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

Hi Chloe, thanks for joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I view success so broadly. I have often felt the most success in times of desperation and disappointment. You need to possess an unwavering faith in yourself to reach whatever you believe that to be. I think being humble is important too. Remember that you’re never too good. Many of the people you think are extremely successful and only doing cool and meaningful work are also still grinding it out doing less desirable jobs. Exciting projects are peaks met after much time spent in valleys, valleys that pay your bills and teach you invaluable lessons. If you want to be successful you should be prepared to never stop learning.

Chloe, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Growing up, I had no contact with professional creatives and only began to explore my options as an artist after High School. I was working as a model my senior year when I met a photographer named Kaylee Vervynck, we became close friends and she completely inspired me to pursue my career. Working with her taught me a lot about how to handle myself as a professional and she lent me a lot of advice for how to run my business. Later on, I bought my first camera and embarked on a roadtrip from Florida to Nevada with my best friend who I photographed the entire way. I freelanced a little bit while waitressing and studying Chemical Engineering at the University of Florida.

In early 2022 I moved to Texas where I started work as a florist and became friends with a ton of artists. I began working in the music industry and quickly found my passion for touring and creative portraiture.

I now run PALOMEDIA as a creative-director, photographer, and filmmaker. My main focus is capturing authentic moments with digital images, analog film, and mixed media. I have been very blessed to work with clients who trust my vision and give me creative control to represent them or their brand. My clients often say that they always feel comfortable and safe on my sets, which makes me the most proud. Establishing relationships with other humans is my goal above all else and ultimately, I consider my art to be a form of communication. I am deeply influenced by the story-telling aspects of rural/Appalachian family photos and Nan Goldin as well as the creative editorial work in Paper Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar. It is important to me to work with, represent, and tell the stories of Southern creatives. Being a Southern woman is part of my identity and I often feel that people from my region are not taken seriously in creative spaces.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

The first piece of equipment I bought was my Sony A7iii with a kit lens which I put on a Discover credit card. I had absolutely no money when I decided I wanted to purse my creative endeavors but I started small and worked extremely hard as a waitress to pay off the debt. If you have the means to go big right off the bat that’s great, but it’s not required. The first camera I used was a $300 QVC package from my parents and I learned everything I needed to know on it. You don’t need a lot of fancy, expensive equipment to be a successful artist. If you can do it, you can do it on anything. My advice is to work really hard and be a good saver. Try to work jobs in your industry and collect skills. I took a lot of gigs as a PA, Stylist Assistant and Grip making small day rates to both build my knowledge and earn money.

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

There is no clock to race. Everyone moves at their own pace and your story is going to look completely different than everyone else’s. I had to unlearn that no time spent on my journey has ever been wasted, it has all delivered me to where I am and will deliver me to where I am headed.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.palomedia.art
• Instagram: @palomedia