The Busy Creator

Subscribe on iTunes

About | The Busy Creator

About Us

The story so far.

For Creative Professionals Who Love to Create

You’re a busy creative professional. You’ve spent years building and honing your skills. You do excellent work and you’re proud of it. You’re respected by your peers, and your managers and clients know they can count on you to deliver when the pressure’s on.

Then why does it seem like the harder you work, the more your career falls behind? Like your work-life balance is out of whack? Like the more you advance in your career, the less creative, productive, and satisfied you feel? Like your compensation doesn’t fairly reflect the value you deliver?

Read this next sentence carefully…

You do not have to choose between creativity, productivity, and satisfaction.

Not only can the three coexist, but with the right frameworks in place, a win in one area creates success in the others.

The community here at The Busy Creator doesn’t bellyache over how difficult our jobs are or how unfairly we’ve been treated. We don’t cling to the idea that we’re special snowflakes who deserve to be handled with care.

And we don’t tolerate “tortured artist” types who deny themselves success by refusing to organize and prioritize.

We believe there are tools, techniques, and practices available to all creative pros that allow them to stay organized, energized, motivated, and focused.

We believe success breeds success.

And we support one another in the pursuit of excellence.

About Prescott

Prescott Perez-Fox.  Photo by Jerome Charles

Prescott Perez-Fox
The Busy Creator founder

Photo by Jerome Charles

I’m Prescott Perez-Fox, a graphic designer and brand strategist.

My character-building years were spent as a freelance designer in New York City. During those early years—with no business experience and no real strategy on how to find (or keep) clients—I endured far too many embarrassing interviews, horrible bosses, and less-than-stellar reviews on the jobs I landed successfully.

Meanwhile, I saw peers kicking butt in their practice, earning recognition, landing big clients, and being paid nicely to do it, while I was getting laid off three times in three years (true story.) I realized there had to be something I lacked — business and productivity skills — which I needed in order to become successful.

I actively sought out successful creative professionals and modeled their attitudes, approaches, and behaviors. During this multi-year process, I discovered a very small number of key tools, techniques, and habits that separate the “struggling artist” from the “healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

Over the past 15 years, I’ve distilled these discoveries into systems that enable me—and my clients and co-workers—to be more productive, make more money, and spend more time doing the creative work we love.

The Busy Creator is where I share these systems and approaches with like-minded creative professionals. This is an online community where we learn business and productivity skills. We focus on how great creative work happens, not just the finished result. We don’t deal in “inspiration and motivation”, we get systematic and examine creative culture, methods, and technology.

We want to be our most creative productive selves.

Resources

Here are links to the top-ranked content here at BusyCreator.com (along with a few of my personal favorites!):

Articles

Using TextExpander and Markdown to Transform Your Writing & Web Publishing

Using TextExpander and Markdown to Transform Your Writing & Web Publishing

Combining a format and a utility for top speed and convenience

Applesaucing: Transform Your Content and Use It Again

Applesaucing: Transform Your Content and Use It Again

How to extract every last morsel to reach new audiences and expand your influence

Pro Tip for Keeping Your Portfolio Up To Date

Pro Tip for Keeping Your Portfolio Up To Date

A simple way to evade an outdated site or book

Are Orgs Truly Organized?

Are Orgs Truly Organized?

How Causes and Political Groups Can Be More Productive

Podcast Episodes

An Introduction to Freelancing — Definitions, ailments, and mindsets for new and veteran freelancers

An Introduction to Freelancing — Definitions, ailments, and mindsets for new and veteran freelancers

Freelancing is weird. Examine your mindsets before anything else.

How Mignon Fogarty Launched a World-Famous Podcast Network and Became Grammar Girl

How Mignon Fogarty Launched a World-Famous Podcast Network and Became Grammar Girl

Mignon Fogarty is a professor and podcast industry pioneer.

Woodworker & Furniture Maker Matt Cremona Discusses Self-Teaching and Making a Solo Video Show

Woodworker & Furniture Maker Matt Cremona Discusses Self-Teaching and Making a Solo Video Show

Matt Cremona produces a woodworking show on YouTube.

Getting Started with Project Management Tools & Team Collaboration Software, with Bryan Orr

Getting Started with Project Management Tools & Team Collaboration Software, with Bryan Orr

Byran Orr is a business owner & podcaster in Florida.

The Busy Creator’s Origin Story

TBC was created in late 2013 by Prescott Perez-Fox, a graphic designer in New York City. Having worked for numerous agencies and in-house teams, as well as years spent freelancing with a range of clients, Prescott had seen the inside of many creative workplaces, and observed what these companies were doing right — and wrong. Prescott become renowned in the NYC design community as the guy who knows about process. Software, project management, office rituals, even architecture and org structures. The Busy Creator is the effort to share this knowledge with a wider creative community, and help everyone get better at what they do.

Join The Mailing List

Why Podcasting?

Prescott had been a listener for years. Aside from general topics shows across comedy, news, music, and business, this included a number of design-focused shows like Design Matters with Debbie Millman, The Rookie Designer, InDesign Secrets, and BoagWorld. But there wasn’t a show about process — about the intersection of business productivity and creative professions. Time to get in the get.

Producing a podcast, especially one based on interviews and conversations, allowed Prescott to reach out and learn from the brilliant, eccentric, creative people around the world who would otherwise be inaccessible.

Prescott’s Guest Appearances

Prescott has appeared on other podcasts sharing insight about productivity, creativity, and more. Grab a listen.

How to Be Awesome at Your Job

How to Be Awesome at Your Job

Keeping the Creative Juices Flowing

Stand Out Get Noticed

Stand Out Get Noticed

How To Not Be Awkward In Social Situations

Obsessed With Design

Obsessed With Design

Another discussion with Prescott Perez-Fox

Podcasters’ Paradise

Podcasters’ Paradise

Methodical, Efficient, and Effective

Clients From Hell

Clients From Hell

The Habits of Successful Freelancers and Creatives

Freelance Transformation

Freelance Transformation

Lessons Learned from Short-Term Design Placements

12-Minute Conversations

12-Minute Conversations

12-Minute Convos, with Engel Jones

Podcasters Unplugged

Podcasters Unplugged

Finding Your Podcasting Purpose

WOW Small Business with Byran Orr

WOW Small Business with Byran Orr

Keep Your Business From Looking Amateur

Life In The Woods

Life In The Woods

Ep. 36

See Here’s The Thing

See Here’s The Thing

Logan's Opening Weekend

Mantastic Voyage

Mantastic Voyage

Brain Damage and Other Topics Relating to Kids

Prescott in the Media

Prescott’s words, work, wit, and wisdom have been featured across the web, including:

The New York Times logo
Just Creative logo
Unbeige logo
The Dieline logo
Communication Arts logo
BBC News logo
Just Creative logo
Business Insider logo
BBC News logo