We were lucky to catch up with Elyse Cosgrove recently and have shared our conversation below.

Elyse, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one?What were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I am fortunate to earn a 6-figure full-time living doing creative work that I love and that helps support my family of (almost) 5. I’m a business owner, photographer/videographer, and studio manager for the brand(s) I created, Torch Pictures & Torch Studio. I was teased with the title of a “job hopper” in my 20s and wondered if I’d ever find anything that fulfilled my ever-evolving curiosity and attention span. I had a deep curiosity about people’s stories across the world, a burning desire for adventure, and an appreciation for finding beauty in any and every place or situation.

I started my path of visual storytelling in highschool, taking a summer filmmaking course at Harvard University by way of New York Film Academy. I went on to attend one of the country’s top film schools, Chapman University, where I studied PR/Advertising and Broadcast Journalism. While at Chapman, I was a leader in a group that won the National Student Advertising Competition, and I held summer internships at Sony Pictures in LA, and a local news station in San Diego. These experiences played a big role in blending my artistic side with business skills to rise in the professional world.

After my first job at the Sundance Film Festival, I went on to help launch the start-up “One Minute News” as an on-air anchor, writer and producer. The startup eventually failed, and I then moved to NYC to study and pursue acting for a year while freelancing in promotional work and videography on the side to pay the bills. Little did I know this combination of skills and life experience would perfectly support me starting my own business in production years down the road.

By this point, I had secured the title of a “job hopper,” and decided it was time to “pay my dues” in the professional world for some time to gain credibility. I moved to Washington DC to work for CCTV America as a writer and producer for their international news show. After 2 years of honing my international knowledge and storytelling skills, I decided it was time to take the leap and start my own business – Torch Pictures.

In the 8 years since starting Torch Pictures, I have brought my experience and artistic flare to many industries including commercial & residential real estate, interior design, corporate lifestyle photo & video, and storytelling visuals for businesses and individuals.

All of this to say, every step of the way has influenced how I do business and what I uniquely offer to my clients. I think having an education in business could have sped up the process of reaching the stable revenue that I have achieved, but I question if I would be able to offer the same quality of creative services had I skipped any of the steps along the way.

Elyse, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do, and what you want people to know about you/your brand/your work?

I live and breathe visual storytelling and I’m the lead photographer/videographer for my company, Torch Pictures. Born into a family of entrepreneurs, I also “get” business and start-ups. I’m a former international news writer/producer with an education in advertising and over 15 years of experience in photo/video content creation. I have a knack for bringing out the heart of any story and adding a twist to help generate the most impact. I pride myself in seeing what others miss. The world I see is beautiful, and my mission is to share that with others. I’ve been told my down to earth personality puts people instantly at ease and my quirkiness generates joy and laughter. My ability to connect with people is driven by curiosity, empathy and intuition, which drives the authentic nature of my storytelling style. I have an adventurous spirit that is fed by the unique stories of my clients, which has led me to shoot in over 25 countries and work with some of the most successful people and brands across the world.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist/creative is how naturally inspiration comes that drives my work. Everything I do in life whether it’s meant for personal or business reasons plays into how I see things and understand people/situations, which then informs my art and how I approach business. I can’t turn it off and I feel lucky to be doing something that comes so naturally to me and be able to make a living off of it. Some of my favorite clients/projects have been built from relationships that didn’t start as a business pitch, but an organic interaction with someone with a mind aligned in solving problems together. My creativity helps overcome challenges for people in a way that seems fun/rewarding to me. I love working with people whose minds work in different ways than mine where we can complement each other and grow from creating together. I believe the force that’s created through this partnership helps attract/reach wider audiences to make a greater impact, which is one of the things that motivates me.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Yes! It was before “side hustle” was a thing as far as I knew. Doing photography and videography was something I did for fun and to make a little extra cash on the side- but not something I realized could be a business/career. Even though I went to film school, I had a case of imposter syndrome when it came to pursuing a “film/production” career, thinking it was something only men succeeded in. I didn’t have a role model or mentor to show me the way, the only people I knew to go to for advice had a “full-time job with benefits,” which is not the path for so many in my industry.

I bought a decent hobbyist camera and started doing it for friends for free to build my portfolio. Charging anyone seemed terrifying because I had no idea about the value it brought to people and didn’t have confidence in what I was doing yet. I landed my first client doing social media “meme” posts, using my photography with positive-message quotes overlayed that represented the brand. My day job was working in news, so with the extra income from this gig I decided to invest in a nicer lens and took a night class to learn how to use my camera on manual. I was volunteering as a photographer at charity events to continue building my portfolio and eventually started charging for my services as requests grew.

It was very much a “fake it till you make it” building process. After working at the news station for 1 year and 11 months (I couldnt even hold out for the 2-year mark!) I decided to take the leap to go out on my own without any jobs on the calendar. From that point on, everything started to fall into place. I booked my first job designing a website for a past client (where I could also incorporate my photogrpahy) at an event on the same night I put in my 2-weeks notice. I took gigs in graphic design, web design, production assisting on set, and photography in my first year to stay afloat… and after that decided I could solely focus on what I loved the most – photo and video! I continue to grow to this day with every client request. If I haven’t done it and its in my wheelhouse, I figure it out and rise to the next level (thank you, youtube!). I also owe so much of my growth to befriending the “competition,” or in my case my industry peers! There is always more to learn and plenty of work to go around.

I joined EO’s (Entrepreneur’s Organization) Accelerator program when my business reached $250k in revenue, but after a few months decided I was not interested in “scaling” at the time (which is the support the group offers) as I’m choosing to grow my family in this season (3rd child due in March!). I am grateful to have built a profitable business that allows me to have a flexible schedule and balance in my life. The biggest challenge for me right now is learning how to say no to maintain that desired balance!

Contact Info:

• Website: torchpictures.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/torch.pictures
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/torch.pictures
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elysecosgrove/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/captured-by-elyse-alexandria?osq=photographer&override_cta=Get+pricing
• Other: https://vimeo.com/torchpictures

Image Credits
Torch Team 2020 Photo – Photo by Sarah Marcella for The Scout Guide Alexandria