Inside Back 9 Golf Lakewood: Meshia & Aniekan Sampson on Entrepreneurship, Franchising, and the Love of Golf

In this episode of Making Cents of It All, Jesse sits down with Meshia and Aniekan Sampson, the husband‑and‑wife team behind Back 9 Golf Lakewood, one of Jacksonville’s newest and most exciting indoor golf destinations.

The Sampsons share the story behind their decision to step into entrepreneurship, what inspired them to take the leap into business ownership, and how Back 9’s unique franchise model opened the door for them to build something of their own in the Lakewood community.

From their first conversations about owning a business to the moment they realized Back 9 was the perfect fit, Meshia and Aniekan talk candidly about the challenges, the learning curve, and the joy that comes with creating a space where people can play, practice, and connect. And of course, they dive into their love of the game — how golf became a shared passion, why it brings people together, and what they hope Back 9 Lakewood will mean for golfers of all skill levels across Jacksonville.

Whether you’re a golfer, an entrepreneur, or someone who loves a good origin story, this episode is packed with insight, inspiration, and heart.

Transcript

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Jesse Stakes: Hey everybody, welcome to this week's episode of Making Sense of It All. I am your host, Jesse Stakes, and today I have Annie Sampson and Misha Sampson. They are the owners of Back 9 in the Lakewood area of Jacksonville, Florida. Guys, thank you so much for joining me today.

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Aniekan: Thank you for having us. Thank you so much.

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Jesse Stakes: So, I think that if people are golf fans, like, they'll see… they see Back 9 on their social media, they see it, you know, in their neighborhoods, but for… but for everybody, for the benefit of my whole audience, can you share with them what Back 9 is?

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Jesse Stakes: Alright.

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Aniekan: Back 9 is an indoor premium golf facility that, allows you to, play golf, practice, play all the,

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Aniekan: really, all the big golf courses that you've heard of, that you've seen professionals play on TV. It's, 24-7 access. You can,

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Aniekan: Come in whenever you want to, as long as you have a membership and you have a tee time, and

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Aniekan: Pink?

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Aniekan: What else? Climate controlled, completely AC'd up, safe. You have to enter with an app code. It's a great venue for events. It's about 3,200 square feet. Yeah, 3,600 square feet. 3,600 square feet, 4 bays.

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Aniekan: And we've already had several people book out their appointments for parties, for birthdays, yeah.

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Jesse Stakes: That's awesome. No, I think it's… I think it's fantastic, and I think sometimes, you know, as… first off, I want to absolutely give you a shout out. You said… you said climate controlled, and as the temperatures are starting to go 90+, 95, especially over the next couple of months where you might even see triple digits.

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Jesse Stakes: to be able to go play a full round of golf in 70-degree weather in Florida, I think that's fantastic. Yeah.

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Aniekan: And hey, it rained yesterday, yeah.

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Jesse Stakes: Not true.

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Aniekan: from here yesterday. No doubt. Yeah.

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Jesse Stakes: Absolutely. So, what was it… Misha, I'll ask you, what was it that made you guys decide that you wanted to start a Back 9 franchise?

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Aniekan: It was Anakin's pure obsession with golf.

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Jesse Stakes: Yes?

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Aniekan: The adamant soccer player since birth.

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Aniekan: And then he had an injury, and he decided to pursue golf instead.

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Aniekan: But he never takes half measures, so we went from him just practicing every now and then at the course, at Blue Sky, in the garage, to a sim in the garage, to this.

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Jesse Stakes: Very cool.

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Aniekan: I decided, you know, he was working corporate, well, he decided, we decided.

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Aniekan: He was working a regular corporate, you know, American job. He wasn't feeling fulfilled.

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Aniekan: And he wanted to pursue a dream.

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Aniekan: We've read a book together, what's it called?

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Aniekan: The book is called Outwitting the Devil by… No, no, no, no, the business one. Sim guy wrote it.

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Aniekan: Simba wrote it. Okay, what is it? Yeah, Napoleon Hill, Outwitting the Devil and Think and Grow Rich. Think and Grow Rich.

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Jesse Stakes: Alright.

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Aniekan: And in the book, it was just…

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Aniekan: Persuading people who didn't believe that they could be successful to be successful, to take that jump, take that leap.

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Aniekan: And, if you fall on your face, you can always get back up.

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Aniekan: But you at least have to try, and this is something he really wanted to try. And I was bought in because I think it's, you know, especially after the pandemic, people are struggling to reconnect still, like, 6 years later.

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Aniekan: And I think it would be a great opportunity to have watch parties during football season, to have trivia nights, to have girls' nights.

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Aniekan: whenever I'm on Instagram, I see a lot of, like, women doing themed golf parties, like, 80s and 90s, dressed up, you know, Margaritaville.

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Aniekan: type themes, and that's what I'm looking forward to, is building a community of like-minded people.

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Jesse Stakes: No, I think that's fantastic, and shout out, and there's probably somebody, if you guys don't know them, you should, shout out to the Legs Group in Jacksonville, Florida, the Ladies Executive Golf Society. They do a fantastic job of getting women together and having it all around the sport of golf, so…

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Jesse Stakes: You know, another thing to earmark for after we're done with this conversation.

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Aniekan: Appreciate it.

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Jesse Stakes: So, I can kind of relate, honestly, like, I kind of found the sport of golf, it's funny, when I was younger, I played baseball, and it was… I tore up my knee really bad, couldn't run anymore, you know, like, so pickup basketball really wasn't a good idea.

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Jesse Stakes: I couldn't get 4 inches off the ground anyways, so it wasn't, like, you know, that wasn't, like, a dream that was gonna be fulfilled, but all of a sudden, golf became incredibly attractive, because you don't have to run, you don't have to, you know, cut left or right, and it's a sport with a ball and a stick, and I was like, hey, this is super attractive now, so I can kind of relate to your story there, Annie.

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Jesse Stakes: So why Lakewood? Like, what, you know, what about… what about the Lakewood area of Jacksonville? I know you're not too far away from downtown, I know it's, you know, you've got a, you've got a… it's a pretty solid neighborhood, but please share with, please share with me and my audience, what made you choose that area of town?

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Aniekan: We,

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Aniekan: Well, we wanted to keep it in the area where we were living, somewhere close to our home.

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Jesse Stakes: You do realize that, now that you started a business, that's your new home.

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Aniekan: Yeah.

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Jesse Stakes: Yeah, so that's.

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Aniekan: spent a lot of time there. So, we live in, the Bay Meadows area, so, we tried to find something close by, just, to where we are

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Aniekan: no more than 20 miles, I mean, 20 minutes away from the studio itself, so we looked everywhere, just in the near vicinity of where we live, and that location,

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Aniekan: Popped up, and

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Aniekan: we really love the landlord because, Slevin really worked with us, to, give us

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Aniekan: Every opportunity to put this… to put the studio there, because they really love the concept, they really love the business.

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Aniekan: model, and, and they really worked with us, and so shout out to Slayman, for really… Believing in the journey. Believing in us, actually. So, they were really excited for us, just as much as we were excited, and so we liked the area,

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Aniekan: we lived in San Marco for a long time, and so it's like, we were trying to be so close to San Marco and the Lakewood and Bay Meadows area, so we just wanted to take that little pocket of

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Aniekan: Jacksonville, and just put that in there. Yeah, the hope is one day to move back to San Marco, and one of those historic homes, hopefully renovated already.

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Aniekan: We already… we love the fact that there's a Winn-Dixie nearby, the pet store, and so many new restaurants. Restaurants, yes. One of the… actually, Slayman, our landlord, stopped by two days ago to check out the space.

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Aniekan: And he was saying how they're having so many new restaurants pop up nearby, and the beautiful thing about our space is you could just

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Aniekan: get your food, and literally walk. Walk to… over to where we are.

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Aniekan: get your little setup and play golf for a couple hours, and it's been so… it's been so awesome getting to know people in the community, too, because everyone is really nice, and they'll be walking by the store doing one of these.

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Aniekan: Yeah. And, you know, or they'll be with their partner, and she'll be like, go in, go in and ask!

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Aniekan: And they're like, oh, okay, okay. And so, we've had… I think we've had a couple demos from that. Yeah. And so, it's been… it's been really nice, and I feel really safe in that community as well.

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Jesse Stakes: Yeah, no doubt. Well, and I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, but with Back 9, you guys are not getting into food and beverage, you are focused on golf, and the actual simulator experience, and your membership. So, it allows you to partner with a lot of food and beverage companies as well, correct?

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Aniekan: Right, yeah.

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Aniekan: Yeah, so we are… I'm already talking to one of the, the restaurants next door, two doors down, so…

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Aniekan: So that… because we actually even have a menu from their restaurant in our studio, so that people can order, and then they'll just walk it over and bring the food to them. So we're going to be partnering with them as well in that area to try to see how we can

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Aniekan: work together, make deals, provide deals for the people that are ordering from the back nine, to their restaurants. So, I'm excited about it.

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Jesse Stakes: Yeah, I think it's fantastic. I think sometimes people try to be all things to all people, rather than focusing on what they do really well.

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Aniekan: Yeah, yeah.

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Aniekan: And I think if we were to provide food, it would mean we have to be there. Yeah. And I think a lot of what draws people is the privacy.

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Aniekan: And the ability to kind of fail if they need to without someone watching, and, practice and all that. And so, we're not there, but we do have snacks there, and we do have a coffee machine there, and we do have a refrigerator there where you can purchase snacks.

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Jesse Stakes: Nice.

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Aniekan: you know, if the urge hits you. I think one of the best thing, the best appeal of the back nine is just feeling like it is your own private

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Aniekan: studio, golf studio, in a sense, in that you get there, you let yourself in, and you go to your reserved bay, and you do your practice, whatever you had in mind, and in a sense, you almost… I mean, I've noticed that the members, they treat the space as though it is something that they've,

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Aniekan: they've put in their own home, you know, so they treat it very well. I mean, they're very courteous to all the other members, and it is their own private space, you know, and so I like seeing that.

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Jesse Stakes: Yeah, no, I think that that's a… I think that's a huge component of what Back 9 offers compared to a lot of other businesses that incorporate simulators into them, is the fact that you guys are truly offering membership.

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Jesse Stakes: And it's 24-7. Like, if you wake up in the middle of the night, and for whatever reason, you're thinking about something that, you know, is like an aha moment, or a light bulb about your

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Jesse Stakes: swing, or you're stressed out from work, or whatever it is that is, you know, that wakes you up in the middle of the night and you just gotta swing a golf club, you've got a membership to your facility, they can come in, punch in their code, and come in and play golf, whether it's 3 in the morning or 3 in the afternoon.

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Aniekan: I've had one of those moments, and I didn't have a back night to go to, so I just had to go to sleep, or watch some YouTube videos, and then do it the very next morning, 7am, I was on the golf course, in the rain.

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Jesse Stakes: Yeah, right, or if somebody hits a… even if they have a net set up at their house, they think they're practicing something, they think that they have

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Jesse Stakes: You know, they think they're doing something right, and then all of a sudden you go out and hit a real golf ball, and it's like, oh crap, I've just practiced something for a week that's terrible, and you're backing up.

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Aniekan: Actually, we had a guy pop in with his family, they were passing by, and, he was just getting an overview of it, of the space, and he let his family kind of walk ahead of him, and he turned to me and he goes.

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Aniekan: I can sneak out and come here when they have movie nights.

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Jesse Stakes: Alright! So let's talk a little bit about the business model, so people can understand. I mean, obviously, it's set up around the simulator. You guys have memberships, and then you also… can people also come in hourly? Like, if they wanted to just come in and try it out, are they able to do that as well, or do you have to buy a membership?

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Aniekan: Yeah, we have a… so we offer free demos for people that have never used it before, so everyone can have a free demo one time, and they'll come in there and

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Aniekan: play for one hour, learn facility, learn the technology, and the next time, they can just reserve a public tee time if they're not ready to commit to a membership. They can, set up a public tee time and

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Aniekan: just come as much as they want, until they feel like they can commit to a membership. What I will say, though, after

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Aniekan: four, three or four public tee times, you've already paid for your… for your monthly membership, so I would recommend just, just going ahead and doing the public, the membership, and not get paying for public tee time.

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Jesse Stakes: No, I think if somebody's a serious golfer, and if they see the value of having an indoor simulator, they'll probably very quickly realize that it's a… that it's… that it's cost-effective, and that it's actually… that they get a lot of value out of being a member of…

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Aniekan: Yeah.

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Jesse Stakes: As far as the…

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Jesse Stakes: like, the experience, like, are you guys gonna do leagues, or events, or any kind of, like, outings for your members? Is there anything, like, as far as additional to the membership, are there gonna be other things that they have the opportunity to participate in?

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Aniekan: Yeah, there are, so as we get closer, there are other back nines that have been more established, so as we get more established in terms of membership, so we have leads, there are going to be tournaments, and not just tournaments within the

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Aniekan: the back nine members, but there are going to be tournaments with other back nine locations. It can be local, with all the other back nines in Jacksonville, then there are also leagues within all the back nines in Florida, and then there's a national back nine tournament, you know, so there are very,

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Aniekan: there are layers to it as well, so there are going to be other events as well that we are planning to have at the Backman location.

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Aniekan: That is specific just to our location as well.

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Jesse Stakes: Very cool. I think that that's… that's… that part is something that is unique to what you guys are doing, and the fact that Back 9 is a franchise model that is nationwide, or probably world… I mean, it's probably going to be worldwide if it isn't already.

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Aniekan: There is one in Canada.

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Jesse Stakes: So, I mean, it's, you know, it's in the more of a… of a wide net that they cast, and it's like, it's that opportunity to almost… it's almost networking in a way. It's almost like you get to play golf with people all over the world, rather than just… just in Jacksonville, Florida. I think that's fantastic.

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Aniekan: Another thing, and I hope I explained this right, because I don't know if I mentioned this, but I'm not a golfer.

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Aniekan: I know nothing. One day I will. And so, one thing I saw that seemed very interesting to me is, because we have so many restaurants and businesses around us, to have

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Aniekan: Leagues, like, a team.

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Aniekan: of employees from the restaurants and the businesses around to, like, come on certain, like, once a month, where we can all play against each other for some sort of prize or whatever, just to get to know each other. That's cool. Have you ever seen that show, Bob's Burgers?

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Jesse Stakes: Yeah, absolutely.

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Aniekan: So, in the show, I just… I loved how all the businesses are familiar with each other and friends, and I… I really want that. So I actually went around and introduced myself to all the business owners around the community, and they seemed really excited that we were there. That's cool.

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Aniekan: Meh.

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Jesse Stakes: Misha, I think that you bring up a great point, though. Like, this is, like, the sport of golf is always saying we need to grow the game, grow the game, and it's… and it's like… and I watch courses drive up their rates on tee times, and I watch, like, as people… as more people start coming to the game.

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Jesse Stakes: it's almost like the sport is taking advantage of it, rather than saying, hey, we want to be inclusive and we want to bring in people. But what you're talking about

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Jesse Stakes: Is a way that you can actually

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Jesse Stakes: Grow the sport of golf into people like yourself, even, where you found a business opportunity within the sport, and your husband was passionate about it, but it's not necessarily something that you… that you're involved in, but now.

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Jesse Stakes: you're knee-deep in it. You're, you're, you know, excuse me, neck deep, I apologize.

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Jesse Stakes: You're not… but you're not only… you're not only, like, being, like.

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Jesse Stakes: being introduced to the sport, you are now part of the business within the golfing community. And so, you're looking at it with fresh eyes, looking at it from a different perspective, and the things that you're bringing up are from outside the sport of golf, but you're talking about ways to truly grow the game and to introduce it to people. I think it's fantastic.

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Aniekan: That's cool. Thank you.

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Jesse Stakes: Talk to me a little bit about the technology behind it. I know that, like, there's so many different tracking systems for golf balls these days.

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Aniekan: Right.

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Jesse Stakes: Tell me a little bit about the technology behind Back 9 Golf.

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Aniekan: Bac9 uses, Full Swing, exclusively,

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Aniekan: it's been… it used to be Trident, but it's moved over to full swing exclusively.

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Aniekan: And, and they trust Full Swing a lot more because, I mean, that's what Titan Woods uses, that's what John Rahman uses, Dustin Johnson, so that's what they have in their home and for their own training, for their own practice. So,

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Aniekan: No. No, he,

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Aniekan: Well, we went with Full Swing as well because, I mean, also, if you watch TGL, that is the same technology that they use in TGL as well, and so the pros really trust that technology, and so that's why they decided to work with Full Swing. The technology itself is very…

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Aniekan: It's quite amazing, because there is no…

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Aniekan: Most of the time, when you hit a golf ball using a simulator, there is that…

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Aniekan: one second, split-second delay before you actually see the reaction of the ball after you hit it. But with the full swing technology that we have set up, it's instant. You know, it's almost… as soon as you hit the ball, it's like you're hitting it outside, and you see the ball fly immediately.

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Aniekan: And so, you're hitting real golf balls, you're hitting it with your clubs, you're hitting it with,

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Aniekan: You get to putt when you get on the green, so you're not just, just hitting to get on the green, you get to putt, so it's also a good chance

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Aniekan: for you to practice your putting as well, because it shows you the line that you need to hit, and you need to hit the right speed, and the brakes, and all those things. It's all part of the game. It's very inclusive, it's very real. So when you start hitting your balls, it,

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Aniekan: it brings you into the reality of playing golf, and so you're learning your ball speed, your club head speed, the spin rate, your launch angle, your club path, you know, into out, out to in. All those things that, when you see them.

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Aniekan: it helps you to adjust your swing so that you can improve better. And the other thing about it is that Full Swing, the indoor technology itself, and the back nine, we're not just trying to get people to stop playing outside. The whole point of it is to

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Aniekan: Get you in there, play indoor, practice indoor.

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Aniekan: Use the technology, use the numbers, and then when you do go out to play outside on the real golf course.

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Aniekan: you're much more knowledgeable about your golf swing, your numbers, and how to swing your club when you're outside. You know, it improves your game outside.

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Aniekan: No, I think that's… I'm sorry.

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Jesse Stakes: Go ahead, please.

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Aniekan: And we have the newest version of the technology. We got the most updated version. We're actually the first to get it. Nice. And, this is how cool we are. We have a little lip.

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Aniekan: That goes up to the screen, so you don't have to walk up to get your ball, it just comes back on its own.

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Jesse Stakes: Fantastic. I think… so, what I'm hearing, too, is, like, for golfers who are serious about their game, for people who are wanting to improve, it gives them real-time feedback. It gives them the opportunity to, after every single swing that they make.

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Jesse Stakes: They're getting data that they… that's actually actionable. It's actually something that they can utilize to improve… if they know what they're looking at, if they, you know, if they understand what those numbers mean, then they can actually take that and apply that to the next swing that they take.

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Aniekan: Correct.

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Jesse Stakes: The flip side of it, though, if you're not a serious golfer, if you're doing it for fun, if you're doing it for enjoyment, you guys have a lot of things that make it… that just make it entertaining as well, don't you?

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Aniekan: Yeah, absolutely. We have, well, let's just say, for example, there's a… there's a family that's there, and…

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Aniekan: And they bring their kids, their young kids, or toddlers, or whatever. So, it's not just golf, as well. So, we have a bunch of different games that the kids can play, and

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Aniekan: Yeah, so there's, there's Tic Tac-toes, there's, battleship, there's, Tetris. No, is it Tetris? No, not Tetris, they're duels, but jewels game.

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Jesse Stakes: Okay.

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Aniekan: And so, yeah, Pirates game. So, there are a bunch of games in there, and you don't even have to hit a golf ball. You don't have to use a golf club to hit it. You can use a foam golf ball and throw it at the screen.

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Aniekan: And to, to connect four, to connect the dots, or whatever, and just play the games, or you can throw a golf ball at the screen, you know, if the kids want to be there. We're smiling because we have 3 kids. That's literally what they did, I think, last Friday. And they were there for hours, just entertaining themselves.

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Jesse Stakes: It's a lot better than pressing buttons, I can tell you that.

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Aniekan: Yeah, yeah, so they're active, and they're moving around and running, so it's a big space, so they get to run around and throw things around.

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Jesse Stakes: No, I think it's fantastic. I think that those are… I mean, it's… it's in…

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Jesse Stakes: sometimes that's invaluable, giving kids somewhere to actually play games and be physical with it, rather than just be sitting in front of a screen. It gives them the technology that they crave or that they enjoy, but it gives them a physical way to interact with it, rather than, again, just sitting in front of it and just using a finger. I think that's absolutely fantastic.

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Aniekan: Constant battle, a constant battle.

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Jesse Stakes: Amen to that. So, tell me about, like, the industry, as far as, you know, I'm sure that you guys did your research before you started this, and before you jumped in with both feet. You know,

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Jesse Stakes: Misha, like, can you talk to me a little bit about, you know, what was it that, you know, I know that, like, from a passion perspective, and I know that from… you've gotta… you gotta care about what you're doing, but… but from the… from the numbers, from the… from the research that you guys did.

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Jesse Stakes: What made you feel like that… that, you know, indoor golf, that back nine, was the right choice for you guys as entrepreneurs?

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Aniekan: Want me to go answer that? I think we have two separate responses. Okay.

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Jesse Stakes: Please, I would love to have them both.

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Aniekan: Yeah. My res… my… what…

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Aniekan: led me to trust the franchise was the… they posted a bunch of YouTube videos of other franchisees.

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Aniekan: And hearing from the wives, because, you know, I'm sure a woman owns

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Aniekan: You know, one by herself, but most are couples, or just men, and so just listening to the commentary of the women, the wives of the men who decided

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Aniekan: To pursue this was really encouraging to me, and…

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Aniekan: Also, before this, I was a stay-at-home mom, and I'm not saying I was purposeless, because raising children is very purposeful, but having this…

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Aniekan: having this as something that is mine as just niches.

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Aniekan: you know, and not moths, was really something that appealed to me, that I could be creative in, that I could, like, make my own, and just have time for me with Anakin.

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Aniekan: And so, we spend so much more time together, we bounce ideas off each other, we laugh, you know, and I… I really love that idea of

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Aniekan: from the YouTube videos, the idea of us creating something together, and spending more time together. Because before, like I said, he was working corporate, and sometimes he wouldn't get home until, like, 6.30.

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Jesse Stakes: Yeah.

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Aniekan: TM.

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Jesse Stakes: I get it.

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Aniekan: Dinner, he missed, you know, he missed a lot.

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Aniekan: And so, this, you know, initially, I was like, okay, we're about to jump off the ledge, you know, no rope, but, thankfully, that's not true. With Back 9, they have so many ropes. We have a success manager named Mitchell.

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Aniekan: I think we are… were you supposed to meet with him today?

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Aniekan: We meet with him every Tuesday. He's very invested in our success. He's always helping us, always encouraging us. They have a Slack.

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Aniekan: just for back 9 employees.

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Aniekan: And they bounce ideas, and I've gotten so many ideas off of that. They have a marketing coach who routinely has meetings and ideas and platforms that can help you. They've given us free Canva as of yesterday.

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Aniekan: They, they're just incredibly supportive, and they want us… it's clear they want us to succeed. And when he went to the,

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Aniekan: Corporate office training. Corporate office training. Everyone in person was so kind and generous and fun, and it just felt like we were part of a family. And when we're on… when I'm on Instagram.

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Aniekan: most of the likes are from other back nines, and so many encouraging words, and just a lot of love being shown, like, all over. And so that's why I…

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Aniekan: I really like being a part of it.

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Jesse Stakes: Fantastic. Annie?

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Aniekan: from the technical side of things, I did… I looked at a bunch of different,

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Aniekan: When I saw the… I saw the back nine first, and

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Aniekan: And I thought, well, there must be other, you know, indoor golf franchises out here. So, I started looking up other indoor, franchises, someone's mowing the lawn. Yeah.

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Aniekan: I know. Sorry.

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Jesse Stakes: Alright!

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Aniekan: So I did look up a couple of others.

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Aniekan: and I'm not gonna say their names, but most of the ones that I saw were the ones that had the restaurant, you know, golf.

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Aniekan: you know, business model, so the Golf was just the…

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Aniekan: you know, just a small part of the restaurant, basically, just something to do while you're there. The only other one that had just strictly golf, like the way we do it with the back nine, was just one other one, and…

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Aniekan: I just didn't like the name of the company. Okay. I didn't have, it didn't have the,

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Aniekan: it looks like it was just starting, and Back 9 was just a little bit more established at the time.

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Aniekan: Even though their back time was only maybe 3 years old at the time, but,

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Aniekan: this one was even younger, and I thought that…

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Aniekan: I would probably be better off with the bat ninth.

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Aniekan: So we talked about it for a couple of days, and then we decided to go with the back nine. And… and I'm thankful that I did that, and that we decided to go with the back 9, because it worked out better, because they do have a stronger support, and they are…

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Aniekan: the largest indoor, golf simulator franchise that's out there, so no one even comes close. Even with the restaurant-style setup, no one else even comes close to how big franchise… how big a franchise Bag9 has become.

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Jesse Stakes: I think that's fantastic. Like, are there… like, from a lesson standpoint, now that you guys are in the thick of it, is there anything that… that you wish you would have known before you started? Like, if you knew it now, you'd have done something different, or has it been a fantastic journey?

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Aniekan: I think that if we would have, known the things that we know right now, it would be not necessarily about Back 9, but more the starting up a business process. Yes.

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Aniekan: All the paperwork, the, the licenses that we needed to get, the…

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Aniekan: Going through the lending process, you know, going through the…

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Aniekan: the GC selection, all those things that…

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Aniekan: that's required to get the business off the ground. So that was a bit of a tedious process, and now, now I'm more knowledgeable about it, and so if we do decide to open a new location, it will be something that

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Aniekan: be a lot easier to do. But other than that, I don't think that there's anything that we can say that's…

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Aniekan: Oh, man, I wish we would have done it.

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Aniekan: Differently.

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Jesse Stakes: No, I think that's fan… I think that's fantastic. That's a…

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Jesse Stakes: I think that's… that speaks to the power of having… of using an established brand, and using someone who has got a plan for their business owners, the people that are… that are taking a chance on their brand.

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Jesse Stakes: they're giving you a lot of tools, a lot of… a lot of support. I think that that really speaks to that. When you guys got involved with it, did you… did you contact Back9 directly, or was it something that you used a franchise broker? How did you… how did you engage with Back 9?

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Aniekan: We contacted them directly. We sent them an email, just saying, hey, we're interested, and the next day, we got a call.

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Aniekan: From the back nine, and then from then on, we just started setting up meetings.

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Jesse Stakes: That's fantastic. So I would imagine that you guys would be an absolutely fantastic resource for people in other communities if they're interested in Back 9, if they're engaging with them, you guys are probably a fantastic resource for people to call on, and I'm sure that Back 9 probably throws your phone number out there as well.

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Aniekan: We're here for them.

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Jesse Stakes: Alright, so we got a lightning round of questions before we wrap this up that I wanted to ask you guys, so… I'm gonna ask you both, you both can weigh in on this, so… and this doesn't have to be a course on this first one, it can be whatever game is on the simulators as well, but your go-to course that's on the simulator. Annie, I'll let you start.

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Aniekan: Oh, right now, it's Season 1 of TGL.

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Jesse Stakes: Okay.

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Aniekan: All those courses are on there. They're crazy.

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Jesse Stakes: Very cool.

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Jesse Stakes: Misha?

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Aniekan: Tic-tac-toe.

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Jesse Stakes: Nice.

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Jesse Stakes: Andy, what's your… Andy, what's your go-to club in the bag?

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Aniekan: Are my pitching wedge.

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Jesse Stakes: Okay?

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Aniekan: Yeah.

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Jesse Stakes: And again, Misha, it doesn't have to be a club, it can be… it can be your left or right arm.

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Aniekan: My right arm.

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Aniekan: So you're driving.

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Jesse Stakes: So far to date, what is your… Annie, what is your most surprising customer story?

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Aniekan: Oh, gosh. Oh, the dads? No, no, no, the, so…

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Aniekan: I have a… I have a member who is…

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Aniekan: maybe more passionate about Back 9 than I am, and he's, he's in there, he's… he texts me back and forth,

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Aniekan: bringing in new members for us, so he's basically free marketing for us, because… Yeah, he loves it so much, and I'm excited to have him as a member at Fact9, so he's… he's great. He's just… yeah, he's just very passionate and just enjoys being there.

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Jesse Stakes: Awesome. Misha?

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Aniekan: The… the dad's story?

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Aniekan: where Anakin was heading out at, like, 9pm, and there was a group of dads heading in. Oh!

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Aniekan: And he was like, we're not even open yet, we haven't even opened, and they were like… and I guess he had mercy on them, and he even gave them a little discount. I guess he saw it in their eyes, like, oh, you clearly have toddlers, get in here! Nice, that's awesome.

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Jesse Stakes: Awesome.

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Aniekan: like, 9 o'clock at night. Yes.

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Aniekan: They just needed something, some sort of release, and… So, yeah, so it's just a group of four dads, they, they somehow picked a tee time, and, and they were able to get in, and I was like, how did you guys get in? They said, we just…

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Aniekan: I was like, oh, I didn't even know that was on, but I guess since you're here, yeah, you're here, so go ahead and, and play. We're not even opened yet, so I'll refund you for that tea time, and you guys can just play for free. And so they stayed there till, like, 11 o'clock at night.

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Jesse Stakes: Awesome. That's very cool.

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Aniekan: Adults need to play, too.

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Jesse Stakes: Yes, they do. Absolutely.

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Aniekan: I keep telling my kids, kind of going back to what you were saying about screen time, you know, the summer's coming up, and I was like, we're going to the park during the summer. And they all, like, ugh, and I'm like.

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Aniekan: become a grown-up. Annika's heard this speech, like, a thousand times.

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Aniekan: I'm like, when I was your age, I went to the park every day. I played. When you become an adult, all that playing stops, and you just become the person sitting on the bench, watching everybody else play. I'm like, your days are numbered, but I guess it's not really true.

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Aniekan: If you have a back nine.

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Jesse Stakes: Men.

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Jesse Stakes: Dream golfer that you'd like to hang out with at Back 9?

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Aniekan: That's good. Off the top, Kim Young.

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Aniekan: Yeah, off the top of my head, Kanyeong, yeah.

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Jesse Stakes: One thing that people misunderstand about indoor golf.

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Aniekan: That it is…

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Aniekan: I guess you can't say it's not real, because it is similar. That's what I was gonna say. So, but…

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Aniekan: It's…

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Aniekan: It is as close to real golf as you'll ever get indoors, so yeah, it's… it's… it's pretty… it's pretty real, so…

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Aniekan: I mean, I'm a semi-outdoorsy person.

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Aniekan: But if you want me to stay on a golf course for 4 hours, it's not gonna happen. If you want me to sit in a back nine and watch you play golf, I'll be there all night with you.

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Jesse Stakes: Nice.

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Jesse Stakes: Well, I think this has been fantastic. I'm excited to come see the studio. I will probably be one of your patrons, I can tell you that. You guys are right down the street from me, so I'm looking forward to seeing you guys. If people are interested, if people have enjoyed what they've had to hear, and they would like to find you guys.

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Jesse Stakes: What's the best way for them to connect, and either schedule time to come speak to you about membership, or come into the studio and have some fun playing golf?

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Jesse Stakes: Or whatever sport they want to, maybe she…

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Aniekan: So, you can… you can find us on Instagram, so Back 9 Lakewood, or B9Golf Lakewood, we are on Instagram, and also on our website, theback9golf.com, and the Jacksonville-Lakewood location.

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Aniekan: That's how you can go on there, and we're selling, founding membership right now still, and you can get that 20% discount, and…

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Aniekan: Get that for the life of your membership. Don't make us your situationship. Commit!

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Jesse Stakes: Well said, well said. Guys, I really enjoyed this. Annie Misha, this was fantastic, and I look forward to having you guys back on after you guys have been open for a while, after you guys are, you know, kinda…

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Jesse Stakes: veterans, and you have more to share, I can't wait to have you guys back on the show.

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Aniekan: Oh, one more thing to share! June 19th, babe! Oh yeah, that's right, June 19th is our grand opening, so it's gonna be a big party, we're gonna have 1010XL there.

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Aniekan: Just, doing on-location, broadcasting as well.

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Jesse Stakes: Very good. We'll make sure that all of our… that all of our viewers know that, that we'll put some information out there for you guys. Guys, thanks again. We'll catch you on down the road.

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Aniekan: Thank you so much.

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Jesse Stakes: Alright, we're gonna do that part again, because what I want to do is I want to be able to splice that out as a single thing, kind of promoting your grand opening.

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Aniekan: Oh, okay.

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Jesse Stakes: So I'll do that… I'll do that as an Instagram, like, as a video, like, and I can push that out, like, over the next month, so I think that's very cool.

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Aniekan: Alright.

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Jesse Stakes: Just give me a second, we'll just kind of put a pause there, that way I know it's on the backside.

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Jesse Stakes: Guys, I know that you're open already, and I know that things are, you know, hot and heavy as far as operations, but you guys are going to be having an event on June 19th, correct?

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Aniekan: Yes, we are. So June 19th is gonna be our grand opening, so we're gonna have a big party, we're gonna have a lot of people there, closest to the pin contest, long draft contest, 1010XL is gonna be there doing on the… on the scene, broadcasting. Hopefully a food truck. Nice. Food, yes, as well.

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Aniekan: Yeah.

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Jesse Stakes: Awesome, we look forward to seeing you there!

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Aniekan: Thank you. Thank you.