About us

Who we are

We are a first-of-its-kind online community connecting and empowering creatives to grow successful businesses.

Our why

Until now, the creative world didn’t have a unified go-to place for aspiring creative entrepreneurs

Without the right guidance, building a business can be scary and isolating. It’s hard to know where to start and so, countless creatives don’t. What a waste of talent and potential.

We’re passionate about supporting every shape and size of business. From the proudly ‘keep it small’ to the next big thing. We provide you with resources and inspiration tailored to your needs – so you can become tomorrow’s creative entrepreneurial success story.

What we do

We offer our community free access to:

  • More than 500 free curated resources for creative entrepreneurs to support them at every stage of their journey
  • Regular, open to public, free-to-attend events featuring industry experts giving practical advice and answering questions on key topics every creative entrepreneur should know
  • Regular industry updates, opinion pieces and informative articles published in our Journal
  • A bi-weekly newsletter featuring curated information on industry news and events tailored to the needs of creative entrepreneurs
  • Α dedicated private Slack Group where you can get CE updates and connect directly with other like-minded people

As seen in:

What we’re not

  • Creative
    • Masters of the universe
    • Tycoons
    • Moguls
    • Wheeler Dealers
    • Speculators
    • Big Shots
    • Impressarios
    • Show-Offs
    • Fat Cats
    • Top Dogs
  • Entrepreneurs

Author "The Creative Entrepreneur" & Founder, Creative Entrepreneurs

Carolyn Dailey is the author of “The Creative Entrepreneur” published by DK Penguin Random House. The book is an essential guide on how to build a creative business from ten of the world’s most inspiring entrepreneurs, including culinary legend Ruthie Rodgers, Emmy-winning producer of The Crown, Andy Harries, and multi-awarded architect Thomas Heatherwick. Their stories, actionable advice, and recommendations will help your business thrive and fuel your life potential.

She is also the founder of Creative Entrepreneurs, an international community empowering creatives to succeed personally and professionally. She has championed creative lives in the fields of design, music, architecture, film, fashion, publishing, and gaming—and in the heart of government at No. 10 Downing Street.

Dailey has been named by Creative Review as one of the Top 50 Creative Leaders, by WIRED magazine as one of the Top 10 Women Digital Powerbrokers and by BIMA as one of the Top 10 Entrepreneurs progressing the creative industries. She spent over 20 years as Time Warner’s top executive in Europe, expanding the reach of HBO, CNN, Warner Bros. and Time Inc. She has given lectures at institutions including Cambridge University and Central St Martins, and regularly appears on Sky News.

She appears regularly on Sky News commenting on creative entrepreneurship and brands.

Our Speakers

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Matt ‘Mills’ Miller

Co-Founder, Ustwo

Roksanda Ilincicint(4279)

Roksanda Ilinčić

Founder, Roksanda

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Charlotte Tilbury

Founder, Charlotte Tilbury Beatuy

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Kevin Osborne

Founder, MeWe360

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Nicolas Roope

Design Pioneer

Marine Tanguy, founder of MTArt Agencyint(4616)

Marine Tanguy

Founder of MTArt Agency

Our Masterclass experts

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Stephanie Melodia

Marketing fundamentals

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Lucy Werner and Hadrien Chatelet

Personal branding

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Eamon Chawke

Legal Basics

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Erica Wolfe-Murray

Creating a unique business plan

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Gillian Davis

Leadership for business growth

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Lloyd Gunton

Finance Basics & Sources of Funding

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Philiy Page

Building confidence for business success & harnessing growth mindset to drive business success

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Will Mercer

Buliding creative businesses that scale & the basics of fundraising

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Nick Maynard

Scaling your creative business part 1: laying the foundations

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Phil Askew

Finding your values, mission and vision

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Daniel Johnson

Introduction to Growth Marketing

Timeline

Lightbulb moment

When our founder, Carolyn Dailey, first set out on her entrepreneurial journey, after being the MD of Time Warner International London, she soon found gaps in her knowledge — and a dearth of support and advice out there. Realising thousands of creatives were facing the same problem, she decided to do something about it.

Prototype launch at No. 10 Downing Street

The prototype of Creative Entrepreneurs was launched at No. 10 Downing Street, with the support of the British Prime Minister. The launch was hosted by Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy and brought together high profile creative founders as well as the ecosystem we want to build around aspiring creatives, including investors, educators, professional advisors, and cultural leaders.

Live events programme kick-off

After launching our website, there was great demand amongst our community to connect with each other. What they wanted most was inspiration from role models. So we launched the Founder Files, our in-conversation event series featuring high-profile creative founders our community could aspire to.

Design Museum partnership

In partnership with the Design Museum, we launched our flagship course series: Startup Essentials. We handpicked the industry’s leading experts to guide creatives through the early steps of their entrepreneurial journey and equip them with the basic essentials to get started.

Creative Entrepreneurs digital universe

The unprecedented events of 2020 galvanised us to fast-forward our future digital vision to NOW. Within a tight timeframe, we’ve transformed Creative Entrepreneurs into a first-of-its-kind, fully digital experience. Overnight, this also gave us global reach, so now we can support creatives everywhere.

FAQs

What is Creative Entrepreneurs?

It’s a first-of-its-kind online community connecting and empowering creatives to grow successful businesses. The go-to place where entrepreneurial creatives can find all the resources they need to get their creative startup going and growing.

Is it free?

Our doors are open to creatives everywhere. You have FREE access to in-depth knowledge, curated specifically for creative businesses; a virtual events programme to connect and inspire you; our juicy online journal with industry news, views and interviews.

 

How did you come to exist?

Until now, the creative world didn’t have a go-to place for aspiring entrepreneurs. Without the support of like-minded people as well as business experts who speak your language, it’s hard to know what’s right or wrong, or even what’s possible. Starting your own business can be scary and isolating and many creative people get disheartened.

Our founder, Carolyn Dailey, wrestled with this exact problem. After a 20-year career in film, TV and journalism, she set up a creative business herself but quickly learned how little she knew about the startup business side of things. Carolyn realised there must be thousands of people in the creative sector in her same position. So she decided to do something about it.

 

How can I share my knowledge, product or service with your community?

There are multiple opportunities to promote your brand to our audience of ambitious entrepreneurs, through member benefits, advertising or journal features. Drop us an email at hello@creativeentrepreneurs.co to discuss this further.

Oh and please don’t join the community solely to self-promote, as this goes against our whole ethos and community rules.

I’d like to feature Creative Entrepreneurs on my website/blog, in my magazine/newspaper – who shall I talk to about this?

Fantastic. We’re keen to reach as wide an audience as possible and we’d be delighted for you to feature us. Please email hello@creativeentrepreneurs.co with details of your publication and we’ll be happy to provide you with further information, digital assets and whatever else might be helpful.

I have a problem, who can help me?

Email us at hello@creativeentrepreneurs.co and we’ll try to get back to you as quickly as possible.