I want to walk you through what it’s actually like to be a finance content creator.
I started making investing and trading videos for beginners over seven years ago. When I first began investing, there was no one walking me through the complexities. I had to figure it out alone. I decided I wanted to be that person for others — and I didn’t want to charge anything.
I wanted to be the anti–finance bro.
My catchphrase became: “I don’t want your money. I want you to invest it.”
And I kept that word for seven years.
I didn’t come from a high-net-worth family. I didn’t go to college. I wanted to be a pro wrestler until I broke my back during training. I lived at home into my mid-20s. I worked minimum wage jobs in restaurants and the fitness industry.
When I started making content, I balanced trading with filming. Over time, though, creating these videos became my passion. Two years ago, I decided to go all in. I stopped trading — and as a result, stopped making money.
My plan was simple: land brand deals, sponsorships, or earn enough from creator funds to sustain the channel.
But brand deals were inconsistent. Some followers accused me of being a “sellout.” One even suggested I liquidate my retirement portfolio to fund the channel so they could continue getting everything for free.
Creator funds didn’t provide stability either. My videos didn’t consistently go viral the way others in the space did.
Meanwhile, my savings were shrinking.
Still, I kept pushing forward because I didn’t want to break my word by selling anything.
“Just Film Videos”
A lot of people think being a content creator is easy.
“Just film videos.”
In reality, it looks like this:
Come up with new ideas daily
Research
Take screenshots
Edit graphics
Script
Film
Edit
Write descriptions
Post
Cross-post to Instagram, Facebook, YouTube
Manage comments
Not on one platform — on several.
We’re talking hundreds of comments per day.
Some creators ignore comments. I never wanted to become an influencer. I wanted to help people. Ignoring comments felt like ignoring people.
But alongside thoughtful questions are dozens of insults every day. Fat. Bald. Ugly. Stupid. Slurs. Political attacks. Accusations of lying. And occasionally, a death threat just to keep things interesting.
You can ignore it once.
It’s harder after years of it.
The Scale Problem
When I had 30,000 followers, I could answer DMs personally.
At 800,000 followers, that becomes impossible.
At least once a week, I receive what I call the “whole life story” message — 15 paragraphs detailing tragedies, debt, medical bills, divorce, sick parents, sick kids — asking for comprehensive financial advice.
I’m not a financial advisor. I can’t legally or ethically give that kind of advice. And I physically cannot respond to hundreds of these messages.
I added an automated reply directing people to the free resources on my website — resources that were available for seven years at no cost.
It didn’t change much.
I think some people interpreted “free content” as “free unlimited access to me.”
That was never sustainable.
Why I Changed
This isn’t meant to be defensive. It’s meant to be transparent.
After seven years of giving everything away for free, I decided to put a few deeper-dive resources behind a small paywall.
$10.
One time.
Lifetime access.
Not to get rich.
But to signal something important:
My time has value.
If you don’t put a price on your time, people assume it has none.
The small paywall helps create fairness. It reduces burnout. And yes — it provides some financial support so I can continue doing this.
Because while messages saying I changed someone’s life mean everything to me…
They don’t pay the bills.
The Honest Truth
Some people are still angry that I went back on my word.
Believe me — I understand that feeling. I’ve wrestled with it myself.
I wish brand deals alone could have sustained this.
I wish creator funds were consistent income.
I wish going viral was predictable.
It wasn’t.
So the choice became simple:
Add a small paywall to deeper resources
—or—
Quit and go back to trading full time.
I chose to keep building this.
I’m still committed to keeping the majority of my content free. That hasn’t changed.
What has changed is that I finally acknowledged something I probably should have acknowledged sooner:
Helping people is my mission.
But this is also my job.
And jobs have to pay.
