“I know, I know. There’s been a lot less dick jokes, and a lot more sentimental nice posts this week. But, what can I say? It’s the season of reflection, season of thanks, and season of love. All of those things that Hallmark makes millions of fucking dollars exploiting. You know the drill.” -Me, in 2017.
Man, I usually love this piece. 2020’s been weird, but it didn’t really hit me how different it was for SoBros Network until I started looking for a featured image for this post. Usually, I put some big group photo up from a fun SoBros event we hosted – but that didn’t happen this year. We weren’t able to travel to any festivals. We couldn’t host any birthday parties. No watch parties for the Preds or the Titans. Hell, we didn’t even get together for our usual quarterly business summits/parties. That’s such a huge part of what we do here – it feels like we lost a little bit of our brand’s heart this year.
And, I shouldn’t be complaining – I’m well aware of that. There are a lot of companies who were completely devastated by the pandemic this year. By and large, we were still able to do what we do best in 2020: create #content. But, it was hard, and speaking solely for myself, it was a massive challenge. For one, my business plans were pretty much completely turned upside down. And, I struggled finding the motivation to grind as hard as I have in years past.
I think back to January, all the big plans we had for this year, and I can’t help but laugh a little bit. But, all we could do was adapt, and I think we did a good job of that. With everything happening in the world, I didn’t want to get away from our philosophy of being a break from what’s going on in the world. But, there was a way to stay relevant – I started reviewing food trucks, Steven McCash made playlists left and right, being apart meant we couldn’t podcast in person so we started recording through Skype. In the process of that last one, we ended up churning out more podcasts than ever. In a way, it opened our eyes to a way we could be five times as productive as we were in years past. Not that I never thought of recording remotely – this just gave me the push I needed to get it done.
And, we still had some pretty big wins this year – I don’t want to repeat myself over and over, so I’ll just point you guys to my list of the top 10 SoBros moments this year. We made it into the Nashville Scene’s Best of Nashville issue. We saw our greatest single day and single month in terms of pageviews in SoBros history. And, we still managed to get to 88% of my sales goal for the year.
From a personal content perspective, I was particularly proud of the Dennis Kelly podcast, the return of the SoBros Power Hour to its roots as a fun “comedy” show, exploring some of my weirder ideas on SoBros Short Fiction, and I really enjoy building out the Nerd Shop (go buy some collectibles). I always love getting positive feedback from people I write about – whether it’s a comment, a quote tweet, or a random e-mail. That always brings a smile to my face and makes me feel like I’m accomplishing what I set out to accomplish. Getting free cool shit from companies is pretty cool. These are some of the things that really kept me going on a personal level this year.
But, I don’t know that anything makes me as proud of SoBros Network as being apart of the team we’ve assembled here. We have some standup people on board who are willing to support each other, willing to be there for each other, and are willing to help out their community when called upon. You might read SoBros Network content, but I don’t know if the real heart of this team translates through the screen. And, that goes for ‘SoBros Nation’ as well. I’ve made some quality friendships just out of writing dumb shit on the internet. We’re still all about building community, and I think we’ve done a good job of it in 2020 despite all of the distance.
As for 2021, I think you’ll see a bit of a return to our roots as a humor brand. I want to do more of the funny stuff – that’s my sweet spot, and I felt like I lost a little bit of that by constantly being stressed out in 2020. We’re going to get back to doing the SoBros Power Hour regularly, with a rotation of new SoBros each week. I want to continue building out our premium content on Patreon – I have some new video ideas that will be based off of the Nerd Shop. I know some will hate on the paywall, but damn y’all – I’m trying to make a livin’ doing this shit one day.
I think about the core values I’ve set forth for SoBros Network:
- Be humble
- Create Fearlessly
- GSD (get shit done)
- Uplift others
It may sound corny, but that shit’s at the basis of everything we do. And, I think we have a team of people that exemplify that spirit well.
I look at the work Brandon Vick put in this year – the reviews, the podcasts, covering film festivals. That’s a rare level of dedication, and he deserves props for not slowing down one bit for five years now. He’s also been an example of how to “be there” all his years as a SoBro. He’s told me before, “I don’t know what I can do to help, but I’m here.” Man….if that sentiment’s not the heart of SoBros Network, I don’t know what is.
I also think about Brittany Fernandez and Steven McCash both really stepping forward and into their own light in 2020. It goes back to what I was saying about the heart of this team – you may see all the content that these two are producing, but what you don’t see is the positive attitude they approach SoBros Network with, and what excellent team players and contributors they’ve become.
I think about the lifers – Cadbury and Rooster, both have long been pillars of this brand, and people that I’ve leaned on for personal support for a long time. They continue to redefine the content they create, whether it’s Cadbury traveling to Kansas for a chili dog, or Rooster taking the reins on a podcast that has more heart than any other show on the SoBros Network. But to be there for the SoBros team for as long as they have, that’s special.
Stan stepped up this year, too – despite having a full plate of life shit, he came to me and said he wanted to make gambling picks every week of the football season. I’ll be damned if he didn’t do it – hasn’t missed a week. And, of course, though I can’t list ’em by name, the SoBros Nerds Team and the SoBros Accountant came together several times this year to save us from catastrophe. We wouldn’t be where we are without them.
All of this shows how much this team cares about each other, and I hope they’re all as proud of that as I am. We have a team that embodies my vision for SoBros Network completely – working hard to entertain and make life a little more enjoyable.
I think that’s what 2020 taught me above everything else – I was so worried about money, pageviews, creating content, finding motivation, the future of the business, etc. etc.. I didn’t stop to look at how well this team came together this year to create, support one another, and support this community.
We created in the face of adversity. My hope is that maybe we brought you a little bit of joy this year.
Now, we’re going to take a little bit of time to take our foot of the gas because I believe that’s important. I believe we all should take some time at the end of the year to reflect upon the year that’s gone by, think about what we’re proud of and what our favorite memories are. We should make an effort to spend time (safely) with the ones we love. And, we should clear our minds so that we can come back to the routine with a renewed vigor for the year to come.
Thank you all for making this another fun year of running SoBros Network. We’re closed now – see you guys on 1/4.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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