Paola Merrill, 29, and her husband, Luke Garing, 37, are the owners of Trail's End Bookstore in Winthrop, Washington. In 2025, the couple brought in $209,000, primarily from Merrill's work in content creation on YouTube. They purchased the bookstore late last year as Merrill aims to transition away from the creator economy and build a sustainable business offline.

This is an installment of CNBC Make It's Millennial Money series, which profiles people across the globe and details how they earn, spend and save their money.

Produced by: Tasia Jensen
Managing Producer: Beatriz Bajuelos
Camera: Dmytro Sachuk
Editor: Marisa Forziati
Animator: Alisa Stern
Reporter: Gili Malinsky
Additional Footage: Paola Merrill

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We Bought A Bookstore And Live On $209K A Year