We caught up with the brilliant and insightful David Levian a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi David, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a customer that you appreciate them?
As a business owner, we deal with a sensitive clientele. We have a lot of people who have gone through trauma that come into Break Room Therapy and we will take extra time to make them comfortable. We’ll give them privacy when they need it. We will go above and beyond to make their session impactful.
As a Podcaster, it can be very embarrassing to discuss finances and we have to make people comfortable and keep our talk, judgement free. We really dig into, not only their financial issues but their education around finances. Our advice is always thoughtful and thought out.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
As a Podcaster, during the pandemic, I asked a good friend if he wanted to get together on Zoom, since people weren’t getting together in person and talk money, like we would before the pandemic. After the first zoom meeting, we decided to record them, going forward and put them on YouTube. That turned into a podcast. We’ve interviewed many professionals but the episodes that make me the most proud are when we’re talking to regular people and helping them navigate their personal finance issues. We’ve been told we’re very comfortable to talk to. Nick and I are two relatable guys you would sit down with at a bar and shoot the shit. I think that’s what makes us work.
As a business owner, my wife created Break Room Therapy with me in mind. As an abused foster kid, she related to the idea of a rage room and when she first heard of it as an outlet for my anger, she resonated with the idea. We promote the business as a fun place for people but we also lean into the therapeutic aspect of letting go. We’ve helped so many people since opening in 2019.
How’d you meet your business partner?
For Buck$ & Brew$, Nick and I met around 2009 through softball. I have, now, coached for over 20 years and Nick was umpiring games I coached. A few years later, Nick joined my coaching staff for a year. We always enjoyed getting together and discussing money. He was a real estate investor and I invested in the market. We liked to bounce different investments off of each other. In 2021, after doing the show for a little over a year, I had a near death experience and during an episode talked to Nick about what I needed from him if I were to die as I wanted to make sure my family would have guidance on how to use the inheritance.
For Break Room Therapy, my partner is my wife. We’ve been together for, going on 24 years. We’ve seen many ups and downs but we’ve been by each other’s side through all of it, always finding ways to support each other.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
For Buck$ & Brew$, Nick and I fund everything. Luckily it isn’t too expensive creating a podcast unless you’re putting a lot of money into advertising, which we don’t. Our money goes to web hosting, our podcast provider and swag.
For Break Room Therapy, we took an initial loan for $30,000 to open and then have taken on and paid off some other business loans. We try to keep the debt low as we’re building up the business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bucksandbrews.com and www.breakroomtherapy.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bucksandbrews and https://www.facebook.com/BreakRoomTherapy
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-levian-8bb42613?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BucksandBrews
- Other: You can reach the show at [email protected] or myself at [email protected] I’ve worked as an analyst in Healthcare for over 20 years and have been a softball coach for over 20, the last 14 in high school as both a head and assistant coach.