Trading Secrets - 208. Dani Austin: Making $40M from Divi in the first year?! The $ecrets behind building her massive following, 12 years in the influencing space, & expanding her horizons

Episode Date: November 11, 2024

This week, Jason is joined by fashion and lifestyle influencer, entrepreneur, podcast host, and working mom of two (soon to be three), Dani Austin! Listed as Forbes top creators, not once in 2022 but twice in 2023. Dani first started out YouTube back in 2012 where she would share fashion advice, wedding plans, and post the latest deals of retail brands around the country. Her innate ability to share her fashion knowledge along with her family life gained her a rabid following on Instagram, which led to her being able to start her own hair growth company, Divi. Dani dives into how she has grown up with her audience after being on social media for over twelve years, how she was originally going to pursue a career in physical therapy, how her parents felt about her new career path, her side hustles, how she handles the title “influencer”, having a back-up plan, and the business of blogging. Dani also reveals building an authentic following, what her production strategy is, her struggle to hand off some slowing down enough to hire someone, how she pulled of her own version of the bachelor for her brother, how Divi came to be, how having an authentic story to a brand makes it successful, and listening to your audience. Dani reveals all that and so much more in another episode you can’t afford to miss!                                                     Host: Jason Tartick Co-Host: David Arduin Audio: John Gurney Guests: Dani Austin Stay connected with the Trading Secrets Podcast!  Instagram: @tradingsecretspodcast  Youtube: Trading Secrets Facebook: Join the Group All Access: Free 30-Day Trial  Trading Secrets Steals & Deals! Trade: Trade is the USA’s #1-rated specialty coffee marketplace. They curate all of the country's top coffees from local roasters in one place. From dark roasts and single origins, to decafs and espressos - is roasted to order and shipped within 48 hours. Give a gift that always gets it right, no matter what kind of coffee they like, go to drinktrade.com/tradingsecrets  Robinhood: With Robinhood Gold, you don’t need a silver spoon to eat up the financial favors of the 1%. Robinhood Gold provides the privileges of a high net worth for any net worth. These generous benefits are now available for only $5/month. The new gold standard is here with Robinhood Gold. Sign up at robinhood.com/gold Terms apply, for product specific disclosures visit robinhood.com/gold.  Vimergy: Vimergy makes liquids vitamin and supplements that use clean ingredients, and are not loaded with unnecessary fillers and binders, like citric acid and they absorb faster than tablets, gummies and capsules. Vimergy is offering free shipping using code TRADINGSECRETS. Plus, you can save up to 12% with their mix and save program. Quince: Get cozy in Quince's high-quality wardrobe essentials. Go to Quince.com/tradingsecrets for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.

Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. I'm your host, Jason Tartick, and welcome to the pre-market trading segment where I'll tell you a little bit about what you can expect from today's episode and update from the market and something going on in my personal life. If you haven't, please make sure that you subscribe to the podcast and also give us five stars and let us know a theme or guest that you want us to have. have on. You could leave those reviews on Spotify and Apple. Now, today, we have Danny Austin on. She is one of the biggest creators out there. She's a Forbes top creator in 2023 and 2022. But what I love about this episode is a couple things. We get numbers, we get hard numbers, and we get to hear a lot about a business that she has built and what she's expecting revenue-wise, and it's literally going to blow you away and how she did it and what she did in all the

particulars. In the recap, David says, this is one of his favorite episodes we've ever had. So I'm really excited for you guys to hear from an entrepreneur, a brilliant mind, a creative, and someone that has found success in so many ways, Danny Austin. Now, an update from the market, U.S. stocks actually closed higher on Thursday because the Federal Reserve announced a cut of 25 basis points in interest rates. So one thing that you should be aware of is what the current benchmark is for 30s. 30-year and 15-year mortgages. And as of now, while I'm recording, the 15-year fixed average rate is 5.84%, and the 30-year fixed rate is 7.13%. So keep an eye on what the mortgage rates are

out there, and if it makes sense to refinance or not. There's a lot of moving parts. The market was expecting a 25 basis point cut, and they got it. So we'll see what happens from here. We know that their target for inflation is around 2%, and inflation is getting very close to that number. quick little update in my personal life this past week i was spent some time in new york was really cool i got to go to ticot headquarters my gosh those offices were just insane like absolutely beautiful like everything you can imagine a ticot headquarter to be like right like the views of new york were unbelievable it's like 60 floors up they have like an outdoor balcony area where people and employees can have lunch they have creative spaces they have food and drinks

like unlimited coffee all in snacks everything you can imagine it was like a creative empire and i was there in a roundtable actually talking to some big executives of big brands that you would know that do a lot of advertising into ticot and my presentation was insight from someone who creates himself but also someone who manages a bunch of creators and so it's interesting to give them both perspectives as they're working with agencies and managers and things that we're thinking about and how they can just kind of rethink the whole process of bringing add dollars to life via campaigns and creatives. And it was just a great time. I really enjoyed it. And yeah, there's, I feel like there's just like personally, there's just a lot.

I just got a lot going on. Just I got a lot going on in between the ears. I got a lot going on just in life. And it's, it's all, it's all going to work out. Like, it's all going to work out. And I want to actually give a shout out to one listener after my personal intro last week who wrote me just a really, really sweet email. And one of the things she said in the email was a quote. And the quote was from a famous book for children. And it was when a child is getting advice from a horse of all things. And what the child says is, I can't see a way through. And the horse says, can you see your next step?

And the child says, yes. And the horse says, just take that. And I think that might be able to resonate with anyone that might be feeling a little lost or feeling down or going through something. Just take that next step. If you could see that next step, just take that. And that being said, enough of me and my feelings

and my personal updates. Let's ring you the bell with the one and only Danny Austin. Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. Today we are joined by fashion and lifestyle influencer, entrepreneur, podcast host, and working mom of two, soon to be three, Danny Austin, listed as Forbes top creators, not once in 2022, but twice in 2023. Danny first started out YouTube dating back to 2012, where she would share fashion advice,

wedding plans, and post the latest deals of retail brands around the country. Her innate ability to share her fashion knowledge, along with her family life, gained her a rabid following of Instagram and eventually led to her being able to start her own hair growth company, Divi, which has generated over $23 million in sales today. We are going to chat with Danny about all things life is a working mom, her ups and downs, experiences on social media and her entrepreneurial success story of starting her own company from scratch. Danny, thank you so much for being on trading secrets. Thank you for having me. I'm excited. Third child on the way. And I saw you're at the MLB all-star game. You're

smacking away chirping Terrell Owens. I mean, you got a lot going on while being pregnant. Congratulations. I'm telling you, us pregnant people, we can have lives too. Yes, it's unbelievable what you do. But you're an unbelievable mother of three. You're pregnant. You're killing it. Life is good for you. And I'm going to go back to 2012. But before I do, I got to start with this.

I looked at your last three posts on Instagram. Your last three posts. One was from the MLB All-Star game, which you killed it. Another one was a mother skit. And another one was a family skit. And those posts each had around 11,000 comments. I was like, this is insane. I then went to Justin Bieber's last two posts to put perspective for my listeners.

He has 14,000 comments. then 12,000 comments. So before we even get into your story, I got to put in perspective of the engagement. It's out of control. How are these many people commenting on your photos? What have you done to create a community that's this strong? Yeah, it's crazy. First of all, I'm very appreciative for my community. They're kind of like family to me. I've been doing this for so long. I think you said 2012. That's 12 years that I've been online. And so I think it's really special because I have grown up with my audience. Like a lot of them I knew before I even met my husband, which is so crazy. And so we just go, we go deep. We go back. When I meet people in real life, I'm like,

girl, you and I, like we've done some life together. And so, so I think just having that timeline has been really special, but it really is so crazy. You do a lot of like very relatable skits and very funny videos that go viral. When you talk about some of these people that have been following you back to 2012. Have you also been very open with personal struggles and vulnerabilities that have allowed you to connect with them? Oh yeah. So much. Whether it was like wedding planning, even dating or even starting back when one of my first series when I started my YouTube channel was things I wish a sister taught me because I didn't have a sister growing up. And so it's just like, you know, whether it was advice about how to study or dating or making friends, I've always been

very open with my community like that because there was like a phase in my life. where I just didn't, I kind of needed that. And the internet was kind of one of the first places. You could find that in like a super authentic way outside of your own friendships. And so I think I've just always been really open, kind of shirled with my community, been honest about my hair loss journey or being a mom of two and working and starting a business. So yeah, I'd say vulnerability, authenticity, all of that has always been like top of mind since 2012. Since 2012.

Okay, so back at 2012, and we talk a lot about different creators and people that made wild career detours to go into influencing, especially during the pandemic 2020, eight years before that, you were in the game. So that was just a whole wild place to be living. And at this time, you were around 19 years old when you started this, right? So was there going to be another path forward with your career or was the monetization in 2012 happening at such a fast pace that you're like, this is it, I'm staying in it, I'm not going anywhere else but this lane.

Right. So I went to school. I went to the University of Texas to study, to go to a physical therapy school. So I'm actually pre-PT, kinesiology. Not going to lie, I kind of always hated it, but I just kind of knew, okay, this is going to be my career path. This will be my backup plan. And then I was introduced to YouTube through my brother. But my brother has like a talent.

So he had something to actually like sell or share. I was just like a 19 year old like awkward in my dorm room. But I saw that he had this like amazing. community. And it's so funny because I remember making my first videos. And I remember thinking, man, okay, if I become a physical therapist one day, I'll probably have my own clinic one day. And maybe if people see my videos, they'll come to my clinic when they need help. Like, literally that was kind of like my mindset. But then what happened was I started posting videos. I grew to like 100,000 subscribers within a couple months, which was like pretty crazy.

And I was contacted by YouTube space. Are you familiar with YouTube space? They don't really have them anymore. Yeah. They have like one in L.A. in New York, right? They have one in L.A., but they're run differently now. But at the time, they had this program where they allowed, I think it was like 10 influencers to come out and use YouTube space. This is basically like a playground for content creators. I mean, they have like red cameras. They had studios, all like the state of the art equipment, editing bays. You know, I'm just like using like my little tiny like Canon camera in my bedroom. Like this was insane. And so you were able to use all. of that for free, not only that, but they would also set you up with for collaborations. They would

help you collab with other influencers, other creators that were part of the program. And in fact, it was a priority. Like you had to do two clubs a month to grow your channel. And so I got, I submitted some videos and I was accepted and I told my parents, I'm like, I got to go to LA. Like I'd never step foot in California. I'm like, I got to go. I'm like 19 years old. They're like, absolutely not. You're finishing your degree. You got to get an internship. You got to get those hours, but I just like had this feeling. I was like, I don't know. I just feel like this is the way that things are going. And to speak to monetizing, my brother and I were not like monetizing making like thousands and millions of dollars. There are some creators that were because they were getting

like such insane views. But I'm getting like 100,000 views of video. Like that's not enough to like really pay your rent. But I just have this feeling. And so went out there every summer and ended up signing with a network just for a year, interned for my manager out. in L.A., like, learn the business side of the industry, met so many people to collaborate with. And ever since then, like, yeah, I had the PT degree, but I was like, this is what I want. Like, this is where I'm like, I know that I got a strike while the iron's hot. And there's not a lot of people doing this. There were no girls in Texas creating content.

And so I just had this feeling kind of went for it. Unbelievable. 12 years later, Forbes, 2023 and 2020, 2023 and 2022, top creator. But let's go back to then when you make that move. Talk to me about the finances. Like, do you have a certain amount saved up? Did your parents give you the like ultimatum of you got six months to a year and we'll let you do this? Like talk to me about because I think a lot of people listening to this where they struggle is they want to take shots. The issue is having the money saved up and then the pressure they get from their family or a timeline to do it in. Did any of that

exist back then? Oh yeah, of course. So my parents told me when you graduate from college, you are not allowed to move back in. Like, you have to figure this out on your own. So I did not have like that type of cushion. But, and I wouldn't say my parents were like super supportive of the situation either. You know, they had a son that was a musician and then a daughter that like wants to be a YouTuber. When my brother went to school for finance and I went to school for like a doctoral program, like it was not ideal for for my parents. The first year, you know, that I graduated, I was making less than $20,000 a year after like taxes. With creating. Yes. So not a lot. I was living in downtown Austin. I actually applied for like affordable

housing. So, but I will say the craziest thing was like my lifestyle was kind of free because I started doing clubs for like free makeup or free products or free food. I was like, I hung out with all the food bloggers in Austin. So I got free meals all the time. So I didn't, I wasn't like stressed about it because I didn't have a lot of expenses. I sold a lot of my clothes or I would go to T.J. Max and like buy things full price and then sell them full or buy like buy them on sale and sell them full price on eBay. Like I was big on eBay. Wow. Some side hustles. Yeah, I had some side hustles. I started like a little jewelry business to just like make it some extra cash to pay for my equipment once I wanted the equipment. But a lot of like the lifestyle was like for trade.

So I feel like I looked like I was like making money, but I wasn't. So what year, well, you go back to 2012, you're hustling the eBay sales, which I love. That's so cool to hear stuff like that. At what year did it start to pop? Were you like, whoa, I'm starting to make some significant about a money? I'm breaking six figures a year. I'll tell you this. It doubled every year and it still like does.

So right now, if you look at 2012 to 2024, your earnings in the whole industry are highest now than they ever have been. Yes. And now I feel like we've diversified in a way where now it's kind of, it's not just like all through influencing. But yes, each year it would kind of double. And then I remember in 2015, maybe 2016 when I moved back to Dallas and I started doing like the blogging career, I remember calling my dad and saying, dad, I made as much as a doctor. Are you proud of me yet? And he was like, yeah, but how long can you be doing this? Like doctors have degree, you know, they have some stability. And he was like, that's great, but what about in five years? And so I think that's what always kind of kept me on my toes of thinking, okay, I got to diversify. Like, I can't just be creating content and relying so much on brand deals. Yeah, it's really interesting that whole take in this space, because the older generation, right, the boomers, the Gen X, they look at it like it's a flash in a pan, you're out the door, go back to a structure 9 to 5. So they conceptually don't understand it. And then on top of it, there's also this like somewhat of a negative connotation

with that demographic of like you're an influencer, right? Like so what exactly are you doing and how you're doing it? And I think so often about the identity crisis that you've done so much, you've earned so much, you've made such an impact, you're making people smile every day or you're inspiring them. But there still is this identity issue of our people, proud and do they respect what I do? Do you feel that? Oh, 100%. I have to tell you the funniest story. So I just played in the MLB Celebrity All-Star Game. Yeah. They're going through the roster and you have Terrell Owens, you have Dion Sanders, you have Tiffany Haddish, King, like these really famous people. And they've done amazing things. And they're going down the list and they're

introducing everyone. And then they get to Danny Austin, influencer. And I swear to you, like I heard in my head people booing. And after the game, I went to my husband. I'm like, were people booing me when they introduced me? And he was like, no. Like, what are you talking about? I just like was so convinced that people were like upset that there was an influencer playing in the game because it doesn't have the same amount of respect as like an actor or a comedian or an athlete. And so absolutely, I think just being in this industry also for so long, like I've gone through so many brands telling me, no, like, we're not going to invest in you or that's not good enough or we didn't like your performance that I feel very humbled, like throughout this whole

experience. And so it's very hard to ever kind of accept the fact like, oh my gosh, like we did it. Like, we're here. Just because it's, it is one of those things that's taken some time for people to respect. Yeah, it is. It's an interesting place to be. It's one people, I feel like, battle with a lot. And a question I have for you is, do you ever find yourself trying to pursue another career so that that is more of the title? Like, do you have you ever thought, like, I'm going to go be an actor, I'm going to go be a host, or I'm going to go, you know, get into comedy being stand-up comedy? Have you ever chased a different title so that that title could live instead of influencer? Or are you like, this is who I am? Even though I'm hearing booze in the

crowds. I'm owning it and I'm going to crush it. Which area would you say? So I wouldn't say I chased anything for the title. I am obsessed with what I do. I have loved it since day one. In terms of security and for my family, yes, I have chased some backup plans, whether it's investing in properties, whether it is investing in other businesses. That's more just security also for like my mental health knowing that hey like if one day you get canceled or you say the wrong thing which like god for you know you never know sure like that we do have a backup plan okay amazing i love that one thing i want to talk about is the blogging you already referenced it so the danny austin dot com just like for people that don't know talk to me about the business of blogging

yeah so how often are you posting and then how do you actually make money off blogging for those people that don't know. Yeah. So I'll talk about kind of the transition from going from YouTube to blogging because it was so different. And to be honest with you, I don't think that I saw like true success until I picked up blogging. And I don't blog as much anymore because things, you know, they changed so fast. But at the time, this is like 2016, 2015-ish. So YouTube was, I was really heavy into brand deals, which means you're just waiting around in your inbox. Yes, you're doing some outreach and you're trying to work with some brands. But this is so early on that a lot of of brands didn't even have like legit marketing budgets. I would get on the phone and talk to

like the head of marketing for a brand just to get a free product. And they'd be like, no. So things. So yeah, I slowly kind of switched to blogging and Instagram came out. And this is when I decided I wanted a little bit more control and I was going to start really focusing on my conversion rate. So I wasn't so concerned about brand deals because I started doing like affiliate sales. And it was crazy because when I made this shift, like I started to understand my audience in a totally different way. Like now it wasn't so much about brand awareness and serving like, yes, of course, like you're serving these brands, but I'm like, I got to serve my community. Like I got to give these people exactly what they want, not only give them exactly what they want, but like give them a good deal, get them to come back, like actually do something that, you know, inspire them in a way that throughout that day, like they do something because I encourage them to. whether it was make a purchase or try a new tip or trick in life.

Like, it was just a totally different mindset. And that's when I really started to see, like, success with my community and really started, like, connecting with them. So blogging was more about conversion. And that's whenever I also became, like, obsessed with the analytics. Like, who's watching me? Like, what do they like? What are they buying? And that's kind of, like, the trick behind blogging.

Because you get access to a lot of that, too. Yeah, you get access to the insights. and you're writing in a way that could be persuasive or influential, and then people will click and buy, and then you will be paid once and if they click and buy through your blog. A question I have that I think that could connect to anybody back home is you have to then write, and you have to write in a way that makes people engage to it.

So whether someone's writing an email or writing a text or writing for their next job that they're trying to get, what are some different tips or tricks or tactics you would use in your writing to get people to stay engaged to it and then actually click on it. Yeah, a lot of my blog posts were very personal. Like, it was whatever was going on in life. But then I'd be like, this is what I'm wearing while I'm going through this or this is the book that I'm reading.

But my blogs were also heavily photos. Okay. So every single one, I'm like, I would have a photo shoot for every concept. So whether it was like, here's seven books that I'm reading this summer. Like, I would hire a photographer and come, like, they would come over. I'd have like this whole set, all the seven books, like make it look pretty. and do the whole thing. And then when Instagram came out, it was almost like you could have these little mini blogs or many videos on Instagram. So that's whenever I really transitioned to

like really focusing on Instagram. Instagram stories was everything for me. Like that's where I still probably carry out maybe 85% of my business when it comes to influencing because still today. Yeah. Interesting. Tell me why. So it disappears every 24 hours, which I know is so frustrating. like don't get me wrong but that i almost treat my every day like a little reality tv show and i'm like okay what are people tuning in for today and i know it's going to go away but i feel like that's what makes it so authentic and real so everyone knows that i post everything in real time like i'm not going to go to the celebrity all-star game and then post three days later yeah like they get exactly what they want like in that moment and i've trained my audience to know that and then as i'm

going throughout the day i'll say okay these are the sneakers i ran in or this is the mascara that didn't wear off whenever I was crying in the stands because I was so scared, you know, whatever it is. And so Instagram stories really allowed me to be myself, not to like overthink it. I was so sick of like editing and production and like everything being just such a show. And I think Instagram stories, it was like people knew. Like it was raw. It was real and it was like instant. It's interesting because one of the things I have found with Instagram stories is that they take a lot of effort because you're doing it every day. But it's not working as it relates to growth as far as engagement and social media followers now because, and I want to be correct, you're

the Forbes top creator, so you coach me here. But like TikTok, obviously people were blowing up from exposure. And it feels as though just recently, Instagram has kind of made that shift where they want long form, they want short from, they want reels. And reels are now getting to non-followers quicker. And so I feel as though stories, the only the three ways to make money off stories are you own your own business, you have affiliate links, or you're just getting a, excuse my language, just a shit done of deals through Instagram stories because of link clicks. Do you agree, disagree with that? Definitely agree with that. Things have changed a lot. I'm on the TikTok. I'm posting reels three or four times a week. I definitely felt that. But I would say the one thing

I would maybe disagree with is that's where you build like a really authentic following, I think. Okay. Okay. So maybe it's not as many, but it's like, if it's 20% of your audience that's seeing it, but they're like your diehards, like that's all you really need. I don't really need like millions of views on things. Like I don't really care about so many views. Like I care about the people that really, really care. And I feel like I've been able to foster that relationship the best through Instagram stories. Okay, that's really interesting, especially when conversion was a lot of your main business focus for your blog. If you can then convert these people and have a high conversion rate, then it doesn't technically matter how many people are watching as long as they're engaged with you. Let's wrap up the blog scenario of your life. So for people that are interested in blogging or used to be very, you know, tuned into bloggers, where do you stand with your blog and do you think that the future of blogging has kind of

been disrupted by everything else and that business has turned down and it will eventually go away? A hundred percent. I think it's, I think people consume content so differently. Like I have not posted on my blog in quite some time. I think it's a great resource to have. Like I said, I'm really big into diversifying. And we have a podcast. We have TikTok. We have all the different channels. It's going to take a lot for me to ever put like all my eggs in one basket. But no, I think people consume content so differently now. Like they want short form. You can't even make your video like over a minute these days. I know there's like a resurgence of YouTube, which I think is really exciting. I personally wouldn't probably go back to the platform anytime soon, not because I don't

see potential in it. It's just, I have a lot of things I'm juggling, especially with having a third baby on the way. But no, I think people are like really, they're wanting video content. I don't think a blog is enough for them these days. Okay. So from the blog and its heyday, your YouTube channel, TikTok and Instagram, of those four, rank them one, two, three, four in 2024, which is producing the most revenue and business impact for you? Instagram is number one. By a long shot. Yeah.

TikTok, I feel like we can get it there. Like, I'm confident if we put some more time and effort over there, it could be equal. It's just that I've built my audience on Instagram. And my Instagram, they're like millennials. Like, they're taking a long time to transition to TikTok too. But I know, like, I'm very aware. Like, if I want to acquire like a new demo, new audience, like that's going to be through TikTok.

And so Instagram, TikTok, I mean, the blog is. like not even really a thing anymore, which is so crazy. But then, yeah, Instagram stories too. Very cool. All right. We are going to get into your business here. Very soon, Divi. So if you are interested in small business creation, stay tuned. It's coming. What I'm curious about on the Forbes top creator list, 2023 and 2022. First and foremost, I think it's really cool that you were in the industry for 10 years before you even recognize with that. It also puts in perspective to anyone out there, like just keep fighting, keep grinding, your time to shine will definitely come. But how does that happen? Does Forbes find you? Do you have to apply through like a PR marketing firm? Like, when I hear Forbes lists, I'm always curious, how do they actually get in touch with you? And what does that look like? Yeah, they emailed us. And I thought it was spam. No way. I literally screenshot. I go, babe, I think this is a joke. He's like, no, that looks like a legit email. So yes, they reach out to you. They ask, for all of your credentials. They ask for your numbers. They want to make sure everything is

legit. Your tax returns, everything. And so, yes, then I was introduced to, like, the Forbes community. And Forbes is really great because I feel like they take care of their people. Like, once you're in, you're in. And so then we started getting invited to events and panels. And then we were asked again for, for 2023. It's crazy. Amazing. Two time. Congratulations. I'm always curious people at that level. What is the production process? look like. What is the behind the scenes? How often are you planning content in advance? Like what, you know, you hear all the stories with Mr. Beast, how he like lives in a home and he just, his house has whiteboards everywhere and he's constantly thinking, works 24-7. We had the apartment

guy on and he told me his literal work schedule is when he wakes up and when he goes to bed and nothing but work seven days a week. So everyone's got their own thing. But behind the creative genius, What does your production look like? How often are you filming? Do you have a strategy for how often you want to post things like that? Yeah, so I'm filming every day. I wake up at like 5.30. I do my workout and I start, I film my workout. So I'm filming up until 5 o'clock. I have a very strict like 5 o'clock, no filming. That's more because it's like family time. I didn't start that until I had kids. I used to just film until like midnight, you know. Good for you. So you say after 5, no filming. That's a good boundary to have. I mean, we got to do it, especially with having, I mean, maintaining your marriage,

being a parent. Like, it's so important. So I have a very strict like five. I'm not working more. That's why people never see me like in the dark or like after dinner time because that's like our me time. And then I've been better about not filming so much on the weekends. But yeah, I have a big whiteboard. We have a famous whiteboard that like we think of all of our crazy ideas. We probably like, you know, it depends on the season. But I would say we do like a crazy stunt like maybe once every other month. So I've done like crazy like a big talent show where we gave away $20,000 and I had my audience supply and we rented out this big studio and we kind of like bringing in our community had this big competition. We did a remake twice of The Bachelor for my brother. I saw that. Yeah. So like that was like a

big thing where I mean I'm probably spending you know 30, 40,000 dollars on these big stunts and like I'm not seeing anything in return. I'm not having sponsors. I'm not like these are just big moments to engage my audience and get people involved and those are the moments where I feel like I should I probably like grow the most is whenever I'm just like pouring out. But these things are like big productions. Like we go we go all out. You hear Mr. Bees talk about it quite often how he'll spend two million dollars on a video and he'll make less on that video or not even make two million dollars. And money to him, he's like I don't care. Money's just a resource. He's like comes in, it goes out and I just keep spending. I challenge myself so much to look at things like that.

But I'm such for the finance background. It's so hard for me to do it. When you're spending 20 to 30 grand on a video. Talk to me about what the business perspective is what. You're not getting an ROI on that video because it's not sponsored, but do you think you get the long term return on it? And if so, how? A hundred percent, I think that there's a long term, like, yeah, like, I think people know that they can come back to me for entertainment. And I know that they can, like, trust me that I'm going to provide for them and things aren't going to get like dull around here. So I like to keep people on their toes. And so I know that I have to do these big stunts. And like, I don't know. I feel like I have more of that mindset like Mr. Beast too. We're like, I don't really care

about the money. Like I just want to create really cool things. And so if I feel really like good about it and I'm excited about it, I'm like, oh, that was worth it. That was like, totally worth it. Like, who cares? That'll come back in another way somehow. And I don't even know how to like always measure it. But it's just like this feeling that you just feel like, man, we did something great. That was awesome. If you had to guess, how much is the most you ever think you spent on one stunt? I've done some pretty crazy things for Divi. Like, where especially starting out when we didn't have a CEO and we didn't, like, it was just me and my husband.

And, like, I probably over 100 grand on an influencer trip where I invited people that weren't even influencers. They were my audience. And I just treated them. Oh, cool. So our first influencer trip, I had people that had written like really nice reviews or really, good feedback. Like sometimes they weren't even like fans of maybe they were just like giving me advice of like what I could change or what I could do. And I invited probably like 12 people that were just customers. And I went all out and traded them like influencers. So I got all these brands

that sent in products. I sent them to, we went to Cabo state at the Thompson. Like you know when you see these like crazy influencer trips? Like I did that just for like our community. Wow. And so that was one of those things where I was like, I told me, I'm like, we're not going to have ROI from this. Like it's not going to make sense on paper, but this is like the type of brand that I want to have. And this is what I'm really excited about. And so, no, I don't think there's a way to measure it, but it's something, it's like, I have this confidence and I feel really good about it. And maybe it makes other people feel good too. Yeah. Interesting. It's such a creative way to think about executing business. And clearly it's working, right? If your revenue is doubling each year and you're at your

highest point, like whatever the creative genius is there, that's not so pragmatic like me, maybe. It works. It's cool. I got to ask you, though, someone who was a former bachelor contestant, when you guys did this twice with your brother, you know, you created the whole series of dates. You did everything. Landon gives his final rose to one lucky lady. You know, you obviously had to go into producer mode, kind of like a bachelor producer mode. So given the fact you've done it twice, what are some things that you've learned as a producer trying to run the business of a mini series of The Bachelor as more of like a play on it? It was wild. Like when I tell you, so I also, like, we do everything in real time. So I'm not sitting on this footage for days. Like, we are editing all night, pulling all nighters. We go out, we film all the dates. We go back home.

My husband and are like, and we get the video out like the next day. It was so crazy. So the biggest thing I have learned, I think the hardest thing I've had, like, I've had, or I've decided like investing in that was important was production team. Like, because I've always filmed and edited everything, my, myself, it's really hard for me to say, oh, it's worth it to pay this guy to film my content and to edit. Like, is he going to actually see my vision and know exactly how I want it? Like, the rounds of edits are going to take so long. I might as well just do it myself.

But what I've learned is that, like, I'm not a genius. Like, like, other people can do it too. Yeah. And so it's just about finding that right person. And that's probably the most painful part is slowing down enough to hire because you want to just keep going. But when you slow down and you train people and you find the right fit, like it pays off tenfold. Yeah. Something I got to work on. All right. How did you go about finding the actual women that were participating in your Bachelor show? We had people submit videos.

Oh my gosh. So I was also like going through and sifting through all these women, choosing them personally. my brother would like Twitter Peak. I'm like, no, no, no, this is me. I mean, half the reason I want to do is because, like, I was like, this girl's going to be in my life for the rest. Like, I need a like her. Yeah. Yeah. So I was really hoping it would work out. But no, my brother is engaged now to the most amazing person. You know it's true love because I had nothing to do with it. There you go. That's how you know. And I heard that you enlisted some people from the franchise, including Chris Harrison and other to help. How did they play a role in the

whole entire project? Yeah, they were amazing. So it was part of Hannah G. Tasha. Jed Wyatt came and performed at one of the dates. Like, I went all out, and it was so cool to see how many, how supportive people were. Like, my story views were over a million views. Like, people were so excited about it. It was wild. Okay, I was going to ask you about the numbers behind it. The reason I was going to ask you the numbers behind is the Nelk Boys actually did a similar

project to you for this season of The Bachelorette that just happened, you know, a few weeks ago. They got over three million views on the YouTube project. they did. And that is almost not double, but it was 1.9 million viewers is what ABC on TV streaming on Hulu got. So the NELC boys. Wait, I've always wondered that. So you said 1.9 million viewers for like an episode of what do you mean? So yeah. So they'll monitor after 24 hours of the episode being premiered on ABC. They will monitor how many viewers they had. And so they had 1.9 million viewers watching the show. And what's crazy, especially with the context of

this conversation, social media, as these knelt boys guys who probably spent, you know, one millionth of what ABC spent, they got over three million views in 24 hours of releasing their play on the project. So I'm curious how many views, obviously it's not within 24 hours, but do you know how many views you got on your Bachelor project? So I'm looking, I put out 12 videos for my brother's second season of The Bachelor. The first one I see got 1.2 million views. So, I mean, altogether, probably over 10 million views. Wow. I think that also is, you know, this conversation is a lot about social media. It's just changing. Like, I think you're seeing social media now create more power than some of the biggest networks and the biggest TV stations and the

biggest streaming platforms. And that to me is just a crazy, crazy thing that's happening. Do you think this might be part of your future content, like being a producer of possibly TV shows? I've always thought about that because then we did the talent show and people loved that. I have some other like really crazy ideas that I really wanted to do this year, but then I got pregnant. And so it's like, so yes, like things, I definitely have some big dreams and some big stunts that I want to do that are similar. It just might take me a little bit of time. But yeah, absolutely. Like I just, I love the shock and awe factor.

Like I love doing anything that's kind of like a little quirky. That's a good, good transition. Vulnerability we know is the root of all connection. Congratulations. Again, I'm being pregnant, but you've also been very vulnerable in sharing kind of how you've dealt with stress and even hair loss when you were studying at University of Texas, which inevitably led to your business, which is unbelievable, right? That you look at something like a struggle that you endured, then created a problem, which led to a solution and the solution being your business. So for anyone out there that's feeling a problem that's not hair loss or whatever it may be,

once you identified the problem, where did business come in? And how did that start? It was very organic. So I started losing my hair in 2019 was like the big year where I woke up, looked in the mirror, told my husband, I'm like, I don't want to leave the house. Like I'm so embarrassed. And so my husband was like, well, why don't you just wear wigs? Like the Kardashians wear wigs. I'm like, hey, we live in Dallas, Texas. Like, where am I going to get a wig? He drove me to my first wig shop. It was like a costume store, like $20 wig. I was so discouraged, but ended up flying out to L.A., got my first wig, named her Kim, decided that year, I was like, I'm going to figure out, like, what is going on, like, get to the root of this. And like, like, I had, like, a background, kinesiology, biology. So I understood, like, the basic systems of my body. So I actually started putting together, like, my own serums. Like, I was, like, a little chemist in my bathroom. And as I'm going through all of this, I'm sharing it all on YouTube. So I'm like, I got this ingredient. I got this ingredient, a lot of natural ingredients. But the same time, there were some ingredients I couldn't get my hands on. So I told my husband, I'm like, I want to

meet with a chemist and I want to create this scalp serum that women can use long term because monoxidil and all these other ingredients, like, yes, you can use it and they work, but actually like long term, they're not good for you. And they have some really harsh side effects, especially for women. So had that idea really honestly was just like, I'm going to launch this for my community because as I was sharing it, there was like this hidden epidemic of women that we're also losing their hair that like nobody was talking about it. And so had that full intention, came out with our scalp serum. The first year we did 40 million. Like it was crazy. We are just have 33 million just on the scalp serum alone and or from D to C like alone. I'll tell you why it

popped off and like why it did so well. Yes, I share with my audience, but it grew so fast like beyond me because of the before and after pictures that people started posting and they started sharing it with their own audiences. And I think when you go through something that is so emotional and personal, when you find something that works, like, people want to take care of their community. Like, they want to take care of their neighbor or their mom or their friends, postpartum, maybe COVID hair loss. Like, they're excited to share. Like, oh, my gosh, like, this worked. So when I launched it, I told my husband, number one thing, I want this product to speak for itself. Like, I don't want to be pushing this all the time. Like, I want the science to be so

legit that it works, it's like it's, it's something that can grow beyond just Danny. And so, so that grew really fast. And like my husband and are literally working out of my, my unborn son's nursery. We hire our first employee. And from then on, like, it was more just listening to my audience of like exactly what they wanted. But at the same time, creating this like scalp regimen for people, because it was the first time that people were really focusing on their scalp. And for a lot of women, they're using products that are like just, you know, all this stuff is like sitting on, on whether it's dry shampoo or hair product, just sitting on their scalp, like blocking their hair follicle. And so they needed something that could detoxify, stimulate, cleanse, nourish,

but also like get the job done. And so from then on, it was just listening to our audience. I was at Ulta with my daughter. She was a year old. I was pregnant. And I'm like walking through the aisles. And I'm like, Stella, wouldn't it be so cool. if mommy could be at Ulta one day. Like, this was an Ulta by Target, so it was like a little Ulta inside of a Target store. And I like record my daughter. I'm like, do you think Mommy can do it?

I think if Mommy works really hard, we can do it. A couple months later, Ulta reached out and they wanted to carry Divi. And so that was just like the craziest experience. They have been the best partners. And since then, it's just been like one little, you know, win after the next. When you started the company and congratulations,

When you started the company, did you guys self-fund it yourself or did you raise capital? We still own it 100% and we self-funded, yeah. And how much money did you have to put into the business before it took off? Because I would assume, like, you're hiring a chemist and all these, like, things. I feel like that's a pretty big research and development bill. I want to say over 500,000. Okay, so over 500,000, you then launch it and you do 40 million the first year. Yeah.

That is absolutely unbelievable off one skewery. you? I was shook still. And what year was this day you released it? This is 2021. Okay. Also probably a really good time. Like you think about timing, right? More people are at home. They're paying attention to this stuff. More people are buying online for DTC. Unbelievable. It was a great year for DDC. But I'm also really thankful that we have like great retail partners because things are are changing a lot for the DEC. It's changing a lot. How did you keep up with the production manufacturing? You know, you're doing this in 2021, there's so many supply and demand issues because of the pandemic and you're able to move that many units. Like where is your manufacture in the United States? Talk to me

just about like the business concept of going from putting 500 grand into a company and boom, 40 million in managing that growth. That's so hard to manage that growth. Well, first of all, we started really small. Like we only have like five or six skews. So I'm not, we don't have a ton of skews. And I launched with like a hero product. It was just scalp serum. And yeah, it was really frustrating, like creating our second and third products. But I will say I knew exactly what I wanted going into it. And I knew exactly what ingredients I didn't want, like the innovation that I was like really passionate about.

So we've always had really great partners on the manufacturing side. Keeping up with demand is something that is so frustrating for me. Like we're always sold out. And even at Ulta, people go to Ulta all the time and we're sold. It's a great problem to have. Yeah. But that was something where I really had to like pull in my husband because I was so. frustrated about that side of things. But we also hired a in-house team of female chemists,

scientists that help us. Yeah, so they are like super innovative, so much smarter than I am. Our head of production came from, our head of product development came from Nutraful. So she's super knowledgeable about the industry. So I have like a really great team around me now that like I just focus really heavily on product development. Like that's what I get really excited about. Amazing. You look at a company like Amazon's almost $2 trillion market cap right now. Their entire business, though, was literally built on not being profitable, reinvesting at all. At a 40 million clip of gross margin, is it a profitable business too? Amazing. Yeah. Would you say of all the projects you're doing, like influencing, podcasting, blogging, this has been the most lucrative?

100%. But it's not like we see it. Like we put everything back into the business. So it's not not like, I see it. Yeah, you just constantly reinvesting, right? We're constantly reinvesting. So I, we funded the business through my influencer career. Correct. So, and I still have to run that in order, not for Divi to run, but just for like our personal. I have a personal team too. Of course. So we're kind of running like two separate businesses at the same time. But yeah, it's like 100%. What's wild is your business was built on being an influencer being paid by brands. one of the biggest business moves you've made was creating a product and then letting it grow and move in the way it is. A full circle moment that brings this question to light, are you now

paying influencers to influence your brand? What do you look for when you're paying for influencers? Like there's so many out there, so many people that want to be in it, what are the things that you're like, that's a good fit? This is how I know it's going to make sense for our ROI, things like that. A story. Like a story is everything for me. Like I really don't even care about views or like conversion is important of course but I just really want the story to make sense for the brand because I think I know for a fact that people can see through it if you're just trying to hire the hottest and greatest girl out there so as long as like the story makes sense for them and they're excited about it too like I just want to work with people that are excited

about Divi like I don't want them to feel like they're just being hired to like make a buck like I want them to like love our product and so but to be honest like yes we hire influencer our influencers, like, very successful. But to me, it's like, and I know this sounds so cheesy, but like our true influencers, like, are our community and people that use the product that just share it with their neighbors. And so, like, that's where I feel like we see, like, the greatest ROI is investing in our community. We have a program that I launched in 2022 that I was really excited about.

It's our scalp specialist program because when you go through hair loss, like the first person you go to is your hairstylist. Like a lot of our hairstylists know more about us. our husbands. Like you tell them, anything, you cry to them. And so I wanted to make sure that our hairstylists were empowered and were educated about scalp health and, like, knew what our products did and felt, you know, empowered to help these people out. And so we have a scalp specialist program that will probably by the end of the year, we'll have over 1,200 scout specialists where they actually earn a certificate. They do a class. We give them special codes.

We give them commission. Like, they really feel like they're part of like our divvy. army and are helping carrying out our message. And so that's one of the things that I'm like really focused on growing is that part of our community. Amazing. With some of the successes also come some challenges. You had mentioned your first year that you did, 40 million. And the notes I had maybe they're incorrect, but it's in 2022. You guys achieved $23 million in sales. You had also alluded to the fact that, you know, D to C via social media has kind of changed that landscape. Has the revenue of the business gone down because of economic climate? No. We will. like 3x our revenue this year.

Damn. And by 2025, our CEO, I'll tell you this because he keeps telling everybody this. Yeah. We are on track and projected to do over $100 million. Oh my gosh. So, no, what happens for a lot of startups or businesses is that second year you experience so much growth that you have to take a step back for a second and hire the right team and make sure that you're like actually on the right trajectory.

Totally. So my next product, one of my next products was hair vitamins. And that's not the most like profitable product to launch. Like in fact, I think a lot of mentors would have said you probably should go into something more attainable like duration people or that I didn't care because I was like, I want to start with a hair vitamin because I want to have our legitimacy. And like I don't care if it sells. Like I don't care if we have a down year. Like I want people to know that I'm invested in the science and the efficacy and the clinicals. Like that is the most important thing to me. And so, like I said, I'm like, I'm not in this to make a quick buck. Like, I want this to have longevity. And so that second year was more about getting our ducks in a row, hiring the right people, figuring out our systems and processes. Like I said, we're working out of our nursery. We recently, like, bought an office building.

We're building that out now. We hired our CEO about six months ago. Like, that year was more about, like, restructuring. Okay. Unbelievable. Congratulations. That's so exciting. The last thing I kind of want to touch on is there was some news about some criticism that Divi had to experience because of a shampoo and conditioner product.

We've heard a lot of the successes. I think it's also good to hear about some of these areas that you have setbacks and you've got to learn from. So can you speak a little bit as to what happened here and then how you guys overcame it? Sure. So our first shampoo and conditioner, we call it the OG. People love the formula. The conditioner was a little heavy for a lot of people's hair. what's so hard is like everybody has different hair types totally i have very like thin curly fine hair

so for my hair it was like amazing but if you have thicker fuller hair it maybe was like a little too heavy and so to me like i don't there's nothing to be ashamed of for me i was like okay i want to talk to these people meet them face to face and hear what they're saying and like so i invited all of our negative reviewers not all of them there were probably like 20 that came to our event and i got to meet them face to face and say hey thanks for like giving me some feedback And they were nice about it. They weren't evil about it. They said, hey, I bought this.

It didn't work for my hair type. It was kind of bummed. And so met them face to face said, hey, I hear you. I'm going to work on it. So then we launched our volumizing shampoo and conditioner. And kind of fixed and tweaked those things for that audience. And so, like, I love hearing people's feedback. Sometimes it hurts because, you know, it's like your baby.

And it's like, I can't, I'm not going to lie. But I feel like I want people to know that I'm listening. And I'm willing to change and follow my sword and be like, hey, I messed up. Let's try this again. Unbelievable. From $20,000 just trying to make it in the whole influencing space to Forbes top creator to now a company that is on its way to break $100 million in gross revenue. It is fascinating. It's unbelievable. Something we can all learn from. But we got to wrap with the trading secret, Danny, something that is special to you. We can't learn it from a professor or a TikTok tutorial only through your experience. So what is one trading secret you can leave our audience with? Man, there's so many, but I would just say having integrity with every decision that you make, whether it's hiring or going to a meeting or things that you say behind the scenes, like just having integrity and also just remembering that even though it's maybe like an influencer business

or maybe it's all a service. You're really serving other people at the day. That's all it is. And so just keeping them top of mind has been really important to me. That's great. Two trading secrets I'm taken from you. One is stop being so focused on ROI like put your money into the story and then see where the story goes because I'm such an ROI guy especially being a finance guy so that's one and the second one I think with you all of it is storytelling right I think that's what led to your increase in following that's what allowed you to take your blogging and increase conversion that's what allows you tell your story on Instagram highlights that's what's led to a business that it was a before and after which is

what blew your business up the storytelling and I think everyone back at home whether it's you with your boss, it's you with your partner, you with your friends, whatever you're doing. It's storytelling that allows people to understand A to Z and when they understand that they become so engaged to it. And when they're so engaged to it, they can then even buy $40 million of product in one year. It's unbelievable. Danny, where can everyone find everything you have going on? Your companies, your social media, A to Z, where can they get more Danny Austin? Yeah. So you can find Divi at every Ulta or Divi official.com. We're also launching at Ulta by Target on July 18th. You can find me on Instagram at Danny Austin or TikTok at the

Danny Austin. And yeah, thank you so much for having me on this. This is really fun. I don't really talk too much about the business side of what I do. And so it's nice. It's really fun. You should. I mean, it's really impressive what you've done. I think Forbes is going to have you 40 under 40, not for creator for exiting this business for a business. million dollars and then also your podcast right de-influenced right check out the influence i'm actually going to go be a guest on de-influence right now so make sure to give that a download and danny austin thank you for being on this episode train secrets thank you for having me ding ding ding we are closing in the bell with the one and only david ardoin on the danny austin episode david what did you think of the

episode what do you got listen didn't know who danny austin was i don't particularly have an interest in her industry, um, in terms of like the hair growth industry, I couldn't have loved the episode more. Um, it was, it was, I just thought her story was captivating. I thought she had an amazing voice, um, for podcasting and obviously for the industry that she does. And the numbers, my God, Jason, I got to say this. Okay, let me just start with this. I have highlighted in my notes that there was a part where you were talking about, you know, viewers that she was getting and in numbers that she was getting on certain videos and things of that nature. And to be honest, I'm listening to the podcast.

I'm like, Jason, I'm just numb by these numbers. Like, we've been talking numbers so long. There's no, when you talk about views and followers, like, it's just all numb to me. Nothing stands out. I have that on my notes. Then she started talking about the money that she was making on Divi, the numbers that she was making. I was like, fuck, I just contradicted myself.

Those numbers stand out. I thought she was incredible. I thought, you know, there were some interesting takeaways for you in particular, which I can get to later. But that was my overall feel of the episode. How was it interviewing or did you have the same feels? She's very, very smart and she's very personable. And she's very thoughtful about what she's doing and how she's doing it.

And it is no surprise the success she has in one connecting with people and two, also business. So none of it was surprising to me other than the fact that she's just a very special person. Like she's really good at what she does. I'm curious your take. You got me thinking, though, you know, So we're 208 episodes in, and at this point, I think the answer to this question is going to be different every episode. But I'm going to ask you a generalized statement. What do you think makes an episode good so that when you're listening it and you're getting ready for the recap, you're like, that was a great episode.

Yeah, it's such a good question. I think that when you have someone in the other seat who's ready to match your energy and ready to talk like business and give like background, that's what it is like they're there for a purpose like she said at the very very very i think the last sentence of the poll podcast was like i was so excited to talk about my business everyone wants to talk about my influencing they want to talk about my followers they don't want to talk about my business so i was like look if you're going to hook me in if i'm going to have to listen you're going to hook me in and stay to the end you have to have you have be ready you have to be engaged um and you have to be educated on what you're talking about and add some add some you

i want to be inspired like i want to be inspired and i want someone who sits there and and can kind of like, not challenge you as the host, but like talk to your level and talk about those things. So I thought she blew that out of the water. Like I've, like you said, 206, 208 recaps that I've done. When I listen to every episode, I want someone who can sit there and go toe to toe with you in the episode. And I got that from her. Oh, I like that. Okay, that's a great answer. Great answer. The other theme with Danny, I think, is storytelling. And I think storytelling, for everyone that's listening with us here on the recap, I think that's the theme that is just becoming so prevalent in like every area of our life. And even even like

everything that's like going viral these days, it's just storytelling. I think it's relevancy and relatability. Those are like the two R's. And I think about her storytelling and she does such a great job with it or even like an example like this week where you have, you know, this whole Dave Portnoy, Brianna chicken fry and Josh Richards putting a music video together. They're clearly storytelling to something that's relevant and relatable. Right. It's a relevant breakup, and it's relatable because people go through breakups in their heart. And it's interesting, whether it's like a situation like that or it's a situation like this, it feels like the ability to tell your story these days is everything.

Yeah, it is everything. And I think that she mastered that by saying, like, she wants to treat her feed like a reality TV show, right? What do they want to see today? Right. She's getting ready for a day. What did they want to see today? She posts in real time. She takes the editing out of it.

She takes the production out of it. That goes into her storytelling. She kind of teased, she used her storytelling as an example in this episode. It was near the start of the episode. She talked about how she got her first job out of college. Obviously, she talked about how she went into college for physical therapy, ended up really enjoying the YouTube space, got 100,000 subscribers in the first two months. She said she made 20K her first year.

And then you talked about, like, when did you start making real bucks? And she goes, well, funny enough, it's kind of doubled every year. And it still has continued to double. So here I am like, you know, contradictory Canadian at this point, not curious Canadian. I'm like, there's no way. So she made 20K in 2012 and she keeps saying it's doubled every year. I'd have the math in front of me. 20K, doubled 40K, 80K, 160K, 320K,000K, 640K.

Then you get to the millions, 1.2, 2.4, 4.8.9.6, 19.9.3.3. I'm like, there's no fucking way. This girl's making 38.4 million. Fast forward to the end of the episode, Jay. she's making a hundred million off divvy alone the next year. My jaw was on the floor. I shut myself up and that's just like her storytelling. Like she knew she was going to give you that nugget

and then she knew at some point she's going to give you the conclusion. I loved it. I was blown away by the storytelling there and the numbers. Like I could not believe the volume she was pushing because, of course, as a creator myself, but also someone who works with a lot of creators from the management perspective, we get to see a lot of the businesses that they start and own and help them and advise them.

And numbers like that, I don't know, I don't know if I've worked with a creator individually, like one-on-one that has a business that is going to do nine figures in revenue. I don't think I do. So unbelievable. Isn't it such like a from your standing as like in the financial field too, like she's such a unicorn in terms of like they're 100% self-owned, always self-funded over like no one else got no other money. Like we've talked about OPM, other people's money, like none of that. 40 million in her first year, 3 to 3 million off the scalps here and one skew alone, only 5 to 6 skews total. She says one of the things that she hates most is that she's always sold out and they can't keep up with some kind of mind. I'm like, listen to your problems. I'm like,

you have the best problems ever. It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. Very impressive. And I think, you know, another thought from my end and maybe for everyone listening here is, you know, especially someone like Danny who has such a strong brand, but this is not, I mean, it's connected to her brand, of course, but it really isn't. Like, this is an independent brand that stands on its own that solves a problem that she had, but it also solves a problem that the world has, right? Like hair loss, hair thinning, these are things that the world has. And so I think the idea is when you come up with an industry product or niche that can solve something that is an everyday issue for a lot of people, it doesn't really matter

what your brand is as long as you build the brand of whatever that product is. So, David, in the meantime, let's figure out a solution to everyone's problem. Yeah, or like she said, it was her own personal problem that she found a solution for. We all have our own personal problems. And sometimes you think they may be our own problems, but I guarantee if they're our own problems and the 8 billion people in the world, someone out there is going to have the same problem and probably more than you think. My last real takeaway, I have actually a few more,

but my last real takeaway, strong takeaway that I have for this episode is every time I listen to our episodes, I know you, and I know that your brain is just ticking. Like you're trying to learn from your guests as much as you can possible, right? At the end of the day, you bring in successful and motivated people. That's why they're on the podcast. I'm curious from your end, because I have one. I have a piece.

What from her, other than storytelling, you already talked about the storytelling, what piece of her and her business and her growth do you think that you are going to, or should be taking away for your own life or your own business. Now, I could go first. Yeah, why don't you go first? Because that is a really, really good question. So as I've seen the Jason Tardick rewired enterprise

go on, you know, being part of the trading secrets team and understanding rewired talent agency and the Jason Tartic Instagram social and I know what you're going to say. I think I know what you're going to say. What do you think I'm going to say? Or you want me to finish. Can I predict what you're going to say? You can predict it.

outsource leadership. Bring someone in to run the company. So she said her biggest thing she ever did to make the change once she started getting big was finding a producer, editor, and a filmer. She said she used to do it on her own, and so she could never justify paying someone, right? Then she talks later, when she talks about the $100 million, she goes, my CEO says that we're on track to do $100 million a year in 2025.

My belief has always been, once Jason Tartick can find someone to control all of Jason Tartick's enterprises and Jason Tartick can get back to doing what he does best, being out there, networking, meeting people, connecting people, and focus on that and bring those to, you know, you're so in the weeds to managing people and managing different enterprises from rewriting, trading secrets or your own personal brand. You talk about how you're 24-7 with it. I just think, and this is the example that I use, Dave Portnoy before Eric Nardini

is not the barstool sports that we know now, right? It was always maxed out as a $1 to $2 million evaluation. Now it's close to a billion dollar evaluation. It's because he relinquished control, brought in a CEO, folks on Wheat House BIS, which is content. That is my takeaway. I'm wondering if you feel the same way. Or if you don't, why, where you're at with it.

I'm going to tease it a little bit. Here's what I would say. I recognize that I could be the CEO of rewired and do it full time and blow it up. The problem is I don't have the capacity to give it everything it needs to really blow it up. Now, we're doing great, but it could be better. And this is going to be the year where I'm going to start outsourcing in a big way, in a lot of ways. And I'm going to start with an executive assistant. Yes.

I'm hiring one right now to do everything. because I am, I honestly feel like I'm falling apart a little bit just because I have too much on my plate and you just spread yourself too thin. And when you spread yourself too thin, you feel it in like every direction. So that's going to be the start of it. But it's you're a hundred percent right. And when I heard those things that she does and she did and the success of it, I was like thinking the whole time bells were going off. That's why I knew what you're going to say. And then the last thing I'll tell you is she had assistance there. She had people there. And what did they do? She had a social media person that came in. Go. okay here's your skit here's your audio here's your teaser boom boom boom boom boom and we uh we did it it was like right then and there but yeah she has a full team and the efficiency of it david was unbelievable unbelievable yeah and that's and it she started doing some of her business in her new her unborn child's nursery now she's talking about buying office space and office building and renovating and she talked about the team that she has for divvy she talked about the team that she has for production and filming she talked about her team that she has for social media

Not only she outsourced one thing, she's outsourced into three different businesses. You could be the CEO of rewired and do it full time, but could you do trading secrets? Could you do your own IG brand? Could you do all these things? Right? So you should have an outsourced team for really all those things, the CEO of all Jason Tardix enterprises and then teams for all those things. And like you said, the efficiency of it all.

They're bringing you the things. You're the face. You're the person behind it. Because I'm telling you, man, we've had a lot of guests on. Danny Austin blew me away. more than a lot of guests that we had on and it's like you're talking 20,000 to 100 million and 12 years all self-made like that like it's fucking banana so shout out Danny Austin I didn't know who you were and now like you're on my vision board so I'm all I'm all about it and now that

you know who she is David you follow her she you will you will be a hundred percent engaged to her work and so will Ashley if Ashley follows her because like she is just built an unbelievable community and last thing I'll say like unicorn gets up at 530 works out cuts off filming by 5 p.m. Work life balance things that we've talked about all these things like you're an ROI guy and I understand what you probably think for how much it's going to cost for any exorcist and how much it's going to cost for a CEO so instead you do it all by yourself you don't know what you're missing on the efficiency and the maximizing of the profits and then the time that you don't get back because you're in

charge of everything drives you to these stupors where you're just you're just fried yeah so there there we go i'm all let's do it danny austin you are now my trading secret i am going to take a lot of your life habits and implement them into mine um yeah great episode really good conversation david i thoroughly enjoyed it anything before we wrap no i mean look we're coming off the heels of the disney uh where you guys were at disney in l a i'm at disney right now sitting on the porch animal kingdom lodge there's a giraffe five feet in front of me eating from the food barrel, the food of Disney, fire, unbelievable, making memories. So glad we could squeeze this in. Can't beat it. And another tease for another conversation, another day. It was

very fascinating this past week. I spoke at a roundtable at TikTok headquarters. Maybe next episode or JTA will do a whole breakdown of TikTok headquarters because it is bananas. Like, it is wild in there. It's the coolest office experience I've ever seen. But I was speaking to marketing executives from very, very large brands who do advertising. into TikTok. And I was giving them the perspective of a creator myself, but also a manager. And it was just a fascinating conversation. So that we'll have to talk about another time. But it's been a cool week in New York right now. And David, have a great time in Disney. Thank you. Thank you for tuning into another episode of Tray Secrets, one you can't afford to miss.

Money, pay on me, making that money, living the dream.