We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Richard Lam. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Richard below.

Richard, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you 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?

I’m very lucky and grateful to now be earning a full-time living from my creative work. For five years, I worked in marketing and did freelance photography and video jobs on the side in my free time.

A little over two years ago, I decided to take the leap and go full-time doing creative work. I scaled back on my personal expenses, and the first year was just setting up the foundations and fundamentals of my business. It probably didn’t help that the world was still technically in a pandemic, so work was slow to come by at first.

I have two pieces of advice to help speed up the process.

1. Start before you feel 100% ready. You can take courses, be mentored, watch videos — but before you actually do the damn thing, all that other stuff is just theoretical. Imposter syndrome never fully goes away; you just learn how to deal with it better. And learning to deal with it better comes through building confidence with each project. It wasn’t until I started working with clients that I realized what they were looking for, what they saw in my work, where I could provide value, what I enjoyed doing, and how to manage client relationships in general.

2. Seek out community. Being a creative solopreneur can feel really lonely and isolating at times, but the more I connect with likeminded people in the same field as me, it truly makes a world of difference. It’s not only refreshing to talk with people that understand your craft, but you also have people to lean on to help with shoots and refer you to other gigs. Overall, it’s just really helpful for your overall well-being instead of being stuck in your own head all the time.

Richard, 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?

I’m a self-taught photographer and filmmaker living in Vancouver, Canada. I originally started making videos back in high school just for fun. I stopped for a couple of years and then when I was in university, I picked up a used point-and-shoot camera from Craigslist to take photos during a vacation. I fell in love with the process and just kept practicing and shooting as much as I could. I’d go on these photo walks by myself just to practice and take photos of things I found interesting. I soon started shooting videos for myself when I went traveling.

Nowadays, I run my own company providing video and photo services for commercial clients. I mainly shoot commercials, documentaries, and still photography.

Personally, I think my business background helps set me apart when clients are looking for someone that can see things through a branding and marketing lens, while still equally valuing the artistic side.

I’m most proud when I’m trusted with the creative vision by my clients and the final product turns out even better than they had imagined. I believe my work is defined by a modern sensibility — I will always prioritize storytelling and emotion over techniques and trends.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

Yes! Photography and video was my side hustle for many years. I started by shooting things for friends and friends of friends. Eventually, I started shooting wedding videos for local studios. I learned a ton and my skills behind the camera improved. I also shot personal passion projects like travel videos just for fun.

In early 2021, the company I was doing marketing for had to lay off everyone due to the pandemic and I found myself at a crossroads: I could either find another marketing role, or pursue photo/video full-time. I knew that if I went and found another job, I’d eventually get comfortable and that would make it difficult to leave. So, I decided to take the leap and go full-time into photo/video. It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever done and it’s only this year — in year 3 — where I feel like I’m starting to really hit my stride.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

When I started my business, I wrote down three overarching goals for why I was doing it: Create art for a living. Tell meaningful and important stories. Help and inspire others.

It’s simple and broad, but my long-term vision is to tell meaningful stories of lesser-known and under-appreciated places and people. I want my work to be humanity-driven, emotive, thought-provoking, and ultimately — inspiring.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://richardalam.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/richshoots
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/richshoots
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/richshoots

Image Credits
Andrew Li Eric Wong Peter Zhao