#156: Derek Gwaltney — From Lottery Marketing to Luxury Brand Experiences | Building Atlas Experiences & the Power of Emotional Branding

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I love to be first.

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I love to come up with a big strategy that could be something that is different and kind
of shakes the industry and go, hmm, that seems cool.

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Hey you all, welcome back to The Necessary Entrepreneur.

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Today we've got Derek Waltney.

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He's the founder and CEO of Atlas Experiences.

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What a name.

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It's gonna be a great conversation.

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um Atlas Experiences is a company that's all about creating those unforgettable once in a
lifetime moments.

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Derek started out in the lottery and gaming world, and now he's turned that experience
into building some of the most unique brand experiences out there that we've seen.

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From destination events to full blown game show promotions, Atlas has become known for
bringing energy,

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creativity and emotion to everything they do.

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Derek, it's awesome to meet you, man, and have you here.

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So welcome to the necessary answer.

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Pleasure to be here.

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Excited to talk about the journey and dive into it a little bit.

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Well, let's talk about the journey with that type of intro.

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We're like, this guy's awesome and special.

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tell us, tell us how awesome and special the journey and what you guys are building.

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Cause you said just came back from the Inc 5,000.

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You got the 33rd spot.

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You didn't know what that was.

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And now you learn.

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So this journey from 2019, a little bit of a bump.

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We know what happened in 20, but then the trajectory has spiked up.

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So tell us about what the heck's going on and what you guys are doing.

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No, definitely.

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think it's a pleasure to be here.

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know, um, you know, thinking about where we started and what the vision was.

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And I wanted to create memorable moments for lottery winners.

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That's kind of where it started, right?

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Experiences is has that emotional connection.

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When you take people out of their day to day lives and you put them somewhere unique,
different five star, that's when the memories and that connection starts.

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Right.

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But I wanted to up it.

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I wanted to take that up to one next level because you're a lottery winner.

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You want to win.

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And so we added our game show into these promotions where we are giving away millions of
dollars around the world during our experiences.

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We're having this great experience.

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Then you're like, Hey, I'm in this awesome castle, but on the last night, I have a shot to
win a million dollars and change someone's life.

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So it's been a great journey.

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Um, you know, what we've seen and been able to do and continue to do has been remarkable.

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You know, as a small company, uh, I started the company, uh, myself, bootstrapped the
company.

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and just rolled up my sleeves and just went out and had a vision of what I wanted to do
and just kept grinding and kept moving forward and never stopped.

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So coming from the lottery business, you're the first on the podcast and probably the
first person I've ever had a conversation with that came from the lottery business.

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So I'm assuming we all know what buying a lottery ticket is.

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We don't know the business.

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And so where did this idea come from?

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It came from you working in the business, but how did this evolve that this came to your
mind to do this?

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So I've been in the lottery space for 30 years and, uh, you know, worked with a company
that we were creating some experiential programs, uh, for big brands like Powerball and

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created these experiences and these trips where there were these winning moments.

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And I just love being immersed with it because when you can create something and then
actually see the fruit of your labor actually unveiled in front of you and then create

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winning moments, we were giving away $4,000 every hour on a cruise ship.

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And every hour that became a moment and those moments I love to do it.

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wanted to do more with it, but I love to travel.

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You know, I think being able to take people out of their day to day lives and giving them
something that they can experience, forget the day to day they left behind, see what's in

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front of them and experience that moment.

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That's what I wanted to continue to build on.

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But in lotteries, well, you know, everyone, you know, there's more, you know, people that
don't have the luck of winning, but

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Having that chance, a second chance to enter that in, there's a mechanism in a lottery to
lottery, around the world actually, where you have a losing ticket and you can enter that

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in for another chance to win.

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But to win an experience and to win cash prizes during that experience is where we really
started to leverage and build on.

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What, um, what inside of you, you're the person that knows your journey, right?

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We don't have six hours to talk about the Derek journey because I'm bad.

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It's a hell of a life journey, but what inside of you had the feeling of wanting to be
involved in these special things?

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Like what is it?

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What's the driver of that?

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It's the ability to create.

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I love to create something and build something that people can react to.

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know, when you have something that, that people like and people want to engage with you,
they want to buy your products, right?

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Creating these programs, we kind of build them up.

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We, we make them unique.

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We create the themes, we create the promotional packages.

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We are truly turnkey, but we know how that creation can come to life.

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And then bringing that to the lottery organizations where they can actually bring it to
their consumers and get them excited about what that brand is.

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And again, that brand loyalty, right?

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You're doing something that I'm interested in.

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You have a product out there and I'm buying this ticket, but guess what?

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I still have a chance to win.

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That's really what it's about.

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Do you guys run these on your own or do you work with all the existing lottery
organizations?

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Correct, all the lottery organizations.

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So the lotteries will find the promotional package and how they put it into their plan per
year.

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uh We've done stuff in Ireland, Sedona, we've done stuff in Martha's Vineyard, uh
Nashville, we had a huge program with Luke Holmes, which was awesome.

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Luke and I gave away a half a million dollars on stage at the Ryman at a private show.

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So they take those promotional packages and see what interests them, what they think will
motivate their consumers to have more

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engagement with their products.

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That's kind what we created.

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Is there anybody else in your space?

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Like in your mind, do you have people that are trying to do the same thing?

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There are a few.

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There are a few.

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I would say we're very focused on the specific on experiences.

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We're not into the larger gaming companies.

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We're not trying to do technology or hardware or software.

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We're really focused on that promotional element, the experiential piece.

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And then our game show, we've done dozens of these now.

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I've given away almost $6 million in cash prizes in a fully produced live game show during
our events.

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So is that, the next question was gonna be through the conversation, then what makes you
guys different?

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Right.

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we're game.

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Yeah.

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Our game show definitely is a unique contributor to that.

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That was part of the vision when I wanted to start the company is how can I take those
winning moments?

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Those moments that are impactful and meaningful, changing someone's life with a million
dollar prize.

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It's there's nothing like it.

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I mean, I've done it twice so far and you know, there's been a series of other big prizes
like half a million dollar prizes with Martina McBride and Luke Holmes.

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And those moments, I just immersed myself.

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I love seeing the people.

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their reaction, their engagement, you know, those are the things that really matter.

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oh

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What do you think, um, when Derek retires?

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What's the journey from here to there going to look like professionally before that
happens?

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Well, we're going to continue evolve.

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We we've taken our game show and we know it's crazy how you've started product ties and
you start with experiences.

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Then you add the game show.

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Uh, we now have just launched into live sports game shows.

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So I did a live game show with the Milwaukee bucks in front of 17,000.

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And it was the coolest thing.

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You know, you have three people that have a chance to play.

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They're excited.

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Who doesn't want to play a game show?

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Who doesn't want to have a chance to make your own decision, to choose your own fate.

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And it's such a cool moment.

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But in front of 72,000 in the Jumbo-Tron, that was a pivotal moment for us.

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So we're getting into live sports activations and sponsorships.

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We're now also, we just took our game show on the road.

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So we're doing Atlas activations in the field.

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And so actually going to retailers, we gave away $10,000 in free groceries at eight
retailers, eight different days across the state of Arizona.

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Now that was interesting because, know, the emotion people have, you know,

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woman that tell the story all the time because the woman was walking by with the three
kids who's kind of that onlooker like what's going on that seems really interesting

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because this is all live we're giving away actual prizes real time and she bought a ticket
she came up she won five hundred dollars in free groceries and had an emotional experience

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right in front of me and that's why we do what we do because it matters it really does
matter what we're doing in it because it's an impact

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So good.

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So when you started this in 2019, so talking about the entrepreneurial piece of this, you
know, COVID happened.

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I don't know.

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I think we're probably going to look, if we get to live full lives, like me and you and
the millions of other entrepreneurs, we're going to look back on this and be talking about

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this in 30 years.

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And for people that didn't go through it, what are you talking about?

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Maybe it was a cold, maybe it was something, but it was a significant shock to every way
that our country and world operated.

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So

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Yeah.

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So you started your business and just a few short months later, COVID happened.

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What happened in your mind, how you handled it and decisions you had to make what happened
during that period.

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Because in the reason why I ask it is for you and me and all the other entrepreneurs and
in our audience, what I know is something else is always going to happen.

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No, definitely.

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Well, I think it's that grit, It's that continuing to grind through it.

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You you get hit, you you take a hit for a minute, you kind of get knocked down, you then
stand back up.

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For me, I had a runway.

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I had a plan of where I wanted to go.

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Luckily, it fit within that so I could start to get on the other side of it.

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It took from probably March to about July for me to see, okay, what's around me?

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What did I already establish?

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So did my plan and my sales when I launched the company within those first six months.

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Did I actually make traction?

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And that's what I found out is that I did.

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And uh the Texas lottery came back to us and said, Hey, we want to do that Hawaii dream
getaway with you for, you know, six nights, a thousand people, private concert with Darius

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Rucker over the golf course, helicopters, luau's, you name it.

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And it was like a moment of like, wow, okay.

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What I actually had in place made sense.

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My strategy was working.

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And now let's lean into it and keep going and keep building.

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And so that's what we've been doing since really late 2020.

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did show the Texas lottery worked with you for the strip.

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were a thousand people that at the same time were sent to Hawaii.

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Yep, to date was one of our first and our biggest events that we've done.

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Thousand people to get to Hawaii logistics.

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That's what we do.

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That's what we make it happen.

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But then on top of it, to do a private concert, build out the entire stage, sound,
lighting.

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You know, we had some great partners that allowed us to do that.

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The other part is we had some great runway.

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So the event we signed in 2020, the event wasn't until 2022.

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So the good part about that is we had enough runway that we could get past some of the

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residual effects of the pandemic and get people more comfortable with um traveling again.

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And ironically, after the pandemic, experiences became even more and more popular because
people wanted to get back out and have those moments that they probably didn't realize

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were that impactful to them.

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Yeah.

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What, um, what'd you learn in those two years to try to coordinate in the logistics for a
thousand people?

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What did you learn?

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Maybe one or two significant things.

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Maybe not.

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Maybe you knew it that you're like, wow.

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We didn't see this.

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Well, when we actually got there, you know, m the lines like lines for me, my team knows
I'm like, lines.

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We don't want people waiting.

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We want them to get out there and experience.

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so when you start queuing up a thousand people, gets, the queue gets pretty long, you
know, so we've learned a lot of, know, you learn a lot along the way you're when you're in

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it.

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I try to really step back and see what's happening and see what we're how we're creating
that experience for people.

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I interact with, I I actually ask and encourage people to come up to me and tell me their
stories, right?

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And so what I learned was it is impactful and I don't know what everyone's going through.

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I don't know what their day to day is.

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And when you take them out of it, the emotional outpour is pretty impressive and it's
impactful to me.

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Once you, cause it seems like you're really coming into creating, thinking up the
experiences, right?

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It's you guys are probably now becoming really good at

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I hope so.

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there you go.

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have the, you know, the growth areas.

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No one else knows it.

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Right.

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Do you think this will stack to become an experienced company, even outside of lottery?

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That's exactly where we are, Mark.

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That's exactly the pivot.

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You know, I started with where I knew in the relationships that I had in the industry,
even as you were saying, is very niche.

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There's not a lot of people that know about it, understand it.

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It's a small marketplace.

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You've only got one lottery per state, you know, and so you're working with a very small
uh ecosystem.

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And so it's like, okay, where can I take it?

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We're now just launching what we've done really well with lotteries.

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And one of our key strategies is multi-state, multi-jurisdiction.

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So we, with Luke Holmes, we had 19 lotteries from across North America into Canada, where
they all participated in one big event, which is magic.

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It really is.

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It was lightning in a bottle for us.

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These 19 lotteries sent 160 winners and their guests to Nashville.

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And we're taking that group component, pooling more resources where any size company can
be part of it.

216
00:13:47,332 --> 00:13:51,298
So being part of the Inc 5000, you know, we're looking at that group because

217
00:13:51,298 --> 00:13:53,550
You know, these are companies that are scaling, right?

218
00:13:53,550 --> 00:13:54,740
And they're looking to grow.

219
00:13:54,740 --> 00:13:58,403
Well, you need to recruit, retain and reward employees.

220
00:13:58,403 --> 00:14:00,264
The same goes for consumers, right?

221
00:14:00,264 --> 00:14:05,117
And so now we're starting, like I talked about the Milwaukee Bucks, that wasn't a lottery
promotion.

222
00:14:05,117 --> 00:14:07,149
That was with the local casino sponsor.

223
00:14:07,149 --> 00:14:08,830
That was with the team directly.

224
00:14:08,830 --> 00:14:14,614
So there's other ways of rewarding and having these moments, but it's also the
differentiator is the winning.

225
00:14:14,614 --> 00:14:20,780
When you give somebody a shot, if one of your employees come back and win a million
dollars, think about that.

226
00:14:20,780 --> 00:14:24,832
return on the investment for the company saying, look at the story.

227
00:14:24,912 --> 00:14:32,516
know, employee Tommy, whoever it was, won a million dollars because we were part of this
group program in Hawaii.

228
00:14:32,516 --> 00:14:38,068
We're definitely right now moving into that corporate small business category right now.

229
00:14:38,134 --> 00:14:38,855
Makes sense.

230
00:14:38,855 --> 00:14:45,600
What for you guys, as I'm sitting here as a business owner um and entrepreneurs, we tend
to want to do things ourselves, right?

231
00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:52,606
um What makes you good at it and better to partner with you than people doing it on their
own?

232
00:14:52,632 --> 00:14:54,242
Because I have a lot of partners.

233
00:14:54,363 --> 00:15:05,186
mean, I really think we have a lot of shared success when it's producing concerts, getting
talent, uh local resources, you know, in Ireland, you know, we don't know every country,

234
00:15:05,186 --> 00:15:06,066
you can't have a network.

235
00:15:06,066 --> 00:15:08,866
There are some great destination management companies.

236
00:15:08,866 --> 00:15:12,768
We worked with Custom Ireland, who their CEO is a good friend of mine.

237
00:15:12,768 --> 00:15:17,730
You know, they brought their expertise, their knowledge of the local uh country.

238
00:15:17,730 --> 00:15:22,754
They brought their knowledge about where's the best venues, where's the best experiences.

239
00:15:22,754 --> 00:15:25,876
And so we really find good, partners.

240
00:15:25,876 --> 00:15:29,498
Another good partner of ours is the famous group out of LA.

241
00:15:29,578 --> 00:15:35,623
They're a huge fan activation company that works with major league sports around the
world.

242
00:15:35,623 --> 00:15:38,335
But we brought their technology in and made the game show.

243
00:15:38,335 --> 00:15:43,788
So we created our Lucky Pick game show and we've been working together and doing these
executions around the world now.

244
00:15:43,788 --> 00:15:46,222
And so really strong partnerships.

245
00:15:46,222 --> 00:15:49,625
Because I didn't, I never wanted to bring everything in house and build it myself.

246
00:15:49,625 --> 00:15:52,328
I didn't feel that was something that was sustainable.

247
00:15:52,328 --> 00:15:55,792
I didn't feel that was something I could get to market in the time I wanted to.

248
00:15:55,792 --> 00:15:58,294
And so I looked at that for partnerships.

249
00:15:58,542 --> 00:16:01,142
So it sounds like partnerships, build a relationship.

250
00:16:02,162 --> 00:16:06,302
So what's your strategy for building relationships?

251
00:16:06,984 --> 00:16:08,615
I think it's really that personal connection.

252
00:16:08,615 --> 00:16:18,158
You know, if you connect with someone, you know, and I think I'm friends with a lot of
these people, I'm friends with a lot of the either the owners or the founders or the CEOs,

253
00:16:18,158 --> 00:16:22,459
because we've created this relationship that is mutually beneficial.

254
00:16:22,459 --> 00:16:29,601
The more I can do, the more I can contract with you, the better our experiences are, the
better our products are, the more we can do collectively.

255
00:16:29,601 --> 00:16:32,562
So it is really a success sharing kind of mom.

256
00:16:33,890 --> 00:16:35,591
How many hours a week do you work?

257
00:16:36,972 --> 00:16:37,902
work.

258
00:16:38,063 --> 00:16:39,532
I mean, the mind's always going.

259
00:16:39,532 --> 00:16:40,504
So I think that's the problem.

260
00:16:40,504 --> 00:16:43,585
My team sees me, you know, I go come back from these conferences.

261
00:16:43,585 --> 00:16:49,988
I'm always thinking and I really feel that the creative process, you just never know
what's going to stick.

262
00:16:49,988 --> 00:16:55,590
You just never know what talent or what destination or what unique experience.

263
00:16:55,790 --> 00:17:05,388
You know, we have a good partnership with a yacht company called Sea Dream, you know, call
their CEO up and I experienced their yacht down in the Caribbean.

264
00:17:05,388 --> 00:17:06,079
And was great.

265
00:17:06,079 --> 00:17:11,930
And so it's like, I'm calling up and similar to you, what's this lottery and what are you
doing?

266
00:17:11,930 --> 00:17:15,978
And once you start to kind of break it down a little bit, it's like, that's interesting.

267
00:17:15,978 --> 00:17:17,219
That's different.

268
00:17:18,296 --> 00:17:22,949
Do you think that's what opens people's ears that it's interesting and different that
they're like, Right.

269
00:17:22,949 --> 00:17:24,980
Where if it was just the same thing, it's like, Hey, come on.

270
00:17:24,980 --> 00:17:25,961
What makes you any different?

271
00:17:25,961 --> 00:17:27,732
You'd get that question from the beginning.

272
00:17:27,732 --> 00:17:31,944
And it's like, before we're different, let me tell you about the space we're in and what
we're doing.

273
00:17:31,950 --> 00:17:38,670
Yeah, and I think it's taking that space now and bringing it into the corporate world,
which is the question I get a lot is what's the game show?

274
00:17:38,670 --> 00:17:40,870
Like, what are you really talking about?

275
00:17:40,870 --> 00:17:44,210
It is a fully produced light sound.

276
00:17:44,370 --> 00:17:46,330
host the game show.

277
00:17:46,330 --> 00:17:47,870
I work, interact with the winners.

278
00:17:47,870 --> 00:17:55,190
I get their stories and then everybody that's there as a winner will play and win some
type of cash prize.

279
00:17:55,190 --> 00:17:59,430
So there's no better job than me to give away cash prizes to the guests at our events.

280
00:17:59,430 --> 00:17:59,970
It's awesome.

281
00:17:59,970 --> 00:18:01,070
It's a great way.

282
00:18:01,762 --> 00:18:06,258
Seems like Derek was built to be on stage with a mic in hand.

283
00:18:07,331 --> 00:18:08,232
I hope so.

284
00:18:08,232 --> 00:18:11,635
I hope I do it justice at times, you know, it's but it's a lot of fun.

285
00:18:11,635 --> 00:18:13,767
You know, I think um what we can do with it.

286
00:18:13,767 --> 00:18:20,342
I think there's even more that we can take that game show and those experiences, uh you
know, to other verticals.

287
00:18:20,398 --> 00:18:22,958
So you think there's a long, you used runway twice earlier.

288
00:18:22,958 --> 00:18:27,398
You think there's a long, long runway in this business and what can be built and where it
can go.

289
00:18:27,790 --> 00:18:28,491
I think so.

290
00:18:28,491 --> 00:18:29,011
do think so.

291
00:18:29,011 --> 00:18:32,574
think if we keep being creative, we can keep at looking different ways.

292
00:18:32,574 --> 00:18:39,260
Just the fact that we're able to productize two new categories for us with the Atlas
activations and the live sports that we're doing.

293
00:18:39,260 --> 00:18:46,465
We even did a large sweepstakes this year with Wise Snacks, where we had winners every day
for 60 days.

294
00:18:46,465 --> 00:18:48,587
We're giving away cash prizes.

295
00:18:48,647 --> 00:18:52,951
It's that winning moment that we really see as a differentiator.

296
00:18:52,951 --> 00:18:55,012
There are a lot of great event companies.

297
00:18:55,012 --> 00:18:57,122
There's experiences all over the world.

298
00:18:57,122 --> 00:19:06,203
but how you curate them and what we do with them and the fact that it matters to us, we
really want those people to be immersed in it, get out of their day-to-day routine and

299
00:19:06,203 --> 00:19:07,804
think about something different.

300
00:19:08,088 --> 00:19:18,132
When you were working in the lottery systems and for the organizations all those years,
were you, was there entrepreneurial aspirations inside welling up all the time?

301
00:19:18,136 --> 00:19:18,586
A little bit.

302
00:19:18,586 --> 00:19:18,836
Yeah.

303
00:19:18,836 --> 00:19:25,270
I think there was one or two concepts that I had over the years where I thought maybe we
could go and try to, I could try to start a company.

304
00:19:25,411 --> 00:19:32,395
it really came to fruition with me when I was in, my MBA program up at health and
international business school up in Boston.

305
00:19:32,395 --> 00:19:42,952
So I did that for two years and I actually in the middle of it, I kind of used my, my
vision for Atlas and I used real time feedback from the actual program.

306
00:19:43,096 --> 00:19:51,418
So I was getting actual feedback about different marketing strategies, different
go-to-market strategies, different branding strategies, and would use the company as some

307
00:19:51,418 --> 00:19:52,409
case studies.

308
00:19:52,409 --> 00:19:54,969
So I realized, okay, this is what I like.

309
00:19:54,969 --> 00:19:57,590
I want to do more of this and how can I explore it?

310
00:19:57,590 --> 00:20:00,171
I love thinking through the business components.

311
00:20:00,171 --> 00:20:03,392
Like it's not just about just a creative strategy.

312
00:20:03,392 --> 00:20:04,712
Does it make sense?

313
00:20:04,712 --> 00:20:05,993
Will it sell?

314
00:20:05,993 --> 00:20:08,373
What are the barriers in some of those challenges?

315
00:20:08,373 --> 00:20:09,754
So I've always kind of had that.

316
00:20:09,754 --> 00:20:11,174
um

317
00:20:11,394 --> 00:20:20,050
The creative piece, when you're in a big company, sometimes you really can't take that too
far, because you have to kind of stay cookie cutter into what they're looking to do.

318
00:20:20,050 --> 00:20:22,632
And so I saw that as an opportunity as well.

319
00:20:23,138 --> 00:20:32,564
It's awesome to hear somebody articulate going through traditional further education and
that actually feeding you like that MBA program.

320
00:20:32,564 --> 00:20:37,987
What's funny is it wasn't necessarily what you learned in the MBA program.

321
00:20:38,088 --> 00:20:39,257
It was how you utilized it.

322
00:20:39,257 --> 00:20:44,952
And maybe you could expand on maybe it was what you learned, but it's like you went in
there and took your thing and you learned how to do that thing.

323
00:20:44,952 --> 00:20:48,846
Not necessarily what each class was about, right?

324
00:20:48,846 --> 00:20:49,266
True.

325
00:20:49,266 --> 00:20:52,908
And for me, the classes as well made me think.

326
00:20:52,908 --> 00:20:55,789
Made me think from a business perspective.

327
00:20:55,930 --> 00:21:05,455
I'm not going to say I'm an expert at any one of the components, but it made me think
about the accounting perspective, the finance, the funding components, the strategy of

328
00:21:05,455 --> 00:21:09,277
what you need to continue to grow and keep that runway going.

329
00:21:09,677 --> 00:21:11,518
I would sit there and think.

330
00:21:11,518 --> 00:21:17,181
That's to me is what, for me, if it can challenge me intellectually and like, well, can I
do that?

331
00:21:17,181 --> 00:21:18,848
Does that really make sense?

332
00:21:18,848 --> 00:21:21,158
Is that something I could do differently?

333
00:21:21,158 --> 00:21:22,400
I love to be first.

334
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:25,401
oh My team knows this all too well.

335
00:21:25,401 --> 00:21:33,145
I love to come up with a big strategy that could be something that is different and kind
of shakes the industry and go, hmm, that seems cool.

336
00:21:33,145 --> 00:21:35,005
Or if it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

337
00:21:35,005 --> 00:21:36,535
Then we pivot and go somewhere else.

338
00:21:36,535 --> 00:21:38,606
That's dangerous, being first is dangerous.

339
00:21:38,606 --> 00:21:39,806
It is, it is.

340
00:21:39,806 --> 00:21:42,246
It's a double edged sword for sure.

341
00:21:42,646 --> 00:21:45,926
We've had good success with it.

342
00:21:46,166 --> 00:21:49,646
Just with the Atlas activations and what we did, it was a lot of work.

343
00:21:49,646 --> 00:21:58,386
We did eight days, eight retailers, $80,000 in prizes, but I was doing two game shows a
day for almost four hours straight.

344
00:21:59,566 --> 00:22:01,206
That was first.

345
00:22:01,246 --> 00:22:06,586
I took on that hit and I do have a great team that follows me on some of these.

346
00:22:06,586 --> 00:22:08,504
They know what we're looking to do.

347
00:22:08,504 --> 00:22:13,064
They get behind it and they actually empower me to kind of get plowed through it as well.

348
00:22:13,688 --> 00:22:18,325
Do you have a budget that you have to stay within on each one of these projects?

349
00:22:18,349 --> 00:22:19,100
Yes.

350
00:22:20,002 --> 00:22:22,166
That has to be tough because you're building it.

351
00:22:22,166 --> 00:22:23,377
You reverse engineer.

352
00:22:23,377 --> 00:22:26,342
You think you know what it is, but there's always contingencies.

353
00:22:26,342 --> 00:22:30,508
There's always, do you have a contingency percentage in the agreements with these people
or no?

354
00:22:30,648 --> 00:22:32,039
We build it in ourselves.

355
00:22:32,039 --> 00:22:36,631
we look at, know, our budgeting is, you know, we use a lot of past experience.

356
00:22:36,631 --> 00:22:41,443
We leverage those partners we talked about to get really clarity on where we think we need
to hit.

357
00:22:41,443 --> 00:22:44,485
And there's always, there's always a contingent budget.

358
00:22:44,485 --> 00:22:52,288
You know, we've had people that were supposed to be on a private jet that we had a pivot
immediately because they couldn't get up the stairs and we had to send them first class to

359
00:22:52,288 --> 00:22:53,089
Ireland.

360
00:22:53,089 --> 00:22:56,130
You know, those are our pivots and things that, and we

361
00:22:56,130 --> 00:22:57,491
don't even hesitate.

362
00:22:57,491 --> 00:23:01,244
If this is what we need to do, whatever that experience is gonna be best for them.

363
00:23:01,244 --> 00:23:07,218
And that's what I challenge my team a lot is just to make sure they're engaging with the
people so they can get the feedback.

364
00:23:07,218 --> 00:23:10,440
But yeah, the budgeting, they're extensive.

365
00:23:10,881 --> 00:23:15,984
You just never know what you don't know, what you're gonna have to add into at the last
minute.

366
00:23:15,984 --> 00:23:18,656
And I guess that goes a lot with a lot of different events.

367
00:23:18,776 --> 00:23:19,526
Yeah.

368
00:23:19,526 --> 00:23:24,348
What, um, when you take a big hit, some people say it's not losing, it's learning.

369
00:23:24,348 --> 00:23:25,329
It's not failure.

370
00:23:25,329 --> 00:23:34,272
It's growth, but whatever that is, when the thing doesn't go the way that you intended it
to, and it's a really big moment could be a big, but when it doesn't go well, those one or

371
00:23:34,272 --> 00:23:37,024
two moments that have been your biggest, you don't have to explain them.

372
00:23:37,024 --> 00:23:45,667
Sometimes we don't like revealing the skeletons in the dirt, um, of entrepreneurialism,
but what'd you do over the past four to five years?

373
00:23:45,667 --> 00:23:47,650
Those one or two, the biggest challenges.

374
00:23:47,650 --> 00:23:50,553
that at night when you're like, man, we made it through that.

375
00:23:50,553 --> 00:23:52,244
We kept going, what would you do?

376
00:23:52,244 --> 00:23:55,257
Cause we all face them and all the people starting these businesses.

377
00:23:55,257 --> 00:24:01,022
um What did Derek and what did Atlas experiences do in the one or two most challenging
moments you've had?

378
00:24:01,346 --> 00:24:09,832
You know, for the most part owned it, you know, really owned what we were working through,
what the challenge was, whether it was caused by us or it was some unforeseen challenge

379
00:24:09,832 --> 00:24:16,197
that we had, you know, there are a couple of events that we just, know, a you own it
afterwards, but you work it while you're in it.

380
00:24:16,197 --> 00:24:17,527
You don't shut down.

381
00:24:17,527 --> 00:24:18,918
You don't run away from it.

382
00:24:18,918 --> 00:24:20,720
You just, you have to deal with it.

383
00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:25,283
You know, when we had, we had a couple of challenges, you know, here and there as any
company does.

384
00:24:25,283 --> 00:24:29,972
I remember one specifically, we were at an event and we had some challenges we worked
through.

385
00:24:29,972 --> 00:24:35,917
And I took the ownership, you know, because these, you know, my team that's sitting in
front of me going, wow, what just happened?

386
00:24:35,917 --> 00:24:37,408
That was a challenge.

387
00:24:37,408 --> 00:24:39,870
And I said, well, I'm going to take the hit on this.

388
00:24:39,870 --> 00:24:41,191
You guys are killing it.

389
00:24:41,191 --> 00:24:43,393
You guys are working so hard.

390
00:24:43,393 --> 00:24:46,155
I know what I need to do better as a leader.

391
00:24:46,155 --> 00:24:49,668
And for me to think of forward, you know, it's that forward thinking, right?

392
00:24:49,668 --> 00:24:53,631
What you learned, what you're not going to do again, what you need to do better.

393
00:24:53,631 --> 00:24:58,295
And then when we talked to our client, we just owned it, you know, I said this, what can
we do to make it better?

394
00:24:58,295 --> 00:24:59,746
What can we do to fix it?

395
00:24:59,746 --> 00:25:05,106
We didn't see this coming and let's just kind of let's let's handle it and take care of
it.

396
00:25:05,336 --> 00:25:14,060
you go back into the past, um, in your life, is there one moment, one person, one
experience that you give the most credit to?

397
00:25:14,060 --> 00:25:19,732
If you had a hierarchy of listing them, like these are the 20 things that I really
benefited in through in life.

398
00:25:19,732 --> 00:25:23,243
Is there one that you go to it's like, man, that was a defining moment.

399
00:25:23,243 --> 00:25:25,024
That was a defining person.

400
00:25:25,804 --> 00:25:26,794
No, definitely.

401
00:25:26,794 --> 00:25:33,360
think, you know, there were a couple leaders in my career that, know, so I don't have an
undergraduate degree.

402
00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:38,745
and so when I actually did the MBA program, I used my experience in the years in my
career.

403
00:25:38,745 --> 00:25:44,149
mean, I literally started as a security guard in one of the biggest gaming companies in
Rhode Island.

404
00:25:44,149 --> 00:25:47,232
And I've worked my way through, you know, my career.

405
00:25:47,232 --> 00:25:50,835
kept pushing myself out of my comfort zone, kept doing that.

406
00:25:50,835 --> 00:25:54,722
But there were a couple, you know, that said to me very clearly Derek,

407
00:25:54,722 --> 00:25:57,675
You know, you're going to need to get some more education.

408
00:25:57,675 --> 00:26:00,527
You're going to need to push yourself back out there at some point.

409
00:26:00,527 --> 00:26:01,448
And I did that.

410
00:26:01,448 --> 00:26:06,523
I would say at one of the highest levels going into the MBA program, I was self-conscious.

411
00:26:06,523 --> 00:26:12,568
you know, what, what didn't I know from these degree programs that other people did years
and years ago, right?

412
00:26:12,568 --> 00:26:19,644
And what I found out was my experience and my drive was more valuable to me than I
probably ever realized.

413
00:26:22,872 --> 00:26:27,152
Did that, was that who you were or was that nurtured somehow throughout life?

414
00:26:27,152 --> 00:26:28,544
That drive.

415
00:26:29,206 --> 00:26:30,747
I think that's who I was.

416
00:26:30,747 --> 00:26:40,414
know, I actually, when I was in the military, I was in the Air Force back in the day and
you know, I got to Korea and I was a law enforcement specialist and you that was your,

417
00:26:40,414 --> 00:26:42,195
just do your day in day job.

418
00:26:42,195 --> 00:26:48,349
And then I found out there were these other jobs you could apply for and there was a
customs agent and I was like, that sounds interesting.

419
00:26:48,349 --> 00:26:50,021
Let me apply for it.

420
00:26:50,021 --> 00:26:50,761
And I got it.

421
00:26:50,761 --> 00:26:53,763
And it was a new experience and something different.

422
00:26:53,763 --> 00:26:58,516
And so what I found out is if you push yourself out there and you try for something,

423
00:26:58,690 --> 00:27:00,571
that you can actually get more from it.

424
00:27:00,571 --> 00:27:03,142
And I think I just kept pushing myself out there.

425
00:27:03,142 --> 00:27:13,217
And again, whether it was career advancement, whether it was financial, whatever it was,
by me pushing myself out there and not even knowing if it was the right time, like am I

426
00:27:13,217 --> 00:27:14,958
leaving a position too soon?

427
00:27:14,958 --> 00:27:16,330
Is it the right decision?

428
00:27:16,330 --> 00:27:17,499
I never looked back.

429
00:27:17,499 --> 00:27:21,561
just, you know, I put myself out there, I went at it and yeah.

430
00:27:21,561 --> 00:27:24,712
And again, you you talked about a defining moment.

431
00:27:25,058 --> 00:27:34,240
You know, I put myself out there and applied for this, you know, service director job, in
the company I was working with for slot machines.

432
00:27:34,861 --> 00:27:38,081
I, I don't, I had never worked on slot machines.

433
00:27:38,081 --> 00:27:39,902
I I saw an opportunity.

434
00:27:39,902 --> 00:27:42,643
I saw it as a good way for me to advance.

435
00:27:42,643 --> 00:27:48,244
And the gentleman, um, who actually I was, ended up being the youngest GM at that time.

436
00:27:48,244 --> 00:27:52,625
And cause he unfortunately passed away, but he gave me an opportunity.

437
00:27:52,625 --> 00:27:55,094
He saw something in me that said, Hey,

438
00:27:55,094 --> 00:28:00,782
as a young 29 year old, come on in and I'll give you a chance.

439
00:28:00,782 --> 00:28:05,868
I now actually put that forward from what I learned from him and saying, you know, give
people a shot.

440
00:28:05,868 --> 00:28:07,710
You never know what they're going to be able to do.

441
00:28:08,974 --> 00:28:13,848
So when you take a loss, when you do, what does Derek, how do you respond?

442
00:28:13,848 --> 00:28:15,060
What do you do then?

443
00:28:17,309 --> 00:28:22,210
Um, what, you know, I think what, what do, what did I do?

444
00:28:22,210 --> 00:28:30,350
And I think some, a lot of people, I shouldn't say a lot of people, but I think there's a
tendency to look around you to see who made a mistake or what someone else did.

445
00:28:30,350 --> 00:28:40,890
Or, you know, I think it's, it's more about me because as the leader and as, as the, where
the buck stops with me, I made those decisions or I supported those decisions or I didn't

446
00:28:40,890 --> 00:28:42,850
inject myself when I probably should have.

447
00:28:42,850 --> 00:28:44,570
And so it's being vigilant in that.

448
00:28:44,570 --> 00:28:46,210
So I kind of reflect.

449
00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:48,144
and say, well, what can we do differently?

450
00:28:48,144 --> 00:28:50,829
And then there are challenges.

451
00:28:50,829 --> 00:28:52,282
People do make mistakes.

452
00:28:52,282 --> 00:28:55,186
It's building those people up, not knocking them down.

453
00:28:55,244 --> 00:28:55,895
Yep.

454
00:28:55,895 --> 00:28:56,165
Yeah.

455
00:28:56,165 --> 00:28:58,797
The reflection is the tricky part is what I've found.

456
00:28:58,797 --> 00:29:03,911
Um, cause it's reflection to grow and learn, not reflection for judgment.

457
00:29:04,654 --> 00:29:07,014
Well, and it's also a bit of a vulnerability, right?

458
00:29:07,014 --> 00:29:14,814
You you're kind of pulling yourself down and say, okay, well, and, know, do I want to show
that or, you know, being hesitant to show that.

459
00:29:14,814 --> 00:29:16,034
And you know what?

460
00:29:16,034 --> 00:29:18,714
At the end of the day, either A, it's very transparent.

461
00:29:18,714 --> 00:29:22,554
You could try to hide it and try to stand behind something, but everybody can see it.

462
00:29:22,554 --> 00:29:24,486
So don't shy away from it.

463
00:29:24,546 --> 00:29:32,615
think that's the mistake that we always make is that I say this often to parents and I
said, Hey, remember when you were a kid, we were always watching.

464
00:29:33,477 --> 00:29:41,286
And if we were watching as kids, when our brains were still developing and who we were and
seeing the world as an adult, we're definitely watching.

465
00:29:41,934 --> 00:29:42,916
Definitely.

466
00:29:43,246 --> 00:29:44,006
Absolutely.

467
00:29:44,006 --> 00:29:45,367
Everyone always is.

468
00:29:45,397 --> 00:29:45,817
all right.

469
00:29:45,817 --> 00:29:48,689
So what do you do for, how do you see your company growing?

470
00:29:48,689 --> 00:29:49,079
What is it?

471
00:29:49,079 --> 00:29:50,700
Is it, is it key employees?

472
00:29:50,700 --> 00:29:53,292
Is it more, um, direct investment?

473
00:29:53,292 --> 00:29:58,945
it building more relationships over your, however you build your business plan, your
trajectory and your growth?

474
00:29:58,945 --> 00:30:00,566
Like how does this company grow?

475
00:30:00,566 --> 00:30:04,638
What do you identify as one or two key areas or points that this is how we're going to do

476
00:30:04,962 --> 00:30:06,383
Well, right now we're scaling.

477
00:30:06,383 --> 00:30:08,524
we're hiring some more key employees.

478
00:30:08,524 --> 00:30:10,065
We're building out our team.

479
00:30:10,065 --> 00:30:13,687
We're trying to see what we need to be more successful and continue.

480
00:30:13,687 --> 00:30:16,459
Our pipeline right now is really solid.

481
00:30:16,459 --> 00:30:17,809
That's a good place to be.

482
00:30:17,809 --> 00:30:24,073
And I'm making sure my team, there's no strain that starts to, you know, there's not too
many hats being worn by any one person.

483
00:30:24,073 --> 00:30:24,263
Right.

484
00:30:24,263 --> 00:30:27,255
So we're definitely scaling from an employee piece and investing in that.

485
00:30:27,255 --> 00:30:32,908
uh Also looking at, how can we take these other verticals that are around us?

486
00:30:32,908 --> 00:30:41,032
that we can start to maximize like the corporates, like the relationships in the Inc 5000
group that we can bring our concepts to life, right?

487
00:30:41,032 --> 00:30:45,924
And how can we create some more millionaires and create more brand loyalty?

488
00:30:45,924 --> 00:30:49,044
And so I see that as a great, huge opportunity for us.

489
00:30:49,044 --> 00:30:52,506
We're just starting to scratch the surface and that's a huge industry.

490
00:30:53,087 --> 00:30:58,719
Lottery, I see as international, know, there's obviously other verticals than your
traditional lottery.

491
00:30:58,719 --> 00:31:00,130
You've got sports betting.

492
00:31:00,130 --> 00:31:03,672
You've got a lot of eye gaming in the European markets.

493
00:31:03,672 --> 00:31:11,175
At the end of the day, there's opportunity to weave into these types of strategies,
experiential prizes, winning moments.

494
00:31:11,175 --> 00:31:16,677
And the thing is, and I described this market recently, I can give you $10,000.

495
00:31:16,677 --> 00:31:18,118
You can pay a bill with it.

496
00:31:18,118 --> 00:31:19,978
It's very transactional.

497
00:31:19,978 --> 00:31:21,509
You won't have any memory of it.

498
00:31:21,509 --> 00:31:23,340
You probably won't tell anyone about it.

499
00:31:23,340 --> 00:31:29,102
You're not going to share that what bills you paid, but if I take you on a trip and you
win $50,000.

500
00:31:29,102 --> 00:31:32,462
You're to tell everybody about it because it's an experience.

501
00:31:32,462 --> 00:31:34,062
It's a moment that's impactful.

502
00:31:34,062 --> 00:31:36,842
And we want to just keep bringing that to more lotteries.

503
00:31:36,842 --> 00:31:41,402
There'll be more, um, you know, we've done our, our living lucky with Lou Combs, uh,
event.

504
00:31:41,402 --> 00:31:44,002
We've done our lady luck with Martina McBride.

505
00:31:44,002 --> 00:31:46,362
There's more on the horizon with talent there.

506
00:31:46,362 --> 00:31:52,362
And I'm also looking at other, um, you know, sports and other celebrities.

507
00:31:52,362 --> 00:31:56,042
Um, you know, if I had my, my wish and my big dream.

508
00:31:56,078 --> 00:32:03,998
I'd love to have our game show on TV and so on some type of channel on some type of
network that will be showing doing more and more winning moments.

509
00:32:03,998 --> 00:32:05,138
That's what I wish.

510
00:32:05,186 --> 00:32:05,827
That's awesome.

511
00:32:05,827 --> 00:32:13,920
um How do you, how does the average person in the public, do we just benefit from what
you're building in your relationships with companies and lottery companies?

512
00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:18,357
Cause there's no direct engagement that you have with an average individual consumer.

513
00:32:18,357 --> 00:32:19,289
there right now?

514
00:32:19,289 --> 00:32:20,082
m

515
00:32:20,082 --> 00:32:21,002
For no.

516
00:32:21,002 --> 00:32:22,423
Yeah, for the most part, no.

517
00:32:22,423 --> 00:32:28,944
think, you know, lotteries will continue to look at, you know, different opportunities,
you know, with other companies as well.

518
00:32:28,944 --> 00:32:35,666
I mean, I think any company that's offering experiences where people can really impact
their lives, I'm all for it, to be honest with you.

519
00:32:35,666 --> 00:32:41,568
And it challenges me to be more creative and get out there more to find more unique ways
of doing it.

520
00:32:41,568 --> 00:32:49,326
But I think, yeah, I think the more we can do, the more we can continue to try to
innovate.

521
00:32:49,326 --> 00:32:50,946
that space if we can.

522
00:32:50,946 --> 00:32:52,774
I think that's what we're trying to do as well.

523
00:32:52,910 --> 00:33:00,010
think the timing for your business, as I think about, receive emails and, and, know, app,
there there's these experiences worldwide.

524
00:33:00,010 --> 00:33:01,210
I mean, they're very expensive.

525
00:33:01,210 --> 00:33:09,170
You're talking about high net worth people if they individually engage with them, but you
see these hundred day cruises and, know, go through Ritz Carlton or something and you get

526
00:33:09,170 --> 00:33:13,510
on their private plane and you go to their place and it's $75,000.

527
00:33:13,710 --> 00:33:22,786
That's not the average human these days, but there is a big segment of this upper earned
income folks that they are paying for these experiences.

528
00:33:22,786 --> 00:33:23,977
I'm sure so, right.

529
00:33:23,977 --> 00:33:30,695
So it's like, man, your business, whether you directly engage with the person or not,
there is a massive market for this type of thing.

530
00:33:30,695 --> 00:33:33,308
Even if it's not through lottery through even paying for it.

531
00:33:33,368 --> 00:33:36,659
There is, and again, that's a unique category, right?

532
00:33:36,659 --> 00:33:44,783
Because those are like high-end millionaire experiences or um services, if you will.

533
00:33:44,783 --> 00:33:54,427
I wanna take those services and bring it to the majority of people because they're the
ones that can't do that or aspire to do that.

534
00:33:54,427 --> 00:33:56,307
And that's where the gold is, right?

535
00:33:56,307 --> 00:34:00,509
I'm not looking to necessarily work with the millionaires and get them the helicopter.

536
00:34:00,509 --> 00:34:03,330
I wanna get that experience on the rich yacht.

537
00:34:03,330 --> 00:34:09,312
Bring that over to lottery or to the majority of the consumers where lotteries are
creating dreams.

538
00:34:09,312 --> 00:34:10,312
It's your dream.

539
00:34:10,312 --> 00:34:16,114
You know, and I think that's the thing is, you know, we've talked a lot about a lot of,
I'd be honest with you, live like a millionaire, you know?

540
00:34:16,114 --> 00:34:21,656
So we've actually got an event next year in Necker Island, Richard Branson's Island in the
Caribbean.

541
00:34:21,656 --> 00:34:22,876
We're buying it out.

542
00:34:22,876 --> 00:34:26,117
We're going to create a millionaire on Richard Branson's Island.

543
00:34:26,117 --> 00:34:28,268
So those are the things that are unique.

544
00:34:28,268 --> 00:34:29,938
That's a unique component.

545
00:34:30,522 --> 00:34:32,272
How many days are you buying it out?

546
00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:33,588
Five days, five nights.

547
00:34:33,588 --> 00:34:34,365
Yeah.

548
00:34:34,365 --> 00:34:34,869
Yeah.

549
00:34:34,869 --> 00:34:35,512
And again.

550
00:34:35,512 --> 00:34:40,570
that that's public how much because you can go anybody can do it what's it cost just to
rent the island for five days

551
00:34:41,525 --> 00:34:43,609
I'm not sure off the top of my head to be honest with you.

552
00:34:43,609 --> 00:34:44,432
you can go to their website.

553
00:34:44,432 --> 00:34:45,277
You can actually see it.

554
00:34:45,277 --> 00:34:46,021
can book night.

555
00:34:46,021 --> 00:34:47,342
Yeah, I think so.

556
00:34:47,342 --> 00:34:47,802
Yeah.

557
00:34:47,802 --> 00:34:48,862
It's expensive.

558
00:34:48,862 --> 00:34:49,882
Very expensive.

559
00:34:49,882 --> 00:34:54,822
Very expensive, you know, but again, the, the Texas lottery just did a promotion with
that.

560
00:34:54,822 --> 00:34:57,002
We're taking 20 winners and their guests down there.

561
00:34:57,002 --> 00:34:59,522
And that's a once in a lifetime experience.

562
00:34:59,522 --> 00:35:01,182
And that was me watching.

563
00:35:01,182 --> 00:35:10,022
I believe it was Richard Branson's documentary and they were showing the islands and I was
like, Hmm, I wonder if we can actually buy that out.

564
00:35:10,022 --> 00:35:17,162
It was a thought, but then I took the thought and I moved it forward and I found the right
contacts and, the group ad Virgin limited.

565
00:35:17,162 --> 00:35:21,842
I have been great to work with, you know, and I think that's a great opportunity.

566
00:35:22,030 --> 00:35:24,680
So next time I'm in Texas, buy a lottery ticket.

567
00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:25,992
Absolutely.

568
00:35:27,778 --> 00:35:30,509
those, do those lotteries market these experiences?

569
00:35:30,509 --> 00:35:31,683
I'm sure I'm assuming they do.

570
00:35:31,683 --> 00:35:32,098
Yeah.

571
00:35:32,098 --> 00:35:32,428
They do.

572
00:35:32,428 --> 00:35:33,179
Yes.

573
00:35:33,179 --> 00:35:41,455
And we provide a lot of content for them as well in the front end so that, you know,
there's these mini social posts that kind of get you excited about thinking with X marks

574
00:35:41,455 --> 00:35:47,199
the spot for the private island getaway, you know, talk about creating a millionaire
private jets.

575
00:35:47,199 --> 00:35:55,865
We do quite a bit, you know, and then on the back end, as you saw some of our testimonials
and our videos on our YouTube channel, you know, we share all of that.

576
00:35:55,865 --> 00:35:57,436
So that's where the gold is, right?

577
00:35:57,436 --> 00:36:00,404
Because you get to see people actually

578
00:36:00,404 --> 00:36:03,419
experiencing and having those moments.

579
00:36:03,419 --> 00:36:05,102
And we hear it all the time.

580
00:36:05,102 --> 00:36:05,703
probably am.

581
00:36:05,703 --> 00:36:07,296
I may have never bought this trip for me.

582
00:36:07,296 --> 00:36:08,849
I would never been able to do this.

583
00:36:08,849 --> 00:36:11,453
Just the trip is amazing.

584
00:36:11,453 --> 00:36:13,907
And I get to win cash at the end of the, at the end.

585
00:36:13,907 --> 00:36:15,078
That's phenomenal.

586
00:36:15,672 --> 00:36:24,277
So the moral to the story for all of us listening today, no matter how much money we've
made, how successful we've been, find a way to buy an island, develop it, and then call

587
00:36:24,277 --> 00:36:27,394
Derek and have him rent your island for a full week every

588
00:36:27,394 --> 00:36:27,836
That's it.

589
00:36:27,836 --> 00:36:29,699
And they'll give away a million dollars on it, right?

590
00:36:29,699 --> 00:36:30,783
There you go.

591
00:36:31,138 --> 00:36:32,962
We think we fixed all the problems

592
00:36:32,962 --> 00:36:37,646
All problems, you just get an island, give us a call and we're going to create the private
island getaway.

593
00:36:37,646 --> 00:36:40,062
And then yeah, that's all it's about.

594
00:36:40,150 --> 00:36:43,606
All right, Derek Gwaltney with Atlas experiences.

595
00:36:43,606 --> 00:36:44,727
Hey, thanks for sharing this to us.

596
00:36:44,727 --> 00:36:53,501
I like to hear the experiences and what you're building and really where the purpose comes
from on helping people live these millionaire lifestyles that the average person doesn't

597
00:36:53,501 --> 00:36:55,754
get an opportunity to touch on a daily basis.

598
00:36:55,950 --> 00:36:56,292
Absolutely.

599
00:36:56,292 --> 00:36:56,857
I appreciate it.

600
00:36:56,857 --> 00:36:57,848
Thanks for time.

601
00:36:57,848 --> 00:36:58,790
Thank you, man.