Drone to 1K Podcast by Drone Launch Academy
by Drone Launch Academy
In the Drone to 1K Podcast, we take an inside look at how successful drone business owners got started and scaled their company to making $1,000 per month and beyond. Whether you're just looking to make a little side cash with your drone or you want to turn your passion into a full-time career, we hope that the Drone to 1K Podcast will inspire you to take the plunge and succeed with your own drone business.
Episodes
-
S7/EP 7 Jeremy Proctor of Central Texas Aerials
In this episode of the Drone to 1K Podcast, we sit down with Jeremy Proctor, owner of Central Texas Aerials. Jeremy shares his remarkable journey of turning a therapeutic hobby into a thriving drone business that generated nearly $70K in revenue during his first full year. After being laid off…
more -
S7/EP 6 Michael Lilley of Wet Dog Drone Serivces
Join us for a conversation with Michael Lilley, founder of Wet Dog Drones, as he shares his journey from drone enthusiast to successful construction site documentation specialist. Michael reveals how he built a thriving drone business while working a full-time job in the construction industry. In...
-
S7/EP 5 Cody Retlich of Midwest Aerial Productions
In this episode of the Drone to 1K Podcast, host David Young talks with Cody Retlich about: Acquiring a drone service business (MKE Drones) for minimal upfront cost Growing revenue by 30% through strategic business acquisition Tips for new drone entrepreneurs on client acquisition Building a...
-
S7/EP 4 Jon Jeffress of Deep South Focus
In this episode, we dive into Jon Jeffress's incredible journey from weekend car show photographer to a successful real estate media production entrepreneur. Learn how he transformed his business, navigated the challenges of growth, and built a half-million-dollar company in Mobile, Alabama. 📸...
-
S7/EP 3 Brandon Beal of Elevation Aerial Application
Our guest for this episode is Brandon Beal of Elevation Aerial Application. 🚁 Highlights from this episode: Getting Started: Brandon came from a traditional aviation background working with helicopters before transitioning to drones in 2017. He moved to Virginia during COVID to pursue his dream…
more -
S7/EP 2 Matt Nugent of Wing Walker Aerial Photography
In this episode, we sit down with Matt Nugent, founder of Wing Walker Aerial Photography in Seattle, who shares his journey from reluctant police drone operator to successful drone business owner. Matt reveals how he built a thriving side business generating $5,000+ monthly while maintaining his...
-
S7/EP 1 Chris Knipp of SkyMedia 423- From Church Pastor to $1,000 Drone Jobs
We're excited to announce that Season 7 Episode 1 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is out! Our guest for this episode is Chris Knipp of Sky Media 423. Highlights from this episode: Unexpected Beginning: Chris's drone journey started with a Mavic Mini purchase in late 2019 for his church's kids…
more -
S6/EP 10 Juan Quinones of LuxyDrone
We're excited to announce that Season 6 Episode 10 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is out! Our guest for this episode is Juan Quinones of LuxyDrone. https://www.instagram.com/juan.c.quinonez/ Juan Quinones, founder of FPV Creator Pro and Luxy Drone, shared his journey, highlighting his transition…
more -
S6/EP 9 Guillermo Wenzel of Drone Sky Visuals
We're excited to announce that Season 6 Episode 9 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is out! Our guest for this episode is Guillermo Wenzel of Drone Sky Visuals. Guillermo, founder of Drone Sky Visuals, came back to the podcast to talk about how he's been doing since his last appearance on the podcast…
more -
S6/EP 8 Noah Ruiz of Soaring Eagle Technologies
Season 6 Episode 8 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is out! Our guest for this episode is Noah Ruiz of Soaring Eagle Technologies. Noah Ruiz, founder of Soaring Eagle Technologies, transitioned from capturing photos of houses to specializing in infrastructure inspection with drones. 🚁 Highlights from...
-
S6/EP 7 Zach Pieper of Quantum Land Design and Arrowview Services
Our guest for this episode is Zach Pieper of Quantum Land Design and Arrowview Services. Zach worked for Caterpillar in civil engineering and then ventured into entrepreneurship by establishing Quantum Land Design and Arrowview Services. These companies specialize in services for contractors and...
-
S6/EP 6 Matt Harvey of Edge Drone Services
Our guest for this episode is Matt Harvey of Edge Drone Services. https://edgedroneservices.com/ Here are the main highlights of this episode: Matt's journey into the drone industry began while he was still in college, sparked by a conversation at a construction company where he was employed. He...
-
S6/EP 5 Pedro Silva of Drone By Dro
Welcome back to the Drone to 1K podcast! In Season 6, Episode 5, host David Young catches up with Pedro Silva of Drones by Dro. Pedro shares his journey from part-time drone enthusiast to running a thriving drone business full time. Tune in for valuable insights on starting and growing a drone...
-
S6/EP 4 Blake Skor of CT Aerial Photo
Welcome back to Season Six, Episode Four of the Drone to 1K Podcast! 🚁 In this episode, David Young sits down with Blake Skor of CT Aerial Photo, LLC. Blake, at just 18 years old, shares his inspiring journey into the world of drone photography and videography. One highlight of the conversation…
more -
S6/EP 3 Jeff Hughes of Campfire Video Solutions
Our guest for this week's episode is Jeff Hughes of Campfire Video Solutions. https://campfirevideos.com/ Jeff's journey started from a job where he made videos to promote a home inspection company.Then, during the pandemic, he tried out drones for real estate photos and videos and became a...
-
S6/EP 2 Cody Retlich of Midwest Aerial Productions and DroneAdair
Join us as we chat with Cody Retlich of Midwest Aerial Productions (MAP) and DroneAdair. In this episode of Drone To $1K, Cody shares his stories and experiences, giving us a peek into the exciting realm of aerial innovation. 🔍 What to Expect: College Spark: Cody's interest in drones took off...
-
S6/EP 1 Brian Koester of Southbay Drone Services
We're excited to announce that Season 6 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is officially here! Our first podcast guest of season 6 is Brian Koester of Southbay Drone Services. Brian's journey began with real estate photography, evolving into a broader range of drone services. Brian shares insights on:...
-
S5/EP 10 Thomas Wasinski of Aerial Agents
Welcome to the final episode of Drone to $1K, Season 5! In today's episode, we have a special guest, Thomas Wasinski from Ariel Agents. Thomas shares his fascinating journey from starting drones as a side hustle to turning it into a full-time career. He has worked with renowned companies like…
more -
S5/EP 9 Robert Nix of RE Drone SC
In this episode of Drone to 1K podcast, David interviews Robert Nix, a drone business owner of RE Drone SC. David and Robert discuss Robert's journey from a hobbyist drone pilot to a full-time drone business owner, offering tips and tricks for those starting from scratch. Robert is from South...
-
S5/EP 8 Curtis Kloc of Inspections Over Coffee
This week’s guest is Curtis Kloc from Inspections Over Coffee. Inspections Over Coffee is an inspection company that uses drones to help inspect roofs. The company also sells franchises, and Curtis says that everyone that purchases a franchise also has to get licensed and learn how to use drones…
more -
S5/EP 7 Pedro Silva of Drone By Dro
Our guest this week is Pedro Silva from Drone by Dro. Since getting his Part 107 license, Pedro has worked on a variety of drone photography and videography jobs, including construction work, real estate listing photos and videos, and even a video for a hospital that recently did a huge…
more -
S5/EP 6 Chris Francescani of Sunset Beach Films
This week's guest is Chris Francescani from Sunset Beach Films. Chris was a journalist and reporter for 25 years. Now, he uses drones to create marketing and promotional videos for local businesses in Eastern Long Island. Chris has been able to find new clients by joining chambers of commerce and...
-
S5/EP 5 Grant Puckrin of 19th UAS Precision
Our guest this week is Grant Puckrin from 19th UAS Precision. Grant's drone business started out doing real estate photography and videography. Now, Grant wants to expand into the agriculture industry. Growing up on a farm, Grant experienced firsthand the hard work and long hours that farmers put...
-
S5/EP 3 Joe Morgan of Eyes Above Texas Imagery
Our guest this week is Joe Morgan from Eyes Above Texas Imagery. Joe's been a Part 107-licensed drone pilot since 2017. Since then, he's gained tons of experience in the drone industry. He's skilled in photography & videography, mapping & photogrammetry, and inspection work. Over the past several...
-
S5/EP 2 Eric Hellinger of Vivid Flight Media
Eric Hellinger from Vivid Flight Media is our guest for this week's episode. Eric only started flying drones about a year and a half ago, and he's already running a successful drone business that specializes in providing FPV videos. If you're not familiar with FPV, it stands for first person…
more -
S5/EP 1 Dusty Jolley of Jolley Works LLC
Season 5 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is here! This week, Dusty Jolley joins us as our first podcast guest of season 5. Since getting his Part 107 license back in 2020, Dusty has been able to quit his job in insurance (which he was miserable at) so he can pursue 2 of his hobbies: flying drones and...
-
S4/EP 10 Danny Elassad of Mole Media and Hoverscape
Danny Elassad from Mole Media and Hoverscape joins us this week to talk about his full-time drone job AND his drone side hustle! Danny is the chief remote pilot at Hoverscape, where he uses drones to create “digital twins” (extremely accurate, high resolution 3D models) of large structures, like...
-
S4/EP 9 Thom Monterville of NexGen Drones
This week, our guest is Thom Monterville from NexGen Drones, LLC. Currently, Thom’s business is focused on agriculture and mapping drone services. In this episode, Thom talks about how he started his business, how he landed his first paid job (which happened to be with one of the largest cattle…
more -
S4/EP 8 Patrick Whalen of Backstage Aerial
Patrick Whalen of Backstage Aerial joins us this week to talk about how he grew his business from $0 to 6 figures in less than a year. When Patrick’s job was affected by the pandemic, he decided to invest in a drone and get his Part 107 license. In no time, he was landing jobs with household name...
-
S4/EP 7 Guillermo Wenzel of Drone Sky Visuals
This week, Guillermo Wenzel joins us to talk about how he’s built and scaled his drone business, Drone Sky Visuals. Since starting his business in 2019, Guillermo has gotten experience working in the real estate, construction, inspection, and event industries. During this episode, he talks about...
-
S4/EP 6 Derek Cameron of 3805 Productions
This week on the Drone to $1K Podcast, you’ll get to hear from Derek Cameron of 3805 Productions. Derek does photography and videography, as well as 3D mapping and modeling. Derek first started his business just before the country shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, he’s had…
more -
S4/EP 5 Jeff Carrillo of Tarillo Vue
Our guest on this week’s episode is Jeff Carrillo from Tarillo Vue. Over the past few years, Jeff has used drones to do creative work and inspection work for clients in many industries. One of the services he specializes in is drone thermography. During the episode, Jeff talks about how he got...
-
S4/EP 4 Merrill McKee of Northern Perspectives
Merrill McKee from Northern Perspectives joins us on this week’s episode of the Drone to $1K Podcast. Merrill went from listening to the Drone to $1K Podcast and hoping to someday achieve what our guests have accomplished, to now being a D$1K Podcast guest himself – which means that he now owns…
more -
S4/EP 3 James Grace of JMG Aerial Imagery
Our guest this week is James Grace of JMG Aerial Imagery. James provides aerial photography and videography services for clients in the construction and real estate industries. Before starting his own drone business in early 2019, James worked in post-production at Warner Brothers and Sony...
-
S4/EP 2 Kevin Olson of Maryland Drone Guy
This week, Kevin Olson of Maryland Drone Guy joins us to talk about his aerial photography and videographer business, which he’s successfully grown over the past year. Kevin first started flying drones at the beginning of the COVID pandemic and got his Part 107 license last July. Since then…
more -
S4/EP 1 Jen Allen of Wildwood Media
DRONE TO $1K PODCAST SEASON 4 / EPISODE 1 WITH JEN ALLEN Season 4 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is officially here! In this week’s episode, Jen Allen of Wildwood Media tells us all about how she’s used drones to capture aerial photos and videos for her real estate and wedding clients. Jen has been...
-
S3/EP 10 Caleb Randall of Randall Productions
DRONE TO $1K PODCAST SEASON 3 / EPISODE 10 WITH CALEB RANDALL On this week’s episode, Caleb Randall of Randall Productions joins us to talk about how he’s used drones to grow his business to making 6 figures a year. Caleb started out doing wedding videography, but eventually shifted to creating...
-
S3/EP 9 Jorge Casamiquela of JFC prooductions
DRONE TO $1K PODCAST SEASON 3 / EPISODE 9 WITH JORGE CASAMIQUELA This week, Jorge Casamiquela, our student support manager here at Drone Launch, joins us to talk about how he has successfully built his drone business, all while working part-time for Drone Launch Academy. In this episode, Jorge...
-
S3/EP 8 Rut Patel of Voyager Industries
DRONE TO $1K PODCAST SEASON 3 / EPISODE 8 WITH RUT PATEL In this week’s episode, Rut Patel of Voyager Industries tells listeners how he grew his engineering business to the point where it’s making hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. A few years ago, Rut quit both of his jobs to pursue his...
-
S3/EP 7 Philip Hurst from Philip Hurst Media
DRONE TO $1K PODCAST SEASON 3 / EPISODE 7 WITH PHILIP HURST Philip Hurst is the owner of Philip Hurst Media. Introduction Philip got his first drone about a year ago. He was working for an architectural company and had the idea of using a drone for roof inspections. He ended up using his drone to...
-
S3/EP 6 Jonathan Stettler from Steady Focus Media
Jonathan Stettler is the owner of Steady Focus Media, a business that specializes in providing photography and videography services for businesses and real estate. Introduction Jonathan has always been into drones. The first time he saw a drone, his friend was flying one of the original DJI Mavic...
-
S3/EP 5: Alex Castillo from LA Aerial Image
Alex is the owner of LA Aerial Image. Introduction Alex was the first guest when the podcast came out about a year and a half ago. Alex was an original RC plane flyer. Then when he was older, he was able to afford this stuff. One day at the airfield, he saw some guy with a quad copter and knew he...
-
S3/EP 4: Spencer Boyd from Aerodrone Solutions
Spencer is the owner of Aerodrone Solutions. Introduction: Spencer started Aerodrone early in COVID. He’d been in military, then went to college, found drones and did military contracting in Middle East. Because that work was touch-and-go, when he returned from Afghanistan in April and in May, he...
-
S3/EP 3: Chris Dantonio from Chris Dantonio Drone Photography
Chris is the owner of Chris Dantonio Drone Photography Introduction: Chris says he got in a “little late” and “by accident”, because he started about four years ago at 43 years old. His parents bought him a little toy drone that had a small camera. He flew it for a week, broke it and knew he…
more -
S3/EP 2: Nick Frandjian from Open House Foto
Nick is the CEO & Lead Photographer for Open House Foto located in Los Angeles. Introduction: Nick bought his first drone, a Phantom2 with a GoPro in 2015 for $2,500. He’d just left his full-time job at a cable company that he hated working for. He knew that he had some creativity but didn't want...
-
S3/EP 1: Liam Abrigg from Bentley Studios
Liam is a Photographer/Videographer and Owner with Bentley Studios Introduction: Liam specializes in photography and video, mostly in the wedding industry, averaging about 40 weddings a year, and incorporating the drone. He also takes photos of the transitions of projects for roofing companies....
-
S2/EP 10: Fred Light from Nashua Video Tours
Fred owns and operates Nashua Video Tours, a real estate video and photography company. David: ”Tell us about your company.” Fred has been doing this for 15 years, starting with putting video online. Because the internet didn't support video very well, realtors didn't have computers, or didn't…
more -
S2/EP 9: Cody Retlich from Midwest Aerial Productions
Cody Retlich is founder of Midwest Aerial Productions. David: “Why don't you start by telling us a little bit about yourself and how you got into drones?” Cody is from Wisconsin and went to school for entrepreneurship and professional sales, so he knew he wanted to run his own business. He’d…
more -
S2/EP 8: Jeremiah Oschwald from Beardhouse Media
Jeremiah Oschwald owns and operates Beardhouse Media, a real estate marketing business, and Overland Pioneers, an outdoor lifestyle marketing business. David: “Why don't you tell us who you are and what your company is? How did you get into real estate marketing? When did you first mess around…
more
About this show
In the Drone to 1K Podcast, we take an inside look at how successful drone business owners got started and scaled their company to making $1,000 per month and beyond. Whether you're just looking to make a little side cash with your drone or you want to turn your passion into a full-time career, we hope that the Drone to 1K Podcast will inspire you to take the plunge and succeed with your own drone business.
Hosted by
Drone Launch Academy
Categories