Welcome to Created, the newsletter that loves you more than Travis loves Taylor. Here's what we got today:

The bizarre trend of sponsored weddings

How Codie Sanchez built a $100M media empire

Outlier of the week

Closer Look: The Bizarre Trend of Sponsored Weddings

Engagement season just got...monetized?

From influencers cashing in on "fiancé era" to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce literally moving the stock market.

This summer, engagement announcements weren’t just heartfelt — they were engineered to earn.

She Said Yes...To The Brand

Here's a prime example of this trend: after NYC influencer Jaz got engaged, her wedding quickly turned into a full-blown brand moment.

She landed partnerships with Nivea for pre-wedding skincare, Kay Jewelers for ring try-ons, 21 Seeds Tequila for the welcome party, and more.

Plus, Jaz storyboarded over 40 Reels (you can't make this up) for her bridal party so they could make content too. And yes, there was product placement.

“I had the wedding I had because this is my job,” she explained. “You guys helped pay for it.”

The Proposal Playbook

Proposals are now launchpads for bridal-era monetization:

Danielle Bernstein (3.3M) had professional photos, edits, and a cross-promoted “bride-to-be” fashion line.
Paige Lorenze (1M) staged her Nantucket beach proposal as a luxury lifestyle ad.

Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco's engagement photos? A full on Taco Bell picnic.

That’s the pipeline: proposal virality → paid pre-wedding content → wedding-week vendor deals.

It's not just influencers. When Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement this week, Signet Jewelers' stock price jumped 5% — even though the company had nothing to do with their ring.

Since both Swift and Kelce wore Ralph Lauren in the engagment photos, the brand's stock rose by 2%.

Is Nothing Sacred, Anymore?

Influencer weddings have become less like celebrations and more like commercials.

The uncomfortable truth: in 2025, life milestones aren’t just lived — they’re packaged, monetized, and optimized for reach.

And with weddings already being a $899B industry, the incentives couldn’t be clearer.

How Codie Sanchez Built a $100M Business on YouTube

Codie Sanchez is redefining how to make money on YouTube.

She went from covering cartels as a journalist to working on Wall Street to building a $100M business empire.

Today, she runs a portfolio of 25+ cash-flowing businesses, from laundromats to car washes.

It's all centered around her YouTube channel which has over 1.8M subs and growing.

AdSense Isn't Enough

More recently, Codie launched a new business called BizScout, an online marketplace for buying and selling small businesses.

As of July, BizScout has reached 100K users and facilitated more than 25K connections between buyers and sellers.

But it all goes back to what Codie told us in our interview about choosing equity over cash.

"If you're a creator today and you're not thinking about acquiring businesses and how to get equity — you're making a huge mistake. If you are only living off of AdSense...you're in trouble," Codie said.

Today, Codie says no to most brand deals. And when she does say yes, it’s only to companies she owns, partially owns, or genuinely uses and loves.

Our Take

Codie’s story proves that creators don’t need to rely on AdSense or brand deals alone.

Instead, they can build long-term wealth by thinking like dealmakers and leveraging their unique assets: attention, expertise, and creativity.

Her advice? “If you can learn the language of money, you’ll never be poor.”

🎯 Weekly Roundup: YouTube Thumbnails

Why we love these YouTube thumbnails:

21-square-foot house + Guinness Record stamp instantly makes you wonder how anyone can live there (Levi Kelly Tours)
Tiny person stuck in a blender with finger about to press on = instant tension (Veritasium)
$10,000 for a bag of oxygen? This is an instant click (Zac Alsop)
Transparent Lunchly with ‘real meat’ label is so strange you stop and look twice (Angelia Mor)

🚀 Weekly Outlier

This video by Lachlan Earnshaw has 815K views, which is 19.2 times higher than the channel’s average. Here's why it took off:

High-Stakes Challenge: 12 hours a day on Uber Eats to match a full-time salary is a physical and financial test rolled into one.

Raw But Engaging: Unpolished but smartly edited — good pacing, stats, humor, and a clear narrative arc.

Relatable Underdog: Bike fails, rain, burnout… but Lachlan pushes through. You can’t help but root for him.

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