Mental Health, a Bill of Rights, Fair Labor: How Shira Lazar is Helping to Organize the Creator Economy

The Creator Economy is a $250B industry powerhouse. So, how do you keep the creators at the heart of it from being exploited? Find out below.

There is no creator economy without creators and no podcast advertising without podcasters. So, brands have a vested interest in making sure the economy is run responsibly and sustainably.

On this week’s episode of Media Roundtable, Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road) hosts Emmy-nominated digital culture expert Shira Lazar (Founder, What’s Trending and Creators 4 Mental Health), who is at the heart of the effort to help creators.

Join us as Shira and Dan talk: Fair Labor, Mental Health, and The Creator Bill of Rights.

“In the trenches of [the Creator Economy], there’s a lack of infrastructure and support, and that is wild to me considering the maturation of this industry and how quickly it’s evolving.” – Shira Lazar (Founder, What’s Trending and Creators 4 Mental Health)

Labor is Labor –  Brands want to work with creators. Creators want to work with brands. Yet some deals go nowhere. Shira recommends a two-step approach to avoid Project Purgatory. First, agree on a budget and get a contract. Basic, but necessary. Then do ideation. No one benefits when creators do creative labor on spec. It doesn’t allow creators to develop relationships with brands and it’s too easy for brands to walk away. If you don’t want them for a full engagement yet, hire them as a consultant. You’ll get high-level thoughts you can use, and you can end it quickly if it’s not a fit.

Highlighting the Hurt – If we had a gym where 30-50% of the people were seriously injured, we’d notice. Shira founded Creators 4 Mental Health because studies show that social media is clearly hurting creators, yet they lack protections and infrastructure. The organization’s landmark study found 1 in 10 creators reported suicidal thoughts (nearly twice the average adult rate in the U.S.), and 9 in 10 lacked access to specialized mental health care. The lynchpin of the creator economy is fragile and, on its current path, not sustainable (62% of creators experience burnout). Just like podcasting has needed to install safeguards, the creators who underpin the creator economy need the same thing.

The Creator Bill of Rights – Why does a bill of rights for creators matter to marketers? Because creators are a workforce. One with few protections and little leverage against their platforms or brand partners, but whose unique talents move hundreds of billions globally. Shira, Lisandra Vásquez, and Rep. Ro Khanna were the bill’s co-architects. Just like we’ve tried to bring transparency to brand safety to create stable podcast marketing, transparency and protection for creators benefits brands. Your favorite host who gives killer live reads is a creator. If you want them to create sustainably, their party of the economy needs to be formalized.

For more insights from a powerhouse helping to organize the creator economy we all rely on, check out the full episode below.