We recently connected with Andrea Vanden Top and have shared our conversation below.

Andrea, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

To be successful, it’s more than about how much money you make or by how busy you are. Being successful is being honest with your clients, showing up on time and doing your best to get the job done, having good communication, making your clients feel comfortable, happy, etc. I want them to feel like every penny they spent for my services was worth it. I have been very fortunate in my business, and all of my thanks goes to God first and foremost, and to my clients who have supported me along the way. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.

My dad owned his own body shop before he passed away back in 2007. And hearing how other people talk about him to me, telling me how much they loved him, how good of a job he did on their vehicles, how they wish he was still here.. It has put a different perspective in my eyes when it comes to business, and life itself. You can be the best person in the world at your job, but if you are a mean, dishonest, or greedy individual, it doesn’t matter anymore how good you are at your job. The way you treat others, the relationships you build with your clientele and the impacts you make on them is worth so much more than any amount of money you can make. If you do good, good will come to you.

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?

To start off, HI! My name is Andrea Vanden Top and I am a photographer and videographer for any and all occasions. I’m based out of Bluffton, Indiana but works anywhere you need me to.
I started my business back in May of 2020, yes.. THAT year. I guess if there was one good thing that came from Covid, it gave me time to sit down and start my business, my pride and joy, AVT Creates.

When I was younger, I always fiddled with cameras. Whether that was vlogging when I traveled with my family, taking photos of anything and everything, editing and finding copyright free music from youtube to put on top of my videos I created LOL. I just always had a creative side to me. I love to paint, draw, I have always enjoyed the process of creating something beautiful. Photography and videography is my creative outlet, it doesn’t feel like work to me because it’s something I’m passionate about.

As I said before, I am a photographer and videographer for all occasions. That means I have some cameras and I’m not afraid to use them! I have worked all over with anywhere from personal clients, weddings, businesses, airbnbs and lodges, all the way to pageants and quinceañeras, etc. I

In my opinion, what sets me apart from others is my flexibility and dedication when it comes to my job. I can guarantee that I can create any vision you have into a reality. If you have a vision, I am all ears to hear about it. I want to be able to show up for you. I want you to feel like this crazy idea you think you had was not impossible to do. For example, I had a client who was getting married and she had this unique idea for her wedding video, and she told me that I was the only videographer willing to do it. And not to mention, I was able to successfully accomplish it! But the thing is that she couldn’t find anyone to fulfill her vision. So to be that photographer/videographer who is able to create your vision into a reality, is something I will always stand by in my business.

I think another big thing that sets me apart from other photographers and videographers are my prices. I think we can all agree that photography and videography has become ridiculously expensive over the years. I am a firm believer that if you keep your prices competitive, you will stay busier. Life is expensive, money is tight for many people. I want to be able to help where I can, which is why keeping my prices competitively lower than the average photographer or videographer is something I also stand by.

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

The most rewarding aspect in my business are the reactions from my clients when I send them the deliverables. When my client is happy, I’m happy. Being able to hear their reaction, it’s one of the main reasons why I love what I do.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I am a firm believer that you have to work hard for what you want in life. I first started off with a cheaper camera I bought for only $300 off of Facebook marketplace LOL. It wasn’t the best camera of course but it got the job done! Plus at the end of the day, if you have that artistic eye and are knowledgeable about the equipment you have, you can make anything look good. But I used that camera for a while until I was able to afford my first professional camera. I had gigs here and there plus another job that helped me raise the funds for my “official camera”. As I got more photography and videography gigs and got busier, I started to invest more into my business and buy more equipment such as a second camera, lenses, a drone, backdrops, lighting, editing softwares, a website, music platforms for videography, etc. There’s a lot of expenses that go into this industry, but with hard work I was able to get to where I wanted to be.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://avtcreates.com
• Instagram: avtcreates
• Facebook: AVT Creates
• Youtube: AVT Creates

Image Credits

AVT Creates