The Mountainpeak Fallacy:

Redefining Success in the Creative Industries

For artists, creators, and anyone on a creative journey, the path to success often feels like an impossible climb. We're told to reach for a specific, externally defined pinnacle, a "mountaintop" that looks like an Oscar, a major record deal, or a Hollywood studio contract. This is the Mountainpeak Fallacy: the belief that a single, predefined summit is the only valid destination.

The Allure of the Mountaintop

Unlike professions with clear career paths, the creative world lacks a straightforward roadmap. This ambiguity leads us to look up at those who have "made it" in the mainstream. We see red carpets, prestigious awards, and major television and film roles, and we internalize them as the ultimate symbols of achievement. This externally defined peak isn't just a personal goal; it's what society and the industry reinforce as the only measure of success.

The journey to this peak is controlled by gatekeepers—agents, casting directors, and studio executives, and sometimes even the words of our friends and family, by the expectations they place on us. This system is self-perpetuating, feeding on a constant stream of aspiring artists who believe in this singular goal. The gatekeepers often favor those who fit a certain mold or have the right connections, creating a system that is more about protecting the status quo than being an equitable meritocracy.

This is where the fallacy takes hold: the belief that the system is fair and that hard work alone will grant you access. But the truth is, the system can just as easily shut you out. We've seen this happen to numerous public figures who have been temporarily or permanently excluded for "unfitting" behavior, sometimes for valid reasons and other times for simply going against the grain.

When the System Cracks

The power of any system rests on the collective belief of the people who participate in it. When that belief weakens, the system is forced to adapt.

We saw this during the #OscarsSoWhite movement, which brought microscopic attention to the lack of ethnic diversity across the Academy's nominations and voting members in 2015's 87th annual academy awards. For years, the traditional system resisted change. It wasn't until the public's shift in belief created social and financial pressure that the industry was forced to change.

Similarly, the #MeToo movement which grew in prominance in 2017 exposed how men in positions of power leveraged their authority to take advantage of women. This public reckoning, combined with the momentum of Black Lives Matter protests following the killings of Trayvon Martin (26th February, 2012), George Floyd (25th May, 2020), and Breonna Taylor (13th Mar 2020) and many others, forced a change in the traditional Hollywood system. The culture didn't change because it was the "right" thing to do; it changed because the system was at risk of losing its social capital and profitability.

The Path of the Pebble Stack

The Mountaintop Fallacy suggests that if you stick to a single path long enough, you will inevitably, through hard work and determination, reach the summit. But there is a powerful alternative: building your own system.

Instead of spending years feeding a system with locked gates, some artists choose to build their own infrastructure. This is not the easy path. At first, your efforts may seem insignificant, like pulling stones together to build your own hill. This is the process of "growing in the dark," a persistent and often lonely effort where you are stacking "pebble after pebble" while others are chasing visible success.

This period of obscurity can be such a a gift. Without the pressure of public scrutiny, you can experiment, make mistakes, and develop your unique voice. The resilience and skills you build here can lead to a sudden, visible "arrival" that leaves others wondering, "How did you do that?" The answer is the sustained, quiet work done when no one was watching.

This new path is enabled by the democratization of creative tools. You no longer need a million-dollar studio or a major film crew. Affordable equipment and powerful software have made it possible to create broadcast-quality content from a bedroom. This has created a new, more level playing field where we can create our own opportunities instead of waiting for them to come to us. Issa Rae is a prime example of this "pebble by pebble" approach, building her own audience with The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl before Hollywood came calling.

The New Landscape

The traditional media industry is finally acknowledging this shift. Recent data highlights a fundamental change in consumer behavior and a loss of belief in the old infrastructure.

• According to Nielsen's "The Gauge" report, YouTube has consistently been the leading streaming platform in the US, often surpassing Netflix. For example, in June 2024, YouTube's share of total TV viewing was 10.5%, while Netflix's was 7.3%.

People are no longer exclusively looking to major studios for content. They are turning to independent creators who have built their own audiences. As a result, major players, including YouTube itself, are now offering their resources to these creators. The power has shifted from the gatekeepers to the artists, forcing the traditional industry to adapt to where the money and attention are.

However, the Mountaintop Fallacy hasn't completely disappeared; it has simply evolved. The promise of creative freedom is now balanced with the pressure to "beat the algorithm." You may be free from a human A&R executive, but you must now contend with the algorithms of Spotify, YouTube, and TikTok, which favor specific types of content to maximize engagement.

The new gatekeepers don't have faces; they are lines of code that dictate what gets seen and heard. For those of us who grew up with the old model, understanding and accepting this mental shift is the most critical step.

Ultimately, the key question is: are you letting others define your mountain peak, or are you defining it for yourself? The sooner you can claim your own value and validate your own work, the sooner you can start building a path that leads to your own summit, where the view is yours alone.

At We Make Heads Turn, we have shifted our perspective from climbing to the mountain peak to stacking pebbles to build our own stage. We also want to empower others to build their stage, and our Big 50 Challenge is our commitment to supporting 50 local creative artists in doing the same. If you want support building your own stage, sign up for the Big 50 Challenge today.

Build your own Stage

You didn’t come this far to stop

and harness your art

The Big “50” Challenge is your chance to create something powerful with a filmmaker in your corner, 50 minutes on the clock, and zero pressure to be perfect. Whether you’re a dancer, actor, poet, or dreamer with a vision, this is your moment. No fluff. No filters. Just raw creativity, captured and celebrated.