Your creative business doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. I had these same problems while building my agency and I solved them the hard way. I’ll teach you so you can skip the struggle.
Learn how to run a successful creative business.*
Struggling?*
Feel alone in your business?
Not sure how to scale?
Need more or better clients?
Not generating enough profit?
Stuck in a mess with a bad client?
Want to go full-time freelance?
Sick of living project to project?
Biz taking a toll on your mental health?
One more bad day away from quitting?
I can help.*
I’m Michael Janda. I scaled my agency from basement freelancer to acquisition of my agency with $30,000,000 in revenue and a client list that included Disney, Google, ABC, NBC, Warner Bros, and Fox. Everything I teach comes from real trenches experience—proven systems.
Let’s get started.*
Join thousands of creatives who get my weekly email “Creative Sanity Snippets” with tips on sales, pricing, business, and the systems that helped me grow my agency. You’ll also get an intro email that walks you through all my programs—free and paid—so you can find the resources that fit your unique situation.
Find Your Content
Which stage creative business do you have?
Your New Creative Family
Feel like you’re running your creative business all alone? Join MCA.
More Creative Academy is the community you’ve been looking for. It’s my flagship offer — the tentpole behind everything I teach — and the place where creative entrepreneurs finally find the support system they’ve been missing. Inside MCA, you get me as your mentor through four live sessions every month, plus workshops with top industry leaders, private group coaching, creative retreats, and an entire library of replays and tools. This is where you build real connections, real confidence, and your creative-business family. There’s nothing else like it. Come join us.
Stage 01
“I’m starting with the free stuff so I can get my business moving.”
Subscribe on YouTube
On YouTube I share short and long-form video content with actionable lessons and engaging conversations to level up your business and brighten your day.
Follow on Instagram
On Instagram I post quick-hitting tips, behind-the-scenes insights, and real-time advice to help you navigate pricing, clients, and the day-to-day chaos of running a creative business.
Past Articles (Blog)
On my blog you’ll find practical, easy-to-digest breakdowns of creative business challenges—pricing, projects, and more—to help you run a more profitable business.
Creative Sanity Snippets
Creative Sanity Snippets is your weekly dose of quick, easy-to-digest business advice for creatives. In just 1–3 minutes, you’ll get a direct, actionable tip you can apply in your business immediately.
What the Helvetica? Podcast
On What the Helvetica? I dive into candid conversations with creatives, agency owners, and entrepreneurs about the real challenges behind building a creative business. It’s honest, practical, and packed with lessons you can apply right away.
Two Pixels Off Podcast
Two Pixels Off is a series of open, unscripted chats about freelancing, design, and creative business. These archived episodes are full of real-world stories, smart strategies, and helpful insights from years in the creative trenches.
Biz Buds Podcast
Biz Buds features 60+ episodes of straight-talking business advice with Tom Ross. You’ll get pricing strategies, marketing ideas, client tips, and creative-business guidance you can use to grow your career and your income.
Free Mini Courses & Mini-Courses
Explore my library of free guides, worksheets, and mini courses covering everything from going full-time freelance to pricing projects, writing proposals, and finding clients. These resources are quick to digest and designed to help you improve your creative business today.
Stage 02
“I’m freelancing full-time and want to run this like a real business.”
Creative Business Sanity Systems
199 quick, actionable lessons to help you run a creative business without losing your mind. Easy to digest, straight to the point, and packed with real-world takeaways.
Burn Your Portfolio
Stuff they don’t teach you in design school but should. This bestselling book shares the real-world lessons I learned building my agency—the practical advice every creative needs.
The Psychology of Graphic Design Pricing
A no-guesswork guide to pricing creative work with confidence. Learn the strategies, psychology, and tactics you need to win more projects and earn more profit.
The Ultimate Freelance Course
My flagship course for freelancers who want to level up. More than 5,000 creatives have used this blueprint to go from scattered and overwhelmed to running a confident, profitable creative business.
Web Design Business Bootcamp
Learn how to scope, price, pitch, and close high-ticket websites using the same systems I’ve used since the early internet era. Bigger projects, better margins, less chaos.
Agency Steroids Course (Inside MCA)
The Agency Steroids Course is a full roadmap for scaling your creative business. You’ll master clients, pricing, proposals, project management, and the business systems you need to grow with confidence. This course is exclusive to MCA members.
Stage 03
“I’m building an agency and need help fixing some things.”
One-on-One Coaching
Get personalized, one-on-one coaching tailored to your exact business challenges. We’ll work through your specific issues and build custom solutions designed for your goals, your clients, and your creative business.
Group Coaching (Inside MCA)
Inside MCA you get group coaching with me—weekly sessions, DM access, and a supportive community of creatives. Ask questions, get real answers, and build your business with ongoing guidance and accountability.
F2A: Freelancer to Agency (4-Week Cohort)
A structured, four-week transformation program with limited seats. Rebrand, reposition, and rebuild your systems as you shift from solo freelancer to real agency—confidently, intentionally, and with proven frameworks.
Stage 04
“My agency is doing decent, but I’m ready for the next level.”
MCA VIP (Mastermind)
An elite group of 12 agency owners with all-access mentoring from me. I join your side in the trenches of your business. You get direct cell-phone access, one-on-one sessions, group calls, and a tight-knit support team of creative entrepreneurs.
Morepalooza (Creative Retreats)
The reset every creative needs. These destination retreats, held in places like Fort Lauderdale, Dallas, and London, deliver lifelong memories, new friendships, emotional and mental recharge, and workshop experiences that elevate your business to new heights.
From: Michael Janda
Attn: Creative Freelancers & Agency Owners
Dear Creative Friend,
If you’ve spent any time in this industry, you’ve seen the noise—funnels everywhere, “secret formulas,” and people promising overnight success. I get it. I hate that game as much as you do. But here’s the truth: the right strategies really do change everything.
I know because I did it.
I built my creative business from my basement into a multi-million-dollar agency with a client list that included Disney, Google, ABC, NBC, Fox, Netflix, and National Geographic. We won Webbys, Awwwards, AIGA, Addys, Best of State medals, and landed on the Inc. 5000 multiple times. I led teams, managed hundreds of creatives, negotiated multi-six-figure projects, and navigated all the chaos that comes with running (and eventually selling) a fast-growing creative agency.
![]()
In 2015 I sold my agency and after my buyout ended in 2018 I left the agency to dedicate my career to my real passion—helping other creatives win.
Today, that’s my full-time work.
Teaching. Mentoring. Coaching. Building community.
Helping freelancers and agency owners avoid the painful mistakes I had to learn the slow, expensive way.
Whether you’re freelancing on the side, running a full-time solo business, scaling into an agency, or already leading a growing team—there’s a place for you here. My goal—give you the systems, strategies, pricing tools, proposals, and sanity frameworks that make creative business feel less overwhelming and a whole lot more profitable.
If you want proof, go check out what people say after working with me.
You’ll find their stories here → Wall of Love
And if you just want to start small, no pressure—grab some free stuff, follow the content, or join my weekly newsletter Creative Sanity Snippets.
When you’re ready for the next step, I’ll be here.
Your success is genuinely my favorite part of this job.
Keep going. Keep creating. Keep building the business you deserve.
—Mike Janda
These are the clients and brands behind everything I teach.*
In 2000, I stepped into the role of Creative Director at Fox—an experience that opened the door to freelancing and eventually launching my own agency. Over the next 15 years, Disney became our largest client, and in the final stretch, Google took the lead. Along the way, my team and I delivered work for dozens of world-class brands. Every challenge, win, and hard-earned lesson from those years now fuels the systems, strategies, and processes I teach to creatives today.







