This episode of the eCommerce Evolution podcast is truly unique.

It's not uncommon for us to talk about branding, storytelling, and entrepreneurship. But in this episode, we also discuss faith, family tragedy, chasing your dreams, and nerd out a bit on basketball legends like Michael Jordan and Steph Curry.

Ashton Owens is living many kids’ dreams…but more importantly, he’s living his own. He works directly with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and other pro athletes. He runs Triple Threat - a creative agency specializing in branding and storytelling for pro athletes.

Ashton and I have a lot in common. We go to church together (how we met), share an affinity for professional basketball, lost a parent when we were teens, and experienced some fun and wild entrepreneurial journeys.

Here’s what we cover:

• How growing up in an entrepreneurial family and losing his father as a teenager shaped Ashton’s faith and professional accomplishments.
• How inviting Michael Jordan to his birthday party as a child influenced Ashton’s belief that the world is full of possibilities.
• The crazy story of Ashton’s first meeting with Steph Curry and Under Armor.
• The meaning behind the Steph Curry logo and how it relates to storytelling.
• Ashton's belief that most people count themselves out before they start and how to shift their thinking.
• Plus more!

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Mentioned In This Episode:

• Ashton Owens (LinkedIn) 
• Triple Threat (Website) 
• Empire Printing (Website) ‍
• Brett Curry (LinkedIn)
• Brett Curry (Twitter)

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Transcript:

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Brett:

Well, hello and welcome to another edition of the E-Commerce Evolution podcast. I'm your host, Brett Curry, CEO of OMG commerce. And today I am, I've been so looking forward to this episode. I hope you geek out and nerd out and get as excited as I am as you listen to this. But we're going to dive into branding and storytelling, but from a unique perspective we're talking with a buddy of mine, Ashton Owens. He's the founder of Triple Threat and they are a creative agency. They help with storytelling and branding and they work directly with professional athletes, the likes of Steph Curry and Clay Thompson and others. And so lots of good things, fun things to dive into both from a brand and storytelling perspective, but also just from an entrepreneurial perspective and a going after big things perspective and it chasing your dreams.

If we can go there on this podcast, we're going to get into that just a little bit. And I want to, before we kind dive in, Ashton, I want to kind of talk about how we met. So Ash, Ashley, I go to church together. Did not know that, right? I probably saw you in passing. Yeah, your sharp dresser always got the black hat on as you have in this if you're watching this video, you can see it. And so our pastor was like, he said, Hey, you got to meet this guy that I know that goes here, Ashton. I'm like, okay, I'll meet Ashton. And I don't know, we live in Springfield, Missouri, which is southwest Missouri, smaller community. It is the home of Missouri State University, home of Bass Pro there. There's some claims to fame in Springfield, but it's not a big place.

So I meet with Ashton and I find out this guy's like he's working with Steph Curry, he's designing logos, he's working with Under Armor, he, he's working with Clay Thompson, like iconic. My last name is Curry. I don't know for sure, but I think if you saw my jump shot, you might be like, I think he's related to Steph. Actually. I can't make it through to save of my life. But anyways, this awesome connection immediately hit it off. So with that brief intro, Ashton, welcome to the show. Thanks for coming on and how's it going?

Ashton:

Yeah, man, well, I appreciate you having me on. It's an honor and excited to dive in. And yeah, I mean, love meeting other creatives. Been a pleasure to see other incredibly gifted, really, really dominant in their field, be here in southwest Missouri, which is amazing. There's really no limit to where you know live if you know how to network, how to build, how to scale. And so seeing you in a place like Springfield when most people don't even know it's a flyover city. So <laugh>,

Brett:

Totally a flyover. Yeah, that's awesome, man. It is funny, we, a lot of clients have a lot of clients in LA and on the east coast as well. And there, I just went through this string of several meetings where I'd be talking to someone and they're like, Hey, where? Where's OMG based? Because OMGs pretty well known. We work some pretty big clients and we do a lot of cool stuff and just had this string of people being like, Hey, where are you guys based again, I'll stay in Missouri. And they're like, Missouri, never been there. In fact, I don't know anyone from Missouri, but it does go to show, again, especially in a post covid world, does not matter where you are if you do really great work just doesn't matter. So

Ashton:

Most of my clients refer to it as Ozark with the Netflix show. And so they're like, oh, is that where that one show? And my goodness, of all the things to represent us, I don't know if that's the one I want to lean on, but

Brett:

I don't think that's, that's probably not the claim to fame. We want Lake Ozarks is a real place. Yeah, it's a real place. That show was not filmed here, it was filmed actually in Georgia, which a lot of people don't know, and I don't think they got the accent right. There's a unique Ozark, Missouri accent, they didn't nail it, but the show very popular. So kudos to Jason Bateman and the crew there. So we're going to dive in. We're talking about a lot of things, branding, storytelling, chasing your dreams, really cool stuff. There's going to be a fair warrant. There's going to be a fair amount of basketball talk in this podcast. I've mentioned on this show before, I coach basketball, I love basketball. So we will definitely tie it to business, but just you've been warned. We're going to talk hoops just a little bit. So first of all what is triple threat? So talk about your creative agency and how in the world did you start working with Steph Curry, clay Thompson, and other famous athletes?

Ashton:

Yeah, so Triple Threat is a creative agency really with a focus on working directly with athletes. So there's a lot of great agencies out there that they have their niche markets or their opportunity to scale in different industries. And for me and my interest in my background, I really loved sports and grew up obviously with Michael Jordan and the Bulls, as you can see behind me if you're watching. And so my childhood was just riddled with that type of interest in sneakers and that type of life. And so for me, I wanted to work with those people. But being in Springfield, Missouri, as we were just talking about it's kind of tough to break into that. There's no local team, Chicago, Memphis, the Thunder, there's

Brett:

No pro sports team in Spring. There's no

Ashton:

Pro sports. No, no, not at all. And then you have football and baseball obviously with the Cardinals and the Chiefs and so on and so forth. So for me to really break out, my wife and I, we got married young and we moved to Oklahoma City. And so we were there for about 10 years and really just started networking and being able to take this vision and this opportunity and obviously taking a lot of, in the beginning, free work doing stuff just to prove yourself at a young age just to get in the door something that's in your head and how do you break in when you don't have a resume? You didn't go to college for it, but you have this vision and something that you want to pursue. And so with teams coming through in a n b city, like Oklahoma Oklahoma City, we just had the opportunity to network and find a couple of the coaches on the Thunder that went to our church actually at Life Church.

And then they allowed us to meet and we had opportunity to rub shoulders with the one player. And then once you're kind of verified in the group of basketball players or in any industry get, if you have the right idea and the right ambition, you can really take it from there and start knocking on the right doors. So that's the journey of a vision from a childhood dream that's just kind of continued. And even though you have to do some of those not so fun projects or things that you're not as passionate about you if you focus and hey, why are you doing this? Start what's your passion? And just know that you'll get there one day. I think that that really is, that's the story for me and my journey.

Brett:

It's phenomenal and it is so true, and I think this is true. We OMG commerce, we play in the D toc, the direct to consumer e-commerce space. And even though it's a global space and coast to coast and in the US and stuff, it's a little small knit community. And once you do really good work for a couple of people or even just one you can be in in and then things can really snowball from there. And I love that you did that. So you met some guys at church that coached for the Thunder. You got in, you did some work, people loved it, and now you're kind of off to the races. So talk about what do you specifically do for Steph Curry? Because he, he's my favorite athlete right now for a lot of reasons. He's got the personality, he's got the last name obviously but he's just good.

I think if you look at who's changed, and actually we're recording this podcast just after LeBron James broke the scoring record broke the 38 year record, Kareem Abdul Jabbar's all time scoring record. So tip the hat to LeBron for sure. But I think if you look at who's changed the game the most over the history of the nba, Jordan is right up there. He's the one that made the sport go international and he just changed the game in a lot of ways. But Steph Curry changed the game in a major way too. They're now kids, Mike, 10 year old that plays bat they, they're jacking up threes. Why are they jacking up threes? Because Steph Curry changed the game. You got to shoot threes to be competitive anymore. So iconic athlete just one of the best of all time. But what's it like working with Steph and what do you, for Steph specifically? Yeah,

Ashton:

I mean funny enough, that statement of your kid and high schoolers thrown up these ridiculous three pointers. He had a tagline that they ran with for many years called Ruin the Game. And so a lot of people reference that in a negative way. Okay, you've ruined,

Yeah, they're one for 16 and they're shooting from half court. And it's like, come on man. No, for Steph it's been a privilege because like I said, part of that journey of knowing that I wanted to work in this industry and work with these type of players you know, just do the work and you get introduced to the right people. And so when I showed up on the scene to meet and start working with Under Armour and Steph at the time, it was close to four years ago and it started with an individual that I was working with who had the opportunity to become the president of this brand that they were building that is now referenced as Curry brand. At the time it was just an Under Armour. Under Armour had the deal with SC 30 as he called it. And it was just a typical shoe deal that he had his logo on it, he had signature shoes, but it was nothing more than that.

And so Steph wanted to, knowing the trajectory that he was on and the confidence that he had to change the game, he wanted to do what Jordan did, which is basically, Hey, I want to be my own guy. I want to be the Michael Jordan of my generation. And so I want to build a brand that far exceeds who I am and my time on the court. And so it really started with the vision for him. And so I got called in to walk alongside the brand and help figure out what's the name, what's the logo what does this look like, what's the story? And it really does come down to, I always tell people that Michael Jordan taught us to fly Michael Jordan, how he hung in the air, how he went after championships, his determination, he was ruthless. And so we loved him for his competitiveness.

Brett:

A killer man. He was the ultimate competitor.

Ashton:

Ultimate competitor. But what Steph has done is he has transcended through changing what does the game look like in today's generation and how do we push the limits? And even if you show up, he's changed the game where people are showing up 45 minutes before a game just to watch him warm up because his warmups are so iconic and ridiculous. And so how does he take that joy when you watch him? I find myself chuckling. He'll do something, I'm just like this ridiculous. How did you do that? But he decided to take that and he wanted to create a brand around it and tell that story of joy. And so the title that we came up with for that was Changed the Game for Good and that meant a lot of different things for him. Obviously his faith and his background in just his family his upbringing, but also changed the game for good, constantly pushing the limits and breaking records and finding his way in history as a positive influence to the game.

And so that really is what kind of began that journey and that story for him. And so I got introduced to them and started helping craft that in late 2018, early 2019. And then you move into this brand as it's evolved. And since then, now I work closely with his camp. Steph is involved, he's an entrepreneur just much like Michael Jordan. And so he has the opportunity to build and invest and create opportunities. And it's absolutely fascinating once you kind of peek behind the curtain. But he's involved, he has his foundation, eat, learn, play. He has his underrated tour, which is really based around the next generation of players where he's finding and helping develop high school students. And then at the end of it, he helps them get scholarships to go play and get recognized. He has under golf doing the same thing in golf, which is a sport that he loves unanimous media. There's a lot of different facets to Steph and what he's investing in, but it really takes that type of mentality and understanding of what it takes to build a brand and how to tell that story, not just with a pair of sneakers or clothing, but outside of that, how do you connect all of these dots and work together. And so he's absolutely fascinating from a business standpoint just as much as he is to watch on TV and see him do what he does every night.

Brett:

Yeah, it's so cool. A couple things I want to double click on and then take a look at one, this idea of building a brand. And I love the reference Jordan one because I'm a massive, huge Jordan fan. I know you've got a couple cool Jordan stories that we'll talk about in a minute. But if you look at this idea of brand and being an entrepreneur or an owner of something versus just being really, really good at something, if you look at Jordan's playing career, I think he was making something like 3 million a year as a player, which sounds like not much compared to today's money. Top athletes are making 30 to 50 a year, but at the time he was making 3 million a year or whatever and it was more as he got towards the very end of his career. But now as the Jordan brand is something like a 2 billion a year, 1 billion, whatever it is, it's massive.

And I think he makes something like a hundred million a year just on royalties on that and Will forever. So pretty crazy. The power of building a brand. I love what, I love how you guys tied that in and that tagline is perfect. Change the game for good. He did change the game, we talked about that. And for good, he brings joy to it and he's just trying to do good things like that fits him really, really well. How did you guys come about that tagline and the logo and some of those things? How did you bring that to life to really tell his story?

Ashton:

Yeah, I mean it takes a village. So I mean obviously you have a massive group within Under Armor who has worked with him and has built a team around him. They knew that they needed to obviously treat it as if it's its own organization. And so building a team and having presidents and creative directors within that team and then bring in outside help like myself, I've never worked directly as an Under Armour employee, but I was brought in, has stayed close to them throughout this process to continue to see that, how does that live on social media? How does that live on merchandise and stuff as it continues to grow. And so it takes a process of bringing the right people around and I don't know how many the hundreds of logos that was, we went through that process and being able to just be at that table.

There's a lot of times that you show up and you go, what am I doing here? This is an absolute insane opportunity, but it's also just a really cool opportunity because you have a seat at the table and if you're going to take your shot, take your shot. And seeing a lot of these great industry-wide people from their backgrounds, they've come from Nike or they've come from car companies, it it's really, it's amazing. And so the three thing that about the logos, it's called the Splash and the Splashes obviously representation of the Splash Brothers, which is him and Clay Thompson if you look at it looks like when you make a three pointer it has that element to it. It's S and C, so Steph Curry obviously. And then another piece is the halo on top, which is separated on purpose, obviously to give to the s and c, but also just to represent his background and faith and point to that.

So it, it's packed of a lot of meaning. There's a lot of stuff. It obviously was not just based around one person, it was a lot of iterations and a lot of fine tuning. But even the Curry logo, the name, if you look at how it's spelled the type, they created a custom type and the C is actually the arc of a three pointer. And so if you turn the C upside to the side, it's a three pointer. And so then the whole font was built custom based on that one letter which I thought was really, really did

Brett:

Not know that. That is amazing. And that totally makes sense. And now I see it. Now you said it, now

Ashton:

You see now you

Brett:

Can't unsee it.

Ashton:

Yeah, can't unsee. So even when we did the animation for the logo, when you look at it, it comes out of it, there's a lot of storytelling obviously within it, but you come out of the basketball goal and then you see the three pointer and the curry then spells out based on the court eye level.

Brett:

Yeah, it's so cool. So I want to hear a quick story. I want to have you tell a quick story about the basketball and the initial Under Armor meeting you were in. So I just asked you about this basketball earlier cause I saw it in a picture, the John Deere website, but it's a basketball, I dunno if you have it close, if not, we'll just describe it. But basically it's basketball that says never give up on it. Right on phone. I was like, where'd you get that basketball? That's awesome. So tell the story of that and then how that came up in your first meeting with Under Armor.

Ashton:

Yeah, so my background, like I mentioned I didn't go to college for this. I have no background other than I loved art, I loved basketball and let's figure out how to do it from there. And so it was a time when I was learning to be an entrepreneur and have a team and make budgets and all of those really hard things that no one teaches you and you're just kind of failing and learning and failing. And so it was a really rough time for my wife and I as we were learning this route of entrepreneurship. And so we were out at a thrift store. I found a basketball I thought was cool, it's kind of roughed up a little bit. So I took it home. I think I spent 75 cents on it and I took a marker to it and it was late at night, probably 3:00 AM to be honest.

I mean it was the middle of the night and I just sketched out, never give up. And I put it on my desk and I left it there and I just looked at it constantly and I've carried with it as I've had different offices as I've moved now back home to Springfield, it's been with me and I think it's actually up in my son's room so that's why it's not close by. But it's really iconic because not just for me and my personal story and how it's been an inspiration for me, but here I am. Like I said, I've flown into Baltimore, I'm at the headquarters with Under Armour and I'm getting ready to present for the first time and it's overwhelming. And I could paint you a scene of the world's biggest conference room, the world's biggest table with a hundred chairs. I mean it was overwhelming to say the least.

And so I'm walking in as I'm not an employee, no one really knows who I am. I don't even know why I'm there, honestly, I don't know what I'm presenting. But it was just a really cool moment where I'm sitting there waiting for my time, we're all sitting around, Steph is looking at sketches and stuff and the creative director for Armour pulls up this mood board and he had printed out all these different things and on that board was a picture of my basketball. And that night I had taken a picture of it with my cell phone and I posted on Instagram years prior and just had said note to self, never give up or something like that. And so I was sitting there and I go that's my basketball. How did you guys get a picture of it? And they of course were completely shocked because they didn't put it up there because of me. It was something that they had looked to as inspiration that they were looking at

Brett:

When they first, did they first question you were they come on, you're

Ashton:

Basketball real. No, yeah, I mean they did brilliant. I'm pretty sure I even pulled it up on my Instagram. I like, no, this is my from years ago. And apparently someone had taken that and saved that photo and put it on Instagram or on Pinterest and it's been shared thousands of times. And so here I am just a crazy moment in time where honestly as I tell it, it kind of gave me that confidence in that moment where I just felt no doubt, I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. This is who I'm supposed to be in that had a little spiritual moment if you will. And so just kind of dove in. But it was just a cool moment that I reflect on and love sharing and obviously still have it and my boys have it now and something to look at.

Brett:

I love it man. And sometimes we all have imposter syndrome at times you become an entrepreneur and then you're around other successful entrepreneurs and you're like, do I really belong here? Am I really an entrepreneur? Or you start to build a company and now we're close to 75 team members at OMG and I'm like, I'm the ceo. Like am I really cut out for this? And we begin to have, and sometimes all we need is that little moment and is yours is a crazy wild story, but it's like, no, no, I'm supposed to be here. This is where I'm called to be. This is where I'm supposed to be. This is it. Let's go. And what a cool story and what a great line too. Never give up. I'm a big Winston Churchill fan and I know he was a fan of that line as well. Super cool. So then I'm assuming the pitch went pretty well after that moment. That was certainly a great way to start it.

Ashton:

Did I actually have photos of it. I, some of the guys that I knew they were snapping photos so it was captured in time and something that I do look at every once in a while as I can't believe I was there and that moment and that's where it all began. Yeah, definitely. So

Brett:

Cool. Special. So let's talk, just curious, what has it been like so early years you're at the boardroom with Steph at Under Armour, what was it like working with Steph kind of in the early days to the way it is now?

Ashton:

Yeah, absolutely. So what's crazy is we ran right into Covid at that time. And what's really unique about the story is I had an agency at that time in Oklahoma City and we were in downtown Oklahoma and we had offices and team and we were growing and this was just an exciting opportunity. I had a family situation pop up with one of my brothers and needed felt just we needed to move home. It was kind of a situation. And so we sold everything and we moved back to Springfield in the middle of the pandemic. And the reason that's important is because while I was going remote and sold everything and was going more so was the world they were all going remote. They were all taking Zoom calls from their kitchen tables and living room and kids running everywhere. So I think it was really just a perfect time because I was able to integrate into the team while also in a really special way.

Cause I have three boys not having to travel a lot. And so for the first two years, honestly, I mean Zoom call once, twice a week working hand in hand with their team and that's just continued. And so it's actually eliminated having to travel. They will mail us if we're doing shoe release, they'll mail us the shoes, we do the filming, we edit it, we send it back, everything is digital, there's no need to be in person. And so it has changed, but it was kind of the situation that happened and now it's just worked to our benefit as we continue to work together and find ways to collaborate and do stuff. So really special. I do have some trips coming up there, I'll be seeing them, but outside of that, it's just like this. It's a zoom call, which is crazy.

Brett:

Love it, love it. So you were telling me, we were talking and prepping for the show, you mentioned you think people count themselves out before they get started and this kind of ties into chasing your dreams a little bit or just going for something big and maybe relates a little bit to imposter syndrome too. We limit ourselves and what we think we can do, we don't take the shot we the big swing. So how does that play out you think? And how have you been able to overcome that thought of self limitation?

Ashton:

Yeah, I think it's just been, it starts with my childhood and my family. My dad and mom were they preached it. My dad was a poor pig farmer who grew up with nothing. My mom was the cheerleading captain and was wealthy and my dad somehow convinced her to go on a date with them. They fell in love. And then from there, from that day forward when they graduated high school, my dad left, went up to Alaska and then hitchhiked home once he made enough mind to marry her. And so that story of my family and how my family was started was just kind of where it was. I'm the second to youngest out of six kids and so I had siblings and so there's the first kids, they're sleeping in one room, in a studio apartment type of life. By the time I get on the scene they, they've kind of figured things out.

So I got into the scene and I'm walking into a little bit more confident entrepreneurial family but that was in my DNA from a young age was if you want something, just go do it. There's no, what's the worst that's going to happen? Fail. Now that sounds really great when you're on the other side. On the side of it though, when you're in the middle of that, it's really terrifying. But the secret to it was just having mentors. I had people who showed up in my life that I allowed in that I allowed insecurities or questions or fears. I mean even to this day I still have things that I'm like, I don't know how to pull this off and I'll make a phone call part of my process if there's anything that I'm questioning or wanting to do, there's so much that I still have no idea at thir age 32, I have years and years to learn. I'm just getting started. And that will still continue to come down to finding people who are super wise, who are open and willing to share their story or their process and just grabbing coffee with them or a phone call. That's just part of it. And so that was the secret to my success is there's been individuals who have come in into my life who have helped me time and time again.

Brett:

That's so great. And I remember hearing this one time, and it's true where you can become a lot more confident when you realize that everybody is just making it up as they go. And that really ties into you're a parent if you're a business owner. I mean it's a bit of an exaggeration, but not really. We're all facing stuff every day that we've not faced before to a certain degree. And so yeah, you just got to have the confidence to do it and you got to lean on mentors and that's something that you know, got to have great parents to start with is awesome. But having those other mentors around you is really great too. You grew up in an entrepreneur family, so I love that story about, I didn't know that your dad moving to Alaska, making enough money to go marry the wealthy cheerleader that that's awesome. But you grew up, your family owned a printing business, is that right?

Ashton:

Yeah, I mean because it was the only thing that he didn't have to go get a college degree for. He could go in and start learning, get his hands dirty and start working and then build from there. And then Amway was also a huge part of his business as well. They were the ones who taught him how to tie a tie and shave, which was important. Business books, how to go and get a loan, how to open a business, L l C, all that stuff. It came from going out and seeking that information.

Brett:

Yeah, that's so cool. And so do you think growing up around the printing business, is that part of what gave you this passion for art and design and stuff? Do you think that's where that came from? Partially.

Ashton:

Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah. It's from a young age. My dad at age 13 would, you would get kicked off of the fine family finances a little bit and given a budget and he'd help you budget and learn. And so from a young age you had to go and start working and it wasn't as dramatic as that sounds, but I mean it was the principle that mattered. And so from a young age we were at the print shop learning to print, pulling shirts off. We did anything from paper printing to clothing and hats and t-shirts and everything. And so my love for fashion and how does that play out, how does a brand look good on a t-shirt and part of your marketing strategy. All of that was from age eight, nine years old. That's what I was doing. And then when I started working in the front office, we had a Windows 95 computer with Crall draw on it, and that's how I learned to design. I actually didn't even pick up Photoshop or Illustrator until I was in my twenties because that's all I knew and I just made it work. So yeah, absolutely.

Brett:

That is a crazy story. There's probably lots of graphic designers out there if they're listening, they just had a gasp moment. You didn't start on Photoshop or InDesign.

Ashton:

Yeah, what was that? Wasn't around.

Brett:

That is amazing. Yeah, love that. That idea of teaching kids at a young age and kids growing up around a business. My dad was not entrepreneurial, always a hard worker but I always had this entrepreneurial desire inside of me, which is super interesting. But we share a lot in commons. We go to church together you and your family, your siblings are homeschooled, we homeschool our kids, there's all these connections, which is super cool. We love basketball. I'm the second most famous curry that maybe the third or the fourth, I don't know, but <laugh> absolutely also family tragedy. So walk through that just a little bit, as much as you're comfortable with, but you guys face some tragedy as a family. What was that and how has that shaped kind of your journey?

Ashton:

Yeah, for sure. Like I mentioned, I grew up with a really predominant mom and dad in the household. And so we had a really a healthy upbringing not just in faith but in family and in our education in business. And so when my dad got to a certain age, he loved to travel. That was his dream. One of the businesses that he actually started was a travel agency, which back in the eighties and nineties was, that was the thing. And so he did it so that he could get free trips or he could get deals. And so we would travel all the time. Part of the reason we were homeschooled as well as we could pick up and leave anytime in 2007, he had reached a point where he was wanting to explore the United States a little bit more. And so we bought a brand new RV and we started doing some trips here and there.

And on a trip in July of 2007, we went up into Canada went down through Seattle, and we were just on the other side of Seattle on the Olympic Mountains and we were coming down the mountains when the breaks actually failed to our rv and we were out of control and we went off the mountain and luckily everyone survived except for my dad who obviously passed away at that time. And it was a really scarring memory. It was a hard time. It was my world turned upside down at 17, I think you needed add more than ever. I was the homeschool kid with the metal band and loved art and basketball and I was confused at what I wanted to do, but I loved it all and rebellious as all get out. So it was a challenging time, but it was one of the coolest moments in my faith.

I met my wife during that time of, I call her my angel, she showed up and kept me centered and through that we started dating and we got married at 19. We had our first kid at 20 young kids figuring it out. But that all plays into when my dad passed away, we had a bunch of small businesses that had to be taken care of. And so all of a sudden you're kind of thrown into that of who's doing what. And although I was 17 and so I didn't carry the burden that a lot of my older siblings did, that was right there in the trenches with them and figuring it out and what is does life look like now? And we had 300 acres, which was some farmland that we all grew up on that's has to be taken care of and who's taken care of mom now.

So it was a really challenging time, but it really, there's two ways to look at it. You can be defeated by it or you can be empowered by it. And so it was a moment for me to really just grow up and you don't really have a choice, honestly. There's no one there to offer anything else except for you just got to keep going. And so fell in love, got married young, had kids young actually, our first house that we bought right after we got married in 2011 we got hit by the 2011 tornado in Joplin. We lost our first home. And so it's like you start looking at your life and you go, oh man, look at that. That was horrible. Oh man, tragedy set back. And really all I see as a believer in my faith, I just see God continue to show up and continue to pave away and give opportunity. And so that also as an entrepreneur and as a businessman, you constantly are met with maybe not as tragic, but you're constantly hit with roadblocks and failures and missteps and opportunity to either fail and go under or be empowered and figure it out. And so I would say as much as it is willpower and courage to keep going, it was also just grace and the people around me, like I said, mentors my wife that God put in my life to help me keep going.

Brett:

The people that come alongside you, the grace of God during that moment. And what's super interesting and and I have talked about this a little bit, I don't think I've talked about it too much on this podcast, actually I have on one other that I was a guest on, but I lost a parent as well. And my mom died when I was 15, had lung cancer, battled it for 16 months, passed away. And it's one of those things where you would certainly undo it, you would certainly change it if you could, but there's also something about it where it forces you to grow up. It forces you to change. In your case, you start running in or helping run the family business and the family farm and now you're like, dude, I got to be an adult right now.

Facebook becomes real at that moment. It's not just something you're reading or trying to make your parents happy and stuff, it becomes real or it doesn't. But in our cases it became real. And one of the things I think for me, I always had this confidence and I think my dad gave it to me, always told me that I could do anything that I put my mind to and when I didn't believe it. But I think one thing that happened, losing my mom and wrestling with that, I was not afraid of business failure at that point. It's like, right, I know what it's like to lose somebody, so I'm going to lose some money. It's not a big deal. I'm not worried about that. I'm just going to going to go forward and work hard and chase these things and life is short. It gives this perspective of talk about taking your shot take man, because you don't know. You don't know what's going to happen. And so don't waste time being afraid. Take your shot. And so pretty crazy. And so has your family, your siblings and stuff, they've continued to run the business. Is every all six kids entrepreneurs or just you and a few others?

Ashton:

Yeah, I know mean each of us are entrepreneurs in our own way. My oldest brother Austin ended up taking over with my brother-in-law Cliff. They partnered up and took on. It was a larger endeavor combining, there was different sections of the printing industry that my dad was a part of. And so they have now actually taken up until this year the time to obviously build it in the way that is sustainable and is up to date, but then is also combining and doing all of it. And so really cool to see them continue to expand and grow. They're super successful in what they do. I look up to Austin as one of my mentors and someone that I love and he was one of the reasons that I moved back and I don't regret for a minute. So yeah, it's been awesome. It's been really cool to see them continue to thrive.

Brett:

Yeah, it's mostly digital podcasts. We're mostly doing stuff online and whatnot. But would it make sense to give a shout out to your brothers printing business or to the family printing business? Maybe there's somebody out there that needs something printed and they should check it out. Absolutely. Be open for business. They can new clients.

Ashton:

So it's Empire Printing and it was called Empire Printing back in the seventies with my dad but then it's now there was Express Press and all these different things and until this year, 2023, they actually rebranded it and brought it back to Empire Printing and put everything underneath it. And they do with massive accounts nationwide, they do an incredible job printing embroidery, massive embroidery area, and then all of teen challenge and all of the printed books and collating and all of that stuff. So yeah, shout out to Empire Printing. Cool. The place to go,

Brett:

You need, if you need some printing call Empire Printing. Shout out to Austin. Tell him Ashton sent you. Yeah, Ashton. Super fun. So this idea, and we talked about it quite a bit, but just asking it point blank here, this idea of chasing your dreams, what do you tell people? So you're talk, talking to kids, talking to other entrepreneurs, talking to whoever. What do you tell 'em how and why you chase your dreams? What's your message there?

Ashton:

Yeah, I mean, first and foremost, you know, put the blockades in front of you. And so if you can remove the doubt, the insecurity, you can kind of point blank, look at what is holding you back from whatever that is that you're pursuing move it. A lot of times people put college as their thing. Now obviously I didn't go to college, so I am on the other side of the group that says, Hey, I was raised on youtube.com, so if I had a question, that's where I learned my stuff. So if you want to figure it out, I guarantee you it's on YouTube. But there's other things, right? Being a doctor and a lawyer and other qualifications that you need to go to college for. And I would say if that's your dream and want to do it, go by all means go do it.

But outside of that there is nothing that you cannot accomplish if you don't put your mind and heart and energy into it. And so the way that I've always say is send the email. A lot of times people ask me, how do I get in contact with these players or whatever it was relationships, there's a lot of times it was an email sent, it was a Facebook message, it was doing some creepy research and trying to find someone who works somewhere and tagging and figuring out the right person on Instagram and then just sending them a DM or finding a way to find 'em on LinkedIn. And so I have my own method of even to this day that if I want to find someone, there is no way that I can't. I mean the internet is filled with opportunity to go and research whatever you want to get the right contact for the job that you want or the industry you want to be in. So I always just say, send the email, man, just go and do it and don't hold back any of your fears and it will work out in the end. So

Brett:

Send the email. Just send the email, go out and find it, do the research. Don't be afraid, take the shot. This ties into this point, you and I were talking to this, you and I were talking about this before we hit record, but behind you, for those that are watching Michael Jordan, bull Jersey you're big, you're big Michael Jordan fan, you may be even bigger Michael Jordan fan than me. But tell your story as a kid, what was your interaction with Michael Jordan as a kid? And I think this illustrates this fearlessness that your dad and mom instilled in you and that you have to this day, but tell your Jordan story.

Ashton:

Absolutely, yeah. When I was six years old, my dream was to invite Michael Jordan to my birthday party. And of course my parents meeting who they were, they like, great rhyme a letter and we will send it. And so I, I crafted it for a week. I sat down, I spelled everything wrong and I was homeschooled. So shout out there, but I put it all together, 'em a picture. I think I even told them that I have a letter somewhere if you can stay at our house and you'll have to stay in my mom and dad's bed, but they're fine. They'll sleep somewhere else because you're huge and they have so

Brett:

Everything.

Ashton:

Absolutely. I had thought through everything. So I sent the letter and in that moment my parents were like, whatever. They looked up his corporate office and they mailed it. Well, surprisingly enough, my dad got a call at his office and it was Michael's secretary or assistant and said, Hey, Michael is actually in Paris right now so he won't be able to make your son's birthday party, but he was really moved by your letter. And so we want to send him a box of gifts. And Michael's written a letter for him. So if you wouldn't mind, we we'd love to give that to him. And so obviously as I was turning seven, there is just already this unbridled expectation of life. What can we not do? Dream it, achieve it? And so it just took on this whole manifest of just being fearless. And so a few years later there was a card contest in your basketball cards if kids know what those are anymore ripped it open. And actually right here is the pack that I had opened and it says on it win a sign Michael Jordan Jersey. And I thought, why not I could win that. And so I convinced my sister to sign me up

Brett:

Basically pen pals. I know Michael at this point, so I got to win the jersey.

Ashton:

Absolutely. Just, I put a good word, it's great. I know him. So yeah, so I ended up winning the jersey and it continued to just obviously feed my love and passion for Michael and the culture that I was thrown into in a farm in Springfield, Missouri, engrossed in East Bay magazines and sneakers and baggy clothes East Bay,

Absolutely. It was a lifetime journey of that kind of fearlessness that started at a young age, but was encouraged. And so if you're a parent, I always tell people, if you're a parent and your kid has some crazy idea, encourage that and help them. And if help them outline it. Like my parents didn't say no and they didn't throw away my letter when I wrote it. They said, well if you write it, here's the next step. We'll go to the mailbox, we'll send it, we'll look up his address and we'll send it and we'll see it. What happens. And so just walking that through, even for my kids now, there's been opportunities to encourage them in their love and their interest. And it comes from my upbringing as a child.

Brett:

I love it, man. So amazing. So we're really just have time for a couple more things, but I'm just curious, what are some of the books, the podcasts, what are some of the things you are consuming that are helping propel you on this entrepreneurial journey?

Ashton:

I obviously there is leadership podcast by Craig Rochelle. That is by far one of my favorite guaranteed to, it's probably been mentioned on here a dozen times, but that is one that just encourages my marriage. Enco encourages me as a father, but encourages me as a leader as I'm stepping out in faith and pursuing life. So I think that that podcast has transformed me how I built this sky. Ross started listening to it when it first came out and I think listened to every single one of them, if not a couple of times. So I love those podcasts. And then for book, I always say failing forward, one of the most impactful books that I've ever written or I've ever, I did not write it Johnson Maxwell wrote that one. But that I've ever listened to and read, it fed my soul during that learning period of life. And I referenced that one a lot. But I think that there is so many different materials out there that, not just podcasts, but there is books and that's another piece of it. If you want something or you're struggling with, there is so much content out there to just go and get it. It's obtainable. It's a lot of times it's free or it's pretty small. So yeah, those are a couple of the ones that's impacted me.

Brett:

Love it, man. Love it. What's next for you? What's next for you and team? I know you're working on some highly secretive things. You and I met and talked about these a few weeks ago, so some of you probably can't talk about, but what can you talk about? What's next for you?

Ashton:

Yeah, I mean there's opportunity within the space of the digital age. And so I, as we've gone through this kind of winter, as we call it in the metaverse, there is a lot of things that are happening while everyone is down and out about it that I think will continue to see opportunity with memberships and stuff. And so staying involved in that industry and then continue to help Steph and Clay and a couple of these other guys with their projects or their brand and so that we'll continue to grow and chase after that. And then of course pickleball, which we could have a whole other podcast about pickleball. So that is where I'm investing a lot of time and energy. So we'll come back two excited

Brett:

About that. Well yeah, exactly that. That'll be a great excuse for part two. We'll come in, we'll talk about pickleball. We'll nerd out for all those who were like basketball, come on guys, but you may like pickleball. So come back for episode two. It'll be more your speed, more your style there. So that's awesome. So check it out, go to triple I'm, I'm going to get your website wrong if I don't look at it here real quick. So triple-threat.co. So check that out and also just keep an eye on stuff Steph doing essentially anything Steph does in the public IRS foundation, potentially you've had a hand in that to some degree. Pay attention to Steph and Hi or I mean a clay, his shoe stuff, which is really cool. And in any other ways people should follow you. Are you active on the socials? Are you active on Instagram or LinkedIn or anywhere else that you want to mention?

Ashton:

I'm pretty well hiding behind a lot of the other people and allowing them to do their things. It's not

Brett:

A bad choice. Not a bad choice at all. Yeah,

Ashton:

I let them do it, but I do it. My personal AMO ins 23, I'm on Instagram. It's pretty well all I do if I am on it. So yeah, you can follow me there.

Brett:

Awesome. Fantastic. Well, Ashton, this has been an absolute joy, been a ton of fun and inspiring. I'm ready to go out there and just do whatever and hopefully pass some of these lessons onto my kids and other good stuff like that. So appreciate it brother. Thanks for taking the time and then we'll definitely have to schedule part two.

Ashton:

I appreciate the time as well. It was, it's been a joy. Thank you so much.

Brett:

Awesome. And hey, special shout out, Brian Franco, pastor Life Church, Springfield, Missouri, for making this connection. Appreciate you as well. And as always, thank you for tuning in. Let us know what you'd like to hear more of or less of on the podcast. And if your answer is, I'd like to hear less basketball, don't worry, this is going to be, this was the Basketball Heavy <laugh> podcast. We probably won't have another one quite like this, but this has been a ton of fun, so hopefully you enjoyed it. Hey, if you've not done so, leave that review on iTunes. Makes my day, helps other people find the podcast. And unlike Ashton, I am trying to get more active on the social. So follow me on Twitter for some good marketing tips and ideas, and also LinkedIn. I'm trying to get more active there as well. So with that, until next time, thank you for listening.

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