Podcast Summary: YouTube and $177,000 for Charity (Building BuildWitt #32) — DT 401

Podcast: Dirt Talk by BuildWitt
Host: Aaron Witt
Date: December 22, 2025
Episode Theme:
This episode of "Building BuildWitt" centers on organizational evolution at BuildWitt, focusing on the challenges and triumphs of their YouTube presence, major internal changes to the influence/media team, operational highlights from their flagship event (the Ariat Dirt World Summit), ticket sales momentum, ongoing product development, and a charitable achievement raising $177,000. Aaron candidly reflects on leadership, mistakes made, and learning from feedback—all while "showing how the sausage is made" behind the scenes.

Main Topics & Key Insights

1. Evolving BuildWit’s Media Approach & YouTube Struggles

• Podcast, Social, and YouTube as Growth Engines:
  Aaron distinguishes between various online channels, emphasizing podcasting's context and YouTube’s immense reach, but also its complexity.
  • "YouTube is by far the trickiest. It is very difficult, yet I think it’s the most impactful one that we have because it’s the most wide reaching." (03:30)
• Audience Diversity:
  The range of viewers—from toddlers to retirees—caught Aaron by surprise this year.
• Personal Limitations:
  Aaron openly admits his technical ignorance, only using a single camera and lens, and feeling he’s reached a ceiling with DIY content.
  • “It’s not because of my technical know how... That ignorance, it only gets us so far. And I feel like this year we’ve been hitting that ceiling in a lot of ways.” (06:25)

2. Team Restructuring for Enhanced Media Production

• Disbanding the Influence Team:
  In a pivotal move, Aaron dissolved the specialized ‘influence team’ and now leverages the entire media crew for production needs, including YouTube, podcasts, and training content.
• Trusting the Team:
  Aaron expresses gratitude and relief at the media team's fresh energy and innovation, while frankly admitting past mistakes of trying to do too much alone.
  • “It’s one of those things too that you look back on it, you’re like, man, I was a dummy for trying to keep this within my realm.” (12:45)
• Business Impact:
  Doing media right helps everyone in the organization and the larger ‘dirt world’ community.

3. The “Influence” Model – Not Traditional Influencing

• Clarifying the Business Model:
  While sometimes called an “influencer,” Aaron insists that BuildWitt’s revenue isn’t driven by sponsorship or ads (with the exception of a sole Ariat deal).
  • "I have one sponsorship deal and that's with Ariat. Otherwise I haven't done any other sponsorship deals, any paid advertising, anything of any sort. It's just not been that exciting to me. There's a much bigger play here and it just doesn't fit our model." (17:05)
• Purpose Over Profit:
  Brand-building is in service of developing the dirt world’s next generation—via the BuildWitt Improve training platform and the annual Ariat Dirt World Summit.

4. Ariat Dirt World Summit Ticket Momentum & Event Feedback

• Ticket Sales Milestones:
  Accelerated sales are a major focus, aiming for 1,000 out of 1,250 tickets sold by year’s end.
  • "Now we're on to a thousand by the end of the year, which I think is very achievable... At that point, a majority of the tickets are sold. 80%. Big deal." (19:30)
• Continuous Event Improvement:
  Comprehensive attendee and team feedback after the 2025 summit are already shaping plans for 2026.
• Maximizing Connections:
  The event is intentionally engineered to foster lasting relationships, and every detail down to scheduling is reconsidered annually.
  • “What’s the behavior that we want to create within those three days? … I think the most important thing is to maximize connections.” (27:10)

5. Product Development & Focus

• BuildWitt Improve Platform:
  The team is focusing narrowly on perfecting the daily training user experience for 2025, rather than pursuing every “shiny thing.”
  • “Anything outside of a seamless user experience of the existing daily training product, it doesn’t matter. We’ve got to make it work damn near perfect before we can get on to anything else.” (23:55)
• Sales Hiring Strategy:
  The sales team is proactively recruiting, building a bench of vetted candidates for anticipated 2026 expansion using LinkedIn as a key channel.

6. Charity Auction Success at the Summit

• New Fundraising Milestone:
  The second annual charity auction at the Ariat Dirt World Summit raised $177,000 for Dream On Three and the ESS Foundation.
  • “Despite that, we raised $177,000 for both of those charities. They'll split it, which is awesome.” (33:05)
• Opportunities for Improvement:
  Aaron notes that holding the auction at a restaurant was not ideal, promising changes next year for greater impact.
• Influence for Good:
  Rather than direct philanthropy out of profits, BuildWitt leverages its network and events to do good:
  • “We haven’t been able to give a lot because we’ve still been trying to figure out our affairs financially. But we can use our influence, our impact, our connections to make a difference in the world and this is one of those ways we can do it.” (34:15)

Notable Quotes & Highlights

• On Leadership and Letting Go:
  “If we’re not making the most of it, something’s gotta change.” (08:22)
  “When you make decisions as a leader, you’re not making them to intentionally make things worse. You’re always trying to make things better. But there’s this unknown—that’s what makes decisions hard.” (11:44)

• On The Dirt World:
  "The dirt world is the companies and people building the critical infrastructure and supporting those who build our critical infrastructure that we need to live the lives that we do." (15:00)

• On Feedback and Iteration:
  “But without that feedback, we wouldn’t be able to... Transparency wins.” (32:20)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–03:30 – Episode introduction; rationale for "Building BuildWitt" series
• 03:30–10:00 – Digital influence strategy; YouTube's role and struggles
• 10:00–15:00 – Reshaping the media team; leadership reflections
• 15:00–19:00 – Clarifying revenue streams; BuildWitt’s mission
• 19:00–23:00 – Dirt World Summit ticket sales update
• 23:00–25:30 – BuildWitt Improve development priorities
• 25:30–28:30 – Sales team hiring; leveraging LinkedIn
• 28:30–32:30 – Event review, feedback, and continuous improvement
• 32:30–36:00 – Charity auction recap and the broader mission

Tone & Style

Aaron maintains an open, candid, and sometimes self-deprecating tone, blending business updates with personal reflection. He is future-focused, honest about past missteps, and intent on continual organizational growth—with plenty of gratitude for his team's efforts and the community's support.

For more details, insights, or to get involved, visit BuildWitt.com or reach out to Aaron directly at AaronBillwith.com.