In this episode of the YouTube Creators Hub Podcast, Dusty Porter talks with travel and lifestyle influencer Sarah Funk. Sarah shares her journey from struggling to monetize her Instagram in 2017 to becoming a successful YouTuber with over 75 million...
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A
It's so important to start with a niche and then expand from there. I learned my lesson the hard way in 2017 when I was just trying to do everything. I was like, okay, I'm going to post about travel and I want to post about this food, and then I'm going to post about luggage and then I'm going to post about my outfit. It's like, people need to go to your channel, your social page, what have you, and know exactly what you are.
B
And welcome to this week's episode of the YouTube Creators Hub podcast. If you're looking to start, grow, or monetize a YouTube channel, this is the podcast for you. I want to ask you something really quick. If you haven't already and you've gotten any value out of this show, please leave us a review wherever and however you consume this podcast. Also, if you know a creator personally and think that they'd be an awesome guest here on the podcast, let me know. Email me Dustyustyporter.com I would really appreciate it. Don't forget, you can check out everything that we have to offer creators down below in the show notes. We do not have any sponsors, any ad reads on this show. I would just ask that if you're a creator and you're in need of services, take a look at what we have to offer. I do one on one personal YouTube coaching. I do channel reviews and audits. We also have a running list in a spreadsheet of all the tools and resources mentioned here on the podcast. We have an email newsletter and all of the different things down below. But if there was one that I think's probably the best bang for your buck per se, it would be our creator's Mastermind group. Five bucks get you access to exclusive podcast episodes recorded by me every Friday, every week, a monthly Mastermind call, a forum, and a Discord server where you can chat with other creators and so much more value. So check that out if you haven't already. So with that said, let's jump into this week's conversation. Hello everyone and welcome to this week's conversation on the Creators Hub podcast. I am super excited today to be joined by Sarah Funk. Sarah, let me tell you just briefly about her really quickly. She has half a million followers across social media, 75 million YouTube views, and Sarah is a prominent entrepreneur and influencer in the travel and lifestyle industries. There's a bunch more that we'll get into, but Sarah, how are you doing today?
A
Great. So happy to be on the show. Thank you for inviting me this is very exciting. And let's get into all the details. There's so much to talk about.
B
Let's do it. So give us the story of how you got started with YouTube.
A
I was traveling the world for a year. I had quit my corporate job and I thought after learning all the things I learned when I traveled the world for a year, coming back to New York, I saw that there was a lot of YouTubers that were travelers that were creating travel guides to New York. But from a traveler's perspective and as a local, I felt like the advice they were giving wasn't accurate, let's just say. And so I thought, you know what? I. I should try YouTube. I had been only doing Instagram before and it wasn't really popping off, as they would say. So I started making videos about what you need to know when you visit New York as a traveler. I started with like moat tips. Then I did, I think I did things to do. And then the video that really changed everything was I did a on tourist traps. I had previously worked at Disney doing North American marketing strategy and I was based in Times Square and I saw all these tourists getting just scammed constantly. And I thought, gosh, I need to make a video to prevent this from happening. And that video went viral and it really caused my whole channel to go viral. And I've been making content ever since I started doing that in 2018. So I've been doing this full time technically since 2017, although 2017 to 2018, I really, it wasn't working very well. I blew through the whole savings with that. But it worked out in 2018 and beyond.
B
If someone were to go to your channel now in 2020, what types of videos would they expect? What are you uploading now?
A
Yeah, so it's still New York content for sure. I also have expanded into travel and a little bit of lifestyle. I'd like to do more lifestyle content and I am putting little drops of that here and there. But it's definitely still focused on new city, my life and travel.
B
What did you find to be the initial differences between YouTube and Instagram and how you created for the two different platforms? How much crossover was there?
A
Oh my gosh. Initially it was completely different. This is before when Instagram didn't even really have videos. Right. So it was photo based and then YouTube was 10 minute, 15 minute videos. So there were completely different types of content. So I would make a 10 to 15 minute YouTube video about things to do in New York and then I would do just a photo of like me in New York and be like, new video out. And as time has evolved, today it's now make short form versions of that video that had formerly been 10 to 15 minutes, which is extremely difficult. So often what we do is we'll cut up the video and pull key moments from it and use that on short form today. But initially it was completely different because it was just photo versus a long form video.
B
And you mentioned that you're now full time as far as.
A
Yeah, I've been full time for almost 10 years.
B
And so being that YouTube is a central part of what you do, what was the initial thing for you where you said, okay, I think I might can do this full time. Was there a certain amount of that you wanted to get to? What were the milestones or what were the things in for you internally where you said, okay, I might can do this thing full time?
A
I have to be honest, the first year I tried doing travel content creation full time was 2017, and that was when I only focused on Instagram and the money just wasn't there because I think like my content, I didn't have a lot of followers. I think I had 20,000 back in 2017 and I was trying to just work off of brand deals and they were not often and they weren't a ton of money at the time. This was still in the early ages of influencer marketing. In 2018, I essentially gave myself six months to make this work or I would have to go back to a full time job because I literally was running out of my savings account like I wasn't making enough money. And so within six months I started getting more brand deals. And for me initially it was literally just I need to cover my expenses. And since I had kept my expenses so low, my goal was literally just to make like $2,000 a month to cover expenses. That was like the initial. And then once that happened, I'm like, okay, I figured out how to cover expenses. Now I need to actually figure out how I can expand this and make money long term. And from there it grew exponentially, honestly, because soon I started the tour company and then two years after that I started the video production company. But I was also starting to get offers to be on camera hosts and different representations for brands in like content that I wouldn't post. So the money started coming in slowly, but then expanding rapidly as I got more awareness and people saw the content I was making and they wanted to be associated with it or have me also make content for their brand.
B
How important do you think it was that you've niched down. Not. But you did niche down New York City travel, and you really did cast a net for a specific audience. That's a lot of things that a lot of times clients will come in and they'll hire me to be their coach. And one of the first questions is, who am I? Who am I trying to talk to? Who am I speaking to? And so for you, how important was it that you really were intentional about directing your attention towards the New York audience and people trying to come into New York?
A
It's so important I say this. I also have clients that I help with that type of advice. It's so important to start with a niche and then expand from there. I learned my lesson the hard way in 2017 when I was just trying to do everything. I was like, okay, I'm going to post about travel and I want to post about this food, and then I'm going to post about luggage, and then I'm going to post about my outfit. It's like, people need to go to your channel, your social page, what have you, and know exactly what you are, and that's what causes them to follow you. You know, if they're coming to New York, if they're interested in New York City, if they're living in New York City, they're going to follow me versus me posting about a dog and then a salad and then a tire. It's just, what are you talking about? Niching down makes a clear message to your audience who you are and why they should follow you.
B
Yeah. And when you do start monetizing, like for you, in the case of your travel company, whatever it may be, that authority in that that community is powerful, people trusting you. And I think that's exactly what you were getting at. Now, let me ask you this. People ask me all the time. I'm starting a YouTube channel. I'm trying to grow a current YouTube channel, and I'm spinning my wheels. I'm not getting too much traction. Where should a creator in 2025 be dedicating their time? Where should the time be dedicated?
A
I really think right now, short form gets your. Gets awareness out. And then as far as what I call conversion, which is if you have a product or service, that's YouTube, long form. So it really depends on your goals. If your goal is to grow a following and be known for something and you have, you. You don't have a following. Short form, short form, short form. If you already have a product or a service, then I recommend a combo of long form Short form, because long form is what's going to cause people to buy a lot of time, in my experience. And I do have two companies that like, show evidence of this. And then short form is like awareness, more like fun content that's shareable, that kind of reiterates your message.
B
I would could not agree more with that. But I want to ask you, dig a little deeper. What is your format, strategy as far as how do you decide how many long forms you upload as opposed to how many shorts you upload? That's the question that many creators have. How do you decide your programming for your channel?
A
For me, at this point, since I have a team to help support me, I do one long form a week and I do one short form a day. It's rough out here. Sometimes I'll post a photo if I'm like, oh my gosh, I don't have a short form piece to post today. And I'll just post a photo that I think people will like and is, like, relevant to what the goals are. So if, like, I have a Tokyo guide coming out today, I posted some photos of me in Japan to lead up to that because the video content wasn't ready yet. So it's like, things like that help support the messaging. Also, it's October right now. When we're recording, that's Halloween, that's fall. So we try to think of what are people searching, what are people interested in right now? And we should post that, that type of stuff.
B
Do you. How intentional are you with your short form? Is a lot of it repurposed or is a lot of it right now? A lot of people who are popping off with short form are doing a great job with storytelling, and they're putting a lot more time and effort into it, and it's not pointing their phone at themselves. So how do you balance? Okay, this is. I call them digital Doritos. This is like a digital snack, per se, whatever you want to call it. But there's still purpose here. There's still relevancy to growing my brand and my business. How do you dictate how you do them?
A
So essentially it's what's your topic? And then from there's like different buckets of supporting, supporting content around your topic. So, like, for New York, let's just say New York's my topic. So I could post something that is just pretty, you know, something that's like visually pretty. That could be an aesthetic video of, like, gorgeous shots of New York. That's much easier than coming up with a Whole storyline. But then there's also like you could do a parody which has done really well for me. I've done several parody videos that is much more complex so that it requires planning, scripting, shooting, all of that. Then there's just like pretty photos or educational content. Those are two different categories. So like I just posted an educational short form video about where to store your luggage before or after checking into your hotel. So it's just find your initial niche and then create supporting buckets that all tie back to the original topic. That's how we plan content.
B
How much research do you do around other channels? So other A lot. Maybe not now, but can a lot I do as well. So can you explain that process, why you do it, how you do it? Just the full nine?
A
Yeah, absolutely. So essentially my team will look at anyone that is in a similar niche and it doesn't necessarily have to be like a competitor. I would say it could be someone that like for example, there's a girl who does what I do for London. So we'll look at her channel and be like, okay, this performed really well for her London based channel. So why don't we try a similar idea for New York? And so it's a lot of doing that and then a lot of what are people searching in SEO right now? Also you can use like Google Trends for that. You can. There's various ways to find out that information and we essentially decide what we're going to do based on the findings there. And then what's currently trending.
B
And when you go to these channels, are you looking at packaging like thumbnail title combos? Are you looking at video ideas? Are you looking at on camera stuff of how they're present? What all are you looking at? And I know it's your team, but for people listening it would just be them. What would, what should they be looking for?
A
I think for me right now it's like a combo of you have to get them to click on it first. Let's start there. Like the thumbnail has to be really enticing and then so does the video title. It has to be really enticing. As far as the style of the video, I already have established my own style over the years and I really stick to it because it seems to work. People seem to resonate with it. It's definitely more of what you would call a presenter style, not vlog where I'm like self filming. I do self film occasionally but I often have someone that's helping me film so that I can move around and be hands free. And that's just my style. I have a lot of friends that do different styles and I think it's important to try things out and see what your audience resonates with and what you're connected with best and go from there. And that's just what works for me. Like more the presenter style.
B
I think looking and watching a handful of your videos, one of the things that you do a really good job with is just your on camera personality. You're very real, you're authentic, but you're also energetic and fun to watch. And so how did you mature that skill set? How did you become that confident and comfortable on camera? Because that's another thing that people get all the time is I just don't like the way my voice sounds or I don't like the way I look on camera. How were you able to get past that?
A
It's funny because I laugh because when I first started I was so cringy on camera. I literally removed those videos from the Internet. Okay. So this was a journey. It takes time to be comfortable to speak on camera. I'm not going to lie. Like, initially, I started trying to do content creation work in 2015 and I was very awkward on camera, but I just kept doing it and practicing until now, like the easiest way I can say that worked for me. And again, practice is key here. Practice is so key. But just pretending the camera is someone, you're like an actual person, that's the only way. Because a lot of people say like they feel weird talking to a camera and I get that. So just imagine, imagine you're talking to your friend and the lens is your friend's eyes. So whenever you're doing something, you could be doing it on camera, trying something and something weird happens. You're like, what? You're looking at the lens, which is your friend's eyes. So that helped me a lot. But it. Practice is so key. I've been doing this almost 10 years if you count 20, 15, actually. 10 years.
B
It's just really about reputation.
A
Yeah. Took three years to be able to actually come across. Not awkward.
B
I love. Yeah, I feel like I sometimes still come across that way. Even 15. I don't think so.
A
You have a very like radio voice, like a queen.
B
Thank you. Thank you. We try here. I'll pay her. I'll pay you later. I will ask you about this though. Let's talk about your business model before we talk about the money that you're making and all of that good stuff. Talk about just the model around how YouTube is the central hub of what you're doing, but you also have other businesses that you've sprung up alongside that to kind of go in tandem with that. So how do you make money from your YouTube channel? Can you break down all of those.
A
Different buckets from the YouTube channel? Ad revenue, sponsorships, affiliate revenue, and you could also say tour sales. Because a lot of my tour sales for my tour company come from people watching my YouTube. And I know that because when they book a tour, one of the questions is, how did you hear about us? And almost every Single one says YouTube.
B
Yeah, that's powerful. That really is. And as far as the percentage breakdown of where the majority of your money is coming from, can you tell us what that percentage is and maybe just an estimate on the different buckets?
A
It's interesting because between the three different buckets, video production company, tour company, YouTube, I would say it's. It's almost like in thirds. Almost in thirds. So it depends on the year, though. Like, last year the video production company was like 60%, and then the others were split between the two. But this year it's more like thirds. So it just depends on. It depends on the year. But I would say a simple answer for you is thirds. If you allocate it across all the years that they all have been running, that would be the simplest response.
B
And what are you able to make now from the content and from just your businesses altogether?
A
So from a revenue standpoint, it's 7:50. But you have to keep in mind expenses. I hate it when creators are like, oh, my God, this month I made like $80,000. And I'm like, okay, but, like, what if that was expenses? Because I feel like that's an important factor. Yeah, sure. When you just look at the number flat, it sounds all fancy and nice, right? But I have a team of videographers, I have an assistant, I have a tax. Like, people that do, like, financial stuff for me, like, all of these things are factors into it. So, yeah, like, it's a definitely, Luke. It's a lucrative business. I'm not saying it isn't. I'm just saying take numbers with a grain of salt. Because you can't just be like, oh, like, that's you're rich.
B
How do you approach sponsors? Because that's a question I get a lot of people, is, do I cold email them? Do I reach out on LinkedIn? What's your process? I interrupt the conversation briefly just to tell you about two things. The first is our YouTube channel reviews. And audit service. I record six to eight minute channel reviews where I take a look at your channel and for six to eight minutes in a screencast recording, I tell you things that I think you can be and should be spending your time on. I think it's again, a great low level entry if you don't have very much money to invest in your channel. And then secondly, we have our creators, Mastermind Group and exclusive podcast episodes. You can get those for five bucks a month by joining our Mastermind group down below. Check those out if you haven't already. Now back to the show.
A
A little bit of both. A little bit of both. So it's a lot of the time they'll approach me, but we're constantly pitching. Constantly. Even at 10 years in the game. Like I see a creator working with a brand that I want to work with, I immediately pitch that brand. Immediately, immediately. Like that brand is being pitched within a week max. So it's. And I think that's important too because if you want to be successful at this, if you want this to be your full time thing, you can't just sit and wait. No great entrepreneur just sat around waiting for a sale. It's not how it works. You got to go out, you got to hustle.
B
What is something that you wish you would have known sooner in terms of content creation and running a YouTube channel? Looking back now, you have to today.
A
I would say you have to post every, like so much. Like when I first started it, you could do this and post twice a week and be like, cool. But I have seen a absolute correlation between quantity posted and money. And I wish I realized that sooner because now there's so many people that want to do this that it's really become, one could say oversaturated with just all the people that want to do it. And those that, you know, rise to the top are the ones that are going to be working really hard. And so you're competing with like hundreds of thousands of other people that want to do this too, that want to be able to control their narrative and not maybe work for corporate or whatever. So it's just like you have to do it is constant work. It is not a job. Like, I think a lot of people think being an influencer is just like sitting around and like living this glamorous lifestyle. It's like an iceberg. The glamorous part's like just the only part, but the rest is so much work. Most days it's just like I'm sitting at a desk doing monotonous boring stuff. And I don't post that. I don't think anyone wants to see it.
B
Yeah, I agree. How do you balance though? Because I agree with you. It's the algorithms are rewarding. That hustle culture of just upload, upload. But how do you balance uploading quantity and still giving value and quality and not just uploading a bunch of just junk.
A
It's so hard. It's so hard. I'm not gonna lie. That is the problem. And I've been doing this thing which I think works and I don't know any other creators doing it. Maybe they're not talking about it. I post every day. If within four days and I'm talking short form stuff right now, not long form. If within four days it is not resonating on specifically Instagram, I delete it. Why? Because brands look at a aggregate, aggregate of the last nine things you posted and they're like, okay, this is the engagement, this is the life likes, this is the views, this is the whatever. And if you just. I've just been deleting the ones that like bomb because then the best content's at the top which then when new followers come to my page and they see it, they like everything because it's like the most well received content. And then also brands, they'll look at the average of the last nine and they're like, oh, this is great, let's work with her. I haven't heard anyone else doing that, but it has worked very nicely for me and it's allowed me to exper, like experiment more. But I will say like that same short form video that like bombed on Instagram, I'll just keep it on TikTok or YouTube shorts because for some reason, I don't know why, but brands are the brands that pay the most in my experience are obsessed with Instagram. It's like they just want Instagram, they want you to cross post on TikTok a lot, at least for me. But like they're so obsessed with Instagram and all the numbers they look at in my experience are just on Instagram and so that's been working for me. So I just explore.
B
How do you monetize Instagram?
A
What are your hard to monetize, I.
B
Was about to say, because a lot of creators I've talked to is one of the harder platforms to monetize on. So what are your methods there other than you're just going to give a shout out to, to a product or is it just basically part of the portfolio of you tell the company, hey, we're going to do one long form YouTube video. Five, three shorts across Instagram. TikTok. How do you do it?
A
Yeah, it's the hard. It's not easy to monetize Instagram because first off, the ad revenue is garbage. If I showed you a check from Instagram, I'm not exaggerating, it's 20 cents. I'm like, why are you guys even sending this check to me? This is stupid. But brand deals and then I use it mainly as an awareness tool, to be honest with you. I just, I use it as an awareness tool for my offerings like the tour company just reiterating like I do YouTube videos and then when things go viral, that's when you see results. But only when things go viral, in my experience, do you actually end up getting some type of money from Instagram. Brand deals are the only real way to live off of Instagram. Unless you have every single video getting a million views on Instagram, the ad revenue is absolute garbage. It's just like pennies. It's nothing.
B
Do you think it's still possible to grow or start a YouTube channel in 2025? Like you did this a decade ago, nine, 10 years ago. Do you think it's still possible and if so, what would be your strategy if you were starting today?
A
Yes, absolutely. It is so possible. I know a handful of creators that started just in the last two years and they have, some of them have more followers than me. I think the strategy I would go with that I've seen resonates really well is first off, you have to choose your niche and stick to it. Let's start there. Don't skip that step. But once you have your niche, it seems like a lot of more raw, like vloggy type content seems to be resonating and then on the other side of that like super produced, like Mr. Beast style stuff. But it's really hard for a regular person to just get to that level. So I feel like the channels that are like that level have some type of major funding behind them. But if you're just a regular person that doesn't have an entire funding video production situation, I've seen like blogs work really well. It's just really important that you stick to your niche and like really stick to your niche.
B
How long do you give video ideas to? I guess you would say to grow on the channel. So let's just say you have an idea of doing a series or a bucket of content on your channel. How many times will you upload a video of that type of. And still not get the results you want. You see what I'm saying? How, how quick will you be to cut a, a bit of programming or a style of video on the channel and move on to the next thing?
A
If I'm starting a brand new channel, I wouldn't stop for six months because that's, that was my, that's how I started this channel. I said I'm going to make a video every week for six months on my topic, which was New York. And another thing is make sure whatever your topic is a topic, that there is a wide audience for that topic. Like, it can't be like, I don't know, like straws. Like that's not gonna cut it. Like it has to be. It has to be a topic that has an audience that people are interested in that topic. So like, when I chose New York as my topic, I knew New York has 60 million visitors annually and those 60 million people are not getting the correct information on YouTube. So I was like, this is a hole that I can fill. So do some research on that. Choose your niche carefully. Make sure it's something that you are both passionate about and you are well educated enough to speak to. And then stick to it. Stick to it and it will work if you do that. I have seen that work so many times. It's just people give up too easily. People are impatient. Especially now today, where everyone's attention span is like 2 seconds. Building something like this isn't gonna happen overnight. And I know people say that constantly, but like, people don't seem to understand like that concept. It's like this will take months, especially if it's YouTube. YouTube's one of the hardest ones to like really be successful in because it's the hardest to edit a long form video.
B
That to me is probably where most people fail is just their ability to not do anything for a very long amount of time. One of the creators that, that I follow is a business guy, Alex Hormozi. I've followed him for, for a while. He put something along the lines of this, if I can find it on X, let me see. It was literally this morning. I think that he posted it exactly basically what you said right here. The single greatest skill you can develop is the ability to stay in a great mood. Oh, nope, that's the wrong one. That's the wrong one. He pinned something there. I'm completely incorrect. So I'm going to pause the podcast here because I do want to insert this in there. So.
A
Yeah, no, go for it.
B
Where is it? Oh, right here it is. Yeah. So what he put out there is he. This is one sentence he said, you must first become consistent before you can become exceptional. And I would agree with that a hundred percent. I think that yes, in order to do anything, whether it's launch a podcast, launch a YouTube channel, you have to have the ability to do something for nothing. And what I mean, nothing is nothing. Monetarily. If you are not willing to do something for nothing and get no, no return as far as money for an extended amount of time, then you're not going to get to where you need to get. Number one, you're not going to learn what you need to learn. Number two, you're just, you're not going to get through the dip. Like Seth Goden says in his book the Dip, there's so many things about that I completely agree with and I love that line about you must become consistent before you can become exceptional. And we see that with Mr. Beast and all the videos that he's uploaded when he was a teenager and he's uploading. He said, I'm going to upload this video 10 years from now. And he looks like a scared little kid and he's grown so much because he's consistently kept going.
A
Yes. And that's why consistency cannot be overlooked. It is single handedly, I think one of the most important things you need to do that. And just if you really believe, you have to really believe in yourself in the beginning with this, like people are gonna second guess you. I mean so many people said to me, when are you gonna get a real job? In the beginning. And you just have to have a very thick skin and believe in yourself more than anyone else and just know, I'm gonna make this happen. Oh, I'm gonna do it.
B
People still ask me when I'm gonna get a real job, Sarah. But that's. Yeah, well, even though I'm.
A
We should start a club called Still Looking for a Real Job.
B
Still Looking for a Real Job. I thought about doing some merch of a T shirt that, that had that on there. I thought that'd be a great little tagline. What is the final question I have for you here, Sarah, is what is next for you? What is next for your content? Do you have any big ideas? Short term, long term? What are you, what are your plans?
A
What I've been really wanting to do. This is for the tour company. My goal. I'm really focusing my energy on the tour company right now. We're adding a lot of really cool things for guests to experience. I really want to offer multi day experiences in New York. So it's like almost like a vacation package that they can book that is multiple days. And that's one of the goals I'm really focusing on as far as the tour company. And then for content I really want to do more travel content and I and like the travel content always performs less than the New York content. But guess what, Consistency, eventually it will perform the same and I'm not giving up on that. So yeah, that's those are my goals. I would say right now is slightly adjusting niche and adding more fun things for guests to book for my New York City tours.
B
I love that. Sarah, you've been a wonderful guest here today on the podcast. You've obviously done very well for yourself. I'm very thankful that you're willing to give us your time today. I'll put the link down to Sarah's websites as well as her YouTube channel in the show notes. And with that said, Sarah, thanks again and we'll talk to you later.
A
Thanks. Great being here. See you next time.
B
And that's a wrap on this week's episode of the Creator's Hub podcast. Man, what an episode it was today. I hope you got some value from it. Sarah was a wonderful guest and we're so thankful she was willing to come on the podcast and share her insights and knowledge about her YouTube and creator journey. Don't forget to check out all of our services that we offer creators down below. I'm not going to list them again. Don't forget you can subscribe to our email newsletter, the Entrepreneurs Minute, where I share things that I'm interested in, talk about my personal life, growing a business, running a business alongside my YouTube channel. If that's interesting to you at all. Definitely check out the Entrepreneur's Minute down below. Don't forget to review the show if you haven't already. And if you are looking to watch and see my wonderful face, which I'm not sure why you'd want to do that, you can go and search for YouTube Creators Hub or just Dusty Porter on YouTube and you can watch the show there. With that said, talk to you guys next week.
Host: Dusty Porter
Guest: Sarah Funk
Date: October 17, 2025
Runtime: Approximately 34 minutes
In this episode, host Dusty Porter sits down with Sarah Funk, a dynamic travel and lifestyle creator who has transformed her passion for New York City into a thriving full-time career. With over half a million followers, 75 million YouTube views, and multiple successful businesses, Sarah shares her journey from corporate burnout to becoming a trusted authority in NY travel, her strategies for multiformat content, business diversification, advice for new creators, and the realities of sustaining an online entrepreneurial empire.
"People need to go to your channel, your social page, what have you, and know exactly what you are… Niching down makes a clear message to your audience who you are and why they should follow you."
— Sarah Funk [07:40–08:29]
"Short form gets your… awareness out. And then as far as what I call conversion... that's YouTube, long form."
— Sarah Funk [08:58–09:45]
"No great entrepreneur just sat around waiting for a sale. It's not how it works. You got to go out, you got to hustle."
— Sarah Funk [20:15–20:59]
"You must first become consistent before you can become exceptional."
— Alex Hormozi (quoted by Dusty Porter) [30:03]
"Consistency cannot be overlooked. It is single-handedly, I think, one of the most important things you need to do."
— Sarah Funk [31:06–31:40]
"It's like an iceberg. The glamorous part's like just the only part, but the rest is so much work. Most days it's just like I'm sitting at a desk doing monotonous boring stuff."
— Sarah Funk [21:08–22:34]
Links to Sarah’s channels and businesses are available in the show notes.