James Merrill - Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Opolis Optics

 When I went to Bangladesh and I went to Pakistan and I went to all these other crazy places,
 it was really wonderful to start to identify with helping people and what that helped
 provided me internally and for my mental health. You can wear really great pair of sunglasses,
 super stylish, but made with really great material. That's good for the planet and for the people
 that are most impacted by the mess that we've left for them. We're fashion meets the focus of
 the mission. I love it.
 On the audio, but James, they need to be watching the video so they can see the real James Dean,
 also known as Ryan Offord. We're in my opolis optics. I've got the founder and chief executive officer
 today. James Merrill, welcome to the show. What's up brother? Hey Ryan, great to be here. Thanks
 so much, man. Hey, we met on the Graham. That's where everybody meets these days. The Graham.
 And James is like, I got some sunglasses. I think you might like them. So he sent me a pair and I'm
 like, damn, these things are cool. And not only that, we're talking about sustainability. We
 all need to do our part for the environment. And I really like what James and opolis is doing.
 So I wanted to have you on the show, man, and talk about how cool these shades are.
 Well, I'm super stoked for me here, man. And I have to give credit where credits do. My
 social media manager, Brynn, she found you and she's like, you need to get on this guy's show.
 No pun intended. You know, rat, the rat, the rat dude. So I'm grateful for being here.
 Thanks Ryan, appreciate it. No, I'm trying. Hey, we try to live up to it. If it's radical,
 we cover it. And what you're doing is radical, man. You change the game. Your hustle and out there
 trying to get the company really moving. I know it's going to. And you guys got a lot of
 innovation and a lot of things going for you. Let's just start James with, you know, your
 background and we'll build to opolis and everything going on with it. But let's just start there, man.
 Yeah. So my background goes into the opolis story. So it's a great place to start.
 I started, I guess my professional career as a USAID contractor. So I worked for the State
 Department for about 10 years overseas. I was a field specialist, which meant I would go into
 undesirable places and implement projects on behalf of the US government. It really ranged
 from diversity in the countries I was supporting and the projects I was actually implementing.
 So started my first project was in Bangladesh, working on agriculture value change,
 helping farmers getting tomatoes and mangoes from their local farm farms to the market.
 And I was there for about a year and a half. Then I kind of moved towards Pakistan,
 Afghanistan, which is a relevant topic right now. Iraq, all over the stands,
 Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, found my way into Papua, New Guinea, New Guinea, Indonesia, I mean,
 all over the place. And then my last stint was in Northern Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia.
 Damn, you're a world traveler. Yeah, man. It was in adrenaline rush. It was amazing,
 because I got to fulfill this desire that I have just to help people in really
 gnarly situations and to give whatever I could to show that I was trying to support them in any
 way I could. And then obviously the patriot in me trying to support what we're trying to do overseas
 for our national security here in the United States, which people don't really understand.
 They both correlate. They're working together to support us and our democracy.
 Not to get too political, but that's kind of what was going on for the last 10 years of my life,
 which inspired a hopeless optics to where we are now, to hear it today.
 I love it, man. You know, where does that, you know, you see me as such a good nature dude,
 and that desire to serve, like you said, and be out there and travel the world.
 What's that foundation for? I don't know, man. I was a big competitor in all my life.
 I was trying to make it into the pro-socker circuit for a long time, ended up getting hurt,
 so my career ended. And my identity was so affiliated with soccer and competitive sports that,
 you know, after that ended, I had almost like an identity crisis. And that happened around
 when, you know, the 2009-2010 economic crash in the United States. So it was really hard
 to find a job then. And so, you know, trying to figure out what I was going to do and who I was
 going to be, I moved to Washington, DC, trying to see if there was opportunity for me. And then
 that's kind of how I found international development, and that's essentially how I became a contractor
 for the government. And so when I went to Bangladesh and I went to Pakistan and I went to all these
 other crazy places, it was really wonderful to start to identify with helping people. And what
 that helped provided me internally and for my mental health. And so that natural high that I
 usually got from being on the field or competing, I was starting to get that natural heart
 high, being in environments like that that, you know, was pushing the adrenaline. But helping people
 was a really a call of action and a call of, you know, well-being for me, which was amazing.
 That's great. I mean, at its core, it's funny how well we serve ourselves when we serve others.
 A firm principle of my own, you know. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
 Talk to me about, you know, as we build to more of the specifics around Opelus, like,
 what's that entrepreneurial journey been like, man? I mean, I know you did a few stints, you know,
 after the government contract worked, things like that. But talk to me about that entrepreneurial
 journey for you. Yeah, it's interesting. And especially doing this during the COVID, you know,
 the pandemic, I guess it's almost coming up two years now. It's been told people I've,
 you know, what I was doing overseas was, was very at times stressful and nerve-racking.
 But I think this has been probably the scariest, most exciting thing I've ever done.
 I decided to create Opelus right before COVID broke out. And a lot of my supply chain requires
 a lot of interaction. And I thought I was going to be able to
 handle that interaction physically. I was, I was, I was trying to go to back to Kenya. I was
 trying to go back to the Philippines. I was trying to go back to Indo. But because of COVID,
 it really like made things very complicated for me because my focus is so purely on the supply
 chain and helping the communities that are dealing with plastic on a day-to-day basis.
 It really tested resolve. It tested my resources financially and capacity.
 It's been a really interesting time. And you know what? It's, it's been, you know, like we've
 talked about a test of resolve, but I've learned a lot from it. And I feel like we, I can only,
 it can only get better from here. As the world starts opening up again, as, you know,
 the markets are doing a little bit better, I think that things can only get better. So to establish
 a company right before COVID, yeah, I was pretty bad. It was, it was hard. But I feel like the
 lessons learned. And where we could go now that we've been through this is just, is, is limitless.
 I'm, I'm hoping, you know, fingers crossed. What was the inspiration? I mean, obviously sunglasses,
 but, you know, foropeless and, you know, as I look at the shades, they come in a wonderful package,
 by the way, everyone we've got it. I don't know if it's faux leather, it feels like real leather. It's,
 whatever it is, it feels really nice because seeing is believing like what was the brand inspiration
 and why sunglasses? Yeah, that's, you know, I've always loved sunglasses. I've always thought that
 sunglasses were a great complement to someone's face. You know, that's, you know, what they bring out
 into the world all the time. So they identify with what sunglasses could make them look like or what
 to make them feel. But to be honest, when I was overseas and dealing with a lot of what I was
 dealing with and what I didn't touch upon is my career actually morphed into projects that
 essentially were helping counter violence extremism. So what that meant was we were identifying
 communities most at risk for radicalization. So me and my team would go into these places. We'd
 look at community members, communities as a whole and figure out ways to create programs that
 promoted, promoted counter violence. So to keep people from recruiting for Boko Haram,
 Alshaba, ISIS, you know, really, really, really intense stuff, right? And the communities that I
 was working with intimately were marginalized groups that were either living in landfill
 communities or cities or communities that were living just in trash and coastal highways.
 And so they were the low-hanging fruit for radicalization. You know, they didn't have the resources.
 They didn't have the confidence to basically choose peace over violence. And so I told myself,
 if I ever got out of this situation, I would try not only to help them clean up the environment,
 help with their water and sanitation. They're financial, but the, you know, the confidence that
 they could bring to their communities and families. And so that's why I really started to focus
 in on what was going in and out of the landfill, right? And then I started narrowing in on the
 plastic bottle. And I was like, okay, there is just so much of this plastic, you know, and it's
 produced from the west. These people are dealing with it on a day-to-day basis. Is there a way for
 us to create this trash into a commodity for these people, right? And so two years now into it,
 you know, you look at to see what people are doing with the plastic bottles. And it's amazing,
 because there's brands out there creating plastic or creating product out of our pet, which is
 recycled PET fabric. So they're making like hats, they're making t-shirts, they're making backpacks,
 all at a recycled water bottles. Now that's great. But the thing what I'm trying to do is I'm trying
 to recreate or use that bottle that we're finding those landfills or communities and create a durable
 good, which is very hard to do, which I've found has taken me two years. It's taking that plastic
 bottle, heating it, beating it up, and then repurpose it into another durable good, you know. And so
 that's what I've been trying to do and prove with the sunglasses. The sunglasses itself is just a
 concept. It's a way to show people the market and the industry that there's great ways to make
 durable plastic goods. There's other materials that we should be using that can be reused, recycled,
 and redistributed. And so that's why we've kind of focused on that. So we work with foundations in
 Indonesia, the Philippines and Kenya, and we work with those communities, we pay those communities,
 we educate those communities on what this means for them. That makes a lot of, I mean, I'm glad you
 clarified that because I didn't even realize the depth of where you'd kind of come up with all of
 that. That's awesome. Sure. So like the ones on our bio base, so like the fine for me, you know,
 the difference between, and I know you got a new product coming out, which we'll talk about, but
 like these, these sunglasses that are in my hands, how are they made? What are we talking about?
 What's the materials? So yeah, this is, this is biolacitate. It's essentially it's a material
 that we get and purchase at a premium price out of Italy. And it's cool because most biolacitate
 or acetate itself is created out of oil. And these are being plant-based, so cotton seeds hemp,
 and recycled wood chips, is created out of a powder. So instead of oils and all the CO2 that's
 that's that needs needed to create those type of sunglasses, we're using powder-based materials
 so that it actually makes it decomposable. So if we lose our sunglasses in the environment,
 or especially if they go to the landfill, they'll decompose in 115 days. If they're,
 if they're found in the environment, it's probably over 200, but the thing is the end of life is
 it goes back into the environment and back into a process that actually created the product itself.
 And what's cool about us too, Ryan, is that those in particular is that the hinges in the metal core
 that you see in the frames, that's recycled metal that our program in Kenya provides. So we have
 guys that go and women that go through the landfill's pick scrap metal and we repurpose it
 for the frames themselves. So we're trying to create an entirely upcycled product that's
 benefiting communities that are most impacted by this stuff that's around them all the time.
 That's awesome, man. Talking with James Merrill Founder and CEO of Opolis Optics. James,
 so talk to me about the branding and style and all that stuff. I mean, Zeta, what's the name,
 the name Opolis? Does that have any specific meeting, anything behind the brand you can talk about?
 Yeah, absolutely. So Opolis, it means citizen or community. It's Greek-based. It's the
 Greek term, but I really wanted to come up with a name that represented empowerment,
 and then it benefited, it had a universal benefit or meaning to it. But the style itself is
 vintage-based. I didn't want to recreate the wheel because the wheel has been already created
 a million times. I like this type of design. I wanted to show people that you can make a premium
 product and use really great materials. And that the materials themselves are represented
 of the person that's wearing them. I want you to feel empowered by wearing those
 rind because you know the story behind it. Because what's going on in the world of sustainability is
 so negative and so sad sometimes, but with little steps and little efforts by the community itself,
 there can be change. So I want people to have an affiliation with Opolis as an opportunity
 to feel empowered that they're doing good things, even if they're not in the landfills,
 even if they're not on the coast cleaning up. They're cleaning up and participating and helping
 these communities by wearing those sunglasses. But the style itself is kind of just, you know,
 stuff that's been inspired by some of my heroes on the screen and off the screen.
 And I also wanted again to show people that you can wear a sustainable product and it doesn't
 have to look bad. There's a lot of competitors out there creating sunglasses at a wood,
 cork, rubber tires and all that stuff, which is great. But for me as a consumer,
 I wouldn't wear them on a day-to-day basis. I would purchase them more or less to be a donation,
 right? Because I'm with my series with my collections, I'm trying to prove a point to the industry.
 You can wear really great pair of sunglasses, super stylish, but made with really great material.
 That's good for the planet and for the people that are most impacted by the mess that we've left
 for them. Where fashion meets the focus of the mission. I love it. Exactly. Exactly.
 100%. 100%. That's a freebie. If I think about it... That's a freebie?
 Right here. Yeah, right here.
 How has the marketing and just, you know, the business? I know you've been transparent
 doing it through COVID and all those things. You know, I know there's been so many changes to the
 algorithms and everything else. I mean, has it just been a process like everything else?
 You know, this game pretty well, better than I do. It's all about AB testing, right?
 But to be honest, I feel like I've been AB testing the entire time that I've
 started a business company, right? And AB testing means like you've spent some serious cash.
 You know, and no matter like what store you have or the product, the quality product that you're
 dealing with, this is stuff that you still need to deal and work through until you figure out a niche
 or are a way of doing things that actually converts or optimizes, right? Yeah.
 So as you know, the ad spent with the algorithms is kind of a funky thing right now.
 And so we've actually, we've had better conversions with affiliated marketing, PR,
 and wholesale. And wholesale is actually something I didn't think I would even touch until like
 two to three years into this. I thought we were going to be strictly a DTC e-commerce brand.
 But given that we're so new and so young, we can't afford the money that needs to be spent to
 have the conversions that is needed to purchase a pair of $175 pair of sunglasses.
 Right? We need to be spending thousands and thousands of dollars each month to get those
 conversions. And right now, I just don't have that. I'm spending a lot of my money in my supply chain,
 my R&D, and my production. Not to mention that, you know, TikTok is now becoming its own animal
 and learning that whole process, learning more about reels and, you know, learning how to convert
 those, you know, and learning that, you know, coming off a sponsor or paid ads doesn't convert
 well in the certain social media platforms. So for me, as like, you know, I'm 36 now, and like,
 trying to learn from the younger generation on how to do that has really tested my patience,
 because, you know, I never really even like, perfected Instagram and Snapchat. And then I have
 to learn all these other elements. So it's like, you know, it's a complex ecosystem out there.
 But it is a complex ecosystem and everybody is using it. So it's super competitive. And it's
 trying to figure out, you know, that narrow path through all this noise or, you know, competitive arena
 and trying to figure out what fits for you. And like, who, who in that arena is actually like,
 is, is, is receptive to what you're, you're pushing out there, right?
 We just need Chloe Kardashian. I know Chloe, you're probably listening, you know, we need you to
 pick up a pair of office. And suddenly, this all takes care of itself, James. I know it is. It
 really is, you know, you know, Chloe, if you're out there and him, I'll hook you up with some
 office optics. I mean, LA, you might, that might be the path. You know, if you get your story
 out there enough and get us, you know, a good celebrity influence or someone, I don't always,
 I'm not like the, check the box of influencer marketing on every product. But yeah, I think
 something with as good a story as you have, you know, if we, we'll have to see, I'll keep
 your mind is. Well, I mean, that's why that's why I wanted to get on your show, Ryan. You have,
 you have a, a fence, a fence, a city about you and you have a great following. And so I think
 my, my story, my product, you know, compliments what you're trying to do as, as a, as an entrepreneur,
 as a professional and as a brand itself. So, you know, I was thinking that we can only help
 each other, you know, to promote, promote each other's story, you know, so I love that. I love
 it. Let's talk, let's transition. I know you've got some new stuff coming out. We were talking
 about the plastic. We gave it away a little bit maybe, but what, let's talk about product
 development and things like that. Yeah, so we're really excited. I've been waiting two years to
 launch this. So we're, we're launching what we trademarked as our stoked plastic collection.
 And so when we, we were talking about the supply chain of waste advocates going through their
 landfills and, and beaches to collect plastic bottles for us, this is the collection that I'm
 talking about. So that one bottle that we're there collecting off the beach or landfill turns into
 a pair of premium sunglasses, which is our stoked plastic collection. One bottle is one pair.
 Yeah, essentially, it might be almost two, but we're kind of like, you know,
 simple and simplifying if I'm basically saying one bottle equals one premium pair of eye,
 eye wear, which would retail around 75 to 80 bucks. So it's fairly competitive with what are
 other other sunglasses companies are doing with the recycled fishing nets, HDPE, which is shampoo
 or detergent bottles, mixtures and stuff like that. But for us, we're going to be the first one on
 the market to be a hundred percent RPET or recycled PET, which is a water bottle you find in the
 landfill or the ocean. And the production process, and it's interesting because Ryan, this is like
 these platforms I like to use to educate some of the consumers in the market itself is that there's
 a difference between PET, Virgin PET and RPET or RPET. So PET itself is water bottles or soda bottles
 go from the consumer's mouth into the blue bin and then to the redemption center and then
 repurposed. So these bottles aren't actually found in nature. So they're not cleaning up anything,
 right? So our pet, our recycled PET is outbound plastic. So outbound plastic is the water bottles
 that we find when we're kayaking canoeing or, you know, or in the landfill. They're actually in
 nature. So my focus was to clean up to actually do something about what plastic pollution is doing
 and the fact that water bottles is the one as a number one, you know, pollutant in our environment
 right now, I really wanted to focus in on that. The issue with that, it's really complicated because
 the properties in RPET have already been broke down with the recycling process anyway. And then
 to add to that, you put them in nature, the UV, the soil conditions, everything is just beating
 it up even more. So it makes it harder and harder to regenerate into a new product. So that's why
 we've trademarked and we've got IP to actually reinforce those plastic properties that have been
 just beat up. And that's essentially why we're going to be the first ones on the market to create
 a concept or our product like this. So that's why we're really excited about it. And again,
 it's called stoked plastic. It comes out in the end of September, early October. And literally,
 we're going to be the first ones out there. And as we talked a little bit, Ryan, that we're hoping
 that stoked plastic, you know, becomes more than just sunglasses and sunglasses more or less become
 a concept or a proven concept that you can make premium plastic goods, durable goods,
 out of plastic bottles you find in the river's oceans, lakes, landfills.
 That's huge. I mean, it makes me think it's the ingredient brand, you know, stoked plastic
 becomes, you know, now you've got ultimate burger, you know, like the ultimate meat or whatever.
 And that's the ingredient for like other things, but stoked plastic could become the ingredient for,
 I mean, hundreds of about thousands of other products that could be made utilizing that process,
 right? Yeah, not to mention like, you know, the amount of volume you could create at a
 using different applications, right? Because for our first batch, and we do micro batches,
 so it's a limit our CO2 footprint production. We've only, I'm quoting, air quoting right now,
 picked up over 300,000 water bottles from the Balinese coast right now. And that's just with
 the small initial production. So imagine, you know, a couple thousands and millions of different
 product we could make out of this stuff, what that would do for these communities and landfills,
 right? You know, it's not only like getting the crap off of their doorstep, but it's actually
 contributing to their livelihood. It's bringing economic change into their lives, which is
 incredible. So that's kind of what the focus has been on for about two years, and that's essentially
 why, you know, I'm a very poor entrepreneur at this point because everything that I made from
 the government went into these communities in this R&D. So that's essentially where we've been
 and hopefully where we're going. Is it all the plastic coming from overseas to date? I mean,
 is it all, is that all part of the supply chain is overseas? Yeah. So the supply chain that I'm
 working with and obviously we could get a lot of plastic from Hawaii and the coast here in the
 United States. And that's down the road and that's hopefully where we go with it. But the
 supply chain I'm focusing on now is the communities that I worked with directly when I was working
 for the US government. So I know these people so well. I know these communities. I know where the
 I know where the money is going and how it's impacting these folks. So obviously the made in
 America cleaning up America, that is that is on the list of things to do. But as you know, it's very
 complicated, you know, to do something like that. I mean, I'm in California right now. California
 spends I think a little over 428 million a year just for beach cleanup, you know, just for our
 coast here. You imagine what 428 million dollars could do for the ball and ease or at the
 Filipinos or you know, in the Kenyans and the landfills. That's incredible. And we still can't
 keep up with the trash getting onto our coastlines, you know. I surf every day at Venice breakwater.
 And I'm, you know, I feel like sometimes I'm back in Bali, surfing amongst all this plastic.
 And it's mind blowing to me that this is not a developing world problem. This is everybody
 problem, you know. And until we can start figuring that out for ourselves about, okay, you know,
 obviously it's cheaper to do things overseas. But there's got to be a better way to streamline
 things so that we can start really engaging, you know, the American public and the American,
 you know, you know, labor essentially in job market. Yeah, that's huge. Talking with James
 Merrill founder and CEO of Opelus Optics. So James, what's, I know you talked about the real life
 struggle of entrepreneurship. But like if you, for those that are listening out there that are
 starting companies or doing things, I mean, uh, yeah, have you started your book of wisdom?
 Yeah, the, the things of not to do. Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes it is that though. Sometimes wisdom is
 learning what not to do. Yeah. So it's funny, Ryan. It's been like, okay, one of the biggest
 battles that I have with myself every night when I'm trying to sleep is, you know, whether or not I
 should have raised more money, you know, diving into this. And, and as I go, should I bring,
 be bringing in investors or should I be focusing on just selling the product? And to be honest,
 I don't really know how to answer that question yet. But I know for a fact that if you have an idea
 and you have a passion for that idea, you need to jump into it. Because for me, it's, I learned by
 trial by fire. And I probably would never have done this if I knew about all the, the trial and error
 that I'm now dealing with right now. And as an entrepreneur yourself, I think you can appreciate
 that, right? It's, it's really hard to, to leave a sense of security that we have with a nine to five.
 Or for me, working with the government, there was a huge sense of security and, and, and, and passion
 there. But I knew that I wanted to do something on my own terms in my own way. And I thought I had a
 really great idea to do that. But, you know, in hindsight, I wish I had probably a hundred to
 two hundred thousand dollars more, you know, to start the company. I wish I had done a little bit
 more research on the R&D and how long this would have taken. To be honest, I thought the technology
 had already been there. So I thought, like, might as well just jump right in there. And, and as I
 went and worked with all these manufacturers from Vietnam and even to the United States,
 this RPET technology is very nuanced. It's still very new. And, you know, little OME trying to figure
 this out with basically, you know, my savings and a little investment that I've gotten from friends
 and family. It's, it's been really difficult. You know, and then being, being in LA during COVID
 and trying to start a company, it really is about focusing on your story, Ryan. And that's why I'm
 here right now is talking to as many people as you can and is learning as much as you can from
 other people in different industries as well, taking best practices, taking advice on how to do
 things. But, obviously, I, what keeps me up at night is, is the financial, you know, insecurity
 that you have sometimes. You're like, I have all this production. I have made all these promises
 to these community members. Can I make this work? And really, it depends month to month, you know,
 sale by sale. Like, am I selling on e-commerce? Am I selling enough? Or am I having to go to retail?
 Am I going to have to go to the trade shows or, or what not? It's a very difficult task to
 prioritize when you really know what those priorities are until they really manifest themselves, you know?
 Yeah. A lot of truth there, my friend. A lot of truth there. And I, having done, you know,
 gone down a couple of different ventures and entrepreneurship. It's always, uh, trial about fire,
 you know? Yeah, but you know what I learned too. It's just like, you know, enjoying the moment and
 have some humor about it. And then, you know, as my girlfriend and my bulldog are experienced too,
 you have to, you have to be able to turn it off every now and then. Oh, yeah. You know, because
 if you don't turn it off, you'll let the moment pass and you'll, you'll never have it again. So,
 I've been trying to be better about that, which has been its, its own challenge and obstacle as
 well, but there has to be a balance of it, even though it's like all consuming every day, every night.
 You have to have a time in place where you just kind of shut it, shut it off for a second.
 100% 100%. So, James, before we get to a little rat or fad, let's tell everybody where they can
 keep up how they can contribute and or purchase. How do they keep up with all things James Merrill and
 Opolis? Yeah, so you can find us at www.opolisoptix.com. We have an Instagram Opolis underscore optics.
 You can find me on LinkedIn. And then you can find the product itself on our e-commerce store. And
 now L.O. Bean is going to be selling our stuff at their flagship store in Freeport, Maine, and
 hopefully we're adding other other big retailers to that list. But yeah, all social media,
 all anything online where we're there. And I'm super open to talking to anybody that has any
 questions about us in my emails, fairly public, so people can find me. I love it. So, get out there
 and find Opolis Optics. We're going to have links to all of that on our show notes and at the
 radcast.com. Are you got time for a little rat or fad? Absolutely. Let's do it. First,
 polarized lenses. Rad or fad. It's on every package. It's definitely rad because polarization
 actually is is an eye care kind of component. So it actually protects the UV rays from like
 basically giving you cataracts or like how do you know if the ones if it really has it or not.
 Can they? That's a good question. That's a good question. Obviously, they're supposed to be
 putting it. If it has to do with eye care, there's supposed to be making that known on their branding
 or any products that they're putting out there. And so usually what you're looking for
 Ryan is UVA UVB400 protection. Hey, just heard it there from the expert folks. You need polarization
 to save your eyes and you need to make sure you're looking to see if they have the true documentation.
 All right. Number two, solar panels. Rad or fad. I think they're rad. I think they're rad. If you
 have the money, you know, it's a huge upfront cost and you really don't see the benefits. I think
 until like two to three years of installation, I'm not sure Ryan don't quote me on that. But it's
 a rad thing, but it might be a fad thing for me right now. Yeah, no, it's expensive.
 Canton, New York. Yes, can New York. It definitely, definitely rad. I went to school up
 state New York and super cold. But you know, it's a part of my history. It's a part of my past. So
 I got to say rad. All right. Cool. Instagram reels. Rad or fad. Yeah, fad for me. Fad for me.
 I don't, I don't know if reels, you know better than I do, Ryan. I don't, reels will be able to
 keep up or support what's going on with the Facebook ads, spend the algorithms. I think TikTok's
 going to take over that. And I think reels is just a way for them to, to keep compete right now.
 But I don't, I don't see a, I don't see a longevity to it. Yeah. I'm not going to make any prod
 notifications, but you laid it out pretty good, my friend. TikTok's where it's at. So,
 I'm not kind of, it's a love hate relationship. You know, it's might be the only place I show my age,
 but I'm on there. I'm verified on there. But it's just, you know, I'm as ADD as 81, but it's just
 a little too, I don't know. I, I'm a grammar, you know, like, so, brother, I really appreciate you
 coming on, James. It's great to get to know you. I know we're going to stay in touch. I want to
 help. Absolutely. And, and I really want people to go out there and check out Opalus Optics and
 get your cool shades like mine. This is a first. It's cool. Jimmy, Jimmy, our James Dean shades,
 I didn't even plan this look and it just kind of worked out. Did you come up on your cafe
 moto road motorcycle? Hey, yeah, yeah, it might be out there. My cafe racer. There you go, man.
 There you go. Yeah. No, it's all good. We really appreciate you coming on. Hey guys, go
 follow James Merrill and Opalus Optics. You know where to find us. We're at theradcast.com.
 Search for Opalus. You'll find all the content there, all the highlight reels, everything else.
 You know where to follow me at Ryan offer and all the platforms. We'll see you next time on the
 radcast.