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The LFG Show
He Got Robbed by an Affiliate… Then Built a Million Dollar Empire ft. Ian Brennan
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The fastest way to kill a lead gen business is chasing scale before you’ve earned trust. From Miami, we sit down with Ian Brennan of Avanto Media to break down what it really takes to win in affiliate marketing when buyers are stricter, traffic is noisier, and the easy days are gone.
Ian goes all the way back to 2008 and shares a brutal early lesson that shaped how he operates today. We dive into Avanto Media’s core verticals like auto insurance, auto finance, personal loans, and mortgage products like refi and HELOC, plus why mortgage leads are both high payout and high risk if you don’t respect compliance.
This episode is for real operators. If you care about buyer KPIs, quality, compliance, and building campaigns that actually last, this is the playbook.
We also get into what most people won’t say out loud — conferences don’t make you money unless you know how to work them. The booth is just the beginning. The real ROI comes from follow-up, relationships, and being intentional about who you build with.
Then we shift into health, stress, and longevity… and Ian’s Finland-inspired sauna culture that turned into an invite-only networking experience: Affiliate Sauna.
If you’re building in lead gen, performance marketing, or pay-per-call… this is a must watch.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Sponsor Messages And Offers
1:02 Miami Intro And Guest Welcome
1:49 Early Career And A Hard Lesson
2:42 Avanto Media Verticals And Mortgages
3:40 Why Lead Gen Got Harder
8:20 Vetting Partners And Hiring Right
10:59 Making Events Pay Over Time
18:40 Health Habits For High Stress Work
22:49 Finland Saunas And A New Networking Event
29:28 Where To Find Ian And Closing
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Sponsor Messages And Offers
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SPEAKER_00Yeah.
Early Career And A Hard Lesson
SPEAKER_01Uh, we've done some good business together here, and this guy's got a very interesting story. You know, he started out as an affiliate manager doing some promo stuff, and now he's got his own lead chain company. They're growing by leaves and bounds, man. You guys are already like when you look at the progression, I think you're doing everything in the right manner, man. So I want to talk about it. You got a nice booth here, a good team here, man. So it was great to have you on the show. Yeah, thank you. I've always wanted to be on this show. So I know we've been talking about for a while. And it's been, you know how it is that these shows is tough, man. It's yeah, it's like a blur, and there's so much stuff going on. But uh yeah, let's get into it, man. I mean, uh, you got into this what year, 2008?
Avanto Media Verticals And Mortgages
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I started in 08. So um out of college, I wanted to be in a career where the harder I worked, the more I would make. You know, I didn't want to have just a normal nine to five job. So I started out at the bottom as an affiliate manager, built up a really big business there. Uh, that company, the owner of the company, like didn't pay affiliates, literally, my accounts, and he stole money from affiliates and shut it down. It was like an actual total nightmare. Imagine being an affiliate manager. You grow all this revenue for your pups, and then the owner like doesn't pay them. So it's really hundreds of thousands, hundreds. Like, so I got out, thankfully, um, went to a different company, built that up, and I started my own thing in 2020. Um, I always wanted to start my own thing. And uh, yeah, now Avonto is six years old. We got 11 full-time employees at a local office in Florida. Um, it's really amazing. Yeah. What are the verticals you're specializing in right now? So we're big into Legion, um, auto insurance, auto finance, personal finance, uh, mortgages like ReFi, HELOC. We do some calls, inbounds, but I would say those are the top verticals. Yeah, I'm very bullish on mortgage right now, man.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. The American consumer strap, they're fucking the money's tied up in their houses, right? Yeah, so I think that you're gonna see a big uh I mean I don't know there's money being made, but I think it has to be a gold rush in that. You agree or no?
SPEAKER_00You know, mortgages, mortgage leads are tough. It's like very sensitive, very high payouts. So you really have to meet the buyer KPIs. So yeah, mortgages can be good, but they're really sensitive campaigns. You gotta nurture like a baby. And like some of our best ads, they've taken years to build relationships and to dial in. And like, you know, me, I'm I'm in this for the long game, like 18 years. You know, as an affiliate mindset, you want to make money and like make as much as you can, but if you want a campaign to last for years, you really gotta dial it in and optimize.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so let's um let's talk about this. I don't know how you feel, but there was a freaking did this lead genus uh the whole industry, it was easy, I feel like a lot easier, right? A few years ago, man. I feel like, man, you could scale campaigns fast, things weren't as saturated. It's it has it become harder?
SPEAKER_00It's become harder in certain ways, but like if you develop the right systems and processes, it becomes easier. So, you know, you have AI and ad creation with that. But as long as you're like following the rules and have the right systems in place, like for us, we've been growing. Like some lot of people, a lot of companies are shutting down. Um, but we're doing things the right way, slowly but surely. Like, I'll reinvest everything back into the business. You won't see me in an exotic car because I keep that money in the company. I'd rather hire an employee than drive a Lambo.
SPEAKER_01All right, let's talk about that too, because I you're right. I the that last couple years, man, geez, so many companies and that I'm not just talking about just lead gendering, I'm talking about like fucking clients. I mean, I mean, I was bigger solar. I mean, solar was like, wow, it got fucked. Like they call it a solar coaster. And man, this was the biggest dip I've seen since I I've been in it. You can see in the damn stock chart. So what what what do you think separated uh I guess we'll talk about lead gender, whatever. Like what how were like how were some companies are are able to weather the storm versus others? And I think a lot of it has to do with cash flow, right?
SPEAKER_00Managing, managing expenses. Do you agree or no? I mean, I think the thing I love about industry the most is no matter what the economy is, there's always ads to run. And you can kind of pivot or adapt based on that. So like solar was big for you back in the day, that has changed a lot, but you've pivoted and you found other ways to run ads or different types of ads. So I think what allows you to kind of adapt is um your relationships with buyers, having good people working for you. So like you mentioned mortgage being an opportunity, you know, interest rates are really high right now. Uh, we do a lot of loan leads. And I've personal loan? Yeah, personal loan, auto loans. And I've talked to clients that are like, look, if you met me in 2020, you could run 10,000 leads a day, you know, no cap. But now, like the whole market has changed, people's credit is tied up. So, you know, maybe you could do a thousand leads a day instead. Um, and you know, I I look at the upside of that. Eventually, I think interest rates will go down. And if we've been able to weather the storm so far, that's gonna be a lot of upside when it does.
SPEAKER_01Pivoting is huge, right? In our industry. How do you know when to pivot? Because there's so many ways you could pivot. There's this, there's that, there's e-comm, there's there's telehealth, right? There's there's mortgage we're talking about. There's so many, it's it's shiny objects, is what it is, right? So I guess that's what the all those how do you know which is the right pivot to make? And and if it's not the right pivot, when do you notice? Okay, I gotta go fuck this thing. Let me try something else.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, that's a good question. That's something I think every CEO struggles with. You know, if you grasp at too many straws, you know, you're gonna come up empty-handed. I think I look at evergreen industries mainly, um, and I try not to get too tied up. Like, you remember ACA was big, and now half these ACA companies are gone. And um, you know, I I think if you believe in the product, it's an evergreen product. It could be e-com, could be like could be uh telehealth. I think it that's you know, you test the waters with it. That's another thing. Like you'll try an offer, maybe bring on a client in that vertical, and if it works well, you you scale it. I mean, a lot of times too though, if you bring on only one client, they might not they might not be the good one. Yeah, so another thing is like really like let's say it's uh an insurance client, you know, protecting the quality of that lead is so important because you might only get one shot. It could they all talk to each other, too. Yeah, it could take one year, you get through contracts and finally get a campaign line. If you have like one bad affiliate run, you're done. Yeah. So uh being really protective of your buyers, of who you work with, you know, having run affiliates for 18 years, I've seen pretty much everything, every type of ad, every type of like shitty traffic. And now I train my team like you know, really, really carefully. Like, we're like a vault. It's really hard to get approved. And um, and my team gets it. Like, we'll we'll show them like this is why this guy, like, there's actually so many fraudulent affiliates out there that say they do one thing and then they'll run something completely different, and then who gets sued? You know, the company, like us. Thankfully, we never have been. But you know, I I document everything too. So when I train my employees, I show them like exactly like what to look out for. Um, and I'm with them every day, so that also really helps.
Vetting Partners And Hiring Right
SPEAKER_01Let's talk. I I love that you said that because, bro, I mean, like we talked about this for um LFG sure. I fucking live this life, I'm fucking always going. Yeah, I mean, it's it's a real fucking thing. But I fucked up a lot of things. I pissed away and made so many damn mistakes that's cost me a lot of money, man, yeah, by going too fast. And I've had people on my team, I love hiring people that go fast too, but you need to have that balance, you know. It's like you know, it's like my my wife, she she helps control she helps keep me out of fucking trouble. Like she's like she knows me so well, yeah, and she knows sometimes I want to, she's got good instinct, right? A good gut. So the point of what I'm trying to say is that you talk about that vault. Can you can you without revealing all the sauce, like what's what are two key points? Because it's um it's amazing how you can go out of business with the wrong partnership.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I would say, so like your first line of defense, we have a closed network, it's private. You can't just sign up. You know, we choose who we do business with. So that's number one. And realizing you don't have to make everybody happy. Like, we don't want to work with everybody. We can't. This is not Walmart here, you know. Like it's a private business. We choose our own destiny in that sense. It took me a couple years to figure that out. So that means like getting rid of the bad people. If you have a funny feeling about something, trust that.
SPEAKER_01Bro, the glad is you're right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so fucking accurate, right? Yeah, and you know, you we've all made mistakes there going against our gut, and 99% of the time it doesn't work out. So, you know, that as a foundation, and then um, you know, who you hire is the next level. Like, you know, I used to be more loose with hiring. I had a lot more turnover in the past. I've learned a lot of things over the years. So uh I've invested in, you know, I've hired recruiters to help me find people that actually saves you a lot of time, costs money, but they bring you good candidates. Yeah, that's worked out, and then really looking for like good long-term people. I don't want somebody coming for six months or a year, you know, it's just it's not worth it to me. So yeah, I'm glad you bring that up because that's something that um you gotta be very careful for.
SPEAKER_01And I I've I personally pissed away so much money, it's almost embarrassing. I mean, it is what it is. I mean, businesses you live and you learn. The fact that I'm still here, I mean, something I'm like, wow, yeah, that was a dumbass thing I did, but you're you're still here, you live and you learn, right? And you get tighter.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you do, you do, and especially as you get older, you know, hopefully wiser. Um, and then you train your team to make those decisions for you. You know, I'm still hands-on in a business, but you know, I think we know if the CEO is calling all the shots, that business isn't sustainable, it's not scalable. So, you know, really trying to set up processes to train the team on like everything that I would do literally becomes a training moment. So when I hire a new employee, we create a new, we already have like hundred pages of training documents, but each question that's asked gets added to the document. And like each situation becomes a training moment.
Making Events Pay Over Time
SPEAKER_01Got it. Yeah. So one thing I want to say about you that I've seen in my time knowing you, when I first met you, I we just I didn't know who you were, right? We got to know each other and good, good friendship, right? Yeah, we've hung out a lot, got to talk, do some business together. I think you're starting to make more of a splash, more of a presence at these events, right? You you have a booth here, yeah, you you're sponsoring parties, events, right? So, what's your criteria then? And the reason I asked you that is because, bro, I I uh back in 2022, I don't even know, we spent an obscene amount of money at these shows. Yeah, and um I we I pissed away a lot of money, man. Yeah, I would bring in people that weren't producing. Yeah, I'd bring like 10 people to have double boots, all this crazy shit, right? And we got some business out of it, but at the end of the day, the the money that it was only coming from like most of it was coming from me from people that I knew, right? So what what's your how has it helped you, obviously, doing these kind of things, and what's your kind of criteria? I mean, you you have a lean team. I see you with like you know, 10 people, I think you have three people if you like. Yeah, what's your criteria? How do you hold them accountable to make sure that they're actually produced? These fucking trips are expensive. The hotels, the flight, the badges, this thing, that thing going out. We're in Miami. I mean, you could easily spend thousands, man. We we've done it together, we split bottles at places like you, you know what I'm saying? So let's talk about it because that's a huge thing that we no one really talks about.
SPEAKER_00You know, for us, it's part of our marketing budget. Um, with affiliate takeover, I love to be kind of like an early adopter of these events because you know, you know, this is gonna grow. So we uh sponsored uh in Barcelona, we had a booth there, and that was a great experience for us. So we did it here, you know. We're in Florida, so it's easy to attend. Um, so yeah, criteria is you know I like this show because you can meet a lot of your existing clients are already here. Yeah, a lot of new leads. Um so you set the budget, you know, we don't do the huge booth, you know. Everything I funded myself. I'm no outside financing. Um, so it's like a family business. And, you know, when I go into it, let's say you you set a budget of 10 or 20k for an event, I know over time, you know, maybe, maybe this show or whatever show it might be, maybe you won't get it back right away. But it keeps building up over the years. I had this moment the other day. I met a client at a pool bar, you know, at a pool party, and we've got millions of dollars of business. So like even if I go to this show and get zero dollars out of it, like I made millions in the past from uh drinks at a pool. And I know we'll get a lot out of the show. It's been really good. Bro, I could write a whole fucking chapter on that.
SPEAKER_01I swear I was uh I'm gonna be you're gonna say L Love G's gonna take a real interesting, a good, a good turn the next couple weeks. Yeah, uh, we're gonna do some crazy stories, and uh, I was being interviewed and they were extracting these stories like what's some a crazy story of me like partying after hours and you know how much money came off of the own bro. I have so many stories like that at the chandelier bar, six o'clock, seven in the morning, full parties. Yeah, this place. I mean, we were a Dominican Republic, right? This uh Pelicana, I need to kinda resort. You go to these places, and I don't even know how much money I've spent at these events. It's been it's definitely in six figures, but man, the amount of money I've made is just incredible. And you're right, it doesn't take like this thing in uh and chandelier bar, like a six and seven in the morning kind of night. Bro, that thing has made me so much eight figures off of that one meeting, yeah. And it didn't happen right away, it took like a year and a half for that to develop. Yeah, so the thing is the constant contact, the social media, shout out Ring by Eric Vary over there, but the social media and following up with people and being involved and spending time. I spend time on your day, spend 30 minutes on social media, follow you. If you're gonna do interest in someone how they do business, get to know who they are. You kind of get an inside glimpse into what makes them tick and if you want to do business with them. But bro, I I think that's very uh under uh no one really talks about that enough. It's about those after parties, those events. That to me is where the real money's made. Like the first point of contact is at these booths, yeah, but then it's a follow-up. You thought the 10 people made it as one out of 10 that you want to follow up, you follow up with them, you go have a drink with them, you do this, you do that. Maybe you're at the after party, yeah, and then bam, you develop that relationship. It might might not happen right away. Just keep following up. And eventually, do you feel there's something there? Go with your gut.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I agree. And it's also, as you know, it's one of those things you just have to take that leap of faith and like step into the uncomfortable territory. Like investing in these events is very expensive. Like hiring full-time employees is uh very expensive and it's a risk, but you know that's the path you have to follow. And I think, as you know, as a as a CEO, that's the way it has to be. You can't let fear, you know, lead. And it's almost like you have to be somewhat crazy to do these events to invest all this money, but you know it's the right thing to do. And actually, when I started my company, I looked at um some of the large affiliate networks, some of which are no longer around anymore. It's crazy, right? Yeah, it's crazy. And and I'm like, I want to model my business off of that, like following the you know, the footsteps of your the forefathers. And um, you know, back when 18 years ago, I was an AM and you know, going out to nightclubs, and I was getting getting you know everything for free, and now I'm the guy paying. It's so crazy. It's a it's a crazy world, yeah. It really is.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, man. It's funny when you say about these other, I guess, the competitors that went out of business. Um, I gotta agree. I don't know. You saw I saw Ryan, I interviewed Ryan Dice, did the real short interview with this guy. This guy's like, he's the man. And I saw him at Tony Robbins Business Mastery in 2019. And that that year, like my company started as a side hustle in 2016. We're up and down, I think we cracked a million dollars in 2019, maybe maybe been 2018, but around the time I went to Tony Robbins Business Mastery, it was like a$10,000 ticket. I had someone on the in uh some guy in his inner circle that got it for me half price. So I got it for five grand, which to me was a lot of money back. Yeah, I had to fly out to Vegas, cost me like 10 grand, right? Anyway, I'm there and they're doing this exercise, and I'm with one of my buddies. I was running a big call center who's actually a client of mine. I think I was doing a 1.2 or 1.5 million in revenue, and like, how much, how much, what, what's your revenue goal? What are you what are you gonna do? Blah, blah. And I'm like, I don't fucking know. Maybe I can get to five or six. And then it's like, listen, what's the biggest person in your in your industry doing right now? At that point, it was a company that was doing 15 million in top line, right? Yeah, and like, bro, you could be bigger than them. Why are you thinking so slow, so small? I'm like, bro, you're fucking right. I could be. And like, you know what? I'm going for fucking 20 million. Yeah, and bro, fucking year later, they went out of business. Yeah, and you know what happened? That created a void because now they were like top two in the solo leads. People were scrambling, they started coming to me. I fill that void, and two years later, no, three years later, we did 30 million, man. Yeah, so we 50 next or whatever the fuck it was, right? So it's like it's just I think if you do the right thing, you stay lean, you treat your people right, it it'll it'll work out, man.
Health Habits For High Stress Work
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you gotta be ready. Like, like a lot of the affiliates I might meet today, maybe we don't have the right ad for them to run right now. But in like six months or a year, we might, and then you just you activate them and you could grow it. Same thing with uh with advertisers, with buyers. You know, they might want a very specific thing that we might not have right now, but you're out here, you make the relationship, and then like I've seen this time and time again, maybe a year, maybe two years later, and now you're doing serious numbers. Yeah, I love it, man. So here at ATL, what are you looking for here? What'll make this a successful event for you? So already it's been a success. I um even just starting it last night, we had a couple of networking parties. Um, I have three uh my team members here, two of them, it's their first show ever. Wow. So bringing them down here, yeah. They were so nervous at first. They were so nervous. But you know, bringing them down here is a big thing, getting them comfortable, getting them to make the relationships. Yeah, because this is really where you form the bonds and and really uh, you know, these these accounts that once you get to know them better, you do more business. Um, so those are like the top two. Other than that, um, yeah, looking for new affiliates, new advertisers, uh, build the brand. Uh, those are the those are the top goals. I love it, bro. I'm not not to go off suffic here and do some ditty shit.
SPEAKER_01You're a fucking good-looking guy, bro. Uh no, you got the you got the great, the nice gray, you got the night, the good color, you're tall, man. So let's let's talk about taking care of ourselves. Bro, I mean, we we work, we work, we're two guys that work hard, play hard, right? We got families, man. There's a big balancing act. Well, let's let's talk about how the fuck how do you balance the family, the workman, man?
SPEAKER_00It was a street. It's really tough. So um I I take time away from work to work out. Like you have to, you know, otherwise, you know, you're especially if you're you get older, you have like back problems, stuff like that. So I just I just forced myself to work out, you know, a couple times a week. Um, I play a lot of pickleball. I actually played competitively. Wow. Went to a national championship last year. I had no idea. Came in second place. Wow. It's the worst fuck all America. It's the worst thing in the world coming in second place, by the way. You know, I'm still pissed about it. Second place in the world in pickleball. I know it was a 4.0 division, so we're not pros, but we're, you know, we're above average. Um, I still make it gotten better. Yeah, we went to Arizona for it with my team, and like, you know, setting time for that. But you can't just play pickleball. Like, you got to go to the gym, you got to eat well. So, you know, my routine, I hit the gym, I play pickleball a couple times a week. I eat really healthy, and you have to do it. There's no alternative. The alternative is I'm not gonna be healthy. I can't run a business, I can't be a dad with my kids, you know. Um, and I've learned the hard way there, like sitting too much is bad. So, standing desks, all our employees have standing desks. Uh, you you can either sit or stand. So, you know, basic adjustments there, you know, mentally, like it's a very stressful business. So having those outlets, whether it's a sports or working out or art, whatever you like to do, you know, I like to play a lot of music too. I don't really have the time for it, you know, you can't do it all. But all those things kind of help me, uh, I guess, help me stay mentally, you know, I want to say mentally strong, but like mentally in the right place.
SPEAKER_01So how how do you find the time for because this is uh we're very similar in that regard. I mean, I know people see me go, go, go, but like I I spend I sp I had a buddy of mine in the industry who was like, you know, people see Dave as a go hard guy, but they don't know that the he knows a different side of me where I'll meditate, I live on the beach, which is great. Yeah, I'll go on there in the morning. Those are my best days when I wake up early, I meditate, I'll go for a I do sprints on the beach, I go fucking do pilates, man. And bro, it feels good. And then and then uh the the the the travel kind of throws it off a little bit, man. But I'm in pretty good shape, man. Yeah, my I you know I don't I know I'm not a testosterone and I'm my age in my mid 40s, man. Like I and I think it has to do a lot with my diet. I I really I watch my fucking microplot. I'm kind of psychotic with this shit, yeah. You know, uh, but with that being said, I'm it's something that people gotta talk. People won't talk about enough on their industry because it is there's so much freaking stress. Three years ago, or I don't know, three or four years, my blood test got I did a blood test, my cortisol levels are through the roof. Yeah, so they put me on some DHEA, it helped reduce it, man. And I thought that was normal, right? So I mean it's something that's important. And have you ever had a moment where you're like you're like you felt like you were burnt down, you're like a fucking, I'm done with this shit. I'm just gonna go back to normal life.
SPEAKER_00No, I never never. You know, I I'll never go back to normal life, you know. Uh, and I know that stress is part of the business. I think the most stressful part is like financing, cash flow. But you know, you come up with systems for it. So, you know, I got plans in place for that. If I need it, I've never needed outside money, but um, if I do, I have a plan. So then it's less stressful. When you have to cross that bridge, when the plan's already there. You don't want to be in a position where you're scrambling and have to come up with the plan, right? You want to already have your option lined up. So I think whether it's, you know, that's the same thing with employees, with finances, having a plan in place. Um, you know, you mentioned doing like stuff on the beach. I live by the beach too. My wife and I do hot yoga once a week. So it's great for us as a couple, do it together. It's the hardest thing I've ever done, by the way. I don't know if you've ever done hot yoga before. I've done it before, yeah. It's kind of like a lot easier. Yeah, but it's like, it's like I'm I'm like a basketball player, pickleball. High yoga is like, I'm just not built for that. But I've got better at it, and it's like that helps, you know.
Finland Saunas And A New Networking Event
SPEAKER_01Um I think you're willing to go outside your comfort zone, right? And that's what has to happen. Whether it's you know, hot yoga, it's pickleball, whatever, like these are things you gotta do. So speaking about getting outside your comfort zone, saunas. Yeah, saunas. Well, how you have a fair, you love saunas, right? What how'd you get into is it saunaing?
SPEAKER_00I don't even know what the yeah, yeah, great question. So uh, so my wife's from Finland, and uh we lived there full time for six years. Back when I was burnt out with my career in the industry, literally said, Fuck it, we're gonna move to Finland. I'm gonna work remotely, I'm gonna start my own business. And I did that back in 2020. There's more saunas in Finland than like there's like there's like million saunas, and there's five million people in the country. So it's a part of the routine there, daily life. So we have we have two saunas out there, like real wood burning ones, different than the stuff you see in gyms. So that's where I was exposed to it. Then uh I moved back to the US and uh, you know, I I try to continue the culture here, but we live there for still three months a year, so that's where I get it in. And that's what inspired me to uh start affiliate sauna. So it's uh the first networking event based on saunas. Um, it's this summer uh in July, in between affiliate takeover and affiliate worlds. Last year uh it was double booked with affiliate takeover, so I couldn't really do it, but uh this year it's it's blocked out for uh July 12th and 13th. It's invite only. You know, you can't have 100 people on the side, nor do you want to be with a lot of a lot of random strangers. So I'll be announcing it. You know, you and your wife are gonna be invited. This event's different in that, you know, I encourage like people to bring their wives. It's not there's no exhibit halls, it's uh saunas, good food, good networking. You get to experience a new culture. You know, you love to travel too, and that's one of my favorite parts about this job. You need to go all over the world for these shows. And uh the affiliate sauna event's a way to introduce people to Finland. Like everyone always says they want to go there, but no one ever really goes. It's so far out of the way. Yeah. So that was another thing. That's why I wanted to do it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think that's a great concept, and it's it's really mental wellness, networking. You combine both of them. And bro, the issue with these events, um, man, I mean, there's a lot of alcohol, there's a lot of stuff going on. So to go to someone like that where you could just relax, it's it's just a different thing, and you can bond with people, right? You're birds of a feather flock together. So you can have clients, you can have another someone, uh a media buyer or someone that you guys you bond with, and then there's a level of trust there, and then those things go a long way down the road, you know. And I think that's a that's very important.
SPEAKER_00They do, and like a good sauna is so hot, it's almost like painfully, it's almost like torture. And you go through this like journey together in sauna. And the best part though is like swimming, because you do the sauna swim. Uh, actually, my company name Bavanto means hole in the ice, it's a Finnish word, uh, hole in the ice. It's totally random. Nobody knows that. Yeah, so I like to say, you know, it hurts really bad at first, but then you get used to it. I love that, man.
SPEAKER_01I'm glad you mentioned the origin of uh of the name, too. But yeah, I um you you told me about sauna saunas. I'd go every so often, but I I saw something online where I don't know what the stat was. People that do that sauna at least I think three times a week for 20 minutes. I don't know, they live longer or some bullshit, something like that. And it got my attention. It makes sense. You release the toxins, right? Yeah, and if I've had like a heavy week of like like a Philly Vegas shows are rough. Yeah, God, they were so freaking rough, man. Like it's it's a freaking toll on your body. It is. So I'll I'll do double the glutathione injections, I'll do a lot of NED plus, and I'll go to the sauna every day afterwards, get rid of that stuff. You know, I don't get sick. Yeah. And uh, well, I'm I'm on a mission to to live a long life, you know, a quality life. I don't want to be 90 and crippled. I want to be full of energy, man. But I think it gives you an edge in business, right? And and your team sees that as inspirational for them too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, I I agree. Um, something I considered that my recruiter actually helped me. Uh looking for people who are competitive, who like to play sports. Um, that's a value. Like, this isn't a game where you're gonna come and collect a paycheck. Like my company's not for you. So having people that are competitive is something I built into kind of our hiring process. That works. And you you know what?
SPEAKER_01I had a good I I had a I went to uh I was with uh Dmitry Lipinski. He's a big he's he's a big influence of the rooting space. I was in Minnesota with him yesterday. He says something interesting. He uh he thinks that a per the teenage years, the people that are involved in sports, like their habits during their teenage years shape the rest of their life. Yeah, I did track in high school. I was we were uh I was captain of my track team. We're all American at the best time in the nation or whatever, right? Yeah, and I think that's where my I'm so fucking it's not that I'm super competitive, but I have a sense of urgency. I would train, I would do these things to be better to try to get an edge. And I he said that and it really I started thinking about myself and I started thinking about other people I know, like chance. He was a fucking he was a high school quarterback, right? And I and I think it's such a big so when you hire people, I think the people that what did they do in high school? And they didn't have to do sports, maybe they did music, maybe the musicians, maybe there were something, but were they did they compete in some sort of degree? And I think they did. You have a higher chance of having a good employee.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I uh my team here now, they they played in college too. Uh two of my my teammates, one played lacrosse and one played baseball. Um, and that's just like you you read a resume, and if they played sports in college, to me, that's that's an asset. Um, of course, they don't have to play a sport in college to like to be good at your job, but I think it's it's a bonus. Like, and I me personally, I'm I'm like you, like I I never want to settle. Like I always want to win no matter what I do. I want things to be the best. And actually, that's like a big part of what drives me, and I think it drives a lot of people in our industry. Um, actually have a song about that. About like, I'm just never, you know, it's almost like a sickness, never being satisfied. Because like in many ways, we already have like the perfect life, right? We got a beautiful family, we got a nice house, we got a good job, but like we're still pushing 100%. Why do you think that is, man? It's just something about us, you know. I I think it's yeah, it's just the way it is, and and it causes conflict, like you know, with with some people, but you know, I don't settle and it's just who I am.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but that's why you need to have a group of friends that understand you. I uh your your tribe, you gotta do stuff mentally, whether it's pickleball, sauna, like whatever you have, that stuff helps you release that, right? Yeah, and you know, I I have my thing, you have your it's an outlet is what it comes down to, right? And that's why it's good when we travel around the world, we see each other, we know our stories, we know our family, our ups and downs, right? Yeah, and uh dude, that's it's great, man. I'm glad I'm glad we got to do the show, man. Yeah, man. Thanks for having me. You want to do business with good people, man. People and those are people that withstand the the worst of times. And and when they come out and you ride up with them and dude, they you you have it like a shortcut, you know, it's because you've been through it.
Where To Find Ian And Closing
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I've been through it, and so have you. And uh, you know, I think you know, we've seen a lot of changes in the industry, but we just keep doing the right thing, we'll keep growing, keep adapting. Cool. How can people find out more about you in the company? So, yeah, companies called Avanto Media. So Avonto.media. Uh, we got a booth here at affiliate takeover, booth B12. We'll be at all the events, so we'll be out in Europe this summer. Um, you'll find me on Instagram, you'll find me on LinkedIn. Uh, so yeah, I would love to uh collaborate with uh with anybody.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, if any of you guys are going to affiliate world or affiliate takeover in the summertime in Europe, July, that the sauna event, I'm I think it's gonna be tough for me to make that one. I'm gonna make next year for sure. Okay, okay. I want to make it with my wife, but those are the networking events where I'm telling you you get the most bang for your buck in in terms of uh personal, professional growth, the networking. I mean, those are the the events, and that's where I've had the most success, man. Yeah, you know, so I don't if if you're if that appeals to you, definitely hit Ian up. We give you just contact information, right? Put your LinkedIn, we'll put all that down here. Bro, great to have you on the show. Awesome. Ian Brennan Avonto, let's fucking go, guys. Thanks, bro. Your network is your net worth. We got a fucking crazy network of people. I'm not telling me you're average motherfucker, I'm talking about people doing$300,000,$400,000,$500,000 a day in admin. People have made billions of dollars in sales, people have exit their companies for about a billion dollars. We hit a hundred episodes. Guess what? We're about to take shit to the next level. So you want to be part of it. Subscribe right now. Remember the money.