We were lucky to catch up with Gabe Fogleman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Gabe, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think in order to be successful, you have to be willing to make sacrifices. Over the years, I’ve seen so many people that I have worked with who allow themselves to settle for mediocrity. When we choose to settle, we restrict ourselves from ever reaching our full potential. And that to me is success. So for me, in order to be successful and allow myself to reach my full potential, I have to be willing to make sacrifices. In my experience with creative work that I have done, there have been countless times that I have completed a project that people couldn’t stop raving about. And because of that, I’d have coworkers that would think that they couldn’t do the same thing because they just didn’t have the same creative eye or ear that I have. The reality of that is, they absolutely could. I just happened to sacrifice a little extra time, a little extra sleep researching whatever it was that I was trying to accomplish. That could be the perfect music mix, or the perfect film edit. Greatness and success always comes at a cost.

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 have been a long time creative; getting my first camera in junior high, teaching myself how to edit in photoshop in high school, and then eventually teaching myself how to play the guitar at 19. I’ve always had a passion for the arts and creative things. I had no idea that the things I loved doing as a kid that I would actually use as an adult.

At 21, I started working for a small promotional company screenprinting t-shirts and then eventually moving into the art department designing everything from business cards and koozies to t-shirts and signs. During those same years, I was highly involved in the church that I was at. I started out playing guitar while helping with whatever the church needed, from serving in the youth or kids to helping in every Easter and Christmas production that we had.
At the end of 2020, I left the promotional company for a full time position at the church serving as the Creative Director.

As Creative Director, I started seeing gaps that our church needed, one being pictures and footage of our church so people could learn more about who we were instead of our church just post stock images. So I bought a camera and reignited my passion for photography and film.

Over the next 4 years, I had opportunities to capture moments and testimonies from all aspect of the church from youth camp or from members of the church and then turn those moments into powerful and engaging content for the church. I learned that I have a real passion for coming alongside people and helping them to create stories through photo and video to help get their message out there.

So that’s what I’m doing now. I believe it is my purpose to help others fulfill their purpose. And I help to do that through photo and video. I’m looking to work with people who are wanting to get their God-given message out there in a beautiful, filmic style. I do this by coming in and not just trying to offer a service, but really to help be OF service to whoever I’m working with. Coming in with a servant’s heart is really what separates me from everyone who does this type of work. It’s what allows me to come in with open eyes are ears, helping me to capture every detail of a shoot, from engaging and inspiring speaker content, to attendees smiling, attentive faces. Nothing makes me feel the most pride than seeing the joy in someone’s face as they relive moments that I’ve captured through my lens.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Being a creative has taught me to always be ready to pivot. Sudden change used to always freak me out because I am very much so structured and like to be prepared and well-planned. When things didn’t seem to go that way, it would cause me to go into a panic. But the reality is, nothing is ever perfect. No shoot has ever gone exactly to plan. There’s so many moving parts and we have to be flexible. Life is the exact same way to me. Things happen. Things we can’t always plan for, and when they do, we just have to pivot.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is giving someone something that I’ve created for them that just feels memorable. That’s my goal when creating, to have it feel as if it’s a keepsake. Something that they would want to watch or see over and over, or something that they would want to be able to share with their kids or grandkids. To be able to create something that helps to tell their story and their legacy. I think anyone can take a picture or anyone can take a video, but to be able to take that turn it into something really special for someone, that’s the difference to me. And that’s what I strive to do when I create. I want to create things for people that they can relive over and over. That they’re proud to show people and that their loved ones can watch and rewatch and feel as if they were actually there.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gabefogleman.mypixieset.com
• Instagram: gabefogleman
• Facebook: gabefogleman