Geography & Culture Side Hustle Experiments w/ Rohith

[01:35] Paul: Today's conversation is a shorter conversation, about 20 minutes, with Rohit, and we talk about his journey over the past few years with a side hustle. And I wanted to experiment with doing some shorter episodes and featuring people out there trying to hack things together and make things work with what they're passionate about. Love to hear feedback, and if you have ideas or people I should talk to for these shorter episodes, let me know. Today I'm talking with Rohith Amruthar, who is a geography, culture, and travel nerd with a passion for promoting geographic and cultural literacy through through his platform and side gig we're going to dive into today called The Lost Geographer. He currently works full-time, but he explores this on the side, and we're going to dive into why he keeps doing it, why he started it, and what his vision is for The Lost Geographer.

Welcome to the podcast, Rohith.

[02:45] Rohith: Thanks for having me.

[02:47] Paul: When did you first start thinking about geography and cultural literacy?

[02:53] Rohith: Yeah, so it was very young for me. So when I was, I think from the beginning of my childhood, my father would travel a lot for work. He would go to all, he would go all over the world and his trips would sometimes be 4 countries in 2 weeks, which was pretty crazy. And obviously I wanted to go with him. He couldn't take me. So I did the next best thing, which was to learn about these countries myself.

And I think that just piqued my curiosity for geography. And so for example, when I was in elementary school and middle school, I went to— I'm from Virginia and I went to the Virginia state level of the National Geographic Bee 3 times. I even finished 5th in the state of Virginia at one point. And I just kind of put it in the back pocket for a little bit actually, because around that time, 13, 14, I was kind of told, all right, this is kind of this is a cute hobby, but you know, get a real job, right? And so I decided I was gonna study engineering. I went to college.

I was studying chemical engineering and economics. My goal was to work in oil and gas. And midway through college, I remember I was listening to a podcast by an entrepreneur and he was talking about take something that you're really good at and then teach it to people and monetize it. And I was like, whoa, that sounded so simple. I mean, obviously that's kind of what everyone preaches, but the way— I think the way he said it was very— it hit me. And so I go, all right, well, I'm really good at geography, and a lot of people, especially in America, are not, and through no fault of their own, just bad education.

And so that was kind of what started it all for me. I was 20 years old and I said, okay, well, I'm going to start this company where I promote geographic and cultural literacy so that people are more aware of geography, have better understanding of geography, what it is, and how they can best utilize it to improve their own lives as well as facilitating cross-cultural understanding.

[05:10] Paul: It's such a common theme I hear with people that start things that they do later in life. It's often a reconnection with something they were really excited about as a child. I know for me, getting more into computers now, I like love teaching myself how to build web pages as a kid. And it's like, oh, why did I lose touch with that? What were some of the first kind of feedback loops, maybe comment from a friend that's like, this is cool, that said, okay, maybe I really should do something with this that might not even have been tied to, hey, make money or monetize?

[05:49] Rohith: Yeah, so the initial idea was actually not necessarily to start a business but to write a book. And I started— I gave the idea to a few people and they were like, oh, this is really interesting. My geography knowledge Sucks. So, I mean, it was kind of across the board. I would just say everyone was saying how bad their geography knowledge was and how important this would be. And so from friends, I got a lot of positive feedback, but as I kind of went on, I think I was sort of losing steam in a sense that, okay, I was creating all this content, how was I going to monetize it?

And I think the real slap in the face came once when Through my school, I applied for some kind of grant, some kind of funding through the small business department, and some woman says— the woman who was reviewing me literally looked at me and said, this isn't a business, this is a hobby. And that was the real slap in the face where, of course, I was a little bit upset to hear that, but I mean, she was right at the end of the day, at that time.

[06:56] Paul: Yeah, so why keep going?

[07:00] Rohith: Why keep going? I mean, you know, whenever they talk about businesses failing, you know, what is it? Most businesses fail within the first 5 years or something like that. And when I hear that number or statistic or fact, I just always— I can't help but think that it's due to a lack of willpower. Now look, there might be extenuating circumstances, right? Like the person who started it has a family at home that he needs to feed or whatever.

But at the end of the day, I feel like there's— it's just that people either just lost touch with whatever they were going at, or they didn't have that much of an attachment to it in the first place.

[07:45] Paul: Yeah, or it's just super competitive space, right? Like Leadville, for example.

[07:49] Rohith: That too, absolutely. Or even in a super competitive space, maybe they didn't niche down enough and they weren't really willing to adjust their business plan. And so, for me, this is something that I see can really improve the lives of people around us, or people around the world. And it's something that I see no one else has done, which I think is why it's taken so long to monetize it, because I have not seen anyone do anything in this realm. I mean, there's one YouTube channel, Geography Now, which actually is a great— he's a great YouTube host and he's done a great job. And he's, I think, monetized mostly through YouTube and YouTube ads and things like that, right?

But I, I'm trying to go a different route. I want to make this more of like a full-on business. I think his— while it is doing very successfully, he's doing it very successfully, it's not necessarily like a, like a business necessarily, right?

[08:49] Paul: So what, what are some of the things you've done to experiment with this? I know I've seen you host dinners. And share that with people from those cultures as a way to kind of highlight their, their place they're from. What have you learned from doing different experiments like that? And maybe what kind of energy does that give you to kind of keep going?

[09:14] Rohith: I learned a lot of different ways on, you know, what works and what doesn't work. I learned a lot about how to sell to people. So, I mean, I'm naturally very introverted, and like I said, I studied engineering. And the thought of having to sell to people was terrifying. You know, it's terrifying. And still to this day, it's— because I'm doing cross-cultural consulting now and I am trying to reach out to people and do lead generation, things like that.

Like some of those things that might seem normal to your average extrovert are terrifying to me. And so that's kind of one of the one of the big things that has pushed me out of my comfort zone is I'm like, well, I gotta make money somehow. I gotta monetize this somehow. And you know, this is something that I really care about. So it's really pushing me out of my comfort zone. So that's one thing that I've learned.

And even when I'm hosting these dinners, so which by the way, let me give some context for these dinners. I wholeheartedly believe the best way to learn is through something that's interactive and fun. And I host these dinners because you learn about a country's geography and culture through its cuisine. And then we usually add an activity to make it a little bit more interactive. So for example, we hosted a dinner on Argentina in June, and we had Argentinian food, Argentinian wine, and we also had a tango instructor at the end to teach us tango.

[10:41] Paul: That's awesome.

[10:42] Rohith: It was so much fun, and everyone loved it. And then just a couple weeks ago, we had one on Japan. Where we had Japanese food and we had cocktails, but guess what? We had a mixologist there where you could go up to her table and she would show you how to make the cocktail with sake and whiskey. And so it was like with these dinners, having to reach out to people consistently, following up with them, it's like, oh, do I want to— I don't want to come off annoying, I don't want to come off as pesky, you know. So learning a lot of sales, learning a lot of lead generation, things like that.

That's kind of been the biggest takeaway that I've been learning recently in terms of that. And I've tried several different avenues of monetizing, and I can say, I mean, some of them I shouldn't have gone on for as long as I did because it cost me a lot of time and money. But at the end of the day, I mean, I look back and it's a learning experience.

[11:38] Paul: Yeah, are there common elements of the things that seem to have taken off a little more, maybe like you're more excited about them. Like, have you reflected on like where your energy and excitement level is and the activities you're doing?

[11:54] Rohith: Yeah, so I'll give you an example. When I, so just to give the audience a bit of context, I graduated college in 2016, went straight and got a job, and I was trying to work on this on the side as much as possible. I was suffering from migraines a little bit at the time, so it was kind of hard to. To really get that much time into it. And I quit my job actually to try and do this full-time for about 9 months, 6 months actually. And during that time I actually tried to convert it into a travel agency.

And being a travel agent is a lot more complicated than I thought. And not only that, it's like I didn't even want to do this.

[12:37] Paul: Yeah, that's a challenge with a lot of side gigs is people don't realize you're actually creating a job for yourself. So you need to align the motivation with actually wanting to do what you're trying to create. And it sounds like you experienced a little of that. How did you readjust from that? And it sounds like you decided to go back and get a job and kind of experiment a little more on the side.

[13:04] Rohith: Yeah, and that was a tough part. I had to put my ego aside because At that point, my identity was aligned with entrepreneur. But at the same time, I was like, okay, well, I have no money now. You know, I need to do something. So put my ego aside, go to people, ask them, hey, do you know any jobs that are open? And so I went back and got a job.

And I just, I look back and think about if there are any lessons I could have learned from that. And the biggest lesson was, And at first I always thought hearing this piece of advice was super cliché, but I felt it for myself is don't chase the money. Yeah, chase, chase or pursue whatever it is that you are passionate about. Find a way to monetize. I promise you there's some way to monetize whatever you're looking for. Like, I can give you an example.

Like, there are people out there who coach Fortnite. Making 5 figures a month, right? So, like, you can find a way to monetize something that you're passionate about. And I did not realize that. I wasn't thinking creatively enough. It was just that someone suggested, oh, be a travel agent, and that kind of was, was it.

I didn't think any further. I was like, well, that doesn't align with my core values of geography and culture.

[14:25] Paul: Yeah. Are you finding more joy in experimenting with it now? Than you were maybe a couple years ago?

[14:32] Rohith: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I'm having a lot more fun.

[14:35] Paul: Yeah. So it sounds like you're orienting a lot more around like joy, learning, and really trying to offer value to people.

[14:45] Rohith: Yeah, definitely. And look, during this whole time, I also want to add that I've also been really doing a lot of work on myself. So when I decided to get back into the workforce, I was obviously in a terrible place, uh, and that was last October. And since then I have been meditating consistently and I've been doing a lot of learning about the mind and learning about thoughts and all that kind of stuff. And so they've kind of aligned nicely with the work I've been doing. So that has really helped put me in a better place.

And make me really enjoy what I'm doing.

[15:26] Paul: Yeah, that's awesome. I think a lot of people get frustrated when they're really focused on the, I must monetize, because it turns into a one metric pursuit, right? So if you're not making any money, everything's a failure, right? Whereas it looks like you've kind of reoriented around finding joy. In what you're doing, and that's a little more ambiguous. Plus, you can kind of help create that with your own energy.

So that's really cool. So I'd love to touch on the podcast. You've done, I think, 138 episodes now. Different countries. Why? What keeps you going with that?

Like, what, what is most energizing about the podcast?

[16:15] Rohith: That's a great question, and I ask myself that a lot once I go through and edit the podcast, because some of these— as you know, podcast editing can be a pain. But I just like that, again, I'm doing something that no one else has done, and I'm doing something that needs to be done, because we have all of these preconceived notions about how a country is that we think it should be. So X country is a certain way when we haven't even been to that country. And I think by getting someone from that country to talk about it, it's really eye-opening. And especially for me, like, I already know a lot about geography and culture, but every single episode I learn some new things, and it's always an incredible experience.

Like, I love recording the episodes because I learn so much too, and I can only imagine what someone who doesn't know anything about that country can learn and how their your life can be enriched through this, uh, guest who is talking about his or her home country.

[17:27] Paul: Yeah, I think the biggest joy for me with the podcast is just making connections and learning from people and basically learn how to get better at interviewing as well. I'm still trying to improve, uh, but, uh, it's exciting to kind of try and play with an interview like this and try to help the person tell their story in a powerful way.

[17:50] Rohith: Absolutely.

[17:52] Paul: Are there any lessons you'd want to share with people on kind of experimenting with side hustles? What do you tell people when they come to you for advice and say, hey, I'm thinking of starting something? It seems like you're still trying to make it work, but you've actually done a ton of different things, right? You've hosted these dinners, you've hosted podcasts, you've experimented with starting a travel agency. And you've experimented in a lot of different ways. What advice do you give to people when they ask you?

[18:23] Rohith: So a couple things that I can think of. The first one is probably my biggest pitfall in a lot of areas of my life is don't give up when it gets hard. And I think I've done that a few times on certain occasions where it's just like, oh, it's gonna get too hard. I, I—

[18:39] Paul: self-doubt.

[18:40] Rohith: Yeah, self-doubt and shiny object syndrome. Oh, but this looks nice. So let me go ahead and, you know, maybe I'll make money using that method. And so no, just focus on one thing. So you were talking about the podcast and I was also mentioning earlier how I'm trying to grow my cross-cultural consulting. At the moment I'm actually reducing the frequency of my podcasts so I can focus on cross-cultural consulting and bring in the money first before I go back and create content.

Because right now that's just like, I know I said don't worry about the money. But at the same time, the money is what you need to run your company. And so when I say don't focus on the money, don't actively think about the lack of money is what I'm trying to say, right?

[19:25] Paul: That gets you into scarcity mindset.

[19:27] Rohith: Exactly. And when you're doing your sales calls, it comes across. And so it's like, okay, well, yes, I'm charging these people X amount of money. But I, at the end of the day, like, I want to help these people. Like, I genuinely want to help these people. And so that mindset, you know, is what, is what takes away from the scarcity mindset.

And so going back to focusing though, like, personally, I'm focusing on this just so that I can get the money flowing in and then go back and create more content. So it's really important to focus on one thing at a time. I guess that's my first piece of advice. And my second piece of advice would be to get a mentor. You can waste all the time and resources in the world trying to figure out on your own, and, and it'll take you years. It can take you years.

But if you find a mentor who is doing exactly what you wanna do, and that's really important, right? They need to be doing exactly what you're doing right now. And invest, like they're gonna have, probably have a coaching program to help you build your business. Invest. Like they will have the steps outlined for you and all you need to do is just follow those steps and execute. Now it's not gonna be easy.

It's still gonna require some work, but you're gonna have someone there to help out. Like for example, with what I'm doing, the people that I'm working with, working under, they are incredibly helpful because lead gen is something very new to me, like I mentioned. And I don't necessarily have the thickest skin. To deal with people pushing back. And so they've been incredibly helpful in supporting me in that realm. So I guess that's the second piece of advice.