I’ve always operated in a weird liminal space, often labeled as an “influencer” or content creator as much as a journalist. And I am, and have always been, both. But the legacy media is not set up for people like me. The truth is that in today's media environment, these distinctions are meaningless. We are all part of the same media ecosystem; we can all have a voice online. These artificial lines were demolished years ago. The journalists I’m most inspired by today are those who have taken their voices back into their own hands— independent content creators who challenge powerful institutions and carve out their own space in a crowded media landscape. By going independent, I hope to do more of what I love: helping people understand the world around them, inspiring them to build a better internet, holding power to account, and honestly, having a lot more fun!! I want to do all of this without worrying about some corporate overlord and without the constraints of institutions that, at times, are more concerned with optics than with challenging power. I want to experiment with new formats in storytelling without navigating a vast corporate bureaucracy. I want to be able to write freely and speak directly to people via Substack, TikTok, YouTube, my podcast, and run my silly meme pages.

I also firmly believe that the era of faux neutrality—the “view from nowhere” style of journalism—is over. I will always be upfront and honest about my perspectives and where I’m coming from. Sometimes you might disagree with me, or I might be wrong(!), and I’d rather hear that than pretend I’m not a human being with opinions. This transparency is, to me, the essence of trust in journalism.