We were lucky to catch up with Ali Brown recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ali , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I’m a creative at my core. Since I was young I’ve always been drawn to art, music, fashion, film, theater, and photography. In 2005 I got my BA in Psychology but was always more a pulled towards creative ventures. I got my first camera in 2010, took a few photography courses, and I was hooked. It was definitely a struggle to run a business with 4 young children, and plan photoshoots around life, but I loved every minute of it!

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

I am a portrait photographer and self taught artist, with a new children’s book now available here: https://a.co/d/9Z3wCXl
It was written by a friend and was illustrated by me! I am so excited to be a part of such a wonderful collaboration with another creative friend. I sort of stumbled upon illustrating. During Covid, I decided to really start painting and drawing again. I was obsessed. I watched tutorial after tutorial, read books, and studied and practiced realism. I used all the mediums, to try to find my favorite. I’m very familiar with all the Adobe design and editing software due to my photography experience, and have done web and logo design, and online ads and marketing for multiple businesses. Having this background in editing, and design, I had an epiphany and started scanning in my art so that I could get creative with designs in Photoshop. I had people start reaching out to me to illustrate their children’s books, and now I am so thankful that God lead me on this amazing adventure!

Have you ever had to pivot?

Yes! I have learned to fine tune what I offer as a photographer and artist. When you first start out you want to be everything to all your clients. There are so many genres and styles. I started out with portraits and family and very quickly had clients wanting wedding photography. I love weddings and was blessed to capture some amazing moments, but one thing I have learned about myself is I much prefer the intimate portrait one-on-one sessions like maternity, senior photos, and newborns. It calms the chaos and anxiety in my mind and helps me focus my creativity! It was a pivotal awakening for sure.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I am very driven to be successful, a character trait I get from my mom. She has been an entrepreneur my whole life and an inspiration to me. I’ve learned along the way, if I’m met with a roadblock, I just do the research and hard work to remedy the issue. I’m always on the search to learn more and understand better. When problems arise in my creative journey, I take them on as a challenge instead of letting them pull me down. My faith in God and trusting his plan helps give me strength. My thought process is allow yourself to make mistakes, because trial and error is all part of the learning process, so don’t let it discourage you or destroy your dreams! Keep going!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alibrownphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artbyalibrown
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alibrownphotography
• Twitter: https://x.com/alibrownphoto
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@artbyalibrown

Image Credits

Ali Brown