April 15th 2024.
Apr. 14, 2021 marked the original publication date of the game-changing movement known as Earn Your Leisure. This movement is dedicated to educating urban communities on finance, business, and entrepreneurship. In recent years, financial literacy has become a hot topic on social media, but this topic was previously reserved for MBA graduates, Ivy Leaguers, and the white middle class. Unfortunately, many Black parents were not equipped to teach their children about important financial concepts such as stock options, real estate investments, debt management, and the significance of ownership or life insurance. This was simply because they did not have access to that information themselves.
Even today, many working-class communities of color still do not have access to the economic resources shared by prestigious business institutions and outlets. However, Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings are changing this narrative through their popular financial podcast, Earn Your Leisure. What started as a simple podcast has now evolved into a multifaceted platform that is revolutionizing the face of wealth.
The Genesis
Before launching Earn Your Leisure in 2019, Bilal and Millings were already teaching financial literacy to public school students in the Bronx, New York. Millings, who was working as an elementary school physical education educator, incorporated financial literacy into his lesson plans during summer school classes. He even invited Bilal, a financial advisor, to speak to the students about money. Eventually, the two friends developed a complete curriculum on finance for the students.
Meanwhile, Bilal also started building a strong social media presence by sharing financial information. He wanted to expand his reach by starting a podcast and naturally, he asked Millings to co-host. Thus, Earn Your Leisure was born. The podcast delves into the money moves behind sports, entertainment, and business, as well as the latest economic trends. On the show, Bilal and Millings dig into the backstories of celebrity entrepreneurs and renowned business owners like billionaire Mark Cuban, NBA legend and business titan Shaquille O’Neal, and social entrepreneur John Henry.
In an interview with BLACK ENTERPRISE, Bilal shared, “There were a lot of business podcasts or business platforms [that gave] a lot of fluff, a lot of motivational stuff. I don’t really want to hear that. I want to know exactly what’s going on, and how did you do it?” In the first few episodes of Earn Your Leisure, Bilal and Millings took “deep dives into case studies. That was the original premise of Earn Your Leisure. It was like pop culture mixed with Harvard Business School.” He added, “we were “taking case studies of like Airbnb and breaking them down.”
Empowering The Culture
Their unique approach worked wonders. Just seven months after its launch, EYL had already amassed more than 6,500 subscribers and an average of 20,000 plays per episode by July 2019. Today, the show boasts over 5 million downloads, 422,000 YouTube subscribers, and 702,000 Instagram followers. The hosts attribute their success to consistently providing authentic, relatable, and economically empowering content to disenfranchised urban markets.
“We created our own niche in the financial literacy space. We took a different approach to it,” said Bilal. “For years, you had to wear a suit and tie in order to really be taken seriously and speak about business. And you had to shave your face, [but] we come in with beards, hoodies, and sneakers and hip-hop lyrics.” He asserts, “the best marketing tool was us just being ourselves.”
Millings believes that the key to scaling their audience was intentionally targeting underserved communities that historically lacked access to financial tools and resources. “We added value to a community that needed it,” he says. “We mixed our barbershop conversations with Wall Street, and it just took off.”
In addition to the podcast, Bilal and Millings also launched Earn Your Leisure University, an online education platform that offers courses in 35 different industries. They have also established the EYL podcast network, which produces and distributes shows like Inside The Vault with Ash Cash and Market Mondays with investor Ian Dunlap. Furthermore, the duo recently secured a deal with iHeartMedia and Charlamagne Tha God’s groundbreaking The Black Effect Podcast Network.
Putting Plays Into Practice
Bilal and Millings are not just empowering a new generation with their wealth of knowledge and exclusive interviews; they are also applying these lessons to their own lives. For example, Millings shares that his perspective on saving money shifted after an interview with Ian Dunlap, a stock trader and YouTuber. “When we sat down with Ian, I remember him telling us, ‘Listen, we used to tell you that you needed six to eight months savings to be secure.’ And I remember, he was like, ‘nah, my new theory is we need 60 months.’ And it took me off guard,” Millings recalled. “I said, ‘60 months? That’s almost five years of savings!’” Dunlap, however, explained that having a larger savings fund is crucial for building generational wealth.
Millings also shared how their interview with Wallstreet Trapper, another stock trader and YouTuber, motivated him to open a custodial account for his son. “That’s something I didn’t have for my son. I already knew about it, but just him talking about how much money he had for his daughter really encouraged me to really go forward and put money into my son’s account,” he said. Bilal also revealed how he taps into the knowledge of their podcast guests, saying, “I utilize everybody that we have brought on the platform that actually has anything to do with stocks. I pick their brain, I ask them different questions, and I learn from them as much as I possibly can offline.”
The Future of The Movement
From expanding their online university to launching a private equity firm, the sky’s the limit for the EYL brand, and the hosts have big aspirations. “We want to grow in the online education space and be the biggest online university, rivaling a Phoenix University,” says Bilal. “We currently have over 9,000 members in EYL University, and we want to increase that number to 50,000 or even 100,000 members.” He also revealed that they hope to own a fleet of trucks, 100 real estate properties, and establish a financial literacy curriculum for multiple schools.
Millings added, “We feel like there’s nothing that we can’t do. We’re just ambitious enough to believe that we can do anything. So, you might see us in some films, you might see us in some short TV slots. It’s really limitless.” Ultimately, their goal is to bring EYL back to its roots in education. “One of my passions is to get back to that and sprinkle these seeds throughout communities that need us.”
In addition to their successful podcast and online university, Earn Your Leisure has now added Invest Fest to its portfolio. Invest Fest is a three-day conference in Atlanta that provides growth and networking opportunities to entrepreneurs. To learn more about Invest Fest, visit their website.
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