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

Rylan, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

For almost a decade, I served on active-duty in the U.S. Navy. But last January, my time in service came to a close as I separated and took the steps to begin a new career in creative writing and directing. While my decision to depart the military may seem like a sharp turn, it was actually years in the making. Writing and directing was a passion of mine, and I would explore that creative side in my off-duty time on the weekends. Because I was afforded a stable living through my job in the military, when I would work on a creative project in my personal time, I could do so in a space void of concern for making a living. This allowed me to hone my skills by giving me the time to study the craft, learn from mentors, and take my time improving my technical skills. But as my service commitment in the U.S. Navy came to a close, I knew that this was my time to begin a new career. I am incredibly grateful for my time in service and honored to have worked alongside so many fantastic men and women, but it was time to close one chapter and begin the next. To many of my peers, the transition seemed risky leaving such a stable job, but to me, it felt necessary. As I began to chip away at my new career, I did have moments of nervousness and anxiety about staying afloat financially, but two main things, among others, helped me through the transition: relying on relationships and focusing on tasks one day at a time. The military is a small community, and many of my peers knew about my love for writing and directing. Because of this, many of them shared with me their connections – friends and family – who were amazing contacts, either as mentors or friends. So when I separated, I relied on this network, and many of them were incredibly helpful connecting me with others to help me find new jobs and projects. Secondly, I carried a mantra that I learned from my parents, one day at a time. As a new entrepreneur in the freelance space, I could often grow overwhelmed thinking about weeks down the road and how I could find projects to support my living. But as I narrowed my mindset to focus on my daily goals, it allowed me to truncate my worries and emphasize where my feet were. Doing both of these things allowed me to tackle the transition and minimize risk through it all.

Rylan, 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 have always tackled challenges from a creative but unique approach. Raised by a military family in rural Kentucky with aspirations to one day write and direct films, I instead pursued an undergraduate degree in Applied Physics from the U.S. Naval Academy. While there, I found a niche opportunity within the military to create short videos which eventually led to over 13.1 million views and a unique following online. After completing a subsequent Masters in Project Management from the University of Maryland, I went on to serve as a Navy engineer, conducting multiple overseas deployments. Having recently transitioned out of the service, I now work on commercial, comedic and dramatic writing and directing with a range of organizations and in my own creative freelance capacity. Some of my previous work have appeared on television networks, such as ESPN, CBS, CNN and Fox News, and my latest aspirational projects include a short film and a comedy television series pilot episode. Molded by my educational background in the sciences and military service in the United States Navy, I enjoy exploring new ideas for projects, scripts, and storylines while grounding them in relatable and authentic settings.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Relationships! I have learned that a personal referral or connection is the best way to get your foot in the door. And because of this, I would focus on building transformational relationships over transactional ones. Let me explain: early on in my creative career, I would reach out to numerous friends for opportunities for photography, video, or writing gigs. Because we were all new entrepreneurs, I knew their budgets were just as tight as mine. Therefore, when asked if I would collaborate with them creatively, I would always try to provide a fair price, something that would compensate me for my time and equipment but also respect the relationship. By doing creative work for a reduced price or even free allowed me to build a transformational relationship over one that was about the money. While I understand financial stability is important to many new businesses, I took this approach when I could afford to because I would rather have a series of projects with a company or team over a course of years than just one project at one time. The idea behind this is if you offer a fair or reduced price, it eliminates the pressure on the person delivering the service and instead places the emphasis on the relationship. I have done this dozens of times and have been rewarded with a flourishing relationship, providing numerous projects from a single client.

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

Social media can be exhausting to maintain. And after a busy day working on projects, the last thing I feel like doing is curating my images, editing new work and posting. That’s why my approach to social media has been to distance it from my business. While I know that I may be missing out on new clients by not using my social media to its fullest, I strive for a work/life balance that allows me to not feel like I have to capitalize on every aspect of my life. Now, I caveat this opinion with the fact that the majority of my work comes from sources external to social media, so I never relied on it to begin with. Though there are times that I may use my online platforms to share new work or be creative, I still try to keep my social media personal to me because I want a relationship with it that isn’t about business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rylantuohy.com
• Instagram: @rylantuohy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rylantuohy/
• Twitter: @rylantuohy
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/rylantuohy