We recently connected with Breezy Ritter and have shared our conversation below.

Breezy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

While I have had so many fun projects in the past, I recently had the opportunity to work on a paid campaign with one of my favorite brands, Topo Chico.

I have been working with them off and on for the last five years or so and shooting festivals and events in trade for the access to attend them. I used that time to cultivate a relationship that I believed could be fruitful in the future, and it eventually paid off! I have been a brand ambassador for them for about a year now, and have been able to show off my branding and event photography work more and more to the marketing team.

So when I approached a few of the team members about needing some cases and merch for a shoot, they said – No let’s go big and turn this into a campaign. They put their trust in my creative vision to fly to California and shoot a whole campaign for them over the course of a week. My creative partner and I put together a list of locations and friends that we knew would be perfect for this project. We traveled from LA to San Francisco and shot all in between. It felt incredibly rewarding to be put in this creative director position and completely take ownership of a large scale project.

The theme of the project was Community, and the ability to create it wherever you go. So naturally, the best part about this trip was the people I was able to connect with. To meet for the first time, offline away from Instagram, and be vulnerable and have a conversation about passion projects and community and all the hard work that sometimes doesn’t pay off. We sat together, sometimes for a few hours and shared our stories and bonded over the love for Topo Chico. I created some of my favorite content in my career in those seven days on the road, and I’m just so grateful for the opportunity that I was given. I think my moral of the story is, cultivate those relationships and know that sometimes good things take time! But it can all be worth it in the end.

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

Getting my start as been a lifelong journey. I got the bug for photography learning dark room in high school in San Antonio. While there I also further developed my creative skills by joining both the newspaper and yearbook teams, learning design and Adobe programs. I moved to Austin after graduating where I spent 11 years cultivating relationships in the music and event industry. I spent that time also figuring out what I was best at, what projects made me the happiest to work on.

It turns out what makes me happiest is event and branding photography. When I shoot events I mingle and laugh with the guests, network with fellow vendors. I always leave thrilled to have been there. In branding, the ability to connect with the brand and the owners has been a privilege. They picked ME to help them speak their voice and make their brand stick out to their clientele. I lend my personal touch in every job I take, by getting to know the person in front of my lens and making sure they are completely comfortable with me.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think non-creatives could benefit from learning the amount of time and investment on our end it takes to run a full-time business. We work to provide a luxury service to our clients. We know that as artists, we are an investment. Although, we can keep making Instagram posts and reels about why we price the way we price, just know that we aren’t out to scam the community. We thrive off of word of mouth referrals, shares of our social media posts, and continued repeat clients. Even if we are out of range monetarily, sharing our work is still helpful to us! I have found that most of my business has come from word of mouth referrals, and every time I meet a new client I am always thrilled to find out we have a connection in the community.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Most recently, I have had to pivot every aspect in my life and business.

I am sharing this as a reminder to my fellow creatives – life happens and sometimes you have to take a few (or many) steps back to reevaluate and get back on track.

During 2020 I moved myself and my biz to Denver from Austin during the very height of the pandemic. I knew it’d be a risk financially, as I hadn’t yet set up my clientele in full in a new market. I knew it would take time, so I gave myself a two year grace period to get back to the full-time freelance position I was in while living in Austin. Well, it’s been two years now… I’m back to working multiple part time jobs to pay my bills and live my lifestyle. In the last year I’ve had to pivot more than I planned on. I’m still not exactly where I thought I’d be, but I know I’m close to my goal! My business is finally starting to make headway again, and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I know that this is MY journey, not anyone else’s. I knew that a huge move would require a HUGE amount of work. But the hustle is worth it. So please, creatives, don’t give up! The best thing I did for myself was to stop comparing my story to my peers.

Contact Info:

• Website: breezyritter.com
• Instagram: @breezyritter
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breezyritterphotography
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/breezy-ritter-a69291139/

Image Credits
Photo of Breezy: McKenzie Bigliazzi