Shed Geek Podcast

Legacy over hustle: building a local brand, a digital moat, and a life you actually want

• Shed Geek Podcast • Season 5 • Episode 85

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The floor is buzzing at Shed Week in Knoxville, but the most powerful story happens at a table: a Wisconsin “Shed Queen” who sells with sincerity, a first-time dealer who went from camera to copy to competition, and our team swapping honest tactics that turn chaos into clean, repeatable growth. We dive into the real work of modern shed sales—how integrated tools for quoting, contracts, payments, and delivery remove friction, and how a simple 3D configurator plus fast follow-up can win buyers before they ever step on the lot. Then we pair it with the human side: faith, recovery, and quiet morning routines that keep you grounded when the inbox gets loud.

You’ll hear why live video creates “digital rubbernecking,” the exact habits that lift local SEO without gaming the system, and how search is shifting to AI and short-form platforms. We talk through the generational gap with tech, the value of asking better questions on the lot, and the way sincerity turns a sale into a relationship. The Shed Queen shares audacious goals—buying her lot, doubling next year, and building a legacy for her family—while Mariano lays out practical, camera-ready playbooks any dealer can copy.

If you’ve ever wondered how to protect your brand’s warmth while upgrading your systems, this conversation feels like a blueprint. Fewer tools that do more. Short lives with one clear CTA. Real reviews, not fluff. Personality first, process always. Subscribe for more grounded, field-tested conversations from the shed industry, share this episode with a dealer who needs a nudge to go live, and leave us a review with the one tactic you’re trying next.


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This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Shed Pro

Luxguard
Digital Shed Builder
Making Sales Simple
IFAB
Solar Blaster

Shannon:

Well, uh okay, welcome back to another uh episode of the Shed Geek Podcast here at the 2025 Shed Week uh Shed Expo in Knoxville, Tennessee. I'm so excited. We got a chance to meet already. Energy is infectious, right? Like the event's amazing. You should be here if you're not here.

Mariano:

Oh, they're missing out if they're not here.

Shannon:

So tell me, who do we have on the show today? Introduce yourself and what you do.

Tony:

I am Tony Mantai. I'm from Watoma, Wisconsin. I have a dealership there, and I am known as the Shed Queen.

Shannon:

I'm just gonna call you Shed Queen from now on. Perfect. If that's okay.

Tony:

That's perfect.

Shannon:

Okay, that I I like it. Some people come up and call me Mr. Geek, and they're like, I don't even know your name. And I'm like, it's perfectly fine. Call me a geek because I am a shed geek. That's what I do. So Miss Shed Queen. Perfect. Okay, who else we got here?

Mariano:

So my name is Mariano. I'm with North Built Sheds up in what uh Poignette, Wisconsin. I actually started doing marketing and media content for Tony's uh shed lot up in Watoma, Wisconsin, and that's kind of how I got started here.

Shannon:

So you know, like we've talked about this, and like you know your way around marketing a little bit. You know your way around fundamental basics. Yeah, yeah. You're talking about RSS feeds with me, which most people are like, no clue.

Mariano:

Um I see XLR mics, I'm like, man, this guy's gonna really gotta set up roads, a really good brand as well.

Shannon:

So the I and this is even oh, this is this is five years old. This is the first board that we got uh whenever we started uh as a Roadcaster Pro. Uh and now we've gone to a roadcaster too. But uh now you're probably more techie than me. You were talking about gaming, you're like my son. You jump in there and figure technology out really fast.

Mariano:

I can tear some things apart. I I repaired drones on as a side hustle, so I'm repairing drones from people coast to coast.

Shannon:

So yeah, you're you're you're like my son, you're like my wife, you're that mind that can get in there, figure it out.

Mariano:

Forward progression, always advancement, improvement every day.

Shannon:

I love it, dude.

Tony:

And I'm the one that don't like computers.

Shannon:

Well, me and you would have a better conversation because we talk about him. Well, get out of here. What are you doing here? We don't even need you.

Mariano:

I'm here for moral support. Moral support. The energy. I'm here for the energy. There's a lot of great energy here in this room. There's a lot of amazing people, a lot of uh really cool vendors that I see here that I've never heard of. So again, I'm kind of new to the industry, so really excited to see uh this many people show up for something so awesome.

Shannon:

Well, who would have thought that you could put together an event for just a bunch of shed people?

Tony:

For shed guys. Right. Shed gales. Yeah. Shed light. I mean, it's amazing. Yeah. A little town coming to a big event in a big city and seeing all this, and there's so many out there that are doing the same thing I'm doing.

Shannon:

And you you you probably feel a lot of times like like I always say there's a big ocean out there, but you're just in a fish bowl. When you're sitting there at your lot, you're not connected. Are you really?

Mariano:

Yeah. Her lot is on a pond.

Shannon:

No way.

Tony:

And they got a largemouth bass and smallmouth bass. And every morning before I start work, I literally go to the pond and I feed my fish.

Mariano:

Like literally.

Shannon:

That is the first time that series of words have ever been spoken on this podcast, I promise you. Uh that's awesome. So where when did you get started, Miss Shed Queen? Like how where's your story begin?

Tony:

Great for the uh I started three years, one month ago, uh a builder came and and asked me to start a dealership for him.

Shannon:

Okay.

Tony:

Because I had worked previously for someone else, and he was like, Nope, I need you start your own dealership. And so three years, one month ago, I started that dealership. Went to our meeting, and because my nickname's Tony, all the gentlemen that are dealers for him in the state of Wisconsin all thought I was a guy until I walked through the door, and they were like, Oh, it's not a man.

Shannon:

I've had the same experience, opposite situation. They see Shannon and they think it's a female. So then, like, yeah, I've come through and they're like, oh, well, this is boring. He's just a short and pudgy bald guy. You know? Like, what's going on here? And I was like, Yeah, well, I'm sorry. It's uh you know the story behind this? I'm gonna tell you just because I still think it's funny. My mom used to watch uh soap operas, one called General Hospital. So yeah.

Tony:

Remember that?

Shannon:

Yeah. Apparently, I my name was gonna be Sean. Okay, because I'm guessing she had a crush on Sean on the soap opera. Sean, two weeks before I'm about to be born, turns out on the show to be a serial killer. Oh wow, well then you gotta change the name to expect she changes it to to Shannon, and I'm like, well, you know what? Turns out I'm a serial killer anyway, mom. So you didn't do any good. What's what's going on there? So we we laugh about it. But uh so I was like, well, I kind of like as you get older, I'm like, well, I like the name Sean, but I've really begun to embrace Shannon. Shed Geek, I think, fits me better. Oh, I like Shed Geek. I like it. Stay with that one. I like it.

Mariano:

Stay with that one. I've seen the logo, and I'm like, oh, this guy's gotta figure it out because out of all the logos that have gone past these eyes this whole week, that one's gonna be the easiest one to remember who it was and what they do.

Shannon:

Well, I appreciate that. It's actually a big shout out to Kyle Summers, who created the logo. Uh Kyle works over at JMAG, uh, but me and him started the podcast together, and he created the logos. Uh and just super talented guy, and and I I owe him a big thank you for that because he really got the likeness and image down.

Mariano:

Kyle, Kylie really got it.

Shannon:

Like, we'll be out at restaurants, and people will see her uh her wearing one of my shirts, and then they'll see me, and they're just double taking, and they're like, are you the are you the guy on the shirt?

Mariano:

I'm like, yeah, I'm the suspenders, the glasses, the bow, I'm like, that's clearly Shannon, right?

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Shannon:

It's just it's just so you know what? Um, there's so much seriousness in the world today. Right. You know, y'all seem like fun people. I like to be around fun people because it's a good thing. I'm a Christian. Absolutely.

Tony:

You gotta have fun. If every day is total serious, you're not gonna no, you gotta enjoy life. Take a break.

Shannon:

You could take that into your customer experience when they come onto your lot.

Mariano:

Yeah, every great day, every day above ground is a great day. Everything after that is up to us. So that's where we can make that impact.

Shannon:

What about your story though? Like where you said you kind of got into the media, the marketing.

Mariano:

I'll give you I'll give you the fast-forward version of that. Okay. I grew up in Cicero, Illinois, which is a western suburb of Chicago. So it's a kind of a rougher city. Um I made it out of there.

Shannon:

My dad lived in Aurora for 12 years. I'm familiar with Aurora.

Mariano:

Uh so I made it out of there. I've had a diverse, you know, ethnical upbringing. So I've seen a lot of walks of life and communicated with a lot of walks of life. Um I got into the media stuff because I feel like telling a story is very powerful. And photos are great. So I I became I began as an entrepreneurial, as an amateur photographer in real estate photography. Nice. And this guy was a real estate agent, he saw my potential, was like, oh, he's very professional, he can articulate himself well. And he introduced me to Tony Mantai here at Wisconsin Backyard Sheds, was like, maybe you can take some pictures of her sheds on her lots. It's not real estate, but it is structures and it's building. So, similar concept, you know, doll them up, make them look really good, and uh give some good information to go with it. So um I started working with Tony as as one of my clients, and then shortly after, the same guy that came onto her lot that said, Hey, you'd make a great shed dealer, it was like, we think that you have enough potential to where you should be running your own shed lot. So that's how I ended up at North Built Shed.

Tony:

So now we're really competitors.

Shannon:

Nice. Well, you know what? And your friends we're on the same team.

Mariano:

We're on the same team.

Tony:

Friends, competitors, yeah.

Mariano:

It's digital fishing. We're going digital fishing.

Shannon:

Well, that can happen. And well, just that word alone, digital fishing. You know, and by the way, I see the ink here. I'm always look, hey.

Mariano:

I'm I'm heavily tattooed.

Shannon:

I know you can't see it.

Mariano:

Self-tattoed, I didn't put it.

Shannon:

For the longest time, I've been embarrassed by this by being in a culture, in an industry that's like culturally, you know what I mean? Uh maybe it's not super accepted, and I've really began after five, after 12 years in the industry, after five years of doing this, to kind of grow comfortable into my skin.

Mariano:

Absolutely.

Shannon:

I just want to say I like it. I'm an artist. A lot of people don't realize that. I love to do art on the side for just for fun.

Mariano:

I got bored. I got bored. These were self-art nice. Very nice. I have a whole sleeve and my leg. I didn't.

Tony:

But you know, back to that, the art. People can't. I always say don't judge a book by its cover.

Shannon:

Yeah.

Mariano:

Absolutely.

Tony:

Because you gotta read the book first to know what's inside. Absolutely.

Shannon:

And that and don't judge by the You know what some of these mean? Like this right here. This right here, and we're we're taking a we're taking a detour, but that's okay. That's what you know what this is. So Ephesians 6 has to put on the full armor of God, right?

Mariano:

Right.

Shannon:

Uh this I used to work at a faith-based drug and I'll call rehabilitation ministry, and I poured myself into that. Two years sober right here. And and dude, good job. I'll call an eight year free. Thank you. Proud of you. Congratulations. Um I I um, you know, I had a group of guys from one of the classes that went through. They just really appreciated uh pouring into them, and they went out on their own while they're in rehab, had no money, no anything. They scraped up the money to get me a trophy.

Mariano:

Oh, wow. Wow.

Shannon:

And they presented it to me in front of my church. And it's one of the biggest moments of my life. And people say, Well, why don't you keep that as a memory? And I say, Man, I keep it as a memory so much I wear it on my skin to say I'm so proud of those guys. Right. And I'm so proud that God gave me the opportunity, right, that allowed me to get in there and and and like reach those guys.

Mariano:

I got these praying hands tattooed on my neck. Praying hands tattooed on my neck.

Shannon:

Dude, super proud of you being two years clean. That's awesome.

Mariano:

I all all glory to God. I wouldn't have done it on my own. I I really have to advocate that Jesus has been with me every step of the way.

Shannon:

That's right, that's right. Without him. We need that sovereignty that he offers. That forgiveness, you know. Yes.

Mariano:

To know that we are we are cleansed of our sins, that we have a new day forward, and that we can make a change, and that and that change starts within us.

Shannon:

So you know, man, we're just not perfect people. We're flawed people. We're all flawed people.

Tony:

We all got something.

Shannon:

Yeah. But you know what we are, and I and I've said this for a long time on the podcast. I said, I said, we're not going to be ashamed of the gospel. And I'll tell you what, after seeing this, this is the first time I've talked about it since it's happened, so it's the first time I'll mention it. Uh if it seems political, this isn't a political podcast, uh, so I don't mean for it to be that way. But like after the shooting of Charlie Kirk, after seeing that, like he was a big inspiration in me, just be having the voice to be willing to do this. Right, right? To see him younger, a guy younger than me motivating, pushing me, saying, Hey, get out there, have your voice.

Tony:

Exactly.

Shannon:

Um start the dialogue. Start the dialogue, because nothing happens without conversation.

Mariano:

Right.

Shannon:

Right?

Mariano:

Right.

Shannon:

I I I think we're better for it. The Bible says iron sharpens iron. Yep.

Mariano:

Amen to that. Yep.

Shannon:

Right? So, like, I mean, we have to talk, we have to communicate. And even when we're competitors, it's good to talk.

Tony:

Oh, we beat each other up at in the back.

Mariano:

So tech technically she was one of my clients, but at the same time, she was mentoring me into the shed sales. So while I was showing her how to utilize things like uh chat GBT to help create uh templates for information for ads, for sales ads, or whether it's hey, here's how you're gonna grab the camera, you're gonna set it on a tripod, you're gonna click the record button, and you're gonna do a live I I coach her with live feeds to her uh local audience.

Shannon:

So Imagine this, you guys compete, he's helping you do lives because that's the help you need. Yep. And I promise you, you're mentoring him, you've got him here.

Tony:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Correct, correct.

Shannon:

How how helpful is that?

Tony:

It is very helpful. I've gone a I've came a long way. Yeah from just that few little followers and like people, you know. 250 followers, now you're at 1.2k, I think. Yeah.

Mariano:

Nice. In about three months, in about three months' time. Awesome. Awesome.

Tony:

I'm getting, I'm reaching. I'm reaching, but I've got to reach further.

Mariano:

Yeah.

Tony:

I need I need to get it.

Mariano:

It's all it's all about implementing solutions. Something works and nothing doesn't. So not taking action could actually cost you so much more than actually just jumping on board and just making it happen.

Shannon:

We're at the NSRA yesterday. I'm talking to the You missed out on that.

Mariano:

We were totally out enjoying the city.

Shannon:

Yeah, no, no, that's good. Yeah, a lot of good.

Mariano:

We have a rent-owned company already that we work with.

Shannon:

There you go. There you go. Yeah, well, oh look at that guy, look at you. We were there yesterday, and you were talking about uh, you know, uh uh indifference or basically not making a decision. You know, uh Jim Coleman, I was talking to him, he's the he's the chair, and Jim said, you know, me and him are talking privately, and he's like, you know, in in action is an action. In action is uh a decision. Correct. Right. So that's the hardest thing when it comes to technology for for a lot of people and even our industry that's conservative, right? Like I joke about this all the time, guys. I say we're conservative. So when someone says, I got an idea, like the first words out of our mouth mouth are like, it'll never work. You know, it's like, what's your idea? It'll never work. You know, and it's with technology, that's so hard.

Mariano:

Right.

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Shannon:

Talk about technology. You're man, you're you're the things you're telling me. I'm like, man, this is your next podcaster right here.

Mariano:

Yeah, so I actually have been thinking about launching uh a podcast, and I want it to be s focused around like health and well-being as well as living healthy living spaces. So I figure that would kind of open up a broader audience potentially to just talk about things that make them feel good or things that they can work on to improve how they feel, and obviously your environment's a big part of that. So the technology aspect is utilizing your resources, these are advancements that we can use to communicate with one another in an effective way to meet our goal with our audience. So whether that's a visual aid digitally being marketed or a video online, whether I like live because I feel like live is like a form of digital rubbernecking, as I call it. We're up in Wisconsin, but we have some uh southern roots up there as well, so we're kind of country a little bit in these small towns up there. And uh I call it digital rubbernecking, and by doing live feeds, it even the people that aren't really your fans or like your exact target audience, they're gonna take a peek to see what you got going on because you're doing something that someone else isn't, right?

Tony:

And they're starting to follow me now. And do what I would just started doing. Now, people, friends, companies, businesses that are in my community, they're starting to do my thing. And it's like, wow, where'd you get that idea from?

Mariano:

It starts it starts somewhere, but it's better to be ahead of the pack than it is to be a uh at behind it. So better to be a leader than a follower. So Tony's really pushing the envelope as far as getting out there in uh her local audience in uh the Watoma area in Wisconsin, so she's really dominating. I think she's at third year now consecutively that you might hit uh top number one in sales for our our organization.

Shannon:

Awesome. See, and and I'll tell you what, like when you think about personality meets tech and like what you can accomplish together, because that's what's been happening for so long in the shed industry, is like let's find a shed queen, right? Like let's let's find let's find uh uh just a just an old, retired, trusted gentleman that we love and everyone loves whenever they walk through the door. The problem is like where it meets the digital world, where it's like, you know, hey, they're missing out on leads. If you put more people in front of the shed queen, if you put more people in front of this trusted gentleman, they're gonna sell more. The problem is getting that because we're relying on the the road. Let's talk about like SEO, you know, as a perfect example. Like coming on the podcast, always tell people, come on and tell your story, because if nothing else, you can take excerpts from it and you can put on your your your website. But what I found whenever I searched some companies, like I'm registering as their biggest SEO tool by coming on the podcast. And speaking, like the backlinks are more beneficial to them on trying to index by even coming on the podcast. So I'm like, guys, this is just a good conversation, even for your customers. Come on here and tell me what's the experience like whenever a customer comes to a shed queen lot.

Mariano:

Right, right, right, right. And I tell her that I'm like, Tony, I want to see a smile on your face the same way we do these videos. I want you to smile at your customers. The moment they walk through the door to the point they're leaving, like, adios amigo, you know, like you you treat them like your grandparents, you know, you hold your hand. Sometimes they're not 100% sure what what they're looking for, so you just need to guide them a little bit. But they came to you for a reason, so there's that. But as far as the technical side with SEO that you were referring to, um I do help with our WordPress website, so I help with the online hosting and the uh web integrations. So I'm not to the point where I'm getting too crazy with the backlinks. We have backlinks. I use uh a program, uh plugin called Rank Math SEO. So that's a rankmath pro that I use as far as uh currently optimizing my SEO on the web pages. We do utilize Google reviews. Google reviews are kind of their own technical tool in its own where you know you you do the footwork to get the review and to make sure that they keep growing because they had mentioned uh was it like LMMs and like other people are utilizing chat GBT as like a resource for SEO in a sense, like it backlinks to to similar uh or you can hyperlink people to your website if they're asking the right questions. So FAQs having the right lost me at you know can escape.

Shannon:

I love it. I love I love that that that that we lost you because he kind of lost me a little too. You know, because he knows so because he knows so much. But what's interesting is that like you jumped in because that personality comes back around. Yeah, and it's like, hey, this is I'm trying to learn, I'm trying to understand. And that's what people like, bro. We got to talk. Like one of the things that we're wanting to do even here is like, you know, we've got all of our some of our stuff up from last year and things like that, but we're wanting to move into more of a consultative role. Right. Uh like that's what Shed Geek has kind of been this whole time is to suggest people. We have some exclusive partners, some that aren't. You know, advertising that's available on the show. We try to really promote the industry and things like that. I love it, man. Don't get it, hey, don't get it perfect all the time, but we do our best. And and and at the end of the day, I'm sitting here going, man, this guy can help people. And that's that's what it's about. Like, let's take away all the rest. Right. This guy can help people. Right. You're hearing the story right now about how he helped. And like, if there's ways that we can make connection there, I'd love to chat with you about it. Moving on. I gotta I gotta get past the commercial and get back to the conversation. Uh tell me more about like the the digital side, the digital landscape that is, you know, hitting us in the retail market, and like how that affects someone like like Tony, like the shed queen. Like, how does that affect someone who's like, ooh, technology?

Tony:

You know, it's irritating because I don't know how to do some of it, and when I try on my own, I get frustrated. Well, just turn the thing off. I don't need to do this anymore. I just I'm wasting my time. I got better things to do with my time than sitting. So it is good to have somebody starting to try and teach me. I mean, I'm older, so computers and me don't always see eye to eye.

Shannon:

She does pretty good though. It's the generational gap though. Yes. I mean, it's the generational gap. And like, look, uh by coming together instead of pulling apart.

Tony:

Right.

Shannon:

Right? By coming together and collaborating and like you guys can make for a better experience for both of you.

Mariano:

Right. Right. Yeah. It comes with repetition. The more you do it, the more it kind of comes second nature. But she's actually grasping a lot of things very quickly. So it makes my job as far as showing her the technical side of things rather easy.

Shannon:

What are what are what do you see as some of the digital landscape that that like we're missing or that we're doing well in the shed industry?

Mariano:

So I kind of want to go backwards a little bit because when you first asked the first question about that, I think COVID kind of forced a lot of people's hands at like, all right, online has to happen now. So if you don't exist on the internet, now's the time where either you have to or you're really gonna have a hard time figuring it out. So a lot of people jumped onto the internet, kind of just let's just get on there and figure it out from there, which is fantastic. That's always good. Um, they want our attention. Yeah, let's take a listen at this. I can't hear anything. It's pretty loud.

Shannon:

It sounds like Charlie Brown's mom. That's all I hear. You know what they're saying over the speaker here. They're saying you should go to the Shed Geek Chase, then check out these new awesome people.

Tony:

That's what they said. That's what they just said. Yeah.

Shannon:

Yeah, they was like write in my blank check. That'll be beneficial too. Just if you're bored. And uh I'll take it. So go ahead and bring it over, guys.

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Mariano:

So just to kind of uh touch base where I left off there, I think COVID really uh turned, it was like a digital turning point or turned a fork in the road for some. And then the people jumped on the boat and said, you know what, I'm just gonna get online and just figure it out as I go. Other people went with third-party solutions like outsourcing that type of work or hiring some local company to do their advertising or marketing. And a lot of point or interactions are gonna be car sales, because a lot of those car sales lots, kind of similar, they're renting trailers or cars, and they're doing something, so they see something works and nothing doesn't. Um but I think that as far as there's a lot of tools that are out there now, and I think that listening to like a podcast like yours definitely kind of helps funnel it down to what are some of the most common platforms or software vendor tools out there, and what can be the most user-friendly at the same time. So if you're just starting out, maybe one solution's better for you than another.

Tony:

I told you he can go on and on and on and on.

Mariano:

And I mean, and that's just to kind of touch base on you know, as far as you know being the digital side of the face of the company. Um I'm still new to it. I have yet to sell a single shed. I'm excited for this first sale. They say that you'll always remember your first shed sale. I do. Um I've had a few great conversations with some potential customers, but I mean I have a great conversation with everyone I meet. You know, I just try to bring that positive energy with it. They call me Mr. Zen, by the way. That's my handle. Mr. Zen. Mr. Zen.

Shannon:

I like it. Yeah, that's good. What is what is the shed queen's uh like advice? What is what is your approach to customer care? Whenever somebody comes into the the lot, what are the years of experience that you've used? Like what's your approach? I'm I'm so curious.

Tony:

Um sincerity and honesty. I am who I am. I'll help you, I'll be at the utmost to give you what you need. Um it's just being there for the customer and always I'm always a happy go-lucky person. I'm always a jokester. Um but it's more or less putting it in front of them and don't ever try to don't ever try to sugarcoat it. Just be honest. You're honestly is the best.

Shannon:

It's almost not a salesperson by the end of the of the the where you're asking for the sale. You're just almost not a salesperson. It's like you're a friend gathering them through that, transferring what you believe can be helpful based off of their questions. I mean, that's the way I've always approached it. We did a breakout session. You you're in the breakout session. Uh, you know, you heard me say, like, you know, my my approach is always just ask questions. Right? Ask questions because once you ask a question, they answer it, they're giving you permission to ask another question.

Tony:

Exactly.

Shannon:

So just keep asking them until you uncover your mining for information. And they then they're hiding that information and you want to get to it.

Mariano:

I actually have a reference and a story to her response because when she says sincerity and making sure that the customer knows that that they matter and that they care when they enter her lot. Um, being that she was one of the clients that I work with on the marketing side of things, at one point my marketing business, because I had an LLC with a business partner and there were some financial issues that occurred which caused separation. I hear that that's a common thing when you have business partners. But so I was thinking, alright, I mean may need to go to a regular nine to five job. I might need to, you know, hang up this marketing hat and I I gave it my college try, I gave it the best I could, and it just didn't work out. She called me for like seven days straight, every single day. How are you feeling today, Mariano? You know, you know what uh what do you have planned for today? You know, do you want to work on any marketing content? Like, please, like, stick with the marketing stuff. It it works, you're making a difference. You make a difference in in my office and what we do here. So I just feel like I'm supposed to tell you to keep with it. So she's a hundred percent sincere, she's a hundred percent prideful in what she does. She's a great person to work with and for. So anyone that buys a shed from her would be blessed with that opportunity. So I've learned a lot working with her.

Tony:

Wow.

Shannon:

What a good, what a like what a good sound bite. That was a honestly.

Tony:

That was a sales pitch.

Shannon:

Yeah, well, I'll tell you, sound bites can be used for good, they can be used for bad, right? What a what a good opportunity to put that to put that even on your website. I am the better.

Mariano:

I am blessed to be here at the Shed Expo 2025 with Shannon and and Tony here, the Shed Queen. This is our first year, so I'm a new face. Awesome. I'm a new company, so it's it's really exciting every step of the way.

Shannon:

It's just the uh this is the uh inaugural Shed Week, so this is the first year that they've you know taken it in. So you got the Shed Cell Summit, and it just went great on Monday. It was excellent. That was a great first day. Oh, it was it was so fun. Uh Tuesday, the NSRA, you know, it you know who knows where the schedule's gonna look like next week or next year, I'm just saying. And then to roll in here on Wednesday and Thursday, and I'll tell you what we did. We went down every time I come through Knoxville, I'm gonna tell them myself. Been through Knoxville probably no less than 50 times, I'm guessing, driving. I always come in on that west side of 40, and I like to stop at a little place called Mooya.

Mariano:

Mooya.

Shannon:

I don't know if anybody's ever been to Mooya. See, this is what I love about him.

Mariano:

We're live, folks. This is a this is a live podcast.

Shannon:

What I love is that like he goes into tech mode right in the moment, and I love that.

Mariano:

Yep. Says moolah. I thought he said moolah. Mooya.

Shannon:

This is a moolah moment right here. So you can get a little moo or you can get a big moo, and that's a shake, basically. Right? And it's a burger place, and it's not healthy, right? Well, I mean, sorry, mooyah. I mean, maybe this, maybe it isn't. But I love you. It doesn't matter. I go every time. I love it. Like, you know, yeah, we went and had some good food last night, more formal. But uh, you know, we sit down and we talk to like uh a bunch of people there on Sunday night, and we asked the guy who was walking around who brought the food out. We said, hey man, we're looking for uh we're looking for some storage. Where do we go get storage? You know, and what do you think he said? What do you guys what would you imagine? And you should try this from now on. Everyone of you listening should try this. What do you think that guy said?

Mariano:

Looking for storage?

Shannon:

Yeah.

Mariano:

I'm assuming like go online, go on the internet, see.

Shannon:

I like you because that's your first thought, and that's what you would imagine. We're gonna get there. Resources. His first thought was, you know, like, well, what kind of storage?

Tony:

I was just gonna say, what are you storing?

Shannon:

Yeah, what kind of storage? And then it moved into well, like a shipping container, right? So we're not ahead of shipping containers, right? Like sheds, we haven't made it there yet. We haven't arrived yet. Um And then I said, no, maybe like a shed. You know what I mean? Like a like a backyard shed, like a garden shed or something. And he was like, ah man, I don't know. I was like, well, do you know the name of like anybody around here, a company or anything I can go to? And he's like, nah, man, I'm busy. I'll tell you what.

Mariano:

Here, I'm just one recommendation on it.

Shannon:

Not one recommendation. I'm gonna open up my phone because I'm busy, and uh I'm just gonna go to AI and I'm gonna let you scroll through and you can see like the top five or six around here.

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Shannon:

That was the recommendation. That's what you're gonna get. That's gonna become a common thing.

Mariano:

That's gonna become a common thing, absolutely.

Shannon:

Like my daughter goes to TikTok and uses it like a search engine at this point.

Mariano:

I I I search most things in Chat GBT Pro more than I do on Google now. Yeah. I feel like Google's becoming the Wikipedia of its MySpace.

Shannon:

Is that is that MySpace?

Mariano:

What is MySpace? We're not we're not we're not I don't want to sit here and tell my age.

Shannon:

Are you how old are you? Come on.

Mariano:

Uh I'm approaching 40.

Shannon:

You're approaching 40. What you remember MySpace then, man? I was on MySpace. I was on MySpace. Yeah, MySpace was fun. It was cool. Yeah, that's a good thing.

Mariano:

Tom was a great guy. He was my first friend.

Shannon:

Honestly.

Mariano:

MySpace Tom, if you remember him.

Shannon:

Yeah. Yeah, no, man, that's great. Yeah, well what was fun. It was next Facebook come along, and now they call it what? Boomer book, you know, because like we're all owed the people who actually understand Facebook.

Mariano:

That's the first time I heard that reference.

Shannon:

Yeah, Boomer Book. And I'm like, well, that's probably accurate because it's about the only thing I use. You know, and I try to get on the rest of the social media stuff and utilize them.

Tony:

You guys lost me again. The yellow pages. Let's bring her back. Let's talk about the yellow pages.

Shannon:

You remember when you could look for a phone number?

Tony:

Yeah, in a phone block. Yeah.

Shannon:

How many, like, do you remember? Like, have you guys always had a phone growing up?

Tony:

Yes. Pretty much. Yeah.

Shannon:

I had the old Nokia, I've had the Motorola.

Tony:

No, no, let's talk about the one that hangs on the phone. Hey, look, I'm talking about the one that spins.

Shannon:

The landline, the rotary phone. Like, look, my my daughter saw a rotary phone at an antique place one day and she was like, hey, I've read about those.

Tony:

Uh-huh.

Shannon:

Tony. Yeah. She's read about those.

Tony:

Yeah.

Mariano:

I actually have an idea to bring those back.

Tony:

We should just put them out for our kids and say, make a call. Make a call.

Shannon:

I'll give you a hundred bucks. Call somebody.

Mariano:

Here's my suggestion. Maybe you have a listener out there that might tune into this, but I think that they should utilize those old phones, those like cord, they were corded phones back then. It was wired to the code. It had a cord, like but it was corded from there to there, right? What if they made what was with like some LED lights to make it customizable or fashionable to the kids, but they had to earn airtime by completing some sort of chore app. And when they completed the chore, they get some airtime so they can sit there and talk to their friends. It takes away the video aspect, so they're not addictive to that. I need the instant gratification video.

Shannon:

You're a gamer. So like this makes sense to you. Because like I worked at a rehab and there were folks that came to rehab for like gaming.

Mariano:

Oh, it can be an addiction.

Shannon:

It was an addict, it was a complete addiction. It was running their life, you know, their parents would bring them there. I mean, that's that's like a real thing. Like everybody thinks rehab is like drugs, alcohol only. It's for mental health. It's so much.

Mariano:

I went to a mental behavior facility for seven days. Yeah. Just to kind of just purify my mind, detox everything. Yeah, get you, get your bind, get your buying. They actually wouldn't accept you unless you had nothing in your system. They may take a good test.

Shannon:

Yeah, the one I worked at was the same way. You had to clear yourself and your system.

Mariano:

Then they'll allow you to uh take a room to take room in the phone.

Shannon:

So your first phone. Uh I'm assuming that's not your phone number now.

Tony:

No.

Shannon:

But do you remember the phone number?

Tony:

Yeah.

Shannon:

You can call the phone number from your first one? I can.

Mariano:

I can. I only remember all my phone number. I only remember my grandparents' first phone number that was.

Shannon:

But you still remember a number. Yep. Like I my my phone number is 7428274.

unknown:

Yeah.

Shannon:

Like I just remember it right off the bat.

Tony:

Yep.

Shannon:

I'm like, man, I don't even know how I remember that because I haven't called anybody. But how many phone phone numbers right now can you actually call out just on memory without looking at your phone right now?

Tony:

I can call hers. My husband, mine, my mom and dad's. Uh maybe one or two friends from high school. Oh, my two boys. So maybe a handful.

Shannon:

Maybe maybe a handful, maybe five.

Tony:

But remember in the day we had to remember all of that. Every number. Every number.

Shannon:

Yeah, I probably had 30 numbers stored away somewhere in my head. But now we have to do that. And now we have a thousand contacts in our phone, and it's just like Yeah.

Mariano:

Thank you for technological advancements.

Shannon:

Isn't it crazy? Yeah. How different things work and happen. And you know, it it's it's we were talking about it yesterday. We were trying to figure out like where's AI going? Is it is it helping us, is it hurting us, and what and it's doing both. Right.

Mariano:

It's it's it's a tool that you can utilize, so it depends on how it's being utilized. You know, it's the same conversation with the bullet and the gun. You know, it's it's the intent of the person that's utilizing it. So healthy minds, healthy living spaces, man cave sheds, tea sheds. You know, that's how my my bra my brain thinks. I'm in like uh my own mode here of like, you know, click, design, delivered. That's where I'm at with this stuff. So I'm trying to make this become the Amazon buying of shed experiences for my local town in a sense. Not I don't want it to be that automated, I want the personal touch. I feel like she's right, being sincere, being open, being transparent really opens up the possibilities for customers to want to design with you specifically.

Shannon:

How far apart are you guys?

Mariano:

Oh, 51, 52 miles.

Shannon:

Okay, so not terribly bad.

Mariano:

Let's throw a rock and hit each other's lot pretty much. She'd probably like a little bit more distance. Yeah, he could go further. I'm a little too close. She's got it, she's got some nice fish in her pond. She's got some largemouth and smallmouth bass, and I'm a fisherman, so just stay out of my water. My kayaks, my kayaks like to venture.

Shannon:

What are your what are your hopes? You're three years in and and fairly new. What are your hopes in the shed industry? Like, where do you want it to go? Where do you see it going from what you've experienced so far?

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Tony:

Um I'd like to at least double that next year. I want to double it. You never said the first number.

Mariano:

I've never even heard the number.

Shannon:

It's okay. You don't have to check it out.

Mariano:

She's the shed queen. The number's up there. It's up there. There's a reason why I'm where I'm at.

Tony:

Right now, I at the end of last month, I already surpassed what I did last year.

Shannon:

Awesome. Congrats.

Tony:

I I'm doing better. Um now I just need to go a little bit. I want to double next next year.

Shannon:

Yeah.

Tony:

I want to double that. And then my goal is um my husband and I just had to literally purchase the lot that I'm on. So it's a big financial, financial uh rec commitment. But my goal is that in if I live ten years, I'll have the lot paid off, I'll be financially secure, and if I do pass away, my two boys will be set for life.

Shannon:

Awesome. Legacy. Legacy talking about leaving that.

Tony:

I'm leaving it that to my children and they can go forward. And hopefully they've learned something from me on how to sell a shot.

Mariano:

She's got some she's got some very strong-minded and strong-willed boys. One of them's uh a service member. Um I will say that she has made some healthy lifestyle changes since her and I have uh she has uh been making a cutback and quitting uh smoking, so that's that's very impressive. That that's for longevity of health. I plan on her become still being the number one in shed sales for our organization for many years to come. Man, I got a lot to learn from her. Um hoping maybe at some point she's gonna outgrow her office and sell me her office. That's kind of something. I'm just gonna throw that out there because I feel like that just needs to be. You gotta get that in right now. I gotta plant that seed a couple of times.

Shannon:

It's recorded, it's recorded now.

Mariano:

Her office is just not big enough for as many sales as she's taken in. Need more seeding.

Tony:

No, I just love what I do. I love it. I I enjoy going and getting up every morning, enjoying going to work, I enjoy selling, and uh, it's just a passion. And if I can turn that passion into leaving my sons and my husband something that they can be proud of, yeah.

Shannon:

It's like the ultimate freedom, really. Because I think that's what we're all searching for individually, is freedom. You know, and and uh there's some there there's something to be said about quiet mornings, feeding your fish. Right. There's something to be said about that.

Tony:

Yep.

Shannon:

Like, like, you know, nothing wrong with the rise and grind. I'll tell you what, you can get so busy, you know, like like I've talked a lot recently. I wrote something in the Shed Business Journal about this. It's been a big part of my life that like success is a good thing. But I thought I grew up poor, right?

Mariano:

Same.

Shannon:

You know, grew up poor. Neither one of my parents ever made ten bucks an hour. I think my dad, when he retired as a janitor, was making ten dollars an hour at the college. Right.

Mariano:

But you high-five that janitor and you show him as much respect as the person at the top.

Shannon:

Oh, absolutely, yeah, yeah. Absolutely.

Mariano:

My dad was a rock star. Obviously, he did he did a great job with it.

Shannon:

He's been he's been he's been great. Actually, me and my dad have a better relationship than we've ever had. He's eighty-three years old. Like, me and him just get along now. We go out to eat every Saturday. You know what I mean? Like it's better now than it's ever been in my life. But but you know, like childhood was rough, right? And we we struggled, you know, or struggled financially. And I'll tell you what, you don't know you struggle financially until you get outside of your echo chamber that you're living in, and then you realize like what opportunities out there.

Mariano:

You survived all that.

Shannon:

So for me, you know, like any level of success is like, hey, I don't I don't need to rely on that. I'm gonna tell you what, what financial success, those quiet mornings where I'm not stressed and rising and grinding, because you can get too caught up in the success, even in the moment.

Tony:

Right.

Shannon:

Exactly. And it's great, but it's like, oh well, what am I doing? I can't breathe. Right. Because I can't Yeah, well, I don't know.

Mariano:

It kind of falls back on uh healthy lifestyles yet again because I'll wake up in the morning and I'll take that first break, like before my day, before I start looking at my phone and seeing all my messages. I'll I'll reach for my Bible and then I have this uh I have this devotion book that I was given by a mentor of mine. So I'll read a page from e a chapter or a page from either of those. I'm feeding my soul, I'm feeding my mind before I feed my gut, and then that kind of prepares me for whatever the day is gonna bring. Whether it's good, bad, or indifferent, I'm ready. Bring it on, you know. So I find my I find that I begin my day with God and just being at peace. Then no matter what else comes, you're Mr.

Shannon:

Zen. Mr. Zen.

Mariano:

They actually gave me that nickname in that behavioral facility.

Shannon:

I'll tell you what, man, there's just something there there is something so good about Quiet Mornings, peaceful peace of mind. I had a guy ask me one time, you know, he's like, um I forgot what it was. I went from one job that was making pretty good money, but had a lot of stress, to another job, and we began to talk, and I could tell he was listening. He was he was interested in what I had to say. And he was like, Man, what's what's the dollar amount you put on peace of mind? And I was like, I don't know that I can it's richer than any gold. Yeah. I don't know that I can get there. But that's what I want. I want to walk in that.

Mariano:

The freedom to do what you can with your time and what you love to do the most. That's that's true, Rich. That's the true like the goal that everyone should reach for. Is if you can truly do with what you love with your time, you have made it to rich status.

Shannon:

It doesn't always take money, does it?

Tony:

It doesn't take money at all. You can be you can be happy without having a dime in your pocket.

Shannon:

Yeah. Well, even some of the richest people. Yeah. Unhappy. Yeah. Like we've seen that. Yeah. You know? They're unhappy. So man, I like the conversation. You guys are just fun to hang around.

Mariano:

Yeah, this is not bad for just the off-the-wall uh podcast.

Shannon:

I mean, we literally just plan, let's sit down and do it.

Mariano:

It's like let's do it now. What why do we need to work?

Shannon:

I love I love too that you're you're you're you're the let's do it now guy because I like that on a calendar. Whenever I'm talking to somebody, I'm like, we need to get something on the calendar. I always like it when people challenge me and say, let's just do that now.

Mariano:

Oh, he's like that all every day. Like we're going to buy live. Tony, Tony, you're live ready. You are live. She's like, I'm live. I'm live. I'm live. Okay.

Shannon:

That's probably when you're at your best. I probably. For the people who who say, Oh, well, I don't really have much to say, or I don't want to brag on myself, or you know what I mean? I'm like, I get it. You know, we had the comedian yesterday at the SRA, uh, and he was like, I I forgot what he said, something along the lines of, you know, how many, whatever, and nobody raised their hand. He's like, that's okay. You're a conservative crowd. I'm used to it. We just don't, we don't, we don't draw attention to ourselves. We're not loud. And I'm like, but man, this there's just good conversation there. Absolutely. And if you think you're boring, trust me, there's someone out there who's gonna get something from your story. I always tell people it's my job to interview you.

Tony:

Yeah, yeah. Right?

Shannon:

Like, so I gotta ask the questions. Right. You just share what you want. And and some of the best podcasts I've gotten, responses I've gotten is from people who say, I, you know, this guy.

Tony:

I wasn't prepared for that. I'll just say it. I'll just say it. Yeah.

Shannon:

Yeah. It was like, man, that was really deep. We didn't plan that.

Mariano:

Right. Getting people excited when they're not ready for it. Can it can just burn some sort of fire within them that they didn't even know existed.

Shannon:

And as salespeople, you almost got to be prepared for that.

Mariano:

Mm-hmm.

Shannon:

You gotta be prepared for a customer to walk in at any time, and and you know what? They're gonna catch you eating, they're gonna catch you whatever it is. And you've got to be prepared. So, like you don't have a whole lot of time.

Tony:

So there's no take one, take two. That's boom, here it is.

Shannon:

That's right.

Tony:

Yep. I totally thank you very much for everything that you've said, because it's meant an awful lot to me.

Shannon:

Well, I'll tell you what, it's it's already a pleasure getting to know you guys. We're 40 minutes in. You guys got a lot of Shed Expo here to cover. Uh I just want to say thank you. No, thank you for having us on, Shannon. Real great opportunity. It's it's fun. Shed week's a blast. I hope that you guys uh thoroughly invest into it, enjoy it.

Tony:

Oh, yeah.

Shannon:

And hey, I want to stay connected.

Tony:

Yes. Oh, yes. I got a business card.

Shannon:

Perfect.

Tony:

I'll give you mine too.

Shannon:

Sounds good. That way, all right. I'll hand those off to my wife, and uh her and Troy will get these episodes edited, and you guys feel free to share them wherever you want. Mariana with more billships. And and uh yeah, just thank you for what you do.

Tony:

Well, thank you. Thank you for what you do.

Mariano:

If I get my podcast up and going, I'd love for you to become one of the uh dude. I'll be there.

Shannon:

I'll day one guest hosts. Day one. I'll be there.

Mariano:

I'd like for her to be the number one uh guest guest uh co-host.

Shannon:

Hey, I'll I'll I'll come home whenever.

Mariano:

Yeah, I'd like it.

Shannon:

Because I want to be supportive. I love it whenever people do this. I think communication, I think it drives us. It drives us. Absolutely.

Tony:

It drives us. Absolutely.

Shannon:

Thank you, guys.

Mariano:

Iron Sharpens iron, you know, it's a really good way to keep people in. Awesome.