Ep 10. The Influencer Economy 2026 #BusinessOfInfluence

In this episode of the Business of Influence Podcast, hosted by Leroy Marc, Zimasa Vabaza unpacks one of the most important conversations in the creator economy right now. From the quiet discipline of building organic trust to the uncomfortable reality of platform ownership, this is a conversation that challenges every content creator, brand and digital strategist to think harder about where they are building and why.Zimasa has never once asked anyone to subscribe. Not because he does not care about growth, but because he believes the work should be the reason. That philosophy runs through everything he shares in this episode, including how trust is built frame by frame, script line by script line, and why shortcuts undermine the very thing creators are trying to build.The conversation also goes deeper into how digital personalities disrupted traditional media faster than legacy outlets could respond, and why that shift is still playing out in ways most brands have not fully reckoned with. But the sharpest insight in this episode is the platform ownership analogy. Zimasa draws a direct parallel between content creators and the raw materials debate in South Africa: creators produce the content, upload it to platforms they do not own, and those same platforms redistribute it back to local audiences, sometimes behind a paywall. It is a structural problem dressed up as an opportunity, and it is one the industry needs to talk about honestly.This is Episode 10 of Season, and it is the one that sets the tone for Youth Month. If you are thinking seriously about the future of digital authority, creator sovereignty and what it really means to build influence that lasts, this conversation is for you.Business of Influence is brought to you by Style ID Africa.---Enjoyed the podcast? Join the conversation using #BusinessOfInfluenceListen and Follow UsApple: https://tr.ee/7S9Qw2RYaBSpotify: https://tr.ee/8yFVYiInstagram: https://tr.ee/9MFBqITikTok: https://tr.ee/F5wHS1LinkedIn: https://tr.ee/72U7z0Follow Our Host and GuestLeroy:   / leroymarcn Zimasa:   / mooshtaffa  Email: [email protected] Produced by Emcee:   / emceeiii  #CreatorEconomy #DigitalAuthority #ContentCreation #PlatformOwnership