Hey honeys and hustlers,

Last year, I started a series called PHR Staff Picks. This is where I shared the top creators that caught my eye in 2024. My criteria was relatively simple. I looked for creators who made the leap into a new medium, introduced a new revenue stream into their business, started a new storytelling format, and made an impact on culture. Those posts were a lot of fun to make, so I’m bringing them back for 2025. I’ve got 9 creators on the list and 2 honorable mentions, so let’s see how many you agree with!

P.S. I’m co-hosting a live virtual event to help you develop your podcast interview skills on December 18th! I’m sharing my tips, journey, and fails. Stay until the end to learn more and RSVP for free!

// Joshua Neal. He stopped posting skits on social media for a few months and acted in his first feature-length movie, One of Them Days, with SZA and Keke Palmer, which premiered in theatres in January. His mom passed away a few months later, which was a big blow. He started posting skits again after his mom died, which takes so much strength. He even started a new short-form series that went viral on Twitter, which is an increasingly rare feat with the waning user base on the platform.

// Adrian Per. He went from incredibly popular short-form videos on Instagram to dedicated 2025, the year he would post long-form videos on YouTube regularly. He was given gold status on Instagram and has appeared on The Futur podcast and The 505 Podcast, sharing his journey from broke to paid. Such an incredible and inspiring story for many people who’ve had big dreams and moved to a new place to pursue them.

// Colin and Samir. Their houses were burned down in the California fires in January, shortly after Samir had a kid, and Colin had a kid on the way. This could’ve easily impacted their entire year, but it didn’t. They upped their social game by starting short-form video series specifically for Instagram, and hosted their first live event conference, Publish Press NYC (I love this website, omg). They could’ve stayed stagnant once they reached 1M YouTube subscribers and 100K+ newsletter subscribers, but they’ve continued to expand their creative formats and revenue streams.

// Don Lemon. In a podcast episode on Mixed Signals by Semafor, he shared that he is on pace to make more than he did in the height of his mainstream journalism career at CNN through his YouTube channel and merch line. He started his independent media journalism stint on Twitter and swiftly left the platform after 1 year due to a falling out with Elon Musk. He has since thrived with livestreaming on YouTube and Substack. In a livestream video with Joy Reid, he shared that he also likes the flexibility of independent journalism, which has allowed him to inject more of his personality into his work. Not every journalist who has been ousted from their job has the notoriety of Don Lemon, BUT if Don Lemon can rebuild his journalism archive and fanbase better than ever in 3-5 years, that would be a considerable feat.

// Cheyenne Ewulu. She crowdfunded her comic book store show, The Comic Shop Series, which is now available on YouTube. She raised over $200K on Kickstarter to create this series, garnered organic media coverage in legacy outlets, and launched merch for the show. She took a page from the books of Issa Rae and Spike Lee and leveraged the internet and fandom to grow her indie media business. She writes, directs, and acts in the show. I can’t wait for the rest of the season and whatever she writes next!

// Becca Farsace. I featured Becca in a previous article about women creators in tech, and it’s been a joy to see her experiment with new and vintage tech in a unique way through video. Her videos ooze calmness and authenticity. She left her job at The Verge to start her independent media journey around this time last year. She has since hired an agent and earned roughly $150K in revenue. I would estimate that she made less than half of that in her yearly salary at The Verge (no shade to that outlet, they do great tech reporting and videos). She releases 1 video each week, including at least 1 short-form video. To complement her revenue from brand partnerships and to expand her ability to outsource editing, design, and motion graphics, she also started a Patreon. I’m excited to see how she continues to grow her independent media brand.

// Lex Roman. I initially subscribed to Lex’s previous newsletter, Journalists Pay Themselves. I am not a journalist, but when I was looking to grow my paid subscription tier (RIP), this was the best resource on the internet, hands down. They have since folded that newsletter into Project C and launched a new newsletter called Revenue Rulebreaker, which still largely covers paid subscription strategies but also offers tips on collaborating with newsletter writers and growing your independent media brand revenue streams. In addition to being a fellow Substack troller, they also have a YouTube channel that is becoming one of the best places to learn how to build newsletter communities and businesses online.

// Jason Carman. I found Jason through Twitter (rare) when he posted a video spotlight featuring the founder of Daylight Computer. I then went to his YouTube channel, titled S3, which hosted his video podcast of the same name, where he interviewed founders working on new tech hardware and products. S3 has since transformed Story Inc., and the channel name is now his personal YouTube channel. Through this rebrand, he’s expanded his channel from just video interviews into short films (both narrative and documentary) about space and solo deep dives into topics related to space, science, and tech innovation. Truly incredible space (no pun intended) that he’s carving for himself in media and independent creator-led journalism.

// Emily Sundberg. The Feed Me newsletter has become a place even traditional outlets look to for scoops. She has grown her publication into a multiplatform media business with the launch of the Expense Account podcast (I love this name), adding additional writers, hiring an editor, and premiering exclusives (like the fact that Substack is bringing sponsorships to the platform). She has previous journalism experience, with her words featured in New York Magazine, GQ, and ELLE. Mixed with her social and film chops, she’s created a powerhouse daily newsletter that is the envy of many who aspire to achieve the same local newsletter + national reach hype (it’s me, hi).

// Ziwe. Ziwe didn’t do anything drastically new in her media business this year, besides adding her show to Substack. HOWEVER, YouTube is TV and Ziwe owns late night TV, in my humble opinion. I believe I’ve watched her last 3 episodes on the same night they premiered. This interview with Vince Staples deserves an award. I can’t remember the last time I did that since cable. She’s had her show on Showtime and has written a book, so I’m excited to see how she’ll grow her formats and/or revenue streams in 2026.

// EJ Marcus. They are a short-form creator who’s made the leap to long form in an interesting way. They share short-form video skits on Instagram and have gotten the opportunity to write comedy for the HBO series, I Love LA. They made a post taking a shot at the critics who say that short-form video creators rarely make the successful leap to long form, and I think their entry into long-form comedy isn’t one most people end up taking, especially when they’re known for being in front of the camera. I’m excited to see how their TV writing and maybe even film writing journey progresses, given the state of Hollywood. Will they write and produce their own YouTube TV series in 2026?

As I looked over the list of creators I accumulated over the year, I started to notice some common threads. Many of these creators bounced back from extreme personal loss. They leveraged their creative strengths to create deeper in their lane, rather than invent new ones. Many of them exercised transparency with their audience through more than simple announcement posts – they leveraged storytelling and even brand partnerships to build their transformations and evolutions into their media business platforms. The “why I’m leaving Twitter/why I’m no longer posting xyz” videos and posts are played out. People don’t care about the why nearly as much as they care about you and what’s next. So tell them the story of what’s next, and fulfill that promise with every action you take following that.

I try to remind myself of that when I’m hard on myself and moving through grief. I don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but I can still be innovative while leaning into my strengths as a creator. I don’t need to publish relentlessly as if I’m not experiencing challenging moments or craving rest, but I do need to be consistent enough, experiment regularly, and show up for my community online and IRL as I’m able. Business efforts compound, and adding revenue streams happens as you gain traction 1 by 1. Consistency with a little chaos sprinkled in looks boring and unsustainable, until there’s no one left even remotely in your category but you. Keep. Freaking. Going. (after you get some rest)

Let me know which creators you agree with, which ones you learned about, and what you’re excited to expand into next year!