Issue 14
December 31st, 2025
Happy New Year! Like last week, we're a day early from our normal Thursday routine. I'm guessing many of you (like me) will be recovering from fun New Year's Eve celebrations to ring in 2026. For me, that means sleeping in – something I don't do very often – and eventually rolling out of bed for pork and sauerkraut (yum!). Next week we'll be back to normal with all of the biggest news, essential reads, and interesting stats from the creator economy.
Like last week, we're doing something a bit different today. I asked you to reply with goals you've set for yourself as a creator. I had so much fun reading all of your responses and we're going to get to them in a second.
But first, I realized last week I never shared my 2025 reflection, so I want to take a moment to talk about what I'm most excited about for 2026. The creator economy is such an interesting space and it's only getting bigger, with people finally taking us seriously. It's the future of human connection in a world crowded with AI. It's hard to know what's human and what's generated by AI, and that will only get harder. You know what the antidote for that is? Creators! Creators who are genuine and real and give us access to their lives and vice versa. I sincerely believe this is going to be more and more important over the next decade, and the creator economy is going to be one of the few jobs on earth that provides that authentic human connection.
Ok, that said, let's move on to what you all are doing in 2026!
Your 2025 Reflections
My 2026 resolution is to not chase growth for growth's sake—and that's actually harder than it sounds. Social media makes you feel like you're falling behind if your numbers aren't going up. I've had to consciously reject that mindset.
What I'm actually committing to is depth over breadth. Instead of trying to grow my follower count, I want to grow my impact per follower. Can I get more people to actually start composting, switch to reusable products, vote for environmental candidates? Those metrics don't show up in my analytics, but they're what actually matter.
The scary goal is quitting my day job if my creator income hits $4,000/month consistently. Right now I'm at around $500. That gap feels huge, but I've also only been seriously trying to monetize for six months. In 2026, I'm going to treat this more like a business—pitching brands, developing packages, maybe creating a small digital product. Not selling out, but taking it seriously.
Ultimately, my 2026 vision is proving that you can make a living promoting a lower-consumption lifestyle. There's something beautifully contradictory about that, and I want to figure out how to make it work.
My 2026 resolution is writing a cookbook. I've been saying I'll do it for three years, but something always gets in the way – the next video, the next brand deal, the endless content treadmill. In 2026, the cookbook takes priority.
But it won't be just recipes. I want to tell the stories of Palestinian cuisine through the women in my family – my grandmother who still cooks from memory because she lost her written recipes when she was displaced, my mother who adapted dishes to Detroit grocery stores, me who's trying to preserve and share what they taught me. It's a food memoir as much as a cookbook.
I'm aiming to grow YouTube to 300K subscribers. The algorithm has been favorable to cooking content, and I think I can get there with consistent posting and better SEO. I'm also finally going to batch-produce content properly – filming multiple recipes in a day instead of my current chaotic one-at-a-time approach.
The resolution I'm most nervous about is stepping back from daily posting. I've been posting something every day for over two years. The idea of taking breaks, even planned ones, feels risky. But burnout is real, and I've been running on empty. In 2026, I'm building in rest – one week per quarter with no content obligations. My audience will survive. I need to believe that.
My 2026 resolution is getting comfortable on camera. I've built my entire business through writing, but I know video is where attention is going… even on LinkedIn. I've been avoiding it because I'm self-conscious about how I look and sound. In 2026, I'm just going to start posting videos and get over the awkwardness through practice.
My most personal resolution is being more vulnerable in my content. I've kept things pretty surface-level… career tips, financial strategies. But the posts that resonate most are when I share my own struggles… the imposter syndrome, the career setbacks, the financial mistakes I made in my 20s. In 2026, I want to open up more. It's scary because LinkedIn feels professional, but vulnerability is what builds real connection.
My 2026 resolution is launching my own product line—specifically, a curated K-beauty subscription box. I've had people asking me to just tell them what to buy for years. A monthly box of products I've personally vetted could serve that need while creating recurring revenue.
I'm also committing to finally launching my YouTube channel properly. I've been posting sporadically, but YouTube is where real depth lives. In 2026, I'm doing weekly videos with proper production value. I'm hiring a video editor because my editing skills are holding back my content quality.
The personal goal is visiting Korea for an extended period. I've only been twice, both times as a tourist. In 2026, I want to spend a month actually experiencing Korean skincare culture—visiting the brands, meeting formulators, going to dermatology clinics. That content will be valuable, but mostly I just want to connect more deeply with this culture I represent online.
My 2026 resolution is creating resources that help families long-term, not just entertained-in-the-moment content. I'm building a comprehensive 'First Year of Homeschool' course with curriculum recommendations, state law guides, socialization strategies, everything a new homeschool family needs.
I'm also stepping back from daily posting. For three years I've been posting 4-5 times a week, and it's been exhausting. In 2026, I'm dropping to 3 posts a week but making them more valuable. Quality over quantity.
The business goal is building a team. I've been doing everything myself – filming, editing, emails, partnerships. In 2026, I'm hiring a virtual assistant at minimum, maybe a part-time editor. The goal is to create better content by doing less of the operations work myself.
The deeper thing I'm working on is remembering why I started. It was to help other homeschool families feel less alone. Somewhere along the way it became a business with metrics and revenue targets. In 2026, I want to reconnect with those families personally; more community engagement, more responding to DMs, more being genuinely helpful rather than just creating content. That's the goal anyway!
2025 Creator Economy Milestones vs. 2026 Predictions
Special section this week based on all of the things I've read over the past year. Anything here you disagree with? Excited about? Let me know!
Milestone | 2025 Stat | 2026 Prediction | Implication for Creators |
|---|---|---|---|
Total Valuation (Creator Economy) | $191-250B | Surpass $500B | Diversify revenue beyond ads |
Ad Spend (U.S.) | $37B (+26% YoY) | $50B+ with social commerce | Focus on niche ROI metrics |
Burnout Rate | 52% | Drop to 40% with tools | Build automation for sustainability |
Deals/Acquisitions | 78 | 100+ | Seek partnerships for scale |
AI Tool Searches | +6,700% (video gen) | Standard in workflows | Use for efficiency, not replacement |
Essential Reads
TechCrunch explores how algorithmic feeds have fundamentally changed the creator-audience relationship in 2025. The key insight: followers don't guarantee reach anymore. The article highlights how creators are responding by doubling down on trust and authenticity – 97% of CMOs plan to increase influencer marketing budgets because consumers increasingly turn to real humans they trust over AI-generated content. The piece also dives into new tactics like "clipping armies" (teenagers paid to distribute creator content across platforms) and the shift toward niche communities. It's a must-read for understanding why the future belongs to creators who cultivate genuine relationships, not vanity metrics.
This comprehensive year-in-review from CreatorIQ's newsletter traces how 2025 became the true inflection point for creator marketing. The data tells a compelling story: creator marketing officially surpassed traditional media in ad revenue, major cultural institutions like the Oscars moved to YouTube, and creators became central to how we consume news and entertainment. One of the most interesting parts – what brands crushed it in 2025 (UFC, RHODE Skin, Paramount) and why – with actual engagement metrics to back it up. Most importantly, it makes clear that 2026 will be the year more institutions finally catch up to what savvy marketers already know: creators aren't just part of culture, they're building it.
These are fun to read, especially at this time of year, so including two this week... this one covers everything from the explosive growth of U.S. influencer marketing investment to the rise of creators taking on leadership roles at major brands as Creative Directors. What makes this report especially valuable is how it connects the dots between last year's predictions and what actually happened – plus it dives into the boom in creator IRL events (41% of social media users attended at least one in-person influencer event this year). The report also highlights how creators are evolving from simple promoters into genuine business partners, and why TikTok Shop has become a daily shopping destination.
The "2025 Exit Song" trend on TikTok is the defining cultural artifact of the week. Users select a specific track to soundtrack their transition out of the year. This trend highlights the role of creators as "emotional curators." In a fragmented digital world, users look to creators to provide the rituals and markers of time that society used to provide.
That's all for this week. If you found this valuable, forward it to a creator friend who needs to stay in the loop. And if someone forwarded this to you, sign up to get your own issue every Thursday.