Why To Love The Ricky Partners

Besides giving us money, of course.

This week marked the final week of a fantastic run of Big Barker as a Ricky partner. Seven years is much longer than most of these relationships last, and we’re incredibly thankful to have made sure so many dogs are sleeping on good beds. It all started when original founder of the company Eric Shannon noted in a Philly Mag article he loved the pod, and said “Hinkie forever and always.”

Since then, Big Barker was obtained by a company named Jolly Pets. We love our friend Amanda over there, and are forever thankful for the partnership and will always believe in the product.

I thought it was a good time to give a quick snapshot of the current Ricky partners and why I think they’re so great, besides of course the fact that they pay us. We’ve had a lot of businesses offer to pay us, but we want it to be right for everyone, and these places are for sure that. In alphabetical order so nobody is offended:

Body Bio: We can’t give you the code here, you have to listen to the pod where they’re features to find the 20% off code. Sorry, those are the rules.

What I can tell you is that the people who run this company (shout out Mike, shout out Jess), actually know their shit and care about having products that help people. Not every product is for everyone, but there is real thought and science put into each one. It helps that Mike is a Ricky sicko, but it helps even more that they want to prevent you from being sickos. He’s also my personal “should I take this” guru.

E-Lyte has long been a savior product for me, but you should think about everything they’ve got.

Briggs Auction: The fact that Briggs is located in Delco is not specifically a selling point for what they do, I just think it’s awesome that we have a sponsor that is basically right across the street from Booth’s Corner.

I’ve always been an online auction guy. The great thing about Briggs is that when I go to those bigger sites for online auctions, I’m looking for something specific. When I go to Briggs, I’m looking for stuff I didn’t know I wanted.

I’ve got vintage t-shirts, sneakers, art, and some cool old posters from Briggs. CJ’s got jackets a furniture. It’s worth checking out. Shit you didn’t know you needed till you saw it.

Anthony Degli Obizzi (Financial Planner): To be clear, Anthony is my financial planner. But also, he’s not the first person I’ve had do this.

He is however, the first person who has made me feel as comfortable and assured that my wife and I will be secure not just now (if something goes wrong), but in the future. He explains the things I don’t understand, listens to ideas, and gives me suggestions about what else to consider.

Anthony also isn’t one of those people who tells you you have to put away every cent (as a Disney adult, he can’t either), so he’ll find a way for you to have a life today, and secure in the future.

The best reason to have Anthony do this is so you make sure it’s taken care of, but you don’t have to do it yourself.

Draft Kings Sportsbook: DK is the presenting sponsor of the Ricky, which means you see their logo everywhere and hear their name everywhere. The Ricky got connected long ago to Draft Kings through a very strange character that basically tried to buy the Ricky (it didn’t happen), but at that point we met Ethan, who has believed in the pod for a long time. The specials at DK change all the time (right now it’s a free three months of League Pass and $300 in bonus bets if your $5 bet wins if you’re a new person with code RTRS), but overall just use them. They’re also down with stupid bet ideas we’ve had over the years, including but not limited to emotional hedge bets and Ben Simmons threes.

Ethos Support: I want you to think about your customer service experiences that you’ve had with companies that you’ve dealt with online or on the phone. Now how many of them frustrate you vs. the ones that make you feel good about the company? Now I want you to think about how you feel about the company when the latter happens. Good, right?

Ethos is a company that can help you put together a customer support team for your business that makes people feel that good way about you. Maybe you don’t have the time or resources to hire on your own, and you’re stuck with something that is automated (blah), unresponsive (BLAH) or non-existent (YUCK!). A human customer support team on chat, phone, email, social, whatever. Also, they can do it quick (2 weeks) and no contract.

They can also put together back of office teams for other departments as well. Blair, who is in charge, is a long time Ricky sicko.

Kornblau Law (the artist formerly known as Korblau & Kornblau): Adam Kornblau, longtime Ricky psycho and former camp counselor at Mike’s summer camp, was I believe the second ever Ricky sponsor.

From the first time I met him I could just tell how important to him what he did was. This isn’t the case for everyone who does every job, but it was to Adam about law and specifically personal injury.

What sold me on it was his passion for it, and his belief that you should be treated and dealt with like a person, not just someone to refer somewhere else. He’s excellent at his job and knows that if you’re reaching out to him, chances are things aren’t going great, and he’s sensitive to it.

Adam Ksebe: The official realtor of The Rick has been with us for a very long time and like Kornblau, is insanely passionate about what he does.

Ksebe’s primary focus is the Delaware and Maryland beaches, and if you’ve tried to buy a home there any time in the last five years you know it can be a time consuming and frustrating process. Ksebe is relentless though, and does a lot of the leg work and info-gathering so you can just buy the house.

He’s been great for Ricky listener who are looking to buy or sell in other states as well, as he’s got a very big network of people he deals with. Also, a true Ricky sicko.

LL Pavorsky Jewelers: What can we say about LL? It sounds insane to say that the Ricky would not be what it is without an advertising partner, but it is the truth with LL.

When nobody else wanted to, LL kept at us to advertise on the podcast. We were so fed up that at one point, we told him he could do it, but he had to just donate the money to charity.

LL became the prototype for who we want to do business with. Our community means a lot to us, so if we send you there, we want you to be treated great, and LL does that. Nearly 500 Ricky listeners are married or engaged (or I guess divorced maybe) with LL engagement rings.

Always a supporter of our charitable efforts, and always down for every road trip, LL is a true member of the pod.

MortgageCS: It’s funny, so many of the sponsors I’ve mentioned hopped on board because they were listeners. That is not the original case with MortgateCS.

Some years back, one of their employees heard on the podcast that we had room for a new partner, and basically stomped into Alec’s office and demanded we have a conversation about it. After Alec and Ben learned what we were about, and after I learned what they were about at a breakfast I believe at a Princeton diner, they became part of the family.

Since then, they’ve been a part of everything we’ve done, but more importantly put people at ease when they’re getting a mortgage or refinancing. They’re truly a step above everyone else in the space as far as personalized attention and service, as well as communication and just information. You know more after dealing with their team.

Stateside Vodka & Surfside Iced Tea & Vodka: Congrats to the folks at Stateside for 10 years of business, and man what a rocket ship.

Stateside hopped on as a Ricky sponsor during the pandemic when they were just making vodka and bourbon once a year. Clement is a Ricky psycho, and after a Zoom call, they signed on.

Since then, they’ve been an amazing partner, making the coolest Ricky vodka bottles in history, but also launching the most successful, fastest growing alcohol produce in Surfside. Their name is now on Stateside Live at the sports complex, at Dodger Stadium, in New York City, but they have not forgotten us, and we’re proud to be partners.