Right About Now - Legendary Business Advice - James Merrill - Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Opolis Optics

Episode Date: September 21, 2021

Welcome to another episode on The Radcast! In this episode on The Radcast, host Ryan Alford talks with James Merrill, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Opolis Optics.James talks about his experiences and the challenges he faced while working with international NGOs and USAID. He talks about what it means for Opolis to focus on its mission while making sure the brand is keeping up with the trends in fashion. James also shared the objectives and inspiration for creating Opolis as a brand, future plans for Opolis and tips on how to build a successful company, and more…James also has a quick take on RAD or FAD trending topics;Polarize lensesSolar PanelsCanton New YorkInstagram ReelsLearn more about Opolis Optics: https://opolisoptics.com/ Instagram: @opolis_optics Follow James Merrill on Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/james-merrill-37a4627; Instagram: @jamesmrrll and Twitter: jcmerr04.If you enjoyed this episode of The Radcast, let us know by visiting our website www.theradcast.com or leave us a review on Apple Podcast. Be sure to keep up with all that’s radical from @ryanalford @radical_results @the.rad.cast If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more, join Ryan’s newsletter https://ryanalford.com/newsletter/ to get Ferrari level advice daily for FREE.  Learn how to build a 7 figure business from your personal brand by signing up for a FREE introduction to personal branding https://ryanalford.com/personalbranding.  Learn more by visiting our website at www.ryanisright.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel  www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When I went to Bangladesh and when I went to Pakistan and when I went to all these other crazy places, it was really wonderful to start to identify with helping people and what that help provided me internally and for my mental health. You can wear really great pair of sunglasses, super stylish, but made with really great material. That's good for the planet and for the people that are most impacted by the mess that we've left for them. Where fashion meets the focus of the mission, I love it. it. You're listening to the Radcast. If it's radical, we cover it.

Here's your host, Ryan Alford. Hey guys, what's up? Welcome to the latest edition of the Radcast. Hey, it's radical today, folks. We're getting after it. If you can't tell, you should be watching the video. 75% of our audience is on the audio, but James, they need to be watching the video

so they can see the real James Dean, also known as Ryan Offord. We're in Myopolis Optics. I've got the founder and chief executive officer today. James Merrill, welcome to the show. What's up, brother? Hey, Ryan, great to be here. Thanks so much, man. Hey, we've been on the Graham.

You know, we, uh, that's where everybody meets these days, the Graham. And, uh, James is like, I got some sunglasses. I think, I think you might like them. So he sent me pair, and I'm like, damn, these things are cool. And not only that, we're talking about sustainability. We all need to do our part for the environment. and I really like what James Anopoulos is doing. So I wanted to have you on the show, man,

and talk about how cool these shades are. Well, I'm super stoked for me here, man. And I have to give credit where credits do. My social media manager, Bryn, she found you. And she's like, you need to get on this guy's show. No pun intended, the rad dude. I'm grateful for being here. Thanks, Ryan.

Appreciate it. No, I'm trying, hey, we try to live up to it. If it's radical, we cover it. And what you're doing is, man you changed the game uh you're hustling out there trying to get the company really moving i know it's going to and you guys got a lot of innovation and a lot of things going for you let's just start james with you know your background and we'll build to opolis and everything going on with it but let's just start there man yeah so yeah my background goes into the opolis story so it's a great

place to start um i i started um i guess my professional career as a as a u-s-aid contractor so i worked for the State Department for about 10 years overseas. I was a field specialist, which meant I would go into undesirable places and implement projects on behalf of the U.S. government. It really ranged from diversity in the countries I was supporting and the projects I was actually implementing. So started my first project was in Bangladesh, working on agriculture value change, helping farmers getting tomatoes and mangoes, you know, from their local farms to the, to the, to the,

to the, to the market. And I was about, I was there for about a year and a half. Then I kind of moved, you know, towards Pakistan, Afghanistan, which is a relevant topic right now. Iraq, all over the stands, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, found my way into Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, I mean, all over the place. And then my last stint was in northern Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ethiopia. small yeah. Damn, you're a world traveler. Yeah, man. It was it was an adrenaline rush. It was amazing because I got to

fulfill this, this desire that I have just to help people in really gnarly situations and to give whatever I could to show that I was trying to support them in any way I could. And then, you know, obviously the patriot me trying to support, you know,

what we're trying to do overseas for our national security here in the United States, which people don't really understand. They both correlate. They both, you know, they're working together to support us and, you know, our democracy. So not to get too political, but that's kind of what was going on for the last 10 years of my life, which inspired Opelisk optics, you know, to where we are now and here today.

I love it, man. You know, where does that, you know, you seem like such a good nature, dude. And, you know, that desire to serve, like you said. be out there and travel the world. What's that foundation from? I don't know, man. I was a big competitor in all my life. I was trying to make it into the pro-socker circuit for a long time.

I ended up getting hurt, so my career ended. And my identity was so affiliated with soccer and competitive sports that, you know, after that ended, I had almost like an identity crisis. And that happened around when, you know, the 2009, 2010 economic crash in the United States. So it was really hard to find a job then. And so, you know, trying to figure out what I was going to do and who I was going to be, I moved to Washington, D.C., trying to see if there was opportunity for me. And then that's kind of how I found international development.

And that's essentially how I became a contractor for the government. And so when I went to Bangladesh and when I went to Pakistan, and when I went to all these other crazy places, it was really wonderful to start to identify with helping people and what that help provided me internally and for my mental health. And so that natural high that I usually got from being on the field or competing, I was starting to get that natural high, being in environments like that that, you know, is pushing the adrenaline.

But helping people was a really a call of action and a call of, well-being for me, which was amazing. That's great. I mean, at its core, it's funny how well we serve ourselves and we serve others. A firm principle of my own, you know. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Talk to me about, you know, as we build to more of the specific Charanopoulos, like,

what's that entrepreneurial journey been like, man? I mean, I know you did a few stents, you know, after the government, contract work, things like that. But talk to me about that entrepreneurial journey for you. Yeah, it's interesting. And especially doing this during the COVID, you know, the pandemic, I guess almost coming up two years now. It's been told people I've, you know, what I was doing overseas was very at times stressful and nerve-wracking. But I think this has been probably the scariest, most exciting thing I've ever done. I decided to create Opolis right before COVID broke out. And a lot of my supply chain requires a lot of interaction.

And I thought I was going to be able to handle that interaction physically. I was trying to go back to Kenya. I was trying to go back to the Philippines. I was trying to go back to Indo. But because of COVID, it really made things very complicated for me. Because my focus is so purely on the, on the, supply chain and helping the communities that are dealing with plastic on a day-to-day basis. It really tested a resolve.

It tested my resources financially and capacity. It's been a really interesting time. And you know what? It's been, you know, like we've talked about a test of resolve, but I've learned a lot from it. And I feel like it can only get better from here as the world starts opening up again. as the markets are doing a little bit better. I think that things can only get better.

So to establish a company right before COVID, yeah, it was pretty bad. It was hard. But I feel like the lessons learned and where we could go now that we've been through this is just is limitless. I'm hoping, fingers crossed. What was the inspiration? I mean, obviously sunglasses, but, you know, Pheropolis and, you know, I look at the shades.

They come at a wonderful package, by the way, everyone, we've got it. I don't know if it's faux leather. It feels like real leather. It's whatever it is. It feels really nice because seeing is believing. Like, what was the brand inspiration and why sunglasses? Yeah, that's, you know, I've always loved sunglasses. I've always thought that sunglasses were a great compliment to someone's face.

You know, that's, you know, what they bring out into the world all the time. So they identify with what sunglasses could make them look like or what. what to make them feel. But to be honest, when I was overseas and dealing with a lot of what I was dealing with, and what I didn't touch upon is my career actually morphed into projects that essentially were helping counterviolence extremism. So what that meant was we were identifying communities most at risk for radicalization. So me and my team would go into these places. We'd look at community members, communities as a whole,

and figure out ways to create programs that promoted counterviolence. So to keep people from recruiting for Boko Haram, al-Shabaab, ISIS, you know, really, really, really intense stuff, right? And the communities that I was working with intimately were marginalized groups that were either living in landfill communities or cities or communities that were living just in trash on coastal highways. And so they were the low-hanging fruit for radicalization. They didn't have the resources.

They didn't have the confidence to basically choose peace over violence. And so I told myself, if I ever got out of this situation, I would try not only to help them clean up the environment, help with their water and sanitation, they're financial, but the confidence that they could bring to their communities and families. And so that's why I really started to focus in on what was going in and out of the landfill. Right. And then I started narrowing in on the plastic bottle.

And I was like, okay, there is just so much of this plastic. You know, and it's produced from the West. These people are dealing with it on a day-to-day basis. Is there a way for us to create this trash into a commodity for these people? right and so two years now into it you know you look at to see what people are doing with the plastic bottles and and it's amazing because there's brands out there creating plastic are creating product out of um our pet which is recycled pete fabric so they're making like hats they're making t-shirts they're making backpacks all out of recycled water bottles now that's great but the thing what what i'm trying to do is i'm trying to recreate create or use that bottle that we're finding in those landfills or communities and create a durable good, which is very hard to do, which I've found. It's taken me two years. It's taking that plastic bottle, heating it, beating it up, and then repurpose it into another durable good, you know.

And so that's what I've been trying to do and prove with the sunglasses. The sunglasses itself is just a concept. It's a way to show people, the market and the industry, that there's there's great ways to make durable plastic goods there's other materials that we should be using that can be reused recycled and redistributed right and so that's why we've kind of focused on that so um i you know we we work with foundations in indonesia the philippines and kenya and we work with those communities we pay those communities we educate those communities on what this means for them that makes a lot of um i mean i'm glad you clarified that because i didn't even realize the depth of where you'd kind of come up with all of that.

That's awesome. Sure. So like the ones are bio-based. So like, define for me, you know, the difference between, and I know you've got a new product coming out, which we'll talk about. But like these sunglasses that are in my hands, how are they made? What are we talking about? What's the material? So, yeah, this is bioacetate.

It's essentially it's a material that we get and purchase at a premium price out of Italy. and it's cool because most bioacetate or acetate itself is created out of oil. And these are being plant-based, so cotton seeds, hemp, and recycled wood chips is created out of a powder. So instead of oils and all the CO2 that's needed to create those type of sunglasses, we're using powder-based materials so that it actually makes it decomposable. So if we lose our sunglasses in the environment, or especially if they go to the landfill, they'll decompose in 115 days. If they're found in the environment, it's probably over 200. But the thing is, the end of life is that it goes back into the environment and back into a process that actually, you know, created the product itself.

And what's cool about us, too, Ryan, is those in particular is that the hinges and the metal core that, you know, that you see in the frames, that's recycled metal. that our program in Kenya provides. So we have guys and women that go through the landfills pick scrap metal, and we repurpose it for the frames themselves. So we're trying to create an entirely upcycled product that's benefiting communities that are most impacted by this stuff that's around them all the time. That's awesome, man. Talking with James Merrill founder and CEO of Opelus Optics.

James, so talk to me. about the branding and style and all that stuff. I mean, what's the name, the name Opolis? Does that have any specific meeting, anything behind the brand you can talk about? Yeah, absolutely. So Opolis, it means citizen or community. It's Greek-based. It's the Greek term.

But I really wanted to come up with a name that represented empowerment. or, you know, that, and then it benefited, you know, had a universal benefit or meaning to it. But the style itself is vintage-based, you know, I didn't want to recreate the wheel because the wheel has been already created a million times. I'm just, I like this type of design. I wanted to show people that you can make a premium product and use really great materials, right? And that the materials themselves are represented of the person that's, wearing them.

Right? So like I want I want you to feel empowered by wearing those rhyme because you know the story behind it, right? Because what's going on in the world of sustainability is so, so negative and so sad sometimes. But like with little, little steps and little efforts by the community itself that there can be, there can be change, right? So I want people to have an affiliation with Opelis as an opportunity to feel empowered that they're doing good thing, even if they're not in the landfills, even if they're

not on the coast cleaning up. They're cleaning up and participating in helping these communities by wearing those sunglasses. But the style itself is kind of just, you know, stuff that's been inspired by like some of my, you know, my heroes on the screen and off the screen. And I also wanted, again, to show people that, like, you know, you can, you can wear a sustainable product and it doesn't have to look bad, right? There's a lot of competitors out there creating sunglasses out of wood, cork, rubber, like rubber tires and all that stuff, which is great. But for me, as a consumer, I wouldn't wear them on a day-to-day basis.

I would purchase them more or less to be a donation, right? And because I'm, but I'm what up with my series, with my collections, I'm trying to prove a point to the industry. That you can wear a really great pair of sunglasses, super stylish. but made with really great material. That's good for the planet and for the people that are most impacted by the mess that we've left for them. Where fashion meets the focus of the mission. I love it.

Exactly. Exactly. 100%. That's a freebie. If I think about it. That's a freebie. I'm writing. Yeah, writing it out.

How has the how has the marketing and just you know the business i know like you you've been transparent just doing it through covid and all those things um you know i know there's been so many changes to the algorithms and everything else i mean is it uh just been a process like everything else you know this this game pretty well better than i do it's all about ab testing right yeah but to be honest i feel like i've been ab testing the entire time that i've started of this company, right? And AB testing means like you've spent some serious cash, you know, and no matter like what store you have or the product, the quality product that you're dealing

with, this is stuff that you still need to deal and work through until you figure out a niche or a way of doing things that actually converts or optimizes, right? Yeah. So as you know, that the ad spent with the algorithms is kind of a funky thing right now. And so we've actually, we've had better conversions with affiliated marketing, PR, and wholesale. And wholesale is actually something I didn't think I would even touch until like two to three years into this. I thought we were going to be strictly a D to C e-commerce brand. But given that we're so new and so young, we can't afford the money that needs to be spent to have the conversions that is needed to purchase a pair of 175. a dollar pair of sunglasses.

Yeah. Right? We need to be spending thousands and thousands of dollars each month to get those conversions. And right now, I just don't have that. I'm spending a lot of my money in my supply chain, my R&D, and my production. Not to mention that, you know, TikTok is now becoming its own animal and learning that, that whole process, learning more about reels and, you know, learning how to convert those, you know, and And learning that, you know, coming off as sponsored or paid ads doesn't convert well in these certain social media platforms.

So for me as like, you know, I'm 36 now and like trying to learn from the younger generation on how to do that has really tested my patience because, you know, I never really even like perfected Instagram and Snapchat. And then I have to learn all these other elements. So it's like, you know, I love learning. It's a complex ecosystem out there. But it is a complex ecosystem and everybody is using it. So it's super competitive. And it's trying to figure out, you know, that narrow path through all this noise or, you know, competitive arena and trying to figure out what fits for you. And, like, who in that arena is actually, like, is receptive to what you're pushing out there, right?

We just need Chloe Kardashian. I know, Chloe, you're probably listening. You know, we need you to pick up a Parapolis. and suddenly this all takes care of itself, James. I know it is. It really is. You know, Chloe, if you're out there, Kim, I'll hook you up with some Opelisk optics. I'm in L.A.

Yeah, you might just, that might be the path. You know, if you get your story out there enough and get a good celebrity influencer someone, I don't always, I'm not like the check the box of influencer marketing on every product. But I think something with this. good of stories you have, you know, if we, uh, we'll have to, uh, see, I'll, I'll keep your mind as what, well, I mean, that's why, that's why I wanted to get on your show, Ryan. You have, you have, you have, uh, authenticity about you and you have a great following. And so, I think my story, my product, you know, compliments what you're trying to do as, as a, as an

entrepreneur, as a professional and, and as a brand itself. So, you know, I was thinking that we can only help each other, you know, promote each other's story, you know. Yeah. So I love that. I love it. Let's talk, let's transition. I know you've got some new stuff coming out. We're talking about the plastic.

We gave it away a little bit, maybe, but what, let's talk about product development and things like that. Yeah, so we're really excited. I've been waiting two years to launch this. So we're, we're launching what we trademarked as our stoked plastic collection. And so when we were talking about the supply chain of waste advocates going through their landfills and beaches to collect plastic bottles for us, this is the collection that I'm talking about. So that one bottle that they're collecting off the beach or landfill turns into a pair of premium sunglasses, which is our Stoke plastic collection. One bottle is one pair?

Yeah, essentially. It might be almost two, but we're kind of like simplifying it by basically saying one bottle equals one premium pair of. I wear, which would retail around 75 to 80 bucks. So it's fairly competitive with what our other sunglasses companies are doing with the recycled fishing nets, HDPE, which is shampoo or detergent bottles, mixtures and stuff like that. But for us, we're going to be the first one on the market to be 100% our pet or recycled P.E.T, which is a water bottle you find in the landfill or the ocean. And the production process, and it's interesting because, Ryan, this is like these platforms I like to use to educate some of the consumers in the market itself is that there's a difference between PET, Virgin PET, and R-PET.

So P-E-T itself is water bottles or soda bottles that go from the consumer's mouth into the blue bin and then to the redemption center and then repurposed. So these bottles aren't actually found in nature. So they're not cleaning up anything, right? So our pet, our recycled PET, is outbound plastic. So outbound plastic is the water bottles that we find when we're kayaking, canoeing, or in the landfill. They're actually in nature. So my focus was to clean up to actually do something about what plastic pollution is doing. And the fact that water bottles is the number one, you know, pollutant in our environment right now,

I really wanted to focus on that. The issue with that, it's really complicated because the properties in our pet have already been broke down with the recycling process anyway. And then to add to that, you put them in nature, the UV, the soil conditions, everything is then is just beating it up even more. So it makes it harder and harder to regenerate into a new product. So that's why we've trademarked and we've got IP to actually reinforce those plastic properties that have been. just beat up. And that's, that's essentially why we're going to be the first ones on the market to create a concept or our product like this. So that's why we're really excited about it. And again, it's called Stoked Plastic. It comes out in the end of September, early October.

And literally, we're going to be the first one, ones out there. And as we talked a little bit, Ryan, that we're hoping that Stoke Plastic, you know, becomes more than just sunglasses, and sunglasses more or less become a concept or a, or a pre, a, proven concept that you can make premium plastic goods, durable goods, out of plastic bottles you find in the river's oceans, lakes, landfills.

That's huge. I mean, it makes me think it's the ingredient brand, you know, stoke plastic become, you know, now you've got ultimate burger, you know, like the or the ultimate meat or whatever and that's the ingredient for like other things, but stoke plastic could become the ingredient for,

I mean, hundreds of not thousands of other products that could be made utilizing that process, right? Yeah, not to mention like, you know, the amount of volume you could create at a using different applications, right?

Because for our first batch and we do micro-batches, so it's the limit our CO2 footprint in production, we've only, I'm quoting, air quoting right now, have picked up over 300,000 water bottles from the Balinese coast right now. And that's just with

a small initial production. So imagine, you know, a couple thousands and millions of different product we could make out of this stuff, what that would do for these communities and landfills, right? You know, it's not only like getting the crap off of their, you know, doorstep, but it's actually contributing to their livelihood. It's bringing economic change into their lives, which is incredible. So that's kind of what the focus has been on for about two years, and that's essentially why, you know, I'm a very very, poor entrepreneur at this point because everything that I made from the government went into these communities and this R&D. So that's essentially where we've been and hopefully where we're going.

Is all the plastic coming from overseas to date? I mean, is it all, is that all part of the supply chain is overseas? Yeah. So the supply chain that I'm working with, and obviously we could get a lot of plastic from Hawaii and the coast here in the United States. and that's down the road and that's hopefully where we go with it. But the supply chain I'm focusing on now

is the communities that I worked with directly when I was working for the U.S. government. So I know these people so well. I know these communities. I know where the money is going and how it's impacting these folks. So obviously the Made in America, cleaning up America,

that is on the list of things to do. But as you know, it's very complicated, you know, to do something like that. I mean, I'm in California right now. California spends, I think, a little over $428 million a year just for beach cleanup, you know, just for our coast here. You imagine what $428 million could do for the Bolognese or the Filipinos or, you know,

and the Kenyans and the landfills. That's, like, incredible. And we still can't keep up with the trash getting onto our coastlines, you know? I surf every day at Venice breakwater, and I'm, You know, I feel like sometimes I'm back in Bali surfing amongst all this plastic. And it's mind-blowing to me that this is not a developing world problem. This is an everybody problem, you know, and until we can start figuring that out for ourselves about, okay, you know, obviously it's cheaper to do things overseas, but there's got to be a better way to streamline things so that we can start really engaging, you know, the American public and the American, you know, labor, essentially and job market. Yeah, it's huge.

Talking with James Merrill founder and CEO of Opelus Optics. So, James, what's, I know you talked about the real life struggle of entrepreneurship, but like if you, for those that are listening out there that are starting companies or doing things, I mean, have you started your book of wisdom? Yeah, the things of not to do. Yeah. Yeah, sometimes it is that, though. Sometimes wisdom is learning what not to do. Yeah, so it's funny, Ryan, it's been like, okay, one of the biggest battles that I have with myself every night when I'm trying to sleep is, you know, whether or not I should have raised more money, you know, diving into this. And as I go, should I be bringing in investors or should I be focusing on just selling the product?

And to be honest, I don't really know how to answer that question yet. But I know for a fact that if you have an idea and you have a passion for that idea, you need to jump into it. Because for me, I learned by trial by fire and I probably would never have done this if I knew about all the trial and error that I'm now dealing with right now. And as an entrepreneur yourself, I think you can appreciate that, right? It's really hard to leave a sense of security that we have with a nine to five. or for me working with the government. There was a huge sense of security and passion there. But I knew that I wanted to do something on my own terms and my own way,

and I thought I had a really great idea to do that. But in hindsight, I wish I had probably $200,000 to $200,000 more to start the company. I wish I had done a little bit more research on the R&D and how long this would have taken. To be honest, I thought the technology had already been there. So I thought, like, might as well just jump right in there. And as I went and worked with all these manufacturers from Vietnam and even to the United States, this our pet technology is very nuanced. It's still very new.

And, you know, little old me, you know, trying to figure this out with basically, you know, my savings and a little investment that I've gotten from friends and family. It's been really difficult, you know. And then being in L.A. during COVID and trying to start. a company. It really is about focusing on your story, Ryan, and that's why I'm here right now, is talking to as many people as you can and is learning as much as you can from other people in different industries as well, taking best practices, taking advice on how to do things. But obviously, what keeps me up at night is the financial insecurity that you have sometimes.

You're like, I have all this production. I have made all these promises to these community members. Can I make this work? And really, it depends month to month, you know, sale by sale. Like, am I selling on e-commerce? Am I selling enough? Or am I having to go to retail? Am I going to have to go to trade shows or whatnot?

It's a very difficult task to prioritize when you really know what those priorities are until they really manifest themselves, you know? Yep. A lot of truth there, my friend. A lot of truth there. I, having done, you know, gone down a couple different ventures in entrepreneurship, it's always trial by fire, you know. Yeah, but you know what I learned too. It's just like, you know, enjoying the moment and have some humor about it.

And then, you know, as my girlfriend and my bulldog are experienced, too, is you have to be able to turn it off every now and then. Oh, yeah. You know, because if you don't turn it off, you'll let the moment pass and you'll never have it again. So I've been trying to be better about that, which has been its own challenge and obstacle as well. But there has to be a balance of it, even though it's like all consuming every day, every night. You have to have a time in place where you just kind of shut it, shut it off for a second. 100%. So, James, before we get to a little rat or fad, let's tell everybody where they can keep up, how they can contribute and or purchase.

how do they keep up with all things James Merrill and Opelis Yeah so you can find us at www.wopolisoptics.com We have an Instagram Opelis underscore Optics You can find me on LinkedIn And then you can find the product itself

On our e-commerce store And now L-O-Bin is going to be selling Our stuff at their flagship store In Freeport, Maine And hopefully we're adding other big retailers To that list But yeah All social media, anything online, we're there.

And I'm super open to talking to anybody that has any questions about us. And my email is fairly public so people can find me. I love it. So get out there and find Opelis optics. We're going to have links to all of that on our show notes and at theradcast.com. Are you got time for a little rat or fad? Absolutely. Let's do it.

First, polarized lenses. Rad or fad? It's on every package. It's definitely rad because polarization actually is an eye care kind of component. So it actually protects the UV rays from basically giving you cataracts or like sunburns for your eyes. How do you know if it really has it or not? Can they see? That's a good question.

That's a good question. Obviously they're supposed to be putting it. If it has to do with eye care, they're supposed to be making that known on their brand. or any products that they're putting out there. And so usually what you're looking for, Ryan, is UVA, UVB 400 protection. Hey, you just heard it there from the expert, folks. You need polarization to save your eyes, and you need to make sure you're looking to see if they have the true documentation.

All right. Number two, solar panels, rad or fad? I think they're rad. I think they're rad. If you have the money, you know, it's a huge, huge upfront cost and you really don't see the benefits, I think, until like two to three years of installation. I'm not sure, Ryan, don't quote me on that. It's a rad thing, but it might be a fad thing for me right now.

Yeah, I know. It's expensive. Canton, New York. Yes, Can New York. Yeah, definitely rad. I went to school upstate New York and super cold, but, you know, it's a part of my history. of my past so I got to say rad. All right, cool.

Instagram Reels. Rad or fad? Yeah, fad for me. Fad for me. I don't know if Reels, you know better than I do, Ryan. I don't know if Reels will be able to keep up or support what's going on with the Facebook ad spend algorithms. I think TikTok's going to take over that.

And I think Reels is just a way for them to keep compete right now. But I don't see a, I don't see a longevity to it. Yeah. I'm not going to make any part. prognostications but you laid it out pretty good my friend tictox where it's at so uh unfortunately yeah i know i i'm not kind of it's a love hate relationship i've you know it might be the only place i show my age but i'm on there i'm verified on there but it's just i you know i'm as add as anyone but it's just a little too i don't know i i i'm a grammar you know like so yeah yeah yeah yeah

Brother, I really appreciate you coming on, James. It's great to get to know you. I know we're going to stay in touch. I want to help one another. Absolutely, 100%. And I really want people to go out there and check out Opelis optics and get your cool shades like mine. You're cool Jimmy or James Dean's shades.

I know. I didn't even plan this look and it just kind of worked out. Did you come up on your cafe motorcycle? Hey, yeah, invite me out there, my cafe racer. There you go, man. There you go. No, my, yeah. No, it's all good. We really appreciate you coming on. Hey, guys, go follow James Merrill in Opelis Optics.

You know where to find us. We're at the radcast.com. Search for Opelis. You'll find all the content there, all the highlight reels, everything else. You know where to follow me at Ryan Alford on all the platforms. We'll see you next time on the Radcast.