Scenes From our First Smooth Session 📸

Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting our very first Smooth Sessions. We gathered marketers, knowledge creators, and friends of the family for a morning event here in NYC featuring PopUp Bagels and smoothies (of course), plus some inspiring words of wisdom from some of Smooth’s best and brightest.

The goal was pretty simple: Introduce cool people to both 1) one another and 2) some new ideas. Remind people that knowledge creators aren’t just names on a spreadsheet tracking subscriber counts and budget allocation—they’re forces of nature, shaping industries and perceptions and narratives on the daily.

So? We called on some of our incredibly talented Smooth creators, Jacklyn Dallas and Calum Johnson, to share more about their work with a room full of marketers who get it. In a panel led by our own Josh Kaplan, Calum and Jacklyn shared…

• What inspires them to keep creating, day in and day out, and how they’re planning for the future of their growing businesses (it’s more about achieving a greater mission than a certain subscriber count)

• How they think about the intersection of traditional and new/creator-led media (the world needs all sorts of perspectives, including those rooted in optimism)

• What makes for standout brand partnerships in a sometimes crowded attention marketplace (among many things, communication, creativity, and a really good hook)

When we weren’t busy ripping & dipping our bagels into scallion cream cheese (objectively the best cream cheese), we were enjoying some first-rate conversations—including but not limited to:

• Eli and Erin from Edelman, who convinced me that I need not one but two cats (and asked some really thoughtful questions about how brands are incorporating creators into events during our Q&A)

• Mia from Atlassian, who shared some super perceptive ideas about customization and flexibility in creator campaigns

• Nevon from Collectively, who inspired a top-tier convo about creator-led newsletters and podcasts ft. Smooth creator Calum Johnson

• Jordan from WE-Worldwide, who shared more about her work with Microsoft and how creators can play a role in brand storytelling

A huge thanks to everyone who joined us—while Jenny may have spent the last three weeks overanalyzing what smoothie flavors to order, it’s really the people who show up and bring the energy that make an event a success. 💜 

For more photos, take a peek in here.

Knowledge Creators 🤝 Cool Stuff

The latest content + happenings from the creators we rep here at Smooth

• Jacklyn Dallas on the future of news | Last week, I got to do something really special: appear on a Brunswick Group panel alongside Jacklyn speaking about creator-led media and its impact on news and trust. Jacklyn shared some tremendous insights, and it was so cool to see her in her element—explaining the future to smart and eager people.

• Taylor Bell x Calum Johnson | Calum, one of the best interviewers in the game right now, got the full rundown on longtime YouTuber Taylor’s journey from consulting to full-time content creator, including her POV on strategy blueprints, the comments section, and so much more. 

• Tina Huang passes 800K subs | Another major win for Tina, and one that’s so well-deserved. Tina has been building out her team to streamline ops, improve video quality, and generally fight creators’ No. 1 opp: burnout. And it’s working! Next stop: 1 million.

Brand Campaigns Hot Off the Press 🗞️

Some of the fun partnerships our team’s been working on with creators + brands

Camille Bergin x Space Force | Houston, we have a perfect long-term partnership. Camille, aka TheGalacticGal, has officially kicked off her biggest partnership to date: working with the Space Force to bring her audience an exclusive behind-the-scenes look into Space Force bases, missions, and Guardian careers. Much more to come!

Hume | Riley Brown and Tim from Theoretically Media worked with Hume to create some amazing content about the tech company’s AI text-to-voice tools. It’s always such a treat to see how different creators approach working with the same partner—never the same, but always top-tier.

Peter Yang x Merge | Peter has been killing it from day one, and this tie-in with Merge (offering a unified API connecting 220+ platforms across file storage, ticketing, CRM, accounting, and more) makes so much sense for his audience of product builders and AI aficionados.