CREATOR: The Podcast

Renee Hahnel (@reneeroaming), the photographer who visited every US national park and turned it into a best-selling book, joins CREATOR: The Podcast to discuss building a sustainable creator business over the past decade. In this episode, Renee shares the wild story of how winning the US green card lottery led her and her husband from Melbourne to Colorado, eventually settling in Washington State...

JJ Yosh (@jjyosh), the creator behind viral TikTok sensation, Backpacking Kitty (@backpackingkitty), joins Creator: The Podcast to discuss building a content empire around his adventure cat Simon. In this episode, JJ shares the remarkable origin story of how he reluctantly adopted Simon—a rescue kitten hours away from euthanization—and transformed him into an internationally-traveling mountaineeri...

Alex Parra (@alex1leg), a two-time cancer survivor and disability advocate, joins CREATOR: The Podcast to share his extraordinary journey of beating stage two bone cancer and stage four lung cancer before his 20th birthday. In this episode, Alex reveals the shocking moment at age 15 when he flipped a coin to decide between knee replacement and leg amputation—and how that gut decision saved his lif...

Scott and Collette Stohler, the travel creators behind Roamaroo (@roamaroo), join CREATOR: The Podcast to discuss building a location-independent life and creative career while raising two young children. In this episode, the couple shares how a single podcast interview with Rolf Potts and Tim Ferriss inspired them to quit their jobs as a TV producer and chemical engineer, turn a planned seven-mon...

Jordan Egbert (@counting.countries) joins CREATOR: The Podcast to discuss his goal to visit every country on earth and the unexpected business he built along the way. In this episode, Jordan reveals how he went from zero international travel until age 23 to visiting 142 countries, including returning to door-to-door pest control sales each summer just to fund another year of travel before monetizi...

Chelsea Yamase (@chelseakauai) joins CREATOR: The Podcast to share her journey from shy Hawaiian surfer to million-follower creator. Host Ross Borden explores Chelsea's 11 trips to Indonesia and her philosophy of prioritizing raw, authentic experiences over Instagram-perfect locations. Chelsea dives into growing up in Hawaii and how she learned to free dive at a later age. She offers candid insigh...

In this special year-end episode, we revisit the biggest lessons from CREATOR: The Podcast's most impactful conversations of 2025. Ross curates wisdom from five groundbreaking creators who've cracked the code on building massive audiences and sustainable careers. Adventure photographer Chris Burkard (@chrisburkard) explains his counterintuitive strategy of freely sharing his best work to create mo...

This week, we're bringing back this conversation with Luke “Sailing Songbird” Hartley as an encore presentation - originally published February 25th, 2025. Solo World Sailor and Viral Creator Luke "Sailing Songbird" Hartley (@sailing_songbird) shares his remarkable journey from quitting his job as a middle school music teacher to sailing solo around the world on a 27-foot sailboat. In today's epis...

This week, we're bringing back this conversation with Jessica Nabongo as an encore presentation - originally published March 25th, 2025.  Content Creator and Travel Expert Jessica Nabongo (@jessicanabongo) joins CREATOR: the Podcast to discuss her journey as the first Black woman to visit every country in the world. She explains how reading about another traveler's global journey in 2017 inspired...

This week, we're bringing back this conversation with Wade Holland & Abby Wren as an encore presentation - originally published July 29th, 2025.  Wade Holland (@wadeholland) and Abby Wren (@abbywrenartistry), the adventure-art duo behind Wrenegade Media (@wrenegademedia), join CREATOR: The Podcast to discuss revolutionizing brand partnerships through collaborative creativity. As two creators with...

This week, we're bringing back this conversation with Cole Walliser as an encore presentation - originally published February 11th, 2025.  Director and Content Creator Cole Walliser (@colewalliser) has captivated millions with his iconic GlamBOT videos and behind-the-scenes glimpses of Hollywood's biggest moments. In today's episode of CREATOR: the Podcast, we explore how this self-taught filmmake...

This week, we're bringing back this conversation with Gareth Leonard as an encore presentation - originally published March 18th, 2025.  Travel YouTuber and Content Creator Gareth Leonard (@GarethLeonard) shares his remarkable journey from quitting his job with just $5,000 to becoming a successful travel creator with 700,000+ YouTube subscribers. In today's episode of CREATOR: the Podcast, we expl...

This week, we're bringing back this conversation with Bryn Elise as an encore presentation - originally published June 3rd, 2025. Bryn Elise (@bryn.elise), a pioneering health and beauty tourism content creator, joins CREATOR: The Podcast to discuss how medical tourism is revolutionizing healthcare accessibility. In this episode, Bryn shares her journey from getting a $25 tattoo in Colombia to bui...

This week, we're bringing back this conversation with Luke Tarrant as an encore presentation - originally published April 29th, 2025. Motorcycle adventurer turned unexpected social media star Luke Tarrant (@luke_tarrant) joins CREATOR: The Podcast to discuss how a catastrophic accident changed his life forever. In this compelling episode, Luke shares his harrowing experience of a life-altering mot...

Chelsea Yamase (@chelseakauai) joins CREATOR: The Podcast to share her journey from shy Hawaiian surfer to million-follower creator. Host Ross Borden explores Chelsea's 11 trips to Indonesia and her philosophy of prioritizing raw, authentic experiences over Instagram-perfect locations. Chelsea dives into growing up in Hawaii and how she learned to free dive at a later age. She offers candid insigh...

Garrett Gee of the Bucket List Family (@thebucketlistfamily) joins CREATOR: The Podcast to discuss building a travel media empire with his family as they’ve traveled to over 100 countries over the past 10 years. In this episode, Garrett shares how he sold his iPhone app Scan to Snapchat for $54 million, then made the bold decision to set that money aside and fund their world travels by selling eve...

Kira Bella (@earthkira), Founder of Kirameki and rural revitalization entrepreneur, joins CREATOR: The Podcast to discuss building a cultural tourism business in the Japanese countryside. In this episode, Kira shares how she went from house-sitting cats and koi fish to becoming the third foreigner in Hiroshima Prefecture to receive a startup visa, including her journey of joining a 2,000-year-old...

Kevin Droniak (@kevindroniak) joins CREATOR: The Podcast to discuss the revolutionary concept of micro travel - the art of visiting international destinations for less than 24 hours. In this episode, Kevin shares how he's been to places such as Egypt, Rome, and Ireland all as day trips, never staying the night in any of them. Host Ross Borden explores Kevin's journey from creating YouTube videos w...

Abubakar Finiin (@kidsofthecolony), the London creator behind the viral travel series Kids of the Colony, joins CREATOR:The Podcast to discuss how he turned BBC rejection into a huge YouTube success. In this episode, Abu shares his journey from university student to independent TV producer, including how he convinced his friends to travel to Bangladesh, Somaliland, and Morocco to explore their par...

Four-time Emmy award-winning host of Bare Feet, Mickela Mallozzi (@travelbarefeet) joins CREATOR: The Podcast to discuss building an international travel show through the universal language of dance. Host Ross Borden explores her journey from classically trained dancer to independent PBS producer, diving into the challenges of self-funding 8 seasons of a travel show, navigating cultural appreciati...

Rob Gerard, founder of the Tequila Collective (@the_tequilacollective), joins CREATOR: The Podcast to discuss building a multi-faceted tequila business from a pandemic hobby. Host Ross Borden explores Rob's journey from LA real estate agent to tequila scholar, diving into the hidden world of tequila additives, the difference between highland and valley agave, and why expensive doesn't always mean...

Lifestyle creator Rene Daniella (@ownbyfemme) joins CREATOR: The Podcast to discuss her decade-long evolution in the creator industry. In this episode, Rene shares her remarkable journey from studying in Paris to building partnerships with major brands like Google, Disney, and Hulu, including how she pitched a hair brand for her Barbados carnival trip and turned it into ongoing six-figure collabor...

Multilingual travel creator Jo Franco (@jo_franco) joins CREATOR: The Podcast to discuss being an immigrant kid who didn’t speak English to a global polyglot television host for Netflix and National Geographic. Host Ross Borden explores Jo's journey from her three-year grind of uploading consistently to YouTube while working night shifts, the moment she chose risk over a corporate salary, and her...

Magdalena Wosinska (@magdawosinskastudio), a photographer and author known for her intimate celebrity portraits and skate photography, joins CREATOR: The Podcast to discuss the evolution of her creative career over three decades. In this episode, Magda shares how growing up in communist Poland shaped her fearless approach to art, including her decision to create "The Magdalena Experience" (@themag...

Jimena Agra (@himepaints), a Spanish oil painter with over 1 million YouTube subscribers, joins CREATOR: The Podcast to discuss building a fine art career through digital platforms. In this episode, Jimena shares how she learned oil painting primarily through YouTube rather than traditional art school, including her journey from disappointment with formal art education in Madrid to creating a thri...