On the latest Road to Exchange, VettaFi’s Roxanna Islam interviewed author and Bread founder Kyla Scanlon. Scanlon is most known for her work as an influencer and her widely praised book, In This Economy?, Scanlon, who dissects and comments on markets in a unique way, will be speaking at the Exchange conference.
Bringing the Human Aspect to Economics
“I try to center people and the economy because people are the economy, at the end of the day,” Scanlon said. As the economy is ultimately a series of transactions that humans make, remembering that it all comes back to humans is important. Scanlon reminds people of that in her work. Accordingly, this draws people in and gently nudges them toward a greater understanding of how the economy actually works.
The Audiences That Resonate the Most, Per Scanlon
Scanlon shared that the people who seek out her content are largely between the ages of 18-35. “I make it for anyone who wants to understand the economy. I try my best to simplify things and have a little bit of fun with drawings and with skits,” she explained.
Scanlon started making online content in college with a blog. After that, she graduated straight into the pandemic, started making videos about GameStop, and leaned into social media as a tool to educate, inform, and entertain audiences.
Scanlon on AI
Islam pivoted the discussion to AI, drawing parallels between the two. AI, like social media, is a nascent technology that became controversial as it has became more established. Arguably, social media remains highly controversial and continues to be a hot-button topic in and of itself. Artificial Intelligence has also received its fair share of criticism. Asked for her thoughts on the matter, Scanlon said, “I think we are all trying to figure out what AI means.” She noted that businesses are pouring money into the technology but that nobody really knows what to make of it yet. “There are more questions than answers right now. I sit in the camp of ‘I think it will move very quickly once we do figure it out.’"
The Big Stories in 2025
Asked what she is focusing on as the biggest stories in 2025, Scanlon replied that she’s “spending a lot of time dissecting the policies of the Trump administration." She’s particularly focused on figuring out how investors can work around them and what the biggest impacts could be.
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