Most creatives think they’re just one project away from breaking through.

But the truth is: there are two invisible ceilings keeping you stuck.

And unless you break both, you’ll stay busy but never truly grow.

The Athens Story

I’m in Athens this week.

Vacation, but of course… I ended up meeting a studio owner over coffee.

Great portfolio.
30+ people on the team.
Work anyone would be proud of.

And yet, he told me the same thing I hear everywhere:
“We’re stuck. Budgets don’t grow past 60–80K.

And I’m not sure where the next good client is supposed to come from.”

That’s when I explained what I’ve broken down in my latest video: the two invisible ceilings every creative eventually faces.

Even big studios with big teams run into the same problem.

Ceiling #1: The Budget Ceiling

You’re good at what you do.
Your portfolio is solid.
Clients are happy.

But no matter how hard you push, you can’t seem to break past five-figure budgets.

That’s the Budget Ceiling.
And it has nothing to do with your craft.

It’s a sales problem.
And sales is about the words you use.

If you can’t articulate your creative value in a way clients actually understand, you’ll always be seen as execution, not leadership.

And if clients see you as execution, they’ll never trust you with the bigger budgets, no matter how good your work is.

(I walk through how to fix this step by step in my latest breakdown-video > DM me for the link.)

Ceiling #2: The Demand Ceiling

Even if you fix sales, there’s another trap: the Demand Ceiling.

On the surface, everything looks fine. But underneath:

• The wrong clients keep showing up.
• The work feels safe, even meaningless.
• Top talent hesitates to join, because they don’t see a future in the projects.

It’s not a craft problem.
It’s a marketing problem.

Because demand = relevance.
And relevance isn’t just about being visible.
It’s about having a point of view. An opinion. Something to say.

When people follow you for how you think > not just what you produce > demand grows.

That’s when bigger, braver clients start calling.

If you don’t stay relevant, you settle for scraps.
If you do, you get pulled into the rooms where the real budgets live.

(Yes, I also unpack exactly how to break tough the second ceiling in my video > DM me for the link.)

Why This Matters

Most creatives get trapped between the two ceilings:

• They hit the Budget Ceiling because they can’t articulate their value.
• They hit the Demand Ceiling because they stay invisible and irrelevant.

The harder they push, the more stuck they get.

That’s why we built NOT on sale, and why I recorded a breakdown video.

Because once you understand the mechanics, both ceilings are breakable.

Breaking the Ceilings

At NOT on sale , we help studios break both ceilings by fixing what really drives growth:

• 1:1 Consulting Sprints 
  Rewire your positioning and simplify your sales so you can articulate value and access bigger budgets.
• Focus Groups 
  For tighter budgets. Join our intense cohorts where you learn the mechanics of sales and demand, so you attract better clients instead of chasing scraps.

When you fix sales, you break the Budget Ceiling.
When you fix marketing, you break the Demand Ceiling.

That’s when growth compounds.
That’s when you finally feel free again.

Which Ceiling Are You Hitting?

– The Budget Ceiling: you can’t sell your true value.
– The Demand Ceiling: you’re not attracting the right clients.

Both are invisible.
Both are breakable.

DM me if you want the link to my breakdown video on how to break them.

It’ll show you how to get your studio into the rooms with bigger budgets, and eventually keep demand flowing while you do it.

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