Kyle Wade from BoostedBoiz, Joins The Herd Has Spoken

Enjoy the conversation between Kyle and Brad 

Brad  
Kyle Wade, welcome to The Herd Has Spoken. So, as a car guy, certified car expert, some may even say, I gotta get to a really hard hitting question right out of the gates here. What is the optimal sent air freshener for a car?

Kyle  
I think for the typical car guy, it's gotta be black ice. I don't personally I don't put too many air fresheners in my car. Guys, they keep their cars nice and clean. Mine usually does smell like race gas on the inside. But the black ice air fresheners I think that's the go to that's a go to standard.

Brad  
Well, I happen to know that in one of your most popular videos, which is you giving your mother arrived in a Honda Civic back in 2016 there are two black eyes air fresheners hanging from the rearview mirror. So I'm glad to hear that the answer to that question has not changed in the last five years. So black eyes there you have it folks, I'm not even sure we really need to go forward anymore with this but but one way or another we'll kind of we'll kind of keep moving on here.

Kyle  
That's probably the last time my Civic had air fresheners in it. So you should drive it a lot like you know take friends and then it slowly evolved into a race car. 

Brad  
I love it. So it sort of evolved from the sweet clean smell of black ice into then yes, it all came out to go with it. So your channel on YouTube boosted boys. It's become huge. It's one of the Go to Car channels on YouTube clearly. And from the outside in. It looks like it's been just a ton of fun from the early days, when you Charlie and Mitch start making things happen. Obviously, the channels evolve quite a bit. But it's clearly a lot of work in reality to make this happen. So what has been the hardest part of launching, creating and growing a successful YouTube channel?

Kyle  
I think the biggest thing is just the dedication to it and then finding with any YouTuber, they're always just chasing content, the next big thing you know, to draw more people in and keep that constant. You know, hype up on your channel, I think is the hardest part. Because without that, you know, constant interest in what you're doing. It's hard to retain an audience. So the second someone starts a channel, like you're going to be fighting that. I feel like you know the whole life of the channel until you're at a point where you're comfortable to where we're finally getting to but yeah, it's basically it's mostly just chasing content, thinking of ideas, and, you know, making it all work with your budget. And that's that's kind of the hardest part I think, especially being like a car automotive YouTuber. So I think it's one of the most expensive to get into on the platform.

Kyle 
Yeah, it's definitely not cheap to continue to buy new cars, new engines, new anything that you can put, you can strap on it tonight, they constantly need maintenance, you know, I'm buying gallons oil, like every couple weeks just doing oil changes on the car. And it just, it just adds up so fast, you know, it's not like streamers, where we are like us sitting down on podcasts or podcast channels, you know, they just have an electricity and internet bill and they can write. And that's how they make their revenue. But we have to do all that on top of, you know, the time it takes to put into the vehicles and it's just so much that goes into it. So clearly, you know, you're a YouTuber, but you're also a car guy, right. And those two things come together. But But I think there's actually a really interesting theme here that is broader than YouTube or cars, which is the fact that in almost any business arena today, you've got to be able to continue to innovate and find things that your customers like, and at the end of the day, your customers are your viewers, right? And so you mentioned you're always looking for that next big thing. How do you go about doing that? And how do you evaluate? What's a good opportunity to pursue and what's a bad idea?

Um, I don't know, we just honestly a lot of the stuff we've done up until this point is things that I've dreamt of doing. Besides the chain, like without having a YouTube channel, like back when I first got into cars, I always thought like, it'd be cool to like, because we have our minivan for instance, like it's a sleeper minivan, before the channel was even a thing I thought, oh, it'd be so cool to do like a sleeper minivan, you know, and take it to the meets and go mess with people because no one will expect it. And then I always wanted to Mr. To back in the day, because they're really fast on the street, a lot of this goes back to the street racing origins. And then, you know, after, after the channel took off, we, you know, kind of had the funds and imagination to do with, you know, do whatever we wanted. So those ideas I kind of just slowly took to life. And you know, one thing leads to another we always look for what can we do to make that vehicle better? What do we think people like to see it do? What are things like records that we could go after that no one has ever done before. Because I think that's those types of channels are, you know, the ones that get the biggest interest are people that are doing no one channels that are doing, you know, things that no one else are doing. So I try to look for things like that, and just try to stick out and be unique in our own way.

Brad  
So as you're trying to look at find new opportunities, new things that your audience is going to be going to be into, I have to imagine there's been some some misses along along the way is anything stick out to you that you've you've tried on your channel that was uh, that that just flopped. And I'm not talking about like, some of the fails that you have, because that's part of the nature of racing, right is you're gonna have failures. And actually I know that's one of the things that your audience loves about you, is that you're not afraid to show those failures. But in terms of ideas for content, has there been anything that you've put out there that ultimately just did not work?

Kyle  
Um, I'll try to think about it. And I'm also gonna say not, not really, there's nothing we put out there that just you know, flopped, and no one was interested in it, there's definitely stuff we've done. That doesn't get as much interest, just kind of like the day to day working on cars, sometimes the videos, just no maintenance isn't all that interesting. So sometimes on a certain day or two, you know, the videos don't do as good, but the overall goals with where the cards are going, once we accomplish what we want to do it then always makes up for it. So I've never really, I've never taken on a huge project or anything, and it just flopped for me. And I'm like, man, I really wish we didn't do that. Everything I've we've done is just you know, like I said stuff we would be doing regardless and we just happen to film it and people watch it. So I don't think anything really flop like that for us. Well, that's steady and gradual.

Brad  
Yeah, I love it. I love it. So you guys have continued to have to, you know, evolve the channel. Continue to you know, keep keep things keep things fresh. There's a lot of car channels out there. But a boosted boys you guys have been making things happen for for a long time. What do you think it is about your channel that has allowed you to quote unquote, make it

Kyle  
I just think with how unique it is. And like I said, going back to doing things no one else is doing and just kind of sticking out from the usual crowd. I think that's a big part and what makes it what it is just all the guys when we're all together we have a really good vibe together. People like to watch our energy kind of bounce off each other. Just try to make it entertaining and just try to make it something you know our viewers can relate to. We started you know, just in the garage like any other you know car guy watching this now probably and you know to start Started from the ground up. And we think a lot of people can relate to the channel. And they're just kind of along for the journey as well.

Brad  
Yeah, tons of tons of fun. So you've moved from from Colorado to Florida, right? So you've got now a good, very good sense of Florida. And so I want to I want to get your take on an important topic. So we hear the term Florida man, a lot. So what would you say, are the defining characteristics of Florida man?

Kyle  
Man, you know, I'm trying to, I'm trying to get all the credentials gathered up myself, I still think I need to catch an alligator at some point before I can be myself a Florida man. Yeah, I got a jet ski. So it's another Florida man accomplishment that I'm proud of. And you got to get you got to get used to the bugs down here. You got to get used to the humidity. Got to get yourself a pair of flip flops. And, yeah, I don't know, I don't think there's too much more to it than that. I was surprised that I came down here. And I feel like I fit in down here a lot more than a lot of the local residents. You know, there's guys, we, we hung out like Taylor, and we went down there, he's scared of the lizards running around. You know, I'm like, how are you living down here?

Brad  
That's that's just not right. That's just not right. Well, it's interesting. You've mentioned a couple of times, you know, some some of the guys right. And so the the car community is ultimately a pretty small group. So how, how important is the community around call called car culture to you and to your channel success?

Kyle  
I'd say a very important, I definitely keep up with a lot of other car channels, I'll watch what you know, other people are doing just to kind of get an idea of like, you know, what's good content. And I think it's good, obviously, to check out what other people in the same atmosphere is we are doing. So when they have a successful video, you're like, Oh, that's cool. How can we kind of do that in our own way? You know, not. And yeah, especially collaborating with all the other car youtubers has definitely helped us out a lot. I love trying to collaborate with as many as we can. Because, you know, I think it's good to try to get into every little group that we can. And just, you know, it helps advertise the channel and stuff like that. But it's also just fun to kind of meet up with all these people and see what they're about, and just go have a good time with them. But yeah, it's definitely really important to us, the community and everything. I feel like we're pretty involved, because I think some other guys kind of keep to themselves. You know, there's nothing, nothing wrong with that, but you know, they'll stay in their garage or they'll stay wherever, wherever they're doing and not venture out too much. But I'm always open to the opportunity to go collaborate or hang out with other YouTubers and just try to, you know, be part of the community as much as we can.

Brad  
I love it. Well, well, there's one member of the community who you interact with quite quite a bit and and I happen to have talked with, with one Garrett Mitchell who is better known as Cletus McFarland, and he had he thought that it would be a wise idea for me to ask you, why is it that third gear is so damn hard to shift into?

Kyle  
I knew it was coming me. I mean, it's a frickin Yes, I just suck at shifting. I'll just leave it at that, but I'm gonna blame it on the on the car. But it's a common thing with with Honda's that those third years you know, especially when you start throwing a lot of horsepower out on the stock synchro transmissions, they get really hard to shift because there's so much stress inside those transmissions wants to making that crazy power that just shifting them in general is really hard. So yeah, it's been known for I've been known to Mr. gear, quite quite often in that car in my civic, so it kind of grew into a meme and a joke, so I just go along with it.

Brad  
I love it. I love it. Well, you know, I think being able to give people a hard time is one of the best parts about about being alive. And so if somebody's giving you a hard time that's that's a good thing when people stop giving you a hard time. I was like shit that's that's when you really need to start to worry if people are taking things too seriously. But you know what, while we're on the topic of car questions here, so if money were no object, what is your dream car engine combination.

Kyle  
That's a that's a really tough one. Because I like so many different setups that I feel like even if I gave you a straight answer. Like, you know, a couple weeks later, I'd be bored of that one and want to move on. Because we have a lot of different projects. But man, I don't want to give any secrets too. But someone just came out with a blueprint of a case series engine, which is the engine we most commonly swap and all our vehicles and they configured it into a VA configuration and they're making it reality. So it's going to be like an eight cylinder case series, which is normally just a four cylinder engine. I don't want to take that engine and put it into something gnarly. And basically make like, almost like a gym con spec rally car, like something like you'd see in camlocks videos or something, make just an insane tube chassis car if money wasn't an option, and I have an idea of what chassis I want to use, but I don't want to get too into it because I don't know if maybe it could be reality one day, but from the ground up, building a car aside if it was just for whatever car um, I'd probably go with like, you know, typical McLaren or Koenigsegg something just engineered really well. Just driving around. And that would be that'd be what I would want. So but I don't know if we'll get to that point for now. I'll just I'll stick with the Honda Civics.

Brad  
Yeah, keep keep plodding around, keep plodding along, keep doing what you're doing. It's obviously working and sort of brick by brick you're building there. I've no doubt if that's that that's what you ultimately want to go after that that will happen in the future. So one of the things I think so many entrepreneurs struggle with, and I you know, I'm definitely putting you in the entrepreneur bucket, I mean, your YouTube, your car guy, but ultimately, you're out there creating, creating your own, you know, career, on your own independently. So I think you clearly fall in entrepreneur bucket, as well. But one of the biggest challenges is, how do you prioritize all the different opportunities that that exist out there? Because, look, you're pulled in in a lot of different directions. You've got YouTube, you're obviously got a lot of things going on. On Facebook, you have countless car projects at any given time, there's maintenance to do on the on the cars, there's brands that you can be partnering with, as well. So how is it that you decide where you're going to spend your time, Kyle, because you're you've got a lot of different options. And frankly, you've you've I feel confident and saying, you've got more options in front of you than you do have time. So how do you think about prioritizing where you want to invest your time and energy?

Kyle  
Yeah, definitely, I'm definitely spread pretty thin at the moment. And that's something I personally am not good at is prioritizing, prioritizing everything, the way it should be, end of the day, I'm going to spend my time on what can get content out for the channel, because right now that is the most important part for us to keep me on is to make sure we keep pushing content. So um, up until I find a way to do that consistently. And I don't have to worry about the content as much. And I have more time to focus on everything else going on, then I can do that. But right now I literally spend almost all day trying to think of what we can do for videos or working on the cars to make a video. That's pretty much for 90% of my time goes during the day.

Brad  
Yeah, right on. And, and as you're thinking about your, your channel and where you want to go, how'd you define success? And, and I asked that because from from the outside in, I have to imagine that this channel has grown beyond what you could have possibly hoped for, or expected five plus years ago, but yet, you're still really, really actively working to grow it and to make it work and to do more. So how do you define success?

Kyle  
Um, I mean, a lot of I define it, like a lot of people do kind of with how just happy and comfortable you are with where you're at. I don't think it's necessarily about you know, what your income is, or anything. But definitely, that helps. So, you know, once you get to a point, at least for me, I am extremely happy with where the channel is and everything, but I am always looking for the next, you know, big thing, what can we do to make it bigger? Keep going, you know, might is not what might as well not stop where we're at. And I mean, in the general scheme of things, I did find success. It's like how happy you are just with everything in general. But yeah, I don't know.

Brad  
Yeah, I think i think that's that's one of the things that's most challenging. And I think what's interesting is so many people when they think about like, their career, what they want to do, they think about a five year plan and like, hey, I need to think long term. And I think that's really, really hard to do when you're sort of an entrepreneur and pretty Typically when you're, you're a creator, and you got to worry about putting out content, more or less every single day. So so for you, how far into the future? Do you find yourself looking in, in planning, right? Because in an ideal world, you'd be able to look out 20 years and take steps towards that. But that's not very practical. So I'm curious for you, and the channel, how far in advance Are you able to spend time thinking about?

Kyle  
Well, from what we've been through, I've learned that things can change, you know, really fast, depending on how you do it. And at this point, I pretty much just focus on it, kind of year to year, I kind of think what can we accomplish by the end of this year, and then by the end of that year, see where we're at, and then prepare for the next I don't think I really look too far out into the future anymore, I see what it could be, you know, maybe 510 years out, and I have a general idea. But I've learned that nothing will ever ever seems to go the way you want it to. So um, yeah, I just look at it about a year at a time, see where we're at, and just see what we can keep on improving from there and just look forward to the next year, keep going. Before like, this is turned into something I never expected it to be. So I'm just kind of going along with it.

Brad  
What Why do you think you've been able to, to have your channel be be so successful? Right? I mean, obviously, the content is good, and people like it. But what what is it about? Kyle, do you think that has sort of willed your channel to the level of success? It's had, you know, is there is there a certain characteristic that that you think is inside of you, that's allowed you to, to grow the channel and be so successful today.

Kyle  
I think at the end of the day, I think at the end of the day, is just how much time and effort I put into it. And the fact that I don't give up and I make cool things happen. And just, I'm always doing something, I don't really think it's like, you know, my personality or anything so much, because I feel like I'm pretty normal person overall, I don't think too much stands out about me, in general, besides the fact that I can just, you know, work hard, and I don't really give up on where I'm at with stuff. So I think the fact that we've just accomplished so much in the time we've had the channel is what keeps people and just all the cool stuff that we've done, because I feel like you know, maybe an average person or I don't know, if you want to say it like that, but you know, someone who's not, you know, doing YouTube, they wouldn't be accomplishing nearly as much as other, you know, automotive YouTubers are and the amount of time that we have, you know, just all the events we do, building all these different cars, doing all these different things on a daily basis. And I just think the fact that I hadn't really quit or gave up on it is kind of what keeps people coming back. And the fact that it is cool, and no one else is really doing it kind of like how we are. Yeah, let's hear from bands. Like, watch it so much. Because I look at her and I'm like, I look back and I'm like, I really don't know what's special about our channel to be at the level we're at. Like, like I said, I feel pretty like a normal person. I feel like anyone can do what I'm doing right now. They just put their mind to it. So I don't even know what it is. It's just hard work and dedication. I think at the end of the day, we know a lot of you boosted boys viewers are watching or watching this this conversation. So go ahead and let us know what it is about boosted boys and Kyle that that makes you keep keep tuning in in the comments so we can make sure we get that answer to Kyle here. One of the things I think is that's super interesting about what you do is that there's such a public score. That's, that's capital is you know, I do work with a lot of different creators. And and one of the things that I think is really hard for so many creators is just like, the public number of views that is seen for every single video. So literally every job that you ever do, there's basically a public scoreboard that says, hey, how, how well are you doing this fair, fair or not? And, and so for some creators that can be really challenging, and have a great deal of empathy for the creators, where that is really hard for and we know for entrepreneurs, and for creators, you know, mental health can be can be a really big challenge for people because you do have that that constant pressure, but it sounds like for you know, you you've been able to kind of thrive, thrive under that that pressure. And so I'm curious and I realize I'm stretching here, I definitely don't want to put words in your mouth, but that the thought came to me that maybe some of that public pressure and people and being able to see how your videos are doing every day is also a positive driver for you to continue to be able to, you know, tweak your craft because it gives you that feedback loop so you've got a little bit of pressure Yeah, you want to grow, you want to make sure your contents resonate, but also resonating, but but also you're able to tweak things based upon seeing whether people like your content or not. And they may speak with, with their eyeballs in terms of the number of views. So do you see that like that that public pressure, so to speak, being a being a positive? Is that is that helped you in any way?

Kyle  
Yeah, I'd say it definitely does motivate me to, you know, push for more, especially, you know, seeing other channels that are similar to what we're doing. And you can see what potential is there? And, yeah, definitely looking at the view numbers definitely motivates me to try to figure out what we can do to, you know, get them up and match other YouTubers that are doing the same thing we are, but they're obviously doing really good at it as well. So, yeah, all that stuff motivates me. And a lot of people say, it's, it's definitely hard to if you look at the numbers a lot, and, um, something I've learned to get good at is not to just know that we're kind of on our own little path. And we're, we're, you know, going our way, and we don't, I don't want to change what we're doing just for better numbers, there's a lot of things I know we could do. But I don't just want to, I just don't want to sacrifice what we're doing. Just to chase numbers, I feel like we could do crazy, ridiculous things. And purposely, like, you know, some people would maybe get upset about it, you know, but there's a general type of content we could create, where if I was going that route, it would be for numbers. And then what we're doing now is more, just what we want to do, in general. And, but we have more fun, and it's more relaxed than trying to you know, go crazy with it. So I kind of like where we're at right now. But I do like watching the other channels and seeing where we could be even doing it the way we are now.

Brad  
I love the the long term thinking that you're taking. So I think it's so important and too many people get caught up in the short term, particularly when when people are struggling, or challenging, that's when people start to start to reach and and what I'm hearing you say, I think is something that is really applicable whether you're a creator or an entrepreneur, any sort of, you know, business venture, or even a scientist is like, Hey, take the long term and do what you think is right for you and your audience or your customer and and there's a short term when sure like if you did something crazy and started driving your you know, cars into a lake I don't know making making shit up but sure, it would get more views in the in the near term. But But that's not what excites you. That's that's not why people are tuning into boosted boys, right? They're, they're really into really understanding how you're tweaking the cars. And then of course, they want to see the results on the on the track. So I mean, I think that's just really sage advice for for anybody, which is, Hey, don't like pay attention to the analytics, pay attention to the numbers, listen to your customers, but but don't overreact at the same time. Like you've got to continue to stay true to who you are and what you do. And I think you guys have done a great job along the way of striking that balance, which is so important and not always easy to do for sure.

Kyle  
Yeah, and definitely want to just try to keep doing what we're doing. Don't let it get too out of hand. I mean, I'm not gonna say what's gonna happen in the future or not. But I think a lot of people relate to the channel just because it is grassroots. And like I said, just guys, you know, work in their garage. And it's not like we have some crazy ridiculous cars that no one else can afford. My show everything that we do, or at least I tried my best to show what we're doing in the garage and just show that, you know, pretty much anyone can do this if they have the motivation.

Brad  
Absolutely. A couple of last questions here. But before I let you go, Kai and we appreciate your the generosity of you and your time here. So So number one, what what is your biggest pet peeve?

Kyle  
I think one of my biggest pet peeves is I mean, it goes to is I don't I read the comments and stuff. But I think a big pet peeve of mine is people assume something on the internet is what it is. And what worries me is that a lot of people actually, you know, believe what they see is real all the time. But, um it's a pet peeve of mine that people don't realize how much you know, can go into all this stuff. And that, you know, one little thing if something you know, they're not happy with if they're not happy with one little thing that you're doing wrong, then you know, they'll have to put in something negative about it when end of the day you're just kind of doing your thing.

Brad  

Yeah, you know, I mean, I get negative comments, but I don't let them get to me. Right You know, I I agree. It's funny because

Kyle  
I don't understand why people need to do that, but I get it. It's like this the internet, you know, I don't I don't really care. But in the day, it's like, I don't get it.

Brad  
Yeah, no, it's it's like you don't let it get to you and you're smart. But at the same time, it's still like a head scratcher Why, why there is that the negativity and people are just quick to post negative things in you're like, Okay, I'm just, I'm just a guy trying to try to do things that people might like. And if you don't like it, that's fine. No problem, but don't really get why you got it got to tear it down. But sadly, that is that is so much of the culture. So I can, I can appreciate that even with some of the ads that we'll do for muskox. Online, I'll see some of the criticisms that people will levy and it's like, I feel like you have to go out of your way to think some of those thoughts, but it is what it is. And, you know, we both know that those things are going to continue to happen. I'm maybe a more more positive thought, what is the greatest piece of advice you've ever been given?

Kyle  
That's a tough one. To be fair, I haven't got too much advice. in, in, in for what we're doing here, but I mean, I've been down sometimes just, you know, getting overwhelmed with things. And you know, I've had people just calming down just be like, Don't worry, it'll get better, just, you know, kind of keep your head where it needs to be. And just stay focused, and it'll get better for you. So it's worked for me.

Brad  
Yeah, this is gonna sound cheesy. And for those of you listening, please know that I'm aware this is gonna sound cheesy, but in all honesty, one of my favorite quotes is from the movie Rocky. And, and he says, you know, one of the most, one of the most important things in life is when is when you get knocked down to just keep getting back back. Excuse me, it's going that one more round when you don't think you can. That's what makes all the difference in life. And, and I really do think there's a lot of truth to it, because you've gotten knocked down. I've gotten knocked down, everybody's gotten knocked down. But it's sort of like, Okay, can you get it? Can you get back up? Can you go one more, more and more round and some of this stuff? Like, you don't want to be too too dramatic about it, but it's just kind of like, okay, day to day stuff. You got it. You know, the way you're successful is by continue to go forward on, you know, what I say 1000 faceless mornings when nobody's nobody's looking, and nobody's watching. So I think I think that's really important advice. And sometimes the best advices is not sexy. And that's how, you know, the most successful people make things happen. They just work hard every single day and continue to find ways to make things happen, even when they don't feel like it. Especially when they don't feel like it right.

Kyle  
Yeah, yeah, I think that's really just never. I mean, yeah, you never know when your moment could shine, I guess you could say, well, not a whole bunch of times, and just keep getting up and keep pushing. It'll come.

Brad  
Well that's a great note to end on. Kyle, we, we appreciate you joining us here on The Herd Has Spoken we appreciate you being part of the MuskOx Herd and we're excited to continue to follow you along the way people can follow you on YouTube, your channel boosted boys correct. And Instagram as well.

Kyle  
Yeah, yeah. Thank you for having me. Yes, it was my first podcast. So definitely warming up to it. But I enjoyed it a lot.