We were lucky to catch up with Rose Zhang recently and have shared our conversation below.

Rose, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

Among probably thousands of things my parents have done right throughout raising me, alongside mistakes, one thing they did right was to instill an appreciation for creativity in my life. I grew up in Beijing, with a Chinese dad and a Korean mom. Needless to say, I grew up rather in a more progressive family than my peers because we were a rare multicultural family. On top of that, my dad is a pastor, so my family didn’t grow up affluent. I remember very early on, I was maybe four or five and I already understood I cannot pester my parents or nag them in the supermarket like other kids do for my favorite snack. Yet, this never stopped them from supporting my creativity to grow. From early on, they provided me with plenty of outlets from craft supplies, crayons, paints, and origami papers despite their meager income. When I stepped into high school, I asked my parents if I could purchase a DSLR. They didn’t understand what a 14-year-old would do with it, and $800 was not something you could waste your money on. But they trusted me and told me that it was my money, and they saw it as a good investment. To this day, I’m still using that Canon 800d camera for all my clients. When I first purchased that camera, I never imagined that one day, I’d be making money with it. And I’m always grateful for parents for trusting a 14 year-old girl with her crazy $800 purchase.

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

Hi, I’m Rose. I’m currently residing in Houston, TX. But I grew up in Beijing, went to college in Annapolis, Maryland, and lived in D.C. before moving to the Lone Star State. When people ask me what I do, it’s hard to pinpoint one thing to say. I do photography, arts, baking, playing piano, and another random array of things.

Growing up, creating has been a central part of who I am. I like writing, baking, painting, taking photos, and editing videos. Naturally, over time, people around me started asking me if I could take photos for them or paint for them. It has been such a privilege to see my hobby grow into something bigger and something I can offer to others as well. I first started officially taking photos for my college, and from there I learned that this can be something beyond a work-study.

Mainly the services I offer are photography and arts. I’m currently located in Houston but I do travel now and then. My photography is more focused on portraits that range from graduation, engagement, elopement, courthouse weddings, and even event photography. I focus on documentary style, which means I try to capture natural moments rather than a lot of posing and still pictures. I’m also looking into selling art prints in the future, so stay in tune!

For arts, I have a Redbubble shop with various artworks people can purchase on demand. Although I don’t have as many customers for my art, I also offer customization for personal logo design, calligraphy signs, pet portraits, and people portraits that are perfect for gifts.

Recently, I’ve been dabbling in modeling as well. It’s been a very refreshing journey going from staying behind the camera to being in front of it.

You can always reach out to me through Instagram DMs or email. I might not be the fastest responder sometimes, but I always circle back and try to get back to everyone as soon as possible.

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

Honestly, the best source of new clients for me is always word of mouth and surprisingly Facebook groups. It’s so important to establish your presence in multiple places online even if you don’t have that much traffic, because people will still find you. Posting consistently does help, but I’ve found Instagram to be the least effective place to find actual clients although it is a great source to showcase your service and works when potential clients ask for it.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think something non-creatives often find hard to understand about my journey is that my creative service and business are a constant tug-a-war of finding inner satisfaction in my heart that yearns to create and the reality of earning and making money. I try my best to keep my service as a creative work rather than something that just follows a set mold and that makes my heart happy and content because I’m creating something. Yet, it’s more profitable when I have a very specific niche and I don’t need to expand beyond it. So it’s a constant challenge to keep an eye on both of those sides to keep my passion and business alive.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://stellaerosaephotography.mypixieset.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stellae_rosae_photography/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rose-zhang-07a0881a7/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@rose.zhang.
• Other: https://stellaerosae5.wordpress.com/
  https://www.redbubble.com/people/stellaerosae/
  https://www.instagram.com/hi.rosezhang/

Image Credits

Sam Bydlon @samuelbydlon
Karaliz Rozonino @k.rozonino
Dennis @ogsnipe