Deb Johns – Founder and Creative Director SCOUT Bags

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Deb Johns on Vogue experience with Tiffany’s then Design Director John Loring ~

“. . . you learned every day. We used to have a Tuesday speaker come in. John Loring came in from Tiffany. And the best line I ever heard was he said he was standing at the front of Tiffany greeting customers and a little boy and his mom walked in and he had an FAO Schwartz bag. And he looked out at the broad floor of Tiffany with all the lights and blue boxes and he said, “Mommy, what is this?” And she said, “It’s Mommy’s FAO Schwartz.” And so that was a moment in his life. He said it defined the importance of his brand.”

Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town. And I have a new guest and she’s not really my guest, she’s the guest of the Bubes family.
Deb Johns: I’ll take it.
Andy Ockershausen: That ain’t bad. We know that. But Deb Johns is an inventor,
a designer, a wonderful, wonderful part of Our Town. And I’m so glad she moved her business here. And Deb is a designer. And Deb, the founder of SCOUT bags.
Deb Johns: SCOUT bags.
Andy Ockershausen: What a great reputation to women. They all know what I’m saying. I did not know. Now I know.
Deb Johns: Yeah, and if they don’t, they do now, right? Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: Now I know because you’re gorgeous and I remember that.
Deb Johns: Thank you.
Andy Ockershausen: That’s important. Believe me.
Deb Johns: Thank you.
Andy Ockershausen: When you go around selling. So Deb, you moved … But you were in business in New York.
Deb Johns: I was.
Andy Ockershausen: You worked at Vogue.

The New York Experience – Vogue Glory Days

Deb Johns: Yes, yes.
Andy Ockershausen: Were they the glory days of Vogue? I guess they’re still glory days.
Deb Johns: You know, it really was the “devil wears Prada”. In fact, my days at Vogue were in the late ’70s, early ’80s when it was such an era of surplus, of enormity, of just vision and creativity.
Andy Ockershausen: Wow.
Deb Johns: What a great place to be in that time. I think I was in New York City the day disco died but I was at the discos until they died. We were club kids, we were running around, we were learning the business. And I had the benefit of really meeting some of the most iconic designers and influencers in those days in the business.
Andy Ockershausen: I know exactly what you’re saying, how important that is. But did you grow up in the city?
Deb Johns: I did not. I am a mutt. I’m a true mutt. I grew up all over the country, west coast, east coast, northeast.
Andy Ockershausen: Military?
Deb Johns: No, my father was with a big corporation and instead of leaving us all week and going on the road he said, “Let me just move them every couple of years,” which, frankly, I think made us really adaptable.
Andy Ockershausen: Oh, I’m sure it did.
Deb Johns: Yeah, very adaptable.
Andy Ockershausen: A wonderful life, huh?
Deb Johns: Yeah, yeah. And I feel very comfortable anywhere I go.
Andy Ockershausen: Well, how’d you end up in New York?

Cornell University – Design School

Deb Johns: I ended up in New York, went to Cornell University, majored in design and textiles. It was really very much by plan.
Andy Ockershausen: That’s one of the world famous design schools – Cornell.
Deb Johns: It’s great. Great design school. Spent a semester in-
Andy Ockershausen: Tough winters but great school.
Deb Johns: Yeah, if you can get through that snow with your high boots on. But I did have a-
Andy Ockershausen: I remember looking at a map and I don’t think that New York State has been without snow since November.
Deb Johns: I don’t think so. And the city too.
Andy Ockershausen: What a rough winter.
Deb Johns: It’s been a touch one. I have a son up there and-
Andy Ockershausen: Where’s he going?

AOL – Jim Kimsey

Deb Johns: He actually went to Michigan and works for AOL. He’s an interviewer, a media guy for AOL.
Andy Ockershausen: Wow.
Deb Johns: So he does a lot of on-camera interviews.
Andy Ockershausen: We know that name quite well.
Deb Johns: Yeah, exactly.
Andy Ockershausen: That’s a Washington grown business.
Deb Johns: Exactly, exactly.
Andy Ockershausen: And I knew Jim Kimsey and all those guys when they got things started. And Kimsey owned a bar here and he used to tell people in the bar, friends and so forth, “You should buy stock in this company.” I forget the name of it. It wasn’t AOL. They started with another name. And anybody that paid attention to him became very wealthy.
Deb Johns: No question. He’s the man. He knows an awful lot about the world and business.
Andy Ockershausen: Oh my god, did they make that AOL something. World class. But not as world class as your bags.
Deb Johns: Oh, thank you.
Andy Ockershausen: It’s true.
Deb Johns: Thank you.
Andy Ockershausen: You’re better known. AOL has lost a lot of clients, you know that.
Deb Johns: Yeah, but I think merging with Verizon and Yahoo, they’ve definitely built back up a little bit.
Andy Ockershausen: Oh yeah.
Deb Johns: So it’s exciting.
Andy Ockershausen: Yeah. Now the years, when you’re talking about your years in New York, I can relate to that because there were years in the broadcast business where agency people and names like Benton and Bowles and BBD&O, people in the broadcast business, was a time. It doesn’t exist anymore.

Opportunities at Vogue

Deb Johns: It doesn’t exist anymore. And at Vogue, there was actually opportunity to do things that didn’t make the company any money but gave them more influence in the world of fashion. So I went to a breakfast one day and sat down, a table for 10 people with Oscar de la Renta, Donna Karan, Bill Blass, Geoffrey Beene, Perry Ellis, and I literally was stunned.
Andy Ockershausen: Oh my.
Deb Johns: And I sort of sat there and Geoffrey Beene leaned in and he said, “Just listen. Just listen.” And it was a gift. And every day at that place with those iconic names …
Andy Ockershausen: Oh my.
Deb Johns: … was you learned every day. We used to have a Tuesday speaker come in. John Loring came in from Tiffany. And the best line I ever heard was he said he was standing at the front of Tiffany greeting customers and a little boy and his mom walked in and he had an FAO Schwartz bag. And he looked out at the broad floor of Tiffany with all the lights and blue boxes and he said, “Mommy, what is this?” And she said, “It’s Mommy’s FAO Schwartz.” And so that was a moment in his life.
Andy Ockershausen: Oh my god.
Deb Johns: He said it defined the importance of his brand.
Andy Ockershausen: These great, great names, and I’m sure the foreign names were just getting known around the world too.
Deb Johns: Totally.
Andy Ockershausen: With the crazy clothes they were designing and so forth.
Deb Johns: Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: And the “Devil Wore Prada”, that was a great show. I think that was one of her best roles I ever saw her take.
Deb Johns: She was really …
Andy Ockershausen: She got into it, didn’t she?
Deb Johns: My boss was Grace Mirabella and she looked like Grace but acted like Anna.
Andy Ockershausen: Yeah.
Deb Johns: So I think she fused these two iconic editors.
Andy Ockershausen: Meryl Streep did it.
Deb Johns: She can do anything.
Andy Ockershausen: I think that’s the best role she ever played.
Deb Johns: I can just watch her sitting in a chair and be fascinated.
Andy Ockershausen: So can I.
Deb Johns: Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: Yeah, even though you know what’s coming, Meryl Streep played that role very well.
Deb Johns: No question, no question.
Andy Ockershausen: So Deb, how did you meet Mr. Johns? Now was he in your rag business?

Ben Johns

Deb Johns: I will tell you the short version. He purchased a company down in Virginia that made rural mailboxes. It was artwork, country artwork from this beautiful artist.
Andy Ockershausen: Mailboxes?
Deb Johns: And he was in the middle of business school. He was a tennis pro. And another tennis pro and he bought this business. They were in New York for their first show and we were at the same party. And he basically got me to stay at the party for a little while.
Andy Ockershausen: He chased you.
Deb Johns: Gave me a call and we dated long distance for five years.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Wow.
Deb Johns: Got married, lived apart for 15, except on the weekends because he was still growing his business and I was in New York and DC at that time.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Wow.
Deb Johns: He’s a DC boy.
Andy Ockershausen: Was he a native of DC?
Deb Johns: He’s Alexandria.
Andy Ockershausen: Wow!
Deb Johns: It was easy to come back here.
Andy Ockershausen: Where was he doing the tennis?
Deb Johns: He was doing the tennis at the Homestead Resort in-
Andy Ockershausen: Oh my god, that’s way down there.
Deb Johns: Yeah, yeah. And he also was doing it in Tennessee, in Memphis, and getting his business degree. And he had an opportunity to buy this small company. And they grew it from I think 30 some employees to hundreds.
Andy Ockershausen: Wow!
Deb Johns: And sold it to Burlington Industries. And then he was-
Andy Ockershausen: Is he still in the mailbox business . . .?
Deb Johns: No. No, they I think phased it out. But for a long time it was very successful. And he was looking for some other product-based business to get into. And Washington is not really known for product-based businesses.
Andy Ockershausen: No. There’s no business here.

Why Scout?

Deb Johns: We’re a service town and that kind of thing. And so he knew I had the design background, he had the manufacturing background and we wanted to name our first daughter Scout after “To Kill a Mockingbird”, my favorite character of all time. But Demi Moore beat me to it. She named her kid Scout.
Andy Ockershausen: There’s a controversy going on now with “To Kill a Mockingbird”.
Deb Johns: Really?
Andy Ockershausen: I’m reading it in the Wall Street Journal about. . ..
Deb Johns: What’s happening?
Andy Ockershausen: Well they . . . another book she put out.
Deb Johns: Right, that wasn’t officially published. Right, right.
Andy Ockershausen: But every time I think I see a Gregory Peck … That was his best thing he ever did I think.
Deb Johns: Remarkable. Remarkable. But Scout was my hero in that movie.
Andy Ockershausen: Oh, it was a great little girl.
Deb Johns: Adorable. So we named our dog Scout.
Andy Ockershausen: I don’t know what her name was but she was . .
Deb Johns: I have no idea. Did she go on to do anything else?
Andy Ockershausen: Scout. Isn’t that a great name?
Deb Johns: Scout. It’s the best name.
Andy Ockershausen: Do you remember “To Kill a Mockingbird”?
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Oh yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: Go back and read it again.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: What was her name? Harper Lee?
Andy Ockershausen: Harper Lee.
Deb Johns: Harper Lee created it.
Andy Ockershausen: Yeah.
Deb Johns: But the girl that played Scout.
Andy Ockershausen: In the movie.
Deb Johns: So instead of naming our daughter Scout, we named our dog Scout. And so-
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: What’d you name your daughter?
Deb Johns: Gussy.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Gussy?
Deb Johns: Yeah. The boys named her. After three boys, we were kind of like, “Oh, we’re going to have another boy for sure.” And they had met some funny little girl and her name was Gussy and there you go.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: What a cute name.
Deb Johns: Well, she’s tough enough, you know? After those boys.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: What’s your boy’s names?
Deb Johns: Tucker, Bo and Gibson.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Great names.
Deb Johns: Yeah, thank you. Thank you.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Great names.
Deb Johns: Appreciate that, yeah. They’re good kids.
Andy Ockershausen: Well, Lizzie told me that SCOUT’s named after your dog. No, SCOUT was named after the character in “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Deb Johns: But then was my dog.
Andy Ockershausen: Yeah, and then you-
Deb Johns: And then when the dog had this-
Andy Ockershausen: I love the name.

Why Dachshunds?

Deb Johns: And dachshunds have crazy personalities. And if you look up the creative and nutty people that have had dachshunds, it is a notorious list. Really. Look at it. It’s a lot of people you would recognize.
Andy Ockershausen: Yeah . . .
Deb Johns: Artists, musicians, writers. And so we thought the dachshund-
Andy Ockershausen: . . . that’s a great tip.
Deb Johns: Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: We have a friend that had five dachsies and I couldn’t tell them apart.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Charlotte Barnett, yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: Yeah, five . . . five dachshunds.
Deb Johns: I grew up with them. I’m fourth generation dachshund owner.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Wow.
Deb Johns: Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: Well, I want to talk to you about Ben Johns and where you went. But first we’re going to take a break here with delightful conversation here with Deb Johns.
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Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town. And having a wonderful conversation with Deb Johns about her family and her husband, a local guy, Episcopal High School. What a great thing for our community that they stayed here and he came back.
Deb Johns: Absolutely.
Andy Ockershausen: And brought you with him.
Deb Johns: And our daughter went to St. Stephen’s after he had gone to St. Stephen’s. And that’s pretty exciting, multi-generational, yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: Absolutely.
Deb Johns: Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: But your contacts are worldwide of course because of your business, your bag business.
Deb Johns: Yes, yes.
Andy Ockershausen: Now, is most of your business now becoming online like it’s happening to a lot of retailers?

SCOUT Bags | Retail Shops and Online

Deb Johns: You know, that’s a good question. We have retail placings in 49 out of 50 states. We’re working on Montana. It’s our last state.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Really?
Andy Ockershausen: Wow!
Deb Johns: I know, right? And we do a lot of business online with our own site. But we also do a tremendous amount on Amazon. And we do any kind of clearance or special programs on Zulily, which is another great platform for us. We gave QVC a shot for a minute. I actually went on air a couple of times. And I think they voted me out because I wouldn’t wear the makeup, but whatever. It was an experience. And I will say the more you navigate this world of design and the more you navigate the world of product, you’re constantly surprised at who appreciates what you do. You’re also surprised at who knows about you and maybe who never has met the product. And so when I go through an airport and I don’t see any of our bags, it’s actually exciting because I think, “I need to sell to all those people. They need to know who we are.”
Andy Ockershausen: Exactly.
Deb Johns: It’s not like you’re on an island with 10 people. There’s a lot of people in this country.
Andy Ockershausen: You’ve picked up some prospects there.
Deb Johns: Absolutely. So we have a-
Andy Ockershausen: 24/7.
Deb Johns: Yeah. We have a great team in Washington. We’re down in Cady’s Alley. We have three little buildings down there that we work out of.
Andy Ockershausen: Know it quite well.
Deb Johns: And we have probably 27, 28 mostly 20-somethings working with us creatively, on the business side, on the selling side, the marketing side. It is a tremendous team mostly of young women. I think my husband, the photographer now who’s fabulous is a guy, and there’s one other guy. So it’s quite the ratio, yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: Wow, that’s the way it should be, right?
Deb Johns: I guess, I guess so.
Andy Ockershausen: The guys don’t . . . You do make little packs for … Men used to carry-
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Fanny packs.
Andy Ockershausen: Like a fanny pack or something that he had. But now they got them for men to carry little purses, don’t they?
Deb Johns: Absolutely. Well, it depends on if you like the little purses or not. It’s one of those things.
Andy Ockershausen: The world has changed. My world would’ve never allowed that.

What’s in a Name? :: Fanny Pack Then, Belt Bag Now

Deb Johns: The world has changed. And the fanny pack has now become the belt bag. This is what the new nomenclature is for the fanny pack. I’ve worn a Prada one for 30 years, every day of my life.
Andy Ockershausen: Have you really?
Deb Johns: Yeah. And it’s attached to the knot on top of my head. So it’s kind of one package right here.
Andy Ockershausen: Deb.
Deb Johns: But the truth is we really feel like modern women are moving all the time. They are on the move, they’re working, they’re raising families, they are exercising.
Andy Ockershausen: A lot of charity work.
Deb Johns: They’re going to the grocery store, they’re doing charitable work, they’re traveling. And you have stuff. So what are you going to put it in? And we said, “You know what? Let’s create product that has real usability, that’s lightweight to begin with.” My big thing is make it as light as possible so that when you put all your heavy stuff in it, you’re not doubling the weight. And then, the other thing we like is compactability. You can throw it in your car, at the bottom of your suitcase, and you’ve always got that extra great bag. The other great thing is, because we design new patterns every season, you can pick it out of a crowd. So that’s kind of fun too.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Yeah, yeah.
Deb Johns: Great for the beach.
Andy Ockershausen: It’s better than Coach that sells the same thing every year.
Deb Johns: Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: There’s no difference in anything.

SCOUT Bags :: Collectibles

Deb Johns: There’s no difference. And it’s collectible, obviously.
Andy Ockershausen: Right.
Deb Johns: Those luxury brands are collectable. But what we see is that we now have wonderful following of people that, let’s say they love navy blue, they want the next navy blue pattern from us so they can expand on their SCOUT collection. We’re also finding that now we’re multi-generational. The girls whose mothers bought for them in the beginning are now mothers themselves buying, because we’ve been around for 14 years.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: No kidding.
Andy Ockershausen: For their children.
Deb Johns: Buying for their children. So what’s really fun is to see everybody identify with some aspect of our SCOUT bags.
Andy Ockershausen: You’re breeding customers.
Deb Johns: We are. Hello? Not a bad idea, right?
Andy Ockershausen: No. It’s wonderful.
Deb Johns: Exactly.
Andy Ockershausen: That’s great Deb.
Deb Johns: Yeah, yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: Your years in New York with Vanity and at Variety and everything you did in New York, it must have been a great thing for a young woman.
Deb Johns: It was. When I ask the girls in my office to define their 20s, give me a word, give me an adjective, and they were saying developing, evolving, growing. I said, “Mine was thrilling.” Literally my 20s were the wild west.
Andy Ockershausen: Excitement.
Deb Johns: And truly New York was going through a huge change.
Andy Ockershausen: John Lindsay, right?

Deb Johns on Design

Deb Johns: Yeah, and it was a city where there were places you didn’t walk as a young woman, and we did anyway because the grit of the city, the originality of the city, the electricity. It’s like someone takes the plug … That’s my spa. If someone says, “Where do you go to relax?” I go to New York because I love the visual assault, I love the activity. There’s always something original. And what we know about design, and this is important, is design starts at the bottom and the top and meets in the middle. So what I learned very early at Vogue was everybody paid attention to what are the kids wearing in the street. What are they doing with very little money but a lot of creativity? And then what are the big guns doing at the top with lots of money and lots of beautiful materials? And somehow that fusion of high and low-
Andy Ockershausen: Melding, getting them together.
Deb Johns: Comes together. And so what we pay attention to in the world of design is how do we take the best of both of those worlds and make them become our product?
Andy Ockershausen: It used to be in design, I’m not sure it was in clothing or in your accessories world, but the design moved from west to east. That was true with automobiles I know.
Deb Johns: Uh huh.
Andy Ockershausen: Is that true with fashion, men’s fashion?
Deb Johns: I would say now because we’re into a period of athleisure, we’re really talking about mobility and about athletic influence on clothing. And probably the biggest change I’ve seen is when you walk through really high-end shoe departments in the luxury brand department stores, half of their shoes now are athletic-inspired shoes that the big guns are doing?
Andy Ockershausen: Half? I’m wearing them.
Deb Johns: Right? Yeah, we’ve all got them on.
Andy Ockershausen: You’re wearing them.
Deb Johns: And I’m wearing Adidas but Chanel’s charging $600 for the same pair.
Andy Ockershausen: Sure.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Wow.

Californians

Deb Johns: The point is what we’re seeing is California has always been outdoors, athletic, mobile.
Andy Ockershausen: Right.
Deb Johns: Although it makes me laugh in LA that no one walks anywhere so it’s kind of ha-ha, yeah okay, whatever. East coasters, we walk, right? But at the end of the day, there’s something about the influence of the casual, of the mobile, of the easy, relaxed that comes west to east. However, on the east we have a little bit more grit. We have a little bit more edge.
Andy Ockershausen: A little more substantial.
Deb Johns: Exactly. So something comes together and I think we get the best of fashion.
Andy Ockershausen: Well that’s your business of course.
Deb Johns: Absolutely.
Andy Ockershausen: You’ve conquered it.
Deb Johns: Well, we try. We’re getting there.
Andy Ockershausen: Now, do you adapt to the west coast?
Deb Johns: You know, that’s our last frontier. We really feel like we are not heavily into California yet because what I came away feeling, I was just in San Francisco and LA, that California is softer edge and we’re harder edge. And we are looking to develop product that may be more appropriate for the California, say, surf market or their beach market. It’s different than our beach look.
Andy Ockershausen: Absolutely. Completely different.

Design :: Regional Differences

Deb Johns: So we’re trying to pay attention to more regional differences. We’re doing destination patterns. So let’s say someone has a lot of our product and they want to do a design that looks like the Cape. We’ve done those designs for them. And that’ll be an indigenous pattern to them.
Andy Ockershausen: For the Cape, I like that. I like that.
Deb Johns: The Cape or we did one for Annapolis.
Andy Ockershausen: Martha’s Vineyard you could do.
Deb Johns: Yeah, absolutely. And people love to come …
Andy Ockershausen: Absolutely.
Deb Johns: … and they can get a SCOUT bag with that pattern on it, which is kind of a great collectable piece, yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: SCOUT.
Deb Johns: SCOUT.
Andy Ockershausen: Now, have you ever had any alliance with the … Not alliance but any relationship, intercourse with the Boy Scouts of America?

New Alliance with Boys Scouts of America

Deb Johns: Do you know it’s funny you ask. My husband just got a call from them because now they have girls that can join the Boy Scouts.
Andy Ockershausen: Isn’t that great?
Deb Johns: And so they now want to put us in all of their stores.
Andy Ockershausen: It’s what’s going to make the Boy Scouts attractive again.
Deb Johns: Well …
Andy Ockershausen: Bringing in the girls.
Deb Johns: Bringing in the girls, exactly.
Andy Ockershausen: I love it.
Deb Johns: So there is an opportunity there potentially to work with the Scout troops, which I think is a wonderful organization. It gives kids a foundation, it gives a place to be. I actually used to coach swimming at at boy’s club. I think a lot of young people are looking for something to attach to, to belong to. And they’ve done a great job through the generations. So we’d love to do something with them.
Andy Ockershausen: Oh well, it’d be great for you.
Deb Johns: And use SCOUT with Scout.
Andy Ockershausen: Absolutely.
Deb Johns: Absolutely. Why not?
Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and Deb blows my mind, like they said you were going to. We’re having a wonderful conversation. We’ll be right back.
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Announcer: You’re listening to Our Town with Andy Ockershausen. Brought to you by Best Bark Communications.
Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen. I’m having a wonderful conversation with a young lady, and I mean that sincerely Deb, you’re young babe. I never heard of her business until my wife introduced me to SCOUT bags. But she has conquered. And now she and her husband, they’re a big, important part of Our Town. And we’re so glad that you’re here.
Deb Johns: Well thank you. We’re happy to be here. We really are.
Andy Ockershausen: There’s not that much creativity and manufacturing in Our Town.
Deb Johns: There isn’t.
Andy Ockershausen: But you mentioned Cady’s Alley.
Deb Johns: Yep.
Andy Ockershausen: I remember when it was really an alley.

Cady’s Alley | Creative Women and SCOUT bags

Deb Johns: It was really an alley. But we recently had a panel for creative women in business and we had a restaurant owner and we had a model agency owner and we had a club owner.
Andy Ockershausen: All Washingtonians?
Deb Johns: All Washingtonians. And so many women in Washington are looking for that creative edge. And I think we underestimate in Washington how women do want that here. I also still have private clients that I dress. I do their wardrobes. And these are sophisticated, influential women really who want to make change in the world. But they want to look good doing it. So why not …
Andy Ockershausen: Do you do bridal work too?
Deb Johns: I have done bridal work. I’ve done mothers of the bride and groom, and that was interesting.
Andy Ockershausen: Wow.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Lizzie wanted to point out that you also have charitable organizations.

The Go Bo Fund and Santa’s Helpers

Deb Johns: I do. I have two. We have an organization called the Go Bo Fund which was named after our son who went through cancer when he was 11. He is with us, 27 years old. And he has taken over the junior committee part of it. And we do a theme party every year. We’ve done tacky wedding, we’ve done a la-la land.
Andy Ockershausen: Tacky wedding . . .
Deb Johns: Tacky wedding. And we host it in our yard in Georgetown. And we usually get about 450 people.
Andy Ockershausen: No way. In the back yard?
Deb Johns: Yeah, in the back yard. And so that’s an-
Andy Ockershausen: You’re still in Georgetown?
Deb Johns: We’re still in Georgetown. And we do that for the pediatric oncology wing of Georgetown.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Wow.
Deb Johns: The Bubes’s were one of the very first families to support it and continue to support it. Even though Alan will sometimes say to me, “Are you going to do something . . .? What are you doing? What are you doing?” And then he shows up every year and he has a ball.
Andy Ockershausen: He’s on the golf course . . .
Deb Johns: Of course, of course. He’s fabulous.
Andy Ockershausen: Because that’s his life.
Deb Johns: Fabulous. But he and Nancy have been huge supporters. And then we also do a charity for underserved families in Washington called Santa’s Helpers.
Andy Ockershausen: I’ve heard of them.
Deb Johns: Alan and Nancy, again, have been very, very involved. And it was really a grassroots effort that I started now 25 years ago standing at the steps of Little Folks School with postal letters that came addressed to Santa.
Andy Ockershausen: Yeah, that’s wonderful Deb.
Deb Johns: And so we continue to do that. And until the problem is not there, we will continue to do it. Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: Well, I’ve preached this for … I’ve been in the radio business for so long. But for 60 years I’ve preached the fact when you give to charities you get back so much more than you give.
Deb Johns: Completely.
Andy Ockershausen: The rewards are unbelievable.
Deb Johns: Completely.
Andy Ockershausen: We’re involved with Don Bosco Cristo Rey, Police Boys and Girls Club. I can’t tell you what we’re not involved in, because it works.
Deb Johns: It does work. And I think the thing is our bags now have become great vehicles.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Oh yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: Oh my.
Deb Johns: When we give at Christmas, we put all of the stuff in the bags because many of these folks are moving around somewhat. They might be in short-term housing, they might be moving into … And they need something to contain their things. And we really feel strongly that our bags are for everyone.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: That point, the Parkland down in Florida, what happened to those kids, are going to be changing how kids use their backpacks.
Deb Johns: Yes.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: And I understand that they’re going to be doing clear backpacks now.

Clear Backpacks

Deb Johns: Yes. We’ve done one small clear bag that was designed actually to put your cellphone in for the beach. And you could actually use the phone panel through the clear.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Oh, that’s great.
Deb Johns: And so people could throw it into their backpack, it just came out this spring/summer, and easily see what is in it. But it is definitely moving, the luxury brands are moving in that direction.
Andy Ockershausen: Oh, they’ll have to be.
Deb Johns: It’s not going to be for every occasion, every minute.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Right.
Deb Johns: But I think we really have no choice at this point. We’ve come to a critical juncture where it’s important to protect these kids. It’s important to protect people in mass situations.
Andy Ockershausen: You’re so right.
Deb Johns: And, other than getting rid of the semiautomatic guns, which hello? We need to see what’s in people’s belongings.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Right.
Deb Johns: It’s just very important.
Andy Ockershausen: Well I used to take great … I don’t have to do it anymore but they’d say when in a certain age you didn’t have to take off your shoes at the airport.
Deb Johns: Right.
Andy Ockershausen: I said, “Well you mean when you get old you can carry a bomb?”
Deb Johns: Exactly.
Andy Ockershausen: Why? Why at 60?
Deb Johns: Crazy.
Andy Ockershausen: Everybody takes their shoes or nobody takes their shoes.
Deb Johns: I think they’re afraid you can’t bend down to retie them. That’s getting harder and harder. I’ll tell you what. That’s probably it. It’s like, “Wait, we’re going to have like a traffic jam here,” right?
Andy Ockershausen: That’s why I love the travel. Would you mind tying . . .?
Deb Johns: Yeah, of course, of course. Why not?
Andy Ockershausen: She’s my . . .
Deb Johns: Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: Deb Johns, you are a fountain of information. We’re so delighted we’ve had this conversation. And believe me, your podcast is going to be there for a long time and we will … Liz is in charge of making sure we get full distribution to … How many outlets we’re on? 22 or 26 websites, aren’t we?
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Yeah, and we have about 60,000 subscribers and we’re only a year and a half old.
Deb Johns: Well you should be really proud of this too.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Yeah.
Deb Johns: This is exciting and it’s really-
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Oral history, yeah.
Deb Johns: It’s fantastic. It’s a great, great effort. It’s been a delightful time.
Andy Ockershausen: Well it’s broadcasting without transmission.
Deb Johns: Love it. We’re still here.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Yeah Deb, could you give us our website for those listeners who want to jump on and see what your product looks like?
Deb Johns: We are scoutbags.com. Just one word, scoutbags.com
Andy Ockershausen: Scoutbags, B-A-G-S?
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: And they can come down to Georgetown and to-
Deb Johns: Well, they can come down to Georgetown. We have a showroom there. We do sell in a variety of places around the District and around the country. So please visit us one way or another.
Andy Ockershausen: I love it.
Deb Johns: Yeah.
Andy Ockershausen: All around town for all around bags. You got anything else boss?
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: No, just what a delightful, high-energy, interesting conversation.
Deb Johns: Thank you. Lots of caffeine.
Andy Ockershausen: Whatever happened to the great Episcopal High School tennis teams? I haven’t seen them recently? But I grew up in Alexandria. I had another life and I lived in Alexandria and know what they did, who built that football stadium is as good as any college . . . .
Deb Johns: Absolutely. Well Hank Harris I think is still the coach there.
Andy Ockershausen: Is that right?
Deb Johns: He’s a great guy.
Andy Ockershausen: Wonderful.
Deb Johns: He’s a close bud of John McEnroes.
Andy Ockershausen: Oh my god.
Deb Johns: Yeah, he plays great tennis and he’s led those kids fearlessly. So yeah, they’ve got a good leader.
Andy Ockershausen: I love the school.
Deb Johns: It’s a beautiful school.
Andy Ockershausen: Well Deb Johns, I just love taking to you and listening to you and I’ll never quit. And we wish you nothing but the best. And we’ll follow SCOUT all the way.
Deb Johns: Thank you so much.
Janice Iacona Ockershausen: I’m going to come to your store and buy some.
Deb Johns: Fantastic.
Andy Ockershausen: Okay, she’s a customer.
Deb Johns: Thanks.
Andy Ockershausen: You don’t have to worry about the Bubes’s, they spend money anyway. Thank you Deb Johns and thank you to SCOUT Bags.
Deb Johns: Thank you.
Andy Ockershausen: Andy Ockershausen, this has been Our Town.
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