If You’re Not Building This, You’re Building Someone Elses Empire
The world is getting harder to live in… and the biggest reason is money.
Bills, rent, tickets, fees… the list doesn’t stop. For independent creators, it feels like the more you try to build something of your own, the more obstacles we face.
The system is built for you to work for others.
Yet we all know stories of people who broke away from the norm, building brands and platforms from scratch. Their paths weren’t easy. Years of sacrifice. Social trade-offs. Personal risk. That’s the price of independence.
Why Physical Ownership Feels Out of Reach
Today, real estate is more inaccessible than ever. On the East Coast, especially in New York, buying property can feel like a myth unless you’re already in a high-income bracket.
I’ve been watching footage of New York in the 1970s, and it’s wild how much property was still up for grabs back then. The city had big challenges though; crime rates were high, and the streets could be rough but if you had money and a vision, you had a real shot at buying something and building on it.
Even outside of New York, homeownership in general was far more affordable than it is today. Back then, the median U.S. home cost roughly three times the average household income; today, that ratio has ballooned to around seven or eight times, making ownership far less attainable for the average person.
My family came here with barely anything and did pretty damn well for themselves. However, that work to survive and provide didn’t bring us towards any better financial literacy or standing. I didn’t think about real estate and ownership of anything until later in my 20s.
For most of us, physical space is the hardest thing to own. And that’s exactly why the conversation needs to shift to digital real estate.
Digital Real Estate: The Land You Can Actually Own
Your website, your social channels, your online platforms, your original content, this is property you can start building today.
The question is:
How much of it do you own?
How are you developing it?
How much value does / can it hold?
The digital space gives you the ability to create a profitable footprint without millions in the bank. But here’s the crucial part: don’t scatter your energy. Without a plan, you’re just posting into the void.
From Idea to Digital Skyscraper
Instead, you need brand architecture: a clear vision for what you’re building, why it matters, and how it can grow. From one strong idea, you can branch into a full content ecosystem:
Original videos
Social media series
Newsletters
Digital collectibles
Live events and streams
Merch and physical products
Think of your brand like a beautiful tall digital skyscraper. Each floor is a new offering, all connected under one roof. People can enter through different doors (a Reel, a blog post, a livestream), but they’re all visiting your building.
Now building a digital brand is easier said than done. Before creating what I now consider my first true digital skyscraper (3R) I launched tons of ideas that never reached their full potential. The key lesson here? Patience. Treat your creative process like browsing a menu at a diner: explore, test, and filter through concepts until you find the one worth investing in.
Every failed idea brings you closer to the one that’ll succeed. But success only comes from constant analysis; reviewing what went wrong, improving execution, and identifying where real market opportunities exist.
The reality of independent entrepreneurship is that each attempt comes at a cost: financial, mental, and time. That’s the price of building something on your own terms.
Take what you can digitally. Build it with intention.
Because the more the physical world prices us out, the more powerful our creativity and digital footprints become. And one day, if you do it right, your digital skyscraper can fund the real thing.
