Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Celi Hairston. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Celi, thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

No, I believe to have started my creative career right when I was supposed to. The experience I’ve gained during my journey in life, personally and professionally, has sharpened me and contributed to guiding my path in the forward direction. Prior to my creative career, I’ve developed a lot of tools that have helped me better manage all of the aspects that come with the creative journey. I feel if I had started sooner, I would’ve made a lot of impulsive decisions, underestimated the value of my time, I would’ve been extremely stressed and overwhelmed as a result of poor project management, and overall a lot less structured, to name a few.

I decided to start my creative career a few years ago with the encouragement and support of my husband.

Celi, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Celi Hairston, born and raised in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in NYC. I’ve always had passion for self expression through creativity, from as young as I can remember.

In 2005, I moved to South Florida, with my now husband, and in 2009, when I birthed our first child, I purchased my first digital SLR camera (it was a Nikon D3000) and dedicated myself to learning how to use it and applied my self taught knowledge towards fashion photography. Something about capturing moments of style and making it yours became attractive to me.

Eventually I was encouraged by my husband to use my creative talents in a larger way. It was through this experience that I came to learn, value and appreciate content creation.

Im a content creator that focuses on curve fashion and lifestyle (which includes, but not limited to, food and travel). I think what sets me apart from others is that I’m 100 percent hands on with what I do, from creative ideas, content strategy, research, marketing strategy, filming/shooting, edits, post delivery lessons learned, to name a few. All of which I implement towards increasing visibility and brand awareness for my partnerships.

I take pride in my work ethic and have a drive to help others. I would love to eventually be able to coach and guide creators that are interested in growing their business. This is why I take my passion very seriously and I continue to invest myself towards putting in the work to learn and execute fully so that I may be a better mentor to those that I will eventually help . There’s room for any and everybody in the creative space. If there’s a way I could make a difference and not only inspire, but also contribute to the growth and success of current and future creators, that would be amazing!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is the freedom to create. Everything involved with this journey has a level of reward for me and each level is tied to some sort of growth.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I believe what non-creatives may struggle to understand about my journey as a creative is how time consuming this path is which ties to how involved and invested I have to be. Many have the impression that creatives just record and post, document and post, capture shots and post. With my experience, I’ve learned hands on that is not necessarily the case. There is so much that’s tied to this path. For example, to name a few: passion, structure and consistency, research, executing creative planning, contracts review/negotiation, quality control, financial investments on tools and equipment, edits, so forth and so on.

The creative journey has elevated my respect and appreciation for other creatives, regardless of their niche!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://celihairston.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celinstagrrram
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@celihairston

  e-mail: celi.hairston@gmail.com

Image Credits

Image Credits for the studio photos:
📸@djazzphotography
by @thierryedejean
Studio: @ArtSpot403