Gigi Robinson ®

Gigi Robinson ®Sep 25, 2026

Studies are showing that GenZ is tthe most chronically online generation and I think the reason Gen Z is so comfortable turning everything into content is not that we are vain, but that we were raised completely differently than the generation right before us. Millennials were the first generation told, professionally and academically, that anything you post online can be used against you. Everything lives forever, be careful, watch what you put out there. That warning shaped an entire generation's relationship with the internet. Post less, be cautious and more than anything keep the personal and the professional far apart. Gen Z got the opposite conditioning. We were photographed and posted our entire lives, often before we could consent to it, so being documented never felt like a risk, it just felt like existing. On top of that, we are the first generation who has only ever known smartphones that take a photo and send it straight to a feed in the same motion. The distance between a moment happening and a moment being shareable is basically zero for us, and it always has been. And while we are at it, let’s layer one more thing on top... smart phones turned anyone into a photographer. Social media turned anyone into a creator or an internet entrepreneur. And when you put those two things together, a phone can document literally anything, which means any moment, any idea, any thought can become content, and content can become a monetizable opportunity. And now there are literal degrees that make people experts in this. New media has always been a field you could study, but it has been modernized for the creator economy, with real programs in influencer marketing, content, podcasting, and production. The thing older generations still roll their eyes at is actively becoming an academic and professional discipline. Here is the part I think the elder generation misreads more than anything. When they see us posting constantly, they interpret it as doing more for the sake of the flex. We are not posting more to look busy, we are posting more to maximize potential opportunity and ROI. Every post is a low-cost shot at reach, connection, or revenue, and when the cost of documenting is basically zero, not posting starts to feel like leaving money and opportunity on the table. It is not that Gen Z lost the plot on privacy or professionalism; we were handed a completely different set of tools, a completely different set of rules, and a completely different understanding of what a phone and a feed are actually for. Curious where everyone lands on this one, especially across generations. Do you see posting as risk, or as opportunity? #creatoretiquette #hostsofinfluence #itsgigirobinson

Gigi Robinson ®Sep 26, 2026

I have been building in the creator economy for years, and this week LinkedIn made something official that I have been arguing for on every stage I can get on. And recently, I was invited into LinkedIn's Entertainment Network, an exclusive group of industry leaders defining the conversations across Film, TV, Music, and the Creator Economy right here on the platform. The creator economy is now sitting inside the same network as Film, TV, and Music. Not adjacent to entertainment and as an industry, Linkedin recognizing that is HUGE! That distinction is the whole thing I have devoted my career to. For years the creator economy was treated as a marketing line item, a social media footnote, something the "real" entertainment industry tolerated but did not take seriously. Watching one of the most important professional platforms in the world put creators in the same room as the people shaping Film, TV, and Music is proof that the ground is finally shifting under everyone's feet. It is especially meaningful given what I spend my days actually building. Hosts of Influence® exists to help build business owners confidence in social content to help move their businesses further. Creator Etiquette® exists to close the professional development gap that leaves 96% of creators making under six figures with no roadmap for how to build a real, durable career. Both of those bets were made on the belief that the creator economy is the modern entertainment industry, and that the infrastructure would eventually catch up to that truth. So I am walking into this new network with a very specific mission...to keep making the case that creators belong at this table, and to make sure the conversation is not just about how big the industry has gotten, but about how we actually build sustainable careers inside it. I am so grateful to be in the room and even more excited about what we get to build from here. #creatoretiquette #hostsofinfluence #itsgigirobinso

Gigi Robinson ®Sep 26, 2026

Creators are starting to trade influence for equity, and I have a real-world story about why it sounds amazing and why I am still cautious about it. At Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this year I sat in a closed-room roundtable with Ad Age, and I ended up next to one of the biggest OG TikTok creators in the game. He told a story I have not stopped thinking about since. Early on, he took a deal for a new beverage company that was actually lower than his normal rate, but it included equity. Everyone probably thought he left money on the table. Then that company sold for two billion dollars. He, along with the other creators who took those scrappy early deals, got a very, very big reward. So of course the headline right now is exciting. Creators can understand our communities, we can shape strategy, distribution, and growth. And having equity as a part of brand deals, is a signal that the creator economy market finally recognizing that we are strategic partners, not just media buys. But I actually think it is more complicated than the headline. Are creators really going to do this at scale? Logistically, no, and I am not sure most should make it their primary model. Equity is illiquid, most startups do not sell for two billion dollars, most fail entirely within the first 5 years, and you cannot pay rent with a cap table line item. For the 96% of creators making under six figures, trading a rate they actually need today for a maybe someday is a genuinely risky bet, and it requires a level of financial literacy and deal-vetting that this industry has never taught anyone. Not to mention, having an agent or financial advisor helping you make a decision like this. So I do not think equity is the new default. But I do think it is a phenomenal thing to consider adding to a portfolio of revenue-generating opportunities, once your foundation is stable enough to take a swing. The creator who took that beverage deal could afford the bet. That is the part people skip. Equity is a tool for creators who already have the base covered, not a lottery ticket for people who need the cash now. The real headline is not that creators are taking equity, it is that creators are finally being recognized as the strategic operators worth giving equity to. What we do with that recognition, and whether we are equipped to evaluate these deals wisely, is the conversation this industry actually needs to be having. #creatoretiquette #hostsofinfluence #itsgigirobinson