The Pen Addict 661/transcript

• From Relay, this is The Pen Addict, episode number 661. Today's show is brought to you by Enigma Stationery, Estabrook, and Factor. My name is Brad Dowdy, and today I'm joined by Drew Brown, president of Farney Pens. How does it go? It goes well, my friend. Does it go as well? It's been exciting, and I am absolutely terrified and nervous because I'm on The Pen Addict right now. This is the first time. We see each other pretty regularly, and this is the first time podcast. How does it feel when someone says, president of Farney's Pens now? Oh, it's not a term that I'm comfortable with yet, and I don't know if I'm ever going to be. I still just type in Drew on my signature and all my emails. We're going to talk about how this all came to be, all that fun stuff, and I'll probably call you president of Farney's Pens many times throughout the show. Because, yeah, I have a lot of questions about what Farney's is up to, what your role is. Y'all have been making a lot of changes. If anyone follows y'all online, you'll see. There's a move coming up. And just, I imagine it's complete madness, and we're going to delve into the madness today with Drew. And you're a perfect person to get mad with me, so I appreciate that. I like that, Brad. Thank you. Yeah, yeah. Before we do, I want to hit on a couple of topics before we get into the Drew deep dive here. First off, the pen launch of the year happened. Oh, my God. The Estabrook Coffee Monsters has launched. I feel like I have to put it in here, even though we've talked about it so much, now that it actually has happened. Could it be that someone didn't notice? I don't think so. If you were into this, you knew what was happening. And fortunately, you were able to get your pen, right? Because Kenro Industries and Estabrook, they ramped up production. And I think they were even a little bit worried about, oh, Helen has so many fans, and I don't want any of them to be left out. And it looks like it went super well. Everyone was happy. It didn't look like anyone missed out, and there'll be plenty available for those who are interested. I was fortunate to get a preview pen. I've had mine for a while, teasing people with it. And it's great. I'm an Estabrook fan. I think I have three now. I've had various ones throughout the years. Do you have any Estabrooks, the modern version? I do not. I do not have a single Estabrook pen. I have accessories, but I actually don't have an Esty yet. Yeah. So what do you think about, you probably saw some of this stuff online going with in-store events, and now that you're the president of your own shop, I don't know if you know that yet, that a lot of stores, brick and mortars especially, built up a little small event around these things. Is that something that you could see Farnie's doing in the future? Absolutely. Absolutely. When we do move into our new space, we're going to have at least a table set up with the intent to be able to host small in-store events, be it vendor-related setups or nip grinding events, things like that. We most definitely want to have at least some small space for that. Yeah. And that's a feature from having a physical store, right? Yeah. It's fun. You want to bring people in. Again, this is stuff we're going to talk about very, very much throughout the show, but building these communities and having reasons for people to come to the store. And it was nice seeing several shops in our space just host events for a product launch. I always look forward to seeing how stores handle that, and it looks like it went pretty well. Speaking of how people handle things, I am back from the Atlanta Penn Show about a week ago.

Discussion on Pen Shows

• And I just wrote a little snippet on the blog, and I wanted to follow up on that. And this will be a longer conversation than I have about Penn Shows. We've always talked about Penn Shows on this podcast because I go to a lot of it. That's one of my things. And you get to experience a lot of different sizes of shows and shows that do a lot of different things and the way the shows are organized, the events and everything. And I was disappointed in Atlanta this year. It's my home show. I've been there probably 10 of the last 12 years. And I just wrote kind of a little blurb. I didn't go into intense detail, but it was just kind of a, huh, event. And I don't mean from the people perspective, right? You have been to a lot of Penn Shows. I don't think you've ever vended at a Penn Show, but you have attended plenty of Penn Shows, right? I've only been to Atlanta once, and unfortunately, I did hear a little bit of what you're describing. It totally slipped by me. Someone asked me, hey, are you going to be in Atlanta this weekend? And I was like, this weekend? What? Why? Yeah. And I was like, oh my God, it's this weekend. And I'd heard some feedback about the website and the marketing not being super up to date. Yeah. So it's just kind of a shame because it is a nice show, or it can be. I mean, there's still a Waffle House attached to the hotel. Oh, you know I have some feelings about that. That's one of the main reasons to come. I was in a Waffle House less than 24 hours ago. Yeah, let's go. You know, people are one of the main reasons to come to Atlanta, and it's always good. I legitimately had a great time, but the show needs some work, and I'm totally willing to give shows a pass, right? Things happen.
• Who knows? Maybe they just had things. They couldn't get to the running of the show proper. You know, updating the website to this year would be a start kind of thing. So I don't really want to belabor this point. Other than, you know, I think we'll have some conversation as the year goes, and what we're seeing is kind of a changing, not a total change of the landscape of what we in the U.S. think of as a traditional pen show. But now that we're seeing more stationary-focused shows and more local-focused shows and opportunities out there for different, I don't know, different shows in different areas, you know, I think it's cool to see. So I don't want to see a show followed by the wayside like this just from inactivity. So anyway, we'll let that go. So when is Farney's first pen show? So Farney's actually conducts two in-store shows a year, you know, be it, you know, they call them trunk shows or, you know, vendor events. In the current slash old space, I guess it's old because it's not current, it's shut down right now. They would just have folks come in, vendors set up shop behind the glass displays and whatnot, and mainly sell more of what's already there. But in the Willard Hotel, where Farney's will be moving June, July, we're not going to have enough room in the store to do that. It's a much smaller location. It's like less than half the size. It's a small store. But we are going to have access to one of two of the Willard Hotel's ballrooms, which is going to afford Farney's the opportunity to have a bigger event twice a year. And this would include the same vendors, the same setups, but it would also include folks that may not normally attend, you know, nib grinders, you know, small batch makers, and, you know, maybe even other retailers that, you know, maybe aren't direct competitors. Who knows? Like a lot more possibilities there. So we're looking to put something together at the Willard Hotel in conjunction with the grand reopening of that store sometime in the summer and then probably again in the fall. And then we will have some sort of presence at the DC show. I don't really know what. I don't think the goal will be to sell anything. I think the goal will be to offer some sort of sponsor slash support service, TBD on that. But we definitely want to position Farney's more year over year to be a consistent, reliable, and, you know, a presence that's looked forward to at the DC pen show. It's our, I mean, we're in DC. Yeah. It makes sense. It should be, people should feel like they're going to the show that, you know, Farney's has a big hand in helping out with. Yeah, I totally agree with that. And hearing you talk about, you know, having space for, you know, smaller events, you know, that's kind of what I'm alluding to in like the choices that us as consumers have in this space now are really vast. And so kind of the traditional methods of a show, like, again, I'm not saying that they're going away. I'm just saying we have a lot more opportunities and to go spend, you know, a day or a day and a half at Farney's, you know, that might be more valuable to someone, you know, as opposed to traveling to the Atlanta pen show. So, you know, you might get just as much enjoyment from that. So that's really cool to see.
• All right. Let's really dig into everything that's going on with you. Let me talk about our first sponsor real quick and then we'll break it all down with Drew. So this episode of the pen act is brought to you by Enigma Stationery. Enigma Stationery offers unique items made from in-house designs, along with top brands and hard to find imports. This week, we're introducing Nikki Dottie. Nikki is a Dutch artist who creates original stationery designs with a dreamy theme from the fantasy worlds in her head. We've just added several great new items from Nikki's collection, including sticker sheets, washi tapes, stamp sets, postcards, enamel pens and clips. Head over to Enigma Stationery dot com slash pen addict. Use the code pen addict 25 at checkout to receive a free gift, free U.S. shipping or discounted international shipping orders of $50 or more. So head over to Enigma Stationery dot com and check out all this new Nikki Dottie work. It is spectacular. I love the washi, love the enamel pens. I'm looking at this bunny right now on my screen and it's just gorgeous. I'm going to have to have that and all these sticker sheets look amazing. So big thanks to Enigma Stationery for their support of this show and all of Relay.

Drew's Personal Life Updates

• All right, Drew, anything been going on past, you know, six months in your life other than, you know, being the president?
• Well, I mean, I did tell you that I was at Waffle House last night. True. I mean, that's pretty cool. That's like we should just end the show right there. Obviously, things have been going pretty well for old Drew Brown if he was at Waffle House last night. No, it was funny. My birthday was March 20th and I hadn't yet done anything with my brothers. I have two younger brothers and they were like, Drew, we should do something. Drew, we should do something. And I was like, yeah, you know, something. And then finally we were, you know, going to get together last night and they were like, pick some place. We'll go out to eat. Where do you want to go? Is there some place that you've been curious about or whatever? And I was like, yo, I just kind of want to go to Waffle House. So like, come on, Drew. But yeah, we went to Waffle House. So, you know, we did that last night. We went to, we took a little bit of spring break. You know, my son was out of school. We took a quick, you know, just kind of two night trip down to Nags Head. So that was fun.
• That's a pretty popular beach location for folks in Virginia where I'm at. And then let's see what else been going on. I guess today we celebrated just like an early Easter thing with my family. My son, who is 11, is probably finishing up the years of Easter egg hunting, but he still wants to continue so far. So, you know, but it's just one of those things where we're just enjoying it while it lasts and having fun with it as long as he wants to do it. So it's an interesting situation in our family with, you know, a kid getting older. He's like the only kid in my family. So he gets all the attention. And, you know, once he stops being a kid, it's like, that's it. There's no other kids happening, you know. So it's been interesting. But no, all in all, it's been going well, you know, family-wise here on the weekends. It's been really pleasant. You know, my hobbies have kept me busy. There's a bunch of stuff to do around the house always. And, you know, it's warming up. So we're looking forward to doing some gardening here soon. Oh, gosh, it's getting beautiful outside. I am definitely liking this time of year. Yeah, I don't know if Georgia is as yellow as Virginia is right now. We have passed through most of it, I think. We have too. Last week, it was really bad. Yeah, but it's aggressively yellow. So that is the pollen count for today. It's just aggressively yellow. Nice. It's much better. So good. I'm glad things are settling in for you. You've had a pretty hectic, I don't know, I guess last six months or so, you know, professional. Oh, year. Yeah, year. Last year or so. Last year. Time goes fast. That's, again, with the kids thing. Like, yeah, it's going to go fast. But, like, the time frame of you, can you even remember, like, a month ago? Like, it happened so fast that all of a sudden, hey, here's Drew here. And now, uh-oh, Drew's not there anymore. Like, what was the process like, you know, from your previous employer? Not the leaving part, but, like, the first month after you weren't doing what you had always done, right? For so many years, you did this thing. Yeah. And then now for, like, I don't know, let's say a month afterwards. Like, what was that feeling like? Where was your head at? That is a... It was a lot. For a time, you know, probably over a week, I knew I had no job. My wife knew I had no job. And no one else knew.
• We were just doing... I was just, you know, trying to not really make a big deal out of it. Not, you know, trying to be the first one to talk about it until someone else kind of came to me having heard about it from someone else. So until that time, I just kind of kept it quiet. And I didn't know what I was going to do. I felt completely lost. I felt naive and foolish that I had wrapped up so much of my identity in my job. And I thought that it was... I guess I thought I was safe to do that because I really thought I'd be there forever. And then come to find out that it was not safe to do that. No one should do that. That's not a thing you should tie your identity to ever. No matter how long you think you're going to be there, how much you might love it. It's just... It's not a safe thing to do. And I did it. And it's a dangerous thing to do when you wrap up so much yourself in something that can be, you know, taken away. I mean, it's one thing to do that with like something you love, like a family member. You know, you love hard, you lose hard. But with a job, I don't know. I felt like I, you know, kind of committed too much of my identity to it. And I was kind of paying the price for that. But I didn't feel like I had any value. To be perfectly honest, I felt like having lost what I lost, I was now, you know, all of the relationships I made, all of the connections I made, all the friends, like they were only there because of where I was positioned professionally. I didn't... I thought all that was lost. I thought it was over. And I, you know, I applied to a bunch of different jobs. I, you know, I, it just, yeah, I really did think I was going to be there forever. And also like trust issues, man. Like, sure. I thought I was questioning everything. I was like, when you think you have a, you know, kind of handle on reality, and then you realize, actually, you know, what you thought you knew wasn't true. And it makes you just question everything. Like, what else don't I know? Or who else am I wrong about? You know, who else feels this way about me? Like, who do I know? Will I ever know? Like, when, if this can happen now, where else can it happen? It really messes with you. And yeah, that's where I was. It was incredibly difficult, especially those first couple weeks when it was just me and my wife. And we were alone in that knowledge and just trying to scramble to figure out where our life was going to head.

Emotional Impact of Job and Personal Identity

• Yeah, I think that's a super important point about how you felt about, you know, your personality being tied up into your job. And those were so heavily intertwined. And when that breaks, how it affects you on a personal level. And, like, I think it's really good advice, even though, you know, I imagine that's a lot of, that's hard advice for a lot of people, too. Like, to manage that when you're in a situation where your job and your identity are so intertwined. And it's like, well, how can I not do that? Like, this is who I am. Like, I feel like, you know, from your perspective, I don't want to put words in your mouth. You're just you, right? Like, you showed up as you every day. And, you know, being that way is why we're here today in this great new situation. And, you know, I just want to say, you know, like, I'm glad that you're in the stationary business still. Because I think your voice is valuable. And you're important. And you have, you know, obviously, a lot of people that love you. I'm trying to make you cry here real quick. Oh, no, it won't take a lot on this topic. But, yeah, I imagine that processing time was really, really tough. I don't envy you going, you know, like, you know, quiet for a while. And I'm just wondering, like, did you have thoughts of just like, I'm out stationary. I'm out. I don't want to be around any of this. Or did you start thinking that's like, well, I really enjoy this. Also, I'm good at what I do. I have knowledge and expertise that I could give to someone. What was your thought process after, you know, things just kind of settled down, you know, mentally and you started thinking about the next step? Well, I can definitely tell you I did not think that I had expertise or value. Like, that was in the toilet. Like, there was not one ounce of me that thought that I was an asset in any form of the word. Like, absolutely not. I felt insanely low. And I was certain that I did not have a place in the stationary industry. I was certain that it was all over and that I was only like what little, you know, popularity or, you know, whatever I had was gone now because I wasn't where I was. And so, no, I applied to dozens of jobs outside the stationary industry. I applied to CarMax. I applied to the Science Museum of Virginia. I applied to Sowers, who makes Duke Mayonnaise. Like, it's like, you know, I thought I didn't know where I was going to go. So, then it was, you know, it became public. And that's when I started. Now, this is the part where I usually cry. That's when I started getting the kind words sent my way. And in days, maybe two days, my wife and I both went from thinking that we were just completely lost and alone and had no idea what was going to happen to being completely overwhelmed by the most sincere outpouring of empathy, kindness, and love. That I probably will ever receive at the scale in the rest of my life. Like, this isn't something that happens to anybody. To have something happen to you that brings people to you with genuine, sincere support, a lot of whom I've never actually met in person. And it came in waves. And I'm not talking about just like, hey, you know, hope you're doing okay. Like, no, man. Like, paragraphs of just real, real kindness and people saying the right things. Literally, I didn't talk to anybody about this. They just heard and I confirmed, you know, when they reached out to me. And then they would say, you are more than your job, Drew. You are. And I didn't say anything. I didn't tell them how I was feeling or anything. But yet the words came and they hit me exactly where they needed to. And for years, I've told people, you know, about, you know, I've tried to help folks with mental health. And I thought I had a good handle on the concepts. But until you're in it, you realize, like, I have no idea what I'm talking about. Like, I was just talking about my ass the whole time. You know, I'm trying to give people supportive, you know, advice. Like, who am I? I have never been through anything. But in this moment, here I am realizing that I don't have the tools to keep myself afloat. But everybody else, they kept me afloat. They kept my head above water. And of all of the mean things that my brain wanted to say to itself about its worth, its future, and who I am as a person and my identity, there were enough voices out there that legitimately quieted that mean voice inside my head. Which, that doesn't happen, man. Like, that voice has such power in everybody. Like, the mean voice inside our heads usually dominates. And even if you're married and in the best relationship for the longest time, even your spouse, who knows you the best, still can't stand up to that voice. It's, it's, it's indomitable. And yet, in this instance, it was drowned out by, by folks that I, that knew me. Even if I didn't know them, they knew me. They sincerely really did know me. And they said the things that, that were required to just shut that voice up. And they did. And I, I ended every day completely exhausted because of all of the horrible, depressing thoughts I was having and all the dark places my mind was trying to go to, everybody else was lifting me up. So, for as much, for as crappy as the days were, I was still not ending the day in the negatives. I was still, like, at zero. You know, I was at neutral. And I shouldn't have been at neutral. I should have been, like, negative 50. But everybody kept me at neutral. And so, I was ending the day completely emotionally exhausted. But also, I was, like, not in a bad place. And it was the weirdest thing because usually you feel that level of exhaustion. It means you're either, you're, you're really down low. But I was kept from going that low by these friends that I thought I had lost my connection to. But I didn't. Yeah. It's a lot of important things there. Number one, if you need help, ask. Ask for it. And if you see someone that you think you can help, just reach out and say, hey. Like, you know, it's okay to just reach out and say, hi. How's it going? Hope you're having a great day today. And, you know, in this case, you know, I'm sure I'm not the only one to tell you this. And a lot of people have said the same thing. But I'm just proud of you and how you've come through this situation, knowing how difficult it was. And, you know, it's not over. Like, you're going to have, you know, challenges on the daily, like, thinking about this stuff. And it's okay to talk about the challenges that we have. You know, I've talked for different times over the years that we've been doing this, like, you know, challenges that I go through. Right? We love our pens and paper and our stationery. But we're people first. Right? So getting through this time, these tough times with support systems, asking for help, and just making sure, you know, checking on your friends who need it. It's super important anytime, anytime. So it's good. I'm glad the community and your friends came out for you.
• Like, we know it's going to be okay, but we're not in the situation that you're in. Right? So, and you have every right to, like, just be just down in the dumps and just, you know, having terrible days. And I'm sure there were a lot of them, but I'm glad to see, you know, see some light. We're on the other side a little bit now. Yeah. It's something I'll never forget. Yep. One of the things I noticed before any, like, you know, mention of a job or any kind of new thing you were doing, you started to share a little bit more on YouTube. Right? Like, that was kind of a, like, an early goal to just, you know, I don't know if it was a personal goal. It's like, hey, I'm going to get out of my funk. I'm going to go talk to people, you know, either, even if they're not in the room, you know, let's go talk about movies or media or video games. Like, all the hobbies that you have and share a little bit on YouTube. How was putting yourself out there in that type of format helpful to you during this time? Well, it was helpful to me because I needed to reply. I needed to, of all, it was reciprocal. All these folks were sending back to me. Ugh. Hey. All these folks were sending back to me appreciation, kindness, and love that they had felt like they had, in a way, kind of received from me indirectly over the course of several years. And I realized that, like, I need to keep this going. Like, in a way, I felt like I owed it to them, but then the more I thought about it, like, no, it's not an owe. It's just a, it's just reciprocal. It's like this cycle of kindness needs to continue. And I don't ever want to not be able to engage with these friends. And I don't want to have to have my platform of engagement owned by someone else. I want to own my own identity on, you know, this platform. So I, you know, decided that, you know, hey, while I very well might have another platform professionally, I'm going to have my own as well. Something that is 100% me, 100% under my control, that is not beholden to a company. And it really started with a photo. And because after I got all these people reaching out to me, you know, and I hadn't really been posting on social media, I just took a selfie of, you know, I set my phone up on the back windshield wiper of a car and took a selfie of me, you know, shooting a thumbs up, wearing my jean jacket. And just kind of just wanted to show everybody that I'm doing okay. You know, thumbs up. There we go. I'm all right, y'all. And a friend of mine had taken that picture, given it to an illustrator friend of his and sent it to me as like a little cartoon rendering. And I'm like, wow, this is super cool. He's like, yeah, man, it's free. Do what you do with it, what you will. And then I also happened to simultaneously have a bunch of folks that were like, we'd love to see you do more content. Please, please, please, please. Like, can we support you some way? So I'm like, well, maybe I should take this picture that this guy made of me, get some stickers done up, and they can buy the stickers. And I'll take whatever I make there and, you know, buy some equipment with it. And I did that, sold, you know, 200 stickers in like three hours and used the money to buy this camera and this mic and these lights. And I was like, all right, cool. Well, if y'all want it, here we go. So it was just, and it just, the fact that it all started with just me letting everybody know that I'm all right. And that's what that picture was. And that picture kind of became like my icon for the channel and stuff like that. So it just all goes back to that one moment where I just was like, I'm okay. And then everybody replied with support and saying, we want to continue seeing you in whatever way you want. And I'm like, all right, seriously? Because, I mean, if you mean that whatever way, like, I'm going to talk about some random crap. So I hope you're ready for that. And, yeah, so, you know, I knew what I was kind of getting into. But really it was just an effort to just continue to be me on this platform and to continue to maintain these relationships, which now I knew were 100% genuine, sincere, and just for me, not, you know, where I happen to be employed.
• Looking back, it's a pretty good line in the sand of transition. You know, I'm sure it wasn't thought of at that point. Maybe not thought of now. But it was like, okay, we're going to move forward. We're going to do something for ourselves. You know, I'm going to put my mark out there. I'm going to be me. I'm going to own my own, myself.
• And just putting that out there, it was great. At any point, did you think about becoming a penfluencer?
• No, because... Yes!

Community Support and Job Opportunities

• No, at the... When it got out, you know, everybody was here. I was wondering about, you know, the fact that I was unemployed. And that included folks that wanted to talk to me about jobs. So as soon as, you know, the community heard about it, you know, the companies heard about it as well. So at that point, I had a pretty good feeling that I was going to, A, have the opportunity. And B, I was 100% committed to staying in the industry. Because what kind of a fool gets this sort of outpouring and then leaves this community? Like, I'd have to be an idiot. Like, there's no way. So no matter what, come hell or high water, I was staying in this community and continuing to serve these folks that lifted me up in a way that I will never experience again the rest of my life. And that in a way that most people live and die without experiencing. Like, hell, I'm going to leave that. So I was fully committed at that point to staying in the industry. And I was pretty sure that I'd get an employment opportunity. So I knew that at some point, I would be behind the camera, again, talking about pens professionally. So I was like, I'll cross that bridge when I get there. For now, in order for me to maintain sincere and genuine excitement for these products, I can't be doing content about pens on the weekends and throughout the work week. Like, that's just, you're going to, I don't care how much you love something, you're going to run dry. So, and of course, I have a ton of other hobbies too. So I have no shortage of things to get nerdy about. So I basically just said, you know what, I'm going to, we'll do that professionally and we'll do other crap recreationally. Love it. Love it. It's, yeah, it's a perfect setup, honestly. It's ideal. And I'm not just saying that because I don't want you to take my job from me. Oh, right. I'm not organized if I don't have my stuff together near enough to even hold a candle to you, Brad. I'm just joking. I'm just joking. All right. Well, let's talk about this next phase because you eventually got a job. But first, before we do that, I have a job to do. And that is to read this ad from our wonderful friends over at Kenro Industries. So this episode of The Pen Antic is brought to you by Esther Brook. If you're looking for a pen and accessory set that's playful, thoughtful, and beautifully crafted for everyday use, look no further than Esther Brook. Esther Brook relaunched in 2018, breathing a whole new life into an already iconic American writing brand. Since the relaunch, Esther Brook have focused on beautifully crafted products that blend heritage with modern storytelling. And they're known for creative materials, creative packaging, and meaningful collaborations that speak directly to writers, journalers, and pen lovers. As I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, their newest launch is a collaboration with Helen of The Coffee Monsters Co. Helen is known for her whimsical illustrations and global journaling community. For this collaboration, Esther Brook and Helen of The Coffee Monsters Co. have created a special edition Estee fountain pen. It's presented in a cafe latte-inspired resin, which I think is beautiful and exclusive to this release. It also has a custom blended grip and ring section for tonal and textural touch, unique to this edition. And this pen includes a specially engraved emoti nib, also designed just for this collection. It's packaged in a beautiful box featuring exclusive artwork and a sticker sheet designed by Helen herself. So I've had this pen for, I don't know, going on a month now. Not only do I love the pen, I love all the accessories that came with it. I use the stickers that came with that shipped in the pen box. I'm literally using the blotter paper as we speak in writing my notes for this episode. So not only do I love the pen, I just love Helen's design aesthetic. So you can also grab some of these other items that complement your new Estee perfectly. Like I mentioned, the coordinating ink, the Coffee Monsters Co. ink. It's a warm brown blend, perfect for the pen. Or how about a set of blotter papers to round out your writing experience? All designed with Helen's art and everyday journaling in mind. This special Estee pen will be available to begin buying April 9th, which is past us now. It's available. Just go to estabrookpens.com to get yours. That is estabrookpens.com to grab your special edition Coffee Monsters Co. pen.
• Our thanks to Estabrook for their support of this show and all of Relay. That reminds me, I need to go buy the ink. I don't have the ink yet. I have a brown ink thing, Drew. I didn't think I would ever be into brown inks. Now we're talking. Yeah, we're, hmm. Well, I guess, gosh, that makes sense, given your name. Are you a brown ink person? I mean, I am. I have two brown inks that are new that I haven't even inked up yet. I got one at Jenny Bick in D.C. It was my first dominant industry ink, and I cannot remember what it was. But it's a nice earthy brown, and I am excited to try it. And then I got a Colorverse 50 States ink. It's like the Montana ink, I think. And that's a brown, and I want to use that too. So I don't know. I'm behind on my browns. I know. I know. That's been like a year or more thing. Brown and burnt orange. Like two colors I never really got into. And those are my shades now I use them. Ooh, burnt orange. Yeah. I like that. I mean, I'm literally wearing an orange hoodie as we're talking today. But it's like bright orange. Like I was always into bright oranges. Yeah. And just like really colorful oranges. And now I'm into like browns. Yeah. I'm down with some browns. Yeah. Let's do it. All right. So at what point did Right Side Holdings, aka Retro 51, for all of you that don't know, there's essentially now a holding company called Right Side Holdings that owns Retro 51. And they had bought Farnie's Pens. I really don't know how those played out. But how did they first get in contact with you? And what were those conversations like? Yeah. Well, first of all, it is kind of confusing, the whole Retro Right Side thing. So Right Side Holdings owns Retro 51. And they also own a distributing company. And they also own Farnie's Pens now. So that's like the big dogs. But Farnie's isn't not directly owned by Retro 51. Right. But yeah, Jeff from Right Side reached out to me. I had met Jeff a few times at a couple different pen shows. And he called me and said that he was looking to acquire a company and wanted to know if I might be interested in being in it.
• And would I sign an NDA? I was like, oh, OK. Sounds serious.
• So I did. I was like, yeah, sure. Tell me about it. I thought he was going to be like, you know, hey, we've got this new pen brand that was dead in the 80s. And we're going to revive it. And we'd like for you to make videos about it all day, every day. So I was expecting a brand that he bought, not a physical store in D.C. So when he said it's Farnie's Pens, I was like, wait, like Farnie's Pens, the store? Because that's like not what I thought. I was very shocked. And when he later was like, yeah, I just need somebody to more or less run it. I'm like, hang on. That's not what that I'm not that. I what? So, yeah, it was a shock, like big time. Obviously, I didn't even know it was for sale. Technically, it wasn't for sale. Like they, Farnie's never opened it up. It was just, it was, they directly approached Right Side about the opportunity. So no wonder, you know, no one knew about it. Yeah. So yeah, I was taken back. It was an opportunity that I did not think would be a possibility for sure. Was the conversation early on, even though maybe they, when you're, they're having these conversations, they haven't officially bought Farnie's yet, but it was, you know, in the works was the conversation with you that you would essentially have free reign. This would be, you know, your store to put, you know, your stamp on and, you know, obviously there's, you know, guardrails and guidelines and budgets and all that stuff. But were you given like an, an open concept, if you will, to come in and make this yours?
• Um, in a way, I, I think that they knew that it needed to be adapted and the previous owners also knew that it needed to be adapted. They had taken it as far as they could take it and they weren't able to just kind of like break through the barrier of, you know, 21st century relevance. And that's a big part of why they were looking to pass it along. And a big part of why Jeff and, you know, Adam and Joe at right side wanted to involve me. They felt like I would be a good person to help facilitate that adaptation, if you will. Um, and they knew that I, you know, more or less had a good head on my shoulders. They, we had met and they talked about that. We talked at length and realized that our values were pretty symmetrical and that, you know, we both wanted the same things and felt that businesses should kind of be, we both agreed on just kind of like general business ethics and practices and stuff like that. So once they knew that I was more or less in line with them and they, I think they already knew that. Um, again, like I, if you, I think folks mostly know me, I don't, I bet I don't cost as much on videos and stuff like that. But other than that, I am, I am me. I don't, I don't have a different version of me that I put out there. So honestly, if you think you know me, you probably do. So there wasn't really any surprises there, but, uh, they felt like I would be the right person to steer the ship. You know, I can't do everything. I'm certainly, I'm more of a jack of all trades sort of person, but I know how to identify broken things. And I know at least the path they need to be put on to make them better. Even if I cannot directly fix everything and make everything better, I can, you know, more or less find the right way to get the ball rolling.

Introduction to Farnie's Pens

• I think a lot of our listeners will be familiar with Farnie's pens or have at least heard the name, if not shop there. Is there like a quick Farnie's 101 that you could share with us just for people who are not familiar with the store at all? Like how long have they been in DC? Like, is this, this is a, this is a, for lack of a better term, an historic company in the town. Yeah. I mean, as far as I know is when it comes to brick and mortar pen stores, it very well might be the oldest in the country. I know that there are some stores that have sold other things like, I don't know, like that also sell pens, but as far as like a pen centric store, it's, it was founded in 1929 by Earl Farnie. And it was actually originally called the, you know, Farnie's pen hospital. So, or Farnie's fountain pen hospital. And yeah, so from, it'll be celebrating its centennial in 2029. So we're just a few years away from that. And in the early seventies, it was sold to the Sullivan family who just sold it to Right Side Holdings. So, uh, Right Side is the third owner and it's been in DC since 29. I think that when Mr. Farnie started, he had like a little mobile shop somewhere within another store and then kind of had a little kiosk set up here, there. And then he actually had an actual store in the Willard hotel where we're going to be moving in June, July, the same exact door that we're moving. In fact, the same space that we are going to reoccupy the same spot that Mr. Farnie had Farnie's in, uh, during the 1950s. So it's been in DC for a very, very long time, certainly longer than you or I have been alive. And, uh, you know, it's going to continue to stay there. The relocation is happening and it's only going to be moving a block away. So we're still going to be right there in the neighborhood. What was the reason for the move? Like, was there any particular reason? Like, it's a great historical story. I loved your Instagram, uh, on that. Now I'll have links in the show notes for everyone who's, you know, hearing us talk about all this stuff. I'll have a bunch of links in the show notes for y'all. But, uh, was there like a driving force behind the move? No. Um, the, I think that, um, the Willard had actually reached out to the previous owners, the Sullivans, and said, Hey, we've got this space. It's been vacant. Uh, what are y'all up to? And coincidentally, the lease at the current space was up in February. So, and it had no AC and it just kind of worked out. So with the fact that this move to the Willard was on the table and the fact that Drew Brown was currently unemployed, right side was like, Hey, you know what? Maybe this could work. There's, there's, there's a few things here in the mix that might really make the next chapter of Farnie is something interesting and unique. And what's the, what's the timeframe for the move? I think you mentioned y'all are shooting for the summer. I mean, we, yeah, we'd like for it to be June. Um, but you know, with historical sites like the Willard hotel, you know, we've, we're looking at permits and licensing and insurance issues. So, uh, barring any crazy things we'd like for it to be June, but, uh, right now it's empty. We're getting the floor torn up. We're getting drawings made. We're going to get electrical planning in. So, uh, we're very much in the thick of it. And as far as the remodeling process process goes, it used to be a florist and there was a massive, massive walk-in cooler in there and that needed to come out. So it's been a bit of a thing, but yeah, right. Just keep it all in there. Yeah, so we're very much in, it's still very raw right there. So we've got to pull a lot of stuff out. We've got to put a lot of stuff in. So hopefully if everything goes well, we're looking at like a late June sort of thing. Okay. And just for clarity purposes, Farnie's does have online operations as well, right? So regular full online store is you're not physically open at all right now in the former store. So we're shut down for this, for this move and build. Yep. Okay. Yeah. And like I said, it, it, it didn't have AC. So as the temperature starts to change, it would not be like last year they had to bring in portable AC units. It was, it was unpleasant. Yeah. Yeah. So we're, we're going to, you know, save the money on the rent and pour it into the new space. Okay, cool. That'll, that'll be great. And if, you know, you can, I know you said the space was smaller, but if you can at least implement a couple of logical things that will help y'all in the future, I'm sure y'all are all about that. Yeah. I think that the, the last space was too big. I think that, well, when I got to go to Japan in October with CY, I got to pop into a bunch of different stores. I cannot be more grateful for the opportunity to do that because when I walked into Bungu Box, I was floored at how small it was. And here it is, this, this store, this brand that I've heard of for years. And for a brand in Japan, a store in Japan to have its reputation, make it all the way over to me. And I couldn't tell you like, well, why is Bungu Box popular? Like why, what is special about them? I'm like, well, they do some exclusives. I couldn't really tell you why, but they're doing something right. And for the fact that this little, you know, unassuming store is the source of this magnificent intercontinental reputation. I realized, holy crap. Okay. Like, you know, size doesn't matter. You know, they can really, you can get it done. And I think that that's a really cool thing to see. You know, of course I saw larger stores too, but a lot of the stores out there were more, you know, quality over quantity. And that's really the position that we have to adopt with a smaller location. It's not going to be everything. It's going to be, you know, the latest, the greatest, the greatest hits, the big dogs, you know, the folks, the things that folks come in most to see. We're not going to have every single refill available in there. We just can't. But it's going to be probably more of a boutique experience, which I think it's going to be fun to put together. Yeah. The modern stationery store. I love it. Like, I think that's the, that it's only smart. Like, I just think that whole concept sounds perfect. I have a bunch more questions we got to get to. Let me pay some more bills and get this last ad read in. And then we're going to get down to some more business here. So this episode of the Penn Act is brought to you by Factor. You might be feeling that it's time to optimize your nutrition. If that's you, Factor has chef-made gourmet meals that make eating well easy. 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They are perfect for my work-at-home lifestyle. They're perfect to take on the go if you're going into the office as well because they're small, compact, heat up in a microwave in two minutes. And the flavors are spectacular. I love getting the chef selection when I pick. I let them make the choice. They know what's good. And they send it my way. And we go to town on all of these wonderful Factor meals. So eat smart with Factor. Get started at factormeals.com slash penaddict50off. Use the code PENADIC5050OFF to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping. That's code PENADIC50OFF at factormeals.com slash PENADIC50OFF to get 50% off plus free shipping on your first box. Our thanks to Factor for their support of this show and all of Relay. Very important question for you, Drew. How important have cherry blossom trees become to your life? Ha ha. Yeah. Uh, well, quite, quite, quite important, I suppose. Like the, the, uh, the newest cherry blossom pen actually has the Willard on it. So that was really exciting because we kind of launched the, you know, retro 51 cherry blossom 2025 pen in conjunction with announcing Barney's relocation to the Willard Hotel. So it's a gorgeous pen. I had very little feedback on it. I basically just was like, Hey, this background over here, let's continue it all the way down instead of just ending it here. Other than that though, no, it was basically, basically Richard from retro killed it though. It's a beautiful looking pen. Um, but yeah, it's been doing really well and it makes me happy because I feel like every little purchase of that pen is kind of like a little vote of confidence for the relocation and kind of the next chapter of Farney. So it's, it's been pretty cool. So right now, cherry blossoms occupy a positive space. It's such a cool pen to see every year. You know, even if, you know, people aren't, you know, a Farney shopper per se, you know, a lot of people like retro 51s. A lot of people have cool designs and their cherry blossom pen. Uh, every year with retro is like, I don't even know how many years it's been doing. It seems like there was a post not too long ago. Uh, do you recall, or I don't even know. Yeah. It's been a while. They come out with a new, um, cherry blossom pen. They post like, uh, you know, on Instagram, they post the whole thing of all of them together. Yeah. It's been a, it's, it's been a long time and it's always a great marker of the spring. And I love that pen. All right. So this is, um, kind of a broader question on like maybe like philosophy and you've kind of gotten into like the store philosophy a little bit. And the, one of the things that I see as the challenge for the brick and mortar, which it, it's pretty clear to me that y'all are already thinking about is like, what are y'all trying to solve for? And especially with this move, you're making it pretty clear, like Farney's in the past, we're still going to honor that in the name and what it is. Like it's, it's an institution like in DC, like people know about Farney's. So, you know, and people, I'm sure you've had people coming in. They're, I have been coming here for decades. I came in with my, you know, my parents back in there, you know, whenever, like it's, it's has that kind of type of institution. People have expectations because of that. But now, like we're talking about stationary stores are starting to modernize. Right. And we have a different kind of, I don't know. I don't know if mindset's the right word, but like the shopping experience is a little bit different, but where you're physically located in Washington, DC and what this store has been to that community. I wonder how you're going to balance. Like I wrote in our notes, how do you manage the cross towns and ballpoint pen crowd with the possibility of like, you know, being a place where a traveler's caravan could stop or getting the Kaweco DIY in-store experience? How do you, how does Farnies expect to balance those, those classic expectations versus being a modern pen store? Yeah, that's a really good question. And yes, I have absolutely asked myself the same question numerous times. It might be different if we weren't positioned where we are. And, you know, you bring up a good point. In DC, you get a lot of foot traffic from folks just wanting to come in and buy that Montblanc so they can put it in their pocket and be seen with it in the boardrooms and making sure that they don't have something that's going to draw criticism or concern or like it is very much an optics thing and it is very much alive. There was one day I was in the store and I had, you know, a fountain pen nerd, like, you know, one of our buddies from pen shows and then right next to them, I had a DC person that just wanted that, that status symbol. And we had that opportunity for them both to actually have that conversation like right there in front of me where this gentleman was like, no, it's a, it's a thing. Like we, you have to have a Montblanc. You just, you have to, otherwise I'm going to get funny looks or I'm, you know, and she just could not wrap her head around this. She was like, wait, but what, but, but, but what about what you want? And it's just not about that. And it's as bizarre as it might seem to the hobbyist crowd, to the, you know, pen show going community. It's a thing that Farnies has to understand and has to support and embrace. But we also, you know, I want Farnies to embrace the community as well. I mean, I think, you know, I just, you know, went off and told you how much I am just in love with the people in the community for forever. A just massive depth of reasons. Not only, you know, the ones that have personally benefited my mental health, but, uh, the ones that like, I see that this is what is the lifeblood of the pen community and the hobby and the industry is the folks that are passionate and energetic about not only the pens that they have, but the next pen that they're going to get. And they, they drive the industry in trends and things and they, they develop it. And that's not something that the black Montblanc 149 users are going to do. And you need to embrace them both at the Willard hotel. This is a very upscale hotel. We're not going to, it's not going to be a kitschy, you know, stationary store. It can't be, it needs to be as upscale as the hotel. It just has to be. Um, but at the same time, we do need to branch out and we do need to start carrying some lower priced pen so that when someone walks in, yeah, they're going to see Montblanc on the back wall. They're going to see some higher end stuff, but right in front of them, they're also going to see some preppies and some Twizbys and some, uh, Kawecos and some pilot explorers. Like I, I want there to be something there for everybody. And I believe that there is a balance to be struck and I'm also optimistic. I'm putting on my glass half full hat here and thinking that if you do have one of those, you know, Montblanc business folk come in and I think that I can show them that there's more excitement to be had, that there's more passion to be injected into their everyday writing. Even if they stick with a Montblanc, like that's a great pen to have, but let's get excited about some inks. Let's try some new stuff. Let's, you know, I do think that there's opportunity there. If you can get any fountain pen in their hands, be it a Montblanc or a preppy, that's what I want to do. I want to begin the process of becoming passionate about writing, whatever form that might take. The goal though, is to keep that passion up. And I feel like the storefront can do that with the right amount of balance. Yeah, that leads perfectly into my next question. And once you got the job and the sale was complete and you're coming in to, you know, the Farney's location, the physical location. Was there anything you noticed quickly? Like, oh my gosh, they're like behind the times by not carrying this brand. Or, you know, is there something like you notice those like, oh my gosh, why do you carry this brand? Like, was there anything like immediately noticeable? We're going to have to save that for episode two because that's another hour.
• So the answer is yes. Yes. Big yes. Big yes. I mean, you, I walked in the first day, I heard a fax machine and a typewriter happening.
• Okay. Yeah. Wow. Oh yeah. Like I would, I would, I would almost understand the typewriter more than the fax machine these days, to be quite honest. I had a hard time wrapping my head around it for sure.

Challenges of Modernizing Farnie's Pens

• It's yeah, no, there's a lot of, you know, old school and antiquated processes and technology and mentality. And that has been a struggle. It really has. But, you know, it's, this is, this is why I'm here. This is why we are the next custodians of the company is to take what has brought it this far, continue doing all the right things, all the things that it does well, and all the reasons why folks have continued to support the company for, you know, nearly a century and then build upon that. So yeah, the, the fax machine is not going to be a part of Barney's success strategy going forward. Oh, that's amazing. Um, yeah, I, I am excited. I know you're excited. I know you're, you know, very, I know this is going to be fantastic. Like, uh, no, no pressure at all, but like, I mean, it's a, it's a tall order. I mean, it's like, it's like, you know, buying a house, getting excited about, you know, painting and doing the floors and then realizing that, Oh wait, no, the inspector tells you that there's a crack in the foundation. You're like, ah, yeah. Yeah. So there's a lot that needs to be done before the fun stuff, the decorative stuff can happen, but you can't, you know, there's no point in painting a house with a cracked foundation. So right now we're very much in, let's make sure that the foundation is fine. We're digging in, we're finding more things like, Oh God, is this termite damage? Yeah. Oh crap. All right. Hang on. We don't even worry about the paint yet. Let's, let's, we got to replace this beam. So we're really, we're, we're at that stage and it's, it's not the fun part, unfortunately, but we'll get there. And I'm committed to making sure that I'm not, you know, uh, putting anybody in a position to, uh, yeah, I just, I want, I want everything to work. Yeah. And that, that, that's the first and foremost goal that we need to make this place industry standard and then we can start to say, okay, well, what can we do that's extra? Yeah. Yeah. I love that. So, uh, on, on a personal note, how is it working, you know, for you and the family, like a new work schedule? How, how is life like with this new job these days, you know, uh, commuting, I guess some and, and trying to like managing construction and trying to figure out, you know, how all that's working. How is just like your, your daily work life going for you? Uh, if I did not have such a delightful home life, it would be difficult. Um, and it has, it has been difficult. Like I don't get home, you know, until sometimes right before my son goes to bed and sometimes I miss dinner and, uh, my commute's two hours. I I'm two hours on the train, but I do get to work on during that two hours. So I've got my laptop. I can answer emails, you know, provided that my hotspot or the Amtrak wifi holds out for me so I can get some stuff done. So, um, but it is a lot, you know, I do have to worry about train schedules and Uber rides and Metro rides. So it's, it's very, it is a new element of stress and anxiety that I'm not used to, but luckily I can manage that pretty well. And my, my family situation is just delightful. And my wife's incredibly wonderful and supportive and perfect in every way, honestly. But, um, it has been definitely a new wrinkle and definitely a new challenge, but we understood early on that the first year was going to require some sacrifice and I, you know, I'm up for it. And so is she. And we realized that long-term, this is going to be something special and something that we can both be proud of and something that's going to be worth the sacrifice. Yeah. Have you allowed yourself to think long-term? Like, have you allowed yourself to dream? Even though it's been like so hectic right now, I can't even imagine. I have to. If I don't, don't allow myself to dream, then I'm just going to be mired in the difficulties of the day. And, uh, that's not, uh, you know, the difficulties of the day become worth it when you can focus on the, you know, bright future that you have to believe you're working toward. Yep. Well, I can't imagine ending it on a better note than that. I'm gonna let you go spend some time with your wonderful family, your doggos. Are the doggos handling transition well? They're good, right? Oh my God. I get a text almost every day around, you know, five of my wife just telling me how bad my dogs are. Because when they're driving her insane, they're all mine. Exactly. Despite the fact that she got all three. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But no, they're just the same old barky hairballs. Yep. Gotta love them. Gotta love them. I do. Love them to death. Well, we love you to death. Drew Brown, president of Farney's Pens.
• I'm on the pen addict.
• I'm so excited. Well, hopefully this is not the last time, you know. There's a lot of changes and I'll love to talk about it. You know, hopefully I will visit up there once everything is, you know, in the new place. Yeah, give me some time. Oh gosh, yeah. I'm in no rush, believe me. I've been gone for, as we record this, I'll be gone. I've been gone for two weeks and I'm leaving again for a third week. So yeah, I'm good on the travel for a while. So yeah, I think that once the DC show rolls around, the goal is for everybody who goes to the DC show to feel compelled to check out Farney's. Like I want it to be a just must stop destination. If you're in the false church Marriott, you know, gotta go by DC and check out Farney's. So that's the goal. Please do. And I will have all the links in the show notes for everything Drew is up to. All the Farney's links that we talked about, all the YouTube links that we talked about, all of that will be in the show notes. I want to give a special thanks to our sponsors of this week's episode, Enigma Stationery, Kenro Industries in Estabrook, and Factor. Drew, thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for allowing me this opportunity. I am stoked to be a part of the only pen podcast ever mentioned by the office ladies.
• Oh gosh, I love it. I love it. I will never let that one go. Nor should you. One of my favorites, especially when I get people will randomly mention that to me from time to time. It's great. It's great. Oh, heck yeah, man. Yep. All right. Feather in your cap. We'll take it. We'll take it. That's a wrap. And we'll be back next week. I am not sure who will be on the podcast next week, Drew. We might see the return of the boss next week, Myke Hurley. But to be determined, to be determined, we're about that time. So I appreciate all my guests that have been hanging out and keeping me company and keeping us all informed and interested in this awesome hobby. That's a wrap on this episode. Until next time, say goodbye, Drew. Bye, Drew. Bye, Drew. Bye, Drew. Bye, Drew. Bye, Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher Sicher