Today we’d like to introduce you to Ty McDuffey.
Hi Ty, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I founded Duff Radio in 2021 as a podcast for local Kansas City rap artists, producers, and audio engineers. At the time, I was fresh out of law school from UMKC but had failed the Missouri Bar Exam on my first attempt. I was living in the Northland, frantically applying to writing jobs on Indeed. I was so young then. I couldn’t even grow a beard. I threw on the nicest red button up shirt I could find for an interview with Jade, the editor of Blackdoctor.org. I had no experience writing for any publications, but the $40 an article they paid me held me over until I landed my second writing gig with LegalMatch, a company that matches people with attorneys who can handle their legal problems through the Internet. I’ve gone on to publish over 3,000 articles for their legal library, becoming one of the most widely published legal writers on the web.
This was five years ago though, and I still had dreams of living in the mountains. I’ve wanted to travel out West ever since I saw Colorado for the first time back in middle school. So, I applied for a job as a newspaper editor in Hardin, Montana. For two years, I worked in newspapers for the Big Horn County News, the Big Timber Pioneer, and the Billings Gazette. I eventually moved down south to New Mexico, living in Las Cruces in the Chihuanahn Desert. There, I started my own writing and content creation company and began self-publishing books on Amazon. I bought a cabin in a small mountain town called Chama, New Mexico, in 2024. I lived there for a year, publishing books and producing music while working for my legal writing clients. I sold that cabin in 2025 upon the arrival of my baby son. We moved back to the Midwest in the summer of 2025 and have been here since.
In the span of those five years, Duff Radio has grown to reach listeners in 50+ countries worldwide. We have albums on Spotify, Apple Music, and Soundcloud, and the Duff Radio Podcast has four seasons of longform conversations.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There are major hurdles every business owner will eventually face. In my 20s, I learned about withholding taxes from my business and dealing with the IRS the hard way. I spent a lot of resources traveling around the country, but I gained a ton of life experience and met so many new people. I lost three of my most important legal writing clients in April 2025, right as my son was about to arrive. I navigated financial insecurity from a remote cabin in northern New Mexico and eventually had to move back cross-country with an infant. I had to find all of my clients myself, which takes time and energy. Overall, owning a business is rewarding because it allows so much control over time and scheduling, but it can be exhausting. It also takes time to see results.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a writer, business owner, and audio engineer. I am known for founding Duff Radio, a music and podcast platform centered around independent artists from the Midwest. My background is in law (UMKC Law class of 2020). I have written thousands of legal resource articles for FindLaw, LegalMatch, and dozens of the largest law firms in America. I have self-published 15 books on Amazon, spanning everything from law to fiction. I am an audio engineer who attended Emerald Dreams Lab recording school and now produces audio and video for all Duff Radio productions.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
My family and friends. I am nothing without them. I love them so deeply, and everything I do is ultimately just to make them proud. They support me and love me and give me such a stable foundation for my life. I owe them everything.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://duffradio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/duffradio/
- Twitter: https://x.com/TyMcDuffey
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@duffradio
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/duff-radio
- Other: https://tymcduffey.com/
