Hello and welcome to Good News York, sponsored
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is Monday. It doesn't sound like a Monday. It
doesn't feel like a Monday because A, Buffalo
Bills finally look like they're playing football
again. That's a different story. You can go watch
that on GMY Sports. But even more importantly,
I'm here with a not even a special guest. I would
dare say a friend of ours, a friend of the show,
one of our first guests. Danny, was that one
of our first guests? Mr. Abel Ramirez from Bayberry
Uniforms in Fayetteville. You, my friend, we
learned a lot about you the first time you were
on, which we're gonna talk about again, but you
truly are, and it sounds like I'm being dramatic
here, you are the, you're living the American
dream. You are what we learned about in the history
books. People that come from different countries
for more opportunity here with drive, ambition.
nothing in their pockets and building something
from nothing, and you have done that, man, and
I respect that so much. Good morning, buddy.
How are you? Good morning, Mike. You're great.
Wow, that's a great introduction, man. I don't
know if I can live up to that. Well, I mean,
listen, it's not like I wrote it down. I'm speaking
from the heart. That's who you are, and that's
what's going on. For those that maybe didn't
listen to the first time you were on or saw it,
Tell us about your background. I know you've
probably told this story a million times, but
it's so great. Tell us how you got to where you
are now with Bayberry uniforms and Fayetteville.
Sure. It's a very interesting story, because
if you asked me five years ago, hey, do you see
yourself selling medical uniform? I'd be like,
what? You're crazy. I would never think that
I would be where I am today. Definitely, God
has been great in my life. For those of you that
don't know, I come from Cuba. As you know, it's
a very... difficult place to grow up with. Picture
living in the middle of nowhere with your neighbors
being a thousand miles away, in the country living
off the ground, an outhouse. I told this story
last time, I want to tell it again because I
think it's very funny but also very eye -opening
for the average person. The first week in America
we didn't know how to operate the shower. Oh,
yes. So, you know, for the first week, we're
here, and we're trying to figure out how to operate
this thing. You know, because we were used to
just go into the well, get the bucket of water,
put it in three stones, heat it up, and then
that's how you take a shower. I mean, that's
all we knew. And first week in America, we didn't
know how to operate it. It wasn't until the social
worker came to visit, like, the week after, and
she was like, do you guys need anything? And
she spoke Spanish, because we didn't speak English
at the time, too, by the way. And I was like,
yeah, you know, we would like to see if we can
get the shower working, because it doesn't seem
like it's operating right. And I go and I show
her, like, I turn it to the left, cold, and to
the right, hot. It doesn't do anything. And she
goes, oh, let me show you. And she pulls it out.
Yeah. And water starts flowing. It was like.
Well, that makes you feel better. I am now in
my 40s, and I still struggle with when I go to,
like, hotels. I'm like, I'm pulling on the faucet.
I'm yanking on it. You know, sometimes it's not
that easy, especially if you're coming from somewhere
where you didn't have that liberty. So give yourself
a little credit. No, it's OK. We all know you
don't like to take a shower anyway, Mike. I do
not. Don't try to make up an excuse. Do not.
That's why I'm over here and you're over there.
I'm stinking of saloon. Social distancing. Social
distancing. But yeah, no, it's very humbling
and very eye -opening. And it's a story that
I always tell everyone. And I try to, you know,
remind myself because, you know, you open the
fridge, there's food. And if you don't have food,
you just go to the grocery store, you go to the
gas station nearby and just grab whatever you
need off the shelf. I mean, before when I was
hungry, you have to go out and, oh, here's a
mango tree. Let me climb it or throw rocks, see
if I can have a snack. So growing up in those
conditions certainly makes you dream about things
and makes you want to do better, right? I was
fortunate enough that At the time, this was back
in 2010, in Cuba there was a Switzerland embassy
that had U .S. personnel in it. So there wasn't
an U .S. embassy in Cuba, but there was a Switzerland
embassy that had U .S. personnel. Now, my dad
being a pastor didn't do well with the authorities
in Cuba because they're very restrictive on groups
of gatherings. So obviously, being a pastor of
a church... that's not something that the government
plays well with. So he started to have a lot
of problems with the authorities on, you know,
the gatherings and whatnot, persecuted. So, you
know, he went to the Switzerland embassy and
requested asylum at the U .S. with the U .S.
personnel. And it was a two, three, four year
process of interviews, shots, a lot of paperwork,
a lot of money involved. But eventually they,
you know, they opened the doors and they said,
OK, pick a place. Where do you want to go? And
we were like, I don't know. Where am I supposed
to go? I don't know anything. So we borrow at
the embassy there was a computer with internet.
Because the average person doesn't have access
to the internet. And she goes, here's Google,
right? And you Google top 10 places to raise
a family in the US. And guess what city popped
up at the time. I'm going to guess Syracuse.
Syracuse, indeed. So we picked Syracuse. And
they were like, sure. They arranged everything.
I'll never forget it was on October 19th of 2010.
We're coming down on the airplane, Syracuse Hancock
Airport, and I could see all the colors, man.
It was like unbelievable. Picture tropical place
you grew up with, it's all you know, same season
all year long, and now you come and you see all
these beautiful colors and the cars and the screens,
and it was so beautiful. You know, and that to
me was like, this is it. You know, we've made
it. We're in America. We're free. We can say
whatever we want. We can do whatever we want
with our lives. We don't have to have the government
watching everything that we do or our neighbor
watching, you know, what are you doing or what
are you cooking? Because by the way, if you kill
a cow in Cuba, you get more years in prison than
if you kill a person. That's a fact. What? Yes.
If you kill a cow, you get that's worse than
killing a person. Is that a religious thing?
No, I wish. See, if it was a religious thing,
there would be a basis for it, right? Like India.
But it's not a religious thing. It's just the
government owns it all. The government in Cuba
loves cheeseburgers. No, you know what? There's
a saying on the street. I don't know if it's
true or not, but everyone used to say that Fidel
Castro loved ice cream so much that that's why
the cows are all his. I'm going to say that's
not true, but he did love ice cream. Okay, but
yeah, it's a very very uh, that's able so then
I love hearing me first of all, it's just so
I give goosebumps. It's such a just such an amazing
story because you know Obviously, it's an amazing
story, but I just I look at us as just you know,
typical Americans You know, we're complaining
about things that we think are so important and
so vital And when I hear you speak, I realize
just how spoiled we are, and we forget, you know,
how lucky we are here. And, you know, with everything
that's been going on in politics, it breaks my
heart because I know, I keep in the back of my
mind, I hear people like you speak and know your
story, and it makes me realize how lucky I am.
And I just hope we never lose that as a country.
And it just, it's so inspiring, you know, that...
that you come here and you tell that story. Was
there a moment, was it the religious thing that
kind of spurred you guys coming over to America,
or what was the jump off? What was it like, we
gotta go? Yeah, it was pretty much we gotta go.
But the United States, it's the ultimate destination
for anyone seeking a better life, a better place.
It's the ultimate place for freedom, right? It's
the dream, right? It's the dream, everyone. You
can talk about all the different countries in
the world that are great, but America, it's the
ultimate destination. That's where everyone dies
to get to, you know? There's thousands of Cubans
that have died crossing the ocean on their own
on handmade water crafts, rafts that they're
trying to make it over to the U .S. It's just
unbelievable. To prove your point, and to prove
my point of what I said of how we're spoiled
Americans, earlier you were like... We had to
get out of Cuba. Our neighbors were 1 ,000 miles
away. And I'm sitting here going, man, I wish
my neighbors were 1 ,000 miles away. You see
how spoiled we are? But anyway, so you guys,
you come to America. How old are you at this
point? I was 14 at the time. So you're 14 years
old. You're integrating into American schools.
What's that like for you? Man, that was the toughest
time. To tell you the truth, that moment in life,
it's like an empty space in my head. Like, I
barely remember anything. I don't know if it's
a coping mechanism that the body decides like,
hey, I don't need this information. Let's delete
it so we can embrace culture, language, and try
to get space up here for getting ahead. But it
was very tough. I mean, I definitely remember
one instance where everyone laughed at the classroom
because the first thing I learned how to say
in English was, I don't know. Just to... It's
a good one to learn. Avoid questions, right?
And I was in the classroom, and the teacher asked
a question specifically to me. And I know because
it's looking at me as he's talking. I just said,
I don't know. And then the whole class started
laughing because what he said at the time was,
do you know how to say anything other than I
don't know? And you said, I don't know. And I
said, I don't know. Well, you answered the question.
I answered the question, right? No, obviously.
Wow. But it was very tough, but I think that's
where the survival mode kicks in, right? It's
fight or flight. You know, when you're faced
in a situation where you're against the wall
and there's no place else you can run to, you
have to face it, right? I had to learn English
quick, you know, in a very impressive amount
of time because I'm going through high school
just like a regular kid, right? And here I am
not understanding the subjects that are being
taught. So in order for me to get through high
school, I had to learn English as fast as I could.
And guess how I did it. That was my next question.
Watching Equals 3 on YouTube. I don't know if
you remember Equals 3. I don't even know what
that is. I just love that you used YouTube. Ray
William Johnson, Equals 3. That used to be like
the most popular channel back then in 2010 or
11. And I would just watch those videos because
he was, him reacting to funny videos. But, you
know, I would just consume content like all day.
And that's how I was able to, you know, take
a lot of information in and then be like, oh,
okay, that's what that means and that's what
that means and put two and two together. I also
learned, here's a tip for if you're trying to
learn a new language, don't translate, period.
Learn anything new as a new concept. For example,
if you want to learn what this is in Spanish,
I'm going to tell you is a botella. Botella.
In your head, you're not going to say, oh, that's
a water bottle. Let me see how you say water
bottle in Spanish. Botella. Oh, yeah, this is
a botella. No, I teach you as a new name, as
a new concept, so you don't have to translate
it in your head. So that's what I started doing.
I started learning things as a new concept, rather
than translating it in my head, because I figured
that while I was translating, I was losing the
pace of the speaker. And I would lose a lot of
words in the process while I was thinking of
what he's saying and what that means in Spanish.
So that worked for me. That's brilliant. Just
learning something is a new concept. And I could
just point and shoot and be like, camera, light,
scream, you know, without translating. So you're
saying what you mean by that is like, instead
of going, oh, I wonder how you say, go to the
bathroom. Let me look that up. You're saying,
let it be in front of you. in the moment, learning
in the moment. That's fascinating. I mean, there's
multiple things that I know in English that I
don't know how to translate in Spanish, and Spanish
is my main language, because I just learned it
as a concept, as a new thing, and the brain,
I guess, it's easier for him to understand, oh,
it's a new thing that I just learned, rather
than, oh, it's a new thing that I just learned,
but now I gotta know how to say it in Spanish,
and what does that really mean? And some things
don't really translate the same. Right. So...
Yeah, that's what works for me. You're amazing.
Absolutely amazing. We're going to get into content.
We're going to get into Bayberry uniforms. But
your story, I just I love it. So now you're in
high school. You're starting to pick up the English
language. What are your parents doing at this
point? Are they working or what's going on there?
Yeah, my dad started working as soon as he got
here. He was working at a recycling company and
he would do that at night. And then he learned
how to drive a car. And eventually my stepmom
at the time, she started to work at a place picking
up crops here. That's what we knew. I started
working at a young age too. I was about 15 or
16. I started working at Columbus Bakery. It
was a family that took me in. They didn't care
that I barely spoke any English. That's actually
where I got the love for a small business because
I saw how they operate. and how everyone was
doing everything. There was no titles, right?
Because, hey, you're the business owner, but
you still got to take out the trash and you still
got to do all these different things in the business.
So they took me in as one of their own and I
worked there for, I want to say two, three years
until I started my professional career in aerospace
with my wife at TTM Technologies, the building
that's building there. They're going to be doing
what's called the bore fab, the bore fabrication.
That's what I started doing eight years ago,
or more like eight or nine years ago in the chemical
department. That's what I was doing. And it's
just very, you know, I look back, I learned the
love for small businesses with Columbus Bakery.
I learned the processes and how a major company
operates at TTM and corporations. different things
that you learn at a big company, and now we apply
everything to our own family business. Amazing.
So it was like everything worked out, and all
the pieces of the puzzle eventually came together
without me even looking for them. And that's
the best part. So that's amazing. So when Bayberry
Uniforms comes along, or the idea comes along,
did this come along as, because you worked at
the bakery, you worked at the other place, and
you started to go, hey, wait a minute. You know
what? This has inspired me. I want to own my
own business. Or was this like, hey, I got to
be an entrepreneur. I need to own my own business
because I'm not going to have a lot of opportunities
otherwise. That's a great question, Mike. I think
deep inside, there has always been that entrepreneur,
salesman person inside of me. I remember back
in Cuba, I used to collect metal scraps after
school. and then sell those so I could gather
enough money to rent a Nintendo 64 for the weekend.
And what I mean for the weekend is I would go
in at 8 p .m. and rent it for two hours, and
then the owner would say, oh, it's 10 p .m.,
you know, I was a minor, just keep it overnight,
you can bring it in tomorrow morning. And I just
learned that Hag is like, hey, if I just rent
two hours, I pay for two hours on a Friday, he
lets me stay overnight. for saturday morning
so i could play all night my nintendo 64 or well
rent the nintendo 64 so i always had that you
know entrepreneur hustler yeah person inside
of me but i i want to say that it was definitely
a trigger moment for me when covid happened and
i saw the different things going on in the world
and and how all of a sudden censorship Showed
up and how politics showed up all over the world
and it was like a level of control that I want
to say Trigger something in me coming from Cuba.
I was like, you know what? Maybe we should have
our own business So no one can tell us what we
can or can't do and we have 100 % control or
at least 99 % control of you know The decisions
we make in our own life and that's exactly what
we did. We both empty or 401ks I saw an investment
property that I had and we went all in into our
family business that is Amazing. And I love how
everything came full circle. You know, suddenly
you're feeling the squeeze of the government,
and you're going, whoa, whoa, whoa. I left because
of that. I'm not going through this again. I
think there's something, and I think Matt would
even agree with me. You know, I feel like I'm
learning through this job and life. I mean, I
feel like there's two kinds of entrepreneurs.
There's the ones that do it because they're driven,
and they have these ideas, and they want to do
it. And then there's the ones... that are driven,
they have these ideas, but they're also doing
it out of survival. And I feel like that gives
you just a little bit of a natural extra drive
that others wouldn't have, because it's survival
for you. Does that sound right? It's the burn
the ships mentality. I don't know if you heard
that. It was a conquistador that I think made
it to Mexico, and he literally burned the ship.
So he goes, we either... win this battle, or
we all die here. Oh, so it was like the old age
version of a one -way ticket. Yeah. Like, I'm
just... That's it. It's got to work. It's got
to work, or otherwise, we're going down together.
And that mentality makes you want to work 200
% harder. Then, I just hope this works out. Right,
right. I have a plan B. I have a retirement.
I have investment properties. You know, I can...
If this doesn't work, I'll move on to the next
thing. uh no this is like it has to this has
to work or we're all going down we have two small
little children you know um all of our family
are immigrants that came here just a little bit
before us so it's not like they have a the means
to support us if this doesn't work. So yeah,
it's that burn the ships mentality. You know,
you got to make it work. You got to go in 200%.
Dude, I'm going to use burn the ships mentality
from now on. That is amazing. And you can apply
it to anything, right? Sure. Going to the gym
or for your New Year's resolutions, you know,
we always fall back because we know that if you
don't do it, nothing happens. And then you get
disappointed at yourself. And it's like this
vicious cycle, right? Rather than no, I mean,
there's no going back. This is who I am and we
got to make it work or at least die trying. That's
right, man. I I'm so inspired by you. So Now
you're at the point. Okay, we're dumping our
401ks. We're all in How does Burberry uniform
in Fayetteville come? Is this is this something
you sought? Did it come to you because as you
said I I don't imagine selling medical uniforms
was, like, the first thing you thought of. How
does Bayberry Uniform come about? Well, at the
time, I was working as a real estate agent, so
I was still employed full -time. But I was also
looking for other avenues for income and freedom
and entrepreneurship, and real estate was the
easiest thing because you can get a license real
cheap. And I became a licensed real estate agent
back in 2020 before the shutdown happened. So
I had an amazing year when the prices were going
up. I had a very good first year as a real estate
agent. And I also learned through that process
that you can buy a business. You don't have to
reinvent the wheel. Why do I have to become Einstein
and reinvent something that someone else already
did for you? And maybe they're retiring or maybe
they're just moving out of state or maybe they're
going through health issues and they can't support
the business anymore. And it's something that
the community needs, that's been here for a long
time, that supports health care, that's proven
to work in times of crisis like COVID pandemic.
We know what's an essential and what's not an
essential business after COVID, right? How many
businesses closed during that time? And how many
businesses were open during that time? So it
was a very crazy time. I feel like... I mean,
obviously not literally, but for the most part,
I feel like there were two types of people during
the pandemic. They're the ones that, you know,
had a real tough time and struggled and, you
know, maybe had some not so great results coming
out of it. And then there were the others that
knew it was time to pivot and made something
beautiful out of it. And I think... you coming
from the situation that you came from up until
that point, all you ever knew was burn the ships,
right? Got to survive. So for most of us, the
pandemic was like, what do we do? That was us
going through the first... The analysis paralysis.
Right. He's like, what am I doing? And then you
don't do anything. Right. So this is the first
time as Americans, at least for my generation,
where we're really going, whoa, we have to do
something to survive here. And you are going,
I'm used to this, man. You know, obviously you
hadn't been through a pandemic, but you're like,
I know what it's like when shit gets real and
you got to pivot. And so you did. And so Bayberry
Uniforms comes along. And Bayberry Uniforms comes
along. I was actually somebody that I knew through
work that was the listing agent for the business.
So it was like, OK, great. And at first I saw
it went up for sale a year prior. And nothing
happened, you know, and he did pitch like, hey,
I think you and your wife will be good for this.
You know, you guys have the mentality and it
will be good for you. But at the time, again,
I wasn't thinking medical scrubs. You know, this
was prior to the pandemic even. So I was like,
yeah, I don't know if I'm ready to make that
risk, right? To take that leap of faith and go
all in together. My wife at the time, she was
going on her master's for engineering management.
So she's at the peak of her career when it comes
to aerospace engineering. And I was growing very
fast too in that space. So it wasn't a time,
we weren't ready at the time. Then COVID hits,
the business goes up for sale again, right? It
sits there for like six months, nothing's happening.
And we're like, okay, maybe it is time to consider
it. We met with the owner, we checked out the
place. Again, we learned that it was essential.
So it wasn't going to be closed down. It's supporting
healthcare, which healthcare is the hottest topic
at the time. So we were like, okay, yeah, maybe
we can make it work. So Let's burn the ships
and sail along. Burn the scrubs. Burn the scrubs.
Burn the scrubs. So Bayberry Uniform in Fayetteville.
Tell us about the business. Tell us what you
guys do, the products, all that stuff. Yeah,
so Bayberry Uniform has been around for over
50 years and it's a medical apparel company that
provides to all the nursing schools, all the
hospitals, medical offices, veterinarians, you
name it. Anybody wearing scrubs, wear there.
And it's just amazing, you know, I was at the
airport the other day and I see the the upstate
Billboards and announcement and they're wearing
our uniforms. So it's very fulfilling. It's very
purpose -driven for us to be supporting You know
the health care workers of our city and also
the schools too because they are the future Now
we do a little bit of restaurant work too. We
do corporate wear, but also I want to say medical
is the the main focus Of our business just supporting
our hospitals supporting all medical offices
here our nurses and the students to come So do
you deal with I mean, do you have a lot of competition
in this space? And if so, you know, what kind
of sets you guys apart from from the others?
Yeah competitions were one of the highest Spaces
for competition, you know, you have Amazon That's
everybody's competitors. And they're the biggest
and scariest. You also have online competitors.
So these are people that don't have a breaking
motor store. So they can afford dropship. They
can afford the lower prices. You have the big
F war that we call it in our industry. The F
war is Figs. So Figs is a scrub brand that invests
millions into marketing. And they're e -commerce
only. I think they just open a store. or maybe
a handful of stores in the country, but they
were always online only. And it became the apple
of scrubs where if you're wearing figs, it's
like a status thing. And I mean, I'm not gonna
sit here and criticize figs because they have
a good product and they do a great marketing.
And I think that's why they've seen their success.
But definitely hurts the brick and mortar stores
all over the country. This year alone, over 15...
breaking motor stores closed in the country due
to competition or, you know, something related
to that space, because let's face it, even after
COVID, you know, part of the problem, I'm buying
groceries online. You know, it's all about we
get lazy, right? You get used to convenience,
right? So that's got to be our biggest challenge,
I would say. The online retailers, the online
competitors that just soak up so much market
share from you. But I'll tell you what. When
you hear your story, and this is why it's so
important for you to do things like this, come
on any media outlet you can, because your story
is so inspiring, people will fall in love with
you. And I know as a consumer, whether I knew
you or not, if I heard your story, I'd be like,
dude, let's go support that guy. You know what
I mean? And here's the thing. Figs might have
all this money. Did I say that right, Fig? They
might have all this money for marketing. But
you do a hell of a job marketing, too, because
you, my friend, Found the social media content
creation space, which is what we do here Right
and you went for it man, and you've been doing
some amazing things on there How how much is
has that the social media aspect the content
creation? Played into your to your business and
into helping your business Yeah, so definitely
social media has been a great Avenue for me to
reach audiences around the world and I actually
became viral by accident I wasn't looking to
grow social media, I wasn't looking to become
an influencer. This just kind of happened magically
when I was just posted a random video to TikTok
and it blew up. And then from there, I'm like,
okay, let's study. What did I do right in this
video? And I started testing it. In four years,
I've been able to gather just over a quarter
million followers across the different platforms
between TikTok and Instagram and Facebook and
YouTube, which it's just like, it's a different
venture that now I do professionally for brands
and I do marketing deals. I'm starting to cross
over to the Bayberry and see how we can utilize
social media to reach our local audience. But
dude, that's just another space that I'm very
passionate about because it's a free tool that
anyone can use. You don't have to be special.
You don't have to be a genius. Create the content
and then you learn from your own content. It's
like a feedback. Yep, right You see okay this
video didn't do well. So let's not do that again.
This one did well So what did we do well in this
video and let's apply that to the next And it's
just like a feedback loop that you can take a
focus group a built -in that you can do exactly
for free organic that you don't have to pay for
and it can reach millions across the globe. But
you know what, if that sounds like it's an obvious
thing, but you'd be surprised that the amount
of people that don't use it that way or don't
realize that, you know, the one of the key things
and what we talk about here at well, we're now
going to be called click stream studios. I saw
that we did announce that we're not more growth
mode content. You know, obviously we have Good
News York and GMY Sports, but our main bread
and butter is we produce podcasts for other people
and social content. And one of the things that
we talk about is the importance of organic. And
yes, you know, well produced stuff like this
is great. But I think the reason you were finding
success is because you did it right. You went
in organically and were just creating what it
is you wanted to create or talk about what you
want to create. And actually, the algorithms
pick up on that. They actually prefer more organic
things like that, that that are not. It doesn't
mean like go in there and say whatever like you
can have an idea in mind. But that is so important
that you not only use it, but you did it in the
right way where you were like, you know, I'm
not going to go out there and promote anything.
I'm just going to be me. And then they're going
to come to me. That's the key. If you went out
there and said, hey, check out Bayberry uniform.
I'm not saying that wouldn't have worked. Right.
But it wouldn't have the same effect as like,
hey, I'm able I'm talking about this. So now
what you have is a built in audience of a quarter
of a million people. Now if you start promoting
Bayberry, they're already, they love you already.
They're locked into you. So look at this, Mike.
The average person is going to give you the classic
excuse. I don't have a studio like this. I don't
have a production. I don't know about editing.
I don't know about camera, audio. And we fall
into the analysis paralysis again. During COVID,
this person right here sitting across from you
has spent the stimulus check on a brand new mirrorless
camera. Oh, on the SMB 57. I think it's called
the shore, Mike, the one of the seven be the
podcast and the green screen and the panels.
And I built a beautiful studio in my house. That
was called. It was five years ago. Twenty twenty.
Oh, my God. Five years. Yeah. Unbelievable. Guess
how many times I've used it for content once
zero. Oh, man. Because I over complicated the
process in the setup. Got a studio. So now I
got to prepare for that. I got to create a script.
I got to turn on the camera I got to make sure
the lighting's right and then after that I got
post -processing I got to sync the audio to the
video and oh my god It's I just got tired of
just thinking about it. Yeah. So what did I do?
Again, it wasn't planned. It was by accident.
I pulled out my phone and Guess what we all have
in our phones is a camera Really good camera
and iPhone cameras are actually pretty darn good
and the microphone audio coming out of it It's
actually decent, right? So I just put it on a
selfie mode and I just I was just starting talking
to it It's like hey guys, I'm here with Mike
at good news York. What's going on? And I did
a video just like that. No editing. I posted
it. It was literally 15 seconds and within An
hour it got to 10 ,000 views Jesus so to a guy
that was getting 300 views That was viral. I
was like, okay, I'm an influencer now. I can
do this People it's there's no excuse Mike anyone
can do it You don't have to over complicate it
because when you overcome when you over complicate
something then you just don't do it Mm -hmm,
but when it's easy is accessible all my videos
if you go to my page 90 % of them are gonna be
me sitting in the car. No tripod I just use the
wheel as a tripod. I put my phone there and I
just talked to it No, barely minimum editing.
Obviously, I've been doing it for five years,
so I learned some basic editing skills, right?
But when I started, I wasn't doing any editing,
and I was posting three to five times a day,
and I grew to over 100K followers in a year in
TikTok. I wasn't doing content anywhere else.
So what I started doing is I started posting
on Instagram. A year later, in six months, I
achieved 100K followers from 300. in half the
time what it took me to build it in TikTok. Wow.
So again, we over complicate content and people
want genuine you content. You know, this is great.
Like I said, it makes up great clips for short
form content and long form content. But people
want to see who's Mike behind the camera. Exactly.
You know that if we post, if you did a behind
the scenes of Good News York, I bet you it probably
will do better. than the average video of Good
News York. Absolutely. Because people want to
see something different. They want to see something
genuine. What do you look like on your worst
day? That's right. Because everybody's human,
and we all have worst days, you know? And that's
what it's all about, organic. It's just amazing
to me. I know I keep dripping you with compliments,
but it's true. Everything that you've done up
until this point, you've just done on your own.
I mean, coming to America, learning the English
language. starting a business, dumping your 401k,
figuring out how to create content. Like, it's
just so inspiring and, you know, that you are,
you do it from scratch. And it's just amazing,
man. And that's how you're supposed to do it.
And the best news, Mike, is anyone can do it.
Because if an immigrant that didn't speak English
is able to accomplish that in 15 years, imagine
all the advantages that you already have. Mm
-hmm. You know, so really, there is no excuse.
There is none. And, you know, I will say, you
know, immigrants in this country have been under
attack the last few years. And, you know, I'm
not going to get into it. This is good news,
York. We don't talk about that stuff. But, you
know, this is relevant and important. And it
breaks my heart because sometimes the media paints
this picture, this dark picture of immigrants
and somehow that they're all, you know, bad.
No, they're not immigrants are what make this
country and you are that shining example And
that's why I hope people listen and watch this
and hear your story because that is why America
is great because of the opportunity we give the
immigrants and because of the immigrants that
come here and Build what you've built and I thank
you from the bottom of my heart for that. Thank
you Mike. I really really mean that man So listen
before I could talk to you all day Bayberry uniforms
in Fayetteville You've got, you are, let's talk
about you're looking to hire, you are looking
to hire, but you're also holding a hiring event
for Kraus. Let's talk about that a little bit.
Yeah, so part of what we're doing to separate
ourselves to, going back to your question, how
are we different to online retailers? The online
retailer, it's just looking for your money. That's
it. We're a local based company, family owned,
family operated business in Syracuse. So my goal
is to work with local businesses. You know, every
Friday I have it in my calendar, it's Upstate
Delivery Day. I physically go to Upstate every
Friday and deliver to the different departments.
I get to meet my clients face -to -face, shake
their hands, and deliver the goods right to their
door. No online retailer is going to do that.
So, back to the Kraus hiring event. I was like,
how can we give back to the businesses that we
already work with and help them and bring more
value to them? So I said, OK, we have an audience.
We have the foot traffic from all the different
nurses. There's a staff shortage that a lot of
people are experiencing right now. I said, well,
why don't we host a hiring event for them at
our store? They can bring, they can set up a
table. We'll give raffles, give away discounts,
whatever is needed to support that. That way.
they'll get the traffic they need. They'll be
motivated enough to come to the store because
they have extra discounts or free giveaways and
things like that. And at the same time, we're
helping a local organization hire more nurses.
So that's how the idea started. And as soon as
I pitched it to the to the organization, they're
like, oh, my gosh, yes, we need help. We need
people. So when can we do this? So, yeah, Friday
from four to six, we're going to be there. Everyone
is welcome. There's going to be discounts for
everyone. No commitment needed for you to sign
up with Krause, but just visit their table. See
what they have to offer. And if it makes sense
for you, you know, go ahead and do it. I mean,
this is it's about partnership and working together.
And this is what we're looking to do as a local
business to set ourselves apart from everybody
else. And so that event is this Friday from 2
to 5 at Bayberry Uniforms in Fayetteville, correct?
That is right. Yes. And we're located in the
old Peter Harris store right next to Wellnow
in the Linden Corners. It's our new location.
We had our grand opening just about a month or
so ago. Awesome, man. Talk a little bit about
the hiring. What are you looking for exactly
for Bayberry? So we need sales associates. That's
what we need to help the most right now. We're
focusing on doing pop -up shops for hospitals.
We just came back from Upstate Community Hospital
last week, two days in the cafeteria. And we're
starting to do that more often so that requires
that we have a lot of help physically in the
store. So I'm looking for students. I'm looking
for... college kids looking for a part time or
maybe you retire, you're looking for some extra
hours in the afternoons. We're open Monday through
Friday from 10 a .m. to 6 p .m. and open Saturday
from 10 a .m. to 6 p .m. So any hours in the
afternoon, the afternoon shift is wide open for
anyone that may want to come and work with us.
Like I said, we're family owned, family operated,
very small team. So everyone that comes in makes
a huge impact in the organization as a whole.
And yeah, we're just looking to add someone else
to our family. Abel Ramirez, you are the frickin'
man. Any other plugs you want to give? Websites,
socials, anything like that, events? Yeah, look
us up at Syracuse, Scrubs .shop. That's our brand
new e -commerce platform that we're testing out.
We're starting to compete also in the e -commerce
space as a big goal for 2026. And everyone else,
it's just Bayberry uniforms. Instagram, TikTok,
Facebook, you name it. That's where we can find
us. Well, listen, Abel, one last thing. We, I
feel like we're cheating on you. We have an employee
here, well, on the IT side of things, on Growth
Mode IT. His name is Abel. He is. And he's from
Cuba. Have you met him? And we actually work
together. What? Yes. At TTM. So Abel and Abel
used to work together. We actually used to work
out together in Crouch a few years ago. when
I was going to the gym and I was motivated. No,
I don't have time for that. Wow. But yeah, I
know Abel's is amazing. Yeah, he's an amazing
dude. I just didn't know. It's like because,
you know, I go everywhere and there's always
a mic. Is Abel a very common name in Cuba? It's
not. So the fact that two Abels from Cuba, they
used to work at the same place and have Matt
Maescher as a common friend. It's very, very
rare. So it is wild. It is wild. Either either
this is really wild and coincidental or You know,
it's just a common name, chill out, Mike. But
yeah, I had a feeling. I was like, what are the
chances? Oh, here's another one for you. Oh.
He used to work for my wife. Come on. Just like
I worked for her for 10 plus years. That's crazy.
Crazy. Yep. Abel, thank you so much for coming.
I meant what I said. Your story is inspiring.
Your business is amazing. Obviously, Bayberry
Uniforms in Fayetteville. I really do. People
listen and watch and hear your story and understand.
the hurdles you had to go through to get through
where you are, and they keep supporting you.
And thank you for what you do for the medical
industry, and thanks for coming on the show.
You know you can come here any time. Thank you,
Mike. It's really a pleasure to be here with
you guys. I love you guys and what you're doing.
It's definitely revolutionary. I'm very excited
for your next chapter. I'm going to be looking
on social media to see when the next video, the
next clue is going to be on that 16 -plus -thousand
-square -feet facility. Oh, my gosh. We are going
to burn. the ships, my friend. That's what we're
going to do. Burn the ships, man. So that 20
percent scare there make it 100 percent scare.
But a scare. Exciting. That's right. I love you,
man. You're so inspiring. And with that, Abel
Abel Ramirez, Bayberry Uniforms in Fayetteville,
their hiring event for Krauss is this Friday
from two to five. They are looking for sales
associates. So contact him. Contact them. Thanks
for tuning into Good News York. We air every
Monday through Thursday at 5 p .m. Eastern, GoodNewsYork
.com and on all socials at Good News York. And
you can follow me on socials at MikeBTV. We will
see you tomorrow. Matt will be back. He's out
putting fires out, literally. He became a volunteer
fireman for the day. I don't know. He's always
doing some weird shit. But we will be back tomorrow
on Good News York, sponsored by Ads on the Go.
GetAdsOnTheGo .com. See ya. Om.