The Level Up Podcast w/ Paul Alex - From $7 Haircuts to 7.6M Followers: Sly Honcho’s Blueprint to Going Viral in 2025

Episode Date: May 3, 2025

In this powerful episode of The Level Up Podcast w/ Paul Alex, we sit down with digital marketing phenom Sly Huncho, who built a multi-million follower brand from humble beginnings as a $7-a-cut barber and Army recruit. 🚀 Discover how Sly used consistency, storytelling, and smart content strategy to grow over 6 million followers in under a year—and how you can leverage the same blueprint in 2025 to build your brand organically. 🎯 Whether you're a barber, coach, freelancer, or service-based entrepreneur—this is the episode you NEED to hear. ✅ Key Topics Covered: How Sly went from flipping burgers to flipping content into cash The turning point that made him go all-in on digital marketing The exact strategy he used to grow from 179K to 7.6M followers How to turn your skills into a six-figure income using social media The power of consistency, voiceovers, and emotion-driven content Overcoming self-doubt and using your story to build a community 🔥 BONUS: Sly reveals how beginners can gain 40K+ followers in 90 days with no ad spend. 📲 Follow Sly: @sly.huncho on all platforms 🎧 Subscribe for more success stories & tactical growth tips!“Your Network is your NETWORTH!”Make sure to add me on all SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS:Instagram: https://jo.my/paulalex2024Facebook: https://jo.my/fbpaulalex2024Youtube: https://jo.my/ytpaulalex2024Linkedin: https://jo.my/inpaulalex2024Looking for a secondary source of income or want to become an entrepreneur?Check out one of my companies below to see if we can help you:www.ATMTogether.comwww.CashSwipe.comFREE Copy of my book “Blue to Digital Gold - The New American Dream”www.officialPaulAlex.com

Welcome to the Level Up Podcast. I'm your host, Paul Alex. I went from being a cop to an eight-figure entrepreneur that helps average people like you and me make money every single day. I created this podcast to help you get motivated and to crush your goals. Let's win together.

Remember, I have your six. Get ready to level up right now. Hey guys, this is Paul Alex. Welcome to the Level Up Podcast. Today I have a special guest guys. He goes by the name of Sly Honcho. He has over 7.6 million followers across social media platforms. Guys, we're talking about Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, which is called now X.

I mean, absolutely everything. I'm probably missing a couple guys. You know, you know me, man. Old school millennial here. But anyways, Sly, how are you doing today, brother? I'm doing good. How about, you know, you know me man old-school millennial here. But anyways sly how you doing today, brother? I'm doing good. How about you man? Thanks for coming out dude? Like, you know, I come to Miami once a week and you know My schedule's back to back to back to back and I was like, bro. I got a link up with sly sly man

You've been blowing up bro. You've been blowing up Tell me tell me all the secrets man. So, you know I'm saying so I started out as a professional fraud flipper first off So I was working at Wendy's working at fast food I'm expecting fast cash cuz how fast I'm working but the money's coming in slow because it's fast food Yes, I like it. I need something different. I need something different So, you know those those recruiters that come to your high school like you want to join the army? We'll pay for your college. They me what year was that that was? 2017 that's when I graduated high school 2017. Okay, so 2017 this is before the pandemic before everybody's life changed

Yes before uber eats Stocks just skyrocketing right because everybody's ordering delivery. So, okay, cool So you go to the military and you're like all right this is pretty good and then originally no I'm not like it's pretty good no no you were like I got it I already felt separated from the start like really I didn't like it at all so I was really doing something that I didn't want to do because I had to do it because there was paying for college so I felt like oh I got to finish this because I want to pay back the money that they was giving me I

got you I got you okay we'll get into that and then originally where you from can't see the Missouri. Okay chiefs. I love that I love that chiefs fan, right? Yeah. Yeah facts. Love it. Love it Niners Niners go my Niners. Sorry So, um, okay, so It happens, bro. It happens, you know what I'm saying? Every dog got their day. So, okay, so 2017, you're getting recruited into the Army. What are your first thoughts? What do your parents say about that, man?

What does your family think about the Army? Donald Trump. That's the first thing he say. Oh, you gotta worry about Donald Trump. You gotta worry about Donald Trump. But mentally, I'm already preparing myself because I know that they're not gonna be paying for college. So I'm already self-dependent in my mind. I gotta do this to do this for me because I'm the only person that's going to be able

to save myself. So I already had that mindset back then. So that was a choice that I had to make in order to have a successful future. So that's what I felt like taking the leap. But everybody like, oh, don't do the army. You don't do the army. I'm like, shoot. Well, that's what I'm going to do, because I was really one of those high school kids that was having those athlete dreams,

you know, but it didn't work out. But what sports did you play? I played football, wrestling, did track. My main sport that I was good at, I would say that's kind of I was real well balanced. So wrestling 32 and nine, football, play receiver, cornerback, all conference, all district, all that, you know what I mean? Got like 12 varsity letters, so all around athlete, but just didn't get over the top as far as taking it to the next level.

So I had to choose or figure out another way, you know? Yeah, no, that makes sense, man. So with that being said, so you end up going to the army. What was your first impression of the army the first couple months? Like where they fly you to man like like describe it describe it. Okay, so they gave me a scholarship Whatever so I had to enlist the game of the scholarship So that avoided my basic training date until I graduated college. So that was the finesse. Wow. I didn't know you could do that.

Yes, because that was like a limited scholarship. It was like a 50K scholarship, whatever. So that would avoid my basic training date till I finished college. It's called like a minimum scholarship, whatever. So did that. But the only thing I had to do was go to drill every month. Go to drill every month, do the ROTC program,

complete all my classes, keep a 2.5 GPA. thing I had to do was go to drill every month, go to drill every month, do the ROTC program, complete all my classes, keep a 2.5 GPA. I think that was really it and then do PT in the morning. So first, it felt like sports and PT felt like sports, you know what I'm saying? So you're getting up early, doing what you got to do. But when the classes came and I'm around the people, I felt like separated. So while I'm at jail, I'm in the corner just quiet because it's all older people. They like, oh, oh, oh, oh, people. What do you consider old at that time?

They like 50, like at least like 50. It's like I was in the civil affairs unit. Got it. So it's like everybody is older, but it's like they kind of abused in their rank, like just because they tell you something, you got to do it. Like I get that you got to do it, but the way that they saying it and they approach you just because they got their rank or whatever. So it's like disrespectful.

Yeah, they come in. They come in at you sideways. But if they was outside the uniform, they wouldn't be talking to you. Yeah, so it's more so like that. OK, so you do that. And then once you go ahead and you're in the military, how long were you in the military for?

Still working on getting out. Still working on getting out. Yeah, so they supposed to put me in the IRR or whatever. And what is that? The Inactive Reserves. OK. So basically until my obligation was to fill us till like 2026, that's

when the contract was up. So I've been in since 2017, whatever. And then they believe they put me in the IRR like two years ago, whatever. That's the last time I went up there and spoke to somebody. But when I graduated college, like around that time, that's when I had to make the choice. Got it. So the choice was choose my entrepreneur journey or choose the military. If I chose the military, I'd have to go away for three months. And by that time I was already making six figures in college. It's like a full-time barber. So I was risking like putting everything that I built to the side, like, damn, I just built all this clientele. I'm making six figures. I even asked the captain that's about to retire, like, how much did you make?

He was like 109,000 last year. See, the Army's a good job. I'm like, I just made more than him while I'm in college, so I know the sky's the limit. And at that time, that's when I'm already progressing. I was already marketing my business on social media, so I already had a little aspect on how to maneuver and leverage social media. So I never had a business card because I was strictly using social media. So I'm like, as a beginner, I'm doing this. He's about to retire.

Oh, hell no. I can't do that. So I'm already thinking. How old were you? 20. That was like 2020. So probably like, I don't know, probably like 21. OK, so the middle of the pandemic. No, yeah, yeah, literally, because I think it happened like, what don't know, probably like 21. Okay, so the middle of the pandemic.

No, yeah, yeah, literally, because I think it happened like what, 2019, like towards the end of 2019. And then in 2020, everything got shut down, people's lives changed, people were like, oh my God, what's gonna happen, right? And you're over there killing it. So how did you get into social media and digital marketing and then using it as a business?

So I was always the underdog as far as like the service I provide because it's always somebody that got a... And what is the service? I'm a barber. So I was always the underdog because everybody already got their barber, right? So I was using videos to critique myself, but push out my business towards other people. Like, okay, this is the service I provide, come check me out, do this, do that, do that.

But the other people, they was on social media, but they wasn't doing the videos like me. So I was doing creative videos, basically using my creative vision to attract people and market the experience that I'm providing for my customers and my clients to attract them more. So that's what I was using,

just hitting them every day, video, video, video. I'm even telling the other people, like, you clients to attract them more. So that's what I was using, just hitting them. Everyday video, video, video. I'm even telling the other people like, you need to post the videos. They're like, eh, videos, you know what I'm saying? I ain't really into the videos. That's when Instagram was more so on the picture thing. But I tried to tell everybody, like do the videos, but nobody wanted to listen till now.

You know what I'm saying? So I've been doing that since, really I started cutting hair since 2018. Okay, so 2018, and let's backtrack a little bit. So 2018, what made you want to be a barber? I didn't honestly. So funny thing is my dad tried to teach me and my sister how to cut hair when we was younger, but the clippers felt too heavy for me.

So I'm like, nah, so I'm just stick to the sports. My sister got it. Right. So she'd been cutting my hair since sixth grade. So when I graduated high school, that's when I was enlisted in the sports. My sister got it, right? So she'd been cutting my hair since sixth grade. So when I graduated high school, that's when I was enlisted in the army and stuff like that. So I used to have hair. So I cut my hair off and I was asked my sister

to teach me how to cut my own hair because I know I wouldn't be back so often. So she was teaching me, but she like, you better go to college. You might as well get some extra money. So I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna get some extra money, learn how to cut other people's hair So that whole summer I was doing a $5 line up $7 haircuts $20 house calls. So

It really just fell into my hands because I was learning just be just because the path I was on that makes sense That makes sense. So it's almost like it was God's plan, dude You know for for you to go through this and it it's so funny, you keep it so real, man. The fact that you're like, I didn't want to be a barber. Yeah, I didn't want to go to the military. You know how it is, like, your siblings like, OK, your siblings do this. You don't want to copy your siblings. It was like that at first.

OK. And then military, you just got to do what you got to do. You know what I mean? So I was always, you got to do what you got to do to get where you want to be. So let me ask you this, man. Now that you're towards the end of leaving the military and now you found new success on being one of the biggest and fastest growing digital marketers on social media,

would you do the exact same steps that you did before? I felt like I had to go through that in order to get where I needed to be. Why? Because you have to go through the grind. Everything's not going to be easy. You got to go through that in order to get where I needed to be. Why? Because you have to go through the grind. Everything's not going to be easy. You got to get through the grind.

So the grind is going to teach you all those key lessons, the little things, the little tweaks, the little mistakes, because if you just win it from the jump, you're not going to learn how to handle the losses or handle when something goes wrong. Yeah. So I take the same journey, but I could tweak a little bit of something to make it grow even faster. You know what I mean? Yeah, and that makes sense, man. So you became a barber.

You were in the military. You went to school. You started getting into digital marketing in school. Now, the friends that you had around you in college, are you still friends with them? I don't really talk to nobody from college probably like one person, but it's like one or two people. It's like every blue moon. I don't really talk to.

No, no cost. Yeah, yeah, and it's because you were doing your own thing. Yeah, more so. Yeah. And that's and do you think, you know, especially for, let's say all our college viewers right now, that are trying to figure out life, right? Would you say social media and digital marketing is a shortcut to success in 2025?

Facts, this is the number one marketing tool. Like last year, I believe it was close to like two billion was spent on digital marketing just from like social media last year. So I know social media is the number one marketing tool because what are people on? They're not watching TV no more. Yeah. Kids are on their phones. People on their phones during their break and they own social media scrolling. So it's like why not push your business? Why not market yourself? You're doing yourself a disservice if you're not.

So when you were first starting off as a barber, how much were you charging for your haircut? Like $7. $7? Yeah. $7? I would never charge that again. Yeah, $7.

Wow. And that was what year? That was 2017, fall, and 2018. I didn't even start raising my prices till like my sophomore or junior year. I raised it up to like $25, but then you know college students start getting cheap. Yeah, so 2018, $7, humble beginnings, you're going through the grind, you know, you're learning your craft and you go in college, you start learning digital marketing, you

start getting higher end clients. Is that what ends up happening? I started shifting towards working in a barbershop versus just college students. So I was going back and forth from college. So I got a PT at 6 6 a.m. Do PT boom go to class then drive an hour away just to work in a shop work there to like 11 p.m. then drop all the way an hour back to the college and repeat that but during COVID that's when everything shut down.

Right. So that's when I was living in my college town, but everything shut down and all my clients is in Kansas City. So when COVID hit, that's when I started sleeping in my car, just so I can work in Kansas City. So I was sleeping in my car the whole during like the whole COVID just stack my money, stack my money, stack my money. And that's when I finally saved up to get my very first apartment. And then by that time I was on the road. That's when I started bringing in the numbers cause I was on the grind so hard. That's when I started hitting like six figures.

And that was 2020. Yeah. Wow. So you sacrificed living in your college dorm to stay in your car. So you wouldn't have to drive that hour so then you can go ahead and stack your money, save your money, and then you bought yourself an apartment and you started making six figures. How long was it that you were sleeping in your car?

How many months? I would say that whole half of COVID, like that half of 2020. Yeah, like from When I first hit cuz school let out it was like it was like a crazy time school let out It's probably all the way up into the next school year So I got my apartment probably like the July July of 2020. Yeah, like July. Yeah, July 2020 Wow, dude That's amazing. A lot of people wouldn't be able to take that sacrifice because they're like, Oh, I don't want to people think I'm poor. I don't want people to think that, you know, I'm homeless living in my car. Right? So the fact that you did that, dude, it just

shows that like you got the grit, bro. You got the discipline to do it. And that's respect, man. Respect. Okay, cool. So July of 2020 that happens. And then when does all your social media, like I guess profiles start blowing up? When do you start getting that momentum? Where was that aha moment where you were like, I got the secret. So I had two jumps. So while I was in college,

that's when I was having a jump. I got to like 60, 60K. That was like 2018, 2019. I was blowing up on social media. Okay. But I wasn't getting paid from social media as much as I was getting followers. It was like, kind of like a mental block

or like something was off. Cause I'm like, I got all these followers but I'm not making no dollars type stuff. But it was driving traffic to your actual barber gig. So I'm like, I want to make money online though. Yeah. So I was trying to figure out how to make money online, but nobody was telling me and stuff. Everybody was keeping the secret.

So it's bringing people in as far as clients and stuff, getting out of business that I need, but I wanted to make the social media money. How can I make money easier without having to physically work harder? So then that's when I discovered, that's when the epiphany happened. It was December 2020.

December 2023. So I screenshot all my profiles and it's still pinned on my social media. I screenshot all my profiles when January 1st hit 2024. But I figured out the sauce in January, December 2023. So screenshot all my profiles. That's when I started really marketing my social media strategies and basically focused on the social media money and aspect of things.

So I started at like 179k followers January 1st. And then that entire year, I gained over 6 million followers. But in 69 days, I gained a million followers on two platforms which is Instagram and tik-tok. Wow. Wow. And what was the needle mover behind that? What was the momentum? What would you say and obviously this is not gonna be a free master class guys. No I'm just kidding. But no no we're interviewing Sly and the way he thinks and that's what the level up is guys because you guys Have to level up

The strategies the information you have to be around hard hitters like sly to learn this. So What was the main needle mover to that success man? I would say consistency but consistency on a thing that works. So every time I'm creating content, I'm psychologically thinking What is going to trigger you? What's gonna bring emotion out of you? see on a thing that works. So every time I'm creating content, I'm psychologically thinking what is going to trigger you, what's going to bring emotion out of you, what's going to make you think about the five senses to where you experiencing the service that I provide within the video. That makes sense, man. Okay. So you end up figuring out the formula. Okay. And when do

you start moving more towards now making internet money? That was 2020, the December, 2023. That's when I launched my first digital product. I started getting paid from social media. And what was your first product? My social media growth ebook. So. How much were you selling that for? I want to say like $50 I don't know it was like $50 something but that first month I hit like 10k just from how many how many units is that?

Melio do the math And if you guys if you guys are listening to this Emilio he is the producer of the show He's the engineer of the show he does absolutely everything he's kicking ass okay all right let's go ahead and do the math here guys so probably our listeners are like 200 so 200 units wow man but that's not the only money I was making so I was getting a residual income from the content that I was creating because social media is basically paying me to market my business. How does that work? Break it down to like right now the listeners who are like, okay, how can I leverage? Let's say there's somebody out there right now dude that has a lot of followers and they're like I'm not leveraging anything where you were

You know back in 2020 you're like, okay explain to them A to Z How they could go ahead and start leveraging and monetizing their actual views. Let's say on Instagram, for example, how does that work? So Instagram, I'm basically focused on content. So I record my client, so I'm already getting paid for my client. If I record the content, create an engaging reel

over the content, so that's gonna pay me after I meet the requirements or whatever. Instagram has, every app has requirements. As long as you stay consistency, consistent, you should hit those requirements like within, I would say 30 to 60 days. Because if you really try and then it's gonna hit you know what I'm saying? Yeah, but Instagram is kind of weird. They send you random random

invites for the bonuses and stuff. But create I create the engaging reel, then they pay me but I have to link my Facebook for the bonuses and stuff. But I created the Engaging Reel, and then they paid me, but I had to link my Facebook to it. So that way I'm growing two platforms at once. So every time I'm uploading on Instagram, it's uploading on Facebook. So my followers are building on Facebook

as they're building on Instagram, and I'm getting paid from Facebook and Instagram at the same time. But then I take that same piece of content, and then I put it everywhere else. Because I know it's going to hit because the strategy and the structure that I created for the videos works. Wow.

What would you say is that strategy? What is that structure, man, that you're able to go ahead and make almost every video that you create have millions of views? Because there's a lot of people out there, man. Like I even told you, like my barber here in Miami, JC, she's good people's, shout out, JC, all right. But she's right now on the internet game and she's trying to blow up as a barber herself. And she's trying to figure it out.

She's like, what do you think I should do? I'm like, well, first off, make a decision and stick with it. That's my first tip right now, delegation. But my second tip is just like, hey, why don't you just duplicate what worked before? So for you, what is that formula, man? What makes your reels pop off?

Like I was saying, you're bringing the people into the experience and basically triggering triggering all their emotions. So give us an example of that. So what does that look like? If I tell you somebody's, let me see, a client comes in, right, they got a problem, they probably either losing a hairline, they thinning, they hair day or something like that. So I come, I come in with with the voiceover. So you got to start using your voice. Okay, because you got to think about it like this

It's how I like to think of things think about every ad that you see right? Yep. What does every ad have a? Third person talking exactly yeah, so somebody talking so that's how I think of my videos my videos are just free ads So I started using my voice. I didn't even like using my voice at first It was a point in time my manager manager, I was getting brand deals. My manager was like, hey, they want you to do a voiceover. I'm like, nah, I don't do voiceovers because I don't like my voice.

And I noticed a lot of people out there that don't like their voice or they're scared to get in front of the camera. So I was running away from that. And then when I finally tried that, that's what made my content skyrocket. So I come in, I explained to the, to the audience what's happening.

Oh, he drove seven hours for this haircut. Oh, his top is missing. His hair is thinning. You gotta get the voice, right? His hair is thinning, you know what I'm saying? I'm describing what the problem is from the jump. So I gotta hook you in. I gotta make you question what the hell is going on within the first five seconds of this video. If you question that, that's how I know I

got you. If you sit there and look for the first five seconds, I got you. And then I'm gonna keep you rolling through the whole video because I'm basically telling the story throughout the whole video. Wow, so you're storytelling. Yeah, exactly. Bro, I'm over here trying to give this advice on storytelling. This guy's the master of storytelling. Yeah. That's all it is. I love that, man. No, that's a great strategy.

And you're right. Dude, you know what? Hey, my marketing team watching this right now, I'm just saying, dude, you about to get some new ideas for me? Because I got some ideas now that I've been talking to my boy Sly. All right, cool, man. So all right, what do you see as far as like the future for you, man? Like what are you trying to build up now in 2025?

I mean, guys, it's about to be May, which is insane to me, right? It goes so fast, bro. But now now I'm see you with a lot of big marketers, man, especially in Atlanta. Like, what's the next move for you, dude? Like, what are you trying to build up? What type of value are you trying to provide for the people right now? Right now, I'm building an empire for me and for other people to follow. So other service-based entrepreneurs, I can give them a system that helps boost their social media, their social media presence.

So that way, they're tracking the future clients that they want, the target audience that they want. Because most of them are dominating in a space. They have a good business. They just need the future clients that they want, the target audience that they want, because most of them are dominating in their space. They have a good business, they just need to reach. So basically helping as many people as possible, as though, helping as many people as possible, as far as that goes, and then building an empire for myself.

So basically what I plan to do is launch my own suites, but mega suites. I can't get you out of the whole, I don't want nobody to steal my idea, but something along the lines of those, it got a lot of stuff lined up, but basically pushed the limit to where nobody has done or seen anything like this. Because being in Atlanta has allowed me to think different, think bigger. Because being in my hometown, you only could think so high because of what you exposed to, I would say.

So moving to Atlanta exposed me to a lot of different CEOs, a lot of different things that they're doing. It's like higher level thinking like, oh, I didn't know this was possible. So once I got exposed to that, I'm like, shoot, my mind, my mind started turning, engine started turning, you know? Isn't that exciting, man?

Yeah. Once you start getting into different rooms, talking to different people that come from different life experiences, just like we were talking about earlier today, and being exposed to the abundance of wealth that someone can build, not only for yourself, but for your family, for the people that you're trying to help, absolutely everybody.

And all my clients, everybody that I associate myself with, I always like to provide value. And that's it. Just like this show, right, Emilio? You know, the level of podcast guys, we try to bring you guys the best of the best on the show to motivate you,

but to show you guys that like, hey, everybody starts off like a regular person. I'm a regular person, Sly's a regular person. And we just go ahead and have that grit, resilience and discipline to go out and just get it for yourself and you have to have purpose, man. So let me ask you, dude. All right. Now we're going to get deep into our purpose.

So what was your purpose to actually like, go through all of this? Like what makes you get up every day excited to go ahead and crush it in the digital marketing game? Them. So it's other people like me that have been told they can't do stuff or no, don't do this. You know what I mean? It's a lot of doubters. So I'm here to show other people that they can do whatever they want to do in life as long as they stay in that mode As long as they stay focused and consistent with a dream and follow along their path They can do anything and anything is able to be accomplished I love that I love that and then what would you say was the hardest portion of?

entrepreneurship for you man since the day that you Got into the military the day that you got into the military, the day that you started being a barber and then transitioning now to living life by design, dude. I mean, if you guys check out Slice social media, dude, it's like people look at it and, and, and trust me, like I said, my barber, she was like, look, like he he's made it. And I was just like, oh, that's cool.

Like, like the videos are awesome. You're bringing a lot of attraction So so what was the hardest? Portion of this for you man because everybody struggles right like me I'm not disciplined enough to go ahead and and and and review You know sales calls or to go ahead and and write policies and into the finances No, I hire smarter people than me to go ahead and write policies and do the finances. No, I hire smarter people than me to go ahead and do that. I'm more of a visionary guy. Right.

So for you, what would you say is the hardest portion of business? Everything is a mental battle. So everything that I'm going through is everything is all mental because the choices that you make all comes from inside the discipline, like you was talking about earlier, the discipline, you gotta have discipline in order to do this. Waking up every day, having that dog in you, that firing you to wanna push and keep going. So really the biggest challenge

is the battle within myself. So consistency, showing up every day for myself, wanting more and actually changing those habits that I've had that's been bad habits. Like, okay, I used to drink, I used to drink a lot, I used to smoke a lot. Well, not smoke, did it. Everybody did. Everybody did.

In my 20s, man, I was a nightclub promoter. I was in a lot of relationships. My wife, she knows what it is. You know, she tells me all the time. She's like, okay. She's like, oh, you got a little past, but that's okay. That's, you know, because you got to live through that experience. You know, I feel like alcohol just numbs people from reality.

And that's why you got some people that like, you know, they seriously got got an issue. Like I had an issue where like, I had to go ahead. I was working in law enforcement, and that's like a high-drill and a rush job. So after work or on the weekends, what would I wanna do? Drink, facts. Go drink, party, make a rage.

Be like, you know, that's just what it was. Facts. And a lot of people don't see it like that. They're like, no, I don't got a problem. I'm not an addict. But I feel like a lot of people are addicted to what makes them feel good, man. I think with us, no, I don't got a problem. I'm not an addict. But I feel like a lot of people are addicted to what makes them feel good, man. I think with us, right?

Because we're in the entrepreneur space. You know, we love what we do so much that we're addicted to it. And a lot of people don't see it like that. You got to be in love with what you do on a daily basis. That's so fast. So I get what you're saying, man. But no, it's just the mental battle is huge. The mental battle is huge.

How are you able to overcome having those bad habits, dude? So basically controlling my thoughts and just knowing that this test is going to come back. So say you're working towards defeating a bad habit or whatever. You start getting on track. You got a routine to where you avoid these bad habits. If this happens, then I'm not going to do this anymore. But that same test is going to come back around and you never really learn unless you pass

that test again. So basically I'm keeping track of me passing the test. Me eliminating the distractions allows me to stay focused in business. All the energy that I'm putting towards the distractions is going down because I'm putting towards that energy towards the business. What would you tell someone who let's say is in a service based business like a barber, right? That right now is struggling with gaining followers. What would be a very short, I'm not going to say master class because master class can be like an hour guys, but I'm talking about probably like straight 10 minutes of strategy that they can use as a beginner that really, really leveraged you because you,

you obviously gave us your formula, but from a beginner standpoint, let's say they don't have experience with recording, they don't have experience with the voiceover, they're shy, you know, what would you tell somebody that's shy, man, and they want to go ahead and go viral like you? Is that something they have to get over? Yeah, of course you got to get over that. But this is how I like to think psychologically, to make myself comfortable behind the camera.

I like to think of the camera as my friend. So think of your camera like your homeboy. Talk to the camera. You talk to your camera like you talk to your homeboy, your homegirl. Just act like the camera is your friend. Then you're going to be more comfortable because you're comfortable around your friends. That makes sense. That's a good mindset to have, man. I love that. I love that. And then

so as of right now, okay, are you currently doing more work within your barber niche or are you doing or you're really building up Your digital marketing side like are you currently taking any mentees? Because usually that's what happens man with you especially having a seven point six million followers across the board dude It's a no-brainer like like I would learn from you, bro So like let's say for example if somebody was like hey The sly offer like anything that anything that I could take advantage of? What are you currently offering right now?

So I teach service-based entrepreneurs. So it's not just limited to barbers. I teach all service-based entrepreneurs how to create something creative to where people can experience their service, and they attract their target audience, their target client. So that way, they're saving money on ads because they've got organic reach. They're building a following audience, they target client. So that way they saving money on ads because they got organic reach. They build enough following so that they have credibility.

And now that they building they following, they building a community up. Now they follow is no like and trust them. I love that. I love that. And then let's say if somebody was to come ahead and work with you. You know, I have a level of confidence that let's say if you're an expert in any field, I could take any expert and help them launch a consulting offer online and that minimum break 50 K on a launch. Okay. So that's usually within 60 to 90 days. And I know you

have the level of confidence based on your skillset. So if somebody was to come to work with you and they see they had a zero following But they were an expert in their service based business What would you estimate the amount of followers and reach they would be able to get with working with you? How long you gonna work with me cuz I say 90 days 90 I always say 90 days for everything dude I would say minimum minimum 40k. I have somebody reach 40k followers within two weeks really yes I'll say minimum if you follow my strategies it should be more than that because I've seen somebody hit 200k and they started at 17k followers I seen somebody started at 500 followers now They had 12k I seen I took somebody from 200k followers to a million followers in less than a year

So it's really up to you Neilio We gotta we're to talk to Sly after this. But there you have it folks. I mean, if you guys are looking for the best of the best to actually grow your organic following on social media, it's huge. Okay. Don't fall for these services that like get you bots and all that stuff because it doesn't really help you. It doesn't really help you.

It doesn't really help you. It goes against the grain guys. And then you're pushing the algorithm to people outside the country or other people that are not going to buy your services or niche. So make sure you build your organic following. But the only way to do that is you got to have that blueprint to actually record good content. Okay.

All right. With that being said, slide, do you have any words of motivation for our audience, man, for the person right now that is trying to level up just like you did, dude, from your humble beginnings, from the military, from being a barber, trying to make money as a barber, like, dude, we got a lot of people with a million downloads on a monthly basis. We're ranked number two right now behind Andy Fercella. And dude, I'm looking for the future, dude. It's looking great.

So what words of motivation can you give your audience right now? I would say you're one mode away from changing your life. So get in that mode. I love that. And where can they go ahead and follow you for more information? So you can follow me on Instagram at slydaihuncho.

My name is slydaihuncho across all platforms just to make it easier for y'all. That's it. That's it. Sly Huncho 7.6 million followers. The Level Up podcast with Paul Alex. Guys, make sure to leave a review. Make sure to share this episode with somebody who needs that motivation, that needs that discipline, that look and can relate to us guys. Like I said, guys, it, you have

to start from somewhere. You have to start from somewhere. Okay. Take advantage of social media. Social media is a tool now. It's one of the biggest marketing tools in 2025 and beyond. People are not using billboards no more. People are not using the new stations no more. Magazines, that's all out the door. Okay. You have to adapt. You have to adapt. All right, guys.

So at the end of the day, your network is your net worth. This is Paul Alex. Once again, the Lovell Podcast, the top 10 business podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcast and YouTube, guys. We'll catch you on the next one. Thanks for listening up to the Lovell Podcast. Spotify, Apple Podcast, and YouTube guys. We'll catch you on the next one.