Rebels and non-conformists are the pioneers of change...
Here's why the creator economy needs more rebels...
I used to break rules for a living.
Not in a malicious way but in a way that was fun, pure chaos, and 100% mine.
Story time… (skip down to the next line for the TLDR)
I built an audience that funneled to my ghostwriting gig by writing about whatever the heck popped in to my mind after a whisky bender…
I gave away hundreds of pizzas just because I thought it was fun.
I created a movement where people shared custom GIFs and ranked them weekly in a contest I called the #gifpowerrankings…
I roasted influencers on livestreams until my throat was raw. I streamed for 24 hours straight, hosted meme battles that broke Discord, and built a community by being unapologetically, un-strategically myself…
I mean if u don’t believe me here’s a post from the archives lol..
I really did just post whatever I wanted and it was a hoot.
There was no brand guide.
There was no content calendar.
There was just a rebel with an internet connection and a refusal to play by the rules.
It was messy, but it was real. And it was working.
I built a “personal brand” via chaos.
Then I got too good at the influencer game. I started to optimize myself, my brand and my style aannnnnnnnnnd that’s when I lost my voice.
Sure there were other reasons (10+ bans didn’t help) but in truth….
Somewhere along the way, the rebel got a corporate job.
I started writing about how to grow. I traded the livestreams for lead magnets and the meme battles for sales funnels. I started optimizing my hooks, writing with AI because it was more efficient and shifted my “personal brand” into a presence that was palatable, professional, and completely sanitized.
My content got blander. My growth though got faster….
And that is the problem with the creator economy stranger…. It rewards bland. It rewards soulless optimized content that the masses want to consume….
But when you are a rebel and a free spirit…
This way of creating will destroy you.
Ultimately I slowly became exactly what I used to make fun of: another creator on the hamster wheel, chasing a ghost, talking about growth, followers and hustling my way to saying nothing really at all.
Well after all that…. I decided to quit social media and for most of 2025 I changed my picture into a cartoon and ghosted. Walked away from most of my income, shut down my ai course, nuked my newsletter and most of my platforms and said fack it im out.
I thought there was no hope to any of this for a while last year…..
But all is not lost.
I’ve found my voice and I think you can too. It starts with getting brutally honest and understanding that the system and the creator economy that crushed you has a critical weakness.
It’s a weakness we can exploit.
Small, independent creators have a weapon that can allow us to swarm, undercut, and overtake the big boys.
(yes I’m teasing but if I shared what I think it is well u may not subscribe or read my stuff and I still have a few tricks left in my sleeve ok stranger!!!)
This is the new creator economy. Built by rebels, for rebels.
I burnt my old playbook.
Andddddddddd I’m relaunching this newsletter as A Rebel’s Guide to the Creator Economy.
Every week, you’ll receive the battle plans:
A Hard Truth: A sharp, evidence-backed deconstruction of the Big Tech narrative. I’ll expose the bait-and-switch and show you what’s really happening behind the curtain.
The Rebel Toolkit: A curated guide to the indie, AI-powered tools that give you an unfair advantage. Learn to wield AI as a weapon to build your empire.
The Sovereignty Strategy: Actionable frameworks for building a defensible business. From audience ownership to monetization models that don’t require you to burn out.
Updates from My Live Builds: I’ll share my progress as I build AI tools and a killer system to help you grow your tools, ideas, and audiences.
This is for the creator who is tired of the soulless games, the developer who sees the trap, and the writer who wants to find their voice again.
The old way of doing social media is broken.
The new way is being built by a small group of rebels who are choosing ownership over access and freedom over followers.
If you’re ready to break the rules again and build your own empire well then…
Only the goats get banned ten times and still keep coming back to break sh*t. Always a luxury to hear your perspective on the industry. Happy to see you back, Luke.
I'm down for some rebel time. Maybe I can get front row to the show this time.