Transcript of Landon McKinnis: From Rejection to Shark Tank, Why He Never Quit

When it's time for hibachi, my protein comes from ButcherBox and ButcherBox only. Go to butcherbox.com/mick to get $20 off your first box. Hostinger's AI builds your website in minutes. No coding needed. Go to hostinger.com/mick and use code MICK for 10% off. Join the millions who are already banking fee-free with America's number one choice for banking. Head to chime.com/mick. Go to im8health.com/mick. or click on the link in the description and use code Mick for a free welcome kit, 5 free travel sachets, plus 10% off your order.

We want things that we're not even ready for, and God has to prepare us for those times when we are ready. We might think we're ready, but we're not. Um, and so I always say God didn't bring me this far just to bring me this far.

Ladies and gentlemen,

welcome back to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged. And today I'm honored To be in my house with my really good friend. We're talking about a marketing genius, a Shark Tank winner, the owner, the founder of one of the best products that men and women need. And we're gonna talk about that today. We are talking to none other than Mr. Landon McKinnis. I call him the original L Boogie. L Boogie, how you doing today, brother?

Doing good, buddy. Doing good. Thank you for having me here. Appreciate it.

I'm honored to have you, man. Like, our, our friendship goes beyond words. We, we met through our mutual mentor, Daymond John.

Absolutely.

Um, doing amazing things in life, man. But I'm just honored to have you on and to, to show the world who Landon McKinnis really is.

I'm grateful to be here and grateful to have this opportunity to sit down with you myself. So,

yes, sir. Yes, sir. So let's get into it, Al Boogie, man. Like, Football star in, in Kansas City, going through a lot in life, inspiring a lot of people, serial entrepreneur, serial go-getter. But I love to ask, man, like, what's your because? What's your purpose? What's your mission? Why do you do the things that you do today?

That's a very good question. And thought about that for quite some time. And I would have to say it's wanting to make my mom, my kids very proud of me and say, you know what, he might have made a lot of mistakes, he might not be perfect, but look how far he's come. And, you know, that's my son, that's my dad.

Look at that. Look at that, man. That's an amazing, amazing thing. And, you know, as I've gotten to know you, to know your story a little bit, talk to us about 10-year-old Landon, man. Talk to us about the journey that got you to where you are today, man. Like, you know, we have a very similar background, uh, growing up very structured, very strict, man. Talk to us about how L Boogie got here.

Uh, my childhood, very strict family household, 2-parent household. My dad was a disciplinarian, mom very much about getting our education, having an education to fall back on. Sports aren't always gonna be there. Uh, and then also growing up in the suburbs of Kansas City, Shawnee, Kansas. Mm-hmm. living in the suburbs, but then, you know, playing against, you know, other kids and top-tier talent from the inner city and other parts of Kansas City. So dealing with, you know, parts of racism, not being Black enough, not being white enough, having to find your own identity. Mm-hmm. Being your own person, saying, you know, I'm Landon, you know, there's not a title that defines me. And that's been another driving force in my life. Um, being, you know, raised to be not just good enough, not as good, but twice as good. So a lot of that work ethic was installed and instilled in me when I was young and kind of has carried over into my everything I do in my

adulthood. And so that leads to a segment I call the Unplugged Truth. A lot of folks don't understand, you know, growing up as an African American or a person of color, right? Because I don't want to make it seem like it's just African Americans too. Absolutely. But growing up in the suburbs, uh, and sometimes it's like, oh, you live over there, you're, you're the hustlers now, right? Like, people don't understand that sometimes you get it both ways from all directions, right? Like, Like you're too good to be with a certain crowd. Perception, not reality.

Correct.

But then also, but you're not us on the other side, right? So you're always stuck in this middle, man. Talk to the viewers and the listeners about that because I don't think people understand that enough, that complexity of life a little bit.

If you don't, yeah, absolutely, 100%. One part of it is you kind of go through what we all do as young, was an identity, I would say, a crisis, right? Is you're not, you know, you don't necessarily obviously fit in with all the majority of, you know, the white kids that you go to school with. You deal with the politics, you know, the sports politics, the different coaches, athletic directors, opportunities, not being given opportunities, being told, You might be good in a lot of things, but we're not going to allow you to be, you know, good at everything so that some of our other students can have opportunities. Playing in inner city and some of the other kids that have gone on to play professional sports, knowing that you compete on the same level as them, but knowing that coaches still will hold you back based off of You know your race and not wanting to see you succeed. And in spite of those setbacks, you have to tell yourself, "I'm gonna make it regardless." When they come see those other people, my mom taught me make sure that they notice you. So when scouts come to see whoever, they're gonna notice you on the field or on the court.

When they come and see such and such, make sure they know who you are. That's one of the things my mom taught me. Uh, it was a very poignant memory I had in my childhood. It was, I think it was about 4th, 5th grade. And, uh, my teammates weren't passing me the ball. Like they would not pass me the ball. Of course it was an all-white team and I got very frustrated because it was deliberate. Like I mean wide open. And I started getting real upset, almost started crying. My mom pulled me into the hallway at halftime. She said, stop crying. She said, stop showing them you're upset and go out there. And when you get the ball, you show them what you do. So ever since then, that's been in my head. Show them who you are.

That's wonderful, dude. And there's something that you said about no matter what the setbacks are, right? Push through. And I think that's a big lesson and a big message for everybody. I don't care who you are, what you do in life, you're gonna have setbacks, right? Like if, if you're a business leader and that business plan that you wrote in January really came through the way that you wanted it to, your company'd be a billion-dollar company right now, right? If you had whatever personal plan in January and it did exactly what you did, everybody would weigh like £110 and, and be able to lift £5,000, right? They're

like, mm-hmm.

It doesn't work that way. You're gonna have setbacks. You're gonna have things you gotta overcome. Talk to us about that, man. Like, like where do you find that core strength to overcome? Because we talked about the personal life, but we're gonna get into the business as well. Like there, there's things, there's challenges that we have. Like what does Landon do to overcome and, and conquer the setbacks that you know that you're gonna have?

One thing I do is I lean on my faith.

Hmm.

One thing I've always, like you said, life is gonna throw setbacks. I mean, you know, trauma, losing somebody in your life, a door closing, being told no a lot. Nobody likes rejection. You know, nobody wants to fail. No one wants to be considered a failure, but God doesn't put more on you than you can handle. And he knows your story and it's on his time. And I've had to learn that. I've had to learn patience. I've had to learn to be still and let God work, let God work on me. A lot of times we want things that we're not even ready for, and God has to prepare us for those times when we are ready. We might think we're ready, but we're not. Hmm. And so I always say, God didn't bring me this far just to bring me this far. All right, so he didn't bring me this far to get all the way to a fully functional prototype just to leave me at a fully functional prototype stage.

He

didn't leave me, uh, he didn't bring me this far, right, to meet Meg just to meet Meg. Yeah, so there's more, there's more to the story that it's already written and I just got to keep walking in his path.

Amen to that, brother. Amen to that. So I want to get us to the hot takes. It's usually one of my favorite segments and people think, oh, it's gonna be like a fire take or something like that. Like, we're not ever here to disparage other people or other businesses. Here's what I wanna talk about, 'cause I do wanna talk about this product right here.

Mm-hmm.

GoNuts. Shark Tank. One, amazing that you got accepted. Like, people don't understand the process of Shark Tank. Two, you got a deal. People don't understand how hard that is to actually get a deal on Shark Tank. And then 3, this is the hot take, man. Like every deal actually isn't the right deal for you.

Mm-hmm.

And you were able to, to look at the deal post, uh, and then come to a mutual decision that, hey, maybe it's better to be advisors than it is to be business partners or strategists because of what you'd have to give up.

Mm-hmm.

I wanna get through all of that, but I wanna talk about the Shark Tank journey of GoNuts first. Then let's talk about the experience and then we're gonna go into the product. So let's talk about you building a prototype and saying, I gotta get on Shark Tank. Let's go there.

Well, I know one, I never intended to be on Shark Tank. Yeah. Um, going back through the journey, um, May Memorial Day, 2023 was when I got my first 1,000 units that had landed at my house on the back of a truck, unloaded on pallets, sitting in my backyard. And I raised my hands in the air like I was Rocky and started crying because it was real, right? It wasn't a prototype. It wasn't just 1 or 2 samples. It was 1,000. units of Go Nuts.

Yes, sir.

1,000 units of something everybody told me was not possible, uh, couldn't be done, uh, laughed at, said that, you know, maybe it wasn't the best idea. And lo and behold, there it was. So that landed May Memorial weekend. My mom started getting real sick. July. So this is 2 months after that. Now, in the meantime, I'm posting on social media, on TikTok, I'm doing the normal things. And then August 7th, 3 days after my mom— 3 days after my birthday, my mom ended up passing. Our going home celebration was the 21st. I got home the 28th. And then God moved again a week later, went viral on TikTok. Wow. 2 weeks and viral going on TikTok, sold out of that 1,000, doubled down. January of the next year, '24 rolls around, classic entrepreneur story, having a viral product, not able to meet the demand, and then the demand moves on because our attention spans are very small in this day and age. So there was that hurdle of now what? Now I've doubled down on inventory, sales have slowed down. And then June comes, I get an email, says, hey, I'm a casting producer on Shark Tank.

I would love to see if you had time to talk about possibility of applying for the show. And at the time, things weren't going as great as they were, so I thought somebody was joking with me. And I said, it's not a funny joke. So, but I said, you know what, maybe it is. So maybe, maybe not. So I replied. And the initial appointment scheduled meeting was rescheduled because he got sick. And I said, "Okay, here we go. Maybe it's not real." But then I researched who it was, and I found out he really was a part of the show. He had been casting different businesses for a few years, actually. So I was like, "Okay, maybe this is real." Found him on LinkedIn. So long story short, Shark Tank called me, felt that. They had found me looking for other business and felt that I would be a good fit for the show. Now, I went through all of the, I'm not ready, I just started, I don't have $1 million in sales, I'm just a solo founder. Hmm. You know, I just started on this journey. I didn't necessarily plan on being on Shark Tank, but it would be a huge opportunity.

And lo and behold, Um, God blessed me each step of the way to get accepted, um, to come out there and record my pitch.

So what's crazy about this is Shark Tank found him. Shark Tank found you.

Yeah.

So for everybody that's out there, if you've got a product and you're wondering, how do you go next level? One, Go from prototype to actually getting the product delivered.

Mm-hmm.

Step 1, right?

Mm-hmm.

And then I'm gonna promise you, I don't care what it is that you're doing, double down on social media because everybody's watching social media now. Social media is the new commercials. Social media is your opportunity to be your own PR agent because it does what it did for Landon. It got him seen. He wasn't trying to go on Shark Tank. Probably didn't even know the process to do anything on Shark Tank.

Not one bit.

They found you. So if you're watching this, if you're listening to this right now, I'm telling you, do more on social media. You're not doing enough. You are not doing enough. Go do it. Don't try to be perfect. Just get your product out there. Be visible, promote your product because no one's going to do it better than you. And you don't know who's watching or who's seeing it. So now you get to go on Shark Tank.

Yes, sir.

Your application gets accepted. You get approved. You get to walk through the double doors, right?

Yeah.

You get to walk through the double doors. And here's what people don't realize. Those double doors you walk through, you open them. And for like 30, 45 seconds, they're getting the cameras set. They're doing all the checks. So The Sharks are just staring at you before you can say a word. How intimidating is that?

Very. First of all, you get one walkthrough, and they're not there for that one walkthrough. So you get there, all of it, all of the process is virtual until you show up on set, basically. And they pick you up, your nerves are all over the place. I felt like I played that Eminem song the whole time of, this is my moment. You know, this is what— Like, you only get one shot, right? You only get one shot to ask him. And that was my shot. So, and I knew that. So the preparation, knowing that you're gonna be there, I read Daymond's book, Power Shift. I watched episode after episode of Shark Tank. I made sure, one thing I will say, you have to be ready. Yep. So just because you start a business doesn't mean you're always ready To be a business. So one thing, one of the things that I found that helped me was I was ready. I had my business was registered. I had my own bank account. I had my patents that were registered. I had trademarks that were registered. I had taxes that had been filed. I had inventory receipts that I had paid for real inventory.

I had plans for what I want to do, business plan, marketing plan, who I might want to have as a Shark. Every time that they request information from you, You have to be ready. And because the information that they request is, do you have it today or send it to me tomorrow? A lot of those things you aren't going to be able to get ready in a day or two. So a lot of it is knowing how to actually have a real business, set your business up for real success from the beginning so that when that time does come calling, you're ready to answer.

Yeah. And that's so important. And I love that. And I'm gonna borrow this. We, we might start a little social media series on this. Just because you started a business doesn't mean you should be in business or that you're ready for business. Like, that's the, that's the message right there, brother. Mm-hmm. Um, talk to us about that, man. So you've gotten that 30-second wait.

Mm-hmm.

They're staring at you.

Mm-hmm.

You know, I've, I've been back set before and they're smiling, right? And then it's go time. Like, They don't know you. They're not, they, they don't get a little pitch deck on you. Like, this is you getting for the first time to tell who you are. And you've got those 7 to 10 seconds to connect out of the gate, right? Or they're losing interest. And they're looking at the product, they're holding it, they see it. But now you gotta tell the story. Yeah. You gotta sell it because this box isn't really gonna do anything. So walk through what that First, I'm Landon McKinnison, go nuts. Like, walk us through that.

So I had a game plan ready when I walked in there. In my mind, I knew I had to come with it with the— first, it's a TV show, right? So you have to be entertaining with your pitch.

Yeah.

And after the pitch, you're gonna have to know your business because they're gonna start asking all the questions that you're gonna need to answer. And then third, you're gonna need to be able to close the deal. And so as soon as those— I was already sweating. I was sweating before I got out there. I sweated so much the makeup and hair ladies gave me my own personal fan and I was using that thing right before they said, Landon, you're up. Not only that, when I got there and you're standing in front and you walk down and those doors open and you know when you're walking down there that the cameras are filming that walkout because we've all seen that walk. So we all know that walk that we're— now I'm walking that walk. And I get there and the doors open up and there they are. For the first time you see Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, Daymond John. And they're all just sitting there quiet and they all look at you with this little smile on their face. Like, and you're just, and you have that 30 seconds. And I remember from Daymond's book, Daymond's He gives a tip.

So a lot of the little gems about being successful are true. A lot of people's secrets and things you want to know, they put in a book.

Right.

So these I'm telling you, they're in a book. There's not— I'm not telling any secrets that Daymond has not told because he put it in a book.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So one of the things Daymond looks for is what type of person they are in those first 30 seconds when you come through those doors. What is your body language? What do you say? Do you say anything? Tells them a lot. So basically the first impressions tell a lot about people. And one thing Daymond said is, I look to see if someone says anything in that 30 seconds. So I knew I had to say something to get his attention in those first 30 seconds.

Right, right.

And I knew my pitch, I knew my pitch and my product was a very awkward product.

Yeah.

And this pitch was gonna be something that they had never experienced before.

Mm-hmm.

So my comment was, nothing like an awkward moment before an awkward pitch. And they all giggled. And so from there I went into my pitch, which, you know, I'm Landon McKinnis, I'm here seeking $100,000 for 15% of my company, and went into it.

And you got a deal.

I did.

You got a deal.

I did.

What was going through the pitch? What was the toughest question that you had to answer and which shark gave you that question? You ever open the fridge and think, what's for dinner? After a full day, that decision ought to be easy. That's where ButcherBox comes in. ButcherBox delivers 100% grass-fed beef, organic chicken, wild-caught seafood, and more. All sourced to standards they can actually tell you about. They've already done the research and made the tough sourcing decisions, so all you have to do is decide what's for dinner. When it's time for hibachi, my protein comes from ButcherBox and ButcherBox only. Every box is customizable, so you can choose the cuts and proteins that fit your routine. Whether you're grilling for friends, feeding the family on a Tuesday, or trying to avoid another expensive takeout order, you've already got great protein ready to go. If you're looking for an easier way to get great meals on the table, give ButcherBox a try. Go to butcherbox.com/mick to get $20 off your first box, plus ground beef, steak tips, or chicken breast in every box for life, with free shipping always. That's butcherbox.com/mick. Again, that's butcherbox.com/mick. Be sure to use our link so they know we sent you.

On Mick Unplugged, we talk about showing up with purpose. For me, that includes taking care of myself without overcomplicating my day. That's what I appreciate about IM8. One drink makes my daily routine simpler and easier to stick with. IM8's Daily Ultimate Essentials brings 16 supplements into one drink with 90 ingredients across 9 major organ systems for $2.61 a day. Co-founded by David Beckham, it was built by leading doctors and researchers. I use IM8. Give it a try. Go to im8health.com/keemstar. /MIC right now or click on the link in the description and use code MIC for a free welcome kit, 5 free travel sachets, plus 10% off your order. That's code MIC at im8health.com/MIC. Code MIC at im8health.com/MIC. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

You know, it's really hard to pick one question because they talk over each other and they riddle you like with bullets.

Yes,

they do. With questions. And you want to be respectful and answer each and every one of them. But really what it's— your numbers, your numbers questions, because the questions about yourself, those are easier to answer because those are you. All right. But then when it comes to your business, have you thought of this? What did you do about this? I think some of the hardest questions, I say maybe Kevin and Mark Cuban have some of the hardest ones. Barbara is hilarious. Barbara actually keeps the room light. And Kevin plays a mean guy on TV, but he's really He's really one of the greatest. Yeah, he's great

too.

Yeah, he's actually a guy. And Damon, I mean, all of them, every single one of them. Yeah, I can't say enough about every single one of them, even though I only get to work— I got to talk and work with a lot closer with Damon on a day-to-day basis. But Damon has absolutely been a blessing to me, my life, and the family, introducing us. There's not a One thing that he has not done for me that he said he was going to do for me that he has not done.

Amen to that. Great human being. And I tell people all the time, if Daymond were not a Shark, he could be a standup comedian. Because when you get to know Daymond, he is hilarious. Hilarious. Um, so you went in asking $100,000 for 15%. What deal did you accept?

Ended up, I got offers from Barbara. Uh, first person went out was Mr. Wonderful. Uh, Lori gave me a lot of compliments thinking I was— she was about to say yes, but then she decided no. But before that, there was Mark Cuban. Mark came out immediately swinging and made me an offer. And if anybody knows anything about how Mark offers, I knew it was, I probably needed to give him an answer probably sooner than

this. Here's an offer for you, you gotta take it right now or the offer's off the table.

Exactly. So that went through my head immediately. And then he got interrupted by Daymond, thank God, right? Because Daymond was like, hold on. And then they started going back and forth. But ultimately, I always wanted to work with Daymond. I always thought Daymond's very competitive. When doing my— being a student of the show, Daymond is very competitive. Daymond also is very— sit back, listens, learns a lot, and he's learned a lot from all his peers as well.

Mm-hmm.

But knowing that Lori and Mark had invested in Manscaped previously, I knew Daymond and his portfolio was probably only missing one thing, 'cause he's into music, fashion, all of those things, but didn't necessarily have his own own hair care or electric razor line. So, and him being able to blend culture, hip-hop, fashion, everything that he did with FUBU, which integrated into our, I mean, he made it a lifestyle. Literally, it was a lifestyle for people. So that's the kind of brand I was wanting to build was a lifestyle brand with Goliaths. Yeah. So having those 2, and what's funny about that is I could have cried at that moment was I've been on this journey since 2018 and heard no the whole way. No, no, trying to find investors, no. Um, you know, people, you know, prototype manufacturers, mentors, family, friends, you name it. You know, it's like the support, uh, was a lot just to push through. And then you get there and your very first yes you hear comes from Mark Cuban. Um, yeah, your, your, your, your whole, your whole mind is blown, but you can't show it on camera.

Yeah. And that, that just means that one, you had a product that solves problems. 2, a product that's unique.

Mm-hmm.

And then more importantly, 3, a product that can make money.

Right.

Because if you know the Sharks, if you know any strategic investor, right? Mm-hmm. Like those 3 things have to be true.

Right.

Right. So let's now, because we've talked about the setup, Let's talk about this product, man. Let's talk about GoNuts. Let's talk about it. Um, the name is crazy. The name is cool. Let's talk about what problem this product is a solution for. So if you're watching, if you're listening, now we're going to talk about GoNuts and what it is, what it does, and who it's for.

Problem is threefold.

Okay.

One, Subliminally, when we— one, I'm bald, but I have a lot of hair trimmers, beard trimmers, straight razors, nose hair trimmers, everything. If I laid out every one of those, which I did, you know, at home, and I laid out each one, the one thing that would be in common is they all look alike as far as being a handheld, right? You got the handheld electric beard trimmer, your handheld straight razor comes with a stick and a razor on the end, nose hair clippers, you know, everybody gets the idea.

Can I stop you for one second though?

Yeah.

You're bald.

Right.

I'm shaved. Oh,

okay.

Shaved is a decision.

No,

I'm shaved. Oh, okay. I was gonna say bald. No, I think I'm shaved. I shave less and less.

Actually, I'll be honest. Yes, I am a little bit thin from shaving to be bald for so many years. After a while, your head just goes with it. But Yeah, absolutely. I found it was a cost-efficient way to maintain and look good when you're fresh out of college and you're living on a budget and you got rent to pay. So this barbershop is expensive.

Yes, sir. So we had all the different razor prototypes, right? You're shaving your face, straight razor handle, you still can't get everywhere you want to, but that market's dominated.

Dominated.

Dominated.

Dominated.

So, so what is Go Nuts doing?

So I sat around, I said, what market can I dominate, make an industry? Disrupting product, do something different. And as a customer, you know, we go everywhere and as a customer, we like to be— don't like to be lied to. It's like, no, why do you lie? Don't lie to me as a customer. Don't tell me one thing is one thing when I know it's another, right? And it's so you tell me this hair clipper that normally cuts me is now safe, but nothing has changed about it other than you telling me it is. It's like telling me just because a dog is as small as a Chihuahua doesn't bite as hard as a Great Dane. They both bite, right? It doesn't mean one's safer than the other. Right. So subliminally, what I was doing was I was— there was a few times when I was shaving below the waist, and there was one distinct time because I'm like a bull in a china shop. So sometimes if I hurt myself, I blame myself first. So I was like, okay, this next time I'm going to be careful. I'm not even going to get close.

Like, I'm not even going to get close to my skin. So I thought I was not close at all because I'm paying attention and Being careful and thought I never came close. I was like, okay, I'm fine. And then I sat down the next day and I actually felt my underwear rub against a spot where I obviously had cut myself. I was like, that's amazing. I don't even know how that's possible. So I was like, how? And so I studied it and I figured out the way that those blades move is they pull hair in, right? So now when it pulls that hair in, it pulled the skin closer to those razors and then that's where it cut. So I was like, oh, okay. And I was like, well, even subliminally, I already was scared to do that in the first place. So subliminally, why can't we have something that I'm not scared of using, for one? 2, is not going to bite, cut me, or actually do the things I don't want it to do. And 3, why can't it look different? If it's going to perform different, it probably should look different so that I know it's going to be used for something different than what these are So then I started thinking, well, what could it look like that everybody would like?

You know, what is something that has a mass appeal, right? Something somebody's going to want to use every day, that's in front of them every day on a daily basis, reminds them to use it all the time. It's going to shave body hair. So no matter if we're in a pandemic, a global pandemic, people can't go anywhere, do anything, one thing people still had to do was get their hair cut and eat and shave. go to the restroom, which is why toilet paper was selling off the charts. People still needed to find a way to cut their own hair at home if they couldn't go to the barbershop or anything like that. So they had to start buying things to use at home. So I was like looking at that industry, and it's smaller than the bread aisle, I'll tell you that, as far as competitors.

Yeah.

So I wanted to stay in my lane below the neck. I didn't want to compete with everybody that's Going for up here because there was a limited playing field down here. I went to work, took action, and not only that, thought about a ball.

Whoa, pause. Uh, thought about— no, we're not— no, pause, pause, pause.

Uh,

we're not thinking about that, sir. But that was sweet. You were thinking about—

Yeah, how to hold on.

How to hold on.

How to hold on. There you go. We have more control. What would actually fit, feel comfortable in our hand, looks appealing, people like it universally. You see it everywhere all day long throughout your day, so you would be reminded to use it. The image and shape of a circle we see everywhere throughout our day. You look everywhere in front of you right now, I'm sure you'll see something in front of you that's either a circle, round, sphere-shaped. Some similar shape to that is going to remind you of circle. You know, those light fixtures, basketball, the top of this table, top globe, spheres all around us. So I was like, there it is right there. People would think about using it every single day if it's shaped like a sphere.

Yeah. So love the concept, love the product, user of the product. Um, it is men and women. So we got the, the Black and we've got PD. Yeah. Um, I would say definitely women have been using this grooming tool more than men in the history of life, but men need it too. Right. Um, personal question. Was it a woman that said, hey, Landon, you need to, uh, you need to build something? 'Cause I'm joking. I'm joking. I'm joking. I'm joking.

No, no,

no. But The product is amazing. gonuts.com. The, the,

'cause it is a the gonuts.com. The T-H-E-G-O-N-U-T-Z, nuts with a Z.

Dot com.

Dot com.

And everybody that's, that's watching, that's listening right now, you can go to thegonuts.com/mick, M-I-C-K, and you get $20 off. Mm-hmm. That's freaking amazing. I don't know what you're waiting for. There's a link. If you're watching, there's a link right here on YouTube. If you're listening, it's in the show notes in the description. Go get it right now. Um, the product is that amazing. Um, actually, Landon and I are collaborators. Uh, you know, he's helping me with social. So if you're, if you see some of my social posts, you're starting to see the gonuts.com/makeitfitin, just because I believe in the product that much that everyone should have it. If you have the product, you should show and tell 3 or 4 people about it because one, it works. 2, it's engineered the right way. And there's an actual science behind it that most of the straight razors aren't doing. You just heard Landon talk about they're designed to pull hair. which leads to irritation. I can tell you after using this for 6 months, no irritations at all. Right. So that's freaking phenomenal. Freaking phenomenal. Yeah.

Women love using it a lot more than men. So yeah, I appreciate that support and I'm excited. I'm very excited actually about a lot of things that are coming up.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So we're gonna talk about those things that are coming up in a second too. So this next segment of the show we call The Room. And I believe, especially for entrepreneurs and for leaders, for founders, there's always that moment, that introduction, that meeting, that dinner, that room that changed the trajectory of, of that business or our lives. If you could go back, was there a room, was there a dinner, was there a meeting, was there a conversation that changed the trajectory of, of going up to where your person was?

Shark Tank.

Shark Tank was the moment.

There ain't no, there's no other bigger moment than that. Shark Tank.

Shark Tank was the moment.

Yeah, sure. The moment, April 18th, 2025, when season 16, episode 17 aired. Yeah,

yeah.

Everything changed.

And it re-airs, right?

Almost once a month. It, it, it, like, a guy is amazing. It re-airs almost once a month. Once a month. CNBC, almost once a month. I'd say about a month and a half. It, it, yeah.

Yeah. And, and the cool thing about it, 'cause I know, right? Like those re-airs, you can see an immediate spike.

Uh, every time.

Every time.

I was just on Sunday. I'm still Amazon. For some reason, Amazon is going crazy today. Hey, no complaints, right? No, no complaints.

No, that's the way it's supposed to be. So if you're, if you're watching, if you're listening, man, get into those rooms, get into those moments. For Landon, it started With social media. He wouldn't have got into the room if it were not for social media, right?

No.

Right. And, and so how important is that strategy? No matter what your business is, it could be a service business, right? Like how important is, A, knowing your ideal buyer? People talk about ideal clients, but you gotta know who that ideal buyer is of your ideal client if you're in the service business, right? Like how important Was it for you to understand who would buy your product and the message to them?

You ever open the fridge and think, what's for dinner? After a full day, that decision ought to be easy. That's where ButcherBox comes in. ButcherBox delivers 100% grass-fed beef, organic chicken, wild-caught seafood, and more, all sourced to standards they can actually tell you about. They've already done the research and made the tough sourcing decisions, so all you have to do is decide what's for dinner. When it's time for hibachi, my protein comes from ButcherBox and ButcherBox only. Every box is customizable, so you can choose the cuts and proteins that fit your routine. Whether you're grilling for friends, feeding the family on a Tuesday, or trying to avoid another expensive takeout order, you've already got great protein ready to go.

If you're looking for an easier way to get great meals on the table, give ButcherBox a try. Go to butcherbox.com/mick to get $20 off your first box, plus ground beef, steak tips, or chicken breast in every box for life. With free shipping always. That's butcherbox.com/mick. Again, that's butcherbox.com/mick. Be sure to use our link so they know we sent you.

On Mick Unplugged, we talk about showing up with purpose. For me, that includes taking care of myself without overcomplicating my day. That's what I appreciate about IM8. One drink makes my daily routine simpler and easier to stick with. IM8's Daily Ultimate Essentials brings 16 supplements into one drink with 90 ingredients across 9 major organ systems For $2.61 a day. Co-founded by David Beckham, it was built by leading doctors and researchers. I use IM8. Give it a try. Go to im8health.com/mick right now or click on the link in the description and use code MICK for a free welcome kit, 5 free travel sachets, plus 10% off your order. That's code MICK at im8health.com/mick. Code MICK at im8health.com/mick. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Uh, very important. So doing your market research, having, um, those, um, not support groups, but those, those people getting feedback, sending out samples and telling, having real people tell you real feedback and tell you exactly why they like it. So knowing your audience, knowing how to speak directly to the problems and the problem that you're solving, not only the problem you're solving, but how does it benefit them? I have, for instance, quite a few customers that have Parkinson's that are a little bit up there in age. And because of the way that you can hold GoNuts as a sphere in your hand and have a lot more control, it allows them to be able to use it a lot more efficiently on their own besides having something that they Mm-hmm. There's a lot of different ways that I've been amazed at that this product has been able to affect people's lives and not only give them a better quality of life, but also give them a sense of dignity when they're in the hospital needing to, you know, clean themselves up when they have a lot of people coming to visit them and they might not be looking their best, but people want to come and, you know, show how much they care and support someone when they might be You know, in the hospital and not everyone feels like they're looking their best.

I've had people tell me it was a lot that allowed them to be able to, you know, be presentable when they felt like it, when they weren't able to. So knowing your audience, knowing, listening to your customers and the feedback and then serving them, those are the people you want to make sure you take care of.

I love that, dude. And, you know, talking about some of the places that it's going, and I know there's some things that are under NDA right now, and there's some things that are patent pending that we don't want to give out some secret sauce to just yet. But of what you can say, where is L Boogie taking this? Where, where do you see the next iteration of the Go Nuts or anything that you have going on?

So just like everything in the world right now is AI, AI, Uh, patent pending right now to turn GoNuts into a complete personal grooming device by integrating AI into it. And that's patent pending. I won't go into it, but very excited about that and what we got coming up moving forward with being able to have AI integrated into it. So it's something like, uh, I've always been thought forward and staying ahead of my competitors, and that's how I've been able to compete. It's helped sustain me here is being thought forward and thinking ahead and Use that creativity to separate myself from the competition.

I love that, brother. I love that so much. So the last segment of the show I call the Unplugged 5.

The Unplugged 5.

Rapid fire, 5 questions. Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. You ready?

Yep.

All right. You are from Kansas City. Kansas City people believe that they have the best barbecue in the world. Landon McKinnis, you were in the Carolinas today. Who has better barbecue, Carolinas or Kansas City?

Kansas City.

He said the Carolinas. That's what he said. Because we don't believe in molasses on everything. Molasses belongs on a biscuit.

What are you talking about? I don't know about molasses. What is— what are you talking about?

Molasses and ketchup.

That's not what we do.

Yeah, it is.

Somebody lied to you.

No, no, I've been there. I've watched you went to

the

wrong— well, no, no, no. See, he's from Kansas City and doesn't even know the basics.

I do know the basics. The basics.

That's why I said Greenville.

We don't do the vinegar base. We don't do the vinegar thing. The vinegar and the, and the easy pulled pork. That's easy. That's like, that's like the laziest piece of barbecue.

So Kansas City is lazy. No, I got you. I got you. All right. So what's the one thing you learned about Landon? In this journey of founding and growing and building GoNuts?

I'm a lot more resourceful than I thought.

I like that. I like that. So you're from Kansas City. We're gonna keep going back to it. Your favorite barbecue is the Carolina's. Got it. Who's your favorite sports team? Let's go NFL.

Kansas City Chiefs.

He said the New England Patriots. Love it. The New England Patriots. Nah. So actually my, my oldest son is doing an internship with the Chiefs.

There you go.

Yeah. So, you know, I got some support for the Chiefs, Andy Reid and his squad doing a lot of really cool things on the operations side. So yeah,

it's been a long time coming. It hasn't always been this good, but we don't, we don't ride it out.

Hey, you know, we got 6 of those things if you need to borrow a couple of them.

We on our way. We on our

way. That's what you say, but we back too. Just throwing that out.

I've seen that.

Just throwing that out.

I've seen that.

All right, so—

But aren't you from Carolina?

Yeah, yeah, I'm from here. I'm from here.

We don't wanna talk about the Panthers.

Our barbecue is the best.

We don't wanna talk about the Panthers.

No, I had an uncle who played for the Patriots, so I'm a Patriot. Everybody here knows I don't like the Clemson Tigers. I don't like the South Carolina Gamecocks because there's only one Carolina and it's North. I'm a Tar Heel and I'm a Patriot. And I'm a Georgia Bulldog.

Okay.

That's—

You all over the place.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's what I got. That's what I got.

I got you.

All right. So for all the entrepreneurs that are out there, what's one tip that you have for them right now to, no matter what phase of business they're in, what's one tip you have for them?

Run your own race.

Hmm. Run your own race.

Uh-huh. Run your own race. So classic story of the, the tortoise and the hare.

Mm-hmm.

All right. Um, The tortoise didn't win because he just, you know, because he outran, or, you know, the hare lost because he got distracted. Yeah. He thought he had the race, it was won. Tortoise ran his race, stayed focused, kept going straight ahead, didn't get distracted, wasn't worried about, oh man, look how far ahead he is.

Hmm.

I might as well quit now. Nah, he just kept going. He said, okay, I see you. I'm, I'm coming. I'm running at my pace. I'm running at my— and he ran his own race and the hare took a nap. Thought he had the race won. Who's worried about that slow guy way back there? He's not competition to me. He's, he can't, there's no way he'll catch up. Ramon, run your own race. So I couldn't be worrying about what my competitors have bigger budgets. They've got, you know, they spend all this money. They have a whole team. They've got employees. They've got more commercials, bigger visions, partnerships. I can't, I gotta run my own race and running my own race got me here.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Last question. As the story Of Landon McKinnis is being told, as it's being shared with the world, what's one or two words you wanna make sure are in that story that defines who you are?

Never quit.

Never quit. My guys, I freaking appreciate you so much, brother. This has been amazing. We're in my house. This is Entree New. So if you're in the Carolinas, Entree New, downtown Greenville, it's just the speakeasy that makes life happen. I'm here whenever I'm home, like all the time. They blessed us to let us record and film here today. Landon, man, I'm so honored to—

I'm honored to be here.

Not, not just to have you, man, but I'm honored to really be a friend, man. Like, Like, God puts the right people at the right time. You've been such a blessing for me. Um, I love the business, I love the product, but I'm just honored that the circle that we have is us.

Yeah, I'm honored to be called a friend and have you as a friend, man. I can't, I can't say enough for the support that you've been able to— mentorship, everything. I can't appreciate it. I can't say enough.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And if you're watching, if you're listening, The links to thegonuts.com/mick out there now. Go get it, share it with friends. It's an amazing product. Landon is an amazing person. Follow him on social. We're going to make sure he's back again because we got a lot of things going on, especially since Carolina barbecue is his favorite. We're going to make sure that he's here doing it more.

We're going to have to get you some real barbecue. No,

that's why I said Carolina born and raised. It's real. It's real. Uh, you know what's crazy? I don't even eat pork. I don't even eat barbecue sauce.

That's what I mean. Down there we do. They have burnt ends, brisket.

I don't eat brisket either. What?

See, because that's why.

See, baked beans though. You give me some barbecue baked beans, I'm there. But Carolina South anyway.

What is that?

If you are a viewer, if you're a listener, don't forget your because is your superpower. Go unleash it. Till next time. Love you.

Thank you.