The New Storytellers

Last week, we attended “The Meeting Aspen,” a small gathering of outdoor enthusiasts, creators, and entrepreneurs working at the intersection of adventure, technology, and media. At the registration table, two copies of Outside Magazine, the event’s main sponsor, caught our eye. The most recent issue was titled The New Storytellers: meet the creators who are revolutionizing adventure entertainment, and it included a brief profile of Steven Rinella, a.k.a. MeatEater. He was an early Outside Magazine contributor, and covered stories ranging from vintage denim collecting to Argentinian beef. Today, he is famous for his thriving MeatEater ecosystem, which includes books, a Netflix show, his YouTube channel, a podcast series, and a commerce business. Though the profile was not MeatEater-focused, his very mention was a harbinger for the “new storyteller” profiles that followed. Three creators in particular stood out: Tooth and Claw podcast, Quannah ChasingHorse, and Nathan Florence.

Tooth and Claw is the world’s most popular wildlife podcast, with half a million listeners tuning in each month. Its hosts, Mike Smith, Wes Larson, and Jeff Larson, all have a distinct voice, personality, and perspective; they are the everyman, scientist, and comedian (respectively), and appeal to casual outdoor-goers and adventurers alike. According to Outside, their approach is simply to “lure listeners with irresistible animal-attack stories, then emphasize conservation. If clowning around can attract an ever bigger audience, so much the better.” This formula is consistent with the one employed by so many successful creators: let your fans explore more than what is on the surface. At the conference, data from Spotify’s Culture Next report was presented that grounds this truism. 61% of Gen Zs have sought out bonus and behind-the-scenes content, such as interviews and articles, to learn more about the creative process of a creator they like. In other words, creators construct a two-way exchange with fans – effectively world-building – which serves to strengthen and widen their reach.

Quannah ChasingHorse is an activist and model fighting for the climate and her indigenous community in Alaska. Quannah was noticed by a Calvin Klein agent while participating in a vote-organizing initiative and, soon after, signed with IMG. Today, she has over half a million followers on instagram, walks the runway for luxury brands, and works alongside top models like Gigi Hadid. Similarly, Isabelle Boemeke, under the moniker Isodope, uses her popularity to raise awareness about the benefits of nuclear as an alternative to fossil fuels. Quannah and Isabelle are stark reminders that the very definition (or perception) of a creator is constantly evolving and they can hail from all corners of the world. And, importantly, their influence and reach as an agent for change may be unexpected and initially unpredictable.

Nathan Florence is a breakout star among a generation of YouTubers forging a new path within professional surfing. Nathan came of age at a time when traditional pro surfing was undergoing a massive shift away from the sponsorship archetype – where companies controlled your content and destiny. Outside attributes this transformation to the rise of technology, explaining that “Facebook and Google devoured the global ads business, killing off most of the surf mags in the process, and because free YouTube content destroyed the market for surf videos.” Surfing, a small industry by all accounts, is a near perfect example of the level of disruption induced by the internet and creators. Brendan Gahan put it succinctly: “social media completely disrupted the traditional media platforms and big-name brands, enabling surfers to become both brands and media companies.” With unprecedented access, fans started to care more about the surfers themselves than the legacy brands who sponsored them. In fact, among three major surf brands, RipCurl, Billabong, and Quicksilver, two have filed for bankruptcy. And, as a result, the yardstick for success is changing. Sponsorship or WSL ranking is not enough; the most successful surfers are invested in building their personal brands and capitalizing on the accompanying economic opportunities.

In a few pages, Outside’s creator issue touched on some fundamental beliefs that underpin our conviction in directly backing creators. Ironically, Outside itself represents the profile of a creator we look to partner with – one that is building deep authority within a category and supplying excitement, information, narratives, and exploration for all kinds of fans.