Here's my take on the whole PPL thing and Travis. Doing PPL evidently gave TA the confidence to make something of himself and be successful. Quickly. He appears to have had natural business instincts. These qualities are all transferable. TA could very easily have started his own company and been great at it. He was somewhat heading in this direction with his book, blog, motivational speaking, etc. In the not too far distant future, he might have outgrown PPL and struck out on his own. In the meantime, it gave him structures, goals, and a chance to learn about himself with a lot of support.
I'm not sure what the "whip someone's *advertiser censored*" talk was about, but I will tell you from my own experience that very successful salespeople are sometimes a little rough around the edges. This is going to be even more overt the further out a salesperson is on the "car sales spectrum." Like it or not, TA definitely belonged on that "car sales spectrum." However, he may not have stayed out there his whole career. He may eventually (maybe not too far in the future) have pulled back his loud energy and integrated the skilled entrepreneur and moral conservative sides. He was a contemplator and not extroverted to the exclusion of evaluating his own personality and behavior, so perhaps he would have come around to a more consultative and mature presentation. And as for the hypocrisy, I don't believe TA was blind to it. Plus Jodi encouraged and shared in it. The DT sure liked to emphasize it, though.
This is just my sense of what was happening in Travis' career trajectory. I did not know the man.