209. Caleb Simpson: From asking family for rent to grossing million$ in apartment tour videos! BTS of going viral in different genres, building a massive following, and living in the dream

Summary

Podcast Summary: Trading Secrets Episode 209 – Caleb Simpson: From Asking Family for Rent to Grossing Millions in Apartment Tour Videos!

Release Date: November 18, 2024

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Introduction

In Episode 209 of Trading Secrets, host Jason Tartick welcomes Caleb Simpson, widely recognized as the "Apartment Guy." Caleb shares his remarkable journey from humble beginnings—where he once asked his family for rent—to becoming a viral content creator grossing millions through his engaging apartment tour videos. This episode delves into Caleb’s strategies for going viral across different genres, building a massive following, and living his dream life.

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Early Life and Career Beginnings

Caleb’s story begins with his move to New York City, where he managed a tennis club and taught tennis. During this period, Caleb's family was not financially robust, prompting him to seek innovative ways to support himself.

Notable Quote:

Caleb Simpson [01:07]: "I came from a family where they didn't really have much, and I went to them with a business plan and said, I have cracked the code to social media."

Caleb leveraged his creativity and business acumen to approach his family with a plan to monetize his understanding of social media and real estate. This approach convinced his family to invest in his venture, setting the foundation for his future success.

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Cracking the Social Media Code

Caleb’s breakthrough came through his unique approach to social media content creation. He began by filming apartment tours in New York City, asking residents—including celebrities—about their living spaces, rent costs, and other intriguing details.

Notable Quote:

Caleb Simpson [01:40]: "If you're curious what those big names are paying for their mortgage, condo, or apartment in New York City, you're going to get those answers today."

By simplifying the process to a quick, 25-minute shoot using just a smartphone, Caleb made participation easy and non-intrusive for his guests. This "frictionless" approach allowed him to consistently feature high-profile individuals without demanding excessive time or resources from them.

Notable Quote:

Caleb Simpson [21:45]: "I've had a lot of experience producing content. I picked up a camera when I first moved to New York and have just been grinding, figuring it out."

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Building a Massive Following

Caleb's content quickly resonated with audiences, leading to viral success across platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Collaborations with celebrities such as Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson, and Barbara Corcoran amplified his reach, each partnership propelling his follower count higher.

Notable Quote:

Caleb Simpson [19:14]: "She got about 200,000 followers from doing this video."

Each viral video not only increased his visibility but also enhanced his credibility, making it easier to attract more high-profile guests and brand partnerships.

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Monetization Strategies

Caleb employs multiple monetization avenues to capitalize on his viral content:

1. Creator Funds and Paid Ads:

   • Platforms like Facebook and TikTok pay creators based on view counts, though revenue can be inconsistent.
   • Notable Quote:
     Caleb Simpson [26:58]: "On Facebook, for pretty much every million views you do, you make about a thousand bucks."

2. Brand Sponsorships:

   • Brands pay significant fees for integration into his content, often aligning with products or services used within the showcased apartments.
   • Notable Quote: Caleb Simpson [32:20]: "That's where most of it can come in. It could be multiple six figures. I've had conversations around seven figures."

3. Product Launches:

   • Although Caleb hasn't ventured deeply into this yet, launching his own products remains a potential revenue stream.

Notable Insight: Caleb emphasizes the importance of diversified income streams, especially given the volatility of platform-based earnings.

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Personal Challenges and Resilience

Caleb candidly shares a pivotal moment where he had to call his family for financial support after being fired from an NFT startup during the crypto crash. This experience underscored the importance of having a solid business plan and the resilience required to pivot successfully.

Notable Quote:

Caleb Simpson [38:28]: "I call up a family member and none of my family members are rich by any means. So I had to take some of their resources and say, no, this is going to work, and I'll pay you back tenfold."

This challenge fueled his determination to succeed independently, leading him to streamline his content creation process and focus on sustainable growth.

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Daily Routine and Work Ethic

Caleb's relentless work ethic is evident in his daily routine. From early morning cold plunges to late-night content editing and continual brainstorming for new ideas, Caleb dedicates extensive hours to his craft.

Notable Quote:

Caleb Simpson [53:25]: "I'm working all of them. It's consuming my life."

His structured approach, including utilizing an assistant and a management team, ensures efficient production while maintaining his creative vision.

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Trading Secrets and Life Lessons

Throughout the episode, Caleb imparts valuable lessons learned from his journey:

1. Embrace the "Cringe" Phase:

   • Caleb advises leaning into the initial awkwardness of content creation, suggesting that authenticity often sets successful creators apart.
   • Notable Quote: Caleb Simpson [61:10]: "Lean into that cringe because that's what makes you unique."

2. Focus on Continuous Improvement:

   • Constantly enhancing his skills as an entertainer and content creator ensures long-term relevance and success.
   • Notable Quote: Caleb Simpson [49:07]: "Always be becoming a better entertainer in general."

3. Diversify Income Streams:

   • Relying solely on platform-based earnings is risky; combining creator funds, ads, sponsorships, and product launches provides financial stability.

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Future Aspirations and Sustainability

Caleb envisions a future where his current efforts lay the groundwork for further opportunities, such as hosting TV shows or producing larger-scale content. His ultimate goal is to build a sustainable brand that allows him to eventually step away and enjoy time with family.

Notable Quote:

Caleb Simpson [51:13]: "I want to be done by the time I'm 42. If I want to step away forever, I can."

His strategic approach ensures that each step taken today contributes to his long-term vision, balancing immediate success with future sustainability.

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Conclusion

Episode 209 of Trading Secrets offers an in-depth look into Caleb Simpson’s innovative path to becoming a viral sensation and millionaire content creator. Through strategic content creation, relentless work ethic, and insightful business acumen, Caleb has transformed his passion into a thriving enterprise. His journey serves as an inspiring blueprint for aspiring entrepreneurs and content creators aiming to navigate the dynamic landscape of social media and online influence.

Closing Quote:

Caleb Simpson [61:16]: "Over the cringe is everything you ever dreamed, and in your own head, you'll always be telling yourself, I'm bad, this isn't good... just lean into that cringe."

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Additional Highlights

• Rent Landscape Insights:

  • Caleb discusses the exorbitant cost of rent in major cities like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, highlighting the financial strain on residents.
  • Notable Quote: Caleb Simpson [12:45]: "I don’t really think it’s like worth it because a lot of people have jobs where they’re barely scraping it... they may be making financial choices to pay a little bit more in rent."

• NFT and Crypto Experiences:

  • Caleb recounts his involvement with an NFT startup, the subsequent challenges during the crypto crash, and the invaluable lessons learned from that experience.
  • Notable Quote: Caleb Simpson [36:43]: "I helped build that startup. I learned a lot about NFTs and crypto... that was one of the most valuable experiences of my life."

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Where to Find Caleb Simpson

For those inspired by Caleb's story and eager to follow his content, find him across all social media platforms under the handle @CalebWSimpson. His unique approach to apartment tours and engaging content continues to captivate millions worldwide.

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Thank you for tuning into Trading Secrets! Be sure to subscribe for more insightful episodes revealing the hidden strategies behind financial success and career prowess.

Transcript

[Jason Tardick]

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[Caleb Simpson]

Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. I'm your host, Jason Tardick, and welcome to the pre market trading segment where I'm gonna tell you a little bit about what you can expect from our guest. One big update and something going on in my personal life. If you haven't, please subscribe to the podcast and make sure to give us five stars. The best way you can support this show is giving us five stars. Now, this episod is one that just different.

[Jason Tardick]

Honestly, it's just different.

[Caleb Simpson]

This is an individual who is an artist by trait, is a creative, but also has this like algorithmic genius to him. And so where he's so special is he was able to kind of crack the code with social media, but doing it through business, things that we think about all the time, like apartments. So he started going around New York City and asking people, tell me about your apartment. How many square feet is it, how much you pay for it, things like that. And he started doing with celebrities and big, big names you're going to hear about.

[Jason Tardick]

And if you're curious what those big.

[Caleb Simpson]

Names are paying for either their mortgage, their condo or their apartment in New York City, you're going to get those answers today. But what I find more fascinating is how he talks about that he came from a family where they didn't really have much and he went to them with a business plan and said, I have cracked the code to social media. I have cracked the cod to real estate apartments meets bringing this information to life to the masses. Here's the answer. Invest in it. And his family did. They did. And you're going to hear all about that. A little update from the market. There's so much to talk about right now. So much is changing. We obviously know that a new administration is going into effect for 2025, and as a result of that, there's going to be big changes that already baked in the market. One of the big things you're seeing right now is cryptocurrency is off the charts. It's off charts because the administration is very pro crypto. And a lot of the things that I'm reading about what this administration is saying is that they believe that cryptocurrency, digital currency is here to stay. And I guess their philosophy is built on the fact that if it's going to be here to stay, we want it to be housed in the United States. We want United States to be the epicenter of it. And as a result of it, it is just gone off the charts. Bitcoin crossed over $90,000 in the last week. Bitcoin in general this year is up over 100%, outperforming all global stocks. And as I'm recording this right now, one bitcoin is trading at $90,220. Right. I mean, it's just a, it's a wild phenomenon. I'm still going to tell you my position on it is that it's extremely volatile and it feels like it's something that we need to be paying even more attention to now, but also something that I recommend. If you're going to proceed with it as an investment, just make sure that you have the risk tolerance to do so. Another thing I want to put out there is a huge learning just from just my life this last week. I mean, this was a, this was a crazy, crazy week for me. And the fact that I randomly, if you follow me on social media, I just went outside to take a phone call and I never do that. I never go and take a phone call in my front driveway. And as a result of that phone call, I saw my next door neighbor who was lying on the ground what had been an hour. And if I didn't go out there, especially someone who travels all the time, I don't know that he makes it off that driveway. And I was able to, you know, get him into an ambulance at a hospital. And, and then I learned he doesn't really have family. And then I learned all about the, the hospital system. And first and foremost, if you are dealing with any type of healthcare struggles or any hospital, I have learned in this past week there are so many non for profits out there that can help you do just that. And also what I learned because what happened was he went to the hospital. I was thinking about him, I'm like, I wonder if his family knows. So I went to go see him and he said he doesn't have any family. And then the next day I got a call Because I left him my number and name. I said, if you need anything, call me. And the next day, the doctors called me asking if I was his family.

[Jason Tardick]

And I said no.

[Caleb Simpson]

They said they didn't have any luck tracking his family down, and they had to move forward with a procedure. But he wasn't in a mental capacity to make that decision or consent. So there's a couple things that I learned from this situation which also ties to. To business and finance a little bit. First and foremost, every hospital has a social worker. And the social worker in this case was like a mini FBI investigator trying to figure out exactly where my next door neighbor's family was and. And who was extended. And I mean, it was. She had a whole family diagram going. She was walking me through how she did it. And they did end up finding a long lost uncle, which was awesome. Uncle Bob. And Uncle Bob came through and picked up the phone and was willing to consent on behalf of Bert. So every hospital has a social worker should you ever need it. Another thing is like making sure that your loved ones have consideration to PoAs and DNRs. Now, with a PoA, a power of attorney, if you give someone power of attorney, they have the right to pretty much do anything on your behalf. And while this situation, a POA was necessary, I also this past week heard about a POA situation in which the POA took full advantage of someone. So you want to be very careful with the POA that you go with. Now, the last thing I'll tell you is one thing I learned through this situation is that there's something called two physicians consent, where if the patient cannot consent for themselves and they cannot find someone legally that can consent for them, two physicians can independently look at the situation, make the best recommendation on behalf of the patient, and if they feel as though it's in the patient's best interest and they both consent independently, agree with. The steps forward are the physicians can make the consent to move forward with the procedure. So all this was learning from this situation with my next door neighbor. I've checked in on him daily. I've gone to see him. I'm traveling right now. So I've been calling in and he went through his procedure, and my understanding is he's doing well. And next time in Nashville, I'm going to see him. And yeah, I mean, there's just so many takeaways, like making sure that your loved ones are prepared for whatever is to come, making sure that you're prepared for whatever is to come. And also, I think, like one of the big takeaways I've learned from it is you go through life and even on this podcast, right, we're always trying to better ourselves and become better and learn new things and maybe earn more, feel better. And at the end of the day, like, if you have your loved ones, you have everything you truly do, you have it all. So hopefully there's some learning lessons in that. And then this past week, it was.

[Jason Tardick]

Literally like, it was just such a special week.

[Caleb Simpson]

We did the Amazon party, which our company supported, other talent that was there. And then also I had an opportunity to work with Amazon, which is great. And then Friday we had some work with Celsius, so we were out the Jake Paul event. And then I podcasted with Tyler Cameron and his new girlfriend Tate. Wait for this podcast.

[Jason Tardick]

Unbelievable.

[Caleb Simpson]

That's coming out soon. And then was in New York for the UFC fight with Titan, a really cool financial investment company on New York City. I'll be talking more about them, but Titan financial investments, really cool. We watched the Jon Jones fight and then I went to Buffalo to watch the Buffalo Bills play the Kansas City.

[Jason Tardick]

Chiefs and they won.

[Caleb Simpson]

So it was a big sports weekend. November's crazy for me right now. I'm going to be in playing a celebrity poker tournament in Vegas on Wednesday and I'll be out there for F1 with the Venetian and JD sports. And then I think from that point on, pretty much packing it in for the year. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to Jason tells all this year because there's a lot to reflect on. And you know, I saw a quote recently and I just loved it. And it came from Jay Shetty and, well, it came from Jay Shetty puts really good quotes on his Instagram. The quote was, you are the greatest project you'll ever work on. Restart, reset, refocus as many times as you need. And I'll leave it at that. It's a little bit of a longer intro and I hope you enjoyed it. And there might be some longer intros down the road here because there's a lot going on and a lot to talk about. But enough of that. Let's ring in the bell with really, truly one of the most interesting humans I've ever spoken to, the Apartment Guy.

[Jason Tardick]

Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. Today we are joined by content creator and TikTok YouTube star most commonly known as the Apartment Guy, Caleb Simpson. Caleb and his content creation hit the jackpot with his man on the street style videos in which he takes his viewers along on tours of the often Intriguing and impressive home of his new friends. With a combined 12.3 million followers across his social media channels, Caleb has created what some compare to the modern day off the cuff MTV Cribs, having collaborated with celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson, Barbara Corcoran, Jared Leto, Drew Barrymore, Jada Smith, and more. Today, we are going to pick the brain of the guy who asks people, how much do you pay for rent, for living? And ask him, how have you done it all? Caleb, thank you so much for joining us on Trading Secrets today.

[Caleb Simpson]

I paid 28.75.

[Jason Tardick]

28.75?

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay. Is that what you currently pay?

[Caleb Simpson]

That's what I currently pay.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay, wait a second. I think I thought I was on your Instagram and I saw. I love that you just started with that because it's like you saw my script before I even gave it to you. I'm playing checkers, you're playing chess. I saw a video with Drew Barrymore. At first I was just like, oh, my God, Drew Barrymore's in his videos. Drew Barrymore is holding his hand. But Drew Barrymore asked you if she could take a tour of your apartment. Correct. Now, in that one, you said 6500. Did a change?

[Caleb Simpson]

No, it is the total amount. 6500. I have roommates. That's just my portion. So it just sounds better, you know, in the video if you. If you say 6,500, because that's the total amount.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

So that's kind of what I went with.

[Jason Tardick]

Andrew Barrymore was probably like, okay, I'm not going to walk into, like, a studio at 6500.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah, yeah, totally. Just like a bedroom, like in a shack.

[Jason Tardick]

I love it. Okay. And then you've been in New York for nine years, so you're paying 2750 now. And you live where?

[Caleb Simpson]

I live in Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn.

[Jason Tardick]

Brooklyn. Okay. I think people are obviously, you know, people are intrigued by this. So let's talk a little bit about it. Before that, where in the city do you live in? How much do you pay?

[Caleb Simpson]

Oh, good question. Wow. Okay, this is a. This is a fascinating little story here. So I moved to Harlem when I first moved here, okay. And I was managing a tennis club, teaching tennis. And a woman that worked at the tennis club, her daughter just left for school. So she's like, you can stay in this room while you figure it out for three months, but you have to find a place. It's like, okay, cool. So I think I was paying like a 500 bucks a week.

[Jason Tardick]

Wow.

[Caleb Simpson]

Which is super cheap for New York. And then I found a place in the West Village with, with an older guy who had like a spare room and he had a rent control apartment. And he's like, you can stay here for 600 bucks a month. Wow, in the West Village? Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

600 bucks a month?

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. He's just.

How many square feet?

Oh, it was so small. Like I had barely enough space for like a. Pretty much just a mattress and a desk.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. Inside this little room. So as I was like finding my feet and figuring out what I wanted to do, living in this super tiny.

[Jason Tardick]

Room for about 200, 500 bucks a week in Harlem, you got 600amonth in West Village, which is insane. And then you went to Brooklyn for 27.50.

[Caleb Simpson]

Then I was paying about 1200 bucks a month in Brooklyn and then went to, yeah, 2750.

[Jason Tardick]

I'm not shocked that the apartment guy in New York City knows how to get some of the best deals in the apartment. What is just your overall take? Like, you have talked to hundreds of people and how much they pay in rent in all different cities, but obviously a ton in New York. Talk to me just a little bit like your perspective on rent. Do you often find that people are just way overpaying? Do you have a perspective like, you know what if you're in New York City, just eat it and pay as much as you can. Like, what's your financial perspective on rent given how much research you've seen?

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah, that's a good question. Recently it's felt like everybody's paying a lot in rent. Like my cousin lives in Connecticut and she actually moved back in with her parents because they're like trying to charge her 2k a month to live in a 2 bedroom in like the sticks of Connecticut.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

And I'm just like 2k a month. Just have a little bit more space than someone who lives in New York City is kind of wild take. And then North Carolina is kind of the same thing where a lot of my family lives. So I'm seeing like the prices are kind of similar, which I've noticed. You get a little bit more space in New York specifically. I feel like if you see an apartment and you're paying like 7k a month, it's not going to be too much better than a place that's maybe like three grand a month. Maybe the area is a little bit better or maybe like the amenities are a little bit nicer. But I don't really think it's like worth it because a lot of people I'VE noticed will have jobs where they're barely scraping it like they may. They're making financial choices to pay a little bit more in rent, and maybe they're cutting corners in other places in their life, and I just don't think that's worth it.

[Jason Tardick]

Do you ever ask them how much they make?

[Caleb Simpson]

No, but I ask them what they do for a living, and then you can kind of gauge it.

[Jason Tardick]

We might have to tag team one of these. Yeah, we get the. You get the apartment costs, I'll get how much they make. We'll sit down, do a whole financial review, and we'll have some fun with that. I think we might have to do one of these.

[Caleb Simpson]

That's your new podcast.

[Jason Tardick]

That's my new. Well, podcast is Training Secrets. We talk money here. So you know what I mean?

[Caleb Simpson]

I'll have him on.

[Jason Tardick]

I'll be like, all right. The apartment guy says, I got to ask you how much you make per rent on top of how much you make? So I think we're on to something here. One thing I want to ask you, though, is. So that 3 to 7k range in new York, you said you see minor discrepancies. Talk to me about what is the dollar amount per month that you start to see? Like, holy, this place is incredible. Is it like 10k a month? Like, you know, what is that dollar amount where you're just, like, blowing away?

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah, it's. It's hard to get blown away in New York.

[Jason Tardick]

Interesting.

[Caleb Simpson]

It hard. Like, I've gone into places that are like, 12K a month.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

And, yeah. They have a nice balcony and windows. Typically, the higher the price amount goes, like, you get natural light, like, a lot of it, but then you're like, wow, like, you kind of have the same amount of space as me.

[Jason Tardick]

It's interesting.

[Caleb Simpson]

Well, you're paying $12,000 a month, maybe, because it's like a prime location.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

Which might be, like, on the water in Williamsburg or really high up with your own private balcony, but I would say, yeah, the 15k range. Like, 15k and up. Then I'm like, whoa.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah. Once you see that 15k and up, you're just blown away.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. And obviously, there's deals out there in places you can find that it's Are unique.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay, interesting. Hello.

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[Jason Tardick]

I mean, I think the whole thing is just fascinating. I saw Ryan Sirhan right now is on his show and he is trying to sell a 17,000 square foot condo in Central park for 200 plus million dollars. And it was crazy to just think someone would pay $200 million for 17,000 square feet. It's toug tough to comprehend it, but his strategy and his thought just in that whole process of selling it on the show is he talks about the fact, Listen, there's over 3,000 billionaires in this world. I just got to find one of them. So I find the whole real estate game interesting, especially when you collaborate it with people of all different levels and income and of course celebrities. And that's the transition I have for you. What I think is really interesting about your story is like you said, you lived in Harlem, you're a tennis instructor, you had an idea, you just started filming it. It's not like you had this huge platform from a big show or you're this famous actor and then you used your platform. You just started from scratch, moving into Harlem, 500 bucks a week. All of a sudden you go on your Instagram and your TikTok and we see Christie Brinkley, we see Scarlett Johansson, we see Barbara Corcoran, Ryan Sirhan, who I just referred to, Steve Madden, Dwight Howard, Jared Leto. I saw you do the driving video with Drew Barrymore, Vinny Guadnino. Like these are some big, big names. How did you get in front of someone like Scarlett Johansson or Drew Barrymore to get them to come onto your show?

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah, that's a good question. Thank all of you first and foremost, thank all of you and anybody else who comes on. I appreciate all of you. You guys have changed my life. Well, I think it's about just creating as much value as possible for the guest and making it as frictionless as possible.

[Jason Tardick]

Ooh, I like that. Frictionless.

[Caleb Simpson]

I've had a lot of experience up into this series that I've made creating content. I picked up a camera when I first moved to New York and have just been, like, grinding, figuring it out. I've worked in the celebrity space. I've worked with DJs, like, creating their profiles online and, like, making them famous online.

[Jason Tardick]

Wait, you did this before?

[Caleb Simpson]

Before? Yeah, before.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay, we'll. We'll tap into that. Because I want to get the answer to this question. We'll tap into that.

[Caleb Simpson]

So I've kind of, like, gone in and seen what people want and what they need and how to make it easy and fun for them, because I'd been in the space and just observed it. So once I kind of, like, stumbled across this thing that was working really well, I realized, like, oh, I just run in with a cell phone. It only takes 25 minutes. We can go in, in and out. And I know I'm going to get them 20 million views, 30 million views, and it's going to blow their life up for a moment in time. And it's not an easy. It's not a heavy ask for them. So once I got that first one with Barbara Corcoran, she actually DMed me and was like, hey, come over to my apartment. This was, like, three months in, I realized, like, I was onto something that does, like, 100 million views. And then I was like, okay, Case did 100 million views across all platforms.

[H]

Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

Holy shit.

[Caleb Simpson]

So I was like, okay, I got an awesome case study here. Let's take all the information. Okay. She got about 200,000 followers from doing this video.

[Jason Tardick]

She had 200,000?

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. Across her platform. Yeah. And then, you know, she told me, like, I was walking down the street, and everybody, I'm in Trader Joe's. Everyone's like, I love your apartment. I love your apartment. She's like, I've been on shark tank for 20 years, and you only know me from my apartment now. Like, this is insane. So I kind of, like, took all this information and just started pitching everybody else. Then they're like, who else have you worked with? Like, yeah, you just worked with Barbara, but who else have you worked with? Cause people don't want to.

Of course.

[Jason Tardick]

They want more credibility.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. They want more credibility. Risk your brand. So it's just like, I mean, working as hard as I can to get in front of people. You know, like Vinnie, for example, I saw he's on TikTok. Anyone who jumps on TikTok, who's a celebrity or a well known person, I'm like, okay, they're playing the game, and if they're playing the game, there's a chance to play with me.

[Jason Tardick]

Interesting. But when you say this just so people back at home can understand that they're playing the game, what you're saying is the person's a celebrity, they got money, they have success, and they're willing to go on many platforms like TikTok, even if it's not, like, cool or they're too old or whatever to continue to grow social media. So you're seeing that from a business perspective is they clearly have a massive interest in growing this social media platform.

[Caleb Simpson]

Bingo.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay.

[Caleb Simpson]

Bingo. Ding, ding, ding. So I saw Vinnie jumped on and I didn't even know he lived in New York. So I just like gave him a follow and then he followed me back and then I just like shot him a DM over TikTok DMs, which is funny. Then he's like, yeah, let's do it. Same thing with Dwight Howard. I saw he jumped on, so I was like, let me message him. So I'm paying attention to who's jumping on the apps.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

And then getting to them early because I know they're going to be overwhelmed with everybody trying to like, make videos with them, etc. ET just kind of started to like, snowball and create a back catalog. And now it's. It's easier, but it's still challenging as, you know, running a. A podcast, it's like getting guesses.

[Jason Tardick]

It's always. Especially the. The big thing too is I think, you know, we're doing audio. Obviously there's video here, but the idea of like actually filming the. Everything with a celebrity, they only have so much time, like a Dwight Howard, and their time's extremely valuable, like a Drew Barrymore. So you got to make it worthwhile. So your whole pitch to them is, hey, this is who I've had on. These are the followers, These are the views. We'll customize it to you. One word you said was frictionless. What does that exactly mean? And what do you do to make sure when you're with a Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson? It's frictionless.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. So it's really three steps and I'll fill them on a cell phone. So you see, right now we have.

[Jason Tardick]

It's all filmed on one cell phone.

[Caleb Simpson]

One cell phone. You know, we're on this podcast. I see four lights, three cameras. There's a man running it behind here. There's a whole screen.

[Jason Tardick]

And we won't get 100 million views. I promise that.

[Caleb Simpson]

Exactly. So this is a whole big setup when not 100 million views.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

So I just show up with a cell phone. I'm like, we're gonna do one walkthrough. Just talk to me like we're a friend.

[Jason Tardick]

Yep.

[Caleb Simpson]

It's gonna take 20 minutes. I'm gonna do one pass, just filming the rooms, and then we're gonna run outside. I'm gonna ask you one question one time. Just answer it, and then that's it.

[Jason Tardick]

Do you bring anyone else with you?

[Caleb Simpson]

I might have my assistant with me, or maybe someone on my management team might come in.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. So we just try to make it as quick and fun, and I want to make it fun too. Like, frictionless and fun. So a lot of times people leave. Like, that was just easy and fun. It was like I was chatting with a friend. I didn't have to, like, sit down and get mic'd up and all these different things. So since I've been in media for a while, I'm like, what can I remove to make it more fun for them? They're on these media tours all the time. All the time. So, like, how can we remove these layers to just make it more seamless?

[Jason Tardick]

I do, like, when I have someone who's just coming out, like, you know, the Bachelorette Jen. Right now, she's doing press everywhere. Or when I have somebody who's an actor, comedian, and they're on an Netflix special or tour, I'm always like, when I step in this interview, I gotta make it different because it's cut and repeat, cup and repeat. So I think that's a great strategy. One thing you said to the cameras, joking around, when I said all those names, you said, thank you. You changed my life. How did they change your life, specifically financially and personally?

[Caleb Simpson]

It's hard to correlate directly financially, but just the overarching brand in general. You know, it's like, Drew Barrymore takes a chance on you, goes and makes a video with you. No one gets access to her like that. You go on her show. You know what I mean? She brings you on her show. So it's just like every time someone gives you a chance, and it's just like, you just elevate your brand just a Little bit more. Just a little bit more. And it's like people trust you a little bit more. And then they're like, we want to make videos with you a little bit more. And for me, that's always the game. I just want to play it for a really long time. So I'm like, okay, if we can and get another guest and we have a good time and we get good results, then I'll be able to make a video with somebody else.

[Jason Tardick]

Exactly.

[Caleb Simpson]

I love it.

[Jason Tardick]

One thing I gotta ask you, and I think people back home are listening, are like, wait, okay, wait a second. You got a phone and you're doing these apartment views, asking what people make. I'm gonna do it. So obviously a huge differentiator for you is that you have this massive celebrity base and you got 12 something million followers. 12 million plus across all platforms. Those are huge differentiators. But, but when you're going through this, obviously you're very strategic. We talked about making other people famous online. You obviously have some very good things that you can execute. But what do you do to differentiate so that it's like you're the apartment guy and it's not the next person who's the apartment girl or guy.

[Caleb Simpson]

One thing is I've been making videos for almost 10 years in editing.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

And in short form videos, before it was even in a thing. I was doing like vlog Instagram stories when Instagram stories rolled out and just storytelling in and of itself in the short form media realm. I've done it for so many other people and in different genres. Like I've done comedy and come up with like these crazy stories like treasure hunt stories on TikTok, Etc. I've like tried all these different avenues that have helped me tell a story. So whenever I'm going into an edit, I might have two hours of footage that I just filmed with somebody and I'm chopping it down to like six minutes if I get. I've tried to hire editors, you know what I mean? I give it to them and they can't do what I do.

[Jason Tardick]

Yes.

[Caleb Simpson]

So that's one thing competitive advantage I have over most people. It's like I've just been doing it so long and I have my flow and my style that's like really hard to copy.

[Jason Tardick]

It's crazy that you just said that because as so I own a talent management company. We work with all different celebrities and public figures. And what I've noticed over the years are the people that are doing it the longest in the best all Differentiate through storytelling and editing, which you would never think anyone back home, you wouldn't think that. But the editing process for great storytellers and people that were in video and any type of media before know their biggest issue. And it's. I've heard it literally 10 plus times from different people. They cannot find anyone to cut the way they do. And so when I talk to them, I drilled down, like, what do you mean? It's just an edit?

[Caleb Simpson]

They're like, no, like the exact second.

[Jason Tardick]

The exact tone is set, and the storytelling in the first two seconds and then the seconds after that and then the talking overlap. It is a talent that most people don't have. And I think, you know, you're exactly right about that. The other thing you said was it changed your life. And so I want to get into that. I know it's created a brand for you, but like, the golden question, I know the money mafia is saying, like, cool, you got 12 million followers, you're meeting these cool people, and you're doing hundreds of millions of views. How does that turn into dot, dollars and cents? So how do you monetize this incredible idea and brand that you built off from a simple concept of the apartment guy?

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah, there's. There's kind of two ways you can monetize. Well, really three, but there's two if you're just starting out, and that's one through all the platforms, like through views, they run paid ads on your videos.

[Jason Tardick]

So let's, let's stop there. Like a video that you do, 100 million views. How do you. How do you know how much you can make off that? Is it like a thousand bucks of you? 100 bucks a view? What is it?

[Caleb Simpson]

It.

[Jason Tardick]

Is there an average.

[Caleb Simpson]

It depends on the platform. So, for example, on Facebook, which a lot of people don't know about this, I'm gonna put you on game right now.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah, I want to hear.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. On Facebook, if you post. If you have a verified page and you post a three minute video.

[Jason Tardick]

Three minute. Okay.

[Caleb Simpson]

Three minute video. For pretty much every million views you do, you make about a thousand bucks.

[Jason Tardick]

That's pretty good.

[Caleb Simpson]

That's pretty good.

[Jason Tardick]

But three minutes is long, right?

[Caleb Simpson]

Three minutes is long, depending on what you're making.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay, so three minutes, Facebook, on average, around a thousand bucks for each million views.

[Caleb Simpson]

A thousand bucks for each million.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay.

[Caleb Simpson]

Which is hard to do. Like a hundred million views there, but.

[Jason Tardick]

It'S hard to do that anywhere.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah, it is true. Sometimes I forget that stuff. Yeah. And that's what I tell people. Too. Because the TikTok Creator Fund, for example, a lot of people ask me questions about it. Of course they're like, oh, I'm trying to monetize it. You got to make a video over one minute. How much do I get paid for a million views? I'm like, first of all, man, it's hard to get a million views.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah, yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

So hard.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

Second of all, you may make like a hundred bucks.

[Jason Tardick]

So if you do. Because here's. I don't really. I'm still trying to figure it out because I feel like it's a moving component. And also with the talent we manage, we don't ever have a share of the content creator fund. They're paid. So we're also not incentivized to really understand it. So I really don't know much about it, but my understanding is it has to be a 60 second video on TikTok. And then if you get a million views, it could vary. I've had creators tell me I might get 100 bucks, I might get 2,000. Is that accurate or what have you heard?

[Caleb Simpson]

I mean, that's been accurate for me. Okay, like for example, I'll give you the Scarlett Johansson video did what, 42 million views, something like that on TikTok. Last time I checked, I made like 18 grand from that video.

[Jason Tardick]

Interesting.

[Caleb Simpson]

But who's going to get 42 million views on TikTok? Yeah, not that many people. So it's like I don't look at any of that income as reliable or something I'm going to get every month. Even though I do get a good chunk of change every month. Like anywhere from 20 grand to 50 grand.

[Jason Tardick]

Probably just from the views.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. From all the platforms combined.

[Jason Tardick]

So fascinating.

[Caleb Simpson]

But it's not reliable.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah, because it just varies left, right and center.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah, exactly. And they're always changing it and trying new things. So I'm just paying attention and adjusting accordingly.

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[Jason Tardick]

Okay, so break down this with me. So we went through TikTok. That's really informative. Facebook. How about the other ones like YouTube, Instagram? How do they pay on those funds?

[Caleb Simpson]

Instagram does not really pay. Yeah, they have the Instagram bonuses. But the last video I just posted. Yeah, I'll tell you straight up, they still started a new bonus thing. It, it's my biggest video on Instagram ever. Just hit 40 million views.

[Jason Tardick]

Wow.

[Caleb Simpson]

On a six minute video, which is insane.

[Jason Tardick]

That's so. Wow.

[Caleb Simpson]

It's crazy. And I just looked at it and it was like 3, 300 bucks.

[AT&T Business]

What?

[Caleb Simpson]

For 40 million views on a six minute long video?

[Jason Tardick]

That is insane.

[Caleb Simpson]

Which if, for example, if that was on YouTube, that probably would have been like a hundred grand or something.

[Jason Tardick]

Here's another thing to think about too. Like if you, if you just compare it to. All you're doing doing is you're creating content that people consume. Let's compare it to what people back home know. Netflix. They have content, you consume it. Think about when Netflix puts out a show. If they can get. How many people saw this video again? 40.

[Caleb Simpson]

40 million.

[Jason Tardick]

40 million. If they get 40 million people to watch one of their whole shows, that is massive. And those shows have to spend so much money to create them. So to think that you're doing a show essentially 42 million viewers and they're giving you $3,300 for that movie or that show. That is terrible for the economics. Obviously back home, you're sitting at home, you make a video. I'm sure you're not complaining about $3,300. Like I don't want to be out of touch with reality. I don't want people to think that. But I also want people to see the economic picture here. You're creating 42 million eyeballs watching content for six fucking minutes, which is extremely long. Probably 12 times longer than your average video, maybe even more. And then the value them is probably, it's probably. What do you think the value to them is? A couple million bucks.

[Caleb Simpson]

Oh, on, on Instagram, for Instagram to.

Get a six minute video, that's a.

[Jason Tardick]

Three million dollar value to them all day.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah. And you're getting 3,300.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. It's nuts.

[Jason Tardick]

That's wild.

[Caleb Simpson]

That's why on the flip side, we charge a lot for brand sponsorships.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

So that's where most.

[Jason Tardick]

So that's a second portion of income for it.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. That's going to be where most of it can come in. Where that's like could be multiple six figures. I've, I've had conversations around seven figures.

[Jason Tardick]

Wow.

[Caleb Simpson]

So it is like up there within con conversations.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

But also that's a new. It's always a moving market. It's kind of made up. Everyone's making it up as they go because people are starting to realize, just like you said, like, oh, Caleb just posted a home tour show on Instagram. 40 million people saw it. The proof is in the analytics and it was six minutes long. What's the difference between Netflix and that?

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

How much is this worth?

[Jason Tardick]

Oh, wait, yeah. What's interesting, especially being in the talent management game and then so like we're a boutique, we're an agency and talent management, so we do both sides of the equation of like brokering deals direct, working directly with brands, but also managing talent. And so what's interesting is when you see new industries come along, you see efficiencies put in place and then you usually see a squeeze. Right. Like people are making less. And what's interesting is that the longer this industry is around, you're actually seeing the opposite of a squeeze. You're seeing the talent and you're seeing people make much more and the deal sizes become greater and greater and greater. And I think one of the biggest things about content creation is that forever marketing and media was always B2B. Like this business buys that billboard from that business, this business buys that magazine cover from this big media company. Now it's B2C and they're seeing the value they're getting. And the consumer of course is getting smarter, which is changing. A question I have for you though is I think about like my brand. It's, it's all over the place, right? Like I have money and finance and I have lifestyle and of course I was on dating show. So a lot of my dating life, like it's all over, which is good and bad. But as a result of that, if I'm given almost any brand and I believe in the brand and the price point makes sense, I can find a way to naturally organically place it into my life with an ad, assuming I endorse and support that brand. I'm thinking with. With your videos, though, it's so niche. How do you take paid advertising, like a sponsored ad, and bring it into an apartment tour?

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. People ask me this question a lot, and then I flip it on them and I say, how many products are in a home? How many services are in a home? Every single one. Because that's where we reside. That's where we spend most of our time. So, okay, the answer is that. And that's what I always bring it back to when I talk with brands. I'm like, every product or service is used inside a home.

[Jason Tardick]

So then how do you suppose you're. Suppose I'm looking at Jared Leto? You're doing Jared Leto's home, and then you want to do an ad for. I don't know, I'm just making this up. Let's call it White Claw. Again, I'm making this up. This doesn't exist. You do the ad ad for White Claw, you open his fridge. There's White Claw in there.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

Do you have to strategically, like, cut out a portion for Jared Leto? Like, when you work with other people and it's their apartment, do you just give them a small fee? What's that breakdown?

[Caleb Simpson]

Great question. It depends on the deal. Okay, number one, so far, any brand that I've worked with that has involved a celebrity, they've brought this celebrity in. So that brand's cutting the celebrity, whatever their cut is.

[Jason Tardick]

Oh, cool.

[Caleb Simpson]

I don't even see that side. I don't even know what they're making or anything like that.

[Jason Tardick]

So. So, real quick, just so people back home understand that in this example, if White Claw is doing the deal with you, simultaneously, they're doing the deal. Again, this is all made up, hypothetical. They're simultaneously doing the deal with Jared Leto, and they say, jared, here's the deal. It's White Claw. You're going to be working with the apartment guy. We're going to do this in tandem. So they'll do Caleb Simpson, separate deals. Caleb Simpson. Yeah. I keep saying the apartment. I love that. I love the apartment guy.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

Caleb Simpson. Let's keep putting the name out there.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

So that's how it'll be structured.

[Caleb Simpson]

Totally.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay. Gotcha. Interesting. So you said there's three ways to make money. There's obviously the creator fund, there's paid ads. What's the third way?

[Caleb Simpson]

The third way is that you can launch your own products, like prime with Logan Paul or countless examples, Mr. Beast with Feastables.

[Jason Tardick]

Oh yeah, that's nuts.

[Caleb Simpson]

That is something I've not jumped into yet, nor I probably won't for a while.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay, interesting. But one thing you did jump into, I believe through the research I saw was you had some type of involvement with the NFT startup world and I think it was called NFT Now. How did that go? Did you make a couple bucks off it? I know the NFT game has changed dramatically. There's been a lot of ups and downs and more, more downs as of lately. But what did that look like?

[Caleb Simpson]

Everyone's gonna think I'm a scammer now.

[Jason Tardick]

Well, the good news for you is, and I'm not trying to offend any of my audience back home, but a lot of my audience are still like, what the are NFTs?

[Caleb Simpson]

What are NFTs? Well, non fungible tokens. Okay, so this is kidding. Well, so I was making TikTok videos during the pandemic. That's kind of when I was figuring out TikTok and making short form media and this guy, I didn't like what I was making. And then this whole NFT thing rolled around and my friend Sam, who's one of the founders of NFT now, was like, we're, we're starting this NFT media company around NFTs. I was like, cool. I've always been curious about crypto. How can I get involved?

[Jason Tardick]

Sure.

[Caleb Simpson]

So they hired me on as basically the video director. So I handled all the social media content. I was the first hire at the startup and then I didn't know anything about NFTs or crypto. So it was basically a crash course of about a year year. And I helped build that startup. I learned a lot about NFTs and crypto. I met most of everybody in the industry. It was actually one of the most valuable experiences of my life, like learning how to build a startup, how to network in a new industry and learn a brand new industry and work at a startup. All one of those things is hard. All of them on their own, it's extremely difficult. So then they fired me because NFTs, you know, crypto kind of crashed. And that's when I was like, like, oh, I don't really have much money. I didn't do that well in the, in the crypto market and I had all this experience.

[Jason Tardick]

Did you lose a lot of money in crypto?

[Caleb Simpson]

I mean I, I actually, I made more than I lost.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay, so Net net, you worked out?

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay. Cause you just said I don't have a lot of money.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah, I didn't have a lot of money at that time. I was making like 80 grand a year just like working at the startup. I had maybe two months severance in my bank account.

[Jason Tardick]

And were you not at all doing your own stuff at this point?

[Caleb Simpson]

I was on the side, but it.

[Jason Tardick]

Just hadn't picked up at the is today, obviously.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah, it was totally different. I've been going viral on the Internet for years, but I never really found like my niche or something. I really enjoyed making interesting, if that makes sense. So I attribute to like an actor ax his whole life and then he has a hit role.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

And now he's famous, but he's like, I was in 40 other things. You guys just never hit. No one ever saw it, you know, so my back was kind of up against the wall and I was like, I don't have much money, but I know I have proven to myself over and over and over building other people's profiles and like going viral for years that I can do it. I know I can build something. So that's kind of within 30 days, I figured out the home tour series and like, had gone viral.

[Jason Tardick]

Interesting.

[Caleb Simpson]

And I was like, I had been in the industry for so long, I knew it was a moment and I was like, just take it and run. Work as hard as you can at it.

[Jason Tardick]

And before you hit big there, you get fired from the NFT space. You're making 80 grand a year, and then you get two months of severance. When you look at like your financial picture, like, how close? Like, what did the dollars and cents look like? Like, did you have like a couple thousand bucks to your name? Did you have like one more rent of. Of New York City before you had to leave New York? Did that look like. When you're looking back on it, it.

[Caleb Simpson]

Looked like I was calling my family and saying, hey, can you send me rent money? I promise in six months I'll pay you back tenfold.

[Jason Tardick]

Wow.

[Caleb Simpson]

You know what I mean? Because I had, I'd proven to myself, like, I had the thing happen. Like, I had gone viral and I was like, oh, I know this is like the thing.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

But I was like, I know it takes time to get paid off from platforms and the brand sponsorship side. I know it takes time to like, gain trust and negotiations. 90 day payout, et cetera. Yeah. I mean, that's where I was at. I was in complete panic.

Wow.

Did you.

[Jason Tardick]

So did you actually. I know you referenced. Did you actually have to make a call? Like, did you actually have to say, listen, I have the idea. It's coming. I need some money.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah, definitely. It was like the biggest. It was honestly great for me.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

To be able to pick up the phone and be like, here's my proof. Like, I've done these things, but I need money.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

You know, and I'm getting chills from it because it was such a hard moment for me.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

So I call up a family member and none of my family members are rich by any means. Like, none of them make over. Like a few of them make over 100k, but most of them don't.

[Jason Tardick]

Wow.

[Caleb Simpson]

So like to take some of their resources to say, no, this is going to work and I'll pay you back and it's all going to benefit our family in the next two years. I'm sure of it.

[Jason Tardick]

And now looking back on it. Holy. Right?

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

I mean, mom, dad, brother, sister, whoever it is, must be like, damn, that was a good investment. I love it. That's, that's, that's really cool.

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[Jason Tardick]

With the so NFT goes out of business. You had said though that you have gone viral in the Internet before. And then you had also mentioned that you were working with DJ profiles to make them famous. I'm sure people are curious back home, as I am too. Exactly what do you mean when you've gone viral on the Internet before? And what do you mean you help DJ profiles become famous?

[Caleb Simpson]

So when I first picked up a camera in New York City when I moved here, I, I kind of didn't know how to make anything or what the Internet really was. But I know I wanted to make viral videos on the Internet. So I just started reaching out to people. What Gary Vee said, if anyone knows.

[Jason Tardick]

Gary Vee said he's been on the show.

[Caleb Simpson]

Okay. And he's like DM people and asked to be like their interns or whatever. So that's why I did. I reached out to YouTubers and was just like, let me come work for you. So I just started learning from people on the Internet who are already doing it. Well, then I suggested some ideas to them them and some of their videos went viral. So it was like, oh, case study. I had an idea.

[Jason Tardick]

Give me an example of one idea you can think about.

[Caleb Simpson]

There's this YouTuber Peter McKinnon who went really viral a couple years ago for all these like camera tricks and hacks, like top 10 camera tricks. And then he would teach people photography. This was like a couple years ago when photography and videography was a little bit harder to get into and learn. And my friend was also in that same sort of space. So I was like, let's make fun of Peter McKinnon and like act like him. Let's copy a lot of his things. It's kind of like memify him in like a fun way.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

And then that video did like 50,000 views on YouTube, which is really hard to do. Yeah, it was like a case point for me where I had an idea, case study and it worked. And it was just like time and time again I reached out to Instagrammers, YouTubers and just went and worked with them and shot ideas around and tried making things. For a really long time I was just behind the camera. And then I started working at a. It's called Knox Media. They worked with DJs and artists to build their online presence. So I'd travel around and we just come up with ideas all day long.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

What can go viral? What would work? What's working on the, on the Internet right now? What can we convince artists to do? What are they willing to do, what's going to work with their personalities, etc. A lot of those guys worked at Vayner and then started their own company. So I took a lot of my own ethos from kind of Vayner Media because it was a trickle down effect.

[Jason Tardick]

Sure, sure. Interesting.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. And then I kind of did some of my own stuff. I. My first viral YouTube video, I recreated Mario Kart in real life.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah, I saw this, but yeah, I saw everything about it and how you did it. Like, what was the thought process? Like, what was the background before you did that?

[Caleb Simpson]

Just, I just.

[Jason Tardick]

A concept.

[Caleb Simpson]

It was an idea in my head for years and I failed at doing it because of, like, I didn't know how to execute.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

One. And then, like, financing it was hard.

[Jason Tardick]

How much did that video cost?

[Caleb Simpson]

All in all? It's about five grand.

[Jason Tardick]

Five grand to put it together. And for anyone that hasn't seen the video yet, explain it to them if.

[Caleb Simpson]

You'Ve ever played Mario Kart. It's. We basically went and bought Go Karts and we dressed up as the characters and then we drove around New York City and kind of filmed it. Got reactions from people. We did it during COVID as well. So it was kind of a light hearted, fun thing to share during a hard time. I had a feeling that idea would do one well, but I think it really just goes back to trying an idea and executing an idea. Execution's the most important part. And then when TikTok rolled around, I was on it early, like 2019, trying so many ideas and Josh Richards, you know, Charlie D'Amelio only had like 200k followers.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

So I was on there observing and trying so many ideas and went viral within about three months. And then I.

[Jason Tardick]

With. With the Mario Kart?

[Caleb Simpson]

No, not with the Mario Kart. I just did. I recreated an old Logan Paul video on Instagram.

[Jason Tardick]

Instagram, Okay.

[Caleb Simpson]

I was like, Logan Paul's not on here. What funny videos did he make? Let me just go recreate some and see if they work.

[Jason Tardick]

What was the video?

[Caleb Simpson]

It was like a silly cooking video that was out of control. ADHD cooking.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay.

[Caleb Simpson]

Where I, like, made a cake.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. Then I was doing, like, I could.

[Jason Tardick]

Do that because I have ADHD and I can't bake, so I don't even know what the video is, but I feel like it'd be a show.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. So really it was just any idea we could think of. The biggest takeaway from all of this was we went on the app and we would take the top 20 viral videos at the very beginning and we'd say. And we'd analyze all of them and think, why did they go viral? And let's like, let's break it down. So we'd write it out, each video, and then we'd go recreate it and try to 10x the idea so we went and recreated all the viral videos and then tried to 10x their idea.

[Jason Tardick]

Who's we? The company?

[Caleb Simpson]

No, just like me and some friends at the time.

[Jason Tardick]

Interesting.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

Do you collaborate with a lot of other creators often or do you do it all yourself now?

[Caleb Simpson]

Sometimes I do. I'll call them to discuss things now, but early days, you're looking for anyone who's of course down to make things to do it. So I've been going on viral on tik tok since 2019. Pretty much in a lot of different realms, like comedy. I was teaching people photography tutorials. I could jump on trends. I'll do lip syncing stuff. So I just proven to myself I can go viral in any genre, but I didn't really enjoy any of those genres. Yeah, I was like, how do I make something that I can sustain for 10 or 15 years? What do I enjoy doing?

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah, you know you talk about 10 to 15 years. You've already mentioned like negotiating six figure and even like you've, you've sniffed or seen at least what like seven figure structures looked like. We talk about the creator fund a little bit at the 20 to 50k all around just based on how things are performing. What is the 10 to 15 year plan? Like, do you have a goal? Like I want to make $10 million or I want to retire by an age. Like when you look at the financial aspect of going from asking family for rent to then grossing millions of dollars, what, what is the big picture? Like, what's the dream for you?

[Caleb Simpson]

For Caleb, I'm inside the dream.

[Jason Tardick]

I like that.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. One big reframe for me is like everyone says, well, what do you want to do? Yeah, like do you want to be an actor? Do you want to host a show? Do you want to work with celebrities? Do you want to make millions of dollars? You want to make $100 million? Y. Yeah, I'm like, I'm doing everything right now that will be applicable to all of that in the future. So I know that's a roundabout answer, but I don't really like to think about it in the sense of what am I, am I going to be in a movie in 10 years when I was, you know, in a movie three weeks ago?

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

To some capacity.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay. I like it. I respect it. It's not linear. I think the instant response of living in this dream says a lot about you in a beautiful way. But like when you list off some of those things, like be an actor and stuff, like, are those things that are in your dream Manifestation, like, do you want to be an actor? Or right now, like you want to be what you are today? Like do you want to host a TV show? Do you want to build a movie? Like do you have these aspirations to do that? Or you're just like, I just want to keep doing what I'm doing today as best as I can do it.

[Caleb Simpson]

Well, social media is number one.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

So doing what I'm doing right now, the best that I could do it is for sure, number one. And not get shiny object syndrome, which has happened to me time and time again.

[Jason Tardick]

Happens. Everybody, everyone back home has shiny object syndrome.

[Caleb Simpson]

It's like opportunity here. Let's go become that.

[Jason Tardick]

And I'm like, wait, you just want, there's never a definition for enough and then you're lost.

[Caleb Simpson]

Right. So I just try to use other people as case studies. Like Joe Rogan, Hogan did you know Fear Factor for so many years. I don't think people think about, remember that or think about that. And it's like, what was he building behind the scenes that no one saw or talks about? What was he working on behind? He's running his show. So I'm like, I have this super popular thing and it's building a brand name for me. I'm getting to practice being a host and meeting people and building a brand and all this. So I'm like, this is number one. One, don't, don't lose focus on this.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

And then number two is just becoming a better entertainer in general. Always. Because I'm like, if I'm not improving as an entertainer, then I'm moving backwards. People are going to catch up and pass me.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

Or everybody's on their own timeline. But I mean, every 17 year old's gunning for me.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah. Oh, 100%. Jet Alpha's coming in hot.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

I'll tell you this too. When we talk to these brands a lot, I am blown away at the way these brands are targeting Gen Alpha. So when they're casting for new deals, big paid opportunities, like we need Gen Alpha following Gen Alpha. Gen Alpha. So yeah, that's a good point.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. And then I'm in this big stage where I'm playing a lot in different realms to like see what I really like. That was like the biggest thing for me on social media was I've gone down all these paths and then turned around and came back. I was like, do I like sketch comedy on the Internet? Not really. Because I don't like sitting at home all day in a dark room behind lights Making up stories. Like, that's not that fun for me. So right now I'm running down different paths and seeing what's down there.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay.

[Caleb Simpson]

Like, for example, stand up. Like, I've been doing some stand up. I've been writing jokes, going to classes, et cetera, et cetera. I just want to see what it's about. I want to see what standing on stage. What's that about? So I'm running down a lot of different paths behind the scenes to see what I enjoy the most.

[Jason Tardick]

How many hours a week do you work?

[Caleb Simpson]

All of them.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah, I was going to say. You seem like. I didn't want to say workaholic, but you like it seems like work's it.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah, it is it. Because I want to be. If I. I want to be done by the time I'm 42.

[Jason Tardick]

Like, you want to be retired?

[Caleb Simpson]

I just want.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

If I want to step away forever, I can.

[Jason Tardick]

Why? 42 is pretty random.

[Caleb Simpson]

It's just in 10 years.

[Jason Tardick]

Oh, okay. Got it. 10 years. You just want to be done.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah, if I want to be interesting, so. And when I first moved to New York City, I always told myself, I just want to come here so I can go home. Like, I want to accomplish everything I want to accomplish so I can just go hang out with my family.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay.

[Caleb Simpson]

Spend time with my family and my friends. So with that in mind, I'm like. It's giving me chills thinking about it. I'm like, what do I need to do today to accomplish everything I've ever wanted to do?

[Jason Tardick]

Okay.

[Caleb Simpson]

And just get it done. Just get. Go out there and get it done and then just like, get back and hang out with your family.

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[Jason Tardick]

Okay, then just give me and and we're wrapping up here. I'll have to get a trading secret from you in a minute here, but give me like a day in the like an average day in the life. What is an average workday? It sounds like every day is a work day, but what does an average day in the life look like? From waking up to what you do to going to bed.

[Caleb Simpson]

I'm so. This is so lame what I'm about to say.

I know.

[Jason Tardick]

I want to hear it though. I'm curious.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. So, well, I get up and I jump in my cold plunge.

[Jason Tardick]

What time you wake up?

[Caleb Simpson]

It depends on where I'm at in.

[Jason Tardick]

Time zones, but typically on average you wake up at it's 7am 7am cold plunge. That's the most influencer thing I've ever heard.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah, the most influencer thing. Every day in the world.

[Jason Tardick]

Every day you cold plunge. Every single day.

[Caleb Simpson]

Every day.

[Jason Tardick]

Every day.

[Caleb Simpson]

Every day for how long? It's been almost two and a half years.

[Jason Tardick]

You haven't missed a day.

[Caleb Simpson]

I've definitely missed some days, but majority.

[Jason Tardick]

Of days you're cold plunging.

[Caleb Simpson]

Majority of the days you're a fascinating human. Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay, so you cold plunge and what then?

[Caleb Simpson]

It's. I mean it does depend on the day, but I do try to get outside and exercise. Just get outside and exercise.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

And then I come back and it's immediately work on an edit to post that to get it live. Then I'm going to go film probably somewhere, whether it's this or I'm going to go film a home tour, video or YouTube video, etc. Then there's a lot of meetings and phone calls. Most of my life is producing, to be honest. Where I'm like, what's the next home we're getting into? What's the next video we're going on? What am I going to film? What do I want to film?

[Jason Tardick]

So like producing in advance?

[Caleb Simpson]

In advance? Yeah. Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

How many hours a day do you spend on that?

[Caleb Simpson]

That's most of my life. Like there's always messages flying in between this. I'm messaging people who have hit me Back from, like six months ago or I'm following up with people. Like, hey, you said you wanted to do this. Is this a good time?

[Jason Tardick]

Okay.

[Caleb Simpson]

You know what I mean?

[Jason Tardick]

Do you have a team that helps you?

[Caleb Simpson]

I do have an assistant. Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

That's it. But that's it. Just you and an assistant?

[Caleb Simpson]

And my management team.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay.

[Caleb Simpson]

And they help to some extent. But the biggest lesson I've learned in all this, no one's going to do anything for you. You got to do it.

[Jason Tardick]

That's fucking true.

[Caleb Simpson]

So I'm like, oh, yeah, it doesn't matter who I hire. Like, I got to be on it.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

So that's typically. Then the post goes live then.

[Jason Tardick]

Do you post every day?

[Caleb Simpson]

I haven't been every day recently, but it's. It's maybe four to six times a week.

[Jason Tardick]

And when do you go to bed?

[Caleb Simpson]

11.

[Jason Tardick]

And you're. You're most those hours in between 7 and 11. You're working.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah, because once it's nighttime, then I'm working on continuing education, so I might be in a class somewhere or working on. On something else.

[Jason Tardick]

Wow.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

What do you eat?

[Caleb Simpson]

Which is exhausting.

[Jason Tardick]

Do you have any, like, weird diet things?

[Caleb Simpson]

I. I get all my meals sent to me. That's called thistle. It's like a vegan.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah. Are you vegan?

[Caleb Simpson]

I'm not. I'm half vegan. Everybody hates when I say that. Yeah, but most of my meals are vegan. And then I might, like, eat out one meal.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay, quickly. So every meal is meal prepped. They're all sent to you. You'll eat once a day or once a week. You'll eat out. And you cold plunge every day. You're working all day. What do you. What do you do for fun?

[Caleb Simpson]

I like to play games. Okay, so like basketball, Paddle.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay.

[Caleb Simpson]

Go for a run.

[Jason Tardick]

Activities.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah, activities. I mean, I used to party a lot.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

So that would be my quote, unquote fun. But you're done with partying for the most part. Like two, three times a year now.

[Jason Tardick]

You only party two or three times a year?

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

Fascinating.

[Caleb Simpson]

How do you.

[Jason Tardick]

In New York City, it's a big dating culture to, like, party and stuff, like, do. How does that area you're like, life work?

[Caleb Simpson]

Well, it was funny because when I was dating, I stopped going out for drinks. And then I realized anyone who wants to go out for a drink, since I don't do that anymore, does not align with my core values. So I don't want to go out to drinks with them anyway.

[Jason Tardick]

Interesting. Why?

[Caleb Simpson]

Because if that's their first gut reaction to a first date, then that's their first gut reaction to any activity or excitement in their life. Can they think outside of the box to go do something exciting? Like, I wanted to go do something different. That's going to get me my gears grinding.

[Jason Tardick]

Interesting.

[Caleb Simpson]

You know what I'm saying? So it's just like an easy, like, yeah, let's go get a drink. And like, it's kind of boring.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah. I think people that get to, like, do the drink thing, and it might be their stimul. I'm just thinking right now, full speed. They're probably stimulated by conversation, where you might be stimulated by the creative idea of, like, exertion in different areas.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. Or just a different activity in general. If every girl is going to get a drink, then there's like, a standard format that happens every time. I've gone on a first date and I've gone shook shopping for their groceries.

[Jason Tardick]

And that's been a first date.

[Caleb Simpson]

And that's been a first date. And it was awesome. It was hilarious. Because we're like, I'm figuring out what she likes, and then she's figuring out what I like, and she's in a realm of a habit of her life that's real and happens all the time. So you get to really see a real side of somebody right away, not this, like, fake thing that's developed on a first date. It's harder to convince people to do these things. I will say your success rate's gonna be way lower if you're like, let's go shopping for your groceries or do your laundry. They're going to go, ha, ha ha. Next.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

Next guy.

[Jason Tardick]

But the person that does.

[Caleb Simpson]

The person that does, you're probably going to have a lot more fun with.

[Jason Tardick]

What's the most random idea that someone's asked you on a first date? Like, to do? Like, you said you offered to go grocery shopping. What's like the most. Let's just do this. Other than grocery shopping. What's the most random, creative first date you've ever done?

[Caleb Simpson]

That's a good question. I don't know. I met someone at the top of the Empire State State building.

[Jason Tardick]

Interest just to be.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah, it feels like rom comy.

[Jason Tardick]

It does.

[Caleb Simpson]

It's like, oh, that's fun, you know? But I do have. I have a girlfriend now, though.

[Jason Tardick]

Oh, you do?

[Caleb Simpson]

I have a girlfriend. Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

And so does that. Does she mind that you work 24 7?

[Caleb Simpson]

She. She's a Broadway actress, so she works 28 7.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah, they. That's. She. What show?

[Caleb Simpson]

I mean, she was Glenda and Wicked.

[Jason Tardick]

Wow.

[Caleb Simpson]

Mackenzie. Kurt. Shout out.

[Jason Tardick]

Wow.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah. Yeah. She just closed the show. That was the heart of rock and roll.

[Jason Tardick]

Wow. We'll have to have her on. I'm obsessed with Broadway. Interesting. You are a fascinating man. And I. If I had to like summarize you in one way, it's like this is the box and you won't even look at the box. You are thinking so far outside of it. Let's. Let's end this last question. I'll get your trading secret. Especially being TikTok is a huge part of your life. It's a huge number one social media. You hear all the. The rumblings about the TikTok ban. Do you have an overall take on it? If you have the crystal ball, do you think it's banned? What's your overall perspective? Perspective?

[Caleb Simpson]

My. My take on the TikTok ban is as follows.

[Jason Tardick]

Let's hear it.

[Caleb Simpson]

If it gets banned, you have more opportunity because all the attention and brand dollars are gonna explode somewhere else. And then there's your real opportunity to really have your moment if. Especially if you're a new creator. So it's like the other platforms you should be focusing just as much on.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah, I agree with that. All your years experience, your storytelling, your editing, your focus, your research, your production doesn' platform, you'll find a way to do it. And I completely agree. Do you think it will get banned, though?

[Caleb Simpson]

I think the world's a crazy place and it probably could.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah.

[Caleb Simpson]

You know, and I would be interested to see what happens if it does more than if it didn't. Just for my own personal, like, how will the world react? This would be interesting.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah. I think, you know, my perspective on it is where there's too much money flowing in and too much attention. The powers too much be will always get involved in some capacity and there's just too much attention. There's too much money and I think there's too much connection to the gen alphas and the. The people that will run this country here shortly.

[Caleb Simpson]

That it.

[Jason Tardick]

If it's banned, it won't be banned for long.

[Caleb Simpson]

Oh, yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

You know, there's just too much.

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah.

[Jason Tardick]

Economics behind it, businesses built attention, entertainment. I just don't see it happening. But who knows? I don't have a crystal ball. If I did, I don't know. I probably actually still would be here because I too am in the dream. All right, Caleb, let's do this. Let's wrap with your trading secret. I mean you've dropped about 75,000 of them here. But it's one trading secret that no one can get other than your career experience. It could be a financial trading secret, it could be a life trading secret, a business navigation Trading secret Literally anything. It's just unique to your experience where you've gone and where you are.

[Caleb Simpson]

I would say be as cringe as possible that.

[Jason Tardick]

I would expect no other trading secret but that I can't let it end. Why?

[Caleb Simpson]

Because over the cringe is everything you ever dreamed and you in your own head will always be telling yourself, I'm bad, this isn't good, oh I'm terrible, I'm not funny, I'm not good looking, etc and that's all in that cringe phase. And maybe your friends will say the same thing but just lean into that cringe because that's what makes you unique. And then the most like diamond in the dust pieces of you will explode out of that cringe.

[Jason Tardick]

I fucking love that trading secret. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people, I always like to play devil's advocate say I suppose I'm at a dinner and we're talking about business or what someone's doing and someone says that's cringe or that I can't believe that person they're cringe. I will always jump down their throat because I often find more often than not people are saying that something's cringe are some they have some kind of envy of that person. Whether they just don't have the chops to do it themselves or they kind of wish they had what that person's doing. I always chant challenge it because yes there are some things that are cringe but I think majority of people judge and I think the fear of someone thinking that you're cringe for doing something you're doing puts us all in those boxes and clearly boxes are not your thing and it's worked out for you. So Caleb, where can people if they haven't seen your content and everything you have going on, where can they find everything you got?

[Caleb Simpson]

Yeah, everything online. If you just type in the apartment tour guide, you'll probably find me quicker than my handle which is at Caleb W. Simpson on all socials.

[Jason Tardick]

Caleb W. Simpson at the Apartment guy. All the things. Go find him. Caleb, thank you for one of the most unique interviews on Trading Secrets. Thanks for being on.

[Caleb Simpson]

The word unique's funny. Yeah, that's good.

Ding, ding, ding.

[Jason Tardick]

We are closing the bell to the Apartment Guy episode. We talked all things the cost of rent, his wild career track. And I have the one and only.

[Caleb Simpson]

The curious Canadian with me and David.

[Jason Tardick]

We got a big shout out. A big thank you to Geico for sponsoring today's closing recap. Do you work with Geico?

[H]

Geico works for me, I'd like to say because I am bundled through geico, believe it or not. Home insurance and car insurance all bundled up under the Geico umbrella. It's, it's served me really well and you know me, I don't like to get crazy with these things. I don't, it's, everything's always been taken care of. I've had my basement flooded, got taken care of. You know, I'm a responsible driver. So thankfully, knock on wood. Knock, knock. I haven't had that taken care of but I'm all bundled up through the GEICO machine.

[Jason Tardick]

I love it. Well, the Geico insurance company will, it'll just do the shopping for you so they'll find the right coverage at a great price, which of course trading secrets listeners will like to hear that. And it's all through their trusted partners. So if you're thinking about looking at your insurance, this is the time to do it. You'll save time buying it, setting it up and servicing your homeowner's policy. It's easy online, you've done it before, you could do it over the phone or the mobile app and I could speak to this. I actually have renters insurance in the place that I'm in. So whether it's home, renters, condo, GEICO can help protect whatever you do call home. So get rewarded how you protect your home with many options out there and make sure you're getting the best price and you could do that through geico. So David, I'm glad you're set up through their bundle. I'm set up through their renters insurance. And there are so many more insurance options out there, there. But while we're thankful for Geico for sponsoring this recap, we got to get into this recap because the apartment guy, I mean, lot of action here, talk about bundled, this guy has got a whole lot going on. What do you think?

[H]

I think a couple things. Number one, if you, if you've seen the apartment guy and you saw that he was on and that's why you tuned in and your reason was like, this is it, this is my shortcut. This guy guy just finds people on the streets, bring them into his apartment, he's blowing up. He gets tens of millions of views on everything. And that was Your. You. You thought you were going to get the secret. The secret sauce, the secret recipe. You're going to be very disappointed because let me tell you what, this guy knows. His. I don't know if I've truly ever really felt someone who's such an expert or like, knows how they got there more than this guy. I mean, this guy is sharp. I was not expecting that, Jason. And I could tell that you were very intrigued by every little detail about him. His business, his personal decision making, his viewpoints. You know, he was fascinating to me, absolutely fascinating.

[Jason Tardick]

I felt like he was a professor and I was a student, and I was like, telling me everything. What I also think just really is fascinating is the fact that he pretty.

[Caleb Simpson]

Much had no money left, but he figured out.

[Jason Tardick]

Out, like, the.

[Caleb Simpson]

The calculation to.

[Jason Tardick]

To. To, like the cheat code.

[Caleb Simpson]

And that's why I'm always so interested.

[Jason Tardick]

In this, because everyone's trying to figure out what the cheat code is, and no one really has or can.

[Caleb Simpson]

But, like, I guess he did. And there are so many things about.

[Jason Tardick]

This episode I found that fascinating. Like, even the prices of places in New York, like the strike zone of where to go and what to go.

[Caleb Simpson]

But to me, I was like, what do you mean?

[Jason Tardick]

You found the perfect equation. Like, give me the chico. What actually is it?

[H]

I wouldn't say it's the cheat code. It's like the feeling. It's like, think of like a musical artist, right? They record a hundred songs in the studio, right? It's not like they record one and it's a banger, but sometimes they record that one and they get that feeling and you look around the studio and everyone's nodding their head and everyone's like.

[Caleb Simpson]

Did we just do it? Did we just do it?

[H]

This guy found that, but in going viral in videos and ideas. Ideas, because he had such experience doing it. It's not like he turned on his camera on his phone and said, I'm gonna film a tick tock. Oh, mom and Dad, I need the money. This guy, he found that he got the feeling of years of work. Years of work. And if you've been doing the research and you put in the effort, that is the feeling that he got. And I think that's why his parents supported it. And like you said, good thing that they did, because this guy's crushing it.

[Caleb Simpson]

I love the story.

[Jason Tardick]

Everything about it is just inspiring. It's cool and it's different.

[Caleb Simpson]

But, you know, like you said, the.

[Jason Tardick]

Word that just stuck out to me is research. Like, he's doing like case studies on stuff.

[H]

Study. He said case study 50 times on this podcast.

[Jason Tardick]

50 times. And I don't know.

[Caleb Simpson]

That's just like.

[Jason Tardick]

I don't know. I'm just. It's interesting. It's just the whole thing is interesting.

[Caleb Simpson]

Of all the stuff he talked about.

[Jason Tardick]

Because, my gosh, there was a lot like what to.

[Caleb Simpson]

You maybe blew you away the most.

[Jason Tardick]

Or you were most surprised by.

[H]

I'm just going to kind of flip this. Like, were you surprised in his Kind of. Like you said, you know what kind of blows him away? The dollar amount. He said really between 3,000 and $7,000 a rent. It's really not worth it. It's all one in the same. He's like saying, we might get a little better natural light. You might get this. Did that surprise you at all? Because just like the musical artist analogy, I got another analogy for something like.

[Caleb Simpson]

This that surprised the hell out of.

[Jason Tardick]

Me because you're talking 2x right?

[Caleb Simpson]

So if you have an apartment that's.

[Jason Tardick]

Renting at 3k a month, you're looking at what, 36k a year.

[Caleb Simpson]

And if you have a place that's.

[Jason Tardick]

At 4k a month, you're looking at 48k, even 6k, you're going to 72. So that could be like close to double. So I'm surprised in New York City.

[Caleb Simpson]

That apartment that's close to double really.

[Jason Tardick]

Doesn'T have much difference in pizzazz.

[Caleb Simpson]

And the big thing with New York.

[Jason Tardick]

Of course, renting is all the, you know, the neighborhood will have a huge impact on what you're going to pay and then the size you're going to get.

[H]

I look at this analogy this way and this is why this did not surprise me. I'm a believer and I'd love your take on this. You make 100k, you make 500k, you're living pretty much the same life. Your lifestyle is pretty much the same. So you have a $3,000 a month apartment. You have a $7,000 a month apartment. You're pretty much living the same lifestyle. Yes, one gets more natural light. Yes, maybe one countertops finish is nicer, but overall, you're living the same lifestyle. I've always felt that with salaries too. 100,000 to 500,000. The 500,000. You have a car, just like you do with the other one, but it's a little nicer car. And that $500,000 person, they do have the $7,000 rent apartment. You're still pretty much living the same lifestyle, doing things the same way. That's always been my take on it. It's at over 500,000. It's that million, it's that extra where you're really living a totally different lifestyle. But I've always thought that your percentage of disposable income is always the same in that 100 to $500,000 level. So you're under the same stress, the same paycheck to paycheck. Maybe not paycheck to paycheck but like that same disposable income income feeling. You picking that up? Are you putting that down or what's your feel on that?

[Jason Tardick]

I mean like that's why I love the recap. You say things, I'm like no, David.

[Caleb Simpson]

I mean here's the deal.

[Jason Tardick]

Is it the same disposable income? I mean the answer is no, right? Like the answer percentage wise.

[Caleb Simpson]

Percentage wise, percentage of what?

[H]

If. If your percentage of disposable income is the same from 100k to 500k, you're feeling like you're living the same lifestyle, you have the same types of stresses, you have the same type of pain payments. I think that your disposable income percentage goes way up once you make more than that 500,000. Thus the feeling back to feels the feeling of that lifestyle is a little bit different.

[Jason Tardick]

I think there could be an intangible argument where you're not scrapping the number sense and actually what's left over by saying the difference in lifestyle might not be as drastic as you would expect. I think that's a fair like inclusion that you could make. I mean if you look at the number numbers you'll obviously cash flow much greater at 500,000 and then if you're investing properly that'll have a big impact. But I do think what's interesting is that small personal finance decisions, whether you're making a hundred thousand, one hundred fifty, two hundred could lead to the success and wealth of someone making 500,000 or million or even $2 million if it's done properly. Because there are people that at those levels, I've seen them in my own eyes just don't have that ability and they're spending such a significant portion about of what's coming in. But I also want to transition to this talk about rent. So I just looked up article on visual capitalists and it's ranked the US cities with the highest rent in 2024. What do you think number one is? David?

[H]

2024 is probably got to be in LA.

[Jason Tardick]

New York, it's up 11.1% at $4,200. Second is Jersey City at 4.7%.

[Caleb Simpson]

Wow.

[Jason Tardick]

$3,330. Coming in at third is San Francisco, California at $2,950. Boston up 4.8% at $2,830. And Miami is down 4.5% at 2,770.

[Caleb Simpson]

70.

[Jason Tardick]

Now I also want to share this one with you. Now it's a little dated, it's from November. But the reason I wanted to share this article with you, David, is because November 2023, the least expensive large metros for renters. We have Cleveland is number one. Lived there. We have Buffalo at number seven. Lived there. Rochester at number nine. That's where you live. And I've lived there, which absolutely kills me. So Cleveland, the Median rent in November 2023 is $1203. Buffalo was at $1277. In Rochester, York $1365. I remember, dude, my last stop in Rochester, I lived in a three bedroom apartment and my rent was 550 bucks.

[H]

That was it.

[Jason Tardick]

That was it.

[H]

First one was 525 here too. It was incredible. Nothing like the finance guy living in the three cheapest apartment rental cities in the in the country. Just making sure he gets a bang for his buck.

[Jason Tardick]

Well, that was back in 2010 when the banking crisis was a mess and it was like I'll take any job after the mortgage crisis. And that's what brought me to Rochester, Syrac, then Cleveland and then from Cleveland back to Rochester and Rochester to Seattle, Seattle, now in Nashville and God knows what's next.

[H]

God knows what's next. Well, you could be like the apartment guy next and you could move to New York City and you could do this. This is a fascinating thing that he said. He said, hey, how many hours do you work? He said all of them.

[Jason Tardick]

How about that?

[H]

I thought that, but I thought that was intriguing. Like he then slowly back backed it up with that he moved to New York City so he could eventually move home. Like that to me struck a chord because it's like that's a powerful statement. And then after saying that he's in the dream, which I thought was another great statement, he finally said, I want to be out of here when I'm 42 and that's 10 years from now. So here's a guy who's working all of them. He's shown the research, he's shown the data, he's shown the case studies. He's committed to working all of the hours. It consumes his life. 24. And he has a. He has a. His vision is to get out of the city that he's in in 10 years. I thought that was really just like, that was started when you got into the fascinating aspects of the episode. This is what really made it fascinating because this guy's a crazy cat.

[Caleb Simpson]

There was like, there was like business.

[Jason Tardick]

Intrigue and then there was just like life intrigue. Like, like where he goes for where he used to go on dates. Like how he'd go to the grocery store.

[Caleb Simpson]

I was like, what, what?

[H]

But his, but he, but his, his reasons are so smart. He's like, yeah, it's in the realm of. He goes. It's in the realm of her lifestyle. It's something that she does every day. So I'm. If I'm going to try and date this girl, I want she see what she's like in her everyday habitat. I'm like, that's genius.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah, I mean, it's called, it's like the filter approach. Like, you're just like, you're saying, I'm going to like, filter a nice dinner and drinks and all like the fluff and like, let's just go, I don't know, let's go on a date. Like we're living together to see if it works. Like, I don't know. It's not. My style is blind. Yeah, I guess. Yeah, obviously my style's not. Obviously. Who am I here to preach? But like, I don't know.

[H]

It's different, I guess it's very different. I, I would love to if I was.

[Jason Tardick]

I mean, come on, come on. Imagine, like, imagine you, you go on a date and you're like, let's go grocery shop shopping. Like, what?

[H]

I. I think I would be electric. I think it would be fun.

[Caleb Simpson]

Now I'd want to think when I.

[Jason Tardick]

Start dating, I should like, try that.

[H]

I think you should. Yeah, I think you should. I think you should do something off the wall.

[Jason Tardick]

All right. When I dip my toes back in the dating school, I will try the apartment guy strategy and ask someone to go on a date to the groceries.

[H]

And we'll pull. We'll put some ideas, some everyday life ideas in a hat and we'll pick one and that's what you're going to ask to do on the date.

[Jason Tardick]

Oh, my God. God, is this 2025? We're gonna turn this into like a dating podcast.

[H]

That, that's, you know, that's what I made for mental.

[Jason Tardick]

The mental madness of dating at 36.

[H]

That would, I would, I'd.

[Jason Tardick]

I'd subscribe I'd subscribe my blood pressure.

[H]

And I would love to. I would love to host it. I would love to co. I would love to host that for you and just kind of, you know, you could, you could use it as just a, you know, let's call a research.

[Jason Tardick]

Research. All right, well, let's get back to business here. We got a couple minutes left. Another big shout out to Geico for sponsoring this recap. David. What. What else you think? What? Any other big business takeaways you got?

[H]

I have a mindset takeaway.

[Jason Tardick]

Okay, let's hear it.

[H]

And that was his trading secret, which was anytime we get a unique training secret on the show, over 200 episodes, it always sticks out to me. And his, to me was so relatable. And he said, be as cringe as possible. He says, when you get over the cringe phase, everything you've ever dreamed of happens. Lean into the cringe. It's what makes you unique. And I thought that that was so interesting because it was relatable because I know for me, like, everyone's always like, do food videos. Do food videos.

[Caleb Simpson]

Hahaha.

[H]

Like, and then I video them and I send them to guys or I think about posting it and it's so cringe. I, like, my neck is already tight and thinking, thinking about it and I can't get over the cringe. But if I did, those videos are funny and maybe, you know, then that's what he. And that's what he got and that's where he is. So hearing him say that to me, it was like I put. I could put myself in a, in a mind space of like, exactly what he's trying to get through to you.

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah. And I think, yeah, I actually really like that trading secret because I think what's happened is, I don't know, there was a idea of like, what cringe was, right? Like, that was a thing where people would be like, this is cringe. I think it's become the most overrated thing now where just like everyone, everyone's like, oh, that's cringe. That's cringe. It's cringe. And it's. I think what his trading secret was with cringe was everyone's judging and everyone's judging because of their own fears or external resentment or internal longing. And he's like, if you're doing the things that people are judging, like, just keep doing them. Like, ignore it. Like, just do you. And that I love.

[H]

Yeah. And you said it was. It usually comes out of a place of like, envy, like jealousy, like oh, that's cringe. It's in deep down. It's like I wish I was just. I didn't care enough to just do that, to lean into it, to be. To whether you think you're funny or think you're not. Like you said, like I. That to me was such a, such a great trading secret. It's like your hair, right? Everyone wants to grow their hair. I want to grow my hair. I want to have Jason Tardick hair.

[Jason Tardick]

You got great hair.

[H]

But you know what I. But you know what I don't do?

[Jason Tardick]

What?

[H]

I don't let it grow out because there's the cringe face. Right? Everyone says, oh, that's the cringe. That's like the. What's the stage? They call it like the in between stage.

[Jason Tardick]

The awkward stage. Yeah, yeah.

[H]

Well, if I get. If I lean into the cringe and embrace it, soon I'm going to have nice luscious locks like Jason Tardick and I can throw it back, float a little bit. So cringe. I got to get over the cringe phase and then I'll finally get the flow that I want.

[Jason Tardick]

Get over the cringe phase. You'll get over the flow. You want apartments, New York City, 3 to 7 k. Ish. That's an interesting discussion on that point. And you know, we had Ryan Sirhant talk about bad bunny's apartment. 150k plus of rent. So a lot of rent talk here and for me and like, what's next? I got to figure out that, you know, David, like I, I have literally nothing at this point anymore keeping me to Nashville. And so I gotta figure out what that's gonna look like. So who knows, maybe I'll be calling the apartment guy for a couple tours here sooner than later, but I don't know. We'll see.

[Caleb Simpson]

That.

[H]

That would be a great little side business for him too. Could just be a brokerage firm.

[Jason Tardick]

Oh yeah. Seriously, at this point, right?

[H]

There you go.

[Jason Tardick]

Wow.

[H]

I did like your guys idea that you talked about where he asked how much they pay for rent and you. And then you like pop out of the woods. You're like. And how much do you make?

[Jason Tardick]

Yeah. Oh yeah, just do a one, two punch.

[H]

Just do a one, two punch. I thought that was phenomen. You already have the Barbara Corcoran connection. So does he. I mean, you know, she's big fans of both years. She's been on the pod twice. She got a hundred million views on her show there. On her episode with him, she gained 200,000 followers and crazy, crazy stuff. Crazy world we live in.

[Jason Tardick]

It's a crazy world. If you're renting right now, you already heard it. You got California, Massachusetts, Washington, New Jersey, some areas in Florida, and of course New York. Those are some of the most expensive places to be renting right now. So make sure you're checking in with the apartment guy. The content is great, the information is unbelievable. And just another shout out to Geico for sponsoring this recap. And David, you got anything else before we wrap?

[Caleb Simpson]

Nope.

[H]

Shout out to Geico. And all this rent talk. It does make me miss renting because homeowning is just.

[Caleb Simpson]

It's just tough.

[Jason Tardick]

You always want what you can't have. That's our trading secret today. Hopefully this was another episode of Trading.

[Caleb Simpson]

Secrets, one you couldn't afford to miss.

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[Jason Tardick]

We're talking a little entrepreneurship here with Love is Blind. So let's talk about how you could start your own business.

[Caleb Simpson]

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