From High School Angler to Entrepreneur: Zion Dunaway's Diverse Journey | Mosaic Minds Podcast

In this captivating episode, we sit down with Zion Dunaway, a forestry student at Purdue University and a rising star in the world of bass fishing.

Join us as we dive into Zion's remarkable journey, from his humble beginnings to becoming a formidable force on the collegiate bass circuit. Discover how he balances academic pursuits with entrepreneurship, running Southern Indiana Bait Company alongside his brother Xavier, all while making a splash in the competitive fishing scene.

Get ready for an engaging conversation filled with insights, anecdotes, and inspiration. From memorable tournament moments to the importance of giving back to the community, Zion shares his passion for fishing, forestry, and entrepreneurship in this must-watch episode.
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Transcript

Zion Dunaway: 0:00

And I really think that the reason that we did so well is because we had a viable product that we actually had in stores prior. And, um, so with that, that gave us 20, 000 in funding as kind of a, that was what we needed for our next step from. Cause at that point we were pretty much limited out on what we could do. We needed that extra source of cash to make that next step and build it bigger to where we can actually run some production.

Nick Williams: 0:28

Welcome to Mosaic Minds, the podcast where every episode is a conversation. Colorful blend of perspectives, ideas, and conversation. Each week, our diverse team of hosts brings their unique backgrounds, experiences, and interests to the table. Mosaic minds is your invitation to join the conversation, to see the world through a kaleidoscope of viewpoints. So grab a seat, tune in and let the mosaic. Welcome to Mosaic Minds Podcast. I'm here with my co host Jason in his furry getup. Today, trying to be Russian. Today we have a guest who's truly making waves both on and off the water. Joining us is Zion Dunaway, a forestry student at Purdue University who's not only a standout member of the Purdue University bass team, but also a budding entrepreneur with his own business. Southern Indiana bait company. Zion's journey is as diverse as it is inspiring from competing in prestigious fishing tournaments, like the MLF BFL circuit to qualifying for all American and the bass college series, national championship. His passions for angling knows no bounds, but Zion story doesn't stop there. Alongside his academic and fishing pursuits. He's also co founded Southern Indiana bait company with his brother, Xavier. All the while giving back to the community through the charitable donations to organizations like fishing for a mission with a unique blend of academic excellence, entrepreneurial spirit, and fishing prowess. Zion represents the epitome of dedication and ambition. Today, we're thrilled to dive into his experiences, insights, and adventures, both on

Jason Yocum: 2:21

and off the water. Special shout out to Xavier, his brother as well, man. You're always hustling and always doing great things. I know your brother's proud of you and I am as well. You know, it's rare to see somebody that's courageous as you and always working hard to get contacts, network, make some money the right way by working hard and entrepreneurship's a great thing. I'm proud of both of you

Nick Williams: 2:42

without further ado. Let's welcome Zion Dunaway to the Mosaic Minds podcast. Hey, how are you? I did a little bit. I mean, obviously, um, I sent you the message on, on Facebook. So you're like, man, this dude's a stalker. Cause I did a little research on, you know, like to try to find out what I could about you. And many, it wasn't hard to find some stuff. You got a lot of press out there and a lot of, uh, different things on, on social media platforms. So Can you, uh, can you just tell us a little bit about your journey into the world of bass fishing, first of all, since that's kind of, it seems like that's, that's how you got your, your start.

Zion Dunaway: 3:13

Yeah. Um, really, I, I guess it goes back to probably my freshman year of high school. Um, we had a teacher that started, um, a bass fishing team at our high school and he was also the middle school business tech teacher. And he kind of got me into it as far as going to tournaments and stuff in high school. That's really where I got started. Me and my buddy fished all the high school tournaments together. And, um, we ended up at the same time, my brother started painting like crankbaits and stuff like that as a hobby. And I was like, man, it'd be cool to, you know, start catching fish on stuff I made. So I kind of got in to soft plastics and spent like 200 and just got some of the basics. And kind of went from there. Um, we had COVID when COVID started, I posted some stuff I was making and had people actually want to buy it. And then, so I started just selling, you know, like 5 a pack on through Facebook and the buddies and stuff. And then, um, from there it got to where I couldn't keep up with it. So I told my brother, I was like, Hey, this is kind of a business idea. And we, uh, we went in 50, 50 on it from there. And our business tech teacher, he was a fishing coach. He actually entered us into a business competition without us really knowing it. He was like, yeah, come on over and we'll talk about this competition and stuff. So I went over after school one day and was talking to him and he, I was like, yeah, you know, I'll check it out. And he goes, no, you need to do this. You're entered already. Uh, we, I kind of signed you guys up. I was like, Oh, okay.

Nick Williams: 4:57

How old are you, man? If you don't ask, if you don't mind me asking, Yeah, I'm, I'm 20 now. And your, your, your brother, your older brother or your younger brother?

Zion Dunaway: 5:05

He's two years younger than me.

Nick Williams: 5:06

Okay.

Zion Dunaway: 5:08

Yep. So, uh, so yeah, we kind of entered that competition and we got in the first round and then, which for the first round we had to do a pitch deck and a business report, um, index summary and all that. And so we got into the regional and we won our regional and I was like, Oh, okay. We. Kind of have something I guess and From the regional we went on to the state which they chose top 10 teams out of over 800 entries for the state finals and We ended up winning the state finals through that and I really think that the reason that we did so well is because we had a viable product that we actually had in stores prior and So with that that gave us 20, 000 in funding As kind of a, that was what we needed for our next step from, because at that point we were pretty much limited out on what we could do. We needed that extra source of cash to make that next step and build it bigger to where we could actually run some production. So that allowed us to do that. And throughout that whole time I just kept fishing tournaments more and more. My junior and senior year of high school, me and my buddy, we would take the boat to school and he'd either park it in the school parking lot or at his cousin's house down the street. And we'd leave directly from school and go fish a tournament two or three times a week.

Nick Williams: 6:33

That's awesome. So that's kind

Zion Dunaway: 6:34

of how all that

Nick Williams: 6:34

got started. Do you find that, I mean, fishing in the tournaments and then having your business, is it a, uh, Do you think that the two of those together help each other out? I mean, you know, you're meeting connections and things like that. Is that, is that a way that you kind of got a lot of the clients that you have that released the start of them?

Zion Dunaway: 6:54

Yeah, that, um, so just kind of me fishing in high school, all the, all the other high schoolers and boat captains form kind of learned that I was making baits. And I think they, they started out just buying them because I know it's a kid making baits, you know, I'll support them. And it got to where they were like, Oh, this is actually some good stuff. And, um, it kind of went to where pretty much everyone that fishes the high school IBFs have, you know, had baits from us at some point. Um, everyone that I've fished with as a co angler in the BFLs and IBFs pretty much have placed an order. And those seem to be having that time on the water with someone for 10 hours a day. And just, you know, throughout the day, you kind of mention that you make baits and have your own business, kind of piques their interest. And usually leads to a pretty good conversation. And, you know, Most of those people end up being long time clients. So, yeah, that's awesome.

Jason Yocum: 7:45

I love it, man. That's the same thing I do. You know, you, we've known each other and I've always, uh, encouraged you guys and, uh, had some time to, uh, eat out with you guys a couple of times after the events and things. And I think, I think for me, fishing is a co angler. Anytime you can open up that interesting connection or conversation. And then in your case, they're actually catching stuff with it. Mine's a little more seasonal, but nonetheless, you, you guys have thrown my stuff, I've thrown yours, you know? So it's, it's one of those deals where as long as you're meeting people, you're having fun, you're, you're doing it. Uh, I'm going to switch gears with you a little bit, man. Uh, talk to me a little bit about the run for a Purdue student. Uh, they're in the NCAA tournament with the men's basketball team.

Zion Dunaway: 8:24

Yeah, it was, um, it was kind of a crazy couple of weeks on campus. Uh, It was, it was neat, you know, getting, getting to be actually a student on campus at the time, um, you know, like there are several classes, kids were asking, well, if we make final four, is class canceled on Monday or if we the finals, class canceled for the week and everything. And, um, campus was after we won the final four game, you go down on, by the Purdue union on Chauncey and everything, it was packed. I mean, Streets were full of people. It was, it was crazy. Did you do the, you do the breakfast

Nick Williams: 9:03

club and all that? No, no.. Jason Yocum: Okay. You got about another year for that, right? We don't wanna get in trouble yet. That's right. That's right.. We don't wanna get him in trouble. But yeah, that's, uh, that's, uh, I spent a lot of time down there, Ross Aid Stadium. Uh, this is gonna date myself a little bit, but I've played, uh, ball against, uh, cam Stevens. Uh, Allen Eldridge. That's three guys that went to Purdue that of course I was just on the court as then they were, they were much more physically imposing than I was. So transition and back to the bass scene there on a Purdue universities team. How does that look from a number standpoint? How do you guys determine who fishes and all that good stuff? Walk us through that outside looking in.

Zion Dunaway: 9:44

So the start, so that's, that's actually a pretty cool topic. The, the Purdue bass fishing team is actually the first college fishing team to ever be established. That was back in, I believe, 84. I think that was the date that that was started. And, um, we, we still do the minnow bucket every year, Purdue versus IU. And that was the first college sanctioned tournament to ever take place. So, um, that's, that's pretty cool to, to be a part of. Um, you know, we, so we do it as both a club and a team for the school. So. We're, we're not recognized through the school as an athletic team. We're just a club. So the way we kind of run it is if you want to sign up and fish, you know, whether it's just learn more about fishing, um, we, we do three to four tournaments each semester that we try to go to a local lake and get voters for. Um, and we're looking at right now this past year, we had, um, 80 to 90 members sign up and pay dues. So I think that's pretty special. We're probably one of the largest Fast fishing club slash teams in the country as far as numbers of attendees go and then we have right now between 10 and 16 of us that travel to national events regularly through um mlf Uh, the Association of College Anglers and the Fast, the Fast College Series events.

Nick Williams: 11:14

So being a club, you're saying that anybody can join. You don't, like, there's not necessarily, there's not tryouts or, or anything like that.

Zion Dunaway: 11:21

Right. Um, so the way that we pretty much, so we're completely self funded as a club. Um, everything that we do to raise money is through, um, any sort of apparel that we have, or doing benefit tournaments. We do two to three tournaments a year, and then we also get sponsorships for our jerseys, um, and then that's how we run that. Um, everything that we do for travel is all on our own. Um, and pretty much the way that we're set up is if you want to go and travel and fish, these national events, we, we allocate a budget each year to how many teams we can send. And right now it's been, if you want to do it and have a boat and a partner to go do it with, then you're able to, so,

Jason Yocum: 12:07

nice. I think I'm going to pay you a compliment here. So, uh, I think you throw networking haymakers. I consider myself a good networker. Uh, Nick's told me that, so I'm not putting accolades on myself, but I think what I see is Is when you're out fishing at these national tournaments high school and college you're talking baits now, correct me if i'm wrong But you're nine to five if you will Isn't that in correlation with the degree that you're pursuing at purdue?

Zion Dunaway: 12:32

Yeah, so I I work Up here. I work at school for a guy He's got several several farms and across different counties and his grandson owns ag co op and everything so I do a lot of ag stuff and forest work and manage his properties for him while I'm up here. And that's usually between 20 and 30 hours a week on top of school. And then also throughout, you know, winter break, spring break, all summer break, uh, many free weekends I have, I go back home and work doing private forestry consulting, um, on private landowners. And we also do a lot of work on state forests. Um, Places like Camp Atterbury or Crane Naval Base.

Jason Yocum: 13:15

Man, you talk about, uh, I'm in the education sector, you know, nine to five, but, um, Nick would agree with this. You talk about throwing some haymakers. I mean, not only do you have a great connection there, a great school that you're part of, you're working in the field, you're in the industry, you're putting in all your time. I mean, if I'm interviewing you as an exec for a company. It's a no brainer for me because you're, you're going to be well beyond your years by the time you graduate from college, I think they could comment on that as well. Yeah. I

Nick Williams: 13:42

think that you probably have a huge advantage too, because from, from what I've, from what I understand from Jason, I haven't ever fished in a, in a fishing tournament, but from what I understand from Jason, you know, a lot of, a lot of anglers aren't necessarily the most, um, um, Um, I guess loquacious, you know what I mean? Like they're not like super talkative. So like, since you, you clearly have the ability to, you know, strike up a conversation and you're, you know, you're a good conversationalist. So I'm sure that's gone a long way for you when it comes to your, your business and your networking and that sort of thing.

Zion Dunaway: 14:15

Yeah, for sure.

Jason Yocum: 14:17

How do you feel like, uh, your next, um, what, what grade are you in right now in Purdue?

Zion Dunaway: 14:23

Sophomore.

Jason Yocum: 14:24

So you're a sophomore. How do you see the next two years going? Is it a little more of the same? Is it repetition? What you're currently doing? What's maybe your goals academically? What's your goals as a bait company over the next two years?

Zion Dunaway: 14:34

Yeah. I mean, over the next two years, I guess, um, my brother graduates high school here in the end of May. And, um, he's not going to go to, uh, college or anything as of right now. He's gonna, um, stick working, doing odds and end jobs at home. And he's, I think we're going pretty well. Um, I think by the, this year, we're at the point where he can do the bait company pretty well, full time now.

Nick Williams: 14:57

Wow. So that'll,

Zion Dunaway: 14:59

that'll be a huge deal to have him. Cause I mean, right now it's, it's him and my mom making baits and, um, packaging and getting orders out throughout, you know, the entire week after, uh, he gets home from school and after he gets home from work and, um, and then I'm doing all the, the social media stuff and all the, uh, paperwork, the, you know, the I guess the behind the scenes work of it right now and getting orders ready and just saying, Hey, this is the order. Here's what it needs. Here's your shipping label. And then they're able to get stuff out of inventory and ship it that way. And then, so him, him being able to do it full time, I think it's going to be a huge step and make it to where, um, cause honestly, we've got a lot of ideas. We just don't have time to do them right now. A lot of baits that we want to get out and we want to work on getting some custom stuff done. But honestly, right now I'm afraid that if we grow too fast, it'll hurt us. So. I think that's

Jason Yocum: 15:58

good. It

Zion Dunaway: 15:58

goes in the next few weeks.

Jason Yocum: 16:00

I think that's smart. I think that's smart, man. Um, you know, I'm not going to throw percentages out at you, but I think smart growth is better than explosive growth. And, um, I've kind of went through some of the similar pains as you, but yeah, special shout out to your brother Xavier, man. You, you've known this for a long time. I mean, I've. We laugh about it together and we always talk very highly of your brother. So I just want him to know and understand that we're interviewing you today, but he's a big part of that man. Like I remember and we're going to laugh about it here, but he was trying to hustle some hooks for, you know, to, to resell. He's, Hey, is this a good trade? Hey, can we do this? I mean, the guy, the guy lives, breathes, sleeps in my opinion, entrepreneurship and just an overall good guy. Never been shy to talk to people. Uh, so I, I, you know, I just want to throw that out there as well. Um, any future goals or plans that you have as far as over the next two years, uh, maybe specifically in the circuits, like what, what's a couple of upcoming tournaments that you have maybe over the next two, three months for us?

Zion Dunaway: 17:01

Yeah, I've got, um, here at the end of may, end of June, I've got the ACA, which is an association of collegiate anglers. We've got the national championship for that down on Pickwick. So we'll be on Pickwick, uh, practicing for three and a half days and then two days of tournament. And then I drive home Friday and go to my brother's graduation Saturday morning. I then leave on Sunday and drive down to, um, Lake Cherokee in Tennessee to fish the All American that I qualified for. And then I drive back home from the All American Saturday morning, go up to Indy, meet my tournament partner, and we head back up to Saginaw Bay in Michigan for the final tournament of the Bass College Series. So, we've got that. I'm really looking forward to seeing how that goes. Pickwick, um, I like fishing down there. I've fished it twice. Probably two times, but I've been down there for a total of probably 10 or 12 days. I enjoy it. So I've got some stuff down there that I think we can run to and do decent on. We'll just have to see. And then, um, Cherokee, I have no idea. I've never been to a Highland Reservoir like that. That has super deep water with big small mouth and be able to go up the creeks and flip again. So I'm, I'm excited for that one. That one's pretty special just because, you know, I worked the past two years to move up and qualify for it and ended up making it the whole way. And it's, it's pretty awesome knowing that only 49 out of probably over 5, 000 anglers in the country qualify for that each year. And then at college two years up at Saginaw, it'll, I think that'll be fun because up there, I keep hearing that you'll catch 50 to 100 fish a day doing pretty much whatever you want. You just gotta find the big ones.

Nick Williams: 18:51

Does that, does the, uh, the entrepreneurial spirit that you have that you and your brother have, does that run in your family or is that something that's kind of started with you guys? Like, what is your, what do your folks do?

Zion Dunaway: 19:02

Um, so my dad, he's a, he's a carpenter and then my mom, she's a stay at home mom. Um, and I think the entrepreneurship side is kind of always been with me and my brother. Um, you know, since, since I got, before I even had my license, we started selling firewood, we'd cut firewood all winter and sell firewood. And we've always done just odds and end jobs and. Tried to do whatever we could to not, you know, have to clock in and work at a fast food place

Nick Williams: 19:33

or

Zion Dunaway: 19:33

whatever. So I think both of us have always kind of had the idea of, we want to be your own boss and kind of had to have the flexibility and freedom with it to some extent. So, yeah, I mean, it, it's something that. Like our business, whenever we started it, it was just a hobby and it quickly turned into something that we were like, wow, this could actually be something.

Nick Williams: 19:56

With your, um, with, you know, with college and I guess at the time, even high school, but with college and you know, all your, your fishing tournaments and everything that you got going on in your business, what would be some advice that you would give to say, my son, you know, my, I have a 17 year old and the 14 year old son that. in college yet, obviously. And, um, you know, like I'm always trying to find ways to, uh, give them a little bit more drive. Um, so, I mean, what, what would be some advice you give them to keep from having burnout? Because I know even myself, I mean, even, you know, I got several plates spinning too, and I know that I go through burnout from time to time. So like, you know, what, what would be your advice to someone that's younger, you know, to keep from having that?

Zion Dunaway: 20:39

Uh, I think the biggest thing is do something that you're passionate about that you enjoy doing, because The amount of time and energy that we put into this, you know, over the past, it's been, I guess, past five, four or five years now we've been doing it. Cause I mean, it takes, it really takes those, you know, getting home from school, doing homework for two hours. And then like there's several nights throughout the school year that we would be out in the shop pouring baits until midnight or two o'clock, go to bed and get up at 6. 00 AM and go to school. And I think you really have to find something that you enjoy doing. You're passionate about to be able to have the drive to actually pursue it and get somewhere with it, because without that, there's no way that we would be able to do what we've done and really just kind of always looking forward and not getting bogged down in like what's happening now or what's holding you back, look forward at kind of, okay, this is my goal and just figure out, you know, those smaller goals that you need to do to get there and just start checking them off. Okay.

Nick Williams: 21:42

What is the end goal? I mean, is the end goal to solely focus on the b I mean, I know a million things can change, especially at 19, but like, what, you know, what, what would you, if you could write the, the um, future right now, like, what would be the end goal?

Zion Dunaway: 21:56

I think the end goal would be for me and my brother both to be able to do the bait company. Um, I, I still want to do forestry work either part time or maybe even branch out and start my own forestry company that I can make my own schedule with and kind of do it not as a full scale business. But, you know, I have a passion for that as well. I really enjoy that work. So, um, for me personally, I, I'd like to be able to do both. And I know my brother kind of, at this point, is looking to just take the, the bait company full scale. Um, I'm, it's hard to, to be able to grow and not have to hire people. But because I think at some point we may get to there where we need to actually hire, but for me, it's so hard because so much goes into our product as far as quality control and everything that we've done to get to where we are as far as having a good product. And I would hate to bring an outside help and, you know, have product go out that isn't up to our standards. And it's so hard to find someone. That would, you know, has a passion and is invested as much in your own business. That would, that would have that same sort of standard.

Nick Williams: 23:11

Jason knows about that. Don't you?

Jason Yocum: 23:12

I know you're paying there, man, you know, as well as I do. You're a, uh, you're a niche that you're serving. So it's not okay to give me green pumpkin, black flack if it's not green pumpkin, black flack, right. Or, Hey, it should be a little darker. Hey, this guy wanted this spec. Yeah. What do you complain? No, but no, that's not acceptable. You want to, you want to give a hundred percent to every person you have, you know, we're not going to have little bubbles on our paint schemes or scratches on our lures hate to say it, but you just kind of throw that in the trash or fish it yourself. And honestly, that cuts in your profit margins at the end of the year. But I think, think taking pride in your craft is what I've always respected you guys for. And, uh, if you do have some clearance stuff or one offs or, or stuff that maybe he's not selling in the region or as you know, uh, speak a little bit on if a guy wants a specialty order that maybe you don't do that color. Um, do you guys require like, let's say any minimums or do you, do you make extra to maybe sell later? Like speak a little bit on that. I'm just curious to see, I've never got a chance to ask you that at the fishing shows.

Zion Dunaway: 24:16

Yeah. So, um, on, on custom orders and stuff, depending, it all depends on the color. Cause if it's something that is, you know, they want a laminate of something that we already make in a single color, then usually it's a five to 10 pack minimum on that stuff. Um, if it's something that is completely off the wall and I'm like, man, if I have extras and stuff, I'm not going to really be able to move it because it's so specific. Then I'll do depending on because it all depends on the style of bait of how much volume of plastic It takes to run a batch, but typically it's around a hundred to two hundred baits and I try to just price it where they don't get a discount for ordering that many because it's a custom and just I try to do it. I've got so we've got formula sheets that we have X amount of you know Say we're running 12 cups of plastic that makes this many of this bait this many of this bait and so on And so we've got everything set up to where we can pretty well look at it and say Okay, if we to make this, you know with this amount of plastic that way we don't have a lot of overrun So yeah, we just require a minimum on it It's at a point that is going to make it worth our time, but it, it varies, like I said, on the color and what they're wanting and the, the styles. So

Jason Yocum: 25:38

any rivals that we wouldn't realize maybe IU and Purdue are rivals in the fishing industry, but like, is there any other teams that you kind of like to rival or beat or. Talk a little trash to behind the scenes.

Zion Dunaway: 25:50

Well, so from us being just as a club, our, our goal, cause we don't have the, we don't have the money to send, you know, 10 to 15 teams to 20 events a year. So our goal as a team has been to try to break the top 25 in school, the air points, which is, it is hard to do when you've got all these schools down South that. Are given scholarships, you know, almost full ride scholarships to fish. They cover your, you know, your boat gas, your truck gas. They've got, you know, like for instance, Auburn, Auburn's got a old U Haul truck. Full of tackle that they take to every event. And if you need something, you lose a lure, all you gotta do is go out to the truck, grab it off the shelf and you got more. And, um, so that's like whenever me and my partner, when, when we finished down in Lake Murray and we had, we were in third after day one and ended up finishing 12. And this was out of, uh, I think 247 boats fished that one. And, uh, going up to stage Auburn was up there in the hot seat on stage. And we were like, man, all we want to do is just knock them off the hot seat because they're always at the top. You know, one of their teams is always up there. You've got those big schools like Auburn, Bethel, McKendree, Montevallo, um, Adrian, you know, they constantly are sending 10 to 20 boats and. It's good to go up there and be like, yeah, we, we beat those guys again. So we had something that it's not necessarily a rivalry, I guess, but it's more of a sense of pride on our own end that we can, we can do it.

Nick Williams: 27:31

Exactly. Yeah. We actually had, um, I'm assuming you probably have fished with, um, Mike Delisco. Yeah, we had him on here. You haven't, okay. I said, well, he was on here. His, actually, his episode will be airing, uh, this Tuesday, but I thought maybe, uh, you two had crossed paths at some point. He's the, the, um, sponsor of Texas Roadhouse or Texas Roadhouse sponsor

Jason Yocum: 27:53

him. You might have come across him, uh, over the years at the Indy Boat Sport and Travel Show. He's normally there. He's at the East Tennessee show. You probably know of him, maybe not competed against him, if that makes sense. So talk to us, um, kind of the last little segment here, talk to us for just a few minutes about, uh, separate from forestry, separate from bass fishing, what do you typically do to kind of segment your time? I know that takes up a lot of your time, but what do you do free time is probably a relative term to you, but what do you do away from those two things?

Zion Dunaway: 28:27

The biggest thing, you know, free time, I guess whenever I can, I, I, I'm a big hunter, I like to go, you know, I turkey hunt, deer hunt, squirrel, waterfowl, rabbit, um, pretty much anything you can think of. I enjoy doing it. Even, even like yesterday at work, I was waiting on my buddy to bring back some, some more herbicide and I had 15 minutes. So I started mushroom hunting. I found a few mushrooms yesterday.

Jason Yocum: 28:53

There you go.

Zion Dunaway: 28:53

So. Stuff like that. Um, and I enjoy going to concerts and everything with my friends and my girlfriend. That's, that's kind of what I, whenever I, because you know how it is, Jason, with work and business and everything. You kind of, kind of plan out your free weekend way ahead to do stuff. Yeah, it's

Jason Yocum: 29:11

like a surprise. You're in a different world. So, um, let me ask you this question here, man. I'm going to talk a little music for Nick's sake, but, uh, When I'm driving on these random highways, man, and some of the back roads that I can't even describe to you. Sometimes my Sometimes my Google map glitches out to where it's trying to save me 26 cents worth of gas and I'll drive on these roads that look Like they're leading to nowhere and somebody's gonna kidnap me I'll just leave it at that for another episode but the two songs that I always think about that describe me on those days would would be country boys can survive by Hank And then I'm going to go with Leonard Skinner, simple man. Those are my two songs that describe my anthem of when I'm driving, when I'm, you know, waking up at two 30 in the morning, driving three hours, fishing, 10 hours, driving home and hoping to stay on. You know, between the lines and stuff, but what's maybe a couple of songs that you kind of gravitate towards doesn't necessarily have to be fishing tournaments, but what's kind of a couple of songs that you like?

Zion Dunaway: 30:09

Um, man, that's a tough one. See, probably a fly over States by Jason Aldean is one up there. Um, I don't know. I think that's probably the one like driving on these country roads, these gravel roads and stuff up going to work and everything. That's probably the one that. Most resonates.

Jason Yocum: 30:34

No, I'm trying to rival your hairstyle. I don't know if you can see me, but you'll get a good laugh out of this. I don't know who has a better hairstyle. Mine, mine's a hat. It's got some fur on it and then you've, you've got a hairstyle. So we'll have to let the crowd decide who, who maybe has the hairstyle of the day as well. Right.

Nick Williams: 30:51

Okay. So I, I know that you didn't ask me about mine, but like, you know, I think that my, uh, my artists would be, my songs would be anything from Taylor Swift and I'm just, I'm just kidding. I just had to, had to throw it. What's your

Jason Yocum: 31:02

musical influence? Let's throw it out there. Oh man.

Nick Williams: 31:05

That's super hard. But mine's, so I'm a nineties grunge kid. So like, uh, mine would, would be like. You know, Chris Cornell, Allison chains, Pearl jam, you know, anything from, from like that area. But, um, yeah, I do like some country, but most of it's probably like older, you know, like more like folksy folks, country kind of thing. Like Johnny Cash stuff.

Zion Dunaway: 31:26

Yeah. I'm, I'm kind of all over the board. I, I listen to country. My dad always, you know, listened to, like you said, kind of that 90s grunge stuff. And, um, I was always with my grandparents, you know, because they've got property just 10 minutes down the road and we'd be down there all the time. And that was always a classic rock. So I grew up around it all and I kind of listened to a little bit of everything.

Jason Yocum: 31:47

Where can we find you on social media so people can kind of track you down, order your baits, network with you, stay in touch with you?

Nick Williams: 31:54

Yeah, we'll definitely get that up there on the, on the screen. If you'd let me know.

Zion Dunaway: 31:57

Yeah, so we've got an Instagram page, it's just SouthernIndianaBaitCo, um, same goes for our Facebook, and that's pretty well where all of our social media platform is based. Um, you see, you know, pictures that we post of fish, of, that customers send in, you see where we're running, you know, a deal on a color or something. Um, everything that goes on is on those platforms for the most part. And then we've got our website. It's www. southernindianabaitco. com and that's where you can find everything from, you know, t shirts, sweatshirts, koozies, all the boats or all the baits that you can think of, um, everything's on there, so.

Nick Williams: 32:42

Yeah, I'm just super impressed with, uh, with your drive and especially, especially your age. I wish, cause I, you know, I'm, I'm kind of, uh, where you're at now. Of course, it took me a good 20 years to grow up and figure out that, you know, like I didn't want to work for someone. So even though I work for someone now, I've always got some kind of side, something going on, trying to, you know, something's going to stick eventually one day. So, so that's, that's awesome that you're doing that, man. That's

Jason Yocum: 33:07

really inspiring. I think I'll second that I've told you before, but just the audience here is, man, I've known you guys for probably four or five years now, and you guys carry yourself as being older and more driven and more focused, more mature than most people, super proud of you, man. Be the first to help you out. If you ever needed it, keep doing what you do and a virtual handshake. And, uh, it was easy to talk to you during this segment and, and keep being a winner, man, keep being a winner and, uh, keep killing it, man. I think you've got a lifestyle. A lot of people would envy, you know, being able to fish, being at a good school. You know, tying together your experience in the life and work and, uh, super proud of you and, uh, your efforts with the bait company in life in general.

Nick Williams: 33:46

Yeah. If you ever got some, you ever got some time and you're an indie and you want to, you want to sit in on co host with us for an episode, man, just let us know.

Zion Dunaway: 33:54

Okay. All right. I'll have to.

Nick Williams: 33:56

All right, cool. I'll just

Zion Dunaway: 33:56

look at my limited weekends and maybe find one.

Nick Williams: 33:59

Yeah, right? I know, that's what I'm saying. When Jason asked you about free time, I'm like, how in the world does he have free time because I don't even have free time. Exactly. Yeah,

Zion Dunaway: 34:08

I mean, you'll laugh about it, but most of the time I'm sitting in lectures for class, I'm sitting there filling out shipping labels for orders and returning emails and stuff too, so.

Nick Williams: 34:16

That's great, man.

Zion Dunaway: 34:17

Yeah, it's, it's fun though. I, I enjoy it.

Nick Williams: 34:20

Oh, I'm sure you'll be, you and your brother are going to be super successful, I have no doubt. All right.

Zion Dunaway: 34:25

Thank you.

Jason Yocum: 34:26

All right, man. Take care. We're going to let you get back after.

Zion Dunaway: 34:29

All right. Thank you. All right. Thanks for coming on. Take

Jason Yocum: 34:31

care. Thanks a lot. Bye.

Zion Dunaway: 34:34

Bye.

Jason Yocum: 34:40

I think that was another good one, too.

Nick Williams: 34:41

Another good one. Yep.

Jason Yocum: 34:43

He'll.

Nick Williams: 34:44

He's.