Nic Adenau can't remember a time in his life when he wasn't making videos. He's always had a camera in his hands since before he could walk.

But when he turned 20, Nic scored an opportunity of a lifetime that turned him from an amateur into a pro.

"I quickly found myself working with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis on some of the biggest music videos in the world," he said.

Working with the Grammy-award-winning duo taught him a ton about the creative process. He learned about what goes into producing videos and what elements lead one to go viral. 

Nic went on to leverage that experience into working with brands like Nike and Apple. He also made use of his skills to carve a path as a creator himself.

In 2021, he created Meme Brah, a fun experiment in the genre of street comedy. The account generated over 120 million views in its first six months.

But Nic paid a heavy price for rapid success.

At the beginning of 2023, Nic's doctor diagnosed him with Type 1 Diabetes. He believes this was a consequence of burnout, pouring an unsustainable amount of energy into the endless grind of growing Meme Brah.

As a result, Nic decided to rethink the way he was approaching content and put Meme Brah on an indefinite pause. Luckily, it didn't take him long to figure out what was next.

Setting Boundaries in the Creative Process

With Meme Brah on hiatus, Nic started a new account called @nicholasiscontent.

Its mission? To share everything he's learned about the intersection of creativity and business.

"My goal is to take something mundane, yet important, and make it interesting and fun," he said.

But Nic didn't start a new account just to fall into the same traps he fell into before. He knew it was important to also set better boundaries around his creative process.

Constraints like:

• Producing videos only on weekdays and leaving the weekends for time off.

• Capping himself to creating only one short-form video on each of those days.

• Setting a two-hour time limit to script, film, edit, and produce his videos.

Aside from protecting Nic's health, these boundaries also prevent him from overthinking. If a video isn't successful, it's not the end of the world.

"I'll take my learnings and get better the next day," he said.

Creating More Methodically with Track Club

With other similar services, Nic used to spend countless hours searching for songs. But with Track Club, he doesn't have to waste time, since they're always curating music for quality.

“Track Club is the only service that doesn’t feel like a plastic hallway of subpar music,” he said.

Case and point? One of Nic's favorite videos to date. Using Track Club, he found a track that was both "bouncy" and "drove the tone of the concept he wanted to communicate."