Making a career in the creator economy [without being a creator]

Author

Victor Genova
October 15, 2024

Media People Newsletter
Written and curated by Victor Genova · October 15, 2024 · Issue #19

Welcome to the nineteenth issue of the Media People Newsletter. Subscribe here if you haven’t already. In this issue:

  • Theresa Smith from The LeaderSmith stops by the podcast

  • The media [career] apocalypse according to Evan Shapīro

  • Rapid Fire Questions with Heads+Tales Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Amanda Shuchat

  • From the Media People Podcast Archives: Compass Content Marketing Founder, Emily Baillie [2018]

🔉What do you remember about Olive Media? Offering international media brands to Canadian advertisers? (Probably) The ‘epic’ parties?

For former Olive Media President, Theresa Smith, it was all that plus having to sunset the business.

Theresa now utilizes her collective experience to coach a new generation of leaders through her company, The LeaderSmith.

She joins me for EP107 of the Media People Podcast where we chat:

🎯Leading + closing Olive Media
🎯Her first media job with the original Financial Post
🎯How living in Japan prepared her for just about anything
🎯Taking a job that subsequently wasn’t the right fit
🎯Calling it quits on her figure skating career
🎯Coaching current and future business leaders

Available on Spotify, YouTube, and online at mediapeople.ca.

Photo Credit: Evan Shapīro/LinkedIn

Evan Shapīro: The Media [Career] Apocalypse

Media Universe Cartographer, Evan Shapīro, provides some blunt advice on the future of media careers. And we should all heed his warnings.

He believes opportunities are shifting away from the publishers and towards major consumer brands—citing companies like P&G and Unilever. This is where Shapīro believes the most secure jobs will reside, and that we need to start looking at media & marketing interchangeably.

There’s another opportunity he doubles-down on. The creator economy.

But Shapīro isn’t focused on content creators and influencers. He’s focused on the companies rising up to support this sector of the media industry.

Creators are big business, and a maturing creator economy will need people overseeing operations, talent, finance, marketing, sales, legal, etc.

But his biggest piece of advice? Don’t wait until it’s too late. Start creating career opportunities for yourself. Now.

A senior executive once said to me: “Victor, it’s a lot easier to find a new job when you’re currently employed.”

Rapid Fire Questions with Heads+Tales Co-Founder & Co-CEO - Amanda Shuchat

  • Who would play Amanda if Hollywood turned her life story into a movie?

  • What would Amanda call this movie?

  • Amanda’s favourite movie?

  • The campaign Amanda is most proud of?

  • Amanda’s favourite book?

  • What would Amanda be doing if she were not in media?

From the Media People Podcast Archives: Compass Content Marketing Founder, Emily Baillie [2018]

For our 30th episode we get a look into the life and career of educator & entrepreneur, Emily Baillie.

The founder of Compass Content Marketing, Emily’s story starts in the small town of Grand Bend, Ontario, and continues to cities like Kitchener-Waterloo, Toronto, along with a brief stint in Dublin, Ireland. Social justice has played a major part in her career. Emily’s held positions at both the Irish Human Right’s Commission and Legal Aid Ontario. In-between she’s managed to mesh her passion for travel with communications, heading up content marketing for luxury travel group, Kensington Tours.

Not only is Emily her own boss, but she is also putting her experience to work in the classroom, teaching the future marketers of tomorrow at McMaster University and Humber College. Originally published in December 2018.

Available on Spotify, YouTube, and online at mediapeople.ca