#103 - In this episode, I share my story of burning out after achieving significant milestones, including building a family with three kids, paying off debt, and running successful businesses. I discuss the challenges I faced, including a major client fallout and personal setbacks, and how therapy helped me gain clarity and move forward. I hope this episode encourages you if you’re currently stuck in a velvet rut like I was.

#102 - The podcast is back! Welcome to the new iteration of my podcast: Couch to $500K. This will be my outlet for documenting my journey as an entrepreneur and place I can have conversations with other creators.

#101 - This is my 2020 annual review (2 months late) in all of its full detailed glory. These reviews are mainly for me, but I hope you learn something from me sharing my work along the way.

#100 - Have you ever reached big milestone that shifts you to be more introspective? I'm talking something big like turning an age that ends in zero, getting out of debt, or having a child. This is what happened to me when it came to planning and recording episode 100 of my podcast. Not only did I start to question what episode 100 should be, but also what content I even want to be making. I've stopped and started my podcast up again multiple times since recording episode 1 back in 2014. I've done plenty of interviews with video creators and taught a bunch of what I've learned running my video business the last 6 years. I tend to focus most of my YouTube videos on specific pieces of video or photo gear because that is what I think will get me more views, which leads to audience growth, more affiliate income, and more course sales. And for the podcast I feature other creators to share what is possible to accomplish with online video, but also to potentially reach some of their audience as well. I already run two profitable businesses, the first making videos for clients and the second being SwitchPod, and each equate to a full-time job themselves a lot of the time. This means the hopes, dreams, and plans for my free content and paid courses business always ends up being a third wheel. And what I earn from it is also the least of my 3 income streams, so it gets the least amount of attention. So why am I putting so much pressure on myself to make it "the thing" or compare myself to other creators online? In this podcast episode I discuss this and more with my wife Jen. We talk about what's next for me online, what kind of videos, podcasts, etc. I should be making, discuss my website redesign, and share an open and honest look at what it is like to be a creator online balancing multiple businesses, passions, and goals.

#99 - In this podcast episode I chat with Greg Farnum all about cameras and which ones we’d buy. We talk through what features really matter when choosing a camera, what accessories we’d recommend beyond just the camera body or lens, and finish by discussing what we’d buy with a $500, $1,000, $2,500, or $10,000 budget.

#98 - In this podcast episode I chat with Tommy Callaway about how to improve lighting in your videos. We discuss common mistakes people make with lighting, what can you do to improve your lighting setup for under $100, what you should pay attention to when considering what light to purchase, and what lighting gear we would recommend at low-end, mid-range, and professional level budgets.

#97 - Everyone always wants to talk about the latest cameras that just came out, but the better way to spend your money is on making your videos sound better. And even if you don’t have any extra budget to put towards a better microphone or audio recorder, there are a lot of tips and tricks for capturing better sound. In this episode I chat with Curtis Judd about how to record high quality audio, what gear he recommends for both the cheapest and high-end budgets, and common audio mistakes to avoid when making videos.

#96 - Most people are afraid to talk about money, but I'm not. You can't do your work, make your art, or run your business if you can’t get your money right. In this podcast episode I share my journey getting out of and going back into debt, how money affected the tiny decisions I’d make, the impact debt had on me creatively and professionally, what finally got us out of debt again, and the steps you should take up the “money ladder”.

#95 - In this podcast episode I chat with Tom Martin about what a YouTube channel should do behind the scenes if it wants to get more views through search and suggested recommendations.

#94 - In this podcast episode I chat with Sarah Beth, a yoga teacher on YouTube, about how she grew her channel to almost a million subscribers and a thriving online business over nearly ten years of uploading videos.

#93 - In this podcast episode I chat with Matt Giovanisci of Swim University & Money Lab about how to get more traffic from Google to a website. He shares what he has learned from 10+ years of experience optimizing his websites for search engines, doing content audits, and create epic content.

#92 - In this episode I talk with my wife Jen about how we work together on each other’s businesses or on the same business with all the dynamics of a boss/employee/partner relationship while staying married (and sane).

#91 - In this episode I talk with my wife Jen about how over the past 9 years of working from home we’ve figured out what boundaries, rules, and setups allow us to get the most done.

#90 - In this podcast episode I chat with my buddy Chris Ducker about how to build, scale, and monetize a personal brand, whether you should name your brand after your name or something else, what to do when your name is common or already being used online, and how having a strong personal brand can help future proof your business.

#89 - In this episode I chat with Jacob Cross, who I’ve hired to help me film for clients before, but who piqued my interest when he said he and his wife edit YouTube videos for 8 different clients at once on top of the video production work they already do. We discuss how you can find potential video editing clients, how to reach out to them, what the workflow is like, and how to charge them.

#88 - In this episode I chat with Mike Kilcoyne, who I got to know well when he signed up for my Freelance Filmmaker Accelerator Program last year. We discuss how he niched down to what clients he could serve best, how to make them repeat clients, when the right time to hire help is, and how to land and work with clients in other cities then where you live.

#87 - If you're like me, you're overwhelmed with everything that is going on right now. The global pandemic is turning the economy into an unknown mess, we want to make sure our finances and our lives don’t implode, and there is an ever-growing pile of work to do to help your business survive all of this. But sometimes, what’s most important is to just take a break.

#86 - In this episode I talk with photographer and video creator Tyler Stalman about how important it is to become a “full stack creator”, his term for being able to do the multiple types of creative work needed in today’s competitive landscape.

#85 - With the CO-VID19 coronavirus, the world is a bit crazy right now. But I wanted to do my part to share how I’m trying to weather this as an entrepreneur and small business owner and give you some tips for how to best spend your down time during any pandemic quarantines.

#84 - In this episode I talk with Thomas Frank, a full-time YouTuber, about what it is like to run a channel with millions of subscribers, work with sponsors, grow a team, and what goes on behind the scenes of planning, filming, editing, and sharing a YouTube video.