*Troy Millings and Rashad Bilal built Earn Your Leisure (EYL) around a simple mission: making financial education accessible through conversations everyday people can relate to. Their platform has since expanded to include multiple podcasts, live events, books, and a financial literacy curriculum in schools.
The co-founders recently partnered with TextNow on “Outsmart the System,” a new content series highlighting entrepreneurs, creators, and cultural leaders who challenge traditional industry models.
Millings and Bilal spoke with EURweb about their company’s growth, the importance of ownership, and opportunities in the creator economy. They also discussed how EYL approaches brand partnerships without compromising its mission.
Education First, Authenticity Always
Millings said the brand’s growth started with education. “I think the most important thing was putting education at the forefront, but being very authentic to who we were,” he explained.
Scroll to continue reading
Millings comes from education, and Bilal comes from financial services. That background pointed them toward a bigger calling, and audiences noticed the difference.
“We’ve seen suits and ties and Wall Street,” Millings said. “We’ve heard about it, but they’ve never heard the message coming from the messengers like us.”
Bilal credited the brand’s growth to following its audience. “We listen to the audience, we listen to feedback, and we stay ahead of the curve,” he said. That approach led to events, books, and a school curriculum.
The mission never changed. Bilal said it remains “to relay the information in a way that’s fun, relatable, and understandable.”
Ownership by Necessity
Building a media brand was never the founders’ plan. “We didn’t really have the option, to be honest with you,” Bilal said. “We don’t come from a media background. I was a financial advisor. Troy was a teacher.”
Financial literacy came first. Bilal used his advising platform to spread the message and build an online client base. Audience demand soon called for a media arm, and EYL became a media company as soon as it officially formed.
Rethinking the Rules of Work
Asked which traditional rule he had to unlearn, Bilal pointed to a common belief about money. Many Americans learn early that “the harder that you work, the more money that you’re going to make,” he said.
Bilal urged a second look at that belief, especially in today’s economy. People need to work hard and smart, he added. That means making “your money work for you while you’re not working” and leveraging relationships. It also means understanding new age media.
Many workers reach a moment of realization, Bilal said. “Why is my boss making more than me? And I don’t ever see her.”
His takeaway came down to one line. “Just because you’re working hard doesn’t necessarily mean you’re working smart,” Bilal said.
Creators Think Like Owners
More creators are becoming entrepreneurs and media owners because they understand their power, Bilal said. “The creators are people that have tremendous power in the creative economy.”
Creators now approach partnerships with an entrepreneurial mindset instead of a talent mindset. “They have a platform, right? They have an audience. They have messaging. They can create their own narrative,” Bilal added.
In his view, creators now see themselves differently: “They’re looking at themselves more as a business than just somebody who’s talented and chasing paychecks.”
Choosing Partners With Purpose
Millings said TextNow made sense as a partner because both brands favor fresh approaches. “We like things that are creative, that are innovative, and TextNow is definitely a partner that had the same mission,” he explained.
Finance education has existed for years, but EYL delivers it differently. Millings described telecommunications the same way. “Outsmart the System” asks how to talk to people who have long known one system and are now meeting something new.
EYL puts the audience first when considering a partner. “I think the most important thing is who’s the audience that they’re speaking to. And for us, it was the everyday person,” Millings said.
Millings described the series audience as everyday entrepreneurs, including “the people that are trying to become game changers and disruptors in their respective industries.”
Mission alignment comes second, Millings said, and TextNow puts people first. “The brand can grow to places that you’ve never even envisioned.”
Staying Connected to the Audience
As EYL grows, the founders stay true to themselves. “One thing that myself and Rashad pride ourselves on is being a hundred percent who we are every single day,” Millings said.
People have watched that authenticity from the beginning, he added. Those longtime followers saw the founders start in the classroom, teaching young kids about finance. They also saw the pair sit at a dining room table with mics and lighting that did not work.
“We like to call it taking imperfect actions,” Millings said. Those actions let people into the founders’ world so they could grow alongside them.
That early audience now shares in the wins. As Millings put it, “Now when they see a lot of the successes, they feel like they’re part of it.”
Millings also stressed the brand’s reach. “This is not a domestic message. This is a global message,” he said.
Advice for Entrepreneurs and Creators
Millings offered three principles for anyone building on their own terms. “Be original in what you’re doing, be consistent in what you’re doing, and have conviction about what you’re doing,” he said.
Each principle has a job, Millings explained. “The consistency is going to be what shows that you’re going to outwork anybody else.” Originality differentiates a creator, and conviction supplies the belief that the idea will work.
Bilal also urged creators to be original. He warned against copying what already worked online. “See how you can stand out in a room full of everybody that’s trying to fit in,” he said.
Bilal noted that businesses often lean on systems, analytics, and AI. A lot of content is losing “the human element, the human touch, the creativity, the things that you really can’t measure,” he said.
Bilal used journalism as an example. AI can write an article, but a human element still sets strong work apart. He called that quality hard to teach and said it comes from trial, error, and feedback.
Many people chase quick money online and overlook the craft. “And it is an art,” he added. He urged creators to avoid treating their work as “an assembly line.”
“I would encourage them to really take time with it and have more authenticity and more passion,” he said.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Will Smith & DJ Jazzy Jeff Series ‘215’ In Development
Sign up for our Free daily newsletter HERE
