Interview with Brian Meiggs | Founder of Smarts

Written by True Tamplin, BSc, CEPF®

Reviewed by Subject Matter Experts

Updated on March 18, 2023

Brian Meiggs | Interview with Smarts
Introduction

Success leaves clues

Finance Strategists sat down with Brian Meiggs, founder of Smarts. He shared his thoughts on the past, present, and future of the company, as well as the insight he gained from running the business.

Who is Brian Meiggs?

Q: Who are you and what’s your background?

My name is Brian Meiggs and I’m an entrepreneur who spends most of his time building finance-based websites from the ground up and making them profitable.

Thinking back, I’ve always been a hustler. In college, I bought used iPhones and flipped them for a profit. I had corporate finance jobs after college, but I found myself bored and without a purpose. I knew I didn’t want to work a 9-5 until I retired so I looked for a way out.

My big break came from a personal finance brand called My Millennial Guide, which I created in my mid-twenties. It became one of the top personal finance blogs for millennials. I enjoy every moment of it and the freedom it brings.

Now I focus most of my attention on financial wellness for everyone, not just millennials, with Smarts. Smarts is a website focused on tips and tricks to make smarter money moves to ultimately reach financial freedom. I bought this domain recently for $2,500 and plan to make it one of the most resourceful personal finance sites.

Another website that I’m proud about is Gigs Done Right, which is helping gig workers navigate during the pandemic so they can still make a living.

Q: Who has been your biggest influence, and why did they have such a significant effect on you?

My parents are a big influence on me since they have been there for me through the ups and downs pretty much my entire life. They were and still are always there to have my back.

During the last few years, I have been inspired by entrepreneurs like Tim Ferris, Tim Grover, Alex Banyan, and Mark Manson who teach that hard work and perseverance lead to success.

Q: Knowing what you know now, what would you have told yourself when you were in your twenties?

After graduating college, once I was certain I would never work at a 9-5 corporate job, I mainly focused my free time on building my website, My Millennial Guide.

I was pretty much obsessed with working – this included writing articles, PR awareness, digital marketing, building links, and working with other financial companies.

I knew where I wanted to go and I spent all of my free time doing the little tasks to get there. While I don’t have any regrets, I did miss out on a lot of different things.

It was quite the ride with long nights, missed connections, lost friendships but it was totally worth it. If I could go back, I would tell myself that it’s alright to outsource some of the tasks that weren’t that important but took up a lot of time.

Because money is passive, it comes and goes, and while it can make you temporarily happy, creating memories and experiences whether solo or with friends and family, that’s more valuable.

Business

Q: What is Smarts?

Smarts is a website that is helping people make financial freedom possible. My goal with this website is to help as many people as possible to make smarter money moves, build a lucrative side hustle, fatten their wallets, and ultimately reach financial independence. Reaching financial independence is accessible for all. It’s not hard if you utilize the resources that we share on a daily basis.

Q: What makes your company different from its competitors?

I strive to provide our readers with the best possible information so that they can make educated decisions about their personal finances. Our articles are actionable, insightful, and fully researched so that everyone can learn how to find the best side hustles, jobs, learn how to invest, start an online business, manage their money, buy a home, or learn how to budget better. With our approachable style and clear, concise instructions, we hope to educate our readers and help them make the best financial decisions for themselves and their families.

Q: What led you to start Smarts?

We want to help people to become better at saving money and more importantly making more money. Our way to do this is by showing our readers smart ways to earn side income outside of their 9-5 job.

We also teach people and inform them of resourceful money tools they can use to better manage their financial life. We have segments on the blog that can help put more money back in our readers' pockets. These articles provide a different perspective to help people relate and learn.

Q: What has the experience of building the business taught you?

Never stop learning or teaching yourself new skills. Every day you should be better than the day before. What do you want in life? Go out and get it. Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.

Q: Where do you see things headed for you in the next 5 years?

My success came from looking at other bloggers who were successful and trying to make my website better. I’m at a tipping point where if I really want to grow, I’m going to have to hire a full team to help with the management. I really enjoy running everything myself but if I want to continue to grow, this needs to happen.

For more information, see smarts.co/.

smarts logo

About the Author

True Tamplin, BSc, CEPF®

True Tamplin is a published author, public speaker, CEO of UpDigital, and founder of Finance Strategists.

True is a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF®), author of The Handy Financial Ratios Guide, a member of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing, contributes to his financial education site, Finance Strategists, and has spoken to various financial communities such as the CFA Institute, as well as university students like his Alma mater, Biola University, where he received a bachelor of science in business and data analytics.

To learn more about True, visit his personal website or view his author profiles on Amazon, Nasdaq and Forbes.