Special Guest, Austin Ellis

Count money, man.

Money, man.

That gritch is fine.

I told him, I'm a beast.

What's up, gang?

Welcome back to another episode of The Grindcast.

Get ready.

It's a new day.

I got my man Austin Ellis in the house by way of Nashville, Tennessee right now.

Also known as one of the stars, one of the members of season six from the voice.

And Austin, it's funny.

I was going to just dig in that you haven't just having you tell people a little bit about

yourself and your style of music and all of that to get started.

But Josh, the man behind the scenes over here, he was asking me, how did you even meet

Austin?

I said, well, I'll just let him.

I'll just, we'll just start there then.

I'll just let him tell you.

So why don't we tell everybody how we met?

All right.

That sounds good.

That sounds good.

What's up, everybody?

Happy to be here.

Thank you Simon.

I appreciate you, man.

On a plane to Cabo, I was heading out for a show and you are out for a retreat, I believe.

And we just happened to sit next to each other by the grace of God.

And one of the first things I noticed was that my man had some fresh shades on and I

had brought my best pair of shades for the Cabo trip.

So I approached the conversation, just complimenting you on your style.

And then as we got to chatting a little bit and you had your phone out, I noticed that

your schedule was about as dense a schedule as I had ever seen.

And I'm a Google calendar user myself.

And compared to the average person, my calendar looks like a multi-color dream.

But you had your day to day science down on a level that I had never been around.

So of course, that peaked my interest.

And we got to talking about books that we have read and philosophy, business and so forth.

And we've been connected ever since.

Hit it off.

Hit it off from there.

I knew there was something special about you too, man.

Great, just great energy, great vibes.

Most of the time, I treat the plane like the gym.

In the gym, I'm not the guy talking everybody.

I kind of put my hood on with the headphones.

Everybody can tell I really don't want to talk on the plane on that way too, because I can

get work done.

I read and I get work done.

But you, I just felt great energy from it.

We ended up talking and hitting it off.

And who would have thought we'd still be in touch after all these years?

That had to be at least five years ago, plus.

At least.

Right?

Five to seven years ago?

Five to seven years.

Yep, yep.

So then, I got home and I'm like, man, there was something special about that, dude.

And I didn't expect you to really stay connected and you did.

And we started to connect from there.

So tell people, you're an artist who has moved, who has had a lot of success.

Really, that's an entrepreneur.

To me, you're a business owner, you're self-employed.

So tell us a little bit about your journey and your style of music and then how you got

into music and all of that stuff.

Right on, yeah, no problem.

I grew up in the DMV, DC Maryland, Virginia area.

And as I got teenager, I got into performing at bars and restaurants, saying most of my

life taught myself guitar in high school and then wasn't long before I was sort of taken

under the wing of some working musicians in the area.

And they sort of put me on with agents.

And next thing you know, instead of working at the restaurants that I had been working

at, I was performing at those restaurants and realized I can make a living pretty quickly

as a teenager.

So I went on to study music business here in Nashville and MTSU.

They got a great recording industry management program and went back to the DMV and basically

ran like a business in the mid-Atlantic.

So I would perform sort of from Philly to like Richmond, never made it quite out to Pittsburgh

or anything.

It was just sort of that mid-Atlantic, you know, I-95 region.

And things were going well.

I put out some CDs and you know, I made a good living as a fresh out of college.

Just kid, you know what I mean?

It was good.

But eventually, you know, you get burnt out playing four hours a night, four or five, six

nights a week.

I mean, it takes a toll on you physically and emotionally and so forth.

So I kind of was looking for another way and even considering a change of course on my

life.

Because I always did well in school.

I knew if I applied myself to law school or finance or anything like that that I could,

you know, I could hang.

So I was seriously considering those things when I sort of made a barter with myself that

if I, you know, people bug me about American Idol and the voice for years and years and

years.

And I was like, why bet?

I'm going to finally take them up on this like dare to go out and try this.

And if I make it on the voice, then I'll keep doing music because obviously that's an

indicator that, you know, I should keep pursuing it.

And if I don't, then I'm going to law school like that.

I was, I was ready to go, bro.

About the actual patch.

Wow.

Wow.

I was so tired.

I was burned out.

You know, I mean, because I hustle hard, you know what I mean?

Just like, just like you, you know, I mean, for how long, how long were you hustling

like that in music before you got to that point?

Like this turning point that we're talking about, how long was that going on for?

Like 10 years.

Like really?

So that's what people miss.

There's the first part.

If they just think, yo, Austin got on the voice.

Austin got on the voice because he been grinding for 10 years.

It was just, it was just the time.

You know what I'm saying?

It's like, it's that whole thing of, I've been grinding all my life to be an overnight

success.

You know what I mean?

It's to the naked eye.

It seems like you had that moment.

But the moment was just you capitalizing on an opportunity that you've been preparing

for for a decade.

Right.

Right.

Yeah.

And it was tough.

You know, but it got to the point later in that decade where I was, I would even call

it like paid practice.

You know, my living, my job was just showing up to the bar playing for four hours straight.

I was like, man, this has got to pay off somehow some way because I'm going to be the most polished,

you know, seasoned musician at 25 that most of these people have ever seen in their lives.

And so I did.

I went to New York, you know, got on the bus from Baltimore, went to New York, stood out

in the freezing cold, bro, for like six, seven hours.

It was like 18 degrees in Manhattan.

So you know, that's like, that's real cold.

No doubt.

Luckily in line, I stood next to a dude who had like a real down girl, like a down woman.

I think it was his wife.

And she was literally in Manhattan, circling the block in a van.

So the every like 20 minutes, he would just run out, grab like a sip some coffee, have

a donut or whatever and warm up in the car.

And I just happened to be right next to him.

And by like the second time he looked at me, was like, you trying to go?

I was like, bro, thank you so much.

So we literally got out of like, it was like a, it was like a soup kitchen line in the

opposite place.

Yeah, outside there already testing to see how bad you really want.

How did you really want this?

You know, and I was sitting in there with his wife, you know, I mean, like you the sweetest

woman, I hope I find a woman like you one day, you know, body, that way.

But anyways, got in and did my audition.

And I was the only person selected out of my group.

And it was sort of like getting the golden ticket, you know, in a man like in Willy Wonka style,

just like you never think, especially because you're in line with like 10,000 people.

You never think that you're going to be the one that gets it even if you believe in yourself

and so forth, you know, in the back of your head, you're like, look, I'm going to

just go, but it's, you know, it is what it is.

You know, like I said, my bags are packed for law school.

So I was, you know, I was sort of like, all right, this is going to be it.

It's all good.

And it just kept going.

And next thing I know, I'm in LA.

My mom's getting flown out.

My four year old niece is getting flown out.

We're on national television.

I'm with, you know, Adam Levine from the voice usher Shakira Blake Shelton.

Of course, and then a hundred other really talented musicians who I'm still friends with

probably at least like four or five of them.

Now it's been, you know, I was 2014.

So it's been almost 10 years now and got lifelong friends from that experience.

But it was kind of like going to like X men, like the academy.

You just wanted to see what superpower this person had.

Yes.

What was their thing?

What made them so special and so forth?

What did you learn from those coaches, Adam Levine and some of those other coaches, anything

stand out?

Well, I would say like some of the vocal techniques and stuff you learn from the coaches along

the way will stick with you if you're paying attention.

Also you sort of see in the entertainment industry from the top of the mountain.

So to speak.

So you're not kind of know what the pro pro top level people, how they get treated, how

it all functions.

And based on who you are as a person, you're going to determine, do you really want to aspire

to that?

Is that something that you really want?

Or not?

It's sort of like a boot camp.

And honestly, one of the things that got me most in shape for what my life would develop

into after the fact was the flights, the constant flights back and forth.

And I know I see your Instagram on a daily, you're on a flight about every other day.

And I'm on a flight about every week or a couple flights a week at least now.

And so it kind of got me in like shape.

So to speak for what a successful career music actually feels like and looks at.

Other things people don't think about, you know, when it comes to the price, you know,

it's like, oh man, it must be nice to sing and entertain and you know, and all that

and do what you love.

And that's, that's the truth.

But there's still a grind in a process to everything.

There's people that are good, but they're not willing to pay the price to get on a plane,

you know, every week to make that dream a reality.

How did you handle the pressure, you know, of competing on, you know, one of the biggest

TV shows at that point that had to be pressure, you know, it's like, man, I'm about to go out

here and find everybody, not just the club or the bar or the restaurant or the wedding.

This is like everybody's watching.

Oh, well, man, honestly, I think I sort of took it as when I stayed in the gym in the hotel

and that helped a lot, just keeping, trying to keep a routine and keep level headed.

I tried to eat healthy and just put myself in the best state of mind and physical, you

know, spiritual sense to handle.

Exactly.

You know, there was also a lot of pretty girls that were there on the show.

So they keep the pressure off, you know, you distracted and having fun for them.

I would think that put the pressure on.

Man, I don't know about it.

It took the pressure off.

I like that.

I mean, you're in LA all of a sudden sitting by the pool, you know what I mean?

In the middle of the summer with a bunch of super talented, cool people.

I mean, it wasn't that bad.

The production days you realize that show business is hard work because when you weren't on

production, it was leisure.

You have to hotel your chilling.

But when you're with a production date, man, you're up at like six.

You got to go through like hair, makeup and wardrobe before you even get to a 13, 14 hour

day on set doing, you know, this, that and the other.

So I gained respect for what people in the show business really go through.

Yeah.

So anybody at the end, you know, there's another one that stands out.

You know, the people at the top, you know, where you want to go, you got to remember what

comes with that life, you know, that, yeah, I want to be a star.

But do I want the 12 hour day?

Do I want the 14 hour day?

Do I want to six and wake up?

I want to be the brawn, but I don't want to play on Christmas and be away from my family.

You know, and luckily because of the nature of that, you know, five to 10 years prior when

I had been gigging, I had sacrificed a lot of Friday and Saturday nights that, you know,

my friends were out having fun and I was at some bar making a living, you know, and there

were holidays where you couldn't say no, you know what I mean?

Because you needed to make sure that you were covering your expenses and your bills and

making that life work.

So I had gotten a thick skin to the sacrifices that came with it.

So I wasn't really too worried about it from that standpoint.

As far as the pressure really came, more so from your community, once they kind of got

winded what was going on, they want to know what's going on and you had to keep everything

a secret.

So that was a little tricky, but all in all, once you get up on stage, it's just about

the music.

And, you know, if you're a musician and artist, a performer, you know what it feels like

to lose yourself or give yourself over to the performance because really it's about

a connection between you, God and the audience, you know what I mean?

And so you want to stay out of the way of that as much as you can to make sure that that's

coming through.

And so once you're on stage, you know, it's music at that point or like you would say,

LeBron, once he's on the court, it's just playing ball.

Yeah.

Amen.

What about, you know, other than that moment, you know, even when I got to see you last

year in Pittsburgh, so funny too, he came in on a whim and we linked up.

We went to dinner, now for prime.

And it was me, Natalie, and I think Sienna, my daughter, in you, or was it just me, you

and Natalie?

Was it just me, you and Natalie?

No, I think it was Sienna and who's your roommate?

Yeah, my son.

Alright, so it was the whole family.

Alright, alright, so I got the whole family.

And then we had this room and then the table next to us was big table of people celebrating

their birthday.

Yeah.

And my wife was like, Austin, you should go sing Happy Birthday to them.

And it's like, there was no questions asked.

He jumped right up.

I couldn't believe it.

I'm thinking, yeah, he ain't going to do that right now.

He jumped right up, walked right over there and just blew it out, just tore it up.

The whole restaurant stopped.

Everybody was clapping for you.

It was great.

I'm like, yeah, that's not dog right there.

That's why he came in here with me.

Yeah, they love Jesus.

Like, yeah, you talk to him.

Give my number if you won't.

Then I became your agent after that.

I didn't imagine right there.

Talk about your experience when you performed at doing venues, private parties, corporate

events, weddings, festivals.

Give me a little bit of inside scoop about some of that stuff.

The good, the bad, the ugly, the funny.

Right, right.

Okay.

I play a range of things.

I go from weddings to corporate events to festivals to colleges to private events and

people's homes.

They all kind of have their little idiosyncrasies.

I would say weddings are a wonderful thing to be a part of because you're literally stepping

into a really special and important moment in someone's life.

Everybody that comes to a wedding for the most part, there might be a disgruntled somebody

like on or a grandparents.

There might be a little of the weird vibes from one little, but overall, the overwhelming

group is coming there with a good, positive heart, mind, spirit.

They want to have a good time and celebrate love.

people coming together. So to step in and what I do when I perform in ceremonies and then cocktail hours

and then I perform people's first dances where it's just me and the couple and like that connection

that I was talking about it's just us like locked in this little bubble of a moment that everyone

else is observing and that's a really special thing. You know, if people are dancing so you literally

like syncing up with these people's most special moments and then I DJ too. So then right when I'm done

like you know with the heartstrings it's like take the you know take the clothes off let's get

wild. I didn't know you could DJ too dog. Yeah. So that's a well-rounded experience. You know what I mean

and I'm on the receiving end or I'm sort of the channel the vehicle for all of those feelings from

the most tender moments to the most sort of ruckus and fun celebratory moments. So I mean I get

adopted into a lot of families as a result. You know what I mean where it's like you build a lifelong

connection sort of like the people from the voice because it's such an intense experience. Yeah.

They don't happen all the time special moment. Exactly. So some of those relationships still

last and I still check in and see those people when I'm in their cities and so forth. So

weddings is a really cool thing. Corporate events is kind of funny because it's always a little stiff

you know at first people come in worried about the boss. They're worried about their collie.

Let's go. You know sign me up. But you know so it's always like that first set is like trying to

like get them over their anxiety and then you know there's usually an open bar so by by the second set

people start to chill out and it's it's cool but it's not it's definitely not as intimate.

Going into people's homes is cool and intimate but it's also a little like and you feel a little

invasive you know what I mean it's a little bit like I'm over here by the fireplace you know jammin

but it's like you know there was a couch here before I got here it's so it's you know so it's

cool but it's just it's hit or miss I would say energetically based on how the people are yeah

then festivals is a lot of fun I just did a festival last weekend in North Carolina and that's cool

because it's family friendly usually you know I can crack jokes last weekend I brought like

nine girls up on stage with me to like do that background dance for like the last two or three songs

and we had a straight ball you know so it's an it's an environment where I can have more fun be

more loose joke interact more with the crowd that sort of thing so that's fun um and then colleges

is sort of the same way colleges have a little bit of a of a mentor twist to them you know I'm

able to like talk to some kids and and spit game to them teach them some things and try to encourage

them in this moment of development to really shoot for whatever it is that they feel like because

there's always going to be naysayers I mean I couldn't tell you how many times of those bars that

I played that people were like man can you really make a living doing this like you're going to starve

like you're going to struggle I don't know why you're doing this picking this life and so forth and

wow just throwing all kinds of shade your way spit that negativity constantly like meanwhile they're

like tipping you buying a CD signing up for your email list but they're still dropping their little

ounce of like doubt that they're trying to sow in you and so you have to develop a certain

determination and a thick skin and a focus and a self belief in order to overcome the pressure no

matter what it is that you pursue because there's you know you're always going to be stepping on

somebody's toes nobody likes change especially if you're going up yeah then if you start getting

above average man they're coming for you to talk some sauce knock you down you know trying to

try to humble me but I'm like man look you had to talk to my music I can't hear you you know

that mean so fortunately I was able right you know and one thing that I will say is that after the voice

you know they help you they give you a lot of exposure it's an incredible thing sort of on your

resume as a musician and it's impressive to you know the average person but they're not putting

money in your pocket necessarily after that you got to go out and get it and people probably think

you on the voice you just you get off the voice and you made it brother can I can you loan me five

dollars after right you got off the voice they said my dude made it can you loan me about a hundred

thousand right you still got to go out there and put work in nobody's giving you nothing right exactly

and like all you all of a sudden the Christmas gift of demands get a little bit bigger you're like man

sis Gucci what do you mean Gucci girl you better go to all Navy you know I mean but but you know so

there was a period after there and they kind of tell you about it when you're going into it that it's

almost like a hangover you know because again your community the people that you know and love they're

all building you up supporting you and pushing you and they expect you to just like take launch

and there's not necessarily a path for people coming off the show to do that now fortunately for

me shout out my boy Ryan Maloney if you're ever in Vegas at a casino you might catch him he's got

like an Elvis sort of vibe he's really talented dude does a lot of like rock ability stuff but he was

still on the show so literally I lost my battle to the guy that won the show and on the way back to

the lose that's who I want that's who I want to you know go down like I lost a Lebron in the finals

yes yes you know at least I was there um and and and to be real funny story is that right after that

Shakira was so mad that she didn't have any steals because she liked me so much that she stopped

production which they don't do and followed me off stage and like hung out with me and my mom and my

niece my mom from Mexico City and Shakira's obviously a world renowned Latina artist and I'm a young man

looking at Shakira like Jesus please take me you know what I'm saying hilarious and she was so

gracious and apologetic and was just hugging on me and loving me and I was like first of all you

gotta remember Shakira I was ready to go to law school you know what I mean and now I'm hugging Shakira

so you don't have to apologize for nothing like my life is blessed I'm feeling good but again

right after that my man Ryan on the way back to the hotel and he we probably had two or three

conversations we didn't know each other that well so this is just sort of an idea about the grace

that people can show you yes he literally said bro if you want I'll call my agent in Vegas

and you can go and work all my gigs play all the casinos in Vegas he's like my wife will pick you up

you can borrow my car my sound system you can say in my son's room in our apartment until you pass

like the the test so to speak from the agent and from the from the from the casinos and then you can

get yourself on your feet you know getting the apartment whatever so literally man he like yeah but why

though there has to be a reason other than he's a real nice guy you know what do you think would be

the reason what would stick out because if I'm doing that I'm a nice guy I could see myself doing

something like that but the person I would have to know is worth the investment that I'm down to

help this person and be a bridge but I saw this work ethic I saw this attitude I saw this situation

I saw something special about that person that would make me do something like that yeah I mean

you know of course I had to ask Ryan exactly what was going through his mind to determine that but you

know I imagine it would be something to do with my my demeanor my work ethic that I showed the fact

that most people including among the production which could have explained Shakira's action

assume that I would get stolen and and and therefore continue in the show so maybe there was a bit of

like man like he got kind of a bad deal and he should be on you know let me put help put him on

but honestly I don't know because I was just remembering thinking like man that's amazing and I'm

on it well I will not let you down and I didn't you know I went there and I went to Vegas I went to

Vegas so there you go so there's another point of you got it when opportunity knocks you got to

get your backs back sometimes you got to just that could be the move run it you got an opportunity

nah I ain't going to move I don't want to move I don't want to travel I don't want to fly I just

want to stay home it nah if the opportunity knocks you got to be ready to go go those are the big

things that happen that maybe you did that other people wouldn't have done or they sit and wait on

that opportunity and let it years go by and don't do anything about it because they don't want to

get uncomfortable a little bit you know what I mean yeah no and and I think again like going back

to that that you know the 10 you know overnight success 10 years in the making it's like when you put

in that kind of work and that kind of sacrifice and you get opportunities I think you're more

disposed to be like oh run that's I mean run that you know what I mean I'm going for sure because I

busted my tail for so long what did you do for so long what are those sacrifices that you speak of

man like I said bro if you're playing four or five gigs a week you know for four hours at a time

the average concert you go to right and you go see your favorite artists they might play a hour 45

minutes to an hour and a half set with a band which means that they're not doing everything the whole

time yeah so that's the average musician that people go and pay their hard or money to play and

I'm playing guitar and singing for four hours bro and five five times a week yeah so like for

people that are listening to this like for my I'm thinking in my business you know the average person

gives 10 presentations you was out there giving 40 presentations exactly the average person was

working 40 hours you was out there working 80 hundred hours bro you was putting in more effort bro

and it's tough it's hard on you physically mentally and emotionally and then again like I said

that's all of your hard on you all physically mentally emotionally giving up weekends giving up

evenings these are the things people miss I want to be a star right what was that song I want to be

a millionaire so so bad until until it's time to do this type of stuff right right until it's time

you got to you got to work evenings you got to work weekends you got to move you got to do this

you got to you got to outwork the competition you got to do more than what you're paid to do before

you end up getting paid more and and feel like you're worth more but you got to do more until that

time comes 100% right and now you know and and by the grace of God you know after the vagus then

eventually he came off the show of course because the seasons and he did really well he went into

like I think like the top five or top 10 and you know he came back and his agent invited me to stay

and sort of you know kind of find where I could fit with his existing schedule but like I said before

the voice I had a pretty strong business going on the East Coast and I knew that I could pick that

up and I was like no like I'm gonna let him have his world back so to speak thank you you know definitely

took me to another level and a great experience but I'm gonna go back and handle my business on the East

Coast and so I did and you know that was a humbling and a hard experience because all of a sudden

I'm right back in the same grind you know and I'm like looking at I'm looking around like

man I just went through this amazing transformative experience once in a lifetime opportunity and so

forth but now here I am and what do I go from here you know and that was that hurt bro like it was tough

and by the grace of God at a rehearsal or like a jam session at a friend's house his my man

wind ship in the Nathilus Maryland his wife was his like agent and I'm like so where you playing

these days what's going on he's like man we found this platform called gig salad and we're getting

requests every day on this gig salad thing you should check it out and I was like oh right bet and I did

bro it cost me I think three or four hundred dollars to market myself in my like say let's say

they're watching a DC area 50 mile radius for the year I started getting the requests I started

booking the shows and then I was like man this is working so good and you know how it is on the East

Coast you can basically drive from like Richmond to New York in like seven hours so you got rich

men DC Baltimore Philly Jersey and New York all within driving distance so I was like well let me

add Philly and let me add New York next thing I know I'm driving up and down 95 playing bigger money

shows in Philly in New York and in Richmond and DC who's driving myself they missed that one yeah brother

they missed that one I want there's another one that's what I'm saying and I wanted all but I don't

want to go up I don't want to get on the car I know Cassett don't want to get in the car and go

on hour you going up and down seven hours six hours this is the price you got a pal you said I

want to do that then then you don't have an opportunity these are the things that you got to do to

build yeah unbelievable and I did I would go three and a half hours up you know to New York drive

right in them and hadn't play a show bro you know the new the tallest building in New York City the

tower one where they where they replaced the from the twin towers that big building yeah I played the

I played the top of that John like I played there for a big fashion event you know and then and then

and then pop out of the city and drive three and a half hours straight back not even spend the night

grind yeah grind yeah I respect that grind I respect that grind I'm like man I'm gonna keep this

Airbnb money this parking money this you know I'm gonna keep the profits so that I can reinvest into

my business so not six months into it the CEO of gig salads assistant emails me and goes the CEO

would like to speak with you apparently you're the top earning person on this site in the country

and I'm like well dang all right let's talk I get on the phone and this is a day when I did have a

show in New York so I'm like driving up the way talking to the CEO of Gix out of whom which you know

through which I booked this show and he's like what are you doing and I'm like what do you mean what

am I doing I'm trying to use your platform to the best of my ability he's like what are you doing

right now I'm going to a show in New York he's like how much are they paying you for like one person

now you got to understand from when I was a kid a four-hour show in the DC area which is a higher

paying market than most in the country is about $250 for four hours so I was on my way up to New

York to do a show as a solo guitarist for $1,500 so whatever that's six times the yeah six times

what you was already getting and I was probably playing for two or three hours instead of four

you know and he's like bro I never thought in a hundred years that anybody would be doing

and what you're doing on this site.

And I was just like, well, bro, I don't know what to tell you,

but you invented some powerful technology.

And you know, thank you.

And he's like, bro, I want you to come to Chicago

and speak at the CDBATB conference

and be like our success story and tell these people

what's going on.

I said, bro, absolutely.

As long as you cover the expenses, you know, I'm there

because I got to take off a weekend off of my schedule.

So like, we got to keep it cordial.

And he was absolutely no problem.

Flume me out.

And here I am in Chicago, stayed in a haunted room, by the way.

I'll have to tell you that story another time.

That was well.

But I get there and I speak to these people.

And all of a sudden, there's probably 400 people

in this room that I'm speaking in.

And you can hear and feel and sort of the energy in the room

is bubbling as I'm speaking, these people's dream, you know?

I'm speaking to the people who are coming from the same struggle

that I lived for the last 10 years about a path

that they've never heard of before that is actually working

for someone that can change their life.

And the PR people and of the conference

come up to me after I speak.

And you're like, bro, you realize that the social media engagement

while you were speaking was higher than the entire weekend.

There was the highest moment of the whole weekend

was when you were speaking because it was connected.

And I was like, man, I bet it was because it changed my life.

When I thought that I was like, I don't know what to do now,

you know, I was confused before I found this path.

And so I'm talking to the CEO afterwards.

And I say, listen, man, rather than paying $300 or $400

per market per city, this is Mark Snyder, by the way,

God bless that man, you're my man, Mark, wherever you are.

Love you, bro.

And I said, instead of paying $300 or $400 for the year

per market, if I could pay a monthly rate, you know,

break that down, pro rate that, and then that would allow me

to say be in 10 markets for $200 or $300 a month

rather than paying three or four grand out of pocket up front

to like get this thing going.

Like let me see how far I can take it.

And he was like, no problem.

Matter of fact, I'll give you a better deal

than what you're asking for.

He actually gave me a better rate than what I had requested

because he's a good dude.

And he comes, he's an agent.

So he came from a background where he was tired of seeing people

get abused and overworked and underappreciated.

So he sort of already had the spirit where I was coming from.

And so he put me on.

And I went from the three markets to like five

and then I went to 10 and then I went to 15 and then I went to 20.

And then I called my booking agents for all those $200 gig,

$250 gig.

And I was like, after at the end of this year,

I will no longer be performing in bars and restaurants.

Like thank you for helping me through the last 10 years

of my life.

I love you.

But I don't want to do that anymore.

And you can just consider me done.

And it was sort of a leap of faith

because I had only been doing the gigs I think for like six months.

And it was like all based on my projections

and the way things were going that I could see

that I wouldn't need to do it anymore.

But I didn't have like a years under my belt

where I could say for sure I was going to replace my income.

So it was a leap of faith.

And I think that's an important thing too,

is that there are times.

And I think I saw something that you post recently about risk.

You know the reward, you know the success.

You got to go through risk.

You got to be willing to take certain steps

that are even harder than the risk.

Risk is the price you pay for opportunity.

Risk is the price you've exactly.

And so there are moments in your life,

aside from the day-to-day sacrifices

and the grind that you should expect to put out

in order to get what you want in life.

But there are certain points in your life

when you have to be willing to take up risk

in order to elevate, to go to the next level.

And so that was my sort of like active faith.

Like I'm not doing this no more.

And I believe in myself.

And I believe in this business that I'm developing.

And I'm gonna go for it.

And that next year was the first year

I ever made six figures.

Wow.

I was going to leave.

Just let's go.

When was that?

That was in 2016.

Nice.

Yeah.

Nice.

And then so from there, I've taken it to,

well now I'm in 40 to 50 markets in the US and Canada.

And I'm, you know, year over year over year,

steadily increasing as far as the six figure thing,

moving up the ladder of economic.

Then you just increase what you charge.

Right.

So exactly.

It was just a simple or demand.

More demand, higher leverage, higher price.

There's only so much time you got.

Exactly.

And, you know, so we're leveraging this thing

on a, you know, US and Canada,

so international level.

That's how I ended up going to Cabo.

Was because somebody from New York

was having a retreat in Cabo,

similar to what you were doing there.

And they had found me by googling and finding gigs out,

finding my platform, talking to me and saying,

and I said, yeah, bro, you could, I'll come out to Cabo.

Sure.

Matter of fact, let me put my boy on from the voice.

So my boy Nelson from Baltimore came out in Elis Echo.

And they found another person from the voice.

And the three of us went and did a show in Cabo.

Sweet.

So, you know, you go from sort of the perpetual grind

in these bars and restaurants to the voice,

which is incredible, you know,

it's about as big as it gets, so to speak.

And then right back into those same, that same grind.

And then, you know, there's a line in a Jay-Z song

that I really love.

He said, and renegade with him and Eminem.

He said, I drove by the fork in the road and went straight.

And that's really what I did at the end of the day.

Was I saw an opportunity that even the founder of the company

didn't realize was possible.

And I went for it, you know, and now I own a home

in Nashville, Tennessee on the lake.

And I do healthy six figures every year.

Just get started, too, you young.

Bro, I'm sitting in a really night.

Like this studio that I'm sitting in right now

is no joke on a professional level and, you know, I'm blessed, bro.

And once things got bigger with me,

after like maybe the first or second year,

I spoke again for Giggs out in Nashville and I spoke to Mark.

And I said, look, I think we should make this available

to all working class musicians in the country and in Canada.

I said, you know, let me develop a course to teach these people.

And so I did.

I developed a course to help up and coming musicians.

And I put on maybe like 10 or 20 musicians at this point.

Oh, that's nice.

That's dope, bro.

Awesome. Bro, it's life changing for them.

Help another people. That's beautiful.

Yeah, you know, let me ask you this.

Is there, is there, you know, being in Nashville,

it's kind of like music capital, you know,

to mean Nashville's music central?

Is there, is there a competitive aspect

to living in performing there at all or not

because of the, there's so much stuff going on around the country?

I say one thing, musicians are,

there's a spectrum that musicians like exist on, you know.

And some people are really ego-driven.

And some people are like a little autistic.

And I'm probably a little autistic, you know,

so that's like there's communication challenges.

But sometimes it's hard to help people, you know what I mean?

That's what I've noticed.

People are resistant because basically you're coming

to them telling them that you know something

that they don't know that you're almost like you're smarter than them.

Yeah, it's just a lack of humility.

And you can't go, you can't become great.

You can't leave where you are and go to the next level

if you can't have some humility about you enough

to learn from others and be willing to take advice

to increase your opportunity.

Right.

And so I, that's the thing.

But it is hard to help people.

It's simple.

It's simple.

You could tell them exactly what to do.

Yeah, you can try to put them directly on-game.

There's something that would literally turn their whole world

up where they're trying to, in their mind,

where they're trying to go, but they will resist and resist

and fight you off basically.

And so it's been a challenge to sort of say,

I wouldn't say competitive, more like competitive.

You know what I'm saying?

More like, don't want to listen to nobody.

And like the saying goes, right?

It's like you can lead them to water, but you can't make them drink.

Right.

Amen.

It is what it is.

Let me ask you this.

Is, is, go ahead.

Where are you going to say you have something you want to say?

Well, I was going to say that now what we've resorted to do

is for us to integrate my business model into Gigs Out itself

to where it's actually an offering from Gigs Out

and not from like an outside expert.

I'll still be the expert so to speak with them

and create the content for Gigs Out,

but it'll be directly under their umbrella and name.

So that way it's not threatening to, you know,

it's not like I'm this big bad musician

and I'm trying to tell you how to do it.

It's like, look, this platform that is giving you your gigs already

is trying to tell you there's a better way to do it.

You know what I mean?

And we're trying to, with the whole goal with Gigs Out

was to put people on.

And for me, because, you know, now, you know, I'm married now

and I got a baby girl on the way and I'm comfortable with that.

I'll tell you what, if I had gotten a girl pregnant

or was thinking about getting married

when I was playing bars and restaurants,

you would see a panic face, you know what I mean?

But because of my situation, I'm cool.

I'm like, I can handle this.

You know, I picked a great partner

and she's a strong, beautiful woman.

I know she works harder than anybody I know.

Wow.

Can't wait to meet her.

I haven't met her, have I?

No, you haven't, bro.

Amazing.

Let's go.

Can't wait.

Congratulations, brother.

Thank you, bro.

Thank you.

A lot of sad women out there, man.

A lot of heart, a lot of heart broken, my brother.

I know there was the chicks love you, my dude.

You could sing them too with all that swag.

Oh, man.

Good for you, not congrats, man.

I'm sure she's an amazing woman, man.

That's a great piece of it, too.

Well, as we wrap up, man, I want to ask you one more question

and before I do, just so I don't forget,

because I know a lot of our listeners

are going to want to follow you, man.

You're entertaining, for sure.

So I would somebody be able to follow you

or contact you for a show or something like that.

Right.

On Instagram and TikTok and so forth,

my handle is BY Austin Ellis.

So at BY Austin Ellis.

So you can find me online that way.

If you Google Austin Ellis, if you're interested in me performing

for your event or your wedding or anything like that,

it's really easy to get in touch with me.

In fact, my wife will be the one to help you through the process.

Because now she's my assistant and booking agent.

So she's in the business now.

And we'll be happy to come out and entertain and connect with you.

And then we'll be putting out some new music here

towards the end of this year.

So I love it.

I like it.

That's what's up.

Anybody that calls through to grind cast, too,

I want 99% back this way if anybody gives them a call.

Yeah.

I'm talking about that.

I'm teasing.

I don't want nothing.

Come on.

I got to bring you over here.

I got to bring you over here.

I got to find an excuse to get you over here.

I'm going to work with you.

I want to come to one of your things.

I can't wait.

I can't wait.

You already got this.

We saw you at our executive council.

We got to hang out with you in Nashville this past year.

I got to see my dog had some fun with you cracking me up.

Everybody loved you.

Mr. So.

Remember when we had the tip jar and I went around the whole

game.

You're a savage, bro.

You don't care.

You're crazy between you and harm.

You guys don't care.

Legit.

Don't care.

We'll do any of your nights.

What is the best piece of advice that you can give as we wrap it up to musicians or entrepreneurs,

people just trying to make a name for themselves and get it going?

What's your best piece of advice or encouragement?

Well, one I would say is to insulate yourself from outside influence and criticism or doubt.

I think that comes through belief and prayer and meditation and a good support system.

When people tell you that you can't, you've got to be able to still be friendly with them

because at the end of the day, you want them to listen to your music or get into your

business or maybe refer you to someone.

But you got to find a way to politely disagree with them and not take it to heart.

If you were to stop at every person that told you to stop or that doubted that you could

do it, you wouldn't do anything in your life.

That's an important factor.

Coming back to that line and that song about driving by, going through the fork and the

road and going straight, is that there is unlimited opportunity and possibility in this

world and you can create a path that no one else has created.

Just because someone else hasn't done it or figured it out yet doesn't mean that you

can't be the one to actually make something happen and make your dream and create a new reality

and a new dream that then people can follow in your footsteps.

So don't be afraid to be different and to pioneer new ideas and new things.

You're going to end up helping people in the long run.

I think those will be my two pieces of advice.

Love it.

Do you think it's possible to go and I don't want to lead you into it because I want you

to just be real and give me your honest of God opinion?

Do you think it's possible to go to new levels and higher levels without some level of

sacrifice giving up of something?

I can't imagine how.

I can't imagine how because even now, I'm blessed but I go and I fly to the most beautiful

places in this country, playing and performing for some of the nicest people and get treated

like a king.

I still got to get up at three, four o'clock in the morning sometimes to catch a nonstop

flight to San Francisco that day.

Get a car, maybe take a nap at the Airbnb for an hour, go play a three or four hours, whatever

it is that my obligation is.

And then the next morning at three or four o'clock in the morning, get up and fly either

back to Nashville or to another city to go do the same thing.

That's tough for you.

That's a grind.

That's tough, too.

That's tough.

It's just that now the stakes are higher

and the benefits far outweigh the cost.

So even when you're successful,

and I know you can attest to this

because you probably wanted the hardest work

in men in showbiz like they say,

even when you're successful,

the grind doesn't stop.

It's a mentality, it's a lifestyle, it's a commitment.

But as a result, I mean, look at the world blossom around.

You broke, you got a beautiful family,

beautiful network and business and home

and people who love and believe in you

and support you and who you mentor and support.

But you probably the hardest working guy

in the room most of the time.

And I'm here in Nashville in my lane

and music working to create something similar.

And I know every day when I get up,

even if I want to take it half a day off

or something because I'm exhausted physically

from a tour or something like that,

I gotta get up and go.

And the only way I'm gonna have an impact and help people

and even on an emotional level with the power of music

is if I stay consistent and work hard.

So, yeah, you don't stop.

Fire, fire, love it bro, all awesome stuff.

I know that you've,

and congratulations on everything, man.

I remember you first telling me

when you first started really falling in love with this girl.

I remember I was talking about it and you telling me,

you know, you're gonna be happy.

I got some idea to help me

because I was always telling you,

you gotta delegate some stuff brother.

We gotta hire some people over here.

So I remember that man.

It's cool to see all of that play out man

and proud of you man.

And you just get started.

You're young and hustling and grinding

and now life is even about to get better for you.

You're a reason why your motivation factor brother

is getting ready to go to a whole, a whole other level.

I feel it coming.

It's going to, it's already there.

And now you're the type of person.

Some people take that and it makes them slow down

because they're just hitting the face by love, you know,

so much and other people take that

and it makes them like go to like speed up,

go to another level.

That's my responsible for me.

I gotta take, I gotta bring it, you know what I'm saying?

And I could tell you're that type of person.

So you're gonna just go to another level man.

So congrats on everything.

I'm proud of you.

Appreciate you.

I appreciate you.

Thanks for hopping on an episode

of the Grandcast, what is my brother Austin?

We'll talk to you soon.

All right guys, let's get it.

Let's get it.