Hey friends,

This week I had the pleasure of sitting down for an hour with the prodigious Thomas Arnold- a 23 year-old content creator on a mission to help businesses scale their impact through the power of storytelling- to explore his personal journey and the rise of the creator economy.

It would be hard to talk about the internet without mentioning the burgeoning creator class.

Anyone can now build audiences at scale, create a personal monopoly and turn their passions into livelihoods, whether that’s playing video games or producing video content. This has huge implications for entrepreneurship and what we’ll think of as a “job” in the future.

This week's guest is at the forefront of this shift. Thomas Arnold, at the ripe age of 23, has amassed a loyal following of over 50,000 followers across a variety of platforms and is the CEO of a fast-growing video production startup- Fearless Media. His energy and ambition is infectious and I walked away from this conversation feeling energised and ready to take on the world. I hope you enjoy listening to this conversation as much as I enjoyed recording it 😁

Here are some of my favourite takeaways from our wide-ranging discussion:

On Appreciating Greatness

“I'm the type of guy who, when I see someone who isn't sicko at what they do and what I mean a sicko, I mean, someone who's just way beyond the average, you know, they, they go above and beyond. I immediately respect it because I definitely deep down, wants to be that guy as well in my field.And when I saw Brian teach math, I. No joke. I literally saw like an NFL football player or Phil the power of Taylor. I just saw someone who was just so good at what they do. And yeah, I really respected it. The lesson I took from Brian was that whatever you do, do it with the utmost professionalism. And , I guess I'm still, to this day, trying to fulfill that goal”

To Be The Genius, You Have To Risk Being The Fool

“It was terrible, but I never really judged myself as I make stuff… I just make stuff because the quickest way to get better is to do it… And you're never fully developed. I think the big thing is your ego is invested in this idea that people think you're something more than you actually are. But when you realize that people really don't care about you or they don't care what car you drive or where you live or any of that, but what they do care about is you making stuff that they find valuable.”

On Overcoming The Ego

“Anytime I make content. I'm always focusing on how did the end user get something from what I'm doing? And that's when you focus on that your ego is removed. Cause it's not about me anymore. It's about what the other person gets.”

On Hard Work

“But when you put in that groundwork, It really does pay off. Like, I'm a really big believer in that. And I think it's the only thing that I've had going for me my entire life is that I'm not going to be so arrogant as to say I'm the hardest worker in the room, but I try my best to work as hard as I possibly can.And I'm sure other people can work harder than me. And I'm sure there's ways I can get better, but yeah. I am genuinely just trying to work my hardest. And the thing you find out is that most people, they don't really work hard and they nor do they want to, they don't want to work hard. It's just not something that's in them.”

On Limiting Beliefs

“So many people our age say our generation, they're going to be the ones who rent and can't get a house.And, in my head, I'm like, F**k that like, I want an apartment in two years. Like that's so f*****g stupid. So I definitely try not to linger on what’s genuinely b******t. You know, sometimes people, unconsciously, they say stuff because other people have said it, but they haven't thought through it.”

Advice For College Students

“I think college students just need to be way more aggressive. It doesn't even matter that you're in college. Like just start doing s**t. You know what I mean? Don't sit there and think that the world comes into place when you finish college… I work with people who are way older than me and they don't give a s**t that I'm young. All they give a s**t about is that I'm trying to make s**t happen and I have expertise and I’d just say to college students that there's so much more out there that you could be doing, and there's so much more money you could make people you could meet and impact you could make. And it doesn't matter that you're a college student, like age is but a number you’ve just gotta make s**t happen.”

What Drives Thomas?

“Let's just go smash it because we don't have a lot of time and there’s so much opportunity now with the internet. Like stuff that my parents just didn't have. So I owe it to myself and to everybody else around me to just make s**t happen as best I can. Now, what I've learned is that very few people feel that way. Very few people have that same drive that I have to just make amazing s**t. Most people are very happy to build up their careers slowly but surely and, you know, get married and have a house and stuff. And that's fine. So I think it's just finding out who you are and I've definitely always felt I just wanted to create amazing stuff. I don't know how that is going to manifest itself, but I'm trying my best to make it happen.”

What Would Thomas Put on a Billboard?

“Be brave and back yourself”

Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out the full episode

All the best,

Will

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