We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tony Avila a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tony, thanks for joining us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I’ve been able to work full time from my creative and analytical work since 2016 when I first discovered e-commerce and saw the potential in this industry. I always wanted my content, and strategy to be fun, edgy, and outspoken regardless of the niche. I didn’t wanna wanna be just another e-commerce bro selling things online.

Me and my business partner built a couple of brands in different niches, then in 2019, I realized doing private agency – contracts with other brands already established but not being able to scale was something I was more passionate about. After working with various brands behind the scenes I noticed the same pattern, they got too comfortable with 1 source of traffic or they don’t have the creative & ad department working together.

Working behind the scenes with private clients, either on retainer agency mode or contractor, It allowed me to build my personal brand online at @yotonyishere

Something that definitely helped me not only to speed up the process but to learn every angle in this business was to invest in masterminds, Monthly courses, weekly calls, and podcasts in the space.

The problem i see people do every time when they assist to masterminds or take courses, they don’t pick a specific topic or go to mastermind without a purpose. OR take courses that have absolutely nothing to do with the project – areas they are currently struggling with.

Learning what course I needed to take, what mastermind I needed to assist, and even what podcast i needed at the moment was a gaming changer to improve my skills as and brand strategist, content creator, and advertiser.

Tony, 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 started as an affiliate selling t-shirts online, then my best friend who was already doing great in the e-commerce space since 2010 offered me in 2017 to be his assistant. Without hesitation I said yes by 2020 we had very successful full brands running online.

One of the many things I learned but probably the best thing I learned when getting in business was being able to LET EGO G

It is extremely important we as a team first learned from each other and delegate specific department based on skills and if our skills overlap then we hire someone to handle that department.

That was a very important skill for me to learn. And I feel like this is why I enjoy so much working with private clients because they already let that ego go and so we get to work right away.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

As mentioned before i always want my strategies – ads – content to be fun, edgy, and outspoken. That’s why I built my own personal unhinged brand @yotonyishere where I share my daily activities with my audience, they see me partying, they see behind the computer, they see me at the library, at a coffee shop, at music festivals, surrounded by beautiful women, surrounded by geeks, masterminds, they get to see both sides of me.

My personal brand is a tool I use to practice storytelling, marketing tools, strategies, etc. This is why I always tell friends who offer a service or own a brand to not be shy, show the world who you are, and share your stories, not every story has to be. a winning story.

It is important to have a niche this is why from day one I decided I wanted to be the unhinged e-commerce, content creator, marketer guy. Not everyone has to use humor or be unginged online, just pick what entertains you and combine it with your superpowers/skills.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Moving to the States from Mexico City at the age of 13 not knowing the language, the entire family relocated to Ocean City New Jersey. Right after high school instead of going to college I took the money and invested in a kiosk at the mall, at that time my friends from Israel had the idea to open kiosks at the malls selling custom hats, t-shirts, and phone cases. I didn’t know about anything all I knew was the feeling inside me telling me to take the risk and just do it. (you can only imagine how my immigrant parents felt about that)

After a couple of years of opening multiple kiosks in the northeast, Connecticut, Jersey Shore, Ohio, and Boston, everything collapsed after making bad business decisions. Decisions that had to do with EGO being involved.

After losing the kiosks and refusing to accept I had to move back with my parents, I then used my last money to FAST -open a phone store in Ocean City New Jersey a month before summer hit.

At that time 2010, it seemed like a great business to open, But a reality check hit me when summer was over and the city became a ghost city forcing me to close the store and start AGAIN.

The following summer I got a job and with the first initial paychecks, I bought a couple of online courses from some online forums back then.

I remember staying up all night going through the courses and having to go to work early in the morning next day, on my breaks I used to run home and keep going with the courses.

The courses were about e-commerce & marketing, especially apparel since I had experience selling apparel at the kiosks the previous years. I will never forget the first online order I made using Facebook ads, but also I never forget the large invoice I received from Facebook because I didn’t turn off some campaigns. “facepalm”

By the end of the summer at my job, I have made enough to keep testing new ad campaigns & products. And just when I was about to run out of testing budget one of my sites started to gain traction some of the very first products I sold online were not even apparel but costume Christmas ornaments, and the following season I was selling car accessories, and then shoes, then worked with a political brand selling collectible items, then an energy drink.

Now in 2025, i sell items via my online personal brand, my clothing brand, I am also behind the scenes working with a very well-established men’s grooming oil company, a very successful motorcycle club, handling marketing for a nightclub in Las Vegas, a music festival brand, currently building a project that focuses on building communities here in Austin Texas.

The journey continues my end goal is to keep working with very selective brands – projects, people that I can call my clients but also friends and keep pushing my personal brand.

To this day I have never run any ads offering my brand strategy, content, or advertaisement service, every single “CLIENT” is through a referral, in-person intro, or group chat, which I believe is the most powerful way to offer a service or even talk about your super powers/skills.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yotonyishere
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-avila-bsm/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@yotonyishere
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@yotonyishere