If you run a creative studio and feel like you're doing everything right, making great work, keeping clients happy, grinding every day, but growth still feels out of reach… You're not alone.
In this episode of Small Business, Big Engine, I sit down with Joel Pilger, a creative entrepreneur and advisor who’s helped hundreds of studios around the world reposition and grow. Joel spent 20 years scaling his own shop, Impossible Pictures, before turning his focus to helping other creative founders figure out what’s keeping them stuck and how to move forward with clarity.
We dig deep into the real reasons creative studios stall out... and spoiler alert, it’s almost never about the quality of the work. Instead, Joel breaks down what he’s seen again and again: when studios stop growing, it usually comes down to poor positioning, unclear vision, burnout, or a sales pipeline that lives and dies by word of mouth.
Whether you’re a freelancer trying to level up or a studio owner with a team and overhead, this conversation will shift how you think about your business. Joel brings hard-earned wisdom and practical advice that creative founders can actually use to get out of survival mode and build something sustainable.
What we cover in this episode:
Why doing great work isn’t enough anymore
The most common mindset mistakes studio owners make
The difference between creative entrepreneurs and traditional entrepreneurs
Why positioning matters more than ever in today’s saturated market
How to future-proof your creative studio in a fast-changing industry
What Joel calls “the three seasons” of a creative business
How to escape the feast-or-famine sales cycle
Why most founders wait too long to delegate sales and production
Joel’s “saleskeeping” habits that lead to consistent leads and deals
How to move from services to outcomes, and why that changes everything
You’re not in the services business, you’re in the outcomes business. If you’re still positioning your studio as an “animation shop” or “design studio,” you’re probably blending in with everyone else. Joel explains how to reposition around the result you create, not the tools you use.
Reinvention isn’t optional... it’s the business model. The industry moves fast. What was cutting-edge five years ago is now a commodity. Joel shares why the best studios are always evolving and how to know when it’s time to pivot.
If you want to scale, you have to stop doing everything. Joel talks about the “three-legged stool” of a creative business: creative, production, and sales; and why no one person can carry all three for long.
Sales is not a one-person job. Most studio owners think sales means cold-calling or being pushy. Joel reframes it as a relationship-driven process built on consistency, trust, and focus, and he shares how to start building a system even if you’re a team of one.
About Joel Pilger:
Joel is the founder of Impossible Pictures and a trusted advisor to creative studios worldwide. Through his private community Forum and podcast The Fabulist, Joel helps studio owners rethink how they position themselves, build stronger businesses, and grow without losing their creative spark. He’s worked with top studios like Laundry, Sarofsky, and Ordinary Folk, as well as plenty of up-and-coming teams still finding their footing.
If you've read this far, do me a favor and leave a 5 star review to help us grow the show. Thanks!