Influence into Industry: The Rise of the Creator Economy With Kyle Hjelmeseth

He’s done $100M in creator deals. What does he know? In this episode of Technically Creative , we sit down with Kyle Hjelmeseth , CEO of GMB Digital Management, to explore how the creator economy has matured into a real industry — and what that means for entertainment, advertising, and anyone building an audience today. Because the model has flipped. Creators no longer wait to be discovered. They build audiences first — and the industry is catching up. Kyle has spent over a decade helping creators turn that attention into real businesses, facilitating over $100M in brand deals , and developing a model he calls: 👉 “monetizing the wake” The idea that creators don’t need to be steered into traditional formats — they keep creating, living their lives, and building value through everything they’ve already made. This conversation explores the evolution of the creator economy from early influencers to a structured, scalable industry — and why the most important shift isn’t technology… It’s ownership of audience. Orlando and Kyle explore: • How the creator economy evolved from “wild west” to mature industry • Why creators can now greenlight themselves • What “monetizing the wake” actually means in practice • How creators make money beyond brand deals (affiliate, licensing, content reuse) • Why traditional entertainment is adapting to audience-first thinking • The shift from gatekeepers to direct audience ownership • How creators build sustainable businesses across platforms • What brands and agencies are still learning about this space It’s a sharp, forward-looking conversation about audience, ownership, and the future of creative work — in a world where distribution is no longer the barrier, and the real advantage is knowing how to build and monetize attention.