It gets easier: creatives share the lessons that changed everything

Early in my career, I used to present work standing up. Not because anyone told me to, but because standing up felt like the correct shape for someone pretending to know what they were doing. I was performing with confidence I didn't have, and I suspect most people in the room could tell.

That memory surfaced when we asked creatives on our own community platform, The Studio, what they struggled with early in their careers that feels easier now. Their response was candid and generous; a reminder that the particular loneliness of those early years is widely shared.

Imposter syndrome. Saying no. Pricing work properly. Getting in front of a camera. Knowing where you fit. Presenting ideas to a room full of people who might hate them. If you're in the middle of any of that right now, read on.

The weight of performing confidence

Daniel Poll, founder of Noramble, described the fear with an honesty that will feel familiar to most. "For me, the biggest issue was talking to clients and presenting ideas," he recalls. "It's such a big part of a creative business. I hated it, maybe because of imposter syndrome, but most of it was because I was scared of the client hating the ideas. Which, luckily, has never happened. It's one of those situations where you just have to get uncomfortable to get comfortable."

That last line is worth writing on a sticky note and putting somewhere you'll see it. The discomfort isn't a sign that something is wrong. It's a sign that you're doing the thing.

Photography student Kirsty Hepworth is still navigating this obstacle. "My current challenges are to get in front of the camera and promote myself on social media," she says. "I'm still not perfect at it, but I managed to post a video of myself on my Instagram talking to camera, so it is an improvement. You have got to suffer some discomfort before becoming comfortable."

The willingness to be imperfect in public, in short, is the main lesson.

Learning that no is a complete sentence

Many of those who contributed to our discussion mentioned the inability to say no. And that's not surprising. When you're starting out, every project feels like a referendum on whether you deserve to exist. Turning work down feels reckless. Pushing back on a brief feels dangerous. So you say yes to everything, and wonder why you feel ground down.

Graphic designer Stew Calladine (who, like me, once felt he had to stand up to present) tells a typical tale. "I was always a 'yes' man," he remembers. "But now I've learned how to say no, and to put my thoughts in on how I don't believe something will work. This is all based upon research, data and insights that I've gained over the years."

His experience is echoed by marketing professional Denise Strohsahl. "Saying no, or better, not saying yes to everything, was difficult at first, but definitely worth getting better at," she says. "And that includes saying no to clients who are not a good fit. Not to mention standing firm when it comes to my downtime, office hours and rates."

Graphic designer Janis Jekabsons offers a perspective sharpened by more than 15 years in the industry: "Early on, saying no is incredibly hard," he acknowledges. "You're hungry; both literally and figuratively. You're chasing new horizons, building a portfolio, and your stomach is rumbling. So the fear of passing on a project is real. You end up taking jobs that push you below your actual cost of working.

"A huge turning point for me was working with a web developer who had a strict mantra: 'Pro bono or full price. There is no in-between.' That stuck with me. Now, my default answer is 'No' unless the project is a 100% 'Yes'."

How soon you feel confident enough to do so, however, will vary from person to person. Photo retoucher and creative artworker Sandrine Bascouert, for instance, recalls the particular complexity of establishing herself as a freelancer in Britain after a career in France.

"I needed to navigate presenting myself with a new, more deliberate business-like mindset, in another language, with other cultural codes," she recalls. "But equally, I learned to assert myself more by being immersed in a different mindset in Britain, where you can be creative and treat it like a business at the same time, and no one bats an eyelid."

Finding meaning beyond the work itself

Not every struggle in your early career is about confidence. Innovation expert Nicolas Petit describes something more existential.

"For me, I found it difficult at first to find meaning in what I was doing, other than earning a salary," he explains. More recently, though, he's found meaning in helping colleagues and team members expand their knowledge and mindset. "For the past six years, this has been my main motivation while going to the office. Not looking at management reporting and performances, but at how to get my colleagues and team members happier. And that makes me happier as well."

Art director Matt King has also experienced a change in mindset over the years. "Early in my career, I had the artist complex," he remembers. "Everything I did, I poured my heart into, which left me with very high highs and low lows. I had to learn business and realised I have a profound gift for connecting with people. Now, that's where I get a lot of joy: the design is so good because the connection is sound."

Knowing where you actually fit

Of course, we can't ignore imposter syndrome in all of this. Illustrator and pattern designer Annie McGee describes the slow process of permitting herself to be a professional at all. "I had the skills, I loved the work," she recalls. "But there was this persistent little voice saying illustration and pattern design was something other people did professionally. Not little old me."

For her, the change in mindset came gradually. "I stopped treating my practice like a hobby I was hoping someone would notice, and started treating it like a business I was already running," she explains. "This was super-obvious in hindsight, but that reframe changed everything. Turns out you don't wait to feel ready. You just start, and the confidence sorts itself out somewhere along the way."

In summary, whether you're staring down an impossible brief, navigating a difficult client or lying awake wondering if you're actually any good, take heart. Every person quoted here was once exactly where you are. They got through it by doing the work, saying no, sitting down, and being imperfect in public. And so will you.