In Business Blast Podcast episode #500, host Tyler Wagner introduces Anchor as a simple all‑in‑one podcast platform before welcoming solopreneur and aspiring podcaster Summer Slevin. Summer shares a pivotal life story: after a year‑long internship and a missed job offer, she embarked on a two‑month cross‑country road trip, lived in her car, adopted a dog, and fell in love with U.S. national parks—a experience that shaped her current van‑life, travel‑focused lifestyle. Drawing on her background as a marketing consultant, she advises entrepreneurs to "niche down" as narrowly as possible and speak to their audience conversationally. Her overarching business mantra is "screw it, just do it"—a call to stop overthinking and start learning by doing. When asked what she would tell her younger self, she emphasizes following intuition and lives by the line "therapy is cheaper than regret," illustrated by a daring toe‑in‑a‑shot‑glass stunt she performed in Dawson City, Canada. Summer defines happiness as being present, grateful, and turning moments into stories, noting that happiness is fleeting and should be cultivated through mindfulness. She cites two books that profoundly influenced her: Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic (risking fear) and Rolf Potts’ Vagabonding (building a long‑term nomadic lifestyle). Favorite quotes include "Carpe Diem" (tattooed on her hip), "Struggle, let's do it," and her own "In Gott we trust." Finally, she directs listeners to her upcoming podcast "Nat Park Stories" and her social media handles: Nat Park Stories on Facebook and Instagram, and her personal Instagram @SumSlev. The episode is sponsored by Anchor and Authors Unite.
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Thank you for listening to the Business Blast podcast. So for all my listeners out there that have been wanting to do your own podcast, I'd like to introduce to you Anchor. Anchor is a one-stop shop for recording, hosting, distributing, and monetizing your podcast. So before I found Anchor, I had never actually done a podcast because all the research that I had gathered made it seem very complex. Then I found Anchor, and Anchor makes podcasting extremely simple. So if you want to do your own podcast, go to anchor.fm/start. I can't wait to hear your podcast. Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode. All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. This is a very special one. It's episode number 500 and we are with Summer Slevin and she is a solopreneur and soon-to-be podcaster. Nap park stories. So welcome to the show, Summer.
Thank you very much.
Of course, pumped to have you on. We'll dive into the first one, Summer. The first question I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
I think it was actually after a long internship and a job that I thought I was gonna get, and really not receiving that job was a really good thing that happened to me. But I interned for a year and right out of university, didn't get the job, and So I ended up packing my bags and taking a 2-month cross-country road trip. And I just like lived in my car for a couple months and adopted a dog along the way and just met strangers and fell in love with national parks. And that was a few years ago. So now it's kind of like created a really good lifestyle for me all these years later. So that's great.
And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Well, I used to be a marketing consultant. I still consult, but usually right now I do virtual assisting, but with marketing, definitely it's to niche down and then appeal to your target demographic specifically. So try to keep that niche as small as possible and then talk to them like you're having a conversation with them.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.
Yeah, I would say my best piece of advice is kind of my life motto. It's screw it. Just do it. Don't overthink it. Just get started. Like, just, just do it and then learn along the way. So that's kind of my best advice for myself and for others.
I agree. And if you could give— that's leading into the next one— if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
I think it would be follow your intuition. I think that's something that I really could have used as a younger individual. I'm still young, but as a younger individual, And then it's something that I really hold myself to. And then also another piece, just a secondary piece, is that I just heard it the other day and it's, "Therapy is cheaper than regret." Ah, I like that. Goes along with the script, do it? Yeah, I know. So just do things because you're going to regret not doing it.
Yo, that is a dope line.
I like that. Me too. Yeah, it actually just falls in the line to something I just did, which was the toe shot in Dawson City. And that's in Canada. And it's literally the grossest thing, but it's a human toe in a shot glass. It's world known, like, it's like disgusting. And I posted online, should I do this? And somebody's like, hey, therapy's cheaper than regret. I was like, alright, I'm doing it. Yeah, it was great.
So you did it, right?
I did it. I definitely did it.
Screw it, do it.
No regrets. It's gonna need therapy though.
It's cheaper than regret though. Very cool. I think that perfectly leads into the next one is like, in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
Yeah, I think it's just creating stories, right? It's just being in the moment and not even stressing about being in the moment, just kind of taking it in, taking in what you're doing, and not overthinking, like, am I happy? What leads to happiness? You know, it's just kind of absorbing what's going on and making, you know, positive out of that. I really think that a positive and grateful perspective is the key to happiness. And then just, you know, living in the moment and doing things that are gonna, you know, increase your happiness. And happiness is a feeling, right? It's an emotion. It doesn't last forever, right? And so you can't just expect to be happy all the time. That would be idiotic. So I think just being in the moment as much as possible can fulfill you more.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
This is such a hard question. I love books. I'm a huge bookie. So, well, not bookie, but I'm a huge book person. So I really loved Big Magic, right? And that was taking risks in the face of fear. And that's really, for me, not letting fear control you. Also, on my lifestyle, right, I live in a van now. I traveled all the national parks. I create this podcast, Nat Park Stories. I'm living the life that I've been trying to build and that I really love. And a book that really helped me do that was Vagabonding by Rolf Potts. And it just like really helped me like create a long-term vagabonding lifestyle. So that was a phenomenal one if you're a traveler.
That is awesome. And what is your favorite quote and why?
Another hard one. Oh man, that's pretty difficult. I was not prepared. I don't know. I think it really depends on the time that I need that quote, right? Like, I think that there's some really great ones I've heard just from people that have inspired me, right? Like, the, you know, "Struggle, let's do it" is a fun quote to say. Carpe Diem is a tattoo I have on my hip. And it just kind of reminds me that, you know, life is fleeting and you need to make the most of every day. I think that really it's whatever personal quotes stick out to you. And I've had a million that I think about at just different times in my life when I need to hear them. Right. So I think, I think, yeah, Carpe Diem is a really good one for me. And let's do it. And in Gott we trust is another one that I kind of coined and follow. And yeah, I think there's a million. I love quotes also.
And therapy is cheaper than regret. That is my new favorite one.
I know. I love it. One of my friends just said that and I was like, okay, new life quote.
That's the new tattoo for me. Well, listen, this was a lot of fun. Thank you for coming on. The last question I have for you before we part ways is where is the best place for people to find you online?
Oh yeah, so Nat Park Stories is the podcast that I'm creating. You can follow along with my journey on Facebook, just Nat Park Story, like national parks. And then you could do that on Instagram too. Got some real fun pictures on there, just following along. And then if you want to go behind the scenes, that's SumSlev, S-U-M-S-L-E-V on Instagram. So you kind of get a little bit of everything.
Perfect. Thanks again for joining us, Summer. It was a lot of fun.
