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.