I work best in environments that blend both — and from what I understand about Relay's model, that's exactly the dynamic here. I appreciate clear frameworks and output expectations (like knowing the brand's safe zones, sound guidelines, and performance benchmarks) because those guardrails actually free me to be more creative within them, not less. At the same time, I thrive when given the autonomy to hunt for formats independently, make judgment calls on what's worth testing, and move quickly without waiting for approval on every decision. The research-build-read loop Relay runs is appealing to me precisely because it's structured enough to be efficient but open enough to reward creative instinct. In short — I want clear outcomes, not a script for how to get there.

My research process starts on TikTok's Creative Center, where I filter by industry, objective, and date range to identify which ad formats are currently clearing the view bar — not just getting impressions, but holding attention past the two-second mark. I look for patterns across the top performers: what's happening in the first frame, what type of hook is being used (question, bold statement, visual pattern interrupt), and whether the format relies on UGC, voiceover, text-on-screen, or a combination. From there I cross-reference with organic content in the same niche — scrolling the relevant hashtags and saving posts with unusually high saves-to-views or shares-to-views ratios, because those signals indicate the format resonated beyond passive watching. I also study competitor brand ads using the TikTok Ad Library to see what they're running at scale, since brands only scale what's converting. Once I've identified two or three repeatable format patterns, I strip them down to their core structure — hook type, pacing, CTA style — and rebuild them with the specific brand's product and voice. The goal is never to copy, but to extract the structural logic and apply it fresh. I then track performance on the new versions and feed that data back into the next research cycle.

I've been creating content across YouTube and Instagram for the past two years, growing my YouTube channel to 487 subscribers and my Instagram to 264 followers through entirely organic, self-produced content. My process has always been research-first — I study what hooks stop the scroll in the first two seconds, analyze why certain formats outperform others, and then build content around those insights rather than guessing. Beyond my personal channels, I've worked on content strategy and short-form video creation for brand GIGs, where I learned to adapt creative to specific brand voices while keeping performance at the center. I'm comfortable working inside structured creative systems — researching winning formats, building concepts quickly, and reading performance data to improve the next iteration. That loop of research, create, and optimize is exactly how I've been approaching content, and it maps directly to what Relay is building.