Why I’m not becoming a Growth Guru (+ my Hoochie Daddy Uniform)

🧠 The Loop I Don’t Want to Enter

A few months ago, I noticed a shift in my feed.

“How to get your first 1,000 views.”
“Instagram’s new algorithm trick.”
“The growth hack you’re missing.”

I clicked. I consumed. I educated.
And for a while, it was genuinely helpful—like decoding a game I didn’t know I was playing.

But then I started to feel it: that slow creep of sameness.
Content that used to be creative started folding in on itself.
Videos about making videos.
Posts about posting.
A feedback loop dressed up as inspiration.

That’s when I noticed a pattern I’ve been trying to put into words.
Something I’m calling Creativity Recursion.

Creativity Recursion is when your creative work becomes about your creative work.
It’s not storytelling, it’s storytelling about storytelling.
Not the thing, but a commentary on the thing.
It’s like Inception: a dream within a dream. Except instead of dreams, it’s thumbnails.

And let me be clear, this isn’t shade.
I actually feel sympathy for the people caught in this loop.

Take Ali Abdaal.
I remember when he was a med student making vlogs about note-taking and shooting goofy music videos with friends. It was light. Playful. Curious.

Now? He’s built an empire teaching YouTube growth.
And I’m genuinely happy for him, he found his lane.
But I can’t help but mourn the version of him that just made stuff.
I wonder if he mourns it too.

Same goes for the fitness world.
Someone gets jacked—and suddenly they’re not training anymore, they’re launching a mentorship program on how to build a coaching business.
The passion becomes a pipeline.
The output becomes meta.

And maybe that’s how this game works.
But I hope it doesn’t have to be.

Because I’ve run the thought experiment:
What happens if this thing actually works for me?
If Cinemagravy really grows?
If I go full-time, build a team, hit all the vanity metrics?

Honestly—I just hope I’m still doing this.
Still writing like this. Still shooting weird, moody videos.
Still sitting on the floor with a cigar and a keyboard, trying to make sense of it all.

Because the thing that scares me most isn’t failure.
It’s waking up in a version of my own success that feels like a copy of a copy of the thing that got me here.

So this is me, noticing the recursion.
And choosing not to step in.
Let the algorithm wonder what I’m doing.

🩳 The Hoochie Daddy Uniform

Every Gravy Gentleman™ needs a uniform. Here's mine.

If Steve Jobs had a tan and a quad pump, I think he’d ditch the black turtleneck for this:

• 🩳 4” inseam shorts (best Amazon purchase I’ve made this year, Creami doesn’t count since it was a gift).

• 👕 My beater of choice (Free PDF here)

• 👟 Slide-on loafers (currently favoring these)

I wear this day or night. Comfy. Presentable. Zero decision fatigue.
Minimal choices = maximal creative energy.
Hoochie Daddies, unite.

📚 Things Worth Your Time

🎯 Reverse Benchmarking (via Rory Sutherland on Modern Wisdom)
Instead of asking what your competitors are doing well, ask:“What disappoints me about them?” Double down on that. Turn their weakness into your signature.
10–20% of people who notice that same gap?
They’ll follow you forever.

🎧 Gym Music
Been on a Billy Talent kick lately.
Spotify’s basic Billy Talent radio? Absolute slapper.
It’s been getting me through some low-energy workouts where even 4 cups of coffee was like, “You’re on your own, bro.”
If you’ve got gym recs that aren’t just pulling from my sad boy high school archive… slide into my DMs.

🧂 MSG Accent seasoning
Available at most grocery stores, this is the cheapest and biggest life enhancer you’ll find in my newsletter. Check the label: pure monosodium glutamate.
It’s a staple in my kitchen. Goes in the Emotional Support Salad. Pulls serious flavor weight. MSG gets a bad rap, mostly thanks to myth-laced stories from our parents’ generation. A lot of fear, not a lot of science. (I’ll break it down in a reel soon.) Do yourself a favor, keep this stocked. 

🔜 Coming Up This Week...

8/3 SUNDAY GRAVY SCHOOL – (IG)
Hot Vs. Beautiful
“Ay bro—ever notice how some girls are hot… and some are beautiful?” This reel is that idea, but dressed up in lighting, tone, and a little philosophy. This is a 60-second riff for the more nuanced-minded folks of the internet. People who still think about Brando’s broken nose. Or why your favorite room has weird proportions. If that’s you, you’ll like it.

8/8 – CINEMAGRAVY (YouTube)
Why I’m Letting Go of Perfection
A deep dive on Wabi-Sabi, meta creativity, and the embarrassing corners of our house that taught me more than any growth hack. Featuring: toilet cam.

8/10 SUNDAY GRAVY SCHOOL – (IG)
WTF is the Golden Ratio?
The next installment in what might be an endless series I’m calling Beauty Explained. This week’s reel scratched the surface (Hot vs. Beautiful).
Next week, we’re going deeper. Like, mathematically deeper. More science. More structure. Still working out the tone, because… how does one make geometry fun? Expect philosophy. Expect me shirtless.

✌️ Until Next Time…

About 3 months ago, I went all-in on this content thing.
The more I make, the more fuel I seem to find.

That said—I'm capping myself at this cadence for now.
Weekly reel. Bi-weekly YT vid. Weekly newsletter.
Each one with intention.

Thanks for being here early.
Plenty more in the tank.