Max Klymenko pauses 130-country world tour
Caitlyn Kumi on staffing up as a corporate-turned-B2B creator
Disney and TikTok strike deal; YouTube is making it harder to start earning money
Courtesy of Whalar Group
Career Ladder’s Max Klymenko on creator inequality, AI anxieties, and his world tour
Max Klymenko boasts more than 16 million followers and last year was named the TikTok Awards UK & Ireland’s creator of the year. In his most popular series, the “Career Ladder,” he stands on a ladder across from a guest and attempts to guess their current job in under two minutes — or the first job of high-profile guests, from the new UK prime minister to Will Smith and Gordon Ramsay.
As a former intellectual property lawyer and corporate consultant, it’s not lost on Klymenko that for many young people, his job as a creator is the dream career. In an interview on the ladder this summer, Klymenko talked openly about challenges in his own industry, like the inequality in the creator economy. We also discussed his job path, the strategy behind his 130-country world tour, and why he’s all-in on streaming.
Klymenko’s own career journey is intertwined with his content.
“It took me like five years to try a job of being a lawyer, and like five hours to realize that I don't want to do it,” Klymenko said of his own career path. The “Career Ladder” show, for which he is now best known, was inspired in part by his own struggles to find a job and a desire to inspire viewers with job ideas they may never have heard of and to help them learn more about what those jobs actually look like.
His early content was also tied to his personal career journey: He started a podcast as an excuse to interview an employee at a company that had rejected him four times. He asked that initial podcast guest for a job, and eventually was hired by the company, only to later leave to pursue content full time.
He worried the concept of standing on the actual ladder, which he said was inspired by seeing two construction workers, was “too cringe,” so the original ladder he purchased for the series sat untouched for two months.
With a show focused on careers and jobs, he said he is trying to battle both his own and his audience’s cynicism, particularly among young male viewers, by inspiring people to consider paths they may have never heard of before. “I’m Ukrainian, so I get it. Things are bad, okay? They’re bad. That being said, however, there’s a lot of things to look forward to,” he said.
The Creator Takeover: How creators flexed their power this week.
A Rainey Center poll found 35 percent of Americans get political information from creators at least somewhat often. And 48 percent said campaigns should not be allowed to pay influencers to promote candidates, even when the payments are disclosed. (Anchor Change)
California may fine content creators who don’t disclose they were paid to post about politics (Los Angeles Times)
Top creators’ secret weapon? Indian video editors (Hollywood Reporter)
Studios want creators. Do creators want them? (Rolling Stone)
The surprising truth about some of the most nostalgic videos on Instagram (New York Times)
What’s up with those hyperrealistic baby dolls on the internet? (Washington Post)
The influencer bubble is finally popping (Fast Company)
Sydney Towle, who chronicled her cancer on TikTok, dies at 26 (New York Times)
Perez Hilton hospitalized after harming himself on live stream (Washington Post)
Creator Q+A: Caitlyn Kumi
Courtesy of Caitlyn Kumi
Caitlyn Kumi is a personal finance, career and business creator, LinkedIn Top Voice, and Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient. She worked at Google before pursuing content full time and is the founder of Miss EmpowHer, a digital media company and women’s community.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Dylan Wells: You mentioned LinkedIn, which is currently investing in creators. How do you think about LinkedIn for creators versus other platforms?
Caitlyn Kumi: I am really passionate about LinkedIn. It has been something that's been instrumental in me growing Miss EmpowHer, it's helped me become a Forbes 30 Under 30. It helped me become a LinkedIn Top Voice. It helped me gain visibility in my career and industry recognition and respect as a marketer, so I really don't play when it comes to LinkedIn. But when it comes to the monetization, I have been asking for years for new features, and I feel like somebody's been listening. They just launched collaborative posts, which is going to be huge for creators looking to grow reach.
Some of my biggest brand deals this year, especially on the tech and finance side and even some lifestyle content as well, and the B2C space, have come from LinkedIn. I have about 7% to 10% of my audience that's CMOs — that is very beneficial to a brand that wants to reach decision makers. I have a lot of marketers that follow me, especially at big tech companies. I feel like there's never been a better time to be educated, smart, a thought leader. I'm excited to be a part of that wave.
The Platforms
Disney and TikTok strike deal to let creators make videos with its famous characters
YouTube is making it harder for creators to start earning money
US court rules Meta, other tech firms must face thousands of lawsuits over social media addiction
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