We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alexz Roze a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alexz, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?
Yes! I actually take vacations pretty often. With social media at an all time high, there are tons of travel hacks and guides to take trips for super cheat and I use them all. As an owner of a creative business doing photography I find that it’s easy to get trapped in the day to day busy work of trying to grow and maintain a business. I need to grow my client list, market my services, emails have to been sent, studio spaces and models need to be secured and the list goes on. As a single person business those responsibilities falls only on me. I felt there was know way I could ever step away. It wasn’t until someone told me that “bookings and emails will come in regardless whether you’re at your desk or on a beach”. Even though I knew it was true it sounded so profound when they said it. So a week later I booked a trip in the middle of the week to the Virgin Islands and it was the best thing did. It reignited my creativity and gave me time to clear my mind an approach my business from a different angle. I would tell any entrepreneurs that taking time for yourself to relax and re-center yourself will do more good for your business than staying locked in your day to day routine will.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Im Alexz Roze of Roze Photography. Im a creative portrait photographer based in NYC. I started my business in the middle of the pandemic. In 2020 is when I picked up my first camera which was a Canon m50. I took photos of my friends and family as well as studied photography on YouTube. A few month later I was confident enough in my photography skills to start taking paid gigs. My very first gig was for an artist name Mr.Cheeks. He was performing at Coney Island at a venue called Stoned Pizza. The owner of Stoned Pizza loved the photos I took and decided to give me a job so I ended taking all of their professional photos at that location. From there my work and connections started to snowball. The next major job I had shortly after Stoned Pizza was taking photos of Diplomats at the United Nations. The Doors continued to open where I was now taking photos of some major Music artists as well as some big Social Media influencers. With so many shoot under my belt, myself along will some other artists put together our own photography gallery on the Lower Eastside of Manhattan. This lead to make work being featured in other galleries and growing my overall brand. What sets me apart from other photographers is my creative eye and my ability to elevate a look while still remaining simple in composition. Im most proud of the brand awareness I’ve gained in the short time I’ve been on my creative journey. Lastly, I would want people to know that the main goal of my work is to inspire other people to take the time to show the world their art no matter what that’s art might be.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is having your art be able inspire others. Every portrait I take is of someone who is excited about how my creative style portrays them. With Social Media there are people who I don’t know and will never meet who are impressed and inspire to make creations of their own based on my work. Knowing that the same way there are people I look up to, I’ve build my work up to a point where I can now be that person for someone is an incredible feeling. One I strive to maintain for as long as I’m creative art..
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
To keep in touch with clients I have a text list as well as an email list. I think most people are aware it’s great to have at least one of those things for your business. My secret sauce would be that a text will go out to all my clients for all major holidays. There’s enough holidays through out the year that I stay first in their mind when it comes to them or someone they know who needs my services. This is something I carried over from my personal life. I have a very large friend circle so I do this in my personal life so I figured it should work just as well for my business and I was right. I’ve received many jobs after a simple text for a holiday where a past client would say ” its great you texted me because someone just asked if I knew a good photographer an as soon as you text me I passed along your info”. I know this may not would for everyone but its definitely a method in which I’ve have great success with.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.Rozephotosz.com
- Instagram: @Rozephotosz
Image Credits
My photo was taken by: Kurt Palmer of KJRP Photography