"If only the professor wasn't boring, I might enjoy this class." Nathan Kennedy is the finance professor you wish you had. He brings elements of finance education, acting and conviction to his content. The best part is he's just getting started
Today’s guest is Nathan Kennedy aka newmoneynate. He’s a personal finance creator that never stops working on his craft and always looks for ways to innovate. His drive, which may be his superpower, gives him the endurance to stay relevant for a long time. Nathan will teach you about money and negotiations in an entertaining way. It’s almost, dare I say it…fun to learn about finance when he pops up on your for you page.
As always, before we get to the episode, here are three things about Nathan that you should know:
Find Nathan Kennedy on TikTok, Instagram and Spotify
[00:00:00] Danny: Hey, I'm Danny Desatnik, and this is a podcast all about creators, but not just any creators. I'm talking about captivating storytellers, masterful videographers, and generational writers. These are people I feel are underrated and people I theoretically want to invest in no matter the size of their audience.
Today's guest is Nathan Kennedy, aka. New Money Nate. He's a personal finance creator from Canada that never stops working on his craft and is always looking for ways to innovate his drive, which may be his super power, gives them the endurance to stay relevant for a very long time as a. Nathan will teach you about all things related to money in a way that's very entertaining.
It's almost, dare I say, fun to learn about finance when he pops up on your four you page. As always, before we get to the episode, here are three things about Nathan that I think you should know. The first is that he started creating content after listening to a finance podcast and wishing the information would be easier to understand.
Nathan's a thing, explain. The second thing is that he cares so much about helping others. He's always in service of others and his audience, and it's a mission that can be felt throughout every single thing that he does. And finally, he started off with podcasting as his core format before getting into short form content, and that's quite rare.
And so with that, let's get to the good stuff. Here's my conversation with Nathan Kennedy.
Why do you wanna help people, man? Where does that come from?
[00:01:28] Nathan: So I, for the longest time thought I knew what I was talking about with money when I was growing up. I thought I was just intuitively, good with money and just no basis. Like my parents just were always talking about it. It was front of mind. I knew I wanted to do something with it.
[00:01:40] Danny: can I jump in and ask what made you feel like you were sound when it came to the topic of money?
[00:01:46] Nathan: Because I just found that, like it was always talked about in my house. So I think with a lot of people, it was sort of like this false confidence. Like most people don't even hear about it. And so they're like, Well, I know nothing about money. I've never heard about it. But because it was always like, here, I could say that I probably knew the value of the dollar, but I didn't actually know how to manage it or invest or whatever. So in university when, I maxed out my credit cards and like I was just kind of in a bad spot, I kind of took a look in the mirror and was like, man, like I am shit. I'm.
Good with my money. I have to figure it out and I have to actually go out and learn it. So, started looking into stuff online, started like diving into blogs really deeply, listening to podcasts and kind of just like fell in love, man. So totally just went down the rabbit hole, and started making some changes quickly.
And like how fast I was able to turn it around and pay off my credit card and start building my finances was just like ecstasy to me. Like, it was crazy. Like I'd never experienced something like that in my life. And, years later I would chat about it in, in informal conversations and things like that.
And people would kind of just not know what the hell I'm talking about or whatever. And I'm like, man, like I, wanna share that, like euphoria that I got and that empowerment that I got from, building my finances and like getting my shit together and all that kind of jazz and so,
that made me want to share that. And it's like, man, can I give this to more people? And I started to do that more one on one and I started to feel like I need a scalable way to do it. and so I figured I why not do a podcast? I had done a podcast in the past with sports, so I was like, I'll do a finance podcast kind of nerd out, share my enthusiasm for it, see who js with it.
And bro, I just like fell in love with it man. I just love talking about it nonstop. And it's great that there's people out there that wanna listen. So,
[00:03:23] Danny: Why podcasting? To start, like you said actually that you started with a sports podcast, not obviously on this element of helping people, but you started with a sports podcast. That must have been quite a number of years ago. Why podcasting?
[00:03:36] Nathan: so this was like 2017. My boys started a sports podcast and I came on as a guest cuz I'm a big sports guy. I love sports. football, nba, you know, was just like everything. and we just like had such a sick time that I was like, And then I came on the week after that and the week after that and I was like, Okay, I just became a cohost.
so we then, we ran that for six, seven months and I really loved it, but I always knew I would do something else because I really enjoy this. I wanna grow this. But like, it was too casual to inform with my boys and that's fine. But I was like, This probably isn't gonna go anywhere.
and it kind of fizzled out. But that podcasting thing was pretty dope. Like, maybe I could just like solo riff it. I listened to a ton of podcasts myself. I felt like it was an underrated niche, that was growing rapidly. And so I felt like let me just start with that. In hindsight, I probably wouldn't start with a podcast.
I'd probably start with probably short form and, probably, some blend of YouTube as well. but at the time I really thought it was the right move and, I don't regret it at all. But that's just sort of the impetus as to why I picked podcasting.
[00:04:37] Danny: Yeah. Man's so interesting looking at someone who started a pod and then now your biggest channel is TikTok.
[00:04:43] Nathan: Yeah.
[00:04:44] Danny: I think that's an, interesting call out is that that is your evolution. Whereas usually it's go short form.
Yeah. Or some other type of content. And then, oh my, let's use the word fans, like want to hear more of my perspective and something where I can just be myself without having to appease an audience. Cool. Let me run a pod.
I was just gonna say, what do you think that did for you, man?
What do you think you gained from being a creator who started podcast first
and now moved into short term
[00:05:11] Nathan: I had to grind my face off, bro. I had to grind my face off. that's what it did for me. podcasting has zero discoverability, like nothing, so you have to get on social. And at the time it was Instagram where you're like hashtag researching and like doing all the classic hacks to like grow and like, you know, not follow for following all that BS but like reaching out to people in the community and looking, you know, who are the other creators in the space and, interacting and engaging and going live all the time and just putting hours and hours and hours of like, wrote work of reaching out to a ton of people and connecting with a ton of people.
and. compared to what TikTok is, where you could get hundred thousand followers in like a week versus like, literally like messaging each person and hope that they follow you, you know, it's, just a completely different world. So, I think with me, that is why I really don't regret it at all, cuz it kind of taught me not to be entitled with growth.
there might be a pay, you know, a, state where you have to go back to that sort of grind and that sort of hustle, where you're, really in the community and I always try to keep that with everything that I do, even though a lot of my stuff's more scaled. Now you do a video, you reach a lot more people, whatever.
It's like I'll never forget, actually like grinding that hard. And I think why also I wanted to do a podcast is because initially the podcast was just lessons, right? episode one is like, how to get your money together. Episode two was like, how to budget.
Episode three was like taxes, four was debt, five was investing. You know, six was whatever. that's the best way I could do that. the barrier to entry for YouTube was a bit higher. You gotta do the video and everything. It's just like less daunting. Let me just do the audio, and then we can transition into it later.
So I think I'm really glad I started with that because I, feel like I put that tenacity into my, work now. and luckily it's more scalable so that like the impact is higher. But it is interesting because most creators start with short form today and they expand into a podcast. Podcast is usually like ancillary thing to their like, main thing, right?
[00:07:04] Danny: Oh man. Too many things to jump on here. Let's talk that, tenacity, that grit. I think there's some correction potentially coming in the creator space, and that's the idea that it's so easy to blow up. It's so easy to see what it's like to get a million views. Now, obviously it takes a good video, et cetera, but relative, it's so easy. What's it like? Having put in the work where there was no easy escape to success, and then coming to a medium where it's the complete 180 where you put out a couple good videos. Next thing you can have 15,000 followers and 2 million views, then what does that do to you mentally?
[00:07:45] Nathan: it really messes with you and it takes you a while to get used to it. don't think you'll ever fully be like used to it, but I every day I'm more and more, attuned to like peaks and values of it. and to this day I still put a lot of the performance on me in the sense that there are extraneous in variables and things I can't control.
And I intuitively understand that, but at the end of the day, like I've seen time after time after time that the best creators on the platform deliver every single time and get consistent views. Like, it really is a lot about the content. Like, yes, there's gonna be some things around posting time and, it wasn't your day today or whatever, but a lot of the time it's like, was the content good?
Was it retaining people? and so initially that's all I thought about. I didn't really give myself a break for anything else. So when you have a video that does. A million views. I remember I had a negotiation series that, in a day the one video got like one and a half million.
And then I just kept doing them and, each one would get a million, a million, a million. And then when I wanted to talk about anything but negotiating, it would just like plummet to like the tens of thousands or, even the, Couple thousand, which is still a lot of people, but like it's, astronomically lower than, you know, the millions that I was getting or whatever.
And it really messed with me and it was like, man, do I even want to do this? Like, it kind of took me to that place. Where can I handle this? And you kind of just have to persevere man and continue to try to innovate and try to do different things and, push through it. And I would say I, I've seen even in the short, I feel like in my year, I've been a creator for three years now, it feels like I've been, it's equivalent to like a 15 year career.
given how long the economy's been, you know, around for. And I feel like I've seen so many case studies of somebody who pops, who's got a lot of potential and they literally can't handle it. Like it's just, that daunting where it's just like, I can't get it going again. Maybe I'll never get there.
And then life gets in the way and then, you never find out what could have been. and I always find to be like, I never want that to happen for me. I always want to continue to like push through and I've had. Number of sort of cycles, if you want to call it, where the performance isn't there and you just keep posting and you keep showing up and you keep trying to innovate.
You keep trying to optimize for retention and trying to do all the good things, and you will be rewarded over time, if you just continue to stay at it, which sounds like a trope, but like it's big facts, man. you have to do that if you want sustained success on these sort of quick hitter platforms because like you said, it's, easy for a lot of people to grow and get big and get those, your first couple videos that get popping, but like, what's your body of work?
Like, what have you done for me lately? Like how many, videos have you, gotten out? How many times have you popped? that's kind of what I think of. And like I said, I've been through the cycle long enough to be like, okay, you just have to like stay in the pocket, so to speak, until the next one comes.
And then that's just how it is.
[00:10:23] Danny: Dude, Where does your determination and work ethic come from? Because the truth of it is we're in this quick pop type environment where it's easy to say you have a hundred thousand followers. And again, not saying it's easy to get it, but relative to anything else in history, it's easy.
There is no body of work yet.
There is no struggle that you've been through. Maybe the struggle now is you can't get that million views again, and now you don't know what to do. But all I'm hearing with you is wake up, persist, wake up, look at the goal in a couple of years, wake up and just do your thing. You started out podcasting, just doing your thing, and there's again, no quick fix at all to success.
Where does this come from?
[00:11:04] Nathan: man. I think it honestly comes from my mom, man. I'll be honest with you. Like if I were to say one person in my life that just hammered that in when I was growing up is like, Really in the best way possible that you have to earn everything. you can have anything, but you can't have everything and, focusing on what you really want.
I would say my mom was just a huge inspiration to this day. and how hard she worked to put us on and, we didn't have much growing up. And so like, I didn't know how to answer that question a few years ago, but I would honestly say it comes from my mom, man. And, how I'm lucky enough that she really encouraged me.
whether it was through sports or with school, she always demanded the most out of me. and I look back very favorably at that because I think it, serves me well now, man. Like I, really think I can perform at a high level, with sort of a positive mindset. And I came from like a loving home, I'm hard on myself, but like in a loving way, if that makes sense.
So like, I believe in myself that much that I know I can do better as opposed to being like, Oh, you're a piece of shit. Like, why aren't you doing this? Why aren't you doing that? I feel like it's different. and so I would say that's definitely where it comes from and I just try to curate that or, try to grow that as much as I can, and apply it to, what I do now.
[00:12:12] Danny: Dude, what a cool cycle. Parents raise you. You really appreciate your mom. She gives you something that is intangible. Like you can't thank anyone in any type of way for this because it's just so invaluable. Yet now you have accumulated all this knowledge because of what she's given you. And I'd assume that allows you to put her in a position where she can just make smarter decisions and maybe the stress in the future will be less than what she would've had if she didn't have you.
[00:12:39] Nathan: Yeah, man. I mean, like I live to serve in a sense that I love serving for my audience. I also like do a lot of what I do to, take care of my family and I wanna put on my family. It's like a really like North Star thing for me. I, do think it comes like full circle in that sense that, my mom helped instill this in me to go out and grind so I could give it back to my mom.
And she, you know, it's like this, awesome cycle. it's cool man. realize that more and more and I feel like I'm you know, with the negotiation series, like my mom's one of the best negotiators. I know, man. it's crazy. And I think a lot of people could relate to this like, If you were lucky enough to have, positive childhood, you realize that you're similar to your parents in a lot of ways, and as you would age, you're like, Damn, you have these sort of like, idiosyncratic sort of things that kind of happen.
You're like, Oh man, my dad used to do this a lot, or I'm turning into my mom, or whatever it is. crazy, man.
[00:13:27] Danny: it reminds me of maybe two, three years ago. My mom's a presentation skills and vocal coach, like vocal leadership coach,
and growing up never wanted to take lessons from her no matter who she was working with, what she was doing. And it gets to a point now where I always thought I hated public speaking and I always had such a fear, but it was just because I wasn't talking from that.
Like it wasn't something that I really enjoyed. And just talking because I genuinely loved it. I have fallen into a place where I am very good at what I do when I'm in front of people on a stage. my mom was always like, see, should have taken lessons of me. This, this would've come earlier.
But like, I don't know where this has come from because I never took lessons from her. But to your point, you're around these people. To me, what's
so. , typical might be pushed to the wayside of like, Yeah, she always talks about this and says this. When you're giving him presentation and pausing, and I'm like, Yeah, yeah, whatever, whatever.
That's just been drilled into me that it makes me feel like Oh, this is obvious, but it's not. So do you, the negotiation or the drive, it's like, I'm sure everyone knows this, and then you get to X situation and you're like, Oh wait, I've got, power over people in this case.
[00:14:32] Nathan: No, it's, it's wild man. And I think it's unconscious in a sense. Like you just don't even realize what you've been around for years and years and years. And it's crazy. You can, perform and you can apply that and you can make that serve you or you can kind of just like ignore it.
And I think it's good when people lean into that sort of like unfair advantage that they may have had being around a certain type of person when they were growing up. Right?
[00:14:55] Danny: It's like the, I think it's outliers. Malcolm Gladwell. Where he talks about people are just born into certain situations, which put them ahead of other people. And a lot of the time in those situations, you don't know you're in those situations until you look back and you're like, Oh my God. It was because I had the only mic in all of Canada that I could podcast, and that's why I became the best podcaster.
Right. But So cool to hear Shadow to Mama Kennedy. I think the, thing I wanna go back to is you said like you're here to serve, and the first time we spoke, the thing that was blatantly clear was that you're here to help.
[00:15:30] Nathan: Mm-hmm.
[00:15:31] Danny: Is that something that drives you every single day you're creating your content?
Are you always thinking, how is this gonna help someone or does it manifest in other ways?
[00:15:40] Nathan: I think for the most part it's, how am I adding value? Like adding value is, everything. I feel like that's how I've, grown is, making sure that. Everything that I put out, add some sort of value, and, now I do, sometimes I'll do like skits, like, right, this week I'm doing, a skit on like workplace stuff.
And it's, more funny and it's light and it's, performing really well because people resonate with it and, they really enjoy it and things like that. So I do like to give something, it, maybe if it's not a tip or the more traditional, like sort of like, value add that I am doing. It's something that's educational or relatable or that makes people think and gives them something, right.
It's not sort of aimless. I don't really do trends. I don't really do like dancing. Nothing that's, anything wrong with that. I
[00:16:21] Danny: on bro. I wanna see you on the
[00:16:23] Nathan: I do, I do that, I do funny stuff on my story and that sometimes, but for the most part with the actual content, like I'm trying to give you something or make you think about something.
Basically what the video is about is like, not getting promoted and, kind of being passed over and the ridiculousness of it, but it makes you think like, man, maybe I'm in that position.
Maybe it's time for me to look around or get on LinkedIn. Or maybe, I should be thinking about that. And is resonating with people cuz they're commenting things like, going through this right now, Oh my God, this was me like a month ago. Or like, whatever. And while it's light and lighthearted, it can be kind of like, Oh man, I, need to get on this.
And so I think I'm always trying to add value in some way. Sometimes it's more literally, here's the tip. Sometimes it's more, indirect and it's something to make you sort of think about a topic or something that I'm chatting about. So,
[00:17:11] Danny: So then in that case, because you are so value driven as a creator, what's the relationship like with your audience
in terms of like how are you to your audience and how are you taking from your audience if they see so much in what you're offering them, what are you doing to, let's say, hear them out or hear their perspective and potentially either turn that into content or turn that into a different strategy that you can then further serve what they're doing?
Or I could have just put a situation on you. That's not the truth at all. It's more just what's the give and take because you offer so much.
[00:17:45] Nathan: absolutely. I think ultimately, like I'm a full time creator. I mean, if, do branded posts and I do integrations and things like that. So you could argue that I'm getting away from my content to, enrich myself to some degree, but I'm more so supporting the work or supporting the art, right?
and so I think that's part of the, take, so to speak, down the line. I think I do want to launch different sort of products and businesses and things like that. And hopefully, in my opinion, I really want to add value, but I, be remiss if I didn't say like, Yeah, it would, definitely help me out too, to have another business as well to run and, run adjacently with the content and everything.
But I think for the most part, give and take with respect to the content, I really am like in the weeds still. Like I try to apply it as many comments as I can. I answer every single dm. I really know what my audience is looking for. And, I try to provide help as much as I can in different scenarios.
I'm trying to go live more in a, a big focus for me right now is going deeper, with my audience because it's, a little bit tougher with short form and you that can kind of get lost because they only get 30 seconds of you and then it's scrolling to the next video and the next video, and it's like, it's not YouTube where it's sort of opting in.
You're just like in front of them for 10, 20 minutes straight. And while I am trying to grow long form YouTube, which has been awesome and it's been really freaking hard, but, I'm really trying to go deeper with a lot of this stuff. So, you know, going live more, doing more stories, providing more access to myself and creating that deep, community is, something I'm really focused on right now.
And honestly, man, it's just, hearing them out constantly, being in the comments, being in the weeds, never, getting away from that and, constantly trying to serve them. And again, like it does serve me because I make a career outta this too. So
[00:19:25] Danny: Dude, what's it like going live?
[00:19:26] Nathan: it's, uh, depends how prepared you are. That's, what I would say. Sometimes just hopping on live and just answering questions is, usually what I do. But sometimes I'll come on with like a lesson or something I wanna like, chat about. I'll do like a little bit of a opener for like, five to 10 minutes, kind of talk about what, whatever I'm talking about.
and then usually just turns into a q and a and I'm just, chatting with my audience and it's awesome because a lot of them come with really great questions and they feel like they're genuinely like talking to you, and I found that over time, like those people have stuck around for.
years now, and because they had that interaction like way, way, way long ago. And it's wild, man. So it's humbling, bro, to be honest. Like, it's, crazy to see how much people benefit from just like me answering a question live. Like it's awesome.
[00:20:13] Danny: It's cool to see how, again, if you just take a look at fundamentally how we interact as humans, it's always the stuff where there's the give and take or even that Parasocial relationship watching on YouTube, 10 minutes, but I'm like, Watch 'em spending essentially 10 minutes with you versus the current trend of short form 15, 30, 45 seconds.
It feels like you've honed in on. What it means to actually be a friend to someone or be an educator to someone, and not just quick tips. I can imagine, dude, that's gonna pay off intro. So as you were talking about, it seems like it's gonna pay off a ton where you're giving so much in many different formats it almost resembles that of a friendship.
[00:20:55] Nathan: Yeah, and I, I like light up. When I think about How close of a community can I create? How tight of a community can I create? I wish there was more of a metric to see what that is. I mean, you could argue that your conversion rates and, you know, if you were to start a product, how many people sign up and like, those kinds of things show it.
But I'm just getting started with trying to foster that and try to create that. And maybe it's a discord chatter. Maybe it's just like a free thing where it's a Patreon or something like that, where it's just like the OGs and, it's just exclusive content and could show up really there.
But I'm just really getting started with that over these past few months. But it's been cool, man, getting deeper and kind of getting back to how it was originally when, I'm one on one talking to like literally every single person, as much as I can. And it's, really enjoyable. It takes me back, man.
[00:21:37] Danny: I feel like I'm in a therapy session right now with you. why do you keep adapting and trying things? Man, again, it's not, typical, It's not usual, in the best of ways for everyone listening the absolute best of ways. I'm not like, who is this guy?
Stop drawing things. What is that man like?
Where, where does that come from and why are you so focused on, Right? Like you told me you went podcasting and you went short form. Now you're trying long form on YouTube, but you're going live and then you're think like, there's so much here that you're trying, I can tell you're taking a lot away from each.
[00:22:09] Nathan: Yeah, I, I think, it all comes from me wanting to do this forever. Like genuinely, how do I. Be a creator for as long as literally possible, because I'm very cognizant of the fact that like, this could evaporate. And I used to be scared of that, but now I'm like kind of lean into that and I kind of embrace it in the sense that, okay, cool.
Yeah, like there might be a window here, but we're going to try to continue to optimize and make sure that we're able to be in a position to just continue to create and continue to do things that put me in a position to create, indefinitely or, until I don't want to anymore. it's a game to me, dude.
I love this. Like, I genuinely love it. Like I really enjoy it. I love up with an idea and slaving over it and executing it and working on the copy and refining the script and editing and then putting it out and, seeing people love your work. It's just, cathartic, it's, amazing.
It's just like, this feeling I've never had before and I'm like totally enamored with it. And so I'm like, Man, I wanna do this as long as I can. And so, putting the infrastructure around that, whether it's an external business or creating a tighter community or whatever it is, that allows me to continue this relationship with my audience and continue to put out content and, and serves the, craft of it is what I'm so focused on.
So the reason I'm getting into long form is because I feel like I'll be able to connect more with my audience. The reason why I go live is because I want to connect more with the audience. Like, Christian Guzman's, my favorite creator probably of all time. He, his fitness influencer. I would say he is a YouTuber.
More so started in like 2011. The guy's my hero, started the brand called athlete, which is like, you've heard of Jim Shark, probably It's like the Adidas to Nike for, Jim Apparel. He started that as a YouTuber. He's had a decade long career. he's taken a step back from. creating content. He'll maybe do like three months worth of YouTube videos and he'll take like nine months off. But when he comes back, it's like he never left. And I'm like, I want that. I want to work towards that.
Like how do I create such a strong community and give so much to people that like I could step back and pursue something or do something for a few months and come back and like I've built such equity with them that I could just come back and pick up like I never left. He's done that so many times and I admire that so much.
And everything is in service of that to where that guy can create content to the day he dies. Right. And it's, awesome. And I really want to work towards that. And it excites me. It like lights me up, fills me up. And so that's why I'm doing all these different things cuz at the end of the day, it all leads back to the same thing for me.
[00:24:33] Danny: So when you're on this journey and what a cool journey, like I can just tell in your, that you've been smiling for a lot of it, but talking about this, I can tell like the eyes are darting all over. You're, you're trying to, like, hone in on what you truly believe. So this is so cool.
how do you know if what you're doing is really striking a chord and building towards depth with your audience versus, a million views on TikTok videos can almost skew that view of like what you're really going after. what do you look at? What do you look.
[00:25:00] Nathan: I really try to stay locked in. You know, a lot of people kind of, Say you should ignore comments and things like that. Like I'm, constantly monitoring the sentiment of the comments and the feedback and that kind of stuff, and I think that's where you really get the most outspoken people, whether they absolutely hate what you're doing or absolutely love it.
there are some people in the middle that will still comment, there's a silent majority and there's a loud minority, but still can be representative of the, masses, right. And so I'm constantly trying to like, see where sentiment is at and see, what people are getting from it.
And, it's really these sort of offhand, like you can't even quantify it. Like sometimes you'll just get dms or, you know, you'll get these anecdotes. Like I ran into somebody, at FinCon and they told me, offhand, they're like, you know, I ran into them, they follow my content, whatever.
And we were chatting. He was like, Dude, like. . I watch one of your videos where I should like check, if I have an uncashed check or something. I had a thousand dollars waiting there. I wouldn. have done that if it wasn't for you, man. Literally, thank you. Like it was a thousand dollars.
Or like, things like that, where it's just like, I can't even, quantify it, but you kind of just know. You're like, Okay, like people are really getting value from this and like, they'll never forget that. Like they saw some TikTok or whatever, and it was like, you, and it's crazy, man.
So constantly trying to figure that out. And Once you've been doing it for a bit, you can kind of tell when it's like a shallow or video or it's not as deep and when you really move to people. I remember I did a video with, where it was basically just telling people that it's okay to work a nine to five.
Like literally that was a video. Like it was like you don't have to be an entrepreneurial, you know, hustle porn, you know, whatever. Right. you could totally be a total g work it a nine to five and when people just say like, Thank you so much. Like, I've been feeling like such a, piece of shit cuz I don't have a business or I feel like I'm so lost because of this.
And like, just watching this just gave me so much peace. And it's like, okay, yeah, you're going in the right direction when like people are saying things like that. Right. So that's how I kind of gauge him in.
[00:26:50] Danny: So you talk about how you gauge the reaction with the audience, and that's almost indicative of how well you're doing as a creator towards your goal of depth and in service of them and educating. then how do you gauge what type of content you put out, what, you were saying now, you've recently started a series where it's all about the workplace, employee versus employer around different situations do you kind of have like a, a bucket where you're like, Oh, 80% I'm always doing X and then I'm always gonna try 20% and if it hits, I'm gonna add it to the bucket.
is there a methodology around trying different types of content and trying different categories of content?
[00:27:26] Nathan: Yeah, I mean, I, feel like I'm more. broad. I'm very broad in the sense that like, to me, personal finance is like the career and workplace cuz that's where you make your money. And it can also be like life and it can be like business and it can be like, it's, bigger than budgeting and investing.
To me, even politics kind of ties into that. I'll talk a lot about, you know, the new tax reform or the new this or whatever. it's like all things money. So like my page is new money, Nate, and I'm technically personal finance, but like, it's quite broad.
So there's an abundance of topics that I could talk, I will never, ever, ever run out of things to talk about. There's just too much going on with what I talk about to, run out. and if I think I've ran out of something, I'm just not looking hard enough or I'm not being, you know, innovative enough.
Or maybe I can take something that I've talked about before and reinvent it or something like that. So I think I study the hell out of the platform in the sense that, you know, what are the videos that are performing really well? What are some videos from the past that have performed well? what are some different styles, Things like that.
Like I'm constantly like studying everything about TikTok and Instagram and YouTube and trying to really get a good gauge of that. but at this stage, like do have a pretty good sense of what I'm trying to get across as well. So kind of blending that and making sure that I don't sort of just like, create content purely for me.
It's, content that I know can resonate and make people, you know, excited and, can perform well. And so it can get out to other people. So there's no like, set rotation, I guess you could say. I have my, like ones that have worked in the past, but it's more so like, Anything's fair game, and maybe this week I wanna run with a certain topic or I wanna make a few videos on a certain topic to get a message across.
And then I'll do that. and I'm probably gonna do it in a way that's pretty strategic in terms of performance. But at the end of the day, like I'm trying to add value, so,
[00:29:09] Danny: Did you talk of performance? And that was, we were talking earlier and I was saying to you creators that come on this podcast, to me, they're those that are either underrated and or those that I theoretically want to invest in for some reason or another, right? Like they stand out versus others. this is one of the biggest things to me about you, man.
Like the personal finance category is large. There's many people in it. There's many people trying to do it, some successfully, some not. And then there's also the element of the, It's like the back and forth interview where you're acting is two or three different people. The difference with human is that you're taking, you're editing and you're.
So seriously,
and I haven't seen that with many others, man. Talk to me about that. Like what, goes through your mind? How are you leveling up? Why the performance? It's is fascinating.
[00:29:57] Nathan: Yeah, man. I think it's just, there's so many great creators and other niches that I watch, They make, they're provocative. They make you think they have some acting element to them. And I feel like naturally, like I'm a pretty good communicator and I've always kind of been sort of a character in a sense.
and I like it. Like I really enjoy acting. I love adding things that are, a little bit different. And, constantly with skits in finance, it's pretty bland, right? Like, I'll be honest, like very bland. it's very like a person B, person a, person B, follow from you, like whatever.
And I'm like, how can I like spice it up, make it more organic? Let me try to be like, like I'm actually talking to, like, when I'm recording in my camera, I'm really trying to like, it takes me a few takes, but I'm really trying to act and maybe I'm a little bit more. Animated than I otherwise would be Sure I'm performing.
But like I really do love adding the different cuts and the pauses and the, drama and making it a sort of like, deeper story and cuz it just stands out. I enjoy that. I get a lot out of that because it feels more real, it feels more authentic. it gives the video more depth.
And like I said, there's a ton of creators that do that in different niches. there's this new guy, man, I, forget his name, but he's this Australian guy and he just started this series where, He's talking to himself, but it's, him and it's, he's talking to his shadow and his shadow is like the, dark angel, and it's going mental.
Like it's got like, I think every video gets a few million views, but it's so deep. Like he's talking about the philosophy of lying and lying with good means and just so random. Like, it's like how has TikTok even gotten here where like there's genuine, like philosophy talk, right?
I love those creators, man. I take so much from those types of creators that are doing different things and adding a more serious element, to it. And, like literally nobody does that in finance. So I'm like, well, why can't I do some like acting and some fun stuff there and make it more real?
And I think with workplace in particular, I'm able to come alive a lot more because people can. Really empathize with that, cuz most people have a job. Most people have a boss. Most people hate their boss . Um, so it's just an easy sell. And then if I can add some sort of, flare to it, just adds to that more of a intrigue and makes them want to watch it more.
Right. So
[00:32:11] Danny: How many hours a week or how much time are you putting into looking at what other people are doing, watching what other people are doing, and almost, I'll use like the Austin Cleon term, but like stealing like an artist.
[00:32:23] Nathan: man, I a lot. I would say like if I were to put a number, like at least a few hours a day, I would say most days, like I'm watching a lot of content, I'm like taking in a lot, like at least, one to two minimum. Like whether it's my niche or somebody else's niche or whatever, I'm constantly.
Trying to have a bank of ideas or like a well, of ideas that I can kind of riff off and, get inspiration from. And I find more and more I get inspiration outside of my niche. which is awesome. I find that like, it's, pretty standard. Like maybe I'll take a topic that is talked about, but like, I'm gonna take number of elements from other areas and I think that's what makes it so cool is that I really, I feel like I'm making my own thing because not many people are, taking these, this sort of inspiration and adding it to finance.
Right. and that's why I'm like really empowered to do that. And it's, sort of unique in that sense versus if everybody was doing this then like, it's not really that unique. It's not really that special maybe, it's not really what I want to do, but, and I don't necessarily think I'm it just to be different.
It's just like, sometimes, like I reach a point where I was like, if somebody said like, Let show me your content, and I'm showing them the content, showing them a video of me. Like, am I proud of that? Or am I like cringing the whole time? Like scared obviously, you're always gonna be kind of like, ah, you know, but most of the time you should be proud.
Be like, Hell yeah, man. Like, look at my stuff. Like I'm, proud of that. Like, I shot in 4k, you know, I'm, acting, I'm doing my thing. I'm proud of that. I put, I put a lot of work into that and, you know, I found that I wanted to have that feeling when I would present my work. And I treat it as if it's like my painting or like my book that's how I should think of it.
And I, hope more creators like, think of their, content as like their, canvas, so to speak. And that they're like proud to show off their work as opposed to kind of just like doing whatever works, trying to pop off, trying to get the numbers, trying to get the brand deals For me, like I just think that will leave me so empty. You know,
[00:34:14] Danny: Dude, right now you sound like Tyler, the creator in the best of ways. one of my favorites and he's gone on record often and will always say, Dude, if you put something out into the world, why don't you stand by it? it's your choice to put it out. And so if it's your choice to put it out, you should be right behind it all the time talking about why it's so valuable.
And even more so. I was actually talking to a friend about this today. Funny that it came up. He was saying that Tyler has this thing where he goes, If I put out an album today and it's three months later, it's three years later, Oh yo, you can bet I'm gonna be talking about that thing. It doesn't die after a day.
It doesn't die after two or three days. And it's what I'm hearing from you, man, is
that there's such a. love for what you're doing, but there's also this element of intention, which truthfully, it is so rare in the personal finance category, like how you're approaching it and what you're doing. But before I go, I wanna go a little bit deeper into the personal finance category and like learn more about it.
Who inspires you, man? where are your inspirations? Whether it's today looking at TikTok or just in general in life.
[00:35:24] Nathan: You know, I think with TikTok in general, I think I've got a lot of friends. I feel like I know a lot of the, finance crew, and there's a few creators that really kind of inspire me because they're really authentic. Like, I think one that is really great. Her name's, Vivian too.
She's your reach bff. She's like pretty big, across platforms and, I interviewed her a two years ago. And, that's just when she was getting started and she's just been on such a rocket ship and she is just so authentically herself. unapologetically. She has completely kind of come in and been like, just this like anomaly, like she's her own person.
She's. very, very outspoken on certain issues and she's just so herself in your face. And like, I love that because there wasn't that, there isn't that like, I mean, in personal finance. And so, she's a huge inspiration for me and has influenced my content. I think there's a few other creators along those same lines where it's just like they're kind of doing something different.
They're, adding a little bit of spice to the game or whatever it is. I also like, obviously look up to a lot of the big finance YouTubers like Graham Stephan and Andre J and all those kinds of guys, especially right now as I'm trying to grow on YouTube and figure out what that whole game is.
and then in just more broadly, like, I feel like there's just so many people that I just get so excited and learning about their story and I never want to be like anybody else, but I love like, Learning what they do. And, I genuinely, like, maybe it comes from my mom, but like if somebody's able to do something, I'm like, okay, I can, probably do that too.
I could probably figure that out. Like I How much smarter are they than me? Like probably not that much smarter. Like, you know, we're all generally in the same sort of area, right? maybe I could figure this out and if so, they, were able to figure it out, maybe I could too. And so that's why I get so excited learning about these different, maybe if it's business leaders or, if it's a, founder.
I listen to a lot of, startup founders stories and how I built this and a lot of different areas and that I try to take inspiration from. But people that make me question the world in, a positive way and think rethinking what's actually possible.
yeah, those are the people I gravitate towards the most. And a lot of those people are in, are in business or the startup culture or whatever. Like, I, really like to listen to a lot of that. So,
[00:37:28] Danny: What I can see is that the people that you're naturally aligning yourself with are driven by some mission that's giving to someone else. Or a lot of the time it's for someone else, but even more for someone else. They're driven purely by who they are. Like they play within their own personal balance, but they play in it really, really well
and pushing to the personal finance category. What's that like these days, man? Like where is it at? Where do you see it going? Cause it seems like, there are many great personal finance creators, and you have this new generation that's coming up with access to TikTok to be more financially astute.
I know it's a loaded quote, like a pretty open ended question, but where do you see this personal finance space going in the next five, 10 years?
[00:38:11] Nathan: Man, I think it's, the easiest answer, bro. It's gonna grow . No, but I think, it's so cool, man. I see more and more people creating content, more new accounts popping up every single day. Like it's, insane. Like it's, awesome to see more and more people talking about money.
I feel like it's gotten so big, man. Like, a lot of more people, a lot more of Gen Z At least they know that they should be good with money and they are studying to learn a thing or two, and they are more financially aware than previous generations. I could, bank on that a hundred percent.
and I do put a little bit of that on social media. And so I definitely think, it's continuing to grow. I mean, I look at the biggest examples are is, is the YouTubers, and how many people they've been able to impact and how big they have gotten. Purely talking about the, do you know, dollars and cents, and nothing crazy.
And, doing it the right way and not talking about get rich quick schemes and like the good stuff, the boring stuff, but they presented it in an entertainment sort of way where it's like you're learning, but they're, getting entertained as well. And so I'm very bullish on a man or else I wouldn't be, bullish for my own career, as well.
So I think. I'm just like excited for the space and I hope people like Viv and other creators people that are coming up, like find their own voice and do different stuff. There's a creator, that just popped up actually, that wanna mention that he, just came outta nowhere and like now he's, got a few hundred thousand k, but like, overnight kind of sped up. And I love what he does because it's just so different. Alex Pesos, I think is his name. he'll take like a shark tank, clip, and then he'll basically just explain. You know, what happened afterward, and what happened afterward with the founder that was on Shark Tank and like, what the story was.
And then he'll kind of take, do a takeaway and it's like really entertaining and like you learn a ton about business and like personal finance. And now he's starting to do other content. And the storytelling that he has is just like, dude, this is so sick. And it's so simple. He's not doing some crazy edits.
doesn't have a production team. It's just him sort of telling these people's stories and then integrating like a lesson in it. And it's just like, I hope more and more people come up, they're doing just like different stuff and, helping people learn and sort of like hiding the veggies in the sense that like, they don't even realize they're learning.
they feel like they're being entertained, but they're like, holy smokes. Like they're implicitly learning about all of this kind of jazz.
[00:40:21] Danny: I like that a lot. Hype the veggies. Find the creators that are hiding the
veggies.
[00:40:25] Nathan: Yeah, exactly. Yes. Theory says that all the time.
So
gotta put, I gotta mention them, but yeah.
[00:40:30] Danny: Yeah. Shout out those guys,
[00:40:31] Nathan: very, very crazy.
[00:40:32] Danny: yeah, in that, lane, in that scope. So you're talking about this guy that is doing things a little bit differently or he's at least portraying business lessons in an interesting way. Again, tying into popular show and then storytelling in the way. It flows.
Do you see right now an opportunity for someone else to fill, or do you see a void in this personal finance space that you're either excited to fill yourself and or you think someone will fill in the future if it's not you?
[00:41:01] Nathan: I guess on that note, I think Canada, it's crazy, dude. there are some great Canadian finance creators, but like, I'm shocked at how little there are. I really am we always joke about how small Canada is, you know, there's 35 million people and I probably know all the Canadian finance people on the platform, which is like, I'm not actually happy about, I wish there was more of a, vibrant sort of community.
And so that's one thing I really want to see kind of come up because as I've sort of grown, I still talk about Canada a lot. Like I, still try to talk about these topics a lot, but I am more of a general creator and, that's sort of the evolution. But there's a few guys that are coming up that are like Canadian focused and they're getting some traction and like, I love to see that.
I think that's a huge opportunity. Like, if a Canadian is listening to this and wants to talk about finance, like I just start off with a Canadian finance cuz that's how I grew a lot, early on. And like, I think you could serve that need indefinitely. and I think somebody could definitely come in and, really take over Canadian finance. Like truly, that's not the game I'm trying to play, per se. not to say that like it's easy or anything, but like, that's just not really what I'm doing. But like, if somebody wanted to, they could come in and I just absolutely dominate. I also think that like, I'm trying my best to figure out this, like more in depth storytelling thing.
But it's wide open. Like there's just, so much opportunity to tell these different stories and figure out how you can convey these skits or whether it's skits or whether it's just like covering a topic or whatever it is. Like I think. I think somebody's gonna come along and just like absolutely blow out of the water, and I'm trying to be that person.
I'm just one guy. Like, it's a massive platform. billions of people on it. Like, just so much room to innovate on some of the stuff that's happening in our niche. And unfortunately, like not that many people are right now, but I'm telling you, I, wouldn't be surprised if it starts to happen more.
So
[00:42:50] Danny: it's almost like I'm not equating you to Amazon, even though like I think you will grow, I think you will be very big in the future, but it's almost like an Amazon or like this massive company being like, Yeah, like I know gonna get blown outta the water soon, so let's just have fun. doing it and find our space. I remember you telling me. A couple weeks out when we spoke a while back that your professor from school or back at Western University invited you to come speak with some kids, and you talk about how right now where you are, you think there's a ton of opportunity for tons of creators to come up and one might blow you outta the water and there's like a crown to snatch.
What's that like with creators and professors? Because the way that, again, you portray your content is, man, I can listen to you talk all day. Like the, skits or like the, the long form or the audio, whatever may be, it's there and it's what you told me, like it's easy to understand and there's entertainment, but you don't see that a lot with professors.
Do you think there's a world where like professors are now working with creators or creators become professors?
[00:43:50] Nathan: Yeah, I mean I definitely think like that could be a world. I think obviously there's a lot of institutional sort of like. status games that could kind of get Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bullshit that could kind of get in between of that credentials. And not to say that those things are don't matter.
They're, credentials are credentials and all that kind of stuff, but especially with an older, more, you know, gated institution, like a university where there's tenure and there's all these politics and things like that, Like a lot of stuff can get in the way. I think I even heard like Colin and Samir talk about how there's a Stanford professor that's basically creating a course off their content.
Not even like low key, like is actually like modeling it off their stuff. . and that's really cool to see. And I think if a professor really wants to get innovative, like yeah, they could, a hundred percent. Do that more. I think my, professor that I had is, one of the best, at that he jokes around, he's like, Yeah, you should just come teach the class half the time, Right?
you could do half the semester, all this kind of stuff. And I think, it would serve a lot of professors well to get students excited and entertained and, you know, like with, fitness, even if it was like a, kin class or something like that, like having a YouTuber come in, like more plates, more dates, or Jeff Nippert or some of these bigger YouTubers come and give a lecture.
Like, dude, you'd sell out a lecture if you had some of these YouTubers come in and give a free lesson. Like, dude, a professor wants to like, innovate and get their students excited about what they're learning, to bring some of these people who are building massive, millions and millions of, subscribers, followers, whatever, platforms from education, right?
Like, it's a very real thing across multiple niches where people want to learn, people think students just don't care, whatever. It's like, no, no, no. People want to learn. You just have to talk to them in the right way and they want to get better and they want to have good lives. you just have to like, hide the veggies a bit and entertain them and have them fun and, and all that kind of stuff.
But, at the root of what I do is teaching man. Like I'm really just trying to teach as much as I can. so there's definitely a world where that crosses over if, the professors want to sort of put in the work to bring us on. Cause we can't just barge through the door and be like, put us in a lecture.
Right?
[00:45:52] Danny: You had to. But imagine that like you're making me think of if I was back at school, I did business and you take any course, you take a marketing course, you take finance operation, whatever the hell it is, and you can bring. Someone who has that storytelling element. You have the, the old head, the more institutional professor where there's obviously a place. But even thinking about it now, man, what a interesting way for universities and colleges to draw a new kids. If you're like, Oh, you're, taking the, the science degree or the business degree, dude, there's always gonna be the like X storytellers, X creators coming in and like further explaining and getting you into what a cool way to bring the old with the new.
[00:46:30] Nathan: It could be, man, It could be. And like I, said, I think, over time that'll happen more and more where you'll see people kind of come in and guest speakers that are actually like. Kind of have some cloud and, students that actually recognize them and it gets them excited and all that kind of stuff.
[00:46:43] Danny: Yeah.
[00:46:43] Nathan: we'll see man. We'll see.
[00:46:45] Danny: what was that, experience like when you went to that finance class with
your professor?
[00:46:50] Nathan: it was really, really dope because, I think it's funny, I've done it a few times and they were all on Zoom, unfortunately. I was supposed to go in, but the last one was on Zoom. I think I'm just gonna go there every year. So I'll probably be there this year and it'll for sure be in person.
So I think it'll be a lot different. But it was great, man. Like, just kind of connecting with them and hearing their questions and kind of just like chatting about all this kind of stuff. And you don't really know how well it lands over Zoom as well, there's not much feedback. But like last week somebody reached out and asked me a question about something.
and was like, Hey, I was in Barry Han's class like from like a year ago, and I've been falling ever since. And I'm like, What the fuck? Actually, I had no idea. I've gotten that message like a few times where I'm just like, did you like the presentation? They're like, Nate, it literally was like life changing.
Like I, was so motivated after that, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I just would never know because maybe they didn't have a question or they, whatever, but they walked away from the chat and they were like, Holy fuck. And I would never know that until they reach out or they say something. Right. So because of that, I know, okay, maybe it was a good chat.
It was awesome. And so that's why I like, love doing stuff like that. And so I'm not actively looking out for that stuff, but I definitely want to do more of it because I think it's really, complimentary to all the stuff that I'm doing right now. So,
[00:48:04] Danny: Well, not only complimentary, man, it adds a level of validity. If you can go into an institution where kids are supposed to be there to learn to get better, and the message that you get back after it could be a day, could be a month, a year, is, Man, you changed something for me. You inspired me. made me.
Actually want to delve deeper into whatever the topic it is. that's what all education institutions should be striving for is, right. Get that person in and not only let them leave with a degree in knowledge, but let them leave with like such a thirst and such a hunger, the same hunger that you have to learn every single day.
[00:48:39] Nathan: Absolutely man. And I think Yemen, I want to be the person that, I would love to have seen in class. You know, I'm trying to, like, whenever I'm making a
presentation,
I'm trying to like show up as the person. I would've been like, Yo, that guy's fucking sick.
I'm trying to be that person for someone else, and so how do I like make the presentation like dope, right?
[00:48:58] Danny: it's cool you say that. I've been thinking a lot about identifying talent and what is it that I can look for in indicators when someone says something or I can just watch in their videos. And one thing I came to recently is that you should bet on creators who create for their younger selves, but I think in a specific like education context with what you're saying, what you just said, just took it to a new level, right?
Create the content. Be the person that you would've wanted to learn from. Dude, what a powerful statement you're gonna, There's so many kids always coming in and out of learning situations, and as long as, unless finance becomes obsolete, which it'll never be, I don't know, man. I'm excited for you, dude.
This is cool. Let me ask you a hypothetical. if the prof came to you and was like, You know what, man, I want to take a semester off, and people just keep saying, We want that guy Nate. we want someone. Interesting. What would your course be on? What would your semester be on?
[00:49:48] Nathan: Man, it would just be like a, It wouldn't be that much different than Barry, something like my old professor has, because his was like, really, I loved his course. I loved money and I loved do about it, he really opened up my mind to a lot of things early on.
and I wouldn't do that much different from him. I think I'd maybe add a little bit more of an element, but he's pretty, with the times, he tries to be as entertaining as possible. And like he brings in guys like me, who have no credentials just to talk to his, past students. So, I'd probably do something along the lines where it's a boot camp where. You took that course and it serves you for the rest of your life. you will never forget the lessons that you learned in that course. And you walk away being like, okay, what was the most valuable course you took?
it was personal finance 2 27 or whatever it is. like I will never forget that. So how could I create a sort of one stop shop teach somebody everything they possibly need in 12 weeks? that's what the course would be. So it'd probably be like sort of a bootcamp and then trying to, make it as astaining as possible, Right.
So,
[00:50:44] Danny: brings me back to that. I remember when I was listening to some podcasts, that you were on or that you hosted, I think that was two dudes and they were asking you, how did you get started? Like, what was it that put you into this realm of getting started? And the thing that you said was you were listening to a podcast and you found that you wished they explained it better.
So you started to create the content that like you would've to hear from them. I think it's why you're such a good communicator, right? It's like why your content hits, because it's so easy to understand, even if you're talking about something. Taxes which suck, and no one wants to talk about the way that it's delivered.
Especially with this element of performance and the different cuts and the, characters, it brings it to life in a way where, yeah, I wanna watch the next video. I wanna get to the next pool. So it's cool to see the reason that you started continue to get stronger and stronger over time. And I can tell it's not going away anytime soon.
[00:51:39] Nathan: Yeah, man, honestly that's what it comes down to, man, Like, trying to make it as simple as possible, like, and as easy to understand as possible and like, I always liken it to being with your boy at the bar, having a drink. Like how would I constantly have to remind myself like, to have that in mind and like, not overexplain things, but not even omit things that aren't even that necessary, like, and make it down to the bear essentials.
So like, this is what you need to take away from it. And using informal language and really trying to get in character. So you feel like that person's your friend. Right. that's really part of just me trying to land the message. All the acting, all the cuts, all the, everything is just like an organics play.
Like it's, I'm just trying to make it organic so that you feel okay, this just like, sounds like a guy talking to me. And it, really feels like that. So that's what it all comes down to, man, is just trying to make it as simple as possible.
[00:52:33] Danny: dude, so many cool things in this conversation. and truly there's so many other topics that I do wanna explore, but I'm gonna start to sunset
the
pod, but put a pin in it. Sunset at whatever these stupid cliches are. At the end of every pod, I always ask five questions.
And so I'm gonna hit you at these five. First question is, where and or what environment are you most creative in?
[00:52:58] Nathan: I in my car. Driving.
[00:53:00] Danny: Okay, do you find that the best ideas come when you're driving in your
[00:53:03] Nathan: hundred, hundred, hundred, hundred
percent. Yeah. My car driving music off. sometimes I'll just do that when I'm just like thinking and I just music off, podcast off. Just like driving, thinking it's the best.
[00:53:14] Danny: Something about motion, man. All right. Well then flip that to a different median. What is your Favorite book? is one of
[00:53:21] Nathan: one of my favorite books is The Wealthy Barber by Dave Shelton. It's like a A to Z personal finance book. Really simple, great storytelling. I mean, it's like a parable, basically. It's just like the story of this like guy, he's a barber, he's like a millionaire.
Nobody knows he's a millionaire. The whole thing's based around that. It's just really stupidly easy to understand. I take a lot of inspiration from that book in trying to get a lot across a lot of my stories, with what I do as well. So that's definitely one of my favorites. And there's countless, like another one that's really dope is, so good.
They can't ignore you. That's gotta be one of my favorite,
books. do you know it.
[00:53:55] Danny: Funny enough, I was talking with a friend from work a couple weeks ago and she said, You have to read so good that they can't
ignore
you?
[00:54:03] Nathan: That's probably one of my favorites too, man. That, book just kind of like shifted things for me, man. So,
yeah, man. those are some of my favorites.
[00:54:09] Danny: Cool, putting those down. Third question, what are the three most important apps on your phone right now?
[00:54:15] Nathan: Depends what you mean by important . Like What
[00:54:18] Danny: maybe we go, Two questions on it. What are the three apps that you use the most on your phone?
[00:54:22] Nathan: like other than social?
[00:54:24] Danny: Other than social. And then the other side will be, what are the three apps you get the most enjoyment from?
[00:54:28] Nathan: Okay. So, Three apps I use the most. I use Scribe, which is like an audiobook platform, which I love. dude, I'm pretty lame. a lot of the stuff that I do is like, either just content or it's like something for work. I listen to a lot of podcasts, but I don't really play games or do much on my phone.
other than like do social stuff and all that kind of jazz.
[00:54:47] Danny: So what, so you have like, an iPhone three for your basic needs, and then you have an iPhone 13 for your content needs.
[00:54:52] Nathan: literal, literally, bro, like, honest to God. It's I've got messaging apps. I've got TikTok, Instagrams, all the socials, and then I've got Starbucks and, my banking apps and. Podcast and like, Bro, I'm pretty sure that's literally it.
[00:55:06] Danny: Cool. Well, I'm sure this would be a, great advertisement for a bank.
[00:55:11] Nathan: Yeah, man.
[00:55:12] Danny: okay. Fourth question. Who's a creator that you would invest in right now? And why would you do so? Like theoretically invest in
[00:55:21] Nathan: For like the best return.
[00:55:22] Danny: Oh, true. I'm dealing with a personal finance creator. Sure. Anyone today that, based on their trajectory, where you think they're going, you'd want to invest in for the biggest return?
[00:55:32] Nathan: Dude, I would, put a lot of money into American Barron. I put, racks into American Barron. He's one of the best. He's one of those more artsy creators that I take, like oodles and oodles. Tons of inspiration from. I put a hundred racks on that guy, on his trajectory and everything that he's gonna go.
I think he's the next, like, Scorsese man. for real. Like I think he will do some like amazing things. because he doesn't really post that frequently. I always wonder about the, is this guy just like one of those like art guys that will kind of pop outta the shadows?
Because I feel like. This is a long way to answer, but Jerry Springer or not Jerry Springer, My god. Jerry Seinfeld. Jerry Springer. Jerry Seinfeld,
[00:56:13] Danny: no. Tell me about, Jerry Springer as a storyteller. Dude, I want
to hear this hot take
[00:56:17] Nathan: Seinfeld man. he's one of the most grittiest, ruthless craftsman that has ever existed.
Right. He's a literal billionaire. and he just talks about the work that you need to do to be great at your craft. And he's in comedy, right? And a lot of comedians are like such crazy hard workers, but like, typically when you're like a creative like art minded person, the work is like second nature.
You're kind of just like lez fair and more emotional. You're kind of like post when you want, do, you want. So
with him, I would put a lot of money down, but I would, I guess I would just wonder like. Is he going to put in the work to get there? So you never really know, but in terms of talent I'd put a lot of money down on that guy, man.
[00:56:56] Danny: Nevin how cool that you watched craters like him or another one that I'd put in the mix. She actually came on the pod. her name's Madeline Turner, Just phenomenal man. Phenomenal. okay. Fifth question. So kind of similar to the last one with a little bit of a caveat. So who's a creator that you think is underrated right now?
[00:57:13] Nathan: Underrated. I would say that Alex Guy mentioned man, I mean, he's popping, but like, I think he's underrated still. I think he just got it right away. I chatted with him, he doesn't have like prior experience. Like he just kind of came on the scene as doing his thing.
I think he's so underrated and I think he's gonna do such big things.
[00:57:31] Danny: cool. Five really dope answers, and I'm gonna leave you with this for your channel. That is the biggest, which right now is TikTok. I think you're at like four 70 K or something like that. Can you recall, or do you know your biggest video, your most popular video?
[00:57:46] Nathan: Yeah, yeah,
yeah.
[00:57:47] Danny: What is it?
[00:57:48] Nathan: it was one of the negotiation videos from like March of 2021, I think it was. six and a half million views. And then, that was the biggest one. That's still the record. So
[00:57:58] Danny: Wild. For everyone listening, if you wanna see what Nate means or you wanna see the, the genius and the arts craftsman of the guy who's a negotiator, probably better everything sounds like a work in progress. Then I will link it in the show notes. But dude, it has been a pleasure getting to talk.
It's cool time stamping your mentality today. Cool time stamping where you came from, where you want to go. And I'm sure when we run this back in three to five years when you're married and you have kids and you're still, on your grind, you're still doing your thing, It'll be really cool to see where you go.
But man, keep doing your thing. I'm inspired and just thank you for coming on. And what an inspiring episode, just to hear how he talks about his drive and talks about his mission and always in service of others, and always wants to help others no matter if it's long form video or short form or a podcast, and how that all comes back to his upbringing with his mom. It's beautiful, truly, and I think looking at someone like Nathan and thinking about creators who create one for their younger selves, but two are always here to add value and help others understand something.
To me, those are the creators that have built in longevity because everything they're doing fulfills them and fuels a mission that they set out on, and just creates amazing content for those around. So once again, at the end of the episode, always wanted to say thank you for staying around. If you're still here for listening, if you like the podcast, send a review or post a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and we'll be back next week with, again, amazing creator.
I don't wanna give you a hint, but you're really gonna enjoy this one. Have a great weekend.