This letter is part of our third edition of Creator Mag. To read the rest of the magazine, click here.

It feels like every month or so, I find myself spending time with creators and entrepreneurs that I’ve respected from afar for a long time.

A week after putting out the second edition of Creator Mag, I traveled back to Los Angeles with a loose schedule and an open mind. Four days later, I left with a new cover story and confirmation that I’d found my people.

Over the course of those four days, I went everywhere from a Venice beach house serving as a startup office to a run-down ice cream shop in Burbank. A friend invited me to dinner at his mom’s house on Monday; I attended a party with hundreds of creator economy peers the following evening. It’s still insane to me how much we packed into less than a week.

My last night, though, stands out the most. Ten of the kindest, brightest, and most talented people I know (or recently met), all under one roof, hanging around a plain white table. We swapped stories and dished takes, laughing about this space actively built by lovable misfits yet here we are all the same. And ninety minutes later, I was sitting on a sofa with Steezy Kane – the subject of one of our cover stories – into the early hours of the morning, listening to him describe the parts of the journey most people don’t see.

That’s exactly what I love about the creator economy – us outsiders who call it home. Like any budding industry, from time to time, I’ll read about scam artists and meet folks who come off as superficial. But the more I’ve gotten to know the builders, the ones who genuinely care about the culture and pure creativity that got us started with this thing in the first place, it’s a constant reminder that I’m not alone.

And that’s a really cool feeling.

I’ve always been enamored with the role of media in our day-to-day lives. It’s why I studied journalism and jumped into the startup world as soon as I got to college.

I think this came from the observation that there’s never been an easier time to take in information, collect relevant thoughts, and share one’s ideas across the Interwebs. Given an increasing demand for e-commerce, too, it’s been amazing to watch the evolution of ease in starting a company. Almost anyone can sell something online nowadays, especially when coupled with the organic reach of modern media.

That’s why the main thesis driving Powder Blue is that creator-driven businesses — along with the technology that enables us — are the future of media and commerce. Our generation has grown up with an aptitude for solving problems and picking up new skills. And since we go to great lengths to find product-market fit in engaging a devoted community, the strength of those bonds are becoming an unparalleled asset.

Of course, it doesn’t mean everyone will be successful in doing it. There’s general factors that affect any startup, such as global supply chain and access to capital (Editor’s Note: Investigating the latter, Congress is holding a hearing this week, “Combatting Tech Bro Culture: Understanding Obstacles to Investments in Diverse-Owned Fintechs.” Give whoever writes those impeccable titles a raise).

Behind the scenes at Steezy’s shoot in Burbank (Photo by Andrew Fenichel)

Further, as more and more people step into the creator space, there’s a lack of supply in authentic storytelling that truly peels back the curtain on this rather nascent industry. Due to how we as creators often build in public, we know the benefits of a strong personal brand are quite clear. The way the sausage gets made, though, not so much.

Yes, we’re aware that burnout is scarily commonplace, influencer-led crypto scams are a real problem, and MCNs in their past form didn’t work particularly well. But it’s on us to redefine what success is and how it should look, too. In our last edition, actor and comedian Rishi Mahesh rather poignantly summed up the narrative around creating that many people I talk to feel is true:

“The period of my life where I was slogging to produce stuff and get those numbers up or whatever, like, many other areas of my life were completely lacking. And now those areas are much more fleshed out, and I don’t really have the desire to hole up in my room, making stuff by myself all day. Even though it seems like from all the popular discourse, if I want to achieve the things I want to achieve, that’s the way to do it.”

Growing up with my obsession with media, I wish there was more open discussion like this stemming from the nontraditional entrepreneurs whose amazing small media businesses served as such a massive inspiration. Nevertheless, as the new guard, I believe it’s on us to reevaluate our value systems in order to change some of the old narratives. With creators like Ryan Trahan currently putting YouTube on his back, I think we’re in good hands.

When I went to L.A. in January, the imposter syndrome seeped in the moment I stepped off the plane.

Since launching Creator Mag last year, I’ve been optimizing for telling the best stories I can while gaining trust among awesome people I look up to. In that sense, I feel like I’ve made a ton of progress.

However, I’m not a particularly competitive person, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing in itself. It does lead me to question if I’m cut out for the breakneck pace of this industry, though, where it’s hard to shake the mantra of “grow or die.”

Yet it took this latest trip in April for me to realize that even the smartest and most dedicated people in the room are figuring out how to strike their own form of balance, too. When we’re able to get over whatever insecurities we bring into the room, we can walk out the door reminded that we all belong in our own way. And when we remember that we belong, it allows us to collaborate more effectively with each other and push the culture forward.

That’s where the inspiration for this season, “Uncharted Waters,” comes from. We’ll hone in on how top creators are forging new paths in the careers they pursue and stories they tell. I’m proud of how both profile pieces lend opposite angles to those paths, a purposeful juxtaposition. The first, a prankster wielding his viral content as the bedrock for a traditional career in film; the second, a journalist who left a media company to launch her own independent creator venture.

With a recession presumably looming, it might appear like the worst possible time to be building a company. The silver lining, however, is that – to reference a friend’s recent newsletter – it’s now on us to get scrappy and do the hard work. Those of us who come out the other end in one piece will only be stronger, and I can’t wait to see how our world evolves because of it.

Because we’re all in this thing together. And who’s better equipped in the Pursuit of Scrappyness than creators themselves?

Coverage from Creator Mag.3 continues on! Plus, follow along with NGL’s work on Twitter here.

A Letter From The Editor

Our world, delivered