Making a living as a creator shouldn’t be some elusive thing. And what’s the best way to learn how creators are making it work? To go behind-the-scenes. These bi-weekly interview issues are like having coffee with your favorite creators. If we haven’t met before, I’m Amanda Smith. I write about solopreneurship and the creator economy.
Good morning. This week’s interview is about a creator who has been around for over 10+ years, but is also the perfect example of the hybrid, multihyphenate creator-entrepreneur-employee that we’re going to see more of.
You’re going to enjoy this one.
🌀 What’s new in the creator world?
US Open ‘almost doubling’ credentials for creators
Sport is having a moment.
Sephora launches TikTok Shop
The new Sephora Drop Shop experience.
Creator economy is having “Napster moment”
IRL, IP, video, and AI are where the bets are being placed.
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Nadya Okamoto
Nadya Okamoto is a Gen Z lifestyle creator sharing her world as a big sister and entrepreneur living in New York City. Her content efforts began at 16 as a way to grow her non-profit, PERIOD, and later, her company, the stereotype-breaking menstrual brand, August.
Okamoto first used Instagram to mobilize local volunteer events. It didn’t become part of her career until around 2017 while at Harvard. She joined TikTok in 2021, which has become her biggest platform at 4.4 million followers. She’s since written a book called Period Power and is a speaker on the topic, as well as youth entrepreneurship and mental health.
Okamoto is also the co-founder and CMO of real-life social networking and events app, Pie. The Gen Z entrepreneur is betting the next generation of platforms will be built around helping people gather in real life – including run clubs, watch parties, DJ coffee sets, block parties, and more.
Pie is positioned to help people find communities and build friendships, with Okamoto leading growth as one of Gen Z’s most recognizable entrepreneurs.
Okamoto also operates a fundraising platform, Cherub, which helps creators turn their influence into equity. The platform connects creators and investors with early-stage founders, enabling creators to build ownership in exchange for capital and content.
How she manages her many roles
“We live in an attention economy, so having a platform helps drive all of my business interests – whether that's building brand awareness, recruiting users, or reaching potential investors and customers,” Okamoto said.
From a social standpoint, she focuses on TikTok and repurposes a lot of her content automatically across other channels. Her advice is to just repurpose and not to overthink a differentiated channel strategy.
“No week is ever the same – that's what I love about this job. It’s always changing, traveling probably too much, but every day involves lots of emails, calls, and content. And I try to work out daily,” she said.
As for revenue, it’s a split across content, her personal brand and various businesses. “Roughly 80% is brand deals, 20% salary and other income like speaking. Equity hasn’t paid out yet, as everything is still early stage.”
Okamoto is bullish on more influencer cohort businesses in the next three to five years. “Not just one-off influencers, but friend groups and strategic groups of creators building things together,” she said.
It’s inspiring to see a native Gen Z creator land C-suite roles working alongside veteran entrepreneurs and corporate talent. Okamoto, who had dedicated her career to nonprofits, politics and period products, said the throughline in all her roles is about building awareness – and that can take her into all types of settings.
As the creator role matures, expect to see more of these multifaceted folks making moves in the business world.
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Speak soon,
Amanda
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