Creators are CEOs w/ Josh Zimmerman, The Creator Coach - Creator Rep Rundown

Welcome to ‘The Creator Rep’ weekend edition A.K.A ‘The Creator Rep Rundown’.

Grab a rum drink and relax under an umbrella as I ask five essential questions to a creator economy leader.

It’s like ‘Inside the Actor’s Studio’ with a younger, sexier James Lipton.

You can watch the full 10 minute chat here or read the transcript below:

Phil Ranta:

Hey everybody, it's Phil Ranta with The Creator Rep Newsletter and I am here with an old buddy of mine, Josh Zimmerman, the Creator Coach. Josh, can you tell the people why you're here?

Josh Zimmerman:

Well, Phil, I mean, when you ask me to do something or ask me to come on, I will say yes. So that is why I'm here, but I'm so excited to be with you and talking to everybody who's gonna be listening and watching.

Phil Ranta:

I love it, I love it. Can you give a little bit of your background? What is The Creator Coach? What do you do?

Josh Zimmerman:

Sure. So I am the first ever certified life coach for creators. And before that, I was a manager. And so I saw a white space in the market for at a time when there was a lot of articles about creators burning out. And as a manager, I loved it, but I saw that there was a real need for creators getting help around burnout. And as that progressed and as I became a certified coach, the business took off and I became a lot more, there's been a lot more growth outside of just working with creators, but I absolutely love working with my clients.

Phil Ranta:

I love it. So recovering creator rep. Well, we ask the same five questions to everybody, even though this is the first edition, that's the premise of this bit. So I'm going to give you the Creator Rep Rundown. Are you ready, Josh? All right. So question number one, do you think most creators need a representative?

Josh Zimmerman:

No. However, I will know however, only when you start to get brand deals or your growth really starts to take off. Other than that, you don't. It's as simple as that.

Phil Ranta:

I love it. Both of us are from the MCN era, so I feel that one deeply. What is the biggest challenge that creators face that a rep could help with?

Josh Zimmerman:

So could help with, got it. So I would say sustainability, right? And reminding the creators and the rep that this is a marathon and not a sprint. And really like sustainability and however, there's a conflict here. And the conflict is that the way that the rep makes money, which is usually a percentage of a brand deal that they secure for their client. So I think that the rep needs to be really clear about what they do and they don't do for their clients and then form strategic alliances with trusted parties that do specialize in things that creators may need that are not part of their scope of work. And that happens to me all the time. But I think one of the things that's so important is that creators will go to their manager for everything. And the manager doesn't want to say no, because that's their income, right? But that can really hold the creator back. That can eat a huge amount of the reps time where the rep could say, hey, listen, this is not my expertise, but I know someone that is a lawyer or a psychiatrist or psychologist or a coach or, you know, there are people that you can build a team around. And I think if, if reps are able to, look at this strategically and say, okay, how do I bring a team together around my talent so I can optimize my time? Then I think you're golden. I've seen some quite a bit of success with reps who think like that. And a lot of success with reps who are not success from a lot of reps who don't.

Phil Ranta:

Totally fair, totally fair. And what do you think is the biggest opportunity for creators in the market right now?

Josh Zimmerman:

These are good questions, Phil. I think the biggest opportunity is for creators to really understand that they are founders and CEOs and to look at what they're doing from that point of view. And that's really hard because most creators that I work with didn't ever want to be a business owner, a founder, a CEO, or really even famous or, you know, that was never on their mind. It was like, hey, I have something I'm going to upload it and then bam, it takes off.

So if creators are able to look at this from a business perspective, which again, is hard to do, then you can start to see if it's something that can grow into a company and if it's sustainable. That then will allow you to be able to plan and see how this can grow. However, knowing the market as well. And if this is something that you just want to do for fun and that it's not something that you the business side is is too stressful and Even though you have a manager and all these people and you're not having fun then I would say that this isn't a the biggest opportunity.

The biggest opportunity is to crash and burn and I think that it's important for creators to realize that, and reps and really everybody that right, like we have no idea when somebody is going to become, going to stop growing. and so diversification is really important. so I would say that is the biggest opportunity is diversifying and really taking a 10 ,000 foot view, of yourself and seeing what's going on and where you can use the help.

Phil Ranta:

I love that, hear that, TikTokers who might be losing your platform sometime within the next six months. Diversify! This one is a little bit controversial, but I'm going for it. Who is your favorite creator right now and why?

Josh Zimmerman:

Okay, so this question is way too hard. Of course, this is a Phil question. I have to be, I'm gonna be completely biased because they're my best friend. But I would say Trevor James, the Food Ranger, because I've been, I was his manager before and then we became friends. Stop managing him to be friends. And something that's so magical about what Trevor does is that…

The content that he makes is he goes around the world eating street food and he doesn't need to speak the language, but food is a universal language and being able to have the experience of going to another culture in another city and trying food through Trevor's POV, I think is really motivational not only to myself, but to see how it changes so many people's lives that...

Who may not be able to afford to travel is really inspirational. And listen, I know you asked this question, so I'm gonna give you two more because I'm not gonna listen to you at this one. The other one is the guys from Sorted Food. Those are my, I love them. And yeah, right? And the Vicarious Voyager. And he started right before the pandemic. And he is so entertaining. It's really smart travel content and it always put the smile on my face. And he doesn't upload a lot. So I'm a huge fan of his.

Phil Ranta:

I love it. I can tell already you got wanderlust and that you love food, so you're a man after my own heart. No wonder we get along so well. And last question of this round, but another controversial question. Who, not including Phil Ranta, the host, do you think is the best creator rep out there right now and why?

Josh Zimmerman:

Also, you're not going to pay me for, for, all right. Okay. that would have been a good brand deal. I'm thinking Phil, the person who immediately comes to mind is Byron Austin Ashley. and I've, you and I have known Byron for a long time. Right. And the thing about Byron is integrity. and I think one of the big things that in this creator space.

Phil Ranta:

Mmm. Settebello, yeah.

Josh Zimmerman:

…is there's a lot of people that say a lot of stuff. And a lot of it's not true. A lot of it's hot air. And the one thing that I know about Byron, because I've worked with him as a friend and seen his clients grow, is that he's so modest and flies under the radar, but is so dedicated to his clients and only works with clients that... he knows that he can help build brands, not just be, you know, a one trick pony, but really look at this and go, okay, how can I build a brand and a company with, around this person? And then does a phenomenal job, bringing different support mechanisms in. and, and he doesn't talk about it. He doesn't brag about it. And, and I'm just always impressed by him and, and how he works with his talent.

Phil Ranta:

I love it and I think that's a great answer. Also check out Chain, which Byron is also a part of. It's become my favorite food festival in LA already and we've only gone once. But man, Chain Restaurant food elevated, all you can eat. Hoo hoo hoo! It's good.

Josh Zimmerman:

It's not good for the diet, but I'm telling you, it's worth every single bite.

Phil Ranta:

I didn't eat for like 24 hours afterwards. It was fantastic. I enjoyed it. Well, Josh, thank you so much for surviving the crater rep gauntlet. You are our first guest, so you will forever be memorialized as number one. But thank you so much for being here. Where can people find you?

Josh Zimmerman:

People can just go on creatorcoach.com or CreatorCoach across any Social media platform or just follow you and then you're following me. So that's an easy way to find me.

Phil Ranta:

There we go, much appreciated my friend, thank you.

Josh Zimmerman:

Thanks, Will. Take care.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this edition, give it a share and if you get someone to sign up, I’ll send you my ‘10 Rep-Friendly Ways to Monetize Today!’ deck!

Until next time, protect yo rep.