Shoot Day for SHKR Clubs first ever product - HARISSA
Over the years I’ve learned a lot about how I work best - and one big thing is this: I’m way more effective when I batch my work. If I’m already locked in, I might as well stay there and get as much done as possible.
Which is why, for the HARISSA preset launch, I went all in: rented a space, scripted everything, flew Mathilde in from Copenhagen on 48 hours’ notice (I know… I say I batch things, but I also make some wild last minute decisions… luckily Mathilde is almost always down), and shot a ton of content to carry us through the first four months of HARISSA’s lifetime.
The night before the shoot, we were up until midnight mapping out 49 different pieces of content to film in - yep - one single day. Spoiler: we didn’t hit all 49, but we got close. That’s what good planning and solid execution will do.
So, all in one day.
Ten hours straight.
It was a big learning process - in a good way.
More collaborators = better work
There’s this unspoken idea in the creative world that doing everything yourself somehow makes the work more “authentic,” or that you should take more pride in it if you did it alone. I know I’ve lived in that mindset for years. But here’s the truth I’m learning, the more collaborators you bring in, the better the vision turns out. Working together, fucking works.
We were three people wearing multiple hats that day (Mathilde and Lish absolutely crushed it), and my good friend CJ even stopped by just to catch the vibe, and to model for some of the content, which helped a ton. There’s something about seeing people come together to bring your ideas to life that just makes everything easier. And honestly, it makes the journey feel a lot less lonely - something I know many creatives can relate to. Creativity just compounds when you have a team.
Preparation over “just vibing”
If the stakes are low, I can get a surprising amount done by just winging it. That’s my natural mode; jump in, move fast, figure it out while I’m already doing it. And honestly, that mindset can be powerful. Most early-stage startups thrive on action bias. There’s research showing that founders who take quick action and iterate rapidly often outperform those who spend too long planning. Momentum matters.
But there’s a difference between experimenting and executing.
And for this? I’m really glad I came fully prepared.
Scripts, shot lists, pacing - everything dialed in.
Because the moment the stakes rise, preparation stops being optional. When you’re this prepared, you don’t burn energy making decisions on the fly. You don’t waste time debating the next shot or re-explaining the idea. Every ounce of energy goes into making the work great, not figuring out what the work is supposed to be.
Another study backs this up; teams that plan “just enough structure” before executing end up performing significantly better, because they reduce decision fatigue and free up mental space for creativity.
And that’s exactly what this shoot felt like:
Less chaos. More clarity.
Less improvising. More intention.
Preparation didn’t kill the vibe or the creativity - it amplified it.
Getting over the icky part of marketing
I’m a creative guy. I’m used to making things organically, letting the work grow on its own, letting people find it naturally. I’m not used to operating like a “real business,” or putting on the founder hat in the traditional sense. I’m still learning and part of learning is knowing where your strengths stop.
That’s why I bring in people who complement what I do.
Like Mathilde. (Sorry, Math - but you are my tough business partner.)
She’s the one pushing for ads, funnels, strategy, structure… all the stuff that honestly felt pretty icky to me at first. Not because it’s wrong, but because it’s unfamiliar. For so long, everything I built came from grassroots support, community, word-of-mouth. So the idea of leaning into marketing felt like stepping into a world that wasn’t really “mine.”
But here’s the thing: I’m starting to get it.
Marketing isn’t the enemy.
It’s a tool.
It’s neutral - and what you do with it shapes how it feels.
And in 2025, pretending you don’t need marketing is basically pretending you don’t want people to find your work. Discoverability is now one of the biggest predictors of creative success. not the quality of the work itself, but whether the right people ever see it.
Letting go of the idea that “real artists don’t market” has been important for me.
Because real artists share.
Real artists reach.
And real artists build systems that let their work travel further.
The HARISSA shoot proved that.
It brought so many new people into the fold, people who never would’ve found SHKR Club without a structured, deliberate content plan. And yeah, when we planned the shoot, we had to think in terms of ads. Hooks. CTAs. Scroll stoppers. The stuff the algorithm actually rewards. At first it felt like code-switching - like trying to speak a language that wasn’t mine.
But I also wanted to stay true to my voice and the kind of creator I am.
So we worked hard to find a middle ground:
content that performs and content that feels like me.
And honestly?
I think we nailed it.
