Before the creator economy had a name, these two were already building it.

This week, Anita Sharma sits down with two of the most respected women in creator representation, Rana Zand, Partner at Range Media Partners, and Victoria Bachan, SVP of Creators at Wasserman. These are Anita's colleagues, her friends, and her fellow OGs in a business they all joined before anyone knew what to call it.

In Part 1, Victoria and Rana take us back to the beginning, from Victoria's summers on the Vans Warped Tour and her accidental start managing Doug the Pug, to Rana's early days in the WME mailroom staring down a seven-year promotion timeline and deciding to bet on digital instead. Together, they trace the evolution of an industry that went from "begging people to care" to becoming the most talked-about sector in entertainment.

The conversation gets into the real business of creator management: what makes them want to sign someone, why a strong POV matters more than follower count, and how they think about building careers that could survive if TikTok disappeared tomorrow. Victoria breaks down the difference between an agent and a manager using a corporate org chart analogy, while Rana offers the quarterback and football version. Both land perfectly.

They also get into the art of having hard conversations with clients about evolving their content, why burnout is a real and constant concern, and how Victoria once told a client posting eight times a day that her business model was not going to last, and why that was the wake-up call the creator needed to start treating content like a career.

Part 2 coming next Thursday. Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss it.

Follow Signed socials: @signedthepodcast

Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer, but this podcast isn't legal advice. It's for general information only. Listening doesn't make us attorney and client.

Credits: 

Produced by: Anita Sharma & Phoebe Dunn 

Edited by: Carmine Mattia 

Social Media Strategy: Maureen Lauren Sedlak 

Signed Theme Music By: Carmine Mattia

In this special solo episode, Anita Sharma flips the script on Signed: Conversations with Digital Mavericks. Instead of interviewing guests, she's answering the top 10 questions she gets about entertainment law, working with creators, and building a practice in the digital media space.

Anita opens up about her unconventional path to entertainment law, from that lightbulb moment seeing "production legal" in movie credits during law school, to leaving a big law firm in New York, actually quitting law altogether to attend film school, becoming a producer, and eventually founding her own practice representing digital creators.

She tackles the questions she gets most from creators, law students, and industry professionals: Why entertainment law? What were the key moments (including "cliffs she drove off") in building her firm? What did she see in 2013 when she started representing YouTubers that others missed? Her first YouTube client was getting more views than Canada's #1 TV show, and that's when she realized digital creators had all the leverage that her indie film clients never had.

Anita shares practical advice for law students (her networking philosophy: "be nice to everyone, that law student could end up running a studio someday"), insights about the constantly changing digital media landscape, and why entertainment law in the creator economy isn't just about talent agreements anymore, it's about understanding that each creator is their own media company.

She addresses when creators should hire lawyers (when you're signing contracts, and please don't feed them into ChatGPT), whether she tells clients to walk away from big money (it's about fit, not just the amount), and what the hardest part of representing creators really is (no precedents exist, you're making them up as you go, plus the mental health concerns when clients face online harassment).

The episode concludes with myth-busting: entertainment lawyers' lives aren't an episode of Entourage, they're sitting at desks reviewing contracts and filing trademarks, with the occasional fun screening or party as a bonus.

This episode offers honest insights about failure, persistence, relationship-building in entertainment, and why sometimes you have to quit law to become a better lawyer. Essential listening for anyone interested in entertainment law, the creator economy, or understanding what really happens behind the contracts.

Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer, but this podcast isn't legal advice. It's for general information only. Listening doesn't make us attorney and client.

Credits: 

Produced by: Anita Sharma & Phoebe Dunn 

Creative Producer: Khairi Williams 

Script Editor: Mac Montandon 

Technical Production Support Provided By: Seth Richardson 

Edited by: Carmine Mattia 

Social Media Strategy: Maureen Lloren Sedlak 

Signed Theme Music By: Carmine Mattia

Follow us at @signedthepodcast on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube!

In Part 2, Nadya Okamoto continues her conversation with Anita Sharma, diving into family reconciliation on social media, the recent TikTok ownership change, and evolving from solo creator to strategic business leader.

Nadya opens up about going no contact with one of her sisters for three years, and how they navigated that journey publicly as content creators. She discusses the decision to finally set boundaries around what to share online, the unexpected community they found from others experiencing family estrangement, and why all three sisters being full-time TikTokers complicated (and eventually helped) their reconciliation.

In this episode, Nadya shares her approach to content strategy, revealing she recently hired managers for the first time after years of posting with zero strategy, just "quantity, quantity, quantity" treating the algorithm like a lottery. We explore her evolved role at August where her co-founder now runs day-to-day operations while she focuses on her unique strength: leveraging her 6+ million follower platform for business growth. She shares her thoughts on the TikTok US ownership change two days after it happened, why she thinks it was rooted in xenophobia rather than data privacy concerns, and her strategy to diversify platforms by growing her 700K YouTube subscriber base.

This episode covers her advice to young creators (know yourself offline before going online, your digital footprint never goes away) and entrepreneurs (build a team, find co-founders with complementary skills), plus the lightning round reveals her coffee order, why she's terrible at cycling, and her surprising alternative career: NBA dancer.

This episode is about evolving your role as you grow, setting boundaries while staying authentic, and adapting when platforms (and algorithms) change overnight.

Follow Nadya: @nadyaokamoto

Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer, but this podcast isn't legal advice. It's for general information only. Listening doesn't make us attorney and client.

Credits: 

Produced by: Anita Sharma & Phoebe Dunn 

Creative Producer: Khairi Williams 

Script Editor: Mac Montandon 

Technical Production Support Provided By: Seth Richardson 

Edited by: Carmine Mattia 

Social Media Strategy: Maureen Lloren Sedlak 

Signed Theme Music By: Carmine Mattia

Follow Signed on socials: @signedthepodcast

Founder and bestselling author Nadya Okamoto joins Anita Sharma for a conversation about building purpose-driven businesses, using social media intentionally, and destigmatizing periods for 6 million followers. In Part 1, Nadya shares how she went from teenage activist to entrepreneur, founding both a nonprofit and a thriving period care brand.

Nadya opens up about discovering period poverty at 16 when she learned people in her community were using toilet paper, socks, and cardboard to manage their periods. She discusses founding PERIOD.org in high school, leading it for six years while building 800 chapters across 50 states and 40 countries, and her time at Harvard (including graduating remotely during COVID).

In this episode, Nadya talks about the frustration that led her to start August, wanting to create sustainable period products while changing culture through a brand, not just activism. She shares her early social media strategy using Facebook to organize volunteers, learning that social posts had "currency" through sponsorship deals, and going all-in on TikTok during the pandemic. We explore how she keeps herself separate from the August brand (the anti-Paris Hilton approach), going viral for wearing a pad at Electric Forest, and why hate comments motivate her rather than discourage her.

This episode is about turning teenage passion into sustainable impact, using your platform with purpose, and staying authentic while building a brand.

Part 2 coming next week!

Follow Nadya: @nadyaokamoto

Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer, but this podcast isn't legal advice. It's for general information only. Listening doesn't make us attorney and client.

Credits: 

Produced by: Anita Sharma & Phoebe Dunn 

Creative Producer: Khairi Williams 

Script Editor: Mac Montandon 

Technical Production Support Provided By: Seth Richardson 

Edited by: Carmine Mattia 

Social Media Strategy: Maureen Lloren Sedlak 

Signed Theme Music By: Carmine Mattia

In Part 2, Drew Binsky continues his conversation with Anita Sharma, diving into the realities of full-time travel content creation, the stories that didn't perform as expected, and what visiting all 197 countries actually taught him about humanity.

Drew opens up about balancing documentation with experience, why he gets more fulfillment from filming than just experiencing moments, and how Anthony Bourdain remains his biggest inspiration. We discuss getting stuck in Pakistan for a week when India attacked Kashmir, creating a high-stakes story that didn't perform well, and the wettest city on Earth story in Meghalaya, India that hit 7 million views.

In this episode, Drew talks about handling burnout with two weeks on, two weeks off, why Iran is his favorite country (the most misconceived place on Earth), and getting stuck in a coup in Guinea, his least favorite destination. We explore what cultural values he wishes America would adopt, his future plans including having kids and starting a tennis channel, and why his travel superpower is finding the good anywhere.

Plus: the lightning round covers his best street food (Bangkok pad thai for 35 cents), the craziest things he's eaten (live octopus, dog, snake), his essential travel gear (headlamp and bug spray), and the ultimate airport hack for avoiding checked bag fees.

This episode is about finding humanity in the hardest places, managing burnout while chasing stories, and why family culture matters more than we realize.

Follow Drew: @drewbinsky

Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer, but this podcast isn't legal advice. It's for general information only. Listening doesn't make us attorney and client.

Credits: 

Produced by: Anita Sharma & Phoebe Dunn 

Creative Producer: Khairi Williams 

Script Editor: Mac Montandon 

Technical Production Support Provided By: Seth Richardson 

Edited by: Carmine Mattia 

Social Media Strategy: Maureen Lloren Sedlak 

Signed Theme Music By: Carmine Mattia

Travel content creator, storyteller, and bestselling author Drew Binsky joins Anita Sharma for the Season 2 premiere of Signed: Conversations with Digital Mavericks. In Part 1, Drew shares how he became one of the youngest people to visit all 197 countries in the world and built a 20 million follower community in the process.

Drew opens up about his first international trip to Israel in 2009, catching the travel bug while studying abroad in Prague, and teaching English in South Korea for 18 months where he earned his black belt in Taekwondo and visited 20 countries in Asia. We discuss starting his travel blog "The Hungry Partier," meeting Lee Abbomonte (who became the youngest man to visit every country at age 31), and doing the math to realize he could do the same thing in five years.

In this episode, Drew talks about the gift that changed everything: his girlfriend (now wife) Deanna giving him a video camera in Hanoi on New Year's Day 2017. He shares posting his first-ever video "What Can $10 Get You in Vietnam?" and watching it hit 100,000 views in one day, completely blowing his blog traffic out of the water. We explore the early days of travel vlogging, staying a week in each country to meet locals for authentic and affordable experiences, and the realization that the more he traveled, the more he realized he didn't know anything about the world.

This episode is about following curiosity across borders, turning passion into profession, and the beginning of a journey to visit every country on Earth.

Part 2 next Thursday!

Follow Drew: @drewbinsky

Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer, but this podcast isn't legal advice. It's for general information only. Listening doesn't make us attorney and client, so if you need legal advice, please talk to a lawyer in your area.

Credits: 

Produced by: Anita Sharma & Phoebe Dunn 

Creative Producer: Khairi Williams 

Script Editor: Mac Montandon 

Technical Production Support Provided By: Seth Richardson 

Edited by: Carmine Mattia 

Social Media Strategy: Maureen Lloren Sedlak 

Signed Theme Music By: Carmine Mattia

Season 1 of Signed: Conversations with Digital Mavericks pulled back the curtain on what it really takes to build a creator empire. Hosted by entertainment lawyer Anita Sharma, this special Best Of episode revisits the most powerful, vulnerable, and inspiring moments from our first six guests.

In this episode:

• Drew Afualo on climbing to the top of the NFL only to realize it wasn't what she wanted, and how getting let go (for "not being able to grow a following") led to building 8+ million followers on TikTok
• Alyson Stoner on the hidden cost of child stardom, being called a "veteran on set" as a kid while lacking basic life skills, and turning that pain into advocacy for child actors and kidfluencers
• Shan Boodram on hitting rock bottom after an MTV pilot rejection and asking herself: "Why am I waiting for somebody else to make my dream come true?," the question that changed everything
• Sidney Raz on 15 years of posting, learning to love editing, and why the "delusional thing" became his reality
• Michelle Khare on the democratization of storytelling and why creators don't need gatekeepers anymore, they have their audiences
• Jon Kung on turning down a prosecutor job to cook at underground raves in abandoned Detroit warehouses, choosing instinct over security

This is what happens when creators choose themselves.

Season 2 launches January 2026. Subscribe now so you don't miss it.

Credits: Hosted by Anita Sharma Produced by Anita Sharma and Phoebe Dunn Edited by Carmine Mattia Social Media Strategy by Maureen Lauren Sedlak Theme Music by Carmine Mattia

Follow Signed on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube: @SignedPodcast

Self-taught chef, content creator, and best-selling author Jon Kung joins Anita Sharma for a conversation about third culture cooking, finding creative freedom in Detroit's emptiness, and why teaching people to make tomato sandwiches matters more than showing off culinary skills.

Jon opens up about his first vivid food memory, eating raw spiny lobster straight from the ocean in South Africa at 16, and how growing up in Hong Kong and Toronto gave him the confidence to never apologize for being an Asian American. We discuss teaching himself to cook during law school, turning down a sought-after prosecutor job while sitting in his car, and running underground Chinese pop-ups in abandoned Detroit warehouses and factories during the recession.

In this episode, Jon talks about being an early TikTok adopter, posting survival recipes during the pandemic, and why his camping cooking videos (his slowest, most peaceful content) are a direct response to what he calls "violent" food content. He shares his philosophy on teaching through simplicity (the viral tomato sandwich series), why his equipment reviews perform best on YouTube, and how his corn kernel remover is the kitchen gadget that actually matters.

We also explore Jon's bestselling cookbook "Kung Food," his deep connection to the drag community, why he doesn't watch other food content to relax, and his death row meal that would probably be the thing that kills him. Plus: the great pineapple on pizza debate gets settled by a real chef.

This episode is about finding space to experiment, teaching with intention, and cooking food that brings people joy.

Follow Jon: @jonkung

Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer, but this podcast isn't legal advice. It's for general information only. Listening doesn't make us attorney and client, so if you need legal advice, please talk to a lawyer in your area.

Credits:

Produced by: Anita Sharma & Phoebe Dunn

Creative Producer: Khairi Williams

Script Editor: Mac Montandon 

Technical Production Support Provided By: Seth Richardson

Edited by: Carmine Mattia

Social Media Strategy: Maureen Lloren Sedlak

Signed Theme Music By: Carmine Mattia

Creator behind the viral "Things I Wish I Knew Before I Was In My 30s" series Sidney Raz joins Anita Sharma for an honest conversation about 18 years of grinding before "making it," building a real media company, and why he's now vlogging the most personal story of his life.

Sid opens up about posting his first YouTube video in 2007, working at React Media for five years as his "trade school," and posting on TikTok every single day for a year and a half to grow from zero followers to 90K. We discuss how corporate America taught him to be the best emailer in the creator game, why he posted a TikTok on his wedding day at 7,000 followers, and the moment he realized the "life hacks" format was his lightning in a bottle.

In a heartbreaking twist, Sid shares how losing his daughter Delfina at 26 weeks led to genetic testing that discovered the stage T1a stomach cancer that would have killed him. He talks about building 11,000 newsletter subscribers as something "nobody can take away," publishing a real book with DK, and why, after everything, he's come full circle to daily vlogging.

This episode is about persistence, pivoting, and owning your story completely.

Follow Sid: @sidneyraz

Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer, but this podcast isn't legal advice. It's for general information only. Listening doesn't make us attorney and client, so if you need legal advice, please talk to a lawyer in your area.

Credits:

Produced by: Anita Sharma & Phoebe Dunn

Creative Producer: Khairi Williams

Script Editor: Mac Montandon 

Technical Production Support Provided By: Seth Richardson

Edited by: Carmine Mattia

Social Media Strategy: Maureen Lloren Sedlak

Signed Theme Music By: Carmine Mattia

Sexologist, intimacy expert, and best-selling author Shan Boodram joins Anita Sharma for an honest conversation about sex education, building a career in an unconventional field, and why intimacy is about so much more than sex.

Shan opens up about growing up in a conservative Caribbean household, writing her first book "Laid" at 24, moving to LA with nothing but $5,000 and a dream, and why a failed BET pilot pushed her to YouTube. We discuss the most common questions she gets about sex (mismatched libido tops the list), why she stopped reading comments after having kids, outdated sex myths that need to die, and how her content has evolved from "where is the clitoris" to exploring friendship and family love.

She also shares why she'd never abandon YouTube despite it no longer being her main platform, the emotional toll of sharing vulnerable relationship moments online, and her new passion for drumming.

This episode is for anyone navigating intimacy, relationships, or building a career in a space where you have to educate while you create.

Follow Shan: @shanboody on TikTok and @shanboodram on Instagram

Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer, but this podcast isn't legal advice. It's for general information only. Listening doesn't make us attorney and client, so if you need legal advice, please talk to a lawyer in your area.

Credits:

Produced by: Anita Sharma & Phoebe Dunn
Creative Producer: Khairi Williams
Script Editor: Mac Montandon 
Technical Production Support Provided By: Seth Richardson
Edited by: Carmine Mattia
Social Media Strategy: Maureen Lloren Sedlak
Signed Theme Music By: Carmine Mattia