{"id":18080,"date":"2024-02-09T15:49:48","date_gmt":"2024-02-09T15:49:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.webmonkey.com\/young-money-interview-5-bens-successful-podcast-youtube-journey\/"},"modified":"2024-05-24T19:39:57","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T19:39:57","slug":"young-money-interview-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webmonkey.com\/young-money-interview-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Money Interview #5 – Ben’s Successful Podcast & YouTube Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of my favorite things about starting a new challenge in life is that you never know where you will end up at the end of it.<\/p>\n

That's the fun part about entrepreneurship, and it's also why I encourage it very frequently for other young adults.<\/p>\n

Along your journey, you usually end up encountering a slew of interesting people, new ideas\/opportunity, and you often find yourself travelling down a path you never would have expected.<\/p>\n

I'm incredibly excited to share this Young Money story with you today because it's truly an example of what can happen in life if you just take a shot in the dark and try to build something.<\/p>\n

I met Ben, the entrepreneur who is about to take over this post, in college last year, and he is by far one of the most open minded and driven people I met during school.<\/p>\n

Ben's been on WebMonkey before, and covered how to start a successful podcast<\/a> a few months back.<\/p>\n

If you want to learn more about how Ben has started both a successful podcast and a<\/em> rapidly growing YouTube channel, be sure to read on!<\/p>\n

Also be sure to checkout the previous posts in the Young Money interview series!<\/a><\/p>\n

About Ben:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"ben-do-dope-shit\"<\/p>\n

Growing up, I had a passion for two things.<\/p>\n

The first was sports, and the second was something I later found out was entrepreneurship, and most of my free time was invested into one of the two interests.<\/p>\n

I was starting side hustles before I was 10 without even realizing that was a thing.<\/p>\n

I also invested almost every waking hour into football as my dream was to be the starting running back for my favorite NFL team, the Jacksonville Jaguars.<\/p>\n

I played the sport year round and trained throughout all of it as well. It cultivated into a decent high school career with a few championships and an opportunity to play at the next level in college.<\/p>\n

However, I only ended up playing a season on the team and walked away after suffering a serious concussion.<\/p>\n

I had attached so much of my identity and confidence to the sport, like many athletes do. After my concussion, I was terribly lost and confused as to where I should invest all of this new found time.<\/p>\n

The First Side Hustle – YouTube:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Figuring out what to do next took some serious self reflection.<\/p>\n

I took the time to write down all the things I knew I loved, and I recommend this strategy to anyone searching for direction or purpose.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t care who you are, there will be things you do in life, big or small, that make you feel a certain way.<\/p>\n

That indescribable feeling is your life compass trying to point you in the right direction.<\/p>\n

I have always loved entertaining, inspiring and educating people. Few things give me the satisfaction like an engaged audience that I know I provided value for.<\/p>\n

The only time I had ever really had the opportunity to experience this was through school presentations or performances. However, I was fascinated with social media and more specifically, YouTube<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I had been following the journeys of many entrepreneurs for a while, and I consistently found myself feeling similar and wanted to build a presence and lifestyle like theirs.<\/p>\n

Starting a YouTube channel seemed like a great way to build and engage an audience, but like many people, I made excuses and quit before even trying.<\/p>\n

I continued to toy around with the idea until my compass forced me into action.<\/p>\n

While playing recreational football, I tore my ACL and meniscus.<\/p>\n

I was devastated and immobile. After wallowing in self pity, feeling like I couldn\u2019t catch a break, I went to YouTube to seek out advice on how to deal with my new situation.<\/p>\n

Upon doing so I was surprised to find very little content of any value on ACL injuries and rehab. I decided this was my opportunity for YouTube; my opportunity to earn those subscriptions and grow.<\/p>\n

I made a series of videos on my experience with the injury that have received over 200k views to date. Throughout this process, I fell in love with the platform and the ability to help others through simply doing things I enjoy.<\/p>\n

\"youtube-videos\"<\/p>\n

Extra watching –<\/strong> See how Ben made his first YouTube paycheck and learn how to make money on YouTube!<\/a><\/p>\n

Expanding The Channel:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While ACL recovery videos were a great start for my channel, the niche put me in a box with little room to grow.<\/p>\n

Realizing this, I decided to incorporate my second long time passion, entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

I began making videos providing advice for other aspiring entrepreneurs ranging from tactical strategies, general mindset advice, and personal development.<\/p>\n

\"benjamin-hayden-leavitt\"<\/p>\n

During this time of starting my channel<\/a>, one of my favorite YouTubers appeared on a podcast I listened to, and this was another light bulb moment for me and was something that dramatically changed my life.<\/p>\n

I decided that, much like my knee, this was the push I needed to grow.<\/p>\n

I decided to start a podcast.<\/p>\n

The Second Side Hustle – Podcasting:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I had always wanted to connect with entrepreneurs, but I was also a kid from Canada with no connections in the game.<\/p>\n

Starting my podcast, Do Dope Shit<\/a>, seemed like a perfect way to bridge this gap.<\/p>\n

I decided to structure my content with passion in mind while also aiming for growth, and I built a show around what I wanted to supplement in my life.<\/p>\n

Let me tell you, having your content based on passion and desired personal growth will keep you extremely motivated and consistent.<\/p>\n

I decided the direction for my show and you can find it in the bio of my podcast: \u201cBenjamin Hayden Leavitt interviews doers who have followed their own path and created a career and lifestyle revolving around passion. He captures their stories, struggles and tactics to try and help you do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why Podcasting:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Podcasting is the most valuable platform for self-improvement, bar none.<\/p>\n

I have made so many amazing friends and established relationships that will last a lifetime because of the medium, and I believe it has everything to do with the nature of podcasting.<\/p>\n

Conversation has been a tool that humans have used to connect, learn, grow, laugh and educate as long as we have been around.<\/p>\n

Every episode, I have an hour long conversation with someone I want to get to know, so we inevitably leave as friends while also creating a valuable piece of evergreen content<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I have been able to connect with people I otherwise never would have through podcasting while simultaneously improving my conversational abilities, a lifelong skill that is also important for business.<\/p>\n

Extra Reading – Podcast vs YouTube – What's Best For You?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Combining Passions:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Podcasting gave me a new skill and an outlet for my passion, but YouTube was still something I saw so much value in.<\/p>\n

I figured creating a video on my podcasting experience would provide some value to my small audience, so I made one.<\/p>\n

It went about the same as every previous video, and I thought it was a decent video but nothing spectacular.<\/p>\n

It received the same amount of views as my other videos (under 100). I moved on and thought nothing of it.<\/p>\n

Five months later that same video started receiving hundreds of views a day<\/strong>.<\/p>\n