The Rv Entrepreneur With Heath Padgett

I’m excited for todays episode with  Aaron and Chris Willers. They are a married couple who have lived full time on the road since January 2019.  They left their high paying corporate careers in their mid-thirties to live life to its fullest through travel and experiences.  In preparation for working on the road they launched their new business, Irene Iron Fitness, where Chris coaches clients 100% online as a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Pn2 Level Certified Nutrition Coach.  Aaron drives their entrepreneurship spirit with his enthusiasm and technology skills to run the back office of the website as well as all of their YouTube production for Irene Iron Travels.  Together, they practice the healthy lifestyle that they preach and love helping others live their best life out on the road.  The Willers are planners and methodical executers - they spent a few years building their reserves so that when they launched they had almost 5 years of runway available. 

They started

I’m excited for todays episode, I’m joined by Demian Ross. Demian is a repeat guest on the podcast but this time around he is a bit more of an RV Entrepreneur than the last go around. Demian has created two magazines for the RV community - Rootless Living and the newly launched RV Today Magazine. While his first magazine, Rootless Living, that was for digital nomads, by digital nomads was successful, Demian noticed that there was a huge hole in the market for RVer’s and there was no independent magazine who’s mission it was to serve the rv community from an unattached standpoint. RV Today is a magazine for RVers, by RVers and because its not tied to any other RV organization it is truly an independent magazine in all sense of the words. In this episode we talk about: How Demian created his own hashtag that is now being used throughout the entire RV community and how #rootless is sometimes misunderstood What its like building a very niched down magazine and podcast and what lessons he’s learned from Rootl

One of the things I really like about the rv lifestyle is that it can be very minimalistic, and yet can also satisfy the inner gear nut in me because there are a ton of different products and ways to solve solutions that arise.  While at the 2022 Tampa RV show I came across a product that absolutely blew me away. It was created by a fellow Fulltime RVer and it solved a need that full timers face in such an eloquent and simple way that I really was scratching my head - no one has done this yet? I got to talking with the inventor and founder and really connected with his story and invited him to come onto the podcast. Today’s guest is Jim Phelan from AirSkirts. A software engineer by trade, Jim started AirSkirts in 2020 after solving a real-world problem he encountered with full-time RV living. In 2016 Jim sold his home in Brooklyn, NY along with most of his possessions, and began traveling the US in his Airstream travel trailer.  Unwilling to compromise and use an inferior method to camp in cold

Today we get to talk with Dustin and Nicole Schroeder who are the current owners of Fulltime Families.  Dusting and Nicole Schroeder are nomadic entrepreneurs that run multiple businesses from the road. They have traveled Fulltime with their family of 5 since 2017 and  are very engaged in the RV community through their company Fulltime Families. Fulltime Families  hosts over 12 events each year, in addition to  providing resources for new and veteran rvers, they focuses on creating connections for families to help sustain the nomadic lifestyle. Nicole is also a cofounder of the RV Family Virtual Summit which is something we’ll touch on later in the episode. We talk about how their personal rv travels led them to becoming more involved in the RV community and the story behind how they became the owners of the decade old rv community. Before we get into the interview I’ll say that Fulltime Families runs a ton of Facebook groups - pick out a number in your mind as to what a “ton” of Faceb

Today we have the pleasure of talking with Jason and Abby Epperson from RV Miles. Jason and Abby are hosts of the RV Miles Podcast, the America's National Parks podcast and the See America Podcast. They are also the editors of RVMiles.com and every week share the latest in RV and camping news on the RV Miles YouTube channel. On the road full-time since 2016, Jason and Abby share this adventure with their three boys and can often be found exploring National Parks or finding the best local pizza and beer. In this episode we chat about:
 How splitting their long form podcast episodes onto its own channel and away from the short news briefs has allowed each approach to flourish and provide value to potentially differing audiences The staggering difference between retention rates between long form podcast shows and many shorter YouTube videos How the pandemic forced their hand in the topic of their content creation and how it might have saved them years of split focus Covering RV industry news might just ha

Today we get to talk with Eric from Hourless Life, a threepeat guest on the podcast! (Episodes 53 &124) Eric, Brittany, and Caspian Highland are currently driving around the world on a 10-15 year journey. They've been traveling full-time since February 2014. That means their son Caspian who was born in 2016 doesn’t know anything other than life on the road. Known first as RV Wanderlust, then Jeepsies, the Highland family is now known as Hourless Life.  Here's a few points of what we talk about today: • Lifestyle design – how Eric and Brittany don’t HAVE to work and how that plays into their work/life balance • What’s the hardest part about traveling the world by Jeep • How creating a family mission statement allows them to avoid decision fatigue • How life just isn't about stuff, It's about memories, experiences and it's about the legacy that you leave behind for others • The insights Eric gleaned from Billionaires in the professional boxing world • The best way to establish and nurture sponsorshi

The RV Entrepreneur podcast is BACK!  … with a caveat, there is a new host! In this episode Heath interviews the new host, Joshua Sheehan, and officially hands over the torch as host of the podcast. They dive into Joshua’s background, how they met and what he’s doing on the road. Heath and Joshua also talk about a scarcity versus an abundance mindset, how Joshua and his wife, Kolie, are planning to raise their kids on the road in their RV, and about how to pick names for things like your blog, podcast, or YouTube channel and why sometimes names matter and sometimes they don't. Connect with the RV Entrepreneur Community here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/116253535383883   Check out Joshua’s personal brand, Gander Flight, here: www.ganderflight.com/youtube & www.ganderflight.com/instagram  Follow the RV Entrepreneur on all your favorite social networks: www.therventrepreneur.com  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rve/message

Today we’re catching up with the RV Entrepreneur's founder Heath Padgett and getting an overview on the past half a year since he ended the podcast and also a few status updates on current projects.

Specifically we discuss:   -  Heath’s experience ending the podcast and his reflections on closing it down -  How taking a single action can change your whole life and how many relationships steamed out of the podcast -  If Heath is going to get back into content creation and if so, what that might look like -  Overview and reflections on the Campgroundbooking.com acquisition -  How easy it is to get wrapped up in projects and the difficulty in not attaching your identity to projects -  Brand Names: The opportunities and challenges to niching down in a name or staying broad  -  Heath’s idea for a new podcast focused on starting a campground -  Futuristic mindsets that are a benefit in business but can be challenging to be present and how RVing can help ground your

Heather Ryan is the owner of The Tax Queen, a tax firm supporting entrepreneurs and digital nomads. As a federally-licensed Enrolled Agent, she supports her clients year-round with tax preparation, tax planning and bookkeeping. She's been traveling in a 5th wheel with her husband and two dogs since September 2016. In this episode Heather tells us about being an enrolled agent and that means versus an account or CPA. We talk about the challenges of switching into a nomadic lifestyle and how she has grown her business while on the road. We get into how being a digital nomad herself allows her to better serve her clients and what her services offer over a more traditional tax preparer. There are a few things that we as entrepreneurs can do to make the tax filing a smooth interaction and Heather goes into the biggest issue she sees with clients and ways to solve those problems. We talk about how detailed our descriptions of individual line items need to be and several deductions folks often miss out on when

In this episode we talk about: How the RV lifestyle allowed them to pivot and adapt when their industry was thrown a curve ball How they are integrating their travels and their gigs into the Harvest Host network How the transition to a nomadic lifestyle didn’t go as planned How to balance work and life when spouses work on opposite ends of the week Enjoy! ~Joshua You can reach Dave and Jacqueline at: https://linktr.ee/theborderhookups https://www.theborderhookups.com  Connect with the RV Entrepreneur Community here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/116253535383883  Follow the RV Entrepreneur on all your favorite social networks: www.therventrepreneur.com  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rve/message

After 233 episodes, this is my last episode of The RV Entrepreneur podcast. In this episode I share why I’m ending the podcast, what’s next for us and some details around our 2021 RVE Summit that we’re hosting in Colorado. It’s been an incredible journey, thanks for joining me. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rve/message

After three years of dreaming, shopping, researching, and hoping we could find our own campground, we are under contract and closing next week on our own property! In today's episode, we are diving into: Where our property is and some of our building plans How we found this opportunity (and passed on it and then decided to go for it!) Our many, MANY ideas for what we can do with this space The fact that 1 GB fiber internet gets set up next week (Heath NEEDS everyone to know this

Last week, Liz Wilcox shared the process of how to build, package, and sell a blog. This week, as promised, we are sharing the other side of the story: how to buy a blog. Debra and Barry Benton—who we met on the road a few years ago—saw Liz's post in our RVE Facebook group that she wanted to sell her blog and jumped on the opportunity. In this episode, they share why they wanted to buy a blog and the process they went through to finalize the sale. --- This episode is sponsored by Pillowpak. One thing almost every RV lacks is a place to hang up and store a backpack, but you always need one for hiking, taking an overnight trip, or just packing up your laptop to work away from your rig. Pillowpak offers a line of lightweight, machine-washable backpacks and organizing bags that easily roll and stow away in small spaces. We spent two weeks in Florida and we stayed a short two-minute walk away from the beach and used the 55-liter Pillowpak to fill with towels, snacks, water, extra clothes, and we brought along the

How do you start a blog, make money with it, and then sell it when you're ready to move on? That's the problem Liz Wilcox tackles in this interview. You may recognize her name from following her blog and I'm excited to bring her back on the show to share the saga of how she sold her blog. --- This episode is sponsored by Pillowpak. **SALE: Tuesday, May 25 to Monday, May 31st at midnight, Pillow Pak is running a Memorial day sale for 20% off your purchase when you use the code honor20. Visit getpillowpak.com to shop.** One thing almost every RV lacks is a place to hang up and store a backpack, but you always need one for hiking, taking an overnight trip, or just packing up your laptop to work away from your rig. Pillowpak offers a line of lightweight, machine-washable backpacks and organizing bags that easily roll and stow away in small spaces. We spent two weeks in Florida and we stayed a short two-minute walk away from the beach and used the 55-liter Pillowpak to fill with towels, snacks, water, extra clothe

You sell the house, you buy an RV, you start a blog. But how do you take a blog and actually turn it into a profitable business? Today Alyssa shares ways to monetize a blog plus how to start treating your blog as a business instead of a hobby. Blogging is always the #1 way new RVers tell us they want to make money. You can work from anywhere, have endless stories to share, and you always see bloggers sharing amazing things online. It's a dream job! But building up a profitable blog can take years—especially if you don't know how to blog as a business. --- This episode is sponsored by Pillowpak. One thing almost every RV lacks is a place to hang up and store a backpack, but you always need one for hiking, taking an overnight trip, or just packing up your laptop to work away from your rig. Pillowpakoffers a line of lightweight, machine-washable backpacks and organizing bags that easily roll and stow away in small spaces. We just spent two weeks in Florida and we stayed a short two-minute walk away from the beac

Hailey and her boyfriend always talked about living differently. Maybe a tiny house or a straw-bale construction. An RV turned out to be the perfect new home. And when they pictured RV life, Hailey always knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur. She wanted the freedom that so many of us hit the road searching for. She took her skills in pewter casting and started making jewelry, which turned into her first business: Lynn Mineral. --- 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 lot of companies who hire RVers, and this is one that you can make a near full-time income almost immediately. You’ll receive training for the software,

Theresé's corporate job was stressing her out. Between working full time and teaching fitness on the side, her schedule was packed. And when her doctor recommended yoga to help her de-stress, Theresé was adamantly against it. She hated her first class. And the second. And the third. But in the fourth class something changed. Six months later she was teaching yoga. After teaching in person, Theresé took her practice on the road, almost immediately seeing the need for yoga for RVers. Between physical activities like hiking and sedentary activities like long drive days, Theresé felt her body need yoga after a long day. She started teaching yoga classes at RV events and teaching private classes to travelers. In this episode, Heath and Theresé talk about: The “tape reel” and what you’re telling yourself and limiting beliefs as an entrepreneur The power of setting your intentions and goals regularly How Theresé took her practice on the road Creating a loyal following How to get started with yoga

This week we have some pretty big news. Campground Booking has been acquired. In this episode I share why we sold the company, who bought it and what's next. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rve/message

Finding remote work can be intimidating—especially if you're looking at a career change. In today's episode, Heath is interviewing Lezlie Garr or "Resume Lezlie" on finding remote work. This is something we haven't covered much on the podcast—because never in my seven years of being an entrepreneur has someone asked for my resume—but with so many people wanting to find remote work on the road, we wanted to bring Lezlie on to share some tips. You'll hear Heath & Lezlie discuss the process she walks clients through when they want to switch careers and find remote work, how to stand out as an applicant, and where to focus your attention during the job search. Plus Heath shares how many replies he got to his last job posting when Campground Booking was hiring. (Spoiler: it was a LOT.) ---- 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.&

How do you get the word out about your business? Ads? Social media? Blogs? Youtube? SEO? The heart of today's episode is all about content marketing for your business. Heath is chatting with Liz of Pop Digital Media. Liz runs her digital marketing company with her husband Josh with a focus on content marketing, or as we like to call it, playing the long game. This isn't about getting a customer right now, it's about getting a flow of customers for the next few years.  In today's episode, Liz shares a lot of helpful tips and processes for developing a content marketing plan from scratch so if you aren't doing content marketing for your business, this is a great interview to help you get started. Heath and Liz also cover:  The almost unbelievable story of landing her first client  The process before creating a content marketing plan The biggest mistake people make when developing their marketing plan How to create a customer profile or avatar Liz also has some free resources to help you g