So here for another episode and Charlie is crashing
my intro. I would never, I would never do that
to you. Right on cue. I like to do these by myself,
but you know, sometimes you gotta include your
friend, but we got another exciting episode of
value nation folks that come up Chronicles new
lingo, same series. continues on we got another
uh we got another employee here of nationwide
property appraisals making the come up moving
their way on up john weiser will be joining us
today it's going to be a good one sit back and
enjoy your resolution is looking good today charlie
like what is it with you guys like it's because
you got your apple that's what it is like mine
looks like crap still it's this old old macbook
It's just blurry. See, that's what you get. Hey,
all you got to do is you got this new position
now. You got to hit up Tyler and be like, hey,
bro, I got to do better. That's what I did. I
literally just did that last week. Yeah, I've
had this thing for like eight years or something
like that. Look it, you and Rocky had that freaking,
you guys got those bricks of an old laptop. She
finally got a new one. I mean, mine's at least
a MacBook. So, I mean, it's not like one of those
like. old school bricks. Like I was a spoiled
brat back in the older pro days and got the MacBook.
But honestly, I just don't know if Mac's the
right solution because everything we do is so
Microsoft based. It kind of makes things a little
tougher. Yeah. And soon you'll be flipping to
Android. What do you got, John? What do you got
out there, Phoenix? I heard this was going to
be a topic discussion. I was talking to Travis
about last week. So I had Apple for almost 10
to 12 years and I just switched to Android like
two weeks ago. Just, oh, so you came back? You're
on the good side. I've never had Android. I've
always had Apple and I've never had a problem
with it. I still have a problem with it, but
I was researching all the new phones and stuff.
And I was looking for something that had a few
more upgrades and a few more, you know, things
to do on the phone, like new things. And I, upon
my research, I was like, from my phone, I had
to the new one. There really wasn't anything
that I saw that was a major, major upgrade, which
again, I didn't have a problem with it, but I
was looking for something a little bit more.
And my girlfriend has an Android and she's been
trying to push me for years. see the stuff she
takes on her camera and all that stuff so i finally
made the switch and there's definitely some things
about it that i uh that i i'm not as big a fan
of as apple but there's also a lot more customization
things that i really do like that apple didn't
do i'm still a little biased but i got a flip
phone that's pretty dope samsung android all
day green dot baby sorry shorty What number flip
quote is that for you, Ari? It's not important.
I travel, so I'm very heavy and hard on my phone.
So you're saying you're hard on equipment. Charlie
is hard on equipment. Yeah, so Tyler's hooking
me up with a new Surface. So I said, make sure
we get the warranty on that sucker. See, I want
to upgrade from this MacBook I've had forever
to a Surface. Those Surfaces are amazing. Surfaces
are fantastic. Side question, how do you pronounce
your last name? Is it Weiser? It's Weiser, yeah.
Like a Z, Weiser? Kind of, yeah, it's like a
Z, Weiser. Like, he's wiser than most, you know?
Oh, there he is. So we have a John Weiser, and
we have a Josh Weisauer. Have you seen Josh's
name popped up? I don't know why. No, it's not
so much common now, but when I first started
with Nationwide, I got quite a few messages and
emails that were for Josh. John W., and they're
kind of similar the way they're spelled. They're
kind of similar the way they're spelled, and
all of our systems on the drop -down, they're
right next to each other. So you're an NFL fan,
right? I am, yeah. Who's your squad? So, funny
story, it's the Philadelphia Eagles. You're on
the wrong side of the country, bro. That's the
funny story about it, you know? So, I started
watching NFL years and years and years ago, and
my friends lured me into fantasy leagues. I played
fantasy football with all those guys, and this
was years ago. And I was like, well, I don't
really ever watch football. I watched it, you
know, leisurely, never competitively or that,
and I didn't have a team. So, I told them, like,
well, how do you guys, how do I pick a team?
How do I do that? And they're like, oh, you just
pick one. I lived in Portland, Oregon. So my
options locally were the Seahawks or any California
team. And no, I can't stand the Seahawks. And
so I just did some research and I just, you know,
kind of out of everyone's I looked, I was like,
oh, Eagles look good. I just stuck with them.
Hold on. Did you pick them based on their logo
and their mascot? No. Or was this purely based
on wins and losses kind of vibe? It definitely
wasn't wins and losses because they weren't that
great. But it was. People that were playing at
the time, part of it was team colors. Colors,
I definitely like their team colors. Respect.
A couple different things. Ever since then, I've
been known as the guy that picked the team and
stuck with it for years. It's been 10, 15 years
now that I've been following them. Hey, man,
you put your time in. I was going to say, how
long has it been? Was it Donovan McNabb back
then? Yeah. Andy Reid. Good man. Andy Reid. Oh,
yeah. You're pretty. You're well acquainted with
Andy Reid. I'm very well acquainted with him.
Yep. And it makes it difficult because obviously
I work in the office with Travis and Tyrone's
in here as well. They're both Chief fans. So
this year was tough. It was a great year. What
are you talking about? I won't forget it, though.
So the first year I was with Nationwide, it was
the year the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, but it
was still the regular season. And it was the
company Christmas party in Philadelphia. Wow.
the Chiefs were playing the Patriots that week
um and so like the night of the party I think
it was like we kind of had a free day so I wandered
around Philly and stuff and I was rocking my
Chiefs gear because they played that night so
actually it was the day after it was the night
of that 76ers game and um I got a lot of people
who just were like, yeah, yeah, you know, like
the Chiefs, but it was like, good luck when Andy
rechokes. Everybody thinks he hasn't won the
Super Bowl yet. Like, I got so many people stopping
me on the streets of Philly and be like, we love
Andy, but good luck when he chokes. You're going
to feel our pain. You're going to feel our pain.
But he finally got over the hump that year. It
was cool. Yeah. I mean, McNabb was fun to watch,
too. Oh, McNabb was a monster. That was a solid.
They had some decent wide receivers. I don't
even remember who the running back was at that
point. Brian Westbrook. McNabb. Oh, Westbrook.
McNabb and Brian Westbrook won me a fantasy championship.
It was Dawkins. Dawkins was in the secondary,
right? Dawkins was a monster. He was an animal.
Got no neck. Just a straight black visor. But
we're just getting started. I mean, you saw what
Jalen Hurst did this year, and he's still a rookie.
I mean, they just gave him a major increase.
So he'll be bringing the heat some more. Yeah,
we talked about that before. He's got a really
good group behind him. Like, he's the only guy
that has an agent and... PR and the whole team
is all female. And, you know, they're doing –
I mean, which is a big deal in the NFL. I mean,
for now anyways. Like, they're making a lot of
strides in different ways, whether it's coaching.
The first year they brought him on, I wasn't
a huge fan. I said, you know, I want to see what
he can do first. I'm not going to – you know,
I knew how it was. Especially coming from Carson
Wentz, who was a little bit more rough around
the edges. But last year he finally brought it.
I said, all right, here's my quarterback. Yeah,
you can get behind him. It was fun watching him.
Like, I had a lot of respect watching him at
Alabama. And, you know, when he actually sat
out for the majority of that one year, I don't
remember if it was his junior or senior year.
I think it was his junior. Because he got replaced
in the national championship game by Tua. Yeah.
Pretty sure he sat out that whole next year as
a backup and then went to Oklahoma. Yeah. So,
I mean, but he was man enough to, like, sit behind
Tua, help him out, coach him up. Yeah. Stand
-up. Totally stand -up guy. And now he's doing
it on the field. I mean, yeah, you got, I don't
know. I feel like we need to outlaw that, that
rugby play. I don't know if that's a football
play, which rugby play. Well, why can't we just
go back on every third and one and fourth, the
one that they, you know, QB sneak, but then the
linemen swoop around and like, he's got like
six guys pushing him behind him. Like that's
a QB. We won. I don't, I don't care about it.
I still think that's just like, come on. This
isn't. I mean, tell me how bad were you sweating,
though, with how Holmes was walking on his leg?
Oh, dude. Going into halftime, because he went
gimping in the locker room. I'm just like, we're
down 10, I think, at halftime. He's gimping in
the locker room, and all of us are just staring
at the TV like, this is not looking good. It
never looks good until the fourth quarter, where
Holmes just does my home. I know. Yeah. I mean,
I think we scored on every position in the second
half. I mean, that's what changed the games.
They figured out how to actually score consistently.
It was a great game, Neil, and that's the thing
that I enjoyed about it was regardless of who
won, I mean, both teams put it all in. That's
the kind of Super Bowl I watch, though. Oh, yeah.
It was definitely an interesting game, man. Heart
attack. Heart attack. So, John, you've been with
Nationwide or in the industry for about seven
years, right? That's right, yeah. All right.
And how many years now with Nationwide is it?
I think we're about two. Two? Yeah. So you came
over with First Choice, whatever, First Choice
and Nationwide Joint Forces. Came over with First
Choice. I was there with them for about five
years, and then we came with Nationwide. So how
did you get into the AMC business? Where did
it all start? What was your foot in the door
into this wonderful company? You know, it's funny.
Actually, it was from someone I knew. So as you
guys both know, I know Jared outside of work.
And so his wife was actually working with me
at my prior company here before Nationwide. And
I was in a leadership position there. And so
she connected us because we had the same interest
in music and that kind of stuff. That's how we
kind of got started talking because we would
want to go to a couple of shows together and
that kind of stuff. And so he actually reached
out to me one day and was actually curious about
if I knew any team members that worked under
me that were looking for a new job, maybe something
that's in the office and kind of explain the
job. I was currently doing pretty good in my
position, but it was also a spot where I was
actually kind of looking for a new career. I
was kind of feeling a little bit stuck where
I was at. So instead of me reaching out to my
team members, I said, well, what do you got?
And so I actually told me a little bit about
it. And I sat on it and did some kind of pros
and cons, whether I thought it'd be a good option
or not, and did the interview, took the job.
And it was one of the best decisions I've ever
made. Awesome. Awesome. So did you start off
on like the, the orders team where you're signing
orders and the appraisers and stuff? Yeah. Yep.
Yep. Started out, came into 2016 when it was
that crazy rush of volume. Gosh. Yeah. And that's
when Portland completely went, no, Portland had
already got nuts before that. It was, I came
in the world with it. It was already happening
when I, when I hired him. So they were doing,
first choice was doing a massive hire. uh to
kind of get things started and we had just got
under new management too uh with jim actually
jim bomberger so the you know ceo first choice
he was hired the very next day i was so it was
all fresh oh wow it was great it was great though
like i said i got to it was it helped me too
because that means you know i'm a very big go
-getter type person i'm not afraid to speak my
mind don't let people know who i am what i want
So, you know, and poor Jim, you know, second
day on his job, third on my, I walk into his
office and say, hey, I'm John. Nice to meet you.
Just so you know, I want to do more for the company,
you know, put the bug in his ear from the get
go. And sure enough, you know, it did a lot.
I mean, he was there to mentor me and train me,
but I started in the orders that you said in
that whirlwind of madness, just trying to get
orders placed basically with appraisers who were
just extremely overwhelmed and overworked. But,
you know, it really enabled me to get to learn
the job really fast, understand what was happening.
And even though I'm the kind of person that works.
really good under pressure, the more I have,
I handle it better. I'm able to prioritize and
my brain actually functions better when I have
more to do. So that was kind of my strong suit.
And from there, it's kind of what got me to understand
appraisals and the process and the AMC space
and that good stuff and really enabled me to
kind of work my way up in the company a little
bit. Awesome. Sounds like a fellow ADHD -er to
me. A little bit. I have some OCD -ness. I don't
know if it's ADHD, but... It definitely is. I
function better when I know what's all around.
I'm a bigger picture type person. Yeah, because
I always tell people that too. It's like I cannot
make myself do something too far in advance because
it's like if I know I have two weeks to get something
done, like I don't touch it until a couple days
before and then I crush it. but like my mind
is spinning on that thing for those two weeks.
And like, I'm probably having panic attacks,
but then when I do it, like you said, like sometimes
OCD gets confused for ADHD or the other way around.
Like I've been seeing a lot of that lately too,
that like sometimes people confuse OCD for, and
it's actually like ADHD or something like that.
I can plan things out in a head. That's not a
problem for me. It's more of. If I've got multiple
things I have to do, I'm really good at prioritizing.
And that's where I get it. Whereas if I only
have one thing in front of me, I mean, I'll get
it done, but it's like, okay, well, I've got
nothing else to think forward of what else do
I need to do? What else is in my, you know, it's
more of, I like to have more of my plate to prioritize
and function throughout my day and my week and
plan that out. So. A thousand percent. I almost
feel like it's easier to function when I have
more stuff to do versus like one thing to do.
It's absolutely so weird. Okay. So, so first
choice. and then um so so working your way up
the ladder first choice did you start like managing
a group of orders team or kind of what was the
uh so i started with just a couple clientele
that i worked um so basically and one of the
ones uh we work with still now to this day i've
been working with the last six seven years so
oh nice i i worked uh just orders basically with
the team and from there i went into a senior
role and kind of helped oversee the orders team
a little bit And so that's kind of where my strong
suits are at a little bit, training and development
and that stuff. So I still oversaw all the orders
department itself as far as the process goes.
But it was also more about team development and
getting the right, you know, the right processes
in place, the right people in the right positions.
And that's kind of where I strive at a lot. So,
John, like now that you've rolled into this account
management role, right? Do you still work with
a broad spectrum of lenders or do you have more
of like a niche, if you will, in the lenders?
It's more of a niche. We kind of call it the
specialized queue in a sense, not that one lender
is special than another, but it's more of a less
that we have certain procedures that we take
care of for them, specialized for those clients
and whatnot. The team that works with those,
I help with those clients as well. There's certain
procedures we do that's a little bit differently
than other ones. And that's kind of the niche
I'm in. Like I said, that's a couple of the ones
that I've worked with for years and years and
years. And so as part of it's just keeping those
relationships, helping build those relationships.
And not just me, like I say, I've known from
quite a bit, but the team that works with me
as well, same scenario. Also familiar names and
faces and processes that have obviously made
us successful with them. keep into place so that's
kind of what we do right now right on that's
no that's cool and do you like you find yourself
do you prefer any kind like when we're talking
about let's just say very broad like credit unions
or private money or wholesale like do you find
one that you kind of prefer one kind over the
other not really i've worked with with a decent
amount but uh as far as uh my role it's mostly
just kind of helping solve problems and uh as
far as that type of different scenarios is really
not that different for me as far as the problem
solving goes um it's you know i'm a big i'm very
big on on uh personalities and like i said you
know personal growth with with people so if it's
a bigger company there's more people i can get
to know and kind of learn i'm all about it so
right on i like that yeah so that's great i mean
yeah there is a lot of you know matching up personalities
And that kind of thing, right? When we're talking
about assigning a lender to one of our inside
account managers. I feel like most of you guys
in your role have that same mentality. Like we're
just solving a problem. It's not really, it's
not always about what kind of lender or what
kind of, you know, kind of appraisal we're talking
about necessarily. I'm an ear for you to listen
to you and then help you fix the problem. And
I enjoy those. Honestly, you know, sometimes
some of the biggest problems end up being your
biggest advocate. You solve a big problem, it
ends up making that relationship even stronger
for you. You know, and then I think that some
of the things that have made me a little more
successful in those is, I mean, first of all,
just being kind. You know, if these people are
reaching out to you, they're probably already
frustrated. There's probably something going
on that they're not happy with or something that's
out of their control. They don't need, you know,
not that none of our team is not kind, but I
just add that extra oomph. You know, hey, how's
your day going? Get to know a little bit. If
I know them already, kind of add that personal
touch, asking how, you know, their personal life
is or whatever I know about them, that kind of
stuff. And I think another big philosophy that
I might do a little bit differently than other
people, and I've done a couple of trainings on
this before, is I don't ever tell anyone no.
So if they come to the solution or a problem
that they're needing a solution on or something
like that, if it's something I can't do or I
know maybe isn't compliant or I don't have the
solution for. I won't tell them, no, I can't
do it. I'll start out by saying, here's what
I can do for you. And that's been a huge thing
for me is, you know, I get a lot of people come
back for more or additional help or referring
me to things like that because, you know, I'm
usually able to fix what they need, even if it's
not what they were expecting or how they wanted
it fixed. I still gave them a solution and I
didn't tell them what they didn't want to hear.
I told them something that would work for them.
My man, my man, he gets it. That's like, that's
sales right there. Just nailed it. He's just
nailing it. Like, that's what we have to do in
the field too. you're getting to know people
on a personal level before you are diving into,
you know, the nuts and bolts of the business
or sales pitch or anything like that. And when
you get them on that level, it's, I mean, we're
just talking, it's just people, you know, just
a person talking to another person. It's not,
Hey, I'm a vendor trying to get your solicit,
your business kind of thing. That's how I've
done it for years and years. And I know when
Schwartz walks out there and he flips his hair
and people get, they get all giddy. They love
that's his thing. No, no. I just say the wrong
word. I want to give a shout out because this
is just me. You know, every every inside account
manager has a team that works with them. And
that's the key to it is I make sure I give them
the recognition. I make sure that the people
I'm working for help solve the problems. Know
that they're also in the weeds helping solve
these problems. You know, when I tell them that
we're working with our team, it's not just me
doing the problem, it's the rest of them. And
I think that's kind of where my background really
keys in on is this kind of training development.
The team that works with me, I make sure that
we're all on the same page and the same mindset
and that kind of stuff. And so I think that it's
so successful because with the training that
we do, we make sure that it's an understanding.
So you ask any of the people that have worked
with me and the clients I work with, when I train
and develop, and again, I'm not trying to shameless
plug, but this is just kind of my process that
I've seen has worked best for me. I don't show
them how to do it or show them what to do. I
ask them to explain to me. So if they got a question,
hey, I got this and it happened. Can you help
me with this? Well, absolutely I can. First,
I want you to tell me what you see, what you
think the answer is. And then I'll tell you if
I think you're right or not, or if you're right
and why. And it kind of helps them understand
the situation at hand as well. And by doing so.
they don't need to come to me with that scenario
again. Obviously, I welcome people asking questions,
but I'm building a team that can help me in things
just as much as I could myself so that down the
road, they really don't need me. If I'm on vacation
or PTO or I'm out, I hate to say it, I come back
and most of the time they're saying, oh, we didn't
need anything from you. Well, shoot, maybe I
need to look for a new job. But at the same time,
I've got a team that's working with me that's
delivering the same kind of service that we should
be delivering. And our clients know that. It's
not just a one -man show. It's the entire team.
That's what really sells it. That is 100 % accurate.
I love that. I wish more people trained in that
way. We learn from our failures more than success.
So you started, let's reel it back in here. So
originally from Portland, so you were born and
raised out there? Born and raised in Portland,
Oregon, yeah. All right. Were you West? No, it's
West Portland, right? Is the one, it's Portland
and West Portland or is it Portland and East
Portland? um east and west it was a little bit
everywhere so i was actually born and raised
in north portland uh but now as i grew up my
family moved out to kind of uh the suburbs area
they actually lived in a place called boring
oregon uh for real boring oregon 100 it's uh
it wasn't really a lot to do if you like the
you know the the you know the wildlife the trees
the that that's about all you get i mean it's
a gorgeous city but there's that's about it it
was pretty much like one stoplight kind of vibe
or what are we talking about yeah Yeah, yeah,
there's not a lot there. But like I said, you
get a lot of nature and the wildlife and that
kind of stuff, which is what they wanted. But
for me being a teenager, they moved there when
I was 17. I definitely, that wasn't my, what
I wanted at the time. Yeah, so I moved out and
I stayed in Portland and I kind of, for the next
10 years or so, I kind of jumped around different
parts of Portland, downtown, a little bit area
east, west. And then I actually moved out to,
for the last little bit of my career, before
First Choice, I lived in Tualatin, which is kind
of the... yeah the west the west side um across
from where portland is not too far away so but
i still was able to work out in the area which
you know uh first choice was based out of beaverton
so it's pretty close to that but still go to
actually in portland for all my my social events
and stuff so i need to get out there check that
out yeah no i've spent a decent amount of time
out there like um and then have gone down to
do the um like the wine tours and williamette
I've done some of the wineries down there. Those
orchid pinots are fantastic. And then driving
along the river gorge and saw the falls and made
over the Hood River and back. It's a really gorgeous
city. It's a gorgeous state altogether. Beautiful,
especially if you're there during the right weather.
Yeah, absolutely. And there's summers there are
just absolutely like you can't be better than
that. My biggest issue is that, you know, for
living there for almost 30 years, I got really
tired of the rain. Now you're in Phoenix, no
rain. That was honestly one of the biggest pushes
for it. You know, I had taken a vacation out
here with one of my best friends. It was just
a three day, four day trip. And it was just a
vacation for us to be here. But also. For me,
it was probably, hmm, I'm going to want to see
if there's something else for me to maybe to
move. I've never lived anywhere else but Oregon,
maybe change it up. And I absolutely fell in
love with the city. That trip, you know, I spent
a couple of days here, got to know the city.
We got to do some sightseeing, check out the
local areas, that kind of stuff. I'm a huge music
person. I go to a lot of shows. And I mean, Portland
had a really, really good music scene as well.
But I noticed a lot of tours, especially the
kind of music I listen to, a lot of places stopped
into Phoenix that didn't go into Portland. And
so that's just, you know, get the same kind of
shows here, but more. And so it just kind of
after I did that visit, it kind of clicked. I
was like, oh, I think I want to live here. Charlie,
did you see my eyes light up? yeah because talk
about a segue without even being one this is
phenomenal he's a pro no you're a natural like
do you have the itinerary here in front of you
like do you have i don't i wish i don't that's
phenomenal so okay so let's keep that rolling
so portland music um i you know a little birdie
told me um that um you were a musician or probably
still are sorry to say were um but like we're
in a big we're in a band and um it seems like
you guys had some decent success um and what
was it what was it called charlie i got it right
here from the eyes and from the eyes of king
from the eyes of kane yeah we took a deep dive
man investigative journalists here i did see
i did see something on that page though Like,
you guys got to open up for Vale of Maya? Actually,
that was one of our best shows. So I don't think
it was my favorite. But the cool thing about
it is, you know, when you're in a local band,
a lot of playing shows is selling tickets, which
we were really good at. You know, we're social
people. We had a good key in on the city. Lots
of support, lots of other local band support.
And it was a great community where you, you know,
you really talked about the band. They talked
to you. It was not really hostility. It was very
much support, which is awesome. And the nice
thing about that show is we've done so well for
that promoter on a lot of shows. That show he
brought to us was, hey, we're in a pinch. The
opener couldn't make it. The show is this Saturday.
Can you jump on it? You don't got to sell any
tickets. Yeah, don't pull my hand, right? Right?
Yeah, so it was great because it was a sold -out
show, Hoffman Theater, which is a pretty decent
-sized venue for that kind of show in Portland,
and literally had to just show up with their
gear and play. You couldn't ask for a better
setup with a local band, you know? Oh, no, that's
absolutely phenomenal. If you always kind of
gravitate towards that music, like, how far back
does it go? Like, who got you into metal? It
definitely has always been that way. I'd say
I'd started out listening to that kind of stuff
probably in middle school. And it was definitely
to do with the friends I hung out with at the
time. And most of those people I'm actually still
really good friends with. Half of them end up
being bandmates too. um you know start out listening
to the normal stuff for my generation as far
as you know middle school will definitely start
with the pop punk blink -182 simple plan that
kind of stuff but we started gradually listening
to other stuff that came about so i'll drop some
you know og names obviously census fail silverstein
that kind of stuff uh and gradually it just got
a little bit heavier and heavier and i just love
the energy that those kind of bands put out the
the music the um the lyrics. And that's really
what got us started. You know, a lot of these
bands that played that we listened to were like,
well, hey, we can do this too. And it's funny
that band, Fun as it Came, that was my first
one. We didn't realize how far it was going to
go. We started out as a garage band and we never
went past Portland, but we made a name in Portland.
Our first show that we ever played, the promoters
were just blown away because we sold over 150
tickets, which normal bands can't sell more than
20. um and we were able to record an album and
ironically we actually almost got signed which
was my goal at the time. But that's actually
kind of what also ended the band too, because
we never thought it was going to get that real.
It was never. This was fun. This was supposed
to be fun. We had a contract in front of you.
We had a record that will actually reach out
to us and inquire. And it was funny as one of
the conditions was they wanted to change our
name because it was too much of a garage band
name. But once they got that real, half the band
was like, you know, we've had a big discussion
and it was like, this is half of them. It wasn't
for them. right reasons you know family schooling
career that kind of stuff just couldn't enable
actually touring and doing that kind of stuff
so I kept on with my music career I created another
band same kind of genre I kept doing stuff in
Portland and then So once I moved here, I did
start looking for other music bands and things.
I joined a couple auditions, but that's right
when COVID hit, too. I moved here right before
COVID and that slowed everything down. So I haven't
really been looking recently, but I still do
go to a lot of local shows. A lot of the bands
that tour through, I went to one a couple weeks
ago. They still have a really, really great music
scene, especially for that genre I listen to
here. And I mean, I'm not sure if I eventually
might get back into it right now. I'm pretty
happy with where I'm at, especially just being
able to attend shows. stuff but that's you know
i'm not gonna say never we'll go back for it
it's so good we're gonna talk side more side
by more yeah absolutely so what did you even
play we haven't even talked about like what is
oh yeah what instruments you play who are you
i actually did clean vocals so i did the singing
Frontman. Okay. One of the frontmen. So we were
a little bit different because a lot of bands
in that time were that way too, where you had
a vocalist who just did all the hard vocals,
the screaming, and one guy did all the clean
vocals. And we both did a little bit of both,
but I primarily did the clean vocals and the
other guy did the screams. And for us, we wanted
that because we like to be very interactive.
So it made, you know, whoever wasn't singing
at the time could interact with the crowd, jump
around, do crazy crap, you know? So there's a
lot of fun stage presence because of that. Oh,
yeah. So it's that time. Rapid rush request.
So are you a coffee drinker? A coffee drinker?
Yep. Absolutely. Favorite coffee spot. Ooh, let's
do this. Favorite coffee spot in Portland and
favorite coffee spot now in Phoenix. Okay, so
Portland would be this place called Bipartisan.
I'm a huge cafe person. I love to go there. That's
where I wrote a lot of lyrics, read a lot of,
you know, listen to music. Bipartisan is a nice
place just kind of in the middle of Portland.
And then as far as Phoenix, there's a really
cool bakery cafe called Daily Drip. Okay, sweet.
Okay, so growing up, growing up now. who is your
like favorite band that you idolized oh growing
up how young we talking i don't know which one
which one sticks out like which one had the you
know obviously there's gonna be one that maybe
has like the most like you can always go back
and listen to them they kind of had an effect
on you blank 22 i still love those guys oh yeah
solid pig who is um so who is your current hot
choice favorite band like who is the first or
most played right now currently spotify apple
music whatever you use yeah they're this newer
i should say newer it's been a couple years but
they've had the only one album so far called
caskets they're actually based out of uh london
i think the uk area They're more like post -hardcore,
but not as heavy. They're more like, the guy's
vocals are just phenomenal. He hit crazy ranges,
has the raspy, the music's upbeat. It's been
on my hit play for the last year and a half.
They have a new album coming out in a couple
months. I've already pre -ordered and ready to
go. So that's been one of my big things. Is there
more of those kind of bands in the UK than there
are in the States? I don't know if there's more
or not. I mean, there might be a decent amount.
There's not as many that definitely get discovered
in America as as as they should. You know, this
one got signed by, I believe, an American based
record label. That's kind of how I find all my
music is I follow all my favorite record labels.
That's where I discovered my new music, followed
bands I like, album releases. I'm a huge vinyl
collector, too. So I have all my bands on vinyl
and that stuff and go to the shows. And so there's
definitely a decent amount of UK bands that I
wish could travel to America more often. But
they've been the one for me recently. So you
have some tattoos, correct? What is your absolute
favorite tattoo that you have? That's right.
This is where we really get to know you. Style
-wise, I'm pretty heavily tattooed. So style
-wise, I'd say I've got a diamond boat wheel
on my elbow, which I like. Oh yeah, I see that.
Other thing is I'm a huge nerd, video games,
comics, that kind of stuff. And so a lot of my
friends and I as bands, we got Pokemon tattoos.
And so I got a Scyther right there. So we're
definitely I'm definitely a kid at heart. I'll
never grow up. Never grow up. Just be responsible.
Yeah. All right, man. So you've been around long
enough. You can give it to us straight. Who's
your who's your favorite account executive to
deal with? Oh, account executive. So. That's
hard to say because I only, I really only get
to work with the ones from the specialized teams
a little bit in the first choice. Are we talking
about overall impasse? I mean, you can just say
Travis. I mean, it's fine. I mean, yeah, he's
in your backyard. Okay. I mean, so I'm not, obviously
I'm gonna have to go to Travis. I mean, you know,
he's my bread and butter. I helped, you know,
I feel like I helped spread his wings a little
bit and get him to train and grow. And now he's
a big boy above me and he's doing amazing things.
You know, I definitely. I think that I always
word mess I can. To be fair, though, like I said,
I haven't really met a whole lot of other ones
yet. There's no wrong answer. There's no wrong
answer. There's no wrong answer. Yeah, no, definitely.
Travis moved up. He's up in the AE spot now.
He's in your guys' office a couple days a week
or something like that. Shout out to Travis,
our number one listener, number one downloader.
Yeah, Travis. I do want to point out that nationwide,
we are truly right beside you. Charlie, you're
in Virginia right now. Is that right? yep it's
right virginia missouri and phoenix right now
i mean we almost just saw like this diagonal
line through the united states you can't hide
from us no because we're right beside you that's
what we tell our appraisers you can't hide from
us we're gonna find you yeah we're gonna find
someone to come knock on your door like where
is yeah all right so um i mean we gotta ask i
mean you can say travis as well who's the least
favorite I mean, I was going to have to say Traps.
I don't got anyone else to really go for. There
we go. I was going to say Traps too, you know.
He's causing more work for me now, though. Not
to mention he's a Chiefs fan, so. That should
be a bonus. That creates a whole other world
of problems. Bonus. That means he's a winner.
Schwartzy, you got any other heavy hitters for
John today? That was the ending rapid rush request.
Oh, bro. All right. Well, John, man, we really
appreciate your time. Had some fun with you for
sure. I learned a lot more about you. More than
you probably want to know, right? No, it's great,
man. All I knew about you was that you had a
solid beard and two sleeves like me. Oh, man.
And you were good in my book already. This is
nothing. It's nothing. Oh, dude, ask the team.
I called the beard. I mean, it went down seven,
eight inches. No joke. You're going ZZ Top on
us. Yeah, man. It was legit ZZ Top. This is nothing.
But, yeah, it might come back eventually. Right
on. I mean, it's summertime, so it could be a
little hot. Yeah. Summertime is for a short beard.
I wouldn't know anything about it. No, you got
that clean, soft skin. Still can't do it. Still
can't. I got a dirt patch. Atta boy. You're growing
up so quick. Shut up. All right, bro. All right,
John, man. Again, I really appreciate the time,
bro. And keep doing what you do. We need it.
I appreciate being here. Thanks for having us.
Thank you, John. That's a wrap for us. It's another
great episode of Value Nation. Big shout out
again to John Weiser, part of our inside account
management team joining us today. Make sure to
go like, subscribe if you haven't already. Hit
us up on IG, TikTok, Facebook, of course, YouTube.
You got to see the outfit of the day. Spotify,
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Wonderful podcasts. All of them. Peace. Peace
out.