We recently connected with Sam Guillermo and have shared our conversation below.

Sam, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us 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 moved from Brooklyn, New York to Baltimore in 2015 to take a ministry position at a church in Maryland. Six months into my son being born my wife had an epiphany and left a note on the coffee table that she was going to back to NYC with our son. Because my marital status was tied to my job, with-in 48hrs I lost my son, my wife, my job, my chosen community and everything and everyone I knew. I lived in a Walmart parking lot for several months before someone recognized me and offered their guest room till I could get on my feet. Armed with only my camera I took every gig I could possibly get just to eat. Fast forward to present day I own my house, my studio, I moved my parents near me, settled their debts and got them a house. I don’t mean to skim through the entirety of the rest of that story but it would be suffice to say that without the pain or the process I wouldn’t be where I am today. Being a full time creative comes with an immense amount of challenges that will come whether you have a hard story like mine or not. The grit I developed over the years has given me incredible insight, ambition and the power to continue the course. I went from being homeless with $17 in my pocket– to running a successful studio and brand that empowers people to see themselves in ways that they didn’t before.

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

My name is Sam and I am also known as NKDHMNS (Naked Humans). I’m a photographer based in Baltimore Maryland but travel often and plenty, I specialize in the area of Boudoir Photography and most recently doing video interviews that I call Legacy videos that actually started with the initial intent to just document my parents story since they are getting older and I wanted to archive their stories so my son can know where he comes from. Someone heard what I was doing and it’s kind of snowballed from there. But I primarily shoot still photography of humans in their form. You’ll notice that I don’t say boudoir for women because I believe boudoir is for EVERY BODY, whether you are a man or a woman, in between the spectrum or beyond. I believe EVERYONE should feel comfortable in their own skin. I really pride myself in getting to know the people who book me to capture these empowering images. There’s power when you take control of the narrative and you become the writer of your own story. One of the best places to find yourself is being undone. It takes a certain measure of courage to be vulnerable enough to allow someone to show you how much of a badass you really are. Through the years we’ve had so many people from different walks of life in different chapters of their stories. We have everyone from government officials, clergy, moms, dads, elders, sex workers, couples, throuples and a host of lists and titles that we can spend a long time mentioning. But the common thread is that we all want our power back. For me, one of my goals is to normalize normal.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

There are so many tools that help me do my job that I wish I knew earlier. One of them is the gallery/image hosting service I use called Pic-time, Pic-time has helped me accelerate sales in ways I didn’t know were possible. With help from the owners and Annemie from https://megapixie.com/ and her sales system I was able to not only make more revenue but also get valuable time back to watch my son grow up.

https://creation4use.pic-time.com/referral

My CRM or Client management system is another thing that has helped stay on top of centralizing communication, leads, clients and over workflow experience for the person who books me. The service I use for that is called HoneyBook. From contracts to invoices and reminder emails and scheduling meetings and keeping a calendar. It’s basically my virtual assistant:

https://share.honeybook.com/5Fz7e

Those are two of the main shameless plugs and here’s a list of things and tools that help me develop my style as a photographer.

Glass App – https://glass.photo/referral/TXUY2S2PVB6U

Backblaze – https://secure.backblaze.com/r/04f9s3

Aftershoot – https://aftershoot.com/get-started?referrer=S1MN231U

Fractal Prisms – https://amzn.to/48ZoOPy

Antari Hazer – https://amzn.to/3OaLGDI

Chauvet Pin lights – https://amzn.to/3Sr7D45

Aputure 60x – https://amzn.to/3tTt5p1

Smallrig V mount battery – https://amzn.to/47IkFP8

Smallrig mini rig – https://amzn.to/3SnbE9z

Manfrotto light stand – https://amzn.to/4b2PCjL

Manfrotta 3 pack light stand – https://amzn.to/3SBpDcd

Westcott Rapid Box 48in – https://amzn.to/47L2wQG

Westcott Rapid Box 36in – https://amzn.to/47LlTZZ

Aputure 600d – https://amzn.to/47RMDIk

Godox AD200 Pro – https://amzn.to/3U8alNa

MagMod System – https://amzn.to/3ObnqBu

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

The most rewarding thing for me is that people leave my studio with a new perspective of themselves and they can leave felling encouraged, beautiful and seen. That they will be able to have these images for years to come and reflect on what all their bodies have brought them through. Being able to be weaved into such an intimate spaces of peoples lives has in turn given me life and really motivated me to keep going and producing beautiful work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nkdhmns.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nkdhmns