Hey! Welcome back to the Creator Economy NYC newsletter, your weekly hit of insights and strategies to help you build, monetize, and scale as a creator.
Every creator has a dream brand list. The one you keep in your head while waiting for a manager, an agent, or a lucky DM to make it happen.
But waiting isn't a pitch.
Nadia Rykova does it herself. She's worked with household brands like HydroFlask, Paramount+, Vrbo, and Erborian, and these days a lot of those deals come to her.
Her lane is character-driven sketch comedy. The brands fit into her world, not the other way around.
This week: Nadia on turning proven skits into paid partnerships, pitching a specific video instead of a vague promise, and protecting the deal once you land it. Plus, her four-part pitch checklist.
Let's get into it.
Creators are shaping what AI recommends and here’s how to stay ahead on it
Creator content is becoming more influential in how AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini recommend brands and products.
What creators post, say, and share can influence which brands appear in AI answers, creating a new opportunity for creator marketing.
For brands and marketers, it's important to stay ahead of this shift. That's where Later's new Creator AEO approach comes in.
Later is helping brands understand how creators influence AI search and how creator campaigns can drive more than reach and engagement, but also greater brand discovery and visibility.
How Nadia Rykova lands dream brand deals on her own
Nadia’s creator journey began two and a half years ago when she started filming funny stuff at home, mostly trends. Then a friend suggested they help each other film outside, and she realized her real forte was writing skits and characters about girlhood, friendship, and dating.
She's half Russian, half Belarusian, and one of her signature characters is a stone-cold Slavic girl with a permanent RBF.
Today, she has more than 170K followers, works with top brands, and has a content lane that’s unmistakably hers.
She doesn't box herself into one topic, she says, which is a big part of why so many different brands fit:
"I'm not just niched down to beauty. I'm not just niched down to like home and family. I'm everything."
Her brand deals come down to two skills:
Make content only you could make.
Pitch that value to the brands you want.
Here's how she does both.
1. Start with a format that already works
Before a brand enters the picture, Nadia knows which formats perform best on her channel. Her most reliable: "POV, that one brutally honest friend.”
It's the same logic we covered in our interview with Michael Valentino at NowThis: creators need to build a repeatable format people recognize and come back for. Nadia gives brands a role inside hers.
2. Make the brand fit your content.
Once the format is set, you can weave the product in naturally. A deodorant brand? She’s created a sketch around that brutally honest friend who pulls you aside and says "listen girl, I love you, but we gotta, we gotta work something out here.”
"The video is not about the product. The video is about the skit, but the product's naturally woven into the video.”
That's why she pushes back when a brief asks her to talk directly to camera and shove a mention of the product in the first five seconds with a list of talking points:
"You approached me, right? Because you like my content and my style. So allow me the freedom to then orchestrate this campaign in my style."
When a brand brief pulls you away from what already works on your page, the content (and the audience connection) can feel off. Nadia’s approach is a reminder that great partnerships give creators room to bring their own voice and format.
🔒 Don't fuhgeddaboudit: The brand is buying a place IN your content. Before you pitch, ask: would my audience still want to watch this if the product weren't in it?
3. Pitch one specific video idea to brands
A lot of Nadia's deals come inbound now, but she also applies to campaigns through creator platforms like Aspire and #paid. Whether you're reaching out or a brand is checking you out, your feed helps them picture the partnership.
"The brand has to see themselves on your page."
Her rules:
Include, don't sell. She'll film a skit with a product (like a Poppi for example) in her hand and never mention it. If she ever pitches a beverage brand, that skit is her proof.
Don't work for free. A can in frame isn't a sponsored post. "Don't make ads for free."
Spoon-feed the vision. Make it easy for a brand to picture the partnership, because "sometimes they need to be spoon-fed."
The biggest mistake she sees in pitches is being vague.
Vague: "I can do a get ready with me for you." As she puts it, "That doesn't actually give the brand any idea of what you would actually do."
Specific: When she pitched Vrbo, she took a skit format that had already done well and showed how the stay could fit into it.
Nadia's pitch has four parts: why this brand, one written-out concept, proof from a past video, and a clear ask. We've turned it into a checklist you can use below.
Then she follows up. And follows up again. "Sometimes you just need to hear the no." (Remember: so much of business and brand deals happen in the follow ups!)
She'd take a no over silence any day: "I'd rather not be ghosted."
🔒 Don't fuhgeddaboudit: “I'd love to work together” isn't a video idea. Give the brand a setup, a role in the story, and a past video that proves you can pull it off. Don't make them do your pitching for you.
4. Protect the deal you landed
Before filming a brand deal, Nadia sends the script for written approval. When a brand later asked her to add claims that weren’t in the brief, that approval helped her avoid a full reshoot. She found a compromise by adding the messaging as a text overlay and offering two story frames.
The lesson: get the script, deliverables, and revision expectations in writing before you film. Be collaborative without treating every new request as part of the original deal.
And remember: creative approval isn't the same as permission to use your content. Before you sign, define where and how long the brand can use it, and price those rights accordingly.
Thanks, Nadia, for all the great insight. You should follow Nadia here.
Steal Nadia's 4-part pitch checklist
Before you send your next pitch, check it against these four questions.
Why this brand? Name the specific product and your genuine connection to it. Not "I love your brand," but why this product belongs in your world.
What's the video? Write out the setup, where the product comes in, and how it ends, inside a format your audience already loves.
Where's the proof? Link a past video in that same format and include a relevant result, so the brand can see how the idea could translate.
What's the ask? End with a clear next step, like a 15-minute call to discuss the concept.
No reply? Follow up with something useful. A clear no? Respect it and move on.
Closing out the year with our biggest ones yet
We're gearing up for our final events of 2026, and we've got some exciting things in the works!
While more details are coming soon, you can get ahead and apply to join our upcoming events now.
Your business is growing. Is your cash flow keeping up?
Building a business gives you freedom. Cash flow surprises can take it right back - 78% of small business owners faced at least one in the past year.
Relay’s 2026 Cash Flow Compass explores what’s putting pressure on owners, and the habits that help them stay in control.
Two free tools top creators use to keep themselves moving
The Creator Goal Setting Guide (FREE): A simple but powerful document to help you declare who you want to BECOME in 2026. Get it here.
The Creator Accountability System (FREE): Your visual companion for consistent creation in 2026. Get it here.
Thanks for reading! Nadia's story is a reminder that you don't have to wait for a manager to start pitching. Start with a format that's unmistakably yours, then show a brand exactly how it fits.
Your move this week: pick one video that worked, one brand that belongs in that world, and write the next episode with them in it. Use the checklist above to turn it into a pitch. See you next week!
F*ck It, Create It,
Brett and Taylor