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This episode is sponsored by Shopify, Homeserve and Fora Travel. Shopify. Starting a business sounds exciting until you're actually in it. The website, the products, the emails, it's a lot. That's why I love Shopify. With hundreds of ready to use templates, Shopify helps you build a beautiful online store that matches your brand's style. And HomeServe. Owning a home is amazing until something breaks. And it's never anything small. It's always those expensive, worst timing situations. That's why I love the idea of HomeServ. It's like a subscription for your home, helping cover those unexpected repairs. And plans. Start at just 4.99amonth. And Fora Travel, are you the one who always plans the trips, hotels, itineraries, all of it? You're basically already a travel advisor. You're just not getting paid yet. With Fora, you can change that from building your business to protecting your home to even getting paid to plan your next trip. These are the tools that make it all easier. Launch your business with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial at shopify.com CHC and HomeServe. Protect your home systems at homeserve.com or become a fora advisor at foratravel.com CHC that's F O R A travel.com CHC all right, what is up everybody? Welcome back to Call Her Creator. I'm Kaitlyn Rhodes and today's episode is one that every ambitious creator, entrepreneur, solopreneur leader, you need this conversation because we're going to talk about brand new income streams that honestly no one's really talking about right now. So for years when we think about monetizing influence, we think about the same things, right? We think about brand deals, affiliate marketing, digital products, maybe coaching memberships. But what if I told you that one of the biggest shifts happening right now in the creator economy has nothing to do with selling products at all? What if your influence could be monetized simply by just being a trusted connector? Maybe by helping your audience access opportunities, not just buy things. Because here's the truth. Influence is evolving, guys. We all know that. And it's no longer just about selling. It's about building that trust with your audience. And today's guest is literally at the forefront of all of this. And what's shifting on Instagram, TikTok all the things Katie. She is the co founder of Higher Innovations and she's pioneering what many are calling the Shop My for career content. It's an AI native affiliate platform that allows Creators to actually earn revenue by connecting their audience to real verified career opportunities. Hey friend, welcome back to Call Her Creator. Powered by your all in One Creator Store, Stan. Stan is the easiest way for you to make money online. All of your courses, digital products and bookings are hosted within your link in Bio. If you're ready to start your free trial, visit my show notes and click my affiliate link to get started today. So, Katie, welcome.
B
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
A
Yes, I want to. I always have these big bad intros, but then I'm like, wait, we need to dumb that down first. So let's dumb this down for a minute. Tell us in simpler terms. What do you do? What have you created? Tell us all the things. Let's start there.
B
Yeah. So Higher Innovations is our holding company, actually, and I'm a co founder of that. It's a company that is dedicated to helping companies connect to talent. And we all need talent as business leaders to grow our businesses. So that is our focus. And we're not a recruiting agency. We are the technology that powers all of this. So we got our start in programmatic ad tech for jobs. Think about like when indeed had emerged. You know, advertising for job listings is a thing. And like if, if you're like, oh, am I a job advertiser? And you're hiring, I bet you are. Like, you're probably posting on your social media like, hey, I'm hiring for this role. Or you're spending a fortune on LinkedIn, like getting your free, you know, monthly post. It's not free, but, you know, one post a month and that's a job ad, we'd say so. Job boards and all that. Where we sit is thinking about the next generation. How is the next generation going to connect to work? Because we're seeing like very diff, very different, you know, expectations and wants and needs from an employer from this next generation. So I'm particularly fascinated at how we can help support those, those emerging leaders.
A
This is so true. I was actually on a call this morning with a girl from my hometown and, and she. What they, they put something together called a leadership like development Summer summit over the summer. And they end up learning how today's generation is like learning soft skills. How are they finding jobs? Like, it's so crazy to think how much our generations have changed, you know, from when our parents were working to when we're working to what this new generation is coming along to. So let's take it back for a second because we didn't all start as CEOs. I was, you know, working in corporate and then freelancing, and then I decided to start my own company. So where does your CEO story originate from, first and foremost?
B
Oh, my gosh. Well, I love to start with, and I want to ask you this too, Kaylin, but my first job was scooping ice cream.
A
Oh, my gosh.
B
Making deli sandwiches. I was in high school, and then I worked at the mall all through college. And then I actually was a student of the fine arts, and I went into acting and tried to pursue that as a creative career and, you know, quickly, like, wanted to make more money more quickly and went to the corporate world. So every, every job I've had has kind of, like, made sense on this career journey of mine. It's very unique to me. But people ask me all the time, like, how did you become this tech founder as, when you started out as an actress after college? And, you know, the story is I, I just kept following, like, the next thing, like, kept building my skills and saying, okay, well, looking at leadership above me and saying, do I see myself being in their role one day? If not, why? And then I went to change it. If I did great, then I've got something to aspire and look towards. So that's a. That's how I approached my whole career. Higher Innovations is actually part of a family business which I have just recently joined. So it's, you know, that's how I got introduced to this industry. But prior to this, I was basically, like, running a startup within a larger company. I was at the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones for many years. And, like, I realized the startup phase, zero to one, was what I really loved doing. Call me crazy, I don't know why, but I just love it.
A
Are you in New York area then?
B
I am. I am.
A
So were you born and raised there?
B
I was born in Connecticut. Raised in Connecticut. I actually, I've moved back here with my family now. But yeah, we have an office, 41st in Madison. Oh, my God.
A
So cool. We go to. We try to go to New York once a year with our kids. We've been going for the past. I mean, it's only been. We're on our third or fourth year now, but we're. It's our thing now is to go to New York because it's just. There's just so much to see there. So that's insane that you live there. Like, I've never met someone who actually lives there, so that's good. And for your question, my first job was popping popcorn at the local Movie theater.
B
Yeah.
A
So funny. And I hate the smell of nacho cheese now because you would always make me clean the nacho cheese pan and it would, like, make me gag. So now I can't eat Mac or cheese. But that's just funny to like, see where we start from and like, where we're at now. So people don't really know, though, how actually cool you are. So Katie's worked with major brands like mtv, aol, she already said the Wall Street Journal. So Katie, at what point did you realize that you're like, okay, actually I need to build something on my own. I need to go work. Well, you said family business, so tell us about how that got started.
B
Sure. So I, I mean, in, in my experience at those large companies, I learned I'm a, I'm a very high agency, high octane person. And so what that means is I'm able to take on a lot of projects. I'm able to work really quickly. I'm able, I'm able to see the impact I'm making. I thrive in that. I used to plan events and all that, that kind of stuff. Working at those larger companies, it moves so slow. There are so many things I'm not in control of. I can't make my own decision. Like, I have framework I can make decisions around. And, you know, I found honestly, like, it was very challenging, like, how do we change? How do we grow revenue streams? And we did, we. We had a new revenue stream up to $20 million for the business that didn't exist. But to get there took years. And I'm like, it doesn't have to be this hard. The number one lesson I learned though is you have to protect the brand in whatever you're doing. And that's why the, there's so much red tape. And so I, you know, I've taken the best practices around that, like, what's the best brand that we can build? But then more towards my nature of like being startupy and scrappy, I just like love that. Was time to consider something else. And I tried consulting. And so, you know, I know a lot of people on here are maybe independent consultants. And I like to. What I didn't like about it was constantly selling myself if that made sense. Like, that was 50% of the work. And I'm like, I just want to do the work for my clients.
A
Yes.
B
First project was with the family business as they were thinking about how's the next generation, you know, retiring? What, what is emerging? Not only what is emerging leadership look like, what is the emerging technology look like. And that's where I was like, uh huh. Like this is a good opportunity, whether it's a family business or not. I had to apply in. They made me work everywhere for like the past two decades. But oh my God. Yeah, but it's cool.
A
That is really awesome. So you've been described as creating the shop my for career content. So if people are like, what is the shop my? It's kind of like, like to know it. Like you can like promote things that you like. Right. So like break that down for us in simple terms. Like when people are saying that about you and what you do, what do they mean by that?
B
Yes. So we are building a new category of influencers. I'd say we are the career creator. Okay, and who's a career creator? Well, it's really anybody who has a career has trust and respect as a professional. Um, so you know, in terms of like, who do we work with? It's, it's those people. You see them on LinkedIn, you see them on TikTok, you see them in newsletters, and you know they're scraping the Internet for the top 20 jobs and they don't get paid to do that. So we created a system.
A
Okay, I have a question for you. Are you the friend who plans everything when it comes to trips? Like you're comparing hotels, finding the best spots, building the itinerary, and everyone else just shows up. If that's you, you've probably already thought like a travel advisor. You just haven't been paid for it yet. And that's exactly what Fora is built for. Fora is a modern travel agency for people who love planning travel and want to turn that into real income. They give you everything you need, the training, the booking tools, and a full community of advisors. So you're not figuring it out alone. And what I love is how simple it actually is. As a Fora advisor, you get access to over 7,000 travel partners, everything from luxury hotels to boutique stays. And you can offer your clients perks like upgrades, resort credits and late checkout things most people don't even know how to access. And every time you book a trip, you earn commission. So if you're already the one planning the trips anyways, this is one of those, why am I not doing this moment. Now's the time to turn your love for travel into something that actually pays you back. Become a Fora advisor today@foratravel.com CHC that's F O R A travel.com CHC and make sure you tell them that we sent you. Okay, real life moment. There is nothing more humbling than owning a home and realizing, oh, I'm responsible for everything. Like, when something breaks, there's no landlord to call. It's just you, Google and a potential $2,000 problem staring you in the face. And you never know what it's going to be. It could be a water heater going out or a burst pipe. It's always unexpected and it's always expensive. And the worst part, a lot of those things, the plumbing issues, the H vac breakdowns, they're not always covered by your standard homeowner's insurance. That's where HomeServe comes in. They offer plans that help protect against those kinds of repairs, starting at just 499amonth. So instead of scrambling to find someone last minute, you can call their 247 hotline and get connected with a local experienced technician. It's super simple. You just choose a plan that fits your needs and your budget. And if something on your plane goes wrong, you just call to start the repair process. And honestly, that is a peace of mind for me. If I need needed something like this, HomeServe is what I would use. HomeServe has been helping homeowners for over 20 years with a network of 2,600 local experienced contractors and over 4.5 million customers. So if you want to help protect your home systems and your wallet from covered repairs, go to homeserve.com, find a plan that's right for you. That's homeserve.com not available everywhere. Most plans range between 4.99 to $11.99 a month. Your first year terms apply on covered
B
repairs connected to our core business at higher innovations of like, how do we take the employer's jobs and distribute them in a new way? And looking at the trends of like, where did consumer spending go? Well, it all went to affiliate marketing and creator partnerships. So, you know, why would hiring be any different? It's still a direct to consumer relationship. So when we say we're the shopmaier, the ltk of jobs, it means that creators can join our platform. It's a technology, they get access to our exclusive job network and it's different than the links they're finding everywhere else. And the reason why it's different is because they're commissionable. So if you're a creator, you're creating job content using your unique attribution code, and then you get paid when your audience engages and implies. But the thing is, like, you also have to withhold a standard of quality for yourself and understanding of your audience. And, you know, that's where we've seen it be really quite lucrative for people.
A
Is there different? Let's say, like, we'll just give myself as an example because most of my listeners know, like, I have this following on Instagram you, we've already talked about, though. Like, you don't need a certain amount of followers to do this, correct? Or are y' all looking for someone that has, like, a bigger audience?
B
I mean, we want to support all the emerging creators here because I think that's exactly right. Like, we're going for quality over quantity.
A
Okay.
B
But we are looking at the audience. There is a qualification. We have a system of how we're vetting creators. Mostly because, like, the decision to go and work somewhere is more high stakes than just buying, you know, favorite, like, lip gloss of the.
A
Oh, my God. We said lip gloss at the same time. And I didn't even holding it.
B
This one's mine and I'm not an influencer, but that's literally always on my desk.
A
I love that. Okay, Okay. I like this. Okay, so then we're going to take myself as an example. I'm trying to monetize my following. So what would you tell me to do, like, today, in the next 90 days, if I want to start making money from the people that are following me? How would I work with you in your company?
B
Well, I'd say Caitlin, like, you're definitely approved. Um, you are like the queen of the creator. Like, call her creator. So easy in. And what you would do is sign up for the platform and you'd be prompted a few questions like, who's your audience? What type of professions do you think they're looking for? And we know in this community, it's creatives, it's entrepreneurs, it's people who are social media media savvy. So when we apply those filters, you will start seeing roles relevant to your community. And then you copy paste. You can create some of the creative in app and. Or in on. On the platform and then post it directly to. If it's Instagram, great. But it, you know, choose your channel. It'll work for any of them.
A
Oh, my gosh. I could see me just easily adding a spot on my newsletter that I sent out every week. And it's like job board. Here's some top jobs that I found and linking people through that.
B
Totally. We have a new feature called Job Tree. Okay, this sounds like link tree, something that you might have heard or Use even, but I know I do. But the idea is it's your unique collection of jobs and employers essentially. And what you're saying to your followers is like, hey, I really like this company, Macy's. You know, and if you're somebody who is a beauty girl like me, and you're looking for your first next step, or you're looking for a way to like make ends meet, there's all these jobs here and there's people hiring. So, you know, you wouldn't recommend something you don't know anything about. That's like, in general, just, you know, people like to recommend what they know. So I think, you know, if you think that adds value to your audience, then it's a way for them to feel really, like, supported, seen, and you're not selling anything. So I love this.
A
What? Okay, speaking of all of this, like, was there. Did you guys see something broken in the current system with like traditional job boards and hiring systems? Like, what. What's your thoughts on that?
B
Oh, yes. So this is where, yeah, the system is a disaster. And why I say that is because AI, as much as I personally love it and for our company, love it, has really disrupted the process and the system. What's happening is when people want to go and apply, they are vibe coding their resumes to word for word match the job description. And the tech is essentially using AI to filter all that inbound. And so what you have happening is this like bot talking to bot activity. And in fact, it's actually, you don't want a hundred percent match on the job description. It's an immediate disregard because they can tell that you've used AI for that.
A
Wow. I was just going to say there's a girl I knew that I worked with back in the day and she's been on LinkedIn and I think she said it's been 24 months of her applying to jobs. And she mentioned something too about AI just telling her no immediately without even like a real human knowing what was going on behind the scenes.
B
So this is such a viral thing right now on social media. And I'm sorry for your friend and I, I see that all the time. And I just think, like, what's missing is a little bit more of like, what do you do after you apply? Like, what are the steps? Cause it's not. Here are the things if you are going to apply. It's like you want to be in first as soon as the job is fresh. And that's like how our network works is we're constantly refreshing Every day. Okay. But you also want to be the first one of the first to apply because higher chances that you'll get seen. But then you're like looking at the job description. This is information. And there are clues in here that I have to do some work around and research. And in the job description, look for the things that are like, who does the job report into? Oh, it might be a manager of operations. So what you do next is go to LinkedIn and you say, do I know this person? Do I know anyone who knows this person? Do I know anyone who knows anyone at this company? And you, you look for your way in. By in, I mean you need to meet somebody and get a referral in addition to applying. And we've seen that about some 70% of hires are from referrals. So that's still true even in this AI world.
A
That makes so much sense. Do you? Well, it seems like you do. Why do you think that creators are better positioned? Let me ask you something. Have you ever had an idea for a business but you immediately thought, what if nobody buys? Or what if I don't know what I'm doing? Because I've been there. When I started my business, I didn't have a full team. I didn't have the perfect systems in place. I just had an idea and the willingness to figure it out as I went. And honestly, having a platform like Shopify would have made that process so much easier. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and literally powers 10% of all E commerce in the US so whether you're just getting started or scaling, it grows with you. You can build a beautiful online store with their ready to use templates, use built in AI tools to write product descriptions and content, and even run email and social campaigns all in one place. And one of my favorite parts, that shop pay button, it makes checkout so seamless, which means fewer abandoned carts and more actual sales. So if you've been sitting on an idea or you're ready to take your business seriously, it's time to turn those what ifs into with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today@shopify.com CHC that's shopify.com CHC than the actual company to connect people with opportunities. So not even talking about AI, but do you think like creators could bring better candidates versus the company trying to do it themselves?
B
Yeah. So two things on this. I think we're having a moment where creator marketing in general is very important to the consumer brand story. And why should it be any different with hiring? Because companies don't know this or they might not realize, but they have a whole team of influencers and creators and it's the people who are sitting inside the walls of their organization. And so, you know, one of the things we talk to brands about at Job Stream is like, how do you empower that your people to, to be your best advocates and to be your creators? So, you know, it starts with incentivization, but it also starts with like, is this an actual great place to work that I want to talk about? And if it's not, go and fix that first.
A
Right. I like that, but you're right. This will incentivize them to promote the job. For people that are taught thinking about this and they're like, well, this could actually be like a revenue stream for me. How can they monetize through something like this? Like, let's say that they're. I like to say let's dumb it down for them. Like, walk us through that.
B
Yeah. So I think if you're looking for diversified revenue streams, this fits in. And especially when consumer spending is down and you're not getting the brand partnerships as much and you're not seeing the affiliate links as much. So what you would do is you would sign up and we'd get you approved and you could start curating your own jobs that your community would like. I would say if you're not somebody who has a newsletter, you can do it on whatever channel works best. So let's say you had a hundred clicks and applications right now, like, you'd probably be making 2,500. And we've seen creators, like, with the higher volume signing up and earning within three days, a thousand dollars that week. Holy, holy cow. I know.
A
I mean, it's running to sign up after this.
B
Oh my gosh, we'd love to have you. And yeah, I mean, it's also like, people always ask, like, why, why are you not doing, like, paid partnerships with creators? And I said, well, what are we paying for? Because what we're really doing is giving better access to real jobs. We're doing the vetting, we're taking things off the job board. And also, like, we're not. You're not selling anything, so why are we paying?
A
Right, right.
B
You have to be like,
A
yeah, I
B
can see for the creator who's like, when was the last time I helped my followers? And if you can't answer that question, it becomes a very natural way. They're high value. Jobs are high value. Content and hey, we all need them. And your creators, your followers need financial income to buy everything else that you're recommending, you're gonna promote.
A
Yeah. Is there a certain type of creat you think is best positioned for something like this?
B
So someone who's best positioned, who will hit that 1000 mark is someone who's already talking to their audience about work. And it's get ready for work. With me it's a day in the life as a nurse. With me it's, you know, here are a bunch of remote positions and what we love about the creators who have their own like digital businesses, for example, as it fits right in, they're helping people already who are motivated to find, find more monetization pathways. So you give them as a benefit to your business the opportunity to also become creators and make money. So the referral, that, that's more of like our referral strategy but like is also quite lucrative if you are think of yourself as a serial connector for creators.
A
I love this. Do you think this is like the same as affiliate marketing or would you say it's different from affiliate marketing?
B
We play in the affiliate marketing space and that's because we also work with the brands and we work with communities, associations and schools. So because of that and because of the nature of we are doing commissionable links and clicks and it's a fraction of a revenue that you earn and like that's what keeps it affiliate. But what we're seeing is like it's quickly becoming a marketplace. We have brands reaching out directly to us saying, hey, like we just want all your creators. And that's where we can do more of the like paid content creation and brand specific campaigns. And that might look like something like, you know, the stuff you always get in your inbox, like here's $500 to create this 20 second video. And by the way, like we're also going to pay you for anybody who clicks and applies after the, after the video you posted. So it's, it's taking, it's taking on a life of like beyond what we could have expected. But that's exciting.
A
Super exciting. If someone were to sign up and start doing this, are there any things that they could do to maybe position themselves as a trusted connector in their niche? Like are there things that you would expect them to do or suggest they do to make people trust them to apply for that job?
B
Well, I think I always say this. If you're not sure, the easiest way is to talk to your audience and ask and like we have A creator who's a journalist, and she left her, like, amazing ABC job and branched out on her own. And she's like, well, I don't know. Like, I don't know what they want to do. And I said, why don't you just, like, put it in your reels or your stories and do one of those yes or no things and just say, like, I found three jobs. Would people be interested if I started posting, like, vetting jobs for you? And unanimously, it was 100% said, yes.
A
I am feeling that idea. I love that. And that's what. That. You're right. And that's what's going to make people trust. Like, if there's someone I follow and she posts all the time, she provides so much value. Like, if she's like, hey, I'm about to vet these jobs for you, heck yes, I want them. Send them to me an email, post them on your Instagram story, send a reel, like, whatever it takes for, for me to. Yeah, I like that a lot. What about mindset shifts? Because I'm all about. I'm a mindset girly. What mindset shifts do you think that creators need to make if they want to thrive in the next phase of this creator economy?
B
My prediction is the mindset very similar to what's happening with the journalists right now. They're taking their following and they're starting their own businesses. I think it's. That's the most entrepreneurial opportunity that a creator has. And you, like, a business, have multiple revenue streams and you're thinking about, how do I own my. My audience? And not in like a creepy way, but, like, how do I connect with them on a deeper level. When you're on the platforms, you're working for the platforms, you're working for TikTok, you're working for Instagram, you're working on LinkedIn, and you're feeding them with all of the data of the people who you brought there. Right? So what we're seeing already is this emergence of the creatorpreneur who's saying, I want my own CRM, meaning, like, I want my own follower database. I want their email addresses now. I want to be able to reach out to them. I want to be able to have a community and bring people together. And that's what really it's like, all about. If you are somebody who has this influence. Oh, my gosh, so funny. By the way, if you guys can't
A
tell, we both went to drink our Stanley's at the same time and you
B
know, you're Somebody who is helping LinkedIn learn their algorithm and what you want to do is, you know, just take your audience into your own environment and then I think your business can really flourish and from there that's where you can control more of the conversations around what brand opportunities do I have? What systems can I create that operate themselves so that there's passive income always at play here? You know, creators are not just like product pushing channels, like they're media distribution. So the opportunity you have is amazing. Like AI has also made it so easy and democratized for anyone to become a tech founder, by the way. And what's going to set any of that future success apart is the visibility and the distribution and the trusted network. If you already have that, you can pretty much keep figuring out how to make money for a long time. As long as it's a good product.
A
I love that. I love that. Okay, some quick, I can't remember what I call this. Oh like quick fire questions I want to ask you. If you had a creator working with you guys, what is your like favorite channel for them to post on?
B
It's really a multi channel.
A
Okay. So you don't really care as long as they're sharing about it, right?
B
As long as they're sharing about it. The reason we were launching jobtree is because b everybody asked like oh well can I just like make my own job board? And we're like, well we're not really a job board like for the anti job board, but here's your personalized thing that's going to live and it's evergreen and it's going to continue to make you money when you go to sleep.
A
Right. What are some niches that you're seeing right now working with you guys already?
B
So niches that are working are where there are careers in high volume hiring. And by that I mean when you hear there are no jobs on the job market, it's really not true. Like we even have access to millions of them. They are not showing up in the job boards and that's because companies don't want to advertise and put their money on, you know, it's like highway robbery sometimes. But they are know that.
A
I didn't, I've never even put my job stuff on the job boards and stuff because I, I live in a very small town so it's like word of mouth or Facebook posts and I'll get people to apply. So like it's costing them money already to use these job boards.
B
Absolutely it is. And again AI is like giving AI slop inbound candidates now. So, like the job to go through thousands of applications to find out that nobody is qualified has a cost to the business too. So. But it sounds like you have a strong like referral and word of mouth strategy. That's still the best option. It's just like, how do you use this information as a job seeker to like help get that referral, you know?
A
Yeah, for sure, for sure. Wow, this is really very, very interesting. So, okay, I know people listening right now. They're like, okay, I'm running to sign up. How can they connect with you? How can they sign up? Tell us all the things of, of getting started with all of this.
B
So I'm on LinkedIn.
A
Okay.
B
Katie Clark Fortunato is the end of that. And then, you know, connect with me there. And if you are someone who's interested in jobstream specifically, go to getjobstream.com and Kaylin will give your community a code so that they can just get through. But it's gonna be your name basically. And we'll send you a link.
A
I'll link it in the show notes, guys.
B
Awesome. Yeah. And that's, that's where you can reach me. We're also on Instagram and TikTok.
A
Okay. Do you guys have any fun stuff that you're looking forward to, to 2026 or like, do you guys go, do you do any marketing or go to any events? Talk about that side with me real quick.
B
Yeah, so this week I'm going to Austin. I'm going to the New Media Summit. Oh, yes. It's. It's kind of like a big newsletter place. Like obviously we love newsletters as a channel. We'll be there. We. I mean, you tell me, where are the creator events that we need to be going?
A
I know, you know, I'm looking into that. So I'm a mom. We talked about this before. So I'm in my era. Like there was times when I wanted to travel everywhere and go to every event, but now it's like 10 year old, 5 year old. It's like these are these crucial ages. So I've been home a lot, but I was seeing some events today. Like there was some in Palm Beach Gardens with Entrepreneurista, which was a bunch of female founders and entrepreneurs that would probably be a good one to connect with. By the way, Stan, usually Stan, I need to talk to Jay. Jay, if you're listening, we need to talk because we need some creator events with Stan. They're really great at supporting their creators, but they haven't done an event in a while, but they'll do little fireside kind, like events, like smaller meetups with creators. But I don't know. That's a really great question. And maybe we can ask the listeners if there's events out there. Social media today. Like, I'm more of, like, the social media tech side. I feel like you, Katie, could go to a lot of. You know, you can go to any niche you want at the end of the day because you're promoting different jobs in different areas and different niches. But, yeah, if you guys know of any events to help me and Katie out, send them over in the DMs and. And I'll send them over to you, Katie.
B
Amazing.
A
Good. Perfect. All right, well, this was really insightful, guys. I'm going to tell you for a fact, like, this sounds like the easiest way to make money. Even if I post a story, a simple story on Instagram and say, hey, we're hiring. Let me know if you know anyone that's a video editor. I get thousands of DMs, so imagine if you said, like, hey, I'm. I've found these really nice jobs. I want you to apply for them if you're looking for a job. Like, this is just the easiest way to get started.
B
Started. Oh, my God, already. You have all the makings to be successful if you have that going.
A
I'm running to sign up for this because I'm trying to just have established streams of income, and this would just be an easy one and a fun one at that. So thank you, Katie, for coming on today.
B
Thanks, Caitlin. Be great to have you come to our podcast, too.
A
Yes, we'll do that. We'll talk after I turn us off.
B
Awesome. All right, nice to meet you all. Thanks.
Episode 147: How Creators Can Monetize Their Audience Without Brand Deals or a Ton of Followers with Katie Fortunato
Date: April 21, 2026
Guest: Katie Fortunato, Co-founder of Higher Innovations
This episode explores innovative ways for creators and influencers to monetize their audience without relying on brand deals or having huge followings. Host Katelyn Rhoades sits down with Katie Fortunato, co-founder of Higher Innovations, to discuss the evolution of the creator economy, the emergence of “career creators,” and practical, actionable strategies for building scalable revenue streams (including job affiliate marketing). The conversation focuses on using trust, audience connection, and resource-sharing to generate income—making it relevant for both established and emerging creators.
Bottom line:
The creator economy is bigger than brand deals and products—real, recurring income is possible by being a trusted connector and curating unique opportunities for your audience. Monetization is now about value, not vanity metrics.