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

Alright, Mike thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I’ve always been a trial by fire kind of learner. I was waiting tables in my twenties and always working on creative side work, whether it was music, photography, design or video. The more I made in my creative work, the less I’d work in the restaurant. I went from 5 days in the restaurant and before I left I was doing one long double shift a week. This allowed me the stability I needed financially but the time needed for creative work.

Once I jumped ship into full creative work, it was stressful but I made it work. Money in the freelance world isn’t always consistent (in fact rarely ever) so it took creative planning to make sure I had enough. Landing bigger jobs and requiring 50% of the project up front made a huge difference where I could spend that money on the gear I needed to take on the job.

After working many years in freelance, I ended up taking a job with one of the clients I was working with. They offered me a full-time salary and I was blown away that someone would offer me that kind of money. I took the job and learned so much over the course of two years. As most creatives, I got bored by the repetition and ended up going back to freelance. However, I was very strategic with using the contacts I made at that job and leveraging that into my freelance career. Throughout the last 15 years, I’ve worked for 3 different companies as a video director/photographer and each time it’s been totally worth it. I’ve never last more than 3 years at each though. The stability is nice but the lack of freedom always got me in the end.

In the end, I don’t think I could’ve sped the process up much. Overall, I was able to make pretty decent money in my early years and I owe that mostly to the people I surrounded myself with. Whatever hobby I was into, I tried to get work there and it worked. I helped gyms build marketing materials. I helped startup businesses tell their story. I took everything I could even when I wasn’t sure I could pull it off.

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?

I’m a photographer and video creator. I run a small agency, Kindfire Creative. I specialize in storytelling and creative campaigns for small to medium sized businesses. I prefer the small businesses because they often have the best stories. As you work into the larger companies, the thing that once made them unique seems to get lost somewhere between the expansion and the fundraising.

I love solving problems. When I meet with clients and they want a video, I love asking the question “what do you want that video to do?” Often times, people just want something because others are doing it, or someone told them they need to. If we create to create, we may create something really cool but it might not do anything for your business. If that’s ok, then that’s great but most people come to me wanting to increase sales, or hire more people for example. Those are specific needs that require strategic planning on how we connect with those people and educate them on what we want them to do.

Over the years, this industry has changed dramatically. Instead of fighting it, I’ve really tried to evolve with it. The creation of social media, the frequency in which we create/share content, the different ways and levels of quality we create. I’ve tried to get really creative in taking one project and utilizing all the assets into micro assets that can extend our reach and give more opportunity for impact. A typical Founder’s Story video for a company can be split into so many different pieces beyond just the main video. It’s all about the planning before the shoot and the creativity in the post production. In this day and age, more is more and I’m trying to find ways to give that to clients.

I’m not the best the shooter and I don’t obsess over things being perfect. I’m not for everyone and I’m ok with that. At the end of the day, I make stories that evoke emotion. I’m a curious person and I think the curiosity is the key to finding out what makes something interesting. People have an idea of what is unique about them or what they think the world wants to hear but it’s often not that. I love bringing out raw emotion and having hard conversations. I love asking dumb questions. It’s the genuine curiosity that makes me a good storyteller.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

My biggest success in getting new clients has been my network. Word of mouth has been everything for me. I’m a man of many hobbies and injecting my creative work into those hobbies has always been a good thing for business. I’ve always been very into fitness, so when I joined a new gym, I started photographing the events held there. Then I’d negotiate a trade where I wouldn’t pay for a membership. Then that would turn into some paid work from that gym. Then other gyms or athletes would see that work and expand my reach and get me more work. The same thing happened with motorcycles. I bought a motorcycle and started meeting people to ride with. I then started taking photos/videos of rides/adventures. That then led to meeting brands in the industry and then turning those connections into paid gigs. Some would say you don’t want to mix business and pleasure but for me it’s a ways to do the things I love and earn income. It doesn’t always work out and sometimes you risk spoiling something you love but overall, it’s been a huge part of my success.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I really love making pictures. I used to ask myself why I take pictures? What’s the point? I’ve realized I just love that process. I love framing something, lighting something, freezing a moment in time. I love reliving moments. I love sharing moments with others who would never live that moment on their own. When I can evoke a feeling out of someone when they experience my work, that is the most rewarding feeling I can experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kindfirecreative.com
• Instagram: @mikefolden @dadventuremoto
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DadventureMoto

Image Credits

All photos by Mike Folden. Bio photo of Mike Folden was taken by Jeff Reid.