We were lucky to catch up with Lindsie Yearsin recently and have shared our conversation below.
Lindsie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?
One thing I personally would change about the educational system to prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career is to teach them to explore their educational options. I remember, being very fortunate and having a great guidance counselor to help inform and answer those difficult questions about “What’s next” following graduation. I felt a degree was pounded into our head from an early age. We always heard things like ‘Oh you must get a degree from a reputable college to be successful’. When in actuality it is the complete opposite. You will be as successful as your are determined to be! I wish we could teach these kids more life skills from an early age and less mathematics skills. Go out and learn a trait, learn a skill! Be irreplaceable to your workplace! Go out and work for yourself. Get good grades in school and apply for every scholarship you see.
Like myself, I have various certificates in trades. Hairstyling, Personal Training, the list honestly goes on. But when I have a service to provide versus a degree you have more to offer and your income is basically limitless at that point! You don’t have student loans looming above your head. Go out, earn a trait and never give up!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Im originally a Kansas girl, always will be! We moved to Texas in 2016. I grew up fishing with my father and brother. The amount of stories I have of going to the river with my brother and his friends and fishing. I remember having a fish tank of baby cat fish and fresh water minnows growing up in our living room. I own Hooked On Tackle in Clute Texas, along side my husband, William of 13 years. Shorty after the pandemic William lost his job in the plants as a Field Engineer. He evenly took his full retirement, which lead us to fishing non-stop. He has always wanted to open a Tackle Store so in July of 2021 we made that dream a reality. We offer all kinds of services in our store including but not limited to reel cleaning and repair, rod repair, custom rod building, rod building classes, we are this areas SwellPro drone dealer, repair and warranty facility. We work with the local plants and colleges to provide drones to use for inspections and research. We teach our customers how to safely operate their drones. We are one of the largest surf fishing stores around, with a lot of quality terminal tackle you won’t find anywhere else. One of our standards is to source as much local tackle as possible. Most of our items are locally owned small businesses with a lot of these items still being handmade in garages.
What sets us apart from others in our industry is the customer service we offer, the education we offer and the quality products we have in store. A lot of people come to us that are just starting out in this industry, especially shark fishing. We are avid shark fishers where research and viability is our main goal. We teach everyone who comes in our store how to properly handle and release the sharks. We work, and many others as well work directly with local colleges and scientists to catch, tag and safely release sharks. We also measure and sex them and submit this information in which helps with shark conservation and also gives them ideas about their migratory and reproduction habits.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Word of mouth! Word of mouth will ALWAYS be your best source of new clients. This has more credibility behind it versus you telling someone to come see you. Word of mouth is someones opinion of you and that they value your services and wish to have others experience it as well.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
My husbands side hustle actually turned into this booming business. Before Covid, he had a page where he would raffle fishing equipment. He would raffle high end items like $1000 reels. This page helped establish the relationships we have today and the trust we have built with many other business owners. Being new in the industry is hard enough, but if you do not have the relationships built it will take much longer to establish a credible business. His page went from a few raffles here and there to at the very end he helped raffle a $20,000 military vehicle. That’s when we knew we made it! That’s when we knew our reputation was solid, and that we had quite the following.
Contact Info:
- Website: hookedontackle.shop
- Instagram: hookedontackletx
- Facebook: Hooked On Tackle LLC