THE ED MYLETT SHOW - How a 17-Year-Old with Cerebral Palsy Defied All Odds to Create a Thriving Business with Drew Davis

Episode Date: October 22, 2024

What if you could turn your challenges into your biggest strengths? Today, I’m sitting down with Drew Davis, a young entrepreneur who took a high school project and transformed it into an extraordinary business success. Diagnosed with cerebral palsy and told his idea for Crippling Hot Sauce was “unrealistic,” Drew didn’t just overcome obstacles—he obliterated them. At 19, he’s sold over 250,000 bottles, built a thriving business from scratch, and is donating part of his profits to cerebral palsy research. This isn’t just about business; it’s about resilience, grit, and the power of believing in yourself when no one else does. Drew shares the fascinating story of how he started with nothing but $3,000 of birthday money and an idea. Despite having no business experience and being told by his teacher that the concept wouldn’t work, Drew’s determination to prove them wrong fueled his success. We talk about the early days—mixing sauces in his family’s kitchen, selling out his first batch in 30 minutes, and how a local newspaper story ignited the growth of Crippling Hot Sauce. In this conversation, we unpack the strategies Drew used to scale his company, from branding to leveraging organic and paid social media. His insight into building a brand with heart—donating 5% of profits to cerebral palsy research—shows how a powerful mission can elevate a business. Drew is proof that no matter your age or your challenges, you can achieve greatness when you’re willing to put in the work and believe in your vision. Drew’s humility and humor shine throughout the episode. He talks about how his parents always treated him like anyone else and how this mindset helped shape his confidence. He also explains how he uses humor as a tool to handle adversity and stay grounded. His journey is a masterclass in not letting circumstances define you but using them as fuel to rise above and inspire others. Key Takeaways: How Drew turned a school project into a quarter-million-dollar business. The importance of branding and storytelling in creating a memorable product. Why giving back can be a strategic move for building a brand. How to use failure as a stepping stone for growth. The value of resilience and believing in your vision, no matter the odds. This episode is more than just a success story—it’s a blueprint for overcoming adversity and building something meaningful. Drew Davis is a living example that nothing can stop you when you decide to push past your limitations. Prepare to walk away motivated and ready to chase your dreams with everything you’ve got. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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so you'll land in Tampa ready to explore. Visit flyporter.com and actually enjoy economy. This is the Enmirel show. All right, welcome back to the show everybody. So get ready. Today is going to be one of those episodes that you never forget, I think for the rest of your life, you're going to hear one of the most remarkable stories you have ever heard. And it's one of these that you're going to be sharing.

This is a story about overcoming adversity, about one of the most incredible entrepreneurial journeys you have ever heard in your life from one of the most incredible and remarkable young people in the world today. This young man right here has founded a company called Crippling Hot Sauce. What makes it unique is, I want you to picture this.

He's a 16 year old young man and he's given a project that herippling Hot Sauce. What makes it unique is, I want you to picture this. He's a 16-year-old young man, and he's given a project that he's gotta pitch a business. He's gotta create a business. He's 16 years old. And so, like most kids, he waits around to do it, and he finally puts together the project, and comes in and pitches this business that he's created in his mind as a project in high school

for Crippling Hot Sauce. What you don't know about him is that he has been diagnosed early in his life with cerebral palsy. He's in a wheelchair. And so he thought it was a catchy name to create a hot sauce company called Crippling Hot Sauce because he's in a wheelchair and he has cerebral palsy. He gives the presentation. Teacher says, ah, not very realistic. This thing's not going to work. You're crazy. And by the way, that actually really happened. It's not like some cute. You're crazy. And by the way that actually really happened It's not like some cute part of the story. He says oh, yeah, I'll show you and at 17 years old starts the company

Crippling hot sauce. Are you ready for this? He's now 19 years old two years later. You ready? Here we go two hundred and fifty thousand bottles of crippling hot sauce has been sold 250,000 bottles of crippling hot sauce has been sold 250,000 bottles and he's donated tons of money to cerebral palsy research. He's 19. He started this business in his garage at 17 from a project at 16 in high school You will have never heard anything like this in your life the wisdom that's gonna flow from this young man The story the lessons you're going to learn and by the way, we're going tactics today as well from one of the most incredible stories. By the way, he was nominated to the show by one of the fans of the show. And I found him and said,

I got to have this guy to the thousands of submissions. He's in the seat today. And we're so grateful that he's here. Drew Davis of Crippling Hot Sauce, 19 years old. Welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. dribbling hot sauce, 19 years old. Welcome to the show. Thanks for having me, Ed. We gotta start. Take us all the way back. How's the project get assigned?

How did you know what you were gonna come up with? How's all this start? Yeah, so it was just a normal day in my small town and I had a business class. It was like fifth hour and just like every other teenager, I used to be a procrastinator. And this project was assigned as like a Christmas midterm. And I was like, man, what am I gonna do?

Like, this is a big grade. So at that time I was always the class clown. And I'm like, what am I gonna come up with? Am I, I gotta come up with a mock business and I wanted to like come up with something that was like a real business idea, not just like, you know, Jack's lemonade, where I wanted to come up with like a real robust

business idea. So I, so I looked down and I look at myself. I'm like, I like making fun of myself and I like hot sauce. Let's do crippling hot sauce. And as I'm writing this and getting more and more into it, and I'm like, oh man, I had a hard run. You know, I was always a straight A student. So I'm like, I don't know if you can get above 100% on this

through extra credit, but I'm sure I'm going to. And come two weeks later, we all get the grade back and I'm like, go in and I'm going to my Google classroom and I look and I'm like, I'm looking at 82%, how? So I go up to my teacher at the time and ask him why. He goes, I thought it was a really good idea, just unrealistic. And me, I run completely off a spite.

So it was the kind of motivation I needed that lit a fire under me. And I went home that night and started researching and built from there and tried 60, 70 recipes and launched with three skewers. And just for the idea of, you know, sowing a few bottles at a farmer's market, little did I know that with $3,000 that I saved up from all my birthdays,

threw out my whole child and never spent a dime, I put this all into crippling and 24 months later, through compound interest and not putting another dime into it, we filled over a quarter of a million bottles. This is mind blowing. By the way, educate me on something before we keep going. I researched this show, you know, I always try to give the respect, especially somebody as successful as you are at 19. Everybody by the way, think about what you were doing at 19, right? This guy's running a company now with tons of different people working for him. Two years ago it was like a midterm, right? Okay, so project happens, teacher gives you an 82,

it's not realistic. Think about all of the entrepreneurs out there in the world, by the way, Drew, who are being told by somebody at some point, your idea isn't realistic, it's not gonna work, et cetera, et cetera. You said it was spite, is that really what happened inside of you?

You're like, I'm just gonna prove this dude wrong. Is that literally what it was? Or are you like, also, I know I got an idea here that's a winner? So it was both of them. Like the spike kind of drove me to look more into it. And then as I was looking into it, and I saw like the gaps in the market

and not enough people, you know, supporting disabilities. like a mission and giving back to disabilities. I'm like, I have something here. And I was lucky that from everyone, so my cousin drew my logo. And I got some advice on on where to get bottles from the family friend. And it was just like a family thing at first. And that's how I was able to start with little to no capital.

And I then grew to being able to afford more things by doing my local festivals. And then you launch in like your big local grocery store chain and then do tastings and from there you you gain velocity and then it's once the fire's lit it's up to you to keep it going and nurturing. You know it's interesting, I want everyone to take a lot of lessons from you today but I have to assume you didn't know about the process you just described.

And one of the things I think stops a lot of people from doing anything in their life is like, well, I don't know the next step and I won't know the step after that. And what about three steps from there? And so they go, well, but since I don't know all those steps in advance, I'm just not gonna start.

But I assume you didn't know all those steps when you first began, right? I knew nothing. None of my family had CPG experience. I just threw myself in the fire and and I knew when I fail, that's going to be a bigger, bigger learning lesson than when I succeed at things. And I just learned from my failures and every time built on that. And that's where we're at today.

I honestly like when I fail more than when I succeed because it's, it kind of keeps you grounded, but you learn more. If you succeed, there's no reason to keep growing as what you're doing and growing your craft. Cause if it's working, why change it? But when you fail, it kind of allows you to adapt and yeah, what a great lesson right there I'm a big believer in it, too

I really believe that you learn more from usually from failing you can learn a lot from success, too But if you actually approach everything as if you're learning regardless, then it's a win every every single time So, okay. Let's I want to break this down. You had 3000 bucks from birthday money you had saved. Is that what you said? Yep, that's exactly what happened. I always from the age of one to, to when I started at 17, all I would ask for for Christmas, my birthday and stuff is money because I was never a materialistic person and I knew that more and more shinier things and fancier items wasn't going to get

me happiness. So instead I just asked for money and from a age, I was fascinated with investing and, you know, starting with the stock market at a young age through one of my parents, like, helped me like start a little investing account and just started with like 50 bucks at a time. And that's where I learned the power of compound interest. And when I had this idea, like I don't have anything else to do with this money. Let's let's start with $3,000. 1000 of it was the trademark. So that means I was only left with 2000 to get started. My first drop was 126

bottles. So that out in 30 minutes, the family and friends and man as a as a 16 year old old that's never really had a job or much money in his life before then, I felt like a million bucks. And I just had a fire under me ever since then to keep on growing. Okay. So you have that drop and then friends and family buy, are your parents entrepreneurs? Do you come from an entrepreneurial family?

No, so I come from a family that's middle class. So it's going to be my mom's probation and parole officer and my dad's a truck driver. So nobody ever had business experience. And when I started, everybody supported me. But my family is a risk off sort of, sort of family. So they're like, man, do you really want to risk all your money?

But I said, I said, mom, I have nothing to lose. And worst case scenario, I learned a lot. And like, sometimes the best way to learn is when you lose money. So like, I'm like, I want to learn. I'm 16 years old. I got nothing to lose. Here's my time to gamble. I don't have any any words about a roof over my head or where I'm going to get food. Let me use my money that I saved up as a teenager and see what I can do. Brother, this is just blowing my mind. teenager and see what I can do. Brother, this is just blowing my mind. But if you get into a new environment where you're learning new things and you're around other people that are growth oriented You're much more likely to do that yourself. And that's why I love growth day write this down for a second growth day.com

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and machine learning at netsuite.com slash my let. The guide is free to you at netsuite.com slash my let. netsuite.com slash my let netsuite.com slash my let. Okay. So that happens. And then what you're like, Oh, this is no pun intended. This product's hot. Like this is working now.

What do you do to scale it from there? So as soon as when I sold them 126 bottles, I took it the same night and reinvested. And I knew I was gonna have to kind of garner the troops in a way. So I called everybody in my family and we had like, we had a day of making hot sauce. And my family was like, man, this will last you, this next batch will last you for months. I think it was like, man, this will last you. This Knicks vest will last you for months.

I think it was like 60 mason jars and each mason jar made four bottles. And I'm like, trust me, I'll sell it out by this time next week. And sure enough, I did. And I'm like, here we go. And then after that second drop, my first local butcher shop came on board.

And after it got in the butcher shop, then my local newspaper picked it up. And in a town of less than 3000 people, that is where I live. And and that's how a lot of people still get their news because we're running off of like dial-up internet still and good hopes. So farm town. So after that, after that kind of hit the newspaper, it was off and running from there. I think the first week I was in there, I sold 256 bottles.

And I was like, man, just kept on reinvesting and people were like, don't you wanna pick some of your money you made from this and buy something? And I remember using the analogy like, mom, this is an infant, you need all the nutrients and stuff that you can get in order to correctly develop it.

I always treated it like it was my child and I'm like once you get it mature enough and you get that three to five year mark or you're doing super well then then it's your time but I knew there was no reason for me to rush brother, this is a Everybody you could go get a Harvard MBA and you wouldn't get advice that real what this young man Just told you so many entrepreneurs early in their career can't resist the temptation to start pulling money out of their business They pull it out too soon. What you just said about it being a baby by the way

I'm stealing that from you drew I'm gonna use that when I teach because that's a perfect example and analogy for what you're describing. Why don't you step back, everybody? Here we go. I don't know what your excuses are. This young man's got cerebral palsy, starts at 16, 17 years old, no entrepreneurs in his family, farm town in Missouri, no business experience. Teacher tells him it's unrealistic. And here we go. Quarter million bottles. By the way, and by and by the way this time next year million bottles will be out the door. Million bottles sold. Couple things I want to ask you some business tactics. First congratulations number one so far but I'm going to hold that to when you sell your 10 millionth bottle. I'm gonna be excited about that. But let me ask you a couple specific things if you don't mind me asking. Growing up with cerebral palsy, how that affect you? Did it give you more resiliency and toughness? Did it affect your self-esteem? If you don't mind me asking, I really want to know the real on that. And has that been a challenge

in being an entrepreneur? I mean any challenges because of any of that in your life or was it all part of God's plan for you to have this resiliency and this toughness, do you think, going forward? But give me the real answer on that, Drew, not like the poster answer. Yeah, so yeah, growing up with cerebral palsy, of course it gave me more resilience,

but as far as what it did for me, it never hurt myself self-esteem or anything because my whole family treated me as if I was a normal human being, just like you or anybody else. So going in, it's all about building that mindset from a young age. So my parents were always like,

you're going to be successful, you will get good grades in school. Like they look past the wheelchair. And that was huge for me because, you know, I don't know where I would be if, you know, they treated me as if, you know, they didn't know what they were gonna do with me. It's okay, just sit there and do nothing

because, you know, because you know, you don't have to do anything because look at you. No, they were like, you will, you will be successful. You will get good grades. I did get grounded when I didn't, but then, but then, but then what I like, I like being treated like a normal individual. And to be quite frank, when I first started crippling,

it was a challenge, right? Because not only am I a kid, but then you have, you know, the way that it was taught for so many years that disabled people don't have like the same intelligence or how their media paints being disabled like this. So at first there was what I would call an adoption phase and to this day people still think that my parents are running it for me and just using me as a as a as, like a poster child. And that's why I always make jokes about it.

That's my whole goal. If I don't get, if I, people don't learn anything or they don't like hot sauce, I don't care. Just learn that no matter your situation, treat everybody the same. And no matter situation, anything's possible. You also use humor a lot, brother. Is that part of something you built up as like,

I don't know, a defense or offensive mechanism? And I actually think, like even, I'll just use it across the board, like I think if you're gonna do something really difficult in your life, you better bring a sense of humor to it and not take it too seriously, because there's so much rejection in business, right?

There's so much, so many setbacks, so many days you're like, oh my gosh, this is the last day we're gonna close doors today. How much is like your humor, not taking yourself quite so seriously? You said you were a class clown, like teach us a lesson about that, is that true? My humor is everything to me because girl,

once again, having a a disability you only have two options lean into what God has given you or feel bad about yourself and and make everybody else feel bad for you as well because um because that's the vibe you give off. I knew that as long as I tried, good things will be given my way. And to be quite frank, without a sense of humor, I probably would be in a depressive state and not the same as I am. But like, it's very coping mechanism

because I've been through so much am, but like, it's very coping mechanism because I've been through so much from, you know, our back surgery to, you know, selective dorsal rhizotomy and stuff like that. So I've been through a lot, so it really just helps my anxiety. And it's like, basically it's kind of wearing my personality on my sleeve

So many people think they have to change for people and and that's just not the case I remember when I testified in front of the small business committee at Congress and told my story Everybody was sweating bullets, but I came in there with a with a t-shirt and a sport jacket and some and some shorts and I and I just answered the questions honestly and was my trotting self and what um, I hope people learn from me is yeah, you you can you can fake it to some extent But you can only fake it for so long until people see your true colors anyway So it's easier to just be yourself and whoever likes you likes you and whoever doesn't doesn't

It's a great way to the weed out people really fast If I I'm trying to process you brother like obviously It's a great way to weed out people really fast. I'm trying to process you brother. Like obviously, you know, the cerebral palsy, you start a business. The story's just, it's one of the best I've ever heard in my life. But I got to be honest with you, what I'm struck by is you're just a 19 year old young man. This level of wisdom out of a 19 year old is like what the heck is happening right now?

I just I'm blown away. I mean brother I've had 45 year old entrepreneurs on here that are on Shark Tank that aren't as articulate or wise about business as you are. I'm no offense to anybody else but I'm I just I'm reaching here for like oh my gosh let me ask you this what's been the biggest challenges you didn't go from you you know, the swap meat or the local farmer's market to a quarter million bottle sold very easily. So take your time on this, but you've built a company.

You got a lot of people working for you, describe that, that you've hired, and what were some of the biggest roadblocks to scaling this crippling hot sauce? So to be quite frank, the biggest roadblock has been my age. Um, starting at 17, a lot of this growth happened, you know, before my 18th birthday and being, even being 18,

you're not old enough to like, to like have, uh, a long enough credit history. So when you go and sign up for a warehouse, I had to kind of go to people in my family and like pitch them of, you know, I basically sat down and was like, we're doing this in the garage. This is our customer acquisition. Almost this is how many pallets we're doing per month.

And like with the warehouse in six months, projecting this will be our run rate. And just like, I basically did a short tank pitch on my family to get them to sign on a lease. And I'm just thankful they took the bet on me and yeah, now I'm doing great. So when we were off camera, I said, you got a warehouse for this guy?

He's like, oh yeah, of course I do. And I've hired people. What are, who do you look for when you hire? What do you look for? You hired a lot of young people, you told me, right? I are our oldest guy. He's 30 years old. So I look for young, ambitious people. I don't. Here's the thing that's different for me.

I don't look at college degrees. I don't I don't care as much about that. I look for their the willingness and readiness to learn and be able to adapt on the go and and not be too serious by yourself. the full story, because maybe they're not good at articulating themselves on a 10 page paper and advanced, you know, writing or whatever, but they could be really good at something. So it's all about giving them a chance. And just because they can't articulate themselves on a on a paper and English class, doesn't mean they can't be the smartest person in the room. So I get asked all the time, how did I get so much attention on social media

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so you and your warehouse can both keep your cool. Call 1-800-GRANGER, click Granger.com or just stop by. Granger for the ones who get it done. You made another really strategic smart decision and that's done good, which by the way you guys, he's really donated a lot of money to cerebral palsy research. And so with every bottle sold you give 5% of the proceeds away to By the way, you guys, he's really donated a lot of money to cerebral palsy research. And so with every bottle sold, you give 5% of the proceeds away to, I assume, some organization for cerebral palsy.

Tell us about that. By the way, everyone, before he answers this, it blows my mind that more entrepreneurs don't take a page out of Drew's book on this and take some percentage of profit to a do-good organization because then people aren't just doing business with you. You inherit the goodwill of the organization that you're attached to and you're doing good with your business. And so you say how do I build a big brand? Well sometimes you can attach yourself to another brand by being contributory to them and at the same time you're making a big difference. So tell us about that decision.

And was that, I guess it's out of your heart because you have the disease, but at the same time, it was strategic in nature as well, I got to imagine. So while it was strategic, my, when I first started the brand and gave concept I, I kind of didn't really think about, you know, the strategic piece of it. I just knew I wanted to give back where I could and, and being a 16 year old kid at first, I wasn't really thinking about gross margin, net margin,

how that would affect me. and the numbers that I would be giving out. It's just the first thing I thought of when I wanted to start a brand is that I wanted to do, wanted to be a feel good, like do good brand because you don't need a hundred percent of everything. You know, donating 5% is getting adequate scale as you are seeing, but it's not, but you're still giving back without hurting the business. Like it doesn't really hurt the business, but donating to cerebral palsy research could in five, 10 years when we keep scaling, kind of solve a much bigger issue, or a much bigger problem, which is, which is kind of this kind of disability that affects

millions of people. So why would I, why would I hoard the, it'd be selfish of me to award that 5% when the impact could be much bigger than just me. Can you tell us a little bit, I want to go back to business in a minute, but you know you probably don't realize this, but you already are and then after today, oh here we go, you're going to be a hero to millions of people. Not only, you know, I could tell you, everybody listening to this right now is you're becoming a hero for them. But let's just be real. Somebody who has a disability that they've been living with for a while,

they're really looking up to you, brother. Have you thought about that? Is that something that you embrace? Because that's gonna become part of the package of being you the next 10 years of your life. I do. I really I do embrace that. But it's like but it's like but it's appreciation and acknowledgement without getting a big ego, right?

I can't be like I can't be like that. Look at me. Like look at how good I'm doing and you you're not I'm trying to build people up. And it's just kind of the the kind of the fruits of my labor. And while I do appreciate it, it's the it's the entire reason I did it. So to have people look up to me, I love that. But looking up to me and also following my footsteps are two different things. So I got people to look up to me. Now it's time to inspire people to go for their dreams. Because when I was talking to Congress the entire time, I was like, the unemployment rate in the disabled community is 88%.

And they don't, and they, a lot of people don't do anything to help them out. They kind of just throw into the curb and give them a small little $900 check every month. So I'm seeing myself, since nobody else will,'s kind of a movement to get behind and inspire people that even if you don't have a large sum of money, if you have a dream where you want to go to that college, or you want to be on the Paralympic Olympic team, go for it. Because at the end of the day, the only one that's going to be looking back in 100 years with regret is going to be you. And when you leave this world, you don't want to have any regret. You only have like one chance. And I think the statistical probability of being here is like one in 400 trillion. probability of being here is like one in 400 trillion. So that's a very powerful statistic. The DNA combination of you even being here is statistically improbable.

So during this time that you're on earth, make the best of it. You're 19, are you, really? This doesn't even make it, bro. I can show you my birth certificate, brother. Okay, I love you, bro. I love you. Are you competitive? Like, I'm listening to you, and I'm like,

this dude's intense, though. Like, I think another element of a great entrepreneur is you gotta wanna compete, man. You gotta want it bad. And like, I'm just listening to you. Even how you describe the teacher giving you the 82 and all that, I'm like, oh, this dude's got that little thing. You know what I mean?

That like, I'll call it like that dog. You know what I mean? Like, you know what I mean? Do you have that? Yeah, no, for sure. What was it? Who was it? Was it Ricky Bobby that said if you ain't first or last?

That's me. Yeah, yeah. I'm in the hot sauce space, but I'm not in the hot sauce space to just be one of the thousands of players. I'm in the hot sauce space to compete and show who's business. So it's different than just the, you know, the special Olympics gold medal that I used to be in and out.

I want to to show the big guys that through organic and paid social authentic, real people are going to beat the corrupt corporations every day because the people have just gotten the the guys at the top have just gotten way too detached and it's time for somebody who that's an underdog that kind of pick and draw that and that's the mentality I go in there with them. I will I'm playing against you know the big dogs not just your local mom and pop brands like I would look I would look Mr. Frank in his face and tell him to bring me. Like it's just like.

Yeah, this isn't cute. This isn't cute. This is like, we're going for it here. What's made it work? So Drew, let's get to brass tacks business wise, okay? By the way, I love your mentality, but is it working because you came up with a cool name that matches your disability, Crippling Hot Sauce,

which is maybe the all time coolest name in hot sauce history. Is it B, that the product is that incredible? Is it C, your marketing, what you just said, underdog, paid social, organic social, is it all three? Like give us a blueprint a little bit for somebody who's got another business

or wants to start a business or has an idea of some of the benchmarks that's made this thing work. So, yeah, 100%, it's all three. And you can have an incredible product, but if the branding and the eye-catchiness isn't there, then it's just gonna be another product on the shelf. So if I called it Drew's hot sauce, of course, it doesn't have as much as a remembrance to it as as crippling. And and when I've always told people is I went for

crippling because while I could have went on the safer side and named it Drew's hot sauce, when you're paying for life, when you're competing in organic and paid social and you know, on the streets at Farmering Marcus, you want, you only, you want to pay as less, the least amount as you can for the most remembrance possible. The chances of somebody forgetting something

like a crippling hot sauce or like, for instance, not just me, but like a liquid death or is little to none. So, so it's all about the marketing and the name and the, and the, the story. It's kind of the trifecta and, and I want people to know that even if you don't like have like a have like a killer, you know, started from a school project store like I do. And you're like, well, I can't go that route. Everybody has a unique story that's unique to them. So start selling that. And I always say with with paid social or with organic social. I always say with paid social or with organic social, don't make every video about selling like just like a hard pitch.

Let people know who you are. And maybe like you don't even mention it. And when people go to your bio, they see you have a hot sauce. I promise you that's gonna have a higher conversion rate than just you shoving a product down their throat. you that's going to have a higher conversion rate than just you shoving a product down their throat. You're actually going to get more sales because people don't want to hear hard pitches all the time.

So are you saying that you make your social entertaining or informative and then you've brought some kind of value? Not always. Sometimes it's a direct pitch, right? But you're saying if everything's a direct pitch, no. So what you're saying is if someone's trying to create a brand, make it entertaining or valuable, and the pitch is sort of in the bio sometimes, it's not direct. Because if someone sees you every time pitching, they just scroll through, right? Yep. And it doesn't even have to be not mentioning your brand at all. If you mention your brand in a creative way that's like, man, that was a creative sales pitch or something like that. Then that works as well.

But what I always say don't do is, hey, my name's Drew and I own crippling hot sauce. Buy it now. Like, what's the value prop? Like value prop could be more than just donating to cerebral palsy. It could be more than just, you know, a cool story. It could be, how entertaining are you? Are you really funny and you give people joy? That's a value prop.

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Tell them bigger pockets sent you. Laurel Road, your partner on the road to financial peace of mind, equal housing lender, member FDIC. So you said something though there that I want to kind of dive into just for a second about like your background and I hope I can ask you this directly like what are the limitations you told us where cerebral palsy affects you in the brain and what it does what's the day-to-day life like of someone at your stage you're in a wheelchair what is the day-to-day existence like and the, if you want to call them, the difficulties that come along with having cerebral palsy? Yeah, so 100% while I am as independent as I possibly can be

and kind of run my own business and stuff, there's some things you just physically can't do as a disabled person and that's okay. There's some things you just physically can't do as a disabled person and that's okay. There's things that able-bodied people can't do. I guarantee if you go after most people and tell them, can they do the splits? They'll probably say no. And that's how I see it. It's not like, it's not like, oh, sorry that you, you can't do that. It's no, I can't do stuff just like you can't do stuff. And that's how we got to look at it. Not not. Oh, I can't even do the, you know, daily

necessities that you need to make it through life. Because while I can't do the daily necessities, I can get really good at something that somebody else might not be. And that's the whole that's the whole thing about how we might not be that we might not be born on different levels. But through hard work, we can be near the same stage at something like so while while I can't get well, I can't put myself to bed or, or use the bathroom. Sometimes without assistance, I can't put myself to bed or use the bathroom sometimes without assistance.

I can run a business. I can talk just like anybody else. I can eat. I can do all these things. So while there's a few things I can do, it's important for me and other people not to focus on that, just like how, you know, some people, some people, or some people like, prefer the nine to five life style. And that's okay. Like, I've never understood why, well,

people why people make fun of people for certain things, like they are perfect. Because I guarantee that that person, even if they're, you know, have less money than you have less skill than you, they're better than you at something. And that's what you always got to approach a person with when trying to pull, you know, when trying to pull, you know, knowledge from them. I approach every person as there's something I can learn from this person. let's hear them intently and give them the time of day. Unbelievable. You use terms like customer acquisition cost and you said you know gross margin and net

margin and you know for a lot of people listening to this I think just becoming an entrepreneur or the next level of entrepreneurship it's just intimidating they got doubts and fears. Two things, my assumption is those weren't terms you were familiar with at 16, 17 when you wrote the paper and started the business. And B, what would your advice be to somebody right now they're listening, they're like, I want to write a book. I want to start to learn to speak on stage.

I want to start learning to speak Spanish or this hobby and starting a business. And the reason I'm not doing it is I just don't know enough and I'm afraid. What would you say to them? The great thing about being in this time and age is you got millions of people that come together and have a collaborative collaborative effort in their experts. And it's all in this thing called the internet. And get search, search it up, watch videos. There's

plenty of people that have done this before that you can learn from. And I always say, learn from people don't steal from them. So maybe you take, you know, inspiration from, you know, add or, or me or somebody else, but you put your own twist on it. It never works out well if you just copy somebody word for word, because that's not authentically you. So learn

from the internet, tweak it to make it yourself. And it's like you never even learned from the internet, because you you you learn the basics, but then you tweaked it and learned from what you did wrong and so on and so forth. Do you think I'm asking a hard question I got two questions left by the way and everybody stick around because they're both they're doozies probably this is the most intense one I've asked you and it's personal and I just like you just such an honest open book I believe somebody without a dream in their life

or something they're trying to pursue can often be a person who feels alone and sad. I also have to believe though, Drew, somebody who's had a difficulty in their life, I mean, let's just be honest. I mean, you've said it several times yourself, but this diagnosis Is it easy right? There's things that come with it that are difficult for you

Do you think your life your mindset your emotions your mental state? Would be different without crippling hot sauce meaning something to pursue and dream about in your life a future to look something to pursue and dream about in your life, a future to look forwards towards as opposed to just focusing on your day-to-day difficulties. Now, I imagine that before this, as a young man, you weren't every day focusing on the difficulties. But I also have to imagine to some extent, I think a dream in life is like almost a great distraction from current circumstance. I've said that in my own life in different circumstances.

Where do you think you would be without this? And do you think there's some validity to what I'm saying? I wouldn't be anywhere near where I am in terms of personal and professional growth without crippling. And the reason why is, crippling hot sauce was the first time that I had a dream that wasn't influenced or associated

with something my parents have taught me. So it's like, you get taught, you know, go to college, get that good degree, get that good job. But like, this was something that was completely my own doing, my own mindset, it was formed by my own beliefs. And I think that's important as, you know, what I'm gonna do if I ever have kids is guide them, but not force them.

Like allow them to have their own beliefs, whether that be whether that be business related or anything else, because the most growth comes when you form your own ideas and you form your own ideas and practice your own ways. And it's you take inspiration from your parents but I but I think too many people rely on exactly what their parents tell them to do and 99% of the time the truth is if you if you don't do it exactly their way they're still gonna love you like you're their kids so it's like you're not breaking anybody's heart, but it might make your life miserable. And the thing I always tell people like, whether you're

at a low, at a low time in life, or even if you have something to do, if you don't have a goal, if you don't have a goal, goals are stepping stones. Don't shoot for the stars right away, but start from step one. Do a small goal, get bigger and bigger and bigger. If you are huge and worth $500 million and you're like, man, I completed all my goals, you're not dreaming big enough. There should always be something you're going towards,

whether that's owning your favorite NFL team, NHL team, basketball team, something. There's no reason in this world of 2 billion people that there shouldn't be a dream out there that has already been achieved or hasn't been achieved by you. The world is your own destiny. And at the end of the day, if you fail, it's okay. But if you don't, it's a led, you're a legend. And let me tell you, even if you fail 30 times, that one time you succeed, everybody's gonna forget the 30 other times you failed. So it doesn't really matter.

What in the world is happening today on this show, brother? Like, what? This is great. I don't know, man. I told everybody in the beginning they're today on this show, brother? Like, what? This is great. I don't know, man. I told everybody in the beginning, you're gonna remember this show. We're like, you're gonna remember this show. 16 years old gives a presentation. 17 starts a company. Cerebral palsy. Teacher tells him it's a dumb idea. Sells a few to his family. Goes to a farmer's market. Sells a few more. Quarter million bottles sold, tons of money to cerebral palsy research,

and now he's got all this wisdom that's insane about how to scale a business and life. He's 19, what the heck is happening here? I don't know, man. Like, you need some investors, brother, let me know. Really, let me know. Let's just ask this last. What do you want to do with crippling hot sauce? Now? What are we going to see over the next two, three, four, five

years? What's happening with this company? Slowly and methodically. Keep building my team and slowly building, building the brand up both slow but methodical and also fast at the same time. What I mean by that is you want to Grow fast enough where you still have the fire lit However, you don't want to grow to the moon overnight because they're even though you're doing well They're there well, for instance, for me, there's 300 million people in the world.

Now everybody knows about crippling hot sauce. And I know even though I got a strong market penetration, not everybody knows me. So if I'm watching one more target, Kroger, every major regional, national, worldwide, overnight, I know that even though we're really good at what we're doing now, I don't have the market penetration to support that velocity. Right, yep. Yeah, scaling correctly matters and I don't know how in the world a 19-year-old knows that.

That blows my doors off. So, you're awesome. And I'd like to tell you that I'm rooting for you, etc., etc., but that's almost like minimizes what you've already done. I mean I'm learning from you I'm sitting here today and I'm learning from you and I've actually stolen a couple of your terms from you that are now mine So just know that when you see them on Instagram that on my podcast, you know where I got them from I just want to thank you for today. I told everybody they won't forget this

I don't know what your excuses are everybody, but this young man takes them away He also didn't just tell you an inspirational story He took you through the keys and the tactics and the strategies and the mindset of doing it correctly And it was awesome and drew your treasure, man. I'm really really proud of you. I can't wait to watch you do this I have a funny feeling you have a future doing what I do, which is inspiring and motivating people. I think you're gonna be on a lot of stages. I think that's the next thing that's coming for you.

And if I can ever do anything to help support Crippling Hot Sauce or just Drew Davis in general, just know that I'm here for you, brother. Well, thank you so much, Ed. And I look forward to the same for you. I found your podcast and let me say I'm a listener now for life and I learn from everybody, not just myself or my parents.

So you've also given me some valuable insight that I will also take. And God bless you, brother. When I will also take. God bless you brother. When I'm in St. Louis visiting Andy we're gonna have to get together. I'd love to meet you in person. Let's do it. CripplingHotSauce.com. Where's the website? TheCripplingCompany.com. Okay, TheCripplingCompany.com. Go get yourself some hot sauce everybody. Alright, God bless you. Share this episode with someone young, someone old, someone who wants to be an entrepreneur,

someone who wants to change their life, someone who needs a perspective shift, somebody with a disability, somebody with a dream. God bless you everybody. Max Outt. This is The Ed Mylan Show.