Trusting The Unknown

Say Yes to New Adventures

The Day that I turned 31 I realized that if something didn’t change I was going to lose everything… Here’s how I lost $45K in 2020 and ended up as a Celebrity Podcast Producer 2021

Over the past decade, I had WORKED to build a regional entertainment company that had become my primary source of income. When I say worked, I mean just that. Traveling from city to city, multiple shows per day, breaking down equipment at 2 am, kind of work. When the pandemic hit and the mountain of event cancellations piled up, I didn’t need to consult my accountant to understand that if we were going to make it we’d have to drain everything we saved and start over. This was October 2020, we had no idea when the world was going to open back up but I knew that even when it did, my business landscape had changed.

I accepted it, like REALLY accepted that I had lost $45K and that I now needed to figure out a plan to bring myself out of it.

Instead of panicking, applying for 200 jobs on LinkedIn and starting a GoFundMe I took some deep breaths and asked myself..

If I CHOSE to start over what would be the plan?

What have I always wanted? … RADIO

See, I grew up in Chicago listening to Tom Joyner, Doug Banks, George Wallace and Jeanne Sparrow. This is why I became a DJ and if I wanted ANYTHING I wanted that..

JACKPOT! I was already working at a radio station and had direct connections to put this plan into motion. There was just 1 problem, THE RADIO INDUSTRY is nothing like what it was when all of my radio idols were on air. Large syndicated networks dominate the airwaves and even if I did get on air I wouldn’t be making the kind of money that I wanted to make.

I meditated, read self-help books, journaled, talked to mentors and all roads lead to Podcasting.

So, BOOM the plan is Full-Time Podcaster….

I typed “Podcast” into LinkedIn for Indianapolis and 0 jobs came up, but there was 1 location with tons of opportunities, Los Angeles, CA 😳 Yes, 2,066 miles away from the place that I call home.

So I talked to my wife about the possibility of cutting our losses in Indianapolis and going for my dreams and she immediately was down for a cross country move. (Couldn’t ask for a better partner)

So we decided that we would spend Christmas with our Family and head west on December 26th. Yes we DECIDED, we weren’t sure of the specific plan but we knew that we’d celebrate New Years in a new city on our new journey.

We needed cash to make the move happen, and we would have to downsize to move back into an apartment so we started selling EVERYTHING in our house. Over the next 45 days we emptied our 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house to only what could fit in a 4x6 trailer that I hitched to my pickup truck.

I’m sure our families and friends didn’t believe us and then thought we were crazy but we didn’t care. We had done all that we were going to do in Indiana and were headed west.

We moved out of our house on Christmas Eve and trusted the unknown….

When we left for California…

We didn’t have anywhere to live

We didn’t have jobs

We only had 1 friend here

We had a 1 year old puppy who couldn’t fly so we had to drive

We figured we’d get to LA, stay with our friend, and figure out our options then.

December 26th we made it to Tulsa

December 27th we made it to Albuquerque

December 28th It snowed in the Mountains and we were scared to drive so we stayed in Albuquerque

December 29th I got altitude sick and India had to drive 13 hours to get us into LA

But we made it….and spent New Years Eve on the Beach

The next morning the decision hit me like a ton of BRICKS. We just moved across the country, our parents are far away, we are spending money and not making money.

Seriously, every doubt that you can think of flooded my mind...at that point I realized that I got all the way to LA trusting that things were going to work out for me so I was going to TRUST that all things were working for my good in spite of my fear. I changed my city on all Social media networks and put in my 2 weeks notice with my job back in Indiana.

5 Days later I received a LinkedIn message from a Podcast network saying that “Saw that I just recently relocated to LA and that I was the perfect candidate to join their team based on my experience”

After I screamed for a solid 30 seconds.... I thought to myself, Wait, what experience?

I’ve been so busy mastering my craft that I didn’t realize that I was REALLY qualified and that my talents were in high demand in LA.

I had…

Produced in TV, Podcasting, Sold Marketing in Radio, Print, Digital Spaces and on top of that I’ve been an A/V tech for 7 years and a DJ for 10 years.

This is where preparation met opportunity and I realized that things fall apart to come together.

After less than 30 days in LA I was asked to be the Managing Producer for a Global Media Company starting a Podcast division. The job was created specifically for me and I report directly to the VP.

I now manage over 100 Podcasts with over 30 MILLION Monthly Streams, and I’m based in BEVERLY HILLS 🤯

Initially, I was in shock, and a little bit scared, I’ve never had a job where I was required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement 😬 Again, I insisted on defeating my fears and actualizing my dreams.

My second month as Managing Producer, I was recognized for generating an extra 6 MILLION impressions for our advertisers and confirmed what I ALWAYS knew in my heart was true. I am an Industry leader in Podcasting and Brand Conversion.

All of this started with me, trusting the unknown, defeating my imposter syndrome and changing my environment so that I can compete at a higher level.

Now, I’m a FULL-TIME Podcast Producer working at the highest level in the industry and I’m STILL committed to helping people at every level in their Podcast journey grow their audience while monetizing their content.

Now EVERYDAY I get to help people who are ..

🙄 Struggling to gain and connect with their podcast audience

🤬 Frustrated with the technology necessary to maintain and audio/visual podcast

💰 Tired of Investing In their Podcast with little to no return

If you’re ready to start making MONEY from your Podcast, we need to talk.