Karen and Sylvester Akpan sold their home and took to the RV life with their elementary-school-age son Aiden. Their income? Karen’s blog turned content business, The Mom Trotter, where she shares their RV life story, including budget travel tips, homeschooling ideas, etc.

Though they made the decision for freedom, they ended up making a good living (and the three of them are now W-2 employees of their own S corp.) She also earns an income from creating ad campaigns for brands like Camping World, Hilton Hotels, and Disney, according to CNBC. In its interview with the family, they netted $81K in 2020 and an expectation to double that this year, mostly from Instagram campaigns.

.@theMOMtrotter is a family content business. Parents and son earn an income through their #SCorp: @CNBC #contententrepreneur #Stan Share on X

“There’s no way we’re going back to a house or careers or anything like that,” Karen tells CNBC. “We love the freedom that working for ourselves, being entrepreneurs, has given us.”

Why we’re a Stan: The Akpans sold their house because they wanted to reduce their expenses and spend more time traveling. Through that, they found they could make a good living by creating content. And they are smart to treat it like the business it is, complete with incorporating and paying each contributor (i.e., each family member) as an employee.

About the author

Ann regularly combines words and strategy for B2B, B2C, and nonprofits, continuing to live up to her high school nickname, Editor Ann. An IABC Communicator of the Year and founder of G Force Communication, Ann coaches and trains professionals in all things content. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.