Welcome to Created, the newsletter that’s more essential than your backup drive. Here’s what we got today:
- How DoughJoe amassed 3M followers without quitting his 9-to-5
- Emiru’s assault sparks backlash against Twitch
- Outlier of the week
The Pizza Guy Who Turned His 9-5 Into 3M Followers
TikToker Dough Joe built an audience of over 3M followers by doing one thing: making pizzas at Papa John’s.
When a viewer commented that he was “wasting his talent” by staying in his day job, he fired back with a calm, confident response that went viral.
Joe said he’s thankful for his job and the opportunities it has given him, even if others don’t see it that way.
The Secret Ingredient: A Day Job
Dough Joe didn’t quit his day job to make content. He turned the job into content.
With millions of followers, you might think he’d be itching to leave the pizza world behind.
But that couldn’t be further from reality.
“I’ve been working for Papa John’s for six years,” he said. “I’ve paid my way through college, bought my first car, and learned discipline from this job.”
“And I’m thankful to be a pizza man.”
Our Take: The Rise of the Everyday Creator
Dough Joe didn’t leave his 9-to-5 to chase content — he turned it into content.
And the result? Papa John’s bought in. They filmed commercials with him and recognized the power of having an in-house creator.
Then there’s 7-Eleven, which fired their employee IanOnYouTube for filming vlogs during his shift, missing the moment entirely.
The rise of the everyday creator isn’t just about relatability. It’s a blueprint for brands: empower your employees, and you might just find your next breakout star behind the counter.
Streamer Calls Out Twitch After TwitchCon Incident
Twitch streamer Emiru was recently assaulted during a meet-and-greet at TwitchCon — in front of a live audience.
An attendee broke through multiple barriers, grabbed her face, and tried to kiss her before being pulled away by her private security.
Clips of the attack spread instantly across social media, sparking outrage and igniting a debate online asking: Is Twitch doing enough?
Twitch Responds
Twitch called the incident “completely unacceptable and deeply upsetting,” claiming the man was “immediately detained and banned.”
Emiru says that’s not true.
“He was allowed to walk away from my meet and greet,” she wrote. “I didn’t hear he was caught until hours after he attacked me.”
She added that the guard seen intervening was her own, not Twitch’s.
So when she says this is her last TwitchCon, she means it.
Valkyrae, Pokimane, and QTCinderella actually skipped TwitchCon entirely this year over safety concerns.
Our Take
Creators aren’t just content — they’re people.
People who attract millions of viewers online. Which means they need real-world protection offline.
And if Twitch can’t guarantee that, how long before they stop showing up at all?
🎯 Weekly Roundup: Thumbnails
Why we love these YT thumbnails:
- $70,000 cheese wheel? You instantly want to know more (Joshua Weissman)
- “This is a lie” over CTRL + Z keys flips a familiar shortcut into a bold claim (Enrico Tartarotti)
- One-star “Don’t Drink Bang!” review next to an exhausted face makes you curious what went wrong (Jesse James West)
- Sleeping bag in a gym at 2am perfectly mixes absurdity with dedication (Will Tennyson)
🚀 Weekly Outlier
This video by Chris Hytha has 1.5M views, which is 27 times higher than the channel’s average. Here’s why it took off:
- Not “Just a Reno”: Turns a collapsing 1850s rowhome into a structural masterclass, with animated plans and diagrams.
- Full Process Transparency: Shows costs, constraints, and vendor partnerships without shilling.
- Transformation on Camera: Starts as an architect documenting damage and ends as a full-fledged builder.
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Trust me, these books are packed with more tips than most paid courses.
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– Jon
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