When Lilly Singh started her YouTube channel in 2010, she was all about the hustle, which led to a number of opportunities including acting roles and a late-night talk show. But in that hustling, Lilly admits her value system got out of whack. She was so focused on accolades and awards that she never thought to tie her value to things like mental health or self-growth. But now she's turning it around—and she’s encouraging us all to do the same in her new book “Be a Triangle.” In this episode, Lilly unpacks how her YouTube career and stint in late-night has had a major impact on what she values and how she views content creation today.

Last week I discussed burnout with therapist Kati Morton and got into the nuts and bolts of what happens in our brains when we experience burnout and how to recover from it. But I also wanted to get the perspective of a content creator. Mayuko Inoue is a software engineer who's worked for Intuit, Patreon, and Netflix. But she left her stabile career behind to become a full-time creator in 2020. So I wanted to unpack burnout with a creator who jumped out of one fire in working tech and into a completely different fire as a content creator.

Before the World Health Organization officially recognized burnout as a syndrome in 2019, there was already a mounting wave of high-profile creators speaking out against what they felt as pressure from platforms to consistently churn out content or their channels would suffer. And, unsurprisingly, the past two years have only made burnout worse. But therapist and content creator Kati Morton explains the small (and unconventional) changes you can make to put out the fire.

Since starting her channel in 2017, Emma Chamberlain has amassed more than 11 million YouTube subscribers, in large part because of her wry comedic tone and signature lo-fi editing style. Not being overproduced in both the look and content of her vlogs made Emma more relatable to an audience that increasingly has favored content creators removing the literal and proverbial filters from their lives. And part of Chamberlain being so candid has been admitting to her audience (and herself) that she needed a break from YouTube. She’s shifted her focus to building out her podcast Anything Goes and her coffee company Chamberlain Coffee. I wanted to talk to Emma to see how she’s redefining her relationship with YouTube and how she’s finding her place in the coffee industry—potential haters and all.

Doctors are taking to platforms like TikTok and Twitter to make medicine less of a mystery for people—and becoming celebrities along the way. But the ethics here are in a very grey area. We’ve seen how misinformation can run rampant on social media. And we’ve also seen that it doesn’t take much for anyone to gain a following online. So I wanted to explore this to get a better understanding of what it means when your doctor becomes an influencer.

As the cofounder and CEO of Patreon (and a creator himself), Jack Conte’s whole mission has been helping creators make a stable living. Patreon allows creators to charge monthly or annual subscription fees for access to their content. And since the company started nine years ago, it’s paid out $3.5 billion to more than 250,000 creators. Patreon itself was recently valued at $4 billion, so clearly Jack was on to something. But knowing how much the creator economy has evolved, how is Patreon thinking about features to better serve creators? And are we getting closer to a more robust middle class of creatives?

Spotter buys YouTubers’s back catalogs in exchange for capital to grow their businesses—and the company recently announced plans to invest $1 billion in creators. CEO Aaron DeBevoise explains who’s getting a cut, the possibility of expanding to TikTok, and how changes to YouTube could impact Spotter.

When you think about things having a copyright, what probably comes to mind are movies, music, and books—but what about dance moves? Historically, copyrighting choreography favors artists working in more traditional forms like ballet or modern dance, while choreography in videos games, music videos, and social media have remained in copyright law's blindspot. But, as we explore in this episode, hopefully not for much longer.

In the first episode of Fast Company's new podcast Creative Control, host KC Ifeanyi dives into the tangled history of the NCAA and collegiate athletes being able to earn money from their name, image, and likeness. The new policy has been a long time coming for athletes in the NCAA who can now score brand deals and monetize their social media. But the rules here are still very fragmented. So how are athletes navigating this new era?

Fast Company's new podcast Creative Control is taking a deep dive into the forces shaping the creator economy, and what it means for its future. Creative Control premieres next week, and be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss new episodes every Thursday.

We’re gearing up for a brand new podcast on the creator economy! So in the meantime, check out this past interview from our very first season of Creative Conversation in 2018 with YouTube beauty guru Jackie Aina.

We’re gearing up for a brand new podcast on the creator economy! So in the meantime, check out this past interview from our forth season of Creative Conversation in 2021 with legendary actor Wayne Brady.

We’re gearing up for a brand new podcast on the creator economy! So in the meantime, check out this past interview from our first season of Creative Conversation in 2020 with viral rapper Saweetie.

We’re gearing up for a brand new podcast on the creator economy! So in the meantime, check out this past interview from our first season of Creative Conversation in 2018 with celebrated actor Paul Scheer.

We’re gearing up for a brand new podcast on the creator economy! So in the meantime, check out this past interview from our first season of Creative Conversation in 2018 with powerhouse actor Carrie Coon.

We’re gearing up for a brand new podcast on the creator economy! So in the meantime, check out this past interview from our first season of Creative Conversation in 2018 with celebrated author David Sedaris.

We’re gearing up for a brand new podcast on the creator economy! So in the meantime, check out this past interview from our first season of Creative Conversation in 2018 with legendary actor Regina Hall.

A message on what's to come in the new year.

Today we have a special holiday episode where KC chatted with World Changing Ideas Host Talib Visram and The New Way We Work Host Kate Davis to reflect on the past year here at Fast Company and to share some of their New Year's resolutions. 

We have another roundup of the best answers to that all-important question: How do you define creativity? Enjoy!

Tracy Oliver has made it a point in her career as a film and TV producer and writer to center her work around Black women—but, most importantly, Black women who are allowed to be more than just savior figures or martyrs of Black trauma. From the box office hit Girls Trip to her latest show Harlem, Tracy creates worlds where Black women can be ridiculous, gross, lighthearted—they can just be human. In our conversation, Tracy explains the importance of basing your work around what you want to see in the world, and how to ask for what you're worth.

How can you make satire of reality when reality itself is stranger than fiction? And when reality feels flat-out depressing, is anyone in the mood to laugh? It’s what writer and director Adam McKay was thinking about while making Don’t Look Up. Adam’s latest film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as a pair of astronomers who are desperately trying to alert the world that a comet is about to end life on Earth as we know it—“trying” being the operative word here. In our conversation, Adam explains the delicate dance of making comedy and satire today, and the creative freedom in subverting your expectations.

Kenny G is one of those artists you love, hate, or just allow to quietly exist in the background of your life, like so much of his smooth jazz has done over his 40-year career. Even if you don't like Kenny G's take on jazz, you can't deny he's an incredibly skilled musician who, even after decades of playing the saxophone, stays in the mindset of a neophyte. In our conversation, Kenny explains how trusting his ideas and a relentless pursuit of perfection fuels his creativity and success.

We have another roundup of the best answers to that all-important question: How do you define creativity? Enjoy!

John Cho is at a point in his career where he can be intentional with what projects he chooses. And his intention for his latest project was to push himself like no other role has done before. John stars as Spike Spiegel in Netflix's adaptation of the beloved anime Cowboy Bebop—and the role took him to the brink of both his creativity and his body. In our conversation, John explains the clarity he found while nursing an on-set injury, the acting advice that changed his perspective, and how he's returning to the simplicity of creativity.

There's little you can do about the inherent stressors in the creative process. But what you can do is learn how to better manage the negative emotions that impede your work flow. In our conversation, Michael Parke, assistant professor of management at the Wharton School, gives key strategies for how we can all better recognize and handle stress to become better creatives and leaders.

Nick Kroll's career has largely been defined by the cavalcade of memorable characters he's created over the years through his comedy specials, The Kroll Show, and of course his hit Netflix show Big Mouth. While Nick is exceptionally good at slipping into an array voices and personas, he’s pushing himself to step in front of those characters to reveal more of himself—and that's proving to be his greatest creative challenge to date. In our conversation, Nick unpacks how he’s tackling that challenge and where he’s taking the expanding universe of Big Mouth.

 If you've never wondered about the web of legalities and social landmines Seth Green tumbles through to make Robot Chicken, then he considers his job complete. Since premiering in 2005, Robot Chicken has won 6 Emmys and a die-hard following that's kept the show around for 11 seasons. But creating jokes around popular pop culture characters adds a legal filter to his creativity. On top of that, as the social and political landscapes have become increasingly thorny, Seth is contending with what role a show like Robot Chicken plays in reflecting the world back at itself—he’s also figuring out how to stay calm and carry on through it all.

Last week, I had Ellen Pompeo on the podcast and the theme of making something old feel new again kept popping up. She's been on Grey's Anatomy for 18 seasons, so who could blame her? I came across research from Ed O'Brien, associate professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and figured he was the perfect person to help us figure out how to find new ways of tackling something we think is too familiar or boring.

Ellen Pompeo has spent 18 seasons playing Dr. Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy—and it's fair to say doing something for that long can either make or break your creativity. For Ellen, it’s been a task of finding new ways to keep Grey’s relevant to audiences, as well as exploring new ventures outside of acting such as her new podcast Tell Me. In our conversation, Ellen explains how she keeps her creativity fresh, her struggles with being a perfectionist, and with maybe being a little bit too outspoken at times.

Author Soman Chainani explains his greatest challenge: getting into a creative flow state. Check out this clip cut for time, as well as Soman's full episode from last week!

Soman Chainani is a bestselling author who’s on a mission to revamp the young adult space. His wildly popular series The School for Good and Evil and his latest novel Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales subvert conventional fairy tales for something darker and more complex. Soman isn’t looking to create the sanitized world of Walt Disney. He wants to bring back the real lessons embedded in Grimm’s fairy tales but with a modern twist. In this episode, Soman explains his alt-Walt vision and why it’s not only good for his creativity, but for the kids he’s writing for.

Fast Company recently released Innovation by Design: Creative Ideas That Transform the Way We Live and Work, a book highlighting the people and companies at the forefront of impactful design. In this episode, Fast Company design editor Suzanne LaBarre shares her top stories from the book and how the events of last year gave this project a sense of urgency.

One thing is certain: Jeff Daniels has the range. From cutting his teeth in traditional American theater to a wide spread of film and TV roles including The Purple Rose of Cairo, Speed, Dumb and Dumber, The Newsroom, 101 Dalmatians, and Godless, Daniels has an air of creative fearlessness about him. But it's not about just jumping off the ledge. It’s recognizing your blindspots in your craft, doing the work to improve, and then when the opportunity to stretch yourself comes up, not shying away from it. In this episode, Daniels explains how he applied that strategy to his latest role in Showtime's American Rust. He also discusses his reprisal of Atticus Finch on Broadway in To Kill a Mockingbird and his music career he doesn’t mind you not knowing about.

It's easy to categorize Michael Jai White as the ripped martial arts action star of Spawn, Mortal Kombat, and Black Dynamite. But with a career that stretches over 30 years, he's done more than you think—even with the shackles of being typecast and, let's be frank, racism in the entertainment industry. Let Michael tell it, though, and all of that has led him to where he's at now with his own production company Jaigantic Studios where he’s making the projects he's always wanted to make. In this episode, Michael explains how he's learned to exist outside the boxes people want to put him in and why truth and honesty should factor into your creativity.

For Elizabeth Banks, acting was her first passion that really clicked—and she’s certainly had success in that regard with roles in 30 Rock, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and The Hunger Games franchise. But over the years, Elizabeth has proven she’s just as talented at creating new opportunities for herself in producing (Shrill), directing (Pitch Perfect 2, Charlie's Angels, Cocaine Bear), entrepreneurship (co-owner of Archer Roose wines), and now podcasting. In this episode, Elizabeth talks about owning her ambition; she gets personal about her new podcast with Audible, My Body, My Podcast; and she explains why her creativity is “quietly revolutionary.”

One of the longstanding principles of creativity has always been collaboration. We hear it all the time how thinking in groups and getting feedback from others is essential to the creative process. But how many of us actually do it on a regular basis? Actor and director Joseph Gordon-Levitt would like to remind us all that we should be collaborating more often--and he has some ideas on how to do just that. In this episode, Joseph details how the collaborative process brings out his best work, most notably in his latest project Mr. Corman for Apple TV+, and how you can jumpstart your own collaborative process.

We have a bonus episode for you this week! At the end of every Creative Conversation, our host Kc Ifeanyi asks his guests the same question: "How do you define creativity?" In this episode, we've compiled some our favorite answers from this season. Hopefully, these can give you a quick creative boost. Enjoy!

We all first fell in love with Amber Riley as Mercedes Jones on Glee. But before her breakout role, she was actually rejected from American Idol, which almost made her quit singing altogether. With her mirrorball-winning run on Dancing with the Stars; her roles in TV, film, and Broadway; and her own original recorded music, it’s hard to imagine the entertainment industry without a powerhouse like Amber—but it really almost never was. In this episode, Amber explains how she pushed past that initial rejection and how she’s building a brand on more than just her raw talent.

Danielle Brooks got her big break as Taystee, the lovable leader in Netflix's Orange is the New Black. That character was only meant to appear in a few episodes but wound up becoming the anchor for one of the show’s most poignant story arcs. But it shouldn’t be a surprise that Danielle’s talents stretched a bit part into a featured role. She’s always had leading lady potential—and she’s proving just that with her starring role as gospel legend Mahalia Jackson in Lifetime's biopic Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia. In this episode, Danielle explains how she proved her leading lady abilities both in front of and behind the camera, why she almost turned down Orange is the New Black; and why Hollywood fame was never her goal.

The celebrated film composer and musician has been trying to be a better collaborator—and 37 years later, he's finally there. In this episode, Danny explains his breakthrough in collaboration with his latest solo album Big Mess, the best advice he's ever gotten from none other than Helena Bonham Carter, and he revisits some of his most well-loved film scores of his career.

Quinta Brunson is the perfect example of a creator who was able to turn her 15 minutes of viral fame into a solid career. In 2014, she first gained internet fame with her Instagram skit about a girl who's never been on a nice date. That exposure led to an opportunity to producer content for BuzzFeed. And from there, Quinta has been building her career with even bigger opportunities including HBO's A Black Lady Sketch Show, the upcoming ABC comedy Abbott Elementary that she created and stars in, and her new collection of personal essays She Memes Well. In this episode, Quinta explains how writing her book taught her how to ask for help, why she's rejecting the idea of going viral, and the key to handling rejection.

David Oyelowo’s pedigree of being a classically trained stage actor has largely translated into his career in film with weighty roles in Selma, The Butler, Nightingale, and etc. So when the opportunity to make his directorial debut with the kid-centric fantasy The Water Man came about, his fear was double-fold: stepping behind the camera for his first major film and going left of what people have come to expect from him as a "serious" actor. In this episode, David explains how his extensive acting career was the best kind of film school and how the very personal touches he brought to The Water Man.

At 19, Julia Michaels entered the music industry as a songwriter for artists including Fifth Harmony, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, and many others. But she didn't dare step into the booth herself until she wrote her 2017 hit "Issues," which she felt was too personal to give to anyone else. Three EPs later (and jumping over hurdles of self-doubt), Julia has finally dropped her debut studio album, Not In Chronological Order. And it seems fitting that Julia, now 27, released her first full-length album when she herself is feeling the most fulfilled. In our conversation, Julia explains how she fights imposter syndrome; how being in a functional relationship shaped her creative approach to this album; and how she pushes past writer's block.

The author of critically acclaimed novels including The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God's Wife is known for beautifully unpacking facets of the Chinese immigrant experience, the complexities of family dynamics, and the trauma that often fuels it. In this episode, Amy breaks down her relationship between trauma and creativity, what she learned from being in a rock band, and the challenges of making something personal universal.

Zach King has made a name for himself as a digital illusionist, using seamless editing to create mind-bending videos. He gained popularity on Vine and has translated his brand of "magic" to TikTok where he's one of the platform's most followed creators. It's easy to get caught up in the wow factor of Zach's tricks, but what's truly impressive is how he seems to never run out of new ideas, which, apparently is a fear he's been working on overcoming. In our conversation, Zach explains how he keeps his creative momentum going, why limitations are necessary, and why he started revealing some of his digital magic secrets.

No one is doing prank comedy quite like Eric Andre. He got his start in standup but rose to fame/notoriety with Adult Swim's The Eric Andre Show, a psychedelic sendup of late night talk shows where celebrity guests and everyday people on the street are at the mercy of his frenetic whims. It’s hard to tell sometimes, but beneath all the chaos of Andre’s physical comedy and pranks, there’s a craft he’s honed for five seasons of his show and that he’s applied to his Netflix film Bad Trip. In this episode, Andre explains the creative challenges of making a narrative prank comedy film, why he thinks his show has finally hit its stride 5 seasons in, and how Chris Rock talked him off the ledge from the biggest bomb of his career.

Wayne Brady is arguably one of the hardest working performers in show business. From Broadway to TV and film and everything in between, Wayne has done it all—and often simultaneously. In this episode, Wayne explains how he gave himself permission to pursue all of his passions (and why he refuses to pick just one), how he actually does it all without crashing and burning, and the number one thing to remember in unlocking your creative potential.