What does it take to build a global storytelling brand from a YouTube channel? Sean Atkins, CEO of Dhar Mann Studios, has spent 20+ years following consumer behavior to its next destination — from cable to the early internet to streaming to the creator economy. Now he’s running the largest scripted digital creator operation in the world, reaching 170 million followers and 300 million views every week.

In this conversation, Sean and Genuin CMO (and podcast host) Matt Wurst get into the structural reasons brands need creators now, who really owns authenticity in a brand-creator partnership, and why the marketing value chain inside most Fortune 100 companies is completely broken for the creator era. Sean also reflects on what it means to scale a founder-led business without losing its soul, why the biggest constraint in any company is usually the founder themselves, and why a nonlinear career is a feature — not a liability.

Honest, experienced, and genuinely useful for anyone building in the attention economy.