We recently connected with Carina Skrobecki Swain and have shared our conversation below.
Carina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
I think this first and foremost comes down to defining what success looks like to you. Starting my business 12 years ago, I was subjected to the “girl boss”, hustle hard, you-can-have-it-all culture that pretty much put me on a direct road to burnout. I had sights set so high on being THE best at what I did and having the bank account to back it up — as if those were the only 2 things that mattered. That those two things automatically meant I *could* have it all.
Over the years, that has greatly changed as I’ve taken inventory of not only my business but my overall lifestyle and how I want it to evolve as I grow older. After so many years of being go-go-go I realized I that TIME was really the golden puzzle piece to what success looked like for me. It’s no secret that I work in an industry where my time is the commodity (so it’s very difficult to scale), so my definition of success needed to change. I began defining what my time looks like, and in turn, being really selective with it.
However, even that has morphed over the years. It used to be that I needed to be busy x-amount of days a month and now it’s not working evenings or weekends. It used to be that I needed to control every aspect of my business (because my business = ME) and now I have hired out certain parts knowing it’s not going to impact my “brand” as much as I think it is. It’s now getting amazing word-of-mouth referrals without having to spend a ton of time + money on marketing. Overall, it’s knowing that I can continue to live a comfortable, flexible lifestyle doing thing I love the most. I think anyone who aims to be successful needs to first define what that actually looks like AND then know that it’s allowed to change.
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?
Fast forward through college, where I received a degree in Visual Communication Design from the University of Washington, and was lucky enough to end up landing a job at a local Seattle design firm. During my 3 years there, I became really interested in photography sheerly out of the curiosity of it. While it took a couple of years of confidence to do so (being first-generation American, I had always been taught that the best thing you could do was seek the stability of a solid career so freelance always seemed terrifying), I ended up moving into the world of wedding photography in 2013. While my years of wedding photography were very rewarding and brought me a deep understanding of running a business, it also gave me a clear roadmap of where I wanted to take my work. After a few smaller commercial jobs, I began working with former design colleagues partnering on various brand campaigns. It was then I fell in love with the collaborative, story-telling, team-driven aspect the commercial world brought and it’s where my focus has been since.
So here I am today, still focused on creating imagery for a multitude of people and brands. I haven’t pigeonholed myself into any particular niche because variety has always worked really well for me…and I’m so grateful to have a large breadth of work and clients because of it! It also allows me to have a really diverse and rich community of creatives around me, which is essential to any solo-freelancer.
Most recently I’ve also found deep fulfillment in education — I launched a commercial photography workshop in 2020 with a friend and fellow-photographer Kara Mercer called The Rev Workshop and we’ve really loved watching that community grow as we aim to creative a welcoming and educational platform for those in their first few years of work.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
I think as entrepreneurs in today’s world, we get an onslaught of messaging in how we’re supposed to scale, expand, gain new clients/followers as quickly as possible, but I’ve learned it *always* comes back to how you treat the people around you. This goes for your team or crew, clients, colleagues, etc. Genuine relationships and connection is how I’ve grown my client base and I’ve gotten some of the BEST word-of-mouth referrals because of it. It’s never been about the best gear, the most reach or followers, or the high-profile portfolio — rather, it’s a long game of showing up with genuine curiosity, kindness and reliability and being able to deliver. I do this by treating my clients as you would any other relationship: being interested in their lives outside of the “work” we are doing, keeping communication consistent, and being open to feedback.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
As someone who spends a lot of time in the outdoors, I’ve actually consistently kept a mantra in my head that is inspired from the Leave No Trace principles — “leave it better than you found it” — as my North Star when saying yes to projects, the clients I work with, and how I move through this world as a creative.
On the surface, I know I’ve honed my craft enough to deliver on the assignment, but more recently the deeper question has become “how do I make it matter”? How do we foster connection? What can we do to make someone else’s life better/easier/more fulfilling? Is what we’re doing a positive piece of a puzzle? I’ve always believed in collective responsibility and so when it comes to finding ways to use my time and talents (whether that’s through thoughtful storytelling, supporting other creatives, pro bono work, or monetary donations) I hope I can continue to align with brands and humans who feel similarly.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cassphoto.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caskro/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carina-skrobecki-79b79813/
Image Credits
All me. :)