We're launching 30 Days of Growth on April 20th! Sign up at <a href="https://growthinreverse.com/30-days-of-growth/?utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_medium=adreads&amp;utm_campaign=pre-launch">30daysofgrowth.co</a> for free.  Get 30 ways to grow and optimize your email list, from creators who have successfully done it.  [This is a replay from our conversation with Sam Vander Wielen from September 2025]“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<ul><li>Why she decided to walk away from strategies that “should” work — and what happened after</li><li>The $100k turning point that reshaped how she runs her business</li><li>How she blends storytelling with practical education to keep readers engaged</li><li>How her newsletter fuels her entire content ecosystem</li><li>What creators misunderstand about legal protections (and how to fix it)</li><li>Why she believes the boring stuff is actually the growth engine</li><li>The platform she almost abandoned — and why she came back stronger</li><li>Her advice for creators chasing growth but ignoring long-term sustainability</li></ul>LINKS MENTIONED<ul><li><a href="https://www.samvanderwielen.com/">Sam's website</a></li><li>Sam's book: <a href="https://www.samvanderwielen.com/book/">When I Start My Business I'll Be Happy</a></li><li>Sam's Socials: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/samvanderwielen/">LinkedIn</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/samvanderwielen/">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@SamVanderWielen">YouTube</a></li><li>Ask us a question or submit a podcast topic idea: <a href="https://growthinreverse.com/questions">growthinreverse.com/questions</a></li><li>Get Chenell's brand-new course: <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CqT9obLwOqV_WmaKfNc_Se2Gisq3nhkCynE7GEGeK-U/edit?clid=eyJpIjoiTmN2X3ZSOGNEcGlKWGpDZ18tTHl6IiwiaCI6IiIsInAiOiIvY291cnNlIiwidCI6MTc1MTU2MzcyNn0.z5f02QWtVdAvbBfAvLMhMjGqBULyc6MwIt-pUDIIIfg&amp;tab=t.0#heading=h.xw9feirlzsko">The Growth Vault</a> — newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.</li><li><a href="https://growthinreverse.com/pro/">Growth In Reverse PRO Community</a></li><li>Want your newsletter roasted? <a href="https://growthinreverse.com/roast">Submit it here.</a> </li><li>Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: <a href="https://growthinreverse.com/archive/">https://growthinreverse.com/archive/</a></li></ul>FOLLOW ON SOCIAL<ul><li>Chenell: <a href="https://x.com/chenellco">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://linkedin.com/in/chenellco">LinkedIn</a> | <a href="https://substack.com/@chenell">Substack</a></li><li>Dylan: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanredekop/">LinkedIn</a> | <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/growthcurrency.net">Bluesky</a></li></ul>OUR NEWSLETTERS<ul><li><a href="https://growthinreverse.com/?ref=pod_shownotes">growthinreverse.com</a></li><li><a href="https://www.growthcurrency.net/?ref=pod_shownotes">growthcurrency.net</a></li></ul>Subscribe &amp; Leave a Review:If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!

<description>
 &lt;p&gt;We're launching 30 Days of Growth on April 20th! Sign up at &lt;a href="https://growthinreverse.com/30-days-of-growth/?utm_source=podcast&amp;amp;utm_medium=adreads&amp;amp;utm_campaign=pre-launch"&gt;30daysofgrowth.co&lt;/a&gt; for free. &lt;br&gt;Get 30 ways to grow and optimize your email list, from creators who have successfully done it. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;[This is a replay from our conversation with Sam Vander Wielen from September 2025]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“All roads point to the email list.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;" — Sam Vander Wielen, Sam's Sidebar&lt;br&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;In this episode, we interview &lt;strong&gt;Sam Vander Wielen—&lt;/strong&gt;a lawyer-turned-creator who has sold over $9M in legal templates with a 50k-subscriber newsletter. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;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. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;KEY TAKEAWAYS&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Why she decided to walk away from strategies that “should” work — and what happened after&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The $100k turning point that reshaped how she runs her business&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;How she blends storytelling with practical education to keep readers engaged&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;How her newsletter fuels her entire content ecosystem&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;What creators misunderstand about legal protections (and how to fix it)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Why she believes the &lt;em&gt;boring&lt;/em&gt; stuff is actually the growth engine&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The platform she almost abandoned — and why she came back stronger&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Her advice for creators chasing growth but ignoring long-term sustainability&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;LINKS MENTIONED&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.samvanderwielen.com/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sam's website&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sam's book:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="https://www.samvanderwielen.com/book/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When I Start My Business I'll Be Happy&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sam's Socials: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/samvanderwielen/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt; | &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/samvanderwielen/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Instagram&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt; | &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/@SamVanderWielen"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;YouTube&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Ask us a question or submit a podcast topic idea: &lt;a href="https://growthinreverse.com/questions"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;growthinreverse.com/questions&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Get Chenell's brand-new course: &lt;a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CqT9obLwOqV_WmaKfNc_Se2Gisq3nhkCynE7GEGeK-U/edit?clid=eyJpIjoiTmN2X3ZSOGNEcGlKWGpDZ18tTHl6IiwiaCI6IiIsInAiOiIvY291cnNlIiwidCI6MTc1MTU2MzcyNn0.z5f02QWtVdAvbBfAvLMhMjGqBULyc6MwIt-pUDIIIfg&amp;amp;tab=t.0#heading=h.xw9feirlzsko"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Growth Vault&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; — newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://growthinreverse.com/pro/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Growth In Reverse PRO Community&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Want your newsletter roasted?&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://growthinreverse.com/roast"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Submit it here.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: &lt;a href="https://growthinreverse.com/archive/"&gt;https://growthinreverse.com/archive/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;FOLLOW ON SOCIAL&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chenell&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href="https://x.com/chenellco"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href="https://linkedin.com/in/chenellco"&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href="https://substack.com/@chenell"&gt;Substack&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dylan&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanredekop/"&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href="https://bsky.app/profile/growthcurrency.net"&gt;Bluesky&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;OUR NEWSLETTERS&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://growthinreverse.com/?ref=pod_shownotes"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;growthinreverse.com&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.growthcurrency.net/?ref=pod_shownotes"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;growthcurrency.net&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Subscribe &amp;amp; Leave a Review:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you found this episode valuable, take a second to &lt;strong&gt;rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!&lt;/strong&gt; It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll &lt;strong&gt;get priority&lt;/strong&gt; for your own newsletter roast!&lt;/p&gt;
 </description>

Growth In Reverse: Newsletter & Email Growth

$9M with 50k subscribers: Sam Vander Wielen's 7-figure newsletter funnel [REPLAY]

$9M with 50k subscribers: Sam Vander Wielen's 7-figure newsletter funnel [REPLAY]

Description