Karaoke Camper With Brook Lieon

SPEAKER_01 0:14

My business is your business. It's all within my lady business with me. Very easy. Hi, everybody. Thanks so much for tuning in today. We got Brooke Leone from the karaoke camper here with me today. Hi, Brooke. Hi. How are you doing? I'm doing well. How are you? Good. I'm are you feeling psyched about this? Is it your podcast debut? It is. Yeah. Which is uh it's kind of exciting that I get to be the one who breaks the seal on that one. So, Brooke, I have partied. It's our word, is that the word I say? I I have karaoke'd with you or with your with your inside of your camper twice. And it was a complete and utter amazement fun time. And I couldn't believe that it took this long for something so cool to come to the market. So uh so tell us how you came to get this Airstream Taylor and turn it into this karaoke fantasy land that is amazing to have parked outside of a party.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

Well, I think it started, I don't know, two years ago. Just randomly had the idea. I think it was Christmas break. I was home with my kids and I was like, let's do some karaoke. And they very unwillingly participated. Um, and then I had the idea of like, well, why don't we bring this? Can't we do this mobile? Um, and then we started doing some, I guess research you'd call it, although it's not like you can research how to do this.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

But just like, is there anything else like there, like out there like this?

SPEAKER_02 1:50

Most of any sort of mobile karaoke is like a trailer or a party bus or something you kind of like drive around, but not it's not the same. There's one um, I guess you'd call it competitor, although I talked to her and she's now my helper, um, in Washington in the Seattle area, and that is called the Air Scream. So I actually Air Scream. Air Scream. Yep. Oh my God, that's pretty good. That's pretty good. It's yeah, she's got a good thing going on. But yeah, I I uh reached out to her and we actually had a couple conversations so that she could help me kind of understand what it's like. And yeah, we know nothing about campers or camping or towing or anything when we started this.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

Also, I think the air scream should be a rage room, just as long as I'm thinking this through. The air scream should be a rage room. Um, so you so you're not a camping person. You just yeah, me neither. I my mother used to say when I was a kid, she used to go, my idea of camping is a room service. And I would always like roll my eyes and be like, mom, you're such a bougie asshole. And then I got old, and then I don't want to. Nope. I don't really I I just I I I'm okay with glamping. Yeah. I do like I've gone, I've done some glamping, but I just don't want to sleep on the ground and bugs. And all the planning that would be required. And quite frankly, it seems like all you do when you to me, this is what camping is. You drive somewhere with all of your stuff, and then you take out all the stuff, you recreate your home, you make a kitchen, you find a place where bathroom's going to happen, you make a house, and then you do everything you do inside of a house outside of a house. Yes. And to me, it's a it's like unnecessarily roughing it. It's almost like disingenuous to a certain extent. We are we are no longer hunter-gatherers.

SPEAKER_02 3:35

No, I'm I agree.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

So you were doing a corporate job uh before this. Like, what were you do you care to talk about it, or is it so far behind you that you're like, eat it, get out, don't talk to me.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

No, uh, I won't, I won't name, I won't name the company, although it's not a good one. No, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

No naming and shaming.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

Uh yeah. I was probably 15 years in the email marketing industry. Um and last couple of years doing product management in that space. So it uh yeah, I got I got to the point where I needed something different. Um, and corporate tech right now in particular is very, it's in a huge transition, as I'm sure everyone knows. Um and it's really made the culture in that area like hard, harder and harder and and more stressful. So I just reached a point of total burnout. Um, and no different corporate tech job was gonna fix it. So I just decided to kind of try something totally different and AI proof.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

Yeah. I mean, yeah. I mean, you can't, it's the same thing with weddings. It's like you can't AI a wedding. Like you, it's like it's not gonna go away. And also, it's just karaoke is so fun. Exactly. I mean, it's it's like a fun thing. Um, what are I was gonna ask this later on, but now it's coming up now. What are your karaoke songs?

SPEAKER_02 5:00

I don't I have so many, and I'm I've I'm always asked this question. I really like to surprise people with some like MM uh or like 90s rap. Um so that's like your is that your wheelhouse? That one, and I love any sort of late 90s, early 2000s pop. So Backstreet Boys, Brittany, Britney, um, any of those. So those are my go-to's.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Excellent. Um, so you like quit your job and bought it, or did you do it in tandem for a while?

SPEAKER_02 5:31

We did it in tandem. Um, it took like a year to renovate it. So we were doing that all on the side. And then um, when we launched last fall in October, uh we had our first customer. And after after that, I wasn't quite sure if I was gonna be leaving because I wasn't, you know, who knows what was gonna happen. Maybe everyone would hate it. Um, but yeah, so I got, I think like six months after we launched, I had enough confidence that like this was a thing people would like. Um, so I made the the decision last spring and I left in June of this year.

SPEAKER_01 6:05

Yes. Oh, that that rules. That's like so you're very new to this like entrepreneurship angle of things. Has it been you know, it's interesting because you were working in corporate, had somebody else as your boss forever, and then you started your own business. Was entrepreneurship ever a thing that you thought about before this?

SPEAKER_02 6:25

I my dad, uh growing up, always started his own businesses and ran them himself. Um like he did stump grinding and owned a garbage company. So like I think that part of me was like it was like ingrained in me a little bit. Um and we had done Airbnb and landlording and and sort of property management prior to this. So I had we had some other things going on outside of that, but I don't think I gained the confidence to think that I could do it until I had gone through some like executive coaching and just had a lot of like other people like talk to me about how successful they they were, especially in Evanston, how the community is so great. Um and it really took a while to kind of build up the confidence. And then just seeing when we had our first couple of customers, like how happy they were, like how excited they were for us that we were doing this. And I think from there it just kind of like building that confidence happened.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

I mean, it's you know, it's it's it's I it's interesting you call it building confidence because I I that is what it is. I mean, I you have to it's hard to talk about yourself. Yeah, and it's hard to, or at least I find it hard to promote myself. Like I talk about myself, be like, hey guys, you should hire me for this thing or whatever. So you don't have to, and then I walk away. Like I'm I'm not good at that part of it. Um, and but it is true that Evanston is truly supportive of these things. But it's also the confidence to enter a white space, like, and I mean it, like I mean by white, not a white space by tons of white people, which definitely that is usually the case in Evanston, but uh, but but a place where there is it doesn't exist. Like you're inventing the the the book, the playbook on what mobile karaoke can look like and done well. I mean, that's that is that's bold and amazing that it's that it and when it clicks, it clicks, and you're just so psyched that, like, oh, wait a minute, I don't have to do anything else now. I can just do this.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

And it fills my cup. Um, so you guys renovated the the airstream yourself.

SPEAKER_02 8:25

We tried to hire a company, and by the way, there are not that many of them to do it. Uh, and we took it to get a quote. I think they quoted us some crazy dollar amount. Like, it was an investment you should never make, I think, in like a vintage trailer. How old is it? It's from 1969. No, it's not. Yes. You couldn't make that up. We bought it on Marketplace and uh the it ended up being way, so the there's something you should know when you buy it a vintage trailer is it probably leaks, and as a result, everything's rotted inside. Like it leaks from the like from outside in. Yeah. So we found out after we took it to get that quote, they were like, oh yeah, we're gonna have to do the whole floor, it has to be replaced. Basically, it's to take the shell off and put the shell back on. And we're like, oh my God. So uh we took it to my dad's house, my parents' house, and uh he also unwillingly at first agreed to help us with it. And he's amazing because again, you can't find the resources online for what you're trying to do. So yeah, he uh we would drive up there once in a while to kind of help, but we were always sending products to the house for him to work on it. And yeah, he he I would say he probably did like 80% of it. Uh, and then we were kind of like helping and directing basically.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

And the renovating, I'm assuming, is just getting it airtight and watertight, I guess. And then also like were you like ripping out, was there like beds and shit inside of it? Yeah. Yep. So you ripped all that stuff out, replaced the floor, and then like what do you do to make it karaoke ready?

SPEAKER_02 10:00

Uh, we had to build all of the cabinetry inside, which um we hired a guy up there that my dad knew who's used to doing kitchens where the walls are straight. Uh, and in the camper, the walls are all slightly curved. And I uh he he he declared after he was done he would no longer ever work on a camper again because it was so hard. Now he knows how to do it though. I know he could I mean make a lot of money. Another skill set in there. But yeah, it was putting all the cabinetry in and having to design it in a very specific way that there was enough room for dancing, enough room for seating. Um, we have batteries in there to run everything. Oh, we had to put a mini split in to run the HVAC, which by the way is not a standard thing you put on a camper and plug in. So all these sorts of like combination of researching people who do off-griding boats, uh vintage trailer forums, and kind of bringing it all together.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

Yeah, that's I mean, that's a skill in and of itself. Like you guys, I mean, if you didn't want to like franchise this, like doing consulting on karaoke conversions to airstreams could be uh another side hustle. Yeah. Um that's uh so you guys, so I want to say there's six microphones in there. Four. Four or more, okay. Uh and it so it's like there in my mind, I remember there's like banquettes around the edge of it. So there's like places to sit. There's definitely a giant place to dance, and there's four microphones and a huge screen. And there's screens in there's two or three screens. Two screens, yep. Two screens. I mean, it's just it's like you thought of everything. Like you did a really good job for your first like foray into this.

SPEAKER_02 11:41

Yeah, thanks. I do karaoke, private room karaoke a lot myself. Uh, so I do know like what makes a good private karaoke room.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

And would you say, do you go to Lincoln karaoke on Lincoln?

SPEAKER_02 11:53

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 11:53

Yeah, that's that's the place. When I was, when we were younger, we were younger, like in my 20s and 30s, we would uh we would go there for birthday parties a lot. And uh private room karaoke, man, you can rack up a lot of lot of spend in private room karaoke. That button where they just bring you drinks, deadly. Um is there is there a a drink situation in there, like a like a cooler or a yeah, there's a little fridge.

SPEAKER_02 12:18

Um we put water in it. People get thirsty when they sing. Um but you can also put your own drinks in there. So it's BYO, obviously.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

So the so the okay, so people hire you and then you just drive the car. You is it drive does it have an engine on it? No, we tow it. Do you haul it? Yeah. Okay. Uh the places where I've where I've experienced this has been like uh like driveways. Is that like the is that where it has to be?

SPEAKER_02 12:44

Uh I'd say about 50% of the time it's driveways. 50% of the time it's on the street. Um, just because most people don't have a driveway, like they have alleys. Um so we we'll also park it on the street, um, right in front of your house too.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

Um it's so cool. I I think it's just such an interesting thing. And like the idea of like going from corporate to like, you know, to to doing something like this is such a is such a step. Like, have you how how is how has that has been going from like having like a nine to five to having your days open and trying to figure out like what what what does it take to run a karaoke camper?

SPEAKER_02 13:22

It was an adjustment. Like I am a I'm always needing to do something type of person. Um for a while my kids were home with me in the summer, so I was you know, mostly spending time with them. But now that they've gone back to school, I find myself like wanting, like not bored, but like none needing to figure out how to fill my time. And that is interesting and fun and hard. It's inconsistent every day, which I think is hard for me as a type A personality.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

But you know, well, and you just yeah, but you just did this in June. And so you have this the summer is the time when your kids are around, but then when you but then I like I'm grateful for the return to to the schedule so much. Um, but now it's the real thing. Like now you it's kicked in and now you're like in like the real, the the real world of of of of entrepreneurship where you are your own motivator. Yes. Like you're the only one that can tell you what to do. And uh and then you also then when you get up against a problem that you faced that as it where you were like, I don't know how to solve this problem, and you don't even know who to talk to about it. Like what kind of uh foibles have emerged from running this thing that you didn't think that you were going to have to like deal with when you started?

SPEAKER_02 14:37

There's been a few. I'm trying to think of. Well, the original like heating cooling solution we had in there, it turns out was not keeping up. So we've had we had to switch that in after a month or two. Um, we've gotten some feedback, like our original set of microphones that we switched out. It's been really small things. I think a lot of it is like camper logistics, like, oh, when you park it on a street, one part of this the wheels are not level. So I had to buy level lane blocks, and now we have to try and figure out how to prop one of it up and um just small stuff like that. But honestly, nothing huge has really come up, which is I can't believe it that, to be honest. I'm always waiting for something to go wrong. Knock on everything.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Are you able to do it all by yourself? Like, do you roll in by yourself, set up and leave? But all like is it all you? Not me.

SPEAKER_02 15:27

My husband uh does most of he does all of the driving and parking. Uh, I'm like too stressed, I'm like a high stress person in those situations. Um, he's much more chill about it. So he's really mastered the parking side of it. Um, so he does it. And then I usually stay for the events and you do all of the sales and marketing, sales and marketing side of it as well. And kind of in, I guess more the face of it. But yeah, he's he's the one who does all the operations.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

Um, and I understand that you're going to be doing a brick and mortar.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

Yes, this is true. It is it is opening. Well, it's hopefully opening in January. Um plus or minus a month. We'll see. And that's actually what I'm spending most of my time on now is planning that out uh to bring private karaoke to downtown Evanston. Oh, so it's gonna be completely private. Yes, private rooms, like a mini version of Lincoln, um, a mini and ups more upscale version of Lincoln karaoke.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

It won't come with crab bringing you in. No, there will be no fees. Um that's also dangerous. Um, so making a leap to a brick and mortar when you're three months out of being a hundred percent a business owner is like that is some bull. And what does your husband do?

SPEAKER_02 16:44

He has a full-time job. Um, he is a VP of finance. So he does all the finance and accounting side.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

But he has a real job, like where he has to be there all the time and stuff. Um so this is so basically he's like the muscle, and you're the you're the you're the brains behind the operation, so to speak. Yeah. I mean, his brands are probably involved as well. Like let's give him something. Yes. But uh, I mean, the logistics of going to brick and mortar, I mean, let's talk about that because that is a lot. I mean, permitting. Yeah, so much permitting, I have to imagine. Because I mean, uh, I mean, I'm assuming there's gonna be a bar.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

Yes, there is a bar. We actually got our liquor license already approved um before we even signed the lease. So that is insane and kind of unheard of. The city has been really great to work with. Like, shout out to Evanston. I know they get a lot of flack for downtown, but I have had nothing but positive things to say about the people we've interacted with.

SPEAKER_01 17:44

So um, so you found the place and then apparently got a liquor license and then signed the lease. Uh, but what is what is the process of going through that of making a brick and mortar happen?

SPEAKER_02 17:54

Uh, that's a great question. I did not know when I started this. Um, you first have to find a space. And we started out looking at spaces that were not like restaurant spaces because we didn't need a kitchen. Um, but then we kind of evolved and figured out the amount of work to put the things like a bar in and this, you know, zoning and everything like that, like the whole zoning conversation, figuring out like, yes, you are allowed to have this here, but not here, um, was all part of the process. And so we found my husband actually sent me the old Bat 17 location. And I first I was like, no, no, no, I don't want this. It has a kitchen, we don't need it. Um, but after some time we got back to like, okay, maybe this would actually be really good because it has a cooler and you know, we don't plan to serve food, but we still have drinks.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

Well, you don't plan on it now. Well, but you know, it's like that's the thing. It's like even having it there as an option is like kind of huge. I mean, you could even do like, I mean, I don't know how big the space is. I'm already imagineering for you. Um, like, you know, private parties where there's offsite caterers that can come in and like do the food for that and you know, make that kind of magic happen.

SPEAKER_02 19:03

Exactly. Yeah. So that was all part of the calculus. And then we reached out and the landlord loved the idea, I think. I mean, he said he did, but um, very supportive of it. What kind of building is it? It is um it's a wall. Is it in a is it by itself? It's got a neighbor on one side who is they're start they're joining in October, and then it's got La Peep restaurant on the other side. Oh. So we're sandwiched in between, and there's nobody upstairs, which was a key component to this um to help with the soundproofing.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

Yeah, I would imagine. Um, on Orington? Uh Benson. Benson, okay. Yeah. Hey, folks, little Evanston uh geography. Um, so you are that's interesting that you're not like freestanding. The possibilities of uh of having angry neighbors is uh terrifying. So I'm glad that you thought that all through. And I there's a wedding venue that we work at a lot that um that for years had like a crappy neighbor that lived next door and they would call the cops all the time on them. And eventually they want like when he moved out, they bought the building so that like no one else could uh could do that. But it's amazing that it really messed things up for a really long time. Uh what is it gonna what are you calling it?

SPEAKER_02 20:19

It's called Anthem Um or Anthem Karaoke, depending. So, but yes, we actually just got all our branding work done um this week. So I'm very excited about that. It looks super cool.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

So is it gonna be like, is eventually would it be like the karaoke camper by Anthem? Or like is Anthem gonna be like the parent company?

SPEAKER_02 20:37

I think so. I haven't that's phase two of our branding is figuring out how to take what I did for the camper, which was all on my own and kind of make it all work together now that we have Anthem.

SPEAKER_01 20:49

Yeah. I mean, yeah, I would imagine it would be like probably like rebranding the camper. Probably.

SPEAKER_02 20:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:57

Yeah. Cause it would be difficult to have two things completely named differently.

SPEAKER_02 21:01

Yeah. Maybe it'll be like powered by Anthem or something.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

Ant Anthem on the Go.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

Yeah. Oh, I like that.

SPEAKER_01 21:07

Carrie Anthem carrying uh I'm I I'm sorry, I'm gonna think about this forever and then I'm gonna come with the name. I'm gonna come up with a name for it because that's kind of like email me in a week. Yeah. My favorite thing to do is name things. I uh I'm really into puns. Same. I belong, I belong in a penitentiary. Uh so is there so it's good how many rooms is it gonna be? Six private rooms. Oh. So then you rent it by the hour? Yes. Uh very and is it like how many people can fit in a room?

SPEAKER_02 21:37

The smallest room will fit about six up to six people. You could obviously come with less. And the largest room at this point we think will fit around 18 people. So it'll be for like larger parties. Yeah. The camper fits about 12. Uh, and most parties we found fall right in between that like 10 and 12 person range. So that's awesome. I mean, it's so cool. And what's the vibe of it gonna be? Uh, I don't, I can't say yes because we haven't seen any interior renderings yet. But hopefully in a couple weeks I'll have a better idea.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

Very fun. I mean, it's such an amazing experience, I'm imagining, to like go through all of this and make these gigantic decisions. And, you know, I'm assuming I mean not to get too granular or in your shit, but I'm like, are you guys self-financing this? Yes. No investors, nothing. Perfect. That is absolutely the best way to go. I mean, that's I will I was able to do it that way. And I know that it's like not everybody can do that. And but I don't know, not having anybody else who can like make you do things. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

I don't need I don't want approval for my decisions.

unknown 22:43

No.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

No, no, no, no, not at all. Have you had a hard time like when when because when you were going through this, wow, did insurance, did you did do you know did insurance companies know how to insure you?

SPEAKER_02 22:53

For the camper, we had to it there was like one or two companies that offered an insurance package for us. That was really challenging. Um for the brick and mortar, so far it seems like it's fine. Um I think we haven't had any challenges with that yet.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

Brick and mortar karaoke places exist. Exactly. Yes. But mobile karaoke, not so much.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:16

And I'm just and the liability on that is different, I would imagine, just because drunk people falling out of a camper Yes, it cannot move.

SPEAKER_02 23:25

So that's good, but yes.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

True, true. But uh, but you know, just there's I just I know too much about insurance. I have had to get too much insurance. And when I tried to insure toast and jam, I couldn't find like a company that would even insure us because they never d insured a DJ company before. And it's like, yeah. Well, because most DJ companies operate with independent contractors, and my DJs are employees, and so making when I made them employees, it was very difficult to like find a company that would insure us and it whatever. It's such boring, granular like business stuff, but it's like the stuff you have to do. Like everyone thinks uh it must be so amazing to own your own business. And it's not bad. I mean, I can never work for anybody ever again. I'm like unemployable at this point. Uh I I mean, have you reached the point where you're like, I can never work for somebody ever again? Yeah, I don't think I could go back.

SPEAKER_02 24:15

Um, I'm I like the well, and especially coming from corporate, which I don't know if if you worked ever at a large corporate company in your past, but any to make a decision, you're going through 25 layers of people. It's just it's it's you can't get anything done. Um, and now I can just decide. Although, like you were saying, with great uh what is it? What is that phrase? Exactly. And they're like, I don't know who to ask about which microphones I should try to get, you know. I I could have been that person.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

Well, I could I I'm your person now. I'm your I'm gonna be your uh your audio person now.

SPEAKER_02 24:52

Good, because I have some selected, but I need I need like I need to make sure. Oh I would love to lean on you for that, actually.

SPEAKER_01 24:59

No, I I would I would love to do that. Like it's like I love having conversations like this where I'm like learning about businesses and kind of how things go and like what are the problems and how can you solve them. And you know, it's like and if I can't solve it, I probably know somebody who can because I've just been in business for 21 years. I mean, over that at this point. So it's like I have a lot of information in here that is like useless to except to like a very sliver of you know of of the world. And I love helping people. I just do. I love it's like I wish I could go back to waiting tables. I loved waiting tables, so easy, and you just don't, you just leave it at work at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_02 25:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

Um, but I'm not waiting tables.

SPEAKER_02 25:40

You can work any of them if you want.

SPEAKER_01 25:42

I mean, I mean, I might be consulting for you. So I want to so when I was talking about this consulting thing, I'm like, can I just like I want to like create a consultancy where I just go in and hang out and just figure out, like just kind of hang out and kind of see how you guys are doing stuff and then be like, why are you doing it that way? Yeah. Why are you doing that that way? Like, like figuring out, like, like fixing things. Because I I hate inefficiencies. That's part of the reason why I'm unemployable. Is like when I would, you know, I've gotten fired from so many jobs prior to doing this. And I would usually get fired because I would be like trying to insert myself into everything. I'd be like, Why are you doing it this way? Like, what if we move this over here? Like, why are we marrying ketchups that way? We should be doing we actually, we probably shouldn't be marrying ketchups. That seems unsanitary. But if we're gonna do it, we shouldn't be doing it this way. And then I would get let go. So if I could get, if I could get hired to come in and get hired to do that, to come in and make, you know, ask you questions on why your stuff isn't running and effectively, I would love that more than anything.

SPEAKER_02 26:38

Oh, I I didn't realize when we started this how many things I would have to figure out, like that you probably know, like that you'd be so great at knowing. Like, I had to figure out the equipment. That's one thing, great. But then it's like, well, where's everything gonna be placed, be placed behind the bar? And what do you need behind the bar? And you know, like what if what are your employees gonna wear? Just like we can wear whatever they want. No, they should have a shirt. Okay, I'll probably make a shirt now.

SPEAKER_01 27:10

Or or colors, or you know, like it's but you should have shirts anyway because someone's gonna want to wear that. That's true. There will be merch. Yes. I'm already imagining the trucker hats.

SPEAKER_02 27:21

Um, the shirts will say, What's your anthem, maybe, or like sing, you know, or like maybe I'll get each one can have their favorite song printed on it and say, This is my anthem or something with the song.

SPEAKER_01 27:31

Wait, what's the um what's the Jay-Z song? Put your uh uh in Hova. Put your hand uh what's the that the damn anthem? Um Is that the name of it? I don't know the name of that song. I know what you're talking about though. It's it's it's H to the is how it's no anthem, put your damn hands up.

SPEAKER_02 27:49

There you go, put your put your damn hands up. Oh. Well, we did learn we can't actually use song lyrics in any of our marketing. We can use titles, but not lyrics, apparently.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

Really? Yes. But there's so anything could be a lyric. I know. You know, on Jeopardy, which is my favorite television show, uh whenever they have topics where the s the answer could be a song title, they have to say, please don't sing the song. Because if they get because if they sing it, then they have to pay royalties to whoever the song belongs to. They literally say, please don't sing the song. But the answer is please name this song. And then it's like, you know, so even if somebody sings like happy, not happy birthday because it's out of the, but if they they really get on you about singing the songs, I bet they re- I bet they re-record things to avoid that. I did not know that. What a fun fact. There's so many, and it's bullshit. Like, really, you really Aretha Franklin's estate, you really need to get 87 cents from somebody accidentally singing respect in an episode of Jeopardy, and it's like, nope, I gotta get mine. And it's like, do you like do you have to make money off of every time somebody sings respect? I don't I mean, I I guess I I guess you probably get covered by ASCAP and BMI by uh like by ASCAP and BMI when you're inside.

SPEAKER_02 29:08

Yeah, the survey survey, the software we use, um Carafun, um re-records basically their own versions of the songs and then puts them out. So they are all we're all like all the licensing is already covered by us paying for that software basically.

SPEAKER_01 29:25

So that but it's because it's it's so there's like a there's a uh a license within your agreement with Carafun. Yeah. I say that as somebody who also has CaraFun because we offer because at Toast and Jam, we offer uh we offer uh karaoke. I own a DJ company and we offer karaoke services. So um, but it's not anything like what you have. It's a monitor and four microphones. I mean, it's it's not it's not much. But it's I mean, you know, and it's just an add-on that we're throwing on at the like, you know, last hour of the wedding. But um, but I we are covered by Ask Cap and BMI, which are like they're I don't know what they are, they're like services you have that every venue has to pay into. Um, and that cut so if you play music inside of there, that you probably are gonna have to get that.

SPEAKER_02 30:12

Probably well, if we have if we have music in like the common area or the lounge area, we'll definitely need it.

SPEAKER_01 30:19

Yeah. Um yeah, I'm already advising you.

SPEAKER_02 30:21

Okay. I'm just I'm making a mental note to like, okay, what do I need to do? I will follow up with you about that.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

Yeah, no, I would happy, I'd be happy to help you. Uh, did I just get my new client, my first client of the unnamed Mary Nisi Consulting Company? Um, that really isn't the reason why I brought you on here, but uh, you know, if it happens, it happens. Um, I just think it's such I think it's really amazing when women, especially women, decide to walk away from what they have and start something in an unknown space because we are we need certainty and we need to, you know, I think women more than men are need to know this the plan, you know, and needing to, you know, because if especially if you have kids, like if things fall apart, it's like it's not just you who you know who who gets affected by this. There's a lot more people involved. And then you even think about the people that are relying upon you in the business. Like if you wind up having employees or, you know, whatever, you you've got other people that are relying upon you to, you know, make payroll. And, you know, whatever else things that are that that come into this is situation is, you know, it's uh is so much. I mean, when you said like the 25 layers you had to go through when you worked at wherever you worked uh at um named corporate co corporate uh job, you know, it's like there's someone had to create the 25 layers of bureaucracy.

SPEAKER_02 31:46

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

And it's and the majority of that was to just justify their existence within the company. You know, like so much of it is just like, well, I have nothing to do, so I guess I'm gonna become the person that signs off on this thing, but it doesn't before it gets to the signing off period, it has to go through 16 iterations before it gets to even me, and then there's four more after me. It's like, how can that be necessary?

SPEAKER_02 32:06

Yeah. I think that's fun. I think I spent so much of my time making decks, slideshows about explaining the thing to various people. In a meeting that could have been an email to someone who doesn't know the work but needs to make a decision on the work. So here's a deck.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

So many decks. So many decks. And it's it's such an employment. I'm sure and then during COVID, I got they all went online. So then it's like everybody's got their cameras off and not looking at them anyway. So it's Yeah. You're like, I don't want to think that I put so much love into those decks.

SPEAKER_02 32:39

I made a I actually I will the benefit of it is that I became very skilled at creating decks and presenting decks uh in front of people as an introvert. I am not good at things like that. So that is um, I guess there's the positive side of it.

SPEAKER_01 32:54

Well, all the skills that you there were skills that you developed there that will be helpful on this side of the uh of the of the employment divide. Um amazing, amazing stuff. Where are you from? Wisconsin. Really? Like deep into it? Green Bay area close to there.

SPEAKER_02 33:14

So about three hours away.

SPEAKER_01 33:15

Very far away though. It's like that seems very far away to me. It's drivable. So how'd you wind up in Chicago?

SPEAKER_02 33:23

I moved here in college um to go to DePaul. Oh, I didn't I majored in digital cinema. Digital cinema? Yes. That's a major. It was. I think it well, I don't know if it still is, but yes, it was.

SPEAKER_01 33:42

What is digital cinema?

SPEAKER_02 33:44

Film. Film, but for the modern age, because it's not film anymore. It's digital. So you didn't learn anything about film, like how to cut it or anything? Not physical film, no. Um I did after spent I I majored in it and I graduated, and it was 2009 when there was a recession. That's a good time to be entering the job market. Uh, and then I realized that job's not for me. That industry is not for me because it really is cutthroat.

SPEAKER_01 34:12

And but what were you doing? Like was it to edit movies? Oh, it oh, to be an editor.

SPEAKER_02 34:17

Yeah. I was mostly on the I again, I don't as an introvert, I don't like being in front of the camera uh or directing. So I was I really liked editing quite a bit. But yes, the industry is way too difficult and you have to sell yourself.

SPEAKER_01 34:29

Yeah. No, I mean, my my best friend edited television commercials for ages, but she did it when it was like there was like film involved. Like that's awesome. When she when she started, there was film and then eventually it stopped being on film. But I mean, it's like it is, I mean, it's a hard industry, and it's unnecessarily hard. Yeah. Yeah. You know, like I don't it it's almost like it feels like the older I get, the more I realize that people's jobs are just justifying their existence, like just proving that they're human and they're like a person that has, you know, it's like, I don't know. It's like all you're doing is making sure that you still have a job. And it just seems like maybe we don't need as many jobs as we think we do. I mean, that's like what the AI of it all is supposed to be promising is that, you know, oh, it's gonna replace all these jobs. And it's like, well, then what are we gonna do with the what are the people who do those jobs? Or like who's gonna buy your product when you lay everybody off to have robots do everything? Like, I don't, you know, like I I just kind of wish that we would have a just a different, better attitude towards labor. I kind of think that we need to like unplug America and then plug it back in and and see if it just resets all the settings, uh, goes back to like muskets, and then you know, we can just start over again. We make but make better decisions, maybe even earlier than that. Um so you when you go to school, so you're you went to school DePaul to get because I my degree's in art history from DePaul. Amazing. So I guess we were both in the art. We I'm assuming you're in art school, or is that or is film a different school? Oh, it's communications.

SPEAKER_02 35:58

Yeah, it was in the downtown campus.

SPEAKER_01 36:00

Ah, yes. That's where I took math classes for some reason. Um yeah, I don't know why the math classes were downtown, but if I had to take a math class, it was there. Uh yeah, so how did you wind up in digital cinema?

SPEAKER_02 36:14

I used to make movies a lot when I was younger, like middle school. Oh, even further back, I had one of those VHS cameras, like the whole VHS tape. Uh, and so much of my middle school years were filming movies in the basement. I wouldn't edit them because they were VHS, but yeah. And then I evolved to like um Macs and iMovies and like actual digital tapes, and I would just do that for fun. So I thought, hey, were you movies?

SPEAKER_01 36:45

No.

SPEAKER_02 36:46

Or were you shooting other kids? Um we would like there was one other kids, a lot of music videos, Hansen, um, a lot of like Judge Judy and those what was that one of their Jerry Springer style in my basement. Uh, and we would reenact stuff, you know, before like the internet, and so there's really nothing better to do. Uh, and then we would that's so cool, like unscripted stuff.

SPEAKER_01 37:12

And you're so you're shooting all your friends, like doing and but you weren't editing it, or were you just like pausing it and then moving and then like yeah, yeah. Yep. So you at least you had the wherewithal to do that, not just like film all the way through and have it easier imagination to like understand the spaces. Um that's really cool.

SPEAKER_02 37:30

I mean, do you still have those videos? I do I converted them to uh DVDs uh at some point when I was in college. So yes, I do, I do still have them.

SPEAKER_01 37:41

Um because that would mean, I mean, that would mean your social media skills are pretty tight.

SPEAKER_02 37:46

No. Well, that's it's funny actually that you say that because I I text my mom like a year when I I for the first time I went on Instagram last October when we launched, because I have to run the camper, it has to be on Instagram, right? That's my first time on Instagram.

SPEAKER_01 38:02

You made it until October of 25 to get your first in what did you do with your life before that?

SPEAKER_02 38:10

I was on Facebook, but I'm not big on social media. Having worked in tech, you like kind of become like against it, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 38:18

Yeah. So I mean, I'm against it, but I still feel like I can't get I can't live with I mean Well, you have to run a bit, you've been running your business much longer, so I feel like you have to be able to do it. You know, but what's interesting though, I started my company in 2005 and the internet, I mean, there in YouTube didn't exist. Like there wasn't any Facebook? No, Facebook didn't Facebook came in like 2006. Okay. Eh. Around there, but no one was using it for marketing. It was only to just a website, right? Yeah, it was just a place to talk to your friends and be like, you know, Mary is eating a sandwich. Like it was, it was a different, it was a completely different like you know, thing. So no one was it, it wasn't even a factor. No one was talking about it or thinking about it as far as a marketing thing. And so everything I did to get customers was like organic word of mouth. And then I also had ads in magazines. Like that was that was my entire way of marketing. And so, and then I grew my business and grew my business and you know, through the late aughts and the teens, and you know, it wasn't it, it by the time Instagram became a real factor, which in the wedding industry, I mean, I bet it was I bet it was a lot earlier than I would have even recognized it because I was barely on Instagram before that. Um, but then in the late teens, I was like, do I need I we need to start doing social media. I was trying to get like my DJs to kind of be like because I don't, I didn't know I didn't realize it was a well, I of course I didn't know what to do, but I also didn't know like it's a job. It is it's actually a it's a job. And I also kind of refer to it as like Millennials Revenge, where they kind of made this product that we have to get, we have to be on, and no one truly understands, then we have to hire the youth to help us navigate it because we can't. Um but I but so for like two or three years, I was just trying to like just kind of half-acidly, you know, throwing DJs into into trying to do it. And then during COVID when um everything got nightmarish, um, I had I had to hire a social media person because there was so much in bad information and you know, it was it was, you know, trying to be like, hey guys, don't hire us if your wedding's gonna, you know, be illegal. Like it was it was uh and now I have a social media person and you don't have to worry about it now. No, but I you know it's it's you know, I I I very much have issues with giving content for free to meta. Philosophically I have an issue with it, but I have to do it. But do I? But I do. But do I is like where I kind of go with it because I'm like, you know, I don't know. It's I feel like especially with the wedding industry, they're just looking at it as a background check. Like no one's contacting us through the internet. But how do how do people find you? Instagram mostly and the website.

SPEAKER_02 41:13

We do um a lot of donations too, which I have found to be really good. Well, obviously, like for the community, it's great. But then um the when we provide like auction items, then everyone looks at it and they're like, what the heck is a karaoke camper? Um and then they have a party and they invite, you know, 10 people, and then those people see us. So it's been I have not spent one dollar on any marketing.

SPEAKER_01 41:41

Um, and it's all just like been organic. Wow. Yeah, I do when I started Toast and Jam, I DJ'd everything. I am like for free. If I could if I yeah, if I could put it well, and I would also just offer like there was um one time I was at the Sephora and Water Tower and uh and it and it's it just was there working, or I was there buying, you know, eyeshadow or whatever. Okay. I thought you were DJ in there. No, no, no. Well, and then they uh somehow it came up that I was a DJ and they were like, Oh, it'd be kind of fun to have a DJ in here on the weekend. And I'm like, I'll do it, I'll do it. And so I for like uh, I don't know, like a year or two, I had me and I then a bunch of my DJs. We would like rotate out and we would DJ at a Sephora, like in there for your DJing. You know, it's it's Sephora at the water tower. Like I, you know, I kind of wish it was like a Sephora that was like in, you know, at a ground level of a, you know, like a real, like a storefront. Uh it's weird. I've DJed in really weird places. I've DJ'd the end of 5Ks. I've DJ'd uh, you know, a lot of store open. I've done I mean I've DJ'd uh my kids. I mean, I'm the I was the official Lincoln Wood elementary school DJ. And I was the first and I was the first, only, and last uh official DJ for Lincoln for Lincoln Wood elementary school. Uh, but that's the thing. It's like, you know, just offering to put it, you know, is like, I mean, it's it's your night, but it's also it all it always comes back to you. It always comes back to you. I I mean I I feel like if you put it out there, it will always come back to you. And the more you realize that, you know, no one's gonna do it for you, the more you realize like you just have to find opportunity where there isn't one. Yeah. I mean, and that's kind of I mean that's the story of an entrepreneur is finding opportunity where no one else sees it. And you found it incredible, incredible, and it's all fun. I mean, actually, let's ask here's a question. What's the dirty downside to the karaoke camper? Because I have to imagine like drunk people can create problems.

SPEAKER_02 43:47

Um, knock on wood. We haven't had any problems. Ooh, I'm shit. No, I I just made it happen. Um Yeah, I mean, we do have. Honestly, for the most part, all of the guests we've had inside of there have been so respectful and so just like kind that we haven't had any concerns or anything. Once in a while, you'll get like uh at the block parties that are a little bit more mixed, and then you're not, you know, it's like a whole block, right? So it's a wide range of blood. It's a great idea. You'll get like some kids in there who maybe start swearing into the microphone. They're their parents aren't there, and and maybe they start like yelling, yelling, kids yelling into mics. I'm sure you've experienced this too. I don't know what it is. You put a mic in a kid's hand and they want to yell into it. Umplifying. I know. It's already amplifying. We can hear you.

unknown 44:47

We can hear you.

SPEAKER_02 44:49

Um that's been the only, and again, it's minor because it's kind of just comes with the territory. So yeah, we haven't had any issues. So have you been pretty booked? For the most part, and yes. The challenge with our setup though is that most of these events are always Saturdays and Saturday, like mid to the end of the day. So we'll be booked almost weekly, but scaling from that is a little harder because it's not like someone's having an event on a Tuesday night, or at least they haven't found them yet.

SPEAKER_01 45:18

Yes, that is they are there. You just have to figure out is it like for like you know, like I'm just thinking, like there's a like a new mahjong parlor just opened in Walmart. I saw that. And I'm like, wouldn't it be fun if there was like a mahjong and karaoke and you could like park it outside and then I mean it would be like a real fun combo. Yeah, you know, I am gonna help you. I am like I this is like I'm I this is exciting stuff. I am this is like it's so fun. I don't know. It just is so fun. I know that like, you know, I mean, when do when it comes to scaling, I mean you'd have to buy more trailers. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:54

Which I mean, there aren't that many of them, and it takes so long to renovate them. So to me, I think scale is definitely the brick and mortar side of it too. Like, and I'm thinking, I see a lot of people like on Reddit who are like, I want to meet people. How do I meet people in Evanston? You can tell me what you think of this idea. I'm during the week or like on Thursdays, I'm gonna host a night to like come and sing ex-artist. So like it's Taylor Swift night, it's Hansen night, it's Eminem night, and then you just sign up per person so you don't have to have a whole group. And then I don't know, do you think people would like to come and meet other people who like that same artist and will come and sing in front of them? At the at the brick and mortar?

SPEAKER_01 46:35

Yes. Oh, yeah. I mean, you've got six rooms. Yes, you know, so you could actually do like, you know, 90s hip hop night, and it's like, this is West Coast, this is East Coast room, this is, you know, like uh dirty south. Like, you know, you can kind of have different rooms from different like that. Would be so fun, actually, if you could like go like you're in Snoop Dogg, and then you do Biggie Smalls, and then you do MM. Like that would be like kind of hilarious, like 90s hip hop, like it's a whole decade. Yeah, you know, but Taylor Swift, there's the red room, yeah, the lover room. Oh, you know, you could have like different album themed rares. The airs to karaoke. Do you realize how much people would love that?

SPEAKER_02 47:19

Would they come and they would would they you think that they would come and feel comfortable enough to sing with people they don't even know?

SPEAKER_01 47:25

I mean, I go to karaoke. Have you never been to a karaoke bar?

SPEAKER_02 47:28

I have, but again, as an introvert, I'm not the one on stage singing in front of people.

SPEAKER_01 47:33

Yeah. I mean, people that tend to want to get up on stage are the kind of people that do this. Like, you know, like they're not gonna sign up to come if they don't, but they might want to come, like, especially even if you did it as like like dress as your favorite era. Oh, and then people could come in, you know, like their reputation bodysuits that they may have made when they went to the Eras tour. I didn't do that, but a lot of people did. Uh, you know, that would be getting some good you friendship bracelets. I've already yeah, I mean, you could make this into a whole thing.

SPEAKER_02 48:03

All right.

SPEAKER_01 48:03

No, I think that's a great idea. I'm thinking more with the karaoke camper if you were to like park in front of like, you know, a bar. Like I mean, do you have to have a permit to be on the street?

SPEAKER_02 48:14

No, as long as you don't park overnight, is what I was told by the city. So generally, I mean, yeah, they're good with it as long as it's only there for a couple hours.

SPEAKER_01 48:23

That's crazy. I feel like then a municipality would be like, nope, but there's you gotta have a permit for that. You gotta so let's not put that idea into the universe. Um, well, this has been incredible. I've I've really loved getting to know you, and this is I think it's such a wonderful, fun business. And it's also just amazing to see you like a you know, like a woman taking the the leap of like quitting their job. And it feels like there's a lot of people around me slash us that are that are doing this. Like our friend, I don't know if you know um Becca at the Velvet Stitch House, who's going to be on this podcast next month. Oh, nice. Uh yeah, she our friend Becca, she just threw up uh threw up. She gave up her her corporate job and started a needlepoint store, which you know, longtime listeners will know is my my uh my favorite little cop hobby that I do. So um, well, so how can people find you?

SPEAKER_02 49:12

We are at the karaoke camper.com. The in front of it, because karaoke camper was already taken, even though it's not a live website. And have they tried to sell it to you? They you you can buy it for like thousands of dollars. So no thanks. I'll just put a the in front of it. And anthemkaraoke.com uh is what our brook and mortar um website will be. And on social, obviously.

SPEAKER_01 49:39

Excellent. Well, thanks so much for being on today. This has been really fun. Thank you. Thanks for listening to All of the My Lady Business with me, Mary Easty. Uh, we'd love for you to like, review, subscribe, follow us at All of the My Lady Business on the Gram. And if you're a female identifying person and you want to dance, you can follow. I mean, everybody can follow it. But if you want to be a part of the magic at Hot Watch dance party, sign up for the meal to find out where our next party's gonna be. And if you are looking for a DJ hot one area, or anywhere else. You know, money's the same color everywhere. Fly us out. Twistedamtes.com has the best. And listen to my radio show. I have a radio show on Chirp Radio at chirpradio.org. That's Mondays, every Monday from 12. Today's episode is produced by Shiraz Data Team Song, composed, and performed by You guessed it, Shiraz Data. Alright, guys, peace out.