Hey, guys!
question, I got dm’ed this week was
“My son wants to check out film school and art school. Should he go?”
And so there's something I should ask, is does he want to go to Hollywood?
Does he want to go into making commercials for all these big Brands and Coca-Cola and Ford and all this, then, okay?
That is something to think about. If you want to go right into brand creation, Hollywood film commercial corporate work.
That's something to think about.
I've been doing this for 12 years, completely self-taught through YouTube. It's a lot of ups and downs of a lot of trial and error.
I had no mentor and it's been a long time and, you know, staying home with my kids, and being able to freelance and being business.
Debt, free has been great but pros and cons to both. If you want to go to film school, just know you're going to accrue a lot of debt.
Very, very early on. So you got to hustle, you got to really get connections. You're going to network and Market yourself, but you're going to be in debt for a while.
If you choose to do your own business, LLC, just know that you're going to have to save up for every single piece of gear.
Every single knowledge, you're going to have to work for free for a long time. You don't have to struggle. So there's pros and cons to both. I do I do like how I'm business debt free.
I didn't take out any business loans, which is great. I didn't go to school for anything, art, graphic design related, and I can still make a living doing things here. And there, I would definitely though if you're thinking about doing it, professional photography as your full-time hustle.
If you're a mom with kids, just know that it's a lot of nights and weekends. It's a lot of travel. It's a lot of getting asked to fly to these different places.
Just be aware of that. If you're a mom with kids, okay?
The the biggest source of income for me has been graphic design, social media, marketing handling, people stuff blogging ghostwriting for people blogging for people Administration virtual assistant for people.
That's been my biggest Consistsnt source of income over the last 12 years overall, the photo stuff over all the 55-plus weddings that I've done over all the trial of been asked to do all the Magazine's 70 plus features.
We've had, that's what's been paying the bills.
And consistent subscription basis is managing people social media and just doing stuff on canva at the gym.
When I'm hanging out with my kids, I'm at the zoo, whatever I can just virtually work, that's been working for my schedule.
Everybody's different. There's no right or wrong way. There's no one-size-fits-all That's just my personal advice from someone who's done this and struggled and a lot of cry, a lot of tears.
But if you're going to be a pro photographer or Pro videographer, just know, there's a lot of equipment, (I've probably spent twenty thousand on equipment over the last, you know, 12 years) all the software, the subscriptions, the Adobe upgraded gear, on my gear has to be upgraded every couple years.
So I just know like you know this year I'm saving it for a computer which is 3000 $4000, a custom gaming video computer has to be redone every couple of years because it gets outdated.
And so I have to drop two, three, four, five thousand every year.
Just something gear knowing that that's really high overhead, where a graphic design social media management.
And managing people stuff is just my phone, some subscriptions and I can go and, you know, do things a little little to no overhead.
So just Pro tips from somebody who's been there.
Let me know in the comments if going to film school or, or going to school and in crewing, school debt is a smart move for you. Just let me know. I would love to hear you guys.
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