Subie Scoop - Subie Events Part 2 with Bryc

[00:00:10] Hello everybody, how's it going? Welcome to another edition of the Subie Scoop. This is a continuation of the Subie Events series. So this is part two where I talk to Brick about his role with Subie Events and hear some stories from him about how he got started with Subie Events. He's got a pretty cool story and hear how it progressed into now him being full time with Subie Events and being part of what they call the Subie Events.

[00:00:40] The first edition of this series was with Khan on April 21st for that Subie Scoop. So if you didn't get a chance to listen to that one, if you missed it for some reason, go back and give it a listen. That way you can listen to that one, this one, and then the final part of this series when I will have Adam on the voice of Subie Events.

[00:01:05] So again, thank you all. Thank you, Khan. Thank you, Brick. Thank you, Adam, for taking the time to record with me and also reaching out and wanting to be a part of this series. And I'm very glad to be able to share your stories with the community so that people can hear more about the people behind the events and get some of that insight. So thank you. Before we get into the conversation with Brick, I wanted to make a couple of announcements.

[00:01:34] Irina with Vermont Sports Car reached out to me and asked if I can make some announcements about some events. And I did that in the first series or the first Subie Scoop with Khan, but I wanted to go ahead and announce them again here. So on May 24th, Subaru or Sutherland Subaru will be having a Memorial Day community event in Kingston, Tennessee. So you could probably go find them maybe on Facebook or something and get some additional information for that.

[00:02:04] Also on May 31st, Duto Subaru Car Show and community event is happening in Lincoln, Nebraska. And hopefully I said that correctly. So I just wanted to make those announcements and let you know that if you're in those areas, you can check out those community events at those Subaru dealerships. So thank you so much, Irina, for reaching out to me.

[00:02:27] And when you're at Subie events, Subie Fest, any of the Subie Fest events, Wicked Big Meat, or if you're at Boxer Fest, you can and you see the Subaru Motorsports USA trailer, then you will see Irina because she always shows up. She's very enthusiastic. She loves talking to people. She loves hanging out with the kids. So say hi to her and go check out the trailer.

[00:02:56] And one more announcement before we get into this conversation with Brick, and that is to go check out SubaruGear.com, see what all they have to offer. They have a lot of new products that they've added to the website recently, especially for their spring collection. But we've got some more ARA rally events coming up, so it's a great time to check out the Motorsports collection and check out all the Subaru Motorsports USA branded merchandise and gear.

[00:03:24] Again, you can use the code SUBIEANDU25 to get 20% off your purchase. And if your total is over $50 after the 20% discount, then you automatically get free shipping, which I think is a really great deal. So thank you so much, Subaru Gear, for sponsoring the SUBIEANDU podcast, and thank you so much for extending this offer to the listeners. Now that we've gotten those announcements out of the way, we can go ahead and get into this conversation with Brick

[00:03:54] and hear all about his role with SUBIE events and hear some of the stories that he has to tell. So let's get into this conversation now. So my name is Brick,

[00:04:24] which is a kind of hard name for some people because of the way that it's spelled, but all you have to do is remember the song. She's a brick. Oh, yeah. In that house. So if you hear that song, you think of me. And I've worked for SUBIE events actually since 2014, so I've just had a 10-year anniversary. Very nice. Congrats. Last year. And I am the sponsor, logistics, and community engagement manager. So what exactly does that mean?

[00:04:55] It means I wear many hats. So this is actually just a position that was just created, more or less, by combining three positions together, basically. So the last two years, I've been the sponsor manager, but I hadn't really been doing any sales or anything as far as the community engagement and stuff like that. But last year, we had two people kind of part ways with the team,

[00:05:24] and their job description just so happened to fall into a place where we could kind of combine theirs and what I had been doing. So I basically took over two other jobs and the job I was already doing to create a full-time job. Gotcha. Okay. So do you work full-time then for SUBIE events or just full-time during the events?

[00:05:50] I, as of February this year, am the third full-time employee for SUBIE events. That's cool. So, yeah, all the other ones, all the past years, I've had a different full-time job. And so do, you know, we have like what we call the core team, which is like the main people that, you know, are on the payroll and know what they're doing and travel around to, you know, at least most of the events with us, which I've been a part of for a long time.

[00:06:19] But there's, yeah, for the most part, everyone else has, you know, some other thing. And this is just like the side gig, just because it is kind of a seasonal thing for the most part. Yeah. Well, congrats on it being a full-time job. I'm sure that's exciting, you know, I mean, to be able to do something that you enjoy and have fun with it, I'm sure. Yeah, yeah. It's been awesome. And it's been one of those things like, shout out to my previous job. It was at AIM Sports. Maybe some of you guys know me as the technician

[00:06:47] and marketing and media guy from there. But that was a crazy cool job. But while I was doing that, I was also still doing Subie events as much as I could. And that was actually getting kind of crazy as far as like what the travel schedule was like, because AIM required me to travel, you know, 12 to 20 times a year. Subie events was six times a year. So there were like, there were times when it was like five weekends back to back in the summer where I wasn't home.

[00:07:16] So it was, it was a lot. I was like, I mean, it's all stuff that I wanted to do, but it was definitely, definitely a lot. I was starting to find where my limit might be with that. Yeah. So I want to go into a little more specifics about the role. But before we get into that, one of my previous guests asked a question that has just kind of followed through and stuck. And it's kind of like part of the podcast now, but she asked the question and I'll ask you whether you prefer waffles or pancakes.

[00:07:47] 1,000% waffles. Come on, man. And I feel, I feel like, yeah, I knew I would be in the minority saying that. No, no, you're actually, there's more people that say they prefer waffles and pancakes. Really? Yeah. Oh, I'm surprised about that. My assumption was that more people would say pancakes for some reason. No. I figured I'd get some flack for it, but no, just, I mean, don't get me wrong. I like pancakes. Pancakes are great. I make them all the time. Waffles are just superior. I mean, they're, they're golden.

[00:08:17] They're crispy. They have fantastic little pockets that hold your syrup. That's awesome. Okay. You know who does like pancakes? Who's that? Travis Pastrana. Does he? Yeah. Yeah. So. We can't all be that epic. Just going to throw that out there again. We can't all be that epic. Yeah. Yeah. That was, no, I was very blessed to have had him on. But so, so getting back to your role, like for the sponsorship part, does that mean that you are responsible for getting the sponsors that are at

[00:08:46] the event? How does that work? Yeah. Yeah. So basically, so one of the, one of the cool things about our events is it's very sponsor centric. All of our events have like a giant midway that has all the sponsors and, you know, vendors, you know, anywhere from, you know, local shops to parts manufacturers to, you know, key chain and other merch vendors.

[00:09:16] But they're all, they're all companies, you know, at least for the most part, 95% that are related to the event and to Subarus. So it's, it's companies that the attendees want to see there. So they can, you know, a lot of these companies are, are ones that have been involved with the Subaru community for a long time. People know the name. So it's nice to be able to put, you know, faces to the name. And that's just kind of like the, the central thing for it. Like we have a lot of other stuff going on too,

[00:09:46] but the main focus is just like the massive vendor rows and, and being able to make those connections and connecting the sponsors to the rest of the community. And do you have, cause I know like last year, SubiMods was at all of the events, correct? Yes. And do you have other sponsors that travel around and do all of the events as well? Cause obviously, like you said, you're going to have some local vendors that'll be at each event, but how many like vendors do you have that travel around to all of them?

[00:10:17] I don't know exactly how many, and it does vary year to year. Cause a lot of these, you know, are, have other commitments, have other events or races or whatever it might be that, that these sponsors are doing. So it varies year to year, but there's, there's always that handful of like core ones that are at least trying to go to most events every year. Okay. So there was something that I wanted to bring up too,

[00:10:43] because Khan told me that you signed up as a volunteer for the first boxer fest, but you got denied because you signed up too late. Then he said, you showed up anyway and worked all day. So let's, uh, fill us in on that. And like how the con, like how did it go down when you showed up and, but you got denied? Well, so I don't think Khan had it a hundred percent like the full story. Okay. But, but to tell you,

[00:11:12] and here, I might go off on a little tangent here, but to tell you the full story, we actually have to go back to 2010. So 15 years ago when, uh, I bought a 1996 Impreza Brighton. So like the base base model one, but it was a coupe and it wasn't manual. It was all wheel drive for 550 bucks. And my friend Levi around the same time bought a 2009 WRX. And, um, this is also around the same time when,

[00:11:42] uh, I don't know if you know anything about this, but the European style rally cross first came to the U S. came to New Jersey, New Jersey motor sports park. Um, and was, uh, I believe rally America at the time was the, the sanctioning body. And they, they were calling it rally car later. It became Red Bull GRC and had a couple other names throughout there and just ended unfortunately as, as nitro cross last year, big, big sad on that. Um, but we were all really excited about that. So we decided to go up there.

[00:12:12] Um, my friend Levi, uh, finds this, Subaru meet that's happening. It's the, the OGs will remember this. It's hosted by my Subi, which was the precursor to Subi events. Also one of Robert champions companies. Um, so anyway, my Subi was hosting, uh, Subaru meet within that event. Um, so that was, you know, really awesome going up there to see rally cross. And, you know, we met Robert and got to, uh,

[00:12:41] know a lot of the other guys there. And then in 2012, we went again. And that night, uh, we find ourselves at a bar with a bunch of the guys who were racing rally America at the time. And I mean, there were some like Tommy Mackinan was there. I don't know if you know who that is, but really famous rally driver, absolute rally legend. So we were just like, kind of like star struck by all this. And we were like, is this real life? We're just like hanging out with all these guys. This is,

[00:13:11] this is crazy. Uh, so, and, and also that night we found ourself with, with no place to sleep. So, uh, Robert, who we barely knew at the time was like, Oh, you just crashed on my hotel floor. It's awesome. So yeah, it was, it was a really good time. So in 2014, the first year of boxer fest, um, Levi found out about that too. He was kind of the, the driving force in the, in the early years. Um, but yeah, but anyway, he finds that he's like, Hey,

[00:13:41] this, this guy we know is doing this big Subaru festival. And at the time it was in DC, which wasn't too far away from where we live in Virginia. So he was like, we got to go. And I was like, well, yeah, of course we're going to go. Um, so the event at that time was on Saturday. So we drive up like after work on Friday. And did we sign up to volunteer? No. Did we buy, do we buy tickets? No. Did we even book a hotel? No.

[00:14:11] Um, we just drove up there, slept in a Walmart parking lot in our cars. Um, got a terrible night's sleep. Uh, I think we got up probably like five or five 30 in the morning and just drove to where the event was happening. Um, and we just found the first person who looked like he knew what he was doing, um, which was actually Evan. The OGs will remember him too. He was the, uh, volunteer manager for a while. Um, but he was awesome. And, uh, we were just like,

[00:14:42] Hey, um, we're here to work. And he was like, well, did you guys sign up? And we're like, no. And he was like, but you want to work? Yeah. Okay. Here's your staff shirts. Great. Nice. Nice. That's cool. And the rest of it's kind of history for me, at least since, since then. So yeah, it was, it was just kind of a spur of the moment thing. Yeah. Just show up and do it. Yep. That's it. That's good that it worked out and they didn't say, sorry, uh, but you didn't sign up. You can't be here. See ya. Uh,

[00:15:12] we were there, you know, offering free labor. Most people aren't going to turn us down, I guess. Very true. Yeah. No, that's good. So, so once you volunteered, like, did you start volunteering every year after that? For the local event? Yeah. So yeah, Boxer Fest is the most local event to me. It's kind of my home event. Um, I was a volunteer in 2014 and 2015. Um, and for one year we did like a Boxer Fest street team to promote the, the event,

[00:15:41] which I was on, um, in 2016, uh, I guess they figured they weren't going to be able to get rid of me. So they gave me the car show manager, which was my first paid position with them. Um, 2017 was when I kind of became like the part of the core team, um, where they were just like, well, I guess we're not getting rid of him better send him to more events and make him work more. So yeah, to, to 2017, uh, did that for a couple of years. Um,

[00:16:12] in 2022, I had the opportunity to kind of be the event media guy. So like doing the recap videos and interviews with some of the sponsors and things like that, that was, uh, a lot of fun and also shameless plug right now, go check out our YouTube. It's Subie events. Just, just check it out. Um, and then 2023 to 2024, I was just the sponsor manager and then starting February 25,

[00:16:39] I'm the sponsor manager and I'm a bunch of other stuff. Okay. So whenever you went to the first event and volunteered, like what drew you to be a volunteer rather than just like attend the event? I didn't have to pay for a ticket. there you go. That makes sense. So what are like, what have the perks been for you or what were the perks for you other than just getting a free ticket and being a volunteer? Uh, I was so, um, for me,

[00:17:08] I just like experiences and being involved with the community. Um, and it was just more of a chance like that to actually work with people within the community and get to know how those type of events are ran and things like that. So it was, you know, just kind of a, a no brainer for me to, to do that rather than just to come as an attendee. Okay. Yeah. So, uh, and then like, what is like,

[00:17:34] how is your role and what do you do as far as like the community engagement manager? Um, so that, that is something that we're working on building on because in the, in the past, it's mainly been community work, working with the various different Subaru clubs that are in the area. Um, I don't know if everybody knows this, but we offer free vendor booths to clubs in exchange for promoting the events. So, you know,

[00:18:17] we, the Subaru community being what it is. So that's, that's a big driving force. That's what we want to keep alive and healthy. So, um, I, I work with the clubs, making sure they've got what they need to promote the event, make sure they're doing what they need to do. Um, we give them a space to come hang out and get to engage with the rest of the community. And there's, there's some other stuff too. That's kind of in the works besides just, you know, the,

[00:18:46] the clubs and the community in that sense that, uh, I've been working on. Um, one of those things is launching a discord server, which is just cause you know, right now these clubs are, and communities are all kind of scattered throughout Facebook groups and things like that. Um, but I've started a discord, official super events, discord, um, just to kind of gather everyone in one place, the sponsors, the community, the attendees, the staff, the, you know, anyone who wants to, to join. Um, so yeah, another,

[00:19:16] another shameless plug, I guess, but feel free to join that. Um, and there's a couple other things that I've got in the works that aren't quite ready to talk about yet, but that's the gist of it. When did you officially launch the discord server? Uh, it was like two weeks ago, I think. Okay. How's that been going so far? Not too, not too long. Uh, a lot of activity, but we definitely don't have all the, you know, everyone that's in all the clubs. So we got to keep, we got to keep building it, but there's a lot of activity early on. Um, there's, that's going to be a,

[00:19:46] like a really good place for people to get information about the clubs that are near them. Um, it's going to be a place where we can, you know, post information about the upcoming events and, uh, share media and things like that. Um, it's going to be a place where the community can talk about ideas, both to me and other staff, as well as amongst themselves. Um, and we're also even talking about the possibility of doing like live community meetings on that platform just to, you know, cause like I said, the,

[00:20:16] the community is the number one driver for us because without them, this doesn't happen. So we want to be able to take feedback and, and, you know, what, what people would like to see at events, that sort of thing into consideration. So we, we may be doing some live community meetings on that platform to you. Okay, great. Yeah. That's nice. Yeah. It'd be good to try to get people to come together and, you know, be all in one spot and, be able to talk to each other and stuff. So that'd be fun. Yeah. Yeah. Uh,

[00:20:45] so how do you go about as far as like sponsors, how do you, uh, you know, obviously you have a lot of sponsors that are returning, so you contact them, but how do you go about finding new sponsors, potential new sponsors? Uh, so that's, uh, that comes about a couple of different ways. Um, some of it is literally just searching, whether it be on like Google or scrolling Instagram. And I see a company that looks like they'd be a good fit or something like that. Um,

[00:21:14] some of them are just organic signups. They'd find the webpage or see something and, and want to join, uh, want to be part of it. Um, some of it is, you know, trade shows or other events that we go to, you know, meeting people that are business owners and stuff through that, uh, and contacting them. Um, and then, yeah, some of them are just like people that Robert and condo that they hand off to me and say, Hey, you know, see if you can get in contact with this person,

[00:21:44] see if they'd be interested in joining us, that kind of thing. Okay. Yeah, that's good. Yeah. It's, uh, I mean, it's nice for, like you said, to put a, you know, a face to the name, regular basis or have bought before, but also a great way for them to potentially see new vendors that maybe they didn't know about and get to talk to them about their products. So it's good to have them out there at the show for sure. Yeah. Well, it's good for, it's good for the businesses that have been around that people know,

[00:22:12] because then they get to put a face to a name kind of thing, but it's also good for the up and coming businesses that are trying to get started because, you know, especially if it's a, whether it's a car business or a Subaru specific business, you know, that's putting you directly in front of, depending on the event, many thousands of your, of your customers that are, you know, there's a good percentage of them that are going to end up being customers. So it's a good way to, to launch a business to doing events with us. Yep. Absolutely.

[00:22:42] How has like the communication to, and with the community changed over the years? And, and I guess from when you say a community engagement, it's more, it seems like it's more like the groups and rather than just the community as a whole, or is it also the community as a whole? And are there like new ways that you try to engage with the community outside of the groups? Well, yeah. So this is something I don't have a huge amount of insight on because it

[00:23:12] hasn't been my job until very recently. But, but yeah, I mean, so for the most part, it's just been, been kind of a club oriented thing because that's where, you know, the, the heart of the community tends to be. Um, but I mean, it's, it's for sure an effort to engage the community as a whole. Um, I'm just trying to figure out more, more avenues that we can, we can do that through. So that was,

[00:23:42] yeah, that was part of the reason behind the, the discord and, you know, cause that's going to be not just for club members, but anyone like any, anyone who wants to join is, is welcome to that. So that way we'll be able to get input from the whole community, not just from the clubs. Yeah. Yeah. So what is your experience been like? I mean, I know you said it was kind of tough before with all the traveling that you had to do, but what has it been like traveling to the different locations and the opportunity to meet so many different people,

[00:24:12] you know, and I'm guessing you've probably maybe developed some good friendships from being able to travel different places and meeting people all over. Yeah, it's, it's been really awesome. Um, I'm someone that puts a lot of value on just experiences as a whole. So like the, the, you know, money's not much of a driver for me. I'm, I'm more interested in like what experiences I can get out of life. So for me, you know, traveling, seeing different parts of the country is awesome.

[00:24:42] Um, the team that I travel with, they're all awesome. So, you know, I, I only see them a lot of times, a couple of times a year. So it's awesome to, to get back together with them. Um, and then of course there's new people that we're meeting all the time, going to these events too. So that, that part of it's good, you know, networking, making new connections. You know, we usually also, you know, when we travel to these different places, different locations, we usually try to do some kind of like team building,

[00:25:09] fun thing outside of just having to set up the event and, and do the event. Um, which is always, which is always pretty fun. Cause then we get to go, you know, go to, go to the beach in California or go race, go carts in, Oh man, that's, uh, Illinois or, you know, whatever it may be. Um, and there's, there's a lot of my, you know, people I consider my best friends from that I've met, you know, through, through doing this. And I have, it's, it's cool to say that I have friends all over the U S like we've got,

[00:25:38] I've got a lot of friends in new England and some in Colorado and some in, in Portland. Um, actually one of the guys I consider one of my best friends, Austin, uh, used to work for subie events and lives in, in Portland. Um, he is actually the, uh, the, uh, marketing manager for anti-gravity batteries. Oh, very nice. But yeah, he's been doing a killer job. He just got some, some award from SEMA for, for his efforts with that and they're everywhere. So he, he's doing a killer job, unfortunately not,

[00:26:06] not with subie events anymore, but, uh, we, melee design firm. So that was, yeah, they make the, the, uh, battery mount, battery hold mount. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Good guy. He told me about this. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, so yeah, it's just, it's just cool getting to know people, you know, have all these connections all over the U S. Yeah. And then, and just being a part of the Subaru community and chatting with people online and getting connected through Instagram,

[00:26:33] you get an opportunity to meet people all over the place, which is really cool. Yeah, for sure. So it's like, you know, all the events are kind of, similar as far as just the structure and what's at each event. I know some are, I know like wicked big meets, like really, really big. And, uh, but so would you say that you have a favorite location that you go to or that you look forward to? Well, it used to be Rocky Mountain Subaru festival. Yeah. I heard that one.

[00:27:03] It was good. just because I love Colorado so much. Um, unfortunately we don't do that one anymore. Subie fest, California is one of the bigger ones. And also I love visiting California. Um, there's a lot of fun stuff to do there. And also, you know, being from Virginia and the East coast where we have like hot bath water for ocean water. It's nice. It's nice getting out of being able to swim in the Pacific where the, the water is actually like cool and refreshing. So yeah, I like California a lot.

[00:27:33] And then boxer fest always has a place, uh, that's special to me just because it's kind of my home event. I haven't missed a single one. So yeah, it's, it's, it's a good event too. Yeah. So how is being part of subie events change your life? Oh, that's a, that's a tough one. Well, I mean, it's a deep question. That is a deep question. Um, but as I mentioned, I'm someone who just really puts a lot of value on the experiences that you have in life.

[00:28:03] And I've gotten a lot of those through subie events, which is why I have kept doing it throughout all the years, even working other jobs and things like that. Um, just because there's, there's a lot of times at these events where me and like one of the other guys are like, did that just happen? Is this real life? Is this really happening? Like, did Travis Pastrana just do donuts around me? Like, did, did Bucky Lassick just do that? Like, uh, you know,

[00:28:32] moments that make you like question, like have to pinch yourself question, whether it's, it's real or a dream. And, and there's been a lot of those with, with subie events. So that's like really part of, of the driver for me to, to keep doing it is just the, the experience and, and the fun that we have doing it. Is there like one or a couple of moments that really stand up? I mean, like you mentioned, did, you know, Travis Pastrana really do donuts around me, you know, something like that, where you're just like,

[00:29:00] this is just completely amazing. And I just, I would have never had this experience if I hadn't been involved with this, this whole crazy mess. There's been a couple. I'll, I'll point out to you. The first was, uh, wicked big meat, 2022. Travis Pastrana had the air slayer out on the, the autocross course and did donuts like just around me, just nothing else. Like no, no barrier, no barrier. Like just,

[00:29:31] just, uh, going around me. I had my camera and, uh, yeah, that was like, right after that happened. And I was like, Oh my God, like this, this really, was this just really a thing that occurred? Um, and then, and there's been a couple other, other times like that. Um, and then last year at Subie Fest, Texas, where we had both the Huckster and Bucky Elastics, Betty, the rally cross car, um,

[00:30:00] out on the same time. We, uh, we took the key truck that we use for, uh, just kind of like a support vehicle. It's dubbed KK. Um, con driving that me and one other guy in the back of that and Bucky and Travis doing donuts around us. Y'all were the guys in the back. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was, uh, unreal. That was awesome. Yeah. Seeing those guys, the,

[00:30:29] the precision in their driving is just insane. I mean, they're, they're just, they're so skilled at what they do and they're so, you know, I mean, it's just, it's incredible to watch them. It's a lot of fun. Well, they're the pros man. Yeah. Yeah. So what, uh, you mentioned that you owned a Subaru earlier. What do you own now? Uh, that one still. Oh, awesome. That's actually, that's the, the, yeah, the, the never ending project.

[00:30:58] That's unfortunately been sitting for a while at this point. Um, I had a 2006 WRX until last summer I sold it. Um, but that was like one of my favorite cars and I kind of regret, regret selling it. Yeah. It was going to be my next question. Yeah. It was pretty, pretty heavily modified. Um, they had like full STI drive train swap and bigger turbo and all the supporting mods and stuff like that. So it's, that was a really fun car, but, uh, uh, yeah, sold it, sold it last summer.

[00:31:27] It's going to be okay, man. I've had a couple other, I had an 04 WRX. I was like pretty much stock at 97 legacy. Um, my parents actually, when I was younger had a, I think it was a 86 GL wagon. Oh, that was actually my, my, my mom started letting me drive when I was very young. And that was one of the first cars that I learned to drive on. Like, of course on private property and things, but yeah, that was one of the first cars that I, I tried to learn to drive. Very nice.

[00:31:57] Yeah. Deep Subaru roots. Yeah. I know. It's like there, I don't remember anybody in my family having Subarus. And I remember going to a dealership years ago, way before I ever owned mine, before I ever had any interest in Subarus and went with a friend and he was like, I don't even remember what he was looking at. I don't remember what year it was. I don't remember like what was on the law. I just remember thinking, man, why would somebody want to buy one of these? They're so funky looking. You know? And like,

[00:32:26] that's what I love about them now is because they're so funky looking and so different. But I was just like, why would you want one of these things? And here I am doing what I'm doing for Subaru. So it's crazy how things end up working out. Yeah. Yeah. Funky is good. I also managed to, years ago, convince my wife to join the Subaru team too. So she has a 19 Forester that has a one and a half inch lift from Cartboy.

[00:32:56] Shout out to Tom. So that thing, that thing's nice too. That's the good, like the family get around. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I've got a 2021 base model manual Crosstrek. My daughter has a third gen Crosstrek and my son has a 2010 3.6R Outback. So you've converted the whole family. Pretty much. Yeah. That's what we, that's what we want. That's what we shoot for. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So it's, you know, it's, it's fun for us. I mean,

[00:33:24] we don't really get out and do a whole lot of stuff cause there's not a whole lot of stuff for us to do here in Houston, but it's just fun knowing that we have them and we enjoy them. You have the option. Exactly. I mean, we have taken them off road. There are like forest trails here and stuff, but nothing super crazy, but we do what we can when we can. And it's, you know, it's really good. So yeah. Yeah. So is there anything else that you want to share about your role at Subi events or just

[00:33:53] Subi events in general before we get into this last segment? Okay. So there is actually something, and this has been a really cool and special thing for me is that, so not only do I have like the most supportive wife there is, as far as me wanting to do all these crazy jobs that require lots of travel and things like that. But for the last couple of years, my wife, Jess has been the info booth manager for Subi events. So she's been, she's been trapped. We've,

[00:34:21] we've been fortunate cause we've had my parents like available to watch our four year old daughter so that we can go to these events. But yeah, the last couple of years she's been able to go to all the events with me and we get to travel together. So that's, that's really fun and special for me too. Yeah. And then that makes the whole Subi Fest, Boxer Fest, Wicked Big Meat experience just that much better to have her there with you and be able to share and all of that. So that's, that's awesome, man. Yeah, for sure. And there,

[00:34:47] there actually have been a small handful of events that my daughter has been to too, which is, it's fun. She's a little too young to probably remember too much of it, but there was, um, two years ago, or I guess three now, um, we did like a whole family trip out West, uh, to do Subi Fest, California. And, uh, at the time we were still doing big Northwest in, uh, Portland. Portland. So we basically flew me, my wife,

[00:35:17] my daughter, who was two and a half at the time, I think. Um, and my mom and stepdad all flew out to California. They basically watched our daughter for us while we were working. And then we had a fun family road trip from, you know, just rented a car and went from LA to Portland and got to, you know, see a lot of cool things together as a family there. And then just flew back, you know, from there. So yeah, that was, that was really cool too. Yeah.

[00:35:45] And I'm sure there will be more moments like that, you know, especially as your daughter gets older and she gets to where she doesn't necessarily have to be watched as much, you know, but, and then as she gets older, older, you know, she can really enjoy it. As a volunteer. Yeah. Yeah. There you go. Cool. Yeah. Come with us, but you got to work. Yeah, exactly. You got to hand out t-shirts or watch the cones in the autocross or something. Yeah. Yeah. Fun. All right. So yeah,

[00:36:12] so this last little segment is to get to know you a little bit better, but who is brick, not Bryce as in, you know, describe yourself. Uh, well, so as if I haven't said this enough, I'm someone who puts a huge amount of value on experiences. Um, I'm definitely an adventure, a thrill seeker, uh, but mama always said, do stupid stuff safe. So that's what, that's what, that's what I've always tried to do. Um,

[00:36:41] but I don't care if it's, if it's racing, off road, boating, climbing, exploring new countries, whatever I'm down, I'm there, sign me up. Um, definitely a car nut. Um, um, I'd like to call myself a racer, but honestly, I haven't done that much actual racing, but I'm just a, a driving enthusiast. Um, my dad and a husband, which are both rewarding experiences in themselves. Oh yeah. That's always, always fun to take the, you know, do family adventures. Um,

[00:37:11] and I'm a firm believer in the saying, don't sweat the petty, pet the sweaty. I've never heard that. That's pretty funny. Yes. I like that. So where were you born? I was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Shout out Bucky. He was also from that area. Yeah. Nice. What is a favorite memory from your childhood? Uh,

[00:37:34] so probably the most interesting thing is that they were two separate occasions from my young childhood when I lived on a sailboat. Oh. And I don't mean like cruise ship, these are like 30 to 34 foot, like small sailboats with my mom and dad. Like that was our house. We didn't have, we didn't have other living quarters on a sailboat. And how long? Uh, the first, the first time was, I think like six or eight months, somewhere around there.

[00:38:04] And that was when I was really young. Like I was five and six for that trip, I think. Okay. Um, and then we lived on a little bit, you know, a couple of years later lived on, uh, slightly like when I say slightly like two feet longer sailboat, um, in Virginia key, which is a key just off the coast of Miami, um, at a marina there for, uh, probably almost two years. So did they just decide that that's how they wanted to live? Live in a boat? Uh, yeah.

[00:38:34] Yeah. Um, I had, I had very, uh, bohemian parents. Okay. I don't think I've ever in my life met somebody that actually lived on a boat like that. That's pretty cool. Well, there's, there's a couple of us out there, but there was a lot of, I mean, I think that's probably where my need for adventure came from is just cause I got so many of those type of experiences when I was, when I was that young, like a lot of stuff happened on those trips, like, like storms running aground,

[00:39:04] like dragging anchor, getting, you know, smashed up against the rocks, you know, watching the coast guard go out and rescue other boats and, and storms and things like that. Uh, having to, having to like take our dinghy inland to go ride our collapsible bikes to the store to get groceries. Like it's, uh, yeah, we, uh, we sailed from, uh, Oh, I can't remember the, was it key Biscayne? I think it was key Biscayne to the Bahamas in six foot seas,

[00:39:34] which was not fun. I've never thrown up so much in my life, but yeah, but just, you know, a bunch of cool stuff like that. So I think that's probably where a lot of, a lot of the adventure seeking came from. And the, yeah. And the, you know, experience is part of it. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So would you say that what you do for Sue B events is a dream job? Uh, well, so that's the thing about dreams is there's always a bigger one, right? Yeah.

[00:40:04] Uh, in many ways it is a dream job. It, it takes a lot of boxes for me. It's something that I want to do for a long time. Um, I would say though, like money, no objects. I'm dropping everything. I'm traveling with the family and I'm racing cars. There you go. Yeah. It's good to have a dream job, you know, or just a dream for that job. Yeah. I could, I could never be a desk job. Well, I guess I am sitting at a desk. Um, I could never be like a cubicle, like, you know,

[00:40:33] nine to strictly nine to five, big corporate job type. What is something that makes you want to get out of bed every day? Well, my four-year-old usually gets me out of bed, but, but after that we go on lots of, lots of cool family adventures and, and chase our next dream. So it's, uh, again, the experiences and sharing that with them. Yeah, no, that's important. Very important. What is something that makes you want to stay in bed?

[00:41:03] Unless I like really just need to catch up on sleep. I'm usually ready to get out of bed. Okay. There's not much that makes me want to stay in bed. Yeah, no, that's good. That's good. What would be your best bit of advice to give to someone about anything? About anything. Do whatever it is that makes you want to get out of bed and do that without holding on to any like specific outcomes or expectations or what you might define as success,

[00:41:32] because luck is when preparation meets opportunity and you never know what might line up. Very true. Good advice. No, that's good advice. Yeah. I didn't practice that one at all. I promise. Well, uh, thank you so much for taking the time to record with me. And, uh, I'm looking forward to putting this out as the, another part of this series of subie events. And I'm glad that, you know, this, uh, that con reached out to me because this is the first time, you know, I've,

[00:42:01] I had Robert on before and, but I haven't done anything like this where it was kind of like a series and talking to different people. So it was, uh, it's been a lot of fun and glad to share this with the community too, because that's what this, that's what this podcast is all about. It's for the community, for them to listen to and get some information and just have some fun. And so I appreciate your time. Yeah, good. We, we share the same vision of community success. Yeah. But yeah, not a problem. Yeah. Well, uh,

[00:42:30] thanks again and hope you have a good night and we'll keep in touch. Sounds good. All right. All right. There we go. Part two of this series for subie events and talking to these great guys who are behind the scenes of subie events. Well, behind the scenes, but also out in front, but you know what I mean? People that are helping to make things happen and get things done around the events. So it was great to have you on brick. Thank you so much for taking the time to record with me and share your role

[00:43:00] and some funny stories about, uh, how you got into being a part of subie events. And, uh, I don't know how well it would work out now if you just decided to, somebody decided to just show up and, uh, ask to volunteer. I don't know. I wouldn't give it a try. Just go ahead and sign up to volunteer. It'd probably be probably the best way to do it, but it was a funny story. So again, thank you so much. Thank you con for getting me in touch with brick and be sure to go to

[00:43:28] subie fest.com and check out all of the subie events that are happening around the country and find out which one is closest to you. Of course, we are kicking off the subie fest season with wicked big meat on June 8th, 2025. Of course, subie fest. California is going to be on August 2nd. Boxer fest will be September 14th. Subie fest. Midwest will be September 27th. Subie fest. Texas. Yeehaw. Will be October 11th. And subie fest.

[00:43:56] Florida will be December 14th. So you can go to subie fest.com and it'll have all of the events there along the top banner. So you can click on the different events and see what the dates are there as well. And you can get your tickets and find out a lot of more, a lot more information about each event. So thanks again, everybody. Thanks for tuning in. Hope to see you at subie fest, Texas. If you're going to be there much subie love. Raph.