Ain't That Somethin'

Levi: 00:00

Hi. This is Ain't That Something, and I'm your host, Levi Smith, CEO of Franklin Building Supply. We're an employee owned building material supply company headquartered in beautiful Boise, Idaho. I'm a former ranch kid from Texas who found his way to Idaho and into leading this storied company. We're proud to be part of the fabric of communities we operate in and want to help share stories of other companies doing the same across this great state.

Levi: 00:28

In each episode of Ain't That Something, I interview founders or leaders about the stories of companies you may be surprised to learn have either had their start in Idaho or now call Idaho home. In every interview, you'll hear about an interesting cast of characters, learn about daunting obstacles, and be inspired by the persistence it took to succeed. Get ready to be surprised and entertained with each episode of Ain't That Something.

Greg: 00:54

Door hinges shouldn't squeak. And it's just an example of, like, a guy who just looks at things and goes like, hey. That could be better, and it should be better. And there's literally a 100 things.

Levi: 01:04

It's like a list of life's little annoyances.

Greg: 01:06

Yeah, think one of the things on there is like tires shouldn't go flat. Right. You know, like there's just these things that nobody, everybody, like I take for granted. I'm like, that's just the way it is. But someone out there, in this case, Glenn, looks at him and goes, no.

Greg: 01:18

That could be fixed.

Levi: 01:21

Today, I interviewed Greg Williams, CEO of Eberly Stock. We unpack the story of how a renaissance man, Glenn Eberly, started this company in Boise, Idaho, by focusing on problems that he was having both when he was an Olympian and then later a member of the military and backcountry hunter. Glenn brought real innovation to how rifles are carried both in a hunting and military situation and how heavy loads are brought out of the backcountry. So enjoy this story of Eberly Stock told through the lens of its CEO, Greg Williams. Well, Greg, it is a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.

Levi: 02:07

Before we get into the story of Eberly stock, I wonder if you would take a minute and help us understand your story. Where do you call home? Where are you from? Just kind of what what do we need to know about Greg before we get into the story of Everly stock?

Greg: 02:23

Sure. Yeah. First of all, thank you for having me. Yeah, I've been with Everly stock for about six years now. But I grew up grew up in Southern California, which I don't always love to share being a Boise,

Levi: 02:35

this is a safe space, just you and I.

Greg: 02:38

Yeah, I grew up down there, was really like a lifelong athlete is kind of like the takeaway from my childhood at this point, you know, as far as what shaped me and molded who I am today as a leader and just as a person, being an athlete, whole life was was like really pivotal and all that was raised in an amazing family, couldn't say enough good things about my parents and the opportunity they gave me, I was a pretty good student growing up, but I didn't like school. So when I graduated high school, my dad basically gave me the option to work and pay rent or get out. And so I got out. I looked at being a logger in Oregon, a ranch hand in North Dakota and a crab fisherman in Alaska. And I just really wanted to find something that I felt like would kinda just add some toughness to my life is what I always say.

Greg: 03:26

And, none of those things panned out, but instead, joined the military, and I and I think I got what I was looking for.

Levi: 03:32

So you didn't think being in athletics created enough toughness, in your early childhood? I'm kinda curious about that. Yeah. Sounds like you took athletics pretty seriously. What what sport did you, you know, focus on?

Levi: 03:43

And and how did you come out of that and think, I still have some lessons to learn about being tough, grit, all those type of things?

Greg: 03:50

Well, first of all, let that be a testament to my parents. Yeah, I mean, athletics taught me a lot about, great things about toughness and grit and teamwork and things like that. But there was just like another level of hardship, I think I was looking for in my life. And I don't know why an 18 year old young man was looking for that. But I was and so I was I played everything I played baseball, football, basketball, but my main sport was actually water polo and swim.

Levi: 04:14

Okay.

Greg: 04:15

Which is, you know, one of the few places in the country that that's a big thing.

Levi: 04:19

My daughters have been doing water polo recreationally, good over the last few years. Not, you know, not not, you know, quite team sports, but they've really enjoyed it. So, some exposure to water polo. And when I'm watching, especially high school kids and maybe the boys in particular, just, you know, the the upper body strength that that the young boys develop. I mean, it is aggressive, and I have never thought those kids aren't tough.

Greg: 04:49

Yeah. No. It's I mean, it's a slept on sport for sure. It's it's a tough sport. It's, I mean, I tell people all the time, it's kind of combination of like basketball and wrestling in the water.

Greg: 04:58

Mhmm. A lot of people don't know you can't touch you're not touching the bottom. It's about 12 foot deep pool. So yeah, it it prepares you well physically and mentally. Okay.

Greg: 05:06

But that was my main focus. Swimming water polo. My my brother played too, and and that kinda became like the family sport. I ended up, going back and coaching, which I'll touch on. That was a big sport for me.

Greg: 05:16

Then and then out of high school, you know, as I've touched on or or said, I I ended up joining the military. And so I was a really patriotic kid growing up. I'm just old enough to remember nine eleven, seven years old on 09/11. Remember it vividly. I remember that morning and I remember the feeling in the country.

Greg: 05:33

Even at a young perceiving the feeling of unity in the nation. I ended up organizing a can drive to support the Red Cross. I collected soda cans from all my neighbors and raised $1,500

Levi: 05:47

It made an impression, but you took action.

Greg: 05:50

Yeah. I'm really proud of that looking back now. Don't know what, again, I don't really know. There's some things in my life that I'm not really sure why they were there, but something about service resonated with me early. And as a seven year old, 1,500 was hard to part ways with.

Greg: 06:06

I spent a lot of time collecting cans and crushing cans. And there's just a sense of service. Like I felt like I needed to be a part of that. So that's why I chose to do after high school. I explored some of those other options.

Greg: 06:16

But ultimately, heart kind of led me to the military and feeling like that sense of service was something that I wanted to ensure that I fulfilled while I had the opportunity. Deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan for nine months, I think we counted over 120 missions in that nine month deployment, which was really a really good tempo for the units that were deploying at that time. Got to work with some really cool groups and agencies while we were doing that. I just had a really unique experience there, but recognized that it wasn't something I wanna do forever. Had a lot of injuries in that short amount of time.

Greg: 06:49

I was already kind of beat up from sports, but it just wasn't something that was gonna be a long term career for me. And I had the opportunity to get out before my 20 birthday and start what felt like a normal life. That's what I chose to do. Ended my active service in early twenty sixteen and got out and moved on with my life. That's how I ended up in Idaho.

Levi: 07:11

So what drew you to Idaho?

Greg: 07:13

Long story short, had a friend whose dad was a alignment was talking to him one day and he's like, man, you really should consider going to school to be alignment. And he's like, we're always looking to hire guys on the military, great work ethic, this and the other. So you go to school for four months and and you're ready to get hired, and then you can make a great career out of it. And that's absolutely true. And so that's what I did.

Greg: 07:34

I started searching for schools, there's a school here in Meridian that I that I chose to to go to and figured it would be four months. Long story short, I got up here, started that school and realized this just wasn't for me. I didn't really know what I was getting into, but mostly the the injuries for the military. My my lower back is pretty much shattered. And that was a tough career choice with a bad back.

Greg: 07:56

And so I realized that that wasn't going to work out long term either. But I fell in love with Idaho. I mean, I just immediately fell in love up here. Upon finishing that school, look for the opportunity to end up at Boise State. That's what I did.

Greg: 08:09

Did I still didn't really know what I was gonna do at that point. But I knew that I wanted to stay.

Levi: 08:13

But you knew you're gonna do it in Idaho.

Greg: 08:15

Yeah, been here ever since. So it's been eight or nine years now.

Levi: 08:18

Fair enough. That's a lot of people's story. A place that offers what they're looking for, and they end up staying. So today you occupy the CEO seat at Eberly Stock, a position that you took over from the founder, and we're going to get into the story of the company. But how did you first get introduced to Eberly Stock?

Levi: 08:37

When did you start there? Just help us understand kind of your transition from getting in the door to the seat you're in now, and then we'll dive into the story of the company.

Greg: 08:48

Sure. Yeah, I joined the company in 2019, and I was finishing up my undergrad degree at Boise State. When I ended up at Boise State, I ended up honestly falling in love with schools, ended up choosing to enroll in the MBA program. What And I was really always looking for was a summer internship. I recognized that my resume by the time I graduated with my MBA would be the military, an undergrad degree and a grad degree.

Greg: 09:17

I had worked jobs in between all that stuff, but nothing significant, nothing that complimented an MBA well, and I felt like that was going be really important. For what would be an internship, I wanted to enjoy it. I was very passionate about the outdoors and very passionate about the military world that I had left and Eberly Stock serves both of those communities. Was my target number one choice. I threw everything I had at any opportunity here, which was I reached out, I sent an email to our customer service line.

Greg: 09:54

Basically said, here's who I am and what I'm looking to do and I'll work for free. I offered to do an unpaid internship for the summer. Basically said, give me an opportunity to learn.

Levi: 10:07

Yeah, that's hard to turn down.

Greg: 10:08

Glenn emailed me back said, Hey, why don't you come talk to me? After two different conversations said, Hey, I think we got a spot for you here. He said, We don't do unpaid, which is, again testament to him. He goes, you're gonna work here, we're gonna pay you. I don't know what you're gonna do, but show up on Monday and we'll figure it out.

Greg: 10:27

And so I showed up on Monday and got started with the company. I basically was working in our shipping department, kind of just learning the ins and the outs of a consumer business. Literally, just after a couple of weeks, we had a guy who left. At the time, the company was only six employees. And so everyone kind of just wore a lot of different hats.

Greg: 10:45

Basically what that landed me with was they asked me if I would take over our little flagship retail store that's located down here on Main Street in Boise. And I was like, great. Yeah, absolutely. I'll take that. So Glenn came to me and said, Hey, I know you want to do your MBA, but if you decide that you want a full time role here, we'd love to keep you.

Greg: 11:04

So I committed to him more or less there on the spot that like, Yeah, think I'd like to keep doing this.

Levi: 11:08

What a credit to Glenn for, one, I'm impressed with that kind of reach out that you did. A lot of folks you know, won't put themselves out there like that and take those those chances and just offer value at the start, especially when they're early in their careers. And so, you know, that's a great posture for you to take, but it takes two to tango here. So for Glenn to just recognize the potential of talent that standing in front of him. Yeah.

Levi: 11:35

You know, that there's not necessarily a hole, you know, in the team right now where there's not a vision for needing this role later. But here's talent who's interested in my company, my organization, this team. And so really taking the posture of how do we make this work instead of, well, I don't have a problem, so I don't need a solution right now. Just want to emphasize that just a credit to both sides there, you know, putting themselves in the right position of taking that step like you did. Glenn just recognizing talent and bringing talent on to the team and into the organization.

Greg: 12:12

I think Glenn saw, you know, potential there even before I did and just felt like I was a good person to bring on. Obviously, I think that's turned out to be the case. It's really shaped the culture that has lasted here now. I'm the first one to give people opportunity because I was given an opportunity.

Levi: 12:31

So before we maybe find out how you ended up in the seat you're in, we we've heard how you started and where you started. Let's back up and hear a little bit more about the story of Eberly stocks. Like you said, Glenn is a Renaissance man. He's an Olympian fighter jet pilot entrepreneur. I'm probably missing five other things.

Levi: 12:52

Help us understand Glenn and just, you know, what you've heard and what you've been able to glean from him about the early days, how he started this company. I understand he was coming up with a product to solve his problem in the biathlon in the 'eighty four Olympics, if I have that right. Let's kind of go back and understand this Renaissance man. And then we'll maybe pick up I know there's some momentous things that happen 09:11 and other time periods and how you ended up in the seat you're in. But who's Glenn?

Greg: 13:23

So Glenn, you know, Glenn was involved in the, what I'll say the competitive ski world from an early age. He was doing Nordic skiing and cross country and what I'll call I'm not a ski guy. So what I'll call traditional skiing, you know, at a high level, had the opportunity to go ski for the national team and was competing at a high level at an early age. He ended up going to Dartmouth. So he's an Ivy League guy also.

Greg: 13:55

Somewhere in that time period was looking at the military, was recruited by the army, but ended up enlisting in the air force. He actually enlisted as a cook, which he's very proud of, and recognized that he had an opportunity to try and get into the fighter jet program once he was in. So he enlisted as a cook and then went to a board to try and get an opportunity to go to school to be a fighter jet pilot, was given that opportunity.

Levi: 14:24

He must have been making some really good food.

Greg: 14:26

Yeah. I don't know if that could happen today. But again, Glenn and I have had a conversation multiple times at this point, and he's talked about it many times. He used the word serendipity. He would tell you that he has had a very serendipitous life.

Greg: 14:39

Again, not to try and tell his story on his behalf, but I know that that is a unique part of his story that he often shares. I said earlier, I always say lucky or blessed, whichever one you believe. I said that to Glenn in my first interview. He was asking me about me and I said, was lucky or blessed, whichever one you believe. He said, I believe in both.

Greg: 14:57

We've talked about sort of the parallels between that idea and serendipity. He would tell you he's had a lot of serendipity in his life.

Levi: 15:05

Well, I think when people think about serendipity too, and they think, you know, right place, right time. Absolutely. Going through some doors, taking some chances, being humble. You know, you talked about going in as an infantryman, him going in as a cook, you know, staying on your toes instead of your heels and leaning into opportunities, putting yourself out there, walking through those doors. I think what maybe you observe, but I certainly observe is that more serendipitous moments tend to transpire for individuals that take that posture.

Levi: 15:36

And so you know, some of this, like you said, kind of being being lucky, but being blessed, right place, right time has also a lot to do with just showing up at the place and showing up at the time.

Greg: 15:46

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's all it's it's all uniquely tied together. There's there's a aspect of, you know, personal accountability to put yourself in those positions. And then this sort of otherworldly alignment of the stars. And when those things come together, you end up with very unique paths to the places that you've ended up.

Greg: 16:07

Glenn and I certainly don't share the same story, but there's parallels there that I've always been very aware of and very, again, grateful for because they both have uniquely come together that's in a way that have led to the life that I have. Getting back to him, he was brought onto the Olympic team and had the opportunity to go compete in the nineteen eighty four Sarajevo Winter Olympics. Skied for the Olympic team there. At the same time, or around the same time was entering the military again, as an enlisted cook and was given the opportunity to go fly fighter jets. He primarily flew the F4 and the A10.

Greg: 16:47

And he will always tell you he preferred the F4 because it went a lot faster. He flew with the Air Guard here out of Gowan. He's very proud of that, that he was part of the Idaho Air Guard and pretty historic unit with the squadron that he was with and transitioned out of the Air Guard and into a full time flying role with United Airlines. Again, kind of a unique parallel and stories a little bit that nine eleven was really impactful for him. He was a commercial pilot when nine eleven happened.

Greg: 17:22

And he, again, he tells that story as being very personally offensive, I think is the word that he uses to him, you know, that that someone would commit the the acts of terror in the way that they were committed on nine eleven. And it obviously resonated with him in a in a massive way, you know, as a as a veteran, as a commercial pilot, as a proud American, and just sort of immediately sparked something in him that he wanted to be involved somehow, wanted to feel like he had some sort of impact there. He explored the idea of going back to guard duty or active duty as a as a pilot, but also felt this strong calling to pursue this gear company that he had always had in mind.

Levi: 18:05

Had he already developed a product that he was using himself, but hadn't yet really started a company. So just taking us back to the 09/11, where is he at in the in the evolution of the product that that Eberly really became known for?

Greg: 18:23

Going back to the origins of it, the biathlon is really important there. That Len has always been a guy who looks to, he's a designer, he's an artist, he's a craftsman, he's always looking to improve things. So the rifles that they were using in the biathlon were really heavy, They were wood stock rifles and so they ended up being a heavy product and they were also somewhat fragile. That if you fell while you were skiing, the wood could break or splinter or whatever. Just being who he was, he was looking for an opportunity to improve on that.

Greg: 18:56

When he was at Dartmouth, I believe, where he started. He started in the wood shop at Dartmouth redesigning these rifle stocks that he was using to save cost, to make his own rather than buy one, but also to make it better. What he did, which was really unique, was he ended up milling out the the three rings that are now the foundation of our logo from the actual Woodstocks. He put these big three big holes in it. He was able to reduce the weight of the rifle, I believe from about 11 and a half pounds to seven and a half pounds.

Greg: 19:30

And don't quote me on that exactly. But I know that's close.

Levi: 19:32

Okay. But it is significant,

Greg: 19:33

very significant. Yeah. When you're skiing, like every, just like running or anything else, like every ounce matters,

Levi: 19:39

the ounces matter

Greg: 19:40

cutting multiple pounds. That's huge. You know, I think he's really proud of the fact that they, they showed up to I believe it was a nationals competition. And some of the European teams were frustrated with, the design of that rifle because they knew what an advantage that gave, and it didn't break any rules. And so, Glenn was immediately well known as a guy who had transformed the typical biathlon rifle profile and given a significant competitive advantage to the American team.

Greg: 20:11

That actually set the standard for the minimum allowed weight of a rifle that I believe still holds in the Olympic rules today, where basically the committee came in and said, Okay, well, they didn't break any rules, but we'll set a rule now that it can't be any lighter than that. What happened there was that obviously made Glenn sort of a unique figure in the rifle space and people started reaching out to him for his rifle socks. And so that's where Glenn Eberle started the Eberle stock company back in 1984. The Eberle stock company basically maintained that same company structure through the eighties and nineties.

Levi: 20:53

And at that time, was really just about the stock.

Greg: 20:56

It was just about the stock.

Levi: 20:57

Yep. Okay. Three holes in the stock.

Greg: 21:00

What was at the time, kind of ultralight rifle stocks. Again, being a craftsman and inventor designer through the eighties and nineties, Glenn was also an active elk hunter and was looking for a better backpack option. Glenn has this piece of paper that's in his office today. I know exactly where it is and it's always stuck with me. And it's this old handwritten note that is titled 100 things that should be made better, I believe is the title.

Greg: 21:29

And an example of that is door hinges shouldn't squeak. And it's just an example of like a guy who just looks at things and goes like, hey, that could be better and it should be better. And there's a 100 there's literally a 100 things.

Levi: 21:41

It's like a list of life's little annoyances. Yeah.

Greg: 21:43

I think I think I think one of the things on there is like tires shouldn't go flat. Right. You know? Like, there's just these things that nobody everybody like, take for granted. I'm like, that's just the way it is.

Greg: 21:53

But someone out there in this case, Glenn looks at it and goes, no, that could be fixed.

Levi: 21:57

I love that he's got a 100 of these.

Greg: 21:59

And so one of those things was Western hunting packs. You know, as an active elk hunter at that time, like a lot of guys were hunting with a simple little backpack and then having to carry an elk out quarter by quarter or go back to their truck and get a pack frame or there's a couple of different methods for doing it. But Glenn ultimately ended up designing a week, we still have the prototype first pack here in the office, what was a pack that basically compressed down to sort of your day size backpack, but could expand out and kind of open up the middle of the pack and allow you to use compression straps to pack on an alkyne quarter or whatever, any amount of meat. And it was really just for him. It was just for him to have a better pack option.

Greg: 22:47

I think some people saw that and immediately went like, Hey, want one of these. And Glenn was kind of exploring how to take that to a commercial product. At the same time, leaning on his experience with the biathlon where they ski with the rifle on their back. He found a way to incorporate that where he get the rifle out of your hands or off of a sling. Anybody that's carried a rifle on a sling, it's not a great system.

Greg: 23:09

It's always fallen off. It's in your way. You're banging your knee on it. And so he invented the rifle scabbard, which was an integrated piece of the backpack. There was essentially a fabric sleeve that you put your rifle in, but still access it without removing your pack.

Greg: 23:23

You could reach behind your head and grab the buttstock of the rifle and pull it out and draw without having to remove the pack and inspired by the way that they carried and accessed their rifle in the biathlon. These unique pieces of this backpack construction positioned it as a very well differentiated pack versus anything else that was on the market. In the early 2000s, nineeleven was happening, realized that he had a real opportunity again to take this product to market. He also realized that there was also an application for this type of product for the military, where we had guys going into the Iraq surge that a, needed to be able to carry a lot of stuff because a lot of those guys at that time in the war were going out for multiple weeks on patrol missions. So they needed to be able to carry a lot of stuff very comfortably.

Greg: 24:10

And they also had snipers that were being targeted by enemy snipers. And so it was very obvious to pick out the guy with the long gun and go, okay, that's a sniper and target that individual. And Glenn recognized that snipers ideally would be able to carry what would be a semi automatic carbine style rifle for patrolling through an urban environment, but then able to access their long gun once they got into a shooting position. And so the scabbard technology lended to that very well, and that you had a sniper who could carry his long gun on his back with his carbine in his hands while patrolling through that urban environment, and then quickly and simply transition those two rifle platforms once they were into their shooting position. And then And no longer stood out.

Greg: 24:59

Also no longer stood out. And so part of that was the scabbard has a cover to it. And so originally, I don't think it didn't originally, but Glenn was like, Well, I can simply add a nylon cover that covers the buttstock of the rifle that if you're looking hard, it looks unique and it looks different, but it's not an immediate identifier that that's a sniper because that's a sniper rifle and it covered the entire rifle. That's how we got started in the military space was recognizing the application on the hunting side of things and the parallels between Western big game hunting and the combat scenarios that we were facing in The Middle East. That sort of history and tendency to say, Hey, how do I make things better here and adapt and evolve the product in a way that served a different demographic while maintaining the core features and concepts that made it unique and valuable in the first place.

Greg: 25:53

And that's really how we got started into the two major spaces that we play in today. We've evolved and grown to be more than just a hunting company or just a military gear company or just the two of those things. We do a lot more than that now. But that's really a very quick synopsis of sort of the history of how the the biathlon experience and the experience as the combat veteran shaped Glenn's desire to have an impact in that world. Also his upbringing as a Western hunter and his creative vision as a designer and inventor.

Greg: 26:29

All of those things came together in a very serendipitous way to create an incredibly unique company with a very unique product that was backed by a patent and really differentiated us in the market and allowed us to rise in the hunting space in the early 2000s. But has also allowed us to create a very unique culture that still stands today and has allowed us to grow as a business significantly in that time.

Levi: 26:57

For folks that have listened to other episodes of the podcast, I think one of the things that stands out to me about so many entrepreneur stories are that they're just focused on solving a problem that resonates with them. And then they're figuring out whether there's a bigger market for this or there's a business that can be built around it. And I think sometimes people approach becoming an entrepreneur by flipping those two things. They try to figure out, well, how big could this become and how big a business could this be or how big is the market? But there's so much wisdom in just obsessing over solving a problem that you're really intimate familiar with.

Levi: 27:34

And your story of Glenn there just being frustrated as a hunter in that era that there's not a really good solution for a combination pack that works for going in and also has a sling system built in that makes carrying out those quarters comfortable. There's not a solution for putting your gun in the sleeve. And, you know, we're chuckling about his 100 items that he has, but he's just focused on solving the problems goes back to the original Everly stock and just trying to reduce weight. This is heavy. How do I get this to be lighter?

Levi: 28:06

And I love that that's really his story. Just these are problems I was experiencing doing the things I'm doing. And I focused on making that better, solving that problem, and then sort of looked up and thought, well, maybe other people would benefit from this. Maybe there are other markets. Maybe I could make a business around this.

Levi: 28:24

And that's just such a important pathway, I think, for people to think about. I think it's accessible to a lot more people and a lot more Idahoans than they realize. Was he the first as you or he knows it or with these patents to really come up with those two solutions, the scabbard integrated into a backpack and that, you know, kind of compression system for hauling out game?

Greg: 28:48

So Glenn's, so there, it was actually like a slightly different compression system. So Glenn's original concept was the first of its kind, but it was a little bit different than what a lot of those compression systems have evolved to today.

Levi: 29:01

Yeah, take us back. What was that original one like?

Greg: 29:03

Yeah, so it's, we still have a product called the Just One and Glenn named it the Just One for the sake of if you're going to buy just one pack, this is the one. Really what it was is you could see a lot of the concepts from that design still in a lot of our products today. The pack was actually two tubular pockets that zip together in the middle. When you unzip that, they would fold open. They butterfly out.

Greg: 29:28

Yeah, they butterfly out. We now have named those the bat wings, that style of pocket is we call it the bat wing pouch. Those would unzip in the middle and fold open and then you'd have two horizontal compression straps that would come across the face of the pack and sandwich the meat between those two batwing pouches and compress everything.

Levi: 29:49

Did it had a shelf on the bottom at that time or does it today or is really just the butterfly coming around that load?

Greg: 29:57

It had a load panel, so a fabric load panel that came from the bottom. You had the lid from the top and the load panel from the bottom and the bat wings on the side that kind of put it in a box almost. We have packs that have evolved to sort of the modern style that you're describing now where the pack comes off of the frame and presses the meat directly against the frame. Again, we still have the Just One that's been updated a couple of times since the original design, but the true core concept still remains. And then handful of packs, In fact, almost all of our packs have been in some way despite inspired by the design concepts that came from that original pack.

Greg: 30:35

So at the time that was the first of its kind.

Levi: 30:38

There's a real breakthrough in design. Absolutely. And what about the scabbard as part of the pack? Was anyone doing anything similar to that? Again, is a real breakthrough in design as well?

Greg: 30:50

Yeah. And so Glenn, we've owned that patent for a long time. That was a patented design by Glenn Eberly and still has the original patent letter that he received from that and has patented a number of things in his day. But that's certainly the one that has most uniquely differentiated us from the market. There's reason we're the only ones that make it due to that patent.

Greg: 31:11

There was concepts like that, like scabbards on a horse, for example, the ability to cowboy carry a rifle on a horse or things like that, but it was directly inspired by the ability to carry the rifle in line with your spine where it's most balanced.

Levi: 31:28

Be able to just reach over and grab and pull it out.

Greg: 31:30

Yeah, that's a lot of One thing I always talk about is it adds a lot of safety. I've fallen many times in the backcountry and you can be in a rocky cliffy kind of area that the ability to use trekking poles or just catch yourself with your hand is a huge advantage there. It's just significantly more comfortable. It protects the rifle at all times, particularly in the event that you fall. So it added a ton of unique value to someone who's going to spend hours, if not days with a rifle that needs to be transported around in a safe, secure, but retrievable way.

Levi: 32:05

The inaugural season of Ain't That Something wouldn't be possible without the generous support of Truss Joist, a division of Weyerhaeuser. Truss Joist has been a great supply partner to Franklin Building Supply with their array of engineered wood products, including their marquee truss joists, which you may be surprised to learn was invented and first sold right here in Boise, Idaho. Now ain't that something? Future episodes will drop every one to two months, so be sure to subscribe to the podcast in your listener So you'll see the next episode when it arrives. After nine eleven, you shared how Glenn really leveraged his experience as an Olympian competing in the biathlon, military, western hunting.

Levi: 32:53

He wants to contribute something as part of your story too after nineeleven, wanting to serve, really start spinning up a business with these product innovations and the combination of innovations. It's not just the stock anymore, but it's now, you know, these these two features of a pack. It goes beyond the hunting market. It's into the military. So now let's let's let's catch up to again, you coming into this store, he's building the company, he's developing more products.

Levi: 33:23

But as as you come in in 2019 and he's got six employees, how does the company evolve from that standpoint? Because if I understand it correctly, particularly over the last several years and going through COVID, those have been some momentous periods of change and growth for the company, too. How has the company evolved? What array of products is it producing now? What markets is it in now?

Levi: 33:48

And what really transpired over those twenty plus years into what it is today?

Greg: 33:54

Yeah. So from the early 2000s through, call it the early twenty teens, was sort of Glenn was carving out market share and growing the business and introducing new products. And there was a pretty significant rise to Everly stock in the Western hunting space. In 2010, maybe 2011, the warehouse actually burned down. And so that was a really big part of our history and our story.

Greg: 34:20

Glenn lost almost all of his inventory and basically had to rebuild the company from scratch. I feel comfortable saying because I've heard him say it, that was hard and taxing on an entrepreneur at that time, again, like a very-

Levi: 34:32

That's devastating.

Greg: 34:33

Yeah. I mean, in most cases devastating in the sense that like, how do you rebuild? But he rebuilt. There's a level of resilience in Glenn's story that again, I just can't really do justice telling, pretty incredible to literally come home from He was at a company trip show, a trade show in the Midwest and literally came home to a smoking pile of rubble that was his company and had to rebuild. It's hard enough to do it once.

Greg: 35:02

It's really hard to do it again, but he did it again and started rebuilding there in 2011. But I think he would tell you that he was tired at that point. He was burned out. And at the same time, in the early twenty teens, 2012, 2014 through that era, there was a lot of competitors coming onto the space that were implementing their own innovation and growing their own brands. Everly stock was still successful through the twenty teens, but certainly not rising the way that it had in the 2010s when it was a less crowded space.

Greg: 35:36

And Eberly stock at that time was leading the innovation of market. And through the twenty teens, as these other brands came into the space and introduced their own innovation, it challenged Eberly stock, took market share, it made market share more difficult to acquire. There was what I'll call a plateauing of the business, not necessarily that the business wasn't successful, but plateaued through the twenty teens. Taking that all the way to the final of the 2019, where I entered the business, there were a few things that uniquely happened during that time. But the two main things that stand out is really marketing and COVID, and they're very well closely tied.

Greg: 36:16

To back up a little bit, I had mentioned that I had taken over our flagship retail store there in 2019. At the beginning of 2020, our old marketing director left. At that point, I think I had kind of proven some value and shown that I probably could do more. So our now COO, who at the time was our general manager, and Glenn both approached me and said, Hey, we'd like you to take over marketing. This would be again early twenty twenty at this point.

Greg: 36:42

COVID is just now kicking off. I mentioned earlier, I had some personal things going on in my life that I'll just share was a divorce. So there was a lot going on in my life. There was COVID and this divorce that I was going through, and they're asking me to take over marketing. And at this point, we're still six, maybe seven employees.

Greg: 36:59

And I initially turned it down. I was like, I don't really know what marketing means. Like, I'm not really sure that's for me. And ultimately realized that was probably a bad choice and I should take it. So I took it, stepped into the marketing role.

Greg: 37:11

And honestly, similar to that things that should just be better idea, I was not a marketing guy. But I immediately kind of stepped in and went, hey, this seems like we're doing this wrong. Or this seems like an easy thing that we should be doing. And really just started with some very, very basic marketing concepts and ideas, new initiatives, just getting stuff done, brought in probably a new energy to the marketing department that we had maybe never had, certainly not had in a while.

Levi: 37:39

Almost leveraging some marketing naivete to your advantage, just getting back to basics.

Greg: 37:46

Exactly, exactly. Getting back to basics, looking at our website going like, hey, we're just not this is a great product, but it just doesn't look great on the website. So how do we just make it look great? Shared things that frustrate you know, if there's things that frustrate you, like, fix them.

Levi: 38:00

Right. Fix what bugs you.

Greg: 38:01

Yeah. Fix what fix what bugs you, and it would bug me. I'd be like, it's a really good product. We're just not marketing it well. And I didn't really know how to market it well, but I knew how to market it better.

Greg: 38:09

And so as we started marketing things better, we started to grow. And as we grew, we reinvested that capital and we got better. That paints a really simple picture. It hasn't been simple. There's been a lot of complexity and thought and strategy and intelligence that has gone into all that.

Greg: 38:24

The really important factor in all that, as I mentioned, was COVID. We happened to be investing in marketing at a time when a lot of brands were unsure of what was gonna happen. I was at least ignorant to what was going on in the greater economic climate, but also just energized and excited and decided we're gonna spend a lot on marketing when a lot of companies were pulling back on marketing. And at the same time, because of the COVID shutdowns, lockdowns, more people than ever were excited to get outside, we had this rush to the outdoor industry to the outdoor market that we had never seen before people were going backpacking and getting into hunting. And people were inspired to explore things like providing for themselves by learning how to kill an elk for the first time.

Greg: 39:11

We had a larger consumer audience coming to our space than there had ever been.

Levi: 39:18

You were speaking louder than everybody else at that time.

Greg: 39:21

Exactly. And so I always like to describe it as like, there were more cars on the highway than ever. And we were the only billboard on the highway.

Levi: 39:27

We

Greg: 39:28

were just marketing like crazy during that time. And people were more, more excited about buying than at any time. And then we were smart and strategic about where and how we reinvested that capital into the business to continue growing. And we were able to carve out a really significant market share and brand during that time that has now allowed us to just compete with the the most premium brands in the space. Now that the economic climate has stabilized, if you can say that, I'm not sure

Levi: 39:56

you I'm not sure how we describe what we're in now. Through

Greg: 40:01

that time, we've obviously invested in the people infrastructure and grown significantly. We're hiring right now for what will put us at about 46 instead of six. So I've the opportunity to hire a significant amount of people and add a lot to this brand.

Levi: 40:18

That's a tremendous amount of growth from 2019 to 2025.

Greg: 40:23

Yeah, yeah, we've Yeah, we've basically companies grown about seven x in six years by headcount and by revenue, pretty tremendous growth and expanded into new categories and obviously created a ton of new positions for Idahoans here. We're all local, we don't have any remote employees. So I'm really proud of that to feel like in some way we're contributing to the economy here and offering better products to the people that were passionate about serving in the outdoors and military spaces. The whole thing has just been an unbelievable and indescribable experience. I've never felt like I'm working.

Greg: 41:01

I'm excited to show up here every day. I love my team more than I could ever explain. We've talked about me a lot today. But the truth is, I didn't know any of the things that I do on a regular basis. I didn't know how to do any of those things.

Greg: 41:15

I just got fortunate to find really dedicated, talented, hardworking people to build a team with and an incredible brand that Glenn put a lot of sweat equity into building. And the convergence of those two things, like really good people working on a brand that was really well established by just an incredible person with an incredible story. It's really a recipe for success. That's more like, Hey, don't screw this up more so than it is like, find a way to make this work.

Levi: 41:44

The three legged stool you're talking about, I just kind of highlight one legged that you got the right people, the brand and products that are solving real problems. Right? And that mix is a really powerful mix and that Glenn kept seeing potential in you and you and others have been saying yes, maybe after, you know, initially saying no. We all have things going on in life. You know, continue to say yes, if I have this right, I think maybe more than a year ago, Glenn saw potential in you stepping into the CEO seat and you said yes to that.

Levi: 42:22

How has that been stepping into that role and leading this team? You're kind of hitting on some of it in terms of this growth trajectory and revenue and people count and what you're doing. But how have you found that over just the last year? Because those are big shoes to fill. I mean, what we've heard about Glenn today is incredible.

Levi: 42:40

His story, the resilience, overcoming the adversity of his, you know, getting a business started and it literally just burning to the ground and doing it again. Those are big shoes to fill. How's it been this last year plus in the seat?

Greg: 42:56

Yeah, well, to touch on a little adversity, that's good context here, and how I kind of took that next step that landed me in the CEO seat. A couple days before 2022, Glenn was diagnosed with stage four cancer. Glenn had been working on sort of being able to transition out of the company and not completely, but take some steps back to that point. But that was a big sort of external factor that was like, all right, we got a plan for succession here with a couple different potential outcomes at that time.

Levi: 43:28

Yeah. But a whole different sense of urgency. He was already on this path, but now, yeah. Exactly.

Greg: 43:33

And I'll foreshadow by saying that, you know, Glenn is doing incredibly well today. It's good to hear. Just doing incredible, which is amazing. And it's allowed him to really take that full step back at this point. But you know, that kind of, like you said, it added a different level of urgency that like, we need to get to a place where where this business is prepared to move forward regardless of what happens.

Greg: 43:56

And so that was late twenty two. And then it was mid twenty four that I actually stepped into the role. During that time, myself and our COO Tanner Leaton, who's arguably my best friend and just an incredible person to be partnered with in all of this, Really, we came together and we're like, Hey, we've got to be able to take this on. We've got to be able to fill this role together. The truth is we had a conversation internally before we decided as a group.

Greg: 44:25

Me and Tanner had a conversation about me stepping into the CEO role where it was like, Hey, I'm going fill that title. But at the end of the day, we've accomplished this together with all of our people in the company. But Tanner and I leading in parallel. We've always been side by side. It's never been one ahead of the other.

Greg: 44:42

I've always largely taken the sales and marketing side of the business, and Tanner has taken the operations side of the business. We agreed that this was just the best thing for the company. We actually approached Glenn, which I think is a really cool part of this in that we approached Glenn and said, Hey, I think it's time to do what's best for the business and formalize this move. We did it together because Glenn, one of the first things out of his mouth was like, I'm really proud of you guys because I always felt like I was going to have a really tough decision to make there. What he was referring to was that me or Tanner Tanner's been with the company for thirteen years.

Greg: 45:16

But you brought a solution to it. Yeah, we just agreed that this was the best thing for the company. For me, wasn't chasing that title. It wasn't chasing anything other than this is just what the company needs is like a every day in the office, I'm going say forty hours a week, but certainly more than that leader in the CEO seat. And we collectively agreed that it was the best thing for the company.

Greg: 45:39

Tanner and I discussed how that would or wouldn't change things moving forward and just brought a solution from again, a place of humility, but also service to the brand, if I'm being honest, like it was what the brand needed and deserved was someone who could, wasn't that Glenn didn't want to, but Glenn at that time was still very deep in the weeds of treatment for his cancer and also just a place in his life where he has absolutely been deserving of kind of the full complete picture of what the American dream entrepreneur is, which is to at some point go, okay, I've built it. I've made smart logical decisions about who I'm going to hire. And I can now largely, not completely, but largely step away and let those people run it while I enjoy reflecting on what I've built here. That's really the position that he's in now, as a result of some really good decisions that he has made. And, thankfully, again, Tanner and I have a very, what I think is a very unique relationship and that there's really no competition or threat from one another.

Greg: 46:40

We just see this as a opportunity for us to do something together that neither of us would probably be able to do ourselves. And so that's the ultimate, best outcome for everyone is that Glenn's got two guys that I think he trusts without any hesitation. And we've both gotten the opportunity to build a career that probably never could have happened the way that it did anywhere else. And at the same time, I get to work with people that I genuinely love. And I use that word very interesting.

Levi: 47:05

That's so fulfilling. And I think to just the way that you talk about and I think you honor and show respect to Glenn and his story and being the founder, right? That there's a posture that you've taken. It sounds like Tanner similar where you're stewards of a legacy. And it's a privilege for Glenn.

Levi: 47:25

And he had to say yes to bringing you all on too and seeing the potential and talent in you. But to be a beneficiary of that and have two people that are coming to him with the solution for sharing leadership instead of fighting over it. You know, we know that that's not how all stories go in this context with companies, whether they're dealing with generational leadership changes or outside people coming in. And it's just great to hear about a story that's gone well in that transition where the founder is doing well today after getting through a health crisis. There's been successful transition in leadership, and it's been good for all the relationships instead of, you know, this win or lose, you know, in a winner take all mentality, but just the shared leadership model and how you talk about Glenn and the team.

Levi: 48:19

You know, just love hearing that. And that's a huge testament to Glenn and how he started things who he is and how he built the team around him.

Greg: 48:28

Yeah, absolutely. You use the word legacy. And I got the chills because we use it often here that this this brand deserves to have a legacy built and it already in its own right, it already has, but it deserves to have that legacy, I think continued on, which is the important part. And that's where that culture of, against kind of service to the brand stems from is that like none of this could have happened without Glenn's entrepreneurial spirit and his worldview, frankly, and then building the company with the sweat and the, you know, he financed the company on his own, you know, he just did it the American kind of old fashioned way and built something that provided opportunity to other Idahoans and Americans, which was, you know, hiring guys like Tanner and, and the 45 other guys out there and myself and you know, that we've collectively come together and embrace that spirit of, of entrepreneurial legacy that we're trying to build. And it really just maintains that as the priority.

Greg: 49:29

And so it's easy to put things like titles and status and you know, your own personal legacy. Second to that, because it just nothing else will ever be as important to us as ensuring that this legacy continues on. So it's, it's a really, obviously a special place to work. But I don't think I can put into a sentence like what this place really means to me. And I'm just grateful for and fortunate to have the opportunity to be the guardian of that culture.

Greg: 50:01

That's probably the responsibility that I see as my most primary here. I got a lot of financial responsibilities and operational responsibilities and all those things. But the end of the day, if there's anything that I hope to continue to offer to this brand forever, it's the protection of that legacy and doing so by ensuring that we maintain the unique culture that we have and that has gotten us to the point that we are today.

Levi: 50:38

Episode with others. Thanks again to our season sponsor, TrustJoyce, and to our guest for graciously sharing their time and story. So go start, create, or build something surprising so I can share your story. Until next time.