We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Molly Morrison a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Molly, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?
Looking at photography specifically, the biggest barrier to profitability was building out my inventory of gear and a network of studios, models, and collaborators.
When you’re first starting out, take the extra time to map out what you need to bill the client that includes any up-front costs of renting equipment, booking a studio, editing, film/development, etc.
For film photographers, you can save so much money from development if you scan your own negatives. The scanner quickly pays for itself with what most labs will charge you for scans, plus I like having a physical archive of my work.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m a multi-disciplined artist with a passion for film photography and mixed media collage. I didn’t go to art school, my skills in photography and graphic design are self taught and I’ve spent the last 5 years building a portfolio of clients who hire me to produce a mix of social media, digital, and print content or artwork. My creative career started in Chicago in 2016 and took me to LA in 2020. I’ve never really had a plan, just a relentless work ethic that feels sort of necessary for anyone who wants to make a living as a creative. 
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Feeling people’s excitement when they see the creative for the first time, especially with photography. When you take portraits of someone or shoot their product/business/event/promo, there’s usually some type of emotion attached because the visuals I’m helping them create need to spread awareness or interest about what they’re passionate about or working on. As social media has become more saturated, a lot of people need support in creating or curating visuals that will push their own business or art forwards, in front of new eyes. When my clients see their photos for the first time (especially with film), I really love that first reaction where they get to see themselves or their products/services in this ether that we created or produced together.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
So simple but building authentic relationships. This becomes client retention and by proxy, referrals to new people. Having sales experience was helpful when I first started pursuing creative work because I was very unafraid of rejection or not being responded to – but it does eat up a lot of your time, outreach to people who don’t know you that you might want to work with or work for. In LA, our creative industry is so interconnected that you are never more than a couple degrees of separation away from a job, person, or company that could take your career to the next level. So when somebody does take a chance on you, it’s really important to show up authentically and cultivate good relationships. If you do good work and you’re fun to work with, clients will come back and recommend you to other people so that it’s not this permanent climb of you being the only one promoting your work or business. Be open to feedback, be coachable, and be kind, it goes a long way. 
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.molly-morrison.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mollydelle/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@itsmollydelle
Image Credits
Delara Alviri, Tabatha Thomas, Samantha Bolger