We recently connected with Laia Gore and have shared our conversation below.

Laia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I haven’t always been able to earn a living full time being a creative. When I first moved out of my parents house and down to St. Pete, I was doing photography on and off full time, depending on the time of year and customer flow. I was a bit scattered at the time though, I never narrowed my focus. I would take any and every kind of client I could get, which was definitely not the way to go. My marketing and customer base was all over the place, so instead of pulling in a strong number of clients in one area, I was pulling in a few here and there from all over, Gradually, I started narrowing down what kinds of photo sessions I would take on, and only photographing the kinds of sessions I WANTED to shoot. I went from a very scattered wedding/family/maternity/engagement, dog, random event photographer, to a very neat, focused, Family, Children, Maternity oriented photographer. And once I started focusing on that market, work became a lot more steady and I was actually enjoying it.

So, I guess what I wish I knew in the beginning is, not everyone is your client or worth your focus. It’s okay to turn down work that doesn’t suit your brand, because the potential clients you want, the clients you NEED, are going to be looking at your portfolio, and they’re going to want consistency and cohesion.

Another thing that has helped me earn a full time living, even in the last year, was branching out to other creative fields; I hate to call it a side hustle, because it’s hardly on the side. In the last year, I discovered a love and talent for jewelry making, which has been wildly successful. I know my whole first paragraph of this was me saying you need to focus, but I think it’s important, especially if you’re like me and have diverse interests, that you keep your creative juices flowing in any direction you can. I LOVE photography, but I was so busy I was starting to feel a little burnt out. I never want to quit photography obviously, but to take a half step back meant I would need a little extra income somewhere; and an office job was just not going to cut it for me. So, I started selling my jewelry online and at pop up shops to supplement my income and take some pressure off of my photography business and I couldn’t be happier. I may even be busier juggling these two creative endeavors, but it’s a less stressful kind of busy and I can enjoy both photography and my jewelry businesses!

Laia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got into the photography industry at a pretty young age, I was about 15 when I had my first paying client (I think it was about $20, haha). I had such a love for my hobby that I had had from childhood, that I couldn’t imagine doing anything else as a career. In high school I took any photo job I could get for any amount of money, using my uncle’s camera that I barely knew how to use, until I earned enough to buy my first camera. I took online classes and mentoring (I can not express how important it is to invest in your education, whether it be video tutorials or college classes, a good teacher is essential). I moved to St. Pete, kept my clients in my hometown area and made new one’s in Tampa Bay. Back then I photographed a little bit of everything, even photographed concerts for a couple of small magazines and toured with a band a few times, which was amazing. I ended up leaning more towards fine art portraits though, which is what I believe my clients love about my work most today.

I now only offer a small range of photo sessions, so I can focus on what I love. I mainly work with children, family, maternity and newborn clients, creating magical, whimsical portraits for these families. I believe my editing style and my way with children sets me apart from most other photographers; some of my clients call me the toddler whisperer, haha. I can almost always get even the most strong willed children to cooperate and connect for a photo, and that’s something I pride myself on. As for the editing, I love to edit. I love to take an ordinary photo and bring out the magic in photoshop. If it’s a gloomy day, I love to add in a gorgeous sunset or night sky, I love to add butterflies and sun rays to bring out the beauty in the mundane, and create a true work of art that my clients will want to hang in their home forever.

The jewelry business is somewhat of a new development, I’ve been doing that for a little over a year. I kind of just fell into it honestly; one of my favorite things to do is to go to the craft store and spend money on things I don’t really need, just to try them out. Couple that with my newfound spirituality/crystal obsession, and I was trying to wire wrap every rock in my house. Key word there, “trying” …not succeeding. However, this got my brain working in a new direction and I was teaching myself different ways to make jewelry with crystals that did not involve wire wrapping. Before I knew it, I was one of those crazy ladies you always see in the bead aisle spending hundreds of dollars on beads and hardware and gemstones and everything else. It took off surprisingly fast, by the end of summer 2021, I had an etsy shop getting 5-10 orders per week and by the end of the year, I had starting doing pop up markets. Now, I’m doing 2-4 pop up markets per week and just signed a lease for a storefront in Cedar Key (opening in November/December),

I believe my designs are truly unique, you see a lot of jewelry out there, but I’ve never seen pieces like mine, and I hear the same sentiment from people who shop with me. I use a wide variety of charms, beads, and crystals in my pieces and somehow it all comes together. I’m very proud of my design style and the consistent customer base I’ve built in the last year.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

It sounds cliché but I can’t stress this enough, SHOP SMALL. Quit buying fast fashion, screen printed art at target for $80, go shop with your local or online artists. Not only are you helping creatives survive and pay their bills, but you’re getting something unique and handmade and no one else will have something exactly like yours. Local pop up markets? Take a stroll. Share the event details online, get your friends to come. As an artist, there are fewer things that are more heartbreaking than setting up all of your work, and no one comes to the event to see it. Even if you’re not spending money, come out, take business cards, follow them on social media. Hype them up. We all need a little confidence boost when it comes to our art.

Secondly, if you can’t afford to shop with your favorite artists, just share their social media posts. Tag them, retweet, whatever. Algorithms are constantly working against small businesses because they want us to pay for exposure, so anything helps, and we see it, and we love you for it.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding thing about being an artist is that everything I create and put out into the world, is a little piece of me. I as a person may be invisible for the most part, but the art I create is out in the world, hanging on people’s walls, making them smile, or in their ears, around their neck, making them feel beautiful, and that’s all that matters.

Contact Info: 

• Website: laiagorephotography.com onyxandirisart.com
• Instagram: instagram,com/laiagorephotography instagram.com/onyxandiris
• Facebook: facebook.com/laiagorephotography facebook.com/onyxandirisart

Image Credits
Photos are all taken by me