Know How To Prioritize Your Metrics With Kris Dehnert
Before he was making Dugout Mugs for the millions of baseball fans out there, Kris Dehnert was just an ordinary kid who loved to collect baseball cards. Join your host, Chad Burmeister, and discover the inspiring story of Kris Dehnert. Learn how his critically ruptured appendix changed the course of his life—from being Mr. Busy to a man with a balanced work life. Discover what it means and why it’s important to "know your metrics'' and how to believe in something when all hope is lost.
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Know How To Prioritize Your Metrics With Kris Dehnert
I have an awesome guest with me. Kris Dehnert is a friend. I met him a couple of quarters ago at a place called Board of Advisors. This is a place of 150, 200 CEOs come together in the world's greatest mastermind. I believe it because I’ve got to meet a good friend named Kris. Kris is the Founder and CEO of Dugout Mugs. If you have seen Dugout Mugs, let me give you a hint. If you have ever been to a bar, you have seen Dugout Mugs. If you go to Groupon, you have seen Dugout Mugs. If you have seen a celebrity on TV drinking a beer, you have seen Dugout Mug. Kris Dehnert, welcome to the show. I'm excited to have you here.
Thanks. It’s good to be here. My partner, Randall, is the one who came up with this brainchild. With my background, being in business, he came to me and we decided both to go all-in on it and run with his invention. It has been nice and good.
I love the attribution. A lot of times, we as people tend to put on the gear and say, “I did all that.” You see a lot of celebrities, whether it's a baseball player, football player or a boxer for that matter, at the end of their fight, they point up and attribute properly. I appreciate that. You did that when I was in Florida too, you are like, “I'm the Cofounder.”
There is a whole community of people out there that enjoy the fake it until you make it mentality. It may have a place in certain areas for short periods in the business. When it comes down to it, it's more attractive, respectable when you are transparent. Anybody who has done anything at scale had success or things like that know 100% it wasn't done by themselves. It wasn't always good, fun and easy. Those that pretend that it is, are trying to tell people what they think they want to hear. I have always been unapologetically myself, as I like to say.
You can sense it. When people present at the Board of Advisors, there is authenticity where you are like, “I get it. I understand that person,” and connect. You then see people trying to go too far to one side. That is right, you have to be authentic. Let's help the readers get to know who you are. I like to go back. If you rewind the tape and now your 5, 6, 7, your first memories as a kid, some people say, “I can't remember until age eleven.” For me, I remember six years old. What are your first memories and what were you passionate about then?
Ironically, one of the things that I'm having a lot of fun with now is baseball cards. When I was a kid, we didn't have a ton. We didn't have a lot of money. My mom worked hard, had a few different jobs at the same time. She was a female entrepreneur before was cool and trying to hustle. If we wanted something, we had to go and get it. My brother and I were always hustling, whether it's cutting yards or buying candy in bulk at Sam's Club and reselling it for profit. In hindsight, I understand why I turned out the way I did.
I always like baseball cards. We liked building things and creating things. I had a good imagination back in the day. I spent a good bit of time outside. I’m surprised I didn't break more things as crazy as we were. Plus, my poor mom was working all the time. I did a lot of that, and then the money we would make and save, we would spend it on baseball cards. Some of them I found years later. I remember the card. It's fun. That was something that I have been enjoying again a little bit, especially with what I do being in the baseball industry.
This may be hard to pull out in a conversation. I collected coins, a little bit of Star Wars cards and baseball. I wonder what do you think collecting those cards was about if you can even think at that age?
Having something that was “of value” and that was mine because it was me and my brother. We shared rooms, clothes, stuff. It was one of my things. When you are a kid, you have little treasures. I have a kid now. Ironically, you are asking what about six. I try to remember where she's at, collecting the little treasures, taking it all and spreading it all out and looking. It’s the wonder of it.
Think of the thin blue thread, yellow or whatever color it is that pulls from then to now in what you are doing. You are an influencer in the baseball world. You help people's dreams come to life. It's a pretty cool thing. Not only do you get to hold the card but you also get to sit in the owner’s box right behind the first base. How does that connect from what you were doing to what the day in the life that you are living now?
I don't think those two directly correlate. The hustle, the no excuses, if I want something, go get it, that certainly stayed. Dugout Mugs is my 6th or 7th venture. I have been doing a lot of things. I have been staying busy since my mid-twenties. That's the line. It was always go get it and always believe I deserve whatever it was. There wasn't a lot of doubt then or now. That's how I’ve got into this business. It transitioned a little bit. I was this business warrior, and then you realize what is most important and what isn't most important.
This venture came to be, a few of them have, I wanted to help someone do what they are doing better than they are doing it. I like working with people. I'm a good collaborator. I take what I do specifically well and I don't do anything else, the hell with it. Outsource that. I can take it and I leverage it hard. I find other cool people who are fun. The first time you heard me speak was Know Your Metrics and mine are very much having fun. Can I play with my friends? Can I leverage my network? Can I have fun experiences? That wonder from back in the day is something I have carried along with me as well.
Define the reality you want to be in. I met with a kid who’s graduating from DU named Dylan and his dad is a CEO of a software company in Austin. The dad asked someone that I know, “Would you meet with them and give some advice?” I go, “I usually like to put it on an Excel spreadsheet because I'm analytical.” I list out, what are those things? You list out Company A, B, C and D, and then you score each category. I like to travel, be on airplanes and stay in cool hotels. Put that on your list. Whatever is important to you, if you start stack ranking what you are doing in life, where you live, who you hang out with, you can diagram and design the life you want to live is what it turns out.
We interviewed a guy coming in for Ops manager, administrative assistant, something like that. That is what I was talking about. He was 31. I was like, “What is your 40th birthday look like?” You reverse engineer this lifestyle by design. There are plenty of deals that I can be and there are plenty of jobs I can go get but it didn't fit me. I had core metrics that I wanted to meet and a lot of it came after I’ve got sick. It put a few things into perspective. It's a lifestyle by design 100% of the time.
That leads to an interesting part of the conversation, the challenges we have in life. Some people look at a challenge as a mountain. We all have that inclination. I have learned over the years to look at it as a big mountain but if you are looking at it from 30,000 feet, it's more like a small speed bump. Is there a memory that you faced, maybe it's when you’ve got sick, that you went through something difficult, and then looking back, you say, “That caused me to live a better story?” That helped you become the person that you are.
Know Your Metrics: If you had a ruptured appendix and were on crutches, lie down and take a breather. Know your priorities and stop being so busy with being busy.
There are several pivotal points. If you are doing it right, most people can relate to that. If you never ruffling any feathers or making any changes or pushing any limits, you are probably half-assing it. There are several times that I ran into some pivotal moments where it goes left or right because straight isn’t an option anymore. The most identifiable one was when I ruptured my appendix and I didn't go into the hospital for a week because I had meetings. I had a Stanley Cup game to go to. I had my buddy's Ferrari at the time. That is why I didn't go to the hospital that day is because I didn't want to leave his Ferrari in a certain area of town. My priorities were nonexistent. I also had a six-month-old at home and it was a week or two weeks after Father's Day.
Three days earlier, I had bilateral knee surgery. Not only was all this going on but I was doing it with no knees and on crutches. I should have been laying down, asleep and taking a breather but I was busy being busy. That moment in time put things into perspective and let me understand the premise that there is only one set of most important things and it has nothing to do with work, business or money. It helped me shift into that gear. It's a practice. I'm not going to lie and say all is better because I'm good at business. I fall into that.
At the same time, I designed it differently this time. I don't have to travel. I don't have meetings. I have hired the right people. I have outsourced, delegated, automated and replicated. This is what I did this time around so that I dropped my kid off at school every day. I pick her up from school most days. I have two little girls now. It came at the right time. It gave me a 30% chance of dying. I was like, “That sucked.” Imagine going out like this, never see your kid walk, talk or anything and you are stuck in a hospital bed and you die because you are too busy being busy, that is not a nice statement on your headstone.
There was a multi-billionaire that went skiing on a Heli trip with us. He had all these kids that were there. I'm looking at him interacting and they interacted well. I was like, “How does that multi-billionaire have a relationship with his kids?” The kids are grown and I'm sure they have kids and he has grandkids. He is 72. Afterward, I’ve got to know them at the table at night on the ski trip. I went and watched a show interviewing him on Spartan.
I always thought the work-life balance was an impossible thing when you are in the millions of dollars of earnings. In the interview, he said, “That was the fallacy I was telling myself.” He said, “I own real estate only in California, Oregon and Nevada. That way, I could fly a private jet in and get home in time for dinner with my kids every night and tuck them into bed and say prayers with them at night.” It can be designed to do both. That's an important breakthrough for people who are reading this. If you are going for the millions, don't forget about family because you can do both.
Money is a result of doing the right things consistently. Even with Dugout, we grew by 250%. We are on a track triple. We are in the tens of millions now. I probably work 8 to 10 hours a week as a cofounder and CEO of the company. One of the things I tell people, even my managers meeting with my team, the manager meeting I had with one of my guys, “Do fewer things better.” The one I love is to do what you do best and outsource the rest. It's all about design. Spend more time on the design, and then it works and gets out of your way. It can certainly be done. Work-life balance is an interesting premise. I don't agree with it. It's all life. Part of my design is I don't want to differentiate between the two. It's like, “I have to stop doing something I don't like to go over here and do something I do like. I want to do things that I like all the time.” Balance is one less thing I have to pay attention to.
When it's fun, it's frictionless. Life becomes exactly what you want it to be and it's smooth.
You can make money doing things you love. People do it all the time. What happens is they are not clear enough on who they are, what do they like and what their personal KPIs are. What are your metrics? You get those things dialed in and it's a little lot easier to get there.
Think of your fingerprint. I have a picture in my office, it's got Bible verses that make up a fingerprint. No one fingerprint is the same as someone else. How can I go to an airport and they scan my eyeballs and tell me who am I? I'm unique. Getting in alignment with your uniqueness and understanding how people will pay me money based on my uniqueness, that is the ultimate hack and then it's smooth sailing.
One of your key metrics is money. Sometimes it's time, experience or other things. “Money is not the most important thing in the world but it's right up there with air,” or something like that. I don’t much remember the quote. It's pretty funny. At the end of the day, that's what it is. You know your metrics. If it's based on money, that's okay if that's what your top priority is. There are others too that can be equally if not more fulfilling.
As a leader in companies that were funded, I'm a $500,000 a year guy. As a CEO, I'm nowhere near that because that metric has become far less important. I'm opening a foundation that we applied for. The goal is how do I help millions of other people and do bigger things? Know your metrics. Know what drives you.
It’s a completely different objective. Until you know that, do you know if you are going in the right direction with every move you make? If my goal is to lose 50 pounds, then don't eat a hamburger every day. Know your metrics.
If you could wave the proverbial magic wand and change everything in life, would you do it? I get a feeling the answer for you is, “I'm already doing it.”
I'm doing a version of it. I want my health to be better. I want my relationships to be stronger. I want to travel to more places. I want my kids to have more self-confidence and security. It’s the same stuff that a lot of people want. I don't think so. I would be doing myself a disservice if I could wave a flag and instantly be somewhere. It’s a position in life thing. That is the life, it's trying to get there. Losing is more important than winning. I wouldn't do it. I'm pretty happy here. The enjoyment comes with the climb. The climb and the struggle to get to that next place make it worth it.
You appreciate it. You can't have good without bad. You can't have left without right. You can’t have up without down. It's part of the process. Similar question, you go a few years out and you are looking back, you are at a Board of Advisors meeting Q3 a few years from now, what do you say? This has been the best few years because fill in the blank.
Know Your Metrics: Work-life balance is all about design. Spend more time on the design, and, until it works right, learn to get out of your own way.
For me, I would have probably exited by then. From a financial perspective, there's going to be no real complications, no more struggles and things like that. For me, it's going to be more about personal accomplishments. What did I do next? Those things are super important. I want to get more fluent in Spanish. I want to play the guitar. I want to do photography. There are interests that I have that, three years out from now, are going to be ones that I can look back and start checking off my boxes. If all goes well, we will have a substantial exit from this company. I have already checked the box like, “I'm good financially. My kids are good and my kid’s kids are good and probably their kids.” Spending more time and going to the soccer games, the cheerleading and gymnastics and all that, that’s what my next few years from now is going to look like.
You said, “Do your best, outsource the rest.” Is that a phrase?
I have built my professional career a little bit on ideas, thoughts and sayings. It’s easy quick reminders for me. One of the things that I have always believed in is that your network is your net worth. I have made a point of truly connecting with many of the right people. One of the things I love to say is, “It's not who you know, it's who knows you.” There's a distinct difference between those two things for me, connecting with those people and things like that.
The last question that I will ask is what role does faith play in your journey? I have heard you use the word belief a few times specifically faith. Does that play a role in what you are doing?
You’ve got to believe. There is no way I did this on my own. There is no way I’ve got up out of that table on my own. When I was laying there, the only prayer I had was, “Get me through this. I'm paying attention now. Help me get through this and put somebody in my path that deserves the particular skillset that I can accomplish my new core metrics, which is, can I play with my friends? Can I have fun experiences?” The list goes on.
There was some serious divine intervention because even when Randall called me the first time, he's like, “I found you online. I read some articles about you.” He happened to be driving through the same city that I happened to be at a meeting five minutes away. He had this mug with him and he brought it to me. From the first phone call to the first meeting, it was twenty minutes. Somebody was put in my path that needed what I had and that allowed me to check some of those boxes. I certainly think there was divine intervention there and It has been along the way.
When you look back, it's a lot clearer when, where and why things happen the way they did. I go to bed every night. I fall asleep saying thanks for everything, “Thanks for this. Thanks for that little thing.” I catch myself being more grateful at that moment. Even something I'm like, “I need something.” All of a sudden, it appears. I'm like, “I appreciate that. Thanks.” This level and attitude of gratitude that you carry around certainly have been a good thing for me.
We are building an app and all of this similar to you. It happened originally because I had a bad month at work. I went from $200,000 a month to $20,000. All my headcount, I'm like, “What's this? How do I face this?” For 30 days, praying every day. I have always believed but I never believed that when you ask for something. I don't have a telephone line into God. I'm like, “There's no way. How's that possible?” I go through those 30 days and I said, “I'm going to put you in the driver's seat. I'm going to the passenger. Let's go, drive.” People start showing up at my firepit during COVID that are the most amazing, fabulous people in the whole world.
Robert White graduated millions of people from his mindset academies over the years. He is one of the early fathers of transformation. I'm like, “He's back from China. Now I get to meet with him.” Rich Blakeman is the former CRO of Miller Heiman, the biggest sales training org in the world. All these people start showing up and we were like, “What are we going to do?” The latest is we are building an app called 77 Pray. It’s like 75 Hard teaches you to work out and mental toughness. This is going to be a spiritual toughness app. It's as simple as pray in the morning, read a Bible verse, and then be thankful at night when you go to bed. It’s as simple as that. God, what do you want for my life?
Doing anything with consistency will yield a better result, no matter what it is. You wake up every morning and the first thing you are trying to do is see how you can get up on somebody else that has the same vibrations. Do anything with consistency and it's going to yield a result. Be cautious about what you do consistently.
Anything that you would leave with our audience of advice or ideas for them to live a better story?
Number one, you don't have control like COVID, politics. Stop pretending you do. The sooner you realize that you don't have as much control as you think you do or that people tell that you do, which is counterproductive to some people's conversations it’s fair enough, you don't. You go with it. One of the things I love is there are two things you shouldn't worry about, it's the stuff you can change and the stuff you can't. If you can change it, change it and shut up. If you can't, shut up. It’s what it is. You don't have control. Another is life is short. Don't do things you hate. Stop. That's your choice. I would rather live twenty years less and be doing something that I love. People are identifying what they like and what they enjoy and do more of that.
My best friend from college was named Kris Dehner. Now I have another great friend named Kris Dehnert, Cofounder, CEO of Dugout Mugs. It has been a pleasure. I'm glad to have you in the circle. I'm glad I do know you now. Thank you.
Thank you. I appreciate it. I encourage anybody to connect with me online on LinkedIn, Instagram, probably more LinkedIn than anything. I'm always talking about something, doing something and a lot of fun stuff going on. I'm always unapologetically myself. If you like who I am, you might like me there too.
Know Your Metrics: Know your key metrics. For some, it's money; for others, it's time, family, or experience. Know your priorities in life.
I heard that right before this conversation you met with the Los Angeles Dodgers. I don't think that's a Dodgers hat with the D on your hat.
I was wearing a Detroit Tigers hat to a Dodgers meeting.
It’s like going back to an IBM house. It's all good.
It's about what you say, what you mean and not what you look like. Authenticity shines 10 feet in front of you. Anybody who tries to put on a costume and hides who they are, they are on a bad path. Focus on the inside and that will usually shine 10 feet in front of you regardless of what you look like. Randall and I, almost every meeting we go to, it's sandals and hats. You saw me speak at the mastermind with a shirt and a hat. I was in three-piece suits. Be authentic. That authentic self is probably some of the best advice I have ever given anybody. Stop pretending to be something you are not to impress people that don't matter. Be you and the right people will gravitate towards you.
May anyone reading have someone be put in their pathway like you had someone put in your path with Randall. It’s an amazing story. I love that we have been able to share it. Kris, it’s great to see you as always. Thanks for your time.
It’s my pleasure.
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About Kris Dehnert
My name is Kris Dehnert, and I am the founder of the Dehnert Media Group... Yeah, I'm one of those lame guys who named my company after myself... Hey, I was young and didn't know any better, HAHA!
Anyway, over the last 12 years, I have found success in numerous verticals, including real estate, apparel, hard goods, affiliate marketing, strategic partnerships, etc... but my focus has really been rooted in eCommerce and social media where I have managed to surpass $40 million dollars in sales online.
