WEBVTT

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Hey folks, I'm Matt Major from Growth Mode Content.

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Welcome to Good News York. It is, I don't even

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know what day it is, because we got back from

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Retro Game Con, it feels like five minutes ago.

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I think it's been a couple days now actually,

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but that was an absolutely incredible, phenomenal

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time. Check out all our social medias if you'll

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see that, and there'll be a lot of other stuff

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coming. We recorded all the panel events and

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all kinds of really cool things, so we'll have

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a lot to share. Big shout out to Danny and Pat

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and Nathan and all the guys that put on that

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event. It was the most incredible thing ever.

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And it was just a great time ahead by all. Get

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your tickets for next year. Like as soon as they

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announce them, because this thing sells out and

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you can see why it's just more value. I've ever

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seen an event ever. So big shout out to those

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guys again. And thanks for having us there this

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weekend. You might notice my spiky haired sidekick

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is missing. It's his birthday. And he wanted

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to run around Ithaca in his birthday suit today,

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so we let him do that. He's got the day off.

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And happy birthday to our boy Mikey B. So without

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further ado, we do have a guest. He's not auditioning

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for Mike's job, but he is a pretty damn funny

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fella. You might have seen him all over the local

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New York comedy scene. Our buddy Stephen Brown

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is with us. What's going on, buddy? Hey, not

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too much. It's fun. In fact, it's actually my

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mom's birthday, too. Oh, wow. Yeah, but she's

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not alive anymore. So good on Mike. Jesus Christ.

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All right, man. This is why I love comedians.

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Happy birthday, I guess. Thank you. I'll let

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her know. Steve is here to talk about something

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pretty crazy. There is a comedy fest that is

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coming up, and this is not like a one -time show.

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This is four days, five shows spread across Broome

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County. It's billed as the funniest weekend in

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the history of Broome County. And I feel like

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that that's a valid claim. I mean, it is sort

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of a low bar, but it's called the Crooked Mouth

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Comedy Fest. It's coming up on the 16th. Stephen,

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tell us about this thing. We did it last year.

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It was a ton of fun. We've got five shows over

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four days, different lineup on every show. different

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headliner in every show and like the really,

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really talented people. And it's really going

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to be a fantastic showcase of not only the strength

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of our local regional scene from Binghamton,

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Syracuse, Scranton, but as far as like New York

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City, we have national touring acts coming through

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here. We have acts from California coming in

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for it. So it's going to be really exciting.

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A lot of familiar faces and a lot of new faces

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and really just showing the strengths of our

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scene. Wow. Wow. And so what's really cool to

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me is you can get a pass for all these shows,

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right? You just kind of one ticket gets you into

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every event. Yeah. Uh, for $50, you can get access

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to all five shows and you get a festival t -shirt

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for free. Otherwise it's $15 per show in advance

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or $20 at the door. So it's if you have, even

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if you plan on going just to two or three of

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the shows, it's a significant savings. That's

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a phenomenal deal. Wow. You guys. You guys don't

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like making money, I feel like. But you do like

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making people laugh, and that's what is awesome,

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and that's why we love these shows. Tell us a

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little bit about where some of these venues are,

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and who you might be able to see there. Well,

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we're actually running out of one spot, because

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I really love the guys we work with. It's at

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Crooked Mouth Brewing. That's where I've been

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running shows for the last two and a half years.

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That makes it easy. It's a small little brewery.

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Got 60 chairs in it. They do all their... Homebrews

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they have a great fantastic kitchen great menu.

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It's like standard bar fare, but nothing out

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of a deep fryer So it's you know, actually tasty

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and well and you don't hate yourself after it

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unless you have like too many IPA's but that's

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on you You know, and they're super duper big

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comedy fans too Like I knew these guys from going

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to comedy stuff before they opened the brewery.

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It's one of the reasons they wanted to open the

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brewery So it's really a fantastic partnership

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that they let us run a rampant and we're an entire

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weekend at their spot. That's incredible, man.

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Four days, five shows. What can you expect to

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see during these shows? Something for everybody.

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You know, it's like we make a point to have different

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styles on every shows, people from different

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scenes on every shows. And you're going to see

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people who have been doing comedy for 18 months.

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You're going to see people who have been doing

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comedy for 18 years. You know, so you're going

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to really run the gamut, but these are people

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who, like I said, they tour the country, like

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Sean Murphy, the headliner for early show, just

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did a round of sold out shows in Finland with

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Mark Mormon. Like literally yesterday he was

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in Europe and Saturday he'll be in Binghamton.

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You know, that's pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. What

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is it like to put together a lineup like that?

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I mean, it's got to be, you know, book in one

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show is one thing, but book in five, you know,

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how does that happen? It's terrible. I don't

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recommend it Every year when I say I'm gonna

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do it again and I said like why am I doing this

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again? It's um, it's a lot to juggle. This year

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was much harder than last year for some reason

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You know, it's one thing when people say when

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their availabilities are and then they change

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them Yeah, it makes you wish they wouldn't stop

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doing comedy sure But no, it's it's a lot of

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work I start the work on it in March Wow, so

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it's really like a six seven month process of

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First you book the weekend and you book the headliners

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then you put up the submissions I see and then

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the worst part of the process is watching over

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a hundred submission tapes Don't do that. Oh,

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wow Don't do that. It's it's it's I don't recommend

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it. I feel like you got to make a bit out of

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that You got to do like, you know, the first

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few episodes of America's Got Talent or whatever

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where it's the horrible auditions, you know,

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oh my god Christ you'd be amazed what people

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think is their best five I Yeah, I've seen some

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people on stage. I'm just gonna say, I've seen

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some shit. Yeah, you have. Let's talk about the

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ones that made the cut though, right? Who you

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got headlining these shows? Thursday night we

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have Cindy Arena, just a powerhouse of a six

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-year -old lesbian coming down from Rochester,

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New York. She's been out to our spot a few times.

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She works clubs all over. She's done festivals

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all over the country. She's amazing. Friday night,

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really excited about this one. We have Christine

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O'Dea. Not a name everyone knows, but she's recently

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been on tour in the opening for Gave a Tell.

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Oh, wow. And she came up and did a short spot

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at one of our brunch shows back in the spring

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and just blew everyone out of the water. Everyone's

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like, oh, my God, who is this woman? And she

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I'm so thrilled to have her back. Saturday early

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show. That's Sean Murphy. He's always on tour

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with like mark norman dan soder. He's your favorite

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comics favorite comic. He's an absolute killer

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And uh, he just recorded a new special that'll

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be coming out soon Excuse me the saturday night

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is clinton williams. He's the previous winner

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of buffalo's funniest person up in buffalo Hilarious

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hilarious comic and then someday. I definitely

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london unfortunately got sick and unable to make

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it Very funny guy from Buffalo as well. Brian

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Netzel is gonna be filling in. He's a returning

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hero He was a festival participant last year

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and it's great to see him get upscaled to to

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headliner for the brunch show Oh, that's pretty

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cool That's really am I right in in Assuming

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that you're the host for for the shows. I yep.

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I host all the shows I'll do you know three four

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minutes up top just to warm the crowd and then

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the shows are packed They've all got like ten

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comics on it. So I'm gonna bring people up and

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get the hell out of the way and let the people

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you know do their thing everyone's getting you

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know sets from six to eight minutes for the regular

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comics and then of course your headliner's gonna

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do a 30 minute headline set yeah that's that's

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incredible um i've hosted a couple of shows back

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in the day uh it's been not since covid but um

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it's it's really interesting because it's not

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like doing a set where you you necessarily you

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know can start and finish you got to have sometimes

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a variety of jokes and and things like that and

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you've got all these different shows uh just

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as a host how do you prepare to kind of have

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a good uh you know to set people up properly

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you know you just have to make sure to let them

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know what to expect because i mean it's a little

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bit different than a normal comedy show it's

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a bit more of a gauntlet you know you're not

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gonna have people aren't gonna have time to really

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like warm up to anyone you've got to come out

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the firing and you gotta let them know this is

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what to expect you gotta get hit him quick hit

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him hard and get out of the way for the next

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guy. You just want to keep the line moving like

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an old baseball term, right? Gotcha. Keep the

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line up turning. Keep the line up turning. And

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so yeah, I'll just do a couple little bits here

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and there and make sure once we get a good laugh,

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then bring up the next comic and get it moving.

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That's great, man. That's really cool. What is,

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I'm going to ask you two sides of this, but I'm

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going to start with the wild one here. What is

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the worst thing? That can happen at a comedy

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show and then ask you the best but start with

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that. Oh shit. Okay A white guy saying it. Um,

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no No, uh The the worst thing is especially early

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in a show is um If a comic isn't doing well If

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they turn on the crowd, uh and ruin it for the

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guys coming up next. I see Sometimes you just

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gotta eat your shit a sandwich and say thank

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you and move on because you do that people bit

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Okay, that guy wasn't for me But if they go antagonistic

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and attack the crowd, then that takes them all

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on the defensive. Now it's like, make me laugh

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instead of I'm ready to laugh. Right. Yeah, that's

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wild. What about hecklers? Do you see a lot of

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them, and then how do you deal with them? You

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know what's nice as the host? Usually people

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are pretty sober, so I don't have to deal with

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them often. There are some times where you feel

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like 80 minutes into the show, all of a sudden,

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the crowd goes from like having fun to like a

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quarter of them are just wasted. Gotcha. And

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that's when the vibe can shift and there could

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be more interaction. You don't often see heckling,

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but you just see people who don't know when to

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shut up. Gotcha. Yeah. Like needed participants.

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I almost feel like that's worse when people are

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just having their own side conversations in full

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volume. You know, to me, almost like heckling

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almost gives you the opportunity to. either add

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to the show or you can just throw that guy out.

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But when you got, you know, three people sitting

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at the side table just carrying on like they're

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at a restaurant or something, it's it's horrible.

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And that's one thing that's nice about a paid

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show is the room can police itself a little bit

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because everyone is invested. It's not like,

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oh, there's a comedy show having the bar on a

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wing night. Yeah, it's happening to them like

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we're not happening to them. They knew what they

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came for. They all paid for it. They all want

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to have a good time. So it's not uncommon for

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some people in the crowd to turn to the other

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people and say, hey, yo, shut the hell up. Right.

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No, that's nice when problems solve themselves,

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you know? Yes. So what do you do after this?

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You said you plan this. You start in March. After

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this thing happens, do you take two weeks off

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and go lay on a beach somewhere? It's got to

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be a big relief once it's finished, right? And

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I took a Monday off of work, and a Sunday, I'm

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gonna take the fattest fucking nap you've ever

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seen. It's gonna be a beautiful thing. And otherwise,

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you just get right back to it. We've got four

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more shows booked for the rest of the year, two

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in November, two in December, and booked through

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May of next year, so the wheel doesn't stop turning.

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You just keep bringing the fun, and hopefully

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people keep showing up. And all of those are

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at the same venue we were talking about? I'm

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looking. Yeah. Everything I run is that Crooked

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Mouth Brewery. They're so good to me. And I think

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people in the area kind of understand now that

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that's the best place to consistently go to see

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comedy. That's great. Binghamton is a small town.

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We don't have a comedy club. Sure. So we try

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to do a show every two or three weeks to kind

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of keep this the hub for it. Oh, that's great.

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And there's other comedy in Binghamton, like

00:12:42.269 --> 00:12:44.370
Mike Peters runs the Don't Tell. Sure. He does

00:12:44.370 --> 00:12:46.250
a couple other things local in town. His shows

00:12:46.250 --> 00:12:49.159
are fantastic. but they're all over the place

00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:52.639
and not as consistent in the same spot, you know,

00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:55.340
with the same kind of lineups. Yeah, I think

00:12:55.340 --> 00:12:57.659
you got a good strategy, good thing going, man.

00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:00.120
That's great. We're trying. We're trying. Love

00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:01.879
to hear that. Love to hear that. Let's give folks

00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:04.059
the details again. It's the Crooked Mouth Comedy

00:13:04.059 --> 00:13:07.399
Fest, 16th through the 19th, through the weekend

00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:10.960
here. Let's see your website. Go ahead and you

00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:13.419
give it to me because you can... CrookedMouthComedyFest

00:13:13.419 --> 00:13:16.289
.com It's got bios for all the headliners, links

00:13:16.289 --> 00:13:18.389
for individual show tickets, along with the weekend

00:13:18.389 --> 00:13:20.889
pass. And like I said, if you get the weekend

00:13:20.889 --> 00:13:23.669
pass, you get access to all five shows. And we

00:13:23.669 --> 00:13:25.830
printed up festival t -shirts. There's only around

00:13:25.830 --> 00:13:27.769
50 of them made. You get one of those for free.

00:13:27.990 --> 00:13:29.690
Otherwise, you're selling them for 20 bucks.

00:13:31.549 --> 00:13:34.590
That's pretty awesome, man. It's a phenomenal

00:13:34.590 --> 00:13:37.710
deal, honestly, for that much comedy. And you

00:13:37.710 --> 00:13:41.309
get a souvenir like this. You're providing incredible

00:13:41.309 --> 00:13:43.429
value to people, which I think is really awesome,

00:13:43.669 --> 00:13:46.460
man. We're trying we're trying it's tough times

00:13:46.460 --> 00:13:48.779
man. Everything is expensive. Yeah, everything's

00:13:48.779 --> 00:13:51.620
hard for everybody right now, you know Yep, so

00:13:51.620 --> 00:13:54.159
we want to make sure we've got enough to make

00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:56.139
sure the handliners are taken care of and then

00:13:56.139 --> 00:13:58.580
everyone gets really good value for their money

00:13:58.580 --> 00:14:01.679
We always we only charge what we need to not

00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:06.759
what we should I like that man. I like that That's

00:14:06.759 --> 00:14:11.039
an honorable way to go about it Let's see. So

00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:12.360
it's hard to get that out of your blood, you

00:14:12.360 --> 00:14:15.809
know Before we go, you said something earlier

00:14:15.809 --> 00:14:20.389
about Crooked Mouth that stuck in my head. You

00:14:20.389 --> 00:14:22.330
said they have phenomenal bar food, but none

00:14:22.330 --> 00:14:26.250
of it's fried. What's your favorite menu item

00:14:26.250 --> 00:14:31.250
at the place? My favorite item lately has been

00:14:31.250 --> 00:14:35.590
the peanut butter and jelly smash burger. What?

00:14:36.470 --> 00:14:40.580
Yeah, it's delicious. Also, they do an excellent

00:14:40.580 --> 00:14:42.700
beef on whack, and they do a beef on whack pizza.

00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:47.600
OK. So those are my go -tos. So hold on. You

00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:50.220
got to back up to this. So is it like it's a

00:14:50.220 --> 00:14:52.279
peanut butter and jelly when they just jam the

00:14:52.279 --> 00:14:55.440
burger in between the normal PB &J sandwich?

00:14:55.460 --> 00:14:58.500
Is that what happens? With peanut butter and

00:14:58.500 --> 00:15:00.879
jelly and bacon and cheese. And it's amazing.

00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:04.120
Oh my god. I can feel my arteries clogging. It

00:15:04.120 --> 00:15:05.860
sounds incredible. Yeah, but it feels so good.

00:15:06.019 --> 00:15:10.200
Yes. Yes, he's got it there. He's got it. Who

00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:15.919
wants to be 85 anyway? You know, the man's got

00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:23.870
a solid point. And on that tip, my friend, I

00:15:23.870 --> 00:15:25.350
think that's just about it. Anything else that

00:15:25.350 --> 00:15:28.070
we should tell folks about the show, other than

00:15:28.070 --> 00:15:30.330
get your tickets in advance. Don't be one of

00:15:30.330 --> 00:15:32.870
those wait for at the door folks, right? I'm

00:15:32.870 --> 00:15:35.309
just gonna say that for you. I appreciate it.

00:15:35.309 --> 00:15:38.250
And also, you saved five bucks. Yeah. It's cheaper.

00:15:40.029 --> 00:15:42.610
It is. Do yourself a favor and save me a little

00:15:42.610 --> 00:15:46.549
anxiety. You know, I'm just, he's not saying

00:15:46.549 --> 00:15:48.830
this, I'm saying this. This sounds like a nice

00:15:48.830 --> 00:15:51.789
size venue, but not a massive venue. So with

00:15:51.789 --> 00:15:53.309
this type of talent, there's a real good chance

00:15:53.309 --> 00:15:54.490
you're going to get to the door and they're going

00:15:54.490 --> 00:15:56.929
to go, Hey, all the seats are filled. So, you

00:15:56.929 --> 00:15:59.590
know, if you want to plan a night out, make sure

00:15:59.590 --> 00:16:02.149
you can keep your plans, you know? No, it's a,

00:16:02.289 --> 00:16:04.370
we've been very, very fortunate where I think

00:16:04.370 --> 00:16:07.330
probably eight of our last 10 shows have sold

00:16:07.330 --> 00:16:10.129
out last year. There was no walk -ups available

00:16:10.129 --> 00:16:12.629
at the festival. So, you know, and if there are,

00:16:12.710 --> 00:16:14.409
we will definitely announce, Hey, we've got 12

00:16:14.409 --> 00:16:17.350
tickets or come and get them. Otherwise. Yeah.

00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:19.059
We have had to turn people away. We don't like

00:16:19.059 --> 00:16:23.919
to. Right. Nobody wants to do that. Yeah. It's

00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:26.580
one of those things as a show promoter that's

00:16:26.580 --> 00:16:28.759
like, it's sort of a good feeling because we

00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:32.100
have more demand. But at the same time, you really

00:16:32.100 --> 00:16:33.940
want to serve. Everybody wants to see a show,

00:16:34.259 --> 00:16:37.659
and you've got to send some folks away. Yeah,

00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:39.700
and also people are like, oh, I didn't even realize

00:16:39.700 --> 00:16:41.159
the tickets would sell out. It's like, oh, it's

00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:43.820
not like we haven't been advertising this online

00:16:43.820 --> 00:16:47.259
for months. Right. I couldn't imagine there was

00:16:47.259 --> 00:16:49.039
another person who might want to come to this

00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:52.379
show. Wow, what a surprise, you know? Yeah, they

00:16:52.379 --> 00:16:54.379
show up. We had Jean -Marco Cereze in a couple

00:16:54.379 --> 00:16:55.940
weeks ago. It sold out two months in advance.

00:16:56.120 --> 00:16:57.279
People are showing up like, oh, it's sold out?

00:16:57.659 --> 00:17:00.899
Like, brother, this guy's got two million views

00:17:00.899 --> 00:17:04.200
on YouTube in the last two weeks. Yeah, he sold

00:17:04.200 --> 00:17:09.099
out. Oh, man, people are fun. I love it. It's

00:17:09.099 --> 00:17:12.099
the second annual Crooked Mouth Comedy Festival

00:17:12.099 --> 00:17:15.450
down in Endicott. Come check it out, Crooked

00:17:15.450 --> 00:17:20.990
Mouth Brewing. It is 231 Vestal Ave in Endicott.

00:17:21.309 --> 00:17:25.309
If you want to pop that in your GPS, go check

00:17:25.309 --> 00:17:28.430
it out. Four days, five shows. He's even got

00:17:28.430 --> 00:17:31.990
a brunch show. You can't lose here. It's great,

00:17:32.569 --> 00:17:36.029
man. Congratulations on all this hard work, seriously.

00:17:37.529 --> 00:17:39.750
I've never done it, but I've seen so many folks.

00:17:40.539 --> 00:17:44.000
Uh first hand put this shit on and it is a hell

00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:47.740
of a job and uh, you're killing it man Thank

00:17:47.740 --> 00:17:51.779
you very much. It's a it's a lot of fun eventually

00:17:51.779 --> 00:17:57.880
Fair we're not there yet fair. I hear you. Uh

00:17:57.880 --> 00:18:01.299
steven. Thanks again, man Uh, we will uh talk

00:18:01.299 --> 00:18:03.799
to you soon. Give us an update on everything

00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:05.680
else you got going on. Love to have you anytime

00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:08.180
Oh, thank you so much, man. We appreciate you.

00:18:08.180 --> 00:18:10.599
Thanks for taking the time for me And you guys

00:18:10.599 --> 00:18:12.400
are great things. I love the positivity, spreading

00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:14.880
the word about what's going on. Community is

00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:16.660
very important. It's how all of us stay afloat.

00:18:16.740 --> 00:18:18.759
So keep it up. We appreciate you. 100%. And I

00:18:18.759 --> 00:18:20.319
appreciate you saying that, man. Thank you so

00:18:20.319 --> 00:18:23.140
much. Have a great day, my friend. Thanks, buddy.

00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:27.839
Bye -bye. And hey, folks, we will be back in

00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:30.160
just a moment. We've got another guest. We're

00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:33.180
trying to really deliver as much as we can because

00:18:33.180 --> 00:18:35.599
we took yesterday off for you. So stick around

00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:40.779
for more Good News York in just a moment. Hey

00:18:40.779 --> 00:18:43.799
everybody, we're back That measure again from

00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:45.859
growth mode content here with good news York.

00:18:46.039 --> 00:18:49.759
We've got an incredible guest in studio But before

00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:51.500
I introduce you to this gentleman I got to give

00:18:51.500 --> 00:18:54.440
a quick shout out to our man Zach with ads on

00:18:54.440 --> 00:18:58.019
the go the sponsor of good news York Get ads

00:18:58.019 --> 00:19:01.079
on the go .com is the website. You've seen the

00:19:01.079 --> 00:19:04.059
truck driving all around the greater Syracuse

00:19:04.059 --> 00:19:07.460
area it's one of the few in our area you've seen

00:19:07.460 --> 00:19:09.799
these all over the country, but around here our

00:19:09.799 --> 00:19:13.480
man Zach is the one to go to if you want a mobile

00:19:13.480 --> 00:19:17.339
billboard or even a video screen at an event

00:19:17.339 --> 00:19:19.660
it's incredible you can pull up they can jack

00:19:19.660 --> 00:19:22.640
anything into these screens and we may even have

00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:24.200
a video game tournament in the middle of the

00:19:24.200 --> 00:19:26.960
field with this thing one day but again just

00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:30.079
shout out to Zach get ads on the go dot com if

00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:32.180
you want to advertise your business with him

00:19:32.180 --> 00:19:35.599
so without further ado we have a gentleman who

00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:38.680
came to us Want to say as a referral necessarily

00:19:38.680 --> 00:19:43.019
but as a he saw our buddy Dan the car man Our

00:19:43.019 --> 00:19:45.779
returning champion here on Good News York. He's

00:19:45.779 --> 00:19:47.119
good friends with him. He works with them I'm

00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:48.539
gonna let him go ahead and introduce himself

00:19:48.539 --> 00:19:50.700
in his business and let's learn a little bit

00:19:50.700 --> 00:19:55.619
about this Yeah, so my name is Steve Blanchard.

00:19:55.799 --> 00:19:57.799
I'm the president and founder of Empire State

00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:00.480
Warranty. We're based out of Albany, New York

00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:05.269
We provide vehicle service contracts ancillary

00:20:05.269 --> 00:20:09.369
products and other marketing things to automotive

00:20:09.369 --> 00:20:12.309
dealerships across the Northeast. And we're just

00:20:12.309 --> 00:20:15.329
expanding into the Mid -Atlantic. So we're the

00:20:15.329 --> 00:20:18.069
first of its kind, first ever. What we're called

00:20:18.069 --> 00:20:20.170
in the automotive industry is a TPA, which is

00:20:20.170 --> 00:20:24.130
a third party administrator. And we're the first

00:20:24.130 --> 00:20:29.230
ever TPA in New York state. So it's been a wild

00:20:29.230 --> 00:20:31.849
ride over the last several years. We've grown

00:20:31.849 --> 00:20:35.869
incredibly fast. You know, we're just trying

00:20:35.869 --> 00:20:39.029
to break the perception of what car warranties

00:20:39.029 --> 00:20:41.529
are, you know? OK. The ice tees of the world

00:20:41.529 --> 00:20:46.910
that are on car shield, or the Danica Patricks

00:20:46.910 --> 00:20:51.130
on Endurances, you know? There's a lot of misconception,

00:20:51.309 --> 00:20:53.569
misperception, I would say, in the car and the

00:20:53.569 --> 00:20:56.329
warranty business, and rightfully thought of

00:20:56.329 --> 00:21:00.109
based on a lot of people's, you know? Probably

00:21:00.109 --> 00:21:02.109
experiences, I should say. And we're just trying

00:21:02.109 --> 00:21:03.670
to break the node. And it's nice to know that

00:21:03.670 --> 00:21:05.029
it's in the backyard right here in New York.

00:21:05.789 --> 00:21:09.250
That's awesome. I can understand some of your

00:21:09.250 --> 00:21:10.910
challenges. Because I think some of the time

00:21:10.910 --> 00:21:12.990
when you just hear these warranty things, you're

00:21:12.990 --> 00:21:16.789
thinking about, I'm going to date myself. But

00:21:16.789 --> 00:21:18.710
you go to Sears, and you bought a television.

00:21:18.849 --> 00:21:22.750
Do you want the extended service product? They

00:21:22.750 --> 00:21:26.819
always had that add -on. And it was sort of nonsense,

00:21:27.059 --> 00:21:28.559
you know? It's like I'm buying a remote control.

00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:31.480
No, I don't need a service plan, you know? And

00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:33.339
I feel like people get a little jaded by those

00:21:33.339 --> 00:21:35.779
things. Absolutely. When it comes to a vehicle,

00:21:35.859 --> 00:21:38.339
that's the thing that I want a warranty on, right?

00:21:38.440 --> 00:21:43.599
Yes, yeah. So what do you do differently and

00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:45.640
kind of provide that some of these other folks

00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:50.680
may not? Yeah, so first and foremost, we're primarily

00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:52.940
a wholesaler through and through, right? We don't

00:21:52.940 --> 00:21:55.329
sell direct to consumers. Gotcha. We partner

00:21:55.329 --> 00:21:59.609
with dealerships across the country as we're

00:21:59.609 --> 00:22:02.529
expanding very fast. I think when I started us

00:22:02.529 --> 00:22:06.970
becoming our own administrator in 2023, we were

00:22:06.970 --> 00:22:09.089
just in New York. Now we're in 10 different states

00:22:09.089 --> 00:22:12.279
in a little over a year and a half. First and

00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:15.099
foremost, we try to vet out relationships with

00:22:15.099 --> 00:22:18.019
quality dealer partners, whether it's an independent

00:22:18.019 --> 00:22:21.960
guy like a Dan and RCS services and the garage

00:22:21.960 --> 00:22:26.680
at 3100 or a franchise dealership like the Nimes

00:22:26.680 --> 00:22:31.180
Auto Group in Utica. So we vet out our partners

00:22:31.180 --> 00:22:33.599
first. We identify if they're going to be a good

00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:37.140
quality partner, not just for us in working together,

00:22:37.140 --> 00:22:39.299
but also the consumers that we're going to provide

00:22:39.299 --> 00:22:43.730
a program to. And that's who we are through and

00:22:43.730 --> 00:22:45.890
through, is customer service -oriented and focused.

00:22:46.390 --> 00:22:48.690
Our average claims authorization time right now

00:22:48.690 --> 00:22:51.650
is under an hour, which is unheard of. Wow. Our

00:22:51.650 --> 00:22:55.089
average industry is anywhere from a week to two

00:22:55.089 --> 00:22:58.710
weeks. It's very much convoluted relative to

00:22:58.710 --> 00:23:01.750
communication. You want to try to call a service

00:23:01.750 --> 00:23:03.769
contract provider to see what's going on. It's

00:23:03.769 --> 00:23:06.269
pretty difficult. You might be talking to eight

00:23:06.269 --> 00:23:08.430
or nine different people. One might be from Idaho.

00:23:08.509 --> 00:23:10.410
One might be from out of the country. Oh, wow.

00:23:11.690 --> 00:23:13.670
It's totally unique and different depending on

00:23:13.670 --> 00:23:16.349
the company you work for you're working with

00:23:16.349 --> 00:23:19.329
You'd be calling a mom -and -pop family oriented

00:23:19.329 --> 00:23:21.869
company right out of Albany everybody, you know,

00:23:21.970 --> 00:23:25.349
we're small -knit group and that really is unique

00:23:25.349 --> 00:23:27.930
not just to the dealerships we work with but

00:23:27.930 --> 00:23:30.569
the customers that decide to invest in the product

00:23:30.569 --> 00:23:32.630
when they're buying their vehicle at these dealerships

00:23:32.630 --> 00:23:35.509
and We have a great reputation because of that.

00:23:35.529 --> 00:23:37.390
So I would say that's our biggest differentiator

00:23:37.390 --> 00:23:41.279
is just I think the level of protection the customers

00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:44.359
feel, not just from a product -oriented perspective,

00:23:44.579 --> 00:23:47.059
but a people -oriented perspective. When you

00:23:47.059 --> 00:23:49.400
can just call, get an answer real quick, hey,

00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:51.279
what's going on with my car? And you can get

00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:53.579
all that. It just makes the whole process smooth,

00:23:53.579 --> 00:23:57.220
and that customer feels like this company has

00:23:57.220 --> 00:23:59.980
our back. And we have a lot of repeat business

00:23:59.980 --> 00:24:02.299
due to that. I mean, the only time we really

00:24:02.299 --> 00:24:05.859
do direct is if a customer that might have got

00:24:05.859 --> 00:24:08.099
in our contract or been referred to by somebody

00:24:08.099 --> 00:24:11.079
that has gotten our contract in the past and

00:24:11.079 --> 00:24:13.420
they're buying from a dealership that might not

00:24:13.420 --> 00:24:15.339
be partnered with us. We'll try to work with

00:24:15.339 --> 00:24:19.859
them to try to get protection. Wow. Wow. So what

00:24:19.859 --> 00:24:23.420
goes into protecting something? Is it vehicle

00:24:23.420 --> 00:24:25.759
specific? Do you have particular standards of

00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:27.559
what you can and can't cover? You know, how does

00:24:27.559 --> 00:24:30.339
that work? Yeah. So the service contract space

00:24:30.339 --> 00:24:35.099
works on And us in particular, we're pretty standard.

00:24:35.380 --> 00:24:39.000
We work on a classification basis, right? So

00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:42.859
a Honda Civic might be different than a Range

00:24:42.859 --> 00:24:46.559
Rover. Sure. Just because of the type of cost

00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:50.579
that's associated with parts. Sometimes it's

00:24:50.579 --> 00:24:53.700
harder to get parts. Sometimes there's a specialty

00:24:53.700 --> 00:24:56.539
element to the service person. that's doing the

00:24:56.539 --> 00:24:58.519
work right not everybody can work on a Range

00:24:58.519 --> 00:25:00.640
Rover yeah but there's a lot more mechanics out

00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:03.519
there that can work on a Honda or a Chevy or

00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:05.740
a Ford right they're more common in the area

00:25:05.740 --> 00:25:09.599
so the easiest way to think about it is if your

00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:12.480
cost is going to be much greater if a failure

00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:15.559
occurs well obviously the cost on the contracts

00:25:15.559 --> 00:25:18.259
is going to be much greater as well because our

00:25:18.259 --> 00:25:20.440
contracts are built on a reserve element and

00:25:20.440 --> 00:25:23.279
that reserve element is essentially set based

00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:26.420
on the risk factor I see typically that's on

00:25:26.420 --> 00:25:28.599
a classification basis most companies work on

00:25:28.599 --> 00:25:31.779
a Class one through five models some other companies

00:25:31.779 --> 00:25:36.640
work on a class a through FD model The administration

00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:39.579
companies are constantly changing that way. It's

00:25:39.579 --> 00:25:42.200
almost turning into a more forward -thinking

00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:45.160
Almost insurance type of yeah, you know, really

00:25:45.160 --> 00:25:47.880
it's almost like we're sister company to insurance

00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:50.700
in a way, right? But, you know, we're constantly

00:25:50.700 --> 00:25:54.420
looking at data to analyze, you know, what classifications

00:25:54.420 --> 00:25:56.420
are what, but that's the main premise of how

00:25:56.420 --> 00:25:58.460
we identify what the cost should be. Gotcha.

00:25:59.099 --> 00:26:01.039
And when people buy these, they typically, I'm

00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:02.539
guessing, buy it at the time of the purchase

00:26:02.539 --> 00:26:05.400
of the vehicle. And then the cost of the warranty,

00:26:05.500 --> 00:26:08.039
I'm assuming, goes, it's just part of your monthly

00:26:08.039 --> 00:26:11.779
car payment, is it? Yeah, you know, so either

00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:14.980
either they're fitting it into their loan. So

00:26:14.980 --> 00:26:17.960
if they're going to Sydney Federal Credit Union

00:26:17.960 --> 00:26:21.579
or Empower, I'm thinking of some some individual

00:26:21.579 --> 00:26:25.599
banks that are used up here. They would typically

00:26:25.599 --> 00:26:27.980
have it financed with with their bank and their

00:26:27.980 --> 00:26:31.480
bank is going to allow an allowance of what they

00:26:31.480 --> 00:26:33.819
can provide, which will allow their dealership

00:26:33.819 --> 00:26:36.460
to figure out Can I do just a service contract?

00:26:36.619 --> 00:26:39.759
Can I maybe do tire and wheel? Maybe can I do

00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:45.480
a gap product or something that uncovers my interior

00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:48.400
and exterior protection? It all comes down to

00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:52.619
what the dealer really is going against is the

00:26:52.619 --> 00:26:54.619
approval rate of, say, the financing. Sure. To

00:26:54.619 --> 00:26:56.700
see what they can actually get into your loan.

00:26:56.720 --> 00:26:58.799
Yeah. They can't get it into your loan. It will

00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:00.960
just up your down payment, usually. Oh, I see.

00:27:01.019 --> 00:27:03.519
They pay for it out of pocket in your cash. Sometimes

00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:05.640
if you're getting a higher down payment, it might

00:27:05.640 --> 00:27:08.240
not. It might not necessarily mean that was the

00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:10.539
approval. It's what the dealership is trying

00:27:10.539 --> 00:27:12.559
to get you based on your needs through a menu

00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:15.680
presentation or essentially the information that

00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:17.720
they got to the customer during the sale of the

00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:20.940
car. Gotcha. Cash as well. I mean, there's there's

00:27:20.940 --> 00:27:23.119
opportunities that we have like installment payment

00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:25.380
plans that are zero percent down that the customer

00:27:25.380 --> 00:27:27.799
can get a monthly payment on. That's kind of.

00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:31.269
Yeah, it's kind of what like these TV. You know

00:27:31.269 --> 00:27:33.410
warranty company in a way is a monthly payment

00:27:33.410 --> 00:27:35.890
plan. It's a little bit different than that You

00:27:35.890 --> 00:27:38.329
know, it's uh, think of it this way. You said

00:27:38.329 --> 00:27:40.509
sears before it's like a warranty on layaway,

00:27:40.509 --> 00:27:42.529
right? You're slowly paying it and I see it off

00:27:42.529 --> 00:27:44.309
and you go from there There's there's programs

00:27:44.309 --> 00:27:46.329
out there like that or obviously customer can

00:27:46.329 --> 00:27:49.490
just pay straight cash Wow, that's that's phenomenal.

00:27:49.670 --> 00:27:52.630
Um, you know, I I can attest this years ago.

00:27:52.630 --> 00:27:56.769
I had a dodge caliber Don't ask me why I ever

00:27:56.769 --> 00:27:58.250
would have bought one of those things. Okay,

00:27:58.349 --> 00:28:02.279
but um At the time, I got a lifetime unlimited

00:28:02.279 --> 00:28:05.759
warranty on the thing. And let me tell you, that

00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:08.259
paid for itself probably 10 times over. We kept

00:28:08.259 --> 00:28:11.759
that car much longer than anyone has ever kept

00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:14.579
a Dodge. They put a transmission in it. I mean,

00:28:15.019 --> 00:28:19.799
it was no joke. And like I said, worth every

00:28:19.799 --> 00:28:25.380
penny. Tell us a little bit about the process.

00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:28.480
So you have a warranty on your vehicle. but now

00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:31.359
something breaks. Is it a real hassle now to

00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:34.680
get that fixed, or what do I got to do to use

00:28:34.680 --> 00:28:37.700
this warranty? Yeah, so the first step is there's

00:28:37.700 --> 00:28:41.039
a lot of fear and uncertainty and doubt, right?

00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:44.240
Somebody has an engine light pop on your car

00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:46.900
immediately thinking, my engine is toast. It's

00:28:46.900 --> 00:28:49.460
done. When it could be just their gas cap is

00:28:49.460 --> 00:28:51.920
just loose. Ultimately, it's just triggering

00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:55.710
that light to come on. It's it's overcoming first,

00:28:55.809 --> 00:28:58.690
you know, consumers going to feel immediate anxiety.

00:28:59.130 --> 00:29:01.170
Yeah. Unfortunately, in our industry, in the

00:29:01.170 --> 00:29:04.970
automobile industry and repair industry, there's

00:29:04.970 --> 00:29:06.990
a lot of repair facilities that can take advantage

00:29:06.990 --> 00:29:10.049
of that. sure so the first step is finding a

00:29:10.049 --> 00:29:12.390
reputable repair facility that you feel that

00:29:12.390 --> 00:29:14.970
you're comfortable with that you can go to and

00:29:14.970 --> 00:29:17.750
talk to on this to figure out what the true mechanical

00:29:17.750 --> 00:29:20.250
failure is or if even if there is a mechanical

00:29:20.250 --> 00:29:22.390
failure on the car maybe it's something simpler

00:29:22.390 --> 00:29:25.549
yeah you know simple like the the gas cap situation

00:29:25.549 --> 00:29:29.539
that I that I said But what we do is we have

00:29:29.539 --> 00:29:31.839
an in -network repair facility program with us.

00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:35.480
We vet out particular repair shops and they get

00:29:35.480 --> 00:29:38.039
into an agreement with us where we feel confident

00:29:38.039 --> 00:29:41.000
enough that we can refer our Empire State Warranty

00:29:41.000 --> 00:29:43.440
customers to them and then they work with our

00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:45.819
rates to not just mitigate the cost associated

00:29:45.819 --> 00:29:48.079
on the contracts because they're on, we call

00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:50.329
it in -network because it's similar to like Yeah,

00:29:50.470 --> 00:29:52.349
of course. Yeah, like, your health insurance

00:29:52.349 --> 00:29:54.190
is going to have in -network doctors and out

00:29:54.190 --> 00:29:56.650
-of -network doctors. It's the same concept.

00:29:56.650 --> 00:29:58.109
You go to our in -network repair facilities.

00:29:58.170 --> 00:30:00.509
We have the confidence to know this is a reputable

00:30:00.509 --> 00:30:02.930
repair facility. You're going to come out very

00:30:02.930 --> 00:30:04.849
minimal, if any, out of pocket. Because a lot

00:30:04.849 --> 00:30:06.309
of times, our in -network repair facilities,

00:30:06.390 --> 00:30:08.990
the deductible is waived if that's how your contract

00:30:08.990 --> 00:30:12.069
is constructed. Or they're working on rates that

00:30:12.069 --> 00:30:13.730
match our labor rate. There's a lot of different

00:30:13.730 --> 00:30:15.630
factors involved. And there's profiles on our

00:30:15.630 --> 00:30:18.849
website that say that. But we try to direct them

00:30:18.849 --> 00:30:21.799
there. If they decide that or we don't have an

00:30:21.799 --> 00:30:24.140
in -network repair facility in that customer's

00:30:24.140 --> 00:30:26.500
area, you got to ask a lot of questions first

00:30:26.500 --> 00:30:29.039
before even taking it there. The first question

00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:30.960
with somebody who has a service contract today,

00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:33.559
do you take aftermarket warranties or do you

00:30:33.559 --> 00:30:36.519
take aftermarket service contracts? There's some

00:30:36.519 --> 00:30:38.859
repair facilities that have been so tarnished

00:30:38.859 --> 00:30:41.680
by the industry that they just don't take anybody.

00:30:41.940 --> 00:30:44.099
And it's not they're not taking Empire State

00:30:44.099 --> 00:30:46.160
Warranty or maybe a product that somebody has

00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:47.960
purchased. They just don't take anybody. Right.

00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:49.019
They just don't want to deal with that. They

00:30:49.019 --> 00:30:50.740
don't want to deal with it. It takes weeks and

00:30:50.740 --> 00:30:52.900
weeks. They manipulate our process. They'll send

00:30:52.900 --> 00:30:55.019
out inspectors. It takes weeks and weeks and

00:30:55.019 --> 00:30:57.819
weeks. And I totally understand their philosophy

00:30:57.819 --> 00:30:59.700
on that. And that's why we constantly try to

00:30:59.700 --> 00:31:02.039
talk to repair facilities to say, give us a chance

00:31:02.039 --> 00:31:05.460
for our customers and see how our process is

00:31:05.460 --> 00:31:10.700
in comparison to your previous experiences. That's

00:31:10.700 --> 00:31:12.700
what a customer should be asking if they're out

00:31:12.700 --> 00:31:15.440
of network. The second thing is they want to

00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:17.220
make sure they know what the labor rate cost

00:31:17.220 --> 00:31:21.319
is of the repair shop, right? So I think sometimes

00:31:21.319 --> 00:31:23.680
people get blindsided that nowadays, I think

00:31:23.680 --> 00:31:27.640
the average labor rate currently in upstate New

00:31:27.640 --> 00:31:33.099
York is about $135 to $140 an hour. And it's

00:31:33.099 --> 00:31:36.210
continuing to increase. Fortunately, due to COVID.

00:31:36.730 --> 00:31:39.049
It's not 25 bucks an hour? No. Come on. What

00:31:39.049 --> 00:31:41.529
are you talking about? It's not. I just paid

00:31:41.529 --> 00:31:43.809
that guy that 30 years ago. Come on. Think of

00:31:43.809 --> 00:31:47.410
it this way. I started in 2013 coming out of

00:31:47.410 --> 00:31:50.250
college. I went to Siena University in Albany.

00:31:51.670 --> 00:31:53.569
And coming out of college, I think the average

00:31:53.569 --> 00:31:57.089
labor rate in the independent space was about,

00:31:57.089 --> 00:32:00.980
I want to say about 85 to 90. Wow. And that was,

00:32:01.180 --> 00:32:04.880
and I've been in this industry now for 13, 14

00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:08.220
years now. So 14 years ago, it was about $85,

00:32:08.220 --> 00:32:11.460
$90, and now it's $140. Yeah. So it's constantly

00:32:11.460 --> 00:32:13.880
increasing. So a customer is going to want to

00:32:13.880 --> 00:32:16.920
ask that because, say your contract only pays

00:32:16.920 --> 00:32:21.259
$125, but someone's charging $175 an hour. And

00:32:21.259 --> 00:32:23.980
that's not the standard norm. Maybe this is Mike's

00:32:23.980 --> 00:32:26.250
used repair shop. But there's six other repair

00:32:26.250 --> 00:32:29.069
shops that are around the area that pay $40 less.

00:32:29.589 --> 00:32:31.829
Well, who's paying for the difference? Customers,

00:32:31.990 --> 00:32:34.549
right? If there is an approval. So you want to

00:32:34.549 --> 00:32:35.990
understand what the labor rate is. And they want

00:32:35.990 --> 00:32:37.549
to understand their contract, too. What does

00:32:37.549 --> 00:32:39.950
their contract cover? To mentally prep them that

00:32:39.950 --> 00:32:41.950
their contract is going to cover it, then they

00:32:41.950 --> 00:32:44.029
feel good. But at the same time, understanding

00:32:44.029 --> 00:32:46.549
that's always giving us a call first or calling

00:32:46.549 --> 00:32:49.430
any type of service contract provider that you

00:32:49.430 --> 00:32:53.430
have. is really important and vital because we're

00:32:53.430 --> 00:32:55.789
gonna guide you to understanding what the process

00:32:55.789 --> 00:32:59.950
should be and communication is key. And I would

00:32:59.950 --> 00:33:02.390
probably say that would be inevitably the starting

00:33:02.390 --> 00:33:05.150
point in order to make a smooth process. That's

00:33:05.150 --> 00:33:07.549
great. That's great. I'd probably say a million

00:33:07.549 --> 00:33:09.490
other things because I have so much knowledge

00:33:09.490 --> 00:33:11.670
and experience in it, but I'm trying to simplify

00:33:11.670 --> 00:33:14.690
it. No, no, I love it. That's what the podcast

00:33:14.690 --> 00:33:18.329
is all about. Let's get the details out. This

00:33:18.329 --> 00:33:22.009
is so cool. Let's step back for a minute. And

00:33:22.009 --> 00:33:24.029
I'd love to learn a little bit more about you

00:33:24.029 --> 00:33:28.210
and just kind of how you got here. So you mentioned

00:33:28.210 --> 00:33:31.109
you're the first of this kind in New York State.

00:33:32.269 --> 00:33:34.589
How or why did you come to even getting into

00:33:34.589 --> 00:33:41.869
this venture? By accident. OK. So I graduated

00:33:41.869 --> 00:33:47.269
Siena University in 2012. I worked full time

00:33:47.269 --> 00:33:49.390
through Sears, actually. I worked for Sears Holding

00:33:49.390 --> 00:33:53.369
Corporation for six years. Sold tractors, tillers,

00:33:53.549 --> 00:33:56.849
mowers, mattresses. I got you. Craftsman tools.

00:33:57.049 --> 00:33:59.910
You name it, I sold it at Sears. Sold a lot of

00:33:59.910 --> 00:34:02.470
service contracts there. It was great. No, I'm

00:34:02.470 --> 00:34:07.069
just kidding. My percentage was all right. But

00:34:07.069 --> 00:34:10.530
yeah. I wanted to always get into business to

00:34:10.530 --> 00:34:13.409
business outside sales. I wanted to be a consultant

00:34:13.409 --> 00:34:16.110
to help businesses grow, was the main reason

00:34:16.110 --> 00:34:21.989
why I got into B2B outside consulting. And it

00:34:21.989 --> 00:34:25.889
just so happened, I did nursing education temporarily.

00:34:25.949 --> 00:34:29.550
I would go out on the road and talk to nurses

00:34:29.550 --> 00:34:33.730
that needed basically a remote program because

00:34:34.309 --> 00:34:36.969
Mohawk Valley Community College or some of these

00:34:36.969 --> 00:34:38.829
other nursing programs are two years, three years

00:34:38.829 --> 00:34:40.929
behind. There's a waiting period, right? Or they

00:34:40.929 --> 00:34:43.429
were so far outside of the norm from a logistics

00:34:43.429 --> 00:34:46.789
perspective that they needed help trying to get

00:34:46.789 --> 00:34:49.150
their LPN or the registered nursing license.

00:34:49.210 --> 00:34:52.269
So I helped on that for a year. But I wanted

00:34:52.269 --> 00:34:54.849
something and that was still kind of more B2C.

00:34:55.110 --> 00:34:57.309
And I really want to fall on that. So there was

00:34:57.309 --> 00:35:00.510
an opportunity with a corporate company up here.

00:35:01.349 --> 00:35:05.090
that was opening up a market and expanding. And

00:35:05.090 --> 00:35:09.349
I decided to take a chance. Young 22 year old,

00:35:09.369 --> 00:35:11.769
23 year old just breaking in. I didn't know anybody

00:35:11.769 --> 00:35:14.489
in the car space, man. My dad's best friend owned

00:35:14.489 --> 00:35:18.010
a repair facility in East Green Bush, New York.

00:35:18.889 --> 00:35:21.869
So it kinda felt like I was always around cars

00:35:21.869 --> 00:35:25.230
in my life. But man, it was tough. I mean, nobody

00:35:25.230 --> 00:35:27.349
knew who I was. Nobody knew I was coming. of

00:35:27.349 --> 00:35:28.869
what company I was. It was like I was building

00:35:28.869 --> 00:35:30.730
a business from the ground up, because of an

00:35:30.730 --> 00:35:34.510
expansion market. But just boots on the ground,

00:35:34.710 --> 00:35:36.969
knocking on a lot of doors, people giving me

00:35:36.969 --> 00:35:39.309
chances. A little over three or four years, I

00:35:39.309 --> 00:35:42.409
built it to over a million dollar market. I was

00:35:42.409 --> 00:35:44.289
one of their top reps in their company. They

00:35:44.289 --> 00:35:48.909
promoted me to a regional director to cover basically

00:35:48.909 --> 00:35:51.190
the entire Mid -Atlantic, so Pennsylvania all

00:35:51.190 --> 00:35:53.309
the way down to South Carolina. covered some

00:35:53.309 --> 00:35:54.889
in New York, too, in a way. There was another

00:35:54.889 --> 00:35:57.730
regional manager that covered New York, but I

00:35:57.730 --> 00:35:59.510
had so many relationships. There was kind of

00:35:59.510 --> 00:36:04.070
the pseudo de facto as well there. And, you know,

00:36:04.150 --> 00:36:07.489
I performed at an extremely high level for that

00:36:07.489 --> 00:36:11.670
in that realm for a little over eight years until

00:36:11.670 --> 00:36:15.250
we mutually agreed to part ways in 2019. Just

00:36:15.250 --> 00:36:18.170
a lot of change in that company. And, you know,

00:36:18.170 --> 00:36:20.710
they were going into a different direction. And

00:36:22.059 --> 00:36:25.800
I felt in a way I was as well. So that's kind

00:36:25.800 --> 00:36:27.860
of where, in a way, Empire State Warranty was

00:36:27.860 --> 00:36:33.260
born. It was during COVID, actually. It's funny,

00:36:33.300 --> 00:36:35.579
because I felt like COVID was a little bit of

00:36:35.579 --> 00:36:38.679
a Petri dish of maybe entrepreneurs saying. Completely

00:36:38.679 --> 00:36:41.900
agree. It just kind of kickstarted me to go,

00:36:42.059 --> 00:36:44.940
what am I doing? I've always had this mentality.

00:36:45.599 --> 00:36:48.360
even when I worked in the company that I worked

00:36:48.360 --> 00:36:51.019
at, I never felt as if I was working for them.

00:36:51.679 --> 00:36:54.760
I was just working underneath their umbrella

00:36:54.760 --> 00:36:56.519
and they were paying me, but I was still working

00:36:56.519 --> 00:36:59.860
for myself. And I always was, I was probably

00:36:59.860 --> 00:37:03.780
overly opinionated, but because I had all the

00:37:03.780 --> 00:37:05.599
right intentions, I just had to help others.

00:37:06.079 --> 00:37:08.460
So I always had that in me. And I think COVID

00:37:08.460 --> 00:37:12.900
was a pushing point. I had an amazing business

00:37:12.900 --> 00:37:17.550
coach. His name's Wayne Herring Jr. Just an amazing

00:37:17.550 --> 00:37:22.530
guy. Shout out to Wayne, because I had a conversation

00:37:22.530 --> 00:37:24.210
with him. It was a very emotional conversation,

00:37:24.250 --> 00:37:27.489
I remember. I was in a pretty dark place, not

00:37:27.489 --> 00:37:31.110
knowing what to do. He just said, why don't you

00:37:31.110 --> 00:37:33.449
start your own warranty company? I go, how the

00:37:33.449 --> 00:37:36.349
heck am I going to do that? I had no idea how

00:37:36.349 --> 00:37:40.280
to start. You know, in a way, I look at him as

00:37:40.280 --> 00:37:43.280
an angel knowledge investor, right? You know,

00:37:43.280 --> 00:37:45.400
he doesn't have any money or any game into my

00:37:45.400 --> 00:37:47.800
business, but he provided me the confidence and

00:37:47.800 --> 00:37:50.440
knowledge to push myself to do that. And he gave

00:37:50.440 --> 00:37:52.800
me some connections within the automotive space

00:37:52.800 --> 00:37:56.599
to kickstart me out. And Empire State Warranty

00:37:56.599 --> 00:38:01.480
was born in 2021. Wow. That's incredible. So

00:38:01.480 --> 00:38:03.579
now you're expanding. You said you're in multiple

00:38:03.579 --> 00:38:07.239
states now. Yeah. What does that take in terms

00:38:07.239 --> 00:38:10.699
of a team? Do you have lots of people? Are you

00:38:10.699 --> 00:38:12.579
spending 100 hours a week yourself? How does

00:38:12.579 --> 00:38:18.260
it go? All of the above. So 2021, when I started

00:38:18.260 --> 00:38:22.119
the company, we were white labeled. So we basically,

00:38:22.940 --> 00:38:26.460
our name was on some other administrator's product.

00:38:28.059 --> 00:38:30.699
So that's how we got kickstarted because New

00:38:30.699 --> 00:38:32.780
York has a lot of laws and other states have

00:38:32.780 --> 00:38:35.170
a lot of laws. In New York state, what you need

00:38:35.170 --> 00:38:37.510
is what's called a script, which is service contract

00:38:37.510 --> 00:38:41.670
reimbursement insurance policy. And that's required

00:38:41.670 --> 00:38:43.750
in order to be an administrator in the space.

00:38:44.429 --> 00:38:45.929
When you're a brand new company and you're doing

00:38:45.929 --> 00:38:48.010
zero dollars and zero cents, there's only about

00:38:48.010 --> 00:38:50.929
a handful of companies in the country that provide

00:38:50.929 --> 00:38:53.150
this underwriting insurance. They're not going

00:38:53.150 --> 00:38:55.269
to take you on because the risk is too great.

00:38:55.349 --> 00:38:58.230
You got to have a proof of concept. My vision

00:38:58.230 --> 00:39:00.670
was to create a proof of concept underneath a

00:39:00.670 --> 00:39:02.869
white label umbrella to eventually break off

00:39:02.869 --> 00:39:05.809
on my own. We did that for a little over two

00:39:05.809 --> 00:39:09.349
years. We got big enough to ultimately that relationship

00:39:09.349 --> 00:39:11.269
that we were working with under a white label

00:39:11.269 --> 00:39:15.150
was strenuous. It was kind of like we were conflicting

00:39:15.150 --> 00:39:17.449
based on what my vision of the company was to

00:39:17.449 --> 00:39:18.690
the vision of the administrator. It was almost

00:39:18.690 --> 00:39:20.900
like a partnership in a way. And I had to make

00:39:20.900 --> 00:39:22.940
a determination. Do I weight label under somebody

00:39:22.940 --> 00:39:25.940
else, or do we just bring this all in -house

00:39:25.940 --> 00:39:28.420
internally and do it all on our own? Making our

00:39:28.420 --> 00:39:30.539
own bread is what I do for most people, right?

00:39:31.400 --> 00:39:34.800
So at the time, I asked my wife. She was the

00:39:34.800 --> 00:39:37.920
director of a day spa called Kimberly's in Latham.

00:39:37.920 --> 00:39:39.360
And I said, how would you like to start this

00:39:39.360 --> 00:39:41.639
thing with me and bring this in -house? And she

00:39:41.639 --> 00:39:43.900
said, I'd love to. Get me out of this place.

00:39:44.119 --> 00:39:47.059
I'm ready to take on this venture with you, which

00:39:47.059 --> 00:39:49.809
I'm very grateful of. her and making that decision.

00:39:49.929 --> 00:39:51.369
Without her, I wouldn't have been able to do

00:39:51.369 --> 00:39:54.250
this. Yeah. And we took a chance. It took me

00:39:54.250 --> 00:39:57.190
a year to get the licensing for New York State

00:39:57.190 --> 00:39:59.949
to approve us. We had to get the underwriter

00:39:59.949 --> 00:40:02.090
approved. We have an A plus underwriter, Older

00:40:02.090 --> 00:40:04.650
Public Insurance Corp, which is a phenomenal

00:40:04.650 --> 00:40:08.190
partnership that we have to you know, protect

00:40:08.190 --> 00:40:10.289
our dealers if, God forbid, anything happened

00:40:10.289 --> 00:40:12.309
to us. And if we're protecting the dealers, we're

00:40:12.309 --> 00:40:14.110
protecting the consumers at the end of the day.

00:40:14.389 --> 00:40:16.170
We get that question a lot, because we're younger.

00:40:16.449 --> 00:40:18.289
So if anything happens to you, what happens to

00:40:18.289 --> 00:40:19.750
these service contracts that are on the road?

00:40:20.030 --> 00:40:22.150
That's what the underwriting insurance is for.

00:40:22.809 --> 00:40:25.110
And that's requirements. It's called the McKinney

00:40:25.110 --> 00:40:30.170
Law of New York State. And I did all the marketing.

00:40:30.170 --> 00:40:32.590
That was my background at Sienna. So all the

00:40:32.590 --> 00:40:35.789
brochures, the name brands, the coverages, the

00:40:35.789 --> 00:40:39.219
components. I did all of that. I hired a compliance

00:40:39.219 --> 00:40:41.679
team out of Florida to help me to make sure that

00:40:41.679 --> 00:40:44.659
our contracts were compliant. And we launched

00:40:44.659 --> 00:40:47.420
in October of 2023 to be our own company. And

00:40:47.420 --> 00:40:51.420
that's when we really, really grew. Because I

00:40:51.420 --> 00:40:53.960
feel like a lot of the dealers kind of looked

00:40:53.960 --> 00:40:57.659
at it as he's all in now. It's fair. They could

00:40:57.659 --> 00:41:01.599
relate. When you're an entrepreneur and you're

00:41:01.599 --> 00:41:05.039
an owner, I think a lot of the times it's scary.

00:41:05.599 --> 00:41:09.519
It's I I dumped my entire life savings in 401k

00:41:09.519 --> 00:41:11.639
in order to make this work It was almost like

00:41:11.639 --> 00:41:13.619
listen, I'm a Texas Holden poker player. Yeah,

00:41:13.639 --> 00:41:15.659
and I was putting all the chips. Yeah, I was

00:41:15.659 --> 00:41:19.039
going all in and My dealers could resonate with

00:41:19.039 --> 00:41:22.639
that like let's give this a shot and Help him

00:41:22.639 --> 00:41:26.559
out. And if it doesn't work for us, then we'll

00:41:26.559 --> 00:41:30.619
we'll tell him why yeah, but our retention state

00:41:30.619 --> 00:41:33.960
this we executed at an extremely high level and

00:41:34.199 --> 00:41:37.579
You know, we grew tremendously. I think at the

00:41:37.579 --> 00:41:39.679
end of 2023, coming out of a white label, we

00:41:39.679 --> 00:41:41.500
were a little over a half a million dollar company

00:41:41.500 --> 00:41:45.840
in 2024. We did about 3 .2, 3 .4 million. And

00:41:45.840 --> 00:41:48.179
this year, we're projected to do about 6 .7.

00:41:48.400 --> 00:41:51.380
Wow. And we're in 10 different states now. We

00:41:51.380 --> 00:41:53.380
have seven employees. We have two other additional

00:41:53.380 --> 00:41:54.980
employees coming on by the end of the year, a

00:41:54.980 --> 00:41:57.460
director of finance and another individual to

00:41:57.460 --> 00:42:00.400
help out my tech department as my tech department's

00:42:00.400 --> 00:42:06.050
starting to grow, my VP of tech. Yeah, I think

00:42:06.050 --> 00:42:09.010
that was the jumping off point, is when we became

00:42:09.010 --> 00:42:11.329
our own administrator, there was an immense buy

00:42:11.329 --> 00:42:14.489
-in by the automotive sector. That's great. I

00:42:14.489 --> 00:42:19.869
love to hear that. So let's talk just for a couple

00:42:19.869 --> 00:42:23.250
of minutes about who you're looking for to continue

00:42:23.250 --> 00:42:25.750
to grow this, right? Who is your now target client,

00:42:25.809 --> 00:42:28.650
and who should be talking to you about partnering

00:42:28.650 --> 00:42:33.250
up? Yeah, I would say any automotive dealership,

00:42:33.570 --> 00:42:35.750
franchise or independent that's looking for a

00:42:35.750 --> 00:42:39.309
true partnership. Maybe they're service contract

00:42:39.309 --> 00:42:44.949
provider. A lot of our industry has turned very

00:42:44.949 --> 00:42:49.789
transactional. It's a 1099 agent comes in, slings

00:42:49.789 --> 00:42:53.849
products, hopes that you sell 50, 60, 70 contracts,

00:42:54.030 --> 00:42:56.110
a month, 20 contracts, whatever the amount is.

00:42:56.389 --> 00:42:59.210
They're just more worried about how many contracts

00:42:59.210 --> 00:43:01.750
they're gonna get for themselves. as opposed

00:43:01.750 --> 00:43:03.909
to how they can truly partner with the dealership

00:43:03.909 --> 00:43:06.670
to become a better dealership overall, how to

00:43:06.670 --> 00:43:09.329
grow their backend business or backend revenue

00:43:09.329 --> 00:43:12.130
and have a partner in that category. It's a little

00:43:12.130 --> 00:43:14.909
old school, but there's any dealers out there

00:43:14.909 --> 00:43:17.369
that are looking for, man, I'm looking for someone

00:43:17.369 --> 00:43:19.889
to help partner with me to make more money. I

00:43:19.889 --> 00:43:23.110
mean, if their average PVRs right now aren't

00:43:23.110 --> 00:43:26.210
a split between backend and frontend, you should

00:43:26.210 --> 00:43:28.949
talk to us because the average industry right

00:43:28.949 --> 00:43:31.969
now is If you're at a 90 to 10, you know, all

00:43:31.969 --> 00:43:33.809
the majority of the money that I make right now

00:43:33.809 --> 00:43:37.489
is in the front and our back end PVRs are just

00:43:37.489 --> 00:43:39.570
in the dumps. It's 10 percent or 20 percent of

00:43:39.570 --> 00:43:42.289
the gross revenue or our store. Talk to our team,

00:43:42.289 --> 00:43:44.570
you know, because the majority of our dealerships,

00:43:44.969 --> 00:43:47.349
once we sink our teeth into them and we really

00:43:47.349 --> 00:43:49.449
build that partnership, I'd probably say the

00:43:49.449 --> 00:43:53.090
split of revenue at the stores are 60, 40, 50,

00:43:53.130 --> 00:43:58.190
50, which is a huge difference. And just, I would

00:43:58.190 --> 00:44:00.010
say, if there's any dealers out there that are

00:44:00.010 --> 00:44:02.630
thinking to themselves, I make X amount on the

00:44:02.630 --> 00:44:05.510
front right now, and I can match that same amount

00:44:05.510 --> 00:44:07.230
I'm making on the front and the back, how much

00:44:07.230 --> 00:44:08.710
of a difference would that make for your store?

00:44:08.969 --> 00:44:13.789
I mean, that sounds incredible. Are a lot of

00:44:13.789 --> 00:44:16.349
the dealers that sell the vehicles and the warranty

00:44:16.349 --> 00:44:18.389
also some of the service shops that folks would

00:44:18.389 --> 00:44:22.070
then bring it to for warranty service? Or do

00:44:22.070 --> 00:44:25.500
you find they're kind of different players? You

00:44:25.500 --> 00:44:28.000
talking in terms of, like, consumers? Just the

00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:29.699
dealership themselves. Do they typically take

00:44:29.699 --> 00:44:31.920
both parts? They're then the warranty center

00:44:31.920 --> 00:44:33.800
where they do the work in their shop? Yeah, for

00:44:33.800 --> 00:44:35.719
the most part, yeah. And honestly, those are

00:44:35.719 --> 00:44:40.360
our best relationships. Because there's a structured

00:44:40.360 --> 00:44:42.599
element to it, right? There's a level of ownership

00:44:42.599 --> 00:44:44.699
in the product that they're selling. And honestly,

00:44:45.019 --> 00:44:48.820
any of our dealerships that have a service department

00:44:48.820 --> 00:44:51.860
attached to them are really, really strong partners

00:44:51.860 --> 00:44:54.320
for us. And in the long term, they can grow into,

00:44:54.510 --> 00:44:58.369
you know, a gross profit share program with us

00:44:58.369 --> 00:45:00.489
or eventually there's programs called reinsurance

00:45:00.489 --> 00:45:04.170
or DOWC programs that they can get into and they

00:45:04.170 --> 00:45:06.070
can really grow their portfolio that way because

00:45:06.070 --> 00:45:08.050
they can control the narrative on their service

00:45:08.050 --> 00:45:10.769
side. It's not just for people coming in, but

00:45:10.769 --> 00:45:13.309
it's also the reconditioning associated on the

00:45:13.309 --> 00:45:17.769
cars. When you're buying a used car, there's

00:45:17.769 --> 00:45:20.469
a lot of... And for most people, it's their new

00:45:20.469 --> 00:45:23.429
car. So they expect everything to be good, everything

00:45:23.429 --> 00:45:26.309
to be great. This is my new car, even though

00:45:26.309 --> 00:45:30.250
it might be a 2017 Chevy Tahoe with 95 ,000 miles

00:45:30.250 --> 00:45:33.829
on it. That's their new car. And reconditioning

00:45:33.829 --> 00:45:38.130
costs for a good, solid, reputable dealership

00:45:38.130 --> 00:45:41.789
is anywhere from $1 ,500 to $2 ,500. Does everybody

00:45:41.789 --> 00:45:45.469
do that? No. And it's even harder when they don't

00:45:45.469 --> 00:45:47.630
have their own service department, because that

00:45:47.630 --> 00:45:50.420
dealership has to partner with a third party

00:45:50.420 --> 00:45:53.559
repair facility for essentially wholesale work.

00:45:53.719 --> 00:45:57.019
They're paying them due to volume. And so it

00:45:57.019 --> 00:45:58.760
makes it a little bit more difficult on their

00:45:58.760 --> 00:46:01.699
end. So yeah, I would probably say a lot of those

00:46:01.699 --> 00:46:04.320
guys that have an attached repair facility are

00:46:04.320 --> 00:46:06.940
great partners. But that doesn't necessarily

00:46:06.940 --> 00:46:08.960
mean the individuals that don't are good partners

00:46:08.960 --> 00:46:14.320
too. We have a lot of dealerships that do like

00:46:14.320 --> 00:46:17.019
a certified pre -owned program that will ultimately

00:46:17.019 --> 00:46:19.820
show all the work that's been done ahead of time

00:46:19.820 --> 00:46:22.619
onto the car to give the customer a peace of

00:46:22.619 --> 00:46:25.619
mind, hey, this car is really tight. And on top

00:46:25.619 --> 00:46:27.119
of that, they might include a warranty on it,

00:46:27.119 --> 00:46:28.639
too, to say, we don't think anything's going

00:46:28.639 --> 00:46:30.639
on, but in order to give you a peace of mind,

00:46:30.679 --> 00:46:32.360
we're going to include a six -month or a 12 -month

00:46:32.360 --> 00:46:36.980
warranty. So yeah, I mean, repair shops are just

00:46:36.980 --> 00:46:39.260
as important in our field, but in particular

00:46:39.260 --> 00:46:41.059
for dealerships, that's kind of how it's structured

00:46:41.059 --> 00:46:45.329
on there. So if I'm shopping for a car, Is it

00:46:45.329 --> 00:46:47.130
fair to say that I might be able to hit your

00:46:47.130 --> 00:46:49.929
website EmpireStateWarranty .com and see a list

00:46:49.929 --> 00:46:53.650
of dealers that you work with? Unfortunately,

00:46:53.949 --> 00:46:58.530
not. OK. So don't do that. We don't have any

00:46:58.530 --> 00:47:00.369
list. We have a list of repair facilities that

00:47:00.369 --> 00:47:03.949
they can take it to. But a lot of the times,

00:47:04.929 --> 00:47:07.309
we don't have a list of dealerships that we work

00:47:07.309 --> 00:47:08.969
with. I would probably say if they're looking

00:47:08.969 --> 00:47:11.909
for a good general idea, some of the dealers

00:47:11.909 --> 00:47:14.070
we work with, our social media page is awesome

00:47:14.070 --> 00:47:18.559
for that. You know, so Facebook or LinkedIn because

00:47:18.559 --> 00:47:20.420
we have a diamond dealer program and we give

00:47:20.420 --> 00:47:24.340
a lot of recognition to a dealer program. So

00:47:24.340 --> 00:47:27.019
our diamond dealer event happens once a year.

00:47:27.059 --> 00:47:29.360
Last year was at the KCQ Resorts in Florida.

00:47:30.320 --> 00:47:32.320
This year, I think it's going to be double in

00:47:32.320 --> 00:47:34.019
size. It's going to be at the Sagamore Resorts

00:47:34.019 --> 00:47:36.380
in Lake George this year. We're bringing it home

00:47:36.380 --> 00:47:38.119
to New York. That was a request from our dealers

00:47:38.119 --> 00:47:41.619
last year. Bring it closer to home. And we post

00:47:41.619 --> 00:47:44.480
all those awards. We post F &I manager of the

00:47:44.480 --> 00:47:48.440
year, all of our diamond dealers. We post service

00:47:48.440 --> 00:47:50.860
directors of the year. So if you're looking for,

00:47:51.400 --> 00:47:53.280
if you're a customer out there and you're saying,

00:47:53.500 --> 00:47:57.320
who's a reputable dealer I can go to? Follow

00:47:57.320 --> 00:47:59.639
our social media page, because I can guarantee

00:47:59.639 --> 00:48:02.400
you in the previous posts that we've had or their

00:48:02.400 --> 00:48:03.960
upcoming posts that we're going to have in the

00:48:03.960 --> 00:48:05.739
future, because our diamond dealership's around

00:48:05.739 --> 00:48:07.059
the corner here in the next couple of months

00:48:07.059 --> 00:48:09.989
to identify that. That will show exactly who

00:48:09.989 --> 00:48:13.090
has that diamond status with us. And those diamond

00:48:13.090 --> 00:48:15.429
dealerships are our cream of the crop. Those

00:48:15.429 --> 00:48:17.409
are our top of the line dealerships. And I know

00:48:17.409 --> 00:48:19.449
that's who the customers are going to really

00:48:19.449 --> 00:48:22.289
want to gravitate to. And we have some in the

00:48:22.289 --> 00:48:25.329
area around here. And I'd recommend you look

00:48:25.329 --> 00:48:29.050
into our social media. Awesome. Awesome. One

00:48:29.050 --> 00:48:31.130
last question I will ask you. And this is one

00:48:31.130 --> 00:48:33.730
that I asked Dan. And I'm interested to get your

00:48:33.730 --> 00:48:36.530
perspective as well. As somebody who's in the

00:48:36.530 --> 00:48:39.230
car warranty business, You see all kinds of things,

00:48:39.409 --> 00:48:43.090
you see claims, you see what breaks down, how

00:48:43.090 --> 00:48:46.269
often things break down probably. If you had

00:48:46.269 --> 00:48:49.969
to choose the most reliable vehicle on the market

00:48:49.969 --> 00:48:53.570
today, I'm going to buy a used vehicle, what's

00:48:53.570 --> 00:48:56.190
the one that's gonna last me the longest? Toyota,

00:48:56.909 --> 00:49:00.190
hands down. Any particular model? Nope. Okay.

00:49:00.320 --> 00:49:02.860
Toyota or Lexus, either one, you're in good shape.

00:49:03.659 --> 00:49:07.280
They are the most popular brand in the country

00:49:07.280 --> 00:49:09.820
right now. Subaru and Subaru kind of competes

00:49:09.820 --> 00:49:14.860
with them pretty much. But, you know, hands down,

00:49:14.920 --> 00:49:18.480
Toyota Lexus has a tendency to be the top of

00:49:18.480 --> 00:49:23.400
the line. And I'm personally a Toyota Lexus guy.

00:49:24.039 --> 00:49:26.579
And I'm not saying that because that's who I

00:49:26.579 --> 00:49:31.530
am. our data shows that as well. They're just

00:49:31.530 --> 00:49:35.849
phenomenal vehicles and I wouldn't. I mean, honestly,

00:49:35.949 --> 00:49:38.150
you can't go wrong with any Asian -based program,

00:49:38.210 --> 00:49:43.230
like a Honda, Toyota, stuff like that, but I

00:49:43.230 --> 00:49:44.829
would probably say if there was any particular

00:49:44.829 --> 00:49:47.190
brand, it would be Toyota. Dan also said Toyota.

00:49:47.389 --> 00:49:50.969
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. His specific recommendation

00:49:50.969 --> 00:49:53.030
was for the Toyota, I think it's the Sienna,

00:49:53.090 --> 00:49:57.010
the minivan, and his logic was, that you can

00:49:57.010 --> 00:49:58.710
put your kids in that. You can fold the seats

00:49:58.710 --> 00:50:01.389
down. You got a cargo van. It was the ultimate

00:50:01.389 --> 00:50:04.349
in terms of not only reliability, but just one

00:50:04.349 --> 00:50:08.250
of the most versatile. I have a sales rep. He

00:50:08.250 --> 00:50:11.230
had a whole logic built out to it that I really

00:50:11.230 --> 00:50:13.550
appreciated. I have to agree with him, because

00:50:13.550 --> 00:50:19.809
I have a 26 -year -old guy looking for a reliable

00:50:19.809 --> 00:50:21.289
car. I don't know if you're going with a Toyota

00:50:21.289 --> 00:50:25.900
Sienna. Exactly. But I have a sales rep on the

00:50:25.900 --> 00:50:27.440
road right now, works directly for us, who has

00:50:27.440 --> 00:50:30.679
a Toyota Sienna with 210 ,000 miles on it. And

00:50:30.679 --> 00:50:33.960
that thing just doesn't, it doesn't, you wouldn't

00:50:33.960 --> 00:50:37.719
even know it had 210 ,000 miles on it. So yeah,

00:50:37.780 --> 00:50:40.300
for sure. I mean, you can't go wrong with Camrys,

00:50:40.460 --> 00:50:45.980
Corollas, 4Runners, you name it. There's just

00:50:45.980 --> 00:50:49.610
so many good products in the Toyota brand. There's

00:50:49.610 --> 00:50:52.849
a reason why that in that that particular manufacturers

00:50:52.849 --> 00:50:55.670
as popular as it is they just you know I don't

00:50:55.670 --> 00:50:57.269
want to say they're bulletproof like they're

00:50:57.269 --> 00:51:00.670
not you know reliability nowadays is like you

00:51:00.670 --> 00:51:03.670
got to think to yourself I mean 45 to 50 percent

00:51:03.670 --> 00:51:06.570
of these cars Have technology on it now. Yeah,

00:51:06.570 --> 00:51:08.230
it's like the more bells and whistles you have

00:51:08.230 --> 00:51:10.500
when you when you purchase a car You should think

00:51:10.500 --> 00:51:14.059
of risk. You guys are in the tech space. It only

00:51:14.059 --> 00:51:16.659
takes one line of code to be off in order to

00:51:16.659 --> 00:51:18.780
mess up everything. My career exists because

00:51:18.780 --> 00:51:21.800
this stuff doesn't work all the time. Yeah, exactly.

00:51:21.900 --> 00:51:25.099
And it's the same thing with cars. So your car

00:51:25.099 --> 00:51:28.719
is made up of over 120 computer chips. During

00:51:28.719 --> 00:51:30.860
COVID, the reason why there was an issue with

00:51:30.860 --> 00:51:34.019
manufacturing, like getting cars out, it was

00:51:34.019 --> 00:51:37.039
a similar thing in real estate, was because they

00:51:37.039 --> 00:51:38.800
couldn't get the computer chips to bring in the

00:51:38.800 --> 00:51:41.429
cars. in Detroit, Michigan, in COVID, there was

00:51:41.429 --> 00:51:44.869
over 100 ,000 units just sitting in fields because

00:51:44.869 --> 00:51:46.610
they couldn't get the computer chips by Nvidia.

00:51:47.429 --> 00:51:51.710
And that just tells you that reliability is defined

00:51:51.710 --> 00:51:54.590
in different ways now. I would probably say the

00:51:54.590 --> 00:51:58.110
person that mitigates the risk the most is Toyota,

00:51:58.650 --> 00:52:00.769
but regardless, for any car that you get, there's

00:52:00.769 --> 00:52:02.590
gonna be a level of risk there. That's why you

00:52:02.590 --> 00:52:05.309
need a warranty. That's right. That's awesome.

00:52:06.989 --> 00:52:09.130
EmpireStateWarranty .com. You mentioned the socials.

00:52:09.130 --> 00:52:12.050
Let's go ahead and give all the plugs. What to

00:52:12.050 --> 00:52:13.889
look for on the social networks and all those

00:52:13.889 --> 00:52:16.349
fun things. Yeah, so you can follow us on our

00:52:16.349 --> 00:52:19.650
main website is EmpireStateWarranty .com. Our

00:52:19.650 --> 00:52:23.690
Facebook, which just go at Empire State Warranty.

00:52:23.989 --> 00:52:25.829
LinkedIn at Empire State Warranty. We have a

00:52:25.829 --> 00:52:28.090
YouTube channel as well, which is just basically

00:52:28.090 --> 00:52:30.309
an upload of our videos. We have a high level

00:52:30.309 --> 00:52:32.690
production team that works on all of our videos

00:52:32.690 --> 00:52:34.449
if you want to take a look at all of our products.

00:52:34.730 --> 00:52:38.289
on a video format or our diamond dealership from

00:52:38.289 --> 00:52:42.210
last year or even a story about us. So those

00:52:42.210 --> 00:52:44.190
are the main platforms that we're on. That's

00:52:44.190 --> 00:52:46.630
awesome. Listen, this has been really phenomenal.

00:52:46.650 --> 00:52:48.530
I've really enjoyed learning about this business.

00:52:48.610 --> 00:52:51.570
And I love just talking to entrepreneurs who

00:52:51.570 --> 00:52:53.710
really sort of break the mold here, especially

00:52:53.710 --> 00:52:56.650
in New York. Oh, New York State's so hard to

00:52:56.650 --> 00:52:59.389
do business. And it's a challenge, but we can

00:52:59.389 --> 00:53:01.869
pull it off if you're dedicated and you've got

00:53:01.869 --> 00:53:04.880
the right people. And I love hearing. folks to

00:53:04.880 --> 00:53:07.360
do that, so thank you for that. Thank you. Thank

00:53:07.360 --> 00:53:09.380
you for having me. That's what we're, you know,

00:53:09.440 --> 00:53:10.940
here at Good News York, that is really the whole

00:53:10.940 --> 00:53:13.480
purpose of this, is celebrating things all over

00:53:13.480 --> 00:53:17.619
the Empire State that are positive and people

00:53:17.619 --> 00:53:19.679
doing it right and creating jobs and building

00:53:19.679 --> 00:53:22.139
businesses and keeping people's cars on the road,

00:53:22.380 --> 00:53:26.320
which is pretty damn, that's essentially a public

00:53:26.320 --> 00:53:29.380
service. Listen, there's a saying by Frank Sinatra,

00:53:29.500 --> 00:53:31.239
if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere,

00:53:31.239 --> 00:53:33.860
right? And that's the truth. I like it. I like

00:53:33.860 --> 00:53:36.420
it. And on that note, I think we should call

00:53:36.420 --> 00:53:39.579
it a day. Guys, this has been a phenomenal episode

00:53:39.579 --> 00:53:42.000
of Good News York. Please like, follow, share,

00:53:42.019 --> 00:53:43.900
all that fun stuff. You know how to do it on

00:53:43.900 --> 00:53:47.360
all of our socials. And we will be back again

00:53:47.360 --> 00:53:52.099
tomorrow with more exciting good news. And with

00:53:52.099 --> 00:53:53.659
that, peace out.