62: Building, Selling, and Reinventing as a Creative with Mike Janda

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A “safe” creative career can flip overnight, and Mike Janda has lived that reality from the inside. We talk through his jump from a creative director role at Fox into freelancing after the dot-com bust and 9/11 fallout, then the gritty path of building Riser from a basement setup into a fast-growing agency. Along the way, Mike breaks down what actually creates momentum in the agency business: relationships that turn into referrals, the scary first hires, and the mindset shifts that help you keep moving when the ground changes.

We also get real about downturns. Mike shares what the 2008 recession felt like when you are responsible for payroll, watching budgets tighten, and trying to protect your team while the market keeps sliding. From there, we move into what many creative leaders debate today: office culture versus remote work. We unpack why a great space can be a “home court advantage” for client confidence and team cohesion, while still admitting remote models can unlock talent and scale in ways a single city can’t.

Then we step into the AI era with clear eyes. We discuss tools like Claude and Meta’s Muse, why content is getting noisier, and why authenticity matters more when anybody can generate polished “AI slop.” Mike lays out the most important strategic shift for designers and agency owners: you can’t just sell logos and layouts anymore. The future is consulting, business fundamentals, brand strategy, marketing strategy, and positioning yourself between the client and the AI tool so your value keeps rising.