How She Got Monetized in 19 Days on a Brand New Channel | Alexa Milmont

Summary

Podcast Summary: YouTube Creators Hub – Interview with Alexa Milmont (Shop Style Cycle)

Date: July 31, 2026
Host: Dusty Porter
Guest: Alexa Milmont, creator of Shop Style Cycle

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Episode Overview

This episode introduces Alexa Milmont, the dynamic creator behind the rapidly growing Shop Style Cycle YouTube channel. Only two months into her YouTube journey, Alexa has achieved remarkable early success: monetization within 19 days, nearly 15,000 subscribers, and viral videos focusing on the realities of building a reselling business after leaving a 12-year corporate marketing career. The discussion explores her approach to authenticity, practical strategies for new creators, harnessing marketing skills for YouTube, and the importance of progress over perfection. Her transparency—especially around income—has fostered trust and rapid community growth.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Alexa’s Journey: From Corporate Marketer to YouTube Reseller

• Leaving corporate life:
  Alexa explains her motivation for quitting a 12-year career in marketing — to find more flexibility and to prioritize her family.
  • “I really wanted to build something that had more flexibility and something that worked around my family instead of trying to fit my family around my work.” (01:59)
• Starting on YouTube as a hobby:
  Initially viewing content creation as a side project, Alexa was surprised by the pace of her channel’s traction.

2. Early Channel Growth: The Role of Authenticity and Value

• Intentional transparency:
  Alexa’s content immediately focused on providing relatable, transparent content, especially regarding her income and the not-so-glamorous realities of entrepreneurship.
  • “From the get-go, I tried to be as authentic and as transparent as possible. And I think people really appreciate that.” (03:27)
• Value over vanity:
  Recognizes that new viewers care more about the informational value than about her personal story or brand, especially at the beginning.
• Connecting through honesty:
  Alexa’s willingness to show the highs and lows built a stronger connection with audiences seeking relatable, real-world transitions.

3. Marketing Skill Transfer: Leveraging a Corporate Background

• Thumbnails and titles:
  Alexa draws from lifecycle marketing experience—writing catchy subject lines and testing them—to craft clear, consistent, and recognizable thumbnails and titles.
  • “I have a lot of experience testing what gets people to click. And I think again that like I naturally just apply that into my thumbnails and my titles.” (06:22)
• Brand consistency:
  Focused on recognizable branding right from the start.

4. Viral Videos and Mindset Shifts

• “Post and forget” strategy:
  Alexa initially posted videos without obsessing over analytics, allowing her to focus on creation rather than immediate success.
  • “My mentality at that time was post and forget about it. Because looking at analytics, like, it’s scary putting yourself out there.” (07:56)
• Rapid adaptation:
  The viral success of her third video (almost 400K views) triggered a shift to intentional, data-driven content creation.

5. Content Strategy: Standing Out in a Saturated Niche

• Content calendar:
  Alexa quickly implemented a planned approach to balance standard reseller content with her unique perspective—income transparency and escape from the “default path.”
  • “I created a content calendar and I wanted there to be a balance of what resellers usually watch… but then also tying in my spin to it.” (09:37)
• Storytelling as differentiation:
  She strives to provide both utility (numbers, transparency) and emotional resonance (her journey away from 9–5 work).

6. On Storytelling and Value

• Value in hauls:
  Even in simple haul videos, Alexa provides transparent numbers, so viewers always see both the purchase price and selling price—a blend of entertainment and utility.
  • “Even with my clothing hauls, if something already sells by the time that I’m editing the video, I share with them how much it sold for.” (12:22)
• Balancing content types:
  Ensures a mix of emotionally-driven and value-driven videos in her monthly planning.

7. Progress Over Perfection: Advice for Discouraged Creators

• Unexpected growth:
  Alexa highlights that virality is unpredictable: “You just never really know. Like… you just don’t know if that’s going to be your first video or your tenth video or your fifth.” (13:51)
• Perfectionism as a barrier:
  Urges creators to value progress over perfection: “Those videos, I’m a perfectionist, so that’s… something still that I’m working to get better at. But… just post and forget about it. And I think that, like, helped me because I actually got it done.” (13:51)
• Humorous humility:
  “If I knew that video was going to have 400,000 views, like, I would have tried to look a little cuter. I don’t know, I look like a toad in some of those clips.” (14:42)

8. Alexa’s Process, Productivity, and Systems

• Content calendar and batching:
  Systematizes her workflow, dedicating specific days to filming or photographing to juggle both businesses.
• Data-driven decisions:
  Uses analytics to plan income transparency videos, highlighting the importance of thinking from the audience’s perspective.

9. Monetization: Transparency & Exploring Multiple Streams

• Early monetization:
  Alexa qualified in 19 days and candidly shares her first earnings.
  • “My first PayCheck was around $2,000. That’s like my first month of being monetized. I was expecting like, I don’t know, $10…” (19:52)
  • Second and third months: ~$1,000 each.
• Affiliate marketing surprises:
  Passive affiliate income (another ~$2,000) from linking products and software organically discussed in videos, without hard selling.
  • “That cell phone lanyard that I just had hanging on my shirt had so many orders… I can actually lean into this more and, you know, scale this more.” (18:26)

10. Analytics and Avoiding Obsession

• Healthy analytics habits:
  Limits analytics checks to one day a week and avoids having YouTube Studio on her phone to prevent compulsive refreshing.
  • “Now I know, like every Mondays I allow myself to dive in deeper into the analytics…” (23:15)
• Corporate habits transfer:
  Uses time-blocking, treating content creation with the professionalism of her former corporate life. (24:20)

11. Community Building and Future Opportunities

• Engagement:
  Actively responds to positive comments, plans to build a website and newsletter, and is open to one-on-one coaching or consulting down the line.
  • “I am working on a website. I do want to create a newsletter… I do try to respond to [messages]. And that even makes me think of like coaching.” (25:23)
• Scaling content:
  Hopes to help others escape the 9–5 and test additional income streams, emphasizing content consistency with new systems.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Value-Focused Content:
  “Nobody cares about me, nobody knows who I am. So I wanted to make sure that the videos… provided some sort of value.” – Alexa (03:27)
• On Authenticity and Connection:
  “People weren’t just watching, like, reselling content, but they were watching somebody rebuilding her career.” – Alexa (03:27)
• On Perfectionism:
  “Progress over perfection… if you have an idea, just do it.” – Alexa (28:22)
• On Monetization Surprises:
  “My first PayCheck was around $2,000… and I knew that not every month was going to be like that. The next month… was still $1,000, which is still more than I thought.” – Alexa (19:52)
• On Passive Income:
  “Every month that they pay for the subscription, I get paid a commission. So it’s truly passive income, which is amazing.” – Alexa (20:08)
• On Growth Mindset:
  “There were so many things that could have stopped me from uploading that first video. I’m not a reseller expert. I’ve only been doing this for just a year. I just hit my first year and I’m not a YouTube expert, but, you know, I just did it and I’m so happy to, to see how much it’s grown.” – Alexa (30:04)

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Timestamps for Key Topics

• 01:59 – Alexa’s origin story: Quitting corporate and launching Shop Style Cycle
• 03:27 – The importance of authenticity and transparency in her rapid channel growth
• 06:22 – Applying marketing skills to YouTube thumbnails and titles
• 07:56 – Viral growth and the shift in mindset from “post and forget” to strategic analysis
• 09:37 – Content calendar and balancing unique storytelling with standard reseller content
• 12:22 – Maximizing value in videos and incorporating income transparency
• 13:51 – Advice for discouraged creators: Progress over perfection and unpredictability of virality
• 15:40 – Alexa’s content creation workflow and evolving systems
• 18:26 – Monetization journey, passive income sources, and early earnings breakdown
• 19:52 – Details on first paychecks and affiliate revenue
• 23:15 – Avoiding analytics obsession by scheduling reviews
• 25:23 – Building community, responding to comments, and planning a newsletter/website
• 26:59 – What’s next: Scaling content creation and helping others leave the 9–5
• 28:22 – Final advice to creators: Trust your skills and focus on action, not perfection
• 30:04 – “Don’t wait to be an expert” message

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Advice and Encouragement

Alexa’s parting wisdom centers on trusting your abilities and embracing action over waiting for expertise or perfect conditions:

“Progress over perfection, which I said a while ago… If you have an idea, just do it, really. And if you’re planning on taking the leap, take the leap carefully… trust in yourself a little bit more too. That’s one thing that I’m learning throughout this journey…” (28:22)

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Conclusion

This episode with Alexa Milmont offers an inspiring and accessible blueprint for new and aspiring YouTubers:

• Lean into your existing skills.
• Be radically transparent and authentic.
• Prioritize value and storytelling.
• Treat your channel like a business while maintaining personal balance.
• Don’t fear imperfections—action trumps planning.

If you’re discouraged, Alexa’s journey is proof that with preparation, honesty, and consistency, remarkable growth is possible—even for those just starting out.

Transcript

[Alexa Milmont]

I think with every video, I always think about why people need to watch it. Like, what's the value that I'm bringing to the audience? So even with my clothing hauls, if something already sells by the time that I'm editing the video, I share with them how much it sold for. So as they're watching the video, they can see how much I paid for it and how much it sold for.

[Podcast Host]

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the conversation on this week's episode of the podcast. As always, I'm joined today by a wonderful guest. And speaking of that guest, my guest this week is Alexa Milmont. She is the creator behind Shop Style Cycle, which is her YouTube channel, and her other socials, where she shares her journey of leaving corporate to build a business on her own terms, which I resonate and love that her content focuses on reselling income transparency, which we'll dive into that today as well, and building multiple income streams, including YouTube, which is why she's here to inspire others to create more flexibility, freedom, and financial independence. Alexa, how are you doing today?

[Alexa Milmont]

I'm doing great. Thank you so much for having me here.

[Podcast Host]

Really looking forward to this conversation. Before we get started and jump in, don't forget, if you're listening to this, that in the show notes of all of these episodes, there are a number of ways that we can help creators check those out, if you haven't already. All right, Alexa, let's dive into it. Tell me the origin story. The unique thing about you and your channel is two months ago, you started the channel, and people may be hearing that and say, oh, why is she here? Why is she on the podcast? You got monetized in under a month, actually, right. Over half of a month. So 19 days. You got monetized. You really did some things well. You did your research, you did your due diligence. And so we're going to be talking about how you took your channel in under two months to almost 15,000 subscribers in just 12 videos uploaded. And what you think is important. So tell us, take us back to that long time ago, two months ago. How did this whole thing start?

[Alexa Milmont]

Yeah, so I, earlier this year, I quit my job in corporate market marketing. I've been in marketing for over 12 years. And I really wanted to build something that had more flexibility and something that worked around my family instead of trying to fit my family around my work. And so at first, I really, I just wanted to take a break. I was ready to take like a year break. And of course, typical me, that didn't last long. I Went all in on my reselling business instead. And then shortly after, I decided to document my journey on YouTube, really as a hobby, because reselling became my full time business. But to my surprise, like you said, the growth was really fast. In just a couple weeks, I was monetized. And I think I'm like over 14,000 subscribers now. And yeah, I thought I was leaving one career behind, but I guess I just started building two businesses instead.

[Podcast Host]

So what do you think you did? Well, early on, because I could, as a YouTube person who teaches and coaches content creators, I could look at your channel. And I did. And there were things such as, you know, your branding was spot on. You knew who your audience was from the beginning. You didn't kind of waffle about. You knew exactly who you were trying to reach. But I want to hear from you, looking back now at kind of this journey, this whirlwind so far, what do you think? Early on you did so well to have your channel take off like it did.

[Alexa Milmont]

It sounds so cheesy, but from the get go, I tried to be as authentic and as transparent as possible. And I think people really appreciate that, appreciated that. And I also wanted to provide quality content from the beginning. Like, it's a harsh truth that, like, nobody cares about me, nobody knows who I am. So I wanted to make sure that the videos that I put out there in the beginning, like, provided some sort of value. And, you know, maybe that's the transparent numbers. I'm sharing the highs and lows of creating your own path and walking away from your 9 to 5. And I think people really connected with that. I very quickly realized that the videos that I was putting out there, people weren't just watching, like reselling content, but they were watching somebody rebuilding her career.

[Podcast Host]

Do you think that the realness of that, in a world with AI and a lot of things that aren't real, do you think just that bit of it kind of resonated?

[Alexa Milmont]

Yeah, for sure. I mean, when I was thinking about leaving my nine to five, that was the type of content that I wanted to see. Like, I didn't want to just see all the glamorous I'm walking out because my story was not glamorous at all. I planned for this and so I share all of that on YouTube. I mean, definitely my marketing background helped, I think, you know, like you said, like, I knew how to edit and the thumbnails and the branding, like that came naturally to me, I think. So I think the marketing helped people click. But hopefully it's the Authenticity that keeps them watching.

[Podcast Host]

You seem like a person who really does your research and due diligence and so I'm sure you didn't just jump into this blindly. What type of just a research or investigation did you do before you launched the channel and uploaded that first video?

[Alexa Milmont]

I don't really think it's research necessarily, but I was already a consumer of the type of content. Like I was already watching other resellers and so I had like an idea of like what I wanted to see from resellers. I wanted to see exactly how much people were making. Yeah, like the, the transparency part of it was really important to me. So I knew from the get go that that's also what I want to

[Podcast Host]

share in the marketing side of things. You're using your past experience, what parts of that carried over for people who are looking to do a better job with their videos. Because I encourage you to go to her channel again. It's shop style cycle and she does such a great job with these simple thumbnails. You're not overly editing them. They're not, you know, copy and paste from like Mr. Beast or these big creators. They're just very simple yet impactful thumbnails. Can you talk about what from marketing kind of carried over to the YouTube channel?

[Alexa Milmont]

No. Thank you. I appreciate that so much. So I specifically specialize in life cycle marketing and so that includes email marketing. So writing catchy subject lines or push notifications. So I have a lot of experience testing what gets people to click. And I think again that like I naturally just apply that into my thumbnails and my titles. I wanted to see like what thumbnails would really pop out but were also branded. Like you could tell. I want you to see the thumbnail and know, okay, that's shop style cycles video from the very beginning. So I wanted to stay consistent and something that would catch your attention. So I think yeah, my experience testing push notifications and email subject lines have really helped with that. It's so cool now too. I didn't realize that you can a B test titles. I don't know if you can ab Test thumbnails. That's so cool. Like I don't remember I used to make like webinar YouTube videos for like my past job and I didn't know that you could do that. And that's something that I definitely suggest doing because it's so helpful that you can really see like and track what's working to getting your, your audience to click.

[Podcast Host]

Was there a moment when those first few videos Started doing well when you transitioned the mindset from hey, I'm just going to kind of upload process of this to your mentality, then shifted to, okay, I might start becoming a YouTube creator.

[Alexa Milmont]

Yeah, yeah. I remember in the beginning when I posted my first few videos, my mentality at that time was post and forget about it. Because looking at analytics, like, it's scary putting yourself out there. And so I didn't want to watch the views. I was fully expecting maybe a few resellers to watch the videos, but I think it was like the third video that's over, I think almost at 400,000 views now, which is insane that I felt the pressure right away when I saw that, oh, this, I need to actually take this more seriously because people are actually watching. And that's when I started taking the analytics more seriously and finding out that you can ab test all of these things. And I think, yeah, the growth was so fast that it felt like I, yeah, I need a. This is, this could be something that

[Podcast Host]

is actually scalable now that you're being intentional with the channel. And it's more of not a job, but part of your job. Now as a, as an entrepreneur, how are you coming up with video ideas? Because, you know, there's a lot of reselling channels out there and you are the perfect case for what I always tell other creators. Oh, well, there's a ton of this type of channels on YouTube or this is an over saturated niche. I can't think of a more oversaturated topic on YouTube than reselling. I mean, reselling, especially since the pandemic has been something that people cover and talk about and every day there's new channels popping up around the topic. But you took your spin on it. You took your style. Why do you think? I mean, we already talked about why it resonated, but as far as the video ideas, how are you making yours different than what's already out there?

[Alexa Milmont]

Yeah, that's a great question. So I think once I started realizing that this, I, I need to take this more seriously, my marketing brain started working and I created a content calendar and I wanted there to be a balance of what resellers usually watch of your monthly recap, but then also tying in my spin to it, which was again, I realized people weren't watching just a reseller video. I've had people reach out to me saying that they're inspired by the story of walking away from the 9 to 5. And so I think it's really evolving into more than just reselling. But really people who are trying to find ways to make an income outside, outside of the default path. And so I think that has definitely evolved into this. How can I make a living outside of the nine to five other than just reselling, but YouTube and affiliate programs and brand sponsorship. So I'm in the very beginning stages, but I think there's so much opportunity in that space too to. Yeah, just like expand it to more than just reselling at this point.

[Podcast Host]

And I think it's important that you lean into video types that perform well. Like you're doing your monthly recaps where, you know, you might do something like you say, full time reselling update, why I still missed my goals. And then you put like in parentheses how much you made that month and then the next month you did three months into full time reselling. My best month yet. I think people love following along with kind of episodic content of your journey from quitting the 9 to 5. And you did a really good job in that first video that's got almost 50,000 views, where you just say, I quit my job to resell clothes my first month. And what I sold, you started there, that built that based audience. And then you're still reiterating on that.

[Alexa Milmont]

Yeah, that's a really good call out to like. With my first video again, I, I thought about sharing my story, but I also wanted to provide value. And the value was I'm actually sharing with you what's selling for me and how I'm actually making money right now. Um, and so I just try to incorporate that in every video as well.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I think that's important for people to understand as far as the storytelling aspect of it goes. That's where most, not most, but a lot of creators struggle with that. Figuring out how to tell stories, how to do it properly, how to have the different points of a story where people are wanting to watch. And that helps watch time and retention on YouTube, which we all know are important. How have you become a better storyteller or what do you do to make sure that your videos incorporate that as opposed to just you showing the clothes that you just purchased and you're going to resell for however much amount?

[Alexa Milmont]

Yeah, I mean, even with my hauls, I think with every video I always think about why people need to watch it. Like, what's the value that I'm bringing to the audience. So even with my clothing hauls, if something already sells by the time that I'm editing the video, I share with them how much it sold for. So as they're watching the video, they can see how much I paid for it and how much it sold for. So I'm not just like, showing a haul, which is entertaining, but it's all. I'm like, trying to give as much value as possible. And as I'm creating like a content calendar, I look at that and I see, okay, this video is going to be about income transparency. This video is maybe an emotional hook of, like, how it actually feels to be walking away from a 9 to 5. So I want to make sure I have a good balance of that when I'm looking at. Yeah, like, what I'm creating for the

[Podcast Host]

month, for example, for those listening to this that are discouraged because They've been on YouTube for a while and they hear a story like yours, that's pretty quick. It. Everyone's journey and path are going to be different. No two are going to be the same. And I know that I've interviewed almost over 500 creators now in the past 15 years on this podcast, but it still doesn't mean that we're not going to get frustrated and discouraged. So I want you to encourage those people. What would you tell them about your. What you've learned from your journey on YouTube in regards to them not quitting or trying to say, hey, maybe YouTube's not for me.

[Alexa Milmont]

Oh, my God. Well, you just never really know. Like, I, again, I explained that in my monetization video too, but I had two videos that took off and that really helped me get that momentum in the very beginning. But you just don't know if that's going to be your first video or your tenth video or your fifth. Like, I truly did not expect those videos to take off the way that it did. And so I think too, what I've learned throughout this is like, progress over perfection. Those videos, I, I'm a perfectionist, so that's like some. Something still that I'm working to get better at. But I. My mindset when I posted these first three videos was just post and forget about it. And I think that, like, helped me because I actually got it done. And so, yeah, progress over perfection. And you just really never know, like, when a video is going to take off. It's so unexpected. If I knew that video was going to have 400,000 views, like, I. I would have tried to look a little cuter. I don't know, I look like a toad in some of those clips. Like, oh, gosh.

[Podcast Host]

Being a perfectionist can be the worst enemy of a creator, because sometimes done is better than Perfect. Not sometimes, almost all the time. Because if you don't put anything out there to the world and nothing's uploaded to your channel, then it. You have no, that next video could be the one. That next video could be the one like you said where yours did. You know, almost half a million views now, two months in. So that's, it's really important to talk about that. So I'm glad that you touched onto that part. As far as your process goes. You mentioned the content calendar. Walk us through start to finish. What does it look like from you have that content calendar but now you're making the video. What does that process look like for you?

[Alexa Milmont]

It really depends, I guess on what that content is. Like for example, for my income transparency videos, I definitely have like, I look at my analytics first and know like what data points will the audience actually care about. And I think that's something that I learned too with marketing is when I'm presenting it's always like I always have to think who the audience is and what data points will that will this group care about. And so I make sure that I have that, you know, in my content plan. And then honestly, like, other than knowing in my mind like what this video's highlight is going to be, just press record really. And again, I'm in the very beginning stages so I'm still trying to build like systems and the schedule that works for me. But ideally because I'm trying to build like a reselling business and a content creation business, I guess at the same time I am trying to build like a schedule of like okay, Mondays for example is like my bulk filming day and then Tuesdays is like my bulk photographing day. And so I, yeah, I'm trying to build like a schedule and a system that works for me still. And that's definitely still in progress.

[Podcast Host]

I interrupt this interview just for a few seconds to tell you about our offerings. We offer one on one coaching that's personal with me, where I sit down with you and you can ask me questions. I do a deep dive on your channel. I also offer just a smaller channel review and then we also offer a great mastermind group that you can pay a few dollars to get into. We do monthly mastermind calls. We're going to start doing calls hosted by other members of the group and it's just a great place to kind of rub elbows with other creators. So if that's interesting, definitely check that out. But everything that we offer and have to provide to you is down below in the show notes. Thank you Guys, for listening. Now, back to the show. It's important that you don't try to do it all at once. You try to do everything in that one day. It can become overwhelming. That's how burnout begins. I think that for you, learning what works for you, and it's fun to talk to someone who's kind of in the midst of learning what their process is. I think is a fun conversation to have. You mentioned the monetization. That's. That's one of the things that a lot of creators, that's their goal, not because they're looking to get rich, but because monetization is fun. And when you start seeing a little bit of money coming back from the. The time you're putting in, that becomes something that's rewarding. It's kind of like, get that dopamine hit when you look at the YouTube studio and you made $10 that day. That's. That's pretty cool. And I think everyone should strive for that. There's nothing wrong with wanting to monetize your content. Can you talk about that process of the journey of getting monetized in 19 days? And you're very transparent about your income. How are you looking to make money from this creator business and then as a whole, make money from your business?

[Alexa Milmont]

Yeah, I made a lot of money in my first. My first paycheck was a lot bigger than I thought that it was going to be. But I also know how AdSense works, and I know that it's largely because of the two videos that took off. And I know not every month is going to be like that. I think I definitely want to lean into, like, the, like, the future. I want to lean more into, like, digital products and affiliate marketing. That's one thing that really surprised me is I just linked all of, like, my. Everything that I use in my reselling business, like my Amazon links. I didn't hard sell anything. I simply just show them. This is the lanyard that I use. That cell phone lanyard that I just had hanging on my shirt had so many orders, and it just opened my eyes to, like, I can actually lean into this more and, you know, scale this more. And so, yeah, I mean, I. That those first few videos, it just opened my eyes to how much I can scale this, like, monetarily, you know.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, the affiliate stuff is fun because it's, you know, you do work one time and it could bring you income for months, if not years down the line if that video still performs well, especially for a larger video like the one we're referring to for your channel. Now, can you talk about maybe what your first check looked like compared to this check and then the different breakdowns of the buckets of how you're making money.

[Alexa Milmont]

Yeah. So my first PayCheck was around $2,000. That's like my first month of being monetized. I was expecting like, I don't know, $10 for my. If that, like I was expecting.

[Podcast Host]

You did way better than my first month.

[Alexa Milmont]

I truly wasn't expecting because I've. I've watched like how much people make in their first month of being monetized on YouTube because that. That's really interesting to watch. But so, yeah, that, that was. And I knew that not every month was going to be like that. The next month is. Was still a thousand dollars, which is still more than I thought. And it looks like I'm pacing to make another thousand on my third month. So that's great. And then, yeah, for affiliate, I also made another like 2000 because I also linked like the software that I used for my reselling business. And that's so cool because every month that they pay for the subscription, I get paid a commission. So it's truly passive income, which is amazing.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. And if they use it for years, then as long as that program doesn't change. I mean, I'm still getting recurring revenue, not a ton from software that I've referred people almost 10 years ago, like a podcast.

[Alexa Milmont]

Amazing.

[Podcast Host]

This, the podcast platform that I use. I'm very adamant about using them because they've been so good to me. And so I refer other people to it. And there's podcasts that are still live today that I've recommended almost 10 years ago, which I can see the date when they started or signed up. It's a really cool thing. I think that's one of the things people miss about revenue is that you just mentioned with that video that you did, you didn't realize just that lanyard that's. That was prominent in the video was going to be so popular. But that's the fun thing is that you're learning as you go.

[Alexa Milmont]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Now that you know what's working and what isn't, who your target audience is and you're taking the content creation more serious. What are things in the next quarter or the next three to six months that you're really going to work hard on to make sure that you not only kind of stay status quo, but you continue to grow at the trajectory that you are now?

[Alexa Milmont]

I have really paid attention more to the things That I actually use, like Photo Room, for example. Like, I realized as I'm going through my process now, I'm paying attention to like what are, what is actually helping me stay more efficient in my processes. And now I know that even those little details matter. And I need to mention that in my videos and I need to link that in my videos. I don't even have an Amazon storefront yet. That's something that I need to work on. Um, so again, very beginning stages. But now I, I'm paying more attention to what I think would be helpful for people really who were even just starting off because something that I think I'm so used to, like taking photos, I, I don't even realize other people might be interested in those very. What to me is very basic things may not be for, you know, somebody who's maybe a step behind, you know,

[Podcast Host]

what data are you looking at? As far as the analytics? I know you mentioned you didn't want to focus on it because it can become, become an obsession. I've been there, I've had, I've had coaching clients that are there as well. How do you balance needing to learn from that data and accumulating the right things as opposed to just consuming, letting it consume you to where you can't. You kind of paralyzed from it, where you are looking at it and you're almost afraid to upload because of what it might do or the numbers that you might get back.

[Alexa Milmont]

Yeah, I, when it started taking off, I downloaded YouTube Studio on my phone and I almost immediately deleted it because I saw myself like refreshing and I told myself I just need to set a schedule really, because it is really important to look at your data, especially if you want to grow and pay attention to what's working, what's not. So now I know, like every Mondays I allow myself to dive in deeper into the analytics, maybe answer some comments, look at people, like what people are saying, paying attention to what they're wanting to see and what they don't, maybe what they don't like about the video. So I think having that schedule really helps me still stay close to my data, but also not obsess over it. So it's not on my phone where I can immediately just look at.

[Podcast Host]

That's really interesting. You picked a specific day to where you say to yourself, I'm going to do analytics review today. I'm going to review the data today. But that's it. I'm not going to, you know, obsess over it. I'm going to set a timeout And I like that. That's actually a really good idea. I may steal that from you. That's great.

[Alexa Milmont]

Yeah. Well, I was going to say I'm just trying to basically run all of this as if I was still in corporate because I had schedules. I would block off time for reporting, for example. So that's kind of how I look at it now is I have schedules within my week for specific aspects of the business.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, that's really good. Speaking of responding to comments, your channel is going to be built on the backs of your community. There's going to be other resellers that are wanting to be resellers. There are going to be people who are just following you and your creator journey. But these people are following Alexa, they're following the shop style cycle brand. With that being the case, what do you do on a community building side? Because this is new to you. Whereas your 9 to 5, you didn't have to do much of this, but you're now trying to build this brand around you and what you are doing on camera. And what are your thoughts on responding to comments? Maybe having a place off YouTube that you own like a newsletter or a website. What are your thoughts on all this?

[Alexa Milmont]

That's such a great question because that's definitely one that I thought about. I am working on a website. I do want to create a newsletter, so that's definitely coming. I definitely want to spend. As much as I would like to avoid reading the negative comments, I think it's important for me to stay connected to the people that are actually supporting me and that are positive. Again. People have also reached out outside of YouTube on my Instagram and they're messaging me. Hey, I found you on YouTube and can you teach me your ways? And as much as possible, I do try to respond to that. And that even makes me think of like coaching. One on one coaching or consulting. And maybe that's, you know, still at the very end of my, you know, roadmap. But it's definitely something that I'm thinking about.

[Podcast Host]

I'd say it's one of the most fun things that I get to do is work with creators and do coaching and consulting. I did not think I would enjoy it as much as I did. I thought it was a amends, an end to a needing to make some income at a higher ticket item. But I found that it provides me with so much joy. Like when I see one of my clients succeed to me, there is so much joy there. And so finding what that high ticket item is for you, it May be different if you're listening to this, but it's good to hear Alexa talk about that. What's next for you? Like, what are you, what are you working on? What are you contemplating down the YouTube line? You know, you obviously have other socials that, that you're working on, like TikTok, Instagram, things of that nature. So what's next for you?

[Alexa Milmont]

Yeah, you know, that's so interesting because if you asked me that just five months ago, what's next for me is just, I'm resell scaling my reselling business. But again, I think that's evolved so much now. I definitely want to take content creation more seriously. Again, I'm at the very beginning stages, so I'm still building systems for me that will help me stay consistent. But I definitely want to continue helping people realize how they can build a path outside of the 9 to 5 and help them build multiple income streams. Again, I'm working on a website for, you know, newsletters that I can maybe send out even just every month. And yeah, just like really scaling content creation in general because that's something that I really didn't expect I would be doing. If you told me this time last year that I would be on this podcast, first of all, like, I wouldn't have believed you. So I'm really excited. I feel like there's just a lot of opportunity that I have yet to tap into.

[Podcast Host]

A hundred percent. I could not agree more with you. I think that should be the encouragement for those listening. The final question I have for you is just basically a platform to share with the creators. Listening to this. What, what word or bit of advice would you leave them with as we close out today?

[Alexa Milmont]

Progress over perfection, which I said a while ago, I think, yeah, you know, if you have an idea, just do it, really. And if you're planning on taking the leap, take the leap carefully. I definitely want to be realistic about that. I, I did plan this out again, like my 9 to 5 exit, if you will, for months. And I definitely want to be as careful as I can, but to trust in yourself a little bit more too. That's one thing that I'm learning throughout this journey for myself, is to trust in the skills that you already have and just lean into that.

[Podcast Host]

I asked AI a few months back to analyze. I have a notion dashboard with all of my previous podcast audio uploaded to it. And so I ask Claude, AI, I said, can you tell me for the question that I just asked you, what are the more common answers that I get? And almost 80 to 85% of the people just said start. Like you are sitting here listening to this, or you did start and you quit and you kind of didn't give it enough time. I think if you're listening to this, I want to encourage you that your moment and your video may be your next one. And I think that Alexa would agree with this, that yes, her journey thus far has been quick, but if she doesn't keep the pedal pushed down, she can very easily see it kind of plateau. And so I think that for her, she's wanting it to continue to go up into the right. And so I want to encourage you today, if you're listening to this show, if you've heard the other interviews that I've done on this podcast, that not you're going to fail, you're going to make mistakes, but there's nothing worse than doing nothing than just absolutely not uploading. So I completely agree with what Alexa said there.

[Alexa Milmont]

Yeah, I think it's just like not waiting until you're an expert to do it. There were so many things that could have stopped me from uploading that first video. I'm not a reseller expert. I've only been doing this for just a year. I just hit my first year and I'm not a YouTube expert, but, you know, I just did it and I'm so happy to, to see how much it's grown.

[Podcast Host]

I'm so glad a lot of the creators and content that I consumed didn't wait until they were experts because it I would have missed out on so much good stuff. And I think that's the same for what you're doing. So again, I've been joined today by Alexa from the Shop Style Cycle YouTube channel. I'll have links to all of her stu down below. Don't forget to check out the ways that we help creators here at our program as well. And with that said, Alexa, we'll talk to you later.

[Alexa Milmont]

Thank you so much.