2 years ago, I made a TikTok after work in my childhood bedroom.
By mia-mcgrath-6ab0911a1 · September 17, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
2 years ago, I made a TikTok after work in my childhood bedroom.
Today, I’ve built a business that’s made over £400k, I’m my own boss, and I’ve just become an author.
But I still feel like I’ve got so much to learn.
I recently spoke on a hot seat at the Creator Leaders Retreat about personal branding.
And despite having a fair bit to share, I probably came away having learned even more.
I used to think good content was mostly about hooks, retention and posting 24/7
Now I think it’s so much bigger than that.
Here are 3 things that stuck with me:
1. Think like a media company.
Jordan Schwarzenberger spoke about the future of the creator economy and made a point I haven’t stopped thinking about:
“Think like a media company.”
Creators are increasingly building businesses with two wings: editorial and commercial.
Your content builds attention, trust and IP. Your commercial side figures out how to turn that into a sustainable business.
Jordan actually used Frugal Chic as an example of how creators can build a brand entity that exists beyond their personal brand.
It made me realise that the goal isn’t just to become a bigger creator.
It’s to build something bigger than yourself.
2. No one cares. Until you make them.
Will Pérez from The Diary of a CEO gave us a storytelling workshop, and this was probably my biggest takeaway.
Nobody inherently cares about your product, brand, morning routine or what you did yesterday.
Until you give them a reason to.
Stakes. Emotion. Conflict. Curiosity. A clear storyline.
His advice to brands summed it up perfectly:
Don’t tell a brand story. Tell a good story, then find where the brand belongs within it.
I’ve since started thinking about his 80/20 rule when making content:
80% = what happens.
20% = what it means.
3. You probably do need a niche. Just not in the way you think.
During my talk, I spoke about one of the biggest dilemmas creators face: finding their niche.
There’s a lot of advice online that says:
“You are the niche.”
I think that works for a tiny percentage of people.
For everyone else, people need a reason to remember you.
Being known for something doesn’t mean talking about one subject forever.
You can talk about money, fashion, business, travel, your career or your life.
But there needs to be a through line connecting it all.
For me, that’s become more important as my content has expanded beyond personal finance.
The biggest thing I took away from the retreat was that creators spend a lot of time worrying about algorithms, hooks, posting frequency and whatever we’re supposedly doing wrong this week.
But content is a business.
And I think we’d benefit from treating it with the same intentionality and professionalism as any other media company.
Build something people know you for.
Learn how to tell better stories about it.
Curious where other creators land on this:
To niche, or not to niche?
#CreatorCeo #FrugalChic #CreatorLeadersRetreat #CreatorEconomy