Brian Luebben had climbed to the top of the corporate ladder, landing a prestigious position at a Fortune 500 sales organization in his mid-20s and earning a substantial salary.
But then a surprising truth hit him: he didn’t want this life.
He didn’t just want to succeed financially, he wanted to quit his corporate job and travel the world full-time with the freedom to shape his life and career as his own boss.
With the success of his podcast, which became his growing media business, Brian turned his vision into reality.
Today, he is living his dream, traveling the world, earning passive income and pursuing projects close to his heart, like his Action Academy. Brian’s story embodies entrepreneurial success merged with personal fulfillment.
Brian recently sat down with Pat Flynn to share his story on The Smart Passive Income Podcast.
Determined to align his career with his ideal lifestyle, Brian transitioned from corporate life to full-time traveler by following this plan:
- Determine your ideal vision for the future
- Establish a solid financial foundation
- Content creation and customer data collection
- Develop a product adapted to the needs of its audience
- Pivot your business strategy in response to customer feedback
- Generate recurring revenue
- Looking for growth opportunities for the future
Plan your exit from employment
Establish your ideal vision for the future
So how do you determine your next steps after leaving your job to travel? How can you even begin to replace a corporate salary? With so many unknowns, there was one thing Brian was certain of: instead of running far from something, he wanted to run away towards something.
This meant developing a three-year “living vision” for his personal and professional aspirations. By putting his dreams on paper, he got a clear roadmap.
Here is the picture he painted:
“I wake up in the morning and I feel the warm cobblestones of this balcony on my feet and I look out and see the ocean. I don’t get calls all morning, but in the afternoon I have meetings with my team. I can make money anywhere in the world with a Mac and a mic.
A financial foundation for full-time travel
Now that Brian had a clear destination in mind, he needed to plot the route to get there. His next step, which he calls “building a financial foundation,” was to invest in real estate.
Brian grew a portfolio of single-family rentals, generating enough passive income to cover his living expenses and begin to replace his corporate salary.
Even though Brian was able to live essentially for free, he was aiming for something greater. Taking a bold leap, he decided to sell his properties, which allowed him to “break through the barriers” and focus on his true passions: his podcast and online business.
“What’s the worst possible scenario if you quit your job and go all in, right? “You have no more money. Now what’s happening? You leave to find another job. So your worst case scenario is your current reality, right? »
Turn Your Side Hustle Into a Thriving Online Business
Start creating content
Now that you’ve established your vision for the future, built a financial foundation, and are willing to take risks to pursue your passions, it’s time to start growing your online business. But where to start ?
Brian explains that the first step is to simply start producing content in any format that highlights your skills and interests and see what resonates with your audience.
Brian achieved this by hosting his podcast, The Action Academy, where he gives advice to people who share his desire: to create a business around their lives, and not the other way around.
Collect customer data
To increase revenue and better serve his audience, Brian wanted to learn more about their needs. He offered 100 listeners a free coaching session of 15 minutes each. During these sessions, he asked them about the challenges and obstacles they faced in achieving their business goals. This approach allowed him to collect a wealth of valuable customer data.
Why offer this free service? According to Brian, many entrepreneurs run into a common pitfall: they create solutions to problems that don’t actually exist. To avoid falling into this trap, Brian aimed to connect directly with his audience to determine exactly what the market demands.
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Create a product that fits your audience Really Needs
Now equipped with this useful customer data, Brian decided to create a course directly tailored to the needs of his audience. He developed a comprehensive 12-week, 52-hour program and reached out to the initial 100 clients through the free coaching sessions, offering them the course at $1,500 each.
In just 48 hours, Brian won $100,000.
Pivot the business towards growth
The business you’re considering might end up looking different in reality. Indeed, a company’s continued growth relies on the ability to identify expansion opportunities and make necessary adjustments.
Brian experienced this when he created a Facebook group for his class participants to connect. Members began forming partnerships and making deals within the group. Eventually, discussions arose about the value of the group exceeding that of the course itself.
Brian recognized this as an opportunity and reevaluated his strategy, embarking on a new phase for his business: community building.
“The key is to just start step by step and repeat, changing as you take customer feedback and asking your customer: What do you want?
Generate recurring revenue to fuel full-time travel
So what happened next for Brian after he came to this realization? It has adjusted its business model to focus on community building and monetization. The course has evolved into a 30-day onboarding process, now offered to free within the community.
This shift allowed community members to be more successful by connecting with peers at similar stages to them or those who had overcome similar challenges. These connections provided valuable guidance and support, helping members navigate their journey more effectively.
This business pivot also opened the door to recurring income for Brian, the key to unlocking full-time travel. Unlike one-time transactions selling individual courses, annual community memberships promised ongoing financial stability and engagement.
Today, the community has around 200 active members and is overseen by Brian and a team of five. In his first year, Brian’s business is expected to reach $1.2 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR).
“The reason I made this change was because the course material was not the answer. People were the answer. People have always been the answer.
Living life as a full-time digital nomad
Looking forward
Brian’s future plans include preparing for membership growth by considering adjustments such as expanding his team and distributing responsibilities among his employees to ensure sustainability.
It also plans to introduce a referral program within its community to encourage member engagement and drive organic growth.
Additionally, Brian aims to increase his company’s visibility and attract new members by creating short-form content. With more than 200,000 subscribers on Instagram, he demonstrates a strong ability to engage and retain a large audience.
A living vision realized
Brian is now living his original “vivid vision”: to travel the world as his own boss while continuing to grow his online business. He says his goal was never to retire and just relax on a beach somewhere. Instead, he advocates building a business around something you love: quitting your job to travel full time, not wander.
When your business is fun to run, revenue and profits become natural byproducts. This is what he calls “passionate income,” as opposed to passive income.
Brian’s central message is clear: there is no need to postpone happiness. Joy and fulfillment are available right now, and anyone can realize and achieve them with the right guidance and resources.
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