The world is shifting the 9-5 as we know it. AI is threatening job positions, there are layoffs, recessions are looming, and meanwhile, the price of everything is going up.

We’ve been saying this for years, but your life experience, your passion, and your skills might be your biggest safety net, and your best opportunity for income going forward.

If you’re not profiting from what you love doing and what you already know, then you could be leaving a lot of potential on the table!

We’ve been huge proponents of starting something of your own — something that’s yours and can’t be taken away from you.

This is what we’ve believed since the start of Goats On The Road — wayyyy back in 2012 (yeah we’ve been around for awhile!)

But, it’s especially relevant these days.

The truth is, a lot of what we used to rely on — stable jobs, steady income, predictable growth — feels pretty shaky right now.

But, don’t worry, it’s not all doom and gloom! There’s a way for you to overcome these challenges, which is what I’ll get into in this article.

Most people think they need more credentials to start an online brand. And actually, this is where most people get stuck —spending time on certifications, waiting until they have a bigger following, and taking more courses to learn more about the topic that they already know!

But the truth is:

You’re already sitting on something people would pay to learn — you just don’t realize how valuable it is (yet)!

We’ve helped more than a thousand people start online brands around their passions, skills and experiences, based on what they already know.

Meaning, they didn’t have to spend tons of time adding more to their plate…we simply helped them unpack the gold that was already there.

Your niche. Your amazing idea. Your next move…it’s found inside your skills, your experiences, and your passions.

If you’re thinking about creating something of your own (as a side hustle, or as a full-time gig), and are looking to turn your expertise into profit, this is where to start.

The 3 Buckets: Start With What You Already Have

If you’re unsure about what niche to pick or what kind of business to start, here’s the framework we’ve personally used to come up with our profitable ideas over the years, and it’s what we teach our clients as well.

It’s built on 3 ‘buckets’ that we all have access to — no matter your background, job title, or level of experience.

Note: we go deeper into this and really help you narrow down your idea in our Niche Clarity Program.

Bucket #1: Skills & Knowledge

This is the knowledge you’ve accumulated over the years. Skills you’ve learned through your career, school, certifications, training, self-education…or even just trial and error.

You might not think of it as special, because it comes naturally to you now. But to someone else, it’s exactly what they need help with.

Here are a few examples:

Maybe you’ve…

1. Mastered Excel spreadsheets, and you’ve built custom templates that save hours every week.
2. Become an expert in designing logos, editing resumes, or organizing digital files.
3. Figured out how to run a profitable Airbnb
4. Cracked the code on how to grow a YouTube channel.
5. Figured out a productive workflow and how to repurpose one video into a week’s worth of content.
6. Been (or currently are) a project manager, realtor, professional chef.
7. Been certified for teaching, coaching, being a personal trainer, or a yoga instructor.
8. Mastered data entry, bookkeeping, or using accounting software like QuickBooks.
9. Trained new team members and loved breaking down complex tasks into simple steps.
10. Ran internal events, team-building activities, or even organized office potlucks — and people saw you as the “glue.”

All of these skills, all of this knowledge that you have, can all be turned into your own business. It’s just taking what you already do and already know, and deciding that you want to create something of your own.

Here are a few real-life examples from our clients:

1. Self-Made Millionaire and Finance Mentor turned personal coach to help beginners invest in the stock market and build wealth
2. Certified Yoga and Breathwork Instructor and Personal Trainer coaching women in midlife to find physical, emotional and spiritual harmony in the next chapter of their lives.
3. Real Estate Investor and Landlord of 15 years coaching new landlords on getting started and manage their properties with confidence

Other Examples:

• Morgan Overholt was a burned-out graphic designer and quit her 9-5 to freelance full time and turn her design skills into a $100,000 per year business.
• Ali Abdaal was a doctor who had to use productivity hacks just to survive his demanding work. When he realized other people could use his tools in all areas of life, he quit his job to teach it online and now earns over $4 million per year.
• Greg Langstaff was a career advisor and recruiter who quit his job to teach othe people what not to do when going to job interviews. Now he makes relateable and funny videos on tiktok and now runs a multi-6-figure business offering resume reviews, and selling courses and coaching.

Here’s the thing:

What you know how to do — whether it’s from your job, your side hustle, or your own curiosity over the years — can become the foundation of your niche.

What feels obvious, easy, or boring to you, could be life-changing to someone else who’s stuck, confused, or overwhelmed. And they just don’t know where to start.

We see this all the time. People turning everyday skills into businesses — teaching what they already know. You don’t need to learn something new to get started. You just need to learn how to package what you already know in a way that helps others.

Bucket #2: Life Experiences & Your Personal Story

More often than not, the most powerful business ideas don’t come from a job or a degree — they come from what you’ve lived through…your story.

For us personally, there are a few key life experiences that we’ve already turned into profit — and could easily do again.

The biggest one was taking the leap to become entrepreneurs. To be our own boss. We knew we were meant for more and believed there had to be a way to do meaningful work we actually enjoyed.

And that belief is what draws people to our story — because they feel the same way.

We took our lived experience of building up 4 online brands, and turned it into an impactful, profitable coaching business that helps others do the same.

That’s exactly what we teach inside our Creator Kickstarter Coaching Program. Your lived experience can become the business you profit from—just like ours did.

We all have chapters of our story that shaped us (whether good or bad), moments that forced us to grow, adapt, or rebuild. Use those to your advantage and help others who have been in your situation.

Trust me, there are people searching for exactly that kind of guidance.

Here are a few examples:

Maybe you’ve…

1. Moved across the world and had to navigate a new culture, language, or legal system from scratch.
2. Changed careers multiple times and learned how to reinvent yourself — even when it was scary.
3. Gone through burnout and overwhelm (in life or in your business).
4. Survived a divorce.
5. Been through a trauma and have found hope and healing.
6. Had a major identity shift and found your way through.
7. Lost a bunch of weight and are happier, healthier and more confident than ever.
8. Learned how to manage money after debt.
9. Figured out how to co-parent peacefully.
10. Learned how to live a fulfilling life with chronic illness.
11. Navigated menopause and all the physical, emotional, and identity shifts that came with it — and came out more grounded, confident, and connected to yourself.
12. Left a high-demand career to prioritize your mental health, and learned how to rebuild a life with more time for family, peace, purpose, and presence.
13. Took a leap into solo travel after a major life change and discovered a deeper sense of confidence, joy, and self-trust.
14. Supported a loved one through addiction, illness, or grief and became a steady source of strength in their unstable times.
15. Decided to stop people-pleasing, set boundaries, and rewire the way you show up in relationships, work, and your own life

Here are a few real-life examples from our clients:

1. Downsizing her home and life for a retirement full of opportunities and coaching women how to do the same.
2. Having the trait of an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) and coaching women on how to navigate that.
3. Being a child-free couple by choice and building a community for others like them.
4. Being an immigrant in the USA and coaching others to build credit and choose the right credit cards.
5. A devout Christian since the age of 7 helping families experience a deeper relationship with the Lord through coaching, reading and memorizing Scripture

Other Examples:

• Lisa Johnson was a single mom in the UK, with £35,000 of debt. She got through it and now sells courses and programs teaching other people how to earn income. She’s now earned over £16 million and has assisted more than 50,000 entrepreneurs.
• Nadine Muller transitioned from a nursing career to becoming a personal fitness trainer, eventually moving into online coaching. By leveraging her experiences and challenges, she built a multimillion-dollar coaching business.
• Kiki Ayers faced homelessness in Los Angeles but utilized her background in entertainment reporting to establish a public relations firm. By sharing her story and experiences, she built a business that generated about $3 million in 2024.

Here’s the thing:

These life experiences aren’t just personal things that happened to you…what if they happened for you?

These times in your life are packed with lessons, frameworks, and real-life tools that other people desperately need. It can become a shortcut, a roadmap, or a spark of hope for someone else.

You don’t need to be perfect or polished, you just need to be honest. Not pretending you have it all figured out, but being a few steps ahead and turning your journey into something that helps someone else.

Having an impact and helping others find solutions to their problems is what building a brand is really about.

3. Passions & Interests

Sometimes, your best idea isn’t the thing people would find on your résumé. It’s not your skills and all the knowledge you’ve accumulated…it’s actually the thing you could talk about for hours without getting bored!

It’s the topic that lights you up when someone asks the right question. It’s something you’re always learning more about — not because you have to, but because you actually want to.

Take Nick for example, and his passion is fly-fishing. It’s something he’s been doing since he was a kid and would spend weekends out on the lake with his Dad and Brother.

Fly fishing is something that he’s always learning more about and perfecting. You’ll find him holed up in his “mancave” tying flies, chatting with other fly-fishermen in his Viber group chat, or down by the river casting his rod!

It’s the interest that he could talk about for hours.

So, he started a fly-fishing brand around his passion in 2020 and grew it to a six-figure business. Now, he makes money creating content while he’s fishing at the river! Definitely living his dream.

Here are some examples:

Maybe you…

1. Geek out over matcha rituals and can’t get enough of it.
2. Love travel hacking and finding budget travel hacks.
3. Are obsessed with meal prepping.
4. Love all things to do with makeup and beauty, or styling outfits.
5. Are totally interested in biohacking, astrology, or productivity tools — and your friends come to you because you explain it in a way that makes sense.
6. Are the go-to person in your group for planning the perfect girls’ trip.
7. Are the best at organizing small spaces.
8. Are interested in all things craft beer and have learned how to brew and make it yourself.
9. Love deep diving into human design and helping friends understand their charts in real life.
10. Are obsessed with cozy home vibes — from candle making to perfecting your Sunday reset routine.

These interests and passions are all things that you could turn into something that helps others and makes you money.

Here are a few real-life examples from our clients:

1. A couple living in NYC with a love for travel and their city, running a travel planning business and creating curated itineraries and trips to NYC for busy professionals
2. A travel-hacking expert helping others plan trips and experience the world while spending less
3. A couple obsessed with quick getaways and not wasting any time off, they share the best itineraries for 48 hour quick turn adventures
4. A cat lover helping other pet parents with their cat’s health and weight loss
5. A lover of holistic strategies and overall wellness helping remote workers escape digital overwhelm and simplify their life

Other Examples:

• Nick (of Goats On The Road) turned his passion for fly fishing into an online brand that helps beginners pick the right gear without breaking the bank. That business earned $8,440 on its 12th month after launching!
• Joshua Weissman was a burned out chef who turned his love of cooking (particularly fermentation) into a multi-million dollar YouTube empire.
• Sandra James was laid off from her £50,000/year job in financial services so she decided to turn her love for cats into a business. She founded The Cat Butler, an exclusive cat-sitting service in the UK. She launched it in 2015 and now it earns about £200,000 annually.

Here’s the thing:

When it comes to passions and interests, you don’t need to be an “expert”, you don’t need to have a degree or a huge following.

You just need to be a few steps ahead of the person you’re helping — and know and care enough about the topic to guide them.

If you love the topic and you’re SO passionate about it, and you’re willing to show up and share what you’ve learned, someone out there will be so glad you did. People are looking for someone real, someone who gets it, and someone who makes it feel possible.

Stop Overthinking and Chose One Thing to Start

You don’t need to be an influencer, good at tech, or into marketing. Most of our clients aren’t. And actually, most of them started without having any idea of what they could share with the world!

Our clients are regular people just like you — aged 24 to 70. They’re travelers, moms, immigrants, couples, retirees, creatives, side-hustlers, and 9-5ers who finally said:

“I’m done wasting time building up someone else’s business. I want to create something that actually has an impact. Something I love doing.”

If you want to go deeper with everything you’ve learned in this article, we’re here to help. The first step is coming up with your perfect niche and idea…one that’s aligned with you. One that gets you excited!

That’s what we help you figure out inside our Niche Clarity Program. You’ll learn how your skills, life experiences and passions matter, and how they can be packaged up and turned into an impactful brand and product that you can sell.

It’s your first step toward building something real — from the life you’ve already lived.

If you’re the type of person who’s ready to take the leap, bet on yourself, and finally build something that reflects who you really are…you’re exactly who our full coaching program was made for. Click here to email us for information on our Creator Kickstarter program.

If we have learned just one thing recently, it’s that we need to be gentle with ourselves and others. We’re all in this world together, and we all get weary at times. Be recklessly gracious!

The wisest and most wonderful people you have ever met are likely those who have been shattered in some way. Yes, life often creates the best humans by breaking them first. It’s the painstaking journey of falling apart and coming back together that fills their hearts and minds with a level of compassion, understanding, and deep-loving wisdom that can’t possibly be acquired any other way.

Angel and I have worked with hundreds of these incredible people over the past 15+ years through various forms of coaching and live events. In many cases they came to us feeling stuck and lost, unaware of their own brilliance, blind to the fact that their struggles have strengthened them and given them a resilient upper hand in this crazy world. And many of these people are now our biggest heroes. Over the years they have given us as much, if not more, than we have given them — they continue to be some of our greatest sources of inspiration.

So today, to honor these unlikely heroes of ours, we want to share a selection of their life experiences with you (with full permission of course). Below you will find excerpts from 20 emails and text messages we’ve received over the years — they are super short but incredibly powerful accounts of real life, real struggle, and the human resilience required to take the next step. There’s definitely something here for all of us to think about and reflect on:

1. “It’s been exactly ten years since my controlling, abusive ex-fiancé sold my favorite guitar which cost almost $2,000 and took me ages to save for. He sold it on the day I broke up with him. When I went to pick up my belongings, he was proud that he had sold it to a local pawnshop. Luckily, I managed to track down the guy who bought it from the pawnshop. The guy was really sweet and gave it back to me for free, on the condition that I join him on his front porch for an hour and play guitar with him. He grabbed a second guitar and we ended up sitting there on his porch for the rest of the afternoon playing music, talking, and laughing. He’s been my husband for almost nine years now, and we are happier now than ever.”

2. “The happiest moment of my life is still that split-second a year ago when, as I laid crushed under a 2000-pound car, I realized my husband and nine-year-old son were out of the vehicle and completely uninjured.”

3. “Today, on my 47th birthday, I re-read the death note I wrote on my 27th birthday about two minutes before my girlfriend showed up at my apartment and told me, ‘I’m pregnant.’ She was honestly the only reason I didn’t follow through with it. Suddenly I felt I had something to live for. Today she’s my wife and we’ve been happily married for 19 years. And my daughter, who is now a 19-year-old college student, has two younger brothers. I re-read my death note every year on my birthday as a reminder to be thankful — I’m thankful I got a second chance at life.”

4. “Last night just before bed, my daughter, whom I adopted three years ago at the age of seven, called me ‘mom’ for the very first time.”

5. “It’s been five years since my mom — my best friend in the world — was in a car accident that resulted in her losing all of her long-term memory from before the crash. When I was little my mom and I used to quote a Winnie The Pooh book as an inside joke. One of us would ask, “Have you ever seen a dragon fly?” And the other would reply, ‘I have, I have seen a dragon fly!’ This evening I was sitting with her while we were watching TV and I randomly asked, ‘Have you ever seen a dragon fly?’ And she responded with, ‘I have, I have seen a dragon fly!’ We stared at each other for a prolonged moment, and then she jumped out of her seat and exclaimed, ‘Oh my gosh, I remember!’”

6. “I’m sitting in my hospital bed waiting to have both my breasts removed. But in a strange way I feel like the lucky one. Up until now I have had no health problems. I’m a 64-year-old woman in the last room at the end of the hall before the pediatric division of the hospital begins. Over the past few hours I have watched dozens of cancer patients being wheeled by in wheelchairs and rolling beds. None of these patients could be a day older than 17. And right now, I’m feeling like the lucky one.”

7. “My dad is a blind cancer survivor. He lost both his eyes when he was in his early 30’s to a rare form of cancer. Despite this, he raised my sister and I, and took care of my mom who was in and out of rehab for alcoholism and depression. My mom is a fully recovered alcoholic now, my sister and I have graduated college, and my parents are still together and back to being happy. I’m certain none of this would have been possible if my dad hadn’t been such a resilient, positive force in our lives. My dad’s mental strength literally saved our family. And he’s the one who pointed me towards your blog, which he reads daily with text to speech software.”

8. “Earlier this week I went to the doctor’s office because I was experiencing awful stomach pains. They ran some tests, took blood, and told me they’d contact me in a few days. I assumed the pain was at least partially due to stress. Three weeks ago, at the age of 35, my husband, the love of my life, died from a heart attack. And this afternoon I felt another wave of despair come over me, feeling like I had nothing left. As I sat there the phone rang; it was the doctor. She said, ‘You’re perfectly healthy. You’re pregnant.’ And in that moment I cried, happy tears, for the first time three weeks. Because a couple months ago a fertility clinic discovered a condition with my husband that they said would take ‘a small miracle’ for us to get pregnant.”

9. “I’m a war veteran. Upon arriving home 15 years ago from my final tour in Afghanistan, I found out that my wife had been cheating on me and had spent almost all of our savings. I had nowhere to stay and no phone and was suffering from it all. One of my close friends from high school, Shaun, and his wife, seeing that I was in need of help, took me in and let me live with their family of five. They helped me deal with my divorce and gave me space to get my life together. Since then I’ve moved into my own place, rediscovered my passion for life, opened a fairly successful local diner, and my friend’s kids call me Uncle Jay when they see me. The way they supported me and adopted me into their family in my desperate time of need is now the guidepost for how I try to live my life.”

10. “I’ve been dying of Leukemia since my 17th birthday. I was sent home from the hospital for my final few weeks 156 days ago. But now I’m back at the hospital being treated again, because my doctors now believe there is hope. And so do I.”

11. “Today, after my daughter’s funeral, and several hours of tearful soul-searching, I started going through my phone and deleting two weeks’ worth of condolence messages. There were so many of them that I eventually selected ‘delete all,’ but one message didn’t delete. It was one of the last messages my daughter left me before she died, and it was still marked as ‘new.’ Sometimes my voicemail forces me to listen to old messages before I can delete them, so played it, even though I really didn’t want to at that moment. My daughter said, “Hey dad, I just wanted to let you know I’m okay and I’m home now.”

12. “After three years of separation, and lots of regretful drama, my ex-wife and I finally resolved our differences and we met for dinner last night. We laughed and chatted for almost five hours. Then just before we parted ways, she handed me a large envelope. In it were 20 ‘love and forgiveness’ letters she wrote me over the last three years. There was a post-it note on the envelope that read, ‘Letters I was too stubborn to send.’ And even crazier is that I wrote her a few letters too, and I still have them stored on my work computer’s desktop.”

13. “Yesterday, after completing ten straight months of rehab at a live-in treatment center, I spent my first day out with my five-year-old daughter. We sat on my parent’s front porch all day making construction paper collages. The sight and sound of my daughter’s laughter and the simple pleasures of cutting construction paper and peeling Elmer’s glue off our hands are the best reminders I’ve had in ten months of why I’m choosing sobriety and life.”

14. “I was born on this day 57 years ago, but today isn’t my birthday, at least not this year. Your birthday doesn’t really come when you’re sitting in a hospital room hoping your wife of 25 years wakes up from a coma. And although the doctors are optimistic, I’m still here praying, and waiting, patiently.”

15. “Last night there was a family of six staying at the hotel where I work. They were hanging out in the lobby sharing stories, laughing, and taking turns reading excerpts from a joke book. I asked them where they were from. ‘Oh, we’re from here,’ the father said. ‘Our house literally burned down yesterday, but miraculously all of us got out safely. And that makes today a true blessing!’”

16. “I realized that although it was the darkest period of my life, if I had not worked through and overcome those five long years of depression, I would not be here now smiling so appreciatively at the sunrise through my living room window.”

17. “It took years, but when I finally found the courage to divorce him after decades of abuse, I found myself feeling alone because our closest mutual friends continued to believe his lies over my tears. But I’m finally making new friends — real friends — and feeling so much better now.”

18. “I recently lost the respect of a few people I love, and the desire to hurt myself, when I finally told everyone the truth about who I really am and what I have decided to do with my life. In a nutshell, I have chosen to love and honor myself, instead of convincing others to do it for me every day.”

19. “At 8 A.M. this morning, after nearly four months of lifelessness in her hospital bed, we took my mom off life support. And her heart continued beating on its own. And she continued breathing on her own. Then this evening, when I squeezed her hand three times, she squeezed back three times.”

20. “This afternoon, at the age of 70, I graduated from The University of North Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in business. I’ve been a successful business owner most of my life, but I decided to earn my degree to fulfill a promise I made to my mom before she lost her battle with cancer on my 20th birthday, just over 50 years ago.”

Growth Through Life’s Ups and Downs

The stories above obviously hold many lessons, but as mentioned earlier, one lesson I think they collectively share is that life’s challenges don’t just break a person, they can also shape a person…

Challenging times are like strong storms that blow against your soul. And it’s not just that these storms hold you back from places you might otherwise go, they also tear away from you all but the essential parts of you that cannot be torn, so that afterward you see yourself as you really are, without all the distractions that have been blinding you. In a very real sense, you are here to endure these storms, to risk your heart — to be bruised by life at times. And when it happens that you are hurt, or rejected, or knocked off course, let yourself remember that life’s challenges are necessary.

In all seasons of life, your goal shouldn’t be to seek a perfect and pain-free existence, but to live an imperfect and sometimes challenging one in radical amazement. To get up every morning and take a good look around in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is extraordinary in its own right. Every day is a gift. To be spiritual in any way is to be amazed in every way.

And it’s important to note, too, that Angel and I don’t just preach. We’ve endured our own pain, crawled through our own strong storms, and learned from firsthand experience many times over. Over the past couple of decades we have dealt with several severe hardships, including the sudden death of a sibling, the loss of a best friend to illness, significant betrayal from a business partner, an unexpected breadwinning employment layoff that forced us out of our home, and more. These experiences were brutal. Each of them knocked us down hard and kept us down for a while. But when our time of mourning was over after each hardship, we pressed forward with a greater understanding and respect for life. (Angel and I discuss our journey and life story more in the books “Getting Back to Happy” and “1,000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently”.)

Now it’s your turn…

Yes, it’s your turn to own your life experiences, and to not let life’s bitterness steal your sweetness. Remember, no life story is one chapter long, no chapter tells the whole tale, and no single event entirely defines who you are. Give yourself grace when you must, and keep turning the pages that need to be turned.

But before you go, please leave Angel and me a comment below and let us know what you think of this post. Your feedback is important to us.

Which tiny story above resonated the most today? Anything else to share?

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