I genuinely enjoy the process of making things that look considered. There is a difference between putting something together and actually crafting it — and I have always leaned toward the latter. With presentations I tend to think about them almost like a story first and a slide deck second. The ones that land best are the ones where every slide has one clear idea, the visual hierarchy guides the eye naturally, and there is a consistent tone running through the whole thing — whether that is sharp and professional or deliberately playful. I have made decks that were intentionally minimal and ones that leaned into humour with unexpected visuals and deadpan captions. Both require the same underlying discipline, just expressed differently.

I usually start by just spending intentional time on the platforms themselves — not passively scrolling but actually paying attention to what is stopping me mid-scroll and asking myself why. If something makes me pause, there is usually a reason worth understanding. For trends specifically I pay attention to sounds, formats, and structures that are appearing repeatedly across different niches. When the same editing style or storytelling format shows up in fitness content, then food content, then finance content — that is usually a signal it has real legs and is worth jumping on before it peaks. I also look at comments sections a lot. People tell you exactly what they want more of, what confused them, what they want to try. That feedback loop is basically free content research that most people scroll past. For ideas I keep a running notes app where I drop anything interesting — a phrase I heard, a format I noticed, a question someone asked that I thought was interesting. Most of it never becomes anything but having that bank means I am never starting from a blank page. I also look beyond the platform I am creating for. Some of the best short-form ideas come from long-form content — a podcast moment, a book quote, a conversation — that nobody has translated into a quick digestible format yet. Being the person who bridges that gap consistently builds a strong content identity. Honestly the research and ideation never really stops. Once you train your brain to think like a content creator everything becomes a potential idea — you just need a system to capture it before it disappears.

yes several times