The Pen Addict 303/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	303
Title:	Live from the Atlanta Pen Show 2018
Release Date:	April 15th, 2018
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	Ana Reinert
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 303
Audio File:	Audio Episode 303
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 303
Length:	6363 min <br />1.05 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Ana Reinert: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 303. Today's show is brought to you by Harry's and Panshele. My name is Myke Hurley and I am joined by Mr. Brad Dowdy. Hello Myke Hurley and hello Atlanta, Georgia.

Ana Reinert: And of course, a live episode of The Pen Addict would not be complete without the one and only Anna Reinhardt. Hi Anna.

Brad Dowdy: Hello. Hi everybody.

Atlanta Pen Show

Ana Reinert: So we're back in Atlanta for the fourth time. Four years in Atlanta. We're thinking about the fact that next year is five years, which feels like a pretty important thing.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I think we might have to do something a little special for that.

Ana Reinert: Yeah, don't know what yet. Send in your answers on a postcard. Thanks to everyone for helping us get here. All of our Kickstarter backers, of course, we have some of them in our audience today. So thank you to everyone that did that. And I'm sure we have many. Well, I know we have many more missing at home because we couldn't fit everyone in this room. I would like to do that one day, maybe hire out an auditorium somewhere. Seems like a pretty impossible task. But thanks to everyone for joining us. We have something special for people in the room today. Anna, would you like to explain what you have done?

Brad Dowdy: What you have wrought upon us.

Brad Dowdy: Thanks to the technical genius of Alexander Kramer and a long car ride from Arkansas to Kansas City, Bob and I cooked up the idea of turning the whole idea of pen addict bingo into an actual thing. A physical thing. A physical thing. We actually printed bingo cards. So everybody in the audience here has actual paper bingo cards, which are doubling as fans right now because it's kind of hot in here. Yep. But yeah, so Alex made it possible. Alexander made it possible for us to have a hundred plus random bingo cards here in the audience. So hopefully someone will bingo right here.

Ana Reinert: Yes. So like fools, we are allowing for the bingo to be called. Yeah.

Ana Reinert: During the show. So at any point we may have to stop as someone will call bingo. We will just take down the name of that person and then after the show they're going to be given a prize. I am going to call it at one winner so it doesn't continue to happen constantly because the more it happens, the more it will happen because it will just continue to get more filled up. Right. So there will be one winner for a line we're going to do. Right. I guess. Yeah. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: And we have to always ask Daddy Myke for permission to do these things like breaking up his technical audio recording for the podcast.

Ana Reinert: So much anxiety, Brad. Just like so much that you bring upon me, but I love you. Thank you. And we, so yeah, there's going to be a bingo during this episode. Hopefully. We'll see. So we are at the Atlanta Pen Show. So Brad, I wanted to know how has it been for you this year? Has it been busier than usual? About the same? It's Saturday. It's end of Saturday. I feel really tired because I'm a little bit sick. But how have you been feeling?

Myke Hurley: Yeah. We've had two of the best days we've ever had at the Atlanta Pen Show. This crowd has been amazing. Our tables at NOC have been packed and ransacked repeatedly throughout the weekend so far. The first two days, the overall feel of the show. So we've been doing this podcast four years here and I started coming to this show maybe two to three years prior to that. And I think this is the biggest and best ever. And you don't want to say that every year because it feels like you're being phony. But this year it really feels genuine that I've never seen so many like great people and packed hallways and full bars. This is the largest live audience we've ever had too. Yeah. The live audience is fantastic. So just from a general overview, it's got to be one of the biggest and best that they've done from a business perspective. So I'm also here for NotCo, our pen case company. You may have heard of us. Who?

Myke Hurley: You know, the Friday sales were better than any other Friday we've ever had. So and that goes for all shows. So this has been crazy. And just the general feel and vibe of this show have been really outstanding. I've talked to a lot of vendors who are repeating the same thing to me. They are ecstatic with the turnout. We have a lot of new vendors because they hear about this show. And, you know, I don't want to hype man us too much. But I mean, we're a little bit of that reason why this show is growing. And I'm proud of that. Like I take it I take it seriously that everyone comes to the show and has fun. It's a big deal for me that, you know, all of y'all put your faith in listening to us babble on about pens for so many episodes. And it's it's really important to me that everyone has a good time at this show. And I want to see it succeed and make it the best show we can. So thank you.

Ana Reinert: Oh, look at that. A round of applause.

Ana Reinert: Brad Dowdy for mayor of Georgia. Yeah. And what about you? Like as well as just the daytime, the evening activities are always fun at the pen show. If you find that to be any more vibrant or different this year to last year.

Brad Dowdy: It's we've everybody's been having a really good time. I mean, they keep changing the bar restaurant situation. I think they keep making the table smaller.

Ana Reinert: I don't know if they're trying to get out of here.

Brad Dowdy: Like closing the bar down earlier, but it hasn't lessened anybody's enthusiasm for hanging out. And I think everybody has been like everyone who sits in the bar area and in the restaurant area is still very warm and welcoming to new people who are coming and sitting down and sharing. And there's, you know, we keep passing like this time we just sat at the bar and just kept passing pens down. Yes. Last night we actually handed the bartender. Somebody handed her a metropolitan and said, you're going to get better tips if you give this pen to people to sign your to sign the bill. And she's like she said she said, I can't take this pen. And they're like, no, seriously, it's OK. Take the pen. And she and literally like we watched her turn around and give it to somebody to sign a bill. And they're like, oh, excellent. And I think they gave her a bigger tip. And we're like, we told you that was going to work.

Myke Hurley: Shout out to Brittany.

Brad Dowdy: And it was and she was like, oh, this is really cool. And we're like, this works. And I think something very similar happened in D.C. was that they gave the bartender a fountain pen. And he's like, this is awesome. And he kept getting better tips the entire time. And we're like, trust us, this will work.

Ana Reinert: So as well as attending, we do attend as like people coming to buy stuff as well. Usually. Brad, have you made any purchases this year?

Myke Hurley: I have made zero purchases so far this year. But Sunday is usually the day at this show if I do buy anything because I'm so busy Friday and Saturday. Like I barely get around to like run errands if I need to run errands. You know, we squeeze in lunch if we can. Right. So. Barbecue place, cold fire. Yeah. So that was it. So Rip Heirloom Barbecue. Check their Instagram. Wow.

Brad Dowdy: We got in under the wire then.

Myke Hurley: So all you Friday Heirloom Barbecue eaters, you did good. All you Saturday Heirloom Barbecue. Like us. Full worms. You're out of luck. Out of luck. So, yeah. We love you, Heirloom. We love you, Heirloom. And give us a shout out, Connor. When you get back in shape. So, yeah. I mean, it's just been fantastic. Anna, have you bought anything?

Brad Dowdy: I was lucky enough to hit a couple tables in our little small room. But it was literally a case of like woodshed pens was literally two tables over. And I walked over and I'm like, how long have you been here? And he's like, Friday. And he's like, I came in a little late. And I'm like, well, good. I don't feel quite so bad that I didn't realize you were here. And then I just, I walked over and I literally put my well-appointed desk stickers on most of his pens. And I'm like, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine. That's a good climbing method. Yeah. And he was like, that's not really going to work, you know.

Ana Reinert: It's easy to just give money in exchange.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. That's usually a better method. But, yeah. So, I basically kind of just said, okay. All right. I'll take this one. And he held it back for me. But I haven't actually really completed the purchase yet. So, most of my purchases have not actually been completed. But they are. They're on the way. Yes. The negotiation has begun. Yes. Yeah. We'll finish transactions tomorrow.

Pen Purchases

Ana Reinert: I have not purchased any pens this year. And I'm actually expecting to buy no pens at the show. And there's a couple of reasons. And there's a couple of things happening. So, one, Brad gave me a pen, which we're going to talk about in a minute, which I'm very excited to talk about. But I went to Jonathan Brooks' table. And he sought out of everything at, like, Friday afternoon. So, that didn't go so well. Everything's just gone.

Ana Reinert: Okay. It's a tip for next time. Get this straight away. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: So, our rule at pen shows is generally, like, take a lap first. Get the lay of the land. And Jonathan is the exception to that rule. If you see it, you should buy it right then. Yes.

Ana Reinert: I still want my king of pen. But I'm not getting it yet. And I don't know why. I haven't got a real good reason for this. People are like, oh, it's because of the wedding. It's not because of the wedding. I actually haven't got a real reason. I like Brad's. Brad's is the blue one. What is it called? The sky? Sky. Pro gear sky. They don't make that one anymore. That's all gone. And the next one is the ocean, which is not a demonstrator. And for some reason, I want to demonstrate one. And you can get a clear one. And I kind of want it. But I'm just not going to get it yet. And I don't know what it is. I don't know why. I want it. But I'm not buying it. It's very strange. I guess I'm pretty strange this time. I have actually spent money on a pen that I didn't buy at the pen show, which I can't talk about now. But can talk about next week.

Brad Dowdy: Aha.

Ana Reinert: And I'm only mentioning this because if you are a Canalea fan.

Ana Reinert: Gotcha. We are the worst. You want to tune in next week live to the show at 10 a.m. Eastern. You just do.

Ana Reinert: To avoid disappointment. But no, I haven't bought anything. But you gave me something. So over the last few months, Brad keeps buying me pens. He just keeps buying me pens. In a way that this has kind of never happened before. I don't know what happened. Maybe you pity me this year because I'm going to a wedding. I'm going to a wedding. I don't even know. I'm attending this wedding. But Brad keeps sending me pictures of classic retro 51s that he's been buying. I don't even like you. I don't know why I do this. It's very strange. And there was something that Brad found me. It's called the retro 51 Abondanza. And this is a pen that we couldn't find online. And can you tell the story about how you came across it? Yeah. So I was at the Little Rock Pen Show. And everyone's talking. I was like, why is everyone looking down? I said retro 51. So they were all marking off the bingo card. I was like, I lost everyone's attention. That's why.

Myke Hurley: So I was at the Arkansas Pen Show, which is awesome. And we'll talk to Lisa Vaness about the Arkansas Pen Show later. And I just go to that show to hang out. I don't really work. I help out Lisa. I help out the show. So I get time to shop. And when you actually have time to look around and see what else is out there, sometimes you run across some really neat things. And I've always had my eye on the retro 51 stuff for Myke because I know he likes it so much. Like I like retro 51. He has true issues with retro 51. It's a real genuine love. Yeah. So he absolutely loves them. So I saw this weird box on a table. And I opened it up. And the box has like this retro 51 imprint on it. And I pick up the pen. And the pen has no markings on it for the brand or anything at all. And I'm super confused about what this is. And the person whose table I bought it from was not real sure what it is. But it had the original box. It had the retro 51 sticker. So I did what any true pen addict would do. I DMed. DMed. Well, I bought it because the price was super fair for just taking a shot at something. And then I emailed retro 51 to say, what do I have here? They said, ah. Because this was unfindable on Google. Right. You Google it and it did not show up anywhere. And this has like a real label. Like it was a real product. And it's a real kind of fancy pen.

Myke Hurley: And so in this box, it had two section, two holes cut out of it for nib units. And there was only one nib unit. And when I emailed retro 51, they said, oh, yeah, that was a pen we did a while back. We don't, you know, it didn't do real well at the time. And do you have both nib units? They knew exactly what it was. And I said, no, I only have the rollerball nib unit for it. And they said, well, let me see if I can find you a fountain pen nib unit for it.

Ana Reinert: Because it's interchangeable. So it comes, it's one body, but you can put in a rollerball and it has like the cuff that you would tighten around it. Or it had a space in the box for a fountain pen.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So like a week later, a fountain pen nib from retro 51 for this super strange. Abundanza. Abundanza. That's how I say it.

Ana Reinert: I feel like I should have said it normally once before I said it weirdly. I don't know that there is a normal person. But like we just keep saying it like that because it feels like the only way. So this pen is super weird. The box is really awesome. It's like a wooden box that you open up and then the pen kind of raises out of the box. I absolutely love this. And I love Brad so much for buying it for me because it's, it has become a prized possession now because it's so friggin weird. Like I love it. It's like so strange. Like I don't, I can see why that maybe didn't sell very well because it like it, it is a odd pen. Like what do you do with the other half of it? Right. So like when, when you want to use it as the fountain pen and then you just have like a rollable refill and like a, what would you even call it? I don't really know how to describe it. I mean, it's just a section. It's the front end of the pen. So like, and you just put it somewhere. Like, I don't know where it's supposed to go, but like, I love that it is this really strange pen. It has no branding on it except for on the nib. And the nib is this like beautiful art deco style nib. And yeah, it's really nice. I'm going to take a picture of it and put it in the show notes so people can see what we're talking about. But this is just this super weird pen that has like completely satiated my desire to buy anything. Yeah. For this weekend.

Myke Hurley: And I'll tell you the truth. It cost me 40 bucks. It wasn't like it was some, you know, outrageous outlay. So you can take a chance on a 40 buck pen.

Ana Reinert: I wanted to thank Retro51 for sending you that as part of it as well. Yeah, that was really cool. Because that's awesome.

Myke Hurley: They're the best to us. They treat us really well.

Ana Reinert: Well, I mean, I treat them very well too, I think.

Ana Reinert: Hashtag sponsorship. I just, just, I, there doesn't need to be any money. I just want to be the spokesperson.

Ana Reinert: Like, I feel like I say this and they think I'm joking. Or they just really don't want me to do it. But like, I'll, I'll do it. Like, I'll give them a quote. Be like, Myke Early, official spokesperson of Retro51. No money needs to change hands. All right. All right. I will do this. All right.

Brad Dowdy: Anyway. I'm waiting for your head to go on the little end cap. You know?

Ana Reinert: Should we take a break? We have some guests today. So we have Jim Rouse of Franklin Christophe and Lisa Van Es of Van Espanse. And we're going to bring up Jim after we take our first break. And today I want to thank Pen Chalet for their support of this show. Of course, of course, Pen Chalet would support the show because they're amazing. They sell authentic, amazing rollerballs, fountain pens, ballpoints, mechanical pencils, and so much more. They have all of your favorite brands. They have fast and reliable and awesome customer service. They're always doing great discounts and specials so you can get amazing prices. But Pen Chalet offer great prices and they guarantee their 100% satisfaction with every purchase. They want to make sure that what you're getting, you're going to love. If there's any problems, they will make it right. They sell internationally with very reasonable shipping rates. And they do free shipping on orders over $50 in the United States. As always, go to penchalet.com, P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com. And click the podcast link at the top of the website. And enter the password penaddict for this week's special offer. And to get yourself the code that you need to save 10% on anything at Pen Chalet. Brad, this week's special offer is 15% off the Opus 88 fountain pens, which we were talking about recently.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I just got one in finally. And I'm seriously impressed with those. Have you used those yet, Anna?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I have a Chloro, which I lost on Thursday night, but found Friday afternoon. Yeah. That's great. That's great.

Ana Reinert: This is the first time Pen Chalet had discounted these pens. And they wanted to do something special for the live show. So that's 15% off the Opus 88 fountain pens. And this is before you add the 10% coupon as well. So that's some amazing prices. Our thanks, as always, to Pen Chalet for their support of this show and Relay FM. All right. So, Jim, would you like to come and join us on stage? Give us a round of applause, everybody, for Jim Rouse and Franklin Crystal. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So, Jim.

Myke Hurley: Sorry we interrupted your bingo. Yeah.

Speaker 04: You got a bingo? I'm supposed to mention some things here.

Ana Reinert: Don't listen to these guys. I got $5 a square.

Ana Reinert: So, Jim, thank you so much. Oh, have we got a bingo? We got a bingo? Yeah. If that counts as you getting excited about a sponsor. I'm super excited. All right. We got a bingo. Denise congratulations Everyone else you can keep playing

Myke Hurley: Should we do the prize now? No we'll do the prize later on

Ana Reinert: You're going to like this prize Congratulations Denise we got our bingo Everyone you can keep playing along But if you win Keep it yourself That was actually the perfect time to do this too Because it's not interrupted anything Denise thank you so much So Jim thanks so much for joining us It's a pleasure to have you For people that are unfamiliar with you Are unfamiliar with Franklin Kristoff Can you explain a little bit about you What you do and maybe a little bit about Franklin Kristoff And then we're going to dive into some things in some more detail Just kind of like super high level

Speaker 04: I don't work for Franklin Kristoff They work for me I am the nib guy at Franklin Kristoff So my main job is to set all the nibs Because we want the best nibs going out the door So basically what happens is Where a lot of companies buy the nibs as complete units And then screw them in We buy them as individual components We put them together And we screw them in the pen And make sure they work okay Now of course that doesn't include Myke's nibs But I also make my own line of nibs For Franklin Kristoff called the SIGs The SIG stands for stub italic gradient And those are designed to screw in like any other nibs But kind of halfway between an italic and a stub

Ana Reinert: Okay How long have you been doing this? Like in not even just for Franklin Kristoff But like involved in nib work and in the pen industry

Speaker 04: Well let's see after the arc landed

Ana Reinert: They needed two pens

Speaker 04: I was trying to figure that out Because I thought you might ask that I think it's been 25 years Okay In total Yeah

Myke Hurley: So where did you get started? Like how did you get started in this whole pen business?

Speaker 04: I started running the Baltimore store And being Bert's partner in Bertram's Inkwell

Myke Hurley: So like the original Bertram's Inkwell The original Bertram's Inkwell That's cool

Speaker 04: At least in that store

Myke Hurley: Yeah So that was like I guess 25 years That was in the 90s That was in the early 90s What were you doing before? How did you get involved in fountain pens to begin with?

Shoe Company

Speaker 04: Well believe it or not I worked for a shoe company And it was called Hess Shoes And I worked in I was a district manager So I traveled around the Washington area Going to these different stores These were like real high-end fancy shoes You know with alligators And all this kind of stuff Like big buck stuff back then And I used to go into Bert's store all the time And I really enjoyed looking at the pens and stuff And I was kind of into ballpoints back then There wasn't a stigma against ballpoints back then So I would go in and look at them And you know play around with them and stuff And every now and then He'd give me something to try to fix And I'd play around with it Well there was this jewelry store upstairs Called I think it was Jay Codwell's And they had just spent like a million dollars And I mean I think that's a reasonable estimate That's what the manager told me To redecorate this store And then three months later They went out of business So here's this store

Ana Reinert: Maybe they spent a little bit too much money

Speaker 04: Well this was a huge chain This was a huge chain And we're looking at this store You know because we knew They were going to sell off the fixtures They've got a vault the size of a bedroom in there They've got a complete phone system They've got chandeliers They had Honduras mahogany cabinets With brass trimmed You know bulletproof glass The whole nine yards Everything you'd want to open your own store So Bert and I decided That we would try to buy the interior of the store At auction And sell this stuff to make some money You know because it's a halfway decent investment Right So the manager of the store This is kind of funny But the manager of the store They fired But then they called the guy up and say Hey you want to come back for a day And sell off the contents of the store And he's like

Ana Reinert: Seems like a great idea Sure I'd be happy to

Speaker 04: So they tell him to place an ad in the paper So like in Wednesday's Washington Post or whatever There's like this I don't know Two line ad You know that says Store fixtures for sale So you know I go His name is Myke And I go Hey Myke You got any bids on that stuff yet He goes Nope not yet I go Well I'll give you a thousand dollars So this goes on all day You know I call the guy up Or he'd call me up And he'd tell me what the bids are And then I'd place another bed So we end up with this store And we're up there Bert and I walking around You know this This is like This is a great find You know all this stuff's ours now So then we realized What are we going to do with it We got to do something with this stuff Well the mall said They wanted the vault I mean this huge steel vault They wanted the vault Had to take the ceiling out To get it out of the place So they agreed That we could store the stuff there Until we could move it Now the Cases kind of fit together Like a jigsaw puzzle So we realized That we could reconfigure them To any shape We wanted to reconfigure them to So I don't remember Who suggested it I think it was Bert Said Well you know I got a lot Of extra merchandise And we could open a store In Baltimore And we could have a pen store Well to be honest with you I didn't know very much About pens at all But that sounded like A great opportunity Because I was tired Of being in the shoe business Because of that stupid Al Bundy So I like that show actually Married with children So we opened this store In Baltimore And I mean this was like Like real Mickey Mouse stuff I mean I made paper templates Of all the cases Which was an open end Which was a closed end You know and then we Fit the paper templates together Until they formed The horseshoe pattern We wanted here And the circle we wanted here And all that stuff And that was a fairly Successful store We did well with it Fortunately after I don't know Five or six years They told us we had to move Because they were Tearing the building down So we moved like One block up the street To the corner of Baltimore and Light Street And that's where we stayed Almost for 17 years Until the store closed Wow And what year was that It closed?

Myke Hurley: God I don't remember

Speaker 04: Oh yeah Sometime in the 2000s

Myke Hurley: So how does that Play into what you're doing now Like how did you go from that You know the store was open Successful Then oh well it closed And now you're with Franklin Kristoff And you're super famous

Speaker 04: I'm not super famous We had reps

Myke Hurley: I've seen the lines Jim

Speaker 04: I think you're pretty famous

Ana Reinert: Well thank you

Speaker 04: But we had reps That would come into the store You know and of course You know once you get Into the business You kind of want to Move up in the business So I was always asking If they had any positions Open or stuff like that Well after Bertram's closed One of the reps Contacted me and said We got a position With Hampton Haddon And Hampton Haddon At that time Did Schaefer And they did Waterford And some other lines And they needed a guy For Schaefer And what they wanted They wanted a Schaefer salesman That's really what I was told they wanted

Ana Reinert: So just sorry At Bertram's Were you a salesman there Was that what you did

Speaker 04: Yeah

Ana Reinert: Yeah

Speaker 04: Manager salesman Okay I mean we had Three or four people In the store You know when you're In that kind of environment You do everything You clean the bathroom

Ana Reinert: You know you do everything Like it's different To kind of what you do now Where it's more Yeah But then you were like Running the store Right running the store

Speaker 04: You know luckily It was a pretty much Nine to five store And Saturday hours You know you didn't Work Sunday So it wasn't too bad So I got the job With Hampton Haddon Working with them And I started to It kind of devolved Or evolved However you want To look at it But they didn't It turned out They didn't want me To go out on the road Because they didn't Want the expense Okay And this was a thing Between the two partners So I went with You know Like taking care Of the warehouse Making sure all the stuff Got out of time There were some huge orders That came through there Because I guess It's no secret anymore They used to do The Levenger True Riders too And there'd be Hundreds of these things Coming in That had to be QC'd and checked And you had to make sure They got done You know that there was Quality control issues Sometimes you had to Make sure those things Got corrected and everything Back up a step When I was at Bertram's I realized early on That if somebody Brought a broken pen in That I was going to Send back to the factory Because that was One of the services We offered I could try to fix it And if I couldn't fix it I sent it back to the factory So there was And if I did fix it You know I didn't charge The customer or anything Just give the customer The pen You know so kind of A win-win situation So I had a lot of Experience at like Learning how to take Apart pelicans And Montblancs And how to straighten out Nibs and stuff But really no formal training So at Schaefer There was a lot of Printed material On how to do things And I read through That stuff I really ate it up And I got pretty good At fixing the Schaefer's Now fixing pens In that kind of environment Basically is a part Replacement thing But every now and then You run into Somebody loves this nib We don't have that nib You know from an older pen So you learn how to Straighten it out And I was pretty Successful at it Sometime toward the end Of that run With a I think that was Four or five years With Hampton Hadden I had known Scott Scott Franklin For 20 years At that time He says I want to expand I need somebody else Which moved to Raleigh I said no I don't Want to move to Raleigh So we went back and forth And we worked out This deal where I Didn't have to You know spend All week in Raleigh Like four days And I could go back home To see my grandkids And play So it You know he opened A new Or he had an office I went to work At that office And the rest is history Kind of developed The nibs As we went along You know back then He was getting nibs From Myke The people making Our pens were in Texas Which was Dan Simons He was making them Out in Texas And that evolved To an in-house We moved to a new facility Bigger facility We bought in-house machines Dan came in And trained the staff And you know Now we're making pens In-house And I'm doing the nibs In the back The SIG The SIG was just A freak accident It really was You know I was making A nib for myself And I ground it wrong So then I tried To correct something And I ground that wrong And then I started Writing with it And I said Hey you know This thing works Pretty good

Myke Hurley: You try this Terrible nib Yeah

Speaker 04: Well I thought It was terrible Because it wasn't What I was trying to do And it just worked out

Brad Dowdy: So how long have you been With Franklin Kristoff now?

Franklin Kristoff

Speaker 04: Almost five years Almost five years And that's from the time He started to Expand from one person up And now we have Like ten people Wow

Brad Dowdy: Awesome

Ana Reinert: So especially at pen shows Because you can see The process Franklin Kristoff Has become like An institution Because it's like The table is typically Quite large And as a customer You'll come in You'll take a look At the bodies That are available You'll try out The nibs From all the testing And then you'll You'll kind of In an assembly line You'll pick your pen You'll pick your nib And then it will go along And it will come to you Now what is this process? What is the thinking Behind this process? Like why do you do it that way? Is this just it At pen shows That this happens? Like does every nib Go through you? Like what is the thinking Behind this process? Why does Franklin Kristoff Do that? And why is it so important?

Speaker 04: When you order something From Franklin Kristoff You pick out a body you like Or a nib But mostly a body You find the body you like Then you pick from A long list of nibs Which are then You know Put on that pen for you You know Test it Make sure they work okay You know

Ana Reinert: Every single individual pen Is tested Irrespective of Whether it's here or online

Speaker 04: Like I mentioned before That goes on the card Like I mentioned before Every single pen You already did it So I get to do it too Yeah I know Every single pen We Where should I start We don't buy units Most I said this before We buy individual pieces So we have to put them Together anyway So we have this process Where we clean them We check with a shim To make sure they're In the proper dimensions We center them in the feed Make sure they're set Properly in the feed By having that hands on With it And the microscope we use We can see if they're centered Everything is perfect Put it in And then dry test it If somebody requests We're happy to wet test And the reason we don't Wet test everything Is because sometimes People will call you up And say You sent me a used pen Yeah You know Which makes sense

Ana Reinert: Like if every pen Arrived with some black ink On it You'd be like Hang on a second

Speaker 04: Yeah I am delighted To wet test anything for you It takes a little longer But it's probably worth it You know

Ana Reinert: Because you know it's working At that point

Speaker 04: Right You can see it If people give us notes Like I'm a left-handed Overwriter I'm an on-the-line left-hander Or you know I write at a severe angle To the paper Not for them But for me it's severe You know You tune that into the pen Yep And I forgot the other part Of your question

Ana Reinert: But it's like So why Like Obviously this takes a lot of time Do you think That this time Investment on your end Is beneficial Like do you think That by spending this time Every pen Being tuned and tested Saves time on the back end With like people Sending on the back That there's problems Like What is the Like the reasons That Franklin Kristoff Has decided that This is the process That you want to take Because you could Just not do it that way

Speaker 04: I think And I can't speak for Scott But from my point of view I think it's because They're getting Really a custom product

Ana Reinert: Sure

Speaker 04: They're picking their body They're picking their color They're picking their nib We're actually Not just screwing a nib in it We're really going over the nib You know We package it up And we send it out And yes We do that for everyone I think That the process At the show Is not different Than the website If you really think about it You pick a body You get all But what is different Is you can try all those nibs And see how you like it You know And they give you an idea Of what you're going to get And then you get to come over And sit with me And we try to figure out The best we can You know Does this corner have to come off Because it's too sharp When you do loop-de-loops Or you know Straight lines You know I had a lady today That was doing circles And Now come on Circles aren't a normal part of writing But She was bothered By a little roughness With a circle So we fixed it We found a way to fix it And I think the customer Is much better served In the end run That's what it's all about A lot of times Is you want to take care Of your customers You want to make them happy And that's what we really try to do That's a real driving force At Franklin Kristoff What will make the customer happy

Ana Reinert: And I will say Like from coming to Pen shows a bunch And seeing people Who own Franklin Kristoff pens Typically they don't own Just one And like And it feels like That there is a Real loyalty Built around the brand And this is probably Part of the reason For that right

Speaker 04: I think so I think people like The different color prototypes I think a lot of people Really like the regular colors too And I You know People love nibs I had a lady Yesterday That was looking For a nib And I couldn't find The exact right nib for her I just wasn't sure Which way to go with it I had to think about it A little bit And she asked me Well who could I go with And I know a lot Of these pen companies You know You're around 25 years You're going to learn something Not much But you're going to learn Something right So I've thought about it You know I'm not knocking anybody At all I just could not think Of anybody to refer to I try you know Pilots and sailors And platinums And all these different pens Montblanc's And Viscani I own them all And you know I have never I can't think of a time That I've actually Bought a pen That I was just 100% satisfied With a nib right away That I didn't have to Tinker around with it A little bit You know And I think People tell me They like our nibs And I believe What they're saying I mean you guys Like our nibs

Brad Dowdy: Yes

Speaker 04: So I think That's what it's all about

Ana Reinert: So you Franklin Christoph Offers a lot of nibs Right Like there are a lot Of options I don't even know

Speaker 04: How many it is anymore We got nibs That we don't even offer That we have Aside from

Ana Reinert: Obviously the amazing One that you created What are some of your favorites

Speaker 04: Well let's see Obviously

Ana Reinert: I like the zoom The music nib Sorry I like the music nib A lot That's a favorite

Speaker 04: The music nib Is super cool And it has a lot of Things you can do with it You can write sideways with it You can get a thinner line Of course you can get The thicker More signed nib With it 1.1 cursive calligraphy Has been a real popular Nib lately And it is a beautiful Writing pen I guess I like Myke's Fine italic a lot

Ana Reinert: That's Myke Masayama

Speaker 04: Myke Masayama Excuse me Yeah I like his fine italic a lot I kind of like Finer nibs Myself At one point I bought nothing but broads And I went to write a letter And I realized I didn't have anything To write the letter with They were all broads So it kind of made me Think about it And now I guess I'm just into fine Italics fine Sigs Extra fines Things like that They seem to work the best When you're actually Writing something

Ana Reinert: Yeah

Speaker 04: That's pretty I don't know We play around With an architect's nib We don't call it that You know We haven't really named it We kind of wanted to call it The Scriblarian But then we decided Maybe the Sandpiper So we're I don't think Scott sold on either Of those names Scott's a smart man You should have heard My original name For the SIG But And he came up With a Scott came up With a SIG thing And I thought That was pretty clever The Stubitalic gradient I think I wanted to call it A SIGlet Or something like that But What can I say Well Jim

Ana Reinert: It has been an absolute Pleasure To have you on the show Thank you I had no idea About your history And it was fascinating To hear Like really Really amazing history So I guess People should Go to Franklin Christophe Tables at pen shows Go find Franklin Christophe online Right Because then they know Your hand's going to be On their pens They're going to love it You're going to Touch up their nibs Make them perfect It's the only way to go

Speaker 04: Make them the best I can

Ana Reinert: Thank you so much Jim Thank you A round of applause Thank you very much Alright I want to take Our second sponsor break For the show And thank Harry's For their support Of this show Harry's is all about A great shave At a fair price Which is why Over 3 million people Have made the switch To Harry's And it's why You should join them As well Harry's founders Decided to create This company Because they were fed up With overpriced razors And they wanted to fix it They knew that a great shave Comes down to great blades Made with sharp Durable steel that lasts And they also cut out The unnecessary costs Allowing them to deliver you The perfect razor At an amazing price Their high quality blades Are half the price That you'll be paying elsewhere At just $2 a blade They bought a factory Of their own That's been making High quality products For over 95 years So they know they're good And because they know this They offer a 100% Quality guarantee If you don't love your shave Let Harry's know Within 30 days And they'll give you A full refund Now Brad I know that I know because we're Sharing a room That you love Harry's stuff We have the best bathroom Set up in the hotel

Myke Hurley: Don't we? We do There's Harry's stuff Just everywhere It's not a joke You can't trip over it Yeah Yeah so you know I bring the Bring the dop kit Bring the handle Bring the fresh blade Bring the shave gel Bring the aftershave So yeah We have it going on And he smells good

Ana Reinert: I'm sitting right next to him I don't know why It's really warm in here

Myke Hurley: I'm not so sure That's accurate

Ana Reinert: No I don't know But if it is Harry's has taken care of me Harry's stands behind The quality of their blades They know that switching razors Is an easy decision So they created a trial offer You can get a $13 value set Which comes with everything That you need For a close Comfortable shave It includes a weighted It includes a weighted Ergonomic razor handle Five precision engineered blades Of a lubricating strip And trimmer blade Rich lathering shave gel And a travel blade cover Go to harrys.com Slash penaddict Right now To redeem your trial offer And let them know That we sent you Our thanks to Harry's For their support Of this show And RelayFM Alright so let's welcome Lisa Vaness Vaness Pans To the Pan Addict Podcast Lisa thank you so much For joining us We're so excited about this So I found out Before the show Today That Vaness Pans Is about to Is getting ready To celebrate A pretty important Anniversary right Yep What is that?

Lisa Vaness: 80 years

Ana Reinert: 80 years 80 years So obviously That's how long The store has been around I think the website Has been around For 95 years Right? Is that correct?

Brad Dowdy: You invented the internet Right? Yeah So I wanted to get

Ana Reinert: Into your history A little bit with this So when and how And where did you And why did you Get involved With not just Vaness But pens in general Which came first? Was it Vaness Pans? Or did you have A love of pens Which goes back longer? Like for you How does that story Tell out?

Lisa Vaness: I had a love of Pens But it was Pharmaceutical pens So my old job I was a geriatric Social worker And we used to Fight over The best pens So I had a pen Collection That was Sometimes inappropriate Pens But So that was My beginning Was pens And I was really Picky about my pens And I'm left handed So

Ana Reinert: Like all best people

Lisa Vaness: Yeah Oh that's right I am super outnumbered He is so outnumbered Way outnumbered The odds are Probably one out I didn't even think About that It's just like a bonus So And I know That's on the bingo card So Anyway I was super Particular about my pens But I met Myke And I Locally They were well known How did you mean Myke? Because it was the pen store Church And So I didn't know He owned a pen store But all my friends did So Apparently that's why He liked me I'm like the only person Who didn't know Was a pen store And so He just had me Come try pens One day And I I played with him And I found some That I like I Have adored retros From the first time I tried them Like I'm a huge Retro fan too Like that's That's just The best

Pen Store Family

Ana Reinert: Like all people With good taste

Lisa Vaness: Was that the first pen That you really liked That he Yeah that's probably The first pen I got Well actually In high school I graduated in the 80s Every human That graduated high school Got a cross pen Like that's what you got You got the cross pen Oh that's the same

Ana Reinert: Like in England as well Like it's just somehow I got my pink cross pen It's always crossed Like every single time

Lisa Vaness: I beg people every year Not to buy cross pens Please no

Ana Reinert: I think that we We get these questions Around graduation time Right Always What pen Like just not Retros and swifts man

Lisa Vaness: If they don't want To do fountain pens Anyway So When you Marry into the family And your mother-in-law Retires You marry into the pen store Or so I was told

Myke Hurley: Wow Were you like Jumped in That sounds serious

Lisa Vaness: I was like Well I mean She was there In the beginning But eventually I had a job Where I worked Monday through Thursday My mother-in-law Retired And on Fridays The girls that Worked at the store Would try to get me To reason with the men To get new products So Because they were just Getting the same products Over and over And they were super boring So the girls would always Have a list for me And I'd go in Reason with the guys You know They had no choice But to say yes to me So So anyway Then we started expanding And then I just How long ago Did you start Into the store Well I was going in On Fridays And redecorating Because they decorated Terribly But I mean like How many years Seven or eight years Probably Oh no Probably eight or nine years Maybe even ten But I didn't go Full time into it Until we moved To the location We're in now Which has been Six or seven years I actually negotiated The contract And my husband said Well you're full time now You should have

Ana Reinert: Checked the contract We've written you in

Lisa Vaness: Well it's hard To negotiate with So my husband And my father-in-law Both thought That a female Would do better And they're like You have psychiatric training You go So So We got six months Of free rent out of it So I had

Ana Reinert: Really Nice Can you negotiate My contracts I walked away

Lisa Vaness: From a van That my husband Really wanted Because I was like I'm hardcore But I'm going to negotiate

Myke Hurley: Anna and I Have worked for her She's serious business You do not cross Lisa Vanessa

Brad Dowdy: I saw her in Was it LA Yeah but that's

Lisa Vaness: Because I was hangry

Brad Dowdy: Yeah but we saw her We saw her negotiating With somebody About something And Casey and I Walked away We're like

Myke Hurley: She's scary Somebody needed to

Lisa Vaness: Give me a Snickers And he didn't do it

Myke Hurley: She didn't do it I was scared Like I may be Twice your size But I am not Going to cross you

Brad Dowdy: Do not cross her

Lisa Vaness: I now feel bad For the people But at the time

Brad Dowdy: Here's the deal Give her what she Asks for And then give her A Snickers

Lisa Vaness: Anyway so It just I don't know How and when It evolved Except that Thankfully the employees That worked there Were amazing There were some Employees been there Up to 20 years And there had just Been a gap In female leadership And so I just started Filling that gap And then My job ended And I had a job Opportunity Where I would have Been on call 24 hours a day And my husband And my daughter Were like No no And so they So I went full time

Brad Dowdy: And so now You work 24 hours A day Now I work 24 hours A day

Lisa Vaness: 24 seven I'm yeah I'm communicating In the middle of night With Australia And South Korea And yeah And China You mentioned

Ana Reinert: The store Yes I know that The physical store The physical location Has been an important Part of Vaness history And I think Over the time That I've been Familiar with Vaness It seems like You are getting More and more Involved in online As well That is becoming A more important Part of the business And I kind of wonder As we sit here now In 2018 Like what is that Breakdown like Like is the store As important as it Ever was to you The physical store How was Having a stronger Online presence Changed the way That the business Is thought about And managed

Lisa Vaness: So a couple of things The physical store Is mentally And emotionally Important to us And I Can't imagine Ever giving it up Because There's a certain There's a certain Special Something to Just like that's why You guys love the Pen shows You touch that pen You feel that pen You get to look at it You get to find out Okay oh We can tune it You don't get that Online So online is super Important because There's only like I think there's less Than 20 pen stores In the US Like real pen stores And so not everybody Gets that opportunity But it's so important That we survive But the only way We're going to survive Is online Yeah Like so there's a It's a catch 22 We have to have That online aspect In today's world But we Like I can't imagine Not being able to Let everybody Play with pens Or smell the Stinkiest ink Or We had an open house And everybody smelled The stinkiest ink

Ana Reinert: Were you hesitant With the online business Like was it something That you Were resistive of Or did you think It would take away From the specialness I wasn't But my father-in-law Yes

Lisa Vaness: He kind of knows My father-in-law Used to Not believe in it But now they Tell everybody Let Lisa do what she wants

Ana Reinert: Well because I'm sure I'm sure that it's Worked out Right Like you know

Lisa Vaness: They were not But like my I mean you have to Remember the generation That they're in You This is personal Even like when Jim watches you write And Mark He'll want you to write It's such a personal Thing to them And especially Some in their 70s 80s 90s This was Your most important Instrument in your life And you have to touch It's so personal to you He couldn't imagine The idea of buying one Without Somebody actually Trying it out Like this is your Personal item And it's You know when you See these people's Names on them When you buy a Vintage pen Like that was Something special To them And that was their Like that's how They communicated In every way With everyone You know It's understandable

Ana Reinert: Though right Yeah

Online Sales

Lisa Vaness: And so they couldn't Fathom the idea Of somebody choosing A pen without Actually touching it And knowing Lefty overrider Underrider Side right You know those Kind of things They It's too personal To them

Ana Reinert: It is kind of wild Like when you think Of it in that way It is wild That pens are sold online Like it

Lisa Vaness: Right

Ana Reinert: When you think of it That way It's crazy That it exists In that way But I think it Is why at the same time Shows like this one Seem to get more popular Right Right Right Because I think That you know And you can correct me If I'm wrong on this Like the stuff That I assume That you sell the most Of would be inks And I would expect Maybe pens that are On the cheaper side Online more I guess until people Know what they want Right And then when people Are more Understanding of the Things they like And don't like The brands they don't Like and don't like Then they may be More willing to spend Higher amounts But I would expect That most people Are buying the inks And the lower value pens Until they get that Experience in them Right

Lisa Vaness: It's hard for me to know Like on that side We sell high end pens In that there's some Like we sell a lot Of high end pens In that we're the only Ones that carry some of those And we were their Repair location For Conway Stewart's Which most people Didn't know Because they didn't Have Conway Stewart's But we were the Repair center for them For years My husband did that And so we had We have the high end Customer but we also Have the low end Customer as well So it's There's like almost A disconnect Like you can tell That entry level Versus the experienced And my experienced Customers tend to call And not want to Do it online Like they will

Ana Reinert: Is that because They don't call

Lisa Vaness: Every day all day

Ana Reinert: Is that just Because they were Part of this before The website was Such a thing I don't know

Lisa Vaness: Like some of these Are strangers Are people that I don't know You know But they just Are not comfortable Buying online And so we still Do it They at least want

Ana Reinert: To speak to a person They want a human Yes

Lisa Vaness: And I also feel On the I was talking to Another retailer About this I think that the In general Not just the Penn community I don't think Brick and mortars Or retails Have done an Effective job Of communicating Our value Like being able To walk into a store And touch things And feel things I think that There's a Like maybe They'll make a Comeback I don't know But I just Think there Needs to be We need to do A better job Of communicating Our value The value Of coming in In person And that Personal touch Because you're Going to have More exchanges No matter whether It's clothes Shoes You know Unless you do Something like What he does You know Where it's Custom tuned Because so many People don't Want to touch The pens But anyway I think There's the Beginner side And then there's The advanced side Like so we do Both And we don't Really do the Middle So inks we sell I mean I counted So we have Fifteen hundred sixty Three colors So everybody Knows now I like that you

Ana Reinert: Say I count

Lisa Vaness: How do you Count that So I had to Break it by brand Because so I Thought we had Like three hundred And eighty to get Trementus And I was off By a hundred Ish

Ana Reinert: So Yeah eventually You have to Count that I think

Lisa Vaness: So what happens Is like he Would He my husband When I When I said You know Let's expand The inks He I didn't Realize he was Really gonna Like every time Dei Trementus Comes out with a New ink He's on it And they just You know they Came out with like Twenty five new Shimmers or What I don't Know it was Like we don't Even have room For them And they've Been in the Store they know Like we I don't even Know I don't Know what to Say but every Time there's a New ink that Comes out Everybody expects Us to have It Yeah because

Ana Reinert: That's kind of And that's our Thing that's one Of those like Spiraling things Because you have Been that way So now you Have to be That way And then you End up with Thousands

Lisa Vaness: That's really Just don't have time. So, and they, you know, they come out with a lot of ink. So it's just, some of it's just a time factor. But now everybody expects us to have all the inks. And I get emails and calls and when are you going to get this? And can you pursue this? Because now we have a reputation for going after inks that are harder to find.

Ana Reinert: Well, because I would say like.

Lisa Vaness: And it's a lot of work, by the way.

Ana Reinert: You know, I'm, if I'm going to order ink, it can be difficult to have it shipped internationally.

Lisa Vaness: Right.

Ana Reinert: But if I want an ink, I go to your website first. Because I know it's going to be there.

Lisa Vaness: Right.

Ana Reinert: All right. So it's like, I'll just go to Van Aze first. And it's going to be there. Like, I mean, because if it's not there, I can't imagine it being anywhere else. It is a shock if it's not.

Lisa Vaness: And I'm going to get 25 emails.

Ana Reinert: Yeah. Because it's like, I'm just going to expect it.

Lisa Vaness: By the way, I've sold out a Motorola thanks to you. And then now I get, now I'm here. I've probably gotten 25 emails. Thank you, Brad. No problem.

Ana Reinert: My pleasure. The ink and being known for ink, especially when you're looking at pen shows, I'm sure brings its own level of complexity. Yes, it does.

Ana Reinert: I mean, I've spoken to enough vendors now and there's like questions like, how do you get here? Like, how do you travel? And, you know, someone like Brad would be like, oh, maybe I'll take some stuff on a plane. But I'm assuming that the only way you can get to pen shows is to drive. Right?

Lisa Vaness: Right. Have you seen my license plate?

Ana Reinert: No.

Lisa Vaness: It says ink van.

Ana Reinert: Yeah, it does. That's awesome. It's parked. I'm going to go find it. So that is a, I'm sure, monumental effort to move that ink and then to always be driving, especially when, you know, like listeners to the show know, there is a season and there is sometimes a pen show every week or two weeks and you seem to be all of them. So, one, why? Why?

Ana Reinert: But, like, seriously, like, why do you, why do you go to as many pen shows as you do? Do you feel that there is a real, like, tangible benefit to, one, going to as many as you do and then also bringing the amount of ink stock that you do?

Pen Shows

Lisa Vaness: Well, I think half the audience can tell you I didn't bring enough.

Lisa Vaness: So, no matter what, I bring enough. But, so, I have fun. I enjoy the pen shows and I've made these amazing friends, like, Anna and Brad and even Jim. Like, there's so many more.

Lisa Vaness: Like, they've become my friends. I was there when he hurt his wrist.

Lisa Vaness: Like, we hang out, we just enjoy ourselves and we just have a great time. And, so, I enjoy, one, I want to make sure everybody's educated and I want to make sure everybody feels welcome because, you know, some of us have been misfits. And, when I first came to shows, I was a misfit. I didn't quite fit in. Believe it or not, I don't fit in with the traditional pen collector crowd. Where's your fishing vest? I know. I actually got one, you know. It doesn't fit. It's too big. Anyway, so, I think that for me, it became something I really enjoyed. And, I learned more than I could ever have imagined. Like, I learned so much at each show. I learned how to use my phone correctly. You know, those kind of things.

Myke Hurley: We learned how to find her phone.

Brad Dowdy: I tried to buy her a tile.

Lisa Vaness: So, yes. So, I think that it's really important for me that everybody get educated. And, so, I felt like, let's, my husband and I felt like, let's take the pen store to them. And, so, that's kind of how this went is the pen store is more than just a bunch of vintage fountain pens, which is what it kind of was initially. So, we, you know, now there's several of us that do this, but, that are more modern. But, I think we just, it was really important that everybody get the full experience, just like you got to come and see us. Because, not everybody comes to Little Rock, Arkansas. I mean, I wish they did, but, you know. But, anyway, so, we just wanted everybody to have that full experience. And, I want to make sure you walk away knowing how to use that pen, happy with your pen. And, I want you to have the ink that matches that pen so perfectly that you tell all your friends that we know our color. Anna knows color.

Lisa Vaness: So, you know, that's how it started. And, hauling it is a nightmare.

Ana Reinert: But, wasn't it?

Lisa Vaness: I think it is most times. Thursday, like when the ink fell, in Little Rock, of all places, we had our first ink-sident.

Lisa Vaness: That hotel will never be the same. No, no. It was, it fell on Brad. It fell on Brad. Did it?

Ana Reinert: Yeah. See, he doesn't tell me these stories.

Myke Hurley: Tell me the story.

Lisa Vaness: It ended up on his shoes. I mean, it was, yeah.

Myke Hurley: And, you know what I think about my shoes? I think very highly of my shoes.

Lisa Vaness: I think it stained, you said, your sock and your foot?

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I had pink toes for at least three days.

Lisa Vaness: Anna and I were cleaning it up. It was, so, one of those shelving units, we were trying to pack it all in the van, already loaded. And, we weren't. Myke, my husband Myke and Brad were.

Brad Dowdy: But, we did not wash Brad's feet. It was not that. No. We didn't want to see him.

Myke Hurley: No, we didn't want to see his feet. Don't show us to believe you. We just said it's pink. Deatromentious fuchsia is very nice ink.

Myke Hurley: But, yeah, we lost a couple of shelves. And, surprisingly, not many bottles except the one that landed on my foot and exploded everywhere.

Lisa Vaness: It was probably, like, 20 or so bottles. I mean, it was a miracle some of them survived. Because it was califolio and deatromentious. So, it was glass.

Brad Dowdy: It was really just that, like, one or two bottles broke, but everything else just got covered in the fuchsia. So, they were just, like, stained on the outside. And, when it rained, it looked like blood coming down the back of our...

Lisa Vaness: Yeah, it was... The parking lot looked really brutal.

Myke Hurley: I got a picture of the murder scene. It was pretty gruesome.

Lisa Vaness: It was bad.

Myke Hurley: It was bad.

Lisa Vaness: So, anyway...

Myke Hurley: It's worth it, though, in the end. Like, it's... You know, moving that ink around is not a pleasurable experience. But, we've got it down to a science, I think.

Lisa Vaness: I think we... The newest method we have... A business went out, and I went and bought all their fixtures, and it was actually... I feel like I'm boring everybody. No, no, no. I feel like I'm... It was... What are... Tester... You know, the tester paints, the little tester paints. So, those fixtures, y'all see now, that are, like, six high, that have the wires, I can travel with those already done. And I went and bought all they had. And so, that's working better, because I can travel with the ink already put together, as long as I have a little bit of muscle. And so, I can, like... Brad won't be in Chicago. So, hey, guys. Free bottle of ink for anybody that will come and help us unload.

Ana Reinert: 700 people. We can hear them descending upon you in Chicago. I'm here for my free ink. I'll do whatever you need.

Brad Dowdy: We're not talking color verse here, people.

Lisa Vaness: So, anyway, the... Yeah. So, yeah, we'll need a little metal muscle. But I think we have it figured out, for the most part. The biggest thing is that, even though I kind of am organized, it's an organized chaos, I think, maybe, on a stereotype. So, I don't know.

Ana Reinert: That's accurate. Yeah. I have one last thing I wanted to ask you. When we were... When you were talking about your history at the beginning, there was a lot of, like, references to the fact that, like, it was a man's world when you started. And I want to know if you think that's changed.

Lisa Vaness: I think it's changed. Was it last night or today I was talking about it? I'm talking about today. That... I bet it was 40% women this time. Like, it is so awesome. It's so amazing. I just... It's so exciting to see the changing dynamic. Not just females, but age group-wise. And just everything. You know, it's... It brings more energy when you have a variety of people. Like, I love all my little Black Pen Society man friends. But they are, for the most part, retired.

Lisa Vaness: And... There's a very specific perspective. I have a very distinct thought process. And I love having the variety and hearing from it. That's why I feel like I learn more at shows than I could ever teach. Because I love getting the input and learning from other people about their interest and how they handle technology. And breathing new life and perspective into the community.

Brad Dowdy: Coming from different... I don't know.

Lisa Vaness: It's just... It's just so valuable. I... You know... And I second-guess myself every second of every day. And so... Going to a show, you know, reminds me. Okay, this is... This is good. This is good.

Store Inventory

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Before we let her go, I just wanted to follow up on the store and people coming to the store. And what type of things you offer and testing the inks and testing the pens. Another thing you do is engraving. Right. And I've taken advantage of your services before. And you actually brought an example of your engraving. Can we show it real quick? Yeah.

Ana Reinert: So, I'll do a dramatic description, I guess, of this for the people listening.

Myke Hurley: So, y'all seen these. We've all had stuff engraved. And, like, there's these cool retro 51s. Check that one out. Check out the engraving.

Ana Reinert: Something's happening. Oh.

Lisa Vaness: So, this is a little something that Lisa...

Myke Hurley: Go ahead, Markoff.

Lisa Vaness: He cried. Go ahead.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Lisa cooked something up in it, as Myke mentioned earlier. He's getting married this year.

Myke Hurley: Oh, no. Oh, no.

Myke Hurley: So, we... You know, I got... Lisa kept asking me, what are Myke's wedding colors? How many times did you ask me? Like six... Like, over, like, a month, I didn't answer. So, she's like, you know, what can I do for... I want to do this thing for Myke.

Lisa Vaness: Send me the damn invitation.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: It's not on my card. It's not on my card. Oh, crap. Yeah. Yeah. I was super bad about sending that. So, she's like, what are the colors? So, we sorted it out. And I got her the picture of the invitation. And what she did to this pin, I thought, you know, I was hoping Myke would like it. And when I saw it, I was kind of blown away. So, this is all Lisa's idea.

Ana Reinert: So, it has Adina, Myke, and the date of our wedding on it.

Myke Hurley: It's their wedding invitation. And their wedding invitation, like, logo engraved on the pin. So, y'all can come check this out after the show. We'll put it in the show notes for y'all to see. So, she was really... Well, we can't, though.

Ana Reinert: Later. Because it's got the date on it. Ah, yeah. So, we'll do that later. We'll have to share it later. I didn't think about that. So, please understand that it's beautiful.

Brad Dowdy: She kept yelling at me asking what your colors were. And I'm like, I'm not entirely sure that Myke would even know. I'll find a way to obscure it. That's not something guys know.

Myke Hurley: Do you remember me asking you about the colors of the... I don't know if that rings a bell. You can go back through our Slack messages.

Brad Dowdy: But, yeah, she kept yelling at me. And I'm like, I'm not entirely sure guys actually know this information. Like, I don't know.

Ana Reinert: Thank you so much.

Lisa Vaness: You're welcome. That's so kind of you.

Ana Reinert: Thank you so much. Lisa Venice, thank you so much for joining us. Sure.

Lisa Vaness: Thank you. Thank you.

Lisa Vaness: All right.

Ana Reinert: Thank you to Lisa and Jim for joining us. Thank you so much, Anna, for always being here with us. Brad, for being so amazing, as always. Thanks to Steven with UnGenius for the warm-up. We did a warm-up, which is a big change this year. I've never done that before. It's definitely warm. Because, people... It's very warm. If you backed our Kickstarter campaign, thank you so much. Thank you very much. I can't believe that we've done this four years in a row. We're going to be going to Toronto in a few months' time, which we're really, really excited about. Again, thanks to our Kickstarter backers for doing that. Once more, thank you to Harry's and Penn Shelley for their support of this show. Thanks to our amazing live audience. We really appreciate them all coming out to see us. Until next time, we'll be back again. I can't talk now.

Myke Hurley: I'll help you. Goodbye, Brad. Thank you.