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“All roads point to the email list." — Sam Vander Wielen, Sam's Sidebar
In this episode, we interview Sam Vander Wielen—a lawyer-turned-creator who has sold over $9M in legal templates with a 50k-subscriber newsletter.
Sam shares how her motto of "All roads point to the email list" has helped her earn over $9M in total revenue since starting her business in 2017. And she's done it with a small team and a replicable funnel strategy most creators could copy.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Why she decided to walk away from strategies that “should” work — and what happened after
- The $100k turning point that reshaped how she runs her business
- How she blends storytelling with practical education to keep readers engaged
- How her newsletter fuels her entire content ecosystem
- What creators misunderstand about legal protections (and how to fix it)
- Why she believes the boring stuff is actually the growth engine
- The platform she almost abandoned — and why she came back stronger
- Her advice for creators chasing growth but ignoring long-term sustainability
LINKS MENTIONED
- Sam's website
- Sam's book: When I Start My Business I'll Be Happy
- Sam's Socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube
- Ask us a question or submit a podcast topic idea: growthinreverse.com/questions
- Get Chenell's brand-new course: The Growth Vault — newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.
- Growth In Reverse PRO Community
- Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here.
- Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/
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Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.
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