I Have Some Things On My Mind - Making Money While Being Grateful / Future Of Meet Ups & Give Aways
Thoughts In Celebration Florida
Transcript
0:04
Welcome everyone. Adam the Woo here as
0:04
the recording of this Wednesday, April
0:07
30th, 2025. I'm inviting you to join me
0:11
as I cruise around
0:13
Celebration. Good to have you
0:15
here. Been gone for over 3
0:20
weeks. In fact, I am leaving a week from
0:23
today to go to my next international
0:26
destination. So, I got to make the best
0:29
of the next week while I'm here. Today's
0:31
just going to be a casual day. Cruising
0:33
around town. Go get some
0:35
coffee. See where the day leads. I'm
0:37
inviting you, yes you, to join
0:40
me. Shall you? It's currently 86°. It's
0:44
going to be a scorcher while I'm
0:47
here. It's like Friday, Saturday, S.
0:50
Well, Saturday gets up to 89 degrees
0:53
today. Not a cloud in the sky,
1:00
but some clouds as time goes
1:00
on. Ah, Florida heat and humidity. I
1:03
have returned for a short bet. I placed
1:06
my mobile order. We're here at
1:08
Starbucks. I found that's the quickest
1:10
way. Usually when I just down the road,
1:12
I'll place a mobile order. By the time I
1:13
get here, it's ready to rock. Works out
1:16
pretty
1:17
well. Coffee achieved. Cheers. Cheers to
1:22
Celebration here next to the Celebration
1:26
Hotel. So, while I was gone, I heard the
1:29
news that someone drove off the road up
1:32
here. I'm kind of wondering because of
1:35
that if they will put some little
1:37
barricades and the concrete pylons in
1:40
right there. And the person drove off
1:43
into the water. In fact, you can see
1:46
they have a a gate up there. Not a gate,
1:48
but those uh little
1:51
I guess you call them stansions and the
1:53
cones and all that that are put up in
1:55
that spot where the person drove off
1:57
drove off the road and
2:00
sadly sadly did not
2:03
survive. But it was really really sad to
2:05
hear that that news when I while I was
2:06
gone that was built in the mid '9s and
2:09
over time you know it starts to get uh
2:12
its share of tragedies as well. There
2:14
were a few things that have happened
2:16
here and then the the most recent one.
2:18
So just just like anywhere else, it's a
2:20
real place and even though it was built
2:22
by Disney to be built it be the perfect
2:24
community as I'm standing here. So
2:26
anyone that lives in Celebration play
2:28
pays a pretty good amount of HOA. I
2:30
would say the HOA here the HOA fees here
2:33
homeowners association are very obvious.
2:37
But one thing I noticed they never do is
2:38
they never clean this whole section
2:40
here. Like the whole town is pristine
2:43
and beautiful and well-maintained. The
2:46
hedges are clean. the, you know, the
2:49
gardening is kept up to par. No trash
2:52
anywhere except for some reason always
2:54
right here. There is just a tremendous
2:57
buildup of whatever this is always along
3:01
the lakefront right here. I don't know.
3:03
It's just always unusual that this is
3:05
the one spot that I always notice, but
3:08
you have to like look down at it. If you
3:10
look out on the water, it's just uh it's
3:12
magnificent. But yeah, just just don't
3:14
look at the bottom of the base of the
3:15
steps. Ah, yes. It's the fountain here
3:18
in all its glory. The celebration
3:20
fountain in front of the theater which
3:22
has not been open in what 12 years now
3:24
like almost uh almost a dozen years. I
3:27
mean it's been well well over 10.
3:29
Remember we hit the 10 year anniversary
3:30
of not that thing not being open and
3:32
that's been a couple years. Like what
3:34
the heck? Why is the theater not open
3:36
after all this time? And I have my
3:38
theories and I've heard the rumors and
3:39
speculation, but really why is that
3:42
thing not accessible to be to to people
3:45
pay to watch movies in there? What's the
3:47
reason? Do not use the fountain if you
3:50
are ill with diarrhea. I mean, if you're
3:54
if you have diarrhea, don't don't want
3:55
to go in there. My first Back to the
3:58
Future reunion since I was just down in
3:59
Hill Valley, you know, not long ago back
4:01
down at FanFest out at Universal. Kind
4:04
of reminds me of Back to the Future or
4:05
it makes me think about Back to the
4:06
Future. 2008. This is where I first went
4:09
to a screening of Back to the Future and
4:10
I met the first people from the movie. I
4:12
met Chris Lloyd, Claudia Wells, Bob
4:14
Gale, right in here for the first time.
4:16
Very echoey in here now cuz no one's in
4:18
here. It's just like a little cubby hole
4:20
of nothing. Do love the downtown area. I
4:22
love all the restaurants and shops, but
4:24
I feel like having that theater open
4:25
would really be a gamecher in modern-day
4:28
celebration. I mean, it did really well
4:30
when it was open. I just I've never
4:32
wrapped my head around why it's not
4:33
currently 2025 or since
4:38
2013.
4:40
Wow. My god, has it been that long? That
4:43
post office, that post office formerly
4:45
the home of my retired P.O. box that I
4:48
used a few years ago when I did the free
4:51
sticker and pin giveaway, which was
4:53
really was really something. I want to
4:55
do another giveaway at some point. I
4:57
just don't know how to go about doing
4:58
it. I'll never do another self, you
5:01
know, uh, self-stamped envelope,
5:03
self-address stamped envelope giveaway
5:05
cuz it was just, it was a little much
5:08
took, uh, they did not expect the demand
5:10
to be what it was. But I would like at
5:12
some point to do another giveaway and
5:15
figure out and figure out a way to just,
5:18
you know, give people
5:21
stuff. I'm not doing that right now, but
5:23
at some point at some at some point
5:26
that's going to rear its head once
5:27
again. I don't know. Got to figure out a
5:29
way when and where to do something like
5:31
that. But it's still it's still milling
5:33
around in my head. Also have some other
5:35
ideas that might not come to fruition
5:38
this year cuz I'm doing so much
5:39
international stuff. Tried to do the one
5:42
country per month at least this year.
5:43
Maybe in next year. We'll see how the
5:45
first year goes of doing a different
5:47
country every month.
5:49
But I got some other things that I've
5:51
been thinking about
5:57
doing. I don't know if I'll be able to
5:57
do them this year, which it comes to
5:58
giving away
6:00
things and meetups. I haven't done a
6:02
meetup in a long
6:04
time. I was I thought I would think like
6:08
a meetup tour would be really neat to
6:10
just travel around and then maybe on the
6:13
weekends do a meetup in different places
6:16
across the country. Again, don't think
6:18
that'll work out this year, but maybe
6:20
one day
6:26
cuz I did that with a band. I did the
6:26
band tour where I toured in a band,
6:29
played
6:30
shows. You can do that with
6:33
meetups and then on I'm just I I said I
6:36
wasn't going to talk about it, but yeah,
6:38
on those said meetups, give away a bunch
6:40
of stuff. T-shirts, stickers, pins,
6:44
paraphernelia, patches, items, all for
6:48
free. Meetup would be
6:54
free. All the merchandise would be free.
6:54
and maybe even maybe I'm just
6:55
hypothetically maybe even exclusive
6:57
merchandise for each of the locations I
7:00
am at to give away for free in the free
7:02
meetups anyway probably will not happen
7:05
this year but possibly in 2026 look at
7:08
that sun it is scorching and my place in
7:11
life now my career in life just how
7:15
things are going I'm doing all
7:16
right so if I ever did something that
7:19
was like a hey come meet
7:23
E, I don't ever want it to have any kind
7:26
of money sign attached to it. And that
7:29
even means if I do something that's
7:31
free, I don't want it to be at an event
7:33
that is charging for it. Example,
7:36
conventions. People always ask, why we
7:37
don't have a table at this convention?
7:38
First of all, I would go stir crazy
7:40
sitting behind a table and I just never
7:42
do that. Nor would I want to take money
7:44
from people who are, you know, paying to
7:49
meet me. I just for me personally, it's
7:51
just not it's not what I want to do. But
7:53
then also, if I had a table for free at
7:55
a convention, people are still going to
7:57
have to pay to get into said event and
8:00
convention. So, I wouldn't even want to
8:02
do my own thing money free at a place
8:06
that people have to go pay to park, pay
8:08
to get
8:09
into, and pay to get
8:15
in. So, I always have that that thing.
8:16
So, I think for me to do stuff like
8:18
that, it would have to be on my own
8:19
terms and set up completely by myself
8:22
and anyone that would be be helping
8:24
along with it. But that's also that's
8:26
the reason I don't I don't do really any
8:29
events for like a doing like a meetup. I
8:31
just never want anyone to
8:33
ever take money out of their own pocket
8:36
that when it comes to anything I do, I
8:39
just want everything to be everything to
8:41
be free. I've been that way for a while.
8:44
So, it's just just my that's just my
8:45
thoughts. And maybe it's a dumb idea.
8:47
Maybe I'm just turning down
8:50
money. That's there's a possibility of
8:59
that. I don't know where I'm going with
8:59
this. And I'm guilty obviously. I buy
9:02
merchandise. I bought this shirt from
9:03
Disney. I buy stuff from conventions.
9:06
I'll see a vendor I want to support. I
9:07
buy things from them. I see someone
9:09
that's creating something and I'll buy
9:11
their their items. I'll meet a celebrity
9:14
on occasion. I don't get a lot of
9:16
autographs, but you know, meet a
9:17
celebrity at a convention that, you
9:18
know, has been in a nostalgic film or
9:21
movie or TV show that I like and I'll
9:24
pay a couple bucks to get their
9:25
signature for their photo. I don't think
9:28
there's anything wrong with that. It's
9:29
just the way my mindset works. It's just
9:32
not something that I want to at this
9:34
stage in in the game for me. I don't
9:36
want to ever or I don't ever want to do.
9:39
So, even though, you know, I'll be the
9:42
consumer that does that. I know other
9:44
people probably would be for me, too.
9:45
But that's I just it's not my thing.
9:47
People always do bring up that I should
9:49
sell merchandise again, sell t-shirts
9:51
and things like that online, and it's I
9:53
don't really want to do that. Again,
9:56
that is definitely I don't think there's
9:57
anything wrong with anyone doing that.
10:01
That's kind of the the American dream is
10:04
creating a, you know, creating your
10:07
brand and then selling your brand. But
10:10
this this stage of the game, I'm not
10:12
doing that either. And a lot of people
10:14
do bring up, well, you should sell stuff
10:16
and then give them all the money to
10:19
charity. The problem is I would rather
10:21
just give money to charity on my own
10:23
terms than have someone else have to
10:26
give to that. Again, someone's taking
10:29
their money
10:30
out of their own wallet and giving it to
10:34
something that I
10:35
suggest they're still spending
10:37
money. I would rather people just give
10:40
to the
10:41
charity that they feel is a good
10:44
because, you know, not everyone has the
10:46
same thoughts on what is a good one. So,
10:48
you should go with your heart on
10:50
that and not not give because you want
10:54
to get a t-shirt from someone.
11:01
So that's why I don't do that either.
11:01
Again, the whole people having to pay
11:04
money for something, you know, for me, I
11:07
just I'm doing all right without that.
11:11
So I guess if it ever comes down to it
11:13
where if I start doing
11:16
conventions or if I start selling stuff
11:19
again or if I ever put a money tag on
11:23
anything, there's no payw wall behind
11:25
anything. If I ever do that, you'll
11:28
probably know that I'm not doing as good
11:31
as I once
11:34
was. It would it would I mean, who's to
11:36
know in the future of YouTube? Who's to
11:39
know in 5 years if anyone would be
11:42
watching what I am doing? I'm grateful
11:45
and thankful that people are. And I am
11:47
standing right here amongst the shrubs,
11:51
this little tree here. But if for some
11:54
reason I stopped making videos and I
11:57
wasn't putting consistent content out,
12:00
then maybe my thoughts would change.
12:02
They might
12:04
change. I wasn't even expecting to talk
12:06
about any of this,
12:07
but just uh that's one thing about these
12:09
little walk-in talks. You never know.
12:11
You never know what where the thoughts
12:12
are going to lead.
12:14
Also, I have talked about this before a
12:17
couple years ago. I did a whole video on
12:18
it. People always ask how I make money.
12:20
They think that had like a trust fund or
12:23
had a a rich uncle or family member.
12:27
Grew up very lower middle class.
12:30
Parents did okay. Put a roof over my
12:33
head and my sister's
12:36
head.
12:37
Never never were was wealthy. I started
12:41
the YouTube channel, quit my job, moved
12:44
into my van, traveled across the US,
12:47
sleeping in the back of a van, flat
12:49
broke, and everything that I have gotten
12:52
to this
12:53
point is because of putting YouTube
12:56
videos up in consistency. So, I put my
12:59
4,000th daily vlog up the other day.
13:03
4,000 videos here on the Daily Woo. I
13:06
think I have four or 500 on the main
13:08
channel, the Adam Woo channel. That's
13:10
where I make that's where I make an
13:11
income. It comes from that. Every video
13:15
trickles in a little bit. Some of them a
13:17
penny, a nickel, a dime each. Some of
13:19
them a couple dollars each a month. And
13:21
all those add up. And that is how I make
13:25
money to survive. Purchase a house, put
13:28
money in savings, travel
13:31
extensively. It all comes from that.
13:37
So, that's the answer for those who all
13:39
are who are always wondering. I'm just
13:40
reiterating what I've said in the past,
13:43
but it it just seems like it always when
13:45
I do the traveling, I always see in the
13:47
comment section people
13:48
asking how. So, I'm
13:51
just just putting that out there again.
13:53
And sometimes I feel a little
13:55
alone and you know by myself in my
13:58
thought process on this because I feel
14:01
like in this day and age even you know I
14:04
guess it's always been this way but in
14:05
this day and age
14:07
especially most people try to build an
14:10
audience in
14:12
hopes of utilizing said audience into
14:16
some sort of monetary gain. Maybe not
14:18
all the monetary gain, but you can
14:21
parlay
14:22
that into some some sort of way to, you
14:26
know, to make a little a little money.
14:34
But I feel like I'm completely on the
14:34
I'm completely the opposite of that at
14:36
this point.
14:49
I've had many conversations with a lot
14:49
of people about this honestly
14:53
and it's almost it's kind of like
14:56
talking to a
14:57
wall and obviously you know they share
15:00
their opinions
15:08
back and part of the reason I am
15:08
continuously filming videos even when I
15:10
want to say you know maybe I'll take a
15:12
break for a while. Maybe I'll take a
15:13
couple weeks off. The reason is because
15:16
if you don't, I'll use the word work.
15:18
People are going to chime in and say,
15:19
"Oh, you don't have a job." But the
15:21
reason I am working at this channel
15:25
consistently is so I don't have to rely
15:29
on the aspect I've been talking about.
15:32
I'd rather just do it myself. The DIY
15:35
aspect of it, the do-it-yourself aspect
15:38
of
15:39
it. at this point at this point in my
15:41
again career. That's kind that's kind of
15:44
the route I'm going with
15:46
it. Anyway, I'll talk about that. Hope
15:48
that made sense. It probably didn't. I'm
15:50
not the best at communicating those
15:51
things, but just wanted to share that.
15:54
One last thing on that topic and then
15:55
I'll shut up about that. So, when I
15:57
started early on, I was traveling in the
15:59
van. I did have a Patreon. wanted to
16:02
have merchandise, some crowdfunding to
16:05
put gas, the fuel the woo era when I
16:08
didn't have a dime to my name. But in my
16:11
mind, I knew there was going to be a cut
16:13
off point when I got to the point that I
16:15
didn't need that jump start to step away
16:18
from it. And I
16:20
did. My goal was not to
16:25
build, you know, to build what I've done
16:29
to then use that to continue doing that.
16:31
So, it was a it was it was nice and a
16:35
necessity and very grateful for any of
16:38
the help on those early years, very very
16:40
early years of me doing this starting in
16:42
2011 when I quit my job. Those first few
16:45
years, that was really the only thing
16:48
that was putting gas in my tank. But I
16:50
got to the point where it was like, you
16:52
know, I think I don't think I need to be
16:55
doing this anymore. So, I just wanted to
16:57
chime in with that little uh that little
16:59
that little footnote as well.
17:05
So, I'll kind of explain the idea. I
17:05
wasn't even going to talk about any of
17:06
this,
17:07
but here we are. I'll explain the idea
17:10
about
17:11
the free meet and greet, free
17:13
merchandise tour that I could probably
17:17
do it next year in 26, maybe stretch it
17:20
to 27. Full US tour, giving away
17:25
merch, swag,
17:35
meet and greet, meeting some people. But
17:36
I feel like it's been a while since I
17:38
did a meet up. I should probably do one
17:40
this
17:41
year locally, maybe in the Orlando area,
17:44
and I could print, you know, get a local
17:47
screen print company, print three or 400
17:50
shirts to give away to the first three
17:51
or 400 people that show up to a meet and
17:53
greet in the place that would host me to
17:56
have that there for free, like a
17:58
business, possibly like a music shop or
18:01
a skate store, skate shop, place like
18:05
that. It's got to be free, though. and
18:08
it just popped in my head in the last
18:09
couple months. Figured I'd just share it
18:12
out and about here in the episode. But
18:14
basically, when I was in a band, we
18:16
would always My hair
18:18
is Hold on a
18:20
second. When I was in the My hair is not
18:23
wanting to cooperate with this hat. Here
18:25
we go. When I was in the band always,
18:28
which was touring, we were playing, you
18:30
know, five, six shows a week, touring in
18:31
the van. Get cheap hotels, sometimes
18:33
sleep in the van. And then that was part
18:36
of the reason I had the van. I thought,
18:38
hey, if I'm doing this in the van with
18:40
with a bunch of guys traveling, I could
18:42
quit my job and do this and take the
18:44
same things I applied to the punk rock
18:47
scene and just turn that into YouTube
18:50
videos, take the punk rock ethics into
18:53
doing YouTube. So that's kind of what
18:55
started me figuring to travel. traveling
18:58
by myself a lot easier than traveling
18:59
with four or five guys and a bunch of,
19:02
you know, equipment in the back of the
19:03
van, loading in and out and all that. So
19:05
now I'm thinking using that mentality
19:08
and doing that, but instead of playing
19:10
shows, I don't really know. I have this
19:13
fantasy about being in a band again. Who
19:16
knows, maybe I will. thought instead of
19:19
loading equipment in and out playing
19:21
shows, I could just do a series of
19:25
meetups at different places and then
19:28
instead of having a merch counter where
19:30
you sell
19:31
merchandise, you know, and a in that
19:34
aspect, you just give it away to whoever
19:37
shows up. And so basically, this is what
19:40
would have to happen. have to have an
19:42
have an establishment that would let me
19:44
go to those places set
19:47
up. Obviously, I'd also have to get a
19:50
hold of a local merchandise company. I
19:52
don't know if I would take everything
19:55
with me. It'd probably have to be done
19:56
on the spot, and it wouldn't be an
19:58
everyday kind of meet and greet. It
19:59
would be like a once a week. Like, let's
20:01
say every Saturday or every Sunday it
20:04
would be in a different city. And I
20:05
could still do videos while I'm
20:06
traveling. Like I could start with one
20:08
in Orlando, then the next Saturday I
20:11
could do Atlanta area, maybe on the
20:13
outskirts, maybe not in the main cities.
20:14
Make it in a little town that's in the
20:16
suburbs so it's easier for people, you
20:18
know, for parking where parking isn't
20:20
going to be an issue or anything like
20:21
that. Find a place, like I said, a music
20:23
shop, skate store, you know, some sort
20:27
of countercultureesque type of thing.
20:31
The last meetup I believe I ever did was
20:34
in Texas inside of a mall or a toy store
20:37
and they said, "Hey, you could do it
20:38
here. It was on Super Bowl Sunday many
20:40
years ago. A lot of people said I was
20:43
foolish for doing a meetup on Super Bowl
20:46
Sunday that no one would show up. The
20:49
video's online. You can look it up." It
20:51
was a lot of
20:53
people. It's been a while. So, I do not
20:56
know what the reaction would be. Maybe
20:58
no one would show up to a free meet up,
21:00
but basically that was my thought. I
21:03
could travel around the US for a series
21:07
months. Probably flying back and forth
21:09
would be easier. But I would like to do
21:11
some videos leading up to it, talking
21:13
about it, promoting where I was going to
21:15
be, promoting the place that would let
21:17
me do it at the at their spot. And then
21:20
I would obviously
21:21
purchase the t-shirts from whatever city
21:25
or suburb I was going to be in from
21:27
local screen shop place. Help them out
21:32
and then give those away. This is all
21:36
all in this is all in my mind. What do
21:38
they call it? What does Disney say? Blue
21:40
sky. This is all blue sky for the
21:41
moment. But you never know and something
21:44
might uh come to fruition. But I feel
21:47
like before doing that, I should test it
21:49
out locally somewhere in the Orlando
21:53
area before the end of the year. I
21:55
should really not be saying this out
21:57
loud because now once I say
22:01
something usually starts whirling around
22:03
in the noggin.
22:06
So before the end of the year, I'm going
22:08
to I'm going to look into that or maybe
22:09
into early next year. Let's say before
22:11
the end of the year if I can find
22:13
another spot. I did one at the Artagon
22:14
Mall, which is now Dieserland. I think
22:18
that was the last Orlando meetup I
22:20
did. And I gave away some stickers and
22:23
pins and things like that, but never
22:25
giving away the t-shirts. I mean, it
22:26
could just be something as simple as I
22:28
met Adam the Woo in Orlando and all I
22:30
got is a stupid t-shirt with like, you
22:32
know, image of something that represents
22:34
me. Or maybe something different. or
22:36
maybe something not as, you know, quirky
22:38
and cliche, just something kind of
22:40
basic, but it has the date and something
22:44
that simulates me and it would just be
22:46
given out. Whoever shows up would be the
22:48
only people that get them unless they,
22:50
you know, hawk them off or pawn them or
22:54
whatever people do after the fact is not
22:56
has nothing to do with me.
22:58
And then obviously if I printed 300
23:00
shirts, 200 shirts, 500 shirts, 100
23:03
shirts, whatever it is and those are
23:06
gone, I would still have, you know,
23:08
stickers and pens and things for anyone
23:10
that was farther farther down the line.
23:12
We got to give it some thought. But if
23:14
that was to work and if I do that before
23:16
the end of the
23:17
year, then that could turn into a
23:21
nationwide
23:26
tour. So, I didn't even know I didn't
23:26
even know what this episode was going to
23:27
be about. And now I've just kind of
23:29
unleashed the floodgates on my
23:31
mind. Let's see. Let's see what happens.
23:36
What do you