This Gen Z-er is demystifying the most complicated things about the economy, one TikTok video at a time

• Content creator Kyla Scanlon is reinventing financial news with her blend of videos and newsletters.
• She uses platforms from TikTok to Substack to teach people more about the economy.

If you don't understand what's going on in the world of finance and business, Kyla Scanlon, a Gen Z TikToker, can help.

With snazzy TikTok clips and longer expositions on her YouTube channel and Substack, Scanlon is helping to demystify the most complicated economic concepts, and break them down into digestible, bite-sized pieces.

Scanlon started making TikTok videos in December 2020 and has since grown her following on the platform to over 168,000 followers.

Her content is an eclectic mix of financial topics. She has talked about the downfall of Silicon Valley Bank, the ongoing struggles China's economy is facing, and how the world's seen an economic boost from Taylor Swift's concerts.

Sometimes, Scanlon uses skits to simplify complex economic developments.

"Here at the Federal Reserve, as you know, we have been raising rates. I feel done with it, but I don't want you to think I'm done with it. Alright, so you need to chill," Scanlon said in one such skit, uploaded on TikTok on August 25. Scanlon was role-playing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who had delivered a speech on the economy on the same day.

Her videos often draw compliments from viewers, many of whom appreciate Scanlon's sense of humor.

"You managed to say more than he said this morning," one person commented, comparing Scanlon's video to the speech Powell made on Friday.

Sometimes, Scanlon does away with the usual talking-head format by sketching out diagrams on her whiteboard.

On July 31, Scanlon uploaded a TikTok video where she broke down the economic impact of Taylor Swift concerts.

"So it seems like Taylor Swift's tour will generate about $5 billion in global revenue, which is huge," Scanlon narrated while drawing a spider diagram on her whiteboard.

And it's not just TikTok. The 25-year-old content creator is a prolific producer of YouTube videos, newsletters, and podcasts. She's also working on a book, "In This Economy," which is slated for release in April 2024.

Scanlon told podcaster Kalani Scarrott in an interview that aired in November that she started creating content online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Yeah, like, the pandemic was sort of a big wake-up call. And it was like, 'Oh, you know, I've always been really passionate about financial education. I really wanna do this,'" Scanlon said on Scarrott's "Compounding Curiosity" podcast.

"So I sort of took the leap to go full-time on this without much of a plan. It was just a passion," Scanlon continued.

She's coined terms, too, to make concepts more understandable. In June 2022, Scanlon came up with the term "vibecession" to represent the dissonance between the negative sentiment amongst Americans and positive economic data.

Scanlon's current interest in finance and media likely comes from her background in the field. When she was at Western Kentucky University, Scanlon triple-majored in financial management, economics, and business data analytics. After graduation, she joined Capital Group, a financial services company, where she worked in market analyses.

Speaking to Insider, Scanlon said she's had no regrets since embarking on her career as a content creator. Right now, the platform that gives her the most traction is Instagram Reels — but she enjoys posting videos on YouTube too.

"I am happy exploring this path at the moment," Scanlon told Insider.

"It's a weird job, but it's one that is really rewarding," she added.

And right now, Scanlon's main mission seems to be making the world of business easy to understand for one and all.

"When we talk about the Federal Reserve, it's oftentimes very abstract. Like, they're raising interest rates, but what does that really mean? People want to know how things impact them directly." Scanlon told CNBC in an interview in July.

That explains why Scanlon has performed skits in her videos, or talked about poetry and philosophy in her newsletters.

"I'll pretend to be Jerome Powell, pretend to be different stocks," Scanlon told CNBC. "That really gets people involved because they're like, 'Oh, that's funny. I can look at that and laugh.'"

"That really humanizes finance and brings people in, in a way that they wouldn't normally expect," Scanlon added.