Good News York by Growth Mode Content - GNY EP.122 | Feat. Abel Ramirez

Episode Date: November 17, 2025

The American Dream: Abel Ramirez's Journey from Cuba to Entrepreneurship In this inspiring episode of Good News, host Mike interviews Abel Ramirez, owner of Bayberry Uniforms in Fayetteville. Abel shares his remarkable journey from growing up in Cuba to building a successful business in America. He talks about the challenges of moving to a new country, learning English, and starting a business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Abel's story highlights resilience, entrepreneurship, and the American dream. The episode also discusses Bayberry Uniforms' role in the medical apparel industry, their unique local engagement strategies, and the impact of social media marketing on their business. Additionally, Abel announces an upcoming hiring event for Kraus and Bayberry Uniforms' need for new sales associates. 00:00 Introduction and Special Guest Announcement 00:42 Abel Ramirez's American Dream 01:42 Challenges of Adjusting to American Life 04:07 The Journey to Entrepreneurship 15:02 Starting Bayberry Uniforms 21:14 Pandemic Survival and Business Pivot 21:41 The Birth of Bayberry Uniforms 24:01 Navigating Competition in the Medical Apparel Industry 26:12 The Power of Social Media for Business Growth 29:27 Overcoming Content Creation Challenges 34:24 Community Engagement and Hiring Initiatives 39:27 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Instagram teen accounts have built-in protections for who can contact teens and what they see. Learn more about teen accounts at Instagram.com slash teen accounts. It's a gentle cruising. You start to see the village, almost like a painting. Join me, travel expert Darley Newman, and Uneworld Boutique River Cruises L'Ik Balee to learn about river cruising in France. As we have been sailing there for decades, we have been able to create deep connection with the local communities. Local connections make exploring France easy. Tune into the Travels with Darley podcast on IHeart and wherever you listen to podcasts

to hear about river cruising and Unirold's 50th anniversary summer specials. Hello and welcome to Good News. York sponsored by Ads on the Go, get ads on the go.com. It is Monday. It doesn't sound like a Monday. It doesn't feel like a Monday

because, A, Buffalo Bills finally look like they're playing football again. That's a different story. You can go watch that on GMY Sports. But even more importantly, here with a not even a special guest. I would dare say a friend of ours, a friend of the show, one of our first guests. Danny, was that one of our first guests? Mr. Abel Ramirez from Baybury Uniforms in Fayetteville. You, my friend, we learned a lot about you the first time you were on, which we're going to talk about again, but you truly are, and it sounds like I'm being dramatic here.

You are the, you're living the American dream. You are what we learned about in the, the history books. People that come from different countries for more opportunity here with drive ambition, nothing in their pockets and building something from nothing. And you have done that, man. And I respect that so much. Good morning, buddy. Good morning. My account is doing great. Wow, that's a great introduction, man. I don't know if I can live up to that. Well, I mean, listen, it's not like I wrote it down. I'm speaking from the heart. That's who you are. And that's what's going on. For those that maybe didn't listen to the first time you were on or saw it, tell us about your background.

I know you've probably told the story a million times, but it's so great. Tell us how you got to where you are now with Baybury uniforms in Fayetteville. Sure. It's a very interesting story because if you asked me five years ago, hey, do you see yourself selling medical uniform? I'd be like, what? You're crazy. I've never think that I would be where I am today.

Definitely, God has been great in my life. For those of you that don't know, I come from Cuba. As you know, it's a very difficult place to grow up with. Picture living in the middle of nowhere, with your neighbors being a thousand miles away, in the country living off the ground, an outhouse. I told this story last time. I want to tell it again because I think it's very funny, but also very eye-opening for the average person.

the first week in America, we didn't know how to operate the shower. Oh, yes. So, you know, for the first week, we're here and we're trying to figure out how to operate this thing. You know, because we were used to just go into the well, get the bucket of water, put it in three stones, heat it up, and then you, that's how you take a shower. I mean, that's all we knew. And first week in America, we didn't know how to operate it. It wasn't until the social worker came to visit, like, the week after, and she was like, do you guys need anything? And she spoke Spanish because we didn't speak English at the time, too, by the way.

And I was like, yeah, you know, we would like to see if we can get the shower working because it doesn't seem like it's operating right. And I go and I show her like I turn it to the left cold and to the right hot. It doesn't do anything. And she goes, oh, let me show you. And then she pulls it out. Yeah. And water starts flowing.

It was like, well, if it makes you feel better, I am now in my 40s and I still struggle with When I go to like hotels, I'm like, I'm pulling on the faucet. I'm yanking on it, you know. Sometimes it's not that easy, especially if you're coming from somewhere where you didn't have that liberty. So give yourself a little credit. No, it's okay. We all know you don't like to take a shower anyway, Mike. I do not.

Don't try to make up an ex. Do not. That's why I'm over here and you're over there. I'm stinking of saloom. Social distancing. Social distance. But yeah, no, it's a, it's very humbling and very eye-opening. And it's a story that I always tell everyone.

And I try to, you know, remind myself because, you know, you open the fridge. there's food. And if you don't have food, you just go to the grocery store, you go to the gas station nearby, and just grab whatever you need off the shelf. I mean, before when I was hungry, you have to go out and, oh, here's a mango tree, let me climb it or throw a rock, see if I can, you know, have a snack, you know. So growing up in those conditions, it certainly makes you dream about things and makes you want to do better, right? I was fortunate enough that at the time, this was back in 2010, in Cuba, there was a Switzerland embassy that had U.S. personnel in it. So there wasn't an U.S. embassy in Cuba, but there was a Switzerland embassy

that had U.S. personnel. Now, my dad, being a pastor, didn't do well with the authorities in Cuba because they're very restrictive on groups of gatherings. So obviously, being a pastor of a church, that's not something that the government plays well with. So he started to have a lot of problems with the authorities on, you know, the gatherings and whatnot persecuted. So, you know, he went to the Switzerland embassy and requested asylum at the U.S. with the U.S. personnel. And it was a two, three, four year process of interviews, shots,

a lot of paperwork, a lot of money involved. But eventually they, you know, they opened the doors and they said, okay, pick a place, where do you want to go? And we were like, I don't know. Where am I supposed to go? I don't know anything. So we borrow at the embassy there was a computer with internet because the average person doesn't have access to the internet and she goes, you know, here's Google, right? And you Google top 10 places to raise a family in the US and guess what city pop top at the time. I'm going to guess Syracuse. Syracuse indeed. So we picked Syracuse and they were like, sure, they arranged everything and I'll never forget it was on October 19. of 2010. We're coming down on the airplane,

Syracuse Hancock Airport. And I could see all the colors, man. It was like unbelievable. Picture tropical place you grow up with. It's all you know. Same season all year long. And now you come and you see all these beautiful colors and the cars and the screens.

And it was so beautiful. You know, and that to me was like, this is it. You know, we've made it. We're in America. We're free. We can say whatever we want. We can do whatever we want with our lives. We don't have to have the government watching everything that we do or our neighbor watching, you know, what are you doing or what are you cooking? Because by the way, if you kill a cow in Cuba, you get more years in prison than you kill a person. That's in fact. Go-Boo. What? Yes. If you kill a cow, you get, that's worse than killing a person. Is that a religious thing? No, I wish it. See, if it was a religious thing, there would be a basis for it, right? Like India. But it's not a renuncious. thing. It's just the government owns it all.

The government in Cuba loves cheeseburgers. No, you know why? There's a saying on the street. I don't know if it's true or not, but everyone used to say that Fidel Castro loved ice cream so much that that's how, you know, that's why the cows are all his. I'm going to say that's not true, but he did love ice cream. Okay. But yeah, it's a very, very, uh... That's, Abel, so I love hearing me, first of all, It's just so I give goosebumps. It's such an amazing story because, you know, obviously it's an amazing story, but I just, I look at us as just, you know, typical Americans, you know, we're complaining about things that we think are so important and so vital.

And when I hear you speak, I realize just how spoiled we are and we forget, you know, how lucky we are here. And, you know, with everything that's been going on in politics, it's, it breaks my. heart because I know I keep in the back of my mind. I hear people like you speak and know your story and it makes me realize how lucky I am. And I just hope we never lose that as a country. And it just, it's so inspiring, you know, that, that, that, uh, that you come here and and you tell that story. What, was there a moment?

Was it the religious thing that, that kind of spurred you guys coming over to America? Or what was the jump off? What was it like, we got to go? Yeah. It was pretty much we got to go. But the United States, it's the ultimate destination for anyone seeking a better life, a better place. It's the ultimate place for freedom, right? It's the dream, right?

It's the dream. Everyone, you can talk about all the different countries in the world that are great. But America, it's the ultimate destination. That's where everyone dies to get to, you know? There's thousands of Cubans that have died gross in the ocean on their own, on handmade, watercrafts, that they're trying to rafts, that they're trying to make it over to the U.S. It's just unbelievable. You know, and to prove your point, and to prove my point of what I said of how we're spoiled Americans,

earlier you were like, we had to get out of Cuba. Our neighbors were a thousand miles away. And I'm sitting here going, man, I wish my neighbors were a thousand miles away. You see how spoiled me? But anyway, so you guys, you come to America. How old are you at this point? I was 14 at the time. So you're 14 years old.

You're integrating. to American schools, what's that like for you? Man, that was the toughest time. To tell you the truth, that moment in life, it's like an empty space in my head. Like, I barely remember anything. I don't know if it's a coping mechanism that the body decides like,

hey, I don't need this information. Let's delete it. So we can embrace culture, language, and try to, you know, get space up here for, you know, getting ahead. But it was very tough. I mean, I definitely remember one instance where everyone laughed at the classroom because the first thing I learned how to say in English was,

I don't know, just to avoid questions, right? And I was in the classroom when the teacher asked a question specifically to me, and I know because it's looking at me as he's talking, I just said, I don't know. And then the whole class started laughing because what he said at the time was, do you know how to say anything other than I don't know? And you said, I don't know. Well, you answered the question. I answered the question, right? It's a gentle cruising. You start to see the village, almost like a painting. Join me, travel expert Darley Newman, and Uneworld Boutique River Cruises L'Ik Bally to learn about river cruising in France.

As we have been sailing there for decades, we have been able to create deep connection with the local communities. Local connections make exploring France easy. Tune into the Travels with Darley podcast on IHeart and wherever you listen to podcasts to hear about river cruising and Univorold's 50th anniversary summer specials. What up y'all? You're just hilarious. Have you ever had an energy drink that makes you feel like your head is about to explode? Liquid death now makes a better for you energy drink. Liquid death, sparkling energy feels like a coffee, not an electric chair.

It has zero sugar in just five calories. No sucralose, aspartame, and artificial flavors and dyes. Plus, it has essential vitamins. You can find it in four delicious flavors that has a clean taste. Scary strawberry. Strawberry with a hint of lemon. Tropical terror. which is like a Pina Colada,

orange horror, tasty orange with a hint of orange cream, and murder mystery, my favorite, a blend of cherry cola and spices. I love a good energy drink to keep me moving, and I'm glad I now have Liquid Death Sparkling Energy

to keep me awake. I can't wait to keep drinking all these delicious flavors. They have unexstream 100 milligrams of caffeine, same as a cup of coffee. You can buy Liquid Death Sparkling Energy at Fine Retailers like 7-Eleven

or learn more at LiquidDeft.com. No, it was very tough. But I think that's where the survival mode kicks in, right? It's fight or flight. You know, when you're faced in a situation where you're against the wall and there's no place else you can run to, you have to face it, right? I had to learn English in quick, you know, and a very impressive amount of time because I'm going through high school just like a regular kid, right? And here I am not understanding the subjects that are being taught. So in order for me to get through high school, I'm going through high school just like a regular kid, right? And here I am not understanding the subjects that are being taught. So in order for me to get through high school. school, I had to learn English as fast as I could, and guess how I did it? I was, that's, what was my next question? Watching equals three on YouTube. I don't know if I remember equals three. I don't even know what that is. I just love that you used YouTube. Ray William Johnson, equals three. That used to be like the most popular channel back then in

2010 or 11. And I would just watch those videos because he was, him reacting to funny videos, but, you know, I would just consume content like all day. And that's how I was able to, you know, take a lot of information in and then be like, oh, okay, that's what that means. And that's what that means. And put two and two together. I also learned, here's a tip for, if you're trying to learn a new language, don't translate, period. Learn anything new as a new concept. For example, if you want to learn what this is in Spanish, I'm going to tell you is a botella.

Botea. In your head, you're not going to say, oh, that's a water bottle. Let me see how you say water bottle in Spanish. Botea. Oh, yeah, this is a Botea. No, I teach you as a new name, as a new concept so you don't have to translate it in your head. So that's what I started doing.

I started learning things as a new concept rather than translating it in my head because I figured that while I was translating, I was losing the pace of the speaker and I would lose a lot of words in the process while I was thinking of what he say and what that means in Spanish. So that works for me,

That's brilliant. Just learning something as a new concept and I could just point in shoe and be like, camera, light, scream, you know, without translating. So you're saying, what you mean by that is like, instead of going, oh, I wonder how you say go to the bathroom, let me look that up. You're saying let it be in front of you in the moment,

learning in the moment. That's fascinating. I mean, there's multiple things that I know in English that I don't know how to translate in Spanish. And Spanish is my main language. Yeah. Because I just learned it as a concept as a new thing. And the brain, I guess, it's easier for him to understand,

oh, it's a new thing that I just learned rather than, oh, it's a new thing that I just learned. But now I've got to know how to say it in Spanish and what does that really mean? And some things don't really translate the same. Right. So, yeah, that's what works for me. You're amazing. Absolutely amazing. We're going to get into content.

We're going to get into Bayberry uniforms. But your story, I just, I love it. So now you're in high school. You're starting to pick up the English language. What are your parents doing at this point? Are they working? Are what's going on there? Yeah.

My dad started working as soon as he got here. He was working at a recycling company. And he would do that at night. And then he learned how to drive a car. And eventually my stepmom at the time, she started to work at a place picking up crops here. That's what we knew. Yeah.

Yeah, I started working at a young age two. I was about 15 or 16. I started working at Columbus Bakery. It was a family that took me in. They didn't care that I barely spoke any English. That's actually where I got the love for a small business because I saw how they operate and how everyone was doing everything.

There was no titles, right? Because, hey, you're the business owner, but you still got to take out the trash and you still got to do all these different things in the business. So they took me in as one of their own and I worked there for, I want to say, two, three years until I started my professional career in airspace.

with my wife at TTM Technologies to build in this building there. They're going to be doing what's called the bore fab, the bore fabrication. That's what I started doing eight years ago, or more like, yeah, eight or nine years ago in the chemical department.

That's what I was doing. And it's just very, you know, I look back. I learned the love for small businesses with Columbus Bakery. I learned the processes and how a major company operates at TTIE. and corporations and different things that you learn in a big company.

And now we apply everything to our own family business. Amazing. So it was like everything worked out and all the pieces of the puzzle eventually came together without me even looking for them. And that's the best part. So that's amazing. So when Bayberry uniforms comes along or the idea comes along, did this come along as because, you know, you worked at the bakery,

you worked at the other place and you started to go, hey, wait a minute, you know what, this has inspired me. I want to own my own my own business. Or was this like, hey, I got to be an entrepreneur. I need to own my own business because I'm not going to have a lot of opportunities otherwise. That's a great question, Mike. I think deep inside there has always been that entrepreneur, salesman, person inside of me. I remember back in Cuba, I used to collect metal scraps after school and then sell those so I could gather enough money to rent a Nintendo 64 for the weekend. And what I mean for the weekend is I would go in at 8 p.m. and rent it for two hours. And then the owner would say, oh, it's 10 p.m. I was minor. Just keep it overnight. You can bring it in tomorrow morning. And I just learned that hack.

It's like, hey, if I just rent two hours, I pay for two hours on a Friday, he lets me stay overnight for Saturday morning so I could play all night my Nintendo 64 or, well, they're rent a Nintendo 64. So I always had that, you know, entrepreneur, hustler person inside of me. But I want to say that it was definitely a trigger moment for me when COVID happened and I saw the different things going on in the world and how all of a sudden censorship showed up and how politics showed up all over the world. And it was like a level of control that I want to say it triggers something in me coming from Cuba. It was like, you know what? Maybe we should have our own business. So no one can tell us what we can or can't do. And we have 100% controlled or at least 99% control of, you know,

the decisions we make in our own life. And that's exactly what we did. We both empty or 401 case. I sold an investment property that I had and we went all in into our family business. That is amazing. And I love how everything came full circle. You know, suddenly you're feeling the squeeze of the government and you're going, whoa, whoa, whoa. I left because of that. I'm not going through this again. I think there's something, and I think Matt would even agree with me. You know, I feel like I'm learning through this job and life.

I mean, I feel like there's two kind of entrepreneurs. There's the ones that do it because they're driven and they have these ideas and they want to do it. And then there's the ones that are driven. They have these ideas, but they're also doing it out of survival. And I feel like that gives you just a little bit of a natural extra drive. that others wouldn't have because it's survival for you. Does that sound right? It's the burn the ship's mentality.

I don't know if you heard that. It was a conquistador that I think made it to Mexico, and he literally burned the ship. So he goes, we either win this bottle or we all die here. Oh, so it was like the old age version of a one-way ticket. Yeah. Like, I'm just, it's got to work. It's got to work or otherwise we're going down together.

And that mentality makes you, want to work 200% harder than I just hope this works out. Right, right. I have a plan. I have a retirement. I have investment properties. You know, I can, if this doesn't work, I'll move on to the next thing. No, this is like. It has to. This has to work. We're all going down.

We have two small little children, you know, all of our family, our immigrants that came here just a little bit before us. So it's not like they have the means to support us if this doesn't work. So, yeah, it's that burn the ship's mentality, you know, you got to make it work. You've got to go in 200%. Dude, I'm going to use burn the ship's mentality from now on. That is amazing. And you can apply it to anything, right?

Sure. Going to the gym or for your New Year's resolutions, you know, we always fall back because we know that if you don't do it, nothing happens, and then you get disappointed at yourself and it's like this vicious cycle, right? Rather than no. I mean, there's no going back. This is who I am and we've got to make it work, or at least. die trying. That's right. Man, I'm so inspired by you. So now you're at the point, okay,

we're dumping our 401ks. We're all in. How does Burberry uniform in Fayetteville come? Is this, is this something you sought? Did it come to you? Because as you said, I don't imagine selling medical uniforms was like the first thing you thought about. How does Baybury uniform come about? Well, at the time, I was working as a real estate agent, so I was still employed full time. but I was also looking for other avenues for income and freedom and entrepreneurship and real estate was the easiest thing because you can get a license real cheap and I became a licensed real estate agent back in 2020 before the shutdown happened. So I had an amazing year when the prices were going up. Sure. You know, I had a very good first year as a real estate agent and I also learned through that process that you can buy a business. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. Why do I have to be? become Einstein and reinvent something that someone else already did for you, you know? And maybe they're retiring or maybe they're just moving out of state or maybe they're going

through health issues and they can't support the business anymore. And it's something that the community needs, that's been here for a long time, that supports health care, that's proven to work in times of crisis like COVID pandemic. We know what's an essential and what's not an essential business after COVID, right? It's a gentle cruising. You start to see the village, almost like a painting. Join me, travel expert Darley Newman, and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises L'Iq Bali,

to learn about river cruising in France. As we have been sailing there for decades, we have been able to create deep connection with the local communities. Local connections make exploring France easy. Tune into the Travels with Darley podcast on Eyeheart and wherever you listen to podcasts to hear about river cruising

and Univorld's 50th anniversary summer specials. Hey, it's Cubby. Have you ever had an energy drink that makes you feel like your head is going to explode? Well, liquid death now makes a better-for-you energy drink. Liquid-death sparkling energy feels like a coffee, not an electric chair. It has zero sugar and just five calories. No sucralose or aspartame or artificial colors and dyes. Plus, it has essential vitamins. You can find it in four delicious flavors that have a clean taste.

Scary strawberry, strawberry, strawberry kind of a hint of lemon, tropical terrestrial. which is like a pina colada. Orange har, tasty orange with a hint of orange cream and murder mystery. A blend of cherry cola and spices. You see, I love a good energy drink to keep me moving,

and I'm glad now I have liquid death sparkling energy to keep me awake. I can't wait to keep drinking all these delicious flavors. They have unexstream 100 milligrams of caffeine, same as a cup of coffee.

You can buy liquid death sparkling energy at a fine retailer near you like 7-Eleven or learn more at LiquidDeath.com. How many businesses closed during that time? Yeah. And how many businesses were open during that time. So it was a very crazy time. I feel like, I mean, obviously not literally, but for the most part, I feel like there were two types of people during the pandemic.

They're the ones that, you know, had a real tough time and struggled and, you know, maybe had some not so great results coming out of it. And then there were the others that knew it was time to pick. pivot and made something beautiful out of it. And I think you coming from the situation that you came from up to that point, all you ever knew was this is burn the ships, right? Right. Got to survive. So for most of us, the pandemic was like, what do we do?

That was us going through the first paralysis. Right. He's like, what am I doing? And then you don't do anything. Right. And so this is the first time as Americans, at least for my generation, where we're really going, well, we have to do something to survive here. And you are going, I'm used to this, man.

You know, obviously you hadn't been through a pandemic, but you're like, I know what it's like when shit gets real and you got to pivot. And so you did. And so Bayberry Uniforms comes along. And Bayberry Uniforms comes along. I was actually somebody that I knew through work that was the listing agent for the business. So it was like, okay, great. And at first, I saw it, it went up for sale a year prior.

And nothing happened, you know. And he did pitch like, hey, I think you and your wife will be good for this. You know, you guys have the mentality and it would be good for you. But at the time, again, I wasn't thinking medical scrubs. Sure. This was prior the pandemic even. So I was like, yeah, I don't know if I'm ready to make that risk, right? And to take that leap of faith and go all in together.

My wife at the time, she was going on her master's for engineering management. So she's at the peak of her career when it comes to aerospace engineering. And I was growing very fast, doing that space. So it wasn't a time, we weren't ready at the time. Then COVID hits. The business goes up for sale again, right? It sits there for like six months, nothing's happening. And we're like, okay, maybe it is time to consider it.

We met with the owner. We checked out the place. Again, we learned that it was essential. So it wasn't going to be closed down. It's supporting health care, which healthcare is the hottest topic at the time. So we were like, okay, yeah, maybe we can make it work. So let's burn the ships and sell along. Burn the scrubs.

Burn the scrubs. Burn the scrubs. Burn the scrubs. So Baybury Uniform in Fayetteville. Tell us about the business. Tell us what you guys do, the products, all that stuff. Yeah, so Bayberry Uniforms has been around for over 50 years. And it's a medical apparel company that provides to all the nursing schools, all the hospitals, medical offices, veterinarians, you name it.

Anybody wearing scrubs, we're there. And it's just amazing. You know, I was at the airport the other day, and I see the upstate billboards and announcement, and they're wearing our uniforms. So it's very fulfilling. It's very purpose-driven for us to be supporting, you know, the health care workers of our city and also the schools too, because they are the future. Now, we do a little bit of restaurant work too.

We do corporate wear. But also, I want to say medical is the main focus of our business, just supporting our hospital, supporting our medical. offices here, our nurses and the students to come. So do you deal with, I mean, do you have a lot of competition in this space? And if so, you know, what kind of sets you guys apart from, from the others? Yeah, competitions were one of the highest spaces for competition. You know, you have Amazon, right? That's everybody's competitors. And they're the biggest and scariest. You also have online competitors. So these are people that don't have.

a breaking motor store. Yeah. So they can afford drop ship. They can afford the lower prices. You have the big F war that we call it in our industry. The F.WR. Figs. So Figs is a scrub brand that invests millions into marketing and they're e-commerce only. I think they just open a store or maybe a handful of stores in the country, but they're, they were always online only. And it became the apple of scrubs where if you're wearing figs, it's like a status thing. And I mean, I'm I'm not going to sit here and criticize fix because they have, they have a good product and they do a great marketing. And I think that's why they've seen their success. But definitely hurts the breaking motor stores all over the country.

This year alone, over 15 breaking motor stores closed in the country due to our competition or, you know, something related to that space. Because let's face it, even after COVID, you know, I'm part of the problem. I'm buying groceries online. Yeah. You know, it's all about, we get lazy, right? You get used to convenience. Convenience, right? So that's got to be our biggest challenge, I would say, the online retailers, the online

competitors that just soak up so much market share from you. But I tell you what, when you hear your story, and this is why it's so important for you to do things like this, come on any media outlet you can because your story is so inspiring. People will fall in love with you. and I know as a consumer, whether I knew you or not, if I heard your story, I'd be like, dude, let's go support that guy. Right.

You know what I mean? And here's the thing. Figs might have all this money. Is I say that right, Figg? They might have all this money for marketing. But you do a hell of a job marketing too, because you, my friend, found the social media content creation space, which is what we do here.

Right. And you went for it, man. And you've been doing some amazing things on there. How much has that? the social media aspect, the content creation, played into your, to your business and into helping your business. Yeah. So definitely social media has been a great avenue for me to reach audiences around the world. And I actually became viral by accident. I wasn't looking to grow social media. I wasn't looking to become an influencer. This just kind of happened magically when I was just posted a random video to TikTok and it blew up.

And then from there, I'm like, okay, let's study. What did I do right in this video? And I started testing it. And four years, I've been able to gather just over a quarter million followers across the different platforms between TikTok and Instagram and Facebook and YouTube, which it's just like a different business venture that now I do professionally for brands and I do marketing deals. I'm starting to cross over to the Baybury and see how we can utilize social media to reach our local audience. Yeah. But, dude, that's just another. space that I'm very passionate about because it's a free tool that anyone can use. You don't have to be special. You don't have to be a genius. You know, you just create the content and then you learn from your own content. It's like a feedback loop, right? You see, okay, this video did it did well,

so let's not do that again. This one did well. So what did we do well in this video? And let's apply that to the next. And it's just like a feedback loop that you can. It's like a focus group, a built That you can do exactly for free, organic that you don't have to pay for and it can reach millions across the globe. But you know what? If that sounds like it's an obvious thing, but you'd be surprised that the amount of people that don't use it that way or don't realize that. You know, one of the key things, and what we talk about here at, well, we're now going to be called Clickstream Studios, by the way. We did announce that. We're not more growth mode content.

You know, obviously we have Good News York and GNY Sports. but our main bread and butter is we produce podcasts for other people and social content. And one of the things that we talk about is the importance of organic. And yes, you know, well-produced stuff like this is great. But I think the reason you were finding success is because you did it right. You went in organically and we're just creating what it is you wanted to create or talk about what you wanted to create. And actually the algorithms pick up on that.

They actually prefer more organic things like that that are not. It doesn't mean like go in there and say whatever. Like you can have an idea in mind. But that is so important that you not only use it, but you did it in the right way where you were like, you know, I'm not going to go out there and promote anything. I'm just going to be me. And then they're going to come to me.

That's the key. If you went out there and said, hey, check out Baybury uniform. I'm not saying that wouldn't have worked. Right. But it wouldn't have the same effect as like, hey, I'm able. I'm talking about this. So now what you have is a building. built in audience of a quarter of a million people.

Now if you start promoting Baybury, they're already, they love you already. They're locked into you. So look at this, Mike. The average person is going to give you the classic excuse. I don't have a studio like this. I don't have a production. I don't know about editing. I don't know about camera, audio.

And we fall into the analysis paralysis again. During COVID, this person right here sitting across from you, I spent the stimulus check on a brand new. mirrorless camera on the SMB 57 I think is called the Shore mic The 1stead- Oh the SM7B

The S&B I have that in my homes too The podcast and the green screen And the panels And I built a beautiful studio in my house That was What five years ago? 2020

Oh my God, five years Yeah Unbelievable Guess how many times I've used it For content? Once. Zero. Oh man

Because I overcomplicated the process and the setup. I got a studio, so now I got to prepare for that. I got to create a script. I got to turn on the camera. I got to make sure the lighting's right. And then after that, I got post-processing. I got to sync the audio to the video.

And oh, my God, I just got tired of just thinking about it. So what did I do? Again, it wasn't planned. It was by accident. I pulled out my phone. And guess what we all have in our phones is a camera. Really good camera. And iPhone cameras are actually pretty darn good.

And the microphone audio coming out of it is actually decent, right? So I just put it on a selfie mode and I just said I was starting talking to it. It's like, hey, guys, I'm here with Mike at Good News York. What's going on? And I did a video just like that. No editing. I posted it. It was literally 15 seconds.

And within an hour, it got to 10,000 views. Jesus. So to a guy that was getting 300 views. That was viral. I was like, okay, I'm an influencer now. I can do this. There's no excuse, Mike. Anyone can do it.

You don't have to overcomplicate it because when you overcomplicate something, then you just don't do it. But when it's easy, it's accessible. All my videos, if you go to my page, 90% of them are going to be me sitting in the car. No tripod. I just use the wheel as a tripod. I put my phone there and I just talk to it. No, barely minimum editing.

Obviously, I've been doing it for five years, so I learned some basic editing skills, right? But when I started, I wasn't doing any editing. And I was posting three to five times a day. And I grew to over 100K followers in a year in TikTok. I wasn't doing content anywhere else. So what I started doing is I started posting on Instagram. A year later, in six months, I achieved 100K followers from 300 and half the time of what it took me to build it in TikTok. Wow.

So, again, we overcomplicate content and people want genuine you content. You know, this is great, like I said. Sure. It makes up great clips for short form content and long form content. But people want to see who's Mike behind the camera. Exactly. You know, if we post, if you did a behind the scenes of Good News York, I bet you it probably will do better than the average video of Good News York, Good News York.

Absolutely. Because people want to see something different. They want to say something genuine. What do you look like on your worst day? That's right. Because everybody's human and we all have worse days, you know? And that's what it's all about, organic. It's just amazing to me.

I know I keep dripping you with compliments, but it's true. Like everything that you've done up until this point, you've just done on your own. Like, I mean, coming to America, learning the English language, starting a business, dumping your 401k, figuring out how to create content. Like, it's just so inspiring. And, you know, that you are, you do it from scratch. And it's just amazing, man. And that's not how you're supposed to do it. And the best news, Mike, is anyone can do it.

Because if an immigrant that didn't speak English is able to accomplish that in 15 years, imagine all the advantages that you already have. Mm-hmm. You know, so really, there is no excuse. There is none. And, you know, I will say, you know, immigrants in this country have been under attack the last few years. And, you know, I'm not going to get into it. This is good news.

We don't talk about that stuff. But, you know, this is relevant and important. And it breaks my heart because sometimes the media paints this picture, this dark picture of immigrants and somehow that they're all, you know, bad. And no, they're not. Immigrants are what make this country. And you are that shining example. And that's why I hope people listen and watch this and hear your story

because that is why America is great. because of the opportunity we give the immigrants and because of the immigrants that come here and build what you've built. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. Thank you, Mike. I really, really mean that, man. So, listen, before I could talk to you all day,

Baybury uniforms in Fayetteville. You've got, you are, let's talk about, you're looking to hire, you are looking to hire, but you're also holding a hiring event for Kraus. Let's talk about that a little bit. Yeah, so part of what we're doing to separate ourselves,

going back to your question, how are we different to online retailers. The online retailer, it's just looking for your money. That's it. We're a local-based company, family-owned, family-operated business in Syracuse. So my goal is to work with local businesses. You know, every Friday, I have it in my calendar. It's upstate delivery day. I physically go to upstate every Friday and deliver to the different departments. I get to meet my clients face-to-face, shake their hands, and deliver the goods right to their door. No online retailer is going to do that. So back to the crowd's hiring event, I was like, how can we give back to the businesses that we already work with and help them and bring more

value to them? So I said, okay, we have an audience. We have the foot traffic from all the different nurses. There's a staff shortage that a lot of people are experiencing right now. I said, well, why don't we host a hiring event for them at our store? They can bring, they could set up a table, give raffles, giveaway, discounts, whatever it's needed to support that. That way, they'll get the traffic they need. They'll be motivated enough to come to the store because they have extra discounts or free giveaways and things like that. And at the same time, we're helping a local organization hire more nurses. So that's how the idea started. And as soon as I pitched it to the organization, they're like, oh my gosh, yes, we need help. We need people. So when can we do this? So yeah,

Friday from 4 to 6, we're going to be there. Everyone is welcome. There's going to be discounts for everyone. No commitment needed for you to sign up with crowds, but just visit their table, see what they have to offer it. And if it makes sense for you, you know, go ahead and do it. I mean, it's about partnership and working together. And this is what we're looking to do as a local business to set ourselves apart from everybody else.

And so that event is this Friday from 2. five at Baybury Uniforms in Fayetteville, correct? That is right. Yes. And we're located in the old Peter Harris store right next to Well Now in the Linden Corners. It's our new location. We had our grand opening just about a month ago or so ago. Awesome, man. And talk a little bit about the hiring. What are you looking for exactly for for Baybury? So we need sales associates. That's what we need to help the most. Right now, we're focusing on doing pop-up shops for hospitals. We just came back from upstate community hospital last week, two days in the cafeteria.

And we're starting to do that more often so that requires that we have a lot of help physically in the store. So I'm looking for students. I'm looking for college kids looking for a part-time or maybe you retire. You're looking for some extra hours. In the afternoons, we're open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and open Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. So any hours in the afternoon, the afternoon shift is wide open for anyone that may want to come and work with us. Like I said, we're family-owned, family-operated. Very small team. So everyone that comes in makes a huge impact in the organization as a whole.

And, yeah, we're just looking to add someone else to our family. Able Ramirez, you are the frickin man. Any other plugs you want to give? Websites, socials, anything like that, events. Yeah, look us up as Syracuse Scrubs.com. That's our brand-new e-commerce platform that we're testing out. We're starting to compete also in the e-commerce space. is a big goal for 2026.

And everyone else, it's just baby our uniforms. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, you name it. That's where we can find us. Well, listen, Abel, one last thing. We, I feel like we're cheating on you. We have an employee here, well, on the IT side of things, at Growth Mode IT. His name is Abel. He is.

And he's from Cuba. And he's from Cuba. And we actually work together. What? Yes. At TTM. So Abel and Abel used to. to work together. We actually used to work out together in Crotch a few years ago when I was going

to the gym and I was motivated. Now I don't have time for that. Wow. But yeah, I know Ables is amazing. Yeah, he's an amazing dude. I just didn't, it's like, because, you know, I go everywhere and there's always a mic. Is Abel a very common name in Cuba? It's not. So the fact that two Abel's from Cuba, they used to work at the same place and have Matt Meshire as a common friend, it's very, very rare. So it is wild. It is wild. Either this is really wild and coincidental or, you know, it's just a common name, chill out, Mike. But yeah, I had a feeling.

I was like, what are the chances? Oh, here's another one for you. Oh. He used to work for my wife. Come on. Just like I worked for her for 10 plus years. That's crazy. Crazy.

Yep. Abel, thank you so much for coming. I meant what I said. Your story is inspiring. Your business is amazing. Obviously, Baybury uniforms in Fayetteville. I really do people listen and watch and hear your story and understand the hurdles you had to go to to get through where you are and they keep supporting you. And thank you for what you do for the medical industry.

And thanks for coming on the show. You know you can come here anytime. Thank you, Mike. It's really a pleasure to be here with you guys. I love you guys and what you're doing. It's definitely revolutionary. I'm very excited for your next chapter. I'm going to be looking on social media to see one of the next clue.

The next clue is going to be on that 16 plus thousand square fee facility. Oh, my gosh. We are going to burn the ships, my friend. That's what we're going to do. Burn the ships, man. So that 20% scare there, make it 100% scare, but a scare, exciting. That's right. I love you, man.

You're so inspiring. And with that, Abel Ramirez, Bayberry uniforms in Fayetteville, their hiring event for Kraus is this Friday from 2 to 5. They are looking for sales associates, so contact him, contact them. Thanks for tuning into Good News York. We air every Monday through Thursday at 5 p.m. Eastern Good NewsYork.com and on all socials at Good News York and you can follow me on socials at Mike B TV. We will see you tomorrow.

Matt will be back. He's out putting fires out. Literally, he became a volunteer fireman for the day. I don't know. He's always doing some weird shit. But we will be back tomorrow on Good News York, sponsored by ads on the go. Get ads on the go.com.

See ya. Oh. It's a gentle cruising. You start to see the village, almost like a painting. Join me, travel expert Darley Newman, and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises L'Ik Balee to learn about river cruising in France. As we have been sailing there for decades, we have been able to create deep connection with the local communities. Local connections make exploring France easy. Tune into the Travels with Darley podcast on IHeart and wherever you listen to podcasts to hear about river cruising and Univorold's 50th anniversary summer specials.

You're listening to a podcast right now. Driving, working out, walking the dog. If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.com, starting your own is free and easy. Upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and hundreds more. Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads like this. Even with just 10 listeners a month. If you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is your sign.

Start free at rs.com.