From Mindset to Mastery : Eric L. Goodman's Drive to Serve and Inspire Ep39

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Welcome back to Dub Life Diaries. Today's guest is Eric L.

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Goodman, a man who blends horsepower with heart.

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He's the president of the Vintage Volkswagen Club of America and the VW Thing

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Registry, leading a community of over 185,000 VW enthusiasts from across the nation.

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Eric built Das Rod, a VW Hot Rod that won the National Roadster Show and appeared

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in magazines across the U.S.

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And Europe, but Eric's story goes far deeper.

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From overcoming childhood challenges that he likens to Forrest Gump running

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down that driveway, Eric forged his purpose, which is helping others,

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leading with strength, and never giving up.

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He's been named Orange County's Philanthropist of the Year in 2024.

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Family Business of the Year in 2023, and has been honored for multiple years

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back-to-back as a Civic 50 company leader.

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He's a husband, a father, a new grandfather, and a photographer whose art fuels charity.

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So while, yes, this episode is about Volkswagens, it's also about mindset,

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about resilience, and about building communities that last.

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So let's roll. Eric Goodman, welcome to Dub Life Diary. Thank you very much.

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Thanks for having me. That was probably one of the best interns I've heard. I've been friends.

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Hey, man, that's all you. And that's what this podcast is about,

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is celebrating all you guys of this awesome community that we all know and love.

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Before I get going real quick, let me just give a quick shout out to a few sponsors.

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First up, Volksmania Magazine.

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You guys know how I feel. I feel this magazine's the flyest on the face of the planet. Why?

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Many reasons, mainly the quality, but mostly because of the people at Volksmania.

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So check these guys out, volksmania.com.

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Use Dublife10 at checkout. You'll get 10% off of your first issue if you are a US subscriber.

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Also, shout out to Salty Dub. From the beach to the bay, Salty Dub is tearing

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up the VW scene with events and swag.

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Check those guys out, saltydub.com. Also use Dublife10 for merch at checkout.

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You'll get 10% off your order.

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Lastly, my buddy Chris White, Riverbank Customs. Chris is out of Pell City, Alabama.

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This guy is all about the VW scene. He's one of my favorite people that I've

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met. I can't wait to hang out with him at Bug Jam next month.

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Go check him out, Riverbank Customs, on YouTube.

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Back to you, my man. Back to you. You have that killer voice too, man.

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It's like a vintage DJ, jockey.

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You've got the perfect voice for what you do. You know, man,

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people have told me that before. You do? Hey, I'll take it. I'll take it.

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I've used my voice to my advantage a lot, but never before this has it been

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to this much of an advantage.

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That's awesome. Yeah, I like listening to you. It's cool. Thank you so much,

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man. So you've said that your life started with this kind of Forrest Gump moment,

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which to you was the braces breaking off and you finding your stride.

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How did that shape the way that you, I guess, approach your challenges in your life?

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Yeah, absolutely. So you want me to share my background story?

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Yes, please. All right. Yeah.

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So I dubbed it as the Forrest Gump story, just because if you've seen the movie

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Forrest Gump, there's that pivotal part in the movie when it starts with Forrest

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and his mom are at the doctor's office.

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And the doctor says to his mom, his spine is crooked. And so that's where we're

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going to have to put him in these little leg braces.

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They never actually really say what his condition was. The doctor just said his spine was crooked.

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And then if you remember, it was those big clunky, you know,

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leg braces and made Forrest different than everyone else.

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And then as you were just doing the run, the actual greatest part of the whole

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movie that I think everybody in history knows is when the kids are picking on

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Forrest and he's in the driveway and they're on the bikes and they're chasing

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him and throwing rocks at him and,

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you know, he's scared and his best friend Jenny is there and Jenny yells, run, Forrest, run.

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And he takes off running down that driveway and his braces start cracking and falling off.

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And then he speeds down the driveway at a hundred miles an hour.

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Everybody, you know, can visualize it.

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And then the movie is that he goes on to do all these really incredible,

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amazing things in life. Supposedly he changed history, right?

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Right. And so my life story basically is Forrest Gump.

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I mean, I was born with a very rare spinal condition that made my spine crooked.

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It's called Schumann's kyphosis.

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It's not a life-threatening condition, but it does require surgery,

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and the surgery is to fuse your spine.

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The problem is they don't want

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to fuse your spine when you're a little kid because it stunts your growth.

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So they want to do it as an adult. So I had the exact same leg braces that Forrest

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Gump wore starting at three years old.

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Wow, dude. Until about 15 years old. and then we were at the doctor's and I

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was doing one of my checkups on my back and I knew that I was going to have

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this surgery at some point in life, I just didn't know when.

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And the doctor said, we're going to have to transport you to a different hospital.

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You're going to have to have emergency surgery because your curvature of the

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spine is so bad now that it's putting pressure on your left lung and it's collapsing

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and that is life-threatening.

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So we don't want you to lose a lung. So at 15 and a half years old,

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I went in to have my spine fused.

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It was like a nine-hour surgery. I was in ICU for three weeks and then I was

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in a full body cast from the neck down for nine months.

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So, just like a cast you would have grafted on your arm or your leg, they grafted on my body.

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And literally from my neck down for nine months, I was in a complete body cast

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at 15 and a half years old.

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So, a 5'6", when I went on the operating table, 5'9", when they pulled me off.

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So, I grew three inches with the spinal fuse.

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The spinal fuse is they actually take portions of your ribs. They remove those.

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They chop the bone up in little pieces. and where you have all that triangles

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in your vertebrae in your back,

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they insert that bone, they graft it into the spine, and they fuse it.

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And then eventually that bone grows into one solid bone, which is why you can't

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really bend or move, but that keeps you straight up.

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So I currently have two metal rods in my back. 33 years later,

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they're called Harrington rods, connected from my shoulders to my hips.

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Then I have plastic rib inserts, and then I have a fused spine.

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So it was, you know, yeah, it was quite the same.

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Surgery hey if anybody ever wants if there's a guy on the planet that wants

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to have a scar contest i had 150 stitches so my scar starts at the top of my

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neck and goes down to my butt and

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so uh i'll dang man i'll win any scar contest on the face of the planet.

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You're that is so crazy what a crazy crazy story but yeah i i think that could

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be the forrest gump moment yes yes i didn't know i always laugh and joke and

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tell people i didn't know they were going to make a movie about my life.

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But then he goes on to do all these really amazing things.

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And I can't say I've changed the world, but I definitely think my businesses

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and my involvement in the VW community and my,

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my mindset, which I'm sure we'll get into that. I just wrote a new book called

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What's Your Mindset? And I'm glad you brought up mindset at the beginning of the intro.

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That's why I did. That's why I did. Yeah, because my whole mindset in life has

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been, you know, I'm extremely physically disabled, but you wouldn't know by looking at me.

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Anybody that runs into me on the street would have no idea what I've been through

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or what's in my body. Right.

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But I've overcome all those challenges to really impact the world in a significant

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way through servicing developmentally disabled adults and children with my businesses

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and being out in the community and doing things and I don't let it hold me back.

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So I think that's kind of what I want to share or what I'd like to share with

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your listeners and other people out there is, you know, everybody in this world

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has some sort of a disability, either physically or mentally.

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I believe every person on the planet has something and it might be a crooked

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finger, but it's something that bothers you or, you know, or makes your mindset in the wrong place.

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And if we can overcome those things and just stay in a positive mindset,

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we can accomplish so much if we don't let our mind go down that rabbit hole.

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Amazing. And I agree with you. I've done a lot of sales training in my life,

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meaning as a sales training instructor.

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And there's a lot that plays into mindset in sales. As you very well know,

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you wrote a book on mindset. Mindset's everything.

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It's everything. Just like they say, attitude's everything. Well,

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attitude starts with mindset.

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Yes. You can't have a positive attitude without a positive mindset. No, that's right.

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I get all that. And I've experienced firsthand, which is really crazy,

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and I share about it in the book.

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But to me, and I think it's the one thing that everybody's missing with the

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mindset, I never realized until much later in life, and I had been through a

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lot of other things that I share in the book, and we make it in today,

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but I had multiple other disabilities from dyslexia to a heart condition.

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I mean, you name it, it's been thrown at me, and I've had to take it over the

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last 50 years. and every time it's like, you know, I keep getting pushed down. What is with this?

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But what I realized was is how much your mind actually controls your body.

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If you get in the mindset that you're sick or your body doesn't feel good or

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that you have problems, all of a sudden you manifest that your body's sick.

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And every time I kept having all these ailments, I kept thinking,

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if I keep my mind positive and I look at the bright side of this and I don't

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let my mind go down the road that this is going to affect my life,

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every time I've come out of it and then And I've witnessed miracles in other

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people's lives where they're near death and then their mindset is, I want to live.

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And they live. And then other people, they say, I'm ready to die. And they die.

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It's just amazing that your mindset has such a strong control over your whole body.

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It's crazy to me. It really is. That's where it starts though, right?

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It's like the central system for us is the brain and how we process things.

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And yeah, it's crazy.

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It is. It really is. But I'm a big fan of mindset.

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And I even thought about when I was doing research on you when you had agreed

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to do this, this episode with me, I saw your book and I saw some of your,

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you know, speaking engagements and stuff. And I thought to myself,

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it's probably be a cool book.

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I'm going to, I'm going to score it for sure. Thank you. Yeah. No problem.

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So let's talk about Volkswagens. What drew you to Volkswagens in the first place?

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That's just a crazy story too. I'll make it short.

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Grew up as a Corvette guy, whole entire life had been a Corvette guy.

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My dad had owned probably 50 Corvettes. I didn't know anything other than Corvettes.

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You know, I was a kid of the 70s. I used to lay down in the back of a Stingray

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Corvette, and my mom would drive me to work laying in the back hatch area under the window.

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I just thought it was completely normal. I thought every family had Corvettes.

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I didn't know that anything existed other than Corvettes. My dad was just massively

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into them. Whole family was. It was just a family culture.

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I grew up around the largest Corvette club in the Western United States.

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We had a couple, 200, maybe even like 300 members at one point here in California.

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My dad was nationally involved Corvette association of like 20,000 members.

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I mean, it was just, wow. It was my life. So I bought a Corvette really early

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in life and had a few. And then in,

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In 1990, no, 2000,

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early 2000, my daughter was 15 years old and she was on a school bus and she

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was going to school and she saw this orange Volkswagen parked in the grocery

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store parking lot with a for sale sign.

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She came home and told my wife, she said, I saw this coolest car dad would love.

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She's like, I want that as my first car. So my wife tells me,

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I said, what is it? She said, I don't know. It's a Volkswagen.

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I said, okay, let's drive down and look at it. So we drove down and it was a

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1973 orange Volkswagen thing.

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And I said, oh, this is the coolest. This is the coolest thing,

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right? This is awesome. And so I said, you know, I'm interested.

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It was a piece of junk. It was completely, you know, it needed to be restored. It was awful.

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And I said, let's buy it. So we bought it. And I'm thinking to myself,

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well, it's going to be really cheap to fix up. It's an old vintage Volkswagen.

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Like we'll be able to fix this car up and get it on the road and she'll be good

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to go. So I was ignorant because I didn't know anything about Volkswagen things.

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And then I, you know, started doing my research and learned they were extremely rare in the U.S.

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They were only imported here at 73 and 74.

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Volkswagen thing parts, the Type 181, are not interchangeable with any other

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Volkswagen model on the planet.

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They have their own, you know, door handles. They, I mean, just every piece,

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there isn't anything you can really pull off a bug or a bus or any other Volkswagen

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and put on a thing. They're very specific.

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Yeah. And since they were so limited and rare, they don't reproduce a lot of parts.

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There's, you know, a couple guys in the country and in the world that make Volkswagen

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parts, and mostly it's selling used thing parts.

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Anyways, long story short, it took us a couple years to restore this thing, and it cost me a fortune.

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I mean, I spent a lot of money on that Volkswagen thing. I still have it on a Volkswagen thing.

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And I told my wife, I said, you know, she's a 16-year-old girl going to high school.

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Her friends are going to beat this car up. it's going to get smashed in the parking lot.

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They're not going to take care of it. You know, no power steering,

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no, no air conditioning. No. Anyway. So I,

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I offered to trade her a new Volkswagen Beetle, water-cooled Beetle,

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for the Volkswagen thing.

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We'd do a straight trade, and it would be my car.

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And she agreed, and she's 31

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years old, and she's never driven the Volkswagen thing. I still have it.

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18 years later, the car is still sitting in my garage. I love that thing,

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and that's what got me started in the Volkswagen culture.

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Sold the Corvettes, and it was really funny. I remember vividly at that time,

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my dad came to me and he said, you know, that's one ugly car.

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And he's like, and I have no idea why you're into Volkswagens.

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He's like, they're never, you know, your investments is better in the Corvette

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world. What are you thinking?

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And I can tell you now that Dossrod and the Volkswagen thing are worth more

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than any Corvette that he's currently got in his name.

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Because the Corvettes went down in value and the vintage Volkswagens went way up in value.

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Yeah. Yeah, they're kind of cooled off a little bit right now,

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but that's just a temporary thing.

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Yeah, it was. Well, and even the things, I mean, I paid $6,000 for my thing

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when I bought it originally.

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Wow. Of course, I put a lot of money in it, restoring it over the years.

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And then this year, I put a Jake Raby Aircool technology motor in it.

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So I really stripped up to a very high level with the car at this point.

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So I have more than a thing that I would ever be able to sell it for.

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I mean, it's now got some money invested in it. But the thing I think just in

00:15:23.287 --> 00:15:28.927
general is worth more than a 70s Corvette. I mean, it's a different world now.

00:15:29.607 --> 00:15:32.827
Yeah, and then I built Das Rod, which we can get into later, which was a

00:15:33.232 --> 00:15:36.032
wild ride in itself too which was amazing but i

00:15:36.032 --> 00:15:39.592
just love the culture let's talk about that one now okay

00:15:39.592 --> 00:15:44.772
so yeah so in uh 2005 2005

00:15:44.772 --> 00:15:51.432
2006 there was a big culture going on for the rat rods in general but then in

00:15:51.432 --> 00:15:55.012
the volkswagen community was the volks rods you know they had all these volkswagen

00:15:55.012 --> 00:15:59.772
converted to hot rods and i just thought it was the coolest thing in the world I'm a purist.

00:15:59.952 --> 00:16:02.332
I like my car's vintage and stock.

00:16:02.712 --> 00:16:06.292
Like the thing is completely stock, but I was just, just in love with these,

00:16:06.292 --> 00:16:07.972
these Volkswagen hot rods.

00:16:08.532 --> 00:16:11.472
And I had said to a group of friends of mine in our Corvette club,

00:16:11.612 --> 00:16:16.352
I had said, man, if somebody could take these rat rod Volkswagen volts rods

00:16:16.352 --> 00:16:20.272
and they could create like a really custom hot rod, but make it,

00:16:20.412 --> 00:16:21.912
you know, it's not ratted out.

00:16:22.072 --> 00:16:25.612
It's like, it's like, you know, great paid job interior, like a show car.

00:16:25.612 --> 00:16:27.452
I just thought that would be sick.

00:16:27.612 --> 00:16:30.152
And there wasn't really any out there. There was one in Europe.

00:16:30.392 --> 00:16:33.432
There was a couple on the scene, but they weren't really here in the U.S.

00:16:33.812 --> 00:16:37.972
So I bought a 1970 Volkswagen bug on Craigslist for $600.

00:16:38.832 --> 00:16:43.752
Yes. I spent two weeks in the garage with smoke bombs getting out thousands

00:16:43.752 --> 00:16:49.332
of black widows and bugs that crawled out of that car just nonstop.

00:16:49.912 --> 00:16:53.752
Wow. It was a complete basket case that had set outside for I don't know how

00:16:53.752 --> 00:16:55.492
many years. It was a piece of junk.

00:16:56.052 --> 00:17:00.732
We took that car and over five years, my friends in the Corvette and the Volkswagen

00:17:00.732 --> 00:17:06.312
Club, we crafted a, and you can find it online, you can just Google Dostrad, D-A-S-R-O-D.

00:17:06.732 --> 00:17:11.692
What we finished building was it was a 1970 Bug. It was stretched 12 inches

00:17:11.692 --> 00:17:14.372
in the front with a 1930s Ford dropped axle.

00:17:14.732 --> 00:17:19.412
It had a Porsche 914 motor in it with a 911 fan.

00:17:19.732 --> 00:17:24.692
It was raked. It had side pipes, so it sounded like 60s muscle car.

00:17:24.692 --> 00:17:27.872
I mean, I started that thing up and you'd have thought it was a hot rod on the

00:17:27.872 --> 00:17:28.972
road and it was a Volkswagen.

00:17:29.592 --> 00:17:33.052
I mean, it was just a suicide door, suicide hood.

00:17:33.312 --> 00:17:37.332
It was a Unibata chassis. I mean, it was just everything you could have imagined

00:17:37.332 --> 00:17:41.012
in any crazy wild hot rod or Volkswagen.

00:17:41.132 --> 00:17:49.232
I incorporated into that car and I debuted it in 2015 at the at the Roadster

00:17:49.232 --> 00:17:52.692
show in California, the Grand National Roadster show.

00:17:52.692 --> 00:18:00.032
I entered it in class and it was the first time that a Volkswagen had ever won a class in the.

00:18:00.707 --> 00:18:03.547
In the roadster show and now they have a

00:18:03.547 --> 00:18:07.367
class for volkswagons in the roadster show moving forward

00:18:07.367 --> 00:18:10.187
and it it traveled the country it was it was like you

00:18:10.187 --> 00:18:13.047
said it was in i think i ended up being in like 12 magazines between the

00:18:13.047 --> 00:18:17.767
u.s and germany and australia it just really got the attention of everyone because

00:18:17.767 --> 00:18:21.467
there wasn't really anything like it it was just so crazy you know the porsche

00:18:21.467 --> 00:18:24.447
community didn't like it because it was a volkswagen the volkswagen didn't like

00:18:24.447 --> 00:18:28.407
it because it had a porsche motor in it the hot rod didn't like it because it

00:18:28.407 --> 00:18:30.467
was like a hot rod but it was the Volkswagen.

00:18:30.747 --> 00:18:33.547
I mean, it just, it drawed everybody to it. They were just, it was crazy.

00:18:33.767 --> 00:18:37.527
Had that car for a couple of years. It wasn't really practical to drive.

00:18:37.767 --> 00:18:42.007
I mean, it was a, it was a, it drove well, surprisingly with that 30s front

00:18:42.007 --> 00:18:44.067
end on it, but you know, it didn't have a top.

00:18:44.607 --> 00:18:48.207
It just wasn't your daily driver. So I ended up selling it to a collector in

00:18:48.207 --> 00:18:53.067
Florida, which near you, I have to look up and see where he was. He has around 200 cars.

00:18:53.307 --> 00:18:59.507
He lives on an island in florida was an executive of a of a large fortune 500 company and he has a.

00:19:00.187 --> 00:19:03.047
Building there where he houses a couple hundred cars and i understand

00:19:03.047 --> 00:19:06.267
it's still on the scene in florida being shown

00:19:06.267 --> 00:19:09.087
now but yeah if you look it up online look up dostron it

00:19:09.087 --> 00:19:12.027
was a it was a labor of love it was it

00:19:12.027 --> 00:19:15.347
was a really unique car but it i i spent a

00:19:15.347 --> 00:19:18.187
fortune i had well into close to a hundred thousand dollars in

00:19:18.187 --> 00:19:21.067
that car so i would have never

00:19:21.067 --> 00:19:24.027
got my money back out of it obviously i sold it for a

00:19:24.027 --> 00:19:26.987
quarter of that but it was just the journey to build

00:19:26.987 --> 00:19:29.807
that car to go into the community to spend time

00:19:29.807 --> 00:19:33.847
with volkswagen people to have them come up to it and say this is the craziest

00:19:33.847 --> 00:19:37.607
thing i've ever seen tell me about it and it just connected me with just it

00:19:37.607 --> 00:19:41.227
opened a world to volkswagen and how i got to meet all of these people all over

00:19:41.227 --> 00:19:45.507
the world and then that led into me you know taking over the vintage volkswagen

00:19:45.507 --> 00:19:48.627
club of america wild story Super cool,

00:19:49.067 --> 00:19:52.127
and thank you for sharing You have, over your career,

00:19:52.787 --> 00:19:58.367
received some incredible honors Philanthropist of the Year, National Philanthropy

00:19:58.367 --> 00:20:04.987
Day Honoree, Family Business of the Year How do these tie into your purpose for helping others?

00:20:05.793 --> 00:20:09.693
Yeah, so the businesses, I own three businesses, and one of the businesses,

00:20:09.893 --> 00:20:13.333
as I alluded to at the beginning of the conversation, MVS Inc.

00:20:13.333 --> 00:20:17.653
Here in California. So we service about 500 homes for devoutly disabled adults

00:20:17.653 --> 00:20:21.613
and children. I have about 3,500 patients that we service for Medi-Cal and Medicare.

00:20:22.093 --> 00:20:27.173
We deliver all of their food supplies, medical supplies, personal supplies,

00:20:27.233 --> 00:20:30.693
basically everything they need to live in a group home, a residential setting.

00:20:30.853 --> 00:20:31.973
They're mostly six-beds.

00:20:32.350 --> 00:20:35.830
Group homes in California. We've been in business 38 years. We're the only company

00:20:35.830 --> 00:20:39.950
in California that services this population and has all these group homes.

00:20:40.450 --> 00:20:45.250
So obviously with me being born disabled and having my life-saving surgery,

00:20:45.490 --> 00:20:48.310
I have a special place in my heart for people with disabilities.

00:20:48.550 --> 00:20:53.670
That led to me being involved with my company that services all of these developmentally

00:20:53.670 --> 00:20:55.050
disabled adults and children now.

00:20:55.410 --> 00:20:59.390
And then we have a company foundation where a percentage of all of our profit

00:20:59.390 --> 00:21:03.170
goes back to the foundation that we donate to nonprofits. So I serve on,

00:21:03.430 --> 00:21:09.710
oh gosh, I think seven nonprofit boards right now, Ronald McDonald House and various of others.

00:21:09.850 --> 00:21:13.530
I've been involved with Ronald McDonald House. I've been on their board of directors for 23 years.

00:21:13.810 --> 00:21:16.330
Great charity, a big part of my life.

00:21:16.910 --> 00:21:20.270
So anyways, it's just, I believe my mission in life and my purpose,

00:21:20.410 --> 00:21:24.430
why God put me here is to use what happened to me and to help other people.

00:21:24.790 --> 00:21:28.490
And so I pour back into my community any way that I can get through the Volkswagen

00:21:28.490 --> 00:21:32.590
scene, through my businesses, through my nonprofit work. And that's led to those honors.

00:21:32.830 --> 00:21:37.870
You know, Orange County, California is some place that everyone in the country knows.

00:21:38.170 --> 00:21:40.350
You know, I don't live in a small town in Alabama.

00:21:40.750 --> 00:21:44.250
As you know, at the beginning, did I know a certain Volkswagen group?

00:21:44.250 --> 00:21:47.370
I don't, but I think everybody because of the television and,

00:21:47.390 --> 00:21:49.110
you know, internet knows Orange County.

00:21:49.590 --> 00:21:54.790
It's a very philanthropic place. But what people see in the media is that it's

00:21:54.790 --> 00:21:59.470
a very wealthy place with a lot of, you know, stuck up people.

00:21:59.630 --> 00:22:02.710
And that's not really the case there. I mean, surely I've got plenty of those

00:22:02.710 --> 00:22:04.590
neighbors, but that's not really what it is here.

00:22:04.670 --> 00:22:09.210
It's a really big community and heart of people that use their means to give back.

00:22:09.290 --> 00:22:13.370
And I'm so thankful that I have the businesses and that I have the community

00:22:13.370 --> 00:22:15.650
here that supports me and that I can use that to give back.

00:22:15.810 --> 00:22:18.510
So yeah, getting honors like Family Business of the Orange County,

00:22:18.690 --> 00:22:24.010
Philanthropist of the Year, it's kind of crazy to think that I'm not a celebrity

00:22:24.010 --> 00:22:25.510
that's giving back the kind of money they are.

00:22:25.590 --> 00:22:28.430
But I think it's because people see that I'm pouring into my local community

00:22:28.430 --> 00:22:32.630
and I'm helping those around me, especially those with disabilities,

00:22:32.630 --> 00:22:35.070
which is what's closest to my heart.

00:22:35.636 --> 00:22:39.456
And you mentioned Ronald McDonald House as far as being a board member.

00:22:39.636 --> 00:22:42.616
You left a few off. These are in your email signature.

00:22:43.316 --> 00:22:46.576
Orange County Department of Education, Bright Futures Foundation,

00:22:46.996 --> 00:22:52.476
Mountain Shadows Foundation, CSUF Center for Leadership, Pass Keys Foundation,

00:22:53.036 --> 00:22:56.316
Junior Achievement Team. Is that just Junior Achievement?

00:22:56.596 --> 00:23:00.176
Yeah, it's a national. Junior Achievements is a national program and then Team Kids.

00:23:00.296 --> 00:23:05.356
Most of those are foundations for developmentally disabled adults or children.

00:23:05.636 --> 00:23:08.756
And then some of them are youth organizations like the Department of Ed,

00:23:08.876 --> 00:23:11.956
Teen Kids, Junior Achievements is a national program that does entrepreneurship

00:23:11.956 --> 00:23:13.616
and financial literacy in schools.

00:23:13.816 --> 00:23:19.056
So anything with disabled kids, helping youth, entrepreneurship, I'm all about that.

00:23:19.356 --> 00:23:23.416
Now, I got a quote from you. You often say, the more people we meet,

00:23:23.496 --> 00:23:25.276
the more people we can help.

00:23:25.396 --> 00:23:31.076
How does that belief guide your leadership in both business and in the VW community?

00:23:31.556 --> 00:23:35.496
You're great, man. You did do your research. I do say that a lot.

00:23:35.636 --> 00:23:39.236
I say that often. People quote me here locally, but I've never had anybody quote

00:23:39.236 --> 00:23:41.156
me on a podcast. I don't think for that before.

00:23:41.436 --> 00:23:44.656
I say that all the time. And the reason I say that, the reason that's my saying

00:23:44.656 --> 00:23:48.256
is, when I first started getting some of these accolades and awards,

00:23:48.256 --> 00:23:52.736
I was really hesitant to receive them because what I didn't want to happen was,

00:23:52.856 --> 00:23:55.856
you know, I struggle with imposter syndrome all the time.

00:23:56.176 --> 00:23:59.116
And I'm always currently thinking it's not good enough and I'm not deserving

00:23:59.116 --> 00:24:00.836
of something when it happens to me.

00:24:01.500 --> 00:24:04.720
But it was, you know, I started receiving these large honors and I thought,

00:24:04.840 --> 00:24:06.960
you know, this is crazy. I don't want it to be about me.

00:24:07.260 --> 00:24:10.200
How do we shine the light back on those that we're serving and helping?

00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:14.820
That's what this is about. So I need to share more with people in the community

00:24:14.820 --> 00:24:17.540
and others that they need to do what I'm doing to help people.

00:24:17.880 --> 00:24:21.920
Let's not make it about me as a person. Let's make it about the movement that

00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:22.940
we're creating and what we're doing.

00:24:23.140 --> 00:24:27.520
So I think the first couple of honors I turned down and I didn't receive them

00:24:27.520 --> 00:24:30.240
because I thought I told my team and the marketing company, I'm like,

00:24:30.340 --> 00:24:32.760
you know, I don't want this to be about Eric Goodman.

00:24:32.900 --> 00:24:36.100
I want this to be about what my companies and our organizations are doing in the community.

00:24:36.760 --> 00:24:40.980
And then one of the business leaders here in Orange County and a well-known

00:24:40.980 --> 00:24:43.840
philanthropist, he came to me and he said, you know, how are you ever going

00:24:43.840 --> 00:24:44.940
to share your story and get it out?

00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:47.740
How are you going to help more people if you're not willing to receive these

00:24:47.740 --> 00:24:51.520
honors, which are going to get you in the spotlight to share more about what

00:24:51.520 --> 00:24:53.040
you do and connect you to more?

00:24:53.160 --> 00:24:57.360
And you're going to build and grow these bridges if you continue to receive these accolades.

00:24:57.520 --> 00:24:58.660
He's like, you've done the work,

00:24:59.100 --> 00:25:02.680
take the honor, and it's just going to ultimately get to more people.

00:25:02.820 --> 00:25:06.000
And I'm like, oh, wow. Okay, I didn't look at it like that.

00:25:06.360 --> 00:25:10.460
So then I started receiving the honors and using those platforms to share what

00:25:10.460 --> 00:25:13.640
we were doing and say, look, you other business leaders and community people

00:25:13.640 --> 00:25:15.080
in town, you should be doing what I'm doing.

00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:17.660
We should all get behind this and we should be helping more people.

00:25:17.800 --> 00:25:20.660
You have ability to do it, but you're not. And why?

00:25:21.220 --> 00:25:25.620
You need to find your purpose. Let's find something it's your calling and do it.

00:25:25.780 --> 00:25:29.220
So then I started receiving the honors and they started pouring in, which is amazing.

00:25:29.500 --> 00:25:32.640
And then I started quoting the more people we meet, the more people we can help

00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:35.180
meaning connect me to somebody that I don't know.

00:25:35.320 --> 00:25:37.820
And I guarantee you, they're going to connect me to somebody else who's going

00:25:37.820 --> 00:25:39.180
to need my help. And that's it.

00:25:39.420 --> 00:25:42.280
It's a thousand percent worked. It's infectious.

00:25:42.840 --> 00:25:47.440
That, that, that statement and the reality of that, it's very true, right?

00:25:48.100 --> 00:25:54.640
Busy guy. What's it like, I guess, balancing being a CEO, a community leader,

00:25:54.960 --> 00:25:57.920
a club president, and then you also got your family.

00:25:58.040 --> 00:26:01.680
What's it like balancing life between all of that?

00:26:02.364 --> 00:26:05.724
I probably get asked two or three times a day, every single day,

00:26:05.944 --> 00:26:11.284
including yesterday, but multiple times at a lunch meeting and in an event last

00:26:11.284 --> 00:26:15.964
night, somebody will come up to me and say, I don't know how you do it all.

00:26:16.124 --> 00:26:19.324
I cannot figure out how you do everything you do.

00:26:19.464 --> 00:26:24.824
How is it physically possible? You must never sleep. You're on 24-7,

00:26:24.984 --> 00:26:27.504
which is true. I don't sleep much. I'm very type A.

00:26:28.084 --> 00:26:31.284
Obviously, I'm a serial entrepreneur. It's just in my blood.

00:26:31.824 --> 00:26:37.244
But the three businesses, I have teams that are incredible that lead them.

00:26:37.364 --> 00:26:41.924
So I go into the office one day a week. I don't have to be there every single

00:26:41.924 --> 00:26:46.364
day because I have the right people in the right seats, which took me a long time to... traction.

00:26:46.704 --> 00:26:51.944
It took me a long time to learn that, man, for way too many years, 20 plus years.

00:26:52.124 --> 00:26:55.564
I sat there every single day and signed checks and did meetings and did phone

00:26:55.564 --> 00:26:57.784
calls. And I did all the CEO stuff.

00:26:57.964 --> 00:27:00.684
And then it dawned on me like, this is, well, one, I suck at it.

00:27:00.784 --> 00:27:07.224
I'm not a good CEO, but I admit that because I'm too ADHD and I can't focus.

00:27:07.644 --> 00:27:12.824
And number two is, it's a complete waste of my talent like I'm sitting behind

00:27:12.824 --> 00:27:17.184
this desk managing paperwork it's just so when it dawned on me that that was

00:27:17.184 --> 00:27:21.404
the wrong place for me to be and I started hiring the right people to run the

00:27:21.404 --> 00:27:26.604
companies and get them into place and they got me out in the community and had me being the visionary.

00:27:27.264 --> 00:27:30.924
To share what we're doing and to grow and to come up with ideas and to do things

00:27:30.924 --> 00:27:35.624
then that gives me like you know five days a week you know whatever it is that

00:27:35.624 --> 00:27:37.584
I can just pour into the community and

00:27:37.833 --> 00:27:41.633
And and then the nonprofit events, I don't play golf. I do.

00:27:41.713 --> 00:27:46.273
I mean, I do play with cars, but I don't have much hobbies outside of the cars.

00:27:46.293 --> 00:27:49.693
And so when other people are sitting on the couch watching TV or,

00:27:49.893 --> 00:27:54.373
you know, addicted to video games, whatever they're doing, I'm in a community

00:27:54.373 --> 00:27:58.753
function supporting a nonprofit pouring into the community. They're pouring

00:27:58.753 --> 00:28:00.533
back into me. It's filling my soul.

00:28:00.933 --> 00:28:07.393
And I see the nonprofit work is like my downtime. It's my reset. It's my time to be me.

00:28:07.833 --> 00:28:11.953
And then the next morning, I'm recharged to then head off to make connections

00:28:11.953 --> 00:28:14.973
to the community and build the businesses and help people.

00:28:15.113 --> 00:28:18.393
And then another community event comes back up, and it's just that circle.

00:28:18.633 --> 00:28:20.873
So for me, it's the way I fill my cup.

00:28:21.333 --> 00:28:24.033
I know it's not going to work for everybody. Everybody can't go at the pace

00:28:24.033 --> 00:28:25.893
that I can, but it works for me.

00:28:27.413 --> 00:28:33.813
No, that's awesome. And I kind of relate to the no sleep, the type A.

00:28:34.013 --> 00:28:36.353
Do you know the disc profile at all?

00:28:36.893 --> 00:28:40.033
No, I don't think I know that one. Let's explain it. I may have heard it.

00:28:40.413 --> 00:28:45.633
Well, DISC, driver, influencer, stable, compliant nature, the four different

00:28:45.633 --> 00:28:47.293
personality types of people.

00:28:47.473 --> 00:28:52.653
Type A is usually a D style person, usually an entrepreneur,

00:28:53.233 --> 00:28:56.993
usually the one that can't sleep, usually the one in control, you know.

00:28:58.033 --> 00:29:01.093
That's me. Right. And that's me too.

00:29:01.313 --> 00:29:04.973
So like I was just saying, I related to a little bit of what you were saying.

00:29:04.973 --> 00:29:08.753
And share with us, though, how your values, which is caring,

00:29:08.993 --> 00:29:13.713
dependable, and honest, show up in the way that you run your organizations.

00:29:14.093 --> 00:29:16.533
And you're killing it today. This is going to be the best podcast.

00:29:16.913 --> 00:29:19.833
I have a podcast today at two o'clock. I've done six this week.

00:29:19.953 --> 00:29:21.153
And you're in today's what?

00:29:21.533 --> 00:29:25.193
Tuesday. You're killing it with the questions, man. You are nailing it.

00:29:25.513 --> 00:29:28.313
I'm loving this. And we didn't do any of this. Just so you all know,

00:29:28.393 --> 00:29:31.113
it's listening. We did not rehearse any of this in the background. This is all.

00:29:31.813 --> 00:29:34.993
We're all listening to it. And he's he's doing all this. Thank you.

00:29:35.241 --> 00:29:39.101
You're a talented guy. Yes, caring, dependable, honest. I'll give you a short

00:29:39.101 --> 00:29:41.801
story about that. I know my stories can get long and I'm a talker.

00:29:42.421 --> 00:29:45.801
Bring it on, brother. So for years and years and years and years and years,

00:29:46.001 --> 00:29:47.801
we had a mission statement at my company.

00:29:48.041 --> 00:29:50.961
It was on the wall. It hung over the door.

00:29:51.161 --> 00:29:54.521
Every single employee that I had walked in and out of that building.

00:29:54.661 --> 00:29:59.221
They all saw it. It was plastered on everything we had, our website, everything.

00:30:00.461 --> 00:30:04.561
I could not tell you what that mission statement was. I couldn't repeat it to

00:30:04.561 --> 00:30:06.161
you if my life depended on it.

00:30:06.541 --> 00:30:11.921
Nor could anybody on my team. Mission statements are too long. They're too wordy.

00:30:12.381 --> 00:30:15.861
I just don't like mission statements. I think they're complete waste of time.

00:30:16.121 --> 00:30:19.121
And so I was like, why are we doing this? Why do we have this mission statement?

00:30:19.221 --> 00:30:23.421
We're living by this thing that I can't even repeat. Nobody on my team could.

00:30:23.601 --> 00:30:27.121
And so then I said, okay, we did some strategic planning for the business or

00:30:27.121 --> 00:30:28.921
the consultant. They said, how about a vision statement?

00:30:29.521 --> 00:30:33.481
Yeah, okay. A vision statement is a shorter message than a mission statement,

00:30:33.681 --> 00:30:39.181
but it's still a wordy thing that you have to memorize that does anybody actually live by?

00:30:39.341 --> 00:30:42.241
It sounds good for corporate America and you plaster it on your wall. It's nice.

00:30:43.190 --> 00:30:46.730
And then I met this business, this father and son team business,

00:30:46.770 --> 00:30:50.350
and they just had core values, three words.

00:30:50.530 --> 00:30:54.790
And they live by those three words of these core values. And I was like, oh, that's cool.

00:30:55.050 --> 00:30:58.310
Three words. I can remember three words. My team can remember three words.

00:30:58.470 --> 00:31:02.170
And if we can actually live by and follow those three words,

00:31:02.810 --> 00:31:04.010
okay, that's something I can do.

00:31:04.070 --> 00:31:07.230
But I can't live behind my mission statement. It's too long. It's just too much.

00:31:07.950 --> 00:31:13.010
So the way we came up with the core values was we sent a questionnaire notice

00:31:13.010 --> 00:31:15.390
out to all of my customers, all of my vendors.

00:31:15.690 --> 00:31:18.730
I sent it to all of my personal friends and family. And I said,

00:31:18.890 --> 00:31:22.790
give me three words that come to your mind that you think of when you think

00:31:22.790 --> 00:31:25.170
of Eric Goodman and MBS Inc.

00:31:25.190 --> 00:31:27.870
What words do you equate with us?

00:31:28.130 --> 00:31:32.430
And so I got back thousands of words. And all I did was I filtered down the

00:31:32.430 --> 00:31:36.870
three most repeated words, caring, dependable, and honest.

00:31:36.870 --> 00:31:42.450
So I'm like, okay, if that's how the community and my customers and my vendors

00:31:42.450 --> 00:31:47.090
and everyone that I associate myself with sees myself and my business as being

00:31:47.090 --> 00:31:50.530
caring, clearly we care for developing disabled adults and children,

00:31:51.270 --> 00:31:54.410
dependable, if I say I'm going to do something, I do it, and so does my company

00:31:54.410 --> 00:31:58.030
and my customers and vendors and my friends and family know that, and honest.

00:31:59.070 --> 00:32:02.410
They said I was an honest person and our business was honest. I'm like, I'll take it.

00:32:02.650 --> 00:32:11.610
So I implemented those core values in 2021, 2022, something like that in my life and my business.

00:32:12.070 --> 00:32:16.030
And what we did was we kind of told everyone, look, if you don't fit those three

00:32:16.030 --> 00:32:20.270
values, if you're not caring, dependable, or honest, I don't want you as a customer.

00:32:20.710 --> 00:32:23.610
I don't want you as a vendor. I don't need you as a friend in my life.

00:32:24.270 --> 00:32:26.670
I think it's best that we just go our separate ways.

00:32:27.370 --> 00:32:31.670
Because if I'm supposed to appeal those values, and I'm going to live by those,

00:32:31.890 --> 00:32:34.030
then I expect everybody around me to do the same.

00:32:34.170 --> 00:32:38.610
And if they don't, if you bring up a red flag for me, and I think you're a dishonest

00:32:38.610 --> 00:32:43.070
person, then immediately now I've just shifted my values to accept yours.

00:32:43.290 --> 00:32:45.670
And that's not something I'm okay with.

00:32:46.070 --> 00:32:50.410
So I'm like, let's live it. So we started living it. I started posting it every

00:32:50.410 --> 00:32:51.270
single day on my LinkedIn.

00:32:51.490 --> 00:32:54.150
It's still to this day, four or five years later, I post every single day.

00:32:54.690 --> 00:32:57.390
It's plastered all over my walls. I repeat it on everything.

00:32:57.550 --> 00:33:00.390
It's on our literature. It's on my book. It's on my website.

00:33:00.430 --> 00:33:01.550
It's on my personal brand.

00:33:02.070 --> 00:33:05.390
Just I think everybody in my life knows now that my values are caring,

00:33:05.490 --> 00:33:08.650
dependable, and honest. And that's what I live. I lead by example.

00:33:09.090 --> 00:33:13.210
I'm Christian, so I have faith. And so I lead by example. And a lot of times

00:33:13.210 --> 00:33:17.370
people come up to me and they'll say, you know, I didn't really know till I met you.

00:33:17.490 --> 00:33:20.810
And then I met you. And now that I'm around you, I can honestly say,

00:33:21.110 --> 00:33:24.710
yep, you're the guy, you follow those values and you lead by example.

00:33:25.090 --> 00:33:29.470
And so that's what keeps me doing this every day where I don't compromise those

00:33:29.470 --> 00:33:34.450
values because as soon as I do, then I'm compromising everything we built and

00:33:34.450 --> 00:33:36.190
my teams and everybody around me.

00:33:36.670 --> 00:33:40.650
And it just keeps me grounded, man. And I'm glad I have three words.

00:33:40.810 --> 00:33:43.630
And anybody out there that has a mission statement or vision statement,

00:33:43.830 --> 00:33:48.170
throw them in the trash, get rid of them tomorrow they're horrible i like how

00:33:48.170 --> 00:33:51.570
you came up with this too is because because.

00:33:52.372 --> 00:33:55.852
As a business consultant in the trades for like the last 10 years,

00:33:56.152 --> 00:33:59.872
one of the very first things that we used to do, and we'd go out on site to

00:33:59.872 --> 00:34:03.852
a, you know, electrical contractor or an HVAC contract, plumbing contractor,

00:34:04.072 --> 00:34:07.692
they may be at the one to, you know, $2 million mark and trying to have that

00:34:07.692 --> 00:34:09.452
breakthrough where their business grows.

00:34:09.792 --> 00:34:12.452
We would say, wait, you don't have a mission. You don't have a vision.

00:34:12.552 --> 00:34:13.532
You don't have core values.

00:34:13.832 --> 00:34:18.652
But let me go back to this. The way that you came up with yours supersedes,

00:34:18.772 --> 00:34:22.192
or should I say overcomes one of the hardest things that we usually have in

00:34:22.192 --> 00:34:27.732
business, which is buy-in from the employees when we change our core values, right?

00:34:28.372 --> 00:34:35.092
You made the employees come up with the words, so it's impossible to not buy in. Right.

00:34:35.432 --> 00:34:38.132
So yeah, man, that was- And if that many thousands of people,

00:34:38.232 --> 00:34:41.912
if that's how they saw us. Now, here's the flip side to that.

00:34:42.152 --> 00:34:48.052
Now, it didn't happen to me, but let's just say, had dishonest come back is one of the words, right?

00:34:48.212 --> 00:34:52.672
We could have fixed it. to do we would have had to restructure some things obviously

00:34:52.672 --> 00:34:55.852
to fix it sure so it re it re.

00:34:56.792 --> 00:35:02.032
Affirmed for me that we have been doing the right thing and that we we are seen

00:35:02.032 --> 00:35:04.692
like that i mean we've been in business 30 years,

00:35:05.192 --> 00:35:10.372
32, 33 years when that happened, right? And so I, and I had been in business for 30 plus years.

00:35:10.552 --> 00:35:13.192
So, so obviously we're doing something right. It reaffirmed that,

00:35:13.272 --> 00:35:18.452
but just moving forward, it reiterates to everybody that's associated with me, live those values.

00:35:18.572 --> 00:35:21.612
And if you don't, then be, be prepared to be booted off the Island.

00:35:21.772 --> 00:35:26.232
Because if I have a customer or vendor who I don't believe, if I don't believe

00:35:26.232 --> 00:35:30.672
their values are the same as mine, why would I want to align myself with them?

00:35:30.792 --> 00:35:34.532
Then that just means you and the community are going to see that company and

00:35:34.532 --> 00:35:38.152
see that they're dishonest and you're going to go, and Eric's okay with that? Wow.

00:35:38.912 --> 00:35:42.752
I didn't expect that. Right. It just, it's going to lead into just, it's a mess. Yeah.

00:35:42.972 --> 00:35:47.772
It's a powerful way to live. And, and, and usually it's, it's a way that,

00:35:47.892 --> 00:35:51.712
that a lot of folks want to live, but they're almost afraid to face,

00:35:51.892 --> 00:35:53.532
you know, to really push that hard.

00:35:53.692 --> 00:35:57.672
But like you, if they just would, everything's all right.

00:35:58.052 --> 00:36:01.732
That's right. You got to, you got to take that leap. You got to jump.

00:36:01.732 --> 00:36:04.072
Let me ask you a question about Volkswagens.

00:36:04.792 --> 00:36:10.132
Why do you think that Volkswagens bond people like family?

00:36:10.792 --> 00:36:16.332
Oh, I know the answer for that for sure. It is an iconic cult following.

00:36:16.572 --> 00:36:20.952
There is not another automobile on the face of the planet that exists in this

00:36:20.952 --> 00:36:26.172
world that is more iconic or is loved more than a Volkswagen.

00:36:26.172 --> 00:36:29.712
Probably a beetle but i'll give it any volkswagen i

00:36:29.712 --> 00:36:32.752
have never met a single person in my

00:36:32.752 --> 00:36:39.252
life to this day and nor do i think i will till i die that i have not said do

00:36:39.252 --> 00:36:43.972
you know somebody that has or have you owned a volkswagen and then they start

00:36:43.972 --> 00:36:49.632
off with this story bam my uncle my aunt that's right i was a kid growing up

00:36:49.632 --> 00:36:52.712
my first car when i was in call i mean it's just like,

00:36:53.372 --> 00:36:56.812
I have you ever you ever encountered anybody in your life and you said,

00:36:57.112 --> 00:37:00.492
do you do you have owned or do you know somebody has the books?

00:37:00.572 --> 00:37:03.412
And I go, no, never, never had. No, I don't know.

00:37:04.232 --> 00:37:08.292
You're like, yeah, what rock did you grow up under? Doesn't exist.

00:37:08.592 --> 00:37:11.612
That's why I started this podcast is for that reason.

00:37:11.992 --> 00:37:14.012
Right there. Right. Everybody's got a story.

00:37:14.432 --> 00:37:18.732
And usually the people that are involved in this scene are have stories that

00:37:18.732 --> 00:37:21.172
are worthy of celebrating and telling them.

00:37:21.532 --> 00:37:25.312
Look at you, for example. And your accolades at the end of the day,

00:37:25.492 --> 00:37:29.492
I'm just a fan of, right? We're all just a fan of Volkswagens.

00:37:29.812 --> 00:37:33.712
So yeah, that's. And it's a car that you can, I think that, I think the biggest

00:37:33.712 --> 00:37:38.732
thing is, and the reason it's so family orientated and, and what it did for

00:37:38.732 --> 00:37:42.272
my personal family and my life with my kids and why my Volkswagen thing will

00:37:42.272 --> 00:37:43.812
be in my garage until I die.

00:37:44.032 --> 00:37:46.372
And then I hope it, you know, it's in the will to my daughter.

00:37:46.672 --> 00:37:50.172
So she'll own it someday. I'm hoping that she'll keep it forever.

00:37:50.692 --> 00:37:55.392
The Corvette was not a family car. The Corvette was for my wife and I.

00:37:55.712 --> 00:38:00.052
And if the kids came, it meant a second car. And then we worked together as

00:38:00.052 --> 00:38:03.132
a family. And when we went to things, it wasn't a family atmosphere.

00:38:03.672 --> 00:38:06.572
A Ferrari is not a family car. A Porsche is not a family.

00:38:06.712 --> 00:38:11.552
I mean, there's just no... You go to a Volkswagen scene, and the four of us

00:38:11.552 --> 00:38:14.732
pile in our Volkswagen thing, and we cruise down to a Volkswagen scene,

00:38:14.812 --> 00:38:17.932
and we get out to a show, and it's all families.

00:38:18.212 --> 00:38:20.752
Your whole family is there. Your dog is there.

00:38:21.952 --> 00:38:26.092
Your relatives have come to visit six people piling the bus and you're,

00:38:26.192 --> 00:38:30.372
you know, I was at a car show this weekend and there's guys here from Europe

00:38:30.372 --> 00:38:33.172
and they're they're coming up to us and they're talking like,

00:38:33.372 --> 00:38:34.652
you know, how did you get here?

00:38:34.732 --> 00:38:38.892
Oh, we we flew over and then we rented a bus and we're we're here at the show

00:38:38.892 --> 00:38:40.112
like it's family. Right.

00:38:40.352 --> 00:38:43.232
And and that you don't have that in other car places.

00:38:43.650 --> 00:38:48.330
Models, I don't think to this level ever. And so that's why I love the Volts.

00:38:48.410 --> 00:38:52.550
I ditched the Corvettes, went full in on the Volkswagens because I liked them

00:38:52.550 --> 00:38:57.670
as a vehicle, but I more liked that I could include my family and my two kids and my wife and the dog.

00:38:57.910 --> 00:39:03.470
We grew up together from when, you know, we got the thing till now that it's just a part of our life.

00:39:03.550 --> 00:39:07.090
We still, this to this week, my wife and I and the kids, my son,

00:39:07.210 --> 00:39:09.030
I'll call him and say, hey, I'm going to go for a cruise and a thing.

00:39:09.190 --> 00:39:10.810
Do you want to come over? I'll be right there.

00:39:11.010 --> 00:39:14.490
He drives over. We all slam into the thing. We go through the Pacific coast

00:39:14.490 --> 00:39:16.830
highway. Oh, we're gone for like an hour.

00:39:17.070 --> 00:39:19.990
We get some fresh air, beautiful. Maybe grab a bite. We come home.

00:39:20.090 --> 00:39:22.730
We do that probably twice a week. Right. Yes.

00:39:22.950 --> 00:39:25.210
You do not do that in a Subaru.

00:39:26.470 --> 00:39:33.870
Oh, I love it. I love it. So you've got 185,000 plus members in the vintage

00:39:33.870 --> 00:39:36.310
Volkswagen club of America.

00:39:36.750 --> 00:39:40.390
You've probably seen and heard a lot of, a lot of stories.

00:39:40.990 --> 00:39:47.150
What are maybe some one, two that really stand out as being maybe some of the

00:39:47.150 --> 00:39:52.070
most impactful or powerful stories that you've witnessed kind of being in the seat you're in?

00:39:52.530 --> 00:39:56.750
Well, then maybe we can talk about the club a little. So we've got like 180,000

00:39:56.750 --> 00:40:01.150
members in our Facebook group page. That's kind of where we accumulate that number.

00:40:01.310 --> 00:40:04.630
And then the Vintage Volkswagen Club of America is a national club.

00:40:05.282 --> 00:40:08.962
Organization, which then has chapter clubs across the country.

00:40:09.302 --> 00:40:12.362
Oh, there's the magazine. Yeah, I'm holding the magazine up for you listeners

00:40:12.362 --> 00:40:14.242
that can't see because this is a podcast.

00:40:15.602 --> 00:40:19.222
So the way it's structured is we're the national organization.

00:40:19.582 --> 00:40:23.102
We're the Vintage Volkswagen Club of America. And then there's a bunch of chapter

00:40:23.102 --> 00:40:29.762
clubs that are actually the clubs with the members underneath us that then funnel down to the members.

00:40:29.762 --> 00:40:33.382
So you can either be a member of the National Club and go straight to the Vintage

00:40:33.382 --> 00:40:34.762
Ville Twighten Club of America and join.

00:40:35.122 --> 00:40:38.002
Or you can be a member of a chapter club and join.

00:40:38.462 --> 00:40:41.482
Most people do the chapter club because the chapter club is where you're going

00:40:41.482 --> 00:40:42.442
to get your local events.

00:40:42.762 --> 00:40:46.662
So like here in California, we've got five large chapters. Our Bay Area chapter

00:40:46.662 --> 00:40:51.922
does two huge shows, one in Kelly Park and one up in Solvayne.

00:40:52.102 --> 00:40:55.922
And then our Central Coast chapter does a huge show, which is the meet in the middle.

00:40:56.282 --> 00:41:00.242
Our Southern California chapter does a big show that's at Wolfberg's West.

00:41:00.882 --> 00:41:04.482
And so all the different chapters across the country, they host their own shows.

00:41:04.702 --> 00:41:06.982
They have their own members. They do their own events.

00:41:07.302 --> 00:41:11.642
The national club, Vintage Volkswagen Club America, we don't really have any

00:41:11.642 --> 00:41:13.722
national events or national shows.

00:41:14.242 --> 00:41:19.062
You just become a member of the organization to support the hobby and the love

00:41:19.062 --> 00:41:22.222
for Volkswagen and to show that you're part of something bigger.

00:41:22.642 --> 00:41:26.542
But then if you really want to get actively involved, you need to join a chapter

00:41:26.542 --> 00:41:28.582
club, which is where all the activity happens.

00:41:28.702 --> 00:41:33.182
Cause like I'm in California, I can't facilitate an event in Florida near you,

00:41:33.202 --> 00:41:37.602
but the club in Florida can facilitate an event near you and you can be involved

00:41:37.602 --> 00:41:40.362
and do everything and then just be part of the greater organization.

00:41:40.722 --> 00:41:45.202
I think I need to connect with the person in Florida and I hate to sound ignorant,

00:41:45.202 --> 00:41:47.082
but that's why we're talking about it.

00:41:47.242 --> 00:41:51.222
So to create some awareness of people, yes, I think I've joined,

00:41:51.382 --> 00:41:54.762
but I think I joined the, just the national, I didn't even really,

00:41:54.762 --> 00:41:57.042
I didn't even know there was one in Florida.

00:41:57.322 --> 00:41:59.642
And I'm sorry to be ignorant. No, and if you go on the website,

00:41:59.782 --> 00:42:03.662
the VVWCA.com, anybody can go there, click on the chapters and find a local

00:42:03.662 --> 00:42:05.082
chapter club. Or if you have...

00:42:05.364 --> 00:42:09.824
A local car club, and you want to be connected with the larger Volkswagen community

00:42:09.824 --> 00:42:15.284
at large, you could join our club as a chapter and then get all the support that goes with it.

00:42:15.424 --> 00:42:17.744
And then just keep your club as part of us.

00:42:17.924 --> 00:42:21.064
Some of the clubs actually are Vintage Volkswagen Club of America.

00:42:21.584 --> 00:42:24.964
You know, whatever area, Texas, you know, California, whatever.

00:42:25.244 --> 00:42:28.684
And then some of them are different names, where it's like, we have our Bay

00:42:28.684 --> 00:42:31.984
Area chapter, we have our Central Coast chapter, we have our Southern California chapter.

00:42:32.144 --> 00:42:37.184
And then some of them are just called like, Dub life, but they are a chapter

00:42:37.184 --> 00:42:41.104
of Vintage Volkswagen Club of America. They keep their own name. Got it.

00:42:41.704 --> 00:42:46.144
Stories. So you asked about stories. So Vintage Volkswagen Club of America started in 1996.

00:42:47.084 --> 00:42:52.684
It's currently the largest vintage Volkswagen association in the country, probably world. Yeah.

00:42:53.256 --> 00:42:57.556
It has, I think, its own iconic co-following. The logo that's behind you on

00:42:57.556 --> 00:43:01.836
the page is probably something that everybody, I think, that's in the Volkswagen

00:43:01.836 --> 00:43:04.196
scene in the world recognizes.

00:43:04.396 --> 00:43:07.736
I have seen it on everything I can think of.

00:43:07.976 --> 00:43:10.656
Some things non-approved, other things approved.

00:43:11.436 --> 00:43:16.316
Tons of our clubs use it. It's amazing. In Germany, there's a Volkswagen association

00:43:16.316 --> 00:43:17.556
that has a logo that's similar.

00:43:17.556 --> 00:43:23.136
It's amazing that this circle with a bug in it has been used in so many different

00:43:23.136 --> 00:43:30.036
forms across the world where they associate this symbol with the vintage Volkswagen world.

00:43:30.056 --> 00:43:32.576
So we're honored that the logo is what it is.

00:43:32.676 --> 00:43:34.976
And that's why it stayed the same for so long.

00:43:35.716 --> 00:43:39.536
Amazing story for me was when I got involved with the Vintage Volkswagen Club of America.

00:43:39.696 --> 00:43:45.156
So I had the Volkswagen thing and I was a member of the local Volkswagen club,

00:43:45.276 --> 00:43:49.656
not thing related. And Volkswagen things are normally one of those things that

00:43:49.656 --> 00:43:53.216
if you go to a show or go to a club, there's a couple of them.

00:43:53.376 --> 00:43:56.256
And then there's hundreds of buses and bugs and other things.

00:43:56.716 --> 00:44:00.196
And so I was like, where are the Volkswagen things at? Well,

00:44:00.316 --> 00:44:03.556
we have two in our club. There just isn't that many.

00:44:03.876 --> 00:44:08.076
So then I found online that there was the VW thing registry,

00:44:08.076 --> 00:44:12.276
which was in a national association of Volkswagen things.

00:44:12.556 --> 00:44:15.856
And then I found out there was one in Europe also. And there was one in Mexico.

00:44:16.096 --> 00:44:19.836
So there was three, because that's where the Volkswagen thing originally sold in Germany.

00:44:20.096 --> 00:44:23.276
Then for the U.S. imports in other countries, it was built in Mexico,

00:44:23.476 --> 00:44:24.696
then imported to the U.S.

00:44:25.276 --> 00:44:29.676
So the gentleman, Bob, who founded and started the VW Think Registry had passed

00:44:29.676 --> 00:44:32.416
away, I think in the 90s, early 2000s.

00:44:32.516 --> 00:44:35.476
And so the club had kind of been dormant for many, many years.

00:44:36.197 --> 00:44:39.917
So I started contacting people on the internet and saying, hey, do you know so-and-so?

00:44:40.037 --> 00:44:43.137
Do you know so-and-so? Well, long story short, I found a bunch of people who

00:44:43.137 --> 00:44:44.657
had been involved. I found his son.

00:44:44.857 --> 00:44:48.937
I got my hands on a bunch of the old literature, and I restarted the VW Thing

00:44:48.937 --> 00:44:52.797
registry back up again after it had been dormant for many years.

00:44:53.877 --> 00:44:58.377
And on our website, we have a database where we track all of the Thing bin numbers

00:44:58.377 --> 00:45:01.277
in the world, and we keep tracking their location.

00:45:02.057 --> 00:45:06.877
Cool. So I was doing that group, and then Mike, who was the president of Vintage

00:45:06.877 --> 00:45:11.837
Volkswagen Club of America, saw what I was doing with the VW Thing Registry

00:45:11.837 --> 00:45:16.597
and how it was growing and building and how I kind of revived it.

00:45:16.837 --> 00:45:21.357
And he contacted me and said, hey, we want to do the same sort of thing with

00:45:21.357 --> 00:45:22.997
the Vintage Volkswagen Club of America.

00:45:23.477 --> 00:45:27.497
Would you get involved? Can you help us, like, you know, try to take it to the

00:45:27.497 --> 00:45:30.197
next level? And I joined the organization as the vice president.

00:45:30.977 --> 00:45:33.957
And then it was only two years

00:45:33.957 --> 00:45:36.697
Mike asked me to take over as president and I took

00:45:36.697 --> 00:45:45.857
over as president in 2018 and then Mike passed in 2025 and I had been president

00:45:45.857 --> 00:45:51.217
ever since and the amazing story that I found that sorry I finally get into

00:45:51.217 --> 00:45:54.357
the story the amazing story that I found that you're asking about was,

00:45:55.129 --> 00:45:58.949
Two or three times in its 50-year history, the Vintage Volkswagen Club of America

00:45:58.949 --> 00:46:02.109
was going to go under. It was going to close, defunct.

00:46:03.069 --> 00:46:07.089
Because the president, it's an all-volunteer organization, and the president

00:46:07.089 --> 00:46:11.449
of the club had either got tired of being president and couldn't find somebody

00:46:11.449 --> 00:46:15.109
to pass it to, or they passed it to somebody and they didn't want to keep it going.

00:46:15.109 --> 00:46:20.129
And it was running out of funding and just somebody to lead it.

00:46:20.689 --> 00:46:24.489
So when I took it over from Mike he had been investing his own personal funds

00:46:24.489 --> 00:46:28.949
to keep the club going and printing that magazine which you get which is very

00:46:28.949 --> 00:46:33.249
expensive to do we're one of the few clubs that prints an actual hard.

00:46:34.849 --> 00:46:39.649
Magazine, it's costly most everybody's gone digital now I tried to go digital

00:46:39.649 --> 00:46:44.769
and I got revolted from the VWC and I was going to get thrown off the ship because

00:46:44.769 --> 00:46:47.049
people want that some guys just want,

00:46:47.129 --> 00:46:50.489
they collect them there's guys that have our magazine since the beginning to

00:46:50.489 --> 00:46:53.049
the vintage voice. They collect them and they like to get that,

00:46:53.625 --> 00:46:56.745
that magazine in her hand. So when I took it over from Mike,

00:46:56.905 --> 00:47:01.725
I'm like, wow, this vintage Volkswagen club of America, it's, it's iconic. It's huge.

00:47:01.865 --> 00:47:06.925
It's, it's so well known. Like this thing could just grow to this massive ends.

00:47:07.065 --> 00:47:11.785
And I just, I started pouring my life into it. And what I found was everybody

00:47:11.785 --> 00:47:16.105
on the planet thinks they're a member of the vintage Volkswagen club of America

00:47:16.105 --> 00:47:18.325
because they order, buy our sticker.

00:47:18.585 --> 00:47:24.125
They stick it on their car. They see it as a community, not as a club, and as a culture.

00:47:24.625 --> 00:47:27.385
And you'll run into people and say, are you a member of the,

00:47:27.385 --> 00:47:32.445
oh yeah, I've been members since 1970, but I do everything.

00:47:32.605 --> 00:47:35.225
You gotta pay. Are you paying? No?

00:47:36.285 --> 00:47:39.445
Are you involved in the organization at all? No?

00:47:40.025 --> 00:47:44.265
And then I was like, wow, all of these people, it's almost like the bug itself.

00:47:44.545 --> 00:47:48.225
They see the vintage Volkswagen Club of America as a culture,

00:47:48.605 --> 00:47:57.025
as a lifestyle, as a brand that they love, but how do you support that.

00:47:57.631 --> 00:48:02.971
Monetarily? How do you keep an organization of this size running with no funds?

00:48:03.291 --> 00:48:08.531
So I struggled. I really struggled. So the first few years, I dumped my own money into it.

00:48:08.731 --> 00:48:11.871
And then we were providing insurance to all of our chapters.

00:48:11.931 --> 00:48:15.831
And we were supporting events. And we were doing all kinds of stuff.

00:48:15.971 --> 00:48:19.711
So a year or so ago, I had to quit doing all of that. And the chapters have

00:48:19.711 --> 00:48:22.171
to stand on their own leg and support themselves.

00:48:22.551 --> 00:48:25.271
We're just here as a, you know,

00:48:25.671 --> 00:48:28.791
really as the main focused to bring everybody in

00:48:28.791 --> 00:48:31.611
and then they find their chapter so it's been really hard

00:48:31.611 --> 00:48:35.031
to grow and expand this organization beyond a culture because

00:48:35.031 --> 00:48:38.371
you can't it how do you get somebody to join something when they think they've

00:48:38.371 --> 00:48:42.971
been a member of it for 30 years yeah wow interesting every everywhere i would

00:48:42.971 --> 00:48:48.031
go every bw meet every club you you just told me on here i joined but i didn't

00:48:48.031 --> 00:48:51.511
know there was chapter clubs and i didn't know all you know it's just it's so

00:48:51.511 --> 00:48:53.391
it's an amazing organization,

00:48:53.451 --> 00:48:58.271
but my story is it's been saved probably four times by different presidents.

00:48:58.271 --> 00:48:59.611
I'm currently saving it.

00:49:00.031 --> 00:49:02.931
When I decide not to, I don't know who's going to take it over or do it.

00:49:03.051 --> 00:49:06.271
Somebody younger than me will have to step in and do it. But I think it's an

00:49:06.271 --> 00:49:08.131
amazing organization with an amazing brand.

00:49:08.947 --> 00:49:15.007
But its story is so hard to monetize because so many people just think that

00:49:15.007 --> 00:49:19.367
it exists as this thing out in the universe that they're a part of. Which is crazy.

00:49:19.747 --> 00:49:22.247
So, AKA, make your donation.

00:49:23.927 --> 00:49:27.027
Support the vintage Volkswagen Club of America.

00:49:27.247 --> 00:49:32.367
I do it. As soon as I get that email from Jay, you know, telling me that my fees are due, whatever.

00:49:32.587 --> 00:49:36.567
I just, I click next right away. Thank you. I like to support you guys.

00:49:36.787 --> 00:49:40.847
Thank you. You touched on events. I want to touch on events just for a second,

00:49:40.867 --> 00:49:44.027
because I know they've changed a lot over time. Yeah, COVID.

00:49:44.607 --> 00:49:49.347
Yeah, well, even there. But I'm talking even back into the mid-90s,

00:49:49.487 --> 00:49:53.227
the first few times I went to Bug Jam versus now.

00:49:53.607 --> 00:49:59.527
How do you see, I guess, the role of these events changing from the way they

00:49:59.527 --> 00:50:04.587
used to be in the 90s, 80s, 90s in California to now and how they are?

00:50:05.107 --> 00:50:08.327
Yeah, the big thing, especially in California for us, and we have some of the

00:50:08.327 --> 00:50:12.487
biggest shows, the Prado show here in Southern California is the largest Volkswagen

00:50:12.487 --> 00:50:14.487
show in the country, maybe the world.

00:50:14.567 --> 00:50:18.007
We get 3,000 Volkswagens at that show at its height.

00:50:19.745 --> 00:50:23.145
Having them get together and meet for a weekend event and having 1,000 plus,

00:50:23.265 --> 00:50:25.625
12, 15-year cars is just normal.

00:50:25.845 --> 00:50:28.425
Southern California is obviously 40 million people.

00:50:28.765 --> 00:50:31.885
There's probably more Volkswagens in California than there is anywhere in the country.

00:50:32.225 --> 00:50:36.025
We're a dry state. We have rain today for the first time in, okay, what is this?

00:50:36.105 --> 00:50:40.645
This is October 14th, and I can't tell you this year when we had rain.

00:50:40.825 --> 00:50:43.985
So we're having rain today, and everybody's freaking out. We're all going to

00:50:43.985 --> 00:50:46.865
be stuck in our homes, and we can't go outside because it's raining.

00:50:47.065 --> 00:50:51.165
And they've been saying it's the flood of the year on TV for the last week because

00:50:51.165 --> 00:50:53.225
we're getting 12 hours of rain and everybody's freaking out.

00:50:53.605 --> 00:50:57.565
We just, we have, you know, the weather here is inducive to year round Volkswagen cruising.

00:50:57.765 --> 00:51:02.685
We don't winterize or store our cars and the culture is well and alive here and it's huge.

00:51:03.005 --> 00:51:06.825
But the problem is, is, you know, the venues are expensive.

00:51:07.325 --> 00:51:11.185
They want liability insurance, which we were paying vintage Volkswagen club

00:51:11.185 --> 00:51:15.105
America up to last year was paying almost $10,000 a year,

00:51:15.325 --> 00:51:21.625
$10,000 a year for our liability coverage, because it's very expensive because

00:51:21.625 --> 00:51:25.325
we're operating cars because you can get in an accident and kill someone because

00:51:25.325 --> 00:51:29.245
somebody could get hurt in a venue and then you're going to get sued because, you know,

00:51:29.325 --> 00:51:32.445
the venue wants to make sure you got millions of dollars worth of coverage. So there's nothing.

00:51:33.145 --> 00:51:38.105
So just I think the event scene is really struggling. California,

00:51:38.445 --> 00:51:41.005
Florida, nationally, Texas, you know, parts of the country.

00:51:41.685 --> 00:51:45.105
Venues are expensive to secure they want liability

00:51:45.105 --> 00:51:48.085
insurance they want you to

00:51:48.085 --> 00:51:51.105
do not do certain things you can't you know cruise up

00:51:51.105 --> 00:51:54.085
and have your car like you used to because there's liability there it's just

00:51:54.085 --> 00:51:58.765
the culture has changed and that's affected the vw scene that's affected the

00:51:58.765 --> 00:52:04.985
events because now you have to have a big club with a lot of money or big sponsors

00:52:04.985 --> 00:52:09.265
to put on large events to even be able to secure the space.

00:52:09.805 --> 00:52:13.965
So our show here in California, from what I've been told, and don't quote me,

00:52:14.045 --> 00:52:18.265
but the biggest show here in California, our big show, I've been told by that

00:52:18.265 --> 00:52:22.705
group that just to rent the facility, get the insurance...

00:52:23.657 --> 00:52:28.877
And secure everything they need to produce that show cost them $60,000. I believe it.

00:52:29.497 --> 00:52:33.357
And I'll talk on this for a second because it's important.

00:52:33.837 --> 00:52:37.217
It's important for the community to hear this, and you touched on it,

00:52:37.257 --> 00:52:39.177
so I'm definitely going to explore the thought.

00:52:39.597 --> 00:52:43.457
So we put together a few shows down here in Central Florida.

00:52:43.637 --> 00:52:49.897
We got our teeth cut on them in 2024, and we're going to continue to put them

00:52:49.897 --> 00:52:51.497
together. But here's my point.

00:52:52.077 --> 00:52:58.277
We get a show together that maybe allows 90 cars, you know, in this space on

00:52:58.277 --> 00:53:01.557
the beach. It's a show that's been going for many years.

00:53:01.697 --> 00:53:05.197
The guy that put it together has struggled for the last two years to put it together.

00:53:05.577 --> 00:53:10.657
So we're going to put it together, me and my partner, Alan, a salty dub. And...

00:53:11.522 --> 00:53:14.322
We call the city because you have to go through the city. Well,

00:53:14.362 --> 00:53:18.662
they got to close the roads. Well, then they need fire and EMS and then you need your permit.

00:53:18.862 --> 00:53:21.502
And then it's like, so by the time you're done with everything,

00:53:21.702 --> 00:53:23.362
you only have a spot for 90 cars.

00:53:23.382 --> 00:53:27.222
It's thousands of dollars just to get this space. And the community saying,

00:53:27.402 --> 00:53:32.502
oh man, you know, why don't you guys put this together and do this show again? So you do it.

00:53:32.922 --> 00:53:34.922
And then where is everybody at?

00:53:35.382 --> 00:53:38.402
Right? It's like, well, you got to charge 60 bucks. No, no, no.

00:53:38.562 --> 00:53:42.482
We don't, we're not charging anything. We're just trying to recover what we're

00:53:42.482 --> 00:53:45.902
being charged from the city to host this event for you guys.

00:53:46.062 --> 00:53:52.022
So I feel that. And then on the $60,000 figure, I can attest to that by saying

00:53:52.022 --> 00:53:58.302
this, last year, we did our very first V-dubs on the pier, downtown St.

00:53:58.422 --> 00:54:03.082
Pete at the pier property, which was a beautiful event.

00:54:03.282 --> 00:54:07.082
The pictures, the everything. It was a first year event, so it was inaugural.

00:54:07.082 --> 00:54:10.542
Uh we had about 150 cars 147 i

00:54:10.542 --> 00:54:16.762
believe so about 150 cars dude it was 18 000 to secure that space and insurance

00:54:16.762 --> 00:54:21.742
right and then that crazy yeah to break it up by those cars and and try to get

00:54:21.742 --> 00:54:28.442
you know without sponsors etc holy smoke man it's hard to put on these events it is so.

00:54:29.362 --> 00:54:32.982
Yeah they have no idea what goes into that they really don't event in california

00:54:32.982 --> 00:54:36.622
so they ran out an entire camping park.

00:54:37.002 --> 00:54:39.342
So, you know, like 30 grand of it is the park, because I mean,

00:54:39.442 --> 00:54:42.482
obviously the park could rent those spaces for a couple hundred dollars a night,

00:54:42.602 --> 00:54:45.402
and they're giving up 3,000 spaces for the weekend.

00:54:45.642 --> 00:54:48.862
And then, like you said, they've got to have insurance, they've got to have

00:54:48.862 --> 00:54:52.482
fire department there, they've got to have EMS, they've got to have the liability

00:54:52.482 --> 00:54:56.362
insurance, they've got to have I mean, they require them to have security on

00:54:56.362 --> 00:54:58.422
site, and it just adds up.

00:54:58.602 --> 00:55:01.342
And so, they do have big sponsors for that, but how many,

00:55:01.872 --> 00:55:07.752
Volkswagen parts companies or lifestyle companies in the country can support

00:55:07.752 --> 00:55:10.992
events all over the U.S. and spend 50 years. They can't.

00:55:11.932 --> 00:55:16.152
They have a couple of big companies here in California that pour into this one big show.

00:55:16.432 --> 00:55:20.592
And then everybody else that has the Volkswagen Club goes to that owner of that

00:55:20.592 --> 00:55:23.952
VW business and says, well, you support mine. And he's like, I can't.

00:55:24.032 --> 00:55:26.712
I support that one. And that's it. That's my budget.

00:55:26.872 --> 00:55:31.032
I'm done. I can't do 100 shows. That's a good point. changed.

00:55:31.272 --> 00:55:34.352
The scene changed because of the world and because of the stuff.

00:55:34.492 --> 00:55:36.552
And COVID shook a lot of that.

00:55:36.772 --> 00:55:41.772
I think just your, what we found popular here in California is just you're doing a Volkswagen cruise.

00:55:42.052 --> 00:55:45.452
It's more cost effective because you could just post up, we're doing a cruise.

00:55:45.752 --> 00:55:49.372
Everybody meet here in this parking lot. We're going to go for the day and then,

00:55:49.392 --> 00:55:51.412
you know, hit up this whatever restaurant.

00:55:51.772 --> 00:55:54.972
That's really popular. A Volkswagen show in a park,

00:55:55.132 --> 00:55:58.292
they're doing a lot more in like state parks here because that's popular or

00:55:58.292 --> 00:56:01.092
private parks but the big big shows we don't

00:56:01.092 --> 00:56:04.072
have the bug in you know the big stuff we had like the the huge

00:56:04.072 --> 00:56:06.912
vw shows we're here in california and some of the guys

00:56:06.912 --> 00:56:09.712
the last few years they've come to an end you may have saw it here but they

00:56:09.712 --> 00:56:12.372
were doing the drags the vw drags and we had a

00:56:12.372 --> 00:56:15.492
couple of racetracks here in california the california speedway

00:56:15.492 --> 00:56:18.352
in la and then irwindale well that got tore down

00:56:18.352 --> 00:56:21.572
this year and so so now there's no drags

00:56:21.572 --> 00:56:24.512
because there's no place to do it there's no there's no

00:56:24.512 --> 00:56:27.452
auto venues uh tracks that'll have us that

00:56:27.452 --> 00:56:30.252
they don't exist there's one left and i don't know why they do that

00:56:30.252 --> 00:56:33.212
all they're doing really is asking these kids to drag

00:56:33.212 --> 00:56:36.172
race on the street well you know what they at irwindale which

00:56:36.172 --> 00:56:38.992
is the biggest one out here in california that we were using you know what that's

00:56:38.992 --> 00:56:43.372
going to be it's going to be a beautiful home project it's now going to be it's

00:56:43.372 --> 00:56:47.952
now going to be where that racetrack was which was super popular and was well

00:56:47.952 --> 00:56:52.092
attended it wasn't that it didn't do it it was because the owner of the land

00:56:52.092 --> 00:56:56.132
wouldn't release the space to the guy that had the track,

00:56:56.606 --> 00:57:01.026
because he could get more money selling it for real estate. Probably a lot more. Yeah.

00:57:01.926 --> 00:57:06.746
Yeah. At the end of the day, unfortunately, a lot of things boil down to money.

00:57:07.366 --> 00:57:10.986
Yeah. That's a big change, I think, in the VW scene across the country.

00:57:11.586 --> 00:57:15.306
I think it's and it's sad that this is the world we live in.

00:57:15.406 --> 00:57:17.726
And I tell our clubs and chapters that's all the time.

00:57:17.846 --> 00:57:21.386
And every time they're like, Eric, I never thought of that. It's crazy. I never thought of that.

00:57:22.106 --> 00:57:25.006
It's sad that this is the world we live in. But here's the real problem,

00:57:25.226 --> 00:57:30.506
the root of all this is if you have a Volkswagen club and you started up and

00:57:30.506 --> 00:57:34.306
you either 501c3 or you don't do anything, but you just start a club and you

00:57:34.306 --> 00:57:36.906
all put your name on it and you're you're on social media and the website stuff.

00:57:37.206 --> 00:57:40.906
And one of your club members gets in an accident and they kill somebody.

00:57:41.906 --> 00:57:44.646
That family of that, which this has happened in one of our clubs.

00:57:44.886 --> 00:57:48.306
I have firsthand experience of this happened in our club.

00:57:48.966 --> 00:57:52.986
That family sues that Volkswagen club. They're going to go after all those club

00:57:52.986 --> 00:57:55.826
members and those officers of that club and say, oh, wait a minute.

00:57:56.106 --> 00:57:58.346
I see, you know, Dub Life.

00:57:59.106 --> 00:58:02.086
I see you got a pot. I see you do this. I see you do that.

00:58:02.266 --> 00:58:05.346
You got money, which you don't, but that's OK. You got we think you have money.

00:58:05.406 --> 00:58:07.126
You have a club, right? And it's a bunch of members.

00:58:07.426 --> 00:58:11.626
You're all going to pay for this family member's death. And then that's when a club says.

00:58:12.288 --> 00:58:15.488
Holy shit i never thought of that so i said well that's why you have to have

00:58:15.488 --> 00:58:18.488
live building insurance well we don't have live building insurance well then

00:58:18.488 --> 00:58:19.708
you shouldn't be operating a club,

00:58:20.368 --> 00:58:23.328
if you don't have liability insurance or it's live building

00:58:23.328 --> 00:58:26.428
insurance on your business you shouldn't be operating and it's

00:58:26.428 --> 00:58:29.168
sad that that's the world we live in but i think too many guys just

00:58:29.168 --> 00:58:32.068
get together and do clubs and we're just gonna go out fun we're gonna do great blah blah and

00:58:32.068 --> 00:58:34.808
then one of their club members drinks alcohol drives their car

00:58:34.808 --> 00:58:37.788
home gets in an accident god forbid kills somebody

00:58:37.788 --> 00:58:41.388
and the next thing you know well those

00:58:41.388 --> 00:58:44.408
club members are going wait a minute i don't have anything to do with that i'm just i'm

00:58:44.408 --> 00:58:47.168
just a club i'm just a i'm just a president of

00:58:47.168 --> 00:58:49.908
the club no you're responsible for that member that you

00:58:49.908 --> 00:58:52.688
just but right they don't think of that and that's sad that

00:58:52.688 --> 00:58:55.608
this is the world we live in but yeah don't just

00:58:55.608 --> 00:58:59.288
go out and start a little car club and think you're just going to have fun with

00:58:59.288 --> 00:59:01.668
your friends on the weekend unless you're willing to take the responsibility

00:59:01.668 --> 00:59:05.028
for what comes with that and i think that a lot of clubs don't do that no that's

00:59:05.028 --> 00:59:09.788
great that's great for here for us you know we're not even allowed to tickle

00:59:09.788 --> 00:59:15.348
the idea of an event unless we are insured out to the nines.

00:59:15.628 --> 00:59:19.728
I mean, we're messing with the one V-dubs over the Skyway last year that we

00:59:19.728 --> 00:59:22.108
did, had a little over 400 cars.

00:59:22.288 --> 00:59:24.208
We rented lot five at Tropicana Field.

00:59:24.548 --> 00:59:27.948
And when we wrote the check to them for the day to rent that lot,

00:59:28.148 --> 00:59:30.868
it was made out to the Tampa Bay Rays baseball.

00:59:32.468 --> 00:59:35.908
And you know for events, and it sounds like you're doing the right way we know

00:59:35.908 --> 00:59:39.348
for events, but I'm saying even if you just have a car car. No, I know.

00:59:39.528 --> 00:59:41.728
Yeah, Yeah, that's what I'm saying, though, is it goes so deep.

00:59:42.168 --> 00:59:44.948
You're just driving your members around on the weekend for fun.

00:59:45.168 --> 00:59:49.988
You should have liability insurance coverage for that club, for those members,

00:59:49.988 --> 00:59:52.648
because if something happens and you're not even in an event,

00:59:52.648 --> 00:59:55.888
you're just out cruising your cars, somebody's going to sue you.

00:59:56.462 --> 01:00:00.522
That's the crazy part. Cover your, cover your, you know what?

01:00:00.782 --> 01:00:02.422
Yes, exactly. Cover your butts.

01:00:02.962 --> 01:00:07.882
Let me ask you your opinion on the youth. How do you see the younger generations

01:00:07.882 --> 01:00:11.402
stepping into the VW culture now?

01:00:12.302 --> 01:00:15.962
I personally think, and I know it's different, different opinions and different

01:00:15.962 --> 01:00:22.102
things. I personally think the VW is still the only car that a younger person

01:00:22.102 --> 01:00:26.802
can get into and still afford it and make it their own.

01:00:27.042 --> 01:00:38.402
I mean, look at Nissan GTs selling for $100,000 and some of the Supra, $100,000 Toyota Supra.

01:00:38.522 --> 01:00:42.702
I mean, there isn't a lot of cars left on the market that a young person can

01:00:42.702 --> 01:00:47.202
get into and modify or make their own. I mean, I can buy a Honda Civic,

01:00:47.402 --> 01:00:49.862
but you know, how trick are you going to go on a Honda Civic?

01:00:49.982 --> 01:00:52.122
And I'm not, I'm not downing anybody that's got a Honda Civic.

01:00:52.282 --> 01:00:55.962
I'm up for anybody that wants to modify a car, but you can still buy a cheap

01:00:55.962 --> 01:01:00.122
Volkswagen of certain models and you can fix it up and you can go out with your

01:01:00.122 --> 01:01:01.122
friends and you can do stuff.

01:01:01.382 --> 01:01:04.142
I still think it's the only affordable car left in the hobby.

01:01:04.322 --> 01:01:08.882
And I think it's the only reason Volkswagen is still surviving because the Corvettes,

01:01:09.182 --> 01:01:15.582
you know, my dad's sixties Corvettes, somebody younger than my generation doesn't want that car.

01:01:16.342 --> 01:01:21.622
So as those baby boomers are dying off, the values are plummeting because there's

01:01:21.622 --> 01:01:25.242
more, I know for a fact right now, there is more vintage Corvettes for sale

01:01:25.242 --> 01:01:26.642
on the market than there is buyers.

01:01:26.882 --> 01:01:31.202
You can just go online and look it up because those guys don't want those cars

01:01:31.202 --> 01:01:32.562
and nor could they afford it.

01:01:32.662 --> 01:01:36.102
Like you're not going to buy a fifties or sixties.

01:01:36.973 --> 01:01:39.633
Nice muscle car corvette for you know

01:01:39.633 --> 01:01:42.513
less than 75 to 100 grand right and that's

01:01:42.513 --> 01:01:45.613
not a starter car for a kid but you could still buy a volkswagen bug

01:01:45.613 --> 01:01:48.713
for a thousand bucks 1200 bucks 1500 bucks

01:01:48.713 --> 01:01:51.813
not something great 5000 bucks super beetle

01:01:51.813 --> 01:01:54.573
or something still fix it up and drive it

01:01:54.573 --> 01:01:57.893
and so i think that's why the volkswagen hobby scene and

01:01:57.893 --> 01:02:00.613
culture and the youth is still popular and it's still

01:02:00.613 --> 01:02:03.313
a family event where all the other cars even some of the

01:02:03.313 --> 01:02:06.473
cool cars today they're getting rid of the challenger the charger the

01:02:06.473 --> 01:02:09.333
what else have they just i mean they just they they get

01:02:09.333 --> 01:02:12.233
rid of everything that's cool as the mustang

01:02:12.233 --> 01:02:15.853
the only thing left that we have that's that's cool i mean i don't there's just

01:02:15.853 --> 01:02:19.313
not a lot of cars left out there that's right you can buy new that's cool well

01:02:19.313 --> 01:02:24.833
they're all you know they're all kind of moving into you know evs you know i

01:02:24.833 --> 01:02:28.933
know i don't know what your opinion is there but you know you got the id buzz

01:02:28.933 --> 01:02:30.833
and and you know everything with.

01:02:31.113 --> 01:02:33.733
Even with volkswagons do you what's your

01:02:33.733 --> 01:02:36.633
opinion on that do you think that the electrical side do

01:02:36.633 --> 01:02:39.333
you think it clashes with the vintage community or do you think

01:02:39.333 --> 01:02:41.953
well i mean we were talking about this yesterday at one of the

01:02:41.953 --> 01:02:45.093
big volkswagen we had a bus show the octo octa show

01:02:45.093 --> 01:02:47.893
here in california was to been i don't know i don't know how many hundreds

01:02:47.893 --> 01:02:50.733
of buses was there this weekend but i'm gonna guess there

01:02:50.733 --> 01:02:53.633
was you know a few hundred buses there at this big show that's

01:02:53.633 --> 01:02:57.473
every year and there was one id buzz and

01:02:57.473 --> 01:03:00.233
probably 300 vintage volkswagons and

01:03:00.233 --> 01:03:04.373
the only reason is is because i think if they would have made that car gas it

01:03:04.373 --> 01:03:07.653
would have sold you know we were talking about this weekend it was sold hundreds

01:03:07.653 --> 01:03:12.073
of thousands of them because it's electric and the price point is so high it's

01:03:12.073 --> 01:03:17.593
only to a certain demographic of people that can buy that thing true and so if the bug.

01:03:18.284 --> 01:03:20.664
They did away with the bug, the water-cooled bug. Supposedly,

01:03:20.684 --> 01:03:22.744
they're going to come back out with it. If that was affordable,

01:03:22.884 --> 01:03:23.964
non-electric, that'd be great.

01:03:24.104 --> 01:03:26.284
If the bus was not electric, that'd be great.

01:03:26.644 --> 01:03:30.504
I'm not opposed to electric vehicles. I just think it's such a limited market.

01:03:30.964 --> 01:03:34.184
I mean, even in California, you said you traveled here and you've been here.

01:03:34.284 --> 01:03:38.044
We have 40 million people in California.

01:03:38.244 --> 01:03:43.144
We're the, I think, fourth largest economy in the world. And we're bigger.

01:03:43.524 --> 01:03:47.204
Our state is bigger than every state in the United States combined.

01:03:47.204 --> 01:03:49.584
We're still bigger. We're still bigger then.

01:03:50.324 --> 01:03:55.624
So California is so massively huge. We were supposed to have an EV mandate by,

01:03:55.624 --> 01:03:59.284
what, 32, I think, or whatever.

01:03:59.624 --> 01:04:01.964
That just got repealed. We'll see what happens with the new administration.

01:04:01.964 --> 01:04:04.824
But our governor wanted us to be a fully electric state.

01:04:05.404 --> 01:04:10.964
How in the world would you electrify 40 million people's cars?

01:04:11.244 --> 01:04:15.064
Even where I live, I'm in Newport Beach in Southern California.

01:04:15.064 --> 01:04:21.384
I live in a very old community in a very old neighborhood that we don't even

01:04:21.384 --> 01:04:25.644
allow electric vehicles to be charged in our community. It's in our CCNRs and

01:04:25.644 --> 01:04:27.784
our homeowners association that we can't have electric cars.

01:04:27.964 --> 01:04:35.004
Wow. So how do you mandate an electric car when my community can't even charge the cars?

01:04:35.384 --> 01:04:39.244
So I just don't understand. It's a very niche market. It's a small group.

01:04:39.464 --> 01:04:43.144
And in some places, in especially California, we couldn't,

01:04:43.815 --> 01:04:47.575
I think the whole country would be, the electrical grid would be shut down if we all went electric.

01:04:47.815 --> 01:04:50.515
I just don't know how, we couldn't handle it. It can't be done.

01:04:50.735 --> 01:04:53.795
You hear about those big brownouts and blackouts and the blackouts are,

01:04:54.035 --> 01:04:57.795
they usually explain the blackouts by being old technology for the grid.

01:04:58.515 --> 01:05:04.735
Well, if the grid's got old technology, you're not going to handle 40 million cars charging.

01:05:04.795 --> 01:05:07.195
Well, we get, I don't know, you don't live in California, so you may not know

01:05:07.195 --> 01:05:09.635
this, but people in California know this and you may be surprised at it.

01:05:09.695 --> 01:05:14.915
So we get here in California, certain things where the, the Southern California

01:05:14.915 --> 01:05:18.395
S&M will shut down our air conditioning during peak times of season.

01:05:18.395 --> 01:05:21.795
When we are overloaded or too hot, our air conditionings get shut off and there's

01:05:21.795 --> 01:05:22.795
nothing we can do about it.

01:05:22.955 --> 01:05:26.975
And they'll notify us, hey, you know, we're peak season during these hours, during these days.

01:05:27.335 --> 01:05:29.555
So we lose our air conditioning. They turn it off.

01:05:29.995 --> 01:05:33.295
Well, what's happened the last few years is they've now been putting out notices

01:05:33.295 --> 01:05:38.655
that we can't charge our electric cars on certain days during certain peak hours

01:05:38.655 --> 01:05:40.775
because it overloads the system.

01:05:40.775 --> 01:05:44.195
But if you only own an electric car and you

01:05:44.195 --> 01:05:47.315
can't charge it from friday till sunday what are

01:05:47.315 --> 01:05:50.015
you supposed to do during what do you do i don't

01:05:50.015 --> 01:05:53.015
i have no no of course everybody ignores it nobody nobody now

01:05:53.015 --> 01:05:56.115
the electrician our ac they actually physically

01:05:56.115 --> 01:05:58.995
put a little box on our electrical panels

01:05:58.995 --> 01:06:02.255
and they shut it down remotely so we have no control over it so it's it's just

01:06:02.255 --> 01:06:06.335
turned off but you you're sitting inside you have no air conditioning and now

01:06:06.335 --> 01:06:10.335
you can't even go drive your car that's just crazy right it is so how would

01:06:10.335 --> 01:06:15.275
that work crystal ball yeah and the people that own them electric cars when

01:06:15.275 --> 01:06:18.955
we get our ev notice here and saying you can't drive your ev those people just go.

01:06:19.599 --> 01:06:22.019
What? California mandated that they want us to go all electric,

01:06:22.159 --> 01:06:26.059
but then they notify us that we can't charge our car during peak hours? It's crazy.

01:06:26.399 --> 01:06:30.819
It's the stupidest thing ever. It's crazy. It's crazy to see what's happening

01:06:30.819 --> 01:06:35.019
over time with some of the changes that they're trying to make.

01:06:35.159 --> 01:06:36.999
We'll see how it all pans out.

01:06:37.199 --> 01:06:42.759
Speaking of that, though, of what will be, what trends do you think over the

01:06:42.759 --> 01:06:47.379
next five years will maybe start to define the VW community?

01:06:47.559 --> 01:06:52.039
Do you see anything coming? well I'm worried I'm worried about the.

01:06:52.718 --> 01:06:57.378
Volkswagen and the hobby in general surviving for a long period of time,

01:06:57.378 --> 01:07:03.158
only just because with the costs that we discussed of various expenses of own

01:07:03.158 --> 01:07:07.398
and operating, Volkswagen parts companies are becoming less and less.

01:07:07.558 --> 01:07:12.898
We're reliant on Chinese parts. And I'm not going to mention a Volkswagen parts

01:07:12.898 --> 01:07:16.618
reseller by name, but I'm just going to say, you know, I saw somebody posted

01:07:16.618 --> 01:07:19.398
on our page a week or so that they got dual carbs.

01:07:19.618 --> 01:07:22.358
They put them on their car and they lasted three weeks.

01:07:22.718 --> 01:07:25.678
And they're shot, and they go back, and the parts company's saying,

01:07:25.818 --> 01:07:31.558
well, they failed because it was Chinese, and hey, it's junk, and sorry, you're out.

01:07:31.858 --> 01:07:36.498
So their brand new motor was on the road three weeks, and the carbs already are crap.

01:07:37.038 --> 01:07:43.958
So how do we sustain that? How do we continue to have a thriving community of

01:07:43.958 --> 01:07:48.318
these vintage cars when our parts resellers are slowly getting down to where

01:07:48.318 --> 01:07:51.838
there's just a handful of them in the country and the parts that we're getting

01:07:51.838 --> 01:07:54.098
are crap and nothing's being made here.

01:07:54.398 --> 01:07:57.778
And you just have a hand, like I just told you, I had my new motor built by

01:07:57.778 --> 01:07:59.878
Jake Raby at Raby Air Cool Technologies.

01:07:59.918 --> 01:08:03.478
And anybody in the VW scene that knows Jake or in the poor scene that knows

01:08:03.478 --> 01:08:07.598
Jake knows he's probably the top air cool engine builder in the country, maybe the world.

01:08:07.778 --> 01:08:13.618
And he will only use German or parts that him or L&M, his partner that is in

01:08:13.618 --> 01:08:15.178
the business with him have manufactured like.

01:08:15.738 --> 01:08:18.498
And the reason is, is because he says he buys parts that

01:08:18.498 --> 01:08:21.458
are imported and he builds a motor and he can't warranty it

01:08:21.458 --> 01:08:25.698
because it doesn't last because it falls apart because it's junk so that's why

01:08:25.698 --> 01:08:29.538
they have to build their own parts or use vintage nos parts or get parts from

01:08:29.538 --> 01:08:33.938
germany because quality parts don't exist in the marketplace anymore so how

01:08:33.938 --> 01:08:38.038
do you build you know used to build a vw bug motor for a couple thousand bucks

01:08:38.038 --> 01:08:41.238
now even with chinese imported parts it's going to cost you.

01:08:42.456 --> 01:08:45.436
Let's say a cheap entry level motor is going to cost you five,

01:08:45.636 --> 01:08:47.356
a good one's probably going to cost you eight.

01:08:48.116 --> 01:08:52.616
And then you drive it on the road for three weeks and it doesn't run. It's just like, yeah.

01:08:53.556 --> 01:08:57.916
Right. How you can't, well, it doesn't go the web or so. I mean, just, yeah.

01:08:58.056 --> 01:09:02.616
So I don't. Yeah. And if, and if that is the youth that's experiencing that,

01:09:02.616 --> 01:09:07.196
how long can they experience that before they say, man, I'm selling this thing.

01:09:07.516 --> 01:09:11.096
Yeah. Right. And then getting out of it. So I, I, I can appreciate that.

01:09:11.096 --> 01:09:17.276
And then I spent a fortune, you know, I spent, I could have bought two Volkswagen

01:09:17.276 --> 01:09:20.216
things for what I spent on my motor with Jake.

01:09:20.636 --> 01:09:24.416
I spent a fortune on my motor. And any of the guys that know or know me are

01:09:24.416 --> 01:09:26.056
like, it's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

01:09:26.156 --> 01:09:29.876
Why would you spend that kind of money on a motor? Why does Jake have a four-year waiting list?

01:09:30.516 --> 01:09:34.296
I wonder why. Why did it take me, there's going to be a story coming out in

01:09:34.296 --> 01:09:37.136
our Volkswagen Club of America magazine after the first year,

01:09:37.236 --> 01:09:40.256
like, why did I have to wait four years to get a motor in my car?

01:09:40.256 --> 01:09:44.356
Because there's so few guys in the country who are building motors like Jake's

01:09:44.356 --> 01:09:46.316
building and the quality that he's building them.

01:09:46.996 --> 01:09:49.996
And what it costs me, your average guy isn't going to spend,

01:09:50.236 --> 01:09:52.536
but that's the only way you can get a quality motor in your car.

01:09:53.076 --> 01:09:57.196
We need to get Jake on the podcast. You do. I can hook you up with Jake.

01:09:57.516 --> 01:10:01.136
Do you know Jake? You must know of him or know. I know of him.

01:10:01.256 --> 01:10:02.856
I don't know. Google him.

01:10:04.076 --> 01:10:07.616
You think you spent some research on me. You'll spend the rest of your time.

01:10:07.976 --> 01:10:11.196
Man, that guy is. Yeah, and if you want somebody to go off and start telling

01:10:11.196 --> 01:10:14.036
you technical data on how stuff is made.

01:10:14.216 --> 01:10:17.116
That would be a cool – so I'm not the best mechanic out there,

01:10:17.216 --> 01:10:20.676
nor do I claim to be, but that would be a fun episode.

01:10:21.036 --> 01:10:22.696
I'll email you with him and hook you up.

01:10:23.216 --> 01:10:25.896
And he doesn't do a lot of this, so it'll take some convincing,

01:10:25.916 --> 01:10:28.476
but I think if we explained to him we were doing it for the Vintage Volkswagen

01:10:28.476 --> 01:10:30.756
Club. He's our chief technical director for the club.

01:10:30.856 --> 01:10:33.156
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. All of our technical stuff, yeah.

01:10:33.456 --> 01:10:36.616
I think he would do it, but just finding guys like him –.

01:10:37.352 --> 01:10:40.992
Those guys are all either retiring or dying. And there's just,

01:10:41.132 --> 01:10:44.372
isn't a lot of guys, you know, all the Volkswagen shops, the repair shops in

01:10:44.372 --> 01:10:46.152
my area, uh, they're all gone.

01:10:46.332 --> 01:10:49.312
They're all gone. I have to drive, you know, far away to get to it.

01:10:49.392 --> 01:10:51.272
And I'm in Southern California and everybody's like, there should be a million

01:10:51.272 --> 01:10:54.032
shops. They're all gone. They can't, my guy too.

01:10:54.372 --> 01:10:57.352
Yep. My guy, are you business here? They're older, they're out.

01:10:57.832 --> 01:11:02.032
So then I, I shipped my thing in a transport truck to Georgia.

01:11:02.412 --> 01:11:05.552
Had Jake put in the motor, work on it ship my

01:11:05.552 --> 01:11:08.332
car back to me in california and i'm in i'm in southern

01:11:08.332 --> 01:11:11.312
california and i couldn't find to have it

01:11:11.312 --> 01:11:14.112
done and then a few local shops that i do know here you know i talked

01:11:14.112 --> 01:11:16.852
to one of the owners of a it's not a volkswagen shop but it's

01:11:16.852 --> 01:11:19.592
a vintage porsche shop and they

01:11:19.592 --> 01:11:22.312
do vintage air cools and same thing with him he's like eric i can

01:11:22.312 --> 01:11:25.512
do your car but he's like if i'm a year plus on my waiting list i'm

01:11:25.512 --> 01:11:28.792
like gosh everybody you know to get the good mechanic you're

01:11:28.792 --> 01:11:32.092
gonna wait a year to get on your list so what do you do so crazy yeah

01:11:32.092 --> 01:11:34.812
you don't drive your car my car sat here in my garage for two years and

01:11:34.812 --> 01:11:37.632
i didn't drive it because my motor was shot and i couldn't take

01:11:37.632 --> 01:11:41.232
it to a local shop i could have i'm not i'm being exaggerating i

01:11:41.232 --> 01:11:44.232
could have but i would have i would have known what i was getting for

01:11:44.232 --> 01:11:47.052
what i was right no no no right no you could have

01:11:47.052 --> 01:11:49.732
but then you you would have been that statistic you were just

01:11:49.732 --> 01:11:52.512
telling us about on the road for three hours and it's and

01:11:52.512 --> 01:11:55.292
now it's already failed and i've had friends i've had

01:11:55.292 --> 01:11:58.232
local friends here help me keep my car going but

01:11:58.232 --> 01:12:01.372
like i had to replace my alternator this last year put a

01:12:01.372 --> 01:12:04.412
brand new alternator in it and the car didn't run put a

01:12:04.412 --> 01:12:07.032
second alternator it doesn't run go for the third alternator i get a hold

01:12:07.032 --> 01:12:09.692
of jake i'm like what's the deal with these alternators he's like they're rebuilt

01:12:09.692 --> 01:12:13.572
they're crap it's chinese he's like good luck he's like sometimes i put five

01:12:13.572 --> 01:12:19.452
in he's like you've got to go get your bosch one rebuilt go down and get your

01:12:19.452 --> 01:12:23.472
original bosch alternator rebuilt rebuild your original one put it in the car

01:12:23.472 --> 01:12:26.132
that's what we did it's great it's great now Wonderful.

01:12:26.292 --> 01:12:34.632
No problems, everything's great And even the rebuild cost me Bosch Rebuild Alternator Cost me $400.

01:12:36.200 --> 01:12:42.180
$400 to get my vintage real Bosch alternator rebuilt, $400.

01:12:42.600 --> 01:12:48.740
That's a part that you can buy on the Chinese market for less than $100, $89, $100.

01:12:49.240 --> 01:12:53.400
But then you go through four or five of them to get one that works. That's whacked.

01:12:54.140 --> 01:12:59.580
Anyways, don't get me going. You got the point. All right. How does Eric Goodman want to be remembered?

01:12:59.800 --> 01:13:04.000
Not just by the VW community, but by life in general.

01:13:04.560 --> 01:13:13.340
I know the answer to that. So for me, success in life is not about stature or title or money.

01:13:13.900 --> 01:13:20.000
We all entered this earth equal. We're all going to leave this earth equal. We are all the same.

01:13:20.500 --> 01:13:22.900
You and I are exactly, we're sitting here exactly the same today.

01:13:23.040 --> 01:13:24.260
There's nothing different between you and me.

01:13:24.420 --> 01:13:28.700
We are completely equal, but that's not how society sees it or does it.

01:13:28.820 --> 01:13:32.900
And I think people, they've done success with money and money with,

01:13:32.900 --> 01:13:37.160
you know, saying that somebody did right in life or lived a good life.

01:13:37.680 --> 01:13:43.180
I tell people all the time, and what I live by is, I think I'm successful by

01:13:43.180 --> 01:13:44.880
the amount of lives I've impacted.

01:13:45.780 --> 01:13:49.180
If I have helped people like my new book, the book, What's Your Mindset?

01:13:49.300 --> 01:13:51.280
Like, why did I write my memoir, my life story?

01:13:51.420 --> 01:13:54.700
Why did I share it publicly? Why do I want to get my book out to more people?

01:13:55.300 --> 01:13:59.860
Why is it so important to me that that book was something that I think will

01:13:59.860 --> 01:14:01.040
help people in their life.

01:14:01.240 --> 01:14:07.600
Since the book came out, I have had people contact me, and it's only been out not even a month.

01:14:07.800 --> 01:14:10.220
I'm less than 30 days on the book release. Less than a month.

01:14:10.380 --> 01:14:12.180
I have had people contact me and tell me.

01:14:12.866 --> 01:14:15.626
They were going to commit suicide, and my book saved them.

01:14:15.946 --> 01:14:19.606
I had somebody tell me that they were going to leave their wife,

01:14:19.746 --> 01:14:23.866
and that they were going to go for a divorce, and their marriage was ending,

01:14:24.006 --> 01:14:25.806
and my book saved their marriage.

01:14:25.926 --> 01:14:30.066
I've had people contact me and tell me that they were in a dark place,

01:14:30.146 --> 01:14:33.526
and they didn't know what to do, and they were up at three in the morning,

01:14:33.646 --> 01:14:37.806
and they were contemplating life, and they had my book sitting there, and they had opened it.

01:14:38.066 --> 01:14:41.346
They read the full book that morning before they went back to sleep,

01:14:41.366 --> 01:14:43.666
told me they went back to sleep for two hours, got up,

01:14:43.806 --> 01:14:47.206
and they're living a new life moving forward because they're going to change

01:14:47.206 --> 01:14:51.786
their mindset and realize that to see the struggles that I've been through and

01:14:51.786 --> 01:14:57.186
where I'm at today and that they can do the same thing and that I still struggle every day.

01:14:57.346 --> 01:15:00.266
I still have struggled every single day. My life is not cherry.

01:15:00.606 --> 01:15:03.846
I have business struggles. I have faith. I have all the struggles,

01:15:03.846 --> 01:15:07.126
but for 30 plus years, I've kept my mindset positive.

01:15:07.406 --> 01:15:10.766
And now I wrote a book called What's Your Mindset? So I surely have to live

01:15:10.766 --> 01:15:12.546
up to the positive mindset.

01:15:12.706 --> 01:15:17.046
But if you talk to my family or my team, you could go to any of my employees,

01:15:17.246 --> 01:15:21.526
38 years of business or my family and say, have you ever seen Eric upset?

01:15:22.026 --> 01:15:24.266
Have you ever seen him yell? Have you ever seen him get mad?

01:15:24.366 --> 01:15:29.986
And I can honestly, without lying to you here, you can contact my wife or my VP of my company.

01:15:30.406 --> 01:15:33.926
I have never raised my voice. I have never yelled. I have never screamed.

01:15:34.066 --> 01:15:38.146
I have never lost my temper or been mad at anybody in my company in 30 years.

01:15:38.146 --> 01:15:40.286
I swear to God, not once. And they will contest to that.

01:15:41.006 --> 01:15:46.186
Now, do I go get in my car and scream at the top of my lungs and have a meltdown?

01:15:47.026 --> 01:15:50.586
Absolutely, I do. I do often, but I never do it in front of the team.

01:15:50.746 --> 01:15:52.366
I never do it in front of my family.

01:15:52.546 --> 01:15:56.886
I never do it in front of my friends because I got to stay in that positive mindset that,

01:15:57.716 --> 01:16:01.856
okay, shit happened. But how am I going to control that shit that happened to

01:16:01.856 --> 01:16:03.776
me? Am I going to let it affect my life?

01:16:03.916 --> 01:16:07.676
Or am I going to say, that happened to me, but you know what?

01:16:08.076 --> 01:16:10.196
That can't dictate my entire day.

01:16:10.796 --> 01:16:14.356
I got to keep moving forward and be positive. And then at the end of the day,

01:16:14.456 --> 01:16:18.276
when I came home, if I let all of that shit affect me, my wife's going to be

01:16:18.276 --> 01:16:21.396
like, so how did your day go? I'm going to like, my day was shit. Why?

01:16:21.836 --> 01:16:24.096
Because I let it be. It was horrible. And I'm going to tell her,

01:16:24.296 --> 01:16:27.076
I come home and go, yeah, you know what? That did happen this morning.

01:16:27.076 --> 01:16:28.436
That did suck. But you know what?

01:16:28.656 --> 01:16:31.796
The rest of the day, I changed it. I turned it around.

01:16:32.076 --> 01:16:35.356
I was positive all day. All these other things happened, which were better.

01:16:35.636 --> 01:16:38.436
And then when she asked me, how was your day? I go, you know what?

01:16:38.436 --> 01:16:40.616
My day was amazing. I had a great day. And I'm going to tell her about you.

01:16:40.616 --> 01:16:43.356
I'm on a podcast with you. I'm on another podcast this afternoon.

01:16:43.516 --> 01:16:46.476
I have a lunch with one of my mentees that I'm mentoring.

01:16:46.896 --> 01:16:50.156
I have a couple of business appointments. Like, there's going to be stuff.

01:16:50.316 --> 01:16:53.696
I'm going to get a call from my office that something's going to fall apart today. I guarantee it.

01:16:53.936 --> 01:16:56.656
And it's going to be the biggest thing in the world to them.

01:16:57.076 --> 01:16:59.896
And I'm going to say, you know what, it's not that big of a deal.

01:17:00.036 --> 01:17:02.836
We'll get through it. Let's figure it out, manage it, and we're going to move

01:17:02.836 --> 01:17:04.236
on. Opposed to saying...

01:17:04.773 --> 01:17:08.613
My whole day just sucks, right? So it's that mindset.

01:17:09.593 --> 01:17:15.593
I want to be remembered for that guy that I impacted people's lives and I changed

01:17:15.593 --> 01:17:19.213
my community by what I did.

01:17:19.353 --> 01:17:23.493
And that to me shows that I've been successful and that's what I want to be remembered for.

01:17:23.613 --> 01:17:27.973
I want to be remembered for the guy with the positive mindset who impacted his

01:17:27.973 --> 01:17:32.733
community, whether you found success to be that my businesses were successful

01:17:32.733 --> 01:17:37.413
or the club was successful or the book was successful, that really doesn't matter to me.

01:17:37.533 --> 01:17:42.113
What matters is out of those successes, how did I use those to impact other

01:17:42.113 --> 01:17:44.473
people's lives? And did I? Yeah. And I do.

01:17:45.193 --> 01:17:47.033
So that's my purpose.

01:17:47.873 --> 01:17:52.953
Awesome. Very well said. All right, I got some rapid fire style questions.

01:17:53.153 --> 01:17:56.313
These are questions that'll demand- I'll go for shorter answers, I promise.

01:17:56.593 --> 01:17:59.833
Yeah, I was gonna say these questions demand a fast answer, but you know,

01:17:59.953 --> 01:18:01.733
man, hey, if a story evolves out of it, I'm not gonna hold it.

01:18:01.733 --> 01:18:02.633
No, that's fine, I'll go quick.

01:18:03.073 --> 01:18:08.273
All right, you ready? Ready Alright, favorite VW model of all time Volkswagen

01:18:08.273 --> 01:18:15.293
thing You got it, alright How about this one Stock or slammed, I think I know the answer.

01:18:16.495 --> 01:18:23.515
Stock, okay. 100%. Best VW show in the U.S.? Well, we have our Prado show here.

01:18:23.895 --> 01:18:28.435
The El Prado show here in Southern California obviously is huge, and it's a good show.

01:18:28.595 --> 01:18:33.575
I would say probably the best one I've ever attended or that has the most history or is the greatest is.

01:18:33.735 --> 01:18:37.815
So our Kelly Park show here put on by the Vintage Volkswagen Club of America

01:18:37.815 --> 01:18:43.675
in the Bay Area is a very historic show in a very historic place,

01:18:43.675 --> 01:18:47.355
And it has people that travel from all over the world to come to that show.

01:18:47.615 --> 01:18:51.495
I think it's probably one of the more iconic in the country and its history

01:18:51.495 --> 01:18:55.115
is really rich. I would say for that reason, probably that show.

01:18:55.315 --> 01:18:58.735
But obviously the biggest show in the country happens here in Southern California

01:18:58.735 --> 01:19:02.195
in June every year. And that's that's something to really be seen. How many cars?

01:19:02.735 --> 01:19:05.975
They've had almost they've had 3000 cars at that show before. Oh, my God.

01:19:06.495 --> 01:19:11.015
For those of you that know Bug Jam in Florida, that's three times Bug Jam.

01:19:11.455 --> 01:19:14.235
Wow. That'd be totally impressive. the big

01:19:14.235 --> 01:19:17.135
show all right how about dream road trip

01:19:17.135 --> 01:19:20.135
in your thing oh man so we have

01:19:20.135 --> 01:19:23.235
a the volkswagen thing club has a show we have

01:19:23.235 --> 01:19:26.675
an east and a west show every year mine's the west show which

01:19:26.675 --> 01:19:29.795
is part of that prado and i've had over 100 volkswagen things

01:19:29.795 --> 01:19:33.115
at one time at a show which was crazy they've

01:19:33.115 --> 01:19:36.435
had over 150 at one time at a show in

01:19:36.435 --> 01:19:39.455
the east coast which is like yeah i'd

01:19:39.455 --> 01:19:42.095
have to see that things it's just when you

01:19:42.095 --> 01:19:44.835
come to my show and you see a hundred things lined up it's like you

01:19:44.835 --> 01:19:47.755
know people sometimes only see one or two things in

01:19:47.755 --> 01:19:51.095
their lifetime right and then to see a hundred of them all sitting at the same

01:19:51.095 --> 01:19:56.055
i've been to that show but i flew with a friend of mine who's the vp of our

01:19:56.055 --> 01:20:00.775
of our vw thing club i've never driven i think the dream would be our guys have

01:20:00.775 --> 01:20:04.455
always talked about leaving california and driving to the east to go to that

01:20:04.455 --> 01:20:05.575
show i think that would be a.

01:20:08.069 --> 01:20:14.129
How about this one? Who's one VW legend that you'd love to sit down with?

01:20:14.289 --> 01:20:17.529
Oh, goodness. I've sat down with a bunch of them that are already here and been together.

01:20:17.669 --> 01:20:21.989
I mean, like the Kimball family and the fat performance guys,

01:20:22.109 --> 01:20:24.549
Ron. I mean, we got a lot of them here in California.

01:20:25.169 --> 01:20:29.329
She's the racers. I mean, we have, for me personally, and I know he's not going

01:20:29.329 --> 01:20:32.769
to like this or say this, but, and he was correcting me this morning when I

01:20:32.769 --> 01:20:36.469
talked to him, Jake Raby is a Porsche guy. I mean, his business is Type 4s,

01:20:36.549 --> 01:20:39.849
but he puts a lot of his Type 4 motors in bugs, too.

01:20:40.169 --> 01:20:44.269
I personally think he's a legend in the scene. And to just know him and get

01:20:44.269 --> 01:20:48.369
to talk to him on a regular basis, when he's gone, that's going to be a huge

01:20:48.369 --> 01:20:50.909
impact to the Volkswagen and Porsche world.

01:20:50.989 --> 01:20:55.269
Because his knowledge is just like, if you spend an hour talking to that guy,

01:20:55.329 --> 01:20:56.709
he's going to blow your head off.

01:20:56.969 --> 01:20:59.529
I hope I get the opportunity to, man.

01:21:00.349 --> 01:21:06.309
He is. That's awesome. He's my legend to me. Okay, no, I can take it.

01:21:06.389 --> 01:21:09.589
All right, first word that you think of when you hear air-cooled.

01:21:09.929 --> 01:21:11.789
Icon. Icon, yes.

01:21:12.822 --> 01:21:17.002
What does the VW community mean to you in one word?

01:21:17.642 --> 01:21:21.922
Family. Family. Awesome. Awesome. All right. How about this?

01:21:22.262 --> 01:21:25.402
Shout out where people can find you if they want to connect with you.

01:21:25.582 --> 01:21:30.422
I'm all over the place and I see your LinkedIn and I see you everywhere,

01:21:30.422 --> 01:21:34.362
but general public, if they're looking for you, they don't know who you are.

01:21:34.442 --> 01:21:36.162
They want to find you. How can they find you?

01:21:36.302 --> 01:21:41.202
So the club is vvwca.com. So that's vintage Volkswagen club of America.com,

01:21:41.302 --> 01:21:45.162
but abbreviated. My contacts on there yet you mentioned LinkedIn as probably

01:21:45.162 --> 01:21:48.062
I'm active on LinkedIn post probably twice a day.

01:21:48.302 --> 01:21:49.382
It's the only social media that

01:21:49.382 --> 01:21:52.842
I currently use. So I don't I'm not on any other forms of social media.

01:21:53.002 --> 01:21:57.362
So it's Eric L with the middle initial L Goodman. That's easiest way to find me on LinkedIn.

01:21:57.782 --> 01:22:01.762
My website is ericgoodman.org. And that has information on my book,

01:22:01.882 --> 01:22:03.942
they can order my new book, What's Your Mindset there.

01:22:04.382 --> 01:22:06.522
There's a little history about my background, like you said,

01:22:06.622 --> 01:22:09.242
it's available on Amazon, if they just want to just don't even connect with

01:22:09.242 --> 01:22:12.422
me and just go on Amazon and order What's Your Mindset by Eric L. Goodman.

01:22:13.262 --> 01:22:14.642
And then, yeah, so you can get

01:22:14.642 --> 01:22:19.522
to me. My email and phone number is both listed on all my social stuff.

01:22:19.622 --> 01:22:22.702
So I'm very easily to, you know, I'm an easy person to get a hold of.

01:22:23.582 --> 01:22:28.022
Awesome. Any shout outs for anybody in the scene? You know, we've had a lot

01:22:28.022 --> 01:22:31.502
of sponsors of the VBWCA over the years that have been amazing.

01:22:31.762 --> 01:22:34.742
We've had some big corporate sponsors, which are amazing. We have some local

01:22:34.742 --> 01:22:39.622
corporate sponsors, at various magazines like Hoppy W's, which is amazing to us.

01:22:39.722 --> 01:22:42.862
Great, great group over there. Couldn't do what we do without them.

01:22:43.302 --> 01:22:47.822
And Jake, Ray Miracle Technologies is one of our big sponsors for our magazine.

01:22:47.942 --> 01:22:51.222
So the magazine wouldn't happen without them. Printing that magazine is just...

01:22:52.270 --> 01:22:55.410
It's not cost effective in today's world, but we continue to do it.

01:22:55.590 --> 01:22:59.870
So really, the money, this is honest truth, the money that you guys pay to be

01:22:59.870 --> 01:23:04.670
members of the club, just barely covers the expense of printing that magazine.

01:23:04.950 --> 01:23:07.030
And then I have to throw in some extra to make it happen.

01:23:07.430 --> 01:23:14.090
So it isn't like the club dues go into a bank account, and we're just continuing to just build it.

01:23:14.350 --> 01:23:18.210
Because every two months when we print that magazine, it pretty much empties

01:23:18.210 --> 01:23:20.270
us out and then we have to start all over again.

01:23:20.590 --> 01:23:26.450
It's costly to do. So anybody that wants to have a VW business or a VW podcast

01:23:26.450 --> 01:23:29.490
or they're involved in a hobby and they want to throw us some love to continue

01:23:29.490 --> 01:23:31.390
to print that magazine, contact Eric Arnold.

01:23:31.670 --> 01:23:35.910
You and I discussed him earlier. Eric Arnold is our editor-in-chief of the magazine

01:23:35.910 --> 01:23:37.930
and also owns Eric Arnold Photography.

01:23:38.090 --> 01:23:42.690
And he's a staple in the VW scene. Everybody knows him. He's in every magazine that exists.

01:23:42.830 --> 01:23:46.710
He does work for them and he's he's the guy the magazine wouldn't be what it

01:23:46.710 --> 01:23:50.630
is today you know you had him on your podcast right you had eric i did so so

01:23:50.630 --> 01:23:54.450
go watch that podcast and he i'm sure he talked a little bit about vintage Volkswagen

01:23:54.450 --> 01:23:58.150
Club of America in the magazine so oh yeah big big shout out to eric.

01:23:58.850 --> 01:24:04.890
Now, as a former consultant in the trades, I can say this and you'll understand it.

01:24:05.070 --> 01:24:07.390
It sounds like it's time to increase your pricing.

01:24:07.690 --> 01:24:10.890
I know. I know. But it's hard, right?

01:24:11.070 --> 01:24:15.990
Because with the word vintage comes, you know, they hope it's going to be vintage costs too.

01:24:16.650 --> 01:24:21.410
It's hard. And like I told you, so many people go to a club meet or a meeting

01:24:21.410 --> 01:24:25.410
or a swap and they buy one of our vintage Volkswagen Club of America logos and

01:24:25.410 --> 01:24:26.750
they stick it on the windshield of their car.

01:24:26.750 --> 01:24:30.550
And if you go to, at least out here, if you go to VW, say there's 100 cars,

01:24:30.550 --> 01:24:34.710
I'm going to tell you over 50% of them, maybe 75% of them are going to have

01:24:34.710 --> 01:24:38.670
our logo somewhere on their car, a sticker, you know, something.

01:24:39.050 --> 01:24:42.170
So people just think that they're part of that culture. And I'm good with that.

01:24:42.270 --> 01:24:46.230
I love that. I love that people come up to me and I go to events and it's a

01:24:46.230 --> 01:24:48.030
family and community that people just love.

01:24:48.350 --> 01:24:51.510
It's just they're not really supporting the organization. They're just supporting the culture.

01:24:52.270 --> 01:24:56.390
Well, brother, we've been going at it here for just over 90 minutes.

01:24:56.490 --> 01:25:01.210
I want to thank you for leading with passion, with values, with heart,

01:25:01.370 --> 01:25:05.210
like you do, and obviously for keeping the VW flame burning.

01:25:06.050 --> 01:25:11.170
I'll close with a quote that I got from you. Okay. I want to see which one it is.

01:25:12.030 --> 01:25:16.410
In a world where you can be anything, be yourself. I love that quote too.

01:25:16.490 --> 01:25:18.890
I say that one a lot. I know you do.

01:25:19.510 --> 01:25:22.830
That's why I said it, but man. And the last quote that I would use or give,

01:25:22.930 --> 01:25:25.710
which everybody always gets a catch, is that my third favorite quote is,

01:25:25.910 --> 01:25:27.450
success is the best revenge.

01:25:27.990 --> 01:25:32.310
Let somebody tell you you can't do something and show them that they're wrong.

01:25:32.450 --> 01:25:35.730
And that's a wrap for this episode of Dub Life Diaries.

01:25:36.130 --> 01:25:39.810
Thanks for riding along with us and diving into these incredible stories of

01:25:39.810 --> 01:25:41.830
the people in the dubs that drive their dreams.

01:25:42.030 --> 01:25:46.670
If you loved today's episode, don't forget to subscribe or hit that follow button

01:25:46.670 --> 01:25:47.990
so you never miss an adventure.

01:25:48.310 --> 01:25:52.950
Do you have a story to tell or know somebody else who's living the dove life? Awesome.

01:25:53.250 --> 01:25:58.290
Reach out to us. You can find us on all socials at Dove Life Diaries or shoot

01:25:58.290 --> 01:26:00.050
me an email. I'm not hard to find.

01:26:00.910 --> 01:26:05.830
DoveLifeDiaries at gmail.com. Until next time, keep the engines humming and

01:26:05.830 --> 01:26:10.570
the wheels turning and always follow the road that inspires you. This is Joe Person.

01:26:10.730 --> 01:26:13.710
I'm signing off. I'll catch you on the next ride.