CO-HOST | Make Money by Finding Your Niche and Building Valuable Skills

Summary

Travis Makes Money: Make Money by Finding Your Niche and Building Valuable Skills

Host: Travis Chappell
Co-Host/Producer: Eric
Release Date: March 31, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Travis Chappell and his producer Eric dig deep into practical strategies for increasing your income—not through radical penny-pinching, but by identifying your niche and building valuable, marketable skills. Highlighting stories from everyday people who successfully monetized their unique interests and expertise, they explore the real foundation of wealth: owning a niche, acquiring skills, and combining passion with market demand. The discussion is peppered with personal anecdotes, playful banter, and concrete examples that illustrate how unconventional paths can lead to financial success.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The (Debatable) Value of Hustle Habits

[00:42 - 05:34]

• Travis and Eric open with a lighthearted discussion about caffeine tolerance and sleep issues, using Eric’s struggles as a launching point for exploring work habits, energy, and personal health.
• They joke about possible medical causes, referencing ADHD and the importance of proper rest for performance and productivity.
• Memorable Moment: Travis teases, “So sorry for caring about the health of my friend.” [04:48]
• Takeaway: Your baseline energy, health, and routines play a significant but often overlooked role in your money-making capacity.

2. What Does It Really Take to Get Rich? (Ben Shapiro Clip)

[05:55 - 10:33]

• Eric plays a clip from Ben Shapiro outlining three basic steps to avoid poverty: finish high school, don’t have kids before marriage, and get a job.
• Both hosts critique and contextualize the “get a job” advice, emphasizing that the quality and type of job (and associated skills) matter more than simply being employed.
• Notable Quote:

  “You do not get paid for your time. You get paid for the value that you bring to the market.” — Travis [12:21]

• Discussion crystallizes on the importance of skill acquisition, not just hard work or following life’s typical playbook.

3. The Wealth Nexus: Passion, Skill, Market Demand

[10:34 - 13:37]

• Travis expands on Shapiro’s “nexus” concept: true, sustainable wealth is found at the intersection of something you’re good at, something you’re passionate about, and what people will pay for.
• Practical exercise recommended:
  • Write three lists—for your skills, passions, and what the market wants. The overlap is where your niche opportunity lies.
• Notable Quote:

  “That is going to be a much smaller pool to choose from than everything else.” — Travis [11:53]

• Eric jokes about having to admit he agrees with Ben Shapiro on this point, highlighting the universality of the advice.

4. Real-Life Niche Success Stories

[13:38 - 24:12]

• Eric shares his own journey: becoming an in-demand commentator/expert on clergy abuse and cults, proving that even bizarrely specific or “strange” interests can be monetized if you gain genuine expertise and visibility.
  • Notable Quote:

    “It’s so crazy that I built a platform and have monetized a platform that talks about the most hyper niche, bizarre topic.” — Eric [14:34]

• Travis gives three major case studies highlighting niche-to-wealth playbooks:
  1. Jake Palino, Custom Sneaker Creator [15:49 - 16:49]
     • Started painting sneakers as a teen, built an audience on Vine and TikTok, then launched his own sneaker line when “giving free traffic to Nike” no longer made sense—leading to a multi-million dollar business.
     • Memorable Moment: “His most viral video is dying Air Force Ones in coffee. Got like 30 million views!” — Travis [16:27]
  2. Darren Prince, Sports “Super Agent” [18:05 - 19:25]
     • Turned a high school side hustle in trading cards into a collectibles empire, leveraging obsessive knowledge to eventually represent everyone from Magic Johnson to Hulk Hogan.
     • Quote: “He made like $200,000 one year buying and collecting cards... turned that into a multi-million dollar business before he was 25 years old.” — Travis [19:25]
  3. Matt Alvarez, Sound Shed Studios [20:13 - 24:12]
     • IT and music studio background led to a serendipitous gig setting up Joe Rogan’s podcast studio in Austin, sparking industry-wide referrals and a now-global construction/creative business.
     • Eric and Travis emphasize that unlikely, specific combinations of experience lead to unique, irreplaceable skill sets ripe for niche markets.
     • Memorable Moment: Eric jokingly claims the most universal IT fix: “He said, did you try unplugging it and plugging it back in?” [24:55]

5. The Enduring Power of the Niche

[23:58 - 25:02]

• Eric underscores the feeling of discovering your highly specific lane: “...the stuff that you wouldn’t ever say in kindergarten, like, one day when I grow up I want to do X.”
• Travis summarizes with encouragement that niche, deep expertise ensures you “never run out of customers,” provided you’re best-in-class at something—even if hyper-specific.

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Skill Versus Passion:

  “Most people either go to the thing they’re passionate about, but they’re not good at it... or you have people that are highly skilled and they do it, but they hate their life.” — Eric [15:01]

• On Overcoming Narrow Definitions:

  “It’s still to this day mind-blowing to think about the volume of people out there... you’re not going to run out of customers if you get really good at something super specific and very niche down.” — Travis [23:54]

• On Finding Your Money Solution:

  “Money only solves your money problems, but it’s easier to solve the rest of your problems with money in the bank. So let’s start there.” — Travis [25:17]

---

Key Timestamps

• [05:55] Ben Shapiro “Three Steps to Not Be Poor” Clip and Critique
• [11:22] The “Skill Acquisition” Insight: Value in the Market
• [13:38] Eric’s Personal Niche Example (Abuse & Cult Commentary)
• [15:49] Sneakerhead to Sneaker Brand – Jake Palino Story
• [18:05] Trading Cards to Sports Agent – Darren Prince Story
• [20:13] Accidentally Building a Studio Empire – Matt Alvarez Story
• [23:58] Reflection on Hyper-Niche Careers and Finding Unlikely Success

---

Summary & Takeaways

• Main Message: You don’t need to cut every corner or copy billionaire routines to build wealth. The real “shortcut” is slow and intentional: find your niche at the cross-section of skill, passion, and market demand, relentlessly build your expertise, and own your unique corner of the market.
• Action Steps:
  • List your skills, passions, and what the market is willing to pay for.
  • Aim for the intersection—your unique, valuable niche.
  • Focus on mastering a skill, not just working hard.
• Inspiration: Even the most unconventional interests can be transformed into major income streams if you become the go-to expert and never stop learning.

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For more details and in-depth interviews referenced in this episode, check out the full shows with Jake Palino, Darren Prince, and Matt Alvarez on the Travis Makes Money podcast feed.

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End of Episode Summary

Transcript

[Marine Corps Recruiter or Motivational Speaker]

The wrongs we must right, the fights we must win, the future we must secure together for our nation. This is what's in front of us. This determines what's next for all of us. We are Marines. We were made for this.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

You're listening to the Travis Makes Money podcast presented by GoHighLevel.com for a free 30 day trial of the best all in one digital marketing software tool on the planet, just go to gohighlevel.com travis. What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Travis Makes Money podcast where it's our mission to help you make more money. Today on the show, my producer Eric is in studio. What's up, man?

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

If you're listening to the show and you know what to do if caffeine has no effect on you, can you please reach out? Because can I be cuz, like caffeine makes you wake up, right?

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yes, but not, not like an immediate, you know, like, like Jackie and I went to dinner the other night and I was just super tired and it was, I don't know, like 6 o', clock, 7 o'. Clock. And she was like, why don't you drink this energy drink? And I was like, no, because if I drink that, it's not going to do anything for me for the next 30 minutes. But tonight, when you're dead tired at 8:30 or 9:00', clock, it's going to kick in and I'm going to be up till like midnight.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I don't understand. See, I wish, I wish I was you. You know, I like, just for my caffeine. No, because I really do. I don't intake. I don't. If I, like, if I, I don't feel like I'm ever not tired,

[Movie Trailer Narrator]

that

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

might be a problem.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

No, like, I really do. Like, I lay, I, I lay in bed and I'm tired. And then I wake up in the morning. Like, like this morning I woke up, I roll. I should have saved this for the sleep conversation we just did.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

It's true.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

But I, I like, I'll wake, this is how I feel in the morning. I'll wake up this morning I got up at like 7, roll out of bed, I go into my fridge, I get a bottle of water and I get a Red Bull. I mainline the Red Bull. I. Nothing happens. But I like the taste.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Okay.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I'm still exhausted. I took my daughter to the pool and was tired. I was in the water, I was tired. I came back, had a little more caffeine, got two espresso Shots, drank them. I'm here, I'm yawning. I'm not disinterested. I'm just tired. I'm drinking a monster right now. I'm tired, and it doesn't do anything for me.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Are you getting good sleep length? Yeah.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yes. Do I have a shih Tzu that sleeps on top of my head? Yes. No. Yeah, I get. I get a good amount of sleep. I've tried setting, like, I'm going to bed. This time I get up, it's just horrible. I have read that it. I have read that it's a symptom of people that have adhd.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

But it does the opposite effect.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Caffeine makes them sleepy.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

In which case you're just main lighting sleep. Me drinking three Red Bulls a day is probably not good.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah, I, I don't.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

But, yeah, I really don't. I, I. But I've tried quitting. Like, I stopped doing energy drinks for, like two weeks in South Carolina, which was hard. That was hard stuff. And I literally felt just worse.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Interesting.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I just felt like. I just felt like we're not worse, like, physically, but just like, now I don't even get the joy of my energy drink. And I'm tired.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

But, like, I didn't feel more alert and I didn't feel more tired. This is like what people say, and then they have, like, blood cancer.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

That definitely something you want to throw out into the universe.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I'm just saying, like, because sometimes I'll sit there. I actually thought about going getting tested for something because I'm like, you should.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

You should do one of those sleep tests.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

You and my wife, you've been conniving and collaborating behind my back. She's always like, do a sleep study.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

So sorry for car about the health of my friend.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

She's always like, do a sleep study.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

And Tara caring about the health of her husband.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I don't want to do.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

How dare we Then stop complaining about it.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

No, I thought about. No, because I really did. I was like, I started googling it and I was like, you should have

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

a sleep doctor on your show blood cancer and ask him some questions. I guess at the sleep doctor.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I bet you he couldn't help me. I can.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I bet you bet he couldn't help.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I swear to you. You know the sleep doctor, right? You know the sleep doctor?

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I bet you if the sleep doctor came and analyze.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

You want me to call him?

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Hey, sleep doctor, call him. Would he answer? Are you guys tight like that?

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I don't know if you'd answer, but

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I can call the sleep doctor. Is he going to bill me later? He gives me advice.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Sleep.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I already feel annoyed. I feel like he's going to start giving me. I feel like the alcoholic right now. That's like. I know he's going to say, maybe you stop drinking energy drinks completely. And I'm going to.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

What he's probably going to say is, I don't know. I'd have to do a test.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I don't want to talk to him. No, don't. Don't call him. Don't call him. I'm already irritated with him and I want to have bad energy going into the call. You're irritated with the guy Because I know he's going to say something annoying. No, call him.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Oh, look, six signs. Your coffee habit is masking a sleep problem.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

All right, I don't want to talk to him. Are you going to call him? I don't want to talk.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

No, I won't call him.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Okay.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I won't bug him.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

So anyway, so if you know anything about that, just.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

He was recently on Diary CEO, though, so it might be a good listen for you.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Anyway, if you guys know anything, just let me know. If it doesn't involve, like, a sleep study, any kind of medical analysis or

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

changing any real data or, like, changing

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

my lifestyle, I'm in.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I just want to just really snap your fingers.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I just want the pill that's gonna

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

make it all gonna be sleep doulas.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I was gonna say something, but I won't.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Okay.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Okay. So good content. I'm gonna play a clip. I was gonna. I'm like the guy we listen to the other day that said I grew up similar but different.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

But different.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

We should call that guy. That guy's not getting a good eight hours.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah, Word. Word salad guy.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

All right, well, here's a clip from a great. One of the great financial advisors of our time.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Okay.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Ben Shapiro. I'm gonna play this clip for you. I want you to tell me what you think. Okay.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

All right.

[Ben Shapiro (Clip Speaker)]

The steps that are required to be rich. You got to finish high school. You don't have babies before you get married. You have to get a job.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Do you need me to pop this into 0.5 speed or. You got it. You track him with him.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I got it.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

So far, that's the craziest thing, is when you're watching videos on 2x speed and you click on someone like Ben Shapiro's video and you're like, whoa, bro.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I'm convinced that the reason I can listen to stuff at 2x speed is because I am married to somebody who speaks a 2x speed normally.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

You're like the. You know what you are? Yeah. You're like. You're like if this. Have you seen Zootopia? Yes. You're the sloth from the DMV and Jackie is Judy Hopps and you guys got married.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

That is very true. I agree.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Have you seen Zootopia too?

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah, it's a great movie.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Academy Award winner.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Did it win?

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Oh, wait, no nominee. It didn't. It lost. A K pop Demon Hunters. Rightfully so.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

For like animated film or.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah, okay. Just of all the movies, Zootopia 2 beat out sinners. That would be crazy.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

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[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

box office records though.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah, I did. We're not here for that.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

That was surprising to me, honestly.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

So here's Ben Shapiro.

[Ben Shapiro (Clip Speaker)]

The steps that are required to be rich. You got to finish high school. You don't have babies before you get married. You have to get a job. If you do those three things, you will not be permanently poor in the United States by all available metrics and evidence. That's the first step. Then to actually get rid.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

That's three steps, Ben.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah, except for. Except for job is a very.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

There's a lot different meanings for first step.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Get a job. Don't have babies before you get married. What was the other thing he said? Oh, finish high school.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I wasn't paying attention.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Finish high school. It was so fast I had to process. Finish high school.

[Ben Shapiro (Clip Speaker)]

Yeah.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Don't have babies before you get married.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

And get a job.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

And get a job.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Okay. What's step two?

[Ben Shapiro (Clip Speaker)]

The steps that are required to be rich. You got to finish high school. You don't have babies before you get married. You have to get a job. If you do those three things, you will not be permanently poor in the United States by all available metrics and evidence. That's the first step. Then to actually get rich, you have to develop a skill set that people Want from you. Wealth lies at the nexus of three things. The things that you're good at, things that people want from you, and things that you're passionate about. In that sweet spot is where the money is for you. And that can be in virtually anything. It really can be, because this is a giant country and it's a huge international economy and there are niche markets in pretty much everything. I know people who are loaded as plumbers. I know people who have made an enormous amount of money by starting, like, cell phone kiosks at the mall. I know one person in particular, a good friend of mine. He literally sold the company for hundreds of millions of dollars. He started off by selling, like, cell phones at a kiosk in the mall. You can do these things, but you have to find that nexus.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah, that's good. That's good advice. The, the skill acquisition thing, I think, is the part that most people kind of skip over, which is probably the most important out of all of the things that he said, which is that they, they go for a passion without having a skill in the passion, or, or they go for a skill that is not highly monetizable. So that, that's why he's saying the nexus of those three things, like something that you're passionate about, something that you're good at, and then something you're willing. Something that people are willing to pay you for. So that's why you should write a list of all of those things and then see which items in those lists are actually on all three of those lists. And that is going to be a much smaller pool to choose from than everything else. But yeah, the skill acquisition thing, I. Is really where most people should be spending their time, because you will. You do not get, you do not get paid for your time. You get paid for the value that you bring to the market. So that's why some people can get paid, you know, a million dollars for a coaching day, and some people get paid a minimum wage to flip burgers or whatever. It's.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

It, it.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

It's the skill that you have because the skill is, you know, the, the foundation of value creation.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah. And I think the other thing that I like that he said was there's a. I don't like that I'm on the record saying I like something that Benjamin said. Can we strike that from the record or is that there now?

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Nope, we can't strike it.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Someday I'm going to run for office and I'm going to be running as a Democrat leader. I'm going to Have a swell.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

He's a Ben Shapiro head.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Like, back in 2026. Eric. I could picture the attack back in 2026, Eric endorsed Ben Sh. Shapiro's support of Netanyahu. And they're gonna cut that off.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Eric endorsed Ben Shapiro.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Let me.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Let me see that Parks and Rec episode where they're talking about Bobby Newport. Bobby Newport.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

No. Millennial cringe. I'm just kidding. Anyway, so, yeah, so I. I liked. But one thing I liked that literally anybody could have said this, but it happened to be Ben Shapiro here. And I don't think he has any kind of intellect that's above the average person. So I'm just saying this one thing is possibly pret.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

He's also.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Broken clocks.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Done exactly what he said.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Broken clocks are right twice a day, and Ben Shapiro is right one less time than that. And. But he said that there's niches in virtually anything.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

And I think this is something that when we talk about, like, the blue collar thing, when we talk about all the different. Like, the fact that I'll use myself as an example, a great intellectual myself, but it's like, I talk about a broken clock. I. So I did a live stream on a big YouTube channel the other day, and they. They said, you know, they kept saying, like, oh, you're the expert in this topic, which I talk about colts and clergy abuse. And she's like, you know, you're the person. Like, when these stories happen, you know, you're the person that comes to mind. I reach out to. And I was like, first of all, that's such a weird category of life to be the guy. Like, I just saw the most horrific crime ever committed.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Eric.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Let's call Eric. But. But then I thought I was like, it's so crazy that I built a platform and have monetized a platform that talks about the most hyper niche. Yeah. Bizarre topic.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Well, especially because you're not even giving yourself enough credit when you say clergy abuse and cults, because you started with a specific type of abuse in a specific type of cult.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah. You know, that nobody has ever heard of. That's not in it.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Right. So.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah. So it's like, I was, like, thinking about it, like, it's such a weird thing that's ballooned into this, but it really is those, like, those things he talked about, which is like, something you're good at doing, something that you like, or something you're good at doing, you can get really proficient at, and then something that you're passionate about. And, like, I think sometimes people either go to the thing they're passionate about, but they're not good at it. It's like, I want to be a sports broadcaster. I'll start a sports podcast, or I'll start a trading card company. But, like, they have no skill to back up the passion. Yeah. Or you have people that are highly skilled and they do it, but they hate their life because they're not. It's like, if you can find, you know, like, that middle ground of like, I'm really good at speaking about this thing and I also am passionate about this topic. Or I'm really good. Like, I'm really good at construction and I only love doing pools. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, what's that thing?

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Two examples come to mind. A recent guest on the show, I talked to a guy yesterday who he. He was. He. He was a sneaker head growing up, like, you know, 12, 13 years old. He was just doing, like, custom sneakers because that's what he loved doing. And his name is Jake Palino. And then he started. He started creating content around that time on vine and built like, like, I think he said 10 to 15,000 followers or something like that on vine early on in, like, junior high, high school. And then TikTok came out when he was in, like, college age. And he started creating on TikTok, had a couple of videos go crazy. And then he had his. His first, like, $10,000 month. So he drops out of college, and then to this day, his most viral video is Dying Air Force Ones in Coffee. And it had got like 30 million views. And then he basically was just like, why am I giving all this free traffic to Nike? Over and over and over and over and over again. He said, he said they even, they. They stopped him from buying Air Force Ones at one point. They actually stopped allowing.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

I remember that story.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah. Which is pretty wild when you think about all the free publicity that he was giving them. Obviously, Nike doesn't necessarily need that, but you think they would want to encourage that type of behavior and be like, hey, man, here's some free sneakers. You know? But they did the exact opposite of that. So he started his own sneaker line called Kizzo and just started making his own sneakers and then featuring his own sneakers in his video content, stuff like that. It's a perfect example of what we're talking about where it's like, he's passionate about it, he's good at creating content around it, and he actually knows the sneaker industry. And then people are also willing to pay for sneakers. It's like what you said before, where it's like somebody might be passionate about it, but they're not good at it. Like, maybe somebody is just like, they love sneakers, but they don't really know everything about it. They just think that there's an opportunity to make money doing it. So they start doing it. But it's. You know what I mean? Like, or vice versa. They're maybe pretty good at it, but they're not passionate about it. And they're like, well, somebody will pay me for this, so maybe I should just do this. And then, and then now that's. That sneaker company has done millions of dollars in revenue, and it's something that actually lights him up and fires him up and something that he's good at and passionate about in this super, you know, hyper niche market. And then what was the other? Oh, trading cards. So I had Darren Prince on the show again recently. And Darren, for those who don't know, is essentially a super agent. He's. He's a sports agent.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

And that sounded so much cooler what you just said.

[Guest or Additional Narrator]

What?

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Super agent?

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

He's a super agent.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah, I think that's, I think that's an actual technical term, but I just

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

pictured it like James Bond.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

He has like a kid K Pop

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Demon hunters, Haja Boys Breakfast Meal and Hunt Trick's meal have been just dropped at McDonald's. They're calling this a battle for the fans. What do you say to that, Rumi? It's not a battle. So glad the Saja Boys could take breakfast and give our meal the rest of the day.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

It is an honor to share. No, it's our honor. It is our larger honor.

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No, really, stop. You can really feel the respect in this battle. Pick a meal to pick a side

[Ben Shapiro (Clip Speaker)]

and participate in McDonald's while supplies last.

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[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

is scared of this man.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Oh, yeah.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

And then I visualized who Darren Prince actually looks like. And I'm like, that's not James Bond. Yeah, it's like Vin Diesel in xxx.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah, he, he, he's now like Magic Johnson's agent. He was Hulk Hogan's agent All the way up to the end. Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, like the biggest names you can imagine, Carmen Letra, Pamela Anderson, that he was an agent for all these people. But he started doing trading cards when he was in high school and he made like $200,000 one year buying and collecting cards. But that's what he would obsess over when, like when he was in school, he had this, like this catalog that told him the prices of what certain cards were worth. And he was just studying that all day. All day, all day. So then he would make deals with friends who had cards and then he would buy them and then he knew what they were worth and what he could sell them for. So he started going to trade shows and doing that there and then turned that into collectibles business and merchandising business where he was working with, with people like Magic Johnson before he was his agent, where he would do like memorabilia signings and then take a percentage of that and turn it into a multi million dollar business before he was 25 years old. But again, a perfect example of just like an intersection of all these different things where he realizes like, oh, people are actually actively involved in this trading card space and, and willing to pay good money for these types of collectibles. This is something I'm really, really interested in and that I got, that I'm very passionate about. And I've also built up a very extensive bank of knowledge about this particular thing. Another example, I talked to a guy today on the show, owns a company called Sound Sound Shed Studios out in Austin. And to his own admission, even on the, on the episode that we were talking about, he, his name is Matt Alvarez, so you can go listen to the full episode if you want to. He, to his own admission was like, I fell into this. It was an accident. Like I basically had this it job working for, we work setting up studios and stuff for them. And then Pandemic hit. They did a bunch of layoffs. I was jobless, didn't want to go get another job. So I was just like, let me just do some videography work or some I t work for some people. And then somebody introduced him to Joe Rogan when Joe was moving from LA to Austin. And he's the one who basically set up his full studio for him. It was the first time he ever did a podcast studio.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Did you ask him about. Because he did the, the, the spaceship one. Hot dog. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you ask him about that? Yeah, people were roasting that and then he came back and was like, I can actually do other things that are way cooler.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah, exactly. So they end up building that studio and then it just like it was just the space wasn't super like basically they had this like half shell of a thing that they were trying to convert into something that looked like the inside of ufo, but it was just like cramped and there was a lot of technical issues that came along with it. Just like running cables and stuff like that. So they ended up, ended up like rebuilding the studio now that Rogan has been recording in for the last five years. But then that was something where it's like, hey, I he like at that time it's like, it's not like he's passionate about IT work, but he was passionate about, about the creator space to, to some degree where he knew he wanted to be in that world. And then he had also built up a very deep knowledge and expertise in the IT construction world outside of just like setting up mics and cameras, you know what I mean? Like anything beyond that scope. He was also good at that. So by the time he was introduced to Rogan, he was uniquely to set up this really cool studio space which then led him to doing Tom Segura's studio space. He led him to doing Alex Ramosi's studio space in Austin before he moved out to Vegas. Then now they're setting up Chris Williamson studio space, Shane Gillis's studio space and they have built a multi million dollar construction business doing like flagship studios for huge name creators. But also now they're doing construction projects for gyms and basically they've turned into basically a construction company that does unique cool projects for big brand companies. And now they're doing a project in Dubai. Like they actually are like a global construction company at this point. But it started with just the, the, the core like the deep knowledge and skills that he had acquired by being in IT and setting up music studios because he was a musician before. Like all of that sort of like blossomed into this thing that was like got introduction to Rogan, did really well with that opportunity, then started getting a ton of inbound referrals and leads from all these other people that wanted something similar. And now it's turned into a multimillion dollar business and it's like, like what you talked about before we hit record. It was just like it's still to this day mind blowing to think about the volume of people that are out there and the fact that you're not going to run out of customers if you can get really good at doing something super Specific and very niche down. A niche down, you know.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah. It's the kind of gigs that. That always excite me are the stuff that you wouldn't ever say in kindergarten, like, one day when I grow up, I want to do X. Yeah, right. It's like the people where it's like, I've worked five jobs and they all turned into this one thing that I'm really good at.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

This super unique skill set. Yeah.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Well, I know he. I know we have to close out the episode. And he started in it and then pivoted to doing podcast studios. And obviously I feel bad because I just immediately crapped on the first thing he built. He's done a lot of amazing studios,

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

but I have to imagine that one was a feat by itself.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah. And I.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

And he only had two and a half weeks to do it, to design and build it, which is crazy.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Hey, look, Travis, I'm just. I'm just stating facts.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah. He said he's putting in 14 hour days himself, like, trying to figure this out.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

And then people try. I have to imagine that was like a scary, like, oh, God, did I just mess up. Swing big.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Yeah. Right.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

But I actually. I don't know if you brought this up on the show. You know what happened when Joe Rogan called him the first time and said, there's an issue with the studio?

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

No.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

He said, did you try unplugging it and plugging it back in? All right, go ahead and close this out.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

All right, well, that's it for this episode of the show. Hopefully you find some inspiration in some of these stories that I shared. And luckily, all the stories I shared are we do deep dives into with all these people on the show, so you can go check out those full episodes. But that's it for this episode in particular. Thanks so much for tuning in. Remember, money only solves your money problems, but it's easier to solve the rest of your problems with money in the bank. So let's start there here on the Travis Makes Money podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Catch you next time.

[Eric (Producer of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Peace.

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Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci are back.

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Auntie Dot.

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On May 1st.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Look what T.J. maxx dragged in.

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[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

No, you are not.

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Icons reign forever.

[Travis (Host of Travis Makes Money Podcast)]

Cheers.

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Tickets now. The Devil wears Prada, too May 1st directed by David Frankel. Radio PG 13th may be inappropriate for children under the 13th of.