Travis Sterling Interview - Until The Last Breath #496

All right. So this is my third podcast today for you that are watching, for you that are listening. You've had to wait for this. Basically, we've added an interview style podcast to the Unknown Secrets of Internet Marketing. I'm one of your co-hosts, Matt Bertram. Your other co-host, Chris Burris, is actually here for this special interview. We're going to be talking about building a personal brand. We're going to be talking about lifestyle brands and that impact in the marketplace. So I have one of good friends of mine here, Travis Sterling, who's built a brand called Until the Last Breath to kind of talk about his experience as an expert and what he's done to build his brand. So hello, Travis. Chris, it's great to have you. Great to be here. Travis and I, although I'm the co-host typically of this podcast, you and I have the joy of being like, this is the first time I've been actually on this style podcast. So this is, this is kind of cool. Yeah. Like I haven't done, I haven't done the multi multifaceted podcast here. So this will definitely be a new dynamic. So Travis, usually it's me and Chris that that's doing it. And then I've started to interview a few people and then now, you know, it's like we've only done a few of these. So this is awesome. So I'm down with new beginnings, man. So it's all good. Awesome. Awesome. Well, why don't you kind of, uh, give us in a nutshell, kind of about yourself, about your brand, and then we can kind of jump into some strategies and things that have worked. Yeah. Uh, for those who don't know me and who are watching, my name is Travis Sterling, uh, owner and founder of Until the Last Breath, which is a lifestyle brand. Lean forward just a little bit. Your audio was a little better earlier. Yeah. Okay. Um, there you go. Yeah. So owner and founder of Until the Last Breath, uh, which is a lifestyle brand. We focus on three

things, dreams, identity, and legacy. Um, and our, our main basically pillar, so to speak of the brand is focusing on the identity piece, uh, who we are as sons and daughters through Jesus with the father and how we were created, um, with gifts and talents inside of us that need to be discovered and shared with the world and really, uh, finding the value and how we were created first and letting that be the foundation of who we are as people. Um, so my wife, I got to throw this in here, man. My wife is also a founder of the brand as well, so I can't leave her out. Um, but so yeah, we've been at this for about a little bit over a year now, as far as publicly, we've done a lot of stuff internally behind the scenes to get prepared. And, um, it's mainly, it's mainly on the, uh, social media platforms that we're really pushing things right now. Uh, and we have some other things in the works. And so, so, so, you know, until the last breath, define it, what it is as a lifestyle brand, as far as like how people like, cause like you're really, really about your presence about, uh, how you present yourself to the world is, is very important to you. I've seen you kind of mold and shape that. Um, you know, so, so who are, who are the people that, that, that connect, you feel like you want to connect with, with your brand? I mean, as far as, uh, like a certain people group, um, I'm really big on, um, the younger generation. Um, I don't, I gotta be real. I don't really like pigeonholed, um, as far as folks and specifically on a target market, so to speak. Um, but I really am reaching out to the younger generation because there is so much influence out there on how we're supposed to pursue life, how we're supposed to go after the dreams that God has placed inside of us. And, but our

brand is also cross generational as well, because everybody dreams. I mean, let's just be real. It's not based upon your age. It's based upon the simple fact that we're people, we were created with destiny inside of us and it's calling that out. But I mean, I really, really kind of generate our content towards, um, it has like a real street vibe to it as well. It does. And it is generated towards the, uh, the younger generation. Um, but it may, honestly, man, it's just been a journey because like, I'm all about authenticity. Like that's my biggest thing. Right. So when you're creating a lifestyle brand, it's all about who you are. It's all about what God has put inside of you and how you relay that to the people. Like if we try to duplicate somebody else's brand or somebody else's approach, it's not going to be as authentic because it's not who we are. So this has been a journey with me and until the last breath, because I'm still trying to really figure out what the heartbeat and the identity is of the brand, but yet do it all at the same time of while releasing content. So that's why you've kind of seen it morph over time into what it's really become. And I really do feel like we're almost at that point where we have the full identity as far as what it's supposed to be, what it's supposed to look like from a platform perspective, but the heartbeat of it is all about figuring out who we are and how we were created and going after that, that life that God has really put in front of us and not just going after the social norm. I mean, you, you really talk about pushing it to the limit. Like I've seen some, like you've started to rap, you know, or yeah, I mean, you've started to put out music. You put out some, some really fantastic videos. You got some great shots. You got really great photography. Um, I mean,

I think you've, you, you, you've really, uh, focused and we have a few other clients. I have a client that, uh, is in the cryptocurrency space that, that he's, he, he, he's very precise on, on, on his brand and it really shows. And, and so, you know, tell me, I guess maybe kind of diving into social media, what are some of the things that you you've seen or learned or kind of lessons that you've had? Um, when, when you've started to kind of scope this, maybe you went like one direct, you know, like, Oh, I got to back that up or, Hey, like, here's something that I'm doing. That's really working well. Like share, share some of those, um, experiences and strategies with us. Um, honestly, bro. And you probably don't remember this, but this happened years ago whenever I was focusing on stuff internally and you and Kristen were at the house, um, at our last town home that we're in and you kind of looked over my stuff and you were like, Hey man, I just kind of feel like you're trying to be too perfect with it. And that really hit home at me because I am a perfectionist to a degree, but I can get caught up so much in it being perfect instead of actually getting progress. So to say that my advice is even if you're starting off with a personal brand or a lifestyle brand, man, and I know everybody has different opinions on this. I respect that, but just start putting content out, like take what's inside of you, start putting it out there because it's all, it's all based upon where you see value, right? Let's just be real. The value, if it's in, if it's visually, okay. If that's where your value is at, then you need to put a little bit more focus into that. And maybe you're going to wait a little bit longer until you get to the point of, I want it to look a certain way. My value is not

just in the video, my values and what I have to say, and it's what's inside of me. So I want to get that out as soon as possible. And then while getting that out, I can then work on educate myself. I don't need somebody else to do it for me, bro. I can educate myself. So when I grow to a point of, I have a team, then I know what my team's doing. And I'm not just sit back in the dark going, oh, is that how that's supposed to work? No, I've been down that road. I know the headaches with creating your own content first with an iPhone and then going with a camera and, but that's what I want to hear about. Cause right now with COVID, there's so many people that are starting, uh, like a side hustle or they're starting like a new business where they don't feel stable in their current, um, like job, right? Like they don't know what's going to happen. And so a lot of people are making that leap. I'm having tons of people actually reach out to me and say, Hey, like, can you look over this? Can you help me with my website? Can you give me some strategy? Like whatever, like people that like, I thought were very much stuck in the corporate world have really started to change their tune. And so, so, so people like, I think that this podcast is really relevant because people are taking that leap right now and, and, and getting out there and like, you know, uh, Chris, Chris Carmasos of, uh, like pod fest. Like I was just on, um, the, the, this, like, uh, like he did this, uh, gain his book of world records just because like, there was nothing to do. I think like, and like with everything that's going on, but he's big podcaster and he wrote a book and it's a start ugly. Right. And he's like, just get going, you'll figure it out along the way. And he goes, I

would have never done this if, if I knew what I was getting into, but in eight weeks he planned and executed and won a world record. You know what I mean? But if he would have planned it all out to the point that, you know, uh, he knew every piece of it, he probably wouldn't have done it. Right. And so right now people are taking that leap, uh, and, and trying to get some stuff going or generate some more income if they're like maybe underplayed or unemployed. And right now, um, you know, what people have is like them, you know what I mean? Like, and we all are brands and we all are like media channels. And like you talk about Facebook and LinkedIn and Twitter, and you're big on Instagram. Like those, those are channels on a TV like that. You're broadcasting content. Right. Right. And so I want to dig into like, share with me the journey, share with me the things that you've tried. Like hopefully you can be vulnerable and share some of the things that you've tried that haven't worked. And then like things that have worked and like things that you've seen like, like, like what, let's really get deep on that component because that is what we do here. And really when you're creating content, if you're not authentic, people are going to get it real quick. And when they talk to you too, they're going to get it real quick that this is not matching up something's off. And so that's so important. So I really want to hear about your journey and the steps that you took and, and how you kind of pivoted and changed. I mean, because I like, like, like when we talked, like you were, we were talking a lot about Instagram and then you started coming out with videos and then, then you came out with like a rap album. Like, you know what I mean? Like, so this has definitely evolved. So I, I will, I really want to dive

into that journey and talk about some of the, the, the, the pitfalls and some of the, you know, pluses that you've had for sure. Um, I think the biggest, the biggest thing I've had to overcome with, uh, with this journey has been the opinions of other people where a lot of times, like, yes, I'm vulnerable. Yes. I'm authentic, but at the same time, I do have insecurities that I'm dealing with as well. Right. But constantly, whenever I put things before the father, those insecurities start to vaporize. And ultimately I have to see value in what I'm building and value in myself and who I am as a son and a daughter. So when I take that revelation and I put it to the content that I'm putting out, ultimately, like I started with an iPhone, I still produce stuff with an iPhone. I have an iPhone 10. I still like those videos you see, bro. That's all with an iPhone. I have not done one thing yet with a camera. Is this an iPhone commercial? Um, now I do have, I have, uh, the, uh, so you don't have like a fancy mic like this. No, bro. You're on your phone, right? You're on your phone. I'm on my phone right now. Um, because I, here, here's my thing. Like, obviously I have a camera, I'm learning different softwares, but I'm not going to wait until I have it all figured out before I start producing content. Because what I have, like, listen, if I would wait until I think I had it all figured out visually, even through audio, we would not be having this podcast right now. It wouldn't be happening because we got to this point based upon what you've already seen. And that's the thing. And I'm going to kind of, this is where our brand really comes and what we're all about. When you understand your value, how you were created, why you were created, what God has put inside of you, the opinions of people might come at you,

but they don't stick to you. The opinions of people don't dictate when you start something, how you pursue it, what it looks like. It's authentic to you and your own journey. So when I started this thing over a year ago, I made it up in my mind, yo, this is our thing. This is what God has placed inside of us. And we're just going to learn it along the way. So if you got to start with an iPhone, start with an iPhone. If you got to start with, you know, a smaller camera, start with a smaller camera. There's plenty of apps out there. There's plenty of stuff that you can do to make it look more presentable on the post editing side. So talk about that. Tell us a little bit about some of the apps you've used, like how you've been able to do it. Like, cause that's, that's the thing I think that needs to be preached is like, you just need to get started. And you have like, we have more technology in our phone than we do like in the, what was it? The space station, like the, the, the space shuttle to the moon kind of thing. And like with all these apps, there's all kinds of editing, like filters, all this kind of stuff. Like, what are, what are some of the things that, that you use that you've learned that other people can, can take their phone and, and start, start producing? So, all right. So my biggest thing is the DJI Osmo mobile three hands down is in my opinion, the best iPhone smartphone gimbal you can get. So I have the Osmo mobile three and like, I put out a skateboarding video a while back. They got a lot of traction on Facebook where I was using my gimbal the whole time I was riding it. So you get that footage and you learn in B roll footage, and then it has an app that's attached to it and you can go in and you can

add background music to it. You can do editing as far as, you know, different filters, you know, you can put text on it. I mean, you got everything also use for some other videos. I use a video leap, which is a free app. You download it to your phone and it's literally, I mean, everything that I've produced, because I'm on the road so much and I'm such a fast pace, you know, with the family. And this is, you know, something we're focusing on the side. I don't have time to sit down right now in front of a computer, transfer it from a camera. Like everything I do, any video I've done to date has not taken me more than 20 to 30 minutes to produce period. And I can literally do that sitting in my ride on the road because I'm constantly on the move. So the value for me, and I was especially for people who are trying to add something to what they're primarily doing, use your phone first, because let's just be real. Everybody's going to a phone anyways. Like I would be surprised if websites are not even obsolete in the next five to 10 years. Like, do you even go to a website really anymore to see what somebody's doing? Or like, you go to Facebook, you go to TikTok, you go to Instagram. I mean, you go to all these different platforms. Well, those are the service. Yeah. Or the product. Yeah. And those are primarily looked at by what? Your phone, not a computer. So visually, if you're at 720p, 1080p, you don't really need 4k to get a good look on a phone. Yeah. It'll just produce it from your phone and send it out. And especially today, everybody wants everything like that. Yeah. So if you're wanting to put stuff out fast, you got to do it from your phone. And that's why I've taken that route first. And I've become very, very good with getting things out quickly with enough quality visually to keep people,

because let's see, there's excellence in quality and quality attracts people. So it needs to be there. Obviously there's value in it, but I worry, I focus first on what I have to say. And secondly, visually, and you can do it from a phone. Very cool. So let's, let's talk about maybe some, some social media platform, some of like some best practices. Like I know you were big on Instagram when I was like looking at your stuff a while back and then, you know, your stuff started to just kind of pop up all over the place. Um, and you're getting a lot of traction with some really interesting, unique video shots and you know, that sort of thing. So what, what on different social media platforms have you found, uh, to be successful when you're getting that message out there to find people that connect with it? Um, I think you have to look at the platform that you're releasing on. And let me be the first one to say, I appreciate you calling me an expert, bro. Um, but I have learned a lot, but what I want to encourage people to, um, to do is just start putting content content out on. If you want to go all platforms, that's cool. But I've learned along the way, just by putting stuff out on these different platforms, whether it be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Tik TOK. Um, I mean, I post on all of them, but I've learned which ones catch certain things. And it's kind of a trial by error because every audience is different, right? Like I'm big on community. So I've caught most traction on my Facebook page, Sterling Travis. And with Facebook, it's most, it's mostly community oriented. So everybody who's local in your community will see your stuff. Um, now you have Instagram, which can be community based, but it's more international based, so to speak. Like there's more broader people domestically, internationally that are seeing your stuff. Um, and then you have Tik TOK that is basically the younger

generation, but you don't have to use it just for dancing. I mean, you can put, you can put so much, you can put whatever content you want on it. And I think that's a big misconception with a lot of people thinking that certain platforms are only used for certain ideas when ultimately who told you that. I mean, what somebody who's a big influencer told you, you can only use Tik TOK for dancing. There's plenty of people out there, plenty of people who are huge influence influencers that don't use Tik TOK just for dancing. They use it for motivational content. They use it for cooking, whatever it is. Um, but it's finding what works for you. Like I have my, our biggest traction is on Facebook. Right. And then after that is Instagram, but I haven't really even figured out. Like if I look at my Instagram page today versus what it was a year ago, yeah, it's dope. Like in my mind, you know, it's better now than what it was, but I'm still, I'm just now starting to really figure out, okay, these are the people on Instagram that are actually really starting to be engaged and starting to like some photos and stuff. Um, but Tik TOK, I just started getting on. Um, and I like Tik TOK and this is why I like Tik TOK for those of you who don't know, cause I've just talked to a buddy about, about this with Tik TOK. Yo, you can pull any song from a database that you want to add to a video. So you can add any song you want to pictures to, you know, a video, you mute it, you add music to it and you can really create different vibes and find out, I mean, what connects with you and connects with people. Um, so Twitter, I haven't had much success with Twitter, man. Cause Twitter is really, really engagement involved. And I honestly, I just haven't taken the time to get really engaged from a, like a texting perspective

on Twitter. Um, so Twitter, I don't use as much as these other platforms. And then you have YouTube where YouTube is something I've kind of stepped back from right now because I want to, I want to focus the YouTube more on longer videos versus shorter stuff. Um, and then get some more interview style stuff going. Um, and so I've kind of held back and trying to internally set it up properly. So whenever I release that stuff, it can go more strong. So right, right now I have kind of stepped back and I've kind of narrowed down. I took like a shotgun approach at first, right? All these different platforms. I've kind of narrowed it down to where Instagram and Facebook are more my mom, like primary focus and try to get more quality to the people versus just quantity. Very cool. Very cool. So, so let's talk about adding video to the dynamic because for a long time you were posting just pictures, right? And then you started posting a lot of movement, right? So I've seen a lot of data and we've started to add videography to our SEO that we do. Um, and, and really that adds a whole new dynamic to what's going on. And so I want to talk a little bit or hear from you about when you started introducing video. And then also when you started introducing music, because I think music is a medium that connects people in a different way. Um, how, how that, how, how you saw the engagement change or evolve from that, I think would be interesting. I mean, it, it's, um, there's a completely different, um, engagement when you add music or even voiceover, um, to either, I don't care if it's pictures. I don't care if it's a video that you, um, that you feel when you add voiceover music to it, it does something emotionally and connects people, um, more than just a picture does. Now, you know, you want to mix it up and stuff, but whenever I decided to

really start adding, uh, either doing a voiceover or adding music or releasing an album, I mean, I never even knew music was inside of me. This was prophesied over me a couple of years before we, I even released my first album and that journey alone, bro, it has been like, it's been crazy just trying to figure it out and what, you know, what that looks like and diving into like create, creating your own beats, creating your own music and just learning along the way. But I basically took that revelation and said, you know what? I can take music that people love and I can just add it to a video and do something as simple as like a 20 to 30 second clip that has literally no, no words to it, but it's literally just a video of, let's say primarily, let's say you have a lifestyle brand. Like for me, for example, if I want to add an active side, like an active wear side to until the last breath eventually, right? Where I can do a drone clip of literally me just running down the road late, you know, early in the morning, late at night, low aperture, and just add some background music to it. And that's like 20 or 30 seconds, right? That's all you need to do. That will say more to you and connect more than to you than me talking. Because there's something about that emotional connection because what it does is, is instead of taking a listener and connecting you to my voice, I'm now connecting you to an experience that you've had yourself in the past. It's a totally different world at that point when you're doing as far as connection is concerned. So when I realized that, and ultimately that's what I want to do. I want to connect with people. I want to take people, whether it's visually or audio, and I want to connect them to the potential that lives inside of them. And in order to do that, it's an everyday journey

because that'll never stop. And it takes time. So, but also I watch other people too. Like these aren't just ideas that I come up with on my own. You know, nobody originally comes up with something. You get ideas from different people, different influencers, and then you tailor them to who you are authentically. And that's what the power comes in. The authenticity is where the connection's at. It's not that you're duplicating somebody else. You might get an idea from here and there, but ultimately you got to be true to you because listen, if, if you're true to what you're producing content-wise from an authentic perspective, if nobody likes it, I don't care. That's who I am. And if I'm comfortable with who I am, eventually there will be people who can connect. And if I can impact one person that can then maybe turn around and impact thousands, that's what matters. It's about impacting the people. And that's the whole thing. So Chris- Consistency is key, man. Yeah. No, I, oh, consistency is key. I would, I would say you got to put that in all caps and bold for sure. You know, Chris, I want to bring you into this conversation. So, you know, you, you've also been, been building a lifestyle brand, I would say, right. You know, and you've added it like, there's a supplement component to it. You know, you brought Patrick in with like a full kind of wellness pack. You know, talk a little bit about, you know, I know that, you know, we typically talk about digital marketing, but I think other people would benefit from, from some of the experiences you had and get some kind of back and forth dialogue with Travis about, you know, some of the experiences that, that you've seen and how they've impacted. And, you know, I know we've been spending some money on, you know, PR and have been trying out some different affiliate stuff because that's, you know, our essays, our, our forte is SEO, web design, you know, videography, we're

starting to win some awards. So I think we're doing pretty good there. But affiliate marketing, you know, building a lifestyle brand, like really being on the other side of the fence, as far as like selling a product that like we're, we're doing the full component from the shipping to the customer service to everything that, that experience that someone has is super important. And you're also managing multiple brands, Chris. So really want to kind of get you involved in this conversation on, on some of the things that you've seen, and then start kind of bouncing some of that back and forth with Travis and get a three-way conversation going. Yeah. Well, cool. I want to comment on a couple of things that's Travis has said already. And, and it's just a hundred percent true. I I'm, I'm a big fan of the phrase, uh, perfection is the enemy of progress. Right. And that's what you were talking about, Travis, which was like, look, I could, I could like, Oh, I got to reshoot that scene or it's, it's, you know, half a second. I mean, that might be too long, but it's a quarter second too long or whatever. No, get it out there. Cause if you, you know, you don't, you don't have this interview unless that content's out there. So absolutely. There's another kind of phrase that parallels it, which is people talk about ready, aim, fire. Right. And, and what people often do is ready, aim, aim, aim. Right. And the, the, the premise that I learned was like, turn that on its head and like ready, fire, aim, right? Like you can readjust where you're shooting uh, and what you're targeting and how you're delivering it. Uh, and it's much easier with the data you collect from that first shot. So I, I think that book too, I think Chris it's quite a good book. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, I, I may have written it. I don't know. Well, you do have another one coming out. So yeah, I'm excited

about that. Um, the other thing you mentioned is like that connection, like with that jog. And it's one of the things that, at EWR Digital, we've always said people come to us and maybe they do pool installations, maybe they clean pools and then they give us shots, images of beautiful pools. And we're like, always, you gotta have people in these images because people don't just like the beauty of a pool. It's when people are in the images, they're like, Hey, I can see myself in that place. Like, so if they're holding a glass of wine or they're throwing a ball with their kid or whatever, they can equate that to an experience that they've had. So, so yeah, that makes, that makes a ton of sense. And then authenticity, like it's one of the, one of the things that's great about these types of interviews and the podcast that Matt and I have done is that like, when you're flying off the cuff, you, it's the real you that comes out and yeah, some people aren't going to connect with it. Uh, and like we have enough people in the world, there's enough opportunity and whatever you're trying to accomplish, like you're going to find those people and connect with them. And you're right. Like you may need to switch the social media platform, or you may need to shift the medium, right. To switch from, uh, videos to, to music. Um, but, but you keep putting yourself out there and you'll connect with that audience and, and you'll be really successful, right? Like, and there's so many levels of success, but we can say financially successful. You just got to keep tweaking it and working it. Uh, and then, then it'll success. So I think there's some really great messages. Um, and I, yes, Matt, like when I think about, uh, my vital C, uh, that's our brand and that's our, really our product as well. And I start thinking about like, what is it that our customers are experiencing from the first point

that they may hear about it all the way to the point, not even when like they've ordered it, they've got it. We are following up with emails. We're engaging them post purchase and post utilization of the product, uh, to get reviews. Like it's all that experience and every minute of that and every touch point that you can have. And usually the more, the better, obviously give them the opportunity to, uh, to, to opt out. You've got to, you've got to manage what that looks like. And again, you know, are the emails that I'm sending today, the best possible emails that I could be sending to my existing customer? Frankly, they're probably not. They probably have room for improvement and I'm continually visiting those, uh, you know, back to the ready fire aim, get those emails out there. We know that communication should be happening and then tweak it, you know, go review it and then take customer feedback and always just be open, uh, to make adjustments as long as they're in line with your authenticity. So, um, yeah, I, it's, it's, it's an, you gotta be on top of a whole lot of stuff, uh, to have a brand experience. That's for sure. Man, it's bro. It's a world that I never even, you couldn't, like, I'm almost at a loss of words trying to explain how much goes into it because there's so much and there's so many different parts too, because like a lot of what you're talking about is the backside of the business that nobody ever sees. And it's just as important as the content that you put out, but there's time for that. A lot of times I know with like, especially with me, you can start getting some traction and you can believe your brand's bigger than it really is. I mean, let's just be real. But that's okay though. And this is why, because this gives you time to actually work out the kinks along the way. So if, and when it does take a broader, Oh,

there he's back. All right, good. Um, you, you, you, you disappeared during when you said broader. Yeah. Boom. Well, there's a, when, when, whenever your brand does take a broader, um, scope and there's more people following it, you've already had time locally to work out the kinks and you can get a rhythm going on the backside that actually where it flows more fluid versus getting so caught up and getting everything. Cause this was my biggest issue, right? Cause I working on the whole perfection versus progress thing is trying to have it all figured out backside of the business with the logistics front side with the marketing financially getting product out. I mean, trying to do it all at once. You got to realize it just takes time. Like you, you cannot rush the process. It's a part of it. Right. So put, just put it outside of your mind that this is going to be a year journey and then you're, you're, you're good to go. Like it's, man, we've been at this for a while on the backside and we've got a long ways to go because this is where the value of understanding what you're really trying to achieve comes in. Like with me and my wife and until the last brand, it's all about the people. And it's all about if our son Shiloh decides in the future that he wants to be a part of this, then he's golden. Like I ain't trying to grow this thing in four or five years because it's not a primary level of income. This is everything we're doing on the side. So I don't even get to focus full time to this. Right. How many hours are you putting in right now? How many hours like do you put in a month to this brand? Like people need to understand how much goes into this type of thing to get it to that next level? Because you've been, you've been grinding, but like, I mean, it's starting to pop like, and it's, you just

never know. Like, like really you're, you can't be all things to all people and you got to go out there and seek and find those people that you're going to connect with. And you, you need to build those kind of avid followers. And, and that, that, that takes trial and error and exposure and, and, and, and finding that right target persona and then creating the customer journey and the experience that they want. I mean, it, it, it, it's not something that like people I think give up too soon. I mean, Chris, like really quickly, Chris, when you started this podcast, we have 4 million, 5 million downloads now. Okay. 10 years later. I mean, I remember stories you were telling me when you first started it, like, like recap words. And I think this goes to like, certainly not everything I've done the best. I've made lots of mistakes. Uh, but at the time I'm at a sales manager and, and like, we didn't have training in place. So I'm like, Hey, go listen to this podcast in order to get training. And so he goes and listens to the podcast series or probably only 10 in the whole series. And he comes back and he's like, well, why don't we start a podcast? And that was probably on a Tuesday that Friday we did our first podcast. I didn't know Jack about podcasts. Basically I knew I needed to get an audio file and then I needed to figure out what the heck I needed to do next to get that audio file on a podcast. And, and so boom, we did this podcast. Then we actually did an interview and the guy we interviewed was like, Hey, why aren't you doing this on video? Um, and the video, like the very next Friday, that was on a Friday, the very next Friday we had, you know, not the best camera, not the best audio setup. Um, but we, we were on video and I can tell you when we started the podcast, we

didn't, we didn't really know what was going to come out of it. Um, I think there's a part of me that would say, uh, if I knew it was going to take one year before we got our first phone call from the podcast, I might not have started it. I might not have started it. That's everybody bro. Right. And, and then now, right. Even it is responsible for some of our business. And at times it's been responsible for 30% of our business, which is obviously incredibly important. And then, but, but, you know, Matt and I've had a number of conversations. Like it's not just the lead gen that comes out of this. It's, it's everything else that's really kind of consistent with who we are, which is, Hey, we've got this information. We want to share this information with people as a company. We need a way to force the company to stay on top of this incredibly ever changing, uh, market internet marketing. And the podcast does so many of those things for us. It also gets out a personality of the, of a company. Like so many people now are doing business with the personality of the company. Um, and not just like the fact that they've got widget X and whether widget X is even better or not. It's like, Hey, I like that guy or gal. It is better because it is better. Our widgets are better. Are better. That is better. I can, I can. And hopefully we have the personality and our team that carries through our team has the personality that you also connect with. Right. Like that's, that's that whole authenticity. Uh, and, and, and, you know, if you're focused on delivering value and being authentic, you're going to, again, you're going to get there. Well, one of the data points, um, that, that I, I actually hadn't, hadn't brought up, but I think it's really important to, to discuss is, um, seven hours of content. Okay. Someone needs to consume before they actually are, uh, like

the no like and trust ready to buy. Yeah. Okay. Seven hours of content. So a lot of people that, um, uh, call in and say, Hey, I want to do business with you. And they're like, ready to go. They had binge watch, listen to like, however many podcasts they had checked out the website. Um, they'd maybe seen some social media media stuff. They may be seeing some re remarketing, retargeting, kind of chase them around the internet with ads, that sort of thing. And, and by that time, like they're, they're ready. They, they, they know, they like, they trust us. We they've seen case studies. They know that either that we're a fit for them or we're not, but then here's another data point and you got to be careful with data points, but 85% of people go through the customer journey, the buying process online before they pick up a phone and call you. So you actually don't know who's screening themselves in and who's screening themselves out. Um, because they're all doing it on their own. And basically you're putting that content out there and you're saying, let the market judge, right. Let the market judge what, what people connect or let people not, you know, and, and, and the thing is you can't be all things to all people. It comes full circle because there's going to be people, if you're not polarizing, you know, if, if you're not Gary V polarizing with like, you know, like curse words or whatever, like, which, you know, is a little much for me, honestly, but, but, but there's people that either hate them and then people that love them. But if, if, if you're not hot or cold, they're going to, you know, it's not going to matter. You know what I mean? Like, so you, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta pick because I, Hey, I, I talked to a lot of people. They're like, who's, who's your target persona? Who are you going after? Like when we're doing like SEO planning sessions or,

you know, strategic consulting on digital marketing and you know, they say small business owners, small business owners is not a segment. Okay. What segment inside small business owners are you? But if you're targeting all small business owners, like some, somebody that's a, you know, somebody that's a store on the corner is very different than a plumber. Like they have very different needs. Like there's no way to do general marketing, um, and connect with all of them at the same time. Like it's, it's gotta be very personalized. It's gotta be very focused. It's gotta be very relevant to them. And, and, and so it's really, really important to understand what that identity is and, and then seek out those people. And the internet gives you the ability to, um, reach beyond your geographic means. Right. And, and so there might not be in that specific area, X number of whatever people, but you look at the entire state, you look at the entire United States, you look at the entire globe out of the, whatever, I don't know how many people there is on the search now, like 9 billion people or something like that. Like, can you not connect with, you know, a thousand of them or 500 of them? Because I don't, I don't remember that actually the other data point of like, actually how many people you need to, to build a sustainable business. I can't remember, um, what the data is on that. Yeah. It's not that many, like out of the big scheme of things of, of, of how many people you can reach. And so I just think that a lot of people, uh, when they're getting started, get discouraged of, it's not right. It's not perfect. Um, you know, I don't know what I'm doing or they try it once and it's not working. I think it's like working out. Like, honestly, like, so, you know, Chris and I were drinking last night till about 1230. And then I did CrossFit for the first time, uh, this morning. How

sore are you? I took my Vital C before you went. I took my Vital C as well. Actually, I, I, I did everything I could to, to prep for this, but the, the reality is okay. That I'm not going to have like everything I want in the physique that I want the first time I work out. It's going to take a bunch of times for it to happen. And, um, I think people give up when they're working out or in other things in life before the transition and the transformation happens because they think they're doing it wrong or it's not working, or we live in this world of instant gratification or something like that. And it's just consistency and it, and it's having a plan and it's putting in that effort day over day. I mean, Chris, you call it like the, was it 10,000 mile March or something like that? Uh, I, uh, it's not 10,000, but it's a, and it's not a hundred miles. It's a lot of miles. It's a lot of miles. Right. You know? So, so I don't know. Some of the things that, that, that, that I'm, I'm connecting with of, of what you're communicating, Travis. I mean, um, get like, I got, I got a question. Like I want to, I want to jump in here. So, uh, dreams, identity, legacy. Awesome. First off. Um, was that, did that, was that like, did that hit like right away day one or did that evolve? Yeah. So what's the, what's the story there? Yeah. All right. So until the last breath actually started off as a lifestyle brand, but our primary focus, so to speak, is that we're a radical lifestyle brand that is basically just, we call the dreams and the identity out of people based upon the authenticity of how we were created. Right? Like that's the, that's, that was like the biggest thing is speaking to the dreams that live inside of people and calling them to the surface. It was really only about dreams at

first because I'm a dreamer, right? Not from the perspective of dreaming and not doing, I dream and put action and learn along the way, but it evolved into, cause there ain't nothing you can tell me that's not possible. If I can, if I'm called to it and I can figure it out and I get the right team around me, we can achieve it. Well, over time it came into dreams, identity, and legacy. And those are like the three pillars because I'm all about identity, like sons and daughters, who we are as sons and daughters in the father created in God's image is huge to me for anybody who knows me. That's like my, man, that's my thing, man. Like I've been through a lot on the identity side, the rejection side, you know, and coming, coming through and really understanding, understanding who I am and my own value in God. That's a passion of mine. So anytime I get to talk about that with people, I've come to realize over time, it truly is, in my opinion, the foundation to everything in life. Right? So if I understand who I am as a son and a daughter, and this is, I'm getting to how this ties in. So if I understand you got dreams, identity, and legacy, right? How many people do you know, pursued their dreams and what they're really wanting to achieve never took place because their character could not sustain the journey. Their character couldn't sustain the success. The success took them out. They didn't want it that way, but they couldn't sustain the journey because of, they got everything so quick and so fast and they didn't understand who they were. So the identity took them out. Yeah. They wanted it here. They didn't want it here. Right. Right. Like that's, that's the kind of parallel I have. Yeah. So they couldn't pass it on to the, they couldn't pass it on to the next generation. It stopped with them. So if I can build, if I can build off of

who I am as a son and as a daughter, I'm solid. I don't care what you say about me. I know my value. I don't care what you've said about me. It doesn't matter. I know who I am as a son and a daughter. I can build off of that. So no matter what comes with me along the way on the journey to my dreams and the gifts and the talents that God has placed inside of me, no matter if I fail, no matter if you have an opinion, no matter if social media is not going good, I ain't going to stop because my purpose is not in your opinion. My purpose is in what God has placed inside of me, what he has said about me. So I can continue in the consistency. It'll evolve over time. And then at that point, it's not just about me. It's about the next generation. It's about our children. It's about these other younger kids who think that the only way to achieve something in life is to go get a college degree or to follow in their parents' footsteps or to go and only do what society says they should do. That's a flat-out lie. And I'll challenge anybody who says it. Are you telling me that we were created to follow the exact same path? All these people in the world. No, man. We were created with all these things inside of us that are supposed to be this potential that lives inside of us is supposed to be discovered. And we can do that with the father in my, but that's, that's me. That's what I believe. Wow. So Travis, you, you, you're about your, we got to, we're, we're, we're going to wrap up this podcast here, but there, there's actually, no, no, no, no. There's, you're opening up some cans of worms of, you know, basically, you know, like I haven't talked about much, my view of education, right. You know, and, and, and what they train you to do, like, they

don't teach you about personal finances. They don't teach you about life skills. They teach you how to work in a factory and push a button. You know what I mean? And like, like there's, they're like, look, I'm not going to go, go down this rabbit hole here and now. Right. But there's, there's really a lot of stuff there that you just touched on that would make for some really quite interesting conversations. One of the things that you mentioned before that, I want to make sure that everyone hears, cause I think it's super valuable. And I think we could probably end on that. And then, you know, I wanted you to definitely tell everybody how they can find you and get in touch with you and check out your stuff. But Chris, he talked about self-worth, right? Self-worth there. We have a friend, Travis, a guy that coaches celebrities. He's made like Hulk Hogan cry. He, he, he has a really good, you know, like therapy, really it's like therapy. It's not counseling, it's therapy, but he talks about something in one of his books called the law of deservedness. Okay. And, and I think everybody struggles with this. And I think Chris, you're, you're better qualified to, to, to talk or address about it. Can you kind of, you know, in a nutshell, as we're wrapping up, kind of describe the law of deservedness? Cause I think that's what Travis kind of mentioned just in different words. Yeah. I, I'm going to mention that. One of the things I, before I kind of touch on that is Travis, you talked about kind of modeling parents, right? And, and I think there's a couple of things that can happen there. Cause one is if your parents, you know, go to work and go to a factory, push a button, that's great. That's fine. It's the other things you do. Like you obviously have a passion. And if your day job was pushing that button at a factory, the message, the real message, pursue your dreams is

getting to your kid. Right. Like, and so it's, it's, it's modeling on a broader base and understand that you're teaching your children always. And there's nothing wrong with teaching them that, you know, go to a factory, push a button, but make sure you're pursuing your passion. And then if you can get to the point where you're actually do molding them together and successful with them together, you're going to be happy or everybody's going to be happier. Like it just, everything is a, is a wonderful place. If that's your passion, do it. If that's, if you want to go work at a factory and push a button, that's what I support. Yeah. Don't pursue a life. Somebody else tells you, you should just because you're trying to please them. Yeah. And you don't understand your own value and how you were created. And, and I think one other thing, just as a motivation, I always love this question. What is the number one way to ensure that your child is a professional baseball player? What is the one thing that you can do that would have the most impact? Are you asking my opinion on that? Or is it like a, then the answer is be a professional baseball player, right? The number one, like that is the number one indicator of a, of a child who's going to be a professional baseball player. Like the one that has the most impact. And the lesson is there, like whatever you're doing with your life right now, if you have kids, you're training them to do the same thing. You're, you're, you're setting the level of performance that they can achieve, that they believe is, uh, is achievable. Right. And, and I've actually struggled with that. And, and actually now I'm going to talk about kind of Patrick and his thought process. Uh, Patrick has actually helped me, uh, kind of break through that, you know, glass ceiling, if you will, as it relates to a lot of people fundamentally believe that they can't do better than

their parents. And there's ways that you can change that. Right. Yeah. Um, his law of deservingness, it basically says that you have today, or you don't have today, everything you believe you deserve. Meaning like I may think that I deserve a Lamborghini, but I don't have one yet. So there's something that I need to change inside of me. Some adjustments that I need to make Tesla, Chris. Yeah. Yeah. I like the Tesla. Tesla's good. And actually I may have shifted from a Lamborghini to the Tesla Roadster. Cause like, it's the same thing, just faster and better. So that's like, that's my goal, but I don't have it today. So I can't really argue that I deserve it. Cause if I really deserved it, I would have it already. So now I've got to be making, adjustments to my thought process and to the actions that I'm taking so that I manifest it. And then when I have it in my hands, then obviously I deserve it. The other thing of that, and I think you touched on this a little bit was if I get the Lamborghini, let's say I win the lottery and I get the Lamborghini, but I haven't made the adjustments here. I will sabotage it. Right. And we've all seen like people sabotage the stats on winning the lottery are 10 years later. You're not slightly better off than you were before you win the lottery. You're not slightly less, right? It hasn't ruined your life. It's you're the same. You've returned to the exact same, the exact same belief point. And that's actually also true of dieting, right? I've never heard anybody explain yo-yo dieting to me. Uh, the only thing that resonates for me is this law of deservedness. You're supposed, you believe you're supposed to be at this, you know, and, and diet is, is usually about physical attractiveness and then just health. So you have concepts about how healthy you're supposed to be, how attractive you're supposed to be. And, and you can diet past it and

lose weight and, and it will come back. Or maybe you want to put on muscle and you can do that and it will come back if you don't fundamentally change that. Uh, and, and, you know, Matt and I, I feel really lucky to have, uh, the, like the insights and access to, to Patrick, to be able to kind of help us, uh, deal with those things. Yeah. I want to ask something real quick before we leave. And I, cause that, what he's talking about, man, that law of what is it called? Law of deservedness. Yeah. That's, that's dope. Cause he's exactly right. So look, Matt or, uh, Chris, right. It's Chris. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, you got it. I take it. You're married. You got a ring on. Yep. Yep. You got to do that kids. Yep. Twins, 10 year old twins. All right. So let's just get flat out raw and real. Let me ask you a straight up question with this brand that you're building. If I, if you knew today that you can achieve whatever you want to achieve with your brand, but you'd lose your family along the way, what will you pick? Done? No, exactly. No, exactly. So this is, this is what I'm getting at. This is, this is a big problem in society. Where is our value system? What are we instilling in our children? Like with our son, our son's four, four and a half years old from the moment that he could concept what I was telling him every single day, multiple times a day, we tell him we love him and that he could achieve anything that he wants. But the most important thing in life is his, is his relationship with the father. And then also family instill that and build off of that. So when that decision comes up, because it will come up because plenty of people have had to make that decision in those moments. And if the foundation and the value and understanding of who we are, sons and daughters is

not set, there's families that have been dissolved generations that have been cut off. Because of that one moment in history, that determines everything else in the future. And that's the that's the biggest problem that we have to go after. And I promise you, and like y'all's friend probably already knows, it looks good on the outside. But the majority of people that you talk to, when you get them in private, they break down, because they know, it's that value system. And it's not a it's an issue, but it's always resolved. Always, everything can be restored, but the right people around. Yeah. And you know, I may have not finished the quote, which is, you'll if you get more than you believe you deserve, you will sabotage it, or not enjoy it. And that's what you were talking about. Like, yeah, it looks great on the outside. But when you go in and have a conversation, you're like, it's, you're, it's not that you're devoid, you're devoid where you are. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Right. Very cool. Very cool. I feel like, you know, we were just really getting into it. We're starting to kind of peel back the layers of talking about some of this stuff. But it's been, we're pushing on an hour here. So I wanted to wrap it up, Travis, Sterling, until the last breath. Thank you so much for coming on. How would you like people to get in touch with you? If they want to further learn about your message or connect with you personally, and learn about the brand? Biggest thing is you go to our, our Instagram page, which is until the last breath underscore TM, or my personal Facebook page, which I push all content through, which is Sterling Travis on Facebook. So you can DM me, hit us up. Um, because listen, you know, you're going to hit me up direct. It ain't going to be a team. So. Well, awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on. It was great to have you on.

Thank y'all, man. Thank y'all. This is great. Awesome. All right. Have a good one. Have a good rest of your day. All right. Bye-bye.