Today we’d like to introduce you to Charlie Andrews.
Hi Charlie, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Drums are my thing but my story is really about the people who inspired me to create this little shop.
Growing up, music was my Ebenezer. I started drumming when I was 10 and was fortunate to go to a school with a thriving arts program led by people who knew how to create a spirit of excellence and teamwork. This may sound like a mere perk, but for me, it was everything because I had some health difficulties that made it hard to find peace. Every kid has troubles and needs people and a place. That music community became my people, the drum throne my place, and drumming my peace. I am eternally grateful for that.
I became involved in as many opportunities as I could — jazz band, pep band, orchestra, private lessons. I also stayed busy gigging outside of school, eventually as the drummer for the student house band at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club. There I was exposed to exceptional drummers like John Von Ohlen who would sit and talk drums and gear with me like I was an old friend. That meant something to me — that the best took time to show me how to be a better drummer and person. I learned that drummers are some of the most humble, generous people on the planet. Maybe it’s because they know their role, which is to be both a leader and to serve from the background. Or maybe because drumming is so good for the body and soul. Either way, I learned to love drummers as much as drums and drumming.
This theme continued in college where I was a student of some humble giants. College also eventually took me to Nashville for an internship at Pearl Drums where I had the opportunity to learn about the business side of the industry under the leadership of more great drummers and receive a daily immersion in drum gear – a beautiful and progressive art form in its own right. That’s when I started to wonder if owning a drum shop could be a possibility but I listened to conventional wisdom about the death of retail and put it out of my mind.
While at another internship completely unrelated to drumming, I had a boss who had a passion for starting businesses and who encouraged me to see my drum shop dream through. A drummer himself, he saw an opportunity in the Cincinnati market and thought I was the person to fill it. He showed me how to develop a business plan and work with people in my network to learn and fill gaps. Still, it seemed too good to be true. When I graduated from college I initially took a “normal” job but kept remembering how Tim had said starting a business would stretch me and fulfill me. So, at 23 I took the plunge. My parents and family friends helped me transform a run down rental space in Mason, about halfway between Cincinnati and Dayton, to be a place with reverence for drum gear and people who play it.
Not the typical retail store, Badges Drum Shop is set up to feel like home to a drummer – with welcoming, acoustically-friendly rooms for exploring sounds…and with me there whenever the doors are open to match drummers with the drums, cymbals, and accessories that deliver the sounds they hear in their heads. Badges Drum Shop is also a place to learn and connect. I set up a pro-equipped lesson room where students of all levels can learn from pro teachers on pro instruments. We also have a hangout room where drummers can come play alone or to trade fours with another drummer. When public health permits, we also host group learning opportunities for the community in the form of clinics and masterclasses delivered by renowned drumming heroes. Bottom line, this shop is for me more than my livelihood but also a way to bring the drumming community together and celebrate the joy and healing of playing a beautiful instrument. A literal dream come true.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Owning Badges Drum Shop is both an absolute joy and harder than I expected.
I didn’t come into this business as a businessman. I came to it as a 23 year old drummer with a vision that included some business expectations.
I had set out to run a very authentic business and that makes the process of learning how to do everything both richer and harder. I had to learn how to brand my store as a drummer’s haven and then deliver, how to secure not just any suppliers but the product partnerships most valuable to my customers, how to how to market and sell authentically, how to manage cash flow without strangling growth, how to ship with quality but without losing my shirt, how to stay responsive to my customers both in the shop and on several online platforms, and how to set up all the online and in-store systems to make a quality experience possible. And because I want everything about this shop in the store and online to feel like home, every display and post and listing takes a little extra time and love.
I opened at the end of 2018 and was just starting to enjoy the fruits of my labors and the drumming community’s support when covid hit. That has been a whole new kind of struggle where it was completely unclear what the future would hold. I had just started paying myself consistently but stopped for the balance of 2020, just to make sure I could pay the shop bills and keep enough product here to serve my customers. It was worth it. I learned to do without like everyone else and connect to customers in a new way. Through loss of livelihood, illness, and uncertainties in their own lives the drumming community stuck right with me and I just feel so grateful to still be here. At least for now, Badges feels stronger and better.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Maybe it’s because I’m a creative sort and maybe it’s because I have a lot of faith, but I just never embraced the concept of a career path for someone who’s just starting to experience life. I worked hard as a young drummer and even as a student and as and employee, but not because I planned to be something bigger tomorrow than I needed to be today. Today’s challenges and opportunities always seemed big enough.
About the same time I landed that nice job right after college, my dad had a heart attack and that definitely impacted my view about what I should be doing at that moment. I had made a fine choice, but not one that leveraged what I was best at. My dad was a successful teacher and brought so much of himself to his work that he fought hard to get back to it. I wanted to feel like that about what I do – with my skills, my experience, my passion.
Most all my life, I was such a drum nerd; it’s what I focused on whenever I didn’t absolutely have to be doing something else. Besides the time I spent at practice and gigs, I spent hours listening to iconic drummers, looking at gear, trading gear, searching for perfect cymbals, and tuning drums and testing different heads to achieve perfect sound. I drove my supportive parents crazy with the quest, but now I use it every day to make every drum sound its best and recommend the right cymbals for every job. When someone comes into my shop looking for help, I can usually give it to them. I can be the matchmaker and problem solver that drummer needs.
I guess what I’m most proud about is the leap of faith. It’s really what we’re called to do every day – to step out at the risk of our comfort for something bigger or to meet someone else’s need. Badges Drum Shop is my little corner in which to do that.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Running a shop in a historic building with tiny openings to the outside, I frequently get birds that can’t find their way out. I have developed a talent for finding them and convincing them to jump in my hand so I can set them free.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@badgesdrumshop.com
- Website: badgesdrumshop.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/badgesdrumshop/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/badgesdrumshop
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/badgesdrumshop
