How to Hire Your First Person as a Creative
There's a point in every creative's journey where you realise you're the bottleneck.
You're shooting, editing, handling clients, pitching, managing finances — all at the same time. Something is always suffering. For me, that was the moment I knew I had to bring someone in. But I had no idea how to do it properly. And I got some of it wrong.
Here's what I learned.
When it's actually time to hire
The signal is simple: you're spending time on things someone else could do just as well or better, and it's stopping you from doing the things only you can do.
My first hire was a video editor. Not because it was the glamorous move, but because it freed up the most time for what actually required me — being on set, directing, shooting, and leading the creative. Start with the role that unlocks your time, not the one that sounds most impressive.
What I got wrong
I hired someone and just went with the flow. No real system, no proper handoff process, no infrastructure. I was sending files over email, giving feedback in WhatsApp messages, and hoping things would land. It was chaos.
What changed everything was setting up the right tools before bringing anyone in:
Trello for project management — everyone knows what's happening and when
Slack for communication — keeps things out of your inbox and in context
Google Drive for shared files — one source of truth for everything
Frame.io for video review — clean, fast, professional feedback on cuts
Set the system up before the hire. Not after.
What to actually look for
When I evaluate creative talent, I look for two things — and neither of them is technical skill.
Taste. Can this person look at a piece of work and know whether it's good? Do they have a point of view? Tools can be learned — Premiere, After Effects, Figma — those are teachable. Taste isn't. It's either there or it isn't.
Dedication. Does this person actually care about the work? When a creative genuinely invests in a project — rather than just clocking in and out — they bring something you can't put in a job description. New ideas. Attention to detail. They push the work further. That dedication is a game changer.
Freelancer, contractor, or full-time?
Start with freelancers. Try a few different people on smaller projects. See who delivers — but more importantly, see who you can actually work with. Some people are technically great but not a cultural fit. Others are the opposite. You need both.
Once you find someone you click with, move them to a contractor arrangement. This is the sweet spot. They bring real commitment to your projects, they can still take on their own work which keeps them motivated, and tracking payments is straightforward at the end of the month.
Full-time comes later — when you have enough consistent project volume, and ideally retainers locked in, to genuinely guarantee that security for someone. Don't offer full-time before you can back it up.
The mindset shift
Your first hire isn't just a task off your plate. It's the beginning of a team culture.
How you communicate, how you give feedback, the standards you set — all of that becomes the DNA of your agency. Take it seriously. Quality work needs a quality team, and a quality team needs a leader who actually leads.
Published by Kynda Creative · kyndacreative.com
Written by Pedram Farjam, Creative Director
