Humanizing the Firearm's Industry w/ Ari from PWS

Ari from Primary Weapon Systems and Lone Wolf joins State of the Second for a wide-ranging conversation about the human side of the firearms industry. Ari opens with a backstory he says he was once too ashamed to share. He dropped out of high school at 16 to help his family after his stepfather left and his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. He ran the family business importing goods from the Philippines, including garden gnomes and incense, sold around downtown Seattle, and built an early website on GeoCities. He rebounded and sold that business, then spent 11 years in technology and telecommunications, finishing as a senior business development manager who led teams of engineers building databases. His path into firearms started with shooting sports. A fishing friend introduced him to IDPA, he fell in love with it, won a state championship in his first year, became a club president and safety officer, and sat on a council board representing the shooting sports. He left a nearly six-figure tech salary to take a $10-an-hour job at Rainier Arms under owner John Huang, starting by cleaning toilets and answering customer emails at midnight. Over 12 to 13 years he became the company's buyer, worked with more than 400 brands, and built a reputation for cross promotion and for finding small up-and-coming companies in the dungeon, or basement, of SHOT Show. He helped launch TriggerCon, which grew from a parking-lot grand opening to a full convention, added a VIP party, and partnered with the PTSD Foundation. After a stint as director of strategy at Aero Precision and a layoff that came a few weeks after losing his mother, he was hired by Nate Treadaway to run marketing for Primary Weapons and Lone Wolf. The back half of the episode turns to humanizing gun owners. Ari talks about taking gymnastics parents and coaches to the range, teaching their kids proper mechanics with a suppressed .22, and proving to the City of Bellevue that firearms consumers are doctors, lawyers, fathers and mothers, not the caricature the media paints. He and the hosts agree that activism starts at home, that real change comes from educating the people around you rather than waiting for someone online to change minds, and that competition and innovation keep firearms accessible to first-time buyers. Ari also lays out the structural challenges of running a firearms business, from payment processors that drop you and banks that won't lend, to social media algorithms that bury your content, and why events and community have become the way the industry reaches its customers. Linkswww.primaryweapons.comQuestions this episode answers How did Ari get his start in business before entering the firearms industry? At 16 he dropped out of high school to run his family's import business after his stepfather left and his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, bringing in goods like garden gnomes and incense from the Philippines. He later sold it and spent 11 years in technology and telecommunications. Why did Ari leave a nearly six-figure tech career to take a $10-an-hour job at Rainier Arms? He had fallen in love with the shooting sports through IDPA and followed that passion into the industry, starting at the bottom under Rainier Arms owner John Huang by cleaning toilets and answering emails at midnight. Over 12 to 13 years he became the company's buyer and worked with more than 400 brands. How did TriggerCon begin, and how did it grow from a parking lot into a convention? Ari helped launch TriggerCon at Rainier Arms, where it started as a parking-lot grand opening and grew into a full convention. It later added a VIP party and partnered with the PTSD Foundation. What makes starting and marketing a firearms business harder than other businesses? Firearms companies face structural hurdles other businesses do not, including payment processors that drop them, banks that will not lend, and social media algorithms that bury their content. Those constraints have pushed the industry to rely on events and community to reach customers. How did Ari become senior director of marketing for Primary Weapons and Lone Wolf? After serving as director of strategy at Aero Precision and being laid off just weeks after losing his mother, he was hired by Nate Treadaway to run marketing for Primary Weapons and Lone Wolf. How can gun owners help humanize the firearms industry and educate the people around them? Ari brought gymnastics parents and coaches to the range and taught their kids proper mechanics with a suppressed .22, showing a city government that firearms consumers are doctors, lawyers, and parents, not a media caricature. He argues real change starts at home by educating the people around you. What three things does Ari point to as the foundation of business success? Ari frames it around people, product, and process. In the episode he ties that to relationships and service, noting that the kind of person you meet is the same person you will know ten years later. Why does Ari focus on small, up-and-coming companies in the dungeon of SHOT Show? As Rainier Arms' buyer he built a reputation for cross promotion and for finding small, up-and-coming brands in the dungeon, or basement, of SHOT Show. He sees competition and innovation as what keeps firearms accessible to first-time buyers. Chapters 00:00 — Welcome and introducing Ari 00:19 — Dropping out at 16 to help family 01:37 — The family import business and GeoCities 04:15 — Eleven years in technology 04:57 — Falling in love with shooting sports 06:16 — Starting at Rainier Arms for $10 an hour 10:13 — Cross promotion and finding up-and-coming brands 11:50 — How TriggerCon grew into a convention 14:46 — Aero Precision, a layoff, and losing his mom 15:47 — Joining Primary Weapons and Lone Wolf 17:20 — The godfather of cross promotion 19:40 — People, product, and process 22:41 — The biggest hurdles for gun startups 28:58 — Taking parents and kids to the range 33:04 — Activism starts at home 34:38 — Wrap up and where to find Primary Weapons About the guest Ari is the senior director of marketing for Primary Weapons and Lone Wolf, brands owned by a company led by Nate Treadaway, who acquired Primary Weapons. He dropped out of high school at 16 to help run his family's import business after his stepfather left and his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. He later spent 11 years in technology and telecommunications, finishing as a senior business development manager who led teams of engineers. He got into the firearms industry at Rainier Arms under owner John Huang, where over 12 to 13 years he became the company's buyer, worked with more than 400 brands, and helped start the firearms event TriggerCon. He also spent time as director of strategy at Aero Precision before joining Primary Weapons. He has been married for 23 years and has three children. He comes from a military family. Key quotes "I think of the people I love, I think of the people I serve, and I lose myself in that service." — Ari "I pride myself in the fact that the type of person you meet is probably the same person you're going to know ten years from now." — Ari "You can't pay machines with love and likes." — Ari "I think that we often forget that activism starts at home." — Kaylee "We're regular responsible Americans just out there with this want and need to control our security for our family." — Ari