Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ava Lamb. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Ava thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s go back in time to when you were an intern or apprentice – what’s an interesting story you can share from that stage of your career?

Getting started in this industry is tough. It’s super saturated and lot’s of gate keeping to be done. Thankfully I met someone who took a chance on me at the age of 15. I got my foot in the door with a creative agency for almost three years. The experience I learned during my time there is something I will never take for granted. I got to work & direct for some pretty big clients while still being in high school.

I was so dedicated to my craft and growing as a creative, that I was willing to do anything I could to better myself and work on the biggest projects I could. I remember one time I was working on a video project for a pretty big client and I had 3 deliverables due the following day, but I also had my junior year (of high school) science fair project due the same day. I would sit at my kitchen counter and work on the video and while the project would load/render I would begin working on my science fair project, and this was a continuous cycle all night. 7:30am rolled around and I finally finished both projects so I packed up my stuff, got ready for school, and presented my science fair project the next day.

To me it was all about the bigger picture. I wanted to get the video project done to prove to my boss that it wasn’t a mistake to hire a high schooler and I was ready for any project he would throw me, and I had to get my science fair project done so I didn’t fail science that year.

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 got into this industry when I was about 13 years old. I started with wedding videos, and then moved into agency work, right as I graduated high school I went full-time as a video producer for Kona Ice, now I juggle my time between Kona Ice and traveling the country shooting for different brands, music festivals, and concerts.

I actually grew up with more of a passion for music than photo or video, but slowly as I started watching more music videos, award shows, etc. I realized I was drawn way more to the visual side of it all. I admired lighting production, or how certain camera movements would make you feel when cut to the beat of a song. When I started creating videos, the song I chose was always the driving factor. If I didn’t like the song, chances of me not liking the video were high. I used to sit in my room and watch music videos continuously and draw out what I thought would be the lighting breakdown or the production set. I really began to nerd out.

Thankfully my sister was a big wedding photographer in the area we lived in, so she was able to start getting me connected with wedding videos. I did my time in weddings, and then I got picked up by an agency for almost 3 years. With them I was able to shoot for some crazy brands like: MLS, Joseph Chevrolet, Kroger, Jergens, etc. Finally, I decided to be on my own. I started doing a lot of freelance work with a heavy focus on concert photography. That’s what I always wanted to do, so this was a point in my life where I became happiest. During this time, I also took a job as a Video Producer for Kona Ice.

And that brings us to the current day. I still work with Kona Ice as their Video Producer, but often find myself traveling long weekends for other freelance opportunities. I pride myself on being relaxing to work with, with excellent deliverables. My goal is not for the client to walk away with a great video or great photos, but also a fantastic experience.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Something that is really big in our industry is “Hustle Culture.” I’ve been told many times that I will not succeed in this industry if I don’t like Hustle Culture. I think that is the furthest thing from the truth. To me, success is based on your quality of life. I can’t survive on a lifestyle where all I think and do is work, and that is totally fine. However, there are gonna be moments in your career where you will have to put in the extra hours or not get as much sleep as you would like to, but what’s important is to give yourself time to recover after those moments. I am intentional about spending time with my family or friends, or giving myself a night to just lay in bed and watch Netflix or event just shooting content for fun! My passion turned into my career over time, and sometimes I like to make it my passion again.

It’s important to understand what works for you and how you thrive and listen to that. The better lifestyle to give yourself, the better your work will become.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

To me, the most rewarding part of being a creative is the experiences I’ve had. My job takes me to so many cool locations, and fun events where I meet countless amount of people who become lifelong friends. Some of my greatest joys are photographing a concert of one of my friends favorite artist, getting the privilege of showing them content of that artist that no one else has seen before is probably my favorite part of my job. To me, life is all about experiences and I try to create the best experiences for myself and anyone around me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ava__lamb/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ava-lamb-08b448220/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AvaRyleeL
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ava__lambb

Image Credits
Personal Photo – Tyler Glasenapp Additional Photo – Ava Lamb