Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dan Baghdasarian. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Dan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The idea for The New Dan Plan came during a season where, on paper, life looked great. I had built a successful career in storytelling through Big Dreams Media, had an incredible family, and was fortunate to be doing work I loved. But deep down, I felt something was missing.
For years, I had spent my career helping other people tell stories about pursuing big dreams, overcoming obstacles, and accomplishing extraordinary things. Yet I realized that somewhere along the way, I had stopped actively chasing one of my own.
I remembered coming across the story of the original “Dan Plan,” where Dan McLaughlin attempted to become a scratch golfer by applying the concept of deliberate practice and documenting 10,000 hours of work. The idea fascinated me not because of golf, but because it raised a much bigger question: What is truly possible if an ordinary person commits wholeheartedly to mastery?
I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
The more I reflected on it, the more I realized that so many adults quietly abandon their dreams. Life gets busy. Careers, bills, responsibilities, and fear begin to take over. We often convince ourselves that meaningful growth is behind us.
I wanted to challenge that idea.
The New Dan Plan was born out of a simple but powerful question: What happens if, at 35 years old, with a full-time career, a wife, four kids, and all the normal responsibilities of life, I intentionally pursue mastery and document every step of the journey?
From a business standpoint, I believed it could work because audiences are craving authenticity. There are countless golf channels online featuring professional instruction and highly polished content. What I felt was missing was an honest, long-form and short-form documentary of an everyday person pursuing an extraordinary goal in real time the successes, failures, setbacks, doubts, and breakthroughs.
As a storyteller, I knew that people connect with transformation. They want to see what’s possible when someone commits completely to something difficult.
Ultimately, I didn’t start The New Dan Plan because I knew it would succeed. I started it because I knew I would regret not trying. If the journey inspired even one person to dust off a dream they had put on a shelf, then it would be worthwhile.
Ironically, that’s exactly what’s happened. The messages I receive most often aren’t about golf they’re from people saying, “You’ve inspired me to start.” And that’s what makes this endeavor so meaningful.

Dan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m the founder of Big Dreams Media and the creator of The New Dan Plan; a long-term project documenting a 10,000-hour journey to see how good someone can get at golf through intentional practice, data, and consistency.
My background didn’t start in media. I spent years in banking and finance, working in a very structured, performance-driven environment. It taught me discipline, numbers, and how to think in terms of outcomes but I always felt pulled toward building something more creative and personal. That eventually led me to take a risk and transition into production, marketing, and storytelling.
I started Big Dreams Media as a way to combine those worlds creative execution backed by strategy. Today, we work with brands on content, campaigns, and storytelling that actually drives attention and results. A lot of what we focus on is helping brands cut through noise not just making something that looks good, but something people actually care about and engage with.
What sets us apart is that we approach creative through the lens of belief. We believe in the people we work with and the reason they started in the first place. If their passion brought them somewhere, our job is to bring that to life on screen or through whatever medium we’re working in.
We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. We’re cutting through the bloat that often comes with large-scale production and helping brands get back to what they were meant to do tell a clear, authentic story that actually connects.
The New Dan Plan is an extension of that mindset, but applied to myself. Instead of just telling stories for brands, I wanted to build one in real time. The project is centered around a simple question: what happens if you commit thousands of hours to a single skill and document the entire process transparently?
I share the wins, the setbacks, the data, and the learning process along the way. It’s less about being a “golf influencer” and more about creating a case study around discipline, improvement, and long-term commitment.
What I’m most proud of is that everything I’m doing now is built on that original decision to take a risk and bet on myself. Whether it’s growing Big Dreams Media or pushing forward with The New Dan Plan, it all comes back to ownership and consistency.
For anyone coming across my work, I’d want them to know this isn’t about shortcuts or overnight success. It’s about showing what sustained effort actually looks like and proving that if you stay consistent long enough, you can create opportunities that didn’t exist before.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

For most of my career, storytelling has been at the center of everything I’ve done. I spent over a decade in finance before taking a leap of faith and starting Big Dreams Media in 2020. What began as a side hustle producing branded content, documentaries, and unscripted projects quickly evolved into a full-time career. Since then, I’ve been fortunate to work on projects that have earned Emmy recognition and to help brands and individuals tell meaningful stories.
But over the years, I realized something important: while I loved telling other people’s stories, I had stopped pursuing some of my own biggest dreams.
That realization led to the creation of The New Dan Plan.
In April of 2025, at 35 years old, I made the decision to document a 10,000-hour journey to see just how good I could become at golf. Inspired by the original “Dan Plan” experiment, I committed to tracking every hour of practice, competition, and learning while sharing the entire process publicly. The project isn’t really about golf… golf is simply the vehicle. At its core, it’s a story about mastery, discipline, faith, perseverance, and what happens when an ordinary person commits wholeheartedly to an extraordinary goal.
Big Dreams Media became the perfect home for this journey because it allowed me to merge my passion for storytelling with my personal pursuit of excellence. What started as a personal challenge has grown into a content platform spanning YouTube, social media, brand partnerships, speaking opportunities, and collaborations with professional athletes, coaches, and major brands.
Some key milestones along the way include breaking 80 for the first time, winning my first amateur tournament, qualifying for the U.S. Am Tour National Championship, growing a community of people following the journey, and producing documentary-style content around the process. Perhaps the most meaningful milestone, though, has been hearing from people who say the project inspired them to chase a dream they had put on hold.
Today, Big Dreams Media and The New Dan Plan continue to evolve together, but the mission remains simple: pursue mastery, document the journey, and hopefully inspire others to bet on themselves along the way.

How did you build your audience on social media?

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned about social media is that not every day is going to produce great content and that’s okay. Every day is simply another opportunity to connect with your audience.
I’ve found that social media can be incredibly unpredictable. Some of the pieces of content I thought were complete duds ended up performing the best, while others that I spent hours crafting barely moved the needle. Early on, that taught me not to become overly attached to the outcome of any single post.
The reality is that social media is a long game. Success rarely comes from one viral moment; it comes from consistently showing up and building relationships over time.
My advice to anyone starting out is simple: pick a lane, identify who you’re trying to serve, and speak directly to that audience. Whether you’re a small business owner, creative, entrepreneur, or content creator, people want to connect with people not polished brands or perfectly curated feeds.
Treat every day as a new opportunity to provide value, share a story, inspire, educate, or simply show up as yourself. Authenticity wins in the long run. Audiences can tell when you’re trying to be someone you’re not.
Most importantly, don’t let perfection keep you from posting. Create, learn, adjust, and keep moving forward. The creators and businesses that ultimately succeed are often the ones who simply stayed in the game long enough to find their audience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bigdreamsmedia.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenewdanplan/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-baghdasarian-4b02a0119/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBcWrdfWxpNEC8_JcLii5Gg

Image Credits

Junk Films, Kaveman Media, Big Dreams Media