why the most profitable creators will be so utterly, unmistakably human in 2026

the rise of AI, how to stay authentic, and what this means in the new paradigm & age of Aquarius

it seems like everyone on the internet has been sharing their 2026 predictions for growth and success in 2026, and today i felt inspired to do the same but from a spiritual lens. why a spiritual lens, you ask? well because, to be honest, most days i feel more like a 10,000 year old great-great-grandmother tree than i do a human, so i really don’t have a choice in the matter even if i wanted to. 😂

and what makes me qualified to give my two cents on this subject, aside from the fact that i am basically a millennial culture commentator at this point, is that i’ve actually found a way to grow more than 100k followers on social media in the last 3 months alone, as well as grow my substack to six-figures in annual recurring revenue. and I don’t use AI to do this—lol!! at all!

i know—WHAT?! in the age of AI of all things?! even i wouldn't have believed it just a few short months ago. but, what can i say? i’ve cracked some codes. i’ve quantum leaped. and it’s not just me, you can do it too! (actually, i teach you exactly how in this masterclass!)

we all know that the rise of AI is going to be one of the most noticeable factors of our year, perhaps this century even, across all industries—yes, even including the creative industries. and while most people are very concerned about this (and for good reason), i’d like to offer another perspective. and it goes a little something like this…

in 2026 and beyond, the most successful, profitable, and noteworthy creators are going to be unmistakably, unapologetically, utterly, drop dead HUMAN. things like the sentence i just wrote—a run-on sentence that sounds like something i’d definitely say out loud for those of you who know me in person or listen to my podcast, are going to be the key factors in audiences deciding “wait, this feels human and i like it” as opposed to asking themselves, “was this written by an actual robot?”

because here’s the thing… i’m not anti-AI. at this point, it would be pretty devastating to be 100% anti-AI. it’s on the mega rise and is already a key feature in our current reality, and it’s only going to get more and more ingrained. but what i am anti and will be an advocate against for all of time is for people to use AI to replace their creativity, their sovereignty, their own thoughts, their own secret sauce and magic.

and i don’t just mean because AI takes away the special magic of our creativity. i mean this on an energetic level too. if you are still using AI to outsource your creativity and your own personal power and sovereignty, you will not be rewarded the same blessings from the universe for living out your soul’s mission. point blank. that is the way the quantum realm works!

take writers for example, since substack is a writing platform. probably 75% of the content i see floating around substack was either fully written by AI, modified by AI, structured by AI, or edited with a fine-tooth comb by chatGPT. that’s all fine and good (i guess) for people who’s main goal is efficiency and output, but if writing is your soul’s mission, your passion, your lifeblood… it will not take you very far.

in fact, where it will take you is to the end of a road that has a big fat “dead end” sign real quick, blaring in neon lights.

and i don’t say this to scare anyone or be negative, because if you are using AI to edit your writing or help manage your output, it’s not that you are no longer the universe’s favorite and will no longer receive blessings or luck of any kind. that’s not it. you’re just being… generic. you’re throwing away your power. i hate to be the one to tell you this, but it’s true.

in 2026 the big difference between the use of AI and the art of the soul-written word is that the consumer is getting very savvy. early last year, the year before, etc. i don’t think the majority of us would be able to point out “AI writing.”

in fact, i remember the first time i stumbled across AI writing!! i was working with my previous podcast production company and it was probably around 2019/2020. the new girl they’d hired to write my show notes kept missing the mark over and over and over again. i was so confused, because every time i gave her feedback it just kept happening. i kept having this nagging feeling that the notes were being written by a robot, because it just sounded so STRANGE while also blah at the same time. but back then, i didn’t even know about AI writing tools. chatGPT didn’t exist yet. and the girl they hired was a real person, she was clearly just using AI.

anyway, that left a bad taste in my mouth. and whenever i get an email that’s supposed to be personal or i see a caption that was 100% written by chatGPT i don’t feel judgmental, i just feel that same feeling of — “oh, you didn’t write this.” i think it’s okay to use AI as a resource and a research tool (i certainly do!), but i’d never want to have it start speaking for me.

also, and this is a whole other topic, but chatGPT makes a TON of mistakes. if you try to use it for astrology for example, it’s 100% off. it cannot decode a birth chart for the life of it. it will tell you you’re a gemini moon when you’re a cancer moon. it cannot get it right, even if you basically reprogram and dictate the whole thing. trust me, i’ve tried—mostly for the purpose of my pop culture astrology episodes on the pod.

so if you’re using it and thinking it’s totally accurate on a full range of subjects, that’s also something to be aware of.

onto why the most profitable creators will be leaning into their own personal power & sovereignty in 2026!!

you know how when we were kids in the 90s, thinking toward the future was so cool? think Zenon the girl of the 21st century vibes.

something i’ve noticed about kids and teens these days is that there is a real desire to be more analog. they grew up with smart phones in their hands (or in their parents’ hands), chatGPT is like a first language to them, social media has been in existence since before they were born.

what they’re interested in is Kodak cameras, polaroids, scrapbooking, pen and paper journals, unedited & unfiltered & even un-staged photos, going on vacation and barely documenting it, posting once a year instead of 10x a day. my 22 year old niece isn’t saving AI-generated content and sharing it with her friends… she’s saving paintings that took weeks for an artist to make, tarot card readers and crystal shop accounts and things that cannot be replaced by anything even remotely robotic.

so here’s the thing: if you want to be a profitable creator in 2026, if you want to actually grow in this era where yes it’s gotten hard to grow AND influencers/true creatives are a dime a dozen, you have to be so UNMISTAKABLY, UNAPOLOGETICALLY YOU!

write in all caps if you want to. write with no caps ever if you want to. tell the truth about things that only YOU know. tell your truth from the bottom of your soul. write about the messy things. write in a structure that no one else has ever seen before. post cute offline analog moments. journal with gel pans and sketchpad paper not because it’s a cool thing to do, but because it reminds you who you are.

and the key here is KNOWING who you are. who are you? what do you want to share with the world? as the world moves in this largely tech-monster direction, what is your secret sauce that only you came here to share? what do you know in your soul that you feel the world has yet to understand? whatever it is… do that.

IDEAS FOR YOU:

• start a series (my “theory series” took off like wildfire and i see it copied in the zeitgeist 100x a day now, which is cool to see actually as an influencer)

• take note of where you’re still trying to be more cool than honest

• post at a cadence that actually works with the rhythm of your life

• don’t forget to look up and live your life offline so that you actually have things to post about online.

• build lore!! let people feel like they’re stepping into an ongoing world when they follow you!! inside jokes, recurring phrases, callbacks, through-lines. not everything needs to be explained to newcomers.

• stop chasing virality and start chasing recognizability. you want someone to see a sentence, a font choice, a pacing choice, and know it’s you before they see your name.

• talk about the parts of your work that don’t look sexy on instagram. the behind-the-scenes tension. the boredom. the discipline. the doubt.

• let yourself be repetitive on purpose. say the same truth 20 different ways over time until it becomes your signature. clarity compounds. (it’s also less work for you because you can create and recreate over and over again… it’s a win win.)

• share from lived experience, not conclusions. people don’t want the perfectly wrapped lesson. they want to walk with you while you’re still figuring it out.

• choose one or two platforms to go deep on instead of being everywhere. depth beats omnipresence now. every time. more than ever!

• don’t smooth your edges to be more “digestible.” the edges are the hook. the people who are meant to stay will stay because of them.

• make content that would still matter if algorithms disappeared tomorrow. write things you’d be proud to find in your notes app five years from now.

• i have a bajillion more ideas for you that you can find in this masterclass, and yes… i am still considering taking on mentees this year!!! i’ve heard from so many of you that you’d be interested and that sets my soul on fire. <3

as far as social media growth and beyond, i have so much more to say. it feels like instagram has perhaps finally caught on to the fact that creators need to be valued & rewarded otherwise we’re going to bounce to other platforms… so that’s exciting and i will be sharing a LOT more about that this year.

ok with that… i want to hear all of your thoughts!! & if you haven’t joined our manifestation challenge yet, it’s for all paid subs and it’s still the perfect time to join. 30 days of magic for all of january—we’re going deep and rewiring our brains. but for now, i want to hear your thoughts on this. and if it resonated, please share with someone who you think can benefit! xx