Why Is Creative Work Still Undervalued?
When was the last time someone looked at your work and said, "That must have been fun to make"? Like fun pays rent. Like fun means it wasn't hard. Like fun means it shouldn't cost what it cost.
Every creative, every project manager, every producer has felt this. The industry loves the output but rarely wants to pay for the process. And the people behind the scenes, the ones making sure creative work actually gets done, are the first to feel it.
In Episode 2 of Four Percent Amplified, I sit down with Tameka Edwards, a product manager at the NFL and former project coordinator at MoMA, to talk about why creative work is still undervalued, how the invisible work adds up, and what it actually takes to shift how companies see the people making the work happen.
Watch & Listen to the Episode
in this episode
Why creative roles are the first to get budget cuts
How project managers, coordinators, and producers carry invisible weight
What it takes to advocate for your value when no one sees your process
The gap between how companies use creative work and how they pay for it
The role of internal allies when the creative team isn't in the room
How AI is scaling creative work at the NFL
about tameka edwards
Tameka Edwards is a product manager at the NFL where she supports the marketing technology department across 30+ clubs. Before the NFL, she spent seven years at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and MoMA PS1 in event planning and project coordination. She specializes in the intersection of creative work, technology, and operations.
timestamps
0:00 Intro
1:30 Meet Tameka Edwards
3:56 From MoMA to the NFL
6:23 What happens between the brief and launch
10:52 The NFL's AI content engine
13:45 Supporting creatives without pushing pixels
16:03 The most underappreciated role on any team
18:31 40 assets in 2 minutes
21:19 The AI ethics middle ground
22:04 Getting leadership to treat creatives as strategic partners
23:42 Final thoughts
Key Takeaway
“The invisible work is the work. Every project that “just came together” was actually held together by someone the credits will never name. If we’re serious about valuing creative work, we have to start valuing the people who make it possible.”
read more
Get the full breakdown, the roles behind every creative brief, and thoughts on freelancers and collaboration in Amp'in Newsletter Edition 07 → Here
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From The Blog:
Julie Zhuo in UX Design: Principles That Shaped Meta
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→ Ep 12: Humanity Beyond The Screen
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