In this episode of the Drone to 1K Podcast, we sit down with Jeremy Proctor, owner of Central Texas Aerials. Jeremy shares his remarkable journey of turning a therapeutic hobby into a thriving drone business that generated nearly $70K in revenue during his first full year. After being laid off from his corporate tech job in July 2023, Jeremy transformed his drone side hustle into his primary source of income. Based in New Braunfels, Texas, he strategically positions himself to serve both the San...
Mar 04, 2025•40 min•Season 7Ep. 7
Join us for a conversation with Michael Lilley, founder of Wet Dog Drones, as he shares his journey from drone enthusiast to successful construction site documentation specialist. Michael reveals how he built a thriving drone business while working a full-time job in the construction industry. In this episode, Michael discusses: His unconventional 1AM workday schedule and how he manages his drone business on weekends How he convinced his employer to become his biggest client after initially faci...
Feb 25, 2025•29 min•Season 7Ep. 6
In this episode of the Drone to 1K Podcast, host David Young talks with Cody Retlich about: Acquiring a drone service business (MKE Drones) for minimal upfront cost Growing revenue by 30% through strategic business acquisition Tips for new drone entrepreneurs on client acquisition Building a successful drone service business from scratch Key Insights: Negotiated a 2-year payment plan with the previous business owner Focused on expanding existing client base and service offerings Importance of kn...
Feb 11, 2025•31 min•Season 7Ep. 5
In this episode, we dive into Jon Jeffress's incredible journey from weekend car show photographer to a successful real estate media production entrepreneur. Learn how he transformed his business, navigated the challenges of growth, and built a half-million-dollar company in Mobile, Alabama. 📸 What You'll Learn: How Jon pivoted from automotive to real estate photography The power of networking and strategic partnerships Innovative approaches to service delivery in the photography business Scali...
Feb 04, 2025•34 min•Season 7Ep. 4
Our guest for this episode is Brandon Beal of Elevation Aerial Application. 🚁 Highlights from this episode: Getting Started: Brandon came from a traditional aviation background working with helicopters before transitioning to drones in 2017. He moved to Virginia during COVID to pursue his dream of agricultural drone operations. The Business: Starting with a $50,000 loan, Brandon and his business partner launched Elevation Aerial Application, focusing on spraying and fertilizing Christmas tree f...
Jan 28, 2025•49 min•Season 7Ep. 3
In this episode, we sit down with Matt Nugent, founder of Wing Walker Aerial Photography in Seattle, who shares his journey from reluctant police drone operator to successful drone business owner. Matt reveals how he built a thriving side business generating $5,000+ monthly while maintaining his full-time career in law enforcement. Learn how Matt: Transitioned from basic police drone work to specialized photogrammetry Adapted his business after losing a major client Developed unique nighttime dr...
Jan 21, 2025•43 min•Season 7Ep. 2
We're excited to announce that Season 7 Episode 1 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is out! Our guest for this episode is Chris Knipp of Sky Media 423 . Highlights from this episode: Unexpected Beginning: Chris's drone journey started with a Mavic Mini purchase in late 2019 for his church's kids ministry during COVID, creating engaging online content by incorporating aerial footage into their productions. His background in film industry work and storytelling through children's ministry laid the ground...
Jan 14, 2025•35 min•Season 7Ep. 1
We're excited to announce that Season 6 Episode 10 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is out! Our guest for this episode is Juan Quinones of LuxyDrone . https://www.instagram.com/juan.c.quinonez/ Juan Quinones, founder of FPV Creator Pro and Luxy Drone, shared his journey, highlighting his transition from videography to FPV drone flying. 🚁 Highlights from this episode: Discovering FPV: Juan's fascination with FPV drones began when he witnessed an impressive aerial display at a yacht party. Persistence...
Mar 12, 2024•50 min•Season 6Ep. 10
We're excited to announce that Season 6 Episode 9 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is out! Our guest for this episode is Guillermo Wenzel of Drone Sky Visuals . Guillermo, founder of Drone Sky Visuals, came back to the podcast to talk about how he's been doing since his last appearance on the podcast in 2019. 🚁 Highlights from this episode: Juggling Jobs: At first, he was working both his drone business, Drone Sky Visuals, and a regular job at a construction company. Getting Drones into Business: He...
Mar 05, 2024•46 min•Season 6Ep. 9
Season 6 Episode 8 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is out! Our guest for this episode is Noah Ruiz of Soaring Eagle Technologies . Noah Ruiz, founder of Soaring Eagle Technologies, transitioned from capturing photos of houses to specializing in infrastructure inspection with drones. 🚁 Highlights from this episode: Inspiration and Early Ventures: Noah started his drone journey after witnessing the profitability of the technology in various industries, initially focusing on capturing images and video...
Feb 27, 2024•41 min•Season 6Ep. 8
Our guest for this episode is Zach Pieper of Quantum Land Design and Arrowview Services. Zach worked for Caterpillar in civil engineering and then ventured into entrepreneurship by establishing Quantum Land Design and Arrowview Services. These companies specialize in services for contractors and civil engineering, respectively. 🚁 Highlights from this episode: Drone Integration in Construction: Zach's utilization of drones in construction and civil engineering, leveraging his diverse background ...
Feb 20, 2024•37 min•Season 6Ep. 7
Our guest for this episode is Matt Harvey of Edge Drone Services. https://edgedroneservices.com/ Here are the main highlights of this episode: Matt's journey into the drone industry began while he was still in college, sparked by a conversation at a construction company where he was employed. He and his friend formed a partnership and started their own drone services company. Initially, they focused on projects in construction, like replacing bridges and promoting real estate. Matt faced challen...
Feb 13, 2024•29 min•Season 6Ep. 6
Welcome back to the Drone to 1K podcast! In Season 6, Episode 5, host David Young catches up with Pedro Silva of Drones by Dro. Pedro shares his journey from part-time drone enthusiast to running a thriving drone business full time. Tune in for valuable insights on starting and growing a drone business, including Pedro's transition to full-time drone work and his success with search engine optimization that boosted his business. https://www.dronebydro.com/ 🚁 Highlights: Pedro's journey from par...
Feb 06, 2024•44 min•Season 6Ep. 5
Welcome back to Season Six, Episode Four of the Drone to 1K Podcast! 🚁 In this episode, David Young sits down with Blake Skor of CT Aerial Photo, LLC. Blake, at just 18 years old, shares his inspiring journey into the world of drone photography and videography. One highlight of the conversation is how Blake fearlessly pursued opportunities, showcasing the power of strategic outreach and overcoming obstacles. 🔍 Topics Covered: Blake's strategic outreach approach: From cold calling ski resorts t...
Jan 30, 2024•35 min•Season 6Ep. 4
Our guest for this week's episode is Jeff Hughes of Campfire Video Solutions. https://campfirevideos.com/ Jeff's journey started from a job where he made videos to promote a home inspection company.Then, during the pandemic, he tried out drones for real estate photos and videos and became a licensed drone pilot. Here's a quick look at what we talked about: From Making Ads to Flying Drones: Jeff started with making ads, and then he got into using drones for even cooler shots. Pandemic Project: Fi...
Jan 23, 2024•33 min•Season 6Ep. 3
Join us as we chat with Cody Retlich of Midwest Aerial Productions (MAP) and DroneAdair. In this episode of Drone To $1K, Cody shares his stories and experiences, giving us a peek into the exciting realm of aerial innovation. 🔍 What to Expect: College Spark : Cody's interest in drones took off during a college project on drones and agriculture, sparking a passion that reshaped his career. Changing the Game : Explore how MAP shifted from local drone services to a successful brokerage model, grow...
Jan 16, 2024•38 min•Season 6Ep. 2
We're excited to announce that Season 6 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is officially here! Our first podcast guest of season 6 is Brian Koester of Southbay Drone Services . Brian's journey began with real estate photography, evolving into a broader range of drone services. Brian shares insights on: Transitioning from real estate to diverse drone services. The role of digital marketing and websites in his growth. Shifting focus to construction and mapping services. Using photogrammetry for projects ...
Jan 09, 2024•43 min•Season 6Ep. 1
Welcome to the final episode of Drone to $1K, Season 5! In today's episode, we have a special guest, Thomas Wasinski from Ariel Agents. Thomas shares his fascinating journey from starting drones as a side hustle to turning it into a full-time career. He has worked with renowned companies like HBO, the NFL, and even the Cleveland Browns. Thomas's story is truly inspiring, as he went from an unrelated profession to becoming an Emmy award-winning drone pilot. In this episode, Thomas discusses how h...
Jul 11, 2023•38 min•Season 5Ep. 10
In this episode of Drone to 1K podcast, David interviews Robert Nix, a drone business owner of RE Drone SC. David and Robert discuss Robert's journey from a hobbyist drone pilot to a full-time drone business owner, offering tips and tricks for those starting from scratch. Robert is from South Carolina and took a drone launch course several years ago. He and David connected and have stayed in touch ever since. Robert has seen his drone business grow over time, starting from taking his Part 107 li...
May 22, 2023•27 min•Season 5Ep. 9
This week’s guest is Curtis Kloc from Inspections Over Coffee. Inspections Over Coffee is an inspection company that uses drones to help inspect roofs. The company also sells franchises, and Curtis says that everyone that purchases a franchise also has to get licensed and learn how to use drones to inspect roofs. Curtis also works with real estate agents and agencies and educates them about inspection work, which builds credibility for his company and often leads to more business. Curtis gives l...
Sep 07, 2022•49 min•Season 5Ep. 8
Our guest this week is Pedro Silva from Drone by Dro. Since getting his Part 107 license, Pedro has worked on a variety of drone photography and videography jobs, including construction work, real estate listing photos and videos, and even a video for a hospital that recently did a huge renovation. (The video he created for the hospital actually won an award!) Pedro's been able to quit his job as a waiter and focus on building Drone by Dro full-time. An interesting thing about his business is th...
Aug 18, 2022•51 min•Season 5Ep. 7
This week's guest is Chris Francescani from Sunset Beach Films. Chris was a journalist and reporter for 25 years. Now, he uses drones to create marketing and promotional videos for local businesses in Eastern Long Island. Chris has been able to find new clients by joining chambers of commerce and networking with business owners who could use social media drone videos to promote their businesses. Be sure to listen to this week's Drone to $1K Podcast episode to hear more about Chris and his journe...
Aug 10, 2022•51 min•Season 5Ep. 6
Our guest this week is Grant Puckrin from 19th UAS Precision. Grant's drone business started out doing real estate photography and videography. Now, Grant wants to expand into the agriculture industry. Growing up on a farm, Grant experienced firsthand the hard work and long hours that farmers put into their jobs. He wanted to find a way to use drones to help them save time and resources. Grant bought a multispectral drone AND a spraying drone and is waiting on his paperwork to be finalized befor...
Jul 28, 2022•47 min•Season 5Ep. 5
Jul 21, 2022•54 min•Season 5Ep. 4
Our guest this week is Joe Morgan from Eyes Above Texas Imagery. Joe's been a Part 107-licensed drone pilot since 2017. Since then, he's gained tons of experience in the drone industry. He's skilled in photography & videography, mapping & photogrammetry, and inspection work. Over the past several years, Joe's built a reputation as a safe and professional drone service provider that always delivers quality work. To hear all about Joe's drone work and his advice for aspiring drone business...
Jul 14, 2022•51 min•Season 5Ep. 3
Eric Hellinger from Vivid Flight Media is our guest for this week's episode. Eric only started flying drones about a year and a half ago, and he's already running a successful drone business that specializes in providing FPV videos. If you're not familiar with FPV, it stands for first person view. Eric has created FPV videos for a variety of businesses and organizations, from schools to laboratories to wineries. To hear more about Eric and the cool FPV drone jobs he's worked on, give this week's...
Jul 07, 2022•58 min•Season 5Ep. 2
Season 5 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is here! This week, Dusty Jolley joins us as our first podcast guest of season 5. Since getting his Part 107 license back in 2020, Dusty has been able to quit his job in insurance (which he was miserable at) so he can pursue 2 of his hobbies: flying drones and welding. Over the past couple of years, Dusty's been doing a variety of drone work, including cinematography, mapping, and even FPV. Aaaand, we're excited to announce that Dusty is now part of the Drone...
Jun 01, 2022•53 min•Season 5Ep. 1
Danny Elassad from Mole Media and Hoverscape joins us this week to talk about his full-time drone job AND his drone side hustle! Danny is the chief remote pilot at Hoverscape, where he uses drones to create “digital twins” (extremely accurate, high resolution 3D models) of large structures, like telecom towers and warehouses. With Mole Media (his own drone company), Danny does drone photography and videography. He’s even had the chance to work with Netflix and TV shows! To hear all about how Dan...
Nov 02, 2021•48 min•Season 4Ep. 10
This week, our guest is Thom Monterville from NexGen Drones, LLC. Currently, Thom’s business is focused on agriculture and mapping drone services. In this episode, Thom talks about how he started his business, how he landed his first paid job (which happened to be with one of the largest cattle and agriculture companies in Oklahoma!), and his goals for the future. If you want to learn how drones are being used in the agriculture industry, you don’t want to miss this episode! Be sure to play our ...
Oct 19, 2021•55 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Patrick Whalen of Backstage Aerial joins us this week to talk about how he grew his business from $0 to 6 figures in less than a year. When Patrick’s job was affected by the pandemic, he decided to invest in a drone and get his Part 107 license. In no time, he was landing jobs with household name clients like Amazon, Netflix, Hyundai, and Justin Bieber! Patrick tells us all about how he was able to build such a successful business so quickly in this episode, so be sure to give it a listen. After...
Oct 11, 2021•47 min•Season 4Ep. 8
