Soldier's Hard Visit to Grunt Style

We were lucky enough to have Jeff Barillo of Redcon-1 Music come visit us at Grunt Style HQ in Chicago. If you don't know Jeff, you might know him by his much more popular name, Soldier Hard.We have been a fan of Soldier Hard since he first hit the hip hop scene. Soldier Hard is a war fighter who speaks about the experiences of military members who have been deployed and who have been fighting our nation's wars for the last generation.We were honored to have him come visit our humble shop to see how veterans can continue to do good work even after they leave the military. Like Soldier Hard said to us, you may leave the military, but the military will never leave you. Here is what he had to say about his visit to Grunt Style:My Grunt Style LLC Visit Experience:

So I this Weekend I had a Grunt Style LLC visit, and from the moment I walked in I was slapped in the face with professionalism! The Secretary at the front desk welcomed me, already knowing who I was and what I was there for. A lot of the Employees greeted me with smiles and hand shakes,Daniel Alarik the Owner of Grunt Style took me on a tour, introducing me to his "Company Sized Element" by Name, Rank (Yes I said Rank) and duty position! "First Sergeant, Platoon Sergeant?" I thought. "Now this is a place I'm comfortable with!" Most of his Employees are WARFIGHTERS, several Former officers, and the Rest former Enlisted! Suddenly my mind set went from "I'm here to visit" to "NO! I'm here to learn"! It was the definition of success, hard work, dedication & determination! 100 employees total!As he took me on a tour of the whole process, designs, promotions, sales, creating the shirts, shipping & more, you can see the pride in his work and his team. After the first hour he had to leave, and then I was sent to a meeting with his Research & Development Staff, which were all Warfighters, very highly motivated and skilled in Designs. "Oh Snap! I get to design shirts and give them my input of ideas I had" I thought! Later 2 designs was created (available here soon).The moment I got one on one time with Daniel I immediately began to ask questions, I was there to learn, to become better, so I pounded him with all the questions I had, I asked, he answered and I was a sponge! I learned what GRUNT STYLES name was supposed to originally be (thank god it wasn't it) I learned the struggles he faced when he was going to throw in the towel. At that moment I thought "a lot of people when faced with that situation would have quit, what if he did? If he didn't take a chance on his dream and self he wouldn't have known his success!" At this time I thought of a perfect quote (I'm inspired by life) "you can be 1 day away from achieving your goals, but if you quit before that day, you'll never know"Because that's exactly what his situation was! He didn't quit!I genuinely learned a lot, i bum barred him with questions to a point where he probably got the idea that I WASNT trying to Study him, but I was STUDYING SUCCESS!I ended up leaving with a lot of Grunt Style Shirts, Beanies, bug out bag, and beer mugs, but most importantly I walked out of there with Knowledge! Knowledge is the NEW MONEY, get some!!!In closing I'd like to add, When I think of the title "Veteran" Daniel is the definition of one, he is what I pictured what a Veteran truly is. He started out with just himself and a dream, he made shirts on his own in his apartment, he worked two jobs to survive, he was faced with financial burdens that made most quit, he stuck it out, believed in himself and he made it happen! He didn't come up with excuses on why he wasn't living to his full potential, he didn't looked towards others to solve his problems! My Flat bill ball cap goes off to him! Let this inspire you! Excuses get you nothing, action gets you your goal!Question: What made him so successful???Answer: he lived by his creed "I will NEVER quit" (I never heard 1 excuse from him the whole time, even through dark days)Daniel, Thank you for everything!!!! Thank you 1000 times for the Knowledge! I'm officially "BETTER" because of it! "Thank you's" to your assistants and all your Staff as well! Scott Andrews Your bad ass bro!!Soldier Hard,Redcon-1 Music Group

If you are unfamiliar with Soldier Hard, here is one of his singles released back in August that talks about the life and pain of a veteran:

Soldier Hard - Shame on Y'all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmYWgunm1nIWe thank you again Soldier Hard for your very kind words about us but more importantly, thank you for being a voice for everyone who can't talk. We are honored to be your friend and like you, we will never give up the fight.If you'd like to learn more about Soldier Hard, you can check out his YouTube page here and for even more information about Soldier Hard and the entire Redcon-1 Music team, you can head to their home page.