SPEAKER_01 0:00

What would you say that you've sacrificed the most? My next. I think a lot of people today are very scared of getting out of their comfort zone. That's really cool.

SPEAKER_02 0:11

I'll be scared but I'll still do it with it. People won't. They won't go into going by themselves. People are honestly scared to fail sometimes. Yeah, just want to start at something. It's like, oh what if I fail? Like, you wanna fail. Because like that's the only way you're gonna get better. Like you don't get better by doing everything perfect because then you wouldn't need to grow. You'd be like, oh yeah, I'm good. Hey guys, welcome back to the solo experience podcast. I'm your host, Sarah, and today I've got a very special guest with me. Marlon, thank you so much for joining me. Thank you for having me. Look, if you guys have been listening for a little while, you would have heard me harp on about my own personal journey with my full-wheel drive experience with my Suki Gymney, now with my BT50 and solo traveling. Marlon is someone I met who has actually played a huge role in my full-wheel drive journey. Like, not even kidding. Like, I think a lot of my experiences come from you and just meeting you within that gymney space. Because if though like those of you who don't know Marlon, she is pretty much like the I guess you can say the face of Explore Gymney, like the OG Gymney Girls is how I would explain you.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Yeah, we met so long ago now. I feel like I've known you for so long. And yeah, it started all the way back in 2021.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Was it really?

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Oh, 2021, yeah. It's been a while. Such a long time ago. Yeah, it's gone so quickly. And now in 2026, five years later. Oh my god. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:26

And I've always said, like, if you want to find friends, it's an expensive way to find friends, but go and buy a gymney because that just broadened my friendship circle. So I bought a gymney and then I joined gymney groups like gymney girls, gymney Queensland groups, and then yeah, you having the not only Instagram presence but also YouTube's presence. You were doing girls-only events, and that's pretty much like I tagged along to one of those, and then yeah, we kind of just built a friendship from there.

SPEAKER_01 1:51

Yeah, it's been it's been so much over the past couple of years, and like it grew from something that was uh you know, you just started an Instagram account wanting to share some things about your car, or obviously this must my first brand new car as well. So it was like flashy and new, and like you wanted to share um everything that you were doing, and then I think I didn't realise that there was so much appetite for that type of content from the female side of things because I guess back in 2021 um the industry is still quite male-dominated, but it was a lot more male-dominated back then. And um, I didn't really see a lot of females out there. There were a few doing really good content, but I guess more of that natural just going up the beach for the sake of it content and um doing simple things like pumping up your tires or changing your tire. Like I felt like there wasn't as much of that out there, and not easily accessible either. Like, um, so that's that's sort of where the ground work began with everything.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

Yeah, no, it's such a cool thing, and yeah, I do agree. Like, I'd done a little bit of four-driving before having my gym, but it was always with my friends who you know, the guys pretty much did everything for me. Like, I didn't really have the experience to go off and do it myself, but yeah, being able to come along to those camping events and go along to the beach trips and yeah, just having that community to back you, but then knowing how female dominated it was as well, you know, in a sense, like the gymny is almost like a I would say like a softer entry into the four-wheel drive space, but yeah, it's been a very cool process. But for you, because obviously, if we met back in 2021, when did you buy a gymny? Like, what made you choose a gymney over another four-wheel drive?

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Well, I wasn't even planning on buying a gymney, I just needed to buy a new car, new car, and we were sort of starting to get into that camping vibe, and my partner Dre, he was like, Why don't you just go and buy a gym? And I was like, How does the gymney even look like? What is this gymney? He was like, There's a new one that came out, and I was like, okay, and then I went and looked at it and I remember like, oh yeah, okay, this is this is it, like this is the one I want. Um, I think like when I grew up though, like I did a lot of like people probably don't know this, but I did a lot of go-karting and motocross and stuff. Like, I actually did a lot of these, like, sort of categorised as more like male sports. Uh, so me and my brother did that a lot. So for me, going getting into four-wheel driving, when I realized that that's what you could do with the gymney, yeah, and you could go up the beach and see like Fraser or Gari and Double Allen and things like that. I was like, oh, this is a great space for us to just head up, like us two, or with friends. And yes, I ended up buying the gymny, and we essentially didn't look into building any Instagram account or anything like that. Like it just happened. It was it actually started with first, he created an Instagram account. So I think actually this actually fully measured what happened because he created an account for his Hilux.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Oh, yes, I do remember that actually. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

So we called our on Explore Hilux and he got like a few followers. It was like it was a little bit. I remember I created Explore Gymney, it's exploded. And it for some reason I had even a thousand followers before I even had the car. Really? Yeah, it was really and I was like, oh my god, there's a lot of fear, like there's a lot of girls following me, and it seems like everyone at that time was starting to jump on getting the gymney, like they were talking about going more out for wheel driving, and yeah, I created the account. I started just posting random content about this is when I get the car, this is what I want to buy, this is what I want to do, and yeah, um, and it was just all like from an interest point of view. Like, I never felt like it was me creating content for the sake of it, it was me creating content because oh, I really want to share what I do, and maybe other people are doing it too.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

Yes, yeah, and it's so helpful. Like, I remember I came across your YouTube before I ever met you, yeah, and that was just an eye-avenny moment. I'm like, oh my gosh, she's doing all these installs herself. Like, this is great. I was inspired, and I was like, that was before I was sort of dabbling in the idea of getting a gymnee, and then I think that just sort of sold it to me and pushed me over the edge and yeah, loved it. Like, best car, best community. Yeah, do I have it now?

SPEAKER_01 6:00

No, but that you know well, I don't have mine now either. Still got the five-door though, it's doing great, but yeah, we we had to upgrade as well. But I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

What made you choose? Because I guess the five-door, they weren't even out when you first bought the gym.

SPEAKER_01 6:13

No, they came out.

SPEAKER_02 6:14

Why did you get a three-door? Technically three-door, but if that's a couple.

SPEAKER_01 6:18

Well, we got a three-door. Well, I got the three-door because I just I needed a new car, and the three-door was the only one that was out at that stage. Yeah, and then we had the Hylux as well, and then I I feel like the Hylux was literally spitting fuel out on the street, it was so expensive to drive. It was a V6 big car, and we just thought we didn't need that much space anymore. Yeah, and because at that point in 2024, I was quite heavily involved in the gymney um community doing a lot of videos, and then the five-door um came out. Um, and you know, Dre was like, Oh, maybe I should get the five-door as well. So we ended up getting two, and now we only have the five-door.

SPEAKER_02 6:59

Yeah, no, that's understandable.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

But it's it's um it's such a cool car for different types of use though. So, like, if you're a couple and you're or you're single, like the three-door is great if you want a bit more space everyday driving, then the five-doors gives you a little bit more room in that sense.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

I feel like I actually got a little bit of joy out of the fact that it was small because it meant that you got to be a bit more inventive about how to utilize the space, like it was a bit more fun. You're like, okay, let's play a bit of Tetris or you built like a whole rear storage thing, and I think that actually I feel like you invented that concept because you like built yours, and now companies are just selling whole foot outs for Jimmy's.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

Yeah, so there's a guy that uh bought that storage setup off me before I sold my three-door, and like he literally put on extra stuff on it and make made it look even better than you know what I originally did. But yeah, the storage systems are like something that probably came from the point of you having no space in this car. Like, and when I mean no space, I mean you have space, but you've got to be you know, if you were to buy these massive chairs at you know things or anything like that, you that's gonna take up your whole space. So I think that that's also the fun part in it. Like, you get to really play around with how you pack for camping, and you might also surprise yourself that you might not need that much when you go camping, especially for like a weekend trip up double arms, something like that.

SPEAKER_02 8:20

Like I was gonna say, like the camping side of things, definitely. I did like what the first eight to twelve months of my solo travels in the gymney. Mind you, I have said this before, I wasn't living in my four-wheel drive, and I wasn't living out of the gymney day to day. Like, I was sort of commuting, moving into an area in a house. Like that was fine, but even just that to and from, and then I did a whole month in Tasmania with all of my stuff in the car, that was so hard. I was like, I think that was the point where I'm like, I don't want to do this anymore, I can't live like this.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

You must be one of the only ones that's actually like fully done that. I don't think even I can do that.

SPEAKER_02 8:54

No, it was way too much, but like from I guess, yeah, a forward drive standpoint, yeah, best car. And I like I said it just gives you an entry level into it. Such an a capable car, yeah. Like I feel like they're near impossible to stuff up if you're going down the beach.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

Oh, yeah, and they're so easy to, I would say, understand as well. And like I don't have a lot of, I don't have a mechanical background, I don't have anything like that. So, but what I noticed was that there was a lot of things that was quite easy to teach yourself, even if you just YouTube it or look through it. Like with a lot of other bigger four-wheel drives, they can come across as a bit intimidating if you're not really well well versed in cars in general. Um, so I thought it was just such a great car to learn from and drive as well. Yes, and clean.

SPEAKER_02 9:41

Oh, so easy. It's so easy to clean. I do.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

So that was that was the best thing.

SPEAKER_02 9:46

Yeah, because um I didn't really do a lot with my gym. I really didn't upgrade it. I didn't even upgrade the suspension or tires, nothing. So like completely stock, so capable. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

I remember like you didn't do that much to it, but still like you can take it up all these tracks where a lot of other cars, like, I'm pretty sure, like when we got a BYD now, and I'm pretty sure it would struggle with a lot of the tracks that the gymney would take on.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

The only thing that scared me is like when we used to go out to like the four drive parks, yeah. I feel like the short wheelbase made it a little bit sketchy on some of the more I would say like off-road, uh I guess like bush style tracks. Like that scared me a lot more. Whereas now in my BT, I don't question it, I'd just like send it because I'm I don't know, it just feels a bit more stable.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

I mean, your car is so well built now to for what you are doing, and I think that what's makes like the travel that you're doing so unique as well, like in in the territories you because you can sort of go everywhere. I think there are definitely limitations to the gymney in terms of comfort, I would say, but I think from from like that everyday use, it's like it's a perfect, perfect little weekend, I think so.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

But and then like your YouTube, because obviously you built your YouTube up with your gymney, and that just that built the community effectively, that built the community around you. I guess from a community point of view, was that always your goal just to be able to share information and build a community, or did the community sort of happen by default because so many people were reaching out to you asking for advice?

SPEAKER_01 11:08

I think as much as it looked like I was putting out a lot of information, I think also the whole point of it was to get information as well. So when I created the account, like I was posting all this stuff that I was doing, but really what was encouraging me to post more was because other people were saying, Hey, I've actually done this, you should try that. Or so it sort of became this like back and forth with people, and in that way I think it built the community because people started interacting with each other because they they were seeing maybe if I posted something about how I was cleaning my car, someone would come and be like, Hey, you should try and do this, you should try maybe that product for that, or you should try um you know clean your car that way or whatever. And I think that created a more open space for people to just come on my channels as well and ask questions. Yeah, and and that way, after a while, I guess I realized that oh, there's a lot of people in this area, like in in Southeast Queensland that would probably love to meet up and you know, drive together and stuff.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

And this was almost like by default, like it was just sort of like the after like the aftermath of putting out the content, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

I think so. And yeah, just being able then to see that community grow as well. And like now there's so many events, now there's so many um like things you can do with groups of people, like it doesn't even have to be 40 people, it can be literally five people going up the beach, and um, I think it's really from 2021's built up so massively, and I think it's easier now to sort of get out there. Yeah, if you're uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_02 12:46

Like, yeah, even not having a gym anymore. Like, I've kept so many of those friendships to this day, which is so meaningful. Did you find that there was any, I guess, negative side of the YouTube space or what you're putting out? Did you experience any negativity, or was it really quite cruisy and quite community-based?

SPEAKER_01 13:03

I all have always seen myself as I could not care less.

unknown 13:08

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

I I I I don't know what it is, but I think I come from my my mum has always been very strong that way as well. And I I swear I probably have it from her. Like, if someone were to comment anything negative, I'd be like, you know what, I do not care. Like, I I I do not take it. I do I do not take it to heart in terms of if people were commenting any negative things about the car the way I was doing stuff, because at the end of the day, yeah, I know that everything that I was doing was not perfect, and it's not what everyone else is gonna do. And I think it's obviously not nice when you're getting negative comments or feedback or things like that, but it it is part of the game, um, unfortunately, and like it shouldn't be, but it happens, and I think knowing and learning how to just brush it over your head and and move on and do what means something to you and what's meaningful to you, like that that's what I was thinking about the whole time. And um yeah, it it is really I understand that there's so much stuff on social media that is obviously going around, and a lot of women in that game can feel intimidated about like having to post stuff because they might be scared that they're not doing it right. Yes. Um, I was the same though. I was I was posting stuff and I was thinking, oh, maybe this is not the right way to clean the car, maybe I shouldn't really clean the engine this way or something like that. But straight in with the girl.

SPEAKER_02 14:40

And that's why I think I was curious to ask that because I I do I will admit I do experience a fair bit of negativity. And it's one of those things I think for God forbid, people who comment, I think they just assume that because you're putting out content, you're an expert. I'm like, no, like I'm I'm taking you guys along for the ride and I have no idea what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

Like yeah, and that's half the fun of it. Oh, a hundred percent. And you know, it's it's just something I've I understand, you know, there's there's there's a lot of stuff online and things get said, and and and it could be a bad place sometimes for people. Like I 100% understand that, but I I do really try to tell myself all the time that you know this is just stuff that doesn't mean anything. Um yeah, and it's almost hard to explain it because I'm not sure I'm not immune to it. I'm not saying that, but I'm saying that I don't I just have learned to not yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:34

Like I said, I always try to think about it from a point of view of like I put myself in that person's shoes and think about like what mindset would I have to be in to comment something like that on someone else's video? And I'm like, I wouldn't be in a mindset that's anything for me as a receiver of that comment to be envious. I'm like, I don't want to be that person, so therefore their words don't mean anything to me because I wouldn't want to be them or switch places with them. So it's like I try to like reframe it from that point of view. I'm like, yeah for someone to say something so negative, that's a huge reflection on them.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

And we see I see the same thing with uh with even just my business and stuff like you. Obviously, have people who comment all these things, and I think often I just see it as a way where if people comment negative stuff, it comes from the fact that they just probably don't have the knowledge around what's being posted. Yeah, and that is an easy getway for them to comment something that is either not true or it's mean or or something. And I just look at it and I'm like, they probably just don't obviously probably know that.

SPEAKER_02 16:33

And I also feel like the reason I asked this was because I think gymneys get so much shit from people. Like people who own, like I couldn't care less what four drive someone drives, but for some reason, like no offense to the men listening, but like it's always men who drive bigger ute that are just like fucking chimneys. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

Like you you're this little person on the road and you're like wobbling back and forth on the highway.

SPEAKER_02 16:55

I don't want to get it. Like I don't know, you're not the biggest person on the road, but I agree, but look, yeah, as we said, like I guess there's hate no matter what you're doing. Yeah, you know, if everyone loves you, you're probably doing something wrong. Let's be honest. And I mean the gymney's the best thing yet. I yeah, even though I I'm not gonna lie, I would never go back and buy a gymney now, but I would never take back though those years of having a gymney.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

I I feel a little bit the same way because I I thought in like a few years, if you would have asked me a few years back if I would sell my gymney, I would be like, I would absolutely not sell. Yeah, I will not sell that thing. Like that is my pride and joy. But yeah, I think as a human, obviously, you grow. There are different interests that you have once you get older, and like all that stuff, you have different priorities, and and I feel like the five years I had was like the five years that I was meant to have with that car and do all these things, and it came to a point where and it was the same when I was doing like athletics for many years, I was doing pole vaulting for like so many years, and it came to a point where like when I like retired from that, I knew that was the right time, and it was the same when I sold the car, I knew this was the right time. Yeah, yeah. Had I sold it half a year earlier, probably not. Like, but I sort of was planning in my head that this was this is the right time for someone else to enjoy this car, what I've built it up to be. And it's unfair for me to just have this sitting in the garage because I have to prioritize something else. Yeah, and it doesn't it doesn't mean that I've lost interest for it at all. I still have the same amount of interest, it's just you've got to choose where you spend your time on it.

SPEAKER_02 18:37

Yes, I do agree. It's a fun car, but I not that you know there's plenty of people that'll have it their entire life, but I do think for me and for a lot of people, it's almost like the gymneys have a time and a place or a fun car, but yeah, to that point where you're like, okay, like there's there's more important things to focus on right now, so like let's just sort of shift the focus a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 18:53

Yeah, no, I do agree. And like at even with like the gymney that we have now, like we still want to keep it. You still have a gym anyway. We still have a gymny, like I don't know. Maybe that's why it's not so hard. But I feel like your gymny was like the OG, like that's just yeah, yeah. I mean, we still have that one, it's still like you know, second best. Yeah, it's okay.

SPEAKER_02 19:11

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

But yeah, no, we're still in that community, we're still doing stuff whenever we can. Like, and it's it's just honestly comes down to time and priorities. And I think you can't keep on stretching yourself so thin everywhere because you'll just be exhausted and you won't have time for the things that like even just friends and family and doing nothing and being on the couch, like you will never have time for that if you don't prioritize a bit what you want to do in life. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:39

That segues into what I wanted to chat with you next about the business side of things because you've inspired me so much with your business ventures because it has taken off. It's something that I have personally used and supported since the get-go. But your brand Rugged has come a long way, and we're literally sitting in your new warehouse. We're just so excited. So, from a business point of view, tell me a little bit about your business first. Like, what is it? Where did it start? And then we'll delve into like how it's grown and what that approach has been for you.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Yeah, well, it started with essentially it came from camping, you know, being outdoors, etc. Um, we started rugged just with it, it was sort of just a business idea. We wanted to do something different, we wanted to in the future work for ourselves. Yes. Um, we knew that was, you know, far in the future, but we wanted to start something that you know we were passionate about, we were using every day. Um, and then we started, we first came out with rugs, which is funny because we were. Was it rugs? Like throws, like you know, beach throws, yeah. So we started with that and like we really loved them and stuff, and we were using them a lot, but yeah, we sort of felt like it wasn't solving um a main issue that I had when I went to camping, and because we went camping in the gymney and we would always bring with us like coffee cups and stubby coolers and water bottles or like cups in general and bottle openers and all that. And I started looking into what can I create that would help me in that way. So created the Stub Cup, um, which is our flagship, I would say it's our flagship product at this point because that's the one we're focusing the most on, and that's the one that we're also most, I guess, passionate about. We use it every day. Um, so when we created that, it took us a while because that was probably a year and a half later, yeah. Um, after we started the business, mind you, we were working full-time jobs.

SPEAKER_02 21:32

And it was very slow growth if you're doing it, it's more of a side hustle.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

Yeah, it was um obviously a bit of a like a hobby thing almost. Like I wouldn't even say that we went into this business thinking, okay, we're gonna put all our efforts in, we're gonna, you know, really build this up. It was um really more of like a fun thing we did together. And then uh when the Stub Cup came out, we slowly started getting momentum.

SPEAKER_02 21:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

Um, and I think it was sort of last year. Yeah, um, start of last year, 2025, where we felt like oh, there's a huge demand for it. There is we're building up a community, we're really starting to see um, like I guess it pays us back a bit for the time that we've been putting into it as well. Yeah. Um, and we started visioning like where did we want to go with it. I think that was something we were lacking a bit in the beginning. It was sort of like, oh, where do we go to it? See what happens. Yeah, um, and yeah, and now we essentially came to a point where we were ordering so much stock that we couldn't have it at home, and your entire house is just entire boxes. The whole house was chaos. Um mind you, the cockroaches come when all the boxes come in. So you that's one thing you want to avoid.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

Um obviously, yeah, you were just in your garage and uh it yeah, I just said I can imagine it's starting to get overwhelming as well because it's your home space, but at the same time, like it's just inundated with work and business at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

Yeah, you sort of feel like everything's just crammed in there, yeah. Yeah. And it's also like such a pivotal moment in the business because you have to start making a decision on where do you want to build it? Like how do you want to build it? Where do you want to go with it? Because when I was like this, mind you, this is like six months ago when I was sitting in the garage and I said to Dre, um, we need to find somewhere to be because we can't continue being in the garage.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

Um, if you want to scale it as well, you always hit a wall where you're like, there's no room to scale where we are right now.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

Yeah, yeah, that was the biggest thing, like scaling the business, um, understanding where we wanted to go, um, building more, building the brand out more, like the as a community, as a brand story, that's where we want to go with it. And we realized our house is not the place to do that. We have to move. So lucky to get a new warehouse. We just moved in three three weeks ago, probably four weeks ago. So um, yeah, so we're just trying to get everything sorted, um, hopefully get some people on board eventually to to help with you know packing and some little logistical things, and um, and that's sort of where we're going with it at the moment. And I think it it takes a lot of work. Like, I only stepped out of my current job um last year in June. Yeah, so it's been nine months now. Um in the beginning, everyone thinks it's very glamorous when you stay done.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

They literally be outside of it, they don't see all the hours that you're putting into it.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Yeah, it's like, and I can like yes, okay, the first week feels great. Yeah, because you finally get back the time that you have been juggling, you know, we're talking working to midnight most days, going to bed like this is not a healthy lifestyle, yes, not long-term recommended. Um, but it's something that every business owner I think goes through at different stages in the business. And when it came to the fact that I jumped out, you know, the first day I jumped out, I was like, oh my god, what do I do? Yeah, I'm doing the time. Um, and then I swear, like the next week it was you know, you find all this stuff that you have to catch up. Yes, yeah, and then you go back to the hard work again. So, yes, it has its um few glamorous sides in running a business, but it is it is hard work and it's um it's you and you and you, like in the beginning.

SPEAKER_02 25:21

Yeah, and I guess for context, for those who don't know what we're talking about as far as the stub cup goes, so you've obviously it's the solution. So what's the saying? It's like um if you want to do well in business, it's like you find a problem, you sell a solution. Like that's the concept, and that's what you've done. So you've said you know you're carrying stub cups and stubby coolers and coffee cups and water bottles. So the stub cup is effectively I've got two of them and they're so handy, but it's a coffee cup, an insulated coffee cup that has a bottle open at the bottom. Yes, it comes with interchangeable lids, so you can put cans in them, bottles in them, and then you can also have your lid for your coffee, and it's got a straw on it as well. So it just literally does everything.

SPEAKER_01 25:56

Yeah, it does like everything, and like that was the main thing we wanted to do.

SPEAKER_02 26:00

Like, okay, you can employ me, I can be.

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Yeah, yeah, that was great. Marketing pitch on point. No, and I mean it's but I think like it's a it's a product we're passionate about, it's a product that we use every day, and like that's something I said to Dre when we started the business. I don't just want to create products for the sake of it, I want yeah, I want it to be something that we back, that we use, but also something that we improve as well. Because I think not every product that you bring out, especially with limited funds as well, like we mind like we did not start with a loan. We did not start, we actually put just our own pocket money in to the business. Um, we started with like probably like two, three thousand dollars that we put in, ordered some stock and and got from there. Um, and that also comes with the point, like the fact that you have to um improve a product as you go because yeah, in the beginning the product might not be the best of the best.

SPEAKER_02 26:56

Yeah, you almost have to accept that you're gonna have to like take in the feedback that you're given. Yes, take it as it is, and just put that back into the product to improve it, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

And not like obviously take it to heart as well when people criticize your product because I think there are everyone uses it differently, and people are gonna have different experiences with it, and like if we're not gonna be someone who has a hundred percent satisfaction rate, that's just not how it works, and I think, but luckily we've we've had really good feedback from our customers like over the past like ever since the SOPCOP came out, yeah. Um, but we continue to try and improve it to you know make the materials like the best that it can be, and but still make it affordable. Like we haven't actually like we don't want to increase the price on it, and we haven't done that so far. So being able to, you know, create a product that will last people for going out camping and barbecuing and every day and just using it.

SPEAKER_02 27:53

Did you find like the whole because like when I think about a product in like designing a product, yeah, that process for me is overwhelming. Like, did you find it overwhelming in the beginning to like bring that into like fruition?

SPEAKER_01 28:04

I think I was just shocked of all the minor details of things. I you know, we would discuss with our manufacturer, like this is the material we use for this, this is what we use for that. Or do you want two millimeters there? Do you want two? I was just I was like, what are you talking about? Like the amount of times like I will use chat chip is to try and like figure out like what does my manufacturer mean with this, you know? Like I but it's all a learning curve, like you're not it's not you're not meant to know this stuff, like there's no handbook on this is how you set up this product with the manufacturer. Yeah, so you just have to learn and you have to fail on it as well. Like we have failed with some things.

SPEAKER_02 28:46

People are honestly scared to fail sometimes, they just want to start something because what if I fail? Like, no, you want to fail because like that's only where you're gonna get better. Like you don't get better by doing everything perfect because then you wouldn't need to grow, you'd be like, Oh, yeah, I'm good.

SPEAKER_01 28:56

Oh, the like there's been at least twice where I haven't double checked uh the colour coding for some cups, and I've received the cups, and I'm like, that is not a bad.

SPEAKER_00 29:06

I'm like, what is this colour? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:09

So I think like you definitely learn as you go to be more rigorous with like looking through things, making sure that they actually understand what you mean because what you think up there doesn't always translate on paper.

SPEAKER_02 29:22

Like I've sort of dabbled into like the merchandise space. But even like when I've had um marketing strategies that I've wanted to put into place, and I'll send it off to you know, a someone who's a professional in the area, and I'll they'll come back with something totally opposite of what I wanted. And I was like, how did you not understand what I said? But I under like what you think a concept looks like or sounds like, someone else will interpret that so differently, and it's yeah, that in itself is helpful.

SPEAKER_01 29:44

Putting your vision into someone else's head. Oh, 100%. Like I swear, I had a dream last night about another product I want to do, and I was trying to put that into context this morning, and I was like, this is gonna require a lot of brain work to get right because I think yeah, it is really trying to understand how they communicate as well. They use it's like if you're buying a property or you're doing something, the people that you're dealing with, they're using a language that is second nature to them. Yes, and when you enter that space and you are so so new in it, which as you should be, there are so many things that you're gonna misunderstand um or just not think twice about. Um, and I think, yeah, that's been a big learning process. Obviously, failing, yeah, you're gonna fail. Yeah, you're gonna order maybe the wrong state.

SPEAKER_02 30:28

I ideally don't want a really expensive mistake.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

No, no, you you you don't. Like, I mean, yes, when you order the wrong colour or something. Like you the thing is you can work around it. Someone will buy it. Like we released it as a new colour, it was a marshmallow.

SPEAKER_02 30:41

I was like, that's fine, everyone loves pink.

SPEAKER_01 30:43

Yeah, I was like, you know, we'll just release it as a new colour. I mean, at the end of the day, it's like maybe someone will love it. Maybe it will be your best-selling colour and you didn't know. So yeah, just sort of try and roll with it and then learn from it. I think learning from it is the biggest thing and um understanding that you know you're not gonna you're not gonna run a business perfectly. That's just that's just not gonna happen. Yeah. Then don't don't run a business.

SPEAKER_02 31:10

Don't even think that's gonna happen. Yes, yeah. So I guess with failures as well, what something that people don't see behind the scenes that they could find of use if they were going to go into business themselves, like something that you're like, everyone should know about this or at least be warned about it before they jump in. Yeah, um, profit and loss. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:30

Um, yeah, I guess uh with any business that you're starting, unless you I guess have some help to get into business and and financials is not uh like a massive part of it. I think if you're going in with yourself, you are putting a lot of money into it. And you and I think that with that part comes that you you don't want to fail and you get scared of failing, yeah, and you might not end up starting the business. So it sort of gets to a point where you gotta you gotta understand that the money you're putting putting in, try your best to utilise that money as good as you can. Try and have one vision, try and not you know do too much at once. Yeah, yeah. I think like that's very easy to get stuck in if you want to start developing a product, you might get, oh, but this product would be great, or this would be great, and you start sort of just branching out to too many things at once.

SPEAKER_02 32:19

Um you can almost overwhelm your customer as well. You overwhelm them without even having built their trust to begin with, so it could be hard for them to want to invest their money into it.

SPEAKER_01 32:27

Oh, 100%. I think it's sometimes hard to stick to one thing as well. Like, I yeah, I am even myself a person that can be like, oh my god, I want to do this, I want to do that. And then I I would say maybe Dre is like the one more that's like Marlene, we should the more responsible. Yeah, Marlene, we shouldn't probably do that right now. And I'm like, okay, like but I think um yeah, the with running a business, it comes financial stress, it comes responsibility, like it's it's you, like you deal with the finances, you deal with ordering stock, you deal with customers, you deal with packing, long nights. Yeah, um, there are times where you might not sleep as well because you you're constantly thinking about stuff, and even though it's really bad, maybe at some point, yeah, I think it gets better for everyone, and you will have waves where you go up and down with it. But I think the important thing is that you identify what's causing these things, yes, um, and try to fix it and understand that like it is most of it, 99% of it is fixable.

SPEAKER_00 33:25

Yeah, so I agree, you know.

SPEAKER_01 33:27

I I think if you if you have a clear path of where you want to go with the business, it's hard to really dig yourself down in such a rabbit hole that you can't get out again. I think you've got to have a bit of a realistic sight on the whole thing. Um, and there's been times where obviously like I've been stressed and I've been like, oh my god, we're spending so much money. Like, I don't know, are we gonna get this much money in again? You know, like are we gonna be able to run the business in in a profitable, scalable way? And yeah, that's always something you're gonna worry about, but but maybe less less than other times. Like it depends on how your business is um standing and how what time of year it is. Like you have time, you have quiet months, like all these factors that come in, and but I think the most important thing is like have fun with it as well. Like it's not you shouldn't just look at your business as something like work, like something it needs to be something you're passionate about because I think if you if you're only looking at it as like I'm going to work, this is a business, this is just what it is. Yeah, um, I think it's gonna be hard for you to to develop it in the way that maybe you're going to continue to be passionate about it.

SPEAKER_02 34:36

Yeah, um like even though it's not a business as such, but I've said the same about YouTube in the past, like it almost feels like you're better off unless you've got the capital, go for it. But I feel like you're almost better off keeping whatever income stream you've got, build it off on the side so you don't have that level of pressure like suffocating you until like you will get to a point where you have to go all in. Like I had to quit my job to go all in on YouTube, and you've obviously quit your job to go all in on the business. Like that time comes, but it's just time that so that you can alleviate as much stress as possible.

SPEAKER_01 35:05

Yeah, and like separate a bit work in like your business and your personal life. I think that's been I think when you're building the business though from scratch, you are going to put a lot of time in, and probably more time than you would consider sometimes healthy to put in. Yeah, but that I think it comes with it, and it's the same even with my gymney stuff when I was doing that just full-time, you know, creating content and stuff. Like it does take up a lot of time after my full-time job, and I realized that you know it comes to a point where you then have to prioritize. I had to shift over to doing my business most of the time and not focus as much on that. Yeah, but I don't think it means that you're less passionate about it, it's just more that priority shift, essentially.

SPEAKER_02 35:50

And what would you say has been like this the number one biggest sacrifice with the business side of things? Like, what would you say that you've sacrificed the most?

SPEAKER_01 35:57

There's a lot, but my Netflix time. Yeah, I guess sometimes I even feel like I've had to I've had to sacrifice, like, you know, maybe just going for a walk in the morning, um, doing something that I haven't thought about or planned because like when I wake up in the morning, I know I need to go into office, I know I need to pack orders, and I don't need to do all these things. So, yes, it probably takes away some of that time. And sometimes at night you want to just lay down on the couch and do nothing, but you know that there's just some things you didn't get to that you're trying to get done, but again, it's a work life like life balance, and I think everyone tries to figure that out when you're starting a business or even running it, and you're years into running a business, people still sometimes struggle to obviously deal with the work-life balance, but I would say I've gotten better. Yeah, better than normal. Yeah, it's it's gotten better now. I think, yeah, once we've been moving into the warehouse and stuff, yes, it takes off a lot of time. Yeah, but I feel now we've sort of got gotten the ground running a little bit, and yeah, it's getting better.

SPEAKER_02 37:07

And then flipping back to the four drive space as some of our closing questions, what advice would you give to someone who is looking to get into the four drive space now?

SPEAKER_01 37:18

Well, get a gymney. No, no, I think um if you want to get into the four-wheel drive space, I mean there's so many community groups now, there's so many ways that you can engage, and I think it can sometimes feel scary to uh show up at one of these events and feel like, oh my god, it's just me. Or you might not, yeah, you might just be you, or you might be there with your partner. But I think show up to some of these groups, like find some Facebook groups, um, JB74 Queensland and Jimmy Girls Queensland, um, some of the great groups. I know there's some cool ones up north as well. Yeah, um, and even if you don't even have a four-wheel drive, you don't even know that that's something that you want to invest in or spend time uh, or if you don't have the money for it, maybe there are other people that definitely want to like have tag like you can tag along with them. Um so I think there's so many ways that you can get into it now as well. Yeah, but you've got to get out of your comfort zone.

SPEAKER_02 38:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:13

I think that's a big thing. I think a lot of people today are very scared of getting out of their comfort zone. But what's really the worst that could happen?

SPEAKER_02 38:20

Well, that's why I think as well, like I used to think I was so introverted, and it wasn't until I spoke to more people where I would go to these events e even though they terrified me, but yeah, I was like, oh, maybe I'm not extrovert introverted because like I'll be scared but I'll still do it. Whereas other people just won't, they won't commit to going by themselves and I'm like, interesting. Yeah, it's an interesting concept, but yeah, I think you just have to commit, you have to go. It'll be awkward, but you'll meet so many people and it's so worthwhile.

SPEAKER_01 38:43

Oh yeah, no, definitely. And I think even just going to the four by four show and just talking to a few people and um, you know, just going up the beach um and talk to people that are there with their gymneys. Like, you know, I don't know how many times like people have come up to me when I've been up at Double Island and just wanted to talk about stuff. And yeah, you know, I've never ever thought that, or that's weird. Yeah, from a from that point of view, you never think that. But from the person that's going out of their comfort zone, they might have all these fears about oh my god, whether they're gonna think if I just come up and say hello, or um, and I think it's the same with everything you do in life, like even if you if you're working in a job that you don't like and you want to switch it up, like it's often the comfort zone that keeps you there.

SPEAKER_02 39:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 39:27

Um, and I think yeah, just trying to challenge yourself on that because that's that's really one of the main things that I did when I did all my social media accounts. Yeah, it's not easy, even though it looks easy, you still have to put yourself out there. We do, and yeah, yeah, it's a it's a big step for anyone, I think, yeah, that does that.

SPEAKER_02 39:47

And last question, funnily enough, you just mentioned YouTube as well. Obviously, you have stepped away a little bit from the YouTube space and the social media space from an explore gymni side of you. But for someone who wanted to step into that space, what advice would you give them if they just wanted to, let's say if they wanted to go buy a gym or any kind of full drive and create a page dedicated to that and just start from a social media point of view, what advice would you give for them?

SPEAKER_01 40:10

Publish content that interests you. Yeah. I think if you start posting it or stuff or on an account that you just think other people want to see, but it has nothing to do with the things that you feel like you're learning anything from or you're not having a real passionate about it. It could literally just be doing if you love doing ASMR of your car, like you know, just think things that literally interest you that you think is fun. Yeah, I think that's gonna get you a lot further than constantly worrying about what does everyone else wants want to see? Um, what are the trends at the moment?

SPEAKER_00 40:49

I actually think trending content.

SPEAKER_02 40:51

I feel like it's just you go onto Instagram or whatever and you just see the same shit. Yeah, no, no, hungry. You're back to just unique content.

SPEAKER_01 40:57

It's like I try to do something as one trending thing a week, and I I swear it's my worst performing video every time.

SPEAKER_02 41:06

But it's different from I think from a product business. You kind of it's different from a personality business where you're really just selling, not even selling, you're just showing up as yourself, trying to help and inspire other people. Yeah, I think you just have to show up and just share what you love, and that authenticity will come through.

SPEAKER_01 41:20

Yeah, and I think even when I started mine, I you know I posted everything that I just found interesting posting about what I was doing with the gymny. And as the account grew, yes, it came with you know, businesses wanting to work with you, businesses wanted to sponsor you, but what I made sure that I always kept um true to myself was that I didn't want to work with brands I wasn't using their product of. I didn't want to work with businesses that wanted to pay me to say certain things about it.

SPEAKER_02 41:50

I'm agreeing with that.

SPEAKER_01 41:51

I was actually using everything that I was doing or everything um that I was given. Um, and I think that was one of the things that kept the account to the standard that it was because I was protective of that space. I came across as very genuine, like you weren't just bullshitting people for the sake of like no yeah, and like even if you know I understand that even if you work with a business, a business as my business, no business is perfect, and I think like you can work with someone and someone else can have a negative experience based on it, and it's around how you handle that and how they handle it. I think that's a big part of it as well. Um so yeah, all of that just comes together, and that's um yeah, and that's sort of where everything went in the end, like with the business and with the account, and it's been yeah, an insane journey.

SPEAKER_02 42:43

Congratulations, like I said. If anyone deserves like where you are now, it's you. I think that you've come so far, but it's because of the work you put in, it's not been handed to you, you've just done everything off the back and you've just done it with a good attitude.

SPEAKER_00 42:55

So yeah, huge inspiration to me as well. Thank you. And every everyone can do it. You just gotta you just gotta put in time and effort and a lot of time.

SPEAKER_01 43:03

Yeah, a lot of time, a lot of time, yeah, sacrifice a few things and that's right, it's worth it.

SPEAKER_02 43:09

Well, thank you so much for sparing the time considering the fact you've just moved into the warehouse. Thank you for sparing some time to have a chat with me. And yeah, if anyone wants to follow along with your journey, social media, or would you say Explore Gymny is a good place to find you or Explore Gymney for the Gymney account.

SPEAKER_01 43:23

Um, not as active as I was before, but I'm still there. So if you send me a message, I will respond. Yeah. Um, and yeah, obviously, obviously rugged is where I spend most of my time at the moment. Um, rugged AU and yeah. In the warehouse.

SPEAKER_02 43:38

Yeah, it'll be you. Yeah. Well, make sure you give them a follow. And yeah, thank you guys so much for watching. Don't forget you can watch this on YouTube, but whatever platform you are watching or listening, make sure you do subscribe. And I will see you guys all in the next video. Thanks for joining me. Thanks for having me. See ya.