We recently connected with Akiko Liu and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Akiko thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you 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?

I definitely had to juggle a full time job while running my “side small business”. After a bit of doing free/cheaper work in exchange of experience I was able to create some sort of grounding for my business. After that and onward, it was a lot of working on social media! Instagram was my bread and butter at one point (still is), and TikTok has also gained some clients for me. I feel grateful I was able to leave my full time job within 2 years of trying, and I definitely make more than I had before independently.

One thing I definitely suggest for fellow small business is to network or just grind on that social media. You may not find the right niche immediately, but eventually you will!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an automotive enthusiast, and I started doing photography as a fun thing to do while I was in college. At first it was just cars, to models + cars. I realized photographing people were more of my thing, and I started reaching toward portrait photography. Wedding just came around as I grew to age where my friends started getting married. Started documenting friends’ proposals, to doing side photos of friends’ weddings – and here I am, doing full time.

It’s been a wild journey documenting so many couples of different backgrounds/history. I feel so honored and grateful I get to document their stories. I love that I live in Los Angeles where there are so many different people! I got to document different cultures and I love and appreciate that they invite me to celebrate with them and share their culture with me. I love the diversity and I am so eager to learn new things. Please continue to share your stories with me!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Social media – be it Instagram, TikTok, Facebook groups, etc. I try to post regularly on platforms. Algorithm keeps changing however, so that’s been challenging. When I was growing my business actively, I would often spend at least 30minutes a day to engage with other creators/possible clients. Recently with birth of our new baby it’s been hard to do so unfortunately. However I do think power of social media is what truly got me to where I am now.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Not sure about non-creatives, but in general as a small business owner – the fear of unknown. The fear kind of lingers and stays. I sometimes look at my income & think “this time last year, I made xx amount…I’m short right now”, etc. Being self employed is fun and rewarding, and I do get to create my own schedule. I am grateful for that especially with the baby here now. However, it is a struggle on figuring out a “good” flow. Sometimes I realize I overbook/overwork myself, and I feel so fatigued and not present at home. But at the same time, I do see the income change and unfortunately drives me to do more, haha.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.akikoliu.photos
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/akikoliuphotos

Image Credits
Myself, Akiko Liu Photos