UGLY TALK: THE BUSINESS OF BEING A CREATOR AND Q4 WELCOME PARTY

The algorithm can make you a celebrity overnight. It can also shadowban you without telling you. Your email list and your community stay with you. The question is how to make the most of them.

This Ugly Talk is about the business side of being a creator, whether you're a YouTuber, streamer, podcaster or blogger. What has AI changed about how you work, research and produce? What does your audience want from you now? Which calls do creators wish they'd made sooner, and which tools are they actually using?

After the talk, we're throwing Q4 a welcome party for you. Food and drinks are on the house. Come to enjoy yourself and meet other creators and the brands that want to work with them.

🎯 Why you should be in this room.

• Get a clear view of the creator business in 2026, including what has changed since 2023, what no longer works, and what is likely coming in 2027.

• Learn which AI tools creators are actually using, how to treat AI as a teammate instead of a threat, and what changing audience expectations mean for creators and brands.

• Meet NYC creators, brand operators, and community builders at the Q4 welcome party. Food and drinks are on the house, and eligible attendees receive a 30-day Kit trial plus a free recording session at Kit Studio.

Additional Perks One free recording studio session for every attendee.

1. Studio recording with top-tier video, audio, and lighting equipment

2. Schedule a time that fits your schedule

3. Record your content, a talking head or an interview, and get your footage the same day

4. Premium location in the Flatiron District

💬 What's on the table.

• The creator business in 2026: what is working, what is not, and which assumptions from 2023 need to be retired.

• What is likely to shape creator businesses in 2027, including revenue models, brand partnerships, owned audiences, and community.

• The latest AI tools creators are using for research, production, distribution, and operations, plus how to use AI as a teammate instead of a threat.

• How audience expectations are changing and what creators need to pay attention to before their audience tells them the hard way.

• What brands need from creators now, and how founders and operators can enter the creator space without forcing a strategy that does not fit.

🎤 Featured speakers.

Haley Janicek - Head of Creator Community, Kit

Haley Janicek is Head of Creator Community at Kit, and she's spent nearly a decade being in the room with creators in person, well before it was popular. She leads Craft + Commerce, Kit's longstanding creator conference, doing everything from booking speakers and sponsors to selling tickets and picking the venue. Most recently, she led the Kit Studios initiative, growing it to three physical locations in Boise, Chicago, and New York. Before Kit, she spent 15 years in SaaS. She lives in Boise, Idaho, and travels far too often.

Matt Mitsui - Founder, CCExNYC

Matt Mitsui is the founder of Content Creators Exchange of New York, a monthly gathering where New York's content creators meet the people they'd otherwise only follow - across every level, from first upload to full-time. Over roughly three years he has run 48 events and built a community of more than 2,000 members on Meetup, with every flagship event free to attend. He spends most of his time on the unglamorous side of creator work: logistics, partnerships, and building rooms where people actually meet their next collaborator.

Gabby Beckford - CEO, Packs Light

Gabby Beckford builds her creator business, @packslight, like an engineer: testing, measuring, and rebuilding rather than chasing trends. It's allowed her to not only survive but scale for 6 years through three completely different eras of the internet: the blog era, the short-form video boom, and now the AI shift changing how audiences find and trust creators. She's grown to 800K+ followers across platforms, partnered with brands from Disney to Microsoft Copilot, and now splits her time between nurturing her Travel and Lifestyle community and advising brands on exactly these creator economy shifts as they evolve.

🤝 Who's hosting it.

Ayanna Dutton-Diaz - Founder, AD Consulting

Ayanna Dutton-Diaz is a brand strategist, speaker, and Founder of AD Consulting. She works with founders and multi-hyphenate leaders ready to stop limiting themselves to one identity and build a brand that finally reflects who they actually are. Drawing on 15+ years inside global brands including LinkedIn, Meta, and Cadillac, she equips leaders with the clarity and language they need to find their through line and build presence that opens doors. Past stages include Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women x Brooklyn Public Library LevelUP, LinkedIn x Cannes Lions, The One Club for Creativity, Luminary, and The Female Quotient. She co-founded Non-Corporate Girls™ and writes The Aya Brand on Substack. Whether through keynotes, workshops, or panel moderation, she leaves every room with something they can use.

🙋 Who's getting in.

• NYC creators, including YouTubers, podcasters, streamers, newsletter writers, social creators, and other people building an audience through content.

• Brand founders and operators who want to work with creators or bring creator-led content into their brand strategy.

• Community builders and operators who support creators and the businesses around them.

🤝 Who's backing this.

Kit

Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is the creator-first email marketing and newsletter platform. Grow your audience, automate campaigns, and sell without burnout.

⭐ About Ugly Talk

Started in 2019, Ugly Talk has been transforming business setbacks into breakthrough "aha!" moments by hosting unfiltered, no-nonsense events where battle-tested entrepreneurs share their raw lessons and insights.

With a growing presence in cities like New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Miami, we've built a vibrant community of thousands of founders and industry leaders making a profound impact on the entrepreneurial landscape.

Official Website: UglyTalk.com

📢 Important Notice for Ugly Talk Attendees

Admission & Confirmation

Attendance is by approval only. Approved guests will receive a confirmation email along with a calendar invite. Invitations are non-transferable. Additional event details will be shared as the event approaches.

Code of Conduct

By attending, you agree to:

• Maintain respect and professionalism, adhering to all venue rules, policies, and applicable laws.

• Refrain from harassment, discrimination, unwelcome sexual advances (verbal or physical), intimidation, or inappropriate photography/recording.

• Report any violations to the event hosts immediately.

Violations may result in immediate removal from the event and exclusion from future invitations.

Liability & Risk

Participation is voluntary and at your own risk. The event organizers, hosts, sponsors, and venue are not liable for personal injury, lost or stolen belongings, or any other damages incurred during the event.

Media Consent

By attending, you grant the event organizers and affiliated entities the right to capture, use, and distribute photos, videos, and audio recordings of you for promotional, marketing, and other lawful purposes, including digital and print media, advertising, and social media. You waive any right to inspect or approve the final materials and release all claims related to their use.

Communications

By registering, you agree to receive marketing and promotional communications from Ugly Talk and its co-hosts, partners, and sponsors. You may unsubscribe at any time.

Agreement

If you do not agree to this Code of Conduct, please refrain from attending the event.

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