To address this disconnect, Tellez launched her latest venture, Devotion, earlier this year. The company was founded with a singular, ambitious goal: to build a premier creator marketing platform tailored specifically for the post-follower era. In this new landscape, raw follower numbers take a back seat to deep community connection, authentic engagement, and measurable consumer trust.
To help steer this vision, Tellez teamed up with co-founder and CEO Jon Kroopf, an industry veteran whose impressive background includes strategic stints at tech and creator economy giants TikTok and CreatorIQ. Together, the leadership duo has been laying the groundwork for a platform designed to redefine how brands and creators collaborate in an increasingly sophisticated digital ecosystem.
The startup’s trajectory took another significant step forward following a year of rapid growth and operational scaling. Tellez revealed that the company has brought Ed Victori aboard as its first chief operating officer. The strategic appointment is designed to accelerate Devotion’s ongoing efforts, streamline its operations, and help the startup capitalize on the escalating demand for more nuanced, performance-driven creator partnerships.
Victori transitions to the startup from United Talent Agency, a powerhouse in the entertainment and creator spaces. He originally joined UTA through the agency’s acquisition of JUV Consulting, a youth-marketing agency where he served as chief operating officer. During his tenure at JUV Consulting, Victori played a pivotal leadership role in guiding the company through its acquisition and integration into UTA, bringing a wealth of operational expertise and youth-market insight to his new role at Devotion.
The launch of Devotion and the steady accumulation of top-tier talent arrive at a time when the broader creator economy is undergoing a profound structural shift. For years, brands measured the success of influencer campaigns primarily through top-of-funnel metrics such as follower counts, impressions, and estimated reach. However, as consumers have grown increasingly sophisticated and skeptical of traditional advertising, industry leaders have recognized that massive followings do not automatically translate to consumer trust, brand loyalty, or actual sales conversions.
By focusing on the post-follower era, Tellez and her team are positioning Devotion at the forefront of a movement that prioritizes micro-communities, niche authority, and authentic storytelling. This approach aligns closely with the modern consumer behavior championed by younger demographics, who frequently place more trust in specialized creators with tight-knit audiences than in mega-influencers with millions of passive followers.
With Kroopf leading executive strategy and operational execution now bolstered by Victori’s agency-backed experience, Devotion is positioning itself to bridge the gap between legacy marketing practices and the demands of modern digital consumers. As the creator economy continues to mature and mature brands demand greater accountability and precision from their marketing expenditures, platforms that move beyond simple vanity metrics are poised to capture significant attention across the advertising and marketing sectors.
