Happy Monday, Creators 👋
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Welcome to Remarkable Monday. This is our corner of the internet where we get the inspiration and insights to crush our content goals for the week ahead. Make yourself at home and feel free to hit reply if you want to get in contact with me, your host. I’m Mark Patterson, and my hope for you this week is that you make it remarkable!
On moving before you feel qualified, and what happens when you do
Nobody gave me permission to be here.
Not when I stepped into my first communications role. Not when I launched the podcast. Not when I started writing this newsletter. Every single time, I moved before I felt ready, before the numbers made sense, before anyone handed me a credential that said: now you may proceed.
I used to think that waiting for permission was humility. I have since learned it is usually fear wearing a very reasonable disguise.
There is a moment in most creators’ lives when someone sees something in them before they see it in themselves. A mentor. A spouse. A friend who says something offhand that changes their entire trajectory. The question is never whether that moment will come. The question is whether you will be open enough to realize it and brave enough to act on it before you feel ready.
That is what I want to talk about today.
“The worst thing they can say is no. Or nothing at all.”
Philly native. Husband. Marathoner. Copywriter. Mixologist. Cree Moore spent seven years in construction management before pivoting to full-time creative work. He is the creator of Cocktails and Moore and co-hosts the recurring Instagram series Men Belong in the Kitchen with his wife Janesha.
What makes Cree’s story so compelling is not simply that he made the leap. It is how long he prepared before he did.
He spent nearly a year preparing financially. And when he finally left construction management, the Moores did not have to change how they lived. The preparation made the transition clean.
Cree put in the reps. He wrote articles. He recorded cocktail videos because his wife thought it was a good idea. He quantified his hourly value as a creator before a single brand deal existed. Slowly, he built the infrastructure for how he would operate as a creatorpreneur.
That same discipline showed up in how he approached monetization. He did not wait to feel established. He pitched early, pitched authentically, and only pitched brands he could actually stand behind. And the result followed!
None of it happened overnight. But none of it happened by accident either.
Weekly Playbook
Four moves to make before next Monday:
Write down what you are waiting on: Not in your head. On paper. “I am waiting until ___.” Most of us are not immobilized by lack of skill. We have willingly locked ourselves in the prisons of our own limiting beliefs. Name it. Then decide whether it is a real requirement or a comfortable excuse.
Quantify your time before anyone asks you to: What is an hour of your creative work worth right now, before a deal exists? Think through concept, sourcing, filming, editing, and posting as separate line items. You cannot negotiate what you have not already valued.
Send one pitch this week: One brand you actually use. One clear message about what you can offer. No résumé. No lengthy pitch. Just clarity and a genuine connection to the product. Cree’s ratio was one response for every ten pitches. You only need one to say yes.
Protect the bridge behind you: Whatever transition you are moving toward, leave your current situation with integrity. Cree left construction management in good standing — not because he planned to go back, but because wisdom does not assume it will not need the door it just closed.
If you’re reading this far…
I hope this message finds you well. I’m sharing from my heart in hopes that you will be inspired to unearth and live out your God-given purpose. Hopefully, something I said resonated. I would love to hear from you if so. Please feel free to reach out to me on social media.
FYI: I’m mostly active on LinkedIn these days. If you were forwarded this message, you can subscribe here to receive thoughts like this directly in your inbox. And don’t forget to check out the latest episode of my podcast, ConvoRoom with Mark Allen Patterson.