Why Creative Entrepreneurs Should Build Differently
That moment at a dinner party when someone asks what you do, and you find yourself downplaying your enthusiasm for your business because you don’t want to seem “too much.” The way you carefully structure your Instagram captions to sound balanced and easy-going, even when you’ve been excitedly working until 2am on a project that’s consuming your thoughts. The times you’ve matched your pricing to industry standards even though your approach is fundamentally different.
We all do it. We all find ways to make ourselves smaller, more palatable, more “normal” in a world that often seems uncomfortable with genuine passion and ambition, especially in creative fields.
I was at dinner with friends recently—a mix of creative business owners and people in more traditional careers—when the conversation turned to work. A friend who runs a thriving catering business mentioned how completely absorbed she was in launching a new range of cakes and biscuits, to the point where the ideas were finding their way into her dreams.
Someone laughed and said, “Sounds like you need to take a break from work and focus on something else!” Her face fell momentarily before she smiled and agreed. Later, as we were leaving, she confided: “I actually love thinking about my work all the time. It doesn’t feel like an imposition—it feels like the privilege of doing something I’m obsessed with. But when I say that out loud, people look at me like I’m doing something wrong.”
That conversation has stayed with me because it highlights something I encounter repeatedly with passionate creative entrepreneurs. There’s this unspoken message we receive that our devotion to our work is somehow unhealthy, that our drive should be controlled rather than channeled, that our ambition should be modest rather than magnificent.
But what if we’ve been getting it wrong all along?
The Permission to Be Obsessed
Let me say something that might feel controversial: it’s okay to be obsessed with your business. In fact, I believe it’s necessary.
Not in a burnout-inducing, relationships-destroying way. But in that deeply absorbed, can’t-stop-thinking-about-it, wake-up-excited-on-Monday-morning way that comes from doing work that genuinely matters to you.
I wake up every Monday genuinely excited about what I’m creating, about the conversations I’ll have, about the new ideas I want to explore. That’s not because I don’t value rest or relationships—it’s because I’ve built a business around what naturally lights me up, what I genuinely care about.
Building something truly exceptional requires a level of dedication, focus, and yes, obsession, that might look strange to others. But that doesn’t make it wrong.
Think about any field where people excel—musicians who practice for hours daily, athletes who train relentlessly, scientists who lose themselves in research. We celebrate their dedication in those contexts. Yet somehow, when it comes to creative business, we’re supposed to be casually successful, effortlessly balanced, moderately ambitious.
What if, instead, we gave ourselves permission to care deeply? To be as committed as we actually are? To admit that yes, sometimes our work consumes us—not because we’re broken or unbalanced, but because we’re building something that matters profoundly to us?
Beyond the Industry Box
This self-limiting pattern shows up in countless ways beyond just our dedication level. It appears in how we structure our businesses, price our work, and present ourselves to potential clients.
I worked with an extraordinary photographer last year who’d been in business for about five years. Her work captured families in intimate, emotionally resonant moments that were both natural and visually stunning. When I asked about her business model, she explained that she offered packages similar to others in her field, purposefully structuring her business around what successful photographers typically provide.
But as we talked, it became clear that what she was actually delivering wasn’t standard at all. Her clients weren’t just paying for photos—they were investing in her unique ability to make families feel completely at ease, to transform ordinary settings into extraordinary portraits, to capture authentic moments that looked both natural and incredible.
When I asked why she wasn’t positioning herself this way, she looked almost embarrassed: “I didn’t want to seem pretentious or different. I felt it was important to provide similar offerings that others provide, so people understood what I did.”
This is exactly how we limit ourselves without realising it. We look around at what seems “normal” in our industry, and we contort our natural strengths to fit that mould.
Yet the path to creating something truly exceptional rarely lies in following industry norms. It comes from building around what you naturally do best, even—especially—when that looks different from what everyone else is doing.
The Hard Truth About Hard Work
When I talk about embracing your obsession and building outside the box, I’m not suggesting some magical shortcut to success. Quite the opposite.
Building and growing a creative business is hard work. It requires consistent effort, dedication, learning, and persistence. There’s simply no way around that reality.
But there’s a profound difference between hard work that depletes you and hard work that energises you. Between pushing yourself to follow someone else’s formula and channeling your energy into work that naturally flows from your strengths.
That’s the kind of hard work I’m talking about—the kind that’s sustainable not because it’s easy, but because it’s right. Because it’s built around what naturally lights you up, what you’re genuinely brilliant at, what keeps you engaged even when it’s challenging.
Your Distinctive Path
What’s fascinating is how uniquely this plays out for each creative entrepreneur. Your path to exceptional work isn’t the same as mine or anyone else’s. It’s as distinctive as your fingerprint.
At a recent event, someone asked me what I consider the “best” business model for creative entrepreneurs. My answer: “The one that aligns with your natural strengths and the specific value you create.”
There’s no universal “best” approach. What works brilliantly for one photographer might be completely wrong for another, even in the same market. What creates extraordinary results for one designer might feel entirely off for someone else.
This is why I get so excited talking with creative business owners about their specific approaches, their unique visions, their particular dreams. Give me a room full of creative entrepreneurs, and I’ll happily spend hours hearing about each person’s plans, ideas, and aspirations.
Because what really excites me isn’t seeing people follow some prescribed formula for success. It’s watching people discover and embrace their own distinctive approach—one that honors both their creative vision and their business ambitions.
Building From Natural Strengths
Over the past few months, I’ve been exploring how success comes more easily when you build around what already comes naturally to you. This isn’t just about being efficient with your energy. It’s about recognising that when you structure your business around what you naturally do best, you create more value with less struggle.
We all have areas where we operate with exceptional ease, where our particular combination of skills, perspective, and natural talents creates something distinctive. These aren’t just things we’re “pretty good at”—they’re areas where we excel without even trying very hard.
The challenge is that we often overlook these areas precisely because they feel so effortless. We think, “Well, if it’s this easy for me, it must be easy for everyone.” But that’s rarely true.
What comes naturally to you is often exactly what makes you exceptional. Your distinctive way of approaching projects, of solving problems, of creating experiences—that’s not just a personal preference. It’s a significant business advantage.
When you recognise these natural strengths and build your business around them, something transformative happens. You stop having to force yourself into business models that don’t fit. You stop feeling like you’re constantly swimming upstream. You find that brilliant balance where your best work meets what your clients most value.
A Personal Shift
I’ve experienced this shift in my own business journey multiple times. In my earlier flower design business, I initially established it based on what I thought a “proper” design business should look like. I mirrored other successful businesses’ offerings, took on every type of project, struggled with complex logistics, and consequently felt constantly overwhelmed.
The turning point came when I finally recognised what I naturally did best—not just the technical aspects of design, but my particular ability to understand exactly what clients needed even when they couldn’t articulate it themselves. My natural talent for creating designs that enhanced spaces without overwhelming them. My intuitive approach to colour and texture that created a distinctive style clients couldn’t get elsewhere.
When I restructured my business around these natural strengths, everything changed. I began focusing exclusively on projects where these strengths could shine. I adjusted my client process to create more space for the stages where I added the most unique value. I revisited my pricing to reflect the true worth of these abilities rather than just my time.
The result wasn’t that my business suddenly became effortless. I still worked hard—sometimes harder than before. But the nature of that work transformed. Instead of constantly pushing against my natural grain, I was channeling everything in a direction that amplified my strengths.
The business grew significantly, but more importantly, it began to feel like mine—like a true expression of what I uniquely brought to the world.
Looking Ahead: A New Resource
Over the past several months, I’ve been thinking deeply about these ideas—about how creative entrepreneurs can build exceptional businesses by doing what they do best. I’ve been gathering insights, refining frameworks, and testing approaches, all focused on this central question: how do we create successful, sustainable creative businesses that feel genuinely ours?
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I’ve been working on a handbook bringing these ideas together. I’m excited to share that it’s nearly complete. I’ve finished developing all the core content, and we’re now in the final stages of design and editing.
What’s been particularly important to me in creating this resource is that it’s not just about the concepts but about implementation. I want this handbook to be something you actually work through rather than just read. So I’ve put as much thought into the design, layout, and approach as I have into the key learnings themselves.
After studying the psychology behind effective design and learning formats and testing different approaches, I believe this handbook will help creative entrepreneurs recognize and build from their natural strengths in a way that feels clear, manageable, and genuinely transformative.
It will be ready for you on May 29th. If you’re curious about building a business around what you naturally do best, and you’d love to be among the first to know when it’s available, you can join the waitlist here.
Your Permission Slip
I’d like to leave you with this thought: What would happen if you stopped limiting yourself? If you embraced your natural enthusiasm for your work without apology? If you structured your business around what you do exceptionally well, even if it looks different from industry norms?
What aspect of your business feels most natural to you—where do you excel without even trying very hard? And how might your business change if you centred more of your work around this natural strength?
Because I truly believe that when we stop limiting ourselves—when we embrace our obsessions, step outside industry norms, and build from our natural strengths—we create businesses that aren’t just successful but meaningful. Businesses that energise rather than deplete us. Businesses that stand out not because they follow formulas better than others, but because they follow the founder’s unique way of working and are completely focused on the value they provide their clients.
I’d love to hear your thoughts about this. Where have you found yourself limiting your business based on industry expectations? Or where have you broken from convention and found success by following your natural strengths? Share your experiences in the comments below or join the conversation over on Instagram.
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