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A
I was recently on whatnot the other day, just shopping around, looking frankly, because I was just blown away that this is something that people are doing with their time. And so I was like, I got to go see if this thing is real before I talk about it on the show. And so I'm browsing whatnot, looking around, finding things, and it's crazy to see the volume of people that are just having fun in the chat. They're watching people do live shopping. It's like, it's like, you know, QVC directly on your phone. It's something you need to try, I'm telling you. Not just buying, but the selling piece to too. Where these people are just starting up pop up shops and businesses, selling whatever product, finding their people, building community, getting repeat customers that come back to see your face as the seller. Not just a logo or a brand, anyone can sell. Whether your business is big, small, or yet to exist, people selling on whatnot sell 10 times more than on any other major marketplaces. And that's because you're not just listing products, you're building real connections with buyers across whatnot. The number of sellers making over $1 million a year has now doubled. The consistency pays off for those sellers. It's not just side hustle, it's a real path to building something that lasts. Because whatnot buyers spend more than an hour a day in the app, they're not just browsing around, they're engaged, they're buying, they're coming back. You go live, show off your products in real time and turn what you love into real income. So search whatnot wh o t Whatnot in the App Store, download it today and get started selling right away. 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
B
what's going on, everybody? Welcome back to the Travis Makes Money podcast where it's a mission to help you make more money. On this episode of the show, I have a new friend, Kate Monroe. She's a Marine Corps veteran entrepreneur and author of Wake Up Ready. A book centered on the mindset that preparation creates opportunity. As a founder and CEO of Vetcom, she built a mission driven company that's helped thousands of veterans access the benefits that they've actually already earned. She's passionate about leadership, resilience, entrepreneurship, and the daily habits that drive long term success. Kate, what's up? Welcome to the show.
C
I'm excited to be here. I should take you everywhere. That was a really good introduction. So thank you.
B
Of course. Thank you for taking the time. I want to go back in time first. Before we jump in, all the amazing things you're working on now.
A
Tell me the first time that you
B
ever made a dollar that was shocking, surprising, exciting to you?
C
Shotgun. Surprising, exciting. Honestly, as a little kid, I started babysitting when I was 10 years old. But that wasn't the most exciting dollars I made. When I turned 12, I realized I could make more money if I booked out the schedule of eight or ten different babysitters. And I realized by, you know, me helping other people make money that I was going to make. So I basically, you know, 8 to 10x my money without having to babysit anymore. And then I became an entrepreneur very early and I realized, wow, there's something to be being a business owner, employing people and really working smarter than. So I think that was the first click or just taste that I got of entrepreneurship. And I never stopped.
B
Yeah, no kidding. Was that something that was innate in you? You think your parents help develop that A little bit.
C
My dad was very entrepreneurial. Entrepreneurial growing up. In fact, he created a company. Before Hot Pockets created the first Hot Pocket, he had a company doing the same. He was making, you know, we made it with our own money, and then it grew into a bigger business and they were doing semi truckloads. And eventually Hot Pockets kind of put him out of business in a very shisty way. But he was always entrepreneurial. He had been in the car business, I was in the car business. So I think I modeled that entrepreneurship from him. But also, you know, my grandma, his. His mom was very entrepreneurial. She owned strip malls. She was the president of the Chamber of commerce. So I had had it in the blood again.
B
Yeah, no kidding. But you obviously chose a different path going in the Marine Corps, right? Why? What was that decision for baptism is
C
one of the most wild parts of my entire story. I actually was at Western Baptist College, now known as Corbin University in Orego. I was just clicking along. I had a 4.2 GPA coming out of high school, full ride, scholarship to college, and part of the way through college, I thought, I don't really know what I want to be. I'm over here doing student teaching for little kindergarteners. And one day the teacher said, hey, Kate, can you take my keys and go out and get something from my car? And I went out trying to find her car, and I realized that my Car, my crappy college car was better than all the cars in the parking lot. And I said, well, this is not a way to make money being a teacher. So I ended up trying to go into the military. The Air Force recruiter was never anywhere to be found. The Marine Corps Corps recruiter, on the other hand, very good salesman. And he convinced me to go into the Marines. And that's sort of what, you know, was sort of the driver to get me to where I am today.
B
How long did you spend in the Marine Corps?
C
Well, not long enough. I went in thinking that I would work in intelligence and then go into the FBI as doing profiling or something. But early on in my career, I broke two ribs. I smashed my nose and eye socket, broke my right elbow, my right ankle. I was assaulted, crushed all of my emotions and feelings. And, you know, now I have GERD and IBS and bunch of problems that other veterans have, and I was cut short at about three and a half years. So that's not what the plan was going in. But rarely does life just let us go down the path and make it easy for us. And I think through all that struggle and strife, it made me have more resilience and grit. So I just take it all for the positive. I'd do it again. I would even go back that whole story, even the assault, if it means that I could help 27,000 people get $12 billion and get recognized for their own disabilities.
B
Well, I appreciate your service. Thank you for taking that time. And I'm curious if there was a challenge to your identity when you got back from that. Obviously, having it cut short, not being able to accomplish what you had initially set out to accomplish due to actual limiting factors that were out of your control. Was there a moment in time where you were just like, who am I? What do I do? Am I supposed to find my way in the world?
C
I did have a little bit of that. I think it was the first time that I had had unfinished business. I still look back on it, and I think maybe I started BETCOM to close the loop. I'm a big believer on closing the loop. If I write a book, I finish it. If I, you know, decide I'm gonna run for Congress, I run the whole race, I build the whole company. I always do the whole thing. And that was something where I didn't get to finish it. And so to get that closure, I had to go all this way to vetcon. But I did have about a year there, sort of in no Man's land, going, okay, Well, I guess I'm not gonna go to the FBI. I guess I'm not gonna be able things. And then I looked back to that 12 year old self and thought, what is Kate really good at? Kate's really good at sales. Kate's so, so good at selling people ideas and things. And then I got right back in to sales as an adult and I never looked back. I've been the best in class in the world, many different industries that I've gone to. So yeah, I had a little bit identity crisis, but I think I definitely know who I am now.
B
What was the first stint in sales for you? What were you selling and what was it for?
C
Well, the first, you know, the first selling that I did was selling some advertising when I lived in Pensacola, Florida when I got out of the Marine Corps. But I quickly got into the car business pretty early on in life. I actually worked in the auto industry on and off for 15 years, all the way from just being a car salesperson, you know, to working at the desk, working in finance, being a finance director, being a GSM. And then inevitably I started my own dealership in 2020. Yeah. But in the breaks of that, I also did vacation club sales, also known as timeshare. And I was, you know, one of the best revenue speakers in the world for one of the largest companies. So you know, for me, I've always had a challenge to rise all the way to the top. And I love selling and Now I have 180 employees, half of which are in the sales team. And so I do training with them still. I still stay in the trenches still talking to veterans.
B
Yeah, those timeshare sales will teach you a lot about selling. That's for, that's for damn sure. Yeah, that was one thing I never did. But I. Yeah, sorry, say it again.
C
I said every interaction starts with. Just to be clear, we only going to stay here for 60 minutes. We're just here to get the gift. No matter what you tell me, I'm not buying it, but we still manage to sell millions and millions of dollars. I was going to say. Yeah. So when every interaction starts that way you sort of stop listening to all the naysaying and the negativity and the objections you just keep plowing through and eventually you make the sale. So. Yeah.
B
Yeah, no kidding. Yeah, that was one, one area of sales I actually never touched was timeshare sales. But. But yeah, so definitely sat in a few of those presentations and went like, I mean you guys are. There's a reason you have the reputation that you have. You guys are savage.
C
Well, they make, I mean, you know, in that industry, on the low end you could make $150,000 a year. On the high end you can make half a million. A million dollars. So you want to talk about making money. The first stop that people should make if they, even if, even if they want to be an ent, or even if they want to be a plumber, even if they want to do, you know, software or tech, go sell something first, go work somewhere hard and grind it out because you got to sell your ideas. Maybe you don't need to sell cars or stuff later, but you do have to sell your concepts. And I think that people who have done sales tend to climb higher in life.
A
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D
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B
yeah, and if you start with something really difficult to sell, everything else is easier. You know what I mean? I did a five, six years of door to door at the beginning of my career. And there was a guy I trained one time, I just, like, couldn't cut it on the doors, you know what I mean? Like, you'd have a bad. Yeah, yeah. And so when I was leaving that space, I had made a connection with somebody who was in the same industry. Just their. Their sales force were basically technicians instead of, like, quote unquote salespeople. So they just had people hammering the phones and sending out marketing pieces to sell their base tier package. And they'd sell these technicians out, the tech would install the system, those alarm systems, tech would install the system and then. And then upsell additional equipment and monitoring services and things like that from there. And so I ended up connecting him with this person that I met, this other sales manager, just different place. And he ended up going over there and became their top sales guy. It was like he going from doors where it was like this. This feels impossible. This is insanely difficult to being like, look, I'm. I'm just a tech. I'm just here to set this system up. And then. But he already had the. The skill set to be able to apply to that new thing and then ended up making six figures in sales. Just not quite as difficult, you know?
C
Yeah, there's something to that, though. If you start at the hard end, like I started in the Marine Corps, so then that became my litmus test for every other thing. So I remember the first time I wanted to write a book. People said, how are you going to write a book you're gonna like, how are you gonna do that? And I thought, compared to being in the Marine Corps, like, I'm going to sit down and click, click, click. I'm just going to write the book are you talking about? So it just made everything seem easier, and it gave me this sort of delusional skillset or mindset of who do I think I am and what I can accomplish. Like, I just recently walked in Miami, in Miami swim league. I just went to Cannes. I made a movie, and I'm almost 50. You know, I'm 47 years old, still doing these outlandish things. But that's that Marine Corps litmus test saying, oh, if you did this, you can easily do that. And it made everything else seem easier. So go do hard things early in life. That's my best advice.
B
Yeah, extremity expands capacity, you know, teaches you what you're capable of. And then you can apply that learning to just about anything that you want to do. You know, it's like well, if I could do it there, I know I can do it here. I just got to figure it out. You know, you mentioned that you have also trained a bunch of real estate agents. Did you get into real estate at some point after cars?
C
Well, it's so interesting. When I got into vacation club sales, you have to be a licensed real estate agent in the state of California. So up to that point, dad down here in about 2010 and I helped him get on the flipping San Diego show and helped him eventually do about 60 home flips. So I was very well versed on the flipping end of real estate. Also own a few homes myself. But when I got out of real estate and I, I mean out of timeshare and I got into owning my own car dealership around 2020, which is the best time to open a business at the beginning, right before a pandemic. Do do that. That is the go to test.
B
That's my biggest advice.
C
Yeah. Oh yeah, Definitely start there if you want to. Yeah, right before a pandemic. So I opened that and because of the pandemic, it was wild. And a friend of mine, a good Marine Corps friend of mine, said, hey, I have all these real estate agents, I'd love it if you would train them and I'll make some, you know, relationship with you financially. And so I started to really rip into how do you actually sell real estate? How do I convince a first time home buyer to make their first foray into ownership? How do I convince a seller to trust me to sell their property? And in that year I helped him uptick his business by almost 40% by training his people on actual sales tactics, creating presentations and just helping people be good salesmen. Because you can't just go and I sat in an open house. I hope somebody uses me to buy a house. And I eventually started working with people across the country. I got an Inman and Forbes and became kind of a big deal in their, in the real estate training field. But I always think that people should own homes. You know, part of making money generationally is you need to own a home no matter how hard it is. It's only going to get harder the longer you.
B
Yeah, yeah, you gotta get into the ownership category sooner rather than later. Tell me a little bit more about your company. Now, you said you have 150 employees, half of which are salespeople. What, what exactly are you guys focusing on these days?
C
So we help veterans navigate the very bureaucratic system at the VA so that they can get rated, which means they get a Percentage of disability that comes with a correlating compensation. So somebody at 10% is going to bring in roughly $170 a month for life, tax free. Whereas somebody the other end of the scale like me at 100%, we're going to bring in more than $4,000 a month, tax free for the rest of our lives, plus, you know, reductions in our property taxes, our kids going to college, forgiveness of debt for college that we might have attended, free parks. There's just so many things available to veterans. When I first started this, actually, I thought, well, I'm going to make a system and I'm going to give it to people, and I'm not really going to make a business out of it. And because it was free, like all the other free things for veterans, nobody did it. They said, I'll do it tomorrow, next week, next month, next never. So I said, well, what is a. What's fair? What's a fair fee to charge up front with a guarantee that will make people attend their meetings and take it more seriously? Has enough teeth, Sort of like you could have a gym membership, or you could have a gym membership and a trainer. You don't really need the trainer, but you will not, no show on the trainer because they cost you if you don't go.
A
That's right.
C
So that's how this business was born. I was actually standing in the car dealership one day thinking of selling it. It was the right time. And I wrote out on the whiteboard how you solve this veteran compensation quagmire. And my business partner stepped in and said, hey, let's build this together. That was in 2020. In 2022, we helped 22 veterans. In 2023, we helped about 700. In 2024, we helped 7,000. In 2025, we helped 24,000. This year we'll help 30,000. And we've helped people get now more than 12 billion in lifetime income. So you want to talk about, you know, making money. Everybody's looking for a side hustle, like, well, how do I make extra money? Well, literally, call that comp. Let's make your claim and let's make you, you know, two, three, $4,000 a month richer by work. You already did. I mean, and the money just sitting there. You know, this is a big insurance company, and it's sort of like if you got in an accident, like say you're, you know, driving, you get in an accident, you hurt your back, and you're owed a hundred thousand dollars, but you don't claim it. And it just sits there. But because you didn't claim it every month, they're going to tick away that a hundred thousand dollars till you eventually go, hey, what about that money I'm owed? Oh yeah, here's the balance, here's what's left. And that's sort of what's happening to veterans. Like somebody like me who gets rated early, I'm going to make about $2.3 million in VA disability compensation. And most veterans, we did an analysis when they, by the time they get to us, they've lost a million dollars already. They already lost a million dollars. The government's been able to keep a million already. And there's 18 million veterans.
B
That's insane.
C
And only 4 million are collecting anything. 14 million out there not collecting a dollar.
B
Is this just like a knowledge gap? Like does when you're exiting the Marine Corps or the military, do they not have, like, people that are like, hey, here's all of the things that you can do, here's how to apply for these things, or is that just completely left up to you?
C
So it sort of depends on when you served and which branch you served in, if you served in the time period that I did. I got out in 2001, nobody was talking about it. PTSD wasn't even and talked about. Nobody was getting diagnosed with it. Just was not a thing until after 9, 11 and those wars in there. Then the PTSD. All of a sudden now we are like, oh, this is the thing we gotta watch out for. So, no, they weren't really transitioning people. Well, and then the Air Force does a great job transitioning people. They have the highest per capita of people at 100%. Whereas the Marine Corps, they're like, hey, you're welcome. You got to serve. Is that even thank you for your service. You're welcome. Be in the Marine Corps now, please do f off and go about your day and like, never look back. And that's kind of what Marines do. So it depends on how you get out. But I think there's three main reasons why people are not rated and compensated. The first one, which is absurd, that someone deserves it more because they served better and they're a hero, so leave it for them. That's thing number one and what we tell veterans, like, look, I'm not a psychologist. I'm not going to put you on a couch and convince you of something that you haven't believed in 20, 30, 40 years. But what I can say is you delivered your little self whole at 18 and you got out less than whole, whatever that is, that delta, that's what you're owed. And then they go, I'm owed. I go, yeah, you'd go. Get all the other money you're owed. And they go, oh, I didn't know I was owed the money. Yes, you're owed the money. So then we can change the mindset.
E
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C
Shop now@palmolive.com Next thing is they don't know. They see me on Facebook or Instagram and they go, what is this lady talking about, this money? They're like, honey, there's a lady talking about money. You know, and then they put in a lead form, and then there's the guys that told you don't qualify, it was too hard, you don't have your records. And they believe all the rhetoric. Like they just aren't. It's just not for them. So these things all together are the reasons they don't start. But that's separate from the reason they don't finish. They don't finish because they have veteran anxiety, which is hyper vigilance, perfectionism, all these little ticks that make them doubt themselves or the VA or you, right? They, they find you to be disingenuous and not trustworthy and you must be a shark and a scam. And they tuck themselves onto the ledge and then, you know, jump off to their peril. So Betcom's job, we feel, is to convince you on the front end you are owed it and then force you to play the game like bowling with bumpers. We're going to make sure the ball hits. We're going to make sure you might not throw a strike, but you're definitely going to knock some pins down. And when you try to say, well, I want to quit, we're going to say, well, you can, but you're not going to get your money back. You're only going to get your money back if you finish and you don't win. If you finish and you don't win, you can have your money back. But if you blow out in the middle, absolutely not. So they go, well, I guess I'll finish. I guess I'll finish if you're just going to take my money. And then they, then they win. And they're like, oh, thank God I didn't finish. Thank God you guys made me do this because I was about to quit and now I just got a back paycheck of $50,000 and I'm getting $4,000 a month. So it's just.
B
Yeah, money is a crazy good accountability partner.
C
Yes. And that's why we engineered our program this way, to hold them accountable to finishing.
B
Yeah. What, what's. How do you spend most of your time these days? Kay, like you said, you walked Miami Swim Week, you're in Cannes and you running a business and you're helping veterans. You're doing all these other things. How do you spend most of your time on, let's say, a weekly basis?
C
Well, like an average day. You know, we did a day in my life yesterday. Kind of filmed me from like the time I got up till the time I went to bed. But I wake up at about 6:00am I have a nine year old. I'm older, mom, I have a nine year old. So I get up at about six. And you know, typically I like to take him to walk. But the first thing I do before I even like get my eyes focused, my old eyes, I first go, what's in the chat? How many are we booked? Who booked what? You know, I'm already looking at our internal chat system, already buzzing people. Hey, hey, hey. I get up and I spin all the plates and then I take some time with him and then I spin the plates again. And then I typically will go into the office. I do news two to four times a day because that gives us a authority to the business. Kate Monroe, CEO of Dot com, you know, gets said. I think I've been on the news about 1500 times, so that's good for our credibility. And then I'm always trying to say, how do we optimize our business? How do we serve veterans? Taller, better, faster, stronger. How do I get the word out better? How do I Create new partnerships. How do I create an app? And how. What is AI's role in our business now? You know, there's just so many things to tackle in this day and age because we're just inundated. Like, I had to put my phone on do not disturb, because while I'm sitting here, the company chat would have gone off 300 times. My phone just goes all day long. Somebody's, hey, this veteran needs you. Hey, can you jump on a call? You know, I probably talk to 8 to 10 veterans a day that are like, I'm not enrolling if I don't hear from Kate, so, you know, I'll be in a meeting. And they're like, hey, Kate, can you. Can you step out to the hall? And I'm like, okay. I'm like, hey, Fred, what's going on? It's really me. I'm not an AI Fembot. Can we get you in the program? And he's like, okay, I heard your voice. I'm good. You know, so it's. It's just all of that. It's a lot. You know, you put it in a bucket and you shake it all around. And sometimes by nighttime, I'm like, all right, Good night. It's 9 o'. Clock. I'm done. So it's just. It's a lot. You know, it's a lot of little things. But I do try to stay the visionary. I try. I'm trying to look out further than today. I have the people that look at today. I'm trying to go, okay, what is the next thing that's gonna happen in 90 days, six months, a year from now, what's coming down the road? Or, now I see where we're going. Now I gotta reverse engineer it to today. So now we gotta go boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and get all of these things handled to grow.
B
If you had to delete every activity on your calendar except for the one that you enjoy the most, what would that activity be?
C
This is not a making money activity, but spending time with my son and sowing into him gives me so much, and it makes me. It gives me something to that I'm not proud of. Helping veterans, certainly it's a big legacy thing. Not a lot of people can say they help people get $12 billion. Like, it's a. It's a thing I like right on my tombstones, like, yeah, he did this really cool, magnanimous stuff. But for my little guy, to teach him to be a good little human and to take him to church and Explain why to him. Not just to tell him to do things, but, hey, buddy, we do this because, hey, do you really understand me? What did I really mean? That takes time and energy and that, that's just something that's important because I think he's going to be a future leader. He's going to like I've sewn so much into him. I'm just watching the tree grow over here and the fruit's going to be amazing.
B
Kate, I appreciate you for the work that you do in the world. Thank you for taking the time to come on the show. I know you're a very busy person. I don't take that time for granted at all. Where can people go to find more from you, learn more from you?
C
Well, a couple of places, if you're a veteran watching us and you're trying to make more money, that's what this is about. You know, you should probably start at just go in and get the money you already earned and go to Vetcom US V E T C O M M us. Someone will pick up that form very quick and call you. You get a free strategy call. So it costs you nothing. It might save you everything, you know. So take the call. If you're just trying to hear more about Kate, like Kate's weird movies and vertical dramas and books that I do as a sort of as a hobby. AIT Monroe CEO is my handle everywhere and Kate Monroe CEO.com is my personal website where you can find out whatever it is you're trying to find out about Kate.
B
Kate Monroe CEO.com as well as Vetcom US. Go check out some of the stuff that Kate's working on. Kate, appreciate you taking the time. Everybody else tuning in, Remember, money only solves your money problems, but it's easier to solve the rest of your problems when you got a little bit of money in the bank. So let's start there here on the Travis Makes Money podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Catch you guys next time. Peace.
Podcast: Travis Makes Money
Episode: INTERVIEW | Make Money by Turning Service Into a Mission-Driven Business with Kate Monroe
Host: Travis Chappell
Guest: Kate Monroe
Date: July 19, 2026
This episode explores how Marine Corps veteran and entrepreneur Kate Monroe built Vetcom, a mission-driven business that helps veterans claim the benefits they've earned. Travis and Kate dive into her entrepreneurial journey, lessons from sales and military life, the mindset required for success, and the practical strategies behind turning service and purpose into profitable enterprise. Throughout, Kate emphasizes grit, accountability, and redefining what it means to make—and keep—money.
[02:26-03:08] Kate Monroe’s First Taste of Entrepreneurship
[03:55-06:58] Military Experience and Its Impact
[06:02-06:58] Navigating Life After the Military
[07:02-09:14] From Cars to Timeshares to Leading Sales Teams
[14:54-17:27] Helping Veterans Access Hard-Earned Benefits
[17:35-21:43] Why Veterans Don't Claim What They Deserve
[22:02-24:09] Day in the Life and Scaling Vision
**[24:09-25:03]
Kate Monroe’s story is a blueprint for blending personal mission with business success. She stresses the importance of doing hard things, building necessary sales skills, staying visionary, and—most importantly—serving others while designing a life rich in both meaning and prosperity.