We were lucky to catch up with Courtney Chennault recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Courtney thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

My 2019 trip to Colombia was one for the books. I scraped by for days with no cash in a cash-only city until finally finding a stranger to withdraw money for me. I befriended a hotel worker who showed me around his village in an impromptu cultural exchange. And I went night snorkeling to see phytoplankton in pitch-dark waters of the Caribbean sea.

Every day was an adventure, but I spent the whole time wishing my family and friends could have experienced it with me. How was I ever going to relay all that I had seen and experienced to them? A few photos were not going to cut it, and as a budding solo traveler, I knew this would soon become a recurring challenge.

It didn’t take long for me to decide that a YouTube channel was the most captivating way for me to bring my friends and family along on my adventures. I wasn’t sure if anyone else would watch, but if they did, I could hopefully inspire them to have adventures of their own and help them avoid the mistakes I made, like not coming prepared to a cash-only destination.

I knew creating my channel was a worthwhile endeavor because traveling and making videos are both things I enjoy and will continue doing regardless of how ‘successful’ my channel becomes. Pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors that are tied to personal passions allows you to stay persistent, and ultimately, persistence is a key vehicle to ‘success,’ however you define it.

Courtney, 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?

My name is Courtney and I’m the YouTuber behind Exploring with Courtney. My videos inspire viewers to discover the world that lies beyond their day-to-day by introducing them to incredible places and adventurous activities.

Exploring has always been a passion of mine because I love the effect it has on me. For example, when I’m in a new place or trying a new activity, I’m eager to strike up a conversation with a stranger. This is exactly what happened when I recently bungee jumped for the first time in Singapore. I was so nervous and excited that I couldn’t help but talk to everyone in line about where they were from, their past jumping experiences, and more. I was truly living in the moment and these conversations never would have happened had we been standing in line somewhere else, like at the grocery store.

Whether it’s traveling abroad or trying a new yoga class in the park down the street, adventuring outside of your typical routine often results in making new friends, discovering new interests, and much more. I started my YouTube channel to bring people along on my adventures and to empower them to get out and have adventures of their own.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Until a few years ago, I never viewed myself as an entrepreneur because I believed that entrepreneurs were strictly people who invented things, whether it be a new product to pitch on Shark Tank, or an app to sell in the App store. However, I’ve learned that being a successful YouTuber means seeing my channel as a business, my subscribers as my customers, and ultimately, myself as an entrepreneurial business owner.

Branding is critical for any business, and YouTube channels are no exception. The book that helped me clarify my brand’s mission and value to potential subscribers is Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen. The exercises in this book helped me view my channel from the perspective of viewers (i.e. my potential customers) who watch my videos to fill a need or solve a problem. If I want them to subscribe, I have to offer content that meets that need and clearly position my channel as a resource to help them.

Beyond reading that book, the best resources I’ve encountered for entrepreneurship advice have been hours and hours of YouTube videos and conversations with entrepreneurs in my own life. From these sources, I’ve learned about the different business structures to consider, time management strategies to balance working on my channel while having a full-time job, social media growth strategies, and more.

I see entrepreneurship as a tangible vehicle to owning more of my schedule and allowing me to turn my exploring of the world into more than a hobby.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding part about being a creative on YouTube is when my videos successfully encourage a viewer to go somewhere or do something new.

For example, I was ecstatic when my friend told me that my video about White Sands National Park inspired him and his family to take a trip there and that they had an awesome time. And reading comments like, ‘I’m so glad you pointed out everything I was skeptical about and this eased my anxiety…’ on my video about skydiving for the first time, really makes my day.

The video creation process is quite involved and I truly pour tens of hours of work into a 7-minute video, making sure it offers something valuable and unique. It feels great to know that in an unending sea of YouTube videos, a viewer clicked on my video and it successfully encouraged them in the face of their next adventure.

Contact Info:

• Website: exploringwithcourtney.com
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@ExploringwithCourtney