Amy Kelly, cofounder of Revive Health Therapy, is a licensed family therapist who sees many creators. She is familiar with many of these issues, likening the growth of the industry to “a machine that’s been built with zero maintenance.”
She says influencers and creators can also lose their sense of perspective, due to the constant synthetic connections they’re forming online.
“When we are getting these likes and hearts and messages, we get these dopamine responses … It mocks and mimics in real-life interaction,” she says.
But on the flip side, when those comments aren’t flattering, it can feel disproportionately bad. “My reaction is going to be heightened versus like a random person on the street shouting some bad words to me,” she says.
It’s a problem Powell can relate to. She says she recently was called fat online simply for praising a performance by Beyoncé’s daughter, Blue Ivy. When she helped launch a cannabis community for Black women in the industry, she says she was subjected to harassment on X—mostly by other Black people—and was accused of “trying to plant ideas about drug use and the Black community.”
When she’s talking to executives, Powell sometimes emphasizes her marketing background rather than her status as an influencer. She says there’s “definitely some stigma” around the latter, where it’s perceived as “not a real job.”
But that perception is one that’s changing, according to Danial Abas, president of the Creators Guild of America. The guild, which formed in 2023, is a nonprofit organization aimed at protecting and advocating for creators and influencers. It is not a union.
“I think that people and businesses don’t quite recognize what influence means,” Abas says. “Attention is commerce, and every business requires attention … Creators are ahead of the curve in that they are creating attention for themselves.”
The guild, which says it represents more than 1,000 creators (Abas would not provide an exact number), recently released a “rider,” a set of standards that companies working with creators can adapt and legally comply with. One of the key principles is agreeing to pay creators within 90 days. Abas says lack of payment is a major stressor on creators.
“At a fundamental level, not knowing whether or not you’re going to pay rent or your mortgage for work you’ve already done isn’t right,” Abas says, noting that creators are often “not treated as professionals.” In terms of creating legitimacy for the profession, the guild is also looking at establishing accreditation for certain creators and establishing a database called Hue, similar to IMDB, to display their work.
The rider also stipulates that creators own the content they make. Abas says the rider has already been adopted by brands like Whalar and Linktree.
Abas says the guild is not a union because it wouldn’t have the leverage of being able to strike, and “requiring payment terms can actually stifle creativity.” Likewise, he says the guild can’t yet provide medical benefits to members, who pay $99 a year.
Lazar says she’s been in talks with multiple associations to assess how creators might be able to qualify for health benefits, but it’s still a work in progress. She’s also hoping that others are inspired to follow CreatorCare’s suit.
Unlike Powell, she doesn’t see an off-ramp for herself and the pull of being a creator—so she wants to improve the conditions for everyone.
“I’m like Joan Rivers; I’ll be creating until I die,” she says, “which is why I want to make sure I can thrive.”
