He Left ESPN to Make YouTube Videos — here’s why

This week on Creator Spotlight, Francis is joined by former ESPN journalist Joon Lee. Joon shares how he turned a layoff into a creator career, breaking down his 22-month YouTube study, and how he is building an independent sports media brand that puts storytelling and trust first. Read the newsletter: https://www.creatorspotlight.com/p/joon-lee __ Follow Joon YouTube: @iamjoonlee Twitter/X: https://x.com/joonlee Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joon/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joonlee Website: https://joon.me Follow Francis LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/francis-zierer/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/FZierer __ Timestamps 00:00 Introducing Joon Lee 01:15 From tech YouTuber to sports journalist 06:49 Preparing to be a YouTuber 13:02 Indie creator bootcamp 17:05 What should new creators focus on? 22:58 The process of making high-quality YouTube videos 33:19 Making revenue and maintaining ethics 40:56 The most valuable asset as a creator is trust 44:55 Building relationships in the creator economy 50:30 The hardest part of YouTube