In this episode, Haley Janicek from the Kit team joins me for our new Q&A format to explore building community, creating content, and growing your business in the creator economy.

First, we explore the power of in-person connections through our experiences with Kit Studios and Craft + Commerce, discussing how community accelerates growth. Then we tackle your questions about AI in content creation, balancing revenue streams, and transitioning to full-time creation.

You'll learn practical strategies for building your minimum viable brand, leveraging AI tools authentically, and creating sustainable growth - whether you're starting out or scaling up your creator business.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:33 Behind the Scenes at Kit with Haley Janicek

02:26 Building Kit Studios: From Idea to Reality in 27 Days

08:11 Kit Studios Expansion: New Location Coming in February

08:47 Why In-Person Creator Communities Matter

10:36 What Creators Can Learn from Taylor Swift's Success

13:19 How Events Transform Creator Businesses

18:40 Inside Craft and Commerce: The Creator Conference

19:47 The Strategic Selfie Method for Networking

23:09 Why In-Person Events Beat Online Networking

24:56 Craft & Commerce 2025: Event Details

27:35 Starting the Q&A Session

28:18 Using AI for Authentic Content Creation

32:28 Where the Creator Economy is Heading in 2025

33:48 How to Choose the Right Business Strategy

35:11 Preventing Creator Burnout While Growing

36:41 Growing a Creator Business with a Full-Time Job

39:07 Transitioning from Expert to Full-Time Creator

43:21 Balancing Profit with Positive Impact

45:58 The Journey to Building a $43M Company

48:49 Closing Thoughts

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Learn more about The Nathan Barry Show: https://nathanbarry.com/show 

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Follow Haley:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haleyjani 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haley-janicek 

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Featured in this episode:

Kit: https://kit.com 

Craft and Commerce: https://conference.kit.com 

FinCon: https://finconexpo.com 

Tim Grahl: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timgrahl 

Eras Tour: https://www.taylorswift.com/events 

Village Impact: https://villageimpact.com 

Jen Hatmaker: https://jenhatmaker.com 

Mom 2.0: https://mom2summit.com 

John Meese: https://johnmeese.com 

Sahil Bloom: https://sahilbloom.com 

Michael Hyatt: https://michaelhyatt.com 

Amy Porterfield: https://www.amyporterfield.com 

James Clear: https://jamesclear.com 

Kirsten Grove: https://www.instagram.com/simplygrove 

Happy Happy Houseplant: https://happyhappyhouseplant.com 

ChatGPT: https://www.openai.com/chatgpt 

Claude: https://www.anthropic.com 

Google Notebook LM: https://notebooklm.google 

Highlights:

11:23 Taylor Swift as a Creator

14:23 The Value of Community

26:40 Craft & Commerce

29:39 Navigating AI Tools as a Creator

35:53 Creator Flywheels

39:21 Personal Branding Advice

46:24 Starting a Creator Business