I Make a Living

Welcome to the second Nerdisode of the Season. These accompanying minisodes distill a bit of wisdom from our Monday guests. This week we talked to Carl Smith, who shared how he started his incredible digital community, Bureau of Digital, inspired by his 11-year old daughter’s curiosity.

On this week’s episode of I Make A Living, we’re sitting down with Carl Smith, owner of Bureau of Digital, an online space where owners, operators, project managers, and designers trade knowledge and build each other up. Carl shares his experiences of crafting authentic online communities: his goal is to make everyone feel like they’re supposed to be at his events, and he’s got a team showing him the way.

Coming in hot! I Make A Living: Nerdisodes give you little tips to make a big difference in your business. Remember to subscribe to our channel and check out the full episode with Bryan on our feed.

We’re kicking off season four of the I Make A Living podcast with Bryan Clayton, CEO and founder of GreenPal, a mobile app that connects customers to lawn care companies. Clayton’s first career was in landscaping, and he leveraged his expertise to build “Uber for lawn care” from the ground up. He’s done it by being really good at one thing, listening to his customers, and taking himself on a hero’s journey through the business’ ups and downs.

For women of color, the odds of getting funded have historically been...less than inspiring. In today’s episode, we talk to Crystal Evuleocha, founder of the Kiira women's-medicine app, about her journey through the world of VC funding and how she developed a competitor to “Doctor Google.” This is our season finale and a special collaboration with Bumble Fund.

Scaling up a business isn’t just saying yes to more work: it’s managing overhead, recruiting the right people, and sorting out great ideas from good ones. Danny Kerr has scaled up a lot of businesses: he started as a College Pro painter and had over 100 people working for him before he turned 21. Now he helps run Breakthrough Academy, a business school for tradespeople he helped found in 2015. There, he offers training on exactly the skills that take businesses from grassroots to large-scale, and this week, he shares his knowledge with us.

Chances are, if you were online in April 2020 (and who wasn’t?), you saw Julie Nolke go viral by chatting with her past self about the early days of pandemic life. Her smart and saucy take on the year’s biggest news went stratospheric in her sixth year of YouTube work. Julie is a writer, actor, and creator who posts her own videos, and partners with others to create their online content. On this week’s episode, we talk to her about how she became a YouTube all-star.

We could all use a vibe boost in 2020, right? Inessa Freya is here to help us out. She’s a feng shui expert-slash-psychotherapist who works with all kinds of people to help improve their workspace, their homes, and their minds. Join us as we chat with her about how what surrounds us is more than just surface level.

Are you one of the 57 million freelancing Americans? You may feel like you’re on your own, but Rafael Espinal knows you’re part of a movement. He’s the Executive Director of the Freelancers Union, an association of a half-million freelancers and creatives who have banded together for political clout, insurance, and sharing knowledge. We talk to him about his path to the Union, and why freelancers have more power than they think.

Are you feeling stressed? Ruth Elnekave knows that feeling! After leaving law, Ruth put her holistic nutrition and culinary school bona fides into creating Joya, a wellness company offering products that are both delicious and de-stressing. She talks to us about launching a business during COVID, where her partnership budget goes, and why we should all be a little easier on ourselves.