Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jess Gallo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Jess, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

First off, I think success is subjective. Success looks, feels, seems, and sounds different not only from person to person, but from each vantage point within yourself. Success is a series of wins recognized by you, and/or those around you. It is a pattern of choices that bring you joy. I believe that in order to be successful, you have to have consistency, persistence, and the ability to grow from mistakes. That old saying “if at first you don’t success, try, try again”. It’s so simple, yet has all the answers.

In the last decade, I’ve taken hundreds and hundreds of thousands of photos. With all that experience under my belt, I’ve seen the amount of useable photos in each gallery of images slowly rise. I went from stumbling my way to try and find anything worthy of submitting, to feeling confident that no matter the circumstance, I will deliver photos worthy of my time and my clients. I’ve learned how to use the tools I have, to produce work that I feel proud of. The only way I got here, was by not giving up. By picking up my camera even when I felt I was in over my head.

The most direct line to success in anything in life comes from a simple series of steps:

1. Slow down. Get really clear on what you want to work on. Meditate on what that might look like.

2. Write down your goals. Big and small. Put pen to paper, and write out what you want. Break those goals up in to short term goals, and long term goals (it’s super fun to revisit these down the road!)

3. Make a 3 month plan. Just 3 months. You can create any habits you want in this amount of time. This plan should be specific and very detailed on tasks within arms reach. Things you can do RIGHT NOW to grow. That could be signing up for a class, reading a book, finding a mentor, building a home office, exercising daily, or even just waking up earlier.

4. Hold yourself accountable. I’ve found that it’s helpful to have an accountability buddy. Someone you talk to about what you’re working on, what your goals are, or what you’re in the middle of learning. This buddy could be your partner, a family member, your best friend, or your mentor. Someone who can give you honest feedback, and would share joy and excitement to see you succeed.

5. Repeat these steps over and over!

If the last version of yourself were to be sitting in front of you right now, and they could see all that you’ve conquered, they would be so proud of you. That, is success.

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

Hello old friends and new! I’m Jess, aka Atlas Media. I’m a photographer, turned digital collage artist. I’ve become known for my unique editing style, and wild take on my Instagram account. It takes you on a whimsical, imaginative journey, and gives you an immediate feel for who I am as a creator. My focus has largely been in music festivals, with pops of architectural, portrait, and branding photography in between. The foundation of what I do comes from my life’s purpose of helping people tell their story through the art of photography. My mother, the hobbyist photographer, handed me her film camera at age 5, and sent me out to our rose garden to snap away. Little did she know, she was handing me the tools to a successful, inspiring, and colorful career. Taking photos has always been my love language. I enjoy capturing people, places, and events in a way that highlighted each in their own element.

I invested in my first nice DSLR camera when I was 21, and brought it to one of my favorite places on earth- a music festival. I ran around happy, wild, and free all weekend long at Lightning in a Bottle, just casually capturing my best friends experiencing all that the festival had to offer. Afterwards, I decided to send the gallery to the festival to use if they had interest, since I thought they ended up looking pretty good! Turns out, they agreed. From that moment forward, I added festival after festival to my roster, and was brought in to photograph for the in-house media teams. What started as a passion project, ignited in to discovering my life’s purpose,

In 2020, the pandemic hit, and it felt like the world came to a screeching halt. I found myself with time on my hands, and no where to go but deep in my creative mind. My photography has always been bright, vivid, and emotionally driven. I knew I wanted to let each photo I shared on my Instagram to have a little more room to breathe. I began to blend a couple of them together, and chop them up so each photo had two full rows to be seen in all its glory. And so it went. Each time I added another photo to my feed, I gracefully blended it to the one before it, creating a harmonic symphony of stories, square by square.

Turns out, I love making collages! So much so, that I now do so for festivals far and wide. It’s impossible to tell the whole story of a festival in one photo. Turns out, I’ve discovered how to, in a sense, write a photographic novel without words, showing what these festival have to offer all in a seamless work of art.

Beyond creating work myself, I’ve found great joy in mentoring other photographers who want to get their foot in the door in the music scene. More specifically, I help other female photographers find their voice and style in this predominately male industry. Most photo teams have historically been 70%+ male. Some of the most successful teams I’ve ever been a part of have a more balanced split. If I can help other women feel the confidence to put themselves out there, and to know how to get their foot in the door, I feel like I’m contributing to an industry that’s done so much for me. I want to make it better, and what more fitting way to do so than to help it thrive for those who might not feel their voice is as loud as the guy next to them.

My career has taken me to some of the most incredible places on earth, and I want to share that with as many people as I can. My next project I will be working on, is creating a learning platform that will teach all the tricks of the trade that I’ve learned in my decade of work in the field. I didn’t go to college to become a photographer, and I want the readers out there to know you don’t have to either. I’m excited to share this knowledge with anyone interested in photography. Whether it’s shooting festivals, portraits, nature, or anything in between. Photography CAN make you money. It can be the catalyst for world travel. It brings people together, and tells the stories that words alone cannot do.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Reputation in the freelance world is key! Word of mouth is the best marketing tool out there, and it’s free. As someone who has hired a multitude of photographers for various gigs across a handful of genres of photography, I can tell you, I’d rather hire someone who is a *good* photographer and an absolute pleasure to work with, than a *incredible* photographer who is egotistical, negative, or difficult to work with. How you treat your clients, how you communicate, and having follow through are just as important, if not more, than the work you produce. My reputation in the industry is one I take great pride in. I am known for submitting my work well before a deadline, for articulating my needs before and after a gig, for setting realistic expectations from start to finish, and for my consistency with my product. If you want to go far as a photographer, make sure you nurture both your creative mind, and your analytical brain. Clients want to work with an artist with the analyst brain. You’ve got to wear many hats. You’re the salesperson, the marketer, the receptionist, and the designer of your work. Show your client you can do it all without sacrificing the integrity of your work.

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

Being an artist is maybe the most fulfilling thing I could imagine being for countless reasons. To name a few- I get to meet all walks of life, and bring the most interesting visions to fruition. I get to capture moments in time that will now live beyond just a memory. I have freedom to work with clients that align with my morals. I don’t have to request time off. I pick and choose which gigs to take, and which to hire out for. I’m fulfilling my life’s purpose, and doing it with the most wonderful people around the world. I’m able to teach what I’ve learning to others, to give back to the community, and to show my son that it’s possible to make money doing something you love.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.helloatlasmedia.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/helloatlasmedia
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/helloatlasmedia
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/helloatlasmedia
• Twitter: @helloatlasmedia

Image Credits
All photos are by me (Jess Gallo / Atlas Media) and the photo of me is by @utopiaimagery.