How I Made $1M+ by 25 as a Solo Creator

We're living through an era unlike any

other time in human history. With the

rise of technology and AI, I genuinely

believe within our lifetime, we'll see

billion-dollar companies built by a

single person. Now, I don't know how to

build a billion-dollar company yet, but

by the time I was 25, I had made my

first million dollars through content as

a solo creator. And the crazy thing is

is up until recently, making a million

dollars by yourself was basically

unheard of. That kind of money was

reserved for full companies. you know,

the ones with employees, offices,

expensive equipment, but I was able to

do it with just my camera and a

computer. And I made a majority of my

first million in my childhood bedroom

where I grew up. I'm also a little

different than a lot of creators you see

online because I've had plenty of

opportunities to scale, hire teams, and

build something bigger. But instead of

sacrificing time and my enjoyment with

creating content, I focused on building

the systems that allow me to do

everything myself. And I want to share

some of those systems with you here

today. Early on for a solo creator, one

of the most important things I figured

out how to do was consistently create

content. And honestly, this might be the

single most important thing if you're

running a solo creator business. I've

gone through phases where I've uploaded

every single day and phases where I've

gone through and haven't uploaded for

months. And from firstirhand experience,

you'll make a whole bunch more money

when you upload more often. But once you

hit what I call escape velocity, posting

constantly becomes less critical to

maintaining the business. What escape

velocity is is, think of a plane taking

off. Early on, you need a ton of speed

and momentum to get that plane off the

ground, aka starting to make money as a

crater. But once that plane is in the

air, you can actually cut the engine to

the plane for a bit, and it'll keep

flying or floating down. It won't just

fall out of the sky. And the same thing

is true with a solo creator business.

You no longer have the need to go full

throttle all the time. So, escape

velocity is crucial to running a solo

creator business. Some of the ways I was

able to reach escape velocity were

pretty simple but powerful. I kept the

lighting equipment that I use, my

cameras, and everything I needed to

record a video set up at all times. So,

when I would record, I had everything

and all I had to do was just flip the

switch and turn it on. I built custom

Premiere Pro project files with my

music, sound effects, backgrounds, text,

everything already loaded up. I went

through and customized my keybinds on my

keyboard so editing was as fast as

possible. That allowed me to record,

edit, and post a video all in the same

day. And 5 years ago, that was almost

unheard of. Today, with AI and better

software and technology, it's more

common to be able to bump out videos

like that. But back then, speed was a

massive advantage. And I still think

speed is just as much of advantage

because the goal is always to go from

idea to posting as fast as possible. An

idea trapped in your brain is as good as

an idea that doesn't exist. Alongside

being able to post that consistently, I

figured out a way to make repeatable

content and a format that worked for me.

What I realized after studying thousands

of successful YouTube channels is that

most YouTube channels that post very

consistently are just a variation of

news content. They're reacting to what's

already happening. For me, I was in the

music video space. So, every Thursday,

new music videos would drop. So, I would

immediately go watch all the videos and

then break down the ones that I thought

was interesting. What effects were used,

what trends were emerging, the things

that I was able to pick up on quicker

than everyone else. And that did two

primary things. First, the content was

always relevant and top of mind because

people had just watched those videos.

So, when something like that pops up in

their feed, they're more interested. And

second, I never ran out of ideas. Even

though some of the videos that I would

make felt very similar, there was always

a new angle because the context of the

video had changed. The content inside of

it was slightly different. And that's

one thing I see a lot of beginner

creators struggle with is the idea of

every video has to be completely new

with a whole set of new ideas. When in

reality, the content game is a lot of

packaging. The information you say in

each video doesn't have to be completely

new each time because by the time you

post a handful of videos, you've

probably already used up most of your

good ideas. It's finding out ways to

repackage that content, but then also

come at it with a new angle. That way,

the audience can still learn or be

entertained by it. So, that style of

content was foundational for me making

over a million dollars living in my

childhood bedroom and playing

Counterstrike Global Offensive every

single night uh up until 3:00 in the

morning. But content alone wasn't

enough. Even to this day, I post by

itself would not cover even my living

expenses. I needed to make money without

working all the time because I really at

the time enjoyed playing Counterstrike

every single night. So, I needed some

time to do that. I needed time to grind

that and get global. So, I started

looking for some of the more loweffort,

more lazy ways to make money

consistently. Something I could create

once, put a lot of effort into upfront,

and then have it mostly run on its own.

Something I could create once, and get

paid forever from. That's where digital

products really clicked for me. I

realized I could turn my editing skills

into a downloadable file someone could

buy on my website, get an automated

email, and I'd never even have to know

their name. When I first started selling

digital products, I was making about

$100 a month for close to two years from

digital products. So, nowhere near

enough to go full-time. But to me, that

proved that the model worked. And I just

didn't know how to work it. And I knew

if I could understand pricing and offers

and how to create content that genuinely

sold someone, this could be my way out.

This could be my way to being a

full-time creator. So over time, I

naturally just kept improving on

everything. The products, the messaging,

the pricing, and I studied what people

actually wanted. It wasn't easy, but I'd

honestly say that about 90% of my

success came from figuring out this

part. And if you're watching this and

you want to learn how to create your

first successful digital product, I

actually released a full course. I'll

have it linked down below. It includes

an AI that helps you create your first

product, plus all the software you'll

need to get started. Like I said, it's

linked below, and I genuinely think it's

one of the most valuable pieces of

content I've ever released, especially

for free. So, go ahead and check that

out. Now, once I had a repeatable

content and consistent product sales, I

started experimenting around with

Facebook ads. This is where making money

online as a creator really started to

become a math equation. I could spend

$5,000 in a month and make back 10, all

while collecting juicy, juicy Amex

points, which basically has allowed me

to not have to pay for flight ever

since. Incredible. It's one of the

coolest things about ads, honestly. But

the problem was, at first, I had no idea

to run ads. So, I had a buddy help me

get everything set up and then he

actually ran them for me. Eventually, I

learned the process myself. And now,

I've helped other creators implement the

same systems, oftent times even better

than when I first started cuz I

genuinely had no clue what I was doing.

And then from there, it was really about

consistency and avoiding shiny object

syndrome. Not getting distracted, not

chasing every new idea, just improving

the same business over time. I struggle

with this. I see. So many creators

struggle with this. They have something

great working and they have this great

new idea of starting a clothing brand or

whatever the interesting thing is at the

time and they get distracted from the

thing that's genuinely working and the

thing that allows them the life that

they dream. The most important thing to

understand in a solo creator business is

that 99% of the time you are the

bottleneck. Meaning the reason you're

not getting more views isn't because of

the algorithm, it's because of you. the

reason you're not making more sales is

because people don't have the money,

it's because you don't know how to get

the people with the money. So, if you're

not getting the outcome that you want,

it's probably that you just don't

understand it yet. And that's why the

journey to my first million was

incredible. It was fun, exciting, but it

was also exhausting and challenging. And

the thing about the journey was

obviously the money is amazing. But I

genuinely think the real reward is the

person that you're becoming and how

you're basically forced to go on this

self-improvement journey as a creator.

Because when the bottleneck is you, that

means there's stuff that you have to

work on. I went from being lost and

depressed after dropping out of school

to grinding for years and watching it

finally start to pay off. It forced me

down the self-improvement rabbit hole.

I've had to figure out physical health,

mental health, confidence, sales, how to

talk on camera, how to hold

conversations, and I genuinely believe

that a solo creator business model is

one of the best business models to start

in 2026. Not because even the money and

lifestyle, which I do genuinely think it

gives the best of those things, but

because of who it forces you to become

along the journey. So, if you want to

start your solo creator journey, go

ahead and check out that free course I

have linked down below. And if you want

access to all of my course content and

personal mentorship, go ahead and find

me on Instagram and DM me the word

apply. But that's all I got for you guys

in this one.