Together with TeenVoice

But first: Going to VidCon? Let me know! If enough people do, I’ll organize a meetup,

This Creator’s goals are not at all what you would expect.

Sooraj Saxena has a uniquely identifiable aesthetic, cinematography that would make David Fincher proud, and dialogue that puts words to feelings everyone has but few can express. His visceral videos have earned him a large and passionate following.

His content is all about expressing feelings, which is rare for a heterosexual cisgendered male Creator in this day and age. It's also something many many men desperately want, but don’t have an outlet for: to be able to talk about how we feel. As a result, while he does have a large female audience, young men flock to him for something they can't get anywhere else: emotional catharsis.

In many ways, he's the anti-Joe Rogan.

With this kind of content and personal brand, there's an obvious business to be built: that of the “self-help guru” or “life coach”. A superficial glance might put him in the same bucket as other famous South Asian-heritage Creators of this ilk, like Jay Shetty and Sahil Bloom - except Sooraj has the added talent of filmmaking.

But the path of the “guru” isn’t interesting to him, creatively or professionally.

Instead, he wants to go in a direction that I would never have guessed:

He wants to make ads.

Yes, the guy whose videos can make a grown man cry wants to build an agency to make ultra-high quality content for brands.

And you know what?

He's really good at it.

Sooraj recently won a Shorty Award for his collab with Waymo - a reflection on why we do the things we do, and who we’re doing those things for.

From the video caption: “Most people are so far divorced from their own voice that they think clarity is solely found outside of them.”

There's something very meta about this:

But that last point is all about what other people think - the voices “outside of them”.

The point Sooraj makes in his award-winning video is that clarity doesn't come from without - it comes from within. The clarity that Sooraj has found is that brands can be great partners to make great art, so long as they give him total creative control.

I personally fall into the “outside voices” trap often, worrying more about superficial measures of success - like LinkedIn views, email subscriber counts, and if people think what I do is “cool” - than whether or not I like what I am making or doing.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

There’s joy to be found in listening to your inner voice.

There’s success to be found in finding ways to make the world around you work in service to you, rather than forcing yourself to work in service to it.

The trick is to ask yourself "how" - and to accept and pursue the answer.

Gen Z has $450 billion in spending power in the US alone. If they like your product, your odds of success are stellar. 

But…if they think it’s “lowkey kinda mid”? Good luck out there. 

Stop guessing: TeenVoice helps you connect directly with Gen Z to quickly and reliably pulse-check campaigns, packaging, messaging, and more.

Its DIY research platform gives you lightning-fast access to:

In sum: TeenVoice is your HQ for staying relevant with the generation driving tomorrow’s economy. 

Get critical teen feedback today with TeenVoice. 

A LONG time ago, I represented an absolutely lovely lifestyle Creator named Ingrid Nilsen. At the time, she was one of the biggest names in beauty and kind of a “Miss Perfect”-type traditional feminine lifestyle icon. We had some adventures and ended up going our separate ways.

Then, she publicly came out on YouTube.

It was a watershed moment, and a video that impacted millions of people. As a beautiful, feminine lifestyle Creator in the time before gay marriage was legalized (which, coincidentally, happened just 17 days later), absolutely nobody saw it coming.

In many ways, she redefined what queerness could be and how it could appear for an entire generation - and it didn’t impact her business one bit. She went on to build a wildly successful lifestyle business while also making advocacy a central part of her mission - including working with the United Nations as a Change Ambassador and interviewing sitting President Barack Obama on the ridiculous tampon tax in America.

This past week was the 10 year anniverary of that video (and 5 years since she last posted on YouTube) and she dropped an anniverary video about it.

If you care about LGBT stories (or are simply interested in the history of the Creator Economy), it’s worth a watch.

Though I doubt she even remembers me, I’m proud to have once known her.

They say “People will forgive bad video, but they won’t forgive bad audio.” With the Blue Yeti, there’s nothing to forgive. We’re giving away THREE (3) Blue Yeti for Creators – Aurora USB Mics to three lucky subscribers — and it could be yours.

This is the mic for Creators ready to be heard. With killer sound quality, custom Blue VO!CE presets, and 4 different modes for recording in literally any situation, it’s the plug-and-play upgrade your setup’s been waiting for.

Huge thanks to Logitech for gifting us the mics!

Here’s how to enter:

✅ Share your unique Creator Logic referral link

✅ Every friend who signs up = 1 entry

✅ More friends = more chances to win

Deadline: July 29

Winners drawn: May 30, June 30, and July 30

Like what you see? Subscribe Now or Partner With Us

Written by Avi Gandhi, edited by Melody Song,
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