Bro-Mods is a Goat Pen Original Podcast and part of the Pen Pods lineup.

It’s a show about Bros (loosely defined: anyone with the “I can build that” gene) and the things they create. Some builds are pure mods, some are full customs, some are glorious one-offs that only friends and family ever see… and some evolve into products the whole world recognizes.

One of the most legendary Bro-Mods? The original Weber Kettle.
George Stephen was working at Weber Bros. Iron Works, a company cranking out buoys, when he decided the backyard grill sucked. So he took buoy parts, chopped, tweaked, and experimented until his little backyard Bro-Mod became the Weber kettle we all know today.

That story hit home for me because my first “official” Bro-Mod used a Weber kettle too: I turned it into a propane-powered pizza oven that could crank out a true 18″ New York-style pie. At first I just called it “the Bro-Mod” because I needed some name.

Then I realized…
This wasn’t my first Bro-Mod.
I’ve been tinkering, modding, and building stuff my whole life—I just never called it anything.

Now I’m obsessed.

Bro-Mods is my excuse to:

• See what you are building

• Get inside the heads of people who can’t leave “stock” alone

• Push those projects out of the garage and into the world

Because if one guy with a chopped-up buoy can give us the Weber kettle, how many other great ideas are still sitting behind a dusty lawnmower?

What’s a “Bro-Mod”?

On this show, a Bro-Mod might be:

• A sketchy-but-brilliant hack that “shouldn’t work, but does”

• A backyard prototype that solves a real problem better than store-bought

• A custom build that could totally be a product… if someone pushed it

• A one-off rig that your friends keep saying, “Dude, you should sell that” about

Episode Vibes

Expect:

• Build stories, from napkin sketch to first test run

• Failures, near-misses, and “do NOT try this at home” lessons

• Tool talk, material hacks, and design shortcuts

• Conversations with builders who never quite outgrew the cardboard-and-duct-tape phase

Got a Bro-Mod?

If you:

• Make stuff

• Mod stuff

• Constantly “improve” perfectly good equipment

…I’d love to see what you’ve got and maybe feature it on Bro-Mods.

Bring your builds out of the garage. The world might need your next Bro-Mod.

• Opportunity and Networking:
  • I need guests - Would love to see and discuss your mods and builds. We can Go Live Together on TikTok. 
  • I'd love some co-hosts and guest hosts
  • If someone is interested in running with the idea, I'd consider FanChising it. 
  • I might just start going live on Tik Tok and taking walk-ins as guests. If you're interested in experimenting with tech and formats, reach out and let me know.