This is where I share what I’m thinking, seeing, and learning as I work with founders, solopreneurs, and small teams—across brand strategy, marketing, focus, and building a business that actually works. You’ll find long-form insights alongside timely notes and announcements, all designed to help you make clearer decisions, reduce unnecessary complexity, and move forward with confidence.
In-House Business Startup Journal Part 12 No, the title is not a mistake. Sometimes, you have to let things fail. I have started and lead 3 creative businesses in my career; 2 in-house, and 1 agency. I have also be part of a few business re-organizations in both...
In-House Business Startup Journal Part 11 For many in-house employees, year-end reviews are typically followed by an announcement of merit increases (AKA raises) and incentive payouts (bonuses). Â As managers we often wrestle with the balance of following the corporate...
In-House Business Startup Journal Part 10 How many of us set new years resolutions around December 31st only to forget them by January 3rd? Last month I journaled about performance reviews and measuring your work for the past year. The only way to do this is to set...
In-House Business Startup Journal Part 9 Well, it’s that time of year again for many corporate creatives… the year-end performance review cycle has begun again. Unlike many of my colleagues on the outside, I need to follow a prescribed process whereby I self-evaluate...
In-House Business Startup Journal Part 8 “Steve jobs would never have done that” I thought to myself, as I read the open apology by Tim Cook regarding the new Maps app in iOS6. As I said those words I realized that I don’t actually think that Tim Cook was wrong to do...
In-House Business Startup Journal Part 7 Any in-house creative services leader knows that process is important. From how clients initiate new projects, to how the team gets work done. It’s a very important way to manage workflow, effectiveness, productivity, and...
In-House Business Startup Journal Part 6 Like any business that is launching new products or services, all of the planning and development we have put into the new creative services department will have been for naught if we don’t announce the launch of new processes...
In-House Business Startup Journal Part 5 After a couple months of planning, the time has come to institute the plans that I have been developing since the day I started. I’ve built some key relationships, assessed a few situations, identified needs, designed...
In-House Business Startup Journal Part 4 The first task I undertake when starting a new creative services leadership job is to assess the situation. After about a month I typically have a good understanding of what’s going on, and can start putting together my big...
In-House Business Startup Journal Part 3 After a few weeks on the job I have heard more airing of dirty laundry than I would have expected. But, this is actually par for the course at any new job, as people begin to get comfortable with me being on the scene as a...
In-House Business Startup Journal Part 2 My first few day on the job typically include meeting lots of new people including colleagues, clients, leaders, and direct reports. Along with the usual and customary “welcome aboard” hand shaking, I’m also asked about my...
In-House Business Startup Journal Part 1: I’ve had the privilege of starting a new job 11 times in my career if you include the part-time after-hours teaching gigs. As such I have seen a pretty wide gamut of orientation and on-boarding programs. Some have been great,...
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