In today’s Spotlight Session, I’m talking to Scott Hughes, one of the Unplugged VIPs, most active in the community and one of the winners of my Substack Challenges from last month.
Scott works full-time in production manufacturing, but outside his 9-to-5, he’s quietly building a fast-growing political newsletter empire.
Scott runs The Daily Briefing, a publication that delivers two newsletters every day: one with key stories and another called 47 Unfiltered, focused on Trump. It’s bold, opinionated, and unapologetically real.
Watch the video to hear Scott’s story and learn:
How he built a two-post-per-day publishing schedule around his full-time job (that’s way more than I do)
The secret behind his viral Notes strategy, and how my Viral Notes Writer helps him reach virality almost every time
Why polarization drives engagement and how he uses “haters” as fuel for growth
How he cloned his voice with AI (Eleven Labs) to create 30-second audio news updates for paid subscribers
You’ll also hear how Scott:
Keeps his workflow running on a strict schedule (including time for his two German Shepherds 🐾)
Built a Telegram channel with real-time breaking alerts, AI-generated news clips, and exclusive deep dives
Uses consistency and engineered virality (not luck) as his main growth strategy
And when I asked what he’d do if money wasn’t an issue (my favorite question)? Scott said he’d quit his 9-to-5, buy a cabin in the woods, and go all-in on content - writing, creating, and raising his dogs full-time.
From Scott’s transcript, here are the books he mentioned directly:
“Atomic Habits” by James Clear
The books of Gary Vaynerchuk
The books of Jocko Willink (I love the Extreme Ownership by the way)
👉 Subscribe to The Daily Briefing on Substack and follow Scott’s reviews on the US politics, it’s mind-blowing.
And remember to post your questions to Scott in the comments :)
Wanna have your own Spotlight Session?
You can take the place under the spotlight in one of the next sessions and talk about your personal story and your Substack!
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Every month I choose two winners - one for the Notes and one for the Writing Challenge. Watch all spotlight sessions here.
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I see you inside!
Yana
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