We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kelly Garthwaite a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kelly, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I just turned 40 this month, and with it has come a lot of perspective. I’ve been asking myself things like: How do I want to be spending my time? What really makes me tick? How can I live in a way where I’m leading mostly with heart?
The thing I want to be remembered for the most is in making a positive impact in my industry and beyond. I’ve been in the photography world since I moved to LA about 12 years ago. The industry has changed in ways that I never could have anticipated. I see how saturated it’s become and how that’s contributed to shifting a lot of the power away from the freelancers who are making the content that is creating so much of the revenue for their clients.
It’s very backwards to me, and I would like to see freelancers get a bigger piece of the pie. I do whatever I can in my time outside of work to connect and build community amongst creative freelancers so that we can all thrive. Together.
My desire is to leave people with a sense of hope that someone (who currently on the hiring side) is advocating for them. I really started pushing this narrative of openness and transparency about a year ago, and it’s brought immense change to my life. My network has grown in ways I was never expecting.
With this, my new concept that I’m excited to build on has blossomed: Living In Kindness. My MO is that we all need to be looking out for each other, that we are all connected. I’m choosing to build my life around “living in kindness” because we can make the world a more beautiful and welcoming place when we are kind to one another.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I was working as a technical writer in D.C. back in 2011. For a creative-minded person, this career field is like mental napalm. I had to get out! I saved a good chunk of money and went on a summer-long road trip zig-zagging around the whole country, hitting, I think it was, 21 states in all over a three-month period. (I even took a last-minute side trip to Mexico City to visit a friend who lives there). I was supposed to land in Portland, OR and set up shop in the fall of that year. A simple twist of fate derailed that plan, and life took me to LA in November 2011.
Enter my photography career! I tried almost everything in the industry. I started off dabbling in stills / BTS for film, sometimes making just enough money to cover my gas getting to set. I did side jobs using my writing skills, I ended up taking a job with a photography start-up that lasted about eight months and probably took years off of my life with how unnecessarily stressful it was. I kept doing freelance photography along the way, shooting events, portraits and live music. I got into covering weddings and engagements for friends or referrals. I photo edited for the NFL Network for a few years — I firmly believe that getting a foot in the door there propelled me to being taken more seriously in the industry. It helped in getting me the first interview with Red Bull. (I didn’t get the job the first time I interviewed — it took another year and a good relationship for that to come to fruition). I freelance photo edited for Getty Images and took a short-term job with my friends at Zooom Productions.
Red Bull came back around in the winter of 2016, and I started in January 2017. Since then, I’ve weened myself off of shooting as much because I prefer to leave that space open for all of the photographers out there who are making a career out of their passion for shooting. I’ve gotten the most out of providing photographers with work or connecting them with someone else who can.
I’ve been able to produce a lot of work that I’m proud of over the years, I’ve won awards for my photography, and I’ve produced content that makes my heart sing, but the biggest takeaway for me isn’t something super tangible. It’s in the connections that I’ve made and in how I’ve been able to help people grow and get to where they want to go. I love providing people with opportunities!
Side note and shameless plug … my husband and I opened our first small business this year: a short-term rental cabin near Shenandoah National Park (in Virginia where I am from). I am very proud of the leap that we took in buying it and in how well our guests are responding to it!
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I show up as the most authentic version of myself, and I am very transparent when it comes to sharing the information I’ve gained about the industry.
I also think building a reputation just takes time, experience and relationship building. A lot of it.
I felt like I needed to come off as knowing everything when I first got to LA. Now, I’m very comfortable admitting when I’m not sure of something or need insight from someone else. I think that level of vulnerability builds trust, and trust is really the key in creating a good reputation.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
SO MANY. But I’ll pick one book: “The Big Leap”.
Identifying and being able to let go of our Upper Limit Problem is one main key to success. It’s so often that we are standing in our own way, our egos taking over. Once we can push past our own limitations, then there’s nothing we can’t do.
OK, one more: “The Tools” by Phil Stutz and Barry Michaels. I’ve read it twice. Slowly. It’s incredible.
Befriend your shadow. Live in love.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kellyelainephoto.com
- Instagram: @kellyelainephoto
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-garthwaite/
- Other: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/805009946014860649?source_impression_id=p3_1696705701_V3NnJbBvPJZSlg9f
Image Credits
Photos of me: Max Hemphill