JANUARY 28 • 2021 | 19

W

hen 22-year-old
Maverick Levy
started his podcast
The Best of the Best: Maverick’s
Guide to Success last August, he
wanted to help others his age
learn the basics of everyday life.
By exploring topics like how
to file taxes, secure a mort-
gage and understand health
insurance, Levy, who attends
Michigan State University and
grew up in Commerce and
Bloomfield Hills, helps teach
listeners about the things they
didn’t learn in school.
He interviews subject-matter
experts — whom he appropri-
ately calls “the best of the best”
in their fields — to add back-
ground knowledge and personal
perspective to each episode.
Now, Levy’s podcast, which
is in its 22nd episode, has been
picked up by Los Angeles-based
DBPodcasts and is charting
among the top 200 business
podcasts in the country.
There was a void, he explains,
surrounding education in life
skills that are necessary in adult-
hood to be successful. Through
his podcast, he aims to close
that gap.
“I always say there’s no possi-
ble way that within a 45-minute
interview you’re going to learn
everything [about that topic],
”
Levy says. “But you’ll at least
know the terms that the real
estate agent or the mortgage
company are talking about after
listening to the show. You’ll
know what to expect and how
the process works.
”
Each episode sees Levy asking
the subject matter expert about
what they wish they knew when
they were in their 20s about
their respective fields. He’s inter-
viewed private jet brokers, vice
presidents of mortgage compa-
nies, rappers and entrepreneurs
in mental health care, to name a
few. “It’s just been taking off like
crazy,
” he describes.

The concept was born when
Levy, who always wanted
to start a podcast, made an
Instagram post asking general
questions about taxes. He had
a social media following of
mostly teens and people in their
early 20s. One of his followers
replied that he should start a

podcast about taxes, and the
idea clicked.
“It automatically hit me about
10 minutes after that I can
transition the idea of doing a
podcast [about taxes] to teach-
ing things that aren’t taught in
school,
” Levy explains, “whether
that’s starting a business from

the ground up or talking about
how life insurance works.
”

SUCCESS STORIES
Levy also spotlights individ-
uals on his podcast who have
extraordinary business success
stories, diving into their jour-
ney and the steps they took to
create their brands. He focuses
heavily on industries either
growing or remaining steady
throughout the pandemic as
well, such as the episode about
the private jet broker and his
career path.
Getting a slot on Levy’s
podcast isn’t easy, though. He
means it when he says he only
wants to include “the best of
the best.” The young entrepre-
neur rigorously vets applicants
before deciding to do an epi-
sode with them.
“It’s the best of the best in
every industry so you can build
a basic level of understanding
of how these things work in
reality,” he explains. “
As long
as you’re the best figure skat-
er in the world and you have
some information to offer the
audience, I’m down to have a
conversation with you so oth-
ers can learn from you and be
inspired by you.”
In both his podcast and per-
sonal life, Levy, who attended
Temple Israel, has two values
that he sticks by: always be
learning, and lead by example.
“I’m trying to fill the gap,
” he
says, “of what’s not taught in
school but is essential.
”
His long-term goal with the
podcast is to create a worldwide
community and platform that
people his age can go to when
they need support with every-
day matters.
“I really want to continue to
be a resource that the younger
generation can always rely on,
”
Levy says, “to give them that
information that they need in
life to succeed.
”

New business podcast teaches
people in their 20s how to be
successful in life.

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

What You Didn’t
Learn in School

Maverick Levy works on his podcast.

COURTESY OF MAVERICK LEVY

“YOU’LL KNOW WHAT TO
EXPECT AND HOW THE

PROCESS WORKS.”

— MAVERICK LEVY