This week on Creator Spotlight we’re joined by Brittany Ratelle, a lawyer specializing in helping creators, creatives and online entrepreneurs cut through the overwhelm of getting their business legally legit. In this episode she breaks down the most common legal mistakes creators make, from brand deals and contracts, to hiring and platform risk.

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Brittany Ratelle

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Francis Zierer

LinkedIn

Twitter/X

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Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Brittany Ratelle

01:26 Biggest red flags in brand deal contracts

10:15 Avoid these contract mistakes

16:06 When should creators become a business

20:17 When is reaction content and remixing IP theft?

26:12 The only way to actually own your audience

33:44 How to write a contract as a creator

37:45 Hiring as a creator

42:37 Most common mistakes creators make, legally

45:10 What’s changing for creators in 2026

This week, Francis is joined by the rest of the Creator Spotlight team — Assistant Editor Natalia and Podcast Producer Tom — to reflect on the biggest creator economy themes from a year of interviews and share their predictions for 2026

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Francis Zierer

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Natalia Pérez-Gonzalez

LinkedIn

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Tom McCloud

LinkedIn

Twitter

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Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Tom and Natalia

01:30 How to use serialized content in 2026

10:10 Changing our perspective of the creator economy

11:50 Our best piece of 2025

Our 2026 Predictions

15:13 Francis: In-person is the future

20:28 Tom: Podcasts are dying

27:30 Natalia: Short-term creator partnerships

Themes of 2025

29:10 Building strong parasocial connections

This week on Creator Spotlight we’re joined by the team from News Creator Corps. We break down what creators can learn from journalism — from fact-checking and sourcing to handling mistakes publicly. A conversation about fixing trust, misinformation, and credibility in the creator economy.

Read the newsletter: https://www.creatorspotlight.com/profiles

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Earn with Google AdSense: https://goo.gle/earnwithadsense

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News Creator Corps

Apply for the Spring 2026 Fellowship: https://newscreatorcorps.org/apply/

• Rachel Lobdell

• Katie Grossbard

• Danielle Desir Corbett

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Timestamps

00:00 Introducing News Creator Corps and the guests

07:40 The type of creator that’s NCC focus

13:31 Transferring conservative journalistic value to content creation

16:20 The eight lessons journalists can teach creators

23:42 The values of a diverse cohort

29:05 Finding your own guild

33:55 Trust and monetization in the creator economy

35:36 Teaching instantly applicable lessons

43:05 Building a recognised trusted reputation

46:38 Misconceptions of news creators

51:00 Fighting against the slop and misinformation

01:00:22 How NCC is helping creators

Brett Dashevsky is the founder of Creator Economy NYC, where he’s built a six-figure business by consistently creating content, growing a newsletter, and hosting events for creators. In this episode, Brett breaks down how newsletters and in-person events compound together to build audience, trust, and a sustainable creator business.

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Brett Dashevsky

• Newsletter

• Creator Economy NYC

• LinkedIn

• Twitter/X

• Instagram

Francis Zierer

• LinkedIn

• Twitter/X

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Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Brett Dashevsky

01:16 Biggest challenges growing a newsletter from scratch

07:00 Scaling multiple newsletters to the masses

12:44 A community built out of passion

20:00 Why consistency always wins

26:21 Building something bigger than himself

29:33 The best advice for creators

33:56 Revenue breakdown

36:19 How hosting events makes money

42:41 Securing long term deals with brands

48:33 Defining the digital economy

50:52 Event cost and attendance

56:36 Building tools for creators

This week on Creator Spotlight we’re joined by Tomo Chien, the founder and editor of ‘Morning, Trojan’, a newsletter aimed at engaging USC students with local news. He highlights the competitive landscape of student publications, the importance of original reporting, and the strategies used to grow the audience.

Read the newsletter

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Earn with Google AdSense: https://goo.gle/earnwithadsense

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Tomo Chien

• Morning, Trojan

• LinkedIn

• Twitter/X

Francis Zierer

• LinkedIn

• Twitter/X

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Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Tomo Chien 

01:08 Disrupting the local media scene 

05:10 The freedom to be controversial 

08:57 The one change that brought 10k subscribers 

14:30 Finding the stories people want to read 

20:02 How long does aggregating content take? 

25:02 Tomo’s high school news project 

28:55 Why he’s shutting down the newsletter 

32:22 Future plans after the newsletter 

37:28 Defining creator journalism 

This week on The Creator Spotlight Podcast we’re joined by digital writer, author, and serial writing entrepreneur Nicolas Cole. Nicolas is the co-founder of a $600K+ per month online writing education business. He shares the principles, systems, and mindset shifts that turned simple online writing into a scalable company.

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Nicolas Cole

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• LinkedIn

• Twitter/X

• Instagram

• YouTube

Francis Zierer

• LinkedIn

• Twitter/X

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Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Nicolas Cole 

05:23 Scaling to $600k+/month 

12:00 Growing an educational product 

17:15 The demand for ghostwriting in 2025 

28:04 The hardest part of scaling a business

35:05 How to never run out of content 

40:05 Rejecting the ‘artist vs entrepreneur’ dichotomy 

50:00 How to earn more as a creator 

55:27 Education with accountability 

57:15 New rules for writing online in 2026 

Lia Haberman is a social media strategist, creator economy expert and writer behind one of the industries leading newsletters, ICYMI (In Case You Missed It.) Lia breaks down why most creators only last 3–4 years, how to spot real platform trends, where creators should focus in 2026, and how to build a business that survives algorithm shifts.

Read the newsletter: https://www.creatorspotlight.com/profiles

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Lia Haberman

• ICYMI

• LinkedIn

• Twitter/X

• Instagram

Francis Zierer

• LinkedIn

• Twitter/X

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Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Lia Haberman

01:20 The 3 year shelf life of a creator

08:45 Knowing which platforms to invest in

16:21 7 signs of a good platform feature

25:52 The most valuable platforms for creators

34:35 Defining the 7 formats of content

39:24 Why are marketers spending on Instagram?

41:25 Keeping content free vs paid

47:03 Social media trends of 2025

54:27 How to grow online in 2026

This week on Creator Spotlight we’re joined by the co-founder and CEO of beehiiv, Tyler Denk. Following beehiiv’s highly anticipated winter release event, Tyler and Francis discuss the company’s approach to becoming the operating system of the “content economy”.

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Catch up on beehiiv’s Winter Release Event

• Full event video

• Event in 90 seconds

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Tyler Denk

• Twitter/X

• LinkedIn

• Instagram

Francis Zierer

• LinkedIn

• Twitter

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Timestamps

00:00:00 Introducing Tyler Denk

00:01:45 The next step in the content economy

00:07:20 Scaling past the education gap

00:12:40 Becoming the tool, not the brand

00:16:52 Lowering the barrier to entry for creators

00:21:25 What is the “content economy?”

00:26:29 Building a world class ad network

00:33:48 Growing a newsletter to 120k subscribers

00:46:46 Finding the gap in the content economy infrastructure

00:57:29 Building features for every type of user

01:01:53 Knowing your customer

Nastja Mohren is a content creator, designer, and sewing educator who’s built a community of more than half a million followers across platforms — all around her love of making things by hand. In this episode, she talks with Francis about turning creativity into a business, balancing authenticity with brand deals, and how she built a sustainable creator by diversifying her revenue into seven different streams.

Read the newsletter: https://www.creatorspotlight.com/profiles

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Earn with Google AdSense: https://goo.gle/earnwithadsense

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Follow Nastja

• YouTube

• Blog

• Instagram

• TikTok

• Facebook

• Pinterest

Francis Zierer

• LinkedIn

• Twitter/X

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Timstamps

00:00:00 Introducing Nastja Mohren

00:01:37 Going full-time on YouTube

00:06:08 The 7 revenue streams

00:12:14 The art of integrating brand deals

00:22:49 Which platform is most valuable?

00:24:30 The value of a blog in 2025

00:32:27 Why choose Google AdSense?

00:37:31 Building packages for advertisers

00:40:57 Crafting a specific audience

00:52:00 The 80/20 principle of video production

01:00:08 Collaborating with the creator community

This week on Creator Spotlight, Francis is joined by former ESPN journalist Joon Lee. Joon shares how he turned a layoff into a creator career, breaking down his 22-month YouTube study, and how he is building an independent sports media brand that puts storytelling and trust first.

Read the newsletter: https://www.creatorspotlight.com/profiles

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Follow Joon

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• Twitter/X

• Instagram

• TikTok

• Website

Follow Francis

• LinkedIn

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Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Joon Lee

01:15 From tech YouTuber to sports journalist

06:49 Preparing to be a YouTuber

13:02 Indie creator bootcamp

17:05 What should new creators focus on?

22:58 The process of making high-quality YouTube videos

33:19 Making revenue and maintaining ethics

40:56 The most valuable asset as a creator is trust

44:55 Building relationships in the creator economy

50:30 The hardest part of YouTube