How a government contractor built a media empire around his niche content

Eric Coffie built out multiple revenue streams, including online courses, events, and a paid community.

In 2007, when the U.S. housing market collapsed, Eric Coffie was staring down the end of his short-lived real estate career. He had been working in South Florida as both an agent and investor, but when the bottom fell out, he needed a new path. What he found, almost by accident, would change the trajectory of his life: federal government contracting.

“I had no background in construction,” Coffie recalled. “I was just a realtor trying to survive after the crash. But I had a couple of contractors working for me—just regular AC and electrical guys—and one of them said, ‘Hey man, you ever heard about government contracts?’ That conversation changed everything.”

Over the next decade, Coffie went from broker to builder, from hustling through government RFPs to employing teams erecting steel buildings on military bases across the country. By 2016, he had parlayed his contracting knowledge into a growing YouTube channel, and soon after, a full-fledged media company that spanned podcasts, courses, events, and a 5,000-member online community.

But now, at the peak of his influence, Coffie is preparing to shut most of it down.

“I’m going back into contracting,” he said flatly. “The media company was fun, but when you’re chasing contracts worth hundreds of millions, potentially billions, that’s going to trump anything this business could ever do.”

Learning to Play the Government’s Game

Coffie’s entry into contracting was scrappy. He started by partnering with established vendors—an air-conditioning company and a painting business—who had skilled workers but no patience for the mountains of paperwork required by federal procurement.