We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kiana Churchill a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kiana, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

My entire life I’ve been in a family of hard workers. Dedicated to fulfilling a calling or following a dream, I learned what hard work was from a very young age and understood that it wasn’t always pretty or convenient. My parents had 3 young kids before they were in their mid-twenties, but without fail this never stopped them from digging themselves out of the trenches of poverty and creating a life for themselves to provide for our family. My mom balanced making time for her kids, working, and putting herself through nursing school. My dad was an entrepreneur and worked day (and sometimes all night) after day, weekend after weekend to keep his business successful. Growing up my parents always encouraged my siblings and I to be brave in chasing our dreams and work hard for it even when it was hard or didn’t seem to make sense.

From my parents instilling hardworking and demonstrating commitment to each other and ti their careers, it impacted me greatly. Its from the example they have set before me that I have adopted a philosophy of – Plan. Process. Practice. & Progress.

Plan – Dream big. Brain storm ideas without fear of failure. Approach these ideas with a “why not” attitude.

Process – Be Realistic. Create your plan and steps to achieve this goal or complete this project. What will work? What might not work? Have a backup plan.

Practice – Commit and don’t give up. Good things never come easy, you have to work hard and long before you have a reputation or see the progress you’re hoping to see.

Progress – Always look higher. There is always progress to be made. Repeat this cycle with passion and hard work and its guaranteed to push you further into progression and success. When you complete a goal, set another one harder than the last.

Kiana, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi, my name is Kiana Churchill, I am a San Antonio Creative. Being from a beautiful city like San Antonio, I grew up loving culture and art. Since I could hold a pencil, I’ve been drawing and painting and submersing myself in a world of creating, teaching myself forms of art just by curiosity.

When I was in middle school and high school I started to take photos using my blue iPhoneC. I’d take walks around my neighborhood, parks and any city I’d visit for vacation, taking photos of landscapes, architecture, plants, etc. My best friend would come over and we’d raid my moms closet of all her best dresses and heels; She’d model and I’d take the photos.

It wasn’t until I was regularly attending my College Service at my Church that the very well experienced and talented photographer Dylan DePaul asked if I’d be interested in photographing the services/events. Eager to learn I said yes. He provided his Canon 5div for me since I had no equipment of my own and gave me the freedom to experiment with settings and and allowed me to learn how to use a camera.

Moving forward from that season I had great friends of mine that allowed me to borrow their equipment while I taught myself how to become the photographer I am today. Every now and then these friends would share their gifts and advice with me and that was huge in my development.

In the season I’m in right now I’ve been so thankful for the community of creatives that have helped lift me up and learn and given me opportunities. It wasn’t until 2021 that I purchased my very first camera of my own. The camera I started on from Dylan. So you can imagine the sentimental value it carries for me. It’s been a whirlwind of emotions as its been my first year in freelance photography.

As I grow as a person and Photographer, all I know is that I love people. I value the courage and the vulnerability it takes to trust someone to capture your story, memories, and achievements to share with the world. I do what I love and I love the people I meet, I don’t take my job lightly.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Beyond using photography to be creative, I use my talent to be intentional with each and every person I meet. I love when my clients are able to walk into a space and feel comfortable and free to be themselves. It’s the basis of what I do to capture raw and authentic moments. The joys of life, the pains of life and everything in between. I think anyone can pick up a camera and figure out how to use it to a certain extent, but I know that intentionality comes through every time. I’ve learned that being raw, genuine, and completely and wildly myself shines through any mistake, rainy day, change of plans that I run into with any shoot I have. At the end of the day, I want the love I have for people and the way I made them feel , to be remembered before any photo I’ve taken ever is.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

“To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.” – Joseph Chilton Pearce

Imposter syndrome is real. As a creative, or lets be honest – a human in general, being vulnerable is hard.

To stand in front of the world bearing your heart, your passion, your creativity, can be a war on your self confidence and often times a discouragement to create.

My advice to wary individuals struggling with Imposter syndrome :

Your work isn’t perfect and thats valid, however, your progress is valid too. Competency takes time.
There is a lot of ground to cover –
Plan. Process. Practice. Progress.

The only way out is through. Move Forward. Always.

xx

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kikichurchillphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kiki.churchill/

Image Credits
KIANA “KIKI” CHURCHILL