We were lucky to catch up with Sierra Campbell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sierra, thanks for joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

One of the cornerstones to my creative family business is paying our artists well and on time; up front when it’s possible. When I first began in the industry as a model and actor, signed to a reputable agency, and booking notable clients, I was shocked and endlessly frustrated with how long it took to get paid as talent and as a crafts person. Personally, I loathe the hassle of asking for money that I’m owed, it taints the energy around the production itself. So, when starting a business of our own we wanted to make sure our team always felt fairly compensated and considered.

In the long run, it’s helped with our overall longevity and quality even if in the moment from a “house” standpoint it makes us a little less profitable upfront. I don’t tend to measure my success by how much is in my bank account but by how long I can do what I love with the people I love to do it with and putting money into the pockets of my team in a timely matter is a huge cherry on top and definitely not an industry standard.

Sierra, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started my family production and talent services company with my husband in 2020 after trying on a handful of other creative pursuits that never felt like the right fit.

In 2017 I had my daughter and was faced with the same math that many first time parents find themselves up against…Take Home Pay – Full Time Nanny = negative and some change.

So while renegotiating my pay to something more reasonable, my corporate position was dissolved and I found myself up a creek with a newborn and without a paycheck.

My husband and I have always been camera obsessed creatives and with the additional time on my hands I started considering modeling and acting as an opportunity for secondary income. Once I found a cozy home at Stewart Talent, everything really opened up for me.

I’ve been incredibly blessed to work with some HUGE brands and more importantly to me, some incredible teams. I found myself so inspired by the producers who were putting the shoots I found myself cast in together and how the energy on set shifted from producer to producer. The feeling of an insanely open and creatively fun set that’s with a team who is happy to be there and all feel respected and empowered, is MY FAVORITE FEELING. I’m thinking Rachel Waters and Brian Sorg productions. The images are alive and you can feel it because it’s 1000% real and felt on set.

After a while I started feeling like…Man, I want to do that. I want to bring those people together and be that kind of conduit for creativity. So, Camp Nitz really started gaining momentum and over the years has become more of a steady stream of work and opportunity for us. With my husbands incredible background in broadcast paired with my commercial experience we started a company that caters to creatives and prioritizes community. We hold contracts with big networks like NBC but also offer sliding scale services for chicago creatives.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED! Growing up as a brown girl in the 90’s it was drilled into me to be polite, not ask for too much, just be grateful you’re in the room but as I’ve grown as a business owner and professional person in general, I’ve learned that people LOVE to be asked to help. Whether it’s a tangible thing like a camera or light, a service like editing or HMUA, borrowing clothes, asking advice, usually people love to contribute.

I started to really abound forward when I was surrounding myself with people I felt inspired by and comfortable enough to ask for help.

The first test shoot for my modeling portfolio I ever did (which I still get booked by those images today) I had no clothes to wear and couldn’t afford a styling fee. There was a woman’s clothing store in my neighborhood that I walked past all the time and would just drool over the selection. I couldn’t afford even a hair clip but something in my soul told me to go in there and ask the shop owner if they would be up for loaning me outfits if I shared images with them to post for their own marketing purposes. Imagine my shock when the owner of Milk Handmade, Hallie Borden, said of course! She went from helping with that one personal project to almost a decade of us working together and her becoming one of my dearest friends and constant mentor.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Being kind to everyone on set and being genuinely curious about roles outside of my own. I was a full time actor/model for 5 years before our business grew to a point where we were bringing in steady income and able to hire more team members.
Spending every second on my other sets, absorbing, asking questions, being helpful; it all shaped my readiness for running Camp Nitz now.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.campnitzcreates.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pleaseleavebynine/

Image Credits

First image with purple background: Olivia Kohler
Image with yellow tank top and white studio background: Jamie Berg
Other Images: Stephen Nitz