The Brand Gave the Agency a Million. The Agency Took 600. Here's What's Left for You.

Paglalarawan

He started posting during COVID with nothing but Wi-Fi and unemployment. One message from a kid named Abdul — "I haven't smiled in a very long time, thank you for this" — changed everything. Dezz Lee now has 1.7 million followers on TikTok. He has been stopped in malls, in Ubers, and back home in Zimbabwe. Content creation chose him before he chose it. But here is what nobody tells you about that level of following. "The amount of followers is not what's in your bank account." We talked about why creators stay broke despite massive audiences, the agency system that takes 600 of every million-rand brand budget before it reaches you, why building a community is the only thing that actually matters, and what Dezz Lee wishes brands understood before they came with a brief and a large cheque. He also said something that stopped the whole conversation: "Some people say there's an Illuminati of content creation somewhere in the clouds. I believe that." We went there too. This is a conversation about the real creator economy — the money, the middlemen, the mental health, and the one message that started it all. About Larreth Larreth Jimu is the Founder and CEO of Melsoft Academy and host of The Larreth Jimu Show — conversations with the operators and builders shaping Africa's future. Based in South Africa. Connect • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larreth-jimu/ • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/larreth/ • X/Twitter: https://x.com/larrethjimu • Podcast: @larreth • Website: https://www.melsoft.org/ Looking for content about how creators make money, why brand deals pay so little, the truth about the creator economy in South Africa, how to grow on TikTok, or the relationship between creators and agencies? This conversation covers all of it from someone who has 1.7million followers and learned everything the hard way.