Digital Creators Are a Growth Industry. BU Alums Are Some of the Most Successful
Bostonia caught up with four Terrier creators, including CFA alum Julian Shapiro-Barnum (CFA'21), the host of Recess Therapy
Digital Creators Are a Growth Industry. BU Alums Are Some of the Most Successful
Bostonia caught up with four Terrier creators, including CFA alum Julian Shapiro-Barnum (CFA’21), the host of Recess Therapy
This article was originally published in Bostonia on December 1, 2025. By Rich Barlow
EXCERPT
In today’s digital economy, the largest and fastest-growing segment is made up of the people who produce and publish content online to build a community and potentially earn income—the digital creators. The number of full-time equivalent positions has mushroomed by a multiple of 7-plus since the start of the pandemic, to 1.5 million last year. Boston University has educated a host of successful entrepreneurs in the business. Alumni who post on various platforms about a vast array of topics include Lynae Vanee Bogues (GRS’18)—who has 904,000 Instagram followers—and Evan Puschak (COM’10), your guide to art and culture on The Nerdwriter. Several have gathered large, adoring audiences and the mainstream media coverage that goes with them.
Bostonia caught up with four Terriers, including CFA alum Julian Shapiro-Barnum (CFA’21), and asked how creators select the topics for their sites, how they monetize them, and what impediments they had to overcome to turn personal avocation into full-time vocation.
Julian Shapiro-Barnum (CFA’21), Recess Therapy
Main platform: Instagram, 3.2 million followers
“Life’s biggest questions, from climate change to boogers.” That, says Julian Shapiro-Barnum, is the focus of Recess Therapy, featuring short videos of his interviews with children.
Just don’t call what Shapiro-Barnum creates “content.”
“I can’t stand the word,” he says. “It’s a dirty word that denotes filler, fluff, junk food. I put a lot of love and thought into my work, and I know a lot of other creatives do as well. I think a lot of artists, filmmakers, creatives see mainstream media as a step above work put out on the internet. I think that isn’t true, and the gap is shrinking incredibly fast.”
Shapiro-Barnum has filmed Recess Therapy almost every week for more than four years, usually in New York, but occasionally around the country, logging thousands of interviews. His young subjects have been magnets for celebrity guest appearances on the series, including Rihanna, Michelle Obama, and Sean Evans, and have earned media coverage from the likes of Today.
While he’s not comfortable sharing his annual income, “I will say there is a lot of money to be made in this field. Postgrad, I never had to work a day job, and I now live alone in a lovely neighborhood. Brands are investing a ton of money into this market.” To survive as a creator, however, “You need to really feel comfortable hustling. You have to constantly advocate for yourself, seek out your own opportunities, network, create, and produce. My advice for anyone just starting out is to make as many different things as possible. You never know what’s going to stick.
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