👋🏽 Doors Opening

Hey! Welcome to Creator Economy NYC — the premier place for all things creator economy in the Big Apple.

Next week, we're kicking off 2025 with our first event of the year! And it's going to be different…

We're announcing our major partnership with Teachable that will reshape our community and the creator economy at large.

And one more thing that you'll want to hear in person...

Be part of what's next here. (can't make it? RSVP for the recording and Wed AM announcement).

Now to this week's spotlight — during our panel last month, NYC creator Eliott Choy shared a perspective on failure that hit differently.

His words got me thinking about how we, as creators, often get this whole thing backwards...

Let's dive in.

✍️ City Spotlight

What we get wrong about failure as creators

Every time you hit publish, there's that moment.

That split second where your finger hovers over the button, and your mind runs through all the ways this could go wrong.

Maybe no one will watch.

Maybe they'll hate it.

Maybe you'll look back in six months and cringe at what you created (embrace the cringe!).

Here's the thing about being a creator: those fears never really go away.

But what if that's not just okay… what if it's actually the point?

The permission to fail forward

Recently at our December Creator Economy NYC event, Eliott Choy shared something that stuck with me:

"You think you know everything, and then you realize you know nothing," he said, a knowing smile crossing his face.

"You have to get to that point where you realize you know nothing, because then you're on a treadmill to try to learn as much as possible, as quickly as possible. And that, to me, is the really fun part."

This isn't just another platitude about failure being a stepping stone to success.

Blah, blah, blah.

This is about understanding that the gap between where you are and where you want to be isn't an obstacle — it's the whole damn game.

Start now, perfect later

"I think the key is just to start honestly," Eliott emphasized. "Especially when you start anything, things will change and you'll pivot, and you'll learn, and you don't really know until you start."

The other week, I shared a framework that's become my mantra for pushing past perfectionism: "F*ck It, Create It." 

Because here's the reality… while you're stuck in the planning phase, obsessing over every detail, someone else is out there making mistakes, learning, and getting better with each attempt. Creating something.

The "F*ck It, Create It" mindset isn't about being reckless.

It's about understanding that your worst "what if" scenarios are probably bullshit, and the only way to prove that to yourself is to put something out there.

Your first video might suck. Your first post might flop.

But guess what? That's not just normal — it's necessary.

Turn your failures into fuel

Want to know what sets successful creators apart?

It's not that they fail less — they just get better at learning from each misstep.

Eliott shared his brilliantly simple system: "I have a system where every time I make a mistake, I write it on a post-it note, and I put it in my closet and — oh my god — it's just like a ton of post-it notes right now."

Each failure, each mistake, each moment that made you want to curl up and cry — documented, acknowledged, and kept as a reminder not of what went wrong, but of what you learned!

Making failure work for you

Here's how to put this into practice:

1. Embrace the beginner's mind. When you stop pretending to have all the answers, you start finding the right questions.

2. Document everything. Whether it's post-its like Eliott uses, notes in your phone, or a dedicated failure journal — make tracking your mistakes as frequent as tracking your wins.

3. Set learning goals, not just performance goals. Instead of "I need 10K followers this month," try "I want to master three new editing, writing, filming, etc… techniques." Something to consider if you fill out the creator goal-setting template (download it here).

The real secret

The most powerful shift happens when you stop seeing failure as something that happens to you and start seeing it as something that happens for you.

Every mistimed joke (many for me!), every editing mistake, every post that didn't land — they're all data points guiding you toward what works.

Remember: That creator you're comparing yourself to? They're probably failing at something new right now.

That's not their weakness — it's their superpower.

 🎪 City Happenings

2025 Kickoff Event

Join us for an evening focused on leveraging your existing content in smarter ways. Stop chasing "new" and start scaling what you've already created.

Our powerhouse panel features creators who are in the thick of scaling their businesses, alongside experts who've helped hundreds do the same:

• Erin McGoff (@advicewitherin)

• Jessica Morrobel (@travelingwithjessica)

• Zach Neman (@cheffinwithzach)

• Olivia Owens (Creator Partnerships @ Teachable)

Plus, we're making two major announcements that will reshape our community (trust us, you'll want to be there for this).

Can't make it? RSVP anyway — we'll send you the panel recording and announcements first thing Wednesday morning.

 👌 Picks & Perks

Recommended tools for the modern creator & marketer

Start a newsletter: It’s time you own your audience and start a newsletter. Get 20% off your first 3 months on any beehiiv paid plan. Snag it here →

Optimize your influencer campaigns: Siftsy analyzes comment sections to uncover sentiment and trends, helping you improve performance and prove ROI. Discover more here →

Get shareable clips in seconds from long form: I’ve been using OpusClip to easily create high-quality clips from our panels. Try it out here →

📚 Resources

Essential resources to accelerate your creator growth

I recently shared with you two free resources to help supercharge your creator journey in 2025. If ya missed it, you can download both right here:

The Creator Goal Setting Guide: A simple but powerful document to help you declare who you want to BECOME in 2025.

The Creator Accountability System: Your visual companion for consistent creation in 2025 (I’m using this now to send one newsletter a week!)

✌🏽 Stand Clear of the Closing Doors Please

Thanks so much for reading! Let me know what you thought of it by replying to this email!

See you next week,

Brett