Letting Ego get in the way.

So something a bit strange happened to me this week.

I had a new client ask me to drastically change the aesthetic style of one of our videos for them, to something that I felt looked like shit — and I did it.

Now in the past, I would have completely refused, clung on to my artistic vision, aligned my ego to the work, and justified it all by maintaining my creative integrity.

Now though, I realised that that is all a little immature.

I’ll explain the situation, and maybe this could help if a similar situation arises.

My agency has a particular style of video that has evolved, but has been in the higher end — and often industry leader — in our space.

A new client came to us because they’d seen this work and wanted to get our level of production and style for them.

We’ll fast forward to delivery, and the client’s client turned around and wanted us to re-edit the video in the horrible, bright, oversaturated aesthetic from 10 years ago — because their uncle used to be in network broadcasting two decades ago and needed to have an opinion on everything. Think like the first Instagram filters but worse. Bluh.

So like I said, I had two choices:

The old me would’ve told them to fuck off — that’s not how we do things, I can’t let something out of my studio that looks like that.

The most recent me — You know what? I’m here to make sure the client is happy and gets what they want. I’ll just do it.

So I just did it.
I made sure to inform them that, in my professional opinion, it sucks (I said it nicer than that).
But that we’d make it happen.

Now, had I told them no — they wouldn’t leave that interaction and think:

Wow, Clayton has such impeccable artistic integrity and vision.

No.
They would’ve thought: Wow, what a fucking douchebag.

Now, because I identified their needs and put my own ego aside — they’re leaving the interaction thinking:

Yes, Clayton will give us his honest opinion, but at the end of the day, he’ll go above and beyond — even his ego — to deliver something that makes us feel happy.

And like the great Maya Angelou said:
People will forget what you do for them, but they’ll remember how you made them feel.

The video’s campaign shelf life might last 4–6 weeks. People will forget how shit it looked.

That client’s memory will last forever — and I’ll have gotten paid for it. Instead of leaving money on the table because I needed to be right.

Yes, I think it’s important to have a unique and defined creative style.

But I would suggest avoiding the trap of aligning it solely with your identity.
Especially if you want to grow your business.

Yes, if you’ve gotten to the point where you don’t need the money anymore and are doing the art for art’s sake — awesome. Go do you.

But I want to get paid, bitch.
I want other creatives to get paid.

Lose the ego. You’re not your work.
You solve problems with your work.

Use your creativity as a tool to bring people joy — and you’ll never struggle for work in your life.

Keep creating, my friends.