Travis Makes Money

Jesse and Gabi Merl are a married power couple who rebuilt from bankruptcy and six-figure student loan debt to consistent multi–six-figure months through content, social selling, and smart investing. Jesse is a multi-exit tech entrepreneur turned YouTube creator behind “Jesse ON FIRE,” while Gabi is a hormone and cortisol-focused coach and social seller who built a thriving business from scratch using short-form content.​​ On this episode we talk about: How Jesse went from teen restaurant jobs to real estate, loans, a sports gaming startup, and ultimately a brutal acquisition that wiped out his stock and forced bankruptcy What it was like for Gabi to be pregnant with their third child, unable to practice acupuncture in a new state, and staring down six-figure student loans while deciding to jump into social selling How they rebuilt from absolute zero to over $140K/month in combined income by focusing on liquid wealth, real estate, and avoiding flashy lifestyle creep The content strategies behind “Jesse ON FIRE” and Gabi’s Instagram/TikTok growth: niche selection, volume, repelling to attract, and showing up as an amplified version of yourself on camera Why most creators fail because they underestimate the time horizon (at least a year) and posting volume required before platforms reward them with real reach Top 3 Takeaways Rebuilding from zero is possible if you’re willing to kill your ego, take the “soul-sucking” job when necessary, and then methodically build leverage through content and business again. Platforms reward consistency and volume; think in terms of posting multiple times per day for months, not a few posts per month, and commit to at least a year before expecting meaningful traction. The fastest way to stand out is to be specific: know your avatar, be willing to repel the wrong audience to attract the right one, and tell your story like you’re talking to close friends—just slightly amplified for the camera. Notable Quotes "You have to repel to attract; if no one is a little mad, no one is truly magnetized to you." "The platforms are testing if you’re going to be a consistent creator before they give you reach." "Content is just building relationships at scale—one story, one reaction, one video at a time." Connect with Jesse & Gabi Merl: YouTube (Jesse): https://www.youtube.com/@RealJesseONFIRE​ Twitter/X (Jesse): https://twitter.com/realjesseonfire​ Instagram (Jesse): https://www.instagram.com/realjesseonfire​ Instagram (Gabi): https://www.instagram.com/gabriellecarolyn​ TikTok (Gabi): https://www.tiktok.com/@gabriellecarolyn​ ✖️✖️✖️✖️ 🚀 Travis Makes Money is made possible by High Level – the All-In-One Sales & Marketing Platform built for agencies, by an agency.​ 🚀 Capture leads, nurture them, and close more deals—all from one powerful platform.​ 🎁 Get an extended free trial at gohighlevel.com/travis​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this solo episode of the Travis Makes Money Podcast, Travis and his producer Eric react to a hot take by John Gafford. John Gafford is a highly successful entrepreneur in the Las Vegas metropolitan area and a recognized authority in the real estate industry. Before venturing into real estate, he carved out a remarkable path as an entrepreneur, leaving a lasting impact across various industries including hospitality, insurance, and technology. His extensive experience and visionary leadership in real estate have made him a popular podcast host and he is frequently called upon as a contributor, speaker, and consultant, sharing his wealth of knowledge and insights with others in the industry. ✖️ ✖️ ✖️ ✖️ 🚀 Travis Makes Money is made possible by High Level – the All-In-One Sales & Marketing Platform built for agencies, by an agency. 🚀 Capture leads, nurture them, and close more deals—all from one powerful platform. 🎁 Get an extended free trial at gohighlevel.com/travis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

French-Canadian real estate investor, designer, and developer Natalie Cloutier shares how she and her husband Rob went from broke 20-year-olds in a basement condo to building 50+ rental units and a multimillion-dollar portfolio using a no-money-down build-to-rent strategy. With a background in architectural technology and a focus on new construction, Natalie has turned sweat equity and creative financing into a full-time business, and recently distilled her approach into her book, “The Build-to-Rent Strategy: A Guide to a Successful Rental Property Construction.”​ On this episode we talk about: How Natalie and Rob built their first home and basement rental suite with essentially $0 down using sweat equity and construction financing The mechanics of build-to-rent/“BRRR 2.0”: Build, Rent, Refinance, Repeat—and how it differs from the traditional BRRR strategy What work they took on themselves vs. what they always hired out (electrical, drywall, finishes vs. structural, foundation, and plumbing) Why they prefer smaller infill projects like six-plexes instead of large, high-risk developments with heavy permitting costs How they manage leverage, cash flow targets per door, and why they’re choosing to pause, de-stress, and reassess what “enough” looks like after a decade of grinding Top 3 Takeaways You do not always need 20% down to get into real estate—using construction-to-perm style loans, sweat equity, and smart design, you can create deals by building rather than competing for existing inventory. Staying intentionally underleveraged and focusing on real cash flow per unit is often safer than chasing maximum refinancing or unit count, especially in volatile interest-rate environments. Your portfolio should support your life, not the other way around; periodically pausing to evaluate stress, health, and family priorities is just as important as growing doors or equity. Notable Quotes "We didn’t have money, so instead of buying someone else’s house, we built our own and used our work as the down payment." "BRRR 2.0 is the same idea as BRRR, but instead of ‘Buy, Renovate, Rent, Refinance, Repeat,’ it’s ‘Build, Rent, Refinance, Repeat.’" "It’s not about how many units you own; it’s about how much money those properties actually make and whether the grind is worth it for your life." Connect with Natalie Cloutier: linktr.ee/thenewbuildcouple ✖️✖️✖️✖️ 🚀 Travis Makes Money is made possible by High Level – the All-In-One Sales & Marketing Platform built for agencies, by an agency. 🚀 Capture leads, nurture them, and close more deals—all from one powerful platform. 🎁 Get an extended free trial at gohighlevel.com/travis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Travis and producer Eric react to a viral video from Vivian Tu (“Your Rich BFF”) breaking down three popular “get rich quick” strategies that actually cost most people money: whole life insurance as an investment, day trading, and “passive” side hustles like wholesale real estate, Amazon dropshipping, and affiliate marketing. They use the clip as a springboard to talk about discipline, risk, and why most people should stick to simple, boring money moves instead of gambling their future on complex schemes they barely understand.​ Top 3 Takeaways For most people, the simplest play—buy term life insurance for protection and invest consistently in diversified, long-term stock market holdings—beats complicated insurance and trading schemes. Day trading is statistically stacked against you; unless you treat it like gambling with true “play money,” your odds of long-term success are far worse than just buying and holding quality assets. “Passive income” buzzwords around real estate, dropshipping, and affiliate marketing hide the reality that these are real businesses requiring time, effort, and often capital—especially when you’re just getting started. Notable Quotes "If you’re just starting out, whole life and infinite banking shouldn’t even be on your radar—it’s a distraction sold hard because the commissions are huge." "Don’t pretend you’re an expert trader when even the best hedge fund managers in the world tell you not to time the market." "People keep looking at these advanced strategies as the thing that’ll make them rich, instead of realizing they only really make sense once you’re already rich."​ 🚀 Travis Makes Money is made possible by High Level – the All-In-One Sales & Marketing Platform built for agencies, by an agency. 🚀 Capture leads, nurture them, and close more deals—all from one powerful platform. 🎁 Get an extended free trial at https://gohighlevel.com/travis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rachel Zaslansky Sheer and Lori Zuker Briller are the co-founders of The Grapevine, a premier corporate and domestic staffing firm known for placing top-tier talent with high-profile executives, households, and leading companies. With 20+ years of recruiting experience across entertainment, tech, finance, real estate, fashion, and more, they’ve built a referral-driven “job matchmaking” agency and recently coauthored “Straight From the Grapevine: How to Crush Your Job Search,” a practical guide to modern career strategy and job hunting. Their backgrounds as former entertainment assistants and development executives give them a rare, inside-out view of both sides of the hiring table—what makes candidates stand out and what employers actually need.​ Top 3 Takeaways Early, “small” jobs matter: they build work ethic, professionalism, and people skills that compound into better opportunities, references, and confidence later in your career. Great candidates treat every role like it matters—showing up with excellence, initiative, and a good attitude—because that’s how you get noticed, recruited, and referred into the dream jobs you actually want. In today’s noisy job market, understanding how recruiting really works, presenting a sharp résumé, and mastering basic etiquette (clear emails, context, professionalism) are major unfair advantages. Connect with Rachel & Lori (The Grapevine): ​https://www.thegrapevineagency.com/ 🚀 Travis Makes Money is made possible by High Level – the All-In-One Sales & Marketing Platform built for agencies, by an agency. 🚀 Capture leads, nurture them, and close more deals—all from one powerful platform. 🎁 Get an extended free trial at https://gohighlevel.com/travis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Travis and producer Eric dive into breaking sports media news: ESPN and Penn Entertainment unwinding their $2 billion, 10-year ESPN Bet partnership just two years after launch and pivoting into a new multi-year deal with DraftKings. They unpack what this says about ESPN’s fading dominance, DraftKings’ position as the default sportsbook brand, and how Barstool founder Dave Portnoy continues to land on his feet after Penn sold Barstool back to him and rebranded to ESPN Bet. Along the way, they draw parallels to Disney’s evolving “family-friendly” branding strategy, the broader shift from legacy TV to social-first sports media, and why product quality and user behavior matter more than just a big name.​​ On this episode we talk about: The stunning early termination of the ESPN–Penn Entertainment $2B, 10-year ESPN Bet deal, effective December 1, 2025, after ESPN Bet failed to crack meaningful market share.​ Why ESPN Bet reportedly struggled to get above ~5% market share and never hit “top three” sportsbook status despite ESPN’s massive brand and distribution.​ Penn’s prior Barstool Sports era, regulatory pushback tied to Portnoy’s persona, and how Penn sold Barstool back to Dave Portnoy as it pivoted to the ESPN Bet rebrand.​​ Portnoy’s reaction on his own show, why he thinks time will tell if this is a good move for DraftKings, and his hint that Disney CEO Bob Iger made unflattering comments about Barstool behind the scenes.​ How Disney’s move from “no R-rated content” on Disney+ to hosting edgier, R-rated films via the Hulu integration shows a slow but real shift away from a strictly squeaky-clean image.​ Why even a giant like ESPN can’t just slap its logo on a product and win—especially when users already love DraftKings and other established betting apps.​ The rise of social-native sports brands like House of Highlights and Barstool Sports, and how short-form content has replaced traditional SportsCenter viewing for many fans.​​ Jake Paul’s “Betr” (Better) and other creator-led betting and media plays, and how having the ear of younger fans changes the balance of power in sports media.​ Why product quality, UX, and habit lock-in often beat legacy branding, even when legacy outlets still dominate live rights and TV distribution.​ A quick detour into the best sports movies of all time—Hoosiers, Remember the Titans, Warrior, Rocky, Moneyball, and more—and what they reveal about the nostalgia we still attach to sports storytelling. Top 3 Takeaways Big legacy brands like ESPN and Disney can no longer rely on their name alone; in crowded categories like sports betting, sticky products and fan-favorite platforms like DraftKings are extremely hard to displace.​ Controversial personalities like Dave Portnoy can create regulatory and brand headaches, but they also build cult followings and resilient IP—Barstool’s rebound and Portnoy’s “$1 buyback” remain a masterclass in leverage.​​ The future of sports attention is social-first and creator-driven: fans increasingly get their highlights, hot takes, and sometimes even betting cues from digital-native brands rather than traditional TV networks.​​ 🚀 Travis Makes Money is made possible by High Level – the All-In-One Sales & Marketing Platform built for agencies, by an agency. 🚀 Capture leads, nurture them, and close more deals—all from one powerful platform. 🎁 Get an extended free trial at https://gohighlevel.com/travis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rod Khleif is a Dutch immigrant, multifamily investor, and high-performance mentor who has owned over 2,000 single-family homes and thousands of apartment units across the U.S. He hosts “Lifetime Cash Flow Through Real Estate Investing,” one of the largest commercial real estate podcasts, where he teaches investors how to use multifamily, senior housing, and other commercial assets to create long-term wealth. After watching his net worth jump $17 million in 2006 and then losing roughly $50 million in the 2008–09 crash, Rod rebuilt by focusing on mindset, goal setting, and identity work—turning that “seminar” into a blueprint he now shares with students worldwide.​ On this episode we talk about: Rod’s journey from broke Dutch immigrant kid in Denver to watching his mom buy a $30,000 rental that appreciated $20,000 and realizing real estate could change his life. Getting his broker’s license at 18, struggling for two years, then jumping to over $100k in income after discovering the power of mindset, psychology, and the right mentor. Building a massive portfolio of single-family and multifamily properties, seeing his net worth rise by $17 million in one year, and then losing around $50 million in the 2008 crash. How Rod reframed that loss as a “$50 million seminar,” refused to let real estate become his identity, and used aggressive goal setting and identity statements to rebuild. The current state of commercial real estate, including distressed multifamily deals due to interest rate shocks, emerging opportunity in senior housing/assisted living, and why he’s cautious on office but bullish on other asset classes. Top 3 Takeaways Your business is just a vehicle—if it fails, you are not a failure; separating identity from outcomes is essential if you want to recover from big losses and take bigger swings. Clear, emotionally charged goals combined with “I am” identity statements and massive action create the momentum needed to push through fear, limiting beliefs, and comfort zones. Right now is a rare window for prepared buyers in commercial real estate and small business acquisitions, with distressed multifamily assets and retiring Baby Boomer owners creating outsized opportunities. Notable Quotes "They’re only failures if you don’t get back up—otherwise they’re just very expensive seminars." "Anything you put the words ‘I am’ in front of becomes an identity statement, and your life will rise or fall to match it." "Don’t fear failure; fear regret—because not living the life you’re capable of is the real nightmare." Connect with Rod Khleif: Rodkhleif.com Rodspodcast.com 🚀 Travis Makes Money is made possible by High Level – the All-In-One Sales & Marketing Platform built for agencies, by an agency. 🚀 Capture leads, nurture them, and close more deals—all from one powerful platform. 🎁 Get an extended free trial at https://gohighlevel.com/travis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Travis Chappell dives into the mindset shifts that separate effective salespeople from those who plead for clients’ attention. With a focus on the photography industry as a case study, he breaks down common mistakes creatives make when marketing their services and shares actionable strategies to connect authentically with clients. On this episode we talk about: The difference between pitching yourself and pleading for validation in business How creative entrepreneurs often overemphasize their personal passion in marketing Techniques to discover what clients truly want through effective questioning Why building trust can sometimes mean turning away business Applying sales lessons from photography to any industry Top 3 Takeaways Stop making your marketing about how much you love what you do—focus on the value you provide to clients. Ask questions first to uncover client pain points, then tailor your pitch to solve their specific problems. Building trust may require walking away from business that isn’t a fit, which can lead to stronger opportunities later. Notable Quotes "At a certain point, it shifts from 'I love what I do' to 'hire me so I’ll feel fulfilled,' and it can easily turn into ‘pick me.’" "Your craft speaks for itself—focus your conversations on the client’s experience, not your personal fulfillment." "If you can better explain somebody’s problem to them than they can, they’ll automatically assume you have the solution." ✖️ ✖️ ✖️ ✖️ 🚀 Travis Makes Money is made possible by High Level – the All-In-One Sales & Marketing Platform built for agencies, by an agency. 🚀 Capture leads, nurture them, and close more deals—all from one powerful platform. 🎁 Get an extended free trial at gohighlevel.com/travis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With over two decades of real estate, sales, and professional coaching experience, Jeremy Herider's mission is to assist agents in building careers worth having, businesses worth owning and lives worth living. https://harvist.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this engaging discussion, producer Eric shares insight from his experience in podcasting and content creation. They tackle imposter syndrome, emphasizing that you don’t need to be an expert to create valuable content. Travis explains how interviewing can ease beginners into the space. They also explore the dangers of comparison and how to leverage it as inspiration. The duo encourages embracing imperfections and celebrating small wins as essential steps in the learning journey. Tune in for practical advice on starting your own voice!