Creative Workers Union

What Creative Workers Union does

Creative Workers Union is a privately held, founder-led community organization established in 2014 and headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. It serves designers, illustrators, hand letterers, commercial artists, and creative entrepreneurs through a portfolio of live events, content, and branded merchandise anchored by a "Soul Over Scale" philosophy that emphasizes craft, integrity, and meaningful creative work over growth-at-all-costs content production. The core offerings are two annual multi-day summits — Creative Works EAST in Brooklyn and Creative Works WEST in Seattle — each featuring roughly 20 presenters, around 10 hands-on workshops, and a pop-up market, alongside the State of the Union podcast hosted by founder Josh Horton, the Union News & Updates newsletter, and the Union Supply merchandise store.

The business operates on a community-and-events model with no proprietary technology products. Revenue is generated through four streams: event ticket sales (tiered pricing via Eventbrite), corporate sponsorships (Adobe, Amazon, and a long tail of design and print partners), merchandise sales (shirts, mugs, caps, phone cases sold through Cotton Bureau at unit prices of roughly $11–$29), and small podcast listener donations (a suggested $5 contribution with options for recurring support). The go-to-market motion is community-led and event-driven: CWU builds awareness through the podcast, newsletter, and word-of-mouth among creative professionals, then monetizes that community through ticketed conferences and sponsor relationships. The organization appears to operate with a lean team, no disclosed outside funding, and a deliberately curated brand position that prioritizes depth of community over scale of audience.

Name

Creative Workers Union

Legal name

Creative Workers Union

Website

https://creativeworks.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Creative Workers Union is a founder-led community organization founded in 2014 that serves creative professionals through two annual multi-day conferences (Creative Works EAST and WEST), the State of the Union podcast, and a branded merchandise store.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Creative Professional Events

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

General & Multi-Industry Trade Show Organizers (THAHABAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Technology & Innovation Expos Organizers (THAHABAE), Executive Summits & Invitation-Only Forums (MPAGAGAK)

Keywords

• Creative professional events
• Design conferences
• Creative workshops
• Creative community networking
• Branded merchandise sales

Headquarters

HQ city

Memphis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations

Revenue model

1. Event Ticket Sales: Revenue generated from conference registrations for Creative Works EAST and WEST summits, with workshops and sessions sold as part of ticket packages.
2. Merchandise Sales (Union Supply): Sale of branded merchandise including shirts, mugs, hats, and phone cases through the Union Supply store, powered by Cotton Bureau e-commerce platform.
3. Podcast Donations: Accepts one-time and recurring donations ($5 suggested) from podcast listeners to support State of the Union podcast production.
4. Event Sponsorships: Corporate sponsors pay to support events and gain visibility among creative professionals. Sponsors include Adobe, Amazon, Cornish College, and various print/design companies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Creative Workers Union organizes annual multi-day Creative Works summits (EAST in Brooklyn and WEST in Seattle) for creative professionals, featuring presentations, hands-on workshops, and pop-up vendor markets. The organization also produces the State of the Union podcast, hosts community-building events around the "Soul Over Scale" philosophy, and sells branded apparel and accessories through its Union Supply merchandise store.

Product overview

Creative Workers Union operates as a community organization offering a portfolio of events and media products. The core offerings include annual Creative Works WEST and EAST conferences (multi-day summits featuring presentations, workshops, and vendor markets), the State of the Union Podcast (independent audio content for creative professionals), and Union Supply (branded merchandise). The organization also maintains a newsletter for community updates. These products are tied together by the organization's mission to support creative professionals through education, community building, and advocacy around craft and meaningful work.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Union Supply: Merchandise store offering branded apparel and accessories including shirts, mugs, caps, and phone cases
• State of the Union

Products and services

• Creative Works WEST Conference Annual three-day summit in Seattle, WA for creative professionals, designers, illustrators, and commercial artists featuring presentations, demos, workshops, and a pop-up market built around the "Soul Over Scale" philosophy.
• Creative Works EAST Conference Three-day conference in Brooklyn, NY featuring industry speakers, hands-on workshops, and networking opportunities for creative professionals.
• State of the Union Podcast Independent podcast featuring honest conversations about creative work, wins, losses, and community building, hosted by Josh Horton and targeted at designers, illustrators, and creative professionals.
• Union Supply Merchandise Store Branded merchandise including shirts, mugs, caps, and phone cases featuring Creative Workers Union branding, sold through the Cotton Bureau e-commerce platform.
• Creative Works Workshops Hands-on skill-building workshops led by industry masters and presented alongside the Creative Works conferences, covering illustration, lettering, branding, motion design, and letterpress printing for creative professionals.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

20 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Durham StudiominorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor of Creative Workers Union events, providing support for the creative community through event sponsorship.
• Vahalla StudiosminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor of Creative Workers Union events, supporting the creative professional community.
• Oxford PennantminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEvent sponsor for Creative Workers Union, supporting the creative community events.
• Cotton BureauminorGTM or Marketing PartnerE-commerce platform partner for Union Supply merchandise store, handling product fulfillment and sales.
• ScoutbooksminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor of Creative Workers Union events, supporting creative professional community events.
• AlchemyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMerchandise partner sponsor for Creative Workers Union events.
• BusybeaverminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor of Creative Workers Union events, supporting the creative community.
• AdobecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor sponsor of Creative Works WEST '26 event, supporting accessibility of tickets and workshop programming as a leading creative software company.
• AmazoncoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate sponsor of Creative Works WEST '26, supporting the creative professional community event.
• Cornish College of the Arts (Seattle)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerEducation partner and venue partner for Creative Works WEST, hosting the event at Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center.
• AIGA SeattleminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCommunity partner for Creative Works WEST, local design organization co-supporting the creative community event.
• Creative Mornings SeattleminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCommunity partner for Creative Works WEST, local creative community organization.
• Freelancers UnionminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCommunity partner organization supporting independent creative workers, aligned with Creative Workers Union mission.
• Partners in PrintminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCommunity partner for Creative Works WEST, organization focused on print and design community.
• Western Washington UniversityminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEducation partner for Creative Works WEST, supporting academic connection to creative industry.
• Shoreline Community CollegeminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEducation partner for Creative Works WEST, supporting educational outreach in the creative field.
• Conviction StudiocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounded by Josh Horton, Creative Workers Union founder's studio serves as strategic partner, with shared branding and event support for the creative community.
• MSC Print HouseminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPrint sponsor supporting Creative Works WEST event production.
• Cast Iron Print WorksminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPrint services sponsor for Creative Works WEST.
• MohawkminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPaper and print supplies sponsor for Creative Works WEST events.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Futur: The Futur produces educational content, courses, and live events for creative professionals and designers — overlapping directly with CWU's audience of commercial artists and creative entrepreneurs seeking craft and business development.
• CreativePro: CreativePro Week is a long-running conference for creative professionals covering design, illustration, and production workflows — directly comparable in audience, format, and sponsor mix to Creative Works EAST/WEST.
• HOW Design Live: HOW Design Live is one of the longest-running conferences for graphic designers and creative professionals, comparable to Creative Works in audience targeting, sponsor ecosystem, and multi-day summit format.
• Creative Mornings: Creative Mornings is a global community-driven lecture series for creatives with local chapters including Seattle — directly comparable community-led model, audience (designers, illustrators, creative professionals), and partnership ethos with CWU.
• Freelancers Union: Freelancers Union is a membership organization for independent workers, and is an explicit community partner of CWU. Both serve similar independent-creator audiences with community, advocacy, and educational programming.

Broad incumbents

• AIGA (now Design Leadership Group): AIGA is the largest U.S. professional association for designers, hosting design conferences and community programming that overlaps with CWU's mission to serve creative professionals, though at significantly broader scale and membership-driven.
• 99U by Behance (Adobe): 99U produced the well-known Behance/Adobe conference for creative entrepreneurs and independent creatives, mirroring CWU's focus on craft, careers, and creative-business content — though it has paused live events in recent years.

Emerging players

• Typism: Typism is a typography-focused conference and community for type designers and lettering artists — a narrower niche overlap with CWU's lettering/illustration workshops but a directly comparable event/community format.
• School of Motion: School of Motion runs live workshops, events, and training programs for motion designers — overlapping with CWU's motion/illustration programming and serving a closely related creative-professional audience.
• Working Not Working: Working Not Working is a curated creative-talent network and community hosting events for designers and creatives — comparable community-led model and target audience, though more network/job-board oriented than CWU's conference focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/creativeworkersunion
• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PL5v1m1WFYiI7GrZ8EGIBXiIaVBx-N4lf7
• Instagraminstagram.com/creativeworkersunion
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/creativeworkersunion

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Creative Workers Union