Every year without fail, I get a second wind around September. I think of it like the Back to School effect. It’s been nearly a decade since my last college courses, yet I’m still chasing that elusive feeling of buying all my supplies for the year and planning for the upcoming semester.

As you might know from reading this newsletter, I’m a huge fan of regularly sitting down to reflect on your goals and rearrange your priorities. I’ve been sharing real time updates from many of these strategies sessions for me this year.

Yet there’s something about this season and the turn to Q4 that feels especially different. And I don’t think it’s just me. Brett Dashevsky of Creator Economy NYC is calling it “The Great Lock In” and I’m so here for it! The Creator Economy feels more booming than ever and it feels like the time to make sure you’re not on the sidelines.

In that same spirit, I figured I shared what I’m locking in on now for the next couple months:

All that being said, I'm testing out a new format again in a nod to the Creator Diaries name to share “diary” updates of just things I'm thinking about running my business and with a less polished and packaged approach.

Then I’m going to pair that with top tier A) long form interviews and B) deep dives/playbooks.

So that’s the plan. I'd love to get your feedback in here on what you think and what you'd like to see more of. If you have any strong thoughts, reply here and I'll read through every email.

I have spent the past couple of weeks utterly absorbed in the topic of creator equity deals. It’s the perfect blend of my interests in creators, startups, and venture capital.

In the process of writing an article for Viral Nation, I spoke to Jeff Frommer, CEO of OWM.ai (Ownership for All), who’s building at this specific intersection, and Scott van der Berg of Hotstart VC, which invests in celebrity & creator brands.

I collected so much valuable information and resources while I was researching the piece that I wanted to package it up and share it here! The result is a cracked-out Notion guide compiling everything you need to know about creator equity deals and building wealth strategically as a creator.

Some key points:

I'll be releasing this in the next couple of weeks. If this is something you're interested in, just click below so I'll make sure that you don't miss the announcement!

Also, Scott wrote a few great pieces on this topic you can check out here and here.

Ali Abdaal is one of my favorite creators to follow and learn from, especially when it comes to running a business. He recently went on the Moneywise podcast to share more about the actual numbers behind running a creator business.

What was most fascinating to me is that he stills says that more money wouldn’t feel much better than hitting that initial six-figure freedom feeling.

“If I had £100 million in the bank, what would I do? Well, I’d still make YouTube videos… I think once you do six figures a year in profit through a business that gives you fun, fulfillment, and flexibility, it doesn’t get much better than that.”

His creator business scaled fast, crossing seven figures and peaking around $4–6M a year, but he’s candid about the ceiling on personality-led brands without recurring revenue. The real question he keeps returning to is structure: lifestyle boutique or performance machine.

He optimizes for what he calls the four Fs — fun, fulfillment, flexibility, finances — rather than headcount, ad spend, and constant launches. 

For me, it’s a reminder that the pursuit of “more” only matters if it lines up with what you actually want your day-to-day life to look like.

Highly highly recommend if you’re wanting to build a serious business and want to know what’s possible.

Here’s a look at what I’m using and loving right now! This list is always evolving, so if you have something I should try I’m all ears.

PS I have some discount links if you want to snag em!

So as I think about what I want to focus on for the last stretch of the year (insane?!), I want to prioritize alignment. What’s actually worth locking in on? What’s worth saying no to? How do I build with a long term vision?

Let’s lock in 🤝