“The idea of traditional jobs has really kind of gone out the window,” says Lesley Carter, founder of Bucket List Publications, as she discusses how the creator economy is reshaping career paths. 

Lesley should know – she’s spent the last 13 years transforming what began as a travel blog into a pioneering platform, creating a new category in the creator economy: adventure-focused world schooling content.

Bucket List Publications, ranking among the world’s top ten most-shared travel blogs, now serves a growing market segment: families combining education with global exploration. Last year saw the brand’s newest addition – Lesley’s daughter, Athena. “She’s been doing virtual school online. And so she has been traveling full-time with us since August.”

This transformation created new opportunities in content creation. “We’re connecting a lot more with the world schooling, homeschooling, virtual schooling community,” Lesley notes. “There are so many people out there that are trying to do the same thing as us, trying to continue their travels, enjoy their adventures, and disconnect from being at home.”

The impact of this approach is evident in the achievements of her family. Lesley’s four-year-old son, Max Smith, has become the youngest North American to visit all seven continents and the youngest person globally to explore the five oceans. He recently reached his 100^th country during a trip to the Caribbean with Princess Cruises.

“Because of the availability of world travel and because of the online influence that’s available right now, I think that will continue to grow and provide opportunities for children and up-and-coming influencers for generations to come,” she predicts.

Her content demonstrates how travel can enhance education rather than interrupt it. “I think that there are now possibilities available for children to go in different directions and not necessarily go right into a university or college in the future,” Lesley notes, highlighting how her work helps families envision alternative paths to learning and success.

Business Approach

To serve this growing market and community effectively, Lesley developed a distinctive business model that combines stability with adaptability, built on years of experience in content creation. 

Her foundation relies on platform diversification, which proved valuable during recent platform uncertainties. “I still have my website, and I keep that going all the time. That is an excellent means of bringing in income,” she explains. “And then I have Instagram, which is also a great way of maintaining financial security. I try to keep at least two platforms going at the same time.”

Lesley’s approach to brand partnerships transforms the typical creator-brand relationship. “I base a lot of partnerships and brand inquiries on what we want to accomplish for a particular year,” Lesley reveals. 

She selects partners aligned with her family’s genuine interests: “There’s a clothing company called Reima that we work with a lot, and they provide the best quality clothes for a child as humanly possible. And so every year, I’ll continue to partner with them until they just… can’t imagine not working with them because they’re such a great fit for my family.”

This selective approach extends to experience-based collaborations. “We recently went to Cuba through a volunteer program called Discover Corps that offers unforgettable vacations with purpose. We also got to experience the country. And so we did more local things like go to a local dance studio and dance with local children,” she shares. 

Another example shows her strategy: “Recently went on a trip in the Maldives with a company called Kandu and [founder] Carla was amazing. She instilled a love for the ocean in Athena and a trust in the ocean that Athena never had before.”

Content Strategy Development

Lesley’s content strategy challenges assumptions about family travel content by showing what families can achieve together. Her approach to filming Max swimming with nurse sharks in the Maldives demonstrates this philosophy: “After learning more about the behavior of nurse sharks from Carla, I wanted to bring Max in so he could also experience that. And then he can instill that in his generation coming up too, as opposed to just this fear that’s been instilled in us through movies.”

Content planning follows a structured yet adaptable approach. “Every year, we try to come up with a new bucket list, per se, ideas, experiences that we’d like to do,” Lesley explains. “Posting extreme adventures with kids also keeps your audience engaged.”

Growth and Sustainability

Managing growth while maintaining content quality led Lesley to develop effective time management and content creation systems. 

She follows a precise daily schedule: “We would always schedule early dinners… by 5 or 6 p.m. So then, once dinner’s over, we return to our room. Max gets settled, washed up, and ready for bed, and he goes to sleep. And then I take the time to edit photos, create content, write texts, and reply to emails.”

This commitment often requires working unusual hours: “Sometimes it’ll keep me up till 2 a.m., and sometimes it’ll keep me up till 4 a.m. But I’ve made sure that my kids’ needs are met, my husband’s needs are met, my needs are met, and then we just fit everything else in as best we can.”

Time management becomes crucial during travel. “I plan and prepare everything for the next day. If that means getting up at six to fit everything in, and I never went to bed till 2, no problem,” she shares. “I’m so grateful that we’re able to have these experiences, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure that we get just to experience as much as we possibly can every day.”

When it comes to creating content while expanding, Lesley is open about challenges. “I do often share some of the negative sides of it,” Lesley notes. “But even that, you can’t portray all those things in a single post, video, or picture.” 

She emphasizes that this honesty maintains audience trust: “That’s okay if that’s the perception because part of the allure of what I do is that it makes it look beautiful and you see the beauty of the world and you see the beauty of the photos in the content that I’m creating.”

The business aspects present their own challenges. “Balance is a huge topic that my husband and I always discuss because he doesn’t always get to come with us. And sometimes he’s home doing work while we’re traveling, and sometimes Athena’s home doing work while we’re traveling,” Lesley reveals. “So we’ve focused on our family’s needs and what we must do first.”

Future Direction and Category Growth

Lesley anticipates several trends shaping her content category, focusing on sustainable and meaningful travel experiences. “I do see a transition into more sustainable travel, hopefully, kind of a slower pace of travel,” she explains. “When you look at 40 years ago, you just couldn’t explore the world like you can now. It wasn’t even possible. And so people were – and I do it too – it’s like you just want to do as much as you can as quickly as possible because it’s available.”

She’s enthusiastic about deeper cultural connections: “That idea of being immersed in the culture, taking a cooking lesson from locals on their farm, or learning how to do a new thing, but with the local people as opposed to like a coordinator that’s designed for that role.”

This reflects broader changes in family travel approaches. “Let’s go to the places that drive us. Let’s go to the places that mean something to us,” Lesley emphasizes. She’s implementing this approach: “I love spending time in the Alps so we try to return every summer and travel the area at a slower pace.” 

The Power of Genuine Content

Lesley’s experience shows how creators can build sustainable businesses by identifying underserved audiences and maintaining genuine connections while growing. 

Success comes from balancing content creation with business development, as she explains: “I try to engage with a new audience constantly. It’s important to respond to comments, it’s important to be commenting on other people’s content, and it’s important to keep your content fresh.”

As Lesley concludes, combining genuine content with strategic business decisions allows creators to build lasting brands that grow with their following while maintaining their core mission of showing that “you can just be sporadic with children. You can just go and have adventures