Speaker 1 (00:00)

The Best of LKN podcast and all.

 

Speaker 2 (00:02)

Of its original content is thoughtfully produced.

 

Speaker 1 (00:04)

By the expert creators at Epic Journey Media. Visit Epicjourneymedia.com for more information. That's epicjourneymedia.com.

 

Speaker 3 (00:13)

Welcome to The Best of LKN, a podcast featuring the best small businesses and the most influential professionals around Lake Norman, North Carolina. Each week, we spotlight those business, businesses and individuals that are making a positive impact here in the Lake Norman area. Thanks for joining us. Enjoy the show.

 

Speaker 2 (00:34)

Hello, lake. Norman. Welcome back to the Best of LKN Podcast. It's our 68th episode and wow, have we had a busy summer. Before I get to the guest in this episode, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't remind you about our email newsletter. Each week, we send you an update on the latest podcast episodes and blog articles we're producing here at The Best of OKN. It's a great way to stay up to date, and sometimes we even throw in a little wisdom from inspiring thought leaders and entrepreneurs in all sorts of industries. In addition, we're also teaming up with some of the best local restaurants and cafes to bring you exclusive discount codes.

 

Speaker 1 (01:11)

That are only available to you.

 

Speaker 2 (01:13)

Our email newsletter subscriber so what are you waiting for? Signing up is easy. Just go to our website, www dot The Best of lkn.com. Scroll down until you see the email newsletter sign up form and enter your first name and preferred email address. That's a great way to support the work we're doing here at The Best of LKN, and it doesn't cost you a cent. And don't worry, we will never, ever share your email address with anyone and we'll never spam your inbox. This week, we're sending out a discount code for Clean Eats Cafe in Cornelius and Mooresville, so be sure to sign up right away. Also, many thanks to Clean Eats Cafe for their generous discount. For our audience, we featured a conversation with the owner of Kleenet's cafes like Norman, Sarah Conrad, back in episode 33 of the podcast. Have a listen after this episode. Okay, speaking of this episode, I finally have the opportunity to feature one of the coolest small businesses in the Lake Norman area. In fact, one of the coolest small businesses anywhere. I think davidson Provision Company is located in the heart of downtown Davidson, right on Main Street.

 

Speaker 2 (02:21)

Owner Matt Santos founded Davidson Provision Company after leaving a successful career in technology and investment banking. The self proclaimed corporate refugee I love that term, by the way. My new favorite had a deep seated desire to live and work in the town that he and his family loves. In this conversation, Matt and I talk a lot about his definition of success and how that definition has evolved in his life. He'll tell the story of how a question posed to him at an offsite seminar during his corporate years, and his subsequent answer started him on the journey of entrepreneurship. He shares how the concept of Davidson Provision Company was inspired by something a friend told him at a cocktail party love that story. And how it was the Davidson community that has ultimately curated the inventory for his amazing shop on Main Street. Matt gets honest and candid about his mindset around the time of leaving a successful, safe and lucrative corporate career. Perhaps what I love most about this conversation is Matt's curiosity about how to best guide this beautiful small business and willingness to fully admit that he has not figured it all out.

 

Speaker 2 (03:32)

Not yet anyway. As an entrepreneur that struggles most days.

 

Speaker 4 (03:36)

To figure out where to guide his.

 

Speaker 2 (03:37)

Own business ventures, I personally related to so much of what he had to share. I've gone on long enough. Friends, this is a very inspirational and rewarding episode. 68 of the best of LKN podcast. Enjoy getting to know Matt Santos, owner of Davidson Provision Company.

 

Speaker 4 (03:58)

We are featuring Davidson Provision Company and Downtown Davidson. Owner Matt Santos is joining the podcast. Matt, welcome.

 

Speaker 5 (04:06)

Good morning.

 

Speaker 4 (04:06)

Good morning. Thanks so much for for joining me. I really enjoyed the tour that I got on Saturday. We met for a little while Saturday morning during Davidson Farmers Market and I thought to myself the entire time, why have I not been in the shop before? This is an amazing place. I'm really looking forward to diving into what you offer there at Davidson Provision Company. But what I'm really more interested in learning is a little bit of your story. And if you would please share with the listeners a little bit of your background, your career, and we'll kind of get into how you transitioned to small business ownership.

 

Speaker 5 (04:46)

You got it. Well, I guess the first thing I want to say is, when you came to visit, I was happy that it was busy. I was always terrified when people come to visit that nobody's going to be there. But luckily, coming during Davidson Farmers Market seems to be a wise choice in regards.

 

Speaker 1 (05:00)

Arts to crowd. So I was happy. There was a lot of people there. So my background, I think I label myself. I've listened to your podcast before and you use the term cubicle escapee.

 

Speaker 1 (05:13)

I use something very similar. A corporate refugee is the way I guess I would describe myself. It's been about 20 years in corporate technology. I started off at the ground level. I started off as a kid on the Help Desk back when it wasn't cool.

 

Speaker 1 (05:32)

I still remember Saturday Night Live had a skit making fun of help desk employees. And I always remember being super embarrassed by it. And as I was prepping for this podcast, I was remembering it. I'm like, I wonder if that skit is still there, or did I make it up in my head? And I went and I found it and I played it this morning and it still made me mad, you know what I mean?

 

Speaker 1 (05:54)

It was back when it was not as glamorous as it is now. I believe it leaders are shooting themselves into space right now. It wasn't like that when I was out of school. But long story short, I worked my way up. A lot of company moves, a lot of moving my family out of state and back to the state where we were from.

 

Speaker 1 (06:17)

And the way technology works is you start with what's kind of deemed hands on keyboards. You start as technical as you get better with technology, you turn into management. And then management kind of turns into running the business of it. And so you become very abstracted from where you actually were as a member of technology. So I spent most of my time managing staffs, managing budgets.

 

Speaker 1 (06:45)

And these departments get huge departments that I were in were teams of thousands of people, hundreds of millions of dollars budget. So I learned more about the business of It through the corporate realm. My last couple of gigs I was with Bain Capital in Boston, which was just a wonderful place to work, private equity, venture capital, some of the smartest people that I've ever met in my life. I was almost a second class citizen, though I was not on the deal side. I was just the kind of scrappy young kid that was kind of fixing their servers and technology.

 

Speaker 1 (07:19)

But I was very happy to be there because they were very gracious and you learned a lot. Found my way to North Carolina. Some of the leadership at Bain came down here. Obviously there's a lot of financial services companies down here. So I found myself in that circle and moved to North Carolina and moved my whole family into kind of a place that we've never been before.

 

Speaker 1 (07:41)

But it was always about the bigger job and it was always about what success equaled. And back then, success was really defined by the amount of money you were making or the size of the teams that you were managing. And long story short, it wasn't working for me. I was successful. I thought I did well.

 

Speaker 1 (08:05)

But there's a term that I always paid attention to. Are you familiar with Hedonic treadmill? I am not. Okay. So no matter what happens to in your life, good or bad, you always return to kind of the same state of happiness.

 

Speaker 1 (08:21)

That's why they say people that win the lottery, their lives aren't dramatically improved. People with giant losses or disabilities usually find a way to adapt that kind of this at this base set level. And so long story short, we were achieving what most people would deem as success. But I can't tell you that we were very happy. There's moments in your life where you take stock of yourself and you say, am I where I need to be?

 

Speaker 1 (08:52)

And I don't think I was I wasn't proud of the person that I become. I think I had turned into a marginal father, marginal husband, marginal friend. I was a provider, but I was providing people the wrong resource. What they were looking for was time and attention. And I was of short supply of that.

 

Speaker 1 (09:16)

And so that was really kind of the corporate run again, achieved success, but really wasn't happy. And I think the final blow for me was an article I read. It was called the tail end. And it's by an author, Tim Urban. And it basically just talks about your life and how much is remaining.

 

Speaker 1 (09:40)

And it really got to thinking that at my age, I'm 45, going to be 45, that a big portion of my life is behind me and there's less in front of me. And the statistic used was that by the time your kids turn 1890, 3% of your in person time with them is done.

 

Speaker 1 (10:00)

And that rocked me. My son's twelve which means I got six years left and you know, my daughter's nine and like what does my body of work look like with them so far? And I knew something really needed to change and that's kind of that was kind of the corporate run.

 

Speaker 2 (10:20)

Corporate refugee, I like that. I have used cubicle escape be quite a lot but corporate refugee I love. I got to tell you, and I'm not trying to flatter you here or anything. It really touched me that you were I think it takes a lot of courage to admit that you were kind of finding yourself or seeing yourself as possibly being a marginal father, marginal husband, and seeing the toll that the career path you were taking may be taking on your family. So I just want to tell you I really admire that you had the.

 

Speaker 1 (10:58)

Courage I needed, all of it.

 

Speaker 2 (11:02)

I really admire that. I actually got into small business ownership and it's a totally different story and we could talk on and on. It's a conversation for a different time. But I have mentioned in previous episodes that my entry into small business ownership was a result of basically a midlife crisis.

 

Speaker 1 (11:20)

Right? I'm familiar with those.

 

Speaker 2 (11:22)

Familiar with us.

 

Speaker 1 (11:23)

Yes I am.

 

Speaker 2 (11:25)

But it was the right path and I have zero regrets. I've learned a lot. I've had a lot of failures for sure but zero regrets.

 

Speaker 1 (11:33)

Well you do what you think is right at the time and I think growing up it's about providing security and financial stability and building the family. But the word enough is something I spend a lot of time reflecting on. When is enough enough? And sometimes you forget about that definition.

 

Speaker 2 (11:53)

Totally agree. Tim Urban. I'll do some research. Honestly the name rings a bell. I haven't read any of his material.

 

Speaker 1 (12:02)

I get you would like it.

 

Speaker 2 (12:05)

So we talked about the corporate background, kind of the inspirations that led to you to make a transition to becoming a small business owner. Entrepreneurship, a family decision for sure. No doubt. There were a lot of conversations with Mrs. Matt.

 

Speaker 1 (12:28)

I don't call her that anymore. She doesn't like that.

 

Speaker 2 (12:32)

I'm sure there were a lot of conversations. There was a lot of soul searching. There were some downsizing for sure I would imagine share the process of making that decision and what that transition looked like.

 

Speaker 1 (12:48)

So I think when I think back about this I get asked this question a lot and I sometimes wish there was like this big epiphany moment but I don't think in life there are big epiphany moments. I think there's a whole bunch of seeds that slowly plant themselves. I think most of the conversations you have during the day are kind of passed through, the kind of go through. You accomplish what you need to but every once in a while these little things stick. And when I really think back there's probably just a few of those that stuck with me that kicked off this transition. So we talked about the corporate gig saying, okay, something needs to change, but what changes, you know? And I remember being part of a work exercise. It was an offsite, a leadership offsite. And they asked a question, and they said, when you think of success, who is the first person that you think of? And I remember closing my eyes, and I did it real quick, and everybody was given answers like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. And out of nowhere, without even really thinking, I said, the owners of Summit Coffee.

 

Speaker 1 (14:00)

Okay? And it honestly really confused me, because it just came out. Yeah. And I live in Davidson. You know, I live right near the CVS. I'm right in the center. I'm literally 50 yards from Summit Coffee. And, you know, they asked me to explain myself, and I said, well, listen, I live in a small town. I watch these guys running their business. Their families are integrated. It looks like they're having a blast. I love where I live, but I drive out of there every day, and they stay there. So you move to a place that you think you love, but you spend 90% of your time not there. And I remember driving home from work that day, and the one thing I remember is that that question never left my mind. And I remember getting home and realizing I had never put the radio on. And I just sat there strumming, thinking about that question. And then there's a couple of other small little events. I remember reading one time an equation somebody put together about happiness. And I think the algorithm was family plus friends plus community. And it was another one of those moments where I'm like, okay, well, I'm okay with family.

 

Speaker 1 (15:16)

I could be a much better friend. But community? What am I doing? And that seemed like a giant gap that I had that it was just kind of an afterthought. I was living in the community and utilizing its resources, but was I actually giving anything back? And I remember one time walking out to work one day, and I think I was complaining on my way out the door to my wife, and I go, what am I doing? And I go, you know, the three things that I love to do in my life. I love to read. I'm a runner, so I love to run, and I like to play the guitar. All three of those things do not cost a lot of money, unless you love, like, vintage guitars, which I do. I just can't afford them. But it was the point was, my priorities were X, but what I was doing was literally taking everything away from those, including family. And one time, I heard somebody say about millennials that they didn't consider money the currency. They considered time the new currency. And that's kind of how you win. It's not about collecting money.

 

Speaker 1 (16:25)

It's about collecting time. And so that really started kind of the process. And we knew we had to make moves. We knew we had to do something different. And you asked me kind of like, how do you start shifting in that direction? We started making intentional decisions. We were about to build a new house, and I remember looking at my wife one day going, who's driving this? She's like, well, I'm not. And I said, Well, I'm not. And I think at that point we realized that we were on autopilot of just progressing. We had one kid in private school and had a boat. We were going the wrong direction. And so we really started dropping weight. No other way to say it. We didn't know what we were going to do. We just knew we found ourselves on a trap and we wanted to reverse that trap. And so backed out of a lot of different things, moved to Davidson into kind of a smaller house downtown to kind of replicate a lifestyle that we had in Boston, which was live downtown, walk everywhere. And that's kind of how things started. And the first shoe to drop was my wife.

 

Speaker 1 (17:34)

She became, and I like to use the term accidental entrepreneur. So she is a Pilates instructor and was a Pilates instructor until the Pilates studio she worked at. The lease ended and they were going to close the studio. And I remember her coming home that day saying, well, I'm out of a job. And I kind of said, well, where do all the clients go and what happens to the studio? And she's like, well, I don't know, you know, the owner of the studio was going to focus on another studio in Charlotte, which just left the Davidson community a gap. And we sat down and we said, well, I guess we have to start a Pilates studio. And that's how it all started. I mean, we didn't know what we were doing. We had to figure it out as we go. And I've listened to you on your podcast, give the advice of don't wait for perfection, right? Don't let perfection be the enemy of good, quote. And so that is we started a Pilates studio. And I don't think if that never happened, that really gave me personally the confidence to say, wow, there's another path here.

 

Speaker 1 (18:45)

You can be a small business owner, you can make money. But I was kind of living it out, if you will, through my wife's business when I decided that it was time for me to start my own. And that's when I went to are you familiar with TSG Real Estate?

 

Speaker 2 (19:02)

I am.

 

Speaker 1 (19:03)

They're kind of a big corporation in Davidson, and I know David Stewart who owns it. We actually live in his old house. And I did something that I think is a great lesson, which is usually not my forte, ask a question that you would expect a no answer. And I think what everybody would think in Davidson is would a shop or commercial real estate ever open up in the center of Main Street prime real estate? Yeah. A question you would never ask if they're just going to laugh at you. That's what I thought. But at that point you have to start somewhere. What's the worst that's going to happen? So I still remember this conversation. I went up and I'm like, all right, this is going to suck. This is going to be really embarrassing. And I went to him and I basically said, hey, man, would a spot ever open up in downtown Davidson? And I still remember him saying, if you can wait a year, we're about to buy the entire 5th, 3rd bank building and we're going to turn the downstairs into some retail bays. And if you want one, we can definitely talk about it.

 

Speaker 1 (20:10)

Well, and then you're like, oh God, now I've ever that conversation, which is I have to do this. I would rather fail than drive to work past somebody else trying every single day to be reminded that I chickened out. And that's when we decided to, I don't know if you call it burn the bridges, burn the boats, burn the, burn everything, burn it all down. And some people talk about making a side hustle. We didn't. We burned everything around us and we went nuts after it. And I think I have a lot to thank for the corporate career. So I'm not going to sit there and say corporate careers are I made a mistake. I think if I didn't have the corporate career, I would not have the ability and some of the resources to be able to go out there and try it. I'm trying to be one of those people in life that believes everything happens for a reason. And for me, that corporate career kind of was the thing that allowed me to start. And my start of prepping was right around March 2020, which might perfect timing. Yeah, man, you might remember that timing.

 

Speaker 2 (21:23)

Well, it's an opportunity. Like you said, you couldn't drive past that spot every day to go to your office uptown and watch somebody else trying.

 

Speaker 1 (21:34)

Absolutely.

 

Speaker 2 (21:35)

Talk about an opportunity that you can't pass up. Yeah. Not waiting for perfection. Another quote that I heard recently that I've been using a lot lately is perfection is procrastination in disguise.

 

Speaker 1 (21:47)

Right.

 

Speaker 2 (21:48)

So it's like I can't wait until I'm in shape to start running.

 

Speaker 1 (21:52)

Total.

 

Speaker 2 (21:55)

Just got to start running. It's amazing. So you connected with TSG Realty. There was an opportunity to occupy a space there on Main Street in downtown Davidson. When did you develop this concept of Davidson provision company?

 

Speaker 1 (22:12)

This is another important part. It was plan B. Okay, so plan A was a coffee shop? No, it was not a coffee shop. It was a running store. I'm a runner. I love running. And I really thought that Davidson is a great active community. I know you're a cyclist, so you and I have to be friends through this conversation.

 

Speaker 2 (22:38)

Well, I'm more of a runner now.

 

Speaker 1 (22:40)

Okay, move over to the side of the road every once in a while and make us a little happier. But that was a really interesting experience, was trying to start the running store. It is a really hard business to break into. I can't explain it. The brands are very protective of who they open. I mean, it's almost like you're trying to open a Louis Vuitton. Like it felt that way. And it was an experience that left a toll on me to this day. Because here you are, you're trying to build this confidence. You got this great location, but you are just getting punched in the nose in every single conversation you have. When you start off trying to run a business, I think everybody has a little sense of imposter syndrome, right? I think I still have it. That almost solidified it with me. I'd go to these conferences. I'd go on these phone calls. I worked my butt off trying to do this and I just kept running into brick wall. And if you are just the questions they would ask you is, how many doors do you have? At first, I had to realize what a door was.

 

Speaker 1 (23:50)

And then once I realized it was, how many stores do you have? My answer was somewhere between zero and one. And they would, in a very nice way, laughed me out of the room. And I remember just being just down in the dirt. I went to a conference in Colorado and I remember talking to a Nike representative and you can just imagine whatever picture you have in your head. It's accurate. And as I'm like, I find a 32nd conversation in the hallway with him. I'm talking to him and somebody just interrupts my conversation. And it's a guy that does not look happy. And he's like, hey, Nike rep, you pulled my account and you didn't even email me and my business is going under because of this. And the guy kind of blew him off. But that sat with me. I was like demoralized at that point, right? And I'm like, that's how easily the rug can be pulled out from you. And in the running world, there's not a ton of brands. You don't have some of the top ones. People are going to see you as a second rate shop. And it's not what I was trying to build, but I really remembered that moment.

 

Speaker 1 (25:06)

And right at the point of failure of that conference, I remember I was riding up in an elevator and this shows you how pathetic I was. I was wearing a Davidson shirt. I specifically bought it so they would remember me. I have no idea why. I just thought like, I had to have something. And it was during the finals. I think Golden State might have been in the playoffs at that point, or the finals. So I'm like, okay, they'll remember me as the Davidson guy, right? Which all good plans are completely worthless, right? Nobody cared about my little Davidson shirt, but one guy did. I was riding up an elevator and a guy asked me if I was from Davidson. And he goes, Well, I went to Davidson College. And I'm like, oh, you know. And it was like it made me feel good. I'm holding my dinner, going to my room to sulk, and I asked him if he was an attendee, and he said no. He goes. I run features. I'm the owner of Features Sock Company. It was like the first kind of and he was the first person to actually say, hey, I'm familiar with that town.

 

Speaker 1 (26:09)

I think it's a great town. I think you'll do great. And I'll get to that point later on the story. But when I came home from there, I realized the running store, there were too many negative downsides, and you could have an underserved running community, which I think sometimes Davidson does, but that doesn't mean that you are going to have a successful business. And that's something I struggled a lot with, is I'm sure you interview people all the time and everybody says, start with your passion, but I still think you always have to look at the community need and the example I always give. I could be a model train collector. That doesn't mean my model train business, not that I am. But if I was, I would not open up that business unless I was somewhere else. And so I really started focusing on this plan B of this more kind of general store, active type, mass general. If you've been to South Carolina, this half moon outfitters, which has a lot of active stuff, but it kind of surrounds camping, hiking, running, all those different areas where it's a little less niche focused on a certain area.

 

Speaker 1 (27:28)

And that was always the plan B. And kind of the funny story that I always tell is it turned into a plan A over a night of drinking.

 

Speaker 2 (27:40)

It wouldn't be the first time.

 

Speaker 1 (27:42)

It would not. We were at a party, and I was talking to a friend of mine who was outside of the running community. And a lot of times in your community, you're surround yourself with like minded people. So runners all think a running store is a great idea. And I was finally now talking to other people who might not be runners and is a friend of mine known for a while, and he just said, listen, man, he's like 80% of people that are going to walk by that store are going to think it's not for them. What happens if you created a store that 80% of people walked by and said, this might be for me and really serviced it. And it was just that moment. That was one of those epiphany moments that just kind of said, okay, I got enough confidence. This model works. I think davidson's a phenomenal town. I'm tired of driving to these mountain towns to go to these cool stores.

 

Speaker 2 (28:34)

Totally.

 

Speaker 1 (28:35)

We have a cool town. People should be driving to us to go to one of these stores. And I was energized. I remember I spent the rest of the party. I was just running the idea by people. And I remember at the end of the night, I grabbed my wife, and I'm like, I grabbed the guy, and I said, listen, he changed my way of thinking. You got to hear him. You got to hear him. So we pull him aside. Dude has no remembrance of the conversation. You know what I mean? He's having a good time at the party, and I'm, like, sitting there thinking, like, he is no stradamus here trying to explain him, and he just gave me a hard time for not finishing my drink. So it's kind of a funny story where it really became something that we really wanted to we realized that plan b was more focused on what the community needed versus really what I wanted, and that was kind of the birth of the idea itself of davidson provision company.

 

Speaker 2 (29:29)

One of my I quote seth godin all the time. I've read all this stuff.

 

Speaker 1 (29:34)

I read the dip off the tip.

 

Speaker 2 (29:35)

Yeah. I listened to so many interviews. He's such a thought leader. It just goes without saying if you're familiar with seth godin, but he drills down the point a lot. Like, you have to make something, produce something, or provide a service that people want to buy. Is this something people want? That just ring a bell when you brought up, like, 80% of people might walk by a running store and say, there's nothing in there for me.

 

Speaker 1 (30:07)

That's not a good that's not a good business.

 

Speaker 2 (30:08)

Yeah.

 

Speaker 1 (30:08)

When 80% of the people are scoffing at your window, that's kind of what I kept thinking. Yeah.

 

Speaker 2 (30:14)

So, okay, very cool. So I want to get into features a little bit more about features, but for the listeners, davidson provision company, the name of the business is pretty broad, and I'm sure that was intentional. Absolutely. Currently, the store is amazing. I love it. And share with the listeners a little bit about who may not be familiar with the store, what's available there? What can a guest expect to experience when they come to davidson provision company, and what type of products can they expect to find?

 

Speaker 1 (30:49)

Totally. So, I mean, I look at the store through, like, two different lenses. I look at the store as through the normal retail lens, which I'll explain, but I think there's what we sell and what we do, right. I think those are two different stories. So let me start off with kind of the prototypical retail store. So again, we see Davidson and the whole surrounding area of Mooresville Huntersville. Cornelius is very active. I think that's what Lake Norman has to offer. So we sell a ton of clothing, and I'll get into that in a second, but it's not going out on the town clothing. It's very active lifestyle things. Brands like Prana freefly, very comfortable. And I'll get into the survey because that was kind of how we opened the business. And I think that is kind of the true heart of why we do what we do. In addition to that, we have so many great mountains and different hiking trails, so we sell a lot around the hiking community. So all things from like osprey to hydration bags to hammocks, if you've been to a mass general, it's very kind of that collection of products for the active lifestyle for the athletes.

 

Speaker 1 (31:58)

Again, my running store definitely died, but if you look around, it's kind of hiding inside of the store. We sell things like hydration bags of recovery for athletes, like massaging guns, nutrition and socks. I still remember because I remember one of the running stores telling me, if you don't sell shoes, you will never sell any of these other products. And I will tell you to date features. Let's go back to Features, who has been a phenomenal partner. We're closing in on 1000 pairs of features sold in like seven months. Wow. So I still want to find that guy who told me that, and I still see him every once in a while. I just want to kind of hit him with that. And then in addition to all the active lifestyle stuff, we're familiar and we're aware that not everybody is out there running marathons and doing long century rides. And so we have Apothecary section that has a lot of outdoor themed gifts. It might be a candle, but it's going to smell like Joshua Tree. It might be a blanket, but it's going to say a mountain range or the Grand Canyon. So we have a lot of just fun stuff.

 

Speaker 1 (33:09)

We have candles that are scented, like beer and cigarettes. We're just kind of a change of direction in Davidson just to have a little bit of fun. We try not to take ourselves too seriously, but all of our inventory is we call it a community curated inventory. So when we started the business, I had six months of a facade that was not being used. The tenant was out, they were doing construction, and I said, we got six months to utilize this front door, which is just almost barricaded off. What do we do with it? And we started a survey. We put up a big sign with a big QR code, because my corporate background was, you just don't tell people what you need or what you want to give them and ask them what they want. I was technology. I was the integrator of a business solution. And so you started things off with business requirements, solving a problem. Absolutely. So we put out a QR code. We built a really nice survey. We utilized a consulting firm in Davidson called Oxygen. Shannon and Andrea helped me develop this survey that said we're going to open up kind of this provision general outdoor store.

 

Speaker 1 (34:22)

Here's what we're thinking. What do you think? And I thought this was the greatest idea that was going to fail. I knew in my mind it was a great idea, but I'm like, no.

 

Speaker 2 (34:34)

One will do this.

 

Speaker 1 (34:36)

And then it was during COVID and I had a lot of struggles going, is this the right thing to do? Is this the right thing to advertise? And I'm starting a business. But I remember the town of Davidson saying to me, because I was like, I don't think I'm going to do it. I just think it's wrong. There's people going through major struggles right now. And I remember Kim Fleming, who's the economic developer, pulling me aside and said, matt, people are looking for a recovery story, and you have the ability to be one. So we did the survey, and within maybe a month, we had 700 responses.

 

Speaker 2 (35:11)

Wow.

 

Speaker 1 (35:11)

And that allowed us to build our model. 80% of the people wanted apparel. A lot of people wanted hiking and camping, but not like serious, like, backyard type stuff for hammocks, for kids. So we built all of our inventory based off the community need. And I think that was a really important step that I hope to kind of continue with. And that's why we stuck with the name provision store. Because when you open up a business in the middle of a pandemic, you better damn well make sure you can pivot. And I really thought that if I tried to give it any specific name, I would lose my ability to pivot. And at that point, being able to morph and change seemed like a necessity. And to be honest with you, it still might be for eternity. Is giving the community what they need at the time. Right? Because eight months ago, that was something different than it is today. And we wanted to make sure that we had a business model that supported constantly being able to evolve and change what the community needs.

 

Speaker 2 (36:14)

That concept is just the fact that you were able to develop that survey, get feedback from the community, that is just how it should be done. I mean, that is amazing.

 

Speaker 1 (36:28)

I have to because I didn't know. And I think that was kind of a little bit of the secret recipe is incompetence. It really was. I did not have this giant ego and telling people what they need. My DNA was built around asking questions, and I think going into a business and asking the community exactly what they're looking for, it just seemed the right model for me. But I think some other people get lost on having so many years of experience saying, I know what model works. I did not. But the second part of the question is really the store, why is it different? And what we really try to do is be a community store. And the line that I always say is being a community store is not just selling products to the community. We are trying to be a platform for the community. And again, we've just started this, so I've not mastered this, but I will tell you, it's a thought on, you know, in my head every single day is how we can help others. So out of every hundred dollars that comes in, if you think about it, you know, 50% goes to the cost of goods.

 

Speaker 1 (37:35)

You know, it's the margin then 25% maybe to expenses. Let's use rough math. How do I keep 75% if that's the money that leaves? How do I keep it almost in the town, if you will, supporting others? So when we built the business, we use consultants from Davidson. We have live music almost every weekend out on the sidewalk, which sounds small, but it's a wonderful win because we give these talented musicians like an off Broadway stage. If Summit is Broadway, we kind of want to be that little scrappy stage where they can learn to perform. We have a lot of local vendors that sell products in our store, which sounds small, but you have to be there when it's the person's first time selling a product on a retail shelf, they come in and they take pictures in front of it. Parents come in and take pictures. That's the win. So for us, it's giving those businesses a chance. We also have service providers that come in, so we have a stage in the back. We've had a meditation teacher give a free class to the community. We had a deep breathing class where we clear out the store before a farmer's market where they have a chance to give a lesson and explain their practice.

 

Speaker 1 (38:53)

So for once, these businesses have the ability to be on Main Street and it's a win. It's a win for my business, it's a win for the customer, it's a win for them. And then lastly, we're working more and more with pop ups in front of our store. So we kind of have that usage of the sidewalk. So why not let others join you? And so, like a couple of weeks ago, we had Johnny Fly, the sunglass manufacturer out of Charlotte. We're working a couple more deals right now to have other businesses do pop ups and it's just a great win. And so I think that's when we look at a community store, community driven inventory, and then really, how can we use the store as a platform to help support others? Because at this point in my career, at this point in my life, that's where the.

 

Speaker 2 (39:40)

Value is great in theory, great in concept, but it takes action, right? And you have walked the walk with Davidson Provision Company, from the get go, from the survey to engaging community, small community, producers of products, local products, and local artists. And I love it. I mean, you're doing an amazing job.

 

Speaker 1 (40:08)

It's early.

 

Speaker 2 (40:11)

And we talked a lot about that before we hit record. This is still a work in progress. You mentioned when we met last weekend, you admit you haven't necessarily cracked the code yet.

 

Speaker 1 (40:22)

The imposter syndrome is still active. I'm going to walk out of here, like judging myself and saying, what the hell did I just say?

 

Speaker 2 (40:31)

That's something I really want to talk about some of the early challenges, some of the challenges you've seen. You've been in business, your doors opened, what, about six months ago?

 

Speaker 1 (40:39)

Six months, june 4. December 4. Sorry.

 

Speaker 2 (40:43)

So six months. We talk a lot on the podcast about how we're usually 80%, 75, 80%. Before we start, we kind of figure out that 2020, 5%. After we start, we run into some challenges that we weren't expecting. Always happens. What have been some of the challenges that stand out for you?

 

Speaker 1 (41:07)

I think the first is I can give you kind of a real life example. Your DNA is still your DNA. You switch careers and you think that your life is going to be different, but it's really hard to deprogram yourself. So what are the things that we just went on a vacation. First time I left the store all year and I got back from the vacation, I kind of took stock to myself. Like, how was this vacation different? I worked a lot on the vacation, and I didn't have to. That was the difference. In the old days I had to, but in the new days, I was still doing it. And so that was kind of a real honest conversation I had with myself was, okay, changing the job is not going to change the way you operate. And so I think that's the first thing, as you shift, you kind of have to make sure that you're changing inside as well. That if you choose a different path, you got to make sure you're acting differently. So that's one of the big things that I've learned, learned about work life integration. I remember Boss said this to me once, I thought it was BS.

 

Speaker 1 (42:11)

But I'm beginning to think now, later in life, she might be right, that it wasn't about work life balance. It was about work life integration. And when you have a small business, you got no choice. Absolutely. I'm not good at picking out women's clothes, I'll tell you that. I need my wife, my kids. I have a nine year old and a twelve year old who are part of the business. If they're helping me do social media, fun little commercials, if they're running stuff back and forth to the store, because, again, we're, like, 50 yards away. They become little runners for me. So I think that's the other thing I've learned is that you can choose this path personally, but you're really choosing another path for your family. I think you have to be really comfortable in the gray. I think a lot of people say they're comfortable working in the gray. I think this is even harder in a corporate world. You have guardrails, you have projects, you have programs, you have budgets, you have deliverables. You start off every day going, I could do anything today. And sometimes that sounds great, and other times that's terrifying, and you can find yourself lost.

 

Speaker 1 (43:28)

So I think that's been one of my biggest things, is knowing what my priorities are and making sure my calendar reflects my priorities. That's the big thing I ask myself every day when I look at my calendar. Is it a spot where I just accept meetings, or is it really laying out what I want to accomplish? Because I think that's been the biggest thing, especially if you're driven, you want to hustle, if you're given blue ocean.

 

Speaker 2 (43:55)

Yeah.

 

Speaker 1 (43:56)

Ocean is a big place, and you can find yourself, and you can come.

 

Speaker 2 (43:59)

Up with a lot of ideas.

 

Speaker 1 (44:01)

You can you can get seasick real quick on that big ocean. And so I think those have been kind of the big things that I've learned, is really kind of watching myself, watching my time, watching the impacts it has on the family, and making sure you're doing everything for the right reasons, not just doing things the way that you used to do it.

 

Speaker 2 (44:21)

Yeah. When you have that blank slate that open, that blue oat, that giant blue ocean, you know, in corporate, you had clear boundaries, clear objectives, clear goals. You know, generally speaking, you would develop them. You would yeah.

 

Speaker 1 (44:37)

You would sign off on them. You would you would do a lot of work in them. It's hard to do it for yourself.

 

Speaker 2 (44:42)

Absolutely. Simon Sinek, who, again, another thought leader, who I've listened to so many of his keynotes and, of course, Red. Start with Y and the Ted Talk, one of the best ever.

 

Speaker 1 (44:57)

Start with why? Absolutely.

 

Speaker 2 (45:00)

You mentioned work life balance and how it's actually work life integration. Simon Sinnick, I think, calls it work life harmony. Sure, I'll take that. Yeah. But that's harmony.

 

Speaker 1 (45:11)

Anything.

 

Speaker 2 (45:11)

Yeah. And as a small business owner, as an entrepreneur, that's really what it is. We're not balancing. We're integrating our work and our life. And you really have to I think.

 

Speaker 1 (45:29)

We'Re all in search of happiness. Right. I think at the end of the day, that's what it's about, trying to dial that in.

 

Speaker 2 (45:37)

Absolutely. Well, I appreciate you sharing some of the challenges that you've faced as a new entrepreneur, as a new small business owner, and developing this concept that you've created and the community has created. You've leaned heavily on the community and you've also given a lot back. So I think it's worth mentioning that.

 

Speaker 1 (46:03)

We said when we started the business, if there was a town or an area that would support a local business, we thought it was here. And we have been proven to be correct. The community has been everything to us, and we realized that we succeed or we fail with them. And so paying attention to their needs and to them is everything to us. I mean, that is they supported us. We opened up December 4 in the middle of the Pandemic, and we had lines out the door when we first opened. It kind of shows you that they were willing to come in during a very questionable time and support us all the way through. And that's been kind of the backbone to all of this.

 

Speaker 2 (46:50)

Well, it doesn't hurt to be on Main Street, David.

 

Speaker 1 (46:53)

It does not.

 

Speaker 2 (46:55)

Some of the foot traffic that goes by your shop is our guests of one of the arguably the best restaurant in the Charlotte area, Kindred. Shout out to Joan and Katie.

 

Speaker 1 (47:08)

And they're just a local success story. I think people look at Kindred and don't realize that that's a local little spot from a local couple that's hustling. They just kind of set the bar.

 

Speaker 2 (47:20)

And so many other amazing concepts started right there on Main Street. Famous Toastery.

 

Speaker 1 (47:24)

Absolutely.

 

Speaker 2 (47:25)

Summit Coffee. Davidson Wine Company. One of our guests. Amazing. Lindsay, shout out to her.

 

Speaker 1 (47:31)

Lindsay is following a similar path.

 

Speaker 2 (47:33)

Yeah, just an amazing place.

 

Speaker 1 (47:38)

I can't say anything better about Davidson just very quickly, so TSG they had faith in me personally, and I think that's the big difference. A lot of times, business is an abstraction of you. It's really more about the business, but when you're trying to seal the deal TSG david Stewart, Greg Fallon, and Mike Orlando, those three guys trusted me, which meant everything. The town of Davidson, I think a lot of people sometimes I get asked that question a lot. Is it hard to work with them? They were phenomenal. Kim Fleming, who's the economic developer, helped me from day one. And, I mean, I could go down almost every store in Davidson from the Moxies, even the Ben and Jerry's. Silly little things like, Karen's been great to me. She lets me use a cart to do my recycling every single day. That's how people support it. We talked about Summit. Ada at the bookstore has been phenomenal. And even, like, Village Store, I just want to give a quick little story. All they do is share with me just information on the business. And I remember one time they said, here's certain financials of how our businesses run seasonality.

 

Speaker 1 (48:56)

Here's things that you should look for. They didn't need to share that with me. And that was a long lasting impression all the way down to the banks of Davidson. I know you had vishal from Masala masti.

 

Speaker 2 (49:11)

Yes.

 

Speaker 1 (49:11)

And we're like you're kind of kindred spirits. We started at the same time, but, I mean, there are so many businesses to name from Good Drip giving us coffee when we first started to Mine. You interviewed her? Sandy from Mine, yeah, mine by Sandy, who has, like, the nicest retail store in Davidson. I feel like a complete phony when I go in there. She delivered donuts on our opening day. So you just have this level of support that is very much appreciated. Where we are, Main Street, is we look at each other as kind of all ships rise with the tide, and if we can help each other, not step on each other's toes. And I think that's what all of us are trying to do on that little Main Street.

 

Speaker 2 (49:56)

All excellent shout outs. I really appreciate that. I've looked back at my guests on the podcast, the Best of LCN, and so many are small businesses in Davidson, so many are highly successful small businesses in Davidson. And they joined the podcast knowing that, really, I didn't have a lot to offer them, but they took time out of their schedule to talk to me to share their story on the podcast. And the small business community in Davidson is just amazing. I just can't say that enough.

 

Speaker 1 (50:33)

Well, I think we're all in this together. You're no different than me, right. You're a small business as well, right? And I think we see a lot of ourselves in each person we talk to. And so being able to support a podcast like you, and I think I gave you this compliment when I got here. But having the ability to listen to business owners locally is a great perspective to have. And I could listen to national podcasters all day long and listen to how Amazon is built and launching their founders into space, that's not terribly material to me. I'm just trying to get my card to start in the morning.

 

Speaker 2 (51:10)

The Howard Schultz story probably does it a lot of correlation there.

 

Speaker 1 (51:16)

No. But listening to Lindsay at the wine company, listening to Vishal, listening to every other guest that you've had, that I've had the luxury of being able to listen to, it allows me to understand that my story is not terribly different, that my growing pains aren't terribly different. So I think there's a ton of value in this hyper local type of broadcasting that helps us compare ourselves with our peers. And sometimes that definition is hard to come by. A lot of times we like to compare ourselves to these giant businesses, and that doesn't do well for your confidence, but being able to know that people around you that you see as super successful started out just kind of like you did. Just trying to figure it out as you go is. I think your podcast provides a ton of value, and I look forward to all the work that you do.

 

Speaker 2 (52:08)

I really appreciate that. Thanks a lot. I really appreciate that, Matt. And you mentioned podcasts. I think we mentioned Tim Ferriss earlier. Share another question I like to ask my guests is to share reading recommendations in the space generally of business or personal development, but also podcasts. I leave that open to podcasts as well.

 

Speaker 1 (52:31)

Okay, so books, I always love the question. What's the most gifted book that you've gifted? Straight up. It's Getting Things Done by David Allen. If you're not familiar with GTD, it's a cult like following in the time management world. It's a super nerdy book, I'm not going to lie to you, but it's really about your deliverables and tracking and control of your time. I think one of the big thoughts of it is your minds for having ideas, not holding on to them. And they really teach you how to lay out your day, how to prioritize your day, very similar to the way that you handle your calendar. You have a trusted system. You know where you need to be, but for everything else in your life, you don't have a system. And I don't think I would be where I am now without especially with time management. Because to me, it's never a matter of time, it's a matter of willingness. I think you hear that excuse a lot. I don't have time. Yeah, you do.

 

Speaker 2 (53:34)

The worst excuse ever.

 

Speaker 1 (53:37)

I know what you're up to. Give me your phone and go to screen time and let me see what apps you're using. You know what I mean? They try it on somebody else. So I'm a true believer in that time management. There is so much that you can get done. Sure. You just got to make sure it's not at the expense of others. That's more my problem. Other book that I've loved that I still lean on heavily is Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday. And there's a concept in there about how dangerous an ego is and avoiding the ego ceiling. So you stop listening once you get proficient at something. Luckily, I'm not proficient at anything, so I'm consistently listening. So the survey was me listening, working with my reps. I think a lot of people treat reps like order takers, go buy me this. I don't do that. I really reach out to them and say, listen, if you were me in this area, what would you be selling? And when you treat somebody like a partner, it's amazing the level of assistance you get. And so I really learned that from that book is not to have an ego ceiling.

 

Speaker 1 (54:49)

I like to say that I have an incompetent ceiling or incompetence floor. I'm just trying to get by is just really learning to ask people for help. I think. Podcasts, we talked a lot about Tim Ferris ritual. I love the idea of deconstructing people that have had success. But again, I'm going to go back to giving you that same compliment. It's hard when it's people so far away from you. It's a little easier when you're trying to deconstruct people that have similar backgrounds, and those are the books. But the biggest thing I've learned is giving up nonfiction at night. That's the biggest thing that I can say because I was a nonfiction junkie at night. And then, wouldn't you know it, had a lot of issues sleeping. Now I take myself off to far off places every single night and try to give myself a big break at night. I love to read. I just have made a commitment to stay with fiction, and you don't want to know the fiction books I read, they're embarrassing, and they're all over the place, but they're meant to take me away. Absolutely. And sometimes you need to be taken away in life.

 

Speaker 2 (55:58)

Well, that may explain somewhat why I have a hard time falling asleep at night. That may be one of my problems. I can help fix the nonfiction after 09:00. Ego is the enemy. Ryan Holiday. What else is Ryan Holiday written that name?

 

Speaker 1 (56:14)

The obstacle is the way. So talking about obstacles in your life being really hard, the big thing that he promotes is stoicism. And so one of the lines that he has is a stoic line memento mori. And this is not a visual podcast, but I'm showing a tattoo that I have on me that is, remember, one day you are going to die, and let that dictate what you think, what you say, and what you do. And I pay a lot of attention to that. I think there are other cultures, I think, that focus on death as not a giant fear, but as kind of a reminder to pay attention to the life that you have. And so that's something later in life that I've been paying a lot of attention to that he promotes out of his books. And I think that probably plays a factor into the decisions that I'm making, because, again, there's more time behind us, in front of us, and what do you do with what you have left? So I think people that write those things that give interesting perspectives, that allow you to kind of take stock of your life and your perspectives and your decision making are kind of what counts to me.

 

Speaker 1 (57:22)

But then they keep me up all night, and I got to take a whole bunch of zequil. If I read about pirates and robots, everything's fine. Or a good love story seems to work at night these days.

 

Speaker 2 (57:35)

Save Ryan holiday for the morning. Yeah.

 

Speaker 1 (57:39)

What does that eat? That's Mark Twain, right? If you're going to eat a frog, eat it first thing in the morning.

 

Speaker 2 (57:42)

Yeah.

 

Speaker 1 (57:43)

So that's like nonfiction.

 

Speaker 2 (57:44)

Get it out of the way. You mentioned ego is the enemy and the importance of listening and being open to other ideas. Was it Emerson that said, the greatest compliment I ever received was when someone asked me my opinion and then tended to my answer. I think it was Emerson. I'm not sure, but I think being.

 

Speaker 1 (58:06)

Heard and being listened to are two totally different things.

 

Speaker 2 (58:10)

Absolutely right.

 

Speaker 1 (58:11)

And so the action off the listening to is even remembering a conversation, letting somebody know, that's something that they said. So the gentleman that helped me at the party, I would love to give his name, but I made him a drinking person in the story. So I really don't want to blow him up, but I remind him often that played a very important role in my life.

 

Speaker 2 (58:30)

Yeah, I appreciate that. Great suggestions. And I'll obviously have those in the show notes as well. We mentioned a lot of local small businesses and I'll have links to those as well. Matt, have you done a podcast interview before?

 

Speaker 1 (58:47)

I have not.

 

Speaker 2 (58:48)

You've done an amazing job. This has been a wonderful conversation.

 

Speaker 1 (58:52)

I prepared a lot. That's what happens when you don't know what you're doing. I just did a rolling here.

 

Speaker 2 (58:58)

Well done. I'm sorry that this is your first podcast. Was it everything you had dreamed it would be?

 

Speaker 1 (59:02)

It was. And I got to see this great place, too. So we're recording out of a kind of a shared workspace here in Davidson that I've never been before. But I will tell you, you hosting the podcast out of here is probably going to get them some money. Because now I know that there's a secret place to work in Davidson. That's kind of a shared workspace that you can use, because that's kind of one of my biggest challenges right now, is that it's hard to find a place to work that's not at my kitchen table or when it's 100 degrees outside behind Summit. It's trying to find a place to work. This is pretty much everything I do these days is my first time.

 

Speaker 2 (59:38)

Well, it's no secret I record here quite a lot. It's the Hurt hub and Davidson and yeah. Great place. If you're in need of a place to concentrate, this is a good place absolutely to come. Matt. How can listeners learn more about Davidson Provision Company?

 

Speaker 1 (59:58)

Sure. So we have a website, so www.daveproco.com davroco. You'll see that term used? That's kind of our short name. Same thing on Instagram and Facebook. So we're still kind of figuring out those channels. We have a lot of fun. We shoot a lot of dopey little videos. My kids act as if they're the owners of Davidson Provision Company. So we try not to take ourselves too seriously. So social media right now we're doing a campaign called Davidson Provision Company. In the wild, we've been lucky enough to sell a lot of our shirts with brands with our brand on it, with our logo. And people are traveling, obviously, over the summer. And so people are taking pictures of themselves wearing our clothing all over the world, you know, which is honestly, it's still weird to me. It's fascinating. I remember when we bought the first shipment of clothes, it was sitting in my kitchen, and I looked at my wife and I go, what did I do? Nobody's going to buy this. This is the worst decision ever made. And it was gone, like, in two weeks. And so we're doing a fun little contest where we do a random drawing, but we get to see our brand, you know, in Alaska, in Europe, in all these different places.

 

Speaker 1 (01:01:15)

And it's it's it's fun to see people living a healthy and active lifestyle. And that's the biggest thing we're trying to promote. And it's people from this area, they're traveling again. The world is starting to return to the place that we all knew and loved. And so, yes, a lot on social media, and we're trying to have a lot of fun with that.

 

Speaker 2 (01:01:35)

That's a true fan. That's a true fan that takes your brand on their journey with them and shares it. Shares that journey and shares your brand. I love that. That's really, really cool. I've been following that on Instagram, by the way.

 

Speaker 1 (01:01:48)

My daughter is enjoying it a little too much these days, so she is kind of the main actress. But again, that's the work life integration. I used to bring my kids once a year to work, and I still see the pictures, and it'd be like me showing them the cafeteria. It was a big moment of my life a few years ago, and it was once a year, and now it's every Thursday, I'm filming a little video with my daughter or my son. You look back on those moments and it's still work. You're still getting things done. They screw up their lines, you're still having fun with them, but when you're walking home, you're kind of like, I think I'm where I'm supposed to be. And that's kind of where the family is part of the work. We just got on Facebook. We never had a Facebook page before, but I'm learning that there's a lot of people that know Facebook out there, and so we're going to have more and more content on there as well.

 

Speaker 2 (01:02:44)

Super rewarding. So much work, but so rewarding. The stories about the more time you now have to spend with your kids and stay in the community. And I love that. That's what it's all about. That's really what entrepreneurship that's really what small business ownership is about, in my opinion. I'm no expert about anything, but that's what I envision small business ownership to be more just the rewards you get with being able to stay in your community and share it with your family.

 

Speaker 1 (01:03:19)

But they still complain. Let's not get ourselves I have a great picture on Instagram where you can see them sitting in front of the store and they both look pissed off. One has a Summit hot chocolate in his hands. I think she has, like I bribed them and they're still mad at me. And I think the post says when you talk about having your kids work at the store, you have this dream of what it's going to be and they're going to be checking people out. This is what it really looks like. They're like, dad, you said you weren't going to be more than ten minutes at the store. It's a journey that we're all on.

 

Speaker 2 (01:03:56)

And finally, your wife's name is not Mrs. Matt.

 

Speaker 1 (01:03:59)

It is not anymore, no. She changed it from Mrs. Matt to Kalyn. Apparently that gave her a little more caitlyn. Yes. Okay.

 

Speaker 2 (01:04:05)

Shout out to Kayla.

 

Speaker 1 (01:04:07)

She owns Movement Studio. It's a Pilates studio that is right now above Flat Iron, but in about a month it is going to move directly above Davidson Provision Company. And so, yeah, she's had a great run for the last few years and during the pandemic the timing was great because we switched to YouTube and so I became for six months a videographer filming Pilates videos. So you want to talk about Humbling experiences? I was going through the running store at the same time as filming Pilates videos. It was a great stretch in my life. But yeah, so she's kind of doing her own thing. And the goal is once the two businesses are essentially above and below each other, to use your word or Emerson's word, we're going to try to find harmony in having those two businesses kind of work together, try to find the synergies between the two.

 

Speaker 2 (01:05:00)

Matt, this has again been an amazing conversation. Appreciate you so much. Matt Santos, the owner of Davidson Provision Company in downtown Davidson on Main Street. All the links in the Show Notes encourage you, encourage you listeners to go have a look in person and meet Matt and his team and see everything that they're doing there for the community and it's just amazing. Matt, thanks again so much. It's been a lot of fun and.

 

Speaker 1 (01:05:28)

I appreciate you giving me the opportunity and also creating this vehicle for people like me to be able to do a podcast again. First of all, we've ever done so much. Appreciate it.

 

Speaker 3 (01:05:39)

Corporate Refugee I absolutely love that.

 

Speaker 2 (01:05:42)

I always appreciate an opportunity to have.

 

Speaker 3 (01:05:44)

A conversation with an entrepreneur that is in the early phases of their journey. So many valuable insights and lessons to share. Many thanks to Matt for joining the podcast, friends. You can learn more about Davidson Provision www.daveproco.com">Company@www.daveproco.com that's DAV Pr.com and follow them on Instagram at daveproco. I'll have that link and the links to the many local small businesses Matt recognized in the Show Notes for this episode. As always, you can find the complete Show Notes and transcripts for our episodes at the home for Lake Norman's number one small business podcast, www dot the Best of lkn.com. The full transcription for this episode will be in the Show Notes in just a few days and we're working diligently on getting our earlier episodes transcribed as quickly as possible so everyone can enjoy getting to know the guests and small businesses we feature here on the podcast. Finally, I hope you'll subscribe to our email newsletter again. It's a really great way to support the best of all Cane and stay up to date on new content. It only takes a minute to sign up and it's totally free, so that's going to do it for episode 68.

 

Speaker 3 (01:06:57)

If you haven't visited Davidson Provision Company, you really need to. It's an amazing shop and I know you'll love it. We're back in just a few days with another episode featuring a new business in Mooresville that's merging fine dining with meal prep and delivery. And man, have they nailed it. Until next time, cheers. Like Norman. Bye for now. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of The Best of LKN. For more information about this podcast, show notes, video episodes and links to our featured businesses, please visit www dot the Best of Lkn.com we publish episodes weekly, so be sure to subscribe and stay up to date. Until next time, cheers. Blake, norman.