Creators can now receive financial incentives for referring other creators to Creative Juice. Learn more about Juice Bucks referral program today. 

About Sima Gandhi

Sima Gandhi has built her career bringing improved financial services to areas of the economy that are currently underserved. 

“The thing that gets me really excited is “How do we help business owners live better lives by having access to better financial resources?” Health and finances are the two things that most affect your quality of life, so I’ve focused my career on bringing better financial services to underserved segments of the economy. Today creators remain misunderstood by traditional financial institutions and that’s why Creative Juice was born – to provide creators with the first-ever creator business banking solution.”

Before co-founding Creative Juice, Sima worked on the founding leadership team at Plaid, an open banking platform powering over 80% of fintech companies, for five years. Her background also includes working at American Express and the U.S. Department of Treasury. 

She founded Creative Juice with Ezra Cooperstein in January 2021. 

“When I left [Plaid], I was thinking about what I wanted to do next. I started learning about the creator economy, and I was inspired by the combination of business savvy and creativity creators bring to the table.”

Sima shares that she was interested in the complex nature of creator businesses, especially since many creators are solopreneurs combining many passions and streams of revenue. 

Unfortunately, she also noticed a lack of financial services available for creators. Even today, many banks and traditional financial services fail to recognize or offer a full gamut of services for creator businesses. 

She adds that Creative Juice has also funded nearly six million dollars into creator businesses via Juice Funds, allowing creators to access capital they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. These creators have been able to leap forward in their creator businesses and expand across new platforms and verticals. Among these creators, 50% receiving Juice Funds are from underrepresented communities. The unique part of Juice Funds creators is that they span the gamut from 10,000 subscribers to 4M+.

Juice Funds focuses on supporting and investing in creators of all sizes and verticals – otherwise known as the “working class creator.” Tony Jeffries, a former Olympic boxer, used his Juice Funds to make more impactful videos and has seen explosive growth over the past year growing 30% in subscribers in a few short months and surpassing the 1M subscribers threshold. Additionally, the funding allowed him to put more effort into his boxing channels to expand into new markets and launch a merchandising arm of his business.

“I think most people don’t understand YouTube or creator businesses. So, it’s been really exciting to work with these creators to educate them that they are in fact businesses and help them grow.“

In today’s interview, Sima shares about Juice Bucks, Creative Juice’s first-ever referral program. Creators can earn up to $10,000 for referring other creators to Creative Juice. It pays to know creators. 

Juice Bucks – Creative Juice’s First Referral Program

The idea behind Juice Bucks started when Sima and her team realized the greater need for financial services for creators, especially when it comes to helping creators monetize.

“Our current creators have seen a lot of value in Creative Juice and naturally started to refer other creators, When you look at the creator economy, there’s a real opportunity to help creators monetize, and we wanted to reward them for sharing the love with their creator friends.”

The Creative Juice team also had to determine how they would split the reward among creators referring their friends to Creative Juice. 

“Creators have long relied on investments from friends and family or organic growth, and we wanted to empower their financial growth through a referral program. It’s finally time to start paying creators. And we really mean that. Juice Bucks offers creators up to $10,000 by just referring their creator friends.“

How Does Juice Bucks Work?

The Juice Bucks referral program is simple: refer a creator and earn money back after they open and begin using their account. 

Sima shares that you start the referral process when you refer a creator friend. When they open their Creative Juice account and spend money with their Juice business account, you both receive money in your Juice accounts. The first referral is $25. From there, you can earn additional money as you hit bigger milestones. 

“All you have to do is to bank with us, love the product, and tell your creative friends about it.”

She adds that creators of any size on any platform are welcome to join the referral program. Simply sign up in minutes.

The Future of the Creator Economy

When asked about the future of the creator economy, Sima explains, “We think that the creator economy is in its early days.  It’s already a hundred billion-plus industry, but we see creators as the future of businesses in America and the economy will only grow from there.“

She adds that businesses from every industry, whether you own a restaurant or are an accountant, have a social media presence nowadays. 

“It’s almost like a way to verify who you are as a business … Every business will have a creative and a social media component to it. We want to be there helping these creator businesses as they grow and build their presence.”

Sima explains that having a social media presence today is the equivalent of what it was like opening a storefront and trying to entice people to come in. 

“All you need to do [today] is open up a social account, and you can build your follower base through engaging content. Today you can make a living solely through your social presence. And that’s really special.”

In the future, she would love to see more creators realize and own the fact that they are a business.

“The definition of what a business looks like can change, and we really want creators to be able to embrace the creativity and the business side of it, Our goal is to make it easy for creators to run their whole business and continue to stay creative and monetize.”

Future Plans

Sima shares that the Creative Juice team is thrilled because of the initial excitement they’ve received in response to the Juice Bucks referral program. 

The Creative Juice team is also excited to continue developing new financial tools for creators. 

“We want to make it easier for creators to run their business. We offer creators not just banking and financing, but also all the business tools they need to scale their business. Whether it’s invoicing, debit cards or media kits, we got it. And we are excited to announce additional ways creators can grow with us in the coming month.“

In closing, she adds, “It’s exciting. It’s a way to reward the creators that are our biggest advocates, and we really want to be rewarding creators for working with us. We’re thrilled to grow as creators grow.”

Interested in the Juice Bucks program? Check it out here.