We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Hope Wright. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Hope below.
Hi Hope, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
It’s a funny story really. I love the moment people click and realize the connect of my brands name. If you’re from Atlanta or familiar with it you’ve probably heard the saying “Atl Hoe”. Anytime you go to concerts ect the crowd starts chanting it. I use to go to a bunch of shows and at the time a friend came up with “Atlhope “ instead of “Atl Hoe” and it just kind of stuck. So anytime I was at a concert with friends they would chant “atlhope” instead.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’ve always considered myself to be a creative and felt encouraged and safe within that space. I was never expected to go a traditional route unless that was what I wanted. So I’m definitely thankful for that.
In high school I was always taking photos and somewhere along the way I kind of stopped. It wasn’t until the beginning of Covid when I realized that I wanted to pick it back up again. I think there was a silver lining for a lot of people – not to downplay the severity of Covid but I think so many beautiful things came out of it. People began new journeys, opened businesses they had only dreamed of before, and they stopped living life in a box they thought they needed to live in – I love that. It evoked a lot of change.
At the time I decided to pick up my camera again, I had been doing hair for six years. As I’m sure you can understand, it was a rough time for service workers. For so many, we were the first contact they had had with someone. We held space for everyone to unload on us, I’m not going to lie, it was alot. I was messing around with my camera on the side and the love of photography came flooding back. I decided to drop down to four work days to allow more time to practice, learn, and grow in my skill. Four days eventually turned into two days. I was shooting as much as possible. I pitched the company I was working for, Van Michael Salons, to be an in-house photographer and they accepted my offer. I help them create content, shoot event/ hair shows, run creative shoots for employees to have a space to be artist, run their social media, and I balance that with other photography clients.
I’m very fortunate to have this opportunity and thankful that Van Council has given me space to master my skill. With my background being in the beauty industry, that is where a lot of my focus is. Beauty and fashion – it’s always been a major part of my life and that alongside photography is where I truly feel alive. My ultimate goal is to shoot editorial and beauty campaigns.
This January I officially became full time with photography and videography and man I was ecstatic. I’m allowing myself a moment to structure my days and sit down and see what that looks like for me. I’m in the process of looking for a studio, which is super exciting, and I’ll be so thankful to have more space to create freely. This year my focus is to narrow in on my skill and continue to push myself out of my comfort zone. There’s no growth in comfort, right?
The question “what are you most proud of” really got me intrigued.
I think I’m just proud of myself for not staying content or comfortable. I put myself in rooms that in my mind I had not earned yet but I grew in those spaces and I grew the most in my mistakes. As scary as it can be to think about what the future holds excitement pushes it to the side.
I feel motivated and hype to see what these next few years have in store for me; if this interview is any preview of what 2023 has to offer me I think im off to a killer start, so thank you.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
I think art is what makes this world so colorful. Writers, florists, painters, film makers, chefs, the list goes on. I guess I just love knowing that what I add to this world fits in that space, it’s freeing to create. To have a vision, collaborate with others and execute it. There is nothing more satisfying then a vision, or a version of it- because sometimes it leads you in a new direction but however it ends up that coming to life in some form. I think equally being around creatives is so insanely cool.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
That’s a good question. I fee like we are now living in a more accepting world of artists and creatives so it’s tough to say. I do however think a lot of people who don’t air on the creative side think certain passions should stay just that, a passion, a hobby. There are so many outlets and streams of income for artists theses day and it’s become less taboo to take that route. I think we also live in a world that doesn’t require a college degree for a stable life or career and that can be hard for non creatives to wrap their heads around. We have a computer in our hands at all times, we can educate ourselves how we see fit. And college isn’t one size fits all. There is more than one way to make a living
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