Hey! Welcome to the Creator Economy NYC newsletter, your weekly dose of insights and strategies to help you build, monetize, and scale as a creator.

Our final event of the year is coming up with Shopify on Dec 3! Panelists announced below… don't miss it.

In today’s newsletter: The holidays are approaching, and with them comes a tension every creator knows too well - how do you actually take time off?

I spoke with some creators from our community about how they're approaching the holidays. What I learned challenged some assumptions I didn't even know I had about breaks, evergreen content, and what our audiences actually need from us.

Here's how to step away without guilt, build sustainable operations, and maybe - just maybe - enjoy Thanksgiving without creating.

Let's dive in.

— Brett

Get paid $1,000/month to repost content you already have

Obviously is an influencer marketing agency here in NYC, and they've been working with Meta to connect creators with new earning opportunities. 

Since they're local and plugged into our community, they wanted me to pass along something that might be relevant for some of you.

Meta just opened up limited spots in their Breakthrough Bonus Program - it's for creators with 100K+ followers and offers $1,000/month guaranteed for six months, with potential to earn more. 

The ask is pretty straightforward: post or repost 20 Facebook Reels across at least 10 days each month. You can use content you already have.

Why this caught my attention:

• It's guaranteed money, not based on performance

• You don't need to create anything new

• It plugs into Meta's broader monetization tools for long-term potential

How it works: Click the application link on your phone, log in through the Facebook app as the page owner, complete payout setup to receive payment, and submit. Spots are first-come, first-served and only available through November!

Questions? Reach out to Esteban at [email protected].

How creators take time off

Colin Rocker stopped me mid-conversation the other day: "Someone asked if I take time to get away from work and content and it kind of broke my brain."

I felt that.

With Thanksgiving around the corner and the winter holidays approaching, I've been thinking about this tension a lot.

When your work is creating content about your life, when does "life" actually happen? When you're building something meaningful, how do you step away without feeling like you're abandoning it?

Here's what I've learned from talking to creators in our community who are figuring this out: there's no single right answer, but there are approaches that work.

The evergreen content strategy

In my previous role managing creators, we spent a ton of time on what we called "evergreen content." This is content that isn't tied to a specific moment - it can live and breathe whenever it's published.

Think recap posts. Best-of lists. Framework breakdowns. Tutorial content. The kind of posts that deliver value whether someone sees them on Tuesday or three months from now. I'm actively thinking about this for the newsletter heading into the new year.

It’s about creating strategic breathing room.

Even outside the holidays, these posts become your safety net when you hit a creative rut or life demands your attention elsewhere.

The move I recommend: Build a bank of these. Not junk content. But like actually valuable stuff that aligns with what you're known for. Schedule them during periods when you know you'll want space to breathe.

Oh, and hear me out on this one. Don't be afraid to recycle content you've already posted, especially if it's evergreen or relatable to the season we're in.

Brandon Smithwick explained this, saying, “I do it every 3 to 6 months. If a post did well, or I think it should’ve done better. I repost it (maybe not word for word) OR change the format. Was it a text & image? Make it a carousel. Video? Make it text only.”

Work with what ya got!

How creators who are actually doing this approach it

Varun Rana has been killing it at operationalizing his creator business. When I asked him about his holiday approach, here's what he shared:

"I have a content calendar where all my ideas live and I make sure during my weekends and vacations, posts are scheduled to publish. Trying to set a rule for myself to not log in and post on weekends at all. Last weekend was the first time I tried this. Scheduled posts on Sat and Sun. Both posts crushed and I didn't do any work on the weekend."

Then he said something that hit me: "I think a lot of us accept that this is like a 24/7 job even tho it doesn't always have to be. Just depends what season you are in. I am in a season of trying to grow fast so I'm locked in on making that happen. So I'm on my toes when posts go up to see how they're doing."

Notice what he's doing? He's acknowledging the season he's in while still building in systems that create space. He's not pretending to be detached. He's being honest about the balance.

And then for the actual holidays: "Over Thanksgiving and Christmas, I plan to post little to not at all. If I do post, it will either be scheduled or very spontaneous. I'm always happy I took some time to unplug and reset creatively."

That last part matters. The reset is real.

The thing about announcing breaks

Jack Appleby dropped a line that completely reframed how I think about this: "NEVER tell your audience you're taking a break."

Colin expanded on this: "I think announcing a break automatically makes people tune out when the truth is... we have no control over when our audience sees our content in the feed. Someone could still be getting served a video we made in March. So it doesn't make sense to announce a 'break' when it'll never be perceived as that by your audience (unless it's like, months-long)."

The algorithm doesn't care about your break. Your content continues to circulate. People discover you at random times. That post from three weeks ago might be someone's introduction to you on Christmas morning.

So why tell everyone you're gone?

Let them feel your absence

Dara Denney put it simply: "Hot take but let them feel your absence."

This is the move. Don't announce, don't apologize, don't over-explain. Just... step away. Trust that the work you've put in holds up. Trust that your audience will still be there.

The creators who burn out are usually the ones who never let themselves stop. They're the ones who treat every silent moment like a crisis, who can't let a day pass without posting something, who measure their worth by yesterday's engagement numbers.

Your tactical options heading into the holidays

Here's what this actually looks like in practice:

Option 1: Pre-schedule evergreen content. Spend a few hours this week creating 3-5 solid posts/newsletter/etc that aren't time-sensitive. Schedule them for the days you want off. Don't log in to check them.

Option 2: Take a full break and come back strong. Post nothing. Let your previous content work for you. Use the time to refill the creative well. Return with fresh perspective and renewed energy.

Option 3: Post only when genuinely inspired. Delete the pressure. If something moves you during the holidays, share it. If nothing does, share nothing. Let it be spontaneous.

The key is making an actual decision about what you're doing and not just letting guilt and FOMO run the show.

So here's my challenge heading into Thanksgiving: Pick one of those three options. Make a plan. Stick to it. Let us know how it goes.

And then actually enjoy the damn holiday.

Creator Holiday Soiree - December 3

Well, it's about that time. Creating can be lonely, and we often don't have company holiday parties of our own to join—so we're making it happen.

Join us for an end-of-year celebration with Shopify and the creator economy community! We're bringing together creators who've built real businesses to share what's actually working as we head into 2026.

Featured Panelists:

• Bryan Reisberg – Maxine the Fluffy Corgi

• Jess Goldsmith – Women of Type

• David Roa – Founder, Superlost Coffee

• Jacob McCourt – Creator Partnerships, Shopify

Mix, mingle, and close out 2025 with fellow creators, marketers, and platforms over drinks, light bites, and exclusive merch. Let’s close the year STRONG!

Grateful for our partners making this happen: Shopify, Adobe Express, Teachable, Epidemic Sound, and Siftsy. It takes a village!

5 weeks left in the year, it’s time to finally launch the thing you've been thinking about

If you've been sitting on an idea but can't seem to take the first step, this is for you.

F*ck It, Create It is a proven mindset shift and workbook that helps you clarify what to build and gives you the confidence to actually ship it. It's the same framework that helped me go from "I should do this" to actually building Creator Economy NYC into the largest creator community in the country.

This is what one person in our community wrote me this week after taking it:

That's what this course does: gives you clarity and confidence to finally move.

2 FREE resources to accelerate your creator growth

The Creator Goal Setting Guide: A simple but powerful document to help you declare who you want to BECOME in 2026.

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

That's it for this week. Enjoy the holiday! And oh, I’m gonna go schedule this newsletter for next Friday now!

See you next week,

Brett