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

Jo, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Since the beginning of my career as a photographer, I’ve noticed a lack of imagery and media portrayal of women and other underrepresented groups in the outdoor and surf industries.

I knew my female, Lbgtqia+, and Bipoc friends were out there sending the climbs, the mountain bike & trail run adventures, the waves, the powder, and the skateboarding because I was out there with them.

Yet when I saw magazines and social media imagery (3-6 years ago), the imagery contained about 10% or less of women and other underrepresented groups. I felt strongly that these stories needed to be told (and absolutely deserved to be).

That mindset shaped an underlying mission of my work, which is to capture & share the underground stories of passion in the global skate, surf, and mountain communities. I want a broader demographic to see people who they relate to, so they know they can enjoy these healthy outlets in life and nature too.

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

Hi!

I’m Jo Savage. I’m an editorial, commercial lifestyle and adventure photographer (analog and digital, in the water and on land).

My photography roots are in the outdoor, skate and surf industries. However, my craft is broadening into global storytelling pursuits, fashion and editorial more and more.

In addition to photography, I produce, direct, creative direct, write, and prop and wardrobe style on both photo & video projects.

I feel so grateful to have a creative business and to work as a professional photographer for six and a half years.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

I find there are two sources.

One is Instagram marketing: building my portfolio, sharing recent work and projects, and building a community there.

Another source: relationship building and networking within my community and the industries I work in.

Relationships are everything in this line of work. How you treat people is beyond important. You won’t get hired (at least, you shouldn’t) if you’re not easy and fun to work with, if you’re not kind and considerate, and you have a strong work ethic. I love this, because you are rewarded for being a good person in this industry.

This helps to keep the real ones around, which makes the work even more fun.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

This is a fun question! It comes with a story I don’t often share.

I came from a very traditional, business-minded family that somewhat scoffed at creativity (as a profession) and didn’t encourage or support it much in general.

My freshman year in college I declared Film as my major. My parents said, “What are you going to do with that? How are you going to get a job and make money? You should declare General Business and go to those classes until you decide what you actually want to do.”

Just want to say, my parents are awesome and I’m so grateful for the opportunities and loving home they have always provided me.

Following this, I took their advice and declared General Business. I proceeded to bounce from major to major (within the Business school), until I flunked out my sophomore year. I hated going to classes. They were SO boring.

I went back to school at a different university the next semester, oddly enough it is a renowned art and jazz school. I wanted to declare Photography as my major.

Then my parents said, “You already have 2 years of General Business classes. You need to declare something in Business so you can hurry up and graduate.”

So this time, I went back to school and graduated at 22 years-old with great marks with a BA in Risk Management and Insurance. I moved to Austin and became a nanny, a sushi chef, a knife-salesperson, then a scuba-diving instructor in the Caribbean and an estate manager in California.

It wasn’t until I was 30 and about to get my masters to become a Marriage and Family therapist that I landed in Utah for a summer job for wilderness therapy.

Long story short, I bought a camera and didn’t end up taking the summer job. The masters program began in four months, so I used the summer to do odd-jobs and explore Utah with my camera. One of the odd-jobs I took was for an “underground” art, music, and local culture magazine in Salt Lake City (SLUG mag to anyone who is familiar, thanks SLUG).

They sent me to concerts, local start-ups and community events (like Bike Polo and snowboarding hangouts) to snap photos for online and print articles they were crafting. I quickly networked a few content creation and social media management jobs with the people I was assigned to photograph.

That turned into revenue.

My dad then said, “Jo, I’ve never seen you so excited, so passionate, or you work so hard for anything in all of your life and you’re not making that much money. It’s amazing. Now, it doesn’t matter if you start Grad school at 30 or 31 (I was 30 during this conversation). What if you defer Grad school a year, and pursue photography full-time…if you think you could pay your bills? That way you won’t look back and wonder what-if.”

My parents really changed their tune.

In hindsight, this is one of the greatest gifts they ever gave me. I only needed that little support, that small push, from my family to move forward with this “summer hobby”. It took me 10 years to reunite with pursuing the passion I had all along and from day-one in college.

The following two-years I worked nearly 80- hour weeks to make this photography business a reality. And although the hours aren’t as demanding as the first 2-3 years, as a business owner I’m not able to work much less.

Of course there are many challenges, but it’s been so much fun! I’ve met so many amazing people and grown so much in my craft and as a person.

The ironic thing is how much I’ve learned about business by starting a photography business. It wasn’t until I pursued my creativity that I learned huge lessons that go into building and running a sustainable, long-term business.

So to contradict some opinions that being a creative isn’t a “real job”, in my humble opinion it is truly difficult (emotionally, logistically, financially) and time consuming to become a successful creative/creative business that earns merits beyond a “real job”.

The resilience one must have to endure the doubt, the emotional rollercoaster, failure, getting told “no” and the comfort one must amass with financial instability and insecurity, and (again) failure that comes with the territory of being a creative is dumbfounding. It should be upheld as an admirable pursuit and definitely as on of the the least easiest paths to take.

Cheers to all of my fellow creatives out there!! Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://josavagephoto.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jo_savagephotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/josavagephotography
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-savage-photo/