I run creator programs the way a brand would run them in-house, if in-house had done it thirty times.

I'm Usama Dawood, an influencer marketing manager and UGC program lead for DTC ecommerce brands in the US, UK and EU. Since 2022 I've run creator programs for 30+ brands across haircare, skincare, apparel, food, pet and wellness, with more than 5,000 creator collaborations behind them.

I started on Upwork, where most of my programs still begin, and where I'm Top Rated Plus with a 100% Job Success score across 8,600 hours. The first programs taught me the thing I now build every engagement around: creators don't fail because the offer is wrong, they fail because nobody follows up. So every program I run lives in one shared sheet: who was contacted, who said yes, who received product, who delivered, who got paid, reported to the client every week without fail. Kiwabi's sheet has not missed a week in two and a half years.

What I actually do on a program: set the strategy, design the system it runs on, lead it, and stay reachable in your Slack. My team runs sourcing, outreach, contracts, shipping coordination, QC and editing through that system, in English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Quality comes from the engine, not from me touching every piece, and that is exactly why it scales.

The work I'm proudest of isn't the biggest number. It's the pivots: moving Galvier from Instagram to TikTok when the data said so and finding a 2.2-million-view video for €100; building a milestone tracker for CRI Genetics because their product needs lab results before a creator can say a word; telling a brand on the first call that gifted-only won't produce attributable sales, and being right.

Based in Karachi, working US, UK and EU hours. If you're a DTC brand that wants influencer and UGC to be a permanent channel with one owner, book thirty minutes and I'll show you what the first sixty days would look like.