We were lucky to catch up with Tamara Semeniuta recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tamara, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today The first dollar you earn in a new endeavor is always special. We’d love to hear about how you got your first client that wasn’t a friend or family.

My first paid job was styling a photoshoot for a fitness blogger. I styled a few outfits and was paid $100, which now seems way too low for that amount of work, but honestly, back then it made me tear up out of happiness. When I received that payment I felt like my styling was something real, like it could be my career, not just a hobby.

The way I got that paid project is relevant for every fashion stylist and brings me clients to this day. The key word is “referral”. The photographer hired to work on that photoshoot recommended me to the client. We have already worked with him on a couple of unpaid photoshoots, so he knew my expertise level.

Collaborating with other creatives is very important for every beginner stylist. This way we not just get experience and expand our portfolios, but also eventually get paid jobs through word-of-mouth recommendations.

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 am a Fashion Stylist. My job is to dress people in the clothes I find for them. The main area of my work is styling photoshoots for commercial brands and private clients. Let’s say, you have a company and you want to shoot content for your social media or website/online store, in this case, my job is to find outfits for models and bring everything necessary – clothes, shoes, accessories, etc. I also stay on set making sure all goes smoothly. Of course, this job is more complicated than just getting cute tops and pants. You not only want to create an attractive image, but you must also create a campaign that would fit the brand-image of your client the best way.

I started styling as a hobby and was lucky enough to meet some people in the industry who recognized my talent and decided to give me a chance. I was published relatively fast. If my memory serves me correctly, my fourth or even third photoshoot I ever styled was published in a magazine. However, my career path in styling was not always as easy as that. I am constantly learning, taking classes and growing my network.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Oh gosh, being an immigrant who works on building a new creative career, figuring your way within the fashion industry, learning to be an entrepreneur when you have been an employee your whole life… This whole journey has been pretty challenging. Discipline and resilience is something I always complain about to my friends, like I need even more of that in me.

But to give an example, when I started as a fashion stylist I was working in the office from 9 to 5. So, when I needed to get clothes for an upcoming gig I would rush to the train station after work because back then I did not have a car and Uber was too expensive. I would go to the big shopping mall and having just a couple of hours before stores close, I would run around like crazy trying to find everything I needed. Sometimes, I had to do this again the next day and the following day again. Add carrying heavy bags, steaming everything, shooting on your weekends and the process of returning clothes to stores… Being a fashion stylist is not always as glamorous as people imagine. Resilience is definitely something that kept me going further.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There are two things I love about my job the most. The first one is the magic that happens when you have an idea and you get together with your team – photographers, models, make-up artists, etc and you all do what you love, you all give your best to create a beautiful image.

And the other thing about my styling that makes me very happy is seeing my clients growing. I want my clients to be happy with the way they look, to achieve more, and to present their product to more people. There is no better feeling than when my clients say their sales went up after posting a campaign I styled. This makes me extremely proud because creating something beautiful is great, but helping someone is most rewarding.

One of my success stories, I would love to share is when I was hired to style a photoshoot for a teenage girl who had a dream of becoming a fashion model. We had the task of creating a full modeling portfolio in just one day, so she could apply to model agencies. I styled her with several looks that would represent different types of modeling jobs like active-wear, casual looks, swim-wear, evening fashion. It was her very first photoshoot ever, so we also were helping with posing and things like that. And few months after that I got great news about her being signed with one of the main model agencies in Miami! Guess what, I was doing my happy dance all around the place. Stories like this is something I really love about my work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tamarasem.com/
• Instagram: tamara_sem_
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-semeniuta-937018201/

Image Credits
Tasha Minn; Evgeniy Luzan Tropicpic; Leyla Stefani; James Woodley; Elm Diaz; Tommy Flanagan; Marquis Ward; Daria Marchik; Yaniv Katzav; Ran Wei; Johanna Chone; Laken Romine; Seminole Gambling; Lacruz Jewelry;