Chay Nott runs a creative production agency in Florida that makes photos, videos, graphics, and GIFs for product brands running paid ads on Facebook and YouTube. Isaac and Chay connected years ago through a mutual friend in the online GaryVee community and have stayed in touch since. In this episode they cover what it actually looks like to run a creative agency at a young age, how posting over 100 energy drink reviews with zero expectations turned into a $10,000+ client, and why LinkedIn has become Chay’s most reliable B2B sales channel — even though he originally signed up thinking it was just for job applications.
What Chay Nott’s Agency Does — and Why Physical Products Are His Sweet Spot
Chay’s agency targets businesses doing between $1 million and $5 million a year. When those companies need to promote something — a new product launch, a brand campaign, an ad refresh — they come to him for the full marketing package: photos, videos, graphics, and GIFs that end up running in their Facebook and YouTube ads.
Shoot days run through contractors — other videographers and creatives he brings in depending on the job. Behind the scenes, it’s just Chay.
“We work with businesses doing between a million and five and they come to us when they need their creative handled — if they come out with a new product and need the marketing collateral, product images, and ads created for that, we are ultimately just a creative production agency.”
Physical product brands have become his sweet spot, and for a specific reason: the feedback loop is immediate and honest. You make an ad, it runs, the data tells you exactly how it performed.
“They put out an ad, it performs at 2.3x ROAS or 3x, they made X amount of dollars — they can do that infinitely. Or this one tanked. It’s pretty easy to measure.”
That measurability is what Chay likes about it. It’s not about making something cool. It’s about making something that works — and knowing the difference quickly.
100 Drink Reviews and the Crossnet Story: Consistency Over Everything
Chay reviews energy drinks on his Instagram Stories. No editing, no reels, no elaborate setup — just phone, drink, opinion, post. He’s done it over a hundred times.
Around video 70 or 80, a brand noticed.
“I made well over a hundred taste test videos and on like the 70th or 80th one that brand saw what I did and was like yo your videos are actually fire — let’s keep going.”
That brand was Crossnet — a company that makes four-way sports net games. The founder was posting on LinkedIn looking for people to create content with their products. Chay replied, got two boxes shipped to his door no questions asked, and filmed everything at a friend’s party a week and a half later. The party was full of athletes who were energetic and great on camera. The content came out well.
Crossnet brought him back to shoot content for three more products. That turned into a massive shoot day — five hours, three brands back to back — with everything that could go wrong going wrong: a BTS videographer no-showed without contacting anyone, one of his other videographers got in a car accident on the way, and his location canceled at 7 a.m. the morning of the shoot. He figured it all out. The footage came out.
Crossnet has been a client for over a year since. Revenue: well over $10,000.
But the real lesson isn’t the Crossnet deal. It’s what drink review 73 felt like while it was happening.
“You can’t see that when you’re posting drink 73 — you’re like, wow, this review sucked compared to the other ones, I’ve got nothing from this, why am I doing this? Compared to like getting that stuff in the door.”
You don’t know which post is the one. You just keep going until it is.
Why LinkedIn Is Chay’s Best B2B Sales Tool
Chay has tried most platforms. LinkedIn is the one that consistently produces clients — and he’s clear on exactly why.
“It is by far the place where I find the most of my clients, but that is primarily because I’m selling B2B — I’m selling to people that own businesses or market for businesses.”
He describes LinkedIn as his version of Twitter: where he gets news, shares perspectives, and builds genuine connections with other creatives and business owners. The difference from every other platform is the audience. Scroll Instagram and you reach consumers. Scroll LinkedIn and you’re in front of decision-makers.
His process isn’t complicated. Post consistently, engage with other people’s content genuinely, and let the platform build over time. The algorithm is unforgiving in the best way — if a post doesn’t land, it gets buried. If it does, the engagement is real.
“Three to six likes and one to three comments on a LinkedIn post is fire engagement on that platform — and that shows you’re doing really good, because LinkedIn ain’t got no filter. If your post isn’t good they’ll show it to 14 people and you ain’t got no engagement.”
Clients come from both directions: him reaching out and them reaching out after seeing his content. The Crossnet opportunity came from a founder’s post — not cold outreach. Being consistently active on the platform put him in the right place when it mattered.
Cold Showers, Ice Baths, and Doing the Extraordinary
In January 2022, Chay started cold showers. Not because he loved the idea — because he’d internalized a principle he was trying to live by.
“In order to do extraordinary things I cannot do ordinary things in my day-to-day.”
Cold showers eventually got comfortable. So he found a 55-gallon metal barrel on Facebook Marketplace for $25, washed it out, filled it with ice water, and started doing cold plunges instead. The bar kept moving — not enough ice, add more ice, lean into how bad it actually feels.
The final nudge came from listening to Andy Frisella talk about ice baths on his podcast. As Chay tells it, Frisella was basically the last person he needed to hear say it before he committed.
The ice baths aren’t really about ice baths. They’re about building the habit of choosing discomfort — and what that compounds into over time. Same reason he gets to bed by 9:30, wakes up early, and doesn’t apologize when people push back on the lifestyle.
“I don’t feel good when I take a break like everybody tells me to do — just take it easy, come out with us for a day. That does not make me feel better at all.”
Protecting Your Lane and Building an Unshakable Character
Chay turned away a lot of weddings. The money was good. He passed them to other photographers anyway.
“I stayed away from weddings because the paycheck is great and people are like, bro, you just get one wedding a weekend and you’re set. I’m like, yeah, but then you’re the wedding guy.”
He eventually shot one — for a friend, by referral — and intends to keep it exactly that rare. Not because weddings are bad work. Because being the wedding guy means drifting out of the lane he actually wants to own.
Isaac had just wrapped episode 8 with Cade Hanson, who talked a lot about staying patient and present, and wanted to know how Chay handles the same tension — being relentlessly driven while trying not to spiral. Chay’s answer was honest: he’s not great at it. He’s a self-described “progress addict” who drives himself a little crazy. But he’s working toward something specific.
“Becoming somebody that when something crazy happens, the people who know me aren’t surprised — that’s what I’m working towards right now.”
Everything ties back to that goal. The ice baths, the early bedtimes, the consistent LinkedIn posts, the 100+ drink reviews — all of it is building a version of himself that holds up under pressure. Not just when things are hard, but when they’re good. The habits have to survive both.
Key Takeaways
- LinkedIn is a B2B pipeline, not just a résumé. If you’re selling to businesses, posting consistently and engaging with founders on LinkedIn is one of the clearest paths to inbound clients.
- You don’t know which post is the one. Chay posted 70+ drink reviews before Crossnet noticed. The consistency across the invisible stretch is what made the hit possible.
- Free work builds real relationships. The Crossnet project started with no contract and two boxes mailed to his door. A year-long client followed.
- Protect your niche identity. Turning away high-paying weddings wasn’t leaving money on the table — it was protecting the lane that builds toward what he actually wants.
- Discomfort is a practice, not an event. Cold showers got comfortable, so they became ice baths. The bar always moves, because moving the bar is the point.
- Document everything. Chay hires BTS videographers and keeps GoPro footage even when it costs him money on a shoot. The archive he’s building for his future self is worth more than the short-term efficiency.
Follow Chay at chaynott.com. Connect with Isaac at isaacjarnagin.com or on Instagram.
