Wahl Street (2021–…): Season 1, Episode 6 - Let's Do Lunch - full transcript
- I didn't want
Machine Gun Kelly.
[imitates machine gun firing]
Line up, everybody's dead.
What I wanted to do
was get your opinion
on what you thought
about the business as a whole.
- Green Zebra is a money loser.
And we can talk about it
on the phone with Lisa.
I'm ready to go
if you wanna do it.
I'm available.
I just--
We can it quickly,
10, 15--you know,
I just have a couple
of questions for Lisa.
I do wanna meet her.
- It's just in
first gear right now,
and you want to rev it up.
[jazzy music]
♪ ♪
- I'm just asking a question.
That's all.
I would do--
I do the same thing
for everybody I work with.
- Father Emmanuel--
very, very smart,
very knowledgeable.
I actually personally like him
quite a bit.
- Anyways, look, we're not
called to be nice, Mark.
Nice is not a virtue.
Doesn't say anywhere
in the gospel.
It just says we have to be
honest, courageous,
humble, modest.
I'm not saying
I'm those things,
but nice is never a virtue.
- He's an interesting guy,
makes the Wolf of Wall Street
look like a teddy bear.
- Well, it's up to you guys
if you wanna do it.
If not, we'll do it
some other time.
- Let's take beat here, okay?
- All right, you guys,
take care of yourselves,
all right?
- Thank you, sir.
- I--I think that he's asking
some really specific questions.
- No, he doesn't understand--
or he hasn't seen the stores,
he hasn't meet Lisa,
he hasn't really been able to,
you know, have
that personal touch, right?
The thing that I love
about Green Zebra is Lisa
and her leadership,
her attitude, her approach.
- I mean, it's almost
like he approached it
from, "Let me make sure first
that this isn't a scam," right?
Which is good.
- Look, my only concern
is--and that continues
to grow--
is just the climate
of the world, you know?
Are we gonna be
in a depression?
- Got it.
- Let me go get my kids
situated with dinner.
- Okay, sounds good.
Bye.
- All right.
[light music]
♪ ♪
- But again, everything, like,
dirty, gritty,
and don't anticipate
his movements.
- Okay.
- So today
we're just gonna shoot
a 1 1/2 minute launch piece
kind of showing
the MUNICIPAL story,
Sport Utility Gear.
- Let's go, baby, let's go.
It's time.
[exhales heavily]
- So we're kind of
capturing that
and gonna put it
into the launch piece for us.
Hey, Mark, can you switch
into this for the jump rope?
Do you not wanna wear it?
- I'll wear it.
- Okay.
[laughter]
- Put that on. Thanks.
- You're a MUNICIPAL man.
- Just another
normal Thursday
in the life of Mark Wahlberg.
♪ ♪
- We wanna create an awareness
and tell the message
behind the brand.
And we wanna inspire people
that no matter you come from
or what obstacles
you have to overcome
that anything is possible.
That's the goal.
- Mark--I don't what kind
of energy he's on,
but he's on a super level.
[laughs]
[uplifting music]
♪ ♪
- Hey, Doctor.
- Nice to see you again.
- [coughing]
- Give me a big "ah."
- Ah.
[gags]
Oh, motherfucker.
- One more.
- [panting]
I'm okay.
Ah.
- Good.
- Damn, that took--
[laughter]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
I'm finally getting back
to my day job.
I'm excited about that.
But not being able
to wake up in my bed,
kiss my family,
that's certainly
not the ideal situation.
So every day,
I wanna be the first face
that my kids see.
So I wait to call Gracie.
She's always up first.
Hi.
First face, first face?
Oh, my God.
- Wow, what a handsome man.
- It's a shit stain.
- [laughs]
- It's not you.
Don't take it personal.
- Oh, no, no, I'm not.
- Like, God.
- We have done
a wonderful job, Alan.
- Do I look any different?
- Why?
- A really bad one?
- I kept calling to get
that first face.
Me and my mustache
wanted to meet you.
With technology,
you get to call and FaceTime.
But it's not the same thing.
It's the little things that
I'm missing out on that are,
you know,
really the most difficult.
I love you.
- Making films and being
an actor and a producer,
it's taken me everywhere else
around the world,
which has been amazing.
But the difficult part
is being away from my family.
- Yeah.
- Whoa!
Not being able to really
spend quality time together,
that's really hard.
What the heck is going on here?
What is this?
And these sort of things
can either push you apart
or make you stronger
and bring you closer together.
Like, it's tough.
What do you got?
- Mickey Mantle.
- Mickey Mantle?
- One of one.
- One of one?
- Yeah.
- All right, bud, love you.
- Love you.
[plaintive music]
- Wow, we're live.
Nice!
Say hi--say hi to everybody.
We're live.
- This is our first live
thing,
I think, we've done, right?
- Damn right.
We're gonna get Mark
on this thing in just a moment.
[soft hopeful music]
♪ ♪
Let's see.
Go live with...
- What's all this
nervous talk, Harry?
[laughter]
When you're young, you don't
need much to make you happy:
a bat, a ball, a hoop,
a few friends
in a public park.
As you get older, things get
a little more complicated:
school, work, stress,
responsibilities,
all that shit.
We should all try to recapture
the original feeling,
go back to the beginning,
and apply that
to our everyday adult lives.
[inspiring music]
Never forget
where you come from.
Everyone has an origin story.
MUNICIPAL.
- It feels like it's been
a long--a long haul, brother.
Probably nobody
would have told you,
"Hey, you know what's cool,
Mark?
"Why don't you guys
try to launch a new brand
right in the middle
of a pandemic?"
- Well, that wasn't--that
wasn't originally the plan.
I mean, you know,
when things got real
and the pandemic hit,
then it was like,
"Okay, now you really gotta
bet on yourself."
You know, you guys were always
the perfect partner for us
because you had the same
vision, the same belief,
and put the same emphasis
on quality
and, you know, a real--
a real value proposition
for the customer.
- Thanks, Mark.
Keep it up, man.
We're gonna--we're gonna
keep slinging it here.
- Where we going?
We just got started.
- We're just getting started.
You gotta start somewhere.
- Yeah.
Hold on, wait--
hey, hey, thank you.
And for everybody--
everybody tuning in,
thank you guys.
God bless you.
Stay positive, stay safe,
and we'll see you soon.
♪ ♪
- The final day of shooting.
We made it.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- It was a long, long shoot.
I'm happy to go home.
I miss my wife.
I miss my kids.
And then I'm getting back
to work.
- How you doing?
- Good, you?
- I'm hanging in there.
- How do you feel
about losing the Emmy?
- I'm okay with it.
- You're used to it.
See, that's the problem.
Like the Jets.
- Let me tell you something--
- [laughs]
Let me tell you something.
The first Emmy that you get,
I'm getting with you
at the same time.
How about that?
- Nice.
- So what do--
what do you wanna know?
- What have we sold,
and what do you think
you're gonna sell?
- All right.
We have "RV There Yet?"
- Okay.
- If you have a second to do
a little video that says,
"Hey, I'm excited about this."
I'm gonna show you
the sizzle right now.
- How did I know
this would come to me,
performing something?
Want me to do it right now?
- Sure.
- What's it called?
- "RV There Yet?"
- "RV There Yet?"
- Yeah, I love it.
- It's got a--
- The title alone.
- Wait a second, I just got it.
"RV There Yet?"
Hey, everyone,
Mark Wahlberg here.
Sorry I couldn't
be there personally
to pitch you "RV There Yet?"
But I am so excited
about this show.
And it just so happens
I have my own Airstream and RV
dealership in Columbus, Ohio.
So I'd be more than happy
to provide
some of the sickest RVs
out there.
- When we started the company,
there was a three-year
business plan.
Because of the pandemic,
we've fallen
dreadfully short of that.
It's made things
ten times harder.
But I think Mark
is as driven as ever,
and that really
keeps me going too.
- Archie--we have a huge
amount of respect
for each other and
appreciation for each other.
And, you know, it's--
he's a special guy.
I really like him, and I know
that he has my back.
And that's important.
- Mark, Lev, and myself,
we are full believers
that there's a lot
of great things to come.
- So then Jose came in...
- This is gonna be
really interesting.
We've been working on a secret
project, and I went--and then
it turns into Larry David
meets "I Love Lucy."
- I mean,
if I was to do anything
as an actor
or as a personality,
it would be like a time capsule
period, like, piece.
- That would be awesome
in a documentary style.
- We've produced
some pretty amazing content
out of the gate,
and once this pandemic
is over,
we'll be doing
some amazing things.
- What I learned
from the pandemic
is that family, by far,
is the most important thing
and to be able to appreciate
what's right in front of you
more than I have in the past.
- Whoa!
- Whoa!
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- The country and the world,
it's completely changed
because of COVID
and all the restrictions
that have been put on.
So promoting F45,
that is very tricky.
We've been able to survive,
but it's been a rough year.
- So everyone should have
a barbell in a setup place
at their station.
- This is crazy, bro.
It's, like, depressing.
- It's so sad.
And we're considered lucky,
you know?
That's the sad part.
- We're fighting through.
- There was so much
uncertainty, fear,
and I think you're used to a
lot of that as an entrepreneur.
But the lack of ability
to kind of control
any of the outcome,
that creates a lot of pressure
for businesses.
- It's just, like--
it's so depressing.
- It is.
- The state of the business
right now.
- We're--felt like we finally
had turned the corner
that second year,
and this was gonna be the year
where we had massive growth.
And to see all of it
just kind of come
to a screeching halt
so abruptly--
- All right, trust me.
I get it.
- If we make it
through the other side,
it's a big opportunity.
- Once this pandemic is over,
we'll be at an advantage
in that we will have access
to better locations
in the future.
But, you know,
gotta figure out
where we're at when
the dust settles, you know?
- Good news
about these vaccines.
So hopefully, by Q1, right,
of next year,
confidence changes.
That seems to be the best path.
- We'll see.
- Growing up in pretty
difficult circumstances,
you know, financially,
you learn that
you can be happy
with very little.
And 2020 is definitely
a reminder of that.
And I think with F45,
hopefully,
you can kind of
gain momentum again
as there's better clarity
around COVID.
- All right, let's go--
let's go do this class.
- All right.
- All right.
Let's rock and roll.
We're gonna start
with bent-over rows.
We're gonna have a reverse...
- What business is easy?
Tell me what the easy ones are.
I'll take a crack at them.
What are the easy businesses?
- Here we go, jump squats.
Hands to the ground...
[inquisitive music]
- We launched
during the pandemic,
and there was definitely
a period
where I had to really
temper my idealism
about what MUNICIPAL
was gonna be.
How's your day been?
- Well, now seeing your
cheery face, it's better.
- I'm here to cheer you up.
- Oh, well, thank you.
I mean, I always knew
what kind of guy Harry was,
you know?
He's a man of integrity.
It's not what he had
initially signed up for,
but he's taking it
all on the chin
and keeps going
and moving forward
and, more importantly,
creating a great product.
- But I wanted to fill you in
on a few things.
The business itself is--
is off to a great start.
Our average order value, too,
is, like,
significantly higher
than what we were expecting.
- So what were you estimating?
- We were thinking
we would average around
90 bucks per order,
and right now, we're pushing
120 bucks per order...
- Wow.
- Which is, you know,
crazy, crazy phenomenal.
The response has been
overwhelmingly positive.
People love what we're doing.
They get what we're doing.
And then we got that--
the underwear launch
two months from now.
- When are we gonna see
some samples?
- We should be getting that
inside of the next week.
- Okay.
- I'll have the samples
for you to try,
put it through the paces.
You don't have--you don't even
have to send it back to us
when you're done;
you hang on to those.
- Okay.
We'll see.
- [laughs]
This period,
it really has punctuated
the importance
of those core relationships
and the keeping
of people close to you
close to you.
My relationship
with the team here
by and large
are people that believe in me
and believe in MUNICIPAL.
- Harry was basically
putting a shit ton
on the line financially.
I felt inspired
that Harry would do that
and that his wife, Kim,
would do that.
- You have to be vulnerable.
Let them see you
be vulnerable.
And a lot of pride
permeated into our team.
- Let's go!
- So we're really
just getting started.
All right, buddy,
thanks for jumping on.
Anything you need,
let us know, okay?
- Yep, hang in there,
brother.
- Thanks again, Mark.
Love you guys.
- All right, buddy.
I can't tell you how long it's
been since I've been up here.
Lookit, all this shit
is blocking the greens.
Like, how am I gonna
hit over there?
I can't even see.
I can't even see that hole.
- Oh, my God.
Before the pandemic,
I was used to getting up
3:00 or 4:00 in the morning.
Now I'm sleeping
till, like, 9:30.
[groans]
Not enough yardage.
Get up,
and I just, you know, pray
and work out...
Shit!
And get on Zoom calls
and, you know,
do calls all day.
But today I have golf.
No, too far.
[leisurely music]
Not hitting any of them.
- Ugh.
♪ ♪
Where am I, at Augusta?
[tense music]
♪ ♪
- How was golf?
- [sighs] A lot less stressful
than this will be.
[laughter]
Since the brand's infancy,
we've been dealing
with trying to make sure
that we find the right people
in the right positions.
- Yeah, yeah.
- I'm not convinced
we have done
the best execution of the brand
as originally designed.
I still think
the original game plan
has not been executed at all
to the level it needs to be.
- Right, one thing I'm anxious
to see you guys develop is,
drive-through is a--
you know, what--what is--
- I hope drive-through
is never the answer.
- Is not the answer?
- No, because that's--
that's definitely going
way the wrong way.
The speed of service
would be all out of wack,
so that's definitely not a
path
we're gonna chase.
We're working on a new fry.
We're not fans of the fries.
Or I'm not, at least.
- No, I've said that
to Paul since day one.
- Yeah, so actually,
that's happening tomorrow.
- Even just send me
a video or something.
I just wanna see
the shape and the cut.
- Okay, sure.
- [clears throat]
I'm gonna get Matt
on the phone if that's okay.
- Yeah.
- As I was talking to Mark
during the interview process,
it came apparent to me that
Mark's not only the franchisor
but he was also invested
with some of the franchisees.
He's the brand
but also the franchisee,
and they're having
their own financial issues.
- Hey, Matt, how you doing?
- Good.
- All right.
I am here with John,
JJ, and Mark,
and we're about to go
into the numbers analytics
that you prepared.
- So we got $2.4 million
of cost as we stand now.
- You know, we're
$2 1/2 million in the hole.
- Basically,
what were intended to be
multimillion-dollar
positive numbers
turned out to be almost across
the board negative numbers.
[tense music]
♪ ♪
To put it in deal terms,
you know, we need
to claw our way out.
- It's tricky when you're
on the franchisee side
and the franchisor side.
And I definitely got myself
in way too deep.
It's upsetting
and disappointing,
I think, us not paying
as close attention to detail
as we could have, should have.
- Mark is the classic
entrepreneur.
He wants to get
his hands in everything.
I'd strongly recommend
that he stop doing that
because you can't be
on both sides of this thing.
And those are
the kind of things
that we just gotta get him
out of going forward.
- All right, Mike,
I'm taking this?
- That's yours.
- Multiple copies.
- All right.
Thanks, guys.
- The biggest fear
right now I have
is the fear of the unknown.
There's no playbook
you can look to
as to how to work
your way through a pandemic.
And I know other brands
aren't gonna make it through.
But we feel like
we're gonna make it through.
- You know why this show's
gonna be such a hit?
- Why?
- 'Cause it's
a fucking shit show.
It's fucking disastrous.
I mean, holy shit.
People are gonna love
watching me fucking implode.
[melancholy music]
♪ ♪
[line trills]
- Hey, Mark,
how you doing?
- Hey, Lisa, how are you?
- I'm great.
- So can we talk about
Green Zebra for a minute?
- Yeah--yeah, let's do it.
- I had some concerns.
- Mm, mm-hmm.
- I asked Ryan again, I said,
"Okay, send me, you know,
the people that are funding
and how much."
And now all of a sudden,
it's broken up into tranches,
which is saying--
which I was not aware of
and was very,
very concerning to me.
- I'm familiar with working
in tranches,
and I've done that before...
- Mm-hmm.
- And I'd prefer not
to do it either.
And because things
were taking a long time
and I was just like,
"Fuck, let's just bring in
some part of this right now."
- We started hearing that
it wasn't all going to be
funded at once,
that there were
kind of two tranches.
And I said,
"Well, wait a second here.
That's not what
we talked about."
You know, I wasn't going to be
the only one who is funding.
Yeah, we've been down
this road before,
where we've gotten
into businesses
that are, you know,
expensive to grow and build
and, you know--never mind
in the middle of a pandemic,
you know what I mean,
where people are, like--
don't know what's gonna happen,
don't know--
yeah, I mean, so...
let's just pause for a minute.
- Um...
I totally get
what you're laying down.
- It's rare that you kind of
find people, those kind of--
the talent, the skill,
the leadership qualities
that she has and possesses.
But like Green Zebra,
there are so many
other businesses
that have fallen victim
to COVID-19 and this pandemic.
And if doesn't work out
in Green Zebra,
I'd certainly want her
to be in my camp
and figure out we're gonna
do something else together
in the future, you know?
Those kind of people
that have that kind of talent
and commitment
and dedication are invaluable.
The only thing that's really
exciting about this
is what you've created
and who you are.
- There's lots of other
investments over the years
that I thought might happen
and I didn't get
and I went on to a plan B.
So I better start thinking
of a plan B.
You know, there's--
there's gonna be a big ugly cry
in this at some point
of just, like...
[groans]
Great.
Thanks a lot for calling.
- Bye.
[melancholy music]
- Mark has been phenomenal.
But I'm feeling really sad.
You know, Green Zebra has
to continue marching forward.
Without him, this interview
that we're having right now
is the first time
where I've really sat down
and thought about what
a difficult path it's been.
♪ ♪
This whole thing
has caught me by surprise.
And the sequence of events
was also very hard.
And there's a lot of loss
that's happening right now.
We're running out of money.
And then we have
to close two stores
and lay 60 people off
during a pandemic.
And, you know, the valuation
of the company has gone down.
I'm hoping against hope
right now
that can make it through this.
- So, Mark, we've actually
documented over a year
in your business life.
What thoughts do you have
looking back over the year?
- [clears throat]
Uh...
Well, if you like drama,
you couldn't have picked
a better year.
This year, it really put
an emphasis on the importance
of utilizing your time wisely.
And, you know,
I've been spreading myself
pretty damn thin.
I'm about to be 50 years old.
Some days, I wake up
and I feel like I'm 80,
and other days, I wake up
and I feel like I'm 18.
And I'm like,
"Where did the time go?"
- Listen, Mark,
go back to your fundamentals
of what got you here:
investing in your partners,
putting in the work,
the sweat.
More importantly, I think,
just trust your gut, man.
You'll be a'ight.
- I have my hands
in a lot of things,
and they're exciting
and all that stuff.
But it's also been taking away
and been a distraction
from the important things
and the little things
and the time
that you don't get back.
- You have to keep your
family priorities in order,
which will also keep
your business in order.
- But I think the misses,
the mistakes,
those are the things
that are kind of invaluable
because those are the lessons
that you need to learn
and make sure you're avoiding
making those mistakes again
in the future.
- You have to be
kind of risk-averse.
You're certainly gonna fail.
You're probably
gonna lose money.
It's just part of the process.
- You know,
at the end of the day,
family's far more important
and, of course,
being super disciplined
upon my faith
and commitment to my family.
If I can give my kids that,
that's far more valuable.
- Never compromise
who you are personally
to become who you wish
to be professionally.
- I'm learning every day,
growing and learning
through trial and error,
you know?
We got off to a rocky start,
but, you know,
we're still plugging away.
We're still climbing.
I see things in terms
of victory or death
and not just victory
but total victory.
It's true.
I always have.
It's either victory,
or don't bother.
But you've already moved your
little king slightly back row.
[sucks teeth] Don't move
to back row, son.
You're running out of moves.
Oh, God,
I didn't see that one coming.
I don't like this.
You moved another main man?
- Yeah.
- Damn, son.
All right.
So let me ask you a question.
Do you think
I should just focus
on making movies
and television
or F45
and my other business stuff,
Wahlburgers?
- Movies.
- Movies?
[dynamic music]
♪ ♪
Machine Gun Kelly.
[imitates machine gun firing]
Line up, everybody's dead.
What I wanted to do
was get your opinion
on what you thought
about the business as a whole.
- Green Zebra is a money loser.
And we can talk about it
on the phone with Lisa.
I'm ready to go
if you wanna do it.
I'm available.
I just--
We can it quickly,
10, 15--you know,
I just have a couple
of questions for Lisa.
I do wanna meet her.
- It's just in
first gear right now,
and you want to rev it up.
[jazzy music]
♪ ♪
- I'm just asking a question.
That's all.
I would do--
I do the same thing
for everybody I work with.
- Father Emmanuel--
very, very smart,
very knowledgeable.
I actually personally like him
quite a bit.
- Anyways, look, we're not
called to be nice, Mark.
Nice is not a virtue.
Doesn't say anywhere
in the gospel.
It just says we have to be
honest, courageous,
humble, modest.
I'm not saying
I'm those things,
but nice is never a virtue.
- He's an interesting guy,
makes the Wolf of Wall Street
look like a teddy bear.
- Well, it's up to you guys
if you wanna do it.
If not, we'll do it
some other time.
- Let's take beat here, okay?
- All right, you guys,
take care of yourselves,
all right?
- Thank you, sir.
- I--I think that he's asking
some really specific questions.
- No, he doesn't understand--
or he hasn't seen the stores,
he hasn't meet Lisa,
he hasn't really been able to,
you know, have
that personal touch, right?
The thing that I love
about Green Zebra is Lisa
and her leadership,
her attitude, her approach.
- I mean, it's almost
like he approached it
from, "Let me make sure first
that this isn't a scam," right?
Which is good.
- Look, my only concern
is--and that continues
to grow--
is just the climate
of the world, you know?
Are we gonna be
in a depression?
- Got it.
- Let me go get my kids
situated with dinner.
- Okay, sounds good.
Bye.
- All right.
[light music]
♪ ♪
- But again, everything, like,
dirty, gritty,
and don't anticipate
his movements.
- Okay.
- So today
we're just gonna shoot
a 1 1/2 minute launch piece
kind of showing
the MUNICIPAL story,
Sport Utility Gear.
- Let's go, baby, let's go.
It's time.
[exhales heavily]
- So we're kind of
capturing that
and gonna put it
into the launch piece for us.
Hey, Mark, can you switch
into this for the jump rope?
Do you not wanna wear it?
- I'll wear it.
- Okay.
[laughter]
- Put that on. Thanks.
- You're a MUNICIPAL man.
- Just another
normal Thursday
in the life of Mark Wahlberg.
♪ ♪
- We wanna create an awareness
and tell the message
behind the brand.
And we wanna inspire people
that no matter you come from
or what obstacles
you have to overcome
that anything is possible.
That's the goal.
- Mark--I don't what kind
of energy he's on,
but he's on a super level.
[laughs]
[uplifting music]
♪ ♪
- Hey, Doctor.
- Nice to see you again.
- [coughing]
- Give me a big "ah."
- Ah.
[gags]
Oh, motherfucker.
- One more.
- [panting]
I'm okay.
Ah.
- Good.
- Damn, that took--
[laughter]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
I'm finally getting back
to my day job.
I'm excited about that.
But not being able
to wake up in my bed,
kiss my family,
that's certainly
not the ideal situation.
So every day,
I wanna be the first face
that my kids see.
So I wait to call Gracie.
She's always up first.
Hi.
First face, first face?
Oh, my God.
- Wow, what a handsome man.
- It's a shit stain.
- [laughs]
- It's not you.
Don't take it personal.
- Oh, no, no, I'm not.
- Like, God.
- We have done
a wonderful job, Alan.
- Do I look any different?
- Why?
- A really bad one?
- I kept calling to get
that first face.
Me and my mustache
wanted to meet you.
With technology,
you get to call and FaceTime.
But it's not the same thing.
It's the little things that
I'm missing out on that are,
you know,
really the most difficult.
I love you.
- Making films and being
an actor and a producer,
it's taken me everywhere else
around the world,
which has been amazing.
But the difficult part
is being away from my family.
- Yeah.
- Whoa!
Not being able to really
spend quality time together,
that's really hard.
What the heck is going on here?
What is this?
And these sort of things
can either push you apart
or make you stronger
and bring you closer together.
Like, it's tough.
What do you got?
- Mickey Mantle.
- Mickey Mantle?
- One of one.
- One of one?
- Yeah.
- All right, bud, love you.
- Love you.
[plaintive music]
- Wow, we're live.
Nice!
Say hi--say hi to everybody.
We're live.
- This is our first live
thing,
I think, we've done, right?
- Damn right.
We're gonna get Mark
on this thing in just a moment.
[soft hopeful music]
♪ ♪
Let's see.
Go live with...
- What's all this
nervous talk, Harry?
[laughter]
When you're young, you don't
need much to make you happy:
a bat, a ball, a hoop,
a few friends
in a public park.
As you get older, things get
a little more complicated:
school, work, stress,
responsibilities,
all that shit.
We should all try to recapture
the original feeling,
go back to the beginning,
and apply that
to our everyday adult lives.
[inspiring music]
Never forget
where you come from.
Everyone has an origin story.
MUNICIPAL.
- It feels like it's been
a long--a long haul, brother.
Probably nobody
would have told you,
"Hey, you know what's cool,
Mark?
"Why don't you guys
try to launch a new brand
right in the middle
of a pandemic?"
- Well, that wasn't--that
wasn't originally the plan.
I mean, you know,
when things got real
and the pandemic hit,
then it was like,
"Okay, now you really gotta
bet on yourself."
You know, you guys were always
the perfect partner for us
because you had the same
vision, the same belief,
and put the same emphasis
on quality
and, you know, a real--
a real value proposition
for the customer.
- Thanks, Mark.
Keep it up, man.
We're gonna--we're gonna
keep slinging it here.
- Where we going?
We just got started.
- We're just getting started.
You gotta start somewhere.
- Yeah.
Hold on, wait--
hey, hey, thank you.
And for everybody--
everybody tuning in,
thank you guys.
God bless you.
Stay positive, stay safe,
and we'll see you soon.
♪ ♪
- The final day of shooting.
We made it.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- It was a long, long shoot.
I'm happy to go home.
I miss my wife.
I miss my kids.
And then I'm getting back
to work.
- How you doing?
- Good, you?
- I'm hanging in there.
- How do you feel
about losing the Emmy?
- I'm okay with it.
- You're used to it.
See, that's the problem.
Like the Jets.
- Let me tell you something--
- [laughs]
Let me tell you something.
The first Emmy that you get,
I'm getting with you
at the same time.
How about that?
- Nice.
- So what do--
what do you wanna know?
- What have we sold,
and what do you think
you're gonna sell?
- All right.
We have "RV There Yet?"
- Okay.
- If you have a second to do
a little video that says,
"Hey, I'm excited about this."
I'm gonna show you
the sizzle right now.
- How did I know
this would come to me,
performing something?
Want me to do it right now?
- Sure.
- What's it called?
- "RV There Yet?"
- "RV There Yet?"
- Yeah, I love it.
- It's got a--
- The title alone.
- Wait a second, I just got it.
"RV There Yet?"
Hey, everyone,
Mark Wahlberg here.
Sorry I couldn't
be there personally
to pitch you "RV There Yet?"
But I am so excited
about this show.
And it just so happens
I have my own Airstream and RV
dealership in Columbus, Ohio.
So I'd be more than happy
to provide
some of the sickest RVs
out there.
- When we started the company,
there was a three-year
business plan.
Because of the pandemic,
we've fallen
dreadfully short of that.
It's made things
ten times harder.
But I think Mark
is as driven as ever,
and that really
keeps me going too.
- Archie--we have a huge
amount of respect
for each other and
appreciation for each other.
And, you know, it's--
he's a special guy.
I really like him, and I know
that he has my back.
And that's important.
- Mark, Lev, and myself,
we are full believers
that there's a lot
of great things to come.
- So then Jose came in...
- This is gonna be
really interesting.
We've been working on a secret
project, and I went--and then
it turns into Larry David
meets "I Love Lucy."
- I mean,
if I was to do anything
as an actor
or as a personality,
it would be like a time capsule
period, like, piece.
- That would be awesome
in a documentary style.
- We've produced
some pretty amazing content
out of the gate,
and once this pandemic
is over,
we'll be doing
some amazing things.
- What I learned
from the pandemic
is that family, by far,
is the most important thing
and to be able to appreciate
what's right in front of you
more than I have in the past.
- Whoa!
- Whoa!
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- The country and the world,
it's completely changed
because of COVID
and all the restrictions
that have been put on.
So promoting F45,
that is very tricky.
We've been able to survive,
but it's been a rough year.
- So everyone should have
a barbell in a setup place
at their station.
- This is crazy, bro.
It's, like, depressing.
- It's so sad.
And we're considered lucky,
you know?
That's the sad part.
- We're fighting through.
- There was so much
uncertainty, fear,
and I think you're used to a
lot of that as an entrepreneur.
But the lack of ability
to kind of control
any of the outcome,
that creates a lot of pressure
for businesses.
- It's just, like--
it's so depressing.
- It is.
- The state of the business
right now.
- We're--felt like we finally
had turned the corner
that second year,
and this was gonna be the year
where we had massive growth.
And to see all of it
just kind of come
to a screeching halt
so abruptly--
- All right, trust me.
I get it.
- If we make it
through the other side,
it's a big opportunity.
- Once this pandemic is over,
we'll be at an advantage
in that we will have access
to better locations
in the future.
But, you know,
gotta figure out
where we're at when
the dust settles, you know?
- Good news
about these vaccines.
So hopefully, by Q1, right,
of next year,
confidence changes.
That seems to be the best path.
- We'll see.
- Growing up in pretty
difficult circumstances,
you know, financially,
you learn that
you can be happy
with very little.
And 2020 is definitely
a reminder of that.
And I think with F45,
hopefully,
you can kind of
gain momentum again
as there's better clarity
around COVID.
- All right, let's go--
let's go do this class.
- All right.
- All right.
Let's rock and roll.
We're gonna start
with bent-over rows.
We're gonna have a reverse...
- What business is easy?
Tell me what the easy ones are.
I'll take a crack at them.
What are the easy businesses?
- Here we go, jump squats.
Hands to the ground...
[inquisitive music]
- We launched
during the pandemic,
and there was definitely
a period
where I had to really
temper my idealism
about what MUNICIPAL
was gonna be.
How's your day been?
- Well, now seeing your
cheery face, it's better.
- I'm here to cheer you up.
- Oh, well, thank you.
I mean, I always knew
what kind of guy Harry was,
you know?
He's a man of integrity.
It's not what he had
initially signed up for,
but he's taking it
all on the chin
and keeps going
and moving forward
and, more importantly,
creating a great product.
- But I wanted to fill you in
on a few things.
The business itself is--
is off to a great start.
Our average order value, too,
is, like,
significantly higher
than what we were expecting.
- So what were you estimating?
- We were thinking
we would average around
90 bucks per order,
and right now, we're pushing
120 bucks per order...
- Wow.
- Which is, you know,
crazy, crazy phenomenal.
The response has been
overwhelmingly positive.
People love what we're doing.
They get what we're doing.
And then we got that--
the underwear launch
two months from now.
- When are we gonna see
some samples?
- We should be getting that
inside of the next week.
- Okay.
- I'll have the samples
for you to try,
put it through the paces.
You don't have--you don't even
have to send it back to us
when you're done;
you hang on to those.
- Okay.
We'll see.
- [laughs]
This period,
it really has punctuated
the importance
of those core relationships
and the keeping
of people close to you
close to you.
My relationship
with the team here
by and large
are people that believe in me
and believe in MUNICIPAL.
- Harry was basically
putting a shit ton
on the line financially.
I felt inspired
that Harry would do that
and that his wife, Kim,
would do that.
- You have to be vulnerable.
Let them see you
be vulnerable.
And a lot of pride
permeated into our team.
- Let's go!
- So we're really
just getting started.
All right, buddy,
thanks for jumping on.
Anything you need,
let us know, okay?
- Yep, hang in there,
brother.
- Thanks again, Mark.
Love you guys.
- All right, buddy.
I can't tell you how long it's
been since I've been up here.
Lookit, all this shit
is blocking the greens.
Like, how am I gonna
hit over there?
I can't even see.
I can't even see that hole.
- Oh, my God.
Before the pandemic,
I was used to getting up
3:00 or 4:00 in the morning.
Now I'm sleeping
till, like, 9:30.
[groans]
Not enough yardage.
Get up,
and I just, you know, pray
and work out...
Shit!
And get on Zoom calls
and, you know,
do calls all day.
But today I have golf.
No, too far.
[leisurely music]
Not hitting any of them.
- Ugh.
♪ ♪
Where am I, at Augusta?
[tense music]
♪ ♪
- How was golf?
- [sighs] A lot less stressful
than this will be.
[laughter]
Since the brand's infancy,
we've been dealing
with trying to make sure
that we find the right people
in the right positions.
- Yeah, yeah.
- I'm not convinced
we have done
the best execution of the brand
as originally designed.
I still think
the original game plan
has not been executed at all
to the level it needs to be.
- Right, one thing I'm anxious
to see you guys develop is,
drive-through is a--
you know, what--what is--
- I hope drive-through
is never the answer.
- Is not the answer?
- No, because that's--
that's definitely going
way the wrong way.
The speed of service
would be all out of wack,
so that's definitely not a
path
we're gonna chase.
We're working on a new fry.
We're not fans of the fries.
Or I'm not, at least.
- No, I've said that
to Paul since day one.
- Yeah, so actually,
that's happening tomorrow.
- Even just send me
a video or something.
I just wanna see
the shape and the cut.
- Okay, sure.
- [clears throat]
I'm gonna get Matt
on the phone if that's okay.
- Yeah.
- As I was talking to Mark
during the interview process,
it came apparent to me that
Mark's not only the franchisor
but he was also invested
with some of the franchisees.
He's the brand
but also the franchisee,
and they're having
their own financial issues.
- Hey, Matt, how you doing?
- Good.
- All right.
I am here with John,
JJ, and Mark,
and we're about to go
into the numbers analytics
that you prepared.
- So we got $2.4 million
of cost as we stand now.
- You know, we're
$2 1/2 million in the hole.
- Basically,
what were intended to be
multimillion-dollar
positive numbers
turned out to be almost across
the board negative numbers.
[tense music]
♪ ♪
To put it in deal terms,
you know, we need
to claw our way out.
- It's tricky when you're
on the franchisee side
and the franchisor side.
And I definitely got myself
in way too deep.
It's upsetting
and disappointing,
I think, us not paying
as close attention to detail
as we could have, should have.
- Mark is the classic
entrepreneur.
He wants to get
his hands in everything.
I'd strongly recommend
that he stop doing that
because you can't be
on both sides of this thing.
And those are
the kind of things
that we just gotta get him
out of going forward.
- All right, Mike,
I'm taking this?
- That's yours.
- Multiple copies.
- All right.
Thanks, guys.
- The biggest fear
right now I have
is the fear of the unknown.
There's no playbook
you can look to
as to how to work
your way through a pandemic.
And I know other brands
aren't gonna make it through.
But we feel like
we're gonna make it through.
- You know why this show's
gonna be such a hit?
- Why?
- 'Cause it's
a fucking shit show.
It's fucking disastrous.
I mean, holy shit.
People are gonna love
watching me fucking implode.
[melancholy music]
♪ ♪
[line trills]
- Hey, Mark,
how you doing?
- Hey, Lisa, how are you?
- I'm great.
- So can we talk about
Green Zebra for a minute?
- Yeah--yeah, let's do it.
- I had some concerns.
- Mm, mm-hmm.
- I asked Ryan again, I said,
"Okay, send me, you know,
the people that are funding
and how much."
And now all of a sudden,
it's broken up into tranches,
which is saying--
which I was not aware of
and was very,
very concerning to me.
- I'm familiar with working
in tranches,
and I've done that before...
- Mm-hmm.
- And I'd prefer not
to do it either.
And because things
were taking a long time
and I was just like,
"Fuck, let's just bring in
some part of this right now."
- We started hearing that
it wasn't all going to be
funded at once,
that there were
kind of two tranches.
And I said,
"Well, wait a second here.
That's not what
we talked about."
You know, I wasn't going to be
the only one who is funding.
Yeah, we've been down
this road before,
where we've gotten
into businesses
that are, you know,
expensive to grow and build
and, you know--never mind
in the middle of a pandemic,
you know what I mean,
where people are, like--
don't know what's gonna happen,
don't know--
yeah, I mean, so...
let's just pause for a minute.
- Um...
I totally get
what you're laying down.
- It's rare that you kind of
find people, those kind of--
the talent, the skill,
the leadership qualities
that she has and possesses.
But like Green Zebra,
there are so many
other businesses
that have fallen victim
to COVID-19 and this pandemic.
And if doesn't work out
in Green Zebra,
I'd certainly want her
to be in my camp
and figure out we're gonna
do something else together
in the future, you know?
Those kind of people
that have that kind of talent
and commitment
and dedication are invaluable.
The only thing that's really
exciting about this
is what you've created
and who you are.
- There's lots of other
investments over the years
that I thought might happen
and I didn't get
and I went on to a plan B.
So I better start thinking
of a plan B.
You know, there's--
there's gonna be a big ugly cry
in this at some point
of just, like...
[groans]
Great.
Thanks a lot for calling.
- Bye.
[melancholy music]
- Mark has been phenomenal.
But I'm feeling really sad.
You know, Green Zebra has
to continue marching forward.
Without him, this interview
that we're having right now
is the first time
where I've really sat down
and thought about what
a difficult path it's been.
♪ ♪
This whole thing
has caught me by surprise.
And the sequence of events
was also very hard.
And there's a lot of loss
that's happening right now.
We're running out of money.
And then we have
to close two stores
and lay 60 people off
during a pandemic.
And, you know, the valuation
of the company has gone down.
I'm hoping against hope
right now
that can make it through this.
- So, Mark, we've actually
documented over a year
in your business life.
What thoughts do you have
looking back over the year?
- [clears throat]
Uh...
Well, if you like drama,
you couldn't have picked
a better year.
This year, it really put
an emphasis on the importance
of utilizing your time wisely.
And, you know,
I've been spreading myself
pretty damn thin.
I'm about to be 50 years old.
Some days, I wake up
and I feel like I'm 80,
and other days, I wake up
and I feel like I'm 18.
And I'm like,
"Where did the time go?"
- Listen, Mark,
go back to your fundamentals
of what got you here:
investing in your partners,
putting in the work,
the sweat.
More importantly, I think,
just trust your gut, man.
You'll be a'ight.
- I have my hands
in a lot of things,
and they're exciting
and all that stuff.
But it's also been taking away
and been a distraction
from the important things
and the little things
and the time
that you don't get back.
- You have to keep your
family priorities in order,
which will also keep
your business in order.
- But I think the misses,
the mistakes,
those are the things
that are kind of invaluable
because those are the lessons
that you need to learn
and make sure you're avoiding
making those mistakes again
in the future.
- You have to be
kind of risk-averse.
You're certainly gonna fail.
You're probably
gonna lose money.
It's just part of the process.
- You know,
at the end of the day,
family's far more important
and, of course,
being super disciplined
upon my faith
and commitment to my family.
If I can give my kids that,
that's far more valuable.
- Never compromise
who you are personally
to become who you wish
to be professionally.
- I'm learning every day,
growing and learning
through trial and error,
you know?
We got off to a rocky start,
but, you know,
we're still plugging away.
We're still climbing.
I see things in terms
of victory or death
and not just victory
but total victory.
It's true.
I always have.
It's either victory,
or don't bother.
But you've already moved your
little king slightly back row.
[sucks teeth] Don't move
to back row, son.
You're running out of moves.
Oh, God,
I didn't see that one coming.
I don't like this.
You moved another main man?
- Yeah.
- Damn, son.
All right.
So let me ask you a question.
Do you think
I should just focus
on making movies
and television
or F45
and my other business stuff,
Wahlburgers?
- Movies.
- Movies?
[dynamic music]
♪ ♪