the blueprint for building a creator career that lasts

A few weeks ago, I put a note out on Substack asking a simple question:

If you had me for an hour, what would you want us to talk about?

The responses were so thoughtful.

In fact, my last couple of newsletters have come directly from those questions. Last week, we dug into book deals and what it actually takes for a creator to secure one.

This week’s question:

It’s such a good question.

And there isn’t one neat answer.

I’ve worked with creators for nearly a decade now. Some have built communities that are intensely loyal. The kind of communities that are obsessed with what they’re thinking, building and saying. I’ve also witnessed creators have moments of huge visibility but struggle to turn that into something that lasts.

There is a lot of nuance here. Every creator is different. Every audience is different.

But when I think about the creators I’ve seen build careers that stand the test of time, there are a few things that come up again and again.

I think there is still a perception that being a creator is easy. You film a few videos. You post them online. Brands email you. Job done. The reality is very different. The creators who build lasting careers are usually some of the hardest-working people I know. They’re constantly creating. They’re paying attention to their audience. They’re analysing what’s working. They’re adapting. They’re trying new formats. They’re spotting opportunities. They’re thinking six months ahead while also delivering content this week.

And all of that is happening while the industry moves at an incredible pace.

Social platforms change. Audience behaviours shift. New creators emerge. AI is accelerating everything even further. To stay relevant, you have to keep moving. You have to keep learning. You have to stay curious.

That doesn’t mean working every hour available to you. In fact, some of the most successful creators I’ve worked with have had to become very intentional about protecting themselves from burnout. But none of them shy away from the work. They’re willing to put the reps in.

When I think about the creators with the strongest communities, there’s usually a very clear answer to one question:

What feeling does somebody get from following them?

For Grace Beverley, I’d say people go to her for motivation and inspiration. For Hannah Lowther, I’d say it’s inspiration too, but there’s also a feeling of friendship woven through everything she creates.

For other creators, it might be education. It might be comfort. It might be entertainment. It might be escapism. The specifics matter less than the clarity.

Your audience should know why they’re coming back. Every time they watch your content, they’re getting something consistent from you.

The creators who build long-term careers usually have a format where people can genuinely get to know them. For years, the industry talked about YouTube as the answer. And I do understand why. If somebody chooses to spend forty minutes watching you, they’re investing a very different level of attention than someone scrolling past a thirty-second clip.

But I don’t think it has to be YouTube.

In fact, plenty of creators we work with don’t have YouTube channels at all and are thriving. The question is:

Where are people building a relationship with you?

For some creators, that’s YouTube. For others, it’s a podcast. For others, it’s longer-form TikToks. For others, it’s a newsletter. What matters is giving people enough space to understand your personality, your perspective and how you see the world.

One of my favourite examples is OG TikTok/short-form queen - GK Barry. Her podcast “Saving Grace” was such a smart move because it allowed audiences to spend more time with her. To hear her thoughts. To understand her personality. To feel connected to her beyond short-form clips. And that deeper connection opened up bigger opportunities.

That’s why when creators ask me whether they should start a YouTube channel, my answer is usually: it depends. The more important question is whether your audience has somewhere to get to know you properly.

This one becomes more important as your career grows. The reality is that creators have more opportunities available to them than ever before.

Brand deals → Products → Book → Podcasts →TV opportunities →Businesses → Investments → Events → Speaking → Consultancy

The list goes on.

The challenge isn’t finding opportunities. It’s knowing which opportunities are actually worth pursuing.

That’s where a good team becomes invaluable. You want people around you who understand your goals, your audience, your strengths and who can help you make decisions that serve the career you’re trying to build, not just the next six months.

Sometimes that means saying yes, sometimes it means saying no.

We’ve explored direct-to-consumer products with creators before and decided not to move forward… not because it wasn’t possible, but because it wasn’t right - for that creator in that moment.

That might be because the timing isn’t right, the risk was too high, there was another opportunity that made more sense. Sometimes after digging deeper, we realise it wasn’t actually what the creator wanted at all.

Sometimes creators see other people launching products and assume that’s the path they should be taking too… I say creators and more broadly mean “business owners” - because this is true of ALL business owners, me included.

Successful careers aren’t built by copying someone else’s roadmap.

They’re built by understanding your own. The best teams act as a mirror. They challenge your thinking. They ask difficult questions. They help you filter through the noise. And trust me, there is a lot of noise in this industry.

When I look at the creators who have built careers over five, ten or even almost fifteen years, what stands out isn’t that they got more views than everyone else… it is that every decision connected back to a bigger picture. They were thinking about the person they wanted to become, the audience they wanted to build, and the opportunities they wanted to create.

To some extent ofc - views, reach and growth matter… I'‘m not denying that. But careers are built on something deeper than performance metrics. It is all about trust, consistency, relationships and they’re built by people who keep showing up long after the excitement of going viral wears off. The funny thing is, as I was writing this, I realised I could probably write an entire second piece on this topic.

There are sooooo many other things that separate creators who build long-term careers from those who end up stuck on the hamster wheel of chasing views.

So maybe this is part one...

If you’d like a part two, leave a comment below and let me know. I’d love to hear what you think belongs on the list.

Verity x