We had the incredible honor of producing Creator Commerce, a podcast series for Kajabi featuring some of the most brilliant minds in the creator economy. Over 11 episodes, we sat down with creators who have built empires from scratch—directors, educators, travel storytellers, financial experts, and marketing mavens—each sharing the hard-won lessons that turned their ideas into thriving businesses.
What emerged wasn’t a single playbook, but a tapestry of wisdom about what it actually takes to build sustainable success as a creator. Here are the growth lessons we captured—straight from the creators themselves.
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The Power of Betting on Yourself
Every creator we spoke with reached a moment where they had to choose between the safe path and the one that felt true. That decision—to bet on yourself even when the outcome is uncertain—is the foundation of every success story in this series.
Adrian Per, the director and photographer behind campaigns for Lil Nas X, Megan Thee Stallion, and Nike, described the moment he stopped hiding behind his work and started sharing his story:
“If I just put out the truest version of me and shared my story, not only is it the easiest form of content that I can make, it’s the true version of me. And it seems like people are enjoying this more than the polished body of work.”
— Adrian Per, Director & Founder of Lumpia Watermelon
Dominique Broadway, who built an eight-figure financial education empire, walked away from a dream job at a prestigious wealth management firm because she felt called to help people who couldn’t afford traditional financial advice:
“I literally just went and said, I’m gonna quit. And he looks me dead in my face and says, ‘You’ll never make money helping people that don’t have money.’ I was like, say less.”
— Dominique Broadway, Founder of Finances Demystified
Spoiler: She proved him wrong. And made sure he knew it when the Forbes article came out.
Consistency Beats Perfection
The creators who build lasting businesses aren’t the ones who wait for perfection—they’re the ones who show up relentlessly. This theme echoed across nearly every conversation.
Justin Welsh, who built a multi-million dollar one-person business, hasn’t missed a single day of posting on LinkedIn since October 2018—over 2,200 consecutive days:
“What’s worked forever is human psychology, marketing, sales, message delivery. I try and take the basics, the fundamentals, the foundations, and do those really well in a format that I like. You can only be consistent if you like what you do.”
— Justin Welsh, Solopreneur & Creator
Mya Nichol, the Instagram growth coach behind IG University, didn’t see results from her first 90-day content challenge. So she kept going:
“I posted 120 times over a 90-day period. It wasn’t until two weeks after that 90-day period that I grew from 4,000 to 10,000 followers. I was so determined—I just kept going.”
— Mya Nichol, Instagram Growth Coach & Founder of IG University
The Two Rewards of Creativity
Samir Chaudry of Colin and Samir shared a framework that reframed how we think about success as creators. It’s not just about outcomes—it’s about the work itself.
“The first reward of creativity is making the thing—you have an idea and you bring it to life. That in and of itself is a reward. The second reward is the outcome. If you don’t love reward number one, you shouldn’t be a creative. Because reward number two may never come. And if it does, it might be fleeting.”
— Samir Chaudry, Co-Founder of Colin and Samir
This perspective changes everything. It means every piece of content you create has value—regardless of whether it performs. It means you can sustain the work even when the numbers aren’t there yet.
Your Audience Knows What They Need
One of the most consistent threads across these conversations: listen to your audience. They’ll tell you what to build next.
Drew Binsky, who has visited all 197 countries and amassed over 10 million followers, learned this lesson early:
“If you’re a creator, listen to your community. If they really like something, maybe do more of that. But also make sure you like it too. The best way to learn is by doing—just do it, and you’ll figure it out.”
— Drew Binsky, Travel Creator & Filmmaker
Julia Broome, who went from managing celebrities’ social media to building her own SOSH School empire, found her calling when she couldn’t stay silent anymore:
“I started seeing these social media managers give the most heinous and awful advice. If someone’s following this advice, they’re going to burn out and fail miserably. That lit a fire I wasn’t expecting. My mindset was: even if I could just help one person.”
— Julia Broome, Social Media Strategist & Founder of SOSH School
Build Systems, Not Just Content
The creators who scale aren’t just making content—they’re building systems that allow their content to work for them.
Gannon Meyer, who has built sophisticated automated systems that sell his products without him living in his DMs, explained his philosophy:
“I love this phrase: personalized action at scale. People send somebody a link when they comment on a post. But I’m doing way more than that—voice notes, automated responses, qualifying questions. They have no idea they’re talking to a bot. The business has to be willing to pivot. If something’s not working, what can I do better? What can I focus on?”
— Gannon Meyer, Creator Educator & Automation Expert
James Wedmore, who has generated over $80 million in online sales through Business by Design, distilled the core of what separates struggling creators from thriving ones:
“If there’s only one skill I ever want to teach you, it’s the ability to master diagnosing your business. The magic is in the debrief. The numbers have a language and they’re trying to speak to you. People don’t look at the numbers—they go, ‘My launch tanked, I’m a failure,’ and walk away. Peel the label off and let’s look at the numbers.”
— James Wedmore, Founder of Business by Design
Profit Over Revenue, Lifestyle Over Scale
Not every creator wants to build a media empire. Some of the most successful creators we interviewed have intentionally chosen sustainability over scale.
Justin Welsh has built a business that generates millions—without a single employee:
“I don’t think of my business as scalable. And that’s okay. It’s intentionally non-scalable. People talk about revenue a lot—I think less about revenue. I think more about profit. I think about margins. And I think about lifestyle first, business second.”
— Justin Welsh, Solopreneur & Creator
This isn’t about limiting ambition—it’s about defining success on your own terms.
Knowledge Has No Borders
One of the most inspiring perspectives came from Justin Welsh on making education accessible globally:
“I don’t think that knowledge should be limited to people based on their economic capability. I do purchase power parity—I bring prices down 80% if you’re in certain countries. If you’re in India or Pakistan or Nigeria or Mexico, you can get it at an equivalent price. If you sell digital products and you don’t do this, you’re missing revenue, happy customers, and word of mouth.”
— Justin Welsh, Solopreneur & Creator
Crisis Creates Opportunity
Conar Fair of One Peak Creative went from electrician to running an eight-figure education business. But the pivot point came during the darkest moment—when COVID wiped out $300,000 in signed contracts overnight:
“Out of every global recession or epidemic, there’s a very small percentage of people who come out better for it. We really wanted to be one of those businesses. We’re not gonna squander this opportunity—we’re gonna look at this as an opportunity.”
— Conar Fair, Co-Founder of One Peak Creative
They locked themselves in a house and created a new ad every single day for 30 days straight—conceptualizing, writing, shooting, editing, and releasing by 8 PM. The first three days were “cringe.” But they kept going.
The Content TAM
Oren John, known as “The Internet’s Creative Director,” introduced a framework that changed how we think about content distribution:
“I think of it like Content TAM—Total Addressable Market for content. Some people will only consume audio. Some only watch vlogs. Some only read. If you have an idea, it probably translates across all of those. A good video is also probably a good carousel, a good podcast, a good newsletter. It’s all about the ideas.”
— Oren John, Marketing & Branding Creator
This reframes content creation from “what platform should I be on?” to “how do I maximize the reach of my best ideas?”
Your Boss Changes Over Time
Samir Chaudry shared one of the most nuanced perspectives on the creator-audience-brand relationship:
“In the beginning, you are your boss. Over time, an audience starts watching and you become really considerate of what they want to watch. Then brands start paying you and you become really considerate of what they want because they’re writing you a $50,000 check. The ideal situation is you level back out to where the audience is your boss, and you have to want to do the thing, but they are your boss. Not revenue. That’s a good relationship. The cleanest version of that relationship is a membership or a digital product.”
— Samir Chaudry, Co-Founder of Colin and Samir
Success Means You’re Just Visiting
Perhaps the most grounding perspective came from comedian Josh Johnson, as shared by Samir:
“Success as a creator—you’re just visiting.”
— Josh Johnson, via Samir Chaudry
This isn’t pessimism. It’s freedom. When you understand that success is temporary, you stop clinging and start creating. You take more risks. You stay humble. You remember why you started.
The Real Lesson
After producing 11 episodes of Creator Commerce, one truth stands out above all others: there is no single path. Adrian Per posts every day. Justin Welsh writes on LinkedIn religiously. Drew Binsky traveled to 197 countries. Dominique Broadway built happy hours before building courses. Conar Fair was an electrician. Gannon Meyer sold life insurance before he sold anything online.
What they share isn’t a tactic—it’s a mindset. They all bet on themselves when it would have been easier not to. They all kept going when the numbers said stop. They all built businesses that serve real people with real problems.
And they all, eventually, found their version of success.
Watch the Full Series
Huge thanks to Ahad Khan, Allie Fernando, and the entire Kajabi team for trusting us with this project. And to every creator who shared their story—thank you for the wisdom.
Produced by Winston Francois
