Just finished the pod, and am Bullish AF on FediMints now.
I think many people like myself are the sole technically minded person in a sea of non-technical people. With FediMints, we will finally be enabled to leverage our technical backgrounds to do something meaningful for the people we care about, as it relates to Bitcoin. Much in the same way that we were the people who fixed grandmas computer, or helped other setup friends' WiFi networks. This will become a way to genuinely help.
In terms of monetization, I tend to agree with Odell. While philosophically I want an Uncle Jim (non-monetized) version to proliferate, I think there are many ways to build a business around FediMint. Some tied directly to being a federation member, and some indirectly. Say you have an audience that trusts you, like Odell does. He makes money from podcasting and donations. What's to stop him from becoming a mint, but not monetizing that aspect of it. Thereby deepening trust and loyalty.
Or how about someone who wants to help with Bitcoin education at a local, boots on the ground, level. Perhaps they could be a federation memnber, and sell consulting / accept donations to run their business and also be a mint at the same time. They build trust through their business, and deepen the trust by acting as a custodian signer in the federation.
This is going to be big, and I really cannot wait to get my hands on it.