Why I Don’t Like the Term “Creative”

I used to think I wasn’t creative. If you asked me to design something my answer would be mumbles of, “Oh, no, no, I’m not a creative, you’d be better off with a designer. I’m a strategist.”

Often, my work asks me to copywrite, but I would tell people that I can write the core messaging, but you’ll need to tweak it. I’m a strategist. I’m not a writer, designer, artist: I’m not A CREATIVE.

It’s a part of why it took me so long to start this newsletter. I thought I didn’t have the chutzpah or ability to generate enough ideas for one.

Now, I look back at myself and wonder why. I limited myself for so long for no reason! Like all things, this came from an accumulation of many experiences (tough bosses and unconstructive feedback chief among them). I developed a complex: I would emphasize over and over that I’m not creative. And yet, (as my mom would say) I was cutting off my own nose to spite my face. I was limiting what I could do for myself, limiting myself from outlets of pleasure, and limiting what I could do for my clients.

In further examining this, I’ve realized that some of it had to do with the word “creative.” Coming from TV, to me creatives were people who are writers, designers, actors; people who don’t have the strategic and analytical side like I do. It takes skill and innate talent to be one.

Yet, in investigating this idea I’ve realized that not only was I limiting myself, but I was also limiting them! Who’s to say that an actor, writer, or artist can’t also be good at marketing. Who's to say they can’t handle the strategy behind a campaign, setting up campaign management, even doing your taxes. I see my friends in those fields belittle themselves by saying things like, “I’m a creative; I don’t get money things!” Take it from this girl with a math-related learning disability—if I can learn how to build a budget, so can you.

Most importantly, I was limiting myself to being just one thing. And it wasn’t true.

So while I’m still not a whiz with Photoshop, I’ve grown my skills in Canva, and I’d like to think they are pretty solid. I’m a writer; I write to all of you every other week. But I can also build an influencer budget and maintain it, fix the backend of your website (to an extent), reset the wifi in your apartment, cook a damn good meal, and bake some sourdough. In a world where I believe we should all have the right to be exactly who we want to be, I want to contain multitudes.

I see this in my clients all of the time—the experienced influencer marketer who has an idea for a startup, the parents who run their own businesses, the businesses risking it all with new sales channels. Don’t we all want to be this way? Being just one thing seems boring.

So now, I embrace the fact that I can help you with that brand messaging guide (in fact, I’ve found I really enjoy writing them), I can try to build your website for you, I can create that social media asset, I can write for myself.

Here’s to expressing our beautiful selves in every way we can.

Lesson Learned: I may not be a creative, but I am a creative person. We all are. It comes from all of us differently and that should be celebrated.