One thing about us? We put our money where our mouth is.

Last year, we flew out to Puerto Rico to see if Tyler could really trade live (and spoiler: he crushed it). 

We gave him $2,000, watched him trade, and he made 20% profit.

This year? We took things up a notch. Flew out to Miami, caught up with Tyler, checked out his life changes, and got him to trade live again—with $10,000 this time.

Here’s the story.

From college dropout to trading prodigy: Tyler’s backstory

Before we get into what went down in Miami, lemme recap TJR’s lore. 

While most of his peers were grinding through the usual college coursework, Tyler had already dropped out. Not because he wasn’t smart (trust us, far from it), but because he realized pretty f*cking fast that for him, it was a dead end. 

Growing up, this kid was always curious about money. Not just how to make it, but how it moves through the world. 

He studied everything, from YouTube tutorials on stocks to podcasts about trading psychology. 

In 2017, during the first huge Crypto run, he walked away with a serious profit

Most kids would be stoked, blow it all on something cool, and regret it later. 

But unlike most people who ride a bull run and bounce, Tyler was hooked. That’s when he started day trading.  

“I wanted to do this every day.”

That’s how he went from a lucky rookie to a consistent trader.

By the time he was 20, people were watching him online, wanting to know how he did it. His content was blowing up, and people were trusting him. 

TJR trades instagram post him in pool on beach

Followers kept asking how they could learn to trade like him. Tyler had an audience to capitalize on, and he had a monetizable skill. 

Enter Whop. 

Building TJR Trades: From side hustle to big business

What started as an idea became a full-blown business, fast.

TJR Trades didn’t launch on Whop. It started as Tyler’s community, built through his YouTube, socials, and livestreams. 

tjr trades youtuve chanel

But what began as a personal brand quickly turned into a full-scale business.

And it’s pretty simple to see why: this isn’t your average trading group. TJR Trades is a high-touch membership where people can watch Tyler trade live, break down strategies, and learn from real-time action.

No boring bullsh*t. No copy-paste signals. No generic advice. 

Instead, members get real, hands-on experience with someone who trades full-time.

The response? Massive. The group scaled with speed, and Tyler stepped things up.

He built out a whole member experience: exclusive video content, in-depth breakdowns, Q&As, private mentorship, and a structured education system. 

People didn’t just show up for the hype; they stuck around to learn.

That’s when Tyler realized this wasn’t a side hustle anymore. TJR Trades had become a business – a brand.

Why Tyler switched to Whop

At some point, you need to look at the things that could be holding your business growth back. 

Tyler needed something clean and easy to manage. His old setup (Launchpass) wasn’t cutting it.

“I wanted a page where people know that it’s my brand,”

he said.

In December 2022, he moved everything to Whop.

20x growth since the switch

The results? Instant.

For one, Whop’s dashboard made running things way smoother. 

Tyler could drop promo codes, sell private access to streams, manage members, and track stats, all in one spot.

Getting listed on Discover also changed the game. More eyeballs. More trust. More growth.

Since the switch, TJR has grown his free whop to over 185,000 members, with three subscription tiers offering varied value.

tjr free whop

How life looks after blowing up an online business

2022 was about scaling the business. 2023 and 2024 were about locking in. 

2025? This year’s been about building the lifestyle.

Tyler’s still trading daily, but now he’s also launching new brands. Like Kill-Tec, the clothing label he co-founded with his friend Carson.

killtech brandd

Their second drop? We watched it crank $100K+ in 11 minutes. Sold out. Just like that.

“After our performance today… this sh*t was way crazier than I expected, bro. $100K in 11 minutes is insane… Let’s go out and get f*cking hammered.”

Tyler isn’t just talking big. He’s giving product to celebs, sorting deals with DJs, and doing it all without burning out, forgetting his community, or slowing down on trading. 

Behind the scenes, Tyler’s locked in. He’s working out. Eating better. And people are noticing. 

“A lot of people are talking about how you've lost some f*cking weight. Would you say there's a good correlation there with your trading – TJR loses weight, he's confident as fuck, his money's up?”

Austin says. 

“I mean, confidence is definitely up for sure,”

Tyler answers.

As the brand grows, so does the discipline.

Oh, and the car? Yeah, crazy – especially when you consider it’s basically free. 

tjr trades car
“No, that's part of the game. See, that's what a lot of people don't realize. You wonder why people like me and Brez can get all these whips. It's literally free.”

Austin summed it up pretty well: 

“Man, anything's possible. I'm not even buying, but just to be surrounded by people who are buying and who are in the position to do that.

Anything's possible, man. We're showing it. Look at the dreams being made right here.”
tjr and austin car

What happened to Whop’s $10K trade?

Okay, let’s get to it. 

This time, we gave Tyler $10,000 to trade live. No prep. No warm-up. Just testing his skills.

He was sick that day (or he was at least putting on a good act), head spinning, no energy. 

“Fuck it dude. I'm not trading with my own money. We'll trade with Whop's money.”

Even feeling like trash, he showed up (not like we were gonna give him the option).

“We just broke structure… made a one-minute SMT divergence to the downside… fuck it. Let’s enter.”

It didn’t hit. 

“You’re down like 300… now 500… not looking too hot.”

We went out about our day, checked out his new car, had some food – and then the next day, he broke the news. 

“I lost your guys bands. I'm sorry,” he laughs. “Not all of it. Half.”

That’s the reality. Not every trade wins. And Tyler’s not afraid to show that.

Plus, with this lifestyle? We’re pretty confident he knows his sh*t. 

Growing via Content Rewards: Learn and earn with TJR 

Tyler isn’t just good at trading; he’s figured out marketing, allowing his fans to make money from his content, too. 

That’s where content rewards come in.

Tyler puts up his trading clips and other content, then sets how much he’ll pay the clippers to share it. These clippers only get paid when their shares actually get views. 

So he isn’t throwing cash at ads that might flop, or wasting time on sponsored posts people scroll past. He’s paying real people to flex his content, and only when it actually lands.

It’s like, his fans aren’t just watching from the sidelines, they’re straight up earning for helping blow up the brand. 

And because it’s real people sharing real stuff, it hits way harder than some lame ad.

Tyler can see all the views, payouts, and promo codes in Whop’s dashboard. So, running it alongside his community? Easy.

Content Rewards isn’t just a growth hack. It’s a way to get your community involved, learning, and stacking cash with you. 

What to steal from the TJR playbook

Look, Tyler didn’t wake up with a million-dollar business or a million followers. 

He started with nothing but Wi-Fi, a computer, and some hustler’s ambition. 

Here’s how he turned that into a brand that’s pulling in millions, and what you can actually learn from him:

Know your sh*t first

Tyler didn’t jump into every side hustle or try to be “everything” at once. He focused hardcore on trading – learning charts, testing strategies, losing money, then learning again. 

If you want to build something that lasts, you gotta put in the time to get truly good at one skill. 

Keep it real 

One of the biggest things that set Tyler apart was his transparency. He shared not just his wins but also his losses, his mistakes, and the messy parts no one usually talks about.

He swore on livestreams. He acted unhinged. And it worked.

People don’t want perfect, they want real, especially with online grifters lurking around every corner. 

Show the work, not just the wins 

Posting highlights is cool, but showing how you got there is what people really get value from. 

Tyler livestreamed trades, broke down charts, answered questions, and let people see every step of the process.

This wasn’t about flexing; it was about educating and pulling people into the grind. That’s how you build a community.

Consistency > clout 

It sounds cliché, but the dude was grinding every single day. 

Even when trades went sideways or he felt like quitting, he kept showing up. That kind of steady energy builds momentum, credibility, and (most importantly) results. 

If you want to blow up, you gotta be consistent as f*ck.

Find your people online

Tyler wasn’t just about broadcasting content; he wanted his followers to be active participants. 

By letting his fans reshare and promote his stuff (and actually paying them for it via content rewards), he created a street team that spread his brand organically. 

When your community is invested and earning, it turns into a snowball that’s impossible to stop.

Know how to leverage

Tyler didn’t reinvent the wheel. He used platforms like Whop that made managing memberships, promos, and affiliate programs simple. Knowing where to plug in tech that actually works lets you focus on what matters: creating and connecting.

Seriously, if you’re trying to build your own thing, don’t stress about having the perfect setup or a massive budget. 

Start with one skill, be transparent as hell, share your journey, show up every day, and get your people involved in the grind. 

That’s the real blueprint. 

Stop chasing followers, start building a community

Let’s get one thing straight: followers don’t pay your bills. 

Yeah, it looks cool to see those numbers climb, but if you’re just chasing followers without building something real underneath, you’re setting yourself up for a short ride. 

Followers can ghost anytime, algorithms change, and suddenly your whole ‘audience’ is gone.

Yikes.

You know what actually pays off, long-term, and helps you scale any personal brand or business? Community.

Tyler gets this better than most. He’s not out here just stacking random numbers or collecting followers. He’s building a community that sticks around for the long haul. 

People who show up every day, engage, learn, share, and trust what he’s doing. 

That’s why Whop exists. We’re not just a marketplace. Not just a membership platform. 

Sellers can offer members exclusive content, live trading sessions, Q&As, mentorship, prizes, and more. 

Community members can interact with one another, work on their own digital products and businesses, and be part of an eco-system of hustlers making f*ck you money. 

We know running an online business takes work. So we’ve made it simple to manage memberships, price different subscription levels, offer promo codes, and track all your stats in one clean dashboard. 

Don’t waste your energy chasing audiences who might never really care, share, or buy. Focus on building a community that feels like family. 

Whop: The best place to build and monetize communities

What sets TJR’s empire apart isn’t just his trading skills – it’s the way he turned those skills into a 7-figure business. 

And he didn’t do it by chasing followers. He did it by building a real community, creating value, and using Whop to monetise every part of it.

We gave him the tools to sell memberships, drop digital products, reward content creators, and scale fast – all without code, middlemen, or giving up control.

That’s what Whop is built for. Creators, educators, coaches, developers, freelancers, whoever – we can launch, grow, and monetize your audience. 

Start selling on Whop today and launch your own community, sell digital products, and reward your fans all from one simple dashboard.