Editing The Pen Addict 185/transcript (section)

== Karis Customs Pens ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' This week's episode of the pen addict is brought to you by our great friends over at Karis Customs. Karis Customs are an awesome pen maker based in Mesa, Arizona. And all of their stuff is made in their shop, and they are proud that they are based in the US of A. You know Karis Customs. They make pens that we love. Brad, what pens do Karis Customs make that you love?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So let's tell a story about this weekend. And we didn't clear this beforehand, but we're going to tell it anyway. You tell this story. Yeah. So my wife and I went away for a quick weekend getaway for our anniversary this weekend. And my wife has never been a huge fountain pen user. So she knows what I do. She knows what all this stuff is. She'll, you know, grab a fountain pen and doodle with it or whatever, but she's never been like really taken by it. So this weekend on our trip, she wanted to address her Christmas cards for everyone, and she wanted a fountain pen to do it with. So I gave her, I said like, what's a good pen for her to use? Just a generic pen, something basic that I can give her to see what she likes. And I gave her the TWSBI Echo or Eco, whatever we're going with this week. And she liked it fine. And she used it in the car. And when we got there, I always carry a bunch of pens with me. I had brought the Karis ink and the Karis Fountain K with me because those are pens that I enjoy and want to use. She's like, you know, I like this Eco, but what else do you have that I might like or that's different or that I can use and, you know, throw in my purse or do whatever. And I said, I gave her every pen I brought, which is about 10 pens, which I use none, by the way, on this whole trip. I didn't, I don't think I even used a pen. She used way more pens than I did. But I brought 10 because that's what you do, right? So I laid out all my pens for her. She tried every one. I mean, I had a Nakaya there. I had a TWSBI Echo there. I had a Sailor. I can't even remember everything that I brought. But I had two Karis.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Those were the two that she picked she enjoyed the most. And then the Fountain K with the brass section is the pen she's keeping for herself. Out of any pen she could have chosen, out of any pen she enjoyed writing with, the one that she enjoyed the most was the Fountain K from Karis. And this is a tumbled aluminum one with a brass section. It looks great. It feels great. The new Bach nibs, Dan, I'm so happy you have switched over to those. Not that Schmidt, nothing wrong with the Schmidt nibs. I love these Bach nibs. They allow my wife, who is not a fountain pen user, to just pick them up and start writing. And she can feel the difference in what she was using that as opposed to the Eco. She's like, it fit her hand well. It wrote exceptionally well. And that pen is now hers. That pen is no longer mine. So thank you, Dan. You're probably going to end up costing me more money with my wife because she was such a huge fan of both the Karis Customs pens. Without knowing anything about pens, that's what she now owns. So that is her pen.

'''Myke Hurley:''' As well as the pens that Brad mentioned, Karis Customs have a fantastic range of awesome stuff. They have the Render K, the Ink, the Bolt, the Retract, and the all-new EDK and Fountain K. And as Brad mentioned, all these nibs in the fountain pen versions now are made by Peter Bach, which are just fantastic quality pens. There are so many different color and material choices that you can make. These things really are fantastic. And you should buy a few and mix and match some of the parts like I do, which is one of my favorite things to do with Karis Customs stuff, is to kind of make my own Frankenstein models, which is just so much fun.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, just so I'm being completely honest, Myke, and fair to my wife, I told her she couldn't have the ink. That one's mine because I love that pen so much, that brown anodizing that they do. But when she got down to two, those were the final two, and I said, you can't have this one. She said, that's okay. I love this other one. I like this other one more. But I wouldn't let her have the ink because I didn't want to give that one up.

'''Myke Hurley:''' If you want to buy some more pens for yourself that you just can't give up or you have a loved one in your life that you want a surprise with a fantastic, fantastic pen, you should be going over to Karis Customs. You want to head on over to their lovely website, kariscustoms.com, and they are offering a fantastic 15% discount for listeners of The Pen Addict. If you use the code PENADDICT in the shopping cart before checkout, and this offer is good all the way up until January the 1st. It's still great for last-minute gifts. It's still great for you to buy a little gift for yourself if maybe you haven't got what you wanted this holiday season. So make sure that you add the code PENADDICT in the shopping cart before checkout over at kariscustoms.com. Thank you so much to Karis Customs for their continued support of this show and of RelayFM.

'''Myke Hurley:''' All right, so I've got some more questions for you, buddy.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Sure. Now that I've stopped crying, I should be good, so don't make me cry again.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I mean, you've kind of gone through some of this a little bit, but I kind of want to direct it a little more.

'''Myke Hurley:''' What do you think that being independent is going to allow you to do that you wouldn't have been able to do before? Because, you know, you say about, like, the marketing stuff and things like that, but what do you think that's going to look like on a daily basis? Do you think you're going to feel more connected to the company? Like, is it going to build your relationship with the people that you work with? Like, what types of things do you think you're going to be able to get to do that you just simply couldn't have done before?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So I don't want to simplify it, but it's literally the thing that keeps popping into my head is more. I just need to do more because I haven't been able – I've been able to give everything I can give up until this point. And now I have the freedom and the time and the ability to do more. And that's part of, like, what you're saying, to be around our employees more. I didn't meet Shanika, who's worked for us I don't even know how long now, maybe not quite a year, but a while. I didn't meet her for the first six months that she was there at least. I didn't meet her until the American Field Show. Wow. And that embarrasses me as a business owner, right? Yeah. You know, I felt continually bad about that with Jeff because I couldn't get up there. I can't get up to not during the week. I can only go on the weekends. Well, our employees don't work on the weekends, so I ended up not going and things like that. And, you know, I want to be there to support them and to cheer them on because the work they do is amazing, you know? And I want to witness that firsthand. And Jeff tells me all the time, and I'm, like, so excited to have Shanika and Alice and Dino working for us.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And when I hear Jeff raving about them, it just, in the past, I mean, it obviously excites me, but I'm sad, right? Because I'm not there being a part of that, and I want to be a part of that. So that's what it's going to allow me to do, to be part of Nock, even though I always have been and always will be. It's to be more directly involved, right? To be around, you know, everyone who works there. And, you know, maybe they don't quite understand, like, this, right? They don't understand this whole community that we have around it. They're starting to get it now. Jeff, you know, kind of brings them in. But, like, we had Mark Backus come to the shop to do a nib grind. You know, Alice and Shanika got their very first fountain pens that day when Mark came, right? So I want to show them the love that I have for this community and the love that I have for this company, Nock, that, you know, and that I just want to, I don't know, make that come through, I guess, in my availability and my presence there and my assistance and my support. And I want them to know they have that undying support for me, not just Jeff, you know. And it's been awesome. They're nothing short of fantastic and amazing. And I want to be part of that every day, you know, and now I'm going to get that chance.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And what is the first new thing, thing you've never done before, that you're going to try and tackle first?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' With Nock?

'''Myke Hurley:''' With anything?