We were lucky to catch up with Grace Theriot recently and have shared our conversation below.

Grace, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about growing your team – how did you recruit the first few people, what was the process like, how’d you go about training and if you were to start over today would you have done anything differently?

Owning and running a business is incredibly difficult and I often consider this very question. Overall, I am happy as a business owner because I love what I do and what I get to do for others. However, so many factors are incorporated within business ownership that it is less satisfying in providing a service for someone. Taxes, liability insurance, equipment insurance, photo releases, and contracts are just a fraction of what I need to keep up on behind the scenes. I have considered outsourcing some of the tasks so I am not so overwhelmed by the legality of it all and just get back to the joy and creativity, but costs are high and I am only a 20-year-old college student. I often become discouraged by things like this, but I try my hardest to let my ingenuity shine through because at the core of it I really love what I do.

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

I began practicing photography during my sophomore year of high school. I quickly became enthralled with my new hobby and a few years later, I turned it into a business. I am now nearing my junior year of college, studying art at the University of Minnesota. My main focus is in fashion and editorial photography, but I also offer packages for senior portraits, weddings, commercial work, couples, and more. I am where I am today because I am always searching for opportunities and constantly making efforts to improve my craft. My work has been featured in over 25 publications, including Vogue Italia, Canon, The Startribune, Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, Moevir Paris, Minnesota Fashion Week, and soon New York Fashion Week in February 2023. I have had an incredible amount of support from my team, friends, family, and colleagues that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

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?

I have come across quite a few people who view photography as, to be frank, not a real career. I have heard it time and time again, and it is honestly very insulting. “You don’t need a degree for that,” or “All you do is push a button” or the classic: “You’re never going to make any money.” For most artists, it’s not about the money. It’s about the passion, the drive, and the inner responsibility to create. Not everyone can pick up a pencil and draw, just like not everyone can pick up a camera and capture an image with a complex composition. As a photographer, I put an incredible amount of time and money into my business and craft. I come up with concepts, build mood boards, assemble a production team, schedule shoots, run the shoots, cull through my images, export my images to external hard drives/computers, edit, backup/export photos, and more. Keep in mind that this all needs to be done while maintaining an exceeding standard of customer service, and the costs are all coming out of my own pockets. There is so much intent and thought behind every aspect of our creative process and part of me doesn’t really think that one can understand it until they’ve done it. There is no other feeling that compares to getting the perfect shot, the shot you’ve been preparing your whole career for.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The relationships and connections that I have been able to make while creating in Minneapolis have been remarkable and it is one of the most rewarding parts of my journey. I am incredibly lucky that I was raised in the art scene here where so many people are so supportive of me. Though there will always be a few creatives that see you as competition rather than a colleague, friend, or even an asset, I think I have been successful at blocking out the negativity the best I can. There are unfortunately a few creatives like that here, but they don’t even compare to their positive counterparts. To name some, Lizzy Averback, Livia Havens, Sidney McConkey, Vida Peterson, Heather Khieu, Hollie Leggett, Arnold Rossa, Yutshua Lee, Tori Taugner, Camryn Nelson, Kyliah Lynn, Parker Smith, Chandler Weir, Anna Villalon are just a few local creatives that continue to support and inspire me every single day. LOOK THEM UP! It’s rather simple and maybe even a bit cliche but I would say the most rewarding aspect of being an artist are the people that support me and my art. It is extremely fulfilling to be part of such a tight-knit community of creatives and I can never repay them for what they have done for me in terms of my happiness, confidence, and career.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theriotphoto.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theriot.photo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theriot.photo/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-theriot-66ba59207/
• Other: https://theriotphoto.darkroom.tech/ https://www.vogue.com/photovogue/photographers/300376