We recently connected with Samantha Billotte and have shared our conversation below.

Samantha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

When starting your own business you always hope for friends and family around you to support you but that isn’t always the case. Asking the people you trust the most to support something you’ve worked so hard for can be a very vulnerable moment. Thankfully my immediate family and friends have been supportive but there has always been a lack of support from others. My sister herself is a photographer and since I started after her there was a sense of longing in the beginning to find the support and footing she had. The day I stopped looking for that support from others was the day I truly supported my work to the fullest and have never felt prouder of myself.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I went to Full Sail University and got my Bachelor’s Degree in Film as that was my passion since middle school. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit when I was in my last year of college, and making films in a team was limited to none. I knew I didn’t want to fall into a creative slump so I knew I needed to find another outlet to express myself so that’s where I fell in love with photography. I did fun at-home shoots with my closest friends and roommate. I held myself back from photography because it was always my sister’s niche and I felt I wouldn’t excel in it. I’m very happy I ignored my negative thoughts because I have truly found myself in photography. I was able to photograph the pain, heartache, and monumental moments in my life. Once the pandemic cleared up, I completely stopped shooting wedding videography and fully transitioned into wedding photography. I still love making films but photography has brought out another creative side of me that I didn’t realize existed whether it was concept, weddings, boudoir, or concert photography.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Getting people who don’t see creative outlets as a career to take you seriously can always be hard. I know many people of all ages want to pursue something in the creative field but are told by their peers that “it isn’t a real job” and “you can’t actually make money off of that”. If I can share some words of advice if this is your opinion – stop sharing it. Putting yourself in a very vulnerable line of work is already difficult enough. Support your kids, your friends, your partner, and yourself. This journey to self-discovery as a creative isn’t an easy one so uplift each other and some beautiful art will be made.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I truly feel my mission in this life I was given in this allotted amount of time I will be provided is to create something I am proud of. Not to make my parents proud, not to make my dog proud, not to make any people who have wronged me proud. My entire goal in life is to consistently make myself proud. I have struggled for so many years believing I’m not good enough and that what I’m creating isn’t better than others around me. I had a moment of self-realization that not only was I creating for others but I was living for others. This was a very hard pill to swallow. I had to do some self-healing and discovering to realize the only person I need to impress in my life is myself because that is who controls my happiness.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sammybfilms.mypixieset.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sambillotte/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvjr1N4_vFRd92kaWFsnzdA

Image Credits
Photographer- Samantha Billotte