2025 recap : creativesbyjulianna year in review ✨

Coming off 2024, I had a lot of energy and a lot of irons in the fire — community partnerships, web3 social work, filter-making side quests, advocacy programs. It was full. It was fun. But going into 2025 I knew I wanted to get more specific about what I was building toward. And the answer ended up being pretty clear: performance creative strategy - enhanced by AI.

the re-introduction 👋

This was the year I finally got loud about what I actually do.

Long time, no intro — but I'm Julianna, the brain behind @creativesbyjulianna, and a performance creative strategist / director with 4+ years of experience leading socials and strategy across accounts ranging from IRL community clubs to gossipy AI chat apps.

I spent a good chunk of 2025 being very intentional about articulating my positioning — not just 'I do creative' but specifically: I handle everything from the research to the final asset, so by the time it hits your paid media team, it earns the spend. And if it doesn't? I know how to analyze and adjust for the next iteration.

My background is in data analytics, which means I don't just come with vibes. Every concept I pitch is built on a psychological human lever and backed by performance data worth testing. The idea has to feel true and prove itself on paper.

the work that defined the year 💼

2025 brought a really meaningful expansion of my client roster — working with teams and agencies across a wide range of verticals. Some highlights from the year:

• Valid. — creative strategy work across multiple client accounts with this agency team was a huge growth moment. Producing briefs, AI visual rough cuts, and performance-ready deliverables across apps and DTC brands back-to-back sharpened my process in ways I didn't fully expect going in.

• UGC Factory — continued working inside agency pipelines, which gave me reps across a huge volume of different products, audiences, and brief types. Just jumping in - briefing clients - owning the strategy, and making thousands of ads will teach you things no course ever could.

• Tapestry + primitives.xyz — my web3 fam projects kept going into 2025! Continuing to contribute to social and content on both sides of that world keeps me sharp on community-first platforms.

• App clients including Zumi, Tolan, Quittr, Willow, Replit, Mighties, Bible BFF — each one a completely different brief problem. Each one a lesson.

  
  

the thing I kept noticing (and then built around) 🔍

After making thousands of ads, the same pattern kept showing up: most creative breaks in the handoff. The strategy is smart. The idea makes sense. But once it reaches a creator, editor, designer, or AI tool — the execution gets fuzzy. Interpretation error is silent and expensive.

So I built my whole workflow around removing that ambiguity. I define execution, not just concept — camera, tone, pacing, realism, scene context, and more. I translate a behavioral insight into a clear creative brief and then a testable system: what to say, how it should look and feel, what to test, how to scale it.

The workflow: Research, Brief, AI Vis, Direction, Iterate, Launch. Execution accuracy is embedded into the brief from the start, and final outputs include AI rough cuts to test different hooks and avatars before production even starts.

the AI x workflow obsession 🤖

2025 was genuinely the year AI went from 'interesting tool' to 'baked into how I process.' I spent a lot of time this year building workflows and automations that reduce friction — not to replace the creative thinking, but to make sure the creative thinking actually gets executed.

The brief is smarter. The handoff is tighter. The output is more testable.

I'm a performance creative strategist and director experienced in augmenting my skills with AI tools and workflow automations — and this year I really lived that out loud. From AI visual concepts inside briefs to multi-agent research flows to this very blog post... I genuinely think learning is cool and gatekeeping is dumb.

the personal stuff that actually mattered 🌿

I can never fully capture a year in a blog post — but I always want to try, because I think we all really learn from each other. The highs, the lows, the bts moments. Here's what I want to hold onto from 2025:

• Getting specific saved me energy. The years where I said yes to everything scattered my focus. Niching into performance creative strategy — and being loud about it — brought clearer clients, more energizing projects, and a stronger sense of what I'm actually building.

• The CBJ Collective is still going and I still believe in it. Advocating for and representing talented creative people is something I want to keep growing into. Small right now — but real.

• Health is always the background hum. Mine, David's — we manage it, we show up, we keep going. I am endlessly grateful for what we have even on the hard days. Some things don't get posted but they still shape the year.

• NYC still has me. The park is right there. The city keeps showing up with something new. I'm grateful for my little slightly quieter corner of it.

  
  

intentions going into 2026 ✨

Still more of a habits + rituals person than a goals + resolutions person — but here's what I'm carrying into 2026:

1. If your creative isn't converting, it's probably a brief problem — keep solving that

2. Build in public more. Gatekeeping is dumb.

3. Fast integration is a superpower — keep sharpening it

4. Create more than you consume

5. Efficiency is a form of respect — for your time and everyone else's

6. Test things before you talk about them

7. Done and deployed is better than perfect and sitting in drafts

8. The CBJ Collective deserves more energy this year

9. Keep taking care of the people and the body that carries you

10. If you're working on something cool that you're genuinely passionate about — let's chat

here's to more love, life, and light in 2026 ✨ i hope the new year is everything you want it to be

This piece was written by Julianna x her AI skills that she built 👩🏼‍💻