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One year in the books, who would've thought? It's official, one year ago yesterday, House Enterprise was incepted and the first episode of the "Beers, Bussiness, and Balls" Podcast was published. Shoutout to the doubters who thought it would fall off in a couple of weeks and thank you to the loyal fanbase who motivated us to keep growing. It is crazy to think how fast the past year has flown by, especially during these troubling times. Zimmer penned a beautiful reflection regarding the anniversary, that you can read here. This blog is geared towards the growth we have seen over the course of the past year and highlighting some big milestones.
The BBB Pod was supposed to be just a passion project, something that was going to help pass the times while in quarantine. Everyone has a podcast, so how could we make something that was different and entertaining? When we started this podcast, we had no idea what we were doing. All we knew was we were going to review craft beers, break down business news to make it more understandable, and highlight pro-sports return from the pandemic. People were drinking more beers during the pandemic, everyone and their mothers were investing in the stock market, and fans were craving any sports content to help fill the void.
The concept of the podcast was months in the making, and once a series of unfortunate events took place, the switch was flipped and the wheels started turning. After throwing our two bitmojis in photoshop and creating an acronym of our topics, the quarantine project commenced. We hopped on zoom, grabbed two beers, and started chatting.
The first episode was a ton of fun, and it was a special moment for us. However, it was bare-bones; just two friends over zoom, with shitty microphone quality and some, scattered awkward silence. To us though, it was still a blast. Rome wasn't built in a day, and we were well aware of that.
Over the course of a few weeks, we developed a game plan, to help make the best content possible, as well as build the brand from nothing. Little did we know we would be interviewing household names and industry leaders on a weekly basis. Flash forward to this week, and we will be releasing our 47th episode. A small podcast has turned into a full website, with a group of dedicated writers and now more channels of content in the works. We won't be the next major network, but we are establishing a reputable brand with sky-high potential. With every anniversary, there are always some milestones, so here are some of our all-time favorites that showcase a year of growth.
Our First Big Get
Our friends were our biggest supporters from the start, and they enjoyed our banter and hot takes. We appreciated this, but we knew we would have to have some guests on the show, to project to the world their success stories as well as generate some notoriety. We had no idea how to get guests to let alone if anyone would even come on the show. Besides our network of impressive people we've met over the years and some close friends, there was no game plan on a reach-out strategy. That all changed on the fourth episode.
If you know us, you know we love Barstool Sports and we are diehard Yankees fans. One content creator we have followed over the years was Barstool's Yankee writer, Eric Hubbs. I had some prior convos with Hubbs on Instagram, just the casual Yanks commentary or praise on his Short Porch content. I shot him a DM one night asking if he would come on the show in the future. Seconds later, he responded with a "sounds good, you free tonight". We were beyond excited and went to record for over an hour. Not only did we appreciate interviewing someone we follow constantly, but we also opened up the door to interviewing industry leaders.
The First In-Person Recording
When the pandemic hit, sporting events were the first to be canceled, and there was no end sight on when we could return. To be able to head to a sports venue to cover a basketball combine felt like we were big-j journalists. The Providence Pirates, created by Sercan Fernaci, are Rhode Island's professional ABA basketball team. Our good friend Shaun Lavoie joined the Pirates team as an intern, and we had a chance to interview Sercan prior to the official start. Sercan invited us to scout the combine on press row, and we had the chance to cover the event and interview the front office staff. This evolved into us being invited to media day, and attend their inaugural home opener as well.
A Personal Favorite
Talking with Jess was like talking with someone we knew for years. She was so fun to chat baseball with and so knowledgeable about the game. It was inspiring to hear her journey to where she is today, how she connected with Rachel Luba and Trevor Bauer, and her passion for the Oakland A's. Jess is a shining star in the industry and is revolutionizing the game for women in sports. We were fortunate enough to have Jess on the show, and we are excited to see her dominate in her career.
Our "Fan Girl" Moment
If you don't already know, we love craft beer and use the UnTappd app on a regular basis. It is a personal library of every beer you have ever had, plus a portfolio of reviews of every beer ever made. We have been using UnTappd for years, and being able to speak to the founder of the app was quite the experience. Greg is a very intelligent fella, who has quite the resume. He followed her heart and created something that aligns with his passion, and that is the American dream. This episode was a simple one, just a couple of dudes drinking some beer, talking shop, and getting giddy over the work he has accomplished. However, it was one of my favorite ones that we recorded.
The Most Popular Episode
If you know Almost Friday, Dooley and the Squad, and Commence Suckdown, then you know Friday Beers. Their brand has exploded over the past year, and their memes and videos are hilarious. When we found out we landed the opportunity to interview the founders, we were over the moon. Nobody really knew the faces behind the name, and we shared a lot of similar passions and it was just a casual back and forth convo. This episode was our last one before the rebrand launch and new year, and the listens on it skyrocketed. It helps when their account has over a million followers and not many listeners know their story, so this was quite an awesome get.
An Inspiring Interview
Brandon Chaney is a well-known business leader in California. We became familiar with his name and wineries through Sigma Chi and his newest endeavor with In Hoc Nappa Valley. When Brandon shared his story, the lessons he learned from the fraternity, and his entrepreneurial journey, Jake and I saw a lot of parallels of our lives from his. It gave us new inspiration regarding our brand and what we want to accomplish in life.
"We Are Onto Something"
It's not every day you get to talk to a famous (and infamous) former MLB player and coach. Our Dad's knew him as a player, and we knew him as the faux-mustache wearing Mets manager. We didn't know that we shared the bond of Sigma Chi brotherhood too. Bobby Valentine was a fun person to talk to. We connected over his college and fraternity stories, laughed at some funny MLB memories, and bantered about NEC Sports. Landing a guest with the status of Bobby Valentine showed us that we are capable of anything, and we can't wait to continue to the top.
It has been quite the journey over the past year. Through troubling times and global unrest, this passion project has turned into something so much bigger. As the pandemic is starting to cool down, we have a lot in store in terms of lined-up guests, even some more in-person visits as well. We don't want to spoil some upcoming interviews, but we are lucky enough to have a diverse variety of guests, including innovative entrepreneurs, distinguished Bryant University Alumni, established Rhode Island business owners and brewers, and notable sports personalities and athletes.
It has been a lot of long hours and hard work to start this brand from the bottom, but every moment has been tons of fun and absolutely worth it. "Nowhere else but up". Thanks for following our journey. Cheers to the past year, and onto the next!
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