decision to yourself that you weren't gonna let the customers go by anymore without selling them a fly. Right? Yeah. Very cool. You knew the customers were coming to you, you just decided that they needed to have a little more information so you can sell them a fly. Yeah. And you reminded her that Christmas was coming. Yes. Smart, because she probably wasn't thinking about that till you asked her the question, huh? Yeah,

31:28

Dad told me why I wasn't getting too many things because it was mostly moms and yeah. Moms are more for like candles and knittings and--

31:42

Yeah, moms are thinking about stuff for them instead of stuff for for other people they might know, huh? Yeah. Yeah. But moms buy a lot of presents for lots of people though so that was really smart to think about that.

31:54

And for, decorations, because you know how distracted moms get decorating. Oh, they love to decorate, don't they? Yes. Yeah. And dress up for nice things, boss their kids around to wear what she think is appropriate.

32:15

So do you, do you, do you think you're gonna go and sell any more flies before Christmas?

32:21

Well, I did have the idea because we have a red wagon in, in our basement that we never use.

32:29

So what, how are you going to use your red wagon? Um,

32:33

I was gonna put my fly case in there and I was gonna go from door to door knocking. If they didn't answer, I would just go to the next door and ask would you like to buy a fly? One apiece. And but Dad said, Well, you can sell your things without having to get frostbite every five seconds. Yeah.

33:06

Cool. Why do you want to sell your flies?

33:09

Because I really like making them and then I noticed that I'm losing a lot of room in my box.

33:17

Ah, because you're filling your box up, right? So--  Yeah. So if you sell some of those, you'll have more room to put put more in there? Yeah. Guess

33:25

how many flies I had whenever I started the Maker's Market. It's a D.

33:31

100. No. 80. 80 flies? 80. And how many did you go home with? 40. Wow, you sold almost half your flies. Yeah. At Maker's Market. Wow. To ladies who were using them as gifts for friends primarily? Or did you have any, did you have any fisherman come up and buy your flies?

33:58

Actually, yes. You did? There was somebody who was visiting their family for Christmas and then he said next the week, next Monday, I think after Christmas he was gonna go to another st--  country I think, but maybe just stay in my fly-- and he bought one and my fly was gonna go all the way to a different country or state. Wow. It was amazing. That

34:29

is amazing. That is amazing. Are-- so there's a lot of, I'm looking at your flies here in the box and there's a lot of difference. Can you tell me why, why some of them are different from other ones?

34:41

Well, I have a lot. I can tell you one that I think I made yesterday. Okay. I made this one right here. The one with kind of short tail and the red. Yeah. Yep. I see that. I made that one yesterday and this one. I was wondering if you wanted this one and another one?

35:04

Well, I was gonna ask you if I could buy some of your flies? Yeah. Would that be okay? Yeah.

35:10

And if you want, you can have them for free. I don't really care. You can have. Yeah.

35:18

Because you just love to, you just love to make flies, right? Yeah,

35:21

you can have this one next to that one for free. But--  Yeah? If you want you can buy any of these. Yeah. Do

35:28

you like to, do you like to take your flies out and go fishing with them and see how they work? Well,

35:33

it's starting to become Christmas time and there's not that many ponds that are that active with fish. Right. And um whenever it was warm enough, there was like this big drought of a bunch of ponds. There wasn't that many, there was hardly any drops left in any ponds or lakes. It was just bare.

35:59

Yeah, we had, we had a hot year this year. We didn't have a lot of rain. So seems like the fish were kind of deep this year huh? Yeah. They were trying to stay cool.

36:09

Yeah. And we went to a place where there's like a little creek and then a big lake. We didn't plan on going fishing there was just maybe side effect. But then we found out that this was really dry. And we went over to here and then we were all complaining because-- 

36:29

The creek was really dry but the pond, the pond wasn't? Yeah, and

36:33

It, we didn't really prepare for doing this. So I fished and then Dad kind of fished and if we caught a fish we could put it in the bucket for the little kids to play in. Nice. It was something horrible whenever Everett almost put my whole water bottle in the fish bowl.

36:56

Yeah, that wouldn't be good for for your little brother Everett to put your water bottle in the fishbowl right? No. That wouldn't be good. No. Is fishing your favorite thing? Um, one of my favorite. What's your, what's your most favorite thing?

37:10

This does not include anything but probably running.

37:17

Running is your favorite thing? Actually

37:19

obstacle courses. At my, well in first grade, we had a part of playing. For a whole week we played in the woods. But we had boundaries where we had to stay. And there was this big war that lasted the whole week. I was on the Japanese side. And the other side was English. Unfortunately, my very best friend there was on the English side and I was on Japanese side. So you were fighting

37:54

against your very best friend, huh? Yeah. But oh,

37:58

and another one of my friends was on the English side. But one of my friends was on, Felix was on my side. Ah, got it. But he acted like he was on the English team.

38:12

Oh, so he was, he was a double agent.

38:14

He went out and pretended he was trying to get me. But actually he was giving, he was making pottery because he was hi-- he was our pottery man. So he made all the pots to keep the juice out, and he made little balls and he needed the pot because some of us went to go and find berries and then we would mush up berries in the thing and and he would put a little bit of berry juice in the balls and then it would dry out the next day and then we could throw epic battle thing. Would

39:03

the berry juice mark in the spot that you hit right? Yes. Yeah, got it. Okay. So do you think fishing is your third favorite thing or your second favorite thing?

39:12

Ah, second, my third favorite thing is swimming.

39:17

Okay, so obstacle courses fishing and swimming. Well,

39:23

obstacle courses slash jumping, running, hiding.

39:28

Yep, got it. Got it. How, how, how many years have you been fishing now? When did you first learn to fish?

39:35

Uh, when I was four. So if I'm seven now, that will be 4 5 6 7, 4 years.

39:44

That's, that's, that's almost half your life, huh?

39:48

Yes, actually a little more. Yeah. Because seven is made out of and three so.

39:55

That's right, even a little more. So do you, do you put your own hook on the line?

40:01

Yes. Sometimes whenever Dad really admits you need to use this fly that I made or need to use this fly that I bought. I just listen to him.

40:14

So do you, but you like to make fly, not buy flies. Yes. Do you think your flies are better than the ones you buy? Yes. They sure look good. I

40:25

think I put a lot more effort into mine. I mean, the care into mine thann what I would think if I bought one. I think I'm showing more care for making my own and letting other people buy the ones from the store than me.

40:46

If you buy a fly at the store, how much do those usually cost? Maybe

40:52

three apiece. $3 a piece at the store? 3.99 apiece.

40:57

3.99? Almost $4, right? Yes. But so how come you sell yours for less money--  I wanted to--  and put more into it than the ones in the store? Because

41:09

I think um, I could pay for the materials even though it would cost a lot more, I’m charging a lot less money because then more people would want to buy and I would get more if I cost like two for 3.99 for one fly. So

41:31

you don't have to pay for the material right now so you can charge a little bit more and people will buy more because yours are cheaper, is that what, is that what you’re trying to tell me? Yes. That's, that sounds like a strategy.

41:45

Yeah.

41:46

But but if it, if you care more and yours are better, should you charge more too?

41:56

I don't really want to charge for them. I would just like making them. You just love making them. I don't mean like mine are better than anybody else's. I just think mine are good.

42:06

Yours are good. Yeah. Yeah. They are good. Yes. I agree with you. They're very good. Excellent. Do you think you'll keep making flies? Do you, do you like making flies? Is it a lot of fun for you to make flies? Yes. Yeah. If, how many flies, when you sit down and make flies, how many do you usually make at a time?

42:26

Well, whenever I was doing the Maker’s Market and I was making them to prepare at home, I would make five each weekend, I mean, each day of the weekend. Wow. So 10. Five, five each day of the weekend. Wow. So five for two days. Awesome.

42:47

Awesome. Do you, do you call them anything special? Do you, do you make up a name for every fly that you make?

42:58

Well, not too many. But um--

43:03

But you were telling me about the snow monster. I was wondering if you make up a name for each of them? Well,

43:07

I don't make up a name for each of them but I make up names for some of these. For some of them. Okay. I have to admit this one with the orange and black, it has the longest tail of all of them. It

43:23

does, I can see it's folded a little bit. Nice. So do you have a name for that one?

43:29

I call them the long tailed bully. The long

43:35

tailed bully? Yeah. Okay, how come you call them the long-- I understand the long tail but how come you call them the bully? Because um

43:46

I just like it because black and orange in that pattern, kind of like if you were in in a movie, if you were in fifth grade, be bullies in black and red. Yeah. Yeah. Close enough.

44:01

Kind of the dangerous colors, huh? Yeah. Yes. Dangerous colors. I like it. I like it. Cool. Okay. And

44:08

I just made that name up.

44:09

You just made it up while you were talking here? Yes.

44:12

I never actually called it that before.

44:15

I see. I can see you're pretty creative about this kind of stuff. Yeah? Do you think you’ll be tying flies for a long time?

44:24

I think you've asked me that a lot and yes. Yeah.

44:26

Yeah. Even, even your PopPop still ties flies, right? That's something you can do your whole life. Yeah.

44:31

Yeah. Pretty cool. He said that I can come over anytime.

44:36

He did. Yeah. Very nice. Does he teach you how to tie flies to?

44:44

Yes, he teaches me some things. And I, well he has a door that has a lock on it, but it's pretty easy to get in. You don't even need a code. It has all these numbers but then it has a picture of a lock opened and a lock shut and all-- in when I-- He didn't tell me the code and I just said, Hey, is this the code? And I pressed the unlock button and then it just opened. And it worked. Because the buttons are just, are just distractions that you need to do. They're just to make you think that you need a code. But actually, it's just that. You just

45:30

need to push the right button. Yeah, you just need to push that button. So I got, I got one other question for you. When you're tying flies do you use different kinds of knots? No. You use just pretty much one same knot when you tie them on there.

45:49

Well, when I'm from finished, and I'm ready to cut, I do the whip finish. But then whenever you're just, if you're just um pausing, and putting it on the little thing, so you can, like for you can put on a feather, then you'll do a half inch. For whenever you come make it come over here it won't just unwrap itself. Got

46:18

It. So that keeps it tied up. Yeah. So Auggie, would it be okay with you if we put a link on on on our show here, right? Because you've come on to be our guest. If somebody wanted to buy one of your flies, could we, can we put a link on there so that they could, they could click on it and buy one of your flies? Uh,

46:40

what do you mean by link? Well,

46:42

you know if, something that would send you a note and say Auggie, would you please send me a fly, here's my money. Yeah. You would be okay with that? Yeah. Okay. And what would you do with the money if we, if we did that?

46:58

I would probably spend it on more materials to make these. To make

47:07

more flies? Yeah. Cool. Okay, so let's do that, then. Let's, let's put a link on there. If people want to buy one of Auggie’s flies. Will you let me take some pictures of those too so we can put them on there as well? Yeah, sure. Awesome. Very good. And, and is there, if somebody buys your flies do you have any guarantee for them? Do you, what would you tell to somebody that buys your flies about how to use your flies? Yes,

47:34

I would tell them not to try brushing any of these. Like, if you found, well not to put any sand on it. Like if you're on a sandy bay, you wanted it to look more like fly, and you would take some dry sand and put it in the water but have your hand here so you can catch it and then just dunk it in it like it was on the shore and then it flopped back. I would tell them not to do that because it would get stuck in the head and it would rot. So just don't do that.

48:19

Sounds like good advice. Yes. Okay. Anything else they should know about buying your flies?

48:24

No. I don't really know. It's

48:27

sounds to me like there's a lot more care and love in your flies than the ones they can buy in the store though, right?

48:34

To me, I think, yes. Yeah. You think yes?

48:36

Yeah? Cool. You think they'll catch more fish if they use your flies?

48:44

Maybe? I think--  Maybe, you think? Maybe. Maybe

48:50

Awesome. Well, you told us earlier, and I want to just repeat it, you are how old? Seven. You are seven years old and you sold $70 worth of flies in two hours at your first store mostly to ladies who don't fish.

49:12

Well if you're saying I'm like seven and I was born, maybe a month ago, I'm actually, I was actually born on January 4th. I know, so you’re going to be eight

49:23

here in a few weeks right? Yeah. You're gonna, you keep having those birthdays and you're gonna get to be as old as me. Yeah. And so that's pretty awesome. I'm excited of what you are doing. When your dad first told me about it I said, Now there is somebody who really has got something special going on and that's

49:47

why I wanted to talk to you. Yeah, and I-- whenever you asked me I was like, Yes, I want to do it. Yeah? Please sign me up as quick as possible. When is it gonna go? Alright, let's get in the car.

49:58

Why did you want to do it so much? Because

50:00

I just have so many podcasts. Between right now and, right now and in the past—Yeah. Dad, I'm not joking. Literally, I've had 15 podcasts. Really? 15. Where you've

50:18

been a guest on the podcast? No. Just ones you listen to.

50:24

I only listen to podcasts. You

50:26

only listen to podcasts? You're a seven year old and you only listen to podcasts. Yeah. Well, I want you to listen to this one and tell me what we can do to make it better. Right? Yeah. And as you keep selling more of these flies, will you agree to come back on and talk to me about it more? Yes. Awesome. Yes, yes, yes. That'd be awesome. Okay. It

50:47

would be awesome for me to come back.

50:49

Would you like it? Yes. All right. Hopefully Mr. Dave will make us sound good on this thing, right? Yeah. I thank you very much for coming in. It was a, it was a lot of fun to talk to you. Yeah. I was really excited to sit down and talk with you about this. Yeah,

51:03

but he's not gonna make--  you did not disappoint. Hmm? He’s not gonna make my voice sound like a grumpy man.

51:10

No, just me. I'm the grumpy man on this side, you don’t sound that way, I sound that way. All right, Auggie, thank you very much. I enjoyed it. Is there anything you want to say to people listening to this?

51:25

I was on a baseball team and there was someone on my baseball team and his nickname was Wheels. Yeah. And if you're listening to this, I want to tell you that my name is Auggie Keenum. My baseball name was The Brain. The Brain? I played for the Roughnecks. The

51:54

Brain on the Roughnecks. Very cool. Well, thank you Auggie. Thanks for coming on with us today, this was a lot of fun. Yeah.

52:00

I loved it. Thank you for letting me be on this podcast.

52:05

Very cool. We'll do it again. Yep. All right. Hopefully.

52:09

Thank you for listening to the You Don't Know What You Don't Know podcast. We invite you to visit www.youdon'tknowwhatyoudon'tknow.com and sign up to receive updates on upcoming episodes. You can also let us know if you'd like to be a guest or recommend a business owner to be interviewed. Find us on LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube where you can like, follow, share and join our efforts. Thanks for listening. We hope you join us again.