Behind the Scenes at DW
0:00 Hi everyone, welcome back to another episode of energy 101 where we asked the dumb question so you don't have to Today we just have the DW team here, and we're just gonna shoot the shit. So great
0:16 Um, no one else here since we just got off of our Fuse conference last week. So how is everyone feeling about that?
0:26 I Think I finally have slept enough Yeah,
0:32 I think I'm there and I'm like ready to like cuz I'm just jacked and like ready to go like full force into next year my favorite thing about events and doing events is The like spike of energy you get
0:47 after or like during the event because you you're around people who are excited and they're like Stoked at what you built. Yeah, like it took us so much effort and people just to see people like
0:58 talking and you know Networking and it's very fulfilling. And like the validation you get from the feedback and like everything that you are already excited to do the next one, you just wanna like
1:09 jump right into it, which we are. Yeah, it's awesome. And I feel like it's, there's only like so much you can do this far out, but I feel like it's still like I'm ready to just like go. Build.
1:21 Yeah. Speaking of building, you rebuilt the leading pages. Yes, I'm a total nerd And today I made everybody look at what I spent hours last night on. No, in all honesty, I'm very excited I.
1:38 think it looks more professional and we're always, you know, trying to do things bigger and better. And it's always funny with website design. Like you don't realize how bad it is until you create
1:51 something new and you're like, why did I think that looked good before? And that's kind of where I'm at with the landing page. Yeah. It's gonna look really good. I'm a festival junkie, and I
2:03 very much like the festival vibe. I love that I get Jules approval. Jules, we need Jules approval on everything. You know. Are we being cool? Are we being cool? We're not cool. We're not cool.
2:15 We're like grandeur. We're like that's a gen Z or standards here. I love it. Jules keeps us in check. Or y'all keep me in check, one of the two. I think it goes both the way around.
2:26 All right, so we just got out of a meeting, going through Fuse feedback. What, how do y'all think the whole event went? Like, what was your favorite part? Well, sorry, we'll go around the
2:37 room. Okay, I can Jules go first. My favorite part of this event was actually being able to like sit and listen to some of the panels because Sydney is so awesome. And Misty. And Misty, honestly
2:49 everyone, everyone on the team. It ran so smoothly, Misty, not disregarding your work. You guys both knocked it out of the park Jules. So sweet. Misty, what was your favorite part? Well, I
3:01 spent a lot of my time in the VIP room. So I enjoyed, you know, talking to some of the people that came in there, but I really enjoyed these spasmatics. Oh, yeah, that was my favorite part, I
3:17 forgot. Yeah, I got a little, or I had a lot of fun. Yeah.
3:23 We gotta keep it PG around it, yeah I'm pretty sad, I was in the Airbnb when Don't Stop Believing came on. Just like out the window like, Did you hear it? Did you hear it? I said, Be there,
3:34 yeah.
3:36 Oh, that, everything went out the window. I mean, like, Jules, keep it calm. Don't break out the air guitar, and then they started playing. You broke out the air again. And she did,
3:44 everything went out the window. Man, I wanna be full of energy next time the spasmatics play. Because, honestly, my feet are so bad. So did mine, but I was just like, power through. Yeah.
3:54 That's not good for you a baby. Yeah.
3:57 Okay, there's always next time. Oh yeah, we definitely have to have them back. It was funny. And I love that they made little like oil jokes. Like oil, like energy. Yeah, they made like some
4:06 random energy jokes. I was like, oh, you guys like paid attention to the audience. I like how those are really nice. They kept calling us wild cats. They did.
4:16 Yeah, they were very engaging. And they were making fun. They were making fun of us 'cause like not everyone was like, they were like, oh. Why are they
4:24 all over you? At first everyone was just kind of like a steady head bop Yeah, and then as the night progressed, people were like getting loose, so. It was funny. Yeah, it was funny.
4:37 Is there any over to your favorite part? My favorite part was just that like, I feel like everyone had a really good time. Like I feel like when you are doing a conference with the first time and I
4:45 know we did empower. So it was a similar style footprint, but obviously different topic. We just, I think, improved on what the foundation already was. I think you're always nervous about how
4:56 it's gonna be perceived because in our mind.
4:60 We always think it's the best idea, like people are going to love it, it's going to be great, and obviously you can't please everyone, but I feel like everyone overall really I think what it comes
5:10 down to is like they get it now, they understand not just like our mission and what we're trying to do, but why we do events the way we do. Right. You know, that we're not trying to be nape or
5:22 OTC or a Sarah week like that's not our vibe that's not what we want we want people to be comfortable and casual and just have a good time And I think this is what really drove it home. And people
5:32 now are like, I get it. Yeah, I get why you do it I. wonder I get why it's outside. You know, it comes with the challenges, but it's still like, but that's the risk that we take because we
5:44 want that experience and like just the vibe to be authentic to who we are. Yeah. Agree. Although. Although what there was. Oh my God. One review from what is that you read it? I like you do
5:57 have it. Yeah, I read it. I can't remember 'cause it is, I will. I'll read all of them. He's a, what is it, a cormogen? Like an old, what's a
6:07 cormogen? It's like, just a grumpy, like mean old, I'm assuming this person is old. Old, I'm assuming a grumpy. Well, it's funny because I feel like I know who it is. Like, I don't know
6:15 their name, but I remember seeing sitting guy a
6:19 in one of
6:21 the lounge chairs, and he looked very comfortable. So you're all, I mean, yeah, how'd it on? So I was like, he was getting burnt. But I remember I said to him, I was like, hey, having a
6:28 good time. And he just looked at me and did a response. And I was like, it was definitely him. Yeah, hell rude. Well, that was nice of you to check around him. Well, he looked like he was
6:38 having an awful time. So I just wanted to be like, hey, how's it going? He was not having it. He did not want to be with my friend. Well done. So let me, I'm almost, I almost have - You're
6:47 fine. I'm just going to check my email route back. Oh shit.
6:54 Speaking of events, I'm checking dates for energy tech nights, you're coming back! And the date I wanted is not available. So don't worry. Sydney. Sydney reads about meme tweets. Sydney
7:07 interviews. Mean survey feedback. Which I take personally because I planned this
7:13 entire thing. No, it wasn't just me, it was everyone, but I think we all take it a little personally. Grant, this is one out of 58 general admission people who responded to this. The rest of
7:25 the feedback was fantastic and he just really hates us So, what did you think about the event? Zero out of 10. How likely are you to recommend this event to a friend or colleague? Zero out of 10.
7:38 This might be a little bit. What did you find most valuable at the event? Nothing. Nothing. What, if anything, did you just like about the event? Everything. The
7:52 absolute worst trade show exhibition in my 25 plus years in the oil and gas industry. You should give everyone a refund. Seriously, this event was so bad the people who planned it, me, should be
8:06 banned from ever planning another event ever. I'm gonna put this on my resume. If I ever leave DW, I'm gonna be like, Well, I just got.
8:16 What topics would you like to see more of at our next event? I don't care because I'll never attend another of your events. How did you feel about the duration of the content? The duration of the
8:27 content was the worst. The 45 minutes, it was the worst. Literally the worst. Okay. If you could pick one change that would make this event 10 times better, what would it be? Make sure your
8:38 company is never allowed to plan or host an event anywhere, ever. Again, this guy sounds like a great time. I know. Would you attend another fuse? No, obviously, honestly, we don't want you
8:50 there anyway. Any other feedback? I left, I left I left afar. after I think he met. I left after a few hours, so no.
9:02 I love that he took the time to answer every single - Oh, for sure. He was just waiting for it. He probably spent more time on that survey than he did at the actual time. Right, yes. Oh, for
9:11 sure. One, it's funny, 'cause I think anytime you send a survey, people fill it out because they either a, it was really great, it was really bad, or you just get kind of those type of people
9:21 that just have a lot of opinions. And I think for the most part, the people that filled it out was because they, had a good time and they wanna help us make it better. And like, we can't make it
9:31 better if they don't respond. I think this guy just had a stick of his ass the whole time. I like that we assume it's a guy. Oh, you're right, we don't know. I don't know why I think it's a guy.
9:41 Maybe it's a, I don't know, maybe it's a female. Whoever you are. I feel like I would read it in a different tone if I would have thought it was a female. Me too, I don't know, it just seems
9:49 really angry. I know. That's funny. Yeah, that's really him I know. I want to know. Now that we're like, and like towards the end of the year, we're talking about everything we wanna do in
10:03 2023, building out the landing pages, talking about hiring more people, all the like fun content we wanna put out, what is everyone most excited about for next year at DW. in general? I feel
10:19 like we invested so much in growth this year. That really set a foundation for, I don't even think we can really understand the impact we'll have in 2023 because it will be that big. I agree. I'm
10:33 just excited about us in general. I think our team is amazing together. We all work really, really well together. And we're very like young team. So that's also really cool. I think we just,
10:47 we're just like at the beginning. Yeah. And it feels exciting. Misty
10:55 I'm excited to see you. who we bring on the team in the next year because I feel like a staff grows. I feel like everyone here is like so great at their, you know, like their niche and you're
11:09 right. Like everyone gets along so well. I just, I'm excited to see who's next, you know? Yeah. Yeah. I'm excited about, like the community is so hyped. So doing community events like. Wine
11:24 night. Wine night too. We have another wine night coming up real soon. Oh yeah. We need to get on the go. If you want to sponsor a wine night, let us know. That'd be amazing. 500. Yeah. It's
11:38 not a lot. No, I feel. No. Yeah. And they're so fun. They are fun. It's like a holiday wine night. Do we wear sweaters? Oh, ugly sweater Wine night.
11:51 I love it. What does the winner get? Oh, I'm determined. Undetermined. TPD. A bottle of wine. Oh, you know what? I actually have a lot. I have a lot of red wine. You need to take home the
12:01 left over wine. The left over wine. We get the red wine. Anything we don't drink, you can take home. It's a horrible prize gift.
12:12 That's my kind of gift.
12:15 I love it. That's where you can. What about you?
12:20 I am super stoked to just really expand our met calendar because right now, you know, until we get the app launched and until we get the newsletter launched again, events are a big driver of our
12:31 revenue and it's so hard having such a small team, like we crush it, anything we do, but it really kind of holds us back from doing everything we want to do. So as we add to my event team, but
12:44 also just expand overall. Marketing, sales, like I really think we can finally set a calendar and actually execute it and not have. to pull back because we don't have enough bandwidth. We can do
13:01 four energy tech nights and I would really like for one of those, if not two, to be outside of Houston. There's so many other cities that, event wise, that we need to break into because we have
13:11 community members there. And I'm excited. Yeah, DW. is hitting the road. We are, we're taking it on the road. So I'm excited. So excited to a city near you. Coming to a city near you, Denver,
13:23 Dallas, Midland, Oklahoma City to also like all these places that people have been like, come here, we'll help you. They need it and we're excited, we're excited to get there. Yeah. Yeah. I
13:36 have a fun question. Okay. So not many people get to hear the perspective of the women on our team. I wanna know what y'all's perception of digital wildcatters was before you're on the team And
13:45 then now that everyone, I mean.
13:56 I've all been here almost a year or six months. Six months, yeah. I'm curious, perception versus reality, with digital wall catters. Sydney.
14:09 I definitely felt like coming into it, especially 'cause it was a startup. Like I told Colin in my first interview, I was like, I was worried I was gonna come in here and you both were just gonna
14:19 be like ex frat kids with like playing with like daddy's money that are just like, We're gonna do this! And we're in, I'm like, Funny because we have no money. You know what I mean? I didn't
14:30 know. I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know who was funding what and 'cause you get, I mean, you hear horror stories of startups that it's just they have the money already, so they just do
14:43 whatever they want and there's no real structure. And I was so impressed once I really started about how much everyone cares Like everyone is so like they've got all the skin in the game. Everyone
14:56 is fully committed. It's not just people aren't just here like for a paycheck. They're like invested in like building this, you know? Built it literally from nothing. Yeah, and I like that we
15:10 have our little bad bitches only club, our little pod. I mean, at True Print, I do think from the outside that it could look that way because Jake and Colin have been kind of the faces for a while,
15:23 even though Julie, you are also a co-founder. So you know what? That's another thing I'm looking forward to in 2023. It's just telling our story better so that people understand why it was started,
15:36 who was behind it, who all of us are that are making this happen every day. Yeah, that's a really good answer.
15:45 Thank you, it's really good, it's really good. You stole my answer. But I have different perception. Obviously, I had just graduated college, moving back to Texas from New York. and Colin and
15:56 my mom knew each other from where they used to work. And then my mom reached out to Colin and was like, Oh, hey, my daughter just graduated. And I'm like, I remember when they were like, Oh,
16:06 come in, we would love for you to talk to the team. And I'm like, Oh, shit, what do I wear? You know, I'm like, Do I come in in a full suit or what? And then Colin's like, Oh, by the way,
16:15 it's super chill here. And then when I came here, I just blew all of my expectations out of the water. Like, I'm spoiled. I mean, seriously, you guys spoiled me Column, I'm sorry, basketball
16:25 shorts, in my personal view. I remember being like, Hmm, okay, that's where we're at. Yeah, I sit down at the table with the whole team and they're like, So what did they teach kids in college
16:34 these days? And here I am, I looked up actually learned. Yeah. No, it's amazing, honestly. We have the best team ever in. Yeah, we really do. I
16:49 had been a stay-at-home mom for like a year before I started here. Um, whenever I had like gold, Colin and Jake and looked them up, they just like looked so cool,
17:02 like in my head,
17:05 they're cool, they're not cool, they're not cool, so now that, you know, I've worked here for a year, I can see that they're, they're not cool,
17:14 they're not cool, but just, you know, like I hadn't been really out, you know, for a year And so it, yeah, I just, I was like, oh, it's just these two guys, you know, doing everything,
17:27 and they, they kind of looked like,
17:31 I'm going to say hipster, but that's not really what I, you know, just like, I don't know,
17:42 I don't know It was, it was nice to know that, like, they're down to earth, you know, there's more people behind the camera. How was transitioning, because working at a startup is not easy.
17:53 much more demanding than corporate world. You have a lot more on your plate, you have to wear a million different hats. How is it transitioning from stay at home mom to just diving head first into
18:07 a startup?
18:09 I mean, it felt like kind of the same thing. Like a lot of the things that I'm doing at home, I just kind of brought it to work, you know, wherever I can like fit in or help out like that's, you
18:25 know, what I do at home too. And you were part-time at first. Yeah, I was part-time. Well, and I think I don't remember if it was you or someone else, I was like, I can't imagine Misty so
18:36 being part-time. Like you do so much that I can't, now I'm like, how did y'all ever function without her being full-time? But you do so much that I'm like, you know, keep track of it, guys.
18:52 Misty's just like, you're the glue. Well, because you keep Jake and Colin in check with like the calendars, like everything. So I feel like you helped them. Yeah. What about you? How is it
19:05 working with your husband? That is like that glue baby. I know, I have to finish. I know. Well, 'cause I was gonna say like your perception, when you feel like you're a co-founder, so it's not
19:16 necessarily before and after, but. I do have a before and after story of like, before I could own it, and after I could own it. Like saying I'm a co-founder, there was a time where no one knew I
19:29 existed, and like that sucked, 'cause when you're building. That does suck. When you're building, and you're working on something, and you put so much into it, and then I had to get over my own
19:39 ego. Like, it took forever to be like, it doesn't matter if they don't see you. Like, it's okay.
19:46 So I will say like, after when I transitioned here full-time last October. It was hard. There were a lot of bumps in the road. There were, because while I was working and have been working with
19:59 Colin for, Colin and Jake for years, I had never worked with a team with them. Right. It was just you three. Yeah, like, so Stephanie was on for a bit, but I was never in the office. Right.
20:17 So then I come here in October. We have a team, we have an office, and I had to get like seriously over my own ego on, I don't have to do everything. Yeah, I don't know if y'all noticed, but I
20:28 like to take like stuff and just put it on my own plate for whatever reason. I'm like recovering from that now. I think that's like your, and not in a bad way, like your pride, like your sense of
20:39 ownership. It is, and it took a long time to like separate myself from that. So I mean, I know that doesn't have to do with working with Colin, There were bumps there too. For sure. But it's
20:52 also really, really fulfilling, building something with your partner who you're at home with and like, it's cool. And I respect him so much. And I think he's a phenomenal leader. Like I love
21:06 learning his leadership skills 'cause I think he's really great at it. Like he's very gifted. So
21:13 it's weird, it's weird because these days, and I'm gonna go on a rant, it's handy And rant away. It is so hot in here. I know. It's so hot. I'm likely about to take the AC is not, I only have
21:25 like a sports bra, but I'm gonna give everyone a show that's watching. I know, I just have to go on this rant and then we can get out of here 'cause this is, I am burning up and I'm like, We're
21:34 keeping my body up 'cause I'm minty. Right, okay, so in this world now, women are led to believe they have to be a boss and they have to do their own thing, independent and um. Don't lean on
21:50 your husband. Don't lean on a man, blah, blah, blah. And I hate that narrative because for so long, it made me feel like I was like less than or that I am not doing enough with my life because I
22:02 was building his dream. Yeah. And that is so far from reality. When I really look at it, we're building together and there's no separate. Yeah. I realize he has a set of skills and my skills
22:17 compliment, we compliment each other and we build that up together and it's okay. Like you don't have to feel like, you're the submissive woman because you were working, like I'm, he's my boss.
22:32 Like I don't feel that way. And I feel like there's a lot of respect there with both of us. And anyway, so women, if you work with your husbands, don't feel like you have to go full on boss mode
22:45 C, you have to let go of your ego. and see where you compliment each other, and then work with that. Well, and the good thing is I feel like, especially internally and now externally, because
22:56 all of our millions of listeners will know that you really, in terms of like behind the scenes, building everything that DW, just the website, the backend stuff, like that's all Julie. But the
23:10 cool thing is, I don't care if people know about that anymore. I know, I know. But I'm glad that they do. It's true. I'm glad that they do. It's true You might not care, but I do think it's
23:19 important, especially like we talked about it's, which we're trying to change, recognizing you as a co-founder and making sure people don't just see you three. Now they see all of us as a team.
23:30 And putting my hope, I think I tell you all the time, like a section on the website. That's just the story of how we got started. And like, about us. Hey, these are the people that do things
23:39 every day. We talk all the time about putting more of us on the TikToks and on the Instagrams and things so that there's just more face time. We're all real people here. We are real people here.
23:51 It's not just calling Jake, like stirring up shit online.
23:56 So true. It's all so all of us. Real people who have jobs here, you know, with paychecks. So, you know, yeah, yeah. So this was kind of a different episode for us. We didn't really talk
24:10 about energy, but I think it's cool for people to see like the inside of DW. from our perspective. And this is a good medium to do it I find this way easier than writing. Oh, for sure. I hate
24:21 that. Yeah. Yeah. And we are also looking for sponsors.
24:28 So if anyone out there is interested in, you know, supporting our mission of raising energy IQ through very, very basic level
24:39 education. Yeah. Education, yeah. Let us know. Let us know. Yeah Remember that's we're fun. fun. We're also conserving energy right now. So Maggie, Maggie, you would be so proud. We're
24:56 sweating our butts off right now. Yeah. And right after this, all the lights are going off. Right. If we get figured out. Oh, yeah. I think we couldn't figure out how to turn that off.
25:07 Everything else turned off. Yeah. Wait, guys, I just I see something. Okay, let's do it.
25:16 Let's do it, which one is it? Oh, no. Beef jerky. No, is there any bean boozle? Oh, the death nuts. The death nuts are not my heart, please. You have to. Do it for the people. There's no
25:29 bean boozle? No, they threw it away. Death nuts for the people. All right, wait, I don't have any more water though. I don't want to eat there. We're gonna have to abruptly end this. The
25:39 water does, I'm gonna be high, you know. Yeah, it's, you've gotta have milk. Yeah, like milk What level is that? Pain sets in, what is that? Is that a, this is a five. There's no fucking
25:49 one. Okay, we have to do four. Why can't we even do one? What's lower? The ones are gone. You know what, guys. What's it, that? It's for the views. No, that. No, it's a little nitro.
26:01 It's a little nitro. Who's that? Really hot gummy bear. I love you that. Is it, okay. Is it one big gummy bear? Yeah, we have another one. It's a small gummy bear. What are those sucker
26:12 looking for? Cricut. Is that the Cricut? Oh, and. Okay, I'm not confused. All right, all right. You guys, I think this might be our best episode yet. I'm not gonna lie. I agree, but we
26:23 should start out life at DW Podcasts. And yeah, every month, it's different people. Do you wanna eat a death nut? No. Here. I'll take the guy there. Okay, we'll rip him in half. That was
26:34 really hard, I'm sorry. That's okay.
26:38 You're just way bigger than
26:41 me. She gave you the bigger half. Shoe!
26:44 It's so tiny I like her too. I couldn't even tell. I couldn't even tell. I'm shaking one for the team. I can't resist it. Despite it. Honestly, did you bite it? I didn't, but I should have.
26:56 But now I got. Julia.
27:01 You won't put your mouth on the other side. Don't put your tongue on it, so it won't get hot. Is it all right? Yeah, for you.
27:11 I can't eat this.
27:15 No, you gotta eat it, ready? I can't eat this whole thing, but I'll take a bite.
27:24 We can get it off that high. Yes it is. Oh my God, no. What?
27:31 All right, thanks guys. Thanks for tuning in and we'll catch you next time. Bye! Bye!
