Why I Became a (Licensed) Contractor at 40 (Yes, I Know… Took Me Long Enough)

If you had told 22 year old me fresh off chasing TV & film dreams that I’d be sitting here at 40 talking about contractor bonds, insurance policies, and licensing exams, I would’ve laughed in your face. And yet… here we are. Turns out life has a funny way of dragging you back to the jobsite you grew up on.

I Literally Grew Up Doing This

My dad had me hauling lumber, sweeping job sites, holding boards, doing tenant turnover on rental properties long before I could legally drive a truck. I spent my childhood and early adult life in construction, remodeling, and repair. It felt like my path was laid out in front of me and I hated it (teen angst emo kid). I craved something more exciting, something that felt like it inspired others, and something that would pay me well. So after college, I did what a lot of us do…I ran.

I moved away to LA and pursued TV & film because I wanted something different. I wanted the creative world. The storytelling. The lights. The cameras. The catering tables.

And to be fair, that career treated me well for a long time. I got to travel the world, meet some amazing people, and tell some really fun stories all while living in Los Angeles and getting to experience one of the most vibrant cities in the world. Being from a small town in upstate NY, it was an exciting change. 

But it’s strange how life circles back.

The Rise of AI & the Shrinking Middle

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. When I first started making content on my own (20 years ago….yikes), the barrier to entry was legit. In fact, I saved up to buy a camera that was more expensive than the car I was driving at the time. Those days are long gone. The phones we all use now shoot better quality video than that camera did for pennies on the dollar. Technology has erased the barrier to entry in the media world. 

AI tools are getting scary good. Video editing, voiceovers, scripting, thumbnail design, motion graphics and stuff that used to take a team of specialists (I took YEARS of late nights to learn) can now be done by software in minutes.

That’s not fear talking. That’s reality. I built a large portion of my professional life around digital media, production, and content. And while I still love creating, the landscape has shifted dramatically. The barrier to entry is gone. The competition is global. And brands are spending differently.

Which brings me to the other honest part of this conversation…

Sponsorship Revenue Isn’t What It Used to Be

A significant portion of my income over the years has come from sponsorships and brand integrations. That’s no secret. But brand budgets tighten. Algorithms change. Marketing departments pivot. And suddenly the companies who loved you for your “engagement metrics” start loving someone else with slightly better ones. Companies focused on their bottom lines realize it’s just easier to outsource to “influencer agencies” (who take a hefty fee) with 20-somethings who just broadly type in whatever niche the company’s product falls into and provide a list of creators to blanket e-mail a generic cattle call for creators to submit to. The creators who charge the least, win out in the end. If you do book a sponsorship with a brand through an agency, you’ll likely never have direct contact with the brand and that person you’ve been dealing with probably won’t be there in 6 months either (they’ve either moved on or themselves replaced with an AI tool). 

When your revenue is tied to eyeballs instead of skillsets, you’re vulnerable. And I don’t love vulnerable when it comes to providing for my family.

So I asked myself a very simple question:

What can’t be automated?

Drywall still needs to be hung. Tile still needs to be set. Cabinets still need to be installed. Electrical still needs to be run correctly. People still need things fixed that are broken. AI might be able to render out a kitchen remodel in 8 seconds, but it can’t physically build it…yet. Having a tangible, physical skillset gives me something that’s harder to outsource, automate, or algorithm away.

It prolongs my work life.

Why I Didn’t Get Licensed Earlier

For years, I didn’t need to. Most of my hands-on work was on my own home or for friends and family where I was looking for a job to integrate a specific product into. Remodeling and building things for myself (and making videos about it to teach and show others “how-to”) didn’t require it. I thought about doing it many times but I kept coming back to the same conclusions. 

Getting licensed meant paying for insurance, bonds, administrative fees and overhead, etc. All things that (at the time) felt like an unnecessary expense. And honestly? It was. But once I started thinking about expanding beyond people who already know and trust me, that equation changed.

Protecting My Family (And Yours)

Getting licensed wasn’t about ego. It was about protection. Protection for my clients. Protection for my family. Protection for the business I’m building. If I’m going to broaden my scope and work for people who don’t personally know me, I owe them the legitimacy and safeguards that come with being properly licensed and insured. And frankly, I owe that to my wife and son too.

I’m not 25 TV chasing production credits anymore. I’m 40 thinking about longevity (we’ll see how my body holds up) and stability.

Back to My Roots (But On My Terms)

It is objectively hilarious that I spent years of my youth trying to get away from the trades only to come full circle. I missed the work (and was still fixing and doing stuff for myself), and there was a void in quality content in the home repair niche at the time, which is why I started Mrfixitdiy in the first place. It felt like a natural opportunity to combine my skillsets. 

Here’s the difference between not enjoying it as a kid and now, now I choose it. And that feels different. There’s something deeply satisfying about finishing a project and watching someone walk into their space and say, “Wow, you do great work!” as opposed to comments bashing me on the internet. You don’t get that same tangible feeling from a (viral) video. A completed remodel doesn’t disappear because the algorithm changed or fade away in 2 weeks because attention spans have moved on.

Being licensed opens more doors. It allows me to take on larger projects, work with clients outside my immediate circle, continue to create the type of content I like to make without chasing another (seemingly disappearing video production job), and diversify my income beyond brand deals. It gives me more avenues for content that aren’t dependent on advertisers being impressed by how many eyeballs I have this month. Spending weeks or months building something only to watch it flop in terms of viewership does take a toll on you mentally no matter how long you’ve been making content. 

I still love partnerships. I still love showcasing tools and products I believe in, but I don’t want to be beholden to them to provide for my family. I’d rather be in control of my trajectory.

The skills my dad taught me all those years ago? They didn’t disappear, they’ve compounded and expanded. And maybe most importantly…It’s me realizing that the thing I tried to run from as a young man was actually the foundation all along.

Life’s weird like that.