Trading Secrets - 67: 2M followers in 2 months! The mysterious King Science’s tactics to virality and success as an animator revealed

Episode Date: August 29, 2022

This week, Jason is joined by a massive social media personality, Science Akbar aka King Science! King Science started on YouTube doing tech videos before joining TikTok in 2019. His incredible animation skills have been reflected in his videos and has gone on to build him a following of 13.5M and over 185M likes. King Science reveals his real name for the first time, how he started in animation at the age of 18, the tactics he uses to ensure the success of an animation, and how he has been able to stay so mysterious since becoming a huge creator. Science also gives insight on how he is able to read body language, changing his management to someone who knows the industry, the numbers behind all things animation and how there is always something to be learned. What was the dumbest thing Science spent money on? What was the first moment he monetized from his growth on TikTok? What do pennies stand for? Is Science Akbar actually his real name?    Science reveals all of that and so much more in another episode you can’t afford to miss!   Be sure to follow the Trading Secrets Podcast on Instagram & join the Facebook group.   Sponsor: Netsuite.com/secrets for a one-of-a-kind flexible financing offer!   Host: Jason Tartick Voice of Viewer: David Arduin Executive Producer: Evan Sahr   Produced by Dear Media.

The following podcast is a dear media production. Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. Today I am joined by a massive social media personality. And ready for this? I don't even know his real name. But he goes by Science Akbar, better known by his millions of social media followers as King Science. He has never revealed his true identity. That sounds like a trading secret I'll have to get. And by that, I mean his name to the public. But he is an

animation illustrator and social media influencer known for his animated comedy and music videos. His intelligence, fun-loving personality, and incredible animation skills are reflected in his TikTok and YouTube videos, and he didn't even take a long time to get recognition in the social media world. His TikTok account collected two million followers within two months, now carrying a social media following of over 13.5 million followers in the cherry on top, he has garnered more than 185 million likes on his videos in TikToks and starting back in 2019. Today, we're going to discuss my mysterious guests, his names, his ins and outs, how he ended up here, where he gets his ideas and how he turned those ideas into major income opportunities. And of course, we need

the bucks. King Science, thank you so much for being here today. Thank you so much for letting come in. You like that intro to that work? No, that was great. I feel like, it's an nice little tire pump. Tire pump. It's just a lot. I was like, what? I did do that in two months. I didn't even realize. It's truly remarkable. I mean, I will tell, you know, the funniest thing, too, is the whole name aspect of this. Like, right, when we have guests on, we research them, up, down, left, and right. First thing I do is I go right to Google. And there's not, there's a couple articles written about your success. Yeah. But even those articles, they're like, so shoddy. Like one of them's like, oh yeah, he's from L.A. Another one's like, he doesn't have a

girlfriend. Another one's like, he has a girlfriend. And I'm like, these are all wrong. So, they're all wrong. And that's what a lot of today's going to be, too. It's going to be like the exploration. Like, I will say usually my prep docs too are like thick, right? My prep docs here are like two pages because I don't know much. So this is just going to be a curious conversation. I think I also loved a little behind the scenes for my listeners to give him context. So we actually, you know, Kingsize travels so much. We're talking to his manager. And he's, you know, he's going to London next. He's going to Hawaii next. He's over here. So we figured we had to do it virtually. So we jump on the call yesterday to do the podcast. I'm like, hey, man, King Size, where are like, where are you right now?

He's like, I'm in Nashville. I'm like, shut the fuck up. That was so weird. I was like, oh yeah, so I'm in Nashville. It was like, oh, yeah. So I'm in Nashville. It was like, What are we doing on Zoom? This is stupid. We're like, okay, cut this immediately. We last minute got a studio and here we are in person. And I also wanted to give people a little background about how this even came about. So I want you to tell the story, but what I heard is my social media manager is traveling.

And she loves Katie, right? She's always got her ears off of people that are talking money. She heard you or introduced yourself in the airport because she heard you like talking about your social media success or money. Can you tell the story from your lens? Okay, so basically, I don't exactly talk money, so I just started saying in you windows of how much I was making. Okay. Like, I was like, I can't believe, like, this last brand deal, they gave me one penny instead of two.

My rate is usually three. How am I going to make it through the month without 10 pennies? Like, that's how I would talk about it. Interesting. And because it's like, I like to keep it confusing, but at the same time, like, let them know, like, this was not what my rate normally was. And I was talking with another guy, like, across from me. And she was right next.

to me. And I think she was editing something. And then she just, like, after he left and he was like, he was sharing Twizzlers with me, he left. And then she was like, oh, so what do you do? And I'm like, oh, yeah, I make TikToks. He's like, oh, I edit TikToks for this guy. Like, I do this. And I was like, oh, no way. And she was like, yeah, this is what we do. We do a podcast. We talk about business and stuff like that. And I was like, oh, that's freaking awesome. Because I don't know if you know Graham Stephan, like, it's one of the people I'm like a fan of as well. So like, when I heard that you do the same thing or something similar. I'm like, oh, yeah, I love that. I love it. It's a great, it's a great way to, uh, for this to even come about. And the fact that you guys met in the airport's

amazing. So do you have like a, a language that other people, like, how many people in your circle know what a penny means or what these like innuendos mean? So no one exactly knows what they mean. Okay. I just make it up and like, like it'll change from either that to something else. Like, I just make it up because I don't necessarily want anyone to know exactly what I'm making until I'm at like a certain point. And then it's like, oh, his net worth is public now. At points, I'll just say like at the airport, I was like usually a year I make about a dollar. And if I'm- But who are you saying that to?

I was just saying it to like the guy across from me. And he had no idea what the hell you're talking about. He like had no idea, but then like he kind of picked up on it. Because it's like, okay, if you make a dollar a year and you make like, like, like, like this much, like $10 a month or something, then this must equal this, but you could still be wrong. This is a wild backdoor strata. I mean, we've had some crazy pay transparency conversations here.

This is one I haven't caught. So is the idea then like a multiple? Like, is it like you tell a bartender, yeah, this year I'm, or my first year doing this, I made a dollar. And then I'm on year three now and I make $10. Is the idea that someone could recognize like, holy shit, he makes 10 times on year three than he did in year one. Is that kind of the thought?

Yeah, so basically, I think he was able to figure out how much I made by the products I had. So, like, when you saw my headphones, and those are a certain amount, like people actually know how much those are. I was like, those are like five pennies. Or like those were like a penny or something, and then it's like I make $10 or something

or $20 a month. And he's like, oh, so he kind of tried to add it up and figure it out. So how much of those headphones in your planet? Buy pennies or five bucks? Those are $500 or $500? In the recap, we're going to, David and I are going to break down, and we're going to analyze all these numbers he throws out here to back into him.

But until then, before I even get into it deeper, we got to get into this whole name thing because I love, I'm a big true, true crime guy. I love mysteries. And I always say that, like, in a previous life, I was an FBI agent. And maybe down the road, no, I definitely wouldn't pass the true false test to be an FBI agent. But one day, that'd be great to be a detective. You have a manila envelope over here.

and you referenced it. What exactly is it? My birth certificate. We got to get this on camera. Okay. So this is your birth certificate. Have you ever shared your true identity? I have, but people didn't believe it.

People didn't believe it. So I'm like, all right, I'll do it again. But this time, this time it'll be like real because I can't believe people didn't believe me. We're recording right now. I guess they thought my name was not what it is. So I'm going to cover my mom and dad's name, but there it is. That is my actual name. Okay.

Wait, wait, what? No way. Can you put that over the Manila Fow? So we won't see your mom and dad's name. We'll use that to cover. And then let me see that. Can you slide it over? I won't look at the name or record.

Oh, no, don't worry. The other names are, you can see them if you want. It's fine. I won't tell anybody. My mom and dad's name. Holy smokes, this is real. Okay. Can I take a video with this?

Yeah, no, definitely. It can go on the podcast and everything. like science akbar is this fake no that's my that's my birth certificate your name is science acbar yeah what and i have my passport with me too just just to be like let's get verification for the viewers i know the voice of the viewer he's our guy who does our wrapups david arduin he would want me to do this just to protect you know credibility okay this is a passport this is a united states passport everybody looking i have to get it renewed So your first name is science.

Yeah, that's my first name. And your last name is Akbar. Oh, my God. So this is, and you didn't change your name. No, never changed it. Born that way. Ladies and gentlemen, we have his passport. We have his birth certificate.

This is legit. Actually, this is the first place to get all of that. Because no one else has, no one else has gotten any of that. This is an absolute honor. Okay, so we know your name. And when you started your account, you started as Science, Akbar, and everyone and just thought it was a ploy, right? Yeah, they were like, oh, yeah, he's like, science god or something.

And then he changed it to King's Science because that was too much. And I was like, no, it was actually just my name. I got to ask how curiosity. And guys, we were going to get into the dollars of cents of $13.5 million and try and disseminate his language. But at any point, did you ask, like, mom, dad? So why science? Like, where the name comes?

Yeah, I actually did. So my mom has her reasoning. I think hers makes the most sense. So science means knowledge, middle name means God, last name, Akbar means, like, the most high. So it just means, it's just a sentence that means knowledge of God most high. And then my name spells out the sea. And she said, like, it's the largest thing on the planet. So she was like, everything about it was on purpose.

I was like, okay. Wow. I mean, you were destined for greatness with that name and that reasoning. It's a mix of, I think, pressure. Yeah. And, like, being called that all the time, you just want to constantly learn stuff. So, like, now, like, I'm on city planning. Like, I'm learning a lot about city planning.

Wow. So I don't ever stop learning, like, something new. It's like city planning and body language is my thing right now. Okay. Okay. I want to have a million questions I could ask you. Let's end the name conversation with this. Is your last name, Akbar, you just explained the meaning.

Is there any surname or family history tied to that last name? Nope. I'm the only one name. And do you have any brothers or sisters or siblings? Yeah, I do. I just got a new brother. So I have one, two, three brothers on this side and a sister. And then I have four brothers.

No, three brothers. Gosh, I'm done two brothers and a sister on my dad's side. Okay. And do any of them share the name, Science, or Akbar? None of them. No. Wild. None of them share it.

But we do have a lot of weird names. Got Sayla, Supreme, Rain, Rain Supreme. and Rose Ian and then my brothers on that side are like Andre Ali and then my sister's name is America so we got some weird names

your family needs a TV show because I don't even want to talk about this is the point I want to talk about your family but we have to for the purposes of the podcast fascinating and do you think will you keep science or Akbar you think to a generation of so yeah I was thinking about that

so I was like my kids are going to have to have like a weird name Yeah. Yeah. You got to have a weird name. Maybe I like get a wife and then like she gets, she chooses one and I choose the other if we're going to have like two kids. Yeah. But I have to have a kid with a weird name.

This is some Elon Musk shit going on. It's unbelievable. Oh my God. I didn't think about that. That's so funny. The most mysterious man is living up to the hype. Okay. Here we go.

So Mr. Science. First name. I'll tell you about your first name. We're on that level. We're going to get into how you had gotten to animation in the money behind it. But you did just say you're studying body language. And I think this is a really good topic for my listeners, because body language is a big thing, whether it's like you're in a sales meeting, you're trying to negotiate. Yeah.

Was that outside? Yeah. Was that that loud? That thunder? Wow. Mr. Science, there's some shit going out here. What is happening?

I had to turn the thunder on a divert from my phone ringing. Mr. Science just literally press something on his phone. I'm not sure. And it's, I'm not, it's blue sky. and there's a great clouds out there and there's like this massive like hit a thunder

like I'm on a set of a movie. I don't know what's happening but I feel like my future is changing. Okay, body language, back to body language. So a lot of people in my following group they'll be trying to ask for tips on negotiation or tips when they're giving an interview or, you know, a lot of this stuff even relates

to like being on a date or being with your partner at like a dinner or something. What are some things from the studies you've done in body language that you think you'd give as advice either trying to read people or trying to give off like the best version of you. So I just now started dipping into it about like for about four months now. Okay. So I've noticed if their attention is like diverted at the time, probably not the best time to like ask for something. If they seem very fidgety, it's like there's something else

on their mind. And then it's sometimes it's easier to like, you know, ease attention and ask like, how's everything going? Or maybe like step back for a second, see if like, oh, your distance is a little too close, something like that. There's a lot of different things that people do like what I did where I'm like, like, I'm looking at my lips. It's kind of like withholding information. So I'm like trying to think of what I'm going to say. But then there's like clusters. So you have to think of instead of just one thing they do is like, oh, he scratched his hand. That means there's this. If you like scratch your hand and then and then you like go up and then you like look to the left or this and that. It's like they're either not paying attention or there's something else that's

on their mind. So it's a mix of a lot of different things that you have to like watch. and look out for in order for you to understand what people are going through. Because we've had some professional poker players on, and they've talked a lot about, like, the consistency of the body language. Exactly. So like your tell for being nervous, scared, excited, anxious could be a whole lot different than the next guest. Yeah, because like if you have a baseline and your baseline is like anxiousness, and then all of a sudden they're like super still,

there's something different about what they're going through. But if the person's like baseline is still and not talking and then all of a sudden they're talking a lot, Like, what are you going through right now? Got it. So it's something to, like, look out for. Okay, baselines and consistencies. Now we're going to actually get into Mr. Science and the business aspect of things. So you build this social media account.

I saw on TikTok, your first post was August 2019. And if you guys haven't seen it, go to his TikTok right now, King Science. You do these 2D animations that are extremely witty. They're funny, outlandishly engaging. Like, I can't. When I'm watching one, I've noticed when I'm looking all through your TikTok, I can't stop until it's over. And so as a result of that, it's led to massive success. So the first question I have for you is, where did this animation skill set come from?

And did you inherit this at like a young age or did this come on later in life? Just started animating about four years ago. But I used to animate on like the little 3DS. So, but I've been drawing since I was young. Okay. Question for the viewers and myself, what's 3DS? The 3DS, like the game, what is the Nintendo 3DS? Oh, okay, Nintendo 3s.

Yeah, with a pin. Yeah, so that's when you, so you're, how old are you? I'm 23. So you're 23, you've never animated before the age of 18 and growing up, never was. Yeah, like I didn't animate. Like, I tried to dabble in it on the 3DS when I was 11, but no, I didn't really animate like that. I think I did do stop motion at one point. There's a channel where I did stop motion that.

People probably know about. Okay. That's about it. Okay. We'll leave that part there. That's for your followers. They'll know what it means. Okay, so four years ago, you pick up animation.

That's wild to me, especially given the skill set. Did you do it with the intent of, I'm going to make a splash with this? Or did you do it because it was enjoyable? Like, what made you just start looking into that? I was watching different videos on YouTube, including the odd ones out, Pymations, and OniG, Oni cartoons. and then my mom gave me the idea, like, why don't you go from this? Because I was a tech YouTuber before this.

Okay, got it. Then I just jumped into it, tried to do tech animation. Then I just went to animation, animated stories, and then join the military. Interesting. Okay. And so when you put your first post out in August 2019 with TikTok, did you have, I mean, that was pretty early for TikTok, what made you go to TikTok? And did you have any foresight that your account would blow up this way?

I didn't know it would blow up this way, but I knew it would grow because I had already been learning tactics of virality. So I joined because my friend, Jaron to Gaffin Reed, I'm going to shout you out, bro. He showed me TikTok and he showed me like the cool side. I had another friend, Kimberly, she showed me the, no offense, she's cool, but it was the lame side. So I didn't want to join. Okay. But then he showed me like the funny memes. And I was like, oh, I'm totally joining.

And it blew up. Like, first posts got like a million views or something. Okay. And before that post on YouTube, how many, how long-hand you had been on YouTube? And how many subscribers did you have? Had, I think, 10,000 subscribers. And I had about four animations on there. Okay.

So you were at that level, a 10,000 subscribers and no really other following. Were you monetizing much? I was not making anything. There was, the most I had ever made was $1,000. and that was on a tutorial on how to grow on Instagram years before. Okay, so this is four years ago. You got 10,000 subscribers. The most you're making is $1,000 in, so I would assume in a year period, definitely less than $10,000.

Yeah, no, a year, like I would make, I would make, I will have made $1,000 my entire career. So I'd been on YouTube for probably like seven years. Wow. Yeah. Okay. So you said tactics of virality. That's something everyone's trying to do now. How do you go viral?

In a time like this, how do you get your business out or your message out or your impact or anything you want because there's money to be made with it? What tactics of virality did you utilize to blow up TikTok and inherently all your other social medias is a following? So I learned from a course and that course was made by a person who had different channels that had tons of followings. So I learned a few things like emotion, storyline and shareability. So you don't be like, make sure to share. you don't because like we're going to share if we actually like it or not okay so those were like the few things that i learned about and then i had to try incorporate it in every video as well as something that was pertaining to like current events just to help it out more okay so let's just say

susy in buffalo new york that's my hometown some of your shout out susy and i don't know making this up is listening to this and she's like i want my video to go viral what is the number one tip though. You would give Susie to do that. I would say first assess what platform you're on. Okay. See what is trending in the world. And then somehow make something that you already like to do. Incorporate probably either as an Easter egg or as a topic, something that is going on currently and make sure there's some kind of emotion that you elicit. Like it has to be specific. If you don't have a specific emotion, it can sometimes be very hard for them to understand what's going on. Okay. So it's like relevance, trending, and then you have to find the emotion that you're trying to tackle in that video and hit on it hard.

Yeah, that's why Pixar is so good. Okay. I mean, that's such a great example. And I think if you guys want to also reference, if you're like, oh, I want to go viral, I think your Squid Games post. That is the perfect reference to understand virality. Like, there's a story. There's the Squid Games thing. There's the comedic part. And then there's the shock factor as well where like the guy gets shot. and then like a butt pops up. It's only on YouTube now. Yeah. Did it get removed from TikTok? I took like all videos with specific person off of TikTok and they're all on, they're only on YouTube now.

Okay. Well, that was another one of my questions. And we're going to, guys, hold on. We're going to get into the dollars and cents. I want to learn a little bit more about that. But I did some research. I saw your first post is August 2019. In 2019, you have 44 videos.

In 2020, you have 47 videos. In 2021, you only have five videos. And in 2022, you only have nine videos. Is this on YouTube? This is all on TikTok. So you only hit in the year of 2022, you only have nine videos. Posted. Posted.

In my head, I'm thinking, this is bullshit. I got like 98 videos posted. And I got to ha, y'all, on TikTok, I can't grow for shit. He's got nine videos and the guy's got 200 million likes. why what's going on did you pull some off are you not creating no i actually yeah no so there was a there was a time period in my life around last year and the middle of it life got tough i'm not going to lie it got really tough and i had to cut out certain people and then i had to also like figure out what am i going to do i wasn't under the best management at the time neither so transitioning from

one to the next it's like months of oh how am i going to make money how i'm going to do this I've got to put my hands down on everything again. And I kind of just decided, since things are being a little chaotic, I'm going to take a break. I'm going to take a hiatus. I'm going to go travel. I'm going to see the world and kind of let the chaos take me instead of, you know, try and fix it immediately. Yeah. Yeah.

I could use that advice. Just kind of... You can't fix it, man. Let the chaos take you because I try and, like, type A, I try and control it, and it's just more control it. Yeah. There's no controlling it. Okay. There's no control.

All right. So you go on the ride of your life. and you only have $1,000 that you've made in YouTube over the career, and then your videos start taking off. What was the first moment that you monetized from this on TikTok or this growth? Wow. It was on live stream. Live stream, I made a crazy amount enough to, I was like,

what is going on here? It was so fast how much I had made. And that was the first time I had monetized outside of YouTube. and then I posted a YouTube video and that did similar numbers in terms of money. And then I was just like, this is my life now.

There's no way that I should stop. And that was only at like 100,000 followers on TikTok. I was ready to jump all the way in. How do you monetize on live stream? How's it? Live stream, you have to have a thousand followers and you just go on, they send you gifts and you stay on there and they either send gifts

and that's basically it. That's the only way you can make money. off of there. So the viewers will send you gifts. Yeah. It's not necessarily the best way to make money because I don't necessarily want to monetize my fan base all the time. Sure. On live, but it was awesome. How much can you make doing that? Go on live. You can make as much as you want, like, literally. I have no idea what the highest amount someone is made on there, but I'm sure it's limitless. Like, I got to dig a little further. 100,000 followers. You go live. You're making more than five grand?

I have. We're getting Mr. Science here. Much more. You're making a good, you're definitely making a good amount. Like, you're definitely making, like,

I can say it was enough for me to not necessarily care about my job in the military. That's for sure. And I had a place to stay. I was making a good amount. I was staying there for free, making good amount,

getting food for free. Got it. still wanted to leave. Job for a military. What do you get paid for a job for a military? So in the military, at the time I was making like 2,000 months because I think a BAH or BAS because I was vegan at the time. So I didn't eat like certain stuff.

Okay. Yeah. You make like 2000 a month. Okay, got it. So you know what you could do? You could just throw out some innuendos. Like, I made 20 cents. And then you can let David and I, The Curious Canadian, really scramble in the recap.

That would be fun. Probably wrong. Might have to do that. So you're live. start making some money on live because you're doing something and then people can send gifts those gifts have value and that's where you're making money then at what point you get signed to a management company gosh terrible terrible idea i did that's july of 2020 yeah what was during june july of 2020 it wasn't a good idea were you making money other than from your fans were you making money

from brand deals before you signed with management yeah i did one brand deal and i had like a few small ones and I had a clothing line. So every time I'd make a video, I would drop a shirt after the video. I would make a shirt for the video. And I'd get a ton of buyers. And then I'd do that again. And then people started comedy,

like, oh, you always made a shirt. But everyone loved it. So I was like, I just keep doing it. And then, you know, I met a better manager who told me I shouldn't be doing that. But I didn't work with him until recently. Like, now he's, like, best manager I've ever had. But before that, I worked with not a great manager.

Not a great manager, and you had, you're selling a shirt with every video. When you got an ad deal versus selling a shirt, are you making more off the shirt sales or more, more off an ad deal? So I would make more off the ad deal, but I would get way more, what is that called, money? What is that called when you're making money consistently? I forget what that word is called. You're getting like a consistent revenue generation, basically? Are you saying like a revenue stream? Yeah.

Yeah, you get a lot, it was a lot more consistent of a revenue stream when I was doing the, with the clothes, yeah. Gotcha. So it's coming in at different amounts, but it's not coming in with like the big dollar amounts. What didn't you like about your manager? What did he, number one thing, did he not do well for you? Well, she. She, he or she. I think it was a lack of focus.

Okay. It was just that she had her own thing she was doing and I had my own thing. And then management was like second to what she did. Got it. No, it was conflicting, even though she swears that it wasn't. It definitely was. Okay. So you end up firing her.

You go with another management individual, and this management individual is doing what better than the last one? This guy and his team know the industry. They have people in it. They understand it. They have connections to really good brands, really good people. They're great. Like, they know exactly what they're doing.

Along with the people who work under it are animators. and people like me as well. And then a few other stars that aren't animators, but he also knows the space of animation. So it's very comfortable and easy to work with. Okay. So you have a new manager. Things are going well.

When you look, when you have to do your taxes, when Mr. Science has to do his taxes at the end of the day, what revenue stream is the biggest revenue stream for you? Is it Instagram? Is it YouTube? Is it TikTok? Is it ad deals?

Is it contracting workout? Is it going live? What's the number one source of revenue for you, given your success now? Ad deals, yeah. By a long shot. Yeah, it's not necessarily a good thing, but ad deals, yeah. Okay, and why isn't it a good thing?

Because I don't necessarily monetize anywhere else now. That's why I didn't like my previous management, because I kind of took away all my revenue streams except for ad deals, because that was the only thing that that person could make money off of. Okay, and how many ad deals would you say in a given month you're doing? We're trying to just do one, but it has been like two or three. Okay. And when you do the deal, they require you from the beginning to do the full animation to do everything, right? Yes. And do they give you budget for creating? I mean, obviously they give you the dollar amount that you're given. But is there anything else that goes into it? Or are they just like, go present us with what you create?

Basically, we don't ever break down like what we do. We just say our rate and then they're like cool. And then I just go get the team. And then if like they're like not cool with the rate, then I tell them like, look, I got to pay a team though. And then. And then. you know, then they start negotiating a little bit better. Okay, and this, we've had a ton of influencers on talk about the rates that they pay their management. Do you pay your management a monthly fee or do you pay them a percentage of the deal? Percentage, yeah. And what's the percent you pay?

Not more than 20, but not less than 10. Yes, here comes the cryptic. This is the shit I'm talking about. David, mark that. Let's recap it, and we'll try and guess what it is. All right. Can you give me a wild cryptic?

weird rate for what a deal would be to do with you. If I got a business, I got a business and I want to do it deal with you, give me a weird cryptic rate of what it would be. Okay. So a weird cryptic rate. The crazy part about it is my rate has, it keeps skyrocketing every year. Is that because of growth or is that because of the industry? Both. So I like to think in the sense of the economy, myself, and the worth of the character over time so I just it's kind of like who are you

and I'm like okay let's do this and if they don't agree with it it's like that's the only way we're going to work you know so you don't you don't really negotiate your rate I you put your rate out there and if they don't do it you're not doing it more than most of the time

yeah yeah I think I've noticed most the time it's like we don't necessarily negotiate because they see the value in it and then it's like It's not nothing insane for where I'm at. So then they just go, yeah. Like, I mean, you're the top dog. So let's do it.

Interesting. Give me a cryptic rate. Okay. So like... It's going to be like four squared by the derivative of a 25th. So let's say last year, because it's nowhere near this now. But let's say like last year starting. When I first started, I was like, I need like four pennies.

And then they were like, let's do it. it. And I was like, they were too quick to be okay with that. Talk to some friends who had similar followings. He was like, dude, I just did something with this brand for 12 pennies. And I only have less than a million followers. You're going way low. Sure. That was me at the start. So now he's like 12 pennies. So I'm like, oh, I have 12 million fans. I'm going to go 30 hundred pennies. Instead. That's from four pennies to 300 pennies. Yeah, and now they're like, they still are like, yeah, let's do it. I think my biggest was like 900 pennies or something.

900 pennies was the biggest one. How long, David, make note of that, you guys scratching your pencils and paper at home, I too will be doing the same. But the best part is, you'll never know. So if the IRS is trying to do any audits, you're also going off of inflation. So that four pennies today is not. There you go. When it was that.

I like it. See, it's very cryptic. It's beautiful. That is really cool. How long does it take you to prepare? So like you get a deal, your best deal ever, 90, 100 pennies. What is the time that it takes you to create that? That was the most insane deal I've ever done. Can you say the brand or would you prefer not to? No, I won't say the brand, but they're really cool. I love them to death and hope to work with them again. That was a very hard deal. Took about three, three, two weeks. Yeah, two or three weeks. How many hours you're putting in there? I was putting in about seven hours a day, but I had a team of 12 people. Yeah, that one was a team of 12 people.

Yeah, other animators. Other animators and stuff? What do you have to pay that? They all have different rates for it. So like some of them go by hours. Some of them go by their hourly rate. I've heard that some people want to just get paid in V-Bucks. So I don't do that.

What's the V-I don't even know what V-Bucs are? Is that a gaming thing? That's Fortnite. Oh, my God. This is how clueless I am. Is it Fortnite money? V-B-B-B-X. I think so.

That's a sound right. Yeah. Or is that. Or is that. It's one of the gaming, yeah, the V-Bucks. Okay. So, walk me through this. You get a deal.

Let's call it, it's $250K. Okay, $250K, somewhere between 10 and 20% is going to management, right? So then we're at, or so we're at like 200K. Of that 200K left for you, how much will you have to pay for animators in a two, three week project? So if I were, if that were the number, then...

Is that were the number? If that were the number, then I always vary out on who I'm choosing to animate. So sometimes it's a Disney animator and their rate is insane. And then other times it's an animator from Fiverer and their rate is so perfect. So if I were to average that out, if I were to make that, the percentage that would go to them would be probably

also know more than 20, no less than 10%. Okay. So the budget then you're in that scenario, that would be like yeah, like 40K or so. Would the animators charge per hour or do they charge per project? I just don't know anything about that industry. Oh wait, no, no, not no less

than 10%. No, it's less than 10%. Like probably probably less than 10%. But if it's 12 animators, it could go up if the deadline. So like if deadline, it always varies because deadline equals. So like if it's like, oh, we have to have this done in days. Yeah. Then, of course, I'm not going to have to pay that much, but since it's a lot

more people, it'll, like, take out a lot of the budget. But if it's like we have a long time and we have a lot of animators and we have a big budget, sometimes that could probably go up to probably max 20% of the budget. But I've never done that. I've never hit 20% of the budget. That's like crazy. Gotcha. So on the low end, you freelance and the highland, it's like a Disney animator. That's crazy. That's wild stuff. I didn't realize that much. into one of those videos. Yeah, there was one we did. I don't know if she is a Disney animated, but I know she's worked in that space.

She helped with the Black Lives Matter video at the beginning, and her rate is definitely higher than normal, which is good, like, not higher than normal. It's a good rate for her. Like, she's really, really good. Versus when I do, like, a deal with people who are just at my level and stuff, yeah. You pay for quality. You pay for quality, there's no doubt. Guys, stay tuned for the recap.

We're going to do a little deeper dive into animators. Hey, we'll do some research on it and come back to you guys. But we are here with Mr. Science, the one and only, and that is his real, real name. You've obviously made a good chunk of change. How about in your crypto, or not in your crypto? I actually did that. We'll talk a little crypto a second, but in your innuendos, what is your goal to make one year? Like, do you have a goal?

Like, I want to make 10 million pennies. Or, like, do you have a goal? Give us a crypto goal. Okay. I would like to make at least 15 Bitcoin a year. There you go. 15 Bitcoin, guys, you're going to have to do the research, think through it. We'll try and do this, solve this riddle in the recap.

With your money that you've earned at a young age, which has all happened very quickly, what are some financial mistakes and or big challenges you've had or made? That is a good one. Making a lot and spending a lot. That is just don't do it. Don't have to do. Did you fall victim to that? I still do. What's the dumbest thing that you look back? You're like, why did I spend that? I bought two apartments and then paid someone's rent as well.

You paid someone's rent? I was paying someone's rents for two months, had two apartments, one in New York, one in Vegas. Jesus. Yeah. And if you know how much New York is. Yeah. Just the taxes. Yep. I wasn't in the low range of New York either. I was in the pretty average two bedrooms. So you can just figure out how much that is. We'll back into that in the recap. We'll do the research. Dumbest decision. And so did you sell those apartments? I got rid of that one like the second month because it was like, what am I doing?

Did you buy or rent that? I rent that one. Okay, so you ended the lease there. And the one in L.A., did you rent or buy? I was running. Vegas, I was renting that one too. Vegas ran on the strip. Right on the strip.

So you can guess how much that was. You a gambler? No, actually. I didn't gamble at all. That whole time I was out there. Nope, I didn't party neither. I just sat there. This guy is the wildest man I've ever met in my life

His legit name is Science Akbar He gets a place in Vegas strip Doesn't gamble, doesn't party What do you do? Just like Nothing. I literally just I will go to the mall I will come home I'll work on a cartoon

I'll sit and watch Bluey I love that show Amazing I don't know why I was just not sitting in the middle of country So Or out of the country Which now you're going to London

You said You got your rent for only 800 bucks a month, which is incredible. That is great. All right. So too many apartments, overspending. What have some practices you've done to correct this stuff? Patience and not over extending my hand to other people. I think I've just learned that one, like about last month.

I learned like not everyone needs all your money, you know what I mean? Like people, are you saying people asking? No, they're not even asking. Like some people ask, some people don't. I had someone who did need it. a lot at one point. And then I just brung that. And I was already like that. I was already like, oh, I just want to give

a lot of money. But this is, I think this is the first time I got rejected giving too much. And I was like, oh, so I don't need to do that. Interesting. So now I'm in a space where I'm like, let me just chill. That's good to know. Instead of

overextend my hand all the time. I saw a quote from Mike Tyson today and it was something. And I'm infatuate with Mike Tyson. But he said something along the lines of the people I fought majority in my life oftentimes weren't my enemy. And the people that I thought were my friends most of the time often were. And he found that it funny, the people that he used all his anger to, like, have a skill set

to take down and knock down weren't the enemy. But these people who were nice, friendly, and helped, ended up being enemies. So it's interesting. You just got to keep an eye out on what's around you and what people are asking for Why? There's this intelligence thing that I watched on YouTube. It shows like why dumb people are scary for society. So basically they call it stupid people. Basically it means someone who takes and also hurts themselves within the same time. So like take away from your life and hurt themselves. There's a hopeless person where they give a lot and they don't get anything

themselves. There's an intelligent person where they give and receive and it's a mutual agreement. And then there's the thief where they take and you don't get anything out of it. And I was learning. I was like, oh, I probably, for a while, I've been in the little helpless side. I've been, I give a little too much and I don't really receive much from those that I give, at least in value to me, you know? So I'm trying to step into that side where it's like, oh, make more intelligent decisions. When you give something, you don't need to necessarily expect something in return, but like don't, don't overstep to a point where you're not really getting anything out of this, you know? Yeah, I learned that lesson hard when I was 21, got my first salary job, thought I was the man, threw my down, my car down at the bar every time, open tab on me! And I'm like, wait, why are you doing it?

Huge bills, I'm getting nothing except like the smallest ego boost, which is just stupid. And it's also met with a hangover, fulfilled with anxiety the next day. So it took some years, but we're growing up. We have our challenges, and you know what we learn. We have to wrap this podcast up, although I don't want to because you are one of the most intriguing guests we've ever head on Mr. King's science, but we got to leave with the trading secret. So something that someone can't learn in a textbook, they can't learn in a classroom, and they can't Google to find the lesson or YouTube at a trading secret. Maybe it could be about money management, growing your career, negotiating, whatever it may be, any trading secret that you can

leave us with. The moment you think you made it and you're comfortable, you need to start learning because you're about to be the dumbest, like, entrepreneur ever because you're stuck. That's a good one. That's a good. Like, you're just saying change happens so fast you to be complacent you're out. The moment you're like, oh, I'm comfortable. I'm doing good. I'm making it. Unless you're literally a billionaire, which at that point, you're kind of just taking away from the economy, if you think you're doing good, it's time to learn something new, because you don't know everything about what you're doing. Have it any degree you've felt that in your space in the four years? I felt that, and then I demolished it. And so now I'm redoing

everything again. So I got to a point where I was like, man, I'm the best. Like, I'm the biggest animator on the platform, I'm doing this. And then out of nowhere, I just, everything just started falling apart because I was spinning like crazy. And I was like, I don't know what I'm doing. And I should have not pretended I knew what I was doing. There you go. All right.

Well, that's a hell of a trading secret. King Science, where can people find you? I'm sure they're interested in your work. I checked out the Grubhub ad before I came on. I was like, wow, just brilliant. I need to step my ad game up. Where can people find you? YouTube.

King Science Shorts is my main channel right now. The regular King Science one isn't. I just hit a million subscribers two days ago actually. Congrats. That blew my mind. I know. Why don't you do a course on virality? I would buy that. Oh, I should. That would be fun. Definitely should. I'm on

there. You can go on Instagram, King Science. It's just K&G Science on there and on Twitter, which no one knows about my Twitter, K&G Science, and then TikTok King Science. And I think that's everywhere you can find me, yeah. I love it. Awesome. Well, we We will tag you on all those platforms when this comes out.

We'll make sure to follow you. Go give King Science a follow. And thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for having me. Ding, ding, ding! We are closing in the bell to the Science Akbar podcast. I mean, wow, what a name. Brilliant.

I love that name. Kind of wanted myself. The King Science. I got the Curious Canadian with me to talk through it. Let's recap this wild episode from a brilliant wild man, science Akbar. David, I know you've got thoughts. What do you thinking? I got so many thoughts. First off, always like to start. How are you doing today? What's going on? Anything new? Anything happening in your life? Well, yeah. Okay. You know what, David? I love when you slow me down a little bit.

Bring it back to a little conversation. That's great. So we went, we, for the talent management company I own, we sourced a deal for David's bridle for Caitlin. So she had a deal on Friday, right? Saturday morning, we wake up. We go out to L.A. We're grinding. No delays. We drive out to the most beautiful venue I've ever been to. Sarah and Wells' wedding, which was amazing. There for two days. Work in L.A. podcasting for three days.

We have Mark D'Neillio from Charlie and Dixie on TikTok, their father. Can't wait for that one to come out and many others. And then I wake up Tuesday. We get back to Nashville. And then David, now it's Wednesday. And I'm in New York City. So grinding would be an understatement, but it's good to be in New York. Playing strains in automobiles.

Are you going to catch a Yankees game while? you're there? Plains, trains, and automobiles. You know what? Yankees really are my favorite team. Not catching a Yankees game here because we are doing some work and then we're actually leaving tonight. So it's a 24-hour grind. But that being said, David, are you a Yankees guy? No, I'm a Blue Jays guy. You know this. Diehard. Yankees are actually rival of mine. But I do know that you love the Yankees and going to a Yankees game. Nothing better. In the Legends, especially. Okay. Well, I got good news for you. I got 10 pair of Yankees tickets to a pre-selected game in September. It's coming up because we're partnering on the Trading Secrets Instagram

with America's number one pen. It's the pilot G2 pen. Obviously, we all know that, especially for my high school days. And they're partnering with America's number one team in New York Yankees. So we're going to be sending a couple lucky fans to a game. So what you got to do is essentially go follow our Trading Secrets Instagram page and then also leave us a five star review throw your instagram handle out there and we will soon have more information this week as to how you can be one of the lucky winners of these 10 Yankees tickets game all by pilot pen america's number one pen is sending us or one of you guys to america's number one baseball team so we got that going david that's fun well that's exciting and uh do we get to choose who the 10 people are we have to select

them randomly. So it's, again, this is through a always behind the scenes. This is all through the Trading Secrets Instagram page. So we are going to have people enter by doing the following, putting a review for the Trading Secrets podcast, five stars in their Instagram handle. And then we're going to have a giveaway post on the Trading Secrets page that people can enter. And then we'll have a randomized selection. Love it. Make it in an electric review. Also, I don't know if you know this but dead dead serious i'm exclusively a g2 pen guy i don't use any other pens in the world but g2 pen i mean nothing about this surprise to me like you would be the only human in the planet that is literally just loyal to one pen company i could see you carrying like every color always in

your pocket using it for your coaching notes well i'm a lefty too so i have to be very specific or else i'll smudge on the page but that's near the here no there uh one guy who's probably electric with a G2 Panda Science Akbar. What an episode. What an episode. This guy, first off, I just think the beauty of having guests, like the array of guests we do, this whole interview kind of was so different,

such a different vibe, casual. You guys seemed to have really good chemistry, really good banter. It was like half like shooting the shit and then half like, okay, I got to ask him some legit questions here. Just first off, touch on his vibes, like his energy, like what that interview was for you. Energy's incredible.

He comes in and he lights up the room. And it's not often, David, I'm going to be honest with you. It's not often I get that with podcasting, especially a podcast like this. People come in really nervous, I feel like, or quieter. And then through the conversation, they open up. He came in like a bright light. Like, yo, what's up? Like, I never met him.

And I felt we knew each other for like 10 years. And then when he had that mandala envelope, I was like, what is that? And then I dropped the whole like name thing. And I was like, no way this guy brought his birth certificate and his passport. I have in my notes. I'm like, how does he just carry around his birth certificate and passport in a manila envelope? Just like whipping them out of his pockets. Like, oh, you want to see this?

You want to double check that? Do you think he did that because it's called Trading Secrets? And he was like, yeah, I've never shared this before. So let me drop some knowledge. I think so. I don't know. I don't know. Well, there's no way he just, there's no way he just carries that around on like a random Tuesday.

in LA. Yeah, and because the interesting thing is, is we didn't give him the questions in advance. So I don't know, maybe he's just like Trading Secrets, like, let's clear this shit up. I will say on our logo, if you look at Traying Secrets, we do have a Minna, Minna, and it says, classified.

So maybe he saw this. He's like, okay, here's my secret. This is my real name. And then I started asking about money and he's like, three pennies. I'm like, wait, what the fuck? What's going on? I got to get into that. So while I was listening to the episode, And if for you guys at home, if you're trying to, you know, find their socials while I listen to the episode, I was expecting to find, like, search him and see like science. Like, okay, where's the beaker?

Where's like the, you know, where's the, I was like, where's the science? Yeah. No science at all on his page. It's just in his name. He's an unbelievable. What's the word? Animist? Animator.

Animator. Yeah. Animator. Actually, like the number one. They say the number one animator living on TikTok. Yeah, I mean, anyone who grows their channel to 2 million followers in two months, like that's the dream for anyone who wants to get into it. But I have to be remiss here if I didn't bring up the pennies example.

I mean, we pride ourselves on really breaking the stigma, talking about money. I don't necessarily thought we were ever talking about money like this in terms of pennies. It was a fucking riddle, man. It was a riddle. In one way, I was like, oh, this is kind of a good way doing. And now there's like, no, this is almost like double downing on being like, You make so much money. You can't tell me how much you make because now you have to reference it in pennies so people don't feel bad.

It was almost kind of like interesting from that realm. But before we break down how much we actually think he's making per year per post, do you have an idea of how much like a graphic designer makes entry level or a graphic designer high end? Yeah, I want to tell you real quick on your other comment. I believe my takeaway from this, especially after you got into it was like apartment situation. and some of his money issues. I'm thinking he's discreet and talks about pennies, not for a braggadocious.

Like, I want to stay humble, but I think it's more of like, I don't want to put my dollars out there in the universe for tax purposes, which is a huge issue I run into. People don't want to get, like, audited by the IRS. You know, my response to them is, just fucking lie to me.

When the IRS comes, you'd be like, yeah, I lied on a podcast. Let's get to your question here. The designer salary in the United States, so there's so many different sources you could use to look up salaries. For this one, specifically, I went to Indeed.com. And so, indeed, if you're listening, we are looking for a partnership. On the low end, it says from a salary perspective, $33,181.

And the high end, $11,000 average, $61,000. So on average, $61,000. bucks. And if you're looking to outsource a graphic designer, if someone out there, suppose you want to like build a brand or I don't know, build a logo or build anything that you need a graphic designer, you too want to become an animator. It looks like that the average per hour basis is around $22. On the high end, like $35 an hour, low end, $15. Now, if you have a designer like he's talking about Disney, I'm assuming they're making like hundreds of dollars per hour, but at least gives you an idea based on the research I did. Quick answer. If you were a graphic designer,

similar to the Jason Oppenheim question about joining a brokerage or doing your own thing, would you be a freelance graphic designer or would you try and join a corporation? I would try and join a corporation that was very specific and then freelance on the side that didn't compete with my current job that was my 9 to 5. So I could double down. Okay, love it. All right. So let's get into some cryptic stuff here. I'm going to lay out the facts that I have here and then we can banter a little bit here and figure out what these means. So he said he made four pennies for his first ad deal and the company accepted it easy. And then he asked around and his friends was charging 12 pennies. And so he's like, wow, maybe I'll charge 30 or 100 pennies. And

brands are still doing it. He said his biggest deal was 900 pennies. And he said is the most insane deal he's ever done. So we're talking a 225% increase, four to 900 pennies. what do you think four pennies was what do you think 900 pennies was he said his goal was 15 bitcoin which is 315 000 in today's bitcoin so with all that facts what do you think his first deal was at four pennies what do you think his biggest one at 900 pennies is and what do you think he's making the year okay i love it quick correction here not trying to be a jerk just like i get confused with this all the time not 225 percent right so if someone says 225 percent that would mean that if you made one dollar two hundred percent of one dollar would be two dollars right so this is actually

two hundred and twenty five times this is like a multiple right so if you take four times two twenty five that would be 900 so just it's it's a it's a basic thing in like the math and finance we all get fucked with and confused with but percentages and multiples different so it's 2225 multiple so if the four pennies let's say were four hundred dollars and then you multiply that times $225, that would be $90,000, which seems right. I think a campaign under his TikTok would be at least in that $90,000 range. But he said that was the highest one. So that's my guess.

I'm thinking there's never a chance he's doing a campaign unless it's 40 to 100K per post. Well, he said he's doing, okay, so let's take that, for example. He wants to make $315K. you said 90 to 100 might be his biggest ad deal. He's doing two to three ad deals per month. So if 90s is biggest and he's doing two to three a month, that means he has another 10 in the hopper, a 12 in the hopper.

Let's say they average around 30,000. You're 20,000. You're getting around that 315,000 mark. So I think that's some pretty good inspector gadget work by us on that. What would you say? I think so too. But the other thing, David, is, remember I talked about how many videos he's posted

he hasn't posted shit in the last oh no he has but he had to delete them all so I wonder what will his like regimen of posting be you know what I mean I'm actually going to go right now I went since I did he have anything recently or no I didn't check the dates all I did was I went on

his TikTok and I think three of the last four videos are pure ads and I was like this guy's either raking it in and just doesn't care or something's weird here so you know it's It sounds like he deleted a lot, too, because of maybe a creator or someone else he worked with. You know, it was something interesting that I was surprised at. When he talked about 900 pennies being the biggest deal that he'd done, he goes, he wouldn't say the brand that he did it with. And for me, I'm like, yo, this company just gave you 900 pennies.

Show them some love. Like, they went, they partnered with you for a reason. They gave you a bunch of money. Why are you now afraid to not tell us who it is? They just gave you the money. Let's go. Give him some love. I know. It's weird because the other thing, too, is Katie, our social media manager who met him in the airport was saying like how one of his pitches to come on the pot is he was like, I'll talk. I love talking about money. Like, that's my favorite thing. And so I was very surprised like guys out there. We do our pre-work. We do our pre-scans. But then I think people come on and then they buckle up a little bit. And I think that was, I mean, he wouldn't, it was crazy how little he would divulge, you know, crazy.

another cryptic thing where it's like you dude you're giving us the exact range of how much he pays his management he said i wasn't paying them more than 20 but not less than 10 and you're like all right we got to break this down on the recap i'm like well it's other 11 or 19 so yeah i mean it was it's definitely 15% right he's like i'm not paying them to like i don't know why i don't just say 15% every person that's coming on this podcast will tell us what they pay management um but and maybe that's just his style i i like them a lot i just wish there was a lot little bit more direct with his answers. All right.

He gave us a couple of zingers, though, and I want to, I'm going to throw three facts, three sound bites from the interview, and I want to see what you think is more out, most outrageous out of the three. Dude, dude, you know what just creeped me out? I'm on his page right now, and I was looking at him, and as I just kind of chirped him for not being direct, his little emoji, you know, his profile face, it started blinking at me. It started giving me looks, and I was like, whoa, I just did a double take. And then I'm like going back to my profile and everyone else's profile.

I'm like, wait a second, no one else's profile picture moves. Like, is there a ghost in here? Did that happen? I know Hawke said he had a couple ghosts in his apartment yesterday. So it could be just, could be just following us around. He's just, he's got eyes on me. Okay, keep going. All right.

You got, we got three facts. And I want to know which one for you is the most, like, outrageous. One, the fact that he's actually paying people who work on his projects in V bucks instead of real bucks. I need that as a quick reaction on that. I mean, it's just a testament to, like, Like his community and the people that follow him and who he works with. It's crazy.

Binds skins on Fortnite. I instantly thought of my like 12-year-old nephew. I was like, oh, my God, he would do that. All right. The fact he was vegan in the military, that's pretty up there. Yeah. Think of that because you have no options in the middle. It's not like you're, you know what I mean?

Like, how do you, like, you're such limited with what they'll serve you and you need those nutrients and resources. Like, God bless them. Me and you tried vegan for a week and we were wither, go away in our own. homes, let alone in the, in the, in the, in the military. And then by the way, we have Daniela Monet coming on here shortly, a former, a massive actress, especially in the Nickelodeon and, I mean, CBS, huge networks. And she's a big vegan entrepreneur and advocate.

And I might have, I might have said that we would try it again for a week just so you know, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. You know what, coming off the end of summer here, I kind of need it. So I'm down for that. Last one that I got, how shitty do you feel about your name knowing that his name is the knowledge of God most high and his name spells out the sea, which is the biggest thing on the planet? And everything in his name is on purpose. And here we are named Jason Tardick and David Ardoin. He made me question everything.

He made me question. When we started off the podcast, I'm like, what is life? What is life? That was a while. the last thing I want to ask you before we wrap up here you know sometimes when people get you know blow up on TikTok and stuff

it seems like a fluke almost like they stumbled into it he talked about the tactics of virality one thing is clear this guy's super talented he's one of the best animators that there is he has a lot of knowledge behind you know social media and virality in the industry you know even though it doesn't sound like he worked out from too well because his management he did

merch drops with a new shirt for every animation that he did you know I'm just curious about that and any tactics that you are maybe our listeners can take home and work that they do or what you do. I just thought that that was something I had to point out. First, okay. Yeah, I think it's really important not to be motivated by money and to be motivated by like what really drives you. And I think it's so, so cool that this guy four years ago picked up a pen and learned how to animate through like YouTube and training, right? But then when you do think about the money aspect, I'll tell you this. From everything I've seen, it's really, really hard to make

serious dollars off merch, like really, really hard. Unless you are a clothing company, like, we wore what? If you didn't listen to that pod, go back and listen. We're like, you're working with the manufacturers. You have the, you're ordering in big numbers so that the actual price points are low. Like, you have an actual tactful thing. So it's a tough place to make money, the whole merch business. But I think in general, I think his, what he's done is impressive, obviously the growth he's had. And the fact that he just picked this up four years ago to me is mind-boggling. And maybe the biggest takeaway for our viewers. Like, he just taught himself something. And now he's the biggest in TikTok doing it, working with Disney animators. Like,

that's wild. What can you pick up? Maybe there is something out there that you haven't explored that naturally just comes easy to you. You know, and I'd motivate you to give it a shot. Because if you don't, who knows? And if he didn't, who knows where he'd be? The guy is, rolling in it now at 23. So although, again, he did say he had some apartment and some money management issues, but still, life has changed for him because he picked up a hobby and that hobby

came to a profession. Yeah, he definitely had some things that, you know, he's working on himself in terms of his finances and buying an apartment in Vegas that he just says he sits there and stares out the window. So, yeah, how about that? It doesn't part, like, what do you do it in Vegas?

I mean, most intriguing guy I've ever I could have talked to him from days. Yeah, it was pretty wild. So all in all, you know, a fun episode to listen to, one of the ones that I wish I was in the room for just because of the energy, it seemed a lot of fun. And, you know, super talented guy. I'm excited to see what he does in the future. From every person we have on, their takeaways, and wow, there are definitely a lot of

takeaways with this one. I also want to leave everyone with one last takeaway. David, if you have an opinion on this, feel free to put it out there. But just recently, personal financial update. If you do carry student debt with the federal government, you should know that President Biden just released an announcement that if you make less than $125,000 a year, you will be forgiven $10,000 of your federal student debt. If you are a couple and make less than $250,000, you will be forgiven to $20,000.

So either $10,000 or $20,000 of your federal student debt will be deleted. on. Adios Amigo, if you make less than $125,000 as a couple, or $250,000 as a couple, what do you need to do right now? Nothing. It's proposed that this will occur in January 23. And if you do need to take next steps, because you do qualify under this, those will be announced. But, you know, big announcement for a lot of our listeners who do have student debt. So it's interesting. It's interesting. Yeah, it's about eight years too late for me. I paid all that stuff off, which is a great thing. But I would have love to have $10,000. chipped away off of it. But neither here or no there. We're on to the next form of debt.

So yeah, exactly. I'm going to say this. This is a very, this is the biggest eye opener for me in this entire announcement is that $125,000 or less is now like the baseline of finding ways to accommodate individuals' financial needs. I don't. I don't know. To me, maybe I'm old school. Maybe inflation has gotten out of control to a perspective that I just can't keep up with. But if you're making $125,000 in United States of America, you're doing pretty good. I was surprised that that was the number. And if you're a couple in the United States of America, I'm making $250,000. That's how you qualify for this. To me, there's a lot of things to get do a discussion about here, but I was so surprised that that was the baseline if you make

less than that, because that baseline seems very high, but that's also happening in all my walks of life right now where things are price pointed, and I'm just like naturally frugal and old school, and I grew up in a small city like Buffalo, but I hear these price tags on everything or these salaries like this or below, and I'm just like completely shocked. The wild times you're living in wild times. Wild times. But that being said, let's wrap this episode up. Guys, make sure you leave a review. Make sure you subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss an interview. And make sure you go follow us on Instagram because we have 10 Yankees tickets to

give away for the September game days. Be ready, be prepared. But once it launches on Instagram, you will not qualify unless you've subscribed and you've left us a five-star review today or in the past. So thank you for tuning into a another episode of Trading Secrets. One, hopefully, you couldn't afford to miss.

Thank you.