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Welcome to the Parasocial Paradox - a new show about the risks & realities of being visible online.
Each episode, you'll hear multiple experienced creators and experts dig into a different side of what being visible online actually looks like: platform risk, financial instability, AI, physical safety, mental health, audience dynamics, all of it.
There's a lot of upside, and there's a lot that can go wrong, and we don't talk about the latter nearly enough.
Think of it as listening in on a private creator mastermind where nobody's performing and nothing's off the table.
Each episode, you'll hear multiple experienced creators and experts dig into a different side of what being visible online actually looks like: platform risk, financial instability, AI, physical safety, mental health, audience dynamics, all of it.
There's a lot of upside, and there's a lot that can go wrong, and we don't talk about the latter nearly enough.
Think of it as listening in on a private creator mastermind where nobody's performing and nothing's off the table.
Because the real conversations are happening behind closed doors - over coffee, or in groups you don't even know exist. And we need to put that stuff on the mic because that's the truth of this business… it's wonderful and also really hard.
Hosted by Susan Boles, who spent years in federal law enforcement and security before becoming a creator herself. After a decade of watching creators build with zero infrastructure for protection, she started Unpublic, a creator safety and privacy service built for people whose livelihood depends on showing up online.
The risks are real. So are the rewards. And it's time we actually talked about both. That's the paradox every creator feels… building relationships with an audience while navigating the real risks that come with being visible online.
So, pull up a chair, grab your coffee, and turn off the ring light because we're not performing here.
Creators and Guests
What is The Parasocial Paradox | The risks & realities of being visible online?
There's the public side of being a creator - the growth, the audience, the brand deals, the sales. And then there's the side nobody talks about: the risks, the exposure, the realities that come with making a livelihood out of being visible online.
As a professional creator, you're business is built on the relationships you have with your audience, the ones you need to grow, to monetize, and to actually serve them well.
But along with all the upsides of building an audience come risks. Risks that nobody tells you about, often until you find yourself staring them down face-to-face. Privacy and security exposure. Mental health and burnout. Platform dependency. Income volatility. Public call outs. Cancellation. AI cloning your content without consent. Audiences that feel a little too close for comfort.
And the worst part: There's no safety net and no playbook for any of it. Our goal is to change that.
In each episode of the Parasocial Paradox, you'll hear experienced creators dig into the tensions, risk, and realities of being visible online platform risk, financial instability, AI, physical safety, mental health, audience dynamics, all of it. There's a lot of upside, and there's a lot that can go wrong, and we don't talk about the latter nearly enough.
Think of it as listening in on a private creator mastermind or hallway track at a conference, where nobody's performing and nothing's off the table.
Because while these conversations are already happening, they’re happening behind closed doors in 1:1 calls, masterminds, and group chats.
If we want more creators to be less exposed, more secure, and more able to build successful, sustainable careers, we need to put that stuff on the mic, because the truth of this business is this: it's wonderful, and it’s also really hard.
Hosted by Susan Boles, who spent years in federal law enforcement and security before becoming a creator herself. After a decade of watching creators build with zero infrastructure for protection, she started Unpublic, a creator safety and privacy service built for people whose livelihood depends on showing up online.
The risks are real. So are the rewards. And it's time we actually talked about both. That's the paradox every creator feels - building relationships with an audience while navigating the real risks of being visible online.
Pull up a chair, grab your coffee, and turn off the ring light. We're not performing here.
My thick skin does not help my grandmother. It just doesn't.
Susan Boles:You're not chasing a following. You already built one. You turned being visible into an actual business. And now, there's no off switch. Because the audience that pays the bills is the same audience you can never really step away from.
Susan Boles:Going dark isn't an option because if you stop showing up tomorrow, your income stops too. That's just the math. If that's your life, this show is for you. Because no one warns you that, along with the genuinely great parts of being a creator, there's a dark side to the contract. The skills that make you good at thisrunning the know, like, and trust pipeline, building a real bond with people who feel like they know youthose are the same skills that can turn a fan into a stalker, that can hand a scammer your trust to weaponize, or can train an AI to be you without asking.
Susan Boles:The thing that builds the business is also the thing that exposes you. Nobody talks about that part out loud, though. The conferences don't build sessions around it, the gurus don't cover it, and the never ending highlight reel sure does not show that part. But the conversation's still happening. Just happening in rooms you're not in.
Susan Boles:It's happening between two creators in a conference hallway after the panel, with their badges off, nerding out about the details. It's happening in the group chat you're not added to. It's happening in the paid mastermind, where someone finally admits they're not okay. That's where the real talk lives. And that's this show.
Susan Boles:The Parasocial Paradox is that room. With the mic on. I'm your host, Boles. Each episode, I get experienced creators together, and we talk the way you only talk when nobody's performing. It's not a solo lecture or an interview full of softball questions.
Susan Boles:It's the unguarded, sometimes ugly and uncomfortable conversations happening on the record for once. We get into the good, the bad, all of it. The income that swings for seemingly no reason, the floor that drops out overnight at the whim of some billionaire and his algorithm.
Jay:Which for me means you'll lead a business that doesn't depend on social media at all. In other words, if I lost access to it, or if I felt like that's the last straw, I'm out because they opted me into something I disagree with, or I feel too exposed for whatever reason, I have taken steps now to make sure that my business would be fine and, in fact, continue growing.
Susan Boles:AI scraping your work, including your voice or your face without asking.
Jay:There's no paperwork that exchanges hands. So there's no, like, written protection. I just gave them an hour of my voice, an hour long video, and a bunch of photos of mine, and kinda said without saying it, like, have at it.
Susan Boles:Burnout, you can't post your way out of.
Kait:My social media shows that I'm killing it, and my nervous system indicates I'm killing me.
Susan Boles:Privacy, safety, and the audience that feels like they're owed a piece of you.
Layla:I think I went into creating thinking I was selling my privacy when in reality, this is much more like those genetic testing sites where you selling your privacy is also kinda selling a percentage of everyone else's.
Natalia:I went to my daughter's sports tournament. It was packed. And someone came up to me and said, hey. Aren't you, like, that person on LinkedIn? I was so shocked.
Natalia:I think don't there's anything wrong with, like, approaching someone. I wasn't, like, upset at the person or anything like that. But I was just like, woah. Totally out of context. Like, I'm here watching my kids' tournament, and there's people here from my LinkedIn.
Natalia:I don't know. It just felt weird.
Susan Boles:Here's why I'm the one in the host chair. Before I was a creator, I spent years in federal law enforcement doing threat assessment for a living. So I tend to see the exposure in this work that most people miss. And that's the lens I bring to every conversation here. What you'll actually get out of this is the stuff your peers only say off the record.
Susan Boles:How people building the same kind of business as you are really handling the hard parts, from the creators right beside you to the ones a little bit further down the road. The upside of this work is real, but so are the risks. And it's time we talked about both. So, pull up a chair, grab your coffee, turn off your ring light because we're not performing here. Be sure to hit subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you're in the room when the first episode drops.