The Semper Savage Salad Dressing Story: [Part II] with John Currie on Episode #0198

Intro [0:00]
EA Interviews Episode 198. Inspiration, transformation, success stories, and the Imperfect Action Round seven days a week. Join Mario Fachini for today’s Expert Authority Effect Interview.

Mario Fachini [0:14]
Have you ever had an idea that you just wanted to bring to life? You know, maybe it was a product, maybe it was a service, or maybe it was something in the culinary industry that you just wanted to serve to the world? Well, I’m excited to have John Currie, CEO, speaker, and Marine Corps Vet. And he’s going to be talking about his company, Semper Savage. And I can tell you the salad dressing is delicious. I’m going to bring him up right after we thank our sponsor.

SPONSOR Free Business Book Publishing Course [0:43]
Every business needs a book, including yours. Visit FreeBusinessBookPublishingCourse.com today to learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. Once again, that’s FreeBusinessBookPublishingCourse.com.

Mario Fachini [0:58]
Here he is, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. John Currie. John, how are you feeling today?

John Currie [1:02]
Hey, Mario. I’m feeling great. Super excited to be here. Thanks for having me on the show.

Mario Fachini [1:06]
Oh, it’s my pleasure. I love hearing inspiring stories. And, you know what a blessing it is for me to be able to interview cool people like you that are making a difference in the world, steering the country in the right direction, and taking your knowledge and expertise and just sharing it. And I got to say the dressing is delicious. And I want to know, why did you not want to play it safe? What would you tell someone who has an idea, because some people, I would say, it’s easy to start something in the service business because I’ve done it. I’ve started stuff in the product business. I’ve had a lot of ideas truthfully since fourth grade for restaurants. I love culinary. I love to eat. My nephew, very proud of him. Him and his wife graduated the Culinary Institute of America. They’re professional chefs. Everyone loves food. But I know there’s a lot of pros and cons to that industry. So why did you decide to venture into it?

John Currie [2:03]
Honestly, because I can. So that is a really interesting question. A question I talked to people quite a bit about, you know, when is the right time? How do I start something and still make a living? And my advice is, always, don’t quit your day job. So I am fortunate and I was able to put myself into a position where I was able to take a little bit of risk, make a little bit of investment, and not have to worry about paying the rent or the mortgage and putting food on the table and those sorts of things. So I always say to someone who is about to launch a product, to someone who is about to start a business, once you’ve got that idea and you know that it’s viable, you’ve really tested out that idea, start the business but don’t quit your day job. Give the business a chance to grow. Allow it to get out of diapers. You cannot expect a business to just be birthed and start hunting Gazelle. You got to get it out of diapers. So that’s my speech on that. And, at least, the gist of what I often say but in answer to your question in direct answer is, because I could, because I put myself in that position to be able to.

Mario Fachini [3:34]
Now, I have a fun question I’m going to ask you, do you have any idea what you think it might be?

John Currie [3:41]
I have no freaking clue, Mario, what it might be.

Mario Fachini [3:44]
What if someone can’t? Or what if they’re not in a position to would you still tell them to go for their dream and go for it?

John Currie [3:52]
One hundred percent. Yeah. I mean, risk is something that everybody has to manage. You know, every time we get into a car, you got to manage risk. Every time I get into an aircraft, I got to manage risk. Anything happens in life, as dramatic or as simple as it may be, you have to manage risk. And so everybody’s going to be different. And it comes time to pursue their dream, whatever it might be.

Mario Fachini [4:15]
Now, when you’re saying when you get into an aircraft, I mean, I’ve gotten into an aircraft but I just have a high suspicion you’re not referring to the commercial airliners that I’ve been in so far.

John Currie [4:25]
No. No. Not. And during my Marine Corps career, I was a pilot. I flew Cobra AH1 Whiskeys, and now I work, actually, the State Department and I worked overseas and I fly another aircraft now. But, yeah, it’s something that’s always on my mind and it’s a continual allegory throughout my life. You know, my wife walking off and telling me, “Well, when you get in the cockpit, you wouldn’t do it this way.” And I’m like, “Yeah. Yeah. Probably wouldn’t.” But anyway, it’s like an ongoing allegory throughout my life this entire aviation thing.

Mario Fachini [5:03]
Well, I appreciate not only the symbolism, but your service. And I’m just thrilled that you’re doing what you’re doing now, because you can get this out to the world. And I know that’s your goal with it. So I want to ask about the first steps of it, because I know you’re doing well now. But what was it like in the beginning? And how did you get – I got to ask, because I had this on the list, how do you do the professional wrap around it? The lid, the black, the seal.

John Currie [5:37]
So first of all, it is manufactured for us. But the way it’s done is it’s just shrink wrap. That’s all it is. It’s a it’s a sleeve, a black sleeve that you loosen up over the top of the bottle and then it’s heated up with a heat gun. You know, it sucks up to the bottle.

Mario Fachini [5:59]
I was having some fun with that. And I gave some to my friend. And I was telling people about it. And I was telling Stacy – thank her again for sending them. And I looked at it, because from the branding and marketing standpoint, I mean, that’s my background. And I was looking at this, I’m like, “This is really well done.” And I was looking at that. And the creative side of me was going, “How the heck did they do this?” And it reminded me of those Easter egg wraps when I was a kid that you put it around the egg and put in the hot water and it would shrink up on there.

John Currie [6:32]
That’s basically the same thing.

Mario Fachini [6:36]
So how did you get it to that point, because, yeah, it’s phenomenal?

John Currie [6:40]
It’s good story. And there’s a million little stories within the overarching story. But the overarching story is –

Mario Fachini [6:48]
We got time.

John Currie [6:49]
The overarching story is that when I was a kid, about middle school age, I was a little bit unusual, I really loved salad. And so I was always looking for good salad dressing. And I did worked at a Thai restaurant for a couple years where I learned about how to make good food, generally speaking. And the lessons I took away from that were great recipe, great ingredients, just put it together correctly and you’re probably going to have great food. Just execute the recipe. So that’s one piece. But I was always looking for great salad dressing. There was a few restaurants to include the one that I worked at, that really had some great stuff. And they were all like mom and pop Italian places. And so I had zero culinary background, other than flipping pizzas and putting together sandwiches and salads and stuff, you know, at a Thai restaurant. But I would go to these places, I would order salad and I’d be chowing down, you know, “Man, this stuff’s great. I wonder what it has in it.” And so I would literally look at what was left in the bottom of the bowl and look at what was on the salad. And I’d go home to my mom’s cabinet and I open it up and it kind of looks about right. I pour a little bit of that in with some oil and some vinegar, and I made a lot of really terrible concoctions over the years, but it kept getting better, literally, over decades. So it was like 2009, I think, before I really hit the right formula. It was completely accidental. Of course, by then I had learned quite a bit along the way.

Mario Fachini [8:20]
Yeah. I mean, accidental after how many years of testing it.

John Currie [8:24]
Exactly. So I got better and better. You know, I learned little things like, “Oh, olive oil is a key ingredient. I can’t just throw some crazy nasty oil in there has to be extra virgin olive oil.” Anyway, that was how the actual product got invented. Then it was friends and family going, “Man, this stuff is really good. You should market it.” And so I’m listening to all this over the years and and kind of thinking, Yeah. I don’t have the money to bring something to market. Because I did a little bit of research, pretty expensive. Yeah. I don’t want to take that risk.” So, one year for Christmas, our oldest daughter was away at school, she wanted the salad dressing because same as me, she couldn’t find any decent salad dressing. She wanted my stuff. And she bought me a case of mason jars. Hold on a second, I’m going to show it to you. This is one of the actual mason jars. Let’s see if I can show it to the camera just a little bit. Anyway, she bought me a case of these bad boys and on it, it has my face and it says John Currie’s World Famous Salad Dressing. And so I’m sitting on Christmas morning, I’m looking at a box full of these things. And, first of all, it was great. It was a great, great gift. And it had a note that said, “Okay. Now, fill them up with salad dressing.” But Stacy and I started looking at this and it sort of inspired us just looking at this label on a bottle. So that was one event. It was just kind of a little bit of a kick. The other thing was I was working at the Pentagon at the time and I had a good friend named Mac Talbert. Mac has a barbecue sauce business called Smoke N Shine, which we are so involved with and we are good friends. Well, I had no idea that he had this business. So one day he comes walking into our little cubicle area and somebody asked him about the barbecue sauce business and he starts going off about, “Yeah. We’re in, you know, 20 stores or whatever. We’re doing great.” I’m like, “What? Dude, you’ve got a frickin’ barbecue sauce business?” He’s like, “Yeah. I never told you about that?” “No. You never told me about that. Let me tell you, I got a salad dressing and you and I need to talk.” So we did. We had lunch. And the long and short of it is he was able to mentor me through the initial steps that I needed to take – or that Stacy and I needed to take. He mentored me and then I would come home and say, “Hey, Mac said this.” And then we just pursued it from there. It was pretty simple. I just step-by-step did what he did. I used the same bottlers. I used the same everything. The same label company. The whole nine yards. And so he was able to mentor me through that. And that got us this, an actual product in a bottle. And, well, what now? Now, I had already started the company, technically speaking, but we weren’t really doing anything. And as I went through this process, I kind of got re-inspired to do something different. The initial thing was just, “Yeah. I’ll put in a bottle. We’ll sell it to friends and family. We’ll, maybe, take it to a farm stand here and there.” I just didn’t have really a lot of big plans. But very quickly, whatever it is in my personality – I’m not sure what you would call it – took over and I was like –

Mario Fachini [12:05]
Achiever? Overcomer?

John Currie [12:07]
Maybe, I don’t know what it is. But I very quickly said, “You know what? If this stuff is really that good, if I’m willing to take the risk to put it into a bottle, why would I not be successful at it? Why would I settle for mediocrity?” That’s what it is. You just helped me. You just helped me, Mario, to understand better. I have always a hoard mediocrity.

Mario Fachini [12:34]
I can relate to that.

John Currie [12:35]
And ever since I was a kid, I could not abide by it. And so that’s what it was. And I was like, “Why would I not make this as successful as I possibly could?” And so that’s where I said, “Okay. We’re going to try to make this into something. Something big.” Just the bottom line, something big. And so we’re working on it right now.

Mario Fachini [13:03]
What would you say has been the funnest part of it?

John Currie [13:07]
Oh, wow. The funnest part is probably getting really good feedback from customers. That’s the funnest part of producing something, even if it’s just on Facebook or something, having a customer say, “We love our Semper Savage.” Or they post a recipe or something and we get quite a bit of that saying, “Hey, I made pork chops or something with it. That is a lot of fun. The process – and I think this is important to note – is fun. I love the creative process from making the logos, to making videos, to coming up with product descriptions. I love that whole process. Stacy really does most of it. But she’s the creator in the kitchen. And I love it when she comes up with a new idea. A recent one, it’ll eventually come out. Anyway, she made a ginger one. And I was like, “Wow. What a great idea. Never in a million years would I have thought of that.” And that part is fun, coming up with new products. Coming up with a new way to engage the public. Coming up with a new way to market the product is a lot of fun. And we actually have a good time doing it together. Photography, video, we go all over the place and do that stuff. I love all of that.

Mario Fachini [14:39]
One thing I like about business – I mean, there’s a whole lot – but bringing people together because I’ve had the pleasure of doing stuff with friends and family and, you know, significant others at times. It’s not just fun. It’s very memorable. Because I personally feel, you can only watch so many movies and just do so many things. Like, even dinner, it’s like, “Oh. Should we go to the usual place again this Thursday or Friday, because it’s Thursday? You know what I mean? It’s a lot more fun to, instead of go to a concert, be the concert or produce a movie or produce a show or create something. Because I think it’s that fear that holds most people back. I’m still learning. You know, people seek me out for expertise on certain things now, but I remember starting off, and it was like, “I don’t know what I’m doing.” And that’s five years later, when I did. I still don’t know what I’m doing. And ten years later and 20 years later, I still don’t. I’m still learning. But it’s that progress and you can track it and you can do it with the ones you care about and that you love. And I think that’s priceless.

John Currie [15:53]
Yeah. I agree 100 percent. And I think that a lot of people, the fear of failure in one mode or another, I think, holds a lot of people back.

Mario Fachini [16:06]
I saw something recently, it was, Don’t be afraid of failure or success, but be afraid of being in the same place you were next year.

John Currie [16:13]
Absolutely. Go for it. You know, just go for it, try to be smart about it, try to be successful the first time, understand that you’re going to have colossal failures along the way. And you just gotta roll with it.

Mario Fachini [16:29]
If you’re going to fail, fail spectacularly.

John Currie [16:32]
You will absolutely learn. Years ago, I heard something that I thought was pretty wise. And that was, I guess they were talking about education in general. Anyway, whoever was writing the article or making the speech said, you know, “Instead of spending $50,000, on your child’s education in college, spend $50,000 buying him a business. Let him run that for five or six years. And when he or she is done with that, they’re going to have a better education. And maybe even something that’s worth something afterwards.” And I thought there was a lot of wisdom in that. If you kind of unpack what all is behind that, a lot of wisdom behind that.

Mario Fachini [17:23]
Yeah. I’m excited to see where you’re going and I’m going to ask you about that. But you just shared the fun part. I know you’re an overcomer. What was, probably ,the most colossal hurdle you had to overcome? Was it the packaging, the marketing? What was like one of the first cinch points you really felt?

John Currie [17:43]
It was actually, the thing was the culmination of many things. So I had a production date that I wanted to be able to meet. In order to do that, I had to have a label design. In order to have a label design, I had to get the artwork. In order to get the artwork done, I had to settle on a name. In order to settle on a name – you know, there was just all these things that had not been completed yet. And this would have been back in 2018 – actually – yeah, 2018, when we first started the business. And I can’t remember what our first one was, I think it was that winter. So we were coming up against it and I hadn’t finished everything yet. Anyway, that pressure and a lot of things culminate that you’re trying to manage. And maybe you are ready for that. That was definitely one event, which was actually a lot of things. That was probably the toughest time to get through from an execution standpoint.

Mario Fachini [18:46]
I can relate to that with the books I’ve published in the EA Interview Shine app. You know, all I want to do is launch it and get it into your hands. And it’s like, “Well, is it on iTunes and Android?” Well, it’s on one, but the other ones given an issue. And then well, we can’t get it on there because you need the graphics. And then it needs to be tested. And it needs blah, blah. I’m just like, “Can we just skip to the end without the labor pains?”

John Currie [19:13]
Right. I know it’s tough. And then even hiring somebody to do certain work can be tough. So I quickly found out – so I was doing all the artwork. I was doing all the film stuff. I was doing all that kind of creative side of it. And I was designing t-shirts and doing all sorts of things because I thought that was going to be part of our business, which it may become a little later. But I couldn’t take an idea and download it to somebody else’s head for them to put on paper or in the trans. I couldn’t do that. I did find actually a graphic artist who somehow is able to do that. He’s a young dude. He’s a college student. He lives in Sri Lanka. But, Robbie, we’ve done a lot of work together. And somehow he has a talent for being able to hear my words or my description, or maybe take a real rough picture that I’ve maybe hand drawn. And then while he gives me something that looks right. But that’s just one example of, if you’re the guy with the idea, it can be very, very difficult to even hire somebody else to do it, because they can’t do it without downloading what’s in your brain. Kind of tough.

Mario Fachini [20:39]
Yeah. When you’re dealing with – I’ve gone through it with designers, developers, programmers. “Hey, I have an idea. I want to build a software.” And it’s like, “Can it do this? Can it do that?” Just the communication. But if you get the right people when you do, it’s so smooth. And it’s like, you know, there’s like the second nature or this wavelength you’re on. It’s like, “Hey, what about this?” “Yeah. Great. Go for it.” I mean, those are my favorite messages. You know, you send me a paragraph of, “Oh, while we were working on A, B, C, by the way, here’s something.” I have no clue about because it’s not my wheelhouse. I don’t care. Here’s what I advise we do for moving forward. Great. Go for it.

John Currie [21:22]
Exactly. It’s almost when you can get relationships like you’re describing to where there is an intuitive, implicit collaboration, your winning big time. Keep those people. Don’t let them go. Keep them happy.

Mario Fachini [21:42]
Yeah. I’m very thankful for my team. Some of them I’ve worked with over ten years. Most of them are at least five to eight. I do have new people because everything is growing and the show is doing well and so is business. But, I mean, the same with my clients. I’ve got clients I’ve had for 10, 11 years. And it’s why I was excited to start the show, because I had the confidence. I knew what I had done in other areas. I’m like, “This is going to be a cakewalk.”

John Currie [22:12]
There’s an old marine infantry saying, “Times two plus one.” So whatever you think you’re going to do, it’s going to be twice as hard. It’s going to take twice as long. And just a little bit more. I apply that to everything. “Hey, this is going to be easy.” No, it’s not. Make it about twice as hard. Twice as much effort. Twice as much resources. And you’re probably in the ballpark. That is definitely served well.

Mario Fachini [22:42]
It is worth it, though.

John Currie [22:44]
I agree. Yeah, 100 percent.

Mario Fachini [22:47]
I don’t think I’ve ever publicly shared this, but when I started the show, I’m like, “I’ve got background in video, this is going to blah, blah, blah.” My goal was to be able to book, record, edit, and premiere every episode in under an hour as far as, like, self-contain how much work goes into it.

John Currie [23:11]
Yeah. That’s a lofty goal.

Mario Fachini [23:14]
Hey, got to start somewhere, right? So let me ask you, where do you see this going in the next five to ten years?

John Currie [23:24]
Yes. I’ve definitely put some milestones out there. So next year, I hope to be launching at least two more products in the same line. So the first hurdle is, to get this thing out of diapers. Make it profitable. Make it so that it’s running on its own. And when I say that, I mean it’s sustaining itself monetarily. It doesn’t need any more input from mom and dad. It doesn’t need cash infusions here and there. It is running on its own and producing a surplus that we could work with. That’s the first step. And we are less than a year from launching our product. So I’m not nervous, you know, that we’re still in that phase. Next year, I want to launch new products. And I want to simply grow. Now, I have not put a number on that. I want to see positive growth. I want to see it moving down the road. More than that, I want to see the brand and the products getting noticed by anybody, of course. But I want to feel calls from, you know, Black Rifle Coffee and Nine Line Clothing. And I don’t know, name another veteran-owned business who might be looking for partners that is already winning big time. Yeah, I’d love to be connecting with people like that. And then go from there, ultimately, within the next five years, I expect this to be a full time very profitable gig. If it’s not, so what? As long as I’m having a good time. But I’m not going to accept that theory.

Mario Fachini [25:24]
That’s excellent. Love that attitude. So we have one more thing to do before we thank our sponsor. I know you’ve seen it.

John Currie [25:34]
I have seen that.

Mario Fachini [25:35]
It’s the Wheel of Whatever. And I got to put a caveat, because normally I just make stuff up on the fly. Usually from the VIP guest gives me ideas. I usually have some beforehand, but I don’t want to ask you like, who would you like to have dinner with and they will be having your dressing. But I also don’t want to go too deep. But I’d love to get some information on the government. Like what can you tell me that, like, no one knows that you’re allowed to say that we’re not going to get in trouble for? Do you have something? Conspiracy theory, can I ask you about the –

John Currie [26:11]
Oh, yes. Let me tell you about the UFOs. Not exactly.

Mario Fachini [26:19]
I got one. I got one.

John Currie [26:20]
Yeah. Yeah. Go.

Mario Fachini [26:24]
Okay. You alluded to it earlier. What was the most memorable part about flying the Cobras?

John Currie [26:32]
Wow. The most memorable?

Mario Fachini [26:36]
Still pretty good. And they know you can talk about it?

John Currie [26:39]
Oh. No, no. Yeah. No problems at all. So it’s not going to be politically correct. But watching the enemies of the country go up with clients. That was probably the most memorable thing for me.

Mario Fachini [26:57]
Cool. Love the honesty. That’s all I ask for on the show.

John Currie [27:02]
That’s just the simple truth. That was the most memorable. It’s definitely something I took away from it.

Mario Fachini [27:09]
All right then.

John Currie [27:10]
And it was a good thing.

Mario Fachini [27:12]
And on that high note, we’re going to thank our sponsor and we’ll be right back for the Imperfect Action Round. Thank you for sharing, John. I did enjoy that.

SPONSOR Free Business Book Publishing Course [27:21]
You’ve heard me say every business needs a book, including yours. And it’s true. And that’s why you should visit FreeBusinessBookPublishingCourse.com today to learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. But you know what? Don’t take my word for it. Take it from a few of my authors like Lorie, “I went from having an idea and the possibility to actually getting my book published.” Or Katherine, “Thank you for making my mom number one bestselling author.” Or Maryalice, “What he got done for me in three days regarding my book launch, unimaginable.” Jon Cody, “I’ve worked with Mario over the phone and online and he’s been very helpful in getting me where I needed to go with promoting my books.” Rosio, “There’s no way in the world I would have been able to do this with somebody else. Again, I’ve attempted it in the past, it didn’t serve me. As a matter of fact, I ended up more frustrated than anything. So this has been a very seamless process.” Adele, “If you’re looking for an amazing business coach, I highly recommend Mario Fachini.” Or Bill Benner, “I can’t make a higher recommendation than to work with Mario Fachini. He has been great for me. And right now, I won’t work with anybody else except for Mario.” Hey, their words, not mine. Visit FreeBusinessBookPublishingCourse.com to get started now and I look forward to hearing your transformation as the next video success story. Once again, that’s FreeBusinessBookPublishingCourse.com.

Mario Fachini [28:52]
And we are back with the Imperfect Action Round. I got to be honest, I’m still enjoying that last one. I’m like, “What can I ask him that’s like not breaking any rules that will get us in trouble but is still honest and just not the same as everyone else asks you.”

John Currie [29:09]
You can ask me anything. If I can’t answer something, I’d simply tell you that I can’t answer it.

Mario Fachini [29:15]
Out of all the interviews I’ve done so far, I would have to say I think there’s only one time I got a pass out of all the questions out of all the guests. And I try to keep it interesting so I actually like it –

John Currie [29:31]
You do a great job.

Mario Fachini [29:31]
Well, thank you. When you said it’s not going to be politically correct, I’m like, “Yes. Most people won’t go this place.” But my show, so do what I want. Just one honesty, that’s all I ever want.

John Currie [29:43]
There you go.

Mario Fachini [29:43]
So the Imperfect Action Round. These are the things I always ask, 60-second answers. It’s a lot of fun. Number one, what is the fastest path to profits?

John Currie [29:58]
Keeping in mind, like I alluded to earlier, Semper Savage itself is still not a profitable venture. It will be. But I do, nevertheless, have a philosophy that I think is and that is, being a servant to your customers. Be a servant. Help people out. Help out your customers. Help other companies out. Help other individuals out. That is, to my mind, the quickest way to build goodwill, which can be priceless, whether it’s business to business or between you and your customers. Just serving them. Over serving. Over delivering. I think that’s it.

Mario Fachini [30:52]
I would tell you that you’re already profitable, because of your mindset and the goals you have – not the goals, the values. Because I remember when I was starting out, I was, like, 150 percent into the customer what can I do before, during, and after. And when you’re in the startup phase, you don’t really need to justify quarterly earnings and all of that. You’re in the startup phase and you’re on the right track. And it’s one of the reasons I wanted to have you on because I know what you’re doing and where your heart’s at. So thank you for that. Number two, why do you think most people stop and why did you decide to go forward?

John Currie [31:34]
I think most people stop out of fear. And fear takes a lot of forms. I think most people stop because, probably, they’re afraid of failing in front of family. Nobody wants to be disgraced in front of their wife or kids or the mom or the dad. I think that’s a big barrier for a lot of people. The second barrier would be friends. And sometimes we have friends that are brutally honest, and we appreciate that. And sometimes we have friends who are negative Nellies, and we don’t appreciate that. But sometimes when you have a fragile venture that you are trying to get going, I think a lot of people give into that. I think a negative Nelly friend can break somebody’s spirit, unknowingly, to start something. But I think fear is why most people stop. Why did I not? I assessed the risk. I was willing to take the risk. I knew roughly how much I was willing to risk. And I saw no downside for me. Well, and so I took the risk. A third thing is that I looked around and all the veteran-owned companies that were doing things and I’m like, “Well, thank God I’m not wanting to make coffee, or hot sauce, or beef jerky, or t-shirts. Because those spaces are completely crowded.” When I discovered that nobody to my knowledge, nobody I could find on the internet was making salad dressing and marinade, I’m like it’s an empty space. Why would I go for it? Geez, we got a great product. Maybe we’ll win. We’ll see. But it was an empty space.

Mario Fachini [33:37]
That’s awesome. And I’m glad you did go for it. Because so many people don’t. And I have an idea for something. And I remember thinking of it 10, 15 years ago, and I was like, “You know, whatever.” And then eight years ago, I was like, “I should do this.” And I started looking into it. And it turns out there was already a product out there. It took a while to find, but like you said, I couldn’t find it on the internet. And it really was a milestone for me because it shows me that. I mean, think about the auto industry. You can go into it. It’s also a crowded space. But sometimes that’s even a better deal because now you have the space made up. You don’t need to do the marketing and you don’t need to create the industry. There’s more competition, but as long as you’re better than them, it’s easier. And I remember thinking of this thing and I go, “They look like the website was done well. The thing was done.” But it took me a while to find it. I go, “It doesn’t even matter. It’s the marketing and the sales.” They weren’t talking about it enough. You know, and I tell my clients all the time when we’re refining their marketing message or publishing their business books, I go, “You can have the best tasting steak in the world but if no one knows about it, they’re not going to come to the restaurant. And even when they’re in the restaurant, you got to get them to order it out of the other 30 things on the menu.

John Currie [35:07]
Yeah, 100 percent and you’re absolutely right, you can have the best thing in the world. But it’s like the old parable of the – what was it? Anyway, where the lights are hidden under the basket.

Mario Fachini [35:17]
Hide your light under a bushel.

John Currie [35:19]
Yeah. Yeah. There you go. If you hide your light under a bushel, nobody’s going to know. And it’s the same thing, if you keep it in your basement and you’re like, “Oh, I got the best whatever. I invented, you know, the longer lasting white ball 12 years ago. And look at me I’m still stuck in my basement.” “Well, you never let it out of the basement, dude.” You got to do something with your light. You got one freaking shot at this.

Mario Fachini [35:47]
Yeah. You got to go for it.

John Currie [35:47]
Yeah. Go for it. What are you going – you know, what’s the downside? Assess the risk and go for it. Yeah. But it’s interesting that – you know, you were talking a little bit about the market space, I mean, the salad dressing market is crowded as hell. You know, you walk into a grocery store and you got a whole aisle of it, right? Well, it’s all commoditized. And it’s all full of oil blends and dyes, water and xanthan gum, and all sorts of binders and things like that. It’s because the product have become so commoditized. And so our decision was, we’re not going to play in your grocery store game. We’re going online. We’re maintaining our standards of all natural homemade salad dressing in a bottle your Italian grandmother would be proud to serve this stuff in her kitchen. She’s not going to tell you she bought it from somewhere. But she would be proud to serve it.

Mario Fachini [37:00]
I think you’re winning that way because so many people are going to the healthier – you know, when I pick up organic food and I’m always looking at what’s in it. And I don’t really care if it’s a little bit more or premium. I actually prefer that. And I’ve told people that I know it’s the best. I know it’s better. There’s no decision making. When you’re in a, let’s say, arguing contest over which of these five are better and they’re all pretty much junk. And it’s like this one’s 40 percent, this one’s 50, and this one’s 60. It’s like, why even argue? Because here’s the real winner over here.

John Currie [37:36]
Right. Exactly. And so while it’s a crowded space, we’re a completely different thing. We’re something that doesn’t – our products are something that doesn’t exist on most store shelves. You might find it in a specialty store or something, some similar product. But a product like ours does not have a peer in a Kroger or you name the store. It doesn’t because of the commoditization that has occurred.

Mario Fachini [38:11]
Yeah. It’s the best thing you can do in any business is de-commoditize the product. Too many people look and sound the same as everyone else. And the prospect doesn’t know which one to buy. And the only thing left is the price. And it’s the worst way to market anything. But that’s a whole other actual training I’ve done.

John Currie [38:31]
And people may buy our salad dressing because they’ve tried it and they loved it. I suspect, however, that people are going to end up buying our salad dressing, at least initially, because they love the values that we espouse. They love the way we engage the public. We love that the authenticity that we bring, you know, it’s myself, it’s Stacy, our kids are in the pictures, our friends are in the pictures. You know, we didn’t hire fancy models or anything. I mean, this is our family, our product, we are veteran-owned, we are family-run. And I think those values are what people are going to go, “Yeah. I’m going to try this guy’s stuff. You know, it looks fantastic. Let’s give it a try.” And then they try it and they’re like, “Wow. This is the best salad dressing I’ve ever had. I’m going to buy some more.” So we’re just coming at it from a completely different angles.

Mario Fachini [39:31]
And there’s a lot of brands that do the premium placement. Like, when I bought my Oakleys and Bowes, it’s like they’re not trying to run the discount game and this, that, the other thing. It’s like we’re here, you want us, great. If not, Merry Christmas. So one of the last questions I got for you, what are some books that have made a difference in your life?

John Currie [39:53]
Yeah. So there’s a tremendous number.This is going to be an unusual answer, but recently, I’ve been getting back into Dostoevsky. So Crime and Punishment is what I’m currently reading. The Brothers Karamazov before that. And I wish people would read more. More Dostoevsky, more Solzhenitsyn, more of these super dense readers that are some of the most important thinkers in their time and still some of the most important ideas that we need right now. Hey, if it’s too dense for you, buy a Jordan Peterson book, because that guy just fills it very well.

Mario Fachini [40:44]
Excellent. Well, thank you for those. Where would you like people to learn more?

John Currie [40:51]
Hey, if you Google, Semper Savage, you’re going to find us. So you’re going to find us on Facebook, you’re going to find a website, which is www.SemperSavage.com, which is where our sales come through. But you can find us on social media, if you just Google Semper Savage. If you’re interested in purchasing the product, you want to learn more about the product, there’s videos and pictures, all sorts of recipes and things on our website at SemperSavage.com.

Mario Fachini [41:19]
Excellent. And I will make sure a link on the EAInterviews.com show notes page goes right there. This has been a lot of fun. Thank you, John. It’s been a pleasure.

John Currie [41:31]
It’s been an absolute pleasure, Mario. Thank you for having me.

Mario Fachini [41:35]
All right. Expert Authority World, we have another great episode today. I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a great day. God bless.

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Mario Fachini [42:17]
Hey, thanks for listening to today’s episode. I hope you got a lot out of it. I know I sure did. If you haven’t done so already, I invite you to subscribe to the show. And also be sure to check out EAInterviews.com for complete show notes, the full interview video experience, links to the resources we mentioned, and more. Have a blessed day and I’ll see you tomorrow.