"As you grow as a creator, your rates go up" — Influencer Brandon Edelman throws light on his financial growth as a content creator

Social media influencer, Brandon Edelman, aka Bran Flakezz, shared candid details about his journey as a content creator. On May 5, 2025, he sat down with Jason Tartick on the latter’s Trading Secrets podcast.

During the conversation, the influencer said that before venturing into this profession, he also worked at Forever 21. However, he revealed that his earnings have jumped to $768,000 as a content creator, which used to be $8.65 at Forever 21.

When Tartick asked whether the million mark impacted his rates or if he got paid more, Brandon Edelman replied:

“Yeah, so like obviously as you grow as a creator, your rates go up. You know with more and more eyes on your content, that's more and more eyes for advertising dollars. You know simply what we were talking about earlier with TikTok. So, yeah of course, your rates go up which is great.”

He went on:

“But I think for me it's just I didn't think I was ever going to hit that number. And I remember when TikTok was almost banned in January feeling like damn, I never even got to hit a million. And now to say like I did it was just like incredible.”

Brandon Edelman shared that after working in the fitting room at Urban Outfitters, he eventually got hired by their parent company. They placed him at Anthropologie, which he didn’t expect since he saw it as a brand for older women.

As a merchandise assistant, his annual earnings were up to $41,000. Brandon Edelman said he loved the role so much that he said he would still do it today, if the pay were significantly higher.

From Anthropologie to TikTok: A look at Brandon Edelman’s journey

While Brandon Edelman was working at Anthropologie, he realized that the salary wasn’t enough to cover his student loans or help support his parents. To earn more, he started posting content on TikTok in hopes of eventually making money from it.

He began in 2021, left Anthropologie, and took a job at GoPuff. The company noticed his work and promoted him to the social team with a salary increase to $73,000. Although the new role paid more, he quickly burned out trying to make content for GoPuff and himself.

Around that time, he started landing brand deals worth a few thousand dollars each, which added up to about $10,000 to $15,000 saved in his account. After receiving his annual bonus in April, he considered focusing full-time on content.

Brandon Edelman called his mom, and she encouraged him to take the chance while he was gaining attention. By that summer, he had left GoPuff and had earned twice his GoPuff salary through brand deals alone.

He explained that most people didn’t understand how TikTok earnings worked. He only made money directly from the creator fund. The content creator pointed out that some creators earned as much as $10,000 to $15,000 each month from TikTok Shop, which he found surprising.

However, Brandon Edelman’s main source of income came from brand deals. He clarified that he wasn’t heavily focused on promoting products or sharing shopping links. While he did that occasionally, his content leaned more toward comedy and entertainment, which was the foundation of his business.

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