HOW TRUSTED CREATORS MONETIZE THEIR AUDIENCE WITHOUT SELLING OUT
Creators used to make money from the feed. Now the money is moving into rooms.
Events, studios, sponsors, paid communities, brand activations, and live experiences all look clean from the outside. Then the invoices show up. The venue. The production. The travel. The dead time. The brand asks. The audience wondering if this is still for them, or if they just became the product.
This Ugly Talk is about what happens when creators try to turn trust into revenue beyond the feed. What brands actually pay for. What events really cost. What to charge for. What to keep free. What to say no to before the audience starts feeling sold.
🎯 Why you should be in this room.
Hear how creators turn audience trust into revenue without making the room feel like an ad.
Learn what brands actually want when they sponsor creators, events, and communities.
Get a clearer read on the hidden costs behind hosting, showing up, and making offline experiences work.
Understand when a brand deal helps the creator business, and when it quietly trains the audience to tune out.
Leave with real examples of how creators are building revenue beyond posts, platforms, and views.
💬 What's on the table.
Money beyond the feed. How creators turn attention into events, communities, studios, and paid experiences.
The sponsor math. What brands pay for, what they expect, and what creators need to show before asking for the check.
The hidden cost of showing up. Venue, production, travel, time, staffing, and all the money nobody puts in the recap post.
Free vs. paid. What should stay free for creators, what should cost money, and how to keep the room tight.
Trust after the deal. How creators make money without training the audience to feel sold every time they show up.
🎤 Featured speakers.
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.
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.
🤝 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.
Creators building on YouTube, newsletters, podcasts, blogs, and social.
Creators turning audience into events, communities, studios, products, and paid experiences.
Brands that want to work with creators without turning the creator into an ad slot.
Operators helping creators price, package, produce, and sell the work behind the content.
A tight room built for creators first. Service providers, recruiters, and people just fishing for access can buy their way in, but they are not the point.
🤝 Who's backing this.
Kit Studios
⭐ 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.
🚀 Join us to stay updated on upcoming Ugly Talk events!