An education in business class

I grew up in a small country in Africa. We had a small TV but at least it was in colour, I watched a lot of TV and I always admired how TV presenters looked put together, naturally I wanted to be one. Forget about fighting for the truth, I just wanted to be glammed.

I also remember commercials, but not the actual commercial, just the music. It was repetitive, annoying or loud. I later understood that it was intentional too. This was after I also realized that they were trying to sell something. But still that didn’t make sense because I’m a practical person, so I needed to understand how commercials can influence someone to buy a product they saw on TV.

Fast forward, I’m now in College studying Journalism. I finally watched Mad Men and that was my introduction to Advertising, I know Cliche.

Don Draper fascinated me. Psychology. The persuasion. The identity-building. But I also saw the darker side of it, the manipulation, the exploitation. I know it’s dramatized because it’s a show, but still. At that time, I was trying to figure out who I was. And something about it felt… off. I’m not the type of person who wants to exploit people. Yet I was drawn to this world.

That contradiction made me uncomfortable. I went through a whole anti-capitalism era. Not even socialist, full-on “capitalism is evil” communist phase. Until someone flew me to Europe for free. Business class. And I enjoyed it very much.

That was humbling.

Girl…math

Eventually, I came to understand something simple: the world runs on two things. You’re either buying something, or you’re selling something. And I would rather be selling.

Twenty-three year old me would be surprised to hear me say that last sentence. At least now I can admire the world for its flaws and beauty as I came to understand that they can both coexist. Which led me to the creator industry.

I told myself if I was going to participate in a system that exploits people, I wanted to at least help those at the bottom. The creator economy fascinated me. It’s growing. It’s promising. It’s projected to become even bigger in the next few years. But the more I learn about it, the more questions I have.

If this industry is growing so rapidly, why are the people at the bottom still struggling to make ends meet?

Why isn’t the bread shared equally between creators, companies, and agencies? Why do creators, the ones actually doing the labor often receive the smallest slice?

A lot of people don’t understand how much money flows through this industry. And when I say “a lot of people,” I mean creators themselves.

This is a classic artist-and-record-label dynamic.

The talent builds the culture. The company captures the value. So that’s what I want to break down. What the numbers actually look like. Where the money actually goes. And what that means for creators trying to build real businesses.

Because understanding the gap is the first step to closing it.