Transcript

I Manage Brooke Monk: 'Creators Are The New Celebrities, Here's Why' | Devain Doolaramani

From Founder's Story · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 17 min · 3,304 words · 32 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "I Manage Brooke Monk: 'Creators Are The New Celebrities, Here's Why' | Devain Doolaramani", an episode of Founder's Story published December 23, 2025 (17 min, about 3,304 words). It mentions 21 people, works and ideas, including Digital talent, Charli D'Amelio, Musical.ly, Brooke Monk, Addison Rae.

What this episode is about

The discussion emphasizes the shift in celebrity culture, highlighting how digital creators, such as influencers and content creators, have become the new icons for younger generations, moving away from traditional celebrities. It also explores the importance of building trust and community among fans for creators selling their own products, with a focus on the unique brand-building journey of Brooke Monk as a prime example of this evolving landscape.

Key takeaways

  • Move over Scarlett, TikTok stars redefine celebrity for Gen Z. Influence hits home, not Hollywood.
  • Cut the carrots: 1,000 passionate fans paying attention beat a million passive followers any day.
  • From TikToks to toothpaste, digital stars are brand owners now. Influence sells if trust is built.
  • Brett Monk who? Gen Z's celeb list swaps red carpets for online content creators and DIY fame.
  • Emma & Danny show: Launch personal products you love, and fans will buy the love story.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 3:00: Digital talent, Brooke Monk
  2. – 6:00: Brooke Monk, Chamberlain Coffee, Digital talent, Emma Chamberlain
  3. – 9:00: Digital talent, Build-A-Bear
  4. – 12:00: Amazon, British International School, Instagram, Supply chain management
  5. – 15:00: Digital talent
  6. – 16:39: Digital talent

Notable quotes from "I Manage Brooke Monk: 'Creators Are The New Celebrities, Here's Why' | Devain Doolaramani"

  • Digital talent has become the future.
    about Digital talent · at
  • Brooke Monk, has done a phenomenal job in her numbers are just insane.
    about Brooke Monk · at
  • Celebrities versus back in the day where we looked up to like the Tom Cruises of the world, the Hugh Jackman's, those were the traditional celebrities.
    about Hugh Jackman · at
  • At that point and you're going to get a plethora of sales you look at successful brand launches Chamberlain Emma Chamberlain with her Chamberlain coffee. They're crushing it.…
    about Emma Chamberlain · at
  • At a there was a gathering of retailers, it was the owners of Toys R Us, Build-A-Bear, and they told me that when they would use traditional celebrities like actors, the trust…
    about Build-A-Bear · at
  • Because I formulated products from 2012 for about 10 years. we've sold health and beauty online starting with Amazon then e-commerce but I formulated a lot of my own products…
    about Amazon · at
  • You're still dealing with ongoing issues. There's always going to be supply chain management. it's like it's it's revolving problems.
    about Supply chain management · at
  • School, and then moved over to Hong Kong, lived there for two years, and went to British International School, and that's sort of when my creative genes picked up. started…
    about British International School · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

Companies & orgs

Concepts & topics

Full transcript with timestamps

I guess this is the future we're in. Digital talent has become the future. They are the new celebrity.

A celebrity defined before used to be like an actor, actress, recording artist.

All of their kids now, they're not looking for like the Scarlett Johansson of the world. They don't know who that is. They know who someone like Brett Monk is. Like someone like Charlie D'Amelia, they know someone like Addison Rain.

It almost democratized the ability to have more people become quote unquote the celebrity. the the word celebrity has just changed because celebrities to the younger generation, these kids are the streamers, Tik Tockers, YouTubers. But when it comes to trust, it's it's a process. You have to build it over time. It can't be built overnight.

So, do you see this trust level playing a massive factor in the ability to sell something that is their own?

If a creator actually showing appreciation for their fans, their fans are going to want to reciprocate that. If you are a creator, you don't need a massive audience. You just need a core community if you need to sell a product that you personally use every day and that helps you in your daily life and make it better.

Brooke Monk, I mean, has done a phenomenal job in her numbers are just insane. Brook's bootstrapping a whole brand. It's no outside funding. It's it's her brand, but you know, it's her vision.

Why did you wait to the time right now to launch that product? It's really about building a quality product that's going to last a long time and actually hold shelf space in the market for a while. When you're a consumer, you want to buy into a product and the story behind it. You don't just want another product on the shelves. So, Deain and great to have you on the show. I've been seeing what you've been doing with the creator economy or creator space mixing with brands, business. I mean, I guess this is the future we're in. And it's super fascinating to me that a celebrity defined before used to be like an actor, actress, recording artist, which was like 01%. Right? It was so hard to break in. And then now I feel like a celebrity is if I started Tik Tok 5 years ago and now I have millions of followers, which is I think is insane. It almost democratized the ability to have more people become quote unquote the

celebrities. So, how do you see, you know, this celebrity term changing and how people see what they would call celebrities?

Yeah, 100%. I think like four or five years ago when I was starting my company, there were still traditional talent. All the big agencies, the CAS, WME, UTAs of the world were still representing the traditional talent. the actresses, the actors, the people on the red carpet, hosts. And now you look at the roster of a lot of these bigger agencies and what does it consist of? A lot of digital talent. It's I think digital talent has become the future. They are the new celebrities. We we get on calls with VC investors. We get on calls with operators, with people who have had successful edits. And you know, like all their kids now, they're not looking for like the Scarlett Johansson of the world. They don't know who that is. They know who someone like Brick Monk is. They know someone who Charlie did like someone like Charlie De'ilio, they know someone like Addison Ray and you know that just shows the new

generation sees these people as celebrities versus back in the day where we looked up to like the Tom Cruises of the world, the Hugh Jackman's, you know, those were the traditional celebrities. But I think celebrities nowadays, the the word celebrity has just changed because celebrities to the younger generation, these kids are the streamers, Tik Tockers, YouTubers, you know, and I think the traditional celebrities, they still exist. Obviously, there's still the Jacob Aorties of the world and people um in that nature who are still popping off, the musicians, actresses, actors, but I think overall there's a new sort of niche of celebrities and I think that come that stems from digital creators, influencers, people online um that have a been able to build a huge following.

So this digital talent from what I've seen before is many times they would monetize through brand deals, through ads, through sponsorships, but it seems like now they've awakened to the fact that they can become they can create a brand, a product, right? I think, you know, we've seen this with with some very successful people before. How do you how are you looking at the landscape of of bridging the gap between the creator with the huge following or just any you know dedicated fan group to now having their own their own brand or product. I think now I think people in their heads believe that oh you need to have 10 million followers 20 million followers to build a brand to build something something successful but in in reality it's you just need a core audience that's going to buy into you someone who's gonna that watches your content every day that religiously follows you that knows everything about

your life you know you release a product at that point and you're going to get a plethora of sales um you look at successful brand launches Chamberlain Emma Chamberlain with her Chamberlain coffee. They're crushing it. Or at least it seems like um Danny Austin with Divy Hair Care. But you know, all of them release products that they use in their daily life and they release products that are good quality in nature that means something to them. And if you're able to do that, then you're going to be very successful with your brand launch.

So for one of my clients right now, Brooke Monk, we're working on a beauty brand for her and the product is going to be something that she uses every day, you know? So that's going to be the hero skew and how we roll it out and how we build a story around it. But I think if you are a creator, you don't need a massive audience. You just need a core community and you need to sell a product that you personally use every day and that helps you in your daily life and make it better.

I like that it where it's it's not just you're selling something to sell it. You're selling something that you genuinely use and people trust you and when they see it and they see this trust is interesting. A few years ago, I was at a uh there was a gathering of retailers, it was the owners of Toys R Us, Build-A-Bear, and they they told me that when they would use traditional celebrities like actors, the trust level actually has become very low. When they plug in someone who's like a creator, the trust level is very high because people think that the creator is genuine where an act somebody acting is is playing someone that they're not. So do you see this trust level playing a massive factor in the ability to sell something that is their own?

Yeah, I think I think it really depends. There are two ways to look at it. Trust is built on core community and how you treat your fans and like obviously if you have a celebrity or an actor not respecting their fans, not engaging with their fans, their fans aren't going to support them in turn. It's just how emotional psychology works. Um, I think if a creator is comment is responding to their comments, engaging with their fans, actually showing appreciation for their fans, their fans are going to want to reciprocate that. So, I think there are celebrities out there that obviously spend time with their fans, give back to their fans, do as much as possible for their fans, and show that appreciation, and they're able to move product like wildfire, even more than digital talent or creators. But when it comes to trust, I think like it's it's a process. You have to build it over time. It can't be

built overnight, you know. Man, you make me think of like Jason Derulo for some He comes to mind. I feel like he's he's really crossed over to doing a lot with fans. Uh Brook Monk, I mean, has done a phenomenal job in her numbers are just insane. Like, it's insane. It seems like she's very, very connected. I was watching a few videos and I was reading the comments before this interview because I wanted to really understand like how she's doing things. I can see that she has a very deep connection to the fans. Why did you wait to the time right now to launch that product? Was this by chance or do you think that creators or digital talent they they should wait a certain time before they launch something?

Yeah, I don't think it was a waiting game for us on our side of when we wanted to launch it. I think it was about perfecting a product that exists on the market that she uses every day. Um, so we've been developing this product for two years. If we if we could have, we would have launched this product ages ago, you know, but um, it's really about building a quality product that's going to last a long time and actually hold shelf space in the market for a while. And I I think the biggest thing that we wanted to do is make sure that the consumers actually enjoy the packaging experience, actually enjoy the product, they're able to use it, the quality is good. you know, we're going through all the checks to make sure the branding's good to make sure the story is there. You know, it's like when you're a consumer, you want to buy into our product and the story behind it. You don't just want another product on the

shelf. So, I think for us, it's been we put our heart and soul into this brand for the last two years. Broo's bootstrapping the whole brand. It's no outside funding. It's it's her brand and, you know, it's her vision and it's her we we went from a Pinterest board to building a full-fledged brand, you know, and I think that that process takes time. It's like going to the like getting samples from the factories, trying out the products, making sure the adjustments are there, making sure it's better than other other products on the market. So, it's it's definitely a timely process and I think it's taken the two years, two years plus. Um, because we want to we want to take a very good product to market, if not perfect product in her eyes.

I know exactly what you're talking about because I formulated products from 2012 for about 10 years. Uh we've sold health and beauty online starting with Amazon then e-commerce but I formulated a lot of my own products and there is so much that goes into people don't realize like how much like you're saying it's two years it's a lot that goes into it and obviously you want everything to be perfect and you you know it's beyond the product like you said the label the packaging the bottle like there's so many components that go into this but I got to say it it was one of the most fun and gratifying things I ever did when it comes out. It it's so exciting and I know you're you're getting ready to launch soon. Uh so how has how has this process been now that you're ready to go?

Yeah. No, it's it's been incredible, but you know, you're still dealing with ongoing issues. There's always going to be supply chain management. You know, it's like it's it's revolving problems. They're fun problems and they're they're good to solve and tackle, but um I don't I think if if you're building a brand and you're scaling at a velocity, we hope to it's it's going to be like building a core internal team like really really structuring it right, you know, and building it in a very good way where it's not rushed and we're building a core team that can help scale it bigger and better and take it eventually hopefully international. we're starting in the US, but the goal is to get the product to the world, you know, and I think that process takes time and you have to build the right team around it and you have to make sure you're going through the right check. So, um, super pumped to finally get it out. you know,

it's been two two plus years in the works, but I think along with getting it out, I want to we're going to be heads down really working to to build more products to build bring more products to the market, you know, like we want to keep the consumer happy at the end of the day because um they're the ones supporting the brand and the product. So

So what's your story? How did you get into, you know, you said four or five years ago when you started this company and you're working with Brooke and and all these rock stars. How did you get into this?

Yeah. So, it's it's been a it's been a long process, but I grew up in New York, went to Horsemen out there for high school, and then moved over to Hong Kong, uh, lived there for two years, and went to British International School, and that's sort of when my creative genes picked up. Um, started growing Instagram accounts, uh, selling ads on them back in the day. And uh then I went into sort of the digital space in college. I was like working and managing musically accounts before Tik Tok acquired musically and doing all the sound like I was blowing up the music and sounds and trends on musically at the time. And I was interning at Sony and uh I I was like the music landscape is growing and these creators are a part of that. They're helping blow up these songs, generate UGC content, build trends around them. So ended up doing about 200 music campaigns, did campaigns for a lot of the big records on Tik Tok

that we know now. Um and ended up scaling them from zero to hundreds of thousands if not millions of UGC videos and built a careers or helped build a careers with a lot of artists um on the back end. And simultaneously I was like that that brought me into the creator space and no one at the time was pursuing these digital talent. everything was still traditional and I was like there's a big white space here why don't I start working with people and that led me to Brooke when she just turn had turned 17 years old I think or 18 or something along that we've been working together for 5 years now and I've been working with her since and signed a ton of other talent and so manage a roster of about 40 creators now across the board and really just uh help them build businesses you know at the end of the day a creator I see is a business and how do you scale that business to build product around it to

eventually want to invest in ventures and get equity and be on advisory and cap tables. You know, it's um it's really looking outside of traditional influencing and the traditional platforms. You know, for someone like Brooke, we've been able to build a huge LinkedIn following for her and she's got such a genius mind. She's been able to build such a big following. So, um, she wanted to share the back-end analytics, insights, and advice that she's learned from building on social media to an audience that would intake it, you know.

So, um, for me, it's really like how do you expand beyond the traditional bounds of social media, too, and build real businesses for um, these people. So you're you're like the genius behind I think people always see the person in the front but they don't always know the genius behind a lot of talent a lot of people a lot of energy goes into the process of like not just posting something but someone like yourself who who really understands social media is so hard some it's like algorithms change and this changes and everything you're doing changes and LinkedIn is an interesting one. LinkedIn is a very interesting. Do you what do you see for a LinkedIn? Like I'm I'm starting to see a lot of people moving into LinkedIn and I wonder what is the benefit to them?

Yeah. I I just think that a lot of people in our generation when we went to college, the first thing you learn in like your business 101 classes, go make a LinkedIn, you know? So, I think social media garers a lot of audience. Um, but it's not they're not I I could count on my fingers how many 40 50 plus year olds I know have Tik Tok and are scrolling, you know. So, I think it's a way to connect to the people um that are at companies that are corporations and really have good talks with them. We've Brooke and I have met countless incredible people, founders, uh people at companies, heads of marketing, um, etc. through LinkedIn. We've talked to people with eight, nine figure exits, you know, it's it's been such a great way to network and meet people with um such good hearts, but also such great stories and founder stories themselves, you know. So

um so if people want to get in touch with you, maybe there's a creator out there, a digital talent that needs to be helped with their management, or there's a brand that wants to get in touch with you, how can they do so?

Yeah, honestly, reach out to me on LinkedIn. I think that's that's the easiest way to go about it. Uh my email is on there as well. So I think uh it's just a great central platform.

There you go. LinkedIn's the new Tik Tok. No, I'm only kidding. But no, this has been great, man. I I learned a lot today. Thank you for sharing all that. I can't wait till your new the new brand comes out with Brooke. I always enjoy trying new skincare products. I know it sounds odd, but it's actually like I always wanted to no lie. You know, the funny thing is me 10 years ago, I started making content about me talking about skincare and I was like, it just feels weird. If only I had kept going. If only I had kept going. But no, Ben, this has been amazing. You could have been my manager. Uh, but no, this has been great. I had a really good time, man. I learned a lot. And congratulations on all the success, man.

It's super inspiring. And thank you for joining us today on Founder Story. Likewise. Appreciate the time.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "I Manage Brooke Monk: 'Creators Are The New Celebrities, Here's Why' | Devain Doolaramani"?

Devain Doolaramani (Host), Ben (last name not stated) (Guest), Brooke Monk (Guest).

What is "I Manage Brooke Monk: 'Creators Are The New Celebrities, Here's Why' | Devain Doolaramani" about?

The discussion emphasizes the shift in celebrity culture, highlighting how digital creators, such as influencers and content creators, have become the new icons for younger generations, moving away from traditional celebrities. It also explores the importance of building trust and community among fans for creators selling their own products, with a focus on the unique brand-building journey of…

What is mentioned in this Founder's Story episode?

21 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Digital talent, Charli D'Amelio, Musical.ly, Brooke Monk, Addison Rae, Hugh Jackman. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "I Manage Brooke Monk: 'Creators Are The New Celebrities, Here's Why' | Devain Doolaramani"?

The episode runs 17 min; the transcript is about 3,304 words in 32 timestamped sections.

More from Founder's Story

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.