We were lucky to catch up with Hina Mistry recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, let’s jump into one of the most exciting parts of starting a new venture – how did you get your first client who was not a friend or family?

When I first moved to LA, I knew in order to fulfill my dream of becoming a prop stylist I’d need to build a portfolio to show potential clients what I was capable of creating for them. I was new to the country and had just found a part-time job so I resorted to relying on items I had in my home, food I had on hand, returnable objects and a friend’s borrowed camera to create styled imagery I could add to my website. On days off from my day job, I’d work on creating a concept, shot-list, pulling props, and shooting the ideas I’d have in my head. This was the most accessible and budget friendly way for me to build my portfolio at the time (I’m not a photographer, however I learned some simple photography skills and relied on natural light to shoot photos with better quality than what my phone camera could produce). After a few months of building my portfolio/website I felt ready to start reaching out to brands I wanted to work with. The way I landed my first client was by doing a test shoot with their product and cold emailing them that image along with my pitch. I was so surprised and encouraged by the brands willingness to trust me with styling their product, it gave me the confidence to continue a similar approach with other brands.

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

My name is Hina Mistry and I’m a prop stylist. Prop styling is a service provided under the umbrella of photography or video. Prop stylists create a story or scene for a client that conveys a specific mood or vibe and we do this using objects aka ‘props’ (e.g. when shooting a cookbook prop stylists pull the plates, cutlery, napkins etc.). We work with photographers, videographers, creative directors, and food stylists to produce impactful images that hopefully evoke a feeling for the viewer.

I have had a love and interest for interior spaces as far back as I can remember. Even though interiors delighted me, I ended up at university majoring in Criminal Justice & Public Policy with a minor in International Development (these subjects also genuinely interested me). After graduating, I worked at a youth program with young folks from marginalized communities (many of whom were vulnerable to systems of oppression and our faulty justice system). The program focused on cultivating their creative skills through support, resources and mentorship with the goal of empowering them to hone in on their crafts as a means of supporting them towards a better life.

Being around this creative energy re-ignited the creativity I also had within. This inspired me to enroll back into school, but this time for interior decorating. After graduating from interior decorating school I was able to secure a job at the studio of a home decor store and started assisting some stylists and interior designers. It was during this time I discovered my favorite part about interior decorating was actually styling. Upon realizing this discovery, I committed to sharpening my styling skills and eventually applied for a job as a photo assistant for an interior stylist I had followed for many years online. I landed an interview for that job, however I didn’t get the position I applied for. Luckily, at the time I followed up about the position, I was asked if I wanted to assist the prop stylist for a coffee table book they were working on at the time instead. I accepted that offer and through that connection was able to go on to assist many more stylists and eventually transitioned from interior styling to tabletop styling which I absolutely love!

I’m most proud of starting this journey without having any contacts in this industry and not letting that deter me from pursuing this career. As most of us know, a big part of excelling in any line of work is expanding the network of people you know in that industry. Building contacts is such a key part of improving your chances of landing your next job, especially as a freelancer.

A lot of the advice I was given for building contacts in this industry felt forced to me (e.g. attending networking events where I didn’t know a single person) and although this is sound advice for a lot of folks, it didn’t align with me at the time. I really enjoy talking to people, but I’m also not naturally extroverted or great at social interactions in large groups of people. Learning how I felt comfortable approaching people I wanted to work with was a key part of being able to reach out and meet new people. It’s true that pushing through some discomfort allows us to grow and possibly live a life better than what we ever imagined for ourselves. That being said, I also feel that discomfort still needs to be aligned with who you are and where you’re at. For me, doing test shoots and cold emailing people while explaining why I wanted to work with them felt like the right amount of discomfort to push through at the time. I’m now at a place where networking events feel like the right amount of discomfort for meeting more people in this industry, but that is because my capacity for putting myself out there has grown incrementally. I’m so glad I put myself out there in a way that still felt right for me (which to be honest can only be discovered through trial and error).

I’ve also been extremely fortunate that the people I’ve worked with have referred me to others and mentioned my name in rooms I wasn’t in for more opportunities. Building relationships with different folks in this industry and showing up for new challenges has allowed me to grow and continue to grow in a field that brings me joy.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The mission driving my creative journey is to help promote conscious brands and services. By that I mean, brands that are transparent with supporting the preservation and care of our environment & also consider/prioritize the wellness of all people (especially marginalized folks). Prop styling is such a great means of story-telling which ultimately makes it impactful in marketing. Living in modern society, we are bombarded with an overwhelming amount of marketing that often feels like it is steering us further away from our humanity instead of towards the greater good for all people and the planet.

For this reason, I’m even more inspired by brands and services that are making a positive impact and I aim to work with them as clients. If my skills are being used to promote something, I hope it’s for something that makes the world a better place. Realistically, in order to pay my bills, I cannot work solely with these brands, especially while I’m still building my presence as a prop stylist in this industry. However, knowing I’d like to work with conscious brands and initiatives that care about fostering a better future keeps me motivated and inspires my creative journey.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I have been so fortunate to work with and assist some incredible prop stylists who I not only learned a tremendous amount from, but who also treated me so well. I’m assuming showing them I cared about the work and thanking them for considering me every time they reached out to work with me led to them referring me to others via word of mouth. This should also go without saying, but I did the work I was hired to do. I’ve met a number of prop assistants who just “fell into the work”, by knowing people in the industry or because freelancing in this field was flexible enough for them to pursue other paths more aligned with the work they actually want to do. There’s nothing wrong with working for those reasons, however, if it prevents you from caring enough to do a good job on the job, it shows and could understandably lead to not being re-hired or referred. I believe being able to cultivate and maintain relationships on set coupled with putting in the work & actually wanting to be in this industry got me to this point. I genuinely enjoy working with people and supporting folks where I can, it’s an incredible bonus that it gets to be in a creative field I enjoy so much!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://hinamistry.wixsite.com/creative
• Instagram: @missmistryy

Image Credits
personal photo- photographer Kevin Coffey Live Tinted photo- photographer Veronica Crawford cheese & crackers photo- photographer: Tatijana Vasily candle photo: photographer David Koung Peng, food stylist: Christiane Hur living rm photo- photographer Kevin Coffey