The Cost of “Inspiration” in a Creator Economy

It's not "inspired by" it's stealing.

I don’t get paid to do this.

There’s no paid brand deal behind most of the posts you see here. No team. No funding. Just me. A PhD student, young mom and grassroots community organizer who chooses to put time, energy, and free labour into creating content that connects the dots between wellness, justice, science, and care. Because I believe in what I’m building.

So when someone—whether they follow me or not—takes that work, strips it of context, changes the visuals, keeps the audio, reuses the structure, even the exact on-screen text… and posts it as their own with a vague “inspired by ___” (if at all) —it doesn’t just feel like a gut punch.

It is a gut punch.

To every creator trying to move culture forward.
To every voice not backed by money or media.
To the idea that wellness is something we can build together, not steal.

You can’t say you care about community, about decolonizing, about mutual care, while reproducing the same extractive practices that leave marginalized creators burned out and invisible.

This isn’t about ego.
It’s about ethics.
And about asking: why are we so quick to consume, reproduce, overwrite without consent?

We talk a lot about wellness in this space—but rarely about the well-being of creators. Of people doing this work unpaid, unseen, unsupported. I used to protect other creators who have taken from me & deal with it behind closed doors, but I can no longer hold the weight of it alone. It is exhausting to be in a constant cycle of output while others profit off your originality.

So let me be clear:
✨ You can be inspired and ethical.
✨ You can cite your sources fully, not vaguely.
✨ You can DM someone and ask before replicating their idea, structure, or sound.
✨ And if you’ve received brand deals or paid opportunities because of content that wasn’t truly yours, you owe more than a tag.

Community well-being starts with practicing integrity.
It’s protecting space for originality and uplifting the folks who dare to put their creative labour out there.
It’s making the digital space safer, more honest, and more just.

So no, I’m not flattered when my ideas are co-opted.
I’m tired.
And I’m asking for better.

Not just for me—but for every creator who’s building something from the ground up and watching people take from the very work that is costing them time, energy, and so much unseen labour.

You want to support creators?
Start by respecting the process.
Not just the product.

So, here’s what you can do if you see creative labour being taken without consent:

Call it out: Don’t wait for the creator to “notice.” If you recognize where something originated—say something. Silence enables extraction.

Let the original creator know: Sometimes we miss it. A quiet heads-up in the DMs is a small act of solidarity that can make a huge difference.

Don’t place the burden on the creator: We’re tired. Creating original work is already labour. Dealing with the emotional fallout of being copied is another layer of unpaid, unacknowledged work. Support us by taking action—not just sending sympathy.

Credit is not consent: “Inspired by ___” doesn’t absolve you. Ask first. And if money is involved? Pay the people whose work you’re leveraging.

Ask yourself: Would I be okay if someone did this to me? If the answer is no, then don’t do it. And don’t defend it.

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