Let’s face it – every day we are routinely bombarded with questions. When you’re an emerging media company in Nashville, people just want to know what your opinions are on everything. It’s only natural. And, since our duty is to serve the people, well, we have no choice but to be present. That’s the SoBro Way. Also, aren’t mailbags just a barrel of laughs anyway? Welcome to the newest weekly recurring feature up in this bitch: The SoBros Mailbag. As always, hit us with those mailbag questions @SoBrosNetwork on Twitter, email ’em to me anonymously at thesobrosnetwork@gmail.com. And, holy shit, I need to update this terrible intro paragraph that I’ve been using literally ever since I started writing this column…
Question, from McCash in Slack:
if your made a sound every time it got hard what would you want that sound to be?
Answer:
Stone Cold Steve Austin’s entrance music because I’m about to stomp a mudhole in that ass and walk it dry (with my ). Also, I didn’t know I could drop emojis in here. Cool.
Question:
Are you natty? Not sure how else to obtain such glory
— Grizz Lord ⚔️ (@GrizzWizz24) August 3, 2023
Answer:
Thank you, GrizzWizz. I’m as natty as natty gets – fueled by too much coffee, beer, Panda Express, and about an hour a day of casually lifting dumbbells and doing jumping jacks with no real game plan in mind.
Question:
Who is winning the following at the Oscars: Best Picture, Lead Actor, Lead Actress?
— QuickSixerPodcast (@QuickSixerCast) August 3, 2023
Answer:
Based on what I’ve seen so far, and man, we have a LONG way to go with everything that’s coming out this fall, but if I had a vote, it would go like this – Best Picture: Barbie, Lead Actor: Matt Damon in Air, Lead Actress: Margot Robbie in Barbie.
Question:
Stoney, how many 5 year olds would it take to tackle you?
— Andrew Hardaway (@hardawayja) August 3, 2023
Answer:
Andrew, my knees are in terrible shape. I’m probably going to have to have both of them replaced. All it would take is one 5 year old to hit me low and I’m immediately going down and probably completely sploding every ligament in my knee. I have to swallow my pride here and say “I’m no Derrick Henry.”
Question, from McCash on Threads:
Which SoBro is most likely to be abducted by aliens?
Answer:
It’s either me or Brittany. Y’know, they say that humans are transducers for this sort of paranormal energy, and that the more you believe in it, the more likely you are to manifest some sort of paranormal encounter. Experiencing some of the things I have experienced myself, and reading about some of the things that Brittany has experienced, I think it’s safe to say that if this is a real thing, the two of us got it.
Question, from Heather on Threads:
What’s the most important or impactful thing you’ve learned after 10 years of the SoBros Network?
Answer:
Oh, that’s tough. Honestly, there are several guiding principles I’ve learned through trial and error and stuck with throughout the years that have served me well – “we are the content,” “minds right, asses tight,” “do things the right way and the results you want will come,” just to name a few. But, for the sake of my own health and sanity, I think the most impactful thing I’ve learned is the importance of slowing down.
I learned a long time ago that there was a direct correlation between the more work we put in and the amount of money we made. It drove me crazy because I was working insane hours (sleeping three hours per night at one point), getting tunnel vision trying to track down where the next dollar was coming from. At one point, I was writing 10 articles per day. I once clocked out on a Friday night with 20 posts already scheduled for the following week. But, after about four fucking years of that, I learned that working at that rate is not sustainable. My doctor told me if I kept working like that, I’d probably have a heart attack before 40. I didn’t stop right away, but I eventually, with tears in my eyes past midnight one night, said to myself, “I can’t keep doing this.”
That was hard because I had learned that if I didn’t keep doing that, the business aspect of SoBros Network would fail. I still struggle with it, to be honest. This is my dream, and I do still feel anxious in thinking that I’m not doing enough work to make this more profitable. But, the reality of the situation is that SoBros Network is built on so much that I don’t control (Google, X, Facebook, etc.). So, I’ve had to learn to let go of some of that.
I had this moment two years ago where I finally threw my hands up and said “I can’t kill myself for this.” When I did, I noticed that everything sort of plateaued. That’s not to say we still made as much money as we did in 2019, but we still made enough on a monthly basis to cover expenses and still put some money in the piggy bank every once in awhile. The pageviews didn’t really trail off either. In fact, our biggest months have been in 2023, when I’m producing a third of the content that I was back in 2018. I began to realize that all of the work that was put in from 2013-20 had built such a strong foundation that I could afford to take my foot off the gas a bit and breathe.
In a way, it kind of confirmed for me that SoBros Network was definitely scaleable with the right resources. They’re resources that I obviously don’t have, but maybe one day, someone who does have them will come along and strap the rocket to our backs. Still, it was a bit of an epiphany for me…that SoBros Network is finally sustainable, and I can mosey along creating things at a pace that is more comfortable, and this thing can still grow.
But, when I slowed down, I also began to look back more than I was before and I realized that a lot of the goals I set out with in mind in 2013 had been achieved – I do believe we’ve done some really cool stuff in 10 years time…stuff that I don’t always keep at the front of mind because I’m so laser-focused on what’s next. And, I do believe that we’ve created a pretty safe community for people to be apart of to escape the real world, if only for a little bit each day.
I’m better for this now. My mental health improved because of it too. So, I would encourage anyone who has built anything to slow down sometimes and allow the good shit to sink in.
Keep the questions coming – catch y’all next week!
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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