The CMD-Z Show

In this episode, Matt, Shelby, and guest Shawna Poliziani discuss the importance of finding your niche audience and positioning your brand. They explore the role of emotion in the creative process an…

In this episode, Matt and Shelby discuss the best business model for creatives. They explore different models such as standard employment, freelance, and the agency model. They also dive into the det…

In this episode, the Matt and Shelby discuss building a successful marketing strategy and the importance of storytelling and empathy with their guest, Jess Fogal. Jess is the head of marketing and cu…

"What do producers even do?" Well, in addition to having Shelby (co-host and producer) on the show, we also brought on Kate Weger, our other producer at Made By Things, to chat about their roles as p…

"You ever just feel lost?" That was the how a question from one of our listeners started. And with a question so big and so relatable to so many creatives, you know we had to talk about it. This week…

"You should be grateful that you get to do what you love everyday." "It's not about the money." Sure, as creatives, we are grateful and we probably didn't get into this field for the money... But doe…

By this point, I'm sure we've all seen the latest updates to AI and the realistic video it can produce. So what does that mean for the creative industry? What will it look like 5-10 years from now? W…

Why is running a creative business to damn hard? The creative industry is constantly evolving and it can be challenging to know when your business should evolve with it... Or to predict where the evo…

How do you know when it's time to switch things up in a creative business? The industry is ever-changing and we are all currently in a period of transition. So what does that look like for your busin…

How do you create a stand out portfolio? Is there one trick that will make you rise above the other applicants? How do you make sure you're the one called back for an interview? And how do you get th…

When it comes to working with freelancers, it can be tough to clearly define how quickly they should respond and how often they should send updates. Is an appropriate response time 10 minutes? An hou…

How do you tell a client that they're wrong? No one ever wants to, but the sign of a healthy client relationship is being able to talk through any issues that might arise... Like whether something sh…

It's that time of year where we reflect on the past 12 months, the goals we made in January, how we did on those goals, and what the next year will look like. On this episode of The CMD-Z Show, we go…

How do you make time for personal creative projects and how do you decide which one to pursue? On this week's episode of The CMD-Z Show, we discuss our processes when working on side/personal project…

We have a very special episode of The CMD-Z Show this week with a topic that doesn't recieve enough discussion. We sat down to chat with Jeffery Lawson about having a creative career while being disa…

A subject no one likes to bring up to their clients... pricing and budgets. How do you start the conversation and how do you negotiate once it's been brought up? How do you set appropriate pricing an…

This week we're answering what has been our most-asked question as of late... Do studio owners ever work on creative projects? From time management to finding new creative routes, we walk through how…

On this week's episode of The CMD-Z Show, we are going back to our roots and answering the question, "Why is it so difficult to find jobs in the creative industry right now?" From resumes to applicat…