Seth [00:00:15]:
You’re listening to Entrepreneur’s Enigma, a podcast about the ups and downs of the entrepreneurial journey. Every week, your host, Seth Goldstein, interviews entrepreneurs from all walks of life about their entrepreneurial journeys. From store owners to fortune 500 CEOs, we all have stories to tell. So sit back and join us for the next 20 or so minutes while we explore the entrepreneurial world.

David Ask [00:00:49]:
Hey, everybody. Welcome to another edition of the entrepreneurs in podcast. I am as always for the past 230 something episodes. I don’t know how many episodes it’s been right now. I’m your host, Seth. Today, I have David Ask. I mean, he’ll respond to Ask, but it’s Ask. That’s right.

David Ask [00:01:08]:
He is an entrepreneur who came up with a great idea. Even if there’s having fights over the damn thermostat in the office, like, it’s either too cold, too hot. It’s never just right. But you want to set it to a temperature and don’t want anyone messing with the damn things. Leave it there. And if you need to, you know, wear a t shirt, wear a t shirt or a short sleeve shirt, do that. If you need to put a bring a blanket to work, bring a blanket to work. Do what you need to do for yourself, but leave the darn thermostat alone.

David Ask [00:01:40]:
So thinking about the stack guard plus. And what it is is that box, Everyone sees these boxes that have, you know, a little key place there that you can, you know, lock. But then what happens when you lose the damn key? Well, then everyone’s freezing in the winter. Everyone’s burning in the summer because you can’t get to the damn thing without breaking it. And so the static car plus essentially solves that problem by making it combination lock. But, and Barron was like, well, that’s not that brilliant. Well, it is because he came up with it. He also then marketed it, and it’s in 37 100 retail stores, including giants like Home Depot, Lowe’s, True Value Hardware.

David Ask [00:02:18]:
I think you even said before the call, you said Ace too. Right?

David Ask [00:02:22]:
We’re getting there.

David Ask [00:02:23]:
Are you getting see, that’s the thing. You’re he’s he’s still working on it. He’s still working on getting you places, you know, just, you know, it’s a success. I mean, 37 100 retail stores is ridiculous. I mean, that’s, that’s a lot of stores, but it’s blood, sweat, and tears. And that’s what entrepreneurship is. It’s a lot of no’s, but no’s are only in an avenue to get to a yes. Yeah.

David Ask [00:02:45]:
They say no, not now. Or they say no. You say, well, why now? Why no, not, not, why not now? Like you just kind of roll with it. And, you know, you know, he’s also, he is leads to mastermind groups and he is writing a book. Never start with why. No. You say that, and then I’m sorry. A book is called Guardians of Grit.

Seth [00:03:07]:
And he always says never start with why. Start with who. I like that. That’s that’s a really he’s good with these one liners, it seems like.

David Ask [00:03:15]:
That’s right.

Seth [00:03:16]:
That’s right. Dave, how’s it going, buddy?

David Ask [00:03:18]:
Well, you know, what’s funny is you you really nailed the the intro there as far as the stat guard goes in a lot of ways. I gotta say, in the beginning, though, technically, it wasn’t my idea out of the gate. My brother-in-law called me one day, and he said, where do I get a stat guard with a combo lock? He said, everybody keeps losing this darn key. I love And

Seth [00:03:37]:
We’re gonna take a quick break, hear from our sponsors, and get right back to the show.

David Ask [00:03:41]:
So, anyway, technically, at that point, he and I kinda went in together and developed it and so on, and then, you know, ended up being mine. But I’m grateful for, you know, for an idea. And, yeah, it’s been it’s one of these 10 year 10 year overnight successes kind of a thing. We we the actually

Seth [00:03:58]:
the ace. You still have to fight to get to in the ace. So Well, yeah.

David Ask [00:04:01]:
I mean, there’s there’s so many I mean, when if you think, you know, we’re in Home Depot, Lowe’s. We just got into the true value distribution chain. Now I gotta, you know, reach out to all those store owners because they’re independently owned just like Ace and so on.

Seth [00:04:13]:
They’re they’re all buyer groups. Yeah.

David Ask [00:04:15]:
Yep. Exactly. And, but then there’s a ton of other, you know, outlets, whether it’s Menards or Walmart or, you know, whatever it is, and I’m gonna do my best.

Seth [00:04:24]:
You’ve made it when you made it into a HomeGoods.

David Ask [00:04:27]:
Well, I tell you what, you’re HomeGoods. That’s a great store.

Seth [00:04:30]:
Well, it’s true because HomeGoods is, like, when when you’ve sold too many Yeah. Because of HomeGoods because that’s, like, we don’t know where

David Ask [00:04:36]:
to put it. I never thought of that. You’re that’s that’s fascinating.

Seth [00:04:39]:
That’s that’s their home that’s their home mentality is that it’s all over stock. It’s stuff that, like, didn’t sell or they bought too much. They ship it off to the T. J. Maxx brands and say, sell it for us.

David Ask [00:04:50]:
That’s that’s a really good point. Yeah. It’s a That’s

Seth [00:04:53]:
when you know you’ve made it, when people are like, we need this. Oh, we bought too much.

David Ask [00:04:56]:
Yeah. And you’re

Seth [00:04:56]:
like, well, I’m not taking it back. Go get to TJ Max. Yeah. Well, except there. So then you’re also the mastermind of 2 you’re a mass you’re a master of 2 masterminds.

David Ask [00:05:08]:
Well, so I actually I joined the Iron Sharpens Iron Mastermind about 6 years ago and Aaron Walker who started that, you know, that mastermind, he’s, you know, has asked me to lead 2 of the groups. So there’s about a 150 men. Each group has got 10 guys in it, and, I facilitate, 2 of those groups. And it’s been, honestly, it’s been life changing. When I when I joined ISI, you know, I’m working for a large telecom chain doing facilities management.

David Ask [00:05:36]:
And where the stacker kinda comes into Exactly. Too busy screaming. Stop changing the temperature.

David Ask [00:05:45]:
Well, we used them, I mean, in our call centers and in Yeah. Every single store and because people can’t keep their hands off it.

David Ask [00:05:52]:
Yeah.

David Ask [00:05:52]:
Whether it’s employees or customers for that matter. And

Seth [00:05:55]:
I know customers are funny. They go to a Walmart, and they turn on the temperature. It’s like, what are you doing?

David Ask [00:05:59]:
Oh, I know. We even had people steal the thermostats, like, literally just rip them off the wall and because some of those thermostats are really expensive. You know, they’re touch touch screens, all this fancy stuff.

Seth [00:06:09]:
And You will rip the thermostats off the wall. It’s a lot.

David Ask [00:06:12]:
Oh, it’s it’s nuts. And, of course, we use stat guards, but, again, nobody could keep up with that tiny key. So I knew this was gonna be, you know, a better mousetrap situation. And I’m I’m grateful that we found, you know, found some outlets and some traction. It took a while, but it’s, I mean, literally It’s

Seth [00:06:29]:
so simple.

David Ask [00:06:29]:
You know, blood, sweat, and tears. It’s it’s hard work.

David Ask [00:06:32]:
It is. But it’s just a simple solution. But it took having the issue of where’s that damn key Right. To solve the problem with it. Why has this not been done yet? It’s amazing. Everyone thinks that every idea has been done. There’s still stuff out there.

David Ask [00:06:50]:
Well Right. Yeah. And it’s funny too. I’m I am it’s you know, people think, oh, wow, David. You’ve got a a product in these stores. You’re such a great businessman, and I’m truth of the matter is is I’m not. I’m a dreamer, who is who loves ideas. I’m a creative at heart.

David Ask [00:07:09]:
And, I’m a I’m a songwriter. I’m recording artist. I mean, I do a bunch of different stuff. This is the way that I largely pay pay my bills, but, you know, I I I do a lot of different things. I’m by definition, like, the consummate, you know, entrepreneur. I’ve I did I’ve done 7 concerts. You know, this year. I’ve Wow.

David Ask [00:07:30]:
Sung at places I had to sign nondisclosure agreement, symphony centers, all kinds of stuff. I mean, I’m I live in Nashville. Right? Music City. I moved here in Nashville.

Seth [00:07:38]:
Time. You kinda need to be. Yeah. Yeah. And at the same time thing or anything. What’s wrong? Like

David Ask [00:07:45]:
Yeah. Yeah. You gotta do something in music or you’re kind of a misfit here. But, anyway but I I love being a creative at heart, and I’m I’m grateful that I’ve been able to surround myself with people to help me, you know, fill those gaps where I, you know, I’ve I’ve got some major areas of growth.

Seth [00:08:03]:
Love it. And and you said your daughter you have 2 kids, wonderful wife who puts up with all your dreaming. But your your daughter is very much like you and, you you know, creative and

David Ask [00:08:14]:
Yeah. She’s a she’s a junior in high school, and let me just brag on Katherine. So she’s

Seth [00:08:20]:
all you want. Yeah.

David Ask [00:08:21]:
So she’s a violinist. And let me tell you, I don’t say like, a lot of a lot of kids you know, a lot of parents will say, well, my my child plays the violin. My daughter is actually first chair at Vanderbilt.

Seth [00:08:31]:
Children’s Orchestra. As a junior in high school.

David Ask [00:08:34]:
Yeah. So she’s, they have the Vanderbilt has 3 children’s orchestras, and there’s you’ve got the Philharmonic, the rep, and the curb, and she’s in the highest level, and she’s 1st chair. And she was 1st chair in mid state, 1st chair Allstate. Like, when I say Kate is a wonderful violinist, I mean, she has I I can’t say the place here by the way because I they made me sign an NDA, but I I got to do a concert at a really famous golf course. I’ll just leave it at that. And my daughter joined me at that golf course, and she did one song and got a standing ovation.

Seth [00:09:08]:
Oh, bravo. Yeah. Proud Papa. You’re like, how do I be that? You know, junior. That’s

David Ask [00:09:13]:
pretty cool.

Seth [00:09:14]:
That’s awesome. Proud pop. That’s awesome. And your son, your son’s a Tennessee tech. He’s a workhorse. We talked about briefly. He just, he had this big, you know, locks and He just gave him crew cut, and he’s like, oh, no.

David Ask [00:09:27]:
Well, he’s he’s one of those guys who’s just like, if his eyes are open, he is moving. He is scheming. He is talking to his buddies, you know, trying to, you know, you know, whatever, scam the girls. You know? Like, he’s just he’s on fire. And last night, he came in and he goes, dad, I think I want a crew cut. And I’m like, really? You’ve got this great hair that everybody compliments. You know? And he’s like, no, dad. I gotta do it.

David Ask [00:09:49]:
Like, he’s just always wants something new and exciting. So, you know, I said, grab the stool. We put him right in the dining room, and I sheared him like a shit.

Seth [00:09:57]:
A mess.

David Ask [00:09:58]:
And he made a big mess. Yeah. Yeah. That’s that’s what

Seth [00:10:01]:
it’s fun to do. Exactly. So you’ve you’ve done a lot. You’re you’re an author. Are you have you published it or you’re starting a first book? Is this a good start sign?

David Ask [00:10:11]:
You know, I actually had a children’s book published about 5 years ago.

Seth [00:10:16]:
And that’s harder than it looks, writing a children’s book. Yeah. So yeah. So you do a children’s book, and then, you are then you, writing a new book now too. So

David Ask [00:10:27]:
Yeah. And I so the the first book is called the fire and ice, the very scary noise in the trunk. It was published by Taylor and Seal Publishing out of Florida, and the one I’m working on right now is called the guardians of grit. And the tagline, the working tagline is how to raise uncrushable young people.

Seth [00:10:44]:
Oh, I love it. And you got 2 uncrushable young people to base it off. Let’s say, yeah. I love that. That’s great. And, so so going forward, because we have some internet issues today, which is always fun. Right? You know? Gotta gotta love the Internet here.

David Ask [00:10:58]:
I think.

Seth [00:11:00]:
It’s no big deal. We can run with it because it’s gonna record on your side, record on my side. It’s all it’s all good. Okay. So it’ll work perfectly. Awesome. But anyhow, so you’ve been an entrepreneur for a while. You you’ve done a corporate grind.

Seth [00:11:10]:
What’s the best thing about being an entrepreneur?

David Ask [00:11:12]:
You know, I think that largely to define success, you know, that that seems really intrinsically motivating to me. Like, work on something that I’m passionate about and, you know, be able to see it come to fruition as opposed to kinda work on maybe what someone else is passionate about, you know, as an employee. And I again, not that there’s anything wrong with with that or being on a team that you really enjoy. But Yeah. You know, I I think as a creative, it’s been really cool to define success for myself and then figure out how to pull it off and to see some you know, get some wins. I’ve got not everything I touch turns to gold, but it’s been fun to see some wins.

Seth [00:11:54]:
Yeah. And then when once it’s done, you fail fast and you move on. Exactly. That’s the whole key. So what keeps you up at night besides worrying about your kids?

David Ask [00:12:01]:
Keeps me up at night. You know, I think I it’s funny. I I work well, yeah, really. I I work really closely with doctor Andy Garrett. He’s a he’s a clinical psychologist and a friend of mine who’s helping me the guardians of grit book. And he he talked to me one time, you know, about just the general this kind of the general paradigm of uncertainty. And he said he goes, people will go to absurd lengths, you know, to remove uncertainty. Right? It’s like closing that open loop.

David Ask [00:12:31]:
And in the human brain, you know, we don’t want uncertainty. I mean, on a basic level, if you hear I was at a a conference one time, and the guy walked up on stage, and he say and all he did was, and he didn’t end it. And, of course, you could just feel the tension in the room, like, rise, and and then he started talking. Yeah. And for and then a few minutes later, he said, by the way, how many of you are still thinking about ending? And I had the feeling Well, the entire room just erupted in laughter because everybody was. Well, so to answer your question, what keeps me up at night? It’s uncertainty. It really is. Like, you know, recently, I’ve had some, you know, some big fish as it were that I’m going after, you know, for my my products and so on.

David Ask [00:13:20]:
And to, you know, have some really good meetings and great momentum and then feel like, you know, hey. I’m getting ghosted and nobody’s responding. And it’s like, what you know, what’s going on here? You you start to second guess things. And

Seth [00:13:33]:
Yeah.

David Ask [00:13:33]:
So I think a little bit is is that uncertainty, and some of it sometimes then turns into impostor syndrome where you start feeling kind of insecure. Like, man, what did I say, or what did I what did I do?

Seth [00:13:43]:
Absolutely. And so then what’s the most important thing to carry with you all the time? This could be as woo as you wanna get.

David Ask [00:13:50]:
Okay. Well, I’ll I’ll be honest. I think you’re really speaking my language at this point. I I think that, you know, values. You know, and I I I think that quite often, we would you know, we use the term core values. Right?

Seth [00:14:04]:
Yeah.

David Ask [00:14:04]:
And part of the book that I’m writing is is I like to kind of turn it on its head and to ask, you know, ask it a different way. Like, you know, Seth, David, what does your core happen to value the most in life?

Seth [00:14:19]:
More like that.

David Ask [00:14:20]:
And not just some core values that are slapped on the wall that you think you should, you know, subscribe to. Right? Yeah. So one of the things that we do in the Guardian’s, you know, program is we literally walk people through, you know, establishing, you know, that authentic identity and that unique identity. Right? Everyone is every one of us has a a fingerprint, you know, that’s different. A ret you know, retina that’s different. But our souls are very different. And and as far as values go, what’s fascinating is is we have all of them. You know, like, there’s I think in the English language, anyway, there’s around 80 or so potential core values.

David Ask [00:14:58]:
But what’s interesting is is if you ask someone what are your top five, and then you prioritize those, they’re very different.

Seth [00:15:07]:
Yeah.

David Ask [00:15:07]:
And, so what’s fascinating is is how does that play out and why does that matter? Well, if you don’t know what your values are, how are you making decisions?

Seth [00:15:17]:
Yeah.

David Ask [00:15:18]:
You know, typically, it’s it’s based, you know, with people pleasing or fear or shame, these extrinsic kind of things as opposed to, I know exactly who I am. Here’s the matrix at which I’m making decisions for my life, for my family. And if it’s not this, it’s not me. Oh, yeah. And, it’s I think it’s really foundational to a a a, you know, a good life.

Seth [00:15:42]:
Absolutely. That’s that’s probably by far the best answer in 230 plus episodes for that question. So thank you. I I knew you I knew you were gonna come up with a good one, though. I I I did see I had a good feeling. No pressure. Right? A good feeling. So

David Ask [00:15:55]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Seth [00:15:56]:
So so, David, where’s the best place to for people to connect with you online? Is it LinkedIn? Is it davidask.com, which is davidask.com, but davidask.com?

David Ask [00:16:06]:
That’s right. You know what? Wherever is easy. I mean, I’m I’m across. I’m on all the handles as it were, but, you know, LinkedIn’s fine or or my website or Instagram or Facebook, whatever that is. I Yeah. And I, you know, I I like to, you know, always tell people if there’s something that I can do for you, whether it’s professional or personal, I don’t care what it is. Right? Reach out, and I will do my best.

Seth [00:16:28]:
Love it. That’s okay. Because, you know, givers gain. You give, you give, you give, you give. And then if you need something in the future, you’ve given so much, you can ask for something. I love it. Yeah. Yeah.

Seth [00:16:38]:
Well, David, thank you so much for coming on. I know this is a quick episode, but they’re all quick because I like to get them into a, a moderately space commute for people to get to their office and then it’s done. I love, I love the community around 16 minutes and make it so nice. They can walk into their office. They can walk, get, walk into the home at the end of the day, and they have some good knowledge in their brain. That’s what I love. So and we’ll see everyone next week.

David Ask [00:17:04]:
Well, thanks for having me.

David Ask [00:17:05]:
It’s been a pleasure. It’s been awesome.

Seth [00:17:08]:
That was a great show. If you’re enjoying Entrepreneur’s Enigma, please consider giving us a review in the podcast directory of your choice. Every review helps us reach new listeners. If you like Entrepreneur’s Enigma, consider the other shows on the Marketing Podcast Network at marketingpodcast.net.

David Ask [00:17:43]:
Gold theme gi. I hope you have enjoyed this episode.