Flipping Cars at 16, a House at 19 & Starting on YouTube | William Leufkens (WL Media)

Will Leufkens bought a car for $2,000 and sold it 24 hours later for $4,000. He was 16, working minimum wage at Ace Hardware, and that one flip changed everything. In this episode of the CosmoCast, Dalton Mitchell sits down with his friend William Leufkens, the creator behind WL Media. Will started flipping cars at 16, bought his first house at 19 by saving his wildland firefighting income, and is now training to become a commercial pilot, documenting the whole journey on YouTube. We talk about his first flip, the $750 truck he got running with a new spark plug and sold for six grand, and how he saved enough on a hotshot crew to put $50K down on a house with no shortcuts. Will opens up about filming his first video in secret, being terrified of talking on camera, and the montage video that's now around 400,000 views. We also get into what didn't work: the two flips he lost money on, a video that flopped after he missed his audience and used an AI thumbnail, and what that taught him. From there, we talk about switching to DaVinci Resolve, why YouTube isn't a luck thing, and his plan to move WL Media into aviation, including aircraft detailing and ceramic coating private jets. Plus, the story of how he met the president while on a fire engine. This is what the CosmoCast is about: real people building out loud and showing the work, wins and setbacks included. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 0:47 Welcome + Meet Will 2:56 His First Flip: $2K Profit in 24 Hours 5:11 Wildland Firefighting & Becoming a Pilot 7:13 From Secret YouTuber to WL Media 8:46 The 15K-View Truck & the 6-Flip Limit 11:08 Film What You're Already Doing 11:48 DaVinci Resolve vs. Premiere Pro 13:07 YouTube Isn't Luck 15:48 The Mission Behind WL Media 17:49 More Posts, More Home Runs 21:03 How He Bought a House at 19 24:19 Why School Didn't Click 28:09 Building a Business Website With AI 30:59 Who WL Media Is For 32:13 Real Numbers, Real Risks 35:53 Meeting the President on a Fire Engine 38:58 His Proudest Flip 40:06 The Montage Video That Took Off 42:11 The Flips That Lost Money 43:10 Facing the Fear of Talking on Camera 50:03 The Video That Flopped 54:26 The Unglamorous Side of Flipping Cars 56:28 What's Next: Aviation Content 58:12 Why Detailing Private Jets Pays 1:04:49 His Next Challenge: Hungry for the Sale 1:07:35 Real Estate & Using Debt Wisely 1:13:15 The Money Books He Recommends 1:15:01 Your 9-to-5 Isn't the Problem 1:18:05 What "Made It" Looks Like 1:24:26 Rapid Fire: Flipping Your First Car 1:27:43 Where to Find Will 1:28:34 Final Advice: There's Enough for Everybody BOOKS MENTIONED The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill FIND WILL YouTube: WL Media Aircraft detailing: AeroCrest Detailing FIND THE COSMOCAST Instagram & TikTok: @thecosmocastpodcast Cosmography: cosmography.studio Also on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Amazon Music #CosmoCast #FlippingCars #SideHustle #Entrepreneur #BuildingOutLoud