Garret Hunt Live in Everett

Live in Everett Garret Hunt Co-Founder Shares The Top Places in Everett to Visit and See in His Favorite City

Garret Hunt is our guest in this episode of the podcast. Garret is the co-founder of Live In Everett.

Garret is a true fan of Everett and it shines through as he shares some great places to see and things to do in Everett.

We learn his must see places for out of town guests.  For guests with kids he start off at Flying Squirrel.  Then take the Boeing Tour at Paine Field Check out Funko and get your pop culture fix.

Find out about some great pizza, tacos, and most importantly coffee shops in Everett.
Garret brings the goods and shares a ton of great places for you to check out.

Learn about Fish Boi the mascot of Live in Everett.  Imagine a fish on a bicycle as your mascot!  Brilliant!

We are excited to visit Everett soon and check out Garret’s recommendations.  You should check out Everett too!

Garret Hunt Live in Everett Episode Transcript

Scott Cowan [00:00:00]:

And I still remember that story and I still also remember that day they had a pig that brought the baseballs out to the umpire.

Scott Cowan [00:00:24]:

Welcome to the Exploring Washington State podcast. Here’s your host, Scott Cowan.

Scott Cowan [00:00:31]:

Alright. My guest today is Garrett Hunt, and Garrett is the cofounder and CEO of Live in Everett. And if you can’t guess by the title, it’s a website about, of all things, Everett. Garrett, welcome welcome.

Garret Hunt [00:00:44]:

Hey. Thanks, Scott. Thanks so much for having me.

Scott Cowan [00:00:47]:

I I love what you guys are doing, because with us covering the whole state, we can’t go as deep as as local sites can like yours. And I I think what you guys are doing for Everett is really cool, so I’m glad we’re able to talk today. But I’d like to know just from the very beginning, what was your motivation to be a champion for the city of Everett?

Garret Hunt [00:01:08]:

Yeah. Absolutely. So I’ve always really loved Everett. I grew up in Snohomish County in, the North End Of Snohomish County in a more rural area. And so as a kid, I always felt kinda trapped. Everything was really far away. There was no sidewalks. And so our local, you know, big city, quote, unquote, was Everett.

Garret Hunt [00:01:31]:

And I I always just really liked Everett. You know? That there was there was stuff going on. There there was a scene there. Everything was just in close proximity, and and it’s a really beautiful place. And so I moved here a little over ten years ago now. And, you know, the the real catalyst, though, for actually starting the website and sharing in-depthly about the community, what we love about the community, was, I was working in real estate, and my, good friend, Tyler Chisholm, was working in tourism for the city of Everett. And he knew firsthand how much people liked learning about Everett, but all the tourism content had to be focused on people outside of the city to bring people to Everett. And so he thought, hey.

Garret Hunt [00:02:15]:

Wouldn’t it be perfect, if we actually created something for locals by locals, to kinda share about everything going on? So he got into, real estate with me, and we actually we don’t even sell real estate anymore. But that was one of the initial motivations was for us. It just felt like a real genuine way, to market ourselves as real estate agents while, you know, sharing about all the great things, in Everett.

Scott Cowan [00:02:41]:

Right. And, like, when we talked before, that’s kind of how this Mike’s where Washington started off was the the real estate angle for us as well. And, we took the real estate out out of it because for me, it’s more fun just to talk about things that are going on around the state without, trying to tie it to that topic. But I’m reading Tyler’s bio here and we’re talking to you today, but I just gotta ask because his bio makes me go, I wanna hear this. So it says here, he moved to Everett Twelve Years ago as a pit stop on his way to move to Seattle. That actually is kinda funny. I mean, he’s just like, well, I’ll just land here for a while, and twelve years later, it’s now home for him. Where was Tyler at before he came to Everett?

Garret Hunt [00:03:23]:

And so he he was kinda similar. He he actually grew up in, just just north of Everett as well in, in Marysville.

Scott Cowan [00:03:30]:

Okay.

Garret Hunt [00:03:31]:

And and so, you know, yeah, I I don’t think he thought of Everett at the time as as a destination by by any means. And that’s how it is for a lot of people, frankly. Everett often gets overlooked. I think it’s often seen as kind of an underdog type city that a lot of people might not necessarily desire. I think more so in the past, that was the perception. For some people, it still is, but I think that perception has really started to change, in more recent years.

Scott Cowan [00:03:59]:

Oh, alright. So okay. That perception’s and I I absolutely agree, that in I think of Everett completely differently than I did a few years ago, many years ago too. Put you on the spot, what’s the number one coolest thing that your kid likes to do in Everett?

Garret Hunt [00:04:18]:

Oh. You know, right now, since it’s summer, it’s probably going to the splash park.

Scott Cowan [00:04:23]:

Okay.

Garret Hunt [00:04:23]:

At a forest park. She loves playing in the water. She loves being around other kids. I mean, there there’s a lot of different things she loves to do. But if I had to pick one, I would say that’s probably number one.

Scott Cowan [00:04:35]:

Is Everett a kid friendly city?

Garret Hunt [00:04:40]:

I I think it is. Absolutely. I mean, yeah. There’s there’s so much fun stuff for my my daughter, she’s, she actually just turned three.

Scott Cowan [00:04:48]:

Okay.

Garret Hunt [00:04:49]:

And, you know, fun co world headquarters is here in Everett. That’s something people travel all over the world from to come visit. You know, we also have the Imagine Children’s Museum here Okay. Which is super awesome for kids. And they’re actually gonna be doubling I think doubling in size. They’re doing a massive remodel on it. We have a a kids theater that puts on, kids plays and stuff like that. My my daughter loves going to the mall.

Garret Hunt [00:05:16]:

I I this this last winter, it it was a real rainy day, and I was like, hey. Let’s just grab a stack of quarters and, you know, they have a little arcade there and little candy machines and stuff. And that that quickly became one of her favorite things to do. So we’ll go there, you know, probably once a week and, you know, just bring bring a handful of quarters and some extra pocket change, and she loves it.

Scott Cowan [00:05:38]:

I’m gonna warn you that’s only gonna get more expensive from there if you take them to the mall. It’s just gonna get more expensive.

Garret Hunt [00:05:44]:

I know. Yeah. You

Scott Cowan [00:05:45]:

I love it. I love that. That’s awesome. So you guys do I mean, you guys are covering very similar to what we do, which is, like, things to do, food and drink and all of that. So in arts and culture, I mean, we’re it’s I love this. So this is great. You know, we’re we’re tracking the same. So normally, when I ask I normally ask these questions later on in an interview, but today, we’re just gonna start we’re gonna kinda mix things up.

Scott Cowan [00:06:10]:

Put you on the spot. Coffee. Tell me about Everett’s Coffee.

Garret Hunt [00:06:16]:

We got a lot of great coffee shops here.

Scott Cowan [00:06:18]:

K.

Garret Hunt [00:06:19]:

And, I I love I love coffee. You’re making me want some coffee now.

Scott Cowan [00:06:23]:

We can we can pause this and go get some. I’m I’m prepared early. I have mine.

Garret Hunt [00:06:28]:

I I I did have some earlier this morning, so I’m I’m probably good. I’m probably good.

Scott Cowan [00:06:32]:

Okay.

Garret Hunt [00:06:33]:

But, you know, I feel like I have to probably lead with Narrative Coffee. They’re they’re known for, you know, being one of the best. They actually won an award, a couple couple years back because they just opened, I don’t know, maybe two, three years ago. I might be butchering that. But, so so they won an award for best new coffee shop in the world from, I think it was an organization called Sprudge

Scott Cowan [00:06:56]:

Wow.

Garret Hunt [00:06:56]:

Which I think is a coffee specific organization. And, so they they do really remarkable stuff. Also, actually, ironically, on the same block as them, right across the street, there’s another awesome coffee shop that opened in the last couple years called Nadine’s. Mhmm. It’s got a really awesome vibe, really great place to hang out, and they do some really cool and fun coffee mocktails.

Scott Cowan [00:07:20]:

Oh, okay.

Garret Hunt [00:07:22]:

You know, one of our awesome supporters, and members that supports live in Everett, Diedrich Espresso. They have a few different, drive through stands around Everett, so they’re really nice and convenient and do quality tasty stuff.

Scott Cowan [00:07:35]:

Mhmm.

Garret Hunt [00:07:35]:

And the South End Of Everett, Kraken Coffee Roasters. That’s cool. They’ve got the roasting machine right there. K. In the coffee shop, we we got we got a lot of coffee here. I guess that’s kind of cliche for the whole Northwest. Right? We’re we’re kinda known for our coffee, but I I think Everett is is definitely holding it down in in the coffee department for sure.

Scott Cowan [00:07:56]:

I I have been to Narrative and that’s a very cool shop. I have not been to the other ones, but I’ll have to check it out. But Narrative is a very cool space. You guys are lucky to have that in your backyard, if you will. And they do a brilliant job with coffee and presenting it in a I just yeah. I just really yeah. I think I need to go there. I need to go drive over to Everett for coffee one of these days again.

Garret Hunt [00:08:19]:

Yeah. Everything narrative does, I feel like, is very highly curated, whether it’s their coffee or their food

Scott Cowan [00:08:25]:

Mhmm.

Garret Hunt [00:08:26]:

Or just even the aesthetic of, the the the decor there. Mhmm. Everything is just so on point and just curated to a really high level of quality that, yeah. It’s it’s it’s a special place.

Scott Cowan [00:08:41]:

Alright. So this is a two part question.

Garret Hunt [00:08:44]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:08:44]:

Your favorite food part two part two of that is your favorite place in Everett to get that food.

Garret Hunt [00:08:52]:

Well, my favorite food’s gotta be pizza.

Scott Cowan [00:08:54]:

Alright.

Garret Hunt [00:08:55]:

Which

Scott Cowan [00:08:55]:

Can’t go wrong

Garret Hunt [00:08:56]:

there. You can’t go wrong. Can’t can’t can’t go wrong with pizza. Right? And, you know, I really love, major this pizza shop called Major League. They have this one called the Shoeless Joe, that’s like a vegan pizza, that I really enjoy.

Scott Cowan [00:09:10]:

K.

Garret Hunt [00:09:12]:

Another really great local pizza shop is Brooklyn Brothers, which is known for their New York style pizza.

Scott Cowan [00:09:19]:

K.

Garret Hunt [00:09:19]:

And they’ve, they’ve recently expanded in the last few years. I think, like, four different locations around the area. And, their their location in Everett is where they started, and that’s right across the street from, Angel Of The Winds Arena, which is where we have, our, Everett Silvertips play hockey there, and they do lots of concerts and cool events and stuff there. But, so yeah. Those those are probably two of my favorites.

Scott Cowan [00:09:44]:

We’ll we’ll come back to the Everett Sports because I have I have very specific questions there. Pizza. Yeah. Alright. I agree with you. How about, though, you’re gonna bring somebody in. They’re visiting you from, you know, you got friend or family coming in from out of out of Washington State, so they they really know nothing about Everett. What are you gonna do? You get a half a day to show them around your your your city.

Scott Cowan [00:10:11]:

You wanna show it off. What what do you think would be a great way of doing that?

Garret Hunt [00:10:16]:

Well, you know, we actually have some family in town right now. And, one one place we took them to yesterday, it’s, you know, they they have some some younger kids. And so we went to a new place called the Flying Squirrel, which is kind of like a, yeah, great name.

Scott Cowan [00:10:32]:

I love that name.

Garret Hunt [00:10:34]:

Yeah. It’s it’s a lot of fun. Fun name, fun place. They have, huge, like, bouncy houses and, like, a climbing wall and, like, a mechanical, squirrel that’s kinda like a bucking bronco type thing that, like, tries to throw you off. And, it it’s actually in the old we used to have a Toys R Us on a Everett Mall Way in South Everett that closed down. And and so they’re actually opening in that space. And so right now, they have everything set up in the parking lot, and then they’re gonna be opening inside the, 48,000 square foot building this fall.

Scott Cowan [00:11:05]:

Wow.

Garret Hunt [00:11:06]:

And, so the kids love that place. My daughter just goes nuts there. Okay. I have, like, prior out of there. Yeah. Another place that’s really fun for visitors, you know, I already mentioned Funko. Mhmm. But I should also mention the, the Boeing tour.

Garret Hunt [00:11:20]:

Oh. That that’s another one that’s really you know, we’re kinda known for for aerospace in Everett. And, you know, we have the new Paine Field Airport here

Scott Cowan [00:11:29]:

Mhmm.

Garret Hunt [00:11:29]:

Which is awesome world class terminal. That’s nice to be able to fly directly in and out of Everett is awesome. But, yeah, the the the Boeing tour, you know, just getting to go tour the factory and getting to actually look out at the factory floor. You know, it it’s so massive. I think it’s one of the biggest buildings in the world. You know, the the people just look like little ants out there, you know, working neck next to the airplanes and and just again into tour all that. That’s a lot of fun for visitors.

Scott Cowan [00:11:58]:

One factoid I think I heard about the that building in Paint Field is that the doors, the roll up doors, the reason that they’re painted different colors is because to paint a door takes more than one batch of paint. So no matter what, like, let’s just say it’s white and you’re buying Sherman Williams paint. I don’t know. The white won’t be the same batch to batch. There’ll be a difference. So if they run out of paint, they can’t, you know, so they can’t paint well, actually, I’m butchering that. There’s not enough paint to paint all those doors the same color. So they paint them different because then it’s just one batch of paint.

Scott Cowan [00:12:33]:

And if they tried to paint them all, the white would look different somewhere along the line. If it was blue, it looked different. Yeah. That that building is so massive. It’s it’s I’ve never been in that one either, but, yeah, it’s just insane. Have you flown out of the new Everett Airport?

Garret Hunt [00:12:47]:

You know, I haven’t actually. I I have visited. I’m kind of a cheapskate though, and so I it does cost a little bit more than, SeaTac Airport, in Seattle. And, so so the the few times I’ve flown since the airport opened a couple years ago, we’ve we’ve flown out of SeaTac.

Scott Cowan [00:13:07]:

Okay.

Garret Hunt [00:13:07]:

But I have gone and checked out the terminal, you know, and and admittedly, that is how they kind of marketed and presented the whole thing when they built it was it was gonna be kinda more higher end for, like, business travelers and stuff. But but I know the demand has has been super high and that, I think they’re planning to expand the number of flights they offer there and stuff.

Scott Cowan [00:13:27]:

But, like, the convenience of that if you’re flying somewhere if you could go nonstop because I wouldn’t myself, I wouldn’t want to like, oh, I’ve got to fly from Everett to Portland and then get on a plane and go to my next destination. That wouldn’t be worth it to me. But if I could fly Everett to Los Angeles nonstop, I think just a, not having to drive to SeaTac and b, not I’m sure the parking in Everett is less expensive than the parking around SeaTac. So I might the ticket might be more expensive, but I might make it up in in parking.

Garret Hunt [00:13:57]:

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And if you live in the and if you live in the the North End, it’s it’s just nice to being able to avoid having to drive through Seattle because that’s just always a bug, you know, getting through Downtown Seattle. So Yeah,

Scott Cowan [00:14:09]:

we were in Seattle yesterday and I made the mistake of having to go south and they’re working on the freeway right at So to. And it was like, luckily I got off to go to 90, but it was, I was not going to be a happy camper, for very long sales traffic. It’s just terrible. But I think that’s one of the reasons why Everett and Tacoma have become very popular is it’s more affordable than King County. And yes, you still may commute into Seattle, but there’s more and more options now. You’ve got the sounder train running from Everett into into Seattle. You’ve got it from Tacoma running into Seattle, so that’s helpful. The light rail is the light rail gonna go all the way up to Everett in our lifetime?

Garret Hunt [00:14:46]:

It will. Hopefully, in our lifetime. Hopefully, we’ll still be alive to see it.

Scott Cowan [00:14:51]:

Yeah. I mean, it it’s going pretty fast. I mean, I mean, they’re they’re they’re they’re pushing it forward. I think they’re they’re getting really close to being at the county line, aren’t they? Isn’t it kinda terminating in Lynnwood now? My understanding is right. I know it’s going past a hundred and forty fifth. Anyway

Garret Hunt [00:15:05]:

Yeah. I know I know I think I heard this fall. I think it’s supposed to open I can’t remember if Northgate or Lynnwood was the furthest north.

Scott Cowan [00:15:14]:

Okay. But

Garret Hunt [00:15:15]:

I know it’s definitely North of Seattle Right. Which I was happy to see.

Scott Cowan [00:15:18]:

Right.

Garret Hunt [00:15:18]:

And then yeah. And I know ultimately it’ll come to Lynnwood and and Everett as well. So

Scott Cowan [00:15:23]:

Then from a That

Garret Hunt [00:15:24]:

would be really cool.

Scott Cowan [00:15:24]:

Yeah. From a commute factor, if your if your employer’s in Seattle, it’s much easier. But enough about Seattle. Let’s let’s keep going back on Everett. We’re

Garret Hunt [00:15:32]:

So, yeah, a couple more places that that I would probably take visitors. You know, like you said, if someone’s coming to visit for the weekend or something, we’ve got some great, Korean fusion, restaurants. There’s one called Chops that does just these insanely huge delicious burritos with all kinds of interesting ingredients.

Scott Cowan [00:15:53]:

Okay. And

Garret Hunt [00:15:54]:

then there there’s also one called Nine Delicacies. And I I believe, the the owner is is trained. I I can’t remember the the name of the school she went to, but it’s kind of a prestigious prestigious school.

Scott Cowan [00:16:07]:

Okay.

Garret Hunt [00:16:08]:

And, yeah, the the the food there is just phenomenal. We’ve also got some really great Vietnamese food. There’s a place called Basil, that does really awesome pho and banh mi and and really great stuff. You know, it’s definitely lots of good places to eat. And then another place I wanted to mention and I would love to take visitors is to, Jetty Island, which is just right off the Everett Waterfront, only, I don’t know, few hundred yards. They they they brought in sand ages ago to create this breakwater. It’s about a mile long island. Oh.

Garret Hunt [00:16:41]:

And because they brought in the sand, it’s very fine, you know, the kind of sand that that you wanna find when you go to a beach, you know, like, when you go to Hawaii or something. Right. Very very different than your typical Northwest beach. And, when when, the the tide is is in, it’s it’s shallow for so far that the, the water warms up really nice and warm. So the very first time I went there years ago, I was just so blown away not only by just how big it was and the amazing sand, but but the fact that how warm the the water got where it was really shallow. I was like, oh my goodness. Like, I feel like I’m standing on beach in Hawaii. Like, how is this possible? Wow.

Scott Cowan [00:17:23]:

Okay. That’s cool.

Garret Hunt [00:17:24]:

That’s a really special place. And during the summer, they have a free well, actually, excuse me. Now they started charging, I think, $3 to ride the pedestrian ferry over there.

Scott Cowan [00:17:34]:

Okay.

Garret Hunt [00:17:35]:

But if you have a little raft or paddle board or something, you know, I have a little inflatable dinghy boat, with just a little trolling motor on it, and I can zip over there in, you know, five minutes or so.

Scott Cowan [00:17:45]:

Okay. Let’s let’s talk sports. You’ve got the AquaSox. I I I gotta tell you my AquaSox story because and this goes back a long time because my kids were little. I was recently divorced and, like, a lot of dads on the weekends, here, here’s your kids. And you’re like, okay, what are we going to do with them? So, I’d lived kind of in Lake Forest Park area. So, you know, King County, but just, you know, right there. So, we went to an aqua socks game and I had my son with me and my daughter was a year and a half maybe.

Scott Cowan [00:18:17]:

Yeah, a year and a half. And I must have looked really, really frazzled because somebody from the AquaSox, I bought my tickets and I bought tickets, the cheap tickets out on the berm type thing just to you know, there’s my my kids with me. I mean, okay. And this person looked at me and they go, no. No. No. No. You come with us.

Scott Cowan [00:18:35]:

Come with us. And they they helped me. They took the diaper bag, and they they gave me seats right behind home plate. And I’m like, wow, no, no, let’s stay, have a good time. I mean, their hospitality and this was twenty plus years ago. I still remember that story. And I still also remember that day they had a pig that brought the baseballs out to the umpire. Little pig came out with a vest on and baseballs, you know, and it was just and my kids lasted maybe two innings before they were bored and we had to leave.

Scott Cowan [00:19:03]:

But the bottom line is, is that I have this great fondness for the Everett Aqua Sox because of that single event. Do you ever go to aquasox games? Are you a baseball fan?

Garret Hunt [00:19:16]:

You know, I’m not a big sports person, but I do really enjoy going to, to aquasox games or, you know, we have our, hockey team as the Everest Silver Tips that plays at the arena. And, you know, what I really love about our local teams is not only are they local Everett teams

Scott Cowan [00:19:31]:

Mhmm.

Garret Hunt [00:19:31]:

But I’m the type of person I get a little overwhelmed, like, going into Downtown Seattle and going to the massive stadium, being around, you know, 10,000 people or however many people go to those things Right. And just dealing with the the parking, it it all just feels a little bit chaotic to me that it takes away from the fun a little bit. Whereas I feel like our sporting events in Everett, it’s just so much more approachable and enjoyable and affordable. Mhmm. And, so, yeah, I I really enjoy going out to the local games.

Scott Cowan [00:19:59]:

Like, your daughter in a couple years would probably love to go to a game and run around the bases, like, they let the kids do, you know, after games. And it’s they really are family front, family forward. Not to say that the Mariners aren’t, I don’t mean that, but there’s just this level at the smaller communities where going is a different type of event than it is to say go to a Seahawks game or a Mariners game or, you know, the Kraken soon enough will be playing in Seattle. And I think it’s great that you guys have and and the Sales Storm’s currently playing in Everett. Is that correct? You’ve guys have them for one more season. Yeah. So

Garret Hunt [00:20:41]:

Yep. Yeah. I just went to one of their games, a couple weeks ago, and it was awesome.

Scott Cowan [00:20:44]:

Yeah. So I think that’s awesome that the town has those things.

Garret Hunt [00:20:49]:

And and one thing you you mentioned too about the aqua socks with, you know, getting the cheap tickets to kinda sit out in the berm, you know, they got kind of the grassy area back behind the field. So we actually took my daughter, a couple years ago and just sat out there in the grass, you know, brought a blanket, and there were some other kids out there that she just kinda ran around and played with. Mhmm. And, and that actually worked really nicely. You know, it was great that we had that option.

Scott Cowan [00:21:12]:

Right. And you don’t have that option at the at the bigger bigger places. Right.

Garret Hunt [00:21:17]:

Yeah. Exactly.

Scott Cowan [00:21:19]:

Well, we’ve kind of talked about what you would do if somebody was visiting you. So you’ve kind of tipped tipped us all to your secret stuff. Let’s circle back to Livin’ Everett in what I’d like you now to explain to us what your hopes and, you know, what are you guys trying to do with living Everett? What’s let’s hear about it from your words, not my interpretation.

Garret Hunt [00:21:38]:

Yeah. So our tagline for living Everett is good things happen here. And so that’s really our mission is to simply share about the good things happening in our community. You know, food and drink has proven to be one of, if not the most popular category because we found that a % of our readers, they all happen to eat and drink. So

Scott Cowan [00:22:04]:

Funny. I’ve never thought of it like that, though.

Garret Hunt [00:22:06]:

Right? Yeah. Well yeah. And we didn’t necessarily know that going into you know, Tyler had an idea from his work in tourism. But, you know, sure enough, we’re we’re kinda watching, you know, our our content and how people respond and what people are into. And just time and time again, people love to hear about food. What do you know? I every everybody eats. Right? Very relatable, very very relevant. You know, but we also have a really active events calendar.

Garret Hunt [00:22:32]:

You know, people love hearing about things going on. We send out a weekly newsletter with kind of the, some of our our top picks for events coming up that that next week.

Scott Cowan [00:22:40]:

Mhmm. And

Garret Hunt [00:22:42]:

just, you know, kinda novel and and fun things, you know, when when there’s a new business that that opens up in town, you know, like this last year, we we had a skateboard shop open. We had a new, puzzle store open. You know, stuff like that. The peep people wanna hear about what’s what’s going on in the local community and supporting local business. You know, certainly, if there’s, things happening at at at the parks or, you know, really anything that is relevant that that people can go do and experience. You know, I think I think we’re all behind the screen so much these days that I think we all just crave more experiential ways, that we can participate in our community. And those are the the types of things that we like to share about.

Scott Cowan [00:23:24]:

With your food and drink, I I really like how you’ve got it. You know, your breakfast guide, your brunch guide, you’re really breaking it down for people. And and most importantly, you have the taco special guide.

Garret Hunt [00:23:35]:

That’s right.

Scott Cowan [00:23:36]:

What is it about Everett? Okay. Let’s talk tacos. How’s how’s Everett’s taco game? Is it strong?

Garret Hunt [00:23:47]:

I I feel like it’s pretty strong. I feel like I I probably have to share a little bit of a sad story that that comes to mind most quickly, which is yeah. I feel like one of the most proper places that that did amazing creative tacos was, Soul Food, which is a place that’s kinda near and dear to my heart because I actually, we had our wedding there. Oh. Years they they they so so so the sad part about Soul Food is is that they lost their lease this last year. Had to part ways with the space they were in, and they’ve been looking for a new space. So they’re currently not operating. I think their plan is to hopefully find a new space and open back up.

Garret Hunt [00:24:27]:

But no. We we we’ve got some great tacos, lots of cool little taquerias, some some super solid Mexican restaurants, El Paraiso, Mazatlan, Loma Bonita. I mean, we we got we got tacos for days.

Scott Cowan [00:24:41]:

So I wanna come for lunch. Where are you gonna send me for tacos for lunchtime?

Garret Hunt [00:24:46]:

Oh, tacos for lunchtime. Oh, you know what? Let’s let’s go to Taco Book.

Scott Cowan [00:24:52]:

Taco Book?

Garret Hunt [00:24:54]:

Taco Book, which actually had to change their logo because Facebook was gonna sue them.

Scott Cowan [00:25:01]:

Are you kidding me?

Garret Hunt [00:25:02]:

Yeah. Yeah. It’s just like a little mom and pop taco shop, but they had, like, the the Facebook, like or, like, the little emoji Yeah. Facebook color, like thumbs up and and stuff like you know, they they were obviously trying to make it like this

Scott Cowan [00:25:17]:

Sure.

Garret Hunt [00:25:17]:

Joking, like like Facebook theme. And, yeah, so Facebook actually, legitimately. It was like, yeah. No. You need to change this.

Scott Cowan [00:25:23]:

Gave them a cease and desist. Okay. So Taco Bell, why are we going there for lunch?

Garret Hunt [00:25:27]:

It’s delicious.

Scott Cowan [00:25:28]:

Alright. What am I gonna have? You’re gonna you gotta help me out. What are we ordering?

Garret Hunt [00:25:31]:

Oh, jeez. Oh, jeez. You’re really putting me on

Scott Cowan [00:25:33]:

the spot here.

Garret Hunt [00:25:34]:

Oh my goodness. Gosh. I haven’t been there for a minute now. Now I’m embarrassed.

Scott Cowan [00:25:40]:

No. It’s alright. That’s half the fun of the shows. It’d be embarrassing the guests. So, I mean, it’s all good. It’s all good because we’re all learning. So you’re telling me about Taco Book. You’re telling me about Tacos and Everett.

Scott Cowan [00:25:51]:

I mean, this is awesome.

Garret Hunt [00:25:57]:

Like, I need to look at their menu. I’m I’m blowing it here.

Scott Cowan [00:26:00]:

That’s okay.

Garret Hunt [00:26:02]:

That’s all I can remember is that oh, yeah. I know they have their barbacoa tacos that are are super good.

Scott Cowan [00:26:08]:

Okay.

Garret Hunt [00:26:09]:

Yeah. The the owner Rico is super awesome. Nice guy. I mean, everything I’ve had there is it’s just been amazing.

Scott Cowan [00:26:15]:

So it’s a great a great lunch spot.

Garret Hunt [00:26:18]:

Oh, yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:26:18]:

Because lunch is one of those things that people you we just kinda, like, default, you know, like, I’ll drive through X y z. You know, I think if you stop for a second and go, where am I gonna grab lunch in a town that I haven’t been to? That’s where you can really, like, be surprised.

Garret Hunt [00:26:33]:

Totally. And, you know, there’s there’s a lot of taquerias and stuff, you know, and I would say Taco Book included. It’s it’s nothing fancy, you know, it’s it’s just kind of a simple little place, but a lot of times those are those are the best places.

Scott Cowan [00:26:45]:

Yeah. Absolutely. You know? No. Absolutely. And that’s why, you know, it’s like I like to ask that because I really do. Lunch is one of those kind of fun ones. I can go find, you know, dinner recommendations. Everyone’s got dinner recommendations all day long, but lunch, I think it’s overlooked.

Scott Cowan [00:27:01]:

How about though, like, I’m looking at your craft beverages. Let’s talk about that a little bit.

Garret Hunt [00:27:09]:

Yeah. We we have we have some great places to drink here. You know, I mean, we we already talked coffee.

Scott Cowan [00:27:14]:

Mhmm.

Garret Hunt [00:27:15]:

We we have six different breweries. We have a cidery, Soundbite Cider, which is awesome. They just opened a few years ago. And then we also have a winery, Port Gardner Bay Winery.

Scott Cowan [00:27:27]:

K.

Garret Hunt [00:27:27]:

And, we’ve got couple different distilleries. So, yeah, we we we’ve we’ve got a pretty pretty good pretty good craft beverage game. Scuttlebutt is probably the oldest brewery

Scott Cowan [00:27:39]:

Mhmm.

Garret Hunt [00:27:39]:

That we have in Everett, I I believe. And they have, a restaurant right next to the Everett Waterfront, which is great for all ages. And then they also have a, their their brewery, they they opened, a little brew pub as well where they have, like, special, like, limited releases, and they they’ll do, like, different events there and stuff. And and that’s on, the other side of town. It’s it’s separate from the restaurant. They have a really, really great presence. They they do lots of great beer and and lots of cool stuff there.

Scott Cowan [00:28:11]:

Alright. So we’ve kinda covered food and drink, which everybody does. Let’s let’s let’s go over and talk about the arts and cult what’s the art scene like in there? What because that’s kinda that’s something I think that gets, I think, a lot of us overlook that stuff. We all appreciate it, but we don’t talk about it maybe as much as we might like. So how’s how’s the art scene?

Garret Hunt [00:28:34]:

Yeah. We have a really cool little arts community here. We have the the Schack Art Center, which I believe was kind of a partnership with with, like, the city. It’s really beautiful gallery. They have a new exhibit, I think, pretty much every month.

Scott Cowan [00:28:46]:

Okay.

Garret Hunt [00:28:46]:

And then they they also actually have, artist housing up above.

Scott Cowan [00:28:51]:

Oh.

Garret Hunt [00:28:52]:

Where lots of artists live there. And then really so that’s that’s, right in Downtown Everett. And really on Hewitt Avenue, we we have a lot of different little art galleries. We have a a BlackLab Gallery, which they’re actually opening in a new space on Hewitt. They just moved across the street. They’ll be reopening soon. And then their old space, there’s a couple local artists, Alex and Amber Vancini. They’re opening a new, gallery and music show there called Lucky Dime that I believe will be open this fall as well.

Garret Hunt [00:29:22]:

We have a Jag Art Supply that they sell, like, different, like, graffiti supplies and stuff. And they actually brought in a bunch of artists this last year that put up a ton of different murals around downtown.

Scott Cowan [00:29:34]:

K.

Garret Hunt [00:29:35]:

So we we already had, I think, 20 plus, really cool sculptures and, like, public art around downtown. But we didn’t have a lot of murals, and that’s something that people have been talking about the the last few years. And so there’s been a ton of new murals that have gone up recently. And just even just walking around downtown, the others there’s a lot of public art now. And, you know, we have, I mean, this isn’t art specifically, but we have a really great farmer’s market too where there are some artists that that been there. Mhmm. That happens every Sunday from, I believe it’s May through October. It’s a really large market.

Garret Hunt [00:30:13]:

A lot of fun. A lot of great vendors there. K.

Scott Cowan [00:30:16]:

And

Garret Hunt [00:30:16]:

then we we have a local organ organization called the Everett Music Initiative, and they put on, tons of awesome shows and concerts, really do a good job at empowering lots of, local musicians. And, yeah, I I feel like we have you know, it kinda depends on, like, your your reference point, I guess. Like, I could see people coming from, like, larger cities and kinda turning their their nose up at things, whether it’s our art scene or, you know, our our beer scene or or whatever. I mean, oh, this isn’t as good as as this other big city. But I I feel like for for a smaller city, you know, 8,000 people is about what we have at every,

Scott Cowan [00:30:54]:

I think. Okay.

Garret Hunt [00:30:55]:

I I I love it. You know? I I feel like there’s there’s plenty to do. There’s lots of quality stuff going on. And I I always kinda joke, you know, when I go down to Seattle or something that I feel like I’m on a road trip because I I I rarely have to leave that for it.

Scott Cowan [00:31:08]:

Right. Well and and it’s not fair. It’s really not fair to compare a city of a hundred let’s just say a hundred thousand people people to a city of, you know, an area with a million, I mean, ever gets lumped into Seattle, but let’s, you know, the seller is, let’s just call it a million people. It’s not fair. And Scuttlebutt’s been around for a long time. You guys have done a lot of things. And besides now we need to talk about so as someone who’s not lived in Everett, and if someone were to just Google Everett, they might come across and I’m being my tongue is planted in my cheek here, but it’s the home of Kenny Loggins.

Garret Hunt [00:31:45]:

It’s

Scott Cowan [00:31:46]:

true. True. And I

Garret Hunt [00:31:50]:

One one of one of our, biggest hometown heroes right there.

Scott Cowan [00:31:53]:

Does he ever does he ever do anything in Everett? Does he ever come back to Everett, or is he just kind of, like, yeah. I’m from there, and I don’t go back there? I mean,

Garret Hunt [00:32:03]:

you know We we Yeah. We actually did have one of our readers contact us, that that I guess is friends with him. And, and she she was saying, like, he’s super cool and down to earth, and we were trying to connect with him to to try and do an interview or something. I know I think he’s done shows out at, in Monroe, not too far away, like the Evergreen State Fairgrounds. Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:32:27]:

I

Garret Hunt [00:32:28]:

don’t know if I’ve heard about him coming back to Everett to do a show specifically, though. But, I I’d love to see that happen. We we we’ve talked about it’d be great to see, like, a statue or or something of him going, you know, some some kind of tribute to, like, publicly recognized, like, home of Kenny Loggins.

Scott Cowan [00:32:43]:

I think you have to have it, like, emulate this, the one that that the picture that you’ve got it on your website. It’s it’s he’s got the his hair, the backlight behind his hair with a globe in his hands. I mean, that’s what the statue should look. I’m just kidding.

Garret Hunt [00:32:56]:

Yes. The the very, like, quintessential, like, eighties glam shot.

Scott Cowan [00:33:03]:

That’d be that’d be a good start. It’d be really funny, actually. But in all seriousness, I mean, that’s I mean, growing up, I mean, you know, Kenny Loggins is from Everett? I mean, you’re like, what? It just seems so, Okay. But how is Everett’s music scene now? What’s what’s happening? Is there anything really happening? I mean, it’s hard. I mean, the music industry and the as are the arts just in general, kind of getting started again after, you know, we’ve been sitting at home for the last year and a half. But how’s Everett’s music scene, and are there great venues to play at?

Garret Hunt [00:33:37]:

Yeah. Our our our music our music scene is is pretty solid. You know, I I know I I wasn’t there, but they just had a a really big show for, the the July 4 out at a Legion Park next to the water there, and I heard that the the turnout was enormous.

Scott Cowan [00:33:53]:

Mhmm.

Garret Hunt [00:33:54]:

Now we have, the historic Everett Theater, which is a really cool venue. I believe it’s the oldest theater West Of The Mississippi. Wow. If, if if I remember correctly. Wow.

Scott Cowan [00:34:06]:

Okay.

Garret Hunt [00:34:07]:

And, so so that’s that’s a really cool venue for for shows. You know, things have obviously been quiet with with COVID this last year, but it seems like things things are starting to happen again. I know, Everett Music Initiative, EMI, I know they’re every year, they do, Fisherman’s Village Music Festival. So I know they’re planning to do that this year, which is over it’s a festival over, I believe it’s over three days. And I think they have over is it 60 or 80 bands? Geez. Multiple different stages. And, yeah, it’s it’s a really That’s massive. Big festival.

Garret Hunt [00:34:40]:

Yeah. Yeah. That’s massive.

Scott Cowan [00:34:42]:

Fun. Okay. Yeah.

Garret Hunt [00:34:45]:

You know, so yeah. We and then, you know, in the in the summer, they’re they’ll they do, like, free concerts. We have, like, this little plaza right in Downtown Everett, Whatmore Plaza, where they’ll do, like, free weekly concerts there. And, you know, admittedly, I’m not, like, a music person, so I’m not, like, super immersed in in all the ins and outs. But, so yeah. I I I feel like we have a we have a pretty solid solid music scene going on here.

Scott Cowan [00:35:11]:

Well, then let’s go so you just said you’re not really a music person. You’re not a sports guy. What do you like to do? So what’s fun for you? What is it about effort that you like to go out? We asked about the kid. So now kids with a babysitter, let’s just paint a scenario, kids taken care of for the evening. What are you guys gonna go out and do? What what’s fun for you in Everett?

Garret Hunt [00:35:34]:

You know, I I I mean, as far as just, like, livability, you know, not even speaking yet to, like, what I’m gonna go do on on date night or something. Mhmm. But I I I just love how how walkable everything is. I love the amazing views every way I look because when I look to the West, I’ve got, Port Gardner Bay and, you know, all the islands and everything looking out over the water towards the Olympic Mountains.

Scott Cowan [00:35:58]:

Mhmm.

Garret Hunt [00:35:59]:

When I look to the East, we have the Snohomish River and the the Cascade Mountain Range, which kinda wraps up to the north. So it’s like every you know, or sometimes you can even catch glimpses of Rainier down to the south. So it’s almost just like this 360 degree view. Even though I’m in this this little city that’s, slightly more dense and urban, it’s like I feel like I’m still just surrounded by by nature. And it’s still pretty quiet, you know, even though I live right by downtown. But a lot of the time, I’ll go outside and all I can hear is the birds chirping. And and, you know, we have a pea patch just a few blocks down the street from us that we love to walk to and all the different parks and everything. And, you know, I’m I’m I’m a skateboarder.

Garret Hunt [00:36:39]:

I’ve actually been skateboarding, since, like, 1996 when I was a a little kid. You know? So we’ve got a couple different skate parks here that I like to go cruise around and k. You know? Yeah. So I’m I’m I’m into maybe a little bit more of, like, the niche type stuff. You know, I really like doing, like, meditation and Okay. Things like that. But, you know, if if I’m going out on on date night, you know, maybe maybe we’ll take the the boat out to Jetty Island or go have, like, a picnic by the by the water or something. Sometimes we like to ride bikes down to, Pigeon Creek, which there’s this little trail.

Garret Hunt [00:37:16]:

It’s it’s only less than, like, a mile long.

Scott Cowan [00:37:19]:

Oh.

Garret Hunt [00:37:20]:

But that’s the only way to get to this beach, is you gotta go down the trail. So it’s usually, like, super quiet down there, which is which is really nice. You know, we’ll probably go out and maybe get some drinks at Blue Water Distilling. It’s right by the Everett Waterfront. They have really delicious cocktails there. You know, another really fun place to get drinks I didn’t mention before, was, Toggles Bottle Shop. They have an insane, bottle selection, and cans of I don’t know. I wanna say at least, like, 600 different different beers that they have there, and you can, you know 600.

Garret Hunt [00:38:00]:

If you yeah. Yeah. It’s it’s just like a whole wall, huge wall of of coolers of every different beer and, like, cider you can imagine. And you can, you know, build your own six pack or whatever. And

Scott Cowan [00:38:13]:

Okay.

Garret Hunt [00:38:14]:

So that that’s a fun place to get drinks.

Scott Cowan [00:38:16]:

I think that would be overwhelming. I don’t think I could I think that’s too many choices. That’s like turning on to Netflix and going, I wanna watch something, and I don’t know what to do because there’s too many choices. That’s that’s that’s overwhelming.

Garret Hunt [00:38:27]:

That’s why it’s nice if you’re a local, you can just go back. You know?

Scott Cowan [00:38:31]:

Right. Right.

Garret Hunt [00:38:32]:

You you got you got you got to do multiple visits.

Scott Cowan [00:38:34]:

Work work your way through the 600. I mean, that would be Yeah. A a multi year project. That’d be

Garret Hunt [00:38:42]:

Exactly. And then, you know, I I guess other things that we might go out and do. You know, we we have some fun different venues. There’s, Everett Improv k. Right right in Downtown Everett. You know, maybe we’ll we’ll go catch a show there if there’s a concert or something going on. I actually do use our live in Everett events calendar. Like, that that’s one of my favorite You

Scott Cowan [00:39:02]:

should go to. To use.

Garret Hunt [00:39:04]:

Yeah. When when I’m like, oh, what what are we gonna do this weekend? You know? What are we gonna go do for date night or something? Like, oh, let’s let’s go look at the calendar, see what events are going on.

Scott Cowan [00:39:11]:

Well, let’s talk about the calendar. How do people how does that work? Do can member and do you have to be a member to get your stuff submitted there? Or how how does how’s the calendar?

Garret Hunt [00:39:22]:

Anyone can submit stuff to us, and we’re usually pretty generous with with adding things to it because we wanna give people a nice selection of of things that are going on. But then we also have a paid option where people can pay a whopping $20 if they wanna ensure a % that their event will be featured Mhmm. Then it’s just $20.

Scott Cowan [00:39:44]:

And so, like, let let me let’s just walk through. Let me let me paint this scenario just because I’m curious, actually, because I’ll rip off your idea. Let’s be let’s just be public. Sure. No. See, I want to I want to have an event. Let’s say I’m gonna have an event, Labor Day. So September or whatever that is.

Scott Cowan [00:40:01]:

And so I submit that to you. And so I pay my $20 How long is that how long is that posted for? Is it posted, like can I submit it today? Or is it, like, Friday?

Garret Hunt [00:40:12]:

You can you can submit it today. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:40:14]:

You

Garret Hunt [00:40:15]:

know, so so my teammate, shout out to Linda Warbonnet. She helps me a ton with running living Everett.

Scott Cowan [00:40:21]:

Mhmm.

Garret Hunt [00:40:21]:

And, I believe she usually tries to have the calendar. She she tries to be scheduled out at least, like, a month or two. Okay. But we we can always add stuff sooner too, especially if it’s, like, a bigger event or, yeah, if it’s something that somebody’s paying to have put on there, then certainly we’ll we’ll put it up as early as we can. No.

Scott Cowan [00:40:40]:

Yeah. I’m looking through the calendar right now and it’s there’s a lot of things to choose.

Garret Hunt [00:40:46]:

Yeah. And it’s, you know, and I I think a lot of things are still kinda rebounding after, after COVID. But we have a really fun event, coming up next month, August is the, the Upper Left Beer Festival is happening, where they have I think it’s, like, over, like, 80 different beers. Like, you you get, like, a little sampler glass, and you get to try all these different beers. They have a whole guide booklet that they give you that has everything they have to offer. So that’s a lot of fun. And then we’re also doing it in conjunction with our, Everett Food Truck Festival, that we’ve been doing for a number of years. And so, we’ll we’ll have about, 20 food trucks, two full blocks, of food trucks, and then right on the next block over, we’ll have the the beer fest.

Garret Hunt [00:41:33]:

So, so we as Live in Everett, organize the food truck festival, but then we’re doing it in partnership with the beer fest. And so the food truck festival is August 28. So those those will both be going on the same day. So that one should be a ton of fun.

Scott Cowan [00:41:48]:

Tell us more about the food truck festival because it’s got food.

Garret Hunt [00:41:53]:

We only eat in trucks.

Scott Cowan [00:41:55]:

I mean, now, what’s who who do you get? What sort of, food trucks pop in there?

Garret Hunt [00:42:01]:

You know, we’re we’re working with the Washington State Food Truck Association. It’s helping us kinda coordinate all the vendors.

Scott Cowan [00:42:07]:

Okay.

Garret Hunt [00:42:08]:

And, you know, this year has been a a little bit different with COVID. A a lot of trucks have shut down slash as things have opened back up. Demand has been, like, really high, so it’s been a little bit more challenging to to get, some of the trucks that we were hoping for. But I know we’ve we’ve already got some some great ones, that are booked. I’m actually trying to, just pull up my list here real quick to refresh my memory. Let’s see. We have the Alaska weather vane scallops truck is gonna be coming out. Ultimate Melt, Tabassum, Wings and Things, the Pie Bar, is one that we’re excited for.

Garret Hunt [00:42:55]:

The cheese pit. I I mean, we we have all kinds of stuff. You know, we we try and have a really good mix, you know, diff different types of food. And so, hopefully, there’ll be something for everybody there. And then also both, you know, sweet and savory, you know, we definitely also try and have some dessert trucks out there. And, you know, ideally, you can come have, have a couple different meals there and some some dessert to wash it down with.

Scott Cowan [00:43:20]:

No. That’s very cool. I feel like I haven’t asked you something. I mean, there’s something in the back tip of my tongue, back of my brain. What haven’t I asked that we should be talking about about Livin’ Everett? This is you got this is a great site, man. I really I really very impressed, and I really like what you’re doing for the town. I think it’s Everett’s lucky to have you guys doing this. So what Oh, thanks.

Scott Cowan [00:43:46]:

What am I not asking? I don’t know if there’s anything you’re I don’t know

Garret Hunt [00:43:52]:

if there’s anything you’re you’re not asking, but one one thing I’ll add is that, kind of our mantra, I guess, you could say, or or kind of, like, our our internal mission is to add value and create delight. And so everything that we we create and put out, you know, we we do three brand new articles every single week

Scott Cowan [00:44:15]:

Mhmm.

Garret Hunt [00:44:16]:

At minimum. And so and and we used to do a weekly video, weekly podcast. I mean, we’ve put out just tons of content since we started in, 02/2015. But everything we we try and do, we try and make everything quality that people will enjoy. We always try and keep our audience, you know, at at the forefront of of our thoughts when we’re thinking about, you know, what what we wanna put out that that we really do want to to add value to people’s experience, who look at our content, and and hopefully that experience will be one that is delightful, that can bring a smile to your face or some inspiration or just learn something, new that’s cool, about Everett. And so I would definitely encourage anyone who is interested to learn more about Everett to check it out. I mean, it’s crazy how many people, we’ve we’ve just randomly talked to or even people who have just come up to us and be like, hey. By the way, we moved to Everett largely because of your website.

Scott Cowan [00:45:18]:

And That’s pretty cool, man. Wow. Yeah. That’s pretty cool. Yeah. That’s that’s powerful.

Garret Hunt [00:45:23]:

It it is. Yeah. It’s super encouraging. I mean, we we’ve just been so encouraged by the community in general. You know, we have a, a Patreon page where anyone can kinda sign up to support us. We have, over a hundred locals that just support us on a monthly basis just because they like what we’re doing. We have, over a dozen local businesses that have signed up to be members that that support us consistently. And and so just, you you know, I I because because we wouldn’t still be doing it after, you know, almost six years if if people weren’t enjoying it, obviously, if Right.

Garret Hunt [00:45:56]:

If people didn’t didn’t like the content. And, you know, so it’s just been so encouraging, and that’s just been fuel and motivation for us to to keep going that that people enjoy it, and hopefully, we can keep keep putting good stuff out.

Scott Cowan [00:46:09]:

And I’m I’m looking around on the side here in something. Fish boy?

Garret Hunt [00:46:16]:

Oh, yeah. Fish fish boy is our our mascot, also known as also known as Fisher. If you’ve if you’ve never seen a, a fish with legs riding a bicycle, then

Scott Cowan [00:46:28]:

you can go

Garret Hunt [00:46:29]:

to the website to check that out. And, I think we have them at the very, very bottom of the page. You you probably saw the story about his, his origin story.

Scott Cowan [00:46:36]:

I am reading and and I I’m I I’ll just read this this paragraph. Life on land took some time to get used to. He was a little freaked out by the whole fish and chips thing. You think? I love that. That’s awesome. So how did this I mean, who came up with this? How did fish boy who yeah. How did who came up with this? This is cool.

Garret Hunt [00:47:04]:

Good question.

Scott Cowan [00:47:06]:

Oh, okay. Let’s make it a story. Let’s pick it up.

Garret Hunt [00:47:09]:

No. I’m actually trying to remember. So, for a while, we we had a we had a bigger team.

Scott Cowan [00:47:17]:

Okay.

Garret Hunt [00:47:17]:

And, you know, we we had a great artist we were working with, Sierra Rosario. And,

Scott Cowan [00:47:25]:

I can’t remember if that I I can’t remember

Garret Hunt [00:47:29]:

who who exactly came up with it. My my cofounder, Tyler, he he’s always coming up with crazy ideas. He’s, like, one of the most imaginative people that that that I know. And so now I’m, like, kicking myself. I’m like, gosh, who who did originally come up with the idea for Fish Boy? But but we we did a whole rebranding thing. Tyler, and, Laura Chisholm, his his spouse, they own a creative firm called Milltown Creative Co.

Scott Cowan [00:47:56]:

Okay. So

Garret Hunt [00:47:57]:

so we worked with them on on doing a a rebrand when when we decided to, kinda make our our logo and everything legit and do a nice refresh on the brand. And so it was through that rebrand process that, we decided to create the mascot and, come up with Fish Boy. But, yeah. Gosh. I’m I’m kicking myself now. I I can’t remember exactly who’s

Scott Cowan [00:48:18]:

It’s a great it’s great, man. I I really this is this is funny, and I’ll put a link to it because and I’m reading the story, you know, and and, you know, one day he was watching the Tour de France on TV and said, that’s the life for me. You know? Come on. Who comes up with this stuff? I love it.

Garret Hunt [00:48:36]:

Absurd, right?

Scott Cowan [00:48:37]:

Yeah. But this gives it character. It’s not this the whole I guess the thing I’d like to just, like, make sure I emphasize here is that this just seems very much like I don’t want to say it’s a fanboy thing. I don’t mean it like that. You’re not gushing over Everett. Like everything is perfect. That’s not what I’m trying to say, but it’s not very corporate feeling either. It has this balance, this genuine enthusiasm for Everett.

Scott Cowan [00:49:06]:

And and then you read this story and you just I just started cracking up because his parents didn’t know where to buy pants, shoes, you know, shirt. I mean, come on. Fish. Of course not. Come on.

Garret Hunt [00:49:17]:

Yeah. Well, yeah. Thanks for saying that. You know? I mean, yeah. We we definitely try and try and keep things fun, keep things light and and approachable. And, you know, that that story you’re you’re reading is by, one of our favorite writers that we work with, Richard Porter. He used to be staff for us, and now he he’s gone on to write for a lot of different publications and then been successful as a freelance writer. And, so it was kinda cool, I think at least in maybe a small way, it helped be a little bit of a catalyst for for his, career in writing.

Garret Hunt [00:49:48]:

And, he’s phenomenally skilled. One of his fortes, actually, that we have a pretty good collection of is our local history. And Everett has some some pretty cool history. So that that’s another, page you’ll see on our site that that’s pretty full. The a lot of those articles were were written by by Richard Porter. And he he’s done a really great job of retelling some of the older historical accounts that, you know, maybe you could go find them at the library and read about them, but maybe they were a little dry in how they were written. And he’s done a great job of of kind of bringing some of those stories back to the surface and kinda bringing new light to them and then telling them in a way that I think is really engaging. Okay.

Garret Hunt [00:50:30]:

So so that that’s that’s been a a cool component, I would say, to to what we do as well.

Scott Cowan [00:50:38]:

Last question I’ll have for you today is and to kinda you know, you weren’t prepared for this, but what’s on the horizon for the Liv and Everett site? Do you guys what’s your vision for, you know, six months, year down the road? What are you more of the same? Something different?

Garret Hunt [00:50:57]:

Yeah. You know, honestly, we’re I I would say right now, we’re kind of in, like, the slow and steady ethos of just keeping things going, keep keep doing what what we’re doing, and just maintaining, our consistency of, you know, continually sharing good stories about the community.

Scott Cowan [00:51:16]:

Mhmm.

Garret Hunt [00:51:16]:

You know, I I used to have a a lot of, hopes for for growing the thing that to being bigger than than it was. You know, we we went through kind of a hard, reset a couple years ago where it just wasn’t growing like the way we were hoping it to. We were kind of burning money for, quite a while, trying to trying to grow the audience and produce more content, thinking that would help bring in more advertisers and and whatnot. And, you know, we we’ve had to kinda step back from from that a a little bit. We had to make some hard choices to to kinda scale some things back to kind of, I think, find our groove of what feels sustainable.

Scott Cowan [00:51:55]:

Mhmm.

Garret Hunt [00:51:55]:

And so, you know, now, I I think I’ve just been trying to learn to be content with with where we’re at and seeing the value in what we’re doing already. And then, kinda just playing red red light, green light as as far as how much we grow, you know. If, hey, if we end up having a bunch of new sponsors or members that come in and support us and and the the the budget’s able to increase, then great. Let let’s look at what else we can do. I I would love that. But, yeah, really, we we don’t have any big plans right now for for big changes other than just, yeah, kinda being being content with where we’re at and and just keep keeping it going. Keep keep sharing the love.

Scott Cowan [00:52:31]:

Well, I think what you guys are doing is great. It’s not I don’t think you need to change anything. It’s not I don’t want you to think, You know, I think you’ve you’ve got a great recipe for for what you’re doing. It seems incredibly authentic and genuine, and I think that’s that’s great. So I’ll let you have the last word. Where can people find you and sign us out?

Garret Hunt [00:52:55]:

Awesome. Well, yeah. Thanks so much for having me. Really appreciate it. You guys can find us at triplew.liveineverett.com is our website. We’re also active on Facebook. We post, all of our stories there as well. We’re also on Instagram where we mostly post just kinda random fun things or whatever we’re doing throughout the week.

Garret Hunt [00:53:17]:

And then we also have a weekly newsletter that we send out, which you can subscribe to for free at liveineverett.com/subscribe. It’s called the weekly goodness, and it goes out every Thursday morning, and it is a great and easy way to keep up with, everything we have going on.

Scott Cowan [00:53:35]:

Alright. Well, thank you, Garrett. I really appreciate it.

Garret Hunt [00:53:37]:

Yeah. Thank you, Scott.

Scott Cowan [00:53:49]:

Join us next time for another episode of the Exploring Washington State podcast.

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