00:00
When I went to Bangladesh and when I went to Pakistan and when I went to all these other crazy places, it was really wonderful to start to identify with helping people and what that help provided me internally and for my mental health. You can wear a 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.

00:30
This part of ending is starting again

00:36
You're listening to the Radcast. If it's radical, we cover it. Here's your host, Ryan Alford. Hey guys, what's up? Welcome to the latest edition of the Radcast.

00:50
Hey, it's radical today, folks. We're getting after it. If you can't tell, you should be watching the video. About 75% of our audience is on the audio, but they need to be watching the video so they can see the real James Dean, also known as Ryan Alford. We're in myopolis 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've been on the Gram.

01:17
you know, we, like, that's where everybody meets these days, the Gram. And James is like, I got some sunglasses. I think, 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 Annopoulos is doing. So I wanted to have you on the show, man, and talk about.

01:38
how cool these shades are. Well, I'm super stoked for being here, man. And I have to give credit where credit's due. My social media manager, Bryn, she found you and she's like, you need to get on this guy's show. He's no pun intended, the rad dude. So, I'm grateful for being here. Thanks, Ryan. Appreciate it. No, I'm trying to, hey, we try to live up to it. If it's radical, we cover it. And what you're doing is radical, man. You changed the game. You're hustling out there trying to get the company really moving. I know it's going to.

02:07
and you guys got a lot of innovation and a lot of things going for you. Let's just start, James, with 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,

02:37
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, I started my first project was in Bangladesh working on agriculture value change, helping farmers getting tomatoes and mangoes from their local farms to the...

03:05
to the market and I was there for about a year and a half. Then I kind of moved, you know, towards Pakistan, Afghanistan, which is a relevant topic right now, Iraq, all over the stands, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan. Found my way into Papua 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.

03:32
yeah it was it was a it was an adrenaline rush it was it was amazing because I got to fill this this this desire that I have just to help people and really gnarly situations and to give whatever I could you know to show that I was trying to support them in any any way I could not and then you know obviously the Patriot me trying to support you know what we're trying to do overseas for a river for our national security here over in the United States which people don't

04:00
don't really understand, they both correlate. They both, you know, they're working together to support us and, you know, our democracy. So not to get too political, but that's kind of what was going on for the last 10 years of my life, which inspired Opel's Optics, you know, to where we are now, to here today. I love it, man. You know, where does that, you know, you see me as such a good natured dude, and you know, that desire to serve, like you said, and like,

04:30
be out there and travel the world. I mean, what's that foundation from? I don't know, man. I was a big competitor in all my life. I was trying to make it into the pro soccer circuit for a long time. I 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...

04:57
that happened around when uh... you know the two thousand nine two thousand ten credit economic crash in the united states so it was really hard to find a job uh... 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 d c 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 a contractor for the government

05:23
And so when I went to Bangladesh and I went to Pakistan and when I went to all these other crazy places, it was really wonderful to start to identify with helping people and what that help 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 high. Being in environments like that, that is pushing the adrenaline.

05:49
But helping people was a really, a call of action and a call of, um, um, you know, well-being for me, which was, which was amazing. That's great. I mean, at its core, it's funny how well we serve ourselves when we serve others. Uh, 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 Opolis, like what's that?

06:17
entrepreneurial journey been like, man, I mean, I know you've, you did a few stints, you know, after, after the, you know, the government contract work, things like that. But yeah, 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 to almost coming up two years now, um, it's been told people I've, you know, what I was doing overseas was, uh, was very at times stressful and

06:45
and nerve wracking, but I think this has been probably the scariest, most exciting thing I've ever done. I decided to create Opolis 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 trying to go back to Kenya. I was trying to go back to the Philippines. I was trying to go back to Indio. But because of COVID,

07:14
it really like made things very complicated for me because my focus is so purely on the on the supply chain and helping the communities that are dealing with plastic on a day to day basis. It really tested to resolve. It tested my resources financially and in 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 to resolve but I've learned a lot from.

07:44
And I feel like it can only get better from here as the world starts opening up again, as 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, it was pretty bad. It was hard. But I feel like the lessons learned and where we could go now that we've been through this is limitless. I'm hoping, you know, fingers crossed.

08:13
What was the inspiration? I mean, obviously sunglasses, but you know, Ferropolis, and you know, as I look at the shades, they come in a wonderful package, by the way, everyone. We've got, 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?

08:36
Yeah, I've always loved sunglasses. I've always thought that sunglasses were a great complement to someone's face. That's what they bring out into the world all the time, so they identify with what sunglasses could make them look like or what could 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...

09:05
essentially were were helping counter-violence extremism so what that meant was we were identifying communities most at risk for radicalization some the my team would go into these places we'd look at community members communities as as as a whole and figure out ways to creek create programs that promoted promoted counter-violence so to keep people from recruiting for polka rama all shabab

09:35
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 uh... communities that were living just in trash on and and coastal coastal highways and so they were the low-hanging fruit for for radicalization you know they uh... didn't have the resources

10:03
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, their water and sanitation, their 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.

10:33
And I was like, okay, there is just so much of this plastic, 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 look 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,

11:02
our pet which is recycled p e t uh... fabric so they're making like hats are making t shirts are making backpacks all that are recycled water bottles now that's great but the thing with what i'm trying to do is i'm trying to recreate or use that bottle that were finding those landfills or communities and created durable good which is very hard to do which i found it's taking me two years it's taking that plastic bottle

11:29
uh... beating it up and then repurpose it into another durable good you know and so that's what i'm been trying to do improve with the sunglasses the sunglasses itself is just a concept it's a way to show people the market in the industry that there's 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 right and so that's why we've kind of focused on that so

11:58
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. Is sure. So like the ones that are bio-based, so like, define for me, you know, the difference between, and I know you've got a new product coming out, which we'll talk about, but. Yeah.

12:28
Like these sunglasses that are in my hands, how are they made? What are we talking about? What's the material? So yeah, this is bioacetate. 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 bioacetate or acetate itself is created out of oil. And these are being plant-based, so cottonseeds, hemp, and recycled wood chips.

12:57
is created out of a powder. So instead of oils and all the CO2 that's 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 found in the environment, it's probably over 200.

13:24
but the thing is the end of life goes back into the environment, 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 and the metal core that you see in the frames, that's recycled metal that our program in Kenya provides. So we have guys and women that go through the landfills pick scrap metal and we repurpose it for the frames themselves.

13:54
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. What's the name, Opolis? Does that have any specific meaning? Anything behind the brand you could talk about?

14:24
yeah absolutely so opulence uh... it means immune citizen or community and it's it's greek based uh... it's it's it's a great term uh... but i really wanted to come up with the name that that represented empowerment or you know that and then it then it that benefited you know i i universal benefit or are meaning to it uh... but the style itself is is vintage based you know i didn't want to recreate the

14:54
The wheel has been already created a million times. I'm just, I like this type of design. I wanted to show people that you can make a premium product and use really great materials, right? And that the materials themselves are representative of the person that's wearing them, right? So like, I want you to feel empowered by wearing those, Ryan, because you know the story behind it, right?

15:18
Because what's going on in the world of sustainability is so negative and so sad sometimes. But like 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 a good thing, even if they're not in the landfills, even if they're not on the coast cleaning up.

15:45
they're cleaning up and participating in helping these communities by wearing sunglasses uh... but the style itself is is kind of just you know since stuff that's been inspired by like mike some of my uh... you know my heroes on the screen and off the screen uh... and i also wanted again to show people that like you know you can you can wear sustainable product and it doesn't have to look bad there's a lot of competitors out there creating uh... sunglasses at a wood

16:15
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? But with my series, with my collections, I'm trying to prove a point to the industry. That you can wear a really great pair of sunglasses, super stylish, but made with really great material. That's good for the...

16:42
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%. That's a freebie. If I think about it. That's a freebie. I'm right in here. Yeah, right in here. How has the...

17:08
How has the marketing and just, you know, the business, I know, like you, you know, you've been transparent just 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, is it just been a process like everything else? You know, this this game pretty well, better than I do. It's all about A-B testing. Right. Yeah. But to be honest, I feel like I've been A-B testing the entire time that I've.

17:37
started this company, right? And A-B testing means like you've spent some serious cash. And no matter what store you have or the product, the quality of 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 a way of doing things that actually converts or optimizes, right?

18:01
So as you know, the ad spent with the algorithms is kind of a funky thing right now. And so we've actually 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 D2C e-commerce brand. But given that we're so new and so young,

18:30
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 TikTok is now becoming its own animal and learning that.

18:58
that whole process, learning more about reels and learning how to convert those. And learning that coming off as sponsored or paid ads doesn't convert well on these certain social media platforms. So for me, I'm 36 now and trying to learn from the younger generation on how to do that has really tested my patience because I never really even perfected Instagram and Snapchat.

19:28
and then I have to learn all these other elements. So it's like, you know, I love learning these things. It's a complex ecosystem out there. But it is a complex ecosystem and everybody's 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 in that arena is actually like, is receptive to what you're.

19:57
You're pushing out there, right? We just need Khloe Kardashian. I know Khloe, you're probably listening. We need you to pick up a pair of Oplas. And suddenly this all takes care of itself, James. I know it is, it really is. Khloe, if you're out there, Kim, I'll hook you up with some Oplas optics. I'm in LA. Yeah, that might be the path. If you get your story out there enough and get us a good celebrity influence or someone.

20:26
I don't always, I'm not like the check the box of influencer marketing on every product, but I think something with as good a story as you have, you know, if we, we'll have to see. I'll keep you in mind as we do. Well, I mean, that's why I wanted to get on your show, Ryan. You have authenticity about you and you have a great following. And so I think my story, my product, you know, complements what you're trying to do

20:56
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, promote each other's story, you know? Yep. 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 let's talk about product development and things like that.

21:21
Yeah, so we're really excited. I've been waiting two years to launch this. So we're launching what we trademarked as our Stoked Plastic Collection. And so when we were talking about the supply chain of waste advocates going through their landfills and beaches to collect plastic bottles for us, this is the collection that I'm talking about.

21:43
So that one bottle that they're collecting off the beach or landfill turns into a pair of premium sunglasses, which is our Stoke plastic collection. One bottle is one pair? Yeah, essentially. It might be almost two, but we're kind of simplifying it by basically saying one bottle equals one premium pair of eyewear, which would retail around $75 to $80. So it's fairly competitive with what our other...

22:07
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 100% our pet 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, these platforms I like to use to educate some of the...

22:36
consumers in the market itself is that there's a difference between PET, virgin PET, and RPET. So, PET itself is water bottles or soda bottles that 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.

23:06
outbound plastic is the water bottles that we find when we're kayaking, canoeing 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 number one 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 our pet

23:33
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.

23:59
we're going to be the first ones on the market to create a concept or a 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 becomes more than just sunglasses and sunglasses more or less become a concept or a proven concept that you can make.

24:29
premium plastic goods, durable goods, out of plastic bottles you find in the rivers, oceans, lakes, landfills. That's huge, I mean it makes me think it's the ingredient brand, you know, Stoked Plastic. Become, you know, now you've got Ultimate Burger, you know, like the, or 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 if not thousands of other products that could be made.

24:58
utilizing that process, right? Yeah, not to mention like, you know, the amount of volume you could create at using different applications, right? Because for our first batch, and we do micro batches, so it's a limit our CO2 footprint in production, we've only, I'm quoting, air quoting right now, have picked up over 300,000 water bottles from the Balinese coast right now. And that's just with a small initial production.

25:27
So imagine a couple thousands of millions of different product we can make out of this stuff, what that would do for these communities and landfills, right? It's not only 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.

25:56
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 all the plastic coming from overseas to date? Is that all part of the supply chain is overseas? Yeah. So the supply chain that I'm working with and obviously...

26:22
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 U.S. government. So I know these people so well. I know these communities. I know where the money is going and how it's impacting these folks. So obviously the Made in America, Cleaning Up America.

26:51
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 Balinese or at the Filipinos or you know in the Kenyans and the Landfills that's like yeah

27:17
Incredible and we still can't keep up with the trash getting on to 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 Hmm and it's mind-blowing to me that this is not a developing world problem. This is a 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

27:47
you know, the American public and the American, you know, you know, labor, essentially, and job market. Yeah, it's huge. Talk with James Merrill, founder and CEO of Opolis Optics. So.

28:03
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, have you started your book of wisdom? Yeah, the things of not to do. Yeah, sometimes it is that though. Sometimes wisdom is learning.

28:28
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, whether or not I should have raised more money diving into this and as I go, should I 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.

28:58
because for me, I learned by trial by fire and I probably would never have done this if I knew about all 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 really hard 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 passion there.

29:25
but I knew that I wanted to do something on my own terms and my own way and I thought I had a really great idea to do that but in hindsight I wish I had probably 100 to 200 thousand dollars more 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 might as well just jump right in there and as I went and worked with all these manufacturers from.

29:54
Vietnam and even to the United States, this ARPET technology is very nuanced. It's still very new. And, you know, little old me, you know, 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 been really difficult, you know, and then being in LA during COVID and trying to start a company, it really is about

30:21
uh... focusing on your story ryan and that's why i'm here right now is is talking to as many people as you can and is learning as much as you can from other people in in different industries as well taking best practices they've been taking advice on how to do things uh... but the obviously i what keeps me up at night is

30:43
is the financial 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, sale by sale. Like, am I selling on e-commerce, am I selling enough, or am I having to go to retail, or am I gonna have to go to trade shows, or whatnot. It's a very difficult task to prioritize when you really know what those priorities are until they really manifest themselves. You know?

31:14
A lot of truth there, my friend, a lot of truth there. And I, uh, having done, you know, gone down a couple of different ventures and entrepreneurship, it's always, uh, trial by 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. Um, and then, you know, as my, my girlfriend and my bulldog are experienced too is you have to, you have to be able to turn it off every now and then.

31:40
Oh yeah. You know, because if you don't turn it off, you'll let the moment pass and you'll never have it again. So I've been trying to be better about that, which has been 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 and place where you just kind of shut it off for a second.

32:05
100% 100% so James before we get to a little rad 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.opolisoptics.com we have an Instagram opolis underscore optics You can find me on LinkedIn

32:31
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, we're there. And I'm super open to talking to anybody that has any questions about us. And my email is fairly public so people can find me. I love it. So get out there.

32:58
and find OPLIS optics. We're gonna have links to all of that on our show notes and theradcast.com. Are you got time for a little rad 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 an eye care.

33:24
kind of component. So it actually it protects the UV rays from like basically giving you cataracts or like sunburns. How do you know if the ones if it really has it or not? Can they see? That's a good question. Obviously they're supposed to be putting it out if it has to do with eye care. They're supposed to be making that known on their their branding or any products that they're putting out there. And so usually what you're looking for Ryan is UVA UVB 400 protection.

33:53
Hey, you 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...

34:19
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, I know. It's expensive. Canton, New York. Yes, Canton, New York. Definitely rad. I went to school upstate New York and super cold, but it's a part of my history. It's a part of my past. So I got to say rad. All right, cool.

34:48
Instagram reels rather fad. Yes, 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 know if reels will be able to keep up or support what's going on with the Facebook ad spend algorithms. I think TikTok is 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 it. I don't see a longevity to it.

35:13
Yeah, I'm not gonna make any prognostications, but you laid it out pretty good, my friend. Tic-tacs where it's at. So. Tic-tacs, yeah. Unfortunately, yeah. I know, I'm not kinda, it's a love-hate relationship. You know, it 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 anyone, but it's just a little too, I don't know.

35:40
I'm a grammar, you know, like so. Yeah, yeah, me too. Yeah. Brother, I really appreciate you coming on, James. It's great to get to know you. I know we're gonna stay in touch. I wanna help one another. Absolutely, 100%. And I really want people to go out there and check out Opolis Optics and get your cool shades like mine.

35:59
This is a first up. And your cool Jimmy or James Dean shades like. I know, I didn't even plan this look and it just kind of worked out. I know, you did the whole thing. Did you come up on your Cafe Moto motorcycle too? Like what's going on? Hey, yeah, it might be out there, my Cafe Racer. There you go, man, there you go. Yeah, no, it's all good. Really appreciate you coming on. Hey guys, go follow James Merrill in Opolis Optics. You know where to find us, we're at theradcast.com. Search for Opolis, you'll find all the content there, all the highlight reels.

36:29
everything else, you know where to follow me at Ryan Alford on all the platforms. We'll see you next time on the Radcast.