Heyooooo! How we doin’ this week, creator peeps?

Our community has grown significantly over the last few weeks, so thank you to all those who are new subscribers to the newsletter, I appreciate you being here and joining our incredible community of creator nerds and professionals alike!

If you are a new subscriber, introduce yourself by replying to this email! My biggest passion lies in bridging gaps and connecting creative professionals with others who have similar goals and interests, so if you want to meet folks like yourself, reply to this email, and let’s chat!

Today’s issue will be slightly different than issues past, particularly in our ‘Create’ section, where I interviewed an incredible YouTuber, Sam Dawson! We dive in and chat all about his journey, trajectory, and learnings as he has become a full-time creator.

Let me know what you readers think of this extended spotlight coverage & in-depth interview! If you peeps are fans, we can make this a regular thing and I can even interview some of you readers to introduce you to the rest of the Cmd+Shift+Create community! So excited to hear everyone’s thoughts, it’s been my favorite creator spotlight in a while!

But enough of my babbling, let’s jump into the latest in this week’s creator news.

SIKE! You know I gotta drop a puppy pic, I mean come on now. This lil’ dude is gonna be home in a few weeks!

Ok, ok, NOW we can jump into the news!

Command & Create Merge! 🤝 

As mentioned, this week I did a super in-depth interview with the incredibly talented and inspiring creator, Sam Dawson! As Sam is absolutely commanding his creator career, I decided to merge the Command and Create sections of today’s newsletter!

So keep reading, and be sure to dig deep into my interview with Sam. There’s some incredible insight in here for you readers who are making (or thinking about making) the transition to being full-time content creators! 😎 

EU Cracks Down on AI 🤖 

It’s no secret that AI is shaking up the creator space. With the rise in programs like Sora (send help LOL), AI editing tools, writing tools, and beyond; setting some laws and restrictions on the rapidly accelerating market seems like a solid move.

Of course, we can leave it to the EU to implement some of these laws first. These laws are trying to stunt the growth of these AI tools and prevent “high-risk” tools from hitting the market without regulation. Let’s jump into the deets:

• As mentioned, the headline here is that the European Union has passed a law to regulate AI across the continent.

• They’re calling the law “the AI Act" and it’s slated to be a multi-year campaign to regulate AI while also focusing on evolving the tech safely.

• One of the main facets of this law is to ensure that things are being built safely and with consideration. Which honestly, I think should be in place. AI is cool, but keeping a closer watch on these seemingly instantaneous developments seems like a no-brainer, especially after watching Ex-Machina (puts on tinfoil hat*).

• One way the EU will regulate is to classify specific tools of being “low risk” or “high risk.”

• Projects that don't threaten rights or safety will be classified as “low risk,” while innovations in fields like medicine, transportation, and law enforcement will be deemed “high risk” and will be subjected to higher standards and tracking.

  • High risk can be related to things like deepfakes, election misinformation, or copyright infringements.

Let’s face it, AI is inevitable. It will certainly continue to grow and its advancements will only continue to pick up pace. With that in mind, having regulators and whistleblowers will be key in creating safe spaces for humans that are utilizing (or being interfered by) these AI systems.

Do you believe the EU made the right call here? Or should we continue on the unregulated path and just see what happens? Let me know your thoughts by replying to this email!

The Evolution of a Professional Creator, Feat. Sam Dawson 🚀 

You readers already know Sam Dawson from my coverage of him a few issues back, but after continuing conversations with Sam, I felt that I needed to do a proper interview to share with our community.

Sam’s story is similar to so many of ours as aspiring creators, and hearing about his pitfalls, roadblocks, and achievements resonated with me deeply. Not only because I’ve shared similar experiences, but so many of you readers that I’ve spoken to have as well.

Just like so many of us, Sam began his creator journey at a young age after being gifted a Sony Handycam for Christmas. Diving right into capturing his life through the lens at 11 years old, Sam was hooked, filming everything and anything. From happenings throughout the day to music videos with friends, Sam was already sent down the content creation rabbit hole.

While Sam was creating to his heart’s content, as he began getting older, he started to run into a very familiar issue with creation. When you’re creating as a kid, you have no inhibitions, but as we start to get into middle school and beyond, the social anxieties of your peers can begin to thwart you from continuing your passions.

Although Sam ran into feelings of self-doubt and judgment from those around him, that creative itch never seemed to go away. In later high school, Sam began to turn to music production, eventually finding his way back behind the lens in shooting music videos. As he continued creating these music videos, Sam quickly learned that his passion for video creation could no longer lie dormant.

Fast forward a few years, and Sam heads to University to focus on Digital Media, learning the ins and outs of the more “professional” side of digital creation. Or as Sam likes to call it, “Sam, the Suit.” As with so many creator journeys’, Sam continued on his “suit” expedition after university, focusing on shooting and producing for clients, but this sort of content creation wasn’t what Sam had envisioned. Sam wanted to create for himself.

This juxtaposing pull is a main theme in my conversations with professional creators and has absolutely a theme in my own career as well. How are you supposed to leap into the unknown when your current path is sustaining your life, bills, and beyond?

Trust in luck? Meh. Have blind faith? Maybe. For Sam, that leap was fueled by listening to his creative compass.

So, with the push to pursue the things that made Sam passionate about creating, he began posting more consistent content, and his audience began to grow as his videos gained more traction. With more eyes coming to his content, and a community of passionate creators beginning to form, Sam began getting love and support on his videos, leading him to see that this path was certainly in the right direction.

But it wasn’t just random clicks on a thumbnail, these viewers coming to Sam’s videos were engaged and supportive, even going as far as to show him love in the comments. In our conversation, Sam revealed that his audience and those comments were yet another major push for him to take the jump into full-time content creation. People resonated with him and his story, providing fuel for the creative fire, and pushing Sam to create not only just for himself but now for others, too.

This relationship with his audience resonates with me so deeply. Sam seeks to create content that will help creators like us grow. We’re not talking about “thumbnail hacks” or “breaking the internet” here, we’re talking about mindsets, tips, and tricks to continue growing with respect to where you are in your journey.

With his growing community who are hungry to learn, Sam has also recently launched an ever-evolving experience program, called Fired Up, that allows creators to explore the outlets that they’re interested in, and really hone in on that idea.

To me, this is why Sam’s creation with Fired Up is such a perfect fit. With all of his time spent in multiple facets of the industry, on both the front and back end, Sam is the right mentor to provide guidance in an ever-changing creator landscape.

As Sam continues to develop his content and evolve his business, it’s clear to see his passion for content creation and wanting to help creators get excited to continue creating, which is what our entire Cmd+Shift+Create community is all about!

While Sam has made incredible strides in the last few years with his content, it’s evident that this is just the beginning of his growth. I believe Sam will continue to become a major name in the creator space and will absolutely be an influential thought leader in the coming years.

If you haven’t checked out Sam’s content, do yourself a favor and watch a few videos and give him a sub. If you’re a creator in search of inspiration and getting a fire lit underneath you to create more content, look no further than Sam.

Check out Sam’s content!

🤔 What Are Your Thoughts?

What did we think about the deep dive interview and article in this issue?

With my background in traditional journalism, having the opportunity to sit in the interviewer/profile writer seat was a (pleasant) blast from the past.

But if you guys aren’t feeling deep dives, let me know! Thank you to all who answer this section of the newsletter every week, it gives me life and lets me know how I can continue to improve each and every issue 🙂 

🚀 Up Your Career as a Creator

Hope you enjoyed this week’s post. See you next week ✌️