Diamond Effect - Strategies to Scale Your Service Business as a Sellable Asset

EP # 228 - Purpose Over Paycheque. How Alex Left Corporate to Build Whitmedia Studios & a Podcast Empire

• Maggie Perotin

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From spreadsheets and Facebook ads to storytelling, studios, and a top-ranked business podcast.

In this special studio-recorded episode, Maggie sits down with her mentee, Alexander Whitfield, founder of Whitmedia Studios in Oshawa (Greater Toronto Area), ON, Canada, and co-host of the Hustle Over Everything podcast.

Alex shares how he went from running Facebook ads and staring at spreadsheets all day in corporate marketing… to building a purpose-driven media studio and a top-ranked business podcast that’s hit #1 in Jamaica and top 20 in Canada.

In this conversation, Maggie and Alex talk about:

  • How a simple student project and curiosity about entrepreneurship evolved into a full podcast and then a studio
  • The childhood “massage hustle” that hinted Alex was always meant to be an entrepreneur
  • Why he walked away from corporate roles where his value felt tied only to performance metrics
  • How podcasting lets him hear real stories, serve entrepreneurs, and “reward his inner child”
  • The role mentorship played in uncovering blind spots, systems, and stronger foundations
  • The fine balance between short-term “band-aid” fixes and long-term strategic solutions in business
  • Practical tips for starting a podcast and then leveling it up with video, YouTube, and smart promotion
  • His bigger vision for Whitmedia Studios, education, and workshops in storytelling, public speaking, and community building

If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s possible to build a business that feels meaningful, creative, and sustainable—not just profitable—this episode will inspire you to choose purpose over paycheque and design work that truly fits you.

Resources & Links


Timestamps:

  • 00:00 – Introduction & recording in a professional studio
  • 00:40 – Meet Alex: founder of Whim Media Studios & Hustle Over Everything
  • 01:20 – How a student project evolved into a podcast and then a studio
  • 02:20 – Childhood “massage hustle” and early signs of entrepreneurship
  • 03:30 – Maggie’s daughter’s nail business and TikTok success
  • 04:00 – Why Alex left corporate marketing and Facebook ads
  • 05:00 – Feeling disposable in corporate and craving purpose
  • 06:00 – Maggie’s burnout story and losing her sense of purpose
  • 08:00 – The beauty (and difficulty) of building your own business
  • 09:00 – How mentorship supports entrepreneurs and reveals blind spots
  • 11:00 – Maggie’s framework: when to fix problems now vs. later
  • 13:00 – The origin story of Hustle Over Everything podcast
  • 14:00 – Breakthrough moments: David Mullings, Jamaica, and Paul Brunson
  • 16:00 – Posting daily: the challenge of a podcast-a-day for a month
  • 16:30 – Advice for starting a podcast from scratch
  • 18:00 – How to level up an existing podcast with video & YouTube
  • 19:00 – Working with platform editors and podcast promotion
  • 20:00 – Alex’s bigger vision for Whim Media Studios & workshops
  • 21:00 – Upcoming workshop on public speaking, storytelling & community
  • 21:40 – Where to find and follow Alex online
  • 22:00 – Closing and thank you

Maggie Perotin: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to the next episode of the Diamond Effect podcast, and I'm so excited because it's a very special episode. First of all, we're filming it in a professional studio, not in my office, at home. It's with Media Studio in awa. And I have an amazing special guest with me, Alex. Welcome, welcome for having, and before we go into the interview, if Alex, you could introduce yourself to everybody.

Alexander Whitfield: Firstly, thank you so much for having me. I'm so grateful to be interviewed on your show. I'm Alex, I'm the owner, founder of Whim Media Studios. Um, a studio here in awa. And yeah, I'm really excited to have, I'm also the owner of Hustler For Everything, an entrepreneurship podcast focused on sharing stories, tips, and culture.

In the entrepreneurship and culture space. 

Maggie Perotin: I love it. I love it. And we'll talk all about it in the podcast. So the first question I have for you that I really always love to find out when I talk to entrepreneurs [00:01:00] is, what's the story behind your business? How did you come up with the idea? What kinda led you to your businesses?

Alexander Whitfield: Yeah. Um, when it comes to this company, it's honestly just a matter of staying on the path. Mm-hmm. Uh, when I was. In, I think. College. I was interviewing people and staying on the path of entrepreneurship and the podcast, I just went from interviewing people to having my own blog. Mm-hmm. To creating my own podcast.

And then through the podcast, having the studio come out of it and it literally just blossom I thing to another. Or one step, um, at a time. It wasn't a, a immediate thing of, oh, I should launch a studio. Yeah. It was literally just, um, the opportunity that presented itself. Mm-hmm. And I said, you know what?

Let's, let's run with it. 

Maggie Perotin: So I'm curious because I look at my daughter who's 13. Yeah. And she's super entrepreneurial. Mm-hmm. And I think she's got it not just by looking at me because I wasn't always an entrepreneurs and she [00:02:00] was like that even when she was six, trying to sell shells to her neighbors to make money.

Yeah. Yeah. And you know, I was. A corporate leader at the time. So do you think you had a little bit of that as you were a child? Did you do like little side businesses before? I would love to know 

Alexander Whitfield: 100%. It's funny you say that. That brought me right back to when I was a kid. So what I used to notice is that my aunts used to be stressed out and their shoulders would be up.

Mm-hmm. And I always loved massages, so I would sell massages. To my aunties depress. They paid, paid you for ice and they paid me for it. Oh my God. I'm so, and gimme a little toony. So, so when the Toony Tuesday came around, I was ready. I had the toonies on deck from all of my little massages. So, um, when my aunt was in the car, so I would always be sitting in the back.

So my aunt would come and sit in the front and I'd be like, auntie, you want a massage? And she'd be like, yeah, it's okay. And then I'll give her a little massage through the, the back of the car. I'd like, all right, well that will be $2. And she's like, oh. Okay. I guess I gotta pay. [00:03:00] And from then I started getting my little two twenties up and it went to Max and had a ball.

Maggie Perotin: That's awesome. That's on. 

Alexander Whitfield: Yep. Our 

Maggie Perotin: case. That's what you know now. She reinvest. She has like a little, my, my daughter has a little nail business now. Oh. So she's. Doing Nails. Tried it not that long ago, and she has so many orders. She's so good. Like I'm, I literally want to learn from her how to do TikTok.

Alexander Whitfield: Wow. So she's selling on TikTok now? 

Maggie Perotin: Yep. 

Alexander Whitfield: Wow, that's amazing. 1200 

Maggie Perotin: followers. 

Alexander Whitfield: 1200 followers. A 

Maggie Perotin: 13-year-old. Wow. Me not so good. 

Alexander Whitfield: Listen, she used to teach both of us, honestly. Wow. 

Maggie Perotin: So another question that I have, and I think that's an important to know, when you're an entrepreneur, why do you do what you do? Man?

Alexander Whitfield: Um, it really. Testifies to my why, you know? Um, I actually came from the marketing space mm-hmm. [00:04:00] And I was working with, uh, different media companies running Facebook ads and things of that nature. And I actually got quite good at it. So I was working with like, um, corporate execs doing Facebook ads, and, um, some of those companies that I worked with got acquired.

Mm-hmm. But, um, all I was doing was. Looking at spreadsheets all day. Mm-hmm. You know, and it wasn't entertaining. It wasn't gratifying. Mm-hmm. There was no, there was no, uh, purpose in it. Mm-hmm. This felt like I was just giving people money and going about my day so as well to that it didn't feel like I was.

W valued as a human. It was really just your inputs and outputs. If you make money for me, you're here. Mm-hmm. And if you don't, you're fired. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I really dislike that. I really dislike how, uh. Flimsy, my value was mm-hmm. Based off of how, uh, Facebook ads in [00:05:00] marketing was performing. Mm-hmm. And I really disliked that.

And I'm like, all right, how can I create something for myself, for one, yeah. Um, that I can give value to other people. Mm-hmm. And two, I love the actual service of it, you know? Mm-hmm. Like, I get to hear people give their real stories. You know, I get to hear health. Stories and little ups and downs that go with the people's individual stories.

So that really means a lot to me. Mm-hmm. Um, and honestly, I think it, it rewards my inner child. So like I said, I'm my only child and. I never used to be around people. Mm-hmm. So I'm used to being in solitude. Mm-hmm. So having a podcast studio allows me to hear other people's stories, uhhuh and allows me to, to get entertained just naturally.

So yeah, entertains my inner child and gives me purpose. 

Maggie Perotin: I love it. And I definitely relate to the purpose because when I was in a corporate world and in some point I did burn out and that happened when I. Stop seeing my purpose. And it was just me, you know, working hard, taking away the [00:06:00] time from my kids, which were little at that time, and for big institutions or corporations to make more money.

And they still weren't happy and they were still kind of beating us up for, that's not enough. You're not good enough. Not good enough. And I was like, no. Like this is ridiculous. Right? I wanna see. The impact of my skills and my knowledge on people like yourself and entrepreneurs, where you can see actually somebody growing.

You can see how their life is changing and so on. So I definitely resonate with, you know, seeing the purpose of what give, having the purpose and then seeing the result of what you do. Mm-hmm. Beyond the spreadsheet. 

Alexander Whitfield: Yeah, a hundred percent. A hundred percent. And a lot of times we're in these corpor corporations giving so much value and there's nothing that really feels like it's giving back to you, you know?

Um. I remember I was just watching a TikTok of a girl, say she was working at a company for 14 years. Mm-hmm. And I think it was at Amazon that she was working at. And Amazon had those [00:07:00] massive layoffs. I think it was like 40,000 people. Mm-hmm. And then she just got let go at four 30 in the morning. Oh wow.

That's just, just like that, you know? And something like that is. Crazy to think about after 14 years you just get let go and it's just, that's it. Yeah. Yeah. No, um, I don't want that for, for myself. And, um, I've been in a situation where you're working for a company day in and day out and you're not really valued.

Mm-hmm. So yeah, that's kinda what, what kinda led me down here. 

Maggie Perotin: Yeah. And that's great because, you know, through entrepreneurship, that's the beauty of entrepreneurship. You can actually. Build something of your own, right? Sure. You can build assets, you can build legacy. I'm not saying it's easy, but 

Alexander Whitfield: No, it's not.

No, but there's 

Maggie Perotin: definitely that potential, which yeah, 

Alexander Whitfield: you don't 

Maggie Perotin: get a hundred percent. 

Alexander Whitfield: And honestly, there's nothing wrong with having a job either though. Like, I don't wanna say talk like, I'm like, uh, pitying a job. Like Yeah. I definitely feel like, especially in this economy, like, uh, jobs are so necessary, you know, and um, I'm hearing stats that are like a lot of people are being.

Laid [00:08:00] off, um, especially with like the invention of ai. Like there's a lot of people that are losing their jobs too, so I just don't wanna say, I'm not also trying to like, you know Yeah. Pity jobs, so No, no, no, I 

Maggie Perotin: get it. First of all, entrepreneurship is not for everybody. Second of all, as businesses grow, they need employees, right?

Yeah. Like even our business as as they grow at some point, yeah. We'll need employees, right? For sure. And then, so that's. That's fine. Yeah. And I agree. Like I, you know, I never, I am grateful for the career ahead because it allowed me to learn, learn a lot of skills. 

Alexander Whitfield: Yeah. 

Maggie Perotin: Um, you know, so it wasn't bad all the time.

There was just a moment that got me. Rethink what I wanna do going forward. That's it. 

Alexander Whitfield: Mm-hmm. 

Maggie Perotin: Yeah. Okay. So next question for you. So how we met was through a entrepreneurial mentorship program. Yeah. I love coaching, of course this is what I do, but I also love mentoring and sort of giving back as much as I can and through one of those programs, that's how we met.

So I would love to ask [00:09:00] you, you know, what mentor, how mentorship is helping you as an entrepreneur? 

Alexander Whitfield: Man. Uh, I think. You get to, it's almost like therapy for your business because. No one's really as impartial. Mm-hmm. You know, because there's people that are part of the team. There's people that are your, um, family and friends.

Mm-hmm. We don't really get to speak to people that are completely impartial to the business. So speaking to, to you and speaking to, um, people that are literally outside of the circle, it kind of gives an ability to get an outside perspective of how the business functions, explaining it. Um, seeing where there's holes or ways to, to elevate.

Mm-hmm. That's been very helpful for me personally. Um, and seeing where, um, there's a lot of holes that's been the big one. Like, oh, are you doing that with your taxes? Are you doing this or this? Are you doing that with that? [00:10:00] That's been very helpful for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I think that's been like the biggest win from it.

Um, as well, there's been like systems and softwares mm-hmm. That they give you to, to work through. Mm-hmm. So that's been helpful as well. Yeah. 

Maggie Perotin: Yeah. That's great. And, and definitely we all, I really believe we all have blind spots, right. The way we see the world. And in business, having those blind spots can actually hurt you.

Right. Can cost you a lot of money and effort for sure. Yeah. So having that uncovered and fix it when it's not a big deal, uh, rather than, you know, waiting Yeah. 

Alexander Whitfield: The 

Maggie Perotin: wait, wait well till becomes a big problem. Yeah. It's always but 

Alexander Whitfield: show Yeah. All. So how do you, that's a great thing. I'll ask you if you don't mind a quick detour.

How do you know when to. Detours to solve the problem versus saying, let's put it off to later 

Maggie Perotin: the problem. 

Alexander Whitfield: Yeah, like how do you, do you have a framework for like. 

Maggie Perotin: To quickly mm-hmm. Tell you, you [00:11:00] need to think about, okay, what are the consequences? First of all, what are the consequences if I don't solve it now?

Alexander Whitfield: Mm-hmm. 

Maggie Perotin: Right. If the consequences are really bad and immediate, you should probably solve it now. Yeah. If, let's say there is a problem, but you're super busy and. The, if you pull the root cause, the, the fixing the root cause would take a lot of investment and time and so on, and you have a bandaid solution.

You can, sometimes it makes sense to, okay, let's do the bandaid solution. So we go through the situation, but you have to come back and fix the root issue. And I've been in. Corporations where that never happened, where we're just like bandaid solutions, bandaid solutions. But at some point it comes and bite doing the but really big.

Mm. Um, so of course, ideal situation, find out the root cause and fix it as soon as you can. But [00:12:00] it's not always doable in real life. So sometimes, okay, put the bandaid solutions so you can finish whatever you're doing. You can keep going, but go back to it. And that's why I always talk about, you know, see your time and time for strategy and time to look back and say, okay, what are the things that are important?

There are never urgent that are important, that will help me grow my business. Right? Because. That mandate solution, as the business keeps growing, it will blow. Mm-hmm. Right. So I need certain foundations I need to fix. So that's the thing about balancing the short term needs of the business to long-term needs of the business.

Mm-hmm. There's no, like, I can't say there's one perfect answer. 

Alexander Whitfield: Yeah. Yeah. It is really like a, a. A, a fine, fine dance to find. It's, 

Maggie Perotin: it's, 

Alexander Whitfield: yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's an interesting, interesting answer. I appreciate that. 

Maggie Perotin: Yeah. Yeah. You're welcome. Mm-hmm. Okay. So let's talk about your podcast. Okay. Because you have a great podcast.

Thank you. You have a lot of followers, right? Thank you. So tell me a a little [00:13:00] bit about it. So, what'd you do? How did you. How did you get the idea for it? And then I'll ask you some podcasting questions because I think you're an expert, you know, 

Alexander Whitfield: appreciate that. So, hustle over everything. My podcast came up out of, uh, just the overall need for business solutions.

Mm-hmm. It study started in rising university. Mm-hmm. In the SLC, uh, we were literally thinking of what solutions need to be available for entrepreneurs, especially like young black entrepreneurs. Mm-hmm. There was nothing. Mm-hmm. And we started creating. A month before the pandemic and literally the pandemic came across like, all right, well, I guess we're doing it from home.

And went through the pandemic interviewing entrepreneurs and started getting an audience. And through that we ended up charting as top 20 business podcasts in Canada. Awesome. Um, we had one breakthrough moment with, uh, David Mullings. Big shout out to David Mullings from, um, blue, my whole capital. Uh, he.

Liked one [00:14:00] of our posts. So we created a post on Jamaica. Mm-hmm. Becoming the Singapore of the Caribbean. Mm-hmm. Because Singapore, I think, jumped ahead by generations in terms of their country's GDP and production because of their natural resources. Mm-hmm. So, um, he had a clip on Jamaica doing the same thing because they have one of the deepest supports in the world.

Mm-hmm. And we, we posted that. And that did numbers and that ended up with him coming on the show. Awesome. Yeah. And once that happened, Jamaica loved the episode. We became number one business podcast in Jamaica for that moment. And, um, that really helped us blossom. Mm-hmm. And he then connected us with somebody named Paul Brunson.

Mm-hmm. Um, who now has one of the biggest podcasts in Europe, signed to die of a CEO. Um, and he's, mm-hmm. He's great. Um, big shout to Possy Brunson as well, and. He broke down working with [00:15:00] two billionaires, working with Oprah. Mm-hmm. And working with EN and that really broke the mold for the podcast. Mm-hmm.

Um, and honestly to this day, he has one of the best stories of, um, his journey from Zero to Oprah. And yeah, I suggest anybody listen to the episode, great episode. I will. I definitely will love it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that was like the journey of like from zero to building up up the show. Mm-hmm. And from then on I'm like, wow, we have something.

Mm-hmm. And started keep continuously going, continuously going. Um, and from then on we started working with different, um, platforms and yeah, that's what kinda led us to the, the podcast studio. And yeah, so it's been, it's been a, a, a wild ride for sure, but, um, honestly, it's been great. So right now I'm actually working on a poon.

Mm-hmm. Which is releasing a podcast every single day for a month, which is ambitious. Yeah. It's ambitious, it's challenging. Great. Yeah. Um, there's a lot, a lot of things that go right, a lot things that go wrong, but [00:16:00] um, yeah, we're, we're, we're building on top of it, so, yeah. 

Maggie Perotin: Love it. Love it. So, two questions Okay.

About podcasts. So if somebody is just starting mm-hmm. And they would love to have a podcast, what are some key considerations that, you know, they should think about? 

Alexander Whitfield: Um, okay. Uh, the key consideration that I think about is mm-hmm. Who your, your viewer is mm-hmm. And their journey, you're gonna take them through throughout the episode.

Mm-hmm. You know, there's two kind of formats of the podcast is how the con, the listener is. Enjoying the podcast and the overall guiding force through the podcast. You're like the, the rollercoaster. Mm-hmm. So you can't just focus on enjoying it. You have to focus on the structure that the journey each person is going through.

Mm-hmm. From, from one stage to the other. So whether you have. Segments, different formats, all those elements make a cohesive podcast. Mm-hmm. So, considering that, I think is the most crucial part of a podcast. Um, so yeah, I think working on different [00:17:00] segments to make sure that journey is great. Mm-hmm. Not just, um.

Starting and talking, you know? Yeah, yeah. Um, and with the rollercoaster, they're usually based in something. This one is the drop. Mm-hmm. This one is the, uh, highest rollercoaster that's like the drop zone. Mm-hmm. Or, um, there's different elements to it. Right. So I'd say make sure your niche makes sense.

Mm-hmm. Um, speak. Authentically from it. Mm-hmm. So you can really have a base that people believe in. Yeah. That really is relevant for a good podcast. So ours is on business, entrepreneurship and culture. Um, so that's our base. But hey, maybe yours is in knitting, maybe yours is in sports or parenting. You know, make sure you're rooted in that so people are coming back for the same thing consistently.

Maggie Perotin: Cool. 

Alexander Whitfield: Yeah. 

Maggie Perotin: So now follow up question for somebody like me Yeah. Who's had a podcast for a while, but mm-hmm. You know, it's. I don't, I don't think I'm at the next level, and I would like to take it to the next level. Okay. What should be my consideration? 

Alexander Whitfield: Honestly, I'd [00:18:00] say, well, firstly, do you have the capacity for video?

Do you feel like you have the capacity for video? Maybe. Maybe. Alright, so what I would say, um, there's levels to it. Mm-hmm. Before going the full studio. Yeah. I'd say go virtual video. Mm-hmm. You know, use a platform like Riverside. Yep. And, um. Interview your guests virtually have a good desk set up. Mm-hmm.

So you can level up with a 4K webcam. Yeah. And, um, a, a good lighting in the background. Mm-hmm. That's a good, easy way to set up. Yeah. And I'd say hire an editor. Those two things can monumentally change your channel. Mm-hmm. Um, and I edit. That's good. With a platform like Riverside, they can create clips for you for socials.

Mm-hmm. So you can consistently have content going out. So, um, I would say those are two ways to, to level up your content. First go video. Secondly, go, um, video. Like first you being on YouTube? YouTube. YouTube. [00:19:00] Mm-hmm. YouTube is the easiest way to grow your podcast right now. I'd highly suggest that. Next, I'd say chart up relationships with the editors at.

The podcast platform. So Spotify, apple. Mm-hmm. There's editors who are in charge of the algorithms there. So you can reach out to them and say, Hey, I'm this person doing this. Um, would you like me to, um, send some of their, my content to you to see if you can put it on some relevant channels? 'cause there's editors playlist into things like that for podcasts.

Okay. So those are ways to, to get on, um, bigger radars. So yeah, I would say that, um, lastly, people, um, promote. Platforms. Mm-hmm. So for example, you can promote your podcast in Spotify. Okay. You can promote it on secondary channels like, um, pod, pod match, and um, yeah, there's a few platforms like off, like Pocket Cast for example.

So you can literally advertise your podcasts within those channels to grow. Your audio side. Okay. You know, so those are some ways to, to grow your [00:20:00] podcast. Um, just on the audio side and on the video side. 

Maggie Perotin: Okay. That's great. Thank you. I've learned something. 

Alexander Whitfield: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. 

Maggie Perotin: So, one last question. 

Alexander Whitfield: What's up 

Maggie Perotin: is, what is your vision?

Where were you going? What is your big, big vision? Wanna to? Oh man, that's a great 

Alexander Whitfield: question. Um, I think there's two main things. One is expanding the studio. There's been a huge demand for podcasts. Mm-hmm. So right now we're in Oshawa. I think there's a huge demand in Toronto. Mm-hmm. So, um, I think expanding to Toronto is a, is a interesting thing to pursue.

Mm-hmm. Um. That's one big one. Next, I think is the overall education side. Mm-hmm. As you've seen with the, the space here, there's an opportunity to have workshops and things here. Yeah. So we wanna do more of that. We actually have a first workshop, workshop coming up on November 30th. Okay. Um, we're having one on public speaking and storytelling.

We actually, I'm working with, uh, a guy named Clem Dey. Mm-hmm. He is one of the, uh, champions of national speaking. He's won the Toastmasters [00:21:00] Award, so he's gonna be there speaking. And I think that's a perfect opportunity to learn about podcasting. I'll be speaking on podcasting. Mm-hmm. And we also have, um, someone on community building.

Her name is Shirley Joseph. She's, um, uh, wiz when it comes to building community. So literally you can come and learn about podcasting, community building. Storytelling and public speaking all in one in one shot. Awesome. Sounds so, yeah, I think it's, it's an amazing, um, opportunity. So yeah, things like that I think is something that I want expand into as well as, like I said, um, operating in different, different regions.

So yeah. 

Maggie Perotin: Love it. Love it. So. How people find you, how do they connect with you 

Alexander Whitfield: people? You can find me at 2 4 7 Hustler on Instagram. Uh, YouTube. You can search Alex Whitfield and Hustle where everything comes right up. So, um, yeah, the two places you can find me. 

Maggie Perotin: Yeah. And we'll link that in the show notes, so you'll very much, you'll give it all to me and we'll link it up.

But thank you so much. No problem. Doing it with me, 

Alexander Whitfield: honestly. Thanks so much for coming. Thank you so much for having me on your show. I'm so [00:22:00] pleased to be here. 

Maggie Perotin: Yeah. Thank you. Bye everybody.

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Maggie Perotin

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