On this episode of the WWIA Podcast, WWIA Founder and CEO, John McDaniel, is excited to welcome two remarkable entrepreneurs and tremendous supporters of the Foundation to the show, Mr. Joe Pechauer and Mr. Dan Bourget.

Joe Pechauer is the President and master cue maker behind J. Pechauer Custom Cues, a family-owned business that has become one of the most respected names in billiards craftsmanship. Starting in the early 1960s in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Joe and his father, Jerry, combined a passion for pool with an obsession for precision, building cues by hand in their basement workshop. Over time, his unmatched attention to detail, innovation in cue design, and dedication to players’ performance helped elevate the brand to international recognition. Joe’s legacy continued to grow as he recently brought his sons (Riley and Jake) into the craft, ensuring that the Pechauer commitment to quality would span generations. Known not only for his skill but also his humility and love for the sport, Joe has earned the admiration of professionals and enthusiasts alike, recently being inducted into the Wisconsin Billiards Hall of Fame.

Dan Bourget is the majority owner of Olhausen Billiards together with the founder, Donny Olhausen. Olhausen Billiards (The “Best in Billiards”) was founded in 1972 and has been proudly making high-quality, handcrafted pool tables and game tables for over 50 years. Located in Portland, Tennessee, Olhausen is the largest manufacturer of pool tables in the United States, known for traditional craftsmanship, innovative features, durability and value, making them a respected name in the billiards industry. Dan and his wife Paula live near Nashville Tennessee and together, they proudly run Olhausen Billiards. This is a wonderful episode that we’re proud to share with you.

Takeaways:

1. The WWIA Podcast is dedicated to honoring and supporting America's combat wounded Purple Heart Heroes through various initiatives.
2. Joe Pechauer of J. Pechauer Custom Cues emphasizes the importance of precision and craftsmanship in billiards, which has been handed down through generations.
3. Dan Bourget of Olhausen Billiards describes the significance of American-made products, highlighting the company's commitment to quality and innovation in pool tables.
4. The collaborative efforts between Pechauer Cues and Olhausen Billiards exemplify a shared dedication to community service and support for Veterans' organizations.
5. Both Joe and Dan express their deep respect for the sacrifices made by Veterans, contributing to their motivation to support the Wounded Warriors in Action foundation.
6. The podcast shares personal anecdotes reflecting the impact of billiards on community engagement, particularly among combat wounded Veterans.

To learn more about our friends and partners, please visit them online:

1. J. Pechauer Custom Cues- https://pechauer.com
2. Olhausen Billiards- https://www.olhausenbilliards.com

To see the remarkable Purple Heart Hero Pool Cue and the Purple Heart Hero Pool Table designed in honor of WWIA and America's combat-wounded Veterans, go to following link:

https://wwiaf.org/pechauer-and-olhausen-join-forces-to-honor-americas-combat-wounded-veterans

Foreign.

Hello and welcome to the WWIA Podcast. We're honored to have you join us in our mission to bring honor, connection and healing to America's combat wounded Purple Heart heroes.

If this is your first time listening to this podcast, we welcome you. If you're a returning listener. Thanks for coming back.

Please be sure to tell others about our podcast and leave us a review if you're enjoying what you're hearing on this episode of the WWIA Podcast.

WWIA founder and CEO John McDaniel is excited to welcome two remarkable entrepreneurs and tremendous supporters of the foundation to the show, Mr. Joe Pechauer and Mr. Dan Bourget.

Joe Pechauer is the President and master cue maker behind J. Pechauer Custom Cues, a family owned business that has become one of the most respected names in billiards craftsmanship.

Over time, his unmatched attention to detail, innovation and cue design and dedication to players performance helped elevate the brand to international recognition.

Joe's legacy continued to grow as he recently brought his sons Riley and Jake into the craft, ensuring the Peach Hour commitment to quality would span generations.

Known not only for his skill but also his humility and love for the sport, Joe has earned the admiration of professionals and enthusiasts alike, recently being inducted into the Wisconsin Billiards hall of Fame. Dan Bourget is a majority owner of Olhausen Billiards, together with the founder Donnie Olhausen.

Located in Portland, Tennessee, Olhausen is the largest manufacturer of pool tables in the United States, known for traditional craftsmanship, innovative features, durability and value, making them a respected name in the billiards industry. Dan and his wife Paula live near Nashville, Tennessee and together they proudly run Olhausen Billiards.

This is a wonderful episode that we're proud to share with you, so without further delay, let's join the conversation now.

Hi, I'm John McDaniel, founder and CEO of the Wounded warriors in Action foundation and this is our podcast, Honor Connect, Heal. So today I want to say I'm a little bit nervous. I'm excited more than I am nervous.

I'm excited because I have two titans of industry with me on the podcast in the Billiards industry in particular. And so with me today is Joe Pechauer of Pechauer Cues and Dan Bourget of Olhausen Billiards. Welcome to the program, gentlemen.

Thanks, John.

Thank you. Great to be here.

Yeah, it really is great to be together. Let me set the stage before we start to talk about your enterprise's respect, respectively, but.

And I don't really remember exactly how it all started, and I should have asked David, but I'm a pool player and I've been playing pool for, let's just say, for the argument's sake, seriously, 45 years. I love the sport, always have loved the sport. And so, you know, I've got a. I've got several pool cues. I never had a Pechauer cue.

They were just, I don't want to say they were out of my reach.

It was sort of like, you know, they were, they were always represented to me a standard that I didn't know that I was like, really ready for, if you will. I don't know if that sounds right or not, but. So David started talking, works for us. Started talking about these pool cues with, with Pechauer.

And I said, absolutely, that's a Wisconsin company. I said, my God, I would be honored to do something with them.

So the next thing you know, you know, Olhausen comes into the picture and I'm like, wow, I know that name. That, that's. I've played on an Olhausen table before. That's phenomenal.

And then you guys together came together, your friends is what I understand, have known each other for some time.

And then in last year in Vegas, you guys created Olhausen created a custom table for us, a couple of them, I understand, one of which, or a couple of which were auctioned off to raise money for the Foundation. And a.

And what it is that, that, that event that you guys do every year, and I guess it's the BCA Expo was in Vegas earlier in the year and you auctioned off one of those tables and raised a pile of money for the Foundation and Pechauer cues were involved.

And I think we ended up with 20 of your cues and have been putting them out there across the countryside at auctions and people buying them and, you know, associating your brand or your brands with the WWIA. And I just got to tell you, it's an amazing partnership.

I have to say thank you to both of you for what you've done by way of helping our nation's combat-wounded with your energy and your efforts and to be associated with such high Quality brands especially. I mean, we're not talking about sewing machines here. We're talking about, you know, billiards, which is something near and dear to my heart.

I just love the sport. And every time I go to Camp Hackett now, and I'll shut up here in a minute, but I was up there during the last blizzard during Thanksgiving.

I went up there, I snuck up there and there was the table. And one of my best buddies, Stewie Strunze, came up and he is a phenomenal pool player, always has been.

We played 35 games in one day during a blizzard, during that big blizzard. 35 games. I had a Pechauer cue in my hand. We're playing on the Olhausen table. And it was a marathon pool session. But I'll never, ever forget that time.

And I have so much great things to say about your cues and of course your tables, guys. So that's the introduction, so if you don't mind, we'll start with Joe Pichar. So tell us a little bit, Joe, about your enterprise.

I'd love to hear your story regarding these cues. And I know your, you and your father, Your father started it from what I understand, but if you would just talk to us about that, please.

Well, basically my dad got into it because he was one of the top players, pool players in the area. And he won a pool match one day against somebody and they didn't have money to pay him, like $2.

He won back then in the early 60s, and, and the guy gave him a shaft for his cue and it was broken. And so my dad had to figure out how to fix it. And it just kind of got from there.

It started spiraling to where he started doing repairs for other people, buying the wrong machines and making the right ones. You know, no machines were really made for pool cues. You have to develop it yourself.

And really through the years, finding out, trying to research, find the right materials, get, get them really to where they are, same as today. We've been making them the same way since the 80s, so we really haven't changed anything.

The quality, we hope to keep getting better, but the foundation is really the same. Years back, we found we couldn't have a reliable source for our wood.

So we bought a sawmill dry kiln and, and started cutting all of our own wood for ourselves. And so I go up to the up a lot of times. My dad will go with me and we, we actually pick out the logs. We get them from areas to.

Towards Camp Hackett, way up in the upper. And we start right from picking out the log and doing the whole process.

So is it maple, Is it maple that you're using?

It's mostly. It's figured maple is the majority. It's bird's eye or curly maple, which is really hard to find. Really? Yeah.

But we'll get one of those trees off your, off your place one of these days and make a bunch of cues for the vets. That would be kind of cool.

Yeah. If you could tell me, you know, maybe we'll do this off, off, you know, off the podcast.

But if you tell me what you're looking for, I'll find if it's not on Camp Hackett because we got a ton of maple and everybody that sees it says, you know, that's going to be that, that maple right there is going to be great for if you want to make, you know, maple sugar. It's real dark maple, but it might not be what you're. What you're looking for.

But I, we have a woodturning association also in Wisconsin that helps the foundation and, and you know, wood. I mean, I know, I know guys who've owned, two guys who've owned, you know, sawmills, et cetera. That's a big thing up there.

The properties in Price County. It's, you know, so anyway, I think that I would like to explore that idea down the road. But you know, it's amazing. So are you turning these.

Are these turned on lays?

Yeah. Basically the machines, we, we. Everything we do, we.

You have to pretty much build your own machine to do it because you just can't go to a, go to a store and buy these machines. So it's developing them, getting them to run right. And, and really getting, getting everything fine tuned.

And you know, I don't think we ever try and I think just looking at from where we are to where we are now have been to where we are now, we really never stop trying to be better. And you know, I think when you stop trying to be better, you just, you're not, you're not as good anymore.

You know, I agree with that.

We always trying to be better and keep doing our thing the best we can.

I just want to chirp in. I visited Joe's factory and I've been a manufacturing guy my whole life and I'm blown away by the precision that goes into his cues.

You can buy cues from anywhere, right? And imported cues, cues in America, but the precision and care that they put into their cues is just unbelievable to me.

They're really, they're really like it. I liken it to working on jewelry or some piece of art.

I mean, the intricacy, the precision, how the inlays fit, the way they build up the shaft so that they don't deflect. I mean, just having in Joe, you know, he's not this guy who shows up once a week.

He is in the shop just like this morning I tried to call him on the way to work and he's out in the shop. You know, that's. And that says a lot. And that's rare nowadays to see somebody that's so hands on and cares about it. So.

So I share your peach Hour Q obsession.

Now.

I had no cues of my own three years ago and now I have a few peach hours and you know, they're in my prized possessions. They're just beautiful works of art and you know, and they, they play great. I don't play great, but they play great. It's really amazing.

Yeah, no, you know, and by the way, I have to say, you know, when we were, when we were up there, you know, your Joe, your, your sons Riley and Jake showed up to present us with a large check when we had the heroes in town for an event. And I just have to tell you, your sons are amazing people and you've done well with them.

They represented your brand, you, your company, exceptionally well. They're a joy to be around. They're humble, they're knowledgeable, they're fun, they're engaging. They're everything that you could.

I have two young sons.

I got a late start in the game, but I've got an 11 year old and a 9 year old and here I am looking at your boy and I'm thinking to myself, you know, I hope someday somebody says something like that about my boys when they're, you know, in their 20s, which I think you're, you're both your boys are now, but they're fine young men and you know, I'm sure you're quite proud of them, you know, as you should be. It was a, it was a pleasure to get to meet him.

I have one quick story and then we'll get, you know, we'll go, Dan, I want to, we want to talk about Olshausen and your amazing pool tables and that's not all that you do there at the factory, so we can chat more about that. But so here I am. I've always been taught, you know, don't break with your cue. You know, if you're going to play with this cue, don't break with it.

So I'm I'm, you know. And Olhausen, when your table showed up, there was a package with it that had some really fine pool cues in it. They're just.

I don't know who manufactured those for you. There was a box of pool cues underneath there and some chalk and all of this. And so. But they're solid cues.

So I was using one of those to break, and one of the boys, and I can't remember if it was Riley or Jake, said, you know, what are you doing, man? I was like, well, you know, I don't want to break with your cue. They're like, dude, that's Wisconsin maple.

You know, so, you know, I still don't want to break with it, but, you know, it's an amazing cue. It's so true and so beautiful. And I know that the one thing I'll never be able to say, going on to this idea of quality and never ceasing to improve.

Never ceasing to improve yourself and never ceasing to improve your enterprise. And that includes your families as well, I think. Right. And your relationship with people and all of this. But I totally subscribe to that.

As a matter of fact, I said, someday, if they said, hey, man, you can only have one word on your gravestone. What's your word? My words, improving, you know, that, that, that, that. That's my word. And I'm all about it. So I. I respect that.

You don't get to achieve excellence by just rolling out of bed one day and going, you know, I think I'm going to be great today, or I think I'm going to make a great, you know, pool cue or great pool table. So, you know, I genuinely, you know, appreciate, you know, what. What you've built there, Joe, and meeting your family was. Was a.

And obviously the resource that you provided for our heroes is just amazing.

Oh, glad to do it.

Absolutely.

So let's shift gears a little bit. I know you guys are friends, and I know we'll have some dialogue about that here in a bit, but, Dan, tell us about this. I saw a video.

I went to your website, I've been to both your websites, and I went to the Olshausen website, and there's this video where I think you've got a drone going through the warehouse. And I was, like, blown away because I did not expect to see what I saw on the Olshausen website.

So if you would share with us a little bit about your enterprise, your connection with Olhausen and what's going on there in Tennessee.

Sure, yeah. First, that is a very cool video. I was blown away when I first saw it too.

We had a guy come in and offered to do that for us and the quality of it and it kind of gives me goosebumps flying through the factory.

And first thing you see is the huge American flag that we have hanging in the center of the factory and then highlighting all of our American work with workers, you know, sanding and cutting and hand hand forming all of the, the products that we make. So it is a really cool video and I would encourage everybody to go to ohausandbilliards.com and scroll down to the bottom and check out that video.

It's pretty cool. But yeah, I mean, I know we're going to talk about this, but you know, Joe and I are good friends. We met a couple years ago at the BCA.

We might have met and didn't know each other at all before then, but I knew of the legend, let's say of Peach over and I met him and I met his boys and you know, just, I think since then we've, we just hit it off really well. Joe and I have very similar philosophies on, I think on life. We're both very family oriented.

I have four children and seven grandchildren and we're both all about family and we're both very hard workers. You know, Joe's in his factory 10 hours a day. I'm in my factory 10 hours a day. We care about quality, we care about the end product.

We care about America first. We care about American made.

You know, we're both pushing and striving to make it in America while most other brands have moved offshore and are importing. So I think we both have very similar thinking and then supporting good causes. You know, we're both in, not necessarily in this for the money.

We're in it because we enjoy what we do and we like giving back. And so this, this whole collaboration was brought about by Peach Hours. They, they approached me on it and I was all in.

I mean, I think it turned out to be a fantastic thing. We can talk about that a little more. But yes, yeah. My start with old, My start with Olshausen goes back about three years now.

And so it's a really, you know, we are the largest manufacturer of pool tables and game room accessories in America. And so we're pretty proud of that.

270,000 square feet. All very modern equipment and, you know, safety and everything from spray booth to CNC machines. So it's a great business.

I worked for a Fortune 200 company called Illinois Tool Work TW since I was a puppy right out of college. And, and so I've got a lot of experience in manufacturing and business to business sort of things and business, to distribution sort of businesses.

And. And so I came and talked to Donnie and it evolved into me becoming a partner in the business. So I'm now a majority partner in Olhausen Billiards.

And Donnie gets the rest he deserves. He's 70, mid 70, 74, 75 I think now. And he gets to kick back a little bit instead of being the guy that' till 8 o' clock at night checking stuff.

He gets to come in a couple hours a day, do the things he like. He does customer service, he talks to longtime dealers, longtime customers, and keeps. I say he's the watcher of our culture.

You know, he comes in and maintains and makes sure that things still feel like Olshausen while I'm in the background trying to, you know, sort of modernize some things and, you know, give it a new kick of energy and some new eyes on the business. So things like we're doing with Joe and thing, other things that we're doing in the Marketplace.

And I like to say we build toys all day long. Now I build pool tables, shuffleboards, foosballs, air hockeys, indoor and outdoor versions. And it's just a pleasure to come into work.

Probably like Joe coming in and smelling wood all day long. And wood chips for me, I mean, I think that's a blessing.

When I first got here, I told everybody how nice it is to come into the factory and smell the wood all day long. I was in a steel plant right before Olshausen running a golf shaft manufacturing company.

After I retired, I was doing that for a while as a consultant running a factory. And a world of difference between running a steel factory and a wood factory in terms of, you know, how nice it is to come in every day.

So that's kind of my background and. And how I got involved with Olshausen. And so we're living the dream.

It's a great brand, great product, great distributors, great dealers, and great friends that I've met like. Like Joe. I mean, I consider that a real blessing, too, to meet him and his family, his wife Polly, they're all just wonderful people.

You know, speaking of quality and pool tables, when I first got up there and saw this table that you guys built, it's got purple heart metal, replica of the purple heart metal on both ends of the pool table where you would break and inlays with a wreath that's on the purple heart metal all the way around where the spots or dots would be. And it's got the wood Purple heart, you know, would like or, you know, I mean, it's stained in the purple. The felt is purple.

It's just the pockets are leather. Anyway, the.

Just looking at this thing is kind of intimidating if you're a pool player, but playing on it, that goes away immediately because when you start running your hand across the felt and then you start seeing the way, you know. And I like, again, I'm a. I'm a pretty experienced pool player, but I've never played on a table that. Is that true? And the. You.

You know, we've seen balls that'll hang up on a pocket, like on the edge of the pocket. Just sit there like you didn't make a perfect shot. And it'll. It'll roll down there. And most of them will go one way or the other.

They'll never get that close to the edge of the pocket. But, you know, those bumpers are quite amazing. The craftsmanship. Craftsmanship's crazy.

And the guy that Mike Reed, who was there when it was installed, and I don't remember the gentleman's name.

He mentioned it, but one of your top installers who, who essentially assembled the table right there at Camp Hackett in the bunkhouse, which is now the centerpiece to the bunkhouse at Camp Hackett, he's told Mike he took a dollar bill and I guess you've got a level that's like a machine level, right?

So he took a dollar bill and he put it underneath the level when the table was leveled and it registered the difference between the dollar bill being there and the dollar bill not being there.

Yeah, difference between good and great is

that dollar bill says to, he says to Mike, he goes, mike, tell him not to move this.

Yeah, that was my guy, Rex.

I'm pretty sure it was Rex. It was Rex.

He's, he's the Jedi Master when it comes to setting up pool tables. I underestimated what, you know, what goes into that when I joined a couple years ago. And then at the BCA show, I got to help set up a couple tables.

And there's so much nuance that goes into setting one up. I gained a, a tremendous amount of respect for all, everything that goes in.

You think it's a big piece of slate, it should be pretty easy to level, but there's so much tweaking that goes involved to get it right. And. Yeah, and I see, you know, you'll see people with like a carpenter level as a joke almost trying to level a table.

And, you know, you, you can't even come close with that. So we do use machinist levels.

Stare at machinist levels that are very, very, very precise to the point of where if you stick a dollar under one end of a 16 inch level on the table, it's gonna, it's gonna throw the bubble off by one, one whole line. And so, you know, just two or three dollar bills and your table's out of level, and that's not very much.

That's, that's crazy.

Well, you tell Rex, on behalf of our nation's combat wounded, that, you know, he get, he, he gets a big sharp salute and he did it, did a great job there.

You know, I want to switch over to, to Joe for a second because, you know, Dan, you just mentioned something I want to talk about, and that is culture, right? That's, you know, I've always been a student of culture. I've been in organizations, of course.

I was in the military for 20 years, so I was probably in, in that same period of time. I was probably in 12 or 13 different organizations in that 20 year period. Units. If you Will. And so I have a great deal of experience with culture.

And then when I got out of the militaries and, you know, did some work in the civilian world and business and enterprise. And so I've been in a lot of organizations, and I've always been kind of dialed into this idea of culture.

The military refers to it, at least the army does, as command climate. Like, that's the way civilians would say, you know, the culture of the organization.

The military would say the command climate, because they hang that climate, that they hang the responsibility for that climate on the commander. So that commander is responsible if the unit's gone to hell and morale is really low.

You know, there's something there with the command, you know, culture or climate, if you will. So I just want to.

I want to ask you, Joe, for just a moment to talk about, you know, Peach Hours, you know, what your perception of the climate there. You know, what. What would you say? Talk to us about that.

Because what you're kicking out there, if you're a pool player and you don't have a Peach Hour cue, you should get one. You know, they're beautiful, but they play amazing. I've played with a lot of pool cues. I just never played with one that is that fine and that true.

So tell us about the culture there at Peach Hour.

Well, the main thing, it really starts with is everybody around me that, that I come in to work with every single day, from my sales guys up front who have been here 25 and 30 years, to the eight or nine people I have in the shop that have been there in upwards of 5 to 7 to 20 and 30 years also. So longevity. I've been very fortunate with having people here.

And I think, because the culture is, I. I lead by example and what, what I expect to do, I wouldn't expect somebody to do what I wouldn't do myself. And that's why I try to get here before people do, and I try to leave at least when they do. And it's. It's a family vibe here.

You know, everybody from younger to middle age to older, men, women, everybody goes through things in their life and it's understanding that. And it's years ago, I would think it's almost like a kindergarten class.

You're a teacher and you got all these different attitudes now as people get older in life, it's more about what's going on in their world.

And you really never know what's going on in somebody's head while they're working during the day, if they're having a good day, a bad day if they have major life trauma. But when that does happen, I work with that person, and I want to help them the best I can. And. And I. It's kind of.

Kind of the way I've always done it, and it. It works out for me. And we just, we joke around. We're not afraid to say anything to each other, and it's.

And I. I have a feeling Dan's culture and his company is about the same because we kind of both have the same type of personality that if you can't. If you can't have fun and make it fun during your day, it's. Nobody wants to go to work, you know?

Right, right. You know, that's. That's well said. And I want to. I want to ask. And then I'm gonna.

I'm gonna jump over to Dan in a minute and ask him the same kind of question. But, you know, how. Think I'm just curious, like, how do you, as the guy in charge, you know, how do you.

How do you keep your finger on the pulse of the climate of the organization? Like, for me, with the foundation, you know, now very diversified, right. I mean, there. There are 40 some missions across the country.

I'm at maybe three of them a year. You know, I mean, I used to be at all of them, but that was when there was only, you know, maybe 15 or 20. Now there's. It's grown.

And so I can stay connected to the culture by, you know, hey, looking at the pictures, hey, talking during the after action review, you know, what happened, talking to the guides, you know, this sort of thing. And then there's a culture right here in this office, the headquarters. It's not very big, but, you know, I try to keep my finger on the.

On the, you know, the culture here. And I do that through lots of ways, I think, anyway.

But I'm just interested in, you know, how do you, as the guy in charge, you know, how do you gauge, you know, the. Where the culture is, you know, in the organization? Because it's kind of a nebulous thing, but it always sort of aims towards people, right, And.

And how people are behaving and how are they performing? I don't know. I mean, it's just. It's.

It's.

It's kind of like a Rubik's Cube, you know, it's not the easiest thing in the world to sort of figure out, but when it's right, you know, it's right. When it's not right, you kind of know it's not right. I just want your thoughts on that.

Well, I, I guess culture wise, you know, for so many years I had what I would kind of call the dream team. A lot of people that really developed and gave us our core company.

I never imagined I'd be starting over, especially now at, at this point in my life. But through transition, through people retiring, all of a sudden I have that new younger class in people are really getting good.

And as they get good, they get more responsibilities, they get more important in the company, they start making more money and it's just everything, everything that comes out of this company is a result of all the people that are, that are working with me. And I never say for me because I, I, I hate the idea of being called a boss.

I, I just, I, I like to work with people and we're all, we're all part of the same thing. I'm just the one that has to have the headaches that, you know, that go, that go with it, right?

The buck stops right there. You're responsible for everything that happens and fails to happen.

And I like to take responsibility for all the, all the screw ups, you know, because I go, hey, the buck stops here. It gives permission to, for people to, to, to, to, to make mistakes and to try their hardest.

You know, it's like, listen, I, that I didn't give the right amount of guidance or I didn't, you know, sort of thing that, but that's my, that's my default setting. You don't do it because I know it puts people, you know, at ease.

But, but I do it because I always look for the thing that if something goes south or didn't go exactly as planned, you know, what could I have done to maybe prevent that from happening? But if on the other side of the coin it goes great, then it's just a great opportunity to highlight the people who help make it happen. Right?

I mean, that's right. You just deflect that. Because I go, I just really didn't have anything to do with that. Right.

I was just happened to be the guy that started this thing and all you people out there are doing such amazing things. It's just humbling to be, you know, a person that has, you know, the helm in his hands periodically. So, But I want to, I want to.

And thanks for sharing that, Joe. I appreciate that. I'm always interested in it.

As a student of, you know, organizational culture and leadership, I just love to talk to guys and gals who are in charge of stuff and have this discussion. But, Dan, I'd love to hear from you on the idea of culture. You're the one that brought it up, so you kind of got me going down this rabbit hole.

Well, it's something you touched on, and I think the way I say it is responsibility gets pushed down in the organization. They're responsible, but accountability flows up.

Yeah.

So when the hits the fan, you know, we're there to sort of coach and shield and protect our people and not hang them out the drive. But I want them to be responsible. I want them to make decisions.

I want them to know how I think and eventually, you know, have them be able to make decisions, you know, as I would make them or better. They're. They're closer to the. To the front line, to use a military analogy.

And, you know, sometimes they don't see the big picture of what's going on, and that's my responsibility to communicate that and the. The what and the why of what we're doing.

Yeah, the what and the why is pretty important to communicate the how I think they can accomplish if they know the what and the why. And.

And so.

So that's kind of how I like to think about it.

It's a great way of saying it. You know, in the military, we. We talk about, you know, the commander's intent. You know, like, I'm not going to tell you how to seize.

I mean, I'm going to give me a mission. Seize hill 1, 2, 3, 4. Okay.

Yeah.

Tasks. Seize hill 1, 2th, 3, 4. Purpose. Protect Bravo company's right flank. Okay. I'm not going to tell you how to do that.

I just told you the task and the purpose of it. And I know you're better at me. Me better than me at doing it. So go out there and do it.

And if it goes bad or you need help in the process, 911 me, man. Because that's what I'm here to do is help you. Exactly right.

That's exactly right. We're here to clear roadblocks, to clear obstacles.

Right.

Provide cover, you know.

Exactly. Yeah. No, that's right.

And outside of that, man, they're the ones that get stuff done.

They're.

They're closest to the action. So those spot decisions are super important.

I don't need somebody running to me every time they have a customer on the phone and the customer needs taken care of in some way.

They.

They know they don't have to come and ask, hey, Dan, the guy's not happier. The rails got scratched during shipment, you know, Just take care of it.

Make it happen. That's right.

No, I will never be mad if they've taken care of a customer. Yeah, long term, that's what it's all about. So.

Yeah, and you know, in my, in my turn, you know, in my turf, you know, the customers, the combat wounded, and I've got this, this. You've met them, some of the guides that are on this team, you know, and those wounds.

We've got now 30 trained professionals who've been through our guide school that we've been grooming for some of them for 20 years. And we're always adding new guys and gals to the roster of guides that are also Purple Heart recipients.

But we ran over the weekend, started on Thursday and finished yesterday. This leadership development program, it was the pilot course, the start of this program.

And the idea, the attempt, intent, Intent of that is to focus on our guides. Right. And, and, and help them to better understand me and my thinking and who I am. Like.

And, and I know that sounds crazy, but I, I gotta tell you, I was thinking, I think, I think about this a lot ago. Okay. How did it, you know, so maybe there's. When I was a lieutenant, there's my battalion commander, my brigade commander and my division commander.

So I maybe see the division commander, you know, once a year. I see the brigade commander, the full colonel you know, once a month. I see the battalion comm. Once a week. But it, it's not. As lieutenant.

I didn't get to like, interact with him a whole lot. You know, I just, I just looked at this uniform and okay, he's got the CIB was in Vietnam.

He's got the right shoulder patch, he's got a master parachute, his badge, you know, and he just walks around like you in this. You know, you just look at him, you go. Just by virtue of his position.

Gravitas.

Yes, exactly right. Exactly right.

You know, where the French might say the je ne sais quoi, you know, what is it about, about this person that makes me want to be like them? And how in the world could I possibly ever replicate that for my, for the people that work for me? Like how one, you got to be genuine.

You got to be yourself. You got.

And to me, what my default setting goes to is setting and establishing and, you know, enforcing high standards of performance and in your case, creating, you know, gaming tables and, you know, and, you know, in your case, making, you know, in another case, me making the finest, you know, pool cues on the planet. You know, those.

There are standards involved in that process line, that production line, probably, if you were just to say, like, you know, how many standards are involved in the creation of a, of a pool cue, you go, wow. I mean, how much time do you got, dad? Right.

Starting with picking the trees.

Exactly right. You and your dad going out and picking trees in, in pretty amazing in Michigan or, or Wisconsin, you know.

Right.

And everything from how it gets cut to how it gets transported to how it goes into the kiln, how it gets cut, you know, put on the lathe. I mean, if you just were to think about the standards involved in, in, in our work, your work, there's a lot of them.

So I'm, I'm a guy that's always like setting, trying to set the bar high, you know, a realistic expectation for a very high standard of performance.

And I think it's the boss's job in your own way to make sure that those standards, you know, that is upheld, that people are aware of what they are, because that goes to expectations of performance. You know, in your case, both of your cases, you're producing a product, that product's going out the door. You know, I'm more in the service industry.

How do you put your finger on how well you did by serving these combat wounded veterans? Well, a lot of that, a lot of those times it's, hey, look at that smile. Hey, read that testimonial. Hey, go talk to him.

It's not my opinion that matters about what we just did. It's his opinion that matters.

Because we say it's like me having your pool cue and, you know, you know, your, your pool cue, A peach hour pool cue in my hand or playing on an old house and table. Right. I just love it. I get so excited about it. But when, when I'm around guys like you, I just go, man, we should do more of this kind of thing.

Because leaders don't get a chance often to, you know, circle the wagons and bump heads and, and share and exchange information. Because I'm always wanting to get better, and I feel like I get better.

You know, I know you guys both got great stories, but, you know, I want to say, Joe, I understand you are in the hall of Fame, a Billiards hall of Wisconsin Billiards hall of Fame. Tell me about that.

It's just a vote that comes up every year. They usually nominate players. So I was fortunate to get into that.

And actually two years ago, my dad got, and I got into the International Billiards hall of Fame, so. So yeah, there's a, there's A couple of them out there. But honestly, it's those awards to me, I think are. I. They're.

They're awesome and I, I appreciate them, but it's really seeing the product and meeting people like Dan in the industry, being in a position to be able to help your organization and see. See what that can. That gives me more joy than any money or any product we've ever given, you know, for the cause.

And, and that in my life right now is really, you know, I've been doing this over 45 years. You know, the same thing, same, same every day, and turned pretty much into a workaholic. If you ask my wife, she'll say absolutely.

But when getting to this point, it's sponsoring juniors, which Dan and I are both, both very passionate about.

Checking that out on, On. On your social media. That's cool.

You know, that. And, And. And really, you know, we help. We like to help breast cancer. And then really it's you guys. And you guys turned into our top.

Our top one now because all. All it took was meeting, meeting your guys in Vegas and hearing their stories, being so inspired. I got.

I got my coin and I was presented that when we had a dinner and there was not a dry eye at the table, and we had 16 people at that table. And that's what this organization, when you really see the big picture, that's what it does to me, my team here.

And I think I can speak for Dan because I know. I know how he thinks in his heart too. And just to be able to be a part of helping in some little way is amazing.

It really is. I appreciate that. And I gotta tell you, I still am like that too.

There are moments where I have to just walk away and collect myself and go, okay, take a deep breath. It never goes away from me. It never goes away. I was not wounded in combat. I. I have been in combat. And just the idea of. And some of these guys have.

Or some of them are still on active duty, and they're like, their 13th or 14th deployment, and they got two or three purple hearts. Some of the guys were only in for a year or less and got hurt, injured, wounded, earned a Purple Heart, and because of their wounds, were.

Were discharged from active duty. So we have everything in that spectrum in our space, but the one thing they all share is the fact that they bled in our country's uniform.

And I just have a super soft spot.

And I always have, for the average soldier, the person that just said, hey, I want to go serve my country and raise their right hand and went off someplace in harm's way and did their job and just unfortunately, you know, got wounded and, and, you know, they all say, well, it just wasn't fast enough, or, you know, Acer, I just, you know, I couldn't get out of the way of that one, you know, or whatever the case might be. But yeah, it's a very humbling space for me and, and I hope that never, ever goes away. And if it does, I'll, I'll hang up my tennis shoes and be.

And pass the reins on to somebody else. But if it weren't for great country or companies and people like, you know, you two, we wouldn't be where we are.

And for me to sit here today and be able to meet you, both of you, and have a conversation about how you've helped elevate the foundation and those that we serve, See the faces on the guys, just a bunch of guys sitting around playing pool now in the bunk house, that is just incredible to me.

We had a guide school up there, a safety symposium, and, and, and here's five or six combat wounded purple art recipients and myself, you know, playing pool in a, you know, on a rotational basis. Winner keeps on the table, stays on the table. And I, I, you just, it's, it's relaxing.

We, we focus on outdoor, you know, sporting activities, but this is an indoor sporting activity, you know, and we're still doing something. But guys are, these guys are all competitive. Right. Great.

Still competitive again.

Still competitive, you know, and, and just,

just a little bit of friendly.

It's so great, you know, and so

there's your mind of everything, too. When you're playing pool, you've got to. I mean, I underestimated that, too. The strategy and the thinking.

Yes.

You know, you're always thinking about the next shot, but it's not the next shot. It's. It's the shot after that and the one after that.

That's right.

Cue ball placement. There's so much going on.

Yeah. You know, I want to tell you real quick.

And I was on my way home and a guy by the name, I knew his name was Jerry. I had to look it up this Morning. So I had to find. With exactly right. Yes. He was my instructor.

He is a legend and a great friend. Yes.

Yeah. He's a friend of yours?

Yes, Very good friends.

My God. Okay. I got goosebumps when you. When you see. When you next meet, say, tell him you. He will not remember who I am. Okay? There's just no way.

I was just a student of his, right? And he had a son, if I remember properly, who was also playing and very talented, and he was my instructor for a while, too.

So I didn't have a lot of money. Okay. At the time, I was a student. Student. But I would scrape together enough money to go in there on the way home. As I was walking, you know, my.

My apartment was. You know, I went past Cunyque. It's no longer there. And that breaks my heart. But, you know, it was.

It was an old Madison pool hall, and you just walked into that place, and it just. You know, you'd go up the stairs, and you got up there, you were just like, whoa. Like, it just. It smelled like a pool hall.

It looked like a pool hall. What an amazing place. But I remember he had me work on my stance for, like, two days, and. And I didn't. I mean, I didn't get to shoot.

I got to shoot one ball in the pocket, in the pockets. He made me do that for two sessions, and I was getting a little frustrated, like, man. But he was. You talk about standards, man.

I mean, everything from how you. You know, how you're holding the cue, you know, you're placing in your legs, your body position, all of that. He was just a fundamental. Like.

Like all good coaches, like, we got to work on these fundamentals. Your base is super important here, and we're not going to.

I was thinking I was going to be busting balls and racks and shooting, you know, hey, how do you shoot this shot and all that? But no. And so I have to credit Jerry for the fundamentals of. Of my stance to this day.

And I just thought he was great, and so was his son, and I wanted to. I wanted to mention his name because he. He was a big part of my life back then.

Then he is amazing. And there are. There were countless. Countless pros that are where they are because of Jerry.

Really? Yes.

He is. He is arguably the best coach in the world. Best ever. He really is.

Wow.

Yeah.

I didn't know that.

Very fortunate.

Makes me feel good. Yeah.

He lives in Arizona half of the year, then comes back to Madison the other half.

So.

Yeah.

Does he?

Yeah. Amazing, amazing guy.

Yeah, I would love to have a beer with that guy. I mean, and his. His son was super cool, too. Like, he was also a very good PO player and a very good instructor, and I just. Some of my.

My fondest memories. And then when it. When Kunique went away, I was, like, heartbroken. You know, I went back to Madison just to play there one day, and it was gone.

And I was like, oh, man.

Well, all you got to do is let Jerry know you'll be in Arizona. He'll have you stay at his house, right on the golf course there, and he'll take care of you.

I'm gonna. I'm gonna find. I'm gonna hunt him down, and I'm gonna send him a note. He won't recognize me from a hole in the wall, but that's okay. I didn't.

I had no idea he was that big of a deal. But I just feel honored to. You know, I've been around him, now that you say that, so that's great, guys. I got to tell you, this is.

This has been awesome.

I'm going to leave you guys with an opportunity, you know, to, you know, get the last word in here and, you know, let's go with you, Dan, first, you know, anything you'd like to, you know, share with us or thoughts that you'd like to leave us with?

Sure.

I've got just a couple things I would be remiss if I didn't mention on that table that we designed, of course, Joe and I are like Chip and Dale, going back and forth. When we get going on a topic, drives everybody around us nuts because they. They can't keep up with our fast paced evolution of design.

Okay, so getting to that queue and that table, you know, over the course of six weeks, we were constantly bouncing ideas off each other. Joe made the sites for the table. We got the purple heartwood, as you. You indicated, for the rails. He made the cue out of purple heart.

We got a purple heart stand for it. So there was a lot of stuff going on, but. But Colby Olhausen was pretty instrumental in making that thing happen.

He's the son of Donnie, and he actually built the table. He designed it with the stars. He found the replica purple hearts and the ribbon. And so Colby's actually in charge of our design group now.

Okay.

You know, it's. He's just really in a. In a great spot. He's forgotten more about billiards than I'll ever know.

And he's just a super creative guy, so getting him Getting Joe's input. You know, Colby was instrumental in making that come together. We built five of those. I think you've got two. Well, I think we raffled one off.

We put one in the clubhouse, and I just donated one to a place here in Nashville called Matthew 25 House, and it's a. It is a shelter for men. Oh, wow. Including wounded veterans. And so, again, that just warmed my heart when they approached me to say, hey, is there.

We've got this clubhouse here, and it would be great if you have. Could you donate some kind of pool table? And me having those. A couple of them still left here.

You know, I couldn't think of a better opportunity or a better use for one of those. So we. We did donate that. And then the other thing I just want to mention is I, too, got a medal from you all, and it really, really touched me.

Of all the things I've gotten in my career and things I've earned, that one felt really good.

And I've told Joe this story, but I was telling my brother, who I Admire, who's about 10 years older than me, like Joe, but I was telling him about it, and I said, this is just really a great thing. It really warms my heart. I got this nice letter from the guys, and meeting them in Vegas was really cool. And this medal is just really awesome in it.

And then he. So I'm feeling really good about myself. And then he proceeds to tell me that. That his heart. It's been put on his heart to donate a kidney.

And he's went to Vanderbilt University, had all the testing done, and he's designated his kidney to go to a wounded warrior veteran. And so I said, oh, well, thanks for robbing my board. How am I going to compete with that, donating a kidney? And all I did was a pool table.

So I was really proud of my brother. He got right to the end, and it. And it turned out, you know, he went through. Through. He was staying at my house.

He drove in from Kentucky, went down to Vanderbilt, got testing done, did this, like, three times over the course of three months, and finally got to the end, and there was something on his liver or something, a little spot or something. He's very healthy, no problems, but it excluded him from being able to donate.

But just the willingness and him going through that and being so excited about donating to a wounded warrior was pretty cool. So the service in this country overall is amazing, and we do have a huge debt of gratitude for those that serve because we couldn't do what we do.

Unless they did what they did. And, and it's a much bigger sacrifice going into the, to the unknown, going into battle.

I just can't imagine, you know, the strength and courage it takes to do that sort of stuff. Joe come. Joe and I come in and we do little battles every day.

Yeah, exactly.

Life threatening. We're not going to lose a limb, we're not going to lose an eye. So it's pretty easy at the end of the day.

And these opportunities really warm our hearts. And we both are very in tune with this kind of. I hate to even call it charity, because it's not charity.

It's giving back or generating some good karma. Makes us feel good.

Well, thank you very much for all that you've done. I was saying to. I think it was my boys. Yeah, I know it was my boys up there over the summer. And here we are playing pool now.

They love to play pool, right? And so especially Dylan, who's the older, who's 11. And he's like a, he's come a long way. He's like a natural.

He can see something like how, you know, how I'm holding the cue, you know, how I do a shot and you know that modeling. And he doesn't like to be taught, you know, like I can remember like that age too. Like, yeah, just.

They know everything.

Yeah, like, don't, Dad. I got this. Like, he's like me, like he has to figure it out.

Like, it doesn't, it doesn't even like to be, you know, if you hold it this way, weight, you know, you start to get the pushback. Right? So I just go, shut up, dad. Just, just let him figure it out. And he does.

You know, the other day he actually, he actually beat me, you know, and I'm like, yeah, like, holy cow. We played. It is, it is. And it felt so good. You know, we were playing nine ball and I missed the nine and, and, and you know, he knocked it in.

That was one time. But we were playing eight ball because a little, little different game as you know. But you know, he beat me playing, playing nine too.

So I guess he's. But we play a lot. And I was just really, really happy for him and. Yeah, but I told him, I said, you know what, guys?

50 years from now, okay, when you're my age, this table's still going to be here, okay? And you guys are going to be playing on this table with these cues 50 years from now, mark my words.

And I don't know what's going to be going on in your head at that time. But don't forget this moment right here. And that's what's cool about those gifts. They're really, really awesome. So, Joe, it's your turn.

Sir, again, thanks for all you've done, but I would love to give you another whack at the pinata here. Anything you want to share with us, please?

Well, I guess I kind of mentioned before the. The best thing about what I do is being able to meet people like yourself, like Dan, and really, really meet. Meet people to where you.

You find you can make friends from when you had no idea where they're coming from. And I respect the heck of a. Out of Dan, and I've learned a lot from him. And we kind of.

The nice thing is we don't compete because we're in kind of different lanes. And so we can just.

Just.

We're not afraid to tell the other if we think they're wrong or made a mistake or is making a mistake. And it's really good to have a partner like that in the industry because our industry is very different, and there's not a lot of. Not.

Not a lot of friendly sharing in ways like. Like Dan and I can.

And it's good sounding boards for each other.

Yeah, it really is. And. And it's so. So that I'm very fortunate, very fortunate to have met Scott up in Eagle River. Your good friend.

I met him at a Wounded Warrior in action benefit up there. And after that benefit was over, I'm thinking, my God, we could do so much.

That's how it started. Yeah, that's right. And I, you know, I know Scott's going to be listening to this, and he's going to go, John, you know, I'm like, I know, buddy.

It's too much for me to all keep straight, but you're right, Scott Samuels and Eagle river is the. Is the connection. The original connection. Point. Point.

Yep.

God bless you, Scott. Like everybody else, just doing amazing work out here, but, yeah, you were. You guys are at a bar. Was that it. Was that a fundraiser that you were at?

Yep.

Marina bar has a fundraiser. They give away an expensive guitar every year. They do a raffle. And I'm like, God, you know, my ego kicks in.

And first ego kicks in and says, we can do a lot. We can make a lot of money for them. And then we get into the cause and I start to understand it, and it's like, wow.

Wow, now, now this is really cool.

And then we got Dan involved, and I. I think Once we get Dan and I together on projects, like he mentioned before, our, our teams don't love us because we go, we go kind of fast as lightning and then expect everybody else to catch up.

And it, there's a lot to catch up sometimes, but just Scott is great and he's, he, I got my son Riley working with him and, and you know, the new kids these days, the younger ones, they can make things happen. I, I, I can come up with some ideas, but it's, it's really the smart ones that can follow through with it and make all this happen.

And, and you've spoken with Riley a lot of different times.

My son Jake also is a big part of this and both of those together in our company for the future, I'm, I'm really excited about, because I figure I'll give another good three to five years working together with them, mentoring them and get them ready for success. And in the process, they'll just slowly start taking over, do things their way. And I'm excited for that.

I'm not afraid to give that up because I want that for them and I, I think the industry can be better for it. And, and then, you know, the other, the other big thing is I think we, we, we're talking about all the veterans.

But, but, but John, man, thank you for your service.

I've heard some of your different podcasts and trying to kind of get ready to, to see what your vibe was going to be and, and I'm excited to listen to the rest of them because I, I hear what you're saying and I just, I'm, I'm inspired by what you do and I think dealing with you, working with you makes somebody like myself and Dan want to keep doing what we're doing and want to do more.

And, and I can't wait to do our, we're gonna, and I know Dan and I are the same, so next one's gotta be bigger and better, so we gotta figure out how to make that happen. And that I really look forward to. And you guys are our cause and you're very inspiring to. I know us and that means a lot.

Well, thank you very much. You know, I've got behind me here, probably can see the box over there in the corner right where my finger's pointing. Right there. Yeah.

So, so there's one of 10 sitting right there now the other one of 10, we got 20 from you. Right? So the two number one of 10. I personally have one of 10 and that's my new cue.

And then I Got another one over here that I'm just like bogarting, right? I mean, I'm waiting for the right. I won't touch it. Like I got my cue.

But the right venue is going to come along and I'll put that in front of a lot of people. And that's what I've done. That's one of the things I can do to give back.

And everybody on this team, the foundations team, knows that we pride ourselves in giving back too. Like, we don't just take. Right. Of course we give a lot to our clients, our customers, the combat wounded.

But with partners like you, we try to do our best to be really good promoters for what you're doing as well and recognize you. And so we had put your Q last year in front of 450 people in an auction. Auction.

And we had a combat wounded purple art recipient who was a Ranger regimental guy stand up with his cue and tell everybody what it was. You know, we had a little script for him to read and he's actually an auctioneer as well.

And that went in front of about 450, you know, folks in Vermont. And so, you know, we tell that story as often as we can. And of course, all the heroes are coming, you know, to Camp Hackett.

And there's, you know, the old house and table and one last thing, and I think we'll, we'll wrap her up here. But I have a good friend who's also another good friend who's a very good pool player. And he's a twin.

So they're both the twins that, you know, Mike and Peter Faust are their names and they're, they're. We went to high school together and Madison College together and all this. And we're still very close.

They're both very good pool players as well, from Wisconsin. And Pete, who's now an attorney in Milwaukee, and I were chatting and he knows about the pool table.

I mean, I put it on Facebook and stuff like this too. So he knows about it.

He says, I got talking to him the other day, he goes, you know, I gotta tell you something about, you know, the old house and pulling on that thread. I go, yeah, what's up? He goes, no, he's a big shot attorney, right? He's this big firm.

And, you know, I think he's the managing partner or something like that, right? This big firm out of Milwaukee. So if you ever need anything, I'm sure Pete would be interested in helping you. But anyway, so we were chatting about.

He goes, you know, it was the first Thing I did when I, you know, got in charge and started this firm was like, you know, I put an old halls and table up on the, you know, up on the second floor there, you know, and that's like a common use area for the, for the, for the employees, you know, the lawyers and those people that work at his home firm, you know, get to you. We just. Now we got to get them some PTR cues. There you go. You know, as a matter of fact, I think that's where number one's going to come.

I'm going to send it to him.

Number one is yours.

I'm like, God bless you, man. I got to tell you, you guys are. You guys are titans. I appreciate what you've done for the foundation and, and the heroes we support.

Means a lot to me. This was a great podcast. You know what I think we'll do? I'm going to ask David to get some really cool pictures together of the table and the qu.

And then we're going to introduce that. We'll have a website or a space, a page or something dedicated to it.

And then so folks who are listening to this can go to that URL and click on it and see the tremendous product products that you all have done in support of our cause. Because I know there's been some really cool media out there.

We'll try to consolidate it and attach it to this as a challenge to my support team on the backside. Let's make that happen. So we have a memorialized this thing and put it in a nice package connected to this podcast. How's that sound?

It's great. We can both link it on our websites too.

Perfect.

Sounds great.

Perfect. I. I feel the power of your presence, man, and it's, it's. It's great.

There's a good feeling that I have and I'm really proud to be associated with you and I thank you for your time.

Yeah. Thank you for everything. We're honored.

Yes.

Thank you.

All right, until we meet, gentlemen.

Sounds great.

Forward to to it.

Okay, have a great day. Bye.

Thank you for listening to the WWIA podcast.

To learn more about the Wounded warriors in Action Foundation and how you can get involved, please visit our website@wwiaf.org or follow us on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you'd like to comment or offer feedback about our podcast, or if you have a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at Podcast.

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