“Money was never the goal; it was freedom. I just wanted to be able to not go to work.” – Shay Carl
This is another special in-betweenisode. It’s a little shorter than the normal long-form episodes, and it features a Q&A with Shay Carl (@shaycarl).
If you missed our first interview, Shay’s story is incredible. He was a manual laborer for ages and uploaded his first YouTube video while on break from his job.
Flash forward to today:
- His SHAYTARDS channel now has roughly 2.3 BILLION views. Celebs like Steven Spielberg have appeared alongside Shay and his family.
- He co-founded Maker Studios, which sold to Disney for nearly $1 billion.
- He has been married 13 years and has five kids.
- He has lost more than 100 pounds since his overweight peak.
This time around, he answers listener questions in the way only he can, such as:
- How to grow a YouTube following from scratch.
- The future of ad revenue and sponsorship.
- How he balances capturing the moment vs. experiencing the moment.
- His greatest obstacles in life.
- Lessons learned as a father.
- And much, much more.
If you only have 5 minutes, learn how having more money changed Shay’s life.
I also wanted to announce my new book, Tools of Titans (Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, Amazon). It’s the culmination of the last two years of this podcast. It’s made up of my favorite takeaways, the lessons I’ve learned, and the tools I’ve applied to my own life from all of the guests on this show, including some new guests you’ve not yet met.
Consider it the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure guide to optimizing your life — it’s got everything from finance to physical performance!
Please enjoy this round two with Shay Carl.
- Listen to it on iTunes.
- Stream by clicking here.
- Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”
Want to hear another interview with Shay Carl? — Listen to his first appearance on the podcast. In this episode, we discuss the most important decisions in his life, stories he’s never shared before, and his favorite tips for creating on YouTube (stream below or right-click here to download):
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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
Selected Links from the Episode
- Connect with Shay Carl:
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
- Shay Carl: From Manual Laborer to 2.3 Billion YouTube Views (Shay’s first appearance on this show)
- Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Timothy Ferriss (coming in December — pre-order now!)
- Mr. Safety
- DudeLikeHELLA (Cory Williams’ channel about life in Alaska)
- A NEW CHAPTER by BFvsGF (an example of how daily vlogging can take its toll on a relationship)
- The Philip DeFranco Show
- Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
- Jay really likes Jordan shoes.
- Disney Buys Maker Studios, Video Supplier for YouTube by Brooks Barnes, The New York Times
- Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University
- The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
- The Shawshank Redemption (film)
Show Notes
- If Shay had to start from scratch today, does he think it would still be possible to create a business on YouTube? [08:05]
- Is the daily vlogger space now oversaturated? [09:45]
- Has Shay ever experienced detrimental effects in his personal life because of the time and commitment it takes to put out a daily vlog? [13:53]
- What is the sustainable future of monetization for online content creators? [17:04]
- What is the very best form of advertising? [20:37]
- How did Shay feel telling the truth about alcoholism during his last appearance on this show? [24:12]
- Shay’s safe and painless writing exercise for dealing with difficult truths. [26:33]
- If Shay had two weeks to teach people how to tell better stories on YouTube, what would that course look like? [27:30]
- Other than having better shoes, how has money changed Shay (if at all)? [30:40]
- Shay talks about how he got out of debt and saved money — even when he was still broke. [35:25]
- What does Shay do to overcome doubt? [37:30]
People Mentioned
- Steven Spielberg
- Cory Williams
- Colette Butler
- Philip DeFranco
- Malcolm Gladwell
- Dave Ramsey
- Andy Dufresne
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
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I totally understand you want to make money through advertising etc but that podclass was like half adverts. Pretty ridiculous.
When are the preorder deals on the new book coming out?
I’m stoked about your new book! I had no idea although now I notice some hints from the past. You mentioned getting it as a gift and that’s great because it reminded be that I need to give my sister a belated b-day gift and this would be perfect. Just thought you might want to know that that subtle marketing psychology worked!!! Ha-ha. Love as always
Hey Tim,
Great podcast again with Shay, he’s THE MAN. Going off of the personal improvement theme, in one of your previous podcasts, you mention that Headspace is a great form of meditation for beginners. After doing a year of Headspace, what would your recommend as a next step in meditation?
Can’t wait for the book!
Best,
Sean
Wonderful podcast Tim. Thanks for sharing!
“Money was never the goal; it was freedom. I just wanted to be able to not go to work”, I like that words.
7 mins 58 secs of promo til the podcast actually starts!! must be a world record. such a negative way to treat your audience and terrible marketing.
And then Tim isn’t even on the podcast. Seems incredibly arrogant to put out podcasts where you don’t even attend, assuming the audience will lap it up like an obedient dog.
Wohoo…finally a new book…no need to think of birthday gifts for friends for a year. Keep up the great work Tim. I hope amazon India opens pre-orders for the physical book too!
Hi Tim – a friend introduced me to your podcast by way of the Naval Ravikant interview, which was amazing and I’ve been checking out your podcast regularly ever since.
Love the show. I have one request. Can you please address the gender imbalance of the interviewee selection?
You had one woman firefighter, who was badass and inspiring. And there may have been others. Scrolling through your podcast listing, what’s visible is a great preponderance of men. I’ve noticed that women are most often mentioned as someone’s wife, girlfriend or fiancee. Does not pass the Bechtel test.
There are many smart, accomplished, funny, pensive, ambitious women leaders you could host. I know you can find them.
Thanks for listening and considering — and good luck for the continued success of your podcast.
And today it was announced he bought a ski resort! Nice to see small resorts being kept alive.
From KSL news: http://www.ksl.com/?sid=41701151&nid=157
I was so excited to hear my question in the intro re “capturing the moment vs experiencing the moment” but it never came up in the podcast (at least not directly). It’s in the show notes and everything! Still a great podcast, but man I was pumped to hear the answer – even Tim mentioned it was something he’s had to deal with in the intro. Maybe next time!