We were lucky to catch up with Krupa Kanaiya recently and have shared our conversation below.

Krupa, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I’ve always heard that taking a risk is something you do as a young person. I have always been a pre-planner. With my personal life, my paintings, and especially my social media work, pre-planning has been something I attribute my success to. However, one of my best life decisions came from an out-of-character moment where I decided to take a risk and have some confidence in myself.

About five years ago, I was “paying my dues” to the industry. I worked part-time with studios around Atlanta and took on an unpaid internship, all while bartending to supplement my income. Burnout was a regular part of my vocabulary back then, but I was determined to earn my place. At the end of that year, I realized how unhealthy my work habits were. I had exciting new credits on my resume but I was still struggling to find full-time work and the exhausting schedule was making me sick. I wanted more work-life balance and realized that the mindset of “paying my dues” was holding me back.

After a less than wonderful bar shift and a stressful week of deadlines freelancing, I had enough. I sat at home, cried into my favorite tub of ice cream and made the decision to quit my job. I was TERRIFIED. I had never left a job without something else lined up and with my last studio contract coming to a close, I wasn’t sure what would happen. Weeks passed without another job and I was nervous. I was qualified for everything I applied to so why wasn’t I getting the hits I wanted?

That’s when I heard it. Someone told me to be confident. If I was bold enough to take a risk like going income free in pursuit of being in the creative communitty full-time then I could apply to more than the bare minimum. I looked at what I knew and what I was capable of and made some changes. Ultimately my hunt lead me to a full time role that combined my love of Film and content creation. Since that leap, I have worked with various studios and film festivals, written articles for film & animation, and sold my watercolors and South Asian inspired stickers. If I had never taken the jump so many years ago, I might still be making Georgia Peaches behind a bar and would not have had the confidence to be a full time member of Atlanta’s working creative community.

Krupa, 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?

With a degree in Media Arts & Animation, I am a classically trained artist with a passion for video and social media. I love being a multi-hyphanate! I offer social media management services, short-format film/animated work, and custom traditional artwork. My work combines my passions and keeps my skills sharp and well rounded. When working on social media and email campaigns for clients, I am able to offer the more traditional data tracking and planning services, but coming from a Media Arts background means I can also create your content with you and your team! Whether you want to focus on still graphics, gifs or videos, need ad copy or articles, or custom paintings, I have done it all. My work history includes festivals such as the Atlanta Film Festival, NFFTY, and Out on Film, and companies such as Signature Design, Sam Flax, IAF Media, Oz Magazine, and T Lang Dance.

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?

The idea that “if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life” is not something I would ever say to another creative. Being in a creative field is still a job. You have good days and bad days and it is hard. While working in a field you love does make things easier, don’t assume your creative friends and family have it easy. They are still working hard.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Follow, like, comment, buy a sticker. Supporting your local artist does not always have to be a big move or financial investment. I adore my clients who follow and interact with my posts or buy a $3 sticker just as much as the ones who spend large sums on video campaigns and marketing. I often find that support can start small and still make a large impact and grow over time. To those who can afford it, buy local art instead of the framed work from shopping chains to decorate with. If you can’t buy work locally, engage with social media content. Those views and likes add up over time and they do matter to small businesses. Remember supporting within your means is possible.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/Krupakanaiya
• Instagram: @krupakanaiya
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krupakanaiya
• Other: tiktok.com/@krupakanaiya

Image Credits
All image credits belong to Krupa Kanaiya.