In this week’s episode, host Scott “Sourdough” Power takes us on a personal journey into the world of brand loyalty through the lens of an unexpected favorite: The Ironman Triathlon Series. While many brands offer lifestyles, the Ironman brand epitomizes dedication and grit, offering experiences that are truly earned. 

Straying from the typical conversation around tech gadgets or luxury items, Scott shares why this brand resonates deeply with him, symbolizing endurance, community, and growth. He reflects on his experiences as a two-time Ironman finisher, sharing the challenges, triumphs, and the dedication it takes to complete such an intense competition. This episode captures not just the physical aspects of the race, but also the emotional rewards that come from pushing one’s limits. 

Throughout the episode, Scott explores what it means to have a favorite brand and how real commitment reflects in experiences rather than material possessions. He encourages listeners to find their own version of an “Ironman”—a challenge that fosters personal growth and a sense of achievement.

For more information, please visit https://notrealart.com/my-favorite-brand

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Greetings and salutations, my creative brothers and sisters.

Welcome to Not Real Art, the podcast where we talk to the world's most creative people.

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Sourdough, coming at you from Crew West Studio in Los Angeles.

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So, as you might have heard, it's August and we're doing Augustorial, where I get on my soapbox and talk about God knows what.

And usually we drop that at the last week of the month, every month, and we do one a month.

But this month for August, torial dog days of summer and whatnot, I thought, well, you know what?

Let me just drop one a week for four weeks and it makes everybody's life a little bit easier.

Hopefully there's some interest, value and relevancy and utility for you as well as I rant and rave about some selfish, narcissistic thing.

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Dropping.

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First Fridays.

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Okay.

As I said, it's August and we're doing August Torial, the month of August, August Torial month.

And I'm just getting on my soapbox and talking about something that has been on my mind.

And today I want to talk about my favorite brand.

My favorite brand.

What a kind of a silly topic maybe, right?

A little, little, little selfish, little superficial, what have you.

I was, the reason I was thinking about it was because I was reading this interview the other day with somebody and I forget what it was, but it was like one of those questionnaires where, you know, they're asking the person, you know, they're, you know, their greatest fear or their, you know, childhood memory that they remember.

And it was kind of a business mag interview.

And so they were asking business questions.

And one of the questions was, what are your favorite brand?

What's your favorite brand or brands?

And you know, this person gave some, you know, maybe typical answer that you would hear from a business leader in a business magazine.

You know, they were talking about Apple and they were talking about Tesla and SpaceX.

They, they were talking about Amazon, you know, a lot of tech brands and perhaps not surprisingly.

And it got me thinking about what my favorite brand is and why.

Because of course I love Apple.

Apple's one of my favorite brands.

I don't have a Tesla and I don't, I'm not an astronaut.

So SpaceX and Tesla doesn't, you know, really do it for me.

And I have a love hate relationship with Elon Musk, so wouldn't necessarily say that.

But it got me thinking about, you know, what are or what is my favorite brand?

And, you know, actually didn't take much time for me to realize what my favorite brand is.

And it's not what you would think.

It's not a car brand.

Although I love my car.

I, it's not, you know, REI or North Face, which I love those brands because I'm an outdoors guy and I, you know, love those brands.

They make great gear, they sell great stuff at REI and North Face makes great stuff.

I could go down that path and, you know, I could talk about Homeboy Industries and the work they do.

I mean, they're incredible.

They're also one of my favorite brands, but not necessarily my favorite brand.

And it dawned on me pretty quickly that my favorite brand is.

And can I get a drum roll?

My favorite brand is Iron Man.

Not Iron man, the superhero Iron man, the triathlon series.

And if you're not familiar with Iron Man, Iron man is a triathlon series.

Some would consider it maybe the ultimate triathlon.

And of course with any triathlon it's a swim, bike, run and you know, with a sprint you're typically swimming 500 yards or meters.

You're, you know, riding your bike, you know, 12 miles and then you're running probably three miles.

An Olympic is sort of double that.

Um, and then it starts getting interesting because then the one after that is half Ironman, which would be like a 1.2 mile swim, a 60 mile bike ride, give or take, and a 13.1 mile run.

And so Ironman of course is double that.

You swim 2.4 miles, then you get on your bike and you ride 112 miles.

And then you get off your bike and run a marathon 26.2 miles.

And so it ends up being a 140.6 mile triathlon event.

You have what, 17 hours, 18 hours to complete it.

And it is my favorite brand, Ironman triathlon.

Why do you ask?

Why is that my favorite brand?

Well, I do have to admit that if you don't know, I myself am a two time Ironman finisher.

Both very different courses and both very challenging in different ways, but also beautiful.

Wisconsin was much hotter that day.

I remember Wisconsin being hotter than Idaho.

But on both those days I swam, bike and run, ran over, well, 140.6 miles.

And not that I was fast.

I have two speeds, slow and slower.

A matter of fact, I don't even remember my times.

I think I, right off the top of my head you think I would remember my times.

I did, I think I did iron man in 15 hours and something.

And then I probably did Wisconsin about the same time, you know, under 16 hours or something.

I don't know.

Anyway, I should, I should know those numbers maybe.

But it's not even about the numbers for me.

It's about the experience and it's about the evolution of my consciousness, evolution of my body.

Because when you do these events, of course you're training for months and months and you're training every day.

What you have to sacrifice, what you have to give, what you have to do to be ready for a race, let alone finish a race, is remarkable.

And you know, it sort of boils down to having a few things.

You need the time to train, the will to do it, the time to train, the money to afford it.

Because it ain't cheap to do an Ironman.

Just the nutrition alone over the course of a year as you're training can get expensive.

Let alone the travel or the bike gear that you gotta buy or the running shoes you burn through or whatever the case might be, it all adds up.

But assuming you have the resource, even if you have the money and you have the time, you don't have the will.

You won't do it.

You gotta have, you gotta want it.

You gotta want it bad.

And I wanted it bad, bad, bad.

And cause really all my 30s, old now 55, but in my 30s, I really doubled down on endurance sports and road racing and marathoning and triathlon and did a lot of events.

And when I got to a point, I said, you know, I think it was after my first marathon.

I said, you know what a marathon is?

A third of an Ironman.

I bet I could do an Iron Man.

And that was the dumbass decision I made.

Somebody would ask, once, asked me, well, why are you, why are you doing all this stuff?

Why are you doing all these triathlons, these iron mansions?

I said, because I started hanging out with the wrong crowd.

That's why I started hanging out with the wrong crowd.

You start hanging around with these triathletes, the next thing you know you're signing up for a race and doing a race and just corrupts.

It corrupts you in the best way, right?

And so I managed to complete two Ironman.

It's funny, I have a reoccurring nightmare now that I show up at an Ironman race and it's the guns about ready to go off to start and I realize I haven't trained.

It's like, why am I here?

I haven't been training.

But Ironman is my favorite brand.

Hands down, my favorite brand.

But why?

Why is it my favorite brand?

Because you can't buy it.

You can't buy it.

You can't buy the metal, you can't buy the bragging rights.

You have to earn the bragging rights.

You have to earn the medal.

And it's only then that you can call yourself an Ironman.

It's only then that you can get that tattoo, the Iron Man MDOT logo, which I did not get.

I have many friends, I have it.

I did not get it.

And that's a whole nother story.

Anyway, somebody asked me, why didn't you get the tattoo?

I said, well, I got the medal for starters.

I got the memory for starters.

My soul, my consciousness was expanded, and I didn't get the tattoo because at the end of the day, it's just a damn race.

It's not like I was fighting fires or saving lives.

It's not like a.

Not like I'm doing brain surgery here.

So I don't mean to demean or criticize people that do get the tattoo.

That's awesome.

I just didn't, you know, I just didn't want it.

Now, I do have a little necklace pendant with Iron man kind of logo that I tend to wear as a reminder.

But my son always says, can I have that?

No.

I'm like, no, you cannot have that because you've got to earn it.

So the thing.

The reason that Iron man is my favorite brand is because you have to do the work.

You have to earn it.

There is no cheating.

I don't care how rich you might be.

I don't care if you're Elon Musk.

I don't care if you're Jeff Bezos.

I don't care if you're Mark Zuckerberg.

You can have billions of dollars and be the richest person in the world, and you still can't buy an Ironman credit.

You still can't buy the bragging rights.

You still can't buy the metal.

You have to earn it.

You can have the most mega yachts.

You can have the most Ferraris.

You can have the most houses and mansions around the world.

You can be dining with the presidents and dictators.

But you cannot have an Ironman medal or an Ironman credit or tattoo or bragging rights without doing the work, without training, without sacrificing, without toeing the line, without enduring the blood, sweat, and tears of trying to get through a race and get to that finish before the timing for the timer cuts off.

And that's it.

That's why Ironman is my favorite brand, because you can't buy it.

You can't buy it.

You got to earn it.

And most brands out there are the opposite, right?

If you got enough money, you can buy it, but not in this case.

You absolutely have to earn it.

So that's it, people.

That's my favorite brand.

That's why.

So I encourage you, I encourage you to get out there and try, if nothing else, do a sprint triathlon.

One that'll change your life in the best way forever.

That's all I got to say.

Sourdough over and out Foreign thanks for listening to the not Real Art podcast.

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