Music. Welcome back to taylor talks i am brad and i'm will how goes it oh man it is masters week and you are in green those masters have you already won sir have you watched any will you watch any just a little bit yeah but definitely this weekend i'll delve into it a bit yes i actually my my newsletter that will will go out today i did a nice tribute to the masters i think really in recent years, especially here in the South, the masters has become a little bit of a meme, perhaps.
The best way I can equate it is how our women are a lot of times with their fall pumpkin spice lattes. They've got to post a picture. Everybody, that is the masters for a Southern male. Generation doesn't matter. They get in their feels. They got to post their picture about it, just remember this is their pumpkin spice latte. There you go. There's the PSL and there's Augusta. That's right. What is on the wrist today? Oh, I've got a 1967 Omega Seamaster Cosmic. Awesome.
Original bracelet as well. Awesome. And yourself? I've got the Datejust double stamp Tiffany & Co. Very nice. These may or may not ever be sold as part of our vintage collection. We can at least dangle the carrot or two, right? That's right. So today we got a, it's probably going to be our least creative episode, but perhaps our most intellectual episode. Sure. We're going to be talking about thriving through uncertainty, how to run a business during tough economic times.
So I'm really looking forward to that. It's going to be a lot of, finally going to probably talk about some COVID stories, bring those in. And obviously the tariffs, which is a very hot topic, but just really all things trying to keep it positive. And there's a lot of negativity. How do we keep it positive? How do we navigate as small businesses? How do we navigate this? And hopefully today we will be shedding light tips that we've done to deal with it. And then maybe we can help others.
And of course, you know, as far as what I've gleaned from you is you're definitely a glass half full kind of guy. So that should be noted to start. We're pretty bullish on optimism around here. Bullish on optimism mindset. I think that's huge. It's really easy to woe is me. But I find the best action is being taking steps and and putting one foot in front of the other and really showing up. Been thinking positively and finding solutions. We don't get anywhere by saying,
oh, the world's about to get me. What can I do now? Today, and we haven't really dove into this, but for those that don't know, Will is actually, this is not his full-time gig. We're happy that he comes and helps us out. In due time. But he is actually in F1 terms, the principal of Gray Family Properties. So this is a commercial real estate property group, family run business,
and they've just done an incredible job in that market. And so very timely bringing in, I think, real estate into this conversation as well. Not just fashion, real estate. It's a nice parallel. Yeah, I think so. Certainly. So what does economic uncertainty really mean? So I think for people in 2025, it's really easy to think about the current tariff situation. These are things on a global or could be a regional level, but they're things that affect a mass amount of people.
This was certainly COVID, but it's also things like the LA wildfires, the elections, any election. And these are things that really put stress and strain on the economy, whether it be the global, regional, local economies. And so things like that have an impact and they trickle down. Sure. And it's something that we're living through now. And it's obviously top of mind.
And, you know, we just have to keep our focus ultimately and find balance within our own lives, whether personal or professional, and think as positively as possible. There ultimately is power in adversity, I like to think. I'll oftentimes get like these gut feelings. Again, this is from a fashion, brand, clothing perspective. Do you ever get like a gut feeling from like a real estate perspective? Sure. And describe like what's economic headwinds?
What do you gravitate to? Like what's your safe space in like the real estate world? One thing I'm certainly encouraged by is more than 60% of the workforce is back in the office. So I was reading the other day, there was actually an interview done by Bruce Mosler about this. And he's the CEO of Cushman and Wakefield. And he's, we are fairly bullish on all things pertaining to folks going back to work, people perhaps wearing some suiting again as well.
And to speak to your trickle-down, the effects of the trickle-down theory and so forth, we're seeing that weave its way through society. In fact, last year, we had one of our biggest years to date as far as leasing was concerned from a commercial perspective. Now, in saying that, we're ultimately at a net positive.
So the beginning couple of months of 2025, we were finally getting over that hurdle where we didn't have situations where we were offering up, say, free rent even, and we were finally starting to get back into the black. Right. So I'm ultimately encouraged by his sort of sentiment and I want to carry that through, whether it be real estate, fashion, et cetera.
I would imagine, I think both of our industries, we really see the front line of an economic, anything that stresses, that has a stressor. Again, that local, regional, global economy, we see the small business aspect of it. I think a lot of times those are the first hit. So I know you see it in your world. You're obviously leasing to a lot of small businesses, but obviously we are a small business as well that deals with a customer.
So I know, for instance, there's just like something in the air I can feel when stuff happens. I think as people... Our natural go-to when things get tough is, all right, I'm going to freeze. I'm going to stay put. I'm going to sit in my house. And I'm like, yeah, if I keep my head in the sand, my eyes closed, like maybe nobody will see me. Right. I don't know what's going on. The stock market is going crazy. What do I do? I've got all these things. Now I'm getting anxious.
So I think from a general consumer, their first thought is I'm going to pause. And so I know for us, we instantly see it and feel it. It's like all of a sudden we have a week, there's very few appointments. And I'm like, ah, we've got a, we've got an economic situation. Sure. And we try to restructure and plan accordingly. And again, I'm encouraged by the current landscape, even given the tariff scenario.
It seems like ultimately, hopefully it will be just a bargaining chip, perhaps in our rear view here sooner than later. But we're certainly here to weather the storm. Let's maybe, we'll go into COVID before we go into the tariffs, because we do have a lot of, I think, lessons learned, maybe tips, maybe things. This is just things that have worked for us, for both of us. A lot of these stemmed, at least for me, from COVID.
I think COVID was important because it gave me that core lesson, agility, diversification, being nimble, being able to pivot quickly and adjust, which is such a hot button word and remains even since COVID pivot and pivot. What are some things during COVID that you guys had to do?
So with us, ultimately, to speak to your earlier point, we build our business on small businesses, and that more or less provides for relationship building exercises over time and learning how to navigate some dangerous waters economically, especially. So I think it ultimately boils down to compromise and working together. There is that human element of you have certain needs and wants. I do as well. How can we meet somewhere in the middle?
And ultimately, it's about having those difficult conversations at times, working through some of maybe the original lease terms and charting a course for it to benefit both the lessee and the lessor. Did y'all do any lease restructures and things like that? We did. And of course, there was this talking point there for a while. You probably heard about the force majeure clause, which is essentially a legal term where, you know, it allows for some changes within the lease structure.
The lessee isn't necessarily bound to specific terms of the lease, gives them some flexibility. And that's something that we certainly dealt with and heard time and time again. But ultimately, we're able to see the light from that. And COVID especially, like we have several car dealerships, and both new and used. And COVID provided for, especially after that first month or so, people really wanted to get back on the road. They couldn't necessarily be in the air. They wanted to be on the road.
RV cells were up. People were playing more golf. There was a lot of outdoor recreation because of the restraints not being there from a governmental standpoint. So that really serviced us in the sense that cars are being sold. However, you talk about this trickle down effect. If you look at, say, a country like China. All of these chip plants and manufacturing plants and so forth that deal in our electronic components and so forth of the cars.
This completely shut down. You couldn't get at them. That was frustrating on the buyer side. And ultimately, though, they were able to work around it to where they were able to sell automobiles and then bring those automobiles in after the fact for the necessary chips. So I just use that as an example, as a workaround. And we saw that play out even on a smaller scale as well, even in, say, the restaurant industry.
Takeout became the thing. Even with respect to office space, so many more people were working from home. But now we're starting to see that sea change. People ultimately are craving that camaraderie. They're craving that workplace environment where they're interacting with others. So just striking a balance between the two is ultimately what it came down to for us. So ultimately compromise and recognizing the human element and other people's wants and needs.
Yeah, that's great. We've never talked about that. I think we've really not talked about COVID much at all. Perhaps some PTSD. A lot of PTSD, I think. And I don't know that I've ever, I've really never shared this, maybe with just a handful of people. But December of 2020, we were getting set to try and renegotiate or possibly even get out of our lease here in the store. It was it has just been tough and the economics just didn't make sense.
And fortunately, we had really kept a positive attitude and done a lot of work to pivot and things like that. But we were at a point where, an inflection point, we had to decide, are we going to keep going? Are we going to just walk away? Was it time? But I'm so thankful that we didn't. Things came out after 2021 was really a great year, and then it's been really good since then. I know from a pivot perspective, we got really into... This actually is a great lesson, we niched down, I would say.
We went really hard into the wedding niche. We had, before that, we did a lot of weddings, but we also did a lot of people who needed stuff for work. And so we really dove into the weddings, and we were very intentional about it. So we said, okay, we're going to make a list of every wedding planner, every wedding venue, every wedding photographer.
Every wedding florist and we're going to reach out to them and we're going to say hey we're here if you need any help with anything and so we started doing a lot more they they'll do like photo shoots right like mock photo shoots and we started lending out garments for that and those started getting published in like really well-known wedding magazines right who knew and but most importantly, I think what I learned was we built that community in, in that time.
So we weren't just OMJ doing this by ourselves. We were all going through it together. So we built great relationships and our wedding business skyrocketed. And it's, you know, it's still great to this day because of that, because we have the relationships with all of those wedding vendors. And so also not a lot of wedding options out there. Wedding podcast in the future. We've got it coming.
Well, and it's nice too that the bride or groom, however they see their potential wedding being, they can ultimately customize whatever garment it is that they're going to wear. It was smaller weddings. They had less people. So they were like, hey, I'm going to make sure Sure, I look good. Sure. I'm going to spend the money for us, which is probably what a wedding should be anyways. And it makes our jobs more fun. Yes, it does. Pivoting to COVID.
The hot topic today is obviously the trade war, tariffs. The landscape of this, it's obviously very politically polarizing. We can just give you our take from small businesses, but the current tariff landscape is just a tough, I think it's tough right now for all small business, for any business. But again, it's going to hit the small businesses first. And from the fashion and clothing perspective, massive repercussions. From a real estate, are you seeing anything from the latest tariff piece?
Obviously, you've got your people leasing your properties. They may have that. Are you starting to hear any churn from that? Sure. I've heard a few anecdotes already. And again, it does have this sort of pandemic feeling to it. But again, trying to rest more on your positive sort of outlook and just reminding them that, hey, we've been through a similar struggle before. I feel like this one perhaps is going to be a little bit more temporary in nature.
But from a supply standpoint, yes, I've definitely heard tenants saying that costs are up. We're still facing the effects of inflation over the last year plus. And again, how do you play to their wants and needs? And so I just try to be as encouraging as possible. But it's not going to be easy. I think the herd mentality is, and by the way, people, don't just don't watch the stock market. As smart as the minds are that lead our financial institutions, can't seem to help ourselves.
So it's hilarious when you think about, again, we're not going to get too macro-micro-economics, although it is a passion of mine. I do love my former finance days, but we won't get too much into that. But it is just one of those things where we're following down, where it's doom and gloom. Now it's up, all things are great. And then it's down. And it's one of those things where.
I encourage folks, hey, do some reading, do some research on what the tariff impact actually may not impact you at all. And you're over here thinking it's going to massively impact you. It's so nuanced. There's so much code. For instance, a lot of goods that come through, there's like an $800 barrier. If it's below $800, like there's not actually a tariff on that. So if you order a pair of shoes from Spain, we're not getting tariffed on that.
So let's pause and not freak out 100% that we can no longer buy shoes from Spain. Sure. And there's not this, it's more or less a breakdown, you know, segmented as to apparel, as to the automotive industry. And I think that I would be very cautious about buying into 34%. It's not necessarily 34% across the board. There's that breakdown.
So it might be 10% on apparel. It's just, again, trying to restructure within your own business, whether it be on the real estate side, whether it be OMJ Clothing, to accommodate for maybe some of those margins that are lost in between. And we got to think about it from a business perspective. This will obviously come up in like strategies that we're going to talk about, but there's no rule that you can't adjust your pricing.
And especially for small businesses, there's a limit, of course, but like your customers. If you built a strong business and you have a strong customer base, who support you, they're going to understand, hey, I'm sorry, we have to raise our prices a little bit. It's not, you know, I give up tariffs. You're looking for an out if that's your response. And I liken it as well to when a client comes in, and let's say that a fabric is out of stock, we ultimately have to provide an alternative.
We want you as a client. We want to have a relationship with you and have that longevity piece. And I think that's something that as a people, We're ultimately going to have to do, whether it's on the business end or even in our personal lives. And finding alternatives through times that are riddled with adversity is ultimately going to decide our fate. And back to doing the research, like I've been listening, I listened to a great podcast yesterday.
Derek Thompson, he has a podcast, Plain English. So they were talking about basically the tariffs in the late 1920s that ultimately triggered, played a big part in the Great Depression. But a lot of lessons learned from that. Tariffs aren't just this one singular thing. There's multiple cause and effect. So, again, just do your own research into tariffs and how could this impact me? And I think that's the key here, regardless of which side of the fence you're on politically.
Ultimately, and to get into a little bit of it, what's your take on like tariffs in general? I put Will on the spot. That divisive word. I put Will on the spot. Well, look, again, I think I'm fairly bullish on this idea that this is a bargaining chip or a tool for something greater down the line. I do think it's going to be a temporary solution, if you will, that ultimately is going to play out and pay dividends for us. A negotiation.
Sure. And that does make people nervous. I think we saw it right. And honestly, whatever way you want to look at it, the mission was accomplished. I have looked at tariffs. We often will send our factories stuff. And it's insane the tariffs we pay as an exporter. I think a lot of people don't export goods day to day. But as a business that does export goods, the U.S.
Was a punching bag across the world. Other countries were supplying their economy, growing their economy through funds from our tariffs for tariffing American goods going over. So that really had to stop. And you saw all the countries who came to the table and said, hey, to your point, a negotiating tactic, it turned into, hey, you guys came to the table. We'll pause the tariffs for you guys. And now everybody, you know, let's look at China.
Certainly. And perhaps it was that moment in time where backs needed to be pushed up against walls. I agree. And China, there was a... A month or so ago, there was a big, I've been, my AI journey. So China came out with a new AI and it was, yeah, the lead line was, it was done for like a fraction of the cost of all the other versions. It was all this, it was all that. And I was instantly like, what are you guys doing? Believing this nonsense?
Who's releasing this information? China is releasing this information. Quite deceptive. It turned out not to be true at all. It was just, again, like we're working with economy that is built on deception. Sure. It's not the same economy as the U.S. Like they will, there is no gentleman's agreement to provide proper numbers. Counterfeit, the counterfeit world is not frowned upon, right? Like we're looking at a whole economy. That's my, I would say my honest take on that.
And I just say, you got to be careful too. There's a great line in The Dark Knight, bringing in a Batman reference. But basically it was the Joker. You can't reason with people that don't want anything logical as a conclusion. They can't be bullied. They can't be bought. They just want to watch the world burn. So we have, that's my fear. Who are we negotiating with? Are we negotiating with country? That doesn't think and follow the same rules.
So that would be my take. But also a great segue into how we're adapting. Yeah, these are things that we're doing, both in real estate and fashion, things that we've done to hedge off risk. And I think it starts with the client or the customer and being as transparent with them as possible, whether it be an order made or whether it be, to my earlier point, say that there's a fabric that we can no longer source. We do have modes of sourcing other fabrics from across the world.
And so we're not pigeonholed by one other world economy. This is a great point. So I was thinking about this in, it really rang true in COVID. I remember thinking this, but I never really put a lot of thought into it. So we're in an age of instant information. I need a factory. Here's an instant answer. Here's where I can make something.
So as a commodities, as a producer of goods in an economy where you can instantly get the information on how to make something, how to build something, and you can instantly create a brand, right? Not a lot of thought and effort put into it. Doesn't build that thing within you to do the research, go the extra miles. So I think a lot of businesses rest on their laurels. I got the factory I needed and I'm good to go.
And then an economic, global economic event happens and you're left when something happens with that factory. So I always tell people like, you can't put all your eggs in one basket. I think we've been trained not to think that way because anything's at our fingertips. We can get any information at any time. So it feels like we don't need to do that. In a way, I'm happy we started when we did in 2013 because that wasn't the case.
We had to figure all this stuff out. And I have always been of the mind we can't just have one factory. So from an OMJ perspective, we've got factories in China, Thailand, India, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the U.S. And so it's one door closes, we pivot to the next. And we've gotten so good at our process that it's plug and play. And I think that's what businesses need to do with the, especially as small businesses, we have to have contingency plans.
Yeah. Bend, but don't break. Bend. Yes. Yes. A lot of bending. Yeah. Anything that you're seeing, like any advice from, I guess it could be real estate, could be small business advice for adapting in these times of economic turmoil? Again, it comes down to forming relationships and fostering those relationships, cultivating new ones, and being a source of reassurance that everything is going to be okay.
And when you do have a difficult conversation with someone, you know, really trying to err on the side of positivity. And at times it will be tough and you may miss a month's worth of rent or you may lose a tenant. But I think ultimately refocusing and realizing that perhaps your return on your investment, say a year ago, isn't going to be what it's going to be tomorrow. Cap rates might be down, but they will come up again.
And And I think this sort of ebb and flow that we're dealing in at the moment, at some point, we're going to see more steady waters. And I was, it's a good opportunity to try and look at your business as a whole and think about how you can do more with less. Sure. There's always going to be things that you just do because you do, and you don't want to take the time to change it. So times like these, especially if you aren't as busy...
And you have the time to really look at your business and see where you can trim things out. Are there subscriptions that you really don't need? Are there things that you're paying for that you don't need? And really trimming down and being as efficient as possible. And to that point, I think focusing on what you do really well and perhaps even double downing on it. That's a great, that's actually a great point. Because that's always going to be inherent to you and your business.
And if you can cultivate that to the nth degree to where it serves you best and working ultimately smarter, not harder. I think as business, we always want to grow and scale a lot of times. So I think you're exactly right. Focus on the thing you do really well and hyper-focus on that. And you tell your customers, hey, we're hyper-focused on doing that and we're here and we're going to be okay.
And to that point as well, and certainly you are much to thank for this, creating that community that you were able to establish in the throes and thereafter COVID, we've established a community here that is unwavering. We've got so much support locally, but even beyond state lines and ultimately reminding our clients and customers, we're here for you. I think an important piece to that is being transparent with your customers.
I think there's a lot of nuance at play when, especially the first fear of anxiety when things aren't going well, the fight or flight, right? You want to a bit hide. You want to hide a little bit. And I've found, because I even, I really wasn't given a ton of thought of this, but I had a lot of customers and family and stuff just reach out like, hey, how are you guys doing? I would imagine this is impacting you. And I thought I need to give like a state of the union. We're okay.
And I'm like, thank you for checking on us. This is very valid. Maybe we need to be a little more transparent and saying, hey, customers, like we're going to be okay. we've done the things that we need to do to ensure our risk is minimized. And your risk as a customer is minimized because who wants to go shop somewhere that is feeling scared that they can't get their stuff in? So we really need to project the confidence that, hey, we're still good. We're going to get your goods no matter what.
You might have to pay a little bit more, but we're going to get your goods and we're going to keep moving and we're excited about it too we're very excited yes any advice entrepreneurs and small business is a passion of ours we love helping fellow small businesses fellow entrepreneurs any advice that you have. I think head up. Keep moving forward. Try not to live in the rear view. Think as optimistically as possible. Again, we are bullish on optimism.
And just realize that adaptability is key to success. And again honing in on what you do really well and using that ultimately to your advantage not only for yourself but to your clients and customers and how to better serve them i think those are all key elements to getting on the other side of this i completely agree my big take is don't isolate. Don't isolate during your challenges. There's always somebody else going through the exact same thing.
I think we're very fortunate. We get to chat a lot. And so you ultimately, you get two things. You get somebody else can relate to what I'm talking about, and they can pump me up, perhaps. If they can't, then you need to find somebody else to talk to. But they're able to help pick you up and make you realize, hey, you're not going through this alone. And to piggyback on that, I mean, my grandfather was my ultimate mentor who I lost recently. And I would encourage anyone, find a mentor.
And I'll just mention this to you, you're a mentor to me. And I glean so much from you that you probably don't even realize. But it could just be a side conversation that, you know, that perhaps has nothing to do with fashion or has nothing to do with perhaps maybe there's a personal dilemma that we're dealing with. But I've definitely implemented down the road. That makes me feel good. Yes. Yes. We all need those in our lives. I think you and I are just very...
We're very invested in community and relationships, obviously, but I think we want to see other people succeed. That's all about who we are. We make clothing to help people succeed in life, right? We often help other businesses. I honestly, it gives me a lot of energy when I talk to a business. And, you know, a lot of times I'm not saying anything they don't know. I'm telling them, hey, yeah, I have that problem, too. And here's what I do or what I don't do.
And seeing them be lifted up is really something I love. And I think hearing from someone who's weathered it before is so invaluable. We need role models. And whether it be through consulting or not, Brad is certainly here to help. Yes, I would love that. And me as well.
We we have been doing a bit of brand consulting for others as well but as a friend to any small business we're here to chat door is always open certainly all right guys i don't think we we didn't get too political or polarizing i hope we'll save that for a smoke-filled room perhaps, i think the next podcast that we have will probably be a bit back into the fashion world and we're going through that. It will be around experiential retail.
So we're really excited about that. These are things that we've implemented over the years, things that we've learned over the years in a world where you've got big box retail and you've got small businesses. How can you turn being a small business as an advantage? And there's a lot of things, a lot of things we've done. Immersiveness. Yes, we've really focused on that And I think we're growing in that area. So I'm very excited to talk about that. And make sure we subscribe to our YouTube.
I've keep getting told we've got to make sure people, we tell people to subscribe and follow us at OMJ Clothing. We appreciate it. Thanks, guys. So I had a nice comparison to Game of Thrones. I like my comparisons. I didn't do it in the real podcast. But essentially, I think often people want to wait for somebody to rescue them. That's a theme when there's turmoil. And there was this great scene, House of the Dragon, season one for any of you nerds out there.
There's this battle scene and this guy has been taken prisoner and he's, oh, you just wait. And also in the show is a lot of dragons, real life. But he's captured and he's screaming, you just wait, my king is coming and he's going to free us and you guys are just going to get it, right? And all of a sudden they hear this dragon screech in the sky and he's, oh, my prince is here to save me. And then the dragon lands and lands on top of him and crushes him.
So the moral of that story is, hey, nobody's coming to save us, right? Like we're a small piece of this as all small businesses are. The folks at the top are not looking out for individuals. So we have to make like our own choices and look out for ourselves. Protect our... Nobody's coming to save us. Right. Winter is coming. Yes. Winter is coming.