YAPClassic: John Lee Dumas on Maximizing Productivity, Generating Passive Income, and How to Start a Successful Podcast | Entrepreneurship

**Hala Taha** (0:12)
Hey, young and profiters, welcome back to another YAPClassic. Today, we're resurfacing my 2021 interview with John Lee Dumas, AKA JLD. John is a founder and host of the first ever daily entrepreneurship podcast, Entrepreneurs on Fire. His podcast has nearly 4,000 episodes with over 100 million total downloads. JLD is an OG in the podcast game. He's a total legend. And he was the podcast prince well before I was ever the podcast princess.
In this episode, John and I talk about how he monetized his podcast and his top tips for new podcasters. He also explains how he batches his time and utilizes mornings to maximize productivity. And though this interview is from two years ago, now is still the best time to start a podcast. In fact, I recently interviewed Neil Patel. He's one of our generation's top marketing and SEO experts. And he says that podcasting is one of the top marketing trends in 2023 So if you have an idea for a podcast that you've been kicking around, maybe now is the time to take that leap.
Let's dive right into my interview with John Lee Dumas.
Hey John, welcome to Young and Profiting Podcast.

**John Lee Dumas** (1:25)
Paula, I am fired up to be here. I can't wait to chat.

**Hala Taha** (1:28)
Yeah, me too. I've been following your journey. I know you've been doing this since 2012
And when it comes to podcasting, you are really like best in class. Your website is best in class. Your processes are best in class. The way you organize your show is best in class. The way you prepare your guests is best in class. You are a legend when it comes to this space. Everybody respects you in this space.
So I know that it always wasn't like this. You actually weren't a natural entrepreneur, right? And you're known as this like big entrepreneur now, but actually you didn't start that way. You had a very traditional career. And when you were 26 to 32, I heard you say in the past that it was the worst time in your life.
So tell me why that was the worst time in your life. What were you going through? Share with the listeners what that was like.

**John Lee Dumas** (2:16)
Yes. Well, I had a great life. I spent the first 18 years of my life in Maine, in a very small town and great high school experience. Went to college on an Army scholarship in Rhode Island. So I loved my college experience. And then from 22 to 26, I was an officer in the Army, which had its ups and downs because I spent some time in Iraq, so during a war. So that was pretty intense for obvious reasons.
And then when I left the military from 26 to 32, those years that you mentioned, I called them my six years of struggle because that's what I was really trying to find, what the rest of my life was going to look like. Like, was it going to be law school? No, I dropped out. Was it going to be corporate finance? No, I quit after a year. Was it going to be commercial real estate, residential real estate? And none of it really clicked for various reasons.
And I was struggling as a result. But at 32 years old, I did have an idea to launch a daily podcast interviewing entrepreneurs, and nobody was doing anything close to that back then. So the day that I launched, it was the best daily podcast interviewing entrepreneurs.
It was the worst daily podcast interviewing entrepreneurs.
It was the only daily podcast interviewing entrepreneurs. And that's one of my biggest pieces of advice to people today is, how can you be the only? Because you're not going to be good when you start. Nobody's good when they start something new.
So how can you be the only? Just like back in the 90s, I don't even know if you can remember this, Hala, but there used to be one blockbuster in town. So if you wanted to run a movie, you had to go to that blockbuster. They were the only game in town. That's why they won, until of course Netflix destroyed them.
But the thing is, how can you in your life be the only? I was the only daily podcast innovating entrepreneur. So even though I wasn't good, and I wasn't good, I was the only option for people. So I just brought great guests on and I said as few of words as possible. I stepped out of the way and I let Seth Godin, Tim Ferriss, Gary Vaynerchuk, I let them provide the value. And then I just shipped the product. And I got a little bit better every single day. And Holla, I was doing seven days a week, 365 a year for 2,000 days in a row, for five and a half years. So that's how I got good.