For today’s toddlers, Stevin John’s Blippi is an unsung hero. The YouTube content creator does education and fun, mixing field trips and repetitive speaking exercises to them develop fundamental skills.

Stevin John created the character with his nephew in mind after imagining new ways to educate young children. He soon learned he had to tweak his content in order to appeal to a secondary audience. As he told K-Swiss Radio, “My target audience is 2 to 6 year-olds, but their parents are just as much of a target audience. They need to approve it. If my content annoys them, they aren’t going to let their child watch it.”

Content entrepreneur Stevin John found big success after he changed @Blippiofficial to appeal to parents as well as his original audience of toddlers. #Stan #contentbusiness #creatoreconomy Share on X

Some were turned off by Stevin’s alter ego, who they thought was too animated. After the first year, Stevin toned down the character’s energy, and the channel grew. He now has over 13M subscribers and earned $17M last year, securing the eighth spot on Forbes’ 2020 high content creators earners list.

Why we’re a Stan: Realizing he had two demographics for his content, Stevin evolved Blippi’s character to work for both. That led him to a lot more subscribers who propelled his content business to big success.

About the author

Shameyka McCalman is a wordsmith whose work often centers around fashion, art, and other creatives of color. She earned her communications degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston and enjoys sifting through clothes in local vintage shops, frequenting nearby plays, and gazing at exhibitions on view in museums.