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

Alright, Erin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Leaving my “stable” corporate job at a top hedge fund to be an entrepreneur as a professional photographer and content creator, has been the biggest risk I’ve taken in my life (to date).

Even though it’s only been year since I made the jump to be self-employed and freelance, this was a long time coming. I can still remember my graduation commencement ceremony in 2014 when the confetti was falling down from the ceiling of Madison Square Garden, and I was thinking to myself “oh god, how am I going to survive the next 40 years behind a desk?” This was coming from someone who had been working since 15 years of age, and had eight different office internships during college.

I didn’t realize it then, but being confined to a corporate job was not in the cards for me in the grand scheme of my life.

Growing up in a bi-racial household, with more of my upbringing leaning on my Asian side, there was a lot of the traditional mentality to go to college and make a steady paycheck. Creative fields were not an option because my perception at the time was still of the “starving artist” who pursued their passion, but were broke. That was a non-negotiable! I went to a business school for undergrad which fed into all the huge institutional banks in NYC so it was the norm to get a job in the finance industry. It also paid the best compared to other industries.

In 2017, after a few years in the workforce, I started looking at other options. Even though I had only been working full-time for a short period, I had already experienced numerous instances of toxic workplace culture and sexism at the companies I was at. I became increasingly interested in the “digital nomadic lifestyle” but was overwhelmed how to get into it. Back then, social media was not how it is now. Resourceful information on how to make a lucrative, or even livable income was not easily found. It would take me another three years before I decided I had had enough and finally make a change.

2020 was really eye opening for me. While the news was reporting the worst employment numbers in recent US history, I saw so many people online thriving and having the most success they ever had. My own employer at the time, one of the top hedge funds in the world, was having its best year ever. I started asking myself “if they can do it, why can’t I?” Even though I worked at a hedge fund, I was making pennies compared to my peers, and was severely underpaid compared to the market. By then, I was fully disillusioned about my prospects of “making it” up the corporate ladder. No matter how hard I worked, and what company I went to, there was always going to be someone else capping my salary, toxic culture, micro-managing and emotional abuse. It didn’t feel sustainable for my mental health to exist in an environment like that for another 30-40 years.

The real risk was actually staying in an unfulfilling job and always wondering the “what if.” Not to be morbid, but I think about my deathbed. I don’t want to be one of those people who look back on their life regretting not being a little courageous.

Since leaving, there has already been some wins that wouldn’t have happened had I stayed in my 9-5. As my area of focus is in photography and content creation, I’m happy to report that I create content that frequently goes viral. On top of that one of my literal dream brands recently reached out to me for a partnership! I’d say the risk has been worth the reward.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a New York City-based photographer & content creator specializing in creating digital content. I focus on creating high-quality deliverables such as still-photos, stop motions and short-form videos for brands on social media platforms like Tik Tok and Instagram

I bought my first camera in 2014 in order to take pictures of NYC cityscapes during my commute home. It wasn’t until 2018 when I finally started understanding the fundamentals of photography, like the exposure triangle and shooting in manual mode. Once I started to get better with the technical, I also started practicing the compositional aspects of photography and posted my pictures on Instagram as a hobby. My friends, and surprisingly my co-workers, that followed me were supportive and started asking me to take their pictures. I got my first client in 2019 and started to do photography as a side hustle.

Once the pandemic hit, I was determined to join the Great Resignation and become an entrepreneur as a photographer and content creator. At first, I didn’t realize the creator economy, and influencer marketing in particular, was a full-fledged industry that went hand in hand with social media. In 2022 alone it’s projected to be $16 billion. With social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram highlighting short-form video, I focused my efforts to become an expert at creating engaging and educational photography and travel content.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I only had one source of capital to fund my business, which was my full-time job in corporate. As much as I did not have a pleasant experience working in the corporate world, I practice gratefulness for the jobs that employed me. The steady paycheck that I had for seven years allowed me to save up my money in order to make the jump to my next chapter.

I was able to buy a lot of my camera gear as a personal expense long before I started my business and divided my income to fund my emergency savings, retirement investments, pay off all my student loans and pay for the startup costs of my LLC.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

As I go through my entrepreneurial journey, I’m learning more and more just how imperative mindset is. Back in 2017 when I was first toying with the idea of alternate employment I came across ‘The Four-Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferris. It collected dust on a shelf for a few years before I picked it up again and actually read through it, and learned about the importance of outsourcing and automation.

Some other books that really made an impact of me include, “You Are A Badass At Making Money” by Jen Sincero, which talks about how having a positive mindset around growing wealth is important, if you want to grow wealth. As well as “Company of One” by Paul Jarvis, which is especially impactful for me because we live in a capitalistic society where many businesses are obsessed with growth and scaling, and it reaffirmed that staying small is totally okay. One of my long-term goals for my business is to remain a one-woman show (albeit with some outsourcing to some contractors like an accountant, lawyer and VA). I have no interest in managing others and want to continue focus on building a business that fits my desired lifestyle.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://niredonahue.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/niredonahue
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niredonahue/
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@niredonahue

Image Credits
All image credits: Erin Donahue (@niredonahue)