We were lucky to catch up with Candace Molatore recently and have shared our conversation below.

Candace, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you 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?

It all started with photography in 2015, I was out of high school without a hobby and, with the help of my father decided to pursue photography. I was self-taught with post-processing and had the confidence to reach out to local businesses about becoming their in-house photographer. Eventually, one local tea company took a chance on me. I was able to learn an abundance of skills on that job and transitioned into running their social media full-time. In 2015 there weren’t many brands organically marketing themselves online, so we grew quickly. I learned a lot about engagement, building a company persona, and a brand on the internet. I eventually took what I established there and applied it to my own personal brand online. It took about 10 years, a lot of connections and growth to go full-time with my own brand.

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?

I’m a digital marketing consultant and content producer based in Portland, OR. I got started right out of high school and have essentially been a contractor since the age of 19. I’ve worked with brands large and small to create digital content for their brands, specifically social media pages. Nowadays, I do a lot of the work in front of the camera as well which makes what I do different from an agency. I’m the talent, creative director, lighting, makeup, wardrobe, and editor among other things!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Consistency is absolutely key. If you keep showing up, eventually your audience will find you! With the way social media is nowadays, things have changed a lot since I started but I still hold onto an engaged audience who knows me because I take an active interest in them as well. I love using social media to build connections and get inspired. All you need to do is show up with the intention of being better each day.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Portland is a relatively small city, which makes it great to be a creative in. I think our creative community is all about collaboration and coming together. At the same time, it doesn’t take much for word to travel so I put a lot of emphasis on showing up, keep my commitments and doing solid, consistent work. Tons of people are looking to work with someone who is organized, considerate and collaborative.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://candacemolatore.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hey.candace/

Image Credits
Image 4 (article) credit to apartment therapy