The 7 Essential Tools for Creative Leaders: A Full-Stack Toolkit

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FROM THE WORK
Yelp: From 2 to 30 - Building a Creative Operating System at Scale
From The Work
IAC - One Lead, Three Brands: The Internal Agency Model
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AI as a Creative Co-Pilot: A Practical Guide
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The System Nobody Used
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How I Built an AI-Human Creative System (And What Actually Worked)
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Living Like Kevin: How a 25-Year-Old Film Became a $500K Revenue Campaign
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Why UX Writing is the Most Important Element of Narrative Design in Your Product
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Why Internal Brand Strategy is Your Most Powerful Growth Engine
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Why "Data-Driven" is Killing Your Creativity (And Why "Data-Informed" is the Solution)
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What the Level Design of Dark Souls Can Teach Us About Employee Onboarding
From The Work
What the Architectural Principles of Tadao Ando Can Teach Us About UX Design
From The Work
What is Creative Ops? A Practical Guide to Building a More Efficient Creative Workflow
From The Work
What is "Radical Empathy"? (And Why It's the Most Undervalued Asset in Business and Art)
From The Work
What Hiring Managers in Product and UX Really Want to See in a Creative's Portfolio
From The Work
UX Writing is More Than Microcopy—It's Narrative Design
From The Work
The Storytelling Genius of Video Game "Lore": What Brands Can Learn from Elden Ring
From The Work
The Rise of the Full-Stack Creative: Why Marketing Teams Need to Rethink Creative Roles
From The Work
The Psychology of a Perfect Pitch: How to Frame Your Story to Speak Directly to the Primal Brain
From The Work
The Perfect Creative Brief Template (And Why It Will Save Your Next Project)
From The Work
The Manifesto of the Full-Stack Creative
From The Work
The Full-Stack Triumph of Barbie: Narrative, Marketing, and Product
From The Work
The Full-Stack Deconstruction of a Hit K-Pop Group: A Case Study in Narrative, Product, and Community
From The Work
The Empathetic Leader's Playbook: How to Build Resilient and Innovative Teams
From The Work
The Complete Brand Storytelling Framework: A Step-by-Step Guide
From The Work
The Art of the Post-Mortem: A Creative Leader's Guide to Learning from Wins and Losses
From The Work
The Anatomy of a Flop: A Full-Stack Post-Mortem of Quibi
From The Work
The 7 Essential Tools for Creative Leaders: A Full-Stack Toolkit
From The Work
The 30M Impression Campaign: How Storytelling and Earned Media Turned a Brand Activation into a Cultural Moment
From The Work
The "Unreliable Narrator": A Deeply Creative Trope You Should Be Using in Your Brand Marketing
From The Work
The "Second Brain" for a Full-Stack Creative: My System for Capturing, Connecting, and Creating Ideas
From The Work
The "GTM" is Your Third Act: Applying Narrative Structure to Your Go-to-Market Plan
From The Work
The "Creative Capital" Framework: How to Allocate Your Time and Energy Like a Venture Capitalist
From The Work
The "Chief Narrative Officer": Why This Will Be the Most Important C-Suite Role in the Next Decade
From The Work
Scaling Creative Operations at Yelp: The Systems That Made It Possible
From The Work
Narrative Marketing vs. Performance Marketing: Why Story-Driven Campaigns Win
From The Work
Moonbeam: 0 to Acquisition — Building a TikTok-Style Podcast App from Beta to Exit
From The Work
Leader's Guide to Managing Freelancers and Creative Agencies
From The Work
How to Lead a High-Performing Remote Creative Team
From The Work
Avenues: The World School - Building a Global Brand System Across Two International Campuses
From The Work
How to Build a Brand Voice from Scratch: A Startup Case Study
From The Work
How to Apply Product Thinking to Your Creative Process
From The Work
How We Used User Journey Design to Boost a Creator Platform’s Retention by 30%
From The Work
How We Used Narrative to Increase Audience Reach by 40%: An IAC Case Study
From The Work
How We Drove 30 Million Impressions for Yelp’s National “Servies” Campaign
From The Work
How We Built a Creative Operating System to Increase Campaign Efficiency by 25% at Yelp
From The Work
How We Aligned Creative and Product to Build a Better Content Pipeline at Yelp
From The Work
First Principles Thinking for Creatives: How to Deconstruct Any Story or Brand Problem to its Core
From The Work
Deconstructing Haiku: How the 5-7-5 Structure Can Revolutionize Your UX Microcopy
From The Work
Creative Strategy Isn't Just for Agencies—It's a Core Business Function
From The Work
An Agile Creativity Framework: How to Run Your Creative Team Like a Product Squad
From The Work
AI as a "Creative Co-Pilot": A Practical Guide for Agencies and Studios
From The Work
A Leader's Guide to Managing Freelancers and Creative Agencies
From The Work
GTM Strategy Case Study: How We Launched a Startup MVP
From The Work
5 Enduring Lessons from a Decade of Leading Brand Campaigns
From The Work
World-Building-as-a-Service: The Next Big Agency Model
From The Work

BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
Yelp: From 2 to 30 - Building a Creative Operating System at Scale
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
IAC - One Lead, Three Brands: The Internal Agency Model
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
AI as a Creative Co-Pilot: A Practical Guide
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The System Nobody Used
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
How I Built an AI-Human Creative System (And What Actually Worked)
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
Living Like Kevin: How a 25-Year-Old Film Became a $500K Revenue Campaign
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
Why UX Writing is the Most Important Element of Narrative Design in Your Product
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
Why Internal Brand Strategy is Your Most Powerful Growth Engine
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
Why "Data-Driven" is Killing Your Creativity (And Why "Data-Informed" is the Solution)
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
What the Level Design of Dark Souls Can Teach Us About Employee Onboarding
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
What the Architectural Principles of Tadao Ando Can Teach Us About UX Design
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
What is Creative Ops? A Practical Guide to Building a More Efficient Creative Workflow
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
What is "Radical Empathy"? (And Why It's the Most Undervalued Asset in Business and Art)
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
What Hiring Managers in Product and UX Really Want to See in a Creative's Portfolio
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
UX Writing is More Than Microcopy—It's Narrative Design
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The Storytelling Genius of Video Game "Lore": What Brands Can Learn from Elden Ring
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The Rise of the Full-Stack Creative: Why Marketing Teams Need to Rethink Creative Roles
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The Psychology of a Perfect Pitch: How to Frame Your Story to Speak Directly to the Primal Brain
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The Perfect Creative Brief Template (And Why It Will Save Your Next Project)
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The Manifesto of the Full-Stack Creative
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The Full-Stack Triumph of Barbie: Narrative, Marketing, and Product
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The Full-Stack Deconstruction of a Hit K-Pop Group: A Case Study in Narrative, Product, and Community
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The Empathetic Leader's Playbook: How to Build Resilient and Innovative Teams
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The Complete Brand Storytelling Framework: A Step-by-Step Guide
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The Art of the Post-Mortem: A Creative Leader's Guide to Learning from Wins and Losses
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The Anatomy of a Flop: A Full-Stack Post-Mortem of Quibi
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The 7 Essential Tools for Creative Leaders: A Full-Stack Toolkit
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The 30M Impression Campaign: How Storytelling and Earned Media Turned a Brand Activation into a Cultural Moment
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The "Unreliable Narrator": A Deeply Creative Trope You Should Be Using in Your Brand Marketing
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The "Second Brain" for a Full-Stack Creative: My System for Capturing, Connecting, and Creating Ideas
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The "GTM" is Your Third Act: Applying Narrative Structure to Your Go-to-Market Plan
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The "Creative Capital" Framework: How to Allocate Your Time and Energy Like a Venture Capitalist
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
The "Chief Narrative Officer": Why This Will Be the Most Important C-Suite Role in the Next Decade
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
Scaling Creative Operations at Yelp: The Systems That Made It Possible
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
Narrative Marketing vs. Performance Marketing: Why Story-Driven Campaigns Win
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
Moonbeam: 0 to Acquisition — Building a TikTok-Style Podcast App from Beta to Exit
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
Leader's Guide to Managing Freelancers and Creative Agencies
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
How to Lead a High-Performing Remote Creative Team
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
Avenues: The World School - Building a Global Brand System Across Two International Campuses
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
How to Build a Brand Voice from Scratch: A Startup Case Study
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
How to Apply Product Thinking to Your Creative Process
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
How We Used User Journey Design to Boost a Creator Platform’s Retention by 30%
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
How We Used Narrative to Increase Audience Reach by 40%: An IAC Case Study
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
How We Drove 30 Million Impressions for Yelp’s National “Servies” Campaign
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
How We Built a Creative Operating System to Increase Campaign Efficiency by 25% at Yelp
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
How We Aligned Creative and Product to Build a Better Content Pipeline at Yelp
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
First Principles Thinking for Creatives: How to Deconstruct Any Story or Brand Problem to its Core
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
Deconstructing Haiku: How the 5-7-5 Structure Can Revolutionize Your UX Microcopy
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
Creative Strategy Isn't Just for Agencies—It's a Core Business Function
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
An Agile Creativity Framework: How to Run Your Creative Team Like a Product Squad
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
AI as a "Creative Co-Pilot": A Practical Guide for Agencies and Studios
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
A Leader's Guide to Managing Freelancers and Creative Agencies
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
GTM Strategy Case Study: How We Launched a Startup MVP
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
5 Enduring Lessons from a Decade of Leading Brand Campaigns
BALANCE IN
MOTION FOR
A BETTER LIFE
World-Building-as-a-Service: The Next Big Agency Model
POINT OF VIEW

A craftsman is only as good as their tools. But in the world of creative leadership, the "tools" are often a chaotic mess—a jumble of disconnected apps, endless email chains, and a dozen different "sources of truth."
As a Full-Stack Creative, my job is to move fluidly between the 30,000-foot view of brand strategy, the 10,000-foot view of operational planning, and the on-the-ground reality of creative execution. Doing this without a ruthlessly curated and integrated toolkit is impossible.
People often ask me how I manage it all—the brand work, the screenwriting, the consulting. They're often expecting a complex, color-coded system that requires a PhD to understand. The reality is the opposite. My system is built on a small number of powerful, flexible tools, each with a very specific job.
This isn't a list of every cool app out there. This is my battle-tested, minimalist toolkit. These are the seven essential tools I use every single day to manage the entire creative stack, from the first spark of an idea to the final performance report.
The Philosophy
One Tool for One Job
The core principle of my toolkit is "One Tool, One Job." I don't want tools that try to do everything poorly. I want tools that do one thing exceptionally well. My stack is designed to create a clear, linear flow of information, from abstract idea to concrete deliverable.
The flow is: Capture -> Architect -> Create -> Review -> Distribute -> Measure -> Connect.
Here are the tools that power each step.
1. The "Capture" Tool: Notion (The Second Brain)
Every project begins as a spark. An idea in a meeting, a quote from a book, a random thought in the shower. If you don't have a system to capture these sparks, they disappear. Notion is my "second brain."
- What it is: A hyper-flexible, database-driven workspace.
- How I Use It:
  - As an "Idea Catcher": I have a single, simple "Inbox" database where every single idea—for a campaign, a blog post, a script—gets thrown. It's a messy, unstructured space by design.
  - As a "Company Wiki": It's the home for all our foundational documents: our Brand Playbook, our SOPs, our meeting notes. It's our single source of truth for knowledge.
  - For My Creative Briefs: My "Perfect Creative Brief" template lives in Notion. Its database structure allows me to link a brief directly to its core strategic goals and audience personas.
- Why it's essential: Notion is for thinking. It allows me to connect disparate ideas and build a rich, interconnected web of knowledge that forms the foundation of all my strategic and creative work.
2. The "Architecture" Tool: Figma & FigJam (The Digital Whiteboard)
Once an idea is ready to be developed, it needs a space to be architected visually. Figma and its companion, FigJam, are my digital whiteboards for strategic design.
- What it is: A collaborative interface design tool (Figma) and a more freeform digital whiteboard (FigJam).
- How I Use It:
  - For User Journey Mapping: I use FigJam to visually map out the entire user journey for a campaign or a product feature, just like in my Moonbeam case study.
  - For Brand & Content Strategy: I build visual frameworks, brand mood boards, and content ecosystem maps.
  - For Wireframing & Prototyping: For any digital experience, from a website to an app, I build the low-fidelity wireframes in Figma to test the narrative flow before a single line of code is written.
- Why it's essential: Figma is for structuring. It's where I translate the abstract ideas from Notion into a visual, logical blueprint. It's the bridge between the "why" and the "what."
3. The "Creation" Tool: Adobe Creative Suite (The Artisan's Workshop)
Once the blueprint is approved, it's time to build the house. The Adobe Creative Suite remains the undisputed professional standard for creating high-quality assets.
- What it is: The industry-leading suite of apps for graphic design, video editing, and visual effects.
- How I Use It:
  - Photoshop & Illustrator: For creating key art, social media graphics, and the "Modern Vector Illustrations" for my brand.
  - Premiere Pro & After Effects: For editing my YouTube videos and creating the motion graphics for my "Digital Evidence Board" system.
  - InDesign: For creating polished, professional PDFs like pitch decks, case studies, and brand guidelines.
- Why it's essential: While Figma is great for structure, Adobe is for craft. It's the toolkit for adding the final layer of polish, texture, and cinematic quality that elevates a good idea into a great one.
4. The "Review" Tool: Frame.io (The Digital Screening Room)
Creative feedback via email is a special kind of hell. Vague, timestamp-less notes like "I don't like that part around the middle" can derail a project. Frame.io solves this with brutal elegance.
- What it is: A web-based platform for video review and collaboration.
- How I Use It:
  - For All Video Reviews: All video drafts (for my YouTube channel, for clients) are uploaded to Frame.io.
  - Time-Stamped, On-Screen Comments: Stakeholders can leave comments and even draw directly on the video at a specific frame. Feedback is precise, contextual, and non-negotiable.
  - Consolidated Feedback: It consolidates all feedback from all reviewers into a single, actionable list for the editor.
- Why it's essential: It professionalizes the feedback process. It eliminates ambiguity, saves countless hours of back-and-forth, and creates a clear, documented record of all creative changes. It is the single best tool for improving the quality and efficiency of video post-production.
5. The "Distribution & Management" Tool: Asana (The Mission Control)
With assets created and approved, you need a system to manage the complex process of distribution. Asana is my mission control for project management.
- What it is: A powerful work management platform.
- How I Use It:
  - As My "Single Source of Truth" for Projects: As I detailed in my "Creative Ops" guide, this is where every project lives.
  - For My Content Calendar: I use it to plan and track every piece of content, from blog posts to social media.
  - For Template-Driven Workflows: My "Podcast Production Checklist" and other SOPs live as templates in Asana. When a new project starts, I just duplicate the template, and the entire workflow is ready to go.
- Why it's essential: Asana is for doing. It's the operational backbone of my brand. It turns my strategic plans from Notion and my visual blueprints from Figma into a series of clear, actionable tasks with deadlines and owners.
6. The "Measurement" Tool: Google Analytics & Native Platform Data (The Report Card)
You can't improve what you don't measure. My measurement stack is simple but powerful. I don't use a dozen complex tools; I go directly to the source.
- What it is: Google's web analytics service and the built-in analytics from each social/podcast platform.
- How I Use It:
  - Google Analytics: For my website, I track key metrics like User Acquisition sources, Time on Page, and Bounce Rate for my articles and case studies.
  - Native Analytics (YouTube, Spotify, etc.): I go deep on the native analytics of each platform. For YouTube, I obsess over Audience Retention and Click-Through Rate. For my podcast, I track Listener Demographics and Drop-off Points.
- Why it's essential: This is my "Data Storytelling" tool. The data from these sources tells me what's working and what's not, and those insights directly inform my strategy for the next sprint, the next video, and the next campaign.
7. The "Connection" Tool: Slack (The Virtual Water Cooler)
Finally, and most importantly, is the tool for human connection.
- What it is: A channel-based messaging platform.
- How I Use It:
  - For My Teams: As I detailed in my "Remote Collaboration" guide, Slack is the hub for quick questions and, crucially, for building culture in the #random channel.
  - For My Community: For my personal brand, this role is filled by a tool like Discord or Circle, creating a space for my audience to connect with me and with each other.
- Why it's essential: Great work is done by people who feel connected and psychologically safe. This tool, when used correctly, is the operational layer for building a great culture, which is the foundation for everything else.
Conclusion
A System for Sanity
This toolkit isn't about having the fanciest new apps. It's about creating a deliberate, end-to-end system that allows you to move from high-level strategy to flawless execution with clarity and confidence.
It's a system designed to protect your most valuable resource: your creative energy. By letting the tools handle the chaos of logistics and organization, you are free to focus on the work that only you can do: building the story.

The 7 Essential Tools for Creative Leaders: A Full-Stack Toolkit

The Philosophy

One Tool for One Job

Conclusion

A System for Sanity