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

Chris, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

The idea behind the business name, “Chicken or The Egg Photography” specifically came because I was stuck in a philosophical debate with myself.

I had wanted to quit my job for years to do photography full time. I didn’t know how I was going to make it work, I just knew I wanted to take my hobby and turn it into my career. Unfortunately, I was a lot of talk, and not a lot of action for a very long time. More often than not I let my fear get the best of me and I didn’t allow the real me to be.

For years I battled with myself over the ideas of: Was I too chicken? Or was I stuck inside an egg whose shell had to break in order to live my life how I wanted. I realized I was both simultaneously.

I remember sitting in a Pizza Hut trying to come up with a fancy, serious name only to get annoyed irritated by the time I left. As I was walking out the door it hit me “Chicken or the Egg Photography”. It’s funny, memorable, and most of all a conversation starter, no matter where you are in the world.

I didn’t want a serious brand, I wanted a fun brand, a relatable brand and what’s more fun than chickens? I used the chicken mentality and started using social media, mainly on Facebook to blog about my innermost thoughts and sharing photos. I used humor, I interjected thoughts that maybe some people wouldn’t have wanted out there. At the same time I knew if I was going to be relatable, I had to be real. I had to stop being chicken, and start crossing the road with some prowess, not cowardice.

I’ve been photographing for about a decade, and it took me 6-7 of those 10 years to build my business up to the point where I could shift into it full time. When I first started in photography, I had no problem I was solving, I was just exploring my world because I needed the change in routine so badly. I also said “I’m never photographing people.” I look back on that now and there’s only been a handful of projects in the last three years or more that haven’t involved humans in some semblance. It makes me chuckle more than anything because if someone had told me that I would love shooting the stuff I do now, I would’ve side-eyed you because in my mind I just wanted to do nature shots, landscape shots, and stay away from people.

At end of 2020/beginning of 2021 I got tired of being a chicken and just being a cyclical bad habit person. I sobered up from alcohol, sugar and caffeine and quit all my addictions, I started eating healthy, I took care of my mental health and within seven months I was ready to quit my full time job. I remember handing in a three month resignation letter and instantly the weight was off my back. I had a seasonal job lined up, and one single photo job lined up after working a full time job for 17 years. I shot school portraits for the seasonal job and beyond the music festival that I shot I didn’t know what else to do. Come Jan 1, 2022 I was unemployed, nowhere to go, nothing to do, sitting at home thinking “Well, this is it…I have no more paychecks coming in…what do I do now??”

I made over 100 phone calls in a week. Sent hundreds of emails, got only a handful of gigs. I really didn’t know who I was or what my specialty was still, I was just a jack of all trades, or so I thought. What I wanted, didn’t pay very well, or at all at the time and I knew I’d burn out if I kept trying to go down that path of trying to shoot concerts and be in the music scene as a photographer.

My priorities and ideas shifted throughout the last decade, and up until the last three years, and really until the last two I was very focused on events and being the guy who would get you great marketing content for your website or socials, not exactly knowing what to call that kind of photography.

I was just kind of a guy who did it all for a long time. That is until I got onto LinkedIn. I found my tribe of people in cities I longed to be in like Los Angeles, NYC, Chicago, who were working full time and being awesome at their jobs. I take a lot of lessons from watching peoples content and comments. I’ve made friends, and connections in those places. Contrary to the belief that no one wants to help you in this industry, and everyone’s only out to make a buck…I found nothing but support and people who wanted to help a young pup learn how to swim in this ever changing market.

The reality was, I didn’t know what to call my style of photography for a long time, until Jan 2025 when I decided to start calling myself a full service commercial photographer.

My unique approach that kept me forefront to the local game was my drive to make my dreams a reality. From a tech perspective my shots and POV within events and happenings and shoots. It’s a photojournalist approach to most everything I do. Yes it’s commercial, Yes I care about my end product because who doesn’t want it to look good, but I also take pride in being able to have the ability to from capturing advert style photos in the moment with little planning or being able to have lots of plans and getting all your lighting just right before you snap the photo. Then to be able to capture high speed action keeps me on my toes.

I provide a well balanced approach and ability to anyone who needs a quality photographer.

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 am photojournalist at heart who deals in the commercial and editorial photography world mainly.

Many people knew me as a nature guy for a long time. When I transitioned to events and shooting local concerts, and then national tours and did that for a lot of years it became my signature thing, and I started really getting known for my photos in those realms, to the point where people just began to know it was my photo. That was a proud moment when someone told me “I saw something of yours and I didn’t even have to check who it was, I knew it was you.”

As I began to get burned out of just capturing events, I started focusing more on the advertising and brand side of things aligning my visions with other companies visions. In 2024 I began to really take a hold on this a bit more because I was shooting a local bar’s content from patrons having good times to product shots. I began to take the idea a little more seriously that I could be more of a commercial photographer at heart. I began to get bigger clients in 2024 because my name was traveling out to names who needed the kind of stuff I was getting.

I truly believe one of the key solutions I solve for clients is a quick turnaround and clear straightforward communication with my work. Whether it’s a commercial job, a wedding, a local event, a concert review I pride myself on the fact that you won’t be waiting weeks to get things. I am all about communication and staying in the know with one another.

What sets me apart is I suspect is my shots are editorial and photojournalistic in nature – portraits aside. I move around, A LOT at most gigs. I don’t just stay put. This is certainly something I’ve been told a lot at gigs, “Did you even relax? You were everywhere!” But my thought is, you hired me, and you want the shots, they don’t make themselves happen.

There’s a few of “proud moments” I have had throughout the course my career so far. Quitting my secure job for starters, that was huge, and then making as much income in my first year of freelancing as I did at my full time job. I really didn’t think I’d make that much.

By the second year I had achieved all my goals I set out to, which honestly led me to a depression. However, along came my next proud moment, being able to work with Tough Mudder not just once, but three times. Even getting to shoot out to California for one of the events. I was alone, by myself, having never traveled that far alone, and I had a blast. I used the opportunity to explore and of course shoot the event.

In between it all I’ve also been able to photograph and meet some of my favorite bands as a result of being a journalist too.

The main thing is, I hope people walk away finding me easy going and fun to work with. I want everyone to succeed, and I am willing to help anyone out who needs it. If we all work together, we all win together.

My brand is meant to be fun, while getting you the quality you need. I want you to remember me for the next time, and the next time, and the time after that.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I literally built my business platform on social media, mainly Facebook. I had quit social media for a few years before coming back. The only reason I came back to it was because I was in a band and needed to network and connect for that purpose, but otherwise I didn’t really use it much.

Around 2015 is when the urge to shoot photographs became a thing. I started out with an iPhone, and it sounds so silly now, but I didn’t think I could use my phone to take quality photos. But I started using it, and people were loving the content I was putting out.

In 2018 I officially started the Facebook page and began inviting people out to watch it, as a way to slowly build the business. I boosted posts here and there, but really the main thing was consistency. I posted a lot, almost every day, and gave my thoughts and comments and ideas in a space where I felt safe enough to do it.

I also used it as a place to keep and store memories for things down the road. It’s a time capsule that has provided for me throughout the years.

I used to share my content to all the photo groups I was in, and garnered fans that way at first. With the consistency I was putting out content, I had a good following grow from that.

I began to realize the potential social media had for me and growing a business. When I began to photograph bands and events, I started tagging both of them and it really helped create connections in new ways.

I used the social media as a beacon of blogging, and a “personal” public journal in a way, and I know that helped open connections and doors to places for a while.

I’ve stuck to that game plan and it’s played out well. Except for one boosted profile ad placement all my growth across Facebook has been 100% organic.

As I began to get tired of Facebook alone, I got onto LinkedIn and growing that platform has been similar to Facebook. I now see, I really should’ve started on LinkedIn when I quit my full time job to start my business I realize that now, but I also know that the traction I’ve gotten so far has been amazing. I’ve been able to meet people I would never be able to meet otherwise, even virtually.

Frankly speaking, the power of the internet has made my business possible.

I am in business for the long term and while social media may not exist forever, it’s a tool, and a valuable one. It’s an amazing platform for a visual business. People who say it’s useless don’t know how to use it. If that’s the case, hire someone who does. It can feel like no one is watching, but I am here to tell you, numbers like stats can be deceiving. There are more people who don’t interact than who do (unless it’s a massive announcement), and they’ll say something in real life to you about something they saw online, rather than comment online.

That said, also get a website – and an email! Much like a camera with the triangle: exposure, aperture, shutter. In business you need at minimum a triangle of ways to connect: website, social media, phone number/email for contact.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

There is three…

First one, I was told by someone, very drunk and very angry and screaming at me, “REAL ARTISTS DON’T GIVE THEIR ART AWAY FOR FREE!”

Admittedly, I was pretty upset. I took it to heart because I give my heart and soul to my photos and art. However I wasn’t even what I would consider an artist back then, I was just someone taking photos on my phone and sharing my thoughts. I was still very much learning and growing into what I became at the time.

I look back on that, and I think if I didn’t have the mindset, “I’m on his mind, even if he’s drunk….so that’s a good thing! I’m making an impact!”

Going along with that, I can also say with 100% certainty that if I hadn’t given away a lot of the work, and given so much of my time to start off while I was learning I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am today, respected by my peers, respected by the people who use me, and given great referrals on a consistent basis. I knew I had to grow into the role properly, rather than be “that guy” who talks a big game and overcharges for a junk product.

The second one was in essence being told from a long standing client they were going to move on in a different direction. Having worked with them for years at this point, I was devastated. I felt slighted and backhanded. I was gutted, and it sent me into a bad time where I thought “Well if they think that, then everyone thinks that…I should just quit this all and move on to a ‘real job’.”

But it actually opened doors, and it helped me move past a prideful skeleton in my close I didn’t know I had. I ended up getting a client who over the course of a year paid me almost double what I was making from the single client before. But to make a happy ending to this story, I ended up working back with the client who was going to move in a different direction, and we’ve formed a great working partnership that has definitely come full circle more than once.

Third, I was told by multiple friends when I said I wanted to make $5,000 in a month with photo work, “Photography is hard, and you’ll never make that much doing photography.” I’ve cleared that number multiple times in the last two years and change. Stick with it, work hard, work smart, be one with the forces with in your favor.

The point is, sometimes you have to take the bruises to build your armor. You must crawl before you walk, and walk before you run.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.chickenortheeggphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thechickendoesphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chickenortheeggphotography/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisrugowski/

Image Credits

Chris Rugowski, Chicken or The Egg Photography