UGC IRL!

Sorry for the acronym soup. But I recently had the pleasure of working directly with influencers face to face at Sydney's famous Crypto Castle. A mansion in the Eastern Suburbs that looks like a billionaires bunker. The infinity pool, winding staircase, and floor-to-ceiling windows revealing ocean views made for a perfect location to film some content.

Here's what I learned working with influencers. Firstly, drop them into an inspiring clifftop castle and they’ll churn out content like their lives depend on it. Which, to be fair, they kind of do. But weirdly it works. And works well. Canva and Meta brought together six influencers with six Canva creatives with the challenge to create thirty Reels in five hours.

Normally, UGC is a slow and painful process. You brief, they shoot, you give feedback, they tweak, you go back and forth until eventually landing on something worth posting. This time? None of that shit. Sitting side by side, we created in real time. No bottlenecks, no soul-crushing email chains. Thirty Reels in five hours. Done. From a business point of view, that’s gold: faster content means faster testing, faster results, faster learnings. You just need an expensive luxury playground that doubles as a high-volume content engine.

And it wasn’t just flashy content. Our in-house team also walked away with fresh hooks for performance marketing - including Canva’s first-ever underwater shoot. A one day sprint gave us not only thirty UGC Reels, but a stockpile of assets we can slice and dice across paid channels.

The other win? Community. Spending a full day filming, eating, and creating with people like @lisadotdesign, @perksofpatt, @gunclediaries, @lukeaustinofficial, @project.catherine and @carolynjuan turned them from talent into true collaborators. They left genuinely buzzing about Canva, posting the love on their own channels. That's the sort of buzz you can’t fake.

I got paired with Luke Austin, a comedian, VO artist and professional chaos merchant. He's the sort of man who takes one look at an oversized inflatable yellow duck and won’t rest until it’s in frame. We worked well together. I like to think of myself as pretty funny, so we bounced off each other and got the most out of the concepts. It was refreshing. His brain is wired differently - always pushing stranger and funnier directions. My job was to wrangle that into something vaguely strategic for Canva. I also had a skit based idea on hold for a while, waiting for the right moment to unleash it and this was it. Luke was the right man to break his printers heart and outsource his printing needs to Canva. Keep an eye out on his socials for that.

What I realised during the process: is that marketers and influencers aren’t all that different. They chase clout. I chase creativity. They speak in trends. I speak in brand. Strip it back and we’re both just addicts trying to get someone, anyone, to give a shit about what we make. And honestly? That’s the point. This wasn’t just a fun day out in a mansion. It was proof that UGC can be faster, better and stickier all at once.

Word Nerd meets Word Tonic

A few weeks ago, I had the honour of running a masterclass for Word Tonic, a Gen Z copywriting community bursting with creative energy and the kind of humour that made me feel ancient. Hearing a “Thank you, Daddy” sound effect on loop while presenting was a first for me, but honestly, it was an amazing experience.

There’s something uniquely vulnerable about standing in front of a group — even virtually — and saying, “Here’s what I know. Here’s what I’ve learned the hard way. And here’s what I've still got to figure out.”

The Word Tonic crew was welcoming, open, and refreshingly honest. We connected, laughed, and shared stories about the chaotic joys of freelancing, the weirdness of client feedback, and the age-old debate: How much spec work should your portfolio actually include? (answer still isn't clear) 

The session was a mix of whacky stories from agency life, lessons learned in-house, tips for finding your voice (and not losing it in rounds of feedback), and some honest truths I wish I’d heard earlier in my career—like: it’s okay not to have all the answers. And yes, impostor syndrome isn't ideal, but it’s also so widespread that it’s basically normal.

What surprised me most was how generous and sharp the Word Tonic community is. They asked smart questions, shared their own experiences, and cheered each other on in the chat. It felt less like a masterclass and more like a big, creative group therapy session, in the best possible way.

So if you ever get the chance to run a session like this, take it. Even if you’re nervous. Especially if you’re nervous. Because somewhere in that room, someone needs to hear what only you can say, in a way that only you can say it.

Or if you're a Gen Z copywriter looking for a warm, supportive, laugh-out-loud community, look no further than Word Tonic. They haven't paid me to endorse them! I genuinely believe in what they're doing.