Influence into Industry: The Rise of the Creator Economy With Kyle Hjelmeseth
From Technically Creative by KoobrikLabs by Orlando Wood
March 31, 2026 · 58 min · Season 3 · Episode 9
About this episode
Kyle Hjelmeseth discusses the evolution of the creator economy and how creators are now building audiences and monetizing their content independently.
He’s done $100M in creator deals. What does he know? In this episode of Technically Creative , we sit down with Kyle Hjelmeseth , CEO of GMB Digital Management, to explore how the creator economy has matured into a real industry — and what that means for entertainment, advertising, and anyone building an audience today. Because the model has flipped. Creators no longer wait to be discovered. They build audiences first — and the industry is catching up. Kyle has spent over a decade helping creators turn that attention into real businesses, facilitating over $100M in brand deals , and developing a model he calls: 👉 “monetizing the wake” The idea that creators don’t need to be steered into traditional formats — they keep creating, living their lives, and building value through everything they’ve already made. This conversation explores the evolution of the creator economy from early influencers to a structured, scalable industry — and why the most important shift isn’t technology… It’s ownership of audience. Orlando and Kyle explore: • How the creator economy evolved from “wild west” to mature industry • Why creators can now greenlight themselves • What “monetizing the wake”…
People in this episode
Guest: Kyle Hjelmeseth
Topics covered
- creator economy
- entertainment
- advertising
- audience building
- monetization
Keywords
- ownership of audience
- monetizing the wake
- brand deals
- affiliate marketing
- content reuse
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