SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hey everybody, welcome back to the Sumba Blitch podcast. I'm your host, George Blitch. And today I got to sit down with Drew Davis, who is the founder of the Crippling Hot Sauce. If you guys have not followed him and seen him on the socials, it is time to do it. Uh Drew was born with cerebral palsy, and his whole goal and mission with this hot sauce company is to raise awareness and to get more things in place for people with disabilities, whether that may be through his new foundation and giving grants out, helping people to, you know, kind of mentor them and get them to be able to maybe start their own companies or whatever it is, like changing legislation. There are so many different things that he we talked about today and some of his goals and ideas and uh his passion and his drive to move things forward for the disabled community. Uh obviously uh he we talk about his time with the New York Iron Man, with his uh cousin Josh Wagner, who uh they teamed up and became the first team there to do it, and they featured on ESPN, he's been on the Kelly Clarkson show recently, all sorts of media things. But Drew is a phenomenal individual, and I hope you guys will enjoy this. And make sure you go check out thecripplingcompany.com and place your orders for his hot sauce and some really cool gear and uh you know help support its foundation wherever you can. Thanks again, Drew, for joining me. Hope you guys enjoy this podcast. Take care. Hey Drew, welcome to the podcast, man. How are you doing today? Good, good. Thanks for having me. Man, I'm really glad you're on. Obviously, there's been a lot in the news, uh a buzz, you know, from the Kelly Clarkson uh show and you coming on there. And then recently I saw you on ESPN about you know uh your time up there in New York to cousin. Why don't you tell me a little bit about that experience uh you know doing the New York Iron Man and what that was like for you?

SPEAKER_02: 1:40

Yeah, so um we had this idea about probably almost nine months ago now. Um, like when you own a startup in today's world, it's all about like how you can grab attention because you know, back in the day the game used to be, you know, Facebook ads pump and spin behind that and get cheap sales. But these days with competition, you have to be of course more creative, and um that's one of the things like we I've always done well is being from my generation, like knowing how to entertain people and get kind of work the algorithm in today's you know, social media sphere since I grew around it, has always been, you know, my my thing. So we were thinking about like what we could do, and at first we're like, dude, maybe we should be the first disabled duo to climb Mount Everest. And then we looked into that and we're like, that's like a little dangerous. Like there is able-bodied people that die doing that from temperature swings, and I can't regulate my body temperature. So he's always been a runner and avid like marathon runner, and he does it to raise, he's done it to raise money for charity in the past, and we're like, how about we become oh I just able duo to do the Iron Man, and we started researching and um found uh you know two people that have done it, uh Rick and Dick Hoyt, uh-huh, and then and then Kyle and Brett Pease. And um, we actually got in contact with Kyle and Brett Pease through a actually an avid supporter of crippling that just reached out and um board member on their foundation, Great Foundation, and so we we got to talking and they're like, Yeah, we'll we'll train you for that. And so for the next nine months, um, we got you know the equipment to do it thanks to them, and uh he's just started training. He was always a runner, but it's a new like difficulty having to pull a disabled person while you're doing it, of course. Uh and not to mention, I am 90 pounds heavier than the other two people that have done it. So I'm also we're also the heaviest disabled duo. And it's not because I'm fat, I actually lost 150 pounds. I used to be fat, but not anymore. I lost 150 pounds in a weight loss journey uh during COVID. Uh we'll get into that later. But um I'm 160 pounds, six foot, and uh Kyle's probably 110 or 100 pounds soaking wet 5'6. So um we are also the heaviest duo to do it. Uh and we trained in April of last of this year at their 5k, and uh that was our first time doing it, and we could barely do a uh a 5k. Um so we were like, how are we gonna do this? So we train uh we trained hard, and then over the next um you know six months, uh however long that was, we really, you know, got into our flow and started training hard. And Josh had uh learn how to not learn how to swim, but he was never a strong swimmer, so he started taking swimming lessons and uh he knew the biking and then and the um running would come easier to him, but and then we did um the Chicago triathlon, and that what was um eye-opening because the progress from the um 5k to the triathlon was good, but this or the half iron man is double the the triathlon. He's like, I got it. So we get there and it's September. Um actually we did it the week after I filmed the Kelly Clarkson show, and so that worked out great. And um we're we're doing it. The the swim uh for instance well actually the half iron man we did was is one of the hardest course. Reason why is the swimming part is in the ocean, yep. So you're swimming against the current, and Josh always trained in a pool, and the Chicago Iron Man was in a lake. So um he said that was challenging. The first, you know, straight stretch was um like easy peasy. Then coming like back, that's when he started to get gassed because of the current, like I said. But then I'm getting drenched with water because of the people kicking around me. There's people holding on to the back of me to try to get an advantage. I'm like swatting them away because it's weighing us down even more. Then as we're coming back, the waves from the hundreds of people in the water start to like make me ride waves in my kayak. So I'm like, I feel like a rodeo rider. And so we're like, oh my god. So we get out and we go to the bike. Now, this is where we really, really thought we we were in trouble. How that happened? Um like two miles in, he's like, my bike seat is what is it, two like low. So he's like bending over too far, so it's like hurting his back because his bike seat is not adjusted, right? And then he was like, Okay, let's like make a pit stop. But then when we when we got around, we realized there was no way to get off to the pit stop, so he's like, let's keep pushing, and then um like what we didn't know is since that was our first time doing the biking portion in was the half iron man because in the triathlon, we didn't actually have the right attachment for the bike at the time, uh, and we didn't have time to order anyone. So the half iron man was our first time doing the biking portion together. It in this course was straight up hill biking. So every time we went up a hill, it comes to like a complete standstill because he's like having to push everything in his body to push me and him up these hills. Um, he's using me to track time. We cut some time by him just loading me up with the bananas and water bottles he needed instead of stopping at all all these stations to buy time. But when it really hit us is when is when um both of our phones died because uh he was using me to track the time, and both of our phones died about probably halfway through, and then he and then at right after that he started getting cramps from going up all these hills, and so we were like, oh my god, like what did we do? We had a whole production crew there to like to like you know capture it, and we're we're making a documentary out of it, and I think right then and there, about like miles with 10 miles left to go. We didn't know the time, we didn't know anything, we just knew people kept passing us. So we're like so I'm like, I I think right, it really said in we thought we weren't gonna have enough time. Uh I even said at one point, I'm gonna stop talking and let you focus. So then for the next 10 miles, we didn't know what the time was. He would like Josh was gasped, but every person that like like told him like, oh my every person that would say, like, oh my god, this is awesome, guys, keep going. He would be asking for the time from the other bikers as they went by. He's like, he's like, they're like, good job. He's like, what's the time? And so um, with uh we ended up making it with like eight minutes left before for the cutoff. Oh wow, and then so like how these bikes work, it's a three-wheel bike, and like my job is to like because you can't really stop while you're going because it's hard to stop going downhill. So my job, I like like make sure people move out of the way, so I go like on your left, on your right. Um, and so this one guy wouldn't move out the way, so it's like, bro, we're on your left, said it 10 times, and he turns around, he's like like typical Long Islander. He's like, he's like, What does on your left even mean? I'm in me. I'm like, it means I'm coming on your left. Like anybody in the running scene knows that. So then he starts cussing at us.

SPEAKER_01: 12:19

So then everybody behind him is like making fun of him for cussing at the disabled team while we're all running, and then I'm like, the disabled team just passed you. I hope you know that.

SPEAKER_02: 12:31

Um, then we get that the last mile. This is how unusual it is. The last mile of the run, one of the maintenance workers, mind you, we're in wetsuits, and he's pushing me in a three-wheel wheel like contraption looking sweaty. One of the maintenance workers tries to stop us and goes, get off the track, there's a race happening.

SPEAKER_01: 12:58

And so we're like, we're in the race, like wetsuits and sweat is our daily attire to go, um, to go.

SPEAKER_02: 13:07

Meanwhile, this whole time, we didn't really have time to stop. And like, so for me, it's like the bladder Olympics. I'm trying to pee for eight hours, and so um we we crossed the finish line and everything's good. We we get our medals and get get our congratulations, and forget what the exact time was, but we weren't the last ones, which is important, and we were first in our class because we were the only disabled duo ever to do that course. And um, it was uh one of the best experiences of my life. The running community is one of the most supportive communities I know. Like, usually, like I played adaptive soccer when I was younger and uh was uh was um uh on the outskirts of Team USA on one of the best teams of the country at age 12. And even then, in adaptive power soccer, I talked trash. I never heard one guy talk trash besides that old guy that didn't know it on your last minute, but that guy doesn't count, and the maintenance worker that wasn't running. But everybody was so supportive, like they're like, keep going, and this and that. And I there was even a time in the bike where Josh was cramping so bad that he couldn't get his leg out of his because like your your shoes clip into the to the um to the pedals and he couldn't get his leg out, so he literally he literally just um like falls over in the bike and like ten people stopped to help him because they thought he was injured, but he really was not injured, he just couldn't get his foot out of his bike. So that's when I really knew like these people really care. Nobody really cared about the time, they just wanted to make sure he was okay, which I think actually helped helped our time and help us make up some time because some people stopped. But um, yeah, I mean, like you said, most supportive community in the world, and I was really impressed, and this was this is like this is like the announcement campaign to announce our new charity. I uh started crippling by donating to cerebral palsy research, and I always wanted to make a bigger impact, though. So um I was like, what can we do? I want people to see real change happening, and so I decided that I wanted to help other disabled people chase their dreams, and um um, so we're launching the crippling foundation to um allow other people that are just like me to chase their dreams and get whatever they need, whether that's new equipment or wheelchair to do an Iron Man or just live their daily life or even a grant to start a business. Um I think um that's important because 86% of the disabled community in the US is unemployed. Not because they want to be, but because um they a lot of them don't have the resources or things they need to be successful, and there's not a lot of money out there for physically disabled individuals. Um, like as far as grant money, it all goes towards you know other other disabilities, which which is great that we all need help, but unfortunately, when there's only so much money to go around, the one community is bound to get you know left left out, and that's been the disabled community. And so I really just want to step in and give people more of the opportunities that I've had. And more than that, like the whole reason I started my hot sauce brand, crippling hot sauce, was to show people that no matter your situation, anything is possible. I was told by my teacher after I presented this idea that it was unrealistic. Not many people believed in me. My grandpa didn't think it was gonna work long term. Nobody did, but guess what I did? I did the most important thing, which was start, and um, you know, three and a half years later was sold hundreds of thousands of bottles, uh, all while supporting people with disabilities and showing people that nothing is impossible.

SPEAKER_00: 18:11

That's beautiful, man. And I mean, it it I I love that you bet on yourself and you put in the hard work. And, you know, I I there's a lot of interviews people can kind of listen to a little bit more of the story about the trials and errors and the things that, you know, but like you said, the first important thing is to start and you know keep going forward, right? And so I I was curious every time I've heard you mention about you know putting together this mock project and then hearing it was unrealistic and getting your 83, your B minus. I was curious, have you sent some bottles of hot sauce? Maybe not thrown it in his eye, but have you thrown a have you have you thrown out a package to this professor, this teacher, and uh have you talked to him since then?

SPEAKER_02: 18:47

He's bought he's bought hot sauce. He he loves it, and like that's a it was for me, it was never any hard feelings. Like it was never it was never like uh it was never um a bad thing. Everybody's entitled to their own opinion, and who like who would have known like I like that, you know, I mean I knew it would work because I knew that the disabled community in in general loves their humor and we just want to be treated normally, but you gotta remember most people still to this day have never had really communicated with a person with a disability, mainly because they are scared. Um mainly because they are scared and or whatever it may be, they heard something online or they don't think we're as normal as them, but I knew from not only myself but other people that um that um we're we're just like you, and like that's why I knew Crippling would work, and that's why I put time into it because I I knew people would find it funny, and I knew because of things like Liquid Death that people like that edgy branding, and I I knew there wasn't uh really brands that supported the disabled community. So even as a 16-year-old uh that barely knew anything about marketing analysis, I had a good inkling that maybe it wasn't gonna be like oh sort of successful, like seven-ticket brand, like it is now, but I knew there was gonna be some success.

SPEAKER_00: 20:45

Well, and how what is that like for you? Um you know, you've you've obviously put in the work in the years and you've had, I mean, you're you your branding is great, whether you're getting you know sprayed with uh in the face with um what was it that it what the yellow spray the pepper spray?

SPEAKER_02: 21:03

Dude, and people were giving me shit for that because they said my eyes were closed, but little do they know you have to open your eyes at some point. So like uh it looked like it burned. I mean, from here it hurt my eyes. Dude, you heard what I said. I was not kidding. I was not kidding about when I said that. I imagine that that's what that feels like.

SPEAKER_00: 21:26

Yeah, yeah, no doubt, man. Well, I I I want to, you know, kind of give people uh an idea of the taste of your hot sauce flavors. You know, you guys have quite a few that that are kind of tried and true, and you have a few uh, you know, special ones that kind of come in maybe seasonally or you know, limited time stuff. So why don't you walk us through some of the ones that are, I guess, the most popular, and uh, you know, we'll we'll kind of just you know jump in on that a little bit if you don't mind.

SPEAKER_02: 21:48

Yeah, we have deal with it, our new most popular flavor. We have bacon, we have teriyaki. Those are our three most popular, and then our original three uh our mild just for the parking. It's like a barbecue sauce, our our vibe, our medium is like a salsa verde, and our hot is carrot habanero.

SPEAKER_00: 22:10

And um and that's the crippling agony, right?

SPEAKER_02: 22:13

Yeah, and we have ghost pepper palsy and our new flavor that just released to commemorate Ozzy Osborne, Prince of Disabledness, uh uh Carolina Reaper.

SPEAKER_00: 22:25

That's a great nod. Love that.

SPEAKER_02: 22:28

Only 500 bottles.

SPEAKER_00: 22:29

Oh, right.

SPEAKER_02: 22:30

So that that'll sell out fast. But um, yeah, so that's kind of what we have. We'll continue to innovate as we go and go from there.

SPEAKER_00: 22:40

So uh it is that uh was Ozzy on your playlist a lot. What kind of music are you jamming to, man?

SPEAKER_02: 22:45

Um I like a little bit of it all. I like metal, I like rap, I I'm not much of a country guy, which is um which is interesting for being in from southern Missouri, but uh I'm I never really got behind it too much, but I respect the art of all arts, so I like to support um any and all genres.

SPEAKER_00: 23:14

Nice, man. So there's a time for all music, is what they say. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. No, that's so true, man. I was wondering, you know, obviously, you got all these amazing contests. You guys have some really cool things going on with some merch, some shirts, some hats, stickers, gift cards, and things people can do, and you can kind of gain up some palsy points there as well on your site. Um, you know, I was wondering, is there anything else besides this that you have as far as a vision of maybe something that you want to do, something you want to accomplish? Is there anything else that's kind of on that horizon that you're thinking about that you want to uh chase after? Uh, you know, maybe with this or aside from this?

SPEAKER_02: 23:49

I mean, really my main goal, even with crippling, is to uh be that voice for the disabled community that I wish I had growing up. So our main focus now, uh, besides the business, of course, is to um support like is to build my following and really, you know, get the representation the disabled community deserves. And, you know, legislation really hasn't been passed for the disabled community since 1990 when ADA was passed. And anything that's over 20 years old, it's obviously outdated in today's world. And my best friends in third grade that works for me still has to carry me on planes and et cetera, et cetera. So there is so much room for improvement. So that is really what we're focused on. Hot sauce is a way for people to support our mission, and I love hot sauce, and I love our mission there, and it's funny, it's great. So the most important thing is generations past me uh live uh live um a better life.

SPEAKER_00: 25:00

Man, that's a great legacy there, Drew. I love that you know, you are are doing what you love, you're giving back and you're making a difference, and you're making people laugh and smile and filling their uh you know bellies with great taste and hot sauce, man. I mean, that's a win-win-win all around. You know, as far as I was curious what it is, you know, as we close out here, um, what would you like to say to all these people who have supported you, your family, your friends, and all the people who are supporting you and maybe those people you're as a catalyst kind of getting into raising awareness for uh people with disabilities who are looking to chase out their dreams. What would you like to kind of leave with uh all the audience uh members today with that? I mean, yeah, I I I love my family.

SPEAKER_02: 25:42

They did a great job of treating me just like I was normal and giving me shit growing up and not settling um for anything. And um, I am just so happy that uh people have really grasped onto our mission and really felt inspired by it because that was the entire goal. I didn't know much when I was 16 years old, so the fact that I came up with this idea as a 16-year-old in the life experience is pretty incredible, but I uh um I just really support, I really love everybody for supporting the mission and appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00: 26:23

Man, that's great. Well, I'm I'm glad to be a part of it. I've placed my orders, can't wait for people to go out and check out this podcast and also go to your website. And speaking of, why don't you go ahead and give people the website and uh go ahead and and give them your socials there that they can go ahead and follow along and join you in this journey?

SPEAKER_02: 26:39

TheCripling Company.com and then Crippling Drew on all socials.

SPEAKER_00: 26:45

Awesome, man. Well, um, thank you once again, Drew, for joining me. Thank you for all that you're doing. Uh, I really appreciate you and uh look forward to touching base uh sometime in the near future, man.