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

Temi, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

As a business owner I am for sure happier but it’s sometimes seasonal. When you own your business you’re in charge of paying your business taxes, insurance etc. When you work full time the taxes are taken out so it doesn’t “hurt” as much cause your paycheck is after taxes. As a business owner I save about 30% of every payment into a tax category so i’m prepare for tax season. The number vary based on your location, how much your business is bringing in etc.

The thing with my field of work at sometimes brings me anxiety is I get paid in Big checks and they come 2-3 months after the job is completed. So i’ve had to learn to make my money stretch. But it gets scary when you see the money in your bank go down and you realize you have about 2 months left in the business and haven’t been paid.

So what i’ve started doing to help supplement the account as I wait is to think of ways to make residual income. That could be from investments, selling prints/merch, consulting, workshops etc.

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?

My name is Temi Coker. Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. I came to america in 2004 and have been here ever since. I graduated HS and went to College 2010 to study Biomedical engineering. I didn’t want to do this but picked it to make my parents happy. Their mindset was “We brought you here for a better future” so me wanting to study music at the time didn’t make sense to them. A year in I was switched my major to “Digital media”. It incorporated Design, Photography, Video, web, and printing. I really loved Photography and Design. So I bought a camera 2011 and haven’t looked back since. I got into design in college as well but didn’t really take it seriously years after graduating college. 2015 I got a job at my old Highschool as a Teacher. I taught photography and design. I wanted to do this so I could show the kids it was possible to pursue something creative as a career. 2018 I left my job to and became an Adobe Creative Resident which allowed me to focus on growing in my craft which at the time was merging photography and design. 2019 I started to work for myself full time and haven’t looked back since then.

Some of the clients I have worked with include The Academy, Adobe, Google, Peloton, Old Navy, Apple and many more.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

There’s a saying I love and it goes like this: “They Journey is the reward not the destination.” All the hills and valleys we go through as creatives is all part of the journey. I’ve learned to shift my perspective and always look ahead. You have to learn from your mistakes and not get discouraged. A project failed? dust yourself off and start another one because now you know what not to do.

My mission in my work is to remind people that BLACK IS A BEAUTIFUL CANVAS.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I think the most rewarding part is being able to create something that resonates with the viewers. The amazing thing about being an artist is that my work is a universal language. People don’t need to speak english to be able to FEEL the work. And people are able to take in what they think from the art piece and how it resonates with them.

I also love that art has given me a voice. I’m not the best when it comes to talking or writing essays.
an Image is worth a thousand words stands true for the work I do.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.temicoker.co
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/temi.coker