Every now and then, I sit down with one of our students and I’m reminded of exactly why Liz and I do what we do. My recent conversation with Lucy was one of those moments.
Lucy is a millennial who spent eight years grinding away as a corporate lawyer before deciding that the traditional path simply wasn’t going to deliver the life she wanted. Fast forward to today, and Lucy and her partner Reefe have 4X’d their income, gotten Reefe off the tools as an electrician, and built a thriving online lifestyle business that lets them be present with their young boys. The kicker? They did it in just 18 months – and you’ll want to watch our full conversation below to hear it in Lucy’s own words.
Lucy’s story is one I want every aspiring digital investor, side-hustler, and burnt-out professional to hear, because it dismantles a lot of the myths about what’s possible in today’s economy. In this article, I’ll unpack the key lessons from our conversation, the exact skills that powered her transformation, and why the foundations we teach inside our Digital Investors Program are more relevant now than ever.
The New Playbook: Why “Serving Your Time” Is a Trap
One of the most powerful moments in our chat came when Lucy asked me what I’d say to millennials who feel guilty about wanting balance, freedom, and lifestyle now – rather than waiting until they’re 65.
My answer? Bugger that.
The old playbook – go to uni, get a good job, work hard for 30 years, buy a house, retire comfortably – simply doesn’t work the same way anymore. Wages haven’t kept pace with property prices. Burnout rates have skyrocketed since COVID. And corporate loyalty is, frankly, a one-way street.
“Why the hell would you wait 10 years when you can do it in two? That’s just my generation telling you millennials you have to do the same crap. It’s pretty convenient if you run a law firm – you want a team of lawyers working as slaves for 30 years.” – Matt Raad
What Lucy and Reefe discovered, and what we now see across our community, is that there is another pathway. It just looks different – and it’s built on a different set of skills.
Lucy’s Turning Point: From Trade Business to Online Asset Owner
Lucy and Reefe weren’t always in the online world. They were running a solar electrical trade business – Reefe on the tools, Lucy juggling the corporate legal career and supporting the business behind the scenes.
Like so many tradie families, they were trapped in a classic problem: relying on third-party lead generators delivering low-quality leads that wasted hours of their time. They knew there had to be a better way.
That’s when they came across our training and joined the eBusiness Institute community. They committed to learning the digital skills – and within 18 months, they had completely transformed their business and lifestyle.
Here’s the kicker: they didn’t just generate more leads for their own business. They built an authority website, drove targeted traffic, attracted big corporates wanting to advertise, and opened up multiple income streams they didn’t even know existed.
If You Want to Build the Same Skills…
If Lucy’s story is striking a chord, this is exactly the transformation we coach inside our Digital Investors Program. It’s the same blueprint Liz and I have used to build our own portfolio of digital assets, and it’s the same blueprint Lucy, Reefe, and hundreds of other students are using to create a lifestyle freedom business – without needing to be tech experts when they start.
The Three Superpowers That Make Money Online (and Everywhere Else)
One of the things I drilled home with Lucy is that tech skills alone won’t make you rich. AI won’t make you rich. Tools won’t make you rich. What makes you rich – and free – is combining digital skills with what I call the three superpowers:
1. Sales
This is the granddaddy of all skills, and it’s the one people most resist. When Lucy first started, she was put off by the stereotypical “car salesman” image. But once she reframed sales as consultative – about helping people – everything changed.
Sales is the #1 skill we look for as angel investors. Every business needs someone who can sell. And whether you’re buying a website, flipping a digital asset, or running an e-commerce store, you need to understand the fundamentals of how to move someone from interest to action.
2. Networking
The #2 superpower – and one most people underestimate. Networking with the right people is, in my opinion, one of the biggest money-making skills of the AI era. Why? Because as automation strips away surface-level work, relationships become more valuable, not less.
3. Marketing
If you understand the foundations of marketing, you can market any business on the planet – online or bricks and mortar. This is what enables you to buy a rundown digital asset, see the potential, and renovate it into a profitable income stream.
“One plus one plus one does not equal three with these superpowers – it equals five to seven. Combine them with any other super skill you have, and you can go through the roof.” – Matt Raad
Why Digital Skills Are Recession-Proof
Lucy asked me a brilliant question during our chat: “Are these skills recession-proof?”
My answer is an emphatic yes – and here’s why.
If you can generate leads or targeted traffic, you are set for life. Every business, in every economy, in every climate, needs customers. In a recession, the successful businesses still have advertising budgets – and they become more desperate for someone who can deliver quality leads.
I remember the last recession. Because we could generate leads, tradies were lining up wanting us to send them work and build them websites. Not every business goes bust in a downturn – and the ones still standing have money and urgency.
On top of that, in a recession:
- Digital assets become cheaper – you can pick up rundown websites at bargain prices
- Quality leads become rarer as AI steals clicks – making your skill more valuable
- Multiple income streams (ads, affiliates, sponsorships, lead gen) give you resilience
The Foundations: Why Beginners Must Learn to Build a Website
One of the most common questions Lucy gets asked is: “With AI being able to build websites now, do I still need to learn how to do it myself?”
My answer is 100% yes.
Yes, AI can build a website for you. But if you don’t understand what it’s building, how it makes money, or how to optimise it for traffic and conversions, you’re just generating noise. The people who skip the foundations might produce something quickly, but the quality just isn’t there – and they have no idea how to fix it when it doesn’t perform.
This is exactly what Lucy experienced. She’ll be the first to admit she’s not naturally tech-savvy. But she invested the time to learn how to build a WordPress website properly. And once she had that foundation, every new tool that came along – including AI – was easy to layer on top.
“The first learning curve was the hardest. Once I learned how to build a website on WordPress, opening my laptop and trying the next new AI tool was easy. The foundations made everything else click.” – Lucy
Staying Curious in the Age of AI
The pace of change right now is extraordinary. AI is reportedly doubling in capability every couple of months. Even I get overwhelmed sometimes – one week the gurus are telling you Claude is king, the next week it’s ChatGPT, then it’s something else entirely.
So how do you stay sane and make progress?
Liz has a phrase she uses constantly: “stay curious.” You can’t stop the change, so you have to roll with it. And the way you do that without burning out is by following what she calls “the one thing” – break it down into one tiny action.
- Use AI to write one email
- Use it to draft one LinkedIn post
- Use it to research one niche
Just chip away. AI is the chainsaw – it lets you do in 10 minutes what used to take all day with an axe. But you still need to know which tree to cut down, and that comes from foundational knowledge of how online businesses actually make money.
The Many Ways to Make Money Online
One of the biggest “aha” moments for our students – and certainly for Lucy and Reefe – is realising just how many ways there are to make money online. Most beginners only think of one or two. The reality is, once you understand the foundations, you can pick and choose from a buffet of income streams:
- Lead generation for local businesses (the classic starter model)
- Display advertising on content websites
- Affiliate marketing – promoting other people’s products for commission
- Sponsorship deals with corporates who want access to your audience
- E-commerce and dropshipping
- Newsletter and email monetisation
- Renovating and flipping digital assets (our specialty)
- Influencer and content creator models
Lucy and Reefe are a perfect example. They combined Reefe’s electrical expertise with their new digital skills to build an educational solar website. Now big corporates are reaching out wanting to advertise to their targeted audience. That’s a model Lucy never even knew was possible when she was running the trade business.
The Hidden Asset You Already Have
Here’s something I want every reader to take to heart: the knowledge you already hold is an asset.
Most of our most successful students didn’t come from a tech background. They came from law, electrical trades, teaching, nursing, accounting, hobbies, parenting – you name it. What they had was existing knowledge or interest in something, and they combined it with digital skills to create something profitable.
- Lucy combined legal communication skills with online marketing
- Reefe combined electrical expertise with content creation
- Captain FI (one of our students) combined his career as a commercial pilot with a finance niche and retired in his 30s
You don’t need to invent something new. You just need the digital skills to package and distribute what you already know.
It’s Not About the Money Anymore – It’s About Freedom
One of the biggest shifts Liz and I have noticed since COVID is a fundamental change in why people want to build an online business.
In my generation, it was all about money. Get rich, retire wealthy. But today, our community is overwhelmingly telling us something different. They’re saying:
“Matt, I don’t need to be a millionaire. I just want freedom. I want to work when I want, wherever I want, with whoever I want. I want to be there for my kids. I don’t want to miss out on life.”
This is what we call the three W’s – and it’s the heart of a true lifestyle freedom business.
Lucy nailed this when she described their journey. After 4X’ing their income, she and Reefe made a conscious decision not to chase more growth. Instead, they’re sustaining their business, working three days a week, and being present with their boys. That’s the dream – and it’s available to you a lot faster than you think.
Key Takeaways: How to Start a Profitable Online Side Hustle
If you’re reading this and you’re sitting at a desk feeling burnt out, here’s the playbook to start a profitable online side hustle in summary:
- Invest in foundational digital skills – start by learning how to build a WordPress website and understand how websites make money
- Layer on the three superpowers – sales, networking, and marketing
- Combine these with your existing knowledge – your career, hobby, or area of interest is an asset
- Stay curious about AI – but don’t let it overwhelm you; use “the one thing” approach
- Focus on lifestyle, not just money – define your three W’s and build toward them
- Surround yourself with a community doing the same thing – isolation is the killer of progress
The Pathway Forward
Lucy’s story isn’t unique within our community – but it is remarkable. In 18 months, she’s gone from a burnt-out lawyer to a confident digital business owner who can build websites, generate targeted traffic, attract corporate sponsorships, and live life on her own terms.
That same pathway is open to you. Whether you’re a corporate professional staring down another 30 years of golden handcuffs, a tradie wanting to get off the tools, or a parent wanting to be present at the school gates – the skills we teach are recession-proof, AI-resilient, and lifestyle-aligned.
If you’re ready to stop waiting for “the right time” and start building your own lifestyle freedom business, the next step is to explore our flagship training program.
Learn more about the eBusiness Institute Digital Investors Program here – and discover how everyday people, with no prior tech experience, are using digital assets to create the freedom, income, and lifestyle they actually want.
The traditional path isn’t the only path anymore. As Lucy proved, the opportunities are right under your nose – you just need the foundations, the skills, and the courage to take the first step.
