We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kim E. Powell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kim thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about how you got your first non-friend, non-family client. Paint the picture for us so we can feel the same excitement you felt on that day.

This story is one that makes me smile because it involves Black women through and through. I was in the space of not knowing what I wanted out of freelance. I quit my job – took a month off to put the pieces together. On September 1, 2018, I landed my first gig. Per the recommendation of a lovely Black business women, I started pitching myself to artists coming into town, and companies that I admired. I sent an email to a photographer I adore, Deun Ivory. She was coming to Atlanta to host a workshop for Black women photographers. Within 24 hours of sending her a pitch and my reel, she emailed me to hop on a call! Once we hopped on the call, she drafted up a mood-board, and I showed up camera in-hand on the day-of, ready to capturing the excellence that is Black women. Deun was so lovely to work with, encouraged me, and guided me on a follow-up call with some questions I had about business. To this day, I still speak regularly to folks I met that day. There was a cool full-circle moment when I was shooting a tour that she attended a year later. Really proud of that story! Deun is still a photographer that is top of mind for me and has grown tremendously since then and will continue to! She is a star!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

I started my relationship to video before I picked up a camera. I like to think my obsession with YouTube in high school fed my curiosity for the medium of video later on in college. It’s funny that my mother used to tell me “get off that computer! How many videos did you watch today?” Only to now make videos that end up being watched on laptops and phones via YouTube and social media. I went on to college thinking I would be a journalist, and instead landed my second choice in the art school. I had plans to still switch to journalism until I took my first video class called “Time Arts.” To this day, I still consider video an art of time. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I had professors and advisors that guided me to really examine my interest in video seriously. I decided to take the leap, and after college, it took me a while to land where I am now, as a video director with a fine art and art video background. I like to capture the everyday in beautiful and mundane ways. The simplicity of what is already happening in life is so beautiful, complex, interesting, exposing… that is a huge principle of art video. It is founded on capture reality in a way that scripted content and film is not. So when I say I am a “video artist” or “video director” I mean video, not film.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Residencies! Find online platforms that cater to learning in real-life, outside of a classroom. As a creative or artist, you are a forever student. I’ve been stuck in a space of wanting to expand my knowledge of video, even now, a decade in. That is key, so I am presently applying to residencies and reaching out to people that are better than me to shadow or potentially connect. It takes persistence and humility to keep going and get better! Look at sites like therememory.com or @blackwomenphotographers to connect with local creatives and bridge real-life connections.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

You might be good at creative ideas and your craft, but often artists and creatives have to experience a lot of failures in order to be more business inclined. Learn from creative people further along than you that know business well. Ask questions, create systems, and plan to get permanent help as soon as you can afford to [bookkeeper, assistant, accountant, etc].

Read books like “The E-Myth” and treat your business like a life-long class you need to pass. Process every L you take as an owner to avoid them the next time. Be organized. Creatives aren’t inherently unstructured. I’m proof of that.

Be sure to constantly revise your contracts, seek counsel, and be transparent about expectations with clients, while setting good boundaries. You are your own boss, so even while you have to be tough on yourself, also learn when to be gentle. This is one of the hardest things to master as I often think about the irony of sometimes feeling like I am my own worst boss. Step away when you need to, and advocate and fight when you need to, be it with a client, or your own goals. You can’t let yourself grow a distasteful relationship with an expression or craft you love, so protect it by setting good boundaries not just with others, but with yourself. As a creative I spend as much time on the creative as I do the structural.

Lastly, sometimes I set goals, and they aren’t always realized how I thought they would have been. Be adaptable. There is no clean blueprint for the uniqueness of a creative in business after all. Embrace the process and have a good circle of people that know you and your work.

Contact Info:

• Website: powitskim.com
• Instagram: @powitskim
• Linkedin: Kim E. Powell
• Twitter: @powitskim
• Youtube: Powitskim
• Other: @powitskim on Tiktok / @newgengallery on IG

Image Credits
Mary Claire – portrait of me Audra Edwards – Stage shot [Jackie Hill Perry] Me – all others