We were lucky to catch up with Riley Eastman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Riley, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

To be successful, you need to give yourself an attainable goal to strive towards. I made attainable goals for myself to reach the point that I’m at now. It took a long time for me to see any level of success from what I was doing. I wasn’t making any goals for myself. I feel like I can accomplish what I need in my craft when I make a plan or set a goal. Making sure that your goals are manageable and respecting what you can do is best when setting them. I never overestimated myself when trying to get things done. It doesn’t matter when or where you start your goals as long as you are proud of your accomplishments.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Riley Eastman and I am a director, graphic designer, and photographer. I started out making youtube videos with my friends in highschool and would eventually buy myself a camera in 2018. It was only ever meant to take videos for my youtube channel but once I got the hang of using it, I was hooked. I started taking photos more and posting them on Instagram. This had me learning photo editing and got me into photoshop, which opened me up to graphic design, typography and digital art as a medium. I couldn’t stop finding new things to work on, and recently I’ve directed my first official movie, The Ties That Bind, a film by Yinka Ayinde. Now with a solid photography account on Instagram and my first credit as a director in a movie under my belt, I feel like I’ve blossomed into my own art career in a mix of different mediums.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist are the challenges I seek to overcome in my work. I don’t think of myself as revolutionary or too different from those around me but I do find myself wanting to engage in new forms of artistic mediums and styles as I build off of one photo or video to the next! I’m always delighted to find other talented artists and I’m always inspired by the ways they work. They help me find new ways to confront my own work! A new angle, or a different editing technique always keeps me coming back to my camera with excitement for what comes next!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Building an online audience from scratch is a lot like starting new friendships with people who also like to make art. For me, I found it easy to connect with new local artists that also want support for their growing audience. The more you engage with your online communities, the more you will grow with your community. I started with a group of friends and family supporting me and once I got connected with other artists I began meeting super supportive people that helped me become the artist I am today!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/disappoint_your_neighbor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RileyEastman04/?show_switched_toast=0&show_invite_to_follow=0&show_switched_tooltip=0&show_podcast_settings=0&show_community_transition=0&show_community_review_changes=0&show_community_rollback=0&show_follower_visibility_disclosure=0
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCntfH67oyscdU6x_HunxMIw
• Other: https://www.redbubble.com/people/RileyEastman/shop?anchor=profile&asc=u