Hi, I’m Mitch. This is the longer version.
The front page has the highlights. This page has the rest: how a secondhand camera turned into a full-time job, what I got wrong along the way, and why I still publish every single week.
300+
episodes published
250,000
newsletter readers
12
years making things
1
bestselling book
✦ My story
From a bedroom camera to a full-time career
Twelve years, condensed. The long version is spread across 300 episodes.
2014
●
One secondhand camera
I uploaded my first video from a bedroom lit by a desk lamp, expecting nothing. Eleven people watched it. But making things for the internet hooked me, and I kept filming.
2016
●
Quitting the day job
The channel crossed 100,000 subscribers and I handed in my notice. Terrifying at the time. In hindsight, the best creative decision I ever made.
2019
●
The podcast years
I started a weekly show about creative work and haven’t missed a week since. The series went on to win a few awards and pass 300 episodes.
2022
●
Being Creative, the book
Everything I wish someone had told me when I started, in one place. It became a bestseller and the thing I’m proudest of making.
Today
●
Sharing everything I’ve figured out
Videos, courses, and a newsletter read by 250,000 people. The goal is simple: your first decade should go faster than mine did.
✦ Where it all began
It started in a small bedroom, not a studio
I didn’t set out to become a creator. I set out to make one video, mostly to prove to myself that I could finish something. The camera was secondhand, the lighting was a desk lamp, and the editing took a whole weekend.
For the first two years I got almost everything wrong: chasing trends, posting whenever I felt like it, and reading every single comment. What eventually worked was boring. A schedule, a format I could repeat, and a promise to show up every week.
That promise turned into a channel, then a podcast, then a book. The studio looks nicer now, but the goal hasn’t changed: make something useful, put it out into the world, and help other people do the same.
✦ Good to know
Questions people ask me
The same way everyone does — badly, then consistently. Pick one format, publish weekly for six months, and improve one thing each time. My Part-Time Creator Academy covers the whole first year.
Less than you’d think. A mirrorless camera I bought used, one good microphone, a desk lamp with a softbox, and a laptop. I keep an up-to-date gear list on the resources page, but the honest answer is that the gear matters far less than showing up.
Yes, a handful each year. I only work with products I already use, and every sponsored segment is clearly marked. If that sounds like a fit, send a short note through the contact page.
Not right now. The courses are the closest thing, and I answer reader questions every week in the Sunday Signal newsletter and on the podcast.
Happily, when the calendar allows. I do a few talks and workshops a year on creative work and building an audience. Share the date, the audience, and the format, and I’ll get back to you within a week.