When faking having design clients catches up to you - Creative Confessions™
- Robin Son
- Nov 20, 2025
- 3 min read
There's a particular kind of pressure that creatives feel when things go quiet in business. There's a pressure to look successful even if you don't feel it, especially on social media. A lot of designers feel this and it keeps them trapped in the cycle of constantly trying to save face instead of fixing the issue. This confession was sent in by an anonymous creative and serves as a reminder that we don't always need to be fully booked and always busy.
The Confession
"I am "faking it til I make it" by pretending to have actual clients.. it's gotten so far that other designers are starting to ask about where I get clients & how to talk to clients on disco calls"
Want to listen to this episode instead of reading? ↓
Originally aired: 03 May 2025
Pretending to have design clients doesn't make you successful.
There's a concept of 'fake it till you make it' in the marketing world. Fabricating success in order to get there. Remember Red Bull's somewhat controversial marketing campaign way back? They'd placed a bunch of empty Red Bull cans in bins / trash cans in high traffic areas their target audience was such as clubs and campuses. This creates something called 'social proof', which made people think that the drink was already popular and everyone was already drinking it. It ended up creating this popularity and buzz for the brand.
This is the kind of feeling service providers try to recreate all the time. And as fun as this is, in the service based world, it's not like that. Social media is full of designers who look like they're fully booked out, but how many of them actually are? And this confession shows, sometimes people are gonna show up with questions you can't answer.
Your BTS, their highlight reel...
A lot of creatives don’t post about the slow seasons and the awkward phases in business. So when things get tough (as they often do) you end up comparing your behind-the-scenes to everyone else’s highlight reel. It's easy to see why we feel pressure to perform.
Fake urgency (“I have only 2 slots left!”), fake momentum (“Constant clients coming in!”) and fake expertise (“Here’s how to talk to clients…” even though you haven’t had one yet) is easy to create. But as this episode proves, the lie will catch up.
There's confidence in the bad times
One of the strongest themes in this episode is the idea that you can fake confidence, but you cannot fake experience. Pretending you have design clients might get you attention online, but it won’t help you learn, improve, or grow your business.And when people start asking you for advice about something you haven’t done… there’s nowhere to hide.
The better alternative. is document your learning process. Show the trial and error. Share the stage you’re in not the stage you think you “should” be in. It's more relatable, more trustworthy, and more human.
If you’re in a season where business feel slow or confusing, you’re not alone. You don’t have to fake your success to earn your place in this industry.
It’s braver (and honestly more effective in the long term) to show the real journey and build your version of success.
If you want the full breakdown of this confession plus my opinion, listen to the Archived episode of Brand Your Brain at the top of this post
Got a Creative Confession™ of your own?
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