Ep.295 – DINNER BITES: FlyingSparks Garage (Emily & Aaron Reeves)

So, I've said this before in other episodes, and I think I said this to you guys when we cut out, but I don't know why driving across the country is easier than doing remote recordings, but yet it is.

Because technology.

Yeah, right.

And now, Dinner Bites, a new spinoff of Dinner with Racers, presented by...

Cotton and a tire.

...with your hosts, Ryan Eversly and Sean Heckman.

Welcome to Dinner with Racers, I'm Ryan Eversly.

I'm Sean Heckman.

And this is another edition of our show, Dinner Bites, which is a shorter version of the long format podcast that we normally do.

And one of the things we decided to do with this show is talk to some people that might not be necessarily Racers, but still involve somehow in the sport, in the business, or just related to us in a certain way.

And so you can't think of anybody more awesome than Aaron and Emily Reeves.

I met them on the Hot Rod Power Tour about 10 years ago, immediately became friends with them, and they couldn't have been more fun to talk to you because it's just like chatting to my friends, just like you, Sean.

You'll hear this in the episode, but holy crap, is their dynamic wildly relatable?

Because we have a lot of similarities and things that we can compare in terms of like fan engagement, how we get feedback, you know, just the dynamics of working together.

So that was something I didn't expect coming out of this show, but actually really enjoying it.

Ryan, you've already said it, but basically this is a married couple.

They've known each other since they were teenagers, who Aaron is sort of a fourth generation mechanic.

Emily was actually a model.

They've been together forever and somehow they combine their two skills.

Aaron knowing his way around a vehicle and Emily having worked in modeling, knowing her way around just sort of entertainment and how to present yourself.

And the two of them combined forces to make a really successful YouTube channel.

Literally, you've never met them before.

And I think within like a minute and a half, it was basically like we were just at dinner.

So it's a dinner without the dinner.

That's what this dinner bites is all because of our sponsor who wanted to have more episodes for you, the fan to listen to our sponsor again, Ryan.

Got Nettle Tire!

Again, if you're on Instagram, go to hashtag dinner with Conti and let him know that we sent you.

Take it away, Flying Sparks Garage.

Meow.

Alright, we're going to start in five, four, three, two.

Alright, try number two.

Okay.

So, Sean, you have never met my friend.

We have not met Aaron and Emily, but we met for the first time, I think in 2015 on the Hot Rod Power Tour.

And I, that was my first time doing it.

So I didn't really know what was happening.

So just to let people know what it is if they don't know, you know, from following us.

It's basically a week-long car show that goes from like a predetermined spot to the next.

And they take back roads and it's Hot Rod Magazine that put it on.

The way it was explained to me the first year was, and I'm not making this up, it was like, yeah, it's like a couple, you know, cars.

And they go from like one spot to the next and like Motor Trend, you know, and Hot Rod Magazine, like they put it on.

And so in my brain, it was going to be me and four journalists total.

Like I thought this was like a journalist road trip thing.

And I was like the follow along guy that's going to do social media.

So I landed at the airport in Madison, Wisconsin thinking it was going to be like I'm meeting up with four other people.

And we're going to just drive to the next city and we're going to talk about it.

And then the next city and we're going to talk about it.

And when I got there, I got to like the convention center in Madison, Wisconsin, there's 5,000 cars.

And I was like, okay, this was not explained to me correctly at all.

No clue what this is.

And also no real like direction, like, hey, we need you to talk about this or post this or whatever.

So I think like day three of that trip is when I met you, Emily.

And it was explained to me like in the lobby of a hotel, like, hey, today this model built her own car and we're going to pair you guys up and you just go right around.

I was like, what a terrible day.

Okay, a beautiful woman's going to pick me up in her hot rod.

Okay.

And then what?

And they're like, oh, just hang out.

We'll make a story about it.

And then so I met you.

We just spent the day kind of hanging out and learning about your car that I didn't know you built yourself.

And that was Roxy, the GTO.

And so that was my memory of how we kind of got paired up.

How was it explained to you?

Pretty much that.

I mean, what I was told is there's a race car driver here that's also with continental tires.

I had met continental that year too.

We met them through hot rod magazine and that was awesome.

So they were like, oh, he's with continental.

He's race car driver.

He's going to get in Roxy with you.

And so Aaron jumped in a friend of ours car and you and I just sat out with Ryan, the photographer in the backseat.

And we just had such a fun day.

It was awesome.

Yeah.

And I'm still so new to it at that point that I'm like, I don't know what we do once we get in the car.

Like, is there going to be some direction?

It was like, no, just hang out and we'll take photos and we'll just do whatever.

You know, it's like, all right.

And that's kind of how that whole trip is, you know, outside of the drive itself.

Like I've never done it as a participant.

I've only ever done it as like come show this to other people.

Right.

And so it's weird for me to go on any sort of media thing where it's like just, just hang out.

Like that's the, the, the bit is like, you just drive a car and it's cool and fun.

And other people are going to take a picture of it.

From the magazine that year too, we had, I took, I had taken like a goofy selfie of us.

Oh, that's right.

Yeah.

We're like hot rod that year.

So I'm random back road where we just pulled over and like start taking photos.

Yeah.

It's like, it's a bizarre thing.

And then I met Aaron and I was like, okay, Aaron's probably the coolest guy I've ever met in my life because Emily is beautiful.

And charming and engaging and draws so many people to her, especially men.

And here's this guy who is so comfortable in him with himself and his situation that he's like, yeah, it's my lady.

Go meet her.

She's great.

Do your thing.

Cause I, I don't have anywhere near the same strong suit that you do.

I'd be way more jealous of all these people talking to my, my, my girlfriend, wife, anybody.

And yours is like, it's all good, man.

And so I learned as I got to know you guys better that you guys have been sweet on each other basically since the day you met.

Is that, is that true?

Yeah.

That's pretty well true.

It's been what 25 years now.

And you guys are 27 years old.

So that's,

We actually did power tour for our honeymoon in 2007, which is crazy.

Yeah.

18 years ago now.

But yeah, I had been overseas working.

And so when we got married, he was like, we're going to go like to Italy.

Like you love Italy.

We're going to do that for our honeymoon.

Right.

I was like, actually people to do a hot rod power tour.

He's like, okay, that's badass.

Let's do.

So that was our first time that power tour.

Take me back to how you guys first met.

How we first met.

Yeah.

I'll let Aaron.

It was, it was actually youth group at our local church.

We live in a small town.

So there's really not any activities except for filled parties and church.

And what is that?

What is a small town?

Oh, it's Maybank, Texas.

Maybank, Texas.

Yeah.

We're, we're growing, but, but also still pretty small.

Yeah.

So our choice was church and we quickly realized that people our age are very immature.

We were both kind of, I want to say old spirits or whatever,

but, but we just, we were just mature and we were ready to get on fly.

And so when we connected on that, although we,

there was quite a difference in our ages.

We, we pretty well met each other and we were like, oh, cool.

I like you.

Me.

Now let's, let's go do life.

Right.

That's figured out that's what you lose to earlier is,

is I don't have that jealous bone.

Now as a teenager, of course I was a lot more fiery,

but this neat thing happened with Emily and I that we,

when we got together and we decided we were doing live, that was it.

Yeah.

But we weren't looking at other people and we were just trying to figure out

what the next thing we were going to do was.

So it's, it's worked out pretty good so far.

Yeah.

I would say I recognize that out of you two within a minute of meeting

you that it's just an energy that you guys have that it's like,

that's my person.

Yeah.

And I, and it's just, it oozes out of you two and you're together.

And you don't even have to be within the same conversation.

You can just tell, you know what I mean?

You guys will be like 10 feet apart, but you're like,

those two are connected.

Like that's just what this is.

And I think Emily,

you kind of explained it to me that you basically just started

falling Aaron around the shop.

So to speak,

but you were like, whatever he's doing, I'm doing.

Yeah.

Yeah, everybody else says like, how did you find a girl that

was in the cars?

And Aaron was like, Oh, I made it this way.

You'll find what this you build up.

Yeah.

Emily basically put it to me like, if he was doing something,

I was going to, I was going to do it too.

You know, and I wanted, I wanted to know what he was up to.

I wanted to be excited about it as well.

And now you're quite the formidable mechanic yourself.

Yeah.

It's a, it's one of the most huge sense of accomplishment

projects that I've ever done, like working on an engine

or building something like that.

I became obsessed rather, rather early on.

I think I was like 15 the first time we built an engine together.

And I was like, Oh my gosh, this is my thing.

I'm addicted to this.

Yeah.

Which is good because I'm poor generation in the

mechanical business.

Yeah.

And I was 17 years old when we got together.

So like there was no keeping me out of the shop.

Right.

If you wanted to spend time with me, like that's where

I was going to be.

And thankfully she jumped into that.

And it's really funny because Ellie's career is you alluded

to earlier is modeling and active.

Yeah.

And so she brought this red neck up in that environment too.

So I was at runway shows and stuff like that.

I'll dress up and rub my nose with those with people

that culturally I probably would have never interacted with.

Sure.

But we did that stuff together.

So it's like she, she invested her time in what I was

enjoying.

I invested my time and we both grew a lot as people.

Yeah, I'm sure.

We've been around it.

So growing up small town Texas, what,

Aaron, what was the family like when you started going to red

carpet events?

I think I just didn't talk about it.

Yeah, I imagine that.

I just, I moved out early on.

And so I just went and did my thing and reported back

when it was necessary.

When it was required.

Yeah.

They're going to make fun of me.

So I'm just not going to do that.

Right.

My family's very open.

And you know, they wouldn't be the type to tease me.

At least my parents wouldn't.

Yeah.

Now, Emily, I don't think I actually know how you got started

with the modeling stuff.

Well, I've been growing up being tall and skinny.

Yeah.

Everybody always started that.

Like by the time I was 13, I was like five, nine.

And I was always a tomboy.

I wasn't into cars until we met, but I was always a

boy.

So I kind of looked at the fashion industry and people

would say that I'm like, oh, that's not going to be

my thing.

Right.

But it was kind of, it was presented to me and I

homeschooled.

So I was kind of doing my own thing in life.

Already had this idea of like, if I want to do

something, I'm going to do it and I'm going to learn

all the necessary tools to make myself do that and

find mentors and all that.

So one of the people that talked to me about the

fashion industry, they were like, you know, it's

kind of fun.

It's like acting.

You can go in.

You can play a role.

You can learn, you know, you learn stuff about

psychology about like who's my target market.

And you know, I was kind of like fascinated by

that.

And I was like, well, you know, it's not my thing to

go wear pretty dresses and wear makeup, but like

it kind of could be cool and it's good money.

Yeah.

And so I just went to an open call at an agency in

Dallas, which were about an hour from Dallas.

So it was pretty close.

And I was like, okay, I can do this.

Like this is pretty cool actually.

So I enjoyed the creative aspect of it.

The professionalism that's required to actually get

called back to regular clientele.

Like I saw a lot of models just doing it for

kind of the status of like a model.

And me, I looked at it like, man, this is a great

career.

And I actually did it pretty well full time for

like 20 years.

Right.

I could still be doing it a lot, but I just

really love what we've built with YouTube and

it takes a ton of time.

So I take clients here and there.

But yeah, I did it for like 20 years and

having that level of professionalism and

understanding of the ins and outs of the

industry really helped me transition into the

YouTube world and of content creation.

So it's been really cool to meld our two

careers, wrenching and then doing, you know,

footage and filming it and editing and all

of that stuff that I kind of learned vicariously

by being the subject.

I was also learning lighting and equipment

and filming and the creative process of that.

So I was absorbing all of it, which is cool.

Yeah, I've had to kind of catch up on all

that stuff too from working on our stuff.

Because like when Sean and I started just doing

the podcast, the video element wasn't

something that we really, I mean,

it's something we both thought would be cool

to do and that's his background as well as

racing.

So he has all that skill set, but I'm

really good at turning wheels and yapping.

But like now I understand lighting and

like, you know, all the things that

we've had to learn on that and obviously

like edit times and things that how to

work with a partner on something where

they have to do a lot of the work.

It's really difficult, you know, and so

skill sets that I didn't expect to come

by when I wanted to be a race car driver.

All right.

Now, what kind of stuff did your dad

work on? Like was he just like a routine

like general mechanic or do you do

something specific?

Every diesel.

So we are a fourth generation diesel

mechanic.

Some of us drove, some of us were

mechanics.

I guess my great-grandfather

was a big-time mechanic in Dallas.

Worked for four semi-trucks.

Yeah, a wide motor.

And then my dad in the 80s, he got

into, he started working at Peter

Bilt and then Cummins.

And so most of my career, I've done

a lot of clutches and brakes and

things like that.

But the majority of it was engine

building.

But the biggest that you see on the

road, that was our clock bill.

Million-mile engines.

Right.

Yeah, things that have to run and

run and run all the time.

Yes.

I was like, I didn't realize the

longevity that those motors go

through until racing.

Because a team I worked for was

talking about buying a new tractor

for the hauler.

And they're like, yeah, this one's

only got like, I can't remember

the number, but it was some

astronomical.

1,000 miles.

Right.

And I was like, oh, don't buy

that one.

They're like, no, it's good.

See prices right and everything.

I know.

But then you think about it,

you're like, yeah, that's all

those things do is just run and

run and run.

Yeah.

I mean, you're looking at

100 to 130,000 miles a year.

Yeah.

A lot of these trucks are 20 years

old and they're still newish.

Aaron, you said put me in a dusty

corner and I'll be happy.

And you figured this would be

the rest of your life.

So how, what's the sell?

How do you get sold on doing

this, starting to do this

YouTube thing, especially

because when you first start,

there's no guarantee it's going

anywhere.

So it's just a lot of time

potentially for nothing.

So I, I had dipped my toes

into marketing with a friend

of mine, a high school buddy

of mine.

And so I knew the power of

YouTube and I knew that if

done right and with enough

consistency, it could replace

an income.

So I, I worked on trucks for

20 years and that, that's,

that's enough.

You know, that's hard on the

body.

And so really what, I mean to

answer your question directly,

I didn't really choose to be a

part of it.

I was going to run the camera,

give technical advice and make

sure all the parts were on the

show because I figured she was

working on it.

Plenty of our team on camera.

Yeah.

And then we went to SEMA for the

first year after starting the

channel.

And there were all these random

dudes coming up and talking to

Emily.

And I was just this strange

person standing next to her.

And like,

leprosely said, it's not like I

was concerned about that or

anything.

It's just awkward.

Yeah, right.

Yeah.

I didn't feel honest.

Like, I don't think I'm

going to sell.

I'm like that's not real.

So we kind of looked at like

if this thing actually does

take off.

We don't live our life like this

where we're two separate entities.

Right.

Kind of weird.

We just don't conduct ourselves

like that.

Right.

Reluctantly.

I decided to be on camera.

I didn't talk much in the

beginning.

But now it's like anything

else.

You know, you guys may have

experienced this with the

podcast.

It's like,

you just kind of get in a

zone.

You develop the skills, the

ability to communicate.

And it just,

it's just another part of

what you do now.

Yeah.

I would say on a personal

level, Aaron,

I've seen you grow into much

more of a, you know,

just a personality because

you're more of an introvert.

You know,

I'm very much.

So you guys are really like

ying and yang, you know what

I mean?

Which is probably why it works

so well.

But the person I first met,

not that like you and I

would talk one on one and

like totally normal

conversation.

But I could tell him like

a big group setting,

especially with all the

attention that Emily can get

from all these other

personalities and the thing

that like, I'm sure you've

had,

Sean actually really

liked this.

I'm sure you've had to kind of

nod your way through some,

I'm the funniest guy in the

room because I'm a

YouTube personality and

I'm loud.

And let me say the thing

and you're the kind of guy

I can tell that's like,

all right, just get it all

out.

Like your thing.

And Emily is very good at

just matching that energy

and be like,

yeah.

And so I relate to you

in a lot of ways where

I'm like, okay,

I just have to listen to

this guy who wants to

tell me how smart and

cool he is because he's

got a TV show.

All right, cool, cool.

Yeah.

And that's another skill

that I'm going to come off

the knees pretty quickly.

Absolutely.

And so,

I would say,

yeah,

but I am going to,

in this conversation

or I'm going to walk away.

I've seen you do that.

I've seen you be like,

yeah, I got to get a thing

going over here.

I'm like, I'm with them.

I'm going to go with them.

But as a,

as a,

as a person,

I've seen you grow into

this much more outgoing

personality type that I

wouldn't have expected

based on how I first

met you.

And I'm really proud

of you for that stuff

because to do what you

guys are trying to do,

you have to be that way

actually done this as well.

Cause Sean was much more

of a behind the scenes person

doing a lot of the production

stuff he's done.

And now like he's got to be

on camera with me

in a lot of ways.

And there are times where he'd

be like, you're just going to do

the, the,

you're just going to be the

talking face in this clip.

I'm like, I don't want to be

the only person out here.

You know what I mean?

Like,

well, but also like

say at racetrack.

So I still,

I also work in racing

with Ryan,

but more on the

performance side with a

racing strategy.

And so there are a lot of

weekends where I don't have

Ryan next to me,

and the,

I remember this years ago,

it, it's a skill set

to understand that when people

come up to you to engage,

not, I mean,

being fun and engaging

and friendly to a fan,

that's something I've always

understood.

But it's on you to keep

that conversation going

and make sure that they

feel as welcome and invited

as they can.

And that wasn't a skill

that came naturally

without a little bit

of practice.

And I imagine you're in a

similar boat where you

kind of almost have to

start building that,

that script of like, okay,

what are,

what are the questions I

answer this person knows

that I'm genuinely interested

in what they have to say

because I'm so,

so used to just kind of

being in my own world.

Yeah.

I mean, it's a hundred percent

a skill set.

Yeah.

It's,

I've got the resting bitch

face thing.

Like I,

people probably don't want

to approach me if they

just see me standing.

Oh, I understand you.

But when I realize

they want to engage

in conversation,

I can flip that around

and not disingenuous.

Right.

Like I'm really enjoying

the conversation,

but it took this

developing

I'm really developing.

I don't like that word.

It's,

I'm just expanding into more

of who I've naturally

out many ways.

Yeah.

I had to break down some

barriers and build some

confidence to be able to have

those conversations.

Completely.

No, and I like that

you're, you're very clear

that it's not disingenuous

because you're not engaging

a fan just because

you feel like it's an

obligation.

You actually care about

fans that are interested

in talking to you.

And I understand this

completely.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

It's been fun to see you

go on tour to now.

You have this like awesome

following both of you,

not just Emily,

but what would you say

the turning point

for you because like flying

sparse is like,

like popped, you know.

So what do you think

that like growth period?

What's the response

or what is responsible

for that?

I mean, we saw a big

jump in 2020

when COVID happened.

So 2020

was our,

our goal year to get him

out of the big truck shop.

Yeah.

We said by 2020

we would have the YouTube

channel completely

on YouTube.

And then we did that.

And then of course

in March,

COVID hit.

And so

everything shifted

with,

with the fashion

industry.

So I was like,

well,

I've got all this time.

I'm going to delegate

all our efforts

into YouTube.

So that was

our best year

money wise.

And then we ended

up in

June

buying a

yacht,

like a small

car,

like a small

car,

like a small

yacht,

like a small yacht,

cabin cruiser boat.

Yeah.

That was

our first video

to reach a million views.

I don't know

if it was because everybody

was at home watching videos

because of COVID

or the time of year

or what.

But that video

hit hard

and our subscribership

doubled.

And that was

really exciting to see.

That was a big kid

moment, right?

Yeah.

We felt like

like,

okay,

this is what real

YouTubers feel like.

Yeah.

So that was

great to really get a good

jump in subscribers.

I think then

we had like

80,000 subscribers

and we jumped to like

150, almost 200,000.

Wow.

So that felt really good.

When we look at our numbers

and how long we've been

doing it,

we are so critical

that I think

all

content creators

and people are critical

of their outcomes

or their work

in some ways.

And for us,

it's been a very

slow,

but consistent

and sustainable,

but very slow growth.

Like we've seen

friends of ours.

Oh, they start

and then, well,

five years,

they've got a million,

two million subs.

Right.

Emily has

most trends that are

doing 10 times better

than we are.

Right, right.

But we have to focus

on that,

that we really do

whatever we want.

Like we don't

have a knit.

We work on

boats

to airplanes

to tractors

to my trucks

to

sports cars

to German cars,

American cars.

I mean,

we just tinker

one over.

Yeah.

And, you know,

if we're going to go

on a vacation

like next week,

we're going on

our family camping trip.

We're filming

hearts of that.

So we,

life is just

integrated with our channel.

Our channel doesn't,

it's not

depicted by what's

trending

or any kind of

like certain

thing,

which is really nice.

And I think that

if I had to

choose one,

is it sustainability

and growing

slowly

or growing

really fast

because we're doing

what's trending,

but being stuck in a niche

and burning out.

Yeah.

I would choose

what we have going on

and not to say

that it has to be one

or the other.

If you're a creator,

it doesn't have to be

that.

But yeah,

it's just,

it's interesting to see.

I can't

put my finger on a

certain time

when we were like,

oh my gosh,

now we're,

you know,

this is a huge turning

point for us.

But if I had to,

it would be

2020

five years,

but that was five years

into our channel.

We started it

in 2013.

So,

dude,

it's been 10 years,

this year's 10 years

since we started our

channel.

So it's crazy to feel

like that.

We're working year 10

for the podcast as well.

And it's like,

this was something

that we literally,

no clue where we go,

you know,

and so to be still doing it.

It's like,

Arlen,

this is his 10 year

year as well.

You look at,

he's got

insane reach.

So,

like,

it's so interesting how we all

just do it our own way

and all we can be grateful.

But I'm going to challenge

both of you,

and I say this in a positive

way.

So,

when we first started

recording our podcast

and Emily and Aaron,

I promise this is going

somewhere.

When we first started

our podcast,

like,

we recorded a few episodes

like, okay,

this is fun,

this is cool.

Ryan,

what was the difference

between you and my thinking?

Oh, I was like,

this is going to pop.

No problem.

Like, we will be successful.

I wasn't like,

we're going to make money

at this.

But I was like,

more like,

people are going to love this.

Like,

not a doubt in my mind.

Yeah.

And I was like,

nah,

it might be,

but like,

I've worked enough video

and TV products to know,

like,

even if you have all the

great ingredients and

execution,

sometimes it just doesn't

land for no particular

reason.

You just can't tell that.

So,

you can't just assume.

But here's where I'm

talking about doing this.

And somebody asked if you had

seen the success coming

and Emily,

your response was absolutely,

I did.

And,

and I love that

because I'm not that way

at all.

Aaron, I imagine you and I

are a little bit similar in

that sense of being a little

bit guarded.

A little more calculated.

Yeah, exactly.

But,

but here's why I like it

because it spoke to the

honesty of,

of how you approach it.

But my point is,

even if deep down I'm

calculated Aaron is

calculated,

no one is going to put

the time and effort into

these things unless you

actually think it can

and everyone loves to say,

oh,

I would have never seen this

coming into an extent that

might be true,

but no one does this if they

didn't actually see

something coming in.

So, Emily,

thank you for actually

saying, yeah,

we expected it to be

successful.

Like I was actually so happy

to see that.

Yes.

Well,

anytime I get messages

from people that say

they want to start YouTube,

I'm like,

well,

okay, then do it.

Yeah.

Like we never,

we never looked at it as

just for fun

or we're going to

we don't try things.

Dip our toe in

see if it works.

Like, no,

we're going to make it work.

Yeah.

And it's not,

we just had the recipe

right then early on.

It's like,

no, you fail,

you learn,

you do things wrong,

you do things that don't

resonate,

you do things that don't

feel right to you

and you pivot,

you try new things.

You,

it's persistency,

persistence

and consistency

that makes it work.

But yeah,

if you try hard enough,

you're going to make

anything work.

Sean and I get

pretty pissy with each other.

You know,

when we spend as much time

as we do together,

just because we've been doing

this for 10 years and,

you know,

we're both,

we have ideas of how we want

things to go,

but anytime you spend

that much time with somebody,

you're going to have the

good and the bad.

You guys then live together

and are married.

How do you balance

the,

how do you stop

from killing each other?

Like,

I mean,

Aaron,

I don't know how you do it.

Emily's a real pain in the ass.

You know,

like,

I mean,

she's a big personality

and I'm a quiet person.

So that,

I mean,

that is like a real thing.

Yeah,

right.

We,

we don't weaponize anything

against each other

and we never have.

Yeah.

So if,

if I'm being pissy,

which I certainly can be,

I can occasionally throw

a wrench and stuff like that.

It,

it's a known thing

that I'm not mad at her.

I'm out of the situation

and we are very good

at vocalizing that.

Good.

We had a little thing this

morning where I said

something that was a little

bit rude.

And I went back a little

bit and these are the things

that are going on.

They kind of had me a little

bit stressed.

Just so you know,

I apologize for saying it.

Like,

right.

We,

and usually it doesn't

come to bat.

Like cross words almost

never come out.

But the one thing is

they are never directed

at the other person.

We're allowed to be angry

and upset

and scared

and frustrated.

But it is never directed

at that other person

and we make sure to keep

those lines clear.

And when you do it's,

there's just not anything

to argue about really.

Yeah.

It's us against a problem,

against each other.

Do you guys need to take time

apart from one another

just to kind of refresh

at some point?

Like,

because like,

I know Sean and I,

we don't do this as much

anymore, but we used to make

it's like a 30 day trip.

It was like a road trip

for the entire month

of October and November

or whatever.

And by the end of that,

I don't care who it would

be sitting next to me

in that car.

I'm like,

I need,

I need time.

I need space.

Yeah.

But you guys are not

only married,

but then you're working

together.

So we can deduct the water.

We spend every minute.

Get my back.

Yeah.

No, I mean,

I mean,

alone time is a good thing,

but it usually comes,

I put my earbuds in

and get in the kitchen

and cook.

And she'll be doing stuff

in the yard.

We have

seldom felt like

we just need a vacation

from each other.

Right.

That's awesome.

You know,

just 15,

20 minutes to reset

our brains

working is usually enough.

Yeah.

Well, again,

like I said,

like the energy you two

have together is

something I recognize

the day I met you two.

And I was like,

that is their person.

So Sean's not my person.

He is.

Hold on.

No, no, no,

wait, wait, wait,

wait,

maybe Ryan,

the difference might be

we need to start

showering together.

I mean,

they all together

and you know,

plan better.

All right.

I mean,

it does take time.

You can experience

the water bill too.

Yeah.

I mean,

all I'm hearing is positives.

Yeah.

Right.

Yeah.

So what's

what's the current status

at flying?

Like what are you guys

currently in the midst

of building or tinkering

with that's

the big thing at the

moment?

Our big thing is

pretty actually

physically big.

We built a

semi-trick

and we bought

a 1984

2009 Peter built

out of Aaron's dad's

yard.

Wow.

That had been sitting

20 years

and working on it

for the past few months

and it's been a hit

on the channel.

Everybody loves it

and we just took

the maiden voyage

in it from Texas

to Wisconsin

last week.

We returned home

last week.

Yeah.

So it was

a great trip.

The truck

overall did wonderful.

We had a couple

of hiccups,

but we took

our niece with us

and we just

had a great trip.

The truck still

but this week

we're prepping

our haul vehicles

because we're going

on the family camping

trip.

So we have

like three days

to prep

three vehicles

that are traveling

you know

four hours,

five hours down

the road

to the family camp

out.

And then

when we get home

we're going to

resume work

on the

359

and then

we bought

another Peter

built that

we're going to

rent

this

commercial building

that we're in now.

And

so it's got

an overhead hoist

that we're

very enthusiastic

about

because we get

to drop that

Duramax

into our cabin cruiser.

So that's a

really fun

project that

we're excited

to resume.

Right.

Yeah,

we're just

we're all over the

place.

So that's

really fun.

With

the exception

of

the camera being on the

tripod

our life's fairly normal.

Like we just

went to this event

in Wisconsin

and our niece went with us

who's been on the channel

since they want.

Yeah.

And this was the first

real like big event

she had been to.

Well, for her

it's just

her and Uncle

and her in the garage

building cars.

Well, she got to

find out

he's kind of famous.

People know who she is.

Exactly.

I'm a lot of autographs

and everybody knew her name

and wanted to know about

her truck

that she recently got.

It is so easy to fall

into that trap of

I'm just here

in my garage

doing stuff I want to do

and yeah,

occasionally talk to the camera

when it's thrown in my face.

Yeah.

But other than that

it's normal life.

So it is

it takes a little getting

used to going out

in public

to dinner at night

and somebody walks up

you or go to the grocery

store and someone

walked up to you

and they're wearing a

shirt with your name

on it.

That still blows me away

since that's how

we got to meet.

Do you have a favorite

power tour memory?

I have one

but it's here.

It was from our first year

when we went on our honeymoon

and this taught us

of the really

the heart behind power tour

and the camaraderie

that happens.

Yeah.

We were on a long stretch

of rural road

because as you mentioned

that you

rarely find yourself

on a highway

on power tour.

They want you to take

the back roads.

Yeah.

Well every gas station

would be full of cars.

I was with you

when this happened.

Were you?

Yes.

It's one of my favorite

stories.

And I'm not sure

it's going to be the same

story because this had

Aaron in the passenger seat

of my car.

Maybe not.

We'll see.

So we passed

lots of gas dots

but I was like

we've got enough.

So we're going

and Aaron was like

we really should

have stopped at those

gas stops even though

we didn't need gas

because I really

need to take a leak.

So we pulled off

and I was like

well this is

like a big shoulder

and we pulled off

and Aaron jumps

out of the car

and runs to the bushes

and then all of a sudden

I'm looking at my rear

rear mirror and I'm like

oh no there's a bunch

of cars pulling off

and it was because

they saw us on the

side of the road

and the camaraderie

of power tour is

these slides

get so pumped

to see somebody

broken down on the side.

Yeah we get the help.

Yeah.

And I didn't need

any help.

You had it

under control.

There were like

all these sick cars

pulling off

and I was like

oh dear

like they all come

up to me

and I'm like

oh you don't need anything.

I'm like no we're good

but it was just like

so many cars

stopped

and that's

my favorite

favorite moment

because I was like

oh I love these guys.

Yes it's like that

the whole trip

you know what I mean

like you're literally

not just taking a peep

sorry

didn't mean to cause a

problem.

Yeah that's the best.

But everybody gets

so excited when

something breaks

because they're like

all around an extra

alternator.

You need a fuel pump

for that thing.

Oh I got a

serpentine belt

it's so sweet.

Yeah and then it becomes

like the story

for the next couple of days.

Oh yeah.

You know like

yeah we helped this guy

with a 76 you know

but I fortunately

I had a couple of those

bullies in my trunk

and you know

you know same thing

happened to me

so I knew to bring

an extra one

and it's like

it just becomes

part of it you know

it's a war.

It's so sweet.

So great.

Yeah Aaron

do you have a favorite

story other than

when you tried to

take a leak

and a bunch of guys

tried to help you.

We built

our tool truck

Garfield

for Hot Rod Power Tour

one year

I don't remember when it was

2019.

It was one of those

builds where we were working

until like

three or four in the morning

we take like 30 minute

natt and get back to it.

Yeah.

Somewhere along the way

I didn't get the rear end

welded in

just right

so the pan hard bar

broke

and

what state was that?

Georgia somewhere.

Georgia.

Yeah.

And so we're

it's got a tool bed on it

so the rear end wouldn't

walk out

of the side

and I was

Yeah.

And Emily got on social

medium was like

hey we're broke down

and immediately a fan

was like

I've got a garage

and I've got a welder

so you guys just come over

He was like one exit away

Yeah.

That's crazy.

So we went to his house

and I climbed up into the

truck

welded all back together

and that was just cool

like

it's unique for us

because

obviously we have an audience

Yeah.

But you could have done

that in the

Facebook

Power Tour thing

Yeah.

I mean that

that is the car industry

you know there's a lot of hate

that goes on

a lot of bickering back and forth

Yeah.

And all that

but the reality is

99% of the people

are just like that.

Yeah.

I think we just all share

the same hobby

and we want to see

each other have fun

and we want to see

each other be safe.

Yeah.

And that

that so those memories

that's just one example

of a lot of memories

I have of that

kind of stuff on Power Tour

What's the next big

project you think

after after the trucks

here?

Probably that Duramax swap

on the

on the boat.

Yeah.

That's long overdue

we tore it down

two years ago

did a

transom repair

and all kinds of stuff on it

and then it got

shelled for a few

different reasons.

Yeah.

And back in January

we started it back up

and we were going to

get it going

and

you may know this

if where you live

is like Texas

it's been raining

all year long.

It's been crazy.

This is a big boat

hauling 15 feet high

like it doesn't fit

in the garage.

It's wider than a garage

or

and so

we just

had to shelled it again

this year

but we just moved into

this new building

and the doors are big enough

and we've got room for it

so once you get back

from the strip

kind of

we'll do a few more

things on the truck

then that boat will

come back in

and that'll be a

it'll be a big milestone

to get that finished

because it's a big

project we started

and then had to keep

pausing it

it'll just

you know sometimes

you have good intentions

but they just

keep getting put off

and that

that holds up

space in your brain

because

it's

I wouldn't call it stress

but there's just this

distraction

cloud yeah

yeah exactly

and so we'll be excited

to get that done

and then of course

go use it

it's gonna be crazy cool

having a diesel powered

hell yeah

pocket yacht

yeah

alright so

so obviously

the YouTube channel

speaks for itself

but

if fans

we're gonna check you out

on YouTube

anywhere else

they should be looking at you

I do have a tick talk

okay

I'm Emily Reeves

on tick talk

that came out so naturally

by the way

yeah

but I have a tick talk

I do have a tick talk

I have a tick talk

tick talk is a pretty

fun platform

okay

um

but then just

Facebook

Emily Reeves

and

Facebook

Flying Sparks Garage

um yeah

and then Instagram

Flying Sparks Garage

his Instagram

is pilot Reeves

shoot me a message

I probably won't respond

I'm one of those

he's acting pretty bad

on social media

he posts like

once a month

yeah

sometimes people

will have people to follow him

I never put this together

before but I am definitely

the Emily Reeves

of Dinner with Racers

yeah

which I'm

I'm happy about that

that's great

you know what

there has to be one of us

that's right

but there also has to be

one of us

here's Instagram

it's Finley the shop dog

yeah

gotta have it

yeah

I'm gonna guess that's the

account Sean's gonna follow first

yeah

absolutely

yeah

he posts more frequently

than Aaron does

yeah

awesome

oh y'all are great

I'm so proud of you guys

yeah

thanks guys

likewise

meow

I'm finished

yeah

Ep.295 – DINNER BITES: FlyingSparks Garage (Emily & Aaron Reeves)

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