We recently connected with Kara Garcia and have shared our conversation below.

Kara, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I grew up in the 90s in the generation of disposable cameras. Every now and then, I’d snag my mom’s point-and-shoot Kodak film camera and take a few shots. My parents noticed my love of photography and gifted me a Barbie polaroid for one of my birthdays. It was just a natural love of mine, and it was a hobby I carried with me for years. In college, I took a film photography class and learned the mechanics of film, aperture, shutter, and so on, while at the same time, working at a photo lab and developing film!

Later, I became a model and found myself bored during shoots, wishing I was on the other side of the camera! Eventually, I got thrown into a role teaching photography. At this point, I still had very low confidence in my abilities, but I pushed through. Now, I have worked as a Communications Director for a couple of organizations in addition to doing freelance work, and have learned so much beyond the aesthetics, truly leaning into a storytelling aspect of the art.

I still remember the first few paid photoshoots I did for families and brands though. I remember overthinking every step of the way. I had to be really thoughtful and intentional – are my settings correct? Is everything balanced? Is this combination of shutter speed and ISO going to give me the look I want? And then editing! That was a whole other adventure to learn.

Now it is all second nature; I also think I had to remind myself not to judge myself or my art. That takes the joy out of it. My art doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s, and I’m not doing myself any favors when I pick it apart and critique it. I simply need to enjoy the process, release inhibitions, and create something lovely or sharp or wonderful!

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?

Right now, I have four kids. I’m nursing my youngest child. I’m finishing my dissertation for my Doctorate in Communications. I do contract work social media, photography, email marketing, and website design for a few different organizations, and I also work full-time as a Communications Director for a ministerial nonprofit. It’s funny because I look back at my life and see how every role I’ve been in, every skill I’ve learned, has come together to lead me here. Now, my brand, AMOCLARITY, allows me to do what I love, visual storytelling and communications for brands that inspire me, for work! It doesn’t feel like work at all. I’m so thankful that I get to do this, but I also recognize that I put in a lot of effort over the years to get to this point. Friends often ask me how I get these amazing opportunities, and I’m always biting my tongue not to say: I hustle!! I pitch myself to organizations I want to work with. I went back to college four times! When I get a job, I do it 100%.

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

Honestly, for me, it has been through church! I’ve worked for church-related organizations for the past few years, and my main source of community is through church. Churches are filled with business owners looking for help with their brands and families looking for photos.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

I really take the time to understand my clients’ vision before we even get started. This allows me to create images and designs that actually capture the vision in their hearts. When you do that as an artist, people will come back with future visions because they trust that you can bring them to life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.amoclarity.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/amoclarity
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kara-g-5336a3150/