We were lucky to catch up with Max Riehn recently and have shared our conversation below.

Max, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. 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? If not, 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 do make a full time living from my creative work. I own and operate a commercial photography studio in Fort Lauderdale.

It was both a long and short process depending on how you look at it. It took about 15 years of doing jobs I knew I wasn’t passionate about until I found photography and videography in my early 30s. This included multiple attempts at starting other businesses with zero business degree or experience.

Once I realized how interested I was in photography I did nothing else. I had a camera in my hand at every possible moment. That coupled with putting myself in front of people that knew more than me and asking questions allowed for the fastest growth. I would say it was a solid 3 year learning curve before I made a little bit of money (not nearly enough to go full time) but it gave me a peek into the possibility. I got ahold of that idea that I could actually make real, good money doing this for a living because I met others that did it. I never let that idea go.

Slowly but surely I made enough money on my own which allowed me to quit my bartending job for good. Then a year later was I busy enough that I convinced my wife to quit her job and work with me full time doing styling, creative direction, accounting, and all things business building. Ever since then the growth has been exponential and it feels like the sky is the limit!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Honestly I got into this initially because I was very unhappy with where my life was going and what I felt was a lack of accomplishment by the age of 30. After several failed attempts at shifting my career, my wife Ashley pushed me into finding a creative outlet, which wound up being buying a camera and going all in on that singular thing for years at a time.

Now at age 37 with a bit more life and business experience, Ashley and I run a commercial photography studio in Fort Lauderdale. It’s our sole focus, it’s what we have poured our hearts and souls into for the past several years, every day. I think what sets us apart is that we didn’t come up in this industry, so we approach each person that reaches out to us with fresh eyes, and as their own person. It doesn’t matter if they are reaching out from a Fortune 500 company for a multiple day production or if it’s an individual real estate agent looking to create some relatively simple high end personal branding, at the end of the day there is a human on the other side of that call/email and they should be treated as such. We’ve found that breeds a culture of trust, which to me is one of the most important things in a business, trust between the service provider and the customer.

Understanding where the line is between having a creative hobby and a business is something that I think a lot of creatives struggle with, myself included, even to this day. Having someone with a numbers mindset to bounce things off of has been a massive help in turning it into a business. That being said, for a lot of people I think having a creative hobby that you don’t have to attach the pressure of your rent and bills to is great as well. The phrase “if you do what you love you never work a day in your life” has been warped a bit in that sense I think. To me if you have a 9-5 (or whatever your job is working for someone else) and it covers your lifestyle and you are able to have your creative hobby for yourself as an outlet without feeling like you HAVE to make something or your electric will get cut off… that’s a life win.

All that being said, I love my job and I’m more fulfilled than I have been at any other point in my life. So take that with a grain of salt.

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

Honestly, the ability to dictate the vast majority of my own decisions. Be it time, wardrobe (I used to have to wear a uniform), traveling, or whatever kind of creativity I want to dive into, I get to choose. I don’t have someone choosing for me.

Naturally client schedules and deadlines can dictate my time and work output, but guess what? I chose that client. I could choose to not work with that client. At the end of the day the devils we deal with are the same, but I made the choice of which devils I want to deal with. Which is much more motivating to me, especially when you are in the “but I don’t wanna” mindset.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Honestly initially it was attempting to get away from an unfulfilled life. I wasn’t pushing towards something as much as I was pushing away from something else. A camera just happened to be the outlet that worked.

One of my favorite quotes lately has been “Are you running towards a life you want, or are you just running away from a life you are afraid of?”

My goal/mission is to continue running towards a life that I want, and that requires committed, directed action.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.maxsonmedia.com
• Instagram: maxson.media

Image Credits
All images shot by me.