Maker Division
Maker Division is a podcast for designers, illustrators, photographers, filmmakers, and makers building businesses they love — without burning out, selling out, or pretending we have it figured out. Hosted by Ben Burns and Stephanie Owens, two creatives who've spent the last decade-plus in the trenches: freelancing for scraps, growing studios from zero, leading creative teams, and learning the hard lessons that nobody talks about at design conferences. Each episode brings honest conversations about pricing, positioning, portfolios, lead generation, client work, hiring, and the messy middle of running a creative business. No hype. No gurus. Just real frameworks, hard-earned lessons, and straight talk from people who've actually built the kind of businesses you're trying to build.
Episodes
Lead Generation for Creatives: What Actually Works? (Part 2) | Ep 13
Which lead-generation strategies actually help creatives find clients—and which ones waste time, money, or energy?In Part 2 of their lead-generation ranking, Steph and Ben blindly score another round of strategies from one to five. This time, they tackle cold email outreach, public speaking, physical mailers, YouTube, Instagram, online communities, RFPs, paid advertising, and more.They also reveal
Lead Generation for Creatives: What Actually Works? (Part 1) | Ep 12
Business has slowed down—but how are you marketing your creative business?If the answer is “I’m not,” that may be the problem.For this episode, Steph secretly filled a cocktail shaker with 15 ways to generate leads. Ben sees each method for the first time on camera, and they rate it from one to five based only on what has worked for them or people they know personally.In part one, they tackle Link
Is Your Branding Process Doing Too Much? | Ep 11
What turns a logo project into a professional branding process—and when does that process become too much?In this episode, Steph and Ben trace the different paths shaping how they approach branding today. Ben’s first branding project involved endless logo options—and by the time he reached something close, the team had disbanded. Steph entered branding with contracts, client systems, discovery exp
From Client Work to Multiple Income Streams | Ep 10
A $50 logo. A $300 interior-design project. Two rough beginnings—and the lessons that shaped how Steph and Ben built their creative businesses.🎸 ROCK YOUR INCOME STREAMSThe first Maker Division Birthday Bash drop is available for a limited time:https://www.makerdivision.com/birthdayIn this episode, Steph and Ben share the stories behind their first paying clients—from competing for underpaid inter
Creative Coaching | Ep 09
The thing holding your creative business back may not be the problem you think it is.In this episode, Steph and Ben pull back the curtain on the work at the heart of Maker Division: coaching creative business owners through the obstacles they can’t always see for themselves.Sometimes the stated problem is a website, an LLC, lead generation, pricing, confidence, or an unclear direction. But beneath
Running a Creative Studio with Your Spouse | Ep 08
Could you build a business with the person you share your life with—or would working together wreck the relationship?Steph and Ben have both started working full-time with their spouses, but under very different circumstances. Nathan joined Steph at Maker Division after more than a decade of creative collaboration, while Elise’s growing micro-bakery has changed how she and Ben divide their work, h
Which Kind of Studio Should You Build? | Ep 07
Artist or problem-solver—which kind of creative studio should you build?Steph and Ben approach their Solo Studios from very different directions. Ben is drawn to business, systems, education, products, and creatively solving problems. Steph wants to make personal work that creates emotion, conversation, and human connection.In this candid episode, they challenge each other’s assumptions—and confro
You Don’t Need a Big Audience to Run a Retreat | Ep 06
You don’t need a huge audience — or a famous name — to create an in-person experience people will value.In this episode, Steph and Ben pull back the curtain on planning profitable, small-group retreats and workshops for creatives. They share what they learned from Maker Division’s Las Vegas events, why intimate gatherings can be more transformative than large conferences, and how a retreat can bec
The Niching Advice That’s Hurting Creatives | Ep 05
Should every creative pick a niche — or has that advice done more harm than good?In this episode, Steph and Ben put their decade-plus experience helping creatives build and grow their practices on the record. They break down the important differences between specializing, niching, and positioning — and explain why treating them as interchangeable can lead to what they call the “niching nightmare.”
Why it's so hard to create | Ep04
Creatives go into business to create... and then resist creating unless somebody else is paying for it. Ben and Stephanie get into why.They break the resistance into four camps: the ROI camp who won't spend an unbillable hour, the identity camp who don't see themselves as artists, the people for whom making is genuinely painful, and the perfectionists sitting on an idea they're too scared to ruin.
Some creative work sells itself. Some needs a story | Ep 03
Not every project needs a case study or a cap deck. Some of your best work just needs to be seen.Ben and Steph break down the three ways creatives show their work to clients: the lookbook, the capabilities deck, and the case study. When each one wins, when it costs you the job, and why it all comes down to who's hiring you and what they're really buying. Two very different careers, one shared conc
The Solo Studio | Ep 02
FREE WORKSHOP: Design Your LookbookJoin us this Tuesday for a free workshop, Design Your Lookbook, taught by Stephanie Owens:https://makerdivision.myflodesk.com/lookbookThis episode is brought to you by Maker Division, our community for creatives building real businesses around their craft. https://makerdivision.comBen Burns and Stephanie Owens kick off a conversation they've been circling for a w
Starting before you're ready | Episode 01
Welcome to the first episode of the Maker Division podcast.Ben Burns and Stephanie Owens decided to start a podcast on Friday and hit record on Tuesday — which makes "starting before you're ready" the only honest topic for episode one.In this conversation, they get into why creatives stall out: the baggage we drag into new projects, the fear of being seen, the websites that don't need to exist yet
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