Hey y'all!

Hope you're doing well. I missed y'all last week with no email - for the first time in a few months, actually.
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I missed it because I took the first break I’ve taken in a while.

It’s one of my favorite things about being a full-time creator: you can take a break on your terms.

Last week, it felt like all of the rebranding, product, and content stuff had me all over the place. I wasn't making the best decisions or using my time wisely. I was distracted and I kept making the same mistakes.

You know those days where you seem to work ALL day long but somehow manage to get nothing done? That was me. I hit a wall.

So, I decided to take a break. A week-long break.

It allowed me to get the clarity I needed to share the beginnings of a new framework I'm working on for Create and Go, which I will share with you today.

Taking a Break to Find Clarity

Like any GOOD break, this one gave me the clarity I needed.

During that time, I:

• Wrote an awful lot
• Made an excessive amount of bullet point brain dumps
• Read Matthew McConaughey’s book, Greenlights, and The Art of Focus by Dan Koe
• Spent a lot of time in silence
• [most importantly] DIDN’T WORK

That time off helped me realize something crucial: Over the last few months, I was working hard on some of the right things but also a lot of the wrong things too.

I was getting distracted, making the same mistakes, and the work wasn’t moving the needle forward.

Taking a break allowed me to reset and rethink my approach. Now, I’ve returned with more clarity on what’s important and the direction I need to go.

I began work today feeling energized and focused on the right things and ready to get back to working with Lauren to get our rebrand finished (this is going to include an entire site redesign).

On my week off, I thought a lot about what I’ve learned, creator businesses as a whole, and I wanted to share with you a framework I have been working on over the last few months.

First, let’s get clear on what matters and then I'll reveal the approach.

The 6 Pillars of a Thriving Creator Business

As creators, we often feel like we either don’t know what to do or need to be doing everything all at once. But that’s often where we go wrong.

There are just six key pillars every content-focused business needs to prioritize:

1. Brand (YOU or the brand)
2. Projects (what you work ON)
3. Content (showing your work, creating)
4. Product (building, selling, monetization)
5. Audience (friends, fans, members, subscribers, supporters, network)
6. Systems (admin, tools, data/analytics, scaling, team)​
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Everything you work on should fall into at least one of these categories.

If it doesn’t?

You’re probably wasting time on something that won’t move your business forward.

Real Example: Rebranding Create and Go

Let me give you an example from our rebranding journey. It’s a project that touches all six pillars for our business:

1. Brand: We’re redefining Create and Go’s mission, values, approach, and overall vibe.
2. Projects: This rebrand is a major project that involves redesigning our website, updating our content, and improving products.
3. Content: We’re documenting the entire process to create blog posts, social content, and more.
4. Product: The lessons we learn will shape future products and refine existing ones.
5. Audience: We’re bringing you, our community, along for the ride, sharing updates, and keeping you engaged.
6. Systems: We’re streamlining our internal processes, making content creation more efficient.

But even with these pillars in place, knowing what to work on and when to work on it can still feel overwhelming and you may end up where I was: confused about what to work on next.

That's why I wanted to create a framework or system for you to help you figure out if you're working on the right things at the right time in your creator business.

So, I came up with what I’m currently calling…

The C-R-E-A-T-E Model

The C-R-E-A-T-E model is a step-by-step framework that I came up with for Create and Go to help guide aspiring creators in building and scaling a sustainable business.

Each letter represents a crucial element in growing your creator business and ties back to the six pillars above:

• Clarity: What area or space is worth working in for you? What matters most to you right now? (Often referred to as a niche or a mission)

• Relevance: What projects or products are you working on? How are they related to your goals and mission? (You “get relative” and choose a project or problem to solve)

•Expression: How are you showing your work on your project or problem? What content are you sharing around it?

• Audience: How are you connecting with your people? What’s your plan for interacting with your audience?

• Transaction/Trade: How are you providing value and monetizing? What are you offering?

• Expand/Efficiency: How are you scaling and improving your systems? What steps are you taking to grow efficiently?

The C-R-E-A-T-E model helps you reflect and pinpoint where you’re stuck.

It helps you identify if you're working on the WRONG things.

• Are you unclear on what matters most (Clarity)?
• Are you struggling to share your work and what you care about (Expression)?
• Can you post more valuable content people want (Audience)?
• Do your systems need an overhaul to improve efficiency (Expand)?

Consider for a moment what area you might be stuck in. Any of these sound familiar?

Over the next few weeks, I’ll go deeper into each step of the framework and how to apply it.

Your Action Step

For now, here’s my challenge to you:

Take a moment to apply the C-R-E-A-T-E framework to your own business.

Where do you think you’re stuck?
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Then let me know which area you’re in by voting below!

Remember, it’s easy to get caught up in low-leverage work that feels productive but ultimately goes nowhere. All that matters is you make sure to take the time to readjust, pivot, and start doing the right things.

Quote of the Week

From Alex Hormozi author of $100M leads and $100M offers:

"The most valuable trait the leader of a company can have isn't charisma, it's clarity".

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