SunnyDay: Outdoor Coffee & Matcha
- Learn more: www.sunnyday.co
It took an entire roadtrip across the country for my brain to finally understand just how powerful nature can be. Since then, it’s been a non-stop goal of mine to find moments of peace in nature whenever possible.
Whether it’s a spell of anxiety, loneliness, or just needing to clear my mind - nature has always been a huge part of what I create. For the longest time my content was solely centered around mental health. I would create endless pieces of content on anxiety, depression, trying to find a way to push the needle forward. From hosting a discord server through covid with mental health support, starting a brand to raise funds for non-profits, it seemed like everything I was pursuing was checking the boxes. However, below the surface I had come to understand that this was a much more complex issue than I had thought.
Realizing that I was creating echo-chambers, I began to shift my content towards what had helped me, highlighting my own personal journey through what I was facing, prioritizing sharing parts of myself and personal anecdotes.
Nothing has been more impactful to my own mental health than nature, it’s been the single grounding force that brings peace through all the chaos and in my mind - the best way to help anyone is to continue promoting the outdoors. So when SunnyDay came up, it was a no brainer. Teaming up with a mentor and incredible team, we officially launched SunnyDay in late 2023 - better caffeine, better for the planet, better for your mind. A community of outdoor adventurers and way to promote a lifestyle that brings you outside more.
A whole year of work was put into this company before it ever launched and I’m so beyond proud of every part of it - it’s truly done the right way.
Creator Camp: Making the internet a better place through connecting artists.
- Learn more: www.creatorcamp.co
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2021 was the loneliest year of my life. After convincing my parents to allow me to take a gap year from college to focus on creating content and running a brand, I was quickly faced with the reality of trying to blaze your own path. Sitting back in my childhood bedroom, recording 60 second tik-toks everyday, the idea of this being all there was in the world was daunting.
Nights were often spent browsing friends’ Snapchat stories, as they went on with their college lives, partying and meeting life-long friends. What the hell was I doing?
And so, out of necessity rather than curiosity, I began feverishly reaching out to others that were walking the same path online. Finding those who were also creating meaningful content (this would eventually become the YouTubeNewWave), and bringing us together in a single discord group-chat. Fast forward 2 years and Creator Camp is now a global community of 150+ creators, entrepreneurs, and artists, all pushing to create a more meaningful internet.
At Creator Camp, our one mission has been to connect and empower the next generation of artists. To collectively push back on the sludge of colorless content that is thrown out on the internet everyday and instead pursue meaning within what we create. From renting out the largest log cabin in North America, working with global brand such as Shopify, and creating the most driven group of forward facing creatives, the journey has been quite the rollercoaster, but one that lies extremely close to my heart.
Keep It Wholesome: Impact-driven clothing and accessory brand.
- Learn more: www.keepitwholesome.com
It was late 2019 when I first created the TikTok account, @wholesomesimon. After spending almost half my living life trying to create content, I had found myself leaning towards the spoken word as an outlet.
Looking up to artists Miles Carter and Montell Fish, the first videos I created were simple 60 second voiceovers tackling the issues of happiness, depression, and anxiety, reflecting on my own experiences and things that had helped me. Each video was appropriately ended with the three words - keep it wholesome.
Those three words went on to touch every part of the globe, from donating $13,000+ for non-profits such as the Jed Foundation, NAMI, Trevor Project, raising $30,000 to build a school in Malawi, to being tattooed on several people across the world, the brand has been a huge part of my life and this community as a whole.
In 2022, after two years of running the brand full time, I began to feel myself slip. My first official burnout (lmao i was so naive back then) had come knocking at my door. Bruised and battered I decided to quit running the brand full-time to focus on creating films on YouTube, still returning from time to time to raise funds for non-profits or create physical products. While Keep It Wholesome isn’t active today and I’ve now logged out of the Instagram account as a measure to protect my own sanity - the impact we’ve had as a community is nothing short of incredible and has definitely moved the needle in a positive direction :)
