We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Aitina Fareed-Cooke. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Aitina below.
Aitina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
Back in 2012, I made the decision to obtain a DBA for my photography business. It all started when people who knew I was a photographer began to demand my services. At the time, I had no idea what running a business entailed, but I was determined to work hard and learn so that I could grow and develop within the creative field. There were a lot of roadblocks and frustrating moments along the way, but I believe that those experiences added value to my journey.
As I progressed, I began to utilize my problem-solving skills to explore ways to incorporate my other creative abilities, such as music, video productions, and creative writing, into my photography business. I worked hard to strategize ways to merge a variety of methods and mediums to build my creative company. It wasn’t easy, but I persevered and learned a lot along the way.
With the skills I developed while earning my undergrad and grad degrees, I was able to do some pretty amazing things. I leveraged those skills to engage, teach, provide services, perform, and present for a diverse range of clients, including over 20,000 students, companies, educational institutions, art organizations, and emerging artists throughout the country. It’s been really fulfilling to share my knowledge and expertise in designing collaborative projects that foster growth and development in the community through arts education.
I’m passionate about my position as a leader within the Arts & Education community, and I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to make an impact. It’s been really exciting to see all the different ways that I can use my skills and experience to help others grow and develop in the creative field. I know that there’s still so much more to learn and do, but I’m excited to see where this journey takes me next.
I’m proud to say that in addition to my work in media arts and education, I’ve been able to leverage my musical skills to build a successful career as a multi-award-winning international recording artist. It’s amazing to see how my ability to combine different methods and mediums has allowed me to thrive in the creative industry and create a fulfilling career that I love.
I contribute my continued success to my active faith and relationship with God, my supportive family (My husband, Josh. My son, Isaac, and my daughter, Ailena), my tight circle of friends, and my passion to serve my community through my skills, gifts and talents.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I was told at a young age that I would be a “failure to thrive” as a result of my biological mother’s addiction to drugs. At 14 months old my 2 siblings and I were placed into foster care and diagnosed as “Emotionally Handicapped”. When I was three years old we lost our mother due to substance abuse. Though the odds were against me I managed to strive due to my adoptive mother’s efforts in keeping me involved in extracurricular activities, community arts programs which introduced me to photography, film, and creative writing.
The skills that I have developed over time led me to developing Get Fokus’d Productions (GFP). Get Fokus’d Productions is an award-winning media arts production company. We partner with creatives to capture “human-first” stories through creative media arts, we teach the community how to capture and share their own stories, and we give back to the next generation of creatives.
I continue to utilize my creative strategies to merge mediums within the media arts field in order to ignite thought and expand perspectives within my community and beyond. In creating solutions one must have a problem-solving mindset. I am able to collaborate with entities in the effort to ideate, plan, prep and implement creative strategies that will strengthen their connections within their clients and their community.
I know there are other resources, streams of income, and ways in order to make your voice be heard especially when you’re saying something that is going to be beneficial to a particular community or society as a whole. It’s important to tap into other resources. I tapped into grants and any opportunity that would allow me to share my heart and allow me to gain finances in order to work on something that I’m passionate about but also provide other companies and entities with creative perspectives.
What makes Get Fokus’d Productions unique is that we train and mobilize emerging artists, providing them with hands-on opportunities to expand their resume and experiences within the creative art field. In the last 3-4 years I’ve been able to earn multiple grant funding opportunities that collectively reach six figures and have been able to give income earning opportunities to a collection of students, emerging artists, and entrepreneurs through Get Fokus’d Productions and other community based organizations.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Prior to giving birth to my son, I was in a very difficult place emotionally and decided to drop out of college. This decision had serious consequences for me, and I found myself struggling to make ends meet. When my son was born, I was a single mother for a period of time, which made things even more challenging. I was determined to provide the best life possible for my child, but it wasn’t easy to juggle school, work, and motherhood all at once.
To make ends meet, I turned to government assistance programs such as food stamps and Medicaid. Though I felt a sense of shame and embarrassment at needing help, I knew that it was the best thing for me and my son at the time. I also knew that it was only going to be temporary, and that I was going to have to work hard to get back on my feet.
Despite all of these challenges, I never lost sight of my goals. I continued to work hard and pursue my degree, and eventually graduated from college. I also worked my way up in my job and achieved success despite the odds against me. I now stand with three degrees; Associates in Arts & Humanities, Bachelors in English and a Masters of Science in Education with a focus in Educational Technology. Looking back, I realize that this experience taught me the true meaning of resilience. Resilience isn’t just about bouncing back from setbacks, but also about having the courage to ask for help when you need it and being willing to work hard to make your dreams a reality.
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?
As someone who’s worked in creative fields, I know that there are a few things that non-creatives might have a hard time understanding about the journey. One of the biggest challenges is dealing with self-doubt. Even when others openly admire your work, it can be hard to let go of the feeling that you could have done better or that there are flaws you’re not seeing. It can make the creative journey a constant back-and-forth between feeling proud of what you’ve created and feeling like you aren’t doing enough.
Another thing that can be tough for non-creatives to grasp is the importance of inspiration. Creatives often need to find inspiration in order to create their best work, but it’s not always easy to come by. It can be frustrating to feel like you’re not feeling inspired, and it’s not always easy to explain why. Sometimes, you just need to take a break and wait for inspiration to emerge, but that can be a hard thing to do when you’re on a deadline or feeling pressure to create.
Pursuing a creative career often requires a lot of dedication and sacrifice. You might need to put in long hours, give up social events, or take on low-paying jobs in order to gain experience at first. It’s not always a simple path, but many creatives feel like it’s worth it because they’re doing work that they’re passionate about. It’s not always easy to explain that passion to people who don’t share it, but it’s a big part of what drives many creatives like me on this journey forward.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.getfokusdproductions.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/getfokusdproductions
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GetFokusdProductions/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aitina-fareed-cooke-50002274
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/getfokusdpro
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@getfokusdproductions9813
- Other: Music: A.I. The Anomaly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aitheanomaly/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AiTheAnomaly/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AiTheAnomaly/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoRopeFhNhRbocpiXV0hqyw Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6HvphSwjzZrs93AEtL2ZIm
Image Credits
Kalvin Booker Kristy Tasca Photography Danni Grayson Photography Buffalo AKG – Jeff Mace Kaitlyn Lowe Tallulah Gordon