Some guests walk into the podcast having rehearsed their story so many times it comes out smooth and clean. Trish Leto is not that guest. Her story arrives the way she does fast, honest, and already three steps ahead of where you thought it was going.
Trish served in the U.S. Navy from 1996 to 2000 as an Aviation Structural Mechanic, working on CH-46 Delta helicopters, the workhorses of search and rescue operations. After her service, she pivoted into the mortgage industry, where her military-grade discipline translated naturally into process, precision, and follow-through.
Then the market crashed. And everything she’d built got swept out from under her.
Rebuilding in Public. Before It Was a Strategy
What Trish did next wasn’t a calculated pivot. It was survival. She found her way onto early social platforms, MySpace, Facebook, Vine, Periscope and figured out how to show up consistently and authentically before those words became buzzwords.
She was one of the first people to use Facebook Live. That early-adopter instinct turned out to be more than a curiosity. It became the foundation of a full career as a user generated content (UGC) creator and eventually, a platform to teach others how to do the same.
UGC Isn’t Influencer Marketing and That’s the Whole Point
One of the most clarifying moments of the conversation was Trish drawing a hard line between UGC and influencer marketing. The distinction matters — especially for veterans or working professionals who assume they need a massive following to get started.
UGC is not influencer marketing. Smaller brands are bootstrapping their marketing budgets. They need proof of concept. They want someone to take their coffee, grind it, drink it, and tell them what they think.
UGC is about authentic, usable content, not celebrity reach. Brands are looking for real voices, real reactions, and real storytelling. And they’re willing to pay for it, or compensate creators with product partnerships, even when those creators have modest follower counts.
To illustrate the point: a coffee brand sent Trish premium beans in exchange for honest feedback and content. No contracts requiring 100,000 followers. No influencer tiers. Just: try this, tell the truth, show your face.
How to Actually Get Started
Trish’s advice for aspiring UGC creators is refreshingly concrete.
Set up a way to receive payment first. PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, Cash App, pick one and have it ready before you start pitching.
Build a simple portfolio. Record honest video testimonials of products you already use coffee, kitchen gadgets, your favorite local spots. You don’t even need to show your face. Your hands and your voice are enough.
Use your existing routine. Your toothpaste. Your morning coffee. Your commute. From the moment you wake up, all the things that you use are potential content.
A Note for Veterans Specifically
Trish makes a pointed observation: the organizational habits, punctuality, and mission-driven follow-through that define military service are exactly what brands want from UGC partners. Veterans tend to under-promise and over-deliver. The veteran community, especially Gen X veterans are a natural fit for user generated content work.
Engagement Beats Follower Count Every Time
The persistent myth that you need tens of thousands of followers to build a UGC career is one Trish actively dismantles. What brands actually want is engagement, people who respond, comment, share, and act. A creator with 800 deeply engaged followers is more valuable to a bootstrapped brand than someone with 80,000 passive scrollers.
A lot of people worry too much about how many followers they have. The number that truly matters is your engagement and the quality of the people you are engaging with.
The Decision That Changed Everything
Every episode of The Decision Hour eventually reaches the moment a guest names the choice that shifted their life. For Trish, it was sobriety.
The decision was to never have a sip of alcohol again for the rest of her life. That clarity and the self-worth that came with it runs underneath everything else she has built. It is not the headline of her story. But it is the foundation.
DeployUGC.com — Built for People Like Her
Trish recently launched DeployUGC.com, a step-by-step platform for aspiring content creators. Open to everyone, but built with veterans and disciplined professionals in mind. If you have been putting off starting because you don’t think you are social media enough, this is worth a look.
Connect with Trish Leto
Website: deployugc.com Email: trishletospeaks@gmail.com
Listen to the Full Episode
Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Google Play, and Podbean at thedecisionhour.com.
