July 20, 2026

From Band to Booking Agency: Core Collective Talent Agency's Mission for Artists – Inkcarceration

From Band to Booking Agency: Core Collective Talent Agency's Mission for Artists – Inkcarceration

In this episode, Pipeman sits down with Michael Hayes and Katie Baxter of Core Collective Talent Agency. They dive into the journey of artist development, the importance of community in the music industry, insights from Incarceration Festival, and how Core Collective aims to elevate emerging bands. The discussion highlights the challenges and fulfillment of balancing artistry with management, and why healthy competition fuels growth.Main Topics Covered
  • The origin and mission of Core Collective Talent Agency
  • Artist development and booking philosophy
  • The music scene in Ohio and cultivating community
  • Stories and experiences from Incarceration Festival
  • The importance of artist-run management
  • How artists can connect and stand out to agencies
  • Perspectives on healthy competition in the industry
Key Discussions & StoriesCore Collective's Beginnings & Approach
  • Mikey Hayes shares how Core Collective was born from the challenge of finding representation for his band, Fight From Within, leading him to book their own tours and help friends do the same 03:17.
  • Katie Baxter emphasizes their holistic approach: combining booking, promotion, management, and press to support artists at every level 01:25.
Building Artists and Community
  • Core Collective focuses on developing artists as a stepping stone to greater opportunities—even if that means helping artists move on to bigger agencies 01:14.
  • Their motto: “artist for artist”—support is stronger when you’ve walked the same path 02:45.
Festival Highlights & Ohio Music Scene
  • Both Mikey Hayes and Katie Baxter praise the vibrant artist community in Ohio, sharing stories of collaboration and camaraderie at Incarceration Festival and other local venues 01:51, 05:05.
  • They shout out industry peers and highlight the festival’s support for up-and-coming acts like Veda from Vicar Blood 05:32.
Advice for Aspiring Artists
  • To reach out to agencies, artists need market demand and a team mentality—stand out by doing something different before expecting support Mikey Hayes 06:12.
  • Katie Baxter explains the importance of artist development and creating demand for yourself, but affirms their willingness to help those starting out 07:13.
Healthy Competition and Teamwork
  • Mikey Hayes encourages cooperative competition: “It does not have to be toxic… compete together” 07:44.
  • The group stresses picking each other up, focusing on positive, united growth within the community 08:24.
Notable Quotes
  • “Artist for artist. We definitely look at it that way.” – Katie Baxter 02:46
  • “You have to make sure that there’s something there where you can work as a team, because a lot of people want to get on the road and they don’t have a lot to offer.” – Mikey Hayes 06:54
  • “Everyone work together, build each other up.” – Katie Baxter 07:42
  • “This is a competition, but it does not have to be toxic.” – Mikey Hayes 07:52
Resources & Links Mentioned
  • Core Collective Talent Agency
  • Email for opportunities and inquiries via their website’s contact form 06:21
  • Bands mentioned:
    • Fight From Within
    • Young Mosh
    • Saving Vice
    • Aimpoint
    • Unsettled
    • Kings and Thieves
    • Vicar Blood
Connect with the Guests
Closing ThoughtThe episode wraps with a call for unity and positivity in the music industry—“If somebody falls, pick them up… that’s life” Mike Hayes 08:24—underscoring Core Collective’s ethos of collaborative growth.

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WEBVTT

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Hi, you have done to censure? Wow for you.

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Your This is the pipemin here on the Adventures Pipe

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Man W four c Y Radio and I'm here.

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With Mike Hays Katie Baxter. And so what do you

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guys do to get incarcerated? Uh?

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Well, I'm in a band called Fight from Within, but

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we also run a booking agency and management company called

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Core Collective Talent Agency.

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That's right. We are co owners and director of talent,

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director of operations, and.

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So tell us a little bit about it, and you know,

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like why listeners should check in to you.

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Yeah, I mean we have a lot of bands we started.

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Uh.

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We helped create the Incarceration Free Party this year.

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Uh.

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We outsourced victims from Dynamic Talent. And then we had

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some of our artists on Young Mosh Saving Vice that

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that aim point. They're not with us, but they came

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and played and they had a great time. A band

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we worked with, Unsettled, was on there as well. My

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guitarist Tim is also in another band called Kings and Thieves.

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They played it as well. It's down at the Warehouse

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tavern in Mansfield.

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It was really cool.

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Our main priority is really developing artists in any way

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that we can, so when it comes to booking, you know,

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helping get them out there as much as possible. On

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top of booking, my opinion, any good booking agent is

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also going to promote their bands. So that's part of

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it that along with some management, some press things like

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that we're working on being a full service you know operation.

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Over here cool and what and what's the artists seem

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like in this area here in Ohio is fire.

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There's so many good artists in Ohio. I mean, my

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band's from New York and our I think our main

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state is Ohio, which is kind of cool, but like

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there's tons of amazing artists around here for us. Uh yeah.

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But we were talking to a bunch of other agents

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that are here from other agencies and they see what

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we're doing too, and they're like, it's really dope because

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we do work with some smaller artists due so a

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lot of stuff that we do is kind of a

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stepping stone, you know, Like for me, if we're able

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to build somebody like a foundation and then all of

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a sudden, soundtown and was like these guys are doing

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really good and they wanted to grab them, I would

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feel like that we were there to build them to

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that point where they can go up to another level

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if we can't do it ourselves, and that's cool for me.

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That's I would want to see.

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That happen, you know what I mean absolutely, And being

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that you're an artist yourself, I'm a big believer that

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that's the person who should be handling artists.

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Yes, yes, artists for artists. We definitely look at it

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that way. You know, if a bigger opportunity comes and

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the company you're with isn't quite there yet, which you

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know is understandable, we want them to take that. It's

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just part of it, you know, It's part of growing well.

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And and who else knows what an artist goes through

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but an artist.

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So what made you get into this? What?

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What was that like spark that you decide this is

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what you need to do well?

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So, like I you know, when we started the band,

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I kind of went balls to the wall with the band, right,

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and uh, we worked really hard and it was not

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easy to get into like agencies like to find an agent, right,

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so so basically I had to become our own agent, right,

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make sure I'm booking for us, getting these other sparks,

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and then people were seeing what I was doing with

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my band and booking tours with support and all this

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other stuff. So the next thing I know, I got

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my homies and my friends that are artists. They're like, Yo, man,

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could you help us look book a tour? And I'm like, yeah, man,

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let's fucking do it right. So we would do that,

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and then I'd had other people reach out. I was like, yo,

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would you help build us a tour with these guys

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until an agency came to me, which was prison at

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the time. They do mostly wrap in EDM and one

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of the guys was like, hey, dude, I like, see

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what you're doing. Do you want a job like? So

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then I started working for them, and then it kind

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of just branched off into my own, our own.

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Thing nice And so what do you think about being

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here at the Incarceration?

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Oh?

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I love it.

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Incarceration is my favorite festival. We love Danny wember Presents

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in general. We love Dan Jensen. We have a great

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time every time. They treat everybody so good. When the

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shutdown happened yesterday, we saw dangents and walking through the

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halls giving out water, carrying people. We just love everyone

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here so much. All the fans too. So many friends

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were made here.

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Yeah, it's like a big family thing. Man. You know,

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this is my fourth year here in a row, right,

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just back chilling with everybody. Everybody recognizes us, We recognize everybody.

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We're all sitting down. It's a family incarceration. I love

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every DWP festival and they're all amazing. There's such a

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huge family vibe here.

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Though, no doubt, not evy community. Yeah you're not from here.

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You don't realize the community that they have here.

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Yeah exactly.

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Oh yeah, you got Dan and then you know, you

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got Dan, and then you got Nish that's always hanging

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out with everybody. And then you got Jay and the crew,

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and then you have I mean you got Ray uh

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and you know they do the Foundry and Mercury and

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Cleveland shout out to Ray. And then you have you

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have Chris just see Agora and shit like that. And

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we're always here every year, having drinks, getting to know

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each other, telling each other what we've been doing this year,

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having fun, dude seeing. And then you have Veda right

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from pick or Blood. So Veda's been Beda's been a

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person that's been here with with Dan, super supportive every

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time we played, she's backstage hanging out like watching us play.

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And this year I got to see her band play

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like the time I was. Me and her made it

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like a point to get up mad early and be like,

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we have to be backstage for Veda's band, and we

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made it.

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Incarceration supports growing artists and that's something that's so so

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important to us for our company with Core Collectively, so

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it means a lot.

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So how do people reach out to you? Connect to

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you on socials and find and hire you.

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Core Collective Talent on everything on Instagram, you can go

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to our website Core Collective Talent dot com. We're on Facebook.

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If you wanted to contact us and reach out for opportunities,

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you just have to send an email, you know. Just

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remember that like submission, you can get a lot of submissions,

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like every every agency, every email, the contactor or like

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inquiry pages right there are stocked, right, so just remember

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when you do reach out that like you're you're doing

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something different, like there you have some you have to

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before you even think about that, and like you want

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to get on the road, you got to create a market,

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right you have to make sure that there's something there

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where you can work as a team because a lot

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of people want to get on the road and they

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don't have a lot to offer, you know what I mean.

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You have to go out there and create people that

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are going to come out. When you're going to be

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a support for a band, you have to be able

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to support that band created.

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Yeah, exactly, create a demand for yourself. But we do

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work with artist development, so that's something we help with

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as well. But absolutely reach out. You know, we love

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to help in any way that we can so and

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we appreciate everyone reaching out.

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So absolutely.

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Is there anything else you want to tell the listeners

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about this that they need to know?

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Everybody listen to the pipe man all the time, all

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the time. It should be a regular rotation on every

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platform he's on.

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Well, thank you.

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Absolutely, and build together. Everybody work together, build each other out.

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Everybody work as a team. And remember, dude, remember no

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matter what the people say on the internet, this is

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a competition, but it does not have to be toxic.

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There's plenty of I've met some of my best friends

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at competing with each other, so don't take it the

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wrong way. Compete together.

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There's definitely healthy competition.

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There's nothing wrong with that being an asshole, that's a

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whole nother story.

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Exactly.

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It's a good driving factor, healthy competition.

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That's it.

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And you know what, let's just be all good to

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each other and united. And that's what this community is

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all about. And I'm glad you're helping the community to

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become more of that.

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If somebody falls, pick them up. And that's not just a.

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Pit exactly, that's life. That's light. You want to say

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anything about fight from within.

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No, we got some stuff coming soon. You'll hear from us.

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I don't need to I don't need to push them.

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They're doing their things.

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We're here.

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This is about This is about other people and talking

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about the agency a little bit. But I always always

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shout up my band, Oh.

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You know what I mean.

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See, that's what makes you a great company to deal with,

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and I think everybody should. So thanks for being here

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at adding and thanks for being on the events.

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A pipe many thanks for being a.

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Friend, due, thank you so much, Thanks for having us.

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Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pipement on

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W four c u I Radio. M HM