Young Entrepreneurs: Stop Waiting and Take Action

Dylan Haugen Dylan Haugen on January 17, 2026

If you’re a young entrepreneur trying to build a personal brand, you’re not “behind.” Most of the time, you’re simply stuck at the starting line.

This YouTube video was filmed in Las Vegas with the High Rise Influence team, and they walk through a real coaching moment with a young entrepreneur named George Paladichuk who is the founder of NaiL, An A.I. company for home services, and they explain why the reason most young adults don’t move forward has less to do with a lack of resources and more to do with hesitation and over-prep.

Video Context: What Happened With George

George joined the AI Apprenticeship Program by paying for it himself (not a scholarship, not a parent, not a free trial). That’s relevant because it signals commitment—and it usually means the person is willing to follow through when they get direction.

A week earlier, George told the team he wanted to start creating content, but he felt like he needed a full setup first:

  • a whiteboard
  • a camera
  • “the right equipment”
  • a perfect place to record

Instead of letting him stall, the team told him something simple:

The team’s message is direct:

“You just got to get started.”

When they checked back in, the results were immediate.

The Biggest Problem: Self-Limiting Beliefs (Not Skill)

This is a pattern you see over and over with young entrepreneurs: progress comes from publishing consistently and building a repeatable routine—not waiting for perfect conditions.

The entrepreneurs who move fastest don’t “prepare” for months. They start posting, get feedback, and improve in public.

This mirrors MAA (Metrics, Analysis, Action), because once he started posting, he finally had real data to work with. He could look at what was performing, what wasn’t, and then make adjustments and take action to improve. But if he never posted in the first place, he wouldn’t have any metrics to analyze—and nothing to improve on.

The team calls out the most common pattern they see in young entrepreneurs:

  • they overthink
  • they wait until they feel “ready”
  • they assume they’re too young to be taken seriously

That turns into self-limiting beliefs like:

  • “I’m too young for this.”
  • “They know more than me.”
  • “People will look down on me.”
  • “I need to have everything figured out first.”

The problem isn’t the belief itself—it’s what it does.

It delays execution.

George Posted 5 YouTube Videos

George stopped planning and started publishing.

By the time the team talked to him again, he had already posted five YouTube videos.

That’s the shift most people never make.

Most people stall on video #1.

George posted five and kept moving.

The Team Promoted His Videos (Same Day)

George didn’t just post and hope.

The team helped him promote the videos the same day.

That matters because content alone isn’t enough—you also need distribution. If something is working, put a little extra push behind it so it reaches the right people faster.

The best way to do this is using the Dollar a Day system which is a proven amplification strategy used to turn existing credibility, content, and customer trust into consistent visibility, leads, and sales without gambling on large ad budgets or guessing what works.

The team didn’t just tell George “good job.” They helped him push the content in the right direction and get distribution.

Promotion is the final stage of the Content Factory and it’s what turns content into:

  • Reach
  • Conversations
  • Opportunities

George Booked 8 Podcasts With Big Names

George took the next step that actually creates opportunities: conversations.

The most important part of the story wasn’t the five videos.

It was what happened next.

George booked eight podcast interviews with major players in his industry—people the team described as “titans.”

Not acquaintances.

Not friends.

People he didn’t already have access to.

100% Conversion Rate on Cold Outreach

George reached out to eight high-level people.

All eight said yes.

That’s a 100% conversion rate from cold outreach.

Jack Wendt pointed out how rare that is:

“Since when have you heard of a cold email campaign that had a 100% conversion rate?”

Most entrepreneurs assume cold outreach doesn’t work.

It works when:

  • the ask is clear
  • the message is honest
  • the person reaching out shows initiative

Why Being Young Can Actually Help You

A lot of young entrepreneurs treat youth as a disadvantage:

  • “They won’t respect me.”
  • “I don’t have credibility yet.”

The team argues that youth is a double-edged sword.

It can feel like a disadvantage at the beginning.

But when you reach out to established people who are already successful, many of them are open to helping because:

  • they remember what it was like starting out
  • they recognize effort
  • they respect initiative

In other words, youth can work in your favor when your execution backs it up.

The Actual Lesson: Execution Creates Credibility

George didn’t need a long track record to get responses—he needed visible work and a clear request.

In this case, the proof was simple:

  • five YouTube videos already published
  • outreach that led to eight podcast bookings

That sequence makes it easier for other people to take him seriously because they can see what he’s doing and where he’s headed.

What to Copy If You’re Starting From Zero

  • Let results build your confidence
  • Publish before you “upgrade”
  • Aim for volume early
  • Use content as proof, not performance
  • Reach out to people above you
  • Don’t assume “no” before you send the message

Final Takeaway

A lot of young entrepreneurs don’t fail because they lack talent.

They fail because they lack commitment.

George had commitment because he paid for the program himself—and then proved it by posting the videos and doing the outreach.

And because he was inside High Rise Academy, he also had direct coaching and feedback as he started putting content out.

This helped him post and promote the videos, sent the outreach, and book conversations.

That’s the difference between staying stuck and building real momentum.

The AI Content Process Every Business Should Be Using

Grant Haugen Grant Haugen on January 11, 2026

A Practical Breakdown of the Content Factory System Taught at DigiMarCon

Most businesses aren’t short on things they could turn into content. What slows them down is what happens between recording something useful and actually publishing it. That gap is exactly what an AI content process is designed to eliminate.

At DigiMarCon, Jack Wendt and Dylan Haugen walked through the same AI-driven content workflow they’ve taught in professional and academic settings, including a recent session at Johns Hopkins University. The focus wasn’t on tools for their own sake, but on removing friction between recording something useful and getting it published consistently.

What follows is a practical explanation of that process, why it matters, and where most teams get stuck.

As Dylan Haugen put it during the session:

“If you can film the content, the rest of the way has become so easy with AI and these tools.”

Where Content Breaks Down in Real Businesses

Where Content Breaks Down in Real Businesses

In most organizations, content creation breaks down before it even begins.

  • A meeting, call, or presentation happens
  • No one records it—or the recording is never touched
  • Editing, posting, and promotion are delayed or skipped entirely

The issue isn’t a lack of ideas or content. Businesses already explain valuable things every day. The real problem is two-fold:

  1. They don’t record what’s already happening
  2. Even when they do, the follow-through stalls

Every additional dependency—editors, approvals, posting schedules—adds friction. Over time, teams stop recording altogether because the hand-off feels too heavy. The cycle resets, and great explanations are lost.

The Content Factory: A Four‑Stage Workflow

The Content Factory approach treats content as a repeatable process instead of a one‑off task. Each stage exists to reduce friction, not add complexity.

1. Produce

The first stage is simply capturing what already exists.

Sales calls, Zoom meetings, internal trainings, and live presentations all contain explanations your audience already asks for. Recording them turns routine work into raw material.

No scripting is required at this stage. The goal is accuracy and usefulness, not polish.

2. Process

This is where modern AI tools make the largest difference.

During the presentation, Dylan demonstrated how a single recording can be:

  • Cleaned up for clarity
  • Transcribed automatically
  • Split into long‑form and short‑form pieces

What used to take multiple roles and several days can now be done quickly by one person who understands the workflow.

The important shift here is speed. When processing is fast, content doesn’t pile up.

3. Publish

Processed content is then formatted for where people actually consume it:

  • Articles for a website
  • Long‑form video
  • Short clips for social platforms
  • Internal documentation or training

Publishing works best when it follows a checklist rather than a creative decision each time. Consistency matters more than novelty.

4. Promote

Many teams stop once something is published, but distribution determines whether the content is seen at all.

Promotion at this stage is not about aggressive marketing. It’s about making sure useful material is available in the places your audience already looks—search, social feeds, and internal knowledge bases.

AI‑assisted workflows reduce the effort required to do this repeatedly.

Why This Workflow Changes Output Without Lowering Quality

One example discussed during the video was used to illustrate where content workflows usually break down.

The example walked through what happens when each stage of content production is owned by a different person. Recordings sit in queues, tasks wait for handoffs, and small delays compound into long gaps between creation and publication.

The contrast was simple: when a single person understands and runs the full process—from recording through publishing and promotion—output and speed increase noticeably. Not because the work is rushed, but because the buffer zones between roles disappear.

This is also why learning the entire workflow matters. With current AI tools handling much of the mechanical work, it has become far easier for one trained operator to manage all stages without sacrificing quality.

Training People to Run the System

A recurring theme in the talk was that tools alone are not sufficient. Someone still needs to understand:

  • What content is worth capturing
  • How to preserve intent and tone
  • Where each piece fits in a broader topic structure

This is the focus of High Rise Academy’s training model, which emphasizes process ownership rather than isolated tasks. The same workflow is often paired with structured personal‑brand or company websites—such as those built through partners like Local Service Spotlight—so search engines can clearly associate content with real expertise.

A Practical Starting Point

The simplest takeaway from the session was straightforward:

If something required explanation once, it will likely need to be explained again.

Recording it the first time reduces future repetition. With a clear process for handling the rest, content becomes a byproduct of normal operations rather than an additional burden.

That shift—not any single tool—is what makes the system sustainable.

What This Means for Local Service Businesses

For local service businesses in particular, this workflow solves a common visibility problem: expertise exists, but it is scattered across conversations, estimates, and internal meetings.

When recordings are consistently turned into published content and tied back to a clear online identity, search engines can better understand who the business owner is, what they specialize in, and why they are credible.

Next Steps

For most businesses, the limiting factor isn’t effort—it’s ownership.

Recording content is easy. Deciding who is responsible for turning that recording into published, promoted assets is where momentum breaks down.

One effective approach is to assign a single person inside the business to own the entire content workflow end to end:

  • Capturing recordings consistently
  • Processing them into usable formats
  • Publishing them across the right channels
  • Ensuring distribution actually happens

This is the role High Rise Academy is designed to train for.

Rather than spreading content responsibilities across multiple vendors or internal roles, businesses send a dedicated team member—often a young adult—to learn how to run the full Content Factory system using modern AI tools while maintaining brand voice and quality standards.

When paired with the right infrastructure, such as an authority-focused site built through Local Service Spotlight, this model centralizes digital marketing under one accountable operator and allows content to compound over time instead of stalling out between handoffs.

For businesses looking to improve consistency, clarity, and output without expanding headcount, training someone internally to own this system is often the most durable next step.

This Isn’t Magic: The Explainable Process Behind High Rise Academy

Grant Haugen Grant Haugen on December 29, 2025

High Rise Academy’s message is straightforward: careers, skills, and opportunities aren’t mysterious or reserved for a select few. What looks impressive from the outside is usually the result of an explainable process.

The video opens with a simple visual trick and a quick, funny competition. The High Rise Academy founders pull long ribbons of color out of their mouths, making it look like the ribbons are appearing from nowhere. It feels surprising at first, but the point lands quickly—there’s a method behind it. That same idea carries through everything that follows.

Careers aren’t magic — they’re built

Early in the video, one of the speakers makes the foundation clear: life is full of surprises, but building a career isn’t magic. It’s presented as something practical and learnable, not reserved for a select group of people. The point is emphasized plainly: the people speaking aren’t theorizing about careers — they’re building them in real time and learning alongside others who are doing the same.

The program is framed as an opportunity for young entrepreneurs to launch a career and learn skills they’re unlikely to pick up in school or through everyday life alone. The emphasis is on exposure, practice, and building momentum through action.

Learning compounds when you’re doing real work

Luke Crowson expands on this by talking about how learning actually works in practice, including the line: “the more you learn, the more you learn that there’s more to learn.” People often join programs expecting one specific outcome. What they discover instead is that knowledge compounds.

You learn something new, then realize there’s more depth than you expected. That curiosity leads to more learning, which leads to improvement. The excitement comes from realizing you can keep getting better.

This distinction matters because it changes how people approach learning. The value isn’t just in what you learn first — it’s in becoming someone who learns faster over time.

Adaptability is what keeps you moving forward

When Dennis Yu spoke, he leaned into adaptability. As he pulls more ribbons out—colors changing as they come—he uses that visual to describe unpredictability: “sometimes it’s red or yellow or blue or whatever it might be, you just gotta adapt”. Sometimes things come out one way, sometimes another. The details change, but the requirement stays the same: you adapt.

The message is simple and practical. You don’t need certainty about what’s coming next. You need to be willing to learn, adjust, and keep going. That willingness is what prevents people from stalling when conditions shift.

“This isn’t magic” means there’s a technique

When Jack Wendt brings the metaphor back to the ribbon trick, the point becomes practical. If something feels too good to be true, it usually means you’re missing the method behind it.

High Rise Academy is built around the idea that techniques can be taught and systems can be followed. Rather than improvising, apprentices learn structured processes that have already been proven in real-world marketing.

One example is the Content Factory approach: creating consistent, repeatable content from real work instead of chasing one-off posts or trends. Another is Metrics–Analysis–Action (MAA), a discipline that forces teams to look at what actually happened, analyze why it happened, and decide the next action based on data—not opinions.

Apprentices are also introduced to documented workflows for local service marketing, where the focus is steady execution over time instead of sporadic campaigns. These processes turn effort into momentum.

Execution is the dividing line. To someone watching from the outside, the results may seem unrealistic. To someone who understands and follows the steps, they become achievable.

The part people don’t see is where the value is created

Dylan Haugen addresses the gap between perception and reality. Viewers may have seen the team doing “cool stuff” — traveling, working from interesting places, sharing highlights online.

What matters more, he explains, is what happens behind the scenes. The systems that Dennis Yu has built over more than 30 years. The daily work of implementing those systems. The constant learning and the responsibility of providing real value.

That back-end work is where the team finds the most meaning, because it’s where growth actually happens.

What ties all of this together

Each speaker reinforces the same core idea from a different angle:

  • Careers aren’t built through magic — they’re built through action.
  • Learning keeps giving when you apply it.
  • Adaptability matters more than certainty.
  • Systems turn effort into results.

The ribbon trick at the beginning isn’t there to impress. It’s there to make one thing clear: once you understand the method, what felt impossible becomes practical.

Where this leads

The point of the ribbon trick is the same point of the program: results look mysterious until you understand the method. Once you see the technique, the outcome stops feeling random.

High Rise Academy is built around that mindset—learn a repeatable process, practice it through real execution, and keep improving as conditions change.

For a young adult, that means building confidence and practical skill by doing the work, not just studying it.

For a local service business, that means developing a capable operator—often someone already close to the business—who learns the systems and applies them through digital marketing to improve lead flow and bring in more calls over time.

High Rise Academy is a place to learn, apply, and grow alongside real people who are implementing the process every day.

Inside High Rise Academy: What You Can See in the Students

Dylan Haugen Dylan Haugen on December 4, 2025

High Rise Academy exists because there’s a lot of noise in the AI and marketing space, and it’s hard to tell what training actually holds up in the real world. In this High Rise Influence YouTube video, Dennis Yu gave a simple filter for sorting that out. As he put it, “Don’t judge a program by the person selling it. Judge it by the students it produces.”

After Dennis lays out that idea, the video shifts to student builders and lets you hear directly from us about what we’re working on and how we’re applying the training with local service businesses.

The Principle Dennis Shared

Dennis’ point is blunt: it’s easy to make a program look good on the surface. The harder test is what students can actually produce once they’re inside it — their work, their thinking, and how that work holds up when applied to real clients.

That’s why the video centers on the people inside the program. You get to see how students talk about their work, what they’re building, and the kinds of problems they’ve learned to solve for clients.

What High Rise Academy Trains

High Rise Academy is an apprenticeship for young adults who want to build a concrete skill set in AI‑assisted marketing. The training is tied to local service businesses because the work is practical and the feedback is immediate.

Students practice:

  • Building and improving personal brand sites and business sites
  • Using AI tools to speed up research, content production, and operational tasks
  • Running and refining ads using proven systems like Dollar a Day, while tracking performance
  • Managing deliverables, communication, and client relationships

The idea is to learn repeatable systems and apply them on live accounts, so students leave with work they can stand behind.

Student Examples From the Videos

Dylan Haugen (Me)

I came into the program as a content creator and professional dunker. I knew how to grow an audience, but most of that lived on platforms I didn’t control. The shift for me was learning how to turn content skill into owned assets and clear client value.

What that looked like:

  • Building a personal brand website I control
  • Strengthening search presence, including my Knowledge Panel
  • Learning to package content and relationships into services for local businesses
  • Delivering real marketing outputs alongside the team

Jack Wendt

Jack’s story shows what happens when someone combines big‑picture vision with consistent execution. He’s been able to travel and still build because he runs work like a professional: projects stay on track, communication stays clear, and relationships keep compounding.

What stands out in his path:

  • He builds partnerships and opportunities through strong relationships
  • He keeps a steady operating rhythm even while moving across time zones
  • He treats marketing like a long game, not a short sprint

Luke Crowson

Luke started in fitness coaching, and Dennis noticed something that carries over into marketing: he cares about outcomes and sticks with a process. Inside the program, Luke applies that mindset to client work that’s built on steady improvement.

His focus areas include:

  • Campaign structure and ongoing tuning
  • Landing page and site improvements
  • Lead quality and follow‑up alignment with owners

The takeaway here is straightforward: consistent, client‑first execution plus good process is what drives dependable results.

Sam McLeod

Sam is still in school and leans heavily into engineering. His role is building tools and workflows that remove repetitive work for students and standardize delivery for clients.

Where that shows up:

  • Automating tedious steps so students focus on high‑value tasks
  • Turning proven processes into repeatable workflows
  • Supporting scale without lowering quality

One Shared Thread

Different backgrounds, same direction: we’re learning practical systems and applying them to real businesses. And the four of us you saw in the video are also building this alongside Dennis. We are founders of High Rise Influence and Local Service Spotlight, so we’re learning how to create an agency, start a business, and pressure‑test what we learn by using it every week.

Advice We Shared at the End

We wrapped the video with short advice for anyone considering this path:

  • Use AI like a teammate. It helps you draft, research, and troubleshoot faster, but you still steer the work.
  • Mindset drives follow‑through. Skill only compounds if you stay in the game long enough to apply it.
  • Aim for steady improvement. Getting a little better daily beats waiting for a perfect moment.
  • Learn by doing. You grow fastest when you ship work, get feedback, and refine.

Takeaway

Dennis’ filter is simple: student work tells you more than marketing ever will. The video applies that idea by showing what students are building and how they think about the work.

If you’re evaluating any program in AI or marketing, whether it be the High Rise Academy or something else, look for a trail of real output: projects you can inspect, processes students can explain, and progress that shows up across more than one person. That’s the safest way to decide what’s worth your time.

What You’re Actually Paying For in High Rise Academy

Dylan Haugen Dylan Haugen on December 1, 2025

Why pay for a program when you can get AI training for free on YouTube?

Because you want your young adult to be mentored by the best, be in a structured program with accountability, and because you want to shorten the duration to achieve competency.

Information is free now. The basics are easy to find.

What’s not free is turning that information into real business growth — fast.

In High Rise Academy, you’re paying for two things:

  1. Results for a local service business.
  2. Access to the people and process that create those results.
  3. AI Infrastructure that multiplies output and efficiency.

The Goal

This program is for local service businesses and the young adults working inside them.

The goal is simple: grow the business with marketing that brings in leads, calls, and booked jobs.

What You’re Paying For #1: Results

We measure progress weekly so the work stays tied to outcomes.

MAA every week:

  • Metrics: what changed in leads, calls, jobs, revenue, and content output
  • Analysis: why it changed
  • Action: what we’re fixing or testing next

Your young adult runs real marketing, reports what happened, and improves it week by week until the numbers move.

The loop is always: execute → measure → coach → improve → execute again.

What You’re Paying For #2: Access

Inside the Academy, access means:

  • Experienced coaches. Dennis Yu and the team review your young adult’s real marketing work and show them how to make it stronger.
  • A clear path. They know what to focus on first, what to ignore, and what “good” looks like.
  • Fast feedback. Instead of guessing, they get answers and direction while they work.
  • A room of builders. Other apprentices are doing the same kind of work, so your young adult learns faster and stays motivated.
  • Masterminds with other AI Apprentices. They trade what’s working, break down problems, and push each other to deliver better results.

Dennis has 30+ years of experience and has worked with brands like Nike, Starbucks, Rosetta Stone, the Golden State Warriors, and more. That level of coaching helps your young adult avoid expensive wrong turns and reach competency faster.

What You’re Paying For #3: AI Infrastructure

A major part of the program cost is the AI infrastructure we provide.

Each AI Apprentice receives access to a full year of our shared ChatGPT Business account, including pooled credits and the custom GPTs and agents we’ve built for real marketing work.

This matters because:

  • Apprentices don’t start from scratch. They use proven custom GPTs for planning, writing, auditing, and reporting.
  • Output is faster and more consistent. Shared business-level access removes usage limits and friction.
  • Work is easier to review and improve. Everything lives inside one workspace that coaches can see and guide.
  • The cost is covered by the program. Apprentices don’t have to manage subscriptions, credits, or setup.

This AI setup directly increases how much quality work apprentices can produce each week.

The specific AI tools included may evolve over time. We currently use ChatGPT Business because it’s the best option for our workflow today. As models, platforms, and pricing change, we reserve the ability to upgrade, replace, or remove specific tools so apprentices always have access to the most effective AI systems available.

How the Apprentice Program Works

Your young adult builds skill by working inside a live local service business (often yours).

What they do inside the program:

  • Create and publish content using the proven Content Factory workflow.
  • Run simple local campaigns to turn that content into leads.
  • Improve offers and follow‑up so inquiries turn into booked jobs.
  • Apply coach feedback to the next round of work.

They’re getting real reps on a real business, with real coaching. That’s how they build skill that shows up as results.

Quick Recap

  • Training is free because information is free.
  • You’re paying for three things: results, access, and AI infrastructure.
  • Together, that helps your business get more leads, calls, and booked jobs.

That’s High Rise Academy.

Not Sure About College Yet? Start Building Skills That Give You Options

Dylan Haugen Dylan Haugen on November 28, 2025

This video was filmed in Las Vegas during a conference weekend. Four of us sat down—young adults who are actually doing the work every day—to talk through a question we hear constantly: “Should I go to college, or should I do something else first?”

Our answers aren’t identical because our paths haven’t been identical. That’s the point. There isn’t one correct route. There is a smart first move, though: build skills that travel with you.

We All Took Different Paths—and We’re Still Moving Forward

Here’s what that looks like in real life for the four of us in this video:

  • Jack Wendt didn’t go to college.
  • Sam is in college right now.
  • I plan to go to college.
  • Luke went to college but didn’t finish.

Same table, same conversation, different decisions. Nobody is “behind.” Nobody is locked out of a good career. What separates people early isn’t the label of student or non‑student. It’s whether they’re gaining real ability to create value.

What We Teach Is Practical and Transferable

At High Rise Academy, we work directly with local service businesses, so the training stays grounded in what actually drives growth. The goal isn’t to memorize concepts. It’s to learn how to produce outcomes.

Here’s what apprentices practice in the program:

  • Using modern tools to speed up research, writing, and creative production.
  • Turning customer reviews and job photos into content people respond to.
  • Improving websites so visitors turn into calls and booked jobs.
  • Running simple ad campaigns and tracking what’s working.
  • Communicating with business owners and following through on deadlines.
  • Building repeatable workflows such as the content factory so that results aren’t random.

These skills transfer into almost any lane—whether you end up in business, tech, sales, operations, or entrepreneurship.

Real Ways People Use the Program

People come into High Rise Academy with different starting points, and the same skills end up helping them in different ways. That’s because the Academy sits in the middle of a two-sided market: on one side are local service businesses that need real marketing help, and on the other side are young adults who need real experience. When both sides show up, everybody wins—businesses get growth work done, and apprentices get reps that actually matter.

Some apprentices work directly with local service businesses through the Academy. They learn our systems, build campaigns, and get daily reps on real client work.

Others start close to home by running marketing for their parents’ local service businesses. They’ll fix a website, post content, set up ads, and organize reviews—then see what happens when consistent marketing meets real operations.

Some take that family-business experience and turn it into outside work. That step—from “helping at home” to “helping clients”—is a common bridge.

A good example we talked about is Ethan Murphy. He began by doing marketing for his parents, then applied the same playbook to the fencing niche. Within a few months he had picked up five or six fencing clients and was delivering results fast. He’s basically building a niche agency around that skill set.

Those are four distinct, real outcomes from the same skill set. Same training, different applications—because the two sides of the market keep feeding each other: businesses create the problems worth solving, and apprentices build the skills by solving them.

Why Skills First Makes the College Decision Easier

College can be a good move for some people. It can also be the wrong move for others at a given time.

The problem is that most people are asked to choose before they’ve done enough real work to know what they want.

Skills fix that.

When you can produce useful work:

  • You have proof of what you’re good at.
  • You can earn while you learn.
  • You can switch directions without starting from zero.
  • You walk into college (if you go) with context instead of guessing.

That’s why we keep saying this program can be an internship, a first job, a career start, or a way to level up a family business. It’s not a narrow track. It’s a skill-builder.

What To Do Next If You’re Still Unsure

If you’re undecided about college, that’s normal. Most people are being asked to choose before they’ve done enough real work to know what fits. Getting real reps first makes the decision a lot clearer.

If you want to learn these skills in a hands-on way, then the High Rise Academy might be right for you. You’ll work on real local service business campaigns, learn modern marketing systems, and build a portfolio that makes your next decision easier.

Taylor James: The AI Apprentice Who Took Charge and Stopped Getting Played by “SEO Experts”

Dennis Yu on November 26, 2025

There’s a moment in every entrepreneur’s life when the lightbulb flips on, and they realize, “Hold up, I’m paying for what, exactly?”
For Taylor James, owner of Dumpster Dogs in Austin, that moment hit like a 30-yard roll-off container landing on a driveway at 7 a.m.

For six months, Taylor had been dropping $750 a month on “SEO services” from the software company powering his website and CRM. They told him the same thing every shady agency tells every small business owner:

“Just give us six months. You’ll rank.”

Fast-forward six months:
Zero ranking. Zero results. Zero transparency.
But plenty of excuses.

Taylor didn’t get angry.
Taylor got educated.

And that, right there, is exactly what defines a successful AI Apprentice.

The Turning Point: When Data Replaces Hope

When Taylor hopped on a call and opened his actual analytics, the truth came out immediately:

  • All his organic traffic was coming from people searching his own brand name; meaning HE created the demand, not the SEO agency.
  • His backlink profile was stuffed with garbage: adult sites, spammy directories, fake citation networks, and Fiverr-level nonsense that Google ignores (or penalizes).
  • His website was slow on mobile (a 52 score, yikes).
  • His site structure was thin, duplicated, and clearly auto-generated.
  • And his domain rating was 4.
    That’s “garage sale” level SEO juice.

Taylor realized quickly:
He wasn’t lazy.
He wasn’t stupid.
He was simply uninformed and 99% of business owners would’ve fallen for the same pitch.

But here’s where Taylor separates himself from the pack.

He didn’t shrug it off.
He didn’t keep paying for false hope.
He didn’t kick the can down the road.

He stepped fully into the AI Apprentice mindset:

Learn the system. Leverage the tools. Take control.

What Makes Taylor a Successful AI Apprentice

Most people dabble with AI.
Taylor embraced it.

1. He Looked at the True Data

AI Apprentices don’t rely on vendor dashboards designed to make things look good.
They go straight into:

  • Google Analytics.
  • Google Search Console.
  • PageSpeed Insights.
  • Real backlink audits.

Taylor learned exactly what mattered and what didn’t. And he saw the scam clearly when the numbers didn’t lie.

2. He Learned How SEO Actually Works

He simply needed the truth:

  • 90% of SEO is backlinks.
  • Backlinks come from relationships, not robots.
  • Every ranking page is built on trust, not templates.
  • Google wants helpful content, not keyword-stuffed spam.
  • One-minute videos answering real questions beat a thousand auto-generated pages.

Once Taylor saw the blueprint, he understood exactly why he wasn’t ranking and exactly how to fix it.

3. He Learned How to Use AI the Right Way

Most people treat AI like a vending machine.
Taylor treats it like an assistant.

He learned to combine:

  • His iPhone videos.
  • His real-world experience.
  • AI-written structure.
  • AI-polished blog posts.
  • YouTube-first distribution.

Suddenly, content creation wasn’t a chore; it was became part of the Content Factory system.

And AI wasn’t replacing him.
It was amplifying him.

4. He Took Action

When Taylor realized the agency did nothing, he didn’t mope.
He didn’t blame.
He got solutions in motion:

  • Requested a refund.
  • Gathered proof.
  • Rebuilt his strategy.
  • Started recording.
  • Planned his Youtube and blog stacking
  • Understood his local Austin ecosystem.
  • Built real connections with real businesses.

An AI Apprentice doesn’t wait for miracles.
They build momentum.

Taylor did exactly that.

The Part Most Business Owners Miss

SEO isn’t magic.
AI isn’t magic.
Marketing isn’t magic.

It’s relationships + relevance + proof.

Taylor now understands this deeply:

You can’t outsource what you don’t understand.
You can’t rank where you don’t exist.
You can’t win without being present.

The moment he took ownership of his content and used AI as a superpower instead of a shortcut, he went from “victim of a bad SEO contract” to a rising authority in his market.

That’s what an AI Apprentice is.

Why Taylor’s Story Matters

Taylor is now doing what actually moves the needle:

  • One-minute educational videos.
  • Local content with real Austin partners.
  • YouTube-first posting.
  • Blog posts that answer actual questions.
  • Improved site structure.
  • Faster mobile performance.
  • Real backlinks from real relationships.
  • Authentic stories.
  • Consistency.
  • Ownership.

And here’s the punchline:

It costs way less than paying a sketchy SEO company.

Taylor is building an asset that compounds for years.

Taylor James: Proof That Any Small Business Owner Can Win With AI

No fancy degree required.
No coding.
No technical background.

Just a willingness to:

  • Learn.
  • Try.
  • Ask questions.
  • Use tools.
  • Take action.
  • Tell stories.
  • Build relationships.
  • Stay consistent.

That’s what makes Taylor a successful AI Apprentice.

He represents the new era of business owners: the ones who don’t get bullied by agencies, don’t get tricked by jargon, and don’t hand over their marketing future to strangers.

He took control of his brand, his content, his SEO, and his growth.

And this is just the beginning.

Building High Rise Influence: The Business Lessons School Missed

Dylan Haugen Dylan Haugen on November 23, 2025

When people ask what I’ve learned from building High Rise Influence (HRI), I don’t think about a class or a book. I think about the last few months of doing the work and getting real feedback from real clients.

I’ve learned more about business and communication in these past few months than I did in the years before—because this time the learning came with real stakes.

Here’s what’s stood out most, with examples straight from our experience.

Team Communication Is Learned on the Job

One of the best early lessons came from Jack Wendt. He told us how, when he was new to team email threads, he kept hitting “Reply” instead of “Reply All.” So only one person saw his response while everyone else waited for an update that never came.

It’s a simple mistake, but it shows what school doesn’t cover:

You don’t get good at teamwork by reading about it. You get good at it by working with people who need you to be reliable.

School Zoom Calls Aren’t Client Calls

I mentioned in the video that we had Zoom during quarantine. But that was basically practice for showing up, not for leading.

On school calls:

  • Cameras were off.
  • Nobody was driving a result.
  • You could be half-present and still “attend.”

Client calls in LSS and HRI are the opposite. We’re meeting with business owners who trust us with their online reputation. We’re helping them claim and improve their Google Knowledge Panels, clean up search results, and make sure their brand shows up the right way.

That has forced me to learn, fast:

  • How to lead a call with a clear objective.
  • How to ask the right questions instead of guessing.
  • How to explain actions in plain language.
  • How to follow up without being chased.

Setting Up a Company Teaches Business at a Real Level

While we’ve been building HRI, we’ve also been building the structure behind it. That meant learning things we’d never touched before.

We’ve had to work through:

  • Equity splits.
  • Vesting schedules.
  • How many shares to issue.
  • How to think about investors and long‑term incentives.

Talking about equity in a classroom is one thing. Making decisions that affect the future of the company is another.

Client Relations: Trust + Ownership + Delivery

Clients don’t just hire us for tasks. They hire us to protect and grow their reputation. That changes your mindset.

What client work has taught me:

  • Trust is earned through delivery, not promises.
  • Speed matters because clients hate silence.
  • Ownership matters because excuses don’t help anyone.
  • Results matter because clients care about ROI.

We’ve seen this up close. People pay us because they believe we’ll take care of them. If something goes wrong, we fix it. If we miss something, we own it. That responsibility sharpens you.

Getting Paid to Learn Business Beats Paying to Learn Business

This is one of the biggest advantages of what we’re doing.

When you’re building in real time:

  • Feedback comes immediately.
  • Mistakes cost something, so you stop repeating them.
  • Wins show you what to double down on.

That’s why the learning curve is so steep.

Real Work Brings Real Rooms

A few weeks ago, Sam and I were on a call with a billionaire helping him claim and strengthen his Knowledge Panel.

That moment hit me because it wasn’t about age or titles. It was about whether we could help.

What I took from that:

  • If you can solve a real problem, you belong on the call.
  • Competence travels faster than credentials.
  • Opportunities show up when you’re already producing value.

Teamwork Also Means Knowing When to Do It Yourself

We talked about this in the video: working on a team doesn’t always mean pushing work to someone else. Sometimes the best move is to take something from start to finish yourself because it’s cleaner and faster.

That’s the same thinking behind Do, Delegate, Delete.

When a task comes in, you make a call:

  • Do it now.
  • Delegate it to the right person.
  • Delete it if it doesn’t matter.

What we don’t do is park tasks in “later” forever. Keeping projects moving is part of being dependable to your team and your clients.

Mentorship Compresses the Learning Curve

We’ve had Dennis Yu mentoring us through all of this. Having someone who’s already operated at a high level point out what matters, what doesn’t, and why saves you years.

It also sets the tone for how we want to lead: learn something, apply it in real work, then teach it forward.

Where This Leaves Me

Being part HRI has made business feel less like a concept and more like a skill set you build daily. Communication, accountability, client care, equity, execution—it all gets learned in the same way: by doing the work and being responsible for the outcome.

Want to Learn These Skills Through Real Work?

If you want to build the same skill stack we’re talking about—through real projects, real clients, and real mentorship—check out High Rise Academy.

It’s designed to help young adults (and anyone hungry to grow) turn real work and real reviews into campaigns that convert.

Behind the Scenes at Local Service Spotlight and High Rise Influence: What We Do and Why It Works

Grant Haugen Grant Haugen on November 22, 2025

“What do we actually do here?” is a fair question—especially when you hear us talk about helping local service businesses build their brands. This video was a quick, honest rundown from the Local Service Spotlight (LSS) and High Rise Influence (HRI) team about what that help looks like in real life and who is doing what.

LSS and HRI work together as partners. Our job is to take the everyday work local pros are already doing—jobs completed, customer stories, before‑and‑after wins, and five‑star reviews—and turn that into consistent online visibility and campaigns that bring in more calls.

The Problem We’re Solving for Local Service Businesses

Plumbers, HVAC techs, roofers, and other local service owners don’t usually have time to be full‑time marketers. They’re running routes, answering phones, managing crews, and taking care of customers. That means their online presence often lags behind the quality of their work.

Our teams step in so the business owner doesn’t have to learn five tools, edit videos at midnight, or guess at ads. We build the systems, the content, and the campaigns around their real‑world service so they show up where customers are searching and scrolling.

What Each Role Contributes:

Sam: Engineering, AI Tools, and Automation

Sam McLeod’s focus is speed and leverage. He builds websites and automations, using AI tools and code so repetitive tasks take less time. When content can be repurposed quickly and websites update smoothly, clients get faster turnaround and faster results.

This fits the Content Factory approach BlitzMetrics teaches: create once and repurpose into multiple assets without adding extra workload.

Luke: Facebook Ads, Creative, and Client Care

Luke Crowson handles the marketing side that clients actually see. He creates the ad creatives that go into Facebook campaigns, helps manage spend, and keeps improving the client’s website and online presence.

He also emphasized something most agencies ignore: client care. Meeting with clients, making them feel heard, and staying close to their goals is part of performance. The ads and the website are supposed to make a homeowner feel, “Okay, these people will take care of me.”

When we do this right, we’re applying the same Goals‑Content‑Targeting (GCT) foundation BlitzMetrics lays out—get clear on the goal, build the right content, and aim it at the right audience.

Jack: High Rise Academy Training and the LSS–HRI Bridge

Jack Wendt’s explains how HRI connects directly into the work LSS does through High Rise Academy. HRI runs training while partnering with LSS on tools and processes. Sam helps build the tools students use, and Jack makes sure students know how to apply them.

The students learn to make a local business owner more visible, build better ad campaigns, and drive more calls and revenue for whoever they’re representing. It’s practical training with real businesses, not theory.

Dylan: Content Repurposing, Websites, Ads Support, and Training

Dylan Haugen’s role has been wide by necessity. Over the last six to seven months he’s done content repurposing with AI tools like Descript, worked on client websites, helped create content for local businesses, supported Facebook ads with Luke, and trained Academy students weekly.

He also made a helpful point for anyone watching: the tools we use are intentionally simple. If you’ve ever edited a video before, tools like Descript make repurposing fast once you know the system.

Jack’s Close: Credibility and Invitation

Jack ends by giving real context on the team’s experience: Dylan has generated over 100 million views across his social channels, Luke is known for delivering results with ad spend (including work with Ad Astra), and Sam is the engineer making the backend run smoothly. The invitation was simple—if this kind of work sounds interesting, check out LSS, HRI, and the Academy.

Why LSS and HRI Are Stronger Together

Watching the roles side‑by‑side makes the partnership obvious.

LSS builds and refines the operational system: AI tools, websites, ad creative, and client delivery. HRI multiplies that system by teaching it through High Rise Academy, so more trained people can support more local businesses.

It’s one pipeline from real service work to real marketing output—supported by engineering, creative, and training all moving in sync.

The Big Takeaway

Local service businesses don’t need to reinvent a brand from scratch. They already create proof every day in their jobs and customer outcomes. Our job at LSS and HRI is to capture that proof, repurpose it into content people actually watch, and put it behind campaigns that convert into calls.

If you’re looking for a clear path, real skills, and a way to put them to work on projects that matter, High Rise Academy could be a great fit.

Is This Too Good To Be True? The High Rise Influence Program Explained by Its Founders

Dylan Haugen Dylan Haugen on November 22, 2025

When people first hear about High Rise Influence, the reaction is almost always the same: “There’s no way this is real.” Free access to training, mentorship from leaders like Dennis Yu, and hands-on experience helping real local service businesses sounds impossible—especially for young adults still figuring out their path.

But the video we filmed together tells a different story. Four of us sat down for a real, honest conversation about where we’re at in life, what this program has done for us, and why we believe it’s worth sharing.

This article breaks down what we shared in that conversation and why the High Rise Influence model works so well for young adults.

Why Young Adults Are Uniquely Positioned to Succeed

In the video, we talked about how each of us founders lives a completely different life. One of us is married and in school. One is 27 and trying to find clear direction. One is 20 and already confident in his path. And then there’s me—I’m still in high school, and I’m a professional dunker.

Even with those differences, we share something important: we grew up surrounded by technology.

A lot of local service business owners haven’t had to live inside social media and modern tools the way we have. It’s not that they’re incapable—it’s just not their world. For young adults, using Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and now AI tools feels natural. We recognize patterns in interfaces and content without thinking about it.

That’s a massive advantage.

Inside High Rise Influence, we lean into that advantage instead of ignoring it. We plug those natural instincts into structured systems like the Content Factory, which breaks down how to market to actually drive results. When you combine what you already know with a clear framework, your skills become valuable very quickly.

Real Experiences We Shared

In the video, each of us shared where we were in life and what led us into this program.

I’m still in high school, and I’m a professional dunker. I travel across the country competing in dunk contests and creating content around that journey. On paper, it looks like I shouldn’t have much time for anything else.

But that’s exactly why my story matters here.

For most of my life, I made social media content just for myself—filming dunks, editing clips, posting on Instagram, and learning what caught people’s attention. I never thought of that as a “professional skill.” It was just something I did because I loved it.

When I got involved with High Rise Influence, I realized those same skills were incredibly valuable to local service business owners. The same instincts I use to pick the best angle on a dunk or to edit a hype clip help me decide what makes a strong testimonial, a compelling ad, or a short that stops people from scrolling.

That’s when it clicked: what feels normal to me can be life-changing for someone’s business.

How High Rise Influence Helps Young Adults Find Purpose

In our conversation, one of the guys talked about hitting 24 or 25 and suddenly asking himself, “What am I actually doing with my life?” That moment hits harder than most people admit.

I’ve seen versions of that same feeling in a lot of young adults—drifting through school, changing majors, trying random jobs, or scrolling all day because nothing feels meaningful.

Purpose didn’t show up for me in some huge, dramatic way. It came from being put in a position where my skills were useful to someone else.

Inside High Rise Influence, purpose looks like:

  • Helping a local business owner who genuinely needs support
  • Seeing your work turn into leads, reviews, and real results
  • Being trusted with responsibility and held accountable
  • Working alongside other young adults who are aiming higher than “just get by”

Real progress comes from doing real work, learning from your mistakes, and slowly realizing, “I’m actually good at this—and it matters.”

Direction isn’t something you wait around for. You build it through deliberate practice and real work.

Digital Skills Young Adults Already Have

If you’re a young adult reading this, there’s a good chance you already have your own version of the skills needed in this space. You grew up in a digital world—using social media, creating and consuming videos, learning new tools quickly, and navigating technology as second nature.

Most of us don’t even realize how much we’ve picked up just by living online: understanding what makes content engaging, recognizing patterns in how platforms work, and adapting to new features and trends without thinking too hard about it.

Young adults are also surprisingly good at reasoning with AI tools. Because we’re used to technology evolving fast, things like prompting, experimenting, and iterating feel natural. Those instincts translate directly into this work—helping local businesses tell their stories, produce content, and run campaigns that actually perform.

All of these everyday digital habits become valuable when they’re applied inside a clear process with real clients.

A Community Built on Real Work, Not Hype

We’re very clear inside the program: this is not a “get rich quick” scheme.

We’re not promising overnight success or crazy income screenshots. What we’re offering is:

  • Real work with real local businesses
  • Systems and frameworks that have been tested
  • Mentorship from people like Dennis and the rest of the BlitzMetrics and High Rise teams
  • A community of young adults who are serious about building something

In the video, you can see how much we genuinely enjoy working together. That’s not acting. We joke around, challenge each other, and push each other to do better—not because we’re trying to impress anyone, but because we actually care about the work and the people we’re serving.

How to Get Involved

If you’re a young adult and any of this resonates with you—feeling directionless, wanting to use your existing skills for something that matters, or just wanting a path that isn’t “go to school and hope it works out”—then this is worth exploring.

High Rise Academy is the training path where young adults like me get real-world experience, build portfolios, and learn how to run campaigns the right way.

If you’re looking for direction, purpose, and a place to put your skills to work in a meaningful way, High Rise Academy might be the right next step for you.