In this episode, I sit down with Kaleb Dean — founder of Studio Stendo and one of the deepest design thinkers I know — for a conversation about pricing, purpose, and building a creative business that gives you freedom without sacrificing your craft.Caleb shares how his journey from academia to agency ownership forced him to unlearn what design school taught him about value — and instead focus on becoming a business owner first and a designer second. We dig into the mindset shift that helped him move from $3K logos to $22K brand strategy packages, and how asking better questions around business outcomes completely changed the trajectory of his sales process.We also talk about autonomy — time, financial, and creative — and how his family's needs (like flying regularly between Idaho and Chicago) became the real pressure that forced him to level up. Caleb opens up about the compounding power of content, the underestimated ROI of one-on-one conversations, and why your first 100 pieces of content are really just you learning how to think clearly in public.This one's a thoughtful, honest look at what it actually takes to go from high-level creative to high-impact business owner. If you're someone who knows you're a strong designer but you're still not getting paid accordingly, you’ll resonate deeply with this episode.Want help building a more profitable design business? Book a 1:1 strategy call here — https://www.profitabledesigner.com/schedule/Follow me on Instagram for daily content, marketing tips, and podcast updates — https://www.instagram.com/profitabledesigner/