ZERMATT - Trista's PL8STORY Podcast - Plate 45 with Brennan Tolman of Salt Lake City, UT

ZERMATT - PLATE 45

ZERMATT EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

ZERMATT

Trista, Host: [00:00:00] [00:00:00]Welcome to this week's episode of Trista's PL8STORY  (Plate Story)  Podcast. I'm Trista Polo from iwokeupawesome.com and I am your host. Each week, we learn the story behind that vanity plate. You know, the one you saw driving down the road... what did it say? What did it mean? Why did they choose it? 

This week, we meet Brennan Tolman from Salt Lake City, Utah. We recorded this episode while Brennan was in Taiwan. Which is not surprising since he and his wife spend about half their time traveling. This is possible because at the age of 25, Brennan has a fully passive online business. We talk about Brennan's plate story, which is pivotal to his story of success. 

We also chat about his business and the struggles he faced while growing it.  

So without further ado let's go meet Brennan

welcome to Trista's plate story podcast. I am so excited to have Brennan Tolman with me today. He is from Utah, but [00:01:00] he's coming to this interview by way of Taiwan.

So excited to have you, Brennan. Welcome. 

Brennan Tolman: [00:01:07] Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. This is awesome. I Love your podcast.

Trista, Host: [00:01:11] Yay. I love you. I'd have to. I'm just going to call myself out right now. This is our second try at this. We had done an amazing interview from the comfort of Brennan's home. And through the power of technology, we're redoing it 

Brennan Tolman: [00:01:27] from like 6,000 miles away in Asia.

Trista, Host: [00:01:32] Now, your plate is Zermatt Z E R M A T T. Tell us the plate story. 

Brennan Tolman: [00:01:38] So, yeah, so Zermatt is a, it's actually a small town in Switzerland and it's a town at the base of the Matterhorn. So, if you've been to Disney, you know, you know, the Matterhorn, right?

It's, it's, just that big, really craggy looking mountain with the cool peak. And so the reason why I chose that as my plate, why it was [00:02:00] special to me, so I, I'm an entrepreneur I've been trying for years, seven, eight years to build a company I've been reading all the books right... all growing up, passive income, you know, get to that point in your life where you have your passive income, you can do what you want... you can travel. Give yourself that time freedom. Make your dreams come true, kind of a thing. And, so I I'd been reading all those all growing up and, and a little funny backstory ... so I'm in the middle of five siblings and when I was 11, my parents were going on a Europe trip and, they took my two older siblings and the cutoff was 12.

And I was so upset cause I was like one year away from being able to go to Europe. So my whole life, all growing up, I was like, I want to go to Europe. Like I saw their photos, you know, they got to go to the Eiffel tower . And so I was like, all right, like I I'm going to go to Europe.

And so when I became an entrepreneur in college , that was like my goal. I was like, once I I'm going to build this company, just to the point where I can leave for Europe, not worry about the [00:03:00] company and, and just enjoy it. And so, I've always, I'm a huge Disney nerd, so it was my wife.

And we go all the time, we see the Matterhorn, like in Disney and I'm like, like one day I looked at it, I was like, I want to go to the real one. It's gotta be somewhere in Europe. Right. And so, at the very beginning of our entrepreneurial adventure, on our honeymoon, actually, we found the Matterhorn...made that decision.

And then we've, we've worked for a couple of years to build a company. I'm a wedding videographer by trade and I started shooting weddings in college to make some money and to pay for my college. And eventually I realized, and we'll go into this more later, but I realized that, I could run advertisements on Facebook and Instagram and Google and online ads to basically book myself more jobs. So I started shooting more jobs myself, and then, I ended up booking other people jobs and training them how to shoot it the Brennan ways. So I didn't have to show up anymore. And then it just kept getting crazier from there. 

Trista, Host: [00:03:57] So how old, were you when that happened?

[00:04:00] So you're like, are you still in college at this point when you realized there's a Brendan way, you could train people on. 

Brennan Tolman: [00:04:06] Yes, it's 21, 21 and I was college. So it was kind of hard as balancing, you know, balancing being in college, building this company.

And so all the pain, you know, trying to figure this out. I hired, I hired some people that weren't good. I tried to train them and they just were bad photographers. And I had to like, get screamed out by mom's on the phone. I'm like this 22 year old kids getting screamed at, by a mom... you know, ruining people's special day and stuff, which I felt horrible about, but that's part of the process, right?

Like that's what I had to be willing to do to build a company. And every time a photographer made a mistake, and didn't shoot it the Brendan way. I was able to go add more training so the next photographer would never make that mistake . So that was like the real journey was like figuring out how I can farm these weddings out to contractors.

And so I spent those few years in college building a system, figuring out how Brennan , can be, can be [00:05:00] the owner of the business, not the videographer, not the manager.

How can I train my manager? Cause I started as a videographer, right? And then I became the manager of a couple of videographers, and then I stepped out and became an owner of a business. And I hired a manager to recruit and deal with those contractors. So that's what I spent years... those crucial college years... figuring out.

And it was, it was brutal getting yelled at all the time. Again, I was making mistakes all the time, but every time I made a mistake, my philosophy was a mistake is a good thing because it shows us the leaks. It shows us the holes in the ship. And so my job was to patch the ship. And some days it felt like, you know, the ship was just, was just, you know, full of water and sinking.

And it was like, we, like, we had 15 problems, you know, at a time. And it was like, This like, is this even worth it? Weddings are so high energy, high emotion for everybody. And if it's good, that's a good thing. If it's not, it's a bad thing. And so there were times when it was like, we just [00:06:00] felt like we were the worst people on the planet, you know, and seriously, like 

Trista, Host: [00:06:06] I have to say that what you're pointing to is really important. First of all, you have like a bunch of 40 and 50 year old trying to get started as an online entrepreneur, super jealous that you started in your twenties and that you're clearly still fairly young and traveling the world, because you guys actually spend about 50% of your time traveling, at this point, as I understand it. Yeah.

But you really took on the concept of failure way forward. You know, a lot of people avoid failure. They avoid it at all costs because they hate that feeling of, I disappointed someone. And so that's a huge concept and I really wanted to underline that.

 I want to go back to the, the Zermatt trip. Cause you guys went to Zermatt. Like you stood there at this place that you'd only ever dreamed of after from being 11 years old, [00:07:00] wanting to go to Europe your whole life? How was it actually being in the real one? 

Brennan Tolman: [00:07:04] Yeah. so basically the way this all connects is finally we got the business to the point where I could, I was an owner, you know, and it was still only in Utah, but I was like, the first thing that I want to do to celebrate is I want to go on this Europe trips.

So we did this Epic 10 day Europe road trip. And the main stop. The, the, you know, the main goal was to go to Zermatt and stand at the base of the Matterhorn. And we did, and it was unbelievable. You know what I mean? We, we, we drove a car through the Alps and on the tiny Europe, you know, highways through mountains, which was super scary.

But when we finally got there, we had to go up like through an mountain elevator, whatever that is to like get to the top of the mountain. So you could see the Matterhorn, I mean, like exited the elevator and it was like a movie moment, like, BOOM, like there's the Matterhorn right there. And up until that, I had just been feeling so defeated and depressed, like, even though we were making money, I just felt defeated because, [00:08:00] because of the massive amount of mistakes.

And so seeing the Matterhorn standing there with my wife, I was like, you know, 23. And I was like, okay, Like, this is worth it. This is the why this, like sitting here. I never thought that I would come to the Matterhorn and I never thought it would be this young at 23. And, and that was kind of the moment for me when I said, this is my why, this is why I've been going through the failures, because moments like this, where you're like, you know, like other, I guess, like, I'm not trying to brag here, but I like other college kids are at home reading their textbooks and I'm standing here in front of the Matterhorn, but I also have been wrecking myself emotionally and mentally. The last three, four years in a way that nobody has any desire to, you know, so like, I'm like I've been paying this heavy, heavy price, and now I'm starting to actually see the fruits.

And so that was the moment for me, like standing in, Zermatt looking at the [00:09:00] Matterhorn, realizing that like, this was the beginning, right. It gave me that extra juice that I needed to get to the crucial next step, which we'll talk about in a minute. But you know, we, we had created a successful business in Utah.

And there was just this graveyard of mistakes under us and looking at the Matterhorn for that moment. I was like, this is why it's worth it. This is why I need to keep going, because this was such an unbelievable experience. I need to have more, there are more out there. 

Trista, Host: [00:09:26] That's amazing. And I actually felt it like in my body, when you said that it opened up and you walked out, like you clearly have that as a memory, so real for you that I felt it right now... however many years later, that's amazing. Cause your Why has to stay alive for it to really move you. I want to ask you, boy, you went through a lot ... how did you not quit?

Most people would have quit. Most people would have given up. love to hear what it was [00:10:00] that had you continue.

Brennan Tolman: [00:10:02] Yeah. That's that is the question, huh? I think for me it was, like I, I, I understand I just myself and the way that I need to operate. And I I've known that from a very early age to the way that I operated this. I will have like a month of just nonstop work, you know, 50, 60 hours.

Just emotional pain and dealing with all the problems and it's like, it never ends. And then I'll take what I call, I call it a burnout week. And so it's usually about seven to 10 days and I do nothing. And, I either travel and I just get away and I tell people I'm unavailable, regardless of the problems that happen, or I sit in my basement and I, you know, watch movies, play video games, like whatever, you know, like, and so that's, that was the only thing that kept me going, was being able to turn off [00:11:00] and take a burnout week.

And, Yeah, whenever I needed it. And my amazing wife, you know, understood that as well and would encourage me to take burnout weeks when I needed to. And so. That as we started making more money, I mean, and that's another, I think, the agreed and I'll just be totally honest is money, right? I mean, you make more money.

Like you have, it's like the more money you make, the more problems you have, that's how business works until you get to a certain point where you can hire somebody else to take all the problems for you. But like I personally was making like, More money than anybody in my family at that point, you know?

And, and so that was motivating. I mean, it, it, it was like, it was like, I can, it, you know, it's this double-edged sword of like, I've got the money to be able to go to Europe and, and, you know, at 23 and do all these crazy things. But it's a nightmare when I'm home, but it doesn't. But I knew that I had an exit plan.

And so I think that was part of it too. I was like, we have an exit plan, like at some [00:12:00] point the money is going to be there and the problems are not because there's only so many holes. It can be in the ship. So for me, it was just taking time, like know, Hey Gary V's great, I completely disagree with the whole grind grind... like never stop. Like you need to work 50 hours and then die. Like for me, it was like, I had to take my little nuggets of rewards along the path. And, I don't feel like it's slow me down, you know, like, like now I'm at that passive income point and I'm only 25, but I, I feel like it made it possible because I would have quit if, if I hadn't taken breaks and completely walked away. 

Trista, Host: [00:12:35] Well, you're absolutely right. Because if you burn out to the point where you just can't go another minute and you haven't gotten to successful passive income in your case, yet, then there's nowhere else to go. You're out of juice. You know, that self care piece cannot be ignored, will not be ignored.

So let's wake up from the nightmare. [00:13:00] Let's see. What are the fruits of all of that work? You now have a passive income. Is it a hundred percent passive?

Uh, yup. 

Brennan Tolman: [00:13:11] Yup.

Trista, Host: [00:13:11] Right. Well, let's hear about that. Tell us about your passive income and what you were able to create with all that effort and what made it worth it now. 

Sure. So, yeah, so after we got back from Europe, Brennan Tolman: [00:13:24] you know, I had one of my business partners, call me and said, I have an idea. you have built an amazing wedding company in Utah. You have created proprietary training, logos. You have hundreds of thousands of images that Tolman Media has taken.

I mean, you know, content is King. And so you, you have all these images that are ready to be used for marketing. You have proven ads that you spend $30 in ads and you get a new lead every time and you can close one and three, so you can spend $90 to get a $2,000 job every time. Cause I had years worth of perfect math.

He's like, you've done this. You not only know [00:14:00] how to book the job with the bride, you know how to fulfill the job. And he was like, you should take this company and license it.

And I was like, what does that mean? And he's like, it's basically franchising, but not nearly as strict. You have a great thing. It's a great system. Another entrepreneur like in Minnesota , who wants to bring Tolman Media to , Minnesota can buy a license to become a Tolman Media in Minnesota.

And with that comes access to the software that I built, access to our entire portfolio so they can immediately start running ads. And when their brides in Minnesota, say, can you show me your portfolio? They have hundreds of thousands of images to show to, to the bride there.

And so they literally don't even need to have ever shot a wedding to start making money. Wow. Training for a manager for a sales person training for their contractor. And so literally the owner of the business who bought, Tolman Media Minnesota... like they just need to hire a sales person and a manager and then put them through our training.

And then suddenly they own a passive business already, right? Like, like I [00:15:00] can tell them if they bought our license. I, you know, they, they could be where I was at pretty much right away, because we we've figured it all out. And so. I said, you know, that's great. I don't think it'll ever work. Who's going to buy it.

You know? And, and, I was hesitant. Right. Cause I, I, I had seen the graveyard, right. Like I knew how hard it was to get here. I knew that me getting screamed at, by brides, like was the worst. And I didn't want anybody else to ever have to go through that. And he's like, you don't understand. That's why they want to buy this because you have gone through that.

And suddenly I was like, Oh this is why I've been patching the ship. I didn't know, but this is why, so what we did is we started licensing out, pretty much States or major cities to entrepreneurs. And we sold our first one in San Diego and then in Nevada. And they started making money in the first week.

And, and then they would start to refer their friends and say, Hey, you should go by Tolman Media Boston. And so then their friends would buy it and then their uncle would buy it. They'd be sitting down at a family dinner. And so [00:16:00] we started like rapid fire selling all of our licenses to all these entrepreneurs.

we sold out of the United States in three months. Like, like we got to the point where like, like suddenly, like, you know, it was a Utah company and three months later we were like across the, in every single state, except for Alaska. I'm not sure about the Eskimo wedding traditions, but you know, we're not there just yet.

And so, so, and then we had people come to us and say, I would want to buy, you know, UK, I want to buy. So then we expanded to now we sold all of Canada. We are in all of the UK. we're in, I think Romania now. And so, we've got yeah, Spain. And so like, it's like, it's crazy because, It was like, it was like almost overnight all the work that I had done, all that pain compounded, you know, it was like, it was like, we turned on this one switch and suddenly everybody was making money.

And basically, I figured out how to make money and fulfill [00:17:00] weddings. And I was smart enough to document it. Right. And to like, when I patched a hole, it wasn't just like a phone call saying, Hey, do this next time.

It was like, I wrote, I had a handbook and I would like write down the new procedure a standard operating procedure. Or if it was a problem with training, I would go shoot another training video. and then, you know, roll it out to all of the contractors and, and then follow up to make sure that they didn't make that same mistake.

And so I had like actually taken action every time he made a mistake. Instead of just letting it roll over me. Right. And so basically, now like suddenly it's, you know, we've got this international business, and you know, and I'm the owner of it. Right. And so like, I still own Utah, like I always have, but now I also own an international company that pays royalties to, you know, the business to me. Right. Every. Every week. And so as they go out and sell their packages in Boston and whatnot, you know, they'll, they'll pay a royalty every, every week. And so now it's like [00:18:00] crazy because, you know, I, I think everyone's journey is different.

I would've never imagined this was the way that we became passive, but you know, now it's like, regardless of whether I work or not, They are out there making money. And so they're paying royalties and the coolest part for me is like, they have to make money for me to make money, you know? So it has to be valuable.

They have to make, you know, a lot of money for us to make a tiny bit of money, which is great for them. And then we hired like, you know, it's, like I said, I was 24 at the time. And I was like, I don't know how to run the international company. So we hired a president. and his thirties or forties, you know, like an actual, like, like a real adult.

And, and he's also a real 

Trista, Host: [00:18:37] person, 

Brennan Tolman: [00:18:39] like a real person, and now he runs the business, you know? And so he's the president of Tolman Media and, he runs the business and he's phenomenal and he's been great at growing it. And so now I'll do a weekly meeting with him. You know, over zoom from wherever I am and he'll, he'll give me the update on the company and I will provide [00:19:00] some, you know, high level, like I've done this for years, he's not a wedding guy, I've done weddings forever on every level.

And so I will give him some, you know, feedback and direction, but I, you know, I kind of will steer the ship occasionally, but he's, he's the guy, man. And I, and I have delegated all of the, everything to him. I trust him. And so now it's like, Starting over again saying, well, what do I want to do? You know, like a little bit, like I'm 25.

I don't have any kids yet. And so, you know, what do you do now? And that's a whole other conversation, but it's been super interesting to say, where do you go from here? You know, like, like, and, and right when I got passive is when COVID hit and. And, I had like six or seven businesses that we had launched right before

cOVID like literally like five days before all the domino lockdown. And so, you know, that was hard. It's like, it was kind of discouraging when I was like trying to move on to like the next thing I was other, I don't want to be like a Carly Rae Jepsen, one hit wonder kind of a guy. And so I was like, I want to [00:20:00] like, you know, I want to try to like make another business and prove that I can be a serial entrepreneur.

With COVID. It was like just nothing was nobody, you know, nobody had money back in the March, April. It was, well, they had money. They want to spend it. Right. And so now I'm like, I've been trying to figure it out this year. Like what, what's the next step for me, you know, is, is how do I become, how do I be fulfilled still?

and how do I use what I have to still create value for people? you know what I mean, in a COVID kind of devastated world. 

Trista, Host: [00:20:31] Yeah, and I want to delve into that, but I want to underline something you said before, you had no idea where this was going to go. When you were building your business originally going through all the heartache and headache, you didn't know what it was going to look like at the end.

You were just really wanting to succeed. You were unwilling to give up and you were doing everything that you knew to do. . [00:21:00] And that's where the jackpot is the continued commitment. 

Brennan Tolman: [00:21:05] I'll be honest when I started, 20 was when I really started, like I had no idea.... like, I knew that I wanted to be successful. Like, like I knew that I could do it. I had no doubt that I could be successful. I didn't know, which road was mine, if that makes sense. I know that I can work hard enough and I will work hard enough because I, you know, I've grown up working really hard.

I don't expect anything. I don't expect anything from the world...I don't expect anything from anybody. Like I know that if I can make something happen, I just need to figure out what it is. And so I tried making event videos and I did so much free work when I was 20. I mean, so much free work. I hated weddings, man.

I tried to never do weddings because they were a nightmare and I was good at it. And so I tried every other possible form of video that I could do and photo, but I mean, headshots. Everything. And, and I, I thought I was going to have a big break. I was convinced that it was good. Like [00:22:00] if I was going to have like a day where like somebody called me and said, I'd like to pay you $15,000 to come shoot a video.

Like that is what I thought was going to happen. And, I learned that it is really just the compound effect every day. 

Trista, Host: [00:22:15] And I, and I would assert what, and what you're saying, I think is it's way better than you ever could have imagined it turning out.

Like if you had made a vision, like this is what it has to look like, you would never have come up with something, this huge, this passive, this successful. 

Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and like, I'm not even gonna like, try to like lie, you know, like. I think there's a lot of entrepreneurs. They kind of have that hindsight bias where they're like, here's why I did everything.

Brennan Tolman: [00:22:48] You know, I had this, like, here's the 10 steps that I did that made me successful. And like the truth is about entrepreneurship. You are flying by the seat of your pants, 

Trista, Host: [00:22:58] making it up as you go along. 

[00:23:00] Brennan Tolman: [00:23:00] Yeah. Every day. You're just like, you have absolutely no idea. And so like, I, you know, I'm like, I have people in there like, wow, like that's such a good idea.

Like where did you come up with it? I'm like, I didn't. Like, I. I booked brides and I didn't have somebody to take their date. And so then I panicked and had to go hire a new videographer and I had to, and then I was like, crap. He doesn't know what he's doing. So I had to go create a training program so that he could do it.

Like I was impulsive and I took somebody's money that I shouldn't have, I was flying seat of my pants, you know, but, but that's, I think that was the number one thing is I was like, like I had a lot of friends who were like, why are you selling weddings for November 12th? We're booked. We don't have any other person.

And I'm like, if somebody wants to hand me money, I'm going to take it now and figure it out later because it's March. And so, and so that, and I think that was the difference between like, that was it. It's like I chased it and as I never said no to a dollar ever. And so I, I, you know, I would, I would take the money and everybody on my team thought I was an idiot because they had to deal with the [00:24:00] problems.

Cause they were like, what is it that, and then I would be like, we just need to recruit more. And they were like, you just need to stop taking money. I'm like, I'm not going to stop taking money. Like we're making money. And I think that's where most businesses like flat line is like, you know, like, can you imagine you go to a McDonald's at like 6:00 PM?

And they're like, sorry, we're out of burgers for the day. Like that would never happen. But that happens all the time at like, you know, Bob's burger joint. And that's why Bob's burger joint pop burger joint. And McDonald's McDonald's because there's this unquenchable, I mean that's 24 hour McDonald's, you know, like, like they want your money so bad.

Then they'll sell you a hamburger four in the morning. And that is the difference is you have to be willing to take money now and figure it out later. And it's risky. It's one of the most risky things an entrepreneur can do. But that, that right there is, I think one of the key differences. 

Trista, Host: [00:24:52] I love that there's so much good juice in this conversation.

You should, you should do a Ted talk for sure. I'm, I'm [00:25:00] positive about that. I want to talk about your travel. How much of the world have you seen so far? What's next? 

Yeah. So, Brennan Tolman: [00:25:10] so we've been to most of the States, and in America. And then, so I actually lived in Taiwan for two years when I was 18. And so. So, and then my wife is from Taiwan.

I met her in Utah and it was kind of this perfect, like, you know, I, I spoke that language and she, she, you know, we both spoke English and Chinese and, and, you know, had such funny personalities. And so I've, I've spent about a 10th of my life in Taiwan. I, at this point it's been about two, 2.5 years. I'm 25.

So, I've been to China. we've been to Europe, you know, on that big road trip. So Germany, Switzerland, we went to London in January, but that's, that's about it. you know, we, we had to wait quite a bit to go internationally because of her green card, you know? So, so we actually only were able to start going on trips last June, [00:26:00] in 2019. And so we were like, you know, we just started booking trips, like crazy. And so we went on, you know, Taiwan and Europe and all that stuff. And then COVID hit, you know, and so with Taiwan right now, I was just going nuts, you know, and just gone nuts in Utah. And there was nothing like I had worked myself out of a job. And so now I had no nothing that made me feel fulfilled, like I was not needed. And that was really hard for me is I was like, I spent years building this company and suddenly I was not necessary anymore.

And I'm like, well, that's like money's great. But like, Well, what am I supposed to do all day? You know, like, and that was really hard. Like I, you know, like anything that I wanted to do, I couldn't, and I tried to start a new business, six new businesses, and they just wouldn't take off because it's just the wrong time, you know?

And so like for me, I was like, I gotta do something. Like I gotta, I gotta feel, you know, like I gotta use my skills, I gotta grow. And so. you know, my, my Chinese was get a [00:27:00] little bit rusty and so my wife and I said, all right, what if we just went to Taiwan for a couple months? Like, there's no COVID here at all.

you know, they had 500 cases total ever since, since it started. And then they tapered off because they it's an Island. And so they locked off the Island, from visitors, unless you had a negative test. Within three days of getting on a plane and then a two-week quarantine, what you get here, they text you every day and if you are sick, they take you to the hospital.

They have universal health care to take care of you for free, and then you're free to go. And so it's a heavy price to come here, which is, I mean, that's why they contained it so well. And so there's no cases. And so I ended up getting a business visa to come here. You know, I wrote them and I said, I'm interested in expanding, potentially Tolman Media International to Taiwan and I would love to come and check it out, which is all true, you know, I really wanted to. And so, I got granted a business visa, which allowed me to ente...r my wife is a citizen, which allowed her to enter. [00:28:00] And so, since being here, it's just been fulfilling because I kind of had a realization while I was here where I said, you know, this world is the travel is so important.

Travel matters for everybody. It means for the people that need to go on a trip to work their butts off all day long, it's important for them to travel and get some new perspective. It's important for all local economies. Travel matters for everybody, for countries that collect those taxes. Like it's, it's not just fun.

I mean, there's, there's a lot more like I, when we, when we travel it. Sure it's fun, but it's not like roller coaster fun. It's like, I love to learn. And so it's, it's fascinating. Like today we saw a dude brushing his teeth with a hose and I was like, I've never seen that before. And it's like, like, it's like, you learn about different cultures and what they do.

And, and, it makes you appreciate, you know, what you have, but it also makes you appreciate what others have. Like, I was super against universal [00:29:00] healthcare. Because I grew up very, very conservative until I came to Taiwan and realized how phenomenal it is. And, So just things like that, it changes your opinion, you know, it changes your, it opens your eyes to different things and it makes you more moldable.

And so, while I was here, I started filming, I started using my video skills cause I'm like, I've always just been a videographer and I started filming Taiwan and I started creating, like, my goal was I'm going to make like a travel guide book, like you could buy in a store. But in a sexy video version and I'm going to highlight local businesses and I'm going to include the way that people can book with them in the description.

And so, yeah, that's kinda like my, the last few days, like what I've been thinking as I was like, like I built, I made this awesome video for Taiwan. I'm paying my own money to boost this YouTube video on my channel. And so I'm hoping that people watch this and they look at the different businesses and experiences and they pick one, they book and it helps boost the local economy.

And so like, as of right [00:30:00] now, I'm like, it fills me with purpose. To be able to use my video skills to like benefit the traveler because they can watch a video and say, Oh, that's that like, look like, look, look, honey. Like we want to go to Taiwan. Here's 20 different experiences with the address and the link I'd have that book in the description.

I'm not collecting any money and it helps them to visualize where they're actually going. That's my new idea is like how I can be, helpful and contribute and create value because like I had a few months during COVID, like in between actually what we did the interview and right now where I, I just, I got super depressed, you know?

 because like I have learned that like, money doesn't really matter. What matters is the feeling like you belong and that you're contributing. And, that was like one of the greatest lessons I think horrible years taught me is like, it really doesn't matter how many zeros are in your bank account.

Like if you don't feel like you belong anywhere and nobody [00:31:00] needs you then, you know, like, like, you know, that's, that's really sad. And so I think like that's kind of, my quest now is like, I am trying to figure out ways that I can, you know, hopefully I'll start a new business when the time is right economically, but in the meantime, like this has been really cool and I'm hoping I can reach out to departments of, you know, tourism and other countries and say, let me show youwhat I did for Taiwan. And you know, my company Tolman Media International is doing a give back program called Travel Matters. And we want to, we want to come here and highlight local businesses and all that I don't expect to be paid. So we'll see. I mean, I have no idea. It's just kind of one of those shower thoughts, but, that's, that's where I'm at now. It's like, it's, it's weird. Like, like, yeah. Like whenever I tell people that some people are like, Oh, how hard is it to be you and have to, you know, figure out like what you want to do with your free time.

And I'm like, well, yeah, like, and I, and I understand that perspective, but it's like, if you, I was always told this in [00:32:00] college, if you work harder than anyone else's willing right now, then you will be able to live like nobody else can later, something like that. And so I just held true to that and I tried and, and that's kind of where I feel like it's gone now. So, I mean, yeah, it's been a journey. 

Trista, Host: [00:32:16] Yeah. And you are so right. You know, money is just a scorecard. It's just a scorecard. And if you don't have a way to participate in society where you feel like you're actually making a difference.

Brennan Tolman: [00:32:29] Yeah. 

Trista, Host: [00:32:29] It gets pretty old pretty quick just to be filthy rich and have plenty of money and nothing to do with your time. And I mean, not that I've had that experience, but I can image.

I mean, I think, cause I'm working in a residual income environment, that's my business and I am, I definitely have a good amount of residual income. It's not enough to retire. Never work again. I'm still building it, but [00:33:00] I'll tell you that if I wasn't doing anything, I'd get pretty bored pretty quickly.

I'm sort of like I'm I have workaholism, I get it from both sides of my family. but I love what you're saying about travel because it is super important and it's super crucial to the whole economy, to the spirit, the mind. I have sort of. blahzay attitude about travel that I realized recently came from something that happened in my childhood.

You were so anxious to get to Europe because of something that happened in your childhood. I couldn't give a crap about travel because of something that happened my childhood. So I'm working through that because I know it means I don't get to experience like what you're saying with the guy brushing his teeth with, a hose that's right.

That's never going to happen to me and experiences like it, where I get to see the world from a completely different and unique perspective from mine. So that's really, [00:34:00] really interesting. 

Brennan Tolman: [00:34:03] I think though, that like, you know, there's, there's like, I, I think there's a, it's important to make the distinction between, you know, tourism and travel, you know, I think, I think you can go to the same place, like, you know, the, the tourist and the traveler can go to the same place and have completely different experiences. and I think that you can have travel experiences in a city, two hours away. You know, you don't have to go across the ocean, right? Like, like, one time, a couple of months ago, my wife and I went to Louisiana just cause like, why not? And I'm a big Saints fan. And so we went to Louisiana, New Orleans during COVID, which was fascinating to see that state and how it was affected. And, we stopped on the side of the road of the Waffle House and we, which we don't have in Utah. And I was like, what is this waffle house? And we, you know, it's like, you know, it's like run by one or two people. And so we were eating our waffles and it was a young black guy [00:35:00] behind the counter and he was the nicest guy I've ever met.

And by the way,Utah's like incredibly white. Like there's like no diversity in Utah. So, so I don't see it very often. So it's very different and it's important to be able to see and connect with different people. Right. And so anyways, we were talking to this guy and we just got to be pretty good friends. And he was like telling us that, you know, he had just gotten out of, prison. He was my age. For three years for a mistake he made when he was young, which all of us make. So, so everyone else during COVID had been basically trying to only work, you know, six, seven hours a week, so they could get their unemployment checks.

He was picking up everybody's shifts. This kid was working. I kid you not 21 hours a day. He, he was my age and he had, he was very proud. He said, he's like, but I'm so proud because I have worked so hard. I'm trying to rebuild my life. Waffle house gave me a chance. And I finally was able to buy my own car and he pointed outside and it was [00:36:00] like this rundown beat up car.

And he was so proud of that car and had worked his butt off literally 21 hours a day so that he could get a car and. I have my parents sold me a car, you know, when I was 16. Right. I mean, like, I didn't even ever have to think about that. And I was like, so deeply touched, you know, like, like when you grow up in Utah, you know, you, like, you hear about all the white privilege and black lives matter and stuff, and you can kind of like, just miss it because you don't, you're not around it.

You don't know, you have no idea. And like, my wife and I like went back to the hotel room and like wept for like an hour. Because it was like this, it was like this eye-opening experience to be like, Oh my gosh, like we are so lucky and privileged. Like We're privileged. Like that's the thing. Like, and I would have never known that.

it was so eyeopening like, like one of the most deeply touching experiences that I ever had was at a waffle [00:37:00] house. And that's like, that's a weird sentence, but, you know, so I think like you can have travel experiences anywhere and that's the beauty of it. You know, it doesn't have to be international. you just have to be looking for it, I guess. 

Trista, Host: [00:37:15] Well, I'm glad you said that that is such an important distinction. You travel like my aunt and uncle travel.

You can have experiences in the next town over the next state over. And I'm very moved by that story about the waffle house guy as well, because you're right. Like, you just don't know what other people go through. 

Brennan Tolman: [00:37:37] Yeah. And, and I think the same thing here, like, like one when I was 18, and I was living in Taiwan i, you know, one day I was walking through, it's like a port town and it was very rundown. And, so I'm like, I'm like walking through these, these alleyways, just kind of whatever.

And, and I stumbled into this old dingy [00:38:00] factory. And, there was people in there who were. leathery skinned and these guys have worked their entire life, like physical manual labor, and they were making door hinges with these big metal machines they were like SOUND EFFECT anywhere. Like, I mean, they were making these door hinges, like, and I started talking to them and they worked 15 hour days.

They made like a dollar an hour US. And I was like, and they have been doing this. I think the, one of them had been doing it for 40 years. He was 60. And I was like, like, that was the first moment that I have where I was like, people live like this so we can open our doors. every time I open a door now I just, I think about that, I think about that factory.

And so I think that like, like I have definitely changed, and I like, it's kinda made me realize, like at the end of the day, the only thing that's going to fix anything has nothing to do [00:39:00] with politics and everything to do with empathy and, and our ability to get outside of ourselves and actually like, be willing to listen.

So I think it's important to travel and to have not just tourism, like I actually, besides like Disneyland, I got bored on roller coasters. I get bored doing this horror stuff. Like I enjoy to go find the, you know, kind of a local flavor or whatever, and, and mostly just talk to the people. And that's what I think is cool about Airbnb is you can live like a local.

Like, you know, and then you can also like one of my favorite things it's kind of on hold now, but it's Airbnb experiences. One time I got my chakra red, on Venice beach in California. I don't even know what that is. you know, and they took, basically took a chakra of photo of me with all the colors and they told me what you know all about it.

It was awesome, you know, and, and, and, and I made chocolates in London with some lady who was a professional chocolateier and it's cheap, you know? So I think like my favorite thing is, you know, when [00:40:00] I go to somewhere, I, I open up Airbnb experiences and I'm just like, okay, like I can cobble shoes with a dude from Taiwan.

Like, let's do it, you know? And, and it's like 20 bucks, you know, and you'd come home with a shoe. So anyways, that's, I think like that's the most important thing. Like everybody can make a difference in the world by just gaining empathy. 

Trista, Host: [00:40:18] Yeah. Oh, completely. And I think you're right. There's not enough of that. We, we are very low on empathy lately.

the way I look at that is that we, if we just could respect each other's ways of life, whatever they are, and we'd be in a better place. So it's kind of a similar parallel conversation. And I think empathy is a really, really good way to put it. Yeah, 

Brennan Tolman: [00:40:45] I think, you know, I think a lot of people find themselves wondering what can I do?

You know, I see the craziness, I see the wildness. Yeah. I think the average person's like, what do I do? Like when you go to an aquarium, and they make you feel guilty about all the fish being killed and poached.

And you're like, [00:41:00] well, I don't poach. How can I fix it? Yeah. And I think that, like, that's kind of what I've learned is just when you have a chance, you know, try to like, just, you know, hear a perspective of somebody that, you know, just, just, just travel or travel and learn and try to like, just talk to people, you know, gain that empathy.

Learn with learn what people are going through that you've never even thought about. And I think that everybody can do that. Everybody has a neighbor they've never talked to and understood. And I think that it's like when you see all the craziness, like that's the solution.

Trista, Host: [00:41:34] Yeah. I like what you're saying. In fact, I'm going to parallel something that was on another episode I did. She's a chronic pain sufferer. I have people in my life that have chronic pain and I don't have chronic pain.

So I don't understand what it's about. And when somebody says this hurts the thousandth time. It's like, Oh, is that still, you know, it's hard to continue to have the same level of sympathy and even empathy for [00:42:00] somebody when they've had a consistent thing. Cause I don't know what that's like, I cannot understand it.

And so I asked her like, what could I do as someone who loves someone very much who suffers with chronic pain? And she said, just ask like, is there anything I can do to support you? And that line has really stuck with me. And I think it applies here .

 So if I could just in conversations with people, I meet, get to know my neighbor people when I travel, if I see an opportunity and I have the ability to ask, is there anything I can do to support you? I think if we could all take that on, that would make a huge difference. 

Brennan Tolman: [00:42:46] Absolutely. And, and, and you reminded me of something. when I was president of my high school, there was an impeachment campaign. No joke, because people were like, not happy with me. It's so stupid. Oh my [00:43:00] goodness.

Yeah. I don't remember... I didn't plan a dance well or something. I don't know, you know, something so petty, but. But like, I was so discouraged, you know, and, and I was, I would talk to my mom every day when I got home. And I was like, I like what do they want from me. I don't know how, and I think I said something like, I don't feel like I can change the world. Like, who am I? Like, I can't do anything. You know? And I remember like I woke up the next day and I had a sticky note on my, on my mirror, you know, until I get out of the shower and my mom had written it. And it said, you may not be able to change the world. But you can always change one person's day in this world.

And that has been kind of my montra. So, anyway, I think that's kind of like the point, you know, that, that we've all been talking about. It's just, it's just, that's, that's been my interesting journey of trying to figure out how can I do that still? It's been a weird journey of self discovery, but yeah. Thanks. This has been awesome.

Trista, Host: [00:43:57] I've had so much fun talking to you. I [00:44:00] really love your perspective on things, because I know it all comes from a really vulnerable and authentic place of I've been through this, and this is what I've gotten from it. Like you have lived. Your life, not set back and waited for life to show up. And I really acknowledge you for that.

Brennan Tolman: [00:44:20] Thank you. Thank you. 

Trista, Host: [00:44:22] Now I always turn the tables and see if you have a question for me.

So do you have a question you'd like to ask me before we wrap 

Brennan Tolman: [00:44:29] up? Yeah. Tell me a little bit about, I'm just curious, what your main businesses that residual income, like, what is it? Is it, is it essential oils? Is it something like that? Like, I'm just curious, 

Trista, Host: [00:44:40] not essential oils. So it's actually the shopping annuity.

And what we do is we teach people how to transfer their own personal buying habits to a tracking system that allows them to get credit for their purchases. So if you go and. Like earn money and then you go and buy stuff. You got to go back [00:45:00] and earn more money unless you have passive income so you can buy more stuff.

Right. Everybody in line from the person who made the product to the person who handed it to you and said, here's your change? They all got a piece. Yeah. However small of that purchase price, but all you got for your purchase was the privilege of having the product or service, which these days runs out breaks, the subscription runs out . And so this way you get credit for your purchase power. But the other cool thing is that it is a tracking system that connects you to other consumers. So we all, don't just get credit for our own purchases.

We get credit for the purchases of everybody we're connected to. So now I have residual income based on the buying power of a lot of people and not just my own. Yeah, it's really fantastic. 

Brennan Tolman: [00:45:58] That's awesome. Very cool. 

[00:46:00] Trista, Host: [00:46:00] I didn't invent it. it's called the Unfranchise. So I'm an Unfranchise owner, with the company and yeah, it's a powerful concept.

And during the pandemic, that's what I've been doing. You know, a lot of people are looking for new and interesting ways to make money. From home online and, and, you know, similar to you, somebody figured out a system, how it could work, did all the hard work figured out the sourcing and the, here's a piece of fun trivia.

So, you know, Amazon got famous originally because of the one cart concept where you could go and buy 50 things from all different companies. And somehow magically, you pay one company and everything shows up at your house. We own that technology. We own the patent.

And Amazon and all the companies license it from us.

Brennan Tolman: [00:46:48] Yeah. Wow. I didn't know that. I know I've learned a bunch today too. That's awesome.

Trista, Host: [00:46:55] Yeah, I've learned a lot today. I've had so much fun. I'm going to let you guys go [00:47:00] and do whatever you do at night and Taiwan 

Brennan Tolman: [00:47:03] Night markets, night markets. 

Trista, Host: [00:47:06] Good. Awesome. Well, enjoy it. And thank you so much again for being on and enjoy the rest of your trip and have a safe travels home. 

Brennan Tolman: [00:47:14] Thanks so much.

Trista, Host: [00:47:14] Thank you for joining us for this week's episode of Trista's PL8STORY podcast. Please subscribe to Trista's PL8STORY podcast to get the story behind all those vanity plates, driving with you on the road. And if you would like to nominate the owner of a license plate, including you... Or visit any of our partners and sponsors come and see us www.pl8story.com. That's P L number eight story.com and give us the details. 

If you enjoyed this episode, please drop a review and give us a share. I'm Trista Polo wishing you well on the road to your next adventure.