Casey Neistat on Writing Your Own Rules to Creative Success

Would you ever guess that the same person who works on major advertisements for brands like Nike, J. Crew and 20th Century Fox is also a high school dropout who started his career as a dishwasher in a seafood restaurant?

How about the guy who was living in a trailer park on welfare was interviewing President Bill Clinton just 3 years later (in person, on film)?

How do these things happen?

I realize that I have an interesting story of getting from my sister’s couch to making millions within a few years.

But today’s guest on The School of Greatness is the embodiment of the potential of hard work and vision.

Casey Neistat didn’t look like he was going to amount to much of anything as a teenager.

And then he took a huge leap at 19 years old and moved to NYC with $800 and a place to stay for 3 months.

Today he is one of the biggest filmmakers on YouTube, with over a million followers, and one of the most sought-after creatives for major brands and labs.

I had heard about Casey from several friends (whose opinion I trust) and started following him on social media recently.

I absolutely love his style of film, his creative and original use of platforms like Snapchat and Instagram, and his incredible success with his daily vlog.

He is also an entrepreneur who just launched a new social video app called Beme.

By the time he got to my studio for an interview, I already had a long list of questions I wanted to ask him.

But we got so caught up in a fascinating conversation about Casey’s journey and where film and social media are going, I ran out of time to ask most of my questions.

One of the biggest lessons I learned from Casey is how important it is to follow your own rules and gut when it comes to using social media and new ways to create content these days.

His results speak for themselves, so take notes in Episode 222 with filmmaker Casey Neistat.

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The School of Greatness Podcast

“It’s what you do with the tools, not what the tools are themselves.”

Some questions I ask:

• If you are a creative, do you think you should avoid mainstream media?
• What was your first branded deal that made you realize you could make money doing your own style of film?
• If someone offered you a TV show, would you take it?
• What’s the key to being successful on YouTube right now?
• How do you manage being a father and husband with your travel schedule?
• How many tattoos do you have?

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• Why Casey left making successful feature films and HBO to make new media on YouTube and social media
• How Casey made the most watched Nike video of all time (watch below)

• That the kind of camera you use is not the most important part of making quality videos online
• Casey has never outsourced editing for any of his vlogs
• Why Casey considers his son being born when he was 17 one of the greatest things that happened to him
• Casey’s advice to young people who don’t know what they want to do with their life

“There is absolutely no defined path.”

• How Casey got the gig to interview President Clinton when he was 20 years old
• The movie that Casey made that coined the phrase “viral video” (before YouTube and social media!)
• The concept behind his new app Beme (and how he came up with the idea while working at MIT)
• Why Casey has no regrets about his life (despite a lot of hardship)
• The one thing he has done with his YouTube channel that has had the biggest impact
• Plus much more…

Continue Seeking Greatness:

• Beme
• VidCon
• Gary Vaynerchuk
• FOLLOW CASEY

Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

• TEXT “GREATNESS” TO 33444 TO GET ADDED TO THE EARLY BIRD BOOK PREVIEW LIST! (OR VISIT HTTP://GREATNESSBOOK.COM)

• Music Credit: Tarpey by Conglomerate

You may also like these episodes:

• Create Massive Social Reach and Have Fun Doing It with iJustine
• How to Create a 7 Figure Social Media Empire with Branden Hampton
• Visual Poetry: How to Be an Entrepreneurial Artist with Nick Onken

Did you enjoy the podcast?

Casey is the man. Wow. I am blown away by his work ethic and creative vision. What do you think is possible after listening to him that you didn’t think was possible before?

“Living in retrospect is a bad idea.”