From Travis Kelce to Michelle Obama, it seems that everyone has a podcast these days. That momentum is part of the broader surge in the creator economy, projected by Goldman Sachs to approach a half-trillion dollars by 2027.
But it’s not just big names profiting off their celebrity status, a new wave of influencers and entrepreneurs are finding success doing something they love, while making millions at the same time.
Mick Hunt is one of them.
The 47-year-old has topped the charts on Apple podcasts for the past six months with his self-improvement show, Mick Unplugged. On Friday, he sat at #1—beating podcast giants like Joe Rogan and Alex Cooper.
And while Hunt has occasionally followed the playbook of shows that have brought in big names, including entrepreneur Gary Vee and music executive Mathew Knowles (father to Beyonce), his guests are largely everyday people who have achieved their own version of success and unlocked their “Because” or core-driving force.
“Everyone’s overcome something in their life, everyone’s had an obstacle. I don’t care how successful anyone is, and everyone’s version of success is their own version of success, but everyone’s going through something to get to that version,” Hunt tells Fortune.
From MBA grad to multimillionaire
Hunt’s career began not in media but in insurance. Fresh out of graduating with an MBA in 2001, he joined a local Nationwide Insurance branch as a sales manager and quickly helped it grow into the top-performing agency in the country. Still, he was restless.
“I realized I was helping build someone else’s dreams, and I felt like I have my own dreams and visions too, and I wanted to take the risk and do this for myself,” he says. “So I started my own agency from scratch, no mergers, no acquisitions, just really building the processes that I felt fit me.”
By the time he was 40, the gamble paid off: he sold two businesses worth nearly $100 million and pivoted to consulting, helping others do the same.
Podcasting was a next-step experiment—but executed with the same rigor: “I didn’t want to just have a hobby podcast, because time is our most valuable asset, and I don’t have time to just play around with the podcast,” he says. “I wanted to make sure that I put in the same principles of, okay, what are our metrics? How do we win?”
And win Hunt has. While simultaneously climbing up Apple’s top charts, Mick Unplugged has turned a profit and now brings in over $7 million a year. That’s in addition to the $20 million annual rate of his insurance consultancy. Hunt also has amassed nearly 1 million followers on Instagram.
Anyone can become a podcaster
The rise in the content creation market can largely be credited to Gen Z. Not only are they the biggest consumers of online content, 57% have big dreams of becoming an influencer one day, according to one Morning Consult survey from 2023.
The growth may only be compounded considering the Trump administration plans to allow digital content creators to claim a tax deduction next year on the portion of their income that comes from tips, according to Business Insider.
So, for those looking to hop on the wagon—and potentially emulate Hunt’s success—there’s good news: “Here’s the great thing about podcasting, everybody can do one,” Hunt says.
“You can start a podcast with your phone, literally you just need a recording device. And it doesn’t have to be completely buttoned up and polished. You can just get your message out there.”
But that doesn’t mean you can expect to find an audience immediately, he says. Even with a large professional network, it took Hunt months to get off the ground.
“Don’t try to shoot for the moon on day one,” Hunt says. “Make sure that you have a clearly defined message, and then just get 10 followers. Those 10 will then be 100 and then, before you know it, you’ve built a community.”
And while Hunt has long been an analytics man, he credits his differentiator to being authentic. At the close of every episode, Mick Unplugged drives home the reminder that has become his mantra:
“Your ‘because’ is your superpower.”
