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Sit down in your favorite room and get comfy, because I am going to take you for a ride. This one is for aspiring creators, creators looking for shared experiences, or anyone who just wants an honest look at what this life is really like.

In the summer of 2024, I rebranded as Keay Explores after taking a hiatus from my previous foodie page EatWithKeay, but this time I was taking it more seriously. Within months, I was receiving invites from bars and restaurants left and right to come in and do exactly what I had been doing for fun. Because it was early on, I accepted a lot of gifted collaborations. It made sense back then because I was still building my portfolio, audience, and credibility.

Almost a year into my journey, I started getting the attention of Giant Noise, a very prominent PR company in Austin. It started with invites to their clients’ bars and restaurants and eventually turned into a paid UGC deal at Hooky Entertainment. They were respectful of my rates and gave clear communication about what they were looking for. The agent who sought me out, Natalie Turman, is an absolute gem. She no longer works there, but I will always remember her as the person who brought me my first paid contract as a creator and made sure she was a pathway for diversity at Giant Noise.

Here is what a lot of people do not talk about, though: just because one brand sees your value and pays you what you are worth does not mean the next one will. We have love for brands and their personalities, but at the end of the day, they are trying to make money with your content, and some of them pretend they do not have a marketing budget to get you to do it for free. Except it is hardly free for you when you factor in gas or rideshare, tipping staff, and the time it takes to film, edit, and write captions. Most creators are creating at a loss, which is why it is important to do it for yourself first and treat income as an added bonus.

After my collaboration with Giant Noise, I gained more visibility and opportunities, some paid, some still gifted. I got burned a few times, even with gifted collabs, which made me way more selective about what I choose to accept. If something is costing me money, does not align with my personal brand, or the person reaching out does not even have enough respect to spell my name correctly in the email, it is an automatic no. Brands notice who accepts everything for low or no pay, and they notice who stands firm in their value. Build a brand that represents you, not one that is equivalent to a human billboard.

One thing I learned very recently is to always make sure you are not agreeing to plagiarize another creator when signing contracts that give a brand full creative control. This is common with UGC contracts, but I was in for a surprise when the agent I was working with kept asking me to re-edit my videos to look exactly like the inspiration videos she pulled from Instagram. I pushed back on that because there is no way I am putting my face in content where a brand is clearly stealing work shot for shot and word for word. Long story short, the brand was already in breach of contract in other ways, so I was able to respectfully end the collaboration and take it as a lesson. Moving forward, I want the kind of creative control I had in past partnerships, because if you hired me based on my original content, why would you not want any of my creative direction?

Pivoting is also important. At one point, I was sitting at over 6,000 followers on Instagram, but I noticed that thousands of them were inactive and hurting my engagement. I debated a clean sweep for a while because brands still hold on to the outdated idea that follower count determines influence. They will seek out someone with 10,000 followers and barely any engagement just because of the number. I went ahead and brought my account from 6,000 down to around 700, and I am now close to hitting 1,000 again. In that process I realized those accounts were holding me back. Even though I was getting invites and deals, the likes and comments were not matching the follower count, and I rarely gained new followers who were not other content creators. Side note: other creators are not your target audience unless you are a marketing coach. Now that my account has leveled out, I can clearly see what works and what does not, and I have slowly started gaining real traction again.

Now let’s get into the creator community itself. I have seen both sides. I have met amazing, genuine creators who support each other, and I have seen hypocritical, ego-driven behavior. From what I and many others have experienced, it is best to have a couple of close creator friends to collaborate with and keep everyone else at a professional distance. Having friends outside of this industry is SO important for your mental health.

I say that because I have met creators in person after building what felt like a real online friendship, had a great vibe with them, and then the moment they felt they could not benefit from me, or I didn’t match their aesthetic, they went ghost and kept watching my page. Pretending not to see me at events. Loudly complaining about engagement while not supporting other creators the way they want to be supported. I spoke about this on Threads and a lot of Austin creators agreed and shared the same experience. The truth is, content creators can be just as disingenuous as anyone else. It broke my heart to cut ties with a few creators I genuinely liked, people who said they loved being in community with me and loved my content, while never engaging with it, but were visibly active in everyone else’s comments. I removed a lot of people for exactly that behavior. Real community does not move like that, and I have since found people who actually show up. We match energy and hype each other up, no exceptions.

If you are an aspiring creator, know that love bombing exists in this space too. Use your discernment. And to current creators, never let another creator, agent, manager, or brand make you feel small. Quick story: a talent manager in Austin posted on Threads looking for new creators to manage. I replied with a few questions in case it was something I wanted to explore. I got nothing useful back except “you have to have influence,” while she happily responded to people with larger followings on the same thread. Those five words echoed in my mind for the longest “You. Have. To. Have. Influence.” I thought about it when I started landing inbound paid deals. I thought about it when followers started telling me I was an inspiration, ethereal, and their favorite creator. And I laughed about it when Austin.com named me one of the Top 10 Influencers in Austin, voted on by real people, without me ever having hit 10,000 followers. Not everyone will see your worth right away. Some people only recognize value through one lens and miss out on great talent because they do not do proper research. That experience is part of why I negotiate my own deals. Why hand my potential to someone else to misrepresent? I may have had to learn hard lessons from mistakes made in brand deals. However, I will be keeping 100 percent of this paycheck. Thank ya!

Should you quit your job to become a content creator? No. I have created while working full-time and while unemployed, and I will tell you the unemployed version is not the vibe unless you have consistent contracts locked in. Never make content your full-time job unless you have a steady income coming in to support your lifestyle, and even then, it is not guaranteed without long-term contracts. In this economy, things add up fast. Use your time wisely, and do not let anyone pressure you into niching down if that is not who you are. Experts will tell you to pick a niche and stick to it, and if you want a second niche, start a whole new account. That sounds both boring and messy. I have Keay Explores and HowdyKeay, but most of my lifestyle lives on Keay Explores, while Howdy is more of a legacy project as I prepare to own land and build something with my family. Beyond that, I keep everything in one place because I am not one-dimensional. You do not have to visit five different accounts to see me cook, go to concerts, review restaurants, attend festivals, and travel. The creators people love most are usually the most candid, unapologetic, and real. Being polished does not convert for everyone. Find your lane, stay in it, and never take too much inspiration from other creators. You should be the inspiration.

Overall, I have had a blast these last two years. Getting invited to things most people never even hear about, building genuine relationships with my favorite bars and restaurants, and being recognized for literally being myself. I cannot describe the joy of taking my mom to an upscale restaurant for a collab and giving her a glimpse into my world. It is a good life when you know how to navigate it, stay secure in yourself, and treat what you are building like the real business it is. Never let anyone tell you the space is oversaturated or that there are too many creators already. Speaking from experience, that is pure hater energy.

Last notes: This is my personal experience as a newer content creator based in Austin, Texas. I never put anything out to tear anyone down, but some of these conversations need to be had, and I am in the business of sharing and documenting my truth.

If me being genuine about what I have seen in this community struck a chord or made you feel targeted in any way, I invite you to sit with that and look at it from a different perspective. I have always shown up with kindness at events and in my interactions with other creators in this community online. That kindness is real, but it does not make me a doormat or a convenience for people who do not truly value me. I do not extend access or community to those who have repeatedly shown me disrespect.

To everyone who has stuck with me: I appreciate you more than you know. You saw the vision from the beginning. We are literally just getting started.

*And if you want to know what I actually use to film and how I put it all together on a budget, that post is coming next. Stay tuned.*