When Zack Gill lost his job back in 2025, he took advantage of the opportunity and started sharing more of his life on social media. Since then, he has found a growing audience for his self-named channel where he shares lifestyle content, mostly about food and fitness. He balances his personal content creation with client work for his own digital marketing agency, ACTA Studio. We spoke with Gill to learn more about his inspiration, his sometimes messy creative process, and his future plans.
What is your channel called and what is it about?
My channel is my name, “Zack Gill,” and it’s mainly a lifestyle page showcasing the two most important things in my life: eating and being active. My content centers around different food spots around the world, fitness challenges, and sharing stories throughout my life.
When did you start it? What motivated you at the beginning?
I posted here and there, but didn’t officially start until September 2025. One of the things that motivated me was losing my job. I always knew I wanted to entertain people and tell stories, and had dabbled in content creation for 5 years prior, but started taking it a lot more seriously after I got let go. Ever since then, it’s been incredibly fulfilling.
Who were you inspired by? Any influences?
My biggest inspirations have been Casey Neistat, Emma Chamberlain, and Ryan Trahan. These three of the biggest YouTubers have content that spoke to me in various different ways and always came across incredibly authentic. That’s something I really look up to them for and would like to bring into my own content as well.
How would you describe your audience?
My audience is a mix of different people, but mostly people like me, who are also on a path of figuring themselves out through their 20s, who enjoy eating and being active, and who value a good balance in life.
What is your creative process? Do you have people who work with you?
My creative process is a bit messy. I’m always thinking of ideas, but that isn’t sustainable long-term, so I work best in sprints. I give myself a week or two to explore different ideas or video series I’d like to shoot. Once the ideas are figured out, I create a structure for myself, giving enough time to script the videos along with mapping out when I’ll shoot, edit, and post them. Altogether, that takes about two weeks, and then I set aside a couple of shoot days to batch-record all my content. After that, I edit everything and build a posting schedule. The whole process takes about a month, so I’m always working a month in advance. I don’t currently work with anyone on this process, but I’ve collaborated with creators throughout Calgary and thoroughly enjoyed those experiences.
How do you monetize your content? Do you also have another job?
Similar to a lot of Canadian content creators, I monetize a lot of my content through brand deals. However, my main source of income is my own digital marketing company, ACTA Studio.
What is your favourite piece of content you have created?
My favourite piece of content I’ve made is my run from Chinook Mall to Market Mall. It was the product of one of my sprints, and I hold it close to my heart because it was made when I was just starting out and figuring out the ways of social media. That video not only pushed me physically but also got me outside my niche and comfort zone, and it ended up becoming well known throughout my city.
What is the best part about what you do? What is the worst part?
One of the best parts about what I do is having the ability to have an idea and execute it almost immediately, in whichever way I’d like. I think it’s really cool that in today’s day and age, you don’t need expensive gear, a large following, a big studio, or even a big budget — if you have a great idea, you’re able to execute it all by yourself.
The worst part is that since so much of each video relies on your mental capacity, life has a way of slowing you down with creative burnouts, making it hard to be creative at certain moments.
What are your future plans for your channel?
I have a lot of plans for the future, but one of the main ones is creating something, whether it’s a mini talk show or a web series, that transcends beyond me and really makes people feel inspired, the way I’ve felt watching my favourite creators online.
Where can we follow you?
PAY IT FORWARD: What is another Canadian content creator that you love?
Sean Walker is a Canadian creator I admire a lot and have worked with in the past. He’s a great guy and very talented.
