Hey World 👋
Bhav here. I went to a creator dinner a few weeks back with 25 people.
The food was good. The company was even better. And as we went around the room sharing our experiences, someone said something I’ve heard at almost every creator event I’ve attended:
“This is so lonely. None of my friends get it.”
They’re not wrong.
Tell a non-creator friend, “Sorry, I need to go edit,” and watch the confusion arrive. Edit what? Why does it take all evening? Is YouTube even a real job?
We hear the same thing during our Creator Office Hours (these are our fortnightly-ish free Zoom sessions where anyone can drop in and ask creator questions). At some point, someone usually asks: How do I meet people who understand this?
We’ve both asked that question. Over time, we found the answer in a few different places.
🤝 The course ended. The group chat didn’t.
We both joined paid communities through courses. Becky took Write of Passage, an online writing course. I joined a YouTube course.
We signed up to learn a skill. The people were what stayed with us.
That’s the underrated part of a good community. Someone has already gathered a group of people who care about the same oddly specific thing you do. You don’t have to explain why a thumbnail has ruined your afternoon. They already understand 😂
Paid communities make that easier, but money isn’t the magic ingredient. A community can be four people in a group chat, checking in on a Tuesday and sending half-formed ideas to each other.
Small works. Sometimes it works better.
✨ A comment can become a friendship
Making content is already a way of reaching for people.
Every post puts a small piece of your interests, struggles, and wins on the record. Even an Instagram Story gives someone a reason to think, Wait, me too!
But the part we think people overlook is commenting.
We’ve met people by consistently showing up in their replies. Not huge creators with millions of followers, but people at roughly the same stage, figuring things out alongside us.
You tell someone what resonated. They start recogniding your name. Eventually, they click your profile and realise you’re making things too.
Sometimes nothing happens. That’s fine. A message isn’t a contract.
But sometimes a thoughtful comment becomes a DM. The DM becomes a call. A few months later, you’re asking each other for feedback or meeting in person.
A surprising number of creator friendships begin with one person saying, “I liked this.”
💌 Then you have to touch grass
There’s an energy in meeting creators in person that a screen can’t quite recreate.
We flew to LA for an event recently. It cost money, time, energy, and a long AF flight. We came home with full notebooks and the kind of motivation that only appears after spending time around people who are making ambitious things.
At the creator dinner, I met someone with 55,000 Instagram followers in finance. I met someone who had only just started. There were old friends and completely new faces around the same table.
That range is the point.
It reminds you how many versions of a creative life are possible. And when creating feels especially hard, those are often the people who help you keep going.
You don’t need 25 creator friends. You need a few people who understand why you’re skipping dinner to fix an edit, why one kind comment made your week, and why you’re still doing this even when the numbers are weird.
We found those people through courses, comments, group chats, events, and many awkward first messages.
Maybe yours are one comment away.
Who’s one creator you’re glad you met online? Hit reply and tell us how you found each other.
Becky & Bhav x
🚨 P.S. We host free, fortnightly-ish Creator Office Hours on Zoom, where anyone can drop in and ask creator questions. There’s also a WhatsApp group with Check-in Tuesdays and Feedback Fridays for low-stakes accountability. RSVP for free at luma.com/smallcreator and come say hi.
🎙️ ICYMI, this episode of the Small Creator Big World podcast is about how we found our creator friends, and why it’s worth making the effort 👇
💼 Want to work with us? Book a call with Becky | Bhav
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🎧 Watch or listen to Small Creator Big World: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
