The Creator Spotlight Podcast

Max Z Zavidow is a content creator who makes narrative "really short films" for TikTok and Instagram, including the Webby-winning video "Long Time." In this episode, he discusses his evolution from investment banking to stand-up comedy and vertical video, how he funds and structures branded short films, and why he believes the phone is the next major medium for storytelling.

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open.video lets you host your videos on your own domain, under your own brand — so you control the channel, the data, and the direct connection to your viewers. Try it out at https://open.video 

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Max Z Zavidow 

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Timestamps
00:00 Introducing Max Z Zavidow
00:28 The monetization model of short form content
04:13 The evolution of short form content creation
16:04 Focusing on quality not quantity
24:19 Making money as a short form content creator
33:55 Creating for TikTok first
35:58 The value of winning a Webby
38:00 Respecting the phone as a medium
44:38 The importance of collaboration
47:44 The steps of making a viral video
52:03 Analyzing content and finding inspiration
55:30 Revolutionizing content creation

Todd Anderson, the Turnip Vegan, is a food creator with over 3 million followers across platforms. In this episode we cover his journey from hobbyist to professional, how he monetizes with up to 8 revenue streams, and why Facebook is still his number one platform for reach.

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Todd Anderson

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Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Todd Anderson, the Turnip Vegan
01:20 The timeline of becoming a content creator
06:23 Learning the business of creating content
09:06 Revealing the 8 revenue stream behind the business
11:02 Building a subscription service outside of the platforms
18:57 The retreats business, disconnecting and recharging
25:46 The value of always pivoting and adapting formats
30:48 Why Facebook is still the #1 platform
34:24 Building a formal relationship with platforms
39:40 The highs and lows of building a content business

Natalie Peters is the founder and CEO of Sky Society, a community and career accelerator for women breaking into marketing. In this episode, Natalie breaks down how she grew Sky Society from two students to a waitlisted accelerator with over 100 students per cohort, why she built her entire content funnel around organic growth and personal brand, and how she structures admissions, pricing, and community to consistently get graduates hired.

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open.video lets you host your videos on your own domain, under your own brand — so you control the channel, the data, and the direct connection to your viewers. Try it out at https://open.video 
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Sky Society

Natalie Peters

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Timestamps 
00:00 Introducing Natalie Peters
01:03 The value of hands-on marketing experience
03:55 Lessons learned in 5 years of founder experience
07:30 How to make a good education product
13:25 Business failures to learn from
16:23 The content funnel that drives a $1M+ business
23:58 Pricing an online educational product
32:25 The difficulties of growing an educational business
35:33 Driving growth through newsletter leads
40:34 Building a globally respected product

Nathan Graber-Lipperman is the founder of Powder Blue, a Chicago-based creative studio behind a print magazine, newsletter, and community events. We talk about building and monetising indie media, what makes brand partnerships work, and why he retired his previous publication Creator Mag to launch Offline.

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open.video lets you host your videos on your own domain, under your own brand — so you control the channel, the data, and the direct connection to your viewers. Try it out at https://open.video 

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Powder Blue

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Nathan Graber-Lipperman

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Timestamps 

00:00 Introducing Nathan Graber-Lipperman
01:12 What is Powder Blue?
05:23 An insider's view into the creator economy's growth
11:21 The evolution of creator brand partnerships
16:03 Working with Colin and Samir
23:03 The print magazine for the creator world
36:56 Building community through events
44:00 Why Chicago is the city of creatives
47:06 The three qualities of a good magazine feature
53:29 Long form content will always be king
59:56 Defining the creator economy
01:05:30 Creative longevity and staying motivated

Maxie McCoy is an author, ghostwriter, and speech writer whose clients have landed Wall Street Journal bestsellers. In this episode, Maxie breaks down the business of ghostwriting, from how to get started and price your work, to building a newsletter audience of 40,000 and why being best known matters more than being best.

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open.video lets you host your videos on your own domain, under your own brand — so you control the channel, the data, and the direct connection to your viewers. Try it out at open.video

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Maxie McCoy

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Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Maxie McCoy
01:27 The many arms of Maxie's business
05:05 Building a newsletter to 40,000 readers
15:25 Leading a strong community
18:40 How to get started in ghostwriting
23:47 Behind the process of ghostwriting
33:33 What it takes to write and publish a book
46:56 Making $85k through LinkedIn courses
52:32 Building a personal brand in 2026

Matt Village and Maria Gharib are the editorial team behind Mindstream, a daily AI-focussed newsletter with over 230,000 subscribers. In this episode they break down the editorial systems, consistency habits, and audience growth tactics that helped them grow a strong, engaged audience.

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Mindstream 

Guests

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Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Matt and Maria of Mindstream

01:31 Going all-in at 5,000 subscribers

05:56 Expanding the team

09:51 Curating the style for a daily newsletter

16:18 The daily research, writing and editing process

25:58 AI tools used in the creation process

28:42 Being acquired by HubSpot

37:39 Biggest lessons from 1,000 newsletter issues

43:22 The difficulties of consistency

Macy Gilliam is a video producer and content creator at Morning Brew and the creator of Out There, a documentary series where she spends a day learning the world's most interesting jobs. In this episode, we walk through her production process, how she went from running Morning Brew's Twitter account to having her own show, and red flags every creator should look for in their contracts.

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Macy Gilliam

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Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Macy Gilliam

01:23 The process of making a 1M+ view video

07:57 From social media editor to having a show

15:01 Leaning into natural curiosity

17:52 Negotiating a creator contract

27:06 When and how to go independent as a creator

32:13 The blending of creator and journalist

40:33 Which platform should you focus on the most?

45:48 Contract exploitation in the creator economy

49:24 Green flags in creator contracts

52:25 The future of documentary journalism

Tyler Bainbridge is the founder of Perfectly Imperfect, a social magazine and app with 400,000+ users built to help people discover culture outside of algorithms. In this episode, we get into how he grew the platform from a free newsletter to a business attracting guests such as Charli xcx, Francis Ford Coppola and The Rizzler.

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Perfectly Imperfect

Tyler Bainbridge

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Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Tyler Bainbridge

01:23 Escaping the algorithm

07:41 Leaving Substack to build a unique platform

12:32 Growing to over 400,000 users

16:21 Biggest milestone guests

19:40 How Perfectly Imperfect makes money

22:28 The meaning of community

29:02 Building a dedicated team

31:20 Building the platform we’ve always wanted

34:54 The challenge of scaling a subculture

40:18 The refusal to optimize

45:19 The importance of good editorial

50:42 Building the next Tumblr, also Vice

Matt Kiser is the creator and editor WTF Just Happened Today, a political news newsletter with over 200,000 subscribers built entirely on a pay-what-you-want membership model. In this episode Matt breaks down how he grew from zero to 100,000 subscribers in six months, the editorial philosophy behind curating the news every day for nine years, and the biggest mistakes he made along the way.

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

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Matt Kiser

Newsletter

LinkedIn

Bluesky

GitHub

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Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Matt Kiser

01:18 Zero to 100k in six months

11:06 Building the skill of aggregation and curation

17:41 The death of objectivity

18:37 From 100k to 200k subscribers

20:36 Don’t hate the media, become the media

29:18 Transparency with the revenue model

35:40 The AI podcast controversy

46:46 Biggest mistakes and learning moments

50:23 A deeper connection with the audience

Vin Matano is a B2B influencer marketing agency owner and part-time creator who made $200K as a creator and $2.5M through his agency Creator Buzz in 2025. In this episode, we get into how he lands and keeps long-term brand deals, his LinkedIn content strategy, and how he built Creatorbuzz from zero to $2.5M in its first full year.

Read the newsletter: https://www.creatorspotlight.com/p/vin-matano 

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Vin Matano

LinkedIn

YouTube

Twitter/X

Instagram

Creatorbuzz

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Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Vin Matano

01:30 From $94k to $200k in one year

05:32 Getting brand deals and overdelivering

13:48 How many followers do you need for brand deals?

20:10 Partnering brands with creators

25:53 Making $2.5M in a year

28:50 The challenges of being a new founder

31:34 Getting leads with social media

37:24 The three types of LinkedIn posts to go viral

44:38 Debunking LinkedIn myths

49:25 The third generation of B2B marketing

54:12 Changing how success is measured