About Video

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She sent an unscripted, badly lit, walking-outside selfie video to the CEO of Caterpillar — one of the

largest companies on earth. Her client laughed at her. Told her it was unprofessional. She did it anyway.

Seven minutes later, Paul emailed back. That email is now framed on her wall.

Bianca McDownriver is a Texas-based entrepreneur, freestyle rapper, and founder of Box Voice, an

11-year marketing agency that works with everyone from stormwater compliance companies to Mr. Beast's

team. She sat down with Stu at a live Startups with Stu retreat in Highland Park, Idaho — after spending

seven minutes the night before cooling off in a lake with 16 inches of ice underneath her.

What she covers:

→ Teaching piano in high school because she refused to ask her parents for money — ever

→ Upselling car wash customers from a $39 wash to a $200 detail as a teenager, and realizing she was born to sell

→ Starting a supplement brand called Driven at BYU Idaho, burning through her savings, and watching her business partner spend their shared cash on an engagement ring

→ Throwing freestyle rap battle parties at BYU Idaho — hundreds of students paying $10 to watch college kids rap — and scaling it to block parties with thousands of attendees and stage acts from Utah

→ Making real money not from door fees but from apartment complex sponsorships — charging them for a table in front of students every semester

→ Running two businesses and five internships simultaneously while still getting a degree

→ Why she built Box Voice by saying yes to every industry — ERP, CRM, termite control, security monitoring, publishing — and why the "find your niche" advice is wrong for her

→ The unscripted $49/month video tool (Hippo Video) that out-converts every polished campaign she's ever run

→ Why she wears a nearly $4,000 purse to first client meetings — and the Google ex-employee who studied body language and said yes because of it

→ The body language moves that close deals: palms out, open stance, and why crossing your arms silently kills your pitch

→ T-boning a drunk driver at 65 mph at age 18 in Farmington, New Mexico — and the three thoughts that flashed through her mind before she knew she'd survive

→ Why she can say right now, without hesitation, that if she died tomorrow she would have zero regrets

🔗 CONNECT WITH STU

Instagram: @stu

Website: https://startupswithstu.com

📌 CHAPTERS

00:00 – Intro: Who is Bianca McDownriver?

02:00 – First jobs: piano lessons, Forever 21, and the car wash upsell that started it all

06:00 – Driven Supplements: the protein powder that wouldn't taste good and the business partner who bought a ring

12:00 – Freestyle rap battles at BYU Idaho: $10 entry, hundreds of students, and a stage that kept growing

18:00 – How she actually made money: apartment complex sponsorships and five years of events

23:00 – Five internships while running two businesses, and why she's in the business of people and attention

27:00 – The psychology of yes: being the guide, not the hero (Donald Miller and Story Brand)

32:00 – Body language that closes deals: open palms, power stance, and the purse that landed her first agency client

38:00 – Box Voice: 11 years, no niche, and a call from Mr. Beast's team

42:00 – The unscripted video to Caterpillar's CEO — and the framed email response

48:00 – The car accident at 18 and what flashed before her eyes

53:00 – Live with urgency, chase your potential: advice to her younger self

58:00 – Freestyle rap battle: Bianca vs. Stu, live at the retreat

#entrepreneur #startups #founderstory #womenfounder #marketingagency #salestips #bodylangage #BYUIdaho #livewithurgency #smallbusiness

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