The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Dwayne & Robyn Jones And Cody Lester Joined Alex Urpí & Xavier Urpí On "Today y Mañana!"

Episode Date: August 22, 2024

Dwayne & Robyn Jones of Corkscrew Racing and Cody Lester of The Fine Grainery joined Alex Urpí & Xavier Urpí On “Today y Mañana!” “Today y Mañana” airs every Thursday at 10:15 am on The I Love CVille Network! “Today y Mañana” is presented by Emergent Financial Services, LLC, Craddock Insurance Services Inc and Matthias John Realty, with Forward Adelante.

Good morning everyone and welcome to Today y Mañana. I'm Alex. This is Xavier. We're very excited to have you joining us on a beautiful and sunny morning here in Charlottesville, Virginia. The weather's like perfect. It's spectacular. It's spectacular weather. I like it a little bit. Well, you like some heat.

I like the heat. I know Michael really misses the hot, hot. Because then he really can cool off in the pool. So he misses that. But for many of us, this is beautiful weather. It is. But it's perfect weather, especially with a slight chill in the morning. It's perfect for you to grab your cafe ton leche, get into a comfortable position, and watch some Today in Mañana.

Because we have some awesome guests that are going to be coming on later in the show. We're going to be joined by Dwayne and Robin Keenan-Jones from Corkscrew Racing. And then later in the show, Cody Lester from The Fine Rainery is going to come on. So we've got some great guests lined up for everyone this morning. And so we're looking forward to that tremendously. It's good to be on with you. I'm delighted to be here again. It's been a stretch.

No, no, just one week. Was it one week that I wasn't on with you? I was on with you for a quick act. I was out of town last week. It's back to you. It feels longer. When you miss a week, it's been two weeks since I've last been on

with you, so it feels longer than a week because it's been two weeks since I was actually here with you. So looking forward to that. Of course, love being here on the Out of Siebel Network set. Love, of course, our fantastic presenter, Emergent Financial Services, and our awesome partners at Craddock, Sirius Insurance, Matthias, Yon Realty, Forward, Adelante. Thank all of you for tuning in this morning.

Be sure to send us. And don't forget to like and share. And you can even subscribe if you want and continue getting all notifications whenever we're live the little chat there and of course send us any questions comments you may have

we will be sure to read them and let you and let everyone know your awesome comments so we always welcome our guests chiming in and tuning in so we always welcome our guests chiming in and tuning in. Absolutely. We always look forward to that. And I don't know about you, but we got two sets of

entrepreneurs. This is great. I know nothing about these two particular guests, so I'd love to find out more about them. So you're like in the audience position. You're like the audience surrogate. It's like Xavier, you, and I. And I don't have to type the questions. I could just spit them out. You just ask them. Yeah, you don't have to sit there and say,

oh, is Alex going to really read my question? Exactly. Exactly. When you're not on, let's put it, sometimes it's debatable whether we read your questions. When I'm on with Nick, he'll always be like, oh, Xavier has to ask the question. He's got to ask something. So I say we jump right into it if you're up for it. I agree. Let's do it. Let's do it. So our first guests this morning are the awesome Dwayne and Robin Keenan-Jones behind Corkscrew Racing. Dwayne, Robin, thanks so much for coming on this morning. Absolutely. No, it's fantastic to have you both on. So maybe as a start for those who haven't met you yet, tell us a little bit about yourselves and how you first started Corkscrew Racing. Sure. Well, first of all, thank you, gentlemen. Thank you all for having us on. We really appreciate it. So we sort of met through the running business. I was in my

late 30s, early 40s, decided, hey, why not run a marathon? That's a little harder than it sounded at the time. It was sort of that midlife thing. I'll run a marathon. That's a little harder than it sounded at the time. It was sort of that midlife thing, I'll run a marathon. So I started small and kept running and eventually ran several marathons. And at the time, we both were on second marriages or sort of finding our way. And Robin was in the Outer Banks doing the Outer Banks running events. And so I had run that race and sort of bumped into her and sort of struck up a conversation. And I'm happy to say that she decided to move her children

and join us in the mountains of Virginia. Wonderful, wonderful. Now, literally, did you kind of bump into her while you were jogging? Is that what running? Well, funny story. She was working with Outer Banks. I was down there at Corolla. We were vacationing.

And she was running a special for the marathon. So my running team and partners were going to go down there and run the race. And she offered a coupon. We'd like to save a few bucks. So I show up at the running shop. She was having computer problems. And so we just, she was there and we were just chatting. I was like, oh, Mia has a nice smile and she's cute.

You know, that kind of thing. And then fast forward, then bumped into her at the actual running expo and had some urging from my fellow runners like maybe you should talk to her and so that's how we got started that's awesome and from that how so how did that kind of grow into you know so you have the love of running you have true love and now you how do you get to torch the right and so so I had a running group that we met three or four times a week. We ran at the local hospital.

We would run in the dark at 5 in the morning. And we had run past this beautiful winery. And we'd see it in the dark. And most, historically, again, our business is a little over a decade old. And back then, most running races, Saturday morning, do a 5K, meet at the high school, run a race, everybody gets a little medal or a high five, and everybody goes home. And so fast forward, I came back to this winery in the evening and saw the sunset, and I thought, whoa, what a great

place to have a race and again at that time most races at least almost all races are morning races cooler I said what if we do a sunset race and what if we do it at a venue that serves wine and that's really where it took off because in the early stages it was let's run a 5k and get all the runners that we have evolved really to an experience right for the runners lots of walkers that like the camaraderie of a race like the camaraderie of running and then to end it at a beautiful site and have a glass of wine and see a sunset it really opened our eyes. And then it's Robin's business.

She took off from there. Well, I unfortunately had some health issues a couple years after we were married, but it allowed me to have time to say, I think we can make this a real business. A natural business. And so I created a website, a business license, and all of that. We went from two events a year to seven or eight. Wow. A lot of them are in Nelson County.

But we've done them all around. We've actually gone out of state, too. That's amazing. Interesting, because when I saw Corkscrew Racing, I'm saying to myself, I love the word Corkscrew, but for different reasons, right? So I'm saying, how did they get that? But I like the explanation.

That's perfect. Right. It really came to, and again, it was just sort of this aha moment of running past this winery in the dark and then coming back later going, wow, that's kind of cool to see that at night and then running at a different time of the day, which, again, years ago really wasn't not many races you could find that started at five or six. And, again, we live in the most spectacular area with an abundance of wineries, an abundance of views. And so we also came up with the tagline, or she came up with the tagline, of running never tasted so good. That's good. That's really the tagline to the business. And then it just sort of fed from there as to working with different wineries around the state and cideries and breweries.

And our most recent race is at, we have a Margarita 5K. So we've expanded our spirits, if you will. Yes. All good. Yeah, we need to change our logo. But all good. Because it's wine, cider, beer runs. We've got to change it up and get Margarita in there too.

The Margarita 5K. The Margarita 5K, yeah. So are all the races 5K? And when you run in a winery, do you run literally within the winery? Do they kind of allow you to do that? Or is it outside? How does that work? It depends on the location.

We've run some completely contiguous on the property. We never leave. And some we run on the roads. And some there's a combination. It really depends on our partners and location and what the course. I like to be, again, don't run as much as I used to. I'm sort of course logistics and safety. Okay.

And speak on the mic. She runs the business, the marketing, and all of that as her profession. And so we try to find courses. And there's some courses that just aren't meant. We also are very particular. Not particular, but we like good wine. We've had a few research

trips and we're like, this is not really the right place. Well, it makes sense. I mean, if you run 5K and I don't care, I'm ready to sit down with my glass of wine and I go like, oh, man, now what? Right, right. Right. Exactly.

So what's the process kind of like? So how does it work in terms of, right, someone's interested, go to the website, do you sign up for them, find it? How does that kind of work? Yeah, it's an online registration. And we do have race day registration, but we really encourage online registration. So to make sure you get your shirt, because everyone gets a tech shirt. It helps us. Instead of a finisher medal, they get a finisher glass.

And glass meaning, yeah. And then we have a post-race party and awards ceremony. So we recognize the overall finishers and age group winners. And then we also do, we encourage teams. So we do biggest team and best team costume. Oh, nice. Yeah. So there's just, there's a lot of fun ways to kind of socialize too

and bring people that you know and kind of do it as a little team and you don't have to go solo. Oh, and people get creative. I mean, especially with this, if you were able to see some of the images for the Margarita 5K, I don't know if you hopped on and looked, but, yeah, people get creative. Yeah, there's out there in costumes. Are there anywhere like the big hats and stuff?

So I guess, so when you said age groups, I mean, do you find that there are people that attend, I mean, sign up for the race, but really aren't necessarily in shape like me? Like if I signed up, you know, I could probably run a mile and then I'd drop dead. So, you know, how does that work? Walker-friendly. Oh, Walker-friendly. Yeah, we see all ages and stages.

Yeah, and it's really, we've, again, grown to where they plan it as an event. So, again, unlike a 5K, say at a track or something like that, where you come, you run, you go home, there's always an after party. And so that encourages a social aspect. That encourages them to find their friends. Something that we found or I found when I began running was accountability. And so you'll let yourself down, but you won't let your running friends down to show up at 5 a.m. on a Friday to run six miles. And so if you have that group, and we've seen that in our races because we have a lot of repeat runners, and we see them come out.

It's like, oh, hi, yes, you know, you're grouped together. And teacher groups will do it as a teacher. We have some folks at the local hospital that will band together and say, oh, let's do a 5k. And again, ours is Walker friendly. And so it's only 3.1 miles. Most of them, we do, to answer your question, we do have a four miler and we've done all the way up to 10 miles, but we found the sweet spot of 5K to 4 miles. Okay. So usually they're 3 or 4 miles.

Yeah, it's more reasonable. It's typical. And that's kind of nice because that is also an attorney's atmosphere where you're encouraged to finish it because there's something at the end that you're doing. You're not finishing it merely for the sake of finishing it. You're getting to the end where there's your kind of reward. Right. And we market to adults because most of them

are at wineries, cideries. But they bring their kids. And we actually our oldest repeat runner is Harry Conn Jr. He's 85 years old. And he drives from Palatan yeah or maybe somebody may

drive him but he is 85 the other thing that's that's in that we've done and sort of developed over the years is the partnership with the local businesses a lot of these wineries and breweries and cideries uh they don't need help at the two o'clock hour, but we'll bring a group of runners and we've switched to sort of more running races. We do have had some sunset races, but we've generally, we're sort of out of their hair before their normal crowd comes in. And so they like the benefit because we bring them typically 200 to 250 runners and friends and plop them at their site. And, you know, again, some leave, but for the majority they stay.

They either have lunch if there's a food truck or music. And so it becomes this great partnership with local businesses in the community and those types of things. It really makes a nice mix for them and us. So what are some typical times a day when they come, or does it vary? It's typically 9 in the morning and then Saturday, and then it'll, again, 45 minutes

to an hour, most of the runners are in, and then they'll fade into the after party where they get their wine glass, their tasting, or whatever, and then, again, there's usually some food, and then music there's usually some food and then yeah and music so and then the awards and yeah that is that is a nice yeah especially like on saturday is a great way to go start your weekend you're not waking up at 5 a.m maybe you're coming all

the way from powhatan yeah right a little earlier yeah but uh otherwise you know you're waking up at a reasonable hour, getting somewhere at 9 and really starting you know we'll have the Margarita 5k in a couple of weeks and I've often we've had that for 3 or 4 years now this is the 4th year and I usually give a cheers at

10.30 with a Margarita and no one complains like is it too early, and everybody says no this is perfect I feel like when is it too early? And everybody says, no, this is perfect. I was like, okay. I feel like when you run four miles, that's right.

Absolutely, exactly. No one complained that it's too early. That's right, that's right. Your response can be, it was also too early to run four miles. That's right. When they stop coming, I guess we'll stop serving. Exactly, exactly.

So what was it like to take the plunge and say, okay, we love doing this. We're going to actually make this a business. What was it like to take that entrepreneurship plunge? you know, several years at that point. So I knew we could do it, and we'd already tested the waters, you know, with the two events that we were doing every year. So, no, it was fun. It was. I think also, too, we were a blended family at that point. She has two kids. I have two kids.

And her kids were in high school. And so it allowed her to be flexible with timing and those types of things now we've since recruited them all for help and now they're all gone so we don't we had to recruit other friends to help with that but uh they like working for a bottle of wine so probably not the hardest job to recruit for it right well and we haven't mentioned um through covid we actually created came up with the idea for a jeep event so we do uh we created like a little side uh the corkscrew life and so we've held we held a couple jeep events uh over the last so what's the jeep event tell me what's that one what? Tell me. What's that one? What happens there? We started Jeeper Fest, and it's at Bold Rock Hard Cidery.

And there's a national in May. It's Go Topless Day, and it's basically Jeep take their tops down. Wranglers. Jeep Wranglers. Convertibles. And so we sponsored the first one, and it was a huge success. Jeep people are – I'm a Jeep person, so I can say this with all confidence. We're crazy.

We'll spend money on things we don't need. And Jeep people are obsessed with their vehicles. And so that it's basically – again, it's an offshoot of the running community. The Jeep has a community. There's a Jeep wave, and those folks that know what I'm talking about, you have a Jeep, you wave when a Jeep comes past you. You pull up in a parking lot. Hey, where'd you get your tires?

There's always a discussion. And there are other groups like that. A friend of mine has that with Land Cruisers. Right. There's other groups and other car groups, but the Jeep is really community-based, and we work with local charities and return that money, a lot of the money to them.

We've worked with Samuel Supper to do that. And so it's really, again, it's bands come together, contest for the best Jeep, biggest tires, those types of things. Oh, yes. Good community and good support. And a fun time. And a fun time. And we've hosted the largest Go Topless Day event in the state of things. Good community and good support. And a fun time. And a fun time. And we've posted the largest Go Topless Day event in the state of Virginia.

Wow. That's nice. Yeah, it is nice. Wow. I think I made that clear for a while there. I said, topless. I said, I'm not sure. Not that clear.

What are we talking about here? Not that clear. Maybe in France, but not in Virginia. Different location. Different location for sure. But I think that's what I kind of loved about the idea when I went online and saw it. It's sometimes in life, right, you need that push to go out and have a good time on a weekend. And it's kind of that thing to say, I'm going to go out and hang out with other people who have similar interests. Even if that interest is Jeeps or even if that interest is running.

It's to kind of push yourself. Sometimes you've got to push yourself. You can easily get into a rut where you're like, I don't feel like going out today. I'll just stay home today. But you know what? Other people, I've signed up for this. Other people that I know are going out and running. It's good for me to run, it's good exercise, and I get to enjoy

some wine or some beer or some cider at the end. And it's almost like it's a way to bring people together to go out and have a good time, whereas they otherwise might not do it. It's positive vibes. I mean, that's all you feel. It's people, I think, some people that, let's all you feel. It's people, I think some people that let's say they consider themselves runners. Um, again, you don't have to be a runner. You can be a walker jogger, skip along. It doesn't, you know, um, that come and then they get it like, Oh yeah, no one's looking at me and going, Oh, she's really slow or, you know, whatever. It's,

it's truly, it's a good experience and everyone feeds off that happy vibe for sure yeah and I usually I've said it for years of doing this I've never met a an unhappy runner so you've taken the time to either train get up early and decide to show up and then like Robin said the positive vibes to go out and do that physical thing. And for some, we've had a lot of folks that this is their first 5K, their first time they've done 3.1. So their joy and their energy, we feed off of that. So when we say in this event, it is work to put these things together and plan. But it is a joyful Saturday morning.

And that energy and vibe that we get from the community that comes out to run is phenomenal. That's fantastic. And I guess, I mean, like everything else, right? I mean, you know, sometimes you train for something, right? But you just have to push. If you're just running by yourself every morning to train, you push yourself. Then you're with a crowd. And they themselves push you, right?

Because, like, wait a minute, I've got to keep up with those balance, right? So you just push yourself. And before you know it, it's like, wow, I didn't realize I could do what I just did, right? And the other thing is commonality, right? So, you know, we talk about Jeeps. People like Jeeps or they like running. When you go to an event sometimes, it's like you don't know what people like. So it's a lot harder just to introduce yourself and talk to people.

But here, it's like, well, I know people like running because they wouldn't be here. And two, in the sense of a Jeep, it's like, I like Jeeps. I can go to a guy and say, hey, I like a Jeep. Would you get those tires or, you know, whatever it is about Jeeps that they like, and they can talk about it, and there you are. And now you have a friendship. So it's a lot easier than, you know, you already have something in common. And like Alex said, it kind of says, hey, you know what?

I should do this because otherwise I'm just going to stay home doing it. That's fantastic. And we have a commenter, Jess Walters Thompson, who was on just last week says, I'm so excited about this company and I've got a great idea. I'm going to be reaching out to you guys.

She's a huge, Jess is fantastic. She is an awesome advocate for Orange, Orange for Orange Orange County she loves that area and she's helped so many people there so you'll be hearing from a viewer perfect thanks for

commenting Jess and watching today we thought it was good on watching the show this morning thanks for tuning in we thought it was always a pleasure to have you in. It's been fantastic having you on. Let us know, so what's upcoming and where can people get in touch with you guys and find out

the upcoming races? The Margarita 5K is September 14th and that's at Plaza Antigua. It's in Waynesboro. That is our first event away from the traditional winery cidery. But Chris is awesome. Chris O'Neill is there.

He has a great venue, an outdoor venue right next to the restaurant. So they do concerts there, all kinds of things there. Jeep events too. September, excuse me, no. October 26th we have the Monster Mash 5K at Bold Rock Cidery. Monster Mash 5K. I think it's Halloween. It's Halloween.

And then December 7th we have the Bold Blitz in 5K at Bold Rock. Those are our last three events for the year. And yes, Corksccrewracing.com. That's where you find the information. You can't miss it, corkscrewracing.com. Easy to remember.

Very easy to remember. And Facebook and Instagram, you can look that up and find us and follow us. Absolutely. Check out what we do. Well, Dwayne and Robin, it's been an absolute pleasure having you on. Thanks so much for joining us today. Thank you for having us. Thanks.

Be sure to check out courtscrewracing.com Hard to forget that. Exactly. Easy to remember. That's interesting. I didn't even know things like that existed. It's beautiful. It's figuring out ways how you have a business that brings people together.

And there's always a new way to bring people together. Yeah, absolutely. There's always a way to connect people. That's why I love entrepreneurs. They always come up with ideas, right? Well, you and I said, how is that possible? And it's like, wow, look at that. Fantastic.

They think of it. That's kind of the beauty of entrepreneurship is the wow factor of life. It's not just people thinking of things that everyone else already thought of. It's people thinking up ideas that you're like, oh, man, I never thought of that. Yep, that's why they're entrepreneurial, right? You know, and the other nice thing is that it's, you know, even though they're mostly 5Ks, but they're also on 3.1. Because, I mean, just yesterday when I brought down the garbage. Well, 5K is 3.1 miles.

Oh, is it? Yeah, that's how it translates. Okay, okay. See, I learn something every day. I didn't realize that. And so when I brought down the garbage yesterday, right, I ran up the driveway, and I realized, I mean, as you know how driveways weigh up hills, you know,

but I ran up. I said, let me run up. I got up to the top. It's like I'm huffing and puffing. I got to get in shape here. This is like ridiculous. Well, it I ran up. I said, let me run up. I got up to the top. It's like I'm huffing and puffing. I said, I got to get in shape here. This is ridiculous. Well, it's walkable. You could be the person skipping. You could skip the five-day.

Well, I'm not that good of a skipper. I'd rather jog than skip. See you in five hours, David. So 3.1, it's not too bad. Yeah, it's funny. Nicholas sent a comment. He goes, Pops was thinking of a different topless. Well, it's just, you know.

I almost said it like, Pops, I think he means no top on the Jeep. I thought it was just men run topless. I wasn't thinking of anything else. Let's not go there. No, it's a great idea, and be sure to check that out. Absolutely. And from one great guest to another great business, we're excited to – I know we can already see it here. You're about to see it as well, the audience. We're excited to welcome to the show this morning, Cody Lester.

He's the founder of The Fine Rainery. Cody, thanks for coming on this morning. Thank you. You're welcome, guys. It's so cool to be here. It's great to have you. Great to have you. So for those who first meet you, how did you first become interested in woodworking? Well, I'll say that I've, well, first, thank you guys for having me. It's so awesome to be here. To get the chance to talk about, you know, with a broader community about, you know, my business.

I really appreciate that. It started out many years ago, a few years post-college. I graduated in 2009. It was a tough economy at that time. I remember. Trying to get

enough money to pay for student loans. It started out of necessity. I had just gotten a new job, and it wasn't enough to really make a huge dent to what I wanted to make a dent in my student loans. And so I'm like, do I get another job? What is it? And I found myself going to work, going to the gym, coming home,

and I just wanted to do something. I just felt bored. And so I just started making cornhole boards. And so that's how this business started was cornhole boards. I'd always been interested in wood. My dad, he's a big inspiration in my life. And so he's always doing wood stuff. And so, you know, combined with the fact I wanted to do something with my hands

and I wanted a little bit extra income, maybe I can make some wood stuff. So I started out making corn hole boards. I petitioned a friend. I'm like, hey, hypothetically, do you think if you wanted a corn hole board, would you be interested? They're like, what's he talking about? They're like, yeah, kind of. I was like, well, I'll make you a corn hole board.

So that's kind of how it all began, my friends Kathy and Justin. And so I made one set. I made two sets. And I found myself always having an order. And then from 2013 until, like, 2019, I was just making a whole bunch of cornhole boards. I made so many of them, in fact, that I can't even – I get, like, some trauma when I look at them. I made so many. It's just like – yeah, I'm like, why did I do that? It really allowed me to

find my interest creatively in these woods. It allowed me the exposure to it, one. Also, I was able to be creative and make these cornhole boards. I wanted to

do something a little bit different. With the birth of our our daughter our first child my wife and I I was like well maybe I'll transition my business away from cornhole to make some stuff that's different like furniture make some products maybe and just kind of give me the ability to sort of like feel out like um like the woodworking space like what I really enjoyed doing. Before it was like painting and like pine, like construction lumber. And that was like good. It got me started. But it's no comparison to like these really fine woods, you know. And I really wanted to learn how like what's the right way to do stuff.

And so that, you know, that yearning caused me to sort of branch into this direction and sort of start to make products. And so, yeah, that's kind of the start. Is the product a brainchild or does your wife or somebody else say, I wish I had something like this? And you say, wait a minute, I think I can do that. It's definitely that. But it started out like, for example, I wanted to, I had just gotten like a laser.

I really wanted to find, when I first started, I started i was doing like all right i made cornhole boards i was fortunate enough to always have an order for like six years um and i just thought that would just transition to furniture and i would always have an order and like i found very quickly that that's not the way that works so i transitioned in 2020 that happened to be a very tough year. So January 2020 was whenever I started my business. And so I transitioned 21 or 22 to start doing, making small products and doing craft shows and farmer's markets and festivals and things like that. And so if you're going to be doing that, you really need to have a bunch of product. Exactly. Sure.

And so it started out like this was the very first one that I made. This is a tic-tac-toe game. Oh, okay. So open it up and it's got magnets and then so it's got acrylic that's been laser cut X's and O's. And so a couple of different materials like the maple plywood and then the walnut and the plastic as well. And so that's how it started and then I ended up having all of these

little like leftover pieces cut out from the walnut and it started like well what do I do with these and my wife was like well what about badge reels and so I was like cool like you know basically this little wooden piece that's glued to a retractable badge reel is was created initially because i had just the excess of these little pieces here and so i would put those on the laser do the engraving of the design and then eventually transition into some more like sort of premium options with like more of like the laser cut acrylic and like these cool designs and so that's how that started and then i also created the next product was i have all these little O's from the inside of this. What do I do with those?

And so I started making four-in-a-row games that uses the inside of those. And so, like, that's how it really began was, like, I really didn't want to waste. I think there's plenty of value here in this wood. So what can I do? And my wife had the great idea of badger reels and you know early on I was just selling a bunch of badger reels and I was a little bummed because I was like this was this was not like what I wanted to do this is not what I wanted but like I was selling on handfuls and so I'm like well I have to be grateful because many days like at a

craft show like that saved me and it's really brought me into where I am now currently is you know being of sorts a badgerial guy and then it sort of turned into these different acrylic that fits into one another. Oh, gotcha, gotcha. And so it just fits together pretty tightly and then it just sort of comes together and we've got stuff like that.

So I have a bunch of designs and that's really how it began was with this Tic-tac-toe game plus my wife's idea and then it sort of transitioned into well obviously if I want to be doing these events I need more products so I have cutting boards and charcuterie boards

and then I have a nested charcuterie board that fits together that's hugging that became the next big product because you can kind of mix and match your woods and find a if you look at this grain this is a cheese slicer but like it's just so beautiful you know that is so this is a cheese slicer made from walnut black walnut and so it's got this really beautiful grain

and so um you know it's got the wire a wire there with two loops on the end and so it just kind of fits through there and it really helps slice us the cheese like really well because it's such a thin wire exactly exactly yeah oh that's pretty neat yeah yeah and so beautiful wood yeah and that's that's really what got me into this because i was making cornmeal boards it's like i'm painting like people would call me an artist and i was like i'm not an artist it's just it's just paint and then like it took me a while to really find my groove and really consider myself to be an artist. And now it's with the woods. I've got this beautiful wood.

I buy it rough cut. I plane it down. I see how beautiful it is. You can't even tell how beautiful it is before you plane it down. It's like, oh my gosh, it's so beautiful. And it's like, what can I do to really highlight this piece of wood? And so I try my best to minimize waste you know and make products that have a use like for example this is a salt cellar I've got

magnets in the in the base in the lid that sort of click together yeah and so you can kind of rotate it off and so it's like you know it's made from this beautiful walnut with this grain it's like you know it's like i i feel lucky to be able to sort of make stuff like this and sort of bring these products to life like i mean i could show one on all day it's just beautiful you know that's nice yeah walnut is a beautiful piece of wood you have a really i know it's a heavier one you have a really interesting yes right there that also seems really useful. Yeah, so it sort of became my business model

kind of became like, these are all products that are beautiful, one, because of the wood that they're made with. But I really wanted them to all have a purpose, because I was making these cheese slicers and the salt cellars and have a whiskey smoker and it's like, what else can I make? And so I started making these magnetic key holders.

And so there's an embedded magnet here in the base. Look at that. Or underneath the shell. So it's not like a huckle and you just boom. Yeah. And so it's got a really strong magnet and it just holds the keys. Look at that.

It's got the embedded keyhole slots on the back and just slot it on the wall. Gotcha. Got my nice little logo on there. And it's kind of this really beautiful yet functional piece that serves a purpose. And so that's over the last year or so, I'd say that's kind of become my business model is I lend myself more towards things that have a purpose. Purpose, exactly, yeah. Well, it's beautiful and it has a purpose.

It's beautiful, for one, and that's enough for some people. Right. And for me, I really like the utility of things, things that actually have a purpose. So another one is this herb stripper. And so you can strip off rosemary and cilantro, and it works great for kale. And it's like, people are like, that is so, one, it's

useful because you don't want to, obviously you can't use your fingers to pull the leaves off, but this is a whole lot faster and it's beautiful and it's made from walnut and it's so smooth. Do you want to feel? Oh, this is beautiful.

It's true, you take that rosemary and all the leaves come out. Especially things that also like, what I like is things that touch food. There's so much. I mean, you walk into any kind of like basic cooking store thing. It's almost impossible to find stuff that is not really plasticky, really cheap. Your basic things. Your boards, your storage containers, it's almost all plastic.

It's almost all made in places where how safe is that to touch my food? Here you have something that's beautiful and you know that what's touching your food is wood. They've all been treated with food safe materials and so it's all basically a very basic

mineral oil and a coconut wax mixture and it's just you know very easy to apply and it's not going to be harmful and that kind of leads me into what i want to talk about a little bit was you know like you know you can't really like the production like the somewhat mass production of these you it doesn't make any it doesn't make any sense for anyone to do that no you know like because there's like plastic herb strippers that you can buy for like buy like wholesale for like less than a dollar and sell them for like you know 10 bucks yeah and so like it makes no sense to just you know make this nice wood but i feel like i'm doing a

service of like you know making this American made all these products have been made at my home in my basement and so you know I've sort of developed not it's not brand new but like I've found a way to be able to produce these materials like efficiently and quickly and then to turn around and be able to sell

them on my website and in the community at like craft shows and things like that. And Cody, I'm curious, what is this? This is a whiskey smoker. So this was... That's what I thought you said. I don't know what that means.

This product was sort of a revolution of last year, at least for me, because I'm selling this stuff. And like, this is such a unique product that, so what it is, is a whiskey smoker or a cocktail smoker, you know um like smoked old fashions things like that and so what you can do is have like a whiskey pour or a bourbon pour or make us an old-fashioned put this on there add a pinch of chips like wood chips okay cherry or apple or pecan um take a torch and smoke it and the glass fills full of the smoke so it sort of

adds a little bit of a unique blend of flavor so all you got to do is put that on top of the glass and use a butane torch and torch it and it goes down the hole there's a little screen in there that keeps the chips out with a little tiny screen that you just press up with your finger it's just precision

fit in there with my CNC so the smoke goes down. The smoke goes down and it fills the glass and it just sits there on the liquid. And so you can kind of swish it around or just let it set with just pure time. And then take it off and you kind of have the theatrics of the smoke.

Roll one out and let people smell it. You know, the maple that I like to burn in there. It smells like a campfire. And it really gives people these like, you know, a different flavor. I it really gives people these different flavors. I tell people all the time, if you're into whiskey or bourbon and you have your drink that you

have as your go-to, you can start to play with the flavor. With this, if you enjoy a little bit of smoke, and mix the chips and do a lot with the same drink that you've been having and just add a little bit of a twist to it. And so this product here, I started making them in April of last year.

And by the end of December, I had sold over 250 of those. Yeah. I was like completely blown away with like, wow, how popular that product was. And that's really the product that sort of helped me like, you know,

it's tough, you know, owning a small business and like being in charge of the production of this and it's like uh you know you're like for me i think the biggest thing was like obviously i started out making these things by hand and you know when i have to have the volume of the materials to sell you know on the weekends i was having a tough time keeping up with you know selling more than i could make in a week. Because I have a full-time job, too.

I think people walk in my tent, you know, at a craft show, and they're like, oh, my gosh, this is obviously your full-time gig. I say, no, actually, it's not. Like, I just, I do this on the side. It's a side hustle with a full-time effort. Because it really does. I spend a lot of time thinking about this. And so I use CNC to help me get the products made. I hired someone last October, shout out to Alex,

to help me sand these materials because it's very easy to make them. Most of the time is spent making it look great and feel wonderful, have that nice texture, nice and smooth, and a high-quality material or product. And so, yeah, I mean, I started using CNC to sort of make these. What is CNC? CNC is computer nominal control.

And so you guys had a guy on here precision craft a couple months ago and yeah so I use CNC I have a large format one and so I'm able to basically just churn out products the shape and I most of the time 75% of the time is spent sanding and just you know rounding the edges and making it look perfect dipping it in oil and getting it on the website and put it on the shelf. My business model, for those listening, is to make things in small batch production. I never just make one item. I make 50 or 100 or more. Then I have enough

for my shows on the weekend and then also put it on the shelf to sell on my website and Amazon and, like, Etsy as well. And so that's sort of my thing is making things in small batch production, make them well, make them very high quality. Because, again, it doesn't really make sense to do that unless you're doing it in bulk.

Now do you make one first or a few firsts? Yeah, so this one was like, I think ended up being like three versions before this. First version didn't have a top. This is the tic-tac-toe game. First version didn't have a top. I was like, you know what, it'd be really cool if I could embed magnets and have a top on it

so that if it's in transportation or in a purse somewhere, it's kind of like for kids waiting for their food at a restaurant. You don't want the pieces to be strewn about and the middle piece is twice as deep to store the extra piece to be able to

play the game without switching X's and o's each time and so yeah each one of these i get like a test or two tests until i feel comfortable with like one the product itself and then to be able to find i have to be able to make them very quickly so that you know i can't spend a ton of time on this because i have a lot of products and again i have a full-time job so it's like I really have to focus my efforts on what I can make quickly and efficiently and

sort of trim down the process as much as possible without sacrificing any of the quality because the quality is sort of why, is the why behind all of this, you know, like why have a cheese slicer that's wooden? Well it's amazing looking for one and it also serves a purpose. Oh sure, absolutely. I said, well, it's amazing looking for one and it also serves a purpose.

Oh, sure. Absolutely. Yeah. I'm just curious, cause I mean, you, you work with the magnets, like how did you, how did that brainstorm come to, I mean, there's a little tiny magnet and like, what do you find them in? Yeah. So I had to find a way to one size the holes. This one was made completely on a laser. Okay. So it's a laser that's a lot like a, it is basically a CNC, but it has a laser head on it. And so it's shooting a laser beam out and it's engraving the wood or it's cutting the wood. And so I was able to, with many tests, figure out what is the size and how much power and what speed to run that laser at

so that I get a perfect hole for this little tiny magnet and then drop a little bit of glue in there and press it with them with enough tension to hold the magnet itself right without coming out and so that's so me and for me I just love making those products like for one this is really what started it was that and then began everything and I love to sort of brainstorm I have tons of ideas and but you know this one here so this one is a i got this one this is a bread bow knife so also made from from walnut and so i one of my co-workers is like hey i'm really like really into this like sourdough making like i really think you should make a bread bow knife i'm like actually it's on my list of things to make. About six months later, I came up with

the design of the bow knife. I designed the shape of it so that the handle swoops into the bow part. The bow is keeping the blade on tension, so there's a lot of tension to keep that bread, keep the knife on tension to get it through a thick crust

of a sourdough. It's a really thin and also very sharp blade to slab like a sourdough and it's a really thin and also very sharp blade to sort of you know slab up your um your sourdough bread that's fantastic that is fantastic i was looking at i didn't see the whole thing it was kind of concealed by this box here and it was like what is that and i once you picked it up i i figured because i've seen yeah you know brett and i've seen i said i bet you that's a and that's pretty neat because you could also kind of you know find your size the's it and that's pretty neat because you can also kind of find your size oh that's really neat

this is amazing I think the beauty is like you said it's in life I think there is a craving to have not just because I think people already know that if you want something beautiful, artisanal I think nobody associates with that

but I think there's a craving now more and more for like i also want some of my functional things to be good for me beautiful and high quality i don't want the things i use every day to be cheap and breakable exactly and you fit that beautifully because you're doing it away with the batches that means it's you're not you're not paying like the customer is doesn't have to pay the premium, but somebody's literally making it one by one at a time. So you've got the batch, but there's a quality to it, that it's not a mass-produced,

something that'll break in two weeks. Yeah. They say, or the saying is like form or function, but I really feel like you can have both of those. Especially with wood, you know. Because all of these things, they do serve a purpose, and that's the primary reason why I think they exist. But

the extra benefit, depending on if you're a form person or a function person, there's one additional thing too. It's either the form and the function. So you have both of those at once. That's awesome. Imagine putting that, you have a cheese board

and you have that cheese cutter. That's a beautiful piece on your table. Exactly. As opposed to just a bunch of knives and wow. Part of my business, the problem with having high quality stuff is that you have a customer and then they don't need to buy

from you again so you don't have a consumable product so it's like all right so i make these cheese slicers and so like what else what other products similar to that can i make that can also appeal to the person that's already come to my you know say exactly a craft show and seeing the quality of my stuff i'm like what else can else can he produce that is of high quality? And so that's one of the reasons why I've kind of gone in this direction of, like, I kind of have these, like, kitchen utensil-y, like, things, you know, like, kind of speak to that sort of environment of people that are, you know, making their own cheeses

or, like, their charcuterie boards because I sell the boards too. Yeah. You know, and, like, the stuff just doesn't, it doesn't last a long time. I want to see them again. I need to have more stuff. That's the downside of making something really, really quick. Like the old days, you used to make a washing machine that would last 20 years. Now it's like

after eight years, it's not going to work anymore. Like you said, the way people keep coming back is like, oh yeah, I could use that as well. And once you've gotten one thing, it's probably like, well, why would I buy something else cheap when I know that this one will last? Exactly. And the other thing is like because I use the batch production to put it on a shelf to serve my website or my craft shows, it's like I have these things on demand basically. So if someone orders off my website, if they want an engraving,

so I've got my little logo in there, if they want a name on this, they can just add that through the website. And I have these on a shelf. I can just grab it. I can create the name design, send that proof to them, and say, that looks great.

You make it. And so they know what they're getting before they receive it. And they potentially have already seen my stuff in person, and so they know of the quality. And then so I'm kind of built for gift-giving, and Christmas is coming up, and I'm preparing now. You're perfect for that, right?

Especially with the engraving. Yeah, exactly. There's a personalized touch. And the other thing is, you know, how many times, like, if you like to cook, a lot of times you just, on your counter, you have a lot of things, you know, like the salt, you know, the cheese. And so to have it such that they're beautiful pieces makes it more, you know, visually it's like, okay, my kitchen's not a mess. It's just this way. Yeah, when you're at art.

When you entertain, you're not hiding. My classic kitchen with my beautiful black walnut pieces. That's his artwork here. You're not going to be like, I've got to hide the salt jar. I've got to hide this. I've got to hide the knives. No, you can leave this stuff out because it looks beautiful. It looks like a piece of art.

Exactly, yes. That is awesome. That is awesome. Well, Cody, this has been an absolute pleasure. Where? So people want to find you. I mean, what are some of the locations you're at, and what's the website? So primarily you can find me on the website, thefinegranary.com.

All these products are sold there. You can also find me on Etsy, on Amazon as well. Oh, awesome. All under the Fine Granary? Yes. If you search for salt sellers on Walnut Salt Seller, you'll find this one on Amazon. So I think it's the only Walnut Salt Seller that you can find on Amazon that's actually made from walnut. But yes, you can find me.

Website, Etsy, the fine granary. Amazon, the fine granary. I also sell on the TikTok shop. A few sales here and there. And then I am everywhere basically in central Virginia on weekends, craft shows, fall festivals. Every weekend I try to do at least two and so my helper will

go out someplace and I'll do another place. And so we kind of do a two-person effort on weekends to sort of appeal. It's kind of like marketing. Because people have to see this stuff to really appreciate this stuff. Do you ever take any time off at all?

I will say that you mentioned earlier the struggles. That is the struggle of having a full-time job, a family. I don't want to have my family sacrifice because I'm away on weekends at least part of the day. I've got a couple hours during the week,

you know, between, you know, my job and then starting, I get into the shop at eight o'clock, eight to 1030 every night to do some of this stuff to help keep the business going. And so it is, it is a lot, you know, it's a, you know, like I'm crazy, you know, like, I don't think people really understand, like, to the great lengths that I've gone through to sort of make these products and to keep them you know alive and like bring them to people so where they can they can buy them so. Absolutely and I think you have a special viewer because we got a comment from Anna Peterson saying Cody your girl is watching you she her, and say hi. Don't make me cry.

She's watching you now. But this has been so awesome. Really, we love what you do, and we're so glad. You think someday you'll do this as a full-time job? Well, when it started off, I wasn't making a lot of money. Now I make a good living with what I'm doing with my job. I really like it. I want to lean into the batch processing hiring help to help me work

through this. I'm still the mastermind of this, of the products that we're making, but I feel like I'm teaching my helper how to run the machine safely and be able to produce these things. I would like to lean into that first before I jump out of

my... because I feel like what I'm doing with my full-time job is fulfilling in different ways. I work in healthcare, so I feel like I'm doing good there. This is essentially for profit. In a different way. It's a creative outlet, for sure.

Doing parts with your creative brain's a creative, though. Exactly. It's a creative outlet, for sure. Both sides of the brain. Doing parts with your creative brain is very important, too. Well, this has been great. Thank you so much. Well, Cody, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you guys for having me. I really appreciate it. I mean, we ran to the end of the show.

To the finish line. Yeah, up to the finish line. This is amazing. It was amazing. And I've always said that. I mean, I'm not necessarily good with my hands and things that I do. But when I see things like this where people can, one, be creative, right, and two, produce the kind of quality work that Cody's producing,

to me it's amazing, right? It's impressive. So it's been a great show. It has. We had some great guests. Corkscrew Racing. Corkscrew Racing and Defined Granary. Be sure to check them both out for sure.

Next week, of course, we have our monthly meetup with Matthias, another awesome guest. You didn't have to say it. As soon as I said monthly, I said Matthias. As soon as I say a great recurring guest, it's like, well, Matias. Matias. Matias or Miguel, right?

That's some great recurring guests. But Matias is on next week, so he'll be joining us for our monthly meetup. So that's always fun. It's been great having you on. Same here. It's been fun. It always is.

Thanks to everyone who commented. You know, really appreciate it. All's been fun. It always is. Thanks to everyone who commented. Really appreciate it. All our great viewers. It's always a joy to have you comment. And be sure to send this to any people. If you know people that you would love to be featured on Today Manana, feel free to reach out

at any time. There's endless ways on social media to send comments and messages and so forth. Absolutely. I'll leave that to our intuitive viewers to figure that part out. Much been a joy. Thank you, of course, Judah, behind the camera, making us all look good. Thanks to Emergent Financial Services and to our awesome partners,

Matias, your own realty credit series insurance, Forward Adelante. Thanks to all of you for tuning in this week. I've always appreciated it. Thanks to you of you for tuning in this week. I've always appreciated it. Thanks to you for co-hosting with me. Well, thank you for doing what you do, which is fantastic, because I can do it. It's a joy. It's a joy. And we look forward to seeing everyone next week.

But until that time, as we like to close it out on the show, hasta mañana. Thank you.