We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Antwan Taylor a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Antwan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

My journey has been long and hard. I started my business in 2011, a year after I graduated from college. I still lived at home so I had a safety net. It was slow in the early years and I was getting frustrated working at my day job. So in 2016 I took a leap of faith and quit my job and it’s been on the rise ever since. Now I don’t recommend that people follow the path I chose. I did what I did because I wasn’t married or had any children so all I had to do was take care of myself. I started my podcast that same year, published my first novel in 2018 all the while my photography business paid the bills. Fast forward to 2024 and everything is firing on all cylinders. I was very intentional with what I wanted in my career and I took heed to the growing pains along the way. I’m grateful that I can earn a living full-time doing what I love because I know that is a level of freedom many people are striving toward.

Antwan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a full-time photographer, podcaster, and novelist. As a photographer I specialize in family, headshots, and corporate work. I have two podcasts, Mogul Motivation which has over 450 episodes, the focus is on entrepreneurship
and self-development. My second podcast is titled SoCHiology which covers all things about Chicago culture. In the literary world I have published two books; Board Games 1 & 2. Currently I’m working on my third novel which is a sci-fi story revolving around Chicagoans.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I want to be a success for my childhood self. That little boy had all the creativity in the world and no worries. Over time it was lost but I feel I owe it to that kid to bring those dreams into reality. Then I owe it to my future children and any other child or youth that has big dreams but lack resources I want them to know that their major resource is and always will be God.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Early in my photography career I serviced a lot of weddings and the truth is I never liked weddings. The fast paced environment and having to deal with multiple personalities was never my strong suit. So I made the decision to stop marketing and servicing weddings even though they were a cash cow. I eliminated that from my business and focused on projects I had more control over and things have been so much easier for my mental health since then

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.MyTRUEphoto.com
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiqLoWk4K5N6PSnrHE4xjMQ
• Other: https://linktr.ee/TRUEStoriesMedia