The Rv Entrepreneur With Heath Padgett

In 2016, Kara and Nate set off for a year around the world, planning to vlog their adventures. They didn't expect that four years later, they would have over a million subscribers, visit 100 countries, and have one of the most popular travel vlogs on all of Youtube. This episode is pulled from our 2020 RV Entrepreneur Summit, just days after international travel began to close, so it's recorded from a hotel room in Singapore. The RV Entrepreneur Summit is our annual conference for full-time travelers on how to build a business on the road and in their mainstage presentation, Kara and Nate break down how they turned making travel videos into their dream business. In their talk, they share: How travel hacking got them starting traveling for cheap Year by year how much money they made on Youtube The struggles and wins of growing their Youtube channel Getting free experiences (and if they were worth it) How they diversified their business Their secret recipe for how to record videos now AND how they e

Working in finance in New York City, Dave started dreaming about living in a van and taking his hedge fund on the road. But he couldn't hit the road immediately, so he rented his van out on Outdoorsy to offset his van costs while he wasn't traveling. To his surprise, his van booked out for four months! So he got another and soon had 6 vans being rented out. Meanwhile in Colorado, Dave's college buddy Matt was renovating and building out a van of his own. When Matt shared how much it cost him to buy and build out the van and that he sold it for a profit after taking it cross country, the friends had an idea: Let's build out custom vans and rent and sell them. In this episode, they share their story of getting started. Plus: How to approach renting your RV online Using the real estate model to analyze the RV rental market Deciding on the basic, customizable van layout Costs and time to build out and ship vans Why the van lifestyle allows you take more risk in business ---- Today’s episode is sponsored

Kay has been traveling internationally with her family and son for years and made the jump into full-time RV travel. Her travel blog was making money, but not nearly enough to support her family full-time. The RV was her chance to go all-in. In this episode, Heath and Kay talk about where Kay has found success monetizing her blog, how to connect with brands, and what makes you stand out on Instagram. One of the things I loved about this episode is when Kay explains how to find success on Instagram because the answer isn't "have the most followers" or "take the best photos." She'll share more about halfway through the episode. But the Mom Trotter blog isn't Kay's only business she runs on the road. She also runs Black Kids Do Travel, which offers community and resources to families of color who want to travel more. What else Heath & Kay cover in this episode: The primary ways Kay monetizes her blog & social channels Finding success on Instagram How to collaborate with brands Setting your rate to

This week on the show, Heath is interviewing Tim Ewing. After years in the C-suite, Tim decided to leave behind his steady paycheck and travel with his family. But he couldn't retire at 51. So he started Quest CPA and a consulting business on the road. There are a few things I really loved listening to Heath and Tim. One, they both share the stories of their first business failures and the lessons they learned which are a must hear for any entrepreneur. Two, Tim is really open and honest about what his expectations were and how he's adapted in the past 7 years of traveling to focus on the right things—like working with his family, a lifelong dream, and how he's made that a reality. Plus at around 23 minutes, Heath asked Tim to share his tax expertise and answer three incredibly common RV tax questions: Can I write off my RV mileage? If I domicile in a tax-free state, do I need to pay taxes in other states? And how should I file my business? So if this tax season you're wondering about any of those thing

How do you get new clients for your business? This is one of the biggest hurdles to starting and growing a new business. Even people who have been in business for years struggle with finding new clients sometimes! In today's episode, Candyce Edelen is sharing how she uses Linkedin to source business leads. As an entrepreneur, I'd kind of written off LinkedIn as being a place where people look for a new job. But Candyce explains how it can be the #1 tool to keep your business actively growing and find new clients, plus step-by-step how you can use the platform to find new clients. Today’s episode is sponsored by ID Plans (and it’s actually less of a sponsorship than it is an opportunity). ID Plans is a software and service company based in Tampa Florida that provides solutions for property managers.  Over the past 20 years, ID Plans has been able to hire a number of full-time RVers who help survey commercial properties and they are currently looking to hire 3-5 more additional RV teams. I’ve seen a l

On today's podcast episode, we are tackling one of the BEST problems RVers face on the road: where should we camp next? In their latest book, Jeremy and Stephanie Puglisi share the best campgrounds, glampgrounds, and destinations to add to your travel plans. We got an advance copy of the book and I've already taken pictures of different chapters and sent it to my traveling friends saying you should stay here. In today's episode, Heath, Jeremy, and Stephanie talk about how the camping industry has changed, how they've planned roadtrips, and what makes campgrounds awesome. If you want suggestions on where to camp next, you can pick up their new book anywhere books are sold. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rve/message

We often see questions in our Facebook group on how to RV to craft shows. What do you sell? How do you find shows? Are shows even happening right now? Shanna Wyatt of Chadwicks Naturals answers all these questions and more as she shares how she built a homemade dip business that supports her family.  In this episode, Shanna shares: What happens if she runs out of dips on the road Her average costs and earnings How she chooses which festivals and shows to attend (and it's WAY more complicated than you'd think!) How to stand out with customers What Shanna says to every customer who approaches her booth Why you can still kill it at small shows How Shanna and craft shows have adapted to COVID rules Other food-related products you can sell at craft shows The BIGGEST mistake you can make at a craft show One resource you'll want to check out if you're looking to dip into the craft circuit (sorry, had to) is Festivalnet. This is paid service (but only $50 a year) for finding festivals. You can al

The Dream: A Hospitality Business on Wheels Back when they first wanted to start RVing, Josh and Brittain bought and renovated an 88 Airstream. Then they picked up a rare '87 Airstream motorhome to renovate and rent on Airbnb. They dreamed of creating awesome unique glamping experiences for people who want to enjoy the outdoors. "We had the vintage camper, but we didn't have the land," explained Brittain. That's when they connected with a vintage campground in Tuscon to park one of their Airstreams on site. They worked out a 50/50 revenue split and all the fine details and continued traveling in the RV, making their Airstream rental almost completely passive income. Josh and Brittain are very open about numbers, so they share a ton of insights behind how much they paid, earned, and profited as they've built this business. I highly recommend listening to the episode to year all the nitty-gritty details on finances. Now they have four vintage trailers and recently found a new home for their rental business

Would you live in a 39-inch trailer? Check out photos and video of the trailer at heathandalyssa.com/hitch-hotel In March of 2014 while driving down the road, Geoff had an idea and immediately called his friend Gil. How could they build a collapsible (but stable), a lightweight (but sturdy) trailer for camping and mountain biking? But bringing a dream this big (or this little, really) to reality would take time. They had four things they need to do to get the first Hitch Hotel created: Develop prototypes Establish funding Patent their invention Find a manufacturer This process has taken seven years, but the amount of time and capital it's taken hasn't slowed Gil and Geoff down. Like everyone, they have bad days, but every morning they wake up excited to finally bring this product to market. What Heath and the guys cover in this episode: How Gil analyzed the opportunity in the 60-billion-dollar camping industry How Geoff built the first prototype on his own (and fixed it when he learned that he di

When we ask people how they want to make money while traveling, one idea always comes up: making passive income through real estate investments. IT'S THE DREAM. You only work a few hours, you have a property to come back to when you're done traveling, and real estate is a great way to diversify your portfolio. It's a no brainer. But it's also a completely daunting and intimidating prospect. You have to buy a house. Get it ready for tenants. And then let strangers live in it. Heath and I have wanted to get into real estate investing for years, but the magnitude and upfront costs always scared us off. So today we're interviewing realtor Jordan Knoll on her experience renting and managing seven rental properties (while she was RVing in Mexico, no less!). --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rve/message

If you want to work on the road, you need RV internet.  Today we are bringing back experts Chris and Cherie of RV Mobile Internet to share the best options and updates on internet for RVers in 2021. Chris and Cherie are OG full-time digital nomads and have been traveling for nearly 15 years! They both work on the road and knew that this lifestyle couldn't work long-term without solid internet. After years of testing and experience, they've become the gold standard for understanding and finding gear for internet for RVers. In this episode, Chris and Cherie dive into the major changes internet for RVers has faced in the past few years and how to get internet on the road this year. They cover: How to stay connected for working remotely Creating redundancies so you always(ish) have internet How unlimited data options have changed Who the top 2 carriers are for data (and it's not who we thought!) How throttling works What 5G even is How close Starlink is to nationwide internet access To see the

At the beginning of the year, we got a voicemail from a listener asking for advice. How do you balance between doing the work you love and the work that pays? In this short episode, Heath & Alyssa share their very different answers to this question. Before we get into the podcast, I want to share some of the links and resources we mention since they are BIGGIES: Anchor - where to leave us a voicemail for future episodes Create an Etsy Printable Course - digital products are an amazing passive income source and Etsy is a huge marketplace! Get 25% off the course with the code RVE How to Self Publish Your First Book on Amazon - our complete course on how to self-publish with Amazon KDP --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rve/message

Paige loves the law. She's been working in the industry for over 20 years, but once she made it to the top—general counsel—she suddenly realized that she made it to where she wanted to be. And now she was free to pursue something else. She didn't hate her job, she just wanted something a little less conventional. Sitting in Italy eating cannoli and sipping a cappuccino, she had an idea...sounds like the perfect way to think up your new business idea, doesn't it? Wanting to find a way to spend more time in Italy, Paige came up with an idea: start a lawyer translation business. It's something I've never thought of before, but there's a need in the industry for reliable translations of legal documents. What if I decide to buy a campground in Iceland and need the contract translated to Icelandic? Paige at Online Legal Translations can handle it (from her van or from her home in Italy). But she didn't just jump into business on her own. She wisely started as a side hustle, finding other translation agencies and of

Sometimes you come up with a great business idea. It's something you know you would use. And when you get someone else to test it, you realize that it doesn't solve the right problem. This is what Reet faced when he launched Trip Outside, a platform to find and book outdoor adventures online. After a quick pivot, the marketplace serves outdoor outfitters by helping them rent and sell gear and acts as a one-stop-shop for adventurers looking to book rentals and experiences for their next vacation. But Trip Outside isn't the only company Reet runs with his wife, Julie. They also run Seva Stray, an e-commerce company with a big vision. After visiting India and volunteering and even adopting stray dogs, Reet & Julie decided to combine their love of dogs and their business knowledge. With Seva Stray, they sell beautiful, unique, ethically sourced, vegan products, and 20% of all sales go toward organizations in India that take care of stray dogs. These donations go toward vaccinations, spaying and neutering prog

Our annual year in review episode! These are some of our favorite podcasts to record. Alyssa joins me today to reflect on our past year.  In this 30-minute episode, we talk about the best parts of 2020 (because there really were some good things that happened), all of the hard moments, and some of the biggest life lessons we took away from 2020.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rve/message

How do you get Mindy Kaling to wear a sweater you knit in your RV? Krista has been knitting for years. After graduating college, she started teaching knitting classes at yarn shops. One day as she was working from home, knitting while watching TV shows about travel, she realized she could knit from anywhere. So she convinced her husband to retire early and travel the country with her. Most knitters go for a platform like Etsy when they want to start their own business. But everything on Etsy is so underpriced, Krista says. "I see a scarf that I know the yarn cost $7 and they are selling it for $8." Plus you need to carry tons of inventory to ship. She knew there was no way that could support life in the RV. She also made custom things for people who came into the yarn shops where she worked. But with the hours it took to make each piece, she still wasn't making much profit from each piece. Then a friend saw a posting on Craigslist for a knitter and shared it with Krista. She reached out and connected with a c

Back in the corporate world, Camille thrived in HR. She focused on job placement, helping people get off welfare and into the workforce, and course creation for corporate training. So it makes complete sense that now she runs an online business focused on helping RVers find remote jobs. But it wasn't so easy for Camille to go from full-time career to starting her own business. But before we get into the episode, I want to share Camille's free masterclass on finding remote work. This free masterclass is designed to work you through the framework to start searching for the right remote job for you. Sign up to attend the free How To Find Remote Work in 90 Days or Less and you'll get a discount code for Camille's Remote Work 101 program too. The 101 program will guide you through making a plan, refreshing your resume, finding job opportunities, and even interviewing for your remote job. You can get the course for 50% off when you attend the free How To Find Remote Work in 90 Days or Less masterclass :) --- Sen

After emigrating with his family from Israel, Erez was disenchanted with living in suburbia. One winter he and some friends all went to Destin for a vacation where the home rental owner shared how easy it was to make money renting on the Florida coast. Erez was intrigued. So he bought a house. And then another a year later. And then another. And now he and his wife actively manage four vacation rentals in Destin while they RV full-time. He even gets photos of his properties texted to him by his cleaners so he can manage landscaping and home details from a thousand miles away. In this episode, Erez shares some major insights into managing an Airbnb remotely. Like How one house can bring in $100,000/year How to calculate what you charge nightly + for cleaning fees What yield management is and how it affects bookings Why Erez doesn’t use management companies or channel managers to run his home rentals remotely Why being a good communicator trumps being skilled when it comes to hiring Plus he shares all

Five years ago, oil was booming in Texas. And with the boom came oil workers and their RVs. Sites in the area without full hookups were going for $450/month and Eric instantly saw the business potential. Eric owns a mortgage company in Houston and once he enough money in the bank, he found partners to invest in a new RV resort. One that has been forwarded to us by everyone we know after it was featured in Business Insider (because it's modern and gorgeous in a way that you NEVER see at RV parks). In this episode, Heath interviews Eric from Eric & Jay's RV Resort on how they built and started a luxury RV park in Houston, Texas. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rve/message

It's a few days after Halloween and today's episode is all about death. Well, how two entrepreneurs market the death care industry from their RV. We dive into what digital marketing really is, how to sell your service to customers, and how to successful price your business. I bet you're dying to listen to this episode (okay I'm sorry, I had to) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rve/message