Mindy Hargesheimer (00:00:00):
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. Really excited to have someone that I have grown to love, James Arkell. He is the COO of the Kansas City Mavericks hockey team, and he is also the founder of Halo Care Collective, which includes Michael's WonderWorld, which will be coming to Kansas City here in the next couple of years. This conversation talks all about the joy of the sporting experience that we can get with hockey here in KC with the Mavericks. It's incredibly fun. And we also talk about, , James and his wife who have a son with a very rare genetic disorder [00:00:30] that they have found so much inspiration in that they are building a city within a city where they're gonna be building an arena, an amusement park, a hotel that are ultra accessible for everybody to be able to come and enjoy this experience. , This is gona be one that you wanna share with the families that you know, , anyone who might have someone in their family with a disability.
(00:00:49):
There's a lot to learn, a lot to find inspiration in, and I hope you enjoy the episode. [00:01:00] So happy to have you here. Thank you.
James Arkell (00:01:02):
All right
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:01:03):
For having
James Arkell (00:01:03):
Me. All right.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:01:04):
James Arkell.
James Arkell (00:01:05):
Not R. Kelly.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:01:06):
Not R. Kelly. Let's make that clear. All right, James Arkell, you are the founder of Halo Care Collective and you are the COO of the Kansas City Mavericks. And I wanted to say, first of all, thank you for being here. Second of all, I got connected with you because Lauren, I think it was Lauren, on the Mavs, invited me to come in as an influencer or content creator for a hockey experience. And from then on out, I think we became fast friends. [00:01:30] Yeah. And you have been the most hospitable, the most inviting, one of the most friendly people that I have met truly in Kansas City. So I could not wait to have you on and we're gonna talk about a lot of different things today, so thanks for being here. You
James Arkell (00:01:40):
Probably have a few people that would say that, but thank
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:01:42):
You. Oh, I highly doubt that. Yeah. , I think we have a few friends in common that would agree that, with that. So, , okay. So you've got your Michael's Wonder World. Just weird, yeah. I have the Mavs on here. So we're gonna be talking about, , multiple things that you are - Great. Involved in, which are incredible
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additions to Kansas City. , But I wanna first start [00:02:00] with your background. Where are you from? I don't even know where you're from, how you ended up here. , All the things.
James Arkell (00:02:06):
I am from... I was born in Kansas City.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:02:08):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:02:08):
And then we moved to Wichita and, , my dad was a doctor and so he had a practice down in Wichita. And then we moved back here my junior year of high school.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:02:18):
Ooh. Yeah,
James Arkell (00:02:18):
It's rough.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:02:19):
Interesting time. Yeah. It was a tough time.
James Arkell (00:02:21):
- Where'd
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:02:21):
You go to high school?
James Arkell (00:02:22):
Stony Mission South.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:02:23):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:02:23):
And, , great school, great. I mean, I love Kansas City. I, I've moved all over the place. , I went to [00:02:30] college in Maryland. Oh.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:02:31):
I have
James Arkell (00:02:31):
Family up in New York. Okay. , I have a brother down in Florida. , I always end up coming back to Kansas City.
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Mindy Hargesheimer (00:02:37):
Yep. You
James Arkell (00:02:38):
Know, and I met my wife here.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:02:40):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:02:40):
And we, you know, now we have four kids and -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:02:43):
Four kids later.
James Arkell (00:02:44):
Four kids later.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:02:45):
Which we'll get into.
James Arkell (00:02:46):
I can't imagine, you know, life without it, you know? Yeah. But, but Kansas City's such a great town. I, I like visiting. We like to travel. Mm-Hmm. We like to go to different places, but I just, I love Kansas City. I couldn't picture myself living anywhere else.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:02:59):
Why do you [00:03:00] love it so much?
James Arkell (00:03:01):
You know, it's comfortable. Yeah. It's really comfortable. It's not, , it's not too much. It's not too... It's like the perfect temperature porridge, right?
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:03:08):
Yeah. Like
James Arkell (00:03:08):
We have art, we have culture, we have great food.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:03:10):
Mm-Hmm. We're
James Arkell (00:03:11):
Big enough that, you know, you've got that, that city feel when you want it.
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Mindy Hargesheimer (00:03:15):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:03:15):
But we're small enough that people are still friendly.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:03:18):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:03:18):
, you know, I, I think Kansas City is one of the best kept secrets in, in the country.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:03:24):
I agree. I just think it's so interesting. Every time I talk to somebody, I'm like, "What is it about KC?" Because [00:03:30] everybody loves it. Yeah. And I moved here from Chicago. Mm-Hmm. , you know, and people love Chicago, but they don't love Chicago the way that people in KC love KC. And people love the people here. There's that - I love to visit
James Arkell (00:03:42):
Chicago.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:03:42):
That element. Me too. We still do that. And I don't wanna
James Arkell (00:03:44):
Live in Chicago.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:03:45):
Yeah. Which by the way, you don't have any association with Chicago, do you? I think it came up in my research. Somebody's lying about you online or there's a different James Arkell with Chicago. Okay. What was
James Arkell (00:03:54):
My relationship like?
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:03:55):
That you were like from there or something. You said you're from - That's not me. KC. Okay. Different person.
James Arkell (00:04:00):
[00:04:00] Yeah, there's a lot of James Arkell's. It's like - Yeah. The internet has brought all these people together. Yeah. , , For the longest time there's... My dad's from England and there's a, a James Arkell Brewery in England.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:04:12):
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I came across a James Arkell - Uh-huh. On a podcast who's from England. Yeah.
James Arkell (00:04:16):
Yeah. And
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:04:17):
So - Is that your dad?
James Arkell (00:04:18):
No, no. My dad's William Arkell. He's dead.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:04:20):
Oh my gosh, that's so funny. Yeah, yeah, no, no. I came across that yesterday. Yeah,
James Arkell (00:04:24):
So anyways.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:04:24):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:04:24):
The internet's a fun place.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:04:25):
Yes, it is. Okay. , okay, so let's talk about, so you moved back here - mm-hmm. After college?
James Arkell (00:04:30):
[00:04:30] I lived in DC for a long time.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:04:33):
Okay. And then
James Arkell (00:04:33):
Moved back here and then moved around. , It was, , you know, I, I had to figure some things out.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:04:40):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:04:40):
, you know, just full disclosure, I got sober 20 years ago.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:04:44):
Good for you. And,
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James Arkell (00:04:45):
, after I got sober, I moved back to Kansas City. Mm-Hmm. Wasn't
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:04:47):
Really sure
James Arkell (00:04:48):
What I wanted to do. And once again, Kansas City was, was home.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:04:52):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:04:52):
, and so while here, that's, like I said, that's... I met my wife. , , My, all my friends are here. Yeah. All [00:05:00] my family's here. My brother, obviously, I said is in Florida, but, you know, I just, I, it's always been home. Yeah. And it's a, just such a great place to be.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:05:07):
Did you, if you don't mind me asking with the getting sober - mm-hmm. Did you do that on the East Coast or did you come back here to do that? I came back
James Arkell (00:05:13):
Here - Okay.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:05:14):
And went to
James Arkell (00:05:14):
A treatment center that was, , it's no longer there.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:05:17):
Okay. But I'm
James Arkell (00:05:17):
Glad that it was when
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:05:19):
I went.
James Arkell (00:05:20):
Because the, , the, the gentleman that owned it and ran it was amazing.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:05:23):
Yeah. And,
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James Arkell (00:05:24):
, you know, it's, you know, we talked about whether we talk about faith or not.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:05:27):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:05:28):
What, whatever you wanna call it.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:05:30):
[00:05:30] Mm-Hmm. ,
James Arkell (00:05:30):
There's obviously, you see things in your life and we'll get into some of those other things that there, there's no such thing as coincidence.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:05:37):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:05:37):
And, , and it, you know, certain things lead you to certain places and, , I think when you have God in your life in a way that's, you know, there, , , whatever God is, it's a loving, kind, kind of God, right? Agreed. And I've never thought of it that way before because, , you know, it's just, I don't know, my own stuff. But - Sure. What you see is they're acting, [00:06:00] it, he's acting in your life, right? Yeah. There, there's some presence there that's trying to help you be the best you can be. Right. And when you're not doing that, which - Yeah. Is an understatement, , but, you know, the, if you slow down and listen, I mean, , the busyness, busyness is what creates all this, , you know, we, we live in a time of busyness.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:06:19):
Oh, my gosh, Beyonce. And, and
James Arkell (00:06:20):
Overwhelming, , you know, between the internet, the phones, all the different... I mean, I don't want to sound like a boomer or whatever, but -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:06:26):
No, but I mean, it's true. Like, I mean, I even, like, last [00:06:30] night, I have two podcasts that I'm recording today, and then I've got, we've got Big Slit coming up this weekend. It's awesome. , And there's just so much going on - Yeah. In my mind. It's like, d-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Yeah. And I'm like, how do I slow my mind down? We all have to find those ways. Yeah. , but I appreciate you talking about that because we're all dealing with something or have dealt with something. And there's just so much, like, that we all can relate to. Yeah. And learn from each other about. Like, you went through that. How did you find peace? How did you find, you know, the next phase of your life? So, yeah. How did you meet your wife?
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James Arkell (00:06:59):
We had both moved [00:07:00] here. Okay. , I
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:07:01):
Moved
James Arkell (00:07:01):
Back to go to obviously treatment. Yep. And she'd moved here from Dallas and we were both at the same church. Yeah. , and obviously, since I was getting sober, I couldn't hang out with old, old playmates, you know?
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:07:12):
Sure.
James Arkell (00:07:12):
, And we just started hanging out. And, , I had this little dog. It was a little miniature schnauzer. And we would take it to the park and walk around it. And we, neither one of us were looking to date or do anything. And then -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:07:23):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:07:24):
I remember one night we were at the Plaza Art Fair and we just started holding hands. Aw.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:07:27):
It was
James Arkell (00:07:27):
All downhill from there.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:07:28):
How long has it been now?
James Arkell (00:07:29):
20 [00:07:30] years. 20
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:07:30):
Years. Yeah. Okay. So, I don't know Sarah well, but I see her at a lot of the events that you do at Mavericks games, everything. And she is just so present and you can tell, like, the love between both you guys. Yeah. And then, of course, with your kids around. Yeah. , and you guys have four kids -
James Arkell (00:07:44):
Oh, yeah.
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Mindy Hargesheimer (00:07:45):
To date.
James Arkell (00:07:46):
To date? No. Four, four,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:07:47):
Four and done.
James Arkell (00:07:47):
Four and done. Four and
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:07:48):
Done. Four and
James Arkell (00:07:49):
Done.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:07:49):
Yeah. How old are your kids now?
James Arkell (00:07:51):
18, 16, 14, and 11.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:07:53):
Okay. So, obviously, we're gona talk a lot, , specifically about Michael - mm-hmm. Because we're gonna get into that. But I first wanna start with [00:08:00] the Mavericks. Mm-Hmm. Okay. So for people who've never been to a Mavericks game, tell us about what they should expect with it. I mean, right now, it is... We're, like, at the end of May going to early June. So you can talk about where we're hockey. Yeah, summer. Playoff hockey. Yeah. So it's a minor league team. But kinda go back to, like, how long has the team been around? When did you get involved? If you wanna talk about Lamar. Sure,
James Arkell (00:08:22):
Absolutely. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:08:22):
The, the
James Arkell (00:08:22):
Team's been here fif - 16 years.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:08:24):
Okay. ,
James Arkell (00:08:26):
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And our family, Lamar, bought it [00:08:30] 11 years ago.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:08:31):
Who had it before?
James Arkell (00:08:32):
, It was a peanut farmer named Matt Adams out of Texas.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:08:35):
A peanut farmer. Okay.
James Arkell (00:08:37):
A lot of money in peanut farming.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:08:38):
Apparently.
James Arkell (00:08:39):
A lot of money.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:08:39):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:08:39):
, I'm not kidding. I mean, it was, , he did very well.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:08:43):
I learned something new today. I, I
James Arkell (00:08:44):
Know.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:08:44):
M. And,
James Arkell (00:08:45):
, , great guy, but, you know, we had been looking at bringing another team here.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:08:51):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:08:51):
And at that time, I'd never even heard of the Mavericks.
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Mindy Hargesheimer (00:08:54):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:08:54):
To be honest with you, I'd never, , the Lamar's family obviously is involved in [00:09:00] MLS, and at that time still owned the Columbus crew. Yeah. So we were going back and forth quite a bit. Mm-Hmm. And because of my large family, we would drive quite a bit, , to go out there. Mm-Hmm. And we'd always pass the Independence Arena, and I never knew what it was.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:09:12):
Right. I'm
James Arkell (00:09:12):
Like, "What is that? "
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:09:13):
Was it Cable Domer at the time? ,
James Arkell (00:09:15):
No. It was
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:09:16):
Silverstein.
James Arkell (00:09:17):
Okay.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:09:17):
I think. Yeah.
James Arkell (00:09:18):
I don't know. It, it was not Cable Domer, I know that.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:09:20):
I wasn't even here at time because we - Yeah. We moved here in 2016, so.
James Arkell (00:09:23):
And so while we were going through this process of, , looking to, you know, build a new arena and bring this team in from Canada and all this other [00:09:30] stuff, we're like, "This team's here." Yeah. "It's For sale." You know, again, that kind of that nudge to - Uh-huh. I do remember looking at, , Lamar and saying, "They already have phones. They already have a building. Like, we don't have to go from
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:09:43):
Scratch." Just that little nugget helped you. It's a turnkey. Yeah.
Page 11 of 109
James Arkell (00:09:45):
Of, like, like, let's not - That's
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:09:47):
Really funny. You
James Arkell (00:09:47):
Know, let's not reinvent the wheel here. Mm-Hmm. It's, , it, it, it had been truly the best kept secret in Kansas City when it came to sports. Yeah. , I had no idea it was there.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:09:56):
Do you still feel like it?
James Arkell (00:09:57):
No. I
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:09:58):
Mean, you don't want it to be. It was.
James Arkell (00:09:59):
No, but it
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:09:59):
Was. [00:10:00] Yeah. Yeah.
James Arkell (00:10:00):
I feel like we're closer to not being a secret. Yeah. I don't feel like we're a secret anymore be - and that was, , obvious when we had the, , the issue with not being able to play our home games, , potentially in front of fans.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:10:13):
Why?
James Arkell (00:10:14):
And, , because the buildings are... So we had a minor strike during Christmas.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:10:19):
Oh.
James Arkell (00:10:19):
Excuse me. The players went on strike for, , I think it was a total of 48 hours.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:10:23):
Oh my gosh.
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James Arkell (00:10:24):
It was horrible.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:10:24):
This is under your ownership.
James Arkell (00:10:26):
Yes, this was this year. Oh. Not, not, not our players.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:10:29):
The league.
James Arkell (00:10:30):
[00:10:30] Okay.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:10:30):
Went on strike. No players. I'm sorry. Did you anticipate this happening as you
James Arkell (00:10:33):
Came in? No, they've been working on, they were going... And the really funny thing was our players, all the things they were asking for, we were already doing.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:10:40):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:10:40):
, so it didn't really... It shouldn't have impacted our team, but because it pushed back a week on the schedule - mm-hmm. And all of these buildings, you know, this, one of the constant issues you have is they're trying to balance not being empty.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:10:55):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:10:56):
And so they book things out and a lot of these things book two years in advance. [00:11:00] And so anyways -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:11:00):
So you're talking about, like, concerts and other things are happening.
James Arkell (00:11:02):
Concerts, graduations. Yeah. You know, because we do not own or control that building. Yeah. City of Independence owns it and it's managed by a few group. Got it. So we're just a tenant, even though we're the only large tenant.
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Mindy Hargesheimer (00:11:12):
Right.
James Arkell (00:11:12):
-
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:11:13):
That's really interesting, because I would've just assumed - Yeah. Everybody else.
James Arkell (00:11:16):
That would be the primary. Yeah, yeah. Well, we, we are the primary tenant, but we're not the manager, which is kind of a weird dynamic - mm-hmm. Because you're kind of, you're competing against each other to sell sponsorships and things like that. Yeah. It's not, it's not always the best fit, but - Okay. I will give credit where credit's [00:11:30] due. , The City of Independence really stepped up and they, you know, so there were graduations. Mm-Hmm. We were gonna be forced to have the, , two, possibly four of our games on the community ice.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:11:44):
Oh.
James Arkell (00:11:44):
Yeah. And, , and the fans -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:11:48):
That's a shift. Yeah.
James Arkell (00:11:49):
That was not good. Yeah. That was not what we wanted. And, and, you know, it's funny because I do it too, but everybody sits back and thinks, "Oh, I, I already know how to fix this. " And it's like, no, you don't. You really don't. Yeah. Like, you understand what the surface is [00:12:00] and it's, it's complicated and we had all these people walking at you. I mean, Mayor Q stepped in and, - Yeah. I wish he hadn't.But, - I know. 'Cause He's like, "Why can't they play in, you know, , what is it? T-Mobile and all this other stuff?" And it's like, guys, you're not helping.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:12:14):
That is a massive difference in ask of people.
James Arkell (00:12:17):
Well, it, and it was... Yeah. And so I got a, you know, we got the call on that. And I mean, again, the, the glass half full, at least people were noticing. Yeah. And that's what we realized. Right. Was people have, we've actually achieved what we were trying to do, which was [00:12:30] this is a good team.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:12:31):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:12:31):
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And this is good hockey.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:12:32):
Mm-Hmm. Like,
James Arkell (00:12:33):
This is, everybody gets confused with the terminology of minor league or non-professional, whatever. It's a pro hockey team.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:12:39):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:12:39):
We got guys that go up to the NFL. Yeah. We got a goalie on our roster right now that's already played in the NHL this season. Okay. For the price point, you're from Chicago. Yep. Go Blackhawks. Go Blacks. I'm a Black Hawks guy. Yep. I mean, my, I love Black Hawks. We got the
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:12:50):
Blackhawks geared home. Yeah. Yeah.
James Arkell (00:12:52):
So do I. And,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:12:53):
But - Little different price points. Very
James Arkell (00:12:54):
Different. Very different price point. Yeah. Like, you know, but what we have is such a great [00:13:00] price point - Yeah. That, and such a great environment for the family. Mm-Hmm. And what we've created is we know who and what we are, right? Yeah. The hockey is the hockey. Yeah. You can't... Even if we didn't have anything going on, the hockey's great. Mm-Hmm. But what we've wanted to make sure we do is provide entertainment.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:13:17):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:13:18):
You know, we are competing with the movies, festivals. We're competing with everything. We're not competing with the Chiefs or the Royals. Sure. Like, they're such very different demographics. On the other end. Yeah, exactly. , But [00:13:30] what we wanna make sure is everybody that comes out -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:13:32):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:13:33):
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Has a great time.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:13:34):
Yeah. And- And I've been to many games, and I mean - Have you ever
James Arkell (00:13:36):
Not had a great time?
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:13:37):
No, I have not. So share some of the things that people can expect, because, like, in my experience, you have Star Wars night. Mm-Hmm. You have the, , I think it's in December, you like the charitable throw the Bears, like, everybody throws Bears out. Throw the toss. Yeah. You can have the experience least favorite game to get out on the ice if you want to. M. , so yeah, I mean, what ha - was that all your team's idea to bring that to - No,
James Arkell (00:13:57):
I mean, minor league hockey had always been, , [00:14:00] you know, one of the things, one cool aspect we have that most sports don't is the two 20 minute period breaks, right? Oh, right.m. So for 20 minutes, we can go do goofy stuff. Yeah. , and part of that within the hockey culture has always been, let's do fun stuff during that. Yeah. You know, like, let's figure out what we can do. You got giant Zambonis driving around on the ice
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:14:18):
And -
James Arkell (00:14:18):
Right. All these different things. , We did a major shift in the team about five years ago. Okay. Right? It was during COVID and we sat down and reevaluated where everything was. And the, [00:14:30] , the former, let's just say the former management that we had on it -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:14:35):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:14:36):
Had one viewpoint, and we had another.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:14:38):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:14:39):
And what we had always hoped to provide was a more complete Kansas City product. Mm-Hmm. Right. We wanted people from all over Kansas City. Kansas City has this wonderful, rich sports history. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:14:51):
All
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James Arkell (00:14:51):
These great teams, all these great fans, like - mm-hmm. We deserve a spot in this. Right.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:14:56):
And
James Arkell (00:14:56):
Rather than their opinion was like, "Let's kep it as small and secretive as possible." [00:15:00] And so we - For
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:15:01):
What purpose? I don't know.
James Arkell (00:15:02):
I, I don't wanna-You're like - Yeah, that's like - We won't even get into that. We're not gonna beat that dead horse but, - Sure. But the, the point though is that we re - , let's, what's the best way to put this? We - You brought
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:15:13):
Kind of a renewed spirit or envision.
James Arkell (00:15:15):
We, we, yeah, we, we decided to make a very large new direction change and brought some new people in and changed how the front office worked and how hockey ops worked and - Okay. Kind of aligned it how it should be, which means we put [00:15:30] the coach is the GM - mm-hmm. And he is completely
in charge of the team. Okay. I have told our, you know, front office, unless you have a reason to be in the, in the coach's office or in the locker room, do not be in the locker room. Don't know. Because we brought in another gentleman, Mike who you've met. Mm-Hmm. Known him forever. Mm-Hmm. And we brought him in to run the front office. Okay.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:15:50):
Kept
James Arkell (00:15:50):
The two separate. Mm-Hmm.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:15:52):
Hockey
James Arkell (00:15:52):
Ops separate, because it, they're just, it allows them to do what they're best at doing,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:15:57):
Right? Right. Yeah. And we wanted -
Page 17 of 109
James Arkell (00:15:58):
And I
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:15:58):
Stay in your lane of expertise. Correct.
James Arkell (00:15:59):
100%. [00:16:00] And you can't do everything. Yeah. Nobody can be everything to everyone. Mm-Hmm. And so what we focused on in the front office though was building this, like, we have such a great product. It's so much fun. How do we get more people out here? Yeah. What's the best way to do it? Mm Hmm. And, and Mike's done a great job with that. , Our entire team out there, we've never had this good of a team on and off the ice, you know? As of this year,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:16:21):
Right? Well,
James Arkell (00:16:22):
We have quite a few holdovers. , Not holdovers, but we have a, you know, we have a, we have probably got the longest tenure team that we have had [00:16:30] since we bought the team. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:16:31):
,
James Arkell (00:16:32):
We have got the best game ops, in my opinion. Mm-Hmm. We've got, you know, you, you talked about Lauren. Yeah. One of the things that, you know, I wanted to figure out how can we get more people, right? Yeah. And I'm married. I've got four kids. Mm-Hmm. What do I know as a fact? I have no calendar authority. So what I said is, how do we get - That's
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:16:53):
Fair.
James Arkell (00:16:53):
How do we get the moms? Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:16:55):
How
James Arkell (00:16:55):
Do we, you know, we know we're not gonna get the star, all, like, that's... We've gotta get families out here. [00:17:00] Yeah. We've got an incredible mix of families, young people, everything, but -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:17:03):
Mm-Hmm.
Page 18 of 109
James Arkell (00:17:04):
And that's how we, you know, we created the street team, which I put Lauren in charge of. Yep. And that was us, you know, that was, like, very on the ground marketing. Yeah. Going to places where we knew the people we were trying to attract were at. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:17:16):
And then
James Arkell (00:17:16):
Inviting the influencers out. Yep.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:17:18):
And
James Arkell (00:17:18):
We didn't do anything special for you guys. Mm-Hmm.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:17:20):
We
James Arkell (00:17:21):
Just showed you what we had to offer.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:17:22):
Yep.
James Arkell (00:17:22):
And it's a lot of fun. And
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:17:24):
These are major perks for influencers and content creators. , And shout out to Lauren Kelly, who is who [00:17:30] we're talking about. We love Lauren. She's been there for several years. She's amazing. , Love her. And yeah, I mean, for influencers like myself, you know, people wanna get paid for the work that they do. This is a great experience - Yeah. Whether you're, whether you're paying on your own or whether you're invited - Right. As a content creator. You know, our family has come out. We have, , interacted with Mac, the, , mascot, which is so funny because our dog's name is Mac, so we think it's really cute. , We have the cowbells that are unique - I hate cowbells, but okay. To hockey. Oh my gosh. I know, I know. They're so - They're in our house. They're currently [00:18:00] on the top shelf of our bar in our basement up high where I'm - Yeah.
(00:18:02):
No one can grab these, so we absolutely need them for the game.
James Arkell (00:18:05):
You know, it's like - But it does help create a fan, a fun -
Page 19 of 109
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:18:08):
It does.
James Arkell (00:18:08):
Fan friendly environment. Yeah. You know? It does. , And that's one thing we do. I have yet to have someone come out there and not have a great time.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:18:15):
Yeah. Yeah. You know,
James Arkell (00:18:16):
I mean, that's what's so much fun about hockey, is you don't have to be a hockey fan to enjoy the, the game. Yeah. It's fast
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:18:20):
Paced.
James Arkell (00:18:21):
There's no downtime. I mean, the guys are... I mean, the talents out there.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:18:25):
They're fierce, yeah. And I think too, like, it's, , it's, like, high energy. Oh, yeah. [00:18:30] You know, before the game starts, you have, like, the crazy lights and flashing, and then you've got, you know, music. It's like really pumps you up.
James Arkell (00:18:36):
Oh, yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:18:37):
I like the fact with hockey, this might sound a litle dumb, but it's, like, closed in. So you're kind of, like, really immersed - It's a really intermittent in a different way.
James Arkell (00:18:44):
It's an
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:18:44):
Intimate environment,
James Arkell (00:18:44):
Right?
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:18:45):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:18:45):
Page 20 of 109
And that's in number of seats. No, you're absolutely right. Yeah. And the nice thing about it is there's safety. There's no weather concerns. Right. I mean, believe it or not, it's cold. It is
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:18:52):
Cold. Y
James Arkell (00:18:53):
Duty to wear your pocket. I'm shocked how many people don't, like, people that show up in shorts and a t-shirt, I'm like, "You know, you're going to a building where ice rink. Yeah. The floor [00:19:00] is literally made of ice." Yeah. Like, i- is it gonna cold? Yeah. A litle. Yeah. But anyways.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:19:04):
Okay. I think I heard that you compared it maybe a little bit to, like, the Savannah bananas of hockey. Is that fair? Well, no,
James Arkell (00:19:10):
No, no. What I said to our team was, "I want more Savannah Bananas -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:19:14):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:19:14):
And less NHL."
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:19:16):
Okay. Okay? And what does that mean? And that
James Arkell (00:19:18):
Sounds... Okay. We are a great hockey team.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:19:21):
Mm-Hmm. And
James Arkell (00:19:22):
The thing I get the most is, when are we gonna get an NHL team? Mm.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:19:24):
And I say - I figured.
James Arkell (00:19:26):
Never.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:19:26):
Yeah. Yeah. So just put that out of your minds
Page 21 of 109
James Arkell (00:19:29):
For Casey. The, the nu - [00:19:30] the numbers don't work. It, they just don't. We've looked at it every different way. Yeah. I would love for it to be, you know, it would be amazing if we could. Yeah. I could be wrong. Would love for somebody to prove me wrong, but people a lot smarter than me that have done -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:19:43):
And I will not even ask you what that entails, because that would - Well, that, yeah, it - That would be going down a deeper rabbit trail. It's,
James Arkell (00:19:47):
It's a very complicated process. We've got so many teams in Kansas City that -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:19:52):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:19:52):
There's really not room for another one. Yeah. , but that aside, I, I like to tell people, like, this is the high... [00:20:00] I mean, this is a great level of hockey. Mm-Hmm. What you have with these guys is they're hungry, they're on the move, you get to watch them go up and down. We have got an amazing affiliation with the Seattle Kraken. We take them intentionally. I wanna
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:20:10):
Hear about what that... Yeah, how does that work? What does that mean exactly that it's a partnership?
James Arkell (00:20:15):
Well, so the way it works in our league is... Well, just... Should I break down the pyramid of the league? Sure. Cause most people don't even know that.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:20:22):
This is for any audience who - Okay. Wants to get into that detail - Fantastic. Just wants to know - I don't
James Arkell (00:20:27):
Wanna be... I dont wanna...
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:20:28):
I mean, I- I love the detail. I geek out forever.
James Arkell (00:20:29):
Yeah. [00:20:30] But, , so the NHL -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:20:32):
Uh-Huh.
James Arkell (00:20:32):
Page 22 of 109
The AHL.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:20:33):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:20:33):
And the ECHL.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:20:34):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:20:35):
And we are in the ECHL.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:20:36):
Got it.
James Arkell (00:20:36):
Okay?
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:20:36):
See, I didn't even know that there were three.
James Arkell (00:20:38):
Yeah. Yeah. So we actually looked at going to the EHL.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:20:41):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:20:42):
And when we were looking at it, , it was actually with St. Louis.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:20:46):
,
James Arkell (00:20:46):
They had offered... 'Cause Half of the team, the AHL teams are owned by their NHL affiliates.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:20:51):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:20:52):
And so we were up talking. Great, great organization. We're still really good friends with all the guys up there.
Page 23 of 109
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:20:56):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:20:56):
, but the amount of cost -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:21:00):
[00:21:00] Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:21:01):
We lose all control of the players, all control of the cost, , sorry, of the coaching.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:21:06):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:21:06):
, they don't want the... I mean, it's just ice time to them.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:21:10):
Mm.
James Arkell (00:21:10):
And, and we left and we're like, "Okay, nobody in Kansas City's ever heard of the HL or the CHL. They have no idea. So we can't charge anymore." Mm.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:21:18):
Even
James Arkell (00:21:18):
Though we're writing millions of dollars of expense. Yeah. Millions.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:21:21):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:21:22):
We don't have a TV deal.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:21:23):
Yeah. Yeah,
James Arkell (00:21:23):
One of the comments they made was like, "I don't care if anybody ever shows up." We're like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. We do not have a TV deal." Yeah. "We Need the fans." Right. [00:21:30] And I mean, our guys, they're so good about going into the, the community. They love to go, you know, we've
Page 24 of 109
implemented a reading program. Our community development guy, , I think you've met Mick before. Amazing. Yep. Great guy. Mm-Hmm. , you know, all of the folks on our team are out in the community. It's about, you know, Kansas City is very welcoming. Mm-Hmm. So we've wanted to go out and get in involved, be a part of it, right? Yeah,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:21:53):
Which is a whole other discussion that we'll also get into is, like, your involvement with philanthropy, your family's involvement. Like [00:22:00] you guys are so giving, , so philanthropic, so that completely makes sense that you guys would incorporate that into the whole mission of the team.
James Arkell (00:22:06):
And that was also part of it with the Mavericks, was having, you know, Lamar wanted his own separate way to... And it is kind of like, it's a great outlook for philanthropy. Yeah. But so back to that, we looked at, we're like, we're just gonna make this the best ECHL team that could... I mean, I'd put our team up against most AHL teams.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:22:23):
How many EC - what is it? ECH- ECHL. How many teams are there?
James Arkell (00:22:26):
There's 30, I wanna say 32 now coming in the next [00:22:30] sen - , the next season.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:22:31):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:22:32):
, they keep adding and subtracting, but,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:22:34):
- Oh, okay.
James Arkell (00:22:34):
We line up with the NHL.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:22:36):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:22:36):
So, every NHL team has an EHL, whether they own it -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:22:40):
Mm-Hmm. Or
James Arkell (00:22:40):
They are affiliated, and then they have an ECHL affiliation. Okay. So players go up and down.
Page 25 of 109
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:22:46):
So you chose Seattle?
James Arkell (00:22:47):
We, yes. When we, we spent a few years kind of rebuilding the team -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:22:51):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:22:52):
And, , our housing, our perks for the players, all the things that we offer, we wanted it to be the highest and best in the league. Yeah. [00:23:00] , and we strive for that. And there's a lot of great teams in the league, but that's just our personal goal. Mm-Hmm. , a lot of our players don't wanna go up to the AHL because our amenities are so good.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:23:10):
Really?
James Arkell (00:23:10):
And we tr - weak such good care of the players that they wann stay down here. I know, but so we, we were at a place where we had other teams competing for us to be NFL teams for us to be their affiliate.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:23:20):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:23:21):
Because yes, you're the low man, but you're an important -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:23:24):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:23:24):
You know, the bottom of the totem pole still the bottom of it. I mean, it still keeps everybody supported. Yeah. Right. Right. So, , we picked Seattle [00:23:30] because it was a new franchise. Okay. And we knew they had a bunch of draft picks. Mm-Hmm. , it was, we, we interviewed, we went through with everybody, and we, I think we just had another three-year extension with them. Okay. They are so good. Yeah. They have been great. They, you know, a lot of times you're kind of overlooked and this time of year what happens is the, , the, the upper teams, they pull all your players up for playoffs, because we all, all of our schedules run concurrently.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:23:54):
Gotcha.
James Arkell (00:23:54):
Page 26 of 109
, they've never done that to us. They're, you know, they bring our coach out, , for their [00:24:00] training camps. They're -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:24:01):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:24:01):
They're just, it's just a great relationship. So -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:24:03):
Does that mean that you guys are, like, going out there and meeting with, like, the executives of the Seattle team?
James Arkell (00:24:07):
Not as much. , We, I do more with Coachella. - Oh,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:24:11):
Yeah. What is that?
James Arkell (00:24:11):
Coachella Valley Firebirds is the AHL affiliate,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:24:14):
So - That's literally Coachella? Like -
James Arkell (00:24:16):
It, it's
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:24:16):
Literally Coachella. Coachella that we think of? Yes, yes. That's interesting.
James Arkell (00:24:19):
Palm Desert.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:24:20):
,
James Arkell (00:24:20):
You know, it,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:24:21):
It - So Palm Desert has a hockey team.
James Arkell (00:24:23):
Page 27 of 109
It does.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:24:24):
Amazing.
James Arkell (00:24:24):
And it's amazing.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:24:25):
Yeah. The,
James Arkell (00:24:25):
The building's great. I mean, it is so well supported. Okay. , they do... Yeah, [00:24:30] I mean -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:24:30):
I have to keep that in mind the next time I... Not that I've ever been to Coachella, but - Well,
James Arkell (00:24:33):
It, I mean, I, it, it's a cool town.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:24:36):
Yeah. It's
James Arkell (00:24:36):
A, it's a really cool town. I mean, we're a little young to be out there, but, -... One, one of the funny things, and this is - Makes sense. , I know you're gona get to this and hopefully you can edit this in to make it make sense. Yeah. But the, , you know, we like to not joke about, but we're not... We don't let the weight of Michael's handicap - mm-hmm. Keep us from having fun. Absolutely. If that makes any sense. Yeah. And one of the things we were laughing about when we were in Coachella was we couldn't [00:25:00] get a handicap parking space. They were all taken.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:25:02):
Unreal.
James Arkell (00:25:02):
'Cause everybody's very old.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:25:04):
Very old. Very old. Little elderly. A
James Arkell (00:25:06):
Lot of, a lot of people out there
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:25:07):
With anything. Interesting. Yeah. Those, they shouldn't always be competing with each other. I know.
Page 28 of 109
James Arkell (00:25:09):
But I,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:25:10):
That was a
James Arkell (00:25:10):
Joke because it
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:25:11):
Was beautiful.
James Arkell (00:25:11):
Yeah. But, , but so anyways.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:25:13):
So, okay, with the Mavericks, like - You know I'm
James Arkell (00:25:14):
Gonna get off track every time we do anything.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:25:16):
Oh, I'll get off track too. That's what I do. That's exactly how I operate. Yeah. It's like, squirrel. , Which is fine. And we will, we will have the episode be exactly that. Yeah. So my question is during a time where it seems that everyone is, like, gouged with ticket pricing - [00:25:30] mm-hmm. And whatever's gonna happen with that. How did you guys come to the decision to make it more, , atractive price-wise? It, it's always been - Because I don't know that people realize that. Yeah. I've always talked about it. , That was made very clear to me when we came in early on to, like, share that with people. But, like, how do you, how did you come to that decision?
James Arkell (00:25:48):
We've kept the ticket pricing, , we just raised it a little bit for the first time in three or four years. , We want to be... We don't wanna underprice it, but we wanna be fair. [00:26:00] Yeah. And almost, you know, you've got kids. You know what it's like. I mean, mine are older now, so the problems are different, but, but when they were, but when they were younger - Yeah. If we were going anywhere, we had to, like, what is my threshold of pain? Right? Mm-hmm. So, what am I willing to spend that if we have to - Yeah. Complete meltdown, if we gotta leave, whatever. And so - Yep. We really wanted it to be friendly for families to come. We want it for students. We wanna make it possible. Yeah. You know? We've got a range of ticket pricing and options that pretty much anyone can come.
(00:26:28):
Yeah. And I will say, like, [00:26:30] you know, we... All of sports is just stealing from other people, right? You just, you take what works and you make it work for you.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:26:36):
Sure. ,
Page 29 of 109
James Arkell (00:26:36):
I'm gonna keep hitting the microphone. I hope it's
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:26:38):
Not taking up. You're fine. I've done it too. You know,
James Arkell (00:26:39):
I, I will give sporting credit. They have done an amazing job having different levels of t - no matter who you are -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:26:46):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:26:46):
You can get a ticket.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:26:48):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:26:48):
And everybody likes to be a big deal, right?
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:26:51):
Sure.
James Arkell (00:26:51):
And so if you wanna upgrade, there's always a way to upgrade.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:26:53):
Yeah. And
James Arkell (00:26:54):
So that's why we don't, you don't wanna have too many, but -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:26:56):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:26:56):
We, we have a, a great price point. , The arena, we [00:27:00] don't, we do not charge for parking. Yeah. , there is paid parking - Which is huge. The 90% of it is not. Yeah. You know, our season ticket holders can buy parking passes, things like that. Sure. So yes, we have free and we have a bunch of parking. Yeah. We have more than enough parking. Park is important. Yep. , safe environment, like you said, it's contained. The other nice thing is, I mean, with my, I have ADHD, as you know. Mm-Hmm. I, I like to know how long I'm gonna be somewhere. I'm
Page 30 of 109
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:27:21):
The same way. Yep.
James Arkell (00:27:22):
And so, you know, you got about a two-hour run there. Yeah. Yes. , Like we said, I, I always tell people, bring your kids. We encourage them to scream. Yeah. Hopefully they're so [00:27:30] tired when they leave that they fall asleep in the car. Yeah. 'Cause that happens nine times out of 10.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:27:33):
Yep. I can speak to that. Yeah.
James Arkell (00:27:35):
Absolutely. So yeah, we wanna make it affordable. We wanna make it, you know, we wanna encourage people to
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:27:38):
Come out. But you can also do a suite.
James Arkell (00:27:40):
Absolutely.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:27:40):
You can do that experience, yeah.
James Arkell (00:27:42):
-
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:27:43):
What is, , for people who haven't been or aren't familiar, what is the season? And how many home games are there? 36
James Arkell (00:27:49):
Home games.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:27:50):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:27:51):
, basically September through July.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:27:53):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:27:53):
Page 31 of 109
Or June. June with playoff hockey.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:27:55):
Yeah. So we're going into summer right now. Oh yeah. So we're kind of going into, what do you do during those months? What does the team do? They just keep [00:28:00] training? Like,
James Arkell (00:28:01):
They keep playing. They
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:28:01):
Keep winning.
James Arkell (00:28:02):
They're the Mavericks. , But -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:28:03):
Yeah, there you go.
James Arkell (00:28:05):
No, I mean, that's, you know, they're, they work hard. Yeah. Those guys are, they don't have other jobs. This is not - mm-hmm. You know, they're here. We support, we supply the housing, the training. Awesome. Excuse me. Our coach, Tado Hadd, who won Coach of the Year.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:28:18):
Yep. Shout out to him. ,
James Arkell (00:28:19):
He's, he's amazing.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:28:20):
That's huge. He's done a great
James Arkell (00:28:21):
Job. , You know, he, the guys love him. We go out and have every round of the playoffs, so we're in the third round has, we have a team dinner.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:28:29):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:28:30):
[00:28:30] And I, I compare it to, like, an Andy Reed locker room. Okay? Mm. One of the things that Andy Reed does so well for the Chiefs was bring the locker room together. Yeah. And get the guys all together. Yeah. Like, when you're there, it's almost like a Disney movie at this dinner, because they're all, the guys are all aligned. They're all, you know, high five and they're all together. Yeah. There's no - So cohesive. It's a team. Yeah, yeah. They care about each other. Yeah. You know, why do you have fighting
Page 32 of 109
in hockey? Mm-Hmm. 'Cause your buddies getting beat up. Yeah. [00:29:00] Or so, I' kidding. I know. I know. I'm kidding. No, but we
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:29:01):
Should mention one of the most fun things is when the fights happen.
James Arkell (00:29:04):
Oh, I know. And it's such a, it's like a double-edged sword.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:29:07):
Yeah. Because
James Arkell (00:29:07):
You want the fights - Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:29:08):
But you
James Arkell (00:29:09):
Don't want your guys to get hurt, and you don't
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:29:10):
Want, like, you know - But for the fans, you're like, "Oh my gosh, kids go crazy for that.
James Arkell (00:29:14):
" If, if you want fighting, , the, yeah, the last series, well, the series we're in right now against Fort Wayne, , there's been a lot of fighting.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:29:24):
Is that ever, , like, are they, are they encouraged to do that?
James Arkell (00:29:28):
No, not at
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:29:29):
All. It's literally [00:29:30] all
James Arkell (00:29:31):
Organic. No, it's just hockey. There's no showmanship with it. Okay. Well, let me think about it this way. You've got extremely, , talented guys on blades with giant tomahawks, basically. Yeah. Running around on ice, ramming into each other. Yeah. I mean, the tempers are gonna flare a little
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:29:47):
Bit.
Page 33 of 109
James Arkell (00:29:47):
Right, right. Fighting's part of hockey,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:29:49):
Right?
James Arkell (00:29:49):
Yeah. And it, it, it's trying to balance it, but, -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:29:52):
I did just wonder how much of it would've been showmanship, but - Well -
James Arkell (00:29:55):
Yeah. Yeah. There's, there's no fake, I can tell
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:29:57):
You that much. Yeah.
James Arkell (00:29:57):
It's, , it's, it's pretty... [00:30:00] Real. And the, and the funny
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:30:00):
Thing is - So every time you're, it happens, you're like crunching just a little bit.
James Arkell (00:30:03):
<Laugh> Well, we don't want our guys to get hurt. Yeah. Like, because that's the balance. I mean, you want them to be able to play and there is some, you know, there's strategy among teams where - mm hmm. You do have guys on that team that they call maybe locker room guys. Yeah. But they come in and they're basically there to fight. Yeah. You know, and we don't necessarily employ that, but -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:30:19):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:30:19):
You can watch when we're playing certain teams and figure out who it is.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:30:22):
Yeah. So with the men's and women's teams winning in the Olympics - Oh,
James Arkell (00:30:26):
It was amazing.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:30:27):
This year.
Page 34 of 109
James Arkell (00:30:28):
And, and
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:30:28):
The
James Arkell (00:30:29):
Paralympic teams. Oh,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:30:30):
[00:30:30] And the Paralympic teams. Okay. Every
James Arkell (00:30:31):
American team took the gold.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:30:32):
That is amazing. Yeah. I mean, you guys must have been going crazy. Just the whole culture of it. It's great. , I feel like that's another element for people to get really engaged with - mm-hmm. Hockey, , wherever you are, but especially here in Kansas City.
James Arkell (00:30:44):
Absolutely.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:30:44):
What do you see, like, what's next for the Mavericks? I mean, what do you, what do you hope - Well - Are there certain other achievements that the coach or the team are looking to do, or is it just we wanna keep growing the fandom and all the things?
James Arkell (00:30:56):
That's a great question. I mean, what we'd really like to do is go win the Kelly Cup.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:31:00):
[00:31:00] Okay.
James Arkell (00:31:00):
And that's what's next.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:31:01):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:31:01):
You know, we've gotta, we gotta finish up with, , Fort Wayne here and then we'll be - Yeah. Moving on and I'm pretty sure it's gonna in, in Florida because they are just the giants - Yeah. Of our entire league.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:31:12):
Page 35 of 109
Okay. ,
James Arkell (00:31:12):
We were there two years ago.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:31:14):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:31:14):
And I gotta say that the fans, , because it's down kind of outside of Naples -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:31:18):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:31:19):
, Couldn't have been more friendly. Aw.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:31:21):
You
James Arkell (00:31:21):
Know, we're walking through the arena and they're like, "Welcome to Florida, but you're not gonna, you know - Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:31:26):
You're
James Arkell (00:31:26):
Not gonna win." And I'm like, "No, I know, but we'll be back." You know?
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:31:28):
You're like, "We're the Midwest nice people. What [00:31:30] are you guys
James Arkell (00:31:30):
Doing?"
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:31:30):
Yeah, yeah. No,
James Arkell (00:31:31):
It was great. , So that, that's, that's all we're focused on right now. Okay. , we wanna continue building just the best entertainment product, , for, for families and for fans and for people to come out and, you know - Yeah. It's, it's been amazing. I mean, we've had more sellouts than ever. I mean, we're breaking records on every single thing involving this team. That's incredible. , And it's - Congrats. Well, but it's because of people like you. Thank you. I mean, you came out, you've talked about it. A- and you know
Page 36 of 109
what other... I mean, I, [00:32:00] I love that hockey is kind of having its own little moment - Yeah. With the boy aquarium thing.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:32:06):
Wait, what's the boy aquarium? You
James Arkell (00:32:06):
Haven't seen the boy aquarium?
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:32:08):
No.
James Arkell (00:32:08):
Oh, you didn't do
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:32:09):
Any research.
James Arkell (00:32:10):
, Influencers going to hockey games, female influencers,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:32:15):
And - Is this a TikTok, TikTok thing I missed? I don't
James Arkell (00:32:17):
Know. I don't
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:32:18):
Know. Okay, tell me more.
James Arkell (00:32:19):
Okay, so, but they call it the Boy Aquarium. Okay.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:32:22):
, and
James Arkell (00:32:23):
It, and they do videos where they're -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:32:25):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:32:25):
Page 37 of 109
You know, "Hey, it's," you know, they say, "Feeding time at the Boy Aquarium," and they knock the hockey pucks off onto [00:32:30] the thing and, -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:32:31):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:32:31):
So we've had a, an influx of - Okay. Younger women with cameras and their friends.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:32:36):
Well, now I'm gonna go look it
James Arkell (00:32:36):
Up. You have to look it up. It's great. Well, the first time I saw it, it was on, I don't wanna say Instagram, and it was a reel, and it was actually involving our team. Oh, no
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:32:43):
Way. Okay.
James Arkell (00:32:43):
It was involving the Mavericks. And so then I'm like, "What is this? " And I asked Sarah about it and she's like, "Oh yeah, it's this, blah, blah, blah." And then I'm like, "That's amazing." Okay. Like I, I'm not a fan
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:32:52):
Of - Okay. I wanna pull it up right now and be like, we gotta go look up. I mean, you need to
James Arkell (00:32:55):
Edit it, but it's, you know, but it, it, it's, it's, , it's shined kind [00:33:00] of a new light, , with a different demographic.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:33:02):
Yep.
James Arkell (00:33:03):
, you know, but no matter what, you know, whether you're young, single - Yeah. Married, old, whatever, we got something for everybody. And that's, and that's what we wanna, that's what we wanna provide. It's a great value. Mm-Hmm. A lot of fun and people that wanna come back. Yeah. And, and I think we're, we're pretty close to that right now and it, there's only room. I mean, we wanna improve - Yeah. But we're, we're really happy that
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:33:22):
Camp - But you guys have done incredible work. Right. I mean, over the last couple years of working with you guys, like, it's just been amazing.
James Arkell (00:33:28):
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No, it's, and, and again, it, all we, all [00:33:30] we ever wanted to see happen was our rightful place -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:33:33):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:33:33):
In Kansas City Sports.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:33:34):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:33:34):
You know, when people are like, "When are we gonna get a hockey team?" It's like, "We've had a hockey team." It's been there. And it's great.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:33:39):
Yeah. So. Yeah. , okay. So I was gona say the boy aquarium, maybe the girls just really like the boys with no teeth, right? Just all the teeth knocked out.
James Arkell (00:33:47):
Well, I mean, they, they have, they have stuff. They put a, like, I, I, I, I'm not even gonna go there.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:33:52):
Yeah,
James Arkell (00:33:52):
That's a whole other thing. These are... Well, and what's funny is people think of hockey players as, like, these bruisers and - Yeah. No, most of them are Ivy League guys. [00:34:00] That's so interesting. Hockey. They're really, - Yeah. They're really, you know, well-mannered. They're really well, like, I mean -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:34:08):
Disciplines.
James Arkell (00:34:09):
They're... Yeah. Mm-Hmm. And they love to go into the community. Like I said, we have, with all of our community activity, they do things. Yeah. But more often than not, they'll go back without us knowing. And we found that out from a - That's awesome. A whole bunch of different places. Like, they just love to be a part of Kansas City. Yeah, it's fun. Some of them have never been to barbecue before. And so being able to take them out to different restaurants and, - How
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:34:28):
Have they never been to barbecue before?
James Arkell (00:34:30):
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[00:34:30] Well, they live in Canada or they live in Russia or they've not been, you know, there's
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:34:33):
A lot of - Okay. So - We
James Arkell (00:34:33):
Have a lot of international
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:34:34):
Players. , That was gonna be my question. Yeah. You have a few. Okay. That's good to know. , And then, , and then they come... So they recruit, they get recruited from kind of anywhere. Yeah. So, okay.
James Arkell (00:34:46):
So our coach recruits half, and then the other half are affiliated players that
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:34:49):
Come
James Arkell (00:34:49):
From either Coachella or from, , , the Kraken.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:34:53):
The Kraken. Okay. Love it. Yeah. Okay. , Oh, I know my other question was, what other things are they doing in the community that we would [00:35:00] wanna shout out? Anything else - ...
James Arkell (00:35:02):
Worthy of mentioning of the reading? There's so many different things. We, we pick a different community partner, , or a series of community partners every year. Okay. - So it rotates? Yeah. And we give them the whole month.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:35:12):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:35:12):
, we want it to be meaningful.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:35:14):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:35:14):
And so what we do throughout that month is we raise money for that charity.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:35:20):
Mm-Hmm.
Page 40 of 109
James Arkell (00:35:21):
We typically will have a specialty jersey. , When we auction those off, we give them the proceeds. You know, it's - Yeah. We don't wanna just do charity for [00:35:30] credit. Yeah. We wanna actually - Make an impact. We, we changed our chuck of puck because the way that was working out was - Okay. It was for the charity and they weren't getting any money. Oh, really? Yeah, they're... Well, I mean, they were coming out and working and, you know, we're like, "That's not... We wanna make sure that they're actually getting some benefit from this, right? Yeah. Mm-hmm. And so we completely reworked everything and now, , each one has their own month and, you know, Variety KC is one of them. Yeah. The Golden Scoop is one of them. Yeah. Special Olympics, Kansas -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:35:58):
Okay. Which
James Arkell (00:35:58):
Is an, all these great groups. [00:36:00] And what we love is they bring their people out.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:36:02):
Right.
James Arkell (00:36:03):
And that's what we want. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:36:04):
We want
James Arkell (00:36:04):
Everyone to be able to
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:36:05):
Come. So you, you had the opportunity to keep introducing the Mavs experience to - Correct. More people, more organizations. Love it. Okay, good. , Anything else on the Mavs that you wanna mention that we haven't talked
James Arkell (00:36:14):
About? No, I mean, one nice segue to how you get over to Michael's WonderWorld -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:36:18):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:36:18):
And all that is, you know, we had the Kids' Day game at the Mavericks. And - Okay, yeah, that's
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:36:22):
Right.
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James Arkell (00:36:22):
Every, everyone in our league has this game. Mm-Hmm. It's a, and it qualifies as a field trip. Oh, sweet. Because we actually have educational, [00:36:30] , materials - Yeah. And we bring people out and they do science experiments and then, you know, like, the news comes out, Channel five will come out and do meteorology.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:36:37):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:36:37):
You know, it's, it's a lot of fun.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:36:38):
Uh-Huh.
James Arkell (00:36:39):
But it's, basically you get to go to a hockey game, right?
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:36:40):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:36:41):
It's, it is the greatest -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:36:42):
That's a fun field trip. Field trip
James Arkell (00:36:43):
Ever. Mm-Hmm. , and it kept growing. We kept pushing to try to make it more inclusive.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:36:49):
Yeah. Okay?
James Arkell (00:36:50):
We did a deal where some schools, , they had what were... I'm Catholic. We've talked about this. Yep. Not just what works for me, right? You know, it's hard to tell people [00:37:00] you're Catholic these days. , Not very good at it.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:37:02):
We are, we are equal opportunity here on the podcast. Hey. We talk about all - I
James Arkell (00:37:06):
Know. I,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:37:06):
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And listen -
James Arkell (00:37:06):
Everything. I'm one of those guys... , This is what works for me.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:37:10):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:37:10):
Okay?
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:37:10):
I, I- I grew up Catholic as well.
James Arkell (00:37:11):
I know. I, I, I, I do not expect anyone... No, I'm not pushing anybody anything. It's just, this is what works for me. Yeah. , and so our schools in the Catholic diocese have sister parishes.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:37:23):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:37:23):
, and so we did a deal where we were giving tickets for every ticket the... My kids went to a [00:37:30] school over here. I don't want to say the name. , and their sister parish, every ticket they bought, we'd give a free one. Okay. And it was really successful. Yep. , and it was great because you had kids coming together from different backgrounds - mm-hmm. And we had eliminated any of the socioeconomic issues, right? Yep. We made it so that our sponsors paid for the food, we paid for the tickets. We had, you know, like everybody got to come in - It's
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:37:54):
Amazing.
James Arkell (00:37:55):
And just have fun, right? Mm-Hmm. And so it kept growing, and then we wanted to expand from there [00:38:00] into, , you know, my son Michael, who you've, he's 11.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:38:04):
Yes.
James Arkell (00:38:04):
Very rare genetic condition, , in a wheelchair, can't really talk.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:38:09):
He's one of 12. Is that what I heard you say?
Page 43 of 109
James Arkell (00:38:11):
That's in, -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:38:12):
In the US.
James Arkell (00:38:12):
I don't know how it works anymore because people have come and gone. Sure. But at
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:38:16):
One
James Arkell (00:38:16):
Point when we got the diagnosis, there were 12 in America.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:38:19):
And that's wild.
James Arkell (00:38:20):
And well, it's very rare and it's often misdiagnosed. And,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:38:24):
- Okay, so if I can ask - Uh-huh. Did you find out when he was in the womb after he was born?
James Arkell (00:38:30):
[00:38:30] A year after he was born.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:38:31):
Year after he
James Arkell (00:38:32):
Was born. It was a year. So - Okay. He was, , he was... Do you want me to go there now?
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:38:36):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:38:36):
Okay. Do you want me to talk about the Mavericks and the other thing we were doing? Okay.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:38:40):
We can do either
James Arkell (00:38:41):
Page 44 of 109
Way. Okay. , so yes, we have a son with disability. , Michael was seven weeks early. He spent five days in... I'm sorry, five days. He spent five months... Let me start over. Michael was seven weeks early - mm hmm. And spent five weeks in the NICU.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:38:58):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:38:59):
, which was [00:39:00] an absolute just hell for our family. Right. You know, because we have three other kids. One of us is at the hospital the whole time. , So we're, you know, Sarah and I are just chips passing in the night. You know, she would come home, get kids. I would go to the hospital and vice versa. Mm Hmm. , he came out and it was, you know, he was born in September, so right around Christmas. He spent his first Christmas in the hospital.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:39:21):
Yeah. His
James Arkell (00:39:21):
First New Year's in the hospital, in and out.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:39:24):
- So many parents could relate to you guys going through that. Yeah,
James Arkell (00:39:26):
Unfortunately. , And,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:39:28):
- What put him in the NICU from day one? Was [00:39:30] it just the, how early? He was
James Arkell (00:39:31):
So early.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:39:32):
Yeah. Okay. Yeah, he
James Arkell (00:39:32):
Was just so early.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:39:33):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:39:33):
, and, you know, the, the people there though were so just amazing. Mm-Hmm. And we're still friends with them and we still do things with them every, , every year. , But, , so about a year into it, the doctor was like, "This is, this is more..." 'Cause with the preemie lungs and - mm-hmm. Being that it, you know,
Page 45 of 109
he was having issues, , you know, respiratory, things like that, that they kept trying to treat it and they said, no, this is more. So [00:40:00] we were headed down to Children's, or my wife, Sarah was headed to Children's Mercy from the doctor's, , office out here. Mm-Hmm. And I called my physician, , because I was heading down there to meet him, meet them and he happened to call or happened to know of a geneticist -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:40:16):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:40:16):
That was in, , Kansas City working at Children's Mercy doing research. Hmm. And so he called, his name's John Baptiste Le Poshon. Wow. JB. Very French. From here on out. I know. Very French. Yeah. And, , JB [00:40:30] met, , Sarah in the ER.m. They started all the process of, , testing. He stayed there for three days while they were just running all these tests and, , it was horrible.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:40:40):
Yeah. You
James Arkell (00:40:41):
Know, we were everything from, , little tiny caskets to possibly autism. Like, you know, I mean, there's just such a wide range. And, you know -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:40:50):
Because was it just so maybe unknown?
James Arkell (00:40:52):
It, it, he was too young to be able to say, you know - Yeah. There's a reason it was misdiagnosed so frequently. Yeah. , because it, it does have similar [00:41:00] trace to other, other, you know, conditions and everything else. But, -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:41:04):
And he was diagnosed with what?
James Arkell (00:41:06):
Okay. You can't ask me that because I don't know what it is. Okay. It's microdeletion of chromosome 15 QX block. It doesn't even have a name.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:41:13):
It's something that I would definitely
James Arkell (00:41:14):
Not know of. Yeah. Nobody knows of it, right? Okay. , so we go back a few weeks later and he, you know, JB walks in and he says, "Okay, he'll never walk, talk, or see." We're like, "What?" You know, I mean, we're just... This is not a conversa - you [00:41:30] know, there's nothing to prepare you for that, right? And, and that's important later. But, , and I'm like, "Okay." And he said, "He's one of 12 in
Page 46 of 109
America. , I discovered the first case in America and I wrote my doctoral thesis on it. " And I went, "Huh." Yeah, like, "This is awful, but huh." Whoa. Like, what are the odds that we get
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:41:52):
The
James Arkell (00:41:52):
One guy?
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:41:52):
Yeah, this guy's in crazy. Yeah.
James Arkell (00:41:54):
Yeah. And so he, , he has continued to work with Michael. He's, he's used, , [00:42:00] we've used what Michael has and all of our gifts to try to provide better solutions for other families. That's always been what we've wanted, you know, by, by providing what we can for Michael. Yeah. Okay? , What the 11 years of Michael being alive and with us has, has shown us is just how hard it is. But it's also shown us how amazing it is, right? Yeah. Like, I was putting him to bed last night and,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:42:26):
- He's so cute, too. He's so
James Arkell (00:42:27):
Happy.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:42:28):
I just saw him last week at Aristocrat. Yeah.
James Arkell (00:42:30):
[00:42:30] He is just happy.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:42:30):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:42:31):
Michael's just happy. Like Michael's not worried about politics. Mm-Hmm. Michael's not worried about anything. Yeah. Michael's either happy or unhappy. Yeah. And nine times out of 10, he's happy. Yeah. And so, like, even last night, I, I tell everybody, so if you get a chance to get a Michael hug - Aw. Then take a Michael hug. And last night I was putting him to bed and we had to put a onesie on him because he likes to take his clothes off and throw them - Yeah. And all this other stuff. But, , you know, pick him up and get a hug and no matter what you're going
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:42:54):
Through - Nothing better.
James Arkell (00:42:55):
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Yeah. He's just, he's pure joy.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:42:56):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:42:57):
He's pure joy. And this is from a... I mean, he has, he has to eat with a tube.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:43:00):
[00:43:00] Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:43:01):
You know, I mean, like, he has not had an easy life.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:43:03):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:43:04):
But he's just happy. And so, you know, the experience
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:43:08):
That - With siblings that adore him.
James Arkell (00:43:10):
You know what?
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:43:10):
Obviously, parents that adore him.
James Arkell (00:43:12):
<Laugh> You, you, you look at, you see the si - the, the siblings that adore, right? Mm-Hmm. And they do. Yeah. And my kids are amazing. Yeah. My kids are so much better for having a sibling like Michael in their life. Yeah. But there's, there's two sides to that. Yeah. You know, there's the missed birthdays. There's the Christmases. There's the, there, there was, for all the good, there was just [00:43:30] as much pain for them. Yeah. And, you know, like, I mean, at one point, my, my son, James, who you've met, who's just - mm-hmm. He's my little best buddy. I mean, he's not my little age 16.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:43:38):
James 2.0.
James Arkell (00:43:39):
<Laugh> He's, he's definitely, he's new and improved from me, but, , he, , but, you know, at one point, he was like, "I just, I feel bad for saying this, but I wish he could have a sleepover with me. " You know, like, because we have two girls and two boys and the girls could have sleep and - Yeah. And it's like, God, I, I didn't think of that.
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Mindy Hargesheimer (00:43:53):
You know? Yeah. Yeah.
James Arkell (00:43:54):
And yet they're, like, they were forced to kind of grow up in a way that, , that you weren't [00:44:00] expecting and you couldn't have prepared them for.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:44:02):
How did you guys all, like, those early years, what did that look like for all of you? We struggled. We
James Arkell (00:44:06):
Absolutely struggled. We had no idea what to do, because there's no manual.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:44:09):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:44:09):
You don't get a manual. Well, you have our... I mean, Kansas City, I can only speak for Kansas City, but -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:44:13):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:44:14):
Is full of some of the most caring, wonderful, , compassionate... I mean, there's not enough adjectives.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:44:19):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:44:19):
People in the world - mm-hmm. Who are just amazing, right? And they're trying to help you, but even at, like -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:44:26):
But they're, like, learning
James Arkell (00:44:27):
With you. E- everyone is doing... Yeah. It's like they're all trying to figure [00:44:30] out... There's no one central source. There's no one place you go. There's no - mm-hmm. Like, there's no one answer.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:44:35):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:44:35):
Okay? And so we started navigating that system, , and found out just how difficult it really is.
Page 49 of 109
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:44:41):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:44:42):
And one thing we did find out is that it doesn't matter. There, there's no good economic position to be in -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:44:48):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:44:48):
With a family member like this, because no matter what, it's all bad.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:44:50):
Yeah. Like, insurance is probably covering nothing. ,
James Arkell (00:44:53):
Insurance denied his -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:44:55):
You have to buy equipment. You have to buy - They denied
James Arkell (00:44:57):
His feeding tube. They said he was choosing not [00:45:00] to eat.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:45:02):
Wow.
James Arkell (00:45:03):
I know.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:45:03):
I mean, that just leaves me speechless. I know. Everybody thinking about insurance companies. We were, - It's... Wow.
James Arkell (00:45:09):
We were at the hospital because every winter he would get RSV. And with his premature lungs - Yeah. Like, he would... Inevitably, he would end up there. Mm-Hmm.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:45:18):
,
James Arkell (00:45:19):
And so we just waited for it to happen and it'd be there for a couple weeks. And then the last time he was there, , they were feeding him with a nasal, , tube and it... That was the last time he fed orally. Which it
Page 50 of 109
turned out to be [00:45:30] a blessing because he... Anyways, I, I won't get off on the side of that, but they wouldn't let
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:45:33):
Us,
James Arkell (00:45:34):
We couldn't leave until they officially denied it. So, like, we're sitting there going, "Wow." Yeah. Like,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:45:40):
This
James Arkell (00:45:40):
Is all so broken. Like, the number of times I came home to my wife crying.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:45:43):
Yeah. The
James Arkell (00:45:44):
Number of times that we were up all night trying to figure things out, the times that we were, you know, like, how do we, you know, calling on friends in the insurance industry to be like, "What should we say to help us out here?" Yeah. And - We
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:45:54):
Have a good friend who, in Chicago, who is going through ALS, and he's had it for a year, and that's the worst part, [00:46:00] insurance. Yeah. Of their whole experience. Well,
James Arkell (00:46:02):
And it's not... I mean, and one of, one of the things we're finding - It's wild. Now that we're putting this, this whole thing together - mm-hmm. Is that there's a lot of resources out there that aren't getting utilized - Mm. Because there's so many, , barriers to get to it. Yeah. You know, I mean, between the government and the, all these different organizations - mm-hmm. And the insurance companies and, like, there's just, there's such a lack of efficiency. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:46:27):
, I'm assuming, like, at [00:46:30] some point with Michael, your... I mean, maybe it was right away, but obviously we're gonna get to, you know, Michael's WonderWorld. But, like, at what point did you start going, "We've gotta do more with this. We've gotta make more of a difference. We should start doing more for understanding, helping other families," or, like, what did that look like? I
James Arkell (00:46:49):
Mean, we had always been, , involved. I mean, we were at a fundraiser, not a fundraiser, at a charity event. We were at Treads and Threads when she went into labor seven weeks early. Oh. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that was another blessing of Michael. He, [00:47:00] he taught us to slow down. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:47:01):
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, because
James Arkell (00:47:02):
We were constantly running, doing different things. So we were involved in a lot of different things and, , on different boards where we were getting the opportunity to give back, to be a part of that. Yeah. But we didn't have the firsthand knowledge, I guess. Yeah. And so, I mean, , to be honest, the first six, seven years, we were just trying to survive. Yeah. We
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:47:21):
Were
James Arkell (00:47:21):
Just trying to survive. We didn't have - mm-hmm. , And then, you know, it's funny because Michael was born while we were negotiating the purchase of the Mavericks. Oh,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:47:29):
Really? [00:47:30] Yeah.
James Arkell (00:47:30):
Just -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:47:31):
Yeah. It was
James Arkell (00:47:31):
A weird time.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:47:32):
Add that to the,
James Arkell (00:47:33):
The list of things. Yeah. List of things that were, - Yeah. And so, you know, he kinda grew up alongside of that. Mm-Hmm. And there's some, some cool stuff that, you know, just so much... There's so many things in the world that are cool that if you, you, you'll miss them if you get too bogged down. Like were talking about the noise, the - Yes. The busyness. Yeah. Like, I think that's what keeps us from being able to see what we need to see. What's
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:47:53):
Important. Correct. What matters the most. And,
James Arkell (00:47:55):
And
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:47:56):
Those
Page 52 of 109
James Arkell (00:47:56):
Little nuggets to slow you down are what, , you know, you look at them and go, "Wow, [00:48:00] that's, that's pretty cool." But - I don't
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:48:01):
Know if you happen to know Matt and Chrissy Stewart. Matt is on Fox News. He's a local anchor, but they're both battling cancer. I had them in here, , a few weeks ago and their story is incredible because they have three kids. They both went a, within a span of a couple years, , were diagnosed with stage four cancer. They're both still battling it. , But we had the same conversation about, one, how lucky they are - mm-hmm. To have someone in their corner, just like you have Sarah and you have your family, , an extended family. , And then two, just really [00:48:30] being forced to prioritize what matters in life because we all just, you know, we all... We're not all gona be pushed in that direction to be like, "Does this really matter?" You know, but to take conversations like this and to go, "Does this really matter?
(00:48:40):
No, focus on what's important. You have one life to live." So, yeah. What,
James Arkell (00:48:44):
What is it I have to be doing? Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:48:45):
What's,
James Arkell (00:48:45):
What's the best use of my time?
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:48:46):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:48:47):
, but getting back to, so we, while evaluating everything for hockey - mm-hmm. We went to local experts and the, the folks in the industry, the youth hockey, all the different areas and said, "What needs to [00:49:00] happen to make this successful?" Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:49:01):
,
James Arkell (00:49:02):
And so part of that was growing the sport. Yep.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:49:04):
And we have a,
James Arkell (00:49:05):
We had a robust hockey, youth hockey, , community, but it wasn't very organized. Mm-Hmm. And so we put together the, with a bunch of other people, but the nonprofit, the Kansas City Youth Hockey
Page 53 of 109
Association, which has - Awesome. Brought, you know, it, it has helped so much. I mean, there's some parents that didn't like it, but those are also the parents that were paying themselves $5,000 to buy t-shirts, you know? There were, there were some interesting things we uncovered while, - Interesting. Going through that. Yeah, I
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:49:29):
Bet.
James Arkell (00:49:30):
[00:49:30] , But, , what it, what it did, it brought a level of professionalism. Mm-Hmm.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:49:34):
And
James Arkell (00:49:34):
It, it allowed for bills to get paid, for scheduling to happen, more uniformity, things like that.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:49:39):
Yeah. ,
James Arkell (00:49:40):
But while we were doing that, one thing that was abundantly clear is we needed more ice.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:49:44):
Mm-Hmm. We
James Arkell (00:49:45):
Need more sheets. They're called sheets of ice.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:49:47):
Mm.
James Arkell (00:49:47):
And, , so we've been working towards that, -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:49:50):
Yeah. For
James Arkell (00:49:50):
Many, many years. Okay. And while we were... Gosh, it was like 10 minutes before COVID hit. , I know I'm joking, but, like, we were all set. We -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:49:59):
It's what everything feels like, right? [00:50:00] I know. Well,
Page 54 of 109
James Arkell (00:50:00):
We bought another team that we were bringing down here. Oh my
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:50:03):
Gosh.
James Arkell (00:50:03):
The NAHL team from Topeka.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:50:05):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:50:06):
We were working on building a facility out in Olathe.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:50:09):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:50:09):
, all this stuff was lined up and boy, we made the right decision. We, we, we sat down and Lamar and I remember sitting in my office and I'm like, I don't know. I got some, I got some bad... He, he ultimately was like, "No, I don't think... I think we need to hit pause."
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:50:24):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:50:24):
And, , and thank God that we did because Johnson County locked down.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:50:28):
Yes. Yeah. Completely
James Arkell (00:50:29):
Locked down.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:50:30):
[00:50:30] Yeah. Like we
James Arkell (00:50:30):
Couldn't have, we couldn't even put that hockey... We had to move it down to Texas because
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:50:33):
We couldn't play here. Oh, interesting. Okay.
Page 55 of 109
James Arkell (00:50:35):
And so I'm really glad that we hit pause because it not only gave us time to see what was, you know, things had evolved. Mm-Hmm. Let's just say things evolved post - COVID. Mm-Hmm. You have different experiences in arena, you have different expectations. , You know, things evolved with Michael. Things evolved with our family. , We were just in a different place.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:50:55):
Yeah. And
James Arkell (00:50:55):
So while we were working to acquire some land out in Olathe, when we [00:51:00] hit start again - mm hmm. , The, , the parcel we wanted, which is 119th and Renner -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:51:06):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:51:06):
64 acres, it became available.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:51:08):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:51:09):
Not easily available, but it became available. We were looking at another site where we were assembling all this land and it was getting really complicated and -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:51:15):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:51:16):
Kind of overwhelming. But, , so we're looking at the 64 -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:51:18):
We should mention you have a real estate background, right?
James Arkell (00:51:21):
Yeah. Ver knowledgeable in this thing. No, yeah. No, that's what, we have a number of companies. Yeah. One of them is commercial development, and so we do things like this. And so yeah, that's, , that's what I enjoy. I like building [00:51:30] things. Right. I like the, you know, it's like being a kid and getting to go plan it out -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:51:33):
Yeah. In
James Arkell (00:51:33):
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Puzzles and put the pieces together. But, , so we were trying to assemble that over there. Other land
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:51:38):
Comes
James Arkell (00:51:38):
Available. We managed to get that locked down and I looked at Lamar and I said, "What the heck are we gona do with 64 acres?" We were planning on like 28, 29 at the most.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:51:48):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:51:49):
And he, I mean, he's a visionary with a lot of things and he's a lot like his dad. Yeah. He is exactly like his dad which is creative, , willing to take chances. [00:52:00] Like let's, let's measure, but let's, let's take, let's make sure we're, you know, let's not miss the opportunity, right?
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:52:05):
Right.
James Arkell (00:52:06):
So we'd gone down a few spring breaks before I remember my wife came to me and said, , "We're going to San Antonio for spring break." And I said, "Okay, why?"
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:52:14):
The Alamo, of course. Of
James Arkell (00:52:15):
Course. Well, we went to Alamo, but she said, "There's this park down there called Morgan's Wonderland."
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:52:19):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:52:20):
And it is the first in the world and only, , ultra incl - ultra accessible is the word,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:52:26):
Term he uses. Ultra
James Arkell (00:52:27):
Accessible. Yeah. And he trademarked it, so we gotta be careful with that.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:52:29):
Okay. No, I'm
Page 57 of 109
James Arkell (00:52:29):
Kidding. [00:52:30] He's an amazing man. The guy that, , the guy that started his name's Gordon Hartman. , We became really good friends. He's amazing.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:52:36):
His daughter is Morgan?
James Arkell (00:52:37):
His
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:52:38):
Daughter's Morgan and she's an
James Arkell (00:52:39):
Adult. Okay.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:52:39):
,
James Arkell (00:52:40):
And so he was a real estate developer.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:52:41):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:52:42):
And he also owned a minor league hockey t - soccer team.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:52:44):
You're like, "We can speak
James Arkell (00:52:45):
The same language." I know. No, we got on the, we got on our first Teams call and, , and by the, like, 10 minutes in, I said something about, like, "I think our ADHD is gona line up." And he goes, and he said, "I'll bet we're on the same meds." And I, I just laughed. I knew we were gonna be good friends for - That's good. Yeah. But, , [00:53:00] so we'd been there a few times. Lamar, you know, as a family, we travel a lot for sports together. Yeah. We're always together. It's, it's a lot. But, -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:53:07):
You and Lamar?
James Arkell (00:53:08):
No, no. Well, I mean, our family.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:53:10):
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Oh, I was like, well, okay, tell me more.
James Arkell (00:53:12):
Traveling with your father-in-law. Yeah, no, I spend quite a bit... I do travel quite a bit with him, but, , you know, my wife goes on a lot of these things too. Yeah. Like, we're all... They are the most amazing sports family I've ever met in your life. Yeah. Those... They all know more about sports.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:53:24):
I wanna talk about that, too. We'll get to that stuff. Yeah.
James Arkell (00:53:26):
, so anyways, he said, "Why don't we try to build, , a Morgan's Wonderland?" [00:53:30] And I said, "Okay." You know, I mean, at this point, I'm thinking, "What could be more foolish than buying a minor league hockey team? Building a theme park." You know what I mean? And -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:53:39):
I was reading about this, by the way. I don't know if you like, , Nate Barketsy, the comedian. Yeah, I lo him. I love him. Everybody freaking love him. Did you hear he's building an amusement park? Well, I
James Arkell (00:53:46):
Hear he wants to build it.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:53:47):
He wants to build it. He's like, "I'm not even sure if I'll be alive when it's done." And he said something similar where he's like, "What's crazier than trying to build an amusement park?" Yeah, that's
James Arkell (00:53:55):
An odd move for him. Like, I think he's doing pretty well where he's at,
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:53:58):
But, - I, he's too, but yeah. Hey. H's a dreamer, [00:54:00] I guess, you know. No, good
James Arkell (00:54:01):
For him. I, I'd go. I think he's fine.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:54:02):
Totally. Yeah.
James Arkell (00:54:03):
But, , anyway, so yeah, that, you know, but if you're going to build an amusement park -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:54:09):
Uh-Huh.
James Arkell (00:54:10):
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Had the right tools. Mm-Hmm. And we had the right tools. So Gordon Hartman gave us 15 years of experience.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:54:14):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:54:15):
, we started working with him and told us what was right to do, what was wrong to do, connect us with the right, like, everything. He gave us everything. Just open the playbook up He had
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:54:23):
Like the
James Arkell (00:54:23):
Blueprint. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Everything he'd done wrong, everything he had done right. - Mm Hmm. And so from there, we're like, "Okay, this [00:54:30] is pretty cool." And then it started snowballing into, "Well, if we're gona do the second arena, I'm sorry, the second theme park for ultra accessibility -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:54:39):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:54:40):
What else can we do? " Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:54:41):
And so from
James Arkell (00:54:41):
There, we kept working with him. Mm-Hmm. Nobody had done an arena. Yeah. So now we're doing the first arena. Mm-Hmm. , we are doing the first major flag hotel. Mm-Hmm. So, you know, what you have at Halo Ridge, what, what was born out of all of this, like, just mishmash
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:54:57):
Of -
James Arkell (00:54:57):
Yeah. Things coming together has, has turned [00:55:00] into this beautiful, like, coming together of city, county, state, nonprofit, for - profit. You, I mean, you name it.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:55:07):
Yeah. We're
James Arkell (00:55:07):
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All, everybody's bringing something together, but we're gonna ha... I mean, this will be the only place like this in the world.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:55:11):
Yep. ,
James Arkell (00:55:12):
Across -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:55:13):
But the stadium, the Mavs today has the sensory room.
James Arkell (00:55:16):
Well, we put that in. And that was what I started to tell you about with the Kids' Day game.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:55:19):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:55:19):
So that was where we kind of, , first dipped our toe, if you will. Yeah. And we had done a great job of expanding it to different, , you know, different [00:55:30] schools.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:55:30):
Yep.
James Arkell (00:55:31):
But we wanted to be as inclusive as possible.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:55:33):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:55:33):
And so that's where we went next. Okay. And we built, we built the, , the sensory space and to debut it, we, we used the kids' day game. Yeah. Okay. And so my son, Michael, we, we gave all the tickets for free to all of their classrooms.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:55:46):
Amazing.
James Arkell (00:55:46):
All of them. And all the school districts that wanted them. Yeah. And
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:55:49):
It went
Page 61 of 109
James Arkell (00:55:49):
From, like, I would say we had 60 the first game. Mm-Hmm.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:55:52):
And then the
James Arkell (00:55:52):
Next year we had a hundred and some. And then last year, we had to start taking seats out of suites.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:55:58):
Oh my gosh.
James Arkell (00:55:58):
Because we had such a great response. [00:56:00] Like word had spread and - Yeah. Well, and it... So when we were building the sensory space, we used our experience. Mm-Hmm. Like a lot of times you have people that are well-meaning and educated - mm-hmm. But they don't have the personal experience to know that like, I don't need a bag of crap. Yeah. No offense. But like I don't need headphones. Mm Hmm. If, if I'm coming to you and I need headphones - mm-hmm. At your event, I'm bringing my headphones.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:56:24):
Yeah. Right. So what
James Arkell (00:56:25):
We built in the sensory space was a very comfortable space. We put phone chargers, [00:56:30] we put bottles of water, we put hand sanitizer, we put snacks, we put comfortable chairs, we put... I let my kids be part... I've always wanted -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:56:36):
Things thatmight be more easy to forget or the loss.
James Arkell (00:56:38):
Well, right. Like if, if you have to make a quick break with your family member - mm-hmm. , You don't always take your charger. Well, if Sarah's phone is dead, we can't reach each other.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:56:48):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:56:48):
So having that, you know, we wanted to
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:56:51):
Provide
James Arkell (00:56:51):
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Stuff you wouldn't normally think was there.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:56:53):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:56:54):
And the number of parents who just had an amazing reaction to it. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:56:57):
Like they
James Arkell (00:56:58):
Were crying.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:56:58):
Because
James Arkell (00:56:59):
Most folks don't [00:57:00] understand how difficult it is -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:57:01):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (00:57:01):
To go and do things with a family member who has disabilities.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:57:04):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:57:05):
, there's a lot more you have to take into account. And so using that experience is how we got to the sensory space, which has grown into where we are now.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:57:13):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:57:14):
And what we're trying to do with this project is to, is like Gordon Harbin made it very clear, this is not a theme park for people with disabilities. It's for everybody.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:57:23):
For everybody. Yeah.
James Arkell (00:57:24):
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All it does is remove any barriers for people who might have disabilities. Right. That's it. It's still - Yeah. If your kids [00:57:30] have no disabilities, you're gonna come and have a great time. Yep. The rides are awesome. The rides are, like, the only way you know that they are accessible is if you need that.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:57:39):
So your family spend a Worlds of Fun. Can Michael ride anything there?
James Arkell (00:57:44):
My, my wife's grandfather built Worlds of Fun.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:57:46):
Really?
James Arkell (00:57:46):
Yeah. Mars Senior built Worlds Fun. Okay. So that's where when Lamar was
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:57:49):
Like - Funny, I want someone to come on and talk about, like, the history of Worlds Fun. So we'll talk
James Arkell (00:57:53):
About it. My wife might be the one to do it. Okay. , there actually used to be a place here called Sarah's Sweet Shop. Oh, no way. Her family sold it in the '90s. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:58:00):
[00:58:00] Okay.
James Arkell (00:58:00):
, Se - Lamar Sr. Loved games. That his nickname is Games.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:58:03):
I love it.
James Arkell (00:58:04):
But, , so anyways, yeah, that was why, when I said, "Well, there's a little bit of a history here." Yep. And
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:58:08):
That's
James Arkell (00:58:08):
When Lamar did that with the... Well, I mean, I think we know a little bit about it. And, , so, , yeah, there's the history there. No, there's no rides. Michael and Rider.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:58:16):
Nothing he could do there. There's nothing. Okay.
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James Arkell (00:58:18):
And Disney has ADA, but it's not... I mean, a lot of them... So ADA is just the bare minimum.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:58:22):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:58:23):
Okay? So yeah, we'll go to Disney and yeah, we get to go up the side and get around everybody. I call Michael my little fast pass. Yeah. [00:58:30] , but then we have to take him out of his wheelchair. Okay. Hold on to him for dear life and hope he doesn't rock it off into the Mandalorian ride and then get back and - Jeez. Right. So it's dangerous. Yeah. It, it's a lack of dignity.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:58:43):
Why do you think that that hasn't come farther?
James Arkell (00:58:45):
It is. It, it's, it's slowly evolving, but I think that the lack of change is because the lack of voice.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:58:53):
Okay.
James Arkell (00:58:54):
Because the number of people that just don't go. Sure. Like families just don't go. Yeah. They can't
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:58:58):
Go. It,
James Arkell (00:58:58):
They can't make it worse.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:58:59):
They [00:59:00] just removed it from
James Arkell (00:59:00):
Their list of life. There's not, there's not enough demand for them - Yeah. To be forced to make a change. Okay. Like one of the best things I ever heard is, is the pain of the problem greater than the pain of the solution, right? Mm-Hmm. It's expensive. Yeah. It's not easy. , I do understand it, but it, it's like, it's become kind of a movement.
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:59:17):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:59:17):
So one of the things we wanna kinda help raise the voice is like, if you're gonna be a part of the movement, you gotta participate. Yeah. You gotta actually do the work. Mm-Hmm. Mm-hmm. And so,
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you know, at our, at our park, at our, our whole complex, what [00:59:30] we're building is a city within a city -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:59:31):
Yeah.
James Arkell (00:59:32):
That is gonna have, you know, the theme park. It's gonna have the major flag hotel that is ultra ex - total accessibility, I think is what make... I don't know. It's -
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:59:40):
Yes.
James Arkell (00:59:40):
Listen, when we
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:59:41):
Travel - Very accessible.
James Arkell (00:59:42):
What you need to travel is very difficult to take. Like Michael's on a feeding tube, feeding bag. Mm Hmm. His, his food comes in pouches, right? Mm-Hmm. And so like when we go out of town, it's heavy. You can't fly with it. So - And you can't
Mindy Hargesheimer (00:59:56):
Just go find that. Mm-Hmm. No,
James Arkell (00:59:57):
You can't buy it at the store. - Yeah. And, and you need to [01:00:00] , you need a pole and all, like
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:00:01):
All
James Arkell (01:00:01):
These things.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:00:02):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:00:02):
Those, those are what prohibit you from traveling. And so
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:00:05):
So the ETA is what? When will the city within a city - ,
Page 66 of 109
James Arkell (01:00:09):
Well -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:00:09):
When do we think it might?
James Arkell (01:00:10):
All right. We're doing our ADHD. We're bouncing around. So another - I'll
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:00:14):
Play off of you.
James Arkell (01:00:15):
Another component of what they have down in San Antonio is called the Multi-Assistance Center.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:00:20):
Okay.
James Arkell (01:00:20):
Okay? And that's 160,000 square feet of every imaginable service -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:00:24):
Mm-Hmm. For
James Arkell (01:00:26):
Adults and children with disabilities.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:00:27):
Yes.
James Arkell (01:00:28):
Gordon built this. There's nothing [01:00:30] else like in, in the world. And so that is the most important piece. Mm-Hmm. And so when we started on the corner there with the 64 acres - mm-hmm. And the opposite corner was this empty building. Yeah. And it almost looked like the Multi-Assistance Center. And so we worked with the family that owns it. They own the whole complex and we rented it - Yeah. For 20 years.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:00:51):
Okay.
James Arkell (01:00:51):
And we are building our own version of the Multi-Assistant Center.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:00:54):
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Okay.
James Arkell (01:00:55):
So we will have the arena, theme park, the hotel -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:00:58):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (01:00:59):
And this multi-assistant, [01:01:00] or it's called the Halo Care Collective.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:01:02):
Yep.
James Arkell (01:01:03):
And then all the retailers that we're bringing in, we didn't even have to tell them. They've asked to be a part of - Yeah. What we're doing. They've asked to be a part of making their restaurants more, , accessible for people. Mm-Hmm. How can they hire out of it? Things like that. Okay. Like one of the things that Gordon does is 30% of his employees are hired out of folks with disabilities. They find -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:01:24):
Oh, I love that.
James Arkell (01:01:24):
They train that. Mm-Hmm. And so we will have job training over at the HCC. Mm-Hmm. The reason [01:01:30] I'm saying, telling you about this one now is because it will be open January one, 2027.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:01:35):
Oh, amazing. It
James Arkell (01:01:35):
Debuts. Right. Because it is an existing building.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:01:38):
And this is what I, I went to the, like a preview for it. You guys had like a groundbreaking and then I went to the building. And I just have to say that, , I ran into two guys on the way out who are, who came in from New York and they're, I can't remember what they're doing, but they were beyond - Oh Lumicare. Psyched - Yes. To be a part of this. So
James Arkell (01:01:54):
That's, you know -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:01:55):
Yeah.
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James Arkell (01:01:55):
One of the, so the, the, for the timeline - Uh-huh. And, and in our opinion, the HCC [01:02:00] is the most important part.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:02:02):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:02:02):
Within that building, what we're gonna have is one of the things that we, we kinda hit on this a little bit, but getting services, navigating all these different things when you have a family member, there's no manual, there's no website. Yeah. There's no one central source, right? Mm-Hmm. We are trying to remove the barriers to getting care. Okay? 25% of the population has, and it's growing, have some sort of a disability.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:02:24):
25%.
James Arkell (01:02:26):
And so look at my family. There's six of us. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And so if that one who's part [01:02:30] of the 25% and then it impacts the other five.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:02:32):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:02:33):
So from a consumer standpoint, if you think about it, if you're able to allow one more person to come, you get the five of us. mm-hmm. I look at it that way. There you go. But also being - Multiplier. Yeah, you wanna have, you wanna be able to have everything available. So within that building, the care that you need that is not easy to get, the optometry, dentistry, , we have a pharmacy - Hair. We have hair and nails. Mm-Hmm. , you know, people think that's, well, why do you need that? Well, I cut Michael's hair and trust me, I'm not good at it. [01:03:00] But he can't
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:03:00):
Sit still. And if he's wiggly, yeah.
James Arkell (01:03:03):
The, , a stan - you can't go to a standard optometrist. You can't go to, like, they -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:03:06):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:03:07):
Aren't equipped. He has to go under, -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:03:09):
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Are, are those people around Casey - Of course. And now they'll just be consolidated ideally? , Well - Or potentially?
James Arkell (01:03:14):
Somewhat. Okay.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:03:15):
You know,
James Arkell (01:03:15):
There are a lot of great people doing great work.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:03:17):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:03:17):
But what we also found is, like, they're all doing it individually and in their, in their own little, like -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:03:21):
Yeah. One
James Arkell (01:03:22):
Of them -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:03:22):
You'd be, like, going to every corner of the city.
James Arkell (01:03:25):
Yeah. So we are bringing everyone together in this building. We have over 18 clinical partners.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:03:29):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (01:03:30):
[01:03:30] , and I, and the number's growing, and over 60 community partners.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:03:33):
Okay.
James Arkell (01:03:34):
What you do is you come in, you've, everything's filled out online. It's navigated care. There's no additional cost to the individual. We use insurance. We use all these d - you know, we're working with the insurance companies.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:03:45):
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Yeah. I,
James Arkell (01:03:46):
I told the insurance company that -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:03:47):
You're like, "Believe me, I will try to do this as easy as possible."
James Arkell (01:03:50):
No, I, I, I told the insurance company that denied his, , feeding tube - Yeah. What they did.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:03:55):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:03:56):
And then I asked him for a lot of money. , So - As you should. I know. I, I, [01:04:00] 100%. Yeah. But within the building, we're gonna have all these different organizations that it's every possible service you could need to help these families, okay?
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:04:10):
Yes. And
James Arkell (01:04:10):
Unfortunately -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:04:11):
You could literally just go, like, floor to floor.
James Arkell (01:04:13):
And you will be taken to floor to floor with the people. Yeah. Like, that's, and on the job training, that's another thing. You're gonna have what we call the Halo Helpers and -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:04:20):
Love it.
James Arkell (01:04:21):
There, there's an opportunity for job training there, but we are also, we're doing job training. We are also doing... These are things a little different from what they do in San Antonio. Mm-Hmm. We're focused on mental health. [01:04:30] Mm-Hmm. , we're gonna have a big focus on mental health. Yeah. Because alone, it's a huge problem. Yeah. You know, I have an 18-year-old, a 16-year-old, and a 14-year-old. Mm-Hmm. They are facing things that I never face as a kid. Yeah. Yeah. They are facing things that are, like, I mean, it's, it's -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:04:43):
And it should just be a given that anyone of any age should, can have access to that. They should.
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James Arkell (01:04:47):
Yeah. And they should. And then, and what we... Here's basically what we found is, within all these different things - mm-hmm. There's so many great groups, but the lack of centralization -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:04:56):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (01:04:57):
As well as there's, there's no efficiency.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:04:59):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:04:59):
You have all these [01:05:00] nonprofits. They're all out raising money against the same, you know, the same crowd they're going after. It's all, like -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:05:06):
It's, like, decentralized - Correct.
James Arkell (01:05:08):
Disconnected. Correct. They're all di - They're like nomadic clans - Yeah. Roaming the desert. Mm Hmm. And they're all doing great things, but you can't find them, and they're all, like - Right. And so what we have done within this building, and this is part of our philanthropy for many years, is we've always said, like, we need to figure out a way to get these folks working together.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:05:22):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (01:05:22):
And so, like, with our job training -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:05:24):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:05:25):
They all wanted to be the one.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:05:27):
Yep.
James Arkell (01:05:28):
They, they, they couldn't be. Yeah. We [01:05:30] have five different organizations working together for job training. Wow. And they all do stuff really well, and together, they're gonna do great things, right? Mm-Hmm. And so by bringing all these groups together into the building, not only are we gonna provide
Page 72 of 109
better outcomes, we're gonna have collaboration. Yeah. We're gonna have, , innovation. You know, having all, like, KU, the guys you were talking about from IllumiCare. Yeah. They're amazing. Yeah. Betty Wilson. -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:05:51):
How'd they find you guys?
James Arkell (01:05:51):
Betty and Yani. , They own a company called IllumiCare and it is a -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:05:55):
So I think they have multiple.
James Arkell (01:05:56):
Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:05:57):
Autism
James Arkell (01:05:57):
Treatment center.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:05:58):
Yeah. They
James Arkell (01:05:58):
Have therapies. [01:06:00] And so they're, they have a clinic in Lawrence and they have in different areas. Oh, Lawrence. Okay. And so their clinical director found us and then they - Got it. Flew in. And, you know, we were talking about faith before this, right? Yeah. These guys get out of the car and they're Orthodox Jewish.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:06:14):
Yep.
James Arkell (01:06:14):
, they're, like, we were talking for two hours.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:06:18):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (01:06:19):
I left my phone in the car. Everybody though I was dead, you know? 'Cause I, I'm never that hard to
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:06:23):
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Reach. Yeah.
James Arkell (01:06:23):
It was actually the day we closed on the land across the street.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:06:25):
Oh my gosh, yeah. I was supposed
James Arkell (01:06:26):
To be downtown. Nobody could find me. But we're having so much fun talking [01:06:30] about, like, our different faiths - Yeah. And
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:06:33):
What we
James Arkell (01:06:33):
Wanna do. And, like -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:06:34):
I love that.
James Arkell (01:06:35):
And it's not about, like... I mean, that's the cool thing. It's what Halo cares about is bringing what you have together.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:06:40):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (01:06:40):
Working together.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:06:42):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:06:42):
Humility, you know, community, trying to help each other because - A place for everyone. Because everybody has something to offer. Yeah. No matter who you are, you have something to offer. What we're trying to do with this building and with the whole complex is - mm-hmm. Give you a spot to come provide it. Be a part of
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:06:57):
It. To feel welcome. 100%. To feel seen [01:07:00] and heard, the world that we live in today. Everybody wants to feel -
James Arkell (01:07:02):
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And to get back, and to give back. Yeah. People want to give back. Yeah. There are so many charitable people. I think that they're, you know, o- one of the things we've looked at is the world of philanthropy is fairly broken. And, and that's probably gona be, you know, kind of something people wanna argue with, but -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:07:15):
And what do you mean by that?
James Arkell (01:07:17):
Because you have a model where they're chasing, I call it chasing whales, right?
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:07:21):
Mm-Hmm. The,
James Arkell (01:07:22):
The casinos are always chasing the whales
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:07:23):
And
James Arkell (01:07:23):
Whatnot. Yeah. You are, you, you have so many charities going after the same people.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:07:28):
Mm.
James Arkell (01:07:29):
Right? And [01:07:30] that's great. Those people give a lot of money.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:07:32):
Yeah. But they
James Arkell (01:07:32):
Don't, they can't do it in perpetuity.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:07:34):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (01:07:35):
And so you have this whole, like, mushy middle of 80% that could be doing more, but they just assume everybody else is doing it, right? Yeah. They aren't given the opportunity. Okay. And so one of the things that we're doing with the philanthropy model for this is within our entire complex - mm-hmm. With the arena and the theme park and then the lake and the trails all around it, we're gona have some awesome digital signage as well as wayfinding. And not only will we be celebrating [01:08:00] all of our partnerships -
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Mindy Hargesheimer (01:08:01):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (01:08:01):
And our sponsors, but we are gonna dedicate minimally 30% to, hey, have you ever heard of the Golden Coop?
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:08:07):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:08:07):
And QR codes. Perfect.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:08:08):
Quirk codes are
James Arkell (01:08:09):
Amazing for old people like me. , The, you know, like, we -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:08:12):
It's funny how QR codes have had this, like, wave. Like they came back during COVID and - I know. It's like, no, they're actually really easy.
James Arkell (01:08:17):
They're amazing. You can do anything with it. Yeah. Like, , it's like, and that's what we want. Yeah. And so part of our promise to the folks that we're working with on the charity side is - mm-hmm. We're gonna promote you over here. And then, like, with Golden Scoop, we're gonna have their ice cream in our -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:08:28):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:08:28):
In our arena and in the theme [01:08:30] parks and stuff like that. Like -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:08:31):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:08:31):
We want this to be an opportunity and when, you know, when everybody wins - mm-hmm. Things work out pretty good.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:08:37):
Right.
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James Arkell (01:08:37):
And so one of the things we're just unbelievably lucky to have in this project are great partners.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:08:43):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:08:43):
Great partners. The city, the county, the state.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:08:46):
So you're also working with - Our private partners. Like Children's
James Arkell (01:08:49):
LC. Oh, , University of Kansas
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:08:50):
Health
James Arkell (01:08:50):
System. Children's, , you know, I, I can't, I mean, there's just Kids TLC, Variety KC, like all of them. There's
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:08:58):
So many of
James Arkell (01:08:58):
Them, yeah. I've started, , I've said, like, [01:09:00] just why don't you name someone and if we're not working with them,
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:09:03):
I'll
James Arkell (01:09:03):
Tell you. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:09:03):
You know? So, okay. I, it kinda reminds me of, like, hopefully this is a good comparison, but, like, the KC Current, we're the first in the world to b- build - mm-hmm. The stadium for dedicated to women. Uh Huh. This is gonna be the second amusement park or city within a city in the world. Is that right? Or in the US? Yeah, this is
James Arkell (01:09:19):
The only one.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:09:20):
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So, like, that is gona be such kind of, like, history-making - mm-hmm. Legacy making. People will find you guys and come to Kansas City for another reason that because
James Arkell (01:09:30):
[01:09:30] Of the population around world. There a lot of medical tourism. Yeah. There'll be a lot of people coming. Well, and also, this isn't just built for, you know... These are very complicated projects. Yeah. Because the problem with most, , a few people around here who have built them have f- found out the hard way, but -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:09:45):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:09:46):
Monday through Thursday, they're empty.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:09:48):
Yeah. Thursday
James Arkell (01:09:48):
Through Sunday, they're, you know - mm-hmm.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:09:50):
You,
James Arkell (01:09:50):
You've got to be able to keep it full all the time.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:09:52):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:09:52):
And so, with the sports that we're bringing for the arena, we have hockey, cheer, gymnastics, dance -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:09:59):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (01:09:59):
You know, [01:10:00] underserved sports that are very popular, that are very expensive, that have unbelievable needs and they're not being met, right? And so - And
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:10:07):
If you are not a parent and you don't know the demand of these sports - And lucky you. Then you become a parent someday you will learn. Yes. And, and you will,
James Arkell (01:10:14):
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And you will thank you. The
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:10:15):
World of cheer and everything else. Oh my gosh. We're not even in that one, but
James Arkell (01:10:18):
That's - No, I, I, , I have built this basically for families like ours. Yeah. Because we do, you know, my kids do sports. Yeah. They travel. Yeah. You know, we're trying to make it as comfortable for po - as possible for everybody, but also the, [01:10:30] the sports we picked, they all have a counterpart with all abilities, right?
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:10:35):
Yeah. So
James Arkell (01:10:35):
Cheer has cheer ability where they're not separating the people, they're bringing all abilities together.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:10:40):
Okay.
James Arkell (01:10:40):
And same thing with hockey. Yep.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:10:42):
So
James Arkell (01:10:42):
USA Hockey, we mentioned that the... USA Hockey controls all hockey in America.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:10:46):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:10:46):
All of it. Okay.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:10:47):
They,
James Arkell (01:10:47):
If you don't have a hockey number, you can't play. Okay.That's it. Mm-Hmm. , so they... We were just down in Dallas for the, , world... Or not the world, sorry, the, the US National Sled Hockey Championships.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:11:00):
[01:11:00] Okay.
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James Arkell (01:11:00):
And they had the Paralympic men's gold sled hockey team.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:11:03):
Mm-Hmm.
James Arkell (01:11:04):
They won the gold,
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:11:04):
Right?
James Arkell (01:11:05):
Yeah. It was amazing. I
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:11:06):
Bet. It
James Arkell (01:11:06):
Was unbelievable. So they've already promised us 30 days of - Amazing. Sled hockey, blind hockey - Yep. On top of all the other things. So what we're gonna have over there are a million unique visitors a year -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:11:18):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:11:18):
Coming and going from all over the country -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:11:20):
That's huge. That
James Arkell (01:11:21):
Are in for these, not for the disability piece - mm-hmm. But for the, , convenience of the youth sports, right? Yeah. They're, we've got people begging to book this thing. I bet. Because they've [01:11:30] seen the plans, they know that we've designed it intentionally -
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:11:33):
Yeah.
James Arkell (01:11:33):
For families, for these events, for hockey, for the different things. Mm-Hmm. As well as the amenities around it. We wanted it to be walkable. We wanted to encourage people to be outside. Yeah. So we, we check all those boxes and because of that, we're gonna be bringing a, you know, , , this whole... I don't even know how to describe it, but this cornucopia of... That's a horrible word. Such a good word. I know,