New year, same you? Good. Because I'm not here to tell you to hustle harder or add seventeen new habits to your routine. The artists crushing it right now aren't doing MORE than you - they're doing DIFFERENT. They've figured out how to stop being a full-time employee in their own career and start being the CEO.

In this episode, I'm breaking down the one framework that separates DJs who plateau at year three from the ones who build sustainable, growing careers: Working ON your career versus working IN your career. And by the end, you'll have a four-week action plan to map out your entire 2026 strategy.

Key Takeaways:

• The difference between working IN (day-to-day tasks) vs ON (strategic planning) your career
• Why most DJs spend 95% of their time on the wrong things and plateau as a result
• How I built Chicago Music Nexus by spending 6 months exclusively working ON the business
• Why some gigs are strategic moves and others are just survival mode
• The 5 key areas where you need to work ON: strategic planning, content & releases, marketing assets, relationship building, and career development
• The Weekly CEO Hour: How to implement strategic thinking without adding more work
• The post-performance analysis framework (featuring insights from Rituals founder Rami Dabura)
• Your 4-week action plan to completely map out Q1 and set yourself up for success

Why This Matters: You cannot build momentum if you're constantly in the weeds responding to DMs, tweaking tracks that are already done, and staying busy without actually growing. Strategic thinking is what separates successful artists from everyone else - and it's the one thing most DJs completely skip.

Want help building your 2026 strategy? Book a 1-on-1 artist development call with me on GreenRoom where we'll map out exactly what you need to focus on to reach your goals.

Connect with me: @oliviamancuso__

Video Editor/Audio Engineer: James Fixx